The Queen's Closet
Not a couple of days ago, the Pegasus Breeze family had gone on a trip, a vacation in celebration of the fact that the youngest member of the family, little Chill Breeze, had finally gotten his cutie mark. At his request, the Crystal Empire had been chosen as his tourist destination, arguing that what he wanted most was to see the Crystal Heart; and although this was true, the real reason why the young colt wanted to visit the newly annexed kingdom was that he had secretly developed an infatuation with his appointed princess, Mi Amore Cadenza, a secret that only his older sister, Warm Breeze, was aware of, thanks to the fact that once, entering into their shared room unannounced, she caught him kissing a poster of the Pink Princess, teasing him about this ever since, but always in private, away from the eyes of his family and friends.
But unexpectedly a strong snow storm put a dent in their plans, forcing them to make a stop at a convenient abandoned hotel in the middle of the mountains. Little Chill seemed upset, disillusioned and disappointed, but his father, always happy seeing the good side of any situation, said in an optimistic tone with which he wanted to keep his family's spirits up, that the stop would be momentary, just for what the storm lasts and that the Empire and its Heart would remain in its place no matter what.
For two days the storm kept them locked in that place, but by the night of the third, Warm Breeze and Chill Breeze left the abandoned hotel, galloping desperately, trying to get away from the cursed property, fighting against the stormy winds and a dense layer of snow.
Now both of their parents lay dead, cut and torn to pieces on the floor of the foyer of that place.
Warm Breeze leads the way, with his wings trying to protect her eyes and her brother from the cruel and merciless onslaught of the snowy storm, both of their wings numb and unable to fly, internally lamenting that such an important celebration of her younger brother's coming of age ended in such a tragic event.
Little Chill stumbles and for a moment get lost, submerged in the cold snow that already lies on the ground, and hidden by the snow that falls from the sky. Warm Breeze digs her head into the snow only to lift it up seconds later, having caught her brother, pulling him out by his mane, urging him to continue.
Several minutes after entering the forest that surrounded the property, desperation begins to find space in their fear. Luckily for both of them, among the roaring rain of snowflakes, the older sister manages to spot a cabin where they can take refuge and hide.
The door is half open, but once inside Warm Breeze makes sure to close it and fortify it with a long, thick wooden beam.
"We will spend the night here and tomorrow morning, when the sun rises, we will fly to the nearest town and get help," Warm says confidently, trying to be strong and to hide and minimize the tragedy for her little brother, of whom he was not a witness of.
"Dad said the storm…" Chill weakly tried to retort.
"WE WILL FLY...!" Warm shouts irritably, cutting off the discussion, giving her younger brother an angry look, as if he were to blame for what happened, and part of her believes so.
Chill sobs and cowers in fear at her sister's altered scream.
"We will fly..." she says after taking a breath, feeling ashamed, reproaching herself for her outburst and calming her nerves, "... and we will get help for mom and dad." She lies, Warm knows that there is no way to help her parents anymore, but she knows that this will help calm her brother in these stressful times.
A tapping on the window glass tenses them both. Warm hugs her brother with the strength of an earth pony, seeking to shelter and protect him. They both calm down when they see that it is nothing more than just a branch that, moved by the strong wind, stings the glass.
Then a bolt of lightning illuminates the outside, revealing through the window a terrifying figure watching them with a deep and penetrating gaze through his only eye, visible through the features of a grotesque mask made of a burlap sack.
When the light goes away and only the trembling of the thunder remains, the figure, the monster that she knows was the one who killed her parents and that has now come for them, also disappears.
They both scream as if their life depended on it. Warm picks up his brother and they hide inside the closet in the only room in the cabin.
Inside the small, claustrophobic space, Warm hugs Chill, pressing him tightly against her overworked chest, partly to protect him and keep him safe, and partly to keep him from screaming and revealing their hiding place.
From there they can hear the monster pony trying to enter the cabin, kicking the door with all its bestial strength.
She almost yelps when she hears the hinges being ripped off the frame and the door is finally "opened", but she manages to drown it out.
The slow clip clop of the murderer's walk and the sound of something being dragged, scratching the staves that make up the floor of the cabin is disconcerting.
Tears escape Warm Breeze's eyes as she prays for Celestia to raise the sun as soon as possible, as if that way whoever is outside will vanish like the rest of the dark shadows that only exist in the messy foals' rooms.
Suddenly she stop hearing the hoofsteps and the scratching on the floor, even the howling of the storm wind seems to have subsided to stillness; Silence has taken possession of the cabin.
Has he gone? Warm thinks wishfuly, but she doesn't let out the breath she's holding in her throat, she's not so delusional as to think that she can or should do it. She still has to wait for the sun to rise and the winds of the storm to calm down so she can feel safe.
