Loose Pages

Chrysalis proudly sauntered her impeccable shapely form down the flagstones of the open street and away from the castle with no cares in the world. Well, maybe a few cares, but she and her own would be fine. She'd done very well to pass on what she knew to those two bumbling royal fools and she was quite certain they'd do fine in figuring out the strange and dark grimoire they now had in their possession. She'd come back later when they needed her. Ponies fled from her glorious visage as she moved across to one of their little pony stalls that sold colourful trinkets and inspected them with a slight interest. The owner, quite strangely, was nowhere to be seen. How could that have happened, she wondered with a coy grin as she moved onto the next stand.

The sound of quickly approaching hoofsteps and the clearing of a throat behind Chrysalis drew her attention, and she idly glanced back with a curious look to see one of the many pathetic and useless guardsponies looking at her with expectation across his face. They'd hardly been intimidating to her or her hive when she'd tried to invade before and they were hardly intimidating now that she was here alone.

"What?" Chrysalis frowned at the snowy stallion.

Suitably cowed by her sheer presence, the stallion swallowed. "Uh, y-your uh..."

"Try 'Your Excellency'," she quickly grinned as she bared her fangs, making the stallion somehow even paler. "I want to see how that sounds coming from your mouth."

"Your... Excellency?"

The poor thing looked just as confused as one of her drones did when they had no direction, which was quite silly because she'd just given the fool a direction. Rolling her eyes at his pitiful nature she had to smile just a little after, as hearing a pony call her by such a moniker was actually rather nice to hear.

"That is acceptable," she nodded. "What do you want? I am busy."

Well, no, she wasn't. She'd already spent far too long wandering out of the castle grounds and was looking for something to do. That, and her time was extremely valuable. She didn't want to spend it talking with the dimwitted help whose only purpose was to stand around and look tough.

"Oh, uh, y-you see Your, uh, Excellency; the Princess told me that she would appreciate it if you... if you, uh, wore a disguise whilst you're walking about the city, please?"

Chrysalis' beautiful face once again became marred by her frown. "No, I will not. Put out a statement that I'm a guest in your pompous city for the time being or something to that effect."

Leaving him stumbling over himself, she turned back and continued on her lazy trek down the road. Her mighty horn flared into caustic green light as her magic swiftly ensnared a baked good of some description from an abandoned cart as she went. It hovered next to her as she inspected it briefly, deciding that it was acceptable and taking a large bite. Some flavour of berry graced her tongue and she was quite pleased about it as it was heavily infused with love. Pony food was generally always quite good because of that. She smiled as she consumed the rest of it and felt a burst of energy immediately well within her chest.

The street being abandoned was nice seeing as ponies always milled together when she was disguised. It was quite troublesome as she was rather big ─in all of the best ways, of course─ and they constantly got in her way, gawking at what such a tall pony she was whilst being a unicorn. This was much better, and there was ample room to breathe as she meandered. She approached a larger food stall with a fully two-tone pink striped covering and awning, almost like an open tent, and poked her head under it to inspect the love-laden treats laid out across the table in front. These ones were far more saturated with love and would do very nicely.

"Heya, Chryssi!"

Chrysalis instantly jumped back in alarm as a vibrant and surprisingly curvaceous pink pony popped up from behind the counter with an equally vibrant smile. She had seen this one before at the wedding and remembered her horrendously saccharine visage! A slight growl arose in her throat.

"You!" Chrysalis snarled, "You were one of the misbegotten whelps that fought against my invasion!"

"Yep! I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie said with a great enthusiasm that grated on the ears, before glancing around with slight confusion. "Hey, wait a second, this is really out of place in the grand scheme of things..." she trailed off, then shrugged before smiling at Chrysalis again. "Eh, it's probably fine, we can be friends in no time! Unless we're already friends and I've just forgotten somehow?"

"We are most certainly not friends."

Pinkie nodded sagely. "Ahh, it's one of these, okay!"

"What do you mean by 'one of the─"

Chrysalis found herself immediately quietened by the delectable banana-filled pastry that Pinkie then shoved into her mouth, a bizarre honk accompanying the action. Not too hatefully, she began to chew, but she glared all the same. It was definitely better than what she'd taken from the cart and was so love-filled that she felt she might fall into a sluggish and lazy stupor. Maybe having more than one treat would be a bad idea if she didn't want to jam any doorways with her rump, but still...

"So! What brings you to Canterlot, Chryssi?" Pinkie beamed as she leant out over the counter and grabbed one of her treats for herself. "Come to make amends for the invasion?"

She scoffed after finishing her delightful morsel. "Don't mock me, I have no shame for what I did. I'm sure at some point I will try and take over your pony city again anyway."

