//------------------------------// // 8 Morning // Story: For science - Book three // by Znegil //------------------------------// I awoke to the sun shining through our window. I felt Twilight's fur against my skin and her slow breathing while she was still asleep. It was one of those wonderful moments I had thought to never have again after I had lost my first love. I smiled while I watched her sleep for a few more minutes. As she finally opened her eyes, she looked straight into mine. “Hey my love, what are you looking at?”, she asked smiling. “Only the most beautiful thing in the universe.”, I replied and gave her a sweet little kiss. It brought a slight blush to her cheeks and she gave me a playful shove. “Sweet-talker.” “You know I mean it.”, I replied. Suddenly her eyes started to sparkle in excitement. “Oohh, today we can work on the paper about the changeling race.” I smiled at her eagerness to learn new things all the time, one of the many things I loved about her. “There is so much we can research.”, I replied. “The changelings, chemistry, my ‘borrowing’ of your magic, how I did that magic blade…” I decided to stop as I felt her growing arousal through our connection, if I would continue there was a good chance we wouldn't leave our bedroom until noon. Not that I was opposed to this idea, but we had a lot of stuff to do. I quickly dressed up while Twilight had an insane grin on her face and was drooling. “Yeees, so much research…” I moved out of her reach towards the door. “Let's have a quick breakfast then, so we can start early with our research.”, I said in an attempt to focus her mind. She slowly returned to her normal self and wiped her muzzle. “Yes, let's do that.” She looked a bit ashamed for how she had reacted. As we walked down to the kitchen, we found Chrysalis already sitting in the library reading. Twilight stopped mid-step, staring at her. She took a deep breath and approached her. “Good morning. I'm sorry for overreacting yesterday.”, she apologized. Our guest looked up from the book she was reading. “Well, I think it's understandable, normally ponies don't see me feed on them.” There was a moment of silence between us. “Sooo… what does this mean for future situations like that?”, Chrysalis finally asked. “I believe you can absorb all emotions you come across, it's like you said, you don't take anything away from anypony.”, Twilight replied to her. “But it might be helpful to explain to others what you do and ask them first. There is no need to make ponies mad at you without reason.” Chrysalis thought about it for a moment. “I think that's good advice.”, she replied nodding. “I don't really need to feed on others since I receive more than enough from Lavender, but it would be good to explain to everypony what exactly my ability is. I guess I will tell them at ‘the party’ what I do to nourish myself.” I smiled as I noticed she pronounced ‘party’ the same way others would pronounce ‘funeral’. It wasn't surprising Pinkie had a hard time getting close to her. “Well, we should have breakfast so we can start learning more about your race afterward.”, I suggested because I smelled fresh buns. Spike must have been up early and got us some stuff from the bakery. “If you don't mind, since I don't gain anything from it, I would like to continue reading.”, Chrysalis told us. “How long can you go without feeding?”, I asked curiously. She looked up from her book again. “I can store quite a lot, much more than a normal changeling. When I'm full I can go a week without feeding, of course depending on my activities.” Twilight who had been halfway to the breakfast table came running back with a scroll and quill levitating next to her. “Hey, don't start without me.”, she complained. I laughed at my nerdy marefriend. “It was just a simple question because I was curious. Let's eat first and do the changeling research without tummy rumbles.” I lead her back to the table while I saw a little smile from our guest out of the corner of my eye. … I had just finished my extensive breakfast when there was a knock on the door. I stood up and walked over to see who would visit us this early in the morning. To my surprise, I found Lyra before me as I opened the door. “Morning boss.”, she greeted me smiling. “Are we doing research today?” “How do you even know I'm back from Canterlot?”, I asked. “Oh come on.”, she replied grinning. “You don't really blend into a crowd, and neither does she.” Lyra pointed towards Chrysalis. It was quite obvious now that I thought about it, of course our arrival must have been the talk of the town. “Well, we were just about to start learning about Chrysalis body and abilities, so you are free to join us. Or would you like to do some routine experiments for our chemistry research?” “I’m staying with you, this sounds way more interesting.”, she answered and I could see the excitement on her face. I raised my voice a bit to address our test-subject as well: “Let’s go over to our lab to learn more about you. We have the right equipment there if we need to take any samples.” She looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow when I mentioned to take samples. “Should I worry?”, she asked with a grin. It was clear to see she wasn’t the slightest bit worried but was just playing with me, but I answered anyway to set the right tone for the others as well. “We won’t do anything you don’t agree to, I want this all to happen on a friendly basis.” She seemed a bit surprised by my friendly tone. She laid the book on a small table next to her and followed us to the lab.