Betrayal

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Failure; the hive had failed in its hostile assault on Canterlot; they had been ruined by the actions of one unicorn. Chrysalis remembered this crucial detail well as she stared out the window of her private chambers and over the Hive. The lone mare had seen through Chrysalis’ disguise, saved the true bride to be, and helped to ruin everything she had hoped would resolve the Hive’s desperate food shortage. One single mare had shown up unexpectedly to ruin months of hard work and destroy the future of Chrysalis’ entire race.

It was all Twilight Sparkle’s fault.

If she hadn’t been there, the invasion would have gone perfectly. No, her meddling had cost the Queen her hard-fought victory and the Hive hundreds of its best soldiers. Once more her Changelings were starving, the swiftly dwindling reserves of Love they still had from before the invasion unlikely to be enough even if rationed to last them through the year.

Even after she had added to it with all she could spare from her prolonged exposure to Shining Armour, their reserves would not be enough. This sort of crisis had not struck the Hive in centuries. She had no idea how she was going to handle this staggering blow to the Hive.

She grumbled as she glared out of the window of her private chambers, her spiteful gaze resting upon the moon in the sky. Everything had gone so very wrong. Her Changelings were starving, ponies were now wise to their existence which only made gathering nourishment harder, and the Hive was almost in open revolt at her failure.

The small jar of honey which rested upon her windowsill, usually her only escape from the harshness of her rule and the grim future of those she watched over vigilantly, did nothing to calm the raging storm of self-loathing. The first true plan she had devised to resolve all of the Hive’s problems had blown up in her face.

She turned her gaze towards the Changelings she could see down below tending to the Hive dutifully. Everything had been for them. The months of planning, meticulous work, and all of her self-sacrifice had been, ultimately, simply so she could see her Changelings prosperous and happy. Like how they had been back before the Bad Lands had been stripped of its ability to support plant life. Now she had to devise suitable punishments for those who were rebelling.

The last time there had been a food shortage like this, the earth around them had only recently been turned into the harsh and unforgiving land they knew now. Something, just over a thousand years ago, had afflicted the land with a huge cataclysm of magic that had stripped the soil of its ability to support growth.

Even then the Hive had dropped in population by almost sixty percent by the time they had managed to successfully provide sustenance for everypony. She knew there was a quote about fate favouring the bold, but in this case it seemed that fate was on the side of those who already had more than enough.

Just once she wished that that kind of fortune would come the way of her Hive.

There was a curt knock at the solid wooden door to her chambers and she sighed dejectedly. Another Changeling here to ask questions, no doubt; she wasn’t sure if she could continue to keep a brave face in front of them anymore. She’d failed them so despicably she wasn’t sure that they had any faith in her anymore.

“Come.”

The aged wood creaked open to reveal a young Changeling of royal lineage, her blood red mane, tail and back plate letting Chrysalis know exactly who this was. She grumbled internally; this conversation had just turned from bearable to aggravating.

“Ah, Thistle, my sister, to what do I owe this… pleasure?” She said while barely keeping a civil tone.

Thistle stepped into the room and closed the door behind her before moving over to her older sister’s bed and hopping on, bouncing on the springy mattress before she settled. This was not unlike her, she would usually find somewhere to sit within her sister’s room that Chrysalis would likely not want her. In this instance she had taken a moment before settling to unmake the bed.

“Chryssie, the Hive has been rebelling since you returned.” She said matter-of-factly. “I’m impressed that your guards are managing to keep order; it’s almost become open rioting out there.”

“I am aware.” Chrysalis grumbled. “They are almost at a point of needing some public punishment to pull them back into line; though I am at a loss as to what. Still, you have not answered my question. What are you doing here, what do you want?”

Thistle gave a girlish laugh, though it felt much emptier of emotion than it sounded. “Do I need a reason to see my sister?”

Chrysalis grumbled. “Since it is you we are talking about, sister; yes.”

“Well, since you bring it up; there is one thing…”

Here it came, the reason this little menace was bothering her sister in what was quite clearly a foul mood. It wasn’t anything unusual for her, however; Chrysalis and Thistle had never truly gotten along and she would often choose times when her sister was at her lowest to attempt to chip away at her resolve. Not to say that there was no reason for this. No, no; Chrysalis had more than just sibling rivalry to use as an excuse against her sister.

Chrysalis and Thistle had always been opposites. Had Thistle rallied the invasion, the roads of the Golden City would have run red with the blood of its inhabitants, any building that could be would be burned to the ground, and the carnage would have simply spread from there. Her plans were usually half-cocked and dangerous, and would almost always involve a pointless waste of life. She didn’t even seem to see other Changelings as anything other than a potential new corpse to create.

Chrysalis, conversely, was far more mindful of the potential resources that could be wasted through such recklessness. Ponies were their currently prime source of sustenance; murdering them for the sake of bloodshed was a waste of the love that could have been gained should they have simply captured them. And as for her fellow Changelings… well, she had always tried to be as accommodating as she could towards them.

She’d even taken a mate once, many years ago. She’d loved that stallion like no other, and their children were her pride and joy for many years. She still had a photo of him on her bedside cabinet, the only reminder she had of him. Sadly their shared bloodline had ended not long before the invasion, their last grandfoal dying during a cave-in. She had been inconsolable for days, and only managed to pull back out of her slump just in time to begin her role replacing the princess.

“The council have been holding meetings without you, sister.” Thistle said nonchalant. “And they’ve been talking about possible executions.”

Chrysalis scowled. That was treasonous talk coming from her sister. “They’ve been considering capital punishment?” She sneered, “Fools, it’s a dead end for any Queen, they should know this much.”

“Well, it’s about those… executions.” Thistle mumbled to her sister’s turned back. “I’ve heard them mention some details, but only in passing, and they usually clam up when they notice me. I’ve gotten the impression they don’t want either of us to hear. Maybe you’d be interested in knowing some details?”

“Oh? You would tell me of their potential plans? This is most unlike you to aid me in any way usually you conspire against me.” Chrysalis shot over her shoulder as she watched a pair of Changelings fly off into the distance on a scouting mission. “Do you happen to know the names of any of their targets?”

Thistle’s face split into a wicked grin as her horn began to glow. “Oh, I overheard one or two.”

Green magic surrounded Chrysalis, lifting her from the ground as she cringed in pain. She hissed in fury. “Thistle you traitorous little foal! What are you doing?! Put me down this instant!”

She began to breathe heavily as strength left her and her body rebelled as her own power was leeched from her, and she gave a loud pained yelp as her chitin split and fell from her body. Where the falling segments of her shed body struck the ground they burst into bright pink globes of energy, which were surrounded in a green haze of magic and moved towards Thistle. The now rapidly growing Changeling absorbed them into her body greedily.

“All this power, all this love, kept selfishly away from the Hive! No longer will you keep sway over us, Chrysalis!” Thistle shouted. “The Hive has deemed that you are unfit to rule!”

“And you think you are?!” Chrysalis yelled back furiously. “Stop this at once!”

“I was chosen by the Hive; by their word I am to be the new Queen! Your failure in the Golden City has caused much unrest, the council vote is unanimous; you are deposed sister! By the will of the Hive I have been named your successor! So sayeth the Hive!” Thistle declared harshly.

“You’re a violent foal who doesn’t understand how the world works! You’ll drive us to ruin!” Chrysalis snapped.

“You mean like you have?” Thistle snarled in return angrily. “You who were too soft to simply kill the princess you were imitating!”

Chrysalis’ body screamed at her in protest as the love and admiration of the Hive was literally drained from her body and absorbed by Thistle. Her bones groaned and shuddered, shrinking as her body was drained of love and magic. Her gossamer wings burned away as if on fire until they were the size of a hatchling’s, and her mane and tail also shed to a shorter length.

A familiar weight fell from her head and the sound of her crown bouncing against the hard stone floor echoed in the room.

“Killing ponies does not do us any good; when they are all dead, where will our love come from? Think about what you’re doing, you stupid filly!”

After what felt to Chrysalis like an aeon, she was unceremoniously dumped onto the hard and unyielding ground, her body curling in on itself in aftershocks of pain and agony. She had never before felt so drained and weak, not even back when she was a newly born hatchling. She groaned and looked down at herself, recoiling mentally at what she saw.

The loss of magic and strength had returned her to what she had not been in millennia.

She was a filly.

“It has been centuries since I last clapped eyes on you like this, sister.” Thistle’s voice hissed with her tone laced in venom and spite. “It’s nice to have the tables turned in our little spats for once. And who will need love, when we have their lands to cultivate our own food?”

Chrysalis turned her eye to her sister, finding her to be taller and more regal, the crown which once sat upon her own head now resting atop her crimson sister’s. Her horn was long, proudly displaying the twisted power she held at her disposal. Unlike Chrysalis’ own horn, which spiked forward with segments missing, Thistle’s horn curled around halfway up in a momentary spiral before ending in the usual pointed tip.

So Thistle still held on to her oldest plan to feed the Hive? It had been flawed from the start, Chrysalis had seen.

“You cannot cultivate truly sustainable food on bloodied soil, Thistle. The magic of the land is befouled by blood spilled in conflict, and that in turn causes plants that grow upon the land to become dangerous and untameable! I may not preach peace, but destroying the land is foolish and won’t help anypony!” She wheezed at her. “You damn stupid filly.” She added under her breath.

Thistle’s horn gave off a green glow, and Chrysalis found herself being lifted into the air once more, now being held before her traitorous sister. She flailed wildly to hold her balance before relenting and just shooting Thistle a spiteful and hate-filled glare.

“Oh, poor Chryssie, not feeling very well are we?” She asked sardonically. Chrysalis’s horn began to glitter, and Thistle tilted her head back to avoid her sister taking it off with her offensive magic. “Ah ah ah, bad girl; we can’t have you attacking your new queen. Maybe a little discipline will teach you to show her some well-deserved respect.”

Chrysalis went to snap back in response when a violent pain erupted from her forehead and her words turned into screams, her blood bursting from her fresh new injury and streaming down her face. Something black and gnarled fell past her eyes, but she didn’t need to look down to know what it was.

Thistle had just snapped her horn in two.

“That’s better.” Thistle hissed as she kicked the severed stub across the room. “And I have something to weigh down papers with.”

Chrysalis only continued to holler in pain until her voice was hoarse and she could scream no more. The whole time she was suspended unnervingly above the ground cringing in pain, Thistle only watched her with a morbid and chilling Schadenfreude.

“Why… how could you do this to me, Thistle? Have I not been at least fair on you? I certainly never hurt you!” Chrysalis huffed.

“There’s more than one way to cause harm, Chryssie; for centuries I’ve been your ‘little sister’, always living in the shadow of big sister Chrysalis, the Queen with a spine of sponges. Ah, but don’t think about that now, you should worry about that terrible injury on your head. Oh, I hope you’re alright, it looks absolutely awful!” She said with her tone oozing mock sympathy. “And you’ve made such a mess of the floor! It will take forever to clean up all that blood!”

“You… you have no idea what you’re doing; you’ve no idea what you’ve done.” Chrysalis hoarsely said. “They will never accept you, not after this; you’ve shown your least tasteful violent side, and none of our Changelings will accept a monarch with a heart of coal.”

“They have no choice, Chrysalis. It’s my turn to rule now.” Thistle snapped firmly. “It should have been my rule from the beginning. Why mother chose you as her successor is beyond me.”

Chrysalis laughed at that comment, actually amused. “Even after all this time, you still don’t understand? You truly are a foolish little filly.”

“What are you talking about?”

“A queen must be able to empathize with the population; while I have grown powerful from their respect, I do not feed off of it. I eat as they do. There is a reason I attend as many funerals as I do, there is a reason I wander the Hive and give couples my blessings. If you cannot see that a queen must be respected and loved by her Changelings, then you are unfit to rule.”

For a moment Thistle’s face shifted, as if she was actually reconsidering what she had done, as if a part of her had rational mind had broken through and was coming to terms with what Chrysalis had just told her. Unfortunately it was buried once more beneath the craze that obtaining an immense amount of power brought upon a Queen.

Chrysalis had suffered from this mild insanity herself, but she had been helped through it by her mother; she could only hope that Thistle would at least allow her to aid her sister in the same way lest her insanity take hold.

“Now, as the new Queen, I think I’ll have to lay down a few new laws. Hmm, now what should I decree..?” She trailed off and let Chrysalis spin gently in her magic as she looked about as if to think.

“Oh, I know! How about all failed past Queens shall be banished from the Hive? Does that sound like a good one?” She gave Chrysalis a terrifying and insane looking grin, her magic summoning ropes which bound Chrysalis’ small wings to her back.

Well, there went that thought; she would stay insane.

“Of course it sounds like a good idea, after all, your new queen thought it up. Well, with you falling under that new ruling, you simply have to go. Thank you for everything I’ve taken from you, thank you for everything you screwed up, and thank you for being truly useless. Now goodbye, Chryssie; it’s been a blast!”

With that her magic burst with kinetic force, the pulse smashing Chrysalis through the glass window and launching her out across Equestria. She was at least thankful that her tough natural armour was strong enough to resist the sharp shards of tumbling glass shrapnel, but that would prove to be the least of her concerns.

She watched in terror as the landscape swam by, over the desolate and barren Bad Lands and out over the border towns of Appleloosa and Dodge Junction. She could see ponies in the darkened towns below, but she passed overhead so swiftly she doubted they even noticed her, even if it had been daytime.

Though she was certain she heard somepony below in Appleloosa shout 'Appleloosa' as if it were a shining diamond in a turgid swamp.

It didn’t take long for her swift and impromptu flight to come to as swift and impromptu an end, the winter snow doing little to cushion her high speed and high altitude landing as she slammed into it and slid across the ground for a good ten feet and creating a good sized crater that a certain wall-eyed mare in Ponyville would be proud of.

Needless to say however that she didn’t remember much after seeing the ground on her way down.

*&*&*&*

She awoke blearily not long after landing, her shell-shocked body resisting her commands to move as she struggled to look up and around. She could see the tree-line of a dense and foreboding looking forest off before her, and a small cottage made of a tree nearby. It was the middle of the night, and the lights of the cottage were off, evidently the inhabitant was asleep. In the other direction was a town, though again the lights were almost all off and the windows dark.

She groaned as she struggled to move her hooves, attempting to flicker her magic across her body to disguise herself for at least that small amount of protection only for her concentration to falter and her horn to surge in pain, making her yelp. She couldn’t use magic to disguise herself..?

This was not good.

Again she struggled against her own body, managing to get her hooves to move to positions beneath her only for her left foreleg to collapse when she tried to put weight on it. It wasn’t until she actually looked at her leg that she began to feel the pain of the injuries her impact had inflicted on her.

Her left foreleg had clearly snapped in the lower bone, she could feel several of her ribs had been broken, and her wings had been torn up by the harsh impact and the rope being torn from them. Her chitin, though sturdy, had barely sustained her landing, and she had acquired multiple splits in the hardened outer shell when it flexed beyond its maximum load.

She couldn’t use magic, her body had been ravaged by the harsh and sudden landing, and almost every ounce of energy in her body had been drained by her traitorous sister. Well, this was an unfortunate turn of events.

Again she struggled to her hooves, keeping her left foreleg held high to avoid putting any weight on it, and she looked about. Her marginally higher viewpoint allowed her to spot a bridge across a stream nearby, and she hobbled over to it, ducking beneath it and huddling in the gloom beneath it, thankful for whatever shelter it could provide. Some careless pony had left an old towel down here, and after shaking it out she pulled it over herself to hopefully keep herself warm from the harsh and unrelenting winter as she drifted into a restless sleep.

She awoke the next day still beneath the bridge. Thankfully the towel had kept her from freezing to death, but now that she was awake she became aware of other concerns.

Her landing had left a large and obvious crater in the snow and dirt, and ponies had come from the town to inspect it. The general thought from those she could hear was that it was a meteorite that had struck the ground and that somepony had come and recovered the astral object; though who it could have been was anypony’s guess as their mingling around had smothered the ground in hoofprints.

She was thankful that the path she took from her landing spot had also been concealed by their arrival.

She suppressed a groan as the pain she had felt the night before came back with a vengeance, biting her bottom lip to keep herself from making too noise, even as tears snaked across her face. Her body had suffered from the ravages of the weather, and she’d been shivering nonstop even in her sleep. The sun’s rays barely made their way to where she was hiding, not warming her even a tiny modicum. She could hear ponies around; clearly the town she had fallen near used this area often, even in winter.

Her stomach groaned, demanding sustenance from its owner, and she shifted uncomfortably around it, trying to quieten it even a small amount. True, she had not eaten in quite some time, but never before had she been drained quite like this, not even with a reserve to consume like the Hive. No, she was, for the first time in many, many weeks, starving.

Her mind’s voice spoke the only thing she was really thinking. ‘So this is what it’s like to die.’

The sound of her stomach had alerted ponies on the bridge above her, startling them into thinking that she was some kind of monster and fleeing. She didn’t care; if they found her, they’d probably drag her to some gaol cell where she would die of starvation. If they didn’t, she’d just… lie here until the same fate claimed her; unless she froze to death first.

She didn’t know how long she lay there for; time passed slowly and without witness during winter, and she was only truly aware of the ponies above her on the bridge when her stomach protested loudly enough for them to hear her. Some of them had run off with frightened yells of a monster or Timber Wolves, while others had thought that the bridge was failing beneath their hooves. It was growing dark again when somepony grew brave enough to see what lurked beneath the bridge.

Or, rather, a group of ponies.

She was faintly aware of ponies looking at her, and she moved under her makeshift blanket to look back at them. Almost immediately she recognized the faces and colours of the ponies who were staring at her, and she shifted, for what she could, deeper into the hidden darkness beneath the bridge.

“G-Go away!”

A few of them seemed to notice her voice, as if recalling something.

“T-Twi, that voice… is that..?”

The lavender unicorn nodded her head. “She sounds younger, but it’s undeniable.”

“No way! Her, here in Ponyville?!”

Chrysalis ignored their voices, curling into as tight a ball as she could and trying to wrap her towel around her; she didn’t even notice the pain as she moved from the pool of frozen blood that she had left behind, or her leg protest as the broken bones shifted within. These five ponies along with the sixth, the one mare that had personally ruined the invasion, had found her.

Well, at least now she could tell how she was going to die. Locked in a gaol cell alone and forgotten where she would starve to death. It seemed typical that the mare that had ruined the future of her Hive would also come along and ruin her chances to meet with death on her own terms.

“Just go away…” Chrysalis breathed pitifully. “I’m going to die anyway, so just… just go away and leave me alone.”

A faint blue glow surrounded her, wrapping her up tightly in the towel, admittedly the only thing she had, and lifted her from beneath the bridge. As she was moved carefully out from the darkness, the glow illuminated the patch of frozen blood she had left behind, and the sight of it made the group of ponies worriedly murmur. She’d have complained about being lifted with magic, but she couldn’t find it in herself to really care anymore.

The lavender unicorn, the source of all of Chrysalis’ grief in life, collected her from the blue glow in her own faint purple magic, removing the towel from her body as she inspected the seriously wounded and partially frozen former queen.

Chrysalis shivered as her only shelter from the cold was stripped from her, though she didn’t fight. She couldn’t; she’d been drained of so much energy and her body had become so weak that she simply couldn’t move anymore, and all she did was stare spitefully down at the unicorn who held her.

“W-what, you’d rather kill me yourself than s-simply wait for nature t-to do it for you?” She grumbled. “Not t-that it would take long in this weather.”

“Why is your horn broken?” The unicorn holding her aloft demanded.

“What do you care?” Chrysalis hissed back. “Oh, I-I’m sorry, am I not l-living up to your expectations to die alone under a bridge? F-fine, I’ll go dig a pit!”

She groaned painfully as she spat these last words, her damaged ribs protesting her heavy use of her lungs. She tuned out the worried muttering of the ponies around her; if she was going to die anyway, whatever they said now wouldn’t matter to her.

“What are you doing here, Changeling?” The lavender unicorn growled. “I will not ask you second time.”

“Not that you’ll get much of a chance to as right now I believe I’m dying.” Chrysalis grumbled. “I w-was exiled f-from the Hive. M-my sister, that t-traitorous hag stole m-my power and b-broke my h-horn before f-flinging me from the H-Hive.” She shuddered heavily, though not from the unicorn’s intense glare. “S-she tied up m-my wings and I l-landed here; or, r-rather over t-there.” She added, nodding to where she had left an indentation in the snow.

The orange earth pony took a tentative step forward. “Yer talkin’ kinda funny.”

“I-I happen to be f-freezing to d-death!” Chrysalis snapped. “I lack the f-fur that y-you ponies have, if y-you haven’t n-noticed!” She stared down at the towel beneath her, resting in the snow and now long since soaked through, and the unicorn holding her followed her gaze. “Well, t-there goes t-that…” Chrysalis grumbled. “Fat loads of g-good that t-towel’s going t-to do me n-now.”

She yawned wide and slowly let her eyes drift shut. “If y-you don’t m-mind, I-I’m just going t-to sleep for a l-little while. W-wake me when I-I’m not banished a-anymore…”

She faintly heard Twilight Sparkle protesting, and felt her body be shaken in a vain attempt to keep her awake while Twilight’s voice was joined by the worried voices of her friends, but they all fell into muffled silence as her world went dark once more.

*&*&*&*

She awoke in a darkened room, though her body was weak and she couldn’t move even if she wanted to. She could see fabric all around her in large rolls, as well as a well-stocked and sorted rack containing spools of thread, a sewing machine off in one corner appeared disused and dusty. This was a storage room of some sort, she could tell that much, though why anypony would want this much fabric and sewing supplies was beyond her.

It was warm here, the basket she lay within containing a soft cushion beneath her and a thick quilted blanket atop her helping to preserve her body heat. What was left of it in any case, she had lost so much out in the snow and under the bridge that she was surprised she had woken up at all. She groaned and raised her head for what she could in an attempt to see where she was, or where the warmth within the room was coming from, though she was thankful for it all the same. She could hear faint voices coming from beyond the room’s door.

“H-hello..?” She called out worriedly.

The voices stopped, and the sound of hooves approached the room and somepony opened the door, peering in at her curiously. It appeared to be a young filly, and she turned back to where the voices had been coming from. After a short exchange of soft speaking, more hooves moved towards the room and pushed the door open, revealing the six ponies that had dragged her out from her hiding place. They appeared… concerned..?

That was certainly unexpected.

“Are you alright?” The lavender one, Twilight Sparkle, asked worriedly.

“Why do you care?” Chrysalis asked with her voice croaky and weak yet still conveying what little defiance she had.

“You fell asleep with hypothermia; you could have died!”

Chrysalis huffed. “Again I ask; why do you care? You certainly didn’t find it difficult to help kill hundreds of my Changelings after we attacked the Golden City and commandeered the wedding of your ‘precious’ brother, I fail to see your motive to do anything beyond letting me die.”

“Twilight wouldn’t..!” the orange earth pony began to protest before the unicorn in question lifted a hoof to cut her off.

“I admit I considered it.” Twilight said faintly after a momentary pause and a steadying breath, earning shocked gasps from the ponies around her. After a determined glare down at Chrysalis she continued. “But I would never condemn another to die if there is something I can do, regardless of who they may be or what they have done.”

Chrysalis huffed faintly.

“And I had no idea that any of the Changelings from the attack didn’t survive; we’ve had no word from border guard or any of the towns about Changelings. I had figured that you’d simply learned your lesson and gone away.”

“We cannot just simply hide from Equestria when our food supplies are so dangerously low.” Chrysalis grumbled. “I suppose you’ve informed the town guards about my presence now that you’ve found and captured me, and we’re simply waiting for them to arrive to cart me off.” She finished with a miserable huff.

Twilight giggled. “Oh no, I wrote to Princess Celestia.”

Chrysalis’ eyes shrank. “You did what?! Why on Equestria would you do that?”

“Well, I am her personal student after all; this is something she would very much like to be informed about.”

Chrysalis sighed heavily. “Well, I guess it’s been at least a somewhat… decent life, though I’d have liked to at least have tried for more foals someday.” She grumbled, resting her head on her forelegs. “When I get to the afterlife, I’ll be sure to mention you; I’m sure your ancestors are looking forward to meeting you all.”

It was the collective group of ponies’ turn to look puzzled at her gloomy words.

“Uh, come again..?” Their orange earth pony friend asked.

“Just because you can find it somewhere in the deepest recesses of your heart to forgive and help me doesn’t mean that Princess Celestia will.” Chrysalis huffed. “Having been a ruler for as long as I have, I wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to banish me to the sun.”

“Why don’t you just let her make up her own mind for herself?”

Chrysalis cringed at this new but familiar voice, and she tugged herself deeper into her basket as the heavier footfalls thudded against the carpeted floor. Even without her horn, Chrysalis could feel the immense power that radiated from the being that now stood tall above her, and she curled herself deeper into her only refuge before sighing.

What was the point? It didn’t matter how safe she made herself feel, this pony would still manage to do whatever she felt she needed to do to her regardless. Banishment, imprisonment…

She could actually manage to be banished to somewhere and be imprisoned there. She laughed at herself inside. Imprisoned in the place she was banished to after being banished from the place she was originally banished to.

That was a hell of a mouthful; she could only imagine what ponies would call her. ‘The monster in Tartarus’ sprung to mind as a suggestion.

“Get it over with.” Chrysalis grumbled up at her, lifting her head from the basket and resting it on the side. “It’s not like I don’t have the rest of my life to not live.”

“Get what over with?” The princess asked, her tone conveying her toying mood.

“The execution of your captured enemy; you know, the one who currently cannot fight back.” Chrysalis huffed. “Come on, it’s not nice to keep those expecting to die waiting. While your student you can simply reprimand for being too soft, you have no excuse; so here I am, the former leader of your newest enemy, just waiting for you to drag me to the gallows. Or guillotine. Or whatever it is you use to execute war criminals that screwed up so badly they managed to get several hundred of their own beings killed.”

“I was under the impression that we might be able to at least converse first, but you’re certainly showing much more of a defeatist personality than I recall you having.”

“I’m so sorry to disappoint you, but since I can’t even cast magic to disguise myself, I see no point. I’m a useless cripple now, so I might as well be dead.” Chrysalis snapped. “So excuse me for not bothering to prolong the inevitable.”

“Useless is a bit strong a term.” Celestia amusedly stated. “I would think that ‘untapped potential’ has a nicer ring to it. Though since you have brought up the subject of your crippling, what has happened to your horn?”

Chrysalis sighed. “My traitorous sister snapped it off,” She grumbled, “Shortly after draining almost every ounce of energy from my body; magic or otherwise. Stupid filly has no idea what she’s done.”

“I fail to see how it would be fair to harm you in such a way? Surely banishing you with your horn intact is just as poignant a statement?” Twilight suggested.

Chrysalis shook her head. “No, I was Queen you see; we gain power through the admiration, respect and love of the Hive; even after taking every ounce of my power for herself, my sister would still have those who oppose her and support me, so, to stop me from gathering their supportive energy, she removed my horn. I cannot gather love energy without it, nor can I cast spells beyond basic levitation, though even that will come with a risk of backfiring. Without being able to disguise myself, I’m as vulnerable as a newborn kitten.

“The fact that she was mocking me after having drained my power and me then lashing out at her may have played a part, but I hardly think that she cares about that so much, so long as she has no competition. So, go ahead, kill me; it’s not like death hasn’t waited long enough to claim my worthless hide.”

There was a nervous and awkward silence in the room for a minute or two before Princess Celestia sighed.

“Much like my student, I also shan’t kill you or have you killed.” She said. “Though your actions in Canterlot warrant punishment, I don’t doubt that you’ve managed to be punished quite effectively by your own Hive, and I also must factor in that our laws prohibit the execution of anypony. I do find myself at quite a loss as to what to do with you however, or where you should stay. I cannot bring you to Canterlot; your safety cannot be guaranteed whenever my sister or I would not be watching you, and the political ladder-climbers in Canterlot would surely call for your head. Perhaps here in Ponyville?” She looked about at the six ponies with her hopefully.

“Ah can’t have her at mah farm, there’s no tellin’ how Granny Smith will react to havin’ her about…” The orange earth pony admitted.

“Though it’d be super-duper fun, I don’t think the Cakes would like it if she were around the foals…” Said the pink earth pony, her energetic cheerfulness dwindling as she spoke.

“I live in the sky and her wings are shredded.” Their rainbow-maned Pegasus friend said sharply. Her reply prompted Chrysalis to tuck her wings beneath the large protective plate on her back. “If she fell there’s no way she’d be going anywhere but into a body bag.”

“Um, animals don’t react well to Changelings…” Came a barely audible and timid voice from somewhere within the yellow Pegasus’ long pink mane. “And Angel Bunny doesn’t like new ponies at the best of times...”

Twilight sighed after a moment of thought. “I would say yes, Princess, but… I cannot deny some… animosity towards her; I also don’t know how Spike would react to having the ex-queen of the changelings under our roof after the wedding incident.” She said before cringing as if the princess would punish her. She only returned from her cringe when the princess’ wing came to rest over her shoulders and she gave an understanding nod.

The group of ponies looked over to the remaining unspoken unicorn who seemed to have been in thought the whole time. She gave a sigh and nodded firmly.

“I suppose I shall have to, shan’t I?” She asked rhetorically. “Very well, but this will not be a free ride; I expect you to help out about my boutique, I’m sure I can think of something you can do.” With a second sigh she added. “I shall have to see to getting the guest bedroom ready; hopefully it’s not in too much disarray.”

“I am fine in here.” Chrysalis said. “Keep your guest room for guests, not unwanted burdens.”

“Well, at least that is solved.” Celestia said amusedly. “Rarity, I would like for you to send weekly reports on… I’m sorry; I don’t remember ever being told your name..?”

“My name is Chrysalis.” She mumbled, before curling back up. “I’m surprised that Mi Amore did not tell you, though I imagine I’m just another time in her life she would like to forget.”

“Chrysalis, yes; as I was saying, I would like you to send weekly reports on Chrysalis’ progress in Ponyville; I don’t expect you to send much more than an obligatory message should nothing of real note come up, but at the same time I would like you to keep an eye on her. If you think she could become a threat, you are to notify me immediately.” Her eyes glanced between the six ponies assembled before her. “That goes for all of you.”

The massed ponies nodded in sullen and silent understanding, though afterwards Twilight’s voice spoke up worriedly.

“But… what about feeding her? I’m sorry princess, but I don’t think we can supply her with love just like that… and what about the ramifications of allowing her to feed on us, like she did to Shining Armour? She could have killed him!”

Chrysalis huffed. “Love, while capable of keeping our bodies from starving to death, only truly serves to bolster our magic and stave off starvation.” She grumbled. “We can eat just as well as you ponies can. Fruits, grasses and vegetables suit us just fine.”

Celestia blinked at the ornery changeling partially hidden within the wicker basket. “Then why does your hive not simply cultivate the land?”

“Because we cannot; the land around the Hive is barren of life and nourishment for growth, and it is too far from any fertile land for any transported foodstuff to stay edible by time it arrives. We turned to our only realistic source of food. While our physiology allows us to be capable of consuming meat, that is an avenue I would not allow as it requires something to die.”

“You are telling us an awful lot about your Hive and its plights; don’t you worry that Equestria could use this against you..?” Twilight Sparkle asked nervously. “I mean, they’re your own race, your Hive…”

Chrysalis huffed. “They abandoned me.” She mumbled. “I don’t… I don’t care anymore.”

“Surely there are those amongst your kind you care for?” Twilight questioned.

She shook her head, though it was unseen by the ponies in the room. “My last love died almost a century ago, and my last grandfoal joined him just before the invasion.” She said, her voice wavering a little. “I… I have nothing left back there apart from subjects who have abandoned me and a sister who attempted to commit sororicide.”

There was a sullen silence punctuated only by the orange pony mumbling confusedly.

“Sorroriwhat?”

“It’s the act of murdering one’s sister, Applejack.” Rarity hissed in reply.

“Oh.”

Celestia shot them an irritated glare, and they recoiled under her gaze, remembering how impolite they were being.

“Chrysalis;” Celestia began firmly, “you are, henceforth, placed under the care of Rarity. Anything you do that could threaten Equestria will earn you time within Canterlot’s dungeons. You are expected to at least try to get along with the residents of Ponyville, though if you want to become a recluse I suppose there is little I can do to convince you otherwise.

“From time to time my sister, I, or a representative of the crown will arrive to ask questions about your kind; this may include Twilight Sparkle, as she is my most trusted student and an avid learner. If I am not the one questioning you, one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony must be present at all times. This is non-negotiable. While I give you my oath that I will never assault you, I cannot speak for my subjects, and as a refugee whom I am granting asylum within Equestria your safety is of our top concern.

“However, I believe that our first priority is to get you something in you; we can’t have our first changeling refugee starving to death on us, can we?” She finished with a cheeky giggle. “Applejack, if you could make some of your fantastic soup for her please? I am unsure if she could manage solids in her weakened state.”

Applejack hesitated, but after giving the huddled and still shivering form of Chrysalis a glance she nodded and left for the kitchen.

“Come now everypony, I believe we should let her get some rest.” Celestia said, starting to usher the other ponies from the room.

“Wait.”

The moving bodies paused hesitantly.

“The… the pony who appeared at the door, when I called out..?”

“That was my little sister, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity replied. “She has been staying here with me for some time. You may need to become accustom to her as well, not to mention her friends.”

Chrysalis sighed and nodded, shifting beneath the blanket uncomfortably and prompting the mares to continue to leave.

“Celestia..?” She called before the diarch could step out of the door, the regal Alicorn pausing to look in her direction.

“Yes Chrysalis, what is it?”

She hesitated awkwardly, struggling to muster the nerve to speak her mind.

“I feel I need to warn you; my sister has gained a huge amount of power in a short amount of time, and this sends Queen Changelings into a form of insanity. When I first became the queen I was only able to keep my sanity thanks to my mother, but Thistle has no such aid. She will be dangerous and cannot be trusted.” She said cautiously.

“Should another Changeling Queen present herself to us she will be detained first and asked questions later.” Celestia said slowly and deliberately, earning a nod from Chrysalis.

“And… Thank you; for giving me a chance…”

Celestia smiled and gave a curt chuckle. “You’re welcome, Chrysalis. I have always been a believer in second chances; I pray that you will not waste yours.” She said warmly before walking out.

Chrysalis watched as the light in the room faded with the creak of the storeroom door closing, and she closed her eyes to drift to sleep.

