Celestia's Relaxing Vacation

"Wakey wakey..."

Queen Chrysalis felt her head pound as she slowly came to. She tried to move, immediately realizing she couldn't. She tugged her head back to find that it had been contained within a stockade, as were both of her front hooves, pinned into the frame on either side of her head. She tried to move her hind legs to pull herself back, only to find that they had been securely chained to the cold, stone floor.

"Wakey wakey..." was that voice familiar?

Oh... it was her again. It was time to have another talk with Celestia. But something was different...

Queen Chrysalis' eyes opened, staring into eyes that were indeed familiar. It was Princess Celestia, leaned down close with that smug, holier-than-though smile on her face, one that was a little bit too smug for Chrysalis' comfort.

"You bitch.." Queen Chrysalis' horn glowed, but pain immediately shot through her head from the magical nullifier wrapped about her horn. She let out a half scream before gritting her teeth to prevent the rest. It was hard not to slip up and instinctively charge up her magic from time-to-time, though Celestia seemed to have upgraded her magic nullifier as she slept. The old one didn't hurt.

"Awake now? Good." Princess Celestia said.

Queen Chrysalis looked around. She was in the gem mines below Canterlot, the same mines she had trapped Cadence in before. She had been in the dungeon before; why had she been moved?

"Doing your own dirty work for once?" moaned Chrysalis.

"Oh but I had to do this on my own, you see. I told the guards you escaped," said Celestia, "How else would I convince ponies that you were responsible?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well you see, Chrissy, I've been ruler for a long time," explained Celestia, "Always the good one, kind and benevolent, a ruler that my people truly love."

"I think I might vomit now."

Celestia chuckled, "But you see, that's boring. I want to let go, have a fun time, but without ruining my reputation. That... is where you come in."

"What."

"You see, I can do what I want," said Celestia, "I'll take a few days off from being good, do whatever I want to do. Maybe weeks. Maybe months! And then when I'm done with my 'vacation', I'll simply blame you. I'll tell them you had taken my place."

"Then I'll tell them I didn't." Chrysalis snarled.

"Oh but Chrissy," Celestia shook her head, "Who do you think they will believe? And it's perfect; it will look like you took my place and told them that you 'escaped'. You'll just have to hope I don't do anything bad enough for you to be executed, hm?"

"What about your faithful heroes," Chrysalis mocked, "They'll go all rainbow on you before you get to committing bad enough crimes for my execution."

"Oh but I've thought of that, dear," Celestia kindly explained, "I have a crystal embedded in my crown and another matching one in your cell. In the event that I am hit with such an attack, we will automatically teleport, you to my place, and me to your place. It will also teleport evidence into my room that will lead them here, where they will find me bound securely. I really have thought of everything, see?"

Chrysalis had nothing to say. There was nothing she could do, pinned down like this. She just looked at the floor and glared silently, refusing to give Celestia the pleasure of any more conversation.

"Well then, be that way," Celestia stood up tall and turned around, swishing her tail over the queen's nose before walking off, "I'll be back to feed you. It won't be your favorite snack but... it will keep you alive."

Chrysalis listened as Celestia's hoof steps echoed into the distance and then disappeared.

"Shit," muttered Chrysalis to herself, "I may have really screwed up this time."