"Jeremy... Jeremy..."

I still was not used to the gentle approach. Of course, it has only been a couple of days. Maybe after a week, it would start feeling normal? Or earlier even, if I was lucky.

I let out a yawn as I began to peel my eyes open and stretched my arms outwards and upwards. I regretted that instantly as I ended up hitting wall that the bed was laid against. That short jolt of pain springing through me caused my eyes with much more energy than I previously thought I had.

I limply shook them in an attempt to ease the pain, giving out a mental curse at my own stupidity as I did so. Once I had finished, I rolled my eyes at my actions, sitting myself up on the mattress with a grunt as I turned my head to Halfy, who was currently, tiredly, stood at the bedside.

There was a small smile on her face, likely being of amusement from the idiocy she had just seen me commit, as she looked to me groggily.

"Afternoon, Halfy." I greeted as I swung my legs off the side of the mattress, putting myself in a seated position before standing myself up on the cold wooden floor. A chill passed by me as I was introduced to the sensation.

I really needed to get some shoes.

"Afternoon Jeremy." Halfy returned in her half-awake state, the small smile from before still on her face as she rubbed her eye. I simply gave Halfy a smile of my own, sidestepping across her and gesturing for the bed as if it were an invitation.

She took this in good spirits, sending me a thankful nod before she began to make her way onto the mattress. This time she actually covered herself with the blankets as she shifted in the bed, trying to make herself comfortable.

I gave a satisfied nod at this before I made my way to the bedroom door. I pulled it open as it let out a loud squeak before beginning to close it behind me.

"Sleep well." I said to Halfy as all that was left for the door to close was a small crack. Her eye closed as she moved a bit, tucking herself closer together. She gave a half-hearted 'mm-hm' in return, drawing another chuckle from me as I then completely closed the door behind me.

Soon after, I made my way down the wooden steps of the stairway, it's continual squeaking and groaning noises still deafening, but seeming to have lost a small portion of its intensity compared to yesterday. I shrugged it off and made my way down to the living room.

I quickly caught sight of Nightmare Moon, herself being lazily laid in the center of the room with both of her legs tucked beneath her and her head on the floor. Her ears twitched as the door was closed behind me and my feet tamped slightly on the wooden floor. She rose her head from it's previous position as she turned her gaze to me.

Upon seeing me, she gained a notable smile, lifting one of her hooves and giving me a short wave. I returned the gesture, smiling and waving as I made my way over to her.

"Good morrow, Sir Jeremy." She greeted, her voice already low as she spoke. "We take it Halfy has awoken you?" I nodded as I sat myself down in front of her, my legs crossed as I adjusted my seating. "She has fallen into her slumber, we presume?" I nodded again.

"Yeah, she just knocked out a few seconds ago." As I said this, Nightmare Moon's eyes widened slightly, surprising me as I noticed a tinge of concern to them.

"She hath lost conciousness?!"
Probably should've rephrased that, huh?

Restricting a laugh at Nightmare Moon's obvious misunderstanding, I shook my head and gestured for her to calm herself.

"No, its just an expression, Nightmare Moon. Basically, it means that she went to sleep."

She let out a sigh as I said this, relieved by the fact that Halfy was okay after all. Then, looked to me with a questioning gaze, a brow of hers raised high. "Why would one attempt to mislead another in such a way? Would it not be less confusing to simply speak of things as they were, rather than as they were similar."

Opening my mouth, I made to answer. At least, I tried but just ended up silent as I thought on what she said. She kind of had a point.

Unsure of how to respond, I settled on a shrug. Nightmare Moon then glanced downwards in thought as she tried to think up the reasoning on her own, letting out a soft hum as she did so. While she was doing this, I turned my attention to my other, though currently much less likely to converse, companion. She was still on the couch, sleeping, as per usual, in her curled up lump.

I could faintly see her chest rising and falling as she slept, the crack in her chitin now seeming to pronounce itself since Zecora had shown it to me, moving along with her breaths.

It was a... less than pleasant sight to think back on.

"Sir Jeremy?" I turned my head again as I heard my name. Nightmare Moon was looking at me rather oddly, apparently having pushed off the thought that bothered her from before. "Is all well?" I noticed a strange tone in her voice, though I didn't think much of it.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just making sure that Chrysalis is all right." The odd look on her face didn't pass as I said this, instead momentarily seeming to grow in intensity before, with a clear of her throat, it returned to its previous state.

"Yes, well... we take it that ye wouldst like for us to inform you of when an hour of time passeth?" Smiling, I gave her nod.