*&*&*&*

“Princess, you can’t honestly be considering letting that… changeling stay here?” Rainbow Dash protested.

“And why would I not, Rainbow Dash?”

“She tried to take over Canterlot!”

“Desperate acts of a desperate monarch.” Celestia stated. “Though I don’t claim to know what truly possessed her to carry out such an assault, I can at least see her main reasoning towards its occurrence. She could have tried diplomacy, yes, but… as she was before, I am unsure if it had even occurred to her. This incident with her Hive seems to have opened her eyes.”

“Yes, but only after breaking her spirit and crushing her soul.” Rarity added. “We all saw what she was like at the wedding; she’s a shell of who she once was.”

“And we can’t just ignore her own wellbeing in all of this, Dash;” Twilight pointed out, “You heard her when we found her, she was almost begging to die. To think that she had fallen so far in such a short time…”

“With no support from her own people, and being almost literally thrown to the wolves by being banished to Equestria, she may not have predicted any other outcome. Mayhap that is why diplomacy was not attempted; she didn’t seem to think we were even capable of such mercies…”

Rarity sighed. “I may be the Element of Generosity, but I must admit I find even myself hard pressed to find the imagination to conjure the kind of generosity she just received.”

“Well, as long as she doesn’t freeload, then it ain’t all charity.” Applejack said as she dawdled in from the kitchen, the smell of her apple soup cooking following her. “But… Ah gotta side with Twi’ on this one. Ah mean, Ah can tell when somepony’s lyin’ to me, but… Ah dunno, she just weren’t holdin’ anything back, she really doesn’t have anythin’; even her health was quittin’ on her when we found her wrapped in that dogged old towel.”

“It still is, Applejack.” Celestia pointed out. “Unless she receives proper care for the next few days, she won’t survive what her fatigue and the cold has managed to inflict on her. She may be an adult mentally, but physically she is a filly, and her body is as frail as the youngest of your sister’s classmates.” She sighed and gazed apologetically at Rarity. “I’m sorry, but she will be incapable of doing much other than eating, sleeping and using the bathroom for the next few days, she may even need more professional care than you can provide yourself.”

“That’s alright Princess, I’ll be sure to drop in every day to make sure she’s getting better.” Fluttershy said calmly. “I mean it’s the least I could do, and we’re all in this together, right?”

Celestia nodded gratefully. “Thank you, Fluttershy.”

Applejack took a moment to check on the soup, returning soon after with a filled bowl and a spoon. The smell of cinnamon, apples and cream wafted through the room, the only telltale scents that the soup had that told of its possible contents. Far more than just apples, cinnamon and cream went into the broth, and the majority of them went unnamed as an Apple Family Secret.

Applejack would often say this about many things, with the capitols almost audible in her prideful voice.

“Ah, I think Twilight should be the one to deliver this.” Celestia commented.

“Me, Princess..? But…”

“Humour me, Twilight.” She said calmly.

Twilight sighed and lifted the bowl that Applejack had brought out magically before moving through the room and into the small walkway between the rooms. Tentatively she moved to Rarity’s storeroom and opened the door, looking into the gloom for a moment before entering.

She wasn’t surprised that Chrysalis hadn’t moved from her basket, nor that she didn’t look up at her unicorn visitor. She moved across the room as if nothing was amiss and lay the bowl and spoon down next to the basket in which Chrysalis continued to gently shiver away her hypothermia.

“Your soup is ready, eat up.”

Chrysalis shifted and looked over the edge of her basket at the soup miserably before sighing and resting her head against the edge of the basket, looking away from the mare that had brought her piping hot meal.

“You really should eat.” Twilight pushed.

“I shall eat it when it has cooled a little; starving I may be, but I still retain enough of my senses to know I don’t want to add burns to my already long list of ailments.” Chrysalis breathed.

Twilight hesitantly nodded before turning to leave.

“Miss Sparkle.”

Twilight hesitated, turning her head to the only other inhabitant of the room.

“Y-yes..?”

For a moment or two Chrysalis was silent, finding her nerves and courage.

“I’m… sorry.” She mumbled. “For Canterlot and your brother… And, well, everything else.”

Twilight sighed and turned back around, strolling over to the Changeling’s basket and sitting down to face the shivering former queen.

“That may be, but it will take more than just saying sorry for you to earn my forgiveness.” Twilight said firmly. “Your actions nearly ruined my relationship with my brother, almost killed my old foalsitter, crippled my mentor for days, and seriously damaged Canterlot. ‘Sorry’ just isn’t enough to make up for all that. It’s a nice start, but… it will take a lot more.”

Chrysalis sighed and nodded, curling back up in her basket as Twilight stood and went to leave.

“Don’t forget to eat, Chrysalis; you need your strength.”

The door swung almost shut, the darkness and fabric-heavy room drowning out the faint sound of Chrysalis’ sobs and making them inaudible to the retreating unicorn.

Twilight dawdled back out to the main showroom of the Carousel Boutique, bumping into a white wall of velvety fur that knocked her out of the thoughts that hounded at her mind. Was Chrysalis planning something? Could she simply be faking all of this in order to stab them in the back? She looked up at Celestia apologetically.

“I’m sorry, Princess.”

Celestia considered her. “It’s alright, I’m fine.” She said patiently. “Twilight… why are you out here?”

Twilight blinked in confusion. “Uh… I delivered her soup and wanted to get back?”

Celestia sighed. “Twilight, I expected you to remain there with her to help her.” She said calmly. “Surely you saw her when you brought her in, she can barely move her exhausted muscles and she cannot use magic; how exactly do you expect her to eat?”

Rarity’s voice called from behind the Princess. “Has anypony seen Opal? It’s time for her dinner. It’s quite unlike her to miss her meals…”

A pained shout from within the storage room drew their attention, and the three mares hurried into the room.

They found Chrysalis shivering beneath Opalescence, who moved to lap delicately at the food that had been left for the now frightened and cowering Changeling. Rarity grumbled and lifted the molly from her perch and out of reach of the food with her magic.

“Opalescence, how dare you! Leave Chrysalis alone; you have your own food!” She snapped at the ornery and prissy feline before dumping her outside the door and nudging her off with a hoof irritably. “Go on, shoo!”

Twilight sighed and sat next to the basket, using her magic to shift its contents and get a clearer look at the cowering former queen within. “Chrysalis, are you alright? She didn’t hurt you, did she?”

Chrysalis huffed as the blanket was pulled from her face, fresh new scratches across her right cheek indicating what the cat had done to ensure her compliance. It didn’t seem to have done much more than mar the sleek chitin, but it had evidently been enough to frighten her. Twilight sighed again and shifted the quivering Changeling in the basket with her magic, earning a cry of fright.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hurt you did I?”

Chrysalis shook her head. “N-no, I’m just not used to being marehandled…” She mumbled before giving a weak and humourless laugh. “Look at me. I was the ruler of an army of thousands; I fought Princess Celestia into submission in her own home… now I can’t even fend off a cat. I’m so pathetic.”

“I shouldn’t have left you alone; it totally slipped my mind that you can barely move, so I didn’t think that you might need help with your soup… I certainly didn’t think that Rarity’s cat would come in.”

“We’ll close the door whenever you’re alone in here or we bring in some food.” Rarity said. “I apologise for Opal’s behaviour, it is… most unlike her.”

“Animals dislike Changelings; it’s a well-documented fact amongst our kind.” Chrysalis sighed. “She was only doing what came naturally, taking food from something… beneath her. I was not even aware that a cat lived here, I’ll certainly have to keep in mind to avoid her in future.” She sighed and turned an eye to Twilight who lifted the soup spoon with her magic. “You don’t need to baby feed me, Miss Sparkle.”

“But you can’t…” Twilight went to protest.

“It is only soup.” Chrysalis sighed. “A straw will suffice.”

Twilight hesitated, giving her a nervous glance. “A-are you sure? I mean, it’s no hassle.”

“Please, Twilight;” Chrysalis began with a quivering voice, “I was once a queen. Though I may now be fallen, please let me keep at least a little of my dignity…” She looked up at Twilight, barely containing her tears.

“Please…”

Daybreak

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With a final quiet goodnight from Rarity, Chrysalis curled up into the basket she had been put within to sleep. She eyed the soft fabric she had been given to use as a blanket disinterestedly. Small stars and moons had been carefully stitched into it, and as the blanket she had been using when she was assaulted by Opalescence was, to quote Rarity ‘a dusty old rag’, Rarity had gone out of her way to painstakingly sew this one together and give it a quick running over with a dry-use fabric softening spray. The spray made the quilt smell faintly of roses and lilacs, and the floral scents were enticing to her nose.

Chrysalis was quite taken to it already.

Everything back at the Hive had been in a state of age. Everything smelled of years and use, even the Queen’s own property either consisted of heirlooms passed down for generations or something pilfered, often from pony dumps. Everything was either second hand or so old that it was a treasured piece of history. It was nice that, for the first time in her long and difficult life, she had something fresh and new to comfort her.

Once this thought struck her mind, though, it was immediately followed by harsh and relentless guilt. She was comfortable and warm, she was in possession of something new, while her Changelings slept on thick lichen and often went without even a scrap of cover, some of whom might not even see the dawn. What right did she have to be comfortable? What right did she have to this luxury while so many others went without?

They were thoughts that plagued her relentlessly and caused tears to run across her face and into the cushion beneath her. She had been deposed and rejected by them, but centuries of thinking only of their wellbeing had shaped her thoughts.

Slowly but surely she felt sleep creep up on her. She had slept the previous night out in the cold in a deteriorating state, and the unrelenting cold and weakness she had been in had caused her sleep to be dreamless. She wouldn’t have that luxury today, and she was almost looking forward to whatever her mind imagined for her.

*&*&*&*

She was walking the busy yet quiet cave halls of her ancestral home, Changelings all around her going about the business of ensuring the Hive was constantly well maintained and giving her gentle nods of respect as she passed them by. She watched a pair of foals scurried past on whatever errands their parents had sent them on, each one racing the other to their destination.

This… this was home.

She smiled as a young Changeling couple nervously stepped up to her, the mare of the pair holding a small bundle in her hooves. They looked up to her hopefully, and she gave them what she hoped was a caring smile. It was so hard to get that right with her long fangs; they tended to turn polite or gentle gestures into wicked and vicious grins.

Thankfully the couple were indeed appreciative of her smile, and the mare smiled happily in return. Something in the back of Chrysalis’ mind clicked, she knew this couple… Granted, she knew every Changeling under her rule like they were her own children, but…

This all seemed too familiar. A sense of déjà vu that clawed at her relentlessly until she finally actually realized what the feeling was; this meeting had happened not a month before the assault on the Golden City.

Ah yes, she remembered now.

“M-my queen,” the stallion began nervously, “w-we…”

She lifted a hoof to him. “Repli, I am aware of what you wish.” She said. “You wish for my blessing for your foal, as do every couple who bring me their newborn.”

“Y-yes…” Repli stammered. “P-please my queen; we have been searching for you for hours…”

She smiled down to him before turning her warm gaze on the bundle. This was common, something she had long since lost her distaste for; a new life in the Hive, while not entirely good for rations, was still something to be thankful for. She knelt down to the mare before her calmly and nuzzled the foal.

“Tell me,” she began as she carefully unravelled the quiet foal, “what have you named it?”

“S-she… she’s called…”

“Hmm, she’s called..?” Chrysalis probed as she nuzzled the blankets aside to reveal the filly within. As the last of the covering blankets moved, she felt a pain rush up within her.

“She’s called Thistle.”

The filly within the bundle, an exact duplicate for her sister, glared up at her with her horn aglow. Chrysalis panicked and leapt back before attempting to flee back through the Hive’s maze of tunnels. The Changelings all around her within the caves now glared and hissed at her spitefully, some lashing out to snap at her as she passed, or flinging dangerous spells at her. Each strike chipped away at her form, reducing her size and causing pain to flare through her.

A figure stepped out of the gloom before her and she skidded to a halt before Thistle, now fully grown. The mare glared at her sister before striking her down with a powerful and body-shattering bolt of magic that left Chrysalis huddled on the floor weakly wheezing for breath.

“Oh my poor sister, so frightened of me.” Thistle’s voice mocked. “How pitiful you’ve truly become, Chryssie, so feeble and small. Don’t worry Chrysalis; I won’t kill you.”

She grinned down at her sister, her face split in a smile to strike fear into sanity-loving beings worldwide. “Oh no, I won’t kill you.” She hissed. “But I’ll watch as they do.”

The Changelings all around her closed in, their fangs and sharp teeth drawing ever nearer to her.

She scrabbled to her hooves and fired a bolt of magic, striking down one of the veritable wall of Changelings only for two to take his place, closing in and backing her up to the nearest wall. She couldn’t fight them all, fight off the entire Hive!

“This will be your torture every night, dear sister.” Thistle hissed, earning a terrified stare from the filly-sized queen. “Oh yes, every night I’ll be here; waiting for you. The dreams will be such sweet suffering, unlike anything you’ve felt before. I hope you enjoyed your last nights of peaceful slumber, Chryssie. These nightmares are my eternal gift to you my dear sister.”

A changeling bit down on Chrysalis’ leg, his fangs piercing her chitin and flesh and causing her to shriek in pain. She wanted to wake up, to escape this hell within her sleep, to flee from her sister’s oppressive torture. The waking world never found her, instead her sister only grinned wider.

“Ah, ah, ah; trying to abandon your gift after only just having been given it? How thoughtless of you Chryssie. You shan’t be going anywhere but back to the hell I’ve created for you. During the day you can escape my grasp, but the night… is mine.”

The wall of Changelings lunged, closing in on Chrysalis. She screamed in terror and shielded herself behind her hooves for what little protection they would provide. She could feel the first of hundreds of fangs scrape her chitin…

A sound akin to thunder echoed through the halls, and a wave of power flowed past her.

The wall of Changelings was hurled back, their bodies slamming against the walls of the cave and falling still as a third figure flared her wings, standing between Thistle and her fearful sister. Chrysalis spared her a glance, eyeing the dark sapphire coat, swirling magical mane and pitch-black cutie mark bearing a crescent moon. Fury flowed from her form, palpable to the cowering and terrified Changeling, and her magic crackled in the air around her like electricity. Her voice boomed, echoing throughout the caverns and halls of the Hive.

“Wicked harlot; the Night belongs to US!”

She didn’t turn to glance back at Chrysalis, and instead she stormed over to where Thistle stood with her gaze boring deep into the eyes of the Changeling Queen before her. Her very attitude portrayed the sheer power and utter contempt for the ruby mare.

“You would conjure one of the Princesses to protect you? What foalish nonsense!” Thistle laughed. “Have you truly fallen this far already, Sister?” She moved to banish Luna’s form from the dream. “There is nopony who can save you from me here!”

The princess, however, had other ideas. She struck Thistle so hard and so fast that Thistle was sent sprawling across the cave where she landed in a heap. Grumbling she tried to rise only for Luna’s magical grasp to seize her and hold her down.

“Thou darest intrude on the dreams of our subjects? Thou darest attempt to lay harm upon her, and claim our nights as thine own? We see thee for what thou truly are, Changeling, We know well what magic thou befoul our presence with! Thy Dream Walking spell is vile and thou would use it as a method to torture one thou have already forsaken?!

“No, the night belongs to us, and dreams are our realm; thy magic is foul and leaves a disgusting mark, painting its vile path and showing us how it is used! It is but foal’s play to banish thou to the waking world and bar thou from the minds of Equestria’s citizens!”

A thunderclap shook the stone around them after a short shine of magic from Luna’s horn, and Thistle’s form blurred as if she were being dragged away by a great force. Luna glared down at her, moving her head to be nose to nose with the traitorous Queen.

“If we ever see thou within the dreaming world again, we will not be so forgiving. Thy sister is under our protection, and thy torments will not be tolerated. Consider this thy first and only warning!” She growled, before Thistle gave one last shout of outrage and was torn from the dream.

Chrysalis stared wide-eyed at where her sister had been. How… how had Princess Luna just shown up and so easily defended her..? What was she even doing here, invading her mind as if it was her duty?

The princess sighed and turned around, strolling over to where Chrysalis was huddled on the stone ground still shivering in fright.

“This... this is a cold and unforgiving place thou once called home, Chrysalis; we can certainly see why it produced such a hardy force as the Changelings.” She said calmly as she inspected the caves around her. “However, we are unsure about how… comforting it is, after thy recent banishment, though we imagine the presence of those thee once called family is comfort enough.”

Chrysalis’ mouth moved wordlessly for a moment or two, as if she were trying to find words she could use with this royal guest to her own mind. Eventually she decided that the direct approach would be best and she blurted out her question in an incredulous tone.

“What in Tartarus are you doing here?”

Princess Luna smiled slyly. “Saving thy ‘worthless hide’ as we believe ponies say.” She remarked. “Our sister warned that thou had returned to Equestria, and she informed us of thine… unique situation. That thine sister could be so cruel unto thee to invade thine dreams and cause this…”

“My sister and I have never seen eye to eye.” Chrysalis sighed.

“That is quite an understatement, Changeling.” Luna said patiently. “In any case, our sister was worried that something akin to this might happen with the coming of thy sister’s rise to power. Magic that allows one to enter dreams is… not exclusive to us, though we must admit she was somewhat inexperienced and tacky. She lacked subtlety, something which is gained through practice, patience, and experience. The best dreams are subtle, thou see. Had she not been as forward as she was with her attempt to break thy spirits and mind then our interruption may have been unnecessary, we could have subtly altered thy nightmare to give thee something more tolerable.

“Normally we would advise our subjects to stand tall and confront that which brings them their fears. However thy sister was controlling thy dreams, and no amount of courage would have changed the outcome. This may have been more beneficial to the both of us in the long run though; we now have time to become more acquainted, should thou desire the company.” Luna added with a cheerful smile.

Chrysalis sighed wearily. “Princess… I thank you for your offer, and there may come a day when I take you up on it; but for now I’d just like to be left alone to rest and think, to enjoy my rest. My sister will not give up so easily, and I do not doubt she will try another avenue to abuse me. I will need to be rested for whatever she decides to throw my way.”

Luna dipped her head faintly. “As thou wish, former Queen of the Changelings; I shall leave thee to thy peace.” She said quietly. “We hope that thy days are filled with more pleasant events than those which have transpired this eve. With one final gift from us we bid thee restful sleep, Queen Chrysalis.”

Princess Luna faded with the caves, a rolling meadow of gentle grass and flowers taking its place. The sun shone overhead brightly, filling the world around her with warmth, and a gentle breeze brought sweet scents to her nose. With a sigh and a smile, Chrysalis lay on her stomach and watched the peaceful meadow around her, enjoying a moment as a butterfly landed on her nose before flying off.

*&*&*&*

Chrysalis awoke the next day to an insistent and nagging presence that was nudging her side. Whatever it was it had been pestering her deep into her dream, and in her sleep she had seen it as a puppy begging for attention. She groaned in pain as the nudging pony poked one of her still broken ribs, rolling away from it to try and evade the burning pain. Her suffering voice and the way she shifted away from the poking earned a worried gasp from the intruder to her slumber.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hurt you did I?”

Chrysalis opened her eyes weakly before struggling to lift herself to a somewhat more presentable position and yawning wide. The pony in the room, a young unicorn filly with a clean light grey coat and twin coloured pink and purple mane and tail, giggled at her wide and unabashed yawn.

“Rarity would complain about how unladylike that was.” She joked to the barely awake Changeling, earning herself a curious glance.

“You’re… Sweetie Belle… right..?”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “That’s me!”

Chrysalis gave another yawn, still barely awake. “What’re you doing here? Am I being woken for something..?”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “I heard you crying out in your sleep, are you alright?”

Chrysalis sighed and nodded her head. “I am fine, Sweetie Belle. I was just having some bad dreams. You don’t need to worry yourself on my behalf.”

“Are you sure?”

“If it were something I was even willing to share, I don’t believe it would be fair to share it with you. I mean no offense Sweetie Belle but there are some things that I’m sure your sister would rather you not hear.”

Sweetie Belle looked apprehensive about that, unsure if she should push the former queen into confiding in her but eventually she relented and nodded. “So long as you’re alright...” She mumbled worriedly.

“I am fine, I assure you. Please don’t fuss over me.” Chrysalis breathed before shifting her weight to prepare to stand. “What time is it, do you know?”

Sweetie Belle tilted her head. “My bedside clock said it was about six in the morning.” She replied. “Oh, I should go get some breakfast! Would you like some?”

“While the notion of breakfast is delightful, I think I will take this opportunity to use the facilities.” Chrysalis replied.

This prompted a confused look from the filly. “Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Perhaps ‘bathroom’ is more familiar.” Chrysalis sighed.

Sweetie Belle smiled wide in realization. “Oh! Right, of course; do you know where it is?”

Chrysalis struggled to her feet to a cacophony of popping joints and stepped from the basket, her soul shrinking just a tiny amount when she realized she was actually shorter than this filly, even if only slightly. She also held a more sleek physique, though that was most likely due to her half-starved body.

“The only part of the entire building I know is this room, so I can’t say I do.”

Sweetie Belle dragged a hoof along the carpet, managing to make it leave a curved line. She then tapped her hoof at one point along the line.

“We’re here.” She said, before poking more dimples into the carpet. “That’s my room, Rarity’s room is here, and the bathroom is here; can you remember that?”

Chrysalis looked over the crudely drawn map before nodding. “Yes I do believe I can thank you.”

“No problem.” Sweetie Belle said, wiping the scuffs in the carpet away with her hoof before moving back into the hall. “Don’t forget to knock; if Rarity is in there she won’t like it if you just barge in.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Chrysalis mumbled to Sweetie Belle’s retreating tail. ‘I’ll also keep in mind to avoid that cat. What was it they called her..? Opalescence wasn’t it?’

She gave another wide yawn and attempted to stretch, managing to cause her body to protest in pain and make her give a quiet groan. Still, with her next destination in mind, she moved across the room and out into the hall.

Or, at least, she tried to. What she managed more or less was an attempt to shift her left foreleg to hold her weight and then, forgetting that it was pinned to her side with bandages, she fell over onto her face. She grumbled as she struggled back to her hooves and thought back to when she had last broken a leg.

What was it she had to do? One two hop?

This awkward method of locomotion saw her out the door and into the hall, where she promptly turned right and began her slow and painful progress to the bathroom. She passed the bedroom of Sweetie Belle, with her door left wide open to display the disarray within. Chrysalis suppressed a giggle at seeing the mess of Sweetie Belle’s room. Just like Changeling foals, it seemed that pony foals could manage to make a mess of their own room. Soon after that she passed the bedroom door of Rarity, a sign upon the handle saying ‘Keep Out’ most likely being used as a deterrent against her sister.

Finally she came to the bathroom, and she hoisted herself to her hind legs momentarily to knock. With no answer coming to her ears she hoisted herself back up for a second time and grabbed the doorknob, both using it to hold herself up and to open the door before stepping inside with the swinging open door.

*&*&*&*

She stepped back out of the still-clean bathroom and into the hall, bumping into Rarity on her way. The half-asleep mare didn’t seem to be totally aware of who she had just bumped into. There was a momentary confusion as she looked about for Sweetie Belle, but instead her eyes eventually fell on the Changeling barely standing in the hallway.

Chrysalis became faintly aware that instead of standing upright and still as she had thought, she was actually swaying as each leg struggled to keep her weight and avoid crumpling from the strain. She supposed that it was due to her weakened body and sore muscles.

“Chrysalis, what are you doing out of bed..?” She asked blearily. “Your wounds won’t have healed by now!”

“I was using the bathroom.” Chrysalis said while lowering her head faintly and letting her ears droop.

“I insist you return to your room! Oh, Fluttershy will be so upset if she finds out I let you wander my boutique already!” Rarity said, holding a hoof to her forehead overdramatically.

“Alright, alright, I’m going.” Chrysalis grumbled irritably. “Don’t get your tail in a kno- eep!”

She yelped as she was lifted in the same pale blue aura of magic that had first lifted her from her hiding place the day before, and she flailed fruitlessly for purchase in her panic. Twice in as many days she was being tugged about by the magic of another.

“Hey p-put me down,” she protested fearfully, “Oh please put me down!”

“Stop struggling, you’ll only hurt yourself.” Rarity scolded as she strode to the storeroom with Chrysalis held in front of her in her magic.

“Stop marehandling me and I’ll consider it!” She snapped in retort. “I’m not a little filly!”

Rarity placed Chrysalis back in her basket and gave her a curious glance. “Really now, well you certainly look the part.”

“Queen Changelings don’t age beyond this until we become the ruler.” Chrysalis grumbled. “At which point the collective adoration and respect from the Hive cause us to grow into a more adult form. The more love energy we absorb the more powerful and elder we become, to a point of course; it doesn’t do a queen much good to absorb immense power only to die before using it.”

Rarity nodded sleepily.

“I guess that makes sense.” She mumbled. “Well, if you’ll excuse me I need to go and tidy up a bit before breakfast; I’ll have Sweetie Belle bring you something, alright?”

Chrysalis sighed. “Yes Miss Rarity.” She grumbled.

Rarity chuckled. “Though your politeness is refreshing, please drop the ‘miss’.” She insisted, waving a hoof.

Chrysalis nodded and shifted in her basket to get more comfortable before resting her head against the rim as she stared at, well, nothing in particular disinterestedly. With Rarity gone, there wasn’t exactly a lot to look at.

So; today would be a long day of doing… what, exactly? She was still too weak to do whatever it would be that Rarity would have her doing, and it wasn’t like there were a lot of things to do within this room. She briefly considered counting the stars and moons on her blanket but swiftly chose not to, that way lay madness.

She was already at rock bottom; digging would not be in any way helpful.

Rarity had closed the door to the storeroom, and with no windows she was bathed in a grim and cool darkness. The room being full of fabric didn’t aid in the room’s lighting with each inch of fabric sucking up the faint light from beneath the door like a sponge. She imagined that there would be a light source in the room of some sort, how else would Rarity find her way around and locate whatever materials she needed?

Her curiosity was answered when the door was opened again, and Sweetie Belle walked in with a bowl of breakfast. She moved a hoof over a white switch on the wall, which turned on some form of lighting… thing on the roof. After sitting in the dark for a few minutes, and being of a naturally subterranean race, Chrysalis’ eyes voiced their dislike of this by causing her a rather substantial amount of pain.

“That’s bright.” She complained, shielding her eyes from the blaring light. Sweetie Belle considered it.

“Not really; the sun isn’t fully up yet, and that’s way brighter.” She cheerfully stated.

Chrysalis sighed. “Yes, I suppose it is.” She said, relenting to letting the filly be as hopelessly cheerful as she wished for the morning. “What have you got there? It smells delightful.”

Sweetie Belle’s smile didn’t wane even a fraction as she happily moved over and lowered the bowl where Chrysalis could get to it.

“I cooked up some porridge for everypony.” She happily said.

Chrysalis eyed the bowl’s creamy white contents sceptically. It did smell wonderful; each inward breath the scents of her food played across her senses and enticed her to try it. Still, there were some bits she was unsure of.

“What’s this on the top..?”

Sweetie Belle smiled warmly at her question. “Bananas and honey to give it more flavour.” She informed happily, before noticing Chrysalis’ shocked and wide eyes. “Is something wrong..?”

Bananas… well, she’d heard about them, but never actually seen one as they were a tropical fruit and according to scouts they did not have a very long shelf-life. Honey, however, was something else. She knew well what honey was, and it was amongst the most reserved of delicacies in the Hive.

“I’ve not had honeybee honey in years…” Chrysalis breathed. “We could never get it ourselves as bees are amongst the more intelligent of insects and don’t like us…”

“Why not just buy it and bring it home?”

“In order to buy food, one must have Bits.” Chrysalis reminded calmly. “We, as a society, had none. It was a rare event when a Changeling would manage to steal a jar or two, and even then it did not last long once returning home.” She sniffed at the bowl eagerly for a moment, enjoying the smells that danced across her nose. “Honey is to us what Crystal Rose Champagne is to ponies.”

“Well that’s a vintage I hadn’t heard of in some time.” Rarity’s voice called from the hall. “I heard that they only make one hundred bottles a year and that they are luxuriously exclusive.”

“I had some, once.” Chrysalis said faintly, trying to remember the drink. “It was sweet and airy, with a crisp aftertaste, but of all of its values I’d have thought that its smell was its most wonderful quality. It smelled like the sun feels, warm and comforting. A powerful rose scent that warmed its imbiber long before ever tasting it…

“Ah, what I’d give for but another chance to smell that champagne.” She said wistfully, before sighing and looking down at her porridge sadly. “Though I guess it will never happen. I thank you for the honey, but I don’t think it’d be well spent on me.”

“You talk as if it’s something rare and valuable.” Rarity commented. “We have several jars of the stuff, it’s actually rather cheap.”

Chrysalis chuckled. “You need to remember, Rarity that the Hive is deep within the most desolate land on Equestria. All food is valued highly there, provided it’s still edible when it arrives. Honey doesn’t spoil unless it is exposed to extremes, and it can be eaten on its own should you be desperate enough. I believe I had a jar of Firebee honey in my room upon the windowsill, my sole guilty pleasure; I can only hope that it was destroyed when I was thrown through the window.”

“Why would that be?”

Chrysalis gave a heartless cackle. “If you might recall, unlike you I don’t get along with my sister.”

*&*&*&*

And so her day began with the removal of her empty breakfast bowl. She’d eaten it gratefully and had been particularly taken with the taste of the banana slices. Of course, once the door to her current abode was closed she had become very bored, and she had rested her head against the lip of her basket while she thought.

A clock on a nearby spare bench was still functioning though she was not sure how accurate it was, and it wasn’t until it read eleven thirty that Fluttershy had arrived.

True to her name, the yellow Pegasus was reserved in almost every way. Still, when it came to caring for non-pony creatures she was supposedly the best in town should it not involve surgery, and even then she was apparently knowledgeable enough to keep a patient stable long enough for a surgeon to arrive.

She had fussed over each and every injury that the filly-sized Changeling had, worriedly inspecting every cut, scrape or bruise for signs of healing, possible infections, new damage…

Her wings had received the most scrutiny, and the Pegasus had called them ‘lovely’ even if they were shredded to near uselessness. She had poked and prodded, inspecting where they were torn and applying some gentle massaging to their joints to improve her circulation and hopefully speed up her healing, though Chrysalis had asked her to not do more than she was comfortable doing. Massaging her wing joints seemed like something of a more physical nature than she was sure Fluttershy would have provided, but the yellow mare only gave a small squeak of fright and an affirmative nod before continuing to massage the ex-monarch anyway.

Yes, even though her wings were so horridly mangled she would know flight again. Being a queen had its perks; her wings would naturally heal over time unlike a drone’s. Their wings would never recover from such severe damage. After the Canterlot Invasion, many drones had been made flightless and their duties were lightened as a result. A snap in the support, while debilitating, was not enough to ruin a wing and could be healed over time.

After allowing Chrysalis to place her wings safely back within their protective shell, Fluttershy moved to the door and reached for the knob.

“You didn’t inspect my horn.” Chrysalis mumbled softly. She had discovered during the last half hour of being with this mare that harsh tones and sudden words would startle her, and she was only stating a fact that she found strange since she had been so meticulous with almost every other injury on her person.

“Oh, I’m sorry…” Fluttershy mumbled in return. “I don’t know much about treating damaged horns, but I’m just going to quickly go and get somepony who might, okay?”

Chrysalis nodded. “Of course, thank you Miss Fluttershy.”

The Pegasus smiled and left the room, which left Chrysalis alone in her basket eyeing the walls drearily. She wasn’t alone for long before a low rumbling sound caught her attention, and a fine detail she had been overlooking finally clicked in her head. She quickly ducked into her basket and tugged her blanket clear over her head to conceal her entire body.

Fluttershy had left the door open.

*&*&*&*

Fluttershy returned to the room twenty minutes later with a faint smile, though her smile quickly evaporated when she saw Chrysalis’ basket upended with Opalescence sitting atop it and giving it angry swats with a paw.

“What..?”

“Before you continue to question the sense of this situation, would you kindly rescue me from this vicious thing please?” Chrysalis’s muffled and frightened voice called from beneath the wicker.

Fluttershy sighed and stepped over, moving to tug the cat from her perch only to retract her hoof when she was nearly clawed. She’d never seen Opalescence act like this before, though she hadn’t ever seen how she would react to Changelings before either.

“Um, Opal, could you please stop that?”

The cat considered her before huffing and deciding that ignoring her would be the best course of action, and Fluttershy’s pleading voice became background noise to the drumming of her paw against the basket.

Fluttershy sighed. “Oh, Rarity is not going to be happy, but…” She mumbled sadly before she looked up at Opal. “Opal, sweetie..?”

Had the cat remained ignorant of Fluttershy, she may have been spared the torment of looking up into the mare’s furious Stare. Only two words left Fluttershy’s mouth, though even with her naturally soft voice they shook the feline to her core.

“Get out.”

The cat fell over herself in her attempts to comply, and she ran headlong into the doorframe before shaking her head and correcting her course out the door. Even if she had tried, disobeying a Stare was something that Fluttershy had seen almost destroying stronger willed animals. She sighed and gently righted the basket before helping Chrysalis to untangle herself from her blanket and cushion.

“Thank you, Miss Fluttershy.” She mumbled.

“She didn’t scratch you again, did she?”

Chrysalis shook her head. “Not this time, thankfully. I heard her coming and hid under the blanket. When she tried to pull it off me I used my weight to roll the basket over. I’ve been under there since just after you left.”

“I’m sorry…”

“It is fine, Miss Fluttershy; I could hardly blame you for the cat’s dislike of me.” Chrysalis said softly. She gently reached out from the basket and brushed Fluttershy’s mane aside, dashing her attempts to hide behind it. “You are not at fault for her acting on her instincts, nor would I blame you if you were.”

Fluttershy nodded with a sigh. “Rarity is not going to be pleased when she finds out I used the Stare on Opalescence.” She huffed.

“How will she know you did it at all?”

“She’ll have to spend an hour getting Opal to come down from a bookshelf.” Fluttershy replied meekly.

Chrysalis gave a short giggle. “Well, that’s a whole hour she’ll be spending not abusing me.” She said.

Fluttershy giggled herself before looking behind herself. “Well, I was heading to Ponyville’s hospital to find a doctor to look at your horn when I ran into Twilight.”

The named mare dawdled in the door with an apologetic look on her face. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting; I needed to use the little filly’s room.”

