Paint the Sky

by Flynt Coal

Chapter 4 - Chrysalis the Normal Highschool Girl

The school day ended on Friday and just like at the end of the previous week, Chrysalis found herself heading towards the Sugarcube Corner Cafe. Unlike last Friday though, Chrysalis was in the company of a very different trio of girls. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo walked on either side of her, laughing amicably as they talked about the events of the day.

Overall, the experience of being friends with the three of them was a stark contrast to being friends with Diamond Tiara and her fellows—lackies? Henchmen?—the previous week. Chrysalis actually felt comfortable sharing her interests honestly and earnestly, and although Scootaloo gave her some ribbing on her taste in films, it all seemed genuinely good-natured. Although the tiny voice in the back of Chrysalis’s head warned her that these three could just be using her for their own ends like Diamond Tiara had been, Chrysalis chose to ignore it. It had only been a week ago, but Chrysalis already felt far wiser than she had when she had been friends with Diamond.

And on the note of her former false friend, Chrysalis had caught a glimpse of her across the street (along with Silver Spoon and Cozy Glow) as she and her new friends entered the Corner. Chrysalis saw it as an opportunity to remind them what the score was.

“C’mon,” she said, leading her friends to a certain round booth in the far corner of the establishment. The waitress who had been working the previous Friday was present and gave the group a suspicious look.

“Chrys, you know we can’t sit there,” Apple Bloom told her.

“No, I’m with Chrys on this one,” Scootaloo said, taking a seat in the booth with Chrysalis. “That bitch doesn’t own this table.”

“Please girls, I don’t want to get in another fight,” Sweetie Belle pleaded.

“We won’t,” Chrysalis said. “Trust me.”

Diamond and her friends entered the Corner at that moment, and her eyes locked with Chrysalis, seated in her favorite booth. There was a tense moment as the two glared at each other from across the restaurant, neither backing down. At last, Diamond Tiara puffed and led her friends to another table, sparing one last glare in Chrysalis’s direction before she did.

“See? What did I tell you?” Chrysalis asked, looking over at Apple Bloom with a proud grin.

But Apple Bloom’s gaze was still fixed in Diamond’s direction. Her animosity was strong, but Chrysalis thought she could taste a hint of something else. Regret maybe? Chrysalis thought about asking Apple Bloom what exactly had happened between her and Diamond, but her previous attempts to do so earlier in the week had been quite effectively dodged.

“Damn, she’s really scared of you,” Scootaloo said. “What’d you do to her?”

The thought of telling them that she’d nearly choked Diamond Tiara to unconsciousness made Chrysalis uneasy, so she just gave her a shrug in reply.

“Yeah, guess it’ll be good to have one of the larger booths for a change,” Apple Bloom said as she sat down. “Especially if our friends from Zacherle are joining us.”

Apple Bloom had mentioned earlier that day that they were meeting up with some of their friends from another school. According to her, the Zacherle Academy for Girls was a fancy private school up in San Palomino. Apparently, some of the girls in Sunset Shimmer’s family went there.

It was around the time they ordered (Apple Bloom and the others got what Chrysalis suspected were their usual milkshakes, while Chrysalis herself had gotten a fondant au chocolat smothered in a heaping scoop of French vanilla ice cream) that Chrysalis spotted two girls wearing jackets and skirts of a private school uniform enter. Sweetie waved them over, and the two headed their way as soon as they spotted them.

One of them was an Asian girl whose unfortunate face was a veritable minefield of acne, but it was the other girl that made Chrysalis fumble her spoon, dropping it onto the table’s surface with a loud clatter. Her two-toned cyan hair and matching eyes full of kindness were immediately familiar to Chrysalis.

“Good to see you girls,” Sweetie said, getting out of the booth to hug both of them when they approached. “Where’s Ribby?”

“She wasn’t feeling well so she went home early,” explained the apparent doppelganger.

“Was it bad today?” Sweetie asked, and both of the other girls nodded. “Okay, I’ll give her a call just to make sure she’s alright,” Sweetie said, stepping aside so the two newcomers could take her place in the booth. “Be right back!”

With that, Sweetie hurried off to make her call and the other two girls slid into the booth…right next to Chrysalis. She locked eyes with the counterpart of one of her greatest sins, who gave her an awkward smile a friendly, “Hello.”

“Oh yeah,” Scootaloo said after taking a loud slurp from her milkshake. “This is our new friend Chrysalis, she joined our school a couple of weeks ago.” Scootaloo then gestured to the crater-faced Asian girl and said, “Chrysalis, this is Crackle…”

Crackle gave a brief, “Hi,” and Scootaloo then gestured to the girl next to her. “And this is….”

“Coco Pommel…” Chrysalis muttered absent-mindedly.

Not quietly enough though. “Yes, how did you know?” Coco asked with an inquisitive tilt of her head. “Have we met before?”

Technically…. “No, but Sweetie told me about you,” Chrysalis lied, banking on the fact that the girl in question wasn’t present to say otherwise. “Pleasure to finally meet you!”

“Oh, likewise!” Coco said, smiling earnestly.

The genuine kindness in her eyes was a far cry from the angry glare that had been leveled at Chrysalis by Coco’s four-legged counterpart. That righteous fury was all Chrysalis could think about, even as the topic of conversation went on to other things.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to ask,” Apple Bloom said, addressing Chrysalis. “You have any plans for Halloween, Chrys? Because the girls and I were gonna go trick or treating together.”

“Aren’t we getting too old for that now?” Crackle asked.

“Free candy is free candy,” Scootaloo replied.

It was only recently that Chrysalis had found out what Halloween was. She had asked why the school was decorated with fake bats, spiders, and effigies of skeletons and ghouls earlier that week. Apple Bloom and the others had looked at her like she was insane.

“Uh, Halloween?” they had all said.

“I don’t know what that is. I grew up in Italy, remember?” Chrysalis said. For all she knew, modern Italy could very well have celebrated the holiday as well, but was banking on the fact that her friends knew as little about it as she did.

