Chapter 14: Going for a Walk
The most stressful part of any trip was prepping for it in the first place. It didn’t take Applejack long, since she always packed lightly. The trouble was when she lightened the load so much that she neglected to grab something important. At least when Rarity went on a trip, she had backups on top of backups. AJ was lucky if she remembered to pack the toothbrush she was using at home before she left. Fortunately, if she forgot anything, she’d have plenty of options to choose from in Manehattan.
“Are you done yet?” Chrysalis asked with all the enthusiasm of a beaver going to a dentist.
“Eeyup,” she guessed and snapped the buttons closed. “If I didn’t think of it last night when packing, I reckon I won’t remember what I forgot until the train’s pulling out of the station.”
“Good,” the changeling spat as she rolled off AJ’s bed. “We can finally get going to this little retreat of yours.”
Applejack winced. “Are you sure you don’t wanna stay home?”
The grumpy bug tilted her head up and sighed. “Would you stop asking me the same inane questions already? You said you’re going, so that means I’m going too. Got it?”
“I getcha just fine, but really, I don’t mind it at all if you wanna stay here on the farm. Ain’t one to drag ya along somewhere.”
“Oh, but you are, and you always will no matter what you do. I might not want to go, but I have to go if you are. How am I going to eat otherwise?”
“It’s only three days. Luna already offered—”
Chrysalis slammed her hoof down. “I don’t want to see that accursed nightmare princess any more than I have to!”
Seeing the boiling anger at the mere mention of the princess, Applejack made a mental note not to bring up Luna unless absolutely necessary. “But you’re okay with seeing Twilight and the others?”
“No! I’m not!” Chrys’ eye twitched furiously as she seethed in a bitter rage. Her shoulders shook from the pressure. It took a few hissing breaths, but she eventually pulled back and ran a hoof through her silky mane. “She invited you, and extended an invitation to me as a formality. I’m accepting it because you obviously want to go with your little circle of friends.”
“They could be your friends too, you know.”
Chrysalis cackled venomously. “Oh yes. You and your magical friendship. It’s just so infectious, isn’t it?”
“Darn tootin’ it is!” Applejack fired back with enthusiasm. “You should be catching it as often as ya can, far as I can figure.”
The former queen faltered from the quick-witted reversal. “That’s not…” She clicked her tongue to save herself from trying to salvage her statement. “Whatever. Let’s just go already if you’re done packing.”
“Wait a sec.” AJ looked up and down the changeling curiously.
“What? Admiring my beautiful figure?” Chrysalis asked with a predatory grin.
“Where’s the stuff you’re taking along?”
The changeling growled as her face fell. “Like what? I don’t have stuff.”
Applejack tilted her head. “You mean you ain’t bringing a thing?”
“I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but I have nothing to bring, unless you and your friends want to gloat over my petrified crown.”
“What about the necessities? I ain’t sharing my toothbrush with you.”
Chrysalis stuck her tongue out and retched. “Unlike you disgusting ponies, I can solve such matters without needing to resort to such… primitive tools.”
“Says our resident ‘Queen of the Bubble Bath,’” Applejack remarked with a smirk.
“I said ‘need!’” the indulgent royal quickly retorted in defense. “I can cleanse anything I need using goo or magic.”
Applejack blanched at the notion. “You brush your teeth with goo? Is that why you always have bug breath?”
Chrysalis perked up, her ears standing up to attention. “Bug breath? What do you mean bug breath? I don’t have bug breath!” Chrys shrouded indignantly. She quickly breathed into her hoof and took a whiff of herself. “Bugs don’t even have breath!”
“Whatever you say, your high-halitosis-ness.”
Chrysalis bit back a sneer before rolling her eyes. “Fine. I’ll chew on some peppermint leaves before we go. Can we just go already?”
“We’re going to the big city, Chrys. Why don’t ya bring some of those bits I’ve been paying you with?”
The big mare stopped at the door again and smacked her head. “Why would I need bits when I have you? It’s not like I can buy love.”
If Chrys hadn’t meant it literally, that would’ve sounded downright romantic. Applejack shook the accidental sweet talk away and cleared her throat to get back on track. “W-well, what about souvenirs? Those shelves in your room are still looking mighty empty.”
“So I have to start hoarding things now?” Chrysalis sighed bitterly. “At least dragons gain power from theirs. You idiots just clutter things up with frivolous messiness for no reason.”
The girl’s whiny mood was starting to wear on AJ’s nerves. “C’mon, Chrys, seriously? Keeping things tidy is one thing, but your room’s practically barren. You at least gotta have something you like doing. Why not spend a few bits on that?”
Chrysalis frowned and said nothing.
Applejack stared flatly at the stubborn bug. “Really? Nothing? How about a hobby?”
“A hobby?” Chrysalis asked, genuinely confused by the question.
“Yeah. Like how I play the guitar or practice for the rodeo. What’d ya do when ya had time on your hooves?”
“I didn’t.”
“Now that’s a bushel of rubbish if I’ve ever heard it. What’s the point of ruling an entire kingdom if you don’t enjoy it a little?”
“You’re joking, right?” After getting no response, Chrysalis grumbled to herself. “Of course you’re not. If you must know, I wasn’t some wastrel like that fat-flanked layabout, Princess Celestia. I always had something I had to do as queen.” The changeling’s scowl shifted from angry to embittered as she chewed on her lip. “Of course, I can’t do any of those things now.”
Seeing the change in the mare, Applejack softened and stepped closer to her friend. “You’re nibbling again, Chrys. What’s stopping you?”
Chrysalis’ anger roared back as she recoiled in disbelief. “What do you think? I don’t have any subjects anymore!”
Applejack stopped in her tracks as her clumsy hooves tripped over another conversation killer. Even if she was the former queen of liars, her vicious bark failed to hide the hurt behind the biting words. AJ really needed to stop and think so she wouldn’t keep shoving her hoof in her mouth. Her mind reeled for something to ask instead and brighten the mood.
