Author's Notes:

The Usual Disclaimer:

The following is a work of parody, and is protected as Fair Use under section 17 U.S. Code § 107 of US Copyright Law. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all affiliated characters are property of Hasbro Inc.

I own nothing. All characters, settings and other belong to their respective owners. This is purely a fan-work with no intent towards profit, slander or harm towards the characters, settings or other, or their respective owners. If the respective owners feel that this fan-work in any way, shape or form threatens or besmirches their property, please let me know so that it be can be removed asap.

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More Chryssie. Yessss, this pleases us ...

CHAPTER 10

It had taken some white lies, and playing on Fluttershy’s love of all animals, no matter how terrifying they might appear, but Big Mac, Fluttershy and Zecora had diverted from their path back to the camp-site to pick some medicinal herbs to heal a baby Chimera that Twilight had spotted on the way back.

Time enough, hopefully, for Luna and Twilight to break down the tent, hide it in the portable hole and thus evade any questions about musky scent that no-doubt still clung to the fabric walls of the shelter.

“Buck. Me. Sideways.” Luna flinched as she heard Twilight swear, in a low-pitched voice and with a great deal of feeling, as the smaller Alicorn rounded the bend in the path before her that led back to their camp and then stopped in her tracks.

When Luna rounded the corner, thinking perhaps a Manticore had wandered into their camp, or worse still a mob of Canterlot’s scandal-chasing reporters, she tried to prepare herself for anything.

Seeing three more of Twilight’s Friends brawling in a cloud of dust just a few meters from the tent, hooves flying, was not something Luna was prepared for.

She’d always imagined them to be … harmonious. Literally. Always in sync, always friendly and understanding of each other.

The sight of a mane-pulling, face-slapping, plot-kicking brawl between three members of the Bearers of Harmony was so bizarre that Luna couldn’t help but suffer a hysterical bark of laughter that echoed through the clearing, making the three brawling Ponies flinch away from each other and stare at her in horror.

“Puh-Princess Luna! Oh mah gawsh, ahm so sorry!”

“No! No, don’t look at meeeeee, my mane is a total disaster!”

“Wait, now you show up? Damn it, Moonbu-!”

“Rainbow, darling, for the love of all that is good and gracious, SHUT YOUR TRAP!”

“Hoooo-boy, it’s gonna be one of those days.” Twilight muttered softly, reaching out with a wing to rub Luna’s neck as the Alicorn Princess took a step back in confusion as the Fashionista and Wonderbolt-trainee started to bicker again. “Sorry, Luna, these three have always had their differences. I can only imagine what’s set them off.”

“They are … rather aggressive. I had thought they were firm friends …” Luna whispered back as the tan-coated Farm-Pony, Applejack, interjected herself between the bickering Ponies and shoved a hoof into each of their mouths, grinning nervously at the two Princesses.

“Oh they are, but Rarity and Rainbow Dash are always butting heads, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are always competing physically, and Applejack and Rarity are polar opposites, personality-wise.” Twilight replied, giving a half-hearted shrug as the three Ponies separated, giving each other dark looks as they trotted over to the two Alicorns. “Normally it’s not nearly this bad … okay girls, what’s up? I haven’t seen you three this bad since Pinkie Pie ran short of her Red Velvet Cupcakes last month!”

“Errr, you could say we got lost … ‘couple of times. Where’s mah idjit brother an’ Fluttershy, Twi?” Applejack said loudly, pulling her Stetson hat down over her eyes in embarrassment at being caught fighting openly with her friends.

It was not lost on either Twilight or Luna that the stout farm-pony had placed herself between the marshmallow-white Rarity and the brilliant-blue Rainbow Dash, making herself into a living shield between the two as they continued their glaring contest.

