Changeling for the better
“A camera, you say?” Chrysalis said. She tilted her head in wonder at the object in front of her. Her face closed in at the center of the screen as she did. “It looks so different from what I’m used to. But you’d be a fool if you think you can make me strike a pose for this documentation!” She looked away and huffed.
“We’re recording, not taking pictures.”
Chrysalis’s ears perked. “What’s that? Recording? I don’t understand. Where’s your quill and parchment?”
“We’re recording a video.”
“Video.” Chrysalis’s eyes narrowed, a look of confusion in her face. “And what’s that supposed to be?”
“They’re moving pictures with sound.”
“That’s impossible.”
THE EQUESTRIAN DOCUMENTARY BOARD PRESENTS
REFORMED: THE WRIGHT WAY
Villain
-A wicked or evil individual, somepony who does evil deliberately.
Equestria had its fair share of villains throughout the years. They either attack its populace, or the things they believe in, or both. Battles have been fought all over the nation in an attempt to put their schemes to a halt. Equestria’s finest saviors struggled to take them down, but the end has always been the same. The heroes win and the villains lose.
There’s usually two ways a typical villain would go down: it’s either they’re defeated and slowly reformed or be defeated…for good. Our focus in this documentary will be on the former. Princess Twilight, the founder of this program strongly believes that a villain, no matter how irredeemable they may appear, can be reformed. If the Avatar of Chaos himself can change for the better, then the others can too.
But for this program to work, its methods should be tested and refined first. Akin to the phrase ‘one must walk before they can run,’ the methods in this reformation process must undergo a series of trials before becoming official. And this is where Chrysalis comes in. She was freed from her petrification to work in perfecting the program’s methods, while slowly being reformed herself. All of this will be done under the careful watch of one of Princess Twilight’s proteges. Meticulously hoofpicked by the Princess herself for this project, Wright Conduct will be in charge of the entire program from start to finish.
This is their story…
The clip cut to a unicorn stallion of average build, pale yellow coat, and topped with a neatly groomed auburn spiky mane. A pair of black framed glasses adorned his eyes while a large smile never left his face. He wore a white office shirt with a blue striped tie to match.
“Hi! I’m Wright Conduct!” He gave a small wave to the camera.“I’m Princess Sparkle’s protege and the reformer to Queen Chrysalis’s reformee. Let me just say that I am honored to be assigned to this program. And I will literally do my best to make this project a success and make the Princess proud.”
The clip then switched back to Chrysalis, who now donned an annoyed look. “Introductions? Really? Fine.” She sighed. “Let’s get this over with. I am Queen Chrysalis.” She stared at the camera intensely. “I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, Hive Mother of Thousands, Commander of the Equestrian Swarm Legion, and Invader of Canterlot. Need I say more? I still have plenty of titles unmentioned. Like the Tamer of the Barrens, Breaker of Royal Homes, the Bane of Glimmers, And Enjoyer of Luncheon!”
There was brief silence after Chrysalis said the last title.
“The last one doesn’t count.” She corrected. “I’m just hungry. I’m not me when I’m hungry.”
“The process of reformation is long and exhausting.” Wright said, standing in front of a large window with its blinds closed. Muffled sounds from the outside could be heard. “It requires a place that’s peaceful and has a supportive community. And considering that Queen Chrysalis is our current reformee, it would be best if we conducted her reformation that fits the criteria I mentioned and be also in a place where nopony knows her. This is why I picked this area as our center...”
He opened the blinds of the window behind him, revealing a vast concrete jungle bustling with activity. The sounds of hoofsteps could be heard everywhere, carriages filled the streets, and dozens of pegasi were flying around the buildings.
“In a quaint little place called Manehattan.”
“We are situated in Skip Bay.” Wright’s voice said, while a clip of a two story building centered itself in the screen. It’s slightly weathered, but its large glass windows reflected its surroundings like still water. “We’re living in a refurbished building. It used to be a dance studio but now it’s for reforming ex-villains.”
The clip cut back to Wright, who was standing in the middle of a hallway full of closed doors. “We have five bedrooms here, two currently in use. Hopefully, if this project turns out to be a success, all of those rooms will be occupied in the future. It’s gonna be great!”
