Chapter 53 - Battle Royale. Queen VS Duchess. Bat VS...DRAGON?!
Midnight sat in the bathtub as she scrubbed Joyful down, humming a small song as she did. The little filly content with playing with a rubber duckie as Midnight rinsed her mane out and brushed any knots from it.
“There we are, cute as a button and clean as a whistle,” she said with a smile.
“Really?” the pink nymph asked with a tilt of her head. “Because I’ve seen some ugly buttons and filthy whistles before.”
“Hey, I didn’t write the metaphor kid,” Midnight deadpanned as she set the bottle of soap aside. “And try not to worry about Chryssie. She’s... in a weird place right now.”
“She’s a meanie poo-head,” the pink said as she stuck her tongue out. “She doesn’t even try to be friends with other changelings. I dunno where she’s been getting her food from, but I doubt it was from a pony friend.”
“I think that Twilight is sort of her friend,” Midnight mused as she squeaked the duck. “Maybe she’ll learn. She’s not as cute as you, so it’ll be harder.” Then she hugged the filly close and giggled. “So, did Levvy tell you yet?”
“Nope, I just got here!” the pink chirped.
“Well,” Midnight looked around for spies and ninjas, they were sneaky like that. She leaned in close and smiled. “You’re gonna get three brand new big sisters.”
She gasped, before looking around in the tub, as if they would materialize in there. “Where are they?” she asked, before swiping at the water. Midnight chose to ignore that burning sensation in her chest and looked down with a wide grin.
“Well, one of them is hugging you right now.”
Joyful sloooooowly turned around to look up at Midnight with the most precious expression on her face. One that screamed of a simple question. “You?”
“Well, when I get married to Levvy,” Midnight explained. “Me and Cidey and Scopey will all be your sisters.”
Joyful almost seemed fit to explode with happiness, before she paused and thought about something. “Does that mean if I could find a filly or a nymph that actually like my three brothers and survive them, I could get another sister that way?”
“Well, if you get one for each, you could get three more,” Midnight giggled. “And once I have the baby in my tummy, you get to be an Aunty as well.”
That tipped the scales as to what Joyful did next, zipping closer to Midnight and putting an ear to her stomach as if to listen for something. Midnight didn’t even bother to suppress the squee she let out over how adorable this was.
“It’s still a bit early Joy,” she giggled as she watched the filly. “You gotta let it grow a bit more first.”
“It’s never too early to listen for foals,” she said, not budging. “Maybe if I had been born sooner, I’d have been able to warn mom about the trio before they came out!”
Honestly, if this crazy little nymph said she could hear foals, Midnight figured she wouldn’t argue. Might as well play along.
“So what is the foal saying?” she asked in a whispered voice.
“All I can hear is something about mango ice-cream,” the filly replied before shaking her head. “I might be getting a false reading from your stomach.”
“I am kinda hungry,” Midnight replied with a nod. Mmm...mango ice-cream…
A roar filled the air and Joyful giggled. “Yup, definitely your belly.”
“Well, maybe we should give it an offering of mango ice-cream so you can listen to the foal?” she said, climbing out of the tub. She held open a towel to catch the little nymph, who jumped out of the tub and landed neatly in the spread linen. Midnight tossed and turned the towel, tumble-drying the bugling in the process, before setting the fluffy cocoon on the ground. Said cocoon then seemed to get up and trundle around before heading in her direction.
“Behold!” the towel proclaimed. “I am the mighty TOWEL MONSTER!”
Midnight swooned as she opened the door slightly. “Oh noooo,” she wailed in mock despair. “Not the dreaded Towel Monster! Sir Ledger, please save meeee!”
“None can stop the Towel Monster!” the towel remarked as it began climbing up her foreleg. “My embrace means fluffy cottony hugs that shall smother you in warmth forever!”
“Oohnoooo!” Midnight cried. “Wait! What is this. I have discovered a weakness of the Towel Monster!”
“I have no weaknesses!” the towel exclaimed as it straddled Midnight’s back. Even as Ledger showed up to take in the remarkably cute scene.
“Oh no?” Midnight replied. “Not even... The Hooves of Giggly Tickleness!!”
“Oh buck,” the towel swore. “...I don’t suppose you’d give me a five second head start?”
“There are no headstarts in war,” Midnight said in a serious tone as she scooped the filly from her back and unwrapped her. “Prepare for thy tickles!”
“Nuuu!” the nymph said once she was revealed. “Sir Ledger, please help me!”
“...Nah, I’m good,” he said, looking on with a smile. Midnight cackled as she tickled the nymph mercilessly...and then paused.
“Oh no.” she whispered. “I forgot about the Towel Monster’s Curse. Now, I must become the next Towel Monster!” She grabbed Joyful and placed her on her back, before tossing the towel over them. And then started to stalk towards Ledger.
“We’re gonna get yoouuuu~” they sang together. Ledger snorted as he disappeared inside the house. It was quite cute, yes, but in face of his mother coming...
“Aww, big bro’s a party pooper,” Joyful sighed.
“Let’s go get Twilight!” Midnight cackled as the two ran downstairs, promptly glomping the unsuspecting Alicorn.
A while later, Midnight had to head down to the Guard station to file for maternity leave. Better get it out of the way now, so she wouldn’t have to worry about it later.
Oh, and she had to send a message to her parents. They’d be pretty pissed if she didn’t tell them about this little development. She also took Joyful with her, not wanting to part with the little filly just yet. She was already toying with the idea to ask the Madame if she could keep her.
Midnight soon realised that she shouldn’t have gone in on a day that Narrow was working. While it was good to see that her leg had healed up nicely, she’d also convinced the Thestral that while she would have the time off she needed, she could also do most of the paperwork.
“Jeeeez, paperworks sucks,” Midnight groused as she headed for home, the pink filly perched on her back still.
“You could just ask bro to do it,” Joyful said as she played with the Thestral’s ears. They were funny-shaped compared to a pony’s.
“I would, but he’d just whine about it. Besides, I think I'll need something to do, or I’ll go batty!” she giggled at her terrible joke as a familiar scent caught her nose. “Hmm, now I wonder if a little filly has been good enough? Good enough for ice-cream maybe?”
“There is always time for ice-cream,” Joyful said with a nod as she sat back on Midnight’s back.
“Spoken like a true girl,” Midnight nodded as she approached Amy/Cherry’s parlour. She wondered who might be working today. She got her answer as Cherry waved at the pair of them from behind the counter.
“Well hey there mares!” he greeted the two of them. “How’ve you been?”
“Not bad Cherry berry,” Midnight giggled. She took Joyful from her back and placed her on the counter. “My filly is running on empty, she needs a refill.”
“Hmm,” Cherry said, poking at the filly and causing her to giggle. “Yup, she looks pretty empty to me. What flavor do you think I should fill her up with?”
“Hmm, I’m thinking a whooooole buncha strawberry,” Midnight nodded. She figured that pink flavour would go down well. As for herself...?
The bat already had her face against the glass, staring at the tub of mango ice-cream.
“Right,” the stallion said as he fished out two bowls from behind the counter and began looking for his scoops. “What sorta toppings did you want on that?”
Midnight and Joyful looked at each other, before turning back to Cherry with wide smiles.
“Sprinkles!”
“Can do,” the red pegasus chuckled as he began scooping out one, then two...and three and four scoops of strawberry ice-cream. When the small mountain of flavored dairy had been assembled, it was coated with sprinkles and served to the little filly sitting on the counter.
“Can you take her to a table before she starts on that?” Cherry asked.