“Ah, it appears that our … there was a problem last night with my Alicorn abilities, and a burst of Wild Magic flooded the Everfree Forest. Zecora’s house was damaged when several of her potions were mixed together by the storm of Wild Magic, so Fluttershy is taking Zecora to her house to stay until the fumes dissipate. Big Mac offered to escort them, and then we found a baby Manticore with a bruised wing, and well … they’re back along the trail, picking herbs for a poultice.” Twilight blurted out, her wing still on Luna’s neck. “Let’s just say today has been ‘interesting’ in more ways than one.”

Luna, having spent the past two-and-a-bit years in Canterlot, and having been Co-Ruler for Equestria for nearly two and a half thousand years before her … before the Nightmare Spirit had possessed her, knew how to read a Pony’s body-language, even if her grasp of the modern social customs was inadequate.

The white Unicorn, ‘Rarity’, seemed more interested in restoring her mane and coat to pristine conditions than the news, the tan-coloured Earth Pony, ‘Applejack’, immediately tensed up at the mention of ‘manticore’, making the Lunar Princess smile as she remembered the elder Apple sibling, Big Mac, having a similar reaction when Fluttershy found the cub whimpering in the Forest.

What surprised her most was the flash of rage, hastily smothered, that appeared on the face of the blue Pegasus, ‘Rainbow Dash’, and a glare that could have set stone on fire, directed at the place where Twilight’s wing rested gently on Luna’s neck.

What did I do wrong? Luna groaned mentally, finding the hooves of the three Ponies before her suddenly fascinating. I finally make new friends, and now one of them wants to rip me apart because Twilight is touching me.

“Be that as it may, Darling, we do need to … talk.” Rarity said, smiling sweetly even as her eyes flicked over Luna and Twilight, and then back to the tent.

Oh, Buck. Luna swore internally.

“Yeah. Can y’all explain this ‘magical entanglement’ thingy Celestial mentioned in her letter to mah brother?” Applejack added, confusion evident on her face. “Issit some sorta spell Twilight goofed up?”

Oh double-Buck.

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

Big Mac had learned two things today.

One, even baby Manticores were heavy, and like all babies, cubs, foals, hatchlings and pups, they had a tendency to put things in their mouth, like his mane, and use it like a pacifier.

Two, walking behind Zecora and Fluttershy was hazardous for his health, as he found his eyes wandering from Fluttershy’s demurely swaying and well-toned flanks to Zecora’s boisterously bouncing bubble-butt, and had nearly sent both himself and his dozing cargo tumbling off the path several times because he wasn’t watching the path for stones and dips.

All things considered, he felt quite grateful to the Manticore cub on his back, as its presence and the constant need to focus on stopping it from slipping off his back helped him keep Little Mac under control and out of sight, as he was quite sure that having either one of the Mares turn around and see him aiming the old Apple Family sauce-maker at them with a baby on his back would have opened up a whole can of awkward between them all.

“…and we can go to the Spa with Rarity, and I can finally introduce you to the Cakes! Oh, this is going to be just perfect, Zecora!” Fluttershy was saying, almost bouncing for joy.

“Fun as that sounds, are you sure this is fine, you have many animals to feed, are you not counting every dime?” The Zebra replied, even though there was a broad smile on her face.

“Oh its fine, it’s fine, I have some coupons I’ve been saving. Oooh, this is going to be great, I finally can have a sleep-over at my place!”

This is getting’ mighty weird. Big Mac thought to himself, noticing how close the two Mares were, literally bumping Cutie-Marks at times. Maybe Zecora didn’t know, or care, but for Fluttershy to be so … flirtatious shocked Big Mac something fierce. Fluttershy’s not … that way inclined, is she? Oh buck, what if ah scared her off Stallions for life? OH BUCK! No … no … calm down, Big Mac, she’s just happy to help a friend, that’s it …

Slap slap slap went the Cutie Marks before him once again, Zecora’s round, jiggling flanks slapping against Fluttershy’s shapely, toned ones as the path narrowed, and the two Mares were forced closer together, neither one aware of the show they were putting on for the ‘fortunate’ Stallion behind them.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Ah can't hold Little Mac back for much longer at this rate!

