> TwiDash
>  by MrPengu1n
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Okay, today's the day.
Rainbow Dash zipped high overhead, from cloud to cloud, dreading being seen by anypony on the ground below.
This is it, no backing out, for sure this time.
She dove into one final cloud, wrapping the fluff up and over her body until she was sufficiently hidden. She shoveled just enough out of the way of her eyes to see below her.
This is for all the marbles-wait, when did I start saying that?
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and continued scoping out the ground below. She was above the Town commons, the outdoor market in front of the Cakes' Cake shop. Ponies of all shapes and sizes milled about, discussing and purchasing wares from various market stalls. Rainbow's eyes zipped from face to face, searching for anypony she knew.
Applejack, Derpy, Vinyl, Octavia, Pinkie Pie, That one guy obsessed with jam...wait, there!
Slowly, imperceptibly so, she gently piloted her cloud cover over the market, following one particular pony.
She looks so adorable when she's running errands. Rainbow thought as her eyes followed her target, Twilight Sparkle. She had visualized this conversation a million times in her mind, and pictured every which way it could go a million times more. Mentally flipping through her lines, she took a few deep breaths, preparing herself for what she was about to do. This was it, no more backing out, today was the day.
Suddenly, Twilight's eyes shot skyward.
Panicking, Rainbow snapped her peephole in the cloud shut, then opened it glacially slowly, peeking out once more.
Twilight's eyes were intently following a butterfly zipping around her head. Whew. She hadn't seen Rainbow stalking her.
It's not stalking! It's...observing. Rainbow shook her head again, intent on her target.
Twilight stepped from stall to stall, inspecting various wares and pocketing a multitude of things over the course of an hour or so. But Rainbow Dash didn't mind the wait; she gazed over every inch of Twilight's body, the way her mane was tilted on one side, the way she would skip a step right before using magic. This must be what bliss feels like.
Suddenly, Twilight left the last stall she was to visit, and headed out of the market.
It's time. Rainbow Dash slowly followed Twilight from high overhead, puttering her cloud cover from a hundred feet above Twilight's unsuspecting figure. She followed her all the way to her library, where Twilight opened the door and slammed it shut behind her. Rainbow Dash hesitated for just a moment to make sure she was gone, then dove out of her cloud, inhaling sharply at the sudden rush of cool air. She swan dove out of the cloud into the bushes beneath Twilight's window, then reached up and peeked through her window. She was sorting through her books, flipping them past one by one, glancing through their contents briefly before replacing them on the shelves. She's so smart.
Twilight suddenly glanced over towards the window; Rainbow ducked down, praying to the Powers That Be that she hadn't seen her. She took this chance to remove the tickets from her pocket and rub them in her hooves for good luck. She had made sure to pick something Twilight would enjoy; a magic show (featuring the wonderbolts). She smiled at the tickets, kissed them, and put them back in her pocket. She then slowly poked her head up ever so slightly to see if Twilight was still watching.
"Can I help you?"
Rainbow shot ten feet into the air, then fell to earth in a very ungraceful mess. Twilight was standing above her, looking down with curious confusion in her eyes. Rainbow felt her face burn, and thought she looked red as Applejack's choice apples.
But Twilight just giggled and held out her hoof. Rainbow took it gratefully, and Twilight pulled her out of the bushes.
...and over her head.
Rainbow went sprawling across the ground again.
"Whoops!" Twilight giggled, "Sorry, I didn't expect you to be so light!"
This time Rainbow Dash helped herself up, "It's okay," she dismissed, fretfully dusting herself off and fixing her mane.
"So tell me," Twilight said, still wearing that perfect smile, "What were you doing in my bush?"
Rainbow's eyes widened and she blushed again, taking it the wrong way. She hadn't prepared a line for this. "Uh..."
Twilight just giggled again, "Come on inside, silly," and she turned and went inside, gesturing with her tail for her to follow.
Rainbow Dash followed gratefully, flipping through her lines once more. First, she would ask what she was doing, if she had any plans, then offer the magic show, and finally ask Twilight to come with her. That was the plan.
Twilight simply went back to flipping through her monumental collection of books, seemingly searching for something.
Rainbow awkwardly shuffled her hooves, cleared her throat, and said, "So...what'cha doing?" Smooth.
"Nothing much," Twilight said, still just flipping through her books.
Rainbow had kinda expected her to give a longer answer, so for a moment she just stood there awkwardly. Clearing her throat again, she asked, "So, you don't have any plans?" She knew her face must have been bright red, but Twilight didn't turn around.
Instead, she shrugged and said, "I guess not."
She guesses? Since when did Twilight not have every detail of her life adhered to a schedule? "Twilight, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
This time Twilight turned around, "Why? Do I seem not okay?" her face betrayed no emotion. It was very unsettling.
Rainbow awkwardly shrugged, scratching her head and looking everywhere around her, "No, you seem fine, just..." She said awkwardly. How was she going to explain that she knew she was acting off without confessing to stalking her for weeks on end? Instead, she shook her head, "No, you seem fine."
Twilight just smiled, "Good," and she returned to her books.
Rainbow took a deep breath, glad to be out of that awkward moment and planning to enter another, "Well, I was just wondering, if you didn't have any plans, uh..." she immediately blushed, and then turned around and removed the pitiful, crumpled tickets from her pocket, "I, uh, I got these tickets to a magic show, if you wanted to go..."
Twilight glanced over at the tickets. Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut, trying to turn invisible. "Sure," Twilight said cheerfully, but she didn't turn around.
Rainbow blinked, "Really?" she confirmed, cleaning out her ears.
"Of course, I'd love to go," Twilight said, turning around and smiling brightly at her, "Who else is going?"
Rainbow's heart fell through the floor. She had no clue, "Nopony, it'll be, you know...just us."
"Oh," Twilight said, then shrugged and smiled again, "Alright!"
Rainbow Dash's ears perked up, "Really?" She repeated.
"Of course!" Twilight repeated, taking one of the tickets and inspecting it, "This says 'Formal-Casual,' I'm pretty sure I have a saddle for that." She gave the ticket back and smiled at Rainbow Dash, "I'll see you then!"
Rainbow couldn't believe what was happening, "Right...see you..." for a moment, she just stood there, unable to believe what had just happened.
Twilight nodded in confirmation and went back to her books. After a moment, she noticed Rainbow was still there, so she smiled and said, "Uh, you can go now, Rainbow," giggling.
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash snapped out of her trance, "Uh, I mean, right, see you!" And she turned around and ran straight into the wall.
Twilight put a hoof over her mouth when she saw her crash, "Rainbow-"
"I'm alright, I'm okay," Rainbow Dash said quickly, readjusting her position, "See you tonight!" And she tried to leave again, this time actually getting out the door and closing it behind her.
When she closed the door, Rainbow glanced around for a moment to see if anypony was around. Finding no such being present, she immediately got the biggest smile on her face, and began walking away, barely touching the ground. Then she wasn't touching the ground, and was merely fluttering inches above the ground. I did it! Rainbow Dash suddenly rocketed off, cheering, "I did it!"
She immediately stopped mid-flight, turned around, and zipped as fast as she could off towards a building. Upon reaching said building, she knocked loudly on the door. It was opened by her dear friend Rarity, "Rainbow!" She greeted warmly, "Can I help you?"
"What does 'Formal-Casual' mean?" she asked.

Later that evening, Rainbow was decked out in the very latest, very fashionable Formal-Casual wear. She had on a flattering saddle, a bowtie at a jaunty angle for style, and nice horseshoes on her hooves. She kept scratching at it and picking at it, unused to wearing clothes at all. Ignoring it for the time being, she removed the tickets from her pockets once more, rubbing them for good luck, and placing them back in her pocket. She slowly approached Twilight's library, taking a deep breath before knocking three times on the door.
She waited a moment, then another, and another, but finally, Twilight opened the door, wearing a similar set of clothes. Very similar. It was the same exact outfit. Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise and shock, and she started to sweat.
But Twilight paid it no mind, saying gleefully, "Look, we match!" and stepping out the door, standing at Rainbow's side, "Shall we?" she offered.
Rainbow Dash let go of her tension and smiled back; the night was going to be fine, she was sure of it! Rainbow nodded at her 'date' (she still wasn't sure if Twilight fully understood her purposes) and said, "Let's!" and the two left.
They arrived at the town hall, after a short, awkward, silent walk. But Twilight seemed perfectly at ease, so Rainbow Dash wasn't worried.
They were stopped at the door, which very nearly turned into something very awkward when Rainbow Dash had to fumble for her tickets. Luckily, she found them exactly where she had left them (who would've thought?) and they handed them over and went inside.
Finding their seats, Rainbow turned to Twilight and said, "You're going to like this show, Twilight, they've got some of the best magicians in the world, all the way from Canterlot!" She suddenly realized what she had said, and quickly added, "Though I'm sure you're better than these guys, obviously."
Twilight just giggled, "But they've gotten formal training from Magic College! I'm sure they're better than me."
"But they're not!" Rainbow refuted, "Remember that time Trixie came to town with the alicorn amulet and you kicked her out? Or that other time Trixie came to town and you defeated an Ursa Minor?"
"An Ursa Minor?" Boomed a great big voice, startling Rainbow Dash badly. She turned to see the Announcer had been listening in and had heard her bragging. He turned towards Twilight and asked, "Is this true, young lady? Did you defeat an Ursa Minor with your magic?"
Twilight just giggled and nodded.
"Well then!" He turned to the audience, "Why don't we make this interesting, folks? We've got a pony down here saying she's better than our whole team!"
The audience was filled with booing. Rainbow Dash was horrified, but strangely, Twilight seemed indifferent. She just smiled and laughed along. Every part of her smile is perfect. Rainbow thought.
"Now, now," The announcer quieted the booing crowd, "Let's give her a chance to defend her claim! if she can perform any spell that our team can't, we'll concede defeat. But," He turned back to Twilight, "If she can truly defeat our whole team, we'll all swear fealty to you, whaddya say?"
Twilight smiled and giggled again, "Okay!" She agreed.
Rainbow took her shoulder and pulled her back, "Twilight, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."
Twilight turned towards her, "It's alright, Rainbow," she reassured with a smile, "You said it yourself, I'm better than those ponies." and she hopped up and climbed onstage, to the cheering of the audience.
The magicians were standing across the stage. One of them, who seemed to be the leader, said, "We'll let you have the first move."
Twilight giggled and shrugged, "Alright," she turned around and looked for some stage prop she could use. Settling on a simple piece of rope, she lifted the rope and tied it into a stylish, complicated knot, to the 'Ooo's and 'Aaa's of the audience.
One of the magicians, not the leader, scoffed, "Please!" he took a step forward, took the rope, untied the knot, re-tied it, and then tied a more complex knot, eliciting applause from the audience.
Rainbow Dash felt just awful making her go up there for her, but Twilight just shrugged and turned back towards the props. Nodding towards a big beach ball, she focused her magic and suddenly disappeared. Then the beach ball suddenly grew in size and popped, revealing Twilight inside. The audience applauded her efforts.
The second magician laughed at her attempt, and focused her own energy. She suddenly vanished.
The leader suddenly started as if he had realized something. He removed something from his pocket and used his magic on it to create a large display, depicting the second magician waving from what looked like Saddle Arabia. She suddenly vanished from the display and reappeared onstage; the crowd was going wild at the show.
Twilight seemed to be thinking. She looked up and smiled as she decided on a spell, and turned towards the crowd, gesturing for Rainbow Dash to come up on stage. Rainbow started, not expecting the sudden request. She shook her head, but Twilight grabbed her hoof and pulled her up onstage, setting her down in front of her in one fluid motion. She then rubbed her chin, inspecting Rainbow Dash's face, and then she began walking around her, making a very big show of inspecting her body. Rainbow Dash's cheeks were flushing at the display, "Get on with it!" She hissed.
Twilight settled in front of her and smiled, "That's a brilliant shade of crimson," She remarked, causing Rainbow to blush further. But before she could say anything Twilight focused on her magic and was suddenly enveloped in a bright light, which dissipated to reveal a picture-perfect representation of Rainbow Dash standing in front of Rainbow Dash.
The two Rainbows rocked their heads back and forth, doing the classic twin/mirror act. Smiling and nodded in approval, the two Rainbows turned towards the other magicians with a sly look on their faces.
The magicians looked intimidated, even the lead magician looked nervous at the task before him. He focused on his magic, straining. A vein was visible bulging on his head. But after a moment, his magic faded and he began panting.
"It looks like we have a winner folks!" The announcer said suddenly, reappearing from seemingly nowhere. He gestured grandly to the two Rainbow Dashes and said, "The challenger has beaten the masters!"
One by one, the professional magicians knelt down, fulfilling their promise by swearing magical fealty to Twilight. Twilight finally turned herself back to normal, and the two friends hugged it out, laughing and finally having a good time. This is perfect.

