In hindsight, it hadn't felt at all like just a single hoof's worth of days since Twilight had been through the coronation in Canterlot. It had to have been more than a week, right? The second the ceremony of her rise to princesshood concluded, her life seemed to get shoved so full of this, that, and the other thing that she never had a stretch of peaceful nothingness like she used to. Perhaps she'd get it again in the future...sometime.
This day, even more chaotic than the last few, finally came to a tired close to which the princess-elevated-to-queen could not have been happier. Slipping onto the soft pad of her own dark bedroom's sleep ring was like taking a drink of cold water after an endless trek through a sun-bleached desert of sand. Though perhaps the imagery of her private chamber more resembled a cool cavern well far hidden from the torturous rays of the sun.
She must have made some audible effect of her relief because Chrysalis giggled behind her. Twilight always enjoyed hearing the changeling do that. It was so unusual a sound, like the innocent laugh of a filly combined with the hum of an electric mixer. Not at all normal by pony standards but not entirely unpleasant either.
“I just can't wait until things are normal again,” Twilight said as she maneuvered around Spike. He was curled up near the center and fast asleep.
Chrysalis brought a hoof to her mouth as she thought for a moment and then put it back down as she followed her queen into the ring's pad. The gentle ring of light on the edge was giving them its same peaceful glow, slowly becoming more soothing as it became familiar every night. Both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash had to go back to their own homes so they could get this or do that before coming back over for the night, which was getting quite late now.
“And what is 'normal' for you?” Chrysalis asked.
“Well, uh,” Twilight found herself at a loss as she bent down and took up her spot near Spike. The softness of the floor, as it gave in under her weight, almost made her forget the question. “I guess...not being so busy? I'm not sure anymore. You really mixed things up when you came along.”
The queen had smiled and said it jokingly but Chrysalis could see the truth in it. Having a changeling come into the life of a pony must have been just as disorienting as it was in reverse for her. Ponies were such different creatures in some respects.
“I just want a few days like I used to have all the time,” the alicorn continued. “Before my brother's wedding, I mean. Everything was so much simpler then.”
Chrysalis laid down next to her and turned sad. “You prefer the time I wasn't around?”
Twilight balked. “Would you stop that already? I like having you here. I want you here. By Celestia's mane, you're not going to leave me.”
The changeling broke a smile as big as Manehattan to which the mare became shocked and then immediately unsurprised. She had been played.
“You tricked me into saying that,” Twilight deadpanned.
“You didn't have to word it that way,” Chrysalis countered as she cuddled up against her queen's side.
Twilight rolled her eyes and then laid her head down onto her forehooves. Now completely laid down and with a large friend blanketing her on one side, it would not be difficult at all to get her sleep back on a reasonable schedule. The others, when they got back, would be just as tired and could get some rest with her.
“Just go to sleep,” she instructed her changeling. “I'll see you there.”
Sleep. It was different now, but Twilight knew she had to relax and get used to the flow. There really had been a very relaxing element to it, especially since she was in control of the hivemind world. But it could never replace the real world and she worried at one point if she might fail to properly distinguish the two at some point. Chrysalis had said that it was all very different from normal changeling hiveminds. Perhaps, as her conclusion went, it was best not to over-think it and simply treat it as no big deal.
Fluttershy was surprisingly the first to come back, lay down into Twilight's sleep ring, and thus enter the hivemind world again. Twilight was glad about that because she was the first of her friends she had connected to in this special way. That and Twilight knew how the mare could open up more with less ponies around. She didn't need all her knowledge of psychology obtained from endless books to make her aware of it.
The butter-yellow pegasus, removed from her appearance in the real world, had looked flawless in the hivemind. She said nothing much, however, as she took up a spot beside her queen and watched the constructed world around her. The sky was taking on its own character with self-moving clouds that were thin and wide, screening out just enough of the sun to give the grove-like area a slightly overcast but not melancholy feeling.
Now this really did feel like resting, according to Queen Twilight. Fluttershy was on one side and Chrysalis on the other, a look of mischievousness now on the changeling's face to replace the glum mood she had been in earlier. Twilight didn't mind it because she knew it had all been over the connection business. Chrysalis would get over it after she “spilled the beans” anyways. At least, that was what the queen decided.
Rainbow Dash was next into the hivemind, which was again surprising because it meant Pinkie had been the slowest. Without having the over-energetic party pony around to distract her, Rainbow acted a little differently than she had before. But it was barely noticeable and, in fact, only recognizable at all because Twilight had been in her mind – seen her life and inner thoughts.