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

“Yes, well … how do I say this?” Luna’s ears flattened against her skull as she waited for the white-coated Unicorn to say her part, trying desperately to ignore the shouting match going on between the orange-coated Farm Pony and the Cyan-blue Wonderbolt-Trainee about some ‘Moob-Ut’ as Twilight desperately disassembled the tent and started packing it away in the Portable Hole.

“Perhaps you should just come out with it, Miss Rarity.” Luna grated, trying to remain civil as her emotions raged inside of her, the stress and pressure of the past few weeks threatening to boil over. Part of her wanted to scream at this Unicorn for daring to question her Princess, another part wanted to beg Rarity to swear to forget what she knew, and another part still just wanted to grab Twilight and take wing into the deepest, darkest part of the Everfree and just hide till everypony forgot about them.

“Well, I don’t wish to be rude …”

“Just. Say. Your. Piece.” The Lunar Princess growled, focusing her glare on the Unicorn’s hooves.

For several moments there was only silence before an annoyed huff broke from the Unicorn’s lips. “Very well. Just what are your intentions towards my friend, Princess Luna? I know what the tent smelled like. I noticed the hitch in Twilight’s step. And I am aware that Twilight has never had a romantic relationship before in her life.”

“My inten … that is private, Miss Rarity. Understand this, if so much as one word of this gets out, you will find making enemies of both of the Royal Sisters is a very poor choice to make.” Luna’s head snapped up, her eyes glaring into Rarity’s own and making the smaller Pony flinch and take a half-step back at the implications of that statement. “My sister cares deeply for Twilight, and I will not allow careless gossip to threaten Twilight’s position as a Princess. You are obviously aware of the magical entanglement between myself and Twilight, and being a Unicorn yourself, I can imagine you know intimately what happens when two compatible magical essences comingle?”

“I … have read up on the topic, yes.” The Unicorn replied softly, not meeting Luna’s eyes. “A-and she is my friend too.”

“Well then, you can surely understand when two very powerful magical essences that have such an affinity for each other meet, even accidentally, that the resulting consequences are equally powerful. Neither Twilight nor myself are certain of where we stand with each other right now, or what the future holds for us.” The Alicorn snapped, blushing furiously as she remembered the time Twilight and herself had spent together in the water, willingly, without the Sympathy moving them. “Twilight has already been targeted relentlessly by the gossip-magazines, and I am constantly besieged by slander that I am still Nightmare Moon, merely biding my time to unleash an unending darkness on the world once again. I cannot, will not, allow anything to ruin Twilight before she even has the chance to show Equestria her true worth. Not even her friends.”

“How dare you! Y-you think I would use my friends to advance my position in society?” Rarity gasped, her cheeks colouring, either in embarrassment or rage, Luna did not know.

“Your file suggests that you have done just that. When you went to Canterlot and encountered Fancy Pants, you all but abandoned your friends to try to gain patronage amongst the Nobility. You are an avid reader of the gossip-magazines and subscribe to no less than fifteen different editions, not including your fashion magazines, and treat every word as gospel. And you have consistently expressed a desire to ‘join’ the upper echelons of society, at one stage even attempting to seduce Prince Blueblood, of all Ponies, at the Gala.” The dark-coloured Alicorn rattled off her points, noting how the white Unicorn’s jaw had opened in shock.

“M-my file? Celestia has a file on me?” The fashionista whispered hoarsely, her eyes widening and fixating on Luna, filling with a wild panic.

“You are a Bearer of an Element of Harmony, Miss Rarity. Did you think that meant nothing would change, that your life could just carry on as it always had?” Luna pointed out, feeling very concerned as she witnessed the change in Rarity’s body-posture. Had Celestia truly not told them about the bodyguards? “All of the Bearers have constant ‘shadows’ protecting and monitoring them at every hour of the day. You are our greatest weapon, and thus weakness, in this day and age. To just let you wander around where any other nation might just swoop in to a quiet little town and snatch you up would be unthinkable.”

