> Prelude and Encore: A Tale of Friendship, Betrayal, and Forgiveness
>  by WritingDragonfly
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Twilight, I'm going out now!"

Spike already had one foot out the door by the time he heard a response.

"Why does it always have to be when it's raining, Spike?" Twilight poked her head up from downstairs, an inquisitive look on her face.

Spike sighed. "Because it gives me alone time. Nopony likes to go out in the rain, but I can hardly feel it. Scales, remember?"

Twilight gave a concerned look. Spike did this almost every day it was raining, but she was never quite able to discern whether something was bothering the little dragon. "Alright. Just not too late, okay?"

"I know, I know." With that, Spike stepped out and closed the door behind him.

He looked up at the sky, with the gloomy, gray cover he was used to seeing. He was still a dragon; there were certain things he'd always be used to. The darkness and dampness of a cave was one of them; and wet weather emulated that well enough. He started off towards a bench near the edge of the Everfree Forest. The same bench he always went to.

"Same, same, same," he thought to himself. "Why am I being like this today?"

He posed it as a question to himself, but he knew the answer. Things had been boring lately. Ever since the battle against Discord, hardly anything interesting had happened. Would that change today? Probably not.

Finally arriving at the bench, Spike took his seat, and smiled. Maybe he'd have a brilliant idea. Maybe he'd figure out a way to have a nice moment with Rarity. Maybe he'd...

His thought process got cut off in an instant. Because walking just ahead of the bench, wearing a head-umbrella, was...

"T...Twilight?"

Twilight turned her head towards his voice. "Spike! Oh, I'm so happy to see you."

"...what?" Spike's expression contorted into confusion.

Twilight stepped over to the bench. "Oh, Spikey-Wikey..." She brought her face close to his.

"Y...you're not Twilight..." the young dragon slid across the bench, away from her.

Twilight's expression flashed panic for a moment. "B...but, Spike..."

"I don't know who you are... but Twilight doesn't think of me like that..."

"Oh, but Spike, whatever do you mean?"

Spike closed his eyes. He needed to make it certain. He knew this wasn't Twilight... but how could he prove it?

"Alright. If you're Twilight, then tell me: what attacked the town when 'the Great and Powerful Trixie' came here?"

The pony looked away nervously. "U...um..."

Spike glared at her. "As I thought."

She returned the dragon's gaze as her expression suddenly contorted into anger. Her horn sparkled with magic and her eyes quickly flashed green.

Spike continued to stare at the impostor. "I don't know what that was supposed to do, but..."

She sighed and muttered to herself. "Really? Some leader I am..." She began to step away.

Spike stared on, confused. "H...hey!"

The impostor continued walking away, without even acknowledging the dragon's outburst.

"Wait a moment!" Spike called out. "You better not think you're gonna leave without telling me who you are."

She turned her head back to look at him. "Baby dragon, I can do whatever I wish."

Spike snickered. "Except act."

She turned back her face contorted to anger once again. "What did you say?"

"You also can't do... whatever that eye-flashy magic thing that was you were trying to do." Spike's expression seemed triumphant.

"Watch yourself, baby dragon, or you may regret it." She was slowly stepping closer to the dragon again.

"What are you gonna do, flash your eyes at me again? I mean, come on, you gotta have some backing for your threats."

"I'm warning you!"

"And I'm telling you I'm not scared. Look, I just wanted to know who you are. That's all."

The impostor hesitated. "It would be dangerous to both you and me if I were to show you."

"Well then, don't show me. Just tell me."

Her expression grew serious. "Look, baby dragon. My life is riding on keeping my identity secret."

"Aww, come on." Spike smiled innocently. "I won't tell anypony."

The impostor sighed. "You just don't get it."

"I guess not!" His smile became sheepish.

"I grow quite weary of your humor, baby dragon."

"Oooooh, now you sound all royal and proper, like Princess Luna."

"Do not compare me to your princesses. It scathes me so."

"Aww, but you sound just like her. Why does it make you so angry?"

The impostor looked like she was at breaking point. "I swear, say it one more time..."

"What? That you're reminding me of Princess Luna?"

"I AM CHRYSALIS, QUEEN OF THE CHANGELINGS!" the impostor bellowed. "DO NOT COMPARE ME TO YOUR LOWLY PRINCESSES!"

"Oh look, now I know who you are. Nice to meet you, Chrysalis." Spike's sheepish smile was back.

She was almost visibly fuming. "You... insolent..."

"Oh, relax. It's not a big deal. So what. I know your name's Chrysalis, and that you're a changeling. ... Whatever that is. What difference does that make?"

She looked shocked. "S...so, you don't know what a changeling is?"

Spike looked away, lost in thought. "I don't believe so... I think they were mentioned in a book Twilight gave me... A Complete Discourse on Creatures of Equestria and Beyond? Something like that. I didn't read it too thoroughly."

"Good. It's better that you don't know."

"But I guess changelings have the ability to transform. That would explain why you look like Twilight."

"Oh, please don't make this into a guessing game. I'd rather you don't know exactly what I am and we both move on with our lives."

"Aww, but that's no fun, Chrysalis!" Spike pouted.

"SHH." Chrysalis put her hoof up to Spike's lips. "Don't say my name too loud."

"Why? You practically screamed it yourself."

"That was my mistake. Don't say my name out loud, please!"

A devious smile crossed Spike's face. "Then tell me what a changeling is. If you don't, I'll just keep on yelling your name as loud as I can."

"N... no!" Chrysalis looked horrified. "Please..."

"Then tell me what a changeling is. And drop the disguise, why don't you?"

"I won't drop the disguise. That would be about as stupid as... well, yelling my name."

Spike looked at her expectantly.

She sighed. "All right. Changelings are a race of creatures that feed off of love. We disguise ourselves as ponies and use hypnotism to help with the feeding process."

"And you're the queen, but you can't even hypnotize right?"

"Shut up!" Her anger returned, but then subsided as quickly as it came. "I was only recently made queen... I'm having a fantastic start, aren't I?"

"Well, here's a suggestion. Try finding out who loves who before trying this sort of thing."

"Hey!" Her sudden anger was replaced by shock this time. "Why are you giving me advice? Aren't you friends with the ponies? Changelings are parasites..."

Spike cut her off. "That may be true, but it doesn't sound like you particularly want to hurt others."

Chrysalis looked away. "Y...you promised, right? You won't tell anyone I was here?"

Spike thought for a moment. "Under one condition."

Chrysalis looked at the dragon pleadingly "W...what! But..."

"Just come back here every day, for the next week, at the same time. I want to know a bit more about you. I feel like you're a good pony..."

Chrysalis looked as if she were going to protest, but then relaxed. "You really won't tell anyone, baby dragon?"

"Dragon's honor." Spike smiled.

"I'm... not sure how much that's worth..."

"... I swear on my gem hoard?"

"... if it were really that big, you be a bigger dragon..."

"Well then, I won't want to part with a single gem in it."

Chrysalis looked away.

"Please! Things have been really boring lately, and I feel like you could make it interesting. I really want to make a new friend..."

Chrysalis looked up, shocked. "F...friend?"

Spike smiled. "Not quite yet, but... well, just come back tomorrow, alright?" Spike hopped off the bench.

"O...okay... Wait. Where are you going?"

He walked past Chrysalis. "If I don't get home soon, Twilight will be really angry. See you tomorrow! By the way; pick a different disguise." He looked back and smiled at her.

"O...okay... B... bye..." she forced a smile.

Spike waved as he continued to walk away.

A few moments later, Chrysalis was alone in the rain. She frowned, and began to mutter to herself.

"Why does this seem so familiar?"

She looked up at the sky.

"And why do I feel like I want to cry?"
> Chapter 2: Changeling
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	With the sun setting behind him, Spike continued to walk towards the same bench he went to yesterday.

"I hope she actually shows..."

When the bench finally came into view, he saw a pastel-yellow and pink pony sitting on it. Spike smiled. "Looks like she listened."

As he got close, the pony spoke up. "U...um... Hello... Spike."

"You even have the acting better today. Good job!"

The pony looked at him confused. "Um... Acting?"

Spike did a double take. "W...wait. You're actually Fluttershy?"

She gave him a concerned look. "Who else would I be?"

Spike thought for a moment. "Just to make sure, what attacked the town when Trixie was here?"

Her face quickly grew red. "E...eh... Um..."

Spike pointed a finger at her. "Gotcha. Though, like I said, much better today."

"U...um... thanks." Chrysalis forced a smile. "I've been observing everypony around here..."

Spike smiled back. "Cool. I've been doing a little bit of research of my own."

Chrysalis rose an eyebrow. "Whatever do you mean?"

"I read the book that I mentioned yesterday. At least, the relevant part." He sighed. "I definitely wouldn't have been as friendly yesterday if I had already read that stuff before."

Chrysalis looked at the dragon inquisitively. "I figured the descriptions would be vilifying, but I'm curious. Just how bad were they?"

Spike looked at her and shook his head slowly.

She cringed. "That bad, huh?"

Spike nodded. "Not only that, but a lot of information seemed missing. For example... there was almost nothing about the monarchs." Chrysalis gave a sidelong glance, but Spike continued, unaware. "The book made it clear that they were different from normal Changelings, even in origin, but it wasn't very clear on how."

"I wish I was ignorant as you about that, baby dragon."

Spike looked at her, confused. "What?"

Chrysalis shook her head vigorously. "N...nevermind, baby dragon."

Spike's eyebrows lowered. "Okay... By the way, why do you keep calling me that?"

"Hm?"

"Baby dragon. Why do you keep on calling me that? It's kind of annoying..."

"B...but it's true. You're a baby dragon."

Spike pouted. "Yes, but that doesn't mean I appreciate being called one. It feels insulting."

"O...oh... Well then... I...." Chrysalis suddenly looked away, confused. "That's odd..."

The dragon couldn't help but grow concerned. "What's up?"

"I... feel like there was something I should have said... but I can't remember what it was..." She looked at Spike pleadingly. "Something that makes it better when you say or do something wrong."

Spike rose an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"

Chrysalis lit up. "That's right!" Her expression suddenly grew solemn once again. "Has it really effected me that much...?"

"If you're not gonna stop it with the weird talking-to-yourself stuff, I'm gonna get suspicious."

"O...oh. I guess you would."

Spike gave a concerned look. "Okay. Let's change topics. Why did you come here in the first place?"

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "After reading about changelings, you couldn't figure that one out?"

"Jeez, I was just trying to make a conversation." Spike shrugged.

"I have many subjects. Not all of them can quite feed themselves. I personally have to take responsibility for the well-being of every single one of them."

"That's... a pretty hefty responsibility..."

"I'm kind of like a maternal figure to my subjects. So, to answer your question: I was gathering love for them."

"Oh." He thought for a moment. "So, did you figure out who I like?"

"Um... What?" Chrysalis looked confused.

"Well. You clearly thought I liked somepony I that I don't from yesterday's little performance. I was wondering if, in your 'observations,' you picked up on who I liked."

"No... at least I don't think so..."

"Ah! Okay." Spike smiled. "That'll be a little challenge for you for tomorrow."

Chrysalis looked a little annoyed. "Do you play these kinds of games with all of your friends?"

"Nope!"

Chrysalis sighed. "That cheeky smile of yours is starting to irritate me, baby dragon."

Spike looked at her with mock concern. "I would apologize, but it's not big enough a deal for me to care."

"Oh, you little..." Chrysalis seemed truly enraged.

Spike quickly backed away. "Alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Learn to take a joke, why don't you?"

Chrysalis looked surprised. "Oh... I'm sorry..." She looked away. "It's hard for me to control my emotions, is all..."

Spike looked at her suspiciously. "Really? I mean, that just sounds like a cop-out to me."

"No, no, no." Chrysalis shook her head. "There's a very real reason why it's hard for me. But..." She looked away. "I'm not sure I want to tell you exactly why..."

Spike sighed. "Alright." He looked around, lost in thought. "Let me ask something else, then. Kind of related."

Chrysalis looked at him. "What's that?"

"I read in the book that Changelings have the ability to sense emotions. Is that true?"

Chrysalis suddenly smiled. "Yes. Very much so."

"Good, I got her to cheer up a bit," Spike thought to himself, a slight smile on his face.

"Changelings can sense all types of emotions. Obviously, they can sense love; they kind of need to be able to. But we can sense happiness, anger, sadness... we can even sense certain types of thoughts, like distrust and deceit."

"Whoa." He was impressed. "I guess changelings can act kind of like a lie detector test."

"In a way." She frowned. "But the way certain emotions are sensed by us changelings can be kind of detrimental."

Spike tilted his head. "Such as?"

"For example, sadness. Whenever a changeling senses sadness, they grow nauseous."

"Nauseous, huh?" Spike looked down thinking. Then he suddenly snapped his fingers and looked up. "That's right! That was something I really wanted to ask!"

"What is it, baby dragon?"

"There you go with the 'baby dragon' thing again." Spike smiled. "I was wondering if changelings can still eat normally, despite their standard food source being love."

Chrysalis looked up thoughtfully. "Well, yes, but our stomachs are fairly small, and our taste buds are kind of weird. I have personally not eaten anything that I've thought tasted good."

"That kinda stinks."

Chrysalis looked at him with a slightly devious-looking smile. "Maybe for you, baby dragon, but I don't know what I'm missing, so I don't care."

Spike thought for a moment. "I guess that's true..."

Chrysalis looked triumphant.

"But you really do not know what you're missing."

Chrysalis sighed. "It's almost exhausting talking to you, you know that?"

Spike looked up at the sky. The sun had fully set. "Oh!" He jumped of the bench. "Twilight's gonna kill me..."

Chrysalis grinned. "Are you later than you should have been?"

"Y...yes!" Spike looked at Chrysalis. "Tomorrow, same place, same time, right?"

Chrysalis nodded. "Yes, baby dragon."

"Then see ya!" He ran off into the distance.

Chrysalis smiled to herself after he was out of sight. "It may be a bit exhausting... but talking to him is kind of fun."
> Chapter 3: Deceit
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike sat at the bench, arms crossed, with a clear look of annoyance on his face.

"She's late..."

Spike leaned back and closed his eyes. He was gonna be real ticked if she had left already.

"Maybe I should leave," he thought to himself. "Actually, nah. If she shows up after I leave, I'll feel like a total jerk."

He ended up waiting another 10 minutes before finally giving up. "Alright... " He opened his eyes and leaned forward...

And found himself nose-to-nose with a certain white pony.

"Ah!" Spike backed up, his cheeks quickly tinting a red hue. "R...rarity!"

The pony smiled. "Hello, Spikey-Wikey! I must say, you are absolutely adorable when you blush."

"U...um... Thank you..."

"I'm sorry I was late. I had to make sure I was looking my absolute best." Her smile turned devious.

"...late...?" Spike looked away, pondering what she just said. Realizing what had happened, he looked at her with slight annoyance. "Dang it, Chrysalis!"

"I was considering playing it for a bit longer... but it doesn't matter. I answered correctly, right?"

