Time always held its own form of passing, be it in a tense, calm, silent, or audible form. Yet, on this occasion, it held all of those elements at once.

There were those who sat upon their thrones, watching with care, and those who sat aboard a train, awaiting arrival; It was an unexpected - nor was it warily known of - battle of patience between two opposing sides.

As to how long it lasted, few could actively tell. Either way, it truly made no difference. By the time the train began to slowly escalate up the mountain that held Canterlot aloft, the sun had also begun to descend, barely touching the very edge of the horizon.

And no sooner then that occurred did a certain few who rode in the train give out an amalgamation of sighs and silent stares.

They were all clear on the risk they had taken just by having come aboard the train, and even more so in regards to actually entering the city. They were essentially on the princess's doorstep, so if they wanted to avoid being caught it would be absolutely necessary for them to be as discreet as possible...

"We're doomed."

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

"... So, where is it we're going again?" For what must have been the eighth time - the other six having been on the train, and the extra from before they had even gotten to Ponyville - Chrysalis gave out a groan as Gilda asked her this question.

"For Empress's sa- How many times am I going to have to repeat this to you?!" Chrysalis angrily interrogated, growing tired of answering the same thing over and over again.

While the filly-shaped form that was Chrysalis slammed a hoof into her face - her cheeks puffing out in silent fury - Gilda shrugged her shoulders.

Shortly behind the unfortunately paired two was another, though much more relatable pair: Jeremy's currently pony form, still controlled by Nightmare Moon's magic as he slept, and the mare Halfy, who made sure to walk nearby her friend.

Since the train ride, they had stuck to these pairs in an almost unconsciously - more unconsciously for some than others however.

Nonetheless, Chrysalis rubbed her hoof against her head in an attempt to calm an upcoming headache, not even turning her head to look at Gilda as she explained once more.

"Listen carefully feathers-for-brains, because this is the last time I'm going to tell you this." Not one to take that comment without annoyance, Gilda opened her mouth to give out a reply of her own. "And so help me, if you dare to say anything while I'm already this annoyed, I will rip your tail off!"

... But ultimately decided against it upon being told this. Granted, to her Chrysalis wasn't nearly as much of a threat as Zecora, who would likely make Chrysalis' threat seem like nothing compared to one of her own, but she still didn't particularly want to take too much of a risk with the situation.

Plus, she was too much in a mood to nap to do anything else.

"Now, we are going to wherever the Tartarus it was Jeremy had told us to go when we got to Canterlot, which we have!" She made sure to accentuate the last of her statement as slowly as possible, so as to make sure the 'dim-witted griffon' would be able to understand as well.

"Once we get there, we'll figure out what we should do next. Got it?!" Having practically had these words yelled at her, Gilda rolled her eyes, grumbling softly under her breath.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever cheese legs." Had Gilda been given a momentary visual of all the mental fantasies Chrysalis had of Gilda's pained yells and cries, she likely wouldn't have finished that statement with 'cheese legs'. Thankfully, Chrysalis did not say anything more in response, instead seething in her quiet rage - which, in her current form, only served to seem more adorable than it was meant to be.

Nightmare Moon was not one to simply be oblivious to this obvious conflict just ahead of her and Halfy, rolling Jeremy's eyes under her control as she then called out to the argumentative pair.

"Calm thineselves, if only for an instant!" She said with a clear tone of annoyance. "We hardly see any true reason for either of thee to display such unadultered incompetence. Now be still, or we shall merilly give onto thee our most swift of silences!"

And silence was what she indeed gained. Though, not exactly for the reason she had believed, as Gilda was so readily blunt to state.

"... Seriously, what the hay did you just say?"

"Just ignore her. Even I lose track of what she's saying sometimes."

And just like that, it was now Nightmare Moon's turn to seethe in silent anger. Halfy, in the meanwhile, wisely took a small half-step away from her glowering friend.

