Chrysalis groaned, the queen once more finding herself sitting and merely observing instead of actually infiltrating, or doing anything at all really. Sure it was necessary, sure it was useful, but that didn't mean the changeling queen was any less annoyed by the fact that she had been forced to do the grunt work of gathering information again. She made a note of training infiltrators as soon as possible as she was sick and tired of dealing with ponies.

With a sigh, she forced her expression to become neutral once more, and hopefully diverting any attention her sour mood might gain her.

Looking around the main thoroughfare of Ponyville one might be confused and think they were in a bigger town then they actually were, as droves of ponies walked the streets. Ponies of all shapes and sizes dotted the landscape, with even a few zebras, saddle arabians and the odd dragon walking this way and that. Accents Chrysalis hadn't heard in years were suddenly commonplace, alerting the queen to the fact that this ‘little’ festival had brought in ponies from all corners of Equestria and even beyond. A fact the native Ponyvillians were eager to exploit, with irritating stands dotting the landscape, hocking everything from commemorative t-shirts, plates and other, even more useless knick knacks.

More annoying still were the hordes of hopeful mothers that made their way from the bustling train station to one of the many packed inns to stow their stuff, or went straight for the long lines that were already forming outside the registration tents. Lines that Chrysalis had resisted joining, after she realized there was a problem with her plan, a big one.

There were too many ponies here for only Twilight to be studding.

It was simple math, and judging from the whispers she had caught from the passing ponies, this year was even bigger than the last one. It didn't take a genius to figure out that their studding operation would have to be supplemented with normal stallions. A point made even more obvious when Chrysalis had observed a giggling group of mares slip in a side entrance and speak in hushed tones with a muscular stallion.

Though their conversation was a quiet one, Chrysalis’ powerful changeling senses were more than enough to pick up every word they said.

“We are here to volunteer as uh, pleasure mares?” The first one whispered nervously.

The second one smirked and threw an arm around the first. “Oh yeah and were from the university, Twilight asked us to come down and cast those spells.”

The stallion smirked and stood off to the side. “Go on in and find Twilight, I’m sure the princess will be thrilled to hear about the potential increase in efficiency.”

“She would say it like that wouldn't she?” Snickered the third mare, prompting all four ponies to laugh as they disappeared inside the tent.

Chrysalis pushed the memory aside and continued to drum her fingers against the table, her gaze lingering on the line forming outside the registration tent. Plans were thought up, and dismissed rather quickly, each one having some key hole in it that would have made the effort a wasted one. Until suddenly the queen shot up, a wide smile on her face, an idea forming in her mind.

She had been thinking about it all wrong, she wasn't a pony, she didn't have to lie, or cheat to try and get Twilight to stud her and risk getting thrown out and fined. She was a changeling, and was not at the whims of weak, pony anatomy, something she could take full advantage of in this situation.

The randomness of the selection, and the cloak and dagger around the studs meant nothing when the queen could simply not expose her eggs to the seed of lesser breeders. Chrysalis smirked devilishly, and quickly began to come up with a quick, list of excellent disguises in her mind. After she had concocted enough, the queen trotted over to the line and took her place behind a pair of giggling young mares who were busy prattling on about some pony nonsense Chrysalis didn't care to listen to.

The plan was simple now, all she had to do was register each of her disguises, and when the festival finally got underway she would brute force her way to Twilight. With a few dozen disguises and no worry about getting knocked up by some inferior specimen, Chrysalis would beat the ponies at their own stupid game and they wouldn't be any the wiser. A plan only made easier when the queen remembered the fact that she had acquired a small wardrobe of back up clothes that were now quite necessary.

Yes, my army is all but born. Soon victory and revenge will be all mine! Chrysalis thought triumphantly to herself, the queen already fantasizing what she would do once she took over Equestria.

Completely unaware of the weird looks a good chunk of her fellow festival goers were giving the madly grinning queen.

With an aggravated sigh, the queen stepped back into line, her magical and mundane disguise having been traded out in favor of one of her last identities. The disguised changeling now sported orange fur and deep red hair as well as a pink grapefruit cutie mark hidden beneath her black and purple skirt. Her shirt was a simple brown, with blue sequins which wasn't ugly enough, in her opinion to earn all the odd looks she had been given, but Chrysalis didn't care for the odd glance of the pony filth that surrounded her.

Her fur was annoyingly bright, and her outfit was suitably fluorescent and shiny, all things ponies liked, her disguise was perfect, as usual she concluded. With a shrug, she ignored the looks a few passing ponies gave her and continued to stare straight ahead, waiting as patiently as she could muster for the chance to be done with this entire irritating affair.

A glance at the horizon told the queen that she didn't have much time left to get her final disguise registered, as the sun was beginning to set and the town was beginning to grow quiet. Leaning to her right, the queen inspected the length of the line and found that it hadn't shrunk much since the last time she looked, much to her annoyance. The defeated and vaguely guilty looking yellow furred and orange maned pony manning the desk working as fast and as slow as ever.