The rainbow mare settled down at a safe distance from Chrysalis on Fluttershy's side, where she laid into the grass like the others. She wasn't quick or boisterous even though she should have left her tired self in the real world on the sleeping ring. Twilight asked about this and got a “meh” response, which was never to be let go of in the queen's book.
Rainbow found herself dragged in against Twilight by an unseen force of the hivemind, not at all to say she didn't like getting dragged in against her friend. Fluttershy was very polite in making room so that the two could talk closer, since that was obviously what Twilight was aiming for. Chrysalis was too busy to mind any of it, metaphorical gears turning as to which was the best way to ease Twilight into her wealth of knowledge regarding changelings and general life experiences.
What was exchanged between Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle became known to the others present even if it would have otherwise been a private conversation. Twilight was becoming more determined to listen to everything the girls had on their minds and voicing it as well regardless of who knew what. Rainbow herself, having come to terms with all that had happened before, left nothing to the imagination or the far-reaching grasp of the hivemind sharing of memory.
Later, Pinkie Pie shot onto all of them as if the group was a landing pad and she was a rocketship gone mayday. But she just mumbled a few things tiredly as they moved her off and she went straight to sleep as if she wasn't bothered by any of it. Twilight could hardly fathom why Pinkie of all ponies would choose to sleep while she slept but then perhaps that was why. She was Pinkie Pie and that was that.
Besides each of her friends returning from their short leave, nothing unusual occurred that night. The guards returned as well, both Direway and Midnight Strike. They were going to keep their respectful distance, but Twilight wound up ordering them to come in closer. The queen had much on her mind, individual concerns with each pony and the changeling as well. But what she spoke to Rainbow about gave her peace and patience with it all.
They were together safe and free. There would be plenty of time for everything.
Morning came with a contrast that Twilight Sparkle had never felt before in her life. It was thankfully quite a good contrast, being the opposite of the terrible physical and mental pains she had gone though so recently. In fact, she was tempted once again to burst out of the library in song regarding how much Ponyville shimmered and so forth.
Her body felt in pristine condition and her mind was at peace. Issues there may have been but she felt that none of them were out of her control. Breakfast had been livelier than usual with so many more present than just her, Spike, and Chrysalis. Mostly it was Pinkie, though.
Rainbow Dash was the most peculiar of the bunch because Twilight had never seen her wake up in the morning the way she had when they all got up. She was more her other self, the one devoid of mild but trademark narcissism. She was mellow, though in a different way than Fluttershy. It was more the calm that some ponies had after accepting reality in full rather than any measure of shyness.
Twilight was double-checking and triple-checking the packs on her back to make sure she had all she needed before heading out. They were not going to be stopping by the library again after swinging by Rarity's and Applejack's. They'd head straight for the station. According to another letter that had arrived from Celestia that morning, there was a special train car waiting for her and whoever she took with her.
“Can I take some gems?” Spike asked as he leaned out from the kitchen.
Twilight glanced back for just a second before whipping off an answer. “Sure. Just the rubies, though. Somehow I ended up with more of those than the others.”
“Score!” the dragon shouted happily as he ducked back into the kitchen.
Chrysalis came down from the upstairs bedroom with a little hop in her step. “I'm doing this just for you, my queen. I don't like Canterlot.”
Twilight levitated her packs back off of her to look more intensely for something she wasn't finding. “I can't imagine why. Just don't say anything to Celestia unless she speaks directly to you. I don't want an incident.”
“Incident?” Chrysalis faked ignorance. “I don't have a clue what you're talking about...”
“Uh-huh,” the alicorn droned as she frowned, having not found that something that was supposed to be in her packs. “You sound like Discord when you say that. Spike!”
“What?” the dragon popped back out of the kitchen.
“Where's that alicorn book? I thought I put it in here.”
Spike shrugged and then started towards the walls of hardcovers and paperbacks. “I don't know, but I'll check to see if it's still shelved.”
“I will obey my queen's every command,” Chrysalis ended their own conversation with a zipping motion against her mouth.
“It says alicorns didn't come from Equestria,” sounded Rainbow's voice from the kitchen. It made Twilight's ears swivel around to it like a radar.
Dashie, the queen spoke through the physical library walls with the hivemind. Did you take The Alicorn Theory from my bags?
Huh? Oh, the mare responded with a little surprise at the voice that had entered her mind. I was going to put it back...
Twilight sat back onto her haunches. Alright. Just tell me next time so I don't wonder about it, she instructed while waving Spike off of his search.
Rainbow rounded the corner out of the kitchen with a downcast look. “Sorry,” she said.