Nonetheless, the four - five counting their sleeping and hidden away member - continued through the many expansive paths of Canterlot, passing building and pony after building and pony in search of their one true destination. Though some grew to be easily bored and restless - more specifically the griffoness - and it had taken the better part of the next ten minutes before the oddly mishmashed group did eventually arrive at their destination: A single architectural block of large buildings. Some were homes, some were businesses, all were varied in sizes and colors, all unified under a single sign that read-

" 'Clean Bridle Boulevard'?" Halfy read aloud, her eyes squinted and her mouth pursed. "This is where we were supposed to go?" Nightmare Moon, whose gaze was also upon the sign, much like the other members of the group, nodded in response.

"Yes, this is indeed where Sir Jeremy had suggested we arrive upon reaching Canterlot. Pray tell, why is it you ask?" She inquired. Halfy, in turn, sucked on the inside of her cheek as she searched for he right way to state her thoughts.

"W-well... The name itself just seems so..."

"Weird?" Gilda offered.

"Y-yeah. I mean, aren't bridles normally used for..." Suddenly, her cheeks flushed to a dark red as she cast her gaze away from the sign and towards the ground. Her voice also lost most of the volume it held behind it, escaping as a muttered whisper. Nonetheless, the trio beside her were easily able to understand what she was getting at, though none of them reacted as she did... Well, at least, most of them understood. Nightmare Moon, however, shook her head and gave out a chuckle.

"Actually, Halfy, 'tis more to the name than you may see." Halfy looked slightly up from the ground to her in attention, though her red tone of blush and silence still held strong. "Believe it or otherwise, the use of bridles was not quite as uncommon as seen in present times. Why, millennia ago, 'twas seen as a statement of common wear."

Gilda rose a brow as she said this, looking to her oddly.

"A statement of what now?" She asked, quickly receiving a translation of sorts from Chrysalis.

"She means most of the noble numbskulls around here used to wear them as fashion."

Gilda blinked before, within a moment's notice, she was swiftly driven to laughter. Halfy's face, in the meantime, became a deeper shade of red. The very thought of not one but several ponies, male and female, walking around the streets wearing things that were nowadays only meant for more... lewd actions... It simply seemed unbelievable. Then again, was it possible that Nightmare Moon was unaware of these such acts involving what used to be common clothing when she still ruled, and that she had, in fact, not truly understood what Halfy was getting at earlier?

Either way, despite the reactions of the two, Chrysalis did not even flinch, whereas Nightmare Moon looked on in nostalgic serenity.

"Oh, we are very surprised to see this location has made it through all this time, despite the many changes clearly seen." Putting Jeremy's hoof to his chin, she then asked herself of another memory she had floating around as a result of the sight. "Mayhaps, is it possible that the location Half-Halter Hone has also made it through the times?"

Now with the added imagery given by Nightmare Moon with that one question, Gilda fell over in boisterous laughter, gasping for air and holding her sides, while Halfy's face essentially became the equivalent to a tomato. Having finally snapped out of her thoughts as she took notice of the two's actions, the alicorn-controlled pony body of Jeremy rose a brow in confusion, not particularly sure of what made them react in such a way.

"Did... we say something off?" Chrysalis rolled her eyes at this.

"You say a lot of things that are 'off'. Just so happens that, this time, you were even moreso than usual. Congrats." This went completely over Nightmare Moon's head in regard to meaning, but did little to stir anymore of Chrysalis' attention. Instead, she looked to the idiotically laughing griffon on the floor beside her. Honestly, in her opinion, Gilda couldn't have possibly been anymore unaware of how much attention she might have been attracting. Even now, Chrysalis could see several ponies looking in their direction as they passed them, likely attracted by the noisy and, might she add, obnoxious laughter of Gilda.

"Are you just about done?" Chrysalis asked evenly.

For the most part Gilda ignored Chrysalis, continuing her booming laughter for some time before, eventually, calming herself down. With remnants of snorts and chuckles escaping her, Gilda sat herself up from the ground before wiping away a stay tear from her eye.

