“Here you go, Twilight!” Spike announced as he handed the daily newspaper to Chrysalis while she sat at the kitchen table, sipping on a cup of hot water. It was a habit she had gotten into after she fell ill following the Hearth’s Warming Eve party. She didn’t know if it was from the alcoholic punch, the extended exposure to the cold, or sleeping in a pig feces ridden barn all night, but she had been bedridden for a whole month, or at least that’s what she told others. In truth she had recovered within two weeks and just pretended to still be ill the other two so that she could avoid going outside into the cold again, and the element bearers had been kind enough to actually leave her alone this time. Even Time Keeper hadn't bothered her. It had been a good month.
Chrysalis thanked him absently, taking the proffered paper. She skimmed over the front page which had an article about the yearly Winter Wrap Up going on that day. She smiled. That was entirely the reason why she had chosen to stop feigning illness. Winter had been going on forever, it was about time they changed seasons. Why couldn’t they just do what the changelings did and leave it hot all year?
With images of sunshine and trees full of leaves dancing through her head, Chrysalis began humming a happy little tune and moved onto the next article. It was about some antique store in Canterlot being broken into in the middle of the night, and an ancient magical artifact being stolen. It was certainly a curious event, and if she had access to a spy network, she definitely would have sent some changelings to investigate. However, she failed to see how her presence could have caused the theft, and she didn’t remember anything of it from her first time through the time line, so figured that it probably didn’t really matter.
She was torn from her reading when the library door slammed open from outside, she noted with no small amount of pleasure that a mere cool breeze entered with the pony rather than a freezing gust. She was less pleased to see Time Keeper was the pony who had entered, but was in too good of a mood over the imminent season’s change to start anything with him. Instead, she gave a polite, if somewhat forced, smile and went back to her paper while he closed the door.
“Good morning, Twilight!” Time Keeper greeted her with uncharacteristic enthusiasm.
“Morning.” She responded. It seemed she wasn’t the only one in a good mood that day. Maybe they could avoid fighting for once.
“So, I just finished signing us up for this year’s Winter Wrap Up. I’ve never lived in a place that was actually small enough for everypony to take part if they wanted, and half of it all back home has been automated anyway.”
“Automated?” Spike spoke up as he sat down with a bowl of cereal, confused. “Where were you from again?”
“Uh…”
“Manehattan.” Chrysalis answered for him, rolling her eyes. Of course he wouldn’t remember the cover story she had given him.
“Oh, I guess it is pretty big there, it’d be really hard for everypony to take part.” Spike mused as he took a bite of his breakfast. “Do they really automate it there, though?”
“Absolutely.” Time Keeper nodded with faux confidence. Honestly, Chrysalis had no idea if it was true or not, but it wasn’t like they were going to travel there to check any time soon. She turned to the next page. Wait a second, what was it he had said?
“Did you say ‘us’?” Chrysalis forced herself to only gently set the paper down on the table.
“Yup. You, me, and even Spike, all out there helping these ponies clean up winter! Just imagine!”
“When you say you and me, do you mean together?”
“Oh, fuck no!” Time Keeper winced as Chrysalis glared at him and indicated the child in the room. “Uh, sorry Spike.”
“Don’t worry about it.” The child shrugged off his profanity.
“We’ve been cooped up together all winter and I want a break from that, so I’m going to try my hoof at helping Rainbow Dash with the weather team, something which you won’t be doing since you can’t fly. You can, I dunno, just go mingle with your friends or something and find something to help with on the ground, and I’ll stay well clear of you up in the air.”
Chrysalis mulled over the information. She had been pretty reclusive again after the Hearth’s Warming Eve party due to her illness, both real and faked. She had barely seen the element bearers since then beyond when they dropped in to say a quick hello or offer a container of hot soup which she invariably never ate. She shuddered as she realized she was actually starting to miss them. How lonely must she be getting if she was willing to even admit that to herself? Though she did not like Time Keeper volunteering her in the slightest, she couldn’t help but think it would be a good excuse to visit them. If that wasn’t enough, she would at least be able to take part in the destruction of one of her most hated foes: winter.
“Okay, how about this, you leave right now and don’t bother me all day, and I’ll pretend that you didn’t try to manipulate me into spending time with my friends again. Deal?”
