Wrath

"Hey there Pinkie. The Mrs. and I can finish up. You and your friend feel free to head out a little early."

"Sounds great Mr. Cake. Where'd they get off to anyway?" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"I think they're still around back. I told them you'd probably be coming to get them when they were done." Mr. Cake indicated with a smile. Pinkie smiled back before pronking through a door behind the counter.

Rage.

But not coming from any of the ponies around. A very different emotion could be felt swelling up from them. Pinkie Pie bounced out of the back room a few moments later. Behind her at a much steadier pace came an infiltrator changeling, designation I-221.

"Just so you know Mr. Cake, Izzi did an amazing job on prep for tomorrow." Pinkie Pie declared this proudly.

"Well, it sounds like I chose the right mare to train them, didn't I!"

The three all smiled.

Wrath.

"If it's not too much trouble Mr. Cake, could I get my wages for the day?" I-221 inquired.

This actually made Mr. Cake smile brighter. "Oh, of course. My pleasure. Oh Honeybun!" He called out with a loving lilt.

"Yes dear?" Mrs. Cake inquired as she followed the voice in from the kitchen.

"It seems a debt is owed that we need to pay." He waggled his eyebrows at his wife.

Mrs. Cake blushed, but seemed to saunter over with enthusiasm. What followed was a tender show of affection from a couple who clearly loved each other. The warmth of their hearts, the devotion plain for all to see. It was the purest form, of nutrition for a changeling.

Breaking the just barely work appropriate kiss with her husband, she looked over and smiled with appreciation to their latest employee. "Having you here sure has been a treat, we haven't been this lovey dovey since before we opened the shop."

I-221 seemed satisfied with his payment as well, thanking them for their generosity. He was then curious when Pinkie chimed in. "Oh oh oh, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, since they've been helping me so much, can I give Izzi an extra bonus."

Mr. Cake looked slightly confused by this, while Mrs. Cake smiled slyly. "If you want to Pinkie. We could still cover it if you think he should get more bits though. No need to give up some of yours."

"Nah, I was thinking more like..." Pinkie then gently sauntered closer to I-221's side, and even more gently kissed them on the cheek.

The changeling was clearly taken aback by this, but just as clearly was far from upset by it.

The rest of the exchange seemed gleeful. However, from her corner booth, Chrysalis stopped paying attention. The establishment would be closing down soon, so it was time for her to get going. She had another engagement to get to as well.

She downed the last of her still scalding hot black coffee, then looked down with contempt. Every day she'd come here, Pinkie Pie had brought her a cupcake to go with her coffee despite knowing she'd only ordered the coffee to give herself a reason to hang around. Each day she left the offered treat sitting, wasted on the table. Yet each day they were offered, different every time and clearly designed to appeal specifically to her. Today she had managed to make the cake itself almost as black as Chrysalis's chitin. It smelled of blackberries and cream and had a decoration of a little crown in the green frosting.

Chrysalis let out a sigh.

It looked delicious.

*****

"... Sooooo, did you try it this time?" Twilight inquired.

"... Yes," Chrysalis replied, staring up at the ceiling absentmindedly.

"Did you... enjoy it?"

"It was one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted. And I spent weeks pretending to be a princess." Twilight smiled hopefully. "No, I still did not thank her. I left the shop like I always do and came back here." That smile faltered some.

"That's fine. I'm just happy that you're allowing yourself to be open to new experiences." She kept smiling, yet Chrysalis could feel the slight disappointment this caused in her. It left a bad taste in her mouth. "So, how did watching that exchange make you feel?"

Chrysalis groaned at the question. Nearly a month had passed since coming to this quiet little town. And loath as she was to admit it, Chrysalis had fallen into more than a few routines. One of them she was engaged in at the moment. Talking with Twilight after going out into Ponyville, so that they could have an open dialog about the things Chrysalis saw and they both could learn from one another.

"I already told you. Wrath and rage." Chrysalis groaned out the response. "It didn't make any sense to me. I know there must be a catch. Just what does that pink one think she'll be getting out of this?"

Twilight seemed to consider how to answer. "Friendship. Maybe a little more based on what you were just telling me. Pinkie Pie is fairly prone to getting crushes."

"Obviously," Chrysalis responded. That response seemed to intrigue Twilight however, and Chrysalis knew she'd be wanting an explanation. "Amorous feelings are just as distinct as any other to a changeling, and that mare exudes them everywhere she goes. I'd make assumptions about her, except that she exudes a wide range of emotions everywhere she goes."

