//------------------------------//
// Hospitality 
// Story: Plan B 
// by Dropbear 
//------------------------------//

Cadence winced as her head throbbed once again, the creaking of the Crystal Palace’s front doors not helping her headache.

Still, even as Shining Armour shouldered open the doors and the cold winter wind blew through the gap, Cadence tried to ignore her fatigue and instead focus on the coming battle up ahead. The thunder of magical bolts and the explosive cracks of their impacts had been audible all throughout the palace even as the fight had progressed further and further into the city itself, and there was no doubt in her mind that the worst wasn’t over yet. She had no clue as to the identity of their bipedal ally, but Cadence didn’t exactly give him her confidence considering the earlier display of Sombra’s sheer ancient power.

 “There we are,” Shining grunted from her left, as the first heavy crystal door of the palace finished swinging fully open. Turning to her, he tilted his head. “Are you sure that you’re okay to do this, Cadence?”

Cadence shivered, but it wasn’t because of the chill wind that took the opportunity to rush into the palace entrance hall.

“I’m sure,” she reassured him with a smile, even as she tried to blink the exhaustion from her eyes. Trotting up, Cadence gave Shining a nuzzle that was eagerly reciprocated. “While it wasn’t Twilight and her friends, at the very least we’ve got some sort of aid to distract him. Now that Sombra broke through the shield, we can’t just let him terrorise the Crystal Ponies again. We have to fight.”

Shining nodded, his own tired eyes narrowed with determination. “I know Cadence, but it won’t help anyone if you push yourself too hard. I’m just-“

“Shining, I know,” Cadence sighed. Shaking her head, she straightened up and gave her horn a few experimental sparks. She barely managed to supress the wince that followed. “I hope it doesn’t come to that. I just want this to be over and done with.”

“Can’t argue with that, first the wedding and now this,” Shining muttered. “A break from the crazy would be nice.” Turning around, he poked his head out of the door and tilted his ears forwards. “Huh. Seems like everything’s settled down a little outside. Do you think they left the city?”

Trotting out past him, trying hard to remain standing tall, Cadence hesitantly glanced to the sky and found only the usual falling snow and dark-grey clouds. “Let’s find out, Shining.”

She’d barely finished speaking before he’d hurried out to trot out alongside her, Shining’s horn already glowing blue with a spell as he darted his eyes to every street entrance and doorway. Cadence could only smile warmly to herself at his protectiveness, even though his own magic glow seemed just as weak as hers, and with great effort she powered up her own horn with a crackle of magic.

Their hooves crunched upon the heavy coating of snow, the two of them picking the main street that lead to where the fighting had been last. Neither of them spoke for a while as they trotted past dull scorch-marked houses, only the eerie whistling of the wind greeting them as they glanced around at the shuttered windows and closed doors.

“It’s quiet,” Shining mumbled out to her as he swept his eyes up at the sky above. “Too quiet.”

“I know,” agreed Cadence as she stepped left to avoid a crater of melted snow in her path. She briefly noticed a set of hoofprints in the snow that looked surprisingly fresh, but brushed them off as a remnant of the Crystal Empires banishment from time. The Empire’s formerly-banished occupants had yet to leave their houses since their arrival as far as she knew, Cadence and Shining had only received fearful glances through boarded-up windows in response to their offers of assistance. “I was expecting more… shouting.”

“Maybe it’s a trap?” Shining whispered while still watching the sky.

“Sombra, lay a trap?”

“You’re right,” he admitted with a brief scoff. “Subtlety doesn’t exactly seem to be something he knows the meaning of.”

They stopped talking, and it once again returned to just their hoofsteps and the whistling wind. The number of water-filled craters increased as they continued on, and Cadence furrowed her eyes as the overall silence continued.

‘Surely something should have happened by now? Sombra shouldn’t have just disappeared like that?’

She made to sidestep another puddle, but was halted by an outstretched foreleg.

“Hang on,” Shining whispered to her, one of his ears cocked. “Hear that?”

Cadence concentrated, her ears flicking.

Whistling.

The tune was alien to her ears, but there was no way it was just a product of the wind. It sounded merry and upbeat, and not even the deserted surroundings seemed to dull its chipper tone.

The sound of footsteps and heavy dragging that followed was the second thing Cadence heard, and the pair of them didn’t have to wait long before the maker of the noises rounded around the corner of the house opposite them.

It was the bipedal creature from earlier that reversed out with his back towards them, his strange foreleg-claws clasped around a heavy set of rope that looped around a murky-black rectangle of glass. He had yet to notice them, and Cadence took the opportunity to examine him further now that he was up-close and there was no smoke-monster screaming at them incoherently.

Slightly hunched over as he busied himself with dragging the box, Cadence figured that at full height he would be at least twice as tall as Shining Armour. His entire body, now that she was able to make out the details for certain, was covered with some form of metal armour that left no clue as to the creature within save for the shape. Whoever made it must have been skilled, as she was barely able to pick out the seems that joined it together at the joints.

The biped didn’t have hooves, judging by the elongated shape of its strange metal boots, and it was lacking any trace of wings or a tail. Cadence was quickly running out of possible Equestrian creatures to compare it to, and she fancied herself more informed than most when it came to the intelligent inhabitants of the known world.

‘He must be from far away,’ she concluded while figuring him for a male off of his voice. ‘A traveller from the Eastern continent, perhaps?’

She ran out of time to expand on the thought, Cadence glancing to her right after a nudge from Shining. Her husband looked at her before giving a pointed glance towards the still-reversing newcomer, and Cadence looked back towards the creature before she cleared her throat.

“Excuse me… sir?”

 She could feel Shining tense up with her as the biped stopped and turned his head, the creature’s face initially looking like nothing but a smooth and featureless black abyss. Her heart jumped in her chest before her mind reminded her that it was likely just a weird helmet, and she summoned up enough calm to not outwardly show her jolt. The icon of the skull on the armoured chest wasn’t helping things though.

“Yes?”

The rope dropped from his armoured claws, the being turning around fully to face them. He leaned in slightly before a single finger was raised.

“Ah, I know you,” he said with a surprising laugh. “The balcony horses.”

Cadence blinked, initially taken aback by the surprisingly friendly tone that emanated from the fearsome-looking creature, before his choice of words grabbed her attention. “Actually- “

“We’re ponies,” her husband got in before her, the biped shifting his attention to him as Shining let out a nervous chuckle. “But as far as I know there are no balconies in my family history.”

She winced at Shining’s fumbled attempt at an ice-breaker, silence descending over the trio in the aftermath of the wisecrack.

“Ha!” the new creature chuffed after a second. “I like you already.”

The receptive response gave Cadence the encouragement she needed, her quick sigh of relief going unnoticed before she forced her mouth into a slight smile.

“Please excuse my husband’s humour,” she said as the biped’s attention shifted onto her. “It’s been a pretty stressful day, Mister…?”

“Chalmers. Nigel M Chalmers to be exact,” came the response, the creature holding out one of claws towards them. “But you can just call me Nigel. And don’t worry about the joke, I thought it was pretty good.”

There was another awkward moment of inaction as Nigel kept his claw outstretched with no response, before he quickly withdrew it.