Her gambit had paid off, because Apple Bloom had said, “Oh right, I remember reading somewhere they don’t really celebrate it outside of English-speaking countries.”

Her friends had then proceeded to explain Halloween to her, clearly excited to share a piece of their culture with her. From what Chrysalis understood, it was a festival much like the Nightmare Night that the ponies of Equestria celebrated, involving costumes and candy with a spooky theme. She had immediately started thinking of ideas for a costume to wear.

Back in the present, Chrysalis swallowed the bite of ice cream on her spoon, fighting the mild brain freeze to say, “Sure, I’d love to come with you guys.” Chrysalis glanced at Coco briefly—too briefly to attract notice, she hoped—and added, “Is everyone gonna be there?”

“Of course,” Sweetie answered, having since returned from her phone call and rejoined the table. “It’s been sort of a tradition for the three of us to go over to Apple Bloom’s place and trick or treat around there.”

“Her family really goes all out on Halloween,” Scootaloo added.

“Yup, and the more the merrier!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“It’ll be our first time spending Halloween with them too!” Coco said with an optimistic smile. “Should be fun!”

Chrysalis tried her best to return it. “Well, I guess I need to get my costume soon then!”

The six of them spent the next forty minutes or so just enjoying their sweets and each other’s company, talking about all sorts of things (mostly about how “lit” Halloween was going to be on Monday).

“Hmm…” Sweetie Belle muttered as she stared at her phone screen.

“Something wrong?” Chrysalis asked.

“I’m worried about Twist.”

“Who?” Scootaloo asked, not bothering to look up from her own phone screen.

“She’s in our math class?” Apple Bloom said. “She went to school with us across the field for years? We’ve practically known her as long as we’ve known each other?”

Scootaloo’s face remained blank for a second before Chrysalis saw realization dawn on it. “Is she that really dorky girl with the glasses and frizzy red hair?”

“The one who’s had braces practically her entire life, yeah.”

Chrysalis thought she remembered seeing someone around school matching that description the week before. “Why are you worried, Sweetie?” she asked.

“Haven’t any of you noticed she hasn’t been at school for the entire week?”

The girls all exchanged a look. “Well…guess I assumed her family’s taking a trip or something.”

“Yeah, well I’m on her Facebook page now and she hasn’t updated it since Saturday.” Sweetie Belle turned her phone around so the others could see.

Scootaloo leaned closer and watched as Sweetie scrolled up and down Twist’s page. “Shit, that girl loves taking pictures of food, huh? There’s enough here to account for every meal she’s ever had!”

“Exactly! Right up until….” Sweetie turned the phone screen back towards herself so she could read the information off it. “Saturday October 22^nd at 1:15pm at Jill’s Sandwich Deli, Olde Towne Shopping Center. After that, nothing.”

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. She had been at the shopping center on Saturday with Diamond and the others. They’d even considered having lunch at Jill’s Sandwich Deli. Had Chrysalis seen her?

“She probably just had a family emergency out of town,” Coco said, her usual cheerful friendliness giving way to a melancholy look. “Just saying. When my Nana…started slipping away, my family and I pretty much had to scramble to her hospital here so we could…s-so we could say goodbye….”

Crackle reached over and rubbed her friend’s shoulder, clearly seeing that the memories of that time were still painful to her. “I didn’t have time to really talk to any of my old friends about it,” Coco continued. “And posting updates on my Facebook page was pretty much the last thing on my mind.”

“Exactly, just give it time, Sweetie,” Crackle said, a comforting arm still around Coco’s shoulders. “I’m sure you’ll see a post on her timeline in another day or so explaining she was off in Orange County to say goodbye to her dying uncle or something.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Sweetie Belle conceded. “I’ve just never known her to go completely silent on social media.”

“Also, we haven’t really even talked to her since grade school,” Apple Bloom said. “If she’s out of town dealing with family stuff, she’s not gonna go out of her way to tell any of us about it.”

Sweetie nodded again. “Yeah okay, makes sense.”

It wasn’t long after that the six of them decided it was time to head out. So having paid for their sweets, the group of girls went to the exit. They bumped into two girls Chrysalis recognized from a few of her classes, Toola Roola and Coconut Cream, who also seemed to be heading out. Chrysalis wasn’t exactly friends with them, but got along with them well enough, and exchanged a nod as they stepped out the door and started going their separate ways.

“See you all online tonight?” Scootaloo asked before they did.

“Oh, forgot to mention, I’m going with my guardians to have dinner with Sunset’s family,” Chrysalis said. “I might be on later, but I dunno. Depends on how late we stay over.”

“Fair enough. I’ll teabag some extra noobs in your honor!”

Chrysalis laughed and gave her goodbyes before turning and going down the street with Apple Bloom, who rode the same bus as her.

As they walked a good distance away, Apple Bloom asked, “Hey, everything alright, Chrys?”

Puzzled, Chrysalis replied, “Yeah, why?”

“Well…I don’t really know how to say this, but…when you saw Coco, it was like you’d seen a ghost.”

Have I really become that transparent? Chrysalis could remember a time when no one could ever tell what she was thinking; even within her own hive.

“That’s…I…” Chrysalis stammered as she desperately tried to think of a way to explain what Apple Bloom had picked up on.

It wasn’t like Chrysalis could tell her the truth: that it was Coco’s counterpart from another world that had her on edge. Or more accurately, the thought of what she’d done to her. Even if she could make Apple Bloom understand that Chrysalis was from another world full of magic and ponies, she would never be able to explain that she’d captured and experimented on pony Coco Pommel’s pregnant mother to create a changeling-pony hybrid. Her friend would never look at her the same way again.

“You know, you can talk to me and the girls about, y’know, whatever’s on your mind,” Apple Bloom said, giving her a sympathetic look. “We can all tell you’ve had a rough time in the past, but that’s okay! I promise we won’t think any less of you for being honest.” A hint of a scowl then found its way across Apple Bloom’s face. “I’m not Diamond Tiara. You can trust me.”

