Chapter 72 - You can pick your friends...but your family? Not so much.
The sun had barely risen over the Las Pegasus skyline when Chrysalis stood outside the bar known as ‘The Love Shack’.
She was here to see somepony, she’d already felt that she was here, and Midnight had told her regardless.
Ponies were much easier to hypnotise when asleep.
She took a breath and teleported past the door. Looking around the still closed bar. She made no effort to hide her presence, she wanted to be found after all...
“Somepony’s an early bird,” the queen heard coming from above her. The form of Sugar, her real form, dropped down in front of her. “Fortunately, so am I.”
“Good morning, Noble Sister,” Chrysalis greeted her. “I thought I would get this over with, before you get any customers for today.” She smirked and looked her over. “A Violet outside the bedroom, rare case indeed~”
“The last time we met, it didn’t go so well,” Sugar said, not lowering her guard. “Why should I believe this time will go any better?”
“It doesn’t have to,” Chrysalis said and looked past the mare. “I’m not here to see you anyway.”
“So you’re here to see my marefriend,” Sugar deduced. “Again, why should I believe you? You’ve been nothing but bad for my business.”
“Again, what you want doesn’t matter,” Chrysalis replied, the conversation having roused the unicorn they were talking about. She looked at Chrysalis and froze, her eyes widening.
“You’d better make this count, Chrysalis,” Sugar warned. “Otherwise I might not take care when teleporting you out.”
Chrysalis smiled, and that was when she was flung across the room, caught within Moondancer’s magical aura. The unicorn screamed as she smashed the nymph against a wall, then against the ceiling…
“Moonie! Quit it!” Sugar said, catching the smaller pony in a comforting hug. “...She’s not worth the property damage!”
And that was also when the Violet nymph noticed that Chrysalis hadn’t been fighting back…
Moondancer ignored her lover as she slammed the queen against the ground… then her horn shone as she smiled and cast the feedback loop on her, all that pain coming back full force!
“Moonie!” Sugar said, using her magic to easily break the spell, though not before it did its work for a second. “She came here to talk to you, and she wasn’t fighting back at all! Honestly...I’d hate to see you in a real fight!”
“If I wanted her dead…” Moondancer replied as her telekinesis gripped Chrysalis’ heart… and squeezed a little. “Then she would be…”
“N-Noted,” Chrysalis gasped as the Unicorn released her, the queen collapsing to the floor. “Get it… out of your system yet…” Bucking buck that had hurt! Chrysalis would have rather gone horn to horn with Celestia again…
“Not quite, but I think Sugar would disagree to me dropping the whole bar on you,” Moondancer said, a little calmer now.
“You wouldn’t get any sex for a week if you did that. You’re already up to one day,” Sugar said with a nod.
“Only a week?” Moondancer said with a raised eyebrow, the rafters creaking slightly as she weighed her options… “Nah, some of my stuff is here.”
“Thank the hives…” Chrysalis moaned to herself. She’d expected such a reaction when she arrived. It was the whole point of being here… still, THE PAIN!!!
“Oh don’t you worry, you’re sleeping somewhere other than here tonight,” Sugar said. “And you’ll take your stuff with you when you go. Now are you going to listen to her, or do I have to increase the length of time?”
“Tch! Fine,” Moondancer sighed and pulled up a chair. “You have sixty seconds.”
“Urgh,” Chrysalis groaned. She’d have to shed her shell to repair some of this damage. “Look… I know, that an apology… will be meaningless to you…”
“Damn right,” Moondancer nodded, ignoring Sugar’s stares.
“I’ll offer it anyway,” Chrysalis groaned. “Nothing I can do will make up for the pain I caused you…”
“Pain?” Moondancer got and and took a step closer to her. “You want to talk about pain? Let’s talk then! Let’s talk ALL about the pain you feel when the love of your life, the pony you gave your heart to! About how they throw it away like it was nothing! I tried, for months! To rekindle those stolen embers, a spark. But nothing! She was never the same after that!!” Moondancer’s horn was shining again. “I will NEVER have her again! You TOOK HER FROM ME!!”
“Moonie,” Sugar said warningly. “Let her talk. I’m sure she has some explanation for all of this...or else I’ll deal with her.”
“I had… no idea that,” Chrysalis winced as the pain from her beatings wracked her body. “I had no clue that a Black was there, I… I cannot sense negative feelings. Right now…” She looked at Moondancer. “Aside from my eyesight, I can’t sense you at all… you must despise me…”
“Gee, you think?” Moondancer snarked.
“And I can barely feel that one there,” she said, looking at Sugar. “Guess all that hate can’t mask that Lust of yours.”
Then, Chrysalis felt Sugar’s emotions shift. From whatever she’d been feeling…
To a mixture of pity and kindness?
“You mean that?” Sugar asked. “You can’t feel any of the negative emotions?”
“None whatsoever,” Chrysalis laughed and coughed, that had been a bad idea, that hurt. “What a joke huh? The supposed ‘Queen’ of the Changeling can’t even sense emotion…”
“Yeah right,” Moondancer said and looked at Sugar. “You seriously aren’t buying this crap right?”
“Every changeling is different,” Sugar said as she stepped closer to Chrysalis. “There are some who can gender shift, and some who can’t. Some who can teleport, and some who can’t. Some who can Hivelink easily, and some that can’t hold the connection for a second. Ledger is one that can’t sense emotions fifty feet past himself. It’s not inconceivable that there would be one that simply...can’t sense negative emotions. Our resident Pink is hypersensitive to them. Surely a counterpoint must exist.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Moondancer said and looked back at Chrysalis.
“I suppose it has a downside,” the queen muttered. “I can’t feel those emotions… I don’t know what it means to hurt like that… not until recently anyway.” She tried to get to her hooves, but failed and fell back to the floor. “What I did to you, to many, many others is unforgivable… I just… I just hope that you can eventually move forward again… and if taking my life will let you do that…”
“You won’t be dying here today,” Sugar said as she drew closer to Chrysalis and offered her a helping hoof. She then shot a look over to Moondancer. One that wasn’t kind at all, despite the smile on her face. “Right, Moonie?”
“Like I said, if I wanted to, you’d be dead already,” Moondancer said tersely. “Death would be far too swift anyway… not to mention it’d get me fired from my job.” The unicorn lifted the queen with her magic as a basic healing spell washed over her. “No matter what I do to you, it won’t change the past, I’ll never have my beloved Moon back again…” She looked at Sugar and smiled. “But… I’ve already moved on. I have somepony I can love again… even if she’s mad at me right now. We’re not friends Chrysalis, and I doubt we ever will be... But you’re trying, even I can see that.”
“Better,” Sugar said as she watched the spell work on Chrysalis. “Mmm, maybe you can stay the night...with some stipulations, which we’ll go over later. But Chrysalis, you know that was only one very hard apology. You have so very many more to make.”
“I have made the ones that matter,” Chrysalis said. Save for Cadence and Shining Armor. She was going to avoid them like a Violet avoided a chastity belt. “I’m leaving, nopony will ever see me again…” She stood on her own four hooves and headed for the door.
“You do know that Ledger cursed your name the most, yes?” Sugar said as she idly examined one of her hooves. “Out of all of us here in Las Pegasus, besides miss Song, he’s the one you caused the most grief. You won’t find a harder apology to make than one to him.”
