The Queen of Canterlot

Cadence’s telekinesis was tremendously strong. She could hit a window with a brick from two hundred paces away, and the projectile crashed through plate glass with such force that it impacted the opposite wall, tearing into the plaster and sending a thunderclap through the building.

Her eyes went wide. Her hooves rushed to cover her face. She looked on what she’d done in a state of absolute shock, as though she couldn’t believe she’d done it. The drones had to hustle her away from the scene of the crime, as though her legs had suddenly lost their strength. Several of them transformed into items of clothing and rested upon her back and neck, hiding her otherwise distinctive appearance and profile.

The drones did not run about Canterlot in their insectile forms. Nor did they commit their misdeeds in the shapes associated with their proper families. Each had a pony shape for this sort of thing, and Chrysalis’s was very much a changeling queen rendered in the shape of a unicorn -- gray coat, green hair and eyes, a cutie mark of emeralds and bugs, and a smile that showed faint fangs. It was this form that Cadence hung off, as she spoke in an unceasing, racing patter: “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I did that. That was amazing. Oh, are we going to get caught? I can’t get caught. I can’t. The royal family would never live it down. Oh my gosh.”

She showed up again two days later, and again the week after that, sometimes for adventure, sometimes to hang out. She smoked pot for the first time, and was deeply disappointed to discover that her alicorn physiology and earth pony magic fully negated any potential chemical toxins. Someling suggested getting her drunk, and Chrysalis and the entire court watched agape as Cadence lifted her muzzle to the sky and chugged an entire bottle of cheap knockoff whiskey, then asked if there was more.

Chrysalis told her, she shouldn’t be blackout drunk in the presence of creatures she did not know. It was dangerous. And Cadence said: “But I know you.”

Chrysalis walked Cadence back to the palace that night at two AM, making sure the palace guards took her and knew she was okay. The next day was Saturday, and Shining and Cadence had plans. She missed them, lying in bed with a hangover, and Shining knew she would miss them.

But he showed up anyway, and waited a suitable time before traveling to the palace to inquire after her. And when she told the guards to send him up, and he saw her in a bed that smelled like sweat, cloth over her face, he asked her: “Are you alright? What happened?”

And she said: “Food poisoning. I’ll be fine.”