The Redemption of Chrysalis

by Fallen Prime

Chapter One: The Cutie Mark Crusaders

“You’re certain they will like me?” Chrysalis asked, sitting awkwardly inside one of the barns at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash stood beside her, giving her reassuring pats on the shoulder.

“But of course!” Rarity declared. “Sweetie Belle is just as sweet as her name implies.”

“And Scootaloo’s a tough little filly,” Rainbow added. “I don’t know about liking you, but at least she won’t be scared of you.”

“And what of Apple Bloom? Will she be accepting of me?”

“Ain’t no doubt in my mind,” Applejack replied with complete confidence. “My sis is one of the most acceptin’ and open-minded ponies Ah know. Got her to blame for gettin’ rid of everypony’s fear of Zecora.”

“Who?” Chrysalis inquired, arching a brow in confusion.

“The zebra who lives in the Everfree Forest,” Rainbow answered. “Didn’t you get to Fluttershy’s through there? I’m surprised you didn’t bump into her.”

“The forest is an expansive one,” Chrysalis stated. “And avoiding its denizens was of greater concern at the time than seeking companionship.” The information sparked her interest, however. An outsider who was shunned upon her initial visits to Ponyville... someone who had actually experienced the same thing Chrysalis had come to fear since arriving.

Ever since Celestia granted her pardon, she’d mostly sheltered herself within the Golden Oak Library, with only Twilight Sparkle, Spike and Owlowiscious to keep her regular company. On the few occasions she stepped outside the confines of Twilight’s home, she went in disguise; in fact, she still had yet to shed the Applejack disguise she wore to venture to Sweet Apple Acres. Despite her desire to lay low with the friends she’d made and await any sort of word on the changeling relief effort, she knew how the townsfolk would respond to an undisguised changeling living amongst them. Nothing short of an endorsement from Celestia herself, if even that, would save her from persecution and prying eyes. They’d be paranoid and distrustful, and after what she’d done to their ruler and their kingdom, why shouldn’t they be?

If such a reaction were spurred by her reveal, she may find a kindred spirit in this Zecora.

“We shall have to introduce you to her sometime, then,” Rarity decided, bringing Chrysalis back into the conversation. “For now, however, we have the Cutie Mark Crusaders to worry about.”

“Before we go bother ‘em in the clubhouse, though,” Applejack interjected, “could ya please drop yer disguise? You’re freakin’ me out!”

“If I must,” Chrysalis relented. “Though this form of yours is quite a sturdy and powerful one. I’m rather fond of the hat.”

“And as flatterin’ as that all is, if Ah wanted to talk t’myself, Ah’d strike up a chat with a mirror.”

“She does present a valid point,” Rarity admitted. “The only things differentiating you from the real Applejack are your eyes and your seated position. It only serves to make this situation more awkward than necessary.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the remark, but did as she was asked and changed back to her natural appearance. She noted the drastic and jarring change in size, suddenly wondering just how long she’d been donning the guise of an average-sized mare if she’d grown used to it.

“Now that we got that taken care of, we've gotta figure out how to break this to ‘em,” Applejack suggested. “Ah know they’ll like ya just fine, but Ah still wanna ease ‘em into it.”

“Or...” Rainbow countered, whispering an alternate plan into Chrysalis’ ear. A plan that immediately put a wicked grin on the monarch’s face.

---

“Again!?” Scootaloo cried as she and her friends entered their clubhouse, frosting all over their coats. “At this point, we should just be working on getting cutie marks for getting covered in tree sap!”

“We were in Sugarcube Corner!” Apple Bloom stated. “How’d ya even manage that in there?”

Sweetie Belle could only sigh and shake her head. “Whatever happened, we’re not getting our cake decorating cutie marks anytime soon.”

“No kiddin’,” Apple Bloom responded, rifling through the dresser drawers and pulling out a checklist. “There’s still a little daylight left. Wanna try for one more cutie mark before y’all hafta go home?”