"...and when that lead magician paraded you around on stage? Ha!" Rainbow Dash laughed, looking back on their perfect evening together.
Twilight giggled in response, "Yeah," she sighed contently.
"And it was amazing, the way you pulled off that transformation spell, I thought that was, like, waaay advanced!" Rainbow gushed.
Twilight just shrugged and said, "Well, I figured it out."
All too soon, they had arrived at Twilight's library once more. Twilight turned towards Rainbow and smiled, "I had fun tonight," she said, "Thank you."
"Thank you." Rainbow insisted, "I'm glad you had fun."
Twilight smiled, "well, see you!" and she immediately turned around and headed inside, closing the door behind her.
"See you..." Rainbow Dash said dejectedly, looking down in disappointment.
Twilight suddenly reopened the door, "whoops, I almost forgot," She suddenly stepped towards Rainbow and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Good night!" She dismissed, and went back inside.
"Good night..." Rainbow Dash said slowly, reaching up and feeling her cheek. A slow smile spread over her face, and she rocketed into the air, laughing and cheering with glee.
Twilight Sparkle, peeking out the window, saw Rainbow rocket away and giggled. She turned around and began walking across the room, "Such a nice girl," she remarked to nopony in particular. She stopped in front of a closet door and finished, "It's a shame she has to die."
She opened the door to reveal Twilight Sparkle tied up and gagged inside, looking up in horror.
"And what a shame it is," The imposter continued, her eyes suddenly turning bright green, "She loves you very much."
Twilight Sparkle struggled in her ropes and gag to no avail, and the imposter began giggling again, which slowly rose to an evil cackle. She was suddenly engulfed in bright green light, and when it faded Queen Chrysalis was standing where Twilight had been standing moments before, "This is too easy."
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was a lovely springtime morning; the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Twilight Sparkle was where she belonged, digging through the hundreds upon hundreds of books in her library. Her mane was unkempt, her eyes were bloodshot, and her movements were jerky and frantic as she tore through book after book, quickly dismissing each one and tossing it over her shoulder to join the rapidly growing pile of literature. "Where is it, where is it..." She muttered underneath her breath in a very un-Twilight-like voice.
"Here's...more...books-" Stammered a young purple dragon, dropping an enormous pile of scrolls, books, and papers where he stood. He fell backwards, panting and hyperventilating, "Can I stop now?" He begged. He had just carried a stack of books twice as tall as he up from the basement, and he did not want to go back down there again.
"No-" Twilight began in a rough voice, then she quickly cleared her throat and said normally, "No, Spike, I need more books!"
"But Twilight!" Spike whined loudly, "I can't!"
"I am your caregiver, and you take orders from me, and I say go get more books!" Twilight demanded, staring Spike down.
Spike felt chills up his spine as Twilight screamed at him. He had never been screamed at before. He had heard the mares talking about a 'time of the month', once, whatever that meant, but apparently mares got very cranky during those times. This was probably that time. He smiled nervously and crawled back to the basement door, rolling down the stairs: too tired to get up.
Twilight finally took a moment to steady herself, fixing her mane and massaging her sore eyes. "This is not easy at all!" She whined in a rough voice, one that was not Twilight's. Straightening up as an idea hit her, she smiled slyly and walked over to a closet door. She opened it up to reveal Twilight Sparkle tied up inside, tied up and gagged, staring at her with a steely look in her eyes. She was wearing a strange metal contraption around her horn, which had been specially designed to inhibit magic.
The imposter smiled at her disposition, "You know, this would be much easier for you if you complied."
Twilight's brow furrowed in anger, and a muffled sound came from around her gag.
The imposter just chuckled, "Tell you what, I'll take off your gag if you tell me where 'It' is, okay?"
Twilight stared at her angrily, then loosened her shoulders and nodded in defeat.
"Excellent!" The imposter said. Correction, this is too easy. She thought as she removed the gag. "Now," She said slowly, savoring the moment as she bent down closer, "Where is it?"
Twilight hesitated for a moment, then spat on the imposter's face.
She recoiled, wiping at it and hissing violently, her eyes turning bright green as she flicked a forked tongue. She looked down at Twilight and said, "You're going to wish you hadn't-"
"More books!" Spike suddenly announced, dropping another stack as he fell over from exhaustion, "Can I take a break now?"
The imposter slammed the closet door shut and spun around, blocking it with her body, "Sure-" She cleared her throat and replied in Twilight's voice, "Sure, uh, go outside and play, or something."
Spike sat up straight, smiling at the request, "Alright!" He cheered and ran outside, his exhaustion forgotten.
The imposter waited until he was gone, then let out a sigh of relief, turned around and opened the closet door again, hissing, "I'll deal with you later," to the tied up pony inside, then shut it again and locked it.
She then returned to the stack of books she had been working on and scanned the contents of each book briefly, before tossing it aside in rejection.

Some ways away, in a house made of clouds in the sky, Rainbow Dash was just waking up from a perfect night's sleep. She looked out her window and said, "What a beautiful day!" She then looked down at her nightstand and saw her favorite picture of Twilight. She picked it up, gazed at it lovingly, kissed it, and then replaced it where it had been, jumping out of bed to face the day.
She brushed her mane and teeth and went into her kitchen. She made herself some breakfast and glanced over her schedule, which was completely empty. Setting it down happily, she thought aloud, "I guess I'll go see Twilight!" and dove through her floor, flying across the sky and down to the ground, landing deftly outside of the Cake's Cake Shop. She skipped through the town commons, greeting ponies as she passed them and smiling all the while. She was in a perfect mood.
Making her way to Twilight's library, she reached up and knocked on the door three times, "Twilight!" She called, "It's me!" and waited a few moments. Not receiving any answer, her brow furrowed in worry and she knocked again, "Twilight?"
She suddenly felt a tug on her leg. She looked down to see Spike trying to get her attention, "I wouldn't bother Twilight today if I were you," He whispered, glancing warily at the door.
Rainbow was puzzled, "Why not?" She asked, bending down to get level with Spike.
"Well, she was being grumpy all morning, and she even yelled at me! I think it's her 'time of the month'?" Spike whispered, using his claws to make air quotes.
Rainbow nodded understandingly, "Noted, thanks for telling me, Spike." It sounded like Twilight was feeling pretty bad, she decided to do something to make her feel better! "I know just what to do," She promised Spike, turning and walking towards the market.
Spike glanced back at the library, "I hope so..." He muttered, and slowly walked towards the door, thinking he had taken a long enough break. It had almost been an hour, what had Twilight been doing all this time? He opened the door and stepped inside, "Twilight, I'm back, do you need me to do anything-"
He stopped.
There, in front of him, was Twilight Sparkle, tied to a chair, being interrogated by Twilight Sparkle.
"Uh..." That was all Spike could think to say.
"Spike! Help! Queen Chrysalis kidnapped me! That's not me!" Called the Twilight tied up.
"No! She's lying! I caught her trying to impersonate me! She tied me up, but I broke out! I'm the real me!" The free Twilight said, backing away from the tied up one.
"No! She's lying! Please, listen to me!"
"No! She's lying! Listen to me!"
"No!"
"No!"
"ALRIGHT!" Spike interrupted, holding up a lit torch in shaking claws, "Until I know who the real Twilight Sparkle is, nopony moves, nopony gets hurt!"
The two Twilights looked at each other and started giggling, "Spike, that's just a torch," explained the tied up one.
"Yeah, what are you going to do with that?" Asked the free one.
Spike belched fire into the torch, which amplified the fire into a rather large, threatening blast, which instantly disintegrated a coat tree next to the Twilights, reducing it to ash.
The Twilights did not know how to react.
"Now then," Spike said, "Twilight, untie Twilight."
The free Twilight complied; the little dragon could be very menacing. Once both the Twilights were free, Spike thought for a moment, then ran upstairs quickly and came back down, holding a red and blue sweater, "Put these on so I can tell you apart," he instructed, still wielding his fearsome torch.
The Twilights complied, and within moments there was now two discernible Twilights, Red and Blue.
Spike nodded, "Alright...uh, oh yeah! Now, I'll ask you two questions, questions only the real Twilight could answer."
Red and Blue nodded in confirmation; Spike was rather enjoying his newfound power. He thought back, trying to remember things that his favorite detective, Sherlock Hooves, would ask in a situation like this, "Question one," He started, "How did you get me?"
Blue spoke up, "You were given to me as an egg in magic kindergarten."
"Right," Spike nodded, glancing at Red warily. "Question two," he continued, "uh...oh yeah, what do you call your brother?"
"BBBFF!" Answered Red.
"Correct," Spike said, now totally unsure, "Question three...uh, what is something only the real Twilight would know."
Red and Blue thought for a moment, racking their heads and thinking intently. Finally, Red held up her hoof in realization and said, "You always steal from my secret chocolate stash, every Tuesday night after I go to bed early."
Spike lowered his torch, "You knew?"
"Why do you think I leave it in the same place every week?" Red said, smiling with love at Spike.
Spike smiled back.
"Well this is all very touching," Blue said in a suddenly very rough voice, her eyes turning green and her forked tongue slithering out of her mouth, "But I have a plan of my own."
Within minutes, both Spike and Twilight had been tied up and gagged, and Chrysalis was putting them in the closet. Twilight pushed the gag out of the way of her mouth and said, "How are you so strong? You weren't this strong in Canterlot!"
Chrysalis smiled evilly, then replaced the gag in her mouth, tightening it, "I've been feeding off the love that Rainbow Dash has for you."
Twilight looked at her in confusion, like she didn't know what she was talking about.
Chrysalis nodded in realization, "Oh yes, she never told you, did she?" She shoved Twilight into the closet, "Well she told me." She turned around and picked up Spike, who was shivering in fear, "I had wanted to leave you out of this, but you're the one who got nosy." And she rolled Spike into the closet, closing it and locking it. She turned around and clapped her hooves together, returning to her Twilight disguise, "Now then, back to business."
But suddenly there was a knock at the door.
Now who could that be? It didn't matter, they were interfering with Chrysalis's plans. They must be punished. Harshly. She went to the door and opened it, her expression softening considerably as she recognized the pony on the other side of the door, Rainbow Dash. Not her again, now she would have to act like she was smitten. Not impossible, but such a chore. Rainbow was holding a small heart-shaped box of candies, a little bouquet of flowers, and what looked like a cheesy romantic comedy. "H-hey, Twilight," Rainbow greeted, looking down and kicking her hooves bashfully, "I heard you weren't feeling so hot, so..." She held up the gifts to finish, "I brought you some stuff! Can I come in?"
Chrysalis was screaming inwardly. Why didn't she just reach out and snap her neck. It would be simple enough, she could dispose of the body easily, but since she found Rainbow so pathetic, she decided to spare her, at least for tonight. She reached out and took the gifts, pretending to look grateful and loving, "Gee, thanks, Dash," she said in a falsetto voice, emulating Twilight's horrid shrieks-what she wouldn't give to yell obscenities in her beautiful, natural voice-she opened the door wider and said, "Please, come in."
Rainbow stepped inside, slightly off-put at the sheer amount of literature strewn about the room, "Gee, Twi, you sure have let your library go!" She immediately looked at Twilight, concern filling her gaze, "Are you feeling worse than I thought?"
Chrysalis quickly shook her head, forcing herself to smile like a buffoon, "No no, I was just looking for something."
Rainbow Dash suddenly was very close to Chrysalis, holding her sight with a seductive wink, "You know, you should put your energy into something-or somepony-who needs it."
Oh barf. She didn't want to blow her cover, but she wasn't going to do anything with this, this pony. Thinking fast, she quickly held up the movie and suggested as innocently as she could muster, "Hey, why don't we watch this?"
Rainbow was caught off guard for a moment, then quickly returned, smiling brightly, "Sure!"
The two shoved large piles of books and scrolls out of the way, setting up a small movie watching nook while Rainbow told an anecdote, "...and then Rarity says, 'That's no mannequin, that's my sister!'" And she finished by laughing at her own joke.
Chrysalis forced some laughter; gosh, her voice was just so annoying. But she could bear with it, at least for a night.
Rainbow leapt over the sizeable pile she had fashioned, landing deftly on the lumpy couch they had pulled from the corner, "So what are we waiting for? Pop the movie in!"
Chrysalis nodded, and walked over to where she had placed it. She glanced out a window as she did so; it was some time in the afternoon, judging from the sun's angle. Was this pony going to waste another one of her precious days here? She only had a week! Of course, she could stay longer, who would stop her? But it was inconvenient. Nevertheless, she delivered the movie to the TV they had brought up from the basement, depositing the movie, and then walking over and taking a seat as far away from Rainbow Dash as she could.
Of course, Rainbow sidled right on over, sitting uncomfortably close to Chrysalis. But what was she going to do; she couldn't object. So she sat there as the movie began playing. The entire time it was playing she had a barely contained urge to vomit. At one point Rainbow attempted to wrap her hoof around Chrysalis's shoulders, who thought she was cuddling Twilight Sparkle. After an awkward moment, they settled into an awkward hold for the rest of the movie. As much as she hated to admit it, Chrysalis was actually quite comfortable; Rainbow's body was warm and soft, and the movie had a good story, if you could suppress the urge to barf violently. After a tearful ending, even Rainbow Dash was holding back liquid pride. And Chrysalis will deny it if she's ever asked, but even she was touched by the movie.
Rainbow let go of Chrysalis and wiped at her eyes, smiling all the while, "That was a great movie," she said, turning to Twilight, "What did you think?"
It wasn't hard for Chrysalis to come up with a believable answer, "It...it was very nicely done."
"That it was!" Rainbow agreed, and the two shared a not totally fake laugh. When they settled, Rainbow opened her mouth and said, "You know, Twilight,-" She stopped talking, blushed furiously, and looked away.
Even Chrysalis was curious, "What? What is it?" She asked.
"Nothing," Rainbow tried to assure, trying to control her flushing face, "It's-it's nothing."
Chrysalis smirked, "That's quite the blush for nothing."
Rainbow blushed even more. What a nervous pony, it made Chrysalis laugh. She finally swallowed a lump in her throat and blurted, "I-I really like you, Twilight."
Was that it? Nevertheless, she looked away and pretended to be embarrassed, "I like you too, Dashie," She forced herself to say, then whispered under her breath as she reached for the remote, "You wouldn't if you knew what I was."
She turned back around and handed the remote over, but Rainbow didn't take it. Instead, she looked at Chrysalis, worry and confusion in her eyes, "What do you mean?"
Chrysalis hadn't realized she had heard, "What?"
"What do you mean, 'not if I knew what you were?'?" Rainbow said, nearing her face closer confrontationally.
"Rainbow-"
"Because you're wrong," Rainbow said, "I'd like you no matter what you were. I...I l-love you, Twilight."
Chrysalis didn't know how to react. She knew Rainbow wasn't lying; she could feel the strength of her love. It took all her strength not to suck it up like a greedy leech, but there was something else. Something she didn't want to admit, but something that was certainly there. For the first time in her entire life, she didn't want to just consume the love, she wanted to...feel it. "Rainbow..." was all she could think to say. Their faces neared closer and closer.
Suddenly, the closet door burst open, and the real Twilight Sparkle and Spike burst out, their ropes cut and hanging around their bodies. Chrysalis could see where the ropes were cut; they had been burnt. She hissed involuntarily at her own foolishness; she should have tightened the gag on the dragon too.
The real Twilight removed her own gag and called out, "Rainbow! That's not me! That's Queen Chrysalis, she's pretending to be me!"
Chrysalis turned around and saw Rainbow looking at her. There was a mixture of emotions on her face; anger, lots of anger, confusion, and at the very core of it all, a hint of despair. But there was something else, buried deep in her gaze, so small it was insignificant, but Chrysalis saw it.
She saw Rainbow's hurt.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rainbow Dash was on top of her in an instant, pinning Chrysalis to the ground by the shoulders, teeth clenched and bared in fury. However, her first demand wasn't anything she expected, "Change back!" She orders.
Chrysalis was put off at her request, but complies, finally ridding herself of that wretched disguise and returning to her beautiful, natural self.
Rainbow Dash lets out a small gasp. Why was she surprised? She already knew beforehand. Maybe she had been hoping it was a lie.
"What are you doing here?!" She demands. Chrysalis is shocked; Rainbow reacted much quicker than she had ever expected. "Tell me!!" She demands, eyes locked in thinly veiled anger, nearly foaming at the mouth.
She would make a good changeling, Chrysalis suddenly finds herself thinking.
Not receiving any immediate answer, Rainbow Dash slowly nears Chrysalis's face and hisses, "Leave. And never come back. Or I won't be as kind."
Chrysalis takes her chance, sliding with ease out from under Dash and bolting towards the door; opening it and sprinting away, towards the forest, spitting obscenities under her breath. She was furious; how dare those, those ponies! They didn't understand, they didn't...
Chrysalis screeched to a halt. What was this? What was coming out of her eyes. She reached up and felt her wet face. Tears?! Chrysalis hadn't cried in her entire life! Although...she knew why. She didn't want to admit it - she really didn't want to admit it - so she didn't. She pushed away those awful, un-changeling thoughts and kept on running, not looking back.

