*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

Chrysalis groaned.

*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

She slammed her head against the wall. At this rate, she could barely get a good rhythm going with her ‘hate-log’. It was hard enough to even shout curses at the dreary object… but getting worked up into a really good supervillain tirade was nigh impossible with the sound coming from the other room.

*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

“WILL YOU STOP THAT INFERNAL RACKET!” Chrysalis screamed with her most insectoid hiss, rounding the corner with a boiling fury that would have sent a thousand drones skittering to the recesses of her hive in the good old days.

“Wh-what?”

Lord Tirek and Cozy Glow stared back at her in confusion.

“DON’T YOU GIVE ME THAT - ‘Wh-what!?’ You two are making as much noise as possible simply to… irk me! Aren’t you!?”

Tirek turned and looked at her with a disappointed glare, shaking his head. He lifted a white towel to his head and wiped the sweat from his brow, then took a sip of water before grasping the heavy steel barbell once again and deadlifting the massive amount of weight a final time, laying the plates down with a heavy resounding...

*CLANG*

“Can’t you put those weight down more gently you… you… LUNK!?” She stamped a chitinous hoof. This time the brute was defying her openly on purpose. This could not be tolerated.

“Umm… Chryssi you know that it’s leg day right? And this isn’t planet fitness….” Cozy Glow chuckled from her spot on Tirek’s back.

“I TOLD you NEVER to call me that! You shall address me as Chrysalis - Queen of the Changelings!” She adjusted the small green crown atop her head, ensuring that it was clearly visible.

“Uh-huh… whatever you say Queenie…” Cozy Glow rolled her eyes and waved a hoof dismissively. “But we’re doing deadlifts, and the proper form is for Tirek to slam the weight…” Cozy hopped off the centaur’s powerful back and hovered in front of the villain’s face. “Speaking of which, this is your last set, Tirek, so let’s go until failure. And no half-repping this time!”

Chrysalis felt her jaw slacken in disbelief, surely Lord Tirek would swat the brat away with impunity. Her mouth opened even further in shock when the centaur caught her eye, turned to her and simply shrugged.

“She is a shrewd coach.” He took up position in front of the heavy barbell, digging his hooves into the floor of the cave. “Without her, I’d not be as strong as I am now.” Tirke turned away from her and began taking deep breaths, preparing for one last set.

Cozy took the opportunity to shoot a nasty little smirk at her - ‘Told you.’

This would not do! To be made a fool of by some upstart runt hardly out of her diapers and a meathead with more brawn than brains!? She could not be upstaged so easily. She had to appeal to something - perhaps the centaur’s ego…

“Hah!” Chrysalis barked as much as laughed, striding around the bulk of Tirek’s physique toward his rear. “...and I’d thought that when I inspected your backside during our song last week I spotted a pair of fine black bollocks…” She found the objects in question, hanging underneath Tirek’s groin - two fine, dangling, grapefruit- sized testicles - which she took a gentle swipe at with a hoof.

The centaur’s breath was sucked away in surprise, and after a moment to recover, he glared at her. “Do you… mind!?”

Chrysalis grinned, throwing her nose up and flicking her hair back with an air of superiority. “Obviously these things are as hollow as your tiny skull if you’ve stooped so low as to take orders from her.”

“Don’t pay any attention to her, Tirek.” Cozy sighed, tapping the barbell impatiently. “Your test count is out of this world. You’re poised for some great gains. If you’ll just finish… this… rep!”

Tirek nodded, Then grunted, lifting the barbell up with a massive heave of his legs.

“Test count? Reps? Gains?” Chrysalis asked with a cocked head. “What does a scrawny snot-nosed foal like you know about this sort of thing?”

*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*

Tirek hoisted his arms over his head and let out an exuberant cry, “Y-yes!!!”

“Alright! Tirek, my man!” Cozy zipped up and high-fived him. “I knew you could do it! That’s a new PR!”

“Ha HAAAA!”

