Servant of the Queen

“How dare he still live?” Chrysalis shrieked as she stormed towards her room, with her sister following close behind. “This is heresy! Treason! A complete defiance of my will! He should be dead! He dares to defy me?” She flung her bedroom door open so hard that the doorknob was torn off. Chrysalis picked it up and jammed it back into the hole violently.

“Now, Chrysalis, be reasonable,” Psithyra pleaded. “This might not be as bad as you think.”

“Why is it not bad? I laced her little blade with life-ending poison, and somehow he lived? Which part of that isn’t bad?” She flicked the lampshade off her bedside lamp.

Psithyra noticed little plumes of smoke begin to rise from her elder sister’s fingertips. Unless she was defused soon, she might set the house on fire when she transformed out of pure rage.

“How did he even survive?” Chrysalis continued, kicking over the empty wastepaper bin in the corner. “The poison should have killed him within the hour, and I refuse to believe that the humans were able to identify and synthesize an antidote in that time! This is absolute bullsh-”

“I don’t know how he survived either!” Psithyra interrupted. “But you don’t have to get so angry, okay? There might be a silver lining.”

Chrysalis wasn’t listening. She went over to a painting of herself on the wall and pulled it aside, revealing a safe. Punching in the code, the changeling queen reached inside and pulled out a sniper rifle. An assembled sniper rifle, and Psithyra had no idea how she had fit the entire thing in there, but this wasn’t good.

“Now, sister, stop right there, there’s no need for that.” She rushed over and planted her hands lightly on the weapon. “Like I said, this might be a good thing.”

“Are you for real?” Chrysalis yanked the rifle away from her. “His very existence now defies my will. He cannot be allowed to live!”

“Give me the gun, Chrysalis,” Psithyra said slowly, as if talking to a child. “If you go out and start shooting people, there will be an investigation. You don’t want that, do you?”

The queen blew a raspberry. “I know better than to bring the heat back here. More than you, apparently. They won’t even know it was me.”

“We can’t just go about shooting humans, Chrysalis,” Psithyra continued, trying to pry her sister’s hands from the rifle. “There are better ways of dealing with this. You’re angry, I get it. But you shouldn’t do anything reckless just because you feel mad right now.”

“You’ve shot people.” Chrysalis maneuvered the weapon away from her sister. “People that haven’t even offended me. This boy will regret not dying from the poison.”

“Because they were threats, sister,” Psithyra said, exasperated. “Besides, think of what it would do to your daughter. The only reason she’s up and about is because Home Run isn’t dead. Do you want to upset her even more?”

“Psssh. I should’ve guessed she didn’t get over it. Really, I don’t see what she sees in that boy.” Chrysalis checked the rifle and then ran her fingers along a hole on its underside. “Now where’s that magazine gone?”

Psithyra held up a semi-transparent rectangular cartridge, filled with long bullets. “You mean this? Yeah, you’re not getting it.”

Chrysalis reached out a hand. “Give it to me, Thyra. I must do this.”

“No, you don’t,” Psithyra said, pulling out of her sister’s reach. “Come on, you don’t have to kill him right now. Do you know what tomorrow is?”

“The perfect day to kill him?” She dropped to a roll and jumped up, trying to grab the magazine, but Psithyra sidestepped her and hopped to the other end of the room. “Come on. Just one shot. That’s all it’ll take. I won’t miss.”

“It’s your daughter’s birthday!” Psithyra sighed loudly. “You could let Home Run live for her birthday present. She’d love that.”

“What, not killing him as a present? Need I remind you of the times when we had peasants working for us? Not-Getting-Killed an hour was a fine wage for them. And now you want me to do the same here?” Chrysalis scoffed. She ran forward and made another snatch at the magazine.

“Be sensible.” Psithyra rolled between her legs and got away unscathed, still holding the magazine. “No more killing needs to be done. Haven’t I told you this so many times? Things can work out without death these days.”

