This was... a pleasant change of pace. Look, it wasn't often that Chrysalis would be in a good mood. I think that's obvious by now. On the few occasions that she would have a less negative attitude though? It would always be pleasant. Very pleasant. I'm sure at one point I would have wondered why I always thought that way before, but now?

Meh, I guess it doesn't really matter. Besides, something I was more focused on at the moment, aside from the currently good-natured Chrysalis, was the seemingly opposite natured Nightmare Moon who had come back from her time outside a few short moments ago.

For some reason, she still seemed off when she had come back. She barely offered so much as a glance in my direction, and when she did I saw another illegible glint in her eyes.

Nightmare Moon sat down further than usual from the couch. She chose to seek out one of the corners of the room before laying herself down and quietly bringing her eyes to a close save for a single sigh that escaped her.

Chrysalis and I were curious, to say the least. Well, really, I was more concerned. Very much so, at that. This night had been crazy enough. This would only add to it. More stress that would need to be resolved. It felt a little like I was letting the air out of an overly filled balloon that had needles all around it. One wrong step and, rather than a safe defusal of the situation, we would instead get a metaphorical 'pop'.

"...Chrysalis? You there?" A small - actually it was pretty big - part of me was praying to whatever force was watching over me that Nightmare Moon wasn't overhearing the mental message I attempted to send. She was the one who made this link between the three of us in the first place. I wasn't particularly sure of its functions or limitations. That included whether I could speak strictly with one of the two or not.

I got my answer quickly.

"Before you say anything, let me take a guess... This is about the shadow alicorn, isn't it?" Her mental tone was both knowing and exasperated, which made the small sense of victory I felt for having pulled off a private mental link slightly bitter.

"IPretty obvious, huh?" I asked, glancing to her with a raised brow. She looked to me similarly.

"Think of it like this. I didn't even need to read your emotions to see your concern. By the way, you're oozing it." Not particularly useful information at the time, but I don't think it was meant to be. I know that it's impossible for me to hide my emotions from Chrysalis, but I really needed to learn how to at least do so physically.

"Can you blame me? This isn't like her. Though, I guess I can't say she hasn't acted like this before." I recalled some of the more recent times that she had gained a similar way of acting similar to this one, like when we were going to wake up Chrysalis before. I had pushed this matter aside, considering her business to simply be just that - her business - but now I was beginning to regret it.

"Oh? You don't say?" I rose a mental brow at this remark of Chrysalis.

"... Are you being sarcastic, or are you-"

"A little bit of both." She quickly answered, not even allowing me to finish my question. My brow rose even higher at this.

"ohhh...kay?" She had lost me completely.

"... You know, I have to ask, are you really that oblivious?" I should have not have justified that with a response.

"... I... don't know?" If I could go back and slap myself, I would. For several reasons.

Chrysalis sent me a vivid image of her slamming her hoof into her face, causing me to purse my lips. On another note, I now knew that I could apparently send images over that link. Which was handy.

"... Alright... I'll make this simple for you. From what I read from her emotions, though I doubt anypony would even need to do that to see it, she-"

"Dont!" I quickly stopped her there, practically jumping physically as I kept her from finishing her statement. She gave me a bemused look at this.

"Listen, I appreciate the gesture, but please don't tell me about another pony's emotions or thoughts. I find that to be more than a little bit invasive." She blinked as she deadpanned at me. "No offense inteded, obviously."

Surprisingly, outside of a bit of annoyance towards that comment of mine, she seemed rather understanding of my reasoning. For her, she was born and raised with the ability to read a person's emotion and the like. So she's used to seeing everyone's mind as if it were an open book. For me though, it's much more different. To suddenly have a sort of cipher to this sort of thing. It just felt wrong.

That is to say, I would not want to stifle Chrysalis' abilities because of this, but I simply would not like to use them in everyday circumstances. Sometimes when a person lies or keeps a secret, its for good reason. Believe me, I know.

"... I'll pretend I didn't hear that last part... But fine, I'll keep the emotion reading to myself, until it's needed." I gave her a thankful nod as I put my gaze forward. I quickly caught sight of and focused on the still impassive Nightmare Moon.

"... Maybe I should talk to her?" I said after a moment of quiet. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try, right?" Turning to Chrysalis, I expected some sort of answer to my question, be it honest or snide. Instead, however, I was met with a sleeping Chrysalis. And by that, I meant that she was obviously pretending to be asleep, what with the clearly forced breaths and the occasional yet purposeful peek she took through a crack in her eyelids "Gee, thanks." I remarked sarcastically. From her faux sleeping position, she shrugged her shoulders and smiled ever so slightly.

I stood myself up from the couch with a grunt, the bandages that were still around my body shifting slightly as I did so but thankfully not yet coming undone. They were just a bit uncomfortable from the more recent impromptu washing they had received, but I could grin and bare it.

I closed the distance between I and Nightmare Moon, which somehow felt as though I were walking down a long and ever-growing hall. Despite this sensation, I soon found myself to be in front of the prone alicorn what felt like far too soon.

I looked down to the her, crossing my arms and slightly leaning forward as I did so. She seemed to notice quickly, her previously closed eyes opening and slowly moving their gaze up to me before then turning away.

Again, I tried to open a mental link, this time with Nightmare Moon, as she continued to keep her sight away from me. "Nightmare Moon? You there?" I tentatively probed.

