Cherry Berry was working her usual shift at the Sweet Treat cake shop. It was boring most of the time since most of the Canterlot residents didn't like the shops 'unrefined' products. They weren't unrefined at all though, just simple. Just because a cake doesn't have some fancy design in fondant doesn't make it taste worse. Cherry couldn't help but sigh as she sat behind the counter waiting for some pony to walk in the front door. Today was seeming to be unreasonably slow, maybe she would get off early. Cherry perked up slightly at the thought, she would be able to see her friends that usually worked night shift. With a small smile she started humming a little tune to herself; after a few minutes the bell on the front door rang and she nearly jumped out of her own fur. “Hello! Welcome to Sweet Treat! What can we get you to eat?”

“You should see about changing that rhyme, something so corny could lose you business.” When Cherry actually looked at who walked in she saw a repeat customer from the last few weeks. She knew most of the regulars and while this one didn't come in as often it was hard to forget her face.

“So what would you like today ma'am?”

“Strawberry cheesecake.”

“Alrighty then.” As Cherry got a cake from the display case her curiosity got the better of her. “So do you mind if I ask why you like our cakes so much?”

“I don't eat them. Changelings don't need regular food to survive.”

The answer dashed Cherry's spirits a bit. “Then why do you buy them?”

Chrysalis paused for a moment before answering. “They're for... a friend. This is her favorite shop and I usually buy her a cake from here to make a bad day a little better.”

“Oh, so what has her so busy that she can't come in herself?” She caught herself right after she said it. “Not that I don't enjoy having you as a customer or anything! I was just, uhm, curious.”

“Well you know what they say... curiosity killed the cat.” Cherry's face went pale at the mention of death and Chrysalis let out a burst of laughter. After letting the poor mare suffer for a moment longer she relented. “Well if you must know she was in a diplomatic meeting and now she's resting.”

Cherry put the cheese cake in a box on the counter and rung up the order. “That will be ten bits.” After Chrysalis levitated the bits onto the counter and turned to leave she heard the mare at the counter call out to her. “That's really nice you know, I'm sure your friend appreciates that you want her to be happy.”

Chrysalis huffed and continued out of the door. With the cake in her magical grip she made her way back to the castle. She honestly couldn't blame Celestia for being worn out this time. The diplomatic meeting was with the reptilians. They were notoriously hard to work with and extremely aggressive. With the little bit of information she was able to gather the meeting wasn't a total bust but it could have undoubtedly gone better. For now her kingdom was safe from them but it was a guarantee that it wouldn't last. The only thing she can do for now is keep compromising and prepare for the worst. Even with the rocky situation Chrysalis was surprised it was going this well. Anytime a member of her former hive came into contact with a reptilian they always had an intent to kill. Her children learned quickly to keep their distance.

As Chrysalis passed by the guards at the front gate she was beginning to sense an air of indifference from them. It was quite the change up from the seething hatred and fear from before. Although it should be a given if you spend a few months around someone, you just get used to them. That was only speaking of the day guard of course, the night guard respected her for the combat ability she showed. They respected strength above all else.

If she was being completely honest with herself Chrysalis was starting to see this castle as a real home. She had made a friend out of Celestia and Luna was starting to grow on her as well. Most of the staff didn't even afford her much attention anymore. Thinking on it now, she had become a normal part of life here at the castle.

Arriving at her destination Chrysalis knocked on Celesita's door. “Come in.” When Chrysalis did she saw Celestia laying on her bed. The princess had a blanket draped over her back and was reading a small book. She perked up when she saw the changeling enter.

“Hello Chryssi, what was so sudden that you had to leave right after my meeting? I was getting lonely you know.” The princess had a tone of mock hurt but there was genuine curiosity there too.

“Why do you insist on using that stupid nickname? You know full well that I detest it.”

“That's just what friends do, make jests at the others expense and comfort. Besides you don't 'detest' it. You just won't admit that you like it.”

