Loose Pages

While Chrysalis relished being cowered from, carrying a petrified pony up a spiraling staircase--although alliterative--wasn't her idea of fun. "Can't you make use of your own limbs before I start to think they're superfluous?" she griped, exhaustion doing away with what little good mood she had before.

Draped across her carapace, Fluttershy shivered despite the castle's pleasant warmth, her voice barely a whisper. "Why me?" she asked, Chrysalis answering with a shrug of her translucent wings, nearly knocking off her curvaceous cargo.

Round and round she went until she caught sight of a royal guard at the stairs' top, his slit pupils boring into hers. "Halt," he flatly commanded.

"You're as insolent as your princess," goaded Chrysalis, staring him down while steadily climbing up.

The guard's leathery wings flared out, and his shaft hit the landing. Fluttershy jolted, looking up at the noise, and immediately covered her face, an "eep!" escaping her lips.

Chrysalis snorted, baring her fangs. "You'll frighten naught but foals with that pathetic thing." She was about ready to pounce and rip the spear away from his hooves, when a sudden cough from behind caused her to rear up prematurely, sending Fluttershy tumbling backwards with a yelp.

She spun around just in time to see Luna catch the fluttering filly in her magic. "What truly is pathetic is thy foalish contempt for authority," she jabbed, setting Fluttershy down by her side. "Thou art testing the limits of Our hospitality."

Chrysalis sighed, lowering her hooves to the floor and looking down at the princess. "Please tell me that was a lowercase 'our'; your sister at least has a hint of manners." Her frown gave way to a smirk, now having somepony her size to pick on. "It's no wonder you ended up as popular as the size of your rump would indicate."

Luna's eyes narrowed, shifting from Chrysalis, to the guard, to, finally, the mare trying to crawl down the stairs like an ill-contained toddler. "What business hath..." she began, struggling to put a name to a face she'd seen less than the milkmare's, "...Kindness here?"

"Why should I have to answer all your questions?"

"As We understand it, that is thy purpose here," responded Luna, offering Fluttershy a helping hoof, which she hesitantly took.

"That sweet-loving spastic you call a national heroine insisted she'd be able to help with your magical mystery, surely. Direct all further complaints to her."

"Our sister awaits us--" Luna's eyes darted to Fluttershy's hoof, still scandalously wrapped around hers, "--most of us in Our study. If thou wouldst dispense with thy delinquency, We shall show thee there." Not waiting for a response, she made her way up, Fluttershy using her larger body to shield herself from the queen's predatory glare.

Chrysalis clicked her tongue, but seeing no alternative, followed the lesser princess up the stairs and past the guard, whose face she took careful note of for future reference.

The trio quickly reached the oaken doors to Luna's study, which were flanked by two royal guards--one Solar, one Lunar. The white pegasus managed to blanch even lighter at the sight of the one-and-a-half villains marching up to her, while her fellow paid Chrysalis no mind, saluting Luna and opening the door for her.

The sight of her study bathed in sunlight was an odd one to Luna, but her sister's radiant visage set her mind at ease. "Hello again, Luna. I hope you don't mind how I've aired things out."

Luna shook her head. "Not at all, Sister. Where was that wretched tome found?" she asked, approaching the workdesk upon which it lay, seeming to suck in all the light from its surroundings.

"The canteen. And before you ask, Chrysalis, it wasn't I who found it there," preempted Celestia, quirking an eyebrow as she noticed Fluttershy emerge from behind her sister, being drawn to the window with its grand view of the royal gardens.

Chrysalis scoffed, leaning on a carved wooden desk that was several times her age. "Couldn't you have forgotten it there during one of your binges?" she asked, determined to grasp that low-hanging fruit. "What other explanation is there, unless you've started to suspect your own staff?"

Celestia shook her head. "With the increased patrols, not even a master thief could take it from here to there without being noticed."

"What about teleportation?" offered Chrysalis, a burst of magic changing her head to that of Prince Blueblood's. "Some of you could've managed it."

"I've expressly forbidden any unicorns from getting near the tome; it couldn't have been tele--" she started, before inspiration flashed across her face, "--it teleported."

Fluttershy returned to the present, looking back with curiosity. "It can teleport...itself?"

Chrysalis took the revelation in stride, dropping her partial disguise and giving Shy a far-too-wide grin that did away with all that nascent interest. "Yes, just imagine what else it can do."

Luna pressed a hoof into the grimoire's leather cover, her silver shoe seeming to tarnish on contact with the black skin. "Do not," she sternly commanded.

"Why, if you looked at it wrong," she gleefully continued, paying no mind to the scowling sisters, "I bet it could trap you in its pages for all eternity!"

