Death of a Queen, V2.

by Arkane12

20: A Hypothetical Cookie Jar

Once in the kitchen, Twilight raided the fridge, searching for the small yellow juice box while her mother retrieved the kettle from the top shelf of a cabinet. She hovered it into the sink, twisting the faucet until the stream of water poured out.

“Remember this?” Twilight’s mother tapped the cookie jar sitting on the counter. The tempered glass, molded into the shape of a gingerbread house, had a crack down the side where it had been pieced together with paste.

“Yeah?” Twilight said, unsure of her mother’s point.

“Shining Armor broke it years ago. He told us you did it.” She laughed.

Shifting uncomfortably beneath her mother’s imposing tone, Twilight practically whimpered. “I didn’t break it.”

“I know.” She narrowed her eyes. “He hasn’t gotten any better at lying to me in all these years. And neither have you, Missy.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Twilight turned away to hide her reddening cheeks. She knew exactly what her mother was talking about, and that she didn’t stand a chance trying to hide it.

“Are you in trouble? Did something happen?”

In her youth, whenever Twilight had been scared or nervous, her mother would speak in a soft, gentle voice. Hearing it again, after all these years, sent warmth through her body, bringing with it a comfort only a caring parent could bring.

There was still one option to escape. “Sorry, Mom, we’re not supposed to talk about it.”

“You can tell me. I’m good at keeping secrets.”

Twilight unleashed a long sigh. It was futile to resist. “Fine. Where do I start?” Twilight cycled mentally through the myriad issues in her life, trying to decide which would be best to sate her mother’s curiosity. “Have you ever made the wrong choice on something really important?”

Velvet didn’t hesitate.

“Nope. Every decision I’ve ever made has been the absolute right one. I’m perfect.”

“Really?” Twilight waned.

“No, not really,” Velvet reached over and cupped her daughter’s chin with a hoof. “I’ve made a lot of decisions in my life, Twilight. And more than a few of them were important.”

Twilight pushed her mother’s touch away playfully. “I’m serious, Mom.”

Velvet removed the kettle from the stream and set it on the stove.

“What exactly is this important choice that has you twisted in knots? And is it anything like your pencil versus pens debate?”

“No. This is actually serious. I . . . I’m going to get in a lot of trouble for telling you this.” She hesitated. This was her last chance to back out, but maybe a bit of advice would be worth the risk. “I’ve been working with a prisoner up at the castle. They’ve been helping me with some of my experiments.”

“What sort of help? Like, lab rats?”

“More like an encyclopedia. They have information that I need.”

“Alright.” Velvet crossed her forelegs over her chest and leaned back against the center island. “Let’s hear more about this hypothetical issue you’re telling me about.”

“This . . . This prisoner has been causing trouble around the castle. Everypony’s really upset with them for it. I’ve been trying to help them, but I don’t even know if they want to be helped. Everypony around me seems really upset that I’m even just trying to help. And I’m reaching the point where I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“What happens to this prisoner if you aren’t able to help them?”

“I’m not sure, but I know it's nothing good.” Twilight looked away. “And I can’t really blame them for wanting to hurt her. She’s hurt a lot of ponies in her time.”

“Her?” Velvet raised an eyebrow.

Twilight reddened. “They. They hurt a lot of ponies.”

“Right.” Velvet sighed. “That’s not an easy position to be in. If she doesn’t want your help, then there isn’t much you can do.” She pursed her lips and hummed. “You make it sound like a lot of ponies are scared of her. Can I assume that you felt the same way about her when she first arrived?”

“I . . .” Twilight thought of the nights when she’d wake up from her nightmares drenched in a cold sweat. “I did. I was terrified of her. And I was furious at what she’d done.”

“But she made you change your tune?” Velvet mused. “How did she do that?

“When I started spending more time with them, I realized that I might have been wrong. Yeah, they can be cruel and vindictive, but I also realized that they’ve lived a painful life. And now they’ve lost everything. Their home. Their family.” She winced. “Even their reason to live.” Twilight took a deep breath.