"Maybe the bad pony is gone," Chill whispers to the horror of Warm, who immediately puts a hoof on her brother's mouth.
As expected and to her mental and physical dismay, she can see and hear the door to their hiding place being violently hit. For the second hit, splinters from the door fly inside. For the third, part of the blade of a sharp axe intrudes into the small and no longer safe space of them.
The blade is retracted and through the hole that remains they see themselves observed by an eye, an angry eye full of murderous intentions.
Warm and Chill Breeze scream.
The door is blown to pieces by the next blow.
The axe rises above both crying children like the fang of a bloodthirsty beast ready to strike its pray...
"Spike!" Twilight shouts as she calls for the fourth time and doesn't get a response from her dragon companion.
Taken by surprise, the little winged dragon drops the comic book he was reading and jumps rather than flies upward, where his claws allow him to grab onto the crystalline roof of the crystalline castle, as if he were a frightened cat.
"Twilight!?" exclaims Spike, releasing its claws from the ceiling, gliding down to the floor. "Could you be more careful? You almost squeezed the jewels out of me."
"I'm sorry, Spike," Twilight apologizes sheepishly before getting back her bearings. "But I want to talk to you and you weren't answering."
"Oh, yeah? And what did you want to talk to me about?" asks the little dragon, while he removed some of the dust that had stuck to his scales.
"About how you've been acting lately."
"And how has I been acting lately?" Spike says, crossing his arms defensively, opening and raising his wings, feeling like he's being accused of something bad.
"Well, to be honest, I think you've been acting a little -but only a little- paranoid towards Chrysalis," Twilight responded, trying to sound as diplomatic as possible with her oldest friend and companion. "And I don't think reading this kind of material is appropriate or doing you any favors right now." She concluded after lifting up and looking, with a bit of disdain, at the comic book that the violet and green dragon was reading. In large bloody red letters it could read: "Tales of Horror", with the subtitle "Shining the 13th" and a drawing of a tall dark figure, wielding an axe ready to attack a colt and a filly.
"Give me just one example of me acting 'paranoid' towards her," Spike demanded, indignant at that baseless accusation.
"Well, there was the time you thought she 'brutally' killed someone when you mistook strawberry jam for blood coming out of her mouth..."
"That jam was very red..."
"Then there was that time when you thought she had stolen some duvets from Rarity, when in reality she had bought them..."
"Where do she get the money to start buying things!?"
"And just yesterday you tried to rally a group of town ponies, for what I hope was not an attempt to lynch her, just because you heard her laughing."
"It wasn't a 'Ha, ha, ha' funny laugh! It was a 'Mua ha ha' evil laugh! I'm telling you, Twilight, she's eeeviiil!" The baby dragon concluded by alarmingly raising and shaking her arms to emphasize his point.
If Spike hoped this would solidify his point with Twilight, it didn't; obtaining an unamused look from the purple pony.
"Fine! Maybe I've been acting a little paranoid towards her, but how come you don't want me to act that way when we have our worst enemy living under the same roof? She has stop following through with your plan to meet and interact with the rest of our friends," Spike shot back. "Besides, what I read has nothing to do with how I act," he added, jumping to regain possession of his comic book from Twilight's magic.
"That's because Chrysalis asked to take a few days off from the friendly interactions," she responded, remembering with some discomfort the moment when the Changeling Queen returned from her trip to the hive earlier than expected, battered and bloody. Concerned, Twilight asked for answers about what had happened to her and if she needed medical assistance, but the Queen just ignore her and for the third time since she arrived in Ponyville she locked herself in her room without saying a single word. The answers came from Thorax, who explained that his plan was to impress Chrysalis with how well things were going for the hive and the Changelings now, and convince her to return to them and all things good, but that he had not counted on with his brother Pharynx carrying so much pent up resentment and lashed out at her, ending in a hoof fight. The poor leader of the Changelings looked miserable as he gave his testimony, feeling like he had ruined everything.
"Twilight, I'm just worried about your safety and the safety of the others," Spike said sighing more calmly, changing his defensiveness to concern. "I'm telling you, she's just pretending, that's her specialty! There's no way someone like her can be reformed. She doesn't even address me by my name, in her eyes I'm a lizard, or a reptile derivate; the best thing she has called me is drakegrub, and even so I think there is something degrading in that word."
"Have you discussed this with her and told her that you would prefer she refer to you by your name?"
"Well... no. It's just... I've been busy, yeah?" Spike responds, not wanting to admit that the only reason he hasn't talked to the Changeling Queen is because he's afraid of her. "But any time now I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."
"Really, Spike? Please, don't fight with her, just talk to her. Don't make things worse than they already are," Twilight pleaded a little frustrated.
"Why are you scolding me like I was the one that did something wrong, like if I'm the bad guy!?" Spike puffed his cheeks, feeling annoyed. "I'm not the one that attacked Canterlot. I'm not the one that hurt our friends. I'm not the one that almost got you killed! It was her! She is the one with a black heart! Not me!"
