When everyone is back home at the Castle of Friendship, me heading inside with a bag of fox litter in my magic, Chrysalis, Cozy, the tod and I enter the dining room for supper, only to find Discord laying on the table.
“Ah, there you all are. I suppose Aita managed to treat your nightmares?”
In response, the tod leaps in front of us and spats and gekkers at Discord.
“My!” he exclaims in laughter. “I see someone is flustered over his findings.”
I put the tod on my back as we all approach. “Discord… do you have any idea how much turmoil you put my friends through?” I warn.
“Aita, please. I saw you wanted to one day master Starlight’s spells. And given there are no more villains to catch, I figured I’d orchestrate the opportunity myself.”
Cozy Glow zips up to Discord in anger. “By infecting me and Chrysalis with the same nightmare?!? For Pete’s sake, she just wanted to restore her DS! That was it!”
“Discord! You know better!” Chrysalis says.
Discord puts his paw and claw together under his left ear, making Chrysalis growl. “Oh come now, Chryssie…”
“Not this time… you left Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust and young Aita to clean up your mess at our expense! It appears you haven’t learned your lesson after rounding up our enemies, even after that talk with Celestia!”
Wow! Chrysalis knows where to hit hard. Discord’s attitude is immediately hampered when she mentions Celestia. She and Cozy look at each other, prompting the latter to fly up to him and look him in the eye.
“Well, Discord, if I could atone, even without meeting Aita or Chrysalis, YOU can too… What do you say?” Cozy smugly asks.
Chrysalis and I keep ourselves from laughing from how brilliantly Cozy handled Discord directly, who closes his eyes in remorse.
“I’m sorry, everyone. I suppose that wasn’t the help you were looking for, Aita, if any.”
One thing’s for sure. That certainly has went a long way for Cozy Glow, Chrysalis and Starlight. He’s better off offered the same compassion, so I show Discord an assuring grin.
“Accepted, Discord. On the bright side, this escapade sure brought me, Cozy and Chrysalis closer together. AND the fox probably wouldn’t have followed me home without it.”
Chrysalis steps in front of me and lifts my chin with her hoof, then points to the tod still on my back. “Aita, dear, aren’t we going to name him? Or are we just going to spend his life just calling him ‘the fox’?”
He gets off and expectantly looks at me.
I scratch my chin in thought. “How about Lorien? You know, to remember the event.”
In agreement, Lorien rests his forehead on my upper leg and briefly wags his tail.
“Like we’d forget,” shudders Cozy.
Chrysalis lays on her stomach and taps her hoof on floor to get Lorien’s attention. “It’s a wonderful name,” Chrysalis says as she pets him.
Discord sighs. “At least now I can see that friendship is nothing like personal enjoyment, that friendship is something that takes a level of knowledge to approach.”
Chrysalis turns to me, still petting Lorien. “Hopefully, Aita, you can care for Lorien. Foxes are a daunting responsibility compared to a cat or dog.”
Cozy Glow lands to my right and wraps us in her hooves. “Obviously we all have our own work, so if we combine our time, that should be enough synergy to cover for him.”
Lorien starts wagging his tail again and laughing with excitement.
Later that night, I finally start work on my DS. Only thing now is that Lorien is in my room, so at least I have some company. But before I can take the DS out, I start out by installing a mirror on the wall where I can see him on my bed without having to stop my work.
In between confronting Discord and Lorien joining me, I managed to clean up the side table so that I can start my work.
With all the setup now done, I take the DS from under my bed and set it next to the screwdrivers I got from last night.
As soon as I get to work on undoing the bottom screws, Chrysalis knocks on my door.
“Hi, Aita. You look a little busy.”
I look in her direction. “Oh, not quite. I haven’t started just yet. What’s up?”
Chrysalis takes a moment to hug me. “I just wanted to thank you for helping us out in Canterlot. So, how’s our newest resident?”