“Well, uhh… How about before I found ya?”
“I picked up starving,” Chrysalis answered slowly, enunciating every syllable to spell it out for the stupid mare asking braindead questions. “Took to it like a fish to fire.”
“Right.” The farmer laughed nervously under the ire of the deposed queen. “But, you got me now.”
“Surely a vast improvement.”
“R-right. And we’re gonna have a whole lotta time now that you’re staying with us on Sweet Apple Acres. Let’s figure out what you like doing and go from there.”
“I liked ruling my hive, and I like not dying. Since I can’t have both, I will take one ‘not dying,’ please.”
“Guess we’ll need to branch out and find something you like doing, then. Never know until you try, right?”
Chrysalis grumbled to herself and turned towards the door.
“Lucky for you, we’ll have plenty of time to find that something during Twi’s friendship retreat. I bet if we all put our heads together, we’ll find something out there you’ll just love doing for hours.”
“Right, fine, whatever you say. Can we please just leave already?”
Without warning, the changeling burst into magical green flames as she shapeshifted. As the light returned to AJ’s eyes, her classy companion was standing there in the fur, waiting to be taken on her walk.
“Uh, Chrys?”
“What now?” Classy sighed in aggravation. Even though she’d heard it before, it was mighty strange hearing a crystal-clear Chrysalis voice coming from the pup’s mouth.
“Everypony in town knows who Classy is.”
“And? What do you want, a cat?” Another explosion revealed a small black cat by the door, perfectly sized to lay comfortably on AJ’s back.
“A pony?” the adorable Kittalis asked.
Another fiery flash, and a beautiful pony appeared before her. The new earth pony blew a burnt orange bang from her light green face and stared at Applejack with her deep emerald eyes. The disguise wasn’t anypony AJ had ever seen, and she wondered if it was entirely original. Like Ocellus before, Chrys had chosen a ladybug cutie mark. Maybe it was a changeling thing to favor insect marks. Either way, Chrysalis sure knew how to make herself look good, borrowed faces or not.
After she realized she was staring back, Applejack looked up and away. “Why not save the energy and just go out as, you know, you?”
The other pony scoffed, revealing her soft, innocent voice before another firestorm shifted her into the trusty canine form once again. “‘Classy’ it is then.”
Before Applejack could say another word, the grumpy girl scampered out the door and down the stairs with her muzzle held high. She shook her head, strapped her saddlebag on, trotted over to Chrysalis’ room to get some bits for the mare. As she grabbed one of the unopened pouches of bits, the dreamcatcher still hanging on the wall caught her attention.
“Guess that’s why you wanted to leave lickety split.”
AJ unhooked it from the wall and carefully put it in her bag, taking a moment to admire the beautiful, dreamy weave of Luna’s gateway into Chrys’ sleep. After having a session with the princess herself, she knew it could be painful, but she was sure it’d help way more in the long run than it hurt in the moment. She wasn’t gonna let the grumpy girl sleep without it if she could help it.
It’d been a hot minute since AJ last trotted into Ponyville in the morning without her apple cart. Between harvest time, prepping for an early cider season, and getting Chrysalis adjusted to life on the farm, she hadn’t really taken a chance for a casual trip. It was harder to relax when the entire town was jumpier than a jackrabbit around her these days.
It was still early enough for the streets to be pretty clear, but there were more than enough ponies around to make their trot through town more than a little uncomfortable. With how much room ponies were giving the two, she might as well have been taking a hydra out for a stroll. Applejack still waved to her neighbors, but even the good eggs among them sounded strained when they said hello.
Applejack hadn’t given Zecora and Fluttershy enough credit. Those two were made of way sterner stuff when it came to the unfriendly attention. AJ wasn’t even the one they were glaring at, and she was already reaching her limit. Though it all, Classy kept her gaze fixed forward, barely sparing a passing glance at the ponies around them. She simply refused to accept anything from them.
Seeing they were nearing Ponyville Train Station, Applejack couldn’t help but heave a mental sigh of relief. The quaint stop was little more than a combination train platform and convenience store. Since Twilight had become properly important, it was probably one of the local places needing the biggest overhaul. The boarding platform didn’t even fit most trains that rolled in these days, meaning most folks had to use ramps to get on and off. Twilight or Mayor Mare really needed to look into getting some work done on it soon before poor Ticket Stub got completely overwhelmed. At least the small train they were taking to Manehattan fit the station perfectly.
Twilight was stepping up to the plate more with her princess duties these days, and ponies were taking notice. To avoid getting accosted on the trip, she’d taken Fleur’s advice and chartered a private train. Applejack usually didn’t care either way if Twi used her princess privileges or not, but for Chrys’ sake, she was very grateful for the lack of other passengers. The only ponies waiting for them now were her usual elemental friends and Spike with the three newcomers to the castle. It filled the farmer with a relief she hadn’t known she needed. AJ stole one last glance at her unwelcoming hometown behind her before turning her attention to her friendly, three-day retreat.
“You made it, AJ!” Twilight exclaimed with an excited flutter of her wings. “I was beginning to worry. You’re usually one of the first ones to arrive when it’s this early in the morning. Even Rainbow beat you here.”
The sleepy pegasus grumbled from the cloud she’d brought down to nap on. “I’m not a morning pony. Sue me.”
Applejack chuckled to herself. “Sorry girls. It took a little bit longer to get out the door this morning.”
“That’s okay,” Fluttershy said as she stepped forward. “How are you doing?”
“Well, I guess ‘we made it’ is about as good as I feel like saying.”
Classy rolled her eyes and said nothing.
Fluttershy’s face fell in concern. “Oh my. Did something happen?”
“Nothing you need to worry about, Fluttershy. Classy here is just the talk of the town right now, for better or worse.”
“I see. Can I help—”
“Wait. Did you say Classy?” Rainbow asked. Her sleepy gaze flicked around until it widened from seeing the dog in question. She hopped up from her cloud and turned to Twilight with a frown. “What the hay, Twi! You invited Chrysalis?”
