Servant of the Queen

Sunny Flare awoke with the sun shining onto her face through a crack in the curtains. She rolled over and buried her face in the sheets, trying to go back to sleep.

No good.

Sunny let out a small moan. Her head was pounding with every heartbeat and the light was assaulting her eyes. She blearily crawled to the side of the bed and squinted at the alarm clock on the nightstand.

Three forty-nine PM.

“Uuurhghh…” Sunny groaned. She had missed school.

She sat up though a titanic effort, the sheets still wrapped around her. Staggering out of bed, Sunny almost fell over, but she managed to inch downstairs and into the kitchen, where she poured herself a tall glass of water from the tap.

She sat there on the floor in the kitchen, sipping the water while her faculties returned one by one. It was not a pleasant experience; along with a foul taste in her mouth came an aching throb in her head.

How long she sat there Sunny did not know, but she was knocked out of her reflective time by the front door slamming open.

“Yo, Sunny! We’re home!” Lemon’s voice bellowed way too loud for Sunny Flare’s taste.

There was a small murmur of chatter that Sunny’s poor pounding head took some time to recognize as belonging to the other Shadowbolts. Sunny’s friends came trickling into the house, with Lemon popping around the corner to see Sunny sitting on the kitchen floor with her glass of water.

“Oh, hey, Sunny. You’re up.”

“No thanks to you all,” Sunny grimaced. “So what did I miss today?”

Indigo pulled Sunny up onto her feet. “Funny thing is, you’re not the only person who missed school today. At least six other people were gone from my homeroom alone. So we didn’t end up learning much today.”

“Three were missing from mine,” Sugarcoat said flatly. “Obviously they partied a bit too hard.”

“Was Silver Rose at school?” Sunny asked. She refilled the glass of water and looked around the room. It was disheveled and needed a good vacuuming as well as cleaning up all the trash that was lying around. Fortunately Lemon had locked up all the valuable decorations before the party had started.

“Silver Rose…” Indigo tapped her chin. “I didn’t see her. Anyone see Silver Rose today?”

“Nope,” Lemon said.

Sour Sweet shook her head.

Sugarcoat shrugged. “If she was at school today, I didn’t see her.”

“So she was skipping too,” Sour Sweet growled. “Think she had a little too much to drink as well?”

Lemon’s brow furrowed in thought. “Come to think of it, I didn’t see Silver much at the party.”

“That’s ‘cause everyone was wearing a costume, isn’t it?” Indigo pointed out. “The whole point of Halloween is to be someone you’re not. Like a masked ball or something.”

Sunny nodded, but inside she had a different thought. For the first time last night, she thought that she had finally seen a glimpse of Silver’s real face, not whatever she saw during school. The facade had cracked a few times before, like when she had ripped off the bathroom door and when she had shown off her fangs, but Sunny’s impression was that on Halloween, she had been exposed to something that normal people normally weren’t. Whether that was intentional on Silver’s part remained to be seen.

“Anyway, Lemon,” Sugarcoat spoke up. “You wanted us to help clean up this place before your parents get back on Monday. We should start here, then.”

The girls had been cleaning for about an hour when Sugarcoat’s phone rang.

“Hello, Sugarcoat speaking,” the bespectacled girl said. “Silver Rose? Yeah, we saw her last night. Funny story, Sunny almost got… wait, what?!” Sugarcoat shouted. The phone dropped from her hands, and Indigo Zap had to dive to catch it before it hit the ground.

“Careful, Sugarcoat,” Indigo handed the phone back to its owner. “Who was it, and why did you act like your entire family was murdered?”

Sugarcoat checked her phone, but the call had already been cut. “It was Sunset Shimmer. She and her friends encountered Silver Rose last night, after she left the party. It turns out we were onto something. Sunset Shimmer just basically confirmed that Silver Rose isn’t human.”

“WHAT?!” The rest of the girls, including Sunny Flare, exclaimed in varying degrees of shock and surprise.