“Oh, it's okay,” Twilight downplayed. “There's no need to make a big deal of it. What was it that interested you about it?”
Rainbow walked over and slipped the book back into one of the purple pony's packs. “Pinkie Pie saw it on top of the other stuff. She mentioned it and I got curious. It isn't a very useful book, though.”
Twilight smiled at that. “No kidding,” she remarked honestly. “It says 'Theory' but any good scientist could tell it hardly even qualifies as a hypothesis. It's more or less just hearsay, conjecture, and the author's wild imagination. I thought to bring it last second because I thought Celestia might get a laugh out of it.”
“Twi?” Fluttershy's voice came along as she too arrived out of the kitchen. “Do you want me to clean the dishes? Pinkie just finished the last of breakfast and I know you'll be out of town...”
Rainbow perked up at the idea, looking back to Fluttershy and then back expectantly to Twilight.
The alicorn shrugged. Spike usually took care of such things so she didn't really have a preference one way or the other, even if it would be a good idea. Rainbow jumped at it, though.
“I'll take care of it,” the rainbow pegasus beamed as she trotted back into the kitchen.
Fluttershy looked either mildly surprised or happy. It was a complicated expression. She then gave a tiny nod to her queen and followed Rainbow while Pinkie Pie bounced out to replace her.
“Those muffins were incredible even warmed up!” the pink pony cheered and she bounced around the library.
Twilight latched her sacks again now that their contents were complete. “Yes, they were. So how'd you get time off for this, Pinkie?”
“I just asked, silly,” Pinkie chortled as she kept bouncing. “I asked before I left for the Crystal Empire with you. Or maybe I just left a note. My hours at Sugarcube Corner are flexible.”
“Gee,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I can't imagine why the Cakes wouldn't mind letting you go for a while.”
“When do we leave?” Chrysalis broke in as she played with her mane in a bored manner.
Twilight hefted the packs back onto her back and ran through her mental checklist, making sure she had everything in order. “As soon as the girls are done with the dishes, I guess.”
Done, Rainbow grinned as she darted out of the kitchen again. Fluttershy was slower on her hooves as she tried following behind.
“That...was fast,” Twilight couldn't help but gape.
Rainbow Dash landed square on her hooves right in front of her queen. Her grin was stupidly goofy. “Rainblow Dry, remember?”
Twilight finally brought her jaw back up and shook her head with a smile. She didn't want to go because she would be saying a temporary farewell to Fluttershy, but she had to move along all the same. “Well, let's go. Everypony, don't forget your packs. They're lined in front of the door.”
Those that had not done so yet started to don their traveling supplies. As a matter of curiosity, Twilight had used the previous night's sleep to find out what each had packed from their respective homes. As she had fully expected based on past experience, they all packed precisely what was relevant to each of them minus actual traveling essentials.
Pinkie Pie had an incredible amount of party supplies jammed into her sacks like a hundred clown ponies in a miniature coach. Rainbow Dash packed next to nothing, the only exceptions being a pair of adventure books by unknown authors and an intricate silver hoof bracelet of inconspicuous purpose. Spike's own little backpack, a cute little thing of trademark green and purple made by the one and only Rarity, held mostly items that Twilight didn't think she needed but always asked for later anyways. She didn't require any mental connection to assume that. The gem snacks were presently being added. Chrysalis was using Twilight's old saddle packs since she didn't have her own personal ones made yet. The items they contained were all changeling items that Chrysalis constructed herself, mostly of incomprehensible purpose.
Twilight lifted the changeling's bags with her own purple aura and set them on Chrysalis' back. They exchanged a private look that they had somehow developed over time. It was the kind of look that spoke trust amidst the unknown. The queen said nothing but lead the others out of the library and through town to their destination.
When she first came out of the treehouse library, the two guards on station formed up behind her. She was glad to see it was Midnight Strike and Direway again but she decided to send Midnight out to retrieve the other two on a whim. She hadn't seen much of the other guard pair and figured it would be best in the long run not to leave them behind again while going out of town. Midnight returned in a amazingly timely fashion before they quite got to Rarity's, two other sleepy but fully armored pegasi guards in tow.
Neither had pause for comment because they arrived just thereafter before the door to one unique building that could have a hundred words to describe it but with each missing the mark in one way or another. Perhaps the round building was “unmatched” or “quaint.” Rarity herself would tend to use more fanciful words like “chic” or even “crème de la crème” if she was feeling particularly confident that day. In any case, it was where the white unicorn mare could be found sans special occasion.
