A Changeling's Christmas Catastrophe

by AizakkuHorooee

Chapter X - Preparing for Sleep

Looking to see the opened door, one familiar queen pops into the room.

“Chrysalis!”

I run up to hug the queen, but she stops me.

“Carve, please take yourself with ease. It’s far into astronomical twilight by now.”

“I know... but I’m so glad to see you after what Carina’s been experiencing.”

“The letter you sent has my curiosity peaked. I will have to find out when I wake up though. For now, a subject of mine needs me. Only a queen will be able to fill this need you described, Carve.”

“So, what about Ai-”

“He’s far from old enough to do that. Besides, he has to rest for the night.”

“Okay. I hope Carina recovers soon enough.”

“She will, thanks to you. Now, wish me luck on the help I will give to Carina. I will likely need all of what I can get of it.”

Chrysalis proceeds to look at Carina with sadness, wondering why what happened today did in such an extreme way. She takes a hoof under her left eye and wipes the cheek free of a single teardrop, as if this is the biggest risk to ever happen to her in thirteen years ...It might happen. Very slimly, there could possibly be a chance I might have to be queen if nothing goes well. And if that happens... I don’t know WHAT will be of result.

I proceed to look at Aita, who is starting to itch in the eyes.

“...Aita?”

“Y-Yeah, Carve?”

“...Do you know how to teleport?”

“Um, no? Why?”

Jon sinks to my height and joins the conversation.

“I think I know what Carve is onto. She wants you to take yourself home and rest. Do you still remember when you took my car home?”

“Huh... I think I do. You tell that story a lot, Jon.”

“Think of it like that, only with just you instead of me, Carina, and the car.”

“Okay... Carve... goodnight. I’ll see you soon.”

“Alright Aita. Have a good night, okay?”

Aita nods, then teleports out of the room.

;=;

When Aita leaves the room via relocation, I take a moment to feel how warm Carina really is with my right hoof, my curiosity peaked seeing her skin slightly greyer than normal as she’s positioned to face her right, to look right at me. As I slowly draw the hoof, my nerves start dancing as if their favorite song had begun, the feeling escalating by the second. Then my hoof lands on Carina’s left foreleg. For the time I hold the touch, I can feel a drop in temperature between my hoof and Carina’s foreleg, as if I slowly opened the main entrance to a given house on a wintry day. I isolate my nerves to the air, Carina’s lack of warmth leaving me shivering.

Carve runs up to me again when she notices my body adjusting to the drop of my temperature.

“Carve... head over to the hive now. I have to fulfill this task for Carina. She’s still my changeling, and that means I will do whatever it takes to take care of her. I may not wake up tomorrow in time to arrive at the hive, so please look over the hive while I’m here.”

“Okay. I’ll be up to that.”

“There’s one final circumstance though; if I somehow don’t arrive at the hive in five days, it means you’ll have to take the throne permanently.”

Carve gasps in response of my last statement.

“Chrysalis, no... I can’t be queen... not if you get stuck in the dream realm.”

Rusty and Pane hug Carve, prompted by her rebuttal.

“I understand. You live with some of the dearest friends you’ve ever made, ones that have helped you out time and time again. But it’s still very much possible to continue living with your fine adventurers. It is far more likely for me to return in time for Hearth’s Warming than it is for me to pass down my title instead.”

“But what about your hive? What’ll the changelings think of this?”

“That’s why I gave myself plenty of time to return, five days, so that you can better know the hive in case you become queen. We’ll have to keep this situation a secret until after Hearth’s Warming.”

“Okay. I’ll try not to tell them.”

Carve gets onto her hind legs and wraps her hooves around me neck, showing me that she really will make that effort, no matter the difficulty. Promptly, I place my right hoof around Carve and rub her back.

“Everything should be fine here, so I trust that you can watch the hive well.”

“Thanks, Chrysalis. I'll keep you in mind for the next couple days.”

I nod before watching Carve turn into a smaller Twilight Sparkle before my very eyes, all so she can seamlessly head home. The horn begins glowing for a few seconds before a flash forces an aversion of everyone’s gaze. And just like that, Carve is presumably home.

;=;

After everyone decides to head home for the night, I finally perform a particular spell I only found useful once in my lifetime until now.

Immediately following the Canterlot invasion from over half of a decade ago, I found a couple of changelings that fell unconscious from the fall as a result from losing so much blood. Those changelings had to be cared for right away or else they’d end up staying with Queen Areola. To say the two months was quite tiring is a vast understatement. Proceeding using the healing spell twice, I began sleeping hours before sunset and woke up well after sunrise. As a result, only four hours a day were spent finding my subjects, and overall success was delayed by a month and a half.

I begin the spell by resting my hoof on Carina’s foreleg again, lighting up my horn this time. As each moment passes during my stationary action, I get more and more drowsy than I already started out as. Several minutes finally pass before I lose my press on Carina. My horn dims as I collapse onto the floor. The final vision I see before I fall asleep is the door I levitated open when I first got here.