"Huh?" Spike was confused for a second. Then it clicked. "Oh. Right. Yeah. You're right, I have a crush on Rarity."

"And here I was thinking that it would be a challenge. You make it obvious almost every time you're around her."

"Aw, shush." Spike smiled. "Glad to see you're becoming a bit more comfortable."

"Huh?" Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.

"...you seem a lot less shy than you did yesterday."

"Oh!" She looked off to the side. "That probably has less to do with me becoming more comfortable, and more with my disguise, darling." She put a heavy emphasis on the word "darling".

Spike frowned. "I'm not quite sure what you mean."

"What I mean is, in most cases, when a changeling adopts someone's look, they adopt their personality, as well. It's kind of compulsory."

"Makes sense." Spike thought for a moment. "What do you mean 'in most cases?'"

"As long as a changeling still has their emotions, they will copy personalities."

Spike looked at Chrysalis disappointedly. "You lost me again."

She sighed, as if she was regretting the conversation. "There is an ancient spell that has been passed through the generations of the changelings that allows one to abandon their emotions."

"Th...that sounds terrible!" Spike was dumbfounded.

"Think about the position changelings are in!"

Spike silenced himself to listen.

"There are plenty of situations in which a changeling would need to abandon things such as sympathy," she said matter-of-factly, "but there are two downsides. The first, is that a changeling under the influence of this spell has to rely on hypnosis more heavily. The second is that it's a long-term spell."

"How long-term is long-term?" Spike seemed concerned.

"It lasts indefinitely, and there is no counterspell. However... there is apparently some way for it to be reversed. But the exact nature of this method is unknown to changelings."

Spike looked down, in thought. "And you have no clues on how?"

Chrysalis sighed. "We have a single clue, in the form of a rhyme. Would you like to hear it?"

Spike nodded.

The queen cleared her throat, and spoke in a loud, clear voice:


"Held in the past of the cursed one be,
the answer starts with you and it ends with me."


The dragon frowned. "That isn't much to go on..."

"And that's why we don't have an answer, baby dragon." Chrysalis sighed. "I personally hope I never have to cast that spell..."

Spike looked at her sympathetically. "I understand why..."

There was about a minute of silence following that statement. Suddenly, to break the silence, Spike yawned.

"Jeez," he said, stretching his arms. "I've just been feeling more and more tired the last couple of days..."

Chrysalis gave a nervous laugh. "Oh... really?"

"Yeah... it's weird. Can't tell when it started, though." Spike scratched his head. "Ya know, I had my doubts about you in the beginning, but you seem pretty nice."

"Thanks... I think?" She gave another nervous laugh.

"So... is there any way for you to show me your real personality without showing me your real form?"

Chrysalis froze. "Um... yes. Every changeling normally has a certain pony they transform into that they made up themselves. They express their true personality through that."

"Cool. Promise to show me that before you leave ponyville, alright? I want to know who I really befriended."

Chrysalis was taken aback. "A...alright. I will."

"Good." Spike smiled, and looked up to the sky. "I'm already glad I met you. You may be a little weird, but... I can tell you're a good pony on the inside."

"Good... 'pony', huh?" Chrysalis looked away.

Spike looked over to her. "What's wrong?"

"N...nothing!" Chrysalis gave a forced smile.

Spike raised an eyebrow at her, but continued without questioning. "Well... judging from the sky, I'm going to have to leave."

"Well, that's kind of disappointing." Chrysalis looked down. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow, baby dragon."

"Of course." He hopped off of the bench, and started to walk away. "I hope tomorrow's conversation is as interesting as today's was."

"As do I."

"Also..." Spike stopped and turned around to look at Chrysalis. "No more disguising as Rarity around me."

Chrysalis laughed. "Alright, alright. Goodbye!"

"See ya!" Spike wandered out of sight.

Chrysalis sighed. "He really does see me as a friend, doesn't he... it's a weird feeling..." She smiled. "I forgot how nice it feels to be trusted..."
> Dream 1: Rain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Chrysalis found herself in a cold thick fog. "H...hello?" she said, shivering.

Her voice echoed about the space she was in, with no response.

"This... seems... somewhat familiar..." she muttered to herself, looking around. 

As if to responding to her statement, the fog began to clear, unveiling a scene before her.

Chrysalis gasped. "W...wait... not this..."

She had seen this many times before. As the fog cleared, it would reveal an earth mare sitting on a bench in the rain, alone. She seemed sad, but beyond that, Chrysalis couldn't identify any details about her. Not even her mane or coat color...

A few moments later, a stallion appeared from the fog surrounding the scene. 

Chrysalis suddenly grew very uneasy. The stallion seemed kind, but something bothered her about him.

The stallion and the mare exchanged some words, but they were inaudible to Chrysalis. Then the mare looked up and smiled.

Suddenly, Chrysalis began to panic. "W... wait!" She tried to run into the scene, but she found herself locked in place. 

The mare stood up, a cheery smile still on her face. The stallion began to walk out of the scene.

"No! Don't follow him, please!" She tried to yell out to her, but she couldn't even make noise anymore.

The mare started to follow him out.

"No! NO, NO, NO!" It didn't matter how loud she screamed in her head, no words came out. "If you follow him, he'll...

The mare took the final step out of the scene.

Chrysalis suddenly bolted up from her bed. "He'll..." her voice was a hushed whisper. She looked around the room she had been staying in since she arrived at Ponyville. "A dream..." She collapsed back into her bed. "The same dream..." She closed her eyes.

"Why can't I remember what he was going to do?"

	
> Chapter 4: Feeding
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike rounded the hill on the way to the bench, a book in hand. Looking off to the edge of the forest, he saw an orange pony sitting on the bench. He grinned. "Things are getting quite interesting." He ran towards the bench and started waving towards the pony. "Hey!"

The pony looked up. Giving a slight smile, she raised a hoof. "Why, hello, baby dragon."

Spike arrived at the bench. "You lied to me yesterday, you know that?"

"Wha?" Chrysalis looked confused. "Look at who yer' talkin' to, Sugarcube." 

Spike chuckled. "It is so weird hearing you talk like that."

Chrysalis scrunched up her nose. "Am ah' really talkin' like her?"

"Yup. And it's hilarious."

Chrysalis frowned at him. "Anyway, whaddaya mean, 'I lied?'"

"About the spell you mentioned." Spike sat down on the bench and opened the book he had brought with him. "I decided to look it up last night, and I think I found it. What's the last line of the spell?"

Chrysalis tilted her head. "Ah' believe... 'This is the fate that I select.'"

"Well then, I was right. It isn't a emotion abandonment spell, exactly."

Chrysalis looked at him, slightly annoyed. "Well, ah' was simplifyin' it."

Spike looked up at her incredulously. "There's a pretty big difference between 'abandoning emotions' and 'not letting emotions sway your actions.'"

Chrysalis sighed. "Alright, alright. What the spell actually does is stops emotions from directly affecting yer actions. It's pretty severe though; it can make ya' seem like yer nearly emotionless. That's why ah' said that it makes you abandon yer emotions."

"Okay. That makes sense. And that's pretty much what the book said."

Chrysalis frowned. "But it's odd ya' were able to find that. Ah' thought it was a spell written by a changeling..."

"Apparently not." Spike pointed to the book. "However, the book doesn't mention the author of the spell..."

"Does it mention how ta' revert the spell?" Chrysalis was suddenly looking at him pleadingly.

Spike shook his head. "No. It only mentions the rhyme you told me yesterday."

Chrysalis sighed. "Oh well."

Spike gave her an inquisitive look. "Why are you so desperate for the method of reverting the spell?"

"It's been sought out by the changelings fer a long time..." She looked down at her hooves. "There are many of my subjects that have cast the spell and regret it..." She sighed. "Well, they regret it as much as they possibly can in their state..."

"Ouch." He looked down and closed the book. "By the way, you stopped talking like Applejack."

"Did I?" Chrysalis looked at the dragon. "I wonder, can you figure out why?"

"You can't just tell me?" Spike pouted.

"Nope." Chrysalis gave a devious smile. "This is revenge for the little 'Who do I like' challenge you gave me."

Spike sighed. "Can you at least give me a hint?"

Chrysalis looked off to the side, thinking. "Hmmm... You should think about the spell a little bit."

Spike drooped his head. "That's it?"

"Come on. It's not that hard."

Spike sat silent for about a minute. Then he spoke.

"So, the spell stops emotions from swaying your actions... in addition, as a drawback, it prevents a changeling from innately taking on the personality of one they copy..."

Chrysalis nodded in confirmation.

"If I combine those two thoughts, then I guess it means that the reason you copy their personality is that you actually copy their emotions, and let those sway you into acting like them... however, with the spell, that doesn't happen anymore..."

Chrysalis gave a slight smile.

"So then, what just happened is that your own emotions became more powerful than the ones you copied from Applejack, since you were thinking of the misfortunes of your subjects... Am I right?"

Chrysalis nodded once again. "You're quite smart for your age, baby dragon."

Spike sighed with relief. "Thank you."

Chrysalis stood up. "Since you figured that out, I guess... is there anything you are curious about, concerning changelings?"

Spike thought for a moment, then stood up. "I'm a bit curious about the way changelings feed."

Chrysalis looked up. "There isn't that much you don't already know..." She suddenly smiled and looked back at Spike. "You know what? Let's go into town. I'll show you first hand." With that, there was a flash of green, and she had transformed into a pegasus with a pinkish coat and a brownish mane.

Spike grinned. "Airheart, eh? You must be paying attention; she doesn't show up around here too often."

Chrysalis grinned back. "Exactly why I picked her. Let's go."







There weren't many ponies in the town square when Chrysalis and Spike arrived. "It is getting kind of late, isn't it..." Spike muttered.

Chrysalis began to look around. "Who can I manipulate here the easiest..." Her eyes finally settled on a blue unicorn with a white and blue striped mane. "Spike, who is he?"

"That... " Spike thought for a moment. "That's Pokey Pierce."

"See how it looks like he's waiting for someone? That's my opportunity." Her eyes flashed green.

"Good luck." Spike grinned. "With your track record, you'll need it."

"Shush! I'll signal you over if I succeed." Chrysalis flew towards the unicorn. "Oh, Pierce!"

From that point on, Spike couldn't make out the conversation too well. He was able to see Pierce's eyes flash green for a moment, though. "Is she gonna get it right this time...?"

Suddenly, Pierce looked confused. He said something, and Chrysalis stepped back and gave a response.

Spike sighed. "And suddenly, everything goes downhill..."

Pierce got angry, and began to yell, suddenly giving Spike ability to hear the conversation.

"I don't know where you got that idea from, Airheart, but you're not my marefriend!" Pierce stomped off in a huff.

Chrysalis stood still for a second, then quickly flew back toward Spike. "That didn't work it was stupid I drew attention to myself let's go," she said, mashing all of her words into one sentence. 

Spike chuckled and they both ran the way back to the bench.







They arrived at the bench shortly after, both out of breath.

"Wow, Chrysalis," Spike said. "That was professional right there." His tone was snarky and sarcastic.

Chrysalis looked away from Spike, and stayed silent.

"I mean, really, you should make a job out of it!"

Chrysalis looked at the dragon. "It IS my job, Spike!"

Spike was taken aback. There were tears in her eyes.

"I have to protect my people, I have to help them survive, I have to keep them from starving... but I can barely get food for myself, let alone others..."

Spike opened his mouth to reply, but stopped, unable to find the words to say.

"I'm a terrible queen. It's as simple as that."

"Alright, stop right there." Spike was staring at Chrysalis, determined.

"Wh...what?"

"I won't let you degrade yourself like that. You're not a terrible queen." Spike smiled. "I'm not sure how well I know the real you, but from what I've seen, you are caring. You worry so much about your subjects. And that's one of the most important aspects of a good leader. Don't go calling yourself a terrible queen just because you haven't mastered a stupid hypnosis spell! You can learn that! But you can't 'learn' compassion! You can't 'learn' kindness! You have what's important!"

Chrysalis stared at Spike, dumbfounded. Then she gave a slight smile, and wiped her eyes. "I guess you're right."

Spike gave a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry about teasing you."

Chrysalis gave him a kind look. "It's alright. ...Shouldn't you be going?"

Spike looked at the sky. "Oh, jeez!" He started running off towards the library. "See you tomorrow!" he called back to Chrysalis.

She smiled. "Goodbye, baby dragon!"

Spike disappeared out of sight. Chrysalis sighed, and looked at the bench. She gasped.

"He forgot the book..."


> Chapter 5: Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Your friends, Spike. Tell me more about them."

Spike looked at the pink pony sitting next to him. He had felt bad for making her cry the previous day, so he told her she could ask him any question. But this...

"I don't know, Chrysalis. I trust you; you're my friend... but that seems a bit dangerous..."

Chrysalis puffed out her cheeks. "First of all, baby dragon, stop using my real name. Second of all, I can't help wanting to know. I think it's probably this disguise... either way, I really don't feel any desire to betray you."

Spike thought for a moment. "That's a somewhat... blunt way of putting it. You're not really acting in-character today."

Chrysalis shrugged. "I haven't really seen Pinkie all that much. I don't have a good sense of her emotions."

"Huh..."

Chrysalis looked towards Spike with a pout. "Please tell me."

Spike closed his eyes with a sigh. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you about them." He opened one eye to look at Chrysalis. "Chryssi."

Chrysalis suddenly looked quite annoyed. "Oh, is that your new name for me, baby dragon? Please, no."

"Aww, but why not?"

Chrysalis looked away. "It's far too cutesy for a queen."

"Look, Chryssi." Spike got off of the bench and walked in front of her. "Right now, to me, you're not a queen. You're only my friend." Spike grinned. "And frankly, I don't care whether you disapprove of my name for you or not, especially considering you won't drop the 'baby dragon' thing."

She puffed out her cheeks again. "Fine. Just start telling me already."

Spike smiled and sat back down. "Alright... where to start..."

"Why not with Twilight? I've been wondering about your relationship with her ever since I... well, got it completely wrong."

"Alright then... Twilight... she's kind of like a sister or a mother to me... I can't really decide on one in specific..."

"Oh." Chrysalis looked away. "I really did screw that one up, didn't I?"

"She's careful, well-organized, and logical about everything she does; but almost to a fault." Spike put a claw to his chin and looked upward. "Maybe I could just drop the 'almost'." He smiled. "But that doesn't change the fact that she's a wonderful pony. She's taken care of and protected me since I was born."

"How about Applejack?"

"Honest. That's the first word that comes to mind. That's probably because of the elements of harmony, though..." Spike thought for a moment. "No, I probably would have said that anyway. 'Honest' or 'Hard-working'."

"You know, you really are giving me the bare minimum." Chrysalis looked disappointed.

"Sorry." Spike shrugged. "It's hard for me to describe my friends. I think you can only really know somepony if you meet them."

Chrysalis frowned. "Fair enough. Continue."

"Up next, we have... why not Rarity." Spike smiled. "She's quite generous, though it may not seem that way to most. And... well, you know how I feel about her."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Completely."

