Chrysalis' unexpected Life

by coto616

A What?.

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A What?.
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Chrysalis had recently arrived home after dropping Clear Spark off at school and had a lot of free time since Apple Bloom had offered to bring the colt home in the afternoon, the two little ones spent a lot of time together and the queen knew why as well as AppleJack, but Clear Spark still didn't realize the filly's feelings, The two got along very well and cared a lot for each other but no one wanted to rush the little ones, they wanted their relationship to grow naturally, Chrysalis for her part being able to live without having to hide anymore and with some changelings visiting and helping out in Ponyville, She was having a lot more free time than she thought and had some evenings where she had nothing to do, it was comforting the first few days but being a monarch for a thousand years she was used to having busy days and didn't like the feeling of sitting around all day and watching the emptiness, She could read or sleep, but reading was not one of her major hobbies and the ponies already had somepony from the royalty that filled that quota, on the other hoof sleeping was tempting but she had already tried it and at night she could not sleep since her body had rested.

After finishing tidying up the house and checking if she needed to buy anything the queen left towards town, she didn't need anything special apart from food for her cat and she had all day to get it so she could walk around a bit and maybe have a drink at Sugarcube Corner when Pinkie had her rest, but when she left the house she saw a couple of changelings sitting under a tree that greeted her as she left, the queen returned the greeting and went on her way.

When she returned home in the afternoon she saw that the pair of changelings were still talking under the tree, she greeted them again and went into the house to prepare lunch before Clear Spark arrived with Apple Bloom, normally the filly when she accompanies Clear Spark to the house stays a while to do homework together and play for a while in his room, so the queen has to cook thinking of three, and as she had thought the filly stayed to have dinner, talk a little about her days and play before returning to the farm.

The next day the queen had to do almost the same routine, but when she left the house she noticed that in front of her home, there were now half a dozen changelings under the tree and they were building a campfire, The queen was curious to know what they were doing but she had given them the freedom to try new things and look for jobs as long as they did not cause harm to anyone, so the queen could deduce that they wanted to try camping since after the tour many changelings called their attention, that was something normal in the most experienced soldiers who had long missions, but for a large number of changelings who rarely left the hive it was something new and exciting.

Chrysalis strolled around town and decided to visit some of her friends but unfortunately, they were all busy with something or other, Rarity was in the middle of a special request for Twilight, she needed a new dress for the grand gallop gala as well as Princess Luna, Cadance, and basically all her friends, including the queen.

Pinkie always had her days busy at Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy was taking care of her animals strangely helped by Discord, who lately was taking much more interest and taking much more care of the yellow pegasus, many had noticed it but at the moment of mentioning it to them, they just deflected the topic.

No one knew where Rainbow was since usually after working in the weather of Ponyville she go to sleep on a cloud or the top of a tree, but recently she was also disappearing to train her aerial routines, she didn't want to miss the practice.

Twilight was in Canterlot fulfilling her new duties as princess regent of Equestria with Luna, she had little work and most of it was administrative, but she was studying hard in her free time to help Princess Luna in everything she could, the young alicorn could usually be seen on weekends in Ponyville and for important dates.

Spike was in charge during the week of running the castle library along with Starlight and informing Twilight of any important events happening in town, which was saying a lot since they lived in Ponyville.

The only one left free to be able to talk or help her with anything was AppleJack, so the queen walked in the direction of the farm, when she arrived she found Big Mac along with a couple of changelings ordering some barrels and some crates of apples into a couple of carts, it seemed they had a big delivery to make.

"Hey guys, how long have you been working here?". Asked the queen to the changelings.

"Hello Queen Chrysalis." They responded cheerfully to the greeting. "We started this week working on the farm, it's fun and besides Leaf Storm wanted to get out of the hive and raise some money to start his painting business."

"It's good to see you again, I see you've made a lot of progress on your fear, and tell me, are they treating you well?."

"Ummm... yes, Big Mac is very patient with me and... and he doesn't talk much, which helps me a lot... a lot to be able to interact with him and... I don't suffer from anxiety attacks in front of... ponies like before."

