Spike sat at the bench, arms crossed, with a clear look of annoyance on his face.
"She's late..."
Spike leaned back and closed his eyes. He was gonna be real ticked if she had left already.
"Maybe I should leave," he thought to himself. "Actually, nah. If she shows up after I leave, I'll feel like a total jerk."
He ended up waiting another 10 minutes before finally giving up. "Alright... " He opened his eyes and leaned forward...
And found himself nose-to-nose with a certain white pony.
"Ah!" Spike backed up, his cheeks quickly tinting a red hue. "R...rarity!"
The pony smiled. "Hello, Spikey-Wikey! I must say, you are absolutely adorable when you blush."
"U...um... Thank you..."
"I'm sorry I was late. I had to make sure I was looking my absolute best." Her smile turned devious.
"...late...?" Spike looked away, pondering what she just said. Realizing what had happened, he looked at her with slight annoyance. "Dang it, Chrysalis!"
"I was considering playing it for a bit longer... but it doesn't matter. I answered correctly, right?"
"Huh?" Spike was confused for a second. Then it clicked. "Oh. Right. Yeah. You're right, I have a crush on Rarity."
"And here I was thinking that it would be a challenge. You make it obvious almost every time you're around her."
"Aw, shush." Spike smiled. "Glad to see you're becoming a bit more comfortable."
"Huh?" Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.
"...you seem a lot less shy than you did yesterday."
"Oh!" She looked off to the side. "That probably has less to do with me becoming more comfortable, and more with my disguise, darling." She put a heavy emphasis on the word "darling".
Spike frowned. "I'm not quite sure what you mean."
"What I mean is, in most cases, when a changeling adopts someone's look, they adopt their personality, as well. It's kind of compulsory."
"Makes sense." Spike thought for a moment. "What do you mean 'in most cases?'"
"As long as a changeling still has their emotions, they will copy personalities."
Spike looked at Chrysalis disappointedly. "You lost me again."
She sighed, as if she was regretting the conversation. "There is an ancient spell that has been passed through the generations of the changelings that allows one to abandon their emotions."
"Th...that sounds terrible!" Spike was dumbfounded.
"Think about the position changelings are in!"
Spike silenced himself to listen.
"There are plenty of situations in which a changeling would need to abandon things such as sympathy," she said matter-of-factly, "but there are two downsides. The first, is that a changeling under the influence of this spell has to rely on hypnosis more heavily. The second is that it's a long-term spell."
"How long-term is long-term?" Spike seemed concerned.
"It lasts indefinitely, and there is no counterspell. However... there is apparently some way for it to be reversed. But the exact nature of this method is unknown to changelings."
Spike looked down, in thought. "And you have no clues on how?"
Chrysalis sighed. "We have a single clue, in the form of a rhyme. Would you like to hear it?"
Spike nodded.
The queen cleared her throat, and spoke in a loud, clear voice:
"Held in the past of the cursed one be,
the answer starts with you and it ends with me."
The dragon frowned. "That isn't much to go on..."
"And that's why we don't have an answer, baby dragon." Chrysalis sighed. "I personally hope I never have to cast that spell..."
Spike looked at her sympathetically. "I understand why..."
There was about a minute of silence following that statement. Suddenly, to break the silence, Spike yawned.
"Jeez," he said, stretching his arms. "I've just been feeling more and more tired the last couple of days..."
Chrysalis gave a nervous laugh. "Oh... really?"
"Yeah... it's weird. Can't tell when it started, though." Spike scratched his head. "Ya know, I had my doubts about you in the beginning, but you seem pretty nice."
"Thanks... I think?" She gave another nervous laugh.
"So... is there any way for you to show me your real personality without showing me your real form?"
Chrysalis froze. "Um... yes. Every changeling normally has a certain pony they transform into that they made up themselves. They express their true personality through that."
"Cool. Promise to show me that before you leave ponyville, alright? I want to know who I really befriended."
Chrysalis was taken aback. "A...alright. I will."
"Good." Spike smiled, and looked up to the sky. "I'm already glad I met you. You may be a little weird, but... I can tell you're a good pony on the inside."
"Good... 'pony', huh?" Chrysalis looked away.
Spike looked over to her. "What's wrong?"
"N...nothing!" Chrysalis gave a forced smile.
Spike raised an eyebrow at her, but continued without questioning. "Well... judging from the sky, I'm going to have to leave."
"Well, that's kind of disappointing." Chrysalis looked down. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow, baby dragon."
"Of course." He hopped off of the bench, and started to walk away. "I hope tomorrow's conversation is as interesting as today's was."
"As do I."
"Also..." Spike stopped and turned around to look at Chrysalis. "No more disguising as Rarity around me."
Chrysalis laughed. "Alright, alright. Goodbye!"
"See ya!" Spike wandered out of sight.
Chrysalis sighed. "He really does see me as a friend, doesn't he... it's a weird feeling..." She smiled. "I forgot how nice it feels to be trusted..."