Back at the map room, Chrysalis and I talk to George Ralph while we wait for Cozy and Lorien to return from lunch.
“...and to top it off,” I finish off. “his original name was Kevin! Like our friend!”
“Hm,” ponders George as he sits up from Fluttershy’s throne. “Well I’d certainly hope Fluttershy is correct about Lorien’s judge of character.”
“He was quite receptive to all of us, Dr. Ralph,” Chrysalis asides. “As a therapist, that same reception towards you is all but guaranteed if he likes me and Cozy.”
The three of us hear Cozy Glow sneeze before she swings into the throne room with Lorien by her side. Immediately, Lorien notices George on Fluttershy’s throne, and initially backs away a few inches. As Cozy looks back to him, he gets a second look at George and promptly returns to his chipper self. He runs up and jumps onto the map to greet the alterwolf with kisses to the chin, cheeks, nose and forehead, making George laugh.
“Yep, he likes you,” Cozy remarks. “He NEVER did that with any of us when we first met him on Chrysalis’ hive anniversary…”
“Or Nightmare Night in my case,” I add.
George sits back up and pets Lorien. “I see. Have you witnessed any aggression from him in the presence of anyone yet?”
“Discord,” Chrysalis, Cozy and I reply in unison.
“Well, I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything less from that trickster,” George agrees. “He is representative of chaos itself after all.”
I quickly zip back to George by his side. “At least Discord’s okay by the rest of us. Even though he’s lived for eons, he’s still bound to learn a new lesson eventually.”
When George leaves us to wait for our guests, Chrysalis and Aita turn to me, now boasting scarves to brave the winter weather outside.
“Now Cozy Glow, Aita and I will be going around Ponyville shopping for the ingredients for our reunion dinner. Are you going to be fine with handling the guests on your own, even if Lorien is going with us?”
“Golly, Chrysalis! Of course!” I cheer with my hooves up. “If I’m gonna use my skills, it’s for you two!”
Chrysalis chuckles with joy and rubs my mane before turning around. “That’s what I like to hear. Come with us, Lorien.”
As Lorien joins ahead of Chrysalis, Aita waves me on her own way out. “See you later, Cozy!”
The front door closes, leaving me alone with my own thoughts for a few moments. I realize I’m legitimately home alone. Of course, not for long, but still.
I fly in the air, turning around to look at the banner Aita put up this morning. Guest list aside, it looks quite similar to one I remember from a while ago… “Didn’t I see this in a dream once? …and who’s that changeling queen?”
My thoughts are interrupted when the front door opens to two of the guests depicted on the banner: Spike and that mysterious changeling.
“Oh hello there, young filly,” she greets as I turn around, still in the air. “Who’re you?”
Spike is surprised by the changeling. “Wait, what? You two never met before?”
“I don’t think so,” I reply. “All I can tell is that she’s a former queen like Chrysalis.”
“That’s true, of course. So who is she? You know her, Spike?”
Spike nods at her, then hovers in front of me. “Yep! Areola, this is Cozy Glow, one of the friends Aita and Chrysalis made on their map mission in Fillydelphia.”
I beam and close my eyes upon being introduced.
“So, where are they?” Areola asks. “I thought they’d be here to greet us.”
“Oh, they went shopping for our reunion dinner,” I explain before looking back at the banner, then I blush as I return my sights on Spike and Areola. “There’s a couple of my hometown friends coming here with their guardians as well… and my parents apparently.”
While Cozy Glow is taking care of the oncoming guests, Chrysalis and I talk with each other.
“So how come Areola was the only changeling you could reunite with? What happened with Mother Membrane?” I ask.
“Oh… Patch went to visit her for the holiday. Also keep in mind, Aita, that she lacks much of the mobility she used to have from before retiring. Honestly I could ask the same about you only inviting Spike.”
I smile slightly nervously. “Well, Twilight and her friends have their own lives like we do. And I could see my friends any time really. The only one that openly volunteered to come for dinner without my input was Spike.”