“Sister, with all due respect, I don’t think I’d survive another apology…” Chrysalis winced again as she opened the door, not bothering with a disguise. She didn’t have the energy to make one anyway. Her love reserves were all but gone when she shielded herself against most of those blows. Moondancer had hit her so hard, if she hadn’t…
“Tch, what a pain,” Moondancer said with a sigh. “I’m going to escort her to the farm… and make sure that pain of a drone doesn’t kill her outright,” the unicorn said.
“He might just surprise you,” Sugar said. “He certainly keeps surprising me.”
“Oh you’d just love to have his surprise, wouldn’t you?” Moondancer could help but say. Sugar giggled before kissing her marefriend.
“In another time, I would have said yes without a second thought. But these days, I have you. Besides, I meant his spellwork with Lengthy Scroll. The two of them invented a new spell the other day that I think even you would find impressive~”
“Doubt it, but we’ll see,” Moondancer said. She paused and looked at Sugar. “I love you, you know that right?”
“I know,” Sugar said before pointing at herself for emphasis.
“You tamed a Violet Noble... “ Chrysalis shook her head. “If I hadn’t seen it for myself…”
“Oh, she’s far from tamed…” Moondancer hummed. “She just knows she’ll not find another pony that can keep up with her.”
“No, I could, but she’s already taken and doesn’t have a horn,” Sugar said before humming happily at the memories.
Chrysalis tilted her head as Moondancer facehooved.
“She’s talking about Midnight,” the Unicorn said. “And for good reason… that mare is good at what she does… and who she does~”
“I’m sorta jealous of Ledger these days, to be honest,” Sugar said before waving at the pair. “Tell him I say hi when you see him Moonie, I have a club to repair while the pair of you are out.”
Moondancer looked at the damage and smiled sheepishly, before ushering the queen out before Sugar got mad all over again. The two quickly disappeared…
“Ah well,” Sugar said as she turned around and lit her horn up. “Time to put my hoarded magic to actual use, I suppose…”
For the first time in a while, Ledger found himself waking up, buried in mares. All his mares.
Midnight and Cider sandwiched him quite nicely as Twilight had her wings draped over them, Scope laying on his chest as one of her hooves held Twilight’s.
He barely dared to breathe, he enjoyed this moment so much. Just...basking in their warmth. He didn’t want to accidentally wake one up with even a twitch. His ear flicked slightly as he heard some sounds from downstairs. Somepony was awake…
That didn’t make any sense, though. All the mares were here, which would mean…
Intruder, he thought with a snarl. Now if only he could get out of this pile easily, he’d deal with it…
It hadn’t been easy, but somehow he’d managed to substitute Twilight with himself, Scope chirping softly as she buried her face into Twilight’s chest fur. Standing on his hooves and now ready to deal with whoever this was, Ledger walked out into the house, his horn shining with power as he prepared to deal with the intruder. The noises were coming from the kitchen, the sounds of someone raiding the fridge and banging some pots and pans around…
Ledger walked to the doorway and looked into the kitchen, his nerves frayed as he looked around for whoever was making the noise. And that was when a short figure stepped right out in front of him…
Fortunately, Ledger was not so far gone into his paranoia to forget about the dragon that had come over last night. “Spike,” the drone sighed as he killed the power to his horn. “You scared me. I don’t normally have somepony, or somedrake, around that gets up before Cider to make breakfast.”
“Huh?” Spike did a double-take at the sudden appearance of the stallion. “Oh, wow, you scared me too,” he said, wiping his hand across his head. That was when Ledger noticed something a little odd about the dragon.
He seemed a little taller, perhaps an inch or so. His tail had lost a little of it’s stubbiness, and some of his baby fat he used to carry was gone, making him look a little slimmer.
“Sorry… you all looked tired when I peeked in earlier, so I decided to get everything ready,” he explained. “There’s some coffee that just finished brewing. I mixed a little hazelnut in it for flavour…”
Ledger raised an eyebrow, but prepared a cup to his usual standards, and sipped at it. He hummed appreciatively at the new taste before looking over to the drake and nodding.
“Not bad, not bad at all...and if this is what you do with one part of my usual morning, I find myself curious as to what you’ll manage with the rest.”
“I’m making waffles, eggs and fruit salad,” Spike explained as he walked back into the kitchen. Even his stride seemed to have lost its waddle. “Is that okay?”
“That works wonderfully,” Ledger said as he walked back into the dining room, coffee in tow. “Oh, and a little tip. Cider likes apples in her fruit salad, and Midnight loves mangoes.”
“Thanks,” Spike nodded as he added the fruits, making sure that two particular servings held the extra fruit Ledger mentioned.
A short while later, Cider came down to start breakfast, only to see her job already done.
“Wait… whut?” Cider blinked and looked at the spread.
“Yeah, Spike does good work,” Ledger said as he held a hoof out to the drake. Spike blushed and looked at the cooking he’d just done.
“Well, time to wake up Twilight,” he said. “She’ll sleep all day otherwise.” He took a breath and cupped his claws over his mouth.
“TWILIGHT!! YOU’RE LATE FOR A TEST!!”
“That seems cruel, but efficient,” Ledger chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee. He’d have to make a note of that one…
There was a shout from upstairs, followed by some panicked sounds and then a dishevelled alicorn tumbled down the unfamiliar staircase, landing at the foot of the stairs with a groan.
“Morning Twi,” Spike greeted her.
“I will end you,” she groaned.
“Coffee and waffles?” Spike countered.
“I love you Spike,” Twilight cooed, floating into the kitchen.
“Sometimes I wonder who’s taking care of who,” Ledger observed with a smile. Spike nodded as the alicorn emerged, humming happily at having coffee as she sipped from the cup.
“Ahh, better,” she sighed and then looked at Spike. “Thanks Spi—” She paused, the mug falling from her grasp as she stared with wide eyes. “Spike… you… you’re bigger?”
He looked down and nodded. “Yeah, woke up like this… ACK!” he yelped as the alicorn grabbed him and stared into his eyes.
“You’re not hoarding again are you?” she said in a panicked tone. “Spike. You know what happened last time!”
“I know,” Spike said, worming out of her grasp. “It’s… not like that this time.”
“This time?” Twilight groaned. “So you are hoarding again!?”
“I was following some of Ledger’s advice…” Spike started and the alicorn turned her head. He had about… oooh, a half second to explain.
“The Yellows have done a study on a number of creatures, dragons included,” he said as he speared some of his eggs with a fork. “Dragons that hoard material wealth become mindless creatures of greed, whereas dragons that hoard the immaterial, like friendship and knowledge, mature but retain their minds.”
“I won’t hoard things again Twilight,” Spike explained, hugging her tightly. “But… It’s time I grew up. Time I made some decisions for myself. I… think of all my friends, my family, I think of you Twi…” He wiped a tear from his eye and smiled. “I have the greatest hoard in the world. And when I started thinking like that… this happened.”
Twilight gasped, looking at her little, well, less little dragon now. She had no idea that he’d felt like that. And, this change because of his way of thinking, it was undeniably fascinating.
“I just wish you’d talked to me first,” Twilight said, hugging him close. “Silly dragon.”