Midnight nodded and picked her up again, before carting her over to a table as the filly wasted no time in voraciously tearing into the sweet treat.
There would be no survivors.
As Cherry went to trot back behind the counter, he found that his hooves no longer connected to the floor, as a pair of powerful taloned arms held him up.
“And how’s my favourite little treat today?” Ace chuckled.
“Acey!” Cherry said, somehow twirling in his grasp to hug the griffon. “I’m doing fine, how’re you?”
“Work was slow, so I got off early, I was hoping that this place might be empty so I could help you do the same,” he chuckled, before spying Midnight and Joyful.
“Your foal came a little early did it?” he called out.
Midnight just rolled her eyes. Ice-cream first, snarky retort later.
“Acey, behave,” Cherry lightly chided before squirming a little more. “And can ya put me down? I still have to see to Middy.”
“Fine,” he pouted, placing the stallion back on the floor and walked over to the table to take a seat. He then recognised the little filly, the one that used to give him hell for being with Amy.
“Ah, my old enemy,” he said with a mock growl. “We meet again!”
Joyful merely waved a spoon at him before saying something that was muffled by the ice-cream in her mouth. Ace just chuckled as he looked at Midnight and did a double take.
“Hmm, Midnight? What’s with your eyes?”
“Oh, this?” she batted her crimson eyes at him. “I dunno. Apparently it’s a thing that happens when a Thestral gets pregnant. Other stuff is gonna transform as well, so I’m a little concerned about that. But, with Levvy and Cidey and Scopey looking out for me, I think I’ll be fine.” She leaned over to hug the Griffon, as she hadn’t seen much of him lately. “Mmm, maybe I should borrow you from Cherry-berry for a while. I’ve missed you.”
“Hah, I think I’m the one thing that she won’t share,” Ace chuckled.
“As long as you aren’t using him like I do, I’m fine with it,” Cherry chirped as he washed his scoops off, preparing to get Midnight a bowl of mango ice-cream. Midnight grimaced and poked out her tongue.
“No way, he’s like a brother to me.”
“Yeah, I think I’m the only creature with a heartbeat that she hasn’t hit on...well, there was that one time with a clay golem that somepony had created...”
“I was really, really drunk that night,” Midnight blushed. “And by the way. Shut up.”
“That sounds like a story for another time,” Cherry said as he presented an equally large bowl of mango ice-cream for Midnight. The Thestral looked at the bowl and licked her lips.
“You would do well to forget that,” Midnight warned him, before grabbing the bowl with both hooves and diving in. It was pure carnage, mare and filly and the death of the frozen treats.
“It’s like watching a Manticore attack a field of bunnies,” Ace mused. Cherry found himself nodding his agreement as he just waited for them to finish. After a few minutes, the table was left with two empty bowls and two females rubbing stuffed bellies. They let out a simultaneous belch and sighed happily.
“Hmm, maybe I should marry Cherry instead?” Midnight mused. Cherry shook his head before hugging the griffon around his neck.
“Nope, I’m Acey’s. You can’t have any.”
“Aww,” Midnight pretended to pout. “Well whatever, I have my new personal source of sweetness right here,” she giggled, pulling Joyful closer. “Honestly, I don’t see why Ledger was so worried. She’s such a sweetheart.”
“Bro always complains about his sani-something when I’m around,” Joyful said as she nuzzled Midnight. “He worries too much.”
“I think he does, he needs to stress less,” Midnight nodded. Hmm... “Should we go and...cheer him up?”
“That sounds like it would be good for everyone except Ledger,” Ace chuckled. “A Pink is...” He paused and decided that it would be a good idea to shut up.
“Is what, Acey?” Cherry said with a large, fake smile.
“Is uh, wonderful to have around. Yup, can’t live without one,” he nodded all too quickly. Cherry hummed, clearly not fooled but letting it pass...for now.
“Well we gotta fly anyway,” Midnight said. “Joyful’s mom will be arriving soon, so we really should get the guest room set up and...” Then she realised, if they did that, they’d need a place for Twilight and Chrysalis to sleep...
Well, she knew where Twilight could go~ That caused the mare to giggle and lick her lips again.
“Somepony is thinking of something naughty,” Ace chuckled, knowing that expression all too well.
“Around foals?” Cherry mock-swooned. Joyful tilted her head in confusion. What was going on?
Midnight slapped her face with a hoof. Okay, lesson learned. She’d need to start on reigning herself in. Still...
“Hey Cherry? Any ideas on how I can get a rather stubborn Changeling nymph to open up and make some friends?”
“Hmm. I’d normally suggest me, but I’m busy today,” the pegasus said. “Maybe try bribes?”
“Hmm, I think that Chrysalis is a bit too smart to fall for that one,” Midnight said as Joyful scrunched up her face.
“Stoopid poopie-head queen...”
Cherry froze before looking at Midnight with an unreadable expression. “Chrysalis? The Chrysalis?”
“Yup,” Midnight nodded. “She’s being ‘rehabilitated’ by Princess Twilight, and since Twilight is currently here on work and...pleasure, the queen is along for the ride. Apparently Twilight took her to see Sugar, that turned out to be a disaster...”
Cherry seemed...unusually happy now. “So where is the queenie?” he asked too sweetly.
“What do you plan on doing?” Midnight asked cautiously.
“She’s at Miss Midnight’s house!” Joyful said gleefully. Cherry chuckled before looking at his stock and looking at Ace, pecking the griffon on the beak.
“I’ll have to put in a notice with the owners, something came up,” the disguised Pink said even as he began preparing a dish of ice cream. “Could you tell them for me?”
“Cherry? What are you plotting?” Ace said, standing in the doorway.
“I just intend to do one thing,” the pink said as he put the finishing touches on the bowl. “She’s going to be friendly and like it by the time I’m through with her~”
The dish looked wonderful, a rainbow of colors arranged around a simple scoop of vanilla, topped with sprinkles, whipped cream, and it even had a cherry. And then Midnight blinked, and both stallion and dish were gone.
“Ohhh, this can’t end well,” Midnight gulped as she grabbed Joyful and ran from the parlour.
Ace stood there and blinked as he looked around.
“Well...that figures...”
Now this was more like it. The idiotic drone was hiding in his bedroom for some reason, while those mares/nymphs of his were with him. Twilight had her face buried in a book, how she hadn’t become a book by now was anyling’s guess.
Chrysalis just reclined undisguised on the couch, wishing that she had a serving drone or three. Ah well.
And that was when the world stopped making sense, as a cherry-red stallion dropped down from the ceiling with a smile that just seemed wrong on his face.
Chrysalis yelped from the sudden arrival, holding a pillow in front of her. “W-What the hell!?”
“Hello, Chryssy,” the stallion said, sitting in front of her and not taking his eyes off of her for a second. He barely seemed to blink.
Chrysalis put a hoof to her chest, to make sure her heart hadn’t abandoned ship after that scare. Who was this stallion? And how the hell did he know who she was or where to find her?
“And...you are?” she asked, still using the pillow as a shield.
“Oh, you can call me Cherry,” the stallion said, his smile never fading.
“Well then Cherry,” the queen finally calming down a little, resumed her usual level of disdain. But that smiled creeped her the hell out. “You can go now. Shoo.”
“Don’t think so,” the stallion said as he reached behind himself to pull out a dish of ice-cream from nowhere. “I wanted to give you something.”
It looked delicious, but it was probably poisoned. “Pass. Get lost,” Chrysalis said, looking over at Twilight, but the alicorn hadn’t noticed a damned thing. She was too absorbed in her book.