"And stay out!" Rainbow Dash called after the fleeing changeling. She slammed the door roughly, and immediately turned her attention to the real Twilight Sparkle. She dashed across the room and helped her friend remove the remaining ropes from around her figure, "Twilight! Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"
"It's alright, Dash, I'm fine," Twilight assured, fully freeing herself.
"I just can't believe I almost..." Rainbow Dash trailed off, looking out into space for a moment. She quickly returned and smiled warmly, "I'm just glad you're okay," She stated, and gave Twilight a great big hug.
Twilight hugged her back, "It's alright, Rainbow, thank you." She let go of Rainbow Dash, but Dash kept on hugging her. They stood there awkwardly for several moments, until finally Twilight cleared her throat.
Rainbow immediately recognized her actions and quickly let go of Twilight, "Sorry..." She apologized, looking away bashfully.
"It's alright," Twilight repeated, then looked around at the horrible mess made of her precious library. She sighed in despair, "It'll take forever to clean all of this up," she mourned.
"I'll help you!" Rainbow Dash immediately suggested.
Twilight smiled at her friend, somewhat surprised at her enthusiasm, "Thank you," she immediately turned away and helped Spike out of his remaining ropes, "But it's not the most important thing to do right now. Firstly, I need to inform the Princess that Chrysalis is back; Spike, go get your scribing tools."
Spike nodded and ran up the steps.
"What was she doing here anyway, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously, pushing away the mix of emotions she was feeling inside.
Twilight slowly began picking up the scrolls and books strewn about, "She was looking for something," she said after a moment, "Something that I have. I found it and picked it up while we were in Canterlot, I didn't know it was something important."
Rainbow Dash began picking up the books alongside Twilight, upholding her promise, and asked, "What was it?"
Twilight looked around, surveying if anypony was around. Finding none, she pulled a book out of the highest shelf, where the books were untouched. She opened it to reveal a hollow carved out of the pages which housed a glowing, translucent, golden sphere, "I found this while we were fighting the Changelings in Canterlot," she explained, "I didn't think much of it at the time, but then Chrysalis showed up and tried to take it back, so I hid it." She put the sphere back and replaced the book where it had been, "That's when she kidnapped me, impersonated me, and tried to find it for herself," she turned towards Rainbow with concern in her eye, "I hope she didn't do anything too bad while she was pretending to be me."
"No, no, nothing major," Rainbow Dash assured, "I didn't even notice." she then realized what she had just said, "Sorry..."
"It's okay," Twilight sighed, returning to cleaning, "That's probably for the best."
Rainbow understood that, "How long did she have us all fooled?" She asked.
Twilight thought back, "Including today, about three days."
Rainbow stiffened, "But..." that would put it right before her 'date' with 'Twilight'. She had gone to a magic show and gotten a kiss on the cheek from a changeling. She felt her heart drop down into her hooves. It's not fair...
Twilight suddenly looked worried, "Rainbow, you're crying,"
She immediately wiped at her eyes, gaining control of her emotions, "No, no I'm not, just...something in my eye," she reassured. Twilight didn't look reassured.
"I got my stuff!" Spike called, tripping and tumbling down the steps to land in a pile of scrolls and quills at the bottom of the steps. He quickly picked himself up, sorted his supplies out, and put quill to page, prepared to take a letter.
Twilight and Rainbow were granted just a brief respite as they giggled at Spike's mirth. Then, Twilight cleared her throat and began speaking, "Dear Princess Celestia..."
Twilight explained that Chrysalis was back, and that she was after a certain golden sphere. She explained that she had kidnapped and posed as herself for three days, and while Chrysalis was gone now, she felt she would return and requested any sort of help the princess could give, as soon as possible.
"...your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." she finished up.
Spike frantically scribbled her words, rolled up the scroll, and lit it up in a puff of green fire, sending it out the window and to Canterlot.
Twilight nodded in confirmation of one task completed, and then walked back to her shelves, pulling the book out once more. She handed it to Rainbow Dash and said, "Like I said to Celestia, Chrysalis might come back for this. I want you to take it and hide it somewhere only you know."
Rainbow gingerly took the book which housed the golden sphere, "But what is it?" she asked.
"I don't know," Twilight admitted, "But if Chrysalis wants it, it can't be good, so while she's free, you have to hide it. Please," she looked in Dash's eyes and requested, "For me?"
Dash looked into her eyes, holding her gaze for a moment. She nodded and held the book close, "I won't let anypony find it," she vowed.
Twilight nodded and sighed in relief, "That's two things, all that's left is to clean up this mess," she gestured to the mess of her library for emphasis.
"I'll hide this, come back and help you," Dash promised, "And I'm sure Spike will help too," she said loudly, startling the baby dragon who had prepared himself a bowl of ice cream. Now he looked up in surprise, mouth full of ice cream and stared dumbly, "Huh?"
The mares giggled, then Dash took the book, nodded, and exited the library, intent on her mission.
Meanwhile, Chrysalis, who had been listening at the window, unnoticed, smiled mischievously. Good thing I came back. She silently flew away; now that she knew where the sphere was being held, she had to get back to her colony and feed them what she had: the love she had harvested from Rainbow Dash.

Chrysalis flew far away from Ponyville, deep into the Everfree forest, until she came to a secluded, seemingly empty nook of the forest, someplace far away from any trails or paths, ponymade or otherwise. She landed deftly in the middle of the clearing, looked around, and made a high pitched clicking noise that could only be made by a changeling.
Slowly at first, but faster soon, several, several changelings began to trickle out of hiding spots in the foliage, greeting their queen. A few were adults, most were young, and some were very young, barely walking. It was these younglings she went to first, picking them up one by one and touching her horn to theirs, allowing them a small portion of the love she had received from Rainbow Dash. They greedily absorbed the energy, but it wasn't enough. She heard their clicking tongues, the changeling equivalent of a growling stomach, but she needed to feed everyone. She let the younglings each have a fair amount, then went to her other children, giving each of them as much as she could give without being unfair to everyone. The adults came last, and she let the remaining love she had trickle into their horns, keeping a small portion for herself. But, once everyone had been fed as much as she could give, she found one more changeling. Just a hatchling, riding on the back of one of the adults. She took this one and held it close, rocking it back and forth, and fed it the remaining love she had, keeping none for herself. This changeling was the only one who was satisfied.
She smiled when the young one let out a yawn and promptly fell asleep in her embrace. Then she turned to the rest of her colony, just a ragtag bunch of malnourished young changelings, with no idea anything better existed. "I promise you, my children, there will come a day when none of you will go hungry," she vowed, "I know where the sphere is, I will take it back for us as soon as I can," she felt a catch in her throat, but swallowed it and finished, "you just have to be patient a little while longer."
The young changelings looked at her, and for a moment, none of them would deny that they were secretly feeling slightly mutinous. But they nodded at her and sunk back into the foliage, returning to a state of hibernation that would keep them alive.
Chrysalis sent them all off, tucking the young ones into their nests. The youngest of them all clicked his tongue hungrily, but Chrysalis had no more love to give, and because she was a changeling, she was incapable of loving for herself. It broke her insect heart. "I'll get the sphere back," she promised, though her promise fell on sleeping earholes, "None of you will go hungry then. Those ponies, they just don't understand. They don't..." They don't understand what they have.
She sighed, stood up, and flew away, having a reinvigorated purpose. She had to get the sphere back, not just for herself, but for the whole of her colony.

Twilight Sparkle was feeling a mix of emotions that she couldn't even begin to list. Although, she gave it a try. First and foremost, she felt battered and tired after the whole ordeal of being trapped in a closet for three days. She was hungry, of course, but not that much; Chrysalis had seen to it that she was fed, if you could call it feeding, she had been forced to live off of bread and water for three days, twice daily. She was also feeling a bit of despair that her immaculate library had been torn apart like this, it looked as if a twister and an earthquake had happened both at the same time in her living room! She was now slowly picking it up, putting it back together piece by piece. Look on the bright side, she said to herself, The library needed a cleaning anyway.
But there was also something else, something...weird, to say the least. Chrysalis had said she was feeding off the love Rainbow Dash had had for Twilight. She must have just been trying to get under her skin! ...Right? Rainbow Dash had always been friendlier than others, but she had always just thought it ended there; friendship. Rainbow Dash didn't have a crush on her, that was ridiculous! And besides, she wasn't even into mares! Ugh, this is too confusing. Was Rainbow Dash into her, and...did she feel the same way? No, of course not! Rainbow Dash was not like that! ...Right? She had seen the way Rainbow Dash and Chrysalis were looking into each others' eyes, when Dash had thought Chrysalis was actually her. It was just for a moment, but she had seen it. Plus, she remembered the lingering hug they had shared for a few awkward moments.
Twilight dropped the book she was holding.
Rainbow Dash likes me!
She felt a mix of emotions. She was in shock at what seemed like a blatantly obvious revelation now, and yet she couldn't help feeling just a bit giddy. She had never been someponies' crush before, at least, not that she had ever known about. But did she feel the same way? Of course she loved Rainbow Dash, but she didn't love her! And yet...she was always there for her; loyal, unswerving, a bit rambunctious at times, but still caring deep down.
Twilight stiffened as she realized something else. She wasn't totally opposed to the idea, even though Dashie was a mare, what was wrong with that anyway? Or maybe she could be wrong, and Chrysalis could have just been lying; she did do that often. Nevertheless, her opinion of her friend had been changed. She suddenly wanted to spend some time with her, to make an educated guess.
Where was she, anyways? She hoped Dash wasn't going overboard on hiding the sphere, she had a tendency to do that. Twilight finished cleaning up the shelf she had been working on and decided to go find her, just to make sure she was okay. Plus, Chrysalis was still out there somewhere, but she wouldn't come back this soon! ...Right?
She picked up her saddlebags, told Spike he could take a break, and left.