“I was gonna after breakfast,” Spike said. “Trust me, this change is just as unexpected for me as it is for everyone else…”
“Not me,” Ledger said as he popped the egg in his mouth. After a quick chew and swallow, he elaborated. “I figured you’d change sooner or later, after I told you what I did. That look in your eyes...It all but screamed ‘I want to grow up.’”
“So he says,” Twilight giggled. “I say he’s just as surprised and too cool to admit it.”
Midnight, having stealthed her way into the room, dropped down in front of Ledger.
“Boo!”
“And good morning to you too,” he said, giving her a quick smooch. “One of these days, you’ll remember how to be sneaky around a Changeling.”
“And who says I shouldn’t misuse that skill?” she retorted. “Silly buggy. Besides, have you heard of the word, distraction?”
As an emotionally masked Scope attached herself to the back of his head…
“Yeep!” Ledger said, knowing that there was one mare left, but not having expected this from her. “Scope, I know we say you need to get ahead in life, but you’re taking it too literally here!”
She groaned and nommed on his horn for that terrible pun before letting go. She looked back at Spike and groaned again.
“Are you serious? Now I’m back to being the shortest one in the house again! Dammit!”
“Actually, I think you’re around the same height,” Twilight pointed out. Scope Lens wasn’t that small, about the size of a mare in her young teens. Still shorter than anypony else though.
“Speaking of growing,” Midnight asked. “Oh, congrats by the way Spikey. But Twi? Will you get as big as Celestia?”
Now… that was an interesting mental image. Ledger hummed at the thought before he had some of his fruit salad.
“Well, I can already guess that Twi’s day has been planned for her,” Ledger said, looking over at Spike as he said that. “And I can guess that Cider has various farm-related chores to do.”
“As always,” Cider said. “But it shouldn’t take long. Did… y’all want to go on our date tonight Twilight?”
“That sounds good,” Twilight nodded. “I’ll think of something while I do a few tests on Spike.”
“I’m gonna crash here,” Scope said and flopped into her nest with a plate of waffles. “Scope Lens will do squat today.”
“Ohh, so it’s just us?” Midnight asked, hugging Ledger close.
“Looks like,” Ledger said. “I could go in today and take care of the paperwork...but it’ll be there tomorrow as well. Not a whole lot changing these days.” He took another sip of his coffee before nuzzling Midnight. “So, whaddya wanna do, silly bat?”
Midnight giggled and hummed. “Ohh, wanna go out on the town? See if anything interesting happens?”
“I can get behind that,” the drone said with a nod. “Who knows, we might find something new.”
“Something new huh?” Midnight pondered on that as she ate a waffle. Ohh, these were delicious waffles!
“Yeah, you never know what you’ll find when you explore Las Pegasus,” Ledger said. “I found Fredrick during one of my little explorations, after all.”
“Hmm, maybe I’ll find a perverted, life-long friend?” Midnight giggled. But then, in the form of Sugar Darling, she already had one of those. Ah well.
“Couldn’t that be used to describe a lot of your friends?” Ledger deadpanned.
“Yeeaahhhh,” Midnight giggled. “Sugar, Moondancer, you, Scopey, Fredrick, maybe the Captain to some extent…” Midnight paused as a thought occured. “Am I a bad influence?”
Ledger didn’t answer. An honest one would get him in trouble. And even if he used a dishonest answer, she’d see right through it. He merely ate a little more of his breakfast to keep his mouth occupied.
“Your silence is worse than a lie Level Ledger,” Midnight huffed and her ear gave a flick. “There’s somepony outside,” she said, and a few seconds later, someone was knocking on the door.
“It’s not like there’s a right answer to that,” Ledger said when his mouth was clear. “Yes, my life and way of thinking have changed since you came into it...but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“You’re not a bad influence Midnight,” Twilight said with a giggle as she nuzzled her. “But you are a sexy one~”
“Ohh, I like that,” Midnight hummed thoughtfully as she kissed both ponies. Cider had gone to see who was at the door and soon returned, with Amy dragging Chrysalis inside and Moondancer following soon after.
“Ow, Amy! Hey!” Chrysalis grunted. “I’m injured here. Stoppit!”
“Mkay!” Amy said before depositing the queen unceremoniously on the floor. “There, you’re here now~”
“I hate you all,” Chrysalis groaned.
“Hey guys!” Midnight waved and launched herself into a tackle-hug of Amy and Moondancer, effectively taking them out.
“Hah! Karma!” Chrysalis gloated.
Amy didn’t answer beyond snuggling the bat back.
“Oh, it’s you again,” Ledger said, looking into the room from his spot at the table. “I thought you were going to enjoy Las Pegasus and maybe not come back for a day. Or longer. Or ever.”
“Aww, I’m so sorry to ruin your fun… oh wait, no I’m not,” Chrysalis snarked back as she saw Spike walking around. “What’s up with that? You upgrade to a newer model Sparkle?”
“Nope, still me,” Spike said, puffing out his chest.
“Keep growing, and you might actually have a chance with that prissy unicorn,” Chrysalis replied and Spike wilted somewhat before looking away.
“Keep improving yourself, and other changelings might not want to strangle you when your back is turned,” Ledger snarked back. “Me included.”
“Ah yes, I heard aaaalll about you today,” Chrysalis retorted. “About how you couldn’t stand up to one little mare because of your hangups about nymphs.”
“You try walking a mile in my shoes,” Ledger retorted, taking a sip of his coffee and not looking at the nymph. “See how you like drones after one has his way with you against your will, then tries to dispose of you.”
The room fell into silence, as Midnight and Cider just looked at one another while Twilight…
The alicorn just stared with wide eyes, a hoof to her mouth in shock. “Wh...what?” she stammered. The room suddenly got rather chilly, as her eyes narrowed and begun to take on a white glow. “Who did this to you!?”
“Twilight,” Ledger said, turning to her and trying to calm her down with his voice. “Deep breaths...no need for violent magic inside Cider’s home…”
Twilight blinked, then placed a hoof to her chest and swept it out in front of her, taking a deep breath as she used the calming method Cadence taught her.
“Okay… okay, I’m okay,” Twilight said as Spike hugged her. “That’s… why would somepony do that?”
“Because back home, nymphs still have the power,” Ledger said. “There’s a push for equality, or was when I left. But you’d better believe that of the two, drones are the ones overlooked more often than not.”
Chrysalis sat there, now thinking she should choose her words a little more carefully. Moondancer poked her with her magic and cleared her throat.
“Did you come back here for a reason?” The unicorn prodded. The changeling queen sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Yes, yes. Sorry for all the drama that my mistake may have caused you drone.”
“May?” Ledger said, his ears twitching. “Oh there’s no may about it. Toll had me under her hoof from the minute she cast her glamor-revealer on me. I could tell you of crimes she had me hide away under threat of exposure that would turn even your stomach. Try again.”
“Humph! I still say that you were just weak, and you’re clinging to any pathetic excuse to avoid admitting that to yourself!” Chrysalis took a step forward and stared down at him. “Tell me. Why should I apologise to a lowly drone anyway?”
“Oh no, I fully admit that I was weak then,” Ledger said with a vicious smile. “I couldn’t act against any female, much less a nymph. But the key word there was then.”
