Chapter 3: What Are The Odds?

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I yawned as I stretched my arms over my head in exhaustion, only having recently woken up. Looking around though, I noticed that something was... Off. The food trays were already inside of the room, one of them having been completely emptied.

"Seems that you finally woke up." I looked to my right and noticed Chrysalis, as awake and aware as ever. Had I overslept? It definitely changed things up a bit if I did.

"It would seem that thou hadst a peaceful slumber." Nightmare Moon added, confirming my previous assumption. I nodded, standing and making my way to my metal serving tray of usual glop.

Well, it was a welcome change, but I don't think its going to make much of a difference. It's still dark. I'm still stuck in this room. I still don't remember why. Same old, same old really.

"Now then, if you would simply try to inform the guards of their negligence. I believe they had forgotten to pass me my usual serving." Turning, I smiled and choked down another bite of glop.

"Alright, but only if you answer this right. What's my name?"

Here we go again.

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"Princess? Is everything all right? You seem stressed." A fellow guard asked his monarch. True to his, Princess Celestia was rummaging through several layers of paperwork, signing over several papers while reading through several more.

Things has gotten busy since the winter had begun, and Celestia could only handle so much of it. Especially now that Discord was roaming around the castle after being 'reeducated' to control his chaotic habits. Truthfully, Celestia had thought this to be nonsense, but allowed it anyways, if only to please the friends of her prized student.

"I am fine." Celestia insisted, momentarily looking away from her paperwork and giving her guard a kind smile. "I have simply... Had a lot on my plate. Nonetheless, I have been through much worse." She explained, though secretly, a thought of worry shot through her mind. "Then again, I didn't have to deal with a roving Discord back then."

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"What to do, what to do?" Discord mused to himself as he floated backwards through the halls of the castle, paintings tilting as he passed by them. He had been in this castle for over a month now, and aside from a few small things, he hadn't caused any chaos whatsoever.

Now, he was itching to do something. Anything, really, but if the princesses noticed, he would have a lot of explaining to do... And he'd probably be turned to stone. Standing in one place and staring at the same thing for years on end, not fun.

"Hmmmmmmm... I was told not to purposely cause any chaos..." A mischievous grin formed on his face as he began to rub his chin thought. "... Then again, I wasn't told not to cause 'accidental' chaos." Covering his eyes with one of his mismatched appendages, a small pepper 'poofed' up out of nowhere, before 'accidentally' tilting and spilling a small amount over his nose.

"Achoo!" He sneezed, a small breeze of magic being blown down the halls of the castle, looking for something to enact on. Uncovering his eyes, Discord smiled smugly. "That should hold me up for a bit. Though I do wonder what it will do... Ah, where's the fun in it if I spoil the surprise."

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Unbeknownst to Celestia, her sister Luna, or even Discord, the wind had already selected a target with which to mess with. Flowing through the many halls of the castle, guards shivered as they felt an odd cold pass by them, yet they still held their stances like stones.

Soon, the breeze began to travel downwards, sounds of its fellow stray winds passing along it. It criss-crossed through the labyrinth-like depths of the castle, occasionally blowing dust around with it through its journey. Reaching its destination after what had seemed like an endless search, the wind picked up in strength, beginning to blow out torches as it readied itself for its last moment of freedom. Finally, the breeze silently slammed into a nearby door, breaking itself apart and losing all the magic and energy that it had gained. It's journey was done. The journey of the three behind the steel door it had collided with though, had only just begun.

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"Am not."

"Are too."

We had reached the arguing part of our day yet again, Nightmare Moon likely sitting by and watching as Chrysalis began to stand again and I made my way to the steel door. As to what we were arguing about, it was wether or not I was a 'blubbering fool' or not.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am no- Whoa!" I yelled in surprise as I leaned back against the steel doors of the chamber, only to keep on going. Flailing my arms, I continued to fall backwards for what seemed like hours, but was actually seconds. I hit the floor with a thud, the wind being knocked out of me like a punch to the stomach. I groaned, rolling onto my stomach and picking myself up.

"Don't think this means you win Chry-" I paused. There was something distinctively different about where I was. I was in some sort of stone hallway, lit only by scattered torches that hung from the walls, the flames seeming to come to life at the prospect of another being. What the?

The sound of muffled metallic thuds came to my ears, causing me to turn around and face the source. There was a door, a big one, that seemed to be made completely out of... Steel... I was out... Holy crap, I was out! I felt myself smile to an unbelievable extent, my cheeks actually growing sore, as I jumped up happily. I wasn't sure how, but I was out. I could leave! I began to head down the hall, my bare feet making light and lively sounds of footsteps. I could get my job back, I could find a new home, I could-

Another muffled bang resounded through the hall, being louder than the last two.

... I could live with the guilt... I could know that they were trapped there while I lived happily... Sighing, I turned and ran back to the steel door, inspecting every possible element that I could use to open it. All I saw though, were two keyholes. One for the door, and the other for the slide they pushed our food through. Maybe I could go through the door again?

Pushing against the door, I let out silent sounds of strains as I tried to repeat whatever it was that had happened before. No matter what I did though, nothing seemed to be working. The door must have been a foot thick, how was I supposed to open it?

"Ugh. I hate working the night shift." I froze as I heard the deep sounding voice of a guard resound through the hall. This could either be very, very good, or very, very bad.

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"Ugh. I hate working the night shift." The royal guard complained to himself, having recently been ordered to guard the prisoners by the captain of the guard, Shining Armor. He respected him and all, but this was just stupid. In his opinion, at least. After all, the prisoners couldn't escape from their chamber if thy had tried. Two of them were too weak to use their magical energy, and the other couldn't use magic at all!

Letting out a sigh, the guard turned the corner to the innermost dungeons, where the steel doored metal chamber laid. To his surprise though, he couldn't really see the chamber. The torches in the hall all lead to the room, but for some reason, none of them were lit. "What on Equestria?"

Being a Unicorn guard, he brought about the faint glow of his horn as he thought of an unspecific spell, trying to give himself at least a minimal sense of vision. Believing that he had enough light, he walked into the darkened hall, hoping to find the cause of the issue. His eyes constantly darted left and right, his awareness at its most as he made his way to the chamber door. Each of his steps echoed in the hall, almost taunting him as he soon approached the steel doors of the prison chamber. To the side of the door, the guard saw several unlit torches piled into the corner of the hall, bits of burnt cloth still hanging of off the torches and surrounding the pile, meaning that they had recently been lit.

Suddenly, the sound of a falling piece of metal came from behind him. "Who's there?!" He said, turning around, his eyes widening as he saw the bipedal prisoner was out of his chamber, a metal torch carrier having fallen next to him.

The prisoner reacted quickly, grabbing the torch carrier and bashing the pony over the unprotected part of his helmet, knocking him unconscious, but not before he could let out a single magically transmitted message.

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"Shit!" I thought to myself as I knocked the pony unconscious, flinching slightly as I heard a solid 'clang', followed by the thud of the unconscious pony's body. I was hoping to just take away his keys without him noticing me, but it looked like this damn castle had it out for me. Then again, my original plan wasn't exactly perfect either. After all, if he had re-lit the torches, he would have seen me anyways. I guess I'm more of a big picture kind of guy.

Shrugging, while also mentally apologizing to the stallion, I bent down and began to search him for his keys. At first, I couldn't find anything, and was ready to throw in the towel, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a small bit of brass under his armor of white metal and gold. I flipped him over carefully, still not wanting to hurt him any further than I had, and quickly noticed a keyring by where his cutie mark would be, three keys hanging off of it.

I let out a mental cheer as I grabbed the keyring and made my way to the steel door, stepping over the unconscious body of the unicorn with care. No less than a second after I had gotten there had I begun to look through the three keys, testing each of them out on the door. Of course, with my luck, it ended up being the last key. The brass key with teeth in the shape of a semicircular oval.

I turned the key, quickly taking a step back as the door seemed to come to life on its own, several steel mechanisms grinding and moving against themselves, unlocking the previously impenetrable door. Soon, the door pushed open, by just a crack, allowing me to reach in and pry it open. It wasn't very easy, considering how much it probably weighed, but after a minute or so worth of intense struggle and sweat, the door began to grind open, allowing the darkness of the room to meet with the darkness of the hall.

With one last pull, the door was moved off to the side, hitting the wall with a resounding thud as I stood there panting, hands on my knees as I felt sweat drip down my face and to the floor. Glancing up, I smiled and waved as I saw a wide-eyed Chrysalis looking at me from the corner of the room, laying down on her stomach with her legs tucked below her and her mouth opened wide in shock.

"Hey... Miss me?" I panted, putting my other hand back to my knee as I tried to catch my breath. Man was I out of shape. Then again, three months in a small dark room with single servings of food, less for me sometimes, would do that to anyone, or pony.

"Thou... Thou hast returned." I chuckled as I heard the familiar voice of Nightmare Moon fill my mind. "Of course I did. You didn't think I'd leave without you two, did you?"

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As a matter of fact, that's exactly what they both thought. After Jeremy had somehow phased through the door, Chrysalis began to bang on the door with all her might, trying to escape herself. Suffice to say it didn't work, as she soon gave up, moving to the corner of the room and attempting to sleep off the anger and misery she had felt, Nightmare Moon keeping her mind company as she did so.

When the door's lock clicked, Chrysalis' head shot straight up, and Nightmare Moon quickly severed their connection as the door began to grind open, revealing a, now sweating and panting, Jeremy, who looked up to the room and waved, smiling as he did so.

He had the chance to escape, yet he chose to stay back and help the two. "We'd better get going. The sooner we get out of here, the better. Oh, and you may want to watch out for the guard on the floor." Nightmare Moon felt shock, and a slight spike of fear as Jeremy spoke of the unconscious guard, quickly making her way to his body.

Chrysalis seemed to have a similar fear, as her eyes widened and she quickly looked to her bipedal roommate. "Wait, how quickly did you knock him out?" She asked, a sense of urgency in her voice. Jeremy was confused by this question, but he answered nonetheless.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe, five seconds after he saw me?" Chrysalis' eyes narrowed as she looked to her roommate with a gaze of utmost seriousness.

"You foal! In that time, the guard could have called for assistance through the use of his magic!"

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What?!? No, there's no way he could have possibly cast a spell so quickly! Sure, I took a second or two to knock him out, but for him to cast a spell that quickly just can't be-

"She is correct. We have checked the guardspony and found magical residue from a telecommunication spell." My eyes widened. I screwed up. Damn it, I screwed up!

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Celestia let out a sigh of happiness as she looked over her previously immense pile of paperwork. There was only one more paper to sign. The last paper of the season. Bliss in her imminent reach, she began to bring the quill down to the paper, her magical grip surrounding it in its usual golden glow.

Just as she was about to make the last signature though, a group of her and her sister, Luna's, guards rushed into the room. "Your majesty, we received an urgent relay message from one of the other guards. One of the three prisoners from far below has escaped, and we lost contact with Glasscannon!" Celestia's jaw widened at the news, shock being the first sensation to hit her, before her eyes narrowed as she put on a serious expression.

"Ready yourselves to capture and retrieve!"

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"Go! We need to go, now!" I yelled at the two, pointing to the hall that I assumed would lead us out of the dungeon. It wasn't much of an option, but it was the only one we had. Chrysalis nodded, rushing past me and rounding the corner before I could even react. Behind her, a small round shadow followed, living a small wispy trail as it went along. So that's what she looked like. Shaking my head, I mentally scolded myself for not focusing, as I turned and began to run down the hall myself.

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As quickly as she could, Celestia teleported herself and her guards down to the lower most dungeons of the castle, disappearing in a white flash. She had to act quickly, before any of the three had gotten too far. This didn't prove to be too difficult for her, much to a certain prisoner's chagrin.

Immediately after teleporting into the now darkened hall that led to the steel chamber, Celestia felt something, or rather, someone bump into her. Looking down, she could barely make out the shape of the very prisoner she had been informed had escaped. Narrowing her eyes, she completely illuminated the hall and the room it led to with a single, effortless flash of magic. To her surprise, aside from the human, they were empty.

She felt her teeth begin to grind involuntarily as she glared down to the human before her, who had been shielding his eyes from the sudden burst of light. "...Where. Are. They?" She practically growled, leaning her head as close to him as possible to instill as much fear and intimidation upon him as possible. He wasn't swayed however, as he picked himself up off of the ground and dusted himself off, which wasn't very effective considering just how filthy he was. He looked towards her and gave a glare of his own. If looks could kill, Celestia would have been killed a thousand times over. Then again, the human would have been killed over a million times.

"I'm not too sure. How about you check up your enormous a-" He was cut off as a metal tray hit him over the back of the head. His eyes shrunk to near pinpricks as he quickly gained a dazed look and fell to the ground. Behind him, was the royal guard by the name 'Glasscannon', an oddly shaped bruise clearly visible through his metal helmet.

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Damn it universe, couldn't you have at least given me a five second head start!?!

Chapter 4: Time Suffers

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Remember how I had said that I wouldn't be able to go through a month in this dark room alone? Well, I can honestly say I was wrong. I could make it through a month after all. Its two months though, that already had me on the verge of breaking.

I had heard that the royal guard could be rough whenever they needed to, but I always pushed this off as a rumor. Now that I was here though, in the position that I was in, I regret ever not believing those ponies. Things had gotten immensely worse since that little 'escape attempt' of mine. For more reasons than one. Like, how I was wearing oversized metal wrist cuffs whether they were watching me or not. As to what the other reasons were, I suppose I'll just list them off in order from 'best' to worst.

First off, the food, and I don't mean how it tastes, it always tasted awful anyway. I'm not too sure if the princess ordered it, or if the guards were doing it just to spite me, but those half servings of food I would occasionally have? They became my new 'full servings'. Needless to say, I was actually starving. I know I wasn't exactly 'fit' a couple of months ago, but I was actually starting to turn into skin and bones. Malnutrition is not fun, not in the slightest.

As if the fact that they're starving me to death isn't enough, but those little 'interrogations' they would give me weren't exactly enjoyable either. At first, it would start off like interrogations back on earth, the whole good cop, bad cop scenario. Of course, this phase would only last for a few minutes, tops, before it turned into more of a bad cop, bad cop situation. If I was able to walk back to my cell that night, then that meant that I had gotten lucky.

It's those interrogations that bring me to my next point. As it turns out, its actually possible for a person to develop a phobia for certain elements that revolve around a traumatic experience. For me, it was photophobia, or the fear of light. Its ridiculous, even I know that. This entire time I had been in this metal cell, I had thought of the light to mean freedom, life, peace even. But now, every time I thought back to the memory of the guards opening my cell door, their silhouettes being overshadowed by the dim torch lights behind them as they prepared to drag me to my next interrogation, I couldn't help but shiver and curl up in fear. To me, the pitch blackness of my room was bliss, because it was the only safe place I could think of. Anytime I left, all I would feel was pain. I welcomed the silence, the blindness... Well, not so much the silence.

Between the beatings, the scrapped feedings, and the constant distance I had kept from the door, fearing whatever light came through, I would always feel weak, and tired. For once, I finally understood how Chrysalis had felt... Chrysalis.

I guess that's my last reason. The worst reason. The loneliness. Here I was, with a dark room all to myself, my sanity barely holding its grip to my mind, and all I could think about was how I would previously keep myself occupied with my two cellmates. I missed the smaller things. That scare I would get whenever Nightmare Moon would just pop into my mind. That funny process Chrysalis would go through whenever she had woken up. Even the arguments that I would constantly have with her had become something akin to a momentary bliss away from the hell I lived in.

On the bright side,- "I'll need to change that expression soon" - the more I thought about how lonely I was, the more I thought about how the two were free. Sure, I would have liked to go out with them. To see the light of day, rather than fear it. To bask in its warm embrace. Heh, to go home and deal with the upcoming tax season. Who knows, I may have been able to see them from time to time. Still, I can't complain. After all, two out of three ain't bad right? Even if I was the unlucky one.

Heh... They didn't even look back...

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"Have you or your team learned anything more about where they might be?" Celestia asked one of her many royal guards. Ever since Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon had escaped, paperwork and Discord's crazy antics had become the least of her concerns. The stress was really starting to get to her, but she had no choice but to keep herself under control and placid. If only for the morale of her guards.

"I'm afraid not your majesty. The prisoner still hasn't cooperated and claimed sightings around Equestria are uncertain, at best." Celestia sighed as she heard this. They weren't making any progress whatsoever. It wouldn't be long before ponies began to talk, rumors of Nightmare Moon teaming up with Chrysalis to seek out their revenge. Celestia could already see the news article now.

"Thank you, Puresteel. You are dismissed." Nodding, the stallion made his way out of the throne room, the large doors closing shut behind him. Puresteel glanced towards a nearby clock, chuckling as he noticed what time it was.

"Hmph. Time for somepony to handle tonight's interrogation."

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On his way back to the soldier's barracks, Puresteel had already begun to think over who would take the duty of interrogations tonight. Several of his other, more experienced, teammates had already had their chances, so perhaps it was time for one of the new member to take a turn.

Just as he approached the doors to the barracks, somepony made their way out, nearly crashing into Puresteel as he passed by him. Puresteel recognized this pony almost instantly. "Brassbone." The guard paused in his place, hesitating slightly before turning to face his commander. "Newbies." Puresteel mused to himself as the pony nodded his head and gave a salute, to which his captain returned a similar gesture. Brassbone was a very quiet and timid pony, usually keeping to himself since he had joined the squad. Hopefully, a night of interrogations would toughen him up.

"Brassbone, its your turn to interrogate the prisoner tonight. Try not to rough him up too bad, we still need any information we can get out of him first. After that, you can do whatever you like." The guard named Brassbone smiled, though it seemed slightly forced as he did so, before turning and making his way to the castle dungeons. Just as he was around the corner though, Puresteel realized something.

"Oh, and Brassbones." Puresteel called again, causing his underling to pause once more. "Give him a good bruise under his ribs for me." He had nearly forgotten to put his 'signature'.

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"Negative 3443 bottles of milk on the wall, negative 3443 bottles of milk. Take one down, pass it around, negative 334- No, wait, wasn't it- Oh god damn it, I lost count again!"

This was what I had been reduced to. Singing the same song over and over again as I waited for the inevitable break in the darkness that would lead to the opening of pain. It could always be worse though, right? There was no light, the guard was late, and I'd even gotten a slightly bigger amount of food than usual. Who knew, maybe it was going to be a good day after all. As good as it could get, that is.

The door began to grind and clang as the sound of a key entering and turning in the lock echoed into the room. I'm such a fucking jinx. Soon, the door screeched completely open, allowing the light to flow into the room as the silhouette of another guardspony came into my view. It was the very scene that I was so afraid of. Luckily, I was hidden from the light in the far corner of the room, but I still couldn't help but to sit in a fetal position, hugging my knees to my chin and trembling as the light broke my blissful darkness apart.

Focusing on the pony that had now begun to walk towards me, I swallowed as much of my fear as possible and shot him an angry glare. "I-I told you and the others b-before. I don't know where they went, and even if I d-did, I sure as all hell wouldn't tell you!" To me, it sounded as if I was yelling with all of my will. To him though, it probably sounded like faint and shivering whimpers, barely breaking through the silence of the room. My will was near its breaking point, so even using as much of it as possible became nothing more than a triviality.

The pony continued to walk towards me, any semblance of anger or confidence I had quickly taking a backseat as my fear and cowardice began to take control. The pony reached out for me, and I clenched my eyes shut, expecting to feel some sort of blow, or pull as he took me to the interrogation room. To my surprise though, it never came, instead being replaced by a gentle touch to my shoulder. The type a person would give whenever they sympathized with someone. Now, I was confused. Looking back to the pony with a questioning expression, I shook my head as I thought I saw a familiar shade of green pass through his eyes. The hunger was getting to me, that was it.

"...You didn't think we'd leave you behind did you?" My eyes widened in surprise as I looked at the now smirking pony that was in front of me. That voice. That double-toned voice. It couldn't have been, could it? It was familiar, far too familiar for it to have been my mind playing tricks on me. Yet, I still hesitated, my own voice clawing its way out of my throat with what little will I had left.

"C-... Chrysalis?" The smile on the pony grew, as he soon became covered in a green flame, surprisingly not emitting too much light for me to deal with. The flames all faded away appendage by appendage, revealing black coverings, as holes began to open up in his thinning leg. His horn became much more jagged, losing its straight and pointed shape. Two small round wing coverings seeped through his skin, and the rest of his body began to thin along with his legs. Even his eyes and mane began to change change, his pupils becoming slits while the surrounding eye became an dark green. As this transformation came to an end finished, I couldn't believe who it was, standing on front of me. Chrysalis.

"W-what the-" Chrysalis cut me off, clamping her hoof over my mouth as she glanced around the room and hall she had come through.

"Silence you foal! If any of the guards come down here before Nightmare Moon is ready, then I'll end up being put back here in this chamber with you." Nightmare Moon had come too? Were these two nuts?!? I reached up and moved Chrysalis' hoof off of my mouth, minding the holes in her foreleg, as I looked to her with a glare.

"A-are you two crazy?!" I asked, my voice seeming to gain astringent as I went on. "Y-you shouldn't have come here." I looked down the hallway that Chrysalis had just come down. i shuddered slightly as I saw the light, but my confidence didn't waver. "L-look, you have to get out of here. Meet up with Nightmare Moon and tell her that, whatever plan she's going along with, cancel it!"

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Chrysalis couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had made all of that effort, using whatever spare love she could find to fuel her shape shifting ability, only to be given an ungrateful human in return! "Forget it. I'm not going anywhere without you. Especially after I have come so far! Besides, Nightmare Moon's already doing her part, and she won't be stopping until she succeeds." To her annoyance though, rather than take her words to heart, her old roommate shook his head, his glare unmoving.

"No. You're leaving now! You two were barely able to get out of here before, and I doubt you'll be able to get out when you're carrying me as dead weight!" Chrysalis put on a face of frustration as the human continued to resist. There had to be a way to shut hi- convince him, to go along with this. An idea quickly came to Chrysalis, as she inwardly grinned at her genius.

"Dead weight? You mean we weren't dead weight that night you tried to escape?"

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...I didn't respond.

"You could have easily left the castle that night, yet you chose to stay behind and help us." She was grinning as she told me this. She had won this argument, and she knew it. If anything, I was starting to think she was reveling in it. "So, yes, at this point you're dead weight. Yes, I'm going to leave. But, I'm leaving with you. Whether you like it or not." My eyes further narrowed. Looking away from her, I began to grumble. There was nothing I could say to beat that, or at least I couldn't think of anything to say in my current condition. Taking in a deep breath, I turned back to Chrysalis.

"... Fine. So what's the plan then?"

"We wait."

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Puresteel stretched his limbs out as he began to remove his armor, sighing in relief as he felt the weight of the heavy metal be released from his burden. His shift was over, and all he wanted to do was relax. Yawning, he made into one of the various locker rooms that the guards were given near their quarters.

Opening his locker and looking through his many belongings, Puresteel paused as he heard an odd pounding sound. His ears twitched as he once again lifted his head, now in a state of full alertness. Puresteel glanced around the room and quickly noticed the shaking locker door that seemed to be causing all of the ruckus.

He slowly approached the locker, keeping himself prepared for whatever situation that may have arrived. Grabbing onto the handle and removing the simple rod lock, Puresteel fell backwards to the ground as the body of a squirming pony fell onto him. Climbing out from under the tied and gagged pony, Puresteel's eyes widened as he quickly recognized the struggling pony. Brassbone.

Quickly untying him, he told him to get as many guards as he could. Somepony had invaded the castle, and it was an issue of the utmost importance to find them!

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"... So, what are we waiting for?" I asked an impatient looking Chrysalis. Her hoof was tapping against the ground incessantly, no real rhyme or reason to it as he stared down the hallway to the chamber warily. "... Well?"

"Ugh!" She exclaimed suddenly, almost slamming one of her fore-hooves into her face. "What is she doing!? She should have gotten us out of here by now!" I rose an eyebrow as I looked to her, resisting a passing urge to yawn.

"Um, no offense Chrysalis, to you or to Nightmare Moon, but how exactly is a living shadow going to help us escape?" She looked to me with an amused look on her face, smiling slightly as she did so. She opened her mouth to say something, but what I heard next wasn't her voice.

"Check the prisoner's hall! We can't afford to leave any part of this castle untouched!" My eyes widened as I heard the familiar voice of a royal guard echo down the hall. Using both of my arms to the best of their ability, I dragged myself as far back as I could from the still opened door, my back hitting the cold metal walls by the corner they met, the frigid temperature seeming to emanate through my dirtied and ripped clothing.

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"I swear upon my sacred empress' life you nightmare causing night-mare, if you don't open that portal already, I'm going to-" Chrysalis' thoughts were brought to a stop as the chamber began to shake, a black portal literally ripping itself through the metallic walls of the cell, a seemingly electric like energy crackling around it. Smiling at the success of her plan, she looked back to her former roommate, ready to yell at him to get through the portal, only to notice him trembling in the corner of the room, seeming to stare unblinkingly at the hallway that was being lit by only torches.

Following his gaze, she noticed the shadows of several guards rushing past the wall of the chamber hall. "Hurry! I think it came from here!" Her eyes widening, Chrysalis looked back to the still unmoving human.

"What are you waiting for!? We need to- Oh, buck it!" Chrysalis grabbed the back of his shirt with her mouth and throwing him into the portal... Literally.

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I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting that throw. I also hadn't noticed the enourmous fricken' portal that had torn through the room! On the dim side, and yes, that's what I'm going to call it instead of the bright side, the inside if the portal wasn't so bad. It was interesting, and dark. Two pretty good traits. On the bad side though, the trip itself wasn't that fun. It felt as if I was being pulled in all directions, as if I were the last toy that five children were fighting over. Soon though, the portal came to an end, and as I felt a strong pain surge through me as my head came in contact with the ground, my consciousness followed suit.

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This had to be the third time I had woken up with a throbbing headache. Only this time, it was different. I felt a cool breeze blow past me, the air seeming cleaner and easier to breathe than before. I let out a breath as I pried my eyes open, trying to collect my thoughts. To my surprise, I no longer saw a small, pitch black metal room. Instead, there was the oddly shaped stalactite of a cave roof, water dripping down from it and resounding through the dimly lit cavern. If this was a dream, I hope I wouldn't wake up.

I struggled prop myself onto my elbows, an oddly comfortable surface below me, rather than a cave floor. After a minute or two of effort and grunting in pain, I managed to support myself atop my elbows, my entire screaming at me to lay back down. Opening my eyes, which had been clenched closed from my pain, I was surprised to see a familiar looking lump laying on the floor a few feet in from of me. Chrysalis. It wasn't a dream, I had made it. Suddenly, I heard a gasp come from behind me.

"Thou hath awoken!" Suddenly, my entire body let out one continuos screech of pain as a pair of unfamiliar hooves came around me, pressing my back into an oddly warm and soft furry surface. "We were beginning to worry thou would never awake!" Wait a minute. That voice, it was that same voice. Ignoring as much of the pain as I could, I turned my head to face the mare behind me.

"N-... Nightmare Moon?" I asked as I got a good look at the large mare behind me. She was completely pitch black in color, much like Chrysalis, but with an odd difference to it. I could see two large and sleek looking wings, along with a straight and tall black horn, much like Princess Celestia's, but with its own darkened zeal. An alicorn with a tall and slender build, her mane and tail seeming to resemble the rich and ethereal night sky, moving as if it was alive, and a cutie mark of a crescent moon surrounded by darkness on her flank. As for her eyes, they were an emerald green, and slitted, much like those of Chrysalis, but with much more life and shine behind them.

Looking towards me, the alicorn mare smiled and nodded, before proceeding to embrace me once again. My body let out another shriek, but I ignored it. I don't think that I hid it too well though, since Nightmare Moon immediately released me from her grip, carefully lowering me back down to whatever soft surface I was laying on.

"Oh, thou art in pain. We beg for thy forgiveness, Sir Jeremy. We simply felt it necessary to express our happiness." Her odd form of talking was still a little confusing for me, especially now that I actually saw her talking, but it was still refreshing to hear it again nonetheless. Even if I was in immeasurable pain. I smiled to her to show that it was no problem, feeling my eyelids begin to grow heavy from exhaustion. Nightmare Moon seemed to notice this as she let out another smile, my eyelids shutting completely as I felt myself drift off to sleep.

"Rest now, Sir Jeremy. Thou hast earned it."

Chapter 5: Freedom Comes With A Price

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"Dost thou not see what is before thy very eyes? Sir Jeremy is in too poor a condition to travel!"

"Oh please! He seems just fine to me!" Heck of a wake up call, huh? Who needs an alarm clock when you have those two... Wait... Those two!?!

I shot up from whatever 'bed' I had been laying on, looking at the two with wide eyes, panting as I felt a cold sweat go down my neck and a sharp pain flicker through me. Chyrsalis and Nightmare Moon noticed me pretty quickly, considering how exaggerated my wake up had been. Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes and looked to Chrysalis, pointing a forehoof to me as she did so.

"Prithee, dost thou think of him to be fair of health now?" Chrysalis didn't answer, instead watching with narrowed eyes as Nightmare Moon began to make her way to me, her hooves trotting lightly on the rock floor below. "Good morrow, Sir Jeremy." Nightmare Moon greeted, bowing slightly as she did so. Maybe it was a custom from long ago?

I tried to reply, but found myself unable to, since my mind still hadn't caught up with my body. Taking a deep breath, I pieced together everything that had happened the previous day. How Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon came back for me, despite my horrible condition and the risk that they had been taking, and had managed to break me out. Any more details other than that were kind of a blur, though I do recall Chrysalis having thrown me through a portal and knocking me unconscious. I could chew her out for that later.

"I'm... Fine. I guess." I raised myself further up onto the bed, pain jolting through me as I did so and causing me to tremble wordlessly. Nightmare Moon, and surprisingly Chrysalis, seemed to catch this, as the two quickly made their way to my left and right, carefully grabbing onto my sides and laying me back down. At least the 'bed' was comfortable.

"Nay. Ye have suffered greatly by the looks of it. For a goodly amount of time, no less." Nightmare Moon said quietly, as if she believed her very words could hurt me if she wasn't careful enough. Taking a step back from me, Nightmare Moon closed her eyes, her horn beginning to glow as she focused her magic . Soon, I felt an odd warmth surround me, alongside a strangely colored dark magical aura. As she was doing this, Chrysalis was doing her own form of examinations, constantly alternating forehooves between the center of my chest and my forehead. It was... Awkward, to say the least.

"What exactly did they do to you while you were down there?" Chrysalis asked, her eyes narrowing as both she and Nightmare Moon continued their tests. "And don't even think about lying, because from what that one guard captain told me while I was in disguise, I would hardly believe that they treated you kindly." Crud, she had stopped me before I had even said anything.

Honestly, I didn't want to talk about my experiences in the dungeon, as it would just bring up some bad emotional trauma, which Chrysalis would probably detect considering she could read emotions. Nonetheless though, I knew that there was no way around it, so I took in a deep breath, and began to explain what I could.

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"Well, Chrysalis, remember how the food was basically the worst thing you could ever eat... ever." I nodded as my old roommate began to explain. Truthfully, the food wasn't that bad. Granted, it wasn't nearly as delicious as the sweet and tender taste of love, but still. "As it turns out, quantity is better than quality." I looked to him questioningly as I felt a small hint of self-amusement pass through him, followed by a much larger wave of annoyance. "Seriously though, they practically starved me down there. Over a month of eating what felt like leftovers wasn't fun, but I guess it was bearable."

Surely he was joking. I went almost an entire year without feeding on love, not including the time before I had been captured, and he was complaining. Perhaps what I did next wasn't exactly royal behavior, but I wasn't really royalty without subjects now was I? "Is that all?" I asked sarcastically, noticing another small twinge of annoyance pass through him as I said so. "If hunger is what you're going to whine about, then I guess that I have just as much of a right to complain as you, considering you only went a measly forty-two days while I went over 400!"

Suddenly, he looked towards me, narrowing his eyes as I felt a dark emotion flow through him, only describable as pure, unadulterated rage. I'd felt this emotion in other ponies before, but I'd never thought that he of all ponies, or people, in this case, would ever show it.

"Hunger wasn't one of my major problems." I once again rose an eyebrow questioningly. "Hunger doesn't leave bruises, Chrysalis." He said simply, his rage being accompanied by several other emotional whiplashes, ranging from sadness, to complete and utter hopelessness. I had a feeling that I had struck a particularly bad nerve there.

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Aside from the shock that she felt from Jeremy's statements, she was even more shocked to see that bruises were actually the last of his worries. Cracked ribs, malnutrition, dehydration, even small cases of internal bleeding, though not lethal, could be seen clearly as she used her magic to look over his body. Chrysalis was on the other side of her, checking his mental strength and will, as was normally done by changelings in situations such as these. Normally, she would be able to fix these injuries and conditions through the use of her magic, but between the rebuilding of her physical form, and the large scale portal she had opened, she wouldn't have nearly enough magic to do so for quite some time.

"What dost thou see from thine own observations?" Nightmare Moon asked Chrysalis, using some of her magic to create a seemingly telepathic link. Her response, was less than nominal.

"From what I could see, he obviously took some hard hits to his inner will, but his mental strength still seems stable, if only slightly." To be harmed so gravely, mentally and physically, Nightmare Moon could only wonder as to what the guards had put him through after she and the changeling queen had escaped.

"Pray tell, what say ye to their reasoning for treating you in a manner such as this?" Nightmare Moon asked, curiosity and concern evident in her voice. Jeremy didn't respond though, as Chrysalis cut in before he could, a smug look on her face as she did so.

"I have a pretty good idea why. When I opened the cell door, the first thing he had said was, 'I told you and the others before, I don't know where they went, and even if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't tell you'." Chrysalis glanced to Jeremy and smiled. "How close am I?"

Jeremy didn't respond, putting on a blank expression as if to say 'what do you think'? Nightmare Moon didn't seem to notice though, as she replayed the statement over and over in her head. He had gone through all the unnecessary trouble of protecting the two of them, even after they had left him, enduring almost two months of torture and hunger, purely because he wouldn't say where the two had gone. Of course, he hadn't really known where they had gone, per se, but it was still the principle of the matter. Let alone the fact that he was the reason they had escaped in the first place.

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I would really like to get up now. Aside from that little 'issue' that Chrysalis and I had, the two were acting as if they were supposed to care for me. Like I was a sick puppy, or something. Also, I'm not sure what they saw in their 'examinations', but judging by the looks on their faces, I could tell that I didn't want to know.

"Perhaps... You do need some time after all." Chrysalis begrudgingly conceded. Now I knew something was wrong with me, aside from the obvious that is. If Chrysalis was actually willing to give up an argument, then I really am in bad shape. As to how bad, I wasn't sure, but I could give a pretty good estimate. "...Very well then, we shall stay here for another day or so. After that, we have to move on."

Nightmare Moon seemed appalled, almost insulted, by this. Her eyes and mouth widening as she looked between Chrysalis and I with choked annoyance. "A day!?! A single night will do naught for his wounds, if not slight!" I'll be honest, I had no idea what she said. Chrysalis seemed to understand perfectly though, as she looked to her with a blank face, an ear twitching slightly as Nightmare Moon spoke.

"Be that as it may, would you prefer he be fully healed and in the castle dungeons again, along with the two of us, or would you prefer he deals with whatever pain he feels so we can continue to be free." It may have sounded cruel, cold, and unforgiving, in fact it was, but she did have a point. Nightmare Moon didn't answer immediately, looking down to the floor in annoyance and letting out a sigh before she returned her gaze to Chrysalis.

"... The following moon then. 'Tis safer to go during the night, when the darkness shroudeth us from our foes." No complaints here. If anything, the darker, the better. "What say ye, Sir Jeremy?" Nightmare Moon asked, the two focusing on me once again. I felt kind of nervous with the two of them looking at me, but I pushed it aside.

"Fine by me." I replied, shrugging my shoulders as I shifted my gaze to the cave roof and it's many formations. "If you two don't mind though," I began, not moving my line of sight whatsoever. "I have some questions to ask you both."

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The two of them were actually pretty responsive, and patient, with me. Despite the fact that I must have asked over three dozen questions, like how they had found this place, or what my 'bed' was made of. Turns out that it was just some straw, covered by a cloth. Some of the more important questions I asked though, had to do more with the two, than anything else.

"Nightmare Moon, how exactly did you get your physical body back?" I asked, raising a brow as I looked to her curiously. "I thought you were stuck as a shadow." Nightmare Moon chuckled, pointing a forehoof to the opening of the cave that lead to the outside, which was now darkened by the night.

"'Tis simple, Sir Jeremy. Just as my former sister, Celestia, gaineth power from the day, I gain my strength from the night. For what other reason would she have incarcerated me than to keep me weak?" I... Guess that made sense? I wasn't really familiar with an alicorn's anatomy, let alone of the two princesses and the alter ego in front of me, so I hadn't really known that they got their strength from the sky. Still, it was nice to know.

"... Alright. One more question then. Chrysalis, didn't you say that you couldn't use any of your changeling abilities without love?" I asked. Chrysalis let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, giving me a deadpan look.

"Yes." She answered simply.

"Then how were you able to turn into that guard?" I continued, giving her a similar deadpan. She seemed to smile slightly at this, as she looked over her shoulder in a seemingly coy manner.

"Oh, I may have seen a little foal 'lose' her precious stuffed animal, and accidentally absorbed the love from it." She gave a cold chuckle as she recalled the thought, while I just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Pro, she hadn't hurt the foal, and she had ended up using that love to help me. Con, that is quite possibly one of the crueler things I had heard her do, and she told me about her attempts at conquering Canterlot.

"I'm... Just gonna let that slide for now." I told her, receiving an amused smile from Chrysalis, and a silent chuckle from Nightmare Moon. Seeing the two like this, despite my own resistance, I couldn't help but to smile myself.

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It was a rare moment between the three of them, in which they would share a moment of amusement, despite the differences between one another. A small escape from the world around them, and the situation they found themselves in. A minuscule moment of merriment. Unfortunately, reality often finds a way of showing itself whenever it believes it is needed.

Jeremy, seemingly out of nowhere, began to cough, ending the moment of bliss between the three as Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis looked to him. Chrysalis rose a brow, while Nightmare Moon looked on with a face of concern. It was a minute or so before Jeremy's coughing began to calm down, leaving much smaller, hiccup-like coughs as Jeremy began to speak again.

"I'm fine. I'm f-fine." He told the two, waving a dismissive arm at them as he put a hand over his mouth. His voice was slightly raspy from his coughing, coming out more like sandpaper, rather than how a voice should. Truthfully, his throat felt extremely dry. When they had lowered the amount of food he had received, they had done the same to the water, often not even giving him any whatsoever.

"Do ye require sustenance?" Nightmare Moon asked, drawing a look of confusion from Jeremy. Chrysalis noticed this confusion and groaned.

"She's asking if you want something to eat and drink." The mention of food was quickly responded to by, not Jeremy's mouth, but by his stomach, as a loud growling sound went through the cave. Nightmare Moon was barely able to hold back her laughter, her hoof covering her muzzle, while Jeremy's face became a light shade of red. "I take it that's a yes?" Chrysalis teased.

"Um-... I-... What I mean is... S-sure." Jeremy stammered, looking away from both of his old cell mates and tensing from embarrassment.

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"Mayhaps now thou canst see why I worry so." I questioned my fellow former 'cell mate', as she had called it. We had left Sir Jeremy not moments ago, seeking sustenance that would allow us to replenish his health, if only slightly. As we went on, however, I could see that she had accompanied me with an ill mood, her face showing annoyance, rather than a shared concern. "... 'Tis disheartening to see that thou showest such little care for him."

She scoffed, glancing at me for the shortest of times before resuming her trot. "I have no reason to. Don't forget, the only reason I helped you save him was because I don't like to leave my debts unpaid." I continued to show her no emotion, though verily, I felt naught but the upmost irritant of her, and I was certain she could see it. "And now, here we are, looking for food and water for him. He held out for about a month and a half, he could go another few days."

A mental battlefield was quickly created for me, as my ideals began to combat one another for supremacy. "He wasn't joking when he said he would be dead weight." I felt my eyes narrow as she uttered this, the mental conflict quickly being ended with a mighty roar of victory. Perhaps I would break my word, but I would not allow her to speak so dishonorably of Sir Jeremy.

"Pray tell, for what length of time dost thou think he, as 'dead weight', went without a proper meal." The queen Chrysalis looked to me with a roll of her eyes, further increasing my irritation.

"Haven't you been paying attention, you foal? 42 days, the same amount of time that we had escaped." I rose a brow at her, drawing a look of slight confusion.

"Thou misunderstandest. I meant previous to the days of our escape." Her confusion quickly grew in intensity, as I looked ahead of myself, searching the surrounding area for berries and the like. "Hast thou verily accustomed thyself to the belief that the guards would occasionally show thee respect? Perchance, thou hadst not realized that there was greater reason for thine increase in food." I told her with as little emotion as I could muster, knowing perfectly well that she could sense it.

"... What do you mean?" I didn't respond to her statement, continuing my slight rant favoring Sir Jeremy.

"Was it not odd to thee, that during the time that Sir Jeremy would go hungry, thou wouldst be full, and content? At least, as much as ye can be without thine precious love." Suddenly, she had frozen in her trot, realization likely having finally grasped her, just as I had hoped.

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Chrysalis' eyes widened, her walk brought to a pause as she slowly began to absorb what she had just been told. Noticing this, Nightmare Moon stopped as well, looking back to her with a small smile as she noticed the situation turning in her favor. Suddenly, Chrysalis broke out of her silence with a chuckle.

"... Heh. I'll admit, you almost had me there. You should know better than to try to trick me though." She said. Nightmare Moon kept her smug smile, watching as Chrysalis noticed and narrowed her eyes in return.

"'Tis not a ruse of any sort, changeling queen. Throughout thine incarceration, Sir Jeremy willingly donated over half of his food to thee, sacrificing his own health in the hopes of keeping thee from growing weaker." Chrysalis could feel her teeth bare as she said this, anger and irritation quickly taking over her usually clear mind.

"Oh please! If that were true, then why didn't the idiot tell me about that?!?" She snarled. Nightmare Moon felt her smile diminish at the insult, but she continued nonetheless.

"He did so because he knew of the importance thou hast in thy pride! When he learned of this, he made it a matter of significant reason that he would not tell thee! I had to break my very word not to inform thee of this! Wherefore? For no other reason than the fact that thou seemst to trot so heavily on his kindness!" I nearly yelled to her, only able to keep myself under control due to my knowledge that the royal Canterlot voice would likely only attract attention. "Thou showest not even the care to remember his name! Sir Jeremy is a kind and noble soul, and he deserveth better accompaniment than the likes of thee!"

After she said this, Nightmare Moon expected a rebuttal, an insult, even the slightest of gestures. To her surprise though, none came. Rather, Chrysalis just narrowed her eyes even further and looked ahead.

"The sooner we get this over with, the better." She thought to herself.

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"Just... Another... Step..."

I had been laying around for almost two months, lost feeling in my legs over 30 times, and started chafing over 15 times, so for me, it was only natural that I would at least want to stand. The problem though, is that it felt as if it was the most painful thing in the world, just to take a step forward. My arms, head, and everything below my lower torso was fine, albeit a bit weak from hunger. My ribs and upper were the real issue. Every step I took felt like another punch to the ribs, winding me and almost causing me to collapse then and there. Still, a punch isn't that bad, right? Well, when punched are done by hooves, in the exact same spot, over and over, then yes, I'd classify it as pretty bad.

I took in another short breath as I moved my foot ahead yet again, grunting as I put weight on it, most of my weight being focused on the cave wall next to me though. I wasn't going to leave the cave, I wasn't that stupid, but I just felt like I couldn't stay in the same place for much longer.

"Sir Jeremy, we have returned with-" I turned my head to the two in surprise, noticing they were looking at me with similar expressions. "Sir Jeremy! What in Equestria art thou doing!? Thou shouldst be resting!" Oh boy, this wasn't good.

"L-let me explain." I told her, gesturing for her to hold on. Putting even more weight on the cave wall, I turned myself to face the two, taking a much longer time than I normally would, due to my injuries. Luckily, the two waited patiently, though Nightmare Moon showed more than a little concern, until I eventually managed to completely turn myself, shifting my arms to better support myself. "Alright, there we go. Look, I can see why you're do concerned, but I can't just lay down all day. Believe me, after sitting in the exact same spot for over a month, I've had enough staying still for a while."

Suddenly, a felt a familiar warmth, alongside it's accompanying dark aura, surround me, and standing began to feel much less... Painful. In fact, it felt like I weighed about half of my normal weight. "That... Is amongst the least sensical things that I have ever heard." Nightmare Moon began, causing me to flinch slightly. "But if thou must walk, then I shan't stop thee. Realize, however, that I will not allow thee to do so without my or Chrysalis' assistance. Thy wounds hath already been strained enough, they need not any more."

I looked to the two in silence, taking the weight that I had put on the cave wall off and standing up straight, my spine releasing several thankful cracks as I did so. Without really thinking about it, I smiled, nodding my head in understanding and agreement. "Splendid!" Nightmare Moon suddenly exclaimed, bringing about a raised brow from Chrysalis, and a chuckle from me. "Now then, shall we eat, Sir Jeremy?"

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I had to pace myself. I had to pace myself. This was what I kept on thinking as I was eating with the three. Granted, they had only brought back berries, and a bucket, I had no idea where they had gotten it from, though I suspect Chrysalis had something to do with it, full of water. Still, the amount of stress I felt as I slowly ate the berries one by one had no comparison. I knew that if I ate to fast, my body would reject the sudden increase in food and go nuts, but it was really hard to limit oneself when they are eating from a giant pile of berries, or practically anything that isn't that slop from before.

Other than that though, the rest of the night went by pretty well. It was like I was living another life, being outside of that small metal prison, eating actual food. The only thing that didn't change, which I personally welcomed, was the fact that I was with Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon again.

Soon though, much to my mental fear's chagrin, the sun began to rise, as I could tell from the light that had begun to shine in through the cave opening. We were to far back for it to reach us, thankfully, and from what I could tell, the two were just as exhausted as I was.

After the annoying process of getting back onto my 'bed', I felt Nightmare Moon's magic lift away from me, returning me to my original weight.

"Good night... Er, day, you two." I told them with a yawn. Chrysalis grumbled silently, curling up into her usual lump, while Nightmare Moon returned the gesture with 'Sleep well, Sir Jeremy'.

Yeah, it was definitely good to have company again.

Chapter 6: Life Before Prison

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"Why would we go west!?! The east is at least more likely to have something that can help us!"

"I disagree. Thou dost not know of this forest as well as I! The west is more wise of a direction to travel among!"

"You lived in a rundown old castle! I lived with the rest of my hive, exploring every part of this forest as one!"

"It would seem that thou hadn't explored every part."

Yeah, this was going to be a cycle wasn't it? Waking up to the sound of their arguing, I mean. Its kind of annoying really, being that this is the second time that that's happened, but I could live with it... Not this time though.

"Can we just compromise and say we go north?" I offered, lifting an arm from my laid back position to better address them. I would have just sat up so that I could face them, but my still aching ribs wouldn't allow that. The sound of their arguing stopped as they realized that I was awake, leaving a slightly uncomfortable silence in the cave, only interrupted by the sound of the occasional owl from outside.

"Hmmmmmm. Perhaps Sir Jeremy holdeth reason." I heard Nightmare Moon say, the sound of her approaching hoof steps coming clear to me, even in my groggy state. It felt strange to have slept through the day and to wake up at night. Kind of like I was a bat or something. The fact that I was so afraid of the light didn't really help to disprove that point either.

Finally trotting into my limited view, Nightmare Moon looked down to me with a slight smile. "How go your injuries, Sir Jeremy?" I chuckled at this, glancing down to my chest, noticing some of my many blackened bruises through the tears in my shirt.

"Well, it doesn't hurt as much as before when I'm not moving, so that's probably a good sign." I told her with a slight sense of humor. She rolled her eyes at the obviously horrible joke, her horn beginning to glow as I felt my body once again feel lighter than before. Sighing slightly as I felt a large portion of my pain removed from my chest, I began to stand up from my 'bed', Nightmare Moon continuing to use her magic in order to help me.

I thanked her and looked to Chrysalis, dusting myself off and crossing my arms as I noticed her slightly narrowed eyes before putting on a smile. "So. Would you prefer to make it a unanimous vote and start making our way north, or are you gonna stick to your guns and lose the vote 2 to 1?" Either way, she had lost this debate, adding yet another point to me when it came to the arguments we had won or lost. Now the score was at 47 to 103. Guess which was which.

"... I really dislike you." She told me. Chuckling, I waved her off dismissively, rolling my eyes at her behavior.

"Good afternoon to you too." Placing a hoof over her face, Chrysalis let out a sigh, grumbling slightly under her breath in frustration. Behind me, I could hear Nightmare Moon snickering.

"Fine then, have it your way. We go north." She conceded, turning to the cave entrance before gesturing for us. "We have 12 hours before the sun rises again. Remember to stick together and we should all be fine." She said making her way to the entrance of the cave.

Nightmare Moon came around me, following Chrysalis in what seemed like a rather hurried manner. Odd. Did they seem worried, or was it just me? Shrugging my shoulders, I quickly caught up with the two as we were leaving the cave.

"Any particular reason we're acting so careful?" I asked the two, having made my way in between them as we approached the exit. Chrysalis looked at me with a deadpan look, while Nightmare Moon gave me a questioning one. "We already got away from those guards at Canterlot. Why else should we be worried?" I continued.

"Oh, I don't know," Chrysalis began, sarcasm already dripping from her voice. "Maybe it has to do with the fact that we're in one of the most dangerous forests in Equestria!" She suddenly exclaimed, looking to me with a sharp glare. Raising both of my arms up in surrender, I took a slight sidestep away from her.

"Whoa. Geez, calm down. It can't be that bad, ri- Oh." I stopped myself mid sentence as we finally made our way outside of the cave, the forest surroundings enshrouding us almost instantly. As I looked over the many elements of the forest, I noticed several familiar sights. Darkened trees with high canopies, vines hanging down with lifelike potential, and odd looking plants spread around the area, occasionally accompanied by one of several shadowed figures rustling past the plant life. It looked kind of like the forest that Zecora stayed... in... Fuck.

"We're in the Everfree Forest!?!" I yelled, putting a hand to my head in disbelief and shock. Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon quickly shushed me, urging me to be more quiet. "Sorry, but, why the hell are we here!?!" I asked in a much lower volume. After living with Zecora, I knew more than enough about how dangerous this forest was. I had nearly been turned into manticore feed more times than I could count, let alone the timber wolves, and the weird plants that were scattered around the place. Poison joke was one of my more personally hated plants.

"'Tis the only location the two of us could recall that my 'sister' wouldst never attempt to follow." Nightmare Moon told me, glancing around her with focused eyes as another rustling came from the shrubbery surrounding us.

"It's not like it was my first choice." Chrysalis added, looking blankly in front of her and shrugging as she did so. "But it wasn't like we had many options."

I couldn't believe this. I managed to escape from a cruel prison, only to end up in an even crueler forest. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. I sighed.

"... So... North?" I glanced towards the two, noticing them both nod their heads. I nodded in return, crossing my arms and looking to the foliage ahead. "Then I guess we'd better get going."

This couldn't possibly go well. I was almost sure of it. Still, I guess that, with Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis by my side, it couldn't be that bad.

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Annoying was more like it. While my two former cellmates had somehow walked through the forest with little to no issue, I would constantly grind my legs on a thorn bush and the like, hurting myself even worse than the condition I had originally been. While the spell that Nightmare Moon cast helped me walk, it didn't help me see any better in the dark. Granted, my eyes had adapted to the dark over time, making me see better than most other humans would at night, but I was competing with the former princess of the night and an insectoid with night vision. Not much of a competition really.

On the dim side though, I was at least able to finally see the night sky again. A few months ago, I had already thought of the night sky to be beautiful, in both my world and this world, but looking at it now, after being crammed inside a small room for so long, it seemed heavenly. It was dark, yet bright. Solemn, yet cheerful. It was everything that I was hoping it would be, and more.

"Dost ye enjoy our night?" Widening my eyes in slight surprise, I looked to my left, seeing that Nightmare Moon was now walking right next to me, a small smile on her face.

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We had all been traveling for over an hour's worth of time, the forest of Everfree constantly seeming to revolve around us with every step we took, splitting itself apart in an effort to allow us three to journey through its many mysterious trails. The changeling queen, Chyrsalis, had been leading us in our quest for escape, not seeming to emanate any fear nor emotion whatsoever as we continued down the deadly forest in which my 'sister' and I had once inhabited.

Time and time again, I would hear Sir Jeremy grunt or flinch in discomfort as he followed us two, likely not possessing the same attunement to the darkness that Chrysalis and I held. I held my spell at its full strength, attempting to keep Sir Jeremy limited to the discomfort of the forest, rather than the pain of his wounds. 'Twas not until yet another short period of time did pass before I could no longer take the sound of his misery, turning to face the friend I knew as Jeremy with worry in my mind.

Much to my surprise however, Sir Jeremy did not seem discomforted. Rather, he seemed enthralled, his head seeming to be fixed upright as he looked towards the sky. My sky. 'Twas the very reason that Sir Jeremy had been injuring himself so constantly, as his eyes had been focused on my night sky, rather than the path before him, occasionally grazing past an ill kempt shrubbery or structure of sorts, flinching as the short pain came to him, but not daring to look away from my sky. Smiling, I slowed my pace, allowing Sir Jeremy to reach my side before matching his steps. He didn't seem to notice me though, blissfully oblivious of my arrival in his obvious distraction. I took another moment or so to enjoy the sight of a subject observing my joyous night sky, before deciding it best to make myself known to him.

"Dost ye enjoy our night?" I asked, quickly drawing his attention with a slight start. I withheld a chuckle as I myself looked to the heavens above us, my smile further growing as I felt its energy pass through me, much like the smooth silk of my original quarters' bed coverings being moved across my side.

"Heh. Sorry about that. Zoned out for a second." He said, returning his own gaze to the stars. "To answer your question, yes, I do. Its been so long since I've seen the night sky, I'd almost completely forgotten how nice it looked." I felt my face warm itself slightly as he said this, but thankfully, he didn't seem to notice.

"We are glad that ye think so, Sir Jeremy. Few other ponies seem to appreciate the sky as ye do in these times." He looked towards me with a raised brow.

"Really? I can't see why. I mean, sure, people, er, ponies, need their sleep from time to time, but it can't be that bad." I glanced to Sir Jeremy and sighed, shaking my head at his statement.

"I'm afraid that ye do not understand, Sir Jeremy." He didn't respond immediately, once again returning his gaze to the skies, as though he were in deep thought.

"... Probably not... But maybe this will help." This time, I was the one to look towards him with a raised brow, unsure of what he had meant as he turned to me and smiled. "Tell me, what do you think humans like me do at night?" He asked me.

"I'm... Not sure. Mayhaps ye rests?" He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Not all of them. For humans, the night isn't just a time for us to sleep. If anything, we think of the night as a time to really... Well, let loose." I didn't comprehend what he had meant at the end of his statement.

"Let loose?" I asked.

"Yeah. Let loose. Humans would throw parties, go out for walks, and even go out with the people they love so that they can enjoy the night together." This was surprising to hear, as I had never heard of so much activity during the time of my night. "Sure, some prefer the day, and that's fine. Others though, myself included, prefer the night. I mean, its relaxing, its mysterious, and it always manages to get more and more beautiful. At least, to me that is." I once again felt a warmth rise to my face, this time being more intense than before.

"... Thank you, Sir Jeremy. Those were truly kind words for thee to say." I told him with my utmost gratitude.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh. Heh, its no problem Nightmare Moo- Ow!" Looking down again, I noticed that I had once again passed through a small thorn bush, leaving a small collection of scratches along my lower leg. "Oh come on! How is it that I got hurt when neither of you didn't?" I swear, someone up there had it out for me tonight.

"Maybe if you pay attention to where you're actually walking, you'll be able to avoid hurting yourself so much." Chyrsalis chimed in from ahead of us, not taking her gaze off of the path ahead of her.

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't have night vision like you two." I told her with a deadpan tone, crossing my arms while I looked to her. I heard her chuckle from ahead of me, slightly annoying me while confusing me nonetheless.

"Too bad." She said. "Especially since the Everfree Forest is so full of deadly animals." I wasn't sure if she was joking or not, but it was definitely an unpleasant to hear from her.

Rolling my eyes, I glanced to Nightmare Moon, noticing a look of odd confidence as she narrowed her eyes at Chrysalis. I had a feeling that things were going to get bad really soon.

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Thankfully, after about another three hours of walking, we had managed to get past the more 'thorny' part of the Everfree Forest, but, while my legs may have been grateful for that, I knew that we weren't out of the woods just yet. No pun intended.

Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon had been silent, for the most part, since the conversation from a few hours ago. Nightmare Moon had sped up her pace again, returning to her original position in between Chrysalis and I. As for me, I was doing fine, aside from a few dizzy spells I would have from time to time... Okay, a lot of dizzy spells.

Nightmare Moon may have handled my pain with that spell of hers, but she hadn't taken care of the fact that I had only recently started eating and drinking again. Granted, the berries and water that the two brought me were delicious and satisfying, plus they felt like an outright blessing to me, but it took more than a single day's worth of food for the human body to recover from a state like mine was in.

Stumbling slightly from another coming loss of balance, I managed to stop myself from falling, if only barely, with the help of a nearby tree branch. I leaned against that branch for a second of two, getting my bearings back and trying to focus my sight on one image, rather than two. You had to love double vision. A second of so later though, I realized that I was probably lagging behind again, so I moved off of the tree and looked ahead to see how far they had gotten. Oddly enough, the two weren't still walking. They had stopped and turned to face me, offering their own looks of questioning annoyance and truthful worry.

"Is all well, Sir Jeremy?" Nightmare Moon asked. Looking to her, I forced a small smile, hoping that she would buy the bluff. They had already lost enough time because of me. I didn't want to cost them even more.

"I'm fine. Just a little dizzy." I told her. For a second, I thought I actually convinced her, considering the fact that she turned around again and began to walk off. I should have figured that it wouldn't be that easy though. Before I could even let out a sigh of relief, dizziness became the last of my problems as I started to float up into the air, the faint aura of Nightmare Moon's magic that surrounded me increasing in its intensity. "W-whoa!"

I flailed my arms and legs wildly, trying to get back to the ground as quickly as I could. I was not okay with floating! I respected Isaac Newton as a man and preferred to continue respecting his law of gravity, thank you very much! "N-Nightmare Moon, put me down!" I yelled. Chrysalis laughed as she watched me struggle like an idiot, turning and beginning to walk off herself. Glancing towards Nightmare Moon, I noticed her looking to me with a smile as she trotted along, floating me over to her side and slightly turning my stomach in doing so.

"Do not fret, Sir Jeremy, for I do not plan on carrying you throughout the night." As she looked to Chrysalis with a devious smile, I felt my heart stop as she floated me over, literally over, her and slowly placed me down onto her back, making me end up like a man from back home would normally ride a horse. I shivered as she did this, not quite used to feeling the cold, smooth exoskeleton that Chrysalis was covered in. At least I thought it was an exoskeleton. To say that Chrysalis disagreed with this, though, would be an understatement.

Chrysalis stopped walking yet again, probably turning her head to see the source of the new weight on her back and widening her eyes in surprise as she saw me. Smiling sheepishly, I let out a small and awkward wave as she narrowed her eyes for what had to be the twelfth time tonight.

"And just what are you doing?" She asked, lightly jabbing me with her jagged horn.

"Sir Jeremy was experiencing a lack of balance, so I decided that he would need a rest." Chrysalis looked to Nightmare Moon with a look of pure anger before returning her gaze to me.

"Then why did you put him on my back?" Chrysalis retorted, glaring at me while I just put my hands up in an effort to put some distance, even the smallest, between her and I. Not really possible considering that I was basically riding on top of her, but still.

"We need to continue advancing, do we not?" Looking to Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon smiled with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, but not like this!" She exclaimed, returning her own glare at Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon just chuckled though, walking past the two of us with a glance.

"As thou hast said thyself, 'Too bad'." And with that, she went on, not saying another word as she continued through the forest, leaving Chrysalis and I some distance behind her. I had to say, that was an impressive use of manipulative karma. Gulping dryly I looked back to Chrysalis, who was currently looking to Nightmare Moon incredulously, apparently having forgotten about me. I wasn't sure wether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Um... I'll just get off now-"

"No you won't." She interrupted. I froze, raising an eyebrow as she told me this.

"Um... Pardon?" I asked.

"As much as I hate to say it, she's right. We're better off with you like this, than having to slow down for you every minute or so." I wasn't sure how to respond to this. Was she showing compassion... or was it just advantageous kindness? Nonetheless, she didn't normally act like this. Where's the cold, sarcastic changeling that I knew? "If you ever bring this up again though, I'll give you even more of a reason to need carrying." There she is.

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Nibbling on one of the berries that we had found in our trip, I couldn't help but find the current situation to be... Awkward. For the past hour or so, we'd once again been walking in silence. The awkward part, though, was that I wasn't really walking. Despite my and Chrysalis' insistence, Nightmare Moon wouldn't let me set foot on the ground, so I was stuck riding on Chrysalis' back through the whole night.

Its one thing to feel like you're causing a friend trouble, even if she didn't technically think of me as a friend, but its another to literally be riding on top of them. Especially since both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis were taller than me, standing over me by at least two heads. So now, not only was I riding on Chrysalis, but I couldn't see in front of me! Maybe I'm just being overly self-conscious about this, but I didn't particularly appreciate feeling like a kid.

Besides that though, the only other major problem with this situation was how boring it was. It was like a broken record. 'Tamp, tamp, crunch, rustle. Tamp, tamp, crunch, rustle. Tamp, tamp, crunch, rustle!' Ugh!

"... So, anypony know how to pass the time?" I asked, cracking my back in an effort to get rid of the many knots that had built up. This was why horses normally wore saddles. Then again, I'm riding on an insect-pony hybrid.

"How exactly would we do that?" Chrysalis rebuked, glancing back to me with a turned head. I shrugged.

"I don't know, I thought maybe we could just... Talk, or something." Rolling her eyes, Chrysalis put her attention back to the path ahead of her.

"Perhaps ye can regale us with a tale from thy past." Nightmare Moon suggested. It took me a second or two to figure out what she had said, I'm not going to lie.

"Oh, you mean, like a story?" I asked. When Nightmare Moon nodded, I let out a mental sigh at the fact that I had guessed right. Chrysalis glanced to me again, a sarcastic smile on her face.

"Oh yes, please! Fascinate us with whatever you had done in your life before being arrested. I'm soooooo interested." Well somepony needs a nap. Shaking my head, I looked to her with a scowl.

"Ha ha, very funny." I said sarcastically, drawing a smile from Chrysalis.

"I thought it was." She told me, looking forward once again. "Now, under any other circumstances, I would ask about whatever crime it was that landed in jail." I narrowed my eyes at the theme that seemed to constantly repeat with her.

"I don't remem-"

"But, since you're so dead set with the idea of not telling us, I'll just settle for what you used to do before you were arrested." I continued to glare at her for a moment or two, though she didn't seem to notice, before I let out a sigh of frustration and pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

"... All right. I was an architectural engineer in Canterlot." I began, looking to the night sky once again as I recalled.

"Architectural engineer? Ye were a builder?" Nightmare Moon asked, slightly throwing off my train of thought, but not by too much.

"Um, no. I didn't build anything, I just made the designs. Schematics and the like." Nightmare Moon nodded in understanding, seeming to listen to me with her utmost attention.

"Anyways, it was a pretty good job. A good pay, nice ponies, and I even chose my own hours. Plus, I was doing something I loved, so that was a bonus I guess." I chuckled as I recalled the eagerness that I would normally feel on a workday, compared to everypony else's exhaustion or anxiety. Funny how the only human in an all pony company was more efficient than the more experienced personnel.

"The day I had gotten the job was a miracle on its own though. See, I was heading home after having bought some furniture for my new house, since I had just moved into Canterlot. Then, there were these two ponies."

********************************************

"Well that was nice of them."

So far, the move was going pretty well. Granted, some of my neighbors were snooty as all hell. So much so that even if they had poles up their asses, it still wouldn't make a difference to how uptight they were. 'Stop with all that racket!', 'Can't you see that someponies are trying to relax here!', 'How rude!'. That kind of stuff. The funniest part? They were complaining about the noise I made while I was moving in. I don't know how they expected me to be quiet while I was moving heavy furniture, or even how they heard me in the first place, but I did know that it was annoying.

Luckily, there were still some nice ponies in this town after all. The furniture store I went to made it quite clear that they wanted nothing more than to keep their customers satisfied, and that included bringing over furniture to the buyers house, even though it wasn't necessary. They weren't being obligated by their manager or looking for tips, but actually doing it because they wanted to. So naturally, as soon as they finish, they can bet that I'm going to treat them to something nice.

"Which reminds me, how many funds do I have again?" I cringed at the thought, but I was still going to reward those ponies nonetheless. Right now though, I was just focused on getting back home. It was getting late, and soon, Celestia would completely lower the sun and make way for Luna's moon... I still couldn't get my head around that concept.

"What do you mean, 'he's sick'! He's been 'sick' for the last two months!" I overheard. In my mind, I told myself that I should just walk along and mind my own business. Then again, its hard not to hear when they yell that loud, so I guess its alright.

"Sir, that's the message he sent me. Wether he's sick or not, I'm not too sure, but either way, I still need to know what kind of material I should use for this support beam." Now I was really interested. Back home, I loved physics, and had always wanted to be an engineer... Before I ended up here. Veering off of my path home, I made my way to the source of the sound, glancing around a wooden fence and noticing two ponies looking over blueprints of what looked like a building. One of them had red fur and an orange mane, an earth pony, with a measuring stick as his cutie mark. The other, to my confusion, wore a suit and tie coupled with yellow tinted sunglasses. His fur was brown, and his mane was colored the same, cut short in a buzz cut sort of way, a cutie mark of a protractor on his side, surrounded by the white lines a person would normally see on a schematic. He was a unicorn, and at the moment, he was floating the building schematics in front of the both of them.

"I swear, when I get my hooves on him... Look, I think that if we were to put a solid steel support column in the center, it would be able to hold the place up."

"Yeah, but we'd end up putting a support beam in the middle of the room." He wasn't wrong. By the looks of the structure, while a steel column could, in theory, keep the building well supported, it would end up being more of an inconvenience than an advantage.

"True, but it's all we got. If you got any better ideas then why don't you go ahead and say 'em."

"Why not just spread out some titanium support links?" Both of the ponies turned to me in surprise, likely not aware of my presence there, and I quickly regretted saying what I did. I was only supposed to think that, not say it out loud!

"... What did you say?" My nerves were starting to get the best of me at this point. I honestly thought that I had said something wrong.

"Um... I just thought... Maybe titanium supports... Would work better." I said, scratching the back of my head and avoiding eye contact with the pony. Am I normally shy? No. Do I have even the slightest clue as to whether or not I had offended these possibly dangerous ponies that were in front of me? No. Did I need to be nervous? I'm pretty sure I had just answered that question.

For some time, the two ponies stayed silent, glancing to and fro the building blueprints and me. "I'll just... Be going now... Bye." And just like that, I made my way back home. In other words, I sprinted the hell outta there.

-------------------------------------

That had to have been one of the most embarrassing things I had ever done. Let alone stupid. As I sat down on one of the many unopened boxes of furniture in my home, I sighed and glanced out the window. The ponies from the store had kept their word, and, since I didn't really have much else to offer, I gave them a pretty hefty tip. Though, looking at my funds now, I thought that I may have slightly overextended myself. They sure weren't expecting it.

Suddenly, I heard a knock at the door. Raising a brow, I stood from my 'seat' and dusted myself off. I probably looked horrible, considering I hadn't taken a shower or even changed yet, but I figured that if it were another of those annoying snobs from before, then they would just have to deal with it.

The pony at the door knocked again, and again, and again, his hooves hitting harder against the door with every rap of his/her hooves.

"Alright, alright already! Keep your pants on m-" I froze as I opened the door, noticing the same two ponies from before were there, looking at me with raised brows.

"Um... We're not wearing pants."

********************************************

"If they were not wearing pants, then why didst ye claim they were?"

"It's a figure of speech, Nightmare Moon. It means to calm down." I explained, finding it pretty funny the she had taken it so literally. "Like I was saying, as it turned out, those two were the co-founders of one of Canterlot's more successful engineering companies, 'Hooves and Elbow Grease'. They had come by to tell me that my idea of using separate titanium links was actually really effective, and best of all, they even offered me a job!"

"Hm. They must have been desperate." Chrysalis added, bringing about a glare from both Nightmare Moon and I.

"Would it kill you to say one nice thing about me?" I asked. Unsurprisingly, she just snickered.

"... Well fuck you too." I said simply, rolling my eyes and looking back to Nightmare Moon. "Anything else you want to know about?" Nightmare Moon put a hoof to her chin in thought, her mane seeming to glow slightly as she trailed off into thought.

"Perhaps... Ye know of another tale from your occupation." Nodding my head, I thought back to some of the better moment that I had at work, until finally, I remembered one that had always stuck out for me.

"Okay, I've got one. There was this one assignment I was given. The customer was a regular of mine, and he was an all together friendly guy. I think his name was..."

********************************************

"Mr. Tendhoof, I've got those schematics you asked for." I told my regular customer, unfolding the blue sheet of paper and laying it out on the flat wooden table in front of him.

"Thanks Jeremy. And you can call me 'Hardhat'." He was always a relaxed stallion, never really taking anything too seriously unless it was absolutely necessary. He had a orange-yellow coat, with an even darker colored orange mane. He was an earth pony, the biggest one that I had met, rivaling even the size of a quiet red stallion I had seen in Ponyville when Zecora would ask me to get her some groceries, and his cutie mark was that of a hammer, several nails crossing over it and a yellow hardhat on top.

I wasn't sure why at the time, but whenever he came over to the company for new schematics, he would always ask for me personally. As it turned out, he thought of me to be the best engineer out of the company. Which was saying a lot, considering there were over 4 dozen ponies working there. "Sorry about the short notice by the way, but the pony that wanted us to build this place cut out time limit, and we had to pick up the pace if we ever wanted to make it on time."

Placing two paperweights on the side of the blueprints so it wouldn't be blown off of the table, I looked to my old 'friend' and waved my arm at him dismissively. "It's no problem, it was a slow week anyway. Besides, haven't I always pulled through for you, Tendhoof?" I asked.

Rolling his eyes, he nodded, a comical smile on his far. "And that's why I usually choose you to be my building designer. Though, I do have some questions about this ventilation system you added to the building structure..." Looking over the schematics again, he began to silently read out the details of the plans again... Before punching my arm. Considering he was an earth pony and he had hooves instead of fists, it hurt. A lot.

"Ow! What was that for!" I yelled, rubbing my now bruised arm and looking to him with annoyance.

"For calling me Tendhoof again. I've told you over a dozen times now that you should call me like everypony else does. 'Hardhat'. Say it with me now. 'HAAAAARRRRRRDDDDHAT'." Rolling my eyes at his sarcasm, I leaned against the blueprints and looked to him questioningly.

"Yeah, why do they call you that anyway?" I asked. To my surprise, he looked to me and smiled, before looking to the construction sight ahead of him and gesturing towards it.

"Watch this." No sooner that he had said that, he began to trot his way onto the site. The problem? He had, ironically compared to his name, headed in without a hardhat! The moment he stepped in though, I heard a pony from above yell.

"Look out below!" My eyes widened as cinder blocks and pieces of lumber fell out of what seemed like nowhere, hitting everywhere around the smiling stallion as he sat on the ground, seeming to draw a perfect circle revolving him. As the dust cleared up, I was pretty sure that he could easily see my dropped jaw, considering the fact that he had begun to laugh hysterically.

"H- how? Okay, you know what, fine. You're lucky when you get into danger. But that still doesn't explain why they call you 'Hardhat'." He stopped his laughing for a moment or two, comically raising a brow at me with an expecting smile.

"See, that's the fun part." Making his way out of the mess of debris around him, he made his way back to the entrance of the construction site, grabbing a hardhat from one of the tables and once again taking a seat.

"Incoming!" I felt my arms and jaw go completely limp as I saw a solid cinderblock land and crumble on his head, the hardhat protecting him perfectly from the falling peace of debris.

I heard him chuckle as he made his way to me, taking off his helmet and shoving it into my arms, breaking me from my dumbfounded state.

"Hardhats always seemed to do the opposite of what they're supposed to for me, huh?" Glancing down to the hardhat he had put in my hands, I carefully put it down on the floor and took a couple of steps away from it.

"So... About that ventilation system."

********************************************

"Hehe. I ended up avoiding construction sites altogether for a week after that. Made it hard to work with Hardhat, but after the performance he put on, I doubt that anypony else would do something different." Nightmare Moon was almost ready to burst out laughing at this point, barely restricting herself with a hoof as snickering could be heard behind her 'poker face'. Even Chrysalis, surprisingly, seemed to be near he breaking point, her normally blank or cold face cracking a genuine smile of amusement, and this time, it wasn't aimed at me. Well, technically it was, but I meant for it to be this time.

"Your experiences in Canterlot are most amusing, Sir Jeremy." Nightmare Moon chuckled out, a smile plastered on her face as she looked back to me. Returning the smile, I then looked to Chrysalis with a raised brow and a smile, tapping her lightly as I slyly hoped for a response.

"Well Chrysalis? What did you think?" Chrysalis took a moment or two to respond, almost hesitant to speak.

"... Alright. I admit Jeremy, it was pretty entertaining to hear." Smiling, I slightly leaned back in my 'seat' on Chrysalis' back, closing my eyes in content relaxation.

"I knew it..." Suddenly, I shot my eyes open and looked to Chrysalis in surprise, noticing Nightmare Moon doing the same out of the corner of my eye.

"Did you just say 'Jeremy'?!?"

Chapter 7: Visiting Hours

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Three hours. I didn't want there to be, but there was only three hours left in the night. Soon, the sun would rise, bringing about the bright, phenomenal light of day with it. The light that would bring about my collapse, as I would fall onto the floor in fear, shivering as I thought back to my time in the hellish prison.

Maybe I was overreacting, but I didn't really care right now. Three hours was technically still a lot of time left for us to find another place to rest, especially considering the progress that I had hoped we had made in the past nine hours of walking. Nonetheless, I couldn't help but find myself counting the seconds, continually glancing up when I was sure that neither Nightmare Moon nor Chrysalis were looking towards me, and noticing every changing detail of the night sky. The ever dimming moon, the stars losing their clarity little by little, and sky's loss of color from its wonderful pitch black into a dull, melancholy dark blue.

Every time I thought about it, which was often at this point, I could feel a small spike of fear and paranoia pass through me. Spikes that I was sure that Chrysalis could feel, which made me feel even worse!

I hadn't exactly told the two about my photophobia, and for good reason too. Why? Well, I was already a useless, injured, and filthy mass of dead weight, as I had said before. I didn't really want to add 'embarrassing' or 'pathetic' to that list.

Though, I suppose that an emotion sensing 'pony' like Chrysalis could only ignore this for so long, and frankly, I think that Nightmare Moon was starting to suspect something as well. She would glance back at me every so often, never really long enough for me to see much from her, but just long enough for me to notice.

Two hours and 57 minutes.

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1 hour. 1 hour! 1 goddamned hour! At this point, I'm actually hoping that the sun will come up already. The stress that I felt, paranoia eating away at my mind as the sun grew ever closer, though it wasn't technically moving right now, was killing me. I just wanted to get it over with already, rather than continue to feel like this.

No, no, NO! Calm down Jeremy. You're overreacting. Your emotions have probably reached an all time sense of turmoil by now, and Chrysalis is probably ready to kick you of off her back and question your behavior. You need to be calm. Just... Let your mind drift... And take a deep breath...

In...

Out...

In...

Out...

... Its not FUCKING working! I-

"Sir Jeremy?" Nightmare Moon called, causing me to flinch at the sudden sound of her voice through my thoughts. Now I just had to answer. Simple enough.

"Oh. Um, yeah?" Smooth. Real smooth. Looking to Nightmare Moon, I noticed the look of concern that she was currently giving me, an eyebrow raised in worried suspicion.

"Are ye feeling well?" She asked. I felt a small part of my mind buckle at the question, but I ignored it and moved on as best as I could.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Seriously? 'Why does she ask?' I thinks it's pretty obvious why she asked that, yet I still said it? I have to say, my mental capability is much less functional when I'm stressed. A lot like when I was trying to get the keys from that guard on the day of Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon's escape. Wasn't really thinking with all the crayons in the crayon box, if you know what I mean... That was a horrible metaphor.

"Your skin seemeth pale and sickly." Well crap. Figures that, despite my attempts not to seem worried in front of the two, not like I did a good job at that anyways, my own anatomy would end up being the biggest piece of evidence against my lies.

"Oh. Umm. I'm just... A little sick?" That came out more like a question than a statement, and I was tempted to punch myself for that. Thankfully though, and much to my surprise at that, Chrysalis butted in before I could make my situation seem any worse.

"I'm not particularly sure about whatever logic he may be trying to put together here, but I think that we should just indulge him and get it over with." Suffice to say, I had no idea wether this would be a good thing, or a bad thing. "Nightmare Moon, go find him something to drink. we'll stay here until you return." Still not sure if this is good or bad.

Looking to Chrysalis now, Nightmare Moon wavered for a moment, glancing at me for another minute or so with worry, before ultimately nodding, heading off into the brush without us in an effort to find water. Seconds after she had left though, Chrysalis turned her head to look at me, her eyes narrowed in what I thought to be suspicion. This was definitely going to be a bad thing.

"I'm going to be honest with you, so listen carefully, since I'm liable not to do that too often." She quietly hissed, poking my forehead with one of her fore-hooves, causing me to recoil back before looking to her with my own look of annoyance, rubbing the place that she had so 'gently' poked. "For the past few hours, you've been panicking for whatever reason, and I want to know why."

"... I have no idea what your talking abou-"

"Don't forget which one of us can sense lies." She interrupted, quickly shutting me up as I realized that I would have just been better off being quiet.

"Now then, start explaining." The seriousness on her face would have been enough to make even the most hardened of criminals break. Then again, I wasn't a criminal,-For the most part-and I was pretty much used to her 'serious' persona. If anything, the only thing that made me nervous was that the sun was soon going to start to come out into the sky. Speaking of which.

I glanced to the sky again, noticing the now barely existent night sky, slowly beginning to become enveloped by light as the moon began to lower across the sky. Looking back to Chrysalis, I realized how much of a mistake this was. She had probably felt the spike of emotion in me when I had looked upwards, since she was now doing the same, curiously yet frustratingly searching the skies for whatever I had 'seen'.

"... What are you hiding?" She asked suspiciously, slowly bringing her gaze back down to me. As I opened my mouth to spout another lie, though it was obvious to both her and I that it wouldn't work, fate had decided that it had seen enough of this train wreck. ~~Took it long enough.~~Under consideration of the fact that fate could really screw me over if it wanted, I'm just going to pretend I never said that.

"Sir Jeremy, Chrysalis, come hither, swiftly!" I flinched at the mental calls of Nightmare Moon, once again being scared by her sudden intrusion into my mind. Damn it, I wish she would give some sort of warning for that.

"What is it?" I heard Chrysalis return to Nightmare Moon through the mental link. Apparently this was a three-way conversation. Brilliant. Because I definitely want the mare who had just been questioning me to be inside my head now.

"We have discovered something that may prove to be of great interest. Both of your presences are asked for, immediately!" I wouldn't really say that she was asking, per se, more demanding, but I thought nothing of it. Besides, this could prove to be good news. It was already good in that it took Chrysalis' attention off of me, if even for a moment, but still.

"Alright Nightmare Moon, we're heading towards you now." With that response, the presence of Nightmare Moon quickly left my mind, along with that of Chrysalis, leaving her and I in a rather awkward moment of silence.

"... Don't think this conversation is over yet." Chrysalis chimed in, beginning her walk to the same direction that Nightmare Moon had gone off to.

"I wouldn't dream of it." I smirked slightly at the thought as we went deeper into the brush, an even greater darkness than before enveloping us as the trees shrouded whatever hints of sunlight may have been appearing in the horizon.

Chrysalis stumbled for a moment, a confused look on her face as she glanced back to me. I take it my sudden feeling of glee threw her off?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Truly, I could only wonder as to the sudden change in condition as Sir Jeremy had shown. As I glanced around my left and right, I found myself continually recalling the paleness of his being, and how every time I would look back to him, he would seem to be in worse condition than before.

How was I to respond to this? Had the scratches that he had gotten in our trek allowed for sickness? Perhaps it was the water we had earlier given him? Or the berries? There simply had to be something that we had done wrong. Something that had risked the health of our savior, and friend, Jeremy... Friend.

I would repeat that word over and over in my mind, never ceasing to find joy from the thought. To have found a friend in Sir Jeremy, was to find a friend at all. Nopony had previously attempted to become my companion during my time as Princess Luna, nor during my reign as Nightmare Moon, who had not simply wanted something in return. Yet he was willing to do so for nothing in return, less even! Even now, as I continue to numb his ever growing pain, despite the distance that had grown between us two, I continued to sense an odd sensation of unwillingness, as if he was unknowingly telegraphing to me that he did not feel it correct to allow me to 'waste' my ever so limited amount of magic upon him. Perhaps all the time I had spent mentally communicating with him in our previous cell had left a residual effect.

Nonetheless, I could not lose him, my one true companion, so soon after the several centuries of perpetual loneliness and misery that I had felt. I could feel my slightly weighted pace quicken, my resolve empowered as I sought out whatever I could to assist Sir Jeremy.

I would not lose a friend. No matter the cost... However, I cannot ignore the odd feeling that accompanies the thought of my companion. Alongside glee, I could also feel guilt, sadness, and for some reason, an emotion that I could not identify so easily.

It was odd, but not unbearable.

Passing by yet another of the large, corrupted trees of the Everfree, I paused, having noticed a break in the usually constant forest out of the corner of my eye. This was not something that would naturally occur in the forest, be it this, or any other. My curiosity peaked, I trotted to the opening, admittedly ignoring Sir Jeremy's needs, if only for the moment, in order to satiate my curiosity.

Pushing aside the several layers of brush that limited my view through the opening with my forehooves, so as not to divert any of my magic away from Sir Jeremy, I looked further into the opening, narrowing my eyes as I attempted to gain a better view of what was ahead of me.

What I saw shocked me, for a lack of better words. However, parallel to this shock, I felt a slight sense of joy, a smile coming to my face as I realized what was in front of me.

Before me was an oddly shaped and slightly wilted tree, its branches seemingly stretched and bent into elegant curves, rather than the sharp angles of the many others that surrounded it, and its roots pronounced from the ground, showing off its size and sturdiness even further still . It was a healthy brown, yet oddly dreary at the same time, with dark green leaves, its size nearly double to the other forms of foliage surrounding it. What had made it especially interesting though, were the holes that had been shaped into it, revealing a hollow inside to the great tree, candles visible through these openings, their short reaching lights adding only slight visibility to the interior of the tree's hollow insides. Finally, a red door, built into the trunk of the tree and allowing for the entrance of ponies of all shapes and sizes.