Chrysalis gave Twilight an incredulous look before she gave a softer look to Fluttershy. “How will Miss Sparkle help..?”

“Well, Twilight is Princess Celestia’s protégée, and she knows more about magic and unicorn horns than almost anyone…” Fluttershy offered.

Chrysalis sighed and nodded. “Of course she does.” She mumbled, though not angrily. “When you went out to find someone with greater knowledge about horns than yourself, I have to admit I didn’t think you’d find an expert.” She teased with a cheeky smile. “It’s like going out to find someone to bake you a cake and coming home with a royal chef.”

Fluttershy giggled a truly wondrous sound that Chrysalis felt that she could listen to for a long time without growing tired of it. “I suppose so.”

Twilight moved into the room and stood beside Fluttershy, looking down at the Changeling with a look of deep curiosity. She sat down and leaned in close to eye her ruined horn with such an intense scrutiny that Chrysalis felt as if she was trying to see if she could bore holes into it with her gaze alone. An odd feeling engulfed her horn as Twilight’s own lit up.

“Can you feel this?” Twilight asked.

“Yes.” Chrysalis replied swiftly. “What are you doing?”

The feeling around her horn shifted and seemed to burrow deep inside, right to the core of the mangled appendage. “And can you feel this?”

Chrysalis nodded, how could she not be able to feel this? It was weird; like somepony had stuck a stick into her horn and was twiddling it about.

“Well, the nerve is still good, just severed.” Twilight mumbled. “How did you say this happened?”

“My sister snapped it when I retaliated to her relentless belittling.” Chrysalis admitted.

“Snapped your horn off?” Twilight pressed, eyeing the wound sceptically. “You’re lucky she didn’t pull the nerve right out; you’d be unable to use magic altogether in that case.”

“She’ll be alright, won’t she Twilight?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.

Twilight spared her a glance before inspecting the snapped horn one last time and sitting back. “She should be.” She said uncertainly. “I admit I don’t know much about Changeling physiology, let alone Changeling Queen physiology, but if your horn is mostly the same as a unicorn’s and it should heal over and start to grow back a little within a month or so. Your abilities with magic will just gradually come back in due time as well, though using your magic regularly will aid it along. I would suggest you be careful in using your magic though, given how much of your horn is missing your magic will be unpredictable and difficult to control. Perhaps practicing in a room with little to nothing flammable within would be best.

“Right now, however, I think we should discuss what is going to be happening today.” Twilight said, steering the conversation. “Every week Fluttershy and Rarity go to the spa in town to relax and wind down…”

“If you intend for me to accompany them, I regret to inform you that your intention will be fruitless.” Chrysalis huffed.

“But you need to clean up, and surely you can do with something to ease your nerves after everything that has happened.” Fluttershy pushed.

“Then I will use the bath in the bathroom.” Chrysalis affirmed with a huff. “Element of generosity or not, she does not need to put herself out like that for me.” She curled up in her basket before continuing. “I’m not worth wasting the money on, and I’d rather have some time alone. Besides, it would not be good for me to be seen in Ponyville by the public. Ponies would panic if they saw a Changeling wandering the streets.” She shuddered faintly, imagining the rioting ponies of Ponyville and what they could do to her if they managed to catch her which, given her current physical state, would be all too easy.

Fluttershy and Twilight gave one another nervous glances for a few moments. “Well, if you say so Chrysalis.” Twilight finally mumbled. “We’ll let Rarity know, you just get some rest for now.”

“If you’re going to have a bath, I’ll wrap your injuries when we return.” Fluttershy said sweetly. “Um, if you want me to that is…”

“I suppose they can’t be left to become infected.” Chrysalis agreed before giving Fluttershy a polite nod. “You need not be so shy; I would welcome your aid any day, Miss Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy gave a happy smile and tilted her head cutely, and even Twilight Sparkle’s untrained eye could see how warmly she’d taken the honest gesture from Chrysalis. It struck Twilight for the first time how very much of her Pegasus friend’s introverted nature had been whittled away over the time she’d known her, and she found herself smiling too.

“Well, I’ve got to go make sure that Spike’s progressing with reorganizing the library.” Twilight said as she rose back to her hooves. “I only left to get a few quills and some ink, but I think he’ll be a little worried that I’ve taken so long. I’ll see you again soon Chrysalis, I’m sure.”

“Of course, Miss Sparkle; thank you for your time.” Crysalis said calmly. “I would request you say hello to this ‘Spike’ of yours in my stead, but I hardly think he would be thrilled to be getting greetings from me.”

Twilight gave a faint chuckle before nodding and stepping out of the room. Fluttershy watched her go before giving Chrysalis a warm gaze.

“I need to quickly go make sure my animals are alright before I meet Rarity at the spa, is there anything I can get you before I leave?”

Chrysalis looked about the room idly, inspecting the seemingly forgotten stores of fabrics and threads and her eyes caught on a shelf of large balls of wool.

“I-if it’s not too much trouble, do you know if Rarity keeps knitting needles somewhere..? It’s quite cold outside and…” She gestured her eyes to the black and emerald balls of wool. “I… I would like to prepare for my eventual venture outside. Doing so without something to hold my body heat would most likely send me back into hypothermic shock.”

Fluttershy’s face of utter surprise did not go missed by the weakened Changeling, and she smiled wryly. “Oh? Did you not think I knew how to knit?” Chrysalis asked calmly. “I have lived for well over fifteen hundred years. You sort of… pick up skills to keep your mind from observing the mortality of those you consider your closest friends and family. It has aided me from descending into madness many times.”

“But the wedding..?”

Chrysalis sighed, having expected this question to arise. “We Queens… do not take to power well.” She said distantly. “Love fuels our magic and boons our powers, and the purer the love the more power we gain. Do you understand so far?”

Fluttershy nodded.

“When a Queen gains power in large enough a quantity, our mind slips. Power becomes all we think of, power and whatever we might be focusing on at the time. When I was first granted my status as the Hive Queen, I thought only of aiding my Changelings and, well, it didn’t go well. My mother aided me and brought me back to sanity, but at the wedding there was no elder to guide me. In the thirst for power, my mind turned to war and we both know how that turned out.

“No, it is… a different kind of madness.” Chrysalis breathed. “Power corrupts even immortals, and absolute power... well I’m sure you know the saying.”

Fluttershy nodded politely and moved over to the shelves, retrieving the large balls of wool and depositing them within Chrysalis’ reach before rooting around in a nearby cupboard and retrieving two long knitting needles which she also left within reach of the Changeling.

“Thank you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy nodded with a smile before slipping from the room leaving Chrysalis to herself. She sighed wistfully before looking down at the wool and knitting needles and letting her magic extend to lift them. The flex of magical power stung at first when it reached the new end of her horn, but she did retain enough strength to lift and move the needles. Experimentally she reached out to also lift the wool, and she managed to string it up along one needle to begin her stitching.

With a gentle carefulness she started to move the needles in tandem, and soon the soft clicking of the needles filled the room.

*&*&*&*

An hour later and Chrysalis was alone in the boutique, and she had long since paused her knitting in favour of relaxing in the bath. She had filled it only a few inches, deep enough for her to be able to clean but shallow enough for her to relax, and relax she did. After she had cleaned the dried blood, dirt and mud from her body she had drained and refilled the bath and added a little of the bath salts that Rarity had said she was free to use provided she use them sparingly, and now she was laying on her back with her hind legs stretched in the water and her forelegs suspended over her chest.

She heaved a heavy and relaxed breath. The warm water was so very relaxing; it was something that she hadn’t enjoyed since the failed invasion. Hot water was such a rare occurrence at the Hive, let alone pure water, and she had missed it greatly. Back at the Hive she had to make do with freezing water to clean herself, and even then she had no time to enjoy any of the time she spent with the precious resource.

With her ears beneath the water muffling the world around her into dull thuds as the building shifted faintly in the cold, and her eyes closed to enjoy the warmth of the water and allow her mind to roam freely she didn’t notice when somepony entered the bathroom and stood next to the bath. When she finally did notice the arrival of another, her eyes snapped open and she lifted her head in surprise.

She didn’t know this pony.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?”

The male unicorn who stood over her bore the usual white coat and blonde hair of royal guards, possibly owing to the armour that he wore. It looked unlike any armour that Chrysalis had seen before and she assumed that he was a member of an off branch of the Royal Guard, as it did still feature the blue stars that were a staple of the usual armour. His glare bore down through her as if she were some offending cockroach.

“My name is Cluey. I am Her Majesty Princess Celestia’s official representative known best for my investigative and interrogative abilities.”

“Does Rarity know you are here? I don’t imagine she would be very accepting of a stallion so brash as to walk in on a bathing mare.”

“Miss Rarity allowed me into the building and told me where I might find you.” He replied brashly. “Get up; you are coming with me to answer some questions.”

“Can it not wait? I- eep!”

She struggled as he lifted her from the bath with his magic and promptly turned to the door, levitating her out and into the hallway. Being held in his magic was not like when Rarity had lifted her, he was rough and held her tightly while Rarity had held her carefully and gently as if she were carrying something rare and delicate.

He carried her into the room in which her basket was waiting and dumped her, unceremoniously, onto the floor before closing the door with a thud. He sat down, though his figure was still tall and imposing to her as she struggled to get back to her hooves while sparing her still broken left foreleg.

“Now, you will answer my questions.” He said sharply before his horn flashed and a spell wrapped itself around her throat. “And do not try to lie. This spell is made to detect and react to them.

“Now we shall begin.”

*&*&*&*

Rarity strolled into the hall, trying to find that rather rude stallion she had let in. He’d shown her his orders from Princess Celestia herself and told him where he could most likely find Chrysalis. She had expected him to return with her to the kitchen, where she had already set up the table for his questioning. When he didn’t return, she had gotten worried and begun her search.

She moved down to the bathroom and slipped inside, finding that the bath was still full of water and that neither of them was present. She pulled the plug and drained the tub before looking about. She found the towel that she had left for Chrysalis untouched and folded on the stool beside the bath, and a thick trail of water that led back to the door.

With a frown she followed the trail out into the hall where a line of wet carpet showed her quite well where Chrysalis had gone. Or, rather, where she had been taken. She knew for a fact that anypony who was wet enough to leave that distinct a path of water would have left hoofprints, but there were none to be seen. With a flick of her magic she lifted the towel she had left for Chrysalis and followed the water.

She was not surprised that it led to the spare storage room, and she almost gave the door a curt knock before her hearing caught on part of the conversation within.

“You will answer my questions!”

“I don’t have to say anything until one of the Elements of Harmony is in the room with me, and I won’t.” This was Chrysalis’ voice, and her defiant words were followed by a strangled and startled yelp of pain.

“I am no fool, Changeling; I will not give you any quarter simply because you appear to be a filly. You will answer my questions!”

Rarity grumbled and swung the door open to find the stallion looking back at her startled by the interruption and Chrysalis with magic wrapped around her throat and water still running from her form. Without pause she stepped into the room and over to Chrysalis, wrapping her in the towel she held and giving the stallion an angered glare.

“I may not be an interrogator, but I do know that this is not permitted.” She hissed. Her magic flared along her horn and the spell that was wrapped around Chrysalis’ neck dissipated. She was thankful that Twilight had taught her that spell, as it had cancelled any magic cast within the room.

With the spell now gone, Chrysalis took a few sharp, ragged breaths and struggled to lean into Rarity thankfully. The spell had strangled her utterly at her defiance and she was truly thankful that the mare had come to her rescue.

“Why are you interrupting my interrogation? I insist that you leave immediately!”

“No! I insist that you leave!” Rarity snapped. “You have quite overstepped your welcome!”

“I am under orders from Her Majesty Princess Celestia herself-”

“I couldn’t care less about your orders right now. I will not have you abuse my guest under my roof, and you are certainly not welcome if you wish to continue to assault a filly. You will get out or I’ll have to throw you out!”

The stallion bared his teeth and growled in frustration. “Fine, I will be back.” He snarled, before pointing to Chrysalis. “Do not go anywhere, Changeling!”

The stallion turned on his hoof and stormed out; his armour clinking loudly as he angrily left the building and slammed the front door. Rarity gave one final angry huff in the direction he had left before turning back to Chrysalis and using her magic to dry her with the towel.

“I’m sorry, Chrysalis; I was under the impression that he would bring you to the kitchen.”

“It is fine, Rarity; I also did not expect a Captain of the Royal Guard to be so…”

“Rude?” Rarity offered.

“I was going to go with ‘violent’.” Chrysalis returned. “How are you going to handle his return? No offense, but I don’t think you can stand up against him…”

“Don’t worry, darling; I’ve an ace up my sleeve too.” Rarity said calmly. “Just stay here and stay calm, alright? I’ll be back soon.”

Chrysalis struggled out from under the towel and looked up at Rarity as she left. “Where’re you going?”

Rarity gave a smile. “To mail a letter.”

*&*&*&*

Cluey returned nearly two hours later, knocking on the boutique door sharply and glaring at Rarity as she opened it. She only smiled at him cheerfully and welcomed him and his company in, the two stallions stepping into the building and following her as she led them to where Chrysalis was currently being ‘held’.

The mare and stallions stepped into the storage room with Rarity at the back of the group, having held the door open. Sure enough here Chrysalis was, knitting away calmly. She’d finished nearly a foot of the scarf she was knitting, and she had knitted a green heart broken in two into the section she had completed. She didn’t even seem aware that they had arrived until her eyes flicked to them and her steady rhythm dropped a stitch. She grumbled at her inattentiveness and carefully rescued the stitch before securing her yarn and lowering it to the ground.

She sighed inwardly at the company that Cluey had brought along, though she figured that it was almost inevitable that this stallion would show up eventually. The second unicorn glared down at her more hatefully than Cluey did, and with good reason; it was his marriage she had almost ruined after all.

“Calling in your superiors are we?” She asked calmly.

“Be silent until spoken to, witch.” Shining Armour snapped.

“You are excused, Miss Rarity.” Cluey said sternly.

With an almost too cheerful tone to her voice, she smiled and replied. “Of course, do come and get me should you need anything.”

She slid from the room and strode away, leaving the door wide open only for Cluey’s magic to flick and close it curtly. He stood tall above Chrysalis who still lay in her basket and only looked back at his stern and angry face calmly as he bore down on her.

“Now, we have some questions for you.” He announced, before his horn flickered and the familiar feeling of his magic returned to her throat. A voice spoke from behind the stallions, startling them.

“I wouldn’t do that.”

They turned about in shock to find Twilight Sparkle having been standing behind the door, a scroll of paper tucked behind one ear pertly. She stood confidently before her brother and his comrade, and didn’t show even a flicker of nervousness at their stern attention.

“Twily..?”

“By order of Princess Celestia I am here to assist the ex-Queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis, during this interrogation.” She said firmly. “And all of the Elements of Harmony are permitted to stand in my place should I be unavailable during these times.” She nodded to Cluey boldly. “A report to the Princess has been sent about your conduct the last time you were here, Cluey, and a list of topics which may be questioned to Chrysalis has been compiled.” Her magic shifted the scroll from her ear over to him. He looked down at it irritably until he noticed the seal adorning it.

Celestia’s royal seal reflected the light from the overhead bulb right into his face.

“Twilight, what’s going on..?”

She sighed to her brother. “The last time Cluey was in this room he assaulted Chrysalis with his magic, strangling her. This is unacceptable, especially towards a refugee who has been granted asylum.”

Shining Armour turned his attention back onto Chrysalis. “Take your control spells off of her this instant!”

“Shining look at her horn. With it as damaged as it is she can barely use levitation; how do you think she could possibly cast any form of controlling magic?” Twilight said firmly. “You know as well as I do that a damaged horn makes spell casting all but impossible.”

His confused and angry face turned back on his sister. “Why are you helping this… monster? Think of what she did to us, to Cadance! Think about what she did to Canterlot!”

Twilight sighed faintly. “I have thought about it. Every time I look at her I remember it. But I also see what she has become because of it, and I’ve seen what has happened to her as punishment from her own kind. Look at her, Shining. Could that be dangerous?”

“Appearances can be deceiving.” Shining grumbled.

“Shining, when we first found her she…” Twilight trailed off worriedly, giving Chrysalis a glance that she caught and sighed to.

“When your sister and her friends first found me, I told them to let me die in the cold.” She said. “And, all things concerned, it was probably the better option. Instead they let me live and in return for their kindness I am offering my knowledge on my kind. What you choose to do with this knowledge is your own business.”

“Even if we use it to create countermeasures against-”

“Why else would I be offering my knowledge?” Chrysalis asked rhetorically. “I was deposed and exiled by my own Hive, my own sister. I care little for their sake. However, even during my rule there have been changelings who chose to abandon the Hive and join Equestria’s society to live amongst ponies; for them I only askthat you be cautious with any approach you take as they will be trying their hardest to do no harm.”

“Wait, go back a step.” Cluey voiced, waving a hoof. “What’s this about a ‘sister’?”

“Thistle is my younger sister.” Chrysalis said calmly. “She is currently the Queen of the Changelings. Personally I would consider her to be extremely dangerous, but how you classify her is your business.” She gave Twilight a bored look. “I would have figured that Princess Celestia would have brought them up to speed.”

“Until an hour ago, I didn’t even know you were still alive, so do excuse me for not knowing.” Shining Armour hissed. “And do forgive me if I don’t believe you when you say you don’t care about the Changelings.”

Chrysalis sighed and held a hoof over her heart. “A part of me still yearns for them, still cares for their plights. I was their queen for hundreds of years, since before the Blight that struck the Bad Lands. It is impossible to consider that I would not have developed an inbuilt care for them after all that time. A queen’s power comes from the respect of the Hive, and I was brought up to consider the Hive first and I last. I would wander the halls of the Hive and hear out concerns or give my blessing to couples with foal. I took up a mate and had a family of my own for almost two centuries.

“I loved my Hive as much as I’m sure that Princess Celestia loves her ponies, if not more so. Imagine if you would what would happen if you were all simply decided that she was not what you wanted in a ruler and cast her out. Imagine what that would do to her morale and self-esteem, to her love for her little ponies. After one disastrous mistake I have lost everything I held dear simply because they didn’t want me anymore. Because I’m not allowed to make mistakes, because I’m supposed to be perfect; not that I painted myself in that picture, but because my Changelings held me in such regard.

“Yes, I still love them.” Chrysalis admitted sadly. “But my love has been betrayed, and I hurt in ways I have not hurt since before the invasion. I lost the last of my grandfoals, the hopes of my Changelings, and then the love of everypony I held above all else within the last few months. I just… I can’t fight anymore. I don’t want to fight anymore. After fifteen hundred years I’ve had enough; I’m too tired of it all. The constant cycle of life and death becomes background noise after a few centuries, but the loneliness is overwhelming. I’m used to not feeling loss, but even I cannot tune out what I feel and I can’t be bothered trying.” She sighed sadly and curled up in her basket. “If I cannot go on with those I care for, I can at least make sure they are remembered; if that means that I have to tell you every secret about us, so be it. At least that way we leave a legacy. At least that way we’re remembered.”

The ponies only watched her as she curled up tighter and she tried in vain to fight back tears. Twilight pushed past her brother and lay down next to the basket, facing the stallions and mentally noting that they at least had some courtesy to look sympathetic.

“My own sister has sworn to plague my dreams with nothing but horrors every night, even after having been almost murdered by her own hooves. Tell me, Shining Armour; tell me what I have left to live for, because I truly don’t know anymore.”

A pregnant and awkward silence filled the room broken up only by Chrysalis’ sobs as she attempted to recover what she had left of her emotions. She felt defenceless, as if every aspect of her heart had been lay out for the world to see, and she could only imagine how or what the stallions would do with such an opportunity.

Cluey cleared his throat.

“You are a skilled actress, Changeling; you almost had me going for a moment.”

Chrysalis’ sobs stopped abruptly at this harsh line, and she felt the prior feeling of openness retreated back into her chest where it caged itself up in rage and cold hatred. With a snarl she lifted her head, what remained of her horn aglow as she glared at the wall before her.

Twilight flinched at the rise of magic in the air, and she gave her brother a look that spoke more than she could convey in words at that moment. ‘Kitchen; now!’

“This interview is over.” Chrysalis snarled, fury rolling from her throat and changing the very feel of the air around them. “Get out.”

Cluey’s jaw lowered to protest when Shining Armour’s magic grabbed his horn and his hoof slapped his mouth shut. In one swift move the door opened and shining dragged him out into the hall, closing the door behind them.

Quick as a flash Twilight reached into her saddlebags with her magic and retrieved a small round object which she held out to Chrysalis. With the way that magic was pulsing around the changeling’s horn, she was worried that she would overextend herself which would only result in a disastrous discharge.

“It’s designed for unicorns to vent magic onto.” She said. “Please, Chrysalis, before you hurt yourself.”

Chrysalis snarled angrily as she vented her frustrations onto the spherical object, her magic seemingly being absorbed by it as she raged into it. It took a few minutes for her to finally calm down, and by then the sphere had actually begun to warm up a little.

With a final calming breath she finished venting and she heaved a heavy sigh before resting her head on the basket’s edge. Twilight retracted the sphere and placed it into a box only just large enough for it to fit before depositing it back into her saddlebags. She sighed down to Chrysalis and moved her quilted blanket to mostly cover her.

“Get some rest, Chrysalis; you need it.”

She nodded faintly at her words before lifting her head slightly.

“Thank you, Miss Sparkle.” She said quietly.

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Of course, Chrysalis; I’ll just go talk with my brother and Cluey and send Fluttershy up to treat your wounds.” She moved across to the door and stepped into the hall, tilting her head back one last time. “Try and get some rest.”

The door closed with a click as Twilight headed down to the kitchen, leaving Chrysalis to herself and her thoughts.

Storytime

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Twilight grumbled as she entered the sparkling clean white kitchen of the Carousel Boutique. Her brother and his subordinate were here already, the latter being held in place by the former’s magic quite tightly. Rarity fussed behind the kitchen counter making tea and shot Twilight a cheeky smile. Everything had gone according to plan. Well, everything except Cluey being as monstrously impertinent as he had just been.

After telling Fluttershy she could go upstairs and assist Chrysalis she stepped over to the table and sat opposite her brother, her eyes boring holes into his otherwise calm visage and making him start to nervously lose his cool.

“That could have gone a lot better.” She huffed. “Not that I didn’t expect your behavior, Shiny, but more that I really didn’t think that he” she nodded angrily to Cluey, “would be so crass. I’m sorry if it managed to slip by you, but she happens to be emotionally unst-”

“Miss Sparkle, you clearly do not understand how acting works for these creatures.” Cluey announced. “Chrysalis wants us to sympathize with her so that we let down our guard, which would make it easier for her to feed. Honestly, you act as if she-”

Twilight snorted irritably at him. “Don’t finish that sentence, Cluey.” She hissed. “If you still question the validity of her story, you can just go ask Applejack.”

“Who would that be, and why would her opinion matter?”

Shining sighed. “Cluey, did you read the dossier about the Elements of Harmony I sent out to all commanding officers?” He asked sternly, Cluey shaking his head in response. “You idiot, there’s a reason I sent that out. Applejack is the Element of Honesty. She can tell when someone is lying to them if she really doubts them.”

“That seems… implausible.” Cluey argued.

“Chrysalis told all of us her story when she came to last night.” Twilight informed. “Celestia was in attendance, as was Applejack. We asked her afterwards if she’d heard any lies from Chrysalis and she said no. If you want to doubt the validity of the Element of Honesty you can go ask her.”

Cluey opened his mouth to protest but his voice stopped when he saw the look that Shining shot his way, a look that threatened not only punishment but a substantially reduced rank, possibly even to a rank which would have him scrubbing the barrack toilets forevermore.

“If anything should be done right now, I believe that it is punishment followed by being given a strict set of rules to follow.” Twilight said sternly. “I shouldn’t have to be dragged from my studies to protect Chrysalis from Princess Celestia’s chosen representative because he’s doing something he shouldn’t be doing.” She punctuated the end of her irritable snap with a glare at the accused unicorn.

“Tea’s up, dears.” Rarity called as her magic levitated the cups and saucers to the table, followed by a jug of milk and the sugar bowl.

“Thank you Rarity.” Twilight said before returning her attention to her brother. “As I was saying - punishment; I’m not part of the Royal Guard, so I don’t know exactly how he should be punished for his actions. I believe that falls into your field of expertise, doesn’t it?”

“What exactly is he being punished for?” Shining asked nervously. He’d not seen his sister act like this in a very long time, and it hadn’t ended well that time either. His right flank still stung every time he thought about it.

“He stormed in on a filly taking a bath and then assaulted a refugee!” Twilight snapped. “And he attempted to use the same spell a second time when you arrived! After Rarity told him to leave she came around to the library with a report to send to the Princess on Chrysalis’ recovery, and let me tell you that she was just as unimpressed by Cluey’s behavior as we are, and instructed me to ask Chrysalis about the spell he had used on her. I can only tell you how disappointed I am that he tried it a second time.”

“The spell I used was a simple lie detector that would-”

“What you used was a lie detector spell which was supposed to flash red if she lied; instead you modified the spell to tighten around her neck whenever she said something you disapproved of.” Twilight interrupted. She raised an eyebrow at his disbelieving stare. “I’m the Princess’s private pupil, remember? Not to mention that Chrysalis has been alive and around magic longer than all of us combined, I’m not surprised that she has a rather comprehensive knowledge on its use.”

Shining Armour sighed. “It will be handled, Twi.” He said.

“Make sure it is.” Twilight grumbled. “Now, beyond punishment we have further matters to discuss, namely these little meetings with Chrysalis.” She took a quick sip of her tea before returning her attention to the stallions at the table. “They are not an interrogation of a criminal, no matter her prior crimes. Celestia has already pardoned her of these charges after hearing certain pieces of evidence from Chrysalis herself; furthermore she is offering us her expertise on her kind free of any form of due. I’m no psychologist, but I can only guess that she feels she owes us, owes Equestria, for letting her live when she believes we had every right to execute her. She almost demanded that Celestia do just that last night.”

“That she would even think execution is one of our punishments speaks volumes of the laws that govern her kind…” Cluey mumbled.

“Their culture is probably almost nothing like ours; while we’ve been ruled and protected by Princess Celestia for millennia, the most they’ve had is Chrysalis. The Hive, from what I’ve heard Chrysalis say of it, has been in near constant famine for a thousand years. Such punishments might be more acceptable because of the limited resources of their Hive.”

“My, that number gets bounced around a lot, doesn’t it?” Rarity mused. “’A thousand years.’”

“It is possible that the conflict between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon caused irreparable damage to the lands in which the Changeling Hive is situated.” Twilight said. “I mean, from subtle information in history books, it did twist the Everfree Forest into what it is today; a missed shot from one of their magical battles could have caused the deadening of the land beyond Appleloosa, where the Bad Lands begin. The land down there is… unnaturally difficult to maintain for Equestria. Almost infertile; Appleloosa is essentially our border with the untamed.”

“But if that’s the case, then the conflict in Canterlot and the current situation for the changelings could…” Shining Armour mumbled.

Twilight nodded. “It could technically be our fault entirely.”

The ponies sat in an uncomfortable and awkward silence for a few moments punctuated only by Rarity taking a long sip at her tea.

“Well, if any rules are to be implemented, I insist in no more armour.” Rarity announced, before waving a hoof at the look that Shining gave her. “Not you dear, I mean the attire. This isn’t some inquisition that you’re here to undertake, this is a simple matter of information gathering from a willing source; she’s in no condition to be dangerous, and I hardly think it will endear us on her to be constantly in armour when questioning her. After the wedding and what has happened to her recently, I can only assume that she might be most disquieted by seeing guards in armour.” She shot Cluey a wary glare. “Had you arrived with a weapon I would have denied you entrance entirely, orders from the Princess or not.”

Cluey grumbled at this, but did not protest.

“You will wait patiently for Chrysalis to be ready for you in future meetings, too.” Rarity continued. “Captain of the Royal Guard or not, she is still a mare and you have no right to barge in on her unannounced as you did today. It was both extremely rude and, do forgive me if I’m incorrect, illegal for you to impose your presence upon her like that.”

Shining Armour shot Cluey a glance that he had the decency to look ashamed at.

“Finally, and most importantly, you will not ignore that one of the Elements are to be in the room when you are questioning Chrysalis.” Twilight hissed. “Such a precaution is not for your protection, but hers. The last thing we need is some half-cocked royally appointed representative to attempt to kill her for something she has already been pardoned over.”

“However, Twilight, don’t think I’m letting you off the hook for not telling me about this.” Shining Armour shot across the table.

Twilight gave him a sheepish grin. “It wasn’t exactly my call, but I didn’t think that you really needed to know. I left it to Celestia to inform you, something I expected her to do at your morning briefing.”

“And why did you feel that I did not need to know?”

Twilight sighed. “If I hadn’t been there, what would you have done to Chrysalis? Would you have beaten her? Burned her? Would she even be conscious at this point? How far would you have taken your revenge for the attack on your wedding just to get your own revenge?”

Shining grumbled. “You can’t imagine-”

“How you feel about it?” Twilight asked sharply. “I’m pretty sure I can, Shining. After all it wasn’t just you she nearly ruined. She almost destroyed what we had together, almost killed Cadance and Princess Celestia, threatened the friendships of me and my friends; I very nearly did leave her to die when we found her, but…”

“’But’?”

“But I had to think of what my friends would think of me, what the Princess would think of me, for letting my personal feelings cause the death of somepony.” Twilight stated firmly. “What they would think of me for letting my feelings take me down such a dark path..?” She sighed and looked down at her tea sadly. “Fluttershy alone would never speak to me again…”

Fluttershy stepped into the kitchen and moved to the table where she took a seat next to Rarity where the white mare had put a cup of tea out for her.

“How is she, Fluttershy?” Rarity asked.

“She’s still a little upset.” The yellow Pegasus replied quietly. “And her leg hurt her to move so I could splint and strap it.” She calmly took a sip of her tea and settled her cup back on the table. “She was knitting when I left her, but she promised she would get some rest soon. Her breathing was a little hindered, but she was lying on her front and with her already broken ribs…”

“Fluttershy, you actually handled her supposedly injured leg,” Cluey began, “can you actually say for sure that it is injured?”

Fluttershy cringed from his firm tone and squeaked in fright, not replying until Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder reassuringly.

“Y-yes, I can say for sure that her left foreleg is broken almost in the middle of her radius.”

“How severe a break are we talking?” Cluey pushed sternly, earning an irritable groan from Rarity and Twilight in unison.

“It’s a closed oblique fracture caused by her landing just on the outskirts of Ponyville.” Fluttershy replied meekly. “The bone has snapped into two, and she can’t move her wrist until it heals.” She turned her head to Rarity and tapped the table with her hoof. “Keep an eye on her; I don’t think she is aware of how badly using that leg will hinder her healing.”

Rarity nodded. “Of course, Fluttershy.”

Shining Armour gave Fluttershy an incredulous look. “How on Equestria..?”

“Oh, I handle animals quite a lot and I’m used to handling injuries of all sorts.” Fluttershy said quietly. “After spending as much time with Ponyville’s veterinarian as I have, I guess I just picked up some things.”

“Cluey, it’s highly unlikely that a changeling of Chrysalis’… aged wisdom would willingly resort to crippling herself in such a manner in order to implement some plan or other.” Twilight said. “She may be desperate, but she’s not stupid.”

“Meaning?”

Twilight leaned forward on the table. “I saw the crater she created when she landed, and I have to admit that I originally thought it was a meteorite crater. She had to hit the ground really rather hard to create such a deep impression and she’s lucky to have survived such a fall at all with her wings bound. It could be due to her being a queen changeling; much like the princesses she could naturally have higher tolerances to physical damage, but with her body weakened as it is…”

The ponies sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments. They could hear somepony moving through the house, and they figured that it was only Chrysalis going to the toilet. At least that was what they thought until they heard the movement turn into thuds as whomever it was tumbled down the stairs. They hurried to their hooves and moved from the kitchen, finding Chrysalis sprawled at the foot of the stairs panting heavily.

Fluttershy quickly moved to her side. “Oh my, are you alright?”

Chrysalis shook her head. “I… I was coming downstairs… to get a drink…” She managed to huff with heavy and laboured breaths. “I misjudged… my steps on the… stairs.”

Fluttershy sighed and carefully helped Chrysalis back to her hooves before nudging her back to the stairs. Chrysalis shot her a confused look as she was urged to ascend the staircase.

“I’ll get you your drink and bring it to you; you need to get your rest.” Fluttershy said quietly. “Do you want water or juice?”

“Just water will be fine but I can get it myself, you really don’t need to-”

“No, no, you shouldn’t be up and about too much with your leg like that and your fall won’t have helped your ribs; go on, I’ll bring your drink to you.” Fluttershy insisted while giving Chrysalis a nudge with her nose to get her to start walking.

Chrysalis nodded, not wanting to argue with her, and struggled her way back up the stairs while everypony waited for her to be back up on the second floor before returning to the kitchen. Fluttershy meekly poured a cup of water before leaving the room again, holding the cup in her hooves while she delivered it by wing, and the others sat back around the table.

“Right, what were we talking about again?” Rarity asked politely.

Twilight was somewhat thankful that Rarity had returned the conversation back to the room; if there was anything she didn’t want the table to do it was stagnate into yet another awkward silence as they all contemplated the newest resident of Ponyville.

Fluttershy’s soft steps returned to the kitchen door, the attention of all at the table turning to her. She squeaked and hid behind the doorframe slightly before nervously returning to full view. Internally Twilight sighed at her friend’s timid behaviour. She was doing so well at being better with such things, but clearly she still had a ways to go.

“Um, s-she wants to talk.” Fluttershy managed to squeak.

“If she has calmed down enough, I suppose it can be accommodated.” Cluey said. “Feel free to bring her down.”

Shining nudged Cluey sharply, though with the force he put behind it ‘shove’ might be a more apt description. He then shot his subordinate a glare that made him shrink back frightfully before he spoke.

“We shall be right with you, Miss Fluttershy.” Shining said calmly as he stood from the table. “In her physical state it would be best if we went to her.” He shot another glare at Cluey. “That’s called courtesy,” he hissed, “I hope you’re taking notes.”

*&*&*&*

Chrysalis lay in the basket she currently called a bed with her blanket draped over her back as she knitted in thoughtful silence. While her magic moved the woollen thread and the hard polished wooden needles at an impressive pace, her mind considered what she would be saying to the captain… captains when she talked with them. Briefly she considered whether or not the princesses would want them to know this particular piece of her culture, or if they already knew of it.