“You pity her?”

No. Pity didn’t sound right. Chrysalis could certainly be described as unfortunate, but that wasn’t the issue. The changeling had been forced into her role long enough that she didn’t know any other way to live. If Twilight could find a way to lessen that pain, then she should. Right? It was her duty as the Princess of Friendship, at the very least.

Twilight shook her head. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Are you sure?” Velvet ducked down to see her daughter’s hidden face.

Twilight slid down to the floor, keeping her back against the cabinets.

“I don’t know. I think they’re . . . misguided. I think that they have done these horrible things because they didn’t have any other choice. She did what she thought she had to in order to survive.” Twilight's voice grew louder. “And now, she has nothing left. She’s got no way out. Everyone already thinks of her as a monster, they won’t even consider otherwise. They won’t even listen to me when I try to tell them that. And I think that’s unfair.”

“Life can be unfair sometimes.”

“Yeah.” Twilight blew a strand of her mane out of her face. “Like when you’re made a princess without your permission and put in charge of a whole town?”

“Oh, don’t you start with that. You love being a princess.” The kettle whistled. Velvet lowered the heat and retrieved the teabags. “But I suppose that answer doesn’t really help, does it? Alright, tell me something, what do you think the right choice is?”

Twilight glared at her mother. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be breaking the law asking you about it.”

Velvet shook her head. “Twilight, you didn’t come here for advice. You came here for validation. You want someone to tell you that you’re doing the right thing. To know that you weren’t alone in a decision that might very well blow up in your face. Right?” Velvet met Twilight’s glare, sending a chill through the younger mare.

“I . . . Maybe. I know what I think is right. But that doesn’t mean that it is right. Right?”

“Right.”

“So, am I right?” Twilight asked.

Velvet finished the tea and poured it into a pitcher. She put the kettle away and moved toward the pantry. As she spoke, she dug through the shelves. “I’m going to tell you the same thing my mother told me when I went through something like this. Life has a lot of gray areas. There is no right answer in some situations. That’s just a reality of life, one that a lot of ponies don’t like to think about. Everyone wants to be right. But in the end, very few things are completely the right choice.”

“Then what am I supposed to do? Flip a bit?” Twilight mewled.

Velvet stared at her daughter with a concerned look. “No.”

“Then what?” Twilight curled in on herself. “Everyone expects me to do the right thing. But if there isn’t a right thing, then I’m even more confused.”

Velvet paused her search momentarily to face her daughter. “Because you’re not asking the right question. You keep asking what’s right. But, like I said, there isn’t always a right choice. Instead, try asking yourself which choice you’ll regret.” She resumed her search. “Let’s say hypothetically, that you don’t help this prisoner. They rot in jail the rest of their life, or whatever the courts decide to do with them. How would you feel?”

“Awful. Like I failed her and failed as a Princess.”

“Keep that in mind. Now, think about what might happen if you try to help her?”

Twilight ran her tongue over her teeth as this scenario played out in her mind. “I guess there’s always the chance that she might not want it. In which case, I guess it’s just the same as the first scenario. Or, her master plan might be successful. I supposed I won’t be alive long enough to regret that.”

“Good.” Velvet hesitated. “Well, not good . . . you know what I mean.” She pulled a bear-shaped bottle from the back of the pantry. She added a healthy squirt of honey into a glass and poured the tea over it. “Now tell me, what if you are successful?”

Twilight stared down at her reflection on the polished floor. With the issues of the present, she hadn’t given the future much thought. More than likely, she’d be held responsible, just as she had for Starlight. Also like Starlight, she might end up with another friend to help her when things become dire.

More importantly, Chrysalis would have a new life. She’d be happy. The thought of the changeling queen smiling and laughing probably would have frightened her at one point. But now, it made her want to join in. To smile and laugh alongside her. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

“She gets a new life. The chance to rebuild everything she’s lost.”

