Taking the Queen

"Come in."

The door swung open as Twilight was just about to knock. "Princess?"

Celestia didn't look up from her papers. Using just a bit of magic, she pulled a violet bean chair over next to her and puffed it into place. With a tentative swallow, Twilight walked over and sat down. The seconds clicked by loudly from the wall clock, only drowned out by the crackling wood from the fire. Perhaps she should have thought about this more before bringing it directly to Celestia's attention? Perhaps she should have enacted the plan first? No, she definitely needed Celestia's permission. But was it better to ask forgiveness, instead? She did have the best of intentions...

"Are you going to ask your question or tell me what's on your mind?" asked Celestia. "I'm listening, I just want to finish this before bed." She glanced sideways at Twilight, expecting an apology that she would immediately accept. That was just how Twilight acted when she was nervous.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, looking down. "I suppose I'm just conflicted in how I want to phrase this."

"It's alright," smiled Celestia, signing her name on the bottom of the scroll and rolling it up. "Everypony has that feeling sometimes. What's important is that you feel that you can trust in those close to you. So, what has you in such a tizzy?"

Twilight took a deep breath. "So, I talked to Chrysalis this morning." She paused, waiting to see Celestia's response.

"And she said?" asked Celestia, turning to look at Twilight.

"Oh, uh... Nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose. The usual taunts and so forth. No more or less than I would expect."

"Then why are you so nervous?"

"Nervous? Who said I was nervous? I'm not nervous. What would make you belie--"

"Twilight?" interrupted Celestia, "you need to stop squeezing my hoof so hard."

Twilight immediately let go. She hadn't even realized that she'd instinctively grabbed Celestia's hoof for her own comfort. "Sorry, sorry..."

Celestia smiled knowingly and wrapped a wing around Twilight's shoulders. "You know very well that I have your best interests at heart. Likewise, you know that I place all of my faith in that you will come to me with your problems, that I may help you to solve them to the best of my ability."

Twilight took a deep breath. "Well, she called my bluff that I wouldn't end her life if she didn't cooperate. It was a lie, and I'm not very good at those."

"I am well aware," smiled Celestia. "You're very honest about your thoughts, a trait I find to be very admirable."

"She said that, because I don't really want her to die, I'll stand in the way of things that will kill her, like starvation. She's right, too. If you signed a paper that would order her to be beheaded, I'd beg you to reconsider. With what she's done, all of it, I despise her, and I will not forgive her for any of it. When it comes to life and death, though, I can't stomach the thought that I had a hoof in her demise. It's harrowing."

Celestia squeezed Twilight a bit closer under her wing. "I would only issue such an order if I had no choice. If, even in that cell, she were a threat to Equestria, I'd only try to end her life if I could not diminish the threat to be a non-issue."

Twilight took a deep breath. "So, I brought up the fact that we'd captured her to Shining and Cadance at our afternoon tea, despite everypony opting for coffee instead. Shining had no issue with ending her life, but it still felt wrong. If he had stood up, I feel I would have held him back."

"Why did you tell him in the first place? You knew how he felt."

"Well, actually, I was going to just talk about "a prisoner" that we were having issues with, but Starlight dropped her name, so we had to talk it out."

"I see."

"Cadance thinks that we should try to reform Chrysalis again, Like Starlight did with all of the others."

"Do you think that's a possibility?"

"Well..." Twilight thought about it for a moment. "From what I recall, the last time Starlight tried to change the changelings, everyling in the hive was amenable, albeit with some coaxing. Maybe it wasn't the easiest transition, but at least they tried, and eventually succeeded. With Chrysalis, she just pushed Starlight's hoof away."

"Slapped it away, is what I heard," nodded Celestia.

"I don't recall all of the details," sighed Twilight. "The point is, she didn't want to change. If she refuses to change, as she very much has, then all of our effort will be for nothing."

Celestia shook her head. "It's never for nothing, Twilight. You'll have tried your best, and that is a very encouraging thought."

Twilight nodded. With Celestia's approval, she knew that she had the tenacity to see this project through. Normally, she could do that regardless, as her curiosity and drive were enough to propel her through even the most difficult of trials. Knowing that Celestia was in support of her trying to make Chrysalis presentable, she could narrow down her goal and zero in on exactly what she wanted the final result to be. She began to nod more enthusiastically as she pieced it all together in her head, outlining a mental flow chart covering all of the steps she would need to take in order to achieve her goal.

"It seems you have a plan, then," smiled Celestia. "I'm glad I could help you settle your mind. I know you can become lost in your thoughts sometimes. I hope that our talk can serve as a lighthouse to guide you through the wayward waves of information you regularly sail through."

Twilight reached up and hugged Celestia. "Thank you, Princess. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. I promise, I'm going to do everything I can to make Chrysalis a productive member of society."

Celestia pulled back a bit. "I do want to mention, though, that we don't want to introduce her to society until we're sure she's not harmful anymore."

Twilight nodded. "Of course, Princess. When I think she's ready, I'll have you inspect her personally. Whether or not she leaves the dungeons is dependent on you approving her behaviour." She stood up and put away the bean chair, and made her way to the door. "I'm going to go put together a plan for how to fix this. Thank you for all of your help, Princess."

"Don't stay up all night, Twilight," chuckled Celestia. "You know how you can be."