“Right, speaking of honesty, when are you gonna tell me about what really happened between you and her anyway?”

“Fair point,” Apple Bloom said, looking away. “Forget I said anything then.”

Chrysalis’s tactic worked: Apple Bloom was no longer asking her about why she had such a strange reaction to Coco. But in doing so, Chrysalis could feel herself widening the gap of trust between them. No matter how much she tried to open up to Apple Bloom and the others, there was still so much she couldn’t tell them, which in turn made them reluctant to open up to her.

Chrysalis sighed. She couldn’t help but feel like she was damned no matter what she did.

Across the street a fair distance from the Sugar Cube Corner Cafe, a mud brown panel van sat idling. The side of the van read “S & S Pest Removal,” and featured a logo of a cockroach under a fly-swatter. Two men sat in the front seats, one with long hair and a goatee and the other with a long scar under his left eye. Silently, they watched the foot traffic on the street, paying particular attention to the groups of young girls coming out of Sugar Cube Corner.

As the girls started to disperse, the bearded man turned to the scarred man and asked, “What do you think, Sulfide? One of them?”

Studying the girls closely, like food at a buffet, the scarred man—"Sulfide”—simply said, “Yeah.”

Looking again at his partner, the bearded man shook his head. “Would it kill you to give more than one word answers every once in a while? We get it: you’re very scary!”

“Only one person gets to tell me what to do, Culpea, and it ain't you.”

Sighing, the bearded man—Culpea—started the engine and began to pull away from the curb. They couldn’t stay too long, or someone might notice. For what they were doing, they needed to be careful.

“You’re always such a joy to work with, oh brother mine,” Culpea said. The other responded with a neutral grunt.

With a start, Sable opened his eyes, momentarily forgetting where he was. He was seated at his desk in his office at the Blanks, the consistent hum of the fluorescent lights his only company. Classes had ended for the day, and Sable had sent home the students serving detention with him an hour later (at least, the ones who had even bothered to show up). After that, Sable had gone back to his office to get some work done before packing up to leave. But he’d been fighting his heavy eyelids all day, and now that he finally had a moment to himself, he decided to close them…just for a few minutes.

Checking his watch, Sable’s fears were confirmed when he saw it had been forty minutes. Sure, he’d been up all night grading the homework he hadn’t had time for earlier because he’d been too busy managing SIREN affairs (as he had been for the entire previous week), but still. Sable had been the master of power naps when he was in the Army. He’d never even needed an alarm to get him up when he needed to be. For the time to get away from him this much….

As Sable exited his office, walking briskly towards the staff entrance, he found himself crossing paths with his boss, who was either headed out himself or simply going for a smoke break.

“What are you still doing here, Sable?” Principal Sombra asked. “I thought you told me you and Celestia were seeing friends this evening.”

Rubbing his eyes, Sable allowed a sigh to escape that would have remained confined if he had been more alert. “Yeah, I just…lost track of time. Just heading out now.”

Sombra gave him a look that Sable would probably have recognized as concerned if he wasn’t so out of it. “Are you doing okay, Sable?” he asked.

“Sure, why wouldn’t I be?” Sable asked, continuing on his way down the hall.

Sombra matched his pace with him. “C’mon man, I know you well enough to know when you’re burning out.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Even if I didn’t, the rest of the staff can tell something’s up,” Sombra gave him a half grin. “Red Horse even offered to give you her unused sick days. I’ve never seen that woman give away a day off to anyone before.”

“Huh,” was all Sable could think to say. This wasn’t the first time someone had expressed concern that he was running himself ragged. Celestia had nagged him to take more breaks throughout the week, and even Chrysalis seemed to notice he wasn’t one hundred percent.

“Seriously, is there anything I can do to help?” Sombra asked as they stepped out into the faculty parking lot. “I can get a sub to cover some of your classes….”

“No. I appreciate it, Sombra. I really do, but this has nothing to do with my work here.”

Sombra nodded. “Problems at home then?”

“Things are actually going pretty well at home. Chrysalis is finally starting to open up.”

“So, what’s going on then?”

Sable realized he was going to have to give his colleague and friend something, so he added, “I’ve recently taken on another job.”

Sombra let out a good-natured laugh and asked, “What, am I not paying you enough?”

“It has nothing to do with money. It’s just…something I wanted to do.” Sable then added, “And no, it’s not something I’m at liberty to discuss.”

“Uh oh. ‘Not at liberty to discuss?’” Sombra gave him a knowing look. “I haven’t heard those words from someone since my Marine days.”

No point in hiding that much now. “I’ve been brought on as a consultant for a…special project. Can’t say much more than that.”

“Right, I understand,” Sombra said as they approached Sable’s car. “However—and I feel like a fuckin’ heel for saying this to a friend, but—I have my duties as principal to consider.” Sable had a good idea he knew where this was going. “If you keep going on like this by the time mid-year performance reviews come up, I’m going to have to say something.”

“Right, I’ll keep that in mind,” Sable said as he climbed into his car.

Sombra leaned an arm against the roof and Sable rolled down the window as he started up the engine.

“Look, whatever this second job is you’ve taken on, I highly suggest you take the time to think about whether it’s more or less important than this one,” Sombra said. “And if there’s anything I can do to help, my door’s always open.”

“Thanks, Sombra.”

“Now, you get going before you have an angry girlfriend to deal with on top of everything else!”

With that, Sombra stepped back and Sable pulled out of his spot. He was right, Sable knew. His work in SIREN was important, but so was his work at the Blanks. He’d invested so much time into the kids at the school, but it was getting more and more clear to Sable that he couldn’t go on like this; something was going to have to give.

When Chrysalis arrived home, she found Celestia on the love seat looking at her phone. Chrysalis noticed that she’d prettied herself up a little more than was usual for her at this time of the evening. Nothing too fancy, just a little bit of extra make-up, softer looking hair, and she was wearing the nice necklace that Sable had apparently gotten her for her birthday. On the table beside her was what appeared to be a paper bag containing a freshly purchased bottle of wine.