Scootaloo’s expression changed instantly from one of dejection to one of determination. “You don’t have to ask me twice!”

“So what are we going to do next?” Sweetie asked, equally excited.

“Well, next on the list is snowboardin’,” Apple Bloom informed her. “Sounds like fun!”

“It’s safer than most of the last few we tried,” Sweetie remarked, her gaze absently and accusingly drifting towards Scootaloo.

Scootaloo simply rolled her eyes. “The Running of the Leaves wasn't that long ago. Where would we even find snow?”

“Ya do have a point...” Apple Bloom conceded. “Alright, how ‘bout surfin’?”

“I think we still have the same problem,” Sweetie argued. “We’re not near any oceans or anything.”

“There’s always the lake,” Scootaloo offered. “There’s plenty of water there!”

“Not enough for waves!” Sweetie countered. “If anything, it’s just a big pool!”

“Well, surfin’s still out,” Apple Bloom decided, ending the discussion early. “After that, there’s... shapeshiftin’?”

“Who put that on there!?” Scootaloo demanded. If she was ever to get a reply to her question, it was silenced by a knock at the clubhouse door.

The noise confused Apple Bloom. She hadn't invited anypony to the clubhouse, and there weren't all that many ponies who knew it was there. If it were a member of her family, she was sure they’d have called for her rather than knocking on the door.

“Uh... who is it?” Apple Bloom called out nervously.

“It’s Miss Cheerilee,” the pony who’d knocked on the door replied. “I need to have a word with the three of you.”

The voice surprised Apple Bloom even more. It wasn't even the fact that Cheerilee had found the clubhouse; if she’d asked anypony in the family, they’d have pointed her right toward it. The fact that she even wanted to talk to them now, during the weekend and so late into the day, struck her as odd.

“What do you think she wants?” Scootaloo asked, evidently as confused as Apple Bloom was.

“It must be something important,” Sweetie suggested. “We should let her in!”

Following Sweetie’s advice, Apple Bloom walked over to the front door and opened it. There stood Cheerilee, the kindest and best teacher she and the other girls have ever had. Strangely enough, though, her face bore an unnervingly stern expression.

“So... what brings ya ‘round these parts, Miss Cheerilee?” Apple Bloom inquired, trying and failing to hide her unease.

“Your grades,” Cheerilee explained, her tone harsher than any of the girls had ever heard it. “It’s still so early into the school year, and yet the three of you have been faltering. You’re dangerously close to failing.”

“What!?” Sweetie cried shrilly. “How could that happen!?”

“They’re your grades, not mine,” Cheerilee replied. “You know I care about you girls, and I don’t want to see you fail, but I’m not just going to artificially inflate your grades to something you haven’t earned.”

“There goes my idea...” Scootaloo mumbled.

“But we can still earn it, right?” Sweetie pleaded. “I know I did just fine last year! I don’t want to fail!”

Apple Bloom remained silent, however. She remembered the grade she got on the last quiz she’d taken, and while it was far from perfect, it had still been a solid passing grade. She didn’t think it was possible to be on the verge of failing with a grade like that, and combined with the timing of this information, it made her somewhat suspicious of Cheerilee’s intentions.

“Well, I suppose I could give you some extra credit,” Cheerilee suggested. “I don’t have any assignments set aside for that purpose, though...”

“We’ll do anything!” Scootaloo shouted. “My parents would kill me if I didn’t pass!”

“And Rarity would never let me hear the end of it!” Sweetie added. “Even if my parents let me go, she’d yell at me for days!”

Cheerilee paused, seemingly deep in thought. “If you’re that desperate... I suppose you could earn yourselves some extra credit by cleaning the schoolhouse.”

Scootaloo groaned. “I take it back. We’ll do anything but clean.”

“Scootaloo, we’re going to fail!” Sweetie argued. “If we have a chance to pass, I say we take it.”

