"I don't like this place!" Chrysalis hissed in hushed tones as her head jerked from side to side. She moved as if anticipating an attack at any moment, even partially using Twilight as a shield as she followed behind her.

Twilight was concerned, but not being able to feel what Chrysalis did she walked forward as if nothing was wrong. "It's fine Chrysalis, I promise there's nothing here that can hurt you."

"I'm not worried about being hurt. These pathetic ponies still hold no threat to me. This place though, how can such a place exist?" Chrysalis once again jerked at a sound, moving to the other side of Twilight when an employee passed by pushing a flat cart. "What are these, things?"

Chrysalis continued to make a scene. Ponies around pretended not to notice as the pair of royals proceeded. The customers at Barnyard Bargains obviously didn't know why there would be a changeling among them, much less why they seemed to be making their way to the back of the establishment. But it seemed at least one was willing to check why.

"Hey there, can I help you today?" A mare wearing a manager's vest approached from the opposite side of Twilight, apparently managing to catch Chrysalis off guard. The mare kept a plastered on smile, even as Chrysalis pulled away and crouched into a fighting stance, hissing violently. "Is there some problem?"

"There is nothing of you but the scent of death. Begone, walking corpse." Chrysalis couldn't attack, but it was obvious from her body language that she would if she could.

The mare's smile still never wavered. "Okay, you have yourselves a Barnyard Bargains best day ever." She turned and walked away at a slightly faster than needed pace. Chrysalis watched and thrummed low at her the whole way.

Concerned, Twilight thought and moved quickly. "Chrysalis, I'm going to give you some orders, but I promise it's for the best at the moment." Chrysalis braced for what was to come. "Stand up straight, and come over here, next to me." Compelled by the words, Chrysalis did so. She settled in just next to Twilight, fur and chitin just brushing together. The moment she did, Twilight unfurled a wing and draped it protectively over her fellow queen. "Try to calm down, and stay with me."

Chrysalis allowed herself to be led to a slightly secluded area. The compulsion of the order, and clearly nothing else, did allow Chrysalis's pulse to slow. Away from prying eyes Chrysalis asked again. "What are these things?"

"There's nocreature here but ponies. Help me understand, what are you seeing that I can't?" Twilight's tone was gentle. Unrelatedly, Chrysalis felt more calm.

"These can't be ponies, they have less emotion in them than wild animals. The mayor was less dead inside when I first met her than any of the creatures in vests in here."

"The employees? What's wrong with them?"

Chrysalis snapped her gaze in another direction once more as one of said employees passed the aisle they'd ended up in. "I can't even sense them. That one that approached us was almost like a void in the background emotions, like the emotions were somehow actively being avoided. What is this place and what type of fresh Tartarus is it?"

"I told you, it's a grocery store although I just realized you'd probably have no context for that." Twilight winced slightly as she rambled out her sudden realization. "It's where ponies can obtain different forms of sustenance as well as certain household goods in exchange for bits. It's a more centralized form of the market place that you've seen."

Chrysalis considered that for a moment. "That seems redundant and unnecessary, as well as each being detrimental to each other's continued existence. Wouldn't such a place inherently hurt your pony economy?"

"Some creatures have issues with them. They've had complaints in the past, but most of them never went anywhere for some reason. They are one of the biggest employers in Equestria, so I thought it might be ok," her wing tightened around Chrysalis. "But I'm thinking this might require more research."

Chrysalis felt hopeful. "Does that mean we're leaving?"

Some conflicted feelings darkened Twilight's emotions. "If you can handle it a while longer, I'm honestly concerned now and want to check this out more thoroughly. Having you there would actually help a lot."

Chrysalis buzzed in irritation. "Fine, but when I take over I'm burning this place and all others like it to the ground."

"Of course you will. Could you get ahold of I-515, I might want to get the mayor in on this, just in case." Twilight gave Chrysalis a reassuring smile before she began leading them through the store again.

Chrysalis buzzed more, but allowed herself to be led as she let more of her consciousness fade into the hive mind. "They are going by Isis now. Something about the mayor calling them a goddess of organization."

Twilight giggled at that. "Something tells me we don't need to worry about the special pay for the changelings at town hall anymore."

"I would have never thought appreciation could be strong enough to be a form of love. Nor that the mayor could actually love her job that much with just a little extra help. What am I telling them specifically?" Chrysalis pretended not to notice when Twilight gripped her more firmly with her wing as they walked, pressing herself into her fellow queen more.

"Have them start looking up all info on Barnyard Bargains first." Twilight managed to keep Chrysalis distracted as they made their way through the store once again.

Through a set of swinging doors and up some shabby stairs, they suddenly came across something noticeably different. An expensive looking door with an elegantly adorned placard, gleaming golden in the cheap fluorescent lighting in the otherwise run down hallway.

Rich
Owner
Operator
Pony in Charge

With a cringe from both, Twilight knocked gently. Both were curious at a feminine voice forcing a sing song lilt responding, "You may enter."

Inside they were not greeted by the stallion from all the inspirational posters from around the facility. Instead, there was a pink mare with a massively over groomed purple mane and enough tacky jewelry for it to noticeably jingle with her every move. Her fake smile made Chrysalis have to restrain a thrum in her throat.