“Aww, don’t be like that,” the stallion said, using a spoon to eat some himself. He ‘mmm’ed at the taste. “See, it’s good!”
“You’re creepy, beat it,” she said. Gods, he was as bad as the pink...pony...
Oh sweet Hives!
“Just who are you?” she snapped in Changeish. The pony smiled even wider before replying.
“My name is Heart-of-Gold,” he said as his pink eyes suddenly seemed a lot more menacing. “I’m not leaving until you’ve eaten every. Last. Bite of this dish I worked on for you.”
A Pink, he was... a bucking. Pink?
Nopenopenopenopenopenope! Chrysalis backed away as she hid behind Twilight.
“I have a nerd and I’m not afraid to use it!” she yelled.
“We’ve met,” Cherry said by way of explanation. “Heya Twilight, mind tossing me your queenie friend so she can have some ice-cream?”
Twilight never even looked up as her horn lit up and Chrysalis was catapulted across the room.
“Traitorous, furry bitch!” Chrysalis screamed as she landed near Cherry with a light thud. “....ow.”
“Heya again!” Cherry said as he presented his masterwork, a dish he hadn’t even made for Acey yet. Known as the Good Mood, it promised to put anyone into one. If only for the promise of more.
...That might be because of the Happiness he put into each and every scoop because he loved his job, but semantics!
“I am not eating that poisonous bile,” Chrysalis snapped as she got up and took her seat on the couch again. Dammit, her groove had already been worn out…
“You’re silly,” Cherry said, only rotating to show her the dish again. “I wouldn’t eat something that was poisoned.”
“Too bad,” Chrysalis yawned. “Now go away.”
That was when she found her mouth invaded by a spoonful of the stuff, Cherry suddenly there and force-feeding her, that smile still on his face. “I said I wouldn’t leave until you had some,” he said.
Chrysalis gulped it down... blinked, then grabbed the bowl from him and scarfed the rest down. The stallion giggled and hopped back, watching her eat with a more sane smile.
“I knew you’d like it,” the disguised pink said. She finished the bowl and burped, before her eyes widened and with a blink, the queen was gone. Though, the sound of hoofsteps upstairs told the stallion where’d she’d gone
“Hmm, wonder what she’s up to,” Cherry mused before shrugging. “Ah well. I’ll wait for her to come back.”
In Ledger’s room...
A pair of larger green eyes stared down at the sleeping drone, only a few inches from his.
“Ledger...” a voice whispered. The drone mumbled something before falling back into silence.
“Ledger...” a little louder this time. He batted with one hoof at whatever it was before turning and falling back asleep.
“Ledger... I wanna play~”
“Go play with Middy, Joyful,” he replied, not opening his eyes.
“Silly Ledger, I’m not Joyful...”
“Go play with Joyful, Middy,” he said, still not opening his eyes to look at whoever was pestering him.
“Aww, don’t be such a stick in the mud Ledger...” That got him to open his eyes, and whatever retort he was about to make died as he saw just who was pestering him.
Chrysalis beamed happily as she bounced around the room on her hooftips. “Yay, you’re finally up. Let’s go play something!” she giggled.
“...Who are you and what have you done with Chrysalis?” he eventually managed to say. Chrysalis giggled and booped him on the nose.
“Silly pony, I’m Chryssie!” That was around when he noticed a slight pink tinge in her eyes. And Cherry’s laughter from the living room.
“You’re hopped up on pure Happiness right now, aren’t you?” he deadpanned. “I suppose I should be glad there wasn’t lust mixed in with it.”
“Hmm, I had some of that earlier, it was yummy~” she giggled and gave him a half-lidded stare as she leaned closer to him. “Ohh, you wanna play that game? You could give me more yummies~”
“Meep!” Ledger said, keeping her at bay with one hoof. “No no, thank you, no. I have more than enough mares in my life as it is!”
“Fine...” she bopped him again. “Tag! You’re it!” and with that, she ran laughing from the room.
“I give her five minutes until she rebalances,” Ledger said as he laid back down. “I’d better practice my shields until then…”
By the time Midnight and Joyful returned home, Chrysalis was on the couch, a dark aura emanating from her as she scowled and growled.
“Where’s... Cherry?” Midnight asked as Chrysalis’ sharp gaze locked onto her.
“When I find him... I’ll skin him alive,” she chuckled darkly. Joyful scowled before tapping the back of Midnight’s head with a hoof.
“What’d I tell you? Meanie,” she said, now reassured that she’d made the right call earlier.
“She’s a tough nut to crack alright,” Midnight nodded. She noticed Twilight and wondered why the little Alicorn hadn’t said anything yet. She moved closer and after a moment of reading over her shoulder, she looked at Joyful.
“Hmm, think you could go and get Levvy for me?” she asked.
“Kay!” she beamed before bounding off of the Thestral’s back, only pausing to stick her tongue out at Chrysalis on her way up the stairs.
“Now that she’s out of the way,” Midnight giggled, turning her attention back to the distracted alicorn. Said alicorn was soon distracted by a Thestral sticking a tongue in her mouth...
In Ledger’s room.
“Hey Ledger....”
“Grr,” the silver drone growled as he turned over, before sighting that it was his sister and calming down a touch. “Oh. Hello Joyful.” The little nymph kissed him on the nose and giggled.
“Miss Middy...or Big Sis Middy...I dunno. She wants to see you~”
“Mmm, okay, five minutes?” he said, rolling back over. “I was trying to nap…”
“Okay Grandpa,” she giggled jumping off of the bed and trotting out of the room. Then returning a moment later.
“Hey Ledger?”
“What,” the drone stated more than asked.
“Why is Big Sis Middy kissing the Princess?”
“Because she wants to be punished,” he said in a louder tone as he rolled to his hooves and cracked his joints. “She knows better.”
“Is Middy in trouble?” she asked. “Is kissin’ the Princess a bad thing?”
“Only if the Princess didn’t start the kiss,” Ledger said as he trotted out of the room. Joyful blinked and followed him, wondering what was gonna happen.
In the living room, Midnight giggled and poked at Twilight, who was blushing and pouting.
“Aw come on, you were so buried in that book, and you look sooo cute, I just couldn’t help myself~”
“You’re impossible,” Twilight sighed and noticed Ledger coming down the stairs. “Oh, good afternoon. Did you sleep well?”
“I’m more rested now,” he agreed. “Well, I was until somepony set some pink filly on me. And somebuggy else came up and-”
“Finish that sentence and you die,” Chrysalis growled, throwing a cushion at him. And only because a chair was out of reach. The cushion impacted his form and bounced off, causing the drone to smirk.
“Anyways, yes, I’m feeling much better now. How about your little reading project there?”
“It’s informative...until I got distracted,” Twilight said, looking at Midnight, who gave a sheepish blush and giggled.
“The end of Equestria couldn’t distract you from a book, I give the bat points for that,” Chrysalis stated.
“Midnight could distract Celestia from raising the sun,” Ledger deadpanned.
“Ohh, I haven’t tried that yet~” Midnight giggled and got a powerful glare from Twilight. “Hmm, not that I would of course.”
The alicorn sighed and looked at Ledger. “I had a thought also. If your Mom is coming, where will she stay? Chrysalis and I have the guest bedroom... but, we can go home for now if you’d like.”
“I had a think about that,” Ledger said with a smile. One that Chrysalis didn’t like. “There’s a way to free up the guest bedroom that involves kicking Chryssy into the living room.”
