“I can’t just give you a different job, Chrysalis,” Ocellus insists.

“Why not?” Chrysalis snarls back, glowering back. She looms over the smaller changeling, especially when factoring in the enormous girth of her bosom which comes just shy of enveloping her. “Are you not the head of the Ponyville Changeling Outreach Program? I am a changeling, and I am in Ponyville, and I desire to reach out!” Reaching beyond the span of her breasts would be ideal, but she is not concerned with physical constraints in this particular moment.

Ocellus does not cringe or shirk away from her in the slightest, however, looking up resolutely with her arms folded in front of her. This is her office, her seat of power, where her will can become reality. Of course, it also helps that she’s knowledgeable of the limitations upon Chrysalis which prevent her from causing as much havoc as she would like to. “You know that you are limited in which positions you are allowed to hold on account of your circumstances,” she says in a voice that is quiet but calm and unwavering.

Growling, Chrysalis mutters under her breath, “That damn moon princess and her fat flanks. I know she’s doing this just to torment me.”

“Chrysalis, why do you even want a different job?” Ocellus asks.

“Because I’m tired of this one?!” she replies exasperatedly, throwing her arms up in the air. “I’m tired of being around ponies all the time! Why can’t I have a…a desk job! Why can’t I stay in here and do paperwork?!”

And to her astonishment, Ocellus laughs. “Oh, Chrysalis, you have no idea what kind of work I have to tend to, do you?”

Chrysalis whirls back on her, staring in disbelief. To her credit, the layers of restraint she has had to build up like a layer of calluses over her skin make it so that her first instinct isn’t to immediately launch into a tirade about the insolence of this ignoble drone before her.

The former queen is about a hair’s breadth away from exploding when Ocellus then says, “Do you even realize how much money you’ve been making from this?”

Her expression returns to a frowning glare. “No, I’m not allowed to see any more of it than what’s in my ‘allowance’ for weekly amenities.”

“Really?” An edge of sarcastic humor slips into Ocellus’s tone, the sort of affect she rarely allows herself to put on (it’s more Smolder’s shtick). “Then you don’t realize that you’re earning far beyond the wages of a typical delivery pony on account of the generous tips you’ve been receiving.” She walks over to a white board covered with dates and time tables and flips it over, and with a blistering speed manages to draw up a detailed bar graph with multiple colors.

“You see, here are the weekly earnings of the employees of Bug Bites Pizza—the deliverers, the cooks, the managers, and the franchise owner.” The last of these is a conspicuous light blue color, just like her own chitin, and it is considerably higher than any of the others. “But this does not account for tips given for delivery, and you, Chrysalis, on average have been earning about this much more.” She fills in an additional layer on top of the first column in black, making it more than triple what it had been before. “Oh, and also a little extra for your assistance with, ah…ingredient production.” She smiles sheepishly as she adds another segment in green. The end result is considerably higher than any of the store employees, only beaten out by the franchise owner.

Seeing it laid out for her like this, Chrysalis can only stare in astonishment.

“And actually,” Ocellus continues, quickly erasing the chart and already working on a new one, “that’s only the average, if we account for the growth over time then you’ll see that—”

“Alright, fine, I get it,” Chrysalis interjects, rubbing her brow. “Maybe it’s worth it to put up with the sore hooves and the stares. Maybe. Not like it matters that much if Luna isn’t going to let me use any of it…”

“Well, your parole isn’t going to last much longer at this rate, is it?” Ocellus asks cheerily, turning back to her. “Just think about how you’ll treat yourself once you’re finally able to integrate with society.

To her credit, Chrysalis’s first thought isn’t to ponder the order in which she’ll enact her vengeance. Ocellus earned herself the leniency of being lowered in priority by a few notches.

Author's Note

Originally written 1/26/25

This all just started as an extra credit community service project for Ocellus and now she's the richest bug.

It's fine she donates it all to bug-related charities.

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