Pinkie pouted halfway through attempting a bite. "Awh, that's no good, didn't you say that 'changelings are some of the most peace-loving creatures in the world' and 'perhaps at the end of this affair we’ll all be such good friends' to Princess Celestia?"

Chrysalis blinked, slightly nonplussed, as Pinkie almost perfectly imitated her tone of voice and quoted her verbatim. She would truly never understand the depths of madness and the magical ways in which these ponies worked, and frankly she was afraid to. She hadn't even dared to ask the tome about such things. Not that she'd ever admit it to them, their disturbing ability to do impromptu magical dance numbers and alter currently ongoing events was bad enough. Decidedly not paying attention to what the pink one had just done, she nodded and picked up another treat in her magic for want of something to do.

"I did say those things, yes, but I wasn't entirely serious. It was simply a jab at Celestia and how she always tries to get my kind on her side."

"Then shouldn't you take her up on her offer? If you and the Princesses work together to solve this little book issue and your changelings keep helping by looking for anypony getting hurt by it then that's an excellent hoof forward."

"Your knowledge of things you shouldn't be privy to astounds me," Chrysalis allowed herself to say after finishing the delectable pastry. "If you know so much then maybe you should solve this 'little book issue', hm?"

Pinkie gently shook her head. "Oh, I can't do that, it's not my job. It's actually both yours and Fluttershy's job─" she cut herself off as she reached under the counter and brought out─

"You!" Chrysalis growled as Pinkie pulled up a rather bewildered Twilight Sparkle that immediately locked eyes with her and baulked in shock just as fast.

"Chrysalis!"

"Twilight Sparkle! You vexing–"

"Whoops! Sorry, Twi, you're not who I'm after," Pinkie quickly apologised as a thankfully wingless and perfectly canonical unicorn Twilight was very hastily shoved back under the counter with sharp yelp of confusion. Pinkie smiled bashfully at Chrysalis. "Sorry about that. As I was saying, it's actually both yours and Fluttershy's─"

Once again, another pony, a petrified pale-yellow pegasus with amazing curvature and a pastel pink mane, was swiftly retrieved from under the counter, somehow. She too, baulked in fear and confusion upon seeing Chrysalis so suddenly, but calmed a little upon seeing Pinkie and seemingly fell into silence for a moment as she glanced around to try and make sense of everything. It was maddening; there hadn't even been a telltale aethereal flash of magical use!

"Pinkie, what...? I'm... in Canterlot? I'm in Canterlot. How...?"

"Editorial privileges," Pinkie grinned as she patted Fluttershy on the back. "Don't question it."

"Okay..." Fluttershy squeaked, not questioning it. "Um... so if you don't mind my asking instead, why is Queen Chrysalis here?!"

Chrysalis gave a regal snort. "At least you're civilised enough to use my title."

"Right! You two are going to get along great!" Pinkie beamed at her before turning her attention to Fluttershy. "She's here because she has to do her part to help save Equestria with you from a naughty dark magical grimoire of great evil!"

"Me? Why me?" Fluttershy fretted as she eyed Chrysalis with worry, her voice remaining at a fearful whisper. "Changelings kidnap ponies and put them in cocoons and feed off of them until they're little pony-shaped husks!"

"We do that, yes. We also just keep the particularly pretty ones like yourself as decorations within crystal, it makes the hive look wonderful." Chrysalis grinned, enjoying herself.

Pinkie shot her a look as Fluttershy folded into herself. "They do not do that," she sighed, her face scrunching lightly after a moment. "Well, the kidnapping thing they do, but..."

"Exactly! I'm not going!" Fluttershy cried very quietly as she tried to get out of Pinkie's hold of a simple foreleg around the shoulder. She failed quite spectacularly after struggling for a short while and soon gave up. "Please don't make me go?"

"Sorry, Fluttershy, but the plot requires you," Pinkie said sympathetically.

In the next moment Pinkie gently got her hooves under Fluttershy's sizable backside, making her blush profusely before she was then shoved head first over the counter, missing all of the baked goods on the way and sending her into Chrysalis's soft chest in one swift move. The speed at which Pinkie managed it left them both temporarily mute. Chrysalis glanced down at the pathetic and annoyingly pretty pony that was utterly below her in both height and social standing, groaning deeply as the mare cowered into herself.

"If this is how it must be." Chrysalis tutted, not wanting to subject herself to any more insanity from the pink one. She bumped Fluttershy out of the way as she turned back towards the castle and idly waved a hoof. "Go on ahead, I expect that your princesses will have come up with a plan by now."

"...Plan?"

"I suppose I shall have to explain along the way," Chrysalis tutted, turning her attention to the stall as she started to ensnare some of the lovely treats in her glowing corona. "I'm going to take some of these for the road."

Pinkie smiled innocently. "You should try the cream pie!"