The silver drone’s horn flared up, to demonstrate his point. “Time, the changelings of the city, and especially Midnight, have helped me get past my fear. I’m not afraid of you. In fact, the one thing I am is grateful I’m no longer capable of going Black. Because otherwise, I’m fairly certain I would be, right now.” Ledger had gripped the queen’s throat…and was starting to squeeze…
“Then do it!” Chrysalis said over a Hivemind spell. “That little unicorn didn’t have the guts. So hurry up and do it!”
Ledger seemed to consider it...for all of a minute...before he let go of the queen and shook his head. “I do that, I’m no better than Toll Taker. And I promised myself, when I took her chair, that I would never be like her. Keep your life. It’s not worth my honor.”
“Honestly,” Moondancer sighed as she powered down her own horn. She and Twilight had been preparing suppression spells in case Ledger had been serious, while Cider had gone to shield Spike and Scope.
Midnight had… where did Midnight go?
“You really suck at apologies, you know that right?” Moondancer said. “Can’t you just walk in and say ‘sorry’ like a normal pony?”
“Eh, it’s fairly standard changeling behavior,” Ledger said...before grinning. “At least, for a drone admitting he was wrong to a nymph…”
“You admitted that you were weak,” Chrysalis coughed. She rubbed her neck and sighed. “And I can admit that the invasion was an ill-thought out mistake. A Black had snuck its way into my army and caused irreparable harm to somepony you care for. I… cannot hope to apologise enough for that.”
“I met that Black some time ago,” Ledger said tersely. “He won’t be bothering anypony anymore. I used the Flames on him. He’s naught more than ash on the wind.”
“You can cast Flames?” Chrysalis said with an incredulous tone. Now she was glad she didn’t piss him off too much.
“Guys?”
“Is that some sort of Changeling spell?” Moondancer asked, excited over the prospect of new magic.
“Guys?”
“In a way,” Chrysalis explained. “I’m sure the drone could explain it far better than I though.”
“GUYS!” Scope called out, shivering and hiding under Cider. She pointed and the armed and armoured Thestral standing at the top of the staircase. “Ledger and Chrys may wanna kiss and make up real bucking fast!”
“Oh boy,” Ledger said. “Um...But...Gah! Fine, for the sake of keeping you alive long enough to earn it, I’ll forgive you for now, Chrysalis...provided you use my actual name. I have one, you know. I even told it to you!”
“Fine,” the queen rolled her eyes, unimpressed at Midnight’s display… but, she felt… cold for some reason. “I suppose I can do that… Secret-Hoarder.”
Ledger looked back to Midnight, hoping their little display had worked well enough to snap her out of her emotion-less state. If need be, he would intervene if she, too, sought...alternative ways for the queen to pay for what she’d done, on purpose or not.
“Oh goodie,” Midnight said as she stepped closer and Ledger saw that she wasn’t armed with her usual wingblades… but rather, had two wooden paddles under her wings? “But you see, I’m still spanking the pair of you… I hope you’re ready for this~”
“Yipe!” Chrysalis hid behind Ledger, holding him out. “Take him first, I’m too pretty to die.”
“You can spank me later,” Ledger offered with a saucy wink. “But you should probably do Chrysalis now, we don’t have her around very often.” With that, he squirmed free of Chrysalis’ hold and stepped to one side.
“What?” Chrysalis blinked and bolted into the living room, Midnight chasing after her.
“You… don’t really think that Midnight would actually…” Twilight started before they heard a loud ‘smack’ coming from the living room, as well as another sound that made Twilight move to cover Spike’s ears.
“Oh my,” Ledger said, before looking at Amy. “I hope you’re taking notes.”
“I dunno what you’re talking about,” the pink nymph said with a not-innocent smile.
“Yeah, you’re not fooling anypony,” Twilight deadpanned as she continued to cover up a pouting Spike. “Just… take care of her okay?”
“Not a problem!” Amy chirped, waiting for the sounds to die down before she went in to retrieve her noble nymph. “Though, I may need to borrow her from you…For a day...or a week...or forever.”
“If you want to deal with her on a permanent basis,” Twilight said with a wave of her wing. “I’m more than happy to announce her as redeemed.”
Midnight eventually emerged, giving Ledger a look as she glanced at her unused paddle, before shrugging and tossing them aside.
“Well, I’m finished… for now,” she said. “Wanna hit the town?”
“Sounds good to me,” Ledger said, taking the chance to polish off his breakfast and coffee. “Let’s see what we can find.”
Amy, on the other hoof, went into the living room to gather up her noble nymph. She found Chrysalis on the floor, her flank had a nice red tinge to it as she gave a few twitches, muttering something about being a good nymph and that apologies were painful…
“Come on,” Amy said, trying to pull Chrysalis up. “Up you get, you’re coming back with me now.”
Chrysalis just groaned, before a light pink aura picked the noble nymph up.
“I’ll give you a hoof,” Moondancer said, adjusting her glasses with a hoof. “It’s my fault she’s injured in the first place after all.”
“You hurt my new cuddle-buddy?” Amy said, glaring a little at Moondancer...before shrugging. “Eh, she probably deserved it.”
“Screw you,” Chrysalis groaned and Moondancer chuckled.
“Perhaps, but I shouldn’t have resorted to violence like that. Got me kicked out for a while anyway… You don’t happen to know how to get on Sugar Darling’s good side again do you?”
“Try showing up in edible clothing,” Amy chirped as she took Chrysalis from Moondancer’s magical grasp with her own. “I know a shop you can visit, if you feel like trying right away.”
“Edible clothing.” Moondancer tone was a flat as a pancake. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Are you telling me you don’t want her to slowly use her mouth all over you?” Amy asked.
“Point noted,” Moondancer nodded and shifted her glasses again. “Seems I’m going shopping this afternoon.” She looked the queen over, making sure she had no serious injuries before her magic reinforced Amy’s. “Alright, shall we get this sadsack home for you?”
“Sounds good!” Amy said. “Acey has today off, so he can look out for the queenie while I show you where that shop is.”
“Girls day out? Sounds good,” Moon smiled and the two left.
Sometime later, Midnight Song and Level Ledger walked the streets, no real destination in mind, just… wandering.
“Levvy, I’m boooored,” Midnight whined. Ledger blinked before looking at her...then chuckling.
“I’m sorry, I forgot you don’t have my senses. Even when we’re just walking like this, the city is still very fascinating to me.” He looked around and hummed. “Is there anything in particular you’d like to try and find?”
“Not...really,” Midnight nodded as they walked down a back alley. She was still wearing her armour from this morning, which had also deterred a potential mugger. “Sorry, my attention span isn’t the best…”
“It’s okay,” Ledger said as they emerged back onto the roads proper. “Hmm...I think we’re close to where dad and I went for...Yeah, that’s the shop right there.”
“Hm? What shop, and if Purple Pops is involved…” Midnight giggled and waggled her eyebrows seductively.
“Nothing like that,” Ledger said with a shake of his head, before pointing it out to her. The bat blinked as a small blush graced her cheeks. Midnight was hopelessly adorable when she did that.
“A… jewelery shop? Why would you… oh.”
“Mmhmm,” Ledger said as he led Midnight out of the high-class district they’d found themselves in. “He said he’d have them to me by the time of the wedding, and didn’t seem to mind that it was for a herd either.”