"Next is Fluttershy. Very quiet, and very shy, as you already knew. In addition, she's very kind. Almost too kind at times – she tends to be doormat in certain situations – but I don't think I can really complain about that.

"After that is Rainbow Dash. She's super arrogant... but with good reason. She is a fantastic flier, and she is incredibly loyal. She always puts her friends first.

"And finally..." Spike looked at Chrysalis and smiled. "Your current disguise: Pinkie Pie. She's goofy, hyperactive, a party animal, and I swear she breaks the laws of physics sometimes." Spike looked up to the sky. "But she's got a way of making ponies smile. She's friends with every single pony in town, and she does anything she can to make them happy."

Chrysalis looked back at Spike. "Thank you, baby dragon. So... now I'm curious. How would you describe me?"

Spike froze up. Had this all been a set-up to that question? How would he describe her? It wasn't something he had really thought about.

"Um... I can't answer that."

Chrysalis pouted. "Oh, why not?"

"I still don't know what the real you is like. Once you show me that, I'll answer you."

Chrysalis gave a heavy sigh. "Alright, baby dragon. Then let me ask you another question. You know that I need a lot of practice on my hypnosis spell."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Yes...?"

"I was wondering if you would trust me enough to let me practice it on you."

"Absolutely not."

Chrysalis cringed at the words. "I... thought so."

Spike smiled. "Don't get the wrong idea, Chryssi. This isn't about how much I trust you. I would barely trust Twilight enough to try a hypnosis spell on me. The truth is" –Spike shuddered– "I'm scared of hypnosis. I'm scared that if I was hypnotized, I might do things that would hurt my friends. I guess, really, I'm scared of not having control over my body."

Chrysalis slumped over. "Alright. I can't argue with that."

Spike gave a concerned look. "I'm not faking anything. I do consider you to be my friend. Please don't doubt that."

Chrysalis seemed taken aback. "I... I wasn't thinking about anything of the sort, baby dragon!"

Spike frowned. "Please don't lie, Chryssi. You're better than that."

"W...what?" Chrysalis was astounded. "You're trying to say that you expect better than me, a changeling, to lie? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?"

Spike shrugged. "I guess it does sound kinda ridiculous, but... I feel like you are better than you make yourself out to be."

Chrysalis gave a slight smile. "A... alright... if you really think so...." 

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" Spike grinned. "It's odd... I trust you a lot more than I should for only knowing you for five days..."

"R...really?" Chrysalis said nervously.

"Yeah... but, it's worth it. New friends are always worth the risk."

Chrysalis looked up to the sky. "I guess so..."

Spike hopped off of the bench. "It seems that Luna's about to start her shift. That's my cue to go." He looked back at Chrysalis. "See you tomorrow!"

Chrysalis was taken off-guard by the sudden farewell. "B...bye!"

Spike disappeared off into the distance. Once he was gone, Chrysalis gave a deep sigh.

"He probably shouldn't trust me that much..."
> Chapter 6: Lifestyles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"She's late. Again."

Spike was sitting on the bench with his arms folded, and his face scrunched up in annoyance.

"Dang it, Chryssi, where are you?"

Suddenly, a blue streak became visible in the corner of his eye, and the bench shook violently.

"AH!" Spike reeled away from the blur. 

The rainbow-maned pony that now sat next to him grinned. "You know, baby dragon, it feels awesome to mimic a pegasus."

"Chryssi!" Spike glared at the pony, then settled back into his seat. "Are you trying to draw attention to yourself?"

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow and pointed to herself with her hoof.

"Oh. Right." Spike scratched the back of his head and looked away. "Rainbow Dash's emotions."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "As I was saying. Mimicking a pegasus is awesome; changelings are used to flapping their wings a lot faster than pegasi, because our wings push less air. So, when a changeling mimics a pegasus, they can fly super fast!"

Spike sighed. "I have the feeling this is going to be a very one-sided conversation."

"I heard that, baby dragon." Chrysalis glared at Spike.

Spike edged away. "A-nyway. There's actually something I wanted to talk about in particular today."

Chrysalis tilted her head. "What's that?"

Spike frowned and looked away. "What is life as a changeling like?" Spike put a claw to his chin. " No, that's not quite what I'm asking... more like, how is life as a changeling?"

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, baby dragon..."

"As far as I can tell, life as a changeling... kinda sucks."

"Well..." Chrysalis looked up to the sky. "That's really all perspective, I think."

Spike looked at Chrysalis once more. She seemed almost... wistful. "But... it's a life of treachery and deceit..."

Chrysalis sighed. "It's the life we know, baby dragon. To us, there's nothing bad about it."

"Really?" Spike gave her a skeptical look. "I don't buy it..."

"It doesn't matter whether you 'buy' it or not, baby dragon; it's my answer."

Spike sighed. "Well, then... what about love?"

"Pardon me?" Chrysalis had risen a hoof and had an eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?"

"Can changelings love? Do they even get the chance to love? Do changelings know of love as anything but food?" Spike was talking faster and faster with each sentence he spoke, putting himself out of breath.

"Calm down, baby dragon." Chrysalis smiled. "Of course changelings can love. You should know by now that we are not emotionless creatures. Why do you ask?"

Spike looked away. "I was thinking about how changelings and ponies could live together in peace. And I was thinking... if a changeling fell in love with a pony, and the pony loved them back, wouldn't that be a non-decietful life for the changeling?"

Chrysalis sighed. "I guess it's possible. Completely unprecedented, though. Besides, for that to happen, changelings would have to be accepted in Equestria."

Spike frowned. "And, unfortunately, they're not."

"Though... your idea is a bit strict, actually. A pony wouldn't actually have to fall in love with a changeling..."

Spike tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"There's kinds of love besides romantic love, baby dragon." Chrysalis looked up to the sky. "There are three basic kinds of love changelings can feed off of. First is, as you know, is romantic love; the one feels towards their marefriend or coltfriend, their husband or wife. This is the most potent food for a changeling, and it often can boost our magical powers when consumed in large quantities.
"Next is familial love; the love one feels towards members of their family or towards incredibly close friends. This is a basic food source for changelings. We can live off of a steady stream of familial love indefinitely.
"The last is friendly love; the love one feels towards their friends. While friendly love will work in a pinch for a changeling, only young changelings can truly survive off of it. Adults can normally last for about a month on it."

"Huh..." Spike looked away, a claw to his chin. "So you're saying that all that would really need to happen for a changeling to live an honest life is for him or her to become really close friends with somepony..."

"Easier said than done, baby dragon." Chrysalis slumped back into the bench. "If it was that simple, we wouldn't be hated by the entire society you live in."

Spike looked up at Chrysalis. "This is really bothering you, isn't it?"

Chrysalis returned his glance. "What do you mean?"

Spike frowned. "You stopped talking like Dash a while back."

Chrysalis looked away. "I... guess I just want my subjects to be safe... and it's hard to guarantee that if the changelings and the ponies don't live in peace with each other..."

Spike gave a halfhearted smile towards Chrysalis. "I'm sure it'll happen someday..."

Chrysalis glanced over at Spike. "You're a terrible liar, you know that? Even if I couldn't sense the uncertainty about you, I would be able to tell just by looking."

Spike slumped over. "You know... this sucks."

"Hmm?" Chrysalis looked at Spike curiously.

"All I want is to be able to help you right now. You seem like you don't deserve this. I... don't think the changelings as a whole truly deserve this." He looked up at Chrysalis. "But I can't help. I can't really do anything, as it seems. I'm just a useless baby dragon." He slumped his head down again.

Chrysalis gave a warm, motherly smile towards Spike. She pulled him closer with her wing. "Don't say that, baby dragon. You're anything but useless. You had enough of a heart to give me a chance. There's no way that someone like that could be useless."

Spike looked up at Chrysalis again. "You take good care of your changelings, don't you...?" He gave a slight smile.

"That's better." Chrysalis patted Spike on the head with her wing. 

Spike looked down at the ground. "I can understand why your subjects see you as a mother-figure..."

Chrysalis looked away. "Thank you..."

Spike hopped off of the bench. "Unfortunately, it seems like it's time to go."

Chrysalis looked at him nervously. "Um... Spike?"

Spike looked back at her. "Yeah?"

She sighed. "Make sure you're on time tomorrow... I need to tell you a few things..." She looked away. "I need to tell you the truth."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "You saying you lied about some things	"?"

"Yes..."

Spike grinned. "Well, you're forgiven. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he ran off.

Chrysalis watched Spike disappear over the horizon. "I have to tell him..."
> Chapter 7: Truth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Is that... her...?" Spike was standing on top of the hill overlooking the bench. On the bench was a pegasus mare with a stormy blue coat, and a long, black drooping mane.

He started on his way down the hill. Chrysalis noticed him not a moment later.

"Hello, baby dragon." Her voice was gentle and warm. She gave a kind smile towards Spike, her slate-grey eyes giving a sympathetic tone to her expression. "Meet the real me. Well, kind of."

Spike stopped in front of the bench. Something about the way she was acting reminded him a bit of Fluttershy, if Flutter were a little more confident in herself. "So, Chryssi..."

She held up a hoof to stop him. "The name of this form is Dragonfly. I would be very appreciative if you referred to me as such."

Spike smiled. "Alright, Dragonfly. What were these lies you told?"

Dragonfly sighed. "They weren't quite... lies. They were just omissions of the truth. Either way... the first thing... is..." She slid a book out from behind her. "I kind of stole this."

Spike looked at the book, then rose an eyebrow at Dragonfly. "Why did you do that?"

Dragonfly looked away. "There was a hypnosis spell in there."

Spike smiled. "Good. That's the reason I left it there."

"W...what?" Chrysalis stared at Spike in shock. "You left it there on purpose?"

"Well, yeah." Spike walked over and picked up the book. "You seemed pretty distressed about it, so I figured I'd help you out with your hypnosis problem. It's what friends do."

Dragonfly gave a slight smile, but quickly frowned and looked away. "The second thing is much, much worse."

Spike gave her another sarcastic look. "Ya know, building it up like that does nothing for you."

Dragonfly couldn't bring herself to look at him. "I've been feeding off of you consistently since the second day I was here."

Spike stretched and gave a slight yawn. "That would explain why I've been more tired. No big deal, though." 

Again, Dragonfly stared at Spike in awe. "B...but... I... you..."

"Look, Dragonfly." Spike stared her straight in the eyes. "It's not a big deal. I decided around the third or fourth day that if you needed to feed off of me because you were having trouble feeding off of others, that would be perfectly fine. Though, considering what you said about the types of love yesterday, it probably didn't help that much..."

"That's what you're concerned about, baby dragon? Not about the fact that I hid it from you?"

"No. Not really." Spike smiled. "You're my friend. Sure, you probably should have told me, but you don't mean any harm by it. I already told you, I know you're a good pony."

Dragonfly shook her head. "There you go calling me a good 'pony' again. You do realize, baby dragon, that I am not a pony?"

"It's just a phrase, Dragonfly." Spike finally sat down next to her. "And besides, at the moment, you look like a pony to me. Unless I'm insulting you in some way..."

"Nonono. It's just..." Dragonfly looked away nervously. "It's giving me a weird kind of deja vu..."

"Oh." Spike couldn't help but feel that there was something suspicious about her response, but he decided to let it go. "Alright, Dragonfly. Anything else you feel the need to tell me about?"

Dragonfly put a hoof to her chin. "Umm..." She then looked at Spike and sighed. "I don't really have anything else pressing to tell you, but I guess I could tell you a little bit more about changeling monarchs."

Spike's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Dragonfly smiled. It was the kind of reaction she had been hoping for. "Now, I can't say much, because I'm still a bit uncomfortable about it..."

Spike nodded anxiously.

Dragonfly sighed. "Alright. Even though the Changelings live under a monarchy, the way that the monarchy works is quite peculiar. The next monarch normally comes along well before the previous one dies, and it isn't anything like bloodlines that decides the next monarch. It's something that's passed down... in the most cruel way possible."

She looked away from Spike. "I... don't quite want to say anything else about the passing of the crown. But I can tell you a bit more about what makes the monarchs different from normal changelings."

"A...alright." A lot of the excitement had drained from Spike. He had stumbled across something a lot darker than he had hoped for.

"First of all, there is only ever one changeling monarch at a time. That may sound kind of weird to you, considering how much royalty exists in your society; but it's the truth.
"Secondly, whereas normal changelings can only speak when they are transformed, the monarchs have a speaking voice in their changeling form. While changelings have no reason to be able to speak to ponies while undisguised, for some reason, the monarchs are give the ability to anyway.
"Thirdly, only changeling monarchs can disguise as Alicorns. If you remember, changelings can't disguise as anypony bigger than them; only ponies that are the same size or smaller.
"Finally... changeling monarchs cannot remember anything before they became monarch."

Spike's jaw dropped when he heard that last statement. That meant...

"When did you become monarch?"

Dragonfly looked at him, surprised. She then turned away. "One month ago."

"S...so... What you're telling me..." –Spike was stammering, barely able to get his words out– "is that you can't remember anything from before a month ago?"

She nodded slowly.

"I... I'm sorry." Spike looked away regretfully. "I didn't mean to pry..."

"No, no." Dragonfly finally brought herself to smile at Spike again. "I have no problem telling you. You're... my friend, right, baby dragon?"

Spike looked up at her. He smiled. "O...of course!"

Dragonfly closed her eyes. "Good." She slumped back in the bench.

"Tomorrow's the last day, huh?"

Dragonfly opened an eye to look at Spike. "What?"

"Well, the deal was that you'd come back here every day for a week. Tomorrow's the last day of that week."

Dragonfly looked away slightly. "R...right."

"Either way..." Spike hopped off of the bench. "Looks like it's Luna's shift once again. My cue to go. I'll see you tomorrow." He began to walk away.

"Wait!"

Spike turned back to look at Dragonfly. "What is it?"

She smiled the most honest, genuine smile that Spike had ever seen from her. "Thank you," she said, her voice breaking ever so slightly.

Spike gave a nod, and then continued on his way home, blissfully unaware of the tears that were in Dragonfly's eyes.
> Chapter 8: Tears
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike stood at the top of the hill, arms crossed, tapping his foot angrily. His eyes were set on a bench.

An EMPTY bench.

"Is she really late today, of all days?"

He started his way down the hill, muttering under his breath the entire way. When he reached the bench, something caught his eye. "A... paper?"

Sure enough, a piece of parchment was sitting on the bench, folded neatly in half.

He picked it up and slowly unfolded it. His eyes quickly scanned the paper. "Wh... what?" His voice cracked very slightly.

He sat down as his eyes returned to the top of the note, and read it more carefully.

"Dear Baby Dragon,
I'm sorry I had to leave without saying goodbye. But I have to take care of my people, and the farewell would have been too sad for me to handle.
I'm glad I met you though. I came to look forward to talking to you each day, even though you were a bit annoying at times. You are the first creature I've ever considered to be a friend...
I hope we'll meet each other again some day.
Signed,
The Parasitic Queen."