"Spike, calm down!" Twilight said resting her hoof on Spike's shoulder. "I'm not saying you're the bad guy."
Spike turned away from her, his arms crossed once again. "It sure sounds that way."
"I'm not saying that we should forget everything she has done to all of us. I just think that showing her resentment and distrust is not the right way to teach her about the magic of friendship."
"I don't want to hear it!" Spike turned, and began to stomp towards the door. "She has you, all of you wrapped around her holed hoof, and you just don’t want to see it."
"Spike… Spike!" Twilight called for the baby dragon. He, however, didn't turn back, storming out to the room's exit and slamming the door shut behind him.
The next day, a tense feeling permeates the space of the dining room. Poor Twilight, in the middle of it all, could see the glances that Chrysalis and Spike were throwing at each other, avoiding their respective gazes. All the jams and flavorings on the table (curiously not a single honey jar in sight) couldn't make his breakfast taste better, do to the worry she carried thanks to this.
The owner of the castle tried to make small conversations with both of them, asking them how they feel or what plans they may have for the day, but they only gave short and cutting answers, clearly not feeling very talkative at that time. Having to mediate between two friends and not lose both of them in the process was still one of the most overwhelming tasks for the so called Princess of Friendship; facing Tirek was starting to seem less stressful than this.
Luckily for her, on this occasion neither of them said anything about the other that could lead to a confrontation.
Breakfast over, Spike picked up the dishes, ready to take them to the sink, but not before hearing Twilight say:
"Thank you very much for the breakfast, Spike. It was delicious." And taking advantage of the fact that him had his back turned, carrying the dishes towards the kitchen, Twilight gave Chrysalis a look that told the Changeling Queen (or rather demanded) that she should take this opportunity to say some good words to the small dragon.
Having apparently understood the gesture, Chrysalis rolled her eyes with all the drama she could gather at this early hour and said:
"Yes, I agree. The Queen is pleased with your culinary skills. You should be proud of this, drakeling."
Twilight hoof met her face.
Spike stopped, his entire body tensing. Taking a deep breath, his shoulders broadened and his wings flared... And as quickly as it came, Spike released his breath and his shoulders and wings fell down. Dejected, the young dragon slipped out the kitchen door and shut it behind him.
"You should be more polite with him, you know that, right?" From the other side of the door, Spike could hear Twilight scolding Chrysalis.
"What? I was being polite!" Chrysalis defended herself. "In the Hive, receiving a compliment like that would make it the best day of the life of any Changeling under my command."
Twilight let out a tired sigh. "I've already told you that's not what I'm speaking of. We've already talked about this."
"And I have told you that the day that baby dragon face me with something more than its fear and distrust will be the day I call it by its name."
That's where the conversation must have ended, since the next thing Spike could hear was the opening and closing of the dining room door that led to the castle hallway.
Taking another deep breath, Spike carried the plates, climbed onto his stool, and deposited them in the sink.
"I'm not afraid of her, I'm not a coward," Spike grumbled as he scrub the dishes. "And I'm not paranoid! She's a villain and is up to no good, it's Twilight who can't see it. I know that if given the chance, she would try to pluck my wings," the young dragon shuddered at the thought that something like that could ever happen.
"I just have to find proof that she's up to something evil, and we can go back to the way things were meant to be."
"And... done!" Spike said when there were no more dishes left in the sink. But putting a claw to his lips, he felt something wasn't right.
While Twilight was the one who could sense if something was amiss in her library, whether it was a book placed on the wrong shelf, or some of its pages were folded, the rest of the things inside the castle, especially those in the kitchen, were Spike's responsibility. As such, he counted the plates, the glasses, the spoons, the forks and...
"Aha! Another knife is missing," he exclaimed, scratching his head in confusion and somewhat annoyed after checking and not finding it in the sink.
Jumping off the stool, Spike begins to look for it, first on the floor, in case it has fallen, then in the pantry and among the other kitchen drawers, hoping that the mice have not returned and are preparing to try to take over the kitchen once again.
Seconds before deciding that enough was enough and to call pest control, Spike heard someone knock on the door.
"I'm going, I'm going!" Spike announced loudly, a hint of annoyance in his tone of voice.
Opening the door, Spike was slightly surprised to see Applejack on the other side.
"Oh, hello, Applejack. It's weird seeing you here so early."
"Sorry if I'm bothering, partner."
"Not at all! What can I do for you?"
"Actually, I came looking for Chrysalis."
"Her!?" Spike asked, surprise, confusion and a little bit of anger in the word. "What can you want with her?"
"I want to know if she's done using the axe and see if she could return it."
"An axe?" A bit of worry crept up the dragon's back.