“We’re being watched? By who? How? What about our privacy?” Rarity hissed, looking more frightened than angry now.

“Telling you who they are would defeat the purpose of their shadowing you and your friends, Miss Rarity, but your privacy, what you do in your own home, is still yours and yours alone. Celestia and I refuse to take that from you, at least.” Trying to salvage the situation, Luna walked forwards and placed a hoof on the Unicorn’s back and began rubbing the other Pony’s back as she began to tremble and hyperventilate. “Breathe, Miss Rarity. I know it is a lot to take in. I apologise, I had thought Celestia had already informed you all of the shadows protecting you.”

“It is just … bodyguards … it’s a lot to take in.” Rarity whispered, eyes flicking from Luna to Twilight and back again.

“Indeed. Now that Twilight has become an Alicorn, I fear things will only get worse, and by association, you and the other Element Bearers will also have to deal with greater threats than just Discord and Changeling Invasions.” Removing her hoof from Rarity’s back, Luna used it to lift the Unicorn’s head up, to look the fashionist in the eye. “I understand you are Twilight’s friend, just as I am, and you fret for her sake. But both of us are Princesses, and what we want, or may want, must always come second to what Equestria needs from us. Please, don’t make this situation we find ourselves in any more muddled. I cannot bear the thought of losing my friendship with Twilight.”

“I will keep the secret, Princess Luna, if that’s what you’re asking. But I do worry for Twilight, if only because you are the first lover she’s ever known.” Rarity’s face bore a sad smile as she bowed to the Lunar Princess. “I fear that you’ll break her heart no matter what you do.”

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

“This is complete manure!” Rainbow Dash yelled, struggling vainly against the ropes that bound her limbs and wings securely against her body. “I can’t believe you, Applejack!”

“Now listen here, sugar-cube! Ah don’ much like Twilight bein’ off in the Everfree Forest, an’ ah don’ like that it’s just her an’ Luna anymore than you do, but callin’ Luna names ain’t helping matters.” The farm-Pony yelled back, tightening the knots as fast as the Pegasus could try to loosen them.

“I’m not calling her names, she is a moody moon-butt!”

“Yah ain’t helpin’ yah case, Dashie.”

“So … uh …” Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash twitched as Twilight walked up to them, a broad, nervous smile on her face. “I’m … ah … not sure what you know, but … ah …”

“Look, Twilight, first things first.” Applejack interrupted, holding up a hoof to stall her friend’s no-doubt neurotic explanation. “First, we’re mighty steamed at you about not sending us letters …”

“I’m so sorry, I ….”

“Ah ain’t finished yet, sugar-cube. We’re upset that you’ve all but ignored Ponyville for the past month, but we get you were getting’ worried ‘bout them darn gossip-ponies getting’ hold of your letters and makin’ up stories ‘bout you ‘gain.” The farm-Pony continued, giving her friend a stern look when she interrupted. “We jus’ want you to promise to visit us, let us know you still remember us. Let us know we’re still your friends, you understand?”

For a few moments there was only silence before Twilight broke into hiccupping sobs, rushing forwards to hug Applejack and babble how sorry she was.

Rainbow Dash, for her part, desperately yearned to be part of the hug, but Applejack’s ropes still bound her, and at best all she could do was look on and try to wriggle free of Applejack’s knots.

“I-I-I ran out of Dragon’s Fire to send the scrolls, and I wasn’t allowed out of the castle after the ‘Clack’ incident, and I …” Twilight blubbered, clinging to Applejack like a drowning pony as the sturdy farm-Pony stroked her neck.

“What, wait, wait.” Rainbow yelled, drawing the attention of the other two Ponies. “What’s this ‘Clack’ thingy you’re talking about? And explain this ‘entanglement’ business! Why are you and Moonbutt the Moody stuck out here in the Everfree Forest? Why can’t you just come back to Ponyville and let us help you?”

Twilight bit her lip and let go of Applejack, retreating both physically and emotionally as her eyes flicked from where Luna was circling Rarity, a ferocious look on her face, and then back to Applejack and Rainbow.