“It’s because that Camelot High principal got in your head.” Chrysalis blew steam from her nostrils.

“Canterlot High.”

“That’s what I said. Why do you even listen to her? You should be listening to me!”

“Because her words make sense.”

Chrysalis inched closer, one arm getting ready to move. “And my words don’t?”

“Not when you’re in a rage like this. Look, killing someone might be satisfying right now, but think in the long term.”

“I am. The boy will be out of my life and my daughter’s.”

“That’s not long term!” Psithyra groaned. “Your daughter will be devastated if she has to lose Home Run again. And besides, I want to do some investigating. Don’t you want to know how he survived? If you kill him, you’ll never know.”

Chrysalis raised a finger, her mouth hanging open. Then she narrowed her eyes and slowly lowered her hand. “Okay. But after I find out, I’ll shoot him.”

The younger changeling sighed. She had bought Home Run a bit of time now at least.

“Fair enough,” Psithyra said. She would just have to work to change her sister’s mind before she did something stupid. “I’ll see about the boy and his friends. Don’t they remind you of a couple of certain someones?”

Chrysalis thought for a moment, the sniper rifle dangling from one hand. A look of recognition dawned on her face, like a lightbulb turning on.

Then it went out, replaced with the usual haughty expression.

“No.”

The next day, Silver Rose stepped out of her car and onto the front walk of CPA. It had only been two days of absence, but it felt as though she hadn’t been to school in a lifetime.

Her aunt had, of course, forged a doctor’s note for her, thereby absolving her of any penalties that might come from skipping school. Although, her aunt was a certified doctor. Was it really a forgery?

The walk down the halls was weird for her, and it was really as though she had returned from some great war, and in a way, it had been one, though there was no encore for what she had done, seeing as no one here even knew what had transpired on Thursday night.

She made her way to Mr. Fowl’s homeroom, still remembering where it was.

Silver felt good. Under her disguise, Chrysidea hummed happily knowing that Home Run was still living, and that her mother hadn’t killed him. The other thought pulling at her mind was how he survived. Had her mother lied about the poison on the dagger? But then she had been so angry to know he still lived, so she didn’t know what was up. Perhaps it had been some of that horse magic from Equestria, after all, they didn’t know what magic was capable of.

But still, he was alive. Silver wanted more than anything to run to his arms, but at the same time, she didn’t know how she could face him after what she had done to him and his friends. She felt as though she had betrayed his trust, that she had turned against him.

“Silver Rose?” A familiar voice came from Silver’s left. Before she could respond, a pair of vaguely paint-smelling arms wrapped around her shoulders. “Where have you been? I missed you!”

“Canvas?” Silver gasped. She had almost forgotten about the artist in her woe.

“Of course it’s me! Who else would it be?”

“Nice to see you,” Silver said, regaining her bearings. “I wasn’t gone that long, you know.”

“Why were you gone?” Canvas asked as she and Silver walked to their lockers. “Don’t tell me you ate too much candy and got sick.”

Silver thought back to the aftermath of the long Halloween and decided that discretion was the better part of valor.

“Yeah, that’s it. I ate too many sweets. Couldn’t stop myself. Ha.”

She knew she was being dishonest, but Canvas didn’t seem to notice. She hadn’t been lying with her mother, fakery really did make her feel a little bit guilty.

A changeling’s entire life is based on deception. You are going to be a liar, so you might as well embrace it.

Words from her mother’s lessons echoed in Silver Rose’s head. While she sometimes wished she didn’t have to, Silver Rose was still a changeling, and was therefore subject to the hierarchy’s rules.

I am not a good changeling. Silver thought despondently. Her mother’s approval seemed less important to her now, but she hated the idea of disappointing her aunt, who had done nothing but love her and be supportive. Even if Aunt Psithyra answered to Silver’s mother, she was still a kind soul deep down, and making her upset by any means made Silver feel even worse than lying to humans.