“Sure, toss the bug on her butt. Why not?” she quipped. “And what about the Princess of nerds over there? Gonna put her in the barn?”
“Nope,” Ledger said with a small blush. “If it’s acceptable to you, Twilight, I would like to invite you to my room in the evening. Just for sleeping,” he was quick to clarify. Twilight's face erupted into a blush as she looked away, but nodded shyly nonetheless.
“Oh bleh,” Chrysalis retorted. Ledger responded to the queen’s statement in much the same way his sister had, by sticking his tongue out at her.
“You’re just jealous because you don’t have any friends,” the drone replied. “Just ponies that tolerate you.”
“Pssh, friends,” she scoffed. “Give me a good servant and a drone for pleasure and I’m set.”
“Right up until you start starving because neither of them love you,” Ledger fired back.
“Why earn what you can steal?” she replied. “It’s far easier than having to actually work for it.”
“Hello there Black,” Ledger said acidically. “I was unaware we were housing a member of the Colorless Hive.”
“Oh ho! That’s rich, coming from a drone that came far closer to becoming one than I ever have!” she sneered. “And you would’ve gone the whole way if it wasn’t for little miss friendship!” She looked at Joyful and grinned. “Hear that grub? Your big brother almost became a—”
“I became what I did for love, not from a lack of it,” Ledger interrupted. “And love saved me. Whereas you just seem to slip further along the path the more we try to save you, despite our better judgement. Keep in mind, queen, should you show more black on your shell than green, I can kill Blacks.”
“Oh yes, because with Celestia’s seal on my magic, I’m such a threat,” she snapped. She got up and stormed closer to Ledger. “And why should I rely on...bleh, friends? No-one even wants to be mine, so what’s the point in trying?”
“That’s circular reasoning, what little you’re using,” Ledger said with a roll of his eyes. “If you don’t try to have friends, they won’t try to be yours because you aren’t being friendly either. And because nobody’s trying to be yours, you don’t try to be friendly. Somebody has to break the cycle. Will it be you or them that’ll swallow their pride first? I have my bits on you and Rainbow choking on yours at the same time.”
“Ledger, please don’t talk about my friends like that,” Twilight sighed.
“Why should I change?” Chrysalis replied. “Ironic, coming from a Changeling, but my point stands. Isn’t friendship accepting the other for who they are? Oh yes Twilight, I actually listen to your little lectures! And guess what? No-one cares!! I’m just the big, bad bug that terrorized Canterlot. If I apologize, no-one listens. If I say I want a friend, no-one steps forward.”
She looked around the room with a certain level of disgust. “Equestria is nothing but a land of fools and hypocrites. It makes me sick to my stomach.”
“Has your current way of life and living earned you anything beyond hatred, scorn, and disgust?” Ledger pointed out. “If you don’t change yourself, nobody can change you for you, and you’ll never get anywhere. You want to be independent of Twilight feeding you? Find a way to earn those emotions we all crave. Otherwise I’m sure that seal will be on you for a long, long time.”
Chrysalis stared at him, before snarling and storming out of the house, being sure to remove the door from its hinges in the process. Twilight winced as she left and bowed her head.
“I’m really, really sorry about that,” she sighed.
“Not your fault,” Ledger called after her. “She’s a noble, nigh-unreasonable nymph. It’s what they do.”
“I’ve seen it though, and she can make a friend if she tries,” Twilight said as she used her magic to repair the door. “I should go after her, make sure she stays out of trouble...”
“Knowing her and this town, trouble will find her, and she’ll make it worse,” Ledger said as he shook his head. Twilight nodded and teleported from the room.
“Well...that was...something,” Midnight replied, having remained oddly quiet the whole time.
“It’s Changelings interacting, what did you expect?” the drone replied as he drew close to Midnight and hugged her.
“Mmm, Levvy, Do you love me?” she asked sweetly.
“What sort of question is that?” he asked before nodding. “Of course I do.”
“Eeeee~” She pulled out a massive bundle of paperwork that Narrow had given her. “I’d hoped you’d say that.”
“...You’re lucky I do love you,” Ledger said as he sighed and lit his horn up, dividing the pile into quarters and taking three of them. “I’ll do these, you can do that one.”
“Yay!” Midnight cheered as she grabbed his face and kissed him.
“Ohhh my turn~” Discord cheered and he grabbed Ledger’s face and kissed him as well. The drone sputtered and glared at the chaos spirit, too angry for words. Discord patted his head and smiled.
“Ah, you’re not that great a kisser anyway.” He looked around as he donned a pair of khaki overalls and tapped his chin. “Hmm, looks like y’all got a bug infestation in here. Seems the queen made a nest here huh?”
“I’m starting to wish she was never assigned to Twilight,” Ledger deadpanned, glad for the topic change.
“Well, what can you do. Sunbutt was the one that ordered it, and Twilight follows her like a lost puppy.” Discord waved a cigar around before eating it. “Hmm, well, maybe I can give you a hand with this?”
“As long as you think you can help, who am I to stand in your way?” Ledger said with a...vicious grin.
“Excellent, let the chaos commence...oh?” He paused and looked at Joyful. “Now who is this little diabeetus-causer?”
“Hiya!” the pink filly said as she waved at the spirit. “I’m Joyful-Heart!”
Discord smiled as he sized the filly up, taking a measuring tape, then a set of scales and finally something that looked like a small metal book that opened up and beeped a few times.
“Hhm yep. The Chaos is strong with this one!” he grinned like the madman he was. He tossed the filly a blank card and beamed.
“Gimme a call when you’re old enough. I have a job for you!”
To nopony’s surprise, the filly put the card away...somewhere before saluting the spirit of chaos with one wing. Discord nodded and vanished.
“Should I be as terrified as I am right now?” Midnight said, holding Ledger a little closer.
“Not yet,” Ledger said as he counted back in his head. Five, four...
And soon the sounds of air-raid sirens and screaming could be heard from the city. And a distant mad cackle that rose above it all…
“And now you can panic,” Ledger said with a sigh. Midnight nodded and walked from the room, returning a few moments later, fully armed and armoured.
“Bring it!”
Thankfully, nothing really happened aside from a worrying soundtrack. Twilight had prevented both Discord and Chrysalis from doing anything too dramatic. Chrysalis had tried, but got bored and gave up about five minutes in.
And the Alicorn had threatened to tell Fluttershy, effectively sending the chaos spirit packing
And later that night, the queen had been offered the spare room to have all to herself for the night, Twilight pacing up and down the corridor as she worked up the nerve to do what had to be done.
Sleep in the same room as the ponies she was trying to romance.
After placing a blanket over Midnight and Joyful, who had fallen asleep on the couch. Ledger came up behind the pacing alicorn, having been voulentold to do kitchen duty and thus was the last to bed. “Something wrong?” he asked gently.
“W-Wha!” Twilight jumped and turned to look at who had scared the purple out of her. “Oh, it’s just you. Yeah... I guess. Just...nervous is all.”
It didn’t take a genius to determine why said genius was nervous. “Twilight, what has been my unfailing promise?”
“I know, I know... but, it’s still a big step for me,” she said. “I know it’s silly that I’m being so foalish about all of this.” She screwed her eyes shut and scrunched up her muzzle. It had to be the most adorable bloody thing Ledger had seen from her yet. She stamped a hoof and gave an affirmative nod. “Okay, time to bite the bit and do it!” She reared up onto her hind legs and all but charged into the bedroom…
Only to find her path blocked by Ledger’s quick step into her way. “Whoa there,” he said. “No need to charge into battle. You’re not sleeping with us and need to assert your dominance. You’re just sharing our bed.”
