Jeremy awoke, unsure when he had gone to sleep. The cabin was warm and cozy now, even though the fire had died down to embers over the course of the night. Chrysalis was murmuring in her sleep, legs kicking gently and occasionally nudging him. Jeremy smooched her on the nose, just to see her reaction, and was rewarded with a tiny smile from his changeling queen.
“Good morning, Jeremy!” Cadance whispered from his left, and he rolled over to find her and Shining Armor up already.
“You two slept in for quite a while, it’s already ten in the morning,” Shining laughed.
Jeremy shrugged. “What can I say? I enjoy sleeping in,” he answered, sitting up and blearily rubbing his eyes.
Chrysalis was pulled into sitting up as well, still securely wrapped in her blanket as she slowly awoke. “Morning already?” she grumbled, and Jeremy laughed.
“Seconded,” he agreed, gently unwrapping her from the blanket. Chrysalis winced as the colder air hit her carapace, and Shining chuckled. “So, where’s Sombra?” Jeremy asked, looking around. The umbrum was nowhere in sight, his blanket long abandoned.
“Let me show you,” Cadance whispered, suddenly secretive. She tip-toed over to the hallway, where she peeked down before signaling for him to follow her. Curious, Jeremy quietly followed her as she creaked open the door, where he found Sombra curled up in his childhood bed, his teddy bear securely in his hooves as he slept. Cadance closed the door, and they silently made it back to the living room before Jeremy and Cadance both burst into giggles.
“Is he always this cute?” Cadance asked.
Jeremy shook his head. “Normally, Sombra snores like a freight train. I think this house is just… cathartic for him, I guess.”
They lounged around in silence, unsure of what else to do before Sombra woke up. The guard that had accompanied them stayed by the door, armor on and spear hanging loosely at his side as he glanced out the door every now and then. After a moment of awkward silence, Shining’s stomach growled, and Cadance chuckled.
“Sorry, baby, even I can’t teleport food out this far,” she sighed.
“I can,” Chrysalis offered, and a few apples appeared in front of them as she lit her horn green to demonstrate.
“Wait, how?” Shining asked, and Cadance clearly looked impressed.
Chrysalis rolled her eyes, grinning at Jeremy. “The more love I consume, the stronger I become. And considering an Element of Love is my special somehuman…” she playfully flicked her tail at Jeremy, who just as playfully flicked it back.
“Special someone, dear,” he corrected.
“Whatever. Point is, I have more magic in me than I ever did before, even when I was invading,” Chrysalis explained. Shining and Cadance looked at each other, slightly nervous.
“Oh, knock it off, you two, it’s not like she’s going to use it for anything harmful,” Jeremy chided.
“Right, yeah, we’re sorry. Old habits, and all that…” Cadance trailed off.
“If I’d wanted to use this magic to overpower any of you, I’d have already done so. There would be no tactical advantage in holding out for this long, nor would telling you about any of it help in any way,” Chrysalis reminded them. If anything, this made the pair of ponies more nervous still, and Chrysalis turned to Jeremy. “Was that… wrong? I was just trying to explain to them…” she muttered, frustrated.
Jeremy sighed. “What she’s trying to say is that you don’t have to worry, she’s very clearly on our side now, and has no intentions of betraying anybody. Tactical arguments aside… she’s a better changeling than that now,” he continued, pausing a moment to smile at her.
“We know… but… I don’t think we’ll ever forget what she did,” Cadance sighed. Chrysalis and Jeremy both remained silent, unsure of what to say to this.
“You’re not supposed to forget,” a gruff voice greeted them from behind, and Jeremy and Chrysalis whirled around to see Sombra, looking sleepy. “You’re supposed to remember, and forgive, and move on. Isn’t that what you told me?” he asked Jeremy.
Taken by surprise, Jeremy took a moment before he chuckled and nodded. “So it is. Guess I’m just off my game today, huh? Anyway… Morning, Sombra. How’d you sleep?” he asked curiously.
Sombra grinned. “Better than I have in a very long time. You?” he returned.
Jeremy beamed. “I haven’t slept in front of a fireplace in quite a while. Gotta say, it’s very refreshing,” he commented.
“Agreed. Anyway… I’d offer you lot breakfast, but I’d be very surprised if any food remained in this place after a thousand years, frozen or not. Should we head back?” he asked.
“Are you really so anxious to leave? It is your home…” Jeremy pointed out.
Sombra shrugged. “More like ‘was,’ at this point. Besides, Canterlot’s beds are far more comfortable.”
Shining laughed agreeably. “Even the guard barracks there are pegasus down,” he reminisced.
“Anyway, I can teleport food here,” Chrysalis offered, bringing them back to the start of the conversation. “Anything in particular you would like?”
Shining thought for a moment. “Are they serving hay bacon today? I could really go for some hay bacon,” he requested. Chrysalis closed her eyes, horn alight as she concentrated. A moment later, a freshly made plate of hay bacon appeared in front of Shining, whose eyes lit up with delight as he immediately chowed down.
“Shining!” Cadance scolded. “Manners!”
Shining laughed. “Why?” he replied, mouth still full of hay bacon. “We’re not in noble company, we can let loose a little.” Cadance looked at the guard by the door, who was surreptitiously whistling and distinctly looking away.
“Hey, you hungry?” Jeremy called out, and he looked over.
“What? No, don’t mind me. I’ll be fine,” the guard denied.
“Come on, we’re all having breakfast,” Jeremy insisted. The Guard looked at Shining, but he was too busy stuffing his face to notice. He turned his gaze to Cadance, who nodded. Hesitantly, the Guard took a seat in the circle.
“Sombra? What would you like?” Chrysalis asked.
Sombra looked faintly queasy. “If it’s all the same… I think I will actually skip breakfast. I kind of… overate last night…” he admitted. Jeremy stared at him for a moment, remembering the wild ride of events that had happened the previous day.
“Alright, fair enough,” he decided.
“Cadance?” Chrysalis continued.
“Um… just some more apples for me,” Cadance shyly decided.
“Aw, come on, honey!” Shining protested. “Nobody here’s going to judge!”
Cadance looked around guiltily, then seemingly made her choice. “Do they have that one style of chocolate pancakes where there’s chocolate chips in it but also chocolate in the pancake batter?” she whispered, leaning in towards Chrysalis.
The changeling queen raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, and a moment later some extremely chocolate-saturated pancakes appeared, complete with chocolate syrup. Cadance immediately levitated a piece, forgoing all manners as she bit into it with a nearly feral intensity. Jeremy, watching the pair of crystal royalty digging into food like it was their last day alive, fought hard to keep from laughing.
“Let me guess: These are your schadenfreude?” he asked, smirking at them.
Cadance, who had just managed to swallow, laughed. “Yeah… this is what we eat when we aren’t being judged,” she admitted. The guard that had accompanied them was watching the pair of them eat, jaw dropped and eyes the size of dinner plates. Jeremy raised an eyebrow at him, and he hurriedly composed himself.
“Uh… hay bacon?” he asked, eyeing Cadance’s plate almost enviously. He actually wants the chocolate pancake, but is scared of saying so, Chrysalis commented mentally.
I have an idea, Jeremy replied, and Chrysalis smiled as she lit her horn. Both hay bacon and chocolate pancakes appeared on a massive plate in the center of them.
“Why not? Hay bacon and chocolate pancakes for everyone,” Chrysalis announced.
Jeremy snorted in amusement. “Best political pitch I’ve heard all year,” he quipped as he picked up a piece of hay bacon curiously.
“Can humans eat hay? I thought the other humans said they couldn’t,” Shining noted.