“And Ah say this is a mite fishy,” Apple Bloom announced, staring Cheerilee dead in the eye. “Miss Cheerilee coulda told us all this after school on Friday and not had to come over here. And Ah’m willin’ to bet none of us are actually failin’ after that last quiz. She’s trickin’ us!”

Cheerilee held her stare, locking eyes with Apple Bloom... then broke her gaze, chuckling. “You’re rather bright, young Apple Bloom. You are also almost entirely correct.”

“Ah knew it!” Apple Bloom declared proudly.

“Good one, Miss Cheerilee,” Scootaloo complemented with a snicker of her own. “You had me going there for a while.”

“So Rarity’s not going to yell at me?” Sweetie asked hopefully.

“Not unless you’ve done something else to anger her,” Cheerilee responded.

“You’re talkin’ kinda funny,” Apple Bloom stated, derailing the conversation. “What’s goin’ on? Ah mean, what’s really goin’ on? Why are ya really here?”

Cheerilee chuckled again. “Well... you managed to deduce that I was not truly here to trick you into performing chores to raise your academic grades. I applaud you for that.”

Apple Bloom blushed at the compliment, but remained quiet.

“However,” Cheerilee continued, “you were still only mostly correct, and though you came so close to putting the final pieces together, you missed one last detail, perhaps the most important one of all.”

The schoolteacher then shut her eyes. When she opened him, the Cutie Mark Crusaders could only gape in shock. Those eyes... those weren’t a pony’s eyes. And the voice that spoke next was not the one they knew and loved. And the brilliant green flame that surrounded her in an instant pulled back to reveal a form that only resembled that of a pony.

“I’m not even Miss Cheerilee.”

---

Chrysalis had to admit that Rainbow Dash had a very good idea, asking her to pose as the fillies’ teacher and try to get them to labor over false grades. It surprised her when the white unicorn filly—Sweetie Belle, she assumed—had actually accepted the offer, but the greater surprise was Apple Bloom seeing through the façade. The looks on their faces when she shed her disguise were beautiful and priceless. Sometimes she missed seeing reactions of terror...

“You would not believe your expressions right now,” Chrysalis stated with a mirthful smile. “I may just have to do that more often.”

“Changeling!” Sweetie Belle shouted at the top of her little lungs. The screeching pain in Chrysalis’ ears told her that the top of those lungs could easily pierce the stratosphere.

“What do you want with us?” Scootaloo demanded, her wavering voice betraying her aggressive stance.

“Simply put, I seek merely your friendship,” Chrysalis informed the terrified fillies. “This was Applejack’s idea. The Cheerilee disguise was Rainbow Dash’s, and I must say it was worth it.”

“Rainbow Dash would never want anything to do with you!” Scootaloo shouted. “And once she finds out you’re here, she’s gonna stop you from doing whatever it is you’re really here to do!”

“Hold on,” Apple Bloom commanded, extending a foreleg to restrain Scootaloo’s forward advance. “What are ya really here t’do?”

Chrysalis frowned, somewhat disheartened. “You don’t believe me?”

“Nopony’s sayin’ that—” Apple Bloom began, but was swiftly interrupted.

“Why should we?” Scootaloo asked. “You attacked Canterlot! We all saw it!”

“Please don’t steal my love!” Sweetie pleaded, attempting to hide behind Scootaloo. “I’m still using it!”

“Cut it out, girls!” Apple Bloom demanded. “Ah’m tryin’ to talk to her!” Sweetie and Scootaloo groaned in protest, but ultimately complied.

“Much appreciated, Apple Bloom,” Chrysalis conceded.

“Ah just wanna know why you’re here,” Apple Bloom countered. “And how ya know my name and where our clubhouse is.”

“If you must know,” Chrysalis explained, “I can give you the abridged version. I am here because your princess is leading an effort to recover what remains of the changeling race. I’ve made friends with the spirits of the Elements of Harmony, and I have been spending the last few weeks with Twilight Sparkle. I’m still awaiting word on how far along the relief effort has come.”