“She wants us to meet her at Twilight Sparkle’s house to talk it over. I think we should go.”

“But what about my house?” Lemon asked. “We still have to clean up this mess!”

“We can clean it up later,” Indigo insisted. “Right now, Sunset’s about to give us the goods! Can’t pass that up, yeah?”

“Guess not,” Lemon agreed begrudgingly. “Fine, let’s go. Sunny, you can borrow some of my clothes for this trip.”

“Ew, no.” Sunny stuck out her tongue. “I don’t like your fashion sense.”

“Well, you’d look even worse going out in half your Halloween costume,” Sugarcoat pointed out. “Just throw something on. I want to hear what Sunset Shimmer has to say about all this.”

“Ugh. Fine.” Sunny relented. “Just get out so I can change.”

“How do you feel, Adagio?”

Psithyra asked this question to the leader of the siren trio who was sitting at the dinner table with a glass of water. The siren had not spoken a word since the night before, and Chrysalis and her sister were interested in seeing if they truly had been restored.

“If it’s any consolation,” Chrysalis said with a smile. “You smell like the ocean again. That must count for something.”

Adagio opened her mouth but no sound came out. She drank some more water and stared at the table. Her red pendant sparkled around her neck, full of life and light.

“Come on,” Psithyra coaxed gently. “Say something, Adagio.”

The siren swallowed her mouthful of water and parted her lips. A faint sound came out between her teeth.

“Ahh-aahhh ah, ahh, aaaah,” the pure and hypnotic notes of her trademark song wafted out into the open air, perfectly in key and tone. Adagio herself looked shocked to hear the music come out of her own mouth. Her eyes brimmed over with tears of gladness and she roughly scrubbed at her face to hide it.

“It worked,” Chrysalis said, looking rather pleased. “It actually worked, all of your convoluted planning and scheming and disguising. Of course, I never doubted for a second that it would go over well.”

“I… I can sing again…” Adagio choked out. “I can sing!”

“Excellent,” Psithyra purred, looking most happy with herself. “I will take this as confirmation that it worked on the other two as well. It feels so good to have my hard work rewarded.”

“Now the only person who won’t live forever is my daughter…” Chrysalis’ face grew surly. “Where is she, anyway? She hasn’t come down for meals today.”

“I’m more concerned about her skipping school,” Psithyra said. “It’s not very good for her image to do so.”

Chrysalis got up from the table and walked over to the stairs. “I suppose I had better see what she’s doing. Make sure she hasn’t hanged herself or something.”

“Don’t joke about things like that,” Psithrya said reproachfully.

Chrysalis snorted. “I never joke.”

The changeling queen padded her way up to the room that Chrysidea occupied. The door was shut, and Chrysalis’ first instinct was to open it, but then in a rare moment of empathy, she decided to knock first instead.

“Chrysidea,” Chrysalis called into the door. “It’s past four o’clock. Get out of bed.”

There was no response from inside. Chrysalis sniffed at the air and smelled a great outpouring of grief coming from the interior of the room. Well, at least that meant that she wasn’t dead. Rolling her eyes, the changeling queen opened the door a fraction and peered inside.

The lights were off and the curtains were drawn, but that did not hinder Chrysalis at all. She could see a lump on the bed, covered in sheets and blankets. The changeling queen pushed the door open and went inside.

“Alright,” Chrysalis said heavily, sitting down on the bed next to the lump. “What’s got your claws in a twist?”

The lump didn’t answer, but it moved around away from Chrysalis, like it was afraid of her.

“You know, you should be celebrating with us,” Chrysalis tried again. “Adagio’s voice has been repaired, and I take it that means that Aria and Sonata are fine as well. Isn’t that something to feel good about?” Chrysidea’s mother sat there and grinned to herself, trying not to wrinkle her nose at the smell that pervaded the whole room, like unwashed socks.