Chrysalis flushed slightly and cleared her throat. “To answer your question I got something for you. Don't eat the entire thing at once again, if you do and start complaining about your stomach ache I'm leaving.” The changeling levitated the box over to the princess. Just from the box Celestia knew where it was from, as for what was inside, Chrysalis liked to change it up.

“Strawberry cheesecake.” The princess smiled brightly at Chrysalis. “Thank you Chryssi, you always know how to make me feel better. Come over and enjoy this with me.”

Chrysalis walked over to the bed and laid down beside Celestia. “You know no matter how many times you offer me food I will never agree right? So why do you insist on making the offer every single time?”

The princess wore a sly smile as she took the first bite of her cake. “That is where you are wrong Chrysalis, you have accepted my offer almost every single time.”

The changeling blinked in confusion. “I can't recall ever agreeing, would you care to refresh my memory?”

“Well for instance, right now you agreed. I enjoy the cake and you enjoy the emotion I'm directing at you, like gratitude, happiness, joy, and affection.”

Chrysalis was silent for a few moments. The thinking back it was only the first few times the princess asked to share food with her. After a certain point she started to ask if she would like to enjoy the moments instead. Shaking the consideration from her head Chrysalis sought to sate her curiosity about the cause of this little exchange. “So how exactly did the meeting go? I only caught a small part at the end before I decided you could use something sweet.”

Celestia halted her cake consumption and pondered for a moment. “The reptilians had some issues with a pony gang forming in their capitol city. Rebelling against things that they considered culturally abnormal. I'm not sure if you know but the reptilians are a warlike race that partake in black magic. The pony gang in the city sought to end their ways. While the police in the city were able to eradicate the gang itself their government decided to start deporting any pony they could find. I was trying to get them to see this as an overreaction but they did not want to hear it. In fact, they wanted me to apologize and demanded reparations. Long argument short, we are exactly where we were before the meeting. The ambassadors are leaving tomorrow morning so I need to come up with another way to help.”

As Chrysalis looked at Celestia something felt like it was gripping her chest. The mare who was all smiles was laying here with a hopeless look on her face. She didn't feel like there was any way for her to help. That feeling was tearing the usual cheery mare apart. In an act that Chrysalis was becoming begrudgingly used to, she pushed herself into the princesses side and nuzzled her neck. “Don't worry too much sun butt, you're no use to anyone as a nervous wreck. Just lend assistance where you can when you can.”

Celestia nuzzled her back and stated with a mocking tone. “You know I detest that nickname right?”

Chrysalis chuckled and replied in kind. “You just won't admit you like it.” The two continued to lay there taking comfort in one anothers presence. Every once in a while one would shift positions and the other would have to readjust to get comfortable. It was relaxing for them, being able to be so close to one another and physically knowing the other is still there. After an hour of this Celestia had seemingly returned to her normal cheery demeanor. “Say Chrysalis, would you like to do something tonight?”

The changeling didn't move from her very comfortable position. “Such as?”

“The Canterlot Royal Orchestra is playing tonight and if we hurry we'll be able to make it in time for the show.”

“That sounds nice, doesn't that mare Octavia play for the orchestra?”

“Yes, she's the first chair. I even believe she will be performing a solo piece tonight.”

“Then lets get going.” Celestia waited for the changeling to get up but for some reason she didn't. “Is there something wrong?” Finally taking notice of the position they were in Celestia noted that she had somehow become the big spoon. Chrysalis was facing away from her but even from this angle Celestia could tell the Changeling had just taken notice of their position as well. That is if the toxic green blush across her entire face is anything to go by. Strangely enough this isn't the first time this had happened. Ever since that night things like this would just seemingly ensue.

Neither of them would be paying attention and next thing they knew hours had passed while they... for lack of a better term, enjoyed one anothers company. Celestia made the first move to get up and noticed that when Chrysalis did the same she made it a point to face away from her. “Lets get going, you said we don't have much time right?”