Jeremy shrugged. “It won’t do anything bad to us, but we can’t digest it very well. So… I guess I have no choice but to take the chocolate pancakes,” he dramatically announced, swooning as though he’d proclaimed something horrendous. Everyone laughed appreciatively, and Jeremy grinned as he dug into his incredibly unhealthy breakfast.
As they finished off the last of the massive plate, Jeremy lay back with a satisfied grunt, mouth stained with chocolate.
“Honey, you’ve got something on your face,” Chrysalis remarked.
Jeremy, who had closed his eyes, merely chuckled quietly. His eyes flew open a moment later as he felt a wet, raspy something moving across his face – Chrysalis had begun to lick him clean.
“Oh my,” Princess Cadance commented, watching.
“Whah?” Chrysalis asked, tongue still out as she looked at Cadance in confusion.
“That’s considered a ‘sexy’ or ‘intimate’ thing to do with your partner,” Jeremy explained, and Chrysalis turned to look at him, evidently still confused.
“But I was just… being polite…?” she replied, perplexed.
Jeremy shrugged. “Romance sure is weird sometimes,” was his only response.
“You really don’t know anything about how relationships work, do you?” Shining commented curiously. Jeremy shot him a look, and Shining quickly backpedaled. “N-not to say that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just… unusual and I’ll shut up now,” he mumbled as Cadance and Chrysalis joined in on the glaring.
“… I really don’t…” Chrysalis sighed. “Me, a changeling who barely even knows how not to be evil, being part of the Element of Love. What a joke.”
Jeremy looked at her sternly. “Hey, I’m hardly better off. You think I had many romances before this? Because I most certainly did not. Being the Element of Love doesn’t mean you have to be instantly perfect at romance,” he reassured firmly.
“At least you have a general idea of what to do!” Chrysalis retorted.
“Hey, whoa, I didn’t mean to start something between you two,” Shining attempted to defuse, glancing worriedly between the two of them.
“For all I know, I’m doing it completely wrong,” Jeremy replied exasperatedly, ignoring Shining. “Love isn’t about following a strict set of rules or a checklist of things you have to do, it’s about having fun with someone you care about. And I’ve been having fun with you! Even if we don’t do the ‘normal’ romantic stuff like dates or whatever, who cares?”
Chrysalis looked away. “I care,” she said quietly. “I’ve always wanted to do that stuff, even if it isn’t the ‘true meaning of love,’ it’s just… I never got to experience it when I was younger!” she cried, tears streaming down her face. “He took so much from me, and I want to take it back!”
Jeremy looked distraught, and the others watched on in silence. “Hey… I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just… I meant… look. If you want to go on dates and stuff, we can. Maybe… we could start out at a fancy restaurant? Or a movie? That’s what humans do, usually…” he trailed off, hoping that meager olive branch would be enough to stop her from crying any more.
“I… I would like that… Sorry… I don’t want to make you do stuff…” Chrysalis admitted, glaring at the floor.
“Hey, forget what I said earlier. I don’t really care about the true meaning of love, or being the Element of Love. I care about making you happy, and that’s it,” Jeremy replied, holding his arms out for a hug.
Chrysalis seemed conflicted for a moment, but leaned into him, closing her eyes. “What’s a ‘movie’?” she asked quietly.
“It’s kind of like… a book, but with drawings. They move around on a screen, telling a story,” Jeremy explained.
“That sounds kind of nice… can we do that?” she asked.
“Sure. I don’t know what movies are popular around here, so… how about we go find out?” he offered.
Chrysalis smiled, sniffling a bit. “Sure,” she repeated.
There was a moment of awkward silence for the others as Jeremy held her close, rubbing her sides comfortingly until her hiccups and sniffles subsided. “Well… if it’s movies you want… I have a bunch of royal invites that I’m not going to use. What kind of stories do you like?” Shining offered.
“What kinds of stories are there?” Chrysalis asked.
“Action, romance, comedy, tragedy, horror…” Shining listed.
“Romance?” Chrysalis asked hopefully.
“I figured you might pick that one,” Shining laughed. “Let’s see… best one that’s in theaters right now is ‘A Mare and her Huntress.’ It’s about a pony-griffon romance from the perspective of the pony.”
Jeremy raised an eyebrow. “That sounds interesting,” he agreed.
“Do I have to dress up for a movie?” Chrysalis asked Jeremy.
He shook his head. “Not really, no. Movie theaters are about as informal as it gets.”
She paused in thought. “Is there any etiquette I should know about?” she asked.
Jeremy shrugged. “The only things I can think of is to be quiet while the movie’s playing, and not to make a mess. Be polite to your fellow moviegoers, in other words.” Chrysalis snorted in amusement.
They headed back out into the wintry air, where Jeremy promptly began shivering at the drop in temperature. “Are you alright?” Cadance asked, noticing him shaking.
“Humans aren’t built to withstand this kind of cold, which is why humans from northern climates like myself usually wear thicker clothing,” Jeremy explained. “Let me guess, your fur makes you nice and cozy?”
Shining shrugged. “It’s kind of chilly, I guess?”
Jeremy looked around at the frigid snowscape, the tufts and drifts of snow normally only seen during the height of winter on his planet. “…Right…” he muttered.
Chrysalis hummed in thought, and to Jeremy’s surprise, leaped up onto his back, alighting her horn. With a flash of green fire, she transformed into the same blanket that Sombra had given her to wrap herself up in, which fluttered down and draped onto Jeremy’s shoulders. By reflex, he pulled it over himself, already feeling the chill in his bones fade.
“Much better…” he sighed, arranging the blanket so that it was more of a traveling cloak.
“Does that happen often?” Shining asked, raising an eyebrow at the blanket that had formerly been Chrysalis.
Jeremy laughed. “Sure. She transformed herself into all manner of stuff back in Tartarus to help us out. She hasn’t transformed much after we got out, but it’s nice to see her using her skills to help others,” he explained.
Honey, don’t talk about me like I just left… Chrysalis complained mentally.
Whoops! Sorry. Still not entirely used to that. If I can’t see your face, I think I just kind of assume you’re not actually in the room… Jeremy replied sheepishly.
To be fair, no changeling has transformed around you since you took the throne. We’re all aware of those little thoughts you have, such as ‘what if I stepped on a rock but it was actually a changeling and I crushed them accidentally,’ so we try to make sure you’re comfortably aware of us, Chrysalis explained.
Incidentally… could I hurt a transformed changeling by accident? Jeremy asked nervously.
Chrysalis’ mental laughter echoed in his head. Of course not! Even when transforming into very fragile objects, changelings remain very durable. If you squashed a changeling-turned-fly against a wall, you’d find the fly was completely unharmed. We can also separate our form into multiple parts with enough training, though most are advised not to try as it is very disconcerting.
Jeremy raised an eyebrow. Wow. That’s… kind of incredible, actually. Just when I thought your shapeshifting couldn’t get any cooler, he complimented.
Aww, thanks, honey! Chrysalis sent back, the blanket wriggling a little.
They walked onward, trudging through the snow, and Jeremy became distinctly aware that his shoes and socks were now soaked in freezing water. He had ignored this for all of yesterday, because he’d been too concerned with Sombra, but now that he had been dried, warmed, and comforted, the feeling was unpleasant to say the least.
“So, Chrysalis and I read some more on the history of changelings,” Jeremy casually began, hoping to distract himself.
“…And?” Cadance asked after a pause.
“Turns out this continent was called ‘Pacem’ before Equestria was founded. There was a whole civilization living here, and changelings, windigo and umbra kept the peace by absorbing any negative emotions and spreading positive ones.”
Shining raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah, I think that was in my history class somewhere,” he reminisced.
“So… neither Chrysalis nor I can remember that far back through the hivemind, and apparently changelings and umbra started a war. We were wondering… is there any museum or library we can visit to find out more about that?” Jeremy asked. Sombra was clearly paying attention as well.