“Hmph…” a sound came from under the sheets.

“Your room smells, you know,” Chrysalis observed. She got up and went over to the window, which she opened after pulling the curtains aside. She noticed the pile of armored attire on the floor and picked it up. “Your aunt worked really hard on this. The least you could do is not leave it lying around all tangled up.”

“I just want to be alone.” The shape moved an inch.

“You’ve been alone all day,” Chrysalis pointed out. “You’ve already missed breakfast and lunch, and I won’t have you starve to death up here because you insist on being stubborn. You’re better than that.”

“Turns out I’m not. Not after what I did...”

Chrysalis stared at the lump with a look of unimpressed astonishment. “What are you going on about? I know you lost the duel to Sunset Shimmer, but everything else you did as well as I expected. So why are you acting like a recluse?”

“I killed him. I killed him…” The sheets ruffled and tossed around. “I didn’t know…”

“Oh, are you still on about that?” Chrysalis peered at the lump. “There’s no way it can be traced back to us, you know. You were wearing gloves, and there’s no physical evidence to say we did it. So there’s no need to act like you’ve given us all away. Although… how did they know my name if you didn’t tell them? I’ll get your aunt to investigate it.”

The lump said nothing and stopped moving about.

“Besides,” Chrysalis gave the lump a poke with her finger. “It’s not like you haven’t killed humans before. You finished off that computer teacher, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t want to kill Home Run. It’s because of you. You made me do this…” A grumble rolled out from under the sheets that sounded like tyres running over gravel, followed by a few sniffles.

To her credit, Chrysalis had the tact to look chagrined. “Yes, well… I was only looking out for your safety, see? It was all a plan to make sure you got out of there unharmed… right?” She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than anything. “Come on, humans are a dime a dozen. We can get you another one.”

The blankets flew back, exposing Chrysidea’s tearful face. She looked at her mother with shock and anguish.

“But I don’t want another one!” she wailed, throwing herself down onto the bed. Chrysalis looked at her daughter with a new air of surprise and skepticism. “I want Home Run! But, but, but, but, you made me kill him! You’re… awful!”

“Now see here,” Chrysalis rallied and gave her child a stern look. “I didn’t make you do a single thing. You made the choice to throw that knife, not me. Don’t blame me for something you did. That’s not how a princess should behave.”

“You switched out the coating!” She threw her pillow at her mother. “You didn’t need to even do that! You didn’t tell me!”

“Now, let’s not play the blame game here,” Chrysalis said, picking up the pillow. It was damp and salty. “Your safety means a great deal to me and your aunt. Switching the poison was just something you should have expected. Did you even taste the blade yourself?”

“If I had done that, you wouldn’t have someone defending your ritual site. I’m not like you! I don’t want to be like you!”

At this, Chrysalis’ face morphed into an expression of genuine unease. “You don’t mean that,” she said reproachfully. “You’re upset, I get it. But don’t go saying things that you don’t really mean.”

“I mean all of that! I just want to be normal! I don’t want all this hassle of having to live this life of… of fakery. When I see all this fakery now, I just get mad.” She threw the sheets up into the air and wrapped her head in her hands and screamed. “You don’t care about me, you never have! You just wanted a chance to get rid of Home Run. Well, he’s gone now!”

“Normal is overrated,” Chrysalis said flatly. “I’m not going to penalize you for what you’re saying because you’re clearly too upset to think straight. We are changelings, the superior race. Why you want to be like the prey is honestly beyond me. Who put these ideas in your head? I’ll have your aunt on them, I swear.”

“That’s because you don’t know anything about caring for other people! You’re too self-absorbed on being superior, you don’t stop to think about us, not even your own daughter.” The blanket fell back on top of the young changeling and she curled herself up underneath it. “Just go away. I want to be left alone.”

Chrysalis sat there in stunned silence. Then she stood up and smoothed out her dress.

“If that’s what you want,” then she left the room.