"Heh. Woo, that was too good." She said with a smile on her beak. She turned to the other three, another short chortle escaping her as she spoke. "So - heh - anyways, which of the houses around here do we go to again?"

Silence was what met her as a response, with little more than the sound of ponies trotting in the background and their distant conversations serving as a sort of background filler. Gilda quickly pieced together what this meant, her previous smile all but disappearing.

"... We have no idea, do we?" Again, silence.

"Wait, so, you're telling me that Curly Fry Horn here nagged me about where we were going earlier," she began to complain, pointing a talon to the filly-shaped Chrysalis as she spoke, "when she didn't even really know herself?!" Chrysalis, of course, took exception to these words.

"Oh don't go blaming me you non-committal gene pool of creation! Neither of us know because a certain someone managed to somehow leave out that detail." Gilda sneered at the gene pool comment, rolling her eyes as she began to contemplate striking a filly for the first time in her life... Well, actually, there was that time in grade school, but that was a completely different story in of itself.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't apologize or anything. Not like you were wrong."

"I wasn't wrong, you-"

"Whatever, just ask J about which house it is and let's get this over with." Of all the annoyances that Chrysalis had had to deal with in her life as a changeling queen, this griffon before her was quickly managing to rise to the top of her list, right below that one idiotic centaur she had the displeasure of meeting some centuries ago. Nonetheless, and mostly because she partially agreed with the griffon in terms of wanting to get this over with, Chrysalis withheld herself from taking any further actions or slinging any words towards Gilda.

"I would, but he's still asleep, remember?"

"And alongside that," Nightmare Moon then added in, "the light of day hath not fully dispersed itself yet. We do not wish for him to wake up in immediate fear." Gilda rose a brow of confusion at this.

"What are you talking abou- oh yeah! That whole 'afraid of the light' thing." Snapping her talons in realization, Gilda very nearly slammed her own hand against her face for her forgetfullness. After all, Chrysalis had told her about this during the train ride there; still, her recounting of this didn't particularly serve to bide away any of her skepticism about it. In fact, even Jeremy had vaguely mentioned it when she had first seen him again in the Everfree Forest. Still, Gilda couldn't really wrap her head around it.

Still, that didn't mean she would want to test that theory of hers out anytime soon. She had her own things that she was 'afraid' of too - one of which was of a more black, white, and rhyming variety - and she had a general idea as to how bad it was to deal with it.

"Yeah, not fun..." She thought to herself, involuntarily moving her tail closer to herself at one of her more recent memories of this issue.

"... Okay, so, why don't you just wake him up with your eyes closed? I mean, isn't he only able to see and feel what you do?" Glancing around her, Gilda was miffed to see that rather than immediately responding everypony took a moment to simply look at her in thought.

"You... make a very valid point, Miss Gilda." Nightmare Moon finally said, raising one of Jeremy's forehooves to his chin as she vaguely recalled him closing his eyes back in Ponyville, when he had taken control in order to deal with one of the two bothersome stallions.

"Agreed, surprisingly." Gilda didn't let this particular comment of Chrysalis' fly by so quickly, raising a brow at the clearly double-meaning and sarcastic undertone behind it.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"That I don't think you to be very capable of coming up with good ideas." She stated matter-of-factly. "Honestly, I thought that was obvious by now." She shrugged, not particularly surprised that Gilda's eyes gleamed with anger as she looked towards her, saying many more things about the disguised changeling than likely any other pony even understood the meaning behind.

On a similar side note of this, however, Gilda silently thanked that griffons had their own dictionary based around swears... Before then vividly remembering the even larger list of words that were yelled at her and Nightmare Moon back on the train, as well as the fact that Jeremy seemed to have his own list of swears.

"... Congrats, you've managed to get second place in the list of ponies that I've managed to hate the quickest." Chrysalis rolled her eyes at Gilda's words, scoffing outright.