To many other ponies, this would seem like the simple, eccentric abode of somepony in the forest. To me though, I saw more than that. I saw a shelter for myself and my companions.

Swift as the stars, I quickly opened a mental link with the other two accompanying members of my party.

"Sir Jeremy, Chrysalis, come hither, swiftly!"

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It took no more than a couple of minutes for us to reach the alicorn, and by then, we could clearly see her 'hiding' behind a bush, glancing over the top of the plant every so often, apparently not having yet noticed us. Oh, and by 'hiding', I had meant that she and her mane could easily have been seen behind the brush by any pony who would pass by, if anypony were here that is, flowing back and forth ethereally and quite easily showing itself over the green with its midnight blue. It was amusing, yet rather tedious to watch. For such a 'powerful' being, she certainly had the tendency of acting childish.

"Nightmare Moon? What are you doing?" Jeremy asked, clearly trying to withhold his own laughter at the sight that was before him. Nightmare Moon quickly shifted her gaze towards us, Jeremy's voice having finally alerted her of our arrival, and smiled, gesturing for us to come over to where she was. I rolled my eyes, reluctantly doing as she asked and moving to her left, looking over the brush and ignoring her gesturing for me to get down. I was not going to lay on the ground next to her.

That is, until she put a hoof on my back and forced me down. I let out a small 'oof' as my underside hit the floor, looking towards her with narrowed eyes, which she so promptly returned.

I could hear Jeremy's chortling clearly through our silent debate, him having found it amusing for us two to be acting like this. His chortling was cut short however, much to my thankfulness and slight confusion, as he was then put into an oddly thought filled moment of silence.

"Is... Is that?"

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Geez. These two would never quit would they?

When Nightmare Moon had told us to make our way over to her, I certainly wasn't expecting to see a crouched and, rather poorly, hiding Nightmare Moon. Let alone the fact that she had basically forced Chrysalis into a similar position to her side, the two now staring daggers at one another.

The fact that they didn't notice that I was still much more easily visible over the brush, since I hadn't made an attempt to hide and I'd been on Chrysalis' back, was beyond me. I figure they were too distracted with abhorring one another to really care to notice me, and personally, I didn't really mind.

I continued to chuckle at the sight as I looked over the brush, trying to see what had Nightmare Moon... So... Worked up... Holy crap.

I looked once, twice, three times at the large hollow tree that stood out in the opening, continually rubbing my eyes and shaking my head to make sure that I wasn't only imagining it.

"Is... Is that?" My dizziness having subsided some time ago, I stepped off of Chrysalis' back, my spine letting out its own noises of agreement with this action as I carefully made my way through the brush and got closer to the house, looking over every detail that I could see, a small sense of hopefulness in the back of my mind.

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Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis watched on in confusion as Jeremy began to circle around the tree, looking it over and under in his own attempts to confirm his suspicions. Though the two mares were less than aware of the purpose of his actions, Jeremy could feel a sense of giddiness building as he quickly realized just what Nightmare Moon had found. Or, if they were fortunate, who she had found.

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"Ha! Holy crap!" I silently exclaimed, my lips curving into a smile as I looked back to Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, who were looking to me in confusion and curiosity. I was probably making an absolute fool of myself, walking around a single tree like a mad man possessed, but I couldn't really care less at this point.

"Is the shelter satisfactory, Sir Jeremy?" My smile wavered for a moment as she said, or would it be thought, this to me. A second or so after analyzing what she had though, my smile returned, along with a quick chuckle.

"Nightmare Moon, you have no idea how great this is!" I returned to her happily, turning back to the hollow tree in front of me. "This isn't just any house that you found. This is an old friend's house, Zecora."

"And how does that make a difference?" Chrysalis chimed in, causing me too flinch at her sudden intrusion to the mental conversation. Honestly though, there had to be an easier way for me too figure out who was in our mental conversations and when.

"You'll see." I answered, making my way to the front door of the house as I did so. "Both of you wait out here for now. I'll call you when you can come in."

"What!?!" Chrysalis suddenly yelled as I futilely recoiled to the side in an effort to escape the sudden ringing in my ears. "You expect us to wait out here for you!? How can we be sure that you'll even call for us at all?!?" Glad to see that she's as untrusting as ever.

Glancing back to her with a blank face, I gave her the one response that I could think of. "You can't." And with that, I knocked on the door.

Seconds later, I could hear movement beyond the door, silently willing it to open as I noticed the sun beginning to rise over the horizon. Finally, just as my phobia was starting to get a hold of me again, the door opened.

A small smile graced me as I saw my old friend, Zecora, once again, despite the fact that she was currently rubbing the grogginess out of her eyes at the moment.

"Do not take this as spite, but who has visited me this late at night?" She asked. Had I ever mentioned that she had the tendency of rhyming? Because she does. A lot. Not that I find anything wrong with it, mind you, but its still pretty strange, despite it being a more cultural thing.

"Actually, its technically day, Zecora." Zecora's eyes shot open at the sound of my voice. She looked at me for a moment, her eyes wide and mouth agape in surprise, before shortly gaining a much more cheerful and smiling expression.

"Ah, Jeremy, my old friend! It is good to see you to no end." Zecora exclaimed, the exhaustion that had been imbedded into her voice seeming to vanish within an instant.

"It's good to see you too Zecora." I returned, glancing to the rising sun out if the corner of my eye, an involuntary shiver passing through. "Mind if I come in?" Please say yes. Please say yes. Please say yes.

"I think that I have showed, that you are always welcome in my abode." She replied, bringing another smile to my face, both for her friendliness and the fact that I was able to avoid the light just a little longer. She sidestepped to her left, gesturing for me to enter with a smile of her own, which I quickly did.

As she closed the door behind me, I caught a glance of Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, still hiding in the bushes that I had left them in. They were both watching me, be it with annoyance or worry in their eyes. Just before the door closed though, I gave them a reassuring nod, and just like that, a red door blocked my view, grabbing my attention and shifting it back to Zecora.

She made her way past me to one of the several rooms in the house. As for me, I simply glanced around the familiar tree that I had once roomed in. Its funny actually, how some time ago, I would complain to Zecora that this place was way too dark for its own good, save for a few specific spots, but now, this darkness just seemed absolutely perfect. Especially since I saw hints of sunlight begin to shine in through the windows, which I so masterfully avoided. I had made it in just in time.

"I am going to make some tea, would you like to have some with me?" She asked from the other room.

"No thanks, I'm good." I replied, making my way to the center of the room where a simple mat had been laid and sitting myself down, legs crossed, on it. I had a little bit of a struggle, considering my injuries, but the pain was all but nonexistent thanks to Nightmare Moon's continued use of magic.

A minute or so of waiting later, Zecora made her way back into the room, a kettle of tea held up by its basket-like handle within Zecora's mouth, and a couple of cups being balanced on a small porcelain platter on her back. How she and many other ponies could manage to carry so many things at once, despite not having hands, was beyond me. Hell, let's not even get started on how they sometimes managed to hold things with their forehooves.

Placing the objects that she had brought back onto the mat, she took a seat as well, carefully pouring the tea into one of the cups before placing the kettle back down and picking up the now filled cup in between both of her forehooves.

As she took a sip, she looks towards me intently, an eyebrow slightly raising as she did so. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

She took a moment or two to respond, savoring her tea before finally swallowing and answering. "Though it is good to see you after a time that only Celestia knows, I must still ask, what has happened to your clothes?"

Oh. I had forgotten about that. Glancing down at myself, I looked over the torn and tattered clothing, filth ridden and barely doing anything whatsoever to cover me. Luckily, Zecora hadn't noticed the discolored and swollen skin beneath my shirt, let alone my more... Thinly face. The dark had its advantages, after all.

Still, I had come here for a reason, right? So the first thing I would have to do, unfortunately, would be to explain to my previous caretaker as to what had happened within the last few months. Fun.

"Heh. Guess I've got a lot to explain, huh?" She nodded. "Well... You know how I told you that you wouldn't have to worry about me when I had moved to Canterlot?" She nodded again, acknowledgingly, beginning to take a sip of tea from her cup. "As it turns out. You should have worried more." Still occupied with her drink, she simply raised a brow at me warily. "You see, I was... I kinda... Oh to hell with it, I got arrested."

To say she was surprised by what I had said would be an understatement. Her calm demeanor had all but disintegrated, replaced by one of shock as she suddenly spit out the tea she was drinking... Onto me. At least it wasn't hot tea.

Wiping off the tea from my face, I looked to the now wide eyed Zecora, unsure of what I should have said next. She and I stayed silent for a while, looking towards each other, both having nothing to say at the moment, before finally, her agape mouth shifted back into a smile, much to my confusion. Even more odd though, was that she began to laugh.

"My friend, that was a very good jest." she chuckled. "Truly one of your best."

She thought that I was joking?

Of course she did! You never exactly showed 'criminal signs' when you lived with her!

Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I looked to Zecora seriously, despite the fact that she was still chuckling ever so slightly. "Zecora, I'm being serious. I actually got arrested. I've been in the Canterlot dungeons for the past few months!"

Her chuckling still didn't stop. Rather, it was further empowered by my statement again. "Heh. Forgive me for laughing, but I simply cannot see that happening. You always did enjoy the average hoax, so how am I to see this as anything but one of your jokes." To an extent, she had a point, but damn it if I didn't need her to believe me. Luckily though, I had a sure fire way to convince her, and it was right outside.

Sighing, I stood from the mat and made my way next to the window, still avoiding the light that it now emanated. "Alright. I was hoping to do this out of good will, but I guess I have to do it just to convince you now." A smile still on her face, she rose a brow at me and gulped another sip of tea that she had probably taken as I was standing.

"Girls, you can come in now!" I yelled. Zecora's smile disappeared again, confusion evident on her new expression before, no more than a few seconds later, there was a knock on the door. Noticing that Zecora wasn't moving to answer, and that I was closer, I went to the side of the door, to where it would turn into when it was opened so that I could still stay in the dark, and pulled it open.

Zecora's eyes widened again as the two entered, the sound of hoof steps filling the room as they moved off of the dirt floor from the outside to the wooden floor inside. As the two entered, I closed the door behind them, still cautioning the light as I did so.

"About time. I was beginning to think you were going to leave us out there." Looking to Chrysalis, I noticed that she was glaring at me, while Nightmare Moon was looking over the room from her position near the door.

"Didn't I say that I'd call you?" I replied, raising a brow and giving her a deadpan look.

"Actually, I recall you saying 'you can't' when I asked you how we were supposed to know that you would call us at all." Her glare growing in intensity, I rolled my eyes at her, not really as intimidated by this display of hers as she may have thought me to be.

"Yeah. Basically, I was telling you to trust me. Glad to see that went well." Her eyes narrowed even further still, her teeth seeming to grind together in frustration as she made to answer. Before she could though, Nightmare Moon interrupted.

"Um, Sir Jeremy? Perhaps it would be best if we put our focus to the situation at hand?" Nightmare Moon said, breaking us from our annoyed gazes to one another. Oh right, Zecora.

Looking to Zecora, I was prepared to explain this entire situation as I looked to her face of... Indifference? "Wow. You're taking this better than I thought you would Zecora."

Her emotionless expression remained as she shrugged, taking another sip of her tea. "My emotions are simple to hide. Truthfully, I am screaming on the inside."

"She's not wrong you know." Chrysalis chimed in, earning another quick glare from me. She just smirked though, not really caring that I was getting annoyed by her. If anything, I think she was proud of it.

Sighing, I looked to my old friend again, crossing my arms as I began to explain this, obviously frightening, situation. "Look, Zecora, a lot has happened in the past few months. And I do mean a lot, as you can probably see." I told her, gesturing to Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis. "But I don't want you to be afraid. I give you my word, these two are not what you may think of them to be."

Zecora took another sip of her tea, emptying her glass before finally setting it back onto the platter, standing on all four legs once again and looking straight at me, a slight glint of annoyance in the back of her eyes. This wasn't going to be pleasant.

"I think that is clear, but as for my fear, I would say that it has every right being here." She began, sounding quite serious beneath her 'emotionless' and rhyming tone. "For you to say to trust the changeling queen and mare on the moon, how am I to do this so soon?"

"Zecora, I-"

"To expect such an upheaval from their evil?" Evil? Zecora's voice was beginning to raise, anger becoming evident in her tone. I could understand this anger, to an extent, but she was getting a little extreme, wasn't she?

"Woah, Zecora, they're not-" Yet again she interrupted.

"To simply misrule those that have been cruel!?" Okay, now I was getting annoyed, and by the looks of it, Zecora wasn't trying to hold back her anger anymore, her eyes narrowing and mouth dropping into a scowl.

"Would you just-"

"So I question your word, for this is just absurd!" I could feel my own eyes narrowing. It was one thing to interrupt me so constantly, another to question my word, but as I glanced back to Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, noticing hurt or angered expressions on their faces, it reinforced my thought that it was beyond anything for anypony to do than to so openly insult my friends. "Why should I trust her or she-"

"Because they're the ones that saved me!" I interrupted with a shout, completely throwing off and quieting Zecora before she could spew any further. I felt like it was poetic justice that my response ended up rhyming with her attempted statement.

A prolonged moment of silence passed between us all, not even the sound of the outside seeming to exist as we all just stood there, watching each other. Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis were now looking at me with an odd combination of confusion and thankfulness. Nightmare Moon likely from stopping Zecora's insults, and Chrysalis from just shutting Zecora up...

I didn't really feel good about this though. Wether I was annoyed at her or not, I hated to get angry at my friends. Maybe it was just how I was raised, or maybe it was because of the fact that I had so few in this world, but it was almost impossible for me to stay angry at my friends.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose and crossing my arms in frustration.

"If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here right now." I said, breaking the silence. "Does that sound 'cruel' or 'evil' to you?" Looking back up to my old zebra companion, I noticed that she was looking down to the ground, her eyes closed in thought and her ears laid backwards against her head.

"... What crime did you commit, if to tell me you'll permit?" She finally asked, her voice coming out in a sigh.

"I wish I knew. All I remember is waking up in a small dark cell, with Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis as my cellmates." Zecora looked up to me again, her gaze locked straight onto my eyes as she seemed to scan for any sign of my lying. After another moment of two of searching though, she sighed, her eyes once again closing as she placed a forehoof over her face.

"I can see from your eyes that you tell no lies." She said, looking over the three of us with a look of both exasperation and confusion. "But why have you come if you are clearly on the run?" Ignoring the slight slip in her rhyming, likely from stress, I decided to explain.

"We got here by accident, honestly. Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis got me out of the dungeons about two days ago, and we started traveling again last night. Nightmare Moon found this place, and when she did, I figured that you would be able to help us." Zecora held another moment of silence, moving for her tea kettle and pouring more of her cold, calming drink into her recently emptied glass before placing it down and looking towards us again.

"Since I am aware that you are going to persist, how would you expect me to assist?" By the sound of both the question and her voice, I could tell that she hadn't really leaned towards any particular decision.

"All we need is a place to rest until nightfall again." I told her. She raised a brow, grabbing the cup of tea with her forehooves once again as she took a seat.

"That is all? A decision to my call?"

"That's it Zecora. I'm not going to ask you for anything extreme. Just a place to rest." She looked at me in silence for another moment or so before taking in a sip of her newly poured tea, her eyes once again closed in thought as she savored her drink. Finally, she gulped.

"Of the decisions that I have weighed, I have decided that you may stay." I let out a silent sigh of relief, happy that I wouldn't have to go out into the sun for another day, and that I, along with Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, would have a safe place to rest. "After all," she added, a smile gracing her once again. "I cannot simply abandon my old companion." She said, bringing about my own smile in return.

"Thank you."

Chapter 8: A Friend Through These Walls

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"I must say, Miss Zecora, that this tea that thou hast served us is unprecedented in its taste." Nightmare Moon told her temporary host through the wooden door that separated them. "Even the royal chef's brew would seem like nothing more than flavored water in comparison." Happily taking another sip of the drink that she held within her magical grasp, she could just barely notice Chrysalis roll her eyes from the other side of the room, taking her own, indifferent, sip from her serving of the drink.

"Why thank you, Nightmare Moon. If you like, I'll be out to serve you more soon." Nightmare Moon's smile grew even greater as she heard this, nodding her head vigorously at the prospect of receiving more of the delightfully tasting drink.

"Oh, yes, we would be most thankful for that, Miss Zecora. But, I do believe that it would be best for thee to finish thy treatment of Sir Jeremy before thou dost so." She replied, her tone of cheerfulness suddenly taking a serious turn as she mentioned her injured friend.

Chrysalis' brow raised as she noticed this shift, directing her sight to the door of the room that Zecora had taken Jeremy into soon after the three had arrived and Jeremy had explained their... situation.

Jeremy, though he had never mentioned his injuries to Zecora, had been dragged into that room by his zebra friend quite some time ago, being told that his injuries would need to be properly treated if they were to heal correctly. Being the person that he was however, Jeremy had, at first, refused, telling Zecora that his injuries 'weren't necessarily that bad.' Obviously, Zecora didn't buy that excuse of his for even a moment.

'Not so bad, you say? Then why is it that your ribs are so colored and swollen in such a way?' She had said, pointing her forehoof at the more exposed parts of his torso. Despite this though, Jeremy continued to tell her that he was fine, and that he wasn't in need of medical attention.

Persistent as he was however, when Zecora and Nightmare Moon gave one another a shared look of understanding, Jeremy had immediately figured out where the situation was headed. He barely had any time to react as Nightmare Moon levitated him up off of the floor, much to his chagrin, and into the room as Zecora had directed, Zecora smiling smugly to him as she did so.

' 'Tis for thine own good.' Nightmare Moon had told him as he gave her and Zecora a look of annoyance. The last thing Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis had seen of him for what would be a substantial amount of time was him rolling his eyes, grumbling to himself in defeat.

That was over an hour ago, and now, Nightmare Moon was beginning to grow worried for her companion. Chrysalis though, had simply been laying near one of the corners of the room for quite some time, sipping on the tea that Zecora had so kindly served her every once in a while as she rested there with an extreme sense of boredom.

"You have no need to worry so, for there is not much left to go." Zecora reassured her through the wooden door, drawing a continued look of concern from Nightmare Moon nonetheless. It was at this point that Chyrsalis jumped in.

"Is there any particular reason that Jeremy has been so quiet then?" Chrysalis asked, blankly breaking her silence as she took another, almost inexistent, sip from her drink as she turned her attention to the door as well.

"You try being talkative while you're shirtless in front of one of your female friends! Let alone while she bandages you up like a mummy! Its not exactly the least embarrassing thing." Jeremy rebutted, drawing a roll of the eyes from Chrysalis.

"I don't wear any 'shirts'." Chrysalis said simply, a smug smile coming to her face as she sensed Jeremy's irritation through the door. Nightmare Moon couldn't help but to chuckle at this, admittedly, entertaining scene, having found quite the comedic effect from seeing the two continue their usual pestering of one another, even though they were in different rooms. It wasn't particularly that entertaining, but at least it took her attention off of her worries.

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How is it that she can turn everything I say against me?

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I let out a sigh as I turned my head away from the door, putting my focus back onto the room I was in, and who I was in it with.

After Nightmare Moon and Zecora had so kindly 'asked' me to let Zecora do her thing, they had been more than willing to put me into this relatively small and stuffy room where Zecora would normally treat sick or injured ponies that would come to her, or at least wander over here... Mostly the latter though. Someponies should not try to act brave.

The room was, like I said, small, it's wooden walls seeming to revolve around us perfectly, going along the tree's many creases and grooves, all of them leading upward to meet at a single point near the middle of the ceiling. Aside from how the room looked itself, there were only a few things that were actually in the room anyhow, including a long, cloth covered table, a few unmarked ingredients for Zecora's potions and brews spread about it, a single lit candlestick, placed near the wall, still managing to keep from burning the place down might I add, while it was also far and dim enough to not cause me any real issues, and finally, a single wooden chair, which, at the moment, I was currently straddling as Zecora circled the bandages around me.

I shivered as one of her particular movements caused the odd green medicinal cream that she had put on me before the bandaging to shift, its cold and clammy texture causing me to get goosebumps. I pushed it off as much as I could, melding to Zecora's careful touch as she continued to gently tend to my injuries.

"You know, it's pretty obvious that you're acting much more relaxed than you should be." Chrysalis yelled through the door, whatever small sense of relaxation I felt being dashed away as I narrowed my eyes in annoyance, a slight warmth making its way to my cheeks. Rather than dignify that statement of hers with a response though, I just sighed again, once again trying to drift off into my thoughts and close out the world around me.

"How is it that you always cause me introspection with your companion selection?" Okay, I give up.

"Um... If by that you mean, 'why do I choose such weird friends', then I guess my response would have to be... 'Look who's calling the kettle black'?" Technically, I wasn't wrong. I mean, I chose for Zecora to be a friend of mine, and she wasn't exactly the most normal of ponies that I had met. The truthfullness of the comment seemed to have fallen on deaf ears though, as I yelped slightly as I felt the bandages tighten around my bruised ribs, causing a small spark of pain to flash through me. Turning to Zecora, I noticed the 'innocent' face she had put on as she smiled at me. I chuckled, rolling my eyes as I turned my head back to its original position. "Funny." I said sarcastically.

"I believed it to be. After all, you did just mock me." She chuckled, resuming her previous ministrations of wrapping the white strips around my torso. "Now, instead, would you please raise your arms above your head?"

I did as she asked, sitting myself up straight as I put both of my arms up over my head, cringing as a sharp jolt of pain came from my right shoulder. I waited, expecting to feel the wrapping of the cloth-like strips at any moment. Rather than her continuing though, I couldn't feel her moving the bandages anymore, nor was she saying anything.

"Zecora?" I asked.

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When I had first caught a glimpse of my old friend's injuries, I had originally thought that tending to them would be a breeze. Though, the clear sight of these now gives me pause and distraught, as I notice just how my thoughts were so wrongly brought.

His very bones in disrepair, though not so easily seen with a gaze shared, and a trail of his pained affliction, shown by his blackened discoloration. It is a wonder that he could have made it this far, especially after being so horribly marred.

Even now as he moves, his pained grunts bring a stillness to my hooves. My old companion, for which even the simplest of kindness seems to have abandoned. To believe that the guards of the princesses could prove so cold, even from him I could barely believe what I was told. Or perhaps, though I do not wish to assume such a thing, it was the princesses themselves that brought this forth with a spring.

"Zecora?" Upon hearing myself called, I quickly returned from my thought filled state, a slight hope that, for this distraction, my friend would not berate. "Is everything okay?"

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Zecora stayed silent for another moment or so, instead of answering, causing my concern to grow even further. "Zecora?"

"..Yes, everything is fine." She said with a sigh, skepticism already forming at the back of my mind. " Though, I cannot help but think that my letting you go, and your getting hurt, gravely intertwine." ...What?Turning to face her again, I saw that she was holding a saddened expression, her ears pinned against her head as she looked down to the ground with a frown.

"Zecora... What are you talking about?" I asked, raising a brow and tilting my head as I looked to her in confusion.

She glanced back up at me with her still saddened expression, rubbing her hoof against the floor below her. "... If I had been there, then perhaps of this issue, to you they would spare." Is she being serious?

"Or if I had been more attentive, I would have at least known about this issue, giving the idea to assist you incentive." She's blaming herself? "Or-"

"Woah, woah, woah! Zecora, what are you talking about?! You're acting as if you put me in that prison. Hell, if anything, I'm pretty sure that I'm the one to blame. Even if I cant remember exactly why, why else would I have ended up there?" Honestly though, where had that whole 'it's my own fault' mentality of hers come from? Zecora didn't need to feel any guilt, especially when she had nothing to do with this!

"... Perhaps... But-" I didn't even let her get to her rhyme before I cut her off.

"But nothing. You shouldn't beat yourself up for something that you had no part in, and I won't hear another word of it." Zecora's eyes were glued to the floor, not even willing a glance in my direction. Seeing her like this, I sighed, reaching down with one of my two raised arms and playfully ruffling up her mane, basically shaking her out of her funk.

"Believe me Zecora, you shouldn't feel guilty about this, and we both know it." I told her, giving her a small smile as I put my arm back over my head with the other. Zecora, fixing her ruffled mane as best as she could with her hooves, returned the smile. Hopefully, that had cheered her up.

"Now then, are we done with the first aid, or am I going to have to keep my arms up like this forever?" Another tug of the bandages by her, and a wince of pain from me, was all the response I needed to know that she indeed felt better. Though, personally, I could have gone without the pain.

Turning away again, I sat patiently as Zecora's forelegs circled around me, passing the bandaging from one forehoof to the other as she started to cover my uppermost chest in bandages. Granted, it was a little awkward for me, especially whenever her fur brushed against some parts of my bare back, but nonetheless, she was just helping. Zecora and I were, and are, good friends. Notice the emphasis there?

Back when I had lived with her, we had thought of each other as simple housemates. Nothing more, nothing less, and personally, I was fine with that. Besides, it made things much easier. Like how she and I would take turns with the chores around the house, rather than leaving it all up to one person/pony. Dishes, housecleaning, laundry... Speaking of laundry.

Glancing to the corner of the room, I noticed the pile of torn cloth and color that used to be a shirt. Its too bad too, that shirt was specially made for me by a tailor in Ponyville. Rarity, I think her name was.

"Hey, Zecora?" I asked.

"Hm?"

"As... Er, awkward as this may sound, is there any chance that you have some spare clothing of mine that I had left here? The clothes I came here in aren't exactly useful anymore." As I felt Zecora finish wrapping the bandages together behind me, tying a small firm knot so they would be kept in place, I heard her hum in thought.

"... Actually, there may just be. Something that, in your rush to leave, you had neglected to see." Holy crap, really?

I put my arms back down at last, since she had finished, and watched as Zecora made her way out of the room without another word, likely to look for whatever article of clothing it was that I had left behind, leaving me to wait for her in the room, alone.

Letting out a sigh, I crossed my arms over the back part of chair and laid my head down on top, trying to make myself more comfortable, despite my less than so position, and closed my eyes. I took a few deep breaths, a sense of momentary bliss in the peaceful silence that surrounded me at the moment... And, now I'm bored.

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As Miss Zecora exited the room, a content look on her face, I could feel a smile forge its way to mine, expecting the best from the zebra. I made to ask her how Sir Jeremy was, but by the time I had opened my maw to do so, she was already in the next room over, the sound of shifting objects and opening cabinets audible from even here.

I raised a brow at this odd event, looking towards the door that Sir Jeremy had been behind. My desire to see my friend was great, yet at the same time, I felt it not to be correct.

During my rule as Princess Luna, many of the guards were proud, noble ponies, who felt that they should not show weakness if only for them to feel themselves of use. Sir Jeremy was similar in this regard. Throughout our trek here, he had always seemed to have that sense of uselessness to him. Wherefore he had believed this, I was not sure, for he had shown himself to be more so than many others, but he had thought this nonetheless.

To enter and see him now, while he was now even more vulnerable than I or the changeling queen had ever seen him before, I felt as though it would be more of a shame, than a pleasure for him. It is for this reason that I stay my hoof now, content with simply watching as Miss Zecora returned, an article of clothing folded over her back as she returned into the room again.

And as the door closed yet again, the sound of a sudden hum caught my attention, bringing my sight to the changeling queen, Chrysalis, who lays calmly, opposite of me, a smug smile upon her face.

My eyes narrowed as I foresaw what would likely be an upcoming issue between us two.

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I let out a content sigh as I already began to feel more comfortable from my new clothing... Well, not really new, per se, but... Oh forget it, I'm just glad to have something clean on.

As it had turned out, Zecora had been holding onto an old sweater that I had left behind since I had moved to Canterlot, keeping it in surprisingly good condition while I was away too. I never really wore it that often before, considering the fact that I didn't find much use for it in a warm place like Equestria, where they literally gave you the weather schedules before it happened, but anything was better than nothing right now.

It was just a plain, gray coat. Not a hoodie, not a vest, just a coat. Granted, it didn't have a zipper or anything like that, but considering the fact that my only other option was to walk out of here shirtless, I wouldn't say that it's something that's too bad. Besides, I guess that, considering everything else that had happened, it was more of sentimental value for me, and possibly her, than physical. It was the coat that I had come to Equestria in, after all.

It had taken some help from Zecora's part for me to put it on, but it was more than worth it to have something covering me again. Granted, it didn't completely cover me, leaving the center of my chest and stomach exposed, but the bandages seemed to work well enough as an undershirt, sorta, for it not to be too much of an issue.

Leaning against the backboard of the chair and outstretching my arms, I managed to stand myself up from the chair, wobbling slightly as a sudden dizzy spell hit me like a bag of bricks. She looked at me with concern as I focused on trying to make the room stop spinning, but I waved her off, telling her that I was fine.

In fact, I was better than just 'fine'! I felt, relatively that is, great!

I have to say, Zecora's medicinal treatments never cease to amaze me. Back when I lived with her, I had seen her cure and relieve all sorts of conditions and illnesses. Though, about a good 40% of them were mine. Even now, as I stood painlessly in the center of the room, my chest completely devoid of any sense of swelling or discomfort whatsoever, I couldn't help but to be impressed.

Soon, my focus finally came back, giving me a single, clear image rather than a blurred, multi-visioned mess. I shook my head once more to rid myself of the last of my dizziness, streching my arms and back out as they gave out a thankful series of cracks and silent groans. I gave Zecora a nod as a silent thanks, smiling as I did so. A smile which she so happily returned.

"I take it that your new state causes you to elate?" Zecora asked, nudging my side with her shoulder.

"Wow, how'd you guess?" I asked her with a smile, adjusting my coat into a more comfortable position over my bandages.

"It's not exactly hard to figure out!" I heard Chrysalis yell, nearly causing me to rip my coat from the sheer surprise of her shout. I narrowed my eyes, slapping my palm against my forehead with a sigh of frustration. I swear, she is going to be the death of me. Or the very least, of my sweater. "Now could you come out here already? I'm getting bored of having to insult you through a door. I much rather prefer to do it face to face."

Zecora and I looked to one another with raised brows, the both of us rolling our eyes at Chysalis' behavior. But, hey, at least she didn't seem too bothered by it, considering how she had first reacted when I introduced them.

"Geez Chrysalis, glad to see you care so much." I replied, reaching for the door handle and mentally preparing myself for what would likely be another one of our infamous 'wars of the wits'.

"Oh please! If you want somepony to care for you, then you'd be better off just staying in that room with that friend of yours and Nightmare Moon. After all, she seems to care for you a lo-" She was cut off as the sound of splashing liquid and clanging glass caused me to freeze as I grabbed the door handle, both mine and Zecora's eyes widening, almost out of pure instinct. There was a moment of absolute silence, only interrupted by the periodic sound of dripping, as the two of us looked to one another in a cringe. Looking back to the door, I took in a deep breath as I then started to open the it to the room the other two were in, expecting the wors- Pffffffft, HAHAHAHAHA!

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My eyes narrowed as Jeremy started to burst out laughing as soon as he entered the room, that zebra friend of his, 'Zecora', quickly following suit. Meanwhile, just opposite of me, Nightmare Moon was looking at me, a smug smile on her plastered on her face, and taking a sip from her tea as her horn lost it's glow and returned to it's previous state. I could already feel my teeth grinding as I noticed the challenging look that seemed to float around in her eyes.

That mare had gall to transmute a glass of ice water above me and spill it onto my head while I was distracted! And now, here I laid, cold and wet, with nothing but my burning fury to keep me warm, as I looked to the three cackling fools before me in annoyance, the glass of the cold water that she had called forth still balanced downwards on the tip of my horn.

"W-what- Pffft, what happen~ed?" Jeremy could barely get out a sentence as his laughter continued to plague him, putting one arm against the doorframe as he wrapped his other around his stomach. Granted, I felt impressed as I noticed that, despite the condition that he had been in earlier, he was now laughing and bending forward with little to no semblance of pain whatsoever, aside from a few rare jolts of his, but this feeling was quickly disposed of as my anger took over again, a part of my mind already formulating a plan of vengeance upon the night mare, and possibly Jeremy.

"... Ask her." I said with as much venom in my voice as I could manage, pointing to the alicorn opposite of me. Both Jeremy and the zebra's gazes shifted towards her, giving her questioning looks as their laughs began to tone down to short chortles.

Nightmare Moon placed her tea cup on the floor next to her, crossing her forehooves over one another as she looked to the two with a smile. "To be honest, I had simply commited one of the many 'pranks' that ye had told us of during our improsonement. Do ye not recall?" She said ever so 'innocently' to Jeremy.

Chortling again, Jeremy nodded his head, looking to me with a raised brow, though his smile had yet to fade. "Yeah, heh, I remember." I felt my eyes narrow even further as he said this, apparently siding with Nightmare Moon. Honestly, I don't know what else I was expecting. "Though, ice water is a bit much, isn't it?"

"Only if the victim is undeserving of such actions." She replied, glaring at me shortly before returning her attention to Jeremy.

"True." Jeremy told her, looking to me again as my glare grew even more in its intensity. "... You know, I'm starting to think that you may not like me." He said, crossing his arms together and looking to me with a comically raised brow. He was joking, of course, already knowing fully well of my dislike for him, which caused my annoyance to grow even further still, a growl beginning to emanate from me.

Jeremy seemed to have noticed this, his smile disappearing as he looked to me in a rather intimidated matter, though he only minimally showed it. "...Alright, alright." He said, finally giving in as he gestured for me to calm down with his arms. "I'll go get you a towel."

"And be quick about it." I added, my voice almost a growl. Rather than be intimidated this time however, he simply walked off, waving his hand back at me.

"Yeah, fine, whatever. But you're drying yourself!" My eyes widened as he said this, a peculiar warmth coming to my cheeks as I heard Nightmare Moon begin to chuckle. The nerve of some beings... Though, I suppose that things would be much less entertaining if he didn't have that nerve to begin with.

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Jeremy let out a sigh as he crossed his arms behind his head and laid against it as a sort of cushion of his, silently enjoying the dark, blissful corner that he sat against. Nightmare Moon and Zecora were conversing with one another, the two having found common grounds with one another as they exchanged tales from the older times. Some of these tales were nothing more than just stories, passed down from generation to generation in Zecora's culture, and others being shown to be true as Nightmare Moon explained having lived through them as Princess Luna.

Chrysalis and Jeremy were both relaxing in their own silence, often gazing to the others and one another as they, for the most part, drifted off into thought. Chrysalis, a recently used towel laid loosely wrapped around her neck, occasionally looked between Jeremy and Zecora, a sense of curiosity ebbing at her.

Fight it off as she might, this sense kept returning, pestering her more and more no matter how many times she would attempt to push it off. Eventually, after another 10 minutes or so of this annoyance of hers, she gave in, letting out a silent sigh as she resigned herself to the relief of her mental stress.

"... Jeremy?" Jeremy looked to her again, raising a brow questioningly. "Not that I particularly care... But how exactly did you and Zecora meet?"

The sound in the room was quickly silenced as she said this, an almost disturbingly still atmosphere coming about as everyone's attention shifted to Chrysalis. Chrysalis, as a result, quickly became uncomfortable with the situation, though she did not show it.

Jeremy and Zecora looked to one another in a shared gaze before turning back to Chrysalis again. Then, just as Chrysalis was beginning to regret her question all together, the two smiled, and started to chuckle.

This brought about confusion from both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis as they looked on at the odd scene, unsure of what to make of it. "What's so funny?" Chrysalis asked, growing annoyed at being left in the dark. Jeremy shook his head, smiling as he looked back to Chrysalis.

"Lets just say that Zecora and I didn't exactly get off on the right foot, or hoof in her case, when we first met." He said, stretching his arms outwards as he moved himself up the wall into a better, more comfortable, sitting position.

"... How's that?" Chrysalis asked, Nightmare Moon raising a brow in her own curiosity.

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... Ugh. Note to self: Whatever it was that I did last night, don't do it again.

I felt sore. I mean, really sore. The kind that a person would get after running a triathlon and swimming across the Hudson River after a three day diet. As to how I knew what that feeling was like, lets just say that my sister liked to involve me in everything when we were younger.

Groaning, I put my hands over my face, rubbing it up and down in an attempt to wake myself up from my groggy state, trying to go through my daily processes, despite the fact that I felt so horribly. The usual really. Take a few deep breaths, rub my eyes, shoo away the bird that was tweeting near my ear, try to reach across the grass for my blanket ag-... Wait... WHAT?!?!

My eyes shot open as I stood myself up from the ground with a jolt, my breathing quickening in panic as I realized that, rather than being in my bedroom at home, my AC turned on to it's max and my phone riddled with texts from some of my annoying co-workers, I was in, get this, a forest...

SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!?!

Shaking my head, I tried to calm myself down as best as I could, taking deep, placid breaths in the place of my short, panicked ones. Maybe I was dreaming?

I reached for my arm and gave myself a pinch, flinching slightly as I did this, but still finding myself in the forest. Scowling, I reeled my arm back and punched my shoulder as hard as I could.

Needless to say, it hurt, a lot! I yelled out a stream of curses and profanities and I held onto my shoulder in pain, several birds that were perched in the trees around me flying off at the sudden noise. Okay then, not a dream.

Rubbing my shoulder, I grumbled to myself as I looked around me, my gray sweater moving slightly as a breeze passed around me. I lived in New York, so, whatever forest I was in couldn't be too big. Hell, the fact that I found any forest at all in the big apple was a miracle of its own.

Glancing around me again, I closed my eyes and pointed in a random direction, mentally hoping that I wasn't crossing the border into Canada, or something like that. Far-fetched? Yes. Had I done worse when I was drunk? My passport stamp from China could definitely help to prove that.

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Yeah, I'm not in New York. That had been proven painfully obvious after about two hours worth of walking. Plus, the sounds of whatever animals that were prowling through this forest didn't help either.

"I am going to die here. I am going to totally die he- what the hell is that?"

I froze as I made my way into a clearing in the forest, a brow raising up high, questioningly, at the large tree that was before me. Normally, a tree wouldn't really be much to look at. When a tree has a door though, that's a different story.

Well... Considering my other option is to keep on walking and possibly be eaten by whatever the heck had been hunting me for the past 15 minutes or so, I'd say that I have nothing to lose.

Adjusting my sweater a bit, I made my way to the literal tree house, mentally hoping that whoever owned the place was home. I knocked on the door three times before putting my hands back into my sweater pockets, looking around the clearing with a slight sense of paranoia.

Honestly though, who lives this deep inside of a forest? Let alone the fact that they apparently live in a tree. Weird.

The sudden creaking sound of a door drew my attention, causing me to turn to face who was likely the house owner. "Oh! Um, yeah, sorry to bother you, but would you mind telling me where I a-..."

I froze as I looked to who was at the door, or rather, what. In front of me, instead of a person, like I was expecting, there was... A zebra. I'm not kidding, a zebra! Just... What!?!

Shaking my head, I ran my hand through my hair as I let out a sigh, once again glancing around the clearing.

"Well... This is weird. Did I end up in Africa or something? If so, I really am not looking forward to that bill." Looking back to the zebra, that just seemed... Off, I tilted my head and raised a brow as I looked it over. Oddly enough though, it seemed to be doing the same. I was probably just seeing things. "... I take it you don't know where I am either?" I asked jokingly, rolling my eyes as I did so.

"Actually, I can answer you quite frankly."

"Oh, okay, that's gre-" What... What... Just... What?

"I-I'm sorry, did you just talk?" I asked, partially thinking myself to be crazy. Mostly though, I was just hoping that I had simply heard things.

"That is likely what you perceive, so is there any reason that it is so hard for you to believe?"

I... You... Its... She?... Talking.... Zebra...

Yeah... I'm gone...

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"You passed out!?!" Chrysalis asked, laughing herself onto her back as I finished the story of how I met Zecora.

"It wasn't exactly normal for zebras to talk back where I lived. If anything, I'd say that I reacted as I should." I told the laughing Chrysalis, leaning further against the wall behind me. I glanced to Zecora and Nightmare Moon, who was currently trying to hold back her own laughter, raising a brow as I did so.

"At least I didn't tell her about the times I panicked so much that you had to hit me over the head with a frying pan." That was the breaking point for Nightmare Moon, no longer able to hold back her laughter as she joined Chrysalis in her flailing merriment. Meanwhile, Zecora and I looked to one another and shrugged.

Its odd, but this wouldn't be the first time that somepony had reacted to that story of ours like this. More like the... Say, twelfth?

Chapter 9: Time In The Yard

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"We can afford five more minutes." Chrysalis tiredly told Nightmare Moon, her eyes closed as she laid down on the floor, her legs folded under her and her head craned to the side opposite of Nightmare Moon.

"Thy senses have been dulled if thou believest that we would simply allow thee to return to resting at such a time!"

... So... Yeah... They woke up again. After about an entire day's worth of sleeping and relaxing, you would think that they would be in much better moods for the night. Well, actually they were, just not with each other.

Standing outside of the door to Zecora's house, Zecora being by my side, she and I watched on as the two started to argued with one another again, Nightmare Moon yelling at Chrysalis to get up while Chrysalis half-heartedly argued back. Comical? Yes. Progressive? Not really.

Rolling my eyes, I let out a sigh as I turned to Zecora, deciding to switch from the topic of the two's incessant arguing to, quite frankly, anything else. Zecora seemed to notice this shift of attention of mine, turning her own head to face me in return.

"... So, I take it that it's going to be a while before we see each other again?" I asked, raising a brow as I casually leaned against the doorframe, crossing my arms as I did so. Zecora nodded, glancing to the forest that surrounded her home and back.

"If fate so demands, then this we will have to stand." I let out a small chuckle as she said this, mostly because I was unsure of what else to do or say, before I looked back to the still arguing Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, who had seemed to have gone full circle with their argument.

"Thou hast just rested for a copious amount of hours!" Nightmare Moon scolded, her voice raising in volume as she clearly grew more and more annoyed.

"Yes, and luckily, I'm in a rather good mood, so I won't blame you for interrupting that sleep of mine if you leave me alone." Now, I know that their fighting isn't really a good thing, like, whatsoever, but nonetheless, I couldn't help the small smile that had made its way to my face. It wasn't because it was funny... Okay, partly because of that, but it was mostly because, watching my two companions argue with one another as I had grown to know them to, well, I guess it reminded me that I wasn't going through this whole mess alone. Sure, I could interrupt this little squabble of theirs, but as previous attempts at doing so had shown, it would prove to be useless, since the two would just end up fighting again.

"... You were right in your decision to give them both revision." Zecora suddenly told me, my peripheral vision just barely catching view of
her as she turned her head to face the two as well. Not turning my attention away from them, I chuckled again, a pretty good idea as to what Zecora had meant already in mind.

"They seemed like nice ponies, despite their pasts." Turning to Zecora again, her gaze following me as I did so, my smile grew as I gave her a joking wink. "After all, you were the one who told me 'not to judge a book by its cover'. Remember that incident with Ponyville you told me about? How they thought you were a witch, or something like that." Rolling her own eyes, Zecora chuckled, waving her forehoof at me dismissively. "... Still, thanks for helping us out, despite the fact that we're in such a bad situation. You really came through."

Zecora smiled again as she heard this, giving me a slight bow of her head at my appreciation. "Though I am glad that you find my kindness undiminished, I cannot truly say that I am finished." Oh? I felt my brow raise as I looked to her questioningly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, to which she, naturally, rolled her eyes.

"As soon as your friends inside are through, the answer to your question I will give to you." I opened my mouth to say something, but was ultimately cut off as the familiar sound of glass and splashing water echoed out of the door.

"Agh!!! Would you stop doing that!?!"

"We take it that thou hast fully awoken now?" Well, this wasn't going to end well.

Pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration, I let out a sigh as I slowly reached my arm out and closed the door to the house, leaving the two to deal with this issue on their own. Personally, I'd rather not get caught in between this upcoming hurricane.

"... It may be a while... Oh, and you may want to keep a tab on what they end up breaking, because I'm pretty sure they're about to try to club each other."

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The good news is that they didn't end up fighting, so much as they threatened one another until they eventually got bored and came outside. The great news is, after they had come out, Zecora had told us that the best place for us to go would be west from here, though she didn't really say why. Still, I trusted her enough to take her advice. Bad news?... Well...

"God damn it, I told you both that I'm fine!" I exclaimed, a warmth growing in my cheeks as I recalled the look on Zecora's face from earlier.

"Consider it a precaution, Sir Jeremy. Treated wounds or not, your condition is not yet completely restored." Nightmare Moon replied, turning her head to glance at me before then turning it back to the path ahead of her.

"You couldn't have at least waited until Zecora had gone back inside?!?"

... Yeaaaahhhh. Long story short, Nightmare Moon had, yet again, levitated me up into the air as soon as I had thanked Zecora for the directions and placed me onto her back, much like how I was previously sat on top of Chrysalis; Speaking of which, were they taking turns or something?

Naturally, Zecora looked at this... Odd sight, and laughed... A lot. Hell, as we went into the brush and lost sight of her house, I could still hear her laughing for another moment or two before it eventually just faded out into silence. Definitely not one of my more prideful moments.

"We see not a reason for ye to feel such embarrassment in front of your companion. After all, your reasoning for seeming so dishonorable is just, if not fair." I'd like to hear her say that while she's riding me... Wait, scratch that, that sounded horrible, I never said that!

Shaking off that thought, and the blush that had come to my face, I looked around Nightmare Moon's head as best I could, trying to get a view of whatever was in front of us. And, surprise, surprise, there were trees... Well, we did just start walking, so I guess that's to be expected. Besides, we've still got plenty of time before day break, so I probably shouldn't worry too much about it.

Sitting normally again, well, as normal as I could be on the back of an alicorn that is, I let out a sigh, glancing between Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, who was walking in front of us at the moment, every once in a while as I tried to keep myself entertained.

Though, it was hard to really focus on much when Nightmare Moon's mane seemed to constantly, and I swear that I'm not making this up, wrap around me. Zecora had once told me, in her earlier descriptions of the tale of 'The Mare On The Moon', that 'Nightmare Moon's mane was just as alive and filled with spite as the rest of her', and some unspecified rhyme that I didn't pay much attention to at the time, but I had thought that it was just another exaggeration that ponies, and people, would put into stories to make them more interesting. Being on the very same being from the story's back now however, I could see that it wasn't entirely wrong.

The mane might as well have been alive really, constantly moving around me, seeming to take and lose shape at a near constant rate as it would occasionally wrap around me, only to let go again. Still, I resisted the, rather large, urge to say anything about this to Nightmare Moon, something in the back of my mind telling me that it wouldn't be too great of an idea. For all I knew, she didn't even know about her mane's behavior. I have to say though, at least she doesn't have to worry about her mane looking bad. If it ever did, it would probably just correct itself... At least I think that's how it works.

"Well Jeremy?" Chrysalis asked, the sound of her voice breaking me out of my thoughts in a rather abrupt fashion.

"Huh? What?" Way to make your way out of that one, Jeremy. Looking to Chrysalis, I noticed her let out a sigh of frustration as she put her attention back to the path in front of her, likely annoyed by the fact that, in my distraction, I had all but ignored her question.

"I said, are they any other old friends of yours that we should know about?" She repeated, keeping her view ahead of her.

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It was a simple enough question really, so, of course, I got rather annoyed when he didn't answer me. Turning back to him and Nightmare Moon, I noticed that Jeremy, irritating as it seemed, was looking ahead of him blankly.

"Well Jeremy?" I asked, putting the sound of my voice up a decibel or two in an effort to snap him out of his inattentiveness. It worked, as Jeremy's eyes seem to regain some of their usual focus, his suddenly attentive eyes moving to me.

"Huh? What?" I felt my irritation spark a bit, causing me to let out a sigh as I turned away from him with slightly narrowed eyes. I should have figured that he wasn't paying attention.

"I said, are they any other old friends of yours that we should know about?" I repeated, not even finding the patience to turn to face him as I said this. For a moment or two, he stayed silent, another hint of frustration building as I thought for him to be ignoring me once more, but one short check of his emotions afterwards, I felt myself calm as I realized that he was simply in thought, rather than not listening to me.

"Hmm." He hummed. "... Well, you both already know about Hardhat, as for the only other old friend of mine, I don't think she's going to be much help for a while." I felt a brow raise as he said this, but I still held myself from turning.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the last time I saw her, she said that she was just planning on 'going where the wind takes her'. Heh, she never was the kind to think things ahead." A sense of nostalgia positively shined from him as he thought back to his times with this friend of his, much like when we had first found Zecora's home. "If anything, she's probably still flying around Equestria as we speak, looking for somewhere to finally settle down and the like."

"Oh, this friend that ye speaketh of is a pegasi?" Nightmare Moon asked, an annoying sense of curiosity in her voice. Which reminds me, I still have to get back at her for the earlier soaks that she had given me.

"No, not exactly." Jeremy replied, chuckling slightly at his own thoughts. Truthfully, this threw me, and surprisingly, Nightmare Moon off for a moment or two. If he had a friend of his 'flying around' and it wasn't a pegasus, then what could it possibly have been?

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I'm beginning to notice a pretty obvious cycle here. As to what this 'cycle' is comprised off? Well, the answer's simple. Walking-Or in my case, riding. Since that earlier conversation of ours, it had been another two hours of us just walking along through the forest. Honestly though, I was starting to get really tired of being stuck in such a rut. Not only that, but, despite Zecora's advice and assurance, this path that we were taking at the moment was pretty... Sketchy.

For one, there were thorn bushes everywhere. In the previous path we had taken, there were thorns, yes-The scratches along the side of my feet and heels were enough proof of that- but they were usually low to the ground, and we'd come by some sort of berry or flower bush every once in a while. In this path though, if I had been walking, I probably would have ended up covered in scratches and pricks. The occasional flinch or cringe from Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis as they accidentally came in contact with an unseen cluster of these thorns, which was really saying something considering how well they saw in the dark, was not a good sign.

Another... Unsettling, thing about this path was... Well... Footsteps. One word says it all, doesn't it? No sooner than an hour after walking this direction, a little after having seen the first of many thorn bushes, I had started to feel as if I was being watched, and by the looks of Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis' suddenly wary expressions, so had they. A few minutes afterwards, the sound of footsteps, other than ours that is, started to come through, faintly at first, but growing in volume.

Now, it was almost deafening, and the three of us were all on edge, having made a wordless agreement not to make any loud or sudden sounds, or we might end up angering whatever was following us. On a side note, Nightmare Moon's mane was starting to grip onto me a little too tightly. Ow.

"Um... Nightmare Moon?" I whispered, carefully moving some of her ethereal mane of off me and relieving the pressure from my ribs. Turning her head to me, Nightmare Moon gestured for me to continue with an acknowledging nod of her head. "This is starting to get a little... Unsettling." I started, gesturing to the brush around us with a wave of my arm. "Do either of you two have any ideas?"

"If we had any ideas, don't you think we would have tried them already!?!" I nearly fell off of Nightmare Moon at the sudden intrusion of Chrysalis' voice into my mind, essentially scaring the crap out of me. Narrowing my eyes, I let out a silent groan of annoyance as I looked to Chrysalis.

"Since when did we have a mental link open?" I asked, adding a slight tone of annoyance to emphasize my question.

"Forgive us for not alerting you, Sir Jeremy, we believed that ye had known." Letting out a mental, and physical, sigh, I shook my head softly left and right.

"It's fine. Now, as for what you had said Chrysalis, you've both got nothing?" I took a glance around us as one particular cluster of footsteps seemed to grow even further in volume before then returning to the same as the rest.

"Unfortunately, that is true, Sir Jeremy. We have attempted to settle on a possible plan of action regarding that which surrounds us, but each one seemed to prove worthless under further thought." Great. Crossing my arms, I closed my eyes and tried to think of something as well. Before I could think of a plan though, I'd have figure out what it was that had surrounded us first.

"That cursed zebra did this! She probably knew about how dangerous this path was, and sent us here to perish!"

"Miss Zecora treated us hospitably! 'Tis with great doubt that we look upon such a thought!"

Ignoring the two's mental arguments with one another, I listened closely to the sound that surrounded us, trying to dig deeper into the knowledge that Zecora had taught me in my time living in the Everfree with her. From the sound of it, there were more than one of whatever was nearby us, so manticores and cockatrices are out, considering they much rather prefer to hunt alone.

"Oh sure, take a side against me like you always do!"

"Our debate derives from thy constant debauchery of the incorrect!"

The steps sounded pretty low to the ground, and they were also kind of light, so that obviously crossed off hydras- You know, thinking on it now, I never thought that I would ever have to be worried about animals like these.

"Apparently, to you, everything I say is wrong!"

"Thou hast yet to prove us otherwise!"

Honestly, there aren't many things left out of what else could be nearby. Most of my options pointed to animals that had more bark than bite, using these growls to scare away possible predators. Heh, actually, the only animal that I could think of to be a problem, which was literally just as much bark as its bite, was-

"Do you ALWAYS have to be so irritating!? Maybe the reason your 'dear sister' banished you to the moon was because you just wouldn't shut up!"

"DON'T THOU DAREST TALK ABOUT THAT DAY!!!" Nightmare Moon suddenly yelled. Not mentally, but physically, causing Chrysalis and I to recoil slightly at her sudden outburst, which echoed throughout the forest for what felt like miles. Her eyes widened as she quickly covered her mouth with a hoof, as if it would return what she had said back into her mind, but by then, it was too late.

The sound that had once surrounded us started to come together behind us, shifting into a collective upbringing of growls and rustles, bringing about a dry gulp from me as I turned to look. The brush crackled and shook, letting out its many ruffled sounds of warning as two, then four, and eventually, ten pairs of eyes came through it. A single forward step through the bush, revealing one of the creature's wooden foreleg, and a near deafening bark, were the only things I needed to confirm my worst circumstances of the situation. Timber wolves.

"... Run." I said, turning back to face the two who looked at me with faces of shock. "Run!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The forest shifted and shook in both hurried anticipation and paralyzed anxiety, watching as a number of its many inhabitants ran after its visitors, the reasoning, though not truly known, being nothing more than an unnecessary formality as they grew ever closer to their targets.

These three targets responded as many else would, sprinting away from the pack and further into the west as a certain zebra had suggested they do, hoping that they would soon find some form of shelter or resting place for the soon to be upcoming day, and for their efforts of ridding themselves of the Timber wolves that hunted them.

The alicorn, Nightmare Moon, was at the lead of the party, her hooves stamping firmly against the ground as she galloped forward, her smaller, fleshier companion on her back holding as tightly to her as he could without restricting her. Truthfully though, despite his attempts, he would have likely fallen off long ago were it not for the ethereal cover that held him.

The Everfree's previous changeling queen, Chrysalis, trailed behind the two, having gotten a later start in her run from the pure shock of the sudden hunting party that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She, much like Nightmare Moon at the moment, desperately wished that she could simply fly off at the moment, leaving their hunters to search in vain, but she was already focusing most of her limited energy as is with her running, and found herself unable to do so. Nightmare Moon held her flight due to the injured companion that she accompanied, unable, and unwilling, to leave him behind and save herself.

The chase went on for what felt like hours, though it was nothing more than a few fear filled minutes, as the three clashed with the forest, survival over cycle, and ran. The many resistances of foliage and shrubbery only served to chastise their progress, as, eventually, even the night sky seemed to block its own view of the event, leaving the three in complete darkness.

"These things just won't give up!" The human, Jeremy, yelled as he held onto his other companion, his only chance of survival now being shifted to her. Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon did not respond, nor did they make any motions to, as they continued to run, ever aware of the fate that awaited them should they stop.

Though it had seemed to be impossible at the point, the forestry thickened even more, branches now causing the three to occasionally have to duck or jump in their efforts to stay in motion. The Timber wolves also seemed to be given trouble by this factor, lacking the mindset as similar to that of its prey, occasionally tripping over and crashing into these branches as they ran.

The pack narrowed little by little, the predators slowly losing either their motivation to continue or believing it to be a hunt unworthy of their lost energy. It was not until over ten minutes of tiresome running and maneuvering before, eventually, the three had escaped the pack, outlasting and outrunning those who would normally be suited for such treacherous and unpredictable terrain. However, it was not without their own fair share of exhaustion, as both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis tiredly slowed themselves to a halt, and Jeremy grew concerned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Man I hate this forest. Thorns and creepy atmosphere was one thing, but, Timber wolves? Really???

After that surprise chase of theirs, Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis seemed utterly emptied of all their energy. At first, quite a bit of shame came to me as I realized that, despite the situation, Nightmare Moon had made no attempt or motion to remove me from her whatsoever, carrying me with her and allowing the two to waste their own energy while I just stayed panicked on one of their backs! This shame, though not completely, was then shifted into concern as the two slowed to a walk, and then to a complete halt, their breathing seeming labored and occasionally accompanied by a cough or two.

God damn it! As if I didn't feel bad enough, I felt worse as I started to mentally scold myself for this. Nightmare Moon, who was still struggling to get her original power and energy back after having regained a physical form, had just carried me through a sprint for god knows how long, and Chrysalis, who was basically starving from the lack of love that changelings usually consumed was probably no better!

"Crap. Are you two okay?" I asked, glancing behind us to be sure that there indeed were no Timber wolves left.

"We... Are fine... Sir Jeremy..." Nightmare Moon told me, her head down as she attempted to regain her lost breath. Chrysalis answered soon after, though in a much more bitter tone.

"Speak... For yourself..." Nightmare Moon was panting and, as could be easily proven at the moment, covered in sweat, while Chrysalis' pants seemed more labored, her legs trembling slightly below her.

"Okay, that's it." I exclaimed, my eyes narrowing as I looked the two over once more before, despite Nightmare Moon's earlier warning, removed myself from atop of her, a quick dizzy spell passing through me as I stood on my own, but otherwise having little to no adverse effect on me.

"What... Are ye-"

"You both need to conserve your own energy rather than worry about mine." I interrupted firmly, making my way over to the shaky Chrysalis while I looked back to talk to Nightmare Moon. "I've gotten more than enough rest by now, hurt or not, to walk on my own. You two though, just basically lost all that energy of your own from that chase. So, here's how its going to go." Finally reaching Chrysalis side, I ignored her tired, obviously annoyed gaze, as I put a hand on her back and made her lay down on the ground, her hooves folded under her despite her, less than lasting, resistance. "We're going to wait here for a bit until you both at least catch your breaths, or longer if you need, and I don't want to hear another word of it." Chrysalis, despite her earlier resistance, all but embraced the idea of more rest, quickly flopping her head to the ground and slowly closing her eyes. Nightmare Moon moved to speak against me, raising her head and opening her mouth to speak, but one look from me quickly stopped her, instead settling for a sigh, rather than an objection.

"Very well... Sir Jeremy..."

-------------------------------------

So its been, about, two hours-maybe?- since the two fell asleep. They had gotten back their breath long ago, but, Chrysalis, in her efforts to relax, had fallen asleep, and Nightmare Moon had followed suit soon after. I didn't bother to wake them up, deciding that there wasn't really any reason to just yet. After all, we still had over five hours of night left, so we could afford the time to rest.

As for me? I was just leaning against a nearby tree, watching over the two as they rested... Well, that sounded creepy. Anyways, it was kind of funny how I had basically switched places with the two, considering the fact that they had been the ones watching over me for quite some time.

Nonetheless, I guess you could say that I was repaying the favor, though I somehow doubt that Nightmare Moon will let me do that too often. Besides, the Timber wolves from earlier had gone away, and I haven't heard any growling for a bit, so that was probably a good sign.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep, calm breath as I silently enjoyed the bliss of the night. Its weird, but, despite what happened earlier, and many other occurrences that had happened to me in my time here, the Everfree forest wasn't actually that bad. It was a thorn-riddled, danger filled, and dark place in Equestria, yet it always managed to have its moments of peace and beauty, kind of like-

My thoughts were broken as I heard a sudden snap, along with a loud rustling that came soon afterwards. Me and my big mouth. Moving off from the tree, I felt my eyes widen as I looked around for the source of the sound, making sure to check on the still sleeping figures of Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon as I did so and silently hoping that it wasn't another Timber wolf.

At first, I couldn't see anything, and I was pretty close to just pushing it off as nothing, but then, out of the furthest corner of my eye, I saw a small hint of color drop behind the brush. Maybe it was a squirrel, or something like that?... Well, squirrels don't have gray fur with yellow streaks.

From what I saw, there was no doubt in my mind. That was a mane, and by extension, a pony. But, why would some random pony be in the Everfree? Barely anypony would come in here, Zecora among that very small list, and even then, to convince them, they'd probably have to get orders straight from... The princess... Fuck, that's a guard isn't it?

I don't believe this! Is she seriously so determined to out us behind bars, technically a door, again that she's actually willing to send her guards into the Everfree? She's determined, I'd give her that, but apparently not enough to go after us herself.

Glancing to the girls again, who were still fast asleep, I breathed in a heavy breath as I slowly made my way over to the bush that I had last seen them hide behind. Thoughts of all sorts were going through my head. 'What if there's more of them?', 'What if it's a unicorn? I can't fight somepony with magic!', 'How am supposed to take him/her down?'. I pushed off these thoughts as best as I could, getting low to the ground as I closed the distance even further. Then, when I finally thought that I was close enough, I jumped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis were jolted awake by the sounds of struggle, their eyes popping open and heads skyrocketing upwards as they began to look around for the source, which they quickly saw to originate from a now rustling and jerking bush.

"Gotcha!" Jeremy shouted, causing the two to spring up as they realized that he the ones causing the noise. They ran to the bush, quickly closing off the distance as, without saying a word, Nightmare Moon's horn glowed its ethereal midnight color, engulfing the shrubbery and pulling it apart, revealing their companion, Jeremy.

"Now, who sent-... What the?" Jeremy's once serious tone was quickly shifted to one of confusion as he gained a clear view of his 'captured' target. Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon gained their own looks similar to this as they as well looked on.

Trapped under Jeremy's grip, silently and fearfully looking at its new, uninteded captors, was neither a Timber wolf, nor even a royal guard. Instead, it was an earth pony, no armor or anything. A mare.

Chapter 10: Tied To Another

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You know, there are such things as bad situations, and then, there are much worse. This, unfortunately, was among the latter.

Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis by my sides, the three of us looked down in confusion to the currently trapped earth pony mare below me, her head turned sideways, eye clenched shut, and forearms attempting to tuck themselves inwards, stopped only by the fact that I was holding them down.

Despite the fact that it may as well have been pitch black, I could still see her clearly, every feature basically jumping out at me, like whenever I would have previously met other ponies. Her mane was dominantly gray, a light shade that contrasted oddly with the dark, with sunlight yellow streaks, though it kinda looked more like the yellow rays of a sunset in the current lighting. Her fur was a placid shade of purple, though a little stained, and as for her eyes... Well, I couldn't really get a good view of them before she closed them. Hell, I could only see one of them at the moment, considering her position, but I digress.

After all, I, or rather, we still have a situation in our hands, and hooves. I had an earth pony trapped under me, Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis were looking at her like the plague, and she seemed just about ready to pee herself. Not. Good.

My thoughts swirled in my mind as I tried to think of someway, anyway, to approach this rather... Critical, situation. Maybe if I just tried to talk this through nice and calmly, we could-

"Who are you?! What are you doing here!?!" So much for that. Glancing to Chrysalis, who was currently glaring at the mare with all of her anger, I narrowed my eyes as I shook my head at her.

"Quiet!" I silently mumbled through my teeth to her, drawing about her glare's attention to myself. This mare, whoever she was, already seemed panicked enough. Therefore, I don't think that Chrysalis' usual aggressive attitude would be a very good thing at the moment.

Looking back down to the still whimpering mare, I felt a sense of tediousness pass through me as we continued in our silence. It was obvious that she hadn't, nor would she want to, answered Chrysalis' so 'kindly' asked questions. I know I wouldn't if I was her.

I opened my mouth to say something again, a general idea of what to do coming to mind, but was quickly interrupted as my other companion added her two bits to the situation. "Perhaps thine fear had blocked thine hearing. We shall ask once anew. Who arth thee?" She had obviously taken the care to be much less aggressive sounding than Chrysalis, but the venom in her voice was still pretty audible, basically impeding what little progress that she thought she had made.

Letting out a sigh, I grumbled to myself at the two's 'assistance', a small part of my mind hoping that they would both be quiet, just for the moment that is. "... Damn it." I muttered simply, unsure of whatever I could say at the moment.

A cold breeze passed by as this stalemate of ours went on, a slight shiver going down my spine as it hit the uncovered part of my chest. At this shiver, the mare recoiled even more, her eye clenching even further and her forelegs pushing against me as she tried to put them together. How did a shiver scare her!?! Fucking- Yeah, I can't do anything to fix this can I?

Turning to Chrysalis, I rose a brow at her questioningly as I hoped for her to have an answer to this issue, if not Nightmare Moon. "Either of you two have any ideas?" I asked, glancing to Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon just curled a corner of her mouth downwards, shaking her head 'no'. As I looked to Chrysalis though, I felt a slight sense of unease pass about me as I noticed the smug smile on her face. "Oh, I've got a few. Especially if she doesn't talk in the next few seconds." Almost instantly, the eye of the pony below me shot open, a quant silver orb filled with fear staring back at me as her forelegs once again began fighting to move, her head bending closer to her body, though it still remained in it's sidewards position.

"P-... please don't h-hurt me..." She finally uttered, her voice and body wrecked with shivers at this point as she released that barely audible request of hers.

"Heh. Funny what a little threat can do in these situations. It works everytime really." Chrysalis voice said as it echoed in my mind, only giving me a slight jump this time, in relativity to the other times it's happened. Maybe I was getting used to it?

Nonetheless, I felt my eyes narrow as I slowly turned to face her, her brow raising in slight surprise. "Not. ALL. The time." I returned to her, openly referring to my own time in interrogations. Chrysalis quickly stood down as I said this, readjusting herself as she silently put her attention back to the mare. Smart.

I took in a deep breath to calm my-admittedly over the top- anger, returning my attention to the mare with as much calm as I could muster as I let out a sigh.

"... Look, we're not going to hurt you. Alright? We just need you to calm down." I told her as soothingly as possible. Though, it didn't seem to work, her faint fearful trembling from beneath me continuing as she looked to me with her one visible, fearful eye... Wait... I'm still on top of her!

My eyes widened slightly as an idea came to mind. Two things which, in combination, both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis seemed to notice as they gave me questioning gazes. "Tell you what," I told the mare, her ear twitching as I spoke again and a soft smile came to my face. "I'll prove it to you." Without a second thought, I let go the mare's forelegs, unbending myself as I no longer had to reach to keep her down.

Out of my peripherals, I noticed both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis' mouths open wide as I partially released our 'possible threat' from her entrapment. Still being wary, though it was obvious by the stopping of her trembling and the look in her eyes that she had lost a large portion of the fear from earlier, she carefully tucked her forelegs against her chest, looking to me in a mix of confusion, uncertainty, and remnants of fear and worry.

I felt Nightmare Moon's wing wrap around me, as awkward and unexpected as it was, before she used it to lean me closer to her, still not managing to push me off of the mare and releasing her lower half. She herself leaned close to me then, glancing to the mare before she began to whisper.

"Sir Jeremy, whatever are ye attempting to bring to pass?" She asked... I think, her voice just barely audible. I turned to her as well, putting a hand next to my mouth to... Actually, I'm not that sure why I did that. Old habit, I guess?

"I'm trying to calm her down. Maybe, if she's not panicking, she won't have such a hard time talking to us. Besides, I really don't like the idea of just randomly grabbing somepony and asking her questions under threats, and I think you both know why." Looking to the floor, Nightmare Moon bit on her lower lip for a moment, hints of thought apparent on her expression, before she returned her gaze to me, giving me a soft nod. I gave her a nod of my own in return, clearing my throat as she folded her wing back to her side, allowing me to sit up straight again.

"Now then, I think we got off on the wrong hoof here." I told the mare, who simply stared at me in silence as a response. Guess I can't say much to that in this situation. "Like I said before, none of us plan on hurting you. In fact, the only reason I did what I did, tackling you to the floor and all, was because you honestly... Surprised me. There aren't many ponies here in the Everfree, after all." I told her, crossing my arms as I shrugged and looked down to her. In return, she gave a slow nod of her head, finally reacting to me. Now we were making progress. "Speaking of which, what are you doing here anyways?" I asked. I figure it would be best to just get the important question out of the way. Honestly though, I can only hope that she answers.

For a moment, she didn't respond, her gaze shifting to elsewhere in a blank stare, but soon enough, around the time that Chrysalis started growling in annoyance, drawing another shush from me, her silver eye moved back to me again, her voice slowly coming with it.

"I... H-heard a noise." She said, her voice seeming almost quiet enough to let the other two and I hear a pin drop. Honestly, that explanation of hers didn't give me much, considering I still don't know why she's even in the forest in the first place.

"Er, okay. So... The reason you came here was just because you heard a noise?" She nodded, her hooves coming even closer to her as she grew slightly more afraid again. "That's... Wow... Sorry, its just that, aside from Zecora, I didn't think that anypony else voluntarily came here." Her ear twitched again, and at the sound of 'Zecora', her eye widened as she looked to the three of us, now completely losing its sense of fear.

"Y-you know Zecora?" She asked. Glancing to the other two for a moment, I gave the mare a nod.

"Well, yeah. She's an old friend of mine. She's the one who told us to come this direction." Her eye looked away again, unfocusing in thought, before returning to me.

"The three of you?" I nodded again, though I could see that Chrysalis was beginning to get impatient about the mare's questions. "A-and she sent you all here?" Another nod and I slowly adjusted myself, my legs starting to fall asleep from the uncomfortable position that I had her held down in... Yeahhhh, this doesn't make things easier.

"Um... How 'bout we try this again, huh?" Her brow rose at this, but other than that, she didn't move of try to say anything. I flashed her a short smile before, putting one of my hands to my knee and taking a deep breath, I stood myself up again, removing myself from the mare and allowing her to move.

Her tail tucked inwards, between her hind legs and to her chest with her still huddled forehooves, she looked on as I took a couple of steps back, gesturing to myself. "My name's Jeremy." I told her, switching my gestures to the two next to me. "This is Chrysalis,"

"..." Chrysalis didn't speak or move as I gestured to her, grumbling to the floor as I introduced her.

"and Nightmare Moon." Nightmare Moon bowed at her introduction, though it was fairly obvious that she was still wary about this mare.

The mare then nodded, though slowly, in understanding. Holding out my hand for her, I gave her a friendly smile as I silently offered to help her up. "And you are?" I asked as she looked to my hand and I, taking several glances before, finally, she carefully reached her forehoof out.

She placed it into the grip of my palm as I then pulled her up, her tail getting slightly flattened under her as she sat, then stood up. It was as she was doing this though, that I, and my companions, caught sight of the rest of her face, which had been hidden out of her fright... Well, I guess most of it, in this case.

Across her right eye, there lay a white strip of dirtied cloth, hung securely from in between her ears, specifically the right one, and tightened around the lower right part of her head, keeping the covering secure. She looked to the three of us timidly, seemingly trying to conceal this cloth of hers as much as she could.

Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, and I didn't react to this covering of hers- At least, physically- as she looked to us, the most reaction she had gotten from us being a raised brow from Chrysalis.

Now, here's the part where I desperately hope that I won't have to talk about that awkward feature of hers, at risk of sounding insensitive, anytime soo-

"M-most ponies just called me 'Halfy'." God fucking damn it. I felt myself mentally flinch as she said this, and from what I could tell, Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon were no different.

"... Okay. 'Halfy'." She nodded again in confirmation, the grassy floor below her suddenly gaining her interest. "Well, it's nice to meet you Halfy, but we should probably get going."

"About time." Ignoring that snide mental remark from Chrysalis, I gestured for the two to-

"G-going where?" Halfy asked, myself pausing as I turned from Chrysalis back to Halfy to respond.

"Um... Not really sure... Wherever works, I guess." That was pretty much the most straight forward answer I could give to her, considering the circumstances. Besides, Zecora had said to go west, and I trusted her judgement enough to know that something in this direction would help us out. "Why do you ask?"

The mare was silent for a moment or two, looking the three of us intently, occasionally glancing away as she fought to speak. "Um... Well... I think I may be able to help."

Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, and I all raised a brow at this, a slight sense of curiosity and, considering some random pony was actually even thinking about helping us, shock. Before I could even open my mouth to say anything in response, Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon both stepped forward, choosing to speak themselves.

"What do you mean?" Chrysalis asked warily, her eyes narrowing in slight suspicion as she looked to the mare. Nightmare Moon didn't seem to think far too differently from Chrysalis on this occasion either, which is saying a lot, giving an expression similar to that of Chrysalis to Halfy.

"Yes... To what sort of assistance dost thou hint to?" Oddly enough, despite her earlier, and by that I mean just a few seconds ago, timidity, Halfy didn't even flinch at the tag team of glares that looked to her, nor the sharpened tones that accompanied them, looking to us with a much more calm expression than she previously had.

"Well, if you just follow me, then-"

"What!?!"

"Surely thou jest!" Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis suddenly interrupted, their tones raised to a higher volume. "For what reason would we follow thee?! Thy sudden appearance in a landscape as sparse as such hath preemptively attracted suspicion aplenty, without even conferring to this sudden 'suggestion' of thine!"

"It's not often that I agree with, or even tolerate, this shadow of an alicorn," Chrysalis added, drawing a short glare from both Nightmare Moon and I. "but this is one of those rare occasions! Why would we trust you!?!" Halfy was, by the looks of it, beginning to lose what little confidence she had built up, her ears laying flat against her head as she took a single, slow step back. Noticing this, I tried to get the two's attention.

"Uh, girls?"

"You would be better off leaving right now!"

"Girls."

"Thou wouldst do well to listen to her in this instance, lest thine-"

"Girls!"

"What?!!" The two yelled/asked as they finally turned away from the mare and to me with a jerk, causing me to flinch slightly in surprise. Sighing, I gestured for the girls to come closer, glancing to the slightly off-put Halfy in front of us as I hoped to more privately talk to the two. They looked to one another hesitantly before, with a sigh from Nightmare Moon and a roll of her eyes from Chrysalis, they took a couple of steps closer to me. Now, lets just hope that this link is still working.

"What are you two doing?!" I asked, crossing my arms together and looking to them in annoyance.

"What are we doing? What are you doing!?" Chrysalis rebutted, her eyes narrowing physically, and somehow mentally, as she looked to me.

"Sir Jeremy, we are simply being cautious. We cannot truly be aware of this mare's true reasoning for her 'offer' of help." This time, I rolled my own eyes, mentally face palming- and it seems that they noticed - as she said this.

"Really? Both of you? Including the one who can tell if somepony's lying!?!" I said, looking to Chrysalis with eyes of doubt.

"Yes, really! That 'little run' from a couple of hours ago drained most of my energy! I couldn't tell of somepony was lying to me at the moment if I wanted to!" Woah, seriously? Okay then, I didn't know that.

"Oh..." I said simply, looking down to the floor for a moment before shaking my head and looking back to them with a sigh. "Nonetheless, I think we should take 'Halfy' up on her offer." The two's eyes widened/narrowed at this, and before they could say anything more, I interjected.

"Realize that we're still in the Everfree forest. We're tired, we have a limited amount of time, and magic," I quickly added in, glancing to Nightmare Moon. "And, for all we know, those timberwolves from before are still following us!" At this, the two took glances around the area, having suddenly become more wary of their surroundings at the mention if this familiar threat. "So, if either of you two have any better ideas, please don't hesitate to speak up!"

As I thought, the two remained silent, both mentally and physically, sighing instead. I nodded with a slight 'humph' taking my attention away from the two and to... The pony who was looking to us like we were insane. Right, she wasn't a part of the mental link... Fuck, now I look crazy, don't I?

-------------------------------------

A few minutes after that... Awkward moment back there, Halfy was leading us to, well, somewhere. I didn't really ask her about it actually.

It sounds stupid, I know, but considering the 'greetings' that the three of us had given her a moment or two ago, I felt like I she deserved to say or do one thing, at least, without us bothering her about it.

Anyways, as she was leading us through the forest, Nightmare Moon walking nearby me, her eyes glancing from place to place in caution, and Chrysalis lagging behind us, grumbling to herself and occasionally giving me the stink eye, I could feel my mind wander time and time again, mostly shifting to the subject of our new 'friend' here.

Really though, out of all the thoughts that came up, I'd say that three were the more important ones. For one, now that we were all walking, and much less focused on keeping ourselves safe from one another-sorta-, I was able to get a good look at her cutie mark, since I figured that, if I at least had an idea about her 'special talent', as most ponies called it, I'd get a broad, and I mean really broad, idea of her.

Her cutie mark was, without really putting too much of a fine point on it, an image of two ponies, both silhouettes. The only color on these ponies were two differently colored hearts that they held within them, one a soft shade red, the other a bleak shade of gray. As to what it meant, I had no idea, so I guess that the hope of getting an impression of her definitely didn't work.

The other two questions that I had about her were more about circumstantial things, than factual. Like, why she was covering one of her eyes like she was, though, a huge part of me keeps on yelling for me to keep my mouth shut on the matter, and I personally think that it's the best course of action really.

Finally, what was she even doing in the Everfree? She never really explained that to us when we 'asked' a few minutes ago, so of course, the curiosity on the matter remained. Well, my curiosity, Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis' suspicion.

"It shouldn't be too far from here now." Halfy said, glancing back to the three of us and pointing a hoof ahead. I nodded in return, sidestepping another thorn bush as I glanced back to Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon. They, by the looks of it, weren't taking the idea of following some random pony well, Chrysalis silently grumbling to the ground while Nightmare Moon continued to give a small glare to Halfy. Well, its nice to see that I'm apparently the only optimistic one if the three of us.

It was a few more minutes before, despite the skeptical thoughts of Nightmare Moon or Chrysalis, we reached a large wall of brush. Not a bush, or some vines, or anything like that, but an actual wall. Slightly raising a hand to get her attention, I was barely able to give out a questioning 'uh' before she quickly pushed her way through, letting out a small grunt as she disappeared into a sea of green.

The three of us looked to the brush in confusion, and a bit of surprise, glancing to one another for whatever reason. "So..." Chrysalis led off, looking to me with an expression of smug insistence as she gestured to the brush. Nightmare Moon stayed silent, simply observing as she looked over the overgrowth.

"... I... Guess I'll go first then?" I said, more asked really, as I turned away from the two once again before, taking a deep breath, I took a big step forward.

The several small branches and leaves that came into contact with my face and upper chest immediately bothered me, myself trying to spit out whatever felt like it got in my mouth in vain as I brushed myself off almost consistently, branches catching against my jacket as I forced my way through. The dim side about this is that they weren't thorn bushes.

With one last push-or would it be a pull, in my jackets case?- I made my way through the rest of the brush, an immediate sense of relief hitting me as the unbearably uncomfortable sensation of the brush was replaced by the cool night air.

Rubbing an itch out of my eye, I looked down to the waiting Halfy, who was currently sitting on the floor just beyond the brush, looking to me patiently. "I have to say," I began. "That wasn't very pleasant."

To my surprise, she smiled, though faintly, letting out a silent chuckle. "Y-yeah, it's gotten pretty bad in the last two months."

Picking off a leaf from my shoulder before unceremoniously dropping it, I looked upwards with a raised brow. Couple of month- What the hell!?!

My eyes widened as I looked over Halfy, my thoughts freezing as I saw a wooden house, though shoddily built, snugged tightly between two large trees that seemed to bend and twist around it, forming a canopy.

Now, let me make this clear. I lived with Zecora for months, and not once did I hear about anypony else living here! I mean, the Everfree isn't exactly the ideal summer home!

"Y-... You live here?" I asked, scratching my head in a combination of surprise and confusion as I looked to Halfy. She gave a glance to her hobble before turning back to me and giving a nod. "Huh." Honestly, I did not see this coming.

"Sir Jeremy?" Halfy and I looked to the brush as Nightmare Moon's voice came through, a tone of worry in her voice. "Is all well? Are ye in need of assistance?" She asked. My face warming up at her sudden 'motherly attention', I put my hands around my mouth and yelled for her as well.

"I'm fine. If anything, I think the both of you should see this." I told them, putting my arms back down as I awaited a response.

"Ugh... Do we have to? I'd much rather stay where I will be less likely to be in danger." Planting my palm over my face, I took in a deep breath in frustration. This is what I have to deal with.

"... Just get over here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The leaves rustled and shook as the two pushed through the almost immeasurable layer of brush, Nightmare Moon's magical glow being the first thing to come through as she surrounded herself with a thin layer of magic, repelling the leaves and twigs from her mane and being.

Chrysalis followed soon after, though she had much more trouble. At some point, as she was about to finish exiting from the brush, one of the holes in her hooves caught on a twig, tripping her up before she quickly managed to catch herself, looking back to the bush and her caught leg with a growl before quickly yanking it free with a strong pull.

"I'm starting to really dislike this forest." She said as she turned to a chuckling Jeremy, and smiling Nightmare Moon, Halfy off to the side, watching on as Chrysalis gave the two a glare.

"Um..." She said, the trio quickly turning their attention to her. "Would you like to come inside?" Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis both raised their brows in confusion at this, until, tapping the both of them lightly, he pointed to the wooden abode which the two had apparently missed, their eyes widening slightly as they turned their attention to where he had indicated.

"Huh, same reaction as me." Jeremy thought to himself as he let out another chuckle at the sight before turning to Halfy again, a polite smile on his face.

"If you don't mind, that would be great." The earth pony nodded, gesturing for the three to follow as she made her way to her apparent home.

Jeremy was the first to follow, Nightmare Moon rushing to join him while Chrysalis rolled her eyes and let out a silent groan, treading behind the two.

Making her way next to him, Nightmare Moon leaned closer to Jeremy, taking another wary glance at Halfy as she did so. "Sir Jeremy," she whispered, to which Jeremy responded with a silent 'hm?'

"We are aware that your judgement hath been unfaltered thus far, but how can ye be so sure of this mare's intention?" Letting out a sigh, Jeremy rolled his eyes, annoyance beginning to poke at him from the seemingly continual subject that he wished to escape.

"I'm not." He answered simply in a whisper, drawing a look of shock from Nightmare Moon.

"What!?! Then, for what reason would ye affirm with this 'Halfy'?" She whispered questioningly. Rather than answer immediately, Jeremy narrowed his eyes at her, much to her surprise, and crossed his arms.

"I didn't exactly know either of you two back when we first met, but I still trusted you nonetheless. What makes her any different?" The alicorn made to answer, but upon opening her maw, she quickly realized that nothing would come out, unable to truly think of anything to say against this statement, mostly due to how true it was. "Now, if you need to, open up the link with Chrysalis and tell her that I don't want either of you going on about this. You both got along well with Zecora, for the most part anyways," He added, thinking back to the one occasion involving Chrysalis, Zecora, and a bottle of-quite literally- bottled lightning. "So how about you do the same here, and give Halfy a chance... Okay?"

Nightmare Moon looked to the ground for a moment as she walked on, before returning her gaze to Jeremy and nodding. "Thank you." He said, giving a sincere smile to his alicorn companion.

"Here we are." The two looked at the earth mare and away from their coversation, Chrysalis doing the same, as she put her forehoof to the door and pushed, opening the door and gesturing for us to come in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't believe I'm doing this. Its bad enough that I actually agreed with Nightmare Moon on subject, but even worse that Jeremy didn't seem to want to listen. Now, we were entering this 'Halfy's' home, if you could even really call it that, with the only possible defense we have being Nightmare Moon's weakened magic!