Twilight blinked, she knew that. But now that Ledger had gone ahead and mentioned the other...
The Alicorn turned a deep red and fell onto the floor. The disguised drone sighed before gently putting Twilight on his back, used to carrying ponies by now.
“This’ll do, I suppose,” he muttered before pushing the door open. When he walked in, Scope gave him a bemused look and snorted.
“What, had to knock her out?” she asked him. “Bit extreme don’t you think?”
“I didn’t do this, she did it to herself,” Ledger replied as he looked at the two cuddling mares. “Think we can make some room for her?”
“Ah reckon we can oblige,” Cider chuckled as they scooted over a little. “An’ where’s Middy? She’s been glued to you all afternoon.”
“Cuddling a pink nymph on the couch,” the stallion replied as he floated Twilight between the two mares. Once he was happy where she was, he climbed up on the bed as well before realizing that her right was taken up by Cider and her left had Scope attached. If he wanted to cuddle the princess, and he did, he would have to hug her front.
Which he followed up on while waiting for her to come back from blush-territory...
And when she did finally wake, her blush only deepened as she looked away, only to discover that she had a pair of eyes looking at her from almost every direction.
“You know, you’re lucky I’m not Fluttershy,” she muttered. This would have given the Pegasus a heart attack. She looked back at Ledger with a bemused smirk. “Comfy are we? Taking advantage of me while I was out?”
“Only to get you in here,” the stallion said. “Maybe one day you’ll manage to do it yourself without blushing so hard you pass out.”
“Well I was going to, before you stopped me,” she pouted. “I thought I built up a thicker skin to your teasing in the last week, too...”
“Experience is the best teacher,” Ledger replied as he gave Twilight a light nuzzle. “Especially for romantic pursuits.”
“So I’ve noticed,” Twilight nodded. She looked at Apple Cider and Scope Lens. “And... you two don’t mind me being here?”
“Well, ah reckon it’ll take some gettin’ used to,” Cider nodded as she put a hoof around Twilight. “But ah reckon ah’ll manage. What about you Scopey?”
“I’ve got no opinion save one,” the nymph said. “I’m gonna miss taking your form to tease Ledger with.”
Twilight just rolled her eyes and sighed, before she got a small smile and leaned in close so only Scope would hear her.
“Well think about it this way, once I get that far... we can ‘both’ have some fun with him. hmm?”
Scope grinned sharkishly before raising a hoof up for a hoof-bump with the princess. “I am so there.” Twilight returned the gesture and looked at a rather confused Ledger.
“Something wrong?”
“Nope, just wondering why there was a spike of lust while Middy was downstairs,” the stallion replied before whistling ‘innocently’
“Ledger, we’re plotting against you, not with you, deal with it” Scope shrugged and gave Twilight a kiss on the cheek, who surprised her by turning and returning the gesture a little more passionately. Once she’d finished with Scope, she turned and offered one to Cider as well, who shrugged and accepted.
Scope just gave Ledger a half-lidded stare and smiled. “Hmm, somebuggy likes seeing us make out with the princess~”
“Somebuggy likes seeing mares who like him making out with each other, period,” Ledger clarified. Though he wouldn’t deny that seeing Twilight kiss another mare wasn’t hot in and of itself...
“It’s strange,” Twilight said once she broke the kiss. “I never really thought I’d like a mare...well, in this way. But, I never gave much thought to stallions either... guess I just cared about personality more than gender or appearance.”
“Well, doesn’t explain why y’all can love these too then,” Cider chuckled to herself. Ledger and Scope sniffed before turning to each other.
“I think that was a dig at us,” Ledger said.
“Sure was,” Scope replied. “Guess that means Cider doesn’t need any attention for the next...five minutes?”
“Sounds about right,” Ledger said, prompting the nymph to attack Twilight’s mouth with her own while he just watched.
“Well that just ain’t right,” Cider pouted as Twilight’s eyes widened a little from the sudden kiss. The Earth pony looked at Ledger and smiled as she drew closer. “Mmm, but can y’all really go five minutes with me? Watching those two? Knowing that there’s a perfectly good mare just waiting, wanting~?”
“Yup, because of one simple promise,” Ledger said while continuing to watch the oral assault. “I promised to go at Twilight’s speed. I think rutting in front of her would be more than she’s ready for. Since she’s shown that she’s perfectly willing to kiss us, though…” He indicated the scene currently playing out as his sentence trailed off.
“So,” Apple Cider replied undeterred as she nibbled his ear. “You don’t even wanna kiss this cute little mare? Don’t want to hold her? Show the little princess what a real kiss looks like?”
“Mmm, maybe,” he said as he turned to face Cider. “Say sorry for your little jab, and I might even do that.”
“Mm, you know ah love you and Scopey,” Cider giggled. “Ah’m sorry if ah hurt yer feelin’s. Kiss and make up?”
“Can do,” Ledger said as he closed his mouth to hide the silver flash. And when he drew Cider into a kiss, she got the full package with him. He was getting good with his thestral tongue~
Twilight had broken her kiss with Scope and panted a few times to catch her breath. She looked at Cider and tilted her head. “What...are they doing?”
“Ledger’s skilled in pony-like transformations and partial transformations,” Scope explained. “He’s been getting a lot of practice with thestrals as of late…” Here the nymph’s smile turned devious as a hoof trailed along Twilight’s spine. “Especially their tongues.”
The princess shivered at both the touch and the mental image. Midnight had been more that happy earlier to show Twilight what a tongue like that could do. And while Midnight’s straightforwardness was still something she was getting used to...if she ever got used to it. The alicorn could certainly appreciate the... beneficial sides to what a tongue like that could do.
She still had to wonder if Ledger and Midnight had just read one too many Neighponese comics…
Eventually Cider and Ledger broke the kiss, allowing Twilight a brief glimpse of tongue before it was all back in their proper mouths. She shuddered again, though she wasn’t sure if that was nerves... or anticipation. Then Ledger looked at her and smiled, before he closed his mouth and a muted silver flash came from between his lips. When he next opened his mouth to talk, she saw he’d swapped a normal pony tongue back in.
“Liked what you saw?” he asked half-teasingly.
Twilight’ eyes sparkled as she looked at him excitedly. “You can do partial transformations? I thought that only a full-body one was possible. Can you just do that with your tongue? Or is any part of your body able to do so. Ohh, I should write this down and add it to my notes later...”
“Great going Ledger,” Scope sighed. “Way to flip the egghead switch.”
“Fortunately there’s an easy off switch,” the stallion said before suddenly kissing her as deeply as he could with a pony tongue. Twilight paused, her train of thought derailed as the stallion kissed her.
“One of these days, you’re gonna find a mare that doesn’t work on,” Scope replied, before giving Ledger’s flank a squeeze. He was too busy kissing Twilight to respond properly. Scope then got a grin that was positively evil. One of her hooves snaked it’s way under his tail... and began to fondle something~
Ledger let out a muffled meep into the kiss, before breaking it and glaring at the nymph. “Do you mind?” he asked. “I was trying to have a moment with Twilight!”
Twilight responded by grabbing his face and kissing him again, whatever Scope did, made his kiss that much more enjoyable. Scope let out a short laugh and resumed her fondling, as Cider planted kisses along his neck as she caressed his flank. With all this attention being paid to him, a certain reaction was unavoidable. He just hoped Twilight didn’t notice, or if she did notice, didn’t mind...