Twilight smiled at the explanation. "Pinkie is a very open pony. I just hope this doesn't cause any problems. I'd imagine an infiltrator has enough worldly experience to have some emotional maturity. I-221 will be ok if it is just a little crush Pinkie is having, right?"

Chrysalis considered, looking out of the window of the room Twilight had been letting her use since coming here. Chrysalis knew it was the only bedroom in the tree house, but had yet to confront Twilight about such things. There were a lot of things about the Alicorn's behavior that she'd been feigning ignorance on, but she decided she might have a chance to figure out at least one of them now.

"I'd imagine it will be fine, even if the situation has already caused some changes in him." Twilight was caught off guard on that, as Chrysalis had hoped. This would hopefully grab her attention enough to keep her mind where Chrysalis needed it. "Oh yes, that's one of them. He's begun to consider himself a male, and is even going by the name Pinkie gave him."

Twilight immediately turned the page in the notebook she'd been absentmindedly writing down notes from their conversation in. "Wait. So changelings don't have a biological sex, but they do have gender? That's intriguing."

"Not really," Chrysalis intoned. "You ponies seem to make the simplest things so complicated. If you could be the version of yourself you'd consider ideal, would you not want to do so?"

This explanation seemed to intrigue Twilight all the more. Though her mind was clearly considering a great many things, her emotions remained the clear nectar Chrysalis had decided to stop pretending to herself that she didn't enjoy sampling from heavily.

"This is so interesting," Twilight chirped as the quill in her magic flew across the paper. "I know I've been asking you a lot about how changeling society works already, but this is a whole new avenue to go down. First off, will there be any immediate changes to I-2... to Izzi if he has indeed decided to be male?"

"Nothing dramatic," Chrysalis responded, careful to keep the tones of her voice even. She had Twilight distracted, she just needed to lead her where she wanted her to get the information she needed. "He had already been better at taking on male forms when in disguise, so most of his training was focused on typical male pony behavior. Although he hasn't had to employ most of that while not in disguise."

Twilight kept writing, mumbling things about nature vs nurture and self determination as she did. Chrysalis had the perfect opportunity. "There was something else about, Izzi. Something different, so it must be related to ponies. Something about, Pinkie Pie."

Twilight looked up from her notes, instinctively switching to a new page. "Something related to Pinkie and Izzi. What is it?"

Twilight was so caught up in her research she would never make the connection. "It's not the most distinct, but Izzi has been noticing what must be a new emotion. It seems an absurd notion, and yet he has reported an emotional signature he doesn't recognize. Specifically, coming from Pinkie."

Twilight seemed to give the idea great consideration. "An emotion he's never felt before. He's an infiltrator, so it seems highly unlikely he just wouldn't have ever encountered an emotion. And as unconventional as Pinkie is, I doubt she's randomly managed to come up with a new emotion. We need more data. Under what circumstances does he feel this emotion?"

Chrysalis considered her phrasing carefully. "It only seems to occur, between changeling and pony. Specifically when the ponies' emotions are directed at the changeling."

Twilight scrunched her face in thought. "Would the way it's being received change that? Like the fact that it's being directed specifically at them. "

"No," Chrysalis confirmed. "Changelings have emotions directed at them all the time. When in disguise, they often pose as ponies loved ones and feed off their love. We know what that tastes like."

"So this tastes like love than?" Chrysalis fought back a wince. She'd meant to keep that more ambiguous.

"It's, similar. But like I said, it's unique. We eat love all the time in all its forms, so it can't be that."

Twilight seemed to be struggling with a thought. "But like, it has to be a form of love. Just... presenting differently."

"Not possible," Chrysalis said bluntly. "Do you think you ponies are so unique that you can change the very nature of love?" She asked sarcastically.

"No, it's not like that," Twilight still seemed to struggle, raising a hoof to her forehead in thought. "How do I say this in a way you'll understand?" She got off the chair she'd been sitting on, stepping away from the table that had separated them.

"Are you implying I'm so inept that I somehow don't know something about our very food source that has sustained us for our entire existence?" Chrysalis put as much venom into the tones of her voice as she could.

"No, of course not. This is another one of those 'cultural' things. It's not about one side or the other being smarter, it's about the things that are unique between them and how we can become familiar. It's almost like, a language barrier," Twilight explained.