"That would be great. Thanks." I told her sincerely. "Until then though... How about we just, you know, talk?" The look on her face quickly changed as I said this, obtaining a much more cheery and upbeat sense to it.

"Oh, yes, we would very much like that!"

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

"Wow... And I thought that my dad was rough." I said as Nightmare Moon finished recounting her tale of the time she, as Princess Luna, was punished by King Solaire for pulling a prank during the royal court meeting.

Though she didn't go too far into detail as to what the prank actually was, she did tell me that it involved toilet paper, a banana peel, and couple of slices of cake. Really makes you think, doesn't it?

That's not the point though. According to what she told me, after the king had found out about what she had done, she was given a sort of time out. And by that, I mean a three month grounding with no sweets, play time, or anything of the like.

It didn't necessarily sound that bad but that was because I was an adult now. 23 years old, at that. I still knew that, for a kid, having to go an entire 3 months without being able to do anything fun would be like torture, Nightmare Moon's childish energy having to be diverted to more boring things like her studies.

Honestly, whatever that prank was, it must've been good. I wish that I had seen it.

"Reflecting on that time of past now, we suppose that our father did have fair reason to do so. Behavior of such kind from a royal, especially during such an important part of a monarch's daily schedule, was unbecoming of a princess, and therefore utterly inappropriate." She said this almost sounding matter-of-factly in her presentation. Anyone with half a sense of sight could probably see the glint in her eye though.

"So... worth it?" I asked. Almost instantly, her 'serious' demeanor dropped, a giggle escaping her as she looked to me.

"Very much so, yes." I figured as much. "What of you, Sir Jeremy? What of your kin?" She inquired.

I gave her a shrug as I began to recount to her of my family. "Well, it was like any other family, really. A mom, a dad, you know. I guess the odd one out though would be my older sister, Beatrice." Nightmare Moon rose a brow in interest at this.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You see, my sister was what most people back home would call a 'health nut'." Her raised brow of interest was turned to one of confusion as I told her this.

"A 'health nut'?"

"It's pretty much someone who's obsessed with trying to stay healthy. For instance, have you ever run five miles with nothing more than a tablespoon of granola to keep you going?" She shook her head. "Well, my sister has. And guess who was somehow talked into doing the same? I swear, I'd need to take two showers everyday just to get rid of the smell of sweat I'd get from dealing with her exercise-crazed self." I felt a chuckle escape me as I recalled some of my previous outings with my older sibling. "... Yeah. She was insane sometimes..."

"... You yearn for it again, do you not?" A more solemn sentiment to me now, I gave Nightmare Moon a nod.

"... Its been so long. I mean, I dont mind the ponies, or griffons, or even the dragons, but... I can't exactly go back, you know?" I didn't usually think about this subject. Over the last few months, I'd been more distracted by what had been going on: being in a dungeon, escaping, and all that. Though, I would be lying if the thought of being back in my world didn't come up every now and then while I was still living in Canterlot and with Zecora.

I had more than a few nights in the pubs close to my home drinking until I stopped thinking about it.

"We understand. Being so long away from others of your kind, and not knowing of when one would see them again... 'Tis similar to our time spent on the moon."

That was... a bit extreme, honestly. I didn't really think my experience even dealt with a fraction of the misery that hers had. But, I could get where she was coming from. All things considered, the three of us were more or less in the same boat. At some point we were isolated and alone, and nowadays we still kinda felt that way.

But there was a silver lining to it all.

"Its not all bad, at least. At least I have friends to keep me company here. Yourself included." She smiled as I said this, giving me a bow of her head.

"Thank you, Sir Jeremy."

"No problem, Nightmare Moon."

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

Nightmare Moon was really interested in what I had to say about my family. For the rest of the hour that we waited, I told her about some fun or just plain silly moments that I had with them. Most of them involved my sister in some way and she would listen intently as I went on.

Maybe she was trying to cheer me up from my homesickness, maybe she was genuinely interested, or maybe it was even a bit of both. Whatever the case, I can't I wasn't thankful for it.

"Next thing I know, we're both skydiving from over 5,000 feet or something like that, and sharing a parachute because she forgot to bring hers. The look on our parent's faces when we finally reached the ground though. Man, I never knew that the vein on my dad's head could bulge out that much."

Nightmare Moon barely restrained her laughter as I finished telling her about the incident I liked to call 'Pajama Skydiving', a hoof over her mouth and a smile on her face as her shoulders and chest shifted from her chortling.

"Hm. 'Twas certainly not a reasonable idea of yours." I chuckled at this.