“Hey Celestia,” Chrysalis said. “I’m not too late for us to get going, am I?”

“No, but Sable might be. He just texted me that he was leaving work five minutes ago.”

Chrysalis nodded, then took another look up and down the casual but no less pretty outfit Celestia was wearing. She then looked down at her own frumpy gray sweater and jeans.

“Should I change into something nicer?” she asked.

“You’re fine.”

“No really, I could literally do it with the snap of a finger.”

Celestia smiled. “Tell you what, once we get there, if you feel underdressed, you can change right there in front of all of us.” The woman grinned. “I’m sure it might even be a topic of conversation.”

Chrysalis smiled back, remembering that this would be the first time in weeks that she could go somewhere without having to hide what she really was. That thought brought her back to what happened that afternoon, and the implications of what it meant.

“You and Twilight Velvet have been friends since you were in high school, right?” Chrysalis asked as she sat on the love seat next to Celestia.

“Before that, actually. But yes, we stayed friends throughout high school and beyond it.”

“But that doesn’t happen with most high school friendships, right?”

“It’s rare, but it happens more often than you’d think,” Celestia explained. “Velvet and I were lucky enough that our lives took us in a similar direction, and we even ended up as roommates in college.”

Chrysalis frowned as she tried to imagine what her own life would look like in four years. Would she still be in touch with Apple Bloom and the others? She recalled the way the afternoon had ended for them, and realized she strongly doubted it.

“Something happened today,” Chrysalis started.

“Oh?”

“Nothing serious.” Chrysalis then gave a mischievous smile. “I didn’t get into another fight or anything.” Then as quickly as it had come, her smile was gone. “But I ran into Coco Pommel’s counterpart today.”

“Oh.” Celestia had been there when the pony (by all outward appearances anyway) Coco Pommel had confronted her over the crime of her creation.

“Yeah, apparently she’s friends with my friends. Nice girl, but….”

“But seeing her didn’t exactly bring back very pleasant memories.”

Chrysalis nodded, and then did something that she hadn’t done since the day she had first arrived in the human world under the care of Celestia and Sable. The green flame of her magic washed over her body, and Chrysalis willed herself to return to her true form. Celestia barely flinched, but Chrysalis could tell the silent horror was still there when she looked at her—not horror at Chrysalis herself, but at what had been done to her.

Chrysalis looked down at her own mismatched forearms—her right arm normal, ending with a regular human hand, while her left arm below the shoulder was a chitinous changeling foreleg, complete with hoof and full with holes from rotting. She lifted her sweater and traced her hand along one of the many seams where human skin and changeling chitin were merged together like Frankenstein’s monster.

“When I made Coco what she is now, it never even occurred to me that I was doing to her exactly what Sombra did to me centuries before.” Chrysalis hugged herself. “She didn’t seem to think that I deserved a second chance…and I can’t say I disagree with her.”

“Everyone deserves a second chance, as long as they make a sincere effort to make the most of it. Like you are,” Celestia said, clearly wanting to hold her but holding herself back. Chrysalis knew she was just trying to be considerate of her discomfort where physical contact was concerned, but part of her couldn’t help but think she was repulsed by her.

“Maybe, but…I don’t know. If King Sombra somehow came back to life and proclaimed that he was a changed pony who’d seen the error of his ways, there’s no way I’d be able to forgive him. No matter how sincere he was.”

“And that would be well within your right. Getting a second chance isn’t the same as being forgiven by those you’ve wronged. You can have one without the other.”

“I guess you’re right, but….” Chrysalis trailed off.

“But?”

She realized that as much as she loved and trusted Celestia, she may not have been the right person to talk to about what was really bothering her about her encounter with the human Coco Pommel.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Celestia gave her a look that indicated to Chrysalis that she was going to worry about it anyway. So, Chrysalis decided to put her at ease with another first: she put an arm around Celestia (after first changing back to her preferred normal human form) and gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze.

“Thanks for the talk,” she said before getting up.

Deciding that she was going to change into something a little nicer after all (the human way, not the changeling way), Chrysalis went to the bathroom first to get in a shower. She felt like she needed one after exposing her monstrous true form. As she did, she thought about what she was going to say when they arrived at the Light household that evening. Celestia may not be the right person with whom to talk about what was on her mind, but she could think of one or two who would be perfect.

As she entered the bathroom, Chrysalis caught a glance of herself in the mirror and noticed part of her forehead where her horn would have protruded still showed a bit of black changeling chitin. That’s weird…. She’d never had a piece of her true form linger after a transformation before. It took her less than a moment to correct her appearance, but she found that it took a great deal more effort than usual. It was like she had to fight her own body to stay in her regular human form.

What was more, she had this inexplicable, insane feeling that her reflection was watching her, even as she turned her back to the mirror to enter the shower.

As the three of them drove up to the Light family’s mansion, Chrysalis noticed that like her school, it was decorated for the holiday. Fake bats and spiderwebs hung all around the outside and carved pumpkins with grinning faces lined the front porch. Most amusingly, a dummy witch was attached to the tree in front of the house, creating the appearance that she crashed face first while flying her broom.

They rang the doorbell, and Twilight Velvet greeted Celestia at the door with a warm smile and a hug. Just watching them, Chrysalis could almost see the years of friendship binding them together. Velvet greeted Sable next, and then turned to Chrysalis.

“You holding up alright?” she asked.

“I’m alright, yeah.” Chrysalis wondered if Velvet entirely believed her. Even without the ability to taste emotions, some humans always seemed to know what others were feeling, and Velvet was one of the best at it. As a child psychologist, she quite literally made a career out of it.

But she only smiled and said, “The triplets are still training with Mr. Clyde, but the rest of the girls are all with Spike in the rec room playing games.”