After opening the door, the earth mare gestured to the house for us to enter. Jeremy gave her a thankful nod- Ugh...-, Nightmare Moon gave a short, though obviously hesitant, bow to the mare, which she returned without pause before the alicorn entered, and as I was passing by, she did the same, though this time, she didn't seem to rise. I gave her a raised brow as I passed her, and it was only when I had stepped inside that she had stopped bowing. Now I was really confused, and suspicious. I mean, how could she possibly know about the customary greeting given to a changeling queen!?! How she would bow and, rather than wait for a bow in return, she would accept my dominance by not even daring to raise herself until I passed! I swear to the great empress above, if she's planning something, then I'll-

"Chrysalis?" I let out a mental groan as the shadow mare reopened the mental link, not really paying any mind to the goings on around me as they came in as muffled gibberish.

"What?" I returned with a roll of my eyes.

"Sir Jeremy hath requested that we cease our suspicion of the earth mare. Immediately."

"What!?!" I mentally exclaimed, my irritance rising. "Who is he to tell me what to do!?! It's not like he'll do anything if I don't listen! Besides, you know as well as I do that this mare cant be trusted!?"

"Perhaps..." She led off, leaving the word and her thought to just float there for a moment. "But, Sir Jeremy did make a valid point in his argument. He had said that, 'if he was able to accept us, then what would make Halfy so different.'"

"I don't believe this! How is it that, even when you don't agree, you still take his side!?!" I looked to Nightmare Moon, who was currently waiting by the corner of the ineptly built room, earning a short but effective glare from her as Jeremy continued to converse with Halfy.

"Is that not what friends do?"

"Since when do you care about friends?!?"

"Around the same time that you did." She finished, closing off our mental link and turning back to Jeremy and Halfy.

For a moment, I was ready to head over there and shut her up myself, already taking a step in her direction, but as I did so, I quickly grew to regret it as a dizzy spell hit me like no other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The house was... Pretty much the same as outside really. Unpainted, dull, moss growing from several places, cracks in the ceiling, clearly showing the next floor up, and the floor creaking below us with every step we took.

The living room itself was snug, to say the least, with a single couch, though dusty and covered in aged filth, a bookshelf placed nearby the couch, giving a full view of its surprisingly filled collection, and a fireplace, built with stone, rather than wood, and crafted unevenly, giving it a slight, though still highly noticeable for somepony with OCD, tilt. It led off to what seemed like three rooms.

A kitchen, accessible through an opening, which could be seen through the counter-like placement of the wall separating it from the living room, with a small, rusted stove, a singular sink, its pipes and entirety still visible, and small collection of cabinets, though they were placed closely to the ground rather than the ceiling.

As to where the next two doors left, I was left to guess. A bathroom was likely one, at least I hoped so, for Halfy's sake, and maybe the stairs that led to the second floor. Oh, and another thing that I noticed about this room? No windows. At all. I guess that, in my case, that's not really a problem, but for anypony else?

"It's not much, I know." Halfy began as I glanced to Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon, who were both taking their own positions around the room, Nightmare Moon in the corner and Chrysalis by the door. "But, its home."

"Um... Yeah... I guess." I told her, trying to be cautious with my wording. "So... Er... How long have you, you know, lived here?" Placing her hoof to her chin, she sat herself down onto the floor as she began to think.

"... About, 6 months, maybe?"

6 months!?! She's been living in the middle of the Everfree forest for 6 months?!? I mean, I guess that would explain why I'd never heard of her from Zecora, considering I moved to Canterlot about 4 months in, but still!

"Uh, wow." I said, taking another glance around the room. "By yourself?" She nodded, though this time rather solemnly, before looking back to us with a small smile.

"Honestly, besides Zecora whenever she come to check in on me, you three are the first visitors that I've had." So that's how she knew Zecora. Nonetheless, hearing how she's been alone for so long, well, it wasn't exactly something I couldn't feel slightly saddened by.

"Oh, well, um, sorry about that?" Halfy just chuckled at this, waving her forehoof at us dismissively.

"It's no problem at all. Besides, I'm kinda used to it at this point." Ouch. Pretty sure my heart just broke a bit at that. "But, why are you all here?"

I flinched slightly as she asked me this, my hand unconsciously moving behind my head as I momentarily looked away from her. "Um, it's a long story..."

Her head tilted at this, her brow raising as she looked at me with her ~~one eye~~- Okay, yeah, I really don't want to talk about that, it makes me feel really offensive. "What do you mean?" She asked, shifting her gaze over to my companions. "It's already kind of... Off-putting that a changeling queen and the mare on the moon are with you. I just want to know how you met them." Wait, she knows about them?!?

"Wait, you know about them?!?" I exclaimed my thoughts aloud, my own brow raising at this.

"O-of course. I was there when Nightmare Moon first reappeared, and I read about the attack on Canterlot in the news once." Yeah, I probably should have figured. Though, I have to say, why is it that she was willing to bring two of Equestria's most despised 'villains' into her home if she knew who they were. Guess there's not really any point in holding back anymore then.

"Uh, right... Well, I met them in the Canterlot dungeons."

"You were guarding the Canterlot dungeons?" I chuckled at this, a smile coming to my face at this horribly misinformed inference.

"No, not really. I was a prisoner as well." Even more of a questioning aura came to her as I told her this. She seemed skeptical, unsure of wether I was being honest or not.

"You? In the Canterlot dungeons? In the same cell with Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis?" I nodded. "What did you do for that to happen?"

"Honestly, I wish I knew. When I first woke up in the cell, my head was aching, and I had a big bump on it. Even now, I still don't remember why, or even how I was arrested." She still seemed kind of doubtful, by the looks of it, but she didn't say anything further on the subject to question it.

"Well, like I asked before then, why are you all here?" She asked, gesturing with her forehoof to the three of us for emphasis. Taking in a breath, I let out a sigh as I took to explaining.

"Well, we got away from Canterlot some time ago. The Everfree Forest was the closest, and ironically, the safest place for us to be to get away from the princesses and their guards." I recounted, Halfy listening intently to me as I went on. "We met up with Zecora, an old friend of mine, just last night, and she told us to come in this direction. That's... Pretty much all there is to it." Now that I think about it, it's not that long of a story.

"So, you're looking for somewhere you can hide from the guards." I nodded.

"Yeah, at least until we can figure out how to deal with this whole thing." I responded, spinning my hand in the air to suggest the situation we were in. For a moment, she grew silent, blankly looking to the floor. I grew tense at this, the sudden eerie silence giving me an odd feeling.

Looking back to Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, I noticed the two glaring at each other, their heads and brows twitch slightly as they did so. What were doi-

"You can stay here, I-if you like." Wait, what!?!?! This honestly surprised the hell out of me, turning to face the mare with wide eyes and my jaw dropping.

"What? Y-you're kidding, right?" I asked, hoping to confirm this unbelievable statement. Rather than to give herself another second to think over her suggestion, she shook her head.

"No, I'm not. I have a lot of extra space here, and I wouldn't mind." But- but-... But.

"Woah, woah, woah, think this through first! Look, I don't want anypony else to have to get in trouble, or hurt, because of what we did. If you let us stay here, and the guards find us, they'll take you away too!" I scrambled to explain, trying to discourage her kindness. Like I said, I don't want anypony else to get involved on this. Especially if they could end up dealing with the same thing that I did in my time in the Canterlot dungeon! "I appreciate the offer Halfy, I really do, but-"

I was cut off by a resounding thump from behind me, my head turning to the sound, quickly followed by my body as I turned and hurried to a collapsed Chrysalis. I kneeled down next to her as she let out a groan, rubbing her head lightly as she peaked one eye open.

"Christ! Chrysalis, are you okay?" I asked. I knew that that chase from earlier took a lot out of her, but not this much. I reached for her, but my hand was quickly slapped away by her hoof as she looked to me with narrowed eyes.

"I'm fine." She said, trembling slightly as she removed herself from the floor with a grunt. Needless to say, I was skeptical. Chrysalis would need some more time to rest, and something to eat, and fast. Otherwise...

Glancing behind me, where both Halfy, and surprisingly, Nightmare Moon, looked on in concern, I sucked on the inside of my cheek as I thought of Halfy's offer, seemingly more and more. I didn't want her to get involved in this, but, if I didn't...

"... Halfy, are you sure that you wouldn't mind? Despite the fact that we're in such bad circumstances." Yet again, she didn't hesitate, quickly nodding her head as she shifted her gaze to me.

"... Alright. Nightmare Moon, help me get Chrysalis on the couch."

"Wait, what!?!"

Chapter 11: New Member, Great Impression

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Handling a fully awake, well-fed and charged changeling? Near impossible. Dealing with an extremely tired, hungry and puttered out Chrysalis? Somehow, worse.

Chrysalis didn't really appreciate it when Nightmare Moon lifted her onto the coach with her magic, which is kind of ironic considering how often she had done so with me, but she settled down once she was put on the couch, coming to a calm silence. As calm as a sarcastic, sneaky, and almost Machiavellian person like her could be that is.

"I think I much rather preferred it when you were bedridden." And by that, I meant she still had some 'insightful' comments on everything I did. Despite the fact that she couldn't read emotions anymore, or tell if I was lying or not, she would still seem to make it an objective of hers to keep me bothered. I can't really complain, I guess, considering I'm practicing on a half-awake Chrysalis, but still.

Glancing back to her, I rolled my eyes as I looked over the bookshelf, and the collection of books in it, as Halfy had so kindly told Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, and I were available for our use. At the moment, I could see the bindings of books of several varieties. Some of them seeming... Familiar.

'The Humpback Of Notrehoof', 'Lord of the Wings', 'Daring Do'... God these pony parallels to my world were getting tiresome. Though, they were pretty funny.

Chuckling at one of the particularly amusing ones, ('A Hearthswarming Carol'? Really?) I took another look around the room. Aside from Chrysalis, I was the only person/pony/changeling that was currently in here, Halfy and Nightmare Moon having gone out some time ago to look for food.

As it had turned out, Halfy had actually made a garden of sorts nearby, where she would usually get her food from. I had to say, it sounded like a pretty effective method. Especially in such a secluded area like this. Nightmare Moon had been a little more than skeptical about going anywhere with Halfy, but with a little convincing, I managed to get her to accept, begrudgingly of course.

I turned back to the bookshelf again and looked over the other books in the shelf, hoping to find something of interest as I went on, my fingers and hand grazing over the many textures books as I continued to mentally read their title aloud.

"Lets see... Hmmmm... Oh?" I felt a brow raise in interest as I noticed that, among the many colorful books, was one of complete black, lacking of the name of the tale on the binding. My curiosity piqued, I carefully pulled out the hard cover book, turning it to the first page, and giving it a quick look over.

The first page was comprised of an image of a Minotaur, his eyes red as a small group of ponies almost pleaded to him. I skimmed through the text next to it, and, upon noticing the rhyming nature, and almost rythmic foretelling, I could tell that this was some sort of poem book, comprised of pony myths, some of which I had actually heard of.

For instance, this one went over the creation of 'Tartarus', which was basically the pony equivalent of hell, and how the three ponies, one from each kind, asked for the 'almighty Minotaur' to punish those that had wronged them. In response, the Minotaur accepted, creating a land to which the evil and cold hearted would suffer, and he would rule with infallible power.

It was kind of a dark tale, but I guess that everyone had their own idea of life after death, huh?

I started to flick through the tales, passing image and text with every turn, occasionally skimming through those that brought about my interest. As I went along, I noticed a recurring theme. The stories would get worse and worse as they passed, showing the tales of darker, and more menacing, themes in Equestria. I had thought that 'Tartarus' was bad? That might as well have been a man with a white bed sheet over himself compared to some of these other tales. Hell, some of them even caused me goosebumps

As I approached the last tale in the book, I found my mind wandering to what could possibly be worse than everything that's passed. To what monstrous being, or place, could honestly surpass what I had seen before... I found myself quickly regretting these thoughts, any minute sense of interest and uncomfortability being replaced with anger and irritation.

On the last pages, where the book had come to a complete end, there was an image of a night sky, the moon radiating its usual beauty. At the same time though, its seemed to have an ethereal, and almost dark glow to it. As for the text...

'T'was one day, upon a beautiful earthen sun, that darkness came to soon overcome. Two monarchs that ruled, one sun and one moon, a balance gently broken as it had begun so soon. The night grew jealous of day, or so it was told, a monster soon created, passed by tales of old. From anguish and anger, as mayhem was soon strewn, came about the creation, of the tyrant Nightmare Moon.'

My grip on the book tightened as I read this, almost trembling as a sense of anger came to me. I can't believe this! Nightmare Moon was apparently the worst 'monster' in all of creation!?! How could she possibly be the worst!? She had even beat out Sombra! The same unicorn tyrant that had used dark magic to enslave and punish an entire kingdom for no real reason other than power! I mean, this was just so frustrating, I-

"I take it you read something you don't like?" Chrysalis commented, breaking me out of my thoughts as I turned to face her. She had an almost questioning look on her face, rather than a smug one, surprisingly. Letting out a sigh, I turned the book page to her, showing her the reason of my annoyance.

"Can you believe this?!" I exclaimed, pointing to the book as I did so. "In a book where the stories get worse and worse, Nightmare Moon, of all ponies, is listed as the worst! Of all the asanine bullshit, this has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen!

Chrysalis' ear twitched as I spoke, a brow of hers raising. "... Not often that I see you so upset about something." I rolled my eyes at this, pinching the bridge of my nose for a moment before looking to her again.

"Well, of course! The fact that they're calling Nightmare Moon a monster in, not only this, but basically every scary story or book, its just-... Ugh!" I started to involuntarily pace at this, constantly glancing back to the book as I did so. "It's just as bad as how the entire population of Equestria thinks of you Changelings to be cruel, heartless being with an 'insatiable hunger'!"

Chrysalis brow raised even higher at this, suddenly seeming to take in greater interest at my mindless spiel. "Oh? So you care about the public's opinion of Changelings, as well as Nightmare Moon?"

"Look, I was taught not to judge someone by what others tell me when I was growing up, and you two are no exception." I closed the book with a loud slam, walking back to the bookshelf I had gotten it from. "If anypony knew you two for who you were, I doubt that they would have the same opinion of you as they do now." I almost crashed the book back into its place, my irritance beginning to ebb away as I took a deep breath to calm myself.

There was a moment of silence as niether I, nor surprisingly, Chrysalis, spoke a word, myself turning to face my companion shortly after. "Chrysalis," I began, "no matter what, this stays between us. Nightmare Moon already has a pretty low opinion of herself from all the hate she's received over the years, and she doesn't need this." Chrysalis didn't answer immediately, instead just gazing at me emotionlessly. "Chrysalis!"

Finally reacting, though with a roll of her eyes, she let out a sigh. "Fine, fine. I won't say a word." Crossing my arms, I looked at her slightly skeptically, raising a brow as I did so.

"Really?" She nodded her head. "You mean it?" Another nod of her head, her eyes slightly narrowing at the repetition. "You give me your word?" I heard her growl slightly as her eyes narrowed even further, her obvious annoyance picking away at her.

"Yes! I give you my word! Are you satisfied now?" I guess that's good enough. It would probably be the best that I would get from her anyhow.

As I made to answer her, the door handle suddenly shook, and spun, opening the rest of the wooden entrance and revealing both Nightmare Moon, who was currently holing a variety of berries and fruits in her magical grasp in front of her, and Halfy, who seemed to be dwarfed by Nightmare Moon's size, a small wooden basket in her mouth grip, filled to the top with what looked like vegetables.

"We hath returned!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed dramatically, raising a hood to the air, likely unaware of the dramatic format with which she had said this. Chrysalis began to laugh outright at this, while I managed to restrain myself, though barely, at the same time trying to throw away all earlier pretense of the conversation Chrysalis and I had.

"Um... Welcome back?" I offered, not really certain of how to respond to her... Entrance. The two walked inside of the home, Nightmare Moon having to duck down slightly at the entrance, before Halfy went around her and closed the door again, stopping the little night breeze that had been entering at the time. "You seem... Happy."

Nightmare Moon nodded at this, a smile in her face as she almost effortlessly moved the fruit from the living from to the kitchen counter, Halfy following after the floating edibles and putting down her basket next to the pile they created.

"Verily, yes!" Halfy made her way back into the room shortly after placing down the basket of hers, Nightmare Moon quickly, much to my and Chrysalis' surprise, pulling her in close in a friendly manner. "Halfy hath proven to be a most wonderful companion in our time outside! Almost so much so as thee, Sir Jeremy!"

I chuckled at this, and the slightly embarrassed face that Halfy put on as Nightmare Moon put her in such an awkward position before us, a small part of my mind cheering, while also looking on in confusion, at Nightmare Moon's sudden friendliness to Halfy.

"Wow. That's great!" Gesturing to the two, I asked, "What exactly happened out there?" I mean, honestly, there weren't out for that long, and Nightmare Moon might as well have been prepared to push her off of a cliff when they had first met.

Placing Halfy back down next to her, the mare rubbing the back of her head as she did so, Nightmare Moon turned to Chrysalis and I with a smile. "Oh, 'twas a grand short time we had. When it first began, we admit, we were very wary of Halfy-..."

********************************************

To think, that I have agreed to even step hoof with this mare by my side! Truthfully, were it not for Sir Jeremy's intervention, 'twas likely that I would never have even thought of such a thing. Be it as it may though, I suppose that I must honor the wishes of Sir Jeremy, despite my hesitance to such a thing.

As the mare known as 'Halfy' and I walked along one of the many forest paths that surrounded the outer regions of her home, the mare walked in a slightly quickened stride, attempting to keep her distance from me, while at the same time keeping herself at a somewhat respectful boundary nearby.

She didn't speak a word as she continued to lead, escorting me to whatever area she was attempting to have me follow her to. As a precaution, I was more than prepared for any sort of act of treachery, my horn poised to cast a spell of any sort, should she threaten me, or my companions.

'twas several moments more before anything truly eventful came about. The arrival of ours at this claimed garden of hers. An open clearing in the repetitive collection of green, brown, and gray, with several varieties of blooming blues, violets, and colors of all sects greeting us as we entered.

Surprise became an overpowering emotion at this time, soon shifted to that of wonder and curiosity as, despite myself, I began to wander through the area, looking over the many flowers and crops that grew throughout the area, organized in a chaotic assortment of color and shape.

Glancing behind me, I spotted the mare veer off from my direction, eventually halting as she craned her head below a particularly large bush, coming back up with a wooden basket of sorts in her maw. I watched as she carefully looked among the many plants, occasionally placing down the basket to pick from some of the vegetation around her, putting it into its holding place and continuing.

Following her example, I searched among the other side of the garden, reaching out for and grasping various fruits and berries within my magical grasp. This continued for a matter of minutes, the small ensemble of berries and the like that I had assembled growing to a large clump, much like the crops that almost overflowed off of the basket of Halfy. A sizable harvest indeed.

Taking a glance to garden once more, I made my way to the mare, who, despite her filled basket, continued on. "Prithee, what art thou doing?" I inquired, the mare jumping slightly in surprise, bringing a bout a roll of my eyes.

Turning to me, the mare gazed at me nervously with her single eye, she began to stutter out a response. "I-I still have something to d-do." She said. A brow of mine rose at this, my suspicion of her not yet deserted, despite Sir Jeremy's request. After all, I had told him that I would attempt to be more 'friendly' with this mare. He did not mention to what extent.

"Oh? Then we suppose, thou wouldst not mind our attendance?" At this, her eye widened for a moment, her surprise evident, before, looking to the floor, she responded.

"Um... S-sure."

-------------------------------------

Along the sides of this garden of hers, we arrived a clearing of groves, and vines, very nearly making a perfect pathway for us to follow. Trotting down the winding pathway, consistently having to either lower my head or push aside a collection of vines with my magic, I found myself growing more and more irritated as time went on.

Surely, the mare was jesting? 'twas the time of the stars and moon, and there could not truly be any reason of her to be in such a remote part of this forest of Everfree.

At a point, I was tempted to end this pointless trek with a single spell, but once again, I was held to my acceptance of Sir Jeremy's request, and held myself from doing so. Upon the eventuality, we soon reached what I presumed to be our destination.

Another, even smaller clearing, in the wood, surrounded by a viable wall of thick branches and outgrown roots, forming a small dark dome, with only hints of moonlight peering through a scarce, spread about collection of openings. My brow raising, I followed the mare inside of the dome, glancing to her as she reached for an unspecified object in the dark.

"... Where hast thou brought u-" I was brought to a pause as, upon noticing a particularly noticable ray of my moon's shine, I traced its path, and saw that, at the middle of this shielded clearing, was a sight I had long thought was no longer existed. "Are... Are those?"

Passing around me, and taking great care in doing so, the mare carefully tilted her head near the plant, the odd tool in her maw dripping a scarce few bits of water onto it, before then just as carefully pulling it away and putting it off to the side, looking to me in timidity.

"Lunar Blossoms... I'm sorry I didn't just tell you about them, but I thought that y-you wouldn't believe me." I couldn't believe my eyes. One of the rarest possible things to find in this land, and she was tending to it.

It was an enchanting sight to see. The midnight blue, dotted white pattern of this star shaped plant, in full bloom as what looked like small miniatures of it grew close to its thin, violet stem. The plant was... I had long thought that they had gone extinct. Extinguished by the fear of the many citizens of Equestria, who, having seen that this plant would grow nervous at the thought of something that grew from the rays of 'the mare on the moon', made it their goal to wipe out the entire species of blossom.

"H-... How?"

"My mother found it when she was just a filly, and she cared for it as she grew up. Then, she gave it to me... It's one of the last things I have to remember her." Halfy gained a saddened look to her, but, giving one last glance to the flower, she returned her gaze to me, pushing this emotion off.

"We... Do not understand..." I began, still in shock at the sight if the blooming plant. "Why... Why wouldst thou retain a bloom that was so heavily linked to us?" Rather than answer immediately, she looked downwards in thought.

"... Well... I wasn't there when you... first came... Or when you came back... And my dad taught me never to look at something one way..." She looked up at me again. "I guess... I just don't see any reason why I should think of you, or this flower, to necessarily be bad, princess."

My eyes grew wide at this, most of my thoughts all but disappearing as she said this. "W-... What didst thou just call us?" Having thought she had done wrong, her ears laid themselves flat, as her gaze shifted downwards.

"Oh, um, sorry! I thought that, since you are royalty, that I-" Before she could speak any further, I found myself to be pulling her into my grasp, all but dragging her into the air as I held her close to me.

"Oh, thank thee, thank thee, thank thee! Thou hast no possible thought of how grateful we are to hear thou, or anypony, speakest those words!"

********************************************

And, almost following simultaneously with that story of hers, Nightmare Moon had Halfy gripped close to her in a death hug, basically. The height difference between the two basically making it so that Halfy's hind hooves were about two inches off the ground as Nightmare Moon affectionately held her with a smile.

Chrysalis was, to put it simply, laughing her flank off at this, almost rolling herself off of the couch a numerous amount of times. I admit, I wanted to laugh at the sight too, but I felt as though I shouldn't, so I held it in... Mostly.

"So-..." I had to hold in an upcoming laugh, so I took a moment. "... Ahem... You two are... Friends now?" I asked, in return, Nightmare Moon nodded, still not releasing Halfy, who currently had an embarrassed blush on her face that was so red, I could actually see a little of it through the white cloth that covered one of her eyes.

"Huh... Guess its a good thing I told Nightmare Moon to go along with Halfy... Awesome." I felt a small smile come to my face as I saw this, crossing my arms and leaning against the bookshelf I had just looked through.

"See? I knew that there were more ponies that didn't just sleep at night. And Halfy just proves it." Nightmare Moon once again at this, placing Halfy back down onto the floor, though she wobbled slightly from her sudden reintroduction to the concept of standing, and making her way to me.

"Yes, we suppose that ye were indeed correct, Sir Jeremy. Ye truly-" Much to my embarrassment, she was cut off as a loud growl echoed through the room, the origin being from-where else?- my stomach. Damnit, that's the second time!

A blush of my own coming to my face, I felt myself freeze as Halfy, Chrysalis, and Nightmare Moon all giggled/chuckled at this, Nightmare Moon jokingly rolling her eyes.

"We take it that ye hunger?"

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I have to say, compared to the many, and I do mean many, berries that I had eaten while the three of us were out in the forest, the ones that Nightmare Moon and Halfy had picked were just amazing. I had no idea what Halfy did while she was growing these, but it sure as hell worked! The fruits and vegetables that she added with them helped make it all the more filling, and delicious, as the four of us sat in the living room, Halfy and Chrysalis on the couch while Nightmare Moon and I sat on the floor.

... Well, honestly, it was more like three of us were eating. As I went on eating, I noticed that, despite her condition, Chrysalis wasn't eating any of the food that was before her, preferring to just lazily roll around one of the loose berries on her given plate.

Raising a brow at this, I swallowed the mouthful of fruit and the like that I currently had in my mouth, looking to her questioningly.

"Uh, Chrysalis? Are you okay?" I asked, drawing her attention as she shifted her sight to me.

"... Fine. Just not hungry, is all." She kidding, right? I wasn't really sure how to answer to this for a moment, honesty shocked by what she said, but I managed to get my message through soon enough.

"Not hung- How can you not be hungry?" Narrowing her eyes at me, she lifted her lazily laid down head to look at me.

"I'm just not hungry." Despite her apparently growing aggression and annoyance, I persisted nonetheless.

"Chrysalis, you nearly collapsed a few moments ago. You need to eat something!" At this point, both Nightmare Moon and Halfy's attention had been shifted to the two of us. Chrysalis, stubborn as she was, continued to argue that she was fine.

"I told you, I'm not hungry!" I felt my eyes narrow at this, a slight tinge of annoyance pecking at me.

"Ugh, could you just listen to me?!? I know we don't always get along, but you have to realize, I'm trying to help you. If you don't eat, wether you're hungry or not, you may lose even more strength. Strength that, in case you haven't noticed, you don't have." She continued to glare at me, but she didn't respond. "So please, just... Eat, alright?"

She looked at me angrily for another moment or two, the thought that she wouldn't listen to me coming to mind, before, thankfully, she rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, turning to her plate of food taking a mouthful of berries into her maw.

"Thank you."

-------------------------------------

Our plates empty, eyelids heavy, and minds content with a night well passed, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, and I were more than ready to get some sleep for the next night. Besides, it would be day soon, and, despite the fact that we're indoors, I didn't want to have to worry about the light yet.

Stretching my arms outwards, I let out a yawn as I made to stand up, Nightmare Moon following suit, I glanced around for a good place to get some rest, taking my and Nightmare Moon's plates to the kitchen, just as Halfy had done with hers and Chrysalis', as I did so.

Returning from the kitchen, I spotted a comfortable looking corner on the opposite of me, a small smile coming to me as the idea of getting some rest came to me... Until I was being floated into the air again.

"What the- hey!" I exclaimed, looking over to Nightmare Moon as I did so. "What!?!"

Smiling, Nightmare Moon levitated me closer to her as she turned and made her way to one of the other doors of the house. "Ye do not need to rest uncomfortably any longer, Sir Jeremy." The heck does that mean?

"Um... Why?" I asked.

"Ye will be glad to know that our new host, Halfy, has offered her own resting place for thee." My eyes widening slightly at this, I turned my head to Halfy, who looked to me with a small smile and a wave.

"Uh... Really? You don't mind?" I asked. As a response, Halfy shook her head.

"It's no problem. I have some things to do during the day anyways, so you can go ahead." I... Honestly didn't know what to say. Offering to give us shelter and food was one thing, but to outright give up her bed?

"Uh... Wow... Thanks Halfy. I really do appreciate it."

"As do we." Nightmare Moon added in, giving Halfy one last smile before, floating me along with her, she opened the door and went through. On the other side, there was a small staircase, leading upwards to the second floor of the home, where I figured the bedroom would be.

I was levitated up the stairs in nearly an instant as Nightmare Moon followed, her hooves echoing slightly in the empty stairway with every step she took. Making a turn around the wooden railing that surrounded the stairs, the two of us came upon a single wooden door, Nightmare Moon finally letting me down onto the floor as we did so.

Walking past her, I grabbed hold of the door handle and, giving it a twist and a push, opened the door, giving us a view of the bedroom. It was simple enough, actually. There weren't really many decorations, aside from a counter near the bed, a single window, which luckily had the drapes covering it, and a single bed near the far wall of the room, two large soft pillows and a thick blue bed sheet laid over it. Yeesh, I feel more tired just from looking at it.

Making my way over to the bed, my feet slightly shuffling below me as I did so, I flopped face first onto the soft mattress, letting out a content sigh as I did so. "... Perfect..." I said absentmindedly, dragging myself upwards, further onto the bed, and flipping myself onto my back.

Glancing to my right, I noticed Nightmare Moon looking to me with a smile, my own quickly going away as a thought came to mind. "Hey, Nightmare Moon?" I asked. "Where are you going to sleep?"

I mean, if I had the bed, and Chrysalis had the couch, then where was she going to sleep. Nightmare Moon just smiled, waving me off before responding.

"We shall rest downstairs, with Chrysalis. We are certain she would not mind too greatly." Does she realize who's she's talking about? Seeming to notice my concern, Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. "Ye have no reason to worry, my friend. For the moment, concern yourself with rest, rather than the matters of our own."

Turning to the door, Nightmare Moon trotted her way out of the room, opening and closing the door behind her using her magical grip, and leaving the room with one last 'Sleep well'.

It wasn't until a couple minutes had passed though, before I even thought of getting sleep. Putting my head back against the pillows, I thought over what had happened tonight. We'd met somepony else, willing to help us, despite not even knowing us... Or, more accurately, despite knowing exactly who we were. Nightmare Moon had, surprisingly, gotten along with her quickly. And as for Chrysalis... She's gotten worse...

I can only imagine how things are going back home. Both my human home, and, more importantly at this point, back at Canterlot. Heh, the princesses must be going crazy trying to find us... Well, that's a happy thought to go to sleep on... I'm serious.

Chapter 12: Life Back Home

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Chuckling to himself as he watched pony after pony rush past one another below him, occasionally crashing into each other as they made their way through the large, yet currently thinning, halls of the castle, Discord could not help but let out a sigh as he watched this beatifully chaotic sight.

To think, only a few days ago, word of 'escaped convicts' had been no more than a simple rumor spread about the grounds, likely being an attempt by Celestia, the 'almighty sun princess', or whatever she preferred to be called, and her guard to keep it a secret. Now, word had gotten out that these rumors were, as a matter of fact, true.

"And the rest, as they say, is history." Discord thought to himself as a tub of popcorn materialized in his hands, himself eating the bag, rather than the food within, as he watched the residents, servants, and even guards, of the palace run amok.

From what he had heard, Celestia had ordered for everypony in the castle to keep word of the prisoner escape to a still, punishable by... Well, he wasn't sure, but whatever it was, it was likely to be fun for Discord. Despite her attempts at a vow of silence from the staff, however, the princess had also ordered for the search attempts of the prisoners to be doubled, then tripled, as time went by.

Trying to keep a secret, while also having to work on that secret at the same time. Absolutely brilliant! At least, in Discord's opinion. After all, it certainly allowed for quite the show.

Popping the rest of the paper bag that surrounded his snack into his mouth, and absentmindedly throwing away his 'waste' as he chuckled at yet another comical crash that occurred below him, he couldn't help but to wonder if he had something to do with this.

After all, the first actual escape by any prisoners did happen on the same day that he had decided to... 'Let loose', with a small amount of chaos, barely enough to sneeze over... Literally.

"Hmmm... If, oh say, the princesses, or the elements, were to find out about this possible suspicion, I have the oddest feeling that they wouldn't be too happy... Ah, the look on their faces will be worth it, I'm sure." Before he could muse on this any further, a large series of clangs and tumbles from across the hall caught his attention, a smile of glee coming to his face.

"Oh, how I love a chaotic rush hour!"

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"How can there still be nothing?!?" Celestia practically yelled to one of her returning guards, her wings flaring as her irritance sparked. The guard, though stoic as he may be, flinched at this, a sense of fear ebbing away at the back of his mind, though he still held steadfast through his report.

"Since the escape of the human, your majesty, he and the other two prisoners have seemingly disappeared. No guards have been able to spot them on their patrols, from here to the crystal kingdom, and no civilians have claimed to have seen any odd sights." He said, looking to the princess of the day as blankly as he could muster.

Celestia, in a sense of frustration, placed her hoof against her head, sighing as she attempted to push out her flustered state from her being. Stress had begun to pile as the days passed since the escape of the prisoners. Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, and Jeremy, as she recalled him to be named, were out there at this very moment, and she, despite her best efforts, had yet to find them!

She was in great need of finding the three. Capturing them once more and placing them back where they belonged would be the only way to keep peace in Equestria, along with the safety of her many subjects.

"... Thank you, commander. If any news is obtained, any whatsoever, please address it to me, or my sister, as soon as possible." The guard, slightly thankful at the process of being able to leave the currently fuming princess, bowed to her once more, exiting the room as guard-like as he could, though his heart was currently acting like that of a coward's.

The slam of the doors behind the guard, signaling the exit of the guard, was quickly accompanied by another sigh from the princess as she placed her hoof back to its original position, her horn glowing as, with a minimal sense of effort, a small stack of papers appeared before her, each of them having information on both the former prisoner's, and the reports of the guards at the time. Truthfully, she must have looked these sheets over and over again up to a hundred times, each one just bringing her more frustration as she passed through the records.

From the escape of Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, which had apparently been caused by none other than the human, Jeremy, to the interrogations that then were given to him over the next span of time. Sessions of questioning, as was custom, in which two ponies would approach him, ask questions, and, if they would not comply, they would send him back to his cell, with a considerably smaller amount of food for the evening. Though, the morning portions would still remain the same. It wasn't exactly the most effective form to wear away at one's resistance, but earlier interrogations of her's over the many years of her rule had proven it to be effective.

Finally, it led to the escape of Jeremy, which, according to reports, had occurred when Jeremy had taken a guard captive, and, with the assistance of Chrysalis, who had come disguised as another guard, escaped with little to no effort. As to the name of the guard that had been held against his will, she believed that it was 'BrassBones', as one of the other guards had referred to him as.

Nonetheless though, the capture of a guard, release of dangerous prisoners, all of this, just seemed akin to something that this human would do. And to think, that she had once welcomed him to Equestria with open hooves!

Before she could mentally rant on this any further, a knock at the door interrupted her, causing her to release a silent groan as she once again flashed away the papers before her.

"Come in." She said, looking to the door as it was immediately brought open by a nightly blue glow, none other than her sister, Princess Luna, making her way into the throne room.

"Sister, if I may have a word?" Luna asked, sitting herself before her older sibling. Nodding her head, Celestia closed the large doors behind her younger sister, ensuring any privacy for conversation that they may wish.

"Of course, Luna. Though, I must ask, why are you awake at this time? I would have expected you to have waited for the night to end your slumber." Shaking her head, Luna looked to her sister.

"This is a much more important matter, dear sister. It deals with the three escaped prisoners." At this, Celestia's brow rose, her full focus now given to her sister as she addressed this topic.

"Oh?" She asked.

"We- er, I" she corrected, momentarily having slipped back into her old way of speaking, "am curious as to the reason of not simply addressing this issue to the public." She said, gesturing to behind her as she did so. She, like many of the other guards, felt that this 'silence' that they were forced to keep was inefficient, and that it slowed the seeking out of these prisoners. After all, the public was their best resource in this desperate search for the three. "Perhaps, if we-"

"I'm afraid that cannot be an option, Luna." Celestia interrupted, a serious tone about her. Luna, unsure as to her sister's reasoning, rose a brow at this, looking to her sister questioningly.

"Yes, but why, sister? I can understand your attempts to not have the public panic, but surely, if the elements of harmony, at least, were informed, they could-"

"It is not the panic of our subjects that I worry of, Luna." Her eyes widening, Luna had become completely lost with that one statement.

"... Pardon?"

"The populace cannot know of the escape of Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, this is true. But, more importantly, they cannot know of the human, Jeremy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh, we said to bring the new roundtable to the conference room, not the kitchen! Why would we have our meetings in the kitchen?" The suited earth pony with tinted sunglasses exclaimed, one of the many unicorns before him putting on a sheepish smile as he quickly began to rectify his mistake, moving the table, and himself, away from the doorway and into another. Sighing, the pony looked to his close companion, and business partner, that sat next to him. He was, at the moment, taking a sip of coffee from the small container he had brought with him on the trip. Glancing to his right, the red and orange earth pony offered the other a sip, holding the container out to him out in his offer.

"Uh, no thanks, EvenOut." The suited unicorn said, moving back in an attempt to gain some distance from the container, shaking a hoof at him as he did so. Shrugging, EvenOut swallowed the coffee he had in his mouth, shuddering slightly at the bitter, yet rejuvenating, taste.

"Suit yourself, TopSuit."

The two had come and gone to this site of construction,-well, reconstruction- and furnishing for the past few months. Since the accident that had all but ruined their company, Hooves and Elbow Grease, things had proven to be rather... Difficult for the duo. Nonetheless though, they pushed on through this challenge, digging into their emergency funds and, with the help of their loyal workers, were able to easily fund and arrange the rebuilding of their company headquarters.

Despite this though, the two had still suffered heavy losses. Both in their profits, and, tragically enough, in their work force as well.

As an earth pony worker helped to orient the front desk of the building's lobby, a knock at the door quickly drew both EvenOut and TopSuit's attention, the two turning as, much to their amusement, they saw a regular customer of theirs jokingly knocking on a door that, as of yet, had yet to be installed, instead lying slanted against the nearby wall.

"I take it nopony's home?" Chuckling at his own joke, along with a pair of snickers from the two business ponies, the orange-yellow stallion nonchalantly made his way inside, ducking as a unicorn moved another large table just over his head.

"Ah, Mr. Tendh- oof!" EvenOut was cut early in his greeting by an elbow to his side, nearly causing him to spill his drink, as he turned to see the look given to him by his companion. "I mean, Hardhat." He quickly corrected, earning a nod from his business partner. "It's good to see you again." He added, extending his hoof outwards as he did so.

"Same to you two." Hardhat said, happily shaking EvenHoof's hoof as he glanced around the room, letting out an impressed whistle as he saw the progress that the two had so far made. "I see that you two are almost done over here. And from the looks of things, you've made some improvements!" The two gave prideful nods at this.

"Well, its gonna take more than a fire to keep old Hooves and Elbow Grease down! Isn't that right, TopSuit?" EvenOut asked, gaining a small tinge of satisfaction as he returned the earlier elbow to the side to his companion, who let out his own small 'oof' in return, his glasses coming close to falling to the ground.

"Hehe. Got that right." He said, readjusting his eyewear. "So, what can we do for you?" He asked, only drawing a short laugh and a smug smile from their regular as a response.

"Now, you don't think you'll get answers out of me that easily, do you?" Rolling his eyes, though it wasn't so easily seen behind his sunglasses, TopSuit gave a knowing smile to Hardhat.

"Guess not." He 'surrendered', knowing perfectly well where this topic was likely going.

"Talk about it over a drink with the boys and I?"

"You know it." Walking from his side to join Hardhat, EvenOut looked to the two in disbelief, his jaw hanging open and brow raised.

"Wh- Sure, you say 'no' to coffee, but the moment anypony mentions something that has to do with cider, you just have to be there?!" He exclaimed.

"You have your likes, I have mine."

"It's only three in the afternoon!" He continued, pointing to a nearby clock that had been placed on the adjacent wall.

"I know. Later than usual for me, its a real travesty." TopSuit said as he and Hardhat exited the building, leaving a stuttering EvenOut as he began to glance to between the lobby, and the door that the two had just left out of, in contemplative thought.

"... Oh, alright! But you're buying this time! Nearly lost my whole paycheck the last time I had to pay for your drinks!"

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As the three sat together at one of the many booths at the pub, EvenOut and TopSuit on one side while Hardhat sat at the other, they could clearly hear the sound of conversing and joking construction ponies around them, each of them happily enjoying their breaks as they passed the time with short stories and the occasional updates on their usual lives.

Hardhat held a large glass of cider in between his hooves, taking minimal sips from time to time again, while TopSuit might as well have been gulping down his drinks, mug and all; Not even the slightest bit of dizziness about him as he did so. Of the entire building, EvenOut was likely the only pony without an alcoholic drink in between hooves, instead favoring a simple glass of water. He had a strong dislike of alcohol, just about as bad as his friend's dislike of coffee.

"Sooooo... The job?" EvenOut asked, feeling distinctly out of place in the pub that they were in. Hardhat, in response, rolled his eyes, smiling as he took another sip of his drink before plopping it back down, motioning his arms in a 'calm down' fashion.

"Alright, alright. I know how much you don't like this kind of scene, so I'll just get this over with." Hardhat said, much to the chagrin of TopSuit, who was honestly attempting to bide his time.

"Oh please, take as long as you need." TopSuit said, drawing a small glare from his friend as he chuckled, gulping down another quarter of his mug with ease.

"Heh, right." Adjusting himself on his seat, Hardhat cleared out his throat as he began to speak to the two. "Anyways, the boys and I are nearly finished with the next part of our build. Thing is though, that we're gonna need some more designs for the other section. Nothing fancy, really. Just some casual stuff you would find on higher floors of apartment buildings, is all." He said, the two nodding in understanding.

"Simple enough. We'll get FollowScene on it as soon as we can." TopSuit said, refilling his glass with a nearby bottle of cider. Hardhat, however, frowned slightly at this, looking down to the table as he let out a small, almost undetectable sigh.

"... Right... FollowScene..."

Raising a brow at this odd behavior, EvenOut quickly questioned Hardhat. "Something wrong?"

Hardhat, in response, quickly shook himself slightly out of his stupor, looking to the two as he shook his head. "No, no... Well, yes. I mean, FolowScene's designs are great and all, but I'd still much rather prefer-..." He purposely trailed off at this, gesturing to the two, who both gained expression of understanding and realization.

"Ah! Right..." EvenOut said, his own downtrodden tone enveloping his voice as he spoke.

"He was a good pony... Even if he wasn't really a pony at all." Hardhat added.

"Him, and the others we lost in that fire... Tch, all because of some faulty wiring." TopSuit cursed, a more bitter outlook on the situation than the other two's. The three shared a moment of silence, looking downwards towards the table, before, with a sigh, TopSuit once again spoke up. "Still, we shouldn't let that get us down. After all, now, Hooves and Elbow Grease is going to have its grand re-opening soon!" He said, attempting to lift the heavy mood that had surrounded the table. The two smiled at this, though only slightly, pushing away these thoughts of theirs as much as they could, giving TopSuit a nod.

Raising his glass in the air, Hardhat made for an impromptu toast. "To Jeremy, all of the other lost, and the new Hooves and Elbow Grease!"

"Here, here." And with that, the three tapped their glasses together, pulling them back as they quickly took gulps of their individual drinks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just another pound or two for the road." A certain winged figure told the merchant, placing the bits down onto the counter as the seller, with a nod, quickly handed her a small bag of food, which she quickly grabbed hold of, sniffing it slightly in her attempts to assure it's freshness. "Meh. I guess these'll do."

Securing the bag around a small string around her neck, she picked up her wings and slammed them back down, launching herself into the air, uncaring of the obvious discomfort this caused the stand owner as he began to wave away the dust and dirt that had been blown his way.

Glancing around the air, she pointed herself back into her original direction of destination, propelling herself forward as she quickly began to slice through the air, the wind resounding loudly in her ears as she sped through the skies.

It had been quite some time since she had made her way through this part of Equestria again, what with the, 'going where the wind takes me' attitude, and all, and she figured that, while she was here, she might as well see an old friend of hers.

"Heh, funny how I've managed to come up with another after... Bah, she started to hang out with losers anyhow. At least this one gets me." Her wings beating as she propelled herself even faster through the air, she wondered how, since the last time she and him had seen one another, he was doing after all of this time. "Probably still chilling around Canterlot, or something like that."

Chapter 13: Wake Up Call

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You know, I was actually starting to get used to being woken up by Nightmare Moon and Chyrsalis' arguing. So, imagine my surprise when, instead, I was greeted by silence, and a slight swaying motion from side to side.

"Jeremy... Jeremy..." Okay, maybe not that silent. Groaning slightly at being woken up, despite how gently, I opened my eyes by a small crack; Just enough to get a look around. Turning to my side, where I could feel the flat of a hoof softly shaking me from my shoulder, I saw Halfy. Or, more accurately, her face, considering how close she was to me.

My eyes now springing open at this, from both surprise and a slight bit of embarrassment, I sat myself up on the bed I was sleeping on, gaining some distance from her while, at the same time, giving me a better angle so that I could address her... That sounded off...

"Oh, uh, hey Halfy." I said, partially blurting out my words in an attempt to recover from my embarrassment. "Morning... Er, afternoon, I mean... It is afternoon, right?" I added questioningly, glancing to the window of the room nervously and letting out a mental sigh as I saw the night sky in the horizon, along with the acres of forestry that made up the Everfree.

"Yes-..." She let out an extended yawn, a small squeak tipping it off as it came to an end. "it is. Princess Luna rose the moon a few moments ago."

Looking at her now actually, since I wasn't in a more idiotic panic, I could see that she actually did seem... Exhausted, to say the least. Her eye was drooping, barely able to focus on me as her eyelid seemingly weighed her head down to a slight bob.

Not to mention the fact that her posture seemed limp, and she had bags under her eye. She looked like I did that one time my sister had made me stay up all night because it was 'an interesting way to experience another day'. Heck, if she caught a glance at my sleeping habits now, she'd probably be envious.

"Jeez. You okay, Halfy?" I asked, to which she half responded, half yawned, with a nod.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just... Tired... Is all..." And I'd say she had reason to be. She'd probably stayed up the whole night since we had met her, along with however she had spent the day that followed. "I-if you don't mind though, would it be fine if I-" Yet another yawn cut her off, as she then gestured for the bed, smacking her lips slightly as she looked to me.

Realization hitting me like a truck, I quickly made my way off of the mattress. "Oh, of course! It's your bed, after all." I said with a chuckle as she climbed up on top of the bed, not even bothering to cover herself with the now messy coverings that I had left behind, and instead plopping herself onto the bed with a soft sigh.

"Thank you... I'll be up later to join the rest of you..." She muttered, her eye losing the remnant of resistance that she believed it had held, allowing her to just catch sight of me giving her a nod before finally closing.

"Alright." I said in a whisper. Making my way carefully out of the room, practically tiptoeing actually, I grabbed hold of the room's door behind me, softly bringing it to a close as I let out a quieted sigh. I should probably try to be quiet on my way downstairs. I wouldn't bother her, after all... I have the oddest feeling that it's not going to be that easy.

A quick example of this, being, the squeaking of the steps beneath my feet as I reached the staircase; Almost deafening as I made my way downstairs, flinching at every groan and squeal that the lumber below me made.

Eventually, after what felt like forever, I reached the other door that led from the stairway to the living room of the house. Pulling the door open, which of course just had to let out a deafening squeak as I did so, I made my way into the main room of Halfy's home, turning back to the door as I closed it behind me with a click.

... Huh. Weird... Usually, when I try to do something, there's always something else that goes wrong. Instead though, I actually had managed to get down here relatively quietl-

"Good morrow, Sir Jeremy!" Of course. Turning, I gave my alicorn companion a short wave, before then gesturing for her to quiet down. She seemed to understand quickly enough, giving me a curt nod before returning the gesture with a wink... Well that was... ~~Cute.~~ Moving on!

"Afternoon, Nightmare Moon." I whispered gawkily, a minuscule, and thankfully unnoticed, blush passing away as I pushed away a thought in my mind.

"How did ye slumber?" She asked, her voice now in a whisper as she looked to me with a small, cheerful smile on her face.

"Pretty good, actually. Halfy just woke me up a few moments ago. Before she went to sleep herself, that is." I said, crossing my arms and leaning against the now closed door of the room. "She was exhausted, by the looks of it."

Her eyes widening in what seemed like realization, Nightmare Moon's mouth made a small 'o' as she looked to the door behind me. "Ah. 'Tis for this reason that we converse in such a hushed tone." Nodding, I felt a slight sense of surprise when Nightmare Moon then proceeded to roll her eyes. "As to Halfy's state of tire, she would not be the only of this matter." Raising my brow, I watched as Nightmare Moon gestured behind her, following the direction which she had motioned.

In doing so, I quickly caught sight of the all too familiar lump that was Chrysalis, still resting on the couch where Nightmare Moon and I had last placed her, her chest rising and falling in a steady, slow pace.

"She's still asleep?" I asked. Nightmare Moon nodded as she turned to the sleeping Chrysalis as well, her face turning blank as she looked to the changeling.

"A longer sleep than her previous showings, easily. Though, we suppose 'tis to be expected. A great amount of her energy was lost upon the more recent times." ... Well, fuck. As if the fact that she had long been starved of her more essential meal wasn't enough, but now, she was pretty much ineligible to use any of her strength at all, without causing great harm to herself.

"So... Should we just let her keep on sleeping, or..." I purposely trailed off near the end of my sentence, hoping that Nightmare Moon would get what I meant.

She seemed to, shrugging as she glanced from me back to Chrysalis. "We would suppose that the decision is of your accord." Oh, just great.

Looking back to Chrysalis, I let out a sigh as I scratched the back of my head in thought.

"... We'll wait a bit. Say, an hour?" I offered, turning to Nightmare Moon for confirmation. After all, she was the one who had one of the world's best internal clocks.

"Very well then. We shall inform ye of when the time arrives." She said with a nod.

Alright then. I guess that'll work... For now... Now, I just have to pass the time... How do I do that?

It was then that a thought popped into my head. One that, though it wasn't that important, or useful for the moment, did bring about a sense of curiosity. "Wait, you knew that Chrysalis was asleep this whole time?" She nodded. "Then... Why weren't you whispering when I first got in here?"

She giggled as I asked this, quickly responding to me with an almost practiced speed. "Partially, the reasoning behind this was because we had... Forgotten, as it were." She said, a slightly embarrassed tinge of red going across her face. "Mostly, however," she added, looking to me with a smug smile, "we simply feel a sense of dislike towards the changeling."

... Fair enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Jeremy had thought, passing the time was, indeed, not as simple as he might have thought. What with one member of his party currently at rest, limiting his options as he sought out some form to await the hour.

He had moved to avoid the bookshelf. The memory of a certain book keeping him from searching for another, especially with Nightmare Moon being in the same room as him. Instead, he had settled for simply sitting quietly in the room as time passed, a cool breeze from the outside occasionally entering the poorly sealed home and brushing past Jeremy as he would, from time to time, attempt to make silent small talk with Nightmare Moon; She was currently sitting nearby, about a couple of feet away.

The two didn't particularly stick to any one subject, instead choosing to go through many various kinds. Nightmare Moon had, out of curiosity, found herself asking more and more of Jeremy's previous world, and family, while Jeremy, though sparing of a few certain details, was more than willing to answer.

"And so these... 'Cars', wouldst allow your kind to more easily travel from place to place?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it, yeah." Jeremy confirmed, his arms motioning for emphasis. Smiling, Nightmare Moon clopped her hooves, much like an excited child would.

"Oh, your world is so very interesting, Sir Jeremy!" She said, only barely keeping her voice at the hushed form that Jeremy had asked of her.

"Heh. To an extent. Though, personally, there are definitely some things from back home that I'd rather forget." Jeremy returned, jokingly rolling his eyes as he did so.

"Such as?"

At this, Jeremy's eyes widened, himself having honestly not thought that she would ask that. Looking to her, he began to nervously spout some of the many things he could name from the top of his head, except the one thing he desperately did not want to mention.

"Oh, uh, you know... Er, greed... Obsession for power..." Jeremy felt himself pause as he began to run out of ideas.

"How is it that, back home, I could come up with a million of these things, but whenever I'm trying to say them to someone else, I just lose them all?!" He thought to himself in annoyance.

Nightmare Moon, having been watching as he began to desperately search his mind for reasons, rose a brow at his silence. Gesturing for him to continue, if only of her curiosity, Nightmare Moon spoke up again. "Go on." She said.

Jeremy, preferring to simply move on from the subject, let out a sigh. "... Nevermind."

"... Pard-"

"Look, it's not something I like to talk about, okay!?" Jeremy interrupted, Nightmare Moon flinching at the suddenness of his speech, even though it was still kept at a low volume.

"Oh... Very well, Sir Jeremy." Looking to the shadow alicorn, Jeremy could see how visibly hurt she had been by his behavior, as she looked down to her hooves sadly, the smile that had previously been on her face having disappeared; Replaced by a frown.

Almost instantly, Jeremy felt a surge of guilt as he looked to his friend's obviously saddened expression, letting out a sigh as he stood from his 'seat' and made his way over to her.

Nightmare Moon watched out of the corner of her eye as Jeremy relocated himself, standing himself and moving to her side, though she kept her gaze pointed downwards. It was then that Nightmare Moon felt a soft touch upon her neck, momentarily recoiling away from the feeling before, almost as if she was unable to pull away, eventually moving slightly into the feeling.

"Nightmare Moon... I'm sorry. It's just that, its not exactly an easy subject for me to go over. It was a particularly bad portion of my life, and I prefer not to relive it... Okay?" As he said this, Jeremy could feel Nightmare Moon's mane slowly encircle his hand, up to his wrist, but at the moment, he couldn't really care less; He was more focused on comforting his hurt friend.

Thankfully, Nightmare Moon eventually looked to Jeremy, who gave her an apologetic smile, returning a smile of her own in return. "We understand. 'Tis no issue, Sir Jeremy."

Letting out a thankful sigh, Jeremy tried to pull his hand away from Nightmare Moon's neck; Finding himself unable to as her mane had almost impossibly gripped onto his wrist tighter. Not wanting to hurt her in his attempts at pulling away, Jeremy simply addressed the issue, though awkwardly.

"Uh, Nightmare Moon?" He said. "Your mane?"

Raising a brow at his statement, Nightmare Moon looked to him questioningly, unsure as to what he meant.

"Uh... It's-... I-... Ugh, forget it." Jeremy resigned, pushing off his argument as he sat down next to Nightmare Moon, who gave him a shrug; His hand still on her neck, he felt the mane loosen its grip slightly, though not nearly enough to allow him to pull away, almost as if it knew that he had stopped resisting.

"Well, its official," He thought to himself, "her mane definitely has a mind of its own."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... You know, I'd be lying if I said that this wasn't something I enjoyed. I mean, sure, I'm technically stuck here because Nightmare Moon's mane has my hand in a death grip against her neck, but, it still wasn't really anything worth complaining about.

If anything, it was nice being this close to her. Through her ethereal, yet silky, mane, I could feel her warm, almost velvety, fur. It tickled a little, under the palm of my hand, but at the same time, the warm, smooth texture of it was relaxing, and pleasant to the touch.

Along with that, she didn't really seem to mind my closeness, or my contact with her, in the slightest. In fact, if I didn't know better, I would say that she was leaning into it.

... This is actually a really good way to pass the time, actually. I could stay like for a whil-

"Ah. We believe that the hour has expired, Sir Jeremy. Shall we awaken Chrysalis?" Oh god damn it all! Snapping out of my more blissful state, I watched as Nightmare Moon stood herself up, her mane releasing me from it's hold with little to no resistance, allowing my arm to return to my side, as she looked to me with a smile.

"Honestly? It was that easy?!?"

Stowing away the small pile of mental curses that had begun to build up, I gave Nightmare Moon a nod as I stood myself as well, dusting off the back of my pants and jacket as best I could as I looked to her.

"Alright. So, should I wake her up, or should-" I felt my eyes widen as a smug smile came to her face as she glanced to the couch and Chrysalis, her horn glowing faintly in the dim lighting around us. Quickly stepping in front of her gaze as I awkwardly stepped back towards Chrysalis, I felt a nervous chuckle knock against my throat. "Uh, heh, before you conjure up another glass of water to spill on her, how about you let me have a try? Huh?"

She lost the smug expression on her face, instead looking to me with an expression that just screamed, 'oh, come on!'; Rolling her eyes, she let out a small sigh as she looked to me. "As thou wishes, Sir Jeremy."

Giving her a thankful nod, I turned myself around as I realized how close I must have been getting, immediately being met with the aged sofa, and Chrysalis, as I did so. I nearly tripped, which I thankfully didn't, as I stopped myself, scratching the back of my head as I tried to figure out what would be the best approach to the situation.

"Maybe the careful approach?" I offered to myself, carefully reaching my arm out and placing it onto Chrysalis, taking as much care as I person would a live bomb... Actually, I feel like the bomb would be the better alternative here.

My hand on her hard, yet oddly warm and smooth, chitin, I shook her softly, doing the same as Halfy had done to me when she had woken me up.

"Chrysalis... Chrysalis..." I said, attempting to rouse her from her sleep. I didn't get much of a response, aside from a slight twitch of her ear and a shift further into the couch. "Chrysalis..." I said at a slightly louder volume, shaking her even more. This time, I got a groan, as Chrysalis tucked herself into her lump even further, trying to escape my attemps at waking her.

Letting out a sigh, I mentally shouted 'okay, you know what?', as I placed my other hand on her side as well, giving her a much stronger, though abrupt, shake as I called her name again.

"Chrysali-" The air was promptly knocked out of me as the elbow of her foreleg hit my stomach, Chrysalis head quickly rising as she turned and immediately began to glare at me.

"I heard you the first time!" She said, her eyes narrowing as I straightened myself from my previously bent position once more, taking in a good gulp of my lost air as I did so.

"Good afternoon... To you too." I said, chuckling as I stepped out of Chrysalis' hoof reach, to which she replied with a roll of her eyes. "Oh, and you might want to quiet down a bit. Halfy's asleep just upstairs." I informed her as Nightmare Moon made her way over to my side.

"What?! You expect me to quiet myself on your comman-" A flash of a familiar, magical aura above her caused her to freeze, drawing both her and my attention as we saw a, currently floating and upright, glass of water, just above her head.

Turning to Nightmare Moon, she quickly gave me a small smile, followed by a wink, as she turned her gaze back to Chrysalis, myself doing the same as I gave the changeling a smile of my own.

"So... You gonna whisper now?" I asked, crossing my arms as I looked to Chrysalis with a smugness of my own, her eyes narrowing as she glanced back and forth between the glass, Nightmare Moon, and I.

"... Fine then." She said, her voice already at a lowered volume. Upon hearing this, Nightmare Moon gave a satisfied nod as she quickly made away with the floating glass that she had so recently begun to torment Chrysalis with, walking off to the side of the room and seating herself once again while I looked to Chrysalis.

"..."

Okay, maybe I should have thought of something to say before I did this.

"... You feeling any better?" I finally asked, mentally face palming at the simplicity of the question.

Chrysalis, though hesitantly, gave her response within a short amount of time. "Tch, I suppose it depends on what you mean by 'better'."

"So... Relatively the same?" I asked.

"What do you think?" She asked in return, myself unable to answer due to, not because I didn't know what to think, but because I didn't know if I should answer. Oh, and let the records show that I could have said a lot of things there. Like, 'I think you should probably stop being so sarcastic', or something along those lines.

"Good to know." I told her with a deadpan, rolling my eyes as I made my way to Nightmare Moon's side, seating myself next to her as I gave Chrysalis a small, sarcastic wave.

At least the next while we waited would be more interesting, now that I had my verbal sparring partner back.

-------------------------------------

"As opposed to the other idiotic human custom of yours?"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Your clothes."

"That is not up for discussion!"

We had... Hit the ground running, to say the least. It wasn't any more than a minute or so after she had woken up before she immediately made to begin her arguing. Believe it or not, I don't even remember what she had first said any more. We'd been going on for hours, really, with Nightmare Moon serving as a kind of... Silent mediator. It reminded me a bit of when the three of us had first been together in the same cell.

... Funny how I think of those as relatively good times, huh?

"You're still not giving a valid argument here." I taunted, rolling my eyes and chuckling as her eyes narrowed even further, a small growl starting to emanate from her.

"You-" Before she could say anything else, the creaking of a nearby door cut her off, the three of us quickly turning out attention towards the noise.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eye with one of her forehooves, the three of us quickly caught sight of Halfy, having likely woken up a few moments ago. Though Chrysalis, of course, just gave an indifferent face towards Halfy's awakening, Nightmare Moon and I gave her small smiles, greeting her at a normal volume, now that nobody was asleep anymore.

"Afternoon, Halfy." I said, soon followed by Nightmare Moon.

"Good Morrow, Halfy!"

Flinching at this, Halfy's eye widened as she looked to us, soon returning to normal as she calmed her previously surprised self, looking to us with her own small smile.

"H-hello everypony." She greeted in return, myself giving a mental chuckle as I quickly caught sight of the irony of her statement.

"So, I take it you slept well?" Chrysalis asked blankly, not even turning to face her. Halfy nodded in return, barely receiving a glance from Chrysalis.

"Yeah, I-I slept fine." She said, closing the stairway door behind her as she made her way further into the room. Looking to Chrysalis permissibly, Chrysalis let out a near silent groan as she scooted herself further to the side of the couch, Halfy giving her a small, thankful smile and nod as she made her way onto the small space that Chrysalis had opened for her, seating herself with a sigh.

"Did I miss anything while I was asleep?" Halfy asked.

"Not much." I answered, crossing my arms as I gave her a shrug.

"Oh, okay then..." She said in return, seemingly biting on the inside of her cheek as she glanced around the room. I'm guessing this was awkward for her.

"Halfy, if we might ask, hast thou any duties or previous engagements for the night?" Wait, what? Halfy, Chrysalis, and I gave her questioning looks at this, though she didn't seem to pay much attention to this, all of us likely mentally questioning her motives at the moment.

"... Um... Nothing for later tonight, no." Halfy answered, earning an excited clop of her hooves from Nightmare Moon.

"Oh, joy! Then, perhaps, thou couldst lead us in a return to thy garden? We would very much like to show Jeremy of its splendor." Once again. Wait, what?

"Uh, that's fine, you don't have to-"

"I don't see any problem with it. I had to go water the gardens anyways."

"Splendid!" Do I get a say in this?!?

"Uh-" And, of course, once I try to say something, there's a knock at the front door. "Oh, come o- Wait... Who would be at the door?" At this, both Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon's eyes widened, likely sharing a similar thought of worry similar to mine. Who the hell could that be!

Halfy, having seemed to notice the slightly panicked expressions about us, stood from her seat and began to make her way to the door. "I-I'll go check." She said, the sound of her hooves against the floor echoing through the empty room.

I wanted to hide, but, even if I and Nightmare Moon did, Chrysalis would still be left out in the open, considering she wasn't really in any condition to move. And, well, I wasn't really one to leave my friends hanging.

As Halfy grabbed hold of the door, I felt my heart quicken, practically thumping against my chest as the dim light of the night sky slowly began to pour in, Halfy having opened the door by just a crack.

"H-hello?"

Chapter 14: Another Visit For A New Place

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"H-hello?" As Halfy cautiously greeted whomever it was that was currently beyond the door, I felt my breath hitch, a sense of panic and insecurity having begun to keep it from escaping, as if doing so would only make things worse.

If, somehow, the guard actually had found us, then this would probably be it. We would be getting sent back to the Canterlot dungeons, or worse, here and now. There was no way for us to get out of this situation, as much as I would hope. And, worse yet, Halfy would probably get locked up as well, if only by her association with us.

The seconds ticked by as Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon and I carefully watched the door, Halfy continuing to peek her head through, addressing the pony before her. We listened carefully, waiting for some sort of indicator as to whom it may have been behi-

"Ah, good greeting. I do so hope that the purpose of this visit, I am not defeating." Oh, thank Christ! Letting out the breath that I had been holding as I heard the one of a kind voice and vernacular of Zecora through the door, I felt myself flop against the wall behind me, slightly sliding myself downwards as self emphasis to my relief.

Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, thought they didn't share the exact same reaction, also showed their own signs of relief as they realized it to be Zecora who had come, rather than the much more concerning previous theories that they had likely thought of.

"Oh, Zecora! I-it's no problem at all. Come in, please." Halfy invited, now fully opening the door, revealing my favorite striped friend. She ushered her into the home, Zecora returning the gesture with a thankful nod, as the night's faint glow and fresh breeze followed into the room quickly behind her. As she entered, I raised my hand up and gave her a curt wave, quickly drawing her attention as Halfy closed the door behind her.

"Good to see you again, Zecora!" I called cheerfully. Looking towards me with a slight start, which had likely been caused by my abruptness, Zecora smiled as she glanced between the three of us, Nightmare Moon and I responding with smiles of our own while Chrysalis gave a lazy groan; Zecora made her way to the middle of the room.

"It seems that I am to give greetings to all of you as well. Of course doing so happily, if you could not tell." Nightmare Moon stood as she made her way over to Zecora, quickly making to give a more proper greeting to her.

"It is with great joy that we see thee as well, Miss Zecora. Thine past occurrence hath certainly brought forth a certain glee towards whenever thou chooses to see us, and thus, thou arth more than welcome as a result!" Wow, I'm pretty sure that all that Zecora was looking for was a simple 'hello', rather than that long winded greeting. Still, I guess that I should be glad that she's so willing to say such nice things about Zecora. The two had really hit it off when they first met... A little after the whole 'mini-panic attack' that Zecora had when I had first brought the two into her house with me.

"I thank you, Nightmare Moon, for being willing to show such interaction. Have your current accommodations treated you with satisfaction?" Nightmare Moon happily nodded at this, practically sprinting her way next to Halfy as she brought a hoof around her, surprising the heck out of Halfy while I just held back a laugh at the familar sight, and pulled her against her side.

"Halfy hath treated us very kindly in our short stay here. Much like she hath Sir Jeremy and the changeling, Chrysalis." She said, gesturing to Chrysalis and I as she gave a chummy smile down to Halfy, who timidly returned her own.

It's only now that I realize something though. Nightmare Moon called me 'Sir Jeremy', and Zecora, 'Miss Zecora', but she never used those kinds of titles with Chrysalis or Halfy... Oh god, does she think we're married or something?!? I had told her that we were just old friends, but, maybe she had misinterpreted it... somehow? I'd have to ask her about that whenever I could. I mean, no offense to Zecora, but I would rather not be thought to be in that kind of relationship with her.

"That... Is very good to hear. I am glad that you think of her so near." Zecora said, holding back a laugh or two of her own as she looked on at the sight of Nightmare Moon holding onto her new friend, who would occasionally glance upwards at the towering alicorn. Composing herself, if only a little, Zecora turned her head to me next.

"And what of you, Jeremy? How do you think of your stay to be?" Chuckling, I shifted slightly in my seat.

"Well, aside from the fact that it's only been a day, I'd say things are going well. Like Nightmare Moon said, kind of, Halfy's been a really nice host. She had even willingly given me her bed to sleep for the day." At this, Zecora's brow raised, a small, almost knowing, smile coming to her face as she glanced to Halfy.

"Oh? Is that so?" Likely from the extra attention, Halfy's face flushed by a small bit. Zecora withheld a chuckle as she turned and gave me a small nod, shifting her gaze to Chrysalis shortly after.

"And for-"

"Let me get this straight," Chrysalis interrupted, "you knew about the house here, and about the pony that lived in it, but, rather than just tell us, you sent us off with no pretense as to what reason we had to do so?!? I mean, gods forbid that we ruined that little game of yours!" Zecora flinched as Chrysalis ranted, her eyes narrowed as she continued to give my old friend hell.

Not wanting this to go any further, which I knew that Chrysalis would likely attempt to take it, I quickly jumped in. "Chrysalis, take it easy. I'm sure she had her reasons. Besides, it ended up working out in the end, right?" I offered, though it seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

"Aside from the timber wolves that had nearly mauled us, or the fact that I can barely even stand because of it?!" At this, both Halfy's and Zecora's eyes/eye widened, while I just grew silent as the memory of the event flashed through my mind.

"T-timber wolves?" Halfy asked, as if she was attempting to assess that she had heard her correctly.

"This is something that, admittedly, I did not forsee." Zecora said, a sense of regret audible in her voice. "Perhaps, you can tell me more of this, over some tea?"

Nightmare Moon, who had been blankly -- almost boringly, listening as Chrysalis went on, snapped to attention as she heard this, a large smile appearing on her face at the mention of the word 'tea'.

"Oh, it would be of great thankfulness wert thou to do so, Miss Zecora! We are also certain it would be a most grand experience for our hostess, and party as well!" She exclaimed, adding in the rest of us into her excited glee. I barely held back a chuckle as she did this, especially when she had so dramatically raised her hoof into the air.

"I will begin immediately. Halfy, would you be kind enough to assist me?"

"Oh, um, of course." Managing her way out of Nightmare Moon's grip, much to her slight disappointment, Halfy followed after Zecora as the two made their way into the small kitchen on the other side of the room, the two still clearly visible through the opening in the wall that showed the room. Chrysalis continued to give Zecora a death glare as she went on, though she didn't seem to notice. Nightmare Moon seemed to be giddily bouncing in her seat, happily awaiting the tea that she had grown so fond of. As for me, I just watched on as this happened, crossing my arms as a short thought came to mind.

"... This... Seems like something I would have seen out of a sitcom back home." It was a pretty random thought, I know, but, when you look at it, it kind of does make sense.

You have your sarcastic, and normally grumpy, yet still lovable member of the group. Chrysalis. Your slightly out of it and childish, but still well-meaning and kind person, or pony. Nightmare Moon. The timid, relatively unknown, but nice person. Halfy. And the oddball, who, despite this, still manages to bring a fun sense to the show. Zecora... Though, what would that make me?

Aside from the only guy, I couldn't really think of anything, so I just pushed it aside.

Besides, if anything, I actually liked this whole concept. After all, despite the fact that this 'cast' of friends of mine, and of course I mean that in a metaphorical kind of way, didn't always get along, they still were my friends nonetheless.

Though, if I am right when it comes to this being similar to a sitcom, I can tell that, considering Chrysalis' demeanor, things are about to get pretty... Bad, to say the least. What I wouldn't do for a helmet right now.

-------------------------------------

"And if you could turn your head to your right, if only ever so slight." Groaning, Chrysalis acquiesced to Zecora's request, turning her head as she let out a series of grumbles in doing so.

It had been an hour now, since Zecora had first arrived. She had, as she said she would, made enough tea for everypony, and I, and at the moment, we all had our own cup's worth. As for Zecora's and Chrysalis' though, they remained relatively untouched, instead sat next to one another off to the side of the couch, where Zecora was currently looking over Chrysalis.

Like I had guessed, Chrysalis had given Zecora, and anyone else who had been foolish enough to make their way into the conversation, hell, chewing her out for her near untimely death, and her lost energy, which she had been preserving. Honestly, throughout that whole episode of hers, I and Nightmare Moon had constantly been looking on with similar thoughts. She wasn't the only one there when those timber wolves had first chased us, yet she didn't see us complaining. She really had to learn to let things go. Or at the very least, try not to take things so seriously. Whichever came first, I suppose.

It had been a little after Chrysalis had run out of steam to continue her berating that Zecora had gotten up from her seat without a word, and made her way over to Chrysalis. Next thing we knew, she was basically giving her an examination, 'ensuring that her lack of nutrition hadn't put her in too bad of a state', as she said. Nightmare Moon would occasionally add in her own bit of assistance from time to time, whenever she wasn't too preoccupied enjoying her tea, magically looking over some of Chrysalis' vitals and energy upon Zecora's request, and even more often, forcefully positioning her when her stubborn irritance would make things more difficult for Zecora. She more enjoyed the latter though.

Aside from this going on, however, the rest of us weren't really doing anything in particular, just sitting around and sipping our tea. Heaven knows I tried to build up a conversation of some sort though.

"... Hey Zecora?" I asked, the zebra giving me a short nod of her attention as she continued to look over a grumpy Chrysalis. "I've been wondering. How come, despite the fact that I lived with you for months, you never did tell me about Halfy? I thought you were the only one who lived in the Everfree."

"Indeed, accompanied by another pony, I was not. That is, until shortly after you had left for Canterlot." Raising a brow at her statement, Zecora continued on. "She came to me within the first week, saying that it was a far off shelter that she did seek." So, during the months that I had been locked up for god knows what, Halfy had not only moved in, but even built a house?

Shifting my gaze to Halfy, who had just finished taking another small sip of tea from her cup, I felt another question pop into mind. "Really? Well, Halfy, why did you feel the need to come here to the Everfree, of all places? And, while we're on that subject, where exactly did you live before?" Halfy looked to me, almost in surprise of my question, her eye momentarily widening before she made to answer.

"I... Just felt like I needed to get away from it all, as it were... I used to live in Ponyville, before I came here." Ponyville? Well... That's odd.

"Oh? How come I never saw you there before? I had come to town more than often enough while I was with Zecora to know practically everypony."

"I didn't go outside a lot. I-I never even saw you when you would come over." Hm, I guess that could explain why I never saw her, and why she didn't recognize me when I first met her. The only human in Equestria isn't exactly something that somepony could easily forget about.

Taking my own sip of tea, I noticed Nightmare Moon her own questioning look about her as she looked to Halfy, likely having been inspired by the small conversation that was unfolding to involve herself. Admittedly though, I was screaming in my head in the hopes that, whatever question she was thinking of, it wouldn't have to do with the obvious. In this case, Halfy's eye.

It just didn't seem like the kind of thing I should ask about, really, and I had made sure to push the subject out of my mind as much as I could. Besides, there's not really anyway for me to go about it. 'Oh, hey, by the way, could you tell me about why you wear a bandage over your right eye? If its something you'd rather not say, Im sorry, and I hope you can forgive me'. Sounds stupid, right? Plus, if it really was something personal, it would only end up making things worse.

"Halfy, if we may ask thee," Nightmare Moon began, myself bracing slightly, "what is thy special talent?"... Not what I was expecting, sorry I was expecting otherwise to begin with, and thankful that I was wrong.

It was a pretty good question too. I mean, I had actually been curious about Halfy's cutie mark for a while now, though I hadn't really gotten around to asking her about it.

Two pony silhouettes, each with different colored hearts in their chest. Doesn't really leave a lot of room for someone to think up a guess, really.

"I-it's silly." Halfy answered, looking down to her drink as a small tint of red came to her face. Silly? Had she not seen the mare in town whose cutie mark was a bunch of balloons because she was really good at throwing parties? She had definitely proven that when Zecora and I had come back to a surprise party after a grocery run. Weirdest part about that? We were only gone for five minutes.

"Oh, c'mon Halfy. Give yourself some more credit than that. It's your special talent, after all, and whatever it is, I don't see any reason to judge you for it. Right girls?" Zecora and Nightmare Moon both nodded in agreement at this, Nightmare Moon doing so more energetically while Zecora did so distractedly, continuing to check Chrysalis' condition, having now begun to lightly tap the exoskeleton on her sides. As for Chrysalis, she stayed silent at this, instead skeptically raising a brow as she looked to us.

I rolled my eyes at this, hoping that Halfy wouldn't notice Chrysalis' usual sarcasm as I turned to her. She apparently hadn't, her gaze shifting between her tea, Nightmare Moon and I as she shuffled herself slightly in what I guessed to be a sense of discomfort.

"... I... I can see the good in other ponies..." She relented, hesitatingly having finally given us her answer as we looked to her in... Well, surprise.

"Thou... 'Sees good in other ponies'?"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Well, its... Not really easy for me to explain. You see, I got my cutie mark when I was young, really young. From what my mom told me, I was barely able to talk when, one day, this new pony had come to town. He was really nice to everypony, the kind that you would just want to get along with. But, whenever he would come anywhere near me, I would start to cry, and I just wouldn't stop until he would leave." Nightmare Moon and I -- and even Chrysalis, to an extent, listened intently as she went on, seeming to gain a reminiscent expression as she looked blankly at her reflection in her tea.

"It wasn't until a few days after the pony had come to town that he was arrested for trying to steal from some of the local market stands. He had apparently come to Ponyville because he thought that, since it was a smaller town, it would be easier for him to steal from everypony. Luckily though, a pony was out for a walk when they saw him, and he was quickly taken to city hall, before he was later kicked out of Ponyville..." Well, that's a bit harsh. Still, I guess he had it coming to him.

"The moment word got out that he had been caught, mom just said that I... Got my cutie mark... It hasn't really been any different since then. Even now, I can still tell if a pony is good or bad, just by looking at them." So... She can literally manage to judge a book by its cover, while somehow managing to look at it's pages at the same time? That's... Impressive actually.

"Really? Including us?" Chrysalis suddenly asked, apparently, and surprisingly, having taken interest in the subject.

"Y-yes, actually. That's why I invited you all to stay here. The three of you looked like you had really kind hearts, despite what you later told me about the guard chasing you, and, well, I c-couldn't live with myself if I knew that I had let three good ponies fend for themselves, especially here, of all places... So I..." She trailed off here, though she didn't really have any need to say anything further.

"That's... One of the coolest talents I've ever heard of." Halfy's eye widened as she looked up from her tea to me, an obvious sense of surprise to her.

"R-really?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, granted, I wouldn't really say that you were accurate when you said that the three of us were kind," I said, jokingly glancing to Chrysalis while she just rolled her eyes, "but still, to be able to see the good in others? That's not something you come by every other day."

"Sir Jeremy hath many a good reason towards his statement." Nightmare Moon added in supportingly. "Thy talent easily proves to be great one. To see one's true heart with a simple glance, 'tis astounding!" Though Halfy bashfully turned her head away at this, the smile on her face was undeniable.

"Yes, well, when you can tell when a pony is lying or not, or start reading emotions, then we can ta- Ow!" Chrysalis arrogant rambling was brought to an abrupt stop as she let out a cry of pain, the three of us turning our heads to her in an instant. She was glaring at Zecora, which, lets face it, wouldn't be any different than usual. Zecora though, had a much more serious look on her face, her gaze on... Something I couldn't really see. "What exactly are you doi-"

"Despite what you speak of, how long have you gone without feeding on love?" Woah, where'd that come? Zecora didn't usually talk so seriously. Even when she had first met Chrysalis, she still had her usual personality about her, albeit with some anger. Raising a brow, a stood myself up and made my way towards the two, my cup of tea carefully balanced in my grip as I did so.

"I managed to find a small amount a few days ago. Aside from that, its been... How long ago was the invasion on Canterlot again?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes as she explained this to her. Making my way next to the two, and attracting an annoyed sigh from Chrysalis in doing so, I looked to Zecora questioningly.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Rather than respond directly though, Zecora just pointed. Yet again, my brow rose, but I followed her hoof nonetheless... And I almost choked on my tea. Running along Chrysalis' side was a large crack, one that I hadn't really noticed before. The area around it seemed, almost, dried out, and colored a much paler black than the rest of Chrysalis' exoskeleton.

"Oh crap..." I said, not really being to say much else about this. You're sure a man of many words, eh Jeremy? "How the hell did that happen?" I asked.

"It is due to the severeness of her love lacking nutrition. The cracking of her chitin has come into fruition." I flinched at this. Halfy was looking on with a slightly concerned expression, from what I could barely see, and Nightmare Moon was... Well, she was looking. "If her strength was to waver by even a small amount, she would have many more health related obstacles to surmount." Like I said, oh crap.

"Christ, I didn't know she was that bad." Her eyes widened for a moment before, just as quickly, they narrowed again as she looked to me.

"That's because I'm not." Chrysalis snapped at me. "I'm perfectly fine. A little winded, sure, but I am not some 'helpless damsel', or anything of the sort."

... Are you kidding me? She collapses, spends the next two nights complaining about it -- Let alone the complaints she had given before we had even gotten out of Canterlot, and now, she says that she's 'perfectly fine'!?! As I glanced to her with a viable wave of skepticism and disbelief, I began to lift my cup of tea to my mouth, asking Zecora a question just before doing so.

"Sure you are. Anyways, what do you recommend Zecora?" I asked, closing my eyes as I took another sip of my drink. Truthfully though, no force in the universe could have prepared me for what she had said next.

"Considering the state to which I would confer, the best possible thing would be for you to... Kiss her." See, this time, I choked on my drink. Barely managing to swallow what I had in my mouth as it was quickly expelled from my lungs, I started to cough like mad as both Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon let out a simultaneous 'what' in surprise and shock, glancing to one another before returning their gazes to Zecora.

As for me, finally managing to recover from my coughing fit, I put one of my hands on the seat rests to the couch, the one that laid by Chrysalis' outstretched hind legs, as I turned to Zecora with shock of my own. "I-... I'm sorry," I began, another cough partially having interrupted me, "did you just tell me to 'kiss her'?!" My face was burning red from the very subject, and Chrysalis shared her own, though much lighter a shade of, flush as well.

Seemingly unphased by my reaction, Zecora gave me a simple nod. "Chrysalis is in need of love in great supply, and I believed that you would be willing to comply." Placing my own glass of tea down on the floor so that I wouldn't spill it, or be tempted to take another drink before this situation was defused, my eyes widened as I looked between the blank faced Zecora and the narrow eyed Chrysalis, my arms held up as a sort of 'time out'.

"Woah, look, I care about Chrysalis, I really do, but I only think of her as a friend. In other words, even if I were to do that,"

"Which you won't!" Chrysalis quickly added, myself only giving her a quick look of annoyance before continuing on.

"I wouldn't really be giving her anything." Zecora seemed to have a counter ready for this though.

"It would not be necessary for you to love her. Changelings are able to, through lip contact, involuntarily force the love out of another." Well, add that to the list of things I didn't know. Back to business though.

"Nonetheless, I am not going to demean myself through kissing the likes of him, wether it is a 'friend assisting a friend', or otherwise." I opened my mouth to thank her for siding with me before I slowly began to realize what she had just said.

"... I'm not sure wether to thank you, insult you, or just plain be offended."

"Take your pick for all I care, I am not kissing you." As Zecora looked on at our bickering she let out a sigh, lowering herself from the couch and picking up her long forgotten cup of tea, taking a long sip before drawing her attention back to us.

"I am only telling you both of what is the best option. As to what you do with it, it is for your adoption." She said, Chrysalis and I glancing at one another again before looking away from one another at an even quicker speed, the red on our faces growing even greater.

Nightmare Moon, who had remained relatively quiet aside from her earlier outburst, quickly made herself known. "Miss Zecora," she said, "while we do very much appreciate thine willfulness to assist us at such times, now, and with Sir Jeremy and our issue of shelter, we must... Have some thought, on this option of thine." Thank you, Nightmare Moon! Heck, even Chrysalis seemed kind of thankful to her, and that says a lot!

Giving her a nod of understanding, Zecora glanced out of one of the nearby windows of the house. She continued to do so for quite some time, attracting looks of confusion from most of us, aside from Nightmare Moon, who looked on with interest, as she then took one final sip of her tea.

"... It would seem that I need to be going. It would be best if I return to my home before the dark allows for the worse of the Everfree to begin showing." Picking up her cup using her mouth, Zecora made her way into the kitchen, placing it on a nearby 'counter', as it were, before making her way back into the living room again, giving each of us a farewell before she then made her way to the door of the house. Just before she had completely left though...

"Do remember what I told you both over your continued strife. Chrysalis, my old friend Jeremy, it could mean the difference between death and life." And, just like that, the door was brought to a close behind her, giving a low thump as it hit against it's wooden hinges.

"... If she thinks I'm going to let you even think about kissing me, she's more foalish than Celestia."