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me in months!” He gave a sloppy, possibly mocking, salute and a lopsided grin before trotting back outside, slamming the door behind him just as loud as when he had arrived. Chrysalis and Spike looked at each other.
“So,” Spike paused to swallow his food, “Does this means I can’t just sit around and read comics all day?”
“No.”
“Fuck.” Spike’s winced as he realized that Chrysalis was glaring at him. “Uh…Don’t worry about it?”
_______________________________
“Come on, Twilight! No gems for a week is way too harsh! How about half the gems? A quarter? One gem a day!? Please, you can’t do this to me, I’m just an innocent child, I learned it from Snowball, blame him not me!”
“Oh, don’t you worry, he’s going to get what’s coming to him tonight.”
After giving Time Keeper a half hour head start, most of which primarily consisted of her scolding Spike, Chrysalis had left the library wearing the new coat that Rarity had made for her after the old one was destroyed during the events of a party she refused to think about. Spike was coming along for the ride atop her back and was sulking over the punishment she had settled on for him.
Chrysalis didn’t really know a lot about Winter Wrap Up outside of what she had read from the newspaper that morning. She had already known that it was a day when ponies personally cleaned up winter in preparation for spring, and from the paper she learned that they were split up into three groups dedicated either to the weather, animals, or plants. She also knew that Ponyville didn’t use unicorn magic as a matter of tradition, stemming from the fact that the town had been founded by earth ponies. It seemed silly, considering that they were perfectly willing to use pegasus magic to manipulate the weather, but it hardly mattered to her. If the ponies wanted to be needlessly inefficient, then that was their business.
She was wandering around practically at random as she looked for something that she might help with when a familiar voice called to her from the sky. Chrysalis’ eyes rose to find Rainbow Dash flying down to her and she gave a smile and wave.
“Hey, Twilight! Spike. Finally feeling better?”
“Hi, Rainbow. Yeah, I’m not one hundred percent, but I was going stir crazy cooped up in there.” Chrysalis greeted cheerfully while Spike just grumbled something.
“What’s his problem?”
“I caught him swearing and he doesn’t like the consequences.”
“She’s depriving me of gems for a week! A whole week! I’m a growing dragon, I need those!”
“Really, dude? That’s it?” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Just one little swear and you cut him off like that? Seems a little harsh.”
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “And what did your parents do when they caught you swearing?”
“You’re not my parent.” Spike grumbled indignantly beneath his breath.
“Uh…I’d rather not talk about it.” Dash rubbed the back of her head with a hoof.
Chrysalis sighed. Maybe she was being too harsh. Since when did she really care about a little swearing? She swore all the time. Probably in front of Spike, even. Still, it felt wrong for the little drake to be doing it.
“Anyway, it’s great that you’re better now, I was starting to worry that you were just avoiding us.”
“Nah, she was definitely sick. And if she was avoiding anything, it was the cold.” Spike answered for her.
“Oh, is that all?”
“Yes, what else would it be?” Chrysalis confirmed.
“Well, the girls and I thought that maybe after what happened at Pinkie’s party, that maybe you, ya know, wanted a little time to yourself. Well, except for Pinkie, she said we should just let you hibernate. Not sure why, just Pinkie being Pinkie, I guess.”
“Oh.” Chrysalis tensed. Were they the ones trying avoid her? Why would they do that, unless…no, it couldn’t be. “No, I was just stuck in bed from whatever disease crawled out of Tartarus and made its home in me.”
“So, the party isn’t a sore spot for you? Awesome, ‘cause I’ve been thinking about it and want to get your opinion on something.”
Chrysalis internally cursed herself as a nearby songbird began to cheerfully sing its mockery of her.
“I was wondering about that creature that kidnapped you. What was it trying to do? What was its goal?”
“I’m not sure how I would know, I’m not exactly psychic, I can’t read its mind.”
“I mean, she said we’d never see you again, and then bam! You show up right in Applejack’s barn the next morning, no fuss!”
“Well, okay, yes that’s odd, but—”
“And when we were chasing her, I tackled her and she threw me off, but before I crashed into something she saved me!”
“Man, you’re not kidding, that does sound weird. Any ideas, Twilight?” Spike added from his position on her back.