"Yes. A couple of days ago, she came back to the farm and asked me if I could lend her ours."
"And you lent it to her!?" Spike shouted, as surprised as worried to learn that Chrysalis was now carrying an axe.
"She was quite helpful the other day and she was quite polite when she asked for it."
"Why would she need an axe?" Crossing his arms, Spike began to feel envious as he felt that only he was being treated so poorly by the Changeling Queen; also knowing that Chrysalis had also charmed the rest of the group made his concern and annoyance a little bit bigger.
"I rightfully do not know," answer Applejack, rubbing her chin with one of her hooves, remembering the interaction she had with the Changeling Queen that day. "When I asked her about it, she got a bit nervous and just told me that she was going to chop some wood with it."
"Well, I don't know if she's in the castle right now, but if I see her I'll tell her that you asked for the axe."
"You'd be doing me a big favor if you did. Well, I have to go, there's still a lot of work to do back on the farm. See you later, Spike."
"See you, Applejack."
Walking through the long hallways and corridors of the castle, Spike headed in search of Chrysalis. He really didn't know if the Queen was inside the castle or not, after a couple of days locked in her room, she had begun to go out as she pleased and at any time of the day; On a couple of occasions Spike had even caught a glimpse of the Queen abandoning the castle in the middle of the night, when he woke up to go to the kitchen in search of a midnight snack. But knowing that Chrysalis was now carrying an axe, he was quite determined to make sure that she returned it as soon as possible to her rightful owner.
Entering the corridor where the Changeling Queen's bedroom was located, and after a long walk along it, Spike finally stood in front of the door, ready to knock on it.
But before his knuckles could make contact with it surface, he could hear Chrysalis monologuing, talking to someone.
"... You are my precious..."
Trying to listen better, Spike pressed his ear to the door.
"... With you at my side, I will raise a new Changeling empire..."
At these statements, Spike's heart began to beat more intensely, but for the safety of not only Twilight and her friends, but apparently now for everyone in Equestria -if not of the world-, Spike remained calm and tried to see what was happening inside the room through the key hole, but the inside of the room was Changeling dark.
"...But before we can do it, there is still one more thing I need to take care of..."
Inside it, he could see the silhouette of Chrysalis and her bright green eyes, her face in a manic grimace. Suddenly her horn flashed in green and in front of her Spike could see the levitating reflection of the blade of a very sharp axe.
At this vision, Spike's heart jumped in his chest, and he retreated back from the door, gasping as a rush of adrenaline pumped through his system.
He tried to calm himself down, as he still had the opportunity to warn Twilight and put a stop to the Changeling Queen's evil intentions. But in his agitation, his tail gets tangled in the legs of a decorative table, making noise.
Worried, Spike quickly turns around and puts a stop to the rattling of the small furniture. But it's too late. He hears Chrysalis closing a drawer or a door inside her room, now walking towards the door.
Spike now had to go. Looking left and then right, he fearfully concluded that he could not escape through the corridor before being spotted by the Queen, and if she managed to see him and realized that he had heard her, he would be finished; There would be no way that after finding out what she was planning she could leave him alive.
Chrysalis's footsteps approached the door. In a last ditch effort to save his life, Spike looked up.
Chrysalis opened the door and suspiciously looked quickly and several times to both sides of the corridor, seeing nothing. The Changeling Queen stood in her place, looking left and right of the hallway for a few more seconds, hoping to see something out of place, but finding no one, she finally left her room carrying a heavy saddle bag with her.
Once the coast was clear, Spike unhooked his claws from the ceiling and lowered himself to the floor, finally releasing the heaviest breath of his life.
When he was finally able to calm his pulse and breathing, and gain a tiny control over his fear and insecurities, the young dragon stood up, knowing there was no time to waste. He had to warn Twilight of Chrysalis's plans and the danger they were in.
"Twilight! Twilight!" Running through the halls of the castle, Spike screams in fear and mad desperation to find her.
"Twilight!" The young dragon shouted once again, entering the room that he knew the Princess of Friendship preferred to use as a study.
Inside, Spike found her attentively reading a letter. He knew that the sender was Princess Celestia, having caught a glimpse of her golden signature on the floating paper held by the magical aura of Twilight, but nothing more.
"Spike, what do you want now? Can't you see that I'm a little busy dealing with very important matters?" Twilight told him, with a mix of tiredness and irritation, and if it weren't for how altered he was, Spike would have been able to notice a bit of concern in the way she spoke.
"Whatever Princess Celestia wants, it has to wait, Twilight! This is more urgent!"
"What could be more urgent than...?"
"It's Chrysalis, Twilight! She's planning to kill us and take control of the world!"
"Not this again, Spike," Twilight said with a tired, disdainful, and slightly disappointed sigh.
