Chrysalis walked back into the party to see AppleJack talking with Fluttershy, who was sitting next to Rainbow Dash. Twilight was next to Luna. Nightmare was talking to an unfamiliar white unicorn and Pinkie was tap dancing on the table.
Chrysalis snuck over while the pink was distracted and sat next to Nightmare.
"Oh Summer, this is Rarity" Nightmare introduced the white unicorn.
"Hello..."
"Oh my Celestia" Rarity rushed over to Chrysalis and stroked her mane "Your mane is exceptional, Darling. It honestly shines"
Chrysalis blushed "Thank you"
The supply of love and emotions from being around ponies was making her mane fill into a dark emerald color even in her disguise.
"Summer!" Pinkie screamed and jumped on her sending that mare about 5 haunches from her seat.
"Hi Pinkie" She sighed wiggling from underneath the pink mare.
"Did you taste the cake? I made it just for you two!" She questioned
"Not yet but I will never get to it if you keep jumping on me, Pinkie"
Pinkie gasped and scrambled off of the mare. The changeling shook her head and went to sit down again when she bumped into the pink mare holding a plate of chocolate cake. Her jaw dropped as she looked over to the other side of the cottage where the cake sat and then to Pinkie. 'Stop questioning it, Chrysalis' She thought and took the cake into her hooves.
The pink party pony quickly sat down next to Nightmare and patiently watched her. Chrysalis shuffled awkwardly and took a bite of cake. Her face was graced with a smile "It's delicious, Thank you Pinkie" She praised.
Pinkie's face broke into a big smile "No problem!"
Nightmare stared at her.
"What?"
"You have a little something, Riiiight" Nightmare licked a bit of blue frost off of the tip of her nose "There"
Chrysalis' face exploded with color all the way to the tips of her ears as Nightmare chuckled.
"Awwe" All of the ponies around them chorused.
Chrysalis turned away as her face became an unripe tomato with a green mane. It was like all of the romance novels that the changeling had read but in reality. Her mind was going a mile a minute attempting to calm her pounding heart. She wanted to say something but her entire body was frozen yet flushed with heat.
"I... think you broke her, Darling"
The other ponies laughed softly.
"It's so sappy" Rainbow gagged making AppleJack tug on her prismatic tail.
Pinkie didn't say anything as she disappeared again and reappeared a few seconds later. She had a banner with her that read: Congratulations on your new relationship!!! And was decorated by mini stick figure pony drawings of Night Tide and Summer.
"Poor thing, I-I would have been so embarrassed. I-In fact, I'm embarrassed for her" Fluttershy stuttered with a red face of her own.
"It's secondhand embarrassment. I know I would be embarrassed if Luna did that" Twilight giggled.
Luna just gave her a mischievous smirk.
Nightmare watched Chrysalis from the corner of her eye as the changeling turned back around to join the discussion.
"I-I think I'm going to go to bed" She stumbled out of her seat and literally ran upstairs.
Everypony went silent for a second "Ah think we made it worse by commenting about it" AppleJack said
Nightmare stared at the stairs for a moment before getting out of her seat "It was nice meeting all of you but we have a long trip tomorrow. Goodnight" She said quickly before running after Chrysalis.
Nightmare knocked at the door "Chrysalis, I didn't mean to upset you..." She whispered shuffling while looking down in shame.
There was a slight shuffle from inside and then the door opened
"You didn't upset me, I just got super embarrassed so I ran away. But I enjoyed it even if it caught me off guard" She said pulling her in.
Nightmare walked in and closed the door allowing her disguise to melt away.
"I never expected you to be so bold. I thought that was my thing" Chrysalis whispered with an adorable pout.
Nightmare chuckled shaking her head before giving her a hesitant kiss on the forehead.
"Nightmare..."
"I don't know..."
"Do you want to be?"
Nightmare went silent and just nodded slowly.
"I mean it's just dating. Complete strangers date each other all the time. It's not like we're getting married." Chrysalis said putting her mane into a bun.
Nightmare let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as Chrysalis crawled into the bed. Nightmare crawled beside her and stared into her emerald eyes.
