Taking the Queen

After a long rest, Chrysalis was lounging in her bed. Mornings passed by without any events happening, so she didn't bother standing up. She was still a little sore from yesterday, and several hours would usually pass before anypony showed up. Why bother?

She heard hooves approaching. It wasn't often that somepony would come this way, other than during guard changes. At first, she wondered if it was some other high-profile prisoner. She was the only one in this section, so having somepony in the next cell would make for an interesting experience. She closed her eyes and listened to the echoes until they stopped in front of her cell.

"Good morning," came a voice from the front of her cell. "Still not dressed?"

Chrysalis leaned up and looked out into the hall. "This is a surprise visit," she explained. "Nopony comes here until after lunch."

"Well, I was given permission," smiled Spiceberry. "I brought you something." He reached behind him and pulled out a small paper cup with a cardboard sleeve. "We didn't have much of a chance to talk yesterday, as by the time you were done servicing the rest of the men, I was late for my shift. Prince Shining Armor vouched for me, but I still had to stay late and come in early today."

Chrysalis reached through the bars and grabbed the cup. It was quite hot. "What is this?"

"I know it's out of season, but I do love apple cider. You seemed like you were concentrating at the time, so I don't know if you had a response to it."

Chrysalis took a whiff of the steam rising out of the cup. It smelled very warm, but she could tell right away that it was made with love. "You made this yourself?"

"It's not that hard," he chuckled. "Apple juice, some spices, mix, heat, reduce and serve. It's the hard cider that's hard to do right."

Chrysalis pressed the cup to her lips and took a big swallow, immediately regretting it and having to put the cup down. "Careful, that's still piping hot," warned Spiceberry, too late. Chrysalis took several shallow breaths, trying to cool off. "I just made the stuff before coming in," he said, offering a cup of ice.

She took a cube and began sucking on it. "Is it supposed to be that hot?"

"Well, it simmers for half an hour," he explained. "I took it off the stove and poured it through a sieve literally right before coming in. It cooled a little bit, but not very much. You may want to add a few ice cubes to it, though that will water it down a little bit."

Chrysalis pried the lid off and dropped three ice cubes into the cup. "How long have you been making cider?"

"Since I was eight," he smiled. "I had my first taste of the stuff, and was so enraptured by the taste that I immediately wanted to learn how to make my own. Batch after batch, and after a thousand or so, I finally nailed down the flavour I needed. A cinnamon stick, eight cloves, two allspice and a nutmeg for a gallon of the stuff. If I have to use the ground spices, I have to cut it with brown sugar, though. Not very much, but when you try to mix the dry powder into the liquid, it tends to clump. The sugar helps prevent that. If you're ever out of here, I'll teach you how to do that."

The ice was melted now, and through her hoof, Chrysalis was able to determine that the cider was now just warm. She took a sip, not wanting to risk burning her tongue again. The mixture was thick and sticky, and had a very powerful flavour to it. She could point out the apples, for sure, and the spices blended well into each other. Most notably, however, this was made with a lot of love. Between all of those, it was the most delicious drink she'd ever had, and she downed the rest of it with haste.

"Did you enjoy it?"

"You'll have to teach me how to do that someday," she said, trying to lick clean the inside of the cup with her long tongue. "You need to go into business with this stuff!"

"Well, you need money to do that," he chuckled. "That's why I joined the guard, you know? I'm saving up for a kiosk in the Crystal Empire. Not a big place, just a small little stall where I can sell the stuff."

"Why the Crystal Empire? Why not here?"

Spiceberry looked over to Chrysalis. "Because it's colder there, for starters. I like the weather up north. The snow sticks around longer, the summers are milder... Then there's the fact that nopony up there has a source of cider. They have the ingredients come in regularly, but there's nowhere up there where you can just buy cider by the cup, or by the litre, or anything like that. I can produce and sell it there with no issue."

"But if you're up there, where will I be able to find more of this?"

"You liked it that much?"

"For the first time, I find myself enjoying pony food," she admitted. "You can't hook me on this and then just stop delivering. I need more!"

"Well, I'll tell you what," he chuckled. "I'm going to be in the guard for another year, at least. The next fourteen months, I'm still under contract to live here in Canterlot, or at least very nearby. I'll keep bringing them by, as long as Starlight says it's okay, but you have until then to clean up your act and find your way out of here. If that day comes, look me up."

He picked up her trash and stored it away for disposal on his way out. "My shift starts soon. I'll try to be back tomorrow with more, but Starlight keeps that gate. Try to stay on her good side, because I actually want to come back."

As he walked away, Chrysalis could hear the squeaky wheels of the lunch cart roll past him. She wanted more of that cider. She needed more of that cider. Whatever she had to do to have it, it was worth it. She slipped over to her wardrobe and sifted through it, trying to find a dress that Starlight would like.