“Uh, no, I…”
“It makes no sense! Why would she try to avoid hurting me like that? I feel like I’m missing something obvious that’s right under my nose.”
“Hmmm…” Spike rubbed his chin. “Maybe she sees you as a friend? She wouldn’t want to hurt you then, right?”
Chrysalis’ heart sank. “No!” She stopped to clear her throat out of embarrassment over shouting. “I mean, that’s ridiculous, she kidnaps me and runs away from you guys and somehow she’s supposed to be your friend? That makes absolutely no sense!”
“Yeah, Spike, I don’t think that’s it.”
“I guess not.” Spike went cross eyed to look at a small bird that had landed on the spine on top of his head. “Hey, little guy.”
Chrysalis’ eyes darted around, desperate for a way out of the current conversation, spying a pair of arguing pegasi up in the sky. “I think you’re needed back up there.”
“Huh?” Dash looked behind her and sighed. “I guess I am. They’ve been arguing all morning about what order to do things in and I’ve had to deal with it as the leader of the weather team. It’s been a real headache. Sorry about unloading all that party stuff onto you, I guess you really wouldn’t know what with being blackout drunk and all. I just thought you might be able to come up with something because you’re an egghead.”
Egghead? She shook her head, dismissing her indignation over the insult. Better to be called egghead than be grilled on her drunken escapades.
“I’ll be sure to think on it. Good luck with the weather team.”
“Oh right, I almost forgot! Have you seen Snowball? He was supposed to be helping me and I haven’t seen him all morning!”
“Not since he left to go meet you earlier, I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten here yet.”
“Huh. Maybe he got lost or something. If you do see him, be sure to send him my way, we need all the help we can get if we want to finish on time this year.”
“I’ll be sure to do that. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah, later!” Rainbow Dash flew back up to the arguing pair, adding her own shouting to the mix. That hardly looked like it was helping, she clearly wasn’t very good at organizing a team.
“Do you think that something happened to Snowball?” Spike asked, reaching up to pet the bird on his spine and looking disappointed when it flew away.
“Nah, he’s probably just trying to get out of doing work.” Chrysalis dismissed as she started trotting away from Rainbow Dash.
“If you say so.” He said absently as he watched the bird fly off. “Uh, Twilight? You know how you have Sage?”
“Yeah.”
“You think maybe I could have a pet too?”
“I think we can discuss it after you’re done with your punishment.”
Spike sighed, but didn’t say anything.
Chrysalis breathed a sigh of relief when Rainbow Dash didn’t make any attempt to follow after them. She had hoped to put that disastrous party behind her, but it seemed that Dash wasn’t so willing to let leave it in the past. The thought arose in her mind that she should try to wipe her memory of that night, but the idea made her suddenly nauseous. Why would she would have such a visceral reaction to it now when she had already modified her memory in the past?
“Hey, are we headed to Rarity’s?!” Spike’s eyes lit up when he recognized the path that they were taking.
“Yeah, I figured I should at least thank her for this new coat.”
“Why didn’t you tell me we were going to go see her!? Are my scales clean? How’s my breath?!”
“About the same as usual. Anyway, she might not even be there, so don’t get too excited.”
“Me? Excited? Nah, I’m cool!” He reclined against her neck as he tried to act casual.
“Hello, Rarity!”
“Wait, already!? Ahhhh!”
Chrysalis burst out laughing at Spike as he panicked and fell from her back to the muddy path below. Rarity was nowhere in sight.
“Yuck!” Spike tried to wipe some of the mud from himself. “That was mean, Twilight!”
Chrysalis smirked. “Your scales aren’t clean, by the way.”
“Gee, I didn’t notice.” He pouted.
“I’m sorry, Spike, I couldn’t resist. How about you forget this happened, and we can forget about your punishment?”
“Really? Does this mean I can have a pet, too?”
“Yeah, sure. We can ask Fluttershy about it later.” Chrysalis smiled at him warmly and resumed trotting down the path.
“Hey, wait up!” Spike stumbled after her. “Come on, stop, let me up!”
“Nuh uh, you’re not getting on my back with all that mud. Rarity would kill at least one of us if we got that all over my new coat.”
“Ugh, meanie!” He pouted, eliciting a chuckle from Chrysalis.