"No, Twilight! I'm being serious this time! You have to believe me!" Desperately, almost pleadingly, Spike went on to tell Twilight about Applejack's visit in search for her axe and how when he went to look for Chrysalis he overheard the Queen talking about how she intended to build a new Changeling empire.
After taking the breaths he didn't use to tell his story, Spike was a little surprised to see that Twilight seemed like she had actually heard him and taken what he had said to heart.
Spike had known Twilight all his life, chances are that there was no one who knew her better than him, and for this reason he could know with complete certainty that an idea had formed in the purple Alicorn's mind, her deep gaze, lost in thought, suddenly her eyes widened in some fearful realization, moving back and forth several times from Spike to the letter and from the letter back to Spike.
To her credit in Spike's eyes, Twilight managed to avoid going into hyperventilation by taking a couple of deep inhales and slow exhalations, in imitation of a breathing exercise that her sister in law had taught her.
Once she managed to calm down, she spoke in a serious tone:
"Are you sure what you heard?"
"I swear it, Twilight, for all the gems and comic books I keep under my bed, I'm telling you the truth."
Twilight began to tense. Looking once more at the letter and back at Spike, an internal conflict took hold over her. Part of her wanted to believe what he was telling her, but there was also this other part inside her that didn't want to believe what was being presented to her, dismissing it as mere circumstantial evidence.
Knowing that if he didn't intervene, Twilight could hurt herself getting caught overthinking the situation, Spike got an idea: "If you don't believe me, would you believe it if you saw it with your own eyes?"
"What are you suggesting?" Twilight asked, her responsible instincts taking over, snapping her out of that tense state, not liking where Spike was going with that comment.
"Let's take the opportunity that she's not here, to check her room."
"I'm not too sure about this, Spike," Twilight says having second thoughts, yet following the young dragon in the direction of Queen Chrysalis's room.
"Don't worry about what we're going to do. You better worry about what we're going to find. And you better have that horn ready in case we need it," Spike commented back, looking around the corner of the hallway that led to Chrysalis room, making sure she was not nearby, and finally approaching the door.
Spike knew that if he was wrong and they do not find any incriminating evidence that grant some weight to his claims an accusations, this would lead him to lose all credibility with Twilight and would undoubtedly fracture his relationship with her, which for him was in itself an equally terrifying prospect, which almost made him reconsider his decision. But knowing that this was for the safety of Twilight and the rest of his friends, he considered it a risk he was willing to take. Gathering some courage, Spike took a deep breath as he reached out for the door handle.
"Spike, stop." Command Twilight, catching Spike's claw with her magic, his face filled with heavy doubts. "I know that you are very worry for all of us -to tell you the truth, I do to-, but I'm asking you that we must stop," Twilight said conflicted.
"Twilight, if we want to be sure she is not planning anything evil, then her room —"
"Would be the best place to look for any kind of clues or evidence, I agree… but we're not doing it," Twilight concluded.
"Why!?" the dragon asked, sounding desperate.
"Because, after everything that's happened, that would be a disgusting demonstration of distrust on my part to Chrysalis."
"Trust? I thought you trusted me, but now I see that you would rather trust Chrysalis more," Spike almost shouted sounding sad and angry.
"I trust you, Spike. More than anyone in the world, but this... this is wrong. If I do this, I would be going against everything I have learned and everything I want to represent as the Princess of Friendship. I am sorry, Spike, but I cannot allow this to happen."
"Twilight, I just want to be sure!" Spike softened his expression and tone of voice as he saw how much this situation was hurting his mother figure. "I just want to make sure that you and the rest of my friends will be safe. I don't think I could live with that kind of concern just out of courtesy and consideration, not to someone like Chrysalis. Twilight, please, consider what could happen if I'm right?!"
Twilight cringe at that and close her eyes, and for several seconds she do so, seeing in front of her the worst possible scenario.
"You're right, Spike," Twilight said crestfallen, then sighing.
YES! Spike mentally celebrate.
"But this is not the right way to proceed. Come with me, Spike. We will both confront Chrysalis about our concerns and demand explanations from her. And if she can't give us them... I guess... I guess we will put an end to this experiment for good and... I do not know what we will do next. What do you think?" conceded -almost pleaded- Twilight, looking defeated and miserable, on the verge of tears.
"Okay... You're right, Twilight. I don't know what got into my head," Spike conceded now. "Let's go to the castle lobby and wait for her, what do you think?"
"Thank you very much, Spike!" Twilight exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief, regaining her calm and joy, releasing Spike's claw, turning around, ready to go to the lobby.
"I'm sorry Twilight, but you'll thank me later!" Spike said quickly as he opened the door and throw himself into Chrysalis' room.
Chrysalis's room was dark, as dark as a real Changeling cave, so much so that even Spike's draconic eyes were having trouble seeing what was inside.
