//------------------------------// // Utter Pandemonium // Story: I was just lonely ... // by Rune Caster the First //------------------------------// Breakfast the next day, was a hearty one. The Mane 6 sat together in the castle’s dining hall dining on chocolate chip pancakes. “So, how is everypony today?” the purple alicorn asked as she chomped down on a veritable stack of pancakes. She was answered by a series of ‘Fine’s, ‘Awesome’s and ‘Okay’s from the rest of the ponies and dragon. “You’ll be pleased to know that our live-in patient is on the road to recovery”, she said. Fluttershy nodded. “Chrysalis’s temperature is getting lower, and she’s isn’t as hot as she was before. Her fever will be gone soon,” she said quietly. Rainbow and Rarity sighed with relief in unison. “Thank goodness”, the rainbow pegasus said with a huff. “That means less watch duty, at least.” “Her magic is improving too”, Starlight added. “Her power level should be at average in a day’s time.” “And that’s partly thanks to Applejack and Pinkie for getting those plants from Zecora’s place, and for making the gruel.” Twilight pointed at the aforementioned ponies, who smiled at her words. “What were the names of those plants?” asked the pink unicorn, sipping the last of her milkshake. “Bogwurt root and poison joke”, Applejack said. Pinkie Pie nodded. Most of the ponies (and dragon) looked surprised at the mention of ‘poison joke’. Starlight and Twilight, on the other hoof, didn’t look at all startled. “It’s a good healing combination”, the alicorn said. She winked at the others. “I found in a book on herbology that she found on a back shelf in the castle library earlier this morning.” Starlight suddenly frowned. “Did you get petals, not the leaves?” the pink unicorn asked. Pinkie’s smile disappeared. Applejack looked puzzled. “Why?” they said in unison. “Well, poison joke petals can heal ponies’ damaged magic, not the leaves”, Twilight explained. “It’s the leaves that prank you.” The pink earth pony suddenly looked very awkward. Starlight frowned again. “Pinkie, your face has gone all red. Why?” Pinkie grinned nervously, and said nothing. Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Pinkie….” The pink earth pony tried to keep her composure together, but failed miserably. “Okay-I-might-have-accidently-spilled-the-bowl-of-leaves-into-the-petals-but-it-was-just-a-mistake…” “Pinkie, slow down, Starlight said. The party pony sighed. “All right, there was an incident with the bowls of poison joke yesterday. I accidently spilt leaves into my bowl of petals. I separated the mix and put the leaves back in the other bowl, as many as I could find.” Pinkie Pie then noticed the deadpan looks that everypony was giving her. “Well … the leaves and petals do look similar to each other”, she said defensively. “Oh ponyfeathers,” said Starlight, standing up quickly. “That could mean…” Applejack muttered, her eyes growing wide with shock. “Come on”, said Twilight urgently, “let’s go … now.” The seven ponies + dragon all left the dining room and rushed through the hallways to Chrysalis’s room. Rainbow Dash barged into the room, slamming the door open. She slowly floated to the ground, her jaw dropped in shock. The rest of the Mane Six, Spike and Starlight had similar expressions on their faces. A few moments of utter silence passed. “Dangnambit”, whispered Applejack. “This is a new development”, Twilight murmured to her friends. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the understatement of the day. “Yeah, no kidding”, she said. Chrysalis’s appearance had changed dramatically. She’d physically shrunk to almost Cadence’s size, her limbs and horn were no longer holed, and her fangs had turned into normal-sized pony teeth. Her carapace had disappeared entirely; replaced by soft-looking light-yellow fur, and a cutie mark of three little pink roses. Chrysalis’s limp, dark green mane had turned into one full of tousled pink-violet locks. Her crown had grown taller, and now looked like it was made of long, bright pink feathers. But the greatest change was to her wings: almost butterfly-like, transparent, shining and sparkling with powerful magic. She actually looked like … a Flutterpony! Everypony (and dragon) in the room was speechless for a while. “You know, this reminds me of somepony in the book I was just reading”, said an astounded Starlight Glimmer. Twilight was broken out of her reverie by her student’s voice. “What book?” she asked. “I put it down on the bed”, the pink unicorn replied. Starlight then looked at the bed. “Oh. Oh dear.” Everypony else then looked at the bed. The Flutterpony book was on the bed, yes, but somepony had got hold of it. Chrysalis was sleeping, holding onto the book tightly with both hooves. Somehow, the magical ropes had loosened (possibly due to Chrysalis’s size shrinkage). It was a bit funny: the changeling was clutching the book like a filly would clutch a plushie in bed. The pink unicorn looked a bit perplexed. “Riiiight”, she said. Starlight walked as quietly as she could up to Chrysalis’s bed. She gripped the book with her magic and pulled. But, most unexpectantly, the sleeping Chrysalis frowned and pulled back. It’s MY book! Starlight gritted her teeth and yanked the book towards her again … and then found herself getting yanked onto the bed. The changeling was evidently very, very strong! Ugh, this is going to be harder than it looks. Starlight decided to switch to using her hooves instead. She and Chrysalis pulled back and forth in a literal tug-of-war; neither one willing to give up. Eventually, with one massive tug, the pink unicorn managed to rip her book out of Chrysalis’s grip. Starlight sighed in relief. “Finally! Now girls, in the book I was … Aah!” With viper-like swiftness, the changeling’s hooves wrapped around the pony and her book. “Eep!” Starlight squeaked in fright, doing a very good impersonation of Fluttershy. Chrysalis tugged the pony down into a close embrace, cuddling her like a soft toy. The changeling hummed happily, nuzzling the pink unicorn who was flushing bright red and struggling to break free. Unfortunately, Starlight’s frantic scrabbling was causing Chrysalis’s grip to tighten around the pony. “Help me”, the pink unicorn gasped. “Starlight!” cried her friends in union as they rushed to try to help her. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy each grabbed one of Starlight’s arms. Pinkie Pie and Applejack got hold of the pink unicorn’s legs. Rarity, Spike and Twilight got behind Applejack and Pinkie, helping them to haul on Starlight’s legs. The changeling was frowning slightly, and muttered something in her sleep. The friendship student was close enough to hear what Chrysalis had said. “No, my plushie!” Starlight turned a darker shade of red. The Mane Six and Spike pulled and pulled on Starlight, but the changeling just held on tight: not wanting to lose her ‘plushie’. The situation had now become utter chaos. “This cannot get any worse”, whispered Twilight, and then immediately wished that she hadn’t said that. The door opened suddenly, catching everypony’s attention. The Mane Six, Spike and Starlight all stopped momentarily. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Thorax came in through the door … and stared. Thorax looked stunned. Celestia’s jaw dropped in shock. Luna managed a few words. “What is going on?!” Twilight’s head drooped. Rainbow just rolled her eyes. “Never say things cannot get any worse”, she said. “Things can ALWAYS get worse.”