"Glad we can come to an agreement." I thought to myself with slight sarcasm, as I gave the changeling queen a short glare, rolling my eyes and sighing before I made my way back to my previous seat. Little did I know, though, that I wasn't the only one thinking this.

Chapter 15: A Short Break From Monotony

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"Are you sure this is a good idea, Nightmare Moon?" I asked, watching as both she and Halfy made their final preparations; Halfy placing a dirty plate into the kitchen sink while Nightmare Moon stretched one of her legs with a grunt.

"Verily, Sir Jeremy. Ye will not regret attending our return to Halfy's garden. We are certain that you will find great intrigue in such a sight." Um, okay? I'm not really sure what she means by that, but, hey, I guess it wouldn't be any harm for me to go along. Even if I was 'volunteered', rather than given the choice.

"Alright, if you say so." I said, turning my head to Halfy as I heard the clang of plates against one another. "And you don't mind, Halfy?"

"Hmm hm mmpph." She mumbled through the plate in her mouth. Raising a brow, I felt a chuckle escape me, along with hearing one from Nightmare Moon, as I looked to her.

"Could you repeat that?" I asked with a joking smile. With a small tinge of red, she placed the last of the plates down into the sink, exiting the kitchen before she made to answer.

"I-I said I don't mind. If anything, I like the company." Nodding, I bent myself over slightly and ruffled her mane playfully, drawing a laugh from her.

"Well, that's good to know, Halfy."

"Yes, 'tis welcome knowledge. We would not want thee to feel pressed to accept our requests." Nightmare Moon added. "Now, shall we be going?" Glancing to the two, I was about to give them a nod, before I was just as quickly reminded of something else that I had to check on. Or rather, someone else.

"Uh... You two wait outside for me. I'll be just a moment." Nightmare Moon raised a brow at this, but didn't seem to question it, instead giving me an understanding nod as she and Halfy opened the front door of the house, beginning to exit.

"Very well then, Sir Jeremy. We will await for you outside." I gave her a thankful nod as the two escaped my sight, the wooden door closing softly behind them, beams of the night's light gently making their way through it's many cracks and providing a serene, dim, twilight upon the room.

I let out a short sigh as I made my way to the kitchen, gathering up whatever I thought necessary. A plate, a few berries, some greens, and a glass of water to the side.

I had a bit of trouble balancing the plate, since I was so preoccupied holding the glass in my other available grip, but I managed, eventually bringing it to the living room and placing it down in the floor next to the couch. The same couch where Chrysalis was currently resting.

A mental groan escaped me as I recalled what was to come next, before I then, as carefully as possible, reached for the changeling monarch and began to stir her.

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... A shaking on my side awoke me, though I could not find the will, nor motivation, to open my eyes and respond to it, choosing to allow for whatever was causing it to pass in the hopes that I could get back to sleep. I was having such a wonderful dream.

Princess Celestia, nor those bothersome mares from before, had been there to stop me from succeeding in my invasion of Canterlot. I had 'married' that stallion, Shining Armor, and was able to continue my feeding off of his love. Everything was perfect. Nopony suspected a thing as I gave my 'beloved' our ceremonial wedding kiss, managing to absorb even more love from him.

There was no need for me to order my changelings to attack, risking themselves in the line of battle, for we had what we needed. I could feed my hive again, spreading the love that I gathered from my newly wed and rejuvenating my once starving children. We would grow in number, the ponies would not endanger us, for there was no indication for them to do so, and we would all 'have a happy ending'.

... Well, aside from the real bride and the groom. But, sacrifices are to be made if my hive is to survive. Such a blissful, and calming dream... And now, it was gone.

I felt a sense of irritation grow as one of my eyes cracked open, turning to see who would be fool enough to even think of disrupting my sleep.

"Chrysalis..." Of course it would be him. I let out a mental groan of annoyance as I quickly recognized the source of the sound to be the human, Jeremy, of all things. This would be the second time that he has woken me up, and I did not appreciate that one bit.

"Chrysalis... Chrys- Oh, would you just turn around already!? I know you're awake." Whatever semblance of an attempted 'peaceful and quiet' wake up that he had been trying quickly disappeared as his voice's volume raised, reminiscent to an annoying buzz in my ear as I let out a growl and reluctantly turned to him.

The squeaking of the couch felt deafening to my slightly spinning mind, likely having been caused by my recent weakness, as I looked to him, my eyes barely open as I gave him what would equate to a glare.

He stood there with his arms crossed, looking to me with a deadpan. Who was he to give me orders? If I had even the slightest amount of energy, I would've easily stood myself up and shown him just how much I outrank him... But, unfortunately, I likely wouldn't be able to do so without swaying in my step, or even falling over.

"What?" I asked in a low, grating voice, attempting to keep my intimidating self over him. He wasn't bothered by this though, instead rolling his eyes as he listened to me.

"It's time to eat." He said, almost statingly, as if he were my caretaker, or the like. The fact that he was currently speaking to me as his lesser annoyed me even more, another growl escaping me as he went on.

"I'm still not going to kiss you." I said matter-of-factly. Wether or not I was starving of love, and energy, I would not stoop myself so low as to kiss him.

As I said this, he swiftly slapped his palm against his face, a satisfying -- Or at least it was for me, noise echoing through the air from his self inflicted pain. I could tell, even without my ability to read one's emotion, that he was beginning to get annoyed. Something I found great satisfaction in.

"Th-that's not what I meant!" He stuttered, apparently flushed from my statement, causing me to raise a brow. He shook his head and let out a breath as he looked to me again, crouching over and grabbing something just out of my view before then quickly bringing it into my line of sight.

In his grasp, he held a plate full of berries and vegetables. Meanwhile, in his other hand, he had a glass of water. He looked to me expectantly, simply, drawing a further narrow of my already heavy eyes as I quickly realized what he was implying.

"I'm not hungry." I said, turning my head away from him and trying to lull myself back into sleep. I heard him groan as he placed the plate of food by my hind legs on the couch, before then reaching over me, grabbing hold of my chin, and firmly turning me to face him! I opened my eyes in a glare as I looked to him.

While this was oddly aggressive of him, that doesn't change the fact that I truly don't feel any sort of hunger, despite my state. The reason I had eaten before wasn't because of his asking, or his 'kindness' in doing so. No, it was because of the shadow alicorn that was obsessed with taking sides against me! Even now, I was expecting him to ask me to 'please eat, or you may feel worse', or-

"Look, Chrysalis, I don't care what you say, you're eating!" This... Surprised me. My brows raised as his voice rose in volume, his eyes now in an angered glare as he looked down to me.

"... Well, taking the more forward approach, are we?" I mocked, removing myself from his grip with a push of my hooves, though a weak push. He ignored my comment, continuing to bear down upon me with his expression of irritance.

"Chrysalis, you heard what Zecora said. You're unstable as is, and you need all the strength you can get, which means, you can't afford to not eat, just like I won't let you." Oh, so he was trying to intimidate me into eating. Really? Me?!? Of all beings!? It was almost enough to bring a laugh from me, and I use the term, 'almost', VERY lightly.

"And you should have heard what I said. I'm not hungr-"

"Chrysalis, so help me god, if that plate isn't empty by the time Nightmare Moon, Halfy, and I get back, I'll have Nightmare Moon shove it down your throat!" I opened my mouth to say something, ready to call him out on his little bluff, but something in his eyes just... Stopped me. For a moment... It seemed as though he was actually serious, even if I knew that he was lying.

"... Fine." I surrendered, slowly sitting myself up on the couch and turning to the plate of food next to me. He continued to watch me, his arms crossed and eyes still narrowed, as I picked up a small, nonspecific berry, toying with it in my hooves before popping it into my mouth and starting to chew.

He seemed to ease at this, if only slightly, as he placed the glass of water that he had been holding between the cushions nearest to the plate of food.

"Good. Now, the three of us are going to be out for a while, so you'll be alone for a bit." Time to myself? Away from you three? Thank the empress.

Jeremy turned away, making his way to the wooden door and placing his hand on the handle. Before he made his way out though, he gave me one last look. "Remember what I said. That plate had better. be. empty."

And with that, he exited the room, and house, myself rolling my eyes as I choked down the remainder of the berry.

I was barely able place it in my mouth without spitting it back out, let alone how hard it was to actually eat it! Especially when he had jammed my drink so far into the couch cushions that it would prove difficult for me to pick it up and drown the food down with some water. How could I possibly empty this entire plate before he gets back!?!

... Actually... I think I just answered my own question.

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As I closed the door behind me, I let out a sigh, a sense of both relief, and guilt, washing over me like a bitter-sweet wave.

I didn't like to talk to Chrysalis like that, or anyone for that matter, but I felt like I had no choice, if I wanted her to take me seriously. Like Zecora said, Chrysalis was already in horrible condition. And I just had to make sure that she would be okay... I just had to...

Still, the fact that I acted so aggressively to one of my friends...

"Sir Jeremy?" I was quickly brought out of my funk as Nightmare Moon's voice of concern caused me to turn from the door to her. She and Halfy were looking to my curiously, yet with small hints of worry to them. The two of them sat just outside, where they told me they would wait, I quickly cleared my throat, attempting to clear my heavy thoughts as much as possible.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that. I finished what I had to do, hehe." Were it not for the fact that Nightmare Moon already seemed suspicious enough, I would've kicked myself for that nervous chuckle at the end of my sentence. Honestly though, why not just tell her what I did, if I'm going to act like that!

Thankfully though, neither she, nor Halfy, seemed to persist with this curiosity of theirs, instead moving onto a different subject altogether.

"Um... Well, should we get going then?" Halfy asked, glancing to both Nightmare Moon and I as she gave a small gesture of her hoof. Quietly thanking whatever divine force had decided to cut me a break, I nodded to Halfy, Nightmare Moon following suit shortly after.

"Oh, yes. Let us make haste, shall we? While our night is still youthful!" Chuckling at her obviously overly-excited state for the moment, I walked away from the door and towards the two, my jacket's two zipper halves clinking into one another lightly the two began to trot themselves, myself trailing shortly after.

As we entered the dense forestry if the Everfree once again, I couldn't help but to glance back to Halfy's home, my mind on a certain ill being that currently was there.

For once Chrysalis, please just realize that I'm doing something for your own good.

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The forestry and brush was broken of its peace as a series of rustles began to echo through the air. In an oasis of plant life, each crop carefully grown with the love and gentleness of a unique earth mare, the calm, serene surroundings of the area were momentarily brought to an end as three of its inhabitants made their way into the view of the clearing's clear moon's sight.

The night skies practically let out a sigh of happiness as they saw one of the halves of its creator, Nightmare Moon, come through ahead of the other two, a sense of eagerness practically shining in her eyes as she awaited for her other companions. Soon after, the maker of the wondrous garden, and the mare who was willing to give her own living space for those in need, Halfy, followed the alicorn through the brush. Finally, though hesitantly, the single human of Equestria, yet among the more friendly and caring members of the land, Jeremy, joined the two.

As he picked off a spare branch that had caught on his jacket, his eyes widened at the sight of what was before him. "Wow." He said, scouring the clearing's various bushes and stalks that made up it's bountiful harvest. "This is... Wow, I honestly don't know what to say..." Turning his head to Halfy, he looked to the mare with a sense of impressment, honestly surprised that a single pony could have managed this; Especially when he considered the relatively short amount of time she had been here. "You grew all of this?"

A sense of bashfulness overtook Halfy from the sudden attention, a small tint of red working its way to her face as she gave Jeremy a small nod. "W-well, not all of it. When I first found this clearing, there were already a few plants growing here, and I-I just worked from there." She said.

"Thou truly art of great modesty, Halfy." Nightmare Moon said with a chuckle, giving her friend a smile, which was shyly returned to her. "What of your thoughts, Sir Jeremy? Is this not a magnificent sight?"

Jeremy nodded as a smile of his own graced him, almost at a loss of words for what to say. "Yeah, this is great. Not often that I see... Well, anything grown like this in the Everfree forest." He responded, passing the two as he began to walk through the various lines of crops that lined the opening in the forest.

"We are glad that ye find great interest in this, as we hoped you would. However, there remains another sight that we wish for you to see." Jeremy stopped where he was at this, turning his head to her and raising a brow in interest. Nightmare Moon looked to Halfy once again, hoping to inquire as to the possibility of showing Jeremy the rare, near impossible sight that had previously allowed her to get along with the mare.

"Halfy," she began, "wouldst thou mind if we showed Sir Jeremy to thine rarity of a bloom." Halfy quickly responded with a nod.

"Of course princess. J-just be careful though." A sense of giddiness surged through Nightmare Moon as she was once again referred to as 'princess' by Halfy, still slightly surprised at the fact that anypony would be willing to treat her as the royalty she was.

"We would not want to do so in any other form, friend." More than satisfied with her response, Halfy gave Nightmare Moon a nod, acknowledging her unspoken promise of care before she walked to the garden before them.

"Y-you two go on ahead," she said, "I have to make sure the rest of these are watered before I check on the flowers." Jeremy and Nightmare Moon both called out their understanding, the two making their own individual ways around the various crops before meeting up along the far side of the clearing, where Nightmare Moon began to lead.

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When Nightmare Moon had first told Chrysalis and I about the flower that Halfy had been caring for, I admit that I was pretty interested in seeing it myself. Now, at least from what I've surmised, Nightmare Moon was granting me that silent wish of mine.

The two of us walked side by side, though she was slight ahead, as we made our way down a path of bent branches and twisted trees. She had an excited look about her, one even more so than when Zecora had offered to make tea again, and it was actually pretty nice to see.

Nightmare Moon was the kind of woma-- Heh, sorry, I still slip up on that kind of thing every now and again. The kind of mare who enjoyed the little things. This flower, though, seemed like more than that, and I could see why. It was an indirect remnant of her past, as Princess Luna. Back when she was treated like a princess, rather than a villain. If I was in her position, I'd probably feel a similar kind of connection.

"Do you share a similar giddiness as us?" Nightmare Moon suddenly asked, breaking me out from my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh! Oh, yeah. Well, I am pretty glad to be seeing that flower that got you and Halfy to get along. Plus, it made you happy, right?" She nodded, a smile firmly on her face as she seemed to recall the experience.

"Oh, very much so, Sir Jeremy." It was at that moment that my brow rose again, this time out of thought. There she goes again with the whole 'Sir Jeremy' thing.

"Say, Nightmare Moon?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"Out of curiosity, why exactly do you call me that?" She turned her head back to me as I asked this, though she continued to walk on.

"What is it that you mean?" She asked.

"You call me, 'Sir Jeremy'. I mean, I'm not offended by this, or anything like that, but I would still like to know why you call me that." I explained, only seeming to draw a questioning look from Nightmare Moon in return.

"To what other title am I to refer to a knight?" C-... Can we do double take here? At the mention of the word 'knight', I practically stopped in my tracks, looking to her with a confused, near flabbergasted, expression. She seemed to notice rather quickly, rolling her eyes with a smile. "Of course, we are aware that ye are not truly of a knight's descent," she said, "but ye have shown many a number of qualities as shown by those knighted in olden times. Nobility, honor, loyalty, all that and much more. 'Tis the reason why we refer to you as 'Sir Jeremy'."

Oh... Really? I think of myself as a relatively nice guy, sure, but... Enough to earn a 'knighthood'? Back home, you would have to do some pretty stupendous things to do that. All I did was open the door for them when it was time to escape.

"And the reason you call Zecora, 'Miss Zecora'?"

"Custom dictates that close associates of one of knighthood should be treated with respect as such." She quickly replied. Well, at least that rids the chance of her thinking that the two of us were married, or something. "... There is no issue with this, is there?" She asked after a moment of silence, her face now one of concern.

I quickly shook my head at this, scrambling to keep her from getting the wrong idea. "No, no, no, its fine! I just wanted to know, is all. I have no problem with you calling me 'sir'... If anything, I'm actually kind of flattered that you think so highly of me." Her look of worry was quickly shifted to one of happiness, and relief, herself giving a curt nod before she put her gaze forward once more.

After a moment, I did the same, watching as the path became narrower, and, eventually, brought us to a collection of branches and roots, all of which being formed into an impromptu dome. Nightmare Moon's smile grew as she quickly entered the small opening in the dome. As she disappeared behind the incubating plant life, I let out a breath, slowly, and carefully, following in after her.

Upon entering, the first sight I came upon was Nightmare Moon sitting off to the side, serenely looking downwards to the center of the ground. Following her gaze, I saw the object of her attention, my eyes widening at the sight.

Like Nightmare Moon had said, the flower was beautiful, to say the least. Hints of moonlight that shined through the dome of roots seemed aimed to the flowers, emboldening their already pronounced aura of fragile wonder.

I could see why the flowers was so related to the night, aside from the fact that it grew only in the night, that is. I was more meaning to the color and pattern of the flowers. Its star shape, celestial similarity to the night sky, and its deep midnight blue. The center of the flowers seemed like small, individual moons that shined upon their miniature nights, while the petals provided the stars and constellations.

In its entirety, the flowers reminded me of Nightmare Moon. It's... A bit obvious as to why, but I can't really help myself but to say it nonetheless.

I was tempted to say something, to comment on how Nightmare Moon wasn't kidding when she said that this was a wondrous sight... But... Seeing her, I couldn't really make myself do it. She seemed to be enjoying her time here, her eyes shining with reminiscence and joy as she looked over one of the last objects that related to her past.

Like I said, I couldn't just intrude on this obviously important moment of hers. So, instead, I sat myself off to the side with a smile, watching on in silence. Admittedly though, I didn't keep my gaze too focused on the flowers.

-------------------------------------

It was some time later that Halfy arrived as well, giving the two of us a short greeting before she started to water the Lunar Blossoms, like she had just done with the rest of her garden. She showed extreme care for the delicate flowers, which Nightmare Moon seemed to greatly appreciate, only dropping a few drops of water for the plants, wetting their petals with dew-like placement.

Once she had finished, giving a small nod of satisfaction as she did so, she looked to the two of us and asked if we were ready to go. The two of us responded that we were, standing from our seated positions and following Halfy as we began to make our way back, myself noticing Nightmare Moon give one last glance to the flowers behind us as we left.

The walk home was relatively silent, the three of us being sharing a sense on unsureness of what to say, or if we really had anything to say at all. After all, we were relatively satisfied with how the short trip to Halfy's garden had gone.

Halfy managed to give some more care to it, as she does every night. Nightmare Moon had once again seen the flowers that she was so fond of. And I had even been able to actually see the sight for the first time. All together, it was a nice time we had out from the house. The house that, at the moment, we were approaching.

Halfy, taking slight initiative, quickened her pace, beating us to the door and pushing it open for us to enter. Nightmare Moon and I gave our thanks as we entered the house, myself giving silent pleas that Chrysalis had listened to me after all.

As the door shut behind us, Nightmare Moon and Halfy quickly found their individual spots among the room, silently seating themselves as they let out content sighs. I did so too, but not exactly as I normally would. I took a bit of a detour as I made my way to my seat, glancing over the currently napping Chrysalis as I did so. Near her hind legs, there was an empty plate, and a similarly empty glass on the floor below.

Thank god!

Chapter 16: Keeping Each Other Going

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"Jeremy... Jeremy..."

... Nope. Still not used to the gentle approach. Of course, it has only been a couple of days. Maybe after a week, it would start feeling normal? Or earlier even, if I'm lucky.

Letting out a yawn as I began to peel my eyes open, I stretched my arms outwards and upwards, quickly growing to regret it though as I hit the wall that the bed was laid against; A short jolt of pain springing through me caused my eyes to now fully open.

Recoiling my hands back, I began to limply shake them in an attempt to ease the pain, giving out a mental curse at my own stupidity as I did so. Once I had finished, I rolled my eyes at my actions, sitting myself up on the mattress with a grunt as I turned my head to Halfy, who was currently, tiredly, stood at the bedside.

There was a small smile on her face, likely being of amusement from the idiocy she had just seen me commit, as she looked to me groggily, her eyelid dropping every now and again.

"Afternoon, Halfy." I greeted as I swung my legs off the side of the mattress, putting myself in a seated position before, well aware of the fact that Halfy needed her rest as well, standing myself up on the cold wooden floor. A chill passed by me as I was introduced to the sensation.

"Afternoon Jeremy." Halfy returned in her half-awake state, the small smile from before still on her face as she rubbed her eye. Both unknowing of, and thinking that there wasn't, anything else to say in this situation, I simply gave Halfy a smile of my own, sidestepping across her and gesturing for the bed, almost as if it were an invitation.

She took this in good spirits, sending me a thankful nod before she began to make her way onto the mattress, this time actually covering herself with the blankets as she shifted in the bed, trying to make herself comfortable.

Chuckling at this, I made my way to the bedroom door, pulling it open as it let out a loud squeak, before beginning to close it behind me.

"Sleep well." I said to Halfy, as all that was left for the door to close was a small crack. Her eye closed as she moved a bit, tucking herself closer together; she gave a half-hearted 'mm-hm' in return, drawing another chuckle from me as I then completely closed the door behind me.

Soon after, I made my way down the wooden steps of the stairway, it's continual squeaking and groaning noises still deafening, but seeming to have lost a small portion of its intensity compared to yesterday. Unsure of why it really seemed like this, I shrugged it off, grabbing hold of the door handle for the entrance to the living room before giving it a twist and a push, allowing me to leave the stairway of the home.

As I came into the living room, silently closing the door behind me as I did so, I quickly caught sight of Nightmare Moon, herself being lazily laid in the center of the room, both of her legs tucked beneath her and her head on the floor. Her ears twitched as the door was closed behind me, and my feet tamped slightly on the wooden floor, her head raising from it's previous position as she turned her gaze to me.

Upon seeing me, she gained a large, friendly smile, lifting one of her hooves and giving me a short wave. I returned the gesture, smiling and waving as I made my way over to her.

"Good morrow, Sir Jeremy." She greeted, her voice already low as she spoke. "We take it Halfy has awoken you?" I nodded as I sat myself down in front of her, my legs crossed as I adjusted my seating. "She has fallen into her slumber, we presume?" I nodded again, confirming her guess as I looked to her.

"Yeah, she just knocked out a few seconds ago." As I said this, Nightmare Moon's eyes widened slightly, surprising me as I noticed a tinge of concern to them.

"She hath gone unconscious?!?" Wha- Oh! Oh, wow. Heh. Probably should've rephrased that, huh?

Restricting a laugh at Nightmare Moon's obvious misunderstanding, I shook my head, gesturing for her to calm herself. "No, its just an expression, Nightmare Moon. Basically, it means that she went to sleep."

She let out a sigh as I said this, relieved by the fact that Halfy was okay after all, before then looking to me with a questioning gaze, a brow of hers raised high. "Why would one attempt to mislead another in such a way? Would it not be less confusing to simply speak of things as they were, rather than as they were similar."

Opening my mouth, I made to answer, but-... Um... Huh...

"You know, she kinda has a point." Unsure of how to respond, I settled on a shrug, Nightmare Moon then glancing downwards in thought as she tried to think up the reasoning on her own, letting out a soft hum as she did so.

I rolled my eyes as she did this, a chuckle escaping me as I turned my head away from her, and towards my other, though currently much less likely to converse, companion. She was still on the couch, sleeping, as per usual, in her curled up lump.

I could faintly see her chest rising and falling as she slept, the crack in her chitin now seeming to pronounce itself since Zecora had shown it to me, moving along with her breaths.

"Sir Jeremy?" Quickly turning my head again as I heard my name, I saw Nightmare Moon looking to me... Oddly, apparently having pushed off the thought that bothered her from before. "Is all well?" As she asked this, I noticed a strange tone in her voice, though I didn't think much of it.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just making sure that Chrysalis is all right." The odd look on her face didn't pass as I said this, instead momentarily seeming to grow in intensity, before, with a clear of her throat, it returned to its previous state.

"Yes, well... We take it that ye wouldst like for us to inform you of when an hour of time passeth?" Smiling, I gave her nod.

"That would be great. Thanks." I told her sincerely. "Until then though... How about we just.. You know, talk." The look on her face quickly changed as I said this, obtaining a much more cheery and upbeat sense to it.

"Oh, yes, we would very much like that!"

-------------------------------------

"Wow... And I thought that my dad was rough." I said as Nightmare Moon finished recounting her tale of the time she, as Princess Luna, was punished by King Solaire for pulling a prank during the royal court meeting.

Though she didn't go too far into detail as to what the prank actually was, she did tell me that it involved toilet paper, a banana peel, and couple of slices of cake... Makes you think, doesn't it?

That's not the point though. According to what she told me, after the king had found out about what she had done, she was given a sort of... Time out. And by that, I meant a three month grounding, with no sweets, play time, or anything of the like.

It didn't necessarily sound that bad, but that was because I was an adult now, 22 in age. I still knew that, for a kid, having to go an entire 3 months without being able to do anything fun would be like torture, Nightmare Moon's childish energy having to be diverted to more boring things, like her studies.

Honestly, whatever that prank was, it must've been good! Wish that I had seen it.

"Reflecting on that time of past now, we suppose that our father did have fair reason to do so. Behavior of such kind from a royal, especially during such an important part of a monarch's daily schedule, was unbecoming of a princess, and therefore utterly inappropriate." She said this almost sounding matter-of-factly in her presentation, though, from the glint I saw in her eye, I knew there was something to it, crossing my arms as I looked to her with a smile and rose a brow.

"So... Worth it?" I asked. Almost instantly, her 'serious' demeanor dropped, a giggle escaping her as she looked to me.

"Very much so, yes." I thought so. "What of you, Sir Jeremy? What of your kin?" She inquired.

I gave her a shrug as I began to recount to her of my family. "Well, it was like any other family, really. A mom, a dad, you know... I guess the odd one out though, would be my older sister, Beatrice." Nightmare Moon rose a brow in interest at this.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You see, my sister was what most people back home would call... A health nut." Her raised brow of interest was turned to one of confusion as I told her this.

"A 'health nut'?" She asked. I nodded.

"Its pretty much someone who's obsessed with trying to stay healthy. For instance, have you ever run five miles with nothing more than a tablespoon of granola to keep you going?" She shook her head. "Well, my sister has... And she forced me to do the same. I swear, I'd need to take two showers everyday just to get rid of the smell of sweat I'd get from dealing with her exercise crazed self." I felt a chuckle escape me as I recalled some of my previous outings with my older sibling. "... Yeah... She was insane sometimes..."

"... You yearn for it again, do you not?" A more solemn sentiment to me now, I gave Nightmare Moon a nod.

"Of course I do. After all, it's been over a year since I last saw my family... Or any other human at all, really." I... Didn't usually think about this subject. More recently, over the last few months, I'd been more distracted by what had been going on, being in a dungeon, escaping, and all that. Though, I would be lying if the thought of being back in my world didn't come up every now and then while I was still living in Canterlot, and with Zecora.

"We understand. Being so long away from others of your kind, and not knowing of when one would see them again... 'Tis similar to our time spent on the moon." Woah, what!? Okay, no, it wasn't!

"Nightmare Moon, what are you talking about?!" I asked, barely able to keep my voice down as my eyes now filled of disbelief. "Sure, I've been away from home for a while, but you can't compare that to your time on the moon!" Raising her gaze, which had shifted downwards as she remembered her time of imprisonment and solitude, she looked to me questioningly. "Nightmare Moon, you had it much worse than me, and for a longer time too! I at least had, and have, friends to keep me company, while you were on your own for what was centuries!"

"..." She didn't say anything, instead just looking at me as I went on.

"Just... Believe me Nightmare Moon. I may miss my family, and my home, but it's still not all bad for me. Like I said, at least I have friends to keep me company here... Yourself included." She smiled as I said this, giving me a bow of her head.

"Thank you, Sir Jeremy."

"No problem, Nightmare Moon."

-------------------------------------

Nightmare Moon was really interested in what I had to say about my family. For the rest of the hour that we waited, I told her about some fun, or just plain silly, moments that I had with them, mostly involving my sister, and she would listen intently as I went on.

Maybe she was trying to cheer me up from my homesickness, maybe she was genuinely interested, or, maybe even both. Either way, I appreciated it.

"Next thing I know, we're both skydiving from over 5,000 feet, or something like that, and sharing a parachute because she forgot to bring hers. The look on our parent's faces when we finally reached the ground though... Well, lets just say that I didn't know that the vein on my dad's head could bulge out that much."

Nightmare Moon barely restrained her laughter as I finished telling her about the incident I liked to call, 'Pajama Skydiving', a hoof over her mouth and a smile on her face as her shoulders and chest shifted from her chortling.

"Hm. 'Twas certainly not a reasonable idea of yours." I chuckled at this.

"Hey, give me a break. My sister was blackmailing me to do it. I swear, you pass out one time at a friend's party, and she just doesn't let it go." Her smile still firmly on her face, she bemusedly raised a brow to me.

"Oh? And how did she obtain this information, if this was at a friend's gathering?" My eyes widened slightly as she said this, a small warmth coming to my face as I realized that she saw through a small flaw in my tale.

"Uh... Well... Technically, it was my friend's party... Just... He hosted it in my house... Heh."

Okay, in retrospect, that was a bad decision to just go along with his ideas when my parents had specifically warned me not to have anyone over, and when my sister was just upstairs. But, hey, I was young, and I was stupid. I'm sure that a lot of people made that kind of mistake.

Nightmare Moon looked at me smugly, giving me a roll of her eyes as I proved her skepticism to be correct. "Ah. That seems more accurate." The corners of my mouth lifted in amusement as he said this, myself giving her a roll of my eyes.

"Ha ha." I said sarcastically, earning a chuckle from Nightmare Moon.

Suddenly, her ear twitched, her face turning blank as she gazed in my direction, drawing a questioning look from me. "We believe that an hour has passed, Sir Jeremy."

Well... That was a sudden change in tone. Still, at least she told me.

"Oh... thanks." I told her, still unsure as to why she had just changed her attitude like she did.

Standing myself from my cross legged position on the floor, I gave a silent grunt as my spine gave a crack of approval, stretching out my back as I began to make my way to the still sleeping Chrysalis.

Taking in a breath, I put an arm on her back, starting to give her a small shake. "Chrysalis... Time to get up..." I said, my voice at a higher volume than before in an effort to stir her.

She didn't respond, either still being asleep, or purposely ignoring me. Rolling my eyes, I started to shake her even more, putting my other arm on her and talking even louder. "Chrysalis... Come on... Get up..."

Still no response. Yeah, she was ignoring me. Groaning in annoyance, I crossed my arms as I looked to her. Was she angry about how I told her that she had to eat? I mean, sure, I didn't like the way I went about it either, but it was necessary. She had no reason to be mad, especially when I was doing it for her own good!

Narrowing my eyes, I decided to see just just how far she was willing to take this little game of hers, a smirk forming on my face as an idea came to mind. "Alright Chrysalis, have it your way. But, if you don't 'wake up' with my approach, I'm sure Nightmare Moon would be more than willing to try hers."

At the mention of this, Nightmare Moon made her way next to me in what seemed like an instant, a smirk of her own on her face, and an odd glint in her eyes. "Oh, why of course we would, Sir Jeremy."

At Nightmare Moon's willingness, I gave a smile, looking to Chrysalis again before I gave her one last warning. "Your choice Chrysalis. Either you get up, or Nightmare Moon 'wakes you up'."

Stubborn to the end though, Chrysalis still didn't respond. She was dead set on doing this, wasn't she? Letting out a sigh, I gave Nightmare Moon a nod, a smile coming to her face, and a glow to her horn, as the familiar scene of a glass of water being transmuted above Chrysalis appeared before me.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." And with that, Nightmare Moon flipped the glass over in her magical grasp, the water rushing out as it was pulled down by gravity, before ultimately splashing all over Chrysalis.

I flinched back as a small amount of the water splashed onto me, sending a chill through me as I noticed how cold it was. Yeesh, I see why that bothers her so much.

"There. You gonna get up now?"

... She didn't even flinch, the water just dripping from her before beginning to soak the couch she was on. "... Chrysalis?" Okay, now I was worried. Looking to Nightmare Moon, she gave me a shrug as she glanced between Chrysalis and I. "Chrysalis, come on. I think you proved your point..."

Putting my hand on her again, I started shaking her once more. "Chrysalis... Chrysalis?" As I was shaking her, I accidentally leaned her too far back, unable to react in time as she fell from the couch to the floor... And she wasn't trying to get up!

"Chrysalis?!" Kneeling down next to her, I started to shake her even more roughly, waiting for her to respond in some way. Even Nightmare Moon seemed to have a growing concern at this point, looking to Chrysalis as similarly as I did. "Chrysalis, come on, this isn't funny!"

Grabbing hold of her, I moved Chrysalis onto her side, finally allowing me to get a look at her face. As I did though, I felt my stomach drop, just barely hearing Nightmare Moon as she gave a gasp at the blatantly obvious, and alarm worthy, feature that had appeared on Chrysalis. A large crack, similar to the one on her chitin, had spread from her upper chest up to her face, splitting as it reached her eye, before ending near her ear and maw.

"Chrysalis!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ugh. 'Bout time I finally got here.

My wings felt exhausted from the trip, and that snack that I had bought hadn't exactly lasted long. I swear, when I see Jeremy, he had better be grateful for what I'm doing just to come visit him...

Then again, he's always been glad to see me. Hmph, and why wouldn't he be? When he's friend with one of the cooler fliers in Equestria, and back home, I'd say that he should count himself lucky. Heh.

Glancing down as the huge white city finally came into view below, its castle towering high above it, I felt a smile wring its way out of me as I pulled my wings down, putting myself into a downwards tilt. I was already looking forwards to hangin' around with my old pal again.

Mess with some ponies, relax a bit, the usual business with the two of us. At least, before that zebra -- What was her name again? 'Zecorna'? Whatever. Before that zebra would end up telling him that it was time to call it a night. She'd always say that the animals in the Everfree would start to get more aggressive, or some stuff like that, at night, and I'd always tell her, 'Yeah, I know. Isn't that awesome?'

Course, she never really went for it, always ending up convincing Jeremy to go get some sleep anyhow.

Now though, things were different. Last I had heard, he had gotten some work here at Canterlot, at some company called 'Hooves and Elbow Grease', along with his own place. When I had first heard this, I wanted to go visit him, check out how he was doin', and maybe congratulate the sap, but I couldn't. I still had more to do, more to see before I could do that.

Now though, I had given myself a sort of... Vacation. Ya get tired of seeing new things, ya know? And sometimes, you just wanna appreciate the old.

Narrowing my eyes as I noticed that there weren't any clear places for me to land, even at this time of night, tons of those snobby ponies were everywhere; I gave a groan as I decided to just find that company that Jeremy was working in first. Then I'd deal with finding a place to land.

As to why I needed to go to his workplace... Well, I don't really know where he lives, so much as where I think he might live... Bah, I'm sure that those ponies he works with will know where I can find him. Good thing the company is open 24 hours. If I had to wait even a second in this uptight place, I think that I'd hurl... Hey, maybe if I do it from high enough, I'll at least get some entertainment out of it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Chrysalis! Wake up! Chrysalis!" I kept on shaking her as I yelled her name, being quiet having turned into the last thing on my mind as I tried to at least get her to open her eyes, or something!

I could tell she was still alive, thankfully, from the fact that she was still breathing, but even so, it was only faint, and barely visible whatsoever. Nightmare Moon, who had taken a position to Chrysalis' other side, put her hooves in front of me and against my chest, her magic enveloping my arms and hands as she began to push me back, despite my resistance.

"Sir Jeremy, you must stop!" My eyes widened as she said this, my head shifting to look up to her.

"Stop?!? How can I stop?!? Chrysalis. Isn't. Moving! I can't just do nothing!" Nightmare Moon continued to push me away using her hooves and magic despite my protest, looking me dead in the eyes and narrowing her own as he gained a serious aura to her.

"No, but what you are currently doing may as well be!" I froze as she said this, taking in a half breath while Nightmare Moon, seemingly satisfied with the distance she had put me at, released her magical grip on me; I didn't move an inch. "We will attempt to assess what the current issue at hoof is. In the meantime, Sir Jeremy, we wish for you to be calm! We can understand if ye are worried for her well being," she said, gesturing to Chrysalis, "but you mustn't allow yourself to fall into a panic!"

... S-she's right. I need to calm down. Nodding my head to her, albeit a little slowly, I started to take in a few deep breaths, desperately trying to keep myself calm. Nightmare Moon seemed to gesture me through this, eventually giving me a nod as she decided me placid enough, before shifting her attention to Chrysalis.

Her horn started to shimmer, soon followed by Chrysalis, as she began her ministrations, myself desperately hoping that, whatever was wrong with Chrysalis, she's find it, and we could fix it, fast!

At that moment though, as I was finally able to put my breathing down in its pace, the sound of a squeaking door behind me quickly drew my attention. Turning, I saw Halfy was at the stairway door, likely having been awoken from the noise we, more specifically I, had made when we realized that Chrysalis was unconscious. She was rubbing her eye, apparently not having noticed the scene before her yet, and letting out a yawn as she started to inquire as to what the ruckus was all about.

"What's going o-" Pulling her hoof away from her eye, she let out a gasp as she saw that Chrysalis was on the floor, her eyes darting between her, Nightmare Moon, and I, before she quickly ran her way over to us, any signs of her exhaustion being shoved away in an instant. "W-what happened?!" She asked, a large amount of concern and fear now evident in her voice.

"We're not sure." I said, glancing to Chrysalis' closed eyes for a moment and giving a grimace. "She hasn't woken up yet, no matter what we've tried, and now there's another crack on her exoskeleton, even bigger than the last one!" As I explained this, Halfy looked between Nightmare Moon and I, looking for some sort of explanation.

"H-how did this h-happen?" He asked. I shrugged, momentarily biting on the inside of my cheek as I looked to her.

"No idea. Nightmare Moon's trying to find out what the problem is now."

"How long will that take?" She asked. Before I could answer, Nightmare Moon intervened.

"No longer. We have found the issue." She said, her eyes, which had been previously closed in her focus, opening as she looked to us. Talk about timing.

We returned the gazes intently, desperately wanting to know what she had seen. "And?" I asked. Her eyes seemed to narrow at this, somehow adding to the already serious aura that surrounded her.

"Her energy levels have reached a dangerously low status. Even lower than when Miss Zecora had examined her." My, and Halfy's, eyes widened in disbelief at this, myself momentarily being unable to speak as I fumbled with my words.

"Wha- Bu- There's no way! How could her energy have gotten even lower?!? She hasn't moved from that couch since we first got here! I even fed her and everything on that... Couch..." It was at that moment that my eyes started to now narrow, a single theory coming to mind as I stood myself from Chrysalis' side and silently made my way to the couch.

Grabbing hold of one of the two cushions that Chrysalis had been laying on, I just barely noticed the odd smell that emanated from it, lifting the cushion up and immediately feeling a surge of anger pass through me.

There, laid plainly, and slightly squished, below the couch cushions, was an entire plate's worth of food. The same food that I had given her yesterday, and had thought that she had eaten.

"... MOTHER FU-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I pushed open the door to the company building that I had found, among the many others of this town, I was barely able to duck as a wooden chair flew by me, narrowly avoiding injury. I looked to the unicorn who was running after it in annoyance, his horn glowing the same color as the chair as I quickly realized it to be his fault!

"Hey, watch it!" I yelled after him, scoffing as he ran his way around the corner, and out of my sight. Lucky him too. Otherwise, I'd have had to kick some flank.

Shaking my head as I made my way into the main room of the building, I felt a brow of mine raise as I saw two weird looking ponies standing at the center of the room, a big, blue piece of paper in front of the two of them while they looked it over. How one of them was able to see it so clearly considering he had sunglasses on indoors though, I'd never know.

Figuring that they may be able to help me out here, I made my way towards the two, loudly clearing my throat as I eventually got directly behind them. They didn't seem to notice me though, annoying me as I cleared my throat again, this time louder.

Their ears twitched, almost at the same time, as they turned away from the paper and looked to me, their eyes wide in slight surprise.

"Hey," I said, "either of you two know where the boss around here is?" The two blinked at me for a moment before looking to each other, smiling and chuckling as they completely turned themselves to me, the blue paper behind them magically rolling up as they did so.

"Heh, TopSuit and EvenOut at your service ma'am." Said the pony in sunglasses. As he chuckled though, I felt myself give a mental groan.

You have got to be kidding me. These are his bosses? Yeesh, no wonder they hired him. These two look like they couldn't even build a birdhouse, let alone an actual building.

"... Yeahhhhh. Hey to you too." I said.

"Is there anything we can help you with?" This time, it was the other pony that had spoken up.

"Tch, not much. I'm not really looking to make a new home, or anything like that. What I am looking for though, is a friend of mine. I heard that he works here."

The two's brows rose at this, the stupid smiles on their faces not even moving an inch as they looked to me. "Oh? Well, I'm sure that we can help. Who are you looking for? We can try call them here as soon as possible, if you like." Ugh. Seriously, this whole 'nice guy' thing is obnoxious.

"He shouldn't be too hard to find. You know, big guy, walks on two legs, no fur?" Their eyes widened at this, the smiles on their faces finally fading as they looked to me. Did they not hear me, or do they just not know who I'm talking about yet? Guess I can't say that I'd put it past 'em. "His name's Jeremy?" I offered, hoping that the two would finally be able to piece it together. If not, then I seriously doubt that I'll ever be hiring them if I ever want to settle down somewhere. "Well, is he here, or not?"

The two looked to each other again, this time looking... Nervous. "Uh, yes ma'am. Jeremy... Did used to work here..."

Used to?

"What do you mean, 'used to'?" I asked, my eyes narrowing as I looked at them.

"Um... Ma'am, we're sorry to tell you, but... Jeremy's... Gone." The other pony looked down as he said this, drawing a raised eye from me.

"Gone?" I persisted, still not sure as to what they were talking about.

"He... Passed away some time ago, Ma'am... Died in a building fire." My eyes widened as he said this, my jaw dropping down and my mind all but shutting off... Before I started to chuckle, which caught the two off guard.

"Heh. Funny. You almost got me there." I admitted, chuckling again as I replayed what they said in my mind. Their eyes widened as I said this, the two deciding to keep on with this joke of theirs a little longer.

"Ma'am, this isn't a joke. Jeremy died in a building fire months ago. That's why we're rebuilding the place now, in fact." I started to laugh now, the 'statement' sounding even funnier the second time.

"Oho. Stop! You're killing me- Ha!"

"Ma'am, this is serious! We-" I stopped the two here, waving at them to be quiet for a moment as I wiped a tear that had built up from how hard I laughed away from my eye.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever." Turning away from them, I started to make my way out of the building again, having given up in asking them, of all ponies. "You two keep on with that joke of yours all you like, but there's no way that Jeremy just up and died like that, without me hearing about it!"

Seriously though, how dumb did they think I was? Do they really think that if Jeremy, the only human in all of Equestria, died, that nopony would know about it? Whew, that's just hilarious!

Anyways, if they aren't gonna help me out, I'm sure that there's still a certain somepony else who would be more than willing... Provided she doesn't try to kick me out again. And let me tell you, that zebra can kick!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"SHE DIDN'T EAT!?! IS SHE NUT- No, let me rephrase that, she IS nuts! OF ALL THE STUPID, STUBBORN, AND ILL CONCIEVED THINGS, I JUST-... UGH!" As I gave up with my momentary rant, having just sworn enough times to make a sailor ask me to wash my mouth out, I looked to Nightmare Moon and Halfy, who were currently looking to me with a slight sense of surprise to the two of them, likely not having expected that kind of outburst from me.

What did they expect though!?! This isn't exactly the least frustrating thing that I've ever seen! The one time that she should listen to me the most, and she just shrugs it off! Now, she's unconscious! And... And... FUCK!

"... So what do we do?" I asked the two, hoping for them to have some sorts of options. Unfortunately though, they didn't, instead just silently glancing to one another, before returning their gazes to me...

What the hell were we supposed to do?... If we didn't act soon, Chrysalis might... She can't have gone this far just to give up now... All because she would FUCKING eat!

... Wait... 'All because she wouldn't eat'... Eat, eat, that's it! I think I know what to do! Haha! I... I think... Oh fuck me, I know what to do.

Groaning as the idea came to mind, I pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes as I relayed this to Nightmare Moon and Halfy.

"... I've got an idea." I half groaned, half said. This drew a raised brow from the two, as they looked to me curiously.

"What have ye formulated, Sir Jeremy?" Nightmare Moon asked, shortly followed by Halfy.

"Y-yeah. What did you think of?" As the two asked this, I felt myself flinch, eventually letting out a sigh as I made my way towards the two and Chrysalis, sitting myself in front of the unconscious changeling; I looked to the two.

"... Alright, so three things, before I do what I'm about to do." Nightmare Moon and Halfy nodded as I said this. "One, this is only a guess that it'll work. If not... Well, I'm sure you two can piece that together." They visibly cringed as said this, but they nodded nonetheless.

"Two, I'm not sure how she'll... React to this once she wakes up, if it even works, that is. So, no matter what, I want the two of you to stay back." Halfy nodded again within an instant, standing from her position next to Chrysalis and taking a few steps back. Nightmare Moon, however, seemed more hesitant, sharing a glance with me before, though reluctantly, she shook her head as well, following shortly after Halfy.

"Finally... Three..." As I said this, I gave a glance to Chrysalis, blood starting to rush to my cheeks as I once again mentally went over what I was about to do. "If Zecora asks about this, try to help me limit the amount of teasing she does."

The two looked to me oddly, obviously unsure as to what I meant, but they nodded nonetheless, giving me the final signal that I needed. Taking in a breath, and gulping down my nervousness, I carefully reached for Chrysalis' head, gripping it carefully and pulling it's weight upwards.

I struggled slightly, but eventually, I got her to eye level with me, myself looking at her closed, sickly eyes and letting out a mental sigh...

If this works... You so owe me for this.

And with that, I clenched my eyes shut, and mashed our lips together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... Huh? Ugh. Did I doze off again?

... I feel... Empresses, I feel awful.

It's... Cold... My stomach hurts... A lot...

It feels as though I'm eating myself inside out... I want to move... To scream out my discomfort... But I can't...

This is... Wrong... I'm a queen for... For goodness sake... I can't... Show such weakness... But... I feel so tired... And this darkness... Is so comforting...

Maybe... Maybe I'll just... Get some more sleep...

...

... Eh? What's... What's that feeling?

It's... Faint but... It's so warm... And... Delicious...

I could feel it... It's getting warmer, and more radiant, every second...

I recognize this taste, though barely... Love... But... How?

Heh, I suppose it doesn't matter, does it? It just tastes... Soooooo good~

I can already feel my strength returning. Even more than before, in fact. Just... Just... Please keep going...

As I felt the warm, flowing energy of love fill my body, I shuddered, my muscles starting to respond to me again, along with more, and more parts of my body. Eventually, I started to feel again... More importantly, I could feel the love I was absorbing.

It was so pure, and clean. Not like the lust that I would often have gotten mixed in with that of stallions, or, on occasion, mares, but pure love. The kind a pony gives a cared one, or even a close personal belonging.

I could start to feel emotion around me once more, and it felt phenominal to say the least. I could sense three beings around me. Two of them displayed large amounts of shock, surprise, and, oddly enough, a small tinge of jealousy from one. The other... I couldn't really read its emotions. They were all jumbled up, as if a foal had attempted to draw for the first time...

The warmth from before... It was starting to centralize in front of me... My power was growing, greatly, and I was more than happy to receive it. It was at this point though, that I realized that my eyes were still closed... As much as I wanted to focus on this amazing sensation, and nothing more but it, I found myself wanting to see where it was coming from... So... Letting out a small, almost undetectable breath through my nose, since my mouth would not seem to respond to command, I slowly began to open my eyes...

And... I... Is that... What the-?!?!!!?

My eyes widened as I caught sight of the human, Jeremy, from an extremely close range. His face was no more than centimeters from mine, his eyes clenched shut and a large shade of red spread throughout his entire face. Something more was happening though. Something that, despite my best attempts to make myself think would be otherwise, I knew was occurring.

His hands were holding onto my head, carefully keeping me up as I felt a warmth against my lips... His!

Without even a second thought, I felt my eyes narrow as a strong amount of magic flowed to my horn, surrounding him and, within seconds, pushing him away from me, and to the ceiling! He let out a grunt as I did this, both from surprise and from the impact as I stood myself from my laid down position on the floor, desperately trying to wipe my mouth off with my hoof, spitting out whatever remnants of him were there.

"What are you doing!?!" I exclaimed, narrowing my eyes as I looked up to him, absolutely furious as to what he had done.

"Oh... You know... Saving your life... Being painfully crushed into a ceiling... Prioritize whichever you like..." Narrowing my eyes even further, I let out a growl as I eased on the force I used behind my magic, Jeremy quickly letting out a sigh as I did so. "Thanks." He said, opening his eyes as he looked down to me. "Now, if we could just- Nightmare Moon, I said 'no matter what'!" He suddenly exclaimed.

Raising a brow at this, I suddenly became aware of the protective sense of anger behind me, turning my head as I quickly caught sight of a narrow eyes shadow alicorn, her horn glowing eerily, threateningly, as she pointed it towards me; Her wings flared out intimidatingly. "Sir Jeremy, she is harming you! We cannot allow for this to-"

"She just woke up to an... Awkward situation, Nightmare Moon. Just... Let me explain this to her, and everything will be fine." Nightmare Moon continued her display for a short while longer, her mental conflict being clear to me before, with a sigh, she dropped her stance, a sense of bitterness about her. The other mare, Halfy, was just looking on with concern now, a sense of relief to her as well though.

Turning back to Jeremy, I sat myself down, still not yet allowing him to the ground as I glared to him. "... This had better be good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... And that's what happened." As I finished explaining this to her, the red that had long been on my face now finally fading, along with the faint shade that had been on hers, she looked to me silently, not seeming to know what to say as she instead just kept me stapled to the ceiling, her jagged horn glowing a green and black magical energy.

It was a little bitter-sweet to see the she had her magic back, along with, what I could only assumed, would likely be her other abilities. For instance, having her magic back? Good. Figuring that out by using it in me? Not so good. Being able to sense emotions and lies again? Both good, and bad... Mostly bad for me though. Heck, even the cracks in her exoskeleton had started to close up.

"... So, you gonna let me down, or..." I trailed off here, Chrysalis looking to me with narrowed eyes as I said this.

"So you weren't doing that because of how 'helpless' I was?" She asked, myself having to carefully think that one through.

"Uh... Yes and no?" She let out a growl at this. "Ugh, Chrysalis, I was only doing it so I could help you, I swear! Hell, you should get that I'm telling the truth by now! You can check if you want!" Chrysalis continued to keep me where I was, glaring at me for another moment before, with a groan, she lowered me back down... And by that I mean she floated me over the couch and let me fall.

Before I could even land though, I felt one magical grip be released from me, before I was then held by another, this time being lowered slowly to the ground, until I managed to get to my feet. Glancing around the room, I noticed that Nightmare Moon's horn was glowing, giving her a thankful nod, to which she responded with a curt nod of her own.

"Let me make this clear to you..." Flinching as turned Chrysalis' voice, and meeting with her face only a few inches away from me, especially after it had been much closer, I leaned myself back slightly to gain some distance from her. "Don't ever do something like that, without my permission, again! Otherwise, there will be an issue. Understood?"

Well, so much for a thank you. But, hey, at least she's alright... Wait...

"Without your permission? The hell does that mea-"

"It means that, despite my disgust, I did still manage to feed once again. And, to put it frankly, there is no way I am going to starve myself from it again." My jaw dropped as I slowly realized what she was said, a warmth coming to my face as I noticed both Nightmare Moon and Halfy looking in similar surprise.

"So... So basically... I'm... Going to have to feed you from now on... Really?"

"Oh, so the human has a brain after all." She said sarcastically, drawing a glare from me. "Also, I've got a lot of catching up to do in our arguments. Especially now that I have most my strength back. So, don't expect it to be easy anymore."

... Okay... That I was actually fine with. A smirk coming to my face as she said this, turning herself around and walking back to the center of the room, I crossed my arms and chuckled, trying to follow after her.

"Oh, believe me, its o-" My eyes widened as everything in me just... Shut down for a moment. I stumbled, barely able to catch myself before, out of a sudden, and extremely powerful dizzy spell that came like a punch to the face, I kneeled on the ground, my breath suddenly shallow and my mind feeling misty.

"Sir Jeremy!" Nightmare Moon called out as she made her way next to me, her hooves clopping against the floor as she did so. I felt one of her forehooves place itself on my back as she sat herself down next to me, her other in front of me as she helped me keep balance.

Halfy came soon after, looking to me from in front of me, her eye full of concerns. "A-are you okay?" She asked. I gave a small nod, just barely managing to give an answer through my labored pants.

"Y-yeah... Just... Tired for some... Reason." Through my breaths, and the loud sound of my heart beating against my ears, I heard Chrysalis hum as she looked to me.

"Well, what did you expect. Absorbing one's love isn't exactly pleasant for those who it's used on." I noticed Nightmare Moon move her gaze to Chrysalis, giving her a sharp glare. "Oh relax. He'll be fine in a few short moments. Until then... Why don't you clean the floor while you're down there?"

Chuckling, I looked up to her with a smirk. "Sure... Just as soon as you... Clean up the mess you left behind on the couch..." Her eyes narrowed as I said this, herself seeming rather annoyed. "And I'd get to it too... I think those berries are starting to go bad... Heh"

Yeesh, now I know what it was like for Chrysalis to argue with me like this. I feel like crap... Huh... If I'm really this tired, then how come my heart's beating so fast?

Chapter 17: Taking Fault Where Fault Is Due

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It was, by my guess, a little bit over an hour before I was finally able to take normal breaths again, let alone before I could actually stand, which took another ten minutes. That drain of Chrysalis' meant business, to say the least. I had known what I'd been getting myself into when I did what I did, but damn if I couldn't use a break afterwards.

Even when I had been able to stand myself back up and tell everypony that I was okay, Nightmare Moon had, without a word, enveloped me in her magic. She lifted me from the ground, which I helplessly flailed and spoke against, before she then moved me over to the couch, seating me next to Chrysalis... With a noticeable distance between the two of us.

Chrysalis, naturally, groaned at my sudden sitting where I was, but other than that, she didn't really complain too much.

Halfy, who had offered to stay down here and help in any way that she could, was now back upstairs, having been urged by Nightmare Moon and I to get her necessary rest. Then, not long after the sound of Halfy's bedroom door closing reached the three of us, Nightmare Moon spoke up out of the blue. 'She was going to get some air', she had said. What was really weird about this though, was the fact that her voice sounded so... Blank. I couldn't read her... At all.

Despite this though, and with an unsure sense about me, I told her to be careful either way. She sent a curt nod in my direction, only momentarily giving me a small glance, before, with a breath, she made her way outside.

As the door closed slowly, creakily, behind her, I gave out a sigh; I was alone in the same room with somepony who loathed me, and that I had just kissed... This was going to be very awkward .

"..."

"... So-"

"We aren't talking about it."

"Okay, thank god!" Not much of a talk, I know, but its better than nothing. Besides, the less that she, and I, mention that kiss until her next 'feeding' the better... When is that anyways? I almost outright groaned as I realized how unaware of this fact I was.

"Ugh... Actually, as much as I would like to leave that whole thing behind, I still have to ask. How long until we need to do... That, again?" Glancing over to her, a shade of red firmly on my face from the topic, I noticed her looking to me with a face that absolutely screamed 'really?' Before I could grow to regret my decision to ask her though, she let out a short, almost reluctant, sigh.

"The love that I drained from you should be able to last me for some time. A few days, at the most." Oh... Good to know. "... Though..." Fuck.

As she spoke up again, I felt another mental groan escape me as I completely turned myself to her, a sudden sense of nervousness to me as I wondered what she could possibly have to say.

Immediately after, her horn began to glow it's eerie green aura, a smirk creating itself from her muzzle in response. Along with that, I heard a familiar sound come from above me. The same that I often heard whenever Nightmare Moon would-... Ah crap.

Giving out a sigh, I loathingly accepted my fate, the sound of Chryalis' vengeful and smug chuckling being drowned out -- Quite literally -- by the sound of splashing water. It took all of a millisecond before my body reacted to the sound, and feeling, an involuntary gasp escaping me as I was suddenly soaked to the skin; My clothing, and the bandages over my torso, suddenly were heavy with freezing cold water.

"Since I still have so much to get back at you and Nightmare Moon for, I may need to be fed even sooner than that, if I want to keep my magic, and the like, going." Reaching for my hair, which was now stuck to my head from the sudden waterlogging it had received, I moved my hand downwards across my face, before then flicking off whatever moisture I had gathered with an annoyed groan.

"... Great." Rubbing some of the water out from my eyes, I made to turn towards her. "Anything else you'd like to try the- Jesus!" Having been suddenly met with the close up face of a timber wolf, I scrambled back on the couch in surprise, eventually tumbling off of it with a, admittedly comical, flail.

What with my face now firmly planted on the ground, along with the rest of my oddly positioned body, I was able to easily hear the boisterous laughter of Chrysalis as I quickly took a guess as to what had just happened.

Sure enough, as I picked myself up from the ground and looked to the couch, I caught sight of a chortling 'timber wolf'. I rolled my eyes.

"What was that for?" I asked. The wooden canine, in turn, quieted its laughter, turning to me and showing an expression of 'innocence'.

"Oh, I don't know, why don't you tell me." It was a little odd to see the wolf talking, let alone with Chrysalis' voice, but, hey, I guess that I should be used to this kind of thing by now. I'm in a world of talking ponies for christ's sake!

Raising a brow, I looked to Chrysalis questioningly, wondering if she was being serious or not. She seemed to notice this-- Who am I kidding, she could easily notice this, now that she was able to read emotions again. Her eyes took a serious turn, as she now, in her transformed state, began to give me a glare. She was serious.

I let out a breath as I crossed my arms, searching my mind for whatever it may have been that bothered her. As I did this, I could hear the dripping of water below me.

"... Riding on your back?" I guessed. She shook her head, her glare still unwavering. "When I pushed you off of the couch while you were unconscious?" Her eyes widened slightly at this, before again narrowing.

"When you wha-"

"Nothing!" It's obvious she's already ticked off at something else I did. I don't need to give her any more reasons. "... Alright, I give up. What?"

Her yellow, glowing, canine eyes rolling, she continued to glare at me as she stood herself up on the couch, her feet tamping almost menacingly beneath her as she started to approach me. Honestly, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't worried.

"Lets see... Oh! Maybe, it had to do with how you treated me last night!" She almost ended up shouting as she finished this statement, having just quieted herself as I assumed that she remembered the fact that Halfy was still sleeping just upstairs. As for me. I was a momentary loss of words.

"I-... You-... Wha-..."

"Oh don't pretend you don't remember! 'Chrysalis, so help me god, if that plate isn't empty by the time Nightmare Moon, Halfy, and I get back, I'll have Nightmare Moon shove it down your throat!' Those were your exact words!" As if to emphasize the point, when she had quoted what I had indeed said, her horn momentarily shined again, the sound of her voice gaining a striking resemblance to another... Mine.

"You should know better than to talk to me like that! You had, nor will you ever have, no right to treat me in such a way! Furthermore, I-"

"You're right..." I interupted, my gaze now focused on the flooring below me as a solemn tone overtook my voice. Chrysalis suddenly became silent, though I saw no reason as to why.

"... Pardon?" I gave out another sigh.

"You're. Right." I repeated, this time more firmly. "In every possible way... You're right..." Another moment of tense silence punctuated the small pause that I took. "... Look, Chrysalis, I'm sorry, okay? I know that I acted pretty badly last night, and I feel terrible about it, but its just..." I took in a heavy breath, my gaze still focused downwards. I couldn't force myself to look her in the eye. As to the reason, I wasn't sure. Maybe it was guilt. Or maybe I just didn't want to see what negativity lied beneath her irises... Either way, I fought against this invisible force that kept my head down.

"... I was worried. I was worried that something, like what I saw a short while ago, would happen, and I knew that you wouldn't listen to me so... And when you didn't wake up earlier tonight... Chrysalis, I have to say, I've never been so worried..." Taking in another stiff breath, I willed myself to do the one thing I wanted to at the moment. To look her in the eye. With what felt like a force strong enough to lift a planet, my neck practically creaked and moaned as I moved my sight upwards, meeting with Chrysalis' currently transformed eyes.

"... I know I can't really take back what happened... But I really am sorry."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... There was nothing but sincerity.

That was all Chrysalis could see as she silently watched Jeremy apologize to her. A solid, pure, and impenetrable aura of truth, and meaningfulness. Something that, to Chrysalis, seemed almost... Difficult, to comprehend.

She was mad at him, of course... But...

"... I know I can't really take back what happened... But I really am sorry." He did help her nonetheless. Maybe she was getting soft, she thought to herself. Whether this was the case or not, she couldn't help but let out a mental groan of exasperation as his eyes shifted up to hers. Were it not for the fact that it would show weakness, which she certainly didn't have any longer, she would have looked away from him as he did this.

"... You're lucky..." She finally said, breaking the momentary silence and drawing a raised brow from the human before her. "In any other regard, I would likely hold a grudge, especially over what you had done... But, considering the fact that you did play a part in returning my powers to me... I suppose I'll forgive you." An air of honest surprise came about Jeremy, as could be seen by Chrysalis, at this. He was not expecting the former changeling queen to have been so indulgent. After all, it wasn't particularly a regular part of her personality... Or at least, the personality that she showed.

"... Really?... Huh... Well, that's great, I guess..." He was still wary, the slight concern that this may still be a trick that led off into another of Chrysalis' forms of payback at the back of him mind.

She rolled her eyes as she sensed this caution of his. "You know, this actually is one of the few times that I'm not thinking of claiming my recompense from you... As for Nightmare Moon though... She still has to watch her back."

Finally, a smile came to Jeremy's face, followed shortly by a chuckle and a joking shake of his head. "Noted." Grabbing hold of the edge of the couch, Chrysalis silently moved herself over to the side, allowing Jeremy enough space to seat himself.

"Though, if you're going to do that, you may want to start by changing yourself out of that form before Nightmare Moon comes back. Otherwise, you're gonna end up being firewood." What slightly surprised Jeremy then, was that, for what seemed like the first time, she outright laughed at his joke. Not a withheld chuckle, or a sarcastic chortle, but an actual laugh.

One that, in the end, he ended up joining her in.

Chapter 18: A Friend's Troubles

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It was odd how Chrysalis had so easily forgiven me, and seemed to gain a more positive attitude afterwards, but I wasn't really going to complain. I suppose that I can never really tell with her. Sometimes--Most of the time--she would be in a relatively bad mood, but, on the few occasions that she would have less of a negative attitude, it would always be pleasant. Very pleasant... Huh... Why did I add the emphasis...?

Meh, I guess it doesn't really matter. Besides, something I'm more focused on at the moment, aside from the currently good-natured Chrysalis, was the seemingly opposite Nightmare Moon, who had come back from her time outside a few short moments ago.

For some reason though, she still seemed... Blank. When she came back inside, she barely offered me even a glance, from which I saw another illegible glint in her eyes. As for Chrysalis... Well, not even a glance was given to her direction.

Nightmare Moon sat down further than usual from the couch, this time choosing to seek out one of the corners of the room, before laying herself down and quietly bringing her eyes to a close, save for a single sigh that escaped her.

Chrysalis and I were... Curious, to say the least. Well, really, it was more concerned for me. Very much so, at that. This night has been crazy enough, what with Chrysalis' accident and previously angry mood. This would only add to it. More stress that would need to be resolved... It felt a little like I was letting the air out of an overfilled balloon, lowering the chances of it's popping further and further. The issue with this, however, was the pointed needle that balanced precariously above it, waiting for me to slip.

"...Chrysalis? You there?" A small--Actually it was pretty big--part of me was praying to whatever force was watching over me that Nightmare Moon wasn't overhearing the mental message I attempted to send; She was the one who made this link between the three of us in the first place, after all, and I wasn't particularly sure of its functions and limitations; Wether I could speak strictly with one of the two or not.

"Before you say anything, let me take a guess... This is about the shadow alicorn, isn't it?" Her mental tone was both knowing, and exasperated, which made the small sense of victory I felt for having pulled off a private mental link slightly bitter, but still not too much so.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked, glancing to her with a raised brow. She looked to me similarly.

"Think of it like this. I didn't even need to read your emotions to see your concern; Which, by the way, you're oozing." Well, that's good to know... Not really. I gave a mental sigh as I rubbed my face, ending it with an almost emphasizing pinch of the bridge of my nose. I know that it's impossible for me to hide my emotions from Chrysalis, but I should really at least learn to do so physically.

"Can you blame me? This isn't like her... Though, I guess I can't say she hasn't acted like this before." I recalled some of the more recent times that she had gained a blank tone and expression to her, similar to this one, like when we were going to wake up Chrysalis. I had pushed this matter aside, considering her business to simply be just that, her business, but now, I'm starting to regret it.

"Oh? You don't say?" I rose a mental brow at this remark of Chrysalis, which was oddly enough, a little hard for me to make out in it's tone.

"... Are you being sarcastic, or are you-"

"A little bit of both." She quickly answered, not even allowing me to finish my mental question. My brow rose even higher at this.

"ohhh...kay?" I was honestly unsure of what to make of this.

"... You know, I have to ask, you're extremely ignorant, aren't you?" I was even less sure of what she meant with this one, let alone a little annoyed. It took me a moment to say anything more, myself trying to come up with the right words.

"... I... Don't know?" Obviously, I couldn't come up with anything. Way to go, Jeremy. Way, to, go.

Chrysalis sent me a vivid image of her slamming her hoof into her face, causing me to purse my lips. Seriously though, what the hell was she talking about?

"... Alright... I'll make this simple for you... From what I read from her emotions, though I doubt anypony would even need to
do that, she-" No! No! Not listening!

"Dont!" I quickly stopped her there, drawing a confused gaze from her, and a partially accompanying glare from having interrupted her. "Look, I appreciate the gesture, but please don't tell me about another pony's emotions or thoughts. I find that to be a little... Invasive. No offense, of course." She looked to me irritatedly, yet, surprisingly as well, she also seemed understanding of my reasoning. For her, she was born with, and raised, with the ability to read a person's emotion and the like, so she's used to seeing everyone's mind as if it were an open book. For me though, it's much more different. To suddenly have a sort of... Cipher, to this sort of thing... It just felt wrong.

That is to say, I would not want to stifle Chrysalis' abilities because of this, but I simply would not like to use them in everyday circumstances. Sometimes, a person lies, or keeps a secret, for good reason. I know I do... I digress.

"... I'll pretend I didn't hear that last part... But fine, I'll keep the emotion reading to myself, until it's needed." I gave her a thankful nod as I put my gaze forward, quickly catching sight of, and focusing on, the still impassive Nightmare Moon. Another surge of concern, which I was certain that Chrysalis had seen, went through me as I let out a silent sigh.

"... Maybe I should talk to her." I said after a moment of quiet. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try, right?" Turning to Chrysalis, I expected some sort of answer to my question, be it honest, or even snide. Instead, however, I was met with a sleeping Chrysalis... And by that, I meant that she was obviously pretending, as one could see from her forced breaths, and a peek she took through a crack in her eyelids. I gave out a small groan as I quickly saw through this immature farce. "Gee, thanks." I remarked sarcastically, giving her a quick roll of my eyes as she shrugged her shoulders slightly, a small smug smile on her face.

Returning my gaze to Nightmare Moon, I stood myself from the couch with a small grunt, the bandages that were still around my body shifting slightly as I did so, but thankfully not yet coming undone.

I took in a breath as I gave one last glance to Chrysalis, who closed her eyes and resumed her fake slumber, much to my chagrin, the moment I did so. I could think up several words for her at the moment, but, I needed my mind clear from that sort of thing for now.

After a few short steps, which somehow felt as though I were walking down a long, ever-growing hall, I found myself to be in front of the prone Nightmare Moon.

I looked down to the alicorn, crossing my arms and slightly leaning forward as I did so. She seemed to notice, her previously closed eyes opening and slowly moving their gaze up to me, before then turning away.

Again, I tried to open a mental link, this time with Nightmare Moon, as she continued to keep her sight away from me. "Nightmare Moon? You there?" I tentatively asked.

Now, one would wonder why I was using the mental link, rather than actually talking to her. Two reasons; One being that Halfy was still sleeping, and I didn't want to risk waking her again, and the other, more important reason, being that I felt this had need of being private. Not just a preference, or want, but an absolute need. Maybe I am over-thinking things, but I just can't help but to feel about this in such a way.

A stressful silence filled my mind, along with the now blurring background, as she continued to look away. Finally though, much to my unspoken thankfulness...

"...Yes, Sir Jeremy, we are here." That answer was less than optimal compared to what I was hoping for, but at least it was something. Nonetheless, her continued blank tone nearly brought out a flinch from me. I decided that I'd try to get on he level, both figuratively, and literally.

As I sat myself down in front of her, crossing my legs and unconsciously noticing the difference in size between us again, I held back a sigh as I tried to meet her gaze. "Nightmare Moon... Would you please look at me?" She silently resented, her body shifting as, at the mention of my request, she seemed to become even more closed off, tucking herself closer to her center. This was, of course, displeasing, but I continued on. "Come on Nightmare Moon. It's obvious something's bothering you, and I want to help. To do that though, I at least need your attention." There was still no other reaction or semblance of a response from her. "... I'm not leaving until you feel better."

In my attempts to gain her attention, and through an odd yearning in the back of my mind, I raised my hand to her, moving it over to her head and simply placing it down. I didn't mind, nor struggle, as her mane seemed to muddle around where my hand was, near her horn, and began to take hold of me; It was a much more gentle, and almost fragile grasp.

Nightmare Moon's eyes seemed to lower for a moment or two, seemingly without her volition, before they closed themselves, and her head moved into my touch. It was another second or two of this silent, though not displeasurable, contact between the two of us before I heard her give out a sigh, her eyes opening and, graciously, moving to me.

I offered a small smile, but only for a moment or two, hoping to slightly ease the obviously tense mood. Her own lips shifted at this, seemingly at her own halfhearted attempt at returning the gesture, though it was only by a scant few millimeters, and it barely lasted long enough to be noticed.

"There. Isn't that better?" Of course, I wasn't necessarily expecting a response to that, and I didn't receive one. I pushed myself to get to the topic at hand, rather than even trying to 'beat around the bush'. "Now, I'm not going to lie here Nightmare Moon, or even slightly sugarcoat it. I'm worried about you. A lot. And I want to know what has you acting like this." I told her in earnest.

"... We've... No idea what ye are referring towards, Sir Jeremy." If she expected me to believe that... I pursed my lips as she sent this mental message, an exasperating sigh struggling to escape me, though only barely withheld and withered.

"..." I looked to her in a mix of skepticism and plead, the expression on my face making it clear that I didn't believe her, and the I really wanted to help. Both she, and her mane, which tightened it's grip by a small amount, reacted to this. She gave out a sigh as she then reluctantly responded again.

"... How have ye said... 'It is personal'?" As she forced out this statement, looking to me for confirmation of her difficulty riddled pronunciation, I felt my inner self flinch yet again, though this one was much worse in it's degree than it's predecessor.

The fact that she used something that I had said when I was down... It stung, to say the least, even if she didn't mean for it to. Still, I guess that's a bit of delayed karma, and understandable reasoning behind her statement.

I can't really force her to talk about something she doesn't want to, just as she wasn't able to do to me. I wouldn't push the matter, though I would hope that she wouldn't stay in such a mood.

"... Alright. Just... Cheer up a little, okay? I don't like seeing you like this." Though it wasn't much, she did give me a nod...

As I made to remove my hand from her, and to return to my earlier seating on the couch as to give her some time, she suddenly spoke up again, bringing my actions to a quickened stop.

"Sir Jeremy?" She had suddenly said, causing me to raise a questioning brow as I then responded with a mental hum. "... Forgive us for asking this, but... For what reason did ye commit your actions from earlier?" I was... Confused by this. Had... Had I somehow caused this with something that I had unknowingly done to her? If so... Then I've got another apology to give.

"What do you mean?" I asked, hoping for some sort of clarification, and the like. She answered quickly after.

"When the changeling and you..." She trailed off here as I imagined a vague hoof gesture of hers, and rightfully so, as a hint of red came to my cheeks, and my eyes slightly widened.

"Er... Uh... Nightmare Moon, I did that because she was-"

"Ye misinterpret what we are attempting to relay." I did? Well, crap. Chalk that up to a list of thing I've done wrong, I suppose. But, at least I know, for the most part, that her mood has nothing to do with me causing it... Right? "What we are attempting to say is... How are ye able to commit such an act so easily, if she is not your lover?" Again, I wasn't sure if this was the cause or not.

"I... Just... Did...?" Yeah, that's a brilliant response. Especially considering the fact that she's now looking at me with what looked like disappointment... God, I'm an idiot. "Nightmare Moon, I did what I did because Chrysalis is my friend. I was hesitant at first, but that's only because I think of her with a lot of respect, and I didn't want to insult her by... Doing that." She seemed perplexed by this.

"How wouldst such a thing be an 'insult'?" Was she...? No, no, Im reading to much into it. She probably just meant how helping someone could be considered a bad thing, or something like that.

"Its... Hard to explain. Nonetheless, like I had said, I did what I did because she is a friend, and I wanted to help her, just as I would do for you." As I had told her this, my eyes had wandered a bit, glancing to the momentary subject of our talk, before then looking back to her, and seeing her slightly widened eyes and red face in confusion. I was unsure as to why before I then quickly what I had just implied. "Uh... Er... T-that is to say, that- Um... Eh-"

Before I could go on any further, thankfully, I was stopped as Nightmare Moon gave out a soft giggle, quickly drawing my attention to her. The giggle was more mental than physical, as she heard her mouth partially covered with a hoof, but the smile I could see was completely there, in both regards.

"We understand, Sir Jeremy, and we greatly appreciate your intention... In both regards." That last part was a little unclear to me, but it was still very much a good thing to hear. I smiled just as she did, only barely giving notice to the snicker of Chrysalis behind me, and the sound of coming hoofsteps from the stairway... That's right... The night was barely started.

Author's Notes:

Another short, but meaningful, chapter... Yup.

Now, while I do prefer to put things together in a more continuos and free flowing chapter/story, there always comes a point in a story where its actually necessary to change pace by a bit.

These past two were those such chapters.

The next coming chapter will be longer than the two combined, I can assure you that, because we'll be in for another major point in these three's, or four, as it were, lives, which will lead to a series of others. The dominoes have been set people! Now... We just need that push.

(Also, sorry if the constant italic using bothered you. I felt that the mental link would be a good form of addressing this sort of situation. And besides, they can't really talk anywhere in private here, aside from outside, could they?)

Chapter 19: Change And Weakness Go Hand In Hand

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"Sleep well, Sir Jeremy." Nightmare Moon told her friend, wishing him a good rest as he opened the stairway door. He glanced back at the three behind him for a short moment, giving them a small and friendly smile as he nonchalantly waved to them, before then disappearing from their sight as he closed the door.

To him, and the others, it had been a relatively tiring night, what with all the excitement that had transpired earlier into it. The rest of the time they had spent awake had seemed to be nothing more than a dull passing of the hours, occasionally filled with short, but pleasant, conversations.

They had all but forgotten, at least, by what one could tell, of the earlier events that had transpired. The kiss, the grudges, the apologies; All of which had now seemed to be water under the bridge, as it were.

The moment that Jeremy had begun to feel tired though, he had decided that was that, and excused himself to bed. Now, Halfy, Nightmare Moon, and Chrysalis, who were much less exhausted than their fourth, were left alone, with no form of interaction other than with one another.

Considering the fact that, often, it was Jeremy that would bring about friendlier, or at least more tolerant, conversation with each other for them though, this proved to make things... Slightly more difficult.

After all, Nightmare Moon still wanted to involve herself in little to no way with Chrysalis, and vice versa, while Halfy, who the two admittedly held no quarrel with at this point, was often far too timid to begin conversation herself.

This, of course, led to a rather uncomfortable situation between the three, as it had occasionally done in the nights prior, as they sat or laid in their respective areas of the living room, occasionally glancing to one another in shared silence.

"..."

"... Well, this certainly never gets anymore boring." Chrysalis commented, rolling her eyes as she stretched out one of her hind legs with a grunt.

Nightmare Moon did not respond to her, instead just looking to her with an already irritated glint in her eyes before then looking away again. As for Halfy, she gave a small, though silenced, chuckle at this comment, mentally agreeing with the statement, to an extent.

"If thou art so very inconvenienced by thy current lack of activity, why not simply make use of our host's available literature?" Nightmare Moon half asked, half sneered, to the changeling, pointing towards the bookshelf that sat against the wall of the room with a barely raised forehoof.

Chrysalis gave a short growl at the alicorn, her teeth grinding slightly as she held back a comment that struggled to escape her. Truthfully, were it not for the fact that she had told Jeremy that she would not do so, Chrysalis would have brought up the book that he had found in their earlier days here, mentioning the 'evil' that was Nightmare Moon... Though, at this, she did end up wondering why she even cared to keep her word on this for him. She had broken such 'promises' before, after all.

"As tempting as that is," she instead began snidely, "I'd rather just lay here for a while." Nightmare Moon audibly chuckled at this, drawing a questioning, almost scornful, look from Chrysalis.

"As usual, mayhaps? Verily, we must wonder as to why thou art returned thine energy and strength if thou then dost not make use of it. A simple walk, even, would suffice for thine currently 'immobile' self's loss of gluttony... If only slight." Though Chrysalis understood her relatively easily, having lived for quite a span of time herself, she had, for a moment, almost thought of her to be calling her fat, despite her thin disposition. She quickly realized that she had simply meant to call her lazy though... Which only continued in it's annoyance of her.

"Magic and energy or not, I'd prefer not to walk out there, alone, during the night. In case you've forgotten with that precursor mindset of yours, we're still in the Everfree forest." Rather than take her seriously, Nightmare Moon once again rolled her eyes.

"Yes. Of course. 'Tis the more likely of reasonings." Though Chrysalis was unable to read her emotion or lies, due to the mental barrier she had put up again, shortly after having realized that Chrsyalis had her powers back, she could easily detect the sarcasm in her voice. This drew even more contempt from her, as a more challenging tone of voice arose from her.

"Alright, fine. Halfy." As she called out the mare's name, which rolled of her tongue oddly, having never before said it herself, the earth pony's eye momentarily widened, as she quickly turned her head to the changeling. This had been the first time that she had directly interacted with her.

"Y-yes?" She asked, her ears raising in sudden attention.

"I'm going to need you to wake Nightmare Moon, Jeremy, and I up earlier. At least a little before the sun sets. The sooner that I can prove this alicorn wrong, the better." She said in a decisive, and commanding tone, even though the scene only drew a withheld laugh from Nightmare Moon. To see Chrysalis take such a comment to heart like this, despite her ability to take much more from Jeremy during their arguments, and to obtain such a competitive manner; It was both uncharacteristic, and comical at the same time.

Despite this, however, Nightmare Moon did see an issue with this. A rather large one, at that... At least, in her opinion.

"Pray tell, for what reason must thou include Sir Jeremy and we in this foolish insistence of thine? Surely, neither of us have any interest of awaking during the active day, if even during it's fading." Though Nightmare Moon was amused by Chrysalis' behavior, she really did not feel the need to be awoken during her 'sister's' day, in any way, shape, or form. Not when the night continued to provide her strength, and display her efforts for the land to see.

"Easy. You, because that way I can prove it to you, and Jeremy because, considering how him and you often share a mindset, I want to make sure he doesn't call me lazy either." Nightmare Moon scoffed at this.

"Thou art tardy in that regard." She said under her breath, which, though Chrysalis did not clearly hear, still drew a narrow of her eyes from her.

"... Like I said, a little before sunset." She finally said, as she turned her attention back to Halfy. The mare, however, pursed her lips slightly, shuffling her hooves nervously below her. Chrysalis could feel the slight anxiety coming from her, and almost rolled her eyes at her apparent timidity, or whatever it was. "What is it?" She asked with an exasperated sigh.

"W-well... It's just... I can wake you two up I'd you like, but I'm not sure about Jeremy. He seems to really like waking up at night, and, I don't want to be a bother..." As she said this, she distinctly remembered the first time that she had woken him up. How he had asked her, in an almost nervous voice, if it really was the night or otherwise.

Chrysalis, however, rubbed her hoof against her face at this, a growing sense of frustration building.

"Ugh... I'll do it myself then. Just wake Nightmare Moon and-"

"We still do not wish to be awakened due to thy stubborn-"

"WAKE Nightmare Moon and I," she interrupted forcefully, attempting to get her point across with some irritance, "and I'll deal with rest."

Halfy debated this choice for a moment, a sense of slight conflict coming about her as she had to choose between the preference of Chrysalis, or that of Jeremy. In the end though, as convinced by one more glare from the former monarch of changelings, Halfy gave out a sigh.

"... O-okay." She responded, drawing a nod from Chrysalis.

"Good." Chrysalis turned her head to Nightmare Moon with a seemingly triumphant and smug smile, which earned her a short glare in return. "Now, have anything else you'd like to sa-"

Almost upon reflexive impulse, Nightmare Moons horn glowed as she once again attempted her, now favorite, trick, creating a filled glass of water above Chrysalis before them quickly turning it over. This time though, Chrysalis did not even flinch, her smile continuing as her own horn glowed in response, and the water stopped itself mid-fall, before them flowing down an invisible 'umbrella' of magic she had created.

"Not this time." She said with a chuckle, drawing an even deeper glare from Nightmare Moon.

It would seem as though she would need to think of something else now.

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The birds sang in their bliss as the morning sun shined high above their heads, providing them with the warmth and light they needed to begin their days.

Ponies began to awake from their sleep, ranging from the more happy-go-lucky morning ponies, to those who would grumble grumpily, asking for a few more minutes of rest.

Clouds, which had flown over from the unmanageable Everfree, dotted the sky, seeming to only add to the morning atmosphere. A pair of particularly early risers groaned and stretched as they gazed upon the new sky, sighing as they took in a breath of fresh air... Before, just as quickly, raising their brows in surprise, as one of these clouds was suddenly plowed through, leaving an odd shape in the sky.

The figure that had plowed through these figments of Everfree weather gave out a yawn through her seemingly creaking maw, her eyes slightly drooped from her recent flight.

After having left Canterlot, she had flown nonstop over to Ponyville, making it well into the night, and morning, as she passed over the home of one of her former friends... And arch-enemies. Of the pink variety, at that.

She didn't particularly like to even come close to this place, honestly, considering some of the bad memories that would spring up whenever she did, but it was the only way to get to that zebra's house in the forest.

Shaking her head, and ignoring her growling stomach, she pushed through her exhaustion as she came up on the edge of the only remotely exciting thing that this town had to offer.

With a growing grin, she quickly brought herself in for a landing, the ground tamping lightly below her as she did so, and her wings folding themselves against her back.

They felt slightly sore, but in a good way. The kind of soreness that one would feel after a lot of exercise.

Moving her neck left and right, she allowed for it to give out two loud cracks as she began to now walk into the forest, working off of memory at this point.

"Okay... So, first, I have to take a left at the split tree... Or was it a right...? Hm. So this is why Jeremy would agree to meet me outside the forest whenever I came by."