"I've honestly seen Yaks fall in love in less time" Nightmare whispered. Chrysalis chuckled "Do their relationships work out?"
Nightmare gave her a mischievous smile "You wouldn't know because they share their mares with everyone in the tribe" She informed her. Chrysalis shuddered "Why?"
"More competition and bigger population. I'm honestly suprised they keep within their borders. I wonder if their traditions are the same." She said simply. Chrysalis shuddered again feeling the blanket becoming more uncomfortable by the second.
"Speaking of.... that, do you, alicorns even go into heat?"
Nightmare nodded "Every full moon for me and Luna"
Chrysalis' eyes widened as her jaw dropped "That's often!"
Nightmare chuckled "But all alicorns have an extremely low impregnation rate."
Chrysalis nodded dumbly attempting to process this new information.
"What about changelings?"
"The Queen can induce her own heat when she feels it is necessary to fertilize eggs but being around a lot of love can induce it automatically."
Nightmare nodded feeling her eyelids getting heavier from this random conversation topic. Chrysalis laid her head on the pillow "Goodnight, I guess" She whispered. Nightmare let out a series of mumbles into the pillow as they both fell asleep.
-----
Nightmare grumbled as she felt light nudges on her side. Her seafoam eyes slowly opened to see Zecora.
"You wished for me to wake you when the sun rose in the sky. I believe it is time for us to say Goodbye" She whispered holding out her saddlebag full of groceries and her bit bag.
Nightmare yawned and rose from the bed carefully as to not wake the change and slid the items onto her waist. She looked to see Chrysalis sleeping peacefully and smiled sliding her onto her back with her magic.
"Thank you for everything, Zecora. I am in your debt." She whispered as she walked outside.
Zecora shook her head quickly and opened the door for her "Safe travels, my friend." She said
Nightmare looked at her in shock that she didn't rhyme but quickly turned back to the road. She walked through the forest silently until she stumbled upon a familiar structure. The Castle of the Two Sisters.
Nightmare stood there for a second, then nodded with a silent ambition before walking away from the building.
After a while, the changeling on her back finally woke up.
"Wha..." She groaned looking around
"Good Morning, Chrysalis"
"Good Morning...." She muttered crawling off of the alicorn "Why didn't you wake me? Not that I'm complaining"
"You looked so peaceful"
Chrysalis snorted in disbelief
"After you look past all the snoring and drooling"
Chrysalis glared at her "I don't do either of those things"
Nightmare snickered "You don't snore, that was a joke but you do drool"
Chrysalis let out a small series of curses as she walked in front of her.
"At least you look cute while doing it"
"Shut up..."
------
After about an hour, they could see the familiar cottage. And outside was a glaring unicorn. Nightmare gave Chrysalis a sympathetic look.
"I ought to put more holes in you than there are in Chrysalis' legs'
"Hey!"
The unicorn turned her glare to the changeling "I told you to go shopping not to buy a house and have 3 foals"
Chrysalis opened her mouth to correct her but closed it when her glare intensified.
"Chrysalis got an extremely high fever so our return was delayed" Nightmare explained.
North fell silent after that. "Are you ok?" She questioned her putting a hoof to the changeling's head.
"I'm fine..."
"I'll make a soup for you!"
"North... I plan to leave" Nightmare said surprising the mare and the changeling. North's ears drooped "Why?" She asked softly.
"I wish to find a place in Canterlot. I won't abuse your hospitality any longer"
Chrysalis stiffened "Why can't I stay here. I won't be any use in Canterlot. They probably have changeling spells everywhere after my stunt"
"Do you not trust me to protect you? Besides you know exactly why you cannot stay" Nightmare stated. Chrysalis narrowed her eyes "You don't know what I've experienced in Canterlot. That entire place is a death zone for criminals like us and besides you haven't been victorious in conquering Canterlot either"
Nightmare stiffened gritting her teeth "We are going to Canterlot." She said finally walking into the house and packing her things.
Chrysalis opened her mouth to oppose her but all her words turned to ash on her tongue when she remembered her expression. It was an expression that screamed 'No arguments'
Chrysalis growled "Fine... It's not like I have anything to lose anyway"