She didn’t seem to notice, but she opened one eye and looked at Scope who made some motion that Ledger didn’t see. Twilight blinked and he felt a short jolt of nerves coming from her.
Before she deepened the kiss slightly and then moaned into it. He wasn’t sure what was going on, and he didn’t really need to know. All he needed to know right now was that if Twilight made any first moves right now, he would reciprocate, even if it meant Middy’s wrath.
After all, it wasn’t every day one bedded a princess~
She broke the kiss and blushed fiercely as she looked away shyly. “U-Um...did I, do that right?” Scope made a motion of clutching her heart and falling backwards.
“You did wonderfully, there’s no real right or wrong when it comes to showing affection,” Ledger said before pecking Twilight’s cheek. The alicorn blushed and nodded.
“If we’re all gonna go where ah think this might be headed, might it be better to wait fer Middy?” Cider asked. “Ah’m all fer some sexytimes, but we are in this together.”
Twilight giggled, “Midnight told me that she wants me first, since Ledger had you and Miss Scope. Is that true?”
“...I may have been their introduction to the herd via rigorous sexing,” Ledger said. “But we also both agreed that whoever you move on first is whoever you move on first.”
“Ah, I appreciate that,” Twilight nodded and then looked at Scope. “Well, to be fair, you already had a turn Mr. Ledger~”
“...The both of you are going to hold that over my head forever, aren’t you,” he deadpanned.
“Well... yes,” Twilight giggled and shared another hoof bump with Scope again. “Don’t worry Ledger, we’ll make it up to you... some day.”
“No rush,” he said, now comfy where he was. “However slow or fast we go is all up to you, your majesty.”
"I thought I told you to call me Twilight," the Alicorn sighed. "Or should I start calling you Duke Secret-Hoarder?"
“If that is your wish,” Ledger returned, the unsaid ‘your majesty’ hanging in the air. “I merely wanted you to know what it was like to be served in this sort of situation.”
"Ledger." Twilight stared blankly at him. "Are you trying to get me to bring my title to bed?"
“More like, trying to get you to associate your title with bed,” the stallion smirked as he let that implication sink in. Unfortunately, Twilight was still relatively innocent and the subtle innuendo escaped her. She tilted her head slowly, kind of like an adorable windup toy.
"What?"
“He’s trying to get you to associate your title with sex,” Scope deadpanned. Twilight blinked and blushed a deep red.
"W-Wha... why would I...oh?" Twilight pulled her tail up in front of her face and just blushed more. Ledger chuckled at the sight before putting a hoof to her cheek.
“I’ll still obey your wishes, Twilight, but that is a goal of mine,” the stallion said honestly.
Twilight nodded as Scope just rolled her eyes and sighed. She really was pushing the 'innocent princess' stereotype.
"Well if that card ain't bein' played, can we get some sleep?" Cider yawned. "Some of us actually hafta work fer a livin'."
“I’m fine with sleeping,” Ledger replied before pecking Twilight one last time and making sure he was comfortable. Twilight had settled next to him, with Cider on her other side. Scope took her usual position of on top of the stallion.
"Isn't that uncomfortable?" Twilight asked the buried stallion. He just shook his head.
“I’m used to it, and it’s actually not a bad way to wake up,” he said, smiling as he let that little nugget of information drop for Twilight to think about. The alicorn just hummed thoughtfully and drifted off to sleep.
Once he was done cleaning himself up, the drone trotted downstairs and saw Twilight, now dry and sitting on the couch, give him a sheepish smile.
“Ledger. Two questions!” Cider said, walking out from the kitchen. “One, why are Scope and Midnight trying to kill each other. And two, why did a dripping wet Princess teleport onto my kitchen table?”
“Ah, well, the first one is they’re re-enacting how they originally met,” Ledger said before rubbing the back of his head with a hoof. “And the second one? I tried to repay a favor via surprise, she wasn’t ready for the surprise part.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Cider said as she looked at Twilight. Words would have to be had. “Well, then you can go and break Middy and Scope up then. Ah reckon that it isn’t good for Middy’s condition.”
“Fine,” Ledger said with an eye-roll. “But if that comes up, I’m saying it was your idea.” With that, the drone was out the door to the backyard. Joyful was there, wearing a cheerleader’s outfit and holding up a banner with Midnight’s face on it, cheering loudly.
The bat was busy dodging fireballs as Dragon Scope roared and chased after her.
“Hey sis,” the drone said as he sat next to her. “They been going at this long?”
“Hmm, about fifteen minutes,” Joyful replied. “Big Sis Middy said something about testing Scopey since she has a lot of love magic and stuff now. And Miss Scopey has been super cool, I mean, she’s a freaking dragon!”
Scope grunted as Midnight grabbed her tail and flipped her, slamming her into the ground. The changeling roared as she got up and Ledger felt a massive amount of power being burned as the nymph shifted again. This time, into a full-grown dragon!
“That’s different,” the drone said simply, understating the change ever so slightly. “Well, as long as she doesn’t try to eat Midnight…”
She just ate Midnight...
“Um, did Big Sis just...” Joyful stared with wide, shocked eyes. Ledger snorted angrily and walked up to the transformed Scope.
“No! Bad nymph! We do NOT eat ponies!” He shouted at her. “You spit her out right now!”
Dragon-Scope just smirked at him, before her face contorted and she coughed and hacked... before the Thestral was spat out, covered in slime and looking quite pissed.
“You freaking ate me!?”
Scope coughed as she returned to normal and stared at Midnight. “Did you have to punch me in the throat?”
“You ATE ME!” she yelled.
“You said not to hold back!” Scope retorted.
“I said not to hold back on the magic. Not eat me!”
“Wait...throat punch...you swallowed her?” Ledger said, glaring at the nymph. “If I hadn’t come out to stop you and she hadn’t done that...oh, I am very certain we would have a dead nymph on our hooves.”
“I didn’t mean to, but...” Scope blushed. “She was kinda tasty...”
“As if all our nights together didn’t tell you that already,” Ledger said with more than a bit of bite to his voice. “Okay you two, no more sparring until Scope has a handle on her transformation and stops eating ponies.”
“It was a spur of the moment thing,” Scope pouted. “Would you have rather I used my flame breath? I guarantee that there wouldn’t be a bat left, or a house. Prolly not even a farm.”
“Okay, still, I’m kinda glad you were a weakling when we first met,” Midnight breathed and shook herself off, covering Ledger in dragon drool. He stuck his tongue out at the feeling before sighing.
“Just, try not to become a full-grown dragon until you can control it, Scope?” he pleaded. “I need to go wash up.” With a soft pop, the stallion was gone to the shower again.
Scope and Midnight looked at one another, before laughing. Midnight moved to pick up Joyful, and forgetting she was still slimy. And soon, Ledger had two more guests in his shower...
After breakfast, Scope and Midnight were being forced to clean up the destruction they wrought outside, as Twilight, Ledger and Cider sat at the table.
“Okay Ledger, Twilight, wanna explain this morning?” she asked. Chrysalis perked an ear up as well. This sounded juicy~
“Well I woke up with Twilight and immediately noticed a problem,” Ledger said. “And pretty soon, she did as well.”
“I um...was curious I guess,” Twilight replied. “And, you all have been so good to me so far. I guess I just, lost myself in the moment.”
“So, you two... did that?” Cider raised an eyebrow, an artform that all Apple Family members mastered.
“She used her hooves and magic,” Ledger clarified. “Nothing else. And eventually got the reaction she was looking for.”
“Yeah, all over me,” Twilight deadpanned.