Instinctively, Chrysalis looked to Celestia for approval—an unnecessary gesture, but Celestia gave her an encouraging smile and a nod all the same. So, remembering where the recreation room was from the previous times she’d been here, Chrysalis headed that way without delay. She heard the sound of enthusiastic shouting accompanied by the busy sound effects of a video game as she got closer and entered the rec room to find four siblings on the couch playing some kind of colorful kart racing game.

“Always with the blue shells, huh Sunny?” a boy’s voice—Spike, Chrysalis recalled—moaned.

Beside him on the couch, Sunset’s response was to stick her tongue out before immediately exclaiming, “Wait, shit!” as the brief moment with her eyes off the screen caused her digital kart to drive straight off a cliff. Also on the couch were the other two siblings of the ridiculously large family: Twilight Sparkle and Octavia Melody. Of all of them, only Spike and Twilight were siblings by blood. As Chrysalis understood it, Octavia was a cousin who’d lived with them for so long she might as well have been a sibling, and Sunset Shimmer had been officially adopted relatively recently.

Not wanting to interrupt, Chrysalis waited until they had finished their race before making her presence known with a casual, “Hey.”

Twilight nearly jumped straight off the couch in surprise while Sunset just gave a casual, “Hey Chrys.” Had she known she was there the whole time?

“How long have you been standing there? You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Twilight, on the other hand, was definitely not so aware.

Spike barely even looked at her as he greeted her, already picking his kart and character for the next race. Of all of them, Octavia was the one who actually got up and went over to give her a hug. “Good to see you, Chrys.”

The hug didn’t carry the weight of years of friendship like Celestia and Velvet’s had earlier, but there was definitely a certain closeness to it: Chrysalis didn’t subconsciously recoil from the touch, at the very least.

Chrysalis’s friendship with Octavia was an odd one, to say the least. It was hard to believe that little more than a month ago, Chrysalis’s main goal had been to kill the girl now tenderly embracing her. The only crime Octavia had been guilty of was the misfortune of carrying the bloodline of King Sombra. At the time, Chrysalis thought that was enough to warrant her death, if only to sate her need for revenge on the tyrant himself—something she never had the chance to take. It had been another of Sombra’s misfortunate descendants in Equestria who had taught her that revenge—especially by proxy—simply wasn’t worth it.

Friendship with Octavia had other baggage, of course. The raven-haired girl was almost the spitting image of her ancestor, Musica Allegra. Well, as a human anyway, which was exactly how the earth pony musician had spent the rest of her life after escaping King Sombra’s clutches. Seeing Octavia was always a bittersweet reminder that Chrysalis’s dear friend from that dark time had lived a full life after escaping from King Sombra, even if it meant they’d never see each other again.

Chrysalis felt lucky that Octavia had chosen to forgive her, both for her misguided attempt to take her life in vengeance, as well as for the role Chrysalis had played in robbing Octavia of her humanity…or half of it, anyway.

“How are the, uh…y’know…?” Chrysalis stammered.

“The legs?” Octavia asked. She then held up her hand and removed the ring on her finger, causing the illusory magic it generated to fade away.

Chrysalis looked down at Octavia’s legs, seeing the gray coat of pony fur and unshorn fetlocks over hooves, with the long horse tail of raven black hair dangling behind them. She forced herself to pull her eyes back to Octavia’s still human face, with which the half shape-shifted girl tried to smile.

“They’re pretty easy to walk with now,” she said. “Sometimes I actually forget this is what they really look like.”

Chrysalis tried to smile back but couldn’t quite manage, and she found her eyes drifting back down to the pair of pony legs. “I’m sor—"

“No. None of that!” Octavia said, lifting Chrysalis’s chin so her gaze met her human eyes again. “I told you I don’t blame you for what happened anymore. Melody is the one who’s to blame for this, and she’s gone now.”

Chrysalis knew she was right, of course. The entity in question was now confined to the Alicorn Amulet, which was itself buried deep underground in a remote part of Equestria. Neither would hurt anyone else ever again.

“So,” Octavia said, putting her enchanted ring back on, returning her lower body to normal human legs. “Let’s forget about all this and just try to have fun tonight, okay?”

Nodding in agreement, Chrysalis followed Octavia back to the couch, where the others had already started another race. As Chrysalis sat down, Sunset gave her a barely perceptible nod—it seemed likely that Sunset was the one to keep the game going in their absence, for the sole reason of allowing Chrysalis and Octavia to have their moment in relative privacy.

“Here,” Octavia said, handing Chrysalis a game controller. “You can take my spot in the next race. I’m trash at Mario Kart!”

After a number of friendly virtual kart races, Twilight Velvet summoned her children to help her set the table, slice the bread, and make whatever other preparations were necessary for dinner. When Chrysalis asked if there was something she could do, Velvet’s answer was simply to relax: Guests were under no circumstances to toil in the kitchen. So Chrysalis wandered over to the living room where Celestia and Sable were seated, talking with a pair of familiar faces.

“Hello, Chrysalis,” greeted the young woman with gold-streaked rose and violet hair. The man with two-toned blue hair beside her greeted Chrysalis with a nod.

Today has just been full of painful doppelgangers, Chrysalis thought. Unlike with Coco, however, Chrysalis had been expecting to see Cadance and Shining Armor. The latter was Twilight Velvet’s first born, after all, and the former his fiancée. Still, being ready didn’t ease the conflicting emotions she felt when she looked at their faces. Their pony counterparts were among her most hated enemies, but the things she had done to them were unforgivable.

“School treating you alright?” Shining asked.

“It’s okay,” Chrysalis said casually as she grabbed a cracker from the plate that had been set out and took a bite.

“You have a boyfriend yet?” Cadance asked with a mischievous smile.

Chrysalis suddenly and inexplicably found herself choking on the aforementioned cracker. After a moment or two of coughing and sputtering, she managed to clear her throat enough to reply, “W-whah?”

“Just saying. A gorgeous girl like you must have guys lining up for miles around.”