Classy returned the sentiment with a dark growl, her eyes glinting green with spite.
Twilight’s brow furrowed at the two. “Break it up, you two. And yes. I invited all of our friends. Well, almost all of them.” The young princess’ bemused gaze turned towards her stalwart guard, dutifully standing next to the train car. “Somepony wouldn’t let me offer a friendly invitation.”
Fleur gripped her weapon tighter. “I cannot refuse a summons from my princess, and to come as a friend would leave me unable to fulfill my duties as a guard. Considering that Chrysalis has apparently accepted the invitation for your trip, I must urge you to reconsider going without an armed escort.”
Twilight groaned as she massaged her forehead. “I know what Luna said, but this is a friendship retreat. Friendship, Fleur. As in friendly? If you’re coming, I don’t want to see your armor or spear anywhere near you.”
Fleur’s vigilance broke somewhat as worry crossed her face. “Please, your highness, Chrysalis cannot be trusted.”
“I said no, Fleur. If Chrysalis is ever going to change for the better, we need to show that we can be friends. Real friends. If you don’t want to go, that’s fine. You can always stay here with the others.”
Fleur grimaced and turned to those others she’d be staying with. Specifically, her eyes drew to the boastful blue braggart, Trixie. Applejack couldn’t blame the guard. The only thing great about the stage magician was the powerful headache AJ got from listening to her talk about herself. If pride was magic, they’d need a hundred princesses to match Trixie’s power.
“The castle is already in Trixie’s capable hooves,” said mare declared with her usual haughtiness. “You should totally go.”
Fleur regarded the showy stagemare with a look flat enough to give a pancake a run for its money. “If those are capable hooves, the castle is in far more danger than I realized, Miss I’m-Transfiguring-Everything-Into-Teacups-Now.”
“Whatever,” Trixie said as she waved away the guard’s snide remark. “It just means you shall bear witness and be wowed by the Great and Powerful Trixie’s magic as well when she masters a great many spells with the help of her good and adequate assistant Starlight Glimmer!”
“Seems like you just got upgraded,” Fleur joked as she nudged Starlight on the shoulder.
Starlight forced a laugh. “Yeah, thanks, Trixie.”
“Of course! Only the best for Trixie’s best friend.” Trixie yanked Starlight into a side hug and squeezed. “Me and you? We have all the magical friendship stuff. We even made everypony these amazingly tasty treats! They’re almost as great as I am.”
Trixie’s magic reached into Starlight’s saddlebag and took out a plastic container full of carefully crafted teacup cakes. The incredibly gracious and infinitely humble mare levitated one to everypony in the group, seemingly forgetting Classy was there as she waited to bask in their gratitude.
“It was more like Starlight made them and I stopped you from destroying them,” Fleur clarified.
Trixie clicked her tongue and scoffed with over-the-top indignation. “Don’t make such a big deal out of it. We all played our part. Come on, Starlight, back me up on this.”
Under the gaze of her friend, Starlight forced a grin and nodded with enthusiasm. “Y-yeah! You, uh… gave emotional support. Right! Emotional enthusiasm.”
Trixie beamed a winning smile. “Ha! See? A perfect team effort. Sure, Starlight did all the measuring, mixing, baking, decorating, packing, cleaning…”
“So, basically everything?” Spike interjected flatly.
“No!” Trixie reprimanded the little dragon. “You’re forgetting who provided the teacups for the teacup cakes.” The mare closed her eyes and laid a hoof on her chest to deeply savor her wonderful self. “Trixie!”
Applejack looked down at the dessert in her hoof, a scrumptious and fluffy cake wrapped with muffin liner and distinctly lacking a cup of any sort. Not wanting to get in the middle of a hopeless argument, she simply shot a brow up at the mare before taking a bite. The cake was a bit dry, but the vanilla filling and buttercream more than made up for it. She couldn’t rightly place what the purple frosting was made from, but it tasted a little minty. She’d have to ask Starlight about it when she didn’t have her bragging buddy trying to steal her thunder.
“Well, thank you for the cakes you… three,” Twilight said diplomatically.
“Think nothing of it, Twilight. When you get back, Trixie will amaze you with even more of her amazing talents, right Starlight?”
“Right,” Starlight agreed hesitantly.
“You’re welcome, Twilight. Don’t mention it. Ever.” Fleur trotted over to the passenger car and stood at attention. “Now, if we’re ready, let’s get everyone on the train.”
Twilight sighed in disappointment. “You’re going to keep fighting me on this, aren’t you?”
Fleur focused forward, not meeting her princess’ eyes as she kept her guard up. “Unless you order me to stand down, I’m afraid I must persist.”
“Very well,” Twilight said evenly. She took a deep breath and extended her wings and stood as tall as she could, trying to invoke the spirit of a grand alicorn despite being shorter than the guard. “Captain Fleur de Lis, you are hereby relieved of duty until further notice, effective immediately.”
Fleur’s defenses shattered as she slumped in utter shock. “W-what? Your majesty, please reconsider! Chrysalis—”
“She’ll be fine with us,” Twilight assured warmly. “This is supposed to be a fun getaway after all that’s happening recently, but I can’t tell you to have fun. That’d defeat the purpose of it. Instead, I want you to take some time off and relax.” Twilight laid a wing over her troubled guard as a concerned frown crossed the princess’ face. “Come to think of it, I don’t think you’ve been off-duty for more than a few hours at a time ever since you’ve come to Ponyville.”
Fleur floundered. “I am your Captain of the Twilight Guard. It is my duty and privilege to protect you.”
“I know, and you’re so great at it, but we both know that I’m not the main reason you came to Ponyville in the first place.”
The exposed guard sucked in her lips before shaking the vulnerability away. “Still, that is no reason for me to not be giving you my best every day.”