“Yeah, Ledger does that,” Cider replied. “You shoulda seen it when we first met. Ah coulda taken a bath in it.”
“Oh please, like the little drone is that gifted,” Chrysalis snarked.
“My dad is a Violet,” Ledger said, shutting her up for a moment. “Anyways, when she went into the shower to clean herself off, I teleported behind her to repay the favor...something she wasn’t ready for, apparently.”
“Sorry, but you really scared me when you did that... and, you said you’d wait too...”
“Ohh,” Chrysalis catcalled. “Did the big bad drone want a piece of Princess pu—”
“If you’d rather we drop it, we will,” Ledger said, cutting off the snarky queen. “But I would feel bad if I didn’t do something for you after that.”
“It’s fine, really,” Twilight blushed at the thought of him doing something like that to her. “I’m happy that you’re happy...”
“Oh gods, this is so sappy,” Chrysalis gagged. “And that’s coming from a nymph that had to deal with Shining Armor and his romantic drivel for several weeks.”
“Romance is important,” Ledger said loudly, before dropping his tone back to normal. “Please, let me? I promise to go slowly, but I want to make you feel as good as you made me feel.”
“Just... not quite yet,” Twilight bowed her head in apology. “I know that you’d be gentle, just... give me a little more time.”
“Fair enough,” Ledger said before giving her a peck on the cheek. “I’ll wait for you.”
“Argh! You lot are insufferable,” Chrysalis said as she got up and headed out. “I’m going for a walk. Call me when you all stop having less sap than a forest.”
“Have fun, try and get hit by a carriage,” Joyful waved.
“Joyful!” Ledger scolded her. “This is a queen.”
“Oh yeah,” she said before altering what she said slightly. “Try and get eaten by a dragon.”
“Better,” Ledger nodded his approval.
“I can arrange that!” Scope called out.
“So much fucking nope!” Chrysalis retorted. She was confident, she wasn’t stupid. And that nymph had far too much power for a normal nymph. Even all the love she gained from Shining didn’t make her that strong. She just shook her head and left.
“Uh, should we just let Queen freaking Chrysalis walk around Las Pegasus?” Midnight asked them.
“So long as she remembers to use her disguise, she ought to be fi-”
Then there was the sound of a commotion from the front. Heated voices, angry words. Familiar voices to the regular members of the house.
“Oh...dear,” Ledger said as he edged away from the door.
All she wanted was away from the occupants of that house... And then the world went to shit. Chrysalis had opened the front door, building what little power she had to apply a disguise, when a silver-coated pony teleported right in front of her, followed by a violet-coated one.
Chrysalis blinked at the sudden arrival, before narrowing her eyes. “Oh this is just fucking great...”
And then it went more to shit when the silver mare erupted in a blaze of silver fire and stared into her eyes with no small amount of loathing. “Hello, Chrysalis,” the silver noble nymph said.
“...Do I know you?” Chrysalis replied. Honestly, this scared her far less than that mutant nymph inside that house. At least this nymph wasn’t a fucking dragon.
“Permit me to introduce myself,” the nymph said as the violet pony reverted to his natural drone state. “I am She-who-controls-the-flow-of-Information, or Madame Gossip. Whichever you prefer. And I know more than a few things about the nymph that just didn’t take no for an answer. It’s my job.”
“Well, good for you,” Chrysalis sneered. She really didn’t want to deal with this crap right now. Also, she was going to have words with the Princess that thought it was a good idea to bring her here. “Now I’m in the middle of a walk, so, later.”
“Do you know it’s only because of your grandfather’s intervention that you still breathe?” the Madame said as she idly examined a hoof. “The council was all but ready to leave you to starve or execute you, but he pled for leniency. So they settled for exile. You should really thank him the next time you see him.”
“Oh because he never grew tired of dragging that up!” Chrysalis shot back. “And what gives you the fucking right to lecture me? I don’t know you or your servant there. So get lost.”
“But I know you,” the nymph said with an enigmatic smile. “Raised like a right proper little nymph you were, and had your plan worked, you would have been somebuggy to be proud of. But times are changing, dear. I might be a part of that, I might not. But if you continue to stagnate, you will perish, you and your ways.”
“Oh and here comes this lecture,” Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “You nobles really do love talking don’t you? First my grandfather, then the Violet one in town, and now you.” She stepped forward until her muzzle was nearly pressed against the Madames. “Well you can spare me. My ways are already dead, and when I am, no-one will care.”
“That’s hardly a way to think or live,” the drone pitched in. “You should at least try to live in the world around you, enjoy life. Otherwise you might as well be.”
“A wise sentiment, my husband,” the Madame said. “If one does not try to live, then what is the point of life?”
Chrysalis snorted as everyone had come outside to see what was going on.
“Live life huh? Alright, I’ll do that. As soon as you all do one simple thing for me.”
“Let me guess,” the madame said with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. “Buck off?”
“Cute, you can’t even swear properly,” Chrysalis snorted.
“Yeah, the mean old queen usually says fuck!” Joyful helped.
Silence reigned as the new drone and the Madame looked at the pink filly, an unreadable expression on the nymph’s face. While the Violet drone looked...worried. “I see,” the nymph eventually said. “Well, regardless, your fate and your life are not things I am interested in anymore, Chrysalis. Assuming you take pride in them and start living again. So I will indeed leave you to your life. You’re not what I came here for, anyways.”
“What do you want?” Midnight said, not forgetting Chrysalis’s last words.
“Oh, simple really,” the nymph smirked. “You all want me to be so friendly and chipper and all that crap. Then one of you, just one step forward, and tell me that you don’t hate me. If even one of you can do that and make me believe it, I’ll do what you want.”
Silence reigned for a moment as those there went over their options, before Ledger’s family all stepped forward one step. “I don’t hate you,” the drone said. “I barely know you. All I have are second-hoof stories. To truly hate someone else, you’d have to know them, know them deeply.”
The nymph nodded before adding her two bits. “I may strongly dislike you, because I fought off nymphs quite like you from courting my brother, but I don’t hate you. True, relations are...strained because of you, but it was only a matter of time before somebuggy from that house tried what you did. You just had the misfortune of going first.”
Ledger merely sat there, waiting for the queen to ask, if she ever did, while Joyful sat on his back. Before she could respond, Twilight also stepped forward.
“I don’t think I could hate anypony,” she said. “I still haven’t forgiven you for what you did to Cadence and Shiny, but you also haven’t tried apologising yet.”
“Ah don’t know you either, so ah don’t hate you,” Cider said.
That just left Scope and Midnight.
“I don’t know why you annoy me,” Scope shrugged. “Maybe because most nobles annoy me. Hell, Ledger annoys me most of the time. So, whatever.”
Once more, Ledger sat still before Joyful perked up. “I may think you’re a meanie who can’t make friends,” the pink filly said, “But I don’t hate you. Even though you don’t know how to play nice at all.”
Midnight looked at her, her expression unreadable and her glazed eyes ensured that nobuggy could read her.
“You sent that Black Changeling after me,” she said, her voice flat and toneless. “Because of that. You ruined my life. You took the love of my life away from me... and recently? I have killed for less...”
Ledger drew close to Midnight and put a peck on her cheek, reminding her more of what she had rather than what she’d lost. Meanwhile, Joyful, the Madame, and the drone all looked at Midnight in various stages of disbelief. A pony that...could hide their feelings like that? Oh, that did not bode well...
“So then do it,” Chrysalis goaded her. “You have those shiny swords there. Use them!”