"Hey, give me a break. My sister was blackmailing me to do it. I swear, you pass out one time at a friend's party, and she just doesn't let it go." Her smile still firmly on her face, she bemusedly raised a brow to me.

"Oh? And how did she obtain this information if this was at a friend's gathering?" My eyes widened slightly as she said this, a small warmth coming to my face as I realized that she saw through that small flaw in my tale.

"Uh... Well... Technically, it was my friend's party... Just... he hosted it in my house... Heh."

Okay, in retrospect, that was a bad decision to just go along with his ideas when my parents had specifically warned me not to have anyone over and when my sister was just upstairs. But, hey, I was young, and I was stupid. I'm sure that a lot of people made that kind of mistake.

Nightmare Moon looked at me smugly, giving me a roll of her eyes as I proved her skepticism to be correct. "Ah. That seems more accurate." The corners of my mouth lifted in amusement as he said this.

"Ha ha." I sounded out sarcastically, earning a chuckle from Nightmare Moon.

Suddenly, her ear twitched and her face turned blank as she gazed in my direction. "We believe that an hour has passed, Sir Jeremy."

It was a very sudden change and, honestly, it threw me off a bit.

"Oh, uh, thanks." I told her, unsure as to why she had just changed her attitude like she did.

I stood up from where I sat on the floor, giving a silent grunt as my spine gave a crack of approval. I stretched out my back as I began to make my way to the still sleeping Chrysalis.

Taking in a breath, I put an arm on her back and started to give her a small shake. "Chrysalis. Time to get up." I said simply, my voice at a higher volume than before in an effort to stir her.

She didn't respond, either still being asleep or purposely ignoring me. Rolling my eyes, I started to shake her even more, putting my other arm on her and talking even louder. "Chrysalis. Come on. Get up."

Still no response. Yeah, I definitely thought she was ignoring me. I groaned in annoyance and crossed my arms as I looked to her.

I wondered if she was angry about how I told her that she had to eat. I mean, sure, I didn't like the way I went about it either, but it was necessary. She had no reason to be mad, especially when I was doing it for her own good.

Those were my thoughts at the time...

Narrowing my eyes, I decided to see just just how far she was willing to take this little game of hers, a smirk forming on my face as an idea came to mind. "Alright Chrysalis, have it your way. But, if you don't 'wake up' with my approach, I'm sure Nightmare Moon would be more than willing to try hers."

At the mention of this, Nightmare Moon made her way next to me in what seemed like an instant, a smirk of her own on her face and an odd glint in her eyes. "Oh, why of course we would, Sir Jeremy."

At Nightmare Moon's willingness, I gave a smile, looking to Chrysalis again before I gave her one last warning. "Your choice Chrysalis. Either you get up, or Nightmare Moon 'wakes you up'."

Stubborn to the end though, Chrysalis still didn't respond. From what I could tell, she was dead set on doing this. Letting out a sigh, I gave Nightmare Moon a nod. A smile popped on her face and a glow to her horn as the familiar scene of a glass of water being transmuted above Chrysalis appeared before me.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." And with that, Nightmare Moon flipped the glass over in her magical grasp, the water rushing out as it was pulled down by gravity before ultimately splashing all over Chrysalis.

I flinched back as a small amount of the water splashed onto me, sending a chill through me as I noticed how cold it was.

It wasn't hard to guess why it bothered her so much.

"There. You gonna get up now?"

And here, ladies and gentlemen, is where I came to a horrifying realization. One that brought more of a chill to my blood than even that small splash of water did. She didn't even flinch. The only thing I heard was the sound of water dripping off of her and the coach. Nothing else from her. Not even a peep.

"... Chrysalis?" I looked to Nightmare Moon who gave me a shrug as she glanced between Chrysalis and I. "Chrysalis, come on. I think you proved your point..."

Putting my hand on her again, I started shaking her once more. "Chrysalis... Chrysalis?" As I was shaking her, I accidentally leaned her too far back, unable to react in time as she fell from the couch to the floor. She didn't move her arms out to stop herself. She didn't move herself back. She didn't even try to get back up. She just... went limp.

"Chrysalis?!" I kneeled down next to her started to shake her even more roughly, waiting for her to respond in some way. Even Nightmare Moon seemed be concerned at this point, looking to Chrysalis as similarly as I did. "Chrysalis, come on, this isn't funny!"

Grabbing hold of her, I moved Chrysalis onto her side, finally allowing me to get a look at her face. As I did though, I felt my stomach drop, just barely hearing Nightmare Moon as she gave a gasp at the blatantly obvious, and alarm worthy, feature that had appeared on Chrysalis. A large crack, similar to the one on her chitin, had spread from her upper chest up to her face, splitting as it reached her eye, before ending near her ear and maw.