Fluttershy stumbled back. "E--Eternity?" she squeaked, shaking like a ferret in a freezer. "I'm...I--"

Celestia opened her mouth, but before she could order Chrysalis to cease, she'd already closed in on her prey. "Would you kindly speak up?" she taunted, magically snatching the tome from under Luna's hoof--to her royally loud discontent--and levitating it toward the pegasus. "It won't hear you otherwise."

The three rulers could only look on with varying flavors of astonishment as Fluttershy's fight--er, flight instinct kicked in, the mare eschewing self-defense for self-defenestration.

Chrysalis made for the window, faintly making out a pink tail vanishing into the greenery below. "I suppose now there's little chance of getting another cream p--ACK!" she cried, a heavy impact reverberating through her skull and making her faceplant on the cold marble floor. With a snarl, she swiveled her head backwards to locate the source of this brain bashing.

Her eyes struggled to focus on the grimoire as it was whisked away in a cloud of blue magic. "We wouldst not hesitate to squash thee," spat Luna, disgustedly wiping the cover with a spare piece of paper, "shouldst thou deny Us an argument against."

Green flames flickered around the fallen queen, coming worryingly close to a nearby bookshelf as she spoke through clenched teeth. "You sniveling cow--"

Celestia pushed herself between the two before Chrysalis could fast-track her regicidal plans. "Enough! Luna, go after her," she firmly instructed, pointing toward the window. "I'll stay with our...honored guest."

"Dishonored, thou meanest," grumbled Luna, struggling to glower at her prone adversary over the hills of white that now blocked her sight.

Celestia turned to her, stern expression softening as she lowered her voice. "Please, Luna, nothing good will come of this," she pled, putting a hoof on her shoulder and leaning in. "Go."

Any protests Luna may have had were muffled by a traditional sisterly kiss. Bashfully withdrawing after a few seconds, she shook her head at how heated she'd gotten. "Very well." She took the more dignified route to the gardens, passing through the doorway with one last dagger cast at Chrysalis.

A tense silence fell upon the room, lasting a near minute before the bug's belly grumbled. "I...might be able to forgive this senseless act of violence," she opened, giving a her lips a slow lick, "were you to share the love."

Luna elected to carry out the search on her own, figuring that despite the urgency, the more time she had away from the self-described queen, the less likely pesticide would become. Besides, sending a swarm of bats to hunt down the pegasus might've conveyed the wrong message.

Luckily, while exceedingly quiet, the mare was no master of stealth, as evidenced by broken branches and hoofmarks in the grass. It was strange, thought Luna, as her wings meant she needn't touch the ground at all, though she did remember this one wasn't very fond of flying.

As she followed the trail, she could make out a faint sound, reminding her of a time long past, when she herself would run off and hide. Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the bushes, catching sight of her mark, sprawled on the long grass.

Luna chided herself for neglecting to get the shuddering mare's name from her sister, but went on, her voice as soft as she could make it. "There, there, Our little pony. We know not what thy friend had thought when she left thee in the company of that fiend, but We assure thee..." She trailed off upon noticing the birds perched around her--and the smile on her face.

Fluttershy wasn't so observant, enraptured as she was with her newfound friends. "Plain oats? Gosh, I never imagined a princess would eat something so simple," she remarked with what Luna could now recognize as a giggle. "Maybe that's how she stays so slim."

"Spies!" she cried, Shy's ear twitching in her direction.

"No, magpies," corrected Fluttershy, before a second take made her jump to her hooves. "P--Princess! I...we were..."

"Gossiping?" offered Luna, closely scrutinizing the group, leading the avians to flap their way to higher branches while the pegasus guiltily lowered her head.

"Um...yes?" she answered, rubbing a hoof against her foreleg. "I'm sorry, they were only trying to make me feel better," she pled, bending into a demure bow.

Luna was caught off-guard by the reverent display, the mare's behavior standing in starker contrast with her tormentor's than the night and day. "We suppose some...concessions may be in order, under these circumstances."

Fluttershy glanced up, chancing a small smile at not being persecuted for lese-majesty. "Oh, thank you! And, um, sorry for making you look for me."

"Think nothing of it," rebutted Luna with a shake of her head. "We couldst not have thee wandering the castle grounds with wild magic running amok."

Fluttershy was about to thank her again when one of the birds flapped over to her side, chirping. "What's that?" she asked, holding out a hoof for it to land on.

Luna gave the bird a pointed stare, making it hide behind the flowing pink mane. "More gossip?"

"No, no, he saw something strange out here, a few nights ago," answered Shy, nodding as the jay jabbered in her ear. "A...twisted statue?" She slowly turned to Luna with a look of dread that the princess was growing very familiar with. "After we stoned..." she trailed off, looking around nervously, "...you-know-who, you just put him back in place?"