“Enough!” Chrysalis stomped her hoof. “You shall cease with this… team-spirit!” The words felt like bitter ash in her mouth - something she had to expel before they made her choke. “Need I remind you two about becoming too enamored with the magic of friendship? Don’t you recall our little fiasco on top of the mountain after capturing Grogar’s bell?”

Cozy Glow’s eyes shot wide open in fear and she scanned the villain-hideout with terror, bringing a hoof to her mouth, trying to shush the rambunctious queen.

Chrysalis cackled, jabbing a hoof at the filly in amused contempt. “Aww, is the little baby pony scared that Grogar will come spank her? Is she going to wet her diaper?”

“Silence, Chrysalis.” Tirek yawned, before turning toward Cozy Glow. “Grogar left half an hour ago; he shall be gone for a few days.”

‘Why did Tirek always coddle this filly?’ Chrysalis fumed internally. It made no sense! She was entirely useless - nothing but a minor-level schemer and manipulator, good for nothing but cannon fodder. Perhaps, as a last-ditch resort, she could be used as a hostage. Even on their last mission, the entirety of her value lay in being small.

Chrysalis suspiciously eyed the centaur. He was so hard to read, always keeping his emotions hidden from her changeling abilities behind a veneer of his own obfuscating magic. “Why do you baby her so much, Lord Tirek?”

He shrugged. “We were locked in Tartarus together,” he answered with half-yawn, as if it explained everything.

“So? I was once locked in a cage with ten of my sisters. When I came out, I had not befriended them… I had eaten them!”

Tirek didn’t look impressed. Cozy Glow looked a little horrified.

“What?” Chrysalis cocked her head with a raised eyebrow. “Is eating one’s defeated siblings not a normal thing? They were potential usurpers!”

“To obliterate your enemies, I can understand.” Tirek quirked an eyebrow. “But to eat them?”

“For protein! Sustenance! A word that must be as alien to you two dimwits as simple reasoning, given how little emotion there is to feed on in this Faust-forsaken place!”

“Uh-huh… you know we don’t feed on emotion, right?” Tirek asked skeptically.

“Of course I know that, you fool!” Chrysalis snapped, just barely avoiding biting her own hissing tongue in her fury. “But would it kill either of you two to generate even a little emotion for me to taste?” She grumped, crossing her forelegs. “The only thing you ever provide is this horridly plain ‘camaraderie’ that makes me gag!”

Chrysalis felt a spike of devious, manipulative emotion peak in the little pegasus filly, flitting over near the barbell. The brat was nowhere near as good as the centaur in concealing her intentions: Chrysalis didn’t even need her superior senses to know the pegasus was up to something once she adopted her sickly sweet tones and began sidling up to the centaur.

“Hey, Tirek… my cellie… my best buddy… my pal…” She smiled in his face.

“Watch your tone, girl.” Tirek sniffed, picking up his water bottle for another sip and shooing her away like she was a bothersome mosquito. “It’s irritating.”

“Well, I was just thinking... “ She put on her puppy-dog eyes and clasped her hooves together to put on the most disarming and innocent facade she could muster. “Mean ol’ Queen Chryssi here thinks I’m just a little useless kid, that she would like to drop at the first sign of trouble.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I really do.” Chrysalis nodded, suspiciously eyeing the spike in evil energy from the brat. If she wasn’t so annoyed with cozy Glow at the moment, Chrysalis might even have been impressed by the levels the filly was putting off.

“Well… I think it’s important that I show her just how useful I can be... “ Cozy’s smile began to twist wickedly up her face, reminding Chrysalis of that Hearth's Warming grinch character all the ponies loved so much. ”So she knows I can be a valuable part of the team.”

“Hah!” Chrysalis laughed. “What could a little baby like you possibly bring to the table? At least Tirek has some magical power. But you? You’re a second-tier lackey at best!”

“The girl speaks wisely, Chrysalis.” Tirek shrugged. “She is a remarkably talented companion. Give her a chance, and she may impress you yet.”