“I should, I could...” Midnight said, as her eyes retook their usual sparkle. Her emotions flooding back. “But I won’t. It won’t change the past, and I won’t dare harm my future. Ledger took care of that Black. He put himself at risk, and ended that nightmare, and he will never know how much that means to me. But, I’m done with it. I’m done seeing another suffer for stupid reasons. I helped Scopey, even when she actually tried to kill me...”
“And eat you!” Joyful added again.
“That too, s’all right, I’ll eat her later~”
“You can become a dragon as well!”
“Something like that,” Midnight chuckled, wisely choosing to ignore the glares she was getting. “Look Chryssie. I do hate you, but I’ll still help you. It’s just what I do, what most ponies do.”
The queen remained quite silent. She... hadn’t expected this. After a moment, she just turned and walked away. Partially because she still hadn’t taken her walk...
...Mostly so no-one could see her tears.
“With that out of the way,” Ledger said to the couple on their doorstep. “Hello mom, hello dad.”
“Hello son,” the drone said, drawing his boy into a hug. One that sounded...painful. “What’s this I hear about a foal?”
“Um, is he supposed to turn blue?” Twilight asked, then her eyes sparkled with glee. “Oh! Can a changeling shift its colours like a chameleon? Where’s my notebook?”
“Dear, you’re hugging too hard,” the Madame said, prompting the drone to ease up slightly and allow Ledger to breathe. “But he raised a fine point. Miss Midnight?”
Midnight looked up, after watching Chryssie leave. “Mm, sorry what?”
“Would you care to introduce me to your darling friend there?” the noble nymph said as she smiled that mischievous smile. “Seeing as my son is indisposed…”
“Huh? Oh, you don’t know who that is? This is Princess Bookworm Sparklebutt. Booky, this is Madame Gossip. Ledger’s Mom.”
Twilight just facehooved.
“And mine!” Joyful said before launching herself at her mother. “Hi mom, I missed you!”
“Hello dear,” the nymph said as she kissed her daughter. “Have fun with miss Midnight?”
Joyful beamed and nodded. “Yahuh! Big Sis Middy is super fun. We had a bubble bath, an we got ice-cream, and we became a Towel Monster, an we... um, OH! I got to meet a Princess!!”
“So I see,” the noble nymph said before kissing the filly again. “Well I’m happy you had a good time, dear. But now I have work to do. Planning your brother’s wedding.”
“Ooh! I can’t wait. I get four new big sisters!” Joy giggled, crawling around her mother’s side like a big pink spider and settling on her head. “And, once that’s done. I need to find Big Sisters for my other brothers. Then I get MORE sisters!”
“You can almost admire her logic,” the nymph said as she looked at the gathered mares. “What planning have you done so far?”
All three mares remained rather silent…
“...You’ve done some planning, right?”
“We ah...” Midnight paused. “I proposed?”
“Ah accepted?” Cider said.
“I... don’t care,” Scope replied. The madame sighed before looking at Twilight.
“I have my work cut out for me,” she muttered, making even that sound ominous.
“I’m pregnant, that was a slightly bigger concern,” Midnight replied.
“Then Twilight—” Scope started and Twilight shushed her.
“Come along, dears,” the Madame said as she magic’d the doors behind them open. “Let’s figure out how we’re going to do this.”
“....Yes ma’am,” all three sighed and followed her.
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I have not read this story since Chapter 28. As soon as I catch up on Afflictions of the heart I need to come back to this and catch up.
Grats on hitting the 500k mark.
I love this story
Well, its better than my idea for dealing with Chrysalis. Stick her in a large barrel with Cherry, Joy and Pinkie and send them over the Neihagra Falls, then wrap her in a taco suit and offer her to Scopes in full dragon form.
great as usual, the whole Amy feeding joy to Chrysalis was great
You probably need to change the bit where chrysalis calls them all sappy.
As it stands it works out to mean "I'll be back when you're sappier than a forest." I'm fairly certain you had a double negative there or something that kinda butchered the meaning.
It's heartening to see the self-imposed wall cracking around Chrysalis. She obviously won't just flip onto her back and cry uncle after getting smooched to death and it'll take time. If she doesn't hook up with Twilight, it makes me wonder who she might actually try to romance? I suppose shipping her with Celestia is right out, if only because that's so crazy that it just might work. Trixie seems a likely match too, but I think that's because I've been reading way way too much MLP:Time Loops.
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Ooh, OOH! Make her a Chryssie-changa!
Huh, Scope can become a big enough dragon to swallow ponies whole?
Sounds like an interesting way for them to have sexytimes, long as they didn't stay too long.
Another great chapter. Chryssie hooked up on pure happiness was just hilarious.
Ooooh, I liked the scene with the family. Maybe Chryssie will change. I just hope she remains a snarker.
I've got Chryssie beat. I AM a nerd, and I bet I know how to use it better than she does...
The morning transition between Ledger going to bed and coming downstairs to a dragon fight is a bit confusing. You mentioned him getting clean, but other than that there's no information about what we're transitioning over to get to the point in time at which we arrive on the bottom side of the thin horizontal line. Just a suggestion.
6967502
There will be a bonus chapter tomorrow~
My mind broke.
Is this Chrysalis or Joyful?! I can't tell anymore!
Let it be known. Major amounts of happiness, love , and lust can make a Changeling high.
6967512 Excellent. That is the sole redemption of confusing story flow: the big reveal later.
I want in on some "mad flower experiments."
At first I thought of that book from TtEoAP, but then I realized that thing didn't beep.
You sneaky little expletive... you thought you could get that in without somebody noticing, huh?
(to eliminate confusion: pokedex)
Relax, Midnight, I'm sure it's not the first...
Actually... wait. It actually might be.
I don't think we ever got any info on that 'rehab' scene back in the apartment forever ago.
Were the events that transpired sexual or tortuous in nature?
Unless you left it out of the Lost Stanzas. Again.
i liked this chapter hope chrissy finds love
And it seems that Twilight is getting ready to join all the way soon
Lol we don't know what Gossip was thinking, nobody starts seriously making actual wedding plans mere days after the engagement, right? Right???!?!???
Joyful is still adorable, and got a calling card from Discord himself! That's totally wicked!
Keep going! ;)
“Oh buck,” the towel swore. “...I don’t suppose you’d give me a five second head start?”
I don't know why, but that line is hilarious. This story is awesome!
interesting some how I think Chrysalis Chrysalis's out look on life just got a little nudge.
I like this chapter.
6966911 oh, i have a story in my favorites, i think it's called "of princesses and changelings", where Chrysalis and Celestia are in love-and Cadance keeps trying to break them up!
Throw them and the CMC at each other in a few years... see what happens
As someone who is reading this the second time now i have to write down my thoughts that are definitly going into spoiler territory here
So, once again, i will be writing something that uses information from one of the last chapters, you have been warned
The reason Scope gets so annoyed at Chrysalis is because they are half sibling if i understand what i read right.
Scope is the daughter of the yellow king and if i have understood it right so is Chrysalis.
I will admit that i might have understood it wrong somewhere but... yeah that's my theory
I actually expected more blasting and hospitalisation for Chrysler. But I enjoyed this chapter. It definatly shows growth of the characters
*looks in the direction of Ponyville* I have, Ideas
I disagree
Transformation has its own risks it seems ...
Chrysalis see how wrong she was and what it cost her...
Great chapter
It's at this point that I begin picturing Joyful as a squatpony. Squatling. Whatever.
Joyful counted 4 new sisters, foreshadowing?
Normal or Royal wedding? At least this time do the Changelings have a invitation ♡
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