“Yeah, the Crystal Library’s archives should have some relatively recent books on it,” Cadance answered after a pause for thought.
“…So… you really don’t… remember…?” Sombra asked.
Jeremy shook his head. “Nobody from that time is even in the hivemind, so either we didn’t even have a hivemind at that point or they underwent something much worse than death,” he explained.
“Oh… well… Armor Flak knew some of it. He told me… that one day, changelings had just suddenly decided to fight umbra. But from what he made it sound like, the umbra just as suddenly responded. So maybe he was lying, and there was fault on both sides?” Sombra questioned.
“Well, actually…” Jeremy began, and launched into the same theorizing he and Chrysalis had discussed last night. By the time he was done, all four of the other party members were staring at him.
“That… that might make sense, actually,” Cadance noted. “If the Windigo started the war, they would have had so much food that they could turn the whole continent cold for a thousand years, easily.”
Jeremy turned to her. “That reminds me, Cadance, weren’t you a survivor of the Crystal Empire? Do you know anything about this?”
Cadance thought for a moment, then shook her head. “My earliest memories were waking up in a very cold place, and traveling for days until I reached Canterlot. I defeated a love-stealing witch along the way – no relation, I assure you,” she nodded at the blanket that Chrysalis was currently disguised as. “Celestia happened to be visiting the town under the witch’s spell at the time, and saw me get my Cutie Mark. From there, she took me back to Canterlot, made me an alicorn, and raised me.”
Jeremy hummed. “A very cold place… like this?” he asked, gesturing to the frozen arctic tundra.
Cadance shook her head. “There were trees where I ended up. I’m really not sure where it is, I’ve tried to find it, but…” she looked away, and Shining put a comforting hoof on her withers.
“I see…” Jeremy murmured.
They arrived in the Crystal Empire, and Jeremy was surprised to see several changelings waiting for him. Judging by their expressions, these were more of Thorax’s changelings.
“Thorax wishes to see you… Your Majesties…” one muttered.
“Very well. Where is he?” Jeremy asked amicably, glad to be out of the cold. The changeling looked at him, apparently surprised that Jeremy wasn’t reacting to his hostility.
“…Right this way,” he answered, trotting off.
“We’ll meet up with you lot later,” Jeremy muttered to Cadance, Sombra and Shining, who looked as though they were about to protest.
The lime-green changeling led them through a series of winding crystal roads and alleyways. “Is Chrysalis going to undisguise at any point?” he shot at them after a while.
There was a flash of green fire, and Chrysalis landed on the crystal cobblestone of the road, hooves clacking loudly. “Certainly,” she answered, and began walking alongside them without another word.
If the changeling had been surprised by Jeremy’s attitude before, this was nothing compared to how he felt now: His jaw had dropped at the sight of Chrysalis openly ignoring his rudeness, and more astonishing still, following his suggestion. Without another word, he resumed walking.
A while later, they found Thorax’s home in a street that looked suspiciously like the one they had begun in. Chrysalis and Jeremy looked around, but said nothing, and the changeling that had been escorting them led them inside, still silent and now slightly nervous.
“S-sir Thorax? Chrysalis and the new King are here to speak with you,” the drone greeted, opening the door.
“Send them in!” Thorax called. They stepped inside, and Jeremy got his first look at Thorax.
He was… brawny, in an odd way. His bright green carapace looked large and heavy enough to put a dent in the crystal floor if he stomped a hoof, and his legs were much thicker and smoother than Chrysalis’. His shell was now a transparent, dark reddish-purple compared to the mirror-reflective teal it had once been. Most striking of all were the addition of a pair of reddish-brown antlers to his head, giving him the appearance of a particularly insectoid and colorful deer.
“Ever since I heard you escaped Tartarus… I’ve been waiting for you to visit,” he greeted.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” Chrysalis began, but Thorax held up a hoof.
“I know,” he interrupted. “I don’t want us to fight either. You’ve clearly learned the same things I have, Mom, and it’s time we put aside our differences for the good of our species.” Jeremy and Chrysalis raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised.
“That… is good to hear,” Jeremy answered, but Chrysalis’ eyes were more watery.
“Queen Chrysalis? Are you… okay…?” Thorax asked falteringly, noticing her teary expression.
“Even after all this… you still think I deserve to be called your ‘mother’?” she asked quietly.
Thorax sighed. “I do,” he admitted. “You’ve done some serious harm to us, your children. But… we children were not blameless, if what I have heard is true.”
Chrysalis looked away. “Only one child, I would think,” she softly replied.
“Even so… I’ve heard many good things from my brothers and sisters who remained with you. I can see now that they were all true… especially those that concerned our new human King,” Thorax noted, looking at Jeremy. Jeremy waved awkwardly, unsure of what to say. “I called you here because… well, I wished to ask if you wanted to reunite our two hives.”
Cries of shock and dismay arose from those changelings watching, but Thorax quelled them with a glance.
“I… I am unsure…” Chrysalis answered. She turned to Jeremy. “What do you think?”
Jeremy thought, looking around at the changelings watching. “I think… that that should be up to the individual changelings that have left,” he carefully answered. “We cannot force them to stay. But… whatever path they choose in life, our children should always have a place… to return to. A place that they can always call ‘home’. And it would be a home. They wouldn’t be forced to serve the old King, or either of us. We could be a family together,” Jeremy softly murmured.
“And what would happen to Thorax?” one of the changelings watching questioned, still sounding wary. “What would become of him?”
Jeremy thought about this as well. “Well… it would be unfair to depose him by assimilation. Thorax has proven himself a worthy leader already, and to ignore the skills he has learned would not benefit the Hive in any capacity. And… if we are being honest… I still don’t know everything I need to about changelings, and I need someone with both an outside and an inside perspective on the matter. Therefore… Thorax, will you stay on as an advisor of sorts? I cannot say how much political power you will have, but I will do my best to make sure you don’t feel beneath us,” Jeremy offered.
Thorax mulled over this. “I think… I think I will,” he decided.
“You’ll stay?” Chrysalis asked hopefully, and Thorax smiled at her.
“Yes, I’ll stay,” he agreed, and Chrysalis broke into a watery smile, taking him into a surprise hug.
“Welcome back, my child,” she whispered, to the shock of everyone in the room.
“Whoa. What… what happened to you... Chrysalis?” Thorax asked, patting her on the back uncertainly.
Chrysalis chuckled. “He happened,” she answered, jerking her head in Jeremy’s direction. Jeremy blushed, looking away even as he suppressed a grin.
They sat down around the relatively small kitchen table, which was carved of a milky white translucent gemstone and actually looked rather normal compared to the crystalline architecture outside. The room itself was made of a beige, opaque crystal, and looked rather small, as though it belonged to a more middle-class home than the upscale Canterlot interior decorating Jeremy was more used to. A changeling passed out a plate of cookies for each of them, looking as though she wanted to say something to Chrysalis but eventually deciding against it.
“So the old King kicked you out, huh?” Jeremy asked.
Thorax nodded. “It took a while, because he wasn’t used to actually paying attention to what we drones were thinking. Once he discovered the rebellion, though…” Every changeling around the table shivered in unison. “He wasn’t pleased.”
Jeremy sighed. “Anyone die?” he asked glumly.
Thorax shook his head. “We made it out. He threatened to banish us from the Hive, but I’m not sure he knew how. Speaking of which… what happened to him?”
“I banished him,” Chrysalis flatly answered. “He doesn’t have any love right now, so he should be in just about the same spot he left all of us in. Starving, and lost somewhere in the southern Badlands. I… I still might accept him back, if only… he wanted to,” Chrysalis sighed.
Thorax said nothing, but Jeremy caught an unmistakable, if fleeting, narrowing of his compound eyes.