“Oh, my apologies.” His claws went to his head, cupping the metal on either side. “Just give me a second…”

Cadence and Shining continued to stare, a hiss of air escaping as the now-confirmed helmet was lifted off and cupped under an arm.

Watching as Nigel shook his revealed head, the short-cut brown mane flapping in the cold breeze, Cadence raised an eye at the rather normal face that he possessed. There was no snout and he was covered with bare skin without fur, but it was far from the monster she was expecting. There was even a friendly welcoming warmth within his small blue eyes, and his mouth formed a smile as he once again held out his claw.

“Sorry about that, I wear this thing so often that I sometimes forget that I’m in it.”

Raising her hoof in response to meet the offered claw, Cadence nodded back with a genuine smile as cool black digits clasped her around her foreleg and the top of her golden shoe. Removing her eyes from studying the intricate gauntlet finger joints shaking her foreleg, she looked up towards his smiling face.

“That’s alright,” she replied, before breaking the shake and touching her hoof to her chest. “My name is Cadence, and this is my husband, Shining Armour.”

She intentionally left their admittedly-impressive titles off the introduction, in the hopes that it would continue to keep the exchange casual. It seemed to have worked, Nigel moving on to shake Shining’s own hoof with a nod and a grin.

“Pleased to meet you both.” Nigel let Shining’s hoof go and appraised them both. “I have to say, it’s welcome to meet some other sane people out here.”

“You’re telling us,” Shining snorted with a shake of his head. “This entire week…”

“Not the best,” added Cadence with her own weary chuckle. “We’re certainly thankful that you came along when you did.”

Nigel waved one of his claws. “Don’t mention it. I was out and about with the family and noticed the smoke, I just had to come out and see if you needed a hand.” He glanced around at the silent houses surrounding them. “Good thing I did too, considering that it was Sombra who was causing all of the ruckus.” The warm smile seemed to increase a tad. “He always was a bit of a odd one.”

A nagging feeling tugged at the back of Cadence’s mind, but another chuckle from their visitor banished the niggle for the time being. Instead, she tilted her head and focused her query on the most immediate thing that came to mind.

“You know him?” She shuffled on the spot, dusting the snow from her hooves. “Surely you can’t be that old?”

Chalmers grinned and gave them a wink. “I’m a man of many surprises, but I can see why you’d ask the question, considering my dashing and youthful looks.”

“Careful…” Shining warned with a smile, putting an exaggerated foreleg over Cadence’s back. “My wife has a weakness for stallions of the young and dashing variety.”

Cadence snorted at the exchange, and returned her husband’s gesture with a loving nudge. Both of them focused back on their visitor, Nigel still grinning as he dusted a light layer of fresh snow from his mane.

“Seriously though, thanks for lending a hoof against Sombra.” Shining nodded his head. “He’s already harmed this city too much, it’s good to see that there’s still some beings of good will out in this wilderness.”

“If there’s anything we can do in thanks,” Cadence added. “Please let us know.”

The two of them waited for an answer, Chalmers sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck with an armoured hand.

“Oh, I hate to impose, really…”

“Don’t be silly,” Cadence laughed softly. “You’ve been a great help.”

“Well… if it’s not too much to ask, a night of shelter in your fair city for me, the missus, and the kids would be quite welcome.” He made a pointed glance up towards the lowering sun and the increasing snow fall. “They’re not really as used to the weather as I am, and a short respite from the snow before we journey on tomorrow would be good. There’s actually a rather deserted shop a bit further down that would do us just fine.”

Cadence and Shining Armour shared a look, before they both shook their heads with chuckles.

“Absolutely not,” replied Cadence with a raised hoof. “You’re more than welcome to come back and stay with us in the Crystal Palace, it would be rude to just have you and your family stay in an abandoned store.”

“It’s the not the liveliest palace in the lands at the moment, understandably,” Shining continued. “We haven’t exactly got an army of staff and the menu’s nothing but whatever canned food you can find, but the rooms are furnished and snow-free.” One of his hooves pointed back towards the palace towering behind them. “It’s not that bad, honest.”

Cadence nodded in agreement. “And we’d love to meet your family, Mister Chalmers.”

He words prompted their visitor to wince.

“Um, yeah. So you see, there might be a bit of an issue there. The other half of mine can be a bit… ah, how should I put it, headstrong at times.”

Smiling, Cadence gave a pointed glance up towards the sky. “I wouldn’t be too concerned about that. After Sombra, anyone not a complete and outright tyrant would be welcome company.”

Metal hands clapped together, all trace of Chalmers’ wince disappeared.

“Whew, that’s good to hear,” he sighed with a laugh. “I’m probably just over-exaggerating things, I’m sure she’ll be grateful for the chance to share some friendly company.” With that, he made to turn around, his helmet being removed from under his arm. “I better go and grab ‘em before it gets too cold again.” He reattached his helmet and clicked it into place, Cadence once again finding herself staring at the black abyss of the faceplate. “Thanks once again for the hospitality.”

“No problem,” Shining waved with a hoof, Chalmers turning around to walk back around the corner. “More than worth it for getting rid of Sombra.”

Nigel stopped before he walked around the corner, one of his armoured fingers snapping in the air as he turned his head back to look at them. “Ah, on that topic before I forget…”

Shining and Cadence followed his finger point towards the box he had been dragging earlier, something within writhing and swirling around inside of a noxious black smoke cloud.

“Keep an eye on ol’ Sombra for me, will you please? Feel free to taunt him and the like, just don’t break open the glass or anything.” Before they could comment, Chalmers waved a hand and disappeared around the corner of the house. “Thanks once again, I’ll be back in a tic.”

With that he was gone, the merry whistling starting up again as Cadence and Shining could only stare at the now-confirmed rectangular prison.

“Wha…” Cadence struggled to ask, as both her and Shining were focused upon by the pair of glowing green eyes that materialised out of the smoke.

“Crrrystalssssss…” Sombra hissed from within, his voice barely audible through the see-through glass. “Slavessssss…”









‘Well, that went well.’

Nigel walked down the street with a brisk pace, a smile under his helmet and a spring in his step. Thankfully, the balcony horses had proved to be quite hospitable.

‘A nice change from the norm,’ he concluded as he made his way back to the tailor store, passing rows and rows of empty houses as he did so. ‘Now, for the hard part…’

Glass shards crunched under his boots as he entered the otherwise silent tailor store.

“Alrighty everyone,” Nigel called out as he stepped into the back room. “Guess who went and got us some rooms in a…”

He paused and looked around the dark and empty room, wind whistling in through the hole in the wall that Sombra had helped him create, with his armoured thumbs still pointing at himself.

“...Palace?”

A light dusting of snow blew into the store, Nigel just now noticing the trail of hoofprints leaving out through the hole.

“Well shit…” he muttered. With a crick of his neck, he prepared to follow the tracks. “Hopefully Chrissy is still in a decent mood.”









“Um, didn’t Nigel want us to stay and wait?”

Chrysalis glanced down to her left as she continued to trot through the abandoned street, and met the eyes of Shade as he looked up at her. Still wearing a small smile and her heart still pounding from the earlier chase, Chrysalis let out a snort from her nostrils.