“I … can’t go into too much detail.” She began, before Rainbow and Applejack began to complain.

“OH FOR BUCK’S SAKE, WHY NUUURRPFH!” Rainbow shouted angrily before Applejack put a hoof in her mouth.

“Twi, you ain’t helpin’ matters by keepin’ secrets from us.” Applejack cautioned, struggling to hold the furious Pegasus down.

“It’s not … Applejack, I love you like the sister I never had, but you could not keep a secret if all of Equestria depended upon it. You’re incapable of lying.” Twilight began, rubbing at her temples as if in pain. “No offense meant, but you’re just terrible at it. You’re the Element of Honesty, after all.”

“Darn tootin’.” Applejack agreed with pride, despite her irritation.

“And Rainbow Dash would throw herself into a hurricane if it meant saving her friends. But … you have to admit, Rainbow, you’re too angry, and when you’re angry you don’t think about what you’re doing. And it’s not Luna’s fault this is all happening, it’s just an accident because I …” Taking a deep breath, Twilight straightened her posture and stared right at her friends. “Please, understand it’s not because I don’t trust you two, but sooner or later the media-Ponies are going to come looking to you for their stories. They will spy on you, pressure you, hound you all day long, to get what they want. It won’t matter what you say, if you say anything at all they can then turn around and print whatever they want unless you have some method to record the conversation to use as evidence in the courts. And even then, the law intended to protect the journalists from punitive measures from the Nobility got all twisted up, and now even if they print an absolute lie, all they get is a slap on the wrist as punishment.”

“I don’t want either of your futures to get ruined because of me. If you don’t know what’s going on, you can’t be pressured into talking, and believe me, they will go to extreme lengths to get their stories.” Twilight continued, tears gathering in her eyes. “I’ve had Ponies in weather balloons using long-range cameras trying to take pictures of me when I was in the bath, or getting dressed for court, I’ve had maids in the castle try to steal my letters before I sent them to you to sell to the gossip magazines, my parents are even watched constantly by the paparazzi and are having their mail stolen every day! I don’t want my friends to have their lives under the scrutiny of those horrible Ponies!”

This time, when Rainbow Dash managed to get her hooves freed from the ropes, Applejack didn’t strive to bind her again, and the two Ponies rushed over and hugged their friend as she broke into sobs again, begging them to understand.

“So you’re out here with Luna because those jack-holes keep harassing you?” Rainbow asked, her irritation with Luna warring with how guilty she felt towards Twilight. Her friend had been carrying all these burdens to try and stop it spilling over onto her friends, and Rainbow had been ready to call Twilight a bad friend.

“Well … *sniffle* … mostly. But … look, you guys can’t say anything about this to anyone, alright? Pinkie Promise me this.” Twilight whispered in their ears.

“Cross my heart, hope to die …” Applejack whispered the first part of the promise.

“Stick a cup-cake in my eye.” And Rainbow whispered the second, and all three couldn’t help but giggle as they heard a faint “I heaaaaaard that!” from the direction of Ponyville.

“Heh, see sugar-cube, we’re fine. Pinkie will do her thing, an’ those lousy reporters will have to deal with the ‘Pie Avenger’ if they stick their noses into our business.” The orange farm-Pony pointed out, which seemed to cause a lot of the stress to drain out of Twilight’s body. “Now, tell us what you can, Twi, so we can stop worryin’ ‘bout you an’ Luna an’ help you both out.”

“Well … Luna and I are … uhm … every time we use magic near each other, we … uhm … feel each other. And it’s embarrassing.” The Unicorn mumbled, still sniffling, and tried to break the hug, only for Applejack and Rainbow to step forwards, refusing to let her go. “It’s … something that’s going to cause a lot of chaos, so we’re out in the Everfree where, if something does go wrong, our magic won’t cause problems for other Ponies.”

“You ‘feel’ each other?” Applejack said softly, and Twilight nodded nervously. “Like, you feel each other’s presence, or you feel each other’s magic?”