“You think he should be left to die?” Jeremy asked quietly.
“I… He hasn’t been punished enough yet. I wouldn’t abandon him, but… I think he should spend more time realizing just how much pain he put us all through,” Thorax answered.
Jeremy hummed, unable to think of a reply to this. “So, how’s it been here? I heard your initial welcome was… less than warm, but how’s it been since?” he asked, changing the subject.
Thorax waved his hoof from side to side in a so-so motion, relieved. “Ponies are still getting used to us, but it’s been getting better. Just last week, I was invited to my first potluck!”
Jeremy grinned. “Potlucks are great, I used to have some of those at my university! What’d you bring?” he inquired.
Thorax glanced away guiltily. “They said ‘bring food’, so I brought some love that I had stored up… they were okay with it, because they knew that was ‘food’ for me, but… everypony else brought real food, so I felt a bit stupid.”
Jeremy considered this. “Well, it would have worked if you had more changelings at the potluck. Besides, it’s the thought that counts,” he consoled.
“Thanks…” Thorax trailed off. “Do you really hug Chrysalis?” he asked after a moment.
“I do at least four times per day, yes,” Jeremy answered. Chrysalis switched seats, sitting on his lap as she cuddled into him for emphasis. Thorax looked on in consternation, and Jeremy laughed as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her plate over to his seat so that she wouldn’t have to reach.
“I know it must seem strange, to see me so… affectionate,” Chrysalis remarked, turning her neck to face Thorax again. “But… he’s my everything. He helped me escape Tartarus, he helped me get rid of the old King, he taught me how to love and feel things again… and… he’s been nice to me. Nobody else has done that… well, my children did, because I forced them to respect me through fear,” Chrysalis noted sadly. “But… he was the first in a really long time to really mean it.”
Jeremy smiled down at her. “Like I could ever just leave you down there. Have you seen your smile? It’s the cutest thing ever!” Chrysalis promptly gave him a smile, her sharp teeth looking surprisingly gentle on her beaming expression. “Plus there’s that thing you do when you kick in your sleep and it’s adorable, and the way you always laugh as though you’re surprised at yourself, and-“ Jeremy began, but Chrysalis quickly put a hoof to his mouth.
“If I let him go on, we might be here for hours,” she muttered to them, and Thorax laughed appreciatively.
“He really is just as they described,” Thorax murmured to the other changelings.
“So… I don’t know if you were listening in, but… We discovered some stuff about changeling history-“ Jeremy began, but Thorax nodded before he could finish.
“I’ve already checked the library, without much luck. Seems like after Star Swirl’s initial expeditions, the trail went cold. Nopony knows where we might find additional clues that would indicate pre-Hespera changeling history.”
One of the changelings next to him gave a tiny cough, and Thorax turned to her. “Yes, Chelicerae?” he asked. Instead of answering, she looked at Chrysalis inquiringly.
“You may speak, Chelicerae. In fact, before I forget, all of you are allowed to speak in my presence,” Chrysalis announced. She smiled encouragingly at Chelicerae, who nervously cleared her throat.
“Well… um… it’s just… wouldn’t a good place to look be… the Origin Pool…?” she squeaked out.
Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed into an unmistakably familiar glare before hurriedly opening again. “I… do not wish to… dismiss your idea, Chelicerae, but that is a sacred place. Only royalty and a select few may enter, you know this,” Chrysalis gently reminded her.
“Wait. If only royalty may enter, that means we can look,” Jeremy rebutted.
“I’m no archaeologist, though,” Chrysalis replied glumly.
Jeremy smiled. “First time for everything,” he replied. “Besides, archaeology’s not that hard. We can bring back any interesting samples we find and have proper archaeologists take a look at them, without entering the pool. Would that work?” he asked.
Chrysalis considered this. “I suppose that might be alright… but we should return the samples to the caves, if we can. That place is too sacred to us to even have pieces of it out in the world.”
Jeremy nodded. “Then I guess we’ll look there,” he decided.
“Thorax, would you like to come along?” Chrysalis offered.
“M-me?!” Thorax spluttered, caught off guard, and jaws dropped around the table. “I- that is, I- I would like to, b-but I can’t just… can I…?” he wondered.
“Why not? You are of royal status now, as well,” Chrysalis reminded him.
“O-okay, but… would I even be able to help…?” Thorax wondered.
Jeremy laughed. “You have eyes to find things with, don’t you? Of course you’d be helpful!”
They ate for a moment more, Jeremy being the first to finish his plate of cookies and leaning back in satisfaction. “These are great, by the way. Who made them?” he asked.
“One of the bakers from down the street,” Thorax answered. “She said she made sure to bake them with lots of love, and wanted us to let her know if we could taste it.”
Chrysalis giggled. “I certainly can,” she confirmed, taking another one.
“So… what do you two plan to do today…?” Thorax asked after a moment.
“Well, Jeremy and I were thinking of going to see a movie,” Chrysalis answered.
“What was it called? ‘A Mare and her Griffin?” Jeremy wondered.
“A Mare and her Huntress,” Chrysalis corrected.
“Oh, that one! I watched it last week, it was very good! Although, apparently I am not supposed to spoil the details for those who haven’t watched it yet,” Thorax remembered.
Jeremy laughed, and nodded. “Do you know how long the theater’s open today?” he asked.
“Should be closed in about four hours,” a changeling near the back spoke up. When Chrysalis, Jeremy and Thorax glanced at her, she looked slightly sheepish. “I’m working there as one of the night crew for maintenance,” she explained, ducking her head away in embarrassment.
“Ah, okay. In that case, we should probably get going if we want to pick up Shining’s tickets,” Jeremy commented.
“Yes, let’s!” Chrysalis announced, bouncing up out of her seat to the stares of the surrounding changelings. “What?” she asked to their faintly offended expressions.
Jeremy rolled his eyes. “She’s not implying this place is boring or inadequate, she’s just very excited to go on a date.”
Chrysalis stopped as she realized this. “Oh… right, I suppose that would be rude if someone… hmm… What he said,” she declared after a moment.
Thorax sighed, trying to suppress a grin. “Enjoy the movie, Chrysalis,” he answered.
“Thank you! I will,” Chrysalis answered, pulling him into another hug. Once again, Thorax was too shocked to move as Chrysalis hugged him. With that done, she practically pulled Jeremy out the door, brimming with excitement and nearly hopping in place.
“Wow, you’re really looking forward to this, aren’t you?” Jeremy noticed, laughing with her infectiously joyous attitude.
“I really am! I can’t help it, I dreamed about doing stuff like this for years!” Chrysalis exclaimed, still beaming as she did her best impression of Pinkie Pie. Jeremy chuckled, tousling her hair as the two of them made their way towards the Crystal Palace.
As they made their way up the steps to the throne room, they were accosted by a pair of Guards.
“Halt!” one announced as the other blocked their way forward. “State your business!”
Jeremy and Chrysalis looked at each other, confused. “Shining invited us here,” Jeremy explained.
“A likely story!” the Guard harrumphed. “I shall check with my superiors. Stay here, and guard them well,” he ordered to the second Guard, who looked at them apologetically.
“He’s very protective of the Crystal Prince and Princess… and slow to forgive anyone who even comes near them,” he explained.
“I see,” Jeremy remarked. With nothing else to do, they waited on the steps, Chrysalis looking slightly anxious.
The guard returned, followed by a disgruntled Shining Armor. Upon reaching them, the guard sheepishly saluted. “My apologies, your Highnesses. I did not mean to be rude,” he declared.
“That’s alright,” Chrysalis demurred, and Jeremy simply shrugged amicably.
“Anyway, here are those invites. I’m giving you a few extra to get rid of them, so feel free to visit as many screenings as you like,” Shining offered.