“This is my room.” Chrysalis said, pointing her hoof in front of a door that has a brass tag labeled ‘W. Conduct.’ She pulled on the doorknob in an attempt to open it. It made a clicking sound. It’s unlocked. Chrysalis looked back at the camera, clearly surprised. But that expression was immediately replaced with a mischievous grin. She entered the room and gestured for the camera to follow her as well.
“And this is my bed.” Chrysalis said while pointing at the bed on the left side of the room that took up almost half its space. “It’s a queen size bed of course, which is fitting for me.” She playfully hopped on the bed and lied on it, all the while stretching her legs. “My legs still go over the bed, though. I wonder what size Celestia has. I might look it up later.” The last part was muttered under her breath.
She rolled over the bed and saw something that caught her attention. “Oh my! And here’s my Princess Twilight themed pillow.” She picked it up and showed it to the camera front and center. “You can see her cutie mark on both sides.” She turned the pillow a few times for the camera to record it.
“And look,” Chrysalis said as she got up, hoof pointed at a lamp that has its shade filled with the patterns of Princess Twilight’s cutie mark. “There’s my Twilight themed lamp.” She said as she switched it on. The lamp emitted a soft glow. And due to the patterns on its shade, the room was filled with shadowy star shaped silhouettes. “As you can see, it has little star patterns on it that creates interesting shadows when switched on.”
Chrysalis got off the bed and trotted towards the right side of the room. “And this is my Twilight themed calendar,” she pointed at the rather large chart, sandwiched between posters of Equestria’s nerdiest princess. The date only took a third of its portion while the rest was dedicated for the highly detailed painting of Twilight Sparkle, resting on her forelegs while smiling at the reader. “And apparently it’s filled with memos using…” She raised one of the calendar’s pages. “Twilight themed sticky notes!? By Jove, how many Twilight themed merchandise does this stallion have!?”
There was an awkward pause when she looked at the camera.
“I, uh, I mean,” She plucked a note with her magic and read its contents.
“Thursday: buy new Princess Twilight themed pen case!? This amount of dedication towards somepony is making me jea-hurl! I mean hurl!” Chrysalis made an annoyed tongue click. “Let’s get out of here.”
Wright was standing outside his room, an awkward look carved on his face.
“She showed you my room, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“So you saw all of it?”
“Yes.”
“So you saw the pillows, the lamp, the calendar, my thirty page sketchbook all stuffed with drawings of me and Princess Twilight doing paperwork and other bureaucratic activities together? All of it?”
“Not the last one.”
“I see.” Wright slowly planted a hoof on his face. “I just made things worse, didn’t I?”
“As a villain undergoing the process of reformation,” Wright said while jogging up a flight of stairs. “We strongly encourage them to go outside and build up an active social life. Plus, the magic of friendship is very effective in bringing villains over to the good side. I heard that Queen Chrysalis and Mr. Discord are going to meet with each other today. I’m so excited about it!”
When Wright and the camera reached the end of the stairs, they were welcomed with the view of a rooftop bistro. The place was small, but smaller was the number of its customers, not below ten but also not exceeding a dozen. Chrysalis was sitting at a table farthest from the bistro’s counter.
“We’re at the Cityhead Bistro right now.” Wright said, which opted the camera to focus back on him. “Queen Chrysalis said that she will meet Mr. Discord after this. I literally can’t wait! Now excuse me while I go order our food.”
“I like lunch.” Chrysalis said while playing with the empty glass of water on the table, idly pushing it back and forth like a rolling pin. “Lunch is the only meal time that isn’t represented by any of Equestria’s horse rulers. It is a fact about me that I wanted to be publicly known. It’s my own small way of rebelling to the royals without breaking any of their pesky rules.”
A couple minutes later, after Wright has taken a seat at the table where Chrysalis was sitting, the waitress arrived with their food.
“Enjoy your meal!” The waitress said as quickly as she left.
Chrysalis glared at the other customers who were quietly looking at her. They immediately turned away after realizing that the Changeling Queen herself was looking back.
“They’re staring at me again.” Chrysalis flatly stated.
Wright smiled sincerely at her. “Of course they are. You are beautiful, after all.”
“Shut up.” Chrysalis shyly avoided his gaze. “That’s enough pandering coming from you today.”