She found Rarity at a table just outside the front doors of Carousel Boutique. Several piles of twigs were scattered across the table, and she seemed to be focusing on combining them into something.
“Uh, maybe I should’ve gone home to clean up first.”
“Don’t be silly, Rarity won’t think any less of you for being a little dirty.” She assured him honestly. Whether he showed up caked in mud, or in the finest of suits, Chrysalis knew Rarity would never see him as anything more than a child. “Hello, Rarity!”
“Ah!” Rarity jumped in surprise, whatever she was putting together falling to pieces.
“Sorry.”
“Twilight? Twilight! It’s so wonderful to see you well again! And you too, Spike, thank you again for your assistance in crafting that wonderful new coat she’s wearing.”
“Aw, it was nothing.” Spike blushed.
“Yeah, I wanted to thank you for that, and I guess I should be thanking Spike too. Thanks, both of you, it’s beautiful.”
“No, really, it was nothing. Rarity is the one who really deserves all the credit!” Spike insisted.
“Oh, hogwash! Your assistance was and always is very much appreciated.” Spike blushed even harder at her praise, and Chrysalis had to fight back a chuckle at his expense. “Anyway, you are quite welcome, Twilight. Honestly, I’m not sure that it really turned out as well as the old one, but I wanted to try out something new after the…uh…” She trailed off awkwardly. Weird.
“So, what are you doing here?”
“Oh, I’m on the animal team and am crafting nests for the birds returning from their migration.”
“Crafty. Sounds like it would suit you, though it would probably be a lot easier if you could use your magic.”
“It certainly would be, but tradition is tradition, and sometimes there is a distinct satisfaction in completing a task with only one’s hooves.” She smiled proudly. Chrysalis wondered if she’d be so big on tradition knowing that changeling tradition would have been to kidnap her and use her as a food source.
“I see. Do you want some help?”
“That would be lovely, darling!” Rarity shuffled over to make space for the two of them and pushed some of the sticks in front of them. “Now, it’s quite simple, just watch for a moment and I’m sure you’ll have it down.”
Chrysalis did so, and sure enough, it was as simple as Rarity had foretold. Within a couple of minutes, Chrysalis was well on her way to completing her first nest. There was, surprisingly, a distinct lack of conversation coming from the usually chatty mare and dragon. On her left, Spike was spending less time working on his nest, and more time making googly eyes at Rarity, which she realized was to be expected. Rarity, on her right, oddly enough was falling behind as well, casting her own furtive glances over at Chrysalis every few seconds and then pretending to be focused on her project whenever she caught her. Clearly this was not an ideal team makeup, and a proper bit of organization would separate the group, but that was hardly her business. Rarity’s staring at her, though?
“I think I’ve got this, Rarity, you don’t need to stare at me so much.”
“Oh, it…it’s not that, I am certain you are perfectly capable. I was just thinking…never mind.”
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow suspiciously. She didn’t like the sound of that. “What is it?”
“Well…no, I shouldn’t.”
“If you don’t speak up and just keep on pretending to not stare at me, I think you’ll drive both of us crazy. Spit it out, already.”
“If you insist. I was thinking about Pinkie’s Hearth’s Warming Eve Party. How did…”
Chrysalis froze. Upon noticing, Rarity stopped mid sentence and focused back on her nest.
“No, I shouldn’t have brought it up. It’s not important and you are clearly distressed by it. Just, uh…try to be careful with the new coat, I wouldn’t want you to tear it apart again.”
A small bird landed in Chrysalis’ nest and chirped at her.
“Oh look,” Chrysalis chuckled nervously and stepped away from the table, “my nest is done! Come on, Spike, we’re leaving!”
“Already? But I haven’t finished my nest!”
“You weren’t going to anyway. Come on, let’s go.” She levitated him into the air. “Goodbye, Rarity.”
“Whoa, put me down!” Spike shouted. “Uh, bye Rarity?”
“Uh, goodbye?” Rarity looked puzzled watching Spike get magically dragged through the air by Chrysalis as she dashed off.
Why did all of her friends want to talk to her about that night? Was it too much to ask that they leave the past in the past?
“Whoa, slow down!” Spike practically begged. “I think I’m gonna be sick!”