The queen raised her head and looked the huge stallion straight in the face which only nodded.

"It's good that you were able to advance so far that you are even trying to work with ponies now, I'm happy for you." Said the queen with a smile.

"Thank you, work ummm... work is not hard and Big Mac understands me when... when I get anxiety and I don't... can't leave the house."

"Always remember to take care of your health first and don't forget your passion for painting, your paintings are the best I've seen in a long time, and have they seen AppleJack?."

"AppleJack is down south, finishing up some apple bucking." Big Mac replied.

"Thank you, have a nice day." The queen said goodbye and flew south in search of the farm pony, after a couple of minutes in the air and following the sound of somepony gently tapping some trees (yeah sure ) the queen landed near AppleJack who was marking down on a map the trees she had already bucked.

"Good morning AppleJack, how's the harvest coming along?" Asked the queen approaching her friend.

"Hello Chrysalis, what brings you here, nothing to do at home again?"

"A little, since the ponies now give us free love we always have our love reserves to the max, which gives me too much free time since I don't have to plan raids and attacks on villages."

"Actually the changelings are very helpful here on the farm, a little food and a couple of hugs are all they need but with Big Mac anyway we wanted to give them a wage for their work, I don't like the idea of having them working for free even if they don't mind."

"I hear you, and with Luna we are reviewing laws and ways to solve that, we know that at some point somepony will try to take advantage of my little changelings by offering them far lesser pay than a pony for the same work."

"At least that won't happen here in Ponyville, even though a whole lot more changelings have arrived than I expected."

"I've also heard that a small community settled in Appleloosa and is working with your cousins, but since I'm here do you need me to help you with the harvest?"

"I could use your help to finish before sunset." AppleJack looked at the trees around her. "You can start with those over there that are ready, when I finish marking my map I'll join you." Said the mare pointing to the trees behind the queen but not referring to none in particular, the queen approached one and hit it hard but no apple fell, she hit it again a couple more times but nothing was happening.

"There's some special technique for this because..." She bucked again to no avail. "...Because this is not working." Finished saying the queen before turning and looking at the tree somewhat quizzically.

"It's because those apples still have a couple of days to go, that's why I was telling you to start with the ones that were ready, like this one here." AppleJack gently rocked a tree to which several apples fell to the ground.

"And how can you tell the difference?, they look exactly the same?" Asked the queen picking up one of the apples from the ground.

"I don't really know." Replied the mare somewhat confused. "Does it have something to do with my name being AppleJack?, and that I grew up on an apple farm?, or that I have an apple on my Cutie Mark?." The farm pony was a lousy liar but she knew how to handle sarcasm perfectly.

"Why don't you buck the trees and I'll pick apples."

"That would be the best." Aj replied with a chuckle.

After a couple of hours of apple picking and small talk, both figures carried the fruits of their hard work to the barn for a bite to snack before the queen had to pick up her son from school.

"I still don't understand how you can tell the difference between trees." Commented the queen sipping a cup of juice as she sat down at the table.

"What can I tell you, it's years of experience." Replied the pony. "And have you thought about what to do with all this free time?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's not that I don't like your company here on my farm and I appreciate your help, but you come to visit a lot and I was already thinking about what an apple Cutie Mark would look like on a changeling's flank." The pony looked at the queen's flank making a mental image. "Have you thought about looking for a part-time job?". AppleJack also sat at the table but with a couple of sliced apples on a plate.

"A part-time job?" Wondered the queen raising an eyebrow. "I hadn't thought about it, I used to have a lot of work at the hive when I lived in The Badlands, but now I have my life here in Ponyville and the hive basically runs itself, even though a job might get me out of the house a couple of days a week."

"And is there anything that catches your eye?." Asked the pony eating a piece of fruit.

"Do you think Spike or Starlight need help at the castle?."

"You could ask them, and what do you think about trying the mayor's office?, surely you would be helpful with your experience as queen."

"Lots of paperwork, I could also ask Fluttershy if she needs help with her animals at the sanctuary, or Pinkie if she could recommend me for a part-time job at Sugarcube Corner."