“There. You have three, four different outcomes.” She stirred the tea with a spoon and set it aside. With that done, she moved to the fridge and pulled a juice box from a package full of them. “Now answer me this: which of those can you live with?”

“Well, Luna--”

“I didn’t ask what Princess Luna wanted,” Velvet said hastily. “Nor did I ask what Cadance, Celestia, and – bless his heart – Shining Armor wanted you to do. I asked what you wanted to do.”

Twilight couldn’t look away from her reflection. Two gray hooves moved into her field of view. One of them took her by the chin, moving her head upward until mother’s and daughter’s eyes met.

“Listen to me, Twilight. A lot of ponies will want you to do a lot of things. But, in most cases, they’re not the ones that have to live with those consequences. You do. If that prisoner’s life is ruined, others might not lose sleep over it, but you will. You have to ask what you can live with. Understand?”

Velvet finished her statement with a warm smile that brought Twilight back to her youth.

“Yeah, Mom. I think I understand. I know what to do. But I know a lot of ponies won’t like it.”

Velvet grinned. “Then they can go to Tartarus.”

“Mom!” Twilight gasped. “One of those ponies is your son.”

“I know.” Velvet sat down beside Twilight. “Sometimes, that’s the way you have to look at the world, Twilight. I have no doubt that Shining is doing what he is to protect you. But it’s still your life and your choices, not his.”

“I . . .” Twilight leaned on her mother’s shoulder. “I guess that makes sense.”

“You’re a smart girl, Twilight. More importantly, you’re a smart girl who cares. You try to do everything in your power to help everypony that you can. It’s why Celestia chose you as a princess. And it’s why your father and I have always been so proud of you. And no matter what you do, what choices you make, nothing can change that.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Twilight smiled. “I really think I needed this talk.”

“I know you did.” She tapped Twilight’s leg. “Now come on, your father and brother are going to come looking for us if we take too much longer.” She rose and helped Twilight to her hooves. “And remember, if you ever need to talk, Twilight, your father and I are here for you. There’s nothing you can do that would change the way we look at you. You’re our baby girl, and that won’t change. Whatever you do, I know you’ll make us proud.” She wiped a tear from her daughter’s cheek.

“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

“And we love you. And so does your brother, though he may show it in overbearing ways sometimes. If he gives you trouble for this, you send him to us. We’ll set him straight.” Velvet punctuated her point with a wink.

Twilight took her mother’s help to stand. They collected their drinks and started for the living room. The Princess stopped at the edge of the kitchen, still out of earshot of the stallions. “Hey, don’t tell Shining we talked about this, okay? It’s supposed to be confidential.”

“What? We just talked about the new mane styles I’ve been thinking of trying out. What’s wrong with that?” Velvet winked.

“You’re the best, Mom.”

Velvet gave a quiet chuckle. “Yeah, I know.” She skirted past Twilight and into the living room. Twilight followed. She returned to her seat as her mother handed out drinks.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Thanks, Honey.”

“Of course. Always happy to help out my boys,” Velvet said with a smile. “Now, what were we talking about?”

“Nothing much,” Night Light said. “I was just telling Shining Armor here about that new bowling alley over on Sixth Street. We thought we might want to try it sometime. Maybe we could get the whole family to go.”

“Ohh. You should. Bowling was always so much fun,” Velvet said. This time, she gratefully took the open seat between her children.

“Yeah.” Shining pulled the straw off his juice and punched it through the hole in the top. “Unfortunately, we’ll have to do it another time. Twilight and I need to be getting back to the castle pretty soon.”

“Well, then we’d better fetch your gifts now. Night Light, do you remember where you put them?”

Their father shot up in his chair. “Oh, gosh. I almost forgot about that. Both of you, stay right here. I’ll be right back.” The unicorn rocketed up the stairs fast enough to make a pegasus jealous.

