Chrysalis glanced at the clock for the fifth time in the past half hour, silently urging for the hands to move faster as she endured her royal duties. While her mother handled matters of state and the Heart of the Hive, and her sister managed the Hive’s army, Chrysalis had to deal with the public. This meant her mornings, and sometimes afternoons, were usually spent listening to the people’s requests, complaints, offers, and anything else within reason. Sometimes it was a drone asking for permission to build in a certain area, and others it was a couple asking for a royal blessing and some love energy for the wedding. Rarely did she have any unique visitors, like the little filly drone who presented a drawing of Chrysalis and wanted her opinion on it. Maybe she should tell Cadance about that next time.

However, this court session was taken up by the most common reason to see her: Arguments. Disputes and conflicts were uncommon as Changelings were a species dedicated to gathering love, but when they happened, it was often over a serious matter. If there was a disagreement, it would be up to her settle it and perhaps dole out punishment as she saw fit.

Two drones stood before her. One was lanky with green eyes and the other was stout with blue eyes. The first stood like a tree, his fingers grasping the papers in hand as if a breeze might take them away. The second has a slight sway to his stance, like he was just pulled out of one of the city bars after Love Hour. Currently, they were arguing their accounts of a recent gathering.

‘If this wasn’t so urgent, I’d already be on the way to Canterlot, I’m late as it is.’ Chrysalis thought as the lanky one spoke.

“I have the numbers here, your majesty.” He said, pulling out sheets of paper with scribbles all over it, “This is both the recordings of love energy we gathered out in the field and what we stored away. What we stored is significantly lower than our gathering.”

Chrysalis levitated the papers to her and scanned them. As he said, the numbers were lower than they should have been.

“What do you have to say to this?” she said, looking over to the stout one.

He hiccupped and his words came out in a slight slur, “I sshay that he’s tryin’ to get me in trouble. Ever shince he got assigned to my shquad, *hic* he’s been blamin’ all the problems on me. I ain’t been nuttin’ but loyal to the crown for yearssh and I ain’t about to shtop now.”

“I see…” Chrysalis said as her thoughts were following the clock hands, ‘Ten… Seven…. Four… Two. One. Finally!’ Keeping her composure from revealing her delight, she said, “I’m afraid that court is closed, however, I will look into this case the next meeting you make an appointment for. Dismissed.” The changelings bowed and left. Once they were gone, Chrysalis called her scribe over, “Find out what you can about those two. I want to know about any problems they had, their gathering logs, and anything else that’s relevant. Bring it to my chambers later. Also, send a note to the Guard Captain to have them put under watch until this whole mess clears up.”

The scribe bowed, “Yes, your majesty.” He said before scurrying off. As soon as he turned the corner, Chrysalis jumped from her throne and sped off to her chambers. There, she saw Matilda sitting in the corner sewing embroidery.

“Something sure has excited my Little Butterfly.” Matilda said, not looking up from her work, “Was court that bad?”

Chrysalis walked into the closet and searched through her clothes, “Not really, just some gatherers arguing over workloads and possible embezzlement.”

Matilda clicked her tongue, “One would think they’d know to work for the people and not personal gain. When I was your age, the gatherers only fought over who brought more back. Of course, it was fun watching them wrestle, regardless of the reason.” Her nostalgic smile then turned to a frown, “Still, they should know better than to squabble over our food like foals. Perhaps a week, no a month in the nurseries will teach them to grow up.”

“I’ll have to consider that after I review their case.” Chrysalis said she pulled out a pair of dresses and held them against her body. ‘Eh, too formal and the other makes me look fat. ’ She tossed them both back in the closet and continued her search.

“I still wonder why you’re in such a rush, but I think I can hazard a guess. Off to see the pink princess?” Matilda asked, “I’d advise against ditching your duties just to visit a friend. It does not make for a good ruler, especially one who is needed.”

“Needed for what? Marriage blessings and permission to build a new shop? A scribe could do that for me. I’m only around for the ceremony.”