“I’m telling the truth. You are, beautiful.” Wright added, not once did his smile falter.
“My horn’s all charged up for a magical blast.”
“Indeed it is.”
“Whatever. I’m transforming.”
Wright’s smile faded a little. “Please don’t.”
The video cut to Wright leaning at the rooftop’s wall.
“I’ve been trying to get Queen Chrysalis to be comfortable with her true self in public. Of course, it’s a big thing to ask of her. That’s why we have to start small. I selected this bistro because it’s a hidden gem in Skip Bay. Very few ponies patronize this place even on lunch break hours. This will be a great starting point for her!”
“And what’s stopping me from doing it?” Chrysalis grinned, her body slowly flaring up with green fire.
“I’ll call you by that cute nickname again.” Wright grinned back, although his lacked the mischievous intent that Chrysalis’s had.
The green fire that engulfed Chrysalis’s body instantly stopped burning. Her grin turned to serious worry. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh I’m serious.” Wright replied, while he gestured on his face. “Can’t you see that I’m putting on a serious look?”
“It’s still the same positive looking mug you have mere moments ago!”
“Well, I am positively serious.” Wright gave a small shrug.
“And frustratingly infuriating.”
Wright chuckled at her remark. “I like that one. Excuse me!” He signaled at the waitress while raising his glass. “Can I get some ice please? My tall glass of water needs chilling.”
“Did you just mock me out loud?” Chrysalis said in a threatening manner. Her already dark complexion further darkened. She was seething all of a sudden.
Wright replied with an innocently dumb smile. “I did?”
The clip cut to the same place Wright stood earlier. Once more, he was leaning at the rooftop’s wall but now he’s pressing his glass of water (now with ice) to his swollen red cheek.
“I totally forgot about that colloquial term.” He let out a hearty laugh. But it was abruptly stopped due to the pain in his cheek, which also caused him to wince. “While Queen Chrysalis is on her way to meet Mr. Discord, I’m going back to the center to do some paperwork.” He raised his glass as if he was doing a toast. “Here’s to hoping it’ll go smoothly!”
“Two caramel macchiatos, coming right up!” The waitress gave a small smile before leaving.
Chrysalis and Discord were at a coffee shop. They were sitting in an outdoor table. Chrysalis had the ‘bored’ look plastered all over her face, while Discord was curiously looking at the drinks of other customers with a monocle that he materialized out of thin air.
“Honestly,” Discord began, breaking the awkward silence between the two of them. “I don’t know why ponies have these handles on their cups. It’s not like they even have hands to use it with. Worldbuilding error, perhaps?”
“Get to the point, you hybrid gnat.” Chrysalis replied with an annoyed tone. “What is the reason you brought me here? In this place!? Sitting outside of this, this…”
“Coffee shop?”
“Shut up, I know that. Tell me now as I have other things to do!”
“Uhuh.” Discord said, disbelief apparent in his voice. “Our dear Princess Twilight sent me to check up on you.”
Chrysalis blew a stray strand of hair off her face. “What a lovely waste of time you are.”
“She also asked me to give you this.” A trinket suddenly popped out in the middle of the table, accompanied with a small puff of smoke. The camera zoomed in on the trinket. It’s a small purple gemstone encased in gold.
Chrysalis looked down at the gem and went ballistic. “Did that mare had the audacity to to think that I’ll forgive her if she bribes me with jewelry!?”
“Actually, it’s a magical device.” Discord replied, unimpressed by the Queen’s sudden change in mood.
“Magical devi-for what?” Chrysalis said, she appeared to calm down a bit.
“Obviously, you being cooped up in that hive for quite a long time has made you lost touch with modern pony society. ”
“Preposterous!” Chrysalis slammed both forelegs on the table, causing the trinket to bounce. “I, Chrysalis, am the Queen of Changelings and the greatest agent of espionage there is! Of course I’m well versed in Equestrian Culture!”
“You know, exclaiming your title like that proudly in public is kind of old-fashioned.”
“Silence, fool. Now tell me what it does.”
“It’s a word gem. It acts like a voice operated dictionary. Now check this out.” Discord gestured for Chrysalis to look closer. He did the same for the camera too.
“Word gem.”