She flicked an ear towards the door when she heard it click open, expecting Fluttershy to come in to help her downstairs. She was a darling mare, and undoubtedly deserved the Element of Harmony she embodied, at least in Chrysalis’ mind. Three times she had been the one to physically aid her, though she may have been counting her wrapping her injuries in a higher regard that was really necessary, and every time she had aided the former enemy of Equestria she did so without complaint.

Instead of hearing only Fluttershy enter the room her ears picked up the footfalls of multiple ponies, five if she was hearing correctly. Her knitting didn’t falter, and she spared the group a glance before securing her work and lowering it back down.

“I suppose I at least owe you something from our culture for all your troubles getting here, regardless of what may have transpired.” She voiced.

Twilight nudged her brother in the ribs, making him cough before looking at her and getting the hint. “W-we’re thankful that you’re willing to see us again after such an… unfortunate encounter.” He said before adding, “I’ll be sure to keep Cluey in line this time.”

Chrysalis shrugged. “For now I won’t be giving any… sensitive information that isn’t otherwise vital to the future safety of Equestria.” She said calmly. “To understand our culture, Equestria should know our oldest myth, as it goes a great way to explain our culture in its entirety. It’s a tale that was taught to me by my mother, and I taught it to my foals and grandfoals in honour of her.

“Now, where to begin…”

*&*&*&*

“The world of Equestria is older than most ponies can guess, and certainly far more… complex. Our oldest myth runs back to before the beginnings of what you ponies now call ‘Hearth’s Warming Eve.’ As you know, from the tales of Hearth’s Warming, there were once three pony tribes; the Pegasi, Earth Ponies, and Unicorns. Back in those days, we changelings knew these three tribes as Earth, Sky, and Magic. They were three of what we call the ‘Balancing Elements’, though now I know that the Balancing Elements were based, somewhat loosely, on the Elements of Harmony.

“There were two other ‘Balancing Elements’ that we knew of quite well during this age, the now long hidden Kelpies, or Sea Ponies, being Aqua, and our own culture, the Changelings, being Shadow. Before you ask, Miss Twilight, we called them by their element they so closely controlled. Earth Ponies ruled over the lands and soil, turning otherwise barren wastelands into lush forests and beautiful fields. Pegasi controlled the skies and weather, granting magnificent sunny days or dark and tremendous storms. Unicorn controlled magic, moving the celestial spheres with great effort through the skies to give night and day. And finally the Water Ponies, who ruled over Equestria’s oceans, rivers and lakes to grant safe drinking waters and healthy plants.

“We, the Shadow, were always shunned by pony kind. We could disguise ourselves as any other race and were believed to spread dissent amongst the tribes. Why, you might ask? Well, in our tale we are the embodiment of darkness, something which has always been misunderstood and unknown, and mortals fear that which they do not understand. In those days, we acted as peacekeepers. We patrolled the nights watching for any wrongdoing and would act quickly and quietly should we find it.

“In the beginning, the greatest enemy to our Balancing Elements were the Windigos, one of the many Faces of Dissent, the counter to Balance. The world, as we knew it, was constantly assailed by Windigos, and it wasn’t until after the tribes began to work together that they were defeated. Soon after the exodus of the Windigos, a sixth Balancing Element appeared in Equestria: Light; better known to ponies as the almighty Alicorn.

“The Light had hidden away from Ponies for much of their existence so as to allow them to sort their own differences and work together before uniting under one stronger banner of peace. The Elements saw the Light as the true harmony of their races with the exception of Aqua and Shadow, who mostly ignored the Light and their immense power.

“With the coming of the Light, however, came another force; Discord. He, one of the greatest of the Faces of Dissent, brought despair to all the races of the lands and tortured ponies for fun; only the Light proved to be immune to his incredible powers. His arrival tore the Balance apart and nearly destroyed Equestria.

“The races who had accepted the Light displayed immunity to some of Discord’s more powerful magics; but Aqua and Shadow, who had denied the Light, were vulnerable to his power and insane whims. Aqua was driven from the lands deep into the oceans of Equestria where they hide to this day, terrified of the mighty powers of Discord and the hell that he had wrought upon them so easily.

“We Shadows fared no better; before Discord’s arrival we could control magic like Unicorn to a certain degree and used the innate magic of the lands around us to create our spells, however his first act was to ensure that we could not fight back. With but a click of the digits on his bestial paw he cursed all Shadow to need to absorb a mysterious energy from others to recharge and empower our magic, energy we now know is Love.

“Eventually the Light discovered a way to defeat Discord, entombing him in stone for millennia to come, and the Elements rallied to them as divine protectors. When we, the Shadow, came to join the celebrations we were shunned for our new nature as love absorbing ponies and for never using our true power to fight against him, though naught but us knew we could no longer do so. Terrified that the Light would turn their incredible powers upon us in our weakened state, we fled en-masse to the far south where we built our grand city within a lush forest which is now a barren wasteland. Thus is the tale of Changelings and our self-imposed banishment; the Hive was born.

“Every generation of Queen has been introduced to the feeling of Discord’s magic so that we might know what to fear when or if it arose again. Last year the pulse of Discord’s foul magic washed over the Hive and instilled fear into the hearts of every Changeling, sending the Hive into frenzy. Though the feeling passed within a day or so of normal time, as the sun and moon disagreed on who would hold the sky at any given moment, it took a week for my sub… my ex-subjects to calm down and return to their normal routines.

“My family has held this story to its heart for generations, and it is something of a… special story to me. The first and last thing I recall my mother saying to me were her calling me her ‘little Shadow’, while Thistle was my fathers’. It wasn’t until we were told the story that I understood what she meant.” She sighed faintly as she trailed off. “This little Shadow has been without her mother for just over eleven hundred years, said parent victim of a Manticore attack. Even after all this time, I still ask myself if she would be proud of me, if she… if I still deserve to be called her little Shadow after all I have done.”

The ponies sat in contemplative silence for a minute or so, each considering the story that they had just been told. Chrysalis found she was thankful for the quiet as it gave her a chance to collect her emotions for what she could. She closed her eyes and bowed her head, letting herself turn it into a moment’s silence of respect for her mother and all she had sacrificed to protect the Hive.

Of course, eventually the silence needed to be broken.

“Chrysalis… you have said that it was during your rule that your lands became infertile and impossible to handle, why didn’t you just… move?” Twilight asked. She had a quill and notebook held in her magic, and from where Chrysalis was sitting she could see that she had been furiously taking notes. The thought made her chuckle; trust Princess Celestia’s prize pupil to take notes of a myth as if it were an assignment.

“It was considered.” She replied listlessly. “The logistics of moving us to the Hive thousands of years ago was not much of an undertaking as we numbered only about five thousand; but when our lands became barren we were almost five hundred thousand strong and the logistics of moving that were a nightmare. Not to say I wasn’t still strongly in favour of it, but it was overruled in favour of our now supposedly staple diet of Love for a simple reason; pride. I… I was still a new ruler at that stage, only about two hundred years under my wing when the problem became as bad as it was and while I was Queen I still had those who gave me support and opinions beneath me. An overwhelming majority demanded that we not leave the Hive and our ‘proud history’ behind, and had I gone against that motion then I could have had an uprising.

“So like the fool I have so clearly proven myself to be I became a puppet to the whims of those beneath me until our system turned back into a true monarchy, but by then it was far too late. We do not know exactly what happened to cause the death of the land, but we had to make a choice. Staying was the greater of two evils, the intelligence I needed to know, that should have been given to me for me to make my decision had been withheld from me by my subordinates and over sixty per cent of the Hive died of mass starvation before we managed to find our hooves again. Had I gone to the Princesses or had we simply moved and found a new Hive, perhaps it could have been avoided…

“Remember, Miss Sparkle, that pride can be as dangerous as rage. Had we not held our pride, had we asked for help or chosen the easier solution, we may have avoided losing so many. Had I not held on to the pride that we prized so highly then I may have asked the Princesses for aid instead of assaulting Canterlot. Instead, like a foal, I was rash and stupid and nearly destroyed both your society as well as my own. Ultimately, I am to blame; I was their ruler and it was by my decision that we stayed in our now destitute city. As such, the lives of thousands are on my head. By our own laws, I should have been executed hundreds of times over.

“The cost of the last thousand years, the attack on Canterlot, and the befouling of the Bad Lands… that is what has been put on my shoulders by my own people. I could have shouldered it all, carried the burden and brought us back to the once powerful nation we were had it not been for my sister and the ministers below me. Their treason upon me… that is the straw that broke the camel’s back.” With another sad sigh she trailed off and turned her face from them. “I cannot take it anymore. Over the last thousand years I have given my all to support the Hive. Sacrificed many nights of sleep, shed blood and tears for their protection and watched in sadness as we struggled to find our place in the world. I just… I don’t have anything left to give.”

“What of dignity? And pride?” Cluey asked, before Shining nudged him in the ribs again.

“Look at me.” Chrysalis hissed. “I am the size of a foal and cannot control my magic any better than one! I’ve been banished by my own kind, almost murdered by my sister and I’ve wept openly amongst those who I once made true enemies. I have almost no dignity left! And as for pride, well, of what do I have to be proud anymore? That I’m a failure who can’t even die properly?”

She grumbled and used her magic to rearrange her blanket so that it covered her better before lifting her knitting with a sigh. “I thank you for coming to me for this, it was… most accommodating. I am sure we all have much to consider.” She said.

“Of course,” Shining replied calmly. “We thank you for your time.”

Chrysalis nodded. “Captain Armour? Could you… could you not tell your wife about me?” She asked. “I… I don’t think she would be very pleased.”

“She will have to know eventually.” Shining Armour pointed out, watching her face fall further. “But I suppose it’s not my place to tell her after all, this is a somewhat… sensitive and confidential matter, it would be against regulations for me to divulge any of it to the public. No, I’ll leave this particularly angry bag of cats to the Princesses.”

“Because that worked out so well for me.” Twilight deadpanned.

Chrysalis gave a light chuckle at her misfortune. “Thank you, Captain. Now, if you all don’t mind, I’d like to be alone for a while.”

Their hooves thudded gently against the carpet as they all moved back out into the hall and downstairs. Only Rarity remained for a moment.

“Is there anything that you require before I go?”

“No thank you, Rarity.”

“Very well,” Rarity said before doing something that brought a lump to Chrysalis’ throat, “by your leave, my lady.”

The door clicked shut behind the ivory mare as she returned to her guests, leaving Chrysalis to her thoughts and her knitting, a smile on her lips and a tear on her cheek.

She never imagined she would be curtsied to again.

*&*&*&*

Night came and went a half dozen times for the quiet little town of Ponyville without further incident. Chrysalis had been sent a letter from Celestia detailing her apologies for Cluey’s behaviour and that he had been disciplined appropriately, as well as that the next meeting would be a visit by herself a week after the previous one.

Chrysalis had found that she was somewhat disgruntled by this, as Pinkie Pie had apparently set up a party for her on the same day at the Carousel Boutique. According to Rarity this was somewhat of a custom amongst the ponies of Ponyville. A new pony would arrive, Pinkie would inevitably discover them and soon enough, often that night, a welcoming party would be thrown in their honour.

She had been warned by Fluttershy and Rarity what to expect from a ‘Pinkie Party’, as they were undoubtedly different from any parties that Changelings threw. Since, as she told them, Changelings did not throw parties anything Pinkie did would be different. Still, she was warned of piñatas, streamers, confetti, that there would be at least eight games (and that she would be expected to participate in a minimum of one,) punch, snacks… they even went so far as to warn her that there would, most likely, be a minimum of fifty ponies in attendance.

Another thing that had been noticed of her, at least from the six friends, was Chrysalis’ reluctance to leave her room for anything beyond using the bathroom, bathing, or getting a drink from the kitchen. Even when she did, she barely spoke to anypony, and would shy away from conversations or other ponies. If not for the party scheduled for that evening, Rarity felt that she would have confronted about it. She was becoming a recluse, and even though she only knew Rarity and her friends in town she still could have socialized with them more actively.

Rarity knocked on the door to the room in which Chrysalis dwelled politely before opening it, finding her, yes, knitting. She had finished her scarf a few days before, and now was working on what appeared to be a stuffed animal of some sort. It was still in its infancy as far as being knitted was concerned, but she was doing admirably well. Chrysalis secured her work carefully before looking up at Rarity.

“Is there something you need, Rarity?”

“I was wondering if you would like to come and help cook dinner. I’d love to see if you have any special recipes I can use in future.”

“Of course Rarity, just let me get my scarf and I’ll be right with you.” Chrysalis finished, standing gingerly from the basket and levitating her scarf over before wrapping it tightly around her neck. It was about six foot long and black, with a green heart at either end. One of the hearts was fractured in two in a jagged way, while the other was whole. Currently she had the whole one wrapped around her neck and hidden from view, while the other end draped over her back, between her wings, and hung down her right side.

Slowly but surely she followed the mare from the storage room, her leg was still broken and, despite Fluttershy’s care, would take at least a few more weeks before she could use it again. She took a moment to close the door behind them before continuing down to the darkened showroom. The moment Rarity stepped into the room she appeared to vanish into the darkness, leaving Chrysalis to struggle into the room on her own for a moment. Once she was sufficiently confused, or at least far enough in the room, the lights were flicked on, confetti thrown over her, and a cheer of ‘surprise!’ rang in her ears. Chrysalis smiled at the six ponies that were closest to her as they smiled back, Twilight and her friends.

Maybe she could have some fun, at least for one night.

*&*&*&*

She had enjoyed the night immensely, from the food to the games, and had even managed to get along with a select few ponies, one of whom was the mayor. She hadn’t thought that an official such as Mayor Mare would want anything to do with her, let alone have anything to which Chrysalis could relate. When conversation between them had started it was awkward and embarrassing, but upon asking if the town got up to much ‘mischief’, as Chrysalis had put it, she began recounting event after event of misfortune that had befallen the otherwise quaint little town. Problems had ranged from the return of the dreaded Nightmare Moon, a figure that Chrysalis would have to research, to a swarm of Parasprites that had partially devoured the town.

When Mayor Mare had asked if the same sorts of things had occurred to Chrysalis’ ex-kingdom she replied in kind, telling of how they had almost starved into extinction, about a conflict with neighbouring Diamond Dogs that had left the Hive crippled for months, and about how she once had to break up a fight between two Changeling families arguing over who owned a particularly large ruby. In the end she had split it evenly down the middle and told them to go calm down.

Another pony she got along with was an arctic blue Pegasus with pale gold hair and golden eyes by the name of Sassaflash. The Pegasus seemed to simply enjoy talking with Chrysalis, though the ex-monarch noted that Sassaflash was talking to her as if she were a filly, which she supposed she technically was. When Chrysalis realized that Sassaflash was deliberately toying with her, however, she began giving it as good as she got and their little insult war began.

It spiralled to the point of having other ponies betting on who would win, with only Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy finding it somewhat poor taste. Eventually one of them had to surrender, and it turned out to be Chrysalis who caved first. Not so much from surrender as not wanting to start using insults that would be rather less welcome in the party atmosphere.

Still, not all were welcoming.

Two mares, who had been her mind controlled bridesmaids at the invasion, had been present when the party began and had been particularly… vocal at their distaste for her presence before leaving in a huff. While the party had managed to get Chrysalis’ spirits high, their actions still gave her something to think about.

There had been games too, almost a dozen. Apple bobbing, pin the tail on the pony, a piñata… She hadn’t joined in any of the games personally; content to watch the other party-goers have their fun. She was still too sore to join in with the piñata, but Pinkie made sure that she got her own fair share of the loot.

Eventually the younger ponies and their parents went home. Applejack’s little sister Apple Bloom was taken home by her elder brother, Big Macintosh – a mountain of a stallion that barely spoke and would have given an army of changelings a run for their money in terms of strength if Chrysalis was any judge. He also took Sweetie Belle and her friend Scootaloo with him, the three apparently having a sleepover scheduled for the night. A grey Pegasus mare with yellow hair and wall-eyes affectionately nicknamed Derpy took her daughter, Dinky, home with her.

Once the younger generation were gone, however, Pinkie Pie pulled flask from somewhere in her mane and upended the contents into the punch bowl. Chrysalis had watched this action before giving a heavy sigh in irritable understanding.

Now the adults could enjoy their night.

After an hour of the drink being circulated a little, the party became host to a new game. A game that Chrysalis knew ponies enjoyed world-wide. A game they called ‘karaoke’. It was probably a good thing that many of the room’s inhabitants were slightly inebriated, as some of the singing produced was… less than melodious. Granted Twilight Sparkle had a marvellous singing voice; however a stallion with brown mane and tail, amber coat, blue eyes and a trio of blue horseshoes on his flank named Caramel did not.

Eventually she was dragged up onto the makeshift stage by Pinkie Pie, and she stood awkwardly in front of everyone trying to convince Pinkie that she didn’t know any of the songs that they did. Instead, after being badgered almost endlessly by the bouncing pink menace, she relented and turned to the small group of ponies on stage with instruments, asking for a slow lullaby melody and informing them of how the song went.

“I… I don’t really know any party songs.” She said to the room as a whole. “But… I’ll see if I can still remember something my mother used to sing to me when I was… little.” She gave a soft chuckle at the thought. “It was a rather substantial time ago, so you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t get it perfectly.”

After a few moments the ponies nodded to her and began, and she took a moment or two to collect her nerves and sing.

“Little Shadow, brave and true,

My heart it doth belong to you,

Though we fight the tide of time,

Little Shadow is heart of mine.”

Her singing was slow and haunting and her voice held an airiness that carried the tones of the song as well as the music of the small band behind her. Softly she closed her eyes, as if trying to imagine the words in her head as she sang.

“Quiet now my treasured one,

The world has lost light of the sun,

Please rest now; let forth not a peep,

Time has come for you to sleep.”

Apart from the band and her voice, the room was silent. Even those not taking part in the karaoke were being respectfully quiet as she sang her slow, sad tune. Most of the room’s eyes were pointed in her direction.

“Fear not the dark, fear not the moon,

You are safe of monsters within the gloom,

Come beast, monster, ghoul or wraith

I shall keep my Little Shadow safe.

My Little Shadow, brave and true,

Remember I always shall love you,

If the path you might stray,

My love, Little Shadow, shall show your way.”

Finally she trailed off, letting her eyes open just a crack for her to look at the floor. She sighed and stepped back off the makeshift stage, moving towards the refreshments table for a cupcake, hoping it would lift her sunken mood. Instead, when she actually had one held in her hooves, she could only look down at it with sad eyes and drooping ears.

“Thank the Shadows that Princess Celestia wasn’t here to see that rousing display of runaway emotional mess.” She grumbled to herself.

“You mean the singing?”

Chrysalis stiffened and slowly turned her head, her eyes wide as she looked at the pony standing behind her. She laughed nervously at Princess Celestia, who was only looking back down at her amusedly. Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a moment or two before her lungs decided to function again.

“How long...?”

Celestia chuckled. “Oh, the whole song,” she said with an amused and toying tone, “though I must admit it was somewhat of a different tone to what is common at parties.”

“Don’t partake of the punch or you’ll experience the tone of the party.” Chrysalis grumbled.

Celestia gave another laugh. “I know- I can smell it from here.” She said amusedly. “I suppose we should go somewhere private for our talk.”

“The kitchen and dining room are this way.” Chrysalis suggested, nodding her head in its direction.

Celestia nodded and started to follow her. “It will more than suffice.” She said. As she followed Chrysalis, her magic lifted the cupcake that had been left behind, placing it safely into a small paper bag for later.

*&*&*&*

“So…” Celestia began, sitting opposite Chrysalis at the dining room table, “how have you been? Through lack of panicked letters from Twilight I can only assume that the town hasn’t formed angry mobs complete with torches and pitchforks to throw you out.”

Chrysalis grimaced and shrank back in her seat. “Tell the truth, this is the first I’ve been in public all week.” She mumbled apologetically.

Celestia sighed wearily. “I suppose I can see your reluctance.” She said. “But please try to not become a hopeless shut-in; it will most certainly not do you any good.”

“I’m perfectly capable of running my own life, thank you.”

“I’ll keep it in mind next time you almost freeze under a bridge.” Celestia teased, earning a grumble from her conversation partner. “Now, now, I’m only teasing.”

“Sassaflash was teasing too; at least I could reciprocate that.” Chrysalis said disgruntledly. “It was the best insult war I’ve had in years; my changelings were always too meek to try and loosen up that much with me.”

Celestia nodded faintly. “I can imagine.” She said listlessly, before her gaze turned somewhat firmer. “That song before, you mentioned that your mother used to sing it to you?”

Chrysalis nodded. “When I was very little it was my lullaby, as it was hers before me. It was something that my grandmother, Queen Penumbra, taught her.”

“Penumbra, first Queen of the Changelings.” Celestia interrupted distantly, only to chuckle at Chrysalis’ shocked gaze. “Oh yes, I knew her; it was during her age that Discord first rose to power. She and I used to talk about our respective kingdoms until the day Discord was defeated. A shame that it would come at such a cost…”

Chrysalis nodded slightly. “The song was used by my grandmother to pull my mother from her insanity when she ascended to Queen, and she used it for me when it became my turn. We’re only supposed to raise one to become the Hive Queen, and my mother groomed me from the moment I was cognitively aware to become what I was. Some things cannot be taught, but must come with experience, which is why the incident at Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armour’s wedding happened at all. I… guess I still had much to learn.

“Thistle was never going to be Queen; she was raised as a general, not a ruler. Father brought her up living and breathing the life of a Queen’s Guard, but I never allowed her such a prestigious position because I feared for both her and my safety. She has always been volatile and quick to temper, her ideas on how to solve the Hive’s food crisis always including mass bloodshed. She is dangerous, and has only become more so since my exile. As it stands, I would not trust any changeling that comes from that Hive as far as I can throw them.

“I find it impressive that she didn’t think to kill me when she had me at the Hive, but… I think she intended for me to die out here, alone and weak; a pitiful crippled shred of my former self left to die amongst enemies. Either that or some fragment of her sane mind remained and it managed to grant me a way to survive, though I doubt it. Thistle has never been one for being kind to others; me starving to death or dying of hypothermia were her most likely goals.”

Celestia gave an understanding nod. “Chrysalis, unlike Cluey I shan’t be keeping my meetings very… formal. Information I shall leave for him to pour his eagerness into, as is his want.” She said with a calming tone. “Between us, I believe you need a friend and equal more than you need an inquisitor.”

Chrysalis giggled. “No offense, Princess, but I’m about as equal to you as an ant is to a boot.” She said. “Though on the topic of your guard, why didn’t you tell Captain Armour about me?”

“I honestly never got around to it, I was going to do it at the changing of the guard come sundown, but Cluey beat me to it.” Celestia sighed.

“Yes, well, they’re leaving it up to you to tell Princess Mi Amore Cadenza; I don’t think they want to risk their necks.”

Celestia waved a hoof with a chuckle. “Well, brave guards they may be, crazy they are not.” She said amusedly. “Heavens know how my niece will react to the news; I cannot imagine it being favourably.”

“And you can tell Princess Luna that she can stop diving into my dreams.” Chrysalis grumbled. “I hope she doesn’t think I have not noticed her, skulking about in the background like she’s invisible. It’s honestly hard to miss an Alicorn with an ethereal mane and tail. She’s about as stealthy as Pinkie Pie when she’s trying to spy on ponies.” She grumbled and turned her head to the kitchen counter. “And I know you’re there Pinkie, stop lurking.”

The pair could hear an audible gasp from the kitchen and then a pink blur shot back out into the main room, leaving Celestia perplexed and Chrysalis grumbling.

“How did you know she was there?”

“We’re a race whose primary method of integration is stealth, I’ve had to teach a few of my own foals and grandfoals how to use such methods, and one becomes versed in detecting it.” She gave a humourless laugh. “If only I had spent that time refining my acting skills, hmm?”

“Yes, I suppose so.” Celestia mused. “Tell me, how are you finding the Elements? Are they treating you well?”

“Rarity continues to insist that she pamper me, something I have rebutted at every opportunity.” Chrysalis sighed. “Miss Fluttershy has been most helpful with my recovery, especially with my leg still broken. Miss Pinkie has been preoccupied with other matters, including this evening’s party, and hasn’t had the time to visit me much. Miss Applejack has visited twice to drop off apples to Rarity, I think using them as excuses to keep an eye on me. Miss Dash has purportedly been busy handling the winter weather and hasn’t found time to check on me, though I can’t blame her really. Finally, I’ve not seen hide nor hair of your protégée, Miss Sparkle, since Cluey’s visit a few days ago.”

“I notice you call them all ‘Miss’.”

“Rarity has insisted that I not in her case, however I still remain firm that I should show the others some modicum of respect. That and they have not shown any discomfit to it.”

“Though speaking of others, are you alright after Cluey’s… misbehaviour?” Celestia asked.

“I am unharmed, if that is your worry.” Chrysalis said, waving her unharmed hoof dismissively.

“You know my worry, Chrysalis, don’t dance around the subject.”

With a slight grin Chrysalis nodded. “Yes, I know.” She said with disarming calm. “I am fine, Princess. He… startled me, no more. If I couldn’t survive such trivial mental trauma I’d have surrendered my crown years ago. I assure you I am fine.” She gave a sarcastic sigh and looked off to one side. “Though do remind him not to show up in armour, I doubt Rarity would let him into the boutique.”

Celestia nodded. “Well, I believe I’ve taken enough of your time from you.” She said as she stood. “You should get back to the party and socialize. I hope you won’t drink the punch, as you are now it would technically be against our laws, and I don’t think it would help your recovery.”

Chrysalis gave a sly, toothy grin and a hearty laugh. “Give me more incentive why don’t you?”

Hunted

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Chrysalis woke groggily the next day to a commotion out in the hall beyond the storeroom door. With popping joints and a yawn to put any hippo to shame, she rose from the comfortable warmth of the basket in which she spent most of her day and ventured to the door, opening it a crack to see what could possibly have been causing such a racket so early in the morning.

As it turned out, the din was being caused Rarity struggling to find her way to the bathroom. From a quick glance Chrysalis could see her eyes were closed and she could –hear- her mumbling to herself lazily.

‘Is she..?’

Rarity bumped into the wall just outside the bathroom and mumbled something loud enough for Chrysalis to hear it.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow, I didn’t see you there.”

Chrysalis struggled to hold in the fit of giggles that tried to erupt from her mouth. ‘So not only does she sleepwalk, but she talks too? Well, that’s just adorable.’ She eyed the way that Rarity walked, how her steps hastened and her stomach lurched, and her eyes widened before she moved out as hurriedly as she could to do what she could to help her along. ‘She’s had too much of that spiked punch last night, I am so not going to clean anything up.’

She hurried past Rarity, careful to not wake her, before opening the bathroom door and looking back to her. She raked her mind for a convincing act before speaking in a rather poor imitation of Applejack.

“Rarity, bathroom’s free if you want it; over ‘ere.”

Still asleep, Rarity straightened up and her head turned to where Chrysalis was standing, her body swiftly closing the distance and turning into the bathroom.

“Thank you, Applejack.”

The door closed behind Rarity quite hard, Chrysalis flinching at the sudden loud noise before shuddering at the sound Rarity made afterwards. She was worried that something could be wrong, but since she knew what had been going on the night before she shrugged it off.

Better out than in, after all.

She grumbled to herself as she struggled back to her room, hoping to get a little more sleep -or at least rest for a little longer. It had been a long night, and the party hadn’t broken up until past midnight when the punch had run out. She’d been thankful for that blessed little fact; if the smell of alcohol had persisted for much longer her eyes would have started watering. She was sure she’d managed to get mildly tipsy from the smell alone, but with the lowered inhibitions of the townsfolk came conversations which she would have sworn black and green had given her a contact drunk.

She climbed into her basket and curled up beneath the blanket which Rarity had hoof-made for her, but after failing to return to sleep she left her dwelling and limped her way downstairs to the kitchen. She struggled to fill the kettle with water and place it atop the stove, her magic nearly failing twice with the full metal implement. Her magic flicked on the gas and sparked a flame beneath the kettle, and with a calm sigh she opened the cupboards with a flick of her magic and brought out a pair of teacups and saucers. The well-decorated cups and saucers found themselves placed neatly on the counter, and Chrysalis turned to the next piece of tea-making crockery – the teapot.

Upon opening a cupboard helpfully labelled ‘teapots’ she found a rather large array of fine china teapots, each one with a box of tea leaves on the shelf in front of it. Chrysalis admitted herself a little lost when it came to tea varieties, but she knew that each teapot would be for different flavours of tea. After sniffing around the different packets, she selected one called ‘Rosen Strawberry’ and levitated out its pot with a packet of leaves.

Opening the teapot she found an infuser, and into this she put the leaves before placing the infuser on the counter. With a small flick of magic the teapot warmed up, and she placed this also on the countertop.

From here she simply waited for the kettle to boil, and it didn’t take long for the familiar whistle to sound through the kitchen. With utmost care she levitated the kettle from the stove and poured enough boiling water into the teapot to nearly fill it before returning the kettle to its prior spot atop the stove and placing the tea infuser within the teapot.

Now all that was left was to wait for Rarity to come down. Thankfully she didn’t have to wait long, as the mare in question stepped into the kitchen soon after the tea had sufficiently mixed and Chrysalis poured out a pair of cups, taking one herself.

“Good morning, Rarity; I trust you slept well.”

“Well enough thank you.” Rarity replied before taking a short and dainty sip of her cup and sighing. “And thank you for the tea, just what I needed after last night’s soiree.”

Chrysalis chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure the morning after has been enough to warrant tea; you nearly made a mess of the hall. Lucky for you I found you sleepwalking and managed to coax you to the bathroom.”

Rarity blinked in mild surprise before taking another sip of her tea. “A-ah,” she managed to mumble, “Well… thank you for saving my carpets.”

Chrysalis gave a short laugh. “If anything I was saving myself from having to clean it up; I’m supposed to be working for you, remember?”

Now it was Rarity’s turn to laugh, though she did turn her face and cover her mouth daintily. “Of course,” she said, before becoming more serious. “Though on that note; you are aware of what day it is, yes?”

Chrysalis thought for a moment or so before grumbling and lowering her ears. “Wednesday…”

“That’s right,” Rarity affirmed with a nod, “Fluttershy and I have an appointment every Wednesday at the spa in town. Since you have brought up the subject of your… lodging arrangements, today you will be accompanying us.”

Chrysalis grumbled. “Rarity, I don’t want-“

“This is not for a pampering, Chryssie,” she said, pausing to note her reaction to the nickname, “have I said something wrong?”

Chrysalis huffed. “Don’t call me that.” She hissed. “My sister called me that.”

Rarity held a hoof to her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t think-“

“So long as there is no repeat, you’ve nothing to be sorry for.” Chrysalis interrupted. “You had to find out eventually anyway.”

Rarity nodded. “Well, that aside, you’re not being brought along for a pampering per se, more to get you… oh how do I phrase this… presentable.” Rarity smiles faintly as she observes Chrysalis’ left eye twitch irritably. “To no offense of course; you are after all somewhat under my employ, and the only thing I have managed to think up you doing is modelling for me.” She held up a hoof to quell the coming protest. “Now I know what you’re most likely thinking; ‘unless all of my clients are green and black this will be pointless’, and I can see your point. The ponies that run the day spa, however, have been in the business as long as I have been a seamstress and fashionista, and that means they’ve had training in all kinds of pony care, including horns.

“I dare say that they’ll have something within their repertoire to help you with your horn, possibly even aid you in controlling your magic to a degree. If they do, we might be able to get your ability to disguise yourself back!” She announced this with a flourish, throwing a hoof wide and smiling like it was Hearth’s Warming Eve. “With that, you could be any of my younger clients. You won’t need to do much more than be able to stand for long periods of time; you can even continue to knit while doing it.” She gave Chrysalis a sly look across the table. “It’s a good thing I don’t use my stocks of wool thread, too. I tried my hoof at knitting for a short time but found it too slow for my tastes. You’re welcome to my woollen thread, but be prepared to do a little extra work for me to replenish it for you.”

Chrysalis smiled and nodded. “Of course; I wouldn’t have accepted anything else. Shadows know I’ve felt that I’ve been taking liberties with your wool as it was… And I suppose I can go with you to this day spa if you truly insist. If Miss Fluttershy is going to be there, she could take the opportunity to look at my leg before we start anything.”

“The spa ponies, Aloe and Lotus Blossom, can aid in that as well actually, though probably not as much as an actual doctor could. After all, they are trained physical therapists and masseuses.” Rarity said before daintily drinking a mouthful of her tea. “We’ll be leaving in a couple of hours. Feel free to do some knitting, I’ll come and fetch you when it’s time to leave.”

*&*&*&*

Chrysalis had limped after Rarity as best she could as they walked to the day spa, the alabaster unicorn keeping her own pace at a speed that the still injured changeling could keep up with. Chrysalis had her head hung low the entire walk and her tail tucked tight to herself, as if she were attempting to become as small as possible. Still, nopony even batted an eyelid at them as they strolled through Ponyville.

Upon reaching the spa the pair met with Fluttershy, who offered friendly greetings before following Rarity inside with Chrysalis between herself and the unicorn. Rarity met the pair of earth ponies standing in the room like they were old friends, each the inverse of the other’s colour scheme of pink and baby blue.

After greetings were made, the two new mares, who were evidently Aloe and Lotus Blossom, led them to the showers for them to quickly rinse off before taking them to another room. Chrysalis had been distracted when they entered this new room, and after a few mumbled words were exchanged – all of which she missed – she was picked up bodily by Rarity.

She gave the white mare with a cheeky grin a confused look before she was thrown physically down into what appeared to be a bath full of dark chocolate or tar.

Not wanting to be covered in whatever it was within the bath, Chrysalis’ magic pulsed around her in her vain attempt to stop her from her descent only for the strong magic to recoil powerfully with an audible burst, throwing her down into the bath faster.

As she slipped beneath the surface of the mud bath with a thick wet sound, Rarity stared blankly ahead in stunned shock before lifting a hoof and dabbing at something on her cheek, pulling away and staring almost confusedly at the small black shard that she held, and the blood that coated it.

Chrysalis struggled back to the surface of the bath full of what she could now positively identify as volcanic ash mud and, after a moment of coughing to recover her breath grumbled, “I have got to stop trusting ponies when they pick me up.” She then tried to give Rarity a dirty look, but her face went wide when she saw the flecks of black and red littering her face.