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Another day of raising the sun. Another day of monarchal duties. And, more importantly, another day of seeking out the three escaped prisoners.

This was what was heavy on Princess Celestia's mind as she ate her breakfast, occasionally sipping from her nearby cup of tea, or wiping off her muzzle, as she went on.

To her, it had now been far too long since they last had any leads. No news from the guards. No recent sightings. Simply nothing.

The princess of the day gave out a silent sigh as she magically raised a small sweet up to her maw, taking measured a bite from it before following it with another sip of tea, and a wipe of her napkin.

Even more frustratingly, Discord was acting very snidely recently. Celestia just knew that somehow, someway, he had something to do with this. The issue, however, was that she didn't have any proof of this, nor would Discord likely ever confess to such a thing.

Another bite from her sweet, a sip of her tea, and a wipe of her napkin.

The stress was starting to get to her, really. Between hunting these dangerous beings down, while also keeping it hushed among the kingdom, her energy was beginning to wear.

Bite, drink, wipe.

She could keep her controlled and neutral persona when needed, but eventually, she would need a rest. A time without concern, if possible. Oh, how she longed for this to come sooner.

Bite. Drink. Wi-

In the midst of performing her last usual step of the sort of routine she had inadvertently built, the doors to the dining room slowly opened, a familiar, blue aura of magical energy surrounding it. Turning her head to the door, Celestia was met by the tired figure that was her younger sister, Princess Luna.

She could imagine why, as well. Having recently brought down her moon, and usually sleeping during the day, so as to better watch over the night, Luna was often seen in this state during the mornings, as she would come to the dining room for a Pre-bed snack, of sorts.

No sooner than she had placed herself at the table, a soft yawn escaping her, several castle servants began to move about, preparing her a usual serving of moon cakes and warm milk.

"Good morning, sister." Celestia greeted, offering a kind smile to her younger sibling. Luna replied with a tired murmur, unable to truly create any words in her state. Celestia giggled at this, playfully rolling her eyes at her sister's ever-so-familiar behavior. "How was your rule tonight, if I may ask?" Celestia inquired, as a plate that held two individual slices of moon cake was placed before the princess of the night, followed by a glass of milk, and a pair of utensils.

"It was fine, for the most part. A few nightmares here and there, but nothing I could not handle." She replied as she enveloped her fork in her own aura, moving it over to her early morning sweet and taking out a large mouthful, before bringing it to her maw.

A couple of spare crumbs fell from her utensil onto the plate, as she stuffed her mouth with her beloved snack, a smile coming to her face as she did so.

"That is good news." She said, floating her own dessert to her maw and preparing to take a bite... Before then pulling away for a moment. "... Did... You happen to see-"

Before Celestia could finish her question, Luna already was beginning to shake her head. She, though this was requested as a favor of her worried sister, had been recently searching through the several dreams of the ponies in the past few nights, trying to find those of the escaped prisoners in an attempt to learn where they were hiding.

The results of this were... Less than promising, however. Try as she might, Princess Luna was unable to find the dreams of the three during her nightly rule. She had thought that, perhaps, a sort of spell had been cast by her dark doppelgänger, or even the changeling monarch. This theory, however, was quickly pushed aside as she realized that she would have been able to sense this magic, and even track it.

Celestia gave out another sigh, momentarily breaking her accomplished monotony by taking an early sip of her tea.

"How is it that even my own sister can't find the two, especially during the night, when they're asleep and dreaming... Unless..." Celestia's eyes widened as a sense of realization dawned upon her, her cup and sweets momentarily being placed down as, with a clearing of her throat, she addressed her sibling once again.

"Luna?" She began, drawing a raised brow from her still tired sister. "... Perhaps... We have been approaching this the wrong way."

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"Alright, everypony! Eyes over here!" TopSuit called, his business partner and friend, EvenOut, stood next to him as he brought the attention of their employees towards him.

At the moment, all the workers and heads of Hooves And Elbow Grease stood outside of the currently refurbishing building, where it was currently much more quiet in volume. As their eyes were shifted to the founders of the company, what little conversation that they had made between one another being silenced, EvenOut and TopSuit gave two satisfied nods.

"Okay, good. Now, as you all may or may not know, our new company building is nearing it's completion. Which means, soon, we'll all have our offices, workstations, break rooms, all of that, back in no time!" The small crowd gave a cheer as TopSuit finished his statement, excitement clear in their voices and actions at the prospect of more efficiently being able to continue their business. EvenOut and TopSuit looked to one another with two short grins, before then returning their attention to their many employees.

"That's right," EvenOut added, "but, until then, it's business as usual everypony! Understood?" The ponies all gave out their loud murmurs of understanding and agreement. "Great! Now lets get going!" With a finishing clap of his hooves, the ponies all began to spread out once more, heading to their assigned areas and designations with pride.

EvenOut and TopSuit watched as this went on, satisfied smiles upon their muzzles as they looked on at the efficiency of their workers. Among these workers, a certain earth pony stallion quickly caught the two's attention, as they suddenly remembered an important assignment that they had tasked him with.

"Oh, FollowScene!" EvenOut called, the pony turning his head towards the two in response, before beginning to walk over to them. His red fur and yellow mane stood out among the other ponies, while his cutie mark, comprised of a hammer and what seemed like a thin roll of film, described his talent in a rather unusual form. Nonetheless, he was, despite his odd appearance, an altogether friendly pony, with quite the reputation in the company as well.

"Yes sir?" He returned, a smile on his face as he sat himself before his two employers.

"Just wanted to know how the progress on those schematics for Hardhat are going." FollowScene momentarily raised a brow at this.

"You mean, Mr. Tendhoof?" He asked, himself unknowing of the stallion's apparent nickname. The two nodded at this.

"Yes, Mr. Tendhoof." FollowScene's smile returned as his confusion was cleared, his ear momentarily twitching as he made to reply.

"I'm almost done, sirs. I just need to add a few finishing touches, and it'll be ready." The two nodded at his answer, turning themselves as they began to return into the building to oversee progress.

"All right then. Just don't try to take too long FollowScene. We're on a schedule, after all." The stallion once again nodded, calling out his response as they entered the company epicenter.

"You can count on me! I'm not one of the best here because I was just lazing around." The two chuckled at this as the doors closed behind them, leaving FollowScene, and another few ponies, outside to continue their work.

"... And certainly not because there's less competition."

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As she began her morning process of organizing her various potions, elixirs, and ingredients, Zecora could not help the yawn that escaped her. This morning, it seemed, was a tiresome one.

Nonetheless, she desperately needed to prepare. Apple Bloom, among her other two friends as well, was supposed to come and help her today, and, though she would never say this aloud, she would need to place the more... Fragile, of components and furniture in a safe location.

Apple Bloom and her two companions were dears, but they would occasionally have be prone to more... Accidental tendencies, every now and then.

As she placed a glass bottle of powdered tree root up on the top shelf, there was a knock at the door, which caused her to raise a questioning brow, as she turned to the source of the sound.

"Hmm. What an odd change of tune. What could Apple Bloom be doing here so soon?" She wondered curiously, lowering herself from the shelves as she then began to make her way towards the front door.

The knocking became slightly louder, and almost agressive, as she went on, causing a slight sense of confusion to go through her as she wondered as to why Apple Bloom was acting so impatiently.

Grabbing hold of the door handle, the zebra pulled open the entrance to her home, putting on a welcoming smile to greet her guest.

"Hello, you three. I was not expecting how early you would be-..." Within an instant, Zecora's smile was lost; Replaced by a face of exasperation as she realized who was before her.

"Oh... It is you... This is a fact that I wish that I knew." Zecora said blandly, rolling her eyes as the visitor before her put on a smug grin, and gave her a short wave.

"'Sup." She replied. Giving out a sigh as she rubbed her face with her hoof, Zecora grumbled for a moment or so.

"... Though I do prefer you to disappear, I must ask, what are you doing here?" She inquired, with barely a half sense of interest about her.

The visitor gave a chuckle, her tail swishing slightly behind her as she answered. "Oh, you know." Zecora skeptically raised a brow, showing the visitor that, as a matter of fact, she didn't. This time, the visitor gave out a sigh. "Ugh. Look, I've been traveling around for a while, and I needed a break. Figured I'd see an old friend... So, yeah, where's Jeremy?"

Though she didn't show it, favoring a face of her usual annoyance to her guest, Zecora felt a cringe of nervousness and anxiety go through her at the mention of Jeremy.

After all, he wasn't exactly in the sort of situation that would adhere a visit. Especially when it was from... Her. So, with a quick little fib, she attempted to trick her into leaving.

"To tell you that he is here, I cannot. After all, he is currently residing in Canterlot." Immediately after she said this, a scoff could be heard from the visitor, as she rolled her eyes at the statement.

"Yeah, right. I already checked there, genius." She said, Zecora pursing her lips, though raising a brow, as she said this. "But all I heard there was some dumb joke. That's kinda the reason I'm here."

Mentally cursing her luck, Zecora sighed yet again. "... A joke? What could matter of this that you spoke?" She asked, her visitor rolling her eyes in response.

"Heh. Believe it or not, some ponies there kept on saying that he was dead, or something like that. Dumb, isn't it?" At this, Zecora's eyes widened. A sense of disbelief overtook her as she heard this.

"Excuse me?! Who would make such a rumor be?!" She asked, utterly outraged. The guest before her just shrugged her shoulders, humming out an 'I don't know' in response. "To hear something such as this about Jeremy... Especially after so recently I did see-" Zecora quickly tried to pipe herself up as she realized what she had said, but, unfortunately, it was already too late.

"Aha! So you do know where he is!" Taking in a breath, Zecora gave out a near inaudible groan.

"... Of his location, I know, yes. But, this information, to you I will not egress."

"What?!? Why not?!?" Zecora rolled her eyes.

"Just as the year has it's seasons, I have my reasons." As the figure before her made to open her maw again, Zecora quickly stopped her. "Though I cannot make such a fact endear, I can at the very least offer for you to-" Zecora shuddered slightly at the rest of her statement, to she had not said it yet. "... Stay here."

She made a mental note to say that her friend would owe her for this. To offer kindness to someone she found to be obnoxious, badly influential, and a myriad of various other negative traits, if only to bore her long enough to leave... Oh how she would hate this.

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See, it's things like this that I can't really seem to enjoy anymore.

Just laying on a hillside, the wind gently blowing, and the grass calmly swaying, with the moon and stars shining placidly down upon me.

This was the life.

Especially considering the silence that bathed the area, and the sense of peace that I felt. It was just... Perfect.

With a sky so clear, and air so clean, it practically felt like nothing could bother me. In fact, it was almost like I was floating... Actually... It felt like I was floating... Wait... What the hell?

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A sudden short fall, along with a sharp, winding blow to my... Well, my my entire front side really, woke me up from my pleasant dream, an involuntary grunt and groan escaping me as my eyes shut themselves from the surge of discomfort.

I could feel my leg caught on something, keeping it upwards and making my position even more uncomfortable.

With another groan, I picked my head off of the wooden floor, doing my best to ignore the painful throbbing in my face as I turned it to look next to me.

The bed that I had been laying on, Halfy's bed, was there to my right, with myself now off of it. The covers on it were messy and scrambled, with a small portion currently being wrapped around my right leg.

Grumbling as I raised a brow at this, I shook my leg loose, releasing myself from my 'trapped' position before I began to pick myself up.

As I did so, I passed my hands over my bandaged chest and my jacket, cleaning off whatever dust had stuck to me from my fall. Had I fallen off in my sleep?

Before I could question this any further, I heard a poorly withheld chuckle come from behind me. Turning myself to the source of the noise, I quickly caught sight of a smug looking Chrysalis, her jagged horn fading in its glow. Yeah, I should've figured.

Rolling my eyes, though with a smile, I completely turned myself to face her, giving a yawn as I crossed my arms. "Ugh. So, is there any particular reason you did that?" I asked. "I thought that you said that you forgave me."

"I did. But, how else was I supposed to wake you up?" Again, there was that sense of smugness about her. Giving a sigh, I quickly began to list off all the other options she had.

"Lets see... You could've shaken me awake, called my name, pulled the covers off really quickl- In fact, why are you even waking me up at all?" I asked, rubbing some of the left over drowsiness from my eyes.

"Because Halfy wouldn't wake you up earlier, like I asked her to." She replied in an almost irritated form, giving out a short grumble in doing so.

"That still doesn't mean that you had to wake me up like tha- Wait..."

What... Did she just say. Looking to her warily, a sense of nervousness beginning to grow, which I could tell she could sense by the raising of her brow, I slowly began to realize what she had just said.

"... Uh... Okay, three things." I began. "One, is that the first time you've said Halfy's name?" I know, not the biggest priority at the moment, but hey, it was still pretty important. It either meant that the two were starting to get along, or she was just starting to bear her... Likely the latter.

"Two, why did you ask Halfy to wake me up earlier?" She rolled her eyes at this.

"Because I needed to prove a point to the shadow alicorn who, blatantly enough, is beginning to annoy me."

That... Doesn't really tell me anything. Shaking my head, and shrugging off the other questions that this had brought about, I moved onto my last, and most important, point.

"Okay, fine, whatever." Her eyes seemed to narrow at my response. Can't say that she didn't deserve to have been annoyed either. That was pretty rude. "Three... You said something about waking me up earlier, right?" She nodded, my heartbeat now speeding itself up suddenly. "Okay... H-how much earlier?" I hated that stutter. It was bad enough that Chrysalis could probably feel the sudden spike in anxiety that I felt, and the fact that I was now starting to show it physically didn't make it any better.

"... Why do you ask?" She said, a brow raising questioningly, a sense of odd suspiciousness about her and her eyes still narrowed.

"..." I couldn't really say anything, could I? She's be able to tell if I was lying now, and I really didn't need her to think of me as a liar, as well as suspicious.

Her face shifted to one of annoyance, likely from refusal to say anything, as she continued to look to me, almost in a glare.

"... It's a little before sunset." She finally answered. And, all at once, I felt every drop of blood in my body run cold.

"O-oh... Well, I-I'm just gonna get a little more sleep then. Heh. Uh, w-wake me up a little later. Preferably after the sun goes down." I was taking small, careful sidesteps towards the bed, a nervous smile on my face as I tried to just sleep off this... Admittedly worrisome situation.

If the sun was still out, if only by a little, then that meant that there was light... And light...

"Oh please." My eyes widened slightly as, with a roll of her eyes and a move of her head, Chrysalis horn began to glow, along with the closed shutters of the single window in the room. It was only now that I noticed the thin, focused beams of light shining downwards at the floor. "And the alicorn calls me lazy. Tch."

"CHRYSALIS, DON'T-" But it was too late. Before I knew it, the window was open, and light flooded in... Along with all the bad memories and trauma that had caused my fear of it.

Chapter 20: Change And Weakness Go Hand In Hand (Part 2)

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"Ugh... We still cannot believe that Chrysalis hath awoken us so soonly." Nightmare Moon conferred, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she spoke with the one eyed mare. "If only to prove an invalid point, just as well. 'Tis utterly infuriating." Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes for a short moment, giving an exasperated sigh as she thought back to the changeling's behavior.

Halfy, during the irritated spiel of the alicorn, listened with care, taking in every word of the self-proclaimed, though not unwelcome, friend of hers. Tilting her head from her seated position on the couch, adjacent to Nightmare Moon, she risked a response as the dark moon princess finished with a humph.

"Well, princess, to be fair you did... Provoke her." Her voice quieted as she said this, fading into silence, though not without first being heard. Having caught this, Nightmare Moon's ear twitched, her head turning towards Halfy in a jerking fashion, and her brow raising with a glint of aggressiveness.

"Thou choosest to follow her reasoning?!" She asked in an antagonizing form. A squeak of surprise and regret escaped Halfy as she lowered her head completely to the couch, her ears splaying themselves back against her head as she struggled for words.

"N-no, I- I mean- I- I just-... I'm sorry!" She finally managed to utter, slightly hiding herself behind her hooves from Nightmare Moon's apparent aggregation.

Seeing this, the shadow alicorn continued her glare for another moment or so, before, eventually, relenting with a sigh. She shook her head as she realized what she was doing. "... No, Halfy, thou hast nothing to seek forgiveness for." She said in a much softer, more apologetic, tone, causing Halfy to partially remove herself from behind her makeshift cover; An ear of her's rose along with her. "We... Simply find issue with the changeling awaking Sir Jeremy over such a meaningless debacle... Though, we also suppose that we are partially at fault for this."

Having taken notice of the now calmed Nightmare Moon, Halfy returned herself to her previous upright position, though admittedly now with some tension to it, as she looked to her friend. Upon seeing her suddenly downtrodden appearance, a low sigh from her echoing through the room despite it's volume, Halfy raised an inquisitive brow.

"You... Really care for him, don't you?" She asked. After all, it had seemed that, throughout her spiel, she had focused more on Jeremy's possible issues than her own.

Nightmare Moon nodded as she looked to her, a small smile gracing her features. "But of course. For he is our reasoning for being here. Our bringer of freedom, our knight of great honor! ... Our first true friend..." Nightmare Moon's smile grew even further at the thought, as she looked blankly towards the floor below her in reminiscence. Even Halfy had taken to such an expression, the corners of her lips pulled upwards, if only by the blissful expression of her guest and friend.

The two remained like this for a rare few minutes of calm. Not an awkward-filled silence, but a calm... One that, with wide eyes and raised ears, was abruptly shattered.

A scream, almost bloodcurdling and extremely loud, pierced through the air, along with the timber that sculpted the house. It was shocking, to a point where the two were utterly stunned and unmoving, as their minds processed the sudden sound. Ultimately though, it was Halfy who began to recover the fastest, slowly speaking out as she realized an awful fact. She recognized the voice behind that scream.

"Th-... That was..." She choked out at an agonizingly slow pace, stuttering as she did so, and even then, trailing off near the end. Fortunately, her current member of company had also retrieved her grip on reality, doing so at a much more accelerated rate as well.

"Sir Jeremy!?!" She cried out, momentarily glancing to the ceiling above her before, without another word, she jolted off of the couch, sprinting to the stairway doors. It was the shaking furniture and echoing hoofsteps that she left that had fully removed Halfy from her own stupor, as she, in similar movement, began to make her way towards the stairway as well.

Nightmare Moon, having been suddenly brought to a rushing pace, ignored the stairs of the room, her wings extending themselves as she, for the first time in quite a while, flew herself upwards towards the bedroom entrance, shaving off a few precious seconds of climbing.

The door to the room stood no chance as Nightmare Moon plowed her way inside, desperate to see what was ailing her companion... And almost instantly, she felt her insides drop.

There, in what seemed like a shaking mess of panic and fear, was Jeremy, the blankets from the bed, which he had ripped off, covering and coating him like a thick and homely shield. Before she could soak in the shock and concern of seeing her noble knight like this though, she felt her blood settle on a boil, rather than a freeze, as she brought her eyes to the changeling that stood before him.

Positioned next to an open window, it's light shining into the room in thin rays, granting an even clearer sight of the hidden Jeremy as it grazed over his covered form, her wide eyes could also be visibly seen, along with her slightly open maw, and raised hoof, held towards her as if in shock of her own.

Nightmare Moon cared not for these signs however, as her teeth momentarily ground together, and, baring even a single second thought towards the matter, she gave a strong, magical push towards the changeling.

Within an instant, Chrysalis found herself pinned against a wall, her hooves just inches off the ground as she felt a powerful pressure entrapping her from her side. She recognized the loud slam that filled the room, along with the small tremors that came with it's force, and the sudden jolt of sharp, indescribable pain that flew through her slightly concussed mind.

She released a grunt as she opened one of her two, unknowingly shut, eyes, quickly catching sight of her current aggressor as she strugglingly pried a small part of her head from the wall. She was instantly met with the face of Nightmare Moon, her horn glowing brightly, her wings flared ever so slightly, and an obvious expression of what seemed like no less than anger on her face. Even her slit eyes, which would normally be bright and kind, now held a dark and aggressive tone to them.

Within a hair's width of the changeling queen, Nightmare Moon forced Chrysalis' head back against the wall, her anger-ridden breath blowing harshly along the changeling's exoskeleton as the alicorn asked four simple, yet furious, words.

"What hast thou DONE?" She asked, her voice low, and almost a whisper, until she reached her last word, the pressure that forced Chrysalis back momentarily increasing along with her voice.

"I... I didn't... Nngh... I... Don't... Urgh..." Truthfully, despite her now much more aware than ever mind, due to the situation she found herself in itself, she could not find the words on what to say, grunting and groaning against the spell that held her in place. She was, in all earnest, just as answerless as Nightmare Moon in this regard, Jeremy's sudden scream and panic having left her in nothing more than utter bewilderment towards the occurring event, even now.

Nightmare Moon's eyes narrowed even further at the lack of an answer that she recieved, as she then opened her maw again, set to repeat her question.

"Jeremy?" The voice of Halfy rang through the room with a sharp clairvoyance, Nightmare Moon ear twitching as she glanced behind her, only now taking note of the mare's presence in the room. It had seemed that, in her distraction, Nightmare Moon had completely tuned out her entrance, allowing her to make it over to Jeremy's side undetected.

As she caught sight of Halfy, who was currently calling to Jeremy softly through his makeshift guard, her anger was quickly pushed away, switched out for concern towards her companion. With one last narrowed glance towards the changeling, deciding that she would have to deal with her later, Nightmare Moon unceremoniously dropped her from her magical pin, allowing her to fall to the ground with a thump as she made her way next to Halfy; Chrysalis gave out another groan as she stood herself up, shaking off the pain she felt and looking towards the two ponies that surrounded Jeremy.

"Sir Jeremy?!" Nightmare Moon called to the shaking and hiding figure, her voice laced with heavy concern as she carefully held out a hoof towards him. "Are ye injured? Hath something occurred?"

Doing her best to lean herself over his hiding figure, in order to gain a better view of him, she gently took hold of one of the inner edges of the thick bed covering that enveloped him, tugging at it until a small part of his arm was revealed.

As if by an instant reaction though, the covering was quickly yanked back over him, his shaking momentarily having intensified as he silently began to speak. "...C-close it..." He gave out in a low and stuttering voice.

"Pardon?" The alicorn asked, raising her brow in confusion.

"Close it..." He repeated, this time more audibly. Halfy was next to speak up.

"Close what? W-we don't know what you're-"

"Close it. Close it! CLOSE IT!" He repeated this again and again, each time becoming louder and firmer, until he had practically given out a shout. Both Nightmare Moon and Halfy recoiled at this, glancing to one another before yet again turning to Jeremy in their flummoxed states.

"W-... We do not-" Before Nightmare Moon could go on any further, the light of the room was suddenly snuffed out, both the alicorn and mare giving out gasps of surprise as they heard the sound of the shutters to the window closing.

Turning their heads towards the now closed source of illumination, they took notice to the black and green aura that surrounded it, tracing it back to it's creator, Chrysalis, as she looked back to the two as well, flinching from a particularly bad crick that had been created in her shoulder blade.

Within an instant, as the room was plunged into it's previous darkness, the light of the outside being limited to it's place below the window, Jeremy stopped shaking, what little sound that could be heard coming from him quieting as he finally came to a calm.

The two quickly turned their attention back to Jeremy as they took notice of this, Chrysalis, in the meanwhile, doing so from afar. Her eyes would narrow, however, whenever they wandered to the shadow alicorn that had just attacked her.

"Sir Jeremy?"

"Jeremy?"

"..."

Though he was now at a much calmer state than he was before, Jeremy did not answer immediately. Rather, the coverings that surrounded him shifted, and a moment of thoughtful silence overcame him.

"... All of you... Wait for me downstairs..." He uttered, his voice once again lowering, and this time seeming strained. This request came as a surprise to Nightmare Moon, Halfy, and Chrysalis alike, as their eyes partly widened and their brows raised.

"But... Sir Jeremy, we cannot simply leave-"

"GET OUT!" This time, all three of them, including Chrysalis, recoiled at this abrupt and uncharacteristic outburst of Jeremy. Chrysalis, from this outburst, could see an array of different, though negative, emotions. Rage, grief, confusion, and, most of all, fear.

Not another word was spoken by the three, as, with a shared glance between Halfy and Nightmare Moon, and a silent sigh from Chrysalis, they all began to make their way out of the room, following Jeremy's request, and order, without any more argument.

With Nightmare Moon ahead of the pack, Chrysalis in the back, and Halfy knowingly placing herself as a sort of wedge between the two, they left the room. As they went down the staircase, however, Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis exchanged a deep glare with one another. Halfy, having noticed this, felt her head and ears lower as she trotted on, the heaviness in the air around them suddenly seeming unbearable.

She knew that this would not be a good sign. That this, as a matter of fact, could easily prove dangerous if taken out too far.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... Damn it... Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!

Of course, nothing can seem to go my way, can it? NOT EVEN ONCE!

I was fine. Completely fine! Everything was actually starting to go right! Chrysalis had her powers back, and was starting to actually open up! Nightmare Moon and I were getting along even better than ever! They hadn't even known about my fear of the light!

But no! Some ungodly force up there decided that seeing me happy for once just wouldn't do! So, they decided that this would happen!

A FUCKING argument between Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon; That's all it took! No accidents! No slip ups! No deductions!

NO! Instead, it's a MEANINGLESS ARGUMENT that does me in! Fucking DAMN IT, the both of you!

If you would have just STOPPED FIGHTING with one another for ONE SECOND, then maybe this wouldn't have happened! All you had to do, was NOT FIGHT! AND... And... Fuck...

I could feel a shuddering breath escape me as the last few trickles of pain, memory, and a little bit of sweat flowed away from my body and mind... Waiting for their next opportunity to strike.

... I was blaming what was out of my, and likely anyone else's, fault. Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon had technically made the wager, but they didn't know I'd react like this... I didn't want them to know that I'd ever react like this.

So much for that...

I... Don't want to move...

I can hear the three walking down the stairs, their hooves muffled though still easy to hear along the floor of the wooden house. I hear how they're starting to whisper, though I can't make out any of the words, and the anger in their tones. It sounded more like muffled growls than whispers, but I knew better.

We're they mad because of me? Because of the fact that I've been hiding this from them...?

Maybe...

... The lights gone again. One of them closed the window earlier, can't tell who. Suppose that I couldn't really care less in that regard; So long as its gone, I'll be fine.

... They're probably waiting for me... I'm sure of it...

I'll... I'll go later... Need some time to calm down a bit... Damn it... I'm pathetic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We have asked thee previous, and we shall ask thee once more... What didst thou do to him?!" Nightmare Moon growled, her voice nearly exiting the whispering tone that the three in the room had wordlessly chosen.

"..." Chrysalis, however, did not answer, instead choosing to shoot daggers at the 'princess' from afar, unmoving and unrelenting in her own obvious show of aggression.

Halfy, unable to do, or say, anything that she could to calm the situation, sat in the sidelines, so to speak; A sense of fear and worry crept up on her, as she watched the two square off in their motionless battle.

"..." As the changeling continued her silence, Nightmare Moon felt her anger once again flare, this time even being visible by Chrysalis, it's intensity having caused it to break through the mental walls that Nightmare Moon had put up, like a blade through paper.

"What. Didst thou. Do to him?!" She repeated yet again, her slit eyes becoming nothing more than thin lines floating in raging and vibrant oceans of green. Her mane lost it's ethereal flow, instead gaining preference to that of a burning inferno, wild and deadly. Even her fur and feathers seemed to darken, becoming more akin to brimstone, rather than that of a night sky.

Chrysalis was unfazed by this, her glare continuing in it's previous manner as her lips finally began to carve out the answer that Nightmare Moon had been asking for. "I. Don't. Know." She said simply, and almost blandly.

For a moment, Nightmare Moon's eyes widened, and a bewildered gasp could be heard escaping her as the words struck her. This, however, was only for that short moment, before her overall demeanor returned to it's previous viciousness, if not even greater so.

"... What?" She began. " 'Thou dost not know?' Thou truly expects me to believe such an wretched and ill-conceived lie!? How dare thee! To harm Sir Jeremy in such a manner as to leave him as thou didst, and blatantly speak nonsense of it! How dare thee-"

"I don't know!" She interrupted, her teeth grinding as she opened and closed her maw in what was now a shout, having quickly abandoned the idea of whispering as she felt her own eyes narrow and shrink. "Ugh, you really must be deaf! Though, I suppose that's not so hard to believe now! What with you being so stuck in your own thoughts, and your head being so far up your flank, it's impossible for you not to be!" Halfy and Nightmare Moon watched on as Chrysalis put on this display, the two of them, Halfy especially, being in a state of shock as they saw her continue. "You think that everything I do is wrong, don't you! That at even the slightest provocation, I wouldn't hesitate to commit cruelty! As if you're a saint yourself! Or have you just conveniently forgotten your thousand of years of banishment?!"

"Thou hast no right to return this subject to matter, nor any reason!" Nightmare Moon yelled back. "Of course we would believe thee to be so uncivil and insufferable! 'Tis foolish to think any less, or any more, of one such as thee! Especially in comparison to a past such as ours!" Chrysalis promptly returned a yell of her own at this, standing herself onto all four hooves as her entire body seemed to gain it's aggressive fury at once.

"Well, guess what, you malignant shadow of an alicorn! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO HIM!" She proclaimed, her voice getting even louder still as she shouted this towards her long loathed party member. "And for you to think that I would just shows that you don't have the right to even think of accusing me of doing so!"

"Accuse!?! No, 'tis not an accusation. 'Tis a statement of fact!" She rebutted, her hoof stomping against the ground with a loud thump. "Thou hast brought harm to Sir Jeremy in previous occasions, and we-"

"Those were different!" Chrysalis interrupted, much to the further anger that currently fueled Nightmare Moon. "On those occasions, he had always brought them about himself!"

"False!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed, though Chrysalis ignored her, continuing with her spiel.

"When I had hurt or insulted him, he had always taken it in good nature! One way, or another! Wether he would find humor in it then, or later, he would always brush it off as if it were NOTHING!" She went on, her magic momentarily spiking with her anger. "I may demean and disagree with him, but I would NEVER purposely harm in a way that left him like... LIKE THAT!" She yelled, gesturing to the ceiling above them, the image of Jeremy's mentally shattered and shivering body as he hid beneath the covers rearing itself in her head.

"Thou certainly hast a form to show such a thing! At every turn, thou hast not failed to ignore Sir Jeremy's previous kindnesses as if they were nothing! He freed us from our captivity, at sacrifice of his own! He kept whatever knowings he had of us hidden away, despite his constant torment from then on! He had even allowed himself to besmirch his lips with thine own, in an attempt to save that which he refers to as a companion! Oh woe is he, to believe thee as anything of the sort!" Chrysalis practically snarled at this, her horn now positively glowing, its aura turned into a much more deep and intimidating green as her chitin seemed to thicken, and shake.

"Oh, what's wrong!?!" She began yelling sarcastically. "Are you sad that he was willing to do something like that to me, rather than yo-" Before Chrysalis could even finish this statement, Nightmare Moon let out a loud and menacing roar, her horn gaining its own glow as she used it to menace the changeling.

Chrysalis, in return, took her own aggressive stance, her teeth baring as she and the alicorn threatened one another for what could easily be the last time. Halfy looked between the two with a trembling body, her legs unconsciously beginning to move her back from the powerful sight as her inner consciousness attempted to get her as far away as possible.

Finally, as the two raised their heads, sparks beginning to fly from their horns as they prepared their myriad of spells and strength, a weak, though still firm and clearly audible, voice rang through the air.

"... Enough..." The three's eyes widened as, within an instant, the aggressive statures and powers of the alicorn and changeling monarch vanished. Their heads all turned to the source of the voice, quickly shifting them to silence as they all caught sight of the human who stood in the stairway's doorframe, his skin still slightly pale and clammy. He seemed weak, but more so mentally, than physically, as he silently closed the door behind him, it's squeaking and shutting adding sound to the suddenly muted room.

His head gazed downwards as he leaned himself against the now closed door, his arms crossing and a silent sigh escaping him as he allowed a moment to pass...

"Sir Jere-" He stopped her with a raised hand, and nothing more, her ears moving back against her head as she quickly quieted herself.

"... I'm guessing... You're all wondering what happened a few moments ago... Right?" There was a moment of tense silence, as the three all glanced amongst one another, then back to Jeremy. Almost simultaneously, they nodded. Jeremy gave out another sigh at this.

"... Of course you are..." Chrysalis couldn't even tell what emotion she was sensing from him. It was blank, yet jumbled at the same time. "... Look, you two know how things were... After you were gone." He began. "Back in the Canterlot dungeons, I mean."

Another silence passed, before, though with a careful approach, Nightmare Moon answered. "Y-yes, Sir Jeremy. Ye have told us of this." She could also vividly remember the horrible state that he was in on that day, herself glancing, without really knowing of it, to his still bandaged chest, and relatively thin build.

"... Right... Well... I didn't tell you about everything..." At this, both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis rose an inquisitive brow.

"... How... How do I put this...? You both remember the room we were in, right? How it was small, cramped, and practically pitch black?" They nodded promptly. "Well, think of if this way. What do you think it would be like, if that were suddenly the safest place you could be? If, every time those doors to the room opened, you wouldn't be greeted by a welcoming light, but by a malevolent one, shadowing those who would do harm to you." They didn't respond. In fact, they didn't know how to respond. Partially because they felt that this was not something one was supposed to answer, and also because they were not sure as to where this was going.

"...That's what it was like for me. That room became my haven, of sorts. When I would go back there, I would be blind, and cramped... But I'd be safe. And whenever the light came in, I'd just feel pain..." Nightmare Moon's heart broke as she listened to her friend recount his stay at the Canterlot prison, telling the three of things that even they had not known of. Halfy could not withhold a gasp, and Chrysalis... Simply stared in shock.

"I... Started to associate one thing with another... And the next thing I know... I'm a photophobic." Looking up towards the three, he could now see bits of confusion in their eye. A weak, almost pitying, chuckle escaped him. "Heh... That's right... That's not something that exists here, is it?" He asked.

Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon shook their heads, honestly unaware of what this concept was. "Of course not... Not when everypony sees that FUCKING SUN AS A GODSEND!" He suddenly yelled, slamming his closed palm into the door behind him. He wasn't sure of where that anger had come from. Perhaps it was his grown hatred towards Celestia, who had caused his mental trauma. Or maybe it was just because he was mad at himself, for not being like the others that surrounded him. Either way, it made no difference. "... It means I'm afraid of the light... Funny, isn't it; How most ponies are afraid of the dark when they're just foals, but I, a grown man, can't even stand the sight of a goddamn flashlight if it comes too close!"

Chrysalis' eyes now widened in realization as she pieced together what he had said. Suddenly, all the previous occurrings had made sense. The day that they had first found Zecora, for instance. How he was clearly afraid of something, and almost anxious, up until they went indoors... It was right in front of her... And she had just later pushed it aside.

"... I had blatantly told you both, upfront, that I was deadweight. At the time, it had been because of the fact that I could barely move at all, and because I had pretty much been starving. Now, though, you see that I also had another reason behind my saying so." He glowered at the ground below him, taking in a deep breath. "Deadweight can at least have it's uses at times... Ballast, or at least a makeshift distraction when released. Me...? I'm so pathetic, I can't even be that during the day..." His head lowered even further at this, his eyes masking themselves in the small shadow that was created from his tilting. "... That's why I didn't want you two to know about this. Why I kept it hidden... I can't compete with an earth pony's strength, a unicorn's magic, a pegasi's flight... None of that... Especially whenever there's even the slightest hint of bright light... I'm useless."

As he finished with an almost surrendering sigh, his entire body now seeming to go limp against the door, barely keeping him upwards as he hid himself as best he could, the three looked to him in absolute bewilderment. They didn't know what they should say–what they could say– in response to this. It was almost like watching somepony... Just fade.

For a few scant seconds, it seemed to everyone that this would be the end of the conversation, then and there, what with nobody speaking up, or even making to. As if that was that, and Jeremy would be left in his own musings... This, was a possibility, that Chrysalis would not have.

Her teeth nearly ground against each other as she, to everyone's surprise, seemingly growled her words. "... Don't you ever say that..."

At this, everypony shifted their gazes towards her, and even Jeremy raised his lowered head to better look at her, a brow of his raising. "... Excuse me...?" He asked.

Again, Chrysalis' teeth bared, and her horn gained it's previous glow, as Jeremy suddenly felt his body become weightless in contrast. His eyes widened as he was practically flung by an invisible force, a breath forcibly escaping him as he all but crashed into the vacant couch in the room.

Neither Nightmare Moon nor Halfy felt they could react to this, the suddenness and intensity of the situation stunning them, as they then watched the glaring Chrysalis make her way over to the human.

By the time that he had sat himself up on the couch, giving out a pained groan and rubbing at a now sore part of his shoulder as he did so, Chrysalis was already in his face, her eyes glowing with nothing else but an intimidating glare.

Raising a forehoof, she began to jab Jeremy in the chest, pushing him back against the couch as she began to give him an angered lecture of her own. "You have no right to call yourself that. No privilege of doing so, whatsoever!" She began angrily, Jeremy's eyes widening as she did so. "You want to know what useless is? I can tell you! Useless, is a family member that would willingly give up their own to save their own flanks! Useless, is somepony who allows for their cared one to be hurt, without even putting up the slightest struggle! I know, because I've seen this happen all before!" She exclaimed, using her own past experiences as an avid example in her attempts to 'wake up' the human. "Breaking us out of the Canterlot dungeons was not useless! Helping us whenever we needed it, even though we never asked, wasn't useless! And if you think that keeping me alive was useless, than you clearly don't understand what that word really means!"

As she spoke, Halfy, Jeremy, and even Nightmare Moon, could see that she was saying this all in earnest. What she had just been accused of ignoring no more than a matter of minutes ago, she was using to show Jeremy that he was worth more than he let on.

"You are not, nor were you ever, useless! The only thing about you that's even remotely so, is the fact that you're calling yourself that! Don't. You. Forget it! Or I'll have to force it into your head! One way, or another!" With one last jab of her hoof to emphasize the point, Chrysalis backed herself from Jeremy, continuing her glare as he look to her almost bewilderedly.

Glancing downwards, then towards Nightmare Moon, he raised a brow, a sense of questioning to his gaze. It was from this that the alicorn finally snapped out of her earlier daze, her head momentarily shaking as she made to speak.

" 'Tis a certain truth, Sir Jeremy! Ye have been by our side since your first encounter with us! As to your fear, it is well founded in reasoning! We did not suffer through what you did, and cannot possibly have reason to refer to you as weak, in any way.'Tis the opposite, as fact! To push through your fear in order to keep us satisfied, despite not truly needing to do so- We know not of anypony stronger than such!" Nightmare Moon reassured, adding to Chrysalis' statements as best she could.

For another moment, Jeremy simply sat there, glancing to and from Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis again and again in silence. Finally though, he closed his eyes, a small smile, and a quiet chuckle escaping him.

Opening his eyes again, he glanced to the house's front door, taking note in the fact that there wasn't any daylight flowing under the door. "... Alright..." Standing himself up with a silent grunt, her spun his arm on his shoulder, working out his soreness even more. "I'm... Gonna go get some air... Try to calm myself down a bit more." None of the three moved to stop him, knowing that this was a time that he likely needed to himself, if only for a short while. As he walked to the door, opening it to it's full extent and walking out into the recently night filled forest, he paused, partially turning his head to once again look to the mares behind him. A smile was still on his face.

"Oh, and girls...", he began, nodding his head towards them, "thanks." With that, he closed the door, leaving the three to their own once again.

As they listened to the fading sound of crunching grass from beyond the door, Nightmare Moon found herself turning her gaze to Chrysalis, who was looking towards the door, away from her. All sense of anger had been suppressed and rid of in her mind, and now, a genuine sense of remorse and regret forming in her mind.

Chrysalis really didn't hurt Jeremy, after all, and yet she had openly accused her of doing so.

"... Chrysalis... We-" Before she could even continue, she herself was suddenly flung backwards, crashing into the nearby wall, and ending in a similar position as she had placed Chrysalis. The changeling queen turned herself and walked up to the alicorn, her eyes narrowed yet again, showing contempt deep within them.

"And, don't you ever say that I don't care about him... Ever." And just like that, her horn lost it's glow once again, dropping Nightmare Moon carelessly to the ground, and eliciting a grunt from her, as she then moved to the couch in the center of the room. Ignoring the apparent gazes of Nightmare Moon and Halfy, she laid herself down on the cushions, closing her eyes and taking a deep, lethargic breath.

She was done for the day, even if it had barely begun...

"They'd better feel the same."

Chapter 21: The First Step Is...

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That same snore. That same obnoxious and utterly deafening snore that her new tenant would give as she slept echoed throughout the zebra's house, her head already beginning to ache from the second night she had had to endure it.

It was one thing having to deal with her during the day, but to have to tolerate her during even the night... Zecora felt a sigh and a grumble escape her as she recalled the small amount of sleep she had managed to get last night; Little to none.

"Geez, what happened to you?" She remembered her guest asking her, having likely noticed the bags under her eyes as she glared at her. She barely held her anger from the question, taking in a calming breath before answering.

"... In case you had not guessed, something enabled my loss at a good rest." Zecora had returned, emphasizing the certain cause that had left her so exhausted as she spoke of it. This seemed to go over her guest's head though... Or at least she thought that she wasn't aware of what she had implied.

"Really? Hm, I slept like a log."

The amount of willpower that she had needed to muster–And barely managed to–in order to halt herself from, quite literally, kicking her 'guest' out of her home was astounding.

Now, just as it had done in that previous night, the sound of snoring echoed through the air. For once though, Zecora was relieved by this.

Truthfully, she had been waiting for her guest to fall asleep for quite some time now, even having gone so far as to give up her own bed to her and wait in the living room in the hopes that it would quicken the process.

Zecora's ear twitching once–Twice–at the sounds of a noisy rest, she rolled her eyes, rubbing her hoof against her head as she began to make her way outside of her living room and into the forest.

She took great care to silently close the door behind her, barely even giving out another breath as she gained a bit of distance from her abode before finally seeing it to be satisfactory, and returning to a much more relaxed state of mind.

It had been a few days now since Zecora had last seen Jeremy and his other companions, and, were it not for her sudden surprise 'visitor', she would have gone to check on them sooner. Especially with the information that this very same tenant had given to her during an exchange they had upon her arrival.

She had to be careful at this instance, however. After all, wether her tenant is indeed an old friend of Jeremy's, just as she was, or otherwise, she still felt it necessary to keep word of his location as secretive as possible... That, and she didn't want her to begin to influence Jeremy, as she had threatened to some time ago.

Grass tamping below her hooves, Zecora gave out another sigh as her migraine began to fade, and she made her way down the long-memorized mental path that led to Halfy's home...

A short ways behind her, a stray leaf fell from a tree to the floor, its branches rustling against some sort of new weight that had planted itself upon them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contrary to this one of the very few residences of the strange forest of Everfree, drowned out by the noise of one of its inhabitants, another had been flooded by silence, the fault just as equally shiftable to those whom resided in it as the previous.

Within the wooden walls of the scantily built home–Made by the half-sighted earth mare–Halfy, Nightmare Moon, and Chrysalis went on in their own quiet minds and surroundings, unwilling to make even the slightest of sounds.

It was not because of the same reason as the previous nights that they had gone through these moments though, for the air was heavy this time; A combination of tension, uncertainty, and concern filled the air. So much so that Chrysalis had practically choked on it, even though some of it was her own that had mingled with the mix.

It had barely been one day–A single, ever so nerve wracking day–since Jeremy had told them of his fear of the light... Or rather, since he was given no other choice but to have done so.

In fact, it was because of this mental stress that they had believed that they had caused him that he was not here in the first place. It was over an hour past the time that Halfy would normally have woken him up, after all. But, upon the request of both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, she had allowed for him to sleep in, giving up a large portion of her own rest in return. Even now, she would nod off from time to time, before then shooting her eyes open and giving her head a shake, repeating the process every now and then.

Even more stressful than this... Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis had both felt guilty in their own regards. Nightmare Moon, for having accused and attacked Chrysalis as she had done in the previous night, not even having had given her any chance to explain herself when it had occurred. Chrysalis felt like this for what she had done to Jeremy.

Though she did not do it with purposeful or malice driven intention, she had still brought out another side of Jeremy that she had never seen before. One of complete terror, and utter vulnerability... She couldn't help but to have imagined if, given the circumstances, she would have done the same that Nightmare Moon had done to her were their roles reversed.

Halfy watched cautiously from the 'sidelines' as the two occasionally glanced to each other, though not for more than half of a second, and they would never notice the other doing it. It was like an endless cycle, really.

She knew that the two were dancing around each other, awaiting for... Something... At the same time though, since Jeremy had momentarily left the house for some air last night, the two had not fought even once. They hadn't even given one another the smallest of ill-mannered gestures. As to why, she could only guess; Guess, and watch.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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... Ugh! How long can he possibly sleep!?

It had been three hours since the time that the earth mare, Halfy, would have usually woken Jeremy up and brought him downstairs. And, for one reason or another, this time we waited seemed like torture!

Honestly, I like a little peace and quiet as much as the next changeling, but even I have my limits! If he'd just come down here, I could start another 'debate' with him, or vice-versa, and maybe then I wouldn't be so bored!

Instead, I'm stuck here; A half-conscious mare that had bags starting to form under her eyes on my left, and the shadow alicorn that had attacked me further in front of me, in the corner of the room.

At least she never looked in my direction though. She's on thin ice as is, and if she so even slightly steps out of place again, I'll...!

I'll... Hmph...

I didn't need this. my mind was already in enough of a mess without thinking about that irritating alicorn.

The dull throb in the back of my head went on ignored as I absentmindedly scanned over what few points of emotions I could see around me, each created by my current house sharing party members. It was simple enough to see the timid anxiety of Halfy, likely prompted by the impermeable silence that currently surrounded us all. Nightmare Moon's emotions were, though visible, blurred by her mental shields. They had seemingly weakened though. Before, not even the blurs that I saw now would have shown up, instead appearing to be empty air. I raised a brow at this, but I didn't comment on it. What use would that do anyways?

Even Jeremy's emotions were visible, if not slightly more difficult to see and scrambled due to his current sleeping state. There was an odd mix among this organized chaos though. An almost... fake sense of peace, and yet a broken apart sense at the same time... Whatever he was dreaming of, I could only wonder...

"... Oh great." My eyes rolled as another pair of emotions came into my sight--That zebra from before being easily discernible from then, a sense of relief about her for some reason--and made their way here.

Still, I suppose I can't complain. After all, anything was better than the quiet room that we all were dealing with... And, I suppose that I can go so far as to say that the tea that she makes is acceptab-

Realization dawned in an incredibly violent manner, my head and neck jolting upright, and my eyes widening as I looked to the pair again, making sure my mind wasn't playing tricks on me... Pair!?

The subsequent knock on the door drew the attention of Nightmare Moon and Halfy within an instant, their eyes moving from their unfocused states to the sealed entrance. I barely took notice of the two as they glanced to me, their confusion, curiosity and the like being placed to the last of my priorities as I kept an eye on the two emotional entities; Only now did I notice that the emotion of the other was a sense of smugness, my teeth involuntarily tightening together as the possibility of some sort of spy quickly came to mind.

There was another empty silence after the echoing knock faded, neither of the two, or I, moving from our held positions. Before long though, I heard footsteps, Halfy's aura beginning to shift and move, along with her, as she soon passed by me on the couch, making her way towards the door.

My eyes narrowed, much like the ones I could practically feel still burning at me, as Halfy took hold of the door in her hooves. Then, just as she opened it, the other, unknown, emotion changed. It dissipated within an instant, leaving only the zebra's as it seemingly moved in a flash upwards. Just like that... It was gone...

What was it that those ponies would usually say in this sort of situation...? Ah, right... Buck.

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The shifting and trotting of fur and hooves could barely be made out beyond the wooden door that Zecora patiently sat herself before, a sigh of silent thankfulness escaping her at the blessing that was her escape from her unwanted, though unfortunately inevitable, house guest. No more snoring. No more 'show boating', as she often called it, though Zecora just referred to it as an overly boasted ego. And finally, no more 'jokes', or ignorant wordings... If only for the rest of tonight.

Clearing her throat, and mind, as the door finally began to creak open--At first it was a small crack, as her one-eyed friend gave a quick glance to her--revealing a smiling Halfy, who greeted her in her usual friendly manner. "Hello Zecora." She said, to her neighbor of sorts, a small part of her mind giving a silent and withheld laugh at the thought.

"Hello to you as well, my friend. I do hope you don't mind me visiting again.' Halfy smiled even more at this, more than welcoming to a sudden change in the overall tone of her previously silent and tension filled home.

"Not at all. Please, come in.' Though to Halfy, alongside Nightmare Moon, she seemed to only give her a thankful nod as she stepped into the wooden home, she internally let out a cheer at her, now successful, 'getaway'. Suffice to say, Chrysalis wasn't sure whether she should have laughed or raised a brow at this.

Nightmare Moon, upon seeing the zebra, stood from her place in the room, making her way over to greet her in a similar manner of friendliness as Halfy... If not a little more outgoing,

"Ah, Miss Zecora! 'Tis a great joy to see thee-"

"SHHH!" Chrysalis hushed, all the pony's in the room's eyes slightly widening in surprised as they turned to her, being met by a glare. Wordlessly, Chrysalis bobbed her head upwards, reminding Halfy and Nightmare Moon of the still sleeping member of this house's tenants just upstairs. Though Nightmare Moon did not appreciate being interrupted in such a matter... She also couldn't really say that she was angered by it. After all, Chyrsalis was... Right. Jeremy was still resting, and it would be best if they kept their tones down.

"... Yes, well, do forgive us for that small... Pause..." Nightmare Moon picked up after their shared quiet, her voice now in a whisper as she turned to Zecora once again. She quickly took notice of her confused expression and continued in her speaking, making to explain. "Sir Jeremy has not yet joined us at this moment, and it is best if we remain more-"

"I think she gets it." Chrysalis insistently interrupted, rolling her eyes as what she believed to have been an upcoming and ongoing explanation of the shadow alicorn. Much to her surprise though, she didn't detect even the slightest amount of hostility from Nightmare Moon; Appearance wise, that is... Even more surprising... She also didn't detect any hostility in herself. Nightmare Moon gave out a sigh.

Nightmare Moon had no interest of starting another argument with the changeling. Not for some time, at least. Not when she had been an instigator no more than 24 hours ago... And in a fashion worse than any that Chrysalis had ever made herself to be.

"Now then, is there any particular reason that you came over?" Chrysalis asked, a brow raising as she skeptically looked to the striped pony of foreign origin, a large part of her mind still focused on the earlier entity that she had seen from before.

"I... Do not see why you are attempting to act so implicit. I have simply come over for a visit." A, almost smirk-like, smile tugged at Zecora's lips as she gave her half-lie to the powerless changeling, making sure to leave out any detail relating to-

"Alright... Now, whats the other reason?" Chrysalis went on, a smirk of her own appearing as Zecora's was all but ripped away from her. Zecora's eyes then instead widened as Chrysalis smugly pointed out the inconsistency that she had sensed from the zebra, Nightmare Moon and Halfy, in the meanwhile, sharing a questioning glance between one another as they watched the scene play out before them.

"What is it that you mean?" Zecora quickly began, Chrysalis now seeing a clear layer of nervousness overcoming her. "I do not see why you would make this claim in such a method to demean." Chrysalis rolled her eyes, obviously not believing her statements for even a moment.

"... In case you haven't noticed," Chrysalis said, another smirk on her face as her horn began to shine, and one of the cushions below her fluffed itself in a black-green glow, "I'm not exactly as 'powerless' as I was before." Satisfied with the comfortableness of her place of relaxation, and sloth, Chrysalis tucked her legs further underneath her, watching with amusement as Zecora's face and emotion changed into several forms and shapes, most expressing shock.

This went on for another moment or so, with Zecora stammering for another set of rhythmic words that she could form into an adherent sentence. Before long though, a thought suddenly came to her. One of realization.

"... The only way that, this sort of event I had missed, would be if she and Jeremy had-..." To Chrysalis' unease now, the two once again switching facial expressions with each other as Zecora now aimed a knowing smile at the changeling monarch. It didnt take any more than one glance at her, and a quick recall of what Chrysalis had just said, that both she, and Nightmare Moon, took notice of what she had likely realized.

Raising her hoof and opening her maw to speak, both Chrysalis, and Nightmare Moon, cut her off.

"Please do not speak of it."

"Shut it." At their simultaneous interruptions of Zecora's epiphany, the two momentarily looked towards one another with raised brows, before then just as promptly looking, forcefully, away.

Zecora did not lose her smirk, but she abided by their requests nonetheless, a satisfied look on her face as she calmly sat herself down; She was already ribbing at Jeremy about this in her mind though. "... Though I will not go against what you see fit... I will still think it." The smile on her face drew a glare from Chrysalis.

"... Just shut up and make your tea."

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"I... Was not aware that he had been so horribly effected. Even such a result, I had not expected." Zecora said to the three in a whispering voice, her head low and ears splayed back in their own distinct solemness.

Nightmare Moon, Halfy, and Chrysalis had–After some silent discussion between one another as to wether they should or otherwise–of course told her of the events of the previous nights, leaving out several details in doing so, but managing to get out the more recent discovery that they had made about their companion, Jeremy.

After all, Zecora was an old, and well-known, companion of Jeremy. If there was anyone they believed should at least know about his... Limitation, it would be her.

In doing so however, Nightmare Moon and Halfy shared downtrodden looks much like that of Zecora, their tones taking a similar turn. Chrysalis, though she did not physically show it, was effected negatively by this recounting as well, her own guilt flaring for a moment before she just as quickly managed to gulp it down.

Grabbing hold of her cup of flavored water, Chrysalis took another, blank and 'empty', sip of her tea. She gave a mental chuckle as to how similar she, and the others, seemed to relate this drink to a round of hard ciders, and the like, but other than that, she remained relatively thought and wordless throughout the time.

She had even forgotten, or at least put aside, that earlier anomaly that she had seen Zecora with on their way here; She preferred to be more focused on the now, at this point.

"Sir Jeremy... Did indeed suffer a greatly amount. We had known of his relative stay from the condition he had been in upon our finding of him, but..." Nightmare Moon trailed off for what must have been the fifth time since the three's explanation had begun, though she had already said enough for everyone else in the room to fully understand her meaning.

"... To think that the princesses would allow such a thing to occur. That-"

"Oh please!" Chrysalis interrupted, her voice having momentarily gained volume before she quickly regained control of it. "That 'kind princess' of yours is anything but that. She was willing to allow the extinction of my entire hive, to send her own sister to the moon, and then to trap us inside of a prison–Starving me in the process–for little more reason than to keep us weak! The fact that she ordered the guards to do what they did to Jeremy is no surprise to me at this point!" As she finished off her rant, her drink trembling slightly in her magical grasp from the sheer intensity with which she had done do, an air of quiet entered the room.

Halfy, Zecora, and Nightmare Moon alike looked to her in surprised, almost dumbfounded in fact, expressions. Nightmare Moon especially, considering how Chyrsalis had taken into account what she had gone through, along with herself and Jeremy. In fact, she had been half-expecting that she only would have mentioned her own struggles, rather than anypony else's.

Chrysalis was not phased by these looks, another bit of tea being raised up to her lips as she took another sip. Looking back to the three with a raised brow, practically screaming 'what are you looking at?', Zecora cleared her throat awkwardly, abruptly ending the moment in a flash.

"..." She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She was honestly out of what to say; what she should say.

Even Halfy had attempted to speak up, raising a hoof in a timid attempt of doing this. As she did so, however...

"Wo~oah!" A muffled, though still audible, voice could be heard yelling, followed by the sound of loud thumps and crashes. The entire room jolted in surprise, everypony immediately scanning around the room in their attempts to isolate the source.

Not having recognized what little she had heard of this voice, and removing Jeremy from the list of causes as a result, Chrysalis glanced upwards towards the ceiling, if only to make sure.

Though his emotions had become much more scrambled now, for whatever reason, Jeremy could still be easily sensed upstairs, in Halfy's bed room. With this, however? Was an even further off, and fainter, aura. It showed surprise, irritation, and hints of panic... Chrysalis was the first to realize what it's location had meant.

"...It's on the roof."

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It was a familiar scene... But... I'm not sure from where; If I had really been here before or not.

Probably.

Still, it didn't really matter to me, at the moment. I was just happy laying myself back in content and relaxation, gazing at the moon above me, just as it gazed towards me.

As I stared into its glow, an enhancing aura feeling as if it had begun to surround me from the sight, I began to recall some of... More negative memories; Practically involuntarily.

The book on Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis' near death, the apologies that I had owed Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis... Even the events of yesterday had begun to come into light at some point of this.

Chrysalis walking towards the closed window curtains, her magic surrounding the coverings and, with a single flick of her energy, opening the window. Exposing me to the sun. To my greatest at fear... To the li-

"Wo~oah!" As a series of tumbles, and a yell, rippled through the calming scene before me, my eyes felt as though they shot themselves open twice.

********************************************

My breath momentarily hitched as I practically spasmed out of bed, a bead of sweat rolling down my head and unto my cheek and several shallow pants escaping me.

For a moment, I just stayed where I was, trying to just figure out my who's who and what's what in my surprised state. As I eventually gained my bearings back again though, I gave out a quiet groan, moving my view to the window.

Night had already fallen, by the looks of it. Some time ago, in fact. This caused me to raise a brow, swinging my legs out of the bed and standing myself up before making my way to the glass square for an even more furthered view.

... Wasn't Halfy supposed to wake me up? Or, anypony, for that matter...?

Working out a crick in my neck, I started to make my way out of the room, and downstairs.

From the stairway, I could hear faint whispers coming from the living room–though just barely, and in tones of hushed concern. A yawn escaped me as the steps creaked lightly below my feet, my eyes shutting while my mouth did the exact opposite.

I have to say, despite apparently not having been woken up, it actually felt really nice to have slept in a little. Like... A recharge, if that makes any sense.

As my feet finally met the floor again, rather than steps, and my arm reached out towards the living room/stairway door, I could more easily overhear the voices in the other room.

"What dost thou mean?!"

"What do you think I mean!? Something is on the roof!" My brow once again raised as I heard Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis talking to one another in a whisper, the statement that Chrysalis had given echoing in my head.

Something... On the roof?

"W-well, how can we be sure?" I then heard Halfy add in.

" 'How can we be su-' Are you kidding me!? I can sense its emotions! I know it's there! Just like it was behind the zebra when she got here!" Say what?

"Then why did you not warn me of what I did not see?!" Yeah, that's Zecora. When did she get here though? And... Man I must have overslept.

"Oh sure! Just tell you that I thought I saw something behind you, despite not actually seeing it. Why did I ever think you wouldn't believe me!?!" Uh... She's got a point.

Rolling my eyes at the apparent 'situation'–It was probably nothing–I grabbed hold of the doorknob and gave it a twist, before then pushing it open as another, smaller, yawn made its way out from me.

Oddly enough, the moment I stepped into the room, whatever talking that they were doing, it all came to a stop. All eyes were instantly on me, not a word, or sound, being made by anypony... Or myself; Mostly because I found this to be extremely awkward.

Eventually though, I did regain my words. "... Um... Hi?" I said, hoping to somehow break the ice.

"... S-sir Jeremy..." Nightmare Moon greeted–sort of– in return, her voice seeming to struggle just to say that. "You are awake." That's... A little bit obvious, but, alright.

"Well, yeah. Something woke me up." I scratched against the back of my head as I noticed the four seem to visibly flinch at the statement. "Speaking of, Halfy, how come you didn't wake me up this time?" I asked with a raised brow.

"Oh, um, well, y-you see, it's that-"

"We asked her to." Chrysalis interrupted, drawing my, and for a moment, Halfy's, attention. I could already guess that 'we', in this case, meant her and Nightmare Moon, considering how the two glanced to one anothe- Wait, they did something together?!? Damn it, I miss ALL the good stuff!

... Somehow, that doesn't sound right.

Shaking my head at these thoughts, I looked between Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis as another question of mine began to form.

"Why's that?" I inquired, crossing my arms in the process. "I mean, not to say I don't appreciate the extra rest, but I didn't really... Well, need it." Zecora was the first to answer this time.

"I believe that they are attempting to repay what they believe to be grievance from yesterday." Oh?

"Really? Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, you didn't have to-" I felt myself freeze. A reset. That's all I could describe it as while I thought over what Zecora had just said. "... Zecora... How did you know about...?"

Despite trailing off, Zecora seemed to easily understand what I had meant, her eyes widening before she hastily placed her hoof over her mouth, as it would take back way she had said. Nightmare Moon and Halfy seemed to be surprised as well, while Chrysalis practically burned a hole into Zecora's head.

"... You... Told her?"

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"... You... Told her?"

Okay, now I have somepony else to get a bit of revenge upon.

Honestly, SHE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO TELL HIM THAT SHE KNEW! The reason that Nightmare Moon and I had agreed to tell her in the first place was because we figured she should at least know! That way, she wouldn't make any stupid mistakes–Stupider than usual, at least.

Instead, she flat out admits that she knows right away!?!

Yanking my attention away from the emotional source I sensed to still be stationed on top of the house, I looked towards Jeremy as his emotions momentarily flayed. Shock, panic, anger. All of this exuding from an unmoving body.

He... Didn't seem to know what to feel.

"When did you-... Why did you-..." Shutting his eyes, he took in an audible breath through his nose, pinching its bridge as he now began to gain a more visible and clear emotion, comprised of anger, and irritation.

Before I, or seemingly anypony else, knew it though, Nightmare Moon had already begun to break her stunned silence... In an odd way.

She practically bowed towards Jeremy, a look of nothing but sheer guilt, and hope for forgiveness, upon her face as she looked to him. "Oh, please, Sir Jeremy, do pardon us!" She began. "We simply felt as though she should know! After all, she is an old companion of yours, and we believed that-... That-... Please do not be angry."

... Seems as though she still doesn't feel any better about last night. I couldn't really be sure about it, but the way she sounded, along with how she was acting... It seemed like there was more guilt to her than she let on, though she obviously didn't want to reveal that such fact.

Again, I felt Jeremy's emotions shift several times over. It was as if I was watching the four seasons change within several instances, violently and abruptly. To my surprise though, they finally came to a rest on one particular emotion... Calm.

"... It's fine." He said, pulling his hand away from his face and looking to us again, specifically Nightmare Moon. The alicorn, in return, seemed surprised by this, her eyes widening as she looked to him again.

"Really?" I asked, a brow raising as I did so.

"Yeah... Yeah it's fine." He uttered. "You said it yourself, after all," he focused his attention to Nightmare Moon. "She's an old friend of mine, and if you two know, then..." He took in a quick breath before continuing. "Then she has the right to know too."

... Wow... I honestly was not expecting that. Especially after how he had reacted yesterday. "You seem surprisingly... Placid about this..." I observed aloud, to which he shrugged.

"I've had some time to think things over, I guess. Besides, in hindsight, it's better that Zecora learn this way than by example, right?" So, a few extra hours of sleep, and suddenly, he's an exemplary philosopony? Really?

Quickly deciding to drop the thought, and hopefully the subject, with a roll of my eyes and a shake of my head, Nightmare Moon once again stood herself up from the floor; Cautiously, for just in case Jeremy would change his mind, I guessed.

Halfy and Zecora, who had both been quietly sitting to the sides of the situation, gave one another a quick glance, before then looking to the human again. I could easily see the relief practically pouring from them. Especially from the zebra, who also had a jovial amount of joy exuding from her at the willingness of her friend to share such a thing–His fear and reasoning–in understanding.

"I-I'm glad you think so." Halfy added, her voice still soft in its volume.

"... Yes. I suppose that I much rather prefer that you don't lose your mind whenever somepony finds out that you're afraid of the light. It's already bad enough dealing with you sane as is." To my, oddly pleasant, surprise, this drew a chuckle from him.

"You aren't exactly a joy to deal with yourself." He rebutted, finally... Er, that is to say, I didn't particularly miss arguing with him, so such as I...

"Ahem. I... Think we should focus on the matter at hoof." I said, rolling my forehoof at him, and the others, in a sort of 'moving on' motion.

Jeremy's brow rose at this. "Oh yeah. What exactly is the matter anyways?"

Almost out of instinct, I felt my eyes dart to the rhyme-obsessed monochrome on my left, forming to a glare. "Well, as it turns out, somepony led something else here." She rolled her eyes at me, an air of annoyance forming about her. "Now, it's on the roof."

Glancing between each of us, Jeremy pursed his lips in what looked like thought. "Well... Crap... Thats not good. Did you manage to get a look at it?" He asked. I shook my head in response.

"Hardly. I saw it because I could sense its emotions. And if that wasn't enough, we all heard it!" For a moment, he turned his head away from us, muttering something that I could barely make out to say 'so that's what woke me up'. Just as quickly though, he turned it to us again.

"Okay, yeah, that's a problem." He said. "Though, considering how it managed to apparently follow Zecora without her noticing, and get on the roof so quietly... For the most part... You think it's safe to assume that it had wings on it?"

Halfy gave out a gasp next to me. "D-do you think it's another pony? A member of the guard?" I quickly dismissed this theory of hers as I took another glance to the being.

"Doubtful. It's too big to be a pony." I said.

"Perhaps... Is it another alicorn?" Nightmare Moon asked, myself chuckling loudly in return.

"Please. You and I both know that those princesses would never be bothered to do something like this on their own." As if I was wrong, either. After all, why would they be looking for us when they have so many guards. Let alone the fact that they have no idea where we are... Tartarus, I barely have any idea where we are.

As I searched mind for an answer, or at least some sort of plan, I could hear Jeremy's footsteps as he walked by me, likely to find someplace to sit-

"I'm gonna go check." All of our eyes widened at what must have been the exact same time as he said this, each of us turning ourselves around and towards him, looking to him in shock.

"What?!" I exclaimed. "Are you mad?! Why would you-"

"Because nobody else seems to have any ideas." This promptly quieted me. Not from shock this time though, but because I honestly wasn't sure of how to respond.

"I-... You-"

"Will be fine." He cut me off and reassured me, giving a curt smile as he grabbed the front door's handle. I hadn't even noticed him walking towards it. "Besides, whatever it is, in pretty sure we can take it. Besides, didn't the two of you actually beat Celestia once?"

Well, technically, I was only able to do that because of all the love energy I had gotten from that Shining Armor fellow, and as for Nightmare Moon... Ah, I'm not sure.

"If that's not strong enough to deal with a threat, then I don't know what is." And with that, along with one last chuckle, he twisted the knob, and pushed the door open, making his way outside.

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As the grass tamped below my feet, tickling me softly as I did so, I could notice Zecora, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, and Halfy peeking their heads outside through the opening in the door. Thankfully though, they didn't further reveal themselves from just that, keeping themselves relatively out of sight.

The scene was still pretty funny though, with all of their heads practically stacked on top of one another as they watched me.

Chuckling silently, I moved myself further out into the clearing that Halfy's house resided in, before then turning myself around and looking to the roof, where Chrysalis had last sensed... Whatever it was.

As I did so though, I rose a brow, being met with, rather than any sort of figure, an empty roof. Had it moved already?

Scratching the back of my head, I shook off what little lost nerves i had, constantly reminding myself that I'd be fine, and that this was nothing. Besides, Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis were right there.

Not wanting to risk calling out to Chrysalis to ask her where it might have gone, I glanced around the clearing, looking for even the smallest of hints.

Fortunately–Or would it be unfortunately?–I managed to spot something off to the side. A small, almost impossible to make out discoloration among the green of the grass and forest around me.

My interest piqued, I made my way over to the different sight, practically feeling the eyes of my friend as they continued to watch me from the door... And shuddering for a moment as the thought of something else watching me came to mind.

Within a few short moments, I had made it over to the discoloration among the grass, and only now was I able to make out any real details. Momentarily bending myself over and picking up the object of interest, I held it up to the moonlight, furthering my view on it and quickly figuring out what it was.

A feather. A rather rough and sturdy one too. It was practically a pure white, with the only more distinguishable feature being... Its purple edges... Well what do you know?

Pretty much everything fell together at that point: The reason that whatever it was, or rather, whoever it was, had chosen Zecora to follow. Its speed and flight. The voice that I could barely recall had woken me up...

So, as the bush far off to my side started to rustle, I only found myself smiling, rather than shuddering nervously.

"... Heh. Damn it." I said with a chuckle, allowing the feather to fall from my hand and quickly feeling a strong, though sudden, pressure along my entire side. With a small ache from my, still not entirely healed, ribs, I was sent into a tumble, with what felt like talons grabbing me and continuing to push me along the floor.

This went on for a while, with myself only getting glances of the familiar figure I 'fought' against, and the grass and new weight constantly hitting against me.

Finally, with one last grunt, the tumbling stopped, as I was then firmly placed with my back against the floor, and some weight over my stomach.

Despite the dizziness that I felt, I managed to look up at my 'captor' , momentarily smiling as I took notice of the white and purple feathers that scattered themselves among into a solid layer along most of her head and neck, with two wings to her sides, a light shade of brown like the rest of her. Her talons close to her as a smug smile came to her beak, her tail wagging lightly behind her and brown eyes practically gleaming with amusement, I almost rolled my eyes right then and there at the familiar position.

She was always one for 'surprise attacks'.

"S'up." She said. "Looks like I win again." A joking, though slightly honest, tone to her, voice.

This time, I did roll my eyes, giving a chuckle as I crossed my arms below her and gave a smile of my own. "I wouldn't say that was really a win, but hey, you do it every time, so I probably should have seen that coming." I replied.

"Heh. Got that right." She said with a laugh, her tail again swishing behind her.

"... It's nice to see you again, Gilda."

Chapter 22: Unforeseen, But Not Unwelcome

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I've really got to stop falling for this. This had to be the... What, twentieth time that she had tackled me to the floor?

One would think that I would see this coming at this point, that I'd be able to keep myself from getting ambushed by her; then again, it's been a while since I've seen her, so... I'd say that made a viable excuse.

From my pinned position, the grass tickling at the exposed parts of my neck and the like as I shifted slightly, I could see the griffin on top of me curl her beak into a smile, a familiar chuckle coming from her tomboyish voice as she then spoke up.

"Yeah, I know. I'd probably think that it's good to see me too." She said, responding to my earlier statement with over-dramatized pride; her chest was puffed outwards, and her smile grew even larger at the talk of her 'greatness'.

It was good to see that she's kept her sense of modesty, I guess. It made a, relatively, good icebreaker.

Rolling my eyes, I gave my own smile at her 'affirmation' as I managed to pry my arms free from her grip, promptly crossing them with one another. It wasn't hard to do so though. Whenever she would do this, she'd always at least have enough sense to be careful, and for the most part 'gentle', about it. Good thing too, considering the small remnants aching in my ribs that she had just caused.

"Uh-huh. Sure. Because you've done sooo much to make me, or anypony else, think so." I said sarcastically, quickly ripping away her boasting persona as she let out a cheerful laugh.

"Good one. Though, it's not like I haven't been busy." She rolled her wrist at the air behind her. "It's weird, but you would think that, being the only thing that walks on two legs for miles, you'd be easier to find."

Admittedly... I could see how that was pretty ironic... Still though...

"You... Were looking for me? How come?" I inquired, a brow raised in curiosity.

"Oh, what, can't a griffoness drop in on her friend every now and then?" She replied, a clearly false and comical tone of hurt in her voice before she withheld a laugh.

Well... Tried to. She was never good at that.

"And besides..." she quickly added, her eyes momentarily looking over and scanning every part of my body that she could see from her position; she ended up focusing on the layer of bandaging that was still wrapped around most of my torso. "It looks like you've been... 'Busy'." She raised a brow as she said this, the last word she had said seeming to flow with questioning.

"It's... Been a long few months." Yet again, she gave a chuckle.

"No foolin'." She replied simply enough, a roll of her eyes adorning the statement and a talon lightly tapping the bandaging I wore as added emphasis. "I mean, honestly, I thought this was just for show."

Sarcastic as ever too.

I couldn't say anything against this though. After all, it was who she was; A well-meaning, though often obnoxious and offensive, griffon with a hankering for sarcasm and conflict–In the nicest way possible, of course... If that even made sense.

Besides, she, like I said, never really meant to do any harm... Unless she really wanted to... I'm not helping my case, am I?

Look, let me just try and put it this way: She was like... The slightly nicer and much more good-spirited version of Chrysalis; A funny bone or two of hers had been added in to further the difference, as could be seen by some of the pranks and jokes she'd have pulled some time ago. Though she didn't particularly enjoy being on the other end of the prank... That was oddly accurate.

Speaking of though... Have I forgotten something...?

I barely managed to keep my eyes from widening, my calm expression retaining itself from sheer instinct as I realized something. Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, Halfy, and Zecora could probably see this. Hell, this wasn't a guess of any sort, so much as it was a complete and utter fact.

I... Can only imagine how they're reacting... Still, I have to keep on for now, don't I? At least, until I can figure out what to do now.

... Of all the times she could possibly decide to visit me, it just had to be in the middle of all of this crap?

"So," I started once more, attempting to further prolong the conversation and give myself some time to think–god that sounded underhanded–"I'm curious... How did you find me?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The amount of magic that I had to pull up from the love that I still held within me, and sheer willpower to keep myself from simply releasing it and letting my current target of its grip go, was astounding, to say the least.

Even now, I was still holding back the alicorn, blocking her magic with my own and keeping her hooves firmly planted on the ground below her, so as to make sure she wouldn't try to intervene.

I admit, when that thing had first crashed into Jeremy, I myself was... Ahem...

However, at the same time, the emotions that he displayed just before that had happened... If he was really being attacked at the moment, then they wouldn't have made sense. Even after he had been pinned by this apparent griffon, I saw no negative emotions coming from either him, or her.

No hostility, or fear; two honest senses of friendliness and cheer. Let alone the fact that, once the zebra, Zecora, had caught sight of the griffon, she immediately lost her previous sense of fearful concern–though, she did retain a sense of annoyance and slight worry.

Halfy, in the meanwhile, was far too shocked and unsure of what to do to react–Nightmare Moon, being the only one who lacked my sight of one's emotions, Zecora's 'familiarity' to the griffon, and Halfy's timidity, had narrowed her eyes the moment Jeremy had been hit to the floor.

Having predicted what she would likely try to do, uncaring of revealing our presences here despite the fact that we were, to put it lightly, along the most recognized and disliked beings in Equestria, I had, and still have been keeping her held back as a result.

"Release us, no- mmpph!" Empresses, there's always something with her!

Focusing some of the magic that I gripped her in towards her muzzle, I shut her mouth before she could make anymore noise.

For the entire split second that she was unable to vocally communicate, I felt nothing but the utmost bliss, wondering why I had never done this before. However, just because I had closed her mouth, that didn't mean that I had stopped her from using the mental link that she still held over Jeremy and I.

"What is the meaning of this!?!" She had mentally yelled towards me angrily, the volume of the message, alongside its place of presence in my mind, momentarily sending a jarring and painful ring through my head.

I gave her a glare, just as she gave one to me, whilst I continued to restrain her.

"Would you just hold still and think for a second!" I mentally shouted to her at an even higher volume, my annoyance and anger easily audible, as I had hoped it would be. "If she wanted to hurt him, she would have done it already! On top of that, there isn't a single emotion that she's showing that can possibly make her hostile! Even Jeremy seems to be fine with this!"

With an even stronger pull against her, the glow of my horn growing slightly as I reigned her back by a fraction of an inch, I continued my angered rant towards her. If she was angry after this, then congratulations to her! I couldn't care less if it'll keep us from the dungeons!

"We need to stay hidden! Jeremy can take care of this on his own, he and Zecora seem to know this griffon, but not if you rush into the situation like some sort of foal!" Much to a great part of my mind's relief, alongside my still rather limited supply of energy, the force behind her attempted escape gave a large slack, allowing me to relax slightly.

"... Be that as it may," another short, much weaker tug could be felt as she said this, "we cannot yet be sure that this being is yet trustworthy!" It was like a verbal game of chess really; one where I had to continually counter every move she made... And if that was the case...

"Oh? Then you don't trust Jeremy's judgement? Even after how he proved you–" I paused for a moment, holding back a snarl at what I was about to add. "Us wrong about Halfy?" Then that was checkmate.

As I had predicted, what little struggle that the alicorn had shown to remain came to an end, leaving her standing plainly in one spot, a momentary menagerie of jumbled emotions peering through her mental barrier before just as quickly being hidden away once more.

I could see her attempt to open her mouth several times, as if ready to say something despite the invisible muzzle I had placed over her; wether it would have been an open insult, or plainly a comment, I didn't know. Each time, however, only muffled silence came out.

Finally, with one last scowl in my direction, she gave out a reluctant breath.

"... Very well then." She said, finally seeming to calm "We will, again, trust Sir Jeremy's judgement."

For another moment or two, I continued to hold her in my magical grasp, a part of me still skeptical as to her newly-calmed self. After a few seconds though, I released her, relieving myself of the heavy mind of concentration I had needed in order to restrain her; a strong throb echoed through my head, likely the resultant of an oncoming headache.

Rubbing a forehoof at my head's temple, I gave out a silent groan. Looking at the scene before me, it was only now that I noticed that Zecora and Halfy were looking at the two of us, seemingly confused and speechless as to our display.

I don't need them to be looking at me like that, thank you very much.

I gave the two glares, practically snarling, which prompted them to turn their gazes away from us and towards the door of the house; They used a small, barely open crack in order to keep an eye on Jeremy and the apparent griffon.

'Gilda', I think I had overheard her name to be. Not an odd name for griffons, but certainly not normal for ponies and the like.

In my distraction from these thoughts, I barely gave notice to the fact that Nightmare Moon had joined the other two in gazing through the crack in the door, watching and listening from afar. It was... Amusing, actually, watching as she dwarfed the two with ease. While they simply struggled to give one another clear views without limiting their own, the alicorn was able to easily stand, or even sit, in a single spot with a perpetually superior view and position.

Again, I glanced to the struggling two, my lips momentarily pursing as I shifted my gaze back to the alicorn once more and shook my head.

There was no way I was going to even allow myself to get close to doing that. After all, I have a relatively clear view of my own, what with the two emotional entities I can sense through the walls. As for hearing, they weren't exactly speaking quietly. Especially that griffin, who may as well have been shouting, honestly.

"Oh, what, can't a griffoness check on her friend every now and then?" It was... Odd, but she was lying and telling the truth at the same time with this statement of hers.

I rose a brow at the fact, making a mental note of it for later, alongside the momentary surge of emotion that went through her with it.

Nonetheless, like Nightmare Moon, Halfy, and Zecora, I listened on as the two continued to converse, not hearing or seeing anything of particular interest until a few moments later.

"I'm curious... How did you find me?" As I heard Jeremy ask this question, I felt an ear twitch, and my brows furrow.

'How did you find me'? Was he really going for that?

We already know how she found us! She obviously followed that zebra here, we've been over this!

At this point, I prayed for, if not his, but my own mental sanity, that he was just trying to stall for time, and that he wasn't actually that clueless.

"Pfft. Duh! I just followed Zecora here!" And there's further proof.

"Oh. Heh, I guess I probably should've figured." I'd give it to him, he was a... Relatively good liar... Sometimes. He had quite a bit left to learn though. For instance, he shouldn't chuckle like a nitwit at the beginning of a sentence!

Despite this blatant error on his part though, the griffon didn't seem to notice, instead busying herself with a growing sense of self-appointed pride.

"No kiddin'. Gotta say though, it wasn't easy. I had to go two nights without sleeping just to see where she was going." She said this bracingly, but at the moment, I was beginning to take note of a sudden sense of surprise in the room, followed shortly by irritation.

"Really?" Jeremy asked curiously. "Didn't she... You know, notice that you weren't asleep?" The griffin scoffed.

"As if. Can you believe all I had to do was close my eyes and pretend I had a snore? Heh, times like those that I'm glad I take so many naps." The irritation from before? It had escalated to full blown anger.

Before I knew it, Zecora, who had been the source of these emotions, gave out a breath through her nose, every obvious intent of doing harm to the griffon clear in her emotions as she took a step to the door, partially pushing it open.

As much as I liked her enthusiasm to get rid of this griffon, we still couldn't afford letting her see us just yet!

The door gave a creak, and just that, before Zecora was surrounded by a magical field, being held back despite her dragging hooves and snarling anger. I, however, wasn't the one doing this.

If only from the momentary confusion of the matter, I paused before I noticed that Nightmare Moon's horn was, at the moment, glowing in a similar sense of that which surrounded Zecora.

Its almost poetic, isn't it? I hold back Nightmare Moon to keep her from interrupting, and she ends up doing the same for Zecora–Though, it was obvious that she did not struggle as greatly as I did, barely batting an eye as she managed to drag Zecora away from the door and forced her to plop herself down next to her.

"Miss Zecora," she said simply and silently, "we must await for Sir Jeremy if we are to take action." I rolled my eyes at this.

"Sure. Now you think that." Watching with annoyance of my own, though I felt a bit of amusement tinge at me as Zecora began to give several angered grumbles, I soon turned my head back to the griffon and Jeremy, who, thankfully, had both not seemed to notice the partially opening door Zecora had brought about in her anger.

"Killjoy." I heard the griffon suddenly say with a short laugh, my brow raising in confusion.

"To be fair, you brought that on yourself." Hearing these words, the griffon gave a sigh, and I barely suppressed an annoyed groan as I realized that I had missed a part of their conversation in my, and the others', distraction. They didn't seem any more knowing on this lost segment either, considering the apparent confusion they felt as they began to listen in again.

Oddly though, there were a few fading emotional remnants of, what looked like, lustful amusement and embarrassed humor, each from their appropriate sources.

Now I was really interested in what they had said, mentally cursing the zebra for her interference.

Tch. I'll get it out of him later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"As if. Can you believe all I had to do was close my eyes and pretend I had a snore? Heh, times like those that I'm glad I take so many naps."

... Huh. You know, I'm surprised Zecora didn't come charging out here threatening to kick Gilda's flank again.

Not many ponies knew it, but there were two things that annoyed Zecora more than anything: Messing with her potions–though I had avoided her fury as a result of the instantaneous comeuppance I was given at the time; to this day there's still remnants of an uncomfortable craving for minty things in my systems–and being tricked.

And, considering the fact that she had basically just admitted to tricking her, while she was watching... Yeah, I couldn't help but to mentally commend Zecora for her control... Then again, maybe the others held her bac-

"Hello? Equestria to J'. You there?" Ah... I had nearly forgotten about that nickname she had given me.

Shaking my head and giving her a smile, I let out an awkward chuckle as I realized that I had gotten distracted in my own thoughts. "Sorry about that." I apologized. "By the way, you do know that Zecora is probably gonna kick your butt for tricking her, once she finds out, right?" I could already feel the glare that Zecora would soon be giving me in her attempts to get to Gilda.

Not pleasant.

"Meh. Yeah, probably..." She glanced around us for a moment or two, a smile slowly coming to her face. One that, honestly, made me feel a little... Uncomfortable.

"... Um... You know," I began to say, glancing down at her seated self, "you can get off of me now."

She didn't respond, shifting herself slightly atop of me, seeming to make herself more comfortable, and her tail giving a quick yet lazy wag behind her. Alongside that, she gained a... Familiar expression. One that made me a little nervous as I quickly recognized it.