Rainbow Dash flew across Ponyville, clutching to the book for dear life. Her eyes scanned the ground for evidence of changelings. She found none, but moved carefully nonetheless. She dove into a cloud, pulling the fluff up and over to conceal herself. Inside the cloud, she opened the book, and her little hut lit up with a warm golden light. She picked up the sphere and held it up to her eyes, examining it up close for the first time. It's warm, amber light was oddly soothing; she felt like she could just hold the sphere close and feel warm and fuzzy inside forever. Why was that?
She took a closer look. There, at the center of the sphere, was an image of a tiny, scarlet heart, encased in the translucent, golden substance. "What are you...?" Rainbow asked aloud to the sphere. Not surprisingly, the sphere did not answer. She sighed and placed the sphere in the hollowed out book once more, lingering in the light for a moment before shutting it. She clawed a piece of cloud away and peeked outside, wondering where she should hide it. Twilight had entrusted her to keep it from Chrysalis, and that was what she intended to do. What would her role model, Daring Do, do in a time like this? She looked down and picked up the book, suddenly remembering a perfect quote for her situation, The best place to hide a leaf...
She held the book close and dove out of the cloud, zipping across the sky to her house in the clouds, going through the walls into her bedroom, landing deftly in front of a shelf of books, mostly flight training manuals and Daring Do novels. ...is the forest! she slid the book which held the sphere into place between two other books. If you didn't know it was there, you'd never find it. Perfect.
She nodded in satisfaction at her cleverness, and then dove back out through the walls, heading back to the library to fulfill her promise of assistance to Twilight. She zipped across town once more, flying past the Cake's Cake Shop, Rarity's Boutique, the Apple's Apple Farm, Chrysalis standing alone outside of the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy's Nursery.
She screeched to a halt. Wait, what? She back-tracked, and sure enough, there was Chrysalis, standing alone in a clearing on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Just standing there.
The very sight of her made Rainbow Dash seeth with rage. She rocketed through the air, knocking her square off her hooves, flat on her back, pinned to the ground by the shoulders. Teeth bared and snarling, she demanded, "What are you doing back here?!"
"Rainbow Dash, please," Chrysalis spluttered, chin trembling and tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, "You have to help me."
Rainbow's anger subsided for a moment and was instead replaced with confusion, "What?"
"I need your help, Rainbow, please," Chrysalis begged. She held up her hooves in surrender, "I come in peace."
Rainbow Dash didn't know what to do. She wanted nothing more than to tear this bug limb from limb, but she wouldn't attack anypony coming in the spirit of surrender. She's not a pony, though. Sighing, she let go of Chrysalis's shoulders, letting her stand, but held a steely expression of anger on her face, "What do you want?" She demanded.
Chrysalis stood up, legs shaking as she dusted herself off. She looked at Rainbow with an expression of despair, "My colony is starving."
Rainbow was off-put, and her anger subsided for another moment, "What?"
"My young, innocent children are hungry," she elaborated, chin trembling, "Not just that, they're dying. If they don't get a full feeding, they'll die within the week. And even you won't let innocent creatures die, right? Even changelings?" Chrysalis blinked tears away, "Please, you're my only hope."
Rainbow Dash looked into her eyes, holding her gaze intently. Somehow, someway, she felt that Chrysalis spoke the truth. But she was at a loss, "Well, what can I do?" She asked, gesturing grandly to emphasis the outrageousness of the request.
"They need love," Chrysalis explained, "The love you have for Twilight...And so do I."
Now she was really confused.
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Chrysalis took a small step towards Rainbow Dash, "Please, your love you have for Twilight is strong enough to save my children; without it, they'll die, and-" she stopped at a catch in her throat, shook her head slowly and finished, "I don't want to lose them."
Rainbow was conflicted, to say the least. She hated Chrysalis with a passion, but here she was, begging practically on her knees for help. And was she the kind of pony who would let innocent changelings die? But, but they're changelings! But they were innocent. She just didn't know what to do.
"And if you won't do it for them," Chrysalis added, taking another small step towards her, "Do it for me."
Rainbow took a step back, "What are you saying?" she asked, outrageously confused.
"When I was pretending to be Twilight," Chrysalis explained, "The way you were acting-your...kindness, your loyalty...your love," she held Rainbow's gaze, wiping away tears, "I-I didn't want to just consume it, I wanted to...to..."
Rainbow eyed Chrysalis warily. She was sniffing and sniveling; her chin was trembling. What's your game?
Chrysalis suddenly lunged forward and planted a kiss on Rainbow's unsuspecting lips. She stiffened in surprise, but oddly enough, did not back away.
Chrysalis held her lips for a moment, until finally she slowly let go and backed away, "I wanted to feel it," she finished. Tears were now streaming freely down her face, "I'm sorry if I hurt you."
Rainbow Dash did not react for a few moments. Her face betrayed no emotion.
Chrysalis sunk her head low, "I understand," she said, and turned to leave, "I'll go die somewhere now."
Rainbow suddenly caught her hoof, stopping her.
Chrysalis turned back, "Rainbow..."
She was looking into her eyes intently. She pulled Chrysalis closer and put a hoof on each side of her face. Chrysalis blushed. "I'm only doing this to save your children," she clarified, and then kissed her back.
Chrysalis kissed her as well, and for several moments the two held each other there in a warm, slightly awkward embrace.

Twilight walked down the pathway leading away from her house, looking high and low for Rainbow Dash. She dearly hoped that Dash hadn't gone overboard in hiding the sphere, knowing that she had a tendency to do that. Plus, she just wanted to spend time with her, to make sure whether or not Rainbow was romantically interested in her. Whether she felt the same way remained to be seen.
She passed by Fluttershy's Nursery, Rainbow Dash and Chrysalis having a confrontation, there was the Apple's Apple farm.
Wait, what?
She back-tracked, and sure enough, there was Rainbow Dash and Chrysalis, downhill from her position. She was too far away to make out their words, but they were having some sort of conversation.
What's she doing? Twilight though, and as well she should; why wasn't Rainbow fighting her? Or yelling? Or doing anything? She was simply listening!
Suddenly, Rainbow reached up and put a hoof on each side of Chrysalis's face, and then kissed her.
Twilight gasped, but they hadn't heard. She backed away, in shock. Her heart dropped into her hooves. But...but... She thought Rainbow loved her! But apparently, she loved her. She should have known; the way they had been looking into each other's eyes when she burst out of the closet, it hadn't been just Rainbow Dash feeling it.
But...but... Twilight had only recently been lead to believe she was the one Rainbow wanted, but apparently, that was not the case.
But Twilight had wanted it to be.
Tears streamed down her face, She had known, she had known! She probably helped, too! She shook her head, not wanting to believe what she was seeing. She took a few steps backwards, then spun on her hoof and sprinted away, back home. No, no, no!

Chrysalis and Rainbow kissed each other for several moments, and Chrysalis's horn began glowing in a sickly green light as she absorbed the sensuality of the moment. Rainbow was simply trying her best to pretend it was Twilight on the receiving end. Chrysalis tasted sour, and her fangs made the kiss very awkward.
For the first time in months, Chrysalis was fully satisfied, stuffed to the brim. Her horn flashed brightly and the light disappeared as she reached her limit. It was then they finally broke apart, Chrysalis's eyes opened slightly in a seductive squint, but Rainbow was trying very hard to forget what had just occurred. "I'm sorry," Chrysalis said suddenly.
Rainbow's first instinct kicked in, "It's okay-"
"No," Chrysalis interrupted, her horn glowing bright green again, "I'm really sorry." She touched her horn to Rainbow's forehead, and the energy dispersed throughout her body, taking over her mind. For a moment, Rainbow resisted. For a moment, Rainbow fought back. For a moment, Rainbow realized she had been betrayed. But within seconds, even Rainbow's iron will succumbed to the power, and she was left as nothing but a husk of her former self, eyes glowing green and standing at attention, ready to follow whatever order Chrysalis gave.
Chrysalis began giggling maliciously, which quickly rose to an evil cackle, "Ah, Chrysalis, you are one brilliant actor!" she applauded herself. It wasn't all fake.
She shook her head, freeing herself of unnecessary thoughts, and turned back to her new slave, "Where is the sphere?" she demanded instantly.
Rainbow Dash said nothing for a moment, but then stammered, "I-I hid it..."
Chrysalis rolled her eyes, "Where?"
Rainbow stammered again, "I-In m-my house..."
"Take me," Chrysalis demanded, smiling as her orders took root in Dash's pathetic mind.
"Okay," Dash responded slowly, and then took flight, soaring away at a modest pace.
Chrysalis followed impatiently, "Faster!" she insisted.
Slowly but surely, Rainbow lead Chrysalis to a house made of clouds, floating in the sky. They landed on the porch outside, and the hypnotized Rainbow Dash lead the Queen Chrysalis inside, and up the stairs, into her bedroom. Chrysalis stamped her hoof impatiently as Rainbow took slow steps towards her bookcase, as if each step was a battle inside her mind. It probably is. Chrysalis flashed her horn once, and with that burst of magic, Rainbow's movements became much quicker. She stepped towards her bookshelf and pulled off a certain book. If Chrysalis hadn't known it was there, she wouldn't have noticed it. Rainbow placed the book on her bed and opened it, revealing a hollow carved out of the pages, which housed a translucent, golden sphere, shining with a warm light.
Chrysalis felt good simply being bathed in the light. I've missed you. She took slow steps towards the book, savoring each one as a trophy of her triumph. She finally reached the bed and held out her hooves, hesitating a moment before greedily swiping the sphere and holding it close in a tight embrace, smiling all the while as it poured out it's golden light. You're mine again, now and forever.
She turned around and saw Rainbow Dash standing at attention, awaiting her next order. Sighing out of boredom, she said simply, "Stay here and don't move."
"Okay..." Rainbow responded monotonously. The magic would probably wear off in a day or two, but by that time she would have been long gone. She had won.
Smirking, she made her way out of the house of clouds, holding the sphere close to her face. She gazed into it, gleefully spotting the tiny scarlet heart at the center of the translucent golden substance. Oh, how I've missed you. She was suddenly getting choked up. She had been through so much to get this sphere back, and now she had it.
She cradled it close to her body and flew away, towards the Everfree Forest.