"Spike! You're in a lot of trouble, young dragon!" Twilight sternly enunciated, entering the Queen's room, turning on the lights, an action that actually did very little to illuminate the interior of the room. Apparently Chrysalis had made some changes and renovations to her alcove, one of them making the lighting occur through a green light, giving the interior an almost alien appearance, or to be more specific, a kind of Changeling hive. But beyond this, it looks like any other normal room in the castle.
"Well, now that that's been settled, at least now you could help me look out for evidence, before Chrysalis comes back and we both get in trouble?" Spike asked, brushing off Twilight's scolding, considering in his mind that any punishment and consequences would be 'future Spike' problems.
Twilight suddenly tensed, beginning to feel anxious and guilty for also having entered Chrysalis's room without her permission or invitation.
"Well, now that we're both in, I can at least supervise this intrusion and make sure that we don't overstep -even more than we already have- and do what we came to do in the most correct and efficient way, so that we can get out of here as soon as possible," said Twilight, now that she had already accepted and left her guilt behind and her curiosity drive her, trotting to the room interior, using her magic to open a pair of heavy black curtains, another of the changes that Chrysalis had implemented in her room, thus allowing the space to be properly illuminated by sunlight.
Now, with a better illumination and with Twilight's "permission", Spike moved from one side of the room to the other, quickly going over every space he could, on the mattress, between the duvets, under the bed, between and behind the books on the bookshelf (these Twilight's property), turning everything in the room; The only thing he found once he started looking through the drawers of the duchess table was a lone manebrush and nothing else.
In the bathroom what Spike could find was a tangle of teal hair clogging the drain of the shower, and with that he could only accuse the Queen of having poor guest manners.
Unamused, Twilight busy herself cleaning up the mess the young dragon left in his increasingly desperate and seemingly paranoid race to find something with which he could truly incriminate Chrysalis of something nefarious.
"That's enough, Spike," Twilight said, levitating the little dragon close to her in her magical aura, stopping him before he started scratching off the tapestry of the room's walls. "We've been here for several minutes and we haven't found anything. We better forget about this and get out of here before Chrysalis comes back and finds us searching her room."
"A little late for that," they both heard. A cold chill and a strong goosebump ran through their bodies.
Standing in the doorway, blocking the only exit -unless they both wanted to jump out the window- was the imposing figure of Queen Chrysalis, glaring at them with an angry scowl and a very sharp axe floating to her left.
*AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!*
Spike and Twilight screamed in fear. The cowering dragon clench himself to the pony princess face.
"Shoot her!" Spike instructed, pointing at Chrysalis, directing Twilight's horn in the direction of the Changeling Queen.
Squeezing her adrenal glands (or whatever Changelings have) Chrysalis used every possible ounce of adrenaline inside her to dodge the gigantic magic beam, flattening her body to the proportions of a sheet of paper to the floor, looking like a Changeling rug made with her carcase.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO!!!" Roared the enraged Queen once the dangerous display of indomitable magic power was finished, adrenaline still flowing throughout her body.
"I'm so sorry, Chrysalis," Twilight apologized once she was able to remove Spike from her face, setting him down next to her, giving him a reproachful look before addressing Chrysalis once more.
"If you allow me, and I will beg you to allow me, I can explain... but first, could you put the axe down, please?"
"Oh, yeah! You just shot a hole through your entire castle with that death beam, and I'm the dangerous one here with my common axe," the Queen shoots back, giving Twilight an annoyed look.
"It's... it's a long story," Twilight responded, cringing in shame, avoiding Chrysalis's gaze, but keeping an eye on the axe.
Unamused, the Changeling Queen keeps the axe inside her saddle bag.
Releasing a sigh, the Princess of Friendship goes on to tell her, first of all, why she and the little dragon were on edge regarding the axe, and then how Spike overheard her saying some "worrying things", insisting that because of security, they had to check her room.
"And now, Spike, I think we both owe Chrysalis an apology," Twilight said seriously.
"What? Why? She hasn't given us any explanation, like, why would she need an axe?" Spike asks defiantly.
"Why else? To chop wood," Chrysalis replied.
"But why would you need an axe to do that when you have magic?"
"Perhaps you haven't noticed, but magic is becoming a rather costly resource for me in my current situation. Thus, it is easier for me to chop wood with an axe," the Queen responded again, this time with a little of anger.
"And why would you need to chop wood!?"
"Because you two live in a crystal castle and this place gets pretty cold at night!"
Spike cower in fear at the Queen outburst, but unwilling to give up, not when he knows he still has one question that could turn the situation in his favor.
"And what do you have to say about what I heard you say about you raising a new Changeling empire?"
At this, Chrysalis raised her head, as if she wanted to put as much distance as possible between her and that accusation.
"You misheard," the Queen responds, saying no more, acting indignant.