"Oh, I feel so honore-" One of Chrysalis' ears twitched as she realized what Gilda had just said. "Wait, second? Then who's-"

"She's pink, she's yappy, and she made the top of that list in the first five minutes of my meeting her. Believe me, you do not want to know anything more than that." A visible shudder went through all of Gilda's body as she recalled the memories of the certain mare she was talking about, already beginning to have a headache build just from that.

"... We shall contact Sir Jeremy now." Nightmare Moon then said, shaking her head so as to move away from the subject before, with a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

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

"Sir Jeremy..."

Fun fact: Turns out the recesses my mind are really uncomfortable to sleep in. I dont know how, but I could swear that my back was aching despite not actually having one at the moment.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I wanted to stretch out of habit, but uh.... yeah...

"Sir Jeremy?" Again I heard Nightmare Moon's voice. I did what I could to recover from my rather unconventional nap, going so far as to imagine stretching my arms and all that crap. I'd be lying if I said that it was as satisfying as I would have wanted.

"Oof... I'm up, Nightmare Moon, I'm up."

Mostly. I was mostly up. I mean, would it have counted as me being awake? Technically I wasn't controlling my body, and I remember some folk mentioning things like sleep paralysis. Come to think of it, was this just magic sleep paralysis? No, better yet, it was probably more like sleepwalking. Lucid sleepwalking.

Right, sorry, the story. My bad.

"We apologize for disturbing you, Sir Jeremy, but we are experiencing a minor issue that requires attending to." Raising my figurative brow at this, I decided to try and get some more specifics on the matter.

"Uh, what do you mean, exactly?" I questioned, albeit nervously. I mean, it's not exactly reassuring for someone to wake you up and then tell you something's wrong. Not a fun wake up call.

Nightmare Moon seemed to notice this tone in my voice, an image of her shaking her head flashing by as she spoke through our mental link yet again.

"We assure you, 'tis nothing to truly worry of. We simply wish for your direction from our current location."

"My... direction?"

"Yes. From 'Clean Bridle Boulevard'?"

I was surprised they had gotten there already. I mean, I wasn't sure how long I had been asleep, but evidently it had been for a while. Usually that train ride took a few hours, and even then there was always the possibility of delays. I wasn't going to complain though.

"Oh, you guys are there already? Great! So, uh, what's the problem?"

"Well, though it truly is indeed worthy of gratefulness that we have arrived, there is still the issue of navigating the edifices." That one took me a second or two.

"Y-you mean, the buildings?"

"Yes."

"And... I didn't tell you which one to look for, did I?"

"We are certain that it simply slipped your mind."

If I could've slammed my hand - or hoof, as it were - against my face, I would have. Had I really forgotten to tell them which building to look for once they had gotten here? It's not exactly an insignificant detail.

Then again, I do faintly recall being momentarily stuck on the fact that I suddenly had fur and four legs, so that probably was a bigger priority in my head at the time.

"Sorry about that. When it comes to finding the right place though, well, I need to actually see where we are right now. So, um... why is it that I can't?" I inquired, tilting my metaphysical head at the dim darkness that blinded me. I was pretty sure I had my mental 'eyes' open at the time, so why was it that I couldn't really see anything? For a mere second, a slight hint of worry passed through me, though not nearly noticeable enough for me or Nightmare Moon to have taken note of.

"The issue you are speaking of is due to our cause, Sir Jeremy. We did not wish for you to awaken in a fearful state, and for that reason, we closed our - or rather your - eyes." It took me longer to put her sentence into words that I could understand than it did for me to figure out what she was implying.

"... The sun still hasn't gone down, has it?"

"Unfortunately, Sir Jeremy, no. It still lies in the horizon, the light it emits providing its last hurrah for the ever shortening day." I had to give Nightmare Moon credit. The way she had explained that seemed almost poetic. Then again, most of what she said was poetic. Kind off the nature of how she talked.