"Good morning, your highness. It is an absolute pleasure to have you here in the Barnyard Bargains home store. I hope you are having a delightful day."

Twilight noticed that she seemed to pay no attention to Chrysalis before she responded. "Mrs. Rich, I thought we'd be meeting with your husband today."

The fake smile didn't budge, but a swirl of sinister satisfaction crept into the emotions permeating the room.

"I don't like the smell in here. " Chrysalis said it flatly.

Again, the mare behind the very expensive looking desk didn't seem to acknowledge Chrysalis even as she responded. "It is a place of business, some things are unavoidable. I promise it's nice and comfy in here though. As far as my dear husband, unfortunately he was called off on some important business elsewhere. It, unfortunately, seems to happen a lot when we have important staffing issues like this. I take care of most stuff at the employee level. Why don't you come have a seat and we can have a little chat."

Only one of the also very expensive looking chairs on their side of the desk was pulled out in welcome. Twilight lit her horn to pull out the other for Chrysalis before taking her own seat. Chrysalis hesitated, her emotionless stare at the mare never breaking. At Twilight's silent urge, she too took her seat.

"Now, your highness, I hear you might have the answer to our little staffing problem."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You put in a request to assess our new Changeling citizens for feasibility with your business. I wasn't aware you were having active staffing issues."

Chrysalis squinted deeper as the fake smile shriveled at the edges just the slightest bit. "Oh, nothing serious. We just come up a pony or two short every now and then. Nopony likes to work these days, you know." The fake laugh she let out then made Chrysalis want to transform into something without ears.

"I see," Twilight said hesitantly. "Well first off, what is it exactly that made you believe our changelings would be a good fit for your business?"

Mrs. Rich seemed to perk up at this. What she said next was clearly practiced with purpose. "Oh, well here at Barnyard Bargains, we pride ourselves on our staff. Our staff makes us who we are, so we believe in welcoming ponies from all walks of life. Everypony deserves to be a part of the Barnyard Bargains family." She finally looked over to Chrysalis, and her smile became much more obviously fake. "So of course we can't wait to invite other... things to join our family as well."

The neutral smile Twilight had been managing until now began to slip. "Ok then. Were there any specific questions about the program you had before we get into the finer details of the assessment?"

More sinister glee now spawned behind that smile as she turned her attention back to Twilight. "Well, I did hear something through the grapevine. Is it true that they don't have the same, compensation requirements as ponies?"

Chrysalis openly sneered, but was also impressed. She couldn't help but be disgusted by this mare, yet the sudden disgust that began to come from Twilight didn't show on her face from what she could see in her peripheral vision as she responded. "Changelings do not have the same dietary requirements as ponies, so due to this fact they have a lighter burden on the flow of goods on an individual level. As such, part of this program is meant to assess the balance of fair pay as far as a species that doesn't need traditional food in order to live comfortably. What was your specific inquiry about this aspect of the program?" Chrysalis wasn't sure if she'd ever heard anything that flat come out of Twilight.

Mrs. Rich, for what seemed like reasons of simply not being able to contain it any more, let her smile slip into a sinister smirk. "Well, I see no reason to beat around the bush, what's the least we'll be allowed to pay them."

Twilight's smile slipped even more, barely staying above a scowl. "Monetary compensation is one thing. More importantly is that our changelings require love to live. We need to make sure they can be treated fairly in that aspect before we can move forward with anything else."

"But of course. We love our employees here. I can call any of them up here and they, will, tell you." Chrysalis had seen that smile before, on invading queens who thought they could conquer her hive. She would have instinctively taken a fighting stance and began breaking things in the office, if not for what happened next.

Twilight now openly scowled. "Chrysalis?"

"She's lying all the way down to her core. Of course those broken ponies down there wouldn't do anything to cross her. She has absolutely no empathy in her words, all I taste is greed. She'd make our children into slaves without a second consideration."

"I'm sad to say, that sounds about right at this point. Mrs. Rich, I can already tell that there is absolutely no way I'd ever let our changelings work for a place that would treat them unfairly."

Though clearly taken aback, the mare recovered quickly. Her smile had faltered, but she clearly thought she had some new angle to work. "Come now your highness. This is a respectable business and I'm a respectable business mare. You wouldn't trust, that, over me would you. I'm sure we can come to a deal that would be, beneficial to both parties."

Chrysalis had definitely not seen Twilight this angry since their meeting in the hive months before. Her body seemed to be pushed forward in her chair from the force of her glare. Chrysalis couldn't help but be impressed. "Are you offering me a bribe to subjugate an entire tribe that is under my direct care and responsibility?"

"That isn't necessarily what I was saying. I just think we can..."

"Moreover, are you asking me to betray her, somecreature who has been by my side helping me for weeks? An individual who's word and insight I've come to trust and rely on almost implicitly?" The force of Twilight's hooves against the hoofrests of the chair now clearly threatened to break them with the force Twilight was putting into her glare as she leaned forward in her barely contained rage.