A few minutes passed. Then the sound of slippered feet made itself known, along with a warm, savoury smell.

“Sweetie? Are you alright?” Psithyra’s voice said from the doorway.

“Not at all…” Chrysidea sighed.

The elder princess was standing in the door with a bowl of something that smelled rather nice. “May I come in? I brought you some homemade chicken and duck soup.”

“I’m not hungry, Aunt Psithyra.”

“You haven’t eaten anything all day,” Psithyra said, edging into the room. “You’re not like me and your mother, you can’t just live off one cup of tea that you drank last night. Have a few bites, at least.”

Eventually, the young changeling relented and pushed herself out from under the blanket and scooted to the edge of her bed and groaned, swiping her hair from her face and sniffed.

“There you are,” Psithyra smiled and came closer, holding out the soup. “I was starting to worry about you.”

“Where else could I go?” She wiped her face, then took the bowl from her aunt’s tray. “And besides, mother took away the one human I want to be out there with…”

The elder changeling watched her niece eat the soup with a look of sympathy on her face. She sat down on the bed next to her and put her arms behind herself, looking up at the ceiling.

“You know, I had to kill my first love too,” she said wistfully. “I still remember it.”

“But he betrayed you.” Chrysidea sipped at the soup. “Home Run would never do that.”

“Yes, well…” Psithyra sniffed at the air. “It still wasn’t easy. I know your mother treats me like I’m her personal assassin, but I didn’t start out that way.”

“She doesn’t care about us. That’s why you’re her assassin.”

“Of course she cares about us!” Psithyra exclaimed, looking surprised at the statement. “Your mother is the cornerstone of our society. By that quality, she has to care. It’s in her nature to. She just has a hard time expressing it.”

“Meh.” Chrysidea drank more of her soup.

“But look, the sirens have been completely restored,” Psithyra continued. “There is the small matter of how those girls knew my sister’s real name, but I’m going to go visit them soon anyway. They deserve to be rewarded for helping bring about the return of the sirens’ immortality. Isn’t that something to be happy about, sweetie?”

“But Home Run… Why did she need to change the poison? It was supposed to just be a paralytic!”

“Yeah, well…” Psithyra’s face grew moody. “Wouldn’t be the first time your mother’s pulled a stunt like that which has made more trouble than it’s worth. Did I ever tell you about Trotsylvania?” The elder princess snorted. “Better not. It’ll only worsen your opinion of her.”

“You’ve already told me.” Chrysidea pouted. “You see? She only has her interests. Not ours.”

She drank more of the soup, which was just the perfect amount of saltiness, mixed with the savoury flavor of duck fat with strips of sauteed chicken floating in the broth.

Psithyra licked her fangs and sighed. “I know it seems like your mother’s an incorrigible old crone, but she really does care about us. She just… likes to behave like it’s all about her. And really, it kind of is.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Look,” Psithyra said wearily. “Try to finish your dinner. I’ll have a word with your mother about collateral damage later. She can’t just go about arranging people’s deaths, or the humans will get suspicious. Then I’ll go and see the girls and… sort things out from there. Is that okay, sweetie?”

“Nothing you do will bring Home Run back.” The changeling’s tears began to run again. “I’ve lost him… Nothing will ever be okay.”

Psithrya reached out and patted her niece on the head, ruffling her hair. Then she got up and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Alone again, Chrysidea was able to let her mind run and think about the entire outcome of last night’s events. Sure, it was good that the sirens would be back to normal. They were still her friends, after all. But that dagger had been meant for Sunset. She should’ve been the one to die, not Home Run. The young changeling shook her head at her boyfriend’s constant need to be protective of everyone around him, even if that meant getting himself hurt, though this time, it was permanent and while changelings were skilled in alchemy, she doubted there was anything that could bring him back. It was all her mother’s fault and she really didn’t need to switch the poison. She didn’t.

“Nothing is perfect…” she sobbed to herself.