The gemstone lit up.
“Define Discord.”
“Discord.” The gemstone said. Its voice sounded familiar.
Chrysalis groaned in disgust. “It sounds like that dork, Twilight Sparkle.”
“It is.” Discord confirmed. “She voiced all the audio in it.”
“Strife resulting from a lack of agreement.” The word gem continued. “For Discord the Draconequus, please say Discord with a capital ‘D.’”
After giving the definition of the word being asked, the light coming from the gem disappeared, as if it turned itself off.
“Here comes the best part.” Discord looked very eager when he said it. “Word gem.” The trinket lit up again. “Define Discord with big ‘D’.”
Chrysalis could only roll her eyes at his antics.
“Discord, the most powerful being to ever exist, and Equestria’s number one savior.”
“I wrote that entry myself.”
“Gah!” Chrysalis cried out, clearly annoyed. “This is humiliating! I will not let myself be belittled like this! Curse that royal egghead for giving me such stupid trinket!”
“Now, now, with the tantrums.” Discord replied in a condescending tone, which only infuriated Chrysalis more. “At least try it first. It grew on me. Who knows? It might grow on you too.”
“Fine!” Chrysalis relented. She slid the gemstone closer to her. “But only because Wright wanted me to try out new things everyday!” She cleared her throat before continuing. “Word gem.”
The trinket glowed.
“Define…macchiato.” Chrysalis’s cheeks turned scarlet, clearly embarrassed.
“Macchiato,” The word gem said. “An espresso topped with a little foamed milk.”
“Oh my gosh, Girl!” Discord replied in the most valley mare tone his voice could muster. “You haven’t tried out macchiatos yet? It’s like, gonna blow your mind!”
The video cut to a shot Wright sitting in his office. It’s a small room, but perfectly organized. All the documents and stationary on his desk were precisely arranged. And at the center stood a golden desk tag with his name carved on it. He’s wearing his usual clothing, a neat and freshly pressed white shirt. It’s matched with a black tie this time. The only thing that seemed to ruin this image of neatness was the look on Wright’s face. It’s like he hasn’t slept for three days straight.
“In these past couple of days,” Wright began, his voice sounded tired, but he tried to hide it through his positive tone. “My experience in living with Queen Chrysalis has been…delightful.” He let out a weak smile. “It has been, culturally enlightening. Did you know that changelings tend to sleep walk at night and occasionally sneak into other ponies’ rooms and unconsciously look at them sleep until morning?”
“No.”
“Me too! I only learned about it recently.” He let out a nervous laugh. It sounded like it’s coming from somepony who’s on their third pot of coffee.
Chrysalis was in the center’s dining room. She’s sitting in front of a table filled with plates of pancakes and toast, newly filled cups of coffee, and a pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice.
“I love Wright’s home-cooked meals.” Chrysalis said while picking a chunk of pancake with a fork using her magic. “Sure, restaurant food is great but nothing beats a hearty meal made by somepony for the pony they care for. Do you know why? Because it has love in it. The secret ingredient is love. Look at these pancakes.” She hovered her fork closer to the camera. The fluffy yellow pieces were all drenched in syrup. “The love in it is as thick as the syrup it’s drizzled with. You don’t see it? Right, I forgot. You’re not changelings.”
The video went back to Wright, who was now at the living room with a white board standing behind him.
“I like doing chores.” Wright said. “It’s like exercising while also getting things done. But do you know what’s better than doing chores alone? Doing chores with somepony else! I have a solid belief for this kind of thing. As we all know, chores are usually a group activity. And in order to finish said chores, teamwork is required. And teamwork wouldn’t exist unless there’s a bond of friendship holding it together. And in order to have a bond that strong, the members in that team must care for one another! So to put it simply, chores cultivate friendship. And friendship is highly needed in the process of reformation. And to put it in much more simple terms, chores results to reformation! Does that make sense? I think it makes sense. Pretty solid, huh?” Wright ended his mini speech with a smile.
“Chores are abysmal.” Chrysalis said as she sloppily trotted towards the living room. “I hate it with a passion. Although I don’t mind watching Wright work. I always enjoyed the sight of a hardworking drone. It’s one of my favorite pastimes back at the hive.”