“And I appreciate it so much, but I don’t think I’ve been doing my best for you in return. You’re supposed to be working through your own feelings, not just working. I’m sorry I haven’t been a better princess when you needed me.”
Fleur took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking. “No. You have nothing to apologize for. The fault lies with me.”
“It’s nopony’s fault, okay? Now, I must ask you something, and I want you to answer honestly: are you comfortable enough around Chrysalis to be around her off-duty?”
The guard turned towards the dog in question and stared into her piercing emerald eyes. After a moment, the mare closed her eyes and clutched her trusty spear for support. “No.”
Twilight smiled, her tenderness saying all that Fleur needed to know as she picked the mare’s head up and gave her a hug. “Why don’t you go spend some time with Zecora until we get back, or maybe—and this isn’t an order—maybe have Spike help you send a letter to Luna about this? I’m sure she’d love to hear from you in writing.”
Fleur returned the gesture before breaking away and saluting casually. “Thank you, Twilight. I think I’ll do that.” She then turned to the little dragon and smirked. “Think you can help me get a message to my therapist, Spike?”
“You can count on me, Fleur!” he replied with a salute of his own.
After giving the heartwarming moment a chance to breathe, Fluttershy quietly trotted over to the princess and tapped her on the shoulder. “Umm… Twilight? I don’t mean to interrupt, but…” Fluttershy whispered as she pointed towards the train workers watching and waiting for the group to board.
Twilight balked and quickly teleported a clipboard in front of her. “Oh, right! We better hurry before we cause a delay in their regular schedule.” She looked at her friends with a renewed smile. “Is everyone else ready to have some fun?”
Everyone cheered in agreement, save one stubborn doggie who simply climbed aboard. Applejack followed her and the rest of her friends onto the train and hoped the rocky start to the day wasn’t a sign of things to come.
After the train got underway, there was a pleasant quiet in the cabin as they all settled into the ride. Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie took to ironing out some last-minute stuff with the trip, while Rainbow and Fluttershy sat on the row behind Applejack and Classy. Oddly enough, despite enjoying the privacy of their car, Chrysalis stayed in her dog disguise.
Applejack leaned against the window and watched the countryside breeze by as Classy climbed next to her and sat down. She copied Winona’s usual approach and laid against AJ, propping her head on the farmer’s hind leg. Even though Applejack knew who was underneath all that fur, she couldn’t help but pet the comfy critter eating up the affection.
It was mighty peaceful with the clitter-clacks of the rails below, the gentle rocking back and forth, and the sunlit landscape rolling right alongside. Honestly, AJ was enjoying the moment more than the thought of getting to where they were going. The sprawling grasslands stretching towards the north as they met the mountains around Canterlot made for a pretty sight to see. Turning back to her leg, Applejack didn’t know why Chrys was staying in-character, but she couldn’t complain. There was nothing better than cuddling up with a warm critter while watching the world go by. Even if the changeling was just doing it for food, Applejack appreciated the comfort of her fake furry friend. She went back to the window to see a rainbow had painted itself over the sky… or rather, the window was reflecting Rainbow’s mane.
“So, are you gonna stay like that the entire time?” Rainbow Dash asked as she spayed out over the seat across from them.
Applejack curled her eyebrow. “What do ya mean?”
“Not you,” the pegasus corrected as she pointed towards her cuddling canine. “Her.”
Chrysalis snorted and closed her eyes, ignoring the prying pegasus by pretending to sleep.
“Hey! We all know you can still talk when you’re disguised, Chrysalis. AJ told us.”
The dog grumbled a slew of curses under her breath before glaring at Rainbow. “And?”
“You don’t have to pretend anymore. It’s not like we all don’t know it’s you.”
“There’s still the workers. I’m sure finding out that the adorable dog on board is actually one of the greatest threats to Equestria would go over real well.” Classy smiled widely, altering her disguise to reveal the vicious maw of changeling teeth. “Wouldn’t want another repeat of my Ponyville reveal party, would we?”
“Okay, but why the dog still?”
“Dogs don’t talk.”
“But you’re talking right now.”
Classy clicked her tongue. “And whose fault is that?”
Rainbow grunted and ruffled her mane in frustration as she tried to get herself sorted. “Look, all I’m saying is that it’s a little weird that you’re just hanging all over AJ like that.”
“I’m eating.”
Rainbow blanched in disgust. “You mean, like, love?”
“What else would I be eating?” The dog’s eyes flickered into a changeling’s catseye. Her fuming patience with the nosy pegasus was running short. “Have a problem with that?”
Seeing she was getting nowhere fast with whatever her point was, Rainbow turned towards the farmer. “And you’re okay with that, Applejack?”
The farmer’s ear flicked from the question. Looking back at Classy, she had her paws crossed over Applejack’s leg like Winona when she was protecting a bone. She mulled it over for a second before shrugging. “It’s a bit tingly, but I ain’t sure if that’s because of her or my leg falling asleep.”
“Okay? But you’re treating her like a dog.”
She stroked across Classy’s soft fur like she had been idly doing for a while now. “Guess I am.”
“And she’s a changeling.”
“Eeyup.”
Rainbow’s face curled in confusion as she tried to figure out what she was even trying to get at anymore. “Is this, like, normal for you two?”
Applejack hummed to herself in thought. “Can’t say it is. Chrys’s usually just herself around the farm.”
“And you’re cool with petting her like a dog? Even though you know it’s totally Chrysalis under all of that?”
“Huh. Hadn’t really thought about it like that. Feels good and she ain’t making a fuss about it. Figured it was just another way to do her mane.” AJ had to admit that treating Chrys like a common puppy was a bit strange. It might be good eating for her, but it had to be at least a little embarrassing. “You alright with this, Chrys?”
Chrysalis said nothing. She sat perfectly still, not even wagging her tail as she continued to accept the petting she was getting.
Apparently, that was too much for the poor pegasus, as she faltered trying to make sense of any of the situation. “So like, do you want all of us to pet you?”
