//------------------------------// // 17 Tongue-twister // Story: For science - Book three // by Znegil //------------------------------// “We only have about two hours before we have to pick up Lavender at the train station, so let's start right away.”, I told them. “Where is the revised list?” “I've got it right here.”, Twilight was happy to announce. That moment the front door was opened with so much force it slammed loudly against the wall. “Sorry for being late…”, Lyra shouted out of breath. “... I got home so late from the party and was a little tipsy… I overslept.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “That's okay Lyra, but next time try not to destroy the door.” “Oh, sorry for that as well, I try to be more careful next time.” Chrysalis coughed to gain some attention. “Speaking of being sorry…”, she began and paused for a moment to take a deep breath. “I'm really sorry for what I have done to you… you know the whole taking your place stuff. And please tell Bon-Bon as well that I'm sorry for what happened.” Chrysalis gazed at the ground where her hoof was drawing circles while we all looked at her surprised. Lyra seemed unsure how to respond to her so a few seconds of uncomfortable silence passed before she replied. “I guess nopony was hurt. You would have got us out of this… stuff eventually?”, she asked her. “Well of course.”, Chrysalis replied. “The stasis goo is only temporary. I would have come for you to let you go… after I wiped your memory of course.” “In that case, I guess I can forgive you.”, said my aquamarine lab assistant. “Since you bring it up, what is this ‘stasis goo’?”, I asked her. “It’s one of the different substances I can produce with the glands inside my mouth, it can…” “No!”, Twilight interrupted. “I put much time and work into this new list, we will continue with your sense of smell and we WILL stay in order!” Even without sensing here feeling I would have known it was best to play along. “Sooo, Chrysalis…”, I continued. “Please tell us about your sense of smell.” She needed a moment to recover before she answered, Twilight's outburst had surprised her. “Similar to my hearing, it is far above average and as you know I can also smell feelings when I'm not able to use my magic.” Twilight scribbled all new information on a scroll while we talked. “Well, that should finally bring us to your mouth.”, I stated. “From what you teased I understand you can produce different substances inside your mouth?” “That's true.”, she replied. “There are multiple…” Spike came running into the room. “Twilight! Twilight!” “What now?!”, my marefriend shouted. I felt she was eager to finally learn everything and write her paper about the changeling race, she wasn't happy about more delays. Spike flinched from this response. “A letter came back from Princess Celestia.”, he silently replied. “Twilight, honey. Please calm down a bit. ”, I told her and put my hand on her shoulder. I felt some of the tension left her body. “Sorry Spike.”, she excused herself. “You know how high-strung I am when I learn about new stuff, I didn't want to scream at you.” “I know. It isn't a big deal.”, Spike answered, but I felt he was hurt. “Here's the letter.” He gave her the scroll and quickly left the room. Twilight immediately unrolled and read it. Her face didn't show any reaction but I felt uncertainty through our connection. She wordlessly handed me the scroll so I could read it myself. ‘Dear Twilight. It is wonderful to hear Chrysalis is coming along with everypony so far and I'm looking forward to all the things you can learn about her and her race. I trust your and Stella's judgment, you can decide when to remove the magic-blocking clamp. Princess Celestia’ I thought that was wonderful news, but from my marefriend’s reaction, I knew she wasn't so sure about the situation. What should I do? “Let's go to the other room to talk for a moment.”, I addressed Twilight. “Is something wrong?”, Chrysalis asked worriedly. “No, quite the opposite, no reason to worry. I just need a moment to talk to Twilight about our next steps.”, I replied. We walked into the next room and I closed the door. “I know you want to remove it right away, but I'm not so sure about that.”, my marefriend started as soon as the door was closed behind us. “I'm not sure I can protect you if she...” I put a finger on her lips. “I know you still don't fully trust her, but I really feel like I can. Additionally, I think I could feel animosity from her if she really had evil intentions.”, I brushed my fingers through her mane, it always helped to calm her down a bit. “Let's just take it off.” She smiled at me. “At the beginning of our relationship I thought I would be the calm and logical one of us, I guess I was wrong.” “But there are many other things I love about you.”, I replied and kissed her softly, she was humming happily. … A few minutes later we entered the library again. “We have the permission of Princess Celestia to remove the magic-blocking clamp.”, Twilight announced. We had decided she would tell Chrysalis, I thought it would strengthen their bond a bit. “That is indeed great news.”, Chrysalis said happily. “It's so much easier to use magic for most of the stuff.” She came closer and bent down her head so Twilight had a good look on the clamp. My marefriend stared at it for a few moments and didn't do a thing, only when I poked her flank a bit she finally started to use her magic on the gold jewelry and within seconds she had detached it. “Thank you.”, our changeling-guest said in a warm voice as she lifted her head. I knew she couldn't have missed Twilight's hesitation but she didn't let it show, she just seemed happy to use her magic again. “You're welcome.”, Twily replied evading to look at her directly, instead she brought up her list again. “Let's finally get to the incredible things you can do with your mouth.” Chrysalis showed a big lewd grin. “Are we still talking about the goo I can produce or are you talking about other things...” Twilight’s face was bright red. “The goo stuff!”, she interrupted. “Don't you want to know about the other possibilities as well? You know, my tongue is thinner than the one of a pony, but it's twice as long and I have total control over it.” My marefriend’s face disappeared behind the scroll, I was surprised it didn't burst into flames by the amount of heat her face emitted. “I write down the fact about your tongue, but please stick to the goo part.” She was having so much fun teasing uptight Twily.