Chrysalis recoiled as if she’d been struck. Coddling the brat was one thing, but actually encouraging her? Suggesting that she, Queen Chrysalis, should admit that Cozy Glow had any sort of ability beyond making a useful projectile!? It was preposterous.

“I see Chryssi isn’t convinced, Tirek.” Cozy Glow grinned. “What do you bad guys like to do when you have these sorts of disagreements, hm? Maybe a friendly little wager?”

“Hah!” Chrysalis laughed. “Do you think I would be so foalish as to walk into such a simple trap?” Chrysalis giggled and threw her head back. “You’ll have to do much better than that, little filly!”

Tirek simply rolled his eyes. “Stay your tongues, the both of y-”

“Shush, Tirek. I promise you’ll get something nıce out of this ıf you play along.” Cozy whirled back on Chrysalis. “What’s the matter, Chryssi? Are you scared of a little foal’s wager?”

Tirek snorted. “I fear your efforts are wasted, gir-”

“NOBODY accuses Queen Chrysalis of cowardice! I accept your wager.”

He turned his gaze on the changeling and gave her a disappointed look. “It appears the master of deception is easily deceived.”

“Quiet!” Chrysalis hissed, then towered over the presumptuous pink filly. She’d soon show this foal the meaning of messing with a master manipulator. “Filly! Your terms?”

Cozy confidently strode in front of her, not in the least bit discouraged by the size difference, or the knowledge that she could be incinerated where she stood if Chrysalis so desired. “This is actually a pretty good deal for you, Chryssi....”

She hated the filly’s smug grin. Oh, how she wanted nothing more than to wipe it off her face with a simple, solid, brutal backward slap.

“I want to show you that I can be useful to you. And since your biggest complaint seems to be that you’re extremely low on emotional energy… what if I could show you that I could fill you up to bursting with love energy?”

Chrysalis froze, a shudder going up her spine as she recalled the last time she’d had even a quarter of her full potential in energy. The power. The satiation. It made her shiver with enjoyment. But she quickly came back to reality.

“Pfft. Impossible. If you could even give me ten percent of my full strength, I would be more than impressed.” She rolled her eyes. “But that’s completely absurd, you little idiot. Even sucking your emotions dry, there’s not enough ‘friendship’ or ‘love’ or whatever you stupid ponies believe in to satisfy even one one-thousandth of my thirst. I’d leave you a husk!”

Cozy Glow’s smile faltered slightly, and for the first time, Chrysalis could taste that sweet satisfying flavor: doubt.

“T-ten percent? No problem!” Cozy coughed, puffing her chest up to make herself appear bigger. “That’s the wager, then. Even if I win, you’re getting the upside of a ton of magical power.”

Chrysalis nodded, scratching her chin in contemplation. “Very well. And if you do win… what must I pay?”

The brat smiled sweetly. “Oh, nothing, really. I just want to convince you that I’m a valuable member of the team. But since you did ask… let’s say if I win… you have to kneel down and kiss my little-filly butt!”

‘This impertinent little brat needs to be DESTROYED!’ Chrysalis bared her fangs, ready to kill the filly for her impudence. “Well then, Cozy… if you do not manage to sate me. I expect to get as full a meal as your little body can actually offer… sucking you dry, emotionally AND physically.“ Chrysalis smiled her fangiest smile. ‘Surely this would be enough to make the little whelp back down in fear!’

But no. Cozy simply smiled back.

“It’s ON.”

Author's Note

Are you enjoying the story? Throw me a like up top and leave me a comment! I write because I love feedback... so feed me!

Let's all be real - that Cozy glow gif was hotter than the surface of the sun. I waited eagerly for someone to step up and set out a hot story for what had happened... but when noone did, I decided I needed to throw my hat in the ring.

I wrote this while on a flight to Hong Kong, but I have to throw a lot of credit to Freglz who helped pre-read and clean this story up!

Get ready for some clop in the next chapter!