Chrysalis’ eyes flashed open with a vicious green flare and she growled with a deep fury that’d put an elder timberwolf to shame. “No.”
“Yeesh! Sorry I asked,” Rainbow spat as she crossed her forelegs and looked away.
“Hey now, don’t be like that! You’ve got the softest fur outta everyone here. Pretty sure Fluttershy would be all over you if she didn’t know you from Winona.” AJ tilted her head back to look over at the pegasus on the other side of the seat. “Ain’t that right?”
The meek mare flinched at the sudden attention. “O-oh… umm, maybe. I do love petting doggies, but I’m sure Chrysalis wouldn’t want me getting in her personal space.”
Applejack snickered to herself. “Maybe if you promised to put a lil’ love into it, she’d let ya.”
“Don’t talk like I’m not here,” Classy growled.
“Sorry, Chrys. Didn’t mean it like that. We’re all gonna be spending the next three days together, so just trying to get y’all acquainted is all.”
“We’ve met.”
“Not as friends,” Applejack added.
“And we aren’t going to be friends,” Classy spat in reply.
“Not if you’re gonna keep an attitude the whole time.” Applejack withdrew her hoof and crossed her forelegs with a frown.
The pooch immediately noticed the shift and popped up from the leg. “Hey! I wasn’t done!”
“Well I am iff’n you’re gonna be like that.” She leaned down, getting in Classy’s muzzle, and grinned. “Maybe if you start treating everypony else with a lil’ decency, I’ll have some more love for ya later. Deal?”
Classy flashed her fangs and growled into a bitter bark. Despite her clear anger over her meal getting cut short, the faker’s seething slowly fell into a stern leer. She said nothing and hopped down from the comfort of her seat next to AJ. The angry mongrel stole one last glance and then walked down the car, passing rows of empty seats until she hopped up on the one furthest away from everypony.
Applejack sighed. That hadn’t panned out like she’d wanted. She needed to put her hoof down more when Chrys got into an attitude, but it was so difficult trying to get things right with the girl. She was so dang sensitive! The drama queen could dish out far more than she could chew, and she took everything so personally on top of that. Ponies like her tended to rub AJ the wrong way, but she’d seen a glimpse of the mare behind that fog of narcissism. It wasn’t that AJ had fooled herself into thinking there was a heart of gold buried deep down in her, but Chrysalis definitely had more to her than her mean streak.
“Can’t believe she came along for this,” Rainbow Dash complained as she kicked back in her seat. “Why is she even here in the first place?”
“Well, the girl’s gotta eat, and I’m the only one she’s keen on feeding on. Turned down getting love from Luna while we were gone right off the bat.”
Rainbow balked. “She seriously said ‘no’ to a princess?”
“Told me ‘beggars can’t be choosers, but I choose who I beg to,’” Applejack reported with a shrug.
“Wait, what?” Dash repeated the phrase to herself as she tried to put it together. “How is that supposed to work?”
“Don’t rightly know. Kinda sounds deep at first. Then ya think about it for more than a second and it don’t make a lick of sense. Either way, I didn’t want to fight her on it, so I brought her along.”
“I thought she would’ve tried talking you out of it.”
Applejack crossed her forelegs and hummed to herself in thought. “That’s the thing, she was kinda all over the place with it. At first she didn’t want either of us to go. Then, she wanted me to go because I wanted to go, but she didn’t want to go herself. After I started packing, she said she had to go because I was going even though she didn’t want to go, and so now here she is.”
“Geez. That’s worse waffling than Rarity.”
“The thing is that she’s trying. Honestly, I think it was really brave of her.”
Rainbow tilted her head. “How come?”
Applejack looked back out the window at the wonderful world outside. It was getting a little far, but she could still see the glint of Canterlot glowing in the sunlight, filled with ponies that probably hated Chrys even more than Ponyville after the invasion. Part of her was dreading over what the ponies in Manehattan were saying about the changeling.
“You shoulda seen the looks she was getting from everypony on the way to the station.” Applejack shuffled her hooves as she thought of how there was nothing neighborly about her neighbors this morning. “Twilight told everypony in town that Chrysalis was reformed, but you know how everypony was with Discord.”
“And still kinda is with him, yeah. Especially after the whole betrayal thing with Tirek,” Rainbow remarked sourly.
“Yeah. With Chrys though, it feels different. I dunno if it’s just everypony getting tired of dealing with villains or something else, but…” Applejack trailed off as she gripped her leg for strength. She took a bracing breath, trying to put the hurt out of her mind. “Let’s just say it was really hard to get here and leave it at that, alrighty?”
A shuffle of hooves clopped across the floor from behind Applejack. She turned her head to see Fluttershy trotting to her and Rainbow’s row, sucking in her lips.
Applejack sat up and leaned over towards her friend. “You okay, Sugar—Woah nelly!”
The mare pulled Applejack into a warm and desperate hug. The pegasus was shaking something fierce as she held onto Applejack tightly. She buried her face into the confused farmer’s shoulder, nuzzling tenderly as she tried to calm herself. Having been through similar situations with the timid mare in the past, AJ patted the mare on the back and pulled the shivering mare into a deeper embrace.
“You okay, Flutters? What’s wrong?”
“I understand, Applejack. I understand.”
Those two little words bucked the wind out of Applejack as she froze from the impact. Fluttershy was comforting her, just like she had back in the barn.
Fluttershy squeezed tighter. “I know it was hard. You did your best. I’m glad you made it here to be with us.”
“Shucks, Fluttershy,” Applejack said with a dry, wispy chuckle. She swallowed again, trying to not sound weaker than she felt. “We were just walking through town. It wasn’t even me they were treating bad.”
Fluttershy pulled away, sucking in her lips and nodding as she kept her eyes locked on the ground. “I know, Applejack.”
The pegasus took a deep breath, trying and failing to calm herself. She counted to ten and took a large gulp before turning her gaze towards the back of the passenger car. It then dawned on Applejack why she was shivering like a cactus in the dead of winter.