Twilight lay on her bed, sobbing into her pillow. She just couldn't believe she had been betrayed like this, and by Rainbow Dash, no less! The element of loyalty! This can't be true, she thought, it has to be some sort of trick. But she knew what she had seen. Rainbow Dash not only knew about Chrysalis being here, she was also apparently very involved in her. It's not fair, it's not fair! she repeated in her mind over and over, trying to quell her sobs by pressing her face into the pillow more tightly.
She suddenly stopped crying, pushing the pillow out of the way. She got up and wiped her red eyes, a steely expression on her face. She wasn't going to take this lying down, she was going over there and...and...well, she didn't know what she was going to do, but it wouldn't be nothing!
She picked up her bags and stormed out of the house, down the path. She passed the place where Rainbow Dash and Chrysalis had been standing before. They weren't there now. I wonder where they've gone, she thought in a sarcastic tone. She stamped her hoof, huffed, and changed her path, heading straight for the plot of land where Rainbow Dash's nest of villainy floated in the sky. After a short walk of muttering various obscenities under her breath, she arrived at the house of clouds in the sky. How was she going to get up there? She paced back and forth, eyes focused intently on the house.
Suddenly, Chrysalis appeared at the front of the house, holding a small, shining, golden object.
I wonder what that could be? Twilight screamed in her mind. The very sight of the bug filled her with seething fury. How dare she! she thought. She watched, clawing at the ground with her hooves as Chrysalis flew away, clutching tightly to the sphere. She would deal with her later, but first there was a certain Pegasus she was going to give a piece of her mind to.
She took a deep breath and clenched her muscles, straining to produce magical energy. With her immense anger it was child's play to produce the magic necessary, and within seconds Twilight was engulfed in magical energy, which dissipated in a flash, leaving her with a splendid pair of false wings, like the ones she had conjured up for Rarity that one time.
She took another breath, preparing herself for an emotional confrontation, and flew up onto the house of clouds, diving headfirst through the walls to find Rainbow Dash standing still in her room, obviously too guilty to turn around.
Twilight fluffed up her new wings, and color filled her cheeks as she got increasingly mad at the oblivious pony standing in front of her. "How could you?" she shrieked, "I thought I was your friend, I thought I meant something to you! And you were with her." Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them away and continued, "I just can't believe you would do such a thing! You, of all ponies! Hello? Element-of-Loyalty ring a bell? And worst of all," she felt a catch in her throat, and her breathing became sharp and stattaco, "A-and worst of all, you lied to me. I thought..." she trailed off, wondering for a second if what she was about to say was true, then committed, "I thought you liked me! I thought you loved me! And I loved you too..." she trailed off again, realizing what she had just said, though she didn't disagree.
Rainbow Dash simply stood there, not turning around.
"Hey!" she yelled, trying to get her attention, "Face me!"
Still, Rainbow did not respond.
"Hey!" she said, walking around to the front of her, "Pay attention to-" she covered her mouth in shock and gasped loudly, all anger immediately dissipating. Rainbow's eyes were swirly green, hypnotized by Chrysalis's magic, and her mouth was wide open and drooling, completely oblivious to her surroundings.
Of course, How obvious! How had she not seen it sooner! And to think, even for a second, she had honestly believed that Rainbow had betrayed her for Chrysalis, it was absurd! she instantly felt guilty, how could she be so stupid? And then she was worried, how long had Rainbow been under Chrysalis's control? "Don't worry, I-I'll fix this!" she said quickly, looking around for something to use. She spotted a glass of water on the nightstand, next to a suggestive picture of Twilight. She ignored the picture (though silently pleased), snatched the glass and immediately splashed the water into 	Rainbow's face, snapping her out of her trance.
Rainbow gasped, spat, and spluttered, wiping at her face and asking in confusion, "What? Huh? What?"
"Oh, Dashie!" Twilight said in relief, instinctively using a pet name. She went to Rainbow's side and gave her a great big hug, "I'm so sorry, I should have known it was Chrysalis's magic all along!"
"What? Huh? What?" Rainbow repeated, surprised at Twilight's embrace. She suddenly gasped and her face flushed as memories came rushing back, "Chrysalis-!"
"She's gone," Twilight interrupted, still hugging her, "I saw her fly away."
Rainbow calmed down a bit, and then looked down at Twilight wrapped around her body and cleared her throat.
Twilight immediately let go of Rainbow, and the two looked away bashfully. Rainbow recovered quickly and asked, "What happened? What'd she do?"
"She had you hypnotized," Twilight explained, "She used you to get to the sphere, and stole your love."
Rainbow's face flushed again as she remembered that particular detail, "What do you mean 'stole'?" she asked nervously.
"I saw you and her kissing," Twilight answered, making a face, "She was hypnotizing you, stealing your love."
It took her a minute, but Rainbow suddenly began nodding quickly, "Oh, yeah, right, stealing."
Twilight began laughing, "And to think that, even for a minute, I thought..." her face flushed and she cleared her throat, "Well, that doesn't matter."
"What is it?" Rainbow asked, getting curious.
"Nothing, nothing," Twilight assured, shaking her head quickly.
Rainbow nodded warily, then after an awkward moment, nodded towards her and observed, "Nice wings."
"Do you love me?" Twilight blurted out, slapping a hoof over her mouth when she said it.
Rainbow went pink in the face, "W-what?"
Twilight waited a moment, then explained, "It's Chrysalis, s-she said she was feeding off the love you had...for me," she looked at the ground when she said that, then looked up quickly and said dismissively, "B-but that was just a lie, right? Just to get under my skin?"
Rainbow nodded agreeably, "Right, right...just a lie."
They stood there for another awkward moment. Rainbow had imagined this moment going differently in her mind. It's not fair. Chrysalis had ruined everything, and that horrible, sappy, sob story about her colony, why had she bought that?
Maybe, she didn't want to admit it, but maybe, she had just wanted to feel loved back.
But she still could. As all these thoughts ran through her mind, she gulped nervously and looked Twilight in the eye.
Twilight looked back, "...what?" she asked for a moment.
Rainbow's eye twitched. She couldn't take it any longer. She lunged forward and planted a kiss on Twilight's lips, nearly missing. To her surprise and delight, Twilight kissed back, as if she had been hoping Rainbow had the courage to do what she could not.
That's what makes us perfect together. They held each other in a warm embrace for several moments, until finally breaking apart slowly, each with a dazed look on their faces. Twilight giggled, covering her mouth with her hoof as she did so. "I guess it wasn't a total lie," she observed cutely.
That went better than Rainbow could have ever imagined, and it felt better too. She giggled too, then said, "I guess not," and kissed her again.
A few moments later, Twilight broke apart from her and gasped, "Chrysalis is free! And she has the sphere!"
Rainbow nodded, realizing the same thing (though they both wished they could have continued). She let go of Twilight and let her stand on her own, "Let's roll," she said with an intent smile. Twilight nodded, and the two both flew out of the house, in the way Chrysalis had gone. Rainbow purposefully flew slower than usual for Twilight.

Chrysalis was curled up in a small hollow formed from the roots of a tall oak tree on the edge of the Everfree Forest, cuddling with the sphere. Of course, she would bring it back to her colony, it was their only hope! That fool Rainbow Dash couldn't produce enough love for all of her children! She wasn't like him... Nopony was like him...
She shook her head, forgetting all of that and focusing that right here, right now, she was alone, and she had her sphere. Of course she would take it back soon, but just for now, she just wanted to be alone with it, just for a little while.
Her eyes happened to glance skyward, and she saw Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash flying her way, getting nearer every second.
Those fools! Didn't they ever give up? No matter, they had brought this upon themselves. If they wanted a battle over this sphere, she would give them a war.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight and Rainbow flew across the sky above Ponyville, scanning the ground for any sign of Chrysalis, "Where do you think she went?" Twilight mused.
Rainbow thought about that, "Well, she was near the Everfree when I-er, when she hypnotized me," Rainbow thought aloud, "That's probably where her colony is hiding; nopony would ever willingly go in there."
Twilight nodded in agreement, "You're probably right, let's go with that, it's the only thing we've got as of now."
Rainbow nodded at her point and the two soared towards the clearing in silence. After a few moments, Rainbow's eyes were drifting towards her flying partner, who was still intently scanning the ground. "You're a good flyer for your first time," she observed.
Twilight, just realizing she was being watched, looked over and then looked away, smiling bashfully, "Thanks," she said modestly, "But I know you're flying slower than usual for me."
Rainbow nodded and chuckled, then angled her wings to glide right underneath Twilight, "Why not speed this up?" she offered.
Twilight nodded, flying was much harder than it looked! At least she would never have to do it again once these fake wings disappeared. She stopped flapping and allowed herself to drift down, wrapping her forelegs around Rainbow's body below her wings.
Almost immediately, Rainbow took off at an incredible rate, zipping across the sky in an instant. Twilight was screaming out of both fear and delight, an odd combination, but a very fitting one for being together with Rainbow Dash.
After a short time of flying, they reached the pathway which followed the Everfree Forest edge, where the clearing would be located. Rainbow averted her course and followed the path, Twilight clinging onto the back of her for dear life. There, down in not exactly the same place, but close, stood Chrysalis, all alone. "There she is!" Rainbow announced.
Twilight looked down at her. Why was she simply standing there? Why wasn't she hiding? Why hadn't she left yet? "Careful, Rainbow, it could be a triiiiiiii-!"
Her sentence was cut off as Rainbow enthusiastically dove down towards the ground, landing deftly a short distance away from Chrysalis and inadvertently sending Twilight sprawling on the ground. She quickly got up, dusted herself and her false wings off, and stood in a confrontational stance alongside Rainbow.
"Give us back the sphere!" Rainbow demanded, teeth bared and snarling. Twilight was impressed; she could be very intimidating sometimes.
Chrysalis merely smirked, "What, you mean this old thing?" she asked, holding up the glowing golden sphere. She casually inspected it, then shrugged and said, "Fine."
Rainbow and Twilight were caught off-guard, "W-what?" Twilight asked, incredulously confused.
"I said 'fine'," Chrysalis repeated, rolling the sphere towards them a short distance, "Take it," she then smiled evilly and flicked her forked tongue, "I dare you."
Twilight looked down at the sphere, then at Chrysalis, then at the sphere, then at Chrysalis and shook her head, "No!"
"Twilight!" Rainbow voiced, confused.
"Rainbow, it's s trick," Twilight insisted, "She wouldn't just give it up."
"No trick," Chrysalis said reassuringly, inspecting her hooves with disinterest, "If you want it, come and get it; I won't stop you."
Rainbow looked at the sphere; it lay in the grass just a few feet away from her. She took a small step towards it. Chrysalis did nothing aside from blowing a bit of dust off of her hooves. She took another tiny step towards it, eyes darting warily towards Chrysalis, the sphere, and back again.
Twilight stood adamantly still, "Rainbow, I'm telling you, it's a trick, don't pick it up!"
"On my word," Chrysalis said, making a crossing motion with her hoof over her heart, "You can pick it up; I won't stop you."
Rainbow didn't know what to do. Chrysalis was a perfect liar; you could never tell whether she was telling the truth, or part of it, or a complete lie. That's what truly made her so dangerous, she had complete control over her emotions. They were probably locked up in a cage where her heart should be where she poked them for fun. Nevertheless, she did nothing but stand there smirking as Rainbow took foal-steps towards the sphere, nearing it inch by inch. Finally, she was close enough to swipe it, and still Chrysalis did nothing. She stretched out her hoof experimentally, then withdrew it, and still Chrysalis did nothing. Finally, not being able to take it anymore, Rainbow reached out and rolled the sphere closer towards her, and picked it up, holding it in her hoof. Chrysalis smiled, flicking her tongue, but besides that did nothing, keeping her promise.
Rainbow Dash, not knowing what to think, took a step backwards, then another, and another, but still Chrysalis did nothing besides stand still and smile knowingly. Finally, Rainbow Dash was back at Twilight's side, holding the sphere, and Chrysalis hadn't moved.
The two mares did not take their eyes off of her as Rainbow passed the sphere to Twilight. Chrysalis rocked on her hooves, now thoroughly bored. Rainbow let out a laugh, "I guess you're getting slow, Chrysalis!"
Chrysalis shrugged, "Maybe," she said, still wearing that evil little smile.
Twilight was highly confused, but she wasn't about to miss this chance. Shrugging with acceptance, she nodded and said, "Well...alright, then...see you later, I guess..." and she slowly turned around with Rainbow, beginning to walk away.
Chrysalis nodded, "Goodbye, then," she said, waving her hoof.
Rainbow instinctively waved back, then stopped herself and turned around, the two mares looking back at Chrysalis all the while. Slowly and awkwardly, they began walking away, until finally facing fully forward and walking away, "Well that was easier than I expected," Twilight observed.
A large flash of bright green light suddenly shone in front of them, momentarily blinding the two. It faded after a moment, and there stood Chrysalis, who had teleported in front of them. "Oh wait," she said, smiling evilly, "I almost forgot, I can't let you take that."
Rainbow spluttered angrily, "You said you'd let us go!" she objected loudly.
Chrysalis waved her hoof, "Ah, ah, ah," she chastised, "I said I'd let you pick up the sphere," she smiled evilly, and her eyes began glowing with a sickly green light, "I said nothing about letting you keep it."
Rainbow's eye twitched; she wanted to walk right up to her and sock her one in the sour kisser, but she couldn't move.
Wait, what? She really couldn't move! She could only stare into Chrysalis's eyes as the green light intensified.Twilight too could not move; she felt her muscles clench up and she dropped the sphere as the green light coming from Chrysalis's eyes grew brighter and brighter. She heard Chrysalis begin to laugh evilly as the light grew brighter and brighter until it filled up her entire field of vision.
"Look into my eyes," Chrysalis's voice was the last thing they heard.

Twilight snapped awake, gasping for breath, "Rainbow, Rainbow?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. Where was she, what had happened? Her memory was cloudy; Rainbow, Chrysalis, the sphere...
She opened her eyes and gasped to see that she was back in her home, in her bed, curled up in her sheets. Her false wings were gone.
It had all been a dream, She thought, not sure what to feel. Rainbow...

Across town, Rainbow Dash snapped awake from an amazing dream; she had finally gotten to be with Twilight! But now she looked around at the walls of her cloud home in disappointment. Her lip quivered, It's not fair, why can't we be together? She sniffed, wiped at her face, and climbed out of bed. It was nothing but a crazy dream, it never would be.
Sighing dejectedly, she walked away, preparing to get ready for the day.