As his eyes met the last word, his claw's grip loosened, and the paper fluttered down next to him on the bench.

"W...why...?" He slumped back in his seat, tears welling up in his eyes.

"You're... my friend, right, baby dragon?"

He was shocked into sitting up. The voice echoing in his head... that was... Chrysalis's voice... 

Spike looked up to the sky. It was what she had said yesterday. She had finally called him a friend...

He slammed his fist down on the bench next to him. "Why didn't I realize it? It was so obvious!" He began cursing himself out in his head. The way she was acting... there were things she wanted to say before she left; so she said them a day early.

The tears began to roll down Spike's face. Is it really that easy to lose a friend?

"Thank you."

At the sound of her voice, he looked at the note sitting next to him, as if it were an instinct. It was only half open, but he could see one line of it, and this time, he heard it in Chrysalis's voice.

"I hope we'll meet each other again some day."

"That's right." Spike looked up to the sky again, and smiled. "I didn't lose a friend. I'll see her again."

He hopped off the bench, and began to run towards the library, the note in hand, off towards the setting sun.

"I'm sure of it!"
> Chapter 9: The Performance, Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Well, my sister is officially invited!" Shining Armor said happily, watching the mailmare leave with the letter he had just written.

"How wonderful!" His fiancé gave a gentle smile.

"Not only that; Her and her friends will be playing important roles in the wedding!" Shining seemed very pleased with himself. "Fluttershy will be handling the music, Pinkie Pie will take care of the reception, Applejack will be catering, Rarity will be preparing the dresses, Rainbow Dash will be... brightening up the vows a bit, and Twilight will be organizing everything."

"Very nice." She very neatly hid the boredom she felt behind the happy expression she held.

"Oh, and, though it doesn't quite concern you, Spike will be handling the bachelor party."

The fiancé's ears perked up. "S...Spike?"

Shining gave her a confused look. "Yeah, is there something wrong with that?"

She took a quiet, quick breath, collecting her thoughts. "Oh, I'm just worried that Spike may not be able to handle the responsibility... or he may just completely misinterpret the idea of a bachelor party." She said the second half jokingly.

"I'm not too worried. Anyway, Princess Celestia wanted me to talk with her about the protections on Canterlot; not to mention the fact that I have to go refresh the barrier. I'll be back in about an hour. See you!" Shining stepped towards the front door.

"Goodbye, darling!" The fiancé watched Shining leave, and as soon as the door closed, she collapsed to the ground.

"Ughh... Cadence, why is it so hard to be you..." She looked up at the calendar. She had one week until the wedding. "There really is too much love here for my own good... I can't let myself overfeed..."

She slowly stood up. "But more importantly..."

She really didn't want to think about it. Spike was going to be at the wedding. Her one big moment; the one moment she couldn't let old friends get in the way of her judgement.

She slowly made her way into the bedroom, and stepped in front of the mirror. The mirror was truly reflecting the body of Cadence; but that's not what the fiancé herself saw.

Instead she saw a black body, piercing green eyes, a cerulean mane, a gnarled horn... the true Chrysalis.

"I have to do it, don't I?"

Six months had passed since she saw Spike last. Her one friend... but she couldn't let that stop her. She cleared her throat, closed her eyes, and began to speak.

"If both in the night..."

Her voice trailed to a stop. Was she really going to do this?

"And also in light..."

Her horn began to glow as she continued the chant.

"The one must be the all..."

"Ya know, I had my doubts about you in the beginning, but you seem pretty nice."

Chrysalis's eyes shot open. It was all she could do to stop from canceling the spell. "No... I need to focus..." She concentrated, and closed her eyes once more.

"Then whether it's right..."

"This is really bothering you, isn't it?"

She winced, but continued speaking.

"Or if it's in spite..."

"You're better than that."

She gave a pained whine. She was better than this. But... she couldn't stop now. She had people to protect.

"Emotion, I shan't heed its call..."

"I won't let you degrade yourself like that."

She dipped her head and gave another whine. It hurt... it truly did...

"Thought bar the ones I must protect..."

"All I want is to be able to help you right now."

Chrysalis's eyes shot open once again, and tears began to stream down her face.

"This is the fate that I select!"






"A sonic rainboom? At a wedding? Can you say 'best wedding ever'?"

Spike took a quick look over at Pinkie Pie after hearing Rainbow Dash's query. Good thing, too; her sticking her head out the window gave him just enough time to cover his ears.

"BEST WEDDING EVER!"

Spike returned his attention to the scenery quickly passing him by. They were on the train to Canterlot, to help prepare the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor. He should have been excited. But Twilight was upset about the entire thing, and that, more than anything, kept him out of a good mood.

He turned to Rarity, who was sitting next to him. "So you all get to help with the big fancy wedding – but I'm the one that gets to host the bachelor party!" The train passed through a tunnel, and in the cloak of the darkness, Spike hid a slight wince. "I have just one question. What's a bachelor party?"

The train pulled into the light again, and Spike heard the laughs of five mares. He backed away from the window and sighed, giving a quick glance to Twilight, who was sitting a good ways away. Of course he knew what a bachelor party was; he had just hoped to lighten the mood. But beyond the fact that he couldn't seem to cheer Twilight up, something felt just wrong to him. He noticed Applejack pass behind him, and gave a slight smile. At least AJ was taking a bit of initiative to cheer Twilight up. The others all seemed too caught up in the excitement. Hadn't they learned anything from the gala...?

Spike watched their conversation. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could tell that Twilight's mood wasn't improving much from it. After watching their interaction for a few minutes, he was caught off guard by a sudden outburst.

"We're here, we're here!"

He wished he had had time to cover his ears for that one, too. He didn't get much time to think about that, though, as a pink wave washed over the interior of the train car – a force field.

"Odd..."

The train skidded to a stop, and Spike watched Rainbow Dash poke her head out the door once it opened. "Whoa! What's with all the guards?"

Rarity stepped next to her. "I'm sure they're just taking the necessary precautions. Royal weddings do bring out the strangest ponies."

Spike sat stoic in the train car. This wasn't right; these weren't normal royal wedding precautions. For all the times he had been on official Canterlot business, for everything he'd learned about the Canterlot Royal Guard, this was an oddity. There weren't many situations in which a city-wide force field would be used. A royal wedding was definitely not one of those situations.

After all of his friends had left the car and gone on their way, Spike got up and walked out of the train car to one of the guards nearby. He seemed particularly troubled; but upon seeing Spike he looked down at him and smiled. "Hello, Spike. Here to help with the wedding?"

Spike gave a inquisitive look. "Kind of. Tell me, sir...

"Canterlot was threatened, wasn't it?"






"Hey, Twilight!"

Spike ran towards the unicorn. She had a checklist levitating by her, and was looking more dejected than before. "Y...you okay?"

"Hardly." Twilight glanced at the list she had. "Up first is AJ... to the kitchen, I guess."

Spike caught up and began to walk beside her. "What's up? Are you still angry at Shining?"

"No! The opposite!" She puffed her cheeks a bit. "I'm angry at Cadence!"

"C...Cadence?" Spike raised an eyebrow. What did their old foalsitter have to do with...

Suddenly, it clicked in Spike's mind. "Cadence is the bride?"

"Yes." Twilight looked at Spike with a look of disapproval he rarely saw from her. "Don't get too excited."

"B...but why not?" Spike suddenly felt his uneasiness from before coming back. "She was..."

"Exactly!" Twilight stopped in her tracks, right in front of the door to the castle's kitchen. "She was a wonderful, kind pony. But the way she just acted... She was downright awful!"

"Maybe she's just stressed out from the wedding?" Spike was lying through his teeth. He knew that Cadence wasn't one to get stressed easily.

"I don't buy it." Twilight opened the door slowly. "I'm sure that she'll be here to check on things herself. You can see what I mean then."

Spike sighed. "I guess I will." With that, he and Twilight stepped inside to find Applejack, Apple Fritter, and another assistant hard at work.

"Hiya, Sugarcubes!" She said while opening the oven. "Here to check up on the catering?"

Twilight sat down in the middle of the kitchen. "Yes," she replied simply, her voice kind of harsh.

Spike looked hopefully at AJ, praying that she would take the same concerned attitude she did before. Unfortunately, she seemed a bit too caught up in her work to do so. He sighed, and let his eyes scan the room, until he eventually let them settle on the cake toppers sitting on the counter on the far end.

He walked over, as Twilight began her checks. He could hear what she was saying, but was hardly focused on it. Instead, he was lost in thought about the two figures before him. They were most definitely Shining Armor and Cadence. He smiled, hopped up to take a seat on the counter, and picked up the two figures. It had been obvious even to him back when he and Twilight lived in Canterlot that Shining had had a crush on Cadence. 

"You make it obvious almost every time you're around her."

Spike froze. Why was he thinking about that now...?

He was snapped back into reality as he noticed Twilight getting up from her seat. Unwilling to think of an excuse as for why he was holding the toppers, he started playing with them, enacting the upcoming ceremony.

Suddenly, he felt the figures being ripped from his claws. He glanced at Twilight, who was now directly in front of him, and gave a nervous laugh. She was giving the same look of disapproval from before.

Suddenly, he heard the door open. He glanced up.

"Hiya, Princess!" AJ's distinctive voice rang out to greet the visitor.

Spike watched the princess enter out of the corner of his eye. This was the moment of truth...

The cooks all kneeled before the princess. As for the princess... she seemed less than pleased. "Please, call me Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."

Spike winced. This wasn't normal, not at all; Cadence was never this prideful. Spike stopped comprehending the conversation unfolding before him as his focus turned to his racing thoughts. This wasn't the same Cadence he had known from when he was younger. This wasn't the Cadence Shining had had a crush on. So... what was going on?

He was snapped back into reality once again when he heard a paper bag smacking against metal. Cadence was already out of the door by the time Spike had refocused.

Twilight gasped quietly, and turned to Applejack. "Did you see what she..."

Spike glanced at Twilight. She seemed completely and utterly appalled. Did Cadence insult AJ's cooking? That was kind of unlikely; he hadn't met anypony who disliked her cooking...

"... our tastebuds are kind of weird..."

Spike grew still once again. It couldn't be... there was no way.

But that didn't change the fact that something was very, very wrong. He lowered his head.

He just wanted everything to be fine...






Spike covered his ears, wincing from the sound of an out-of-tune squawk. "Fluttershy, what is wrong with that bird?"

He was sitting in the royal garden; he had hoped that listening to Fluttershy's birds rehearse would give him a chance to relax, but a certain one of them kept on ruining that.

"I don't know, Spike." She flew up to the source of the ear wrenching sound, and gave a concerned look. "He normally sings bass, but... I guess he must be sick or something..."

Spike gave a deep sigh. He just couldn't seem to find a way to get away from his thoughts.

Fluttershy gave a quick glance over at Spike. "Um... Is something wrong, Spike?"

Spike looked up blankly at her, and gave himself a short moment to think. "I've just felt uneasy since we've got here. Like... something isn't right."

Fluttershy returned her attention to the bird. "Please try not to worry too much, Spike. I mean... it's a wedding. We should be happy, right?"

Spike sighed again. "Well, I hope you can get that bird to sing correctly by the time the Princess–"

"It seems that I've been appearing with impeccable timing everywhere I go."

Spike froze. That was not the voice he had wanted to hear.

Fluttershy quickly landed in front of the princess and kneeled. "H...hello, P... Princess Mi Amore Cadenza..." She was shivering as if they were in the middle of winter. "I p...presume you are here to ch...check on the music?"

"Yes. " Her answer was succinct and her voice was deadpan. It was as if there was no feeling in her reply...

"... abandon their emotions..."

Spike glanced at the princess. "No way. Th...there's no way..."

Fluttershy flew in front of the birds. "A...alright. H...here we g...go..." She stared at the birds and lifted a hoof. "A-one, A-two, A-one, two, three, four..."

The birds began their song. It started out pleasant, as Spike had come to expect, but it wouldn't take long before...

SQUAWK!

Spike's claws instinctively shot up to his ears. That sound was absolutely grating. He gave a quick look to the princess to see her wincing.

"STOP!"

The birds silenced and Flutter turned around to look at the irritated princess.

"I do hope you'll get that bird to sing in-key by the time the wedding comes." Her words were venomous, but they didn't truly seem to have anger behind them.

Fluttershy flew away from the princess and landed close to the birds. "Y...yes... ma'am..." Her voice was much quieter than normal.

With that, the Princess walked away from the garden.

Spike quickly ran over to Fluttershy. "A...are you okay?"

She slowly stood up. "O...of course. I mean, i...it's my responsibility to get the music right... It's u...understandable that she would be a...angry at me."

Spike frowned. Flutter was clearly shaken up beyond the norm. This wasn't right...

Nothing about any of this was right.

"Come on, Fluttershy." Spike forced a smile. "Let's go meet up with everypony."






Spike made a decision the second he sat down at the table. He wouldn't let anypony know he was worried. Luckily for him, somepony else decided to take the worrying into her own hands.

"Bet I can guess what you're all thinking!" She put a little trill into her last word. "Cadence is the absolute worst bride–to–be ever."

Everypony looked up at her, wide-eyed. Spike seized the chance to throw any suspicions of his worrying away, pulling out the Cadence figure. "Who, me?" he asked, pulling a quick falsetto.

"Spike! That goes on the cake!" Applejack looked down at him disapprovingly. He quickly threw the figurine onto the table and gave a nervous laugh. He was in the clear now; he could just listen to what Twilight had to say.

Rarity gave Twilight a concerned look. "Twilight, what are you talking about? Cadence is an absolute gem!"

"Rarity, she was so demanding!"

Rarity frowned. "Well, of course she was. Why shouldn't she expect the very best on her wedding day?"

"Okay. I can't really be too suspicious about that one..." Spike gave a slight smile. Maybe he and Twilight were just overreacting.

Twilight took a moment to think, and then adressed Applejack. "Applejack, did you know that after she told you how much she just love-love-loved your hors d'oeuvres, she threw them in the trash?"

"S...so that's what happened." Spike was suddenly worried again.

"Aw, she was probably just tryin' to spare my feelin's."

Twilight gave a look of annoyance. "No, she was just being fake and totally insincere!"

There was a moment of silence. Spike felt something tap his shoulder, and when he looked, he saw Pinkie holding the cake topper of Shining. "Might as well..." Spike thought, as he picked up the Cadence figure.

"She did raise her voice at one of my birds during rehearsal."

Spike froze upon hearing Flutter's quiet voice. "At one of her birds? But..."

"See! Rude!"

"That's not what happened! Fluttershy..."

Spike was snapped out of his thoughts by Pinkie nudging him. He halfheartedly started playing with her, enacting the couple.

"But he was singing really off-key..."

Spike saw Flutter pull the bird out from the corner of his eye, and winced with perfect timing.

SQUAWK!

Spike shook his head and continued playing, a little more wholeheartedly. Okay, so Cadence was being rude. It didn't necessarily mean...