“It shows that you care about the growth of the Hive. Faust knows your mother and sister don’t get out much, so it’s up to you to show the people that the royal family does care for their wants and needs.” Matilda said sagely.

“Still doesn’t change that this is about all I can do while paying off my debt.” Chrysalis pulled out a dark teal, low cut, knee length dress with streaks of black on the edges and a simple black belt. She approved of the dress and began to change. “At this point, I feel like I might as well join the workers and gatherers for all the progress I’m making.”

“Have you talked to your mother about more work?”

“Yes. Multiple times and all with the same response. ‘You’re not ready, child. Be grateful that I let you even handle the simple tasks, child. You might mess up like you did with the invasion. Blah blah blah.’” Chrysalis mimicked in her best impression of her mother.

Matilda chuckled, “I’m sure that she has her reasons. Besides, hard work builds character, that’s what my mother told me when I first started working in the palace.”

Chrysalis tugged on her clothes one final time. “There, how do I look?”

Matilda stood up and walked over, circling around her charge. “It’s been awhile since you wore this. You look absolutely adorable.” She then gave a questioning look, “Are you sure you’re not trying to impress that Shining stallion?” She received a facepalm in response.

“No! I’m wearing this because I look good in it.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Matilda said with a chuckle as she returned to her embroidery, “Now go, I thought you were in a hurry to leave.”

Chrysalis just shook her head and smiled at the old maid before leaving the room.

*****

Shining should have been going over the stack of reports next to him, but considering that he and Cadance had been on a roll and gotten so much done recently, he felt justified in taking a small break.

“I wonder if Gaffer has tickets to SuperCon next year?” Shining asked himself as he turned another page of his comic book. He was currently laying on the couch with a small stack of comics in a bag on the floor and one of them in his hands. He only wore a dark blue shirt with his cutie mark on it and a pair of khaki cargo shorts. “Would be the least I could do for letting me get these early releases.”

He was halfway through his Power Ponies comic when he heard a bell ring out, causing him to tense up. It wasn’t the clock or the chimes in the window. Instead, it was the spell on the barrier that signaled when Chrysalis arrived. Shining’s eyes flicked to the bathroom door a few moments before Chrysalis appeared, or rather stuck her head out.

“Cadance?” she called out, not noticing him.

“She’s not here.” Shining said, announcing his presence and making her jump in surprise.

“Well, where is she?” Chrysalis asked once she composed herself.

“Left for an emergency meeting a while ago. Don’t know how long until she comes back.” He explained curtly. Though Shining’s face was buried in his book, his eyes were locked onto Chrysalis’ every movement and his horn was primed for spell casting.

“Then I’ll just wait for her.” She walked into the room and sat on chair opposite of the couch, as far as she could from Shining while being close to the door. Upon spying the stack of comics, she used her magic to slip one out from the middle of the stack, a Bat-Mane one to be exact.

“Well, what do you know? The captain of the guard is a huge nerd.” she said as she opened it and began skimming through it, “Does this mean you have an Ogres and Oubliettes set somewhere?”

“For your information,” Shining started, plucking the comic out of her hands with his magic, “Just because I like comics does not make me a nerd. I also don’t have an Ogres and Oubliettes set.” Technically, he didn’t have the set with him, but he wasn’t going to let her know that.

Chrysalis looked unconvinced, her eyebrow raised high up. “Is that so? Then at what level does the paladin class learn Crippling Strike?”

Shining sat up, ready to defend his favored class, “The paladin doesn’t learn that ability at all, only the rogue class does. The paladin learns…” His words dried up in his throat when he saw Chrysalis’ mirthful look. When Shining realized what happened, Chrysalis couldn’t contain herself and almost fell to the floor laughing.

“Hahahaha! Oh Faust, that was amazing! The look on your face was priceless! Hahahaha!”

Flushing red with embarrassment, Shining waited until Chrysalis calmed down before asking, “And how do you know so much about it anyways? Do you play it?”