"I know Fluttershy needs all the help she can get with her animals, but money is not something she has to spare, many times she can't afford to make ends meet and she borrows from her parents or us, she feels too embarrassed to do that and tries to gather what little she has left over to pay us back but everyone knows it's for a good cause and we've never asked her to pay it back, better try with Pinkie."

"Yeah... I remember a couple of times she asked me for money or some food from the General. whiskers, I had forgotten, I'm going to try Pinkie."

"And how's the therapy going with Celestia?, has Red Bug accomplished anything yet?" AppleJack asked, taking her empty plate to the sink.

"Not much, although she did ask us to help with an intervention at her first session." The queen in turn took the empty glass and passed it to her friend.

"An intervention?" AJ asked with intrigue.

"Yes, she wanted us to give her an ultimatum: if Celestia didn't want to try therapy she would be locked up in Tartarus for a thousand years, although frankly, I support that idea."

"And do you think it will work?"

"I hope she'll at least think about it, I promised to give Celestia a second chance but if she shows no real interest in doing it, I'm going to send her to Tartarus for a thousand years myself."

"You know you can take a dog to water but you can't force it to drink."

"A dog?" Said the queen curiously. "Are you sure it wasn't some other animal used in that sentence?"

"I don't think so, I've always heard it that way."

"Maybe I misheard, well, thanks for your time and the glass of juice but I must go get Clear Spark at school now." Said the queen hugging her friend and walking to the door.

"See you soon Chrysalis, and tell Apple Bloom that this is still her house and she has to come over for dinner." AppleJack said with a chuckle.

"I'll tell her, future sister-in-law." Replied the queen in kind before heading off to school.

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The next day after dropping her son off at school the queen walked around town looking for places where she could work, and saw a few options that caught her eye and offered jobs that were not full-time.

Rarity was an option in Carousel Boutique since she could use a model that could adapt to different sizes of costumes, Sugarcube Corner needed somepony to make some deliveries in town and to nearby places since with the twins it was very difficult and they had had to cancel some orders for the same reason, The post office needed a changeling that could make deliveries on time to other changelings in town, or at least differentiate them since it was something very difficult for the ponies, Since the queen didn't need the money she could also help Fluttershy at the sanctuary a few days a week, she would be very close to home and the yellow pegasus could use a lot of help, another option was to help Spike with the library and Starlight with her spells at the castle and surely Twilight would be much calmer in Canterlot knowing that somepony was taking care of her assistant and her student, her last option was the Spa that somehow always seemed to be short of staff.

It took the queen much longer than imagined to see where she could work in a town as small as Ponyville, there were more options but those were the ones that caught her attention and she could ask during the week about the flexibility of schedule and salary but now she had to talk to AppleJack and ask her if she could take care of Clear Spark for a couple of days while she was in Canterlot, she wanted to be present and know what would happen with Celestia, she also wanted to talk to Fluttershy if she could feed General Whiskers, then she had to go for Clear Spark to the school.

"Again I thank you AJ, it won't be more than three or four days and I don't want my little one to miss school days." Said the queen as she helped her friend close her apple stand.

"Don't worry, I just hope Celestia is up for therapy."

"It's either that or a trip straight to the Tartarus, I'll bring some of Spark's things tomorrow when I drop him off at school." Said the queen as she helped lift the last box onto the cart.

"Thanks for the help and I'll see you tomorrow."

After saying goodbye the queen headed to school for her son but ran into the pegasus she needed to talk to, the pegasus looked more a bit agitated and a bit disheveled, but agreed to the favor of feeding her cat for a few days, that cat never seemed to move but at some point, she would get up and go to eat before continuing to sleep, finally, she arrived at school to pick up her son and tell him she wouldn't be home for a while.

"Did you have a good day today?" Asked the queen to the colt at her side.

"Yes, although a little boring."

"Cheerilee does what she can but not many like to go to school."

The two walked slowly through the village, the colt still learning his way and the queen kept pace with him allowing him to lead the way and only guiding him when necessary so he wouldn't stray too far.

