Author's Note

Sorry this one took a while to come out. I didn't want to post it before my friend could edit it and they had some things going on that kept them from doing something as small as this. Trust me the editing was necessary, I make so many obvious mistakes without their help. And because I know my naming process is stupid, FingerPrint Shield is obviously named after the shield from Elden Ring, and Alprecha is named after Alprecha from Adventure Quest Worlds Darkon Saga. If you notice a mistake that my friend didn't please tell me, and comment, I really enjoy reading them.

5

Twilight waited patiently at the table wondering if she should have asked Sunset for some food from the other dimension. She had never seen Chrysalis eat physical food, and the topic was only spoken about through Twilights own speculation. She never thought to ask about it all those years ago when the changelings first transformation was fresh. She had an idea that Chrysalis didn't like pony food though, and was thinking some hot dogs might have been better.

Sunset wouldn't mind if she called just for a sudden food run would she? Sunset could be here within the half hour if she asked, and it was good to see one of her friends after all. On the other hand, she might have to explain why she needed the food so quickly and she didn't want to have to explain that to Sunset right now. She was too busy for that talk.

Twilight looked over the long table that her workers had prepared much earlier in the day. She could even see some lingering ponies that wanted to see who she had invited to lunch. Their curiosity likely wouldn't end once they saw the Queen. She was a strange presence in Equestria after so long, and one that hopefully wasn't making too much of a fuss.

That was why was why she couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she was immediately proven wrong. The shouts she could hear from down the hall told her that much. It was nice that Chrysalis decided to show up. She half expected the Queen to run away and return in a few days or weeks after seeing the state Equestria was now in.

“Why have the guards not stopped you yet?! Leave!” Chrysalis' shouts came through clearer as they got closer to the entry doors. The familiar voice of Alprecha came back, pleading over something Chrysalis no doubt threatened.

“Twilight!” Chrysalis screamed as she slammed open the doors. “Is this your doing?” Chrysalis pointed at the bug flying beside her before it disappeared with an “EEP!”

Chrysalis said, “It has refused to leave me alone and stalked me while I explored the town. Surely there is something in your pony laws that punishes the accosting of royals?”

Twilight chose not to respond, instead lifting up a cup of tea and drinking with an audible slurp. She then set the tea glass down, the room silent as Chrysalis awaited a response. “Would you like some pudding?”

Chrysalis glared at Twilight as she slowly moved to sit down. “At least make sure that this creature doesn't disturb me again. She even snuck into my bedchamber last night.” Twilight's eyes widened in shock.

“Is that true Alprecha?” Twilight asked into the open air to her right side. Chrysalis watched as Twilight continued to stare at the spot, a surge of jealousy came over her. Not only could she not feel them, but Twilight could. The extent of how far her abilities with the Cuckoo's went frustrated her. Twilight couldn't connect to the hivemind that was for certain, but she could see past whatever wall they put up to hide?

“I'll need time to think about what to do with her,” Twilight said. “In the meantime she will be confined to her room.” As Twilight said that, her horn lit up for a brief moment before a pop was heard. Chrysalis assumed it was intended to send Alprecha away. “I'm sorry about her, she's always had a nasty streak of invading peoples personal space. I've tried to work it out of her but she's just never caught on.”

“I take it she's a regular around the castle?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yes she is,” Twilight said. “She's a student here at the castle. She's very proficient in magic and the like and I am often asked by the professors to demonstrate magic for the more exceptionally fast learning students. I would love to sit in on the lectures myself but I already know almost everything they teach. That, and I am too busy to usually attend.”

“I expected you would be dull,” Chrysalis said. “It turns out I was right about you. I wish I wasn't. Do you always ramble on about every little thing?”

Twilight was about to say something but cleared her throat. She took a moment to think before she opened her mouth again. “You already know I have been lonely. You are possibly the first other creature I have spoken fully openly to in many years. I'm going to look into accommodations for you soon, do you have any requests as of right now?” Twilight asked, changing the topic.

“Aside from your death or imprisonment or subjugation? Weapons, perhaps?” Chrysalis asked sarcastically. “But if I am going to be staying here, a bare room would do fine. One with no paint or decoration, just a stone room. I can perform the modifications myself.”

“That can be arranged, not by tonight, but it can be done,” Twilight said with a smile. “Anything else?”

Chrysalis thought, a memory from before coming back to her. “The guard,” Chrysalis said. “He does his job like a proper drone, I would like him.”

Twilight chuckled. “Fingerprint Shield? He takes his work way too seriously, which is why he is my personal guard. I'm not sure I can hand him over unless you can give me something as good or better.”

“Well, tch, that's unfair! You know I have nothing!” Chrysalis shouted.

“For now,” Twilight said. “Remember I'm letting you do your own thing for a while, I'm sure that the Queen of Changelings can figure something out.”