"Oh, well, thanks for that whole 'eye closing' thing then." It was clear that I couldn't really direct her to where exactly she needed to go by direction, what with there still apparently being light out, but I figured that maybe I could just describe what she was looking for?

Most of the buildings around here looked way to identical to each other, but that actually worked out to my advantage about now.

"Nightmare Moon, you're next to the sign for Clean Bridle Blvd, aren't you?"

"Indeed."

"Alright, I may not be able to give you directions, but I can at least tell you how to find the right house."

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

"... How long has she been standing like that now?" Gilda asked impatiently, tapping her talons against the sidewalk below her as she watched Jeremy's quiet and stock-still pony body. Just as she had suggested, the eyes of it were closed as it sat silently on the floor, Nightmare Moon likely attempting to wake Jeremy up while it was like this.

"How should I know?" Chrysalis snippily rebutted. "The only one out of us who can tell time is the one who's using that time."

"You're a pretty annoying bug, aren't ya?"

"I'll only take credit for one of those three words you used to describe me there. If you can't figure out which one, then you're more of a fool than I thought." Gilda sneered at this, rolling her neck to rid a momentary cramp she had gotten from sitting still and waiting for so long before responding.

"Okay, that one didn't even make sense. So, I can get the trying to say you're not annoying part as a comeback, but you also just said you aren't an bug. And, last time I checked, changelings are considered oversized bugs." To her confusion, Chrysalis simply looked at her with a face that screamed 'really?'.

"... That was the word I took credit for, you nimrod. Well done, proving my point an all." Gilda's eyes narrowed at the insult for only a moment before she realized what she had said. This was not missed upon by Halfy who, though she had previously been sitting by and waiting in timid silence, could not help but to speak up.

"Wait, you... don't think of yourself as pretty?" Chrysalis did not respond. At that moment, Nightmare Moon's eyes finally opened once again.

"Sir Jeremy is awake, and he has informed us on how to find our destination." Chrysalis was quick to take the opportunity of moving onto another subject as quickly as possible, taking note in the fact that Nightmare Moon seemed oblivious as to what had happened while she was speaking to Jeremy.

"About time. Now, where too?" She asked simply and swiftly. The response she gained, however, was not to her expectations.

"Sir Jeremy says to 'look for the building that isn't boring'."

"..."

"..."

"... That's it?" Chrysalis asked, her tone clearly restricting hints of frustration as she looked to Nightmare Moon. She nodded in response, much to Chrysalis's displeasure.

The changeling queen had honestly been expecting something - anything other than that bland excuse for directions Jeremy had apparently given. So it goes without question that she was rather irritated. Rubbing her temples in the filly-form she inhabited, Chrysalis began to slowly yet deliberately attempt to recap the situation before her aloud.

"... So, let me get this straight." She began, her voice at a low, though gradually increasing volume. "I turn Jeremy and myself into different forms, using up my magic while doing so, wait on a train alone for I don't know how long while you deal with what happened in Ponyville, before then waiting for several more hours - while having to deal with an imbecile of a griffon!"

Gilda essentially turned off her hearing at this point, not even feeling it to be worth the effort to try to give any sort of response to what Chrysalis had said and instead busying herself by looking around her surroundings. Upon doing so, she caught sight of something that was rather obvious.

"I walk my way through the irritatingly busy streets of this place as a filly, getting annoying looks from the several so-called 'nobles' of this place - still dealing with Gilda the entire time!"

With an amused smile smile on her face as Chrysalis went on - whereas Nightmare Moon and likely Jeremy held blank expressions, well used to her occasional meltdown by now - Gilda decided to let Halfy know about what she was looking at, nearly giving her a quick elbow to the shoulder to grab her attention as she would do with Jeremy... Before quickly remembering what had happened with her shoulder and instead giving her a tap on the back.

This quickly gained Halfy's attention as she turned to face her, all the while Gilda was holding in a chuckle.

"We finally make it here, before just then realizing that we don't know where to go afterwards-"

Quickly taking notice of the sight herself, Halfy glanced over to Gilda, who in turn returned the look, before bobbing her head towards the mid-spiel Chrysalis, gesturing for her to tell her.