Celestia confirmed and followed Chrysalis who was moving at an unusually fast pace. Unbeknown to the sun princess the former queen was lost in a storm of her own creation. Each step was a futile attempt to get away from these errant thoughts. What bothered her most was that she let this exact thing happen more than once. She was getting unusually comfortable around the pony princess. It always happened the same way too, she would move in close to try and comfort the poor sap, it would work, what happens next... it was almost as if she gets lost. Feeling the warmth of the mare next to her Chrysalis would begin to bask in the affection and gratitude Celestia felt. The moment she moved even an inch away Chrysalis couldn't help but feel desperate to capture that warmth again. This resulted in becoming almost tangled together, and it seemed as though Celestia wasn't too keen on letting Chrysalis get too far away either.

The fact the she, a monarch that once had thousands of subjects, would lose so much self control in any kind of situation was beyond embarrassing for the former queen. While her mother was still around one of the things she valued most was maintaining composure in any given situation. If she had done something like this while her mother was still around, it would not have been pretty.

Suddenly the changeling felt a small tap on her shoulder. “Chrysalis do you know where the orchestra is performing?” Celestia had a worried aura around her and the former queen couldn't help but think the question was just a distraction.

Looking around Chrysalis noticed they were a small distance away from the front gate. “Now that I think about it no I don't. How about you lead the way.”

Celestia smiled and walked next to the changeling with a slight lead. A short walk later the two arrived at a large theater. The colt sitting in the ticket booth looked just about ready to close down the window when the solar diarch approached. “Hello there, are we too late to get in?”

“I'm sorry ma'am but the show is about to start and the ticket stall is closed.” The colt said without even looking to see who he was addressing.

“That's a shame, are you certain I don't have a reservation? For a private balcony maybe?”

“Those have to be requested in... advance.” When the young colt had finally seen who he was talking too his slate grey coat turned several shades lighter before he gulped and put on a large forced smile. “Princess, I'm sorry I'll just unlock the doors for you. The show should be getting underway now.”

Celestia nodded her head and thanked the colt before entering the theater. After escorting the still silent changeling to the small row of private balcony seats Celestia took hers and Chrysalis followed shortly after. As the colt had said the show seemed to have just started.

While Celestia had initially brought Chrysalis here because she thought the changeling would enjoy the show, her motivation was turning toward finding out what was going on in her friends head. She talked in a low voice so she wouldn't disturb any of the audience. “Chrysalis are you doing alright? You've been quiet ever since we left. I can tell something is weighing on your mind.”

Chrysalis looked to Celestia, should she just come out and say it? Try to explain the frustration she feels when they're close. Possibly about how she started to buy cakes so she wouldn't have to see Celestia glum. Maybe she could tell her about the pressure in her chest when the diarch moves away and the desperation that follows to feel the soft coat pressed to her side once again. All of these possibilities were on the tip of her tongue yet she found it impossible to talk about a single one of them. Instead she sighed and settled for what she knew would be a blatant lie. “I'm fine, everything's alright.”

Celestia pulled back slightly and wasn't able to keep the hurt off of her face. Chrysalis noticed and felt a pang of guilt in her chest. Celestia had to think for a moment before she decided what to say next. “You know Chrysalis I think you've really come into your own since you came here. I mean just look at what you've done today alone. When I was feeling drained and down from today's events you brought me my favorite food from my favorite shop. I didn't ask you just did it, for the sole reason that you didn't want to see me sad. Then to top it off you offered me comfort, emotionally and physically. I know you're still getting used to the physical part but you did it anyway. All of that just to make me feel better, even if it comes at your own expense. I can only feel honored at how much you care for my well being. It isn't often you find a friend that will go to these lengths on a regular basis for you.”

Celestia paused for a moment and let her words soak in before finishing her thought. “Chrysalis I want you to know that you can count on me as much as I count on you. I am always willing to help you when you're feeling down about anything. Don't be afraid to share, I would never judge you for what you honestly feel.”