Chrysalis gradually slowed to a stop and set the poor dragon down. “Sorry, Spike.”
“What’s the big idea? I was having fun making nests!”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “You mean you were having fun staring at Rarity.”
“You saw tha—I mean, was not! I was just, uh…I wasn’t sure what I was doing, so I was watching her to learn!”
“She was barely making any nests, either. My presence was distracting her from her work, she’ll get more done without me there.”
“Doesn’t mean I couldn’t have stayed.” Spike grumbled.
“Clearly we would both be of better use elsewhere.”
As they continued wandering around Ponyville, she found herself on the path to Sweet Apple Acres. Undoubtedly, Applejack was going to be doing something at her farm, but given how her previous two encounters had gone, she really didn’t want to go there. AJ of all ponies would want to talk details about the night that led straight to her home, and however pleasant the little sleep over had been after it was all said and done, she wasn’t exactly eager to return to that place. Her stomach churned just imagining the foul odour of that barn.
“Hey, I think I see Fluttershy!” Spike announced.
Chrysalis’ gaze followed where he pointed, seeing the mare in question wandering off the beaten path around the snow banks, bushes and trees. Fluttershy was certainly an option, she was generally too timid to actually say much of anything. There was still the risk of awkward silence as she avoided the subject like Rarity, but that would be easily ignored since half of all her interactions with anybody would be described as awkward silence. With a shrug, she trotted over to meet with her.
“Hey, Fluttershy, what are you doing out here by your lonesome?”
Fluttershy smiled warmly at seeing her friend. “Oh, I’m not alone, not at all. I’m helping the animals wake up from their hibernation.” As if to demonstrate the fact, a little bird landed in her mane and snuggled up inside it for warmth. “Aw, you must be back from the south already, rest up little one, you deserve it after that long journey.”
Chrysalis bit her tongue to resist the urge to gush over the image before her. Fluttershy was typically one of the cuter mares around, but seeing her cooing over a tiny bird nesting in her mane was downright adorable.
Fluttershy’s brow furrowed. “Oh dear, if you’re back already, then I must be falling behind. I hope I can still get done before Rainbow Dash clears the clouds to melt the snow, I wouldn’t want my friends to have their homes flooded while they’re still asleep.”
“You don’t know how the other teams are doing? That seems a little odd, shouldn’t somepony be keeping in touch with you about that?”
“That would be really helpful.” She admitted as she averted her gaze.
“Who is leading this mess? There should be constant communication between the different groups!” Chrysalis raised her voice in mild frustration. Honestly, it was like nobody here had ever been in a position of leadership. Communication was key for any large group effort with separate cells working on different tasks. She shuddered to think of how short lived her people’s efforts to infiltrate pony society would have been if they had communicated as poorly as this.
“Um, I guess that would be Mayor Mare? She was the one who accepted volunteers and made that big speech at the start.”
“Well, that mare needs to learn some organizational skills.”
“Maybe you could teach her?” Spike suggested. Chrysalis rolled her eyes.
“I don’t need that headache. Besides, I barely know anything about wrapping up winter.”
“Oh.”
Chrysalis sighed at her clear disappointment. “But maybe you could be of assistance to Spike here.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I’m in the market for a pet!”
Fluttershy’s ears perked up. “That’s wonderful! What kind of pet are you looking for? Oh, but I’m a little busy today. Maybe you could come visit me tomorrow?”
“Yeah, that sounds good. It’ll give me some time to think about what I want.”
“Well, perhaps in the meantime we could help you here?” Chrysalis asked.
“Could you?”
“Yeah, I guess. What kind of animals are you working with here?”
“Just the ordinary kind. There’s racoons, frogs, bunnies, bees—”
“Wait, bees?” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.
“Uh huh, and squirrels, bears—”
“Bears?!” Chrysalis and Spike shared worried glances.
“—bats, turtle, and skunks, you know, just the usual types.” Fluttershy paused as she noticed that Chrysalis had gone pale. “Um, Twilight? Are you okay? Are you still sick?”
“Nope! Nuh uh, no way, no no no no no no no nope! I am out of here!”
“Hey, Twilight! Don’t leave me here!” Spike screamed as he ran after the galloping form of Chrysalis.