Chrysalis’s eyes opened wide. She looked like she had just revealed something embarrassing about her. “I mean…doing chores suck.”
“Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do today.” Wright gently tapped at the white board. It’s now written with a list of chores divided by their names. Meanwhile, Chrysalis was lying on her back on the couch, lazily looking at Wright’s writing.
“I’m going to…” Wright scanned the first thing on his list of chores. “Dust the furniture, vacuum the floor, wash the windows, do the laundry, clean the toilets, and take out the trash. While you Queen Chrysalis,” He pointed at the only thing listed on Chrysalis’s list. “Is in charge of cutting out free coupons in these magazines and newspapers I collected.”
“Word gem,” Chrysalis said while holding the small trinket close to her lips. “Define taskmaster.”
“Taskmaster.” The word gem said, all the while glowing. “Somepony who imposes hard or continuous work.”
“You heard that?” Chrysalis shot Wright a sharp look. “That’s you.”
The video cut to a scene of Chrysalis sitting in the children’s section of a library. She was surrounded with a dozen or so fillies. And each one of them hung to the Changeling Queen’s every word.
“And they ganged up on me.” Chrysalis said. She waved both her forelegs in a dramatic manner.
All the children that were listening to her tale let out a unified gasp of surprise.
“All of them!” Chrysalis continued. “The entire shebang! Against me!” She pointed both forelegs to her chest. “Poor little me! Can you believe that?”
Once more, the children cried in unison. This time, they were booing at the enemy in Chrysalis’s story. Their shouts have gotten so loud that it attracted the attention of some librarians nearby.
“Please, children, please…” Chrysalis said, which opted the foals to lower their voices.
“Boo louder.”
And the loud shouting resumed.
“Down with Glimmer!” A young colt cried out while raising a hoof up the air. The other foals liked what the colt was doing and followed suit. It didn’t take long for all of them to have their hooves raised while chanting for the downfall of Starlight Glimmer. Chrysalis looked at them like a mother would look at her child nailing their performance during a school recital.
“Um, miss?” A meek librarian said as she entered the children’s section. “This is a library. So can yo-” Unfortunately, her soft voice was drowned out by the deafening screams of Chrysalis’s newly formed cult. No matter how loud she called, her voice was no match to the collective wailing of the fanatical foals.
The video then skipped to a clip of Chrysalis exiting the library. A proud smile lingered on her face, a rare sight to behold from the Changeling Queen.
“One of Wright’s imbecilic methods to reform me includes with me participating in a story time session at the local public library. It’s his way of making me see the best of ponykind in its purest form, through the eyes of its impressionable youth. At first I hated it, thinking that those kids are nothing but snot nosed little brats running around and breaking things. But then, they managed to grow on me. I do not know why but I have gotten fond of them now.” She made a pondering hum. “What could be the reason behind it?”
A clip of the children burning a crayon drawing of Starlight Glimmer’s face while cheering for her demise suddenly played.
Chrysalis was back at the coffee shop where she and Discord met several days ago. Like before, she was sitting in an outdoor table. And on it stood a half-drank cup of caramel macchiato. She was quietly looking at ponies passing by when the form of Wright trotting towards her caught her attention.
“Wright Conduct!” She gave a small wave. “Caramel macchiatos, have one! They will blow your mind.”
Wright took a seat opposite to Chrysalis’s. His usual smiling face was replaced with a look of concern.
“Um, Queen Chrysalis?” Wright said. “Some of the parents at the story time session in the library have claimed that you were brainwashing their kids with your war stories. Is that true?”
“Alright.” Chrysalis let a drawn out sigh. “This is the umpteenth time that word has been thrown at my face today. You know what? Fine. I yield. I’ll look it up now.” With her magic, she summoned the word gem to her hoof. The little trinket popped out with a small cloud of smoke accompanying it.
Chrysalis held the gem close to her mouth. “Word gem, define brainwash.”
Wright raised a brow at Chrysalis’s words. It’s like he’s surprised that the mare was unfamiliar with such mundane term.
“Brainwash, to persuade completely, often through coercion. To indoctrinate somepony forcibly.”
“Oh.”
Chrysalis continued to stare at the gem as its light slowly died out after giving the definition. She then looked back at Wright with a flabbergasted expression.