“Why do the changelings need help?” Apple Bloom inquired. “What happened to them?”

“That is a much longer story,” Chrysalis admitted. “And one I tire of sharing. Suffice to say, there are very few left, scattered from the force field that expelled us from Canterlot.

“If I may ask a question of my own,” she added, “what makes you so trusting of me? After what I’ve done, how are you willing to hold a civil conversation with me?”

There was a moment of silence, with Apple Bloom considering her answer, Sweetie Belle slowly stepping out of hiding, and Scootaloo still glaring at the changeling queen. Chrysalis simply stood there in wait, feeling increasingly awkward the longer she did.

Finally, Apple Bloom spoke. “Ah guess... Ah just don’t like judgin’ ponies Ah don’t know. It doesn’t make the other pony feel good, and Ah know Ah could be totally wrong. In fact, Ah’m really good friends with somepony that everypony else was scared of just ‘cuz of how she looked!”

“Zecora?” Chrysalis wondered aloud.

“Exactly!” Apple Bloom replied, youthful joy returning to her at the mention of the name. “Nopony else would give her a chance but me, and Ah learned that she was really nice! Everypony deserves a chance, and you’re no different.”

Chrysalis regarded the young filly in stunned silence. She was so young, so innocent, and yet so open and understanding. In all her years, the monarch had never seen anything like it, not even from younger changelings.

She must be getting soft, she realized, if such a statement could bring a tear to her eye.

“So... what’s going on?” Sweetie Belle asked, ruining the moment entirely. “Is she good, or what? Nothing’s happening to us.”

“I still don’t trust her,” Scootaloo declared, her gaze not leaving Chrysalis. The poorly-hidden fear, however, had begun to leave her voice.

“Ah don’t think she wants to hurt us,” Apple Bloom decided. “She can’t be all that bad if she knows Zecora!”

“In all honesty,” Chrysalis interrupted, “I have not met this Zecora. I know the name only through your sister, the same way I knew all of yours.”

“So ya really do know Applejack?” Apple Bloom asked with the cutest, widest smile any filly could ever manage.

“And her friends,” Chrysalis corrected her. “If it weren’t for them, I would not be standing here before you now.”

“Funny story,” a voice chimed in from the doorway. “The first time we met, Chrysalis couldn’t even remember my name.”

Chrysalis turned to the source of the voice, and there stood the three mares she’d conversed with in the barn, Applejack heading the pack. Immediately, the fillies ran up to hug them.

“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “Is she here to hurt us?”

“Not at all,” Rarity responded. “It was our idea for her to introduce herself to you. And if we’re discussing first encounters, I first saw her dangling from the ceiling of Fluttershy’s cottage.”

Sweetie Belle giggled and buried herself in her sister’s forelegs, apparently at ease.

“What about you, Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo inquired. “What happened when you met this changeling?”

“They never use my name...” Chrysalis lamented under her breath.

“It wasn’t really as funny as their stories,” Rainbow began, “but it’s still pretty awesome. I actually saw her through the window of the library having a party with the other girls, and I thought she was still our enemy, so I swooped in and took her out!”

“That is so cool!” Scootaloo remarked, her large eyes wide in admiration.

“If I recall,” Chrysalis added, “that was actually the point in the night where things took a turn for the worse. How are things with you and Twilight, by the way?”

“I’m mostly over it now,” Rainbow answered, rubbing the back of her neck. “And I think she is too. I thought she’d never stop apologizing.”

“Well, I suppose this leaves only one question unanswered,” Chrysalis stated.

“Why ya came in lookin’ like Miss Cheerilee?” Apple Bloom suggested.

“That was my idea,” Rainbow confessed. “I told her she should go in disguised as your teacher and make you do something ridiculous to boost your grades.”