Twilight took a sad shower, made a sad breakfast, and got her sad schedule for the day. She couldn't stop thinking about her dream. She had never looked at Rainbow Dash any way other than as a good friend, but that dream had forever changed her opinion of that crazy Pegasus. She had gotten to see a glimpse of them together, and she had liked it. Why'd it have to be a dream? But it must have been; Rainbow wouldn't ever actually see her that way, she wasn't like that.
Sighing dejectedly, she munched on a slightly soggy bowl of oats and milk and looked over her schedule for the day. First, Pinkie Pie had asked for help on some party or other, and then, Rarity had wanted her to model for a dress...
She dropped the scroll and put her face on the table. She just didn't feel like doing anything other than lying down and trying to go back to sleep. Maybe then she and Rainbow could be together.
She laid there, face on table for Celestia knows how long, until finally somepony knocked on her door loudly. She let out an enormous sigh and slid her face off the table, allowing it to collapse onto the floor. She didn't bother standing up straight, and instead trudged towards the door, dragging her face on the ground the whole way.
She opened the door and still did not lift her face, instead mumbling loudly around the floor, "Mmmph mmmph,"
"Hiya, Twilight!" greeted Pinkie Pie warmly. She was wearing a clown nose, but Twilight wouldn't know that since all she could see was floor. "Ready to go plan that party?"
"mmmph mmmph?" Mumbled Twilight.
Pinkie Pie looked down at her depressed friend, "Hey, is something wrong?"
"mmmph," Twilight answered.
Pinkie Pie knelt down next to her friend, wrapping a hoof around her shoulder protectively, "Hey now," she said warmly, "It's alright, tell Auntie Pinkie all about it."
Twilight slid over next to Pinkie's body, finally taking her face off of the floor, "Oh, Pinkie," she sighed, "I'm sorry, I'm just feeling a little sad."
"Well why's that?" Pinkie asked obviously, rubbing her shoulder friendlily.
Twilight looked up at her clown nose, sighed, and said, "I-I had this dream, about-" she stopped herself, then continued hesitantly, "somepony, and..." she gulped and continued, "We were...together, if you know what I mean."
Pinkie Pie nodded understandingly, but she didn't really understand, "So you're upset...?"
"Because it was just a dream!" Twilight answered, "And...I didn't want it to be."
"Well I can fix that!" Pinkie Pie announced proudly, picking Twilight up and placing her on her hooves. Not giving her a chance to react, she began pushing Twilight out the door, intent on fixing her friend's problem, "Let's go!"
"N-no, Pinkie!" Twilight objected. grinding her hooves into the ground weakly, "Stop!"

Rainbow glided across the sky slowly, exceptionally sad about her dream the night before. Sure, she had had dreams about Twilight before (some 'better' than others) but never one so...real.
She sighed, It was just a dream, forget about it. But she didn't want to forget. She found a nearby cloud and laid down on it, pulling the fluff up and over her body, to make a little cloud hut she could lay in. She blocked out all the light and curled up in her little cloud cave. Maybe if I go to sleep here I can dream about Twilight again. She sighed and closed her eyes; it was worth a shot.
"Pinkie! S-stop it!" Twilight cried out from below her.
Rainbow's eyes snapped open and her ears perked up. She shoveled a bit of cloud out of the way below her and looked down. There, directly below her, was Twilight being pushed down the path by a smiling Pinkie Pie. Rainbow gazed lovingly over Twilight, sighing blissfully just at the sight of her. But what was Pinkie Pie doing?
"Come on, Twilight!" Pinkie objected with her sweet voice, "If we're going to make your dream come true, then trust me!"
Dream? What were they talking about. Rainbow dove out of her cloud and landed deftly in front of the two, giving a small shiver at the sudden rush of cold. "Hey guys, whatcha doing?"
Twilight, at the sight of Rainbow, blushed and looked away, "Oh, um, h-hey, Rainbow," she greeted nervously.
Rainbow Dash was confused at her demeanor, but on the inside was feeling giddy to be standing close to her. She ignored Twilight's odd behavior and asked, "What's up?"
"Twilight's sad because she had a dream she wished wasn't a dream," Pinkie Pie explained quickly, "So we're going to make her dream come true!"
"Pinkie!" Twilight objected loudly, "Shush!" she tried shushing her, blushing furiously.
She had had a dream too? "What dream?"
"She and somepony were together, if you know what I mean," Pinkie explained in a low voice, though she didn't know what she meant herself.
Twilight ground her face into the dirt, embarrassed beyond words.
Rainbow didn't know what to feel. Thrilled that Twilight had a crush, or scared that it wasn't her? "That's...interesting," she said slowly, saying the first thing that came to mind.
Twilight screamed incredulously, muffled by the ground.
"Who was it?" Rainbow asked, hooves itching with anticipation and anxiety at the same time.
"I dunno," Pinkie shrugged, "She never said." She immediately knelt next to her friend and picked up her ear so she could hear better, "Who was it, Twilight?"
Twilight did not move.
Rainbow, sensing she wouldn't get an answer, said, "Well...good luck with it," and took flight, drifting some ways away before darting behind a tree, peeking out at Twilight.
Pinkie Pie hadn't noticed Rainbow Dash hide behind the tree. She picked up Twilight and set her on her hooves; her face was the same color as a choice pick Apple's Apple Farm apple.
"You kinda froze up there!" Pinkie Pie observed, "What's up?"
"Pinkie," Twilight hissed, looking side to side nervously. Rainbow strained to hear. "The somepony...was Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow gasped, slapping a hoof over her mouth to muffle it.
"Oooooooh," Pinkie Pie mouthed, "Well she was just here! Why didn't you say anything?"
Twilight sighed, holding back tears, "You don't understand, Pinkie, I-" she said nothing, her lip quivering. "I'm going back home," she managed to get out, and sprinted away, back home. Pinkie Pie stood there, confused as to what she had done wrong.
Rainbow Dash was ecstatic. Her adrenaline started pumping and a smile spread across her face. She rocketed off into the sky, cheering loudly. A rainbow colored trail followed her, and she performed a Sonic Rainboom unknowably.

The sun was high in the sky, sometime in the afternoon, and Twilight laid in her bed, sobbing into a pillow. It's not fair, it's not fair! She didn't ask to have that dream, she didn't ask to feel these things, why was she so sad?
A loud knocking resounded through her house, emanating from the front door in the library below. She knew she would have to go answer it. She got up and wiped her eyes, "Coming," she called halfheartedly.
She walked down the steps into the library. In my dream this place had been a mess, she remembered. She went to a specific shelf and climbed up to the highest one, finding a certain book. Could it be? She took the book and opened it.
Inside there was nothing but pages, no sphere.
She sighed, sniffed, and replaced the book where it had been. It was really nothing but a dream; it had never happened.
She went to the door and opened it, stiffening in surprise and nervousness when she found Rainbow Dash on the other side.
"H-hey, Twilight," Rainbow greeted, "Whatcha doing?"
Twilight didn't know what to say, "Nothing," she said. It was better than nothing. Wait a minute...
Rainbow nodded, "Well, Pinkie Pie told me you weren't feeling great, so..." she fumbled in her saddlebags and withdrew what looked like a movie, "I just got this; can I come in?"
Twilight couldn't believe this was happening. She looked at the movie; Sherlock Hooves. "Rainbow, you hate that movie!" she said, smiling at her friend's suggestion.
Rainbow tilted her head and kicked at the ground, "Well, yeah..." she conceded, "But you like it."
Twilight giggled bashfully, but inside she felt like she had butterflies in her stomach. Happy butterflies. She opened the door wider, "Please, come in."

Some time later, Twilight and Rainbow were seated together on the couch, sitting comfortably close to each other. The movie was playing on an old projector brought up from the basement. Spike had been given the day off, but he had been taking it easy all day anyway. Twilight gasped every time there was a plot twist, but Rainbow Dash was just confused the entire time.
The movie finally ended, and Twilight sighed in satisfaction, "What a great movie!" she mused, turning towards Rainbow, "What did you think?"
"Wait, I'm confused," Rainbow said for the fortieth time, "You mean he didn't actually die?"
Twilight giggled, "No, Rainbow," she said softly, "He saved himself with that little metal thing, remember? It took the pressure off of his neck, which saved his life."
Rainbow thought hard for a few moments, then started as she finally got it, "Oooooh," she mouthed.
Twilight giggled, amused by her friend's antics. Rainbow pretended to look offended, but then broke down in laughter of her own. They shared a laugh for a moment, and then calmed down with a satisfied sigh.
Twilight smiled at her friend warmly, "Thank you, Rainbow Dash, I feel much better now."
Rainbow smiled, "Yeah, well, you know what they say..."
"What?" Twilight asked.
Rainbow opened her mouth, but nothing came out, "I was hoping you'd know."
Twilight looked at her and then they both shared another laugh. "You know...I had a dream about you last night," Twilight confessed, forgetting that Pinkie Pie had already informed her about that.
"Me too," Rainbow said, forgetting as well.
Twilight sat up, "Really? What about?"
"Well..." Rainbow said, thinking back, "There was you, and me, and Chrysalis-"
"Me too!" Twilight said, "And there was a sphere-?"
"Me too!" Rainbow said, the two looking each other in confusion, "Did we have the same dream?"
"Maybe," Twilight mused, "But how...?"
Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle looked at each other, not knowing what to say next. They both remembered the key detail of the dream at the same time.
"Did you-?"
"Yeah."
"And were we-?"
"Yeah."
"So should we-"
"Probably."
"Alright."
"Alright."
Rainbow Dash and Twilight kissed, both of them reacting the same way at the same time. Rainbow wrapped her hooves around Twilight's shoulders, and Twilight put her hooves on Rainbow's face. For a moment, they stayed there, blushing as they embraced each other. But soon, they broke apart, their mouths bridged by an arc of saliva.
Rainbow Dash broke it with her tongue and observed, "Well that happened fast,"
Twilight shrugged, "It was really the only thing left to do."
Rainbow nodded and smiled, "Continue?"
Twilight smiled and nodded, "Let's."
The two kissed again, falling over onto the couch.

Chrysalis could do this all day.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash stood there, both of their pairs of eyes filled with swirly green light at they were victimized by her hypnotic magic. She laughed evilly and applauded herself on her great success, "And to think, Rainbow Dash gave me this power willingly!" she gloated. She had put the two mares in a dream world, fooled into thinking it was real life. The sphere lay down at her hooves, unswervingly shining with its warm golden light.
Chrysalis cackled evilly as she peered into the minds of the two mares, seeing their shared dream. Watching some movie, completely oblivious to anything around them. "This is too easy."
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike was having an odd week.
It had started normal, with Spike performing all sorts of bits and bobs for Twilight, business as usual, until Twilight suddenly became very difficult to deal with, abandoning her beloved schedule and making an absolute mess of her library, and of all things it was revealed she was being impersonated by Queen Chrysalis! And then he himself had been the victim of being trapped in a closet along with the real Twilight Sparkle, until finally breaking out and chasing Chrysalis away. Now all that remained was to clean up the library, and as Spike took his fiftieth break in the vicious cycle of cleaning to break time to cleaning, he laid back on the couch and wondered what could possibly be taking Twilight so long. She had gone to see if Rainbow Dash had hidden that sphere thingy hours ago by now! Where could she be?
Spike surveyed his work; the library was mostly clean, just a few little piles here and there remained to be picked up, it wouldn't be that hard to finish up.
Nodding decisively, he got up, stretched his sore shoulders, and walked outside, off to find Twilight.
As he was just a baby dragon and lacked things like hooves, it took him a while to get around town. He slowly made his way through town, passing the Apple's Apple Farm, Fluttershy's Nursery, he took a shortcut across the town commons in front of the Cake's Cake Shop, stopping briefly in front of Rarity's Boutique, then getting back on track and heading down the path. All the while he called out Twilight and Rainbow Dash's names, but received no answer. None of the ponies seemed to have seen them, although one pony said they had been near the Everfree Forest path last they saw.
He found the path in question and made his way down, wondering why they would be all the way out here. Maybe they had spotted Chrysalis or something similar? He didn't know, but he held that assumption and quickened his pace, eager to help.
He walked up a slight incline, reached the top, and looked down into a clearing on the edge of the Forest. There he managed to catch a glimpse of Twilight and Rainbow Dash as they sunk into the woods.
"Hey, guys! Wait up!" Called Spike. He slid down the hill and dove into the woods, catching himself before he ran right into their behinds. They didn't seem to notice, walking forward at a strict pace, eyes facing forward and mouths closed.
What was up with them? They were acting strange. He walked around them so they could see him, but gasped and dove into the foliage when he saw they were following Chrysalis.
"This way, girls!" She called over her shoulder in a chipper mood.
"Okay..." answered Twilight and Rainbow monotonously, simultaneously. Spike saw their eyes filled with swirly green light, and concluded they were hypnotized. What should he do? He didn't have a checklist for this situation! Chrysalis hadn't spotted him, he was completely hidden, and they needed his help. He decided to follow them, if not to rescue them, at least to discover where they were being taken.
Chrysalis lead the hypnotized ponies through the forest, down an obscure path that was barely visible, and in some places totally nonexistent. But Spike trudged onward, keeping pace with the ponies despite having two legs. Claws just weren't made for walking like hooves were, he concluded. Nevertheless, he managed to follow the three of them and remain hidden. Chrysalis finally broke through the foliage into a rather large clearing. She made a strange clicking noise with her tongue, and suddenly, changelings spilled out of the forest by the dozen, filling up the area. This must be the Hive, Spike thought. It wasn't really what he had expected, but the colony was probably still weak after the whole Canterlot fiasco, this was probably temporary.
"Children!" Chrysalis announced proudly, "I bring your salvation!" She suddenly reached around to her wings and pulled the golden, glowing sphere out of a pocket in her wings, "Behold!" she announced proudly, holding the sphere aloft. The changelings cheered and applauded moderately, most of them were probably too hungry to be enthusiastic. A few of the changelings brought forth a strange scepter type thing and planted it in the center of the clearing. Chrysalis approached the pedestal and placed the sphere in a small holding mechanism at the top of it. It poured out it's golden light, bathing the Hive in a warm glow. The changelings clicked their tongues hungrily as the light poured over them, a few were rolling around in it. Even Chrysalis smiled as the light poured over her. She then turned around to Twilight and Rainbow and said, "These two are under my spell, trapped in a false reality," she started cackling evilly as she explained, "I'll keep these two in their dreams forever!"
Spike gasped, clamping a claw over his mouth too late.
Chrysalis's eyes darted to the foliage and she hissed, eyes glowing green and forked tongue flailing wildly.
Spike averted his eyes from the green light and ran away, making his way through the thick flora and fauna as fast as he could. He couldn't take on a whole hive by himself, he needed help.
Chrysalis watched the flash of purple disappear as the baby dragon ran away. She hissed angrily, the poor fool didn't know what he had gotten into. But she calmed down; it didn't matter, let him run. There was nothing he could do. Chrysalis turned towards the golden sphere, unswervingly shining, the tiny scarlet heart in the center gleaming like a jewel. There's nothing he can do, now that I have you again.

