Chapter Text
Starlight prided herself on her attention to detail. She wasn’t nearly as organized as Twilight, nor as sociable as Pinkie, but it didn’t take long for her to notice a new unicorn in town.
She was a pale green, with a red mane and tail and a ladybug cutie mark. There was something about her green eyes that was...familiar, but Starlight knew she wasn’t a local.
“Crackle Cosette,” she said smoothly, when Starlight introduced herself outside Sugarcube Corner. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Starlight.”
“You’re new in town, right?”
“Oh, yes,” Crackle smiled. “But I’m sure I’ll be staying here for quite a while. Say, could you show me around?”
“Of course!” Starlight said, smiling warmly, despite the feeling that something was off. She remembered her first days here, everypony avoiding her like the plague. She remembered what a relief it had been when she was eventually met with looks of curiosity, rather than distrust.
She remembered how alone she was.
Pinkie usually took care of welcoming newcomers, but Starlight remembered bits from when Twilight had been showing her around.
Crackle was confident, walking through Ponyville like it was hers, until they reached a small crowd at the market. They greeted Starlight with smiles, and gave Crackle good natured introductions and waves.
She was poised, but Starlight recognized the look of a mask. She didn’t seem to know what to do with the genuine welcome from so many.
“It can be a bit much at first,” Starlight said quietly as they left the square. “They mean well, though.”
Crackle bristled.
“I can handle a few ‘hello’s,” she scoffed. Starlight didn’t press the matter further.
“Do you like to read?”
-
This traitorous mare had stolen her subjects, her hive away from her, and destroyed everything she’d almost cared about. And now she was showing Chrysalis around her home without a care in the world, with no thought to her security or sense of caution. It made her wonder how she had been able to beat Chrysalis in the first place.
Sharing love. What a ridiculous concept. Love wasn’t something that ever was or would be shared with a changeling- it had to be taken. There was no such thing as a “friend”, only those who were in the hive and those who weren’t. Now nopony else was, and her subjects were to be crushed and starved under Equestrian hooves.
Starlight (what ridiculous names these ponies had) was bringing her to Twilight Sparkle’s castle on the edge of town so she could visit the library. Chrysalis acted excited, not mentioning that she hadn’t truly read a book in millennia. Literature had never been a priority for her hive. It was pointless. Paper wouldn’t feed them.
She was led through hallways to a large room, with bookshelves going from floor to ceiling. A table and chairs stood to one side, with a lamp still on and various papers strewn about.
“I, ah, was in a hurry,” Starlight admitted. “I needed more ink.”
Now that she was looking, Chrysalis could see several empty bottles, smudged all over. She glanced at the papers to see if she could find anything helpful, but it just seemed like random notes, until one caught her eye.
“Changelings,” she read aloud, unable to keep disgust out of her voice. She’d spent centuries protecting her hive and now Starlight had not only subjected them to pony rule, but was treating them like some interesting experiment, instead of the fearsome empire they had been.
“They’re not dangerous anymore,” Starlight said quickly. “I know Thorax personally, and he’d never hurt anypony, I promise.” Clearly she had misinterpreted Chrysalis’s tone, but she didn’t bother correcting her.
“What is all of this?”
“Well, I’m not sure how much you know about what happened with the changelings, but after switching to sharing love rather than just taking it, they transformed, and they don’t need to feed now. Before, nopony really knew anything about changeling culture, so I’ve been trying to learn as much as I could.”
Chrysalis didn’t buy it for a second. The pony’s curiosity was just to find a better way to control the changelings, she was sure of it.
“That sounds fascinating,” she beamed with fake delight. “Aren’t you worried, though, with their queen still out there?”
Starlight looked down before speaking softly.
“A little, but...well, I think there’s still hope for her. She reminds me of- that’s, uh, a long story though,” she said, looking embarrassed. “Tell me about yourself! Where are you from, anyway?”
-
Starlight had been thinking about Chrysalis lately, a lot. She saw so much of herself reflected in her, and with herself, Trixie, and Discord as proof, she really believed that anypony could change. She wanted to find her for the safety of Equestria, sure, but also...she wanted to help her.
Protecting her hive was a good, if misguided intention. If she could let go of her need for absolute power, and trust in sharing love, she could be a good leader.
When Crackle asked her about Chrysalis, she had wanted to say so. But that would require explaining her own past, and she tried not to tell ponies about that immediately. Crackle was smart, confident, and why not admit it? She was pretty, with the kind of magnetic draw most ponies didn’t have. She didn’t want her to know before she could see that Starlight was different now.
Crackle said she was from a small town on the edges of Equestria, but didn’t seem to want to go into detail. Starlight could understand.
She wasn’t great with small talk, making most of her close friends through sharing past mistakes and traumas. She supposed they’d spent enough time in the library, and led Crackle toward the door before the conversation turned too awkward.
“Shall we continue the tour?”
-
Chrysalis was sick of the Everfree forest. It was dark, dangerous, and suited her nicely for the most part, but it was still such a drastic difference to the busyness of her hive. She was used to the chatter of creatures like her, rather than the sounds of woods. Still, it gave her a place to stay while she concocted her revenge.
She was angry, but she was no fool. Without an army to back her up, she would never stand a chance on her own against Equestria, especially when she was already a target of the princesses, should they be made aware of her. To destroy Starlight, and everypony else, she would have to be stealthy. Patient. Subtle.
Luckily those were things she had experience in.
Crackle Cosette would worm her way into Starlight’s trust, learn everything she could about the pony, and then Chrysalis would destroy her. It would be a long and painful process.
She had only spent one day in Ponyville and it was already torturous. Everything was so bright compared to her kingdom. It was an attack on her senses, with the annoying, gratingly cheerful greetings of the ponies only adding to her discomfort.
She couldn’t wait to watch this sorry excuse for a civilization fall.