“Well that’s a good thing,” Midnight smiled, leaning against him. “Still, he was probably just looking forward to all the money you’re going to be forking over.” She mulled a thought over and decided to ask. “Twilight?”
“I included a band for her as well, just in case,” Ledger said. “Oooh, that looks like fun.” He’d just caught sight of a Neighponese themed restaurant. “Maybe later. I’ll make a note of it.”
“I overheard Scopey muttering that Twilight was joining whether she liked it or not,” Midnight giggled, shifting so she wasn’t leaning on Ledger anymore. “I think that date of theirs worked a little too well~”
“It’s nice to hear Scope’s bonding with others, though,” Ledger said as they continued their little journey. Of course, this being Las Pegasus, they eventually found...well, it was a shop he was certain his father would like.
“Ooh, I could use a new riding crop,” Midnight giggled. “And maybe some restraints that can hold Cidey~”
“I’ll make a note of it,” Ledger repeated, though he was blushing slightly at the thought of returning.
“Ohh, somepony’s thinking naughty thoughts~” Midnight sang, giggling and prodding him. Ledger snorted and shook his head.
“Kinda hard not to around you,” the disguised drone replied. “Or in this town at all.”
“True enough,” the thestral nodded, shaking her rump a little. That armour hugged her curves quite nicely, the golden metal gleaming in the sunlight. Ledger snorted again before attempting to lead the thestral mare away from the shop.
“Come on, let’s see what else they...have…” Only to find that they’d apparently stumbled across the motherload of kinky shops.
“Oh my~” Midnight said and giggled. “You really are in the mood aren’t you Ledger~”
“I swear this was not on purpose,” the stallion muttered. “Let’s just go before this gets any worse for me.”
“Oh? Now I’m kind of curious as to how this could get worse for you,” Midnight chuckled.
“I’m afraid to find out,” Ledger replied as he set off in another direction. “Let’s leave Pervert Lane for now.”
“Ev’ry party needs a pooper, that’s why that invited you~” Midnight sang as she followed him. Party pooooper~”
“Well I’m sure that now that you know where it is, you’ll be coming back later,” Ledger said. “Here we go, some nice, normal shops.” One of them selling, of all things, toys for foals.
“Somepony will be coming later,” Midnight replied, before the toy store caught her attention. She paused in front of the window and stared inside. At the cribs and cradles, the toys and games…
“It’s… this is really happening huh?” she murmured.
“Yup,” Ledger said as he stood next to her. “Don’t worry, though. I have every confidence that you, at least, will be an awesome mother.”
“Well, d’uh,” Midnight snorted, but Ledger could tell her bravado was forced. “I’m Midnight-freaking-Song. And I’m very good at what I do…” She looked back inside the store and her confident look fell. “...I hope…”
“I know,” Ledger said, giving her a soft kiss. “That, when the foal comes, you will be the best mother possible. Because you’ve been the best mare possible, to me. I’m still very honored you want me to marry you, you know.”
“Yeah,” Midnight sighed and looked at her stomach. “Well, you know… gotta give the kid a proper family and all. And… it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while now. Just, well you know why I couldn’t…”
“Yeah,” Ledger agreed, hugging her gently. “...You could still put this off or call it off, you know. There’s time, if you don’t feel ready.”
“NO!” Midnight yelled, then put a hoof to her mouth. “No… I couldn’t do that to any of you. It wouldn’t be fair.” Her ear flicked a few times, like something was bothering it. “I love you guys. All of you. And, it’ll make me super happy to marry all of you. Just, on the day, if I get cold hooves… don’t let me go okay?”
“I think that’d be more the job of the others than myself, but noted,” Ledger said as he didn’t let go of her. “I’ll let Scope know, she’ll probably deal with it.”
“But I want you to catch me,” she whispered to herself as her ears flicked again. She growled as her voice spoke up once more. “Argh! I’m trying to have a moment and some idiot won’t let me concentrate!!”
“Oh?” Ledger said, looking around. “What are you hearing that I can’t?”
“Yeah,” Midnight rubbed her ears. “Someone’s using echolocation, probably another thestral. Don’t they know that there are…” She paused and her eyes widened. “We have to leave.”
“...It’s your dad, isn’t it?” Ledger deadpanned. “That’s the only other thestral I can think of that would be around at this point.”
“Worse, oh so much worse!” Midnight panicked as she grabbed Ledger’s hoof. “Come on, we have to go before—”
Two thestral mares suddenly dropped from the sky, landing behind Midnight. They bore the armour of Princess Luna’s night guard as Midnight groaned and hung her head.
“Ohh, seems we finally found her,” one mare giggled.
“About bucking time,” the other said. Ledger wasn’t sure if their armour bore the same enchantments as Celestia’s, but they looked and sounded identical.
“Celestia smite me now,” Midnight groaned.
“Well, this promises to be more interesting than what we were doing,” the disguised drone observed. “Though, hasn’t Luna heard of a wonderful invention called the letter? It does a remarkable job of letting others know when you want them for something.”
“This has nothing to do with the Princess, stallion.” One of the mares quipped.
“Ledger,” Midnight said with a barely suppressed groan. “Meet Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber…”
“HEY!”
“They’re my cousins.”
“Oh,” Ledger said with a snerk. “Family business. Well if they think they can intimidate me, they’ve clearly not met my family. Or me.”
“We’re not here for you, so don’t flatter yourself,” the mare on the left said.
“Mom’s here,” the right one added and Midnight gasped.
“Oh buck me with sunfire! Ledger, time to book it. We need to be home yesterday!”
“If you actually think you can beat your mom home, then by all means, try and warn the others,” Ledger said as he let go for emphasis.
“Not my mom… theirs!” Midnight said as she took wing and left her drone behind with the other mares.
“Well, good to see she’s as scatterbrained as ever,” one of them chuckled.
“Do I want to know why her aunt invokes such terror in her?” Ledger asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Hmm, maybe?” one of them said. It was starting to get confusing on which one was talking.
“Sister, I suppose we should introduce ourselves, he looks terribly confused.”
“I suppose, sibling of mine.” The one on the left added. “I am Meadow Song.”
“And I am Sun Song. We’re twins and little Midnight’s older and far more experienced cousins.”
“Puh-lease,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. “I doubt anypony can actually match her for experience.”
“Well, who knows,” Sun replied.
“And you are Level Ledger yes,” Meadow said, stepping closer. “The Changeling drone that intends to marry our cousin, along with the rest of your herd?”
“Pipe down,” Ledger hissed, looking around before explaining. “While Las Pegasus is technically friendly territory for me and those like me, I don’t go parading what I am around.”
“If you insist,” Sun said with a small snort. “Perhaps you should move to our town? You could walk around undisguised and nopony would bat an eye at you~”
“Really?” Meadow groaned. “That was terrible sister.”
“Aww, you love my puns.”
“I see a love of puns runs in the family,” Ledger mused. “And for the record, she proposed to me.”
“She did?” Sun tilted her head. “Hmm… that doesn’t sound right.”
“No kidding, she hates marriage more than I hate your puns.”
“Hey!” Sun pouted and stepped up next to Ledger. “Well he seems to like them. So I’m gonna stand here with the cool ponies.”
“I wouldn’t say like, more like, can tolerate thanks to extended exposure to Middy,” Ledger clarified for the pair of them. “Dare I ask why you and your mother decided to visit Las Pegasus?”