Twilight did not miss the detail that it was just that, "acting", and not even a very good one, since she could see the nervousness that that accusation caused to Chrysalis.
Sadly the case had devolved to Spike paranoid word vs Chrysalis nervous word, and with nothing more than that, Twilight knew that, after what had happened, she didn't have a moral leg to stand on, heck, it felt like she didn't have even a moral hoof with which to dig herself out of the moral hole that she and Spike dug and fell into.
"I'm so sorry, Chrysalis, and I hope you can forgive us for all the inconvenience we cause you," bowing her head in shame, the Princess apologized to the Queen.
In those moments, Twilight knew she couldn't blame anyone but herself if Chrysalis picked up her few belongings, that is if she even wanted to bother picking them up, and walked away, ending their friendship experiment, having proven the point of the Changeling Queen. And if that were to be the case, Twilight would march straight to Canterlot and give Princess Celestia her tiara and resign as Princess of Friendship.
"Spike, do you have something to say?" Twilight asked her dragon companion.
Spike was going to refute, he was going to challenge, but before the look of the one he loved more than anyone in this world, a look that was not one of annoyance or anger but of unadulterated disappointment, a disappointment not only in him but in herself, whatever thing Spike was originally going to say couldn't escape his throat.
"Yeah, yeah, Chrysalis, I'm sorry for coming into your room thinking that you were planning to kill us and then take over the world or whatever," Spike said with his arms crossed, not deigning to face her, not truly feeling it, not when he was sure of what he had heard.
"If that's the best you can tell me, you can leave my room now, snake," the Queen snarled, pointing toward the exit to the intruders.
Twilight and Spike were walking towards the exit, both with their heads down, Twilight imagining everything she would have to say and explain to everyone, and Spike grumbling. But before he came out of Chrysalis's room, a beam of light hit him in the eye, and when he moved to see what it was, he recognized it at once and immediately jumped to grab it.
"Twilight, wait!" Spike triumphantly exclaims, having picked up the object of his excitement from the crevice of the closet's sliding door and raising it into the air so everyone could see it. It was a knife, one of the knives that had been lost from the kitchen.
"Can you tell us, bug queen, what you were planning to do by stealing knives?" Spike asked boastful.
Chrysalis made an angry face, but pursed her lips.
"You have nothing to say, huh? In that case, let's see what you're hiding in your closet." Spike mocked, placing his claw on the edge of the door, ready to slide it open and see what Chrysalis was hiding inside.
At this, Chrysalis ignite her horn, closing the door with her magic, jumping between it and the young dragon.
"Whatever I keep in my closet is not of your business!" The Queen growl, threateningly bringing her face closer to Spike, as if she wanted him to clearly read the words that had left her lips.
Frightened, Spike held the knife in his claws, pointing it towards the seemingly gigantic Changeling Queen, as if a knight challenging a terrible dragon.
But before the situation got out of control and someone got hurt, Twilight pulled Spike out of Chrysalis reach, levitating him with her magic next to herself.
"Chrysalis, if you ask us to leave, we will, without asking any more questions," Twilight said in an apologetic tone.
"What!? Why!?" Spike exclaimed, worried and confused.
But before anything else could be said, Twilight continued in a serious tone: "But given this new evidence, I warn you that if you do not reveal to us what you hide in that closet, our trust in you will be tremendously affected, putting everything what you have achieved in these last few days at risk. Therefore I ask you, let us see what you are hiding inside the closet."
At these words, Chrysalis's expression became worried. Her eyes moved around, looking for a way out of this situation. It was she now who considered jumping out the window or through the hole that Twilight had made through the castle; She even considered fighting the princess, but that idea was quickly discarded, recognizing that she was weak and the Alicorn was most likely in her current prime. Seeing no options, Chrysalis turned off her horn, releasing the closet door from her magic, stepping aside.
"AHA!" Celebrated Spike, having gone ahead of Twilight, opening the closet door.
To his and Twilight's confusion, what they found inside the closet was… wood.
On one side, six thick branches lay leaning against the wall. It did not escape Twilight's insight that they shared a curious coloration with her and the rest of the Elements of Harmony. Odd, a little uncomfortable to watch, but nothing that screamed evil masterplan to take over the world.
On the other side, they found lying on the floor what the princess suspected was another of the kitchen knives, its tip bent and nicked from what she could assume was heavy and improper use.
Towering above it were stacked a collection of logs, each and every one of them bearing a crude effigy of the faces of unreformed Changelings.
Twilight face cringe and contort in unease once the realization of what she was seeing dawned on her.
Turning to face Chrysalis, the Princess of Friendship could see the Queen in a state of mortification, her face glowing green with embarrassment.
Closing the door and backing away as if she had seen something that only the eyes of its respective owner should have, Twilight felt that the castle would do her a great favor if it immediately crumbled and buried her in its remains, never to be seen again.