“So that’s why they kicked me out of there.”
The video cut to an external view of the center at night. In the living room, Wright Conduct and Shining Armor could be seen setting up the table for something. The things they were sorting were sheets of paper, a couple of dice, intricately carved miniatures, a few bottles of soda, and some chips. Chrysalis was standing at the end of the hallway leading to the living room. She had an unimpressed look on her face.
Once she got bored of looking at the two busy stallions, she turned around and looked at the camera.
“One of Wright’s methods to reform me is to make me ask the forgiveness of those who I have sinned before, particularly the ones whom I truly hurt deeply.” Chrysalis’s voice oozed with tedium. It’s like she doesn’t want to be at this place in this time. “To be more specific, those two lovebirds who were ruling the Crystal Empire.”
Chrysalis glanced at Shining and went back to looking at the camera. “Surprisingly, the royal couple is willing to accept my apology. What’s not surprising however, is that they’re not making the process easy. So here I am, playing a weekly game of pretend with them to ‘redeem’ myself.”
“Sorry gang.” Shining said after reading a letter for him sent via dragonfire. “Cady’s running late tonight, so we’ll have to start without her. Emergency Princess business, she says.”
“Princess business on a Friday night?” Chrysalis said while nudging at Wright. “I think she’s lying.”
Shining could only reply to her quip with a flat look.
“Anyway.” Chrysalis said, placing the cup of soda she’s sipping at the side and magicked a miniature of an ebony unicorn sitting on a rock while playing with her white lute. She slid the mini in the middle of the table for the two stallions to see.
“That a new carving?” Wright asked.
“New bard, what do you think?” Chrysalis replied.
Both stallions looked down at the same time, inspecting every inch of the miniature.
“Who-oah.”
“Very nice.”
Shining and Wright said respectively.
“Finished carving it yesterday.” Chrysalis added.
“Good carving.”
“The lute’s made of bone. And her name’s Silian Rail.”
“It’s very cool, Chrysalis.” Shining said. “But that’s nothing. Look at this.” With his magic, he materialized a miniature on his hoof. It looked like a tiny Shining Armor, if he had wings instead of a horn. Apart from his head and wings, his body was fully hidden underneath a long blue cloak.
Shining slid his mini beside Chrysalis’s.
“That is really nice.” Wright said as he continued to inspect Shining’s miniature.
“Pegasus ranger, with Romalian Cape.” He looked smugly at the other two. “What do you think?”
“That is literally super. How’d a newbie like you get so tasteful?” Wright jokingly said.
Chrysalis was back at the hallway she was standing earlier. She was holding her glass of soda and whirled it a little, which resulted for the ice inside to make clinking noises. Her face screamed ‘annoyed,’ like she wasn’t happy at how things have turned out for the night.
“I can’t believe that Wright prefers Shining Armor’s miniature over mine!” She downed her drink with serious contempt.
“By the way,” Wright said, it was his turn to look completely smug. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” He summoned a miniature to his hoof with his magic. Wright’s mini was a pegasus that’s fully clad in sleek, lightweight looking armor.. It wore a helmet with little wings at both sides, concealing its face.
“Pegasus paladin, named Nimbus…” He also slid his miniature on where the others stood. “White.”
The camera suddenly panned to Chrysalis, who looked like she’s barely holding it together. “Impressive, very nice.” She sounded like she’s about to cry. “Let’s see Cadance’s mini.”
Tension suddenly filled the living room. Everypony went quiet. Wright and Shining slowly slid their miniatures back towards them. Using his magic, Shining levitated a duffel bag that was placed at the side of the couch. He opened the bag’s zipper and reached a hoof inside.
All eyes were on Shining as he pulled the miniature out. Cadance’s mini was a bard, just like Chrysalis’s. Its look was identical to its owner, minus the alicorn features. It was graciously standing on its hind legs while playing a large golden harp that’s almost as tall as its body. Shining slowly slid the miniature in the middle of the table. Chrysalis pulled it close to her, inspecting it thoroughly.
The scene suddenly cut back to the Hallway. Chrysalis was standing there. But this time she was trembling. She stared at the camera. Fear and awe evident in her face.