“I wouldn’t worry about Nigel; he’s probably just prattling on with whoever runs this destitute place.” One smug glance to the houses around them later, and Chrysalis was focused back on the road. Buzz was the only noble confident enough to trot out in front, the rest of them flocking around her legs as if monsters were about to charge out at them from the empty alleyways they passed. “If we had all just waited there, the snow would have blocked us in. Believe me, when he starts talking it can be hard to get him to stop.”

She could feel the gazes of the nobles on her, Chrysalis shaking her head at how easily Chalmers could hold their interest.

Snow crunched to her right, and Holey trotted up to bump against a leg.

“Do you think things went well?”

‘So many questions.’

“I’ve come to realise that hoping for the best is wasted when Nigel is involved,” replied Chrysalis with a flick of her mane. “You’re usually lucky if he manages to not set anything on fire.” She glanced back down at Holey, smiled, and made a show of cocking her ear. “I don’t hear any explosions, so I think everything is going fine.”

Holey stared back at her in return.

“Are… are you feeling alright?”

“Never better, actually.”

“Oh… that’s good.”

Holey slowed her trots to fall back behind with the others, Chrysalis dismissing the last question with a soft shake of her head. A small part of her mind wondered if she was allowing herself to show too much weakness, but it was quickly pushed to the side.

‘They have been rather well behaved,’ she reasoned to herself as they rounded the street corner. Chrysalis snuck a glance back at the nobles behind her, the changelings whispering amongst themselves as they followed behind her. ‘Maybe Nigel was right, a trip out of the Hive has done wonders for their attitude.’ Looking back to the front, Buzz still out ahead by himself, she shifted uncomfortably. ‘And I might have to admit that I’m feeling a little better myself…’

Pausing her first instinct to self-chastise for even daring to question her own manner, she instead focused on her own trots, her smile from before returning as she just enjoyed the peaceful walk. The Crystal Palace drew nearer, and her thoughts drifted towards those of a nice warm room and bed.

“My Queen, look.”

Blinking her eyes, Chrysalis paused trotting to look at Buzz, the other nobles coming to a halt behind her.

Her bulkiest noble was standing a few body lengths ahead of her, his head poking around the corner of a silent house. Trotting up alongside him, Chrysalis angled her head around the corner and focused on where his outstretched foreleg was pointing.

She spotted one end of makeshift Sombra-prison, the smoky-black glass just visible behind another house corner at the far end of the street. The rest was obscured by the house, Chrysalis figuring that Nigel was likely lurking around on the other side.

‘I thought he would have made it to the Palace by now. He’s probably distracted again. Typical.’

With smile still on face, Chrysalis raised a snow covered foreleg and gave Buzz a pat on the shoulder. “Good work, now re-join the others and follow me. We’ve got a human to track down.”

She could feel his surprise even without the mental link.

“I… Yes, My Queen.”

Chrysalis continued to smile as he moved to follow her orders, and with a glance back she confirmed that the nobles were all trotting up to follow her. Her pace quickening without her notice, she hurried down the street with nobles in tow.

Reaching the end and rounding the corner of the house, Chrysalis bounded around the side of Sombra’s prison without even sparing the creature inside a victorious smirk, her wide eyes eagerly searching the surrounding area for Chalmers.

“Chrysalis!?”

Only to stop and meet the stares of the two ponies she wanted to see the least.

“You!”

Wings buzzed furiously as Chrysalis jumped back into the midst of her startled nobles with a shout, her horn sparking into life as she levelled both the pointed tip and her fang-filled snarl at Cadence and Shining Armour.

The Princess and Guard Captain, having leapt up from their previous position of sitting in the snow opposite Sombra, both appeared equally as surprised and unprepared as she was. Still, they wasted no time in powering their own horns, their eyes narrowing as they dug their hooves into the snowy ground and prepared to fight.

“You!” Cadence repeated with her own snarl, wings spreading out wide instinctively as Shining Armour glared from beside her. “Changeling!”

The name was spat out like an insult, a dirty curse word, and Chrysalis found her already-red hot temper burning even hotter.

“Filthy Equestrian!” Her hoof pawed a furrow into the snowy ground, eyes ablaze with fury as she stared her hated enemies down. “The nerve of you, to show your faces to me again!”

Behind her, the nobles started to recover from their shock, Chrysalis sending a pulse through the mental link to accelerate their readiness. “Don’t just stand there you fools! Prepare yourselves!”

The ten quickly snapped into action. Buzz, Chatter and Reflection (the three nobles assigned to the military caste) powered up their own horns with sickly-green glows, while the remainder of the nobles brandished their horns and tried to intimidate the ponies with fangs and snarls. Shining Armour and Cadence both seemed taken aback by the display, however their eyes shone with determination and they quickly intensified their resolve.

“Be careful Chrysalis, we’ve sent you flying once before!” Shining warned with a frown, Cadence nodding alongside him with gritted teeth.

“That’s right, and we’ll gladly do it again! We won’t let you or Sombra harm this city, I swear on it!”

Chrysalis snorted through her nostrils and stamped her hoof, her nobles hissing alongside her in agreement.

“Ha! Go ahead and try again, you worms! You think Sombra is bad, wait until you taste my wrath!” Her heart was pounding again as her tongue lashed her fangs, her mind screaming at her to charge the impudent duo and tear them apart. “Your pitiful excuse for love is no match for my own desire for revenge!”

Her words only gave Cadence encouragement.

“Once again, you try to lecture us on the power of love!” Cadence’s frown turned upwards into a hateful smirk. “Yet what do you know of it, save for the scraps that you steal from others, Changeling?”

No doubt, Cadence was after the reaction that Chrysalis had displayed at the ill-fated wedding invasion.

But far from hurt and anger, she was met with a surprising grin and laugh from Chrysalis instead.

“Nice try, Princess,” she chortled. “But unfortunately for you, I’ve feasted on a love that you and your pitiful husband could only dream of!”

With the announcement, there was a crack of power as her horn’s glow increased tenfold, everyone save Chrysalis being forced to avert their eyes. Sparks flew from the tip, twisting angrily in the air as they hissed and burned in the atmosphere, an audible hum louder and louder as the Queen of the Changelings continued to cackle triumphantly.

“Now you will regret your prior actions, Equestrians! Prepare to feel my wrath, before my children drain you dry!”

The snow around her whipped up into a frenzy, the suddenly less-confident nobles backing away from both their enemies and their Queen with eyes wide open as they were pelted with the cold and wet slurry. Chrysalis paid them no heed, her maniacal stare and fang-filled grin fixed firmly on Cadence and Shining.

To their credit, the two Equestrians stood their ground, Cadence and Shining sharing a quick look into each other’s eyes before they refaced her with their heads held high.

“You shan’t win,” Cadence announced with a suppressed wince as her own horn increased in power. “Not while Shining and I still stand here. You have one chance to back down and leave, Chrysalis…” Cadence’s eyes narrowed once more. “Before we both show you the door. Again!”

Chrysalis’ tongue danced around her fangs again, her muscles tensing as she hunched forwards and prepared to charge.

“Just try it!”

The attack spell was a split-second away from firing, before something cold and wet brushed against her nose.

