The Retribution of Chrysalis

by Fallen Prime

Chapter Two: Rarity

Rarity sat patiently in the waiting room of Ponyville’s day spa, flipping through a random magazine that had been left out on the table. It was unusual, her being the first one here; she couldn’t help but wonder if this was how Fluttershy normally spent her time waiting for her every week. The poor dear must get bored waiting this long for her week after week; most of these magazines seemed dreadfully uninteresting. Would it have killed Aloe and Lotus to subscribe to publications for a wider range of demographics? With a sigh, she set down the one she was reading and telekinetically lifted another one. She didn’t even notice until about halfway through that she had already read this magazine, and she set it right back down again.

The bell over the front door chimed, signaling the entrance of another customer. Rarity did not even have to look up to know who it was. “Good morning, Fluttershy. Interesting, this little role reversal we have here.”

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting,” Fluttershy replied. “I had a busy morning... um... getting Angel to cooperate, and I lost track of time.”

Rarity turned toward her friend, relieved that she had finally arrived, but something caused her to pause for a moment. Was that hesitation? “Are you certain it was because of Angel?” she asked, an eyebrow arching skyward.

“No, I’m sure it was Angel,” she responded. However, she couldn’t seem to meet the white unicorn’s gaze, so Rarity was not inclined to believe her.

“This is not like you, Fluttershy. I thought we told each other everything! Especially after the whole debacle with Photo Finish! You know you can trust me to keep your secrets, as I trust you to keep mine. Tell me, what really happened this morning that delayed your arrival?”

“I...” Fluttershy began, looking away from Rarity and backing up towards the door. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you.”

“Tell me,” Rarity demanded. “I am always completely open with you. How could you not feel comfortable being completely open with me? It’s almost insulting!”

“I know, and I feel so awful for having to hide her—it from you, but I just can’t tell you!” Fluttershy spat back, more forcefully than Rarity was used to hearing. “I’m so sorry, but this is something that has to stay a secret.”

Rarity doubled back. Fluttershy, with such a massive secret? One that must only have come into being this morning? She could hardly believe it. She had to know what her closest friend and confidante was hiding. And she already would by now, had Fluttershy not been so uncharacteristically adamant about not telling. Perhaps she could get her to show her instead...

Wait. Did she just say—she did!

“‘Her?’ Is there somepony you’re meaning to keep from me?” Rarity inquired. “A new friend, perhaps? Or, dare I say it, a lover? I never expected you to be the type to be attracted to—”

“No!” Fluttershy asserted, blushing furiously. “It’s nothing like that! She’s just a... a friend, I suppose, that I met this morning. At least, I think she might think we’re friends now...”

This response confused Rarity even more. The very nature of the statement came as a slight shock, hearing that somepony as timid and admittedly antisocial as Fluttershy had met a new friend within the space of one morning. The oddest part about it, though, was her initial denial of the fact. She did not want her to know about the new friend; in fact, she had seemed ashamed of the fact that she had met them, for reasons she could not fathom.

“I don’t understand. Why hide the fact that you made a new friend? Anypony who would befriend you over the course of a single morning must be such pleasant company! Tell me, where is she staying? I would have to assume it’s somewhere in Ponyville.”

Rarity could see Fluttershy’s defenses starting to weaken. “Um... she’s staying at my cottage for the moment, but—”

“Then you shall take me to meet her!” Rarity declared, causing Fluttershy to squeak at the interruption. “Any friend of yours is a friend of mine. It would be a shame for your newest acquaintance to be the exception to that rule.”

“Now?” Fluttershy asked, somehow becoming even more nervous. “I... what about the spa? We’re already here, and I don’t think this is something we should break our weekly tradition over.”

Fluttershy was stalling. Rarity could see it clear as day. She couldn't imagine why she continued to refuse, but she realized that she was fighting what was developing to be a losing battle. "Very well. I will respect your wishes for the time being. I have been looking forward to this all week, and it would be a shame to cut it so tragically short. After we leave, however, I demand to meet her!”

Fluttershy stood there for a moment, perhaps considering the proposal. It took much longer than Rarity would have expected. “Alright. But you have to promise me that you won’t make a big deal about it when you meet her.”

There must have been something off about the pony Fluttershy had welcomed into her life if it took her this long to agree to introduce her to Rarity, especially if promising to more or less withhold judgment was one of the conditions. It almost sounded as if anypony knowing of the mare’s presence and existence was a bad thing. As if this new mare... could be somehow dangerous.

“...very well, then. I promise I will not make a scene when I meet your guest. Though I must say, what with the secrecy with which you attempted to treat this information... I would expect her to be some sort of wanted criminal.”

Fluttershy shook her head as they walked into the sauna together. “I don’t really care at the moment. As far as I’m concerned... she’s just a broken soul in need of help.”