Spike ran back to Ponyville, not knowing what to do other than to just get away for now. After a mad dash for freedom, he broke through some bushes on the edge of the forest, falling to his knees and panting heavily. After he caught his breath, he got up, gulped down his fear, and ran into town. He ran right up to Rarity's Boutique and slammed the doors open, "Twilight-! *gasp* Rainbow-! *gasp* Kidnapped-! *gasp* Sphere-!" Spike said through gasps, then collapsed on the floor, hyperventilating.
Inside, Fluttershy stood nervously on a stand, wearing a half finished dress that Rarity was working on. "Spike, dear," Rarity said gently, "you're going to have to speak slower, and in sentences."
Spike nodded, finally catching his breath, he spoke frantically, "Twilight and Rainbow have been kidnapped by Queen Chrysalis!"
Rarity dropped her needles.
Then she started laughing. Even Fluttershy let out a few nervous giggles.
Spike was at a complete loss, "Why are you laughing?" He asked frantically, grasping the sides of his head with his claws.
Slowly, Rarity stopped laughing, "You mean you're not kidding?"
"Of course I'm not kidding!" Spike said incredulously, "They were hypnotized by Chrysalis and lead away into the Everfree Forest, I saw it!"
Rarity let out a shriek, "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" She lifted a couch over to her and flopped back on it dramatically, "Whatever will we do?" she begged. Fluttershy was just covering her mouth with her hoof, either out of shock or fear, or both.
"Well we gotta save 'em!" Spike suggested obviously.
Rarity sat up straight, a steely look on her face, "You're right," she said, pushing the couch away, "This is no time for drama!" She looked up into space as if wondering if there was a little time for drama, then shook her head and instructed, "Fluttershy, get out of that perfect dress; Spike, go and get Pinkie Pie and Applejack!"
Spike saluted Rarity, "I'm on it!" he said, and zipped out the door, running as fast as his scaly legs could carry him to the Cake's Cake Shop on the other side of the town commons. He burst into the door, surveyed the area quickly for that recognizable curly pink mane, spotted it ducking behind the counter, and rushed over. He leapt up on the counter and announced, "Pinkie! Come quick! Rainbow and Twilight have been kidnapped by Chrysalis!"
Pinkie gasped, "This is terrible!"
"I know!" Spike agreed.
Pinkie Pie held up an unfrosted cake, "This cake has no icing!"
"Pinkie!" Spike yelled angrily, although it sounded adorable since he was just a baby dragon.
Pinkie Pie thought so too. She turned around, noticing Spike for the first time and said, "Oh, hello Spike!" she held up the unfrosted cake, "Unfrosted cake?"
Spike looked at the cake, wondering briefly if he could scarf it down real quick, then shook his head and pushed the cake away, "There's no time for cake, Pinkie! Twilight and Rainbow Dash have been kidnapped by Chrysalis!"
Pinkie looked up into space and tapped on her chin thoughtfully.
Spike put his claws on the top of his head exasperatedly, "Queen Chrysalis...the changeling, Queen Chrysalis?"
Pinkie Pie gasped again, "This is terrible!"
Spike sighed in relief as she finally got it, "I know! Come on, we're going to rescue her!"
Pinkie's brow furrowed as she focused and nodded.
Spike leapt off the counter and headed for the door, "Come on!"
Pinkie leapt over the counter and followed, but not before reaching back and grabbing that unfrosted cake.
Spike instructed her to go to Rarity's Boutique, and he himself ran to the Apple's Apple Farm, finding Applejack serving a customer at a small wooden stand set up outside the orchards. He should've probably waited until she was done serving her customer, but this was an emergency! He ran right up to the stand and interrupted loudly, "Applejack! Help! Chrysalis is back, and she's kidnapped Twilight and Rainbow Dash!"
The customer raised a brow in confusion, "Wait, what?"
Applejack gasped, "Oh no! This's terrible!" She quickly began putting stuff away and jumped out of her stand, "Lead th' way, Spike!"
Spike nodded and turned around, That was easy.
"Hey, what about my apples?" The customer asked incredulously right before the two ran off.
Applejack gave him a dirty look and said in a falsetto voice, "Sorry, sir, but friend's 're more important th'n money." And with that, she slammed the closed sign on her stand, to the shock of the customer. Applejack nodded in confirmation, and turned back to Spike, "Lead th' way!"
Spike nodded, smiling at her loyalty to her friends, and trudged away as fast as he could go, leading Applejack to Rarity's Boutique.
When all five of them were assembled inside the boutique, Rarity was pacing back and forth, decked out in the most fashionable forest camouflage. "Girls, Twilight and Rainbow have been kidnapped!" she informed obviously. She stopped pacing and turned towards them, "We're going to have to rescue them! Spike, where are they being held?"
Spike, not expecting to be put on the spot, fiddled with his claws nervously, "Um, uh, well, I-I can show you!" and he turned to run for the door. He ran into Applejack's hoof.
"Woah, there, pardner!" she said, slowly the dragon down, "We can't just run off willy nilly without a plan!"
"Applejack's right," Rarity agreed, "What would Twilight do?"
The ponies all looked at her expectantly.
She shook her head quickly, "Don't look at me! I can't be the only one coming up with ideas. What do you think we should do?"
The ponies thought for a moment, then Spike, thinking about what Sherlock Hooves would do, said, "They don't know we're coming yet, so..."
"We could throw them a surprise party!" Pinkie announced proudly.
Applejack rolled her eyes, "Pinkie, we're trying ta' rescue them, not party with 'em!"
"No," Pinkie said in a low voice, smiling mysteriously, "I mean, we could throw them a party." And then she withdrew a party cannon from Celestia knows where.
The other ponies smiled as they caught on to her game, and each one nodded in turn. Rarity took lead, "Alright! Girls, let's go show them a party they'll never forget!"
A cheer went up, and the ponies rushed out the door, towards the Everfree, lead by Spike riding on Pinkie Pie.

Twilight reclined on a bench on her porch, looking up at the sky. The day was just perfect; the sun was shining, the birds were chirping away, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She sighed contently and closed her eyes, thoroughly enjoying the day off Princess Celestia had given her. It was almost like a dream!
Suddenly a shadow passed over her eyes. She opened them a crack to see a single cloud in the sky, directly overhead. It was shaped like a heart pierced with an arrow. A cyan head peeked out from the edge of the cloud. Twilight giggled and waved at Rainbow Dash, her newly announced girlfriend.
Rainbow jumped off the cloud, kicked it out of the way, and drifted down to the ground, settling deftly on the bench at Twilight's side. Twilight scooched over to make room for her, and nuzzled her head against Rainbow's lovingly. Rainbow giggled at the contact, and the two sighed contently, leaning against each other as they looked up at the sky.
Rainbow suddenly leaned in and gave Twilight's cheek a peck, blushing bashfully as she did so. Twilight giggled; the kiss tickled. "Rainbow, we've only been together a week!" she teased playfully.
"A great week," Rainbow objected, pretending to be hurt, but then laughing.
Twilight laughed along with her and kissed her back, "Yes, yes it was," she agreed, and the two fell back into a comforting silence.
Chrysalis stood outside of the two hypnotized mares, looking through a magical screen at their shared dreams. Time moved faster in their dream; it had probably been a week or two their time. She sucked her teeth in disdain as she watched the two mares falling deeper and deeper in love. The dream would advance, slowly taking place of their entire lives, and they would never suspect a thing. Theoretically, they could live until they died and be brought out of their dream the moment they had entered. But this wasn't what was bothering her; watching the two mares, their love, it was...uncomfortable, so to speak, but why? Why did Chrysalis feel this way? She turned around and looked at her children. Using the energy the sphere provided, the changelings had set about building a proper hive, tearing down trees and piling up mud and rocks to build chambers and rooms. But one thing they never changed was the pedestal which held the sphere aloft. It was kept in the central room, the largest room. She paused inspecting the dreams of her prisoners for a moment and walked over to the sphere, not to feed, just to look. It did nothing aside shine, casting it's warm, golden rays of light throughout the camp. There at the center sat the tiny scarlet heart, gleaming like a jewel. She reached up and placed a hoof on the sphere, it felt warm. She sighed, rubbing the sphere as if to clean it, "I miss you," she said. One changeling overheard her and wondered briefly how she could miss what was in her possession, but was soon after yelled at by his superior to get back to work.
Chrysalis continued speaking to the sphere, a vague hope that it would respond held in her mind, "It's not easy being an immortal," she observed, "I had thought it would..."
In changeling society, there was the commoners and the royalty. The royalty were higher beings than the commoners because they could think independently, and were immortal, just like the Alicorns. Chrysalis was the last of the royal, the last Queen of the changelings. Of course, she could create a new race of immortals, new princes and princesses, but the process was...distasteful. Even Chrysalis shuddered when she thought about it. She ignored that now and went back to her imaginary conversation with the sphere, "It's just not the same," she observed. The sphere suddenly grew cold, though unnoticeably so, "But it's the best you could do," Chrysalis praised. The sphere grew warm again. A catch formed in Chrysalis's throat, but she swallowed it and said, "I'm sorry this happened. I never meant to bring you into this."
The sphere did not respond, unswervingly shining warmly. It never stopped shining; day or night, sun or storm, year after year, it never stopped shining. But with each passing year Chrysalis owned it, her guilt increased.
She sighed and let go of the sphere. The sphere grew imperceptibly dimmer, though Chrysalis did not notice. She walked back to her magical screen, ignoring the sounds of construction raging around her. As she looked upon Twilight and Rainbow's romance, she thought, Maybe that's why I don't like you two, she watched the two mares share a romantic moment, You two have something that I can't have.
A changeling interrupted her thoughts; it approached her and spoke in a strange clicking language, "Where should the hatchery be?"
Chrysalis turned around and surveyed the land. The north end would be a good place; warm in the winter and cool in the summer. She nodded towards the area in question, and the changeling left with her orders.
She suddenly felt a magical disturbance somewhere in the forest. Ponies. Coming this way.
No matter, let them come, She looked back at her sphere, standing stout and solitary in it's pedestal, They'll never leave.
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Chrysalis paced back and forth in front of her prisoners; the four ponies and dragon were tied up at her hooves, completely powerless, having failed miserably at a rescue. "That simply has to be the worst 'rescue mission' attempt I have ever seen!" Chrysalis gloated, slightly blown away by exactly how useless they were. "Do you see now, ponies? You are nothing without your friends," she stopped in front of her other prisoners, constrained mentally, for emphasis, "And I have them right here! I have won!" she bent down low and looked them each in the face, "When will you stop trying?"
"Never!" immediately yelled Spike, who was still struggling in vain to release himself from his ropes.
"Spike...stop," Applejack instructed quietly, head lowered in shame.
Spike stopped struggling when he saw even Applejack had given up.
Chrysalis nodded in approval, "There, you see?" she walked over and replaced the gag in Spike's mouth-he wouldn't be able to burn through his ropes this time-and then stepped away, "Isn't it better to just give up?" She received no answer, but their silence was music to her ears. "And besides," Chrysalis added, looking over Twilight and Rainbow Dash, "What makes you think they would even want you to rescue them?"
"Of course they would!" Rarity immediately objected, "They're our friends! They want to be with us!"
Chrysalis smirked; she had just given her the perfect scenario. "Do they?" she asked curiously. Her horn glowed with a sickly green light and flashed, and a magical screen appeared in front of the imprisoned ponies, showing them a glimpse of the dream world their friends were living in. "Do they really?"
The ponies watched in rapt attention, shock filling their gaze as they watched Rainbow Dash and Twilight leaning against each other on the porch of the Library, the way only a couple would.
"You see now?" Chrysalis asked, "This is where they are. They're happy living in this dream that I've given them," she flashed her horn and the screen disappeared, "What makes you think they would want you to take that from them?"
Fluttershy began tearing up at the ethical dilemma. Pinkie Pie just stared blankly into space; for the first time in her life, she didn't know what she was feeling. Rarity looked away, holding back emotions. Applejack looked away too, but she spoke, "It's not real,"
Chrysalis smiled at their futile friendship, "It is to them," she pointed out innocently, her gaze filled with malice. She was finally exactly where she wanted to be; in the position where she had power over those pitiful ponies. Honestly, what were they thinking, charging into a full blown hive of well fed changelings without any idea of what to do? Pathetic, they all were. For the umpteenth time in her life, she wondered why these ponies valued friendship so highly, did they not see that friendship caused pain? Did they not see there was strength in loneliness?
I had friends once.
Chrysalis shook her head, dismissing those awful, un-changeling thoughts as they began to rear their ugly head once more. It was those ponies, it was as if they tainted the very air! But none of that mattered now; she had won.
"W-what will y-you do to us?" Asked the timid yellow one, Fluttershy. She was trembling as she spoke.
Chrysalis hadn't thought of that, she had simply been enjoying her power, but the question did need answering, so she turned to her hive who had been watching her gloat and asked loudly, "What do you think, children? What should we do with these ponies?"
The air was filled with the clicking language of the changelings as they all voiced their opinions at once. The ponies looked around at the blood-thirsty crowd in confused terror, having no idea what fate the angry crowd was proposing. However, Chrysalis, being able to understand their words, was actually quite disappointed in the lack of...imagination of her children. Not hearing any suggestion she liked, she waved her hoof for silence, "Alright, why don't we decide tomorrow. Tonight is a time for celebration!"
The changelings cheered and began muttering amongst themselves excitedly, floating ideas and potential activities. She would leave the details up to her children; Chrysalis had had her power fill for the night. And besides, there was a certain thing she wanted to attend to.