"Pinkie, you had to have noticed how Cadence treated–"

Twilight noticed them playing and gave a sigh. "Never mind."

Suddenly, Spike got lost in his thoughts. What did Cadence say to Pinkie? It didn't seem as if he was going to get an answer at this point.

He quickly tried to organize what he knew in his mind. First of all: Canterlot had been threatened. That was already enough to make him worry.

Second of all: Cadence was way out of character. She faked liking AJ's food, was incredibly demanding towards Rarity, yelled at Fluttershy, and... said something to Pinkie.

Third of all: Twilight was an absolute nervous wreck. If somebody didn't do something about that–

"–there shouldn't even be a wedding!" The table was slammed with enough force to shock Spike out of his thoughts. Twilight, the perpetrator of this upset, walked off in a huff.

Spike exchanged a glance with the others. This wasn't going to go well...






Later that night, Spike saw Twilight walk out of one of the doors to the castle. To say she looked dejected would be an understatement. He ran up to her. "U...um... Twilight? Are you okay?"

She looked up at Spike, tears in her eyes. "S...Spike..."

"Twilight, what happened?" He began to lead her away from the door she had just exited.

"O...our friends are now the bridesmaids... a...and they're not listening... and I just saw Cadence... and... Shining... and..." Twilight's words were just tumbling out of her mouth, starting to lose any sense of coherence.

"Twilight!" Spike stepped in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders, looking her directly in the eyes. "Calm down, please. Start from the beginning."

Twilight took a deep breath, and her expression suddenly grew angered. "I just saw Cadence cast a spell on Shining."

Spike stepped back. "Wh...what!?"

"When she cast the spell, shining's eyes turned green and went all buggy." She looked away for a moment, then suddenly her eyes lit up. "A hypnosis spell! That's what it probably was! The hypnosis spell from Spells Lost to Time!"

"R...really?" Spike was suddenly very, very worried. Spells Lost to Time was the book he had shown to Chrysalis. 

"But that was a coincidence!" he thought to himself, attempting self-reassurance.

... It was a coincidence, right?






"Hey, has anypony seen Twilight?"

Spike looked up from where he was sitting, and quickly righted himself with a figure still in hand. He really shouldn't be goofing off at rehearsal. 

But as Shining had said, it did seem that Twilight was missing.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and right on cue, Twilight stepped in the room.

"I'm here!" she proclaimed, and took a few steps. "I'm not going to stand next to her, and neither should you!"

Spike gave a shocked glance towards Twilight, effectively ignoring the actions of the others. This was out of hand. If she continued...

"You have to listen to me!"

Spike was so caught up in his thoughts that the only voice he could hear was Twilight's. He watched Fluttershy fly up to her, and make a remark.

"I'm fine!"

Applejack walked up next, giving a dissaproving look towards her.

"I've got something to say!"

"No, no, no!" Spike was horrified. "Twilight, you'll–!"

"She's evil!"

Spike was snapped back into full awareness as he watched Twilight point a hoof towards Cadence.

"She's been horrible to my friends..." She teleported right up in front of Cadence, and got right in her face. "she's obviously done something to the bridesmaids... and if that wasn’t enough, I saw her put a spell on my brother that made his eyes go all–" she proceeded to roll her eyes around, and let her tongue hang out of her mouth.

Everypony in the room stood shocked, staring at Twilight. Everypony... except Spike. He was still shocked; there was no doubt about that. But he saw something the others didn't. Something very, very important.

He saw Cadence grin.

Twilight quickly got back in Cadence's face, giving a scary-looking smile.

Suddenly, Cadence burst into tears.

"Why are you doing this to me!" She then proceeded to gallop out of the room.

"Because you're evil!" Twilight yelled, watching her run. She teleported to the doorway just as Cadence ran out it. "Evil! And if I don’t stop you, you’re gonna ruin my brother’s life!"

Spike fell out of focus again. That grin... maybe Twilight was right. Cadence seemed like she was acting... It really seemed like it was just somepony in a...

"...disguise..."

Spike looked off to where Cadence had run off to. He wouldn't believe it. He wouldn't let himself believe it.

"If I were you, I wouldn't show up to the wedding at all."

Spike snapped back into focus just in time to here that defining statement. He quickly glanced at Twilight, who was looking down at her hooves. Shining was walking away from her.

The ponies around Spike began to make their way out of the room, all avoiding looking at Twilight. Spike followed them, feeling just as broken as he imagined Twilight felt.

They left Twilight in the room, and once they all passed through, Celestia closed the door.

Ba-bump.

Spike felt his heart suddenly pound in his chest. Something felt very, very wrong.

Ba-bump.

He turned to the door and let his friends and Celestia pass him. They didn't pay him any heed.

Ba-bump.

After staring at it for almost a minute, he slowly made his way back towards the door.

Ba-bump.

He placed his hand on it, bracing for what was to come.

Ba-bump.

He gently pushed against the door.

Ba-bump.

The door slowly swung open.

Ba-bump.

He took a step in...

Ba-bump!

And peered inside...

Ba-bump!

to see...

BA-BUMP!

Nothing.

"T...Twilight?" Spike stepped all the way inside, as his anxiety subsided for a moment. He glanced around quickly. "Twilight!"

His call wasn't answered.

BA-BUMP! BA-BUMP! BA-BUMP!

Spike's breathing quickened and became raspy. He fell to his knees, unable to even think about holding himself up.

His only real family had just disappeared.
> Chapter 10: The Performance, Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Don't you think maybe we should look for Twi?"

The five ponies in the room gave a collective gasp and all turned towards Spike. Everypony was getting ready to sleep for the night when he dropped that bombshell of a question.

"Spike, are you insane?" Rainbow Dash was the first to respond. "You saw what she did back there! It's better that she stays out of this until the wedding's over. I'm not even sure I want to see her."

"Now, that's a bit harsh, sugarcube." Applejack gave a concerned look towards Rainbow Dash. She then turned to Spike. "But still, she was beyond bold today. She needs time to cool down and think about what she's done."

Spike clenched his fists. This was ridiculous. Why couldn't they see what was missing!?

"Please, relax, Spikey-Wikey." Rarity stepped over to him. "Twilight was just being over-protective of her brother, and she's probably realized what she's done wrong. I'm sure she's just thinking it over somewhere."

"And I'm sure that's NOT what she's doing!" Spike was on the verge of tears.

"Spike, please, don't get angry..." Fluttershy gave a sympathetic look.

Pinkie hopped up by Spike. "Yeah! We don't want anypony to be unhappy at the wedding, do we, Grumpy-Guss?

Spike closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Why..."

Applejack walked up, and spoke with a concerned tone. "Spike..."

"Why is everypony acting so weird!?" Spike gave a fierce look to the group, tears finally streaming down his face. He pointed to Rainbow Dash. "Why aren't you being loyal to your friend?" Next was Fluttershy: "Why aren't you being considerate towards her?" Then Rarity: "Why didn't you even give her concerns the slightest bit of your time or thought?" And then Pinkie: "I see that you're concerned about everypony's happiness, but why aren't you concerned about Twilight's?"

Finally, he looked at Applejack. "And you. You aren't even being true to yourself. You noticed Twilight's mood. You could have done something! But instead all you did was accuse her of being possessive!"

Applejack stepped back. "S...Spike... but..."

"No! I'm not done!" He clenched his teeth. "The captain of the royal guard is hardly being observant, the pony whose special talent is spreading love has been a complete jerk..."

Spike looked down and closed his eyes. "And the pony who cares about her friends more than anything in the world hasn't come back to see them or apologize..."

The group exchanged glances, maybe starting to question their assumptions.

He looked at the group again, a fiery look of determination in his eyes. "I'm going to look for Twilight."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rainbow Dash flew up to him. "You can't go wandering Canterlot alone at night!"

Spike looked up at Rainbow Dash with an eyebrow raised. "Are any of you going to search with me?"

The room fell silent. Rarity gave a nervous look towards Applejack. Fluttershy looked away from Spike, and Pinkie started poking at the floor.

"Well then. I guess I'm wandering Canterlot alone at night." With that, Spike opened the door and left, leaving five dumbfounded ponies in his wake.






"Who goes there?"

Luna's voice boomed down from the watchtower. Spike looked up at her, knowing that that would be enough.

"Spike, you know it's dangerous to wander Canterlot at night. What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for Twilight!" Spike's expression gave an air of determination.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "We heard from my sister what happened today. Despite that, you are concerned?"

Spike gritted his teeth. "Of course! Twilight is like a sister to me– no, more than that. She's the closest thing to a mother I've ever had, so if you think anything would stop me from being worried when she just up and disappears, you are sadly mistaken!"

Luna sighed. "Alright then, Spike; maybe We can help you." Luna closed her eyes, and magic flowed from her horn.

Spike felt himself being lifted off the ground. "W...what are you doing?"

"We're helping you search for her." Her magic lifted Spike all the way up to the balcony of the watch tower. She set him down. "In a way that doesn't require you blindly wander around Canterlot."

"What do you mean?"

Luna lifted a hoof towards the telescope at the end of the balcony. "During my sister's watch, that telescope is quite normal. But at night, it gains a magical aspect, due to Our influence."

"I...I'm still not sure what you're getting at." Spike tilted his head.

"Spike, as you know, We are the one pony that can walk through another's dreams. But anypony, using this telescope, can see into another's dreams."

Spike gave a slight smile. "So you're saying that if I find Twilight's dream..."

Luna nodded. "Then We can walk to her dream and find out what has happened. Step up to the telescope, young one."

Spike walked over and peered through the telescope. After staring for a moment, he frowned. "All I see is a fog!"

Luna walked next to Spike. "Find the focus knob on the side."

Spike grasped at the side of the telescope blindly until he found a small knob. "Now what?"

"Think about the one you are searching for, and turn the knob slowly until the fog disappears."

Spike started to turn the knob, and he watched the mist in his view slowly fade away until he saw...

Blackness. Complete and utter blackness.

"L... Luna? I don't see anything."

"Hmm?" She nudged the dragon to the side gently. "Let us see." She peered through the telescope. "Oh, my."

"Wh...what is it?"

She stepped away from it. "If she were awake, you'd simply see what she sees. If she were outside the range of the telescope, the fog would not clear... so, We know of only two things that could cause such an image. The first is if the pony were in some unconscious, but non-dreaming, state. For example, if he or she had been knocked out."

"A...and the second?"

She frowned and looked away. "W...we don't want to talk about the second possibility."

The air suddenly grew heavy.

"M...may I take another look?"

Luna frowned. "We don't know what you think you'll find, but you may try."

Spike gave a deep sigh and peered through the telescope once more. "Alright, you stupid telescope." He started to turn the knob slowly. "Show me Chrysalis's dreams!"

A scene began to fade into view. It was raining at the edge of a forest, and a young earth mare was sitting on a bench. She seemed to be crying...

Suddenly, a unicorn stallion stepped into his view. He exchanged a few words with the mare, and the mare looked up and smiled.

Then, the stallion dropped into a pose that every single citizen of Equestria knew well. "Wh...what?"

The stallion levitated a ring in front of the mare. 

It was a proposal.

Suddenly, fog covered the scene. The dream must have ended.

"W...what was that dream?" Spike stepped away from the telescope. "And more importantly..."

"Luna, what's the range of that telescope?"

Luna tilted her head. "It can see the dreams of all in Equestria, and none of those outside. Why do you ask, young one?"

"J...just wondering." Spike looked down. That meant that Chrysalis...

"No," Spike reassured himself, "all that means is that she is somewhere in Equestria. She could be in Appleoosa for all I know."

"Either way, young one. Go to bed. You won't find anything but trouble searching the night without a place to start." Luna's expression was stern, but caring.

"Alright." Spike looked up and forced a smile.

Even though he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep.






"Spike, does my uniform look okay?"

"You're fine, you're fine." Spike was sitting with Shining Armor, helping him prepare for his big moment.

Shining turned to Spike, sensing the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. "What's wrong, little guy?"

Spike gave Shining a look of disbelief. "Wh...what's wrong? Are you really going to ask me that?"

"U...um..." Shining took a nervous step away from Spike.

"Is there really nothing bothering you about this? Nothing at all?" Spike stood up. "You and I both know Twilight well. In normal circumstances, she would have come back and apologized by now! There is something very wrong!"

Shining's expression suddenly hardened. "She's not the foremost thought on my mind right now."

"Shining! She's your sister! Show some concern!"

Shining closed his eyes. "Spike. Leave."

"Shining!"

He gave Spike a fierce glare. "LEAVE!"

Spike gave a short step away from Shining, and then ran out the door.

"H... his eyes..."

Spike suddenly stopped short. Where could he go from here?

Cadence was suspicious.

His friends were far too caught up in the wedding.

Shining... 

"His eyes were green... he was hypnotized... Twilight was right..."

He looked out a nearby window. Twilight? As of last night, she was either knocked out, or...

or...!

Spike collapsed by the window, tears in his eyes, and started muttering to himself quietly.

"She can't be... she can't be... she can't be..."






"Mares and gentle-colts, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor."

Spike stood in his assigned place as he watched the event unfold. To say this wasn't right was an understatement. He could barely focus on the ceremony– only two things occupied his mind.

The first was Twilight's absence. He didn't know what happened last night, but he couldn't let his mind dwell on that. And that brought him to the second thing...

Cadence. Her expression was smug. And, as had just come to his attention, she hadn't so much as casted a glance towards Spike the entire time they had been there.

Spike felt himself tearing up and did his best to repress it. He felt about ready to object to the wedding himself. ... but he knew he couldn't. He didn't have the guts to do that...

A voice pulled him out of his trance. A familiar voice. A voice he had been wanting to hear since last night.

"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"

Spike looked at the doors, wide-eyed. Twilight was there. She looked somewhat disheveled, and completely focused.

"Why does she have to be so possessive of her brother?" 

Spike gave a quick glance to the source of the statement. He saw the bride-to-be giving a displeased look for a moment, before her expression shifted to that of devastation. "Why does she have to ruin my special day?"

"Because it's not your special day..."

Spike froze at the sound of that voice. It was so familiar. So warm, so nostalgic. He quickly turned to the door.

"It's mine!"

At the door stood Cadence. The REAL Cadence.

The fake recoiled in disbelief. "What!? But how did you escape my bridesmaids?"

Twilight and Cadence shared a knowing glance. Twilight was the one to explain. "Ya know, bridesmaids can start acting pretty out there when you throw a bouquet."

The fake chuckled. "Clever. But you're still too late."

"I-I don't get it." Applejack finally decided to voice the group's confusion. "How can there be two of 'em?"

"She's a changeling!"

"... a changeling!"

"...changeling!"

"...changeling!"

Spike stared at the fake as the scene before him fell out of focus. That meant...

No. So what, she was a changeling? That didn't mean...

"Only changeling monarchs can disguise as Alicorns."

"There is only ever one Changeling monarch at a time."

The world jolted back in to focus just as the fake began to transform. A black shell... long green hair...  a gnarled horn, her mane, tail, and hooves all with holes in them... and a small, off-kilter crown.