“You didn’t have to get us gifts,” Twilight said guiltily. “We didn’t even think about getting you guys anything for our visit.”

“Oh, don’t be silly. This is just something small we did the other day.” She waved a hoof dismissively. “In fact, we were planning to give them to you next time we all got together. You’re just going to get them a little early.”

Night Light returned soon, levitating two heavy, leather-bound tomes beside him.

“Those are small?” Shining asked, choking on his apple juice.

“Take a look,” Night Light handed out the books to his children with foalish glee.

The cover had no text, just a fancy embossing. Twilight opened her to the first page to see a picture of their family. They were gathered in the backyard, posing in front of the rest of the party.

“Mom, Dad, are these scrapbooks?” Twilight asked, flipping through the next few pages. They were old and blurry photos of a young Night Light and Velvet.

“They’re set up based on time,” Night Light explained. “You two are about a third of the way through.”

“Where did you guys get all these pictures?” Shining asked, looking down at a picture of his mother in a wedding dress. She was smiling and holding a bouquet of flowers while standing in front of an old, castle-esque building that Twilight didn’t recognize.

“We found the old family scrapbook while we were cleaning the attic,” their father said. We made copies so you could both have one.”

“No, no, no.” Velvet interrupted. “He found it while I was cleaning the attic. Your father was busy digging through each box looking for interesting things in all the clutter.”

“In my defense, I found a lot of really cool things,” Night Light defended.

“Hey, there are pictures here of Cadance, Flurry, and me up in the Crystal Kingdom,” Shining stammered. “How did you get these?” The first picture showed Shining and Cadance, both done up in their wedding attire and standing in front of Canterlot castle. The next showed Cadance sitting in her room back at the Crystal Castle, cradling a newborn Flurry Heart and smiling at the photographer in spite of her tired eyes and unkempt mane.

“We might have gotten a bit of help from a certain lovely princess,” Velvet said, smiling.

“She told us to make sure that there were some of them in there to remind you of how crazy your lives were after Flurry arrived. It’s not easy being a parent, is it?” Night Light asked.

“Yeah. You’re telling me.”

Velvet took a hold of both of her children and pulled them both into a hug. “Don’t sell yourself short, Shining. You two were pretty bad, but neither of you had wings.” She glanced over at Twilight. “Well, at least, back then, you didn’t. I can’t imagine what it’s like trying to raise a baby alicorn.”

“Speaking of baby alicorns . . .” Night Light said, clearing his throat.

It took Twilight several moments to realize the rest of the room was staring at her.

“What? I’m not a baby.”

“I don’t think that’s what he meant, Twilight,” Shining said flatly.

“Then what did he . . . oh. Oh!” Twilight turned beet red. “Hey, you’ve already got grandchildren, what do you need me for?” she shrieked.

“Have you given it any thought, Twilight?” Velvet asked.

“No. I haven’t even found a stallion that remotely interests me,” Twilight argued.

“Have you found anyone that . . . wasn’t a stallion?” Night Light raised an eyebrow.

“No, Dad. I haven’t found anyone.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I haven’t really been looking.”

“You don’t want kids?” Shining asked.

Twilight shrugged. “I never really thought about it. Oh, hey! The last half of the book is blank, what’s that about?”

“Smooth, Twilight,” Shining snarked.

As clumsy as it was, her distraction did succeed in shifting the conversation away from her.

“That’s for you two to add your own photos. And hopefully, you’ll have one to pass down to your children . . . or friends' children . . . whatever the case might be,” Velvet said, smiling nervously at her daughter.

As Shining continued to quiz his parents on the photos and their origins, Twilight slipped away into her thoughts. Her answer hadn’t been a lie. She had never given romance much thought, let alone children.

And for her whole life, she’d been content with that. But now, as she thought about it, she started to wonder. It would have been nice to have somepony at her side through all this. Somepony that cared about her, that trusted her, and that would come to her aid, even if it meant angering a power like the other princesses.