"Chrysalis!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took me forever to get there.

My wings felt exhausted from the trip and that snack that I had bought hadn't exactly lasted long. I swore that when I saw Jeremy, he had better have been grateful for what I doing just to come visit him.

Then again, he'd always been glad to see me. Hmph, and why wouldn't he be? When he's friend with one of the cooler fliers in Equestria, and back home, I'd say that he should count himself lucky. Heh.

Anyhow, looking down as the huge white city finally came into view below, the castle easily towering over everything else, I felt a smile wring its way out of me as I pulled my wings down and put myself into a downwards tilt. I was already looking forwards to hangin' around with my old pal again.

Mess with some ponies, relax a bit, the usual business with the two of us. At least, before that zebra -- which at the time I was having some trouble remembering the name of. Heck, I'm pretty sure I thought it was 'Zecorna' at one point. Whatever - would end up telling him that it was time to call it a night. She'd always say that the animals in the Everfree would start to get more aggressive, or some stuff like that, at night. And I'd always tell her, 'Yeah, I know. Isn't that awesome?'

Course, she never really went for it. Always ending up convincing Jeremy to go get some sleep anyhow.

Now though, things were different. Last I had heard, he had gotten some work there at Canterlot, at some company called 'Hooves and Elbow Grease', along with his own place. When I had first heard this, I wanted to go visit him. Check out how he was doin' and maybe congratulate the sap, but I couldn't. I still had more to do, more to see before I could do that.

Now though, I had given myself a sort of vacation. Ya get tired of seeing new things, ya know? And sometimes, you just wanna appreciate the old.

I squinted as I noticed that there weren't any clear places for me to land. Even at this time of night, tons of those snobby ponies were everywhere. I gave a groan as I decided to just find that company that Jeremy was working in first. Then I'd deal with finding a place to land.

As to why I needed to go to his workplace? Well, I didn't really know where he lived, so much as where I thought he might live.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Look loser, the company was open 24 hours. I'd figure something out. Plus, if I had to wait even a second in that uptight place more than I had to, I think that I would have hurled.

Come to think of it, that might have been funny if I managed to do it from high enough and hit somepony...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Chrysalis! Wake up! Chrysalis!" I kept on shaking her as I yelled her name. Whatever idea I had towards being quiet was way in the back of my mind as I tried to get her to at least open her eyes/

I could tell she was still alive, thankfully, from the fact that she was still breathing. Still, it was faint, which didnt exactly help my nerves. Nightmare Moon, who had taken a position to Chrysalis' other side, put her hooves against me, her magic enveloping my arms and hands as she began to push me back despite my resistance.

"Sir Jeremy, you must cease!"

"What? Why the fuck would I stop? Chrysalis. Isn't. Moving! I can't just do nothing!" Nightmare Moon continued to push me away using her hooves and magic despite my protest, looking me dead in the eyes and narrowing her own.

"No, but what you are currently doing may as well be!" I froze as she said this, taking in a half breath while Nightmare Moon, seemingly satisfied with the distance she had put me at, released her magical grip on me. I didn't move an inch. "We will attempt to assess what the current issue at hoof is. In the meantime, Sir Jeremy, we wish for you to be calm! We can understand if ye are worried for her well being," she said, gesturing to Chrysalis, "but you mustn't allow yourself to fall into a panic!"

She was right, of course. I needed to calm down.

I nodded, albeit a little slowly, amd started to take in a few deep breaths, desperately trying to keep myself calm. Nightmare Moon seemed to gesture me through this, eventually giving me a nod as she decided me placid enough before shifting her attention to Chrysalis.

Her horn started to shimmer, soon followed by Chrysalis, as she began her ministrations. I hoped desperately that whatever was wrong with Chrysalis she'd find it and we could fix it, fast!

At that moment though, as I was finally able to put my breathing down in its pace, the sound of a squeaking door behind me quickly drew my attention. Halfy was at the stairway door, likely having been awoken from the noise we - more specifically I - had made when we realized that Chrysalis was unconscious. She was rubbing her eye, apparently not having noticed the scene before her yet, and letting out a yawn as she started to inquire as to what the ruckus was all about.

"What's going o-" That was as far as she got before she let out a gasp as she saw that Chrysalis was on the floor. Her eyes darted between her, Nightmare Moon, and I before she quickly ran her way over to us. Any signs of her exhaustion she had were shoved away in an instant. "W-what happened?!"