“Oh no. I mean, -heh- I tried once when I was gathering love from a bunch of nerds at some high school in Canterlot.” she said, then gave a snort of amusement, “All I said was that I was interested and they treated me like I was a glass of water in the desert. Their lack of experience with mares made that the easiest love gathering ever. Shame it was only a one time thing.”

Shining felt uneasy with how familiar the situation she described had sounded. “By any chance did you happen to go by ‘Raven Loft’ during that?”

Chrysalis was surprised by the question. “Uh, maybe? I was going through a bit of a dark and broody phase at the time. Why?”

“Because my friends told me about some girl they invited to game night. The only reason I couldn’t go was because I was on a date with Cadance.” Shining said, “I didn’t believe them and they never saw you again, so they couldn’t really prove it.”

“I see.” Chrysalis said, intrigued by the new information, “I wonder if you can introduce me properly to them? I should thank them for the love they gave me.” Shining glared at her, to which she responded with a huff and crossing her arms. “You’re no fun.” For the next several minutes, she just sat in the chair, looking around the room with a bored look on her face. All the while, Shining kept his gaze upon her like a warden to a convict. As the time passed, she began to grow irritated until she finally spoke up. “Would you cut that out?!” she snapped at Shining.

Shining was unfazed by the sudden outburst. “How do I know you won’t try something when I take my eyes off you?”

Chrysalis gave him a deadpan look, “If you’re expecting me to use mind magic, then it’s a wonder how you managed to become Captain.”

“Twilight taught me some spells to counter you if you tried.”

“Figures.” She rolled her eyes, “Did she tell you that the spell will only work if you’re completely unsuspecting? Especially if you were exhausted after a long day at work, like last time?” She crossed her arms, “If I tried now, it wouldn’t work because you’re expecting it and your mind is fresh.”

‘Okay, fair point. But…’, Shining narrowed his eyes, “How do I know you’re not lying?”

Chrysalis smirked, “Ask your sister. I bet she’d prove me right.”

Shining didn’t dignify that with a response.

Suddenly, a quiet rumble was heard. Chrysalis eyes widened as she blushed. “Excuse me.” Her horn flared with magic, plucking an apple from the fruit bowl on the dining table. Before she bit into it, Chrysalis cast a strange spell that seeped into the fruit like liquid into a sponge. When she realized that Shining was giving her an odd look, she swallowed and asked, “What?”

“I thought Changelings only fed on love? More importantly, what did you do to that apple?”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes, “Not entirely. We still need to eat physical food like any other being, but without love, we might as well be eating dirt for all the nutrition it would provide.” She took another bite of the apple, “As for your second question, I believe I had answered that as well.”

Shining blinked in surprise from her bluntness, “Huh. Does it taste any different when you put love in it? Y’know, like ‘this pie was made with love’?”

“I...don’t know actually.” Chrysalis said, furrowing her brow, “We don’t usually eat food without love in it. As curious as I am, I’m not wasting precious love for an experiment that might bear no fruit.”

“It just gave you an apple.” Shining snarked, “Whoa!” He dove to the side as Chrysalis’ apple flew past where his head was and splattered on the wall. “You have no sense of humor.”

“No, yours is just terrible.” Chrysalis huffed, “I don’t know how Cadance puts up with you.”

“Good looks and a great sex drive tends to help.”

Chrysalis groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Ugh, and for a second there, I actually thought you had a few brain cells to put together. I should have figured by how easy it was to hypnotize you.”

“Oh really?” Shining challenged, “Well considering how easily I banged your butt into unconsciousness, I’d say that we’re even.” He then gave her a shit-eating grin, “Unless you include the one from when you were watching us in the morning.” Oh how Shining wished he had a camera right now to immortalize Chrysalis’ twisted, twitching, ticked off face.

“Do. Not. Ever! Speak of that night!” She spat through gritted teeth and bared fangs.

Shining felt like Hearth’s Warming came early. “Oh, sore spot for you or was that your ass in the morning?”