“Oh, by the way,” Canvas blabbered on, completely oblivious to Silver’s musings. “This is for you!”

Canvas pressed a large flat square into Silver’s arms. It was expertly wrapped in pink and blue paper and it had a little red bow on the top.

“Happy birthday, Silver!”

“O-Oh! Is that today?” Silver asked, almost dropping the gift. “I didn’t realize.”

Canvas gave Silver a weird look. “Gee, you must have been really sick if you forgot your own birthday. Are you sugar intolerant or something?”

“No- maybe,” Silver corrected herself. Better to let Canvas think she had a medical condition instead of the truth. “I should probably get that checked out.”

“Yeah definitely. Well, hopefully you don’t. I got you a sug- ahhh, I didn’t say anything. I got you a thing!”

Silver talked to Canvas as they made their way to class, but the changeling’s mouth was on autopilot. She knew her absence would be suspicious, and the Shadowbolts were already sniffing around her tail. Hopefully they wouldn’t have jumped to any conclusions while she had been gone.

Just then, Indigo Zap came into view, her eyes locking with Silver Rose’s own. A shrewd expression came onto Indigo’s face.

Speak of the devil… Silver thought with a sigh. She elected to just go about her day as best she could. If she acted like she had caught onto the Shadowbolts’ suspicions, that would only make her look even more guilty than ever.

So for now she would act like everything was normal, and that she had indeed suffered from some kind of sugar-related malady. It was a flimsy shield and she knew it, but she couldn’t think of any other course of action at the moment.

She knew she should probably care more about this, but all Silver Rose- no, Chrysidea really wanted was to be with Home Run again, to turn back the clock and go back to when they were still on good terms.

Oh, well. Nothing I can do about it now.

The rest of the day passed slowly. Silver Rose was well aware of the suspicious looks and aside glances that the Shadowbotls kept shooting her, but she remained calm and didn’t give anything away to them. She could smell their suspicion, though. It permeated the air and was directed at her like a constant whining in her ears.

Finally the bell rang for the last class to be dismissed. Silver hurried to her locked and picked up all her things, not wanting to stay at school any more than she had to. Her ride was parked outside the school as usual, but when Silver got in, she was surprised to see her home’s butler in the driver’s seat instead of her aunt.

“Hi, Silver Platter,” Silver Rose said, buckling herself in. “Where’s Aunt Ivory?”

“I’m not sure, young mistress. She simply sent me a message to come and fetch you,” Silver Platter said as he put the car into gear. He drove a lot slower than Ivory Wings did, or maybe Silver Rose was just used to her aunt breaking the speed limit all the time. To her aunt’s credit, she was a really good driver, even when speeding. It was fortunate she was, or her life would have already been cut short before she could even live it out.

“I shall have the car taken in for a tire change soon,” Silver Platter remarked offhandedly as he drove. “They seemed a bit worn out when I looked at them before coming to pick you up.”

“Oh,” was all Silver Rose could think of to say. She didn’t know much about cars and maintaining them. Her knowledge stopped at the big round thing on the dash controlled the wheels and that the pedals made you go faster or slower.

Maybe I should learn how to drive.

There was an odd smell coming from inside the house as Silver Platter pulled up next to the front doors. It wasn’t a smell that she could describe as obvious, but it was there like an undercurrent. Thanking her butler for the ride, Silver Rose entered the house, which was quiet. No Ebony Wings admiring her antiques or Ivory Wings practicing swordplay on the tabletop.

There was a faint scent of salt coming from the nearest living room, though. An ocean smell that her mother and aunt had told her several times was what the sirens were supposed to smell like at their normal.

She followed the barely-there smell of brine and came to the door to the living room. She could smell people inside, and her mother and aunt were definitely inside, as were the sirens. Frowning, she pushed open the doors.

For a moment, she couldn’t see anything as all the lights had been turned off. Then the room lit up and there was a shout of “Surprise!”