A tentative hoof rose to her horn.

“Don’t touch it!” One of the spa ponies, the blue coated and pink maned one, snapped in a thick accent. “Aloe, go and fetch the capping materials.”

She took a moment to wipe the blood and fragments from Rarity’s face before lying next to the bath in which Chrysalis was suspended and giving her horn a looking over. After a moment or two, she took some tissues from a box on a nearby shelf and held them to the ragged end of Chrysalis’ horn.

“Looks like you’ve only blown off the scab,” She said calmly and ignoring the shudder that Rarity made at the word, “we can make a cap that will give you back a majority of your control, but you’ll need to let it set, which means no magic for an hour.”

Chrysalis nodded for what she could.

“We’re here for the usual plus one, so that shouldn’t be a problem.” Rarity said.

“Of course, Miss Rarity,” Lotus Blossom replied, “young missy,” Chrysalis visibly grimaced at these words and Rarity suppressed a smirk at noticing, “If you could hold this to your horn until Aloe returns, I can see about getting Miss Rarity prepared.”

Chrysalis huffed and did as she was instructed, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Fluttershy was in the bath next to her own already. She watched Lotus Blossom start to wrap Rarity in what appeared to be seaweed before turning to Fluttershy.

“Why don’t you..?”

Fluttershy giggled. “Rarity gets everything, including full facial masks.” She said. “The girls don’t usually apply so much to me.”

“Fluttershy has natural beauty,” Aloe said conspiratorially as she lay down between Fluttershy and Chrysalis while allowing them to still see one another, “we don’t need to do much to get perfection from her.”

Fluttershy blushed and smiled sheepishly before mumbling, “Thank you.” She was so quiet that Chrysalis was almost unsure she had spoken at all.

“Alright, let’s see then,” Aloe said calmly before removing the bloodied tissue from Chrysalis’ horn and eyeing her new task, “hmm, well I’m going to have to file it before I can cap it, but there doesn’t seem to be any nerve damage.”

“Miss Sparkle told me the same thing, as well as to not use powerful magic or risk a backfire.” Chrysalis mumbled. "But I... I panicked."

“Miss Sparkle would be right, you’re lucky you only blew the scab off of your horn with what you just did, you could have done much worse.” Aloe said sternly before taking an iron file out and beginning to gently file away built-up magical residue from the Changeling’s horn. “And let me just say that there’s nothing anypony can do for a worst-case scenario of that.”

“It wouldn’t be fatal, would it?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.

“Not… necessarily.” Aloe said through the file. “The blood loss from an exploded horn could be. I imagine Miss Sparkle failed to mention that possibility, yes?”

Chrysalis gave a nervous nod.

“Well, the cap will give you most of your control back.” Aloe said calmly, “you should have protective shields and strength with levitation back once you’re used to it; just remember to remove it once it becomes tight and uncomfortable; that’s your horn growing back and the cap will only stunt that recovery.”

Chrysalis nodded, watching over Aloe’s shoulder as Rarity stepped down into a mud bath on the other side of Fluttershy. She gave the mare an irritated look while her mind considered something.

“Whose idea was it to throw me into the mud?” She asked accusingly, watching as Rarity’s face became a little nervous. “I doubt that a… prank of such a nature would be Miss Fluttershy’s doing; she’s far too gentle and kind for that.” She watched as Rarity’s face twisted in her struggle to keep it straight. “And I also doubt that you would have come up with it on your own, Rarity…” realization dawned on her swiftly and she sighed. “It was Miss Pinkie, wasn’t it?” She asked more as a statement than a question.

Rarity gave a short burst of laughter. “I’m sorry, but Pinkie was right in that your face would be priceless. We just didn’t think that you would have struggled back as you did.”

“I’ll have to think of some way to get her back then.” Chrysalis said.

Rarity chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

The trio were in the spa for a few hours beyond the initial incident; and Chrysalis had a small black cap carefully added to the end of what was left of her horn. It was almost indistinguishable from the rest of her horn and was even shaped in such a way to promote a healthy pointed tip when she began to heal proper.

They had spent a few minutes within the sauna as par the usual course of the usual stay of theirs within the spa. When asked why Chrysalis had only been silent and giving off an ‘I’m bored’ feeling, she replied with a short and simple: “I’m covered in chitin; I may feel the steam and warmth, but I won’t benefit from it.”

Their next stop was atop several beds, each of them played out and then having facial masks applied. Or, rather, Rarity gained a full facial mask –including cucumber eye covers- while Fluttershy was given a pair of rather small dabs to each cheek and Chrysalis went without. The cream was unlikely to have any effect on her in any case, so she didn’t really mind.

A third pony entered the room and stood next to Rarity, her hooves coming up and starting to knead at the white mare’s back. Lotus Blossom began to do much the same to Fluttershy, and Chrysalis could only look up at Aloe in a ‘this isn’t going to hurt is it?’ way. Aloe only giggled and lowered her hooves to massage her charge.

She’d not felt anything so utterly relaxing in her life.

She’d been so relaxed that she didn’t even notice the micro-fibre cloth with sheen on it buffing her chitin to a fine lustre. She would notice eventually, of course; after Aloe had finished with her back and asked her to roll over she finally took note of the cloth and her shiny carapace.

It wasn’t long after this and the facial cream had been removed that they were led to a room with a rather large bath in it and thanked for their patronage and that they may leave when they are ready. Fluttershy had asked Aloe and Lotus Bloom about Chrysalis’ leg, and after a short inspection they instructed that she was healing as could be expected of someone with her supposedly advanced healing, and that she should be capable of using it in a week or so provided she not agitate the damaged bone.

Another twenty minutes or so and the trio left the spa, with Fluttershy hurrying home to tend to her supposed horde of animal friends. Rarity and Chrysalis turned towards the town, apparently for a brief lunch at Pinkie Pie’s place of work and residence, Sugar Cube Corner.

Chrysalis had mentioned that the cap on her horn, and the ministrations of Aloe, had given her ability to sense emotion back, though it was a muted feeling. Before she could feel it as if it were a current in the air, or heat on her cheek, but now it was like hearing a muffled cry from several rooms away; it was present, but hard to decipher.

When Rarity waved to another unicorn that didn’t wave back, Chrysalis turned every sense she had on them.

Everything about her was wrong.

Rarity stopped walking when she noticed Chrysalis had, and she moved back to where the young-looking changeling was standing.

“Chrysalis, is anything wrong? Do you need to stop for a rest?”

Chrysalis shook her head before nodding to the unicorn. “Who is that?”

Rarity chuckled and looked over at the orange and light blue mare. “I’m not surprised you don’t know her, she wasn’t at your party last night; that’s Faraday,”

“No, it’s not.” Chrysalis hissed. “Hurry and get Miss Twilight and send her here; then go to Miss Faraday’s house. Find her.” She grimaced and spread her stance faintly. “I’ll try and keep her here.”

“Are you saying-“

“Move!”

Faraday’s horn exploded with arcane energy, and a bolt of green magic thundered towards the pair. Rarity stared in shock, unable to move or think in the time it took for the beam to reach them.

Chrysalis, however, was prepared.

The bolt of magic slammed into a translucent green shield, exploding around them and scorching the paving stones. The sudden explosion shocked the onlooking ponies on the street, multiple fleeing into the perceived safety of nearby buildings. Chrysalis huffed at the feeling of expending any magical energy and turned her gaze on Rarity.

“Rarity, go! I’ll be fine, you must find Miss Faraday!”

The named pony poked her head from a nearby window. “I’m right here!”

Chrysalis grimaced. “That solves one problem; now we just need Twilight. Knowing her, she’s likely to come and investigate the sound of an explosion, so she won’t be long, but…”

Rarity scooped Chrysalis up onto her back and leapt into a side street as a second bolt of green magic snarled past, narrowly missing them. “Why do you need Twilight to be here so badly?” She demanded.

“I can defend myself quite fine with this cap on my horn,” Chrysalis said firmly, “but I cannot fight back.”

Rarity looked hesitant, but Chrysalis gave her a stern glare. “Go, Rarity; I’ll be fine.”

After a tense moment, Rarity nodded and hurried off through the streets to the library, leaving Chrysalis on her own. She swallowed nervously and stepped back onto the street.

‘I hope.’

Chrysalis dodged a bolt of green magic and hissed as she landed on her right foreleg at an odd angle, hoping that she wouldn’t end up putting herself back into bed for another week as she let her remaining foreleg heal from a sprain or twist.

“So, what, can my sister not do things herself? She need stoop down to sending an assassin to do her dirty work?” Chrysalis scoffed and held her head up haughtily. “At least I could do things on my own! At least I can boast that I fought Princess Celestia into submission and didn’t need some proxy to do it for me!” She ducked a blast of magic with a laugh. “She’s such a coward!”

The fake Faraday charged at her down the street, closing the distance between them in moments only for Chrysalis to project a shield for her to slam into.

“So cowardly she attacks her sister from behind, so cowardly she cripples said sister and cannot kill her with her own hooves!” She turned and bucked the fake Faraday in the nose hard enough to make her fall back and have her disguise flicker momentarily. “So cowardly she hides at the Hive and torments me from afar, rather than face me head on!”

Twilight burst from a nearby side street and slid to a stop behind Chrysalis, eyes wide and magic flickering along her horn. The fake Faraday chuckled, her disguise shedding and the changeling within glaring down at Chrysalis. She appeared to be a regular Changeling, but Chrysalis’ eyes grew wide and she hesitated, biting her lip.

“If I’m a coward, why do you not strike me down, Chryssie?”

“Chrysalis, is this-“ Twilight began,

“Thistle, how dare you?! You would bring Circlet into this? How low can you stoop before it is distasteful even for you?! Release her!”

“Release her?” The changeling parroted, “Oh, from my magic? Well, if you’re so eager to watch her die, I suppose I can allow it; after all, end one and I might as well end the other, right? Before I do so, all I wish to convey is my thanks; thanks for leaving me the Hive, thanks for being weak enough to let me become Queen: there’s more power than I ever dreamed of in the Hive!”

Chrysalis’ throat caught. “Wh-what did you say..?”

“Hmm?”

“What have you done? Thistle, what have you done?!”

The Changeling only grinned. “Til later, Chryssie.”

Chrysalis hurried forth and slammed her good hoof onto the changeling’s shoulder, putting herself nose to nose with her. “They’ll find out, Thistle; mark my words! You won’t get away with this! The Hive will know!”

The changeling smiled wide and spitefully before the green glow in her eyes faded and they returned to their usual blue. Her eyes went wide, staring in disbelief at Chrysalis before they shut and clenched tight in agony, and her body slumped to the ground.

As if she were simply desiccating, the body of the female changeling began to shrivel and atrophy. Legs became spindly and bone-like, her stomach sank and her chest became gossamer and full of ribs. Her breathing was hard, fast and raspy, and she writhed on the ground in pain.

With a last force of strength, she opened her eyes and glanced at Chrysalis, who stared down at her with tears streaming from her face. Finally, her body grew still and her eyes lost focus, staring ahead at a horizon that would never greet her again.

Chrysalis stared out across the town, blood dripping from her chin as it oozed from her bit-into lip and tears joining it on the ground at her hooves. She could feel herself shaking and heaving each breath as she looked at the stunned and shocked faces of the ponies in town around her. She felt a hoof rest on her back, and she turned to see Twilight and the others looking down at her, faces of sympathy and worry and, especially in Fluttershy’s case, tears of their own.

She’d bitten her lip during the pain-filled moments of the changeling’s death to hold in the bile that had been rising in her stomach, now long forgotten and content to remain where it was and she gave a gasp of her own before screaming out her sorrow loud enough to be heard across the whole of the ghostly still and silent town of Ponyville.

*&*&*&*

Princess Celestia’s carriage landed with a heavy thud and rattle of bearings out front of the Carousel Boutique, the majestic diarch stepping down from the ornate transport with her younger sister and her niece at her sides. They moved inside with a discreet knock, giving quick and cheerful greetings despite the sombre occasion. Celestia sighed.

Cadance still hadn’t been told.

She blamed her own distaste of conflict, not looking forward to the verbal lashing that she knew her niece would give her – and possibly her husband – once told.

So, like it were a usual day of visiting the favourite sister-in-law, she and Twilight performed their usual silly little dance and giggled alongside one another, though Twilight with unsurprisingly less cheer than usual. This did not go unnoticed by Celestia and Luna, though it apparently slipped by Cadance altogether.

Celestia gave Rarity a sad glance. “How is she?”

Rarity looked up from her cup of tea, lowering the teacup to its saucer with a faint clink and a sad expression before looking away, seemingly unable to maintain eye contact.

“How is who?” Cadance asked curiously.

Celestia sighed once again and motioned with her head. “Rarity, if you could lead us to her. Cadance, come with us; there is something you need to see.”

As the three walked off into the building, Luna turned to Applejack.

“Where didst thou put the cadaver?”

Applejack looked confused. “Tha what?”

“The changeling, Circlet, is currently in the Library’s basement.” Twilight said sadly. “It… it seemed like the most respectable place to put her, all things considered.”

Luna nodded. She was worried that it had been claimed by the local hospital for dissection and study, or as some sort of trophy by the… less scrupulous of citizens. The invasion, after all, had brought out the best, and worst, in everypony.

Rarity led the royal pair up to the storage room in which Chrysalis was currently residing, stopping and holding a hoof up for them to wait a moment before knocking.

“They’re here.”

The door clicked and swung open a small amount, and the faint sound of knitting needles clicking together at a rather impressive pace could be heard. Celestia sighed and nudged the door open as she stepped into the storage room, waiting for Cadance to follow her.

The younger princess managed a few steps before her eyes fell on Chrysalis in her basket, back turned, knitting needles held in her magic and waving at such a speed that it was impressive the wood did not catch fire.

“You...”

Her knitting stopped, the needles halting and simply remaining in place as Chrysalis waited for the next line of Cadance’s furious spiel to begin. When no words came, she merely sighed.

“At least your husband had the decency to call me names.” She said with a cracking voice. “He knew what he wanted, but you… you don’t, do you? You don’t know if you want to kill me, ignore me, find out what I’m doing here in the home of your sister-in-law’s friend, or ask why I’m as crippled as I am and somehow find sympathy for me. I didn’t imagine that Celestia would have told you that I’m here, nor that you would accompany her for this.” She paused and her head lowered faintly, her knitting now lying forgotten on the carpet. “Not that this becomes any easier or harder with your presence.”

Celestia stepped closer and lowered her head. “What happened?”

“It would be easier to explain to everypony at once.” She replied.

Celestia nodded and lifted the basket that Chrysalis lay within onto her back before stepping out of the room past Cadance, the younger alicorn getting a brief glimpse at her nemesis’ face and her fury freezing in response.

Never had she seen somepony quite so broken.

The four ponies returned to the living room, the quiet and otherwise pointless conversation going on within halting when they did. Chrysalis’ basket was placed on one of the cushions in the room, and the ponies who had been accompanying her down from what Rarity and Sweetie Belle were calling ‘her room’, sat nearby.

“All Twilight’s letter said is that there was an attack earlier today.” Celestia said. “A changeling from your Hive took the form of one of the town’s residents and attacked you, the fight ending disastrously for her.”

“Circlet was the fiancé of my last descendant, my last grandfoal. After his death, she… she held me accountable for being unable to save his life and voiced her detestation of me; I… I did not consider her an ally or a familial confidante after that.” Chrysalis explained. “Still, however, I held her in my heart as closely as I would a daughter. Thistle was well aware of these things; she has always been aware of those I love. She… she told me…”

Celestia lay down and folded a wing around her.

“A short while before I began impersonating Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, my last grandfoal died during a cave in; this I have stated before. I never knew the cause of the cave in, we could never discover the fault in the stone where it happened. Now I know that… witch caused it. While she was controlling Circlet, it was something she said, probably to catch me off guard. ‘End one and I might as well end the other’. She murdered my great grandfoal in cold blood!”

There was a general nervous shuffling in the room as everypony allowed her time to collect herself enough to continue.

“She said she came here to ‘thank me’ for leaving her the Hive, for leaving so much power to her at the Hive…”

“She’s Queen, isn’t she?” Rainbow Dash asked. “That is a fair amount of power right there.”

Chrysalis shook her head. “No, no, you misunderstand. Did you see the way that Circlet… died? The way she seemed to simply mummify? Tell me, you do have ice, yes?” There was a collective affirmative from the seated ponies. “Do you know what would happen if you were to draw the water from a cube of ice, leaving only the suspended elements?”

Cadance, Luna and Twilight gasped, while Celestia stared down at Chrysalis with shocked, wide eyes.

“There is an ancient saying;” Chrysalis mumbled, “’you are what you eat.’ What powers Changeling magic?”

Rainbow Dash replied quickly. “Love.”

“And what do changelings eat?”

“Love.”

“So what are changelings made of?”

For a moment, the room was dead silent as the dots connected into a rather unpleasant image. Chrysalis nodded as realization dawned. “That’s right; she thanked me for leaving her a Hive full of power. Love is power and, as most Drones are essentially made of Love…” She hissed a furious breath before finishing her sentence, “she’s going to cannibalize the Hive! That is why Circlet died how she did! All that kept her alive was the control magic that Thistle pumped her full of, and when she cancelled her spell, that magic dissipated and Circlet starved to death in an instant!

“I don’t know if the draining spell she is using works on ponies, either. It’s never been attempted before, and using it on another changeling is supposed to be forbidden aside from when rulership of the Hive is transferred.”

“I doubt it would be fatal on ponies,” Twilight mumbled hypothetically, “I mean, if we truly are what we eat then draining a pony dry with it would be impossible. We eat food, and the only thing even close to an energy that can be drained from us in the same sense is magic in Unicorns, and even then being out of magic, using it up until we can’t, only leads to nausea and extreme fatigue. Worst case scenario and she does try to drain our love dry, I’m sure that we could overpower her some other way…”

Chrysalis sighed and nodded. “When I was banished, I saw a few border towns during my… flight; at first I was unsure if she would ignore them on her way into Equestria, as I did during the invasion, to avoid being detected. Now all I can say is that she’ll ignore them because she’s not going to focus on feeding the Hive. She’ll be coming straight here.”

“How can thou be sure of that?” Luna asked. “By thine own admissions she is not of sound mind; her actions would be unpredictable, would they not?”

Chrysalis shook her head. “Her insanity is still driven by two things; power and a goal. She wants more power; which she’ll get by… by draining every changeling at the Hive dry. Her second goal has been shown already: she’s after me. Not for the means of draining for more power, she wants to torment me, to torture me as long and as cruelly as possible.” She growled faintly under her breath, “She wants to hurt me. Now she’s simply proven that there’s nothing to which she will not lower herself to get at me. No act too taboo.”

She rounded on Celestia, her eyes narrowed to slits. “Any changeling that comes from that Hive could be a puppet, a weapon, a tool to use against Equestria or at the very least me.” Her eyes flicked to Cadance for a moment before returning to the solar diarch. “I will not ask you to risk the lives or safety of your ponies, and no number of Royal Guards could possibly stand between her and her goals.”

Celestia nodded with her face as stoic as usual before asking, “How much power could she stand to gain?”

“Your Hive is half starved as it is; there cannot possibly be that much power there.” Cadance added.

Chrysalis gave her a dirty glare. “What love I had left over from the assault I put into the Hive’s reserves, and there was more in that reserve than what I used when I attacked Celestia. Add to that the very body of a few hundred thousand changelings and whatever ambient affection she is gathering from her unaware supporters… She will become powerful, possibly even as powerful as either of you two.” She motioned to Princesses Celestia and Luna respectively. “Before I was worried that she would simply go on a killing spree across Equestria; that could at least be halted by your own guards, but now..? She’s going to go around murdering every changeling at the Hive, and then...

“She’ll come straight here.”

For a few awkward moments the ponies in the room stood or sat about simply to process this information. Another creature as powerful as the Princesses? It was like the Discord event all over again. Chrysalis shuddered to think what might come about from the supposed god of chaos potentially teaming up with a power-mad Thistle.

A shiver went up her spine, a sense long since forgotten screaming for her attention.

“My, my, you Shadow certainly got yourselves into a pickle, didn’t you? I mean, after all these years you’re still the same ponies I remember and yet you’re more feared in Equestria than ever!”

An oddly shaped shadow on the wall moved and warped, growing volume and colour until the so named lord of discord was standing in the room with them. Or, rather, floating; he was wearing a top hat and monocle and was drinking from an apparently empty mug with a curly straw that seemed to defy the laws of both physics and matter, passing through itself (and other dimensions) in several places. He smiled down at Chrysalis’ terrified face with a smug laugh.

“Ah, I can still inspire fear in some of the lesser races. Shadow is correct, right; or do you prefer to go by Changelings these days? It’s so hard to keep up with the times.” As he spoke a clock flashed into existence in his hand, only to race past them at a pace which Rainbow Dash found impressive.

Celestia sighed. “Discord, now is really not the time.”

“Oh, but you know what they say, Princess; no time like the present. So, how is our widdle Shadow doing? All nicely hunkered in and ready for beddie byes?” He reached in and pinched Chrysalis’ cheek, wobbling her face back and forth for a moment before she shook her head free and snapped at his hand.

“I’ll have none of you, monster!” She snarled, before glaring at Celestia. “What in Tartarus is he doing out of his statue?!”

“Oh, the usual; working for peace, harmony and the betterment of Pony life.” Discord said, brushing unseen dust from his arm with a bored ‘been here, done that’ look on his face. He noticed Rarity giving him a dirty look and he held up his hands. “I know, I know; no rearranging the merchandise. I learned my lesson last time. Still, I didn’t think you had it in you to light a magical fire on me; most ponies are rather afraid when it comes to pyrotechnics.”

“We sort of… rehabilitated Discord to our side.” Twilight explained, giving him a weary glance as he conjured a couch and promptly sat on the ceiling. “To an extent, anyway.”

“In any case, there’s not much we can do without access to the Hive or some plan to stop your sister; since gaining access to the Hive is now more of a death trap than ever before, the best we can do is plan for her arrival. I’m sorry, Chrysalis, but there’s simply nothing else we can do.” Celestia informed carefully.

Chrysalis nodded. “After the sullying of the Bad Lands, I suppose this was an inevitable end. I’ve only myself to blame.”

“Something you’re all too capable of doing.” Cadance mumbled, before being nudged by Luna.

“Thank you for your input Mrs Armour, I’ll be sure to remember that when I attempt to sleep for the next year, Mrs Armour.” Chrysalis hissed through gritted teeth, growling the words ‘Mrs Armour’ as angrily as she could manage.

“You are not the only one at fault.” Celestia stated. “There was a thousand years for me to attempt to find the Hive and establish relations, all of which I spent on other matters. I suppose I simply thought that the changelings had settled and were keeping out of Equetria’s business, content to hide from any of our… less pleasant incidents.”

“You know the story as well as I do Princess; we went into hiding because ponies hated us, feared us. In return, we fled from Equestria to be free of the rampant paranoia and hatred that followed us wherever we went.”

“I suppose you’re going to blame me for that, are you?”

Chrysalis gave Discord a cold glare. “If it wasn’t for you changing how we accrued magic, we’d never have been so shunned! After all, what could be more terrifying to ponies than a creature that feeds off of them to grow more powerful, that can look like any one of them? You made us into a race of emotional monsters with perfect camouflage, a danger that could hide around any corner or be anypony imaginable. And what about what you did to the Sea Ponies, huh? That song you drove into their heads until they couldn’t think anything else? My grandmother barely got that vile twist out of their minds before they fled, en masse, into the depths of the ocean!”

Discord chuckled. “Ah, the good old days…” he mused, “Shoop-bee-doo indeed… That was before this whole ‘harmony’ thing became so widespread and, might I add, hard to snuff out.” He looked down at the Elements of Harmony with one eye, all of whom were watching him wearily. “Yes, I mean you.”

“Don’t make me force you to say the line, Discord; you know how much you hate it.” Twilight retorted.

Discord only waved a paw in her direction dismissively, conjuring a coconut with straw and small cocktail umbrella into his other hand. “Bah.” He drained the coconut in one unfathomably long suck of the straw –which somehow managed to pull the entire coconut into his mouth along with whatever he was drinking- before tucking the cocktail umbrella behind Chrysalis’ ear and standing up.

Well, up was subjective; to everypony else he stood down.

“Well, as much as I’d love to hang around here with you party animals,” he clicked his fingers and caused leis of flowers to appear around their necks as he spoke, “I have things to do.”

“’Things’? Thou does not do ‘things’; thou hast lazed about the castle the last two months lamenting your boredom.”

Discord chuckled. “Times change, little Luna;” he stated mirthfully, “you’d be amazed at what a little chaos can accomplish.”

“Discord…” Twilight warned.

“Without being malicious.” He added, before clicking his fingers and vanishing in a bright flash of light.

“Huh.” Rainbow Dash blurted after an awkward pause, “I wonder what he meant by that?”

Chrysalis huffed. “I, for one, do not care.” She grumbled. “For now, all I want is to go back to my knitting and forget.”

Twilight nodded and levitated Chrysalis’ basket, carrying her through the room. “I’ll just take Chrysalis back to her room and then come back, alright?”

The room hummed their agreements, and Cadance followed Twilight. She was still unsure of the ex-monarch, Twilight knew, and was obviously just keeping her eye on her newest sister-in-law. After they reached the top of the stairs, Twilight felt compelled to break the awkward and slightly hostile silence.

“Chrysalis, I have to know; when Circlet was…” she searched for a word she could use but came up empty hooved, “dying, why did you force yourself to watch?”

Chrysalis huffed. “It almost broke me, to be honest.” She mumbled. “But… if you were dying in great pain, thousands of miles from home with only one of your kind left to bear witness, would you not want them to remember? Would you not want them to be able to remember your last moments, so as to relay them to your family and friends?

“I attended every funeral open to the Hive. Wept alongside widowed wife, husband, child, sibling, or parent at every one; I remember names from before you were born, names from before your grandparents were born. I forced myself to watch because, while it tore at my heart, I would not have forgiven myself for ignoring her pain. Ponies imagine that being immortal like the Princesses or I would be a gift, a miraculous blessing. It’s not. While my family, my friends, lovers, even my children grew old and died, I never changed. It’s not a blessing to be ageless, Miss Sparkle; it’s a curse full of death, sadness and loss.

“I would never ask for much, Miss Sparkle; not after everything that has happened and everything that you and your friends have done for me, but I only ask that a funeral for Circlet be possible. I can give details if it is.” She looked up at Twilight sadly with tears welling in her eyes. “If your princesses wish to have dissection performed to study our anatomy, I will allow it provided that it is respectable and non-invasive.”

“’Non-invasive dissection’? What on Equestria..?”

“Her head and face are to be left intact, and no information may be given to the guard.” Twilight said calmly. “The Gryphons had the same deal with us during the Equestria-Gryphon war. I don’t think that the princesses would want to have her studied, but I cannot say that the scientific advisor would not strongly voice for one.”

Chrysalis sighed. “As I said, I will not voice against it. I just… I…”

“You want closure.” Cadance finished for her.

“I don’t want it.” Chrysalis breathed, “I need it.”

Twilight’s magic flicked the door to Chrysalis’ storage room open, and she gently placed the changeling’s basket back where it had come from in the centre of the room. She turned back and stepped out of the room quietly, not waiting for Cadance to follow her.

The pair of royals needed some time alone.

“Princess Mi Amore,”

“Hmm?”

Chrysalis sighed, levitating her knitting and hesitating. “I… I know I can never ask, nor expect, for forgiveness for what I have done in the past, and I will never ask for something that I know you cannot give, but I would ask that, even if you cannot forgive me, you can at least accept me. I don’t want to pretend that you and I can be friends, nor that we could ever get along after what I did to you, but…” She trailed off and shook her head, the needles she held in her magic clicking in tandem slowly. “Forget it, it doesn’t-“

Cadance’s hoof came to rest on her shoulder, and she looked over at it before looking up into Cadance’s grinning face quizzically.

“Though they rarely see eye to eye, even Celestia and Discord can get along.” She said. “So why can’t we?”

“Because I ruined your wedding, the supposed happiest day of your life.”

“Have you ever been married, Chrysalis?”

The changeling gave a faint chuckle. “Once, a long time ago,” she sighed faintly, “I buried him, too. Still I wish he didn’t need to go, that time wouldn’t claim my dearest Shred, and still there are nights I pine after his company…”

“Then you know why I can forgive your one transgression, as severe as it was.” Cadance quietly said. “Because, like you must have felt with your husband, every day I spend with Shining is the happiest day of my life. I know it must be hard for you to understand, let alone accept it; but I can at least partially forgive you.

“We’ll never become best friends, that much is certain; but… we can at least be begrudging allies. You need a friend more than another enemy.” She gave a chuckle before continuing. “I mean, who else am I going to talk with about Shining’s snoring? Twilight doesn’t believe me!”

Chrysalis smiled. “Yes, he was rather bad for the period I was impersonating you.” She mumbled. “Like he had a playing card lodged in his sinuses.”

Cadance giggled. “See, Chrysalis? We don’t have to be best friends, but we can still get along.

“Who needs enemies, when you can make friends?”

Festivities

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After the surprise attack from a mind-controlled Circlet, and the subsequent funeral pyre two nights later, Rarity and her friends saw very little of Chrysalis outside the arranged meetings with royal representatives and whenever she was being used as Rarity’s sewing model. What they did hear from her outside these times was when she had cleaned the Boutique from top to bottom; even the attic storage had no signs of cobwebs or dust. After completing this feat, she had asked Rarity if some more woollen thread could be possible. Readily Rarity agreed.

After cleaning so much of the Boutique, shining even the doorknobs to the nth degree without being seen by any of the others, Rarity had shifted some things around and replaced the fabrics in Chrysalis’ room with nothing but woollen thread.

Her room; that was another thing that had changed over the weeks that Chrysalis had stayed at the Boutique. Apart from gaining its goldmine of woollen thread and the pony that was using it, it had also gained some other bits and pieces. Small knitted stuffed toys were slowly but surely adding up wherever a spot was available. She’d been freed of needing her leg splinted and she had relished the feeling of walking normally once more; she’d walked laps around her room just to get used to the motions once more.

Chrysalis had been hiding her latest work at every opportunity, burying it behind the wool in the shelves or trying to cover it with her own form and blanket whenever someone entered the room like a foal caught doing something they weren’t supposed to do. Rarity, ever the nosy big sister, had been trying to peer around Chrysalis on the time she had been protectively hiding her work to see what it was. Of course, Chrysalis would have none of this and ensure that Rarity saw as little as possible.

Sweetie Belle had been asking questions about the attack in the street for the first week since it had occurred, as well as about the funeral pyre that she had been present for but not quite understood the purpose of. Her questions had been silenced the Wednesday after they began before Rarity and Fluttershy met up at the Day Spa when Chrysalis had been in the room when she was asking Rarity. Despite saying that she had put it into her past, that she had buried it with everything else she had parted ways with in the past, Chrysalis had removed the dress that Rarity was working on at the time and simply walked out of the room. It was clear that she had been struck harder than she cared to admit.

On each report that Rarity sent each week, she pointed out her worry over the changeling’s clearly low morale and deteriorated eagerness to be amongst others, her reluctance to connect. She’d all but bottled herself up and this was worrying the alabaster unicorn to no end.

It wasn’t until Princess Luna had arrived almost a month after her initial discovery beneath the Ponyville Park Bridge that she had actually opened up in any sense. Chrysalis knew of Luna’s less than pristine past, oh yes; what being in Equestria didn’t know about Nightmare Moon in even the smallest way?

Chrysalis had talked with her like she was a kindred spirit, no tactical information or anything of that nature was shared; they just talked. Talk of times long past and of the changes in the world; talk of family and of the homes they had once held, now long out of reach. Luna had admitted that she had nopony to blame but herself that her home had been all but demolished; it was her blind jealousy and hatred that had destroyed her ancestral home after all.

After the awkward silence that fell during a lull in conversation, caused by each royal lost in thought over their own pasts, Princess Luna broke the silence asking if Chrysalis was aware of the upcoming holiday.

Chrysalis had only chuckled. “Of course, Princess; one does not spy on another nation without learning of their holidays.”

“Dost thou plan to do anything with the others? We are sure that thy friends would appreciate it immensely. We hear that Miss Pinkie Pie holds grand banquets in honour of the season and her friends.”

Chrysalis sighed. “Knowing Miss Pinkie, the gathering would likely have no less than two hundred ponies in attendance; I loathe being amongst that many of Ponyville’s citizens. Every day somepony catches me within the boutique while Rarity works on some dress or other…” She sighed. “Always the same questions; ‘Did you know that thing?’ ‘Was it your friend?’ ‘How did you kill it like that?’” She grumbled and shifted in her basket uncomfortably. “Nopony ever seems to find it unkind or uncouth; never does it seem to occur to them how much it did, and still continues to even now tear at my heart.” She huffed in a poor attempt to quell the tears from her eyes. “It is as if they think I enjoyed watching Circlet…”

“We understand.” Luna hastily cut in, holding a hoof up to halt her words. “And thine fears for Pinkie’s gathering are, while usually quite appropriate, lost in this case. She invites only her closest friends and their families. Twilight Sparkle, her young ward Spike, Applejack and her family, Rarity and Sweetie Belle, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash are usually those in attendance if the missives from Twilight are any indication. If I’m correct, the friend of Applejack and Rarity’s sisters, Scootaloo, is usually brought along so as to let her not feel left out.”

“If you say so, Princess.” Chrysalis mumbled. Her horn had been glittering the whole time they were sitting in the room, and a faint click-clicking of needles could be heard from behind a bundle of wool.

“Cadance has been wondering if thou hast been interested in finding a special somepony.” Luna said bluntly.

The sudden comment and its sheer left-field nature made Chrysalis jolt her head up sharply. A knitting needle shot across the room from within the storage cubbyholes and bounced against the far wall, narrowly missing the changeling’s head. She stared at Luna as if she had grown a second head before glaring irritated when the alicorn dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“We thought that would get thy attention.” She said mirthfully, smiling down at her less than pleased face. “Ah, don’t be so uptight, Chrysalis; we merely jest.”

“Everypony is toying with me these days.” Chrysalis grumbled in reply as her magic collected the knitting needle and she returned to her work. Her horn flared a little brighter and her figure was engulfed in heatless emerald flames, replaced by the form of a young-looking Nightmare Moon. “Some forget that we, also, can play.”

