"H-hello?" As Halfy cautiously greeted whomever it was that was currently beyond the door, I felt my breath hitch. A sense of panic and insecurity started to well up inside me, but I held it down as much as I could.

If, somehow, the guard actually had found us, then this would probably be it. We would be getting sent back to the Canterlot dungeons, or worse. There was no way for us to get out of this situation as much as I would hope. And, worse yet, Halfy would probably get locked up as well, if only by her association with us.

The seconds ticked by as Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon and I carefully watched the door, Halfy continuing to peek her head through and addressing the individual before her. We listened carefully, waiting for some sort of indicator as to whom it may have been behind the door.

What I heard was a familiar rhyming scheme.

"Ah, good greeting. I do so hope that the purpose of this visit, I am not defeating." I involuntarily let out the breath that I had been holding as I heard the voice of Zecora through the door. I felt myself flop against the wall behind me, slightly sliding myself downwards in relief.

Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, thought they didn't share the exact same reaction, also showed their own signs of relief as they realized it to be Zecora who had come.

"Oh, Zecora! It's no problem at all! Come in, please." Halfy invited, now fully opening the door and revealing my favorite striped friend. She ushered her into the home, Zecora returning the gesture with a thankful nod as the night's faint glow and fresh breeze followed into the room quickly behind her. As she entered, I raised my hand up and gave her a curt wave, quickly drawing her attention as Halfy closed the door behind her.

"Good to see you again, Zecora!" I called cheerfully. Looking towards me with a slight start, which had likely been caused by my abruptness, Zecora smiled as she glanced between the three of us. Nightmare Moon and I responding with smiles of our own while Chrysalis gave a lazy groan.

"It seems that I am to give greetings to all of you as well. Of course doing so happily, if you could not tell." Nightmare Moon stood as she made her way over to Zecora. She had wanted to give a more proper greeting to her.

"It is with great joy that we see you as well, Miss Zecora. Your past occurrence hath certainly brought forth a certain glee towards whenever you chooses to see us, and thus, ye arth more than welcome as a result!" I was pretty sure that all that Zecora was looking for was a simple 'hello', rather than that long winded greeting. Still, I guess that I should be glad that she was willing to say such nice things about Zecora. The two had really hit it off when they first met... A little after the whole 'mini-panic attack' that Zecora had when I had first brought the two into her house with me.

"I thank you, Nightmare Moon, for being willing to show such interaction. Have your current accommodations treated you with satisfaction?" Nightmare Moon happily nodded at this, practically sprinting her way next to Halfy as she brought a hoof around her and pulled her against her side once again. Halfy could only let out another squeak at this.

"Halfy hath treated us very kindly in our short stay here. Much like she hath Sir Jeremy and the changeling, Chrysalis." She said, gesturing to Chrysalis and I as she gave a chummy smile down to Halfy, who timidly returned her own.

It was only then that I realized something. Nightmare Moon called me 'Sir Jeremy', and Zecora, 'Miss Zecora', but she never used those kinds of titles with Chrysalis or Halfy. I had a very real concern that she thought we were married or something. I had told her that we were just old friends, but, I figured maybe she had misinterpreted it somehow. I made a mental note to ask her about that whenever I could. I mean, no offense to Zecora, but I would rather not be seen as being in that kind of relationship with her.

"That is very good to hear. I am glad that you think of her so dear." Zecora said, holding back a laugh or two of her own as she looked on at the sight of Nightmare Moon holding onto her new friend. Composing herself, if only a little, Zecora turned her head to me next.

"And what of you, Jeremy? How do you think of your stay to be?" I chuckled as I shifted in my seat.

"Well, aside from the fact that it's only been a day, I'd say things are going well. Like Nightmare Moon said, kind of, Halfy's been a really nice host. She even willingly gave me her bed to sleep in for the day." At this, Zecora's brow raised, a small, almost knowing, smile coming to her face as she glanced to Halfy.

"Oh? Is that so?" Likely from the extra attention, Halfy's face flushed by a small bit. Zecora withheld a chuckle as she turned and gave me a small nod, shifting her gaze to Chrysalis shortly after.