Luna looked upwards, trying to spot her study through the treetops. "Our sister is responsible for dealing with threats of this nature." Her eyes flicked to the Moon, its blank face barely visible in the daylight. "We...trust Her judgement." Shaking her head, she approached Shy. "What of the statue?"

Fluttershy braced herself before gesturing at the bird to continue. "In a flash of lightning, it...vanished?!" she gasped, legs starting to wobble before Luna wrapped a hoof around her. "...But only for an instant."

A chill crept up Luna's spine, but she kept her cool, giving Shy a gentle squeeze. "Couldst that not have been a trick of the light?"

The question was relayed to the bird, who chirped back, being joined by a few of its fellows above. "He w--wasn't the only one who saw it," translated Fluttershy, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

She was distracted from her impending panic attack by Luna tightening her grip, her foreleg a tether to sanity. "Tell nopony of this. If that fiend is involved, thou canst not be too careful," she whispered, draping a wing over her like a blue hen protecting her chick. "We would be loath to see any harm come to thee."

The shadow Luna's feathers cast mostly hid Fluttershy's blush, and she nodded with understanding. "W--What now?"

Luna considered what she'd learned so far. Discord's statue had a brief bout of disappearing right around the time she'd found that mysterious tome in her library, a tome that had also displayed teleportational tendencies. A picture was starting to form, but there were still some gaps in her knowledge. She looked down at the mare she was sheltering, and found it was her turn to blush. "Forgive Us, but...wouldst thou remind Us of thy name?"

Draped in darkness, Discord deliberated dropping his disguise. After the indignity of being used as a horror prop, and subsequently, a blunt weapon, he had almost begun to wish for that lavender unicorn to show up. For all her meddling, she'd have at least treated his literary form with some more respect.

Respect! Now that was a scarce resource around the bug queen, with her behaving more akin to an undisciplined pawn. Tired of Chrysalis's en pissantry, yet unwilling to show his hand--or claw--he could do nothing but contemplate his next move, perched on the corner chair of Celestia's bedchamber.

The de-facto monarch continued giving him a sideways stare, passing a white hoof over black chitin. "Have you any idea what we can do to contain it?"

Her de-jure bedmate sighed, shutting her eyes. "Must you ruin this with your brainstorming?"

"Our agreement was simple--I provide love; you, ideas."

Chrysalis rubbed her forehooves together. "I gave you the one about teleportation."

"Despite yourself."

"Arguing is the second-greatest source of creativity."

Celestia tilted her head up from the soft mattress. "What's the first?"

Chrysalis put a hoof to her chin. She was tempted to lie, but, bizarrely, honesty seemed like the easiest way of securing more love. "Revenge." Before Celestia had the chance to dwell on that, she turned back to the big spoon. "You're the one holding back, you could do so much more with your body."

Celestia cleared her throat at the candid remark. "Like what?"

Chrysalis looked her up and down, like a drunk in a late-night food court. "Winghugs!"

"That..." she ruffled her feathers, "...would require quite a tip-off."

Had Discord still possessed eyelids, they'd start to droop by now. He'd all but given up on using the queen, what with her rejecting his guidance at every turn. An insulting lack of gratitude, him having much better things to do than whisper in her ear.

Chrysalis put a hoof to her black heart. "Frankly, I don't see how I could help you any more than I have already. My knowledge of magic is focused on transfiguration, which I doubt will be helpful here."

It took all of Discord's willpower to contain his laughter. If this was what passed for leadership in this day and age, he could lie back and relax as the world descended into chaos all on its own.

"But you do know of magical artifacts," argued Celestia, showing a hint of competence.

This gave Discord pause. The queen was fickle, but surely she wouldn't reveal all she knew. Alas, she seemed to be making a habit of disappointing him. "Since you got your hooves on that book, have you heard any...voices? Visions of things that couldn't be real?"

This earned her a look of genuine concern. "Would you like to visit our clinic?" asked Celestia, gently rubbing the tender spot on the queen's head.

Chrysalis sucked in air, the contact unpleasant despite the affection. "Unless your sister can concuss through time, I doubt this is related."

"You'd be surprised. Over my reign, I've seen a great many ponies succumb to illnesses of the mind..."

Discord shut them out, reaching for his magic. With the subtlest motions, he slithered around the feeble wards intended to protect the castle, casting his mind's eye across its halls, where--oh, would you look at that, a certain yellow pegasus was being escorted by a former enemy of the state. Again.

Ignoring them for now, he set about looking for a useful idiot. Surely, he thought, it wouldn't be a long search.