Luna blanched and reeled her head back for a moment before giving Chrysalis a dry glare. “How do thou even know what that… witch looks like?”

Chrysalis chuckled, her voice distorted to sound like Princess Luna probably had when she was about the same age as Sweetie Belle. “Ah, one finds all kinds of images in old newspapers.” She said listlessly. “Not to mention that there is a statue of her just within the forest.” Her eyes went wide and she gave Luna a cheeky grin. “Hay, do you think we should stop by Miss Twilight’s library and claim that I’m your daughter? The look on her face would be priceless!”

Luna chuckled at the thought. “We believe that our sister’s protégée would see through such a ruse; she is smarter than she looks.”

“Since she looks like a scholar, she must be sharp as a spear.” Chrysalis commented before fire flared around her once more and she returned to her usual appearance. “Her usual routine of writing down anything I say when meeting with other representatives would only reinforce that methinks.”

“Miss Sparkle does have an oddity with fastidiousness in her education and gathering information, we must admit. She spent several weeks obsessing over getting us to speak as modern Equestrians do.”

“I take it that didn’t go well. Your speech isn’t exactly up to date.” Chrysalis commented.

“After the third day she had resolved to hide in her suite and deny entrance to all but Celestia;” Luna said with a calm tone, “our sister mentioned later something about the Want-it-need-it spell and that Twilight had been a hairs’ breadth from breaking down mentally.” She gave Chrysalis a cheeky grin. “To this day Miss Sparkle’s eye twitches irritably at our speech; ‘tis most amusing.”

The sound of Chrysalis’ hidden knitting halted and she gave Luna a wary eye. “You can speak as well as any of us can, can’t you?”

Luna appeared to avoid the question for a short moment, struggling to keep her face straight before she gave a hearty chuckle. “Oh yes, but it was quite amusing.”

“I’m sure that your sister wouldn’t see it that way; she’d argue for hours that you were attempting to break one of the Elements of Harmony, and then proceed to lecture you on how much of a danger to Equestria that would be.”

Luna gave an amused sigh. “Ah yes, our sister can be quite the ‘stick in the mud’ as we believe ponies say these days.”

“Tormenting her prized pupil until she refuses to leave her room is hardly the way to change that; if anything she’ll only become even more of a fuddy-duddy.” She grinned conspiratorially to her conversation partner. “However, that being said; if you ever want somepony to… accomplice or brainstorm pranks for your sister, I would be quite willing to offer my services.”

“We will consider thy proposal.” Luna said warmly. “Provided, of course, that thou consider going to Miss Pinkie Pie’s Hearth Warming feast.”

Chrysalis huffed, “I… suppose I can fit it into my schedule.”

Luna gave a smile as she stood to leave. “We thought that thou would see it our way.” She hummed. A bag of Bits popped into the air between the two after a brief burst of the Princess’s magic and she slid it closer to Chrysalis. “Should thou wish to purchase anything to gift others;” she said calmly, “thou should find three hundred Bits within. Take it merely as a gesture of good will for the season; it is unlikely the Royal Vault will miss them. Well, while this has been an enjoyable meeting, there are matters to which we must attend in Canterlot. We shall see thee again in time, Chrysalis; have a pleasant week.”

Chrysalis dipped her head respectfully. “Of course, Princess; thank you for keeping me company for the last few hours, I… guess I needed it.”

Luna smiled. “Anything to get us out of the reach of our niece’s antics; she replaced our sister’s bathing soaps for frothing dyes. Celestia was a rather fetching shade of blue for hours.”

‘At least I know what gaining her ire will be like.’ Chrysalis mused internally.

“Be sure to check your bed for creepy-crawlies, Princess; Mi Amore sounds the vindictive sort.”

Luna chuckled. “Thou wouldst know, we suppose.” She said, before stepping out into the hall and closing the door behind her.

Chrysalis gave an amused sigh before floating her knitted work out from its hiding place and giving a disgruntled huff and starting to rescue the several stitches she had dropped.

*&*&*&*

A few more days passed, and the town had only become more festive with each passing hour. Streamers and lights decorated streets and houses –in some cases not doing what they were expected to do- and evergreen birch trees had been erected all throughout the quaint little town covered in the customary decorations of the season.

Snow, long the plaything of foals in winter, was sculpted into rough snow ponies or other things. The snow out front Ponyville’s library had been roughly shaped into a dragon, complete with coal eyes and rock spines, by Spike, and the snow out front of the boutique had a pair of sculptures, one by each Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Sweetie’s was simplistic and clearly of foal’s skill; a modest snow pony the likes of which was occupying home front yards the world over. Rarity’s, by comparison, was an ice sculpture. She’d used her magic to compress the snow into crystal clear ice when she had it in the formation she wanted, and the front of the Boutique now had a large rose sculpted from ice adding to its decorations.

Chrysalis had declined adding her own to the yard; much as she was sure they would like her to add to the building’s decoration she was sure they didn’t want her outdoing them with her fifteen-hundred years of experience.

She’d finished what she had been crafting in secret, with each of them hidden away where she was confident that Sweetie Belle would not look or at least could not reach. For now, anyway; she was waiting calmly at the bottom of the stairs, beyond the doors of the Boutique’s showroom, for Rarity’s latest client to return to their day with her scarf around her neck, a woollen saddle around her middle, and a set of boots that Rarity had made for her to go outside in. Black, of course; like most everything else she wore. She could have taken the appearance of anypony else to keep warm, but that felt… dishonest. Currently she also had a pair of saddlebags –hoof-stitched by Rarity- with the bag of Bits that Princess Luna had given her within the left one.

Rarity’s client paid for the jacket they had purchased and left with a polite ‘thank you’. The bell over the front door signalled their leaving, and cued Chrysalis to approach. With reluctance she nuzzled the door into the showroom open and stepped in, the attention of the fashionista upon her almost the moment she stepped into the room.

“Good afternoon Chrysalis, was there something you needed?”

“I was about to go into town to get some things.” She replied, her tone more of that used for asking permission than stating intentions. “Thought that you might want to know where I would be going should you want me for anything is all.”

Rarity nodded. “Of course; it’s nice to see you out and about at last. Staying within that little room won’t have done your complexion any-“

“Rarity, my complexion can’t change unless I’m ill.” Chrysalis chided.

Rarity gave a nervous chuckle. “Of course, I’ll see you when you return.”

Chrysalis nodded and, with a flick of her magic to open the door, strolled out into the street. The first thing she was assailed by was the cold; she’d all but sequestered herself away into the Boutique and her room, and as such she gave a heavy shudder as the cold reminded her of the season. After tugging her scarf closer to herself, she strode off up the street, first in search of a place that sold boxes.

She espied a Pegasus with grey fur, blonde mane and tail, and skewed eyes meandering down the street in her general direction with several such boxes on her back. Warily she approached this pony, who she had been informed was named Ditzy Doo but that everyone affectionately called her Derpy for her… less than fantastic spatial awareness. This was unfortunately displayed when she walked past a lamppost and turned sharply, managing to hit her head against it and earn herself a nice coating of snow.

“Excuse me, Ms Doo?”

The wall-eyed mare’s face turned towards the changeling with a casual and easy going smile, ignoring the snow that capped her nose like a little party hat.

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering if you could tell me where you got the boxes that you’re carrying. I don’t exactly know the town very well…”

To her credit, the mare continued to ignore the snow that was surely making her colder and pointed down the street. “Keep walkin’ down the street until you come to Crate’s Packaging store; usually they only do transportation of goods, but at Hearth’s Warming they sell decorated boxes for a good price.” She looked down at her hooves and slowly twirled one in a circle, the snow on her face mostly falling to the ground and leaving but a powdering upon her nose. “I’m not really that good at wrapping presents so I just buy boxes; my girls don’t seem to mind.”

Chrysalis smiled and nodded, this was what she loved about the season. It wasn’t how it was wrapped, or even if the gift was something that was wanted, it was the thought behind it that mattered most. Even her changelings, who had difficulty making ends meet, had celebrated Hearth’s Warming in their own way. For them, it had been a time to get together with friends and family and remember those that they had once met up with at the same time of year; it wasn’t about food or gifts, but family and friends and the bonds that they shared.

With a sigh her smile faded as she wondered what the Hive would be doing this year; cowering in fear of the sudden culling that her sister was bringing upon them was what she hoped. That thought at least let her think that they knew where their end would be, who it was caused by. It was unlikely, not to mention a pitiable and terrible little thought, but it was all the hope she had.

“Here, let me assist you with that;” she mumbled, her magic sparking to life and lifting the snow from Ditzy Doo’s form before depositing it upon the street. She gave a weak smile to the mare before moving to walk off. “Thank you for your help, Miss Doo; have a good day.”

Ditzy watched her walk off with a perplexed look, waving a hoof half-heartedly to her retreating form. “Yeah, you too…”

Nopony noticed the spot of ice where Chrysalis had stood, resting sourly amongst thousands of its brethren on the snow-covered streets.

Chrysalis looked into the building she had been given directions to, the storefront painted green with the words ‘Crate’s Shipping Co’ written neatly upon its face announcing what the building was for. She had expected a queue of ponies waiting to purchase boxes or arrange shipping of one thing or another. Instead she found the building empty besides the festive decorations and example packaging on display.

After a moment’s trepidation, she stepped across the threshold and began looking about. Her eyes examined display after display, looking at the patterns and sizes before she walked over to the counter and reared up to ring the bell. After a few moments a female Pegasus appeared from one of the back rooms and peered over the counter at her.

“Can I help you?”

Chrysalis nodded. “I’d like three medium boxes of your green and white assortment, and one of the tall and thin boxes of the same sort please?”

The mare nodded. “That’ll be fourteen Bits; take a moment while I fetch them from the storeroom to sort your Bits.”

Chrysalis nodded and opened her saddlebag, reaching into the purse of Bits within and fetching out the required amount. They landed upon the counter with a healthy clink and the mare returned with the requested boxes, placing them upon the counter where Chrysalis could see them. A swift hoof claimed the Bits and swept them into the till, almost as if they had never been there in the first place. With a flick of her magic the set of boxes levitated down and onto Chrysalis’ back where she held her wings up to hold them steady. She gave the mare one final thanks before leaving the store and heading towards the familiar scent from her welcome party.

It wasn’t long before she came upon the store, and she looked about the entrance before nudging the door open and strolling in. Again she looked at the wares on display, gauging her available Bits and the probable tastes of Rarity and her friends before stepping over to the counter and ringing the bell.

A pink earth pony mare with an off-pink mane and a cutie mark of a bunch of purple grapes and a strawberry appeared over the counter, looking about the room confusedly before her gaze turned down to the changeling who only looked back.

“Can I… help you?”

Chrysalis nodded. “I was wondering if I could purchase-“

“Whoa, whoa, you’re a little young to be buying alcohol aren’t you? I can’t sell you anything; I’d lose my liquor license.” She cut in, holding a hoof up.

Chrysalis huffed. “How old do you think I am?” She asked irritably.

The pony waved a hoof. “You look to be about, what, five? Yeah, you look about the same age as those girls that my little Pinchy goes to school with, the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

With a grumble Chrysalis nodded. “Multiply your guess by three hundred,” she said, “that’s my age. I don’t grow up without masses of magic; I could literally be this size until I die; whenever that will be.”

The mare shrugged. “Whatever your story is, I can’t sell you anything without identification; I mean no offense, but I don’t want to lose my livelihood.”

Chrysalis sighed. “I understand, sorry for the inconvenience.”

And with that she turned and strolled out, leaving the confused mare behind.

While she had been somewhat let down by the liquor store and being reminded that her appearance was that of a foal, Chrysalis was still determined to accomplish what she had headed out for, it would just be a little different.

She headed for the building which she had been informed by Twilight was her home and the town library, the largest tree within the town. She’d found it peculiar that the library was a tree, of all things, but supposedly it had been created by an earth pony back when the town was still young. His aim was to see how much of the tree he could convert to a building without killing it, and the tree had, under his earth pony hooves and magic, allowed him to create a particularly spacious library which had stood in place since.

It took a lot of care to ensure that it didn’t outgrow the building within, but the townsponies managed quite well. It had even survived the residence of Twilight Sparkle; at least, so far.

She knocked on the door to the building… tree… house..? It didn’t take long for somepony to open the door, in this instance being the young dragon companion of Twilight’s, Spike. She’d met him once or twice in the past month when he would come over to Rarity’s boutique and assist her in odd ways. A mobile pincushion, somepony to hold things up for her… He’d been taken out by her a couple of times to the local quarry to dig up gems, the dragon having claws well suited for digging up the valuables and, of course, being all too willing to go if only to be around Rarity.

It didn’t take fifteen hundred years of experience to notice that he had a heavy crush on the ivory unicorn. Still, it wasn’t her place to do anything about it; Rarity would most likely not approve.

Spike had been complaining to himself before he opened the door.

“I don’t understand why ponies keep knocking on the door of a public library; it’s like they’ve forgotten they can just walk right in.” he looked out at the visitor and gave a start of alarm.

Chrysalis’ eyes half lidded at him irritably. “Good afternoon to you too, dragon.”

She stepped in past him, over to a writing desk where some paper, a quill and some ink lay in wait; probably for Twilight to write out some notes or something of the sort. After she struggled to sit up into the chair, she gazed almost disinterestedly at the parchment as her magic gripped the quill and began to write in a fine, spidery print.

“Princess Celestia has informed me that you are capable of sending mail to her magically,” she said to the room in general; since there were no other ponies (or beings) available in the room besides herself and Spike, the dragon gave a grunt of affirmation, “Are you capable of transporting parcels in the same manner?”

Spike nodded reluctantly. “I’m… willing to send some stuff to her if you need me to. Usually I only send Twilight’s reports, or I guess now Rarity’s as well. Sometimes some… luggage is added. The only thing I can’t really do is send lots of stuff in quick succession unless I have the hiccups… though I remember coughing up a lot of letters from the Princess when Discord first returned.” He groaned audibly. “That hurt my tummy…”

Chrysalis gave a faint chuckle, trying to imagine Spike being practically bound to his bed as the Princess used him to deliver scroll after scroll. After a flourish of the quill to sign her name, she rolled the scroll up and levitated the tall slender box from her back and the Bits from her saddlebags. She stuffed the purse into the box and then placed the scroll carefully into the box before closing it and holding it out to Spike.

“If you could?”

Spike stepped closer and, after giving Chrysalis a cautious glance, breathed a green flame onto the package. As the fire swallowed the box and its contents, its ashes swirled away out of the window in a purple and green cloud of magic and ash.

“When, or if, you get a response Spike, could you please deliver it to me at the Carousel Boutique? It’ll give you an excuse to visit Rarity.” She grinned at him coyly. “Like you needed one in the first place, hmm?”

Spike crossed his arms and huffed, earning a chuckle from Chrysalis.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” She said as she began to walk out of the room, passing him. “Til later, Firebomb.”

Spike turned to protest, raising a fist irritably. “I’m not a-” he was cut off as the door slammed shut behind Chrysalis, cutting him off, “… firebomb.” He finished lamely.

“Is she still using derogatory terms for you, Spike?” Twilight asked from the stairs as she walked down with a stack of books balanced on her back. She dawdled over to the table that Chrysalis had just been sitting at and grumbled herself. “What happened to the paper I had here for my assignment?”

*&*&*&*

Chrysalis strolled alongside Rarity as she knitted relentlessly. She’d been informed that a fourth foal would be attending the festivities, a new member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders with a penchant for reading almost as relentlessly as Twilight. According to Sweetie Belle, who walked alongside her, this new member didn’t go out crusading as much as she, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo did, content to stay home with a book and find what she may be good at within.

Chrysalis suspected that they were probably also sane enough to know that going with the other Crusaders on their silly little quests was a death sentence waiting to happen, though she didn’t voice this out loud and risk crushing Sweetie Belle’s feelings.

She had caught the trio trying to get cutie marks as play stuntsponies by launching themselves from the Boutique roof onto a single pillow. It had been all she could do to not use rather more colourful language than she was sure their families would want them learning, though when she’d told Rarity during the next fitting session she’d been impressed when Rarity used the same colourful language herself in response.

As Sweetie Belle went off on another long, rambling and tooth-achingly squeaky tangent over something or other, Chrysalis tuned her out and focused more on her knitting. She’d been working on this scarf since she’d found out that another foal was going to be at the party, and even with only a few small hints she’d wanted to have it finished as soon as possible. Of course, she’d sent Sweetie out to get another box exactly like those that Chrysalis had already bought so that she could work the first few hours in peace. Currently three sealed boxes and a fourth open one were being balanced on her back and held in place by her wings.

With a final addition of a few smaller details, she finished her project and whisked it away into the remaining open box. Her magic folded it neatly before affixing the lid and fastening it all down with the red and gold ribbons that had been held down by the weight of the box itself.

With a calm smile, she followed Rarity and Sweetie Belle into Sugar Cube Corner, pausing a moment to shake the snow from the holes in her hooves and wipe them on the door mat politely before joining them in the party hall. A table spread out in the middle of the room complete with white table cloth, platters of food, and an enormous bowl of punch, plates and cups for everypony. Chrysalis was impressed at the array and spread on the table at least. A few balloons hung from the ceiling or were being held down by colourful streamers, a large decorated tree sat in a far corner and the fireplace roared with a pink flame being produced by enchanted logs.

She knew about these logs, made by unicorns Equestria wide for the season. She had once had to bludgeon a pony unconscious with one after some… less than wanted advances. She wondered, briefly, if the so-called prince had recovered from his trip to the world of nod or if she’d broken something in his admittedly sturdy noggin.

She then recalled how much of pig he’d been acting like and stopped caring. If she’d knocked some sense into him, it would be for his own good.

She watched as Sweetie Belle ran over to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, the trio bursting into greetings and a tirade of suggestions for what they could do to get their cutie marks this eve. Their suggestions were eventually crushed by Rarity and Applejack giving them the evil eye and made them promise to not do any ‘crusading’ for the night.

Of course, Applejack and her family were here early. They had arrived to cook for the banquet and, if the smells were anything to judge, they had gone all out. She’d heard that Applejack’s grandmother, Granny Smith, was apparently a somewhat legendary cook in her own right and she hoped to get a taste of whatever she had cooked to judge for herself.

A slightly unexpected pair of ponies were also in the room, one of whom Chrysalis had been told about. The eldest of the pair dawdled over and gave Chrysalis an appraising look. Chrysalis smiled warmly.

“Thank you for your directions earlier Ms Doo,” she said, “You were most helpful. Anypony else would probably have turned me down.”

Ditzy gave an appreciative smile in return. “It’s Mrs, and you asked for help,” She said plainly, “and I assume that they would have turned you down simply because of how you look; who am I to do the same?” She gave Chrysalis a playful grin, pointing to her wandering eyes. “Go on, ask; everypony else does.”

Chrysalis shook her head. “It does not do to pry; you are who you are and it’s not like it’s down to me or anypony else to change you.” Ditzy turned a faint pink at this and gave an appreciative smile. “Now;” Chrysalis began with her voice louder and easily audible to the other ponies in the room, “I was under the impression that there would be several foals here.” She wandered over to where the Crusaders were huddled around a board game, apparently chutes and ladders.

A fourth filly, a unicorn with a pale violet coat, blonde hair and yellow eyes, sat alongside them taking her turns. If the groans that the Crusaders were giving were any indication every time she took her turn and managed to roll a high number, she was winning.

Applejack, who was seated nearby, eyed the boxes she had on her back. “Y’all didn’t have ta’-”

Chrysalis held up a hoof with a cheeky smile. “Though he has long since passed, I was a grandmother.” She said. “And I’m pretty sure part of the definition is that we spoil kids rotten.”

“Darn tootin’!” Granny Smith cheered from her seat at the table, though she was almost ignored as she had been asleep at the time.

“Now, let’s see…” Chrysalis mumbled as she levitated the boxes from her back. “One for the Apple,” she deposited the box in front of Apple Bloom, who only looked back at her confusedly. “One for the Nut,” This one she put down in front of Scootaloo, who glared up at her accusingly. “Don’t give me that look, I’ve seen you riding your scooter.” Chrysalis hissed good-naturedly. “I’m amazed you’ve not hurt yourself. In any case, this next one’s for the flower.” She placed the third before Sweetie Belle.

“Why didn’t you give this to me at home?” She squeaked.

“And leave myself open to awkward questions from your friends?” Chrysalis replied with a grin, before turning to the last foal. “Now, I’m afraid I don’t know your name; care to enlighten me?”

The filly only cowered down a little, possibly spooked by Chrysalis’ appearance, and Scootaloo sat up.

“She’s my little sister, Dinky Doo; she’s only just turned old enough to join our crusades.”

Chrysalis connected the dots in her head. “’My girls don’t seem to mind’,” she mumbled to no-one in particular. “You’re Mrs Doo’s daughters.”

The two fillies nodded in reply.

“I guess that explains a few things I was told, as well as that Mrs Doo is here,” Chrysalis mumbled, “anyway, I suppose the last one goes to the muffin.” The final, and only recently wrapped, box was placed neatly at Dinky’s hooves. She smiled and dipped her head to them. “You may open them when you wish.”

The fillies wasted little time in opening their gifts, each one opening the box provided and levitating a knitted scarf matching their own colours. While Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo’s scarves had their Crusader emblem knitted into them, Dinky’s did not. The young filly sniffled a little at this, evidently disheartened at being left out when Chrysalis nudged her with a hoof and levitated her scarf out of the box, stretching it wide. On either end, much like the other girls, there were images though in this case they were muffins and the words ‘the littlest crusader’ were knitted throughout.

“I was told that you might feel a little left out, since your friends go out and play all day with their capes; I ran out of the wool I used to do their emblems, but I thought that this might suffice?” She offered a cheeky smile. “Besides, I was told that you, like your mother, had a taste for muffins.”

The only response that Chrysalis got was a tackle-hug that nearly drove her to the ground, and she carefully wrapped her hooves around Dinky. “You’re welcome, Dinky.”

As the group sat about the table, Chrysalis smiled across at Dinky who was wearing her scarf, a muffin displayed for all to see hanging down and covering her chest. She’d shown it proudly to her mother, who had reminded her to thank Chrysalis for the gift.

Down at the end of the table, Spike hopped up from the table and hurried out of the room. A rather uninhibited burp could be heard echoing from the front room of the store, and he returned soon with the box that Chrysalis had asked him to send. Attached was a small note which, when Spike gave it to her, she read.

To Chrysalis

My sister and I thank you for your warm greetings for the season; even though we receive many such letters, cards and well-wishes from our subjects, yours is one that we feel comes from a pained heart and as such is greatly respected.

As for your request pertaining the… package that arrived with your letter; I feel that I would be perfectly within our laws to deny your wish. However, as it is the season for such things, I believe that we can overlook the legal issues that may be brought up.

Besides, there’s always the loophole of you being old enough.

Within you’ll find one requested drink; you’ll have to apologise for any dust you may find on the bottle, our wine cellar has not seen much use in the older selections in centuries.

Consider it our Hearths Warming gift to you.

Sincerely,

Princesses Celestia and Luna.

Chrysalis lowered the tag, removing it quickly before stepping up into her chair to hold the box out to Twilight. Without a word, Twilight took the box and began to open it.

“I’d like if we adults could share it.” Chrysalis said. “In a… toast? Is that the right word?”

Twilight nodded as she opened the box and lifted out the bottle within. Chrysalis took one look at the bottle and froze with her jaw dropping.

“Where’d you manage to get this?” Twilight asked.

“I… I asked Celestia; I’m unable to purchase my own from the store in town.” Chrysalis mumbled. “I sent her over three hundred Bits, but I never imagined…”

Twilight opened the bottle and carefully poured the elders glasses of the sparkling drink, including one for Chrysalis and herself, before closing the bottle of Crystal rose Champagne and returning it to its box, which was placed on the table.

Chrysalis lifted her glass with a smile.

“To new friends,” she said, ignoring the tears running across her cheeks.

Visits

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The celebration at Hearths Warming was more than a month behind Equestria now, and even though the country was still blanketed in white and freezing the overall mood was as high as usual. It likely wouldn’t be long before Winter Wrap Up came and went.

Chrysalis had spent the time doing what she had already been doing; recovering, knitting, and conversing with the representative of the Crown, or the Princesses themselves. Her room had accumulated a huge array of different knitted articles, from cuddly soft toys to snuggly warm clothes. Shortly after the Hearth’s Warming celebration she’d started on a private little project that even the Princesses were not privy to.

She’d done a lot of housework and asked for specific wool colours in return, as well as a large supply of cotton stuffing, which she had been steadily going through since it had been delivered. Despite having her reward for her work, she’d still asked Rarity if she was making a larger dent into her funds than she felt was appropriate. In other words, anything more than what she would spend on herself.

This was when she learned that a stipend had been put into place for her needs, a small bank-account with enough bits to keep up with her expenses which only the Princesses and the Element Bearers could access. It had become healthy enough to allow her the wool and stuffing she wanted for her project.

And so, for the last week she had been knitting with zeal. A small private army had spun into existence from the needles that she used, each soldier no bigger than a foal’s lunchbox. They were being kept safe and secure in a chest which Rarity had found in her attic which she had no use for or real desire to keep. The ratty old wooden case had seen better years, splintered at the edges and its wooden frame faded from the years it had seen, but it came with a key and was sturdy enough to contain Chrysalis’ things.

A knock came at her door, and she looked up from her work at the clock whose ticking had become background noise to her relentless knitting. Half-past eleven she recognized it telling her, and the calendar with fuzzy kittens and puppies displayed on it told her that it was a Thursday.

‘Ah,’ she thought idly, ‘it’s time for my regularly appointed meeting again I see.’ She hummed to herself for a moment, pondering over who could be beyond her door this time. With a sigh she acknowledged that she would only know if she let them enter.

“It’s not locked.” She called.

The door latch clicked, allowing for the oak door to swing open and allow Cluey to enter. Chrysalis grumbled to herself when she recognized the stallion in question; he had been the least pleasant of all of those who came to question her. Since day one he’d been short and brash, only the presence of Rarity or one of the other Bearers stopping him from roaming into questions that she didn’t want to answer or even think of. He’d been brash enough to ask if the spell which had been used to drain Circlet dry could be taught.

It was thanks to Chrysalis’ recovering horn that he was only thrown out an open window into the snow outside, instead of thrown all the way to one of Ponyville’s frozen ponds.

The stallion, still white with blonde hair and tail despite his lack of armour, strolled inside and stood beside the door to allow another pony entrance; Princess Celestia herself. She strolled in with her ever-present grace and poise, and Chrysalis dipped her head to her before using her magic to retrieve the silken pillow that Rarity had stashed in the room for whenever the Princesses visited.

A third pony stepped into the room, his Cutie Mark a pale blue and gold compass rose. The stallion towered over Chrysalis and stood only slightly shorter than Big Macintosh, a pony that Chrysalis first thought of as a country bumpkin only to discover that he was far more intelligent than his quiet and simple outer appearance would suggest. This pony however, with his golden and well maintained mane and tail, was somepony that she was sure she had met before.

She hadn’t enjoyed his company that time either.

“Whatever are we doing here in this storeroom, auntie? It smells like somepony has been sleeping here.”

Yep, there it was, the voice that set her every nerve to ‘attack’ mode if only to knock his pompous ass down a peg or two. A sidelong glance at the Princess and Cluey told her everything she needed to know. He’d simply refused to be ignored, and followed his apparent aunt wherever she went like a puppy following its mother. The stallion didn’t seem to have noticed her and, while she continued to knit feverishly, Celestia sat on the pillow provided.

“And what is that odd clicking noise? It is quite irking.”

Chrysalis cleared her throat to catch his attention before smiling in sweet yet venomous way to the Princess.

“While I do enjoy our chats, Princess, I assume that you have a reason to bring this buffoon to me?” She said pointedly, grinning at the effort it took the Regent of the Sun and Cluey to not snigger aloud. The stallion, however, only glared at her as if she’d cursed his entire household with some form of odorous curse forevermore.

“’Buffoon’? How dare you! I am-” he began, only for Chrysalis to cut him off.

“Prince Blueblood the Third, great-great grandfoal of one of Princess Celestia’s sisters in law; head of the Platinum Estate,” Chrysalis rattled off without missing a beat. She gave him a wary eye which Celestia could swear was trying to bore a hole through his skull to lobotomize him.

“H-how..?”

Chrysalis gave a shark-like grin. “I remember you well you snobbish brat; how’s the skull, I trust that the lump has gone down and you’ve had the splinters removed?”

Blueblood blinked. “What?”

Celestia blinked down at Chrysalis. “Chrysalis, what are you getting at?”

“Tell me, Princess; did your ‘nephew’ have an incident some… ooh, twenty-odd years ago? An injury to the back of his head, perhaps?” Chrysalis asked.

“I do recall his father, Prince Blueblood the Third, storming into the courtroom with bandages about his head demanding that we hunt down and imprison a mare that clubbed him. If I can remember, he demanded capital punishment for ‘assault on a member of the Royal Family’.” Celestia said, looking up at the ceiling and putting a hoof to her chin in thought.

“That was me,” Chrysalis said with a grin, watching a look of shock-awe spread across Cluey’s face gleefully. She shrank back in her basket as the Princess gave her a withering glare.

“I trust you had a good excuse?”

Chrysalis huffed and nodded at Blueblood. “His father was a swine.” She hissed. “I went to Canterlot with my family to absorb some ambient love to share with the Hive, as you know I can do, and to feed the life that would become my last grandfoal. After a brief and rather unpleasant conversation between myself and Blueblood, I felt the need to both show him how I felt about him and make a hasty exit.”

“I do recall my father saying something about some harlot that assaulted him.”

Chrysalis hissed at him. “I am not a harlot you son of a mule!” She snapped furiously, to which Blueblood visibly flinched. “If you’re even half as self-obsessed as him you’re the apple that fell far from the tree!”

Blueblood went to snap in retort only for Celestia to hold a hoof up to him. “Prince Blueblood the Fourth,” she began, making him cringe; she’d used his full name, something that he knew was about to end less than in his favour, “you were warned at the door that you would not receive a warm welcome in this home. Miss Rarity wants nothing to do with you. Whatever you want to ask of me, it can surely wait until I return home.”

“But you’re meeting with a Changeling! How could this thing possibly be more important than-”

There was a pop of empty space being filled with air in a rush and Blueblood had vanished, teleported away by his aunt’s glittering magic. After the displaced air settled, Cluey finally lost control of his own face and managed to give a loud laugh at Blueblood’s misfortune.

“That was worth every second.” He chuckled before flinching backwards under the stern glare that Celestia shot his way.

“I assume there is a reason that you brought this other stallion along with you as well, Princess?” Chrysalis asked, shrugging off the prior conversation as if it hadn’t happened. “As much as I enjoy putting the more uppity ponies in their places, as well as your visits, there must be something you want if you bring him along. Not that your company isn’t appreciated, mind you, just that the Captain here and I are not on good terms.”

Celestia sighed. “Chrysalis, we’ve received reports of a large female changeling crossing the borders. Reports are that she’s my height, with a corkscrew horn and a crimson tail and mane.” She said. “As well as numerous accounts of her following the railroad on hoof; she’s no longer just a foreign issue.

“Your sister is in Equestria.”

The steady clicking of needles stopped abruptly, and Chrysalis stared down at her unfinished work, her eyes wide. “She’s… she’s coming,” she mumbled almost to herself, “I suppose I always knew she would; but that she could… she could finish with the Hive in such a short amount of time… How many of my Changelings has she butchered..? One, two hundred thousand..?” She shivered in revulsion. “Some of your ponies still call me a monster for what I pulled trying to feed them; I can only imagine what they would call a creature that cannibalized her own race into extinction.”

“Highness, we don’t even have punishments for such a being.” Cluey advised. “With all due respect, the last crisis of this magnitude was Nightmare Moon or the original uprising of Sombra. Of the two of them, one has been redeemed by the Elements of Harmony and the other… well, let’s just say that we barely found enough of him to bury.” He shifted his hooves uncomfortably. “We’ve not found a middle-ground, really. What would we do with somepony that has committed utilitarian genocide? Somepony that has single-hoofedly caused the extinction of their species; it has never before happened in Equestrian recorded history!”

Celestia sighed. “It is not something that I can come to a conclusion over by myself; I must consult with my sister about it, and then we must take into consideration the… circumstances surrounding the individual. Say she comes to her senses after the fact, and is truly remorseful? Do we punish her as harshly as we would should she have felt nothing? What if her already fractured mind breaks further and she is left a vegetable? Do we punish the crime or the criminal?” She gazed distantly at the room’s clock in thought. “I admit myself unsure; there is no punishment that we could enforce that could possibly make her account for her actions, even execution would be a pointless gesture.”

“How do you mean, Princess?”

Chrysalis gave him a steady look, one that belittled and yet conveyed a still and sad silence across the room. “Tell me, Cluey, would executing her bring back the lives of those she has massacred? Would it comfort Equestria to know that, with the deplorable actions she has taken, she was simply put into a sleep from which she never awoke?”

“It would be a better death than those she inflicted.”

“That’s the point!” Chrysalis snapped. “Have you ever seen somepony starve to death, foal?! Watched the agony that they go through as their body simply devours itself?! It is a long and painful death, the sheer agony of it only made bearable in any sense thanks to the fact that it doesn’t happen all at once and that there is always the hope of reprieve on the horizon!” Tears were rolling down her face as she all but shouted at him, her eyes furiously boring the point into his skull and daring him to look away. “I have seen too many die this way, too much suffering and pain, pain that the invasion had promise of making all but a forgotten memory! Can you imagine the horrors that the changelings must have gone through as she drained them dry? To starve to death that quickly?!

“I’ve had to witness it with my own eyes, the day Circlet died! Felt it the day my wretched sister attacked me and banished me from the Hive! I-” she choked out her next word as she struggled to continue her tirade, only to take a steadying breath before continuing, “I would not wish that on anypony; not my changelings and not ponies. Thistle may have caused incalculable pain and suffering to an entire species, but nothing we could do to her could possibly repair the damage she has done. Once something is gone, it is gone. There is nothing that can bring back those she has slain.” She huffed and wiped her cheeks. “I cry in your presence too often, Celestia; this is becoming habit.”

A pregnant silence filled the room once her voice faded from the air, and Cluey had the decency to look sheepish and somewhat ashamed of his words. Celestia had simply continued to stare into space as if in thought, and Chrysalis returned to her knitting, albeit at a somewhat reduced pace. After the silence had lingered for a few minutes, Celestia tilted her head to Cluey.