“I WILL END YOU!” Chrysalis cried as she leapt from her seat towards him.

Not expecting such a violent response, Shining did not react in time to raise a shield. He tried to get up from the couch but all that succeeded was allowing Chrysalis to tackle and knock him over the back of the couch. They landed in a tangle of limbs, trying to attack and block as they extracted themselves. Soon enough, Chrysalis was on top of Shining, trying to get her hands around his throat.

“Wow, you’re really butthurt about it, aren’t you?” Shining joked as he held her wrists at bay. In his current position, Shining couldn’t form a shield or move very much, but he certainly had to get his back off of the floor. Thinking quickly, Shining brought his hands above his head, forcing Chrysalis to almost lay on top of him, her chest in his face. He then twisted his body and pushed with his legs to roll themselves onto Chrysalis’ back. It was only then did they realize the suggestive position they were in.

“Would you believe me if I said I wasn’t trying to do this?” Shining asked hopefully.

Chrysalis, with a blush on her face, answered him with her knees in his sides and then a double kick to his chest to push him off her.

Winded by the attack, Shining backed away and stood up for better footing. The second he got his breath back, Shining dodged another swipe by Chrysalis. He grabbed her other hand and pulled her in before twisting her around and pinning her to the wall, pulling her trapped arm behind her back.

“You’re a better fighter than I thought.” Shining commented.

Chrysalis blew a stray hair out of her face before answering back, “I’m not some cake-gorging princess who sits back and does nothing. All Changeling Royalty must be able to defend themselves under any circumstances, though you’ll probably find my sister to be the better fighter.”

Shining blinked, “Wait, sister?” The next thing Shining knew, Chrysalis’ horn lit up and Shining’s world turned into agony. He let out a cry as he clutched his crotch from the sudden pain inflicted upon it.

“You remember that sore spot from the morning?” Chrysalis sneered.

“Gah! You bitch!” Shining gasped out. The pain made things fuzzy, but he kept his eyes on Chrysalis’ form. “That was a dirty move.”

“A dirty move for a dirty stallion.” Chrysalis said, “Besides, I think we’re even now.”

“Not on your life.” Shining said before he tackled her to the ground.

From there the two of them fell into what Earth Ponies called “A good ol’ rumble”. They rolled, tumbled, and swung around the room trying to land whatever blows they could, verbal or physical, though more of the latter. Magic was hardly a factor as they were too busy trying to get the last blow on each other. Clothes were torn, furniture broken, and fists flew through the air as they tried to strike flesh.

“Moron!”

“Fucking whore!”

“Small dick jock!”

“Absolute bimbo!”

“You can’t tell the difference between me and your wife!”

“You can’t take a dick up your ass!”

“Cadance has a bigger dick than you!”

“Then how about you bend over for her!”

“You punch like a foal!”

“How about this then? You like that?”

“Ha! Is that all you got?”

“Well there’s more where that came from!”

“What in Celestia’s name is going on here?”

Shining and Chrysalis ceased their brawling and looked up at the door to see Cadance and Twilight staring at them in shock. They also became aware of what their current position looked like to them: Chrysalis on the floor with Shining on top of her, pinning her arms to the ground while her legs were wrapped around his waist. Their ragged clothes left little to the imagination and soon enough a blush filled their faces as well.

“This isn’t what it looks like.” they said in unison.

Author's Note

Changelog: Pretty much overhauled down to the foundations this time.

Almost forgot about today's update. Been busy studying for test tomorrow and all sorts of hw.

Anyways, I'm sure you're all excited to hear the results of the poll in the last chapter. After 97 responses, I must say...what the fuck? Seriously, what the fuck. 97 responses and somehow the frali and Empyu options are tied at 28 each with the current cover art just behind at 24. It looks like it falls to me to break the tie. I did say i had my own preferences.

The winner is Empyu. To be honest, I'm surprised that the frali option got so much support. I will put up the new cover art with next week's chapter.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tell me what you think in the comments.