“Hang on a sec. You don’t need to—”
“No, Applejack. I do. W-we’re on a friendship retreat, right? And Ch… Chr… Classy could use a friend.”
With terrified determination, Fluttershy willed herself to start her long journey towards the back where Chrysalis was laying down. Rainbow quickly popped up from her seat, but was cowed back down when Fluttershy shook her head. Like Chrysalis before, Fluttershy didn’t want to go, but she was going. With one final bracing breath, she pulled the bandage off and trotted gingerly to the back, her long mane bobbing up and down with each step.
From where she was sitting, Applejack couldn’t see Chrysalis or hear Fluttershy. After a moment, Fluttershy sat across from where the fake dog had jumped up to. She joined Dash on her side, leaning over the backrest and trying to hear either of the two at the end of the car.
“Hear anything, Rainbow?” Applejack asked, hoping the pegasus’ sharper ears would pick something up.
“Nuh-uh, and it’s going to drive me crazy.”
The nervous pair watched the back of Fluttershy’s head for a short eternity, seeing her ears flop and pin back the longer their conversation went on. There were a few flickers of hope as the mare’s ears rose, but were quickly sent back down again and she sank into her seat. AJ hadn’t been this worried about Fluttershy doing her own thing since she’d taken on that sleeping dragon by herself years ago.
Rainbow tilted her head closer to her friend, not letting her eyes leave the back row for a second. “What do you think they’re talking—”
“Enough!” The rear row exploded into green flames as the towering changeling emerged with an enraged scowl. “What do you want from me?”
Twilight, Pinkie, and Rarity whipped their heads around to join Applejack’s and Rainbow’s stunned shock at the outburst. Chrysalis’ attention shifted up from the tiny pegasus as her eye began to twitch.
“Hey!” Rainbow shouted angrily. Her wings flared open, ready to dart over to save her friend.
“No, no! It’s okay!” Fluttershy shouted as she waved for everyone to stop.
“And just what about this is okay to you?” Chrysalis boomed at the terrified pegasus.
Fluttershy snapped back to attention as she pushed back into her seat, pulling her mane in front of her face to hide. “N-nothing, but…!”
The changeling’s rage began to fizzle into a confused scowl from the strange answer.
“You leave Fluttershy alone, you big—Wha!” Dash’s legs flailed uselessly as Applejack grabbed her by the barrel and pulled her back before she could rush over.
“What are you doing? Lemme go!”
Applejack only tightened her grip and forced her to the floor. “Ain’t gonna let you start a brawl on the train, Dash!”
Rainbow grunted as she struggled against Applejack’s superior strength. “You’re… the one who’s… oww! That hurts!”
“Stop it right now, you two!” Rarity called out as she rushed to their row. “This is no way to behave!”
Ignoring the cries of their dainty friend, Applejack flipped Dash onto her front and pushed her down on the withers. If she had her lasso on her, she would’ve been tempted to tie the ornery pegasus’ wings. She kept a firm hoof on Rainbow. The moment she faltered, she’d jet off and do something everypony would regret. Just as she felt Dash start to give in, both of their bodies began glowing purple as they were pulled apart by magic.
“That’s enough!” Twilight shouted as she looked between the two fighters. “We’re supposed to be friends! What are you two doing?”
“What are you doing, Twi?” Rainbow yelled as she struggled against Twilight’s powerful grip. “Stop Chrysalis!”
“Stop me from what?” said changeling asked.
“From hurting Fluttershy, that’s what!” Rainbow fumed with anger until she came to her senses and saw Chrysalis standing next to her suspended body, glaring at her with contempt.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head, featherbrain. The draconequus’ little pet is just fine.”
“Then, how about—uhh… I’m still watching you!”
Chrysalis cackled darkly as she lifted Rainbow’s head by the chin. “Oh, I know you are, Rainbow Dash. All of you are just the most wonderfulest of fwiends, aren’t you?” she purred. “That’s the whole point of this little trip of yours, after all. Strengthening your precious bonds, letting them fester until they burst into gumdrops and rainbows. Well, what’s more unifying than having an enemy to rally against?”
“B-but we don’t have to be enemies, Chrysalis,” Fluttershy insisted as she approached the changeling from behind. “You can be our friend too!”
“Why? So I can ‘change for the better’ or something? That’s what your precious Princess of Friendship said. I wonder how long that will take? Not even your greatest weapon was able to make me ‘better.’ Do you think a train ride across the country is going to do it?”
Fluttershy shrank back. “Well, no. Not exactly, but—”
“Then stop bothering me about it!” Chrysalis snarled, dipping down to Fluttershy’s eye level and flashing her fangs. “Don’t give me a pity party just to make yourself feel better!”
“I wasn’t! I was worried about you! No one should have to go through with what you and Discord—”
Chrysalis slammed her hooves, pushing herself up to full height. “I told you not to say that name around me, whelp!”
Seeing the situation quickly deteriorating, Twilight let both Applejack and Rainbow down while giving the pegasus a silent glare not to do something stupid. The pegasus nodded and quickly darted to the side, waiting for Chrysalis to make any aggressive moves towards them.
Applejack stepped forward towards the unstable mare. “Calm down, Chrys. I promise, she just wants to help.”
The changeling queen spun around, her eye twitching fiercely as she faced the peasant. “I’m so sick of your stupid help! She can’t! You can’t! Luna can’t! None of you can help me!”
Arguing was getting nowhere fast for her. Chrys was coming apart at the seams, and it didn’t look like a word she could say would help. If it went on for much longer, she might even go feral again and start lashing out like she did at the castle. AJ needed to do something quick. Looking around, it didn’t seem like anypony else had any better ideas. Rarity was already taking several steps back with Pinkie. Twilight was ready to do anything necessary to stop Chrysalis, as was Rainbow. The last thing Applejack wanted to do was hurt her any more than she was.