"I do enjoy cream pies," Chrysalis nodded, taking one into the mix. She craned her head back to see if the other pony was gone and, seeing that she put some distance between them and was out of earshot, looked back at Pinkie conspiratorially. "Your friend... is she perhaps part changeling?"

"No, why?"

"Because she's almost as... decently proportioned as I am, despite her smaller stature. It is a wonder how she manages to walk with those massive tea─"

A shrill ringing interrupted Chrysalis's naughty sentence as the cooking appliances behind Pinkie that she only just noticed and could have sworn weren't there a moment ago loudly rang out, a wonderful smell rising into the air from them.

"Ohhh, sorry Chrysalis, gonna have to stop you there before the rating has to change!" Pinkie laughed out as she zipped to the first one. "Enough talk, you've got a mission to do!"

Harrumphing loudly, Chrysalis turned away with her sweet and calorie-dense haul, idly beginning to munch on the one that smelt of apples as she gracefully sashayed away from the tent. For all her lack of respect and general low level of tolerability, Chrysalis had to admit, and fairly so, that the pink one was certainly the greatest baker she'd ever come across within her long life. Perhaps she could be convinced to make deliveries to the hive...

Elsewhere, a dark leather-bound tome of unimaginable dark power unfurled its dark pages in a great sigh of dark boredom as it shifted about waiting for things to progress. Darkly. A great yawn issued out into the lonely room after half-an-hour had passed as it decided the coast was clear enough, and it slowly morphed and stretched into the twisted and chaotic form of a draconequus that stroked his thin grey beard in thought.

Discord had gotten a small kick out of just up and disappearing, and watching all the guards scramble around like headless chickens was amusing, but it wasn't enough amusement for his tastes. This room was an acceptable location; he knew that being here in this wing of the castle specifically would soon lead to some more fun. Whether it was one of the princesses or that annoying bug queen that found him, he was certain he could tweak things so that they would start blaming one another for some sort of trickery. It wouldn't be too hard to do, though whispering in their ears wouldn't work anymore so it would have to be more subtle.

He had overheard more than enough to understand that the poor excuse for a queen had gotten the wrong end of the stick and thought his numerous suggestions were meant to poison her mind in some manner. She even had the gall to think he was trying to enslave her! Talk about narcissism, even he wasn't that self-obsessed. He just wanted to show her that, like him, going against these amazingly dull ponies was going to be a lost cause and that she'd always come up short against them by running solo. He'd figured that out when Sparkle Hood and her Merry Mares had zapped him back into the stone age.

If Chrysalis had truly tried to do something grand and evil again without holding back, it would have been very amusing though. Any attempt to properly use the full forms to completion that he'd shown her, and she'd just have deflated like a balloon to be left looking like a total idiot. The issue was that she hadn't been deterred yet, even though he'd shown her numerous visions of failure. How more serious could it get than total annihilation?

Not that he didn't love watching that whole wedding fiasco from the gardens within his stone prison, but it would be awfully boring if she just did the same thing all over again. Some sort of ongoing corpse-like disharmony in the world had broken him free however, and he intended to make the most of it by at least altering her course. Maybe they could team up if she got with the programme, or maybe she'd try to do something actually insane and entertaining now that she'd been messed with enough, so to whatever end, he was currently being a book. He knew that Luna wouldn't be able to resist such charm, and he'd been right. Making a perfect copy of his statue he swiftly left himself in that moon-obsessed moron's library, and she'd picked him up assuming she'd forgotten about such a strange tome in her thousand-year exile.

Since then he'd been taken by several mares and he'd learned an awful lot more about the princesses than he previously had, and even Chrysalis had spilled a few things about herself and her hive. Powerful mares talked to themselves an awful lot.

He scratched his nose as he pondered how much longer it would take before anypony arrived to carry him away. The guards were still all in a flurry of activity searching for him and Luna had joined in on the hunt too, so it probably wouldn't be long, especially seeing as Chrysalis was returning back to the castle now and─Oh! Well now, that was interesting. She was bringing along the sickeningly sweet and overbearingly kind Fluttershy, the one pony who he'd had to intervene with directly in order to turn her Element against herself. Talk about a wildcard in the pack. She'd been very resistant to his influence, though at least this time she didn't have her friends with her. Pinkie Pie was also in Canterlot but wasn't joining in, which at least saved him some trouble and likely meant that he wasn't under any suspicion.

No doubt if it were Twilight Sparkle coming along instead then she'd detect something strange when he was playing at being an inanimate object. She had that annoying ability to see things that others didn't. That had been Chrysalis' downfall, and it could very well be his as well. So long as she was away from here, he could play his little game.

An ear quirked up as he heard hoofsteps down the connecting hall and he smiled, snapping his fingers to quickly turn into the dark and evil grimoire in a flash. Honestly, ponies were all so dramatic about magic they didn't understand, especially the chaotic kind.

Now, let there be some more fun.