“Weeeeell,” Sun hummed, clearly the sillier of the twins. “Mom was curious to see how our cuz was getting along. They haven’t talked in a looooong time.”
“Midnight hasn’t visited since she graduated from West Hoof Academy,” Meadow explained. “And I still think Mother is trying to convince her to join the Lunar Guard like all the others of our kind. Though I fear that will never happen.”
“Yeah, what with her being a specialist under the command of Celestia herself,” Ledger said with a snicker. “I can’t see her taking a pay cut just to oblige what somepony else thinks she should be doing.”
“She’s a Specialist?” Meadow blinked. They… didn’t know that. Celestia must have been keeping that secret. “Hmm, that’s interesting.”
“Soooo,” Sun said, leaning against the drone. “What’s it like being a bug pony?”
“Sun!”
“Whaaaat? It’s a question.”
“I could counter with, what’s it like to be a bat pony, but I’m not nearly so vindictive as that,” Ledger said. “Let’s...talk about this in softer tones, yes?”
“Don’t worry,” Meadow said as she took a more relaxed posture. “We’re not here to start trouble or anything like that. And we certainly won’t be foalnapping Midnight like that moron in the Oldlands.”
“What a dingus, he actually thought he could get away with it?” Sun giggled. “Good thing you and your mares went to play superhero huh? Means I got to have a day off.”
“Though your methods could have used a little… refinement,” Meadow nodded.
“The idiot took somepony dear to me,” Ledger growled. “He’s lucky that I didn’t write my uncle.”
“The Silver King,” Meadow nodded. “Perhaps, that might have started a war between our races… one that would not have ended well for you.” She leaned in close and hummed. “If that had happened… what side do you suppose Midnight would have chosen?”
“Please, do let me know how you can deal with an army of shape-shifting emotivores, who would have wreaked all sorts of havoc on the thestrals,” Ledger said with a cruel smile. “We can be everypony and nopony. And in an actual war, you would never see us coming.”
“Ohh, that’s funny,” she replied, her eyes dulling as she all but vanished from his emotional view. Ledger could feel that cold chill setting in, of seeing a pony that was there, but his senses telling him she wasn’t. “I could say the same thing~”
“Point, but still, all it would take is one infiltrator in the right place, and we’d be able to win a war, hooves down,” Ledger said, swallowing his fear thanks to the multitude of times he’d seen Midnight do the same.
“Hmm, somepony has seen this before,” she said and resumed her normal state. Sun sighed and put away her hoofblades, ready to stop a fight should one have broken out.
“H-Hey guys, we should stop all this ‘What if’ talk and go find Middy huh? Mom might wind up hugging her to death otherwise.”
“Oh dear,” Ledger said as he sighed dramatically. “Such a terrible fate, to be loved to death.”
“We deal with it on a daily basis,” Meadow groaned. “Come on, we can get there quicker if we fly. You can turn into a thestral right?”
Ledger looked around, ducked into a nearby alleyway, and emerged as a thestral stallion a moment later. He’d not done this often, but still kept his lessons in mind. “Ready,” he said.
“Mmm, not bad, not bad at all~” Sun purred, looking over his form like a fresh piece of meat. “Sun likey~”
“Later sis, and at least he knows who the better flyers are out of us and those hooved chickens,” Meadow snarked. “Now let’s go.” And with that, took to the skies. Ledger followed suit a moment later. He’d rarely been a member of the flying species, it took him a moment to orient himself. But once he did, he was after the pair of mares.
Heh. If any of the mares in his herd saw this…
Well… the farmhouse was still standing, so that was a good sign right?
Sun Song and Meadow Song landed near the front porch and looked around.
“Bleh!” Meadow poked out her tongue. “It’s so… rural.”
“I’ll be sure to tell that to Cider,” Ledger said as he landed. “The last time somepony insulted her home, she didn’t take it well. Nor did she spare them because they were my family.”
“Ah, the Earth Pony mare of formidable strength,” Meadow nodded. “Well, noted. I’ll hold my tongue around her then.”
“So is everypony else here?” Sun asked. “Like that little Scope Lens of yours. I heard she is adorably tiny~”
“Scope, might be here,” Ledger hummed. “I think most of the others are here now, come to think of it. The only one missing would be me.”
They stepped inside, and as Ledger crossed the threshold that separated the kitchen and living room. What he saw was… well rather standard around this family.
A thestral mare was busy snuggling a protesting Midnight, and looked up when Ledger entered the room.
“Oooh, so this is the little buggy I’ve read so much about,” she purred and got to her hooves. She was a stunningly beautiful mare, her long auburn mane and charcoal grey coat were well cared for. Her eyes looked like the purest of gold and her teeth glistened like polished marble. She walked over to him, her movements like flowing water. This was a mare a high class, on par with his own mother at least.
“Hello there Level Ledger,” she hummed, kissing his cheek. “It’s a delight to meet you finally.”
“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage,” the disguised drone replied. The mare chuckled and looked at Midnight.
“Heehee, I like him already,” she said. “But you are correct. My name is Echoed Song. I am the leader of Hollow Shades. Mayor, Leader… titles are such trivial things.”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Ledger said as he offered a small bow to the mare. “I assume you’re here because of the upcoming nuptials, then?”
“But of course. I cannot believe my own niece did not see fit to invite me.” She looked back and Midnight and sighed. “Such a rebellious little bat. But that is what I love about her.”
“Go suck a cactus Aunt Song,” Midnight retorted.
“She has quite the spirit, one of the many, many reasons I love her,” Ledger said with a nod.
"Indeed it is. It's one of her more admirable qualities," Echoed said with a light titter. "Still, I have come here for a reason beyond wanting to meet my future family."
“Oh?” Ledger asked with a head tilt, before remembering he was still in thestral form. “Ah, one moment please…” With a small burst of silver fire, the stallion was his usual unicorn form.
“Mm, that’s more familiar,” he said, stretching a little. “What was it you wished to talk about, ma’am?”
"Awww," both Midnight and Sun pouted. Ledger just smirked, making sure to make a note of Midnight’s reaction for...later.
"Well, one of the reasons I am here," Echoed continued. "Is so I may extend an invitation to Hollow Shades..."
"But mother!" Meadow protested. "A non-thestral has never set hoof inside the town before... Even those wed to one of our kind."
"Well I think it's time that changed," Echoed said. "That was the cause of the Oldlands becoming the way they are." She looked at the drone and hummed. "I'd like to show them what real Thestral culture is like."
“Hmm,” Ledger said, considering the offer. “A fair proposal, though I can’t imagine it will earn you any friends amongst the townsfolk. If you are certain you wish to extend such an offer to us, then I suppose we should accept...but, perhaps, not immediately.”
"I wouldn’t worry too much." Echoed moved to hug Midnight again. "It's not as though we hate outsiders. Ponies have a rather... negative perspective of our kind. They see us as monsters, creatures hiding in the dark... vampires."
Both Sun and Meadow snarled at that one.
"We kept them out to protect both them and ourselves," Echoed continued. "Much like the Changeling Lands. In fact, I think you'll find yourselves quite welcome."
“Ah, well, that’s good,” Ledger said, before shifting his eyes to his normal, silver-slitted ones, for emphasis. “And yes, out of everypony here, I think myself and Scope can relate to your little perception issue.”