“Uhm … a bit of both. It’s hard to explain, and it’s rather physically draining, truth be told. The paparazzi would have a field-day with us if they ever found out. We, uhm … sort of … oh buck it all, every time Luna or I cast a spell around each other, we really feel it and it makes us all tingly and uhm …have issues with self-control around each other.”

“…You mean you get drunk from each other’s spells?” Rainbow asked, confused. Applejack had turned red and had loosened her hug on Twilight from ‘tight hug’ to ‘loosely holding’.

“Ah … yeah, let’s go with that.” Twilight mumbled, blushing furiously.

“Now wait a darn minute. Are you sayin’ you’re a …” Applejack said, giving Twilight a stern look.

“No! Well … maybe? I don’t know, I don’t think I am. I mean, it’s not like I woke up and went “Hey, I’m going to trot on the other side of the fence today!”, it just … happened!” The purple Alicorn spluttered, turning from pink to red now.

“Riiiight. ‘Cause ah remember Cherilee was all kinds of upset when you said you weren’t interested in that kind of thing.” Applejack pointed out, and Rainbow looked at her friend in confusion.

“Wait, what does the school-teacher have to do with this?”

“Why would she be … wait. WAIT! Are you telling me when she asked for me to come for detention after school let out that one time, she was asking me if I wanted to ...” Twilight’s stammering turned into quiet choking noises as the new Princess stood there, pupils shrinking to pin-pricks.

“Faust dammit Twi …” Applejack sighed, pulling her Stetson hat down over her face. “How can somepony so smart be so dang dumb?”

“Seriously, what the heck does Cherilee needing help with detention have to do with Twilight getting drunk on Moonbutt’s magic?”

Aggravatingly enough, all Twilight did was make a thin, high-pitched whining noise, and Applejack just kept her hat over her face, grumbling under her breath.

“WILL SOMEPONY EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THE BUCK IS GOING ON ALREADY?”

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

Sometime Later

“So … today has been … odd.” Twilight said, trying desperately to strike up conversation with Luna, who was still seemed frustrated and depressed with how things had gone with Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash earlier that day.

“Odd is one way to describe it. Disastrous. Horrible. A complete mess also fit quite well.” Luna replied in a very flat tone where she was setting up her side of the tent, their new camp-site only a half-hour's trot from where they had been but well shielded from the air by a pair of willow-trees whose branches had tangled together above the tiny clearing on the river bank. “Your friend Rarity knows … knows what we have done. And she said something to me that I … I do not want to believe. And for some reason, Rainbow Dash seems to hate me.”

“Ah … Rainbow Dash just gets annoyed with anything that stops her doing what she wants. Rainbow wanted to teach me to fly, that’s all, so she’s probably blaming everyone in Canterlot for getting in her way, and you’re just an obvious target.” Giving a nervous laugh, Twilight looked over to her lover, and noticed Luna’s ears had been pressed flat against her skull. “Luna? Luna, there’s got to be more to it than my friends being off today.”

Luna remained silent. All she did in response was hunch over, bite her lower lip and refused to meet Twilight’s gaze as she fiddled uselessly with her bedding.

“Luna? What’s wrong?” Twilight called out as her sense of worry grew over Luna’s response, or lack of one.

“I just … Twilight, have you really never been in a relationship?” Luna croaked, still not looking at Twilight, and flinched when Twilight crossed the short distance between them and hugged Luna from behind.

“No, this is my first real romantic relationship.” Twilight whispered, hugging Luna tightly and smiling as she felt Luna’s hooves come up to rest atop her own. “Unless you count admiring Big Mac’s plot as he works. Or when I tried to sabotage Shining Armor and Cadence’s dates because I didn’t want my brother to take away my foal-sitter.”

“You did what to my niece?” Luna asked softly, grinning a little as she turned to look over her shoulder at Twilight. “I don’t remember her telling me about that.”