“Captain, I would ask that you go to the Golden Oak Library and give the resident dragon, Spike, a message to send to my sister, I would request that she join us here for a while. It has been far too long since she actually went out and met other ponies; I think we’ll spend the day in Ponyville. Book us a visit to the day spa, and perhaps a restaurant appointment for dinner.”

Cluey saluted and stepped out of the room, closing the door politely behind himself as he left.

“So, Chrysalis, how have things been? I’ve not received word about you getting cabin fever or developing megalomaniacal tendencies; I trust everything is going well?” Celestia asked after a moment.

Chrysalis chuckled. “Well, I’ve not been parading about the boutique soliloquizing my every plan to entomb Ponyville in woollen doom, so I’m fairly certain that my megalomaniacal side is dead and buried.” She said, giving Celestia a wry grin across the room to which the princess chuckled. Chrysalis lifted a hoof to her mouth and gave a cheeky mock-evil laugh. “For now!”

Celestia tittered aloud. “I would be worried if not for the fact that I know Twilight and her friends would stop you before you managed to knit everypony into an early bedtime.” She retorted amusedly. “Though, seriously Chrysalis, you know I am aware of such things; I want to know about how you’re feeling about this all. Rarity’s letters don’t tell me such things.”

Chrysalis sighed and nodded. “My time here has been… comfortable. I’ve had a few conversations with a mare here in town that I’ve met, and it’s not like I’m finding it hard to eat well. Though Sweetie Belle’s cooking still has much to be desired I must say; the breakfast she cooked on the first morning was apparently a freak occurrence.”

“She lacks zeal?”

“She has zeal, she lacks skill.” Chrysalis said with an amused tone. “She’s set off the fire alarm several times. Horseapples, I’ve had to step in a couple of times and intervene in her attempts and offer to cook, myself.” She gave a ruthless chuckle. “The first time was amusing at the least. One would imagine that somepony of Rarity’s… cultured nature would know what a curry is.” She paused for a moment to let it sink in before adding, “And that she would also know how to refrain from using more colourful language around young and impressionable sisters.”

Celestia chortled, “Her letter said something about eating the essence of the sun itself.” She mused. “Perhaps you overdid it?”

“It was mild!” Chrysalis protested. “I didn’t even melt a spoon! Sweetie Belle didn’t complain!”

“Rarity’s letter also said that her sister had been drinking glasses of milk like she was dying of thirst or had a calcium deficiency. I think she’s hoping that her sister was too distracted with the burning to hear her choice of words.”

Chrysalis gave a snort. “Lightweights; it’s the first meal I’d prepared in years and it’s not appreciated. If only my mate could see me now.” She said, holding a hoof to her forehead in mock offense. “He would wonder how I got so out of touch. Then he’d probably ask for a sandwich.”

This forced a laugh from the elder diarch. “Oh, that’s absurd.”

Chrysalis nodded. “I know; after that kind of feat with a curry, he’d know better than to ask such a thing without risking a slap.”

“Just a slap?”

“Celestia, back when my mate was alive I could have slapped a pony hard enough to punch through walls.” Chrysalis pointed out sternly. “A slap is all I would need.”

Celestia chuckled. “Just so long as you are aware that physical punishments of such nature are not legal here.” She advised. “It’s called ‘domestic abuse’ and can carry rather hefty punishments. Light help you if you punish a foal in such a way.”

Chrysalis gave Celestia a sidelong look. “You’re not accusing me of anything I trust.” She huffed.

“Of course not, Chrysalis; it would be unfair for me to do so.”

“Good.”

“It’s not like I am innocent of such a thing myself in any case.” The solar diarch said, the revelation causing Chrysalis to drop a stitch.

“What, you-”

Celestia raised a hoof. “It was another time, centuries ago; Blueblood’s great, great cousin and my first and only foal, adopted as she was.” She replied calmly. “She broke into the Hall of History, the room in which the Elements are housed, and broke several of the stain-glass windows because I had denied her a weekend flight camp. I admit that I have always been against harming foals, but sometimes the ends justify the means.”

Chrysalis shivered. “To think that you, the ‘gentle and benevolent’ Princess Celestia, mother figure to much of Equestria, could be angered enough to…”

“Oh, I did no lasting harm, it hurt me more than it did her, but pain is an… impressive teacher sometimes.” She chuckled and shook her head. “She didn’t even bruise, but she did learn a valuable lesson.”

“I’m sure.”

With an amused chuckle, the princess shifted in her seat and nodded to the knitting floating in front of the changeling before her. “So, are you going to tell anypony about your little project? Rarity has mentioned it in her letters, but she’s also noted that nopony knows what you’re making.”

The sound of knitting slowed to a stop and Chrysalis heaved a sigh. “I admit myself feeling pathetic doing this,” she mumbled, before nodding to the old wooden chest in the corner, “go ahead; take a look for yourself.”

The chest faintly glittered with the princesses’ magic and floated over, flipping open and tilting so she could see the contents. Within, dozens of small woollen changelings smiled back out at her. Celestia turned her gaze to the changeling in the basket next to her, her face one of worry.

“Imagine if you were separated from your ponies for the rest of your life.” Chrysalis mumbled. “What would you have me do?”

Celestia placed the chest back where it had begun. “Go out, meet ponies, make friends.” She said gently. “I’ve not been advising you to do so just so that ponies get used to you, you need ponies to lean on, friends to help you bear the pain of your loss; why do you think I come along as regularly as I do?”

“I just assumed it was pity. It’s all I deserve for all the things I’ve done in the past. Pity and perhaps despise, particularly from your niece and her husband.”

“Chrysalis, stop beating yourself up about it; Cadance and Shining Armour have already told you that they’ve gotten over it.”

“But I beat you in magic combat and left you-”

Celestia snorted a laugh. “Chrysalis, it shouldn’t take a good actor to place a bad one; you singed my horn and I feigned defeat. I’ve been alive for over four millennia, moving the sun –and for a thousand years the moon- for most of that time. If I wanted to beat you during that little duel, I would have.”

“But-“

Celestia sighed amusedly. “I am going to show you what it was like for me on the losing side of that fight, are you ready?” She said, before quickly whipping a hoof forth and slapping Chrysalis across the face. It wasn’t a particularly hard slap, nor did it do much damage, but it did turn her face. After a moment, Chrysalis turned an eye to the smiling diarch, who hummed appreciatively. “Mmh, that was a most satisfying sound; every bit the sound a slap should make.”

“Sister, what in the name of our Moon was that for?”

Chrysalis and Celestia turned sharply to face the new and previously undetected presence to the room, who stared at her alabaster sibling as if what she had just done was the most insulting thing on Equis. Celestia went to respond but was cut off when Chrysalis cleared her throat, put a hoof to her chest, and threw her head back dramatically.

“Oh woe is me, a strike ‘cross mine cheek; ‘tis masks which shall have to adorn my face forevermore, hideousness has the pain caused!” She cried in a manner befitting Rarity’s worst ego-driven hissy fit. “Oh waily waily!”

Celestia struggled to hold back her sniggering, and Chrysalis gave Luna an amused smirk that only seemed to exacerbate the irked look on her face. Luna growled softly as she retorted.

“Keep at such actions and we may have to strike thee ourselves.”

Chrysalis gave a short laugh, “Princess, you hardly need to keep up the formal speech here, it’s not like I’ve bowed to you.”

Luna keeled her head back faintly, and her sister gave her an accusatory look.

“We don’t know of what thou speak, Chrysalis.” She said a little too hurriedly, her eyes darting between her sister and the changeling before her.

“Luna,” Celestia began slowly and deliberately, “do you have anything to tell me, dear sister?”

Luna’s eyes darted about the room nervously. “Nnnnoooooo..?” She tried, only for her sister’s eyes to narrow at her dangerously.

Chrysalis chuckled. “Luna, you’re a worse actress than I am.”

“’Tis coming from somepony who had our sister fooled for days.” Luna retorted coolly.

Celestia grumbled. “Luna, are you not telling me that you can speak in modern terms?”

Luna chortled. “As I believe a certain stallion within this village would say, ‘eeyup’.” She said to her sister with a cheeky grin. “Don’t look so shocked, sister; I always was a fast learner.”

With a sigh, Celestia regarded her sister. “So you’re keeping it up simply to annoy? How childish, sister; I thought you wanted to be taken more seriously.”

“You would deny me my entertainment? For shame, Celly; whatever would your student think?”

“She would probably think that you need a different form of amusement, particularly as you had her on the verge of using the Want-it-Need-it spell.”

“Oh yes, and then she would proceed to give a million suggestions;” Chrysalis cut in, waving a hoof amusedly, “let’s see, what would she suggest; book reading, star gazing, train spotting…”

“Twilight’s not that bad!” Celestia defended, only for the others to barely hold back their laughs.

“Princess, when she first discovered my skill for knitting she asked me to make her a book-cosy.” Chrysalis said. “It’s the middle of winter, she could have asked me to knit her anything; a blanket for her winter saddle, a scarf or a hat even. No, a book-cosy to keep her book from getting cold; you should have seen the look on her dragon’s face, it was priceless.”

“Spike,” Celestia said pointedly.

“Hmm?”

“He’s not ‘her dragon’, his name is Spike.”

Chrysalis huffed. “Princess, I know his name; but when you’ve had your own kin devoured by dragons in the past, you hold little respect for one outlier. He’s different because he was raised amongst ponies, yes, but a single different dragon will not change my opinion of them all as a species.” She grumbled, giving Celestia a pointed glare. “For me to call him by his name will require some respect, and those who give get.”

“What do you mean by that, Chrysalis?” Luna asked with a slightly worried tone.

“He still jumps or cringes when I’m about, won’t go within two feet of me, and doesn’t look me in the face whenever talking to me.” She huffed. “It is quite rude.”

“Chrysalis, you invaded the most secure city in the strongest country in the world and then proceeded to fight one of the most powerful creatures in said world. If faced with that, would you not be a little afraid?” Celestia asked wearily.

“I’m shorter than him.” Chrysalis hissed. “He could probably hold me down by sitting on me. Hay, he doesn’t even use tones befitting those between polite conversation. He’s blunt and somewhat gruff when he speaks to me at all.”

“Perhaps you could stop calling him ‘Firebomb’ then?”

“Snitched on by your student I would assume.” Chrysalis grumbled as she knitted without falter.

“By Rarity, actually. You’ve been here for a while, Chrysalis; you should know that she dotes on him.” Celestia affirmed.

Chrysalis gave a loud guffaw, “Oh yes, ‘dotes’; she uses him as a living pincushion and a love-stupefied servant. While I’ve little real care for a dragon, I’m still a mother and I would have to say that the pincushion thing cannot be good for him, and as such I do not approve.”

Celestia sighed. “It’s not good for him, at least not in the short term. His scales shed almost randomly every few months, you’ll probably find a hooffull of them in his bed every week, but I’ll have to speak with Rarity about doing damage to him in such a way; damaged scales will leave his relatively thin skin open to infection or infestation.”

“It certainly explains the case of scale mites he had at the autumn solstice.” Luna commented. “Granted he would be as susceptible as any other dragon, but he would be unable to use his fire to remove the blight as it can simply hide inside the damaged scales.”

“I suppose you’ll have to speak with your student about it too, Princess; if Luna can put those dots together so easily, surely Twilight can?” Chrysalis asked, earning a glare from the darker sibling. “I’m not calling you simple, Princess; I’m saying that Twilight is very bright and that she spends every day with him. If she could see that I was not her ex-foalsitter after not seeing her for years, how in the world did she miss that?”

Luna chortled. “She has a point there, sister.”

“Yes, I suppose she does.” Celestia admitted with a shrug.

“With that settled,” Luna began firmly, “what did you call me down to Ponyville for, sister? I assumed it was urgent when I received Spike’s fire-mail and came as swiftly as I could.”

Celestia shifted to look at her sister without craning her neck. “Luna, you’ve been cooping yourself up in the castle since just before Hearth’s Warming. You need to be out and socialize more. I was under the assumption that we could take a day to go to the day spa here in Ponyville, enjoy a dinner at one of their restaurants, perhaps find some time to enjoy a day outside of the castle.”

Luna shrugged. “If you say so, sister.”

At this, Celestia clapped her hooves together. “Wonderful; now, I believe that we should first head to the Day Spa here in Ponyville first. Perhaps we could take some others with us. After all, the more the merrier!”

Chrysalis sighed and placed her knitting away in one of the nearby cubbyholes that were used to store her woollen supplies. “Who were you going to suggest taking?”

Celestia hummed with a hoof to her chin. “Well, we could take Rarity for one and perhaps my student as well?”

“I heartily recommend timid Miss Fluttershy.” Luna voiced. “Mayhap we could simply have all of the Bearers come? I am unsure how well the spa’s staff might take this…”

“For royalty, I’m sure they’ll make the exception.” Celestia mused.

“If you’re done with your preparations, there is one that I would like to invite; provided you don’t mind of course.” Chrysalis said calmly.

“Of course not, Chrysalis; who did you have in mind?” Celestia asked with a smile.

Chrysalis’ face split into a warm grin. “Oh, she’s just this overworked mother of two I know.”

*&*&*&*

“I’ve never been here before,” Ditzy Doo said as she looked up at the front of the Ponyville Day Spa with mild awe, “I’ve never had the Bits or time; I mean, Time Turner makes enough that even my salary as a postal worker allows us to live comfortably, but we don’t really have enough for stuff like this…” She turned to look at Chrysalis worriedly. “Are you sure that the Princesses don’t mind me coming, I mean…”

A soft chuckle from a familiar voice startled the poor mare into seeing more crooked than usual for a moment before she turned and bowed deeply to the Princesses. “You are very welcome to join us, Mrs Doo. Please rise, there’s no need for formalities today, we’re all friends here.”

Ditzy squeaked a little and stood back upright, though she wouldn’t look directly at either of the Princesses. She seemed uncomfortable to be in their presence at all. Twilight and her friends, who stood behind the Princesses, gave her worried glances.

“Is something the matter, Mrs Doo? You seem troubled.” Chrysalis asked with a slightly worried tone. “I thought you’d enjoy being pampered today, was I wrong?”

“N… no, I just…” She mumbled quietly before shaking faintly, “I just don’t see why me. I’m a nopony. I deliver the mail, have difficulty flying in straight lines, I’m the town klutz… These six, well, they’re Ponyville’s pride and joy. Applejack’s family run the biggest and best apple farm this side of anywhere, Fluttershy has ponies coming from other towns to have her care for their pets, Rarity is famous for her skill in fashion, Rainbow Dash is practically a Wonderbolt, Pinkie held a city wide wedding party, and Twilight Sparkle is Princess Celestia’s favoured pupil; together they’re the Elements of Harmony! I’m just… me, the pony who wrecked Ponyville town hall because I’m clumsy. The wall-eyed mare that delivers mail for a living and has to rely on her husband to help make ends meet because I’m not payed enough, because I’m supposedly too much of a liability to the postal office in town to pay more!

“Why in Equestria would the Princesses want me to join them to a day spa, when I can’t even afford to come here on my own?” She huffed finally, her tirade ending with a sad little whine. “I’m just a nopony.”

Chrysalis sighed, her voice managing to cut the silence that had grown after the distraught mailmare’s rant came to an end. “Ditzy, I wanted you to come along;” she said calmly, “not because you deliver mail, or because of what you do about town, but because I like you. You’re the mother of two wonderful fillies –one of whom could admittedly get herself quite badly hurt one of these days, but who both love their mother. Trust me, Ditzy, I know these things; I can feel them like you feel the wind on your cheek. You’ve your drawbacks, as do we all; but you’re a wonderful and pleasant mare to have around, and I wouldn’t ask for anypony else.

“At the same time, Ditzy, I recall what having a foal is like. The constant worry over them, the energy that goes into their safety and upbringing, the time and stress… I know; that’s why I asked for you to accompany us. You need the time to yourself, to let your husband take care of your foals and just relax for a day.”

“And as for the issue of your pay, Mrs Doo,” Luna began, before motioning with a wing for Cluey to hurry off, having been whispered to during Chrysalis’ little reassuring, “we’ll see into it; it does not seem right that you are struggling to support your family. How much are you paid currently?”

“A-about ten Bits an hour, Princess.” She managed to say nervously. The ponies around her, with the exception of Chrysalis, gawked at her.

“T-ten Bits an hour?” Rarity squawked, before collecting herself slightly, “that’s… atrocious!”

“I take it that’s unacceptable? I admit myself somewhat out of touch when it comes to Equestrian currency.” Chrysalis asked, earning a nod from everypony.

Rainbow Dash shifted her hooves and spoke. “Minimum wage for a pony over the age of eighteen is twenty bits an hour; then there are concessions put atop that such as parental aid, danger pay…” She gave Ditzy an apologetic glance, “disability allowance…” She glared at the gawks she was getting from her friends. “What? I’m the captain of the weather team; I didn’t get there by being lazy! I can laze on duty because I’m good.”

Luna coughed. “Mrs Doo, as a mare with two children, earning danger pay for her work, and with Mrs Doo’s disability, should be earning a minimum of thirty eight Bits an hour.” Luna said to Chrysalis matter-of-factly. “Mrs Doo, we shall have our investigators look into your employers; it would seem that Cluey will be quite busy for the rest of the day.”

Ditzy bowed to them. “Thank you, Princesses; this is a lot off of my mind.”

Rainbow Dash stepped forward. “Derpy, did you know this was going on?”

With a shake of her head, Ditzy replied, “No, I just assumed that Mr Storm was telling me the truth. I’ve wrecked the town by accident over the years, so I’m clearly some kind of liability. I recall him telling me that I was lucky he wanted to keep me on, as nopony else would hire somepony like me.”

“Storm,” Rainbow parroted, “as in ‘Dust Storm’?”

“Yeah.”

Rainbow guffawed. “Figures he’d pull something like this, that slug; I fired his ass for trying to embezzle funds from the weather team when he worked under me. Guard said they put him on record, but could do nothing else about it as I’d already taken action. And besides, if you’d come to me I could probably have hired you for the weather team, we can always do with more storm wranglers.”

“I think we should put all this dreadful business behind us;” Rarity said, “and simply enjoy a day in the spa, hmm?”

The girls all nodded and began to walk in –following the Princesses of course. Chrysalis tapped Ditzy with a frayed wing and whispered into her ear.

“If you’re still down after this, we can go to Sugarcube Corner and I’ll buy you a whole box of muffins.”

Ditzy only laughed and nodded, wrapping a wing around Chrysalis’ small frame as they walked. “Thanks.”

“Ah, Princesses, welcome!” Aloe (or was it Lotus?) practically cheered as the group approached her, her sister by her side waiting with a smile. The pair bowed to the princesses before she continued. “Your party is slightly larger than we expected, but it’s no issue. We’ll have to attend to everypony in turn, as there are only four of us here today. Our cousin, Vera, is busy setting up the hot tub for your visit, but the sauna is ready for you. We hope you have a wonderful day with us!”

“Thank you, Lotus Blossom.” Celestia replied calmly, earning half-shocked looks from the twins. Clearly they hadn’t expected her to know one from the other. “If you could be so kind as to lead us to the sauna?”

“Princesses, won’t your, uh, regalia be an issue?” Chrysalis asked, earning a chortle in response. In a flash the gold and black Mithril trappings of the sisters was gone, and Celestia gave Chrysalis a cheeky grin.

“Oh, you act as if we weren’t prepared.” She said amusedly, following Lotus to the sauna. The whole walk in, brief as it was, Applejack talked animatedly with Twilight and the other girls seemed content to listen. It was the sort of thing that Chrysalis had come to expect of the group after even her short stay with them. The group filed into the sauna with Chrysalis coming up the rear just to ensure that Derpy entered with them and didn’t hover outside.

Finally, after finding their seats about the sauna, the group of mares lounged and enjoyed one another’s company. At least, until Celestia garnered Rarity’s attention, and by proxy the attention of the whole group.

“So, Rarity, I’ve been told that you have Spike assist you from time to time?” She asked politely.

“Oh yes, he’s such a wonderful young gentledrake, always willing to help out if I ask him.”

‘It helps your case that he’s infatuated with you.’ Chrysalis argued mentally.

“As I would expect of somepony so young and brought up by Twilight.” Luna said calmly.

“I have heard, however, that you’ve been known to use him as a living pincushion from time to time as well?”

“Well, he has said that he has thick scales and that it doesn’t hurt him… It was just convenient to have pins on demand like that…” Rarity argued weakly, her smile not fading regardless.

Celestia sighed. “It would seem I need to speak with Spike as well then.” She breathed. “Rarity, Twilight, during the autumn, did you notice Spike fidgeting or scratching a lot more than usual?” A pair of nods was returned and she frowned faintly, “That was because he had scale mites. Normally he would risk getting them whenever he sheds a lot of his scales at once or joins you on your ventures into the Everfree Forest, but he would be able to be rid of them by simply breathing fire on himself.

“You see, his scales aren’t thick enough to tolerate being pierced by needles quite yet. If he needs to have any medical injections his scales should be pulled back to allow for access to his skin, because having a needle pierce his scales can break them. Using his fire breath to kill the scale mites would normally work for him, but with damaged scales…”

“The mites had somewhere to hide.” Twilight finished worriedly. “Princess, I didn’t even notice that he was harmed in any way… How did I miss something like that?”

“Twi, you have a habit of tuning out the whole world when you’re studying; you probably just didn’t notice it until it was already gone.” Rainbow Dash said. “And by tuning out the world I mean there was the time we rearranged the whole library around you while you worked and you didn’t notice until you wanted to get dinner.”

“Rarity,” Chrysalis cut in, getting the white unicorn’s attention, “never again; understood? I may not like his species, but I’m still an ex-mother and he’s still a child. Unknowingly harming him is one thing, but now you do know, and I’m telling you, never again.”

Rarity nodded. “O-of course. If I had known it was doing such harm to him in the first place… Oh why didn’t he just say something?”

Chrysalis chortled and waved a hoof at her. “I’ll tell you later, this is hardly the place.” She then turned her attention to the lavender unicorn sitting opposite her. “And for the love of the Shadow, Twilight, pay more attention to your charge. He’s not your own flesh and blood, but for all intents and purposes he is your son.”

Celestia chuckled at Chrysalis’ behaviour before nodding to Twilight. “She has a point, Twilight. That, I believe, is a conversation for a later date however; for now I suggest we simply enjoy the day spa.” She smiled warmly and nodded to Ditzy, “So, Mrs Doo, you’ve two foals? I’d love to hear about them.”

Falling

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A few nights passed, and Chrysalis’ little army of stuffed Changelings had slowly but surely filled the chest in which she kept them. Currently, her knitting needles were clicking in tandem on a larger project; Sweetie Belle, ever the curious and nosy foal, had been unable to keep her nose out of others’ business and had found the chest of dolls, requesting one when Chrysalis returned from the bathroom.

She sighed as she turned the doll in her magic, getting a better view of what she was doing. It was a simple doll of, of all things, a Timberwolf. Sweetie Belle hadn’t explained why she wanted such a thing, but Chrysalis wasn’t inclined to ask anyway; with the nonsense that Sweetie and her friends got up to on a daily basis as a baseline to keep in mind, Sweetie could have simply found them fascinating, or thought the little ones cute.

Having seen the wooden wolves’ pups once upon a time herself, Chrysalis would be inclined to agree. Still, asking Sweetie Belle her reasoning behind wanting this doll made would lead to a long, rambling, and horridly squeaky rant that Chrysalis didn’t feel inclined to subject herself to.

She would likely find herself covered in tree sap by the end of it somehow anyway.

With only the clock’s ticking, her needles clicking, and the staccato sound of Rarity’s sewing machine farther up the hall interrupting the peaceful silence of the building, she had long fallen into what Rarity would call ‘the zone’. Essentially tuning out all outside influence beyond her work, she’d slipped into a rhythm that kept her pace high, and the doll had slithered into existence efficiently enough for her to hopefully have it done before sundown.

Speaking of the alabaster mare, however, she… wasn’t exactly on pleasant terms with her right now. After the somewhat public confrontation over her treatment of young Spike, Rarity and Twilight had both asked why it had been aired in such a setting.

“The most important lessons,” Chrysalis had calmly retorted, “should be memorable.”

Rarity had taken this somewhat harsher than Twilight had, and had subsequently been rather frosty towards the diminutive changeling all afternoon. Chrysalis didn’t mind much, the time that Rarity would likely have taken up with idle chat was instead being utilized for more… constructive purposes.

Learning that Spike had been, and was technically still being home schooled was no real surprise; what teacher is going to teach arts and crafts to a child just as likely to glue two pieces of paper together as burn them after all? Still, Celestia and Twilight had effectively raised him with a well-rounded education. He was, apparently, already certified in library management and was the actual librarian of the Golden Oaks, and not his caretaker as many suspected. He even received a stipend from the crown for the library’s upkeep on top of the usual gemstones that Celestia would treat him with. Oh, sure, Twilight dictated what books they should order, but he was the one with the funds and the know-how to get it all done.

Still, unpleasant topics abound for the gathering.

Her sister, Thistle, was coming to Ponyville, and she had planned to be prepared to instruct a most unwilling pupil. She turned the doll in her magical grip again, carefully affixing a pair of button eyes to its head.

“The most important lessons should be memorable,” she mumbled, staring into the doll’s gaze, “and I know the most… effective instructor.”

*&*&*&*

She had strolled into town two minutes ago. Chrysalis knew this as well as she knew that the sun was high in the sky; she could sense her on the wind. She came in from the north of town and was idly moving south, her course set. She’d diverted down a couple of side-streets, likely looking for potential hiding spots should Chrysalis decide to run, but she was moving directly to the Boutique. Chrysalis’ own magic had been furiously putting the final touches onto her plans, a week and a half’s worth of research, development, and planning between herself, the Element Bearers, and the Royal Sisters.

Her implementation finalized, Chrysalis sat back on her haunches and looked back at the purple unicorn just behind her on her right, one of the many ponies flanking her. Twilight nodded at the unspoken message between them, and Chrysalis gave an unsteady nod in return before her gaze drifted to the road before her.

This was it.

“There will be few, if any, pleasantries,” Chrysalis advised nervously, “Do not expect to talk her into submission.”

“Why not?” Applejack asked from behind her, the mare nervously fiddling with the brim of her hat.

Chrysalis shook her head, “Because it wouldn’t have worked on me, either.”

The tall, imposing figure of Thistle strolled into view from a side-street. Sunlight glittered off of her apparently shined carapace, and her mane and tail moving gently with the breeze as she squared off with them.

“Thistle,” Chrysalis began, her tone barely controlled to be as neutral as she could manage, “what an unpleasant surprise. You look tired; I would have imagined you’d be busy at the Hive with all of your subjects."

Thistle cackled, “Oh, dearest sister, home is simply too quiet without you there. How our subjects beg for your return, it aches in my heart to deny them. Why, they’re practically dying for you to join them. In fact, I believe I recall one of their voices enough recite it, something like…” A flash of flames flared around her throat before she spoke again, her voice now sounding like a young foal’s as she screamed out, “Mommy help me, it hurts! Where’s our Queen?! Please, Chrysalis, help, mommy’s stopped mov-“

“Silence your tongue, witch!” Chrysalis bellowed loud enough to cut her off and echo across the street, a snarl on her face to rival the most furious of wolves. “You would mock the suffering of our kind, and make a joke of the dead!? Our parents are surely rolling in their graves! Did you show mercy for any of them, or were they both a meal and a plaything to you?!”

“Everything is a plaything to those with strength, Chrysalis; if you ever attained the power I hold, you would know.” Thistle growled, “You know, initially I was going to play the double-bluff, make your allies think you’d betrayed them before draining the magic from their very cores, and leave them as dried up husks for you to lament over; but I think brute force is all that a nothing like you will ever understand. You clearly didn’t get the message when you were removed from the Hive.” She sighed listlessly as she strolled forward, “That you survived the winter chill was a blessing. That these ponies,” she spat the word with venom, “would show you the mercy to spare you an execution was their mistake. You are all foals, and you should respect your betters!”

Chrysalis grinned wolfishly as Thistle took a few more steps, “Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”

A magic circle, hidden beneath the dust and gravel on the road, lit up beneath Thistle’s left foreleg. With a bass thud that shook the buildings around them, the road exploded and threw Thistle to the dirt a dozen feet back. She shakily got to her hooves, shaking her mane from her eyes in bewilderment.

“What the..?”

“Since you seem to have learned nothing from our father’s teachings, I suppose I shall have to request the greatest teacher in the land give you a refresher.” Chrysalis announced, before turning to Celestia.

The Princess, in turn, nodded down at Chrysalis before beginning to speak; “Welcome, Thistle, to Equestria. This country holds the most fertile of almost any land on Equus, and is primary home to Ponies. You will find, of all the lands in this world, nowhere else where the very earth itself can roar with magic.” She paused as Thistle trod on another hidden circle, which froze her left foreleg to the ground in a shard of ice. “Here, the pony monarchy have raised and lowered the sun and moon for countless millennia, and as such the soil itself teems with magic fallout. Enough magic to support spells of incredible complexity.

“Few, if any, races can claim to have ever stormed ponies at their seat of power, though none have ever succeeded. Though weak and frail in comparison to some other races, ponies have an ingenuity which, when in concert with their natural abilities, makes them quite formidable. Unicorns can make entire swathes of land impassable through the use of magical minefields,”

Thistle’s wings roared to life as she began to fly towards them. She managed to fly a few dozen meters into the magic minefield when she was blindsided by a storm cloud nearly pitch-black in hue. The cloud, something that Chrysalis had instructed Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash how to make, exploded in a bright and near-deafening clap of thunder and lightning on contact.

“Pegasi can create Warheads, storm clouds of such intense density that any sudden jolt causes them to release all of their stored capacity in one, explosive burst.” Celestia commented, watching disinterestedly as Thistle crashed to the ground only to be bounced off of another hidden magic circle back to where she started. “And Earth Ponies, who can fight with the strength and fury of fully-grown manticore, make attacking by land a hard fought endeavor. To ever assault Equestria, one must be prepared to take on all three pony races in concert.”

Thistle struggled to her hooves, magic sparking along her horn as she snarled and glared at them murderously. “This… is my land now…” she wheezed, almost spitting at them. “And it will obey me if I have to take it by force and blood!”

“The land itself abhors hateful bloodshed,” Celestia lectured, watching warily as Thistle charged a spell and lit her own horn, “and is tainted for centuries with near-uncontrollable corruption should violence on a grand scale occur. In short, Equestria itself makes fighting for it worthless, as the land becomes unusable.” Her horn loosed its magic, and a dome shield burst to life around her group as Thistle released her own spell with a roar.

“Shut up!”

Her magic scoured the cobblestones between her and their group, burning away hidden magic circles and setting off physical traps before incinerating them. The smell of charred stone rose from the street in its wake, and with a huff Thistle strode forward.

“But they are not the only things that invaders need fear of Equestria,” Celestia’s voice echoed out, her wings fanning wide and blowing the dust and smoke away with a majestic sweep, “the very magic of the world itself is known to be under their control to some extent, known as the Elements of Harmony.”

“The elements are a myth,” Thistle snarled, “like the toothbreezie, the jackalope, and Discord!”

“Oh, I assure you, my dear, they are quite real.” Celestia stated, sharing a knowing look with Fluttershy and her sister. “Your sister managed to get as much of a foothold in Canterlot as she did through the element of surprise, but you? You let us know you were coming; you gave us time to prepare. You will not win, Thistle; surrender.

“I assume that you are the famed ‘Princess Celestia’,” Thistle hissed.

“You would be correct,”

Thistle huffed, “More useless ponies,” she growled as her eyes roamed across the group gathered around a defiant Chrysalis, “If my sister can beat you, you’ll be nothing more than a pointless obstacle in my way.” Her horn charged for an instant before firing a quick bolt of magic at the solar diarch. “Be gone, worms.”

The world seemed to slow down as all eyes tracked the magic, watching it split into multiple beams, only for them to burst ineffectively against a golden shield that sprung to life between them.

All but one.

Luna’s scream of agony echoed across the street, and Chrysalis flinched as faintly glowing crimson blood spattered across her face. She turned sluggishly to see Luna’s form slump to the ground, and her eyes widened at the size of the wound upon the alicorn’s side. A gaping hole starting at her shoulder and spanning halfway down her right side lay open, much of it clear through the muscle beneath.

She couldn’t remember moving, only that she had been sat like a statue one moment and at Luna’s side the next. Pinkie’s hooves had wrapped around her and her magic was straining to use up what the pink mare was supplying her in her attempt to heal the downed alicorn, if only enough to keep her from bleeding out. She could feel Luna’s blood slowly pooling around her hooves, though the flow lessened as her magic worked.

“Only one? A pity,” Thistle smugly said, “though I suppose she will at least no longer interfere with my dream invading.”

Grass and plants around them wilted as the world grew hot, a furnace blazing amongst them as Celestia stood and unfurled her wings, mane and tail billowing like fire around her, her eyes glowing white in a furious snarl. “It would seem, Thistle, that you have made an… unwise decision.”

Thistle scoffed, “Oh, really? And whatever are you going to do about it, princess?”

Celestia’s flight muscles bunched and bulged, Rainbow Dash staring at the sheer size of those on her back, “Tell me, Thistle, do you know what light does to shadows?”

Thistle rolled her eyes, “I suppose this is one of your trick questions, princess, but do tell.”

“It burns.”

With a mighty flap of her wings, Celestia tackled Thistle at a speed that had even Rainbow Dash stunned, leaving a sonic quake in her wake which violently shook the windows of every building around them. Somewhere in the distance, something struck the earth with enough force to cause the ground at their hooves to shudder, which was enough to snap Twilight from her shock.

After a shake of her head, she snapped orders, “Rainbow, head to the hospital and get us some emergency doctors!” She barely waited for the pegasus to reply before spinning on the spot to her next friend, “Fluttershy, help Applejack make Luna more comfortable and keep her calm, the last thing she needs is to go into shock!” Another thud in the distance, this time accompanied by a plume of soil four storeys high, gave her pause before she continued, “Rarity, I don’t know if you can feel what I can, but the love in that hug from Pinkie is increasing Chrysalis’s magic pool exponentially. Remember what she said, about royal changelings and power? Keep her grounded. Do whatever it takes, Luna can't afford a slip up here.” Her teeth grit as she looked about at her gathered, yet busy, friends, then lit up her magic. “I don’t know much about healing magic, but I’ll do what I can.”

