Viva Las Chrysalis

by Aureane

A Dime a Dozen

Twilight is sitting down on the concrete edge of a water fountain, sipping up an icy-cold chocolate shake, when something taps her on the shoulder.

She ignores this, teleporting herself to the other end of the fountain, only to be tapped once again.

What the?

She teleports to the other side of town. Tap!

Canterlot? Tap!

The Crystal Empire? Tap!

The Dragon’s Lair?! Phew...

Tap. Fff-

Twilight teleports back to the fountain. She places her shake down and turns her head with a snarl, teeth gritting together. “Starlight...”

“Who's that?”

Twilight’s eyes widen. Whoever just said that was way younger than her apprentice. She turns around, and before she can react, her perpetrator gives her a warm hug, muzzle pressed right into her chest; after settling in, the filly looks up at her with two fluffy ears poked out, horn sticking into the air. “Turquoise hair, verdant fur, gray eyes... do I know you?”

“Of course not, silly,” the filly's hug tightening, “I’m Dime, and... your fur is really soft.” Her eyes are half-closed as she stares at Twilight with a faint, innocent blush rising across her young muzzle.

Twilight's teeth clenches onto her lower lip, the reflections in her eyes trembling from Dime's curious stare down, to the point where the alicorn has to turn her head and cover her blush with a hoof. "W-- well, Dime--" her voice softens out- "fillies don't usually greet me like this. But, now that I think about it: were you the one poking me? With that kind of magic level, you're more than qualified to be my apprentice."

Dime appears just behind Twilight's horn. "Appren-- what?"

"Uh... student?" Twilight gazes upward, and she sees that Dime is drinking her chocolate shake. "Hey!"

"What? I don't want it to melt." She hops off of Twilight's head, and into her forehooves. "Besides... you had another straw waiting on the fountain."

After hearing that, Twilight looks off to the distance, towards nopony in particular. "Starlight..." She mutters, her ears dropping at the thought of her.

Dime sips away, her curious, gray eyes wondering out of sheer awe. "What about them?"

Twilight flinches. "Oh-- it's nothing. It's just that she isn't my apprentice anymore. She'd always forget to grab herself a straw whenever we went out for shakes." She sighs and, after taking a sip, continues. "I just miss the old conversations we used to have when we would blabber on about incantations, conspiracies, philosophies, strategies... I mean, we still talk, but not like we would when I was teaching her. We've grown pretty distant, and now, she's usually with Trixie, Discord, or Thorax at the hive." She peeks over to see that Dime is looking at her with an expression of 'I got that, but say it again, just in case.' "Right... you aren't from around here. I just miss Starlight, is all."

"I miss somepony, too," Dime says, her ears perking down as she stares at the cement floor. She lets go of Twilight to bask in the silence, and they sit like that for a good while until Twilight works up the heart to say something.

"Who?" Twilight ponders.

Dime pokes out an eye towards Twilight, and giggles, her ears perking up. "I don't know! I was just acting all grown up, like you. I don't actually have anypony to miss, because I don't know anypony."

Twilight sets the shake down, and she really has to take a moment to process what the filly's just said. "If you don't know anypony, then... how did you get to Ponyville?"

"I took the train, silly!" Dime points to the station, straight across from where the two of them are sitting.

Yet, that answer alone doesn't sate Twilight's appetite for logic. "Well, where did you get the money for the fare? Where are you from? How did you know to come here?" The tension on Dime's face grows. "Why did you choose to poke me? Does this prove that fate exists? Are you another alternate version of a future me?! Did Cadance send you??"

"Stop!" Dime cries out, tears shaping the outline of her eyes, her voice flattening out into the sound of despair. "I don't know why I'm here, okay? Besides, you looked lonely, so that's why I decided to poke you." She looks away, curling up into a ball and trying to hide. "I don't even know your name."

"Dime," Twilight responds in a heartfelt tone, "...T-twilight. My name's Twilight," but Dime doesn't budge. Instead, her abdomen twitches as small whimpers make their way out of her. Twilight sits there for a good while, placing the shake to the side, not knowing what to do or say until Dime gathers her voice; she hauls herself over to Twilight's lap and lays there.

"I-- I didn't like my home, Twilight, so- I ran away." Dime hides her face on Twilight's chest, giving the princess no other options but to hold the sobbing filly.

"Where was your home?" Twilight asks as she rubs Dime's back.

"Las..." The poor filly can barely word out.

"Las..." Twilight parrots.

"Las Pegasus."

Twilight can hardly believe her ears. She ran away from the biggest city, only to arrive at a small town like this? She had to know more. "Why did you run away?"

"I saw a... m-monster..." Dime looks up at Twilight, her eyes trembling.

"A monster? What did it look like?" Twilight continues.

"It was tall... blue hair... green eyes..."

Twilight raises a hoof. "Was its horn about this long?" Dime nods. "Chrysalis," is all Twilight can whisper.