“I think I might have done her a favour showing her my brother’s Playcolt magazines. I think it was after I pulled that stunt that they stopped ‘seeing’ each other around me, but I remember that Shining Armor kept on coming home with a really goofy expression on his face, and I wondered what these ‘training exercises’ were that made him so happy.” Twilight explained, giving Luna a squeeze as both Mares giggled. “Speaking of which, I need to remind Spike that he needs to hide his Neighponese comics better. Some of them are a bit … well, a bit too erotic to be left lying around.”

“Exactly how does a baby Dragon get his claws on Neighponese comics? Wait, no, that’s not important!” Luna began, before bursting into giggles again as Twilight’s hooves trailed up and down her flanks. “Aahaha, Twilight, no, I’m trying to be se-hehe-serious!”

“So am I. Luna, I have no idea what I’m doing, if this is right or what our friends, or your sister, will think of us.” Twilight whispered into Luna’s ear, wrapping her wings around the other Alicorn as she cuddled up against Luna’s back. “I just … I lo-luh-luh-like you. I want to stay, like this, with you, being happy and having fun, being together, taking everything one step at a time. I don’t know how to be a girlfriend, I had to take lessons on how to be a friend, for Faust’s sake. I know we’re going to make mistakes, maybe this will work, maybe it won’t, but I …”

Twilight was interrupted by Luna firmly pulling her off the older Alicorn’s back and into an embrace that almost smothered Twilight underneath Luna’s limbs and wings as the Lunar Princess cradled Twilight to her chest.

“Just promise me, Twilight, you’ll stay my friend, no matter what.” Luna whispered into the cocoon she’d made of her wings that held Twilight captive. “I don’t think I could live with myself if I drove you away.”

“I promise.” Twilight whispered back as she snuck her hooves back around Luna’s body, holding her friend tightly.

“I promise.”

At least nothing else can go wrong today.

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

The uncomfortable tableau held for agonizing minutes, the eyes of the combatants locked onto each other, before the Cutie Mark Crusaders all sneezed at once, causing their quarry to squeal in rage at being pelted with pony boogers.

Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo and Angel all turned to look at Mayor Mare’s place of work, the Council Hall, where Ponies were tumbling from the windows and doors, holding their noses and screaming in horror and rage as the stink-bombs intended to flush the rabbit out of hiding went off all at once, flooding the building with noxious vapors found only in the public toilets behind Manuel the Donkey’s burrito-stand after triple-bean-and-quintuple-cheese-and-chilli night happened with expired ingredients and plenty of complimentary cheap imported pear-cider.

“This never happened. We were at Fluttershy’s place, lookin’ after Angel.” Applebloom muttered, slowly backing away as some poor fool of a Unicorn tried to use their magic to create a light, and gouts of flame shot out of the second-storey windows, devouring the dull grey-green miasma of the stink-bombs.

“Yeaaaah … all peaceful-like. At Fluttershy’s place. No-where near any fart-gas or screaming Ponies.” Scootaloo agreed, creeping away after her earth-pony friend.

Angel, for his part, raising a paw towards the screams and grinned. Thus the end of the Ponies’ benevolent dictatorship began. This was the beginning of the Dominion of Angel the Bunny! Their cities would burn, their trees chopped to the ground, their homes razed, and fields of carrots would be tilled, continuously, relentlessly, the Ponies working till they died to produce carrots, endless carrots to feed his hordes of offspring and harems of willing females, for he would be Angel, slayer of Ponies and Overlord of all Rabbitdom! GOD-KING OF …

And then the tiny rabbit’s dreams of Canterlot in flames ended when Sweetiebell grasped him with her magic and snuck off after her friends, paying no attention at all to the tiny, high-pitched squeaks of rage coming from the would-be God-King of Equestria in her clutches or the hysterical demands of Mayor Mare that her stinking, on-fire employees stop screaming and form a committee to determine who would be fired for this debacle.

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

Somewhere outside of Equestria’s borders, sunset.