Twilight was in a chipper mood. Today marked six months since she had begun seeing Rainbow Dash, five since they openly announced it. Her friends hadn't reacted nastily, in fact they had reacted quite warmly. Rarity was pleased that the two of them had "finally gotten together," and Applejack had claimed to have seen the relationship coming from a mile away. Fluttershy was supportive as well, in her own, quiet way; bringing the couple dishes every now and then. Pinkie Pie was oblivious as always, and merely thought the two were even closer friends than they had been before.
Nevertheless, Twilight was happy. She had prepared a special date to mark the occasion; a movie night, just like their first. Now all that was left to do was wait for Rainbow Dash to come over. She had given Spike the day off; he had been doing significantly less work in the recent months, and he had no complaints about that.
Twilight walked in and out of her library, checking to make sure everything was in it's proper place, and that the place looked presentable. Of course, Rainbow wouldn't mind even if the place looked like a twister had been through it, but it was important to Twilight, Rainbow understood that.
Speaking of which, where was she? It wasn't like her to be late. She looked at the clock, which read 6:26. Twilight had told her to be there at 6. She was probably just running late. Probably.
Twilight was antsy. What could be keeping her? She tried to ignore it and wait patiently, but couldn't. She sprang up and headed for the door, swinging it open. She slammed it shut right after when she remembered she was wearing a suggestive saddle for Rainbow. She had bought it just today, for the special occasion. The two of them hadn't done anything...too suggestive, but Twilight had recently been feeling she was ready for that. And what better day than the six month anniversary?
She quickly shuffled herself out of the saddle, and for her moment her face burned when she realized she had been sitting here waiting for the past half hour all gussied up like a playpony. She gulped down her embarrassment-at least nopony had seen her in it-and went outside, determined to find Rainbow.
She passed by Rarity on the road into the town commons and asked her if she had seen Rainbow. Rarity told her she was at the spa.
The Spa? Really? what in Celestia's name was she doing at the Spa? She hated the place! Slowly growing suspicious, she headed for the Spa. A short trip later, she was outside the doors to the place, hoof poised to knock loudly. But she hesitated, and instead went around the building to the window on the side, peeking in.
There she was; Rainbow Dash was lying face down on a massage table, her back being kneaded by Aloe and Vera, the Spa Twins. The girls began speaking, and Twilight strained to hear through the window.
"I haven't seen you much around here, Rainbow," said Aloe. Or it might have been Vera. She could never tell those two apart.
"Today is special," Rainbow explained enthusiastically, "It's been six months since I started seeing Twilight!"
Twilight held in a gasp of surprise. She held her hoof against her mouth in awe. She remembers... Twilight hadn't spoken a word of it to Rainbow, and she remembered.
"Six months, huh?" Marveled Vera (or maybe it was Aloe) "Quite the accomplishment."
Rainbow shrugged, a satisfied smile painted on her face as the spa twins gently massaged her back.
Suddenly, Rainbow stiffened up. She rose her head up and looked back at the two, "Hey now, gettin' kinda personal down there."
The twins giggled. It was Aloe (or Vera) who explained, "Come on, Rainbow, you can't possibly not be bored with Twilight by now."
What?! Twilight thought.
"What?!" Rainbow objected.
Vera (or Aloe) suddenly stretched out her body across Rainbow's back, "Oh, hush, Dash," She instructed, "Twilight'll never know."
Twilight's mouth was agape in shock. How dare those, those, Those sluts! She immediately clamped a hoof over her mouth for even thinking such vulgar language.
Rainbow was clearly uncomfortable. She started trying to stand up, saying, "Uh, how about no..."
Aloe (or Vera) suddenly grabbed Rainbow's face and planted a kiss on her.
Twilight's jaw ground in anger. Rainbow reacted immediately, recoiling and throwing the sisters back, spitting and wiping at her mouth ,"Get offa me!" she said, dashing for the exit.
Twilight dove into the bushes to avoid being seen, and Rainbow threw the doors open, spun around, and slammed them shut again, leaning against them and panting from the sudden exertion. After she got her breath back, she stood up, dusted herself off, and said to nopony in particular, "I guess I'll finish getting ready at home." she threw a dirty look at the spa and flew off.
Twilight watched her fly away, and when she was out of sight, stood back up and looked through the window again. The Spa Twins were inside, looking at the door in feign interest. Vera (or Aloe) simply shrugged. "Pity," she observed, "Seems Rainbow isn't as fun as we thought,"
Aloe (or Vera) nodded in agreement, "Oh well," she said, sidling up to her sister. "We don't need her," she said with a smile on her face.
Twilight's eyes widened and her face unintentionally flushed when she saw what they did next. Clamping a hoof over her eyes to unsee, she used her magic to make the shower head on the mane washer snap off, sending water everywhere, causing the sisters to fall apart and panic. She then ran away, back home.

Twilight sat at home, trying to forget the scene she had just witnessed. She suddenly didn't feel quite like putting on the saddle she had ordered and tucked it away somewhere. Of course, she was mentally scarred, but there was something else on her mind. Those two, those, Those sluts! She allowed herself to use vulgar language again. They had 'put the moves' on Rainbow! Of course, she had pushed them away, but it was making Twilight think thoughts she didn't really want to. How did she know that Rainbow would choose Twilight every time?
She tried to push those thoughts away, but they just kept coming back. Not to mention the horrors she had seen the sisters do while they were alone. Twilight gave a shudder.
She heard a knock on the door. She didn't feel like getting up. "It's open!" she called.
Rainbow opened the door. She had styled her mane to look nice, and was even wearing a bow. Now Twilight felt bad that she hadn't put her saddle back on, but not bad enough that it cancelled out what she had seen.
"Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow greeted warmly. She didn't seem off-put in the slightest, but maybe she was just suppressing it.
"Hey, Dashie," Twilight greeted half-heartedly.
Rainbow saw her sitting on the couch, curled up in a ball, and worry filled her gaze, "Hey Twilight, you okay?" she asked, walking over and sitting next to her.
Twilight said nothing for a moment, thinking of an excuse, but finally settled on, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit distracted."
Rainbow didn't seem very reassured, but she went with it. "Well, stop being so down in the dumps!" she suggested obviously, "Tonight's a special occasion!"
"Why?" Twilight asked, having forgotten the date.
"It's been six months since we started dating!" Rainbow chuckled, "I thought that's why you set up this date!"
"Oh yeah," Twilight responded when she remembered, "That."
Now Rainbow was thoroughly worried, but she didn't press Twilight. Instead, she decided to fess up before 	Twilight found out the wrong way, "H-hey Twilight," she started awkwardly, "I, uh, I kinda went to the spa today, you know, to get ready for our date, and, uh...the twins, they kinda, uh, made a move on me."
Twilight just sighed. Now it was out in the open.
"I pushed them away, of course," Rainbow reassured, "I just thought I'd tell you so you didn't find out some other way."
Twilight closed her eyes, "I know. I saw you,"
"You did?" Rainbow asked, surprised.
Twilight nodded, "I was wondering what was taking you so long, so I went to look for you. Rarity told me you were at the spa, so I went and peeked through the windows," she confessed, "I saw the whole thing." She looked up at Rainbow with genuine love, "Thank you,"
Rainbow started chuckled, letting go of her nervous energy, "Well I guess it's good that I told you, then!"
Twilight managed a laugh or two, but then fell quiet.
Rainbow noticed she was still off, and concern filled her gaze, "Is there something else bothering you?" she asked.
Twilight sighed, "It's just that, I mean- I know you pushed them away this time, but..." she looked up at Rainbow with worry in her eyes, "What if somepony comes along with an eye for you, and...they're better than me?"
Rainbow let out a, "Aww," when she realized Twilight's problem. She wrapped her hooves around Twilight and said, "Come on, Twilight, don't be that way. Nopony's better than you,"
Twilight knew she should have felt better with that, but she was still worried. She pushed Rainbow away and said, "But how can you know that?"
Rainbow looked down at her in confusion, "Because I...I love you, Twilight,"
Twilight looked her in the eye, "Can you tell me that, if you had something, and somepony offered to give you something better, you wouldn't take it?"
Rainbow looked at her, brow arched, "Twilight, you can't ask me that!"
"But would you?" Twilight asked, turning her body towards Rainbow, "You wouldn't, would you?"
"Twilight, you can't think that way!"  Rainbow insisted, "I love you, not any other pony,"
"But if somepony comes along that's better than me," Twilight insisted, "Why would you settle?"
Rainbow just looked at her, then shook her head, "Come on, Twilight, that's stupid."
Now Twilight felt insulted, "It's a valid argument!"
"No it's not!" Rainbow insisted, "I wouldn't choose anypony over you,"
Twilight just shook her head, "Maybe we're just not as perfect for each other as we thought."
Rainbow gasped. She said nothing for a moment, then, confrontationally, "What are you trying to say?"
Twilight looked at her, "I..."
Rainbow's eyes welled up, but she blinked them away, "Are you breaking up with me?" she demanded.
Twilight said nothing for a moment. But then, with a steely gaze, said, "Maybe I am."
She surprised herself as much as she surprised Rainbow. Rainbow just looked at her, "Well alright, then," she said finally, and got off of the couch, "Goodbye," she dismissed, and walked towards the door, not looking back as she left the library.
Twilight sat there for a minute, and then tears dripped down her face as she realized what she had done over petty jealousy. She curled up in a ball again, suppressing her sobs.
Outside of the library, Rainbow stormed down the path, but then her gait wavered and her knees buckled. She barely managed to catch herself and landed haphazardly on a nearby bench, clenching her jaws together and trying to hold back the tears running down her face.

Chrysalis stood outside of the shared dream of the two mares, watching their relationship dissolve. Quite frankly, she was surprised at how quickly the two had fallen apart. Throw a few slutty mares in any relationship and there was no saving it, it would seem. Shrugging indifferently, she moved the magical screen elsewhere. There was celebratory activities that needed tending to, otherwise her children would end up hurting themselves.
As she walked, she passed by the golden sphere still standing in the middle of the camp. She gingerly gave it a stroke or two, asking it, "What do you think, should we let those ponies go...or do something more fun?"
Obviously, the sphere didn't answer. But Chrysalis was very nearly sure of what it would say if it could talk, "They tried to take you from me," she reasoned with the mute sphere, "Surely they must be punished."
The sphere said nothing. Again.
Chrysalis sighed, "Like I told my colony, we'll decide tomorrow." She let go of the sphere and turned towards the four ponies and baby dragon tied up near the sphere, who had been fearfully watching her talk with her sphere. "Sleep tight," she wished innocently, adding a malicious smile for fun, "Don't let the changelings bite."
And with that, she left the ponies to their surely sleepless night.