Chrysalis thought on the words and while they were comforting they did not help with the inability to speak out. Instead she leaned on Celestia's side and rested her head on the alicorns neck. Before long she felt a soft feathery wing wrap around her and pull in tight. Closing her eyes Chrysalis let the gentle rhythm of the orchestra wash over her. Each cord that sounded off felt as if it flowed through her. Strangely enough the most appealing sound was the steady heartbeat of her pillow. It was like the sound added a whole new depth to the music.

While Chrysalis was finally letting go of her worries and enjoying the show Celestia was more interested in the changeling she was holding than the music that was playing. She couldn't help but think of how cute the big bad bug really was. She loved to be held like this but after the act she realized what she did and gets extremely flustered. That toxic green blush make her cheeks just look so squishable. When she acts regal and confident her beauty comes out to shine in all of its glory. Although the best part by far is how much she cares. At first she tried to hide the fact that she was beginning to care for Celestia. After some time she began to accept it and after that she began to show her true colors. As a friend she would not stand to see you at anything less than your best. Going out of her way to make you feel happy before she even begins to worry about herself. In that sense... she's actually self sacrificing, putting others before herself like that.

Celestia admired Chrysalis for the person that she had become. Being a teacher for so long has given her an appreciation for watching people grow. For Chrysalis this was her chance to learn who she really was after such a long life of hardship. When Celestia first saw Chrysalis at the wedding so long ago the queen immediately struck her as someone who had been forced to do what was necessary to survive. Now, Celestia was overjoyed that she had the opportunity to help the changeling and make such a great friend in the process.

For however much she did enjoy Chrysalis as a friend, being with her like this, feeling her steady breathing and heartbeat, made the princess long for something more. She had not had any romantic partners for a very long time. Not wanting to force her emotions on someone who wasn't ready Celestia decided to let Chrysalis make the first move on the subject, after all, if things like this kept happening it was bound to come up at some point. For now Celestia closed her eyes and got lost in the music along with her friend.

After a few hours of enjoying the music and one anothers company the show had come to an end and the audience was getting up to leave. As Celestia and Chrysalis begrudgingly separated an idea came to the alicorns mind. “Would you like to go backstage and see how Octavia is doing?”

Chrysalis shrugged her shoulders and began to follow Celestia. While trailing slightly behind her something seemed... off. She was putting out the usual joy and affection, but the affection had a slightly different taste to it. The emotion felt much sweeter than usual. Before she could delve too deep into the meaning of this they had already arrived backstage. Celestia walked around for a moment before spotting Octavia putting her cello away while talking to Vinyl.

After walking over both mares waved to the diarch and Chrysalis. “Hello Vinyl, Octavia. I enjoyed the performance immensely you did wonderful.”

The grey mare offered up a smile at the praise. “Thank you princess, I'm glad you enjoyed it. How have you been doing since the gala? We went but were unable to catch you after your, ahem, drinking.”

Vinyl burst out laughing before adding. “Yeah that was awesome! I can't believe you guys can drink so much. Is that because of the alicorn thing or the really tall thing?”

Celestia couldn't help but giggle. “A little bit of both probably. Speaking of which do you know if there are any refreshments back here?”

Vinyl perked up. “Yeah, Tavi and I were just gonna go get some I'll show you. You coming Tavi?” Octavia paused for a moment.

“I'll be along in just a few minutes, go on ahead.” Vinyl shrugged and lead Celestia off to the snack table. Octavia was carefully adjusting her cello while putting it away. “So how did you enjoy the show Chrysalis? The parts you managed to catch I mean.”

The changeling raised an eyebrow at the statement. “What do you mean the parts I caught?”

Octavia wore a cheeky grin as she kept an air of nonchalance. “Well you just seemed a little busy with your pillow is all. I will admit it did look very comfortable so I can't really blame you.”

Chrysalis tried to play this off but was unable to keep from flushing. “How much did you see?”

