Tainted Love: A Twysalis Prompt Tag Collab

by Foals Errand

Gypsy by Europa

by Europa

Vinur wasn't used to being around ponies. Things back in the griffon empire were much... further from ocean level. The high air pressure was giving him a headache, and the heat! Why, water left on its own actually remained liquid instead of freezing! Madness.

He walked around the Equestrian mobile marketplace, and came upon a stall that called to him. He approached it, and a wizened old mare came to greet him.

"Why hello there," the moss-green earth mare said. "Come to browse or buy?"

"Just browsing," he said noncommittally. He knew their kind, willing to pounce at anything of interest, even in Equestria. 'Soft, naive herbivores' his furry flank! "What do you have?"

"Well, I don't have much currently, just sold out. But..." She turned around and rummaged through her wares, then returned with something in her hoof. "This is a relic from the Equestria-Changeling treatise," she explained. Vinur inspected it; it was a twisted green mass of some wax-like substance. "This was the present that then-Queen Chrysalis gave to then-Princess Twilight Sparkle as a show of their nations' friendship, and of their personal love."

Vinur raised a brow. What were the odds that a random vendor would happen to have something like that? "Forgive me for being doubtful."

She waved a hoof. "Oh, perfectly understandable! After all, it's been five hundred years since they abdicated, let alone since they met. Here." The mare produced an ancient, wrinkled yellow parchment. "Here is the actual treatise itself."

Vinur's brow raised even higher, trying to attain lift-off from his head. Still, he leaned in carefully and inspected the paper, the old-fashioned Equestrian words blurring together from age. It seemed legitimate. "Interesting. Chrysalis and Twilight you say? If that's the case, it's held up remarkably well."

The pony nodded happily. "Oh yes, it's quite good. Takes a fair bit of earth magic to keep it fresh, but changeling slime doesn't deteriorate much anyway."

That made sense. Vinur didn't know earth pony magic could be used to do that, but he didn't know much about pony magic anyway. "Alright, how many chirrups - I mean, bits for the relic?"

The pony tapped her chin. "Hmm, well normally it'd be twenty bits, but for a handsome tiercel such as yourself I'll sell it for ten."

Vinur nodded and lowered his head to the bag hanging around his neck. He fished out ten bits with his beak and gave them over. The mare slid over the sculpture, and he nodded. "Pleasure doing business with you, miss," he said, taking off into the air. Ten bits for such a priceless relic? What a steal.

***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-***

The elderly pony snickered as she watched the griffon sail away. "Oh," she said in a voice that was not the voice of an old mare. "the pleasure was all mine."

She put out the sign saying she was closed, secured the bits, and headed deeper into the store. A spacial compression spell made it bigger on the inside, so she turned a corner and let the flames rise, up from deep within, all around, and they faded to reveal Chrysalis there. "Too easy."

Chrysalis saw Twilight laying on the wooden floor, her right wing extended limply as she poured over a book. "So, how long until he realizes it's just a worthless lump of changeling slime you threw up the last time you were sick?"

"I give him a month, didn't take long to talk him into it."

Twilight chuckled and flipped the page. "Nice." Her horn lit up magenta and a pendant around her neck moved up into sight. "Of course I'd never let you actually sell this."

"Nor would I try, my nectar," Chrysalis said as she looked at the red, stone statue; a changeling and a smaller alicorn standing side by side, their manes lifted in a breeze. "Nor would I try."

Comments

[Twilight Best Pony]

Ehh?

[Cross Lament]

Statue?

[kildeez]

Lol this was good

[Snowdrifter]

6755343

I think it's more of a locket or pendant, but it would still be a statue, I think. Maybe?

[Cross Lament]

7080505 'Figurine', maybe?