Silver Rose barely had time to keep herself from falling down before several payloads of confetti and ribbons were shot at her face.

“Wh-What’s this?” Silver stammered as she felt someone steer her over to the middle of the room. Another pair of hands relieved her of her book bag.

“You didn’t think we’d forget, did you?” Silver’s aunt Psithyra said, coming into view with a small, colorful cone shaped hat on her head. “Today is your birthday!”

“Were you surprised?” Sonata Dusk bounced on her heels. “Were you? Huh?”

“She smells surprised,” Chrysalis said from a short distance away. Somehow she too was wearing a small paper cone shaped party hat. She was holding up a goblet of wine, and she raised it as if in a toast. “Happy birthday, my daughter. You have grown.”

“Of course she has,” Adagio said, for once not wearing a smirk, but a genuine, calm smile. “That’s a good thing, by the way.”

“Now, come over here so we can get started on the cake!” Psithyra led Silver Rose to a table in the center of the room, where a tall, white frosted birthday cake was placed. The icing was arranged in the shapes of flowers, with a sugary web of vines draping down from the top. Candles had been artistically positioned in a crown shape on the highest tier.

“We had your favorite all ready for today,” Psithyra said as she blew her fire breath on the candle wicks, setting them alight with small viridian flames. “So go on, blow them out and make a wish.”

“A wish?” Silver Rose, no, Moonglade, no, even Chrysidea had never been asked for this before. Usually her birthdays before this had been small, private affairs with her mother that were performed behind closed doors in case any camera hounds might be watching. This felt almost… normal, like she was an ordinary girl with a loving family and friends.

“Yes, a wish,” Aria confirmed, leaning against the table with a cup of some kind of drink in her hands. “Don’t take too long, or the wax will get on the cake.”

What should I wish for? The young changeling wondered. She didn’t really have any material wants. What she really wanted was…

With everyone else in the room watching, Silver Rose closed her eyes and gently blew out the cluster of candles.

The rest of the room’s occupants clapped and cheered.

“So? What did you wish for?” Sonata Dusk asked curiously.

Silver Rose opened her mouth, but then shut it just as quickly. “I thought that if I told someone what it was, then it wouldn’t come true?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Sonata deflated for a second, then puffed up again. “Well, okay then! We can still eat the cake, right?”

“And while you do that, I’ll get the gifts!” Psithyra added, going to a corner of the room and coming back bearing a pile of colored boxes.

“What’s a birthday party without gifts?” Chrysalis crooned, reaching out to stroke her daughter’s hair. Silver Rose forced herself not to cringe as her mother’s long fingernails brushed her scalp. For some not-quite-unknown reason, Silver Rose didn’t trust her mother like she had before. Maybe that was for the best, she thought rebelliously. She had proven herself to be a sneaky person when she wanted to be.

Chrysalis didn’t seem to notice her daughter’s discomfort, instead taking a sip of her wine. “You can finally drink this stuff now,” the changeling queen pointed out with a smile. “Want some, princess?”

She made a sound and tossed a wrapped up gift at Silver, who swiftly caught it. It was wrapped in blue paper with a green ribbon, but she could tell it was a bottle of sorts.

“Really?” Psithyra looked unimpressed. “You wrapped one up?”

Chrysalis shrugged. “Well, it is her birthday. You wrap up everything to give her. And since she can legally drink now, I had the maids wrap one of these up too.”

“Anyway…” Psithyra said, putting the bottle to the side. “There are other presents here that might be better suited to a girl of your age-”

“She is of age!” Chrysalis interrupted.

"You know what I mean," Psithyra deadpanned.

Silver Rose accepted the gifts and opened the topmost box, which was about the size of a shoebox and covered in striped red and blue paper.

"That's from me," Aria said, looking rather pleased.

Silver pried open the lid and found three crystal bottles of designer perfume inside, tied up neatly with a purple ribbon.