Somepony she could love. Somepony she could raise a family with.

Her thinking came to an abrupt halt as Shining stood. She zoned back in just in time to hear him. “Well, as much as I’m enjoying our visit, I think we really need to get going,” Shining explained. “But we’ll be sure to come back and visit again, soon. And I’ll be sure that Flurry and Cadance can come, too.”

“I’ll walk you to the door,” Velvet volunteered.

They filed back through the tight hallways and out the front door.They stood on the patio with their mother for a moment as she said her goodbyes. “Take care of yourselves. I know you both, so I fully understand how useless that statement was. But promise me you’ll at least look out for each other.” She eyed Shining. “Promise me?”

Shining nodded. “We promise, Mom. You and Dad take care, too.”

“We will.”

With a final bone-crushing hug, Twilight Velvet went back inside and closed the door behind her. With their mother away, the two of them released a long, synchronized sigh.

“So, did it work? Are you feeling any more relaxed?” Shining elbowed his sister.

“Actually, it did. I mean, I’m not great, but I’m at least a little better.”

“You totally told Mom about what’s going on, didn’t you?”

Twilight thought of lying, but decided against it. “Yeah. I didn’t use specifics, though.”

“Did she use the cookie jar defense?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, Shiny.”

“Don’t be.” He shook his head. “I told Dad about Celestia.”

Twilight wasn’t surprised. Much like her, Shining had never been good at keeping secrets from his parents. “We’re really bad at discretion.”

“Yeah. They’re our parents, though, that’s just cheating. Speaking of which--”

“I’m not racing you back to the castle.”

Shining’s shoulders slumped. “Fine, you’re going to have to talk to me, then.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Twilight wondered as they stepped off the porch and started their journey back to the castle.

“You seem a bit more sure of yourself. Did you and Mom talk about Chrysalis?”

Twilight twitched. “Hypothetically.”

“Well.” Shining drew the half-full juicebox from his bag and sipped it. “It seems like you came to a decision about what you want to do. What did you decide?”

“I’m going to try and help her, Shiny. I know you don’t like it, but Mom gave me permission not to care what you think.”

“Rude,” he noted.

“But more than that, I know I can help her. And I know she can have a great new life. One better than before. Now I just need to convince her of that.”

“One impossible task at a time. Actually, I’ve been thinking, Twilight. Can Chrysalis have a normal life after everything she did?” He sucked noisily from the plastic straw. “I’m not trying to discourage you. Like I said last night, I’ll do my best to trust you if you’re really sure, but Equestria still hasn’t completely accepted the changelings yet, and she might be the worst of the bunch.”

“It won’t be easy, Shiny,” Twilight leaned her head back, feeling the sunshine on her face. “But it’s what I think is right. I’ll accept the consequences of my choice and do my best to see it through.”

“Good luck with that.” Shining said.

“What about you? Will you ever accept her?”

“I don’t know, Twilight. But if you can convince the rest of Equestria, I’m sure you’ll try to convince me, too. I look forward to hearing your arguments.”

“Thanks.” Twilight frowned. “I think.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Shining shouldered his sister jokingly. Twilight returned the favor, nearly toppling the soldier. The two of them glared at one another before bursting out in laughter. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Twilight felt the weight lift from her shoulders.

Comments

[vectorVll]

11789069
I understand cadence made it sound like it was chrysalis fault but it was 100% the guard's fault. First of all for underestimating the prisoner. Unnecessary amount of force not including attacking the prisoner with her back turned unnecessary roughness. In attacking the prisoner without orders of the higher ranking officer princess or whatever authority that would give him the right to do so in technically was self-defense from chrysalis.

[Ralanost]

Those were some good chapters. I could feel some foundations being built for things later on. I just hope something works for Celestia to at least buy her some more time if nothing else. Timing is getting a bit too dire lately.

[Arkane12]

11789265
Guess we'll just have to see what this all builds to, eh?