"Right you are, princess." She grinned. "And as queen of the changelings..."

The fake's words echoed in his head. That was it. He couldn't deny it any more.

That was Chrysalis.

The scene was out of focus once again. All he could do was stare at the monarch. 

She had been his friend. What happened?

There was no way she could do this.

This wasn't how she was.

He just couldn't wrap his mind around it. She had been so kind before...

Minutes passed without him so much as registering what was going on around him. He was only snapped back into reality as he noticed a clash of magic- Celestia and Chrysalis.

A clash that ended in the worst way possible. Spike watched Celestia crash to the ground.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity rushed to her side.

"Ah." Chrysalis turned her attention to Cadence. "Shining Armor’s love for you is even stronger than I thought. Consuming it has made me even more powerful than Celestia!"

In the time Chrysalis was speaking, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had made their way over to Celestia.

"The Elements of Harmony. You must get to them, and use their power to defeat the queen!" Celestia seemed like she was barely holding on to her consciousness.

The six exchanged nods, and ran off.

Chrysalis called after them. "You can run, but you can't hide!"






"You won't get away with this! Twilight and her friends will–"

The doors opened, and Chrysalis, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Spike all looked to them. About twenty minutes had passed since the six had left, and now they had returned...

escorted by a swarm of changelings.

"Monster."

Ignoring the insult born from her thoughts, Chrysalis turned to Cadence, carefully avoiding Spike's glare. "You were saying?" She then turned her attention to Twilight. "You do realize the reception’s been canceled, don’t you?" Finally, she looked to the swarm about them. "Go, feed!"

The swarm quickly cleared out of the room.

"How could you betray your friend?"

Chrysalis continued to disregard the voice echoing in her head. It didn't matter to her. She returned her attention to Twilight. "It's funny, really." She lifted up Twilight's chin with her hoof. "Twilight here was suspicious of my behavior all along." Twilight swatted her hoof out of the way.

"Parasitic freak."

Chrysalis's heard her own voice grow more crazed and maniacal. "Too bad the rest of you were too caught up in your wedding planning to realize those suspicious were correct!"

Applejack looked at Twilight sympathetically. "Sorry, Twi. We should have listened to you."

Twilight gave a defeated response. "It’s not your fault. She fooled everypony."

Chrysalis began to pace, giving an nasty grin. "Mm– I did, didn't I?"

"Liar."

She walked over to the window and looked at the terror her minions were causing. She gave a wicked smile, and began to sing.

"This day has been just perfect~"

"Jerk."

"The kind of day of which I’ve dreamed since I was small~"

"You lied to him."

"Everypony I’ll soon control, every stallion, mare, and foal; Who says a girl can’t really have it all?~"

"How can you live with that?"

She ended her song, and turned to the group behind her to see Cadence escaped and Shining Armor out of his hypnosis. She almost jumped at them, but quickly relaxed knowing there was no threat.

"Wh…where…huh? Is…is the wedding over?" Shining was still somewhat dazed.

"It's all over!" Chrysalis gave a bone chilling smile.

Twilight addressed the couple before her. "Your spell! Perform your spell!"

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "What good would that do? My changelings already roam free."

"No!" She watched Shining give a futile attempt to cast a spell, but he was far too weakened by her feeding. He drooped his head. "My power is useless now. I don’t have the strength to repel them. "

Cadence looked in his eyes. "My love will give you strength."

Chrysalis gave a wicked cackle, and turned her back to the group. "What a lovely but absolutely ridiculous sentiment."

"You monster."

Her mind kicked into overdrive to stop herself from making a physical reaction to the sentence that just played back in her head. Spike had said that to her while the six were out seeking the Elements of Harmony. But more importantly...

Any thoughts of Spike or his disapproval seemed to very nearly get an emotional reaction out of her. The spell was doing its job... but...

Suddenly, Chrysalis felt an extreme wave of dread. She turned quickly.

Cadence and Shining Armor had just started casting a spell. A sphere appeared from their horns, quickly expanding outwards and approaching her. In that split second she realized– she had lost.

So it was now or never.

She gave a quick look to Spike. She was expecting a look of disapproval or anger.

But instead she saw him giving her a look of pity.

A pang of regret settled into her mind. At that moment, she felt the force field smash into her.

Game over.






Spike was sitting at a table at the wedding reception, staring at a glass of water in front of him.

"How could she..."

It just didn't make sense to him. No matter what line of logic he used, he couldn't figure out how Chrysalis could do that...

He had lost a friend as quickly as he had made one. He gave a drawn out sigh.

"Maybe–"

His thoughts were interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Sweetie Belle.

"U...um... Spike?" She seemed somewhat embarrassed.

"Yes?" Spike's response was kind of monotone.

"Rarity told me I should ask somepony to dance... and... well, you seemed pretty down... so..."

Spike's eyes widened. "That's right. I should be having fun." His expression changed to a kind smile, and he hopped out of his seat. "Alright then. I'll warn you, I can't really dance well."

Sweetie Belle voiced a sigh of relief. "That's okay. It's about having fun, right?"

Spike nodded, and walked with her to the dance floor.





Spike was laying in a seperate train car from the other six. They were on their way home, and he wanted time alone.

"There has to be an explanation..."

He shifted his head back and forth. He then scrunched up his face. "Think, Spike, think! Why would she–"

Suddenly, he gasped. "W... wait a minute..."

He sat straight up. "Her subjects... that spell..."

He grew determined. He knew what he had to do.

He reached up into the compartment above him and grabbed a quill and a roll of parchment he had brought with him, and began the letter:

"Dear Princess Celestia..."
> Chapter 11: Return to Truth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A cloaked pony poked her head out of the bushes. "Coast is clear, right?"

She stepped out into the open, rain pelting her cloak. Not far in the distance, she could see the buildings of Ponyville.

"It's been eleven months since I've last been here, hasn't it?"

She gave a deep sigh. She could feed anywhere; so why did she choose the most risky place she could?

She kept on moving, sticking by the forest she had come out of. Stay calm... that's all she had to do...

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

She stopped in her tracks upon hearing that voice. It was a voice she had been hoping not to hear...

She did her best not to look at the source of the statement and gave an automatic response. "Yes, baby dragon?"

She cringed as soon as she said it. How could she be so stupid? She couldn't even begin to hope that the dragon hadn't noticed, so she stood static and waited for the inevitable...





"B...baby dragon?"

No way. It couldn't be her.

Spike hopped off of the bench and walked in front of the motionless pony. He leaned in front of her face to see under her hood...

A stormy blue coat. A black mane. Averted slate grey eyes. There were no doubts...

"Dragonfly!" There was a sharp tone in his voice.

"Why did this have to happen...?" Dragonfly muttered to herself, still not meeting Spike's gaze.

Spike felt a flood of emotions washing over him. Joy... relief... but most prominently...

"How dare you show your face here again?!"

Dragonfly took a nervous step back, giving Spike a look of disbelief. "H...how dare I? How dare I?!"

Spike faltered for a moment, but then kept pushing. "You hurt my friends! You hurt my family! You've put the people I love through so much pain!"

Dragonfly grew enraged. "Don't you even start to talk to me about pain, baby dragon! You know nothing of pain!" Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Are you trying to tell me that you understand it any better?!"

Dragonfly faltered. "F...fine." She turned away from Spike, and, casting away her cloak, she faded into a flash of green, and the figure of Fluttershy took her place. "I have to go feed. Goodbye, Spike." She began to walk towards the town.

"Wh...where do you think you're going!?" Spike yelled desperately.

Dragonfly gave no response.

"Dragonfly!" Spike knew that within moments she would be out of earshot, but she still wasn't responding. He slumped back into the bench.

"Why did I do that?"

Spike sighed. His emotions had gotten the best of him. This wasn't what he had wanted at all. 

He had wanted to give her another chance.

He looked up to the grey sky. There had to be a way to fix this.

"Think, Spike, think!" he muttered to himself, unable to organize his thoughts.

Suddenly he shot up. "The letters! I can use those!"

He hopped out of his seat and started into a sprint. He needed to stop her...

His first stop was the library.






Spike slammed the door open. "Twilight! Where are the letter archives?"

Twilight popped her head up from behind a book. "D...downstairs, like always. Is something wrong?"

Spike stalled for a moment. He needed to relax; he didn't want anyone to be suspicious. "There's something I really wanted to check." He closed the door, and ran down into the basement.

"They should be at the end of the archive from five months ago..." He quickly searched the shelves to find a set of boxes marked by month. Ever since the incident with Discord, Twilight had Spike write a copy of every letter they sent, and stored them in these boxes along with every letter they received. He pulled down the box marked as the same month as Cadence and Shining's wedding, and began to leaf through the letters.

Twilight stepped down the stairs. "You're acting a little weird, Spike..."

"A...am I?" Spike stopped at a small gap in the papers. He reached in and pulled out a pair of letters that had been folded in half, to keep them hidden. Grabbing a folder from one of the shelves to keep the letters safe, he put the box back on the shelf, and ran back up the stairs past Twilight.

"Are you going back out?" Twilight followed him back up. 

"Yeah. I'll be back soon." Spike opened the door.

"Spike..." Spike turned back to see Twilight's concerned gaze. Suddenly, she seemed to relax. "I don't know what's up, but stay safe, alright?"

Spike nodded, and rushed out.





Spike arrived at Fluttershy's cottage completely out of breath. "This is no time to get exhausted, Spike!" He admonished himself. He took a second to collect himself, then knocked on the door.

The door opened slowly, and Fluttershy poked her head outside. "Oh, hello, Spike! Come in."

Spike stepped inside to see Rarity standing not far from the door. Fluttershy closed the door behind him.

"Hello, Spikey Wikey! I just came over here to see if Fluttershy had any silk I could use, and I was just on my way. Goodbye you two!" Rarity stepped past the dragon and the pegasus, opened the door, and left.

"Goodbye!" Fluttershy said quietly as the door closed. Then she turned to Spike. "So what brings you here, Spike?"

"U...um..." Spike stuttered. "Have you seen anypony acting weird?"

"Not besides you, Spike. Is something wrong?"

"Not really..."

"And what's in that folder?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"N...nothing!" Spike hid the folder behind his back. "U...um... I just need to check something with you."

"And what is that?"

"What was the name of the creature that attacked the town when Trixie came here?"

"Oh! That's easy, an Ursa Minor."

Spike sighed. "Nevermind, I have to go." He quickly rushed out the door without giving her a chance to respond. But as he closed the door, he noticed a sheet of paper laying on the doorstep, being soaked by the rain.

Spike picked it up, and quickly glanced at the words scrawled over it.

"I've gotten better at acting, haven't I?"

Spike gasped. Then Rarity...

His expression grew fierce. Next stop was Carousel Boutique.






"But just as he was about to take the relic, WOOSH! Daring Do swung in on a vine and snatched it away from him!"

Spike skidded to a stop and looked towards the voice. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were sitting under a tree, sheltered from the rain. "Sounds pretty excitin'."

"Could one of them be...?" Chrysalis could have easily switched disguises between Fluttershy's house and here...

He walked over. "Hi, Applejack, Rainbow Dash."

"Hiya, Sugarcube!"

"What's up, squirt?"

Spike took a deep breath. "Have either of you two noticed anypony acting weird?"

"Not as far as I can tell, Spike." Rainbow Dash was the first to answer.

"Well..." Applejack looked up thoughtfully. "I did see Rarity walkin' past here without anything on to keep her precious mane dry..."

Spike slapped his forehead. "Dang it, she's still hiding as Rarity."

"Something wrong, sugarcube?"

"N...no!" Spike looked down the street. "I...I gotta go. See you later!" With that, he ran off, leaving a confused Applejack and Rainbow Dash in his wake.

He was running for a solid 5 minutes before he finally started to tire and had to stop. "D...dang it. I don't have time for this..."

"Spiiiiiike!"

Spike looked behind himself. He saw Twilight running towards him. "Twilight?"

"Oh, Spike." She slowed to a stop next to him. "I was starting to get worried."

"I...I'm fine..." Spike looked at her, confused. "Why?"

"Because I thought you would be back sooner..." Her eyes wandered to the folder Spike was holding. "By the way, which letters are in that folder?"

"Um!" Spike panicked. "N...no time to explain! I'll tell you later!" He dashed off towards Carousel Boutique.

"Spike!"

He cringed as he heard his name fall into a pathetic whimper. "I'm sorry..."

He ran for another few minutes before he reached the house. Spike skidded to a stop in front of the door, and knocked.

The door opened slightly, and Sweetie Belle's head popped out. "Oh, hello, Spike!"

Spike smiled. "Hello, Sweetie Belle. Is Rarity home?"

Sweetie Belle frowned. "Yes, but she doesn't want to be interrupted. She's been in her room working all day..."

"All day?" Spike frowned. "Okay. Sorry to bother you."

"Oh, It's all right. See you, Spike!" The door closed.

"So then... What do I do now?"





Spike rounded the top of the hill on the way to the bench. He had lost her. There was nothing he could do now...

"You are an idiot, baby dragon."

Spike looked up at the bench, and sitting there was none other than Dragonfly. "I passed you by three times today, and you didn't notice once."

Spike sighed, and walked up to her. "Did you really just lead me around town just to come back here?"

"Quiet, baby dragon." Her expression was incredibly grave. "I was curious about what you have to show me. But first... I have something to show you." She stood up from the bench, and began to march into the forest.

Spike followed her, keeping a distance. "Why should I trust you?"

Dragonfly turned to him. "By all logic and sense, you shouldn't." She then continued walking. "But if you want me to give you a chance to apologize for what you said earlier... you have to understand the pain I've been through."

They stepped into a small clearing. Spike stepped into the center, and Dragonfly walked into the shadows by the edge. 

"What's here that you want to show me?" 

"Nothing." Dragonfly responded flatly. "What I have to show you will merely be an illusion– try your best to remember that." With that, the spot where her horn would be glowed, and the clearing was suddenly covered in fog, obscuring her from view.

"Wh...what's going on?" Spike glanced around nervously.

Clink!

A metallic sound rang on the ground in front of Spike. He leaned over to see a small coin. He picked it up to examine it.

"A blank side... and a skull and crossbones?"

"Spike, flip that coin, will you?" Spike could hear Dragonfly's voice in the distance.

Spike stalled for a moment, then flipped it. He quickly caught in the palm of his hand, and laid it across his other fist.

"Blank..."

Suddenly, Twilight appeared through the fog.

"Twilight!" Spike started running towards her, but he wasn't moving any closer. It didn't seem that she had heard him, either; this was only a vision.

"What's Dragonfly planning...?" Spike muttered to himself.

"I want you to keep on flipping that coin until it disappears, Spike. And observe the results of your actions."

Spike sighed and flipped the coin again. This time...

"Skull..."

This time, from the fog, Rarity stumbled in, leading with the left side of her body. Spike brightened up, but quickly noticed something wrong. Terribly wrong.

"Why does she look so pained?"

A few more steps, and Rarity collapsed, revealing her right side.