“You can wear it when you go on your next date!” Sonata beamed. Chrysalis rolled her eyes.

The mention of a date brought to Silver’s mind of Home Run and Sunny Flare, and how she had messed things up with both of them. Her smile shrank a little but she kept up a brave face as Psithyra passed her the next gift.

Carefully undoing the green wrapping, Silver was greeted with a small box with a hinged lid. She pushed the lid upwards and was met with a glittering red gemstone.

“That’s from me,” Adagio supplied. “It’s an exact replica of our pendants. It doesn’t have any power, but I don’t think you would have wanted that anyway.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say no to power, but thanks Adagio.” Silver put it aside as Sonata pressed a blue box into her stomach.

“This one’s from me!” The siren stepped back and kicked a foot against the ground as she watched Silver unwrap the paper.

Inside the box was a copy of a Neighstation game called Arachnid-Woman, with a picture of the web slinging heroine on the front of the box.

“Oh, thanks Sonata! It’s been a while since I’ve been on the Neighstation.” Silver looked to her aunt. “I think Aunt Ivory’s been using it more than me.”

“Yes, well, these games are quite entertaining,” Psithyra amended. “Anyway, your last gift is from me. I hope you like it, sweetie.”

“Wait.” Aria waved a hand in the air. “Chrysalis, your only gift to your daughter was a bottle of wine?”

Chrysalis sipped at her glass and shrugged. “Nothing wrong with that. If she wants anything else, I can always just get it for her. Besides, you know that in this house, my daughter is the only one who celebrates birthdays. The rest of us… don’t.”

“Oh, is that because we’re all a bunch of immeasurably old magic creatures to whom age doesn’t really matter?” Sonata asked blithely.

“...Yes, Sonata. That’s exactly why.” Aria sighed.

“Not like we ever celebrated them before. Even back in Equestria.” Adagio placed a hand on her chest and smirked. “All I can remember is trying to turn everypony against each other with our singing.”

“Anyway,” Psithyra said firmly. “This one is from me. I hope you find it useful.”

Silver Rose took the box and unwrapped it. Flipping open the lid, she found inside a strange contraption that seemed to be some kind of long metal device with straps on the sides. It was rather lightweight, and had been done with a layer of polish that didn’t reflect light, but still made it look sleek and clean.

“What is it?” Silver asked, picking up the gift and turning it over in her hands.

“It’s a hidden blade,” Psithyra said brightly. “With a few minor tweaks from yours truly. Improved performance and safety mostly. It goes on your arm.”

“I uh, I thought I couldn’t bring weapons to school?”

“It’s called a hidden blade for a reason,” Chrysalis contributed.

“But the gun you hid under my skirt was hidden too,” Silver reminded. “As were all the other assortment of weapons, mother.”

“I don’t mean for you to wear it to school,” Psithyra chided. “It’s intended for self defense. The blade spring has enough push in it to puncture through at least five layers of cloth and one layer of kevlar.”

“And if she’s not to wear it to school, may I ask, where is she meant to wear it?” asked Chrysalis.

“You’re the one who got all steamed up over her being mugged,” Chrysalis’s sister said. “I’m giving her a means of defending herself.”

“S-So I’m to wear this out on dates?” Silver didn’t like the idea of having to kill someone in front of Home Run. Beating them up was okay, but not actually putting a dead body on the streets.

“You can treat it as a toy if you want,” Silver’s aunt smiled, patting her niece on the back. “A relic of a bygone age. I don’t think anyone else alive knows how to make these things anymore.”

“Yeah, these days it’s guitar case guns and wristwatch darts!” Sonata imitated firing something from her arm. “Just like in that Bames Jond movie!”

Everyone went quiet for a moment.

“Riiiiight…” Aria looked as though she would like to slap her sister, but somehow restrained herself. It must’ve been because of the gems. “Anyway, happy birthday, princess. Can we have some cake now?”