“Well…” Chrysalis started. Admittedly, there was some truth to what Cadance said. Chrysalis had certainly picked up on a number of feelings of attraction directed towards her over the course of the past two weeks. Though, no one had exactly approached her, and Chrysalis didn’t know what she would do if they did. Her experience when it came to matters of love was…complicated, for reasons in part pertaining to the counterparts to the very couple she was now talking to.

“I think Chrys has other priorities since starting school,” Celestia said.

“Exactly, dating hasn’t really been on my mind,” Chrysalis said, which was only half true. Every once in a while, when she’d have the strange yet pleasant dream of that handsome unicorn knight, she’d wake up thinking how nice it would be if she had someone like that. After that reality would set in, and she’d accept that it wasn’t in the cards. Not for a long time, anyway.

“Of course, I was only teasing. I’m sure it’s been difficult enough just adjusting to your new life here,” Cadance said, her mischievous tone giving way to one more empathetic. “And on that note, I wanted to tell you that you can always reach out to me if you need to talk. About anything.” She gave a nod and a smile to Celestia as she said, “Tia’s always been a great aunt to me, so I want to do my best to be a great cousin to you, okay?”

Returning the smile, Chrysalis said, “I’ll keep that in mind. I have your number.”

It was always nice to know she had one more person in her corner, but it was just a little weird that it was her. It was still hard for Chrysalis to process a version of Cadance who looked at her with kindness rather than fury, but that seemed to be the pattern of her new life.

She chatted with the four of them for another ten minutes before Velvet called everyone to the dining room for dinner. The dining room table was large, befitting a mansion this size, but it still seemed crowded. In addition to herself and her guardians, Chrysalis counted Shining and Cadance, Velvet and Night, their other four children, and the triplets (who having just returned from a workout, looked exhausted). Even their trainer, a big dark-skinned man named Troubleshoes, joined them for dinner.

The food was delicious, and the company even more so. Chrysalis had never quite tasted anything like the love shared between the family around her. It was a delicate mix of the sugary sweetness of familial love mixed in with the bittersweetness of bonds formed between soldiers who have been through hell together. This family and those around them had seen a lot and were all the closer for it. Such a unique blend of emotions, and what was more, Chrysalis was a part of it. Not feeding on it under the guise of another as she used to do, but actively sharing in it as herself.

The family talked about the happenings of their lives, current events, music and pop culture, and occasionally someone would ask Chrysalis about her own life. She was happy to answer, but mostly she was content to simply listen quietly and take everything in. Even when the topic of conversation ventured to the peculiarities of transdimensional escapades.

“Probably the weirdest thing I learned since coming to this world was human mythology about unicorns,” Sunset said, answering a question posed by Troubleshoes. “I laughed pretty hard when I read the part about only virgins being able to see them.”

With an impish chuckle, Twilight looked between all the adults at the table and asked, “Just checking, but you all can see her, right? It’s not just me?”

The whole table shared a good laugh about that, and Sunset said, “Seriously though, whoever thought up the ‘pure, virginal’ image of a unicorn has definitely never actually met one. I’m probably the least pure and innocent out of all of you!”

“Oh, you sweet summer child,” Celestia said, taking a sip of her wine. “Velvet and I probably have you beaten in that category by a long shot.”

Interestingly, both Twilight and Sonata nodded with a look in their eyes that indicated to Chrysalis they knew more than they probably wanted to. Chrysalis paid it no mind, though. She had just been issued a challenge and would not let it go unanswered.

So taking a sip of her cola, Chrysalis drew on something she’d read on the internet and replied, “Hold my beer.”

The rest of the table laughed, and Celestia gave her a “disapproving mom” look. “Hold your what now, young lady?”

“It’s just a meme, Ms. Celestia,” Spike explained. “I don’t think she’s actually had beer before.” He then gave Chrysalis a quizzical look. “Uh…have you?”

“I’m centuries old. Of course I’ve had alcohol before,” Chrysalis said, looking at Celestia. Her disapproving glare was slipping away, but Chrysalis decided to placate it anyway. “Don’t worry, it was a long time ago and I don’t think I’ll be drinking again for a long time yet.”

“Damn right you’re not,” Celestia said.

Velvet however, only grinned. “Is it bad that I kind of want to know the story behind that?”

“It was like, eight centuries ago, so I don’t really remember all the details,” Chrysalis explained, doing her best to recall the memory. “I was personally infiltrating some duke’s castle—I forget why—disguised as some noblemare he’d been courting. He offered me some sparkling wine, and I actually liked it enough to procure a stockpile of it for my chambers in the hive. Well, one night after a rather embarrassing defeat I indulged in a little too much.”

“Blacked out?” Sable asked.

“No, but I was intoxicated enough that I pretty seriously embarrassed myself in front of my changelings…or I would have, if any of them remembered that night either.”

“Oh my God…” Sunset gasped, covering her mouth with her hand to hold back the snickers as she likely realized where this story was going.

“I woke up the next morning with a pretty killer headache…and had to babysit an entire hive of drunk changelings.”

At that, Sunset couldn’t contain her laughter any more as the rest of the table just looked on confused.

“So…what? Did your changelings raid your liquor supply while you were passed out?” Troubleshoes asked.

“Nope. They hadn’t had a drop!”

Confused, everyone looked from Chrysalis to Sunset, assuming that her cackling could only mean that she understood exactly what was happening.

“Sorry…I’m sorry…” Sunset wheezed as she caught her breath. “Chrysalis doesn’t know it, but she just put to rest a scientific debate that’s been ongoing among unicorn scholars for centuries! I always thought the only way the scientific community would ever find an answer to it would be if they got to experiment on a live changeling queen. Instead, one just confirmed it over dinner!”

Sunset started laughing again. His own curiosity evidently piqued, Night Light leaned forward. “Well, I wasn’t expecting to be present for a brand-new scientific breakthrough tonight, but I’m excited to hear about it. What area of study are we closing the book on?”