"Oh... Celestia... why..." Spike felt tears welling up in his eyes, and his breathing became quicker and more panicked.

There were horrible gashes in her side, blood spilling out on the ground, forming a quickly growing puddle.

Twilight sprung over to her side. Spike could see her yelling at Rarity, tears streaming down her face, but he could not hear a single word said.

Spike collapsed to his knees. "Why are you doing this!?"

"Keep on going, Spike. I won't end the illusion until you finish."

Spike picked himself back up slowly, and tried to look away from the pair in front of him. He flipped the coin once again.

"Skull again!?"

This time, Fluttershy wobbled through the fog. Suddenly, she started coughing up blood, and collapsed in much the same way as Rarity. As her eyes glazed over, blood started to drip out of her slack mouth.

Spike gave a few dry heaves. This was too much... how many times was he going to have to do this?

He looked in his hand. The coin was still there. He closed his eyes and flipped it again, letting it drop to the ground this time.

Clink!

Spike opened one eye to peer at it.

"...oh, thank Celestia."

Rainbow Dash flew in from the fog. She seemed panicked, glancing around nervously, until her eyes settled on...

"Fluttershy!"

Spike couldn't hear her say it, but it was clear that that was the word that had come from her mouth. She descended next to the crumpled heap, as tears welled up in her eyes. She started nudging Fluttershy, speaking to her at what seemed to be a normal volume. As tears began to drip down her face, she started pushing harder, and speaking louder. Suddenly she closed her eyes, and began to yell. And somehow, Spike was able to read her lips perfectly.

"Celestia damn it, Fluttershy, you can't leave me! We've been friends since we were little! Don't leave me, please, please, please!"

Spike felt tears start to drip down his own face as he watched Rainbow Dash break down and collapse, laying her forehead on Fluttershy's body.

Spike picked up the coin almost mechanically. "Why are you doing this...?" he wondered, as he flipped the coin almost against his own will.

"Blank..."

In a particularly uneventful showing, Applejack walked out of the fog, but didn't seem to notice any of the others around her.

"So... I guess next is Pinkie..." Spike flipped again...

"S...Skull!"

Pinkie stumbled in much the same way that Rarity and Flutter had. But this time, what was wrong was immediately noticeable.

There was a kitchen knife stabbed into her side. Blood was dripping out at a somewhat alarming rate. She fell against Applejack, who, noticing the wound, did her best to support her.

AJ started talking seemingly calmly, but her gestures started to become more and more panicked as tears began to well up.

Suddenly, Pinkie began to talk very calmly, a pained look on her face. And Spike was able to understand their mouth movements once again.

"I'm not gonna make it, am I, Applejack?"

Applejack closed her eyes. "N...no..."

"W... well then... promise me you won't cry. I don't want to leave my friends unhappy..."

Applejack grimaced. "Y...ya know I can't promise that, sugarcube..."

"O...oh..." Pinkie began to slide downward off of Applejack. "I guess... I can't... force..."

She suddenly collapsed and fell silent. Applejack collapsed next to her and began to wail.

Spike clenched his fist as he felt the tears start flowing full force. The coin was still there.

"HOW MANY MORE TIMES?!" He yelled, tossing the coin again.

It landed on the skull. Out of the mist stumbled a small orange pony, with no wings or horn... but...

"S...scootaloo?"

Her wings were gone, bloody stumps in their place. Streams of blood trailed down her sides, and she collapsed, like everypony before her.

Spike flipped again, before he could even react to what lay before him.

It landed on skull, for the third time in a row.

Next from the mist was Sweetie Belle, with no clear injuries. However, just like the pegasus before her, she collapsed, but not before reaching out a hoof to her fellow crusader.

Spike choked back a wail. This was all too much. But... it would never end if he didn't keep on going. He flipped the coin again...

and it landed on the blank side.

Applebloom walked in from the fog, and after a quick look around, her eyes fell on the unicorn and pegasus. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she laid down in front of them.

Spike had to look away. He couldn't stand to watch Applebloom's childhood be destroyed. He turned until his view was free from all of the others. He still had the coin.

Another flip. Another blank.

Next was Cadence, and like Applejack had been, she was oblivious to the carnage around her.

"Then next is..." He flipped again.

Skull.

Shining stumbled in, his horn blackened, gashes covering his body. Cadence noticed him, and caught him before he collapsed to the ground. And this time, Spike could truly hear them.

"Shining!" Cadence's eyes welled up.

"I... guess I'm another casualty, aren't I...? I am a part of the military, after all..."

"N...no!" She began to focus magic into her horn.

"Cadence, don't waste your energy... I'm done for."

Cadence stopped, and looked at her husband in the eyes.

"I love you, Cadence." He gave a weak smile, and then slumped over.

The scene suddenly muted once again. Spike fell to his knees, and screamed.

"Why are you doing this to me!?"

"One more time, Spike. That's all that's left." Dragonfly's voice cut through the fog.

Spike took a deep breath, choking back his tears. He flipped the coin.

It landed on the blank side.

"Oh, sorry, Spike." Dragonfly's voice echoed through the emptiness. "That was your flip. I guess you have to live through the pain of these losses."

Suddenly, the fog dissipated, leaving the forest clearing, a grave looking Dragonfly, and Spike, curled up in a ball in the center. Dragonfly walked up to the dragon.

"Half of my subjects died after we got launched from Canterlot. Do you understand how I feel? And even worse... it's the only emotion I can express now."

Spike, starting to come to terms with the fact that the visions were only illusions, but still horribly shaken by the pain they brought, stood up slowly. "Y...you cast the spell..."

"Very good, baby dragon. Thanks to that spell, the only emotions I express are those towards my subjects... the 'ones I must protect'. Once you manage to get your thoughts back together..."

Spike closed his eyes. "I'm sorry!"

Dragonfly looked at him, confused. "What?"

"I didn't mean to yell at you earlier! Ever since the wedding, I've wanted to see you again! I wanted to give you a second chance!"

Dragonfly glared at him. "I don't believe you."

Spike opened his eyes, pulled a letter from the from the folder, and held it up to Chrysalis. "Then read this! I sent it to Princess Celestia the day after the wedding."

Dragonfly snatched the letter from him, and began to read it.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

I have to tell you something dire. Chrysalis, the one who attacked the wedding– I met her beforehand. Six months ago, in fact. And back then, she was nice. She seemed like a kind pony who simply cared for her subjects. And I think that's why she attacked. Her subjects were probably in danger of starving, so... she had a reason. And it wasn't selfish.

The main reason I'm writing this is that I want your permission on something. If I ever see Chrysalis again... I want to give her a second chance. Because I feel like that if she had the chance to mend relations between ponies and Changelings, she would do it in a heartbeat.

Please, consider this carefully.

Twilight's Number one Assistant, Spike."

Dragonfly peered at Spike from behind the note. "Y...you..."

"Do you want to see the princess's response?"

Dragonfly nodded. Spike handed her the other letter, and she read it quickly.

"Dear Spike,

I personally don't have any reason to believe this would work, but I trust your judgement. I will not interfere with this, under one condition.

I want you to report on her progress, and, if she becomes friends with your friends, I'll consider letting her have a royal audience to discuss foreign relations.

I wish you the best of luck.

Princess Celestia."

Dragonfly lowered the note, her jaw drooping.

"So, will you try it?"

Dragonfly regained her composure, but then shook her head. "With the emotion spell, baby dragon, there's no way this would work."

"Then we'll figure out how to break the spell on the way. Please, Dragonfly!"

Dragonfly opened her mouth, then stalled. She sighed. "Alright. I'll go find an inn to stay at..."

"Thank you, Dragonfly!" Spike smiled. "I promise you, we will do this."

"Baby dragon, I hope you realize how risky this is."

"Friends are always worth the risk."

Dragonfly, for the first time that day, cracked a smile. "I guess you're right..."
> Dream 2: Identity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Chrysalis's eyes fluttered open. She was surrounded by a dense fog, and felt quite groggy.

"This is..."

She slowly rose to her hooves. She hadn't seen this in months. If her thoughts were correct...

A section of fog in front of her faded away to show the same rainy scene set at the edge of a forest she saw every time. But this time... there was a difference. 

She could actually see details now. It was an earth mare sitting there crying on the bench; she had a pastel yellow coat and a short, well-kept mane. And she seemed... fairly familiar.

Then the stallion walked in. He was a unicorn with piercing green eyes, a dark blue coat, and a short, stormy blue mane, sharply parted above his horn. His cutie mark was a full moon partially obscured by clouds...

"Midnight Dream..."

Chrysalis gritted her teeth. Was that the unicorn's name? If so, then something seriously ticked her off about him. She couldn't put her hoof on it... but...

"Are you okay, Honey?"

Chrysalis's eyes widened. She could hear them. This was the first time in her entire life she was ever able to hear the voices in this dream.

"I... I'm not sure..." The mare paused mid-sentence, then continued. "The orphanage is in severe danger of going under... It's just so stressful..."

Chrysalis started racking her brain for a connection. This all seemed so familiar...

"Come on, Honey, you know I'm willing to help out if you need it..."

The mare looked up and gave a weak smile. "You know I don't want to have to leech off of you..."

Chrysalis started felt a deep apprehension building up in her. Something bad was going to happen... but what...?

Midnight's horn began to glow as he set himself down in a familiar pose. "Then why don't we make it so that it isn't leeching anymore?" A ring floated in front of his face. "Honeysuckle, will you marry me?"

Chrysalis and Honeysuckle both gave a short gasp. 

Honeysuckle's tears began full force once again. "D... dang it, Midnight... you're supposed to propose to a mare in a romantic setting...!"

Midnight gave a light smile. "Well, I thought it might cheer you up a bit."

"No, no, no! Say no!" Chrysalis was suddenly in a panic. Something terrible was about to happen to Honeysuckle... she knew it...

"Yes... of course I'll marry you, Midnight..." Honeysuckle stood up, and kissed Midnight.

Midnight stood up from his pose, and they both began to walk away.

"Stop, Honeysuckle!" The words wouldn't come out of Chrysalis's throat.

They reached the edge of the fog.

"No, please!"

Midnight, in the lead, started to pass out of the frame.

"You'll...!"

Just as Midnight was about to walk out of sight, there was a sudden change. For a split second, his cutie mark disappeared, and his coat changed to black...

Chrysalis shot awake, with one word, of unknown origin, echoing in her head.

"Cocoon..."
> Chapter 12: Meeting, Redux
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spike stood up at the top of the hill overlooking the Everfree forest. Looking down, he saw a scene he hadn't seen in a long time. It brought butterflies to his stomach; nevertheless, he gave a huge grin. Was this going to be easy? No chance. Did he completely trust her? No way. But no matter what, it was going to be a great ride. He ran down the hill to meet her.

"Hey, Dragonfly!"

The mare sitting on the bench looked up at Spike as he skidded to a stop in front of her. Her expression betrayed no emotion, though look in her eyes gave off a slight sense of hope. "Hello, baby dragon," she said, her voice sounding flat and uninterested.

"We've got a lot to get done today," Spike started. "My friends are coming down here to meet you in a bit, so we gotta prepare you for that."

"Wh...what?" Dragonfly reeled a little bit. "They're coming here today? B...but...!"

"Oh, shush." Spike gave a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine. Don't worry. We just need to go over a few things."

"Don't patronize me, baby dragon." Spike sensed an attempt at anger from her voice, but it just came across at deadpan.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to." He hopped up on the bench next to her. "First of all, this morning, I sent a letter to Princess Celestia informing her of your return and of the fact that she shouldn't call for Shining and Cadence's super-magic-love-barrier-thing."

Dragonfly looked at him incredulously. "Are you sure that she won't call for it?"

Spike gave a smile that he hoped was convincing. "Of course!"

However, Dragonfly's statement had started a nasty thought in the back of his mind. What if the only reason that Celestia had agreed in her initial response to him was so that he'd tell her when Chrysalis returned? Spike felt the corner of his mouth twitch. Luckily, it seemed to go unnoticed by Dragonfly, for she looked away without a comment.

"Alright. What else, baby dragon?"

Spike put a claw to his chin. "Well first of all, try to be polite. Even if doesn't cause them to suspect anything of you, being rude to them won't get you any closer to being friends with them."

Dragonfly looked back at him. "Really, baby dragon? That's pretty obvious."

"Ya know, you could start by being at least a bit polite to me..." he pouted.

"You do know this won't work, baby dragon."

"What do you mean?" Spike looked at her, concerned.

"You know, baby dragon, being polite often comes from concern. Something I can't quite exhibit at the moment. In fact, I'd say that this entire gambit hinges on me being able to show sympathy, happiness, caring... you know, emotions. And that's something I can't do." She looked away once again.

Spike thought for a moment. He gave a slight nod, then spoke. "Dragonfly."

The moment she turned to look at him, he flicked her on the forehead.

She recoiled, then brought her head forehead into her hooves. "Ow!" She looked up at him from behind her hooves, a slight bit of anger and disbelief in her eyes. "Why would you do that, baby dragon?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "You need stop being so defeatist. No matter how bleak the situation, you only decrease your chances by saying it can't happen." He then looked at her and smiled. "In fact, I'd say that we have a good chance of making this work."

"As long as Celestia doesn't call for the barrier." He pushed the thought out of his head.

"If I need to stop being so defeatist, you need to stop being so naive." She sat up straight once again, and gave a slight sigh. "What else?"

Spike gave a small smile. "Besides that, all we really need to get straight is your cutie mark story."

Dragonfly looked at him in an almost suspicious manner. "Cutie mark story...?" She looked at her flank- imprinted there was an image of a single dragonfly. "I made my disguise, and there it was," she said, somewhat sarcastically.

Spike sighed. This was one of the most important parts... if she didn't get this... "One of the most important parts to anypony's identity is their cutie mark, and it's story. You need a good story as to how you got yours, and how it relates to your 'special talent'."

"Special talent, huh?" She looked away thoughtfully. "I don't know..."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Well, we could probably make it through today without one, but you'll have to make one up sooner or later."

Dragonfly sighed. "All right."

Spike smiled. This wasn't going terribly... but...

He could sense a certain nervousness in Dragonfly. She wasn't really betraying too much emotion, as was expected, but her statements tended to sound downtrodden more often than they did imposing or deadpan.

"Heya, Sugarcube!"

A voice cut into his thoughts. Looking to the hill he had come from, he saw an orange mare trotting down to meet them. "Hi, Applejack!"

She walked up to the bench and looked at Dragonfly. "And you must be Dragonfly! I'm Applejack, I work on the apple orchard in this town. Nice ta' meetcha'!" She held out a hoof in greeting.

Spike watched Dragonfly apprehensively lift her hoof. "Nice to meet you too..." she said, while taking Applejack's hoof.

Applejack gave Dragonfly's hoof a vigorous shake, leaving her a bit dazed. Seemingly oblivious to the shock she had caused Dragonfly, Applejack started asking questions. "So, what do ya' do?"

Dragonfly shook her head quickly, and then looked at Applejack. "What exactly do you mean?"