"And for-"

"Let me get this straight," Chrysalis interrupted, "you knew about the house here, and about the pony that lived in it, but, rather than just tell us, you sent us off with no pretense as to what reason we had to do so? I mean, gods forbid that we ruined that little game of yours!" Zecora flinched as Chrysalis ranted, her eyes narrowed as she continued to give my old friend hell.

Not wanting this to go any further, which I knew that Chrysalis would likely attempt to take it, I quickly jumped in. "Chrysalis, take it easy. I'm sure she had her reasons. Besides, it ended up working out in the end, right?" This seemed to fall on deaf ears though.

"Aside from the timber wolves that had nearly mauled us, or the fact that I can barely even stand because of it?!" At this, both Halfy's and Zecora's eyes widened while I just grew silent as the memory of the event flashed through my mind.

"T-timber Wolves?" Halfy asked, as if she was attempting to assess if she had heard her correctly.

"This is something that, admittedly, I did not forsee." Zecora confessed, a sense of regret audible in her voice. "Perhaps, you can tell me more of this, over some tea?"

Nightmare Moon, who had been blankly - almost boringly - listening as Chrysalis went on, snapped to attention as she heard this. She beamed at the mention of the word 'tea'.

"Oh, it would be of great thankfulness were you to do so, Miss Zecora! We are also certain it would be a most grand experience for our hostess and fellow party as well!" She exclaimed, adding in the rest of us into her excited glee. I barely held back a chuckle as she did this, especially when she had so dramatically raised her hoof into the air.

"I will begin immediately. Halfy, would you be kind enough to assist me?"

"Oh, um, of course." Managing her way out of Nightmare Moon's grip, much to her slight disappointment, Halfy followed after Zecora as the two made their way into the small kitchen on the other side of the room. The two were still clearly visible over the counter, so Chrysalis continued to give Zecora a death glare, though she didn't seem to notice. Nightmare Moon seemed to be giddily bouncing in her seat, happily awaiting the tea that she had grown so fond of. As for me, I just watched on as this happened, crossing my arms as a short thought came to mind.

"... This seems like something I would have seen out of a sitcom back home." It was a pretty random thought, I know, but, it was oddly comforting remembering something about home. When you look at it, it kind of does make sense.

You have your sarcastic and normally grumpy yet still lovable member of the group. Chrysalis. Your slightly out of it and childish, but still well-meaning and kind person, or pony. Nightmare Moon. The timid, relatively unknown, but nice person. Halfy. And the oddball, who, despite this, still manages to bring a fun sense to the show. Zecora. Though, what would that make me?

... Oh god, only now do I realize that I was the obligatory member of the opposite gender. Oof, that's a bit hard-hitting.

-------------------------------------

"And if you could turn your head to your right, if only ever so slight." Chrysalis gave out a grumble as she acquiesced to Zecora's request, turning her head as Zecora's hoof guided her.

It had been half an hour now since Zecora had first arrived. She had, as she said she would, made enough tea for everypony and I. So, at the moment, we all had our own cup's worth. As for Zecora's and Chrysalis' though, they remained relatively untouched, instead sat next to one another off to the side of the couch where Zecora was currently looking over Chrysalis.

Like I had guessed, Chrysalis had given Zecora, and anyone else who had been foolish enough to make their way into the conversation, hell, chewing her out a few things. Her 'near untimely death' as well as her lost energy being among them. Honestly, throughout that whole episode of hers, I and Nightmare Moon had constantly been looking on with similar thoughts. She wasn't the only one there when those Timber Wolves had first chased us, yet she didn't see us complaining. She really had to learn to let things go. Or at the very least, try not to take things so seriously. Whichever came first, I supposed.

It had been a little after Chrysalis had run out of steam to continue her berating that Zecora had gotten up from her seat without a word and made her way over to her. Next thing we knew, she was basically giving her an examination, 'ensuring that her lack of nutrition hadn't put her in too bad of a state', as she said. Nightmare Moon would occasionally add in her own bit of assistance from time to time, whenever she wasn't too preoccupied enjoying her tea, magically looking over some of Chrysalis' vitals and energy upon Zecora's request. Even more often though, she would forcefully position her when her stubborn attitude would make things more difficult for Zecora. She more likely enjoyed the latter of the two.