As her mind drew blanks, Fluttershy dove for Chrysalis’ neck, wrapping her forelegs around her tight. The blindsided changeling fell to the ground with a hiss and writhed around, trying to shake the assailant off.
“What the hay are you doing?” Applejack cried.
“Yeah! You get her, Fluttershy!” Rainbow cheered.
Despite Chrysalis’ erratic flails and Applejack’s complaints, the meek pegasus kept her gripped locked tight. She might not have been the strongest of their friends, but AJ had seen her massaging Beary and playing with a manticore. She knew how to wrangle a critter or two.
“Let go of her, Fluttershy!” Twilight shouted over the scuffle to no avail.
This was a nightmare. Out of all of their friends, Fluttershy was the last one Applejack expected to outright attack Chrysalis. She wanted to jump in and pull the pegasus off, but she couldn’t get close. Chrysalis was flailing every limb and hissing more than an angry cat in heat. For Fluttershy’s part, she seemed scared outta her wits as well.
Having seen enough, Twilight’s horn sparked to life again to pull them apart, but then Chrysalis just stopped. The light returned to the changeling’s eyes as she blinked them back into reality. She tilted her head back to see who was wrapped around her.
“Cucumbers?” Chrys asked.
“Umm, I like my mom’s cucumber and daffodil salad,” Fluttershy whispered as she hugged the changeling’s neck. “It’s my favorite.”
“Oh…”
Chrysalis and Fluttershy just lay there in silence. The changeling’s eyes darted about trying to process what was even happening while the pegasus timidly held on for dear life.
“You’re shaking,” Chrysalis mumbled.
Fluttershy nodded into the silky mane.
“You’re scared.”
She tightened her grip as she nodded again, seemingly fighting the urge to let go.
Another confused frown crossed Chrysalis' face. She heaved a resigned sigh to herself and, in a flash of green flames, changed back into dog and escaped the fearful pegasus’ grasp. She picked herself up off the floor and turned to Fluttershy, still curled up on the ground with her face buried in her forelegs.
“Better?” Classy asked.
The timid mare slowly peaked out from her hiding place to see a cute doggy looking back down on her in place of a towering changeling queen. For a moment, Fluttershy’s eyes sparkled briefly, but faded into shame as she pulled her mane over her face. “I’m sorry, Chrysalis.”
“Whatever.” The dog snorted and started walking towards the back. “I started it anyway.”
“W-wait!” Fluttershy cried as she quickly picked herself up from the floor.
“What?”
“Can I… will you let me try again, please?” she asked while hiding behind her flowing mane. “I want to be your friend.”
Classy chuckled to herself. “Really? Is that what you want?”
Fluttershy pulled at her shielding hair, but kept her unhidden eye locked onto Classy’s as she nodded firmly.
“Whatever.” With that, she turned back around to AJ’s seat and hopped up on it. Everypony just stared at her as she made herself comfortable. After a few moments, Classy turned back to Fluttershy and frowned. “Well? Are you coming up here or not?”
“We’ll be arriving in Manehattan in five minutes, your highness,” the old conductor reported as he looked around the passenger car curiously covered in festive flags and filled with balloons.
Twilight nodded as she swept up some confetti in her magic. “Thank you, Mr. Sassabrass.”
“Do you need some help cleaning all of this up?”
“No thank you, but we’ve got it covered. It’s our mess anyway.”
“Oh wait!” Pinkie Pie called out as she grabbed an entire cake from the nearby buffet table and shoved it into a box. “Here’s some cake for you and Smokey Steam!”
Sassabrass barely caught the cake in his hooves and smiled politely. “Thank you, but Smokey Steam isn’t the engineer on this trip.”
“I know. That’s Driveshaft, but he’s allergic to eggs, so I already gave him some taffy. Smokey is working the express back to Ponyville today, so be sure to give him some.”
“How do you know that?”
“The schedule, silly!” Pinkie said, taking a clipboard out of her mane.
“Oh, well I’ll be sure to tell him you said hello,” he said as he looked back down at the cake. The stallion bowed quickly and returned to the crew car, leaving the ponies and one dog to clean up the mess they’d made during Pinkie’s impromptu party. Applejack was grateful that her friend was always prepared to lighten the mood, even if Classy wasn’t in much of one to join in.
“Thank Celestia! I was about to go crazy being cooped up in this stupid car.” Rainbow fluttered her antsy wings, itching to get out for a quick flight to cool off.
“I know. Anything to get away from you,” Classy added from her spot on Fluttershy’s lap.
Rainbow rolled her eyes and went back to work.
“That’s not a very nice thing to say,” Fluttershy complained as she stroked Chrysalis’ fur.
“I’m not very nice.” Chrysalis tilted her head, flashing her green eyes at the mare. “Deal with it.”
Fluttershy returned with a small frown of her own. “If you don’t behave, I’m not going to keep petting you.”
“You say it like I’m not the one doing you a favor. It’s not like you have any love left.”
Fluttershy slumped in her seat as tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m really trying. Honest!”
“Don’t cry, Fluttershy,” Applejack said as she placed a supportive hoof on the sad mare’s shoulder. “You’re probably just emotionally exhausted. I usually get pretty grumpy after I’ve given her a bit too much. How are you feeling?”
“Like—like a big failure.” Fluttershy choked back a sob as she tried to rein in her sadness. “Like I can’t do anything right. I’m just awful…”
“That’s why I told you to quit while you were ahead, idiot!” Classy barked back.
“B-but you’re so soft!” Fluttershy whined between heaves.
The disguised changeling sighed to herself and hopped off. “I didn’t even get that much out of you.”
“But you got at least a little bit, so that’s something, right?” Applejack said with a smile.
“I guess…” Chrysalis mumbled.
That was a glowing endorsement from the stubborn girl as far as Applejack was concerned. She couldn’t help but smile. It wasn’t like Fluttershy was over her fear of the former villain. She had been shivering in her horseshoes until Chrysalis turned back into Classy. It seemed that even if she knew who was on the inside, the fluffy outside helped ease the animal lover into a false sense of security.