“Thank you, Shining Armor,” Chrysalis answered, levitating the tickets over and tucking them in Jeremy’s pocket.
“Have fun!” Shining replied, trotting back into the palace as the Guard who had apologized followed him in.
“Well, that went better than expected,” Jeremy quipped.
“Onward, then?” Chrysalis asked eagerly.
Jeremy laughed, picking her up and causing her to yelp with surprise as he carried her down the steps. “Onward!” he agreed.
As he made his way down the steps and towards the movie theater, he could have sworn he saw a faint tinge of pink from a nearby bush. He blinked, and it was gone. Chalking it up to a trick of the light, Jeremy resumed carrying Chrysalis bridal-style to their date.
They found the movie theater relatively easily, owing to the fact that it stood out like a sore thumb against the smaller crystal buildings surrounding it. A neon sign was lit up above the door, and a list of shows was posted just below.
“There it is, ‘A Mare and her Huntress’,” Jeremy spotted, pointing at the entry.
“It starts in half an hour, let’s hurry!” Chrysalis enthused, bounding towards the ticket booth. “Two tickets to ‘A Mare and her Huntress’, please!” she announced, levitating Shining’s tickets into the booth so enthusiastically that they smacked the operator in the face.
He spluttered, the stool he was sitting on wobbling dangerously as he ripped the tickets off of himself to get a look at them. “That… seems to be in order,” he noted after a moment. “Go on in!” Chrysalis hurriedly ushered Jeremy inside, but not before he caught the operator muttering “Weirdos…” under his breath. Rolling his eyes, Jeremy decided to let it go and enjoy their date.
They found the theater’s entrance hall to be packed with crystal ponies, excitedly chattering about whichever movies they were seeing. As the two of them walked past a sign advertising ‘Power Ponies 4Ever’, Jeremy caught sight of the popcorn stand that was required by some interuniversal law to be present in every movie theater ever made.
“Popcorn?” Chrysalis wondered, following his gaze.
“Like regular corn, but heated so that it… well, you’ll just have to try it. It’s pretty good! Though, I haven’t had any in a while,” Jeremy noted. He paid for two large boxes of popcorn, and handed one to Chrysalis, from which she levitated a piece of the white, fluffy snack and popped it in her mouth. Chewing thoughtfully, she swallowed and coughed a moment later.
“Tasty… but dry. Tastes a bit like apathy, really.”
Jeremy raised an eyebrow. “But I thought you said fish tasted like apathy?” he remembered as they walked through a corridor to the screening for ‘A Mare and her Huntress’.
Chrysalis shrugged. “It did. They taste about the same, I think.”
Jeremy gave her a perplexed look. “And yet, to me, they taste nothing alike. Weird… Maybe the taste of food isn’t correlated with certain emotions after all?”
Chrysalis considered this. “Well… hmm. I guess we’ll find out.”
Finding the top box of the theater they were in was surprisingly difficult. It turned out that they had to exit the corridor, go up a floor, and return to the screening through a hall labeled ‘VIP Guests only’ to enter it. When all was said and done, though, Jeremy was… “Well, I’m not exactly impressed,” he whispered to Chrysalis. “This is just like the regular seats, only higher up.”
Chrysalis giggled. “Have you never been up here before?” she asked.
Jeremy shook his head. “I’m a middle-class kid, remember? Couldn’t afford it.”
Chrysalis snorted. “Well, the seats do look like they have a bit of extra padding,” she noted.
“Sure, but was it really worth the extra… how much was this ticket worth?” Jeremy muttered, checking the receipt he had been given. “Thirty bits extra for Top Box seating. Comes with a complimentary serving of entrée,” he read quietly. “Wait, we get free food? Darn. Guess we didn’t need to buy popcorn, then.”
Chrysalis scoffed. “It’s probably ‘rich’ food, like the stuff in Canterlot. At least the popcorn’s new, and interesting,” she retorted, popping another mouthful and crunching on it contentedly.
Jeremy chuckled. “True. One does not simply attend a movie without ordering popcorn, it’s part of the experience,” he agreed.
A few more ponies filed into the top box, dressed in finery that was so gilded and bejeweled that it bordered on gaudy. Jeremy immediately fell silent, acutely aware that he was dressed in Cory’s jacket and a pair of jeans, both of which were still slightly damp from his treks through the snow. He felt oddly self-conscious, and looked every which way to avoid looking at the nobility that were sitting nearby him. Don’t I normally pride myself on not caring about this sort of thing? This isn’t like me, he reflected, Chrysalis looking at him in concern. But before she could say anything, the massive screen in front of them lit up, and the crowd that was sitting below them quickly hushed as the lights dimmed.
About a quarter way through, Jeremy was thoroughly enjoying the movie. It had good jokes, the romance wasn’t forced, and the soundtrack was pretty decent for a romance flick. Most of the plot involved the griffoness, who had recently moved into a small pony town, falling for a pony that made a living selling flowers, which was apparently a distinctly un-griffonly thing to do. The pony had just discovered the griffoness hunting, and instead of being revolted had actually offered to help, knowing just where prey abounded from her years spent trekking the forest in search of rare flowers.
“Awww,” Jeremy sighed quietly, and Chrysalis hummed in agreement as she watched the pair on screen working together to track down a rogue bunny that the huntress had set her sights on.
“Shhh!” another noble shushed the pair of them.
Chrysalis immediately glared at the offender, who glared right back, apparently undaunted by the changeling queen’s imposingly sharp fangs and double-irised, slightly glowing eyes. The noblemare was about to say something further when a theater staffmember politely tapped her on the withers, dressed in a sharp black business suit and sunglasses.
“Excuse me, miss, but you should come with me,” he muttered quietly.
“What? But why?” the mare asked, confused.
Instead of answering, the staffpony simply trotted towards the exit to the rest of the theater, and after a moment the perplexed mare hurried after him. Jeremy watched them go, eyebrow raised, but decided to remain silent in favor of watching the rest of the movie.
About halfway through, Chrysalis decided to cuddle into his lap, drawing Cory’s jacket around herself and never once taking her eyes off the movie. The stereotypical former pegasus boyfriend from the flower mare’s past had showed up, demanding she return to him and stop wasting her time with a griffon… to which the huntress had responded by picking him up in her talons, flying several hundred feet straight up, hurling him towards the earth, and saving him at the last moment before flicking him with her wings in an impressive display of mockery for the poor pegasus’ flying abilities. Chrysalis, who had been grinning like a maniac the whole time this was happening, was mentally cheering on the huntress, though Jeremy was wondering if that was indeed the fair thing to do.
Well, nobody got hurt, Chrysalis argued.
Yeah, that’s true. Still, the pegasus guy isn’t gonna take that lying down, Jeremy shrewdly observed.
He was proven correct when the pegasus ex-boyfriend challenged the griffon to a race towards the summit of a mountain deep in the forest, where the winner would be able to claim one of the rarest flowers in existence and present it to the flower mare as a token of their affection. The flower mare, meanwhile, had figured out the whole thing despite it being kept secret via her very observant brother, a painter who could apparently use his talents to camouflage himself very effectively into the background scenery. She rushed to confront the griffoness, asking if her love was nothing more than a mark of pride, a trophy to be earned, to which the huntress had bemusedly responded “It is not the pride of victory I seek… but the thrill of the hunt. Your love would not be a worthy trophy if it only came at the cost of a simple race.”
Oh my goodness, that’s corny, Jeremy complained, though he was refraining from laughing all the same.
And yet, it did seem to work, Chrysalis noted, carefully watching the flower pony as she walked home to mull this over, blushing slightly as the griffon's words echoed in her head.