Aside from this going on, however, the rest of us weren't really doing anything in particular, just sitting around and sipping our tea. Lord knows I tried to build up a conversation of some sort though.

"... Hey Zecora?" I asked, the zebra giving me a short nod of her attention as she continued to look over a grumpy Chrysalis. "I've been wondering. How come you never did tell me about Halfy? I thought you were the only one who lived in the Everfree."

"Indeed, accompanied by another pony, I was not. That is, until shortly after you had left for Canterlot." Raising a brow at her statement, Zecora continued on. "She came to me within the first week, saying that it was a far off shelter that she did seek."

Yup, apparently I just barely missed her after moving out.

Shifting my gaze to Halfy, who had just finished taking another small sip of tea from her cup, I felt another question pop into mind. "Really? Well, Halfy, why did you feel the need to come here to the Everfree, of all places? And, while we're on that subject, where exactly did you live before?" Halfy looked to me, almost in surprise of my question.

"I... just felt like I needed to get away from it all, as it were. I used to live in Ponyville, before I came here."

That was a bit odd to me. It was rare for anyone to actively move out of Ponyville. Something about the community being very tightly-knit.

"Oh? How come I never saw you there before? I had come to town more than often enough while I was with Zecora to know practically everypony."

"I didn't go outside a lot. I-I never even saw you when you would come over." That explained why I never saw her, and why she didn't recognize me when I first met her. The only human in Equestria isn't exactly something that someone could easily forget about.

I took another sip of tea as I noticed Nightmare Moon give her own questioning look as she looked to Halfy, likely having been inspired by the small conversation that was unfolding to involve herself. Admittedly though, I was screaming in my head in the hopes that, whatever question she was thinking of, it wouldn't have to do with the obvious.

In this case, Halfy's eye.

It just didn't seem like the kind of thing I should ask about, really, and I had made sure to push the subject out of my mind as much as I could by now. Besides, there's not really anyway for me to go about it.

'Oh, hey, by the way, could you tell me about why you wear a bandage over your right eye? If its something you'd rather not say, I'm sorry, and I hope you can forgive me'.

Doesn't exactly tow the line between respectful and personal all that easily, does it?

"Halfy, if we may ask you," Nightmare Moon began, myself bracing slightly, "what is your special talent?"

Look, obviously I look back at it and feel stupid for worrying about that, but I was still recovering from malnutrition, alright?! Cut me some slack.

It was a pretty good question too. I mean, I had actually been curious about Halfy's cutie mark for a while now, though I hadn't really gotten around to asking her about it.

Two pony silhouettes, each with different colored hearts in their chest. It was definitely different from a lot of other cutie marks I had seen.

"I-it's silly." Halfy answered, looking down to her drink as a small tint of red came to her face. I blinked at this, very clearly remembering the mare in town whose cutie mark was a bunch of balloons because she was really good at throwing parties. I think the definition of 'silly' is very different in this world than it was in mine.

Side note: That pony was terrifying. She planned and readied an entire surprise party for me and Zecora in the time we visited the market to get some herbs. We were gone for five minutes.

"Oh, c'mon Halfy. Give yourself some more credit than that. It's your special talent, after all, and whatever it is, I don't see any reason to judge you for it. Right girls?" Zecora and Nightmare Moon both nodded in agreement at this, Nightmare Moon doing so more energetically while Zecora did so distractedly. Zecora was still busy checking Chrysalis' condition, now lightly tapping the exoskeleton on her sides. As for Chrysalis, she stayed silent at this, instead skeptically raising a brow as she looked to us.

Halfy's gaze shifting between her tea, Nightmare Moon, and I, as she shuffled herself slightly in what I guessed to be a sense of discomfort.

"... I... I can see the good in other ponies..." She eventually relented, hesitatingly having finally given us her answer as we looked to her in what I would say to be a reasonable amount of curiosity and surprise.