“Oh! Is it my turn?” Pinkie asked excitedly as she jumped over and grabbed the dog without waiting for an answer. She squeezed as hard as she could as Chrysalis struggled to break free. “Oh wow! This is tingly like Rockin’ Poppin’ Candy!”
“Ack! Stop it! Let me go, Pinkie!” Classy cried as she wriggled helplessly in the party pony’s hug.
“Okie dokie loki!” Pinkie dropped the pooch and bounced away to continue cleaning up.
Applejack paused and looked at Classy. “Well?”
“Pure powdered sugar,” she answered.
“Well, that’s three outta the six of us. All things considered, I think this friendship retreat is going pretty good so far.”
Classy scoffed. “Hardly. It was barely anything.”
“You did shake her off mighty quick.”
“She was completely unfocused!” the dog complained as she hopped back onto the bench, swatting a stray party hat out of the way. “It was like being under a salt shaker. One second it came in, the other it was off, then it came back, and then went away again. It was annoying!”
“It’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. You’ll get used to it.”
Classy said nothing and simply curled up to get comfortable in her spot. She eyed the others sweeping, picking up, and packing away all the things Pinkie had put out. Applejack was glad that Twilight had stopped the mare before she’d hung the piñata. Sticks and moving cars did not mix well, and it would’ve been more of a pain to clean than it already was.
Applejack was glad they had magic to help get everything, but she couldn’t help but think a third horn might be able to help it go even faster.
“You just gonna lay there?”
Chrysalis smirked, flashing her canine fangs. “Don’t you know that dogs don’t clean up messes? They let others do it for them.”
“Of course. My mistake, your highness. Just don’t get too comfortable in your fur and make me clean up any other messes.”
The changeling’s face sunk into a frown as she looked away in disgust. “Way to ruin a perfectly good joke.”
Applejack waved a hoof. “Hey, I was talking about chewing up the upholstery. Where did your dirty mind go? Marking your territory? Maybe some leg humping?”
The seat exploded into green flames, revealing Chrysalis back in proper form leering at Applejack. “If you drop the toilet humor, I’ll help clean up. Deal?”
“Thought you’d never ask, sugarcube.”
If you find a simple mistake in the GSP (Grammar, Spelling, or Punctuation), please let me know through a private message rather than leaving it in the comment section. Thank you for reading!
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They're in a relationship and they is nothing anybody can say that will convince me otherwise.
I... can't decide what kind of relationship, exactly....
I mean, some rhythmically inclined bugs topped the charts with that sentiment in '64. It can work!
I mentioned this in the Google Doc, but I genuinely find it interesting that Chrysalis's "Shutterbug" guise is an earth pony in this 'verse when it was canonically a unicorn in "The Mean 6". It's a neat meta way of capturing (unsubtle photography pun completely intended) the effect AJ and the other Apples are having on her.
Between Thorax's failed intervention culminating in him nearly getting his jaw crushed, Discord's, uh… fracases, and now this teacup cake-based dysfunctionality transpiring between Starlight and Trixie, the original Reformed Four (and Fleur, I should add) really haven't had the easiest of goings in this story, have they? Alas.
Speaking of Fleur:
Keep up the great work!
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Would you believe me if I said that the thought occured to me as I was writing it, but completely didn't make the insect connection because I didn't once think of the name of said band? I don't like bugs, but I still love changelings...
I like to think of it stupidly genius. I was looking at a picture of her as I was writing this and then pictured the earth pony camera harness hanging off of her and just blanked on the horn. I kept it in because I agreed with the comment you left in response on said doc after realizing the glaring error. Gonna channel my inner Trixie real quick...
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I'm such a good writer that even my mistakes are brilliant.
Don't forget Zecora! It's the side-six in this universe I guess. Also, it might be a little less obvious since the episode in question focused on Starlight and Trixie, but we're currently in this universe's "All Bottled Up".
static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/a/a3/Starlight_watches_teacup_poodle_run_off_S7E2.png
Fleur stopped Trixie from ruining the teacakes.
Moving forward, a pretty good signal that we're brushing up against canon events is if I'm forced to write Spike into a scene. Just part of the hazards of writing a story that only minorly deviates from the show's canon.
For a creature as set in her ways as Chrysalis any progress is good. She might not necessarily like Fluttershy all that much yet, but I bet she respects her a lot more than she used to.
Still I wonder how this story is going to be paced. You've stated in the past that you don't want your stories to be excessively long, but realistically someone with issues as severe as Chrysalis' would take years to get to a point where they could have a healthy romantic relationship with anybody.
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Agreed. I don't think it'll get out of control though like Electro Swing. I started both knowing where I want to end up, I'm just not entirely sure how long it will take to get there. Luckily, there are far fewer moving parts with Unchanging Truths. We probably won't be going crazy long.
Welp, that's progress, right?
If only someone figured out how to deal with Trixie's planet-sized glob of narcissism, dealing with Chryssie's would be a cakewalk by comparison.
"Ack! Get it off! Get it off!"
Speaking of Pinkie, can s changeling get love-diabetes?
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*cue that Spongebob cutaway* 50 chapters later...
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Moral of the story, accidental brilliance is the best kind of brilliance.
Ah, that's right! I figured as much, but got tripped up trying to sort out who was where between Different Stripe and this AU's incarnation of "To Where and Back Again". Not sure how I missed "Bottled Up" either, for that matter; I'll admit there's a bit of a gap in my mid-series knowledge, but I definitely watched that one. Whoops. Good to know!
You know me; I see this as an absolute win!
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Not entirely sure where this gif came from, but this seemed like a half-decent excuse to use it, so…
Ponies and their friendship are like drops of water that drip on rock that is Chrysalis, slowly breaking her defenses down and revealing slightly less hostile layer underneath. If they keep at it for a long enough time, they might eventually reach an actually friendly inner core.