“Look at that subtle soft stroke carving.” She held the mini in front of the camera, making it the focus of the screen. “The textured thickness of it. Oh my gosh.” Her eyes were fixed on the metallic water container hanging at the mini’s hips. “It even has a water flask.”
Chrysalis shakily lowered the mini back to the table. But her gaze never left it, not even once.
“Is something wrong, Queen Chrysalis?” Wright said, clearly worried. “You’re sweating.”
Chrysalis was lazily sitting on the living room floor. Her back was leaning on the couch. It’s an unknown fact why she chose this sitting position instead of utilizing the comfort that the furniture behind her could provide. In front of her was a large cheese pizza with a few slices missing.
Wright got out of his office and trotted towards the living room. He was doing a couple of stretches with his neck when he saw Chrysalis in front of the table munching on some pizza.
“Queen Chrysalis, you ordered pizza for dinner?” A large smile formed on Wright’s face. “How nice of you.”
Chrysalis’s features turned sour at Wright’s words. She levitated a bottle of hot sauce with her magic, popped its lid open, and poured half of its contents on the pizza. Wright winced while clutching his stomach at the sight of the now red hot dish.
“On second thought, salad sounds nice.”
Wright was now at the kitchen. He’s wearing an apron with the words ‘Licensed To Grill’ written on it. He was standing on his hind legs, chopping a lettuce quickly and efficiently.
“So it appears that the progress of Queen Chrysalis’s reformation is moving at a reasonably fast pace.” Wright said to the camera without looking at the vegetable he’s chopping. “The results of her progress are very apparent through her actions."
"She’s been really sociable these past few days.” A clip of Chrysalis talking to a mare with an off white and two-tone blue mane at a coffee shop played.
“Sometimes she does kind deeds like it’s just second nature to her.” It was then replaced with a clip of Chrysalis, who’s still half-sleep and was still in her robes, placed a saucer full of milk outside the center for nearby stray cats to drink.
“And she’s much more cooperative now!” A clip of Chrysalis played showing her and Wright doing chores. She was dusting off the furniture while Wright was cleaning the windows.
The video went back to Wright, who was now chopping carrots at lightning speed while staring straight at the camera. “But every time I point it out, she immediately turns hostile like earlier. I understand that she’s still not used to be this kind. But she’ll get there eventually. It’s literally a process in and of itself!” An enthusiastic smile appeared on Wright’s face. But it quickly disappeared when he looked down.
“And I just cut my hoof.” Wright laughed nervously.
Wright was back at the living room, he was sitting on the couch while Chrysalis just finished up on dressing his cut.
“There.” Chrysalis said after wrapping the final piece of bandage to Wright’s hoof. “Now be careful the next time you use a knife. I needed those hooves of yours to cook my daily meals. And I’ll be darned if those appendages were cut off due to their owner’s clumsiness.”
Wright relaxed himself at the comfort of his own couch. He brought his newly dressed hoof close to his face, quietly looking at it. “I’m so lucky you were around when this happened. I always have trouble dressing my own wounds. The sight of blood unnerves me.” He suddenly sat straight and looked at Chrysalis.
“Thank you.”
“S-shut up.” Chrysalis looked away, her cheeks turning red. “I only did it because you’re the only competent cook in this building. It’s not like I care for you or anything…idiot.”
Wright turned to look at the camera, his face smiling.
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- Omegathyst · 1.5k words · 26 4 · 876 views
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I see the word Wright and immediately think of Ace Attorney.
10898606
I thought about the Wright bros.
and if Phoenix Wright were appointed in charge of the Reformation, he could see deep hidden secrets in the form of psychic locks.
... this doesn't seem like it should be a one-shot.
tracking this just incase it's set to complete by mistake.
10898846
You're right to assume of it not being a one-shot. The original story was supposed to be a 20k word series with each chapter having an average 1k word count. But I had to cut it down to 5k and turn it into a single chapter when I remembered that the contest had a word limit for the entries...
Nice "American Psycho" reference.
10898856
will there be at least additional chapters out of competition to give the story a semblance of completeness?
That was cute.
Chryssie has her own brainwashed foal army now, yay!
Yeah, this needs a continuation, or an expanded version.
10899073
I'm still considering it. Although writing a 20k word story in a single week has left me kinda burned out at the moment. I just felt like taking a break from writing after this.