The race began, and it quickly became clear that the ex-boyfriend was pulling out all the stops to beat the huntress, from attempting to lose her in the deep forest, to confusing her via a series of caves and tunnels through the mountain, and finally by using explosives to trap her in said cave. Chrysalis silently smoldered as the pegasus victoriously presented the rarest flower to the flower mare, head held high and expecting praise. To the changeling queen’s joy, however, the flower mare went on a rant that the ex-boyfriend had turned her love into a contest, and that she was not a cheap prize to be won by a flower, revealing that she had known about the race all along. The griffon emerged, having apparently escaped via the help of the flower mare’s brother, and they walked into the sunset, the huntress’ wing protectively wrapped around her lover.
“Seems I’ve caught you at last, then,” the huntress announced, with a knowing smile.
The flower mare sighed, grinning. “I suppose you have,” she agreed. “Do you intend to keep me?” she asked after a moment, gazing up at the griffon she loved.
The griffon laughed. “Every griffon is taught from birth that only those who have earned their catch may keep it. So… have I earned you?” she asked, a slight hint of uncertainty permeating her otherwise predatory eyes.
Instead of answering, the flower mare tackled her to the ground, kissing her griffon as hard as she could and showing a surprising amount of strength despite being so much smaller. As the scene faded to black, the audience stomped their hooves wildly, applauding and cheering as the credits rolled. Chrysalis was screaming too, practically crying and beaming as she stamped her hooves into the carpet with enough force to make the entire top box shake. Jeremy, meanwhile, was unsure if he should be clapping or stomping, and eventually settled on stomping a foot into the carpet himself, laughing as Chrysalis hugged him ecstatically.
“So, how was it?” Jeremy asked knowingly as they exited the theater.
“It. Was. Amazing. The way they worked together! Even though they were so different, they clicked like it was nothing, like it was natural to them! And the kissing – I could practically taste the love in the air! And the way that the mare really put her hoof down on her ex-coltfriend for trying to ‘own’ her, it felt so good! That’s exactly what I hoped a movie would be like!” Chrysalis rambled joyously, her wings buzzing and lifting her a foot off the ground with every step.
Jeremy laughed at her infectious enthusiasm. “Shining wasn’t kidding when he said it was good, huh? Dude really knows how to pick ‘em.”
Chrysalis laughed appreciatively. “You’re not wrong! So… what’s next? You mentioned a ‘restaurant’?” she asked.
Jeremy looked around. The sun was still up, but unless he was mistaken, it was about time for it to lower. “Well, it is dinnertime,” he agreed, and Chrysalis lit up all over again, her every motion expressing eagerness as she bounded forth. “Typically we have to make a reservation, though…” Jeremy noted with some dismay. There was a burst of pink magic in front of him, and he stopped suddenly, nearly walking right through it as a scroll of parchment popped out, embossed with a wax seal of the Crystal Heart and pink ribboning. Bemused, Jeremy unfurled it, and read:
“Dear Jeremy and Chrysalis,
I almost forgot, but if you’re looking for a good place to get dinner tonight, there’s a fantastic restaurant that Cadance really loves near the palace. We were going to go tonight, but Flurry’s singing lessons are taking a bit longer than expected, so you can use this letter at the restaurant for our reservation. Look for ‘Romantique’, it’s pretty ornate even by Crystal Empire standards. Oh, and make sure to try the garlic bread!
Sincerely,
Prince Shining Armor
P.S. I, Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire, hereby give my and Princess Cadance’s full permission for King Jeremy and Queen Chrysalis to claim my reservation this night at Romantique.”
Jeremy was tempted to comment on the incredible convenience of this occurrence, but shelved it as merely another effect of this universe’s tendency for show-oriented plot devices, and turned to Chrysalis. “Well? Looks like we’re going to a fancy restaurant,” he announced. Chrysalis beamed at him, and Jeremy was surprised to hear that characters in this universe really did make that little ‘squee’ sound when they were especially happy.
Finding the restaurant was no trouble, and they stared at the crystalline exterior. It was carved all across the front with pictures of ponies in romantic settings: Walking in the garden, dancing at a ball, and kissing in the moonlight were just a few of the examples Jeremy managed to pick out.
“So… ‘Romantique’. Isn’t that just French for ‘romance’, or something?” Jeremy wondered aloud.
“If I had to guess, a lot of places here are named after ‘love’ of some kind because Cadance is the Princess of Love,” Chrysalis commented.
Jeremy shrugged. “Makes sense, I guess.”
They entered the restaurant to find an incredibly well-dressed pegasus mare at the front stand. She surveyed Jeremy’s clothing with a clear look of displeasure, before turning to Chrysalis and practically gasping before curtsying as low as she dared.
“Madame, your crown is magnifique! ‘Ou must be une reine… er, how you say, ‘a queen’! Has zis poor… ah… thing been troubling you?” she asked breathlessly, with another distinctly unamused look at Jeremy’s shabby clothes.
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “That ‘poor thing’ happens to be my date tonight,” she corrected regally.
“Ah, excusez-moi – er, my mistake! A lady had une similar problem last night, I am jumping at conclusions,” the mare replied, flustered by her comments.
“It’s alright. Anyway, Prince Shining Armor gave us this letter to take his reservation for the night,” Jeremy explained, handing over the letter. The Prenchmare inspected the seal carefully, sniffing it once before opening and reading the letter, her eyes widening.
“Zat s-seems to be in order,” she nervously announced, before hastily smiling at the pair of them. “Your table is ready! Right this way, your Majesties,” she declared, leading the two of them towards the center of the restaurant. Jeremy and Chrysalis looked at each other in consternation, but followed her anyway.
They were seated in the very center of the restaurant, on a raised podium that was in full view of every single other patron, and the mare who had been escorting them hurriedly whisked away to prepare their appetizers.
“Well, this is certainly… fancy,” Chrysalis noted, looking around.
“As little as I normally care about fitting in with high society… she had a point. I’m woefully underdressed for a place like this,” Jeremy worried.
Chrysalis hummed in thought, looking over Cory’s jacket in concern before lighting her horn. A flash of green light later, and Jeremy was shocked to find that he was now wearing his old Kingly robes, the same ones that the three changeling fashion designers had made for him what felt like ages ago.
“Weren’t these destroyed in the fire?” he asked, and Chrysalis sighed.
“Those three insisted on sneaking back and grabbing them from your room. I’ve been trying to remember to remind you to wear them again, but with everything that’s been happening…” she trailed off, and Jeremy nodded.
“That’s fair, things have been kind of crazy lately. Where’d you send my other clothes?”
Chrysalis laughed. “I teleported Cory’s jacket back to him, and your jeans are back in Canterlot. Maybe I should summon your armor here, go the extra mile to make you look Kingly?” she joked, and Jeremy laughed appreciatively.
“Robes are one thing, but ceremonial futuristic armor is quite another. I think that mare’s jaw would hit the floor if she saw me wearing that all of a sudden.” Chrysalis giggled.
The mare in question returned with a literal pile of garlic bread held in a basket in her mouth, and two glasses of water that were expertly balanced on a tray on her back. “Your appetizers, madame and…” she trailed off as she caught sight of Jeremy’s new clothes.
“Thought you had a point, so I changed. You like it?” Jeremy asked, grinning.
“Ah… yes! Yes, zat is most charmante!” she answered after a moment of stunned gawking, before ducking back into the kitchen.
They dug into the garlic bread, Jeremy feeling immense gratitude at Shining Armor for introducing him to such a delicious, high-class version of the god-tier appetizer.
“So… I can tell you’re enjoying this upper-class food,” Chrysalis teased, watching Jeremy bite into yet another piece of bread with surprising intensity.
Jeremy swallowed mightily, before chuckling. “Who knows when I will see garlic bread of such caliber again? I must enjoy it while it lasts,” he declared.
