Twilight Sparkle trotted down the streets of Ponyville. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and over at Carousel Boutique, she could hear Rarity wailing about how the fabric she had ordered was the wrong shade of blue. Satisfied that everything was not perfectly fine (Twilight had learned the lesson of tempting fate too many times, and nice days in Ponyville had a habit of going wrong), Twilight headed for Sweet Apple Acres.
Both Applejack and Big Macintosh had asked Twilight to go over their financial books as a favour, to confirm Big Mac’s numbers, as tax time was coming up. Twilight had wanted to do tedious math for a while anyway, as a way to get her mind off her new station as Princess of Friendship.
As Twilight crossed into Apple farmland, the scent of fresh apple pie drifted on the wind, mixed with the undeniable smell of hard work. Twilight wasn’t sure that hard work had a smell, but it certainly seemed to fit. As Twilight approached the Apple’s home, she ran across Applejack hauling several carts of apple to the barn.
“Well, howdy there Twilight!” said Applejack, “What brings y’all out here today?”
“I finished your books. Just came to return them,” said Twilight, levitating the hefty tomes that detailed the finances of Sweet Apple Acres out of her saddlebags.
“Mighty fine of you, Twilight. I was just gonna pick ‘em up the next time I dropped by.”
“Oh, don’t worry. It was the least I could do, and I was going out anyway,” smiled Twilight.
“Well, thanks for checkin’ them anyway. Find anything in them?”asked Applejack, as she unhooked herself from the carts.
“Nothing major. A few minor errors, but your brother’s bang on with his numbers.”
“Heh,” smiled Applejack, “Big Macintosh has always been the better of the two of us with numbers and fancy mathematics. Maybe you’d like him to be ‘bang on’ you, sometime? ‘Cause I got no problem if he don’t. All ya gotta do is say the word, Twi.”
Twilight groaned, and buried her face in her hooves, and then added her wings to the mix.
“Stop trying to set me up with your brother, Applejack,” she said.
“I’m just messin’ with you, sugarcube. I’ll stop if it bothers you that much.” Said Applejack, rubbing Twilight’s back.
“No, no, it’s alright. Just tone it down for a while.”
“Alright,” said Applejack, “I can lay off for a while.”
Twilight uncovered her face, and smiled up at Applejack. Clambering back onto her hooves, Twilight passed the books to Applejack, bade her farewells, and then headed back towards Ponyville. She couldn’t be happier, aside from the whole Princess of Friendship deal. She lived in a great place, had wonderful friends, and she was learning more and more about magic everyday. Really, what more could a mare ask for?
Quickly, Twilight checked the sky, but aside from a few scattered clouds and the tell-tale signs of Rainbow Dash practicing, nothing ominous was happening, like, for instance, the moon falling on Equestria. Twilight let out a sigh of relief.
Truly, Ponyville had taught her well.
******
Queen Chrysalis smiled as she approached the pod in which Twilight Sparkle lay, trapped and helpless, the illusion that the pod contained keeping her happy. Chrysalis couldn’t care less about what the pod was showing her. All she knew was that the illusion would adjust, latch onto the things that Twilight found the happiest, and tailor itself to keep Twilight in a state of perpetual bliss.
For all Chrysalis knew, she could be surrounded by puppies, or with a loved one, and Chrysalis didn’t really care. All Chrysalis cared about was that she was happy, and could thus feed her hive. Soon, she’d have enough love to take Canterlot. Taking Ponyville had been a smart move – with the entire town trapped in pods, and her swarms gorging themselves on the love the cocooned ponies produced, while pretending that nothing was wrong, she’d soon be able to take Equestria for herself.
And that thought brought a wickedly happy smile to Chrysalis’s mouth.