"Changelings do have our own language." Chrysalis didn't understand where Twilight was trying to take this idea.

"Exactly, but that's also just the tip of it. What if a pony and a changeling who didn't know ponish tried to communicate?" Twilight inquired.

"The exchange wouldn't go far. So why bother?" Chrysalis challenged.

Twilight smiled back at this for some reason. "Because even if it's difficult, finding a way to bridge that gap might be better for both parties. It's actually been very satisfying to try to figure out how to explain things to you in ways that you'll understand."

"Fine," Chrysalis decided, "explain your pony concept.

Twilight thought on it another moment. A jolt of joy in her emotions signaled to Chrysalis she'd figured something out. "Right. Emotions are not just abstract concepts or chemical reactions in the brain to you. They're actual food." She considered another moment. "I can cook risotto," she proudly declared.

"... Are you, offering?" Chrysalis asked, confused.

There was a momentary swirl in Twilight's emotions, one she quickly shook off. "No. I mean, I could at some point if you wanted to try. But my dad makes the best risotto, and I begged him to teach me. I can't really cook anything else well, but I learned to make it because I loved his. But I've never made it as good as him."

"So would I not be better off getting it from him? If you say you can't make it as well as him, what's the point of claiming you can cook it so dramatically?" Chrysalis tilted her head in confusion. Realizing it was a pony trait she'd picked up, she corrected quickly.

Twilight seemed bashful at the assessment. "The thing is, he says mine is better. And other ponies say he taught me to make it perfectly."

"So some creature in this equation is lying. Unless there's something I'm missing."

"That's what I'm getting at," Twilight continued. "There's a concept for ponies, that the way we receive things can greatly affect our perception of them. So basically, at least part of the reason I love his risotto so much, is because he made it for me. Do you get it."

Chrysalis felt her chitin tingle as she considered the assertion. "You are suggesting that the emotions a changeling takes when they are between others, might be different than emotions given to a changeling. And that it would be different than even when a changeling was the target, but the emotion was meant for another pony. "

Twilight smiled at the understanding they seemed to be coming to. "That's what I'm assuming."

"And that assumption presumes, that a pony could feel, good emotions, towards a changeling." Twilight nodded with a gleeful smile. "Ridiculous." Her smile fell as Chrysalis's voice distorted in its facets with the force of her assertion.

"Why would that seem so ridiculous?" Twilight asked, turning to Chrysalis to earnestly preserve the mood.

Chrysalis pushed away from the table as well, now pacing the room opposite of Twilight. "It's the same as changelings living with ponies. We've been over this. Predator and prey. It CAN'T work."

Twilight kept her emotions level as she responded to Chrysalis's sudden outburst. "But we're already proving that to not be true. Izzi and Pinkie right? Ponies and changelings can get along, and maybe even in different ways."

Chrysalis now turned to Twilight.

"This isn't like that," Chrysalis declared, forgetting her caution. "I'm talking about deep emotions. Caring, affection, even attraction. It's not possible."

Chrysalis froze up as a twinge of emotions were quickly attempted to be suppressed within Twilight, who looked away guiltily.

"I mean, why would that seem so ridiculous. It might not be..."

"What was that!" Chrysalis demanded as she cut in.

"What was what?" Twilight tried to defend weakly. She was caught off guard when Chrysalis stomped over to her. So much so she unconsciously backed into the wall of the room.

"Considering the precautions you've taken against me, you know I'm no fool Twilight Sparkle." Though she couldn't hurt Twilight, the Alicorn seemed to be caught off guard enough to be simply trying to escape. When she had no more space, she instinctively reared up on her hind legs against the wall. Chrysalis followed, slamming a hoof against the wall next to Twilight's head for balance. "So know that I acknowledge that you are no fool as well. Now tell me. What!? Was!? That!?"

Twilight's emotions were delectable as she was obviously putting together the real meaning of their conversation. "Using Pinkie was a good distraction." Twilight now looked away as Chrysalis's intensified glare seemed to spark familiar, yet unique emotions from Twilight. "I... might find you a little bit attractive."

Chrysalis's voices growled together as she spoke. "You realize I can still taste when you're lying."

Twilight turned back, more earnest with her next words. "It's not a lie, I just didn't..." She was cut off when another hoof was slammed on the wall on the other side of her head. She closed her eyes as the emotions now seemed to pour from her. Her eyes closed as words seemed to force themselves from her. "You're the hottest creature I've ever seen and until I met you I thought I was Asexual."