With a sigh, the queen fell back into line and continued to tap her foot impatiently, while grinding her temporarily flat teeth and glaring at the back of the head of the pony in front of her. The mare’s annoying laugh was bad enough, but if she had to hear another pep talk from some lucky pony who had already been bred in one of the years prior, the queen was likely to scream her head off.

Either that or start a one changeling invasion of a small town, at this point she wasn't sure which was more likely.

Your so brave for coming on your own. Chrysalis mimicked, imagining in her mind that annoying toothpaste colored pony was back and offering more empty platitudes. Your going to love being a mother! The changeling barely contained a gag at the thought of all the obnoxious and patronizing canned bullshit she had been fed over the last few hours.

“Good afternoon, how are you this evening miss?” A polite and feminine voice asked from the changeling’s right.

Biting back her urge to curse the mare out, Chrysalis forced her expression to become neutral before looking over to where the voice had come from. The second she laid eyes upon the pony who had spoken to her, the changeling’s anger fizzled into nothing, overwhelmed by the genuine empathy that she felt radiating off the mare in waves. “Er, not bad.” Chrysalis muttered weakly.

The mare smiled a wide, authentic smile, making her rosy cheeks glow and drawing the changeling’s full attention. Chrysalis couldn't help but give the mare a quick look, her attention pulled down to the pony’s surprising large bosom. The changeling hardly even had to look down at the triplets currently nestled in an unruly triple wide stroller, which trailed behind the mare for Chrysalis to know that this had been one of the ponies Twilight had studded for in previous years. Her bust had been enough to go off of, as the pony had evidently had the unique distinction of feeding a trio of babies herself.

Giving her head a quick shake, Chrysalis found herself suddenly interested in the Cerise skinned and rose haired earth pony. “That's wonderful.” Declared the pony, grinning widely. “It certainly is a fantastic day to register for the festival, unlike last year when we got that freak thunderstorm.”

“That must have been terrible.” Chrysalis declared sympathetically.

The mare nodded. “It was, oh where are my manners. My name is Cheerilee.”

Chrysalis took the offered hand and shook it gently. “Pink Grapefruit, nice to meet you.”

“And this is Joy Star, Glad Well and Tranquil Eve!” Cheerilee announced proudly, gesturing towards the unicorn, earth pony and pegasus foals respectfully.

Chrysalis nodded slowly, glancing down at the three foals with intense curiosity. The unicorn’s horn was slightly longer than a foal her age should be, a theme that followed the rest of the triplets, who either had bigger wings, or were simply bigger. Though Chrysalis didn't have a horn in this current form, she hardly even needed her magic to know for certain that the triplets were indeed gifted. Not only did they seem powerful but also appeared to be quite intelligent, with the three foals looking up at the queen curiously, and with oddly critical looks.

“Well they certainly look healthy.” Chrysalis offered.

“Oh and they are such dears too.” Cooed Cheerilee who couldn't help but smile when she looked down at her progeny. “Twilight doesn't see them much, but when they she gets a chance, they just light up like little hearth's warming lights, it's adorable.”

Chrysalis couldn't help but partake in the flow of motherly love that filled the air, though she dared not touch the small trickle of familial love that flowed back, knowing better than to take sustenance from a child. “So the father was Twilight then?” Chrysalis half asked, half declared.

“Oh yes.” Cheerilee replied with a smile. “It's almost a shame that so many ponies show up year after year as the dear is an absolute joy to ahem, be with.”

Chrysalis chuckled despite the slight blush that covered Cheerilee’s face. “Really now? And are all her progeny as gifted as they say?”

The mother nodded eagerly. “For the most part yes, though even alicorn genes aren't perfect, it certainly seems like all of her foals are exceptional in some way or another.”

“Fascinating.” Chrysalis muttered, carefully eyeing the foals with a keen interest. “Say, you wouldn't happen to know which tent she's going to be in by chance would you?”

Cheerilee shook her head. “I’m afraid I couldn't help you even if I wanted to. They’ve been randomizing everything recently, and adding a hefty fine to anyone that tries to get around this precaution.”

“A shame.” Chrysalis declared sadly. “I’ve always wanted foals of my own and triplets would be perfect.”

Cheerilee nodded in sympathy, empathy continuing to roll of the mare in surprisingly large waves. “Well it's not like it's impossible.” She declared. “You never know. You might just get lucky.”

Chrysalis nodded. “I suppose the impossible has happened before.”

“True, though this is no of Battle of Agincourt.” Cheerilee replied only to wince and facepalm. “Sorry, that must have sounded random. I’ve been visiting Twilight too much and we both share a love for history which I’m afraid is all I can think about right now.”

“Oh don't apologize, though I’d say it's more Battle of Carrhae then Agincourt.” Chrysalis replied with a slight chuckle. “As I am certainly neither prench nor english.”