Chrysalis froze in place as the snowball kissed the tip of her snout, before flying past to smash against the wall of the house beside her in a shower of white. Her spell remained charged and ready, even as a second snowy-projectile landed just shy of Shining Armour’s front hooves. The third snowball was even worse aimed, soaring over their heads to land on top of the house’s roof with a dull thud.

It earned her attention however, Chrysalis grimacing with a grunt as another voice spoke up amongst the traded threats and jabs.

“Hey, break it up, you lot!”

‘Oh come on,’ she mentally winced. ‘Of course he shows up now!’

“How about we all just… chill?”

Despite her anger, despite her hated foes opposite her, and despite her every attempt not to show any weakness, Chrysalis couldn’t help the small and embarrassed laugh that forced its way up. Instead she had to slam her jaws shut to contain it, leading to a muffled grunt that left her standing in the snow awkwardly with her horn still lit.

“I swear, I leave for a few minutes and everything falls apart.”

Snow crunched under metal boots, Chrysalis not taking her eyes off of Cadence and Shining as Chalmers approached from one of the side streets. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a forth snowball sitting in one of his hands, the potential projectile bouncing menacingly in the cup of his fingers.

“Stay out of this,” she growled out from the side of her mouth, horn still alight. “This is not your fight.”

She watched Cadence turn her head to look at Nigel, while Shining continued to focus on her with his horn.

“Watch out, that’s Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings, she’s vicious!”

Chrysalis could feel Nigel’s smirk.

“Oh, I know. Meaner than a pit of vipers on PCP, she is.” His footsteps drew closer, Chrysalis gritting her teeth as she continued to refuse to look at him. “Still though, I’m sure we can all just power down our… magic horns, and talk this through like calm and civil beings.”

“I am far from calm and civil,” Chrysalis growled out in response, her magic not wavering.

Across from her, his horn still alight as well, Shining Armour scoffed. “Isn’t that normal?”

“Hey now,” Nigel said as he walked out to step in-between the two sides, his hands held up. “There’s no need for any more-“

“You ruined our wedding, Chrysalis!” Cadence’s hoof stomped down in the snow, her magic also still strong. “I will never, ever forgive you for that!”

“Wait… wedding?”

The scathing retort that was primed and ready on Chrysalis’ tongue didn’t have its chance to be unleashed, instead she turned her eyes to stare at Chalmers as he tilted his head at Cadence.

“The wedding, you dolt! Remember?”

A blank stare, as she knew that he was doing it even under his helmet, was the only reply.

A short and sharp sigh escaped her, Cadence and Shining temporarily forgotten, as she raised a forehoof to her temple and closed her eyes for a brief second.

“I’ve told you already, about the Canterlot invasion.”

“Oh!” Nigel nodded and raised an armoured finger up into the air. “Yes, I remember that bit.”

“And about the wedding? You know, the royal wedding that I infiltrated?”

The looks of disgust from Shining Armour and Cadence at the memory went unnoticed by Chalmers.

“Hmm, yeah…”

Chrysalis lowered her foreleg to point at the pair and rolled her eyes. “So let’s put two and two together-“

“Four.”

She was not ready for the quick response, her mouth opening and closing as her horn’s glow weakened. A smile threatened to take root, but she banished it with a shake of her head and a snort.

“What? No. I mean, yes, but no!”

‘I swear, if this is his idea of a joke…’

“They are the ones who’s wedding I used to invade Canterlot, Nigel.” She jabbed her pointed foreleg at the pair, the Equestrians’ frowns having turned into looks of abject confusion. “Cadence and Shining Armour!” The names irked her to even pronounce. “They are the ones that defeated me and my army, is that simple enough for you? These two are my hated foes, my enemies, and you’re trying to stop me from destroying them!”

Chrysalis huffed and puffed as she waited for his response, her foreleg settling back to the ground.

Nigel for his part was silent for a moment, before he began to shake on the spot. Watching him, Chrysalis was just starting to wonder if something was legitimately wrong with him, before his hand started slapping an armoured knee and she frowned.

“Hahahaha!” Chalmers laughed, raising his head up to the sky. “I… you’re actually...,” he paused, laughter overwhelming him again before he got it under control. “B-b-balcony horses are the same that… that…”

He broke out into cackles again, a single finger pointing back to Cadence and Shining Armour.

“It’s not funny!” Stamping her hoof down, Chrysalis shouted at Chalmers as he broke out into laughter again. “Stop laughing, it’s serious! Nigel!”

“The sheer fucking coincidence!”

Cadence and Shining had been forgotten, Chrysalis now fully focused on Nigel. Fangs bared and wings buzzing angrily, she stomped up to him and raised a hoof.









“Should we… should we do something?”

Cadence didn’t turn to look at Shining Armour as he spoke, her eyes locked squarely on the two creatures bickering in front of them. Her mouth was still ajar, no words escaping it as the scene before them played out.

“Stop it!” Chrysalis’ yells were punctuated by her hardened hooves striking metal plate as she hammered the still-chuckling Chalmers on the chest. “I order you to stop!”

The other ten changelings were huddled together on the other side of the duelling duo, their previous show of fierceness having given way to nervous confusion. The revelation that she and Shining held a shared opinion of the situation with those on the enemy side was lost to Cadence.

“I… don’t know?” she murmured as the clangs continued. “I mean, they seem to know each other, right?”

The laughter wasn’t stopping anytime soon, and Chrysalis’ ineffective assault seemed to only encourage the biped further.

Shining’s eyes furrowed as he tilted his head. “Yeah, I think they do.” A moment of silence passed between them, though unfortunately the same could not be said for the rest of the group. “But how? I mean, he seems like a nice guy.”

“Maybe too nice,” Cadence murmured, with a silent wish for Chalmers to just beat Chrysalis as he did Sombra. She tore her eyes away and focused on the ten smaller changelings. “Still, they are changelings. We can’t just stand here and do nothing with them in the city.”

Beside her, Shining Armour nodded. “Right.” He waited for a few seconds before lowering his voice. “Have you got any ideas? Sombra took a lot out of me, I’ve kind of been bluffing the entire time.”

Cadence bit her bottom lip, her own aching body not forgotten.

“Nope.”

With that settled, the pair of them just stood and watched.

Eventually the fighting, and laughter, began to die out. Either Chrysalis had come to the realisation that her hooves were doing nothing against the metal, or more likely her hooves had started to hurt enough to force a ceasefire. Turning away from Chalmers, the changeling monarch flicked her mane in an obvious sulk.

“Oh come on,” Nigel addressed Chrysalis while holding his hands in the air. “Don’t be like that. It was only a joke.”

“A bad one,” Chrysalis huffed, still facing in the opposite direction as she shifted on her front hooves.

“My specialty.”

Cadence continued to watch as Chrysalis spun back around to face Chalmers, a foreleg stretching out to point right at them.

“This is not the time, not in front of the Equestrians!” She stepped closer, the same foreleg prodding him in the chest. “You’re embarrassing me!”

“Sorry.”

“You better be,” muttered Chrysalis while Chalmers rubbed the back of his helmet with a hand. Then, the Queen’s attention returned to Cadence and Shining with a glare. “Now, enough with the horrible jokes, destroy these two whelps.”