“Just the two of you being close but don't worry no pony else saw. They were all to busy on the pieces. I have personally played most of them in concert at least a dozen times so I could play those in my sleep. It gave me ample opportunity to look around, I found you and the princess, I also found Vinyl sleeping. I can't really blame the poor mare though, ever since we were first dating she insisted coming to all of the concerts I played even if she has heard all of the pieces being played multiple times. Too bad the elite want the same old thing played time and time again.”

“So was there a point to this or did you just want to embarrass me?”

“Oh! Yes sorry, got distracted for a moment there. I just wanted to see if you finally asked her to be your marefriend. After all that position did look quite intimate.”

The Changeling flushed even brighter and mumbled out a response and Octavia took the unheard answer as a no. “Well is there any reason you haven't asked yet? You two seem to be extremely close, it actually reminds me a lot of Vinyl and I before she asked me out.”

“I am not looking for a 'marefriend' right now, or ever for that matter. She is simply a close friend that I enjoy spending time with.”

“Alright well let me ask one more thing before we go find those two. When you're close to her like that, does it hurt to leave her side?” In the silence that followed Chrysalis was thinking deeper into the subject. The more she thought the more the mares words made sense. “It's just something to think about, I just wanted to bring that to your attention. You may not see it but there's a certain, light in her eyes when she looks at you. I can't say for sure what it is but I do know it's something special.”

She slung the cello case on her back and motioned for Chrysalis to follow her. When the two did arrive at the snack table they found it mostly cleared out with two guilty looking white mares next to it. Chrysalis sighed and walked up to Celestia who was trying to look nonchalant with a glob of frosting on her nose. Levitating a napkin over Chrysalis removed the offending paste and raised a brow at the solar princess. “I have no idea what you're trying to pull but you failed, miserably at that.”

Celestia just chuckled and moved beside Chrysalis. “I'm sorry to cut this meeting short ladies but we're going to have to be leaving now. There are some things that we'll need to attend to in the morning.”

Both mares frowned slightly but they understood. “Well it was nice talking to you princess, tell princess Luna we said hello.”

“And tell her she needs to come to my next concert, it's barely a party without her.” Celestia smiled and nodded. “I'll be sure to, see both of you later.” As they were leaving Chrysalis caught something just before getting out of earshot.

“You made her take the blame for the cupcakes didn't you?”

“Heh, well I didn't make her.”

Chrysalis looked over to Celestia and Celestia looked back. “I keep forgetting that you can actually be clever when you want to be.” The solar princess responded by sticking her tongue out and blowing a raspberry.

“I honestly cannot fathom how a crazy old lady like you is able to run an entire country.”

“First off it's eccentric not crazy, second you're the one hanging around this old lady so what does that make you?”

“A captive that is surely but slowly working on an escape plan. All I need to do is feed you enough cake and you'll eventually lose the ability to walk.”

“Well you better start buying more cakes then. You would need at least three a day to make that possible.”

“Not necessarily, I can already see the cakes taking their toll on your flank.”

“Oh? So you've been checking out my flank then?” Chrysalis flushed and was about to stammer out a response when Celestia bumped her with a large grin on her face. “I was only joking no need to get worried Chryssi.” Suddenly Chrysalis looked around frantically, presumably to see if anyone was watching. Luckily for her the streets were relatively empty on the walk back to the castle.

“What did I tell you about calling me that when we could be around any of your subjects?” Chrysalis whispered/yelled. “Do you have any sense of decency?” Celestia gave a soft laugh and had to refrain from patting the changeling on the head.

“Sorry Chrysalis, I won't let it happen again. You won't hold it against me will you?” Celestia made sure to put on her best puppy dog face and bat her eyelashes.

Chrysalis was not moved and only gave a deadpan stare in response. “Really? You are not cute enough for that to work.” As soon as the words left her mouth she instantly regretted it. Celestia not only looked hurt by the words but seemed to take them to heart. Chrysalis could swear she saw the beginning of a tear start to form in the corner of Celestia's eye. It was at this point that she began to panic. In the moment her next move seemed like a good idea but left the princess extremely surprised.