"We're not sure." I said, glancing to Chrysalis' closed eyes for a moment and giving a grimace. "She hasn't woken up yet, no matter what we've tried, and now there's another crack on her exoskeleton that's even bigger than the last one!" As I explained this, Halfy looked between Nightmare Moon and I, looking for some sort of explanation.

"H-how did this happen?" She asked. I shrugged, momentarily biting on the inside of my cheek as I looked to her.

"No idea. Nightmare Moon's trying to find out what the problem is now."

"How long will that take?" Before I could answer, Nightmare Moon intervened.

"No longer. We have found the issue." She said, her eyes, which had been previously closed in her focus, opening as she looked to us.

Well timed as per usual.

We returned the gaze intently, desperately wanting to know what she had seen. "And?" I asked. Her eyes seemed to narrow at this.

"Her energy levels have reached a dangerously low status. Even lower than when Miss Zecora had examined her." My and Halfy's eyes widened in disbelief at this. I was barely able to talk as I fumbled with my words.

"Wha- Bu- There's no way! How could her energy have gotten even lower? She hasn't moved from that couch since we first got here! I even fed her and everything on that... couch..." And slow realization came to mind. It was like a spider, creeping up around the back of my head, just barely making itself known as it silently stalked up my brain stem.

I didn't say a word as I made my way to the couch. I didn't say a word as I barely noticed the odd smell that emanated from cushions Chrysalis had been laying on. I didn't say a word when I lifted the cushion.

But when I saw a plates worth of there, crushed by the cushion as well as the weight of Chrysalis; The same food that I had given her yesterday, and had thought that she had eaten?

At that point, I most definitely said something.

"... MOTHER FU-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I pushed open the door to the company building that I had found among the many others of this town, I was barely able to duck as a wooden chair flew over me, barely avoiding getting a nasty bruise. I looked to the unicorn who was running after it with a glare, his horn glowing the same color as the chair as I quickly realized it was them that had very nearly clubbed me upside the head.

"Hey, watch it!" I yelled after him, scoffing as he ran his way around the corner and out of my sight. Lucky him too. Otherwise, I'd have had to kick some flank.

I shook my head as I made my way into the main room of the building. Two weird lookin ponies stood at the center of the room, a big blue piece of paper in front of the them while they looked it over. How one of them was able to see it so clearly considering he had sunglasses on indoors though, I'd never know.

I figured that they may be able to help me out there, seeing as they seemed more or less important, and made my way towards the two before loudly clearing my throat. They didn't seem to notice me though, which was dumb. So I cleared my throat again. Louder.

Their ears twitched, almost at the same time, as they turned away from the paper and looked to me, their eyes wide in surprise.

"Hey," I said coolly, "either of you two know where the boss around here is?" The two blinked at me for a moment before looking to each other, smiling and chuckling as they completely turned themselves to me. The blue paper behind them magically rolled up as they did.

"Top Suit and Even Out at your service, ma'am." Said the pony in sunglasses. I clicked my tongue against the inside of my beak at this, recognizing their names from what I read in a letter Jeremy had sent me once.

These were his bosses? I mean, c'mon, no wonder they hired him. These two didn't look like they could even build a birdhouse, let alone an actual building.

"... Yeahhhhh. Hey to you too."

"Is there anything we can help you with?" This time, it was the other pony that had spoken up.

"Not much. I'm not really looking to make a new home, or anything like that. What I am looking for though is a friend of mine. I heard that he works here."

The two's brows rose at this, the stupid smiles on their faces not even moving as they looked to me. "Oh? Well, I'm sure that we can help. Who are you looking for? We can try call them here as soon as possible, if you like."

Ugh. Seriously, this whole 'professional business nice guy' thing was obnoxious. And yeah, I could recognize it. You get scammed by enough folk while you're flying through minotaur country, you end up picking up on it a bit.

"He shouldn't be too hard to find. You know, big guy, walks on two legs, no fur?" Their eyes widened at this, and finally the smiles on their faces left. They didn't say anything though, which made me wonder if they had heard me or not. Or, just maybe, they somehow hadn't pieced together what I had talked about yet. Guess I can't say that I'd put it past 'em. "His name's Jeremy?" I offered, hoping that the two would finally be able to piece it together. If not, then I seriously doubt that I'll ever be hiring them if I ever want to settle down somewhere. "Well, is he here, or not?"

The two looked to each other again, this time looking nervous. "Uh, yes ma'am. Jeremy... did used to work here..."

The phrase 'used to' raised a lot of flags.