Cadence frowned, and beside her Shining shifted his legs into a combat position.

However, Chalmers didn’t move.

“Small hitch in the plan, there.”

A slight mouth twinge was the only break in Chrysalis’ pose.

“…What?”

“They’re, uh…” Chalmers leaned down sideways next to Chrysalis. “They’re the ones that are putting us up for the night. You said you expected rooms in the palace, so I asked them.” He looked up, and raised a hand. “Hey, Balcony Horses, we still cool? You know, the whole ‘stay the night’ deal?”

Cadence’s mind was unable to come up with a coherent reply in time, so instead she just stood there and stared blankly. Shining didn’t perform much better. “Uh…”

Nigel gestured down at Chrysalis, the changeling having closed her eyes. “She didn’t really want me to ‘destroy’ you, she’s just being a little dramatic. And I wasn’t going to do it anyway, you two are far too nice.”

“Nigel.” They all glanced at Chrysalis, the monarch having opened her eyes. “A word in private.”

“Sure.”

Turning to follow Chrysalis, who was steadily trotting over towards a house on the other side of the street, Chalmers looked back and gave them a thumbs up.

“I was not ready for this today,” Shining muttered with a sigh.









“Are you insane?”

Under his helmet, Nigel smirked.

“Well, I do have a court mandated psychiatrist, several actually, and-“

“Shut it.” Chrysalis made to raise a hoof to strike him again, but it waived before being set down again. Briefly closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths before opening them again. “Do you understand the problem here? These two Equestrians… I hate them so much. So much.” Her fangs flashed briefly as she glanced over her shoulder towards the pair. “There is absolutely no way I am going to stay in the same city as them, let alone the same palace, unless they’re thrown in the dungeons!”

Nigel watched as she continued to fume in place, her wings twitching erratically. He also noticed her shifting her weight from forehoof to forehoof with the occasional wince.

‘Probably wasn’t the brightest idea she’s had,’ he thought with a glance down at the snowy hoofprints on his armour. Looking at first towards the two apparent rulers of the city, then towards the huddled nobles, and finally towards the ever-darkening sky, he softly shook his head before letting out a sigh that he ensured Chrysalis would hear. He may have also exaggerated it a tad.

“I… look, Chrissy,” he dropped to a knee and removed the armour from his right hand as he spoke. “I get where you’re coming from, I do.” Reaching out, he grasped her left foreleg and took hold of her hoof. Chrysalis’ didn’t say anything as he massaged the soft underside, but her wings gave a light buzz. “But sometimes you’ve just got to grin and bear it.”

“Do you know what you’re asking?” she muttered, abet with far less venom than before. Her attention shifted down to her hoof as a shiver run down her back. “And don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do, either.”

“Let me put it this way,” Nigel replied as he switched to the other hoof and ignored the accusation. “It’s getting late, and we’ve managed to do what we came here to do.” He nodded over towards the nobles, still in a confused bunch and covered in snow. “They look like they could use a warm place to sleep tonight, I know you wouldn’t be too happy having to bed down in the snow, and I’d like to get out of this armour for a bit. A single night’s rest would do us all some good, and we can be gone in the morning.”

He let go of her hoof, Chrysalis frowning at him.

“You expect them to agree with this?”

“They already have,” he chuckled. “Sure, it might take a little convincing on my end, but I don’t see them refusing after what we did.” He glanced back again, this time at the box prison sitting by the street, forgotten.

Chrysalis snorted. “We could just beat them up and take it by force. How is that for convincing?”

She threw another glare over towards Cadence and Shining, the pair still standing silently on the road.

Chalmers sighed, before he stood up and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

“If it makes it more bearable for you, we can always come back and annex them later.” The ear flicked. “After we’ve sorted out our other business, of course.”

The other ear flicked.

“I’m still not happy.”

“I don’t suppose I can bribe you with more massages in a palace guest room?”

“Bah,” Chrysalis snorted again, and flicked her mane. “You’re going to need to do more than that.” Still, she scrunched up her face, before she sighed and shook her head. “Alright, fine. But I’m only doing it for them.” A hoof was flicked towards the ten nobles.

Under his helmet, Nigel rolled his eyes.

“Sure,” he scoffed, before he gestured towards the two equestrians and started walking towards them. “Come on, let’s go and get this over with.”

Chrysalis made to follow. “Don’t expect me to talk to them.”

“All fine with me, I’m counting on it.”









“So, I know that there are some differences between us all…”

Suppressing the snort that threatened to interrupt Nigel’s spiel, Chrysalis instead distracted herself by staring up at the sky as the sun made its sudden descent below the horizon.

 “But I’m sure that we, as civilised and rational adults, can set aside our differences for a small amount of time.”

Nigel spread his hands out as he spoke, Cadence and Shining glancing at each other.

“It’s not that simple,” Shining Armour replied. “No offense, to you, but changelings are pure evil.”

She had to resist the urge to laugh at the way he frowned and glared at her at the end, Shining narrowing his eyes at her before looking back up at Nigel with a grimace.

“How do we know that they won’t try and pull anything nasty?”

“Like at our wedding,” Cadence added with a glare over at Chrysalis.

‘Oh, what I would give to stick you back in those cold and dark caves,’ thought Chrysalis as she matched the glare with her own. Both she and Cadence stared off with each other, each getting more and more intense with every moment, until Chrysalis had to break it off when an armoured hand rested itself on the top of her head.

“I have to admit that I don’t know much about this wedding incident, stuff gets by me a lot of the time, but I can tell that it’s a bit of an issue for both sides.” He ignored her unamused glance. “I’ve already spoken to Chrysalis, and she’s assured me that there will be no takeover attempts or other skullduggery at all.” The hand on top of her head gave a light pat. “Besides, I think she’ll be much too tired from helping me defeat Sombra to cause you any trouble.”

Nigel was fixed with two incredulous stares.

“She actually helped defeat Sombra?” Cadence tilted her head, glancing from Nigel to her. “Chrysalis, Queen Chrysalis, did something… good?”

“I asked her very nicely.”

Chrysalis couldn’t hold in the snort at his words, Shining and Cadence glancing at her as she did so, but Nigel didn’t give them a chance to continue to question it.

“Hey, Swissy,” he asked with a look over towards the ten silent nobles standing back on the street. “Can you please come over here for a moment?” The high-born infiltrator in question gave a startled jump, but trotted forwards hesitantly soon after.

“Swissy?” Chrysalis heard Shining Armour murmur softly.

The remaining nobles watched her go with concerned gazes, Chrysalis likewise tilting her head and wondering as to what Nigel had planned.

Moving up to stand beside Nigel, Swissy eyed the two Equestrians warily as they directed their confused frowns at her. The hand on Chrysalis’ head was lifted off, and found itself a new home on Swissy’s shoulder. Snow crunched as Chalmers took a knee, his other hand patting Swissy on the side of her neck.

“Now Swissy,” said Nigel. “You’re not going to do anything bad if we stay here for the night, are you?”

“N-no,” came the reply, Swissy glancing towards the Equestrians and then back again. “You told us not to.”

