Journey Of The Worst

by Cyndaquil

A Moment To Unwind

The trip to Ponyville had actually been rather pleasant. The trip from, was not so. It was no fault of the trains hospitality staff, there was still beautiful scenery, comfortable private booths, and all the cucumber sandwiches a creature could eat. That which did ruin the train’s ambiance, was Cadance’s incessant nagging.

The incident with Ocellus had not really been so bad, at least in Chrysalis’s opinion. She had been transformed during the entire event, and no pony knew who she was, except maybe Twilight Sparkle. Chrysalis explained all this to Cadance. It didn’t help her case much, or at all.

Cadance still had several problems with the whole ordeal. Confiding in Twilight Sparkle was supposed to bring relief to Cadance’s troubled thoughts. Now, for Twilight, keeping the secret meant having a scandal and possibly a cover up at her own friendship school. Cadance didn’t dare ask her to do such a thing. She also felt sorry for Ocellus. Apparently, Chrysalis’s brand of evil does fall into one of those sub categories where she could not be left alone with children. On top of all that, she’d have to think up some way to keep her most loyal and generous maid safe from having a criminal record.

Some time later, the princess did have one question for her.

“Why did you fight Ocellus?”

Chrysalis told her about the royal jelly. She explained how only a tiny bit is distilled from all the nectar produced in the hive. Words could not do justice to the experience of letting it touch your palette. Usually, once a year, the drones are all rewarded with a small taste. However, if the hive is in need of a new queen, then they all forgo the reward and stockpile the royal jelly for seven years. Finally, the seven year supply is given to a single female of the hive. That is just one part, in the ritual for creating a new queen.

“I wasn’t going to let that upstart challenge my rightful position.”

Cadance nodded in understanding, not in approval, just understanding.

Though it wasn’t the best time to talk, at all, Chrysalis did have something she’d been meaning to ask.

“Why is my capture a secret? It is a triumph, isn’t it? You should be boasting, not covering it up.”

She didn’t get an answer right away, though at least asking this made Cadance shut up for a while.

“If I announced your capture, you’d be sent somewhere else. I’m not even sure where. Right now, I have need of you.” This was all the answer she recieved.

It took some time to trot from the train station to the castle. Cadance’s mood seemed to improve once she was among her ponies.

She stopped at the flower shop, spent a little time smelling their wares, then checked on her orders. The shopkeep recited a long list what was to be sent to whom. Twenty-three items into the list, she corrected the shopkeep on a date. Thirty-seven items into the list, she told him that the occasion was an anniversary, not a birthday.

Chrysalis was starting to close her eyes when a pony with a moustache surprised her. “Helping the Princess on her rounds, are ye Lovely dear.”

The pony was purposely loud, and there was a cheekiness to him. He was either trying to help keep her from getting caught sleeping on the job, or startle her awake, as a prank.

The pony smelled of soot, and carried tools. Perhaps he was the chimney sweep. Chrysalis briefly wondered if she should answer “yes” or “oui”. What sort of accent did the maid have? She just nodded, and tried to smile.

The dirty pony whispered something in her ear, that made her blush.

Cadance explained later, the maids name is ‘Lovely Gentle Hoof,’ and that was her colt-friend.

The sun was hot, and this maids body was weak. Chrysalis would have preferred going straight to the castle.

Cadance made a second stop on the way. Some colts and filly’s were playing kick ball. At first it seemed the Cadance was going to pass by them, then one of the colts kicked the ball to her and shouted “Come join us princess.”

She looked back at Chrysalis, uncertain. Misunderstanding the problem, the colt offered to let Lovely play too.

Chrysalis, currently known as Lovely Gentle Hoof, told them to play without her. The princess, joining children in a game, or learning an absurd number of special occasions throughout the kingdom, Chrysalis wondered if Cadance cultivated her personality and relationships specifically to make stealing her identity more difficult.

While scrimmaging to intercept the ball, Cadance lost her contact lens. Every pony stopped to help her look for it. It was a surprise to the filly’s that she wore contacts. She kept her eye closed the entire time, not wanting any of them to see her one evil eye. Though no pony said anything, they were surprised when the maid didn’t come to help.