---

Chrysalis was, indeed, in need of help. She had no idea how long she’d been tied by her hooves and suspended upside-down from the ceiling, but the feeling of blood rushing to her head was beginning to make her dizzy. That rabbit was dynamite.

She heard a voice by the doorway. No, a pair of voices. One must have belonged to Fluttershy, and she assumed the second would be Twilight Sparkle, as promised. This was not the state in which she’d wanted to negotiate relief arrangements, but it was a desperate cause, and at this point, as long as the job got done, she would suffer any humiliation.

She heard the door open and Fluttershy speak again. “Chrysalis, before you say anything—”

“Before you say anything,” she interrupted, “you must rein in that rabbit of yours. He has unionized the other animals and is out of control!”

Fluttershy looked at the dangling changeling and brought her hoof to her forehead. “This is why I don’t like leaving Angel alone with new guests... here, let me help you.”

The pegasus moved to untie Chrysalis’ bonds. She felt the rope lose its grip on her hooves, then she felt her skull collide with the ground below. Given her height, it was a short fall, but it still hurt something awful.

“Oh, I’m so sorry about that!” Fluttershy insisted. “ I should’ve put down a pillow so you wouldn’t have felt that as much—”

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” Chrysalis assured her, staggering to her hooves. Even on top of every other injury she'd sustained in the recent past, she figured she was going to feel that one for a while.

Fluttershy averted her gaze, looking towards the floor. “I’m sorry again. But I’m also sorry about... well, you see, I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted that I—”

“Is that who I think it is!?” came a voice from the doorway. Chrysalis turned to meet its owner, but instead of the promised mare, she caught sight of a very well-groomed and very shocked white unicorn. The same one whose guise she had taken to approach Fluttershy to begin with.

---

Rarity refused to believe the sight before her. Fluttershy had just helped a changeling—the queen of the changelings—off of her ceiling! And they were speaking to each other as if they were friends! The vile creature looked in her direction at the sound of her voice, bearing an expression of... confusion and disappointment?

“I thought you were going to bring Twilight Sparkle,” the wretched being stated, turning to face the owner of the cottage. “I’m certain that that is not her. In fact, that appears to be—”

“Yes, it’s Rarity,” Fluttershy answered. “She demanded that I bring her back here to meet you right after we left the spa. I’m sorry, she didn’t give me any time to see Twilight.” She brought her attention over to Rarity. “Um... you remember Chrysalis, don’t you?”

“Remember her!?” Rarity spat, still trying to make sense of the situation. “Fluttershy, this is the thing that tried to invade Canterlot and conquer all of Equestria! How could you let her into your home? Is it even you in there, or is this some sort of changeling trick!?”

“Mind your manners, young Rarity,” the monster cautioned. “I am not in any mood for such accusations.”

“Rarity, please, you promised you wouldn’t make a big deal of this!” Fluttershy insisted.

“That was before I realized you were harboring the queen of the changelings!” Rarity retorted. “It may have been one thing if you only sheltered one of those disgusting grunts, but this is their ruler! The one who orchestrated the invasion, who captured Princess Cadance and attempted to enslave the entire population of Canterlot!”

“Did you just refer to my subjects as ‘disgusting grunts?’” the queen inquired, now growing visibly upset. Ah, so she had managed to strike a nerve!

“That is precisely what they are!” Rarity declared with a hint of triumph in her voice. “Hideous, the whole lot of them! They’re disgusting! They’re vile! They’re—”

“They’re dying!” the changeling shouted. “Dying, every single one of them! I can hear their cries, and I can’t save them on my own! And the last thing I need to hear is you insulting every single one of them while they lay broken and starving all across your precious Equestria!”

Rarity stared in awe. The massive monarch in front of her was certainly upset, but she had expected mere anger. Instead, she saw despair on her face, the look of fresh and painful wounds reopening. She saw her eyes begin to well up with tears, eyes that almost seemed to be running out of tears to shed.

In that moment, she truly saw a broken soul in need of help.

“...she’s not lying, is she?” she asked, suddenly feeling like the scum of the earth.

“I can’t say for sure,” Fluttershy replied honestly, “but I believe her. Chrysalis, I’m so, so sorry about—”

“You are not the one who should be apologizing,” Chrysalis hissed, now glaring daggers at the mare still frozen on the doorstep.

“I...” she started, trying to work out what she would say. Depending on just how hard the changeling queen had taken her words, and on how receptive she would be of this apology, she could very well have made a powerful enemy. She needed to choose her words carefully so as not to escalate things further.

After a few seconds, she had her apology in order. “I... I am dreadfully sorry for what I said. I did not realize that your... your subjects were suffering so. It was wrong of me to pour salt in such a recent and painful wound.”

Chrysalis took a moment to appraise her apology. “I suppose you can be forgiven. You could not have known, after all—”

“I was not finished,” Rarity interjected. “You will also have to forgive me for not being able to trust you completely. Your story is a tragic one, and I have faith in Fluttershy’s decision to aid you in... whatever it is you are here to do, but I simply cannot ignore your past actions against Equestria. You have earned my sympathy, but you still must work if you wish for my trust.”