“And a very good idea it was,” Chrysalis complemented. “Their expressions were as priceless as you suggested they would be. But it was not the question I was referring to.”

“Then what did ya mean?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Whether or not the three of you would accept my friendship.”

“Ah’m sold,” Apple Bloom answered.

“If you’re cool enough for Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo added, “you’re cool enough for me.”

“Well, if they’re okay with it,” Sweetie Belle stated, “then I don’t see why not.”

Chrysalis smiled at the blank-flanked fillies before her. This was her first properly arranged meeting since her initial encounter with Twilight, and the first successful one since Fluttershy, and the girls were younger than anypony else she’d met. This made them the youngest friends Chrysalis could claim she had. And if these three fillies could find it in their hearts to befriend her, surely there was hope for her throughout all of Ponyville!

The thought had only just finished flashing through her mind when she heard a noise behind her. She could not properly describe it, but she imagined it to be what it would sound like if time and space were ripped apart. Sure enough, she turned around to find an open gateway leading to Princess Celestia’s private quarters in Canterlot, with the solar monarch herself smiling from the other side.

“Hello, Queen Chrysalis,” Celestia greeted. “It brings me great pleasure to report that Shining Armor has made his first find. We have one of your changeling subjects being admitted to Canterlot Hospital as we speak.”

Chrysalis could barely contain her joy. At long last, she had solid validation of Celestia’s words about potential survivors. With any luck, she would be able to hear another’s thoughts in the changeling hive mind in no time at all!

After a moment of internal celebration, however, her expression hardened, and she approached the portal and stared demandingly at the princess.

“Take me to see my subject.”

Comments

[Larger Seagull]

I'm confused about something, shouldn't Chrysalis have adopted Applejack's voice and accent when she had AJ's body.

Oh, and wonderful story so far,

[The Dark Shadow]

“We’ll do anything!” Scootaloo shouted. “My parents would kill me if I didn’t pass!”

parents?

[Dementia Ravenmane]

2079015 Well, Scootaloo promised herself and her dead parents that she would never fail in school. If she fails, two things might happen.
#1 her battle royale collar would explode.
#2 she would fall on her own katana (Literally)

Then when she was dead and was in heaven, her dead parents would kill her again and send her to limbo.

[Awertuz]

“Please don’t steal my love! I’m still using it!” Sweetie Belle Y U SO CUTE!? seriously, that was adorable

[infinite scratch]

“Please don’t steal my love!” Sweetie pleaded, attempting to hide behind Scootaloo. “I’m still using it!”

Scottabelle!...well maybe not but I'm gonna say it

[TheGreatEater]

My sis is one of the most acceptin’ and open-minded ponies ah know.

“And as flatterin’ as that all is, if ah wanted to talk t’myself, ah’d strike up a chat with a mirror.”

“Ah know they’ll like ya just fine, but ah still wanna ease ‘em into it.”

“And ah say this is a mite fishy,” Apple Bloom announced, staring Cheerilee dead in the eye. “Miss Cheerilee coulda told us all this after school on Friday and not had to come over here. And ah’m willin’ to bet none of us are actually failin’ after that last quiz. She’s trickin’ us!”

“Ah guess... ah just don’t like judgin’ ponies ah don’t know. It doesn’t make the other pony feel good, and ah know ah could be totally wrong. In fact, ah’m really good friends with somepony that everypony else was scared of just ‘cuz of how she looked!”

“Nopony else would give her a chance but me, and ah learned that she was really nice!

Ah
____________

Before I read more. Please fix your Ah's.

And ScootaBelle was adorable [even if just a friendshipping moment].

[Fallen Prime]

5904541 Done. On the previous story too.

[Flutter-Spark]

2075664
Er, actually, that'd be dependent on her will to maintain it, wouldn't it? Among friends, I doubt she'd bother, if my guess is correct, so it still fits, sorta. Just sayin', but that's solid food for thought.