“That’s right,” Nigel nodded. “So if the nice pony couple here let us stay in their palace for the night, you’ll behave yourself?”

Swissy nodded, before she visibly shivered. “Yes, I won’t bother them at all.” Another glance towards Cadence and Shining. “I’ll just be happy to sleep somewhere warm, Mister Chalmers. I promise I won’t do anything wrong, we all do.”

Nigel patted her on the head, before he looked back and smiled at Shining and Cadence. At least, Chrysalis was sure he was smiling under his helmet.

“Seems sincere to me.” Standing up, he pulled Swissy up against the side of his leg and continued to pat her on the head. “I wouldn’t worry about any incidences happening, I’ll take responsibility of them.” He paused, Chrysalis raising an eye at his words. “You may not trust them, but you’ll give me the benefit of the doubt… won’t you?”

‘Hmph, not bad.’ Looking over at Shining and Cadence, Chrysalis watched as they glanced at each other again. ‘Now let’s see if it works.’

The two Equestrians made numerous facial expressions at each other, before Cadence sighed and faced Nigel again.

“It is getting late,” she admitted with a glance up towards the sky. Shining still wore a slight frown upon his face, but Cadence’s eyes swept over the assembled nobles with just the tiniest twinge of sympathy. Then, her gaze alternated from Nigel to Chrysalis multiple times, with Chrysalis having to restrain the urge to bare her fangs at the upstart alicorn. The purple eyes almost seemed… curious, and it took a few moments of silence before Cadence continued speaking.

“I also can’t deny that your help with Sombra is very appreciated as well.” She focused back on Nigel. “And, you’ve guaranteed that the changelings won’t be an issue…”

“You’ll barely even know that they’re there,” Nigel promised with a hand over his chest.

Cadence glanced at Shining Armour again, before looking back and nodding her head.

“Then, and I stress that this is not out of any forgiveness towards them, we are okay with you and your… companions staying in some of the palace rooms for the night. There is no palace staff at the moment however, so you shouldn’t expect any degree of service.” Cadence’s expression hardened. “And you need to be gone from this city by mid-morning tomorrow, no later.”

Then, Cadence smiled up at Nigel.

“Except for you of course, Mr Chalmers. My husband and I will be more than happy to see you again some time.”

Chrysalis frowned with a retort primed and ready to go, but Nigel’s chuckle prevented her from verbalising it.

“Thanks, I might take you up on that in the future.”

Smirking at the memory of their previous conversation, Chrysalis noticed Shining looking at her. Huffing, she flicked her mane and looked away, Cadence and Nigel both taking notice before Cadence looked up towards the night sky again.

“Well, let me show you to your rooms. I think it will be an early night for all of us.”

With that, Cadence bumped Shining in the flank and turned to trot back to the palace, the two ponies making fast progress in the light snow.

Chrysalis turned around briefly to gesture at the nobles with a hoof, before she began to trot after Cadence and Shining with Nigel and Swissy alongside her.

“Well, that went well,” Nigel observed. Chrysalis letting out a harrumph in agreement. His voice dropped to a murmur, Swissy looking up as a hand patted her on the head again. “Good work back there too, Swissy. The ‘Mister’ was a bit of overkill, though.”









“Wow, like, you guys weren’t kidding about before.”

Reflection rolled her eyes at Keith’s observation, her head digging deeper into her pillow as the rhythmic thumps from the other side of the wall continued. Thankfully it wasn’t as loud as it had been in the bat-pony city, Reflection betting that it was more due to the thicker crystal walls than any lack of enthusiasm from those taking part, but it was still making it rather difficult for her to sleep.

The conversation between her fellows wasn’t helping much either.

All ten of them had ended up sharing a single room, and the single large bed was barely enough to fit them. It was very comfortable though, the bright blue bedsheets augmented by the addition of a ton of assorted pillows and extra linen that had been looted from the nearby wooden cabinets. It was nearly enough to take Reflection’s mind off of the fact that she’d been assigned to the very bottom of the bed.

“I can’t believe that you don’t even seem to care,” Cupid replied from the very centre. “It’s so distracting.”

“Slaves…”

Reflection lifted her head to glare at the sheet-covered box in the corner of the room. “Pipe down, you.”

“Crystals…”

A chuckle from Keith, the annoyingly-accented infiltrator shifting in his spot at the top of the bed, right against the offending wall in question.

“Hey, you’ve got to look on the bright side,” he advised with a shrug of his shoulders. “Whenever they bang, they’re both in a good mood afterwards. It’s, like, he’s dosing the Queen up with extra love and stuff.” He paused, before chuckling softly. “Hehe, ‘dosing’.”

“Eww…” Cupid whispered, Reflection able to feel her shudder from where she was. “It’s still weird to think about.”

“He’s got a point,” Reflection muttered from her pillow, before sighing. “Now can we all just stop talking about it and go to sleep? Some of us actually want to function properly in the morning.”

“Yeah. Okay.” Pausing, Cupid’s voice raised a tad. “As long as Buzz stops touching my rump with his hoof and getting dangerously close to copping a feel.”

“That’s not my hoof.”

Around the bed, every changeling’s ears flicked up.

“Oops, sorry,” Mirror whispered. “That’s my foreleg. My bad.”









Cadence winced and rolled over in bed as sunlight assaulted her face, drowsy sleep vanishing only to be replaced with a dull, aching throb. Her foreleg made contact with a furry shoulder, the body next to her likewise rousing from slumber.

“Urgh… Good Morning,” Shining greeted as he sat up, rubbed his eyes, and yawned.

“Nothing good about it.” Rolling over again, she tried to block out the sun shining through the window by planting her face into her pillow. “Do we have to get up? Everything hurts.”

Shining snorted. “Well, as much as I’d like to stay in bed all day, we sort of have something to deal with this morning, remember?”

Searching her mind, it took Cadence a few seconds to recall what he was talking about.

“Chrysalis!” She rocketed up in the bed, her front hooves scrambling to remove the pink sheet that was covering them both. “Shining… oh Celesta, we let her stay in this very palace!” The sheet was flung off, and Cadence ran her hooves over herself to check for any abnormalities. Finding none, she quickly glanced at every table and wardrobe in the room, her eyes searching for any sign of foul play.

“You let them,” Shining grumbled, before he cricked his neck and slid out of bed. “Come on, let’s go see what damage they’ve caused.”

Hesitantly, Cadence slid out of bed as he ambled over towards the closed wooden door. Her hooves hit the azure blue rug that dominated the majority of their bedroom floor, a pang of pain shooting up through her left foreleg. Brushing it off with a wince, she moved to follow Shining as he opened the door and stepped out into the corridor.

She passed the bathroom door as she did so, not even stopping to properly tidy her frazzled mane and tail.

Following alongside her husband, she yawned.

“Looks like they’re already up,” Shining murmured with a nod towards the open door near the end of the corridor. Slowing their trots, thy both peeked into the room that they had given to the ten ‘normal’ changelings.

“Huh,” Cadence said with a raised eye as she observed the neatly made bed and folded sheets of linin stacked upon it. “That’s unexpected.”