"And now, after all that, the best that the hibernating hairless monkey there has to give us to go on is that we should look for a building 'THAT ISN'T BORI-' " Before she could finish, a light tap on her shoulder stopped her. Almost cataclysmically, she jolted her head to the direction of the tap.

"WHAT!?" She yelled, Halfy nearly falling backwards in surprise and fear. Nonetheless, despite hiding herself behind her hooves as much as she physically could, and the slightly panting and glowering filly before her, Halfy shakily pointed to the direction she had been informed to look towards by Gilda. Chrysalis' eyes narrowed at this, but she looked nonetheless. Whatever anger and fury she held was quickly replaced by a blank face.

"... You have got to be joking me." Behind her, she sensed two different emotions coming from the shared form of Jeremy. Both were of smugness, respectively emitting from the consciousnesses of both Jeremy and Nightmare Moon. Soon after, she received a short mental transmission from one of these two sources.

"Yeah. Say, Chrysalis, maybe you should stay in that filly form? It would certainly match that tantrum you just threw."

"I could say the same about you sleeping matching the blissful silence that came from-"

"So, bug breath, what d'ya have to say to that?"

"... On second thought, I would've been tormented by one of you two either way."

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

Hoofsteps and low grumbles accentuated their short walk as they closed in on a particular building within the block. Chrysalis, of course, being the source of the grumbling as they eventually came up to the front of the home.

The building before them was, despite the inversely small amount of space it held in terms of the path before it and buildings next to it, actually seemed fairly sizable. It seemed to be about two stories, much like Halfy's own self-built home. Unlike Halfy's home, however, this building held a much more noticeable elegance to it, alongside a relative increase to its overall size. With only a few windows built into the front of the building, as both its left and right were neighbored by similarly large buildings that blocked the view and overall necessity of any other windows, it managed to hold a simple yet ornate appearance to it. Finally, just as Nightmare Moon and the others had been hinted towards, the building was tipped off with an eggshell white and midnight black striping paint, differing from the other more simply colored buildings that surrounded it.

It was quite impressive, honestly. Though, one of the group was more focused on how irritating it was that they weren't just told of this color difference, rather than given a vague hint.

Nonetheless, the group continued on its way to the front door without hesitation, each one them almost sequentially stepping onto the small tile pathway that led to it one by one. Gilda nearly slipped on an unsteady tile as they went along, though.

"Woah!" She had exclaimed, before quickly regaining her footing and looking to the tile with narrowed eyes.

"Geez, wonky floor." Unbeknownst to her, a certain human had no other option but to agree with her, well aware of the issue.

"Yeah, I never got around to fixing that. I think it has something to do with the age of the concrete. Either that, or the molding is wearing down, which is a nightmare in of itself." Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis heard Jeremy as he involuntarily sent this thought of his over their mental link.

"Odd, you act as if we care." Chrysalis returned in a deadpan.

"Odd, you act as if you know how to get in the house on your own."

"..."

"Exactly." Quickly moving on from that short conversation, all the while watching as Chrysalis glared at the resolvedly smirking Nightmare Moon, Jeremy instructed Nightmare Moon on what to do next. As well as he could what with his 'eyes' closed, of course.

"Alright, now, if you check the top of the doorframe you should find a key to the door."

"Should?"

"Just check."

Though neither Halfy nor Gilda were really sure as to why Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis were making faces at one another in silence, making themselves out to be 'total nuts' as Gilda would put it, they didn't really find any particular reason to comment or try to make sense of it. Especially after Chrysalis' horn began to glow, a light scrape of noise coming from the door as a small key floated from atop of the frame before then moving to the keyhole and turning.

A sharp click could be heard as the door's lock released and the key was then withdrawn once more.