"Ye... are able to 'see good in other ponies'?"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Well, its... not really easy for me to explain. You see, I got my cutie mark when I was young. Really young. From what my mom told me, I was barely able to talk when, one day, this new pony had come to town. He was really nice to everypony, the kind that you would just want to get along with. But, whenever he would come anywhere near me, I would start to cry. I wouldn't stop until he would leave." Nightmare Moon and I - and even Chrysalis, to an extent - listened intently as she went on, seeming to gain a reminiscent expression as she looked blankly at her reflection in her tea.

"It wasn't until a few days after the pony had come to town that he was arrested for trying to steal from some of the local market stands. He had apparently come to Ponyville because he thought that, since it was a smaller town, it would be easier for him to steal from everypony. Luckily though, a pony was out for a walk when they saw him and he was quickly taken to city hall before he was later kicked out of Ponyville."

I couldn't help but to wonder if that was literal. There was a lot of weird stuff going on in that town.

"The moment word got out that he had been caught, mom just said that I... got my cutie mark. It hasn't really been any different since then. Even now, I can still tell if a pony is good or bad, just by looking at them."

"Really? Including us?" Chrysalis suddenly asked, apparently having suddenly taken interest in the subject.

"Y-yes, actually. That's why I invited you all to stay here. The three of you looked like you had really kind hearts, despite what you told me about the guard chasing you, and, well, I c-couldn't live with myself if I knew that I had let three good ponies fend for themselves, especially here of all places. So I..." She trailed off here, though she didn't really have any need to say anything further.

"That is, without a doubt, one of the coolest talents I've ever heard of." I practically sputtered. Halfy's eye widened as she looked up from her tea to me.

"R-really?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, granted, I wouldn't really say that you were accurate when you said that the three of us were kind," I joked, glancing to Chrysalis while she just rolled her eyes, "but still, to be able to see the good in others? That's not something you come by every other day."

"Sir Jeremy hath many a good reason towards his statement." Nightmare Moon added in supportingly. "Your talent easily proves to be great one. To see one's true heart with a simple glance, 'tis astounding!" Though Halfy bashfully turned her head away at this, the smile on her face was undeniable.

"Yes, well, when you can tell when a pony is lying or not, or start reading emotions, then we can ta- Ow!" Chrysalis arrogant rambling was brought to an abrupt stop as she let out a cry of pain, the three of us turning our heads to her in an instant. She was glaring at Zecora which, lets face it, wouldn't be any different than usual. Zecora though had a much more serious look on her face, her gaze on something I couldn't really see. "What exactly are you doi-"

"Despite what you speak of, how long have you gone without feeding on love?" Some context here. Zecora had only been deadly serious around me a handful of times. One of those times was back when I introduced her to Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis. This was another.

Raising a brow, I stood myself up and made my way towards the two, my cup of tea carefully balanced in my grip as I did so.

"I managed to find a small amount a few days ago. Aside from that, its been... how long ago was the invasion on Canterlot again?" She scoffed. Making my way next to the two, and attracting an annoyed sigh from Chrysalis in doing so, I looked to Zecora questioningly.

"What's wrong?" Rather than respond directly though, Zecora just pointed. I followed where her hoof pointed and almost choked on my tea. Running along Chrysalis' side was a large crack, one that I hadn't really noticed before. The area around it seemed almost dried out, and colored a much paler black than the rest of Chrysalis' exoskeleton.

"Oh crap..." I muttered, not really being able to say much else about this.

I was always a man of many words, even back there.

"How the hell did that happen?" I asked.

Many clever and absolutely unique words, I can assure you.

"It is due to the severeness of her love lacking nutrition. The cracking of her chitin has come into fruition." I flinched at this. Halfy was looking on with a slightly concerned expression, from what I could barely see, and Nightmare Moon was... well, she was looking. "If her strength was to waver by even a small amount, she would have many more health related obstacles to surmount."

Like I had said back then, 'oh crap'.

"Christ, I didn't know she was that bad." Her eyes widened for a moment before, just as quickly, they narrowed again as she looked to me.

"That's because I'm not." Chrysalis snapped. "I'm perfectly fine. A little winded, sure, but I am not some 'helpless damsel', or anything of the sort."

Nobody had really called her that, but I guess she had assumed we were thinking less of her on her own. As I glanced to her with a viable wave of skepticism and disbelief, I began to lift my cup of tea to my mouth, asking Zecora a question just before doing so.