"What do you mean, 'used to'?" I asked, squinting as I looked at them.

"Um... Ma'am, we're sorry to tell you, but... Jeremy's... gone." The other pony looked down as he said this, drawing a raised eye from me.

"Gone?" I repeated, still not sure as to what they were talking about.

"He... passed away some time ago, ma'am... in a building fire." There was a second or two where I didn't say anything. I just kind of looked at the two, my brain going funky as what they said repeated over and over again.

But then I chuckled, much to their surprise.

"Heh. Funny. You almost got me there." I admitted, chuckling again as I replayed what they said in my mind for the umpteenth time. Their eyes widened as I said this, the two deciding to keep on with this joke of theirs a little longer.

"Ma'am, this isn't a joke. Jeremy died in a building fire months ago. That's why we're rebuilding the place now, in fact." Now I started to laugh, the 'statement' sounding even funnier the second time.

"Oho. Stop! You're killing me- Ha!"

"Ma'am, this is serious! We-" I stopped the two here, waving at them to be quiet for a moment as I wiped a tear that had built up from how hard I laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever." Turning away from them, I started to make my way out of the building again, having given up in asking them. I figured they pretty clearly didn't have what I was looking for. "You two keep on with that joke of yours all you like, but there's no way that Jeremy just up and died like that without me hearing about it!"

Seriously though, how dumb did they think I was? Did they really think that if Jeremy, the only human in all of Equestria, died, that no-one would know about it? Like, at all? C'mon, that's just stupid.

It would have been front page news for months where I had gone.

Anyways, if they weren't gonna help me out, I was sure that there was still a certain somepony else who would be more than willing. Provided she didn't try to kick me out again. And let me tell you, that zebra can kick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"SHE DIDN'T EAT! IS SHE NUT- No, let me rephrase that, she IS nuts! OF ALL THE STUPID, STUBBORN, AND HEAD-IN-OWN-ASSIEST THINGS, I JUST-... FUCK!" As I gave up with my momentary rant, having just sworn enough times to make a sailor ask me to wash my mouth out, I looked to Nightmare Moon and Halfy. The two were currently looking to me with a more than a little surprise, likely not having expected that kind of outburst from me.

I hadn't really expected it either. Kinda just... happened.

What did they expect though? This wasn't exactly the least frustrating thing that I've ever seen! The one time that she should listen to me the most and she just shrugged it off! And now she was unconscious! And... And... God damn it I get pissed off just thinking about it.

"... So what do we do?" I asked the two, hoping for them to have some sorts of options. Unfortunately though, they didn't, instead just silently glancing to one another, before returning their gazes to me.

So what the hell were we supposed to do? If we didn't act soon, Chrysalis might have... couldn't have gone this far just to lose it all now all because she wouldn't eat!

... And as those thoughts echoed through my head, alongside a bunch of others that didnt really seem to make sense at the time, I paid closer attention to them.

'All because she wouldn't eat'. That was it. That was what I had to do. Give her something to eat. Ah jesus christ, I can still remember how quickly I went from happy I was from figuring it out to the absolute dread I got.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes as I relayed this to Nightmare Moon and Halfy.

"... I've got an idea." I practically mumbled. This drew the attention of the two other mares in the room.

"What have ye formulated, Sir Jeremy?" Nightmare Moon asked, shortly followed by Halfy.

"Y-yeah. What did you think of?" As the two asked this, I felt myself flinch. Nonetheless, I made my way towards the two and Chrysalis, sitting myself in front of the unconscious changeling. I gulped a mouthful of spit as I looked down to her and took in a breath.

"... Alright, so three things, before I do what I'm about to do." Nightmare Moon and Halfy nodded as I held out a finger for each thing I mentioned. "One, this is only a guess that it'll work. If not... well, I'm sure you two can piece that together." They visibly cringed as I said this, but they nodded nonetheless.

"Two, I'm not sure how she'll... react to this once she wakes up, if it even works that is. So, no matter what, I want the two of you to stay back and let me handle it." Halfy nodded again within an instant, standing from her position next to Chrysalis and taking a few steps back. Nightmare Moon, however, seemed more hesitant. She shared a glance with me before, though reluctantly, she shook her head as well and followed shortly after Halfy.

"Finally... Three..." As I said this, I gave a glance to Chrysalis, blood starting to rush to my cheeks as I once again mentally went over what I was about to do. "If Zecora asks about this, please help me limit the amount of teasing she gives."