"Well that's a good sign." Gilda off-handedly commented, reaching for the door handle. At first, she had some trouble, her talons slipping on the smooth metal knob with an ear-wrenching scratch. Eventually she managed, giving out a harrumph as she grabbed hold of the handle with both of her frontal limbs, securing and allowing for her to turn it.

The door creaked as it opened, the comparatively dark insides of the house being what welcomed the group as fresh air from the outside entered for the first time in what must have been months. Shortly after this air was the odd group of possessed former humans, transformed changelings, single-eyed mares, and blowhard griffons that followed, each of them glancing around the inside of the house as best as they could in the dim lighting.

"Sir Jeremy asks that thou also close the windows of the abode, changeling." Chrysalis groaned in annoyance but fulfilled the request nonetheless, the shine of magic signaling the end of the remaining dim light of the house. Instead, they were now in pitch black.

A slight 'eep' of surprise escaped Halfy as this occurred, the suddenness of this action having caught her off guard. Gilda, in the meanwhile, took the opportunity to give off another bout of sarcasm.

"Oh, awesome, because it was too easy to take a look around the place before."

"A-aren't Griffons really good at seeing in the dark?" Halfy inquired, tilting her head in curiosity towards where she believed Gilda to be. Truthfully, the only hint she had since her sight was not yet used to the sudden darkness was the faint glow she saw coming from everyone as a result of her special talent.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I still can't complain about it." Gilda replied with a shrug, glancing around the room.

It was... nice...

Really, there wasn't much else to say.

White inner wall paint, a soft carpeted floor - almost velvet red in color - a collection of cushioned seats organized to face a coffee table in the center of the room, including a couch with enough space for two ponies whereas the other seats were singles, and a few random paintings strewn along the walls to fill in any empty spaces. There were a few lamps, but they were ultimately useless all things considered.

Alongside that, a few doors and halls were spread about the living room, added some more depth and intricacy to the place. Granted, Gilda herself was too lazy to really try and think up what may have been behind these individual doors and down those halls, but, hey, she would cross those bridges when she got there.

"Huh... Not too shabby." Gilda muttered to herself as she strode her way to the couch on first instinct, flopping herself onto it the moment she reached its side. She stretched herself out as much as she could, practically taking up the entire couch as her body laid flat from head to tail. One of her wings hung lazily over the side of the couch and to the floor as she kicked her leg out.

An audible grunt could be heard from her as she grabbed hold of the closest couch pillow she could and placed it over her face.

"Well, you're quick to make yourself at home, aren't you?" Chrysalis commented, taking a few steps further into the home herself before stopping and turning to Nightmare Moon.

"Alright, happy? Or would you prefer I draw you a bath now as well?"

The sarcasm behind Chrysalis' statement didn't go unnoticed to Jeremy as he sent her a mental roll of his eyes.

"As a matter of fact, there are a few papers and pencils around here. I'm sure that, with some art classes, you coul-"

"Are you honestly using a pun as a comeback."

"... Good point." A green flame surrounded the unicorn filly in the room, casting a dim light over the rest of the darkened home as the small pony that stood before Nightmare Moon and Jeremy was replaced by a fully grown changeling queen, sporting a grumpy look of exhaustion.

"About time I was able to do that." Chrysalis thought to herself aloud, easily overheard by the others in the house. She didn't seem to care, however, as these stares were ignored with ease. If anything, she was just glad that she was finally able to talk and actually sound like herself, rather than a filly. Plus, the smaller amount of strain on her magic was very much appreciated. In fact...

Looking to the still controlled, and pony formed shape of Jeremy with a glare, Chrysalis stretched her limbs, not being used to being transformed for such a long period of time after having been without magic for so long. The only thing even relatively close to this was the occasion she had transformed herself into a Canterlot guard to find Jeremy, and even then it had barely taken her an hour of the day, whereas her transformation into a filly had lasted a good bit longer than that.

"... Are you two about done? I'm going to turn Jeremy back into a human. I want to get some sleep and I can't do that while he's still a pony. So, either you make with the unpossessing, alicorn, or you end up having to figure out how to walk on two legs quick."