"Son, I'm going to be out of Ponyville for a few days but I've already talked to AppleJack and you're going to stay at her farm while I'm gone."

"Great." Said the colt excitedly. "So I'm going to sleep with Apple Bloom?" Shouted the foal prancing around causing some in the village to blush and laugh at the foal's words not realizing what he had said.

The queen just blushed and tried to sound as serious as possible thanking her son's innocence and not having to give him `the talk`.

"You're going to... sleep in Apple Bloom's room if that's what you mean."

"And when are you going to leave mom?."

"Tomorrow after I drop you off at school I'm going to leave some of your things at AppleJack's and then I'm leaving for Canterlot, it won't be more than three or four days."

"Are you going to talk to Princess Celestia again?"

"I remind you that she no longer holds the position of a princess, but I don't plan to talk to her, I just want to be present and know what's going to happen to her."

"She scares me, I don't want her to come out." Said the colt lowering his head, the queen just looked at him.

"I don't really like that idea either but she deserves a second chance, like the one I got, or like the one you and I got." The queen stroked the little boy's mane.

"I guess that's true."

They both kept walking until they reached their home, Clear Spark went to his room to do his homework and gather some things he wanted to take to Apple Bloom's, while the queen cooked dinner and thought about her day, and where it would be good for her to work.

Author's Note:

The next chapter will be the second part of the therapy and it will surely be a big part of the story in general, and where do you think the queen could work, I will take your ideas into consideration, and depending on what you write I will decide.

Will she be a model?, or a mailing?, will some curious things happen with the animals?, or some failed experiment with Starlight's spells?, I'm also curious about which ponies go to the Spa.

See you next Sunday.

Comments

[coto616]

11509678
I hadn't thought that the racism Celestia taught her guards would somehow feed back to her, it's an interesting point to consider.

And I remember that once it was mentioned about the reason why Celestia had mostly white guards and it was for simple aesthetics of the series as it reflected better that they were of the royal guard of the solar monarch, but the racism shown by many nobles of Equestria is something that passes from generation to generation as in most cultures, the guards to have a more direct or close relationship with royalty or nobles are also affected in the same way.

curious fact:
When I researched why the color of the guards I found that male and female Kirin are exactly the same and the only way to tell the difference is that the females have eyelashes.

11505988
I neither deny nor confirm the existence of a mare protecting Manehattan disguised as the night.

[Lord King Cocoon]

I can't see Chrysalis working at the Spa unless it's full-time. And I feel like a Mail Carrier would be considered coming out of left field. That's not to say it's a bad idea. It's just a little unexpected. I could see her working with Rarity as a Model. But that would involve a lot of standing around, which wouldn't help to alleviate her boredom. Does the School of Friendship exist in this story? Because I could see Chrysalis choosing to become a teacher there. That would still be more of a full-time job, but that would be interesting. So I suppose being a Mail Carrier may actually be the best option as a part-time job for Chrysalis.

Also, we have to see some animal shenanigans happen. Chrysalis may even be good with animals because she could theoretically transform herself into that animal to better relate to it. I could also see her turning into an animal, and Fluttershy thinks she's cute and wants to snuggle her, completely forgetting that she's the Changeling Queen. And I"m sure there would be some Discord shenanigans as well.

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11510793
I actually like the idea that during Celestia's therapy sessions, the detail is brought out that Celestia is acting like the Canterlot Nobles in how racist she's acting towards Chrysalis. Celestia would take offense to that because she hates how stuck-up the Canterlot Nobles are. But that could act as a breakthrough as Celestia realizes that she's become a stuck-up Canterlot Noble. She's become her own pet peeve. Granted, that can be later on, but it would probably make for a good first step in her therapy.

And that is an interesting detail about the Kirin. I never knew that before. Now I have to wonder if males and females have different voices.

[coto616]

11511162
today I was thinking about a way to make the transition to season 8 and the school, it shouldn't be too difficult and I have some ideas to do it in 2 or 3 more chapters.