Carousal Boutique. It just kept becoming more and more of a big-name place because of Rarity's work. It even started feeling odd to walk in when celebrities would visit regularly and then go into the back rooms where Rarity did her sewing and such. It was early enough in the morning for no customers to be present but for the door to be unlocked.
“Hello?” Twilight spoke with a cautious tone into the silence of the shop. The others were right behind her. “Rarity?”
“Coming,” sang the fashionista's elegant voice from upstairs. She came trotting down from the upper story in the same graceful fashion that she tried to do everything with. When she landed off of the last step, she even seemed to pose. Probably unconsciously. “Yes, darling? What's the occasion?”
“Well...” Twilight began as her friends fanned out into the room from behind her.
“Oh?” Rarity darted her eyes to them, giving some kind of odd twitch at the sight of Chrysalis that softened when she spotted Spike instead.
“I'm going to Canterlot for a short while,” Twilight continued. “I just thought I'd ask if you'd be interested in coming along.”
“All of you are going?” Rarity stepped forward and headed for one of the room's desks.
“Everyone here,” the alicorn confirmed and followed her unicorn friend. “I haven't asked Applejack yet and Fluttershy is staying here in Ponyville because of her animals.”
“Mm,” Rarity hummed as she stopped at the desk and looked at some paper on it. “Ah,” she added.
“I understand if you aren't interested,” Twilight mentioned. “It's not likely to be very interesting and you have work-”
“I think I will come along,” Rarity answered off-hoof when she turned to Twilight. “I sincerely doubt anything you would need to do in Canterlot could be boring. Especially if the others are going. I've actually gotten ahead of my orders thanks to Spikey.”
The dragon caught the mare's wink directed at him and blushed wildly.
“Oh,” Twilight brightened. “If that's what you want to do then I'll be happy to have you along.”
Rarity gestured towards the door. “You should go ask Applejack now, though I doubt she'll accept. Not much of a city filly, you know,” she whispered the last part as if it were a scandal to say. “I assume you'll take the train?”
As Twilight followed the mare's direction back out, she gave her “yes.”
“Alright,” Rarity turned from them to go back upstairs. “I'll meet you there, darling. I must prepare my traveling things first.”
Spike came up to the alicorn and whispered. “I should probably stay to help her. She brings a lot of stuff.”
Twilight laughed quietly enough for Rarity not to hear as she disappeared up the stairway. “Yeah, you better make sure we're not waiting for her at the station until noon.”
Spike seemed quite content with that and left them as he went up the stairs in hot pursuit of Lady Rarity.
“No can do, sugarcube,” Applejack declined without removing her one discriminating eye from the changeling. “Got too much harvestin' to do. Besides, I'm sure you don't need me for a simple chit-chat with the princess.”
“Oh, alright,” Twilight felt a little disappointed, though less so than she was with Fluttershy staying behind. “Don't go hurting yourself, Applejack.”
“Buckin' apple trees?” the country mare shook her mane. “Be a darn foal if I went embarrasin' my family name.”
“Be careful anyways,” Pinkie Pie added from her spot beside Twilight. The whole party was there minus the dragon and unicorn. “That water chute just about broke my back!”
It would be hard to tell the Earth pony was being serious since she laughed, giggled, and bubbled happily with every word. Applejack seemed to catch the gist, though, and she nodded.
“And watch the heat,” Twilight continued the line of thought as she looked up to the sky with one forehoof over her eyes to screen the sun's glare. “It's getting pretty hot already. Midday will be a scorcher.”
Applejack rolled her eyes and started pushing the royal back onto the path that lead up to her house. “Good golly. Would ya'll stop worryin' about me? Just get goin' before I smack ya'll off my farm.”
“Whoo!” Pinkie shouted. “That sounds fun!”
As they left and Twilight waved, she exchanged a smile with Applejack. She was glad she stopped by and that her farming friend was alright, but the feeling of one less traveling companion did dampen her heart just a tad. After all, few had gone through as much with her as her five close friends from Ponyville.
The group of them, decent in size by this point, walked the apple tree lined path that wound out of the farm and into the main part of town. Pinkie Pie had initiated a conversation with Chrysalis regarding whether or not her black carapace sucked in the day's heat more than a lighter color might. The four guardponies were quietly alert in formation, two for both of Twilight's flanks and two behind her trailing friends. Rainbow Dash took the chance to draw up next to her queen, which was easily done with her lightning-fast wings.
“So,” Rainbow started with some kind of expectation. “How we doing this?”
“Doing what, Rainbow?” the alicorn came back in equal tone, not having a clue and feeling neither here nor there about it.