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

Well that was certainly a pleasant form of threatening someone, isn't it?

... Oh sarcasm, how I do enjoy entertaining its use.

Anyways, despite how she had told us that, Chrysalis did have a good point. None of us were in the open anymore, so there wasn't really any need for me to be a pony. Plus, with all the windows closed and lights being out, Nightmare Moon didn't need to drag my body through everything anymore.

Besides, both Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon must have been tired as all hell by now, what with all the magic they'd been using. That and I didn't want to deal with Chrysalis whining about how we had her use her magic longer than she needed to.

I mean, technically her magic was refillable, but that wasn't exactly something I was looking forward to dealing with.

The point is, she wasn't wrong, I needed to turn back, and I needed control of my body again.

"Nightmare Moon, I-"

"Sir Jeremy, you will feel some discomfort for a short moment." Having not expected her sudden interruption, I, of course, was left wondering what she meant.

... On an incredibly related note, would you guess that the universe tended to answer your questions when, sometimes, you didn't want them to be answered?

Granted, the feeling had started off small, though still not pleasant. It was pretty much just the feeling of someone letting me go after having held onto me for years, exposing me to the cold. Within a few seconds though, several other much more noticeable feelings came with a crash.

Suddenly it felt as though I was propelled into my own head, crashing against my own insides like a snapping rubber band. My body went entirely off, then on, then off, and on again, for a total of I don't know how many times. Even worse, I could barely see a green flame engulf me through the mess of a bodily reset I went through, adding a memorably unique and of course not fun in any way feeling to the margarita of magic and bodily change that I dealt with.

I wasn't really sure, but I think I blacked out, say, three to four times.

Fortunately that made the process just a little faster from my perspective, eventually leading to me just lying on the floor with an unmistakable sense of dizziness, nausea, and a headache to boot.

In short: 0/10, would absolutely never recommend.

"Sir Jeremy? Are you well?" I was barely able to make out her voice past the ringing in my ears. I gave out a groan as a response, opening my eyes and glancing up from the carpet to the others.

Unsurprisingly, Nightmare Moon was there now - more specifically next to Chrysalis - looking towards me worriedly. It was almost odd to see her physically again, much like it was when I wiggled my fingers in an attempt to test my body again.

I was definitely back to normal, and I was definitely - thankfully - still clothes.

I had vaguely been wondering what had happened to my pants when I was turned to a pony.

All thoughts aside though, it was rather difficult for me to raise my head up, even slightly, to look towards the six figures in front of me. I'm aware that it's only Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis there, but there was still six of them.

"... Why... did you both have to do that at the same time?" I inquired, trying to decipher which of the six I saw were the real ones.

Nightmare Moon had opened her mouth to answer, but Chrysalis quickly cut her off with an answer of her own.

"Why use up anymore of the love I have keeping you transformed when I can just turn you back while the alicorn is giving you control? That's why."

As always, her logic was fucking infallible. Looking back on it, I kinda wish I had said that out loud. Instead, all I managed was another groan, followed by a quick and carpet-filled 'never again'.

"Geez J, you act as if you haven't been through worse. Like, remember that one time we went out on a night on the town?" I barely gave out another groan in response, moving both my arms and hands under me before, with some momentary struggle, lifting my upper half off of the floor.

As for the memory Gilda had brought up, well, it didn't help to really soothe my stomach. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Nonetheless, as I sat myself up on the carpet, regaining my breath and pushing down whatever lunch I may have had - which was nothing so far - I took joy in the small things around me. The feeling of that same soft carpet, that familiar air, those same dumb paintings I got from a yard sale. I muttered something under my breath, just loud enough for the others to hear.

"Home sweet Ho- Oh to hell with it, I'm gonna see if I have any aspirin left over before I puke."

... Ah, just like old times...

Next Chapter: Chapter 27: House Warming Yet Again [Here Again] Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 53 Minutes