In a burst of green fire Chrysalis teleported both of them into Celestia's chambers. Before the diarch could truly gather her bearings she was tackled onto her bed by a frantic changeling. She landed on her back and Chrysalis was firmly latched on to her barrel. “I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that I meant cutesy faces don't work on me you're beautiful and caring and I have yet to meet a single creature who's worth half as much as you and I never meant to make you sad please don't hate me...” By the end of her little rant Chrysalis was gasping for breath, though her grip on the princess didn't weaken.

While what Chrysalis had said had hurt a little bit Celestia didn't mean to take it to heart. Looking down at the panicked changeling she couldn't help but smile. All of this for a little slip of the tongue. She used a hoof to lift Chrysalises chin so she could see could see into the former queens eyes. They looked sad but still shined that brilliant emerald green. “Don't worry Chryssi I know you didn't mean it.” She couldn't help but add the next part with a grin. “So you think I'm beautiful do you?”

The Changeling huffed and sat her chin on the princesses chest. “Maybe.” was all the reply she got. It was still enough to make the princess beam at what was coming to light. “Well so are you.” She emphasized the last word with a boop on the nose. Chrysalis couldn't help but giggle at the silly gesture. After calming down she look into Celestia's eyes, the violet orbs seemed to ease her troubled mind and she found herself feeling more and more confident in what she was about to do.

Slowly moving up to Celestia Chrysalis swallowed all of her doubt before closing her eyes and moving in. Celestia realized what was happening and closed the gap between them. When their lips touched both melted into one another. Chrysalis savored the sweet taste as she wrapped her hooves around her partner, never wanting to let go she gripped tight as her kissing became more frantic.

Celestia had one hoof behind her partners head and the other around her barrel. Both were used to pull her as close as possible. She tasted... it was hard to pin down honestly. It was almost like a mixture of all of her favorite things. One moment she tasted like strawberry cheesecake the next she could taste cinnamon. She saved the questions for later as she felt Chrysalis become more frantic. Gripping her even tighter Celestia brushed her tongue across the changelings fangs. It took her but a moment to gain entry and soon their tongues wrapped around each other in a struggle for dominance. It was something new for Celestia to feel a slender forked tongue with hers. Eventually she relented and let Chrysalis take control. The Changeling explored every corner of her mouth and after what seemed like a moment and an eternity the two separated. Each was struggling to catch their breath after such a heated moment.

As Chrysalis looked down at Celestia she smiled and laid down on top of her. Holding the sun diarch in her arms she made a simple request. “Will you be mine?”

Celestia returned the gesture in kind. “Only if you'll be mine.”

“Then it's settled. But you're still not allowed to call me Chryssi outside of this room.”

“That's fine because I think I'll just call you my love bug instead.” As Chrysalis groaned and buried her face deeper into her new marefriend she felt something entirely unknown to her. It felt similar to love but was more... raw, unfiltered, potent even. As the feeling started to pool in her she realized something had slipped her mind until this point. Her entire hive had taken on new forms once they had accepted friendship. She had not changed and had even just gone a step further. The question burned in her mind only for a moment before something Celestia said came to mind. 'Don't ever change.' Those were not simply words, it was something that the princess genuinely felt. Maybe it was that feeling, that desire for Chrysalis to be the best that she could be, that kept her normal throughout all of this. She moved the slightest bit closer to Celestia who let out a content sigh. This really was where she belonged, not in the castle, but by Tia's side.

Author's Note

What up people, first off I'm sorry if this chapter seems a little off from the normal ones but I have worked a week of 11s and 12s so I'm fucking beat. That's not even the best part, the best part is I'm salary, so fuck me right? Sorry had to get the bitching out of my system. So thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

P.S. I'm 20 now! Woohoo birthdays 'n shit