"... Gilda..." I called warily, squirming slightly underneath her.

"Hmm?" She hummed in return, her eyes now starting to lid themselves halfway.

"You're doing it again." She shrugged her shoulders at my warning, acting as if she had no idea what I was talking about.

"Doing what again?"

... Yeahhhh. See, there's one more trait about Gilda that I had, um... Left out. She liked to... Flirt... A lot. At least with me.

I didn't know why she did it, she just did. I couldn't tell wether she'd just be joking, or if she was serious, and honestly, that's what worries me the most about it. Worse still, she seems to know that.

"Gilda, we've been over this before." I stated, now crossing my arms as I looked to her with a firm glare. She seemed to go unfazed by this though, looking away momentarily and shaking her head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about big guy." Yeah, sure she doesn't. Also, I'm only, about, a few inches taller than her; in fact, she's taller than me whenever she would be on her hind legs. Would 'big guy' really be appropriate he-

"Focus!" Mentally scolding myself for getting off track, I sighed as I gave my eyes a quick roll.

"I'm serious, Gilda. It's time for you to get off." She smirked at this, leaning herself down to be a few mere inches from me; whatever intimidation or factor of seriousness I had about me practically disintegrated as she did this, now replaced by splatters of nervousness and anxiety.

"Oh don't worry," she said huskily, "I plan on it." Goddamnit Gilda, can't you go a single day that we see one another without doing this. Let alone when NIGHTMARE MOON and the OTHERS are WATCHING! Damn, this will be hard to explain to them. Plus, Chrysalis will probably never shut up about this.

Honestly though, Gilda's a good friend and all, but I'd personally prefer that she just try to stay at that leve- Oh god!

As I now realized that her tail had moved out of my sight, shifting with slow precision particularly close to a... Certain region, my eyes widened, and I quickly felt my face heat itself up to a degree that it might as well have been on fire.

With practiced speed–though it's not like I purposely wanted to practice this sort of thing, so much as I was forced to do so on these kinds of instances–I reached around Gilda and grabbed hold of her tail, moving it away from its previous placement and instead putting it in front of me, making sure that Gilda had a clear view of it.

A shiver momentarily went through her before she noticed what I held, her eyes turning to pinpricks and her entire body seeming to freeze. I smirked at her reaction as she then moved her gaze to me.

"... You wouldn't..." She said, almost challengingly. Without even saying another word, I gave her tail a quick squeeze.

Her reaction was instant; her back stiffened the rest of her straight up, permitting an even greater distance from her to me. Along with that, a shock seemed to go through her, fur and feathers ruffling and standing on end in their journey upwards, being ended with an odd face that, in short, made it look like she had just been electrocuted.

I chuckled as I recrossed my arms, her tail still in my grip, and gave her my own challenging look.

Fun fact, and not very well known, actually: A griffon's tail is extremely sensitive if treated wrong. I mean, sure, it can take its fair amount of abuse, but if it's so much as squeezed or pulled the wrong way, it can bring a lot of discomfort to its owner. I had found this out by accident, actually, during one of the many other times she had gotten me in this position. Since then, that's pretty much been my defense against her; which is useful, considering I never really had any advantage over her before this whole mess had even gotten started anyhow.

After another moment or so, she seemed to soften her posture again, giving herself a quick shake in an attempt to return her displaced feathers and fur to their original place. Once this was done, a comical shudder escaping her, she looked to me again, this time in a glare.

"Really?" She asked angrily, myself only smiling and nodding in return. For a bit, she jut continued to glare at me while I carefully kept a grip on her tail, ignoring what little wriggling it was doing in an effort to escape me. Soon enough though, the corners of her mouth–beak?–tugged themselves into a smile; she gave a chuckle, slowly shaking her head at her own defeat.

"Killjoy." With another short chortle, she began to make her way off of me; I let go of her tail in order to let her get up comfortably before I began to stand myself up as well. It's weird, but, though she had often told me she didn't like losing, she'd always be a relatively good sport whenever I would beat her. Then again, this isn't the kind of thing I would prefer to beat her at.

It was at that moment that I felt a light smack against my back, looking to Gilda just in time to notice her tail returning to its place behind her, and an 'innocent' look on her face.

"To be fair, you brought that on yourself." I brushed off what little dirt and filth had accumulated on my back and front from the earlier tumble, even finding another one of Gilda's feather's stuck in between my jacket and bandages before nonchalantly tossing it away with a laugh.

"Heh. Whatever you say, J." I rolled my eyes at her obvious sarcasm, the warmth in my face from a few moments ago finally beginning to fade. "So then, mind telling me what you've been up to?"

... Shit.

"Oh, um... I want to say 'nothing much', buuuuuut..." I looked to her and gestured to myself. "As you can tell, that'd be a pretty obvious lie." She gave a nod in my direction, her face in a deadpan expression that just screamed 'you don't say'?

"Sooo... With that out, I guess I'll... Go for our usual arrangement?" She raised a brow at this, her smile remaining firmly on her face.

"You mean the 'you go first and I'll owe you one later' agreement, or the 'don't bother Zecora this time and I'll buy you some fish' one." I gave her a deadpan of my own. "Alright, alright, I'm joking. Yeesh... But, sure I'll take you up on that offer." The smirk she put on at the end of that sentence worried me again, but not by too much.

That agreement of ours was... A little one-sided, I admit. The only reason I came up with it was because, when I knew her, Gilda was basically just like my sister in the regards that she would drag me along for everything. I saved myself a lot of work and effort by asking her to do whatever over-the-top thing she wanted me to try first, ergo having her deal with the worse of the events and leaving the easier for me.

It was... Partially worth it. As for that 'IOU' I would often need to repay her with... Well, it wasn't anything intimate, I had made sure to that, openly telling her that it was the one thing I would not allow her to make me do. Other than that though... Anything went.

The memory of the time she made me sit in a pile of garbage for over three hours, just because I had reminded her of an embarrassing moment of hers, rang a bell.

"Great... I think..." I was already regretting this. A short and devious laugh escaping her, Gilda put a talon to her beak, tapping it in thought as she seemed to recall what she had done in her more recent days.

"Lets see... I went back to the griffon kingdom for a few days; checked out this awesome dragon cave–and yeah, it was empty when I found it... Bummer; pretty much dived into every lake I could find, mostly because I got bored after doing nothing but flying for a few days; found some Diamond Dogs, and kicked their butts after I noticed them staring at the somewhere other than my face; then I-" Despite my attempts to listen to her, quite impressive, summary of her trip, I ended up involuntarily drowning it out as I heard somepony else speak up. Not physically though, but mentally.

"...Sir Jeremy, are ye certain of this?" Thankfully, from her more gentle approach, I wasn't really startled by her sudden involvement, and didn't end up physically reacting; that would have ended up awkwardly had Gilda noticed. Still, before I could even question what she had meant, she seemed to have already known the answer. "We are aware that you hold trust in this Griffon, and we do not mean to question your judgement... However..."

I couldn't hold back a mental or physical smile as she said this, a quiet chuckle escaping as well. "You know, I actually find it kind of funny. If this is how you're reacting, I can only imagine how Chrysalis is doing." Already I could hear Chrysalis telling me off for this, scolding and shouting at me for telling somepony else about what was happening.

"We apologi-"

"Don't worry Nightmare Moon, it's fine." I assured, not wanting for her to start beating herself up for nothing. In the back of my mind though, I could still feel her prominent sense of worry, though clearly suppressed.

This... Was a problem. A confusing one at that.

I mean, Nightmare Moon had been completely fine when she had met Zecora, hadn't she? Sure, things were different with Halfy in that regard, but she grew to trust her as well.

What made Gilda so different? What made it so that she prompted such... Concern...

She really wasn't a bad griffon in any regard. A little obnoxious, maybe, but nothing intolerable. Honestly, I just wished I could show her that she was a good-... Why didn't I think of that a few seconds ago?

Mentally slapping myself for my own, seemingly ignorant, idiocy, I began to devise a plan in the back of my head. One that would, hopefully, lighten Nightmare Moon's worry, and, if I'm lucky, minimize the amount of chastising Chrysalis would give me... Probably not. "... Tell you what, if you like, we can have Halfy meet her first." I could quickly sense the confusion from her. "Think about it. Halfy's able to see the good in other beings, right? Well, having her meet Gilda should show you two that she's trustworthy as well."

Then again, if Halfy even shows the slightest hint that she sees the opposite of what I'm hoping for... No. No, she won't. Whether there's a chance of that happening or not, I trust Gilda.

Anyways, as for Nightmare Moon's reaction to this idea... She was skeptical at first. After a few prolonged moments of what I assumed to be thought however, she spoke up again. "... Very well, Sir Jeremy. We shall relay this to Chrysalis and the others." I sent her a mental nod of my head, momentarily tuning back into Gilda's story to make sure I still had some time to talk–By the way, I had no idea she could drink that much cider without passing out–before asking Nightmare Moon one last question.

One last... Awkward question.

"Oh, uh, by the way... How much of that earlier conversation did you happen to overhear?" Yeah... Had to make sure.

"What... Is it that you mea-"

"Nevermind! Nothing happened! Bye!" And with that, I sealed off my own mind to the best of my ability, hoping to end that subject then and there.

Okay, so, apparently, Nightmare Moon had missed that part of when Gilda was on me... I think. If the universe had decided to give me even more luck though, Chrysalis and the other would have done the same... Please let that be what happened.

"-And I ended up having to outrun an Ursa Minor before deciding to come back for a visit... You're up, J." Pushing aside what she had said as being 'just Gilda', I shrugged.

"... Alright. Lets see, I've..." I hesitated for a moment at the memories, but with a deep breath, I started to let them all out. "Been arrested by Canterlot guards; stuck in a small dark jail cell with two others for a few months; staged an escape, in which I didn't make it; got starved, dehydrated, and beaten practically everyday for a couple more months; developed a phobia from it; managed to stage another escape, this time rescued by the two from earlier; ended up in the Everfree; met up with Zecora, where I got these bandages; ended up meeting another pony, and staying here with her and my cellmates; annnnd... The rest... Smaller details, really. " Talk about a long-story-short, huh?

As for Gilda's reaction... Well, she was surprised at first.

"Pffft, HAHAHAHAHA!" Like I said, at first. "Ha! Whoo! That's a good one! Bu- hehe- but seriously though, what happened? Heh." Yeah, I should've figured as much. Crossing my arms, I gave out a sigh, knowing exactly where this was going from past experience.

"Weird, Zecora had the same reaction." Gilda rose a brow at this, but she continued her chortling nonetheless.

"Alright then... Since I don't particularly want to go through the trouble of trying to convince you, I'll just skip that step and move on to this one." Turning myself to the house with another sigh, I gestured for her to follow me. "C'mon, lets go introduce you to the others."

And, again, I hoped for the best.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I-I don't know about this, Princess." Halfy confessed to the shadow alicorn, her nerves already beginning to get the best of her, despite Gilda having not yet arrived.

As she nervously drew circles into the ground below her, averting her gaze from Nightmare Moon, and any other being in the room, Chrysalis gave out a withdrawn sigh, muttering silently at how much she disagreed with this ploy of Jeremy's.

"Our friend, we are aware that we are indeed asking a great plenty of thee, but we also cannot deny that thine abilities are significant in our following actions." Halfy pursed her lips at this, her body seeming to tense even more at the realization of the importance of her role. Chrysalis didn't even need her abilities to see that Halfy was only getting more nervous by the second.

"You're not quite the one to get a pep-talk from, are you Princess?" Nightmare Moon turned to look at her with a glare, but was openly ignored as the changeling put her attention to Halfy. "And if you're so nervous about doing things this way, then why didn't you just check to see if she had 'good' within her while she was outside?" Chrysalis questioned, rolling her hole-filled hoof as she did so, along with her eyes.

"I-it's not that simple. I have to be close to a pony, or anything else, before I can actually see them like that. Otherwise, they just look the same to me as anypony else might see them." She explained, flinching at the look that Chrysalis gave her shortly after.

"Tch. Of course..." Hearing the sound of somepony clearing their throats, Chrsyalis gave a mental groan as she looked to the source. There, near the furthest corner of the room, was Zecora, her posture upright and a look of calm on her face.

"To be fair, Changeling queen, you, neither, are as perfect as you mean." Chrysalis scoffed, pushing aside Zecora's own two bits to the situation as if it hadn't even been given. Nightmare Moon, as she did this, barely withheld another sigh of frustration before she looked back towards Halfy once more. The mare seemed to notice her gaze with ease, timidly placing herself to look eye-to-eye with her towering form once more.

"There is no need to be nervous, our friend. We will be near, prepared to assist, should anything take a turn for the worst. Of this, we give thee our word." Though her nerves were neither steeled, nor calmed, by Nightmare Moon's words, Halfy was at least able to manage a small smile in the direction of her friend.

"...O-okay..." As a smile now made its way to Nightmare Moon's features as well, and she opened her mouth in order to express her gratefulness, there was a knock at the door, paired with the sound of Jeremy's voice.

"Hello? Girls? We're coming in."

" 'Girls'? What, you been even more busy than I thought?"

"... Damnit Gilda."

At the sound of the two's voices, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, and Zecora looked towards one another one last time before quickly taking action.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... Damnit Gilda." Looking back to her and rolling my eyes at the apparent smugness on her face, I gave the doorknob a quick pair of twists–if only to subconsciously extend the time the girls had to react–and opened it with a push.

As the door creaked open, allowing the dim night's light to flood in inch by inch, I could feel Gilda's gaze circle around me in an attempt to gain a better view. Soon, the door was fully opened, the living room was clear in view, quickly catching sight of... Um... Wow...

Just Halfy. Nopony else... Just her... Sitting near the middle of the room, her overall position showing unease... Okay, seriously, this threw me off. I mean, I'm aware that the idea was to have Gilda meet Halfy first, and show Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon that she was trustworthy, but... How?!? How in the hell did an alicorn and a changeling queen, both of which being taller than me by at least two heads, just magically disa-... Wait... 'Magically'... I marvel at my own ignorance sometimes. I really do.

In my distraction, I failed to notice Gilda make her way past me, now having reached the center of the main room of the house and taking a look around, seemingly lacking acknowledgement of Halfy's presence. She didn't seem to mind though. In fact, Halfy seemed partially relieved by the fact that she had been ignored.

"... So... This proves that story of yours, how?" Gilda asked, snapping me out of my earlier state as I now focused my attention to her. Unsurprisingly, she had the expression she would put on whenever she had suspected me of playing a trick on her–word of note, by the way, she had given me that face a lot when I had first met her. She couldn't really help it, I suppose, but still. "I mean, maybe I can believe that whole 'other pony' bit that you gave me near the end, and that one about Zecora helping you out, but, in case you haven't noticed, there's only one pony here." As she said this, she pointed a talon behind her, this gesture alone seeming to cause her to flinch. In fact, now that I'm looking at her, I can see that Halfy looked... Nervous... I sincerely hoped that this was just because of her timidity with new ponies, rather than...

"That's because they're... Waiting?" Great cover, Jeremy. No, really, I'm surprised you didn't go for a career in acting.

Suffice to say, Gilda couldn't have possibly been any more disbelieving, practically screaming 'really?' with her gaze.

"... Look, you'll meet them in a bit. Until then, why not greet the mare who is here." She and I both put our attention to Halfy, who only seemed to grow even more timid under our gazes.

Hoping to calm her down, I aimed a gentle smile in her direction, making my way over to her side and giving her a slight, encouraging nudge towards Gilda. "Halfy, this is Gilda. Gilda, this is Halfy."

Upon my... Rather rushed intro of the two, Gilda and Halfy just... Looked at one another, seeming to scan each other, though Halfy did so much more carefully. In fact, she seemed intimidated by Gilda.

Then again, a Griffon stands easily over a pony, most, according to Gilda, being around my height like herself; and considering the fact that Halfy only reached chest height in comparison with me, plus the fact that Gilda was made up of much more–with no offense of course–fearsome features... Yeah...

"...'Halfy'?" Gilda echoed, raising a brow while curiously narrowing her other. "So... This is who 'helped you'?" Well, nice to see she was still skeptical about that.

At the question, Halfy gave a meek nod of confirmation, before then just as quickly stiffening herself once again.

For a moment, as the two continued to look at one another, I grew nervous. Halfy hadn't shown any sort of greeting, or loss of timidity, or anything like that yet. In fact, so far, it seemed as though she actually had managed to see Gilda for who she was, and...

I bit on the inside of my cheek at the possible arrival of an issue, if not between Gilda and I, but between her and the others. If they took notice of, and they probably were at the moment as well, Gilda's apparent untrustworthiness... What would that mean for her?

After several long, agonizing seconds of silence, I managed to finally notice something. For a moment–a short, almost imperceivable moment, Halfy's eye seemed to widen, and her jaw loosened slightly from its previously tight grip... This seemed to have been the initial domino, as it were.

All of a sudden, many more of Halfy's features lost their tense and withdrawn details. Her shoulders lowered, her nose unwrinkled, the small shivers she gave passed to nothing, and, slowly but surely, the previously uncertain expression she held was replaced by a friendly–albeit still timid–smile.

"H-hello," she greeted, a sigh escaping me involuntarily at her having given her first words towards Gilda, "it's nice to m-meet you."

A much more friendly air about her, she rose a hoof of hers up towards Gilda... A handshake... Hoofshake... Talonshake...? Oh to hell with it, it was a shake. A friendly gesture.

Gilda was in the clear...

Speaking of, she looked at Halfy's extended hoof, then back to her, then her hoof again, before, with a smile of her own crafting upon her beak, she returned the greeting.

"Heh. Cool to meet you too." Rather than shake her extended hoof, Gilda instead pulled the talons of one of her appendages together, making a sort-of fist, and lightly butted it against the smooth underside of Halfy's hoof.

She seemed a little thrown off by this, at first, but with a short laugh, she quickly shrugged it off.

Heaving out a breath that I had not even been aware he had been holding, and mentally scolding myself for doubting my friend in the first place, I gave out a smile at the scene before me.

"Heh. Glad to see that worked." I said, Halfy looking towards me with an equally satisfied smile, while Gilda raised a confused brow in my direction.

"I'll... Explain later." I told her, scratching at the sudden itch at the back of my head. "For now though... Girls, you can come out now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Within an instant of his giving the signal, the room seemed to, momentarily, still itself of all motion and sound. Noticing this odd change, Glida glanced around the room, the fur near the back of her neck beginning to tingle.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed one of the many shadowed area in the room seem to move, giving an odd, life-like squirm. Before she could react to this, however, the shadow suddenly sprang to life, hurrying itself to a stationary position by Jeremy's right side.

As if by a domino effect, the other shadows in the room started to react similarly to the first, squirming before gathering themselves into a single mass by Jeremy's side.

Then, little by little, the mass of shadows began to take shape in another form, even beginning to raise from its two-dimensional prison on the floor and take a more physical form.

Features began to form from the unstable mass, including four long and slender legs, ended with four hooves to match, and a lighter-shaded flowing wisp, trailing behind what seemed to be the head and neck of a mare, with piercing white eyes.

Gilda's eyes widened and the lower half of her beak dropped as the conglomeration of shadows began to fade back into the ground, leaving the materialization of color and several other, once unseen features, such as a long horn, a midnight blue mane with what seemed like starry nights imbued within, large and graceful wings, and a pleasantly green-tinted pair of irises with black slits to adorn them.

As the last of the shadows left Nightmare Moon's form and began to return to their original places, Gilda speechlessly and motionlessly watching the scene before her, Jeremy looked towards the alicorn with some semblance of surprise to himself as well.

"Huh... So she can turn into shadows at will? Didn't know that." He mused to himself. A small smile on her features, Nightmare Moon turned her head to face Jeremy.

"So it seems that your judge of being continues to hold its unprecedented status, Sir Jeremy. Prithee, mayhaps you can accept our apologies for directing to you such doubt?" Jeremy gave a faint laugh at her words, waving her off and giving his head a slight shake.

"Again, it's fine Nightmare Moon." He assured her, before then turning his attention to the currently still Glida. "Oh, and that was a good entrance and all, but... I think you may have broken her." Looking to her newly met acquaintance with a raised brow, Halfy took a small step closer to her, tilting her head as she waved a hoof in front of her in an effort to gain her attention.

As she did this, the sound of laughter quickly filled the room, soon followed by the a dim glow. "Heh. She certainly had a value of entertainment to her so far." Chrysalis voice seemed to echo with her laughter, as the glow began to take form as a green and impressive flame, this time to Jeremy's left.

Considering the fact that it had a relatively suppressed form of light to it, allowing for Jeremy to keep from even flinching from its low brightness, he watched as the flames slowly took form in a way similar to that of Nightmare Moon's sudden appearance. Shortly after, the flames put themselves out, revealing her hole-filled legs, smooth and black exoskeleton, her calmly, yet sickly, shaded version mane, and a darker green pair of irises, slits within their holds just as well.

"Uh... I get how Nightmare Moon was able to hide... But how did-"

"Invisibility spell." She stated simply, preempting his unfinished question. "Foal's play, honestly."

Jeremy looked to her with a raised brow, momentarily glancing back to Nightmare Moon in doing so. "... Remind me to ask you two some more about what you can do later... For now..."

He again returned his gaze to the still frozen, if not even more so, Gilda. "Either of you two mind snapping her out of this?"

Within seconds, both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis' horns began to glow, as two near-identical, save for the magical glow that surrounded them, glasses of water appeared above the griffon's head. Halfy was barely able to step back in time, giving a small squeak as she did so, to avoid the cold water as it came down on top of Gilda, giving an audible splash as it did so.

Shivering and sputtering, Gilda suddenly seemed to come back to life, her feathers quickly getting drenched and her fur becoming heavy and matted from the ice cold water; a shudder went through her body while Jeremy, his face now deadpan, didn't even glance back at the two, already imagining the amused grins on their faces.

"... Really?" He asked, of course not expecting any answer in return, though still hearing a pair of withheld laughs. "... Alright... So, Gilda... What do you think?"

Wiping off some of the excess water from her face and beak, before then giving herself a quick shake, she moved her gaze to her friend, Jeremy, her expression showing a combination of seriousness and blankness... Before quickly sprouting a grin.

"... Awesome." This genuinely surprised the four, Halfy included, as they had at least expected for her to show some sort of panic, fear, or at least concern.

"So... You're fine with this... Completely?" Gilda scoffed at this.

"Dude, did you not hear when I told you 'I outran an Ursa Minor'?" Both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis rose a brow at this. "It's gonna take a lot more than this to scare me... Besides, I'd say this puts you up to an 11 on my scale."

This time, Jeremy was the one to raise a brow. "Uh... What scale?" He asked, instantly regretting it as he realized that she had gained that same familiar, devious grin on her face.

"Oh, I think you know which one." With a quick wink in his direction, Jeremy, who knew of her meaning from experience, felt his cheeks heat themselves, while Chrysalis, who could easily read the emotions of the griffon, was barely able to hold back a laugh at the newly received 'ammunition' she could use against Jeremy; this also assisted her in getting a general idea of what they had missed from the conversation the two had while they were outside.

Jeremy quickly made to change the subject. "Yeah, so, um, ahem, it's good to see that you don't really seem to mind their... Being here. Plus, now you know that I wasn't joking about what happened back in Canterlo-... Wait..." Suddenly taking notice in the fact that something was missing from the scene, Jeremy took a quick glance around the room.

"... Where's Zecora?" At the mention of this oversight of his, Gilda's eyes suddenly widened again, a sudden aura of concern finally surrounding her.

"Did you just say Zecora's here? Like... Here, here?" Jeremy blinked.

"Well, not technically, but-"

"If it is truly me that you fear, then you should know that I am right here." Gilda's fur lost a tone or two of color as a momentary shiver passed through her, and her eyes went to pinpricks.

A yelp escaped her as she turned as recoiled back, towards Jeremy and the others, from surprise; Halfy also gave a slight squeak from Zecora's sudden appearance, but, much like Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, and Jeremy, remained comparatively unfazed.

"Wha- Where did- How did you-" With a single clear of Zecora's throat, Gilda quickly quieted herself, attracting a suppressed laugh from Jeremy.

"Ironic," Jeremy thought to himself, and the other members of his
mental link, "she isn't afraid of anything. Anything at all... So long as it doesn't involve an angry Zecora." The three shared a mental–and held back physical–laugh at the thought; Gilda, however, was currently too occupied with her current situation to notice.

"Now, what was this trick you mentioned of purposeful snores? Explain quickly, or for certain, I'll make you sore." Her eyes narrowed into a glare while Gilda let out a nervous chuckle.

"Heh. C'mon Zecora, it's not like I did that just to trick you." Zecora's glare intensified, the bags under her eyes from her sleepless nights suddenly seeming more pronounced. "... Mostly."

With an irritated growl, Zecora began to make her way over to Gilda, the griffon taking a half-step backwards, though inevitably ending up with her standing no more than a foot away from her nonetheless. She craned her neck up and back, attempting to gain even more distance in any way possible.

Despite her proximity, Gilda retained her skittish smile.

"... You, uh... Aren't mad... Are you?" Curiously enough, contrary to Jeremy's thoughts of that having been the last sentence she would give before she would have to start running, Zecora's expression softened, her glare turning to a face of calm and a chuckle escaping her.

"Oh, I do not get mad, this you can believe in." Raising a brow in surprise, Gilda scanned Zecora for any signs of falsehood, before–having seen nothing–warily turning her head to Jeremy; he gave a shrug in response to her wordless question.

"... Well... Okay the- AGH!" A loud stomp filled the room as, with a short-lived shudder, Gilda once again stiffened herself like a statue, only this time, it was much more rigorously, and pained.

All at once, everyone, including Chrysalis, could not help but to at least flinch as they caught sight of Zecora, a satisfied smile on her face and one of her hooves firmly planted atop of Gilda's tail, pinning and flattening it directly to the ground.

"...I get even." Adding to her unfinished rhyme, Zecora then gave the frozen griffon a light push on her side, throwing off what little balance she had and causing her to fall to the floor, crumpling into a pained mess with a groan.

"... Uh..." Jeremy flinched again as Zecora removed her hoof from Gilda's tail. "We... May need a couple more glasses of water." He glanced over to her swelling and twitching tail. "... And an ice pack."

Chapter 23: Looking Back, Moving Ahead.

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"Oof... Why does it always have to be the tail?" Complained the pained griffon, as she held carefully onto her limp and slightly swollen appendage; she flinched whenever she felt a throb of discomfort originate from it, only serving to add to the smile that the zebra of cause, just across the room from her, held.

"To be fair," Jeremy commented, "you did kind of have that coming... For a lot of reasons." A light chuckle escaped him as he put both of his arms behind his head, leaning himself back against the wall and taking a quick glance around the room.

It had only been a few minutes since Zecora had... 'Taught Gilda a lesson',
as she had so cheerfully put it, and already everyone had seated themselves once more, in their usual positions: Chrysalis and Halfy sat upon the couch, with the smaller of the two holding a respectable and timid distance from the changeling; Zecora held her seat near the middle of the room, calmly allowing herself to observe the situation, with the occasional tidbit to add; Finally, Nightmare Moon and Jeremy held a position against the wall, seated next to one another.

The one addition to this seating, however, had also chosen to take her place next to Jeremy, opposite of Nightmare Moon. A position which, aside from initially having momentarily gained a look of annoyance from Nightmare Moon, allowed Gilda to give Jeremy a swift jab to his side from his remark.

"Gah!" He exclaimed, more surprised by the blow than he was pained by it. This attracted a raised, though amused, brow from Chrysalis as Jeremy moved his gaze to Gilda, a short glare accompanying it. In response, however, she looked to him with a face of 'innocence', shrugging her shoulders.

"To be fair, " she quoted with a smile, "you did kinda have that coming." Jeremy continued to hold his glare for another scant moment or so, before, ultimately, it just as quickly disappeared with a shake of his head, and another soft chuckle.

"Touché." Gilda gave him a small smile at this, a short sense of smugness painted clear across her features.

Almost involuntarily, Chrysalis' eyes rolled as the two gave one another these gestures; she quickly realized this shortly after, glancing around her and, upon noticing that nobody seemed to have caught that momentary slip of hers, gave a mental sigh.

It was then that Nightmare Moon spoke up, feeling that, since this was an old companion of Jeremy's, it would be best if she attempted to make some sort of conversation. After all, she had gotten along well with Zecora. What would there be to stop her from doing the same with this one?

"Miss Gilda," She called, "if I may?"

In response to this, Gilda rose a brow, now putting her full attention towards the alicorn.

"Uh... 'Miss Gilda'?" She repeated, assuring that she had heard her right. "Sorry, but, no, that ain't gonna fly with me. I'd prefer just 'Gilda', hold the 'miss'." Nightmare Moon looked to her strangely at this. After all, she was only attempting to show her respect to this griffon, yet she was openly being told to do otherwise. Perhaps, had she missed something?

This confusion did not go unnoticed by Jeremy, who, without missing a beat, gave her a slight shove and leaned himself closer to her.

"Gilda," he whispered, "just roll with it. Don't forget, she was on the moon for a while. A long while. If she's trying to show you some politeness, let her." Being sure to add emphasis to the last of his quieted message, and ignoring the fact that he caught a short glimpse of her rolling her eyes, he moved his attention to Nightmare Moon; a kind smile met her unsureness as he spoke up.

"Uh, just ignore that last part. She just... Hasn't really met anypony quite like you yet, so she's not really sure how to act." He began, eliciting a semi-understanding nod from the alicorn. "Anyways, back on topic, what was it that you had to say before?"

Nightmare Moon blinked at this, her momentarily lost train of thought returning from its fogged disappearance, and her eyes widening as such.

"Oh, yes, of course. Miss Gilda-"

"I just said that it's only Gil- Gak!" Before the griffon could continue in her interruption, she froze up once again as Jeremy grabbed a lower part of her tail, just below the swollen and more pained area. He wanted to shut her up, but not cause her too much discomfort.

"... Go on." He insisted, gesturing for her to continue with a roll of his wrist.

"Er... We would like to know... How it is thou came to recognize Sir Jeremy?" Satisfied with the relative quiet Nightmare Moon had been given to ask her question, Jeremy let go of Gilda's tail, earning himself another swift blow to his side.

"... Ow." He said in a monotone voice, shortly after giving a visible flinch.

From the sidelines, Jeremy, Nightmare Moon, and Gilda could hear Chrysalis laughing, her voice easily resounding through the room as the attention of everyone was put on her.

As it seemed, she had been quite amused by the 'act' that had played out before her, and the others, filled with all the idiocy and slapstick she would need.

"Hahaha. Yes, why not tell us how you met this birdbrain? Maybe you'll even manage to keep us entertained for some time." While Nightmare Moon and Jeremy simply rolled their eyes at her, Gilda took her words with much more attention, giving off a glare instead. More specifically, at the 'birdbrain' remark.

"Well, bugbreath," she returned, "I would tell you about it, if it wasn't for the fact that I don't think you'd be able to pay attention for more than a few seconds." This time, it was Chrysalis who gave out a glare.

"Really? 'Bugbreath'? Is that all you have?" A smile grew on her face a she leaned herself forward on the couch, not particularly gaining any nearness to her, but seeming to try to obtain a slight factor of intimidation. "Then again, I suppose it should be expected from the cat who can't handle anyone touching her tail."

As if to add to the point, a green flame surrounded her for a scant few seconds, quickly after fading to reveal that, rather than a changeling queen, a mirror-like image of Gilda had appeared, toying with her tail as if it were nothing.

The only difference that could be seen between this Gilda, and the one to Jeremy's side, was her eyes, which had retained their usual slit and vibrant green nature.

Though this momentarily threw her off, the original Gilda quickly recovered, already having a comeback at the ready.

"Hey, at least this 'cat' is apparently attractive enough for you to turn into! Then again, there's a lotta things that look better than your ugly mug."

The copy growled at this, Chrysalis returning to her previous form once more as the conflict went onwards, with the two consistently exchanging insults.

It was at this point, however, that Jeremy had tuned out the growing yells of the two, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

It was obvious to him that this was escalating beyond the average 'argue and finish' routine he would have with either of the two, but then again, a part of him had expected this. On this occasion, two negatives did not make a positive.

A sigh escaped him as he looked between the two once more, before then moving his attention to Halfy, who simply watched on from her place next to Chrysalis; her ears were folded against her head, and she seemed to inwardly retreat from the situation.

Nonetheless, it barely took even the smallest of waves to gain her attention, her eye moving towards Jeremy as one of her ears rose alongside it.

With Gilda standing herself up from next to the human, and making her way over to Chrysalis, so the two would literally be arguing with one another in front of their faces, hoping the other would give, Jeremy gave Halfy an extremely vague gesture for her to move back.

She seemed confused for a moment, but shortly after gave a nod, moving herself a few inches away from Chrysalis on the couch.

Jeremy gave her another gesture to explain his satisfaction, before, looking to the deadpan seeming Nightmare Moon, he reopened the mental link between the two.

"Nightmare Moon, would you mind-"

"We would be more than delighted to oblige." She interrupted, already well aware of what she was to do before he could even finish.

Within a moment, Jeremy gave her a thankful nod, leaning himself back against the wall once more, closing his eyes and listening for what was to come.

Nightmare Moon, who, by now, had had more than enough of this bickering only seconds after it had begun, smiled blankly as she quickly recalled what had become her favorite spell; her horn shone its usual aura of midnight blue, but was seemingly missed by the bickering pair, alongside the sound of ice and water as it moved against the glass that appeared above them.

Before it had even occurred, Halfy was already flinching at the sight, and Zecora was holding back a laugh that fought against the back of her throat to escape.

As for when it had occurred, the previously yelling, glaring, and angered pair of griffon and changeling suddenly went mute, much unlike the sound of dripping water and Zecora's now uproarious laughter.

With fur, feathers, and chitin soaked and cold, both Chrysalis and Gilda shifted their gaze to a smiling Nightmare Moon, more than satisfied with herself at this very moment.

"Do you always have to do that?!" The two shouted in an almost perfect unison, their voices working as one in angered purpose.

Nightmare Moon simply shrugged, a smile still firmly on her face.

Again, the two opened their mouths to speak up, but before they could, a single word from Jeremy interrupted them.

"Fish."

"... Huh?" The two once again said in sync, before then giving one another a short glare and a growl.

Jeremy chuckled as he continued to lean himself against the wall, Halfy, Gilda, Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, and Zecora's attention all moved towards him.

"That's how we met... Fish."

********************************************

Ugh. The things I have to go through just to get some fish!

Honestly though, I get that this is a world full of ponies, and all that crud, but it's been two weeks since I've gotten here, and not once in the many grocery runs Zecora has sent me on have I found any meat whatsoever! A guy can only deal with eating nothing but fruits and vegetables for so long.

... I'm being pretty aggressive, aren't I?

Well, it's not like that's something unexpected. Be it from the cravings, or just the human body's natural reaction, most people are like to initially react similarly were they to just quit eating something cold turkey... Mmm... Turkey...

Gah, see what I mean?!

Still, as I looked to the basket of groceries that I lugged, most of the things there having been from Zecora's list, most of the built frustration and mental tension I held melted, replaced by feelings of bliss; all because of the sight of two freshly wrapped fish, placed carefully atop of everything else.

Believe it or not, the reason I had these fish was actually just a pure stroke of luck.

See, as it turns out, ponies from that small village near Zecora's house, Ponyville, had learned about my... 'Omnivorous habits', or whatever it was they would call it. As to how, I don't know, but thankfully, they didn't really seem to mind.

Then again, they don't mind anything like that, from what I could tell. Not a hint of judgement, or anything like that, towards me or whatever was different from them. My world could stand to learn a thing or two from them.

I digress though.

Anyways, the fact that they had learned I was an omnivore was actually the reason I got this fish. I didn't even buy it, actually. In fact, it was given to me by this nice, and really shy pegasus who I remember occasionally spotting on the edge of the Everfree forest from time to time. She was pretty timid about the fact, having approached me while I was buying some herbs for Zecora, and started off stuttering like mad, but eventually, she managed to get her message across.

She had, incidentally, heard about me being an omnivore just as well as everypony else, and, in her kindness, she had then handed me what she said were 'leftovers from feeding her bears'...

I'll be honest, no matter how weird that sounded to me then and there, I couldn't care less when she pulled out a pair of wrapped fish from the bags–'saddlebags', I think they were called–on her back, practically leaving me drooling.

Now, I'm on my way back to Zecora's house, my stomach pretty much begging for me to hurry so I could get to eating already. Not to say that I disagree with it, but hey, I still had to make sure all of Zecora's things made it in one piece as well.

A slight spring in my step, and an undeniable grin on my face, I walked on, focused on my dinne– er, errands, with nothing, and I mean nothing, able to break me from that focus.

... Well... Except for...

"I told you, I don't care!"

"Aw, c'mon RD!"

A brow of mine rose as I found myself involuntarily slowing at the sound of these two voices, clearly in some sort of argument. They were loud, definitely a sharp contrast to the normally peaceful and quiet Ponyville that I usually came to when I visited, so it was only natural that they attracted my attention.

In fact, in the direction these voices were coming from, I managed to see a few stray ponies heading towards the noise, almost running, in fact. Curiosity ebbed at me, but I just shook my head and moved my gaze forward. It wasn't my business, whatever it was, right? Arguments happened all the time back home, and it was best not to get involved when they indirectly, nor directly, had nothing to do with me.

Besides, I'd rather not be a part of the 'conflict hungry crowd'. I was already a part of the 'fish hungry crowd', and that was all I needed.

I went on along my way towards the Everfree, but could still easily overhear the yells of the two voices, even as they began to fade behind me.

"You can't just pretend we never knew each other! Besides, it's not my fault your friends were a bunch of dweebs!"

"Don't call them that already! They are not 'dweebs'! Matter of fact, they're all better friends than you've ever been!"

Ouch. I'm not even watching this, and I could feel the sting behind that remark from here. Whoever this was, they must have done something pretty rotten to deserve this.

"I'm not gonna call them what they aren't! Their dweebs! Especially after what that pink loser put me through!"

"That 'loser' has a name! And it's PinkiePie!"

PinkiePie? Yeah, that name rung a bell. In fact, wasn't she the one th-

Before I could dwell on the thought any more, my entire body froze as I heard the sound of... A blow... Just the sound of something hitting something else, loudly, followed by a few seconds of silence, and shortly after, there was another... And another... And another...

To hell with the fish!

Before I knew it, I was already turned around, my mind in overdrive as I sprinted towards wgphere the sounds were coming from.

Keeping myself out of an argument was one thing, but if there was anything that I would not stand to just sit by and allow, it was a fight.

I knew exactly how badly those could spiral out of control, and, considering this was the first fight I've ever even heard of since I'd gotten to Equestria, I didn't really have any other way to react; no way to really compare as to how bad they could get here.

The groceries I was sent out for, including my own, swinging as I made my way from corner to corner down the roads of Ponyville, I grew closer and closer to the scene of conflict, as evidenced by the growing sound that came from it.

Soon, I came around one last corner, just around a wooden food stall, and came across a sizable crowd of ponies; a menagerie of colors and features, all formed into a make-shift arena wall as they watched the main two competitors.

This 'wall' though may as well have been a small fence, considering the size difference I held over them, as I was able to easily catch sight of the two fighters.

On one side, I saw a pegasus, comprised of cyan fur, the usual wings, and, oddly enough, a rainbow patterned mane. She was in a clearly aggressive state, practically fuming as she hovered slightly above the ground, with what looked like scratch marks on her side.

As strange as this was, what really drew my attention was the opponent of this pegasus... And the fact that she wasn't really a pony.

Hell, I don't what she is.

If anything, it looks like someone ate an eagle and a lion before coughing them both back up at the same time.

********************************************

"Yow!" I was brought out of my remembrance by yet another jab to my side, leading me to move my gaze to Gilda with a glare; I also made it a point to ignore Chrysalis' chuckling in the background to the best of my ability.

Gilda had a brow of her's raised, with its opposite narrowed, and her arms crossed in obvious disapproval and annoyance.

"What?! That's what I thought when I saw you! Don't forget, I was still new to this world!" In response, she just rolled her eyes.

"Uh-huh, sure. Totally." She then added sarcastically. " Just get a move on with the story already."

...

********************************************

Suffice to say, I had never seen anything like her... Literally. Hell, the fact that I could figure ot that she was a girl was a miracle in itself, considering how ignorant clueless I am to these sorts of things here in Equestria.

Nonetheless, that didn't really make up for what was happening.

"Now take it back!" The pegasus mare demanded from the odd creature, half snarling as she did so.

"Pft. To Tartarus with that!" The other returned, her own stance of anger made obvious, much like a large collection of ruffled feathers and barely visible bruises that riddled her by now.

That reply of her's might as well have been the bell in a boxing match, signaling the start of the next round as the two were once again on one another, tumbling and exchanging blow after blow with each other. The crowd of ponies that surrounded them seemed stunned, none of them moving, or even making a sound as they just watched on. I'd give them this, compared to the sorts of fight crowds back home, thiis one wass much less obnoxous, refraining from cheering for one of the two, or just at the fact that two females were fighting; at the same time, doing nothing isn't really going to help anyone either.

Before I knew it, I was moving my way through the crowd of ponies with about as much ease as a person trudging through a spilled pile of molasses would have, consistently coming close to falling over, or just plain crashing into other ponies, as I went on; it was made especially difficult in that, like the idot that I was, I had forgotten to leave the groceries someplace safe before I went to do this. So now, I had to deal with a crowd of ponies, and a basket of food and ingredients... Great...

Despite this hindrance, I eventually managed to push my way through after about twelve handfuls of 'excuse me's and 'pardon's, allowing me to reach the central circle which made up the current 'battlegrounds' of the fight in progress. Niether the pony, or the other fighter seemed to notice me though, currently too occupied in an armlock with one another, struggling for any advantage that they may be able to gain. The advantage that, while I was here, would be given to nobody!

"Why you little-"

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" I yelled as I moved the two of my arms between the two, and, with quite bit of struggle, pried them both apart from one another; of course, that didn't stop them from trying to get at one another anyways, with both their forelegs swinging towards their aggresor's direction, flaling harmlessly from the lack of proximity that they needed.

"Ngh... Geez I need to work out more." I thought to myself, as the strain in my arms already was beginning to feel unbearable. "Well, either that, or ponies are stronger than I give them credit for."

Grounding my feet against the floor, I gave out an audible grunt as I pulled the two even further apart, somehow only then seeming to gain their attention.

"Let me go!" The mare grunted, moving her efforts in flailing from her opponent to the grip I had on her.

"Yeah, what's the big id-" Suddenly, the creature looked towards, and within an instant, all sense of struggle that I felt from her end was stopped; the look on her face could be described as nothing less than-

"What the heck are you supposed to be?"

... Yeah, that.

Gaining a deadpan expression as I looked to her, I felt my lips purse. "How about 'the guy who's not openly judging you for your appearance'. That sound good to you?" Not the best response, given the situation, but, hey, I've kinda gotten tired of hearing that 'what are you' remark after the first week I was here.

This comment, of course, didn't go over well for her, earning me a sharp glare in return. I brushed it off easily, as I gave the still struggling mare one last push, finally seeming to part her by enough distance to end her stubborn fighting.

Now, the two stood, or in the pagasus' case, hovered, a few feet from one another, their eyes still clearly used as daggers towards one another now that they couldn't use their hooves or talons as such substitutes.

"There," I said with a huff and a slight pant in my breath, "that should do it... Now, would either of you two mind explaining what the hell is going on?!" I crossed my arms as the two momentarily moved their gazes from one another to me, expecting some sort of explanation.

"She started it!" The mare immediately exclaimed, pointing a hoof to her 'opponent'.

"What?! I'm not the one who pulled the first punch! If anything, you started i-"

"I DON'T CARE WHO STARTED IT, I'M ENDING IT!" This seemed to catch them both off guard, the two of them flinching as I yelled, before then moving their attention to me again.

Honestly, I was annoyed; beyond annoyed.

Nonetheless, I took a moment to try to keep myself calm, taking in a deep breath and pinching the bridge of my nose.

"... Alright, now, would one of you calmly explain. And this time, I don't want any of that 'she started it' crap. Understood?" Of the two, the odd combination of animals scoffed, rolling her eyes as she did so.

"Oh look, the big guy's being all tough." She said. "Look, this isn't any of your business, bub, so why don't you just get out of here already."

"Oh, big surprise, Gilda not wanting to try to be nice to somepony."

"As if you would've said any different!"

"Oh yeah? Well- mmph!" My hand once again finding its place on my head, this time rubbing at one of my temples, I used the other to cover the mouth of the mare, hoping to end this argument... That, and I didn't really think it'd be a good idea to have covered the other's beak with my hand instead.

"Okay... I'm not gonna deal with this any longer, so we'll just do this." Putting myself even further in between the two, I pointed them towards two opposite directions. "You go that way," I said to the pony, before turning my head to the opposite, "and you go that way. Neither of you look back, neither of you fight again."

For a scant moment, my words seemed to echo, and all noise was then drowned out by silence, save for a single breeze that passed.

... I'll be honest, the chance that that would work was a longshot, especially as I glanced to the two for yet another time, catching full views of their still angered and intimidating glares to one another.

"... You're kidding... Right?" The mare suddenly asked, still not taking her eyes off of the one who stood before her.

"Not really, no." I replied in a deadpan voice, noting the obvious skepticism on her features. "... Ugh... What is it?" I soon after asked, and, unfortunately, received a prompt answer to.

"There is no way I'm turning my back to her!" In response, the other leaned over slightly to her side, looking around me, and towards the pegasus.

"What, you don't trust me?" The rainbow-maned mare glared at her.

"Just as far as I can throw you." Oh for fu-

"Then I'll go with her." I affirmed, immediately drawing wide eyes from the two.

"Wait, what?!"

"You're kidding, ri-"

Noticing that where this was going, I quickly interrupted the two.

"First of all, you already said that," I began, gesturing to the pony in question, "and second, if you really feel so worried about leaving her 'unsupervised', then I'll just go with her. Besides, I need to go that way anyhow."

The two stood quiet yet again, seeming to think over what I had said for a short moment.

"... Well?"

-------------------------------------

"I still can't believe you did that, you dweeb! I had that totally under control, and then you just randomly come in, and-"

By god, I have never regretted a decision of mine so much, so quickly. Honestly though, since she and I had made our way out of that crowd, she had not even given the slightest of hesitation to start complaining about how 'I butted in', and all that stuff.

I mean, just... Christ.

"-like, who does that?! I don't need some wierd... Whatever you are, looking over me like I'm some sort of-"

"Human."

"... What?" It was almost comical how this single word seemed to throw her off so much; as if she actually hasn't expected any sort of response whatsoever from my end.

"That's what I am. A human... Now, mind telling me what you are in return?" A brow of hers rose at this, as I then explained my meaning. "I've never really seen anything like you, and it's pretty obvious that you never saw anything like me, so, I'm only trying to be fair here."

She seemed stunned for a moment, but eventually she spoke up again, though with an audible huff in her voice.

"... Griffon."

"Damnit, I knew I remembered that!" I couldn't help but to exclaim, as I then slammed my hand into my face from the obvious answer that I had so stupidly forgotten; worse still, I'd read about these, and heard about them from Zecora, so my idiocy was only proven further.

"... Jeez that was random... You're not, like, another of those annoying and dork ponies from Ponyville, are you?" It was odd, but as she asked this, she almost sounded... Wary; as if she was legitimately worried about this. Nonetheless, the face she had as I moved away my hand from my own was nothing more than a glare.

"Hmm... Lets see, I have no hooves, no wings, I can't use magic, I don't have any 'cutie marks', I-" Before I could continue, a hard smack to the back of my head threw me off guard; so much so that I nearly spilled the contents of the grocery basket that I had practically forgotten having at this point.

"No, you moron, if you're one of those prank-pulling, irritating, idiotic, crazy-"

"Okay, I think I get it." I interrupted, stopping her from rambling on for what I could tell would have seemed like an eternity as I rubbed the part of my head she had hurt. "Man, you really don't like Ponyville, do you?"

She gave out a loud snort as she looked ahead of us, her eyes narrowing even further just from the word 'Ponyville'. "Mostly the ponies that live there."

"Really?" I inquired, genuinely curious as to this griffon's reasonings. "If that's true, then, why did you go there in the first place."

She scoffed at my question, rolling her eyes as she looked back to me. "Duh! I came to this dump to see an old friend of mine; one who was cool–almost as much as I am–and managed to stick with me through thick and thin for, like, ever!"

"... That 'friend' wouldn't have anything to do with that mare back there, would it?" Her response was quick, and jagged.

"That's none of your business." She had said, before then falling back into silence. I looked on towards her for a moment, a silence of my own befalling me both physically, and mentally.

"... Let me guess," I soon said nonetheless, "over the years, you drifted apart from that friend of yours. Something changed–be it for the better or the worse–in one of you, and made it so that they saw the other differently... Right?" She still didn't speak up, but that was all the answer I needed.

Sighing, I took a glance towards the basket I had with me, giving my shoulders a shrug and reaching in.

"... That's something you and I have in common then..."

"Huh?" Grabbing hold of one of the two fish, I nonchalantly held it in front of her in offering, watching with slight amusement as she craned her head back in surprise.

"Here," I said, "griffons eat meat too, don't they?"

She seemed confused, moving her gaze between the fish I held out for her and I almost consistently, before then, slowly, taking the offered food.

"Uh... Thanks?" Glancing around her and mine's surroundings, I mentally pointed myself left, before then turning myself there in relation. "Hey, where you going? Didn't you say you have to go this way?"

I gave her a wave, not even turning my head to look back to her. "Yeah, but I just said that to get that situation over with." Clever, right?

"... Huh..." I heard her say from afar, as I gained more distance. It was then, however, that she gave out a yell. "So, what's your name anyways, big guy?"

"Jeremy." I yelled back. "Care to return the favor?"

"Name's Gilda. And don't you forget it!"

********************************************

"So... You two have been friends ever since?" Halfy asked only moments after I finished recounting the memory of how Gilda and I had met, her head tilted curiously to the side as she did so.

"Pretty much." I responded with a shrug. "She and I saw one another every now and then; we talked, joked around, that kind of stuff."

"But mostly we just messed with Zecora."

"Uh, no, that was just you." I swiftly corrected with a smile. Gilda's brow rose at this, her entire posture seeming to shift in relation.

"Really?" Tapping a talon against the bottom of her beak, she seemed to think on this, her gaze blankly on the ceiling as she searched her mind. Quickly after though, she shrugged, returning to her previous position. "Huh. Guess you're right."

Opening her beak once more, she made to talk, but was shortly after stopped by the sound of a loud, practically echoing rumble; I held back a chortle as I quickly recognized this ever-so-familiar sound.

"I take it the fish talk gave you some ideas?" I asked jokingly, nudging her lightly with an elbow. She gave a nudge in return, though with some more force behind it, as a smile drew itself on her face.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, Halfy," she called, Halfy's head suddenly shooting up in response, "you got any grub around here? I'm starving."

Halfy quickly made to reply, beginning with her usual timidity as she spoke. "O-oh. Well, I don't really have any... Meat, but I-I can probably still try to get you something, if you like."

Gilda shrugged. "Eh, that's fine. Whatever you got, I'll take it." Halfy gave out a sigh of relief, nodding to Gilda before standing herself from the couch and making her way into the kitchen; she was still clearly visible over the counter-like opening in the wall between the living room and kitchen, allowing most of us to get a short glance to what she was doing before continuing our conversation.

"... So... You were jailbait, eh?" Gilda suddenly questioned, a slight voice of amusement in her voice. I gave out a sigh in response, while Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis both raised a brow.

"She's a very impulsive thinker, isn't she?" Chrysalis commented, quickly after affirmed by Zecora.

"Impulsive, yes. This fact is sure, and truly needs no guess." I opened my mouth to offer some sort of disagreement... but, after thinking about it or all of three seconds, I went in the opposite route.

"Believe me," I said, giving Gilda a quick and friendly pat on the back, "you get used to it." With a small chuckle, and another chummy shove from Gilda, I crossed my arms and decided to, as Chrysalis or Zecora would likely put it, 'indulge Gilda's impulsiveness'.

"Anyways, yes, we've been over this, I was 'jailbait'. Heh, definitely not a part of my more pleasant stay in Canterlot." At that instant, the sound of approaching hoofsteps caught my attention, as I turned my head to the sourced direction. As I had easily guessed, Halfy was the source, a tray of her usual arranged fruits balanced carefully upon her head as she made her way over to where Glda, Nightmare Moon, and I sat. Gilda followed my sight, and, upon seeing the food, practically gleamed at the prospect of hunger relief.

"H-here you go. I hope you like it." Halfy said, carefully placing the tray down on the floor in front of Gilda. Within a second though, I moved over slighty to my side, knowing exactly how Gillda's table manners were... lacking. This was further proven as she quickly and noisely shoved a handful of berries into her mouth, a muffled messaged just as swiftly exiting her as she seemed to attempt to say 'thanks'.

Despite the, admiittedly, disgusting gratitude, Halfy still gave a small smile in return, a good bit of cheer in her tired eye at Gilda's satisfaction... In fact...

"Halfy," I began, "exactly how long did you all let me oversleep?" Moving her groggy, and partially baggy eye towards me, she seemed to withold a yawn as she replied.

"Um, I think... three hours?"

"Three and a half." Nightmare Moon corrected, her internal clock just as on point as ever. Nonetheless, hearing this, I couldnt help but to flinch.

"Seriously? Geez. Halfy, as thankful as I am for that, to both you and the others, you should probably get some sleep." She tilted her head at this, half losing her balance as she did so.

"Are you sure? I don't mind staying up a litte longer, if you all li-"

"It's fine. Go get some rest, I'd say you've more than earned it by now." She wavered at my interuption, but sure enough, she then smiled, offering a thankful nod to everypony and I before making her way towards the stairway entrance.

"Night, Halfy."

"Sleep well, our friend."

"Do attempt your best to get some much needed rest."

Zecora, Nightmare Moon, and I bade to Halfy, as the door closed behind her. Chrysalis, as expected, said nothing of the sort, while Gilda attempted to say too much, again coming out as a messy and muffled manner, garbled by the food in her beak.

This time, Chrysalis seemed to scowl. "Ugh. That is completely grotesque." Gilda gave her a mocking gesture and look at this, while I, in the meantime, held back a laugh.

"You weren't exactly much better. Remember, the fact that I always had to move to the exact other side of our cell back in Canterlot?" Chrysalis' scowl only worsened at this, but she was well-aware I was right, as evidenced by her subsequent silence.

Gilda gave out a short laugh through her filled mouth, before, with a loud gulp, swallowing the rest of the food she held in her maw, be it chewed or otherwise. A sigh punctuated the end of her strained consumption, alongside a short burp.

"Whew." She said. "Not as good as some fish, or maybe a bit of squirrel, but, hey, you take what you can get." Grabbbing yet another bundle of berries, she made to shove them in her mouth once more; she froze midway, her eyes widening in sudden realization. "Oh, by the way, I actually went to Canterlot looking. Ya know, before I figured out you weren't there."

Yeah, that just about figures. It's not like I sent her anything about this anyhow... In fact, I don't even think I tolld her where I lived at the time.

"Really? Well, sorry for the exra trouble then." I apologized, as she swallowed another messy mouthful.

"Eh, no sweat. If anything, it was funny to see the fact that you used to work for a couple of clowns." I rose a brow of interest at this, quickly making to ask her abou the subject.

"You ran into EvenOut and TopSuit? That's great! How are those two anyway?"

Gilda shrugged as she collected another morsel of food. "Meh. I dont know, I didnt stick around for too long. Though, they did mention something about a rebuilding."

Oh, that's ni- Wait, rebuilding?

"Uh... Rebuilding? Do you mean renovating, or...?"

"Nah, rebuilding. Some sort of fire, or some crud." ...Fire? Suddenly, Gilda gave out a loud snort, and it was only then that I noticed that, not only I, but everypony had their focus on Gilda. "Oh, and you're not going to believe this. Those two made some hilarious joke about you being, get this, dead. Pfftt, hahaha!" While Gilda laughed at this, thinking that this was nothing more than a joke, I... I was left gawking, same with the others.

"D-... Dead?!?"

Before I knew, I was already stood up, looking to Gilda in a confused panic. "What the hell do you mean they said I was dead?! How can I be dead, I'm right here!"

"Sir Jeremy, please, calm yourself. We-"

"Calm? How can I possibly be calm when, apparently, I'm supposedly dead!" Again, I jolted back towards GIlda. "Did anyone else tell you this?" I asked, not even caring of the fact that I had said 'anyone' rather than 'anypony'.

"Yeesh. Not really. If anything, that's the first I heard of you being gone."

That... makes no sense... How can I be dead, yet nobody even knows about it?! Hell, how can I be dead, period!

"I-I... You-"

"Quiet down for a moment, would you!" Chrysalis exclaimed, effectively shutting me up. "Now... Do you know anything about this? If not your 'death', then the fire? Anything?" I stuttered for moment, but eventually answered.

"N-no... I don't think so..."

"Mm-hm... And Zecora, did you happen to hear about any of this?" Looking to her, I noticed that Zecora seemed just as shocked as I was... If not more...

"Jeremy's... Death? No, never from a single breath." She answered, her own eyes wide and confused.

"Hmmm... Just as I thought."

"Pardon?"

"Pardon?" Both I and my thoughts shared a similar idea as I looked to Chrysalis, taking note of her pondering expression, her gaze pointed blankly to the floor.

"Supposedly, you're dead... yet very few are aware of it... Just like how nopony seems to be aware of our escape."

Nightmare Moon nodded at this, her expression similar to that of Chrysalis. "The changeling is correct. In our months of freedom, before we retrieved you, Sir Jeremy, we found that there was none who knew of our leaving of Canterlot. There were, in fact, even fewer that knew of our current existance."

"Yeah, I definitely didn't even know these two were still around either, 'till a few moments ago." Gilda added, referring to Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis. "And I've been... Well, pretty much everywhere." I held myself for a moment, raising a hand as I, slowly, tried to understand what they were implying.

"Wait... Are you saying... This was on purpose? That people were supposed to think that we were dead, or gone, or... Or whatever!?!" Chrysalis sneered.

"No doubt the work of that Princess, Celestia. She likely didn't wany any of her citizens to go into a panic."

... Damn it all... I took in a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves as best I could. "So... What now then?"

A moment of silence revolved around almost all of us, leaving us quiet... Almost.

Without any obvious reason, Gilda laughed.

"Heh. Ol' sunbutt is trying to keep you three a secret, is she? Something that doesn't get out of Canterlot? Then... I guess that's where you need to go."

She's kidding, right?

"You're kidding, right?" At this, Gilda was only able to raise a brow. "Gilda, no offense, but... You've had a lot of bad ideas... Like, a lot."

"True." She agreed readily.

"But, of all of them, this has to be one of the crazie-"

"We shall leave tomorrow."

"Agreed."

Gah! WHAT!?! At both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis' words, I froze, my mind going through an almost impossible to recover from reboot.

"Uh, h-hold on, you can't be seriou-"

"I shall see what I can do to find you your ways. You should easily arrive after the end of the day."

"Z-Zecora, what the he-"

"And don't think you're going without me. I just found you, and there is no way I'm losing ya again."

"Eh... I... You... We... Ugh." My mind completely at a loss, I had no possible way of rebutting against them... Especially when they teamed up like this...

"Of all the occasions for them to do this for the first time...." I mused to myself in annoyance.

"I'm... Not going to be able to argue against all of you, am I?" The smiles on their faces were all clear and broad.

"Nope."

"Not really."

"Afraid not, Sir Jeremy."

"No other options to know. The answer is no."

"..."

Why do I have to be in these situations? I mean, seriously, always.

"... You know what, we'll settle this tomorrow. Chrysalis, scooch over, I'm sleeping down here so we don't bother Halfy."

"Can I switch places with bugbreath the-"

"So help me, Gilda!"

Chapter 24: To Feel Each Other's Pain

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The Everfree forest had never truly been any sort of ideal tourist area, or the like. Many, in fact, avoided it at all costs, knowing fully well of the dangers that resided within, ranging from unknown plant-life to the near eternally slumbering family of Ursa that resided within a large cave within the forestry. To enter, or attempt to leave, the Everfree forest often was a major risk for anypony who was not previously experienced with the land.

Yet, as the night began to draw to a close, one could not help but notice the odd group out that made their way through the many pieces of shrubbery and trees that made up the sides of a well-worn path. Even more interestingly enough, however, were those that made up the group.

A shadow-colored alicorn, an ever-so-grumpy changeling monarch, a smirking griffoness, and finally, trailing slowly behind, was one last pony. This one had dark brown fur and a simple black mane, with no particularly special traits to him, save for his lack of a cutie, the gray jacket that fitted oddly around his equine form, and his endless supply of grumbling as he took step after step with his trembling, unsteady hooves; often times, he would even trip over his own hooves and onto his face, which currently explained a succession of forming bruises he had gained, and the laughter of the griffon.

"So," the griffon semi-casually called to the stallion that trailed behind them, "how you doin' back there? Still learnin' to walk, or what?" At this, the stallion gave her a glare.

"Shut it, Gilda. This is harder than it looks!" He replied, stumbling over himself once again as he let out a series of curses. "Seriously though, how the hell do ponies do this!?"

At his remark, the changeling queen near the front of the group rolled we eyes. "Oh please, don't be such a foal about it. I've turned into a pony every now and then for as long as I can possibly remember, and I never had any of this trouble."

The stallion, in turn, gave her a look of deadpan. "Yeah, well, you didn't have to go from walking on two legs to four! Try to turn yourself into a human and walk around, then we'll talk!" With a growing sense of annoyance, if not only from his frustration of having to learn to walk in this state as well as the teasing of the griffoness and changeling, he watched as the insect-like being smirked.

"Now, why would I ever turn into a human? That's hardly any functional disguise I could use, and I doubt I'd be able to gather any love in that sort of form." Though she hadn't said it aloud, the stallion could clearly detect the hidden insult in her words.

"Why you- Gah!" Before his reply could even form, an untimely force of nature, come in the shape of an exposed root, suddenly further withheld his prolonged progress, tripping him onto the floor for what was another tally to his growing list of falls.

"Damn it." The stallion mentally groaned to himself through grit teeth, and yet another bruise that was like to shape itself. Placing a forehoof on his head in discomfort, he opened one of his involuntarily closed eyes just in time to see a dark-midnight blue forehoof before him, gesturing for him to take it.

He managed to easily follow the hoof back to its owner, his gaze eventually falling upon a warmly smiling alicorn. With a slight chuckle, and a sigh, he returned the smile, taking the mare's forehoof as he lifted himself back onto his hooves. "Thanks." He said simply, gaining a nod of acknowledgement from the alicorn.

Repositioning his hooves to walk on once more, he moved his gaze forward, taking note of the fact that, despite their earlier teasing, both the griffon and the changeling were waiting patiently for him.

"Geez, can you get any goofier while you're like this?" The griffon asked, momentarily sitting herself down and crossing her arms as she looked to him. In return though, he gave a small smirk.

"Probably, yeah. Though, it would be a real shame if I just--oh, I don't know--fell full force onto your tail the next time?" Just as he had hoped, the griffoness quickly gave out an uncomfortable shudder at the notion, drawing a chuckle from both the alicorn and changeling.

Before he could truly take in his small victory over the griffon, however, he felt his nerves twinge as she then gave him a familiar, odd smile.

"Hm. You know, you miss my tail, and you just might end up doing something I'd actually enjoy." Though this went over the alicorn's head, the changeling had to suppress her own laughter, especially once she caught sight of the impressive shade of red that began to coat the brown-furred stallion's face.

"... How you manage to turn a subject in that direction every time, I'll never know." He said simply, shaking his head as he did so.

"It's a gift, really."

"Yes, well," the changeling intervened, her laughter still fighting at the back of her throat to escape, "as... amusing as this is, we should get going."

At this, the three nodded in unison, with the only difference seeming to be a momentary glare held by the stallion towards the griffoness.

"Now, let's-" Before she could go on any further though, a single, almost deafening sound filled the air, silencing her and the others. The snapping of a small twig, normally muted by the many other sounds of the forest, had become amplified to the four seemingly out of pure tension.

With this, the long-lasting silence to follow was only an untold guarantee. Had there been a group of timber wolves following them? Perhaps a manticore, or some other cruel force of the Evergreen? These thoughts rippled through the minds of only three of them, with the alicorn's horn beginning to glow intimidatingly, and the griffon's eyes narrowing as she unfurled her wings.

Nonetheless, the fourth of the group remained calm, instead blankly looking towards a grouping of brush in the direction the disturbance had come from.

"... You know, had you shown yourself earlier, you would have saved us a lot of trouble." At this, the other three looked to her strangely, though she paid them no mind. She had, truthfully, been well aware of this being's presence for quite some time now, but had simply chosen not to speak up. In fact, she wanted to see where this would go, watching as the emotions of the being shifted violently whenever they would look in its general direction, even if by mere coincidence. Now, however, it had been caught, and her form of entertainment for the past hour or so was brought to an end.

"..." With a roll of her eyes, and a single thought, her own jagged horn shone with a green and black aura, much like the hidden being, who gave what sounded like a momentary squeak of surprise as a result.

Within seconds, the being was lifted from behind the plant-life and into the sight of the group, all of their guards quickly dropping as such; instead, they were replaced by confusion, and partial surprise.

"Is... Is that...?" The stallion mentally questioned to himself, if only to be certain of the sight before him: a familiar purple furred earth mare, with a gray and sunset yellow mane, and a uniquely bandaged eye.

"Halfy?" The griffon questioned. "What are you doing here?"

At this question, the changeling gave a sigh, unbelieving of the fact that the mix of creatures behind her hadn't figured it out yet.

Her eyes focused on the awkwardly floating earth mare, who, upon noticing this, did whatever she could to further hide herself. Of course, from her position, it wasn't really possible.

"Halfy, our friend," the alicorn then added, "why hast thou come here? Weren't thou supposed to be slumbering at this time?" She asked, curious as to why her companion was, apparently, following them.

Initially, the mare was only able to stay silent in response, both from timidity and unsureness as to what to say. Soon though, after gathering a sufficient amount of nerve and taking in a deep breath, she managed to speak up in a low and quiet tone.

"I... I w-woke up a while ago. When I did, Z-Zecora was still there, waiting for me." She recalled. "She told me that you had all left, a-and what you were g-going to do..." Again she grew silent, and this time, the griffon pressed her to go on.

"And...?" She said with a roll of her taloned wrist.

"... And, well, I... I'd like to come w-with you." Everypony held a different, unique reaction to this. Raised brows, blank faces, smiles; it was array of different emotions and opinions towards what the mare had just said.

Glancing towards one another, the group watched as the changeling lowered the earth mare down to the ground, giving a short 'harrumph' as she placed her down next to the stallion of the group.

"Halfy, are you sure about that?" He asked, though, in return, he only received a momentary look of confusion. The earth mare had, in truth, been bewildered as she saw him; his loosely fitting jacket; his eye color and voice; more importantly though, what she could see of him through her eyes.

"J-... Jeremy?" She questioned unsurely. The stallion chuckled.

"In the flesh... Er, fur... Or, whatever..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I need to work on my pony talk.

"H-how... Why are you...?" Taking note of her estrangement on the topic, I quickly made to explain.

"Heh, yeah, as it turns out, Chrysalis specializes in more than making just herself look different." Halfy, still with a raised brow, moved her gaze over to Chrysalis. Despite her obvious groan of exasperation, she didn't seem to have any issue with adding further explanation.

"It's a relatively simple spell. Usually, we queens cast it to teach the new-born members of our hives how to transform." Chrysalis' attention was then shifted to me, accompanied by a smug smile of hers. "Though, I suppose he and the new-borns pretty much have the same level of intelligence, so that might have made things easier for me."

Yeah, I should've seen that coming. If Gilda was still willing to flirt despite the situation, then it was only logical that Chrysalis would still keep our war of the words going.

"Thank you, Chrysalis." I said in a deadpan sarcastic voice, barely even giving her a glance before rolling my eyes and returning my attention to Halfy. "Anyways, Halfy, you've already done plenty to help us, why would you want to come along?"

Seeming to add to my point, Nightmare Moon gave her own input as well. From it, I could tell that she shared the same concerns that I did.

"Yes, Halfy. Thine assistance to our cause has already proven its value ten times over. What of thine home, thine garden?" The thought of her wooden abode and expansive orchard of plant-life--more specifically of those Lunar Blossoms that Nightmare Moon so cared about--flashed through my mind as Halfy looked towards the ground, absentmindedly digging a small hole with a forehoof.

"I... I've already asked Zecora to take care of everything while I'm gone..." Her attempts of, likely, putting our concerns at ease only served to worsen them. I mean, from her tone, I could tell that even she was unsure of this. And this didn't seem to be missed by Nightmare Moon either, as I noticed her purse her lips.

"Halfy, I'm going to be honest with you. We're going to be doing something that may not be the best ide- Oh, who am I kidding sugar coating it? We're doing something really stupid. And if you come with us, there'll be even more of a chance that you'll get in trouble for helping us than before." She didn't respond, continuing in her mindless digging. I knew it wasn't really from her trying to ignore me, so much as it was she didn't know what to say, but...

"Halfy..."

"Let her come." Mine, Halfy's, and Nightmare Moon's eyes widened as we all heard Chrysalis say this, putting our focus to her. Of all the times for her to start audibly holding any positive thought towards Halfy, it had to be now?!

"Wha-"

"Her mind is set. Though I'm not sure why, nor am I sure I would even care, that's all there is to it. Even if you turn her away, she'll just keep on pestering us until you say yes. Believe me, it's not persistence I see from her. It's determination."

... Determination?

"Really? Heh, cool." Gilda suddenly added in, making her way over to Halfy. " 'Bout time you got some guts. Figured you had it in ya." She said, playfully ruffling Halfy's mane with her taloned hand as she did so.

Nightmare Moon and I, in the meantime, looked towards one another concernedly.

"Sir Jeremy..." I heard her suddenly say to me through my thoughts. I had partially seen it coming though, considering the situation, so I didn't so much as even flinch in surprise. "What is it that you think? Should we truly allow her to venture with us, despite the risk?"

I was quiet for a moment, just thinking the idea over. I didn't want Halfy to put her neck on the line any further than she already had--hell, I was already tense about the fact that I had gotten Gilda and Zecora involved in this as well. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how she could help.

How, with that special talent of hers, we'd more easily be able to figure out who we could trust or otherwise. Plus, like Chrysalis said, she was determined...

I tried to cross my more recently gained forearms in thought, but in doing so, I had forgotten that I was using them to stand, barely having a chance to let out even the smallest noise before falling face-first into the ground... Again...

After that, it didn't take a genius to guess that the laughter I heard was from Chrysalis and Gilda. I grumbled as I picked myself up, with some struggle, cricking my neck in doing so.

"A-are you okay?" Halfy then asked, a look of concern about her. She then seemed to take notice of something about me, pursing her lips before, without a word, she brushed off a stray leaf from my head. Awkward, sure, but I was still thankful.

Before I could vocalize this though, the sound of Chrysalis and Gilda's laughter were suddenly drowned out--quite literally-- by the sound of splashing water. I had easily guessed what had happened as I looked to the two, seeing that whatever looks of amusement they may have had were gone, replaced with drenched glares as they pointed daggers towards a smirking Nightmare Moon.

"Quit doing that!" They both yelled as I gave her a mental thanks, finally speaking up to Halfy.

"... You can come, Halfy." I heard her gasp as I said this, likely from her not having expected me to accept so soon.

"R-really?" She asked, wanting to make sure that what she heard was right.

I nodded to her in response. "If you're really this dead-set on this... Then, hey, I'm not going to stop you..."

For a bit, she just looked at me, blinking in utter shock. Still, shortly after, her shock shifted to something else, a smile slowly making its way onto her features. It was... Pleasant, actually.

"Thank you."

-------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-------------------------------------

The town of Ponyville was as lively as ever now that the sun had been raised. It was an odd cycle, but the moment morning came along in this small town, it was as though someone had suddenly flipped the 'on' switch for activity.

Many ponies passed by each other and gave their greetings, be they friends to one another, or complete strangers. The brown-furred stallion with a raised hood and loosely fitting jacket was no exception to these greetings, though he would have much rather preferred not to.

"Damn it!" He mentally yelled to himself. "Why did Zecora have to say that the train came along every 'morning'? It couldn't have been every night? Or sunset? Anything!"

"Sir Jeremy?" The human-turned-pony practically yelled as he heard the echoing voice of one of his friends, Nightmare Moon, overshadow that of his own thoughts. "Are you well?"

Before he could answer, Jeremy had to take a deep, shuddering breath, a bead of sweat going down the side of his head as he gathered himself.

"... C-could be better." He responded. Truthfully, he wasn't wrong.

When he, and the others of his group, had first been told by Zecora of the train only arriving during the day, only moments after Jeremy had been changed into the form of a stallion, it had naturally become an issue. Though Gilda was 'out of the loop' in this regard, having raised a brow when this came up, Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon were well aware of the issue that this posed. Even Halfy, who had later joined them, quickly understood the situation upon being told.

For Jeremy and the others, cluelessness was the only initial thing that he felt when the subject had come up, along with a good bit of guilt, considering he was the only one holding them back.

Eventually though, Nightmare Moon had made a suggestion.

"Perhaps," she had said, "if you are ineligible of traveling during the day... We could do so for you?"

Though, originally, this was met by a confused silence, it did not stop the idea from being put into action. What other choice did they have, after all?

This is the reason that Jeremy currently made his way through the roads of Ponyville with what seemed like little to no reaction, though in truth he was more than a little terrified. The reason that he held such a calm and simple face, though he was essentially giving out an internal scream. And, possibly among the more important of things to note, the reason his shadow occasionally seemed to shift in shape and appearance, and his previously clumsy walk suddenly seemed to obtain a regular grace to it.

"Continue to compose yourself for only a short a while longer, Sir Jeremy. We promise, we will not have to do this for too long of a time." Nightmare Moon told her fear-filled friend, attempting her best to comfort him while also guiding his body along. To her, his allowance of this possession of his couldn't help but to spark conflicting emotions.

On one hand, this had signified a great deal of trust; she would be in charge of almost every action he took, and if she so chose, she could very easily put him in harms way. Yet, Jeremy had given little to no resistance to the idea, allowing her to take control shortly after they had reached the edge of the Everfree Forest and Ponyville, right as sun had begun to rise.

Alongside this, she would not be lying if she said that she quite enjoyed being in such a proximity to him. Especially now that the others were elsewhere, what with him having told them to arrive separately.

"It would seem suspicious if we all just went to the same place in a big group." He had told them all. "Plus, uh... We aren't exactly the least noticeable group around there."

Still, she couldn't help but to feel a twinge of guilt whenever Jeremy gave out an internal shudder, his fear likely pressing at him more and more as he remained outside. She had done whatever she could to ease his fear, raising the hood of his jacket over his head, tending to move from one shaded area to the next, and even purposefully speeding up his/her pace so that they would arrive to the train station sooner, but, unfortunately, she knew that the comfort that this may have provided him was only minimal.

Yet, here she was, gaining comfort out of the matter while Jeremy was moving against his will, making his way through what he had been forced to fear over his time in the Canterlot dungeons.

"A-any chance that we're almost there?" He asked her in a quiet and stuttering voice, only serving to further her guilt even more. In a way, this came as an oddity to her, considering that she and him currently shared the same vision of what was before them; even more so, however, she understood why he had asked. Wether or not she was currently in control of his body, that did not mean that he was necessarily forced to do anything. Watching through his own eyes as he walked through the light was among that same list.

"Yes, Sir Jeremy, we do believe we can already see our intended destination." She could hear him give out a loud mental sigh as she said this, adding a sense of relief to her just as well as him.

"Good... Hopefully, the others will be there by now."

In truth, Nightmare Moon had felt relatively disappointed when he had said that. Nonetheless, this wasn't a time for her to enjoy. Not here, and certainly not as it was. Her priority, much like Jeremy's, was centered around one thing. To arrive to the train station, and, afterwards, Canterlot.

Sooner or later, it would be time for her and her 'sisters' to have words.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, barring the fact that I was in the light as much as I could be... The entirety of this situation was odd, to say the least.

I mean, it's not exactly normal for me to be moving my body without really moving it. It felt as though my entire body were asleep, and someone was constantly grabbing hold of me, moving my numb body with ease despite whatever command I would hopelessly attempt.

Despite this, I wasn't really scared of this feeling. The light that surrounded me as I seemingly involuntarily made my way down the dirt paths of Ponyvile, OH YEAH, THAT SCARED ME LIKE HELL!

... But not the fact that I couldn't move. If anything, all I felt from this was... Warm. As if Nightmare Moon was holding me as tightly as she could, moving me with only the slightest and most careful of gestures...

Plus, it wasn't like I thought she would hurt me.

She had done a lot for me over the time I had known her, and become one of my best friends, so, why should I have even hesitated when she had given mention to the idea of the--what was it called again--'puppet shadow' spell she knew.

Granted, from the name, I had originally guessed she would be controlling my movements from afar, but, I certainly wasn't going to complain about this.

Even better, I wasn't the one controlling this clumsy pony that Chrysalis had made me into anymore. Now, somepony with much more experience was behind the wheel... Weird metaphor to use...

And besides, the fact that my mind made the best possible hiding spot from the light certainly didn't hurt. While Nightmare Moon was able to move me in whatever way she was, I was still able to blink, to talk, to 'move', anything like that, so long as it fit the limitations that my mind held.

So, suffice to say, I had my 'eyes' closed for a good bit of the time that we moved through Ponyville.

Curiously enough though, it still felt like I remembered everything here from the last time I had walked through. The dirt floors, the homely houses, and the seemingly over-friendly ponies that lived here. There was definitely a certain nostalgia to it, and, were it not for the fact that my mind was in a blind panic, I would've tried to enjoy it a little more.

"Sir Jeremy?" Nightmare Moon suddenly asked for me, her voice seeming to come from some sort of outside source while I was snapped out of my thoughts. I responded to her with a questioning hum. "We have arrived at the station... Though, we are unable to see any of our other companions."

From just tuning in to my body's listening, I could tell that she was right. What was usually just the calm atmosphere that so heavily characterized this small town, accented by the occasional friendly voice, had become more stuffy and crowded. Rather than just one voice, there seemed to be many, each of ponies clamoring to ready themselves for their train to either arrive or leave.

"Oh, okay." I told her, keeping my mind's eyes shut tightly, especially as the sun felt as though grew brighter in the skies above. "As for the others... We just need to wait for a bit. They had different routes than us, after all, and were only bound to take longer to get here."

I could feel her give a small, almost undetectable nod with my body as response. It probably would have looked strange if anypony else had seen it, but, hey, it didn't seem like anypony had, so I didn't a really pay it too much concern.

Time from there seemed to take an eternity, the sounds of ponies continually spiking and flatlining in terms of volume while I tried my absolute best to be... Well, anywhere else. The mind has its limits though, so I could only keep up this imaginary facade for so long.

Soon enough though, through Nightmare Moon and I's silent ministrations, I heard a voice.

"Excuse me, mister." It said, high pitched and, honestly, adorable. "Have you seen my parents?" I could feel my neck turn on Nightmare Moon's command as she looked to the source of the voice.

And as for me, curious as to the matter, I took in a deep breath, 'opening my eyes' for a split second so as to look.

Initially, the first thing that came was a short flash, both from the light, and from the horrible memories that followed; I barely held myself from screaming, or doing anything else in that regard. Nonetheless, despite this, I had seen what I had wanted to, evening out my stability as I shut my eyes again.

A small unicorn filly, seeming barely old enough to talk without mixing up her 'R's and 'L's, some of her more discerning features being a sky blue coat, a light yellow mane--and tail to match--and the lack of a cutie mark. Anypony else would have just believed this to be a really young filly, who had yet to figure out her 'special talent'. Nightmare Moon and I knew a little more than that though, especially as we caught sight of her familiar green eyes.

"Thou art tardy." I heard Nightmare Moon say over our mental link, though I could tell it wasn't aimed towards me. Alongside this, I felt my body smile, and turn completely towards the filly.

"Oh shut it." Chrysalis' entry into the link was sudden, and accompanied by the mental image of her glaring. In other words, pretty much the same as usual. "Do you know how hard it is to make my way through this pathetic little town alone as a filly? It's almost sickening how many ponies kept asking me why I wasn't in school, or where my 'parents' were. Ugh!"

Despite her mental complaint, the filly she had shaped herself to be continued with her act. "They went on the train, and I can't find them."

"And how are you holding out, exactly?" This time, I could tell that she was referring to me. As to how, well, lets' just say that I didn't appreciate the image of me crying like a baby.

"Could you help me find them?"

"Same thing I told Nightmare Moon earlier... Could be better." As I relayed this, Nightmare Moon opened my mouth, likely to reply to the 'filly'.

So far, this was going perfectly, according to how I had planned this. Nightmare Moon and I had met up with Chrysalis--Or rather, a random stallion had met with a lost filly. The filly would say she couldn't find her parents, and the stallion would happily agree to help her. Around this time, a certain mare, with a bandage around her head, would come around, hopping aboard just as well in the hopes of seeing her family. Then, a short time after that, there'd be a griffoness who'd follow, claiming that she had to meet some friends in Canterlot, but didn't want to fly all that way... Even though the path I had her take was flying above us, so she could make sure everything went according to plan.

It was a simple enough idea, and, with the bits that Zecora had given us for the tickets we would need, it had made things much less complicated, while ironically doing just that at the same time.

You can't really find too much suspicion through a varied group with different purposes.

So, yeah, aside from the fact that I, again, felt pretty useless here, basically being a puppet with thought, everything was going just perfectl-

"Do not worry, little one, we shall help thee find thine guardians."

...

"..."

"... Didn't think that far ahead, did you?" Chrysalis told me, this time sending an image of her face of bemusement as she referred to Nightmare Moon's form of talking.

"Just get on the fucking train..." I returned, just barely noticing Nightmare Moon slightly raise a brow in confusion through my body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seeming to compose herself with a clear of her throat, the filly that was Chrysalis spoke up again. "Um... Thank you. I-"

"Move it! Outta the way!" A loud, gritty voice filled the air, interrupting the conversing three--or two, as any other may see it--as it demanded for a path to be cleared.

The three instantly recognized the voice to be Gilda's, turning towards its source in their shared and disguised forms.

"I knew this wouldn't work." Chrysalis added shortly afterwards, sighing as she did so. Jeremy sent her a look of deadpan, before then speaking to his body's 'guest'.

"Nightmare Moon, what's she doing?" Jeremy asked, noting the sounds of grumbling and complaining ponies. As he could not see, since he had chosen not to, Nightmare Moon relayed to him what was occurring.

"Miss Gilda seems to be pushing over everypony else..." She told him bluntly. At the same time though, she took note of what seemed to be a clear and unmistakable look of concern on her face, though in a much angrier tone."She also seems rather distressed, Sir Jeremy."

Chrysalis, from her place next to the currently unified two, was able to see this clearly for herself. Though she had some trouble seeing over the taller ponies than her filly formed self, she could still easily catch the storm that was raging inside of Gilda, comprised of rage, worry, nervousness and the like.