“Every army, every warrior, every dictator, who has ever brought war to Equestria’s borders has met the same fate, Thistle. I have seen cities razed, armies slain, and even had the unpleasantness of having to cart the dead home. I’ve borne witness to more funerals than I can even remember, all in the name of somepony else’s pointless attempts at conquest. Do you know what happened to those that challenged me personally? Their spirits crushed, hearts broken, and their bodies burned.” Celestia tilted her neck as a bolt of magic lanced past her, missing her only thanks to this action. With an unholy screech Thistle launched towards her, slamming into a golden shield that the solar diarch raised at the last possible moment. A sigh left her while the enraged changeling thrashed against her barrier.

“Unlike you, Thistle, I am most fond of my sister.” She angrily spoke, “I have been without her for too long, endured the weight of loneliness placed on my shoulders for far longer than I once thought possible. Her return was a blessing, a new beginning for the both of us.” A backhoof swing from the alicorn sent Thistle crashing to the ground. “To lose her now…” Celestia shook her head, refocusing on the changeling that soared at her, charging magic in her horn. “I would see the world burn before that should happen,” she blocked another searing bolt with a shield before catching Thistle’s swung hoof with her own, gracefully turning the move into a slap that spun Thistle in a pirouette, “and I’d scour the land in search of whoever would dare try and take her from me!”

Thistle snarled, “Mere sentimentality, Princess; that is what makes you too weak to rule, what made my sister weak enough to trust until it was too late for her to stop me; it will be your downfall as it was to so many others. Stallions fought tooth and hoof to save their wives from me, mares likewise to protect their foals. All have fallen, as shall you! You call this pathetic show a fight? Where’s the fury you charged me with, where’s the rage? All you’ve done so far is stand there on that cloud and swat at me! Come on, stop wasting my time and fight me so I can show you how weak you are!”

“There is more than one form of strength, Thistle,” Celestia said patiently, “though I suppose simple minds cannot fathom more than one at a time.” She braced herself against the cloud, muscles in her legs and flanks tensing like coiled and powerful springs. “You want a show of power, to see the extent of my capabilities? The sun itself would scorch you from the face of the world, leave nothing but a crater for your sister to mourn over; the land would blister and boil around you. Dodge if you can, you will fall upon the next strike of my hoof. The simple clearly cannot understand strength other than physical, and I am more than happy to teach you how simple you truly are;

“Here I come.”

Her tensed muscles sprung, launching Celestia at her opponent at breakneck speeds found only on the brink of a Rainboom, and Thistle barely had time to move to one side before Celestia had flapped a wing, changed her momentum, and reappeared in her face. Time, it seemed, had slowed to a crawl, and she could do nothing but stare in disbelief at the furious expression on the Princess’s face as one of her hooves slapped Thistle’s chin, rolling her whole body to expose her underbelly, and her other hoof, glowing with Celestia’s magic, connected with Thistle’s gut in an over-arm punch. She felt the chitin beneath Celestia’s hoof shatter, ribs crack, and could taste her own blood creeping up her throat.

Celestia’s lips moved in a single word before an explosion drowned out the world, a snarl that would likely put furious dragons to shame; “Burn.”

The explosion, visible from Manehattan, scorched the sky and scattered clouds for almost ten kilometres. Windows shuddered and cracked, and the land beneath their brawl baked in its furious heat. Thistle felt fire leave her throat, her insides screaming in agony as she seemed to burn from within. Before she could comprehend what had just occurred she struck the ground, gouging a path along one of Ponyville’s streets until she came to rest, still smoking and sizzling, at Chrysalis’s hooves.

A shod hoof thudded heavily into the cracked cobblestone by her left ear, and Celestia’s head lowered down next to the charred auditory appendage. Thistle coughed, smoke, blood, and bile spattering the cobbles from within her throat, and she groaned in agony.

Celestia cleared her throat; “Class dismissed.”

A second cough, this one morphing into agonized groaning, was her only response.

Celestia huffed and straightened up, turning away from the downed changeling and moving to her student, who stood nearly stupefied at the carnage wrought upon Thistle so easily. “Twilight; how is she?”

Shaking her head, the studious lavender unicorn snapped back to attention, “Princess Luna has been taken to Ponyville General for emergency surgery;” she responded forlornly, “she’s lost almost a litre of blood, but thanks to Chrysalis and myself keeping her condition from worsening, Fluttershy and Applejack keeping her from going into shock, and the swift arrival of Ponyville’s doctors, she should make a full, if not lengthy, recovery.” She breathed in sharply, refilling her empty lungs, “Or, at least, that’s what Nurse Redheart said when she was about to leave.” She added sheepishly.

The solar diarch nodded solemnly, sitting alongside her student and cupping her with her wing. “As I am aware that they will not allow me to see her until she is stable, I suppose I shall remain here to oversee matters of state; one unruly noble in particular.” She shot Thistle a foul glare to punctuate her sentence. “I imagine, however, that this will be a lesson which will not be forgotten for a long time.”

Thistle groaned from the cobblestones, her eyes roaming the street drunkenly before settling on the hooves of her sister. She stared at Chrysalis’s hooves for a few moments before drifting up to see the disappointed scowl on her face.

She coughed up another puff of foul smelling smoke, “S-sister… I’ve just had the… strangest dream.”

With a sigh Chrysalis spoke in return, “Do tell, Thistle.”

She shook her head, flinching as she brushed her singed cheek against the ground. “I… called every changeling in the hive… one family at a time, into the court room. I drained them of their magic, their love… every stallion, mare, and f-foal…” She chuckled with a groan, “Picked a fight with… some imaginary mare, too. I must have… passed out in your room after the transferral magic. But… how did I get here, and why does everything… hurt?”

“Memory loss..?” Twilight whispered worriedly.

“In a sense, Miss Sparkle,” Chrysalis replied calmly, “When I broke free of my mania after the wedding, I could only recall the whole ordeal as if it were a dream. If not for the affirmations of my changelings, and the devastation the Hive had suffered as a consequence of my foolish actions, I would likely have thought it all as such.” She huffed down at her sister, “Thistle… that was no dream. Through your actions, you attempted to murder your own sister, viciously wounded one of the rulers of the most powerful nation on Equus, and have single-hoofedly made our race all but extinct. Every changeling was drained of their love, their life, by you. You got what you wanted, sister; you will be remembered as more than just my sibling. You will be remembered as the mare that devoured her own kind off the face of Equus.”

“What are you… talking about?” Thistle asked confusedly, her eyes looking about the street as she twitched violently, “we’re not extinct; there are plenty of us here. Look, there’s Circlet. And over there, Lofty Swing…” A goofy, almost relieved smile grew on her face. “Look, even mother and father are here!”

Chrysalis looked about the empty street, before returning her gaze to her sister. “No, Thistle, they are not. You left them all at the hive, after draining them to death, leaving them nothing more than a hollowed husk, and our parents have been dead for centuries.”

“Sister, how could you be so heartless to suggest such a thing?” Thistle protested, before she turned her attention to a blank patch of air and focused on it, her ears twitching. “I know, Lofty… so rude of her to suggest that y-you’re d-dead.” She was cut off by a violent coughing fit, before she continued to talk.

Chrysalis bit her lip, watching her sister begin to hold a conversation with nothing but air, before turning a desperate face to Celestia. The solar princess sighed and shook her head.

“Thistle,” Chrysalis began with her voice soft, “can you hear me?”

“Of course, mother, I love you too.”

At this Chrysalis twitched, and finally bit into her lip. As blood oozed over her chin, tears fought their way through her eyes. “Thistle, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, please, forgive me…”

“What’s going on, Twilight?” Pinkie asked worriedly, “She was all vicious a minute ago, what’s happening?”

Twilight shook her head, “I… Pinkie… It’s something that…” She fought for words, trying to keep her tone respectful as she spoke, “If I’m right, waking from the power-induced insanity that queens suffer from is like waking from a lucid dream. It… Thistle has awoken from the madness to learn that she single-hoofedly cannibalized her own species.”

“Even a mind such as my own, strengthened by age and experience, can only take so much strain, Pinkie.” Celestia said calmly, “Dealing with that strain is up to the individual. Some simply can’t. I can recall royal guards, hardened soldiers after a war with the Gryphon Empire, reduced to quivering messes at the sight of them for years after the fighting had ended. The loss of family can have much the same affect, as I’m sadly sure Applejack and her siblings are all too aware. Thistle seems to have been… unable to take the reality that she has destroyed the changelings.”

“She’s gone mad, Pinkie.” Twilight said sadly, “I don’t think she can even tell the difference between reality and her hallucinations anymore.” She sighed. “It seems almost too convenient.”

“I… I’m your big sister and I couldn’t help you, I’m…” Chrysalis huffed as her body heaved with a heavy sob, “What good am I…”

Slowly, gently, Celestia shifted closer and pulled Chrysalis into her forelegs, wrapping her in an embrace that she didn’t even attempt to break free from. “It’s alright, Chrysalis,” she softly spoke into her ear. “It is not your fault.”

“I couldn’t even protect her from herself.”

“I know,” Celestia replied solemnly, “believe me, I know.”

“Who’s that dark blue pony?” Thistle asked, her attention down the street where nopony else could see anyone, “She’s pretty, but she’s just standing there and watching! She should come here and meet everypony! Oh, she doesn’t seem very happy, she’s glaring at me.”

“Luna must be out of surgery,” Celestia muttered, “she must be walking in Thistle’s hallucinations as if they were daydreams. Likely checking up on us, making sure we are okay.”

Chrysalis huffed, removing herself from Celestia’s embrace and staring down at her broken sister. “Thistle… I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me for what I... what I must do.”

Green wispy smoke began to curl up from Chrysalis’ eyes, and shadowy, dark purple flames built up along her horn. The foul magic built up for a moment and, after a short release, Thistle’s corkscrew horn sheared from her head, hitting the stones with a clack. Another build up, and Chrysalis thrust her horn to the remaining stump, forcing dark magic into the wound which hissed and sizzled under the foul sorcery.

Realizing what had just occurred, Celestia pulled Chrysalis back away from her sister. The shock of her quick movement cut Chrysalis’s magic off, leaving her disoriented.

“Chrysalis, what have you done?!”

She shook her head, clearing the last of the dark magic from her senses, “What had to be done, Celestia;” she replied solemnly, “she has the entire hive’s worth of magic within her, enough to destroy all of Ponyville, and now she can’t even tell reality from delusion. I have, temporarily, removed her ability to channel magic, and seared the wound to delay her regeneration. She can be safely detained now, with minimal risk to herself or others.”

Celestia paled, for as much a white pony could, “And what gave you the right to-“

“She is my sister, Celestia!” Chrysalis snapped, rivulets of tears running down her face as she bore her teeth at the alicorn, “I have every right! What I’ve just done… I made the choice because there’s nopony else left to make it!” She sobbed loudly, turning her face to the stone beneath her, “She cannot choose for herself, so I made the only real choice because I have to hope that given some time and help, some day she might come back from her madness. I need to hope, Celestia… she’s all I have left!”

She sighed and looked down at her sister, who had fallen asleep, likely from the injuries her body was riddled with, “I made the choice, for the first time in countless years, to put her needs above those of others. She’s my sister, Celestia, not some toy; I can’t just abandon her because she’s broken.” Her whole body shook forcefully, “There are no changelings left, Princess; I can’t… I can’t lose her too.”

Celestia sighed, “Alright, I understand, Chrysalis; but she will need heavy restraints. She is much stronger than most of my little ponies, and we do not want anyone injured should she become hostile.”

With a nod, Chrysalis agreed, “Yes, of course.” She mumbled, “Perhaps it is best that you summon some guards to come collect her; I do not like the thought of the rumours that will spread if we cart her t-to the asylum ours-selves…”

“Yes, I suppose so.” The princess replied, before shooting a magical flare into the sky, “The guard should be here shortly; for now, let her rest.”

Chrysalis coughed a laugh through a sob as her foreleg brushed some of Thistle’s mane from her sleeping face. “She managed to do what she came here for, Celestia;

“She managed to hurt me more than ever before.”

Author's Notes:

Erhmahgherd I did something for this?

Why, yes, indeed I have; and I'm so, so, so sorry that it took this long. I'm not even sure I like how I've written it, but it'll have to do.

There are a few things left, likely one last chapter, and it'll all be over for this story. Here's hoping I don't screw that up, eh?

This chapter was being bounced between three possible fight scenes, one with Discord, Luna, or Celestia laying the smackdown, but I ended up with this outcome because it made the most sense, in a way. I, also, was going to blind Chrysalis with her use of dark magic, as it would burn away some of the Love that comprised her eyes, but I decided against that.
I, also, was going to have Thistle be more aggressive after the sound beating she received, but didn't end up liking that as much as this outcome, so... yeah.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and see you at the bottom of the next one!

-Silent Quill

Endings

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With heavy, slow, and will driven hooves Chrysalis strode through the halls of Ponyville’s hospital, her heart heavy and mood low. Only the steady rhythm of her hoofsteps punctuated the peaceful quiet of the white, sparse hall lined with doors. Even after all these weeks, she hated this day and loathed this task.

“How is she today, Doctor?” She asked as her hooves stopped outside a bland yet sturdy-looking door.

The tan unicorn, standing in wait for her arrival with a quintuplet of sturdy-looking security guards, sighed; “She’s amicable today, almost lucid.” He replied, “She seems aware of where she is and why she’s here, but she is still conversing with hallucinations.” He looked down at a clipboard he held in his magic, “She’s certainly a far cry from the violent rage she was in during last week’s session. I would advise that you be careful with what you do or say, she’s liable to tip very easily.”

Chrysalis nodded, “And how are you faring, after last week’s… episode?” She asked, her eyes conveying worry, “She bit you rather hard when you tried to sedate her for bathing.”

The stallion only chuckled good-naturedly and shook his head, “It’s not the first time I’ve been attacked by the patients in this wing, and it’s unlikely to be the last.” He said patiently.

“I remember seeing quite a lot of blood.”

Again he chuckled, “She nicked a vein, nothing a couple of stitches and a bandage couldn’t fix.”

Chrysalis sighed, “If you’re certain you’re okay,” she mumbled to which he nodded, “I suppose we should get on with this. Is she restrained, I don’t want a recurrence of the first time…”

“Fully restrained, inhibitor ring in place on her horn, and, as I said before, she seems to be in a good way today, much better than any I’ve seen in the last few months; it may have to do with the medication we’ve recently put her on, but we’re not going to make any judgement on that until we can see this persist.”

With a nod, Chrysalis motioned to the door, “I suppose we should get this over with.”

“Again I must ask you to reconsider, as I do every time.”

She sighed, giving the doctor a forlorn look, “And as much as it pains me to do it, I must disagree and remind you that an inhibitor ring alone cannot contain that much raw magic if her horn is healed enough to cast anything. She would burn right through it. No, for her safety, if not less so than the safety of others, I cannot shirk this task despite the heartache that comes with it.”

“But to perform such a thing without even getting her permission…”

Chrysalis bristled, “Doctor, I’m her only living relative. We are the last of our kind, and she cannot even, with full cognizance, give any kind of permission or approval for anything. Her only other option is the long sleep, and I’ll be damned if you or anyone make me make that choice.” She shook her head and huffed, “No, I make this choice for her because nopony else can, because I have to hope and pray that someday she can come home with me.”

The tan stallion sighed, “No need to become so riled up, miss, I am merely following procedures. If we can find a way of doing this without causing harm to her I’m morally and legally bound to take it.”

“Well, keep researching ways to block immense amounts of magic.” Chrysalis replied, “This hurts my heart to do, and I don’t want to know what might happen if I ever became accustomed to it…” She shook her head and sighed, “Alright, enough stalling.”

The door pushed open to a white padded room, cloud-filled cushions coated the walls to reduce the solid surfaces to a minimum, and amidst it all, tightly bound in a restraint jacket and leggings, lay Thistle. Her eyes focused in and out as her ears swivelled, a smile on her lips as she conversed with those that only she could see. Cut short to make her more manageable should she become unruly, her mane was no more than a partially-maintained pixie-cut, and the length of her tail had been halved.

Still, despite the difficulties she presented whenever the task came around, she was clean and tidy.

“Thistle is a difficult case to treat, as usually we would try and lessen the hallucinations with physical contact and interaction with real ponies or animals, try and reconnect her sense of what is real and what is merely a figment of her imagination;” Doctor Stable stated calmly but quietly, “due to her past, and the extreme hostility she has shown in the last few weeks, we’ve been unable to do anything but keep her confined.”

“Hopefully that changes with this recent behavioural turnaround... “ Chrysalis nodded before moving closer to her bound sister. “Thistle?”

At first, the only reaction that Chrysalis got was Thistle turning an ear in her direction, but it was soon follow up by the larger changeling turning her head and all but slamming it to the padded floor at her sister’s hooves, her eyes wide and staring up at her as if in wonder.

“Chrysalis, how wonderful of you to visit me in my one-mare apartment of padding and tight clothing!” She chirped, a goofy smile gracing her lips. “I’d thought you had forgotten about lil’ old me, but it must be hard to forget locking your sister away in an asylum!”

She lifted and shook her head side to side, as if shaking off something, “Not that I’m going to question it, sister! I am… more than aware of why I’m here.” Her face turned downcast and she sighed, “Now more than ever, sister, I can feel my mind broken. Have you ever felt as I do, as if there are shards in your mind that rattle and move whenever they wish? Mother has told me that it’s important I stay aware of this, but…”

“Yes, sister,” Chrysalis replied solemnly, “I know the sensations you feel; I myself endured them when mother elevated me to the throne, and at the aftermath of the invasion.”

“It is… maddening to try and make sense of them,” Thistle whined, “and my moods, now I can see, have been uncontrollably unpredictable.” She sighed sadly, “I don’t know if I might ever be able to recover; father says that it’s nigh impossible.”

“Father wouldn’t be completely accurate in that assumption; I managed to get through it twice, it merely takes time.”

Thistle considered her stoically, “And of my crimes, Chrysalis? When would I bear the brunt of my sins?”

“Everyday, Thistle,” Chrysalis breathed solemnly, “We carry our past and hope for a better future.”

“I sent our kind into the history books single-hooved, sister. I have done the unspeakable and I get to live? Why would anypony accept that? How is that justice?”

“Because you will have to live with it, Thistle. The enormity of what you’ve done, the lives you’ve stolen and wasted all in the name of a grudge over some perceived slights I have made against you, they are yours to bear, as well as mine. Our hooves are stained with the blood of those who have been killed over our family squabbling and it will never wash clean.”

Thistle sighed, plonking her head back on the cushioned floor, “I know why you’re here, Chrysalis; now that I’m actually able to properly think for the first time in weeks…”

Chrysalis grimaced, “I’m sorry; if there were any other way…”

“Don’t be,” Thistle huffed, “through my actions I brought this upon myself. This burden, amongst many others, is mine to bear, and mine alone.”

Through a choke and over the hum of dark magic clouding her horn, Chrysalis replied, “No, sister; while your heart bears this, it is not alone.”

Sweetie Belle bounced on the spot as she looked over the knitted timberwolf doll that Chrysalis offered her, her face split into an enormous grin. “I would have completed it sooner, Sweetie Belle, but there have been some… important things that I have had to deal with, as I’m sure you know.”

“That’s fine, Chrysalis, he’s perfect!” She cheered with a squeak that made Chrysalis fold her ears. “The little ears and his tail, and his button eyes - I gotta show Applebloom and Scootaloo!” She shouted, rushing to the door.

“Glad you like it,” Chrysalis said as she shifted her basket around and putting away her knitting needles, silently wondering if that voice could cut glass, “But I’m fairly sure it’s a school night and you have homework.”

Sweetie Belle slumped, “Aw, come on, I expect that from Rarity and my parents, but from you?”

Chrysalis shook her head, “I am not getting into that argument with your sister, Sweetie. Education is important;” she developed a saccharine smile, readying what she knew was a trump card for the young troublemaker, “who knows, you might find new things to try for your Cutie Mark.”

“In maths?” the filly asked at nearly the top of her lungs.

Chrysalis shrugged, hoping that her hearing hadn’t been damaged by that outburst, “I can still remember names of over eighty thousand changelings who have long since passed;” she said, “you never know.”
‘Some of which I will hold a toast to at my birthday.’

Sweetie Belle gave her a skeptical glance, “I doubt remembering things is my special talent…” she muttered unsure.

“And I would agree, otherwise you would remember to use a cookbook and follow its instructions like your sister and I asked.” Chrysalis retorted with a shudder and a glare, to which Sweetie Belle looked sheepish, “with a little more education under your belt, you could become anything.”
‘Except a cook’ she mentally added, ‘if you ever try to become a professional chef, I think you’ll be banned by the gryphons as chemical weaponry.’

“Go on, Sweetie, the sooner it’s done, the sooner you can go play.” Chrysalis said, waving a hoof encouragingly.

With a sigh, Sweetie Belle trudged off, shuffling her hooves and draping her new stuffed toy over her back. Before she could close the door behind herself, Rarity sidled in and gently shut it with a snap.

“Though I question your methods slightly, I must commend you for getting her to do her homework, I still struggle with that from time to time;” she laughed good-naturedly into a hoof, “Celestia only knows how much of a fight Scootaloo’s parents must go through every night.”

Chrysalis chuckled in return, “I’m not even going to try with her, she’s trouble.”

“No disagreements there, darling,” Rarity agreed as she idly looked about the well stocked room, “plenty of wool I see; I suppose you won’t be doing any chores for a while…”

Chrysalis huffed, “Rarity, I’m living in your home, under your roof, eating your food. If you need something done, ask me.”

“Except cook a curry, I will never ask you to cook a curry again.”

“It wasn’t that bad!” Chrysalis defended, ears pinned to her scalp.

Rarity eyed her warily, “Chrysalis, normally it is nigh impossible to get Sweetie to drink unflavoured milk.” She said, “Yet that one meal had her consume nearly all of it that I had in my refrigerator.”

“You ponies and your low tolerances; I guess that I’m not going to share my kimchi with you when it’s ready to be dug back up.” The diminutive changeling snipped, mockingly turning her nose up.

“Is that what that pot you buried was? The Mayor was asking what in the world you were doing pulling up a paving stone and digging a two-foot ditch.”

Chrysalis gave a sheepish smile, “Your refrigerator is too cold for it, kimchi needs to ferment.”

Rarity shook her head, “So long as you don’t go poisoning yourself, dear.”

Chrysalis chortled, “I didn’t get enough cabbage with my bits for that much kimchi, maybe next time.”

Rarity sighed, and a companionable silence fell between them, each eyeing a different section of the room. For a minute or so, this lingered until Rarity moved closer and sat down.

“Chrysalis… you don’t need to keep this bottled up, you know you can talk to me…”

“If I had the words I would say them, Rarity.” Chrysalis replied, “My heart is broken and it can never be whole. My race is dead, my sister insane, barely capable of knowing reality from fantasy, and every week I am tasked with torturing her just to keep her from becoming dangerous, to save her from her own power.”

“The things we do for those we love-”

“No;” Chrysalis interrupted angrily, “we don’t get to wax poetic about this! I torture my only remaining relative every week while she writhes and cries in agony, while she sc- while she screams and begs. There is no silver lining to that, no bright future. Every week I perform a deed so foul it all but confirms the myth that ponies have of changelings being monsters and I have to just accept it.”

“You are not a monster, Chrysalis, regardless of how we first thought of you, regardless of what you think of yourself.” Rarity muttered sullenly. “Those who feel remorse can never be monsters, not in my eyes.”

“What my mind knows and my heart feels are two different things, Rarity…” Chrysalis huffed. “I do what I must to keep Equestria safe, and I hate myself for having to choose.”

A burst of glittering, multicoloured flames forced its way through the crack under the door and swirled around the pair, painting the room in a kaleidoscope of hues and patterns.

“Is… is Spike learning how to send to other ponies now..?” Chrysalis asked worriedly, ducking her head as the magic swirled past her horn.

“Spike’s fire is green, he couldn’t be doing this, could he?” Rarity muttered in return, poking the sparkling flare when it passed close enough.

The fire, now having circled the room multiple times, spun rapidly over their heads before bursting like a firecracker, dropping a wax-sealed scroll at their hooves and spreading confetti around the room.

The two mares blinked down at the scroll owlishly as the confetti settled, before looking up at one another in baffled stares.

“What the buck was that?” Chrysalis blurted, “Is Pinkie developing even more bizarre powers? Do I have to invest in some kind of bunker?”

Rarity shook her head, dislodging some of the confetti that had settled into her mane, before lifting the scroll. “I don’t think that would be required, dear;” she said, “but this scroll’s seal has a ‘D’ on it.”

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense, what does it say?”

Rarity broke the seal on the wax and unrolled the scroll, then cleared her throat before speaking,

“Madames Rarity and Chrysalis,
You are cordially invited to join myself and several other friends at the entrance to White Tail Woods at six o'clock this afternoon. I have something very important to share with you.
Regards,
Discord the Gloriously Reformed.”

With a cough, Rarity put a hoof to her throat as her eyes bulged; somewhere while reading the letter, her voice had changed to Discord’s.
With a grumble she shook her head. “I do detest when he does that.”

“An invitation to White Tail Woods from Discord himself? I don’t much fancy that.” Chrysalis huffed, “But, I suppose we might as well make an appearance. That old snake is likely to come fetch us if we don’t show up and humour him.”

Rarity hummed an affirmative, “Five is a little over two hours away,” she informed her companion, “I suppose I should go and tidy myself up; I don’t want to look ghastly if he’s invited anypony else.”

As Rarity walked out, Chrysalis’ gaze drifted over to the chest she had filled with knitted and stuffed changeling dolls sadly, muttering quietly, “Heavy be the head that wears yon crown, for the duty that lies beside doth burden heart and soul both. To make amends for this wrongdoing beyond my wounded pride, to scar my heart forevermore...” She sighed and shook her head faintly, “Never will I forget, my kin, I swear.”

“Looks like quite the gathering he has called upon.” Rarity commented as she approached with Chrysalis in tow. “Even the Princesses are here.”

Chrysalis nodded, eyeing the Draconequus warily. “That they are,” she grumbled, “just once I wish someone would slap that smug grin off his face.” She voiced, her eyebrow raising as Discord’s ears caught fire, if only for a second.

Rarity dropped into a polite bow when they moved nearer, Chrysalis only barely mirroring the action with a nod.

“Alright, Discord, everypony is here now;” Celestia said, her tone filled with tolerance and restraint, “what, exactly, did you want to show us all?”

“And try to keep the overactive chaos to a minimum, some of us have chores to do.” Applejack grumbled.

“Ah, yes, the guest of honor has arrived, splendid!” Discord crowed, hovering a little off the ground and waving his arms grandly. “It’s been quite a while since we were all together like this, how about a photo?”
A flash near blinded them all and a polaroid photo slid out of Discord’s left ear, snatched up by his lion’s paw and held out for him to inspect.

With a shrug, Discord tossed the photo to one side, ignoring it as it floated down into Spike’s claws, where the drake giggled amusedly. “You all look silly with the moustaches!”

“Discord, get to the point or I’ll find a way to show you how much of a headache you give me.” Chrysalis growled.

“Now now, my dear changeling, you of all ponies should know that all the world’s a stage; how one decides to act for the audience is up to them!” The mismatched creature chortled, donning a suit and tie. “After all, acting is most of the gig, and there are few as talented at the art as I.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Rainbow Dash growled.

Discord huffed, “Hmpf, such philistines, how am I ever going to get my break in showbiz if no-one supports me?” He groused, vanishing his attire with a snap of his talons. “Ah well, I’m sure I will manage it some day; for now I suppose we should get down to brass tacks.” He sidled over to Chrysalis, looming over her tremendously as she took a wary step back. “Listen, Chrysalis, we got off to the wrong hoof before.”

“What, when you appeared out of nowhere, interrupted a perfectly good conversation, and then, after warping reality to your own whims, left without a trace, or perhaps you mean when you warped my race into something ponies now fear and revile?”

“Yes on both counts, I suppose;” Discord replied, shrugging his shoulders and reclining back on thin air, “it was a very different time back then, back before this whole ‘friendship’ thing and reformation. I don’t regret my actions, I was young and unfettered back in those days, still learning my own powers and the fun that could come from them. Blame a wild and untamed youth, I suppose.

“These days, I suppose one could say that I’m on the straight and narrow, what with the whole ‘reformed’ thing. I can get up to some mild mischief, enjoy not being a statue, and I wouldn’t miss Fluttershy’s tea parties for the world, what’s to hate, really?” He gave a pleased smile to the so-named pegasus, who only smiled back sheepishly. With a sigh, Discord landed and coiled up, facing Chrysalis with a stern expression, “But, through it all, I have been remiss in trying to make amends with the newest addition to the troupe, one whose whole life has been in response to an old wound, something that happened before her time.

“Chrysalis, I would like to apologise.”

She stood in shocked silence as Discord lay his head on the lawn before her, forehead to the ground and arms wide. Her eyes darted to Celestia, who also appeared to be shocked at the strange turn of events.

“Discord,” Chrysalis started, “you know I cannot truly take your apology. This oldest wound is to an entire race, one that no longer resides in the land of the living. The only thing that I can even possibly think you could do to make some form of amends is to heal my sister’s fractured mind.”

Discord sighed, “Alas, I cannot, my dear; playing with the noodles of sentients is something that I have had to swear never to do again.” He gave her a sad, apologetic smile, “She will need to get better on her own, Chrysalis. It is not an impossible hurdle, if moon-butt can do it, so can Thistle.”

Chrysalis huffed, “How long must I wait, Discord? I… I cannot do what I must do to her forever.”

He gave a shrug, “That, my dear buggy, is up to her. She will recover in time, you need only give it to her. It isn’t like you don’t have a lot of it after all.”

Quietly yet swiftly a mournful quiet fell upon the small herd, held by all but the wind until Twilight cleared her throat.

“While I am not arguing that this has been a long time coming, Discord, I don’t think you really needed an audience for this.” She stated flatly, “What did you bring us here for?”

Now Discord smiled, floating back up into the air and pinching Twilight’s cheek, “And that, my little egghead, is the right question!” He crowed. “As Fluttershy would likely attest, I have been somewhat absent from Ponyville as of late, even having to send a few apology letters for being unable to show up to her weekly tea parties with Barry and Angel, however I have been somewhat… busy.

“Last time we met all together like this, I told you that I was off to do things.” Discord reminded them with a smug grin, “and as much as Twilight smugged that she would get me to say the line she knows I don’t like,”

“‘Smugged’ isn’t a word, Discord.” the so-named unicorn huffed.

“I calmly replied that even I can do things without malice.” He finished, ignoring her interruption, “Now, Chrysalis, other than mend your sister’s shattered psyche, is there anything that you would wish for?”

Chrysalis sighed, “The return of my species is too great a wish; there aren’t enough shooting stars in the skies to return a race from extinction.”

Discord chortled, “Close your eyes,” he said calmly, “think only of them. Your changelings, their safety, what you would do if they were here.” He waved a paw at her encouragingly, “Go on, humour me.”

Chrysalis glanced sidelong at Rarity, who only shrugged in return. She sighed and, after sitting in the lawn, did as Discord asked.

Her mind wandered, thinking as Discord has instructed her, and a goofy smile grew on her lips as she remembered better times.

“That’s it, you’ve found them. They’re here,” she felt his talon poke her chest, “where they’re safest, where you remember them fondest. Can anyone truly die, so long as we can remember them?” He chortled, “I can remember ponies from ages past, ponies that only Sunny and Moon-Butt can possibly remember; while in those days they were my foes, so long as they live in our memories, they’re as immortal as we are.”

“It’s like I can hear them.” Chrysalis breathed.

“My queen,”

“I have missed them so much.”

“My queen,”

“It’s hard to believe that I’ll never see them again.”

“My queen,”

She felt Discord’s talon tap her scalp, “Open your eyes.”

Squinting a little as the sunlight returned to her sight, she did as instructed. For the briefest of moments her mind had to catch up with what she was seeing, and her jaw dropped when it did. Meekly she reached forth, gingerly pushing against the figure that stood before her.

“How can this be…?”

The changeling before her bowed, allowing her to see dozens behind him. “My queen, you are safe, thank the shadows.” He said before she nearly bowled him over in an embrace, smearing his carapace with her tears.

“That night we talked, I went to your hive with… a friend,” Discord stated calmly as he watched impassively, “A changeling I found to the north, near the Crystal Empire. He and I struck it off, you could say, a few days before you arrived in Ponyville. With his aid, I approached a hundred or so families and warned them of the impending danger that Thistle posed, of what she had done to gain her status as Queen. I told them to gather their families and flee their homes, to escape in the dead of night to the north, to Equestria.

“It has taken them months of walking, and I have kept them safe and fed along the way; months of travel to arrive here at this exact time, half past six in the evening, on this day. Thanks to yours truly, Thistle did not send your kind into extinction, Chrysalis.”

“Who?” Chrysalis asked, “Who helped you?”

Discord shook his head, “He did not want me to tell you, not until he had made a home for himself up north. I returned him there myself, and he is likely trying to introduce himself to princess Heartbutt.”

“You’ve done a good thing, Discord,” Celestia affirmed as she strode forth, “and we will continue to do good things for these refugees. I shall inform the mayor of the situation and send some craftsponies in the morning to begin construction on housing. They will have to find jobs of their own to support themselves, but I’m sure that with the right leadership they’ll do fine.”

Chrysalis released the changeling she had been hugging and prostrated herself to the lord of chaos, “Thank you, Discord, you have no idea how much-”

“Bah,” he waved her off, “they beat the odds, chaos is whimsical, all that nonsense. You owe me nothing, Chrysalis, I am merely repaying a debt owed.” He slid over to Fluttershy, who looked up at him with a pleasant smile. “Will that be enough apology for the teapot?”
She only nodded at him.

“My queen,” the changeling she had hugged began, “what of your sister, Thistle? Is she…”

“She is alive, Buzzyear.” She informed him, to which he cringed, “But her mind is all but broken, and she is likely to be detained for centuries to come. She cannot harm us anymore. It’s over.”

A happy smile spread her lips and a tear snaked over her cheek, “It’s finally over.”

Fall of a Monarch

by Silent Quill

Betrayal

Daybreak

Storytime

Hunted

Festivities

Visits

Falling

Endings