The two looked to me oddly, obviously unsure as to what I meant, but they nodded nonetheless. That gave me the final signal that I needed. I nodded to myself as well before I carefully reached for Chrysalis' head. I gripped it carefully and pulled it's weight upwards.

A small part of me noticed just how surprisingly soothing it was to the touch, and unique. Some parts of her chitin here were obviously just a bit softer and more malleable, likely to allow her facial movement in a wider range.

I struggled slightly, but eventually I got her to eye level with me. I looked at her closed and sickly eyes before letting out a mental sigh...

One thought came to mind. Only one.

"If this worked, you absolutely owe me one."

And with that, I clenched my eyes shut and mashed our lips together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a while, I thought I had dozed off again.

Empresses above, I felt just awful.

It was cold. Colder than even the crystal empire had ever been. My stomach hurt, as though I were being jabbed over and over again by a sharp rock.

It felt as though I was eating myself inside out. I wanted to move, to scream out my discomfort and anger, but I couldn't.

This was wrong. I'm a queen for goodness sake. I couldn't let myself show such weakness. But I felt so tired, and that cold that surrounded me was starting to feel so comforting.

For a moment, I was tempted to just let myself get some more rest.

... Then I felt something. It was faint, but it was so warm and delicious.

I could feel it. Every second it was there, it only became warmer and warmer.

I recognized this taste by now, though barely. It was love. I questioned it, but I was so much more focused on getting more of this that I just didn't care.

I could already feel my strength returning. Even more than before, in fact. I didn't want it to end. I could practically feel myself begging for it to keep going.

Me. Begging. That's how wonderful it was.

And as I felt the warm, flowing energy of love fill my body, I shuddered. My muscles started to respond to me again, along with more and more parts of my body. Eventually, I started to feel again. More importantly, I could feel the love I was absorbing.

It was so pure and untampered. Not like the lust that I would often have gotten mixed in with that of stallions, or, on occasion, mares, but pure love. The kind a pony would give a cared one or even a close personal belonging.

I could start to feel emotion around me once more and it felt phenominal to say the least. I could sense three beings around me. Two of them displayed large amounts of shock, surprise, and, oddly enough, a notable tinge of jealousy from one. The other? Their emotions were an absolute mess. They were all jumbled up, as if a foal had attempted to draw with crayon for the first time.

The warmth from before was starting to centralize in front of me. My power was growing, greatly, and I was more than happy to receive it. It was at this point though that I realized that my eyes were still closed. As much as I wanted to focus on this amazing sensation, and nothing more, I found myself wanting to see where it was coming from.

So, I let out a small, barely noticeable breath through my nose, mostly since my mouth wouldn't respond. Then, I slowly began to open my eyes.

The sight before me was... wonderful. Interesting.

Unexpected. You hear me? Unexpected.

My eyes widened as I caught sight of the human, Jeremy. His face was no more than centimeters from mine, his eyes clenched shut and a large shade of red spread throughout his entire face. Something more was happening though. Something that, despite my best attempts to make myself think would be otherwise, I knew was occurring.

His hands were holding onto my head, carefully keeping me up as I felt a warmth against my lips. His.

Without even a second thought, I felt my eyes narrow as a strong amount of magic flowed to my horn, surrounding him and, within seconds, pushing him away from me. I pinned him to the ceiling. As I did, he let out a grunt, both from surprise and from the impact as I stood from where I had been and desperately tried to wipe my mouth off with my hoof. Whatever remained.

"What are you doing?!" I interrogated, narrowing my eyes as I looked up to him. To say that I was absolutely furious would be an understatement.

"Oh... You know... saving your life... being painfully crushed into a ceiling... Prioritize whichever you like?" Narrowing my eyes even further, I let out a growl as I eased on the force I used behind my magic. Jeremy quickly let out a sigh as I did so. "Great, thanks." He said, opening his eyes as he looked down to me. "Now, if we could just- Nightmare Moon, I said to let me handle it!" He suddenly exclaimed.

Raising a brow at this, I suddenly became aware of the protective sense of anger behind me, turning my head as I quickly caught sight of a narrow eyed shadow alicorn. Her horn glowed eerily, threateningly, as she pointed it towards me. Furthermore, her wings were flared to their full length. "Sir Jeremy, she is harming you! We cannot allow for this to-"

"She just woke up to an... awkward situation, Nightmare Moon. Just let me explain this to her, and everything will be fine." Nightmare Moon continued her display for a short while longer, her mental conflict being clear to me before, with a sigh, she dropped her stance. There was a sense of bitterness about her as she did so. The other mare, Halfy, was just looking on with concern now, a sense of relief flowing through her as well.