Clearing her throat, Sunset said in the most scholarly voice she could muster, “The effects of mind-altering substances on the changeling hive mind. Or, whether a changeling queen can get her entire hive drunk off their asses just by drinking alone!”

That explanation was met with laughter and further confusion in equal parts across the table. As a part of the latter category, Adagio just sighed and said, “So, what’s for dessert?”

The answer to her question turned out to be a cherry pie. Once all was done and it was time to clean up, Chrysalis left the table feeling more full than she had in a very long time.

As everyone started wandering away from the dinner table, either to clean up or—in the case of those who had prepared the dinner—sit down for a much-needed rest, Sable figured he’d volunteer himself to assist with the clean-up. Chrysalis offered to help, as did the triplets, Cadance, Shining and Troubleshoes, and together they made short work of the dishes before Chrysalis went off to hang out with the other kids. The triplets made to do the same before Troubleshoes stopped them.

“And where do you three think you’re going?” he asked sternly.

“Going to relax for the evening?” Aria answered, but Troubleshoes shook his head.

“Nope, you’re going back to the bunker to run the obstacle course.”

“After we just ate?” Sonata asked. “I’ve got the biggest food baby in me right now, and I will not be keeping it down if I have to run some more!”

“You think the enemy will care about your damn food baby, Cmdr. Dusk? Ten laps around the obstacle course, double time!”

“Aye!” The triplets nodded and set out to their task. Sable noted the absence of the spring in their step that they had after dinner.

“Are you both going down to supervise them?” Shining Armor asked. Sable and Troubleshoes nodded and Shining asked, “Mind if I join you?”

“Looking to poach them for the FBI?” Troubleshoes joked.

Concerningly, Shining Armor didn’t return any of the mirth. “I need to discuss something with you both, and I figure the bunker is the most secure place to do so.”

Sable and Troubleshoes exchanged a look. So, this was a serious “business” talk then, both silently acknowledged.

“Sure, no problem,” Sable said, leading the way to the hidden elevator leading down to the underground bunker that was SIREN’s headquarters and training facility.

Sable had a bad feeling that whatever Shining wanted to discuss with them, it was going to cause him a headache for the foreseeable future. Perhaps Troubleshoes’s old mercenary “friend” had decided to rear his ugly mug. And then Shining told them the situation, and Sable’s heart sank when he realized that Troubleshoes wasn’t the one he needed to worry about.

In lieu of more video games, Chrysalis and the other kids ended up playing one of the board games in the rec room at Twilight’s suggestion. Spike posited that this was because Twilight was terrible at video games, to which Twilight responded by tightly pinching the boy’s earlobe. Now, they were about forty minutes into a game of Monopoly, which Chrysalis had picked up rather quickly. She commanded a modest empire that included a monopoly of green properties (complete with little green houses), two railroads, and a small handful of other properties. Among those properties was Boardwalk, which was coveted by Spike, himself in possession of Park Place. A sinister grin formed across Chrysalis’s face as her turn came and she enacted her plan.

“Spike. You know what I want,” Chrysalis said, holding up her Boardwalk card. “Illinois and Atlantic Avenue.”

Spike looked from the dark blue card in her hand to the red and yellow properties in question sitting in his own deck, practically unused. Chrysalis had the rest of each of the like-colored properties in her possession already. Unfathomable power lay just within her grasp, and Chrysalis uttered an evil chuckle.

Twilight then leaned over to Spike and deadpanned, “As your attorney, I advise against this deal.” She had been saying that throughout the game to everyone who was—in her eyes—about to enter into a bad deal.

So, to help sweeten hers, Chrysalis added, “In addition to Boardwalk, I will also let you stay for free at any one of my properties for the next three turns!”

His desire for Boardwalk ultimately winning over, Spike turned to Twilight and said, “I waive my right to legal representation!” and handed over his two properties.

Chrysalis wasn’t sure whether the stunned look on Twilight’s face was because Spike actually took Chrysalis’s deal, or whether it was shock at her kid brother’s surprisingly sophisticated vocabulary. It mattered little to Chrysalis either way as she happily turned over Boardwalk to the child before setting up more little green houses along the two new monopolies she had gained.

“The deal is complete!” Octavia announced in a comically deep dramatic voice, having opted out of actually playing to assume the role of the banker. She cited “Twilight related trauma” as her reason why she didn’t enjoy playing Monopoly anymore, but she seemed to be having fun hamming it up as the banker.

“Well Spike, I hope you’re happy,” Twilight said. “You just gave Chrysalis control of that entire half of the board!”

Holding the two most expensive properties in the game, Spike simply said, “I have no regrets.”

But as Chrysalis predicted, focusing all of his resources on acquiring and building up those properties was his undoing, as the other players managed to avoid landing on them with ease. What was more, he ended up wasting the three turns of free stays Chrysalis had given him by ending up in jail, only to land on Illinois (now with a hotel!) after getting out.

The game went on for another hour, as Spike and Sunset (who had barely one monopoly to her name) went bankrupt. Then it was a fierce war between the Chrysalis Empire and the Twilight Sparkle Dynasty. It was a close battle, and Chrysalis had been worried when she had to foreclose on a number of her properties, but in the end Twilight conceded defeat.

“Wow, I think you just broke a ten-year winning streak, Chrys,” Twilight said. “Well done!”

“Her reign of terror is finally over!” Octavia exclaimed, and Spike laughed.

As they cleaned up and put away the game, Sunset said, “You know, you’ve really impressed me, Chrys.”

With a shrug, Chrysalis said. “What can I say? I’ve always been good at conducting business ruthlessly.”

Sunset laughed and said, “I’m not talking about the game. You’ve grown a lot in the three weeks you’ve been living in this world.”

Chrysalis was taken aback. “You think so?”

“Mmhmm. You’re like a whole new person. The scared, broken girl who first came through the portal with us is a distant memory.”