False
Well this was a a bit different...good. (also)
10899599
I have to go return some video tapes...
When did you find the time to follow me around and base this character after me.
I've never felt this closely represented in media before now, deadass
Ok that made me laugh.
Chapter 2 or sequel when?
10899352
Does this mean there's an uncut version of the story around?
10901307
I have it in my notes. I just encoded the first six chapters. They're arguably the best chapters in the story. I kinda ran out of gas when I was writing from the middle to the end. I think the hints of my burn out started to appear in the "business cards" chapter...
The tsun is strong with this one.
10901335
No reason not to take a break if you feel like you need one. We'll all be waiting excitedly waiting to see what you come up with when you're ready.
I don't know why, but that image makes me think of Dwight Schrute.
10902225
Nice catch! I made the cover as a reference to The Office.
Immediate fave for the American Psycho reference
hahahaha this is such an amazing fic...the cuts, the description, the reactions it's just so awesome. Really loved how you portay Wright and Chrysalis (fell in love with Wright right away)
Hope to see sequel or another chapter cuz this is really good, take your time if needed
10913452
If you love Wright then you'll definitely love Parks and Rec's Chris Traeger more. Wright is literally him but ponified.
I don't know who was supposed to reform who - Wright reforming Chrysalis or Chrysalis reforming Wright. What I do know was that I loved the humour threaded all through the story, and the neat reference to American Psycho was fantastic.
i have never related to a protagonist more
hope Flurry Heart becomes the Princess of Lunch once she's older
i want that gem! tho i guess i could always hook Wikipedia up to 15.ai
this is a kids' show, Discord!
haha, love this line and scene!
i mean if Starlight is anything to go by, all you need to do is tell Twilight a sob story about your foalhood and then the reform process is all finished! so committing Starlight crimes would be a good strategy
ha! it would be easy to do this parody in a way that's jarring and awful but you really make it work and i loved it
aww! tsundere Chrysalis
this was a very fun collection of scenes that i really enjoyed reading. thank you!
11052549
Might release the entire story in the near future, still working on the ending at the moment.
Hi there, I'm here for my very first Comment Club! Let's give it a go!
I love that you went for comedy! Comedy is notably a really difficult genre to write for. There were a lot of really heavy-hitting stories in the Renaissance contest, so it's really nice to see something more light and comedic in the list.
That said, I can usually overlook some grammar errors (pobody's nerfect!) but the tense-shifting really became overwhelming at times. I'd just encourage you to pick one tense and stick with it, and reread occasionally to make sure that you're staying in that tense consistently. It really takes you out of the story, more than a missed period or comma will.
Wright seems like a nice fellow, and we get a lot of funny moments with him! It does feel at times like we're watching a lot of disconnected clips from different stories though, and it wasn't until I wondered 'what the heck does 'white' refer to?' that I realized that a whole chunk of this is taken from the American Psycho business card scene. It made me wonder, despite it being a clear The Office-themed crossover, how much of this was borrowed from other stories, and if that's why it felt so episodic in places. Hence, I'm not sure if I should praise Wrights characterization, because I'm not sure how much of him is by you, and how much of it is borrowed.
Overall, it's very funny, and you do blend Chrysalis into the human comedies very well; almost every line she speaks is hilarious, especially when she lists off her titles! The turn at the end for her to become more romantically (tsundere at that) inclined towards Wright feels a little sudden, so I would only suggest a little more romantic build up between the comedic scenes! Like - why does she like him? Has his constant attention softened her cruel stance towards him? Or is she just enjoying the emotion he brings her, and just plays off the more 'tsun tsun' aspect so she can leech his love when he's not looking? There's a lot of comedic opportunities in there! Good job!
Howdy, hi!
This was hilarious. The documentary-style setup and gremlin personality of Chrysalis really sell the comedic aspects of the story. I enjoyed how much Chrysalis trolled and played with everyone involved and especially Wright's increasingly strained patience with her. This was a really well-done slow burn on small changes in Chrysalis and feels like a proper redemption for her character: she's getting better but still has the rough edges that make Chrysalis Chrysalis.
It was a super fun read start to finish and well worth the time. Thank you for the fic~!
Equestrian psycho