The Queen of Canterlot

Cadence was particularly emotionally needy for the next several weeks, but she never told Shining why. Chrysalis and her changeling army avoided the abandoned grocery store for as much time, fearful of Cadence’s wrath. But eventually they returned, and these paths crossed again.

“How old are you?” Cadence asked, and she still did not bow her head to Chrysalis. “You sound like you’re thirty. But I hope you’re not the kind of loser who hangs out with teenagers to feel cool.”

The correct words bubbled into Chrysalis’s head -- spoken in Shining’s voice: I’m seventeen. Listen, I’m sorry about last time. Things got really out of hand. I don’t know what came over me. I never meant to be that cruel. Can we please forget that happened?

But she never said one of them. Instead, she removed her dog tags and levitated them across the gap to Cadence.

She examined the tags, the name, the date of birth, and in her head calculated Chrysalis’s true age. “You’re younger than me. Why does your voice sound like that?”

“Because you like older mares.” Chrysalis said, and she was rewarded with a flinch. The drones around them giggled and buzzed, crawling over the alley walls to regard Cadence from all angles.

“Can you read my mind?” she asked, eyes locked on Chrysalis’s, seeking some sign of deception. “How did you know what you knew last time?”

“Oh, please,” Chrysalis rolled her eyes, accentuating the words with only the most theatrical derision. “You’re the princess of love. Was I supposed to believe that gay ponies are denied your blessing? That you would be aggressively straight? Of course you’re bisexual, Princess, but you’ve only ever appeared in public with stallions. I somehow managed to put it together. Or perhaps you think I read your mind because I deduced a pony about to turn eighteen might have thoughts relating to college -- oh! Or that I noticed no alicorn in the history of the nation has ever borne children.”

“You knew things,” she snapped, tone accusatory.

Again, she heard Shining speak: I understand. I knew things that were deeply private, and you’re probably feeling violated right now. But I promise, I don’t mean any harm. But no creature other than her could hear him.

“And what, you’re going to accuse a changeling queen of having sources?” Chrysalis replied, tone laced with derision. “Princess, why are you here?”

A long silence hung between them. The drones in time grew still, and the beating of their wings ceased.

“I don’t know,” Cadence said. “You said you were all from nice, fancy homes, and you were all miserable there, right? Well. I’m from the fanciest house of them all. And it’s not great. I want to, I don’t know. See what there is to see.”

A drone lifted a leg, waiting to be called upon like a student sitting in class: “A pony was a real horse’s ass to my dad today, so I was going to throw a brick through his window. Make her throw one.”

The alley filled with buzzes and clicks of ascent, and all eyes turned to Cadence. She hesitated, looked at the ground, and scuffed a hoof against the cobbles. “I’m sorry. I can’t. If I got caught—”

“Celestia would what?” Chrysalis snapped, her voice abruptly shifting to hot anger -- a cracking whip that sent Cadence back half a step. “Whip you? Behead you? Strap you to four horses and have you drawn and quartered? Set you on fire? Banish you to the moon? Send you to your room without supper? You are the Princess of Love. There isn’t a changeling in this alley who wouldn’t give their teeth for a single kiss from you, and I forbid you to be this disgustingly weak! Humble though it may be, this is my royal court, and when you are in my presence you will conduct yourself with dignity instead of cowering in fear!”

Cadence was left frozen to the spot, wide eyed, shocked, ears and tail high -- a rich blush covering her cheeks. Chrysalis’s breath came in deep gasps, her slitted eyes fixed on the pony before her, her own passion having overtaken her. Her accent had slipped partway through her tirade, and it wasn’t until it was over she noticed.

And she heard Shining say, What the hell was that? What are you doing?

Then Cadence said: “Okay, I’m in. I’ll throw a brick.”

“What?”

“You heard me,” Cadence needed a moment to draw herself up, to straighten her shoulders. “Fine. I’m in. Let’s go throw a brick.”

And Chrysalis could hardly back down.

“Any objections?” Chrysalis asked, sweeping her gaze across her court. Wings buzzed in ascent. “Very well. Then tonight, we will break a window. Come along, Princess.”