"Sure you are. Anyways, what do you recommend Zecora?" I asked, closing my eyes as I took another sip of my drink. Truthfully though, no force in the universe could have prepared me for what she had said next.

"Considering the state to which I would confer, the best possible thing would be for you to... Kiss her." See, this time, I choked on my drink. Whatever had made its way down my throat proceeded to decide that my lungs were a much vacation spot this time of year, so I had to politely provide it with a notification that all of the available rooms were currently reserved by these folk called 'oxygen'.

I.E., I started to cough like mad as both Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon let out a simultaneous and rather loud 'WHAT?', glancing to one another before returning their gazes to Zecora.

As for me, I eventually managed to recover from my coughing fit. I put one of my hands on the seat rests to the couch, the one that laid by Chrysalis' outstretched hind legs, as I turned to Zecora. "I-I'm sorry," I began, another cough partially having interrupted me, "did you just tell me to 'kiss her'?!" My face was burning red from the very subject and Chrysalis shared her own flush as well, though of a much lighter variety.

Seemingly unphased by my reaction, Zecora gave me a simple nod. "Chrysalis is in need of love in great supply, and I believed that you would be willing to comply." Placing my own glass of tea down on the floor so that I wouldn't spill it, or be tempted to take another drink before this situation was defused, my eyes widened as I looked between the blank faced Zecora and the narrow eyed Chrysalis. I gave the motion for a time out.

"Woah, look, I care about Chrysalis, I really do, but I only think of her as a friend. In other words, even if I were to do that-"

"Which you won't!" Chrysalis quickly added, myself only giving her a quick look of annoyance before continuing on.

"I wouldn't really be giving her anything." Zecora seemed to have a counter ready for this though.

"It would not be necessary for you to love her. Changelings are able to, through lip contact, involuntarily force the love out of another." Well, add that to the list of things I didn't know. Back to business though.

"Nonetheless, I am not going to demean myself through kissing the likes of him, wether it is a 'friend assisting a friend', or otherwise." I opened my mouth to thank her for siding with me before I slowly began to realize what she had just said.

"... I'm not sure whether to thank you, insult you, or just plain be offended."

"Take your pick for all I care, I am not kissing you." As Zecora looked on at our bickering she let out a sigh, lowering herself from the couch and picking up her long forgotten cup of tea, taking a long sip before drawing her attention back to us.

"I am only telling you both of what is the best option. As to what you do with it, it is for your adoption." She said, Chrysalis and I glancing at one another again before looking away from one another at an even quicker speed, the red on our faces growing even greater.

Nightmare Moon, who had remained relatively quiet aside from her earlier outburst, quickly made herself known. "Miss Zecora," she said, "while we do very much appreciate your willfulness to assist us at such times, both now and with Sir Jeremy and our issue of shelter, we must... have some thought, on this option of yours."

For a moment, even Chrysalis seemed thankful of Nightmare Moon at this.

Giving her a nod of understanding, Zecora glanced out of one of cracks in the wall of the house. She continued to do so for quite some time, attracting looks of confusion from most of us, aside from Nightmare Moon who looked on with interest, as she then took one final sip of her tea.

"... It would seem that I need to be going. It would be best if I return to my home before the dark allows for the worst of the Everfree to begin showing." Picking up her cup using her mouth, Zecora made her way into the kitchen and placed it on a nearby counter before making her way back into the living room again. She give each of us a farewell before she then made her way to the door of the house. Just before she had completely left though, she had one more thing to say.

"Do remember what I told you both over your continued strife. Chrysalis, my old friend Jeremy, it could mean the difference between death and life." And, just like that, the door was brought to a close behind her, giving a low thump as it hit against it's wooden hinges.

"... If she thinks I'm going to let you even think about kissing me, she's more foalish than Celestia."

"Glad we can come to an agreement." I thought to myself with a slight bout of sarcasm as I gave the changeling queen a short glare. Little did I know though, that I wasn't the only one thinking this.

Next Chapter: Chapter 15: A Short Break From Monotony [Here Again] Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 44 Minutes