“True.” Cheerilee agreed, a smile slowly growing on her face. “You wouldn't happen to be a history buff by chance would you? Not many ponies know of the battle of Carrhae.”

“The history of Roam is one of my favorites.” Chrysalis gushed, the queen resisting the urge to also mention that she had been the commander of both winning armies in the aforementioned battles. “In fact I have a degree in history, though I’m pretty sure the university has since gone under.”

“That's a shame.” Cheerilee replied before suddenly biting her lip and looking away. “I don't suppose I could pick your brain on a topic Twilight and I had a bit of a disagreement on could I?”

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “That depends, because if it's about which one of you snores louder I don't think I can offer an opinion.”

Cheerilee’s cheeks burned as a bright blush bloomed across her features. “N-no nothing like that I would never-” she stammered only to be cut off by a chuckling Chrysalis.

“I’m teasing you. No, I don't mind if you pose your question.” Chrysalis explained.

“R-right.” Cheerilee coughed into her hand. “We were discussing the mythical origins of the city of Atlantis and namely if it was just that, a myth. See, I believe that it was a simple fable designed to explain the origin of Seaquestria while Twilight is adamant that there is a very real chance the city actually existed.”

The disguised queen smiled and nodded, having to once more resist the urge to just spout the correct information, as she had both seen Atlantis and indirectly had a hand in it's destruction. “Well that depends.” She began, tapping her chin as the line slowly moved forward. “Does she have any evidence to offer to aid in her assertion?”

Cheerilee nodded. “Well there's this arch, and it-”

“-so I don't think you should completely dismiss her assertions.” Chrysalis concluded. “If the arch and statue are indeed older than any known civilizations there might very well be a chance that this older civilization created these statues, and Atlantis.”

“Which would explain why we never heard of them if the city was destroyed somehow…” Cheerilee added, tapping her chin and tugging along her foals as the line moved up. “But then where did the records of this civilization go then? Surely there would be some written works that survived.”

“Unless they were one of the first to use clay tablets, which were likely stored near the heart of their empire in some sort of central bureaucracy.” Chrysalis countered.

Cheerilee remained silent for several seconds, nodding slowly. “You make a convincing argument, most civilizations back then didn't have a high literacy rate, which would explain why the bureaucrats and merchants who would have likely lived there didn't spread news of this mystery civilization.”

“Because they went down with the ship so to speak.” Chrysalis finished.

“Quite compelling indeed.” Cheerilee remarked, only to perk up when the line shifted once more and the table grew a little closer. “Oh my, how long have we been talking?”

“About a half hour.” Chrysalis replied with a shrug.

“Oh darn, I was supposed to get these three to bed ten minutes ago.” Cheerilee declared nervously, only to turn and realize all three of her foals were already snoring soundly. “Well, I guess none of them are going to grow up and become historians.”

Chrysalis snickered at the mare’s joke, laughing in a genuine manner for the first time in what felt like decades. “Give them a few more years. I didn't appreciate history until I was older either.”

Cheerilee smiled and nodded. “True, it takes a while to truly appreciate history unless you’ve had a chance to live at least a little bit of it.”

You are more correct than you know, little pony. Chrysalis thought, the changeling containing a cruel snicker.

“Sorry to take off on you so suddenly Miss Grapefruit but I really must be going.” Cheerilee replied nervously. “I truly do hope you find the right tent so to speak.”

“As do I.” Chrysalis declared with a smile.

Cheerilee bit her lip and turned only to turn back and lean in conspiratorily. “I’m not supposed to say this, but if you see Zecora you’re in the right spot.”

A zebra, interesting. Chrysalis gave the other female’s shoulder a squeeze. “Thank you Cheerilee, I hope you find a bounty of love in your future.”

The pony blinked, temporarily confused by the odd expression before smiling back. “Same to you, Pink Grapefruit.”

With that, the pony turned and quickly scampered away, pushing the unwieldy triple stroller hastily, as she made her way towards the more residential side of Ponyville, where she no doubt lived. Chrysalis watched the pony go until she was out of sight, the queen committing Cheerilee’s appearance and name to memory. When I rule, you will make for a for a fine slave. I may even keep you as one of my personal servants, if all goes well.

Chrysalis couldn't help but grin, the changeling revitalized by not only all the emotion she had acquired over the conversation but the pleasant conversation itself. It was invigorating to know that there existed somepony out there who appreciated the same things the queen did, even if she lacked the unique perspective the queen had on history.

“Next!” Barked a voice, alerting the queen to the fact that her turn had finally come.

Stepping closer, the queen grinned wider still. “Hello, my name is Pink Grapefruit and I am here to sign up for the Festival Of Life.”

The pony nodded and tiredly pushed a piece of paper across the table. “Alright, just fill in the necessary information and then I’ll ask you a few questions.”

“Thank you.” Chrysalis replied, without a hint of sarcasm. Thank you for aiding in my eventual victory, festival drone.

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