Chrysalis nodded. “I have to admit, ever since I befriended Apple Bloom and the others, I’ve felt…different. I think…this is the first time I’ve ever felt comfortable with myself. Even tonight…just being around all of you has made me feel like…like ‘Chrysalis the normal highschool girl’ isn’t just another disguise I wear.”

With a radiant smile, Sunset said, “Good. I’m glad!”

Then Chrysalis thought of her encounter earlier that day and remembered that there was still an issue where that was concerned.

“Actually, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you all night. I just couldn’t find a good time to ask it,” she said.

“Okay. Shoot.”

Chrysalis looked from Sunset to the others before asking, “Have your friends and family always known the truth about what you really are?”

“My main group of friends at Canterlot High have known ever since they became my friends,” Sunset said. “Before that, they weren’t exactly my friends. They were more like….”

“Acquaintances?” Chrysalis asked.

“More like victims,” Sunset said, and when Chrysalis raised a brow, she added, “Hey, I told you I used to be a real tyrant.”

“Right. And what about your family?”

“That situation’s…a bit more complicated.” Sunset then looked over at her siblings. “Right, Twily?”

With a smile that came with bittersweet emotions, Twilight said, “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

Seeing Chrysalis’s inquisitive expression, Sunset explained, “After I realized I had a home here, I became terrified that I’d lose it if they knew the truth about me. So, I kept hiding my past from them…even as it made things between us worse.”

Nodding, Twilight said with a sad frown, “I…said some things then that I wish I could take back. If we hadn’t gotten drawn into that maniac’s scheme for world domination, I…don’t think our relationship would have recovered.”

Sunset immediately wrapped her arms around her sister and said, “Of course it would have. I love you too much to let you go and I think even then, you did too.”

Twilight just nodded and hugged her back, while Chrysalis rubbed her chin in thought.

“So, keeping your past a secret really hurt your relationship at the time, huh?” Chrysalis sighed. “That doesn’t bode well.”

Understanding came across Sunset’s face. “You’re afraid the same thing will happen between you and your new friends?”

Chrysalis nodded. “I can already feel the gulf between us because of it.” She then looked from Sunset holding Twilight to Octavia and Spike. She thought of the triplets, training tirelessly to protect Sunset even now, and the other girls she hung out with at school.

Chrysalis was surprised when her eyes began to tear up as she said, “I’m so tired of feeling isolated. I want…I want what you have, Sunset. But I also like being ‘Chrysalis the normal highschool girl’.” Feeling completely lost, Chrysalis looked into Sunset’s teal eyes and asked, “If you were me, what would you do?”

“Honestly, Chrys? I don’t think the two have to be mutually exclusive,” Sunset said. “You can just be ‘Chrysalis the normal highschool girl’ and still have friends you’re close with.”

“Exactly,” Twilight added. “With the benefit of hindsight, I realized that I was wrong to resent Sunny for not telling us everything about her past. All things considered; she had some pretty damn good reasons not to.”

“And if I may add…” Octavia said, stepping closer. “Everyone has shit in their past they don’t like to talk about. But that’s okay! Because the people who really care about you will understand that, I think.”

With a smile, Sunset let go of Twilight to put an arm around Tavi. “When did you two get to be so wise?”

“I learned by watching you!” Twilight exclaimed melodramatically, eliciting chuckles from the other girls.

Chrysalis thought about what each of them said. Octavia was right: it wasn’t just Chrysalis who was keeping secrets from the others. Apple Bloom’s apparent history with Diamond Tiara remained a mystery to her, and Chrysalis certainly didn’t feel like she was any less close to her for it. They’d only been friends for one week, after all. There was still time to learn more about each other, and even if that wasn’t in the cards, Sunset and Twilight were right too: they could still be friends without knowing every little thing about each other.

Still…. “I think I’d like to tell them about what I really am someday,” Chrysalis said. “But not any time soon.”

“That actually sounds reasonable,” Sunset said. “Their sisters are all part of my inner circle. I suppose it was only a matter of time before they learned about all of this stuff anyway. Tell you what, let me know whenever you’re ready to tell them, and we’ll work on a strategy together, okay?”

With a smile, Chrysalis said, “Okay,” and then tentatively stepped forward to embrace her. “Thanks, Sunset. All of you.” She looked at them all with a smile. “This talk really made me feel better.”

Twilight then asked Chrysalis if she wanted to see her new telescope, and together the group of them all went out to the backyard, where they spent the remainder of the night talking and laughing as they looked up at the stars. Chrysalis couldn’t remember the last time she’d ever felt this content and, dare she say it, happy.

But all good things must come to an end, and eventually Celestia came out to tell Chrysalis it was time to go home. Somewhat disappointed, Chrysalis went with Celestia to the front door, where she said goodbye to Sunset and the others. Shining Armor and Cadance were going too, and Chrysalis saw Sable shake hands with Shining before the latter departed.

“I’ll do what I can to keep you posted on the...situation, but I can’t make any promises,” Shining said in a voice low enough Chrysalis wondered if she was even supposed to be hearing it.

“I appreciate it, Shining,” Sable replied before rejoining Chrysalis and Celestia (who was herself hugging Velvet goodbye).

“What were you talking to Shining about, Sable?” Chrysalis asked as they were getting into the car.

There was slight hesitation before Sable answered, “Nothing you need to be concerned about, Chrys.”

But whatever it was, it had Sable very concerned. Chrysalis could taste it.

Author's Note:

A bit of a slower chapter, but the next one will be a bit more exciting. On that topic, I'm making some good progress on the next chapter, so hopefully I'll get to release it in the usual 2 week timeframe.

Hope you're ready for Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeen

Comments

[Darkstory]

Chrysalis can probably have the best costumes every created with her power.

[Starcat5]

Hope you're ready for Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeen

My birthday is October 30th. I'm ready for Halloween all year round! Especially with my "Grim Reaper on a Harley" statue and "Fanged Unicorn" snow globe. Granted, my apartment's "Goth" aesthetic has taken a hit over the last decade due to an influx of Pretty Pastel Ponies, but the point still stands,