Chrysalis wondered, with the eye closed, could Cadance still see what she was doing. She slipped into a corner, and looked for something, just naughty enough to get the princesses attention. She saw a tiny mouse, searching for scraps. Unfortunately the Chrystal empire is so clean, that the rodents don’t fare very well.

With a wicked smile, Chrysalis morphed into a cat. This alone was an act of defiance. She found that the magic necklace took the form of a little collar with a bell on it. Slowly, she crept upon her prey.

The bell started to ring, when Chrysalis was not even moving. It rang, and rang. Startled, the little mouse scurried off. She tried to give chase, only to have the think move behind some cans.

When she returned to the ball field, the princess had just found the contact lens. She greeted the form of Lovely Gentle Hoof with a teasing “Hello kitten.”

---

Upon arriving at the castle, Chrysalis was immediately sent back to her room.

Cadance met with the real Lovely Gentle Hoof, who was in a pleasant enough mood, not yet having heard about the incident in Ponyville.

“Madame Princess, a package has arrive-ed for Madame Chrysalis. I ‘ave placed it in her room.”

This was unexpected. No pony should even know that Chrysalis was her prisoner.

“Thorax, lord of the changelings, delivered it personally.”

“What was it?”

“It looked like a jar of green honey.”

---

Chrysalis eyed the jar, that was sitting on her desk. She opened it, and took a sniff, wanting to verify that it was not fake. This small jar must have been at least the years entire supply.

There was a note, with Ocellus’s signature on it. All it said was: We’ll wait for you.

Chrysalis just stared at the jar for a few moments, then brought it close to her lips.

---

The changeling queen had been ordered to keep the same sleeping hours that Cadance did. This was to keep Cadance from being woken up by her evil eye. It was no surprise that Chrysalis was disobeying her.

Cadance turned and peeked through her sleep mask, to make sure her husband was not awake. The pace of his breathing, and the occasional snorting noise, confirmed that he was not. Underneath the sleep mask, she opened her evil eye, and watched.

Chrysalis wasn’t even disguising herself, she crept on the roof, as if showing off how easily she could sneak past the guard sentries.

The queen of the changelings made her way into the tower where the crystal heart is kept.

Surely this was the place to stop her. It would be madness to let her tamper with the magic that made their kingdom livable. If any harm came to the crystal, then storms would rage. Cadance was ready.

To her surprise, Chrysalis did not go straight for the heart. First she went to find the map. Using whatever she could find in the room, she elevated the map in the correct height, angle, and position.

Cadance had discovered, some time ago, that light passing through the heart, would leave spots on the floor. The positions of these spots did not seem to depend on in what direction the sun or moon was facing the crystal heart. Over time, a suspicion began to form in her mind.

Now the spots were aligned perfectly with points on the map. She even taped it in place.

Comments

[Sigmacipher]

Well looks like chrysalis is holding on to a few cards.

Wonder what she's up to?

[secury]

Nice read. Interested in where this is going.

All it said was: We’ll wait for you.

This was really nice on Ocellus's part, considering that Chrylisa just tried to strangle her.

[fanreader999999]

Rough

[keybounce]

I understand that it is how she sees what Chrysalis is doing. How does she have it? What is it? It's not a normal pony eye.

[PonyDragon]

Apparently, Chrysalis’s brand of evil does fall into one of those sub categories where she could not be left alone with children.

Chrysalis didn't do anything to Flurry, did she?
At least nothing Cadance noticed yet...

“If I announced your capture, you’d be sent somewhere else. I’m not even sure where. Right now, I have need of you.” This was all the answer she recieved.

Cadance: "Ruling an empire is hard work, and if I can send someone else to do some of the work for me.."
Chrysalis: "Like entertaining your husband?"
Cadance: "Don't even think about it!"
Chrysalis: "Too late..."

This was unexpected. No pony should even know that Chrysalis was her prisoner.
“Thorax, lord of the changelings, delivered it personally.”

I almost expected Chrysalis getting in rage about "this filthy traitor" just from hearing his name.

Chrysalis eyed the jar, that was sitting on her desk. She opened it, and took a sniff, wanting to verify that it was not fake. This small jar must have been at least the years entire supply.

Normal honey (then the hive must be really struggling right now) or for some reason the royal jelly?