"Chrysalis, I... I am... so..." Twilight tries to apologize, but she honestly didn't believe there were words in any language spoken by ponies to express how sorry she felt at that moment with the Changeling Queen.
"Twilight, don't apologize!" Spike interrupts her stuttering for an apology.
"Please, Spike, don't you think we've done enough damage already?" Twilight asks, more tired than anything, her patience with the young dragon having reached its limit.
"What I mean is, you're not the one who has to apologize to Chrysalis, Twilight; it's me who has to do it," Spike concluded, finally facing the Changeling Queen.
"Queen Chrysalis, I apologize for the distrustful way in which I have behaved towards you. I should have trusted Twilight more and listened to the rest of my friends when they vouched for you, and I hope that, if you don't want to forgive me, at least don't blame Twilight for anything, she never wanted to violate your trust and privacy, In fact, it was her who told me to talk to you first, but I, in my paranoia, didn't want to listen, and I was the one who forced her into your room." Spike concluded, feeling rather small, unable to look Chrysalis in the eyes out of shame, ready to be screamed at.
A few seconds of tense silence were cut with a "I forgive you and accept your apology, Spike," from a calmer and more ceremonious Chrysalis.
Not believing what his ears had just heard, surprised, Spike looked up to see Chrysalis in the face.
"Did you just call me by my..."
"Now get out of my room and never enter it again without my permission!" The Changeling Queen shouted, interrupting Spike, pushing both pony and dragon out of her room, slamming the door behind their back.
"What do we do now?" Spike asked, once they recovered from the sudden expulsion from the lend lands to the Changeling empire under the reign of Queen Chrysalis.
"Well, Spike," Twilight began with a wide smile, feeling proud of him, "I think it's time for you to do something we haven't done in a long time, and write a friendship report to Princess Celestia."
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
991 users online
1,505,404 hits today, 1,996,409 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
This needs to have a proof reader / editor more than anything else.
The ammount of errors in the description alone is allready high.
And the quotes in the comments do not help with that either.
11812872
I'm going to admit that I would like to have a proof reader/editor. I do the translation alone, using only Google Translate to back me up, and I am aware that it is not the most reliable of tools, but even so, I believe I am doing a good job in that regard. Any help to polish my writing is and will be welcome.
11812900
ok that certainly explains it . . my bad . .
I love this new cover.
Apparently two spots are reserved for Spike and Pinkie Pie. There is probably another place for Starlight. But the remaining two are really intriguing because I can’t even imagine who could be there.
Wow. In this universe, there are comics that depict the Crystal Empire and Princess Cadence. I wonder if there is a comic that depicts real villains. It’s even interesting how Chrysalis would react if she read a story with her own participation.
Although probably any character can file a legal complaint for using their image without permission. :)
the story from the beginning sounds like a guide to why you shouldn’t go to distant snowy countries on foot, but rather take the train. I'm sure the railroad industry sponsors train advertisements in comic books.
Finally, references to “mean six wooden clones” appeared in history. I always thought that these were potentially interesting characters (especially mean Twilight) but unfortunately very few stories are dedicated to them.
11812905
Delighted to hear that the new cover is doing its job, my good Doctor. The cover with the hooves was beginning to become tedious, lacking in attractiveness, and each new character added made the task of updating it exponentially more difficult.
This new cover, although it took me a lot of effort to create it, is not only more attractive to the eye, but I also think it better conveys the spirit of the story. And yes, you are quite perceptive, but it is better of me not to comment on the remaining characters spots.
11812919
As I see it, princesses are more or less public figures, and therefore, open to being used in that way. And unless Equestria wants to openly recognize Chrysalis's Queen status, she is a private individual, so she could seek through legal means that her image is not used in any commercial way.
It sounds like a pretty questionable decision, but then, many horror stories start with the protagonists taking many of those.
11812930
I still don’t understand why Luna accepted the fact that her image, according to which she supposedly eats children, is used for the sake of a holiday. (If I were her, I would still ban this offensive slander or demand a huge percentage of commercial revenue.)
11813364
That is public opinion and the only way to combat it is through public perception; but that takes time, even generations; Luckily for Luna, she has immortality on her side to do that. Also, I think Luna has accepted it as a kind of punishment/reminder in place to never go to "Nightmare" extremes to get what she wants.
Of course, I imagine Chrysalis has no patience for that, and if this bothers her, she would try to change the public opinion of her by any other means, backfiring spectacularly on her due to carton logic. Like, her trying to stage a scene where she's kissing a baby pony to show how good she is, just so that in the photos it looks like she's about to eat it in one bite.
11813534
lol. This reminded me of an old image
derpicdn.net/img/2019/7/15/2092427/medium.png
Also I'm betting the last 4 spaces are Shining Armor, Cadence, Celestia and Luna.
11813929
11814058