Lorien walks ahead of us with his tail swishing above in the air, meaning he feels that things are looking up. The tail is set down though when Cozy Glow’s parents arrive in Ponyville along with Lily Trail, Smoky and their guardians. While Smoky’s I recognize (Mangle), Lily’s is somepony I haven’t met properly yet. She’s a blue-coated unicorn like Lily, but has a combed back yellow mane and tail, as well as a lantern cutie mark. I have only one guess for what her name is: Bright Trail. Cozy Glow had suggested the welcome banner I hung, and she was where I got my first glimpse of this pony.
“Hi everyone!” I greet. “I thought you’d be at the castle! Cozy’s waiting for you all!”
“We saw you and Chrysalis out and about there, old pal,” Mangle explains. “So anything going on lately at the castle?”
Chrysalis puts a hoof to her chin. “Not that I’m aware of, unless of course you count Firelight staying in Ponyville during the Running of the Leaves.”
“Well we won’t keep you long,” says Tight Knit. “At least Amber and I here would love to catch up with you three… err, four now I guess.”
“Who is he?” Amber Glow asks, pointing to our fox.
I pick him up and show him. “This is Lorien. He’s been with us for nearly eight weeks.”
Smoky locks eyes with Lorien in amazement, prompting him to try and grab Smoky to pull him toward us. Chrysalis stops him in her magic though with some quick thinking.
“Not now, Lorien. You’ll get to play at the castle,” she lightly scolds before chuckling under her breath.
“Well he does look eager to get back home,” replies Lily. “I guess that would be our cue to head on over.”
“Meet you at the castle then?” Smoky guesses, to which Chrysalis and I confirm with a nod. The guests proceed to our castle.
While she and I continue on our way, Chrysalis has me hold Lorien’s leash in my own magic, not long after feeling a tug from behind. We look back and see Lorien pulling on the leash with his mouth.
“Lorien, come,” Chrysalis orders, but he never lets go of the leash, let alone come by our side. She sighs. “Aita, would you mind carrying him?”
“I think I have a better idea. Lorien,” I quietly and kindly call before clicking my tongue twice. He immediately responds by letting go and coming up between us.
Chrysalis facehoofs. “I have no idea HOW you manage to get his attention every time… but I’m glad you do.”
“Someone from Florida used to film this fox of his to educate viewers, and I was one of them, so I have enough background knowledge to get to know him.”
A bit later at the vendors, when Chrysalis picks out large case of carrots, apples, celery and other produce while I pay for the food, a question pops into her mind.
“So why does Lorien always come to you when you call him like that,” she asks as the bits land on the cucumber stand in front of us, prompting Lorien to put his paws on the stand.
“I’m not entirely sure, but I think he’s attracted to the different sounds made when objects collide with each other,” I answer before clicking my tongue to get his attention again. “When I started home from Sweet Feather Sanctuary on Nightmare Night, I distinctly remember those screwdrivers I had on me tapping each other when I went to float them, and Lorien followed for the sound. And just now, he was attracted to the bits when I paid for the cucumbers.”
Lorien quietly growls under his breath, looking in the direction of our castle. Chrysalis floats a treat up to him in an attempt to get him to relax.
“Oh come now, little todd. You don’t think anything bad could happen to Cozy with our guests, do you?” she asks. Lorien swipes the treat from Chrysalis’ magic and tosses it aside before gekkering at her, moving a fixed distance ahead of us while walking backwards to face her.
Chrysalis and I stop, me going around to wrap my hoof around Lorien. For the brief time of contact, my foreleg shakes with him as he moves away.
“Chrysalis, he really is worried about Cozy… you go ahead and finish shopping; he and I will check on her.”
Chrysalis sighs, waving her hoof back to the castle. “Fine, it shouldn’t be long before I return either anyway.”
So with Chrysalis’ permission, Lorien and I head home.