This finally caused Chrysalis to draw away, shocked. She hadn't tasted a lie this time. "What are you talking about? How is that possible?"

"I'm sorry. It... it's just a little crush. I promise it won't cause any problems. I'll still do everything I can for our changelings." Twilight's words were earnest, among other things. It caused Chrysalis to finally step back from the wall. She watched from the center of the room as Twilight settled back to her hooves.

"How did this happen?" Chrysalis demanded. She tried to put as much anger in the tones of her voice as she could, but the melancholy coming off of Twilight now seemed to be keeping her own emotions from flaring violently.

"You... you've challenged me like no other creature has. Everything you've done against me has pushed me harder than just about anything else. Not to mention, working with you to help our changelings, it's the first time I've actually felt like I deserve a royal title. I've actually wanted to thank you for that for some time now, I just didn't know how to bring it up."

Twilight seemed almost deflated where she now sat on the floor, still next to the wall. If Chrysalis could, she'd imagine this would be an ideal situation to attack Twilight as the Alicorn seemed completely vulnerable at the moment. And yet, the idea of attacking her didn't seem appealing to Chrysalis for some reason.

"You are... the most formidable, and genuine pony I have ever met." Twilight looked up, almost hopeful at those words. "But I think you know that there is no way I could ever return those feelings."

That caused some sadness that Twilight seemed to try to mask. The words she spoke indicated nothing but acceptance of the situation. "Yeah, I figured. Like I said, it's just a little crush. Probably just from working together so much. I'll still do everything I can for our changelings. I won't get distracted."

Chrysalis looked away, considering the situation as she processed the emotions coming off of Twilight. "You're going to the town hall tomorrow, right?"

Twilight seemed caught off guard by the question. "Uh, yeah. Celestia may have granted all changelings asylum, but in order to become citizens they'll need an official residence. I'm going to need to clear that with the mayor as well as see how to begin the entire process. Why?"

"I'm going with you." More hope swirled into Twilight's emotions. Chrysalis decided she didn't need to discourage this. Even if such emotions were mostly junk food to her, they had her feeling strangely sated at the moment. "As a proper changeling queen, I can't let you do more for my changelings than me, now can I?"

Twilight smiled at this offer. "Thank you Chrysalis. I'll be happy for the help."

Chrysalis scoffed at the sentiment, even as she ate it up while forcing herself not to lick her lips. "The faster we can get more changelings here to begin digging a new hive, the faster you can have your pathetic pony room back. I'll be moving back into a proper royal chamber just as quickly as I can." Chrysalis said this while leaning against the bed that was formerly Twilight's.

Twilight herself blushed at this, having obviously been long since found out in that regard. "It's fine. I wanted you to be as comfortable as possible, and I don't mind sharing. I appreciate the consideration though."

Chrysalis feigned indifference to the barrage of emotions directed to her at the moment. "Who said I was being considerate? I simply wish to have the trappings of a proper Queen once more. Not this sad pony existence you've been forced to endure. Perhaps one day you'll realize the superiority of changeling life as well."

Twilight giggled at this. "Chrysalis, do you happen to know what a tsundere is?"

"No," Chrysalis replied, puzzled. "What relevance does it have?"

Twilight giggled more as she finally stood. "Don't worry about it, I'll tell you eventually. For now, I think I need to go get the love seat ready. I wanted to get to town hall early just in case the process is a long one. Good night, Chrysalis."

Chrysalis wanted answers, but also didn't want to give Twilight the satisfaction of showing interest. She turned away with a huff. "Good night, Twilight."

Chrysalis felt the positive glow of Twilight's emotions until long after she'd left the room. As strange as it seemed to her, Chrysalis almost wanted them back after they had faded. Even without the emotion there, she was sure now. Her wrath and rage were now completely gone.

Author's Note

Almost everything I wrote last week had to be thrown out. I ended up on so many bad tangents initially that my story was almost nothing but rambling. Like seriously, almost all the chapter I'd written before was dialog. This is still dialog heavy, but I think it at least feels like it has context now. Also, I could have had this out hours ago, but somehow everything I'd written in the last two days suddenly disappeared. No idea how, and every method of recovery I know didn't work. I was going to get this out as a christmas gift for all my friends, but it looks like it might be a little late. I'm gonna try, but it's gonna need a few more edits. Sorry for the delays, but I hope you like the results. Let me know, good or bad.