Shining nodded, his head tilting at the sight. “They actually cleaned up after themselves, changelings…”

Cadence glanced to the room next door, its own oak door still shut tight. Softly trotting up, she gently tried the sapphire crystal knob and found it to be locked. Staring at it for a moment, she toyed with the idea of practicing the lock picking spell she had learnt as a teenager.

‘I wonder…’ she pondered, remembering how the two leaders of their guests had shared a room the night before. The situation between them still confused her, and she had yet to tell Shining about the genuine feelings of love that she had picked up between the pair. ‘Should I?’

Her hoof wavered, before it left the knob and returned to the floor.

‘I better not, the last thing I want this morning is another battle.’

“Hey, you smell that?”

Cadence turned back around to face Shining, to find that his nose was raised up into the air. Following his example, she took a few deep sniffs.

A whiff of something crossed her nostrils, Cadence’s eyes widening slightly as she intensified her efforts to narrow it down.

Coffee.

Pepper.

And…

“Eggs?” Shining questioned with a hint of desire. He looked at her. “We had eggs?”

A shake of her head.

“No, only the cans in the storeroom. And that was all fruit, soup and vegetables.” She frowned. “And some thousand year-old, magically preserved bread. We weren’t confident enough to try it, remember?”

Shining’s nostrils flexed and he loudly sniffed again. “No, that’s definably eggs. Cooked eggs.” He glanced back at her. “Changelings cook? Do they even eat?”

She didn’t even have the slightest clue as to the answer, but Cadence did know one thing. “Changelings might not, but I’m betting that somepony else does.”

Both she and Shining shared a look, before they glanced back at the still-locked bedroom door. A growling sound interrupted the silence, and the two of them look down at Shining’s stomach.

“I’m getting myself some of those eggs,” he muttered with a nod to himself. He focused back up on Cadence, and caused her to sigh.

“Fine, let’s go then.”

They turned around and went back the way they had come, Shining trotting quickly with a spring in his step. Cadence smiled, her nose once again giving the air an appreciative sniff.

‘I can’t lie, it does smell very good.’









‘Mhmm…’

Reflection hummed with eyes closed as she took another gulp of coffee out of a crystal mug, her tastebuds picking up a delicious hint of chocolate. She had no idea where or how it had been sourced, but she wasn’t about to ask any questions about it.

‘Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?’ she wondered, opening her eyes and lowering the now half-full mug to look around the dining table.

Said table was an admittedly impressive piece of furniture, the entire length constructed out of shimmering clear crystal with gold and silver trimmings. It seemed large enough to comfortably seat at least one hundred ponies (and changelings, of course) by her estimate, and it and the many identical clear-crystal stools on either side only added to the large dining room. Glowing crystals in ceiling-mounted chandeliers lit up the area, and the light glinted off of the multiple precious gemstones set into the top edges of the table. They had all congregated down one end, the end closest to the open doorway that released all sorts of wonderful and delightful smells.

Certainly, she couldn’t think of anything in the hive that could even come close to competing with it.

That thought was kept to herself, of course.

Her fellow nobles were also preoccupied with their own mugs, the silence save for the occasional happy murmur or slurp testament to the potent chocolate/coffee mix. Well, except for Buzz and Holey, who were busy having a staring contest with smoky-Sombra while they savoured their drinks. The former King continued to unintelligently mutter from inside his prison on floor.

 Reflection took another sip of her own drink, her wings giving a light buzz while she eyed the teapot of fresh coffee that had been brought out only a few minutes earlier.

‘Totally worth the trip alone.’

“Alla belisimo, strigo a-la-marie-e-e-e!”

The slightly-less wonderful and delightful singing drew everyone’s attention to the doorway. Ears flicked and noses twitched as another bout of clangs and whirs heralded the release of yet more food smells. Reflection’s grey tail swished and brushed the back of her stool, a smile firm on her face.

‘Almost makes me wish that we lived off solid food.’

“Something smells good.”

The mood instantly soured, every changeling going silent and lowering their cups.

Twisting her head around, Reflection watched as Shining Armour and Cadence trotted into the room. The two ponies stared back for a moment, before the pair of them moved towards the middle of the table and sat down with five empty stools between them and the nearest changeling. Apart from Shining’s initial observation, there was no more attempts at communication save for uncomfortable glances and whispers between the groups.

“Ah, though I heard someone else.”

Everyone looked over towards the kitchen doorway, Nigel sticking his head out to smile at Cadence and Shining.

“I was expecting Chrissy, but you two are more than welcome to join us for breakfast if you want. Your kitchen, after all.”  A bare hand, clutching a large speckled egg, reached out to gesture at the teapot and spare cups. “There’s fresh coffee on the table as well, don’t let them hog it all.”

“Oh, thank you,” Cadence nodded with a smile back, before she pursed her lips. “Chrysalis… isn’t down yet?”

Reflection recognised the particular grin that Chalmers wore at the question, and rolled her eyes when he gave the Equestrians a wink.

“She’s having a bit of a lie-in this morning, didn’t get much sleep last night.”

With that, he returned to the depths of the kitchen, the sounds of banging pans and ominous whirring resuming once more.

While Cadence sat and seemed to process the information with a befuddled look, Reflection noticed that Shining Armour was much more preoccupied with another task. A tinkle of pony magic heralded the levitation of the coffee pot, a blue glow lifting the tea set and two mugs over towards the Equestrian pair.

Glancing down at the dregs of delicious coffee remaining in her own cup, Reflection looked back up with a glare and met Shining’s eyes. Pouring himself a cup, Shining raised his own eyes and made a pointed glance over towards the kitchen door, making sure that she got the hint.

‘You’re lucky that he’s here,’ Reflection silently grumbled as she drank the final few drops. ‘Stupid Equestrian.’

Sitting back in her chair with a sigh, she caught Sheen eying her and giving a flick of his ears. Focusing on him, she smirked when he shifted his eyes towards Shining Armour before making a subtle obscene motion with his forehoof under the table.

A muffled giggle to her right, Holey obviously having caught sight of it as well, was followed up by the clank of metal boots upon crystal floor.

Nigel emerged from out of the kitchen, plates balanced in his arms and a comically small pink apron strapped to his armoured chest. Despite the hated Equestrians sitting with them, not a single changeling could resist at least a smile at the sight.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Chalmers said with a smile as he placed the two plates down in front of Cadence and Shining. “I raided your panty for some canned tomatoes and a loaf of bread. Can’t just have poached eggs without toast and fried tomato, you know?”

“There’s no need for apologies at all,” Cadence replied with a smack of her lips at the mountain of food on her plate. “This looks amazing.”

“Where did you even get these eggs?” asked Shining, already swallowing his first mouthful and licking the yolk off of the side of his mouth.

Chalmers laughed as he stood back up. “Glad you like them, I went for a walk last night and managed to find them.” He turned back towards the kitchen. “Speaking of which, I’ll be back in a tick. Got to finish up my own, then I’ll join you.”

He paused, Reflection perking up when he turned to smile at the rest of them.

“How about you lot, want any eggs?”

“Uh, I think we’re fine,” Buzz replied to various nods of agreement. “Eggs are… kind of a little weird.”

Everyone, even Chalmers, ignored the scoff from Cadence.