"Someone call me?" Scope asked as she walked in. Sun Song's eyes grew huge as she leapt at the petite pegasus.
"Kyaaa~ She's so cute!!"
"The fuck!?" Scope yelped and countered with her telekinesis. Which resulted in Ledger getting a facefull of armoured bat mare. And after a tumble, it left them in quite a... comprising position.
“Please get off of me,” Ledger said, closing his eyes.
Sun blushed cutely, before Midnight hauled her off and growled.
"Mine!"
“Why does everypony keep throwing me?" Sun pouted.
"Ledger, who the hell are these bats?" Scope said. "If they're here to take Middy..."
“Nah, they’re just some more of Midnight’s batty family,” Ledger said, not shying away from using the pun. He picked himself up now that he felt he was freed of Sun’s weight, and dusted himself off. At least until Midnight pounced him.
Both Meadow and Echoed groaned at the pun while Sun giggled.
"He's funny, could I borrow him cuz?"
"When Taratus freezes," Midnight growled. "I repeat. Mine!"
“Yeah, and I have quite enough mares in my life as it is, thank you,” Ledger said. “Plus, there’s that whole ‘no family of anypony already in the herd’ rule.”
"Huh... well, whatever," Sun shrugged. "I still think he’s cute."
"Why am I related to you again?" Meadow sighed.
"So... we're going to another thestral town now?" Scope asked.
"No." Came Midnight’s curt response.
“You’re sure?” Ledger asked the bat currently attached to him.
"Oh sure, let's go to a town full of the things that tried to brainwash and rape me!!" Midnight yelled. "What do you bucking think!?"
“That would be like me swearing off going back to the Changeling Lands because of Free Spirit,” Ledger countered with. “Which, by the way, I haven’t. I’m just going to give mom and uncle more time to push their whole equality movement before I offer to show my home off to anypony that wants to visit.”
"Moonlight," Echoed came closer so she could nuzzle the pissed off mare. "What happened... it should never have occurred... and trust me when I say that it will never happen again." She sighed and took a step back. "But, I do think you shouldn't throw away your heritage. And I think your loved ones would like to learn more about you, no?"
“I am going to be giving over my book to Twilight,” Ledger said. “There’s really nothing more personal to me left. When the day comes that I don’t fear for myself back home, I’d show it off to you or anypony else in a heartbeat.”
He then gently slid Midnight off of him with his magic before giving her a soft kiss. “But this is your decision,” he said once it broke. “And if you truly don’t want us to go...I’ll abide by it.”
Midnight groaned and looked at the three thestrals. She'd never really gotten along too well with her own kind... But after seeing how far Ledger and Scope had come. And even Twilight...
"I guess... I should stop being such a foal about this," she said, more to herself than anyone else. "Fine. We have three weeks before the wedding. So let's get it over with."
"Well, I am glad to hear it," Echoed clapped her hooves. "This promises to be a wonderful trip."
"Trip? We're going somewhere?" Cider asked as she walked in after showing Twilight her greenhouse.
“Eventually, yes,” Ledger said before nuzzling Midnight. “Though I get the feeling Middy might want a day or three to psych herself up for it.”
"Perhaps," Echoed before she noticed Twilight standing there. "Your Highness? What in the moon are you doing here?"
"Spending time with my friends," she replied and looked at the group. "No... my loved ones."
"Loved..." Echoed frowned and looked at the herd. Princess Twilight was a part of it? Ledger, meanwhile, walked over to the princess, and greeted her, not with a bow, but with a hug.
"Hey you," Twilight giggled and kissed his nose.
"You must be the envy of every stallion on the planet," Meadow said.
“I know I’m certainly the envy of at least one of them,” Ledger said as he returned the kiss. “Though, I think he got over it when he...explored the city a little more.”
"Let’s not discuss Flash hmm?" Twilight replied, glad they'd avoided that encounter in the human realm. "So, am I invited as well?"
"Of course," Echoed smiled. "We'd be honored to have you visit our town Princess."
“Road trip it is then,” Ledger said with a smirk. “But that’s a thing for another day. How goes your day with Cider?”
"It was amazing!" Twilight replied excitedly. "I never knew you could grow crops the way she does!" Ledger spied a purple coloured tome under her wing, her cutie mark on the cover.
“Is somepony making notes?” Ledger lightly teased her.
"My book," Twilight said as she hugged the tome closer.
“Oh really?” Ledger said with a mischievous smile. “Well, I suppose I can just keep ahold of mine for a little while longer, then…”
"Uuuuu, Ledgeerrr~ You promised!" Twilight responded with her most adorable pout.
“True, but you’re a bit busy to cash in that promise today anyways, aren’t you?” the drone replied. “I’m sure you won’t mind if I keep holding off on giving you my book…”
Twilight stepped closer, until she had Ledger backed up against a wall. "Is that so?" She hummed. "You know, it has come to my attention that you have a few new spells you'd like to try out... And until I have that book... I guess you'll never find out if that little wish you have for me can come true or not hmm~?"
“And that is how to play this game properly,” Ledger replied. “Though, you really do have a day with Cider to attend to. Maybe tomorrow, if you’re around, I can loan you both the book and Scope.”
Twilight hummed and looked at Scope. "Hmm, am I allowed to borrow you, my little sparkling Treasure?"
“Eh, until your glorious Celestia gets off her glorious plot and tells us how exactly our new arrangement is going to work, I’m pretty much free,” Scope said carelessly.
That had both Twilight and Midnight suddenly standing over her, small smiles on their faces.
"Miss Midnight, I believe she just insulted the princess."
"I do believe you are correct Miss Twilight. What shall we do about this?"
"Punishment?" Twilight tilted her head and lifted Scope with her magic.
"Punishment~" Midnight replied as the two mares carried her upstairs…
“...Well, that promises to be...interesting,” Ledger said with a tilted head. “Though, she did have a point. Ah well.” The disguised drone shifted his eyes back to normal before looking over at Echoed Song again. “Was there...another reason you came here today, ma’am?”
"Hmm, well not really. I was mostly here to see my niece. And I was wondering if you were adding any Thestral traditions to your ceremony?"
“That’d be up to Midnight to discuss with the others,” Ledger said. “Though, you may want to bring it up with her once she’s done with...whatever she’s doing to Scope.” Which he wasn’t going to mention he could sense from where he was. Not one bit.
"I believe I shall," Echoed replied. "Well, I believe we will retire to our hotel for the evening."
"Awwww," Sun pouted as Meadow shook her head.
"Maybe we should leave her here," she said to her mother.
"Can you!?" Sun asked.
“Why do I get the feeling agreeing to look after her for any length of time will not end well for me?” Ledger observed aloud.
"Well, thank you for volunteering," Echoed Song said with a smile as Sun cheered. And before Ledger could mount any sort of reply, the two mares retreated, leaving Sun to wag her tail happily.
“...Just my luck,” the changeling sighed before dropping his disguise altogether. He was more comfortable like this, anyways. At least around the house, he didn’t have to worry. “So, how long do you think they’ll be busy with her?” he asked of Cider.
"Beats me," Cider replied with a shrug. "Ah'm more surprised to see Twi act like that."
"Like what?" Spike asked, walking in after exploring the farm.