Two baskets later, the server mare returned with a notepad and quill in her teeth. “And what will you be having for your main course, my lady?” she asked.
Chrysalis glanced through the menu. “I shall try… the ‘ratatouille,’ she decided.
“And you, monsieur?” the server asked, turning to Jeremy. He gazed critically at the menu, instinctively drawn to the lower-price items.
“I’ll try… the… ‘salade niçoise,’” he decided, handing the menu to her.
“Excellent choice, sir, I shall have them out to you in just a moment,” the server mare declared, trotting off quickly.
“She seems nervous,” Chrysalis noted as soon as they had gone.
“Well, we are royalty, and they were expecting Cadance and Shining Armor,” Jeremy pointed out. “Probably doesn’t know if we’ll take something the wrong way.” Chrysalis hummed in agreement. With nothing else to say, they politely waited for their meals to arrive.
To Jeremy’s surprise, the server returned with their meals in just a few minutes. “Fast service,” Jeremy complimented her as she arrived. She gave him a flustered smile, setting down a plate in front of him.
“Tis’ my pleasure, sir!” she squeaked out, voice one octave higher than normal.
“Um. I think that’s mine, actually?” Chrysalis pointed out. Jeremy looked down, and sure enough, he was staring at a bowl of soup rather than a salad.
“Oh! Oh, I’m so sorry!” their server declared, hurriedly sliding the plate over to Chrysalis. In her haste, the soup splashed out of the bowl, some of it landing on Chrysalis, dripping down her front as Chrysalis’ eyes widened in shock. The server mare paled.
“I… I…” she stammered, unable to form words as all eyes in the restaurant turned to her and conversation ceased. Without another word, she burst into tears, galloping back through the double doors leading to the kitchen as the other patrons watched her go. Jeremy, taken aback, watched her go as well, unable to form a response to what he had just seen. Chrysalis, meanwhile, had already cleaned herself off, and was gently pulling on his shoulder with a hoof.
“Hm?” Jeremy noted, snapping out of his reverie and looking at her.
“Come on, we should go comfort her, right?” Chrysalis urged.
“Oh! Yes, you’re right, let’s go,” Jeremy hastily agreed, standing up and following her.
They entered the double doors cautiously, to find chefs all around them preparing meals, cleaning dishes, and assembling clean tableware to be delivered to the empty tables.
“Did you see-“ Jeremy asked a nearby chef, but was cut off as he grunted and pointed at a nearby door. Raising an eyebrow, Chrysalis strode over to seize it, but was dismayed to find it locked.
“Assez, aller!” the servermare shrieked from inside.
“What’d she say?” Chrysalis wondered quietly.
“Probably ‘go away’ or something?” Jeremy muttered back, barely audible over the clatter of the kitchen. “We’re not mad at you, okay?” he called out to her.
“It’s alright. Whatever you fear we might do, we promise not to,” Chrysalis added with a worried look at the firmly closed door.
The door cracked open, revealing the interior of a janitor’s closet as the scared, disheveled Prenchmare peeked out. “Je suis désolé,” she mumbled, fresh tear tracks making their way down her face.
“That’s it, come on out. It’s okay, nobody thinks any worse of you,” Jeremy encouraged.
She edged her way out, as slow and unsure as a newborn foal seeing the world for the first time as she put a delicate hoof over the edge of the doorframe. Jeremy and Chrysalis patiently waited. Finally, their server made her way back out into the kitchen, still looking small and afraid. “I… I have failed my Princess…” she mumbled, unwilling to look at them.
“Why is that?” Chrysalis softly asked.
“She… she…” the server tried, but couldn’t go on, showing every sign of collapsing. To her surprise, Chrysalis took her into a hug, the much larger changeling queen holding her up with her strong, but gentle forehooves.
“You have not failed your Princess, nor have you failed us,” she murmured.
“Wh- wha?” the tiny pony in her embrace squeaked. Chrysalis smiled down at her.
“Many of my servants have had a similar problem. Terrified to disrespect royalty, they let their fears consume them, and made more and more mistakes as a result. But I am not disrespected by your service, not tonight,” she announced, carrying the pony as easily as she would carry a pillow back to their table and setting her down on her lap.
“N-non? But it is mine first day on ze job, a-and I haven’t trained myself enough, a-and…” the Prenchmare got out, disbelief in both her voice and expression.
Chrysalis cut her off with a gentle hoof to her lips. “Tonight, I am honored. That you cared so much about my happiness, that you strove to do your best for both me and your Princess… you have proven yourself more than worthy of my respect,” she declared, the three of them acutely aware that the entire restaurant had fallen silent to listen.
“Salade Niçoise?” a familiar voice called out, and the three of them turned around to find that, to everyone’s surprise, Princess Cadance had followed them out of the kitchen.
“M-ma princesse?!” the pegasus exclaimed, hastily bowing as the other patrons made to follow suit.
“Everypony rise, there is no need for formality,” Cadance excused them. She then approached Salade Niçoise, an apologetic expression on the pink alicorn’s face. “This is my fault, and nopony else’s. I was following these two in an attempt to make their date perfect, and in my haste to ensure everything went well, I forgot to ask if you were okay with it. You have my utmost apologies, miss Niçoise,” Cadance declared, bowing to her.
“Wait. So it was you I saw hiding in the bushes outside the throne room!” Jeremy accused, and Cadance smiled bashfully.
“And it was me who had that rude mare next to you in the theater removed,” she revealed.
“A-and you asked me to make zeir date parfait... perfect,” Salade added timidly.
Cadance nodded sadly. “Don’t worry about getting fired, I’ll vouch for you personally,” she addressed the tiny pegasus, who straightened up slightly at hearing she wasn’t going to be fired. “Now… I’d better go, in case you two want to finish off your date!” Cadance announced, a flash of her pink-purple wings all they saw as she quickly departed. The three shared a moment of silence, as the chatter of the restaurant began to pick back up.
“So… ‘Salade Niçoise, huh?” Jeremy asked her, glancing down at his dish and noting the similarity to her Cutie Mark.
Salade smiled, ruffling her wings a bit. “I, ah… ze restaurant will let me cook zat particular dish whenever a customer orders it. It was ze reason I was employed, actually…”
Jeremy took a bite, watching her hopeful expression, and smiled encouragingly at her. “I can see why, this is fantastic!” he complimented. Salade smiled, hiding her face behind her wing in embarrassment.
“So, miss Niçoise, how is life as a waitress?” Chrysalis asked, releasing the pegasus from her embrace.
“It is my first day, so I have yet to be finding out,” Salade Niçoise answered shyly.
“How’s the pay?” Jeremy asked bluntly, and Salade tittered.
“It is good! I am moving to a new apartment soon, one zat has more furnishings,” she answered happily.
Jeremy smiled at her. “Glad to hear it! You’re moving up in the world,” he complimented.
“Would you like some garlic bread?” Chrysalis asked, levitating a stick in front of her.
“O-oh, no, I couldn’t, I am your waitress-“ Salade began.
“Nonsense, you are our new friend and you have just been through quite a night. Come on, try some!” Chrysalis begged.
Hesitantly, Salade took a stick of garlic bread and popped it into her mouth, her eyes widening as she did so. “G-good…” she moaned slightly, and Chrysalis laughed.
An hour later, they had finished their plates, and Salade got to her hooves so that she could take her plates. “I had better be getting back to my working,” she sighed reluctantly.
“You don’t have to-“ Jeremy began, but this time Salade was the one who cut him off.
“It is alright,” she replied. “It is what I want.”
Jeremy fell silent, smiling at her, and she smiled back.
“If you ever need anything, anything at all, come find us,” Chrysalis said softly, engulfing the pegasus in one last hug. She hugged the changeling queen right back, nuzzling into her embrace with a dreamy smile.