“Oh, okay then, I guess.” He took a moment, before he held up a finger. “Oh. Ohhhhh. Right, I remember now. Yeah, probably just a little weird.”

With that, he turned on his heels and headed back into the kitchen, humming as he did so. Silence returned to the table momentarily, save for the two Equestrians nosily devouring their meals.

Reflection raised her nose and sniffed at the strange and spicy smell that wafted out from the kitchen as Nigel’s footfalls reapproached, the scent not an unpleasant one. The sight that she was met with when he walked back out with his own plate, however, was quite the opposite.

“What the…”

Nigel’s plate wasn’t so much a plate, rather it was more like a large silver serving tray. But that wasn’t the issue. No, the issue had more to do with the steaming contents than the sheer serving size.

“Is… is that a cockatrice?”

Chalmers tilted his head at Cadence’s open-mouthed question as he sat down between Reflection and Chatter, his eyebrows furrowing while he wrapped a hand around an exposed leg-bone.

“Cock-a-what?” Cooked flesh ripped apart as he lifted a drumstick up. “It’s just a snake-chicken.” He glanced down at his plate. “Two actually. Found them out on my morning walk, and it turns out they really, really don’t like people taking their eggs.”

He paused and took a bite of the morsel he held, seemingly oblivious to the disturbed looks that everyone was giving him while he chewed.

“Hmm…” he hummed as he rotated the leg around to examine it. “Not half bad, really. Could have used just a tad more pepper.” He finished it off with a lick of his lips, the stripped bone clacking when it hit the plate. Without stopping, and with the eyes of every pony and changeling upon him, he picked up one of the seasoned tails and waggled it around the table. “Anyone want to try it? It’s like chicken, but… well, I guess with a tad, just a tad, of snakey aftertaste.” He held up his free hand and made an ‘o’ shape with his fingers, kissing it with a smile. “I miei occhi sanguinano. Delicious.”

Everyone shook their heads at the offer, Shining even looking a little green, before the tip of the tail made its way around to Reflection. She watched Nigel waggle it just before her snout, the tip a hair’s breadth away from booping her on the nose.

“Uh… no thanks,” she said with a lean back.

Chalmers glanced around the table again, before he shrugged. “Okay, more for me then.”

Quick as a flash, the tail, the entire tail, was lifted up and deposited into his gob at once. Reflection couldn’t supress the shudder that ran down her spine as the sound of crunching and cracking bones filled the dining room, Nigel smiling happily to himself all the while.

Silently, she made a mental note to make herself scarce if he ever declared that he was hungry.

The few dregs of eggs and coffee that were left on the table were forgotten as he continued to absolutely devour the feast before him. Like watching a fully-loaded carriage crash straight into a filly-scout troop, no-one was able to look away as the two cooked cockatrices rapidly became just half of one plus some picked-clean bones. Even Sombra was preoccupied with the spectacle, the imprisoned king pressing his smoky-face up to one corner of his box in order to get a better look.

As Reflection stared at Nigel eating the last chicken-wing whole, she couldn’t help but shake her head.

‘What could have possibly made him that hungry?’

She only caught the flash of teal in the corner of her eye for a split second, before she had to hold onto the table as her seat was buffeted from the side. Regaining her balance, she glared down towards her left before quickly leaning away.

“Oh, Good Morning to you as well!”

“Morning,” Chrysalis murmured in reply to Chalmers as she busied herself with nuzzling his armoured side. Eyes half lidded, she didn’t acknowledge anyone else at the table, including the staring pair of Cadence and Shining Armour. She didn’t even react to the last remaining cockatrice drumstick that was dangled in front of her face.

“Want one?”

The Queen smiled, an ear flicking. “No, I’m still full from last night.”

Reflection stared blankly at the table as Chrysalis giggled.

‘…Ew.’

“Huh, well fortunately I don’t subsist on love,” Nigel snorted in response as he took another bite from the chicken leg. “So I guess that works for me.” 

The Queen’s tail flicked as she circled around his back to switch sides, still nuzzling as her voice dropped to a whisper that Reflection barely heard.

“Well, I’m sure I can manage to fit in some breakfast if I have to…”

“Settle down,” chuckled Chalmers as he placed the last bone down upon his plate and wiped his hands on his armour, also seeming oblivious to the stares. “I’ve got to do the dishes, and then we’ve got to make our way back home. Are you ready to go?”

Chrysalis stopped nuzzling and lifted her head, and to the surprise of all she leaned forwards to give him a peck on the cheek.

“I’m going to have a quick bath,” she announced with a lick of her fangs and a quick wave at the rest of them seated at the table, before turning around and merrily trotting back out of the door. “Have fun doing a servant’s work.”

Unseen to Chrysalis, Nigel turned around and raised a middle finger towards her departing hindquarters, before he turned around and finally acknowledged the attention he’d garnered. “What are you all looking at?”

There was a brief moment of hesitation, before Cadence shook her head and leaned in.

“How?” The alicorn demanded. “Just how?”

“How what?”

A pink hoof was trust at the doorway that Chrysalis had departed through.

“Chrsyalis. She was… happy?”

Shining Armour did a double take.

“She didn’t even insult us…” he muttered.

Nigel frowned in thought, before he sat up and brushed it off with a wave. “Oh, yeah. She’s actually a lot like that now, thankfully.” He lowered his voice at the last word, before returning to a normal volume. “Chrissy’s just tense a lot of the time, under a lot of pressure and stuff like that. I just have to provide some stress relief from time to time and she’s like putty.”

“Stress relief.” Cadence repeated blankly.

“Yeah,” Nigel leaned back on his stool with his fingers making quotation marks. “’Stress relief’.”

Another chuckle, but this time it was from Keith, not Nigel.

“Well, like, it seems to work,” the noble smiled with a nod to Chalmers. “Good job, dude. I like Happy Queen, least she isn’t yelling all the time anymore.”

Reflection put her head in her hooves, unable to understand why Keith had just said what he had just said.

“Damn right,” Nigel replied with a click of his fingers, his thumbs pointing back at himself. “One-hundred percent, au naturale stress relief in one handsome package.” There was a pause. “Well, au naturale save for the military genetic enhancements, professional honeypot training, biological adaption experiments, illegal drug regime, and the spell that evil wizard guy cast on me a while ago.” He paused to scratch his chin. “Should probably have reported that.”

There was another moment of silence, before Shining Armour raised a hoof into the air.

“Uh… what job did you say you did again?”

There wasn’t even a single second of hesitation.

“Royal stress-reliever, apparently,” Nigel laughed, before he cricked his shoulders and picked up his plate. “Now, enough joking around. Who wants to give me a hand with the washing up?”









Water dripped off of a metal hull, as waves crashed against the bow of a lone submarine surfaced in the middle of the ocean.

Twilight sat next to her mother and watched her living pirate ancestor swivel around and around in her command chair, Morning Sparkle pausing only occasionally to squint out towards the endless sea and mutter to herself.

“We’re lost, aren’t we?” Twilight asked with a sigh.

“We’re not lost,” Morning snapped with a scowl as she continued to glance around through the transparent bridge walls. “Things have just changed in a bit over the centuries, that’s all.” She paused, scratching her chin with a forehoof. “I could have sworn there used to be a continent over there…