Now, one would wonder why I was using the mental link, rather than actually talking to her. Two reasons; One, Halfy was still sleeping, and I didn't want to risk waking her again. Two, and more importantly, I felt this had need of being private. Not just a preference, or want, but an absolute need. I feel like I had made the right call there.

A stressful silence filled my mind, along with the now blurring background, as she continued to look away. Finally though, seemingly giving into the fact that I very clearly wasn't leaving any time soon, I heard a familiar voice.

"...Yes, Sir Jeremy, we are here." That answer was less than optimal compared to what I was hoping for, but at least it was something. Her odd tone was still there though, nearly raising a flinch from me. I decided that I'd try to get on her level, literally speaking.

I sat myself down in front of her, crossing my legs and unconsciously noticing the difference in size between us again while I tried to meet her gaze. "Nightmare Moon... would you please look at me?" She silently resisted as she tucked herself closer to her center. Her body seemed like it was becoming even more closed off at my request. This was, of course, displeasing, but I continued on.

"Come on Nightmare Moon. It's obvious something's bothering you, and I want to help. To do that though, I at least need your attention." There was still no other reaction or semblance of a response from her. "... We both know I'm not leaving until you feel better."

In my attempts to gain her attention, and through an odd yearning in the back of my mind, I raised my hand to her. I followed a path that seemed clear to me at the moment, moving it over to her head and simply placing it down. I didn't mind, nor struggle, as her mane seemed to muddle around where my hand was near her horn and began to take hold of me. It was a much more gentle and almost fragile grasp than usual.

Nightmare Moon's eyes seemed to lower for a moment or two, seemingly without her volition. Then her eyes closed and her head moved further into my touch. It was another second or two of this silent contact between the two of us before I heard her give out a sigh and her eyes opened. Fortunately, they were now entirely on me.

I offered a small smile, hoping to slightly ease the obviously tense mood. Her own lips shifted at this at her own halfhearted attempt at returning the gesture. It barely lasted long enough to be noticed.

"There. Isn't that better?" Of course, I wasn't necessarily expecting a response to that nor did I receive one. I pushed myself to get to the topic at hand though. "Now, I'm not going to lie here Nightmare Moon, or even slightly sugarcoat it. I'm worried about you. A lot. And I want to know what has you acting like this." I told her in earnest.

"... We've... no idea what ye are referring towards, Sir Jeremy." I pursed my lips as she sent this mental message. I looked to her in a mix of skepticism and plead, the expression on my face making it clear that I didn't believe her and that I really wanted to help. Both she and her mane, which had tightened it's grip by a small amount, reacted to this. She gave out another sigh as she then reluctantly responded again.

"... How have ye said... 'It is personal'?" As she forced out this statement, looking to me for confirmation of her difficulty-riddled pronunciation, I definitely felt a part of me flinch. It wasnt exactly the best context for her to pick up on something I had said before.

Still, I couldn't really force her to talk about something she just didn't want to, just as she wasn't able to with me. I wouldn't push the matter further, but I certainly hoped that her mood would improve eventually. I gave her an understanding nod.

"... Alright. Just cheer up a little, okay? I don't like seeing you like this." Though it wasn't much, she did give me a nod in return.

As I made to remove my hand from her and return to my place on the couch so I could give her some space, she suddenly spoke up again.

"Sir Jeremy?" I paused, raising a questioning brow as I then responded with a mental hum. "... Forgive us for asking this, but... for what reason did ye commit your actions from earlier?" Once more within the span of an hour, I wasn't sure what I had apparently done.

"What do you mean?" I asked, hoping for some sort of clarification.

"When the changeling and you..." She trailed off here with a vague hoof gesture of hers. I blinked, though I could definitely feel the same warmth I had become way to accustomed with return to my ears.

"Er... Uh... Nightmare Moon, I did that because she was-"

"Ye misinterpret what we are attempting to relay." Yet again, I blinked. "What we are attempting to say is... how are ye able to commit such an act so easily, if she is not your lover?"

"I... just... did...?" Look, I've already established I'm not good under pressure. I already felt bad enough when I saw how disappointed she looked when I said it, I don't need you judging me too... "Nightmare Moon, I did what I did because Chrysalis is my friend. I was hesitant at first, that much is obvious, because I didn't want to invade her boundaries by doing... that." She seemed perplexed by this.

"How wouldst such a thing be an 'insult'?" Had I half a brain cell back then, I would have noticed what she actually meant. Instead, I assumed that she probably just meant how helping someone could be considered a bad thing.

"Its... hard to explain. Nonetheless, I did what I did because she is a friend and I wanted to help her. In the same way, I would do so for you." As I had told her this, my eyes had wandered a bit, glancing to the momentary subject of our talk, before then looking back to the ground. I could barely catch some red coming through the blacks and dark blues of the fur on her muzzle. I quickly realized what I had accidentally implied. "Uh... er... T-that is to say, that- Um... Eh-"

Before I could go on any further, thankfully, I was stopped as Nightmare Moon gave out a soft giggle. The giggle was more mental than physical, as she had her mouth partially covered with a hoof, but there was a smile I could see there nonetheless.

"We understand, Sir Jeremy, and we greatly appreciate your intention. In both regards." That last part was a little unclear to me but it was still very much a good thing to hear. I smiled just as she did, only barely giving notice to the snicker I heard from Chrysalis behind me.

It was so weird that so much had happened, yet the night had just barely started...

Next Chapter: Chapter 19: Change And Weakness Go Hand In Hand [Here Again] Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 36 Minutes