Before she could even comment on this though, there were suddenly no more ponies that blocked Gilda's path, either having been pushed aside or smart enough to move after watching her.

From there, she reached the three within seconds.

"Yo, J, you there?!" She asked loudly as she stood herself before him and Nightmare Moon. Jeremy internally flinched as he overheard her call him by the nickname she had given him, despite the fact that they were supposed to seem like total strangers to one another.

Even worse, he wouldn't be able to say anything to her without taking control of his own body again, and doing so would mean directly exposing himself to the light again; something he wouldn't be able to bear.

"Nightmare Moon, ask her what's wrong." Jeremy requested of Nightmare Moon, receiving a physical and mental nod in return, as Nightmare Moon then spoke up in his place; unlike Gilda, she had seen the staring ponies, and instead whispered.

"Miss Gilda," she began, again gaining a frustrated sigh from Chrysalis, "Sir Jeremy wishes to know what troubles you."

At this, the griffon sputtered, seeming to have momentarily forgotten that her friend was, in fact, not the one in control.

"What the- Whatever, look, we've got a problem!" Much to the three's displeasure, Gilda continued to yell, only serving to attract even more attention to them.

"Miss Gilda, please, calm thine self. Thou art bringing unnecessary attention towards us all."

For the first time that they had met her, both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis took note of a certain look that she held; one that breathed and gasped fury; one that Jeremy knew all too well to signify something really bad. Even more so when he realized that, of thier group, Gilda was not supposed to be the next to have arrived.

"... Where's Halfy...?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My breath felt as though it had never been thinner, and I found myself unable to move, or even say a word as I stared back at the pair of stallions, one a pegasus while the other was a unicorn, alongside what I guessed to be their marefriends, all four of them with smirks on their faces. They seemed familiar, that much I could tell, but I didn't bother trying to remember their names, nor trying to make out any more of thier features. What was the point, after all? They were the same as all the others, and trying to give identity to each one would only make things more unnecesarily complicated for me.

"Say, how long has it been, Halfy? What, five, maybe six months?" One of the two asked, though I could tell his tone was anything more than honestly curious. If anything, it was more a mock sense of it. Either way, I stayed quiet, looking down to the ground beneath me instead. That had usually made things turn out less badly for me over the years, though I wasn't sure why. Maybe they felt like I was trying to undermine the by daring to look back at them. Or maybe they just didn't want me to even 'look at the same air as them', or something like that. Like I said, I didn't know.

"I think that it was 6, ThunderLocke."

"Oh, right, right. Thanks, FeatherHigh."

ThunderLocke and FeatherHigh... Yes, they... They were definitely a part of the others, I could recall that. Though, its strange, how theyve changed their methods already. Usually, they'd only throw names from afar, and on one occasion, a small rock. Maybe it was the mares? They had never brought them along before, so, it's likely that they're just trying to seem more confident now. To show-off?

"So, how have you been doing then? Met any new friends? Any at all?" His questions continued to hold that same mocking tone to them, baiting me to answer. At the same time though, I knew he also didn't want me to answer either. That's always been a favorite trick of theirs, making it so that, no matter what you said or did, it would go in their favor.

Still, of the two options, I decided to stay quiet. It made for less of a struggle, and it wouldn't make a difference what I could say anyways.

Within a few seconds of my silence, I heard one of the two chuckle, springing the double-sided trap as quickly as he could.

"Aw, ThunderLocke, that's so nice of you, assuming that she would have anypony would want to be her friend." The other stallion laughed, while the mares that accompanied also giggled at his companions joke. Why was it that they always had the same sense of humor, I wonder? Then again, I shouldn't think on it. It would be dumb of me, wouldn't it? Thats what some of the others like them have told me. 'Just stay quiet and take what you deserve'.

"Yeah, I know. I'm such a nice guy. Eh, Halfy?" I felt him give what he seemed to pretend would be a light blow on my shoulder, but came as one of much rougher, bruise-forming intent. Still, I kept silent, witholding a whimper of pain. They enjoyed hearing that from me, so it always would make things worse. "Yeah, of course I am." He shortly after finished for himself, likely holding a sly grin on his muzzle while he did so.

"Hey, Halfy, you know what would be a good way to thank him for being so nice to you?" I stayed silent, as usual. That... was a mistake though. In the time I had been away, I had probably forgotten some of the ways this was supposed to go. That, sometimes, I had to answer them. There wasn't any option, I had to. It was stupid of me to forget, and I couldn't blame anypony else for what came next but myself.

Another 'light blow' to the same shoulder, though with even more force behind it. This, coupled with fact that his previous hit had already made me tender there, was too much for me to hold, as I inevitably gave out a soft cry. Immediately afterwards, I felt myself mentally apologizing, to myself and him, for making that sound.

"He asked a question, Halfy. Do you know what would be a good way to thank me?" Despite my nerves, I managed to take in a breath, gulping dryly before answering, as he so wanted.

"N-n-no..." I replied, my voice hoarse from the struggle of having to respond. I could practically hear them smirk, though I held myself from openly saying this. I had told them what they had wanted me to, so it was back to being silent.

"Well, why don't you head on back to wherever it is you came from, and try to make some friends this time. I'm sure that, if you're gone long enough, somepony might be willing to at least contemplate the idea." How badly I wanted to just disappear; to just vanish from that very spot, there and then. But I couldn't. Instead, I had to sit there and wait, ignoring whatever discomfort my bandages seemed to suddenly provide, likely in their own form of reminding me to keep to my place. I wouldn't blame them, if that was the reason.

"Or," the other then continued for his partner, "if you prefer, we can stop trying to be so nice, and-"

"And what, exactly?" Just like that, my ears twitching at the voice, I found my gaze finally moving upwards, away from the dirt. The two stallions, and the mares that accompanied them, had suddenly lost their smirks. Instead, they held looks of annoyance, and for once, they weren't aimed towards me.

Even more shocking, however, was who they were aimed for, as another, glaring stallion made his way towards us, before then placing himself to be directly between the other four and I. This one, I had no trouble recognizing, but... It was still shocking to him--or them rather--here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'd say that both Nightmare Moon and I had had enough of this crap, as can be so proven by the fact that I was nearly trembling with anger from my place inside my mind. I hadn't opened my eyes, but just from listening, and from what Nightmare Moon told me she saw, I felt practically sick to my stomach.

As it turned out, there was apparently a crowd; that they were all watching this, and not even trying to do anything. It gave me an odd and frustrating sense of déjà vu, considering the last time I had last seen this sort of scene was with Gilda. In fact, I'm starting to agree with her, to hell with Ponyville!

Still, that was only more fuel to the flame. That is to say, more reason for me to be pissed off at the four screwing with Halfy. More specifically, the two jackasses who led this crap.

Even now I could hear them, as they arrogantly addressed Nightmare Moon and I.

"And just who the hay are you?" Seemed as though Nightmare Moon and I had shared a similar idea in regards to a response, as I didn't even have to open the link I had to her before she had said exactly what I was thinking.

" 'Somepony who contemplated the idea'." Nightmare Moon quoted for me, every word sounding exactly as how I would have wanted them to.

"... Sir Jeremy, they are grinning." I gave Nightmare Moon a mental nod as I then heard one of the two give out a light chuckle, practically filled with arrogance and stupidity. Mostly the latter, though.

"You can't be serious." One of the two then said. "You mean, you actually are a friend of one-eye there?"

... 'One-eye'?

"Sir Jeremy... Would it be wrongful of us to claim that we wish to hurt them...?" If it was, then I'd be in the same boat as she was in. Nonetheless, we couldn't let it get to us. So, after reassuring her that her sentiments were shared, I told Nightmare Moon not to do anything rash. At least, not yet.

"As a matter of fact, we are." She then continued through my voice, though once again allowing her 'Old Canterlot' accent to show again in the process; I had to say, it felt strange to hear my voice saying things like that.

" 'We'? Now I know you must be kidding me." This time, it was the original offender's voice who rang through, traced with annoyingly high amounts of self-amusement. "To say that she could actually have one friend is funny. But even more than that? Ha, that's hilarious!"

I seriously hated this guy. Not disliked--no, I'm not allowing him that kindness--I sincerely hated him, and his friend.

"You must not know that much about her, right? About her weirdo parents, or her eye?" I. Couldn't. Care. Less.

I could feel mine and Nightmare Moon's teeth grinding both physically and mentally as she seemed to ignore the two, instead turning to face Halfy. "Art thou well?" She asked, though simply saying this seemed to trigger the idiots again, their focus this time aimed towards the way she spoke.

"Did you hear that ThunderLocke? 'Art thou well'? Heh, what a dork!"

"No wonder he's with her, the two are a perfect match of weird."

And now they were basically making fun of Nightmare Moon's voice. They didn't exactly know they were, but it was definitely close enough. Fortunately, aside from a few choice words under her breath, of which I wasn't even aware existed for ponies, she didn't react too badly.

"I-I'm fine... Really..." I heard Nightmare Moon give a sort-of inquisitive hum, before, with a narrow of her/my eyes, she spoke up.

"Then, pray tell, why dost thou favor thine right shoulder?"

...What?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Twas a difficult feature for us to ignore, yet even more so just to acknowledge. Our friend, Halfy, could not lie to us in this regard, for one could not hide what was so physically clear.

Even as she held her shoulder with her forehoof, attempting what she could in order to hide the proof of her more recent abuse, the discoloration that laid upon her remained ever so apparent.

"Um, uh, n-no reason. Really, I'm fine." We narrowed our eyes as she said this, doubt being my lead in this judgement.

In truth, anger could not begin to describe our emotions. So terribly it was we wished to bring recompense upon the afflicters of our friend's injury and state; to enshroud them in our darkest of shadows, and show them what they have to fear as consequence.

We knew though that we could not. Though we could sense Sir Jeremy's own fury within his body, of which we controlled, we were also aware of his wishes to draw little attention. For an earth pony to use any regard of magic, more incredulously that as recognizable as ours, would do naut but end our plot before it had began.

"...We do not wish to hear lies, Halfy... And thou art aware of this..." Our friend said nothing more as we informed her of this, instead favoring the ground below her as she grew to be silent.

Unsure of what more to add, we decided to have the opinion of Sir Jeremy, ignoring the seemingly endless babble of the two 'stallions' behind us; they held no right to be called so any longer. Though, we wonder if they ever had.

"Sir Jeremy, it would seem as though they hath brought harm upon our companion. We take it you would like us to escort her away from this scene?"

"..."

"Sir Jeremy?"

"..."

We received no response from him. Not so much as even the slightest of sounds resounded from his dormant being, gaining our curiosity and, of course, concern.

The spell we had cast in order to gain control of Sir Jeremy's body harbored no intention to also completely shut out his mind as well--we had made sure of that. Yet, no matter our approach, he would not respond.

Perhaps he-

"Hey, you listening to us or not weirdo?!?" We gave out a sigh as the ignorant pony behind us gave out yet another incessant yell, of course bothering us to no end.

We would have to postpone our worries of Sir Jeremy for after the situation had passed. Even so, we knew we would not enjoy this such action.

Our companion's gaze lifting towards us ever so slightly, we turned ourself to face the ponies once more, our eyes narrowed as we looked to them. If only for a moment, we took notice of one of the two's sudden intimidation, likely from him not having expected our angered gaze.

If he had thought that to be frightening, then we wondered how he would have reacted were we able to do otherwise.

"What privilege does thou believe thine self to own in order to treat our friend in this such regard?" We interrogated, our voice almost a growl as we did so. We had held no emotion from our speech; they had dared to harm our companion, and we had no reason to restrain our voices, of all things.

At our question, the noise throughout the area became mute, tension filling the atmosphere like wine to a glass...

After only moments though, the silence was quickly ended. Not by the words of the two before Halfy and I, curiously enough, but by their laughter: uproarious and loud.

"Ha! Oh, this is too good! The way this dork talks-Haha-is just perfect!" This brought about our confusion. To begin, what was a 'dork'? An insult, perhaps? Certainly, 'twas not one that we were aware of.

"Prithee, what exactly is the issue with how we speak?" As we asked our eyes remained narrowed, yet the disgrace of a stallion before us held no visible signs of backing down, likely too arrogant to do so as he then took another step closer to us.

"Look pal," he then said, "I'll tell you what. If you and her just take your freakish selves out of my sight in the next ten seconds, I may consider actually letting you go without a fight."

A bluff. So very clearly a bluff. We could tell just by his eyes that this one was a coward by trade, only content on hurting those he believed he could get away with hurting. More than likely, he believed that we would back down, and he would 'win' this debacle. Yet, when he finishes this bluff of his, he'd likely back down from whatever possible fight, making some sort of claim to justify his doing so.

This knowledge was simple to us. We were once one of the rulers of Equestria, after all, and understanding the behavior of our subjects was a necessity... And it would seem that this behavior of theirs has yet to change too drastically.

"Now then..." Taking a seat upon the ground before us, the smirking foal of a stallion closed his eyes and began to count.

"One... Two..."

We could not help to roll our eyes. All we would have to do was wait, yet we felt it wasn't even worth it. We had wasted enough time as is, and Halfy had been spared any further taunting. All we would have to do was step away...

"Three... Four..."

We... We could not move...

"Five..."

'Twas not of our own will, but we simply could not move. Neither limbs, nor eyes, nor even our very lungs. Our body simply would not respond.

"Six... Seven..."

... No, it was not our body... It was not our doing. Without warning, our eyes sealed themselves, blinding our view of the world before us, and we began to feel one of our forearms moving.

"Eight..."

We attempted to regain control, but, no matter what we attempted, nothing seemed to function as we wished it to. Instead, we were reduced to the role of meager blind spectators, unable to see, but easily able to feel and hear what was occurring.

"Nine..."

Out foreleg retracted as far back as it possibly could, near painfully testing its own limits until it could go back no further. Before we could even manage any sort of reaction as we realized what was occurring...

"Te-"

The first thing we could sense through the haze that had suddenly appeared around our mind was a loud, echoing thump, followed shortly thereafter by the sound of a comparatively softer thud. The next I could sense was the feeling; the sense of a slightly stinging sensation along the bare of our forehoof, and that of a sudden impact.

We were utterly speechless...

We knew what had occurred, but, as to what had caused it, we held doubt. Even as the haze over our mind faded; as we regained our sight and opened our eyes; as the first scene that lay before us caused our brows to raise in surprise, words unable to escape.

The crowd that had gathered was mute, each member suddenly seeming to share a face of surprise as they continued to play their own roles as spectators. As for the group of four ponies before us, their numbers had suddenly been reduced to three, and of them, each held looks of utter shock. The reason behind all these gazes was easily found to be apparent, as, with no more than a slight glance downwards, we took notice of the fourth member of the group; the other mocking stallion, currently unconscious, and with nothing more than a clearly visible site of impact upon the left side of his face.

"...Sir Jeremy, you-"

"He made fun of Halfy, hurt her, teased you, and then threatened to hurt you. Wether he was serious or not, I couldn't care less. He deserved that."

... Just as we had thought... Still, we withheld no surprise as our theory behind our uncontrolled actions--Sir Jeremy's controlled actions--were proven true. Since we had cast the spell, this was the only occasion that he had truly shown any resistance towards it. As such, we were unable to react when he forcefully retrieved commandment of his being, so as to deal his own sense of righteousness upon at least half of the bothersome duo before us.

This was, in fact, the first occasion we had seen of Sir Jeremy taking action upon his anger.

"... We should get going, Nightmare Moon."

Just as he had put us into a state of surprise and distraction, he just as quickly removed us from it, our eyes blinking as we responded.

"O-of course, Sir Jeremy."

Turning ourselves to our other companion, we shared little of a moment to truly take in more of her own look of shock--arguably among the most so of all that were there--speaking to her in an attempt to gain her attention.

"Halfy?" She gave out a gasp as she heard us, almost as though we had given the message in the form of a yell. "Shall we be taking our leave?" She was silent for a moment, glancing to the unconscious stallion behind us before, ultimately, she gave a slow and timid nod of her head.

With a single gesture, we signaled for her to follow, to which she gave another wordless nod, beginning to trail shortly behind us as we headed towards the crowd of ponies; they cleared a path for us just as quickly as peasants would have during our rule, and though I disliked the use of that word, their lack of action today, instead choosing to watch as another pony becomes hurt, could only allow us to give them this such description. Peasants.

Curiously enough, despite our best wishes, the matter didn't seem to end there.

"H-hey," the other stallion finally spoke up, breaking out of his earlier stupor, "you t-think you can just get away with that?!" His voice was clearly much more nervous than before; his confidence stemmed from his arrogance, much like his friend, but upon watching as he was quickly incapacitated, this arrogance--and as a result his 'confidence'--were quickly swept away. "How 'bout a fair fight, eh?! O-or are you too chicken."

Insolent foal, was he not?

Without so much as turning to look towards him, we gave our response. "Verily, thou hast already lost. There is no need for us to waste our time with thee any further."

The sound of his sputtering came through clear, much like that of giggling from the mares that accompanied him and his defeated companion.

"Why you- Get back here!" Immediately after yelling this, we could hear the stallion begin to run, his hooves grinding against the ground as he seemed to gain distance upon us.

Once again, we felt Sir Jeremy's rage glare, much like our own, as we narrowing our eyes, quickly reacting. Turning ourselves, we moved ourselves before Halfy once more, forming a barrier between her and the stallion. We could barely hear her gasp as we stood our ground with a calm mind; as to the reason of our placidity however, it did not make itself beknownst by our aggressor until they were only moments away from reaching us.

It was at that moment that a small portion of the sky seemed to blur, with nothing more than a single left-behind feather serving as the recognizable sign to identify its source.

Within mere seconds, the stallion found himself to be pinned the floor with an audible thud, his air escaping him from the simple combination of shock and pain he had suddenly felt. His running was of course halted on the spot as a familiar figure kept him trapped.

Even as the stallion began to struggle, attempting to escape his restraint, the figure smirked.

"Geez, that was way too easy."

Upon hearing her voice, the stallion froze, his pupils shrinking to the size of a needle as he managed a short look behind him.

"G-G-Gilda!" We could not help but to raise a brow at his apparent knowledge of Miss Gilda's identity. It was this momentary confusion, however, that triggered Sir Jeremy's explanation.

"I wouldn't worry, Nightmare Moon. Gilda's only really well-known by the people who have bugged her before... Mostly because they're smart enough to not take the risk of doing it again afterwards."

We could only smirk at this, watching as the stallion who had dared to harm our friend seemed to hold a sudden expression of fear aimed towards the griffon. Justice could be oh so swift on occasion.

"W-what are you doing here? He he..." The nervousness of the chuckle he gave was clear, down to its very essence. Miss Gilda seemed to have noticed this as well, leaning her head closer down to the stallion.

"Oh, you know, I just figured I'd come by, get some snacks, the usual biz."

'Biz'? What is 'biz'? Honestly, it is becoming painfully obvious just how much everypony's vernacular has changed over the millennia.

"Though, there was also another reason. What was it now...?" She asked herself jokingly, pretending to be in thought over the question as she shifted her gaze upwards, seemingly awaiting the answer she already knew. "Oh yeah! See, I came by to see a couple of friends of mine. A, uh, purple mare with a bandage over her eye annnnd a stallion with brown fur, usually wearing a jacket."

The stallion before her gasped at this, his eyes somehow becoming even more dilated as his gaze suddenly darted between the three of us.

"... I take it you get where I'm going with this... Right?" She accentuated the end of her sentence by raising the stallions head with a single talon, forcing him to look to her straight in the eyes; she glared sharply at him, practically burning her gaze into his.

"Y-y-yes..." At this, Gilda gave a small smile, moving herself off of the stallion and making her way towards us.

"Then get out of here before I get mad." She finished, an impressive amount of self-satisfaction on her face as she did so. The stallion, upon suddenly realizing his given ability to escape, was gone in no more than a millisecond, leaving behind his unconscious partner and the mares that had accompanied them.

"... Nice right hook, by the way." Walking past us, Gilda aimed what seemed to be an approving nod in our direction as she made her way over to Halfy.

We simply watched as she did so though, barely overhearing the sounds of the crowd from prior beginning to scatter--and at a rather hurried pace--as we sat in thought.

Sir Jeremy had, if only for a mere moment, seemed like a completely different being. We had only commit an act of violence on one other occasion, when he had first helped us escape. Even so, he had done this out of necessity, and nothing more.

And yet, this time, he had done this purely in an effort to protect, not only Halfy's, but our honor as well.

We wonder, were it us that came to be harmed during that confrontation... How would Sir Jeremy-

"Nightmare Moon?" The sudden sound of Sir Jeremy's voice ended our thought-filled stupor, us taking a moment to regain ourselves before ultimately responding.

"Yes, Sir Jeremy?" We inquired.

"If you don't mind my asking, do you think I can get some sleep while I'm like this? I feel exhausted..."

His voice made this apparent. 'Twas odd, considering, no more than a few mere moments ago, his anger had seemingly reached a level we had never seen before. Yet, now, he had apparently been drained? We suppose we weren't the ones to question this, nor should we. Nonetheless, this would not restrict our concerns.

"Of course, Sir Jeremy.."

With this, we moved our attention to Gilda, who, at the moment, seemed to be doing her best to lift Halfy's spirits. Patting her back, playfully ruffling her mane, simply anything she believed would elicit a smile from our recently abused friend. 'Twas quite the sight to see.

This was how Miss Gilda treated her companions in their time of need, after all; a trait that could only be identified using two words: A 'laugh' and a 'shrug'.

We could see with ease why Sir Jeremy had chosen her to be a companion of his, similar to his relation with Miss Zecora.

Curiously, this made us wonder as to what traits Sir Jeremy had seen within us, a changeling and a previously formless alicorn, to find worthy of befriending.

In fact, even now we questioned what the changeling was doing in our absence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... If I have to wait for them any longer, I'm going to make sure Jeremy and the others pay for telling me to stay on the train...

It hadn't exactly been difficult for me to sense the hostility that had formed in the near distance, along with what seemed like a large gathered group of ponies. Ergo, it wasn't difficult to guess that whatever it was that had gone wrong was serious.

Tch. As if I wouldn't have enjoyed slamming whomever was causing this trouble so hard into the ground that he be unconscious for the next week...

Then again, maybe thats the reason I was told to stay...

Meh. Still wouldn't have minded.

Chapter 25: Even The Shortest Trip...

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"..."

"... So these stallions; should I rip one, or both of their you-know-whats off?"

This was the first thing that Chrysalis had offered as response to what she had been told by Gilda and Nightmare Moon--the recounting of what had happened back in Ponyville, involving Halfy, the two ponies that bothered her, and the subsequent 'ass-kicking', as Gilda had so eagerly coined it to have been.

Of course, Chrysalis wasn't initially silent when the group had returned. Quite a few words were thrown at the arriving three--four if counting the resting Jeremy, of whom Nightmare Moon had been sure to close off sound towards--with many of them attracting odd looks from the other ponies that sat around them. It certainly was quite a show, hearing what seemed like an average little filly use such a... Colorful language.

She had even taken the time of going down the group in her doing so, beginning from Gilda, and stopping just as she was about to tell off Halfy for keeping them held back... She didn't though, for one look in her direction immediately brought her to silence.

A flurry of emotions, almost entirely negative, forming a dark cloud around the one-eyed earth mare. This was what she saw, alongside the ever-so-noticeable bruise that was forming upon her shoulder.

"... Somepony better start talking or I will show you just how mad I can get."

And that was how the situation came to be. Of course, Chrysalis had showed what had seemed to be large amounts of skepticism as they recalled what had occurred to her, but it was fairly clear that that in fact was simply a face after all.

Returning to the group's current happenings however, it was a point of particular interest to notice that, throughout their discussion of recently passed events, Halfy was in fact not in their proximity. They hadn't known the reason, but shortly after Chrysalis had demanded an explanation, Halfy had quickly informed Gilda, Nightmare Moon, and Chrysalis that she would sit elsewhere.

Gilda and Nightmare Moon naturally were curious as to her reasoning--she was, after all, their friend, so they could only help to inquire as to why she would be elsewhere, save for the open space where they sat--but were swiftly silenced before they could vocalize this by Chrysalis.

"If she wants to sit alone, let her. That still won't excuse either of you from your explanations anyhow." She had said, halting the two before silently watching the dark cloud from before follow the earth mare all the way to an empty and isolated booth, near the very most corner of the car.

It was not of spoken of by her, but she had seen such flurries of emotions before. Ponies that had lost loved ones, those that sought out retribution... She had even seen this dark cloud upon Jeremy, on occasion, though much more driven towards the latter of the previously mentioned two. As to what this mess had been themed towards for Halfy however, she could not tell, and she knew far better than to pry.

Returning to the issue at hand, or hoof, however...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't believe this! Those jerks mess with Halfy, hurt her, we help, and now she suddenly doesn't want to sit with us for the train ride? What the Tartarus is that about?!

Sure, bug breath said to just 'let her yadda yadda yadda', but honestly I could care less about what she thinks. And besides, why should I-

"Ahem." Pretty much out of nowhere, I was brought out of my thoughts by Jeremy--or is it Nightmare Moon right now? I never really got that. First he's a human, then a pony, then he's being controlled, then he- IT WAS A LOT TO KEEP UP WITH, OKAY!?!

... Anyways...

"Miss Gilda," she had asked, letting me guess that she was still in control despite hearing J's voice, "we apologize if we are... Interrupting... But this is a rather important matter."

Yeah, I guess she had a point. I wanted to trash those idiots from before just as much as she probably wanted to. Plus, though I zoned out for a while, I did manage to catch that 'should I rip off one or two of their you-know-whats' comment that Chrysalis had made; in other words, she was just as much annoyed by this as we were.

"Eh? Oh, right, sure." Having been leaning against the windowsill for a while, just watching as the hillside rushed past us just as quickly as the train would go, accompanied by the occasional bump of the tracks, I ended up having to majorly take a stretching break, yawning loudly all the while...

Until I felt something touch my tail, which ended up making me freeze up mid-yawn. It was only a short graze, but it was done roughly enough to grab my attention as, without so much more than a glance I quickly knew the cause. In terms of looking for specifics, by the way, it would probably be best if interest were focused on a certain 'filly' that sat across from us, suddenly having grown a small horn.

"What the hay was that?!" I interrogated, only getting a blank face in response. Seriously though, she gave herself a horn just to mess with me?! If she didn't look like a filly right now, and this train wasn't full, I would so kick her flank right now.

Before I could even tell her this though, Nightmare Moon--Jeez I'm getting tired of using that full name! Forget it, it's going to be NM for me from now on!

Anyways, NM stopped me, putting her/Jeremy's hoof in front of me. "Miss Gilda," she said, "now is not the time." Was she implying I could kick bug breath's flank some other time then? If so, then believe me I could wait. It wasn't long after she told me this before she then turned to Chrysalis, her eyes narrowed and her voice a whisper.

"And, pray tell, what reason dost thou hath for metamorphosing in such a populated location as this?"

Metamorpho-what now?

"Hath thou forgotten that we are attempting to relocate without suspicion?! Surely one would realize that an earth youth had suddenly sprouted into that of a magic user!"

Seriously, I don't get how she talks like that, but hey, if she's bugging the bug while she's doing it, fine by me.

"Oh please. Most of the ponies here probably would have believed me to be a Pegasus whose wings they had just missed. I doubt a horn will be any different." As she rebutted, she rose a brow in NM's direction, laying herself down on her seat lazily and crossing her forelegs over one another. "And besides, are you really one to judge about what's inconspicuous or otherwise? I think those stallions had their only point when they commented on your 'holier than thou' speech." Speaking of the way she talks...

NM didn't seem bothered by this though, not even batting so much as a single eyelash as she continued to stare down Chrysalis.

"... We are digressing from the subject, Chrysalis, and we believe that thou art aware of this."

"..." The two continued to glare at one another for a while as I mentally began to take bets, waiting for one of the two to back down. Honestly, I wanted to side my bits--what few I had with me--to NM, but bug breath wasn't exactly a pushover when it came to this kind of crud either. Anypony who can go eye to eye with me is pretty much sure to be able to do so with anypony else.

As surprising as it was though, it turned out that I wouldn't really have lost or won that bet no matter who I made it on, both NM and bug breath looking away from one another at the same time. I had honestly expected a little more than just a small harrumph, so it was a little disappointing. Still, I couldn't complain, I guess... Oh, who am I kidding, of course I could.

"...The situation was indeed dealt with, as we said. Our worry, however, is that this may occur again." Her attention somewhere else, I noticed NM look over to where Halfy was; seeing her seated alone, blankly staring out the train window, I saw her lips purse.

"... What dost thou believe we should do?" The way she had said that, it had practically come out as some sort of whisper. I couldn't tell who she was talking to then--I hoped it wasn't me, since I was about as knowledgable with this emotional stuff as a rock--but thankfully bug breath took the role of the pony to respond.

"I don't dictate what you do, as nice of a blessing that would be. Whether you choose to bring it up with her or not is your choice, and it would be smart if you figured out that I wasn't going to help you." A smirk came across her features as she boringly closed her eyes.

"Besides, asleep or otherwise, I told Jeremy I wouldn't tell him about anypony else's emotions unless he asked me to. And, since you two are in the same body..." She rolled her hoof as she suddenly held herself from talking any further, seemingly gesturing for NM to finish the statement on her own.

In return, NM gave her another harrumph, rolling her eyes before looking over to Halfy again.

She just looked in her direction in silence, watching stilly from afar.

"... Very well then." Without so much as offering another glance to either Chrysalis or I, she moved off of her seat, landing with a slight clop from her hooves before then making her way down the aisle of the train.

I watched her for a bit, a brow raised in interest as she gained more and more distance from us, though increased her proximity to Halfy at the same time. She was a good twelve, maybe thirteen steps away before, under her breath, I barely caught bug breath muttering something.

"Hm... Not the worst decision she's ever made..."

The hay did she mean by that?

-------------------------------------------

The train was seemingly calm and collected as time passed. That is to say, though ponies still conversed, their voices could still be heard rather clearly, so much so that their conversations were easily audible from start to finish. Even the train itself made the occasional sound in a seemingly controlled volume; the click-clack made against the track and the ever so rare whistle that resounded from the conductor's whim.

It was the perfect environment for thought; for one to isolate themselves in their own form. This was Halfy's thought process as she mutely watched the train window, the landscapes passing in a peaceful and quiet form; time and time again, she would attempt to follow any hill, or other noticeable feature from afar, until it exited her field of view completely.

On one occasion, she had even seen a small bird fly in the same direction as the train went, seeming to be a small dot in the sky from how high it was. This was with some difficulty, her eye having strained if only to make out the bird.

Once it was gone, she blinked her eye a few times, unconsciously doing what she could to remove the sense of stress she felt upon it. In response, she began to rub her eye, hoping to quicken the process. It worked, for the most part, as she then blinked her eye a few more times and returned her gaze to the window.

Her hoof, however, lingered; the window suddenly began to accentuate the barely visible reflection of her, rather than the world outside. It essentially became a mirror as she took a moment to silently look herself over. Her attention did not fill with the bruise she had recently obtained. If anything, she didn't even offer it a glance, having grown used to sights such as these; that unforgettable shade of black and blue upon a soft purple.

What she did show focus on though was what she knew she would never get used to, shaped as a filthy white bandage that, from what she remembered, she hadn't changed since she moved to the Everfree Forest.

Her previously lingering hoof suddenly came to life, slowly moving itself and, with the utmost care, placing itself upon the bandage. It almost physically sickened or pained her that she could feel the hoof through the bandages, yet again being reminded of why those stallions, and the many other ponies over her life, were right. How she truly was a fre-

"Halfy?" The thought-filled earth mare jumped at the sudden call of her name, a small squeak also escaping her as she quickly and instinctively turned to where she had believed the sound to have come from.

She recognized the voice rather easily, much like the appearance of the stallion as she turned to it, but that didn't particularly still her suddenly rapid beating heart nonetheless.

Nightmare Moon, having only wanted to gain her friend's attention, was swift to notice the signs of surprise Halfy had shown. "Oh, do forgive us, Halfy. We did not mean to frighten thee."

Her heart and breath calming, Halfy gave out a silent sigh as she faced Nightmare Moon, whom of course still occupied the disguised form of Jeremy.

"I-it's fine." She assured, not at all wanting for Nightmare Moon to feel guilty over the subject. It clearly wasn't her intention, after all, to have scared her. "I-I just wasn't expecting you prin-"

With an audible clear of her throat, Nightmare Moon interrupted her before she could finish, gesturing for her to refrain from calling her that by putting a hoof before her maw in a shushing manner. As much as Nightmare Moon had no issue with being referred to as the princess many no longer has thought her to be, she knew that now would not be the appropriate time, what with the ponies that were around.

Halfy seemed to understand this easily enough, stopping herself almost immediately.

"... S-sorry..." She apologized in a quieter tone, to which Nightmare Moon shook her head lightly.

" 'Tis no issue." Halfy was assured. Shortly after, she watched as Nightmare Moon gained a gentle smile across her features, looking to her kindly.

"Pray tell, would thou allow us to make thine company; If only for a short time?" The question truthfully threw Halfy off-guard for a moment, an ear involuntarily twitching as she took a moment to be sure she had heard her right. "Of course, if thou wouldst prefer to retain solidarity for a more prolonged time, we would have no complaint if thou told us otherwise."

Ever so slowly, Halfy shook her head. She had told the group she would sit by herself, yes, but that did not mean she would necessarily turn any of them away should they come to her. Even if that was what she had implied, she would never have enforced it by even the smallest of degrees. She simply wasn't the kind of mare to do so.

"Ah, 'tis grand to know. We thank thee, our friend." Nightmare Moon said gratefully, moving herself into, before sitting herself upon, the seat opposite of Halfy; the two now faced each other perfectly.

Curiously, the two quickly grew silent as they found themselves to be in their positions, the smile Nightmare Moon had given being easily changed for a blank appearance. Halfy knew the reason, but perhaps that was the reason she did not speak either.

It was clear to her that Nightmare Moon had not simply come to seat herself with her--though she truly meant no offense in thinking so--and that, in fact, she had likely come to return to the subject of what had occurred in Ponyville. The subject was unavoidable, of course, but that did not mean she wished to speak of it so soon.

Nonetheless, she knew she'd have to say something... And besides that, something had been on her mind from the matter anyhow. This was among the better of opportunities for her to ask whatever troubled her, what with the relative privacy from the others they held.

"..." With a glance to the window once more, she gave out a sigh. "... I-if you don't mind my asking," she began, quickly gaining Nightmare Moon's full attention, "why did you do that?"

At this rather unclear question, Nightmare Moon raised one of Jeremy's brows, giving Halfy a look of confusion.

"We... Do not understand." She confessed, hoping that Halfy would elaborate; her gaze still on the window, Halfy did just that.

"In Ponyville, with the two stallions; why did you stand up for me?" It wasn't as though it had never happened to her before. Of the various times and ponies that had treated her in this way, the two were among the more harmless. It was only one bruise, which was actually even less than the usual minimum. Yet, Nightmare Moon stepped in, coming between her and the stallions despite it not really involving her.

Nonetheless, Nightmare Moon had an answer ready, despite the apparent confusion she felt from the nature of question itself.

"We simply did not wish to allow thee to undergo such treatment any further. Neither we, nor Gilda, nor Sir Jeremy." She answered, her face shifting to one of honest concern. "Pray tell, why would we commit otherwise?"

At this, Halfy looked to the seat below her, shifting ever so slightly as she did so. The faint squeak of the seat springs below her served as a sort of filler for the silence between the two, yet also served in building tension at the same time.

"... I don't know..." Among her hooves, her foremost dug slightly into the seat, eliciting another groan of its springs.

"I just... Never had anypony help me like you did... So, um..." A faint line of red drew across her face as she grew silent yet again, seeming to choke upon her own words. Though she desperately did want to express what she felt at the moment, she found it difficult, being unused to having to show this such concept. Nightmare Moon, however, was able to clearly make out what she attempted to show.

Gratitude.

"Thou art very welcome, our friend." With a gentle smile and soft tone, Nightmare Moon accepted Halfy's unsaid 'thank you', placing a hoof upon her shoulder for only a moment so as to display this even further; Halfy could not help but to look back to Nightmare Moon at this point, her nervousness and anxiety at the very least blurring as she took note of the kind and chummy gesture.

"Regardless, we are not to receive all of the credit for the happenstance in Ponyville. As we said, Gilda and Sir Jeremy played a part in the event just as well." Halfy rose a brow as Nightmare Moon retold this statement, a point of curiosity piqued at a certain part of which.

"A-about that. I understand how Gilda helped, but--and I mean no offense to him if he's hearing this--how... Did Jeremy help?" Truthfully, she was expecting some outrage of sorts. She knew how much Nightmare Moon respected Jeremy, and that she would likely defend him from anything she could, including a possibly misunderstood 'insult'.

Instead though, Nightmare Moon gave out a short chuckle, shaking her head at the more recent memory.

"To begin, Sir Jeremy is not listening to us in any form. He chose to rest until we arrived at our intended location, likely due to his adopted sleeping schedule." Halfy nodded attentively, silently assuring Nightmare Moon that she was listening.

"Furthermore, when we came to assist thee, we held no intention of besmirching our, or Sir Jeremy's hooves with the disgraceful stallions that had so perturbed thee." Yet another nod was elicited from Halfy, though more slowly on this occasion.

"... Sir Jeremy, as it seemed, held different thoughts on the matter." Halfy's ears now twitched at what Nightmare Moon said, not only from what she had uttered, but also the pride behind it.

"Y-you mean Jeremy was the one who-...?"

"T'was quite the interesting happenstance." Nightmare Moon gave as response to her unfinished question. "So strong was Sir Jeremy's will to defend thine honor, he not only broke the spell we held over him, but also seemed to do so through the light that he feared as well." Halfy's jaw fell ever so slightly at this as she slowly processed what she had heard. She knew not a great amount of Alicorns, but she was well aware that their magic was no laughing matter. Yet, according to Nightmare Moon, Jeremy was the one to throw that blow, despite this; despite his fear of the light, and the fact that it was close into early morning when it had occurred.

Why, she wondered. It seemed this was all she could ask herself, though she was aware she would be unable to give herself an answer. In fact the only one who would be able to do so was...

"... H-he did that for me?" She gained a slow, smiling nod in return.

"We hold reason for our respect to Sir Jeremy. He places others beforehoof. Thereof be the reason he was unable to escape the dungeons with us upon our escape. The reason for many things that we hold gratitude towards him for; We and Chrysalis, though she shows it not." The controlled, disguised form of Jeremy gave a short glance over towards the direction of her other companions, of whom were easily noticeable due to the Griffons who sat taller than any other in the train car.

"... When he wakes up, c-could you please tell him I said 'thank you'."

"Of course."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It felt... different to sleep with only my conscious, rather than with my body. I could still dream, sure, but I didn't feel like I was there, per se. Even as the moon shined its dim light above me, I could feel myself half-aware that I was dreaming. One would think this was a lucid dream and that, as such, I'd be able to relatively dictate what went on.

Yet, there I lay, still unmoving as I stared up at the sky, my thoughts beginning to fester and flow more freely.

The disguises Chrysalis had given to us, the train, and our route to Canterlot. It was as if only these select thoughts could escape me, and any other seemed to pale in comparison.

This... dream, as it was, held no controllability, yet, it felt eerily familiar. Hell, come to think of it, there was something different about it too. For some reason, though it was hard to really make out, the moon above seemed to grow closer and closer...

-------------------------------------------
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"They're coming to Canterlot?!?" Celestia exclaimed in absolute shock and dismay, looking towards her lunar sister from her seat in the throne room. It was only a few minutes ago that Princess Luna had entered the room, and by then, Celestia had already been able to guess that she had found out something of interest.

Of this, however, she was expecting anything but what she was told.

"It would seem so, sister." Luna confirmed, though giving out a small yawn as she did so. It was rather difficult for her to keep her focus aligned on the subject at hoof when, in fact, she was almost dead tired. She was not used to sleeping during the night whatsoever, and the thoughts of how her and Celestia's subjects must have been doing without her--having to fend off nightmares on their own in her absence--grated against her. Nonetheless, as her sister had so explained, it was an issue of the utmost importance that had led to this, and as such, it was necessary for her to have made a decision as to which responsibility to preside over: to protect her subjects within the dreamscape, or throughout the physical realm.

It was a clear choice from the start.

"Shall we order the guards to await their arrival at the station?" Luna inquired. Celestia, however, shook her head, giving out a sigh as she did so.

"No. It would seem too suspicious if it seemed as though the royal guard were suddenly involved with something that should be as simple as a train ride. We need to avoid the populace going into a panic, which means we have to draw as little attention as possible." Celestia explained, her eyes closed in thought.

"What's more, we aren't even sure which of the ponies aboard are the ones we should capture. The only way to decipher changeling magic from any other is through a spell that only you, I, and my student know." If the appearance of the royal guard didn't worry ponies, then surely her own would. It was a conflicting set of thoughts for her.

On one hoof, she had thought the three fugitives to have been foals for returning to Canterlot, making their capture all the more simple. On the other, they had simultaneously made things all the more difficult, gaining a proximity to the princess and her sister while also giving themselves a sort of safeguard from their action.

Were this a game of chess, Celestia would more than likely have found herself to be in check by now.

"Then, what should we do?" Luna asked, narrowing her eyes at the thought of the three escapees--more specifically her former self--being within the city walls.

Celestia's eyes remained closed as she answered with a deep breath, attempting her best to hold a calm tone.

"We are unable to take any immediate action at the moment, just as we cannot allow anypony to know of their escape..." With a slow stature, her eyes opened once again, gazing down to her sister in a blank, serious overtone. "However, we at least know that they will be here in the city, so we can be sure to watch for any suspicious activity more easily. Moreover, so long as we continue our current actions, we should be able to gain more information from the human's subconscious . From this, we will take action, but for now... We wait."

Chapter 26: Home Sweet Home

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Time had always held its own form of passing, be it in a tense, calm, silent, or audible form. Yet, how could it have been that, on this occasion, it held all of which at once?

Those who sat upon their thrones, watching with care, and those who sat aboard a train, awaiting arrival; It was an unexpected--nor was it warily known of--battle of patience between two opposing sides.

As to how long it lasted, it seemed only one knew, though it seemed only through habitual means. Either way, it truly made no difference. By the time the train begun to slowly escalate up the mountain that held Canterlot aloft, the sun had also begun to descend, barely touching the very edge of the horizon.

And no sooner then that did a certain few who rode in the train give out an amalgamation of sighs and silent stares.

They were all clear on the risk they had taken just by having come aboard the train, and even more so in regards to actually entering the city. They were essentially on the princess's doorstep, so, if they wanted to avoid being caught, it would be absolutely necessary for them to be as discreet as possible...

"We're doomed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... So... Where is it we're going again?" For what must have been the eighth time--the other six having been on the train, and the extra from before they had even gotten to Ponyville--Chrysalis gave out a groan as Gilda asked her this question.

"For Empress's sa- How many times am I going to have to repeat this to you?!" Chrysalis angrily interrogated, growing tired of answering the same thing over and over again.

While the filly that was Chrysalis slammed a hoof into her face--her cheeks puffing out in silent fury--Gilda shrugged her shoulders, not particularly seeing any real merit for this reaction.

Shortly behind the unfortunately paired two was another, though much more relatable pair: Jeremy's currently pony form, though still controlled by Nightmare Moon's magic as he slept, and the mare Halfy, who made sure to walk nearby her friend.

Since the train ride, they had stuck to these pairs in an almost involuntary fashion--more involuntary for some than others, however.

Nonetheless, Chrysalis rubbed her hoof against her head in an attempt to calm an upcoming headache, not even turning her head to look at Gilda as she explained once more.

"Listen carefully bird-beak, because this is the last time I'm going to tell you this!" Not one to take a comment such as 'bird-beak' without annoyance, Gilda opened her mouth to give out a reply of her own.

"And so help me, if you dare to say anything while I'm already this annoyed, I will rip your tail off!"

... But ultimately decided against it upon being told this. Granted, to her Chrysalis wasn't nearly as much of a threat as Zecora, who would likely make Chrysalis' threat seem like nothing compared to one of her own, but she still didn't particularly want to take too much of a risk with the situation.

Plus, she was too much in a mood to nap to do anything else anyhow.

"Now, we are going to wherever the Tartarus it was Jeremy had told us to go when we got to Canterlot, which we have!" She made sure to accentuate the last of her statement as slowly as possible, so as to make sure the 'dim-witted griffon' would be able to understand as well.

"Once we get there, we'll figure out what we should do next. Got it?!" Having practically had these words yelled at her, Gilda rolled her eyes, grumbling softly under her breath.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever bug breath." Had Gilda been given a momentary visual of all the mental fantasies Chrysalis then had of Gilda's pained yells and cries, she likely wouldn't have finished that statement with 'bug breath'. Thankfully, Chrysalis did not say anything more in response, instead seething in her quiet rage--which, in her current form, only served to seem more adorable than it was meant to be.

Nightmare Moon was not one to simply be oblivious to this obvious conflict just ahead of her and Halfy, rolling Jeremy's eyes under her control as she then called out to the argumentative pair.

"Calm thineselves, if only for an instant!" She said with a clear tone of annoyance. "We hardly see any true reason for either of thee to display such unadultered incompetence. Now be still, or we shall merilly give onto thee our most swift of silences!"

And silence was what she indeed gained... Though, not exactly for the reason she had believed, as Gilda was so readly blunt to state.

"... Seriously, what the hay did you just say?"

"Just ignore her. Even I lose track of what she's saying sometimes."

And just like that, it was now Nightmare Moon's turn to seethe in silent anger. Halfy, in the meanwhile, wisely took a small half-step away from her glowering friend.

Nonetheless, the four--five counting their sleeping and hidden away member--continued through the many expansive paths of Canterlot, passing building and pony after building and pony in search of their one true destination. Though some grew to be easily bored and restless--more specifically in the griffoness format--and it had taken the better part of the next ten minutes, the oddly mishmashed group did eventually arrive at their destination: A single architectural block of large buildings, some homes, some businesses, varying in sizes and colors, all unified under a single sign that read-

" 'Clean Bridle Boulevard'?" Halfy read aloud, looking at the sign in a mix of curiosity and confusion. "This is where we were supposed to go?" Nightmare Moon, whose gaze was also upon the sign, much like the other members of the group, nodded in response.

"Yes, this is indeed where Sir Jeremy had suggested we arrive upon reaching Canterlot. Pray tell, why is it thou asks?" She inquired. Halfy, in turn, sucked on the inside of her cheek as she searched for he right way to state her thoughts.

"W-well... The name itself just seems so..."

"Weird?" Gilda offered.

"Y-yeah. I mean, aren't bridles normally used for..." Suddenly, her cheeks flushed to a dark red as she cast her gaze away from the sign and towards the ground. Her voice also lost most of the volume it held behind it, escaping as a muttered whisper. Nonetheless, the trio beside her were easily able to understand what she was getting at, though none of them reacted as she did... Well, at least, most of them understood. Nightmare Moon, however, shook her head and gave out a chuckle.

"Actually, Halfy, 'tis more to the name than thou may see." Halfy looked slightly up from the ground to her in attention, though her red tone of blush and silence still held strong. "Believe it or otherwise, the use of bridles was not quite as uncommon as seen in present times. Why, millenia ago, 'twas seen as a statement of common wear."

Gilda rose a brow as she said this, looking to her oddly.

"A statement of what now?" She asked, quickly recieving a translation of sorts from Chrysalis, alongside a sigh.

"She means most of the noble numbskulls around here used to wear them as fashion."

This swiftly drove Gilda to laughter, while the red on Halfy's face only deepened even further. The very thought of, not one, but several ponies, male and female, walking around the streets wearing things that were nowadays only meant for more... lewd actions... It simply seemed unbelievable. Then again, was it possible that Nightmare Moon was unaware of these such acts involving what used to be common clothing when she still ruled, and that she had, in fact, not truly understood what Halfy was getting at earlier?

Either way, despite the reactions of the two, Chrysalis did not even flinch, whereas Nightmare Moon looked on in nostalgic serenity.

"Oh, we are very surprised to see this location has made it through these many millenia, despite the many changes clearly seen." Putting Jeremy's hoof to his chin, she then asked herself of another memory she had floating around as a result of this sight. "Mayhaps, is it possible that the location Half Halter Hone has also made it through the times?"

Now with the added imagery given by Nightmare Moon with that one question, Gilda fell over in boisterous laughter, gasping for air and holding her sides, while Halfy's face essentially became the equivalent to a tomato. Having finally snapped out of her thoughts as she took notice of the two's actions, the alicorn controlled pony body of Jeremy rose a brow in confusion, not particularly sure of what made them react in such a way.

"Did... We say something off?" Chrysalis rolled her eyes at this.

"You say a lot of things that are 'off'. Just so happens that, this time, you were even moreso than usual. Congrats." This went completely over Nightmare Moon's head in regard to meaning, but did little to stir anymore of Chrysalis' attention, as she then looked to the idiotically laughing griffon on the floor beside her. Honestly, in her opinion, Gilda couldnt have possibly been anymore of a source of attention possible. Even now, she could see several ponies looking in their direction as they passed them, likely attracted by the noisy, and might she add obnoxious, laughter of Gilda.

"Are you about done?" Chrysalis asked frustratingly, glancing around them once more.

For the most part, Gilda ignored Chrysalis, continuing her booming laughter for some time longer before, eventually, calming herself down. With remnants of snorts and chuckles escaping her, Gilda sat herself up from the ground wiping away a stay tear from her eye.

"Heh. Woo, that was too good." She said with a smile on her beak. Turning to the other three, another short chortle escaped her as she spoke. "So--heh--anyways, which of the houses around here do we go to?"

... Silence was what met her as response, with little more than the sound of ponies trotting in the background and their distant conversations serving as a sort of background filler. With little more than a few of these seconds necessary, Gilda quickly pieced together what this meant, her previous smile all but disappearing.

"... We have no idea, do we?" Again, silence.

"Wait, so, you're telling me that Bugbreath nagged me about where we were going earlier," she began to complain, pointing a talon to the filly-shaped Chrysalis as she spoke, "when she didn't even really know herself?!?" Chrysalis, of course, took exception to these words.

"Oh don't go blaming me you featherbrained abomination! Neither of us know because a certain someone managed to somehow leave out that detail." Gilda sneered at the abomination comment, rolling her eyes as she began to contemplate striking a filly for the first time in her life... Well, actually, there was that time in grade school, but that was a completely different story in of itself.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't apologize or anything. Not like you were wrong." She said sarcastically, quickly gaining a rebuttal from Chrysalis.

"I wasn't wrong, you-"

"Whatever, just ask J about which house it is and let's get this over with." Of all the annoyances that Chrysalis had had to deal with in her life as a changeling queen, this griffoness before her was quickly managing to rise to her highest of listings, right below that one idiotic minotaur she had the displeasure of meeting some centuries ago. Nonetheless, and mostly because she partially agreed with the griffon in terms of wanting to get this over with, Chrysalis withheld herself from taking any further actions or slinging any words towards Gilda, settling for a simple slam of her hoof against her face in frustration.

"I would, but he's still asleep, remember?"

"And alongside that," Nightmare Moon then added in, "the light of day hath not fully dispersed itself yet. We do not wish for him to wake up in immediate discomfort." Gilda rose a brow of confusion at this.

"What are you talking abou- oh yeah! That whole 'afraid of the light' thing." Snapping her talons in realization, Gilda very nearly slammed her own hand against her face for her forgetfullness. After all, Chrysalis had told her about this during the train ride there; still, her recounting of this didn't particularly serve to bide away any of her skepticism towards this account. In fact, even Jeremy had vaguely mentioned it when she had first seen him again in the Everfree Forest; still, Gilda knew Jeremy, and didn't really think of him to be the kind of guy to be afraid of something as insignificant as the light.

... However, that didn't mean she would want to test that theory of hers out anytime soon. She had her own things that she was 'afraid' of too--in a more striped black, white, and rhyming variety--and she had a general idea as to how bad it is to deal with it.

"Yeah, not fun..." She thought to herself, involuntarily moving her tail closer to herself at one of her more recent memories of this issue.

"... Okay, so, why don't you just wake him up with your eyes closed? I mean, isn't he only able to see and feel what you do while you're in control of his body? So... Yeah, why not do that?" Glancing around her, Gilda was miffed to see that, rather than immediately responding, everypony took a moment to simply look in her direction; suffice to say, this quickly bothered her.

"Thou... make a very valid point, Miss Gilda." Nightmare Moon finally said, raising one of Jeremy's forehooves to his chin as she vaguely recalled him closing his eyes back in Ponyville, when he had taken control in order to deal with one of the two bothersome stallions from before.

"Agreed... Surprisingly." Gilda didn't let this particular comment of Chrysalis' fly by so quickly, raising a brow at the clearly double-meaning and sarcastic undertone behind it.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" She interrogated irritatedly, looking down to the filly-formed Chrysalis with a glare.

Chrysalis noted this look, but didn't particularly care to give much of a physical response or sneer as well, blankly looking back to her.

"That I don't think you to be very capable of coming up with good ideas." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Honestly, I thought that was obvious by now." Adding this in with shrug, it was no surprise that Gilda's eyes gleamed with anger as she looked towards her, saying many more things about the disguised changeling than likely any other pony even understood the meaning behind.

On a similar side note of this, however, Gilda silently thanked that griffons had their own dictionary based around swears... Before then vividly remembering the even larger list of words that were yelled at her and Nightmare Moon back on the train.

"... Congrats, you've managed to get second place in the list of ponies that I've managed to hate the quickest." Chrysalis rolled her eyes at Gilda's words, scoffing outright.

"Oh, I feel so honore-" Before she could finish her sarcastic retort, one of Chrysalis' ears twitched as she realized what Gilda had just said.

"Wait, second?" She asked. "Then who's-"

"She's pink, she's yappy, and she made the top of that list in the first five minutes of my meeting her. Believe me, you do not want to know anything more than that." A visible shudder went through all of Gilda's body as she recalled the memories of the certain mare she was talking about, already beginning to have a headache build just from that, while Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, and even Halfy looked towards her with raised brows.

"... We... shall contact Sir Jeremy now." Nightmare Moon then said, shaking her head so as to move away from the subject before, with a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sir Jeremy..."

... Ugh... Ow. Okay, note to self, the recesses of my mind are really uncomfortable to sleep in. Hell, I think I have a crick in my neck now... Which is especially weird in that I don't really have a neck in here!

Even more so, I wanted to stretch out, or do something I normally did when I woke up, but, yeah...

Also, why is it so dim in here all of a sudden?

"Sir Jeremy?" Hearing Nightmare Moon's voice, I did what I could to recover from my rather unconventional nap, going so far as to imagine cracking my neck and all that crud; I'd be lying if I said that it was as satisfying as I would have wanted.

"Oof... I'm up, Nightmare Moon, I'm up."

Mostly. Hell, would this technically even count as me being conscious?

"We apologize for disturbing you, Sir Jeremy, but we are experiencing a minor issue that requires attending to, at this very moment." Raising my figurative brow at this, I decided to try and get some more specifics on the matter.

"Uh, what do you mean, exactly?" I questioned, albeit nervously. I mean, it's not exactly reassuring for someone to wake you up and then, as the first thing they do, tell you something's wrong.

Nightmare Moon seemed to notice this tone in my voice, an image of her shaking her head flashing by as she spoke through our mental link yet again.

"We assure you, 'tis nothing to truly worry of. We simply wish for your direction from our current location."

"My... direction?"

"Yes. From Clean Bridle Boulevard?"

Oh. They got there already? Geez, how long have I been asleep. Usually that train ride takes a few hours, and even then, there was always the possibility of delays. Oh well, I wasn't going to complain. If I did, that would just show my idiocy on the matter.

"Oh, you and the others are there? Great! So, uh, what's the problem?"

"Well, though it truly is indeed worthy of gratefulness that we have arrived, there is still the issue of... Navigating the edifices." That one... Took me a second or two.

"Uh, you mean, the buildings?"

"Yes."

"And... I didn't tell you which one to look for, did I?"

"We are certain that it simply slipped your mind."

If I could've slammed my hand--or hoof, as it were--against my face, I would have. Had I really forgotten to tell them which building to look for once they had gotten here? It's not exactly an insignificant detail.

Then again, I do faintly recall being momentarily stuck on the fact that I suddenly had fur and four legs, so... yeah...

"Oof, sorry about that. But, when it comes to finding the right place, well, I need to actually see where we are right now. So, um... why is it that I can't?" I inquired, tilting my metaphysical head at the dim darkness that blinded me. I was pretty sure I had my mental 'eyes' open, so, why was it that I couldn't really see anything still? For a mere second, a slight hint of worry passed through me, though not nearly noticeable enough for me or Nightmare Moon to have taken note of.

"The issue you are speaking of is due to our cause, Sir Jeremy. We did not wish for you to awaken in a fearful state, and for that reason, we closed our--or rather your--eyes." A 'fearful state'? What does she mean by... Oh...

"... The sun still hasn't gone down, has it."

"Unfortunately, Sir Jeremy, no. It still lies in the horizon, the light it emits providing its last hurrah for the ever shortening day." Huh. As terrified of the fact that there was still light out there that I was, I had to give Nightmare Moon credit. The way she had explained that seemed almost poetic... Then again, most of what she says is poetic and beau- Annnnnd I'm getting off subject. Moving on!

"Oh, well, thanks for that whole 'eye closing' thing then." I told her gratefully, before the delving myself in thought. It was clear that I couldn't really direct her to where exactly she needed to go by direction, what with there still apparently being light out, but, maybe I could just describe what she was looking for?

Granted, most of the buildings around here looked more similar than a pair of cloned twins--wierd comparison, I know--but there had to be something I had done to differentiate the building from those of the stuckup jackasses that neighbored it... If only to spite them...

And that's when I remembered.

"Nightmare Moon, you're next to the sign for Clean Bridle Blvd, aren't you?"

"Indeed."

"Alright, I may not be able to give you directions, but I can at least tell you how to find the right house."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... How long has she been standing like that now?" Gilda asked impatiently, tapping her talons against the sidewalk below her as she watched Jeremy's quiet and stock-still pony body. Just as she had suggested, the eyes of it were closed as it sat silently on the floor, Nightmare Moon likely attempting to wake Jeremy up while it was like this.

"How should I know?" Chrysalis snippily rebutted. "The only one out of us who can tell time is the one who's using that time."

"You're a pretty annoying bug, aren't ya."

"I'll gladly take credit for one of those three words you used to describe me. And if you can't figure out which one, then you're more of a fool than I thought." Gilda sneered at this, rolling her neck to rid a momentary cramp she had gotten from sitting still and waiting for so long before responding.

"Okay, that one didn't even make sense. So, I can get the trying to say you're not annoying part as a comeback, but you also just said you aren't a bug. And, last time I checked, changelings are considered bugs." To her confusion, Chrysalis simply looked at her with a face that screamed 'really?'.

"... That was the word I took credit for, you nimrod. Well done, proving my point." Gilda's eyes narrowed at the insult, and just before she could say anything more, she paused, instead taking a moment to realize what she had said. This was not missed upon by Halfy who, though she had previously been sitting by and waiting in timid silence, could not help but to speak up.

"Wait, you... Don't think of yourself as pretty?" Chrysalis did not respond, nor could she as, at that very moment, Nightmare Moon's eyes finally opened once again.

"Sir Jeremy is awake, and he hath informed us on how to find our destination." Chrysalis was quick to take the oppurtunity of moving onto another subject as fluidly as possible, taking note in the fact that Nightmare Moon seemed oblivious as to what had happened while she was speaking to Jeremy.

"About time. Now, where too?" She asked simply and swiftly. The response she gained, however, was... not to her expectations.

"Sir Jeremy says to look for the building lacking of dullness."

"..."

"... That's it?" Chrysalis asked, her tone clearly restricting hints of frustration as she looked to Nightmare Moon; she nodded in response, much to Chrysalis's displeasure.

The changeling queen had honestly been expecting something--anything other than that bland excuse for directions Jeremy had apparently given. So, it goes without question that she was rather... irritated beyond belief. Rubbing her temples in the filly form she inhabited, Chrysalis began to slowly, deliberately, attempt to recap the situation before her aloud.

"... So, let me get this straight." She began, her voice at a low, though gradually increasing volume. "I... turn Jeremy and myself into different forms, using up my magic while doing so, wait on a train for I don't know how long while you deal with what happened in Ponyville, before then waiting for several more hours--while having to deal with an imbecile of a griffon!"

Gilda essentially turned off her hearing at this point, not even feeling it to be worth the effort to try to give any sort of response to what Chrysalis had said and instead busying herself by looking around her surroundings... And upon doing so, catching sight of a rather noticeable sight, causing her to raise her brows.

"I walk my way through the irritatingly busy streets of this place as a filly, getting annoying looks from the several so-called 'nobles' of this place--still dealing with Gilda the entire time!"

With an amused smile smile on her face as Chrysalis went on--whereas Nightmare Moon and likely Jeremy held blank expressions, well used to her occasional meltdown by now--Gilda decided to let Halfy know about what she was looking at, nearly giving her a quick elbow to the shoulder to grab her attention as she would do with Jeremy... Before quickly remembering what had happened with her shoulder, and instead giving her a tap on the back.

This quickly gained Halfy's attention with a twitch of her ear and a turn of her head, all the while Gilda holding in a chuckle at the sight.

"We finally make it here, before just then realizing that we dont know where to go afterwards-"

Quickly taking notice of the sight herself, Halfy glanced over to Gilda, who in turn returned the look, before bobbing her head towards the mid-spiel Chrysalis, gesturing for her to tell her.

"And now, after all that, the best that the hibernating bear there has to give us to go on, is that we should look for a building 'LACKING IN DULLNE-' " Before she could finish, a light tap on her shoulder stopped her as the volume of her voice entered the range of yelling, quickly earning a yell of its own in return. Almost cataclysmically, she jolted her head to the direction of the tap.

"WHAT!?!" She yelled, Halfy nearly falling backwards in surprise and fear. Nonetheless, despite hiding herself behind her hooves as much as she physically could, and the slightly panting and glowering filly before her, Halfy shakily pointed to the direction she had been informed to look towards by Gilda. Chrysalis' eyes narrowed at this, but she looked nonetheless, barely giving a second of attention to whatever may have been requested of her. Though a second was all she needed, as her eyes suddenly lost their fury, instead quickly being switched out for a blank expression of exasperation, along with the rest of her features.

"... You have got to be joking me." Behind her, she sensed two different emotions coming from the shared form of Jeremy. Both were off smugness, respectively emitting from the conciousnesses of both Jeremy and Nightmare Moon. Soon after, she recieved a short mental transmission from one of these two sources.

"Yeah. Say, Chrysalis, maybe you should stay in that filly form? It would certainly match that tantrum you just threw."

"I could say the same about you sleeping matching the blissful silence that came from i-"

"So, bug breath, what d'ya have to say to that?"

"... On second thought, I would've been tormented by one of you two either way."

------------------------------

Hoofsteps and low grumbles accentuated their short, but to some seemingly lengthy walk as they closed in on a single particular building. Chrysalis, of course, being the source of these grumbles as they eventually came up to the front of the home.

The building before them was, despite the inversely small amount of space it held in terms of the path before it and buildings next to it, actually seemed fairly sizable, likely reaching what seemed to be two stories, much like Halfy's own self-built home. Unlike Halfy's home, however, this building held a much more noticeable elegance to it, alongside a relative increase to its overall size, in terms of width. With only a few windows built into the front of the building, as both its left and right were neighbored by similarly large buildings that blocked the view and overall necessity of any other windows, it managed to hold a simple yet ornate appearance to it, down to the very door, which stood under a slightly protruding part of the building, held up by a pair of wooden columns. Finally, just as Nightmare Moon and the others had been hinted towards, the building was tipped off with an eggshell white and midnight black paint mix, different from the other, simply colored buildings that surrounded it.

It was quite impressive, honestly. Though, one of the group was more focused on how irritating it was that they weren't just told of this color difference, rather than given a vague hint.

Nonetheless, the group continued on its way to the front door without hesitation, each one them almost sequentially stepping onto the small tile pathway that led to it one by one, with Halfy being the last one, and Gilda being the first one to nearly slip on an unsteady tile.

"Woah!" She had exclaimed, before quickly regaining her footing and looking to the one loose tile with narrowed eyes.

"Geez, wonky floor." Unbeknownst to her, a certain human had no other option but to agree with her, well aware of the issue with that one particular tile.

"Yeah, I never got around to fixing that. I think it has something to do with the age of the actual footing. Either that, or the molding is beginning to break apart." Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis heard Jeremy as he involuntarily sent this thought of his over their mental link, with one of the two rolling their eyes.

"Odd, you act as if we care." Chrysalis returned in a deadpan.

"Odd, you act as if you know how to get in the house on your own."

"..."

"Exactly." Quickly moving on from that short conversation, all the while watching as Chrysalis glared at the resolvedly smirking Nightmare Moon, Jeremy instructed Nightmare Moon on what to do next; as well as he could, what with his 'eyes' closed due to the light.

"Alright, now, if you check the top of the doorframe you should find a key to the door."

"Should?" Chrysalis interrogated, earning a sigh from Jeremy.

"Just get the key."

Though neither Halfy nor Gilda were really sure as to why Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis were making faces at one another in silence, making themselves out to be 'total nuts', as Gilda would put it, they didn't really find any particular reason to comment, or try to make sense of it. Especially after, with a roll of her eyes, Chrysalis' horn began to glow, a light scrape of noise coming from the door as a small key floated from atop of the frame, before then moving to the keyhole and turning.

A sharp click could be heard as the door's lock released, and the key was then withdrawn once more.

"Well that's a good sign." Gilda off-handedly commented, reaching for the door handle. At first, she had some trouble, her talons slipping on the smooth metal knob with an ear-wrenching scratch, but eventually she managed, giving out a harrumph as she grabbed hold of the handle with both of her frontal limbs, securing it and allowing for her to turn it.

The door creaked as it opened, the comparatively dark insides of the house being what welcomed the group as fresh air from the outside entered for the first time in some time. Shortly after this air was the odd group of possessed former humans, transformed changelings, single-eyed mares, and blowhard griffons that followed, each of them glancing around the inside of the house as best as they could in the dim light of the house.

"Sir Jeremy asks that thou also close the windows of the abode, changeling." Chrysalis groaned in annoyance but fulfilled the request nonetheless, the shine of magic signaling the end of the remaining dim light of the house, instead replaced by pitch blackness.

A slight 'eep' of surprise escaped Halfy as this occurred, the suddenness of this action having caught her off guard. Gilda, in the meanwhile, took the opportunity to give off another bout of sarcasm.

"Oh, awesome, because it was too easy to take a look around the place before."

"A-aren't Griffons really good at seeing in the dark?" Halfy inquired, tilting her head in curiosity towards where she believed Gilda to be; truthfully, the only hint she had, since her sight was not yet used to the sudden darkness, was the faint glow she saw coming from everypony as a result of her special talent.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I still can't complain about it." Gilda replied with a shrug, glancing around the room.

It was... nice...

Really, there wasn't much else to say.

White inner wall paint, a soft carpeted floor--almost velvet red in its color--a collection of cushioned seats organized to face a coffee table in the center of the room, including a couch with enough space for two ponies, whereas the other seats were singles, and a few random paintings strewn along the walls to fill in any empty spaces. There were a few lamps, but they were ultimately useless all things considered.

Alongside that, few doors and halls spread about the living room added some more depth and intricacy to the place. Granted, Gilda herself was too lazy to really try and think up what may have been behind these individual doors and down those halls, but, hey, she would cross those bridges when she got there.

"Huh... Not too shabby." Gilda muttered to herself as she strode her way to the couch on first instinct, flopping herself onto it the moment she reached its side; she practically took up the entire couch doing so, her body laid flat from head to tail, belly-side down as one of her wings hung lazily over the side of the couch and to the floor.

An audible groan could be heard from her as she grabbed hold of the closest couch pillow she could and placed it over her face.

"Well, you're quick to make yourself at home, aren't you?" Chrysalis commented, taking a few steps further into the home herself, before stopping and turning to Nightmare Moon.

"Alright, happy? Or would you prefer I draw you a bath now as well?"

The sarcasm behind Chrysalis' statement didn't go unnoticed to Jeremy, as he sent her a mental roll of his eyes.

"As a matter of fact, there are a few papers and pencils around here. I'm sure that, with some drawing classes, you coul-"

"Are you honestly using a pun as a comeback."

"... Good point." As Jeremy began to mentally kick himself in response to his horrible attempt at a rebuttal, Chrysalis rolled her eyes. A green flame surrounded the filly of a changeling, casting a dim light over the rest of the darkened home as, within mere moments, the small unicorn filly that stood before Nightmare Moon and Jeremy was replaced by a fully grown changeling queen, sporting a grumpy look of exhaustion.

"Ugh... About time I was able to do that." Chrysalis thought to herself aloud, easily overheard by the others in the house. She didn't seem to care, however, as these stares were ignored with ease. If anything, she was just glad that she was finally able to talk and actually sound like herself, rather than a filly. Plus, the smaller amount of strain on her magic was very much appreciated... In fact...

Looking to the still controlled, and pony formed shape of Jeremy with a glare, Chrysalis stretched herself outwards as much as she possibly could, not being used to being transformed for such a long period of time after having been without magic for so long. The only thing even relatively close to this was the occasion she had transformed herself into a Canterlot guard to find Jeremy, and even then, it had barely taken her an hour of the day, whereas her transformation into a filly had lasted a good bit longer than that.

"... Are you two about done? Because, like it or not, I'm going to turn Jeremy back into a human. I want to get some sleep, and I can't do that while he's still a pony... So, either you make with the unpossessing, alicorn, or you end up falling over like Jeremy did... Only on two legs instead of four."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well that's certainly a pleasant form of threatening someone, isn't it?

... Oh sarcasm, how I do enjoy entertaining your use.

Anyways, despite how she had told us that, Chrysalis did have a good point. None of us were in the open anymore, so there wasn't really any need for me to be a pony anymore, like Chrysalis was a filly. Similarly, there wasn't any light in here, so Nightmare Moon didn't need to drag my body through everything either.

Plus, in terms of magic, both Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon must have been tired as all hell by now... That, and I didn't want a whiny Chrysalis to deal with, complaining about how we had her use her magic longer than she needed to.

Even though her magic is technically refillable, but... let's not bring attention to that.

The point is, she wasn't wrong, I needed to turn back, and I needed control of my body again.

So, glancing around the limited area of sight I was given as Nightmare Moon controlled where I looked, I tried to use the link between the three of us to inform her of my want to return to normal.

"Nightmare Moon, I-"

"Sir Jeremy, you will feel some discomfort for a short moment." Having not expected her sudden interruption, I, of course, was left momentarily frozen analyzing what she had said.

I mean, 'discomfort'? What did she mean by that?

... On an unspecifically related note, would you guess that the universe tended to answer your questions when, sometimes, you didn't want them to be answered?

Granted, the feeling had started off small, though still not pleasant; it was pretty much just the feeling of someone letting me go after having held onto me for years, exposing me to the cold. Within a few seconds though, several other much more noticeable feelings came with a crash.

Suddenly it felt as though I was propelled into my own head, crashing against my own insides like a snapping rubber band. My body went entirely off, then on, then off, and on again, for a total of I don't know how many times. Even worse, I could barely see a green flame engulf me through the mess of a bodily reset I went through, adding a memorably unique, and of course not fun in any way, feeling to the margarita of magic and bodily change that went through me.

I wasn't really sure, but I think that at some points throughout all this, I blacked out, say, three to four times.

These glimpses of unconsciousness however made the process seem to go by that much faster, eventually leading to me just lying on the floor, an unmistakable sense of dizziness, nausea, and a headache to boot.

In short... Worst. Hangover. Ever!

"Sir Jeremy? Art thou well?" Barely making that out over the ringing in my ears, I gave out a groan as a response, opening my eyes, which I hadn't even known were closed, and glancing up from the carpet to the others.

Unsurprisingly, Nightmare Moon was there with the others now--more specifically next to Chrysalis--looking towards me worriedly. It was almost odd to see her physically again, much like it was when i wriggled my fingers in an attempt to test my body again.

Definitely back to normal... And still clothed. Good, I got the most important parts.

"Hell, I was wondering what had happened to my pants when I was turned to a pony."

All thoughts aside though, it was rather difficult for me to raise my head up, even slightly, to look towards the six figures in front of me... I'm aware that it's only Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis there, but there was still six of them.

"... Why... Did you both have to do that at the same time?" I inquired, trying to decipher which of the six I saw were the real ones.

Nightmare Moon had opened her mouth to answer, but Chrysalis quickly cut her off with an answer of her own.

"Why use up anymore of the love I have keeping you transformed when I can just turn you back while the alicorn is giving you control? That's why."

As always, your logic is fucking infallible, Chrysalis... Again, sarcasm. Then again, I'm pretty sure that unnecessary 'fuck' I added there was a good tipoff to that. Kinda wish I had actually said that out loud though.

Instead, all I managed was another groan, followed by a quick and carpet-filled 'never again'.

"Geez J, you act as if you haven't been through worse. Like, remember that one time you ate that fish that turned out to be two days too old?" I barely gave out another groan in response, moving both my arms and hands under me before, with some momentary struggle, lifting my upper half off of the floor.

As for the memory Gilda had brought up, well, it didn't help to really soothe my stomach. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Nonetheless, as I sat myself up on the carpet, regaining my breath and pushing down whatever lunch I may have had--which was nothing so far, surprisingly--feeling that same soft carpet, breathing that familiar air, and taking note of that same crooked painting, I muttered something under my breath, just loud enough for the others to hear.

"Home sweet Ho- Oh to hell with it, I'm gonna see if I have any aspirin left over or something."

... Ah, just like old times...

Chapter 27: House Warming Yet Again

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So, uh, I can safely say that the plumbing in this house of mine still works. I mean, granted it wasn't for the reason I had originally expected I'd check it for, but enough drunken nights have told me otherwise. Sometimes, it really does pay to have some sort of reference as to what to do when you're tired, slightly dazed, and nauseous. Especially now, what with having just started walking on two legs again.

Honestly, had I been told I'd suffer a hangover from being possessed while in the form of a pony... that'd probably be the third weirdest thing I'd heard since I got to Equestria, actually.

This world will never cease to amaze and/or confuse me.

Anyhow, dry heaving into my toilet--which thankfully was, and I put an emphasis on was, relatively clean at the time--a few more times, I finally managed to pull myself away enough to reach for the actual tank lever, giving it a swift pull as I quite literally flushed away what remained of my sickness.

As the sound of running water from the refilling tank calmly filled the room, I grabbed the toilet lid and, with little more than a soft grumble, pulled it down as I lifted my own head out of the bowl and rested it on said cover.

And it was in that moment when a conflict of the internal variety arose. That is to say, of mental internal variety, because anything that may have been physically internal had already been emptied out quite thoroughly.

Either I could stay there in the silence of my bathroom for a bit and possibly pass out for a minute or two so as to further help my stomach, or I could just wash my mouth out, stand myself up, and head back out of the bathroom so as to ensure every other guest I currently had in my home that I was fine.

My head already having been on the toilet seat cover for a solid minute or two as I thought this over, I was certainly becoming more and more tempted by the former of the two options.

Before I could fully give into the concept, however, my eyes drooping a bit despite the horrible and acidic taste in my mouth, a knock at the door suddenly came through loudly and clearly.

Mostly because I, in my hangover like state, may as well have interpreted that single knock against the relatively thin wooden door as a battering ram being used against the entrance to a palace.

Yeah. It was not fun.

Groaning a bit, though making sure to keep my voice down, I lifted my head and passed the palm of my hand over my face before deciding to address whoever was at the door.

"... Yes?" I called, trying my best to clear my throat and make myself sound as... well, not horrible as possible.

The action itself irritated my throat quite a bit, and, noting this discomfort, I slowly rose myself onto my feet and made my way over to the sink that was firmly planted just a short distance away from the toilet, fairly close to the bathtub and shower.

"O-oh, um, I hope I'm not intruding or anything, but it's just that you seemed really sick when you left, and the princess was worried, and, well..." Recognizing Halfy's voice and overall timid nature as I essentially drowned myself with sink water in an effort to clear out the taste and discomfort in my mouth and throat, I withheld a mental chuckle or two as I realized how badly that actually might have seen from not only Halfy's, but everyone else's point of views as well.

It would've been like watching a drunk best friend try to wander around the house in search for, well, anything that could constitute as a container. Experience told me exactly how that looked with ease.

"... A-are you okay?" Halfy then finally settled on, myself spitting out the water, alongside any other impurities that I could rid myself of, before then responding.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I promptly responded, wiping the excess water away from my mouth out with a short glide-over with my wrist. Standing myself straight upwards, I took note of the mirror part of the medicine cabinet above the sink, looking over my reflection in the process, if only out of subconscious reasoning.

Overall, I couldn't deny that I looked like a mess--baggy eyes, a seemingly tired stare, I might as well have looked like I was afflicted with some kind of disease.

Then again, I never could handle my hangovers well. Even of the magical variety, it seemed.

"Just... felt a bit nauseous is all."

Yeah, and whatever was left of that 'nausea' is now safely going down whatever sewage pipes or magical filtration system that awaited it upon being flushed down the toilet.

"O-oh..." I heard Halfy then give out in brief response, her voice lowering as she did so.

More curiously however, even after I had answered her, I could still hear her shifting ever so slightly just outside the bathroom door, a hoof of hers likely to be drawing circles against the floor, as I had recalled her doing in a few other occasions.

I wanted to ask her if something was wrong, or if there was something else she wanted to ask, but before I could-

"W-would it be alright if I came in?" She then abruptly asked, a brow of mine slightly shifting at the suddenness of her request.

Realistically, she didn't have to ask. This was her home after al-

Wait, right, no it isn't. It's my house now...

I really am out of it right now, aren't I?

"Uh, sure, go ahead. The door's unlocked." I responded, giving myself another quick once over in the mirror before, more or less satisfied with how I looked--especially since I wouldn't be able to do much about it for a while, as experience has taught me--before then turning to the door as I heard the handle begin to jiggle and turn.

On an unrelated note, I still have no idea how ponies are able to open doorknobs with hooves, despite having over a year to figure out how. I mean, unicorns I can sorta get, what with their magic, but the rest? Yeah, it was a sorta guessing game there.

The door initially barely opening by just a crack--small enough to keep anybody from entering but large enough to allow one to get a quick view inside--I watched in admittedly silent amusement as Halfy's eye came into vision, along with the half of her face that held it.

She seemed to look around the bathroom for a short moment or two, almost as if she was confirming that this was the bathroom I was in, despite it being the only one in the house and myself having spoken to her through the door not seconds ago.

After a moment or two, she finally settled her eye on me, to which I reacted by giving off a small smile, and a friendly wave to accompany it. For a moment, I could see a smile of her own flash across the limited features of her expression I had a sight of.

A moment afterwards, the door completely opened, revealing the rest of the previously more or less hidden pony that stood behind it. She took care in her actions it seemed, going so far as to make sure the door didn't swing too far out, or too quickly, as she held onto the handle.

Again, how?

"Afternoon." I then greeted jokingly, hoping to ease her still visibly tense mood.

I was well aware of the fact that it was morning and that the sun was up, what with Nightmare Moon having had to control my body the rest of the way here not moments ago, but a small part of me wanted to say otherwise, and I wouldn't argue against it.

"A-afternoon." Halfy returned, seating herself on the tile floor before, with a soft and sudden squeak, shooting back up into a standing position. By my guess, she noticed how cold the tile floor was a little too late.

I barely withheld a laugh as I saw this, and it became even more difficult to do so as Halfy gained a notably more red tone to her.

A little more hurriedly than before, and stiffly as she likely tried to keep herself from making the same mistake as before and sitting on the floor again, she spoke up once more.

"I-I wanted to talk you." She said, to which I gave a nod for her to continue.

She almost didn't seen to expect that gesture, going silent for a moment or two before, her gaze momentarily going to the floor, she went on.

"Well, I-I wanted to know about-" As she spoke, her gaze went back up to me again and, almost immediately, she paused.

"A-are you sure you're okay? You look... um..." Noting the fact that she clearly didn't want to say anything that may have been taken the wrong way, and that I'd apparently need to wash my face some more, I shook my head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Like I said, I'm just a little nauseous from what happened." I reiterated, before then rolling my wrists so as to gesture for her to continue with her previous statement.

She looked momentarily confused for a moment, as if she had completely forgotten what it was that she initially was going to ask, before she then shortly after remembered with a near silent 'oh'.

"R-right. So, I wanted to know about..." And again, she trailed off.

I wasn't sure what it was she wanted to know about; I didn't even have the slightest of guesses. Still, while Halfy wasn't exactly the most talkative of ponies, she normally wasn't completely silent either.

Whatever it was she wanted to know, I had figured it wasn't something easy for her to bring up.

So, not wanting to intrude, I opened my mouth so as to tell her that-

"Why did you help me back then?"

... Never mind then.

Simply looking to her for a moment or two, likely out of momentary shock from the honest unexpectedness of her question--and quickly recovering once I realized that she was starting to shrink under said stare--I tried to go for at least a few more details or so.

"Um... you mean back in Ponyville, or...?" She nodded softly, confirming my suspicions, to which my immediate response was a raise of my brows and a nod of my own head.

"Oh. Well, because they were bothering you. That's why." I then told her simply, a smile on my face the whole time and a shrug escaping me before, turning back towards the mirror, I opened the medicine cabinet to see if there was anything that might come in handy right about now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was as simple as that.

'Because they were bothering you.'

There was no ulterior motive, no point of future judgment, and certainly no foreseeable advantage that may have arisen from the action. Instead, Jeremy had done so purely because he disliked the fact that those ponies from before were acting as they were to her.

To Halfy, this was certainly proof towards Nightmare Moon's earlier claims.

That is to say, it wasn't that she didn't believe her. It was not like that at all.

She simply felt it necessary to hear it herself, from the mouth of Jeremy. Granted, it was technically told to her from Jeremy's mouth before just as well, but those circumstances were different in of themselves.

She hadn't told Nightmare Moon about her intent to do so while she was on her way here, and she knew that she would likely find out once she came by to thank Jeremy on her behalf as she had asked--if only to find out that Jeremy had in fact already known of her gratitude--but it was something she felt that she absolutely had to do, if that made sense. And it certainly did to her.

"T-that's all?" Halfy asked on, though a part of her hoped she wasn't irritating Jeremy with her badgering.

"Pretty much, yeah." He returned, his response just as simple and swift as before.

Halfy... wasn't particularly sure what she was expecting. She had imagined that Jeremy had committed his actions out of good intention, as foretold by her alicorn friend, and she had received the answer she had more or less hoped for, yet she still felt it necessary to ask if there was some other reason.

Perhaps it was out of habit?

Though, as she pondered this, she didn't notice Jeremy looking through the opened medicine cabinet that lied behind his bathroom mirror, giving out a soft hum as he looked over the contents within.

"Good news, by the way, there's some painkillers in here, along with some cough drops, some pain cream from Zecora, and a few bandages I had for emergencies." Jeremy then spoke out, bringing back Halfy's previously--albeit shortly--lost attention, his tone already seemingly uplifted. This, however, did not last particularly long.