“Um…was it something I said?” Fluttershy asked the bird in her mane. It gave one chirp and then flew away.
“Good…call…on that one!” Spike acknowledged between gasping breaths as he caught up to Chrysalis.
“That girl is crazy! How can somepony so timid be that comfortable handling bears and skunks?”
“Maybe…we could slow down?”
“Uh, sure.” Chrysalis stopped to let the little thing catch his breath. It was easy to forget that he couldn’t run as fast as her.
“Thanks.” Spike promptly fell over into a snow bank with a wet plop. Chrysalis shuddered just watching.
“Isn’t that really cold?” Chrysalis’ nose scrunched up.
“Feels kinda nice after all that running. You should try it.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“Hi, Twilight!”
Chrysalis screamed in fright at the very sudden and very loud greeting from behind her, losing her footing and falling face first into the snowbank right beside Spike.
“Hi, Pinkie.” Spike waved. “See? Not so bad, is it?” Chrysalis didn’t respond. “Uh…Twilight?”
“Oopsies, sorry! Lemme just,” Pinkie bit Chrysalis’ tail and pulled her out of the snowbank, “there ya go!”
Chrysalis shivered uncontrollably. “Th…thanks P…Pinkie.”
“Sooo,” Pinkie swayed back and forth on a set of ice skates, “you’re done hibernating then?”
“W…what are you talking about?” Chrysalis asked through chattering teeth. Somewhere nearby, a bird chirped as if to accentuate her question.
“Well, I figured since you said you weren’t a pony that you were probably something else, and if you were something else, then maybe you hibernate, which would totally explain why we haven’t really seen you all winter, oh and I’m so sorry that I made you come out to my party when you should have been sleeping!”
“She said what now?” Spike sat up in the snow as Chrysalis internally screamed while trying to not physically show any surprise. She doubted that she succeeded.
“She told Snowball that she’s not a pony!” Pinkie answered with a big smile.
“I…what? No! When did I say that?!”
“Back when I gave you your invitation to my Hearth’s Warming Eve party! You and Snowball were arguing again, he said he’d never seen a pony that hated winter like you did, and you’re all like ‘I’m not a pony, changelings don’t do winter’ from under your blankets, and looking back I figured that probably meant that you were supposed to be hibernating.” Pinkie explained, doing a surprisingly good imitation of a grumpy Chrysalis. “So, what’s a changeling?”
Chrysalis’ jaw had dropped and didn’t respond to her attempts to make any words. The only sound was the suddenly wild chirping of the bird.
“Uh, Pinkie? I think you’re mistaken. I mean, come on, Twilight is obviously a pony! I’ve lived with her all my life!” Spike came to her defense, and a corner of Chrysalis’ mind realized it was probably because of that spell she had cast on him all those months ago.
“Spike’s right, I’m pretty sure I’m a pony, last I checked, I just don’t like the cold. Clearly you misunderstood. I wasn’t saying that I’m not a pony in the sense that I’m some other creature, I meant that I’m not just any pony, I’m me. I don’t even know where you got this…changing thing from—”
“Changeling.” Pinkie corrected, much to Chrysalis’ consternation.
“Uh, right, changeling. You said I was under a bunch of blankets, right? I think you misheard me, my voice was probably awfully muffled under there, it would be really easy to miss some of what I said, too. Maybe I said I wasn’t going anywhere until the weather’s changing and that I don’t do winter?”
Pinkie shut a lone eye, tilted her head and tapped her chin with a skate. “Hmmm…I suppose.”
“I’m sure it is as simple as that. Now, you haven’t gone around telling ponies about what you misheard, have you?”
“No, why? Well, I guess I told the girls that you were probably hibernating, but they didn’t bother asking why. For some reason, ponies don’t really ask me to explain things.”
“Well, I’m just thinking about how the town reacted to Zecora, if you started spreading false rumours around town that I’m somehow not a pony, then that might cause some troubles.”
“Ohhhhhh!”
“Yeah, you can see my issue.”
“Don’t you worry, Twilight! I’ll make sure everypony knows that you are definitely a pony! Wink, wink!”
“I don’t think you’re actually supposed to say ‘wink’.” Spike pointed out, only to get a giggle from her.