Lorien responds to Chrysalis by getting off my bed and sniffing her forelegs. She tries to pet him, but he swiftly dodges and bites her on the left foreleg. It must be a light bite, considering Chrysalis never once flinches. In fact she just giggles. When Lorien lets go, he starts racing back and forth, on and off the bed.
“I guess he’s doing fine… Lorien,” I call before clicking my tongue to get his attention. Once more, he jumps off the bed and comes to me, and allows me to pet him. “So, about Cozy Glow…”
At the mere mention, Chrysalis’ expression turns somber, knowing exactly what I’m talking about.
“I heard, Aita. The tree of harmony told me she would’ve tread a dark path without CHS Spitfire’s arrest, but no one would’ve expected the extent Cozy told me of…”
“Draining magic from Equestria?” I guess.
Chrysalis nods. “Mm-hm. With me, I am well aware of my past. We’re just lucky she started reforming early. We wouldn’t want another situation like with Smoky.”
“So, are you about to turn in?”
My question lightens the mood a little for Chrysalis. “It’s the entire reason I visit your room, Aita. Honestly, I’m a little surprised you’re still up.”
I shrug. “Well, I don’t have a lot to do. I just have to write a cleaning spell, expose the motherboard, cast the spell, and that should be it… oh, and reassemble.”
Chrysalis puts a hoof on my shoulder. “What about the battery? Do you think that’s the reason it’s not working?”
I undo the battery cover to see if Chrysalis is right. At a first glance, it doesn’t appear so. Even removing the battery itself with my magic, I don’t see anything leaked out onto the surface it sat on.
“Hm… it looks okay. I’ll have to go home and talk to Sophie about it sometime, but for now, I’ll stick to cleaning the motherboard. Thanks for the advice anyway, Chrysalis.”
“Happy to help. Come, Lorien.”
With Chrysalis’ command, Lorien follows her out of my room so I can work in peace.
“Goodnight!” I call to her.
I open one the drawer immediately underneath the top of the side table and take out a scroll and quill, and start writing my spell, meanwhile undoing the bottom screws to access the motherboard.
The next morning, wake up at my usual time and head to the throne room, finding it empty now, unlike the other day. It’s also a bright, silent morning without a single droplet of rain to hit the walls and windows, just the muffled sound of birds chirping atop the roof.
I sniff the air and sigh relief. “As it should be.”
The door opens loud enough for me to turn around and see Pinkie Pie entering the room with Cozy Glow beside her carrying a sweets box.
“Who’s ready for SPRINKLE SHAKERS?!?” Pinkie excitedly shouts. That actually makes me think back to Cozy’s dream when Sweetie Belle was helping her with homework. Cozy apparently doesn’t mind, given it was one of the only times in that dream she was at her most genuine without being in villain mode.
“Pinkie Pie! Cozy Glow! What’s going on?” I ask as I run to them.
“I know we’re a day late, but Pinkie and I are going through with the anniversary for Chrysalis getting her hive back!”
“And you’re invited!” Pinkie adds. “Wouldn’t be fair if the changeling who assisted me the other day was left out!” When Lorien arrives behind them, Pinkie’s the first to notice. “Hey, did you adopt a fox?”
It isn’t until she mentions him do I realize it. My wings twitch to mimic a snapping sound. “Aw, man! I completely forgot about Lorien! You don’t mind if I take him with me, do you?”
“Of course not,” replies Pinkie. “The more guests, the merrier! Meet you there, AIta!”
So, Cozy and Pinkie take their leave over to Sugar Cube Corner, me now left with Lorien. I pace around a bit while he watches before I turn to him.
“Hm, we’ll need a leash for if we’re all going out from this point forward. Maybe Applejack has a spare… Wanna take a quick swing by Sweet Apple Acres, Lorien?”
He wags his tail, runs over and jumps onto my back. And in a flash, we snap to Sweet Apple Acres, leaving the castle behind until after the belated celebration of Chrysalis’ return to the hive.