"The bad news, though, is that that's all I have. And, on top of that, I'm pretty sure I'm running low on painkillers." He accentuated the 'and' as he spoke, as if purposely wanting to make it sound as though it were an interesting combination of seriousness and a joking tone.

"W-what makes you say that?" Halfy inquired, to which Jeremy, with barely a flick of his wrist, gave her all the response she needed by grabbing hold of the container and giving it a short shake. About one or two small objects could be heard moving around inside.

A near silent 'oh' came from Halfy at this, Jeremy scratching the back of his head as he gave out a sigh.

"Well, if that's all we have, might as well use it, right?" Jeremy then optimistically gave out, earning a small chuckle from Halfy. The first she'd given since she'd come by to ask about what had been on her mind.

Truthfully, Jeremy had figured that Halfy thought him to simply be joking, but the headache he felt was very much real.

He accepted that it would pass with time, yes, but he still was well aware of just what said time would be like; a notably grumpier and all around less responsive him.

He was admittedly not a fun person to be around mid-hangover. The only reason he was okay at the time was because the nausea from before had all but passed completely, and that was often the main cause of his irritance.

"Um, o-okay. I'll just go back to wait in the living room the- Ah!" She suddenly yelped mid-sentence, quickly catching Jeremy's attention as he looked away from the still unopened medicine container in his hand towards her.

Halfy had, without realizing or attempting to, moved out one of her forelegs a smidgen too far away from her in her attempts to turn and leave, causing it to stretch and, as such, add some momentary stress and pressure to the area on her leg where the bruise from earlier had been.

It had only been a scant second or two; barely a moment of what, to her, seemed more akin to discomfort than actual pain, but to Jeremy it was more than enough to garner his worries.

"Are you okay?" He questioned concernedly, taking a step or two towards Halfy's direction in the process.

Halfy, however, simply glanced back at him, forcing down her discomfort so as to respond.

"O-oh, I'm fine. Really." Suffice to say Jeremy held his doubts. It also wasn't particularly hard to guess just what may have caused to her to yelp the way she had.

"... It's that bruise, isn't it?" He questioned bluntly, his tone taking a sudden, notable shift.

Noticing this with ease, and suddenly growing a tad more nervous, Halfy swiftly attempted to shift away the subject.

"R-really, I'm okay, you don't need to-"

"Sit." Jeremy then said, or rather commanded, firmly. Halfy, not used to hearing Jeremy like this, quickly obliged, planting herself down on the floor exactly where she stood without another word. Another shiver rushed up her spine as she did so, but she wasn't certain if it was because of the cold floor or her nerves that were the cause at the moment.

And so mid-hangover Jeremy had reared his head for the first time in quite a while, if only for a scant second, which was ironic considering there was a certain lack of passing alcohol in his body to begin with. Jeremy shortly after realized this fact and gave himself a momentary mental kick in the head as a result.

Nonetheless, Jeremy was quick to grab the medicinal cream sat upon the cabinet behind the mirror, alongside the wrap of bandages, Halfy watching all the while from her seated position on the floor.

Barely saying another word as he made his way over to her, Jeremy took his own place on the floor next to Halfy--the same side where her bruise lied--and placed the two objects he held down nearby him.

Halfy's gaze silently followed him as he went through his own set of motions, opening the clear, unlabeled glass of cream he had with him first, giving out a momentary grunt as he twisted it open with a short but notable pop; just as quickly as her gaze followed him, it was shot away as he looked back to her, a small amount of the unguent substance dabbed on the tip of his fingers.

The wall ahead of her as her newly attained primary focus, silence filled the room as Halfy slowly awaited... something.

She wasn't particularly certain as to what she expected to feel; warmth, cold, smoothness, toughness, it was simply unknown. So, instead, she prepared herself mentally for anything.

Said anything came in the form of a sudden cold, clammy feeling against her fur coat, which slowly after made its way down to her skin, as though seeping down a long and arduous road. Suffice to say she couldn't so much as partially hold back the shudder she gave out, nor the odd squeak that she released as a result.

"Heh, yeah that's about the same reaction I had when Zecora first put this stuff on me." The human commented with a chuckle as he continued to dab the cream over where Halfy's bruise had been.

"It doesn't bother you too much, does it?" He then questioned, glancing to Halfy as she kept her eyes pointed forwards with her uttermost focus, as if doing so would lessen the feeling of the salve against her.

"N-no," Halfy replied, another shudder escaping her mid-sentence, "it's just... strange."

"No argument here." And with that, the two fell back into an awkward silence, though the two did lose a notable portion of their previous tension.

This silence in particular, however, did not last long. It was Jeremy's turn, though, to be the one to break it as it would have seemed.

"Hey, uh, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly did happen back in Ponyville?" Jeremy then suddenly asked, to which Halfy's breath momentarily stilled.

"What do you mean?" She questioned, not quite sure as to what he had been implying. Jeremy, quite contrastingly, believed otherwise.

"I mean, why were those assholes bothering you? Did you know them or...?" Silence, yet again.

It was funny, more or less. One would imagine that after the first or second time of having triggered said type of silence, one would understand how to avoid doing so again. Yet, as the ever so unpredictable psyche proved in this such occasion, no such thing was that simple.

Noting this sudden lack of sound or response from her, Jeremy momentarily withheld his ministrations, tilting his head slightly as he looked more directly towards Halfy rather than the bruise of hers he was treating. As he had half expected, her head was now firmly pointed to the ground, rather than the adjacent wall, her lips holding firm as she gave out a clear, impossible to ignore vibe of sudden uncomfortableness.

Feeling as though he may have hit a rough spot by accident, Jeremy quickly made to move the subject aside, much like Halfy had previously done not a few moments ago.

"... Or, if you prefer, you don't have to tell me and we can just move o-"

"Because I'm not normal."

And with that, it was now Jeremy's turn to be silent. Not because of the suddenness of the response, not because of the fact that he actually gained a response. No, it was because of the very simplicity of the response, and the blank, seemingly practiced tone that came with it.

Despite this though, Jeremy took a breath, momentarily shaking his head before then, without a second moment's thought, returning to what he had previously been doing.

"... Not normal, huh? Heh. If I had a nickel, or rather a bit, for every time I had heard something like that..." Jeremy trailed off, barely noting the slight twitch of one of Halfy's ears as he did so.

"Well, I suppose if I were to go on from that, I would ask what you think doesn't make you normal." Another ear twitch signified she had heard, but a lack of her turning her head gave off an opposite signal.

"..." And again, silence. This time though, it was clear that Halfy had something to say, but simply did not want to, as could be seen by the gesture she gave as she quietly rose one of her forehooves to the bandage across her eye; her lips seemed to purse for a moment or two, before just as quickly returning to normal.

Jeremy noticed with ease as he then pulled away from Halfy's bruise once more, satisfied with how it had been covered in the odd cream to the point of that one particular spot of her fur seeming a completely different color than its usual shade of purple.

"Okay, so, that's one then." Jeremy calmly concluded aloud as he stood from the floor, referring to Halfy's gesture before grabbing and closing the salves container. Shortly thereafter, he stood and began moving towards the medicine cabinet, replacing the jar in its previous place. "I take it the other thing has to do with your parents? That is to say, according to what that one pony said before I..."

"Hoofed him in the face?" Halfy offered.

"Well, when you say it like that... yes, definitely." There was no hint of regret in Jeremy's voice. In fact, it seemed as though he found a slight sense of amusement towards the fact. This same tone came through to Halfy just as well, eliciting a small, but still somehow relieving chuckle from her.

Even her previously blank face seemed to crack a gentle smile for a moment or two, before then just as quickly returning to normal.

"My parents were... not normal either, no." She then finally replied with a sigh just as Jeremy once again sat himself beside her, bandages at hand as he picked them up from the floor he had left them on.

"And why's that?" He further inquired, hoping that he wasn't pushing too far for answers. Thankfully for him, however, if Halfy did feel as though this were the case, she didn't show it.

"I-I guess it's mostly because of my mom. N-not that I blame her for anything, that is, but..." Gently grabbing her bruised forearm, Jeremy gave a silent request for Halfy to lift it with a pair of soft taps, to which she responded by doing as she was asked. A slight flinch came from her as she did so, but not nearly as severe as before, displaying that the medicinal cream was already taking effect.

"We're talking about the same mother that managed to keep one of the last plants related to Nightmare Moon alive and then gave it to you, right?" She nodded, a smile once again coming through on her features, though this time seeming to be more out of nostalgia than anything else. "Then am I to assume that was the reason she was thought of as weird?"

And with that, Halfy then shook her head, to Jeremy's mild surprise.

"No. Though, if anypony did know, I doubt it would make things better." Jeremy blinked, undoing the roll of bandages as he slowly wrapped them around Halfy's upper foreleg.

"Then why?" And the ear twitched yet again. It was as though, since entering, Halfy had unknowingly become stuck in multiple repeating cycles, be it of silence, ear twitching, or whatever else it may have been that Jeremy hadn't noticed. It was odd, but certainly not distractingly so. Not by Jeremy's standards, at least.

"My mom was... well, I guess you could say she was a scientist of sorts. H-her cutie mark, from what I remember, was even of a pile of papers with some more scientific stuff written on it, and a ribbon on top. I never understood what it meant, and I remember her once telling me that she sometimes forgot too." The smile on her face didn't fade for even a moment as she momentarily basked in her memories, Jeremy watching as he continued wrapping the bruised and cream covered section of her limb, noting that her head had now raised from the floor as well, instead pointed towards the wall again.

"She was one of the smartest ponies I'd ever known. In fact, in her work, she'd found out a lot of important things. Why some flowers, like Poison Joke, hold the magic properties that they do, ways to improve how some medicines worked, and more." At the mention of Poison Joke, Jeremy visibly shuddered, recalling a rather unpleasant experience he held with said plant. It was also at this moment that Jeremy realized that Halfy had all but stopped stuttering, or so much as even wavered as she spoke. It was as though she was a different person altogether, simply from speaking of her mother.

"But... nopony remembered her for that. Instead, they remembered her for... another of her studies." This quickly caught Jeremy's attention.

"Which study?" He asked. The response he got, which was quick, concise, and unexpected, causing him to freeze for a second or two.

"Changelings."

One word. One single word that, to him, seemed normal, yet somehow foreign in this context. Was it out of surprise? Confusion? He wasn't sure, but whatever it was was definitely there. And it was clearly visible by his reaction as the bandages in his hand momentarily slipped, himself barely able to catch himself before he messed up too badly and caused Halfy any further discomfort than he already likely had.

Recovering shortly after, Jeremy gave out a silent mental sigh as he spoke.

"... Changelings?" Halfy nodded.

"Yeah. My mother focused most of her work around changelings. How they worked, what they acted like, that kind of stuff. Most of her life was based around that study. In fact, she even met my dad during one of the trips she took to study changelings, at least from what she told me."

Jeremy blinked again, adding one last thin layer of bandaging before the tearing it from the roll and tying off the end so it wouldn't simply fall off.

"And I take it thats what ponies found to be 'not normal'. The fact that your mother studied changelings?" Halfy nodded, the smile that had once been on her face by now completely and utterly extinguished.

"... And that's weirder than being the only human, how?" He then questioned, much to Halfy's subsequent confusion.

"H-huh?" She then asked, turning her head towards Jeremy as he still held onto her foreleg.

"Or what about being the only griffoness for miles? An alicorn that everyone thinks is evil? Or, heh, let alone being a changeling queen with a pension for attitude." As he spoke, a grin on his face, Halfy just looked towards him in honest uncertainty. Seeing this, Jeremy clarified.

"What I'm saying, Halfy, is that being 'not normal' is hardly an excuse for... what happened. Nopony should be treated that way for something that they can't control. So your mom studied changelings and somethings wrong with your eye--I don't see any problem with that, so why should anypony else. In fact, those things your mom told you about changelings have probably helped you a lot with a certain you-know-who that's probably grumbling in the living room right about now." Halfy was speechless.

"I-I... I..." With barely so much as the slightest of motions to warn her, Jeremy put the roll of bandages on the floor before then placing his free hand lightly on her head, ruffling her mane slightly.

"Halfy, don't think that just because you're a little different, it's a bad thing. And if anypony tells you otherwise, well... they better hope I, nor Gilda, Zecora, Nightmare Moon, or even Chrysalis are around to hear it."

Looking towards her, his smile not yet fading as he did so, he gave a pair of light taps towards the bandages on her arm, letting her know he had been finished. Realizing this, Halfy gave out a slight 'oh' before lowering her foreleg to the floor.

Standing herself up on all fours, Halfy tested her leg, giving it a quick stretch forwards and backwards, side to side, before then repeating the process by actually moving herself entirely in those same directions.

"Any better?" Jeremy questioned, to which Halfy responded with a cheerful nod in his direction.

"Great. Now, uh, having spoken about your eye, there's one thing that's bothering me." Once again grabbing hold of the roll of bandages next to him, Jeremy held it out in Halfy's direction, his other hand gesturing to his own eye, on the same side as Halfy's covered one.

"That bandage seems like its gotten pretty dirty by now. You might wanna replace it before you get sick, or something like that." Looking to Jeremy, then to the bandages, then to Jeremy again, Halfy moved one of her forelegs for the roll on Jeremy's palm, her hoof slightly brushing against his hand as she used the crook of her leg to grab hold of the bandages before then sitting down and simply looking at the bandages.

"O-oh." She responded, her other foreleg moving to the bandage that she currently wore.

As Jeremy said, it was indeed very much different to the clean bandages she currently held, and had wrapped around the bruise on her foreleg. It was less white so much as it was an odd mixture of dirt brown and filthy gray, small bits of it torn here and there with traces of small wooden splinters, debris, and so forth.

How long had it been since Halfy had placed that bandage on? Months now? She certainly didn't bother bringing a spare when she moved to the Everfree forest, that much was clear to her. So, perhaps months weren't too far off after all?

Either way, Halfy once again found herself looking to and fro between the bandages and Jeremy, her other bandage under her forehoof in the meantime.

For a moment, Jeremy was oblivious to the issue Halfy felt as a result of being given these new bandages. A few seconds later, however, Jeremy then finally realized the problem, his eyes widening in momentary embarrassment.

"Oh, right! You probably want me to leave for this, right?" Not wanting to have told him this outright, and glad that he had eventually understood, Halfy gave a slight nod as response.

"Heh, my bad." With a slight laugh, Jeremy picked himself off the floor with a grunt, a part of his lower back slightly sore from having been sat on the cold, hard floor for so long. He would never understand how ponies were able to seat themselves so comfortably seemingly anywhere.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it then." Making his way over to the bathroom door, Jeremy grabbed the handle and gave it a swift tug as he gave one more glance back to Halfy.

"If you need anything, just-"

"Gah!" Before he could say anything more, both Jeremy and Halfy found themselves practically jumping back as something fell into the room with a yell, landing face down on the floor.

At first, Jeremy was too shocked to really figure out what it was. However, upon second glance, Jeremy took note of a certain combination of feathers, fur, and a beak, allowing him to easily guess who it was, overriding whatever shock he felt and replacing it with chagrin. The familiar groaning and grumbling voice only furthered the point.

Watching as the figure partially lifted itself up and rubbed a talon against its head, Jeremy crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

"Gilda... why were you leaning against the door?" Almost as if it was at that very moment that she believed she had been seen, Gilda's eyes could be seen darting open as she swiftly made to sit herself up and look between the two other occupants of the room. She had done so so quickly that it was a surprise she hadn't sustained a self-induced whiplash.

"Huh, uh, what? No, no, dude, I wasn't leaning against the door. I was uh... trying to get in the bathroom, yeah, that's it! I had to go, you know, do my thing and, uh, you just happened to pull the door open when I got here. That's it." As if her explanation didn't seem rushed and improvised enough, Gilda then proceeded to finish her attempt at 'winging it' with a clearly forced chuckle, before then taking a confident stance, as if she believed she was a master at falsification.

Jeremy, however, was not convinced.

"... Right. Well, you're gonna have to wait your turn, sooooo..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know, it's surprising how light a griffon is when you pull them out of a room by their tail. I mean, not like I know from experience, but hypothetically speaking of course.

Oddly enough though, I think Gilda would testify otherwise as to how 'hypothetical' I was being. Especially as she and I stood outside the bathroom, the door now closed while she held and blew onto her slightly aching tail.

"Man," she said with a slight squeak, which she quickly rid herself of by clearing her throat, "why is it always the tail?"

In response, I gave a slight shrug.

"Well, that depends on whose fault you think that is, doesn't it?" I joked with chuckled, crossing my arms as I watched her look back to me with a slight glare.

"Oh ha-ha. You're lucky I'm more focused on bug-breath than I am you at the moment, or I would get payback so quick."

"Noted." I responded, momentarily raising a finger as I added that threat of hers to a mental list of 'things to worry about later'. "Now, you gonna tell me why you were spying on Halfy and I yet, or am I gonna have to ask Nightmare Moon to get the ice water again."

At this, Gilda gave out a shiver.

"Yeah, no thanks J. I'd prefer not to wring out my tail for the eighth time this week." As she said 'eighth' I couldn't help but to wonder as to where she got that number from, or perhaps how much I had actually missed whenever I slept.

"The actual reason I was there was because NM wanted me to check in on you and Halfy, since you were taking so long." I raised a brow at this.

"And 'checking in' requires leaning your head against the door?" I returned with a smirk. A smirk which was quickly wiped away as Gilda put on a familiar face that I had grown wary of over time.

"Actually," she then began to return, lidding her eyes by quite a bit and seeming to puff out her chest ever so slightly, "I only started listening in when I heard that 'friend' of yours give out a yelp through the door. I mean, at first I was skeptical, but I guess it makes sense for you to do that kind of thing in a bathroom," pausing, Gilda raised a talon and dragged it over the bandages on my chest, "you stud you."

"... You want me to rip that tail of yours off, Gilda?" Gilda didn't so much as flinch as I said this, crossing her forelegs over one another and tilting her head slightly as she looked to me with a knowing smirk.

"Bad hangover?" She accurately surmised, to which I swiftly gave her confirmation.

"Yup."

"You never were good with handling those."

She wasn't wrong. After all, she and I had gone out for drinks more than a few in Ponyville, much to Zecora's chagrin whenever I had to wander back over to her home. Yeah, walking drunk through the Everfree was not an entertaining experience; yet I ended up doing it so many times that it eventually became habit.

Not to say I was an alcoholic or anything like that, if anything the only reason I ever went out to drink was because Gilda would convince me to, but it essentially became the ritual of any Sunday whenever Gilda was free to go out drinking.

Of course, pony brand drinks were never really strong. That is to say, not for anything that wasn't a pony.

It was certainly an odd experience, watching as some of the ponies around me at the time went from sober to absolutely wasted in a matter of one or two cider glasses while Gilda and I were there downing our eighth with barely so much as a tingle. Maybe it was the low alcohol content of the actual cider that they served, because God knows there wasn't any beer or vodka in Ponyville, and maybe it was the apparent natural light-weightedness of those ponies, but it practically was like a challenge for Gilda and I to so much as get a buzz. But we managed, and beyond.

Anyways, what was I talking about again...?

Oh, right, the whole 'bad with hangovers' thing.

"No, Gilda, no I was, and am, not." Unsurprisingly, Gilda ended up holding back a laugh, momentarily covering her beak with her talons and giving off a suppressed chortle, before then returning her attention to me.

"So would you say this one is a one, or a ten?" She questioned. To anyone else, this question would simply seem out of the blue and without reason. To me, well, like I said she and I had had enough drinks , and she had seen enough of my hangovers, to have made a veritable scale for me and her to rank our states after those supposedly 'fun nights'.

... The term 'fun nights' sounds really bad actually, now that I think about it. Especially considering who they were often with, and how she would likely use the term to her advantage of she ever heard me say it.

"Somewhere along the lines of a three. I mean, I'm not nauseous anymore, so that's good." Gilda nodded in response, rolling her eyes as she did so.

"Magic sure is fun, isn't it?"

"Shut up."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... And now it wouldst seem as though another hath been lost in their journey." A certain shadow alicorn commented aloud as she looked down the hall she had just asked Gilda and Halfy to go down in order to check on her human friend. Honestly, at the rate the situation had been going, had Chrysalis not been there to tell her that the three were fine due to what she could sense of their emotions--though Nightmare Moon certainly didn't feel the utmost joy acknowledging the changeling monarch's help--she would have believed that the hall had been enchanted, and was whisking her friends away one at a time. Or, perhaps, the house was simply larger than she had believed it to be.

And could she be blamed for being concerned in the first place? Jeremy had not been in the best of shape for some time now, as evidenced by the bandages that still laid wrapped around his torso, and to add the possible sickness of a sudden magical surge in one's body to top such a thing off; suffice to say, he must have felt absolutely awful.

Jeremy had told her in one of their discussions from long ago that, in his original home world, magic did not truly exist. This being a shocking discovery in of itself, the reason this truly even came to mind was that it gave Nightmare Moon another point of reason to worry.

She had seen the effects of magic on creatures that normally did not use it if suddenly brought about in large quantity, and most of the time this would lead to a supposed 'magical overload', as it were.

More than likely, this was exactly what Jeremy was suffering at the moment. After all, two powerful spells were cast on him at the same time, and from two different origin points as well; one pony, the other changeling. Even a unicorn would have at least felt dizzy under such circumstances.

Truly, Nightmare Moon felt as if she should have taken this into account. She had wanted to simply go towards her friend and cast a common cure-all spell she knew towards simple ailments such as nausea, headaches, and the like, but she knew that this would only further his ailment just as well. The only real way to deal with magical overload was time, after all. So, that is what she would have to give him.

Yes, that was it, time...

Maybe if she disguised herself and went outside for a while, she could find a doctor? Just in case, that is. After all, she couldn't really be too sure could sh-

"For the love of the empress and all those below her, including myself, stop pacing for one second and sit down!" The changeling monarch that sat atop of living room couch growled angrily, having lost what little patience she may have held for the alicorn--which in fact was already little to begin with--as her hooves gave off what must have been their hundredth set of clops against the floor.

Honestly, could she have one moment in peace? One!

They had finally made it to their destination with, surprisingly, little to no issue, and yet here that alicorn was continuing to concern herself over something that really needed no concern in the first place!

Honestly, it was frustrating.

Placing a crater-filled forehoof of hers over her face for a moment or two, as if attempting to ease a headache that she realistically wouldn't be too surprised to have, she was more than prepared to continue telling her off, or to at least combat whatever argument Nightmare Moon would give.

And as luck would have it.

"How are we to calm ourselves? It has been far too long for the three to make their returns as of this time, well over what was deemed necessary, and yet thou lays there as though nothing has occurred, or will!" Nightmare Moon returned in a clearly aggravated state, momentarily allowing her emotional wall to frack by just a sliver; enough for me to see the clear concern and nervousness of her state, but not enough to see any further into it. Realistically though, it wasn't hard to imagine what the rest of her emotional state was.

No, that was far too predictable.

"I 'lay here' because I'm still not used to using my own magic for such a long period of time. Let alone on another being and myself at the same time." I responded matter-of-fairly. Honestly, one would think she wasn't paying any attention at this point. Perhaps she had a notable amount of magic to make use of at this point, though still clearly not anywhere near matching previous amount before the elements got to her, but that hardly made for the same situation for me. I was limited to however often I fed, and, truthfully, I'd prefer to limit myself on that... methodology.

It's strange to think about every time, really.

Of course I still plan on doing it, but my point stands.

"Verily, we question your investment at times."

... Did she just-...?

My eyes narrowing, I looked towards the alicorn in a notable state of animosity.

"Did you think my warning from before was a joke?" I spoke out slowly, already preparing a notable amount of magical force into my horn, thoughts already pondering as to what possible curses I could bring about at that moment in my state.

"Because it wasn't. As I said before, if you ever questioned wether or not I cared for him, I would-"

"However," she then suddenly interrupted, her voice un-wavered or so much as slowed by my words and, by my imagination, clearly aggressive appearance at this point, "we also cannot completely question thine care of those we are to assist, can we? After all, were there truly any such danger to be left to the imagination, thou would make haste to clear it, wouldn't thee?"

I stayed silent at this, unsure of what to say, whether I should say anything. At the same time, I felt the magic in my horn slowly return to whence it came, and my body progressively begin to relax with it.

"... Your point being, what? That you don't think I care, but you do too? Clearly, you have no real idea as to what to think of me. Something I find strange because, before, you were more than willing to claim you knew me; to say I was nothing more than a hindrance that you would rather be rid off." She didn't so much as pretend I was lying.

"True." She instead simply stated, her billowing mane ever so slightly shifting with a sort of decisiveness to it.

"However, times do change, as our time of banishment has clearly displayed by this point." And what was that supposed to mean.

"So, what, you suddenly trust me now?" I questioned, raising a brow and rolling my eyes at this possibility.

"Nay. We do not trust thee entirely. We hold much more of that such concept of trust in our other friend, Halfy, Miss Gilda, Miss Zecora, and we need not mention Sir Jeremy, of course." She answered, by now turning towards me and seating herself down upon the floor. A welcome change as opposed to continuously walking around without any real purpose.

"... Rather, we hold a different concept of trust tethered to thee. One that, though we do not mean to speak poorly of them in any regard, is not yet held by Miss Gilda, Halfy, or Miss Zecora." I think it's suffice to say that, of all the other babbling she had done up until now, this was by far the most interesting of things the shadow before me had raised.

"Oh? And whatever could that be?" I began sarcastically, believing this to be some sort of belying insult of sorts.

"An exoskeleton to cover my cold insides perhaps? Certainty of betrayal? Or, perhaps, the ability to shatter a mirror with a single glance? Come on then, enlighten me as to what it is you 'trust' me to do." I waited, expecting malevolence, malice, contempt, at the very least annoyance.

But instead...

"Trust that, should we fail in our part to keep Sir Jeremy safe, thou wouldst be the most likely to take action no matter what the risk."

... How is it that she has been catching me more and more off guard lately? I am a changeling monarch, for empress' sake. From hatch I was taught to read and understand the emotions and reactions of others; I learned every possible psychological influence and change that could be used upon a pony; I was made to understand how to respond to each and every event and statement thrown to me. Yet, here I was once more, silent to a response I could not predict under even the most extreme of circumstances...

And before I could so much as think of any possible words, actions, or even shifts of faces to return to Nightmare Moon, I was cut off by the sounds of approaching steps.

The alicorn turned her head towards the sound, her previously serious expression all but melting within an instant as she instead dawned a smile for whom she saw.

"Ah, Miss Gilda, we see thou hast returned with Sir Jeremy." As said griffoness, and human, came into my line of sight from the hallway they had previously been, I noted the slightly glint of soreness on the face of the griffon, alongside a slightly twitching portion of her tale.

"Yeah, wasn't all that hard to do. Though, Halfy might be held up a bit. Had to powder her nose, or whatever it is the nobles around here call it, if you catch my drift."

The alicorn's head seemed to tilt ever so slightly at this.

"We... do not understand what 'drift' thou speaks of, Miss Gilda, but we do understand as to what it is thou mentions." It was easy enough to see from the griffon's face the mixture of exasperation and doubt as she heard the alicorn respond. I didn't need to see her actually emotions to guess it was essentially the same thing.

"Uh... when I say, 'catch my drift', it means 'if you know what I mean', NM..." At this, Nightmare Moon's eyes momentarily seemed to widen in a sort of fascination, as though she had discovered the secret to the universe. I wasn't sure if the sight was hilarious or simply sad. I settled for sad.

"Oh, is that so? Verily, this information will prove very useful, we are certain!"

"Uh... Yeah, sure thing." Gilda then responded with an awkward smile, before then giving Jeremy a light nudge, for whatever reason, and making her way elsewhere. Said elsewhere, unfortunately, being where I was seated.

"Yo, scoot over a bit. You're hogging the couch again." Suffice to say I didn't particularly enjoy her phrasing... or her voice... or her in general, really.

"Sorry, but the cushions already have enough feathers in them without your feather-brained self coming over. Besides, if I really am a 'couch hog', as I'd imagine you would phrase it, then add that such a thing to my list of privileges as a queen." I returned with a scoff, before then allowing myself to 'involuntarily' spread out further over the couch.

The griffon took exception to this.

"Last I checked, you need subjects to be a queen ya pest."

And I took exception to that.

"Why you-"

"Can you both shut up, I already have enough of a headache!" I'm not sure what I felt as I heard that. Shock, amazement, insulted, but whatever it was did have me without a voice for a short moment. This was especially exemplified as I turned to the voice of the outburst, the human Jeremy, and took note of the fact that I was not apparently the only one who reacted in such a way, the alicorn looking to and from the human before her in confusion.

The same human who was looking at what I imagined to be the griffon and I with a notable glare. Before I, or the alicorn, could really even respond, the griffon took the opportunity to give out a loud chortle of her own.

"Pfft! Wow! Nice one!" As she said this, I turned to her, a brow raised as I saw her with a smile over her beak, despite the fact that she had just been told to be quiet.

She seemed to notice my stare, glancing to me and giving a shrug.

"What? He never told you he gets grumpy when he has hangovers?"

... This was going to be a long stay.

Chapter 28: Work Before Play

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The streets of Canterlot held their usual pace once again. Ponies of all types--be they unicorn, pegasi, or of the earth--walked down the paved streets that encompassed the wealthy city. Many wore suits and dresses, signifying their status and place among the community. It was well known among them, after all, that the sharper one dressed themselves, the higher on the 'social ladder', as it were, they would seem.

Some even chose to display their status in different, much more difficult to miss forms, taking carriages to and from their locations rather than dirtying their well taken care of hooves. Of course, due to the relatively narrow paths that Canterlot was made up of, resulting directly from the great number of years the grand city had stood upon its perch, there were relatively few places to so much as take a slow cruise through this means of transportation. As such, many of the ponies that lived in the area had grown accustomed to occasionally scoffing or sneering at those who rode carriages; both out of possible jealously and overall disdain for such a rude pony, so willing to take up space in a way so unnecessary and flashy.

Of course, most would believe otherwise if they were the ones aboard the carriage, but that is simply how the denizens of the city operate.

By this time, the average clock, be it personal or citywide, would be more than willing to inform those that sought its advice that soon the monarch of the land would once more set the sun, bringing whatever transactions, important meetings, and--heaven forbid--occasional hooficures and haircuts that may so urgently be needed.

As a result, the streets were comparatively emptier, with only the occasional blindsided insult, interpreted sneer, or overall spit being slung between the many nobles of the land. Yes, truly, it was a calm, overall average time in the city of Canterlot.

That is to say, calm and average in the minds and bodies of the nobles that resided in the city. Those that resided within the castle walls, however, held a different overall opinion. One that consisted of various sprinting scribes, guards that seemed to hold a much more notably alert astuteness to their usual statue-like states, and various other staff members that had been attempting their best to keep up with the clearly heightened tensions and paces within the castle of moon and sun.

Few understood why save for a select hoof-full of guards, Royal advisors, and of course the royalty itself. Even the scribes and messengers were without a clue, often writing down messages without so much as thinking of what they wrote, and delivering them without so much as glancing at the papers they were given. After all, they were there to assist the princesses, and if said princesses clearly were treating something as though it was a situation of utter importance then there was no need for fore or after thoughts.

Suffice to say all was not normal within the castle walls. Something that a certain maid, who at the time was grumpily dusting one of the many thousands of near identical vases and decorative pieces that resided within the halls of the castle, was all too aware of.

Had this been the fiftieth, or sixtieth one she had dusted. Who knew, who cared? She certainly didn't. After all, it had only been five days since she had started working at the castle, having been ever so kindly recommended by one of the guards--and granted this certainly did allow her to avoid some of the more intrusive parts of becoming a member of staff, such as background checks, medical exams, and a particularly noteworthy 'changeling test' which involved a series of nonsensical questions meant to understand if one was a changeling or not; the last one supposedly was among the most unnecessary and ridiculous, as the one maid had been told by other staff members who had taken the test--and already she was being forced to work her hooves to the bone.

Although, granted, she was currently using her teeth and mouth, what with being an earth pony and not having magic or even wings to make her job simpler, but her point stood.

It wasn't as though she had taken the job because she was oodling over the idea of being among her princess's army of cleaner mares. No, that wasn't it at all. Rather, it was due to the impressive amount of bits offered as pay for such a thing, alongside many other things. Besides, she had several foals waiting for her at home, and the only one who she could so much as even glance at to give the blurred possibility of being a more mature figure had decided it best to stay behind and look after said foals.

Irritating, to say the least, but certainly not comparable to the life she had lived before having them with her. No, there was no comparison at all.

Perhaps she favored one of these foals over the other, especially over a certain one, but she would never say this aloud to them. Instead, she would continually split her opinion of them all evenly. As evenly as they asked, of course. And who wouldn't? Was it not normal to do so?

She wasn't certain, but that was the last thing on her mind really. Instead, she was more focused on what was before her. An extremely dusty case that the more she cleaned, the more she wondered whether she would be able to simply smash it and blame it on one of the many messengers that often blazed by her as she worked, showing no courtesy or hesitation as they hastily shoved their way past her, should she ever be in the wrong place. And due to the fact that the hallways weren't exactly roads, she was in the wrong place often.

She also contemplated tripping these ponies by simply sticking one of her legs slightly outwards, but stilled herself as she realized that the smudge that would be left on the floor as a result would likely be much more irritating to clean.

As her mind filled with these thoughts, the mare maid suddenly felt a tickle on the tip of her muzzle. It was practically not there at first, seeming more like a fleeting sensation made from the mind's perspective. However, with the ticking of every millisecond, the sensation grew. It turned from a light tickle to an itch. It went from an itch to a notable disturbance. And finally, it went from a disturbance to what felt like an inferno; a flame that could not be ignored, engulfing her entire body in what could only be described as one of the most horrid, awful things that could ever befall a pony such as herself.

"Achoo!"

A sneeze. Oh how she hated sneezing. It was so involuntary, so out of her control, and yet it was inevitable with the amount of dust she had found herself dealing with. Of course, the fact that, in her sneezing, she had not only ended up dropping her duster, but also whipping up whatever other dust remained on the case, causing it to lightly cover small portions of her brown coat, black mane, and of course recently cleaned maid outfit.

Oh how she hated dust. Oh how she hated cleaning. Oh how she so wanted to simply lift up the vase that had caused her such trouble, and the pedestal that so happily held and portrayed it, and throw it out the nearest win-

"Oh, gesundheit!" And with the sudden arrival of a new, previously unknown voice in her proximity, the maid all but fell over herself as she turned to address whomever may have approached her, taking the customary 'prim and proper' stance she was taught within her first day to take whenever such an event occurred. A stance which she, of course, loathed to no feasible limit.

In her doing so, however, she did not expect to come eye to eye with a certain, wickedly smiling draconequus.

"... Well nice to see you have such wonderfully deep eyes, mademoiselle!" It said with a sense of pep to it that seemed without reason, the maid only then realizing the proximity between the two, as her her initial shock faded, before then being given a new sense of shock as she realized who stood, or rather floated from what she could see, before her.

The ever so precedent, yet not so prevalent, being of true chaos, Discord.

"Hm, what? Did I come off too strong? Was it my breath, mayhaps?" Discord questioned as he saw the mare flinch away from him, before then putting one of his forelegs, shaped like a lion's paw, before his mouth and giving out a pair of breaths. Upon doing so, however, said arm seemed to wilt, much like a flower, almost instantaneously, doing so all the way up to where the foreleg met his body, shriveling up and shortly after falling off with a slight snap resembling that of a plant stem being cut in two.

The shriveled arm fell to the floor with a slight crumpling noise, and then proceeded to disintegrate into dust and fly off as though there were a sudden strong breeze in the hall.

The maid, however, was more focused on her own personal thought than she was this... display.

She had heard that this being of chaos had been residing the castle walls for quite some time now, but it was only now that she could truly confirm these rumors. She had been to the castle before her employment, on several, though short or limited, occasions, but it was only now that she came face to face with Discord himself.

"Note to self, have more milk with my morning batch of garlic. And they say it's 'part of a balanced breakfast'. Harrumph." The being continued as he looked towards where his arm had been, not in panic, however, but with a false pout.

Suddenly looking at the mare, then behind her, the creatures pout all but disappeared within an instant.

"Oh, may I?" He asked, leaving the maid in confusion until she took note of the single talon on his other forearm, shaped like a griffon's, and followed to where it pointed behind her. The vase that she had recently dusted.

She didn't do much as get out and answer before Discord suddenly spoke once more, already grabbing hold of the vase.

"Ah, thank you very much. Your kindness and generosity are appreciated." He thanked with no hint of joking or sarcasm in his voice whatsoever as he lifted the vase, as though he actually believed himself to be giving a true token of gratitude to an unanswered question. Perhaps he did.

"I must say," he then commented as he brought the vase up to his face, the rest of his body slightly twirling and fidgeting behind him, "I'll never understand why Ol'Sunshine herself has so many of these lying around. Not like she needs them, after all." This is perhaps the first and only time the maid finds an individual who shares this opinion with her, and it is Discord. Truly, she is well beyond the point caring by now.

"Well, bottom's up!" The amalgamation of chaos and body parts before her then happily cheered to nopony in particular before then raising its final digit on its hand, for whatever reason, and tilting the opening on the top of the vase towards his mouth.

It was then that an odd brown liquids began to pour out of the vase and into the open maw of the creature, a substance which the maid was more than certain was previously not there. She... had never really seen anything like it before. It held the viscosity of what she believed to be milk, but it was certainly not the same color. In fact... it vaguely reminded her of chocolate?

Throughout the entirety of the time the being before her chugged this seemingly unending substance from this previously decorative and useless vase, a similarly colored limb began to grow from the former site of Discord's recently lost limb. It held no shape at first, but soon began to fill out a sort of outline, as it were, shaping itself more and more to appear as a familiar limb. Eventually, through the loud gulps and gargles of the draconequus, the maid watched as the color of the limb then changed, alongside a few more select features, until it finally took the exact form of the creature's previously lost forearm.

This seemed to be the creature's stopping point as he then tilted the vase back to how it is normally meant to be held, abruptly ending the flow of liquid from it as Discord then proceeded to close his mouth and smack his lips, quite audibly at that.

"Ah, that's much better. Though, a bit dusty, I must say. Somepony should fix that." He then said, as though suddenly completely oblivious to the mare's presence--the same mare and maid that now began to question if she was willing to truly risk angering a being of chaos by shoving her duster where the sun didn't shine--before then haphazardly tossing the vase aside.

The maid watched in shock and silence as the vase slowly made its way towards the floor further away from her and the draconequus, being dragged down slowly by the inevitable force of gravity. However, rather than shatter, as she imagined it would have, it instead embedded itself into the ground with a loud thump, cracking the floor around it as though the weight of an entire metal safe had been held within it. A part of her felt it slightly logical, what with the apparently infinite amount of liquid it had recently held, but another part of her then proceeded to slap and berate her other part for so much as attempting to place logic over the actions of a chaos being such as Discord.

"Well, I do so appreciate the company Miss Maid, but I really must get going. I'm certain Celly is about to have a meltdown sometime soon and I for one, don't want to be the one who forgets to bring enough popcorn for every pony! Ta-ta." She didn't even bother to watch him leave or speak, instead keeping her eyes fixed on the vase embedded in the ground not far from her; the vase she was in the middle of cleaning...

It was close to quitting time anyways. She was certain somepony else would deal with it. They always did.

For now, she was far too hungry and tired to do anything else aside from head home. Her lunch break never really did much for her anyways, which is why she'd simply work through it.

Her fellow staff members told her she worked too hard, she which she replied something along the lines of 'mind your own business'. Silently. In her mind...

She needed the job, she nagged at herself repeatedly. She needed the job.

And, as if fate itself had been looking down upon the ever loathing maid, the sound of a familiar chime echoed down the halls of the castle. That which may as well be compared to one's arrival to utopia, paired only with the finest and most decadent of luxuries that could ever truly become another's.

The chime that signaled a change of shifts.

-----------------------------------

Trotting back to down the roads of Canterlot, the mare was no longer in her uniform, having deposited it atop a pile, of which most maids at the castle took the utmost care to fold and stack, whereas she simply tossed in atop the others, dust and all.

She knew she would surely get lectured for not keeping her uniform in order, her superior likely to tell her off for not keeping her uniform clean, be it as nonsensical as it may be. After all, it was her job to clean, wasn't it? How was she to do so without getting herself filthy at the same time?

'Make yourself appear as though you deserve to be staffed by the princess', she remembered her superior saying as a sort of reason. A clearly slapdash reason, made only to make her superior seem more on top of things, the mare imagined.

The others didn't seem to think this though. In fact, they ate up this excuse as though it was law. She had seen many fellow maids go so far as to dirty themselves to the point of their coats changing to a different color, whilst making sure nothing else so much as smudged their uniforms. Had they any backbone, or intelligence, they would clearly see what was wrong with this thought process. But, of course, they didn't, so they would not.

The mare need not be able to read minds to know this.

All things considered, in fact, was there even so much as one co-worker that she so much as stood? No, there wasn't.

Not a one.

Of course, despite everything--despite her miserable job, her often itchy and uncomfortable uniform, her ditzy and idiotic fellow staff--there was one thing that gave her solace at the moment.

The jingling sack of bits that balanced atop of her back. It had been five days, after all, since she started working. Naturally, as a result, it had finally been time for her first of many pay days. It was times like these--ergo, only this one time for now--that she was glad that she had began working at the start of the week.

From this alone, all of that misery and annoyance has seemed almost worth it. Almost.

Not completely, but the significant amount of bits that she carried certainly helped to better things. It was more than enough to last her, and those waiting for her at home, for the next week, and then some. How could she tell?

Well, her overall estimation was one reason, but the weight upon her back reinforced fact this even further still. She didn't even bother checking inside, she was too exhausted, too hungry.

At a time like this though, with the bits resounding loudly with every step she took, with each individual gold piece seemingly hitting against her back and stacking its weight upon her all at once, again and again, she wished she had a saddle bag of some sort. It was a suggestion made to her back home, but she didn't want to waste any of the--at the time--limited finances they had on something like that. Especially not in Canterlot, where anything clothing related was meant for fashion rather than use, and she'd rather not have a 'designers saddle bag', or whatever sort of thing they call it to put up the price to extraordinary heights.

Would she have a slight ache in her back? Maybe, yes. But she didn't care, because it wasn't like she would do anything to stress it afterwards. Her work week was over for the next couple of days, and this included at home. She'd have the others do whatever it is that needed to be done on their own while she, respectfully, would simply pass out and sleep... sometime after eating.

And it would be like that for the next two days as well. Just enough time for her to mentally prep herself for another week of work.

A slight smile growing on her face at the thought, the plain looking mare barely paid any attention to the setting sun, nor the rising moon. She didn't care for time. She wanted to head home and sleep. She wouldn't even bother with the dust and filth that caked her brown coat and black mane.

It was like a mantra to her at this point.

She would simply head home and-

"Excuse me." The sound of a seemingly random stallion's voice suddenly echoed through her ear, as she was quite literally shoved out of her thoughts, barely able to catch herself as she was thrown off balance by the sudden.

Her mind froze with the force, but came back shortly after when she regained her footing and place in the world once more. Under any other circumstance, she would have simply ignored this sort of thing. After all, it had occurred often enough at work. But that was just it. It had already occurred enough.

Oh how she had had enough of being shoved around by some uncultured and rude pony who cared not for anypony but themselves. She wasn't able to speak out in the castle, lest she be chastised for making a scene at work, but she wasn't in the castle anymore was she? She was outside, without her uniform, without her metaphorical binds and limits.

She could now do as she wished, including giving this stranger a piece of her mind, if only to release a small portion of her pent up anger and frustration.

Her teeth grinding ever so slightly, and her cheeks puffing, the mare turned herself so as to face the stallion. Opening her mouth, she was more than prepared to give out a long, well-overdue series of curses and insults in the direction of the inconsiderate pony.

However, before she could do so, she noticed a few select things, almost seemingly at once.

One, the stallion--and she was certain it was this one that had wronged her, since the path she was walking down at the time had been all but barren for the two of them--had suddenly seemed to speed up his pace. He was less walking so much as he was seemingly galloping in the opposite direction of hers. Two, this stallion seemed to hold something within his mouth. He was an earth pony, clearly, but that didn't matter. What mattered was oddly familiar bag he held within the grip of his teeth, shaking loosely as he carried it with him. And third, the mare suddenly took notice of the fact that the weight on her back, and the noise that came with it, were suddenly gone.

... Oh, this would not do at all...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It always feels so nice, so relaxing, to rest here. Even if it's only for a short amount of time. With the light breeze that comes in from seemingly every perfect direction, the slight tickle that the grass gives to my back as I lay upon it and think, and of course the night sky dimly shining down upon me--not so much that it's overpowering, but just enough to allow me some security, and a sort of warmth similar to sunlight.

An internal warmth, really, but warmth.

It was always a good place to think.

To let my mind wander over the past five days, and how they had gone, the moon practically acting as though it were there to happily listen to my thoughts. Like a sort of good friend, always willing to hear you out.

Things had, surprisingly, been rather casual since we had gotten to Canterlot. There were never any 'raids' of sorts conducted where we resided, as law enforcement television programs had led me to believe would have occurred, nor were we constantly avoiding the law, or anything that might sound... I don't know, exciting.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I have no complaints, and certainly don't want to have my roof caved in by an angry Celestia spouting on her ploy for revenge for making a fool of her, or tricking her, or some crap like that, but I guess that after the rather eventful trip to Canterlot my mind had been switched to a mode of full-blown paranoia.

It had calmed itself within the first day--somewhere along the lines of after I had stopped puking--sure, but still.

And, hey, it wasn't like everything was the same! No, in fact, just yesterday, Nightmare Moon-

... Is... Is it me, or did the moon just get a bit closer when I mentioned her?

And why is that breeze suddenly not quite as pleasa-

********************************

"Yo, J, you awake or not?" A sudden yell burst through my eardrums, all but jolting me awake to the point that, as I involuntarily lifted my upper half upwards to sit up as reflex, I ended up being unable to, instead feeling my head smack into something at full force.

It was a sort of 'immovable object meets unstoppable force' kinda thing, and to be honest, the immovable object had won. Something that could be seen as I fell back down onto the mattress below me again, my hands instinctually moving towards my forehead, where most of the impact had centered itself.

It hurt... a lot!

Like smashing your head into a wall, or a rock, or a stubborn griffon's skull. How did I know how that last one felt?

Take a guess...

"Agh! Son of a-... Why?!" I hissed out as I peeled one of my eyes open, which had been closed up until now, less because I was tired at this point more because of how much my head felt as though it was throbbing.

With this one eye, although slightly teary, and blurry as a result, I could easily see the griffoness that sat atop me. And when I say atop me, I mean atop! As in, she was literally sitting on my lap and part of my lower stomach, her tail swinging slightly behind her, grazing me through the blanket I had over my legs.

This same griffoness was also currently holding her own head with one of her taloned forearms, rubbing it over what I imagine would be her forehead... if that's what it's called in griffon anatomy.

Look, I didn't take any classes on that or anything, so don't judge me if I sound stupid saying stuff like that.

Because God knows I think it sounds stupid.

Anyhow, as for her other forearms, it was planted firmly on my chest by now, just over the bandages I had still kept on as per Zecora's recommendation, and keeping me from moving all that much. I didn't even so much as have my sweater on at the time, having taken it off to sleep, so I was essentially bare from the waist up.

"Geez." I then heard, and saw, Gilda say, the pain in her own voice barely registering through the dull stabbing of my skull.

She then seemed to echo my own actions as one of her eyes opened, gazing down at me as her lips pursed deeply.

"What the Tartarus, J?! I come to wake ya up and this is what I get as thanks?!"

W-was she joking?!

Wait, that's right, this is Gilda. So... no...

"Are you kidding me? You're the one who decided to yell to wake me up! What did you expect when you were so close?" I returned, planting myself up on one of my elbows, which caused the springs of the bed to squeak slightly, as the pain in my head slowly began to fade.

Very slowly.

"Speaking of which, why are you so close to me in the first place?!" And just like that, a switch seemed to flip. All of a sudden, any pain, or so much as discomfort, that Gilda may have been feeling at the moment seemed to vanish all at once. Her talons were removed from her head, instead taking their places idly in the air next to her as her eyes momentarily widened.

It was like a deer had been caught in the headlights, if that made sense in this context, with her light Amber eyes staring off into the wall just behind me.

Unsure as to what was going on, I of course followed her gaze, and of course found nothing but bare wall. Nothing but the boring white paint of my old room, which I had meant to color in, but never got around to. Come to think of it, there's a lot of stuff I never got around to doing in this house of mine. I know I say I was usually busy, but I'm starting to wonder if I was just lazy...

Anyhow, my eyes slowly moving back to the still seemingly frozen Gilda, who might I add had not moved so much as a centimeter, a brow of mine raised as I decided to try and bring her back down to earth.

"Uh, Gil-"

"I'm calling in that favor you owe me." Well, that was blunt and abrupt. Definitely Gilda's style, I'll give her that.

Of course, me being in a still relatively tired state, though not by much, I wasn't all that sure what she had meant.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I questioned, to which she replied, initially, with the first bit of movement she had made in some time; specifically, a roll of her eyes.

"Ah-doi, J, the favor you owe me. Y'know, for that agreement of ours? Back in the Everfree? Is anypony in there or what?" Gilda practically interrogated, emphasizing her words, unfortunately, by knocking the 'knuckles'--again, still don't know griffon anatomy--of her talons against my head. Worse yet, against the part of my head that I had hit against hers.

Yeah, ouch. Lots and lots of ouch.

Giving out a groan as she did this three consecutive times, before I covered my head with one of my hands, I gave her a quick glare as I swiftly spoke up.

"Alright, alright, I remember." I told her, to which she, almost victoriously, smiled and eased up a little bit, leaning back further upon her faux seat--I.e. Me.

"What do you even want anyways? It's not like I can just go outside and throw myself in the nearest trash bag to give you a quick laugh, after all." This clearly seemed to gain a chuckle out of her, if only slight, her smile growing ever so slightly as she moved a talon up to the bottom part of her beak and lightly tapping against it as she clearly thought the concept through.

"As fun as that would be," she admitted with another scant chuckle, before then pointing the same talon that was previously tapping her 'chin' towards me, "the thing I want you to do is much more practical."

... Is it wrong to say that this admittedly got me interested?

No, the word I'm looking for is stupid.

Yeah, that fits better.

"Oh? Really? Okay, I'll bite, what do you want me to-" And before I could even finish my question, Gilda answered it by swiftly and nonchalantly unfolding her wing outward, allowing it to to expand to its full size, which was about an arm and a half's long and slightly over half an arm wide from my perspective, and go so far as to go over the bed.

At first, the action simply had me silent, unsure as to exactly what Gilda was getting at, or if she was getting at anything to begin with. However, as my eyes moved between her and her open wing, I took notice of her slightly bobbing eyebrows, as if saying I knew what she wanted.

And unfortunately, I did.

"Oh... Oh, God da- you've got to be kidding m- really?!" I ultimately ended up giving out as I realized what she had wanted, giving out a groan at the thought. "Can't you just do it yourself?! You've told me you've done it plenty of times on your own!"

At my clearly less than eager response, Gilda's beak pursed ever so slightly once again.

"Well, yeah, duh, but I also told you that it feels way better when somepony else does it. And besides, you owe me. That's the deal." Again, I gave out a groan, and were it not for the fact that my forehead was still relatively sore I would have slammed my palm against it.

"I know, but-"

"Or..." She then suddenly said, again drawing my attention. And again, unfortunately so, because the moment I did look at her face again, I took notice of the fact that she had that expression on it.

"If you really want me to do it myself, I'd be willing to, but only if you'd do something else for me. Something, I'd guess, the both of us would enjoy more?" And with that, Gilda leaned herself back even further against my lap, doing so until she bumped into-

HO-KAY THEN!

"You never did explain why you humans get like this whenever you wake up. But, hey, I'm more than willing to make use of the fact. So, what'll it be, option A, or option B?"

-----------------------------------

And now here I am, grumbling to myself as I, with a relatively clean green t-shirt over my chest, covering the bandages I still had on, along with my--by now signature--sweater, pick through this griffon's wing to find and get rid of any loose and/or damaged feathers to be rid off.

And I say relatively because, by now, I was practically covered by a good portion of these feathers.

I never liked helping Gilda whenever she molted. It didn't happen too often, thankfully, with Gilda more often than not doing her own personal wing maintenance whenever she had the chance, but it still felt like it was a living hell for me to do whenever molting did befall Gilda when I was around.

I remember the first time I had seen Gilda molting was just a week or two after we had first met. We had gotten to know each other relatively well by then and had started hanging out much more often.

It was nice having someone to hang out with whenever Zecora was too busy with her potions and all, but I digress.

I recall that, at the time, we had simply been walking when Gilda started acting oddly, shifting her folded wings almost repeatedly, and occasionally giving out an annoyed grunt or low curse.

Not particularly sure of what had been wrong, and having been concerned, I of course asked.

Gilda didn't hesitate to respond, telling me about molting, how often it occurred to griffons, what it involved, and of course, everything she hated about it.

And I, being the nice guy that I was, felt bad for Gilda and asked if maybe I could help her.

If I could go back in time to punch myself I would, temporal paradoxes be damned.

Gilda didn't so much as hesitate to accept my request at the time. In fact, she practically shoved her wings into my face at the time, which ended up making me fall over onto my ass.

Not fun, though it is pretty funny thinking back on it now.

What isnt funny, however, was the process of learning what to do in order to deal with Gilda's molting, which was... not pleasant. Hell, even after I did figure things out, with some direction from Gilda, it still wasn't pleasant. The reason for this?

Well, for one thing, it was tedious as all hell, trying to find and grip the right feathers out of what may very well have been hundreds. And don't even get me started on how frustrating it was whenever I would lose track of one and have to find it all over again.

Another thing was that most of the feathers that I would end up plucking would end up on me. I'm not sure if it's because of the fact that I usually wear clothes and some sort of static attracts them to me, or if they are just stickier than they seem, or if they just straight up hate me, but those feathers always either stick to me or make a mess around me.

Thankfully, Gilda had ended up agreeing to one condition I had for her involving me clearing her wings of unwanted molting feathers, and that was that we would do it in my living room, rather than my room.

It made cleaning any stray feathers easier, in my opinion, and it made it a lot less likely for any of the seemingly vast amount of fluff that these such feathers would bring to bother me the next time I go to bed.

Sleeping in my own bed had made my past five days absolutely wonderful, and lets not even mention comfortable, for me and I would not have that ruined by these damned brown wing feathers! Note how I say wing feathers. You would not believe how glad I was, and am, about the fact the the feathers on Gilda's head, nor any other griffon's head from what she had told me, tended to come off easily enough on their own without any need for help. Because that would just make things all the more worse.

Of course, one unfortunate result of me being in the living room with Gilda, miserably cleaning out her wings as she lay lazily on the couch with me, her head and upper torso essentially trapping me beneath her as she placed them over my lap, giving me a good position overall so as to clean out her wings, was the pair of spectators that oversaw the whole thing with a sort of odd intrigue in their eyes as they watched me work.

Which brings me to my third point, and arguably the worst part about dealing with Gilda's molting for her, and why it makes it all the more awkward to be doing it in the living room with both Nightmare Moon and Halfy watching from the sidelines.

"Ooooooh~ yeah. That's the spot~."

The commentary and moaning Gilda would give out whenever I did this.

Now, to make this perfectly clear, Gilda actually, and surprisingly, didn't do this in an purposeful effort to tease/flirt with me. What she had done upstairs was very much on purpose, but with her wings? It was purely involuntary.

I had asked Gilda--and Zecora afterwards--about that after the first, and of course most awkward and embarrassing, time I had done this for her. The two had both in fact said that, culturally, and instinctually, it was practically built into griffon nature to make some noises of acknowledgement and satisfaction whenever another being, rather than the griffon itself, had been picking their wing feathers for them.

Of course, they partly made these sounds because the very process of having another being do this for them indeed felt nice and relaxing, like a sort of massage really, but it was also a form of... well, I guess you could say 'rating' how one was doing. The louder or longer the noise a griffon made as one did this, the more they would essentially be telling them that their work is satisfactory, or beyond it.

And, as you might imagine, if you compared the work of other griffon's or ponies, who often used their teeth, beaks, or talons to pick out these feathers, or the relatively bland occasional use of magic, to the use of actual opposable thumbs... well, Gilda found my work to be beyond just satisfactory, to put it simply.

And as flattering as this was, it was also frustrating in that, after the first time I had done this, Gilda always wanted me to be the one to do it.

Many times I would politely turn her down, but many more times she would find a way to get me to do it, such as right now.

"Little higher~. Little more. Little... more... Ahhhh, that's the ticket~." Seriously, how red is my face right now? And is it from the noises she's making, or the tediousness that is finding the right feathers on her godforsaken wing? And this was only the first one too!

Blowing off another of these stray feathers, which had ended up floating too close to my face as I continued in my ministrations, I shifted ever so slightly as I grabbed hold of a feather I found to be loose, having passed my hand gently through the feathers on her wing, twisting it slightly, so as to further loosen it, before then pulling it out with a swift pluck.

"Ooooooh, that was a good one~." Gilda again moaned, audibly so at that, as I tossed said feather aside to join a small pile I had on the floor nearby her and I, to which I replied with a slight 'yeah, yeah' that I ended up silently mumbling sarcastically.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind helping Gilda out like this, but I still hate the process itself.

"We must say, Sir Jeremy," I then heard Nightmare Moon, who was seated almost immediately to my right, her head tilted slightly so as to better observe my actions, chime in, "your dexterity and aptitude in this such activity are most interesting to see. We do not believe we have ever truly seen your... um, 'fingers', as you call them, work on something as careful and precise as this."

Nice to see the audience I had was enjoying this more than I was as well...

"Are you kidding NM? He's absolutely--oh, that's the stuff--great at this kind of thing. You should totally get him to do it for you too. Oh yeah." Well, as flattering as that may be, if cleaning alicorn wings are anything like this, then I'll have to politely decline.

Come to think of it, wouldn't it only be worse. I mean, no offense to Nightmare Moon as I say this of course, but her notable size difference would result in a difference in the size of her feathers as well, right?

So... now I'm just imagining myself buried underneath a pile of feathers.

Again, don't mind helping that much, but Christ almighty! I already was covered with enough feathers, felt enough frustration from losing and recovering said feathers, and I really didn't want to deal with any more of this. Plus, I don't think I'd be able to handle hearing Nightmare Moon making noises like these.

... Then again...

Gah, no! Bad! My point stands damn it!

"Oh, no, that is quite alright, Miss Gilda. Alicorn wings do not quite molt like Griffon or Pegasus wings do. The magical properties within mine wings dutifully allow them to keep their functionality without any loosening or damage being wrought upon by constant use."

... Okay, that took me a bit to get. And Gilda, it seemed, took even longer.

"Um... Huh?" She questioned, opening an eye that she had involuntarily closed while I worked on her wing so as to look at Nightmare Moon with a raised, and clearly confused, brow.

Noting this from Gilda, I stopped what I was doing for a moment, so as to not distract her, instead allowing my hands to lay on her back.

See, one thing I'd never admit, to either pony or griffon, was how comfortable their fur usually seemed, no matter what. I had actually made that comment to Zecora once, having accidentally ended up petting her in my absent mindedness--and to be fair, could you blame me--and her reaction was quite... flustered.

As it turned out, that sort of comment was akin to a human telling another human that their skin felt so nice against their own, which of course could be taken very lewdly, or psychopathically, so yeah...

Ahem, returning to the subject at hand, Nightmare Moon seemed confused by Gilda just as much, if not more so, as the vice had been the versa. It wasn't until Halfy, who has been watching this whole event from a slightly further off cushioned seat made to sit only one pony, gained her attention that she realized what was amiss.

"Uh, P-princess," Halfy began, one of Nightmare Moon's ears twitching before she turned her head towards her, "Your, um, 'accent' is showing again."

The alicorn to my right blinked, only once, before then dawning a face of realization.

"Oh, we see! Very well then, let us try again." Her weight shuffling against the couch as she shifted ever so slightly, she cleared her throat before then beginning to speak again.

"Our- Er, pardon, my wings do not molt as much as thine- oh curses, your own do." Nightmare Moon finally managed to say, clearly struggling, and flubbing every now and then, but eventually managing nonetheless.

Gilda, having now understood what she had said, gave out a satisfied nod, accompanying said nod shortly after with a shrug.

"Oh, okay, now I get ya."

Seeming to take this to heart, Nightmare Moon suddenly gained a pretty big smile on her face, like a preschooler who had just managed to count to ten for the first time, before looking to Halfy and I, expecting more praise of sorts.

"Pretty good that time." I have her. "Though, you only needed to say 'yours do' rather than 'your own so'. It makes the sentence more clear and concise."

"Other than that, y-you did really well Princess." Halfy then added in shortly after, only seeming to further raise Nightmare Moon's momentary pride as her mane then began to flow in the invisible breeze it usually caught itself in ever so slightly more.

Altogether, seeing such a large, powerful being such as her act in such an admittedly childish and amusing way was beyond absolutely adorable.

But, yeah, as you may be able to tell, Nightmare Moon has been working on the way she talks for the past few days. She only really started after our first day here, having been reading some stray postage that had ended up piling up in my absence and noting the difference between how she spoke and the text was written.

Supposedly, she wanted to 'fit in' more with her fellow ponies. Granted, Chrysalis, at the time, didn't hesitate to comment on the fact that those ponies she wanted to fit in with weren't exactly fans of hers, but she happily ignored that comment--following shortly after with a quick glass of ice water over the changeling's head--and asked of me and Halfy to help her, what with being her closest friends.

On a side note, I'm pretty sure the fact that Halfy had been called one of her closest friends had made Halfy's day, what with the smile she held throughout the rest of it. A good look for her, coupled with that new, totally pristine and white bandage she had now replaced her old one in favor of.

Even now it was still a fairly clean white, having little more than bits of fuzz from the carpeted floor to possibly change the fact. Of course, this led me to question if this meant that Halfy's... whatever it was that was below said bandages really even needed bandages, at least medically, but I decided not to make that comment known.

Yeah, that'd be a dick move if I did.

Anyways, returning to the subject of Nightmare Moon's speech, she had been trying fairly hard to fix how she spoke for the past few days. First she would just read more of the junk mail that I had, alongside a few old newspapers, in an effort to get a basic understanding. Then, she would start repeating the sentences, both how they were written and how she would say them, so as to ascertain where she varied. Finally, she would adjust her speech so as to better fit in modern context. Her method was quite effective, really, and Halfy and I were, more realistically, acting as sorts of spelling and grammar checks for her.

We didn't always do it, knowing that it would end up seeming more annoying than helpful if we did, but we would usually chime in whenever we found it appropriate. Such as when something she says comes across as difficult to get, or near impossible. Her knowledge of 'old-timey words', as Gilda had coined them to be, far exceeded any of our own. In fact the only one who had any sort of understanding, most of the time, was Chrysalis.

Anyhow, just yesterday Nightmare Moon had taken her growth of lingual knowledge for a sort of test run as she forced herself to speak in modern means for well over two and a half hours. Granted, conversations were relatively slow, but most of us, save for Chrysalis, had been relatively patient with her so as to give her time to catch up whenever it seemed we left her behind in a conversation. This, of course, included even Gilda.

Say what you want about her, but she was still a good friend through and through.

And I can't really say Chrysalis was uncaring and obnoxious throughout the whole event as much as she was tired. She'd been sleeping a lot these past few days, and really I can't say I blamed her. None of us could.

See, Nightmare Moon wasn't the only one doing something productive to use up her time. It seemed like everyone had been assigning themselves some unspoken duties to accomplish while we were here.

For instance, when we first arrived here, we quickly came upon the subject of food. Or, rather, our lack of it. Thankfully, I had some emergency funds hidden away, alongside a few more bits Zecora had given us with the money we needed for train tickets, so we wouldn't really have all that much to worry about for the first few days.

Of course, even then, the funds were still rather tight, and it wasn't like any of us could just go outside with ease. No, I'd imagine the idea of seeing Nightmare Moon, previously a supposedly cruel and wicked being who's only goal was to block out the sun and rule with an iron hoof--a concept which I still find gross and disrespectful, considering I know Nightmare Moon is nothing like that--going out to buy a few heads of cabbages would not go well.

Chrysalis hated interacting with other ponies, and as such was not the prime cadinate for social interaction; Halfy was much too shy, and often found herself distancing herself as much as she could from ponies every now and then, meaning that Canterlot certainly held its fair share of 'bad ponies', so that wouldn't do; as for me, well, markets normally close at sundown... so yeah, that wouldn't work.

In the end, Gilda ended up happily up taking up the responsibility of heading and buying us some food and water with the money we had left over.

Now, I'll admit, the first time she went out both Chrysalis and I were... skeptical as to how things would go. After all, I knew better than anyone else that Gilda tended to be impulsive. If she saw a puddle of mud after a rainy day, chances were she'd jump in without a second thought. Same applies to dangerous situations, and the like.

So, imagine my faint surprise when she not only came back with the food we had needed, but also managed to somehow get extra, all the while ending up actually saving us bits.

As it turns out, she's a shark when it comes to haggling. Something even I never knew. Heh.

As for Halfy, she ended up taking her place cooking, more often than not. I mean, from what I and the others could tell from our stay with her at her home, she was an absolutely great cook. I mean, granted, she only usually fed us with berries and greens from her own garden, but that's only because that was what she had at the time. With the much larger variety of food and ingredients we were able to get from the Canterlot markets, and the much more spacious and functional kitchen I had in my house in comparison to hers, she had, so far, been able to make some pretty damn good dishes from what seemed like random ingredients.

Plus, uh, as it turned out she was the only one of us who actually could cook. Nightmare Moon usually had servants to do that sort of thing for her when she was still a part of Princess Luna, Chrysalis didnt really need that much normal food in comparison to love, so she'd normally just feed herself the raw ingredients anyhow, Gilda I had known to somehow burn water, and I... well, cup ramen is hardly a gourmet meal. Plus, I'm fairly sure that's not sold in this world...

Even Chrysalis was making herself handy around the place. Even now she was-

Before I could finish that thought, a sudden force applied itself to my stomach, not really hurting me but more momentarily winding me out of the unexpectedness that had accompanied it.

Looking towards the source of this force, I saw Gilda's wing was, apparently, now shoving itself repeatedly into my stomach.

"Uh, dude. I didn't tell you to stop." Gilda quipped, her lips pursed as she rose her head up from my lap and gazed at me.

Rolling my eyes, and stifling a groan, I motioned for her to open her wing up completely again, which seemed to restore the smile from before back onto her as then lowered her head once more and did as I instructed. Cursing myself as I looked at the large assortment of feathers before me, a momentary thought came into my head.

"Where was that other feather I had found before again?!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now partially sweating and panting as she continued on her way home in the dark, the mare grumbled to herself as she eventually caught sight of the home she had already grown so used to seeing, despite only recently having moved there. The bits she had earned from work were once again where they belonged, jingling incessantly on top of her back with every step that she took.

She wouldn't bother going over what she went through to get them back. She hadn't been 'too tired' before, she certainly was now.

A momentary chill going up her spine as she approached her home, placing a hoof over the comparatively freezing tile path that led to the actual front door of her home, the mare began to take the last steps she would need to before she was able to finally relax.

She was so tired. So hungry. So very close to falling over as she stepped on one particularly off tile, almost tripping over her own hooves before shortly after catching herself.

She had almost forgotten about that dreaded tile, surprisingly. Then again, she did every time she got home.

She knew somepony from her home had said that he would get around to fixing it, but he never did, did he?

Granted. It wasn't like he could nowadays, but still.

Another series of silent curses escaping her as she made her way over that one particular bit of flooring with care, trying to make sure she didn't drop the bits she balanced on her back, the mare swiftly came up to the front door of her home.

However, she didn't knock, so as to notify the others within of her arrival, immediately. Instead, she gave herself a moment to prepare; to prepare to deal with three foals that were within; to prepare to inevitably disagree, almost constantly, with the other, more mature member of the household that was there; to prepare to do nothing more than eat and sleep.

Taking in a breath of the cool night air, which did very little to help her still relatively recently strained lungs, the mare then let it escape her as she raised a forehoof and, quite loudly and powerfully, knocked it against the wood. Well, less knocked, more thumped.

Lowering this same hood shortly after, the mare took note of a series of sounds that came from beyond the door. First was the sound of one of the foals she'd have to deal with yelling 'oh come on' for whatever reason. Next, was a notable moment of silence, alongside a few faint whispers. Shortly after this, she could hear hoofsteps slowly approaching the door. They weren't particularly big ones, which led her to believe that it was one of the foals that were answering the door. Finally, there was the sound of a pair of locks being released, swiftly accompanied by that of a twisting doorknob, and a groaning door.

Looking up as the door opened just a crack, the mare quickly caught sight of whom she had correctly guessed to be one of the foals. Specifically, the one with a bandage over her eye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"O-oh, it's just you, Chrysalis."

I'll be honest, I didn't think I was holding my breath for that long, nor did I think that it would ever be released as a result of hearing the fact that Chrysalis was the one knocking.

Two for one, huh?

Anyways, yeah, I had initially panicked for a second or two when a knock had come from the door. And it certainly didn't help that Gilda, likely having been frustrated by the fact that her wing cleaning session had been interrupted again, ended up yelling quite loudly when the knock had come.

Were it a guard that was at the door, either, A, we were all about to be in a lot of trouble, or B, kidnapping would have been added to whatever list of charges I had over my head... assuming it wasn't already.

God I hope it wasn't.

But, yeah, in summary, I'm just glad it ended up being Chrysalis. Sorta. Still very conflicted about that.

Not really.

Yes really.

Okay maybe I'm still a bit panicky...

Watching as Halfy, who herself had volunteered to check the door in the first place, which was quite brave by her standards, pulled open the entrance to the house in the first place, the three of us that we're on the couch quickly were given sight of an altogether plain looking mare.

No special looks, no odd or unique color, nothing like that. Just a run of the mill mare with a brown coat and a black mane.

I swear, I had told her that she looked way too common and inconspicuous to, well, not be conspicuous. But, as she had said early on in the week, 'in a world where everypony looks unique and special, nopony looks common.'

Turns out that's also a common changeling phrase used to teach hatchlings that no transformation is too extreme or common, but that's another story entirely, isn't it.

"A-are you okay, Chrysalis? You look really tired... a-and, um, sweaty." Halfy worriedly asked the disguised changeling as she opened the door completely, revealing the dim light of the outside world, and moved aside for Chrysalis to enter.

Chrysalis took this opportunity to do so, of course, making her way inside at a relatively slow and exhausted speed, barely mumbling out what sounded like gibberish as something on her back then proceeded to fall to the floor behind her.

It made quite a loud series of sounds as it did so, including a notable thump, alongside the sound of several coins clacking against one another.

It also served to cause Halfy to practically jump backwards and out of her skin from the very suddenness and intensity of it, a notable squeak escaping her as her ears splayed themselves back against her head and her eye momentarily became as small as a pinprick.

Glancing to the object, though not really able to make out what it was, I barely caught sight of a familiar midnight blue glow beginning to emanate from it shortly after it was dropped, before then rising from the ground in its entirety and steadily floating towards my direction.

Though it wasn't exactly moving all that fast, it seemed to pass the slowly moving, still transformed, Chrysalis easily enough before then making its way past me, allowing me to get a good glimpse at it.

It was, in fact, a sack. Just a small seemingly burlap sack that, in of itself, seemed fit to burst with several outwards projections from within making it seem as though it was more akin to a mutilated pine cone. Furthermore, the actual opening of the sack was slightly ajar, nothing more than a slightly woven-in string of a different color serving to keep it closed, and mostly failing, as I gazed past it to spot a clear multitude of shimmering objects. Gold shimmering objects. Shaped like coins.

Okay, if paydays were like this in my world, either I'd be living in a utopia, or inflation would make my home as close to broke as it could possibly be. Either way, I was a bit jealous.

As the sack then proceeded to float past me, and towards the very being that was manipulating it in the first place, Nightmare Moon looked down at the rather impressive little bag with a look of what seemed to be satisfaction.

"Our friend, could thou mayhaps close the door. There blows a particularly wicked breeze on this night of ours." Nightmare Moon then kindly requested, to which I then immediately heard Halfy give out another squeak, followed shortly after by the sound of the door shutting.

I didn't see this happen, having been momentarily distracted by the bits Nightmare Moon held in her magical grasp, but I imagine it would have been quite humorous to at least see.

A soft chuckle escaping me at the very thought of the scene I missed, I then turned back to Chrysalis who, surprisingly, was still dragging herself towards the three of us on the couch.

Geez, what'd they have her do today? Run marathons?

If so, then it is official that everyone inside of that castle is either an ass or an inconsiderate prick.

Then again, Chrysalis had been coming by more and more tired as the week had progressed, now that I thought about it. Really, this was just pretty much the next step in that declining cycle.

Still, that didn't make me feel any better about seeing her like this.

"Yeesh," I heard Gilda comment below me, myself glancing to her to catch sight of the mildly concerned look on her face, "what carriage hit you on the way here, bugbreath?"

The mare before us seemed to look up towards and slightly glare at Gilda, but only for a short time before then falling back down to blankly stare at the floor.

Rather than respond though, Chrysalis just mumbled incoherently once more.

"U-um, pardon?"

"Thou might want to pronounce thine speech more clearly, changeling." Both Halfy and Nightmare Moon said in response to the gibberish, only causing Chrysalis to give out a slight growl.

"... I said, I'm hungry..." She then finally managed to give out, though still relatively quietly, and in a relatively annoyed form.

Then again, it could be that it wasn't really that she raised her voice, moreso that she had gotten closer and that, as a result, it just sounded more clear. This seemed like the more likely case, what with Halfy, who had still been near the now closed door at the time, twitching an ear of hers before then tilting her head slightly in confusion, having likely still not heard or understood.

I, however, had understood clearly.

"Oh. Well, we haven't really started making anything, what with me having just woken up a bit ago, but if you like you can choose what we eat today." I began, glancing back to a doorway that led to the kitchen. Had I been paying attention though, I would have noticed as she suddenly placed a hoof of hers on the very edge of the same couch cushion that I sat upon, slowly lifting her upper half over Gilda and my lap.

"I'd say that's probably the least we can do, all things considere- Hmph?!?"

With no particular warning, all of my words suddenly became muffled.

You know, it's not exactly outside of the realm of surprise whenever I suddenly feel something grab my head from behind; for example, a hoof. And it's not exactly any further outside of that realm to suddenly be forced forwards and to suddenly feel something against my lips; for example, Chrysalis'!

Yeah, that wasn't expected. At all.

Then again, can it ever be?

Maybe it wasn't the best time to question that though. After all, here I was being... kissed, which was a notable switch up considering the first time this kind of thing had occurred.

My eyes were, of course, as open as a pair of saucers as my mind quickly began to try to catch up with my body. And boy did I mean try!

"Okay, so, let's try to get this straight then. Chrysalis came in just a few moments ago, right? And she had said she was hungry. Now, she's kissing us... Yeah, all things considered, I probably should have half-expected this..."

My mind wasn't wrong, oddly enough. But, still, the very fact that this was happening still... threw me so far off.

"Is... is she actually moving her lips right now?!"

I wanted to try and distract myself from what was happening, I really did, but what was I supposed to do?! Look at someone else like an absolute idiot while this happened? That would only make this worse!

"Come to think of it... everyone can totally see this happening right now... God this is awkward."

It didn't help that as this was going on, my eyes very much focused directly ahead of me, not knowing where else to go in a situation such as this, I watched as the mare before me--who, might I add, only made things even more odd because it seemed as though I was just being kissed by some random mare--with her eyes closed slowly became engulfed by a green flame, and the lips against mine not only became a little warmer as a result, but seemed to change in regards to how they felt altogether as well.

Definitely a... unique experience.

In fact, it was only once the flame faded away, leaving Chrysalis to be the one kissing me as opposed to
the mare from before, that I felt a sudden disconnect from my lips.

A slight tingling sensation lingering upon my lips, and a much more notable warmth covering my entire face as a whole, I watched relatively vacantly as the previously closed eyes of Chrysalis suddenly opened again, revealing her vivid green eyes and slit irises, just as a slight smile crossed her face.

"Ah, that's much better." She then commented to nobody in particular, momentarily allowing her thin forked tongue to exit her maw and slowly, deliberately, lick her lips before once more returning to whence it came. She then proceeded to push herself off of couch cushion she had been supporting her upper half on, allowing herself to sit down upon the floor instead.

"Though, I must say I'd appreciate if you at least put a little effort into it the next time I'm hungry for love. You have the honor of being one of few individuals for me to ever do that with, so at least show some attempt behind it."

W-...

What do I say to that?!

"What the Tartarus?!?" Yeah, that'll do. Though... I didn't say that. No, a more accurate coverage of what I had said would be a series of unsure stutters and short circuits.

"Since when were you two a thing?!" I heard Gilda question, or rather interrogate, which actually managed to momentarily knock some semblance of sense into me as I shook my head and slowly recovered from what had happened.

Looking to Gilda, who was still on my lap, though her head was suddenly raised, and her eyes narrowed, Chrysalis rolled her eyes and gave out a scoff.

"A 'thing'? Pfft, I am a changeling queen. I would not stoop myself that low." She responded with her double-toned voice.

By the way, that was absolutely brilliant for my self esteem. No, really, I feel like a million bucks now. Two million, really...

"What?! Then why did y-"

"Changelings feed off of love, Miss Gilda." Nightmare Moon then suddenly intervened, my gaze then shifting to her as she did so, a blank face accompanying her words. Of course, I say blank, but there was still clearly something there. I just... couldn't make it out, is all.

"We apologize for not having informed thee of this previously, but this is, in fact, the only form for the changeling to sustain her magic and keep herself healthy.... Unfortunately." Looking between Nightmare Moon, Gilda, and Chrysalis, I could clearly see the look of continued confusion and annoyance that came from Gilda, and one of slight surprise from Chrysalis.

"Hm. Funny, I would have personally thought you to be the last pony to excuse my actions for me." Chrysalis revealed with a slight chuckle, her smirk from before not yet having left her features.

"If Sir Jeremy, noble soul as he is, wishes to sacrifice the purity of his lips so as to assist thee, then we shall not speak against his efforts. However, we would very much appreciate it if thou not speak so lowly of him. Especially immediately after having committed such an act."

Gotta say, I appreciate that last part...

Dear god my face must be red.

Though, come to think of it, the way she phrased the... uh, purity part... Yeah...

"I'm thinking too far into it, aren't I?"

Snickering once more, Chrysalis waved off Nightmare Moon with a light gesture from one of her forehooves. I then took the opportunity to finally make use of my voice again, which had previously been lost for... obvious reasons.

"And how about a warning the next time you do that?! I wasn't exactly expecting-Gak!"

Oh, there goes my everything.

And with that, the familiar feeling of everything in my body suddenly shutting down and turning back on returned, and any sort of force I held that may have been keeping my voice working all but disappeared.

The world around me suddenly began spinning, my stomach felt as though it did a one-eighty and back, and breathing suddenly became very difficult. I found myself placing a hand on Gilda's back just to keep myself from falling forward as I began gulping in any air I could in long, yet somehow shallow breaths.

This didn't slip by either Gilda or Nightmare Moon, obviously, as the two quickly reacted.

Gilda, who had previously been on my lap, suddenly sat herself up entirely in one swift, jerking motion. At first, her doing this essentially caused whatever source of balance I held, which was the hand I had on her back, to be lost, but she just as swiftly replaced that balance with that of her own, moving one of her taloned forearms to my chest, to keep me from falling forwards, and the wing I had previously been picking not that long ago moving over my back.

"Woah! J, you alright there bud?" She asked, concern now clear in her voice.

Nightmare Moon, in the meantime, made her own move as she closed whatever small distance there may have been between her and I on the couch, her side brushing against me comfortingly, whatever parts of her mane that were in contact with me attempting to grip and soothe me in any, albeit small, way that it could, and one of her wings moving over my back, alongside Gilda's.

"T'is an unfortunate side effect of a changeling draining love from another being, Miss Gilda. He shall be weak for some time, but he will be well." Though my hearing felt muffled as my head swam, I could barely hear Gilda give out a faint sound of doubt.

"What?! Are you kidding me? Does he look fine to you?" She asked, quite aggressively, before then turning her attention to Chrysalis.

"Listen here, bug, it's one thing if you mess with me, but Jeremy here's a whole different story. If this is really what happens to him whenever you do whatever the heck you did to him, then you'd better not so much as come near him again or so help me I'll-"

"Gilda." I suddenly managed to groan out, raising a hand so as to stop her. It was... certainly a significant amount of effort to do so, but I managed. Even then though, it ended up coming out nearly silent when I did so. I had half-expected Gilda to have just not heard me and continue in her rant, but instead she almost instantly stopped talking.

"Don't blame her for this..." I wheezed, taking in a breath and holding back a cough before speaking again.

"If anything, I volunteered for this, so... If you really want to be upset, be upset with me, okay?" She... wasn't upset though. At least, she didn't seem it, from what I could tell.

Instead, rather than begin to yell at me for putting myself at such a risk, or anything like that, I just heard her take in a deep breath and give out a sigh.

"... Ugh, ya big-... Nah, I'll do it later, maybe. And you can take a rain check on the whole 'wing cleaning' crud too, if you want." She offered, myself glancing to her face and seeing she had a light smile upon it. Not really sure of what to say, nor having the breath to really do it effectively, I just returned the gesture as best as I could.

"... Halfy." I then heard Chrysalis call, her own voice clearly different from the snide tone it held from before.

"U-um, yes?"

"Go get some water for the human. No ice though, if it's too cold it won't end up helping at all..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a more quiet part of the city, no noise could be heard. Indeed, it was a normal night in the usually busy city that was Canterlot. A calm, peaceful night, undisturbed by anything.

Not even the one stray stallion that groaned from within the garbage pail that he, for the life of him, could not recall as to how he had ended up in.

Whether We Like It or Not

by Brightlight24

Prologue [Edited]

Chapter 1: Time Passes

Chapter 2: Everyday Routine

Chapter 3: What Are The Odds?

Chapter 4: Time Suffers

Chapter 5: Freedom Comes With A Price

Chapter 6: Life Before Prison

Chapter 7: Visiting Hours

Chapter 8: A Friend Through These Walls

Chapter 9: Time In The Yard

Chapter 10: Tied To Another

Chapter 11: New Member, Great Impression

Chapter 12: Life Back Home

Chapter 13: Wake Up Call

Chapter 14: Another Visit For A New Place

Chapter 15: A Short Break From Monotony

Chapter 16: Keeping Each Other Going

Chapter 17: Taking Fault Where Fault Is Due

Chapter 18: A Friend's Troubles

Chapter 19: Change And Weakness Go Hand In Hand

Chapter 20: Change And Weakness Go Hand In Hand (Part 2)

Chapter 21: The First Step Is...

Chapter 22: Unforeseen, But Not Unwelcome

Chapter 23: Looking Back, Moving Ahead.

Chapter 24: To Feel Each Other's Pain

Chapter 25: Even The Shortest Trip...

Chapter 26: Home Sweet Home

Chapter 27: House Warming Yet Again

Chapter 28: Work Before Play