Mrs. Rich just smiled a smile of superiority. She had clearly done this before and thought she knew what was about to happen. That smile was the breaking point for Twilight, she was done with the situation.

"Chrysalis!" Realizing her anger was not meant for her fellow queen, Twilight proceeded more calmly. "How is the mayor's investigation going?"

"They have managed to find almost all documents related to the business as well as what appears to be numerous shadow companies that seem to be acting as legal shields." Chrysalis let a sinister smile come to her lips as she turned back to the mare behind her tacky desk whose smile was falling.

"You... how did you find...???"

Chrysalis leaned forward in satisfaction. "Most of them were already gathered. My children have been helping to reorganize the files at town hall. They had already uncovered some suspicious activities that seemed designed to keep the town's legal system at a stand still. Along with that, they've been compiling a number of documents that seemed to be filed in such ways to keep them buried. They'd been filed in a new section labeled, 'to be investigated'." Chrysalis watched in satisfaction as her face fell.

"Spoiled Rich. This is your official notice that you and your husband's company are officially under investigation. He'll be contacted separately in order to get his initial impression of this news. As you are both involved in this inquiry, we do have the right to question you both separately. I'm personally curious how he's going to react to all this." Her smile returned as she turned, stood, and turned away from Spoiled. "Let's get you out of here." She held out a hoof to her fellow queen.

Chrysalis didn't hesitate. "Gladly. I need to get the taste of this place out of my mouth." She took the hoof, and neither looked back as they left the mare stunned in her office.

Making their way back through the store, Twilight seemed to manage to work some tension out of her emotions. "If you want something tasty, I was planning on meeting up with the girls at Sugarcube Corner."

Chrysalis could still feel the remaining tension in her. It didn't taint her emotions much, but Chrysalis still didn't like it. She had a feeling she knew what Twilight wanted to hear. She decided it was worth it, at the very least to purge the emotions from her palate. Maybe for more than that.

"I believe I can endure their presence for the sake of a blackberry cupcake or two."

As they made their way out of the store, the wave of emotions from Twilight did seem to wash her clean of their previous interactions. Although oddly enough, she didn't seem to be the only one. She noticed an odd sensation coming from behind her. Looking back she paused as Twilight did the same, watching her as she watched another pony exit the building behind them.

The mare from earlier seemed to be leaving work, obviously not noticing them as she seemed to be having a moment of relief as she was pulling off her vest. Almost as if it was practiced, she immediately turned her head to the side, and smiled. Chrysalis allowed herself to tilt her head in confusion, as she practically watched the emotions come back to her.

"Hey sweetie." A stallion holding two drinks in a magical aura approached her and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. "How's your day going?"

"I'm finally out of there, I've got my handsome coltfriend, a strawberry banana smoothie, and I do believe somepony here promised me a hoof rub later." They both smiled as she shimmied in next to him. "I'd say my day is turning around."

Chrysalis watched them as they departed, practically leaving a trail of love behind. "I don't understand the nature of you ponies, and how you can be so resilient."

"You won't believe it, I saw two royals in the store today. One was a little rude though..." they turned a corner, out of view.

Twilight was smiling a smug smile when Chrysalis turned back to her. "We're not all so bad, right?"

Chrysalis thrummed in annoyance, before deciding to lead the way towards Sugarcube Corner. "If I'm feeling lenient when I take over, maybe I'll let them evacuate the building before I burn it down."

"I'm sure they'll appreciate it. So, are you going to finally give in and try one of Pinkie's smoothies when we get there? I'm sure she can make one with black berries."

"Not a chance. I don't need to start falling into your pony ways of over indulgence. I'm a proud queen, and I don't need such frivolity." Chrysalis raised her chin in defiance.

Twilight giggled, a sound Chrysalis felt she was finally getting used to. She could at least admit it didn't annoy her as much as it once did. "Well I'm a proud queen too, and I'm definitely going to have one. Maybe even two. But if I'm too weak to finish one of them I'm sure there's a much stronger creature who could help me finish."

Chrysalis buzzed in annoyance, as she kept her face turned away from the mare walking at her side.

Author's Note

Full disclosure here: I'm probably a terrible ponies fan, as I actually have yet to finish the series. One particular episode made me stop, and I just never went past that point. I don't hate the show, don't think I ever will, and some of what I've heard about the later seasons even some interesting. I sometimes go back and rewatch some of my favorite episodes. But I say this to tell you about an interesting challenge with this chapter. I've actually never seen an episode of the show with Spoiled Rich in it. I literally only know her from the few fics I've read with her in them. Therefore the only thing I had direct context for was that Filthy Rich doesn't seem like a totally bad guy, so I didn't necessarily want to smear him. For the most part Spoiled seemed irredeemable though, so I went all in. But as I don't know her as a character, I instinctively started writing her as a condescending southern bell type character, which I don't think is right. Had to pull that way back in the edit, she was one step away from a "bless your heart" at one point.

I didn't get as much angry Chrysalis in here as I wanted to, but angry and vengeful Twilight was a fun tradeoff. Bonus points for anyone who can guess what kind of job I used to have. Maybe share some work horror stories. I love hearing from everyone, good or bad.