“Like Midnight,” Ledger deadpanned. “She’s usually more...reserved than that. I guess we’ve all been a terrible influence on her.”
"Like Midnight?" Spike tilted his head. That was also about when Sun zoomed over to him.
"A little dragon? Awesome!"
Spike took a step away from the hyper batpony and looked at Ledger.
“Meet Sun Song, one of Midnight’s cousins,” Ledger said by way of introduction. “I’m sure you can see some family resemblance.”
"I guess?" Spike shrugged. "I dunno. All you ponies look the same to me." He stretched and gave a yawn. "Well I've been exploring all day. I think I might go take a nap before dinner..." He turned and started heading upstairs.
“Probably best you not go upstairs if you do,” Ledger said. “Twilight would be unhappy with me if you did.”
Spike stopped. He put a few pieces together and facepalmed. "Okay... now I get it," he groaned. "Yeah, this is all totally your doing..."
“The least we can offer is a couch in the living room, if you’re going to nap,” Ledger offered. “And hey, at least I care enough to warn you before letting you walk in on that sorta thing going on.”
"Yeah, thanks," Spike nodded and turned to head for the couch. "Actually... could I talk to you privately Lev?"
“Sure thing,” Ledger said as he left Cider to deal with Sun Song. “Where do you wanna do this?”
Spike gestured to the living room and Cider motioned for Sun to follow her, the thestral nodding and leaving with the mare.
Once they left, Spike took a seat and sighed. "Well... if you hadn't guessed already... I followed your advice."
“Regarding hoarding?” Ledger asked as he lay down on the ‘cuddlecouch’. “And how did that turn out for you?”
"Well I'm a little bigger," he replied. "Twilight said I'm about the equivalent of a twelve or thirteen year old pony." He sighed as linked his fingers together. "I... also talked with Rarity."
“Judging by your emotions, that didn’t go well,” Ledger said. “I’m sorry for you.”
“She said that I was very dear to her," he said in a flat tone. "One of her irreplaceable... friends."
“But I’m guessing she also said something that meant she didn’t think of you like you thought of her,” Ledger guessed. “I wish I could help.”
"Yeah, got friendzoned pretty hard," Spike chuckled dryly. "She put me down easy... still hurts though. A little because of that... a little because of how childish I've been."
“The only thing I can offer is advice,” Ledger said. “Namely, to not let this stop you. Mourn, grieve, for what could have been, yes. But you shouldn’t cling to it. Because then you’ll miss out on what could be, and it could be right under your nose.”
"Under my nose?" Spike chuckled, then sniffed. "I think I'm a little young for your herd Lev. Unless one of you had a cute sister."
“Technically, that answer is yes, but if you go after either one of my sisters, I’m gonna have to do my duty as a big brother to try and scare you off,” Ledger said mock-threateningly.
"Well, dating a Changeling seems to be popular," Spike laughed. "Maybe I should jump on the bandwagon."
“What I meant, was, maybe there’s somepony back in Ponyville that feels about you the way you felt about Rarity, who’s also about your age,” Ledger explained. Spike’s laugh stopped and he looked at his claws.
“I doubt that, heck, I think half of them see me as Twilight’s pet or servant,” Spike snorted, small emerald embers shooting from his nose. “Whatever, I’m done with love anyway.”
“I thought the same way,” Ledger said wistfully. “And then Midnight happened to me. Believe me Spike, you can think that way as long as you want. But when somepony walks into your life that you love, that you can’t do without...it’ll happen fast, and then you’ll be asking for all sorts of advice.”
“Well, if that happens, I’ll just ask you,” Spike resumed his dry laugh. “Unless you intend to dump Twilight before then, which, by the way, I am contractually obligated to set you on fire if you do.”
“Duly noted,” Ledger said. “And you never know. Ponies might surprise you.”
“I live in Ponyville Ledger,” Spike said as he got up. “Nothing really surprises me anymore.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.056 seconds
Total duration
1,129 users online
1,532,458 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
"Challenge accepted." - Murphy
And people wonder why academics keep having nightmares about tests decades after we graduate.
Holy crap this has been featured a lot!
good to see chrissy triying to be good
Hmmm Im wondering if we will see any of the other bat pony variants at the Thestral town... namely Sabrehorns and Nightwalkers
So, today we got to see Puny Chrysalis, Ledger find the True Las Pegasus Strip, and finally get to Meet The Flockers?
Murphy never rests, but I would think Discord is taking it pretty easy elsewhere just through the shere amount of crazy. That, and there seems to be a Pink Convocation regarding him the same way a Starbeast regards a toy catnip mouse.
Great chapter.
Spike has quickly become my favorite character here. Good depiction of growing up in the psychological sense.
How is it that Spike is getting me development here than in the show?
Yay, Chryssie is trying to be good... I hope it stops being so harmful to her, though. And that she gets a stable supply of love.
Did she apologise to Midnight? Must've missed it.
Road trip!
7107354 eeyup
“I live in Ponyville Ledger,” Spike said as he got up. “Nothing really surprises me anymore.”
7107289
7107296 I was actually late for a test at my colledge last week.
Luckily, the teacher was in a good mood so I get to re-do it.
I smell SpikeBelle!
Also, am I the only one interested in seeing how much the sex part of this fic tones down when the foal is born? Yes? Okay, I'll just sit here in my corner...
Inb4 Spike/CMC herd.
Good fun!
Keep going! ;)
*drags in a blackboard*
Taking all bets now, folks! Who in Ponyville is crushing on Spike? One of the CMC? All of the CMC? Somepony else from their class? Everypony else from their class?
Don't be shy, give me your Bits and you may just win something. And once the dragon-pony cuteness comes around, we all win.
*smirk* I smell set-up with Spike.
Also, yay! Chrysy's feeling sorry, but is still lovable!
And hell, more of Middy's family?!
7109438 Clearly it's Pipsqueak.
But honestly my vote's Sweetie Belle for now because of all the time he spends at the botique around her and the fact that there's already enough Apple family to go around right now.
Also because I don't think many people could pull off a lovestruck Scootaloo very well.
7115486
Ok, but why couldn't they do the obvious and talk to Luna and Celestia first? I know the kingdom is still in recovery but the should have still brought it to their attention. Then if they said something like Cider wasn't in her right mind or whatever then it might have made more sense. In the end I just feel like the whole thing is just overplayed
she did get ahead last time scope was at legers offace.
Mutually contracted implies that Ledger is somehow obligated to set Spike on fire for some reason. Maybe you meant contractually obligated?
well not really sure if I feel for Spike or not, because Ive never been a huge fan of Sparity ship... mainly because RARITY IS MINE!!... eh I did said it out loud?
...ehehehe...
YOU DIDNT HEAR ANYTHING... and I will deny it still
Now really never been fan of that ship but Spike development here is good and it would be shame for him to remain alone
It's a neat and usefull trick against changelings sure, but in a war between changelings and thesterals i would put my money on the changelings.
Mainly because that trick is mostly only useful for suprise attacks and infiltrations and i just can't see them winning against the changelings if they ever truly went to war
i've seen several fan-comics where Twilight got as big as Luna and Cadence...
TFS DBZ referance? Nice
Yeah... After Ponyville your a different character
Spike get here more character development than in the entire canon story... Very sad...