“I will remember,” she promised, and picked up their plates and left. Jeremy and Chrysalis watched her go, smiling at each other after a moment.
“So, good date?” Jeremy asked as he opened the door for her.
“The best,” Chrysalis agreed, beaming.
They made their way back up to the castle, only to find that its doors had closed. “Oh, dear. I think they close it to the public after nightfall,” Jeremy realized.
Chrysalis snorted in amusement. “Another adventure, then?” she asked, holding out a hoof.
Jeremy took it, chuckling. “You know me far too well.”
Six short flights, a few staircases and an opened window later, they walked into the throne room, where two Crystal Guards jumped at the sight of them.
“How’d you get inside?” one asked.
“You left the eighth-story window on the northeast spire open,” Jeremy answered, and the guard sighed.
“This is the last time I let Crystal Hoof do an inspection,” he muttered, trotting off to presumably reprimand said pony.
Did he just namedrop Thorax’s alias? Jeremy wondered.
Thorax has an alias in the Crystal Kingdom? Why? Everypony loves him here, Chrysalis wondered right back.
His initial reception wasn’t so great. He chose that name randomly, so I’m just confused that there’s a real pony to match, Jeremy answered, as they made their way upstairs, having no idea where Cadance or the other humans were.
An hour later, they were completely lost in the castle, and Jeremy’s feet were starting to get tired. “The Princesses really need to start posting maps in their castles,” he grumbled.
“And what, risk an invading party knowing exactly where to go?” Chrysalis pointed out.
Jeremy sighed. “True… but still.”
Chrysalis’ ears perked up. “Wait. Do you hear that?” she asked. Jeremy shook his head. Chrysalis’ ear twitched some more. “Let’s go that way,” she directed, pointing down a hallway to his right. Shrugging, Jeremy followed her down the corridor.
To his surprise, he began to hear strains of music as they walked onward. “Is that…?” he trailed off curiously.
“Sombra’s song,” Chrysalis confirmed. “He must be nearby.”
A door was open on their left, revealing a brightly lit room and the sounds of laughter inside. Jeremy peeked inside curiously to find Sombra, Shining Armor, Cadance, and Sunburst playing with Flurry Heart. To their further surprise, Flurry was the one playing the song, as Sombra watched on in approval.
“Very good, sweetie!” Cadance complimented as she finished.
“Nicely played,” Jeremy complimented, taking a seat by Sombra. Chrysalis, meanwhile, lowered her head down so that she was face-to-face with the tiny alicorn foal, tail wagging slightly.
“What is she…?” Shining trailed off, only to find that Chrysalis was sticking her forked tongue out to poke Flurry on the nose, the baby giggling and covering her snout as Chrysalis continued to tickle her.
“Boop!” Chrysalis announced, and Flurry laughed louder as she pounced onto Chrysalis’ head to escape, hanging off the changeling queen’s massive horn as Chrysalis stared cross-eyed up at her. “Taking the offensive? Good, a fine warrior you’ll make!” Chrysalis teased, and Flurry burbled happily. “Unfortunately, you’ve underestimated my booping powers!” she continued, her tongue lengthening to reach up and boop Flurry’s snout once more.
Flurry, determined to evade the Tongue of Boopening, began to run around Chrysalis’ horn in circles, her tongue chasing the tiny foal and wrapping around her horn in the process. Jeremy watched as his girlfriend’s tongue grew to three, then four feet long, continuing to wrap around her horn until it could grow no more. Chrysalis slumped to the ground, her tongue having tied itself in a knot around her horn.
“I’ve been defeated! How could this have happened?! How could I have been beaten by such a clever and playful little foal!” she announced, somehow still able to speak perfectly despite her tongue being so extended.
Flurry giggled, jumping up and down on the ‘defeated’ changeling monarch’s head victoriously as the others laughed. Chrysalis shape-shifted her tongue back into her mouth, grinning at Flurry Heart playfully.
“Anyway, we were locked out. Where are all the other humans staying?” Jeremy asked. “Down the hall and to the left, the Princess Suite,” Cadance immediately answered. “We typically save it for visiting dignitaries, but considering none are actually visiting at the moment…”
Jeremy nodded smartly. “Sounds good to me,” he answered. They watched Chrysalis play around with Flurry a moment more, the others either too tired or too contented to join in.
“Is she like this around foals?” Cadance asked curiously.
Jeremy snorted. “Normally, I’m like this around foals. She’s usually busy getting all the adult stuff done.”
Cadance laughed appreciatively. “How was your date?” she asked.
“It was the best date I’ve ever gone on… out of one total dates,” Jeremy snorted.
“Hey, if this were golf, you’d be a winner,” Shining called over, and Jeremy laughed.
“Golf? I thought you were a hoofball kind of guy,” he snarked back.
Shining shrugged. “Golf, hoofball, what’s the difference?” he airily replied, giving Jeremy a knowing smirk.
“S-so, you’re King Jeremy and Queen Chrysalis,” Sunburst shakily introduced after a moment of silence.
“Yep, that’s us. You’re Sunburst, right? Pleasure to meet you,” Jeremy amiably returned, shaking his hoof.
“Same here. Er, not that it’s a pleasure to meet myself, but-“ Sunburst began, but was cut off by Jeremy laughing.
“I know what you mean, don’t worry. So, how’s life?” he asked.
“Life’s… pretty good, I guess? I’m the Royal Crystaller now, which means I’m apparently pretty important…” Sunburst trailed off.
“Feeling thrust into a huge responsibility and you’re only pretending to know what you’re doing?” Jeremy shrewdly guessed.
Sunburst gave him a sheepish smile. “How’d you know?” he asked.
Jeremy leaned in. “Because everyone else is doing it too,” he whispered with the air of someone who was revealing a well-kept secret. Taken by surprise, Sunburst laughed delightedly, Flurry and Chrysalis pausing their play for a moment as Flurry beamed up at her Crystaller and tutor.
“It took me a whole hour of talking to even get him to smile,” Sombra grumped from a corner, and Sunburst chuckled sheepishly.
“Sorry, Mister Sombra,” he replied. “I’m… not used to this whole ‘social interaction’ thing yet.”
Sombra, meanwhile, was looking thoughtful. “Mister Sombra…” he trailed off. “…I like the sound of that.”
Jeremy snorted in amusement. “Anyway, I think it’s time we got to bed,” he declared with a significant look at Chrysalis.
“But I wanna play with her more!” Chrysalis whined.
Jeremy laughed, picking her up like a cat. “You can play with her more tomorrow. Now say goodnight,” he pretended to instruct.
Instead of speaking, Chrysalis first leaned her sinuous neck forward to kiss Flurry Heart on the forehead. “Sleep well, little Flurry!” she whispered. “I’ll come back to play tomorrow.” Flurry messily smooched her forehead right back, burbling happily, and Chrysalis let herself be carried out of the room by Jeremy.
“Goodnight!” they called to Cadance, Flurry, Sombra and Sunburst.
They found the Princess Suite to be a wide, well-lit room surrounded by doors to smaller rooms, some of which were still open.
“I guess we just pick a room that’s not taken?” Jeremy wondered.
“I want… that one,” Chrysalis decided, pointing to the darkest room.
Jeremy chuckled, peeking inside. Nobody was there, either human, pony, or otherwise, so he obediently disrobed, hanging the robe up in the closet and crossing to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready for bed. Chrysalis joined him, clumsily manipulating the toothbrush in her mouth as she attempted to scrub her teeth.
Finally, they collapsed into bed, the exhaustion of the day’s events catching up with them. “Best day of my life,” Jeremy sighed, cuddling into her under the warm, cozy covers.
“You say that every day we do something…” Chrysalis murmured.
“And I’m never wrong,” Jeremy completed, nuzzling her on the forehead.