Turning back to Jeremy, I sat myself down, still not yet allowing him to the ground as I glared to him. "... This had better be good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... And that's what happened." As I finished explaining this to her, the red that had long been on my face now finally faded. The same had happened with the faint shade that had been on hers, but I wasnt exactly inclined to tell her about it at the moment, was I? She looked to me silently, not seeming to know what to say as she instead just kept me stapled to the ceiling, her jagged horn glowing a green and black magical energy.

It was a little bitter-sweet to see the she had her magic back along with, what I could only assumed, would likely be her other abilities. For instance, having her magic back? Good. Figuring that out by using it on me? Not so good. Being able to sense emotions and lies again? Both good, and bad. Mostly bad for me though. Even the cracks in her exoskeleton had started to close up.

"... So, are you gonna let me down, or..." I trailed off here, Chrysalis looking to me with narrowed eyes as I said this.

"So you weren't doing that because of how 'helpless' I was?" She asked, myself having to carefully think that one through.

"... That sounds like a loaded question." She let out a growl at this. "Look, Chrysalis, I was only doing it so I could help you, I swear. You should get that I'm telling the truth by now. You can check if you want!" Chrysalis continued to keep me where I was, glaring at me for another moment before, with a groan, she lowered me back down. And by that I mean she floated me over the couch and let me fall.

Before I could drop even a couple of inches though, I felt one magical grip be released from me before I was then held by another. The latter of the two lowered me slowly to the ground until I managed to get to my feet. Glancing around the room, I noticed that Nightmare Moon's horn was glowing and gave her a thankful nod, to which she responded with a curt nod of her own.

"Let me make this clear to you..." I turned to where Chrysalis' voice came from only to see that she was a few inches away from me. A sight that, concerningly, I was now a bit more familiar with. I leaned myself back slightly to gain some distance from her. "Don't ever do something like that, without my permission, again! Otherwise, there will be an issue. Understood?"

Not really much of a thank you ,but hey, at least she was alright.

Course, its not like I didn't notice what she said.

"Without your permission? The hell does that mea-"

"It means that, despite my disgust, I did still manage to feed once again. And, to put it frankly, there is no way I am going to starve myself from it again." It wasn't hard to figure out what she was implying. And by the looks of it, Nightmare Moon and Halfy had figured it out too.

"So... So basically... I'm going to have to feed you from now on? Really?"

"Oh, so the human has a brain after all." She said sarcastically. "Also, I've got a lot of catching up to do in our arguments. Especially now that I have most my strength back. So, don't expect it to be easy anymore."

That I was actually fine with. A smirk came to my face as she said this. I guess I ended up finding the ridiculous of the whole situation to be funny? I crossed my arms and chuckled, trying to follow after her.

"Oh, believe me, it is on. I've already got some ide-" My eyes widened as everything in me just... shut down for a moment, is the best way I could describe it. I stumbled, barely able to catch myself before an extremely powerful dizzy spell that came like a punch to the face. I kneeled on the ground, my breath suddenly shallow and my mind feeling misty.

"Sir Jeremy!" I heard Nightmare Moon call out as she made her way next to me, her hooves clopping against the floor as she did so. I felt one of her forehooves and wings place themselves on my back as she sat herself down next to me, her other in front of me as she helped me keep balance.

Halfy came soon after, looking directly at me, her eye full of concerns. "A-are you okay?" She asked. I gave a small nod, just barely managing to give an answer through my labored pants.

"Y-yeah... Just... really dizzy for some... reason." Through my breaths, and the loud sound of my heart beating against my ears, I heard Chrysalis hum as she looked to me.

"Well, what did you expect. Absorbing one's love isn't exactly pleasant for those who it's used on." I noticed Nightmare Moon move her gaze to Chrysalis, giving her a sharp glare. "Oh relax. He'll be fine in a few short moments. Until then... why don't you clean the floor while you're down there?"

Chuckling, I looked up to her with a smirk. "Sure... Just as soon as you... clean up the mess you left behind on the couch..." Her eyes narrowed as I said this, herself seeming rather annoyed. "And I'd get to it too... I think those berries are starting to go bad... Heh"

Seriously, I felt absolutely terrible. It didnt help that my heart was beating so fast. Problem was though, I wasn't exactly sure if it was because of how tired I suddenly was or... something else.

... God I wish I had a drawing of that moment.

(Turns out there is now. :D Courtesy of Kertvirtas)

(If anyone else is willing to take a crack at it, I'm more than willing to give them credit and show their drawing as well. :D)

Hiya.