“Hey,” the pegasus changed her mood as she flew ahead and then flapped backwards as she faced Twilight. “What's with this 'Rainbow' business?”
“You prefer 'Dashie' now?” Twilight smirked knowingly.
“Maybe I do,” Rainbow played coy.
“Doing what again?”
“Huh?” Rainbow lost the subject that she herself had started. “Oh, um, sleeping arrangements,” she got back on track.
Twilight decided as she nearly tripped over an oddball rock that she might as well counter Rainbow with her own coyness. “Sleeping arrangements...” she muttered. “Why in all of Equestria would that interest you?”
“C'mon, Twi. I'm not going back to the way things were before. I won't.”
The queen smiled, not at all bothered by the prospect of having Rainbow sleeping beside her every night. Spike had as well as Chrysalis for a reasonable time and Fluttershy already joined in anyways. “I'll make sure that Princess Celestia gets us a large enough bedroom.”
“The bedroom is one thing,” Rainbow decided to finally fly back into a forward pattern after having nearly flew rearwards into the last apple tree. “I don't think there's a bed in existence that could hold all of us.”
“Actually, some of the 'beds' from Saddle Arabia are quit interesting,” Twilight perked up. She loved using her massive pool of knowledge she gleamed from her books no matter how unpractical some of it was. “Some palatial estates, for example...”
Thunk.
Such was the sound that that Rainbow's head made as it lulled back onto the side of the train car. The solid surface was uncomfortable enough to encourage a wake up and Twilight's nudge between her wings was the last straw. She bolted into a flying somersault as she came awake and asked a “who, what” to the purple alicorn.
Twilight giggled quietly. “We're almost there,” she added as an answer to her friend's incorrect sleep-induced question.
“Oh...yeah,” Rainbow felt a little silly as she took her seat again.
“Did you not get enough sleep, Dashers?” was Pinkie's inquiry from the upper row.
The train car that had been prepared for them in advance was specifically for the use of diplomats and royalty, which meant the seats were more comparable to recliners or ten-thousand bit sofas than any of the hard benches that occupied normal passenger cars. Twilight would have refused such special treatment but Chrysalis had pulled a fast one on her to trick her into it. The changeling was definitely up to something, which was supported by the fact that she was now digging into her own saddle packs.
Twilight was momentarily distracted by a conversation going on between Rarity and one small reptilian assistant who had crossed the middle aisle to sit next to the unicorn. Spike was going on about Twilight's new changeling-style bedroom, which was bound to cause some trouble and raised brows. As it so happened, Rarity's brows did rise. It wasn't clear, however, whether they were of the “how dreadful” or “what's been going on” variety.
Chrysalis pulled out a few items from the sacks. They were, as Twilight noticed upon the catch of her peripheral vision, items she was very familiar with and had thought for certain she had left behind at home after she had gotten back from the crowning ceremony. Their golden shine was not something she took to on a personal level and she thought it too egotistical to wear them anyways. Chrysalis dumped them on her lap.
“I brought your royal horseshoes,” the changeling seemed happy about it. “You should wear them more often. They look good on you.”
Twilight had completely forgotten about them past the ceremony, but she did remember they existed in some dresser back at the library. That was for certain. Or, at least, they should have existed there. Instead, they had been retrieved from that place somehow. She would have levitated them off her lap and towards Chrysalis' sack again but was lost in a conundrum.
“How'd you get these? They weren't in your bag earlier...”
“I saw them in your most recent memories at the ceremony when you were checking yourself out in the mirror. You know, in the dressing room before the aisle walk?” Chrysalis waved a hoof as if it was no big deal.
The alicorn blushed in embarrassment. “Well how'd you get them?” she asked a bit testily.
“I didn't,” the changeling kept playing along with every ounce of sincerity that she contained in her hole-ridden body, which was quite a bit nowadays. “I recreated them.”
Twilight's face twisted. “Huh?”
“I can create certain things just like those sleep rings,” Chrysalis answered. “Different things require different materials and magic. The shoes I made with a different metal-based clod. I made them instead of taking the others because I wanted to see if I could still do it. I'm worried because I seem to have gotten out of practice with some of my magic.”
Twilight turned thoughtful as she kept gazing at her changeling. She kept it up until Chrysalis began to blush a little around the eyes. “Then you could change them without too much trouble?”
“I...if you wanted, of course,” Chrysalis said without seeing what her queen was getting at. If anypony wanted a simple change of fashion then she would have expected Rarity to bring it up instead. In that light, the queen's following words made sense.
“I think you and Rarity have something to talk about.”