Chrysalis debated finding a time later to wipe Pinkie’s memory of that encounter. Unlike with Rainbow Dash, this was an imminent threat to her cover. She didn’t relish the idea of doing so to Pinkie, either, though.
“Do you Pinkie Promise?”
“Uh huh. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie went through the motions of her by now famous promise and Chrysalis was able to relax. It wasn’t really that bad, it’s not like she actually knew what a changeling was, and there was no way she was going to break a Pinkie Promise. She should be fine.
“Anyway, you look freezing! You should probably get home and have a nice, hot bath to warm up!”
“That actually sounds like a really good idea.” Chrysalis admitted, realizing that she was still shivering fiercely.
“Oh, but no alcohol, no matter how much it warms you up! Wouldn’t want a repeat of last time!” Pinkie winked at her.
“I’ll remember not to, thanks. I’ll just stick with the bath.”
“Okie dokie! See you later, Twilight, I’ve got some ice to score!”
“So…are we done?” Spike asked.
“Yeah. I think I’ve had enough Winter Wrap Up to last a life time.”
Both of them drenched with half melted snow, Chrysalis and Spike made their way back to the Golden Oaks Library.
_______________________________________
Chrysalis moaned in pleasure as she eased herself into the steaming hot water of her bath. No more snow, no more questions about that stupid party. No more risks of being exposed. Just sweet, blissful warmth.
The day’s events reminded her of just how poorly she had planned things out back then. Maybe if Big Mac hadn’t found her, she could’ve transformed into some other disguise, made her way to the Everfree Forest, turned back into Twilight there and claimed that she had escaped from her captivity. They might’ve set up a search party to find their perceived monster, but it’s not like they could actually find her. They might get hurt if they went inside that forest, though. Maybe it wasn’t that much better of a plan.
She closed her eyes and frowned. When did she start caring so much if they got hurt? Why should she care? They were the single greatest threat to her wellbeing, and if them getting a little scuffed up would help keep her secrets safe, then that should be an obvious trade. Yet…
A loud thud jerked her out of her thoughts. She strained her ears. She could have almost sworn that she had heard Spike shouting too, but only for a second. Was she imagining things? There was another thud.
She stood in the tub, the rush of water from her body splashing back into the pool below, overpowering any attempts to listen for more noises. Cautiously, she stepped out onto the wooden floor. There was that thud again. What was that noise? Snowball hadn’t been back when she and Spike returned, and Spike had been quietly reading comics in their bedroom since after wiping himself of the mud from earlier.
She cracked open the bathroom door and peered outside. The hallway was empty. Quiet. Taking care not to let her hooves make much noise, she crept through the hall, leaving wet hoof prints behind as she continued dripping. She reached her bedroom door and almost called out Spike’s name, but couldn’t bring herself to break the eerie silence.
She held her breath as she engulfed the door handle with her magic. One. Two. Three! Chrysalis tore open the door and charged in, horn alight and ready for anything.
“Hey.” Spike greeted casually from atop her bed, a Power Ponies comic held open in his claws. He raised an eyebrow. “You’re all wet. Were we out of towels or something?”
“What was that noise?”
Spike blushed. “Oh…heh…I may have knocked over some books trying to get this comic. Multiple times.” He pointed over to a toppled pile of books. Chrysalis sighed. She had worked herself up over nothing.
“I’m going back to my bath. Make sure to clean up your mess before I finish.”
“Will do.”
Thud.
Spike’s eyes widened. That had come from the closet. Chrysalis narrowed her eyes and smirked at the dragon.
“Knocked over some books, huh? Okay, what are you hiding in there?”
“Nothing! Absolutely nothing! You most definitely should not check out the closet!” He had tossed his comic aside and waved his hands desperately.
Chrysalis chuckled and started walking over there.
“Oh, come on, what is it? Did you let in a stray dog or something? Maybe one of the animals Fluttershy was waking?”
“Nope!” Spike chuckled nervously. “Not a dog, I totally wouldn’t do that!”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. Could he really not wait until tomorrow? She didn’t care that he had brought home a pet early, but she was curious as to what kind of animal it was. Without any hesitation, she threw the closet door open and her amused grin vanished.
Inside was a struggling Spike, bound, gagged, and blind folded. With a sharp pain in the back of her skull, Chrysalis’ world went dark.