-

Chrysalis was working herself to exhaustion. Not only did she not get enough to eat while in town that day, she had been practicing connecting to the Cuckoo's since lunch. The Cuckoos skill of invisibility was impressive to say the most. She thought of it as a failure of the species' ability to imitate for the most part, but as a skill in the back pocket it could be useful. There were spells she knew that could make her invisible. She had studied them back when they were first being made. With the right amount of love she was capable of any spell. This invisibility that the Cuckoos did wasn't entirely magical – it felt more like the same pheromones she used to communicate with the hivemind.

She had been attempting to manipulate her own pheromones which was much more difficult when she had no other changelings to assist her in her tests. What she had been doing was more comparable to stretching. Her abilities were sore and atrophied from centuries of non-use.

Not to mention she was also in a bit of a panic. That Cuckoo from earlier had made her uneasy. In the lawn this morning she had only been guessing. She didn't have any reason to do that. She was lucky. That mental wall Cuckoos could put up was strong, which meant she would have to find a willing one to test with. She would have to train her efforts in learning the new way the hive worked, if it was even a hive anymore.

Feeling a bit of fatigue Chrysalis decided she would take a break. She made her way to the door and opened it a crack. There were a few ponies walking the hall. If there were any Cuckoos, she couldn't tell.

They wouldn't mind if a window or two was broken right? It didn't matter to her any as she prepared her horn to blast one to shards. She needed a quick way to get outside and having an exit right outside her door was perfect.

Chrysalis paused as she heard the loud thundering rattling of a cart being pushed down the hall. A cream colored unicorn was pushing it and wore a white smock. The pony noticed Chrysalis and looked embarrassed.

“Sorry about the noise,” The cream colored mare said, pausing. “They always say they're gonna replace this old thing and they never do. I don't think I've seen you around here before.”

“I've been here before plenty of times,” Chrysalis said as she approached the cart. A dinner tray with a lid was the sole rider. “What do you have here?”

“Oh, not much, just some of the Princess' medicine,” The cream pony said. “Normally she asks for coffee but she asked for tea tonight, and when she asks for tea she also wants a bit of tranquilizers to go with it. Puts her right to sleep.”

“Oh this is so easy!” Chrysalis said with glee, resisting the urge to trot in place. “Does every creature in this age just run their mouth without thinking?” The cream colored pony looked shocked and offended at the suggestion. “No, don't tell me, I shouldn't make any expectations just yet,” She said, looking up and down the hall.

“Well I suppose that was the princess' private matter.” the pony said.

“I'll take over from here,” Chrysalis said. A faint foggy glow came from her horn and into the pony's eyes, causing the mare to collapse softly against the marble floor. Chrysalis tossed the pony onto the bed in her room with no regard to the ponies safety and in a burst of green fire changed her form to that of the pony's. “I'll be sure she gets her medicine.”

-

Twilight yawned as she went over the documents of the day. On any normal day doing paperwork would have been heaps of fun for her. The idea of signing papers, reading the fine print, figuring out the loopholes and correcting them, it should have been fun. Twilight had been too stressed to enjoy the activity. She wasn't willing to admit just yet that paperwork had become more tedious than fun a few centuries ago. That had been something that Celestia had even warned her about. Her response to Twilight's indignation at the idea was just “We'll see about that”. It would be too much of a blow to her pride to admit she was wrong about “egghead stuff”.

Twilight had sent for her tea a while ago. While she wasn't one to get upset about such things, there was still a time limit to her patience. Twilight thought whoever was in charge of bringing her her drink might have gotten caught up in a conversation with someone else, which kept her from getting too upset. After all, she was the Princess of Friendship first, thirsty monarch last – a thirsty, exhausted, tired monarch.

Just as Twilight was getting ready to go see what the hold up was, the door to her room opened. “Tea, Princess!” The voice of Whitecollar rang out. “I'm sorry I'm late, got a bit held up.”

“It's no problem,” Twilight said, resuming her work on the papers in front of her. “Although if it happens again I might have to demote you to coffee duty.” She laughed at the sound of fear the pony made. “I'm only kidding.”

“Right, of course Princess,” Whitecollar said, placing the tea and bottle of medicine on Twilight's desk. “Um, how many, pills was it again?” She asked. “I'm a bit out of it today.”

“That's alright Whitecollar, Last night was Hearths Warming. I expect plenty of the staff is in a similar state. I'll take care of it myself, you're dismissed.”

“If you say so, Princess.” Whitecollar said before leaving the room.

Whitecollar continued her way back down the halls until she reached the guest room. Once inside she detransformed with a burst of green fire, an evil laugh escaping her the whole time.

It was perfect, and it happened so fast. There were no more worries about how long it would take to amass an army. Once Twilight was unable to become conscious again in the morning she would declare herself as the temporary ruler, only able to rule until Twilight woke up. Only she would never let the purple alicorn wake up, ever! The bottle had suggested only two tablets for instant sleep. She had used most of the bottle, everything was going so smoothly!

-

Twilight yawned again, this time losing the war and letting it spot her vision, a clear sign she needed to go to bed. She lifted her tea over as well as the bottle. She read the label to make sure it was the right one, and emptied the last two tablets into her tea.