“Majesty.” The Drone murmured, eyeing his Queen nervously, noting how much attention she paid to her new, bizarre brood with a touch of jealousy, and a larger dose of worry as all three of the offspring sneezed at once, causing Chrsyalis to fuss over them.

Changelings weren’t born, they hatched. Fully capable of handling their duties, even if they were a quarter of their adult size.

This brood was … small. Squishy. Helpless. Almost as big a drain on the Hive as their crippled, dying Queen was. Were it not for how dire the situation was, the Drone was sure that the Queen would have otherwise left this defective batch to die and spawned a new, more normal brood, but the Hive could not risk waiting for months for Chrysalis to produce more eggs, assuming she even could in her current condition.

And yet just looking at the soft, chitin-less brood filled the Drone with … squishy feelings. Feelings the Drone only experienced when feeding on a Pony or other sentient creature, yet he knew that he was drawing no love-energy from the brood.

“Speak.” Chrysalis replied softly, lifting up one of the brood to nuzzle at its, no, her soft belly, which made it squeal with laughter before she gently lowered it to snuggle back against the others, against her belly, which had taken on a distinctly Pony-like appearance, including two large teats full of, of all things, milk for the Brood.

If he hadn’t seen them come out of the Queen in person, terrified and powerless as his beloved Queen thrashed and screamed and howled in pain as the small, bizarre little Changelings forced their way out her ovipositor, the Drone would have sworn they were normal Ponies …

“We have found a cave for the Hive to spend the night in. Do we set up camp for the night, or press on?”

Do we rush forwards, starving the Drones, or do we spend the night here, let them rest, and risk you dying in the night?

The words were not spoken, but they were present in both of their minds.

“Set up the camp tonight, and prepare to harvest as much Love-energy as we safely can from the Kattians without risking their health over the next few days.” Chrysalis said after almost a minute’s silence, her mind shrouded from the Hive-Mind, but the colours of her fear, and her doubt, were clearly visible to the Drone. “Give what Love-Brew we can spare to the Scouts, and bring me whatever parchment and ink we have left. We will set up a temporary camp in the cave and let the Hive recover its strength while the Scouts seek out an audience with Celestia.”

The Hive Mind was silent for precious moments as the self-aware Drones considered the Queen’s plan. It was risky, but they were so hungry. Without having to harvest on the hoof, they could produce much more Love-Brew from the Kattians than they previously had, and the overflowing love from the strange cat-like creatures would allow each and every Drone to refill their reserves to the fullest, rather than leaving them on a starvation diet like they had been.

“Are the Scouts to go in disguise?” The Drone asked, wincing as the disturbingly squishy feelings returned as he watched two of the Queen’s latest, and probably last, brood hugged each other and began play-wrestling, squeaking adorably at each other.

“No. They are to go in their own chitin, and to bear these ‘white flags’ that the Ponies use to mark their peaceful messengers.” Sighing heavily, Chrysalis shifted awkwardly in her nest of rags and shed Kattian fur, her brood whining as their perch by her warm, life-giving teats was disturbed. “We are running out of time, and the dried fish we prepared for the Kattians is running low. I will give each scout a message for the Ponies, that I am willing to turn myself over to their courts for punishment, if they will allow me to pass on my title as Queen to my Daughters and spare my Drones.”

“They may kill the scouts on sight, Majesty. We do not know how our kidnapping in Ponyville has affected their attitude towards our kind.” The Drone commented as the Hive Mind buzzed with the self-aware Drones’ thoughts.

“No. These are Ponies, my Drone. Even at their worst, they will at least allow the scouts to surrender. And for the privilege of bring myself, the great and terrible Queen Chrysalis, to Canterlot and under their custody to face justice for my ‘crimes’?” The Changeling Queen gave a quiet, bitter chuckle at her own words. “I think my capture would be a significant boost to any Border-Captain’s career.”

“No, my dear, dear Drone, I suspect the hardest part will be making sure that the Border-Guards don’t start fighting each other over who will claim custody of my head.”