“I’m sure I will be able to cope,” Chrysalis quipped. “Will you... will you at least allow me to justify my presence here? My reason for coming here and pleading for the help of your friend?”

“Seeing as you are already here... I suppose I can grant you an audience,” Rarity answered.

---

And thus, in about as much detail as she had the first time, Chrysalis explained to Rarity her plight and her plan. She nearly broke down crying again, but having told the tale once before and having an audience of two sympathetic ponies instead of one seemed to help her compose herself.

“...which is why I need Fluttershy here,” she concluded. “She almost certainly won’t even hear me out otherwise. Though... I don’t suppose you would help me as well? Perhaps to support me if she remains skeptical?”

“For the time being, I see little reason why not,” Rarity responded. “There is still the matter of your recent attack, but... sitting here now, listening to you, I can hardly believe you are the same individual. Where was this side of you during the wedding?”

“Too busy riding the high of what I thought was my impending success,” Chrysalis admitted. “As you can imagine, I would prefer not to discuss it at length. It is a mistake I would not dare repeat. One I’m not even capable of repeating as of now.”

“You won’t go telling everypony about this, will you?” Fluttershy chimed in. “I think she needs secrecy to make this work. I don’t think anypony else needs to know yet... except for Twilight, of course.”

“My lips are sealed on the matter,” Rarity vowed. “Though I must ask... what did you have in mind for approaching her? I doubt you can walk up to her doorstep and grovel. It would be a shameful display, for one, and I’m convinced she would need to be... well, eased into it.”

Chrysalis never even considered a method of bringing the information to Twilight Sparkle. She had the “what” mapped out perfectly for her plan, but not the “how.” The only part of this that had not been pure impulse or reaction thus far was the confrontation with Fluttershy. She had gone with the flow on every other point, and ended up suspended from the ceiling for it due to having never accounted for the temperamental Angel. Too many factors, too many variables... and she had not begun to straighten them all out. These mares were a godsend, filling the gaps and holes in her plan that she failed to notice or acknowledge.

“Well, I don’t think having her meet and recruit the rest of our friends would work out well,” Fluttershy thought aloud. “She may see it as some kind of conspiracy, something we didn’t want her in on. I do hope she would never think that of us, but... she can be unpredictably scary under emotional pressure and stress. We will have to tell her, and we can’t wait too long.”

“I second that motion,” Chrysalis interjected. “Morbid though it may sound, time is bodies.”

“Perhaps one of us should confront her,” Rarity suggested. “I believe it should be you, Fluttershy, since you seem to have more sympathy for Chrysalis here. Honestly, of all the ponies I would have expected you to bond with...”

“I couldn’t do that,” Fluttershy insisted. “I don’t even want to know what conclusions she might come to if I told her I had Chrysalis staying in my cottage... I wouldn’t even know what to say when I get there!”

Suddenly, Chrysalis was struck with a brilliant idea. A way around Fluttershy’s indecision and apprehension. Something she was naturally suited for.

“Actually, Fluttershy... why don’t you leave that to me?”

---

Twilight Sparkle scoured her vast shelves of books for anything regarding long-distance communication spells. Something that may not need to rely on dragon fire to send scrolls, but could actually allow vocal communication. It seemed like it would be so much more personal. Plus, she wouldn’t have to go so long without hearing from Shining Armor again. She was devastated when she heard the news of his wedding so impersonally... it would destroy her to lose that connection with her BBBFF. Plus, Cadance was likely to be with him most of the time; she’d just love to catch up with her!

Her train of thought was derailed by a light knock on the door. She nearly called for Spike to answer it, but decided against it, allowing him to take his nap in peace. The door was right there anyway, so she chose to not be lazy and open it herself.

The mare standing on the other side appeared to be Fluttershy. “Twilight... can I talk to you for a minute?”

Comments

[Sparklight]

I can't help but feel the conversations and the internal dialogue sections are very... divided. There is only one going at a time, and this leads to conversations becoming information unloads, where characters spill everything, even the stuff the other characters don't need to know, to inform the reader. I think blending them together a bit more would help in making conversations more natural. For example:
Original:

Rarity turned toward her friend, eyebrow raised. “Are you certain it was because of Angel? I noticed some hesitation when you answered me.”

Edited:

Rarity turned toward her friend, relieved that she had finally arrived, but something caused her to pause for a moment. Was that hesitation? “Are you certain it was because of Angel?” she asked, an eyebrow sliding skyward.

[CommanderX5]

Rarity recruited, 4 left to go.

[KibaWR]

I'm suprised Chrysalis didnt loose her calm over the insult. If she would have attacked rarity there, her race would have been doomed... I know I would have attacked her if I were in her place... Good self-control there Chrysalis^^

[Frankie2]

Two down, still several more to go.