Applejack tilted her head and smiled. "I mean, what do ya' do for a livin'?"

Dragonfly sighed. "Nothing, really. I'm just a drifter."

Applejack frowned. "'Ah see..."

"Hey, guys!"

Just as Spike heard those words, a blue blur streaked overhead. He watched the figure fly up a ways, then turn into a nosedive. She landed with a solid thump in front of the bench, next to Applejack. The new arrival looked at Dragonfly. "Impressive, huh?"

"Yes..."

Rainbow Dash rose an eyebrow at her. "Jeez, you're about as enthusiastic as Fluttershy is sometimes." Spike noticed Dragonfly roll her eyes, but luckily, it seemed that Dash was too caught up in her own thoughts to notice. "The name's Rainbow Dash. Nice to meet you."

"Dragonfly. It's a pleasure." Despite her phrasing, Spike was sure he caught a certain ring of displeasure in her voice.

"You a good flier, Dragonfly?"

Dragonfly hesitated for a moment, then responded, "Pretty good, at least as far as I'm concerned."

"Cool. Then I can give you a tour of all the good flying spots later."

Dragonfly cringed slightly. Again, Rainbow Dash seemed not to notice. However, Applejack did; luckily, her only response was a light chuckle.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by a new voice. "Hello, Darlings!"

Spike looked down the path. Rarity and Fluttershy were walking towards them. Spike, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all exchanged their greetings with the new arrivals. Then, attention turned to Dragonfly.

"So, you must be Dragonfly. I'm Rarity." Rarity looked her up and down, and gave a slight look of disgust. "My, we're going to have to do something with your mane, darling."

"A...and I'm F...Fluttershy..." She was half-hiding behind Rarity.

"Oh, come now, Fluttershy, she won't bite."

Right on cue, Dragonfly faked a kind smile. Spike felt a wave of relief.

"HI!"

Spike and Dragonfly both shot off the bench from the voice behind them. Looking back, there was a cloud of confetti, and, who else; Pinkie Pie.

"Hello! Did I surprise you?" Pinkie Pie hopped up and down behind the bench excitedly.

"Yes, and nearly gave me a heart attack!" Dragonfly breathed a sigh of relief, putting a hoof to her chest.

"I'm Pinkie Pie!" She smiled, and made her way around the bench. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to get your welcome party ready for a couple of days... So that's why I decided to surprise you here! 'Cause you'll be expecting the party later."

"Th...thanks... I think...?" Dragonfly gave a clearly fake smile.

"I see you've already met everyone."

Spike saw Dragonfly lock up. He scratched his head. Why that reaction? It was only Twilight...

Dragonfly slowly turned to the final arrival. She had walked down the same hill Spike had.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I'm happy to officially welcome you to Ponyville."

Dragonfly nodded. "I'm Dragonfly. It's a pleasure."

Twilight smiled. "So, formalities out of the way, I'm curious. Where are you staying?"

Dragonfly gave another fake smile. "Oh, at an inn, for the time being."

Twilight frowned. "That's gotta be expensive for an extended stay."

"It's all I can do, really."

"U...um..." A shy voice sounded from the group of ponies. Twilight turned towards the source, Fluttershy, and responded.

"What's up, Fluttershy?"

"There's a small house that's empty by the edge of the forest. Maybe she could stay there?"

Twilight nodded. "I could talk to the mayor about that."

Spike smiled. This was going a lot better than he had expected. Dragonfly was a bit rude a few times, but nothing serious.

"Are you sure?" Dragonfly frowned. "I wouldn't want to impose..."

Spike quickly glanced at Dragonfly. There was a lot of guilt in her eyes...

"Oh, it's fine." Twilight gave a kind smile.

Spike saw Dragonfly give a slight shudder. What was up with her...?





Everypony started trickling away fairly quickly. Once the initial excitement of meeting a new pony faded away, they all found other things today. In almost no time at all, Dragonfly and Spike were alone once again.

Spike smiled at Dragonfly. "That was a nice start, you know?"

Dragonfly shook her head and frowned. "I guess."

"What's wrong?" Spike gave her a concerned look.

"Why do they trust me? They don't know me at all..." The guilt had returned to her eyes.

"Because they have no reason to distrust you." Spike smiled again. "For the same reason I trusted you initially."

Spike quickly put a hand to his mouth. A letter?

He gave a belch, and a scroll appeared in a wisp of fire, and dropped to the ground. Spike picked it up, unrolled it, and began to read it out loud.

"Dear Spike,

I'm happy to hear that your friend has returned. I shall, in this letter, put down the terms of what she needs to do to get her audience with me.
She will need to befriend Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, and show a significant change in her behavior and attitude from the wedding. Spike, I want you to report to me regularly on any progress she makes. I will inform you when I believe she has made the necessary progress.
I wish you both the best of luck.

Signed, 
Princess Celestia"

Spike gave a sigh of relief, then addressed Dragonfly. "Told you it would be fine."

"I'm still not sure, baby dragon." Dragonfly raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, hope before despair, right?" Spike smiled.

Dragonfly rolled her eyes. "You just made that up, didn't you?"

"Yep. But it doesn't make it any less true." He began to walk away.

Dragonfly nodded. "I guess not..." She glanced over to Spike. "Where are you going?"

"To bed. It's getting late." He raised a hand in farewell. "See ya tomorrow!"

"Goodbye, baby dragon." Spike heard a slight downcast tone in her voice, at least... he thought he did.

Though, considering her condition... it was probably just his imagination.
> Chapter 13: Extending Kindness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"She actually got the house for me?"

Spike nodded. "Of course. Twilight doesn't say things like that without meaning it. And she does kinda wield one of the Elements of Harmony. She has some leverage."

A slight smile almost crossed Dragonfly's face. Spike grinned in response. Things were seeming to go well, at the least. Twilight talked to the mayor yesterday afternoon after the little meet and greet they had had. Now sitting at the same bench they always did, they were preparing to visit Dragonfly's new home. He spoke once again. "We've just gotta go talk to Fluttershy. She knows where the house is."

Dragonfly sighed. "At least we're starting quiet."

Spike shook his head. "Don't be like that, Dragonfly. You were a bit rude yesterday."

She rolled her eyes. "Baby dragon, you know I can't change this."

Spike frowned. If she kept that attitude... "Just try, alright?"

"Fine!" she said exasperatedly.

"Alright then, let's go." With that, Spike began to lead Dragonfly in the direction of Fluttershy's house.





"Go ahead, Dragonfly."

"Why do I have to knock?"

Spike put his hand to his forehead. They were standing at Fluttershy's front door. "Because this is for you."

"Fiiiiiiiiiine." However, just as she lifted her hoof to strike the door, it opened.

"Ack!" She hopped back in shock. Fluttershy was standing in the doorway.

"I... heard you two talking. H...how can I help you?"

There was a moment of silence. Spike quickly nudged Dragonfly.

She quickly righted herself and began talking. "Twilight got permission for me to use the house you mentioned, and I was hoping you could show me the way there."

Fluttershy smiled. "Why of course!" Suddenly, her expression shifted to a slight frown. "But, it's a pretty big house. It'll feel pretty empty if it's just you."

Dragonfly gave a very fake smile. "It doesn't matter. I'm fine with that..." She stopped for a moment, then spoke again. "And I thought you said it was a small house yesterday."

"Well, I figured it would be easier to get the house for you if we referred to it as 'small'."

Spike could plainly see that Fluttershy was lost in thought. What was she...

Her eyes suddenly lit up. "How about a pet?"

Dragonfly gave a nervous chuckle. "No, really, it's fine..."

Fluttershy shook her head. "Really? Well, I'm sure you'll change your mind. But, for now, I guess we'll go to your new house."

As Fluttershy trotted out of her front door and began to lead the way, Spike took a moment to think. She seemed way too compliant with that answer, even by her standards...

Nevertheless, they began to follow Fluttershy away from her cottage.

"So, Dragonfly," she said, "Where are you from?"

"Oh, um..." Dragonfly took a second to answer. "Fillydelphia."

"Ooh, the city. I could never really live there... too many ponies."

"It wasn't really quite as crowded as you would think."

Spike gave a slight smile. Dragonfly was definitely getting a bit better at being nice towards the others. Her emotions were still incredibly fake, but he could hardly expect speedy progress on that.

Flutter smiled. "I still doubt I could live there. Anyway, we're actually pretty close to the house."

Dragonfly raised an eyebrow. "That was fast."

Fluttershy gave a nervous laugh. "The only reason I knew about it was because it was so close. Angel-bunny ran away there a couple times, as have few of my other animals when they were angry at me."

They stepped into a clearing, and at a glance, Spike immediately understood why Fluttershy had given up so easily earlier.

"F...Fluttershy, what is this?" Dragonfly stammered out, a slight tone of anger in her voice.

The house was there, as Fluttershy had claimed. What she hadn't told them about, however, was the large crowd of animals standing in front of it.

"Awww," Fluttershy said with a note of innocence in her voice, "it looks like some of my animals overheard us talking about one of them getting a new owner."

"Fluttershy, if you're expecting me to believe that you didn't plan this..."

Spike put a hand on Dragonfly's side, and whispered to her. "Calm down. It's no big deal; you can still say no if you really want to."

Dragonfly sighed and looked at the animals before them. "Th... there are quite a lot here, I must say..."

The large mass seemed to be split into two distinct groups, with the exception of one small brown creature who kept on wandering back and forth between them. Spike couldn't quite make out what it was right away because of its size and the distance he was away.

Fluttershy smiled. "Isn't it amazing? You wanna sing about it?"

Dragonfly gave her a bored stare. "Do I look like I wanna sing about it?"

Fluttershy frowned. "Well, I guess I'll start introducing you..."

She dejectedly flew over to the group on the left. She reached down to pick up a creature, and then flew back to Dragonfly.

"This is Sef. He's a hedgehog."

The little ball cradled in her arms opened up, and the little face that emerged from it gave a yawn. It was quite cute. At least, Spike thought so...

"Eh." Dragonfly, as always, seemed unimpressed.

"Alright, then..." Fluttershy flew back to the groups and set Sef down. The one out-of-place creature from before walked scampered over to him, but Sef quickly turned away and hobbled back to the group on the left, leaving the other creature by itself. From the way it was running, Spike reasoned, it was some type of squirrel, probably.

Fluttershy flew over to the group on the right, pointed to one of the animals, and returned, the animal following close behind.

"How about her? Her name's Lily- she's a hummingbird!"

The small, iridescent green creature started buzzing around Dragonfly's head. She tried to follow it with her eyes, but was quickly dizzied. 

"U...um... maybe something... a little less speedy..." She said, shaking her head to regain her composure.

"Hmm..." Fluttershy frowned, and shook her head at the hummingbird, who almost dejectedly flew back to her group. Again, the other creature scampered over, but Lily either didn't notice or was ignoring it, as she flew well above it and didn't give it a moment's notice.

Spike looked over at Dragonfly. She seemed to have all her attention focused on that one creature.

For what seemed like hours for Spike, Fluttershy kept on flying back and forth between the groups, bringing an animal over only for Dragonfly to reject it, while Dragonfly maintained her attention on the central animal. Eventually, Spike came to the conclusion that the animals on the left were all ground animals, while the ones on the right were flying animals.

It was around the time that Fluttershy finished introducing her incredibly exotically named red panda Evvyky that Dragonfly finally spoke up.

"Who is that little guy?"

There was a tone in her voice that Spike hadn't heard in a while. A certain warmth... like back the day before she had left...

"Hmm?" Fluttershy turned to the animal Dragonfly was staring at. "Oh, her?" She flew over and picked up the creature, and carried her back to Dragonfly. "This is Flo. She's a flying squirrel."

Flo looked up at Dragonfly hopefully. Dragonfly looked down at the creature, and then at Fluttershy. "The others seem to be ignoring her... A... flying squirrel, you said?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Yup. She can't actually fly, mind you. Only glide."

"I see..." Dragonfly looked down at Flo again. She then smiled, and spoke. "I'll take her."

Flo's eyes brightened up, and Fluttershy gave a slight smile. "Wonderful!"

Flo quickly hopped up on top of Dragonfly's head.

Fluttershy looked up at the little creature. "So, you want to protect her, huh?"

Dragonfly looked at Fluttershy, a bit surprised. "Y...yeah. I guess you could say that. I just can't stand when somepony looks down on somepony else. And that's what it looked like they were doing to her."

Fluttershy gave a light smile. "Yeah. You know, I definitely didn't get this from you at first, but you seem like you'd make a good mother-figure. Like you'd be good at taking care of others."

"Maybe." Dragonfly smiled and looked at the animals, who were all in turn looking at Fluttershy. "Those animals all rely on you pretty heavily, don't they?"

Fluttershy smiled. "Yep. And I do my best to care of them, always."

Dragonfly looked at her. "I... guess we have a bit more in common than I thought."

Fluttershy looked a little confused for a moment, but quickly shook it off. "I guess I'll lead the rest of my animals away, and I'll let you get settled in to your new house." She turned to the groups, and clapped her hooves, getting their attention. She looked back at Dragonfly. "See you later!" She then turned and flew away, with the groups following behind.

Spike looked at Dragonfly. Her serious attitude had returned. 

She spoke, without looking at him. "Well, baby dragon. I would like some time alone to get settled into my new house. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait, wait, wait, whoa." Spike looked at her defiantly. "I'm not leaving until you explain something to me."

Dragonfly looked down at him without turning her head. "What is that, baby dragon?"

"Your mood just softened when you started talking to Flutter about Flo. It was like the spell you had cast had worn off for a bit. What's with that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, baby dragon."

"Don't lie to me, Dragonfly!"

"I'm not lying, baby dragon!" Dragonfly looked at him angrily. "I felt no different than I ever had at any other point in the conversation." Dragonfly took a few steps towards the door of the house. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a house to explore. I'll see you tomorrow." She stepped up to the door, opened it, and walked in without another word.

"S...see ya..." Spike said dejectedly. He then turned and began to walk back home.





As Dragonfly stepped into her new home, Flo immediately jumped off of her head and took a glide towards the couch nearby. She took a look around. "So this is the living room..." There were a couple doors and a set of stairs; she could have started exploring, but she was quite exhausted from that little encounter. She plopped down next to her new pet.

"I'll take care of you, don't you worry," she said to Flo, who had already curled up to go to sleep.

Dragonfly took another look around the room. It was pretty empty, except for the couch and a small desk. She got up and walked over to the desk.

It had a few drawers, which, after investigation, turned out to be empty. On top of the desk was a large planning calendar. She was about to turn back to look around the house a bit more until she noticed a sheet of paper sticking out from under the calendar. She pulled it out.

At the top of the paper, the words "Certificate of Adoption" were emblazoned.

Chrysalis felt a little pang of homesickness. But... why...?

She shook her head, trying to push away the confusion, and walked off into one of the other rooms. Very conveniently, it was one of the bedrooms.

She trudged over to the bed and collapsed into it, falling into a dreamless sleep...