Chapter 25

12-26-13, 11:34 A.M.

As soon as Jeremy woke up, he flung himself out of bed and strode out of his apartment, heading back towards the office. Speedwalking, he opened the door to find no changelings in the area. Jeremy crossed the room to the portal surface, and pressed the button. With a small shudder, the portal opened to reveal Chrysalis laying in the center of her room, surrounded by tiny changeling babies. She looked up at him, surprised, and Jeremy noticed her eyes were tinged with a chlorophyllic green – was that the changeling equivalent of being red-eyed? Chrysalis looked away.

“So… do you still want to fight, or not?” she asked, getting to the point, and sounding like she had been crying herself. Jeremy lowered his eyes, starring at a wriggler who was tugging at his pants with its mouth. He sighed deeply, sat down, and gave it a quick head rub – it butted his hand with its head, desperate for more.

“I did promise,” he sullenly replied. “And… to be fair, this is kind of my fault. I should have seen this coming,” he finished. Chrysalis nodded, and lifted up a baby who was struggling to walk by the neck and deposited it by her side, where it instantly snuggled up. “So… what’s with all the babies, anyway?” Jeremy asked.

Chrysalis gave a small chuckle. “They always cheer me up when I’m feeling sad – although I doubt you’d agree.” The corner of Jeremy’s mouth quirked into a smile.

“Are you kidding? This is adorable to watch.” Surprised, Chrysalis smiled back. Jeremy continued to pet the tiny baby, then shied away as it attempted to bite him. “Hey!” he exclaimed, startled.

“I don’t know what you were expecting – it’s trying to feed on your love,” Chrysalis explained, half-laughing. Jeremy grimaced and tentatively held out a finger, which the changeling happily latched on to. Chrysalis watched in fascination. "You're... letting it feed off of you?" she asked, confused.

Jeremy nodded. "It's just a baby... and it's so cute!"

Chrysalis stared at him for a while. "Um... Huh. Well... okay, then," she trailed off, watching him. They stayed there for a few minutes, idly playing with the adorable baby changelings as Jeremy tried to think of something else to say.

Jeremy got up, recognizing he still had to work, and Chrysalis watched him through the portal. Remembering something, he stopped and turned around. “Hey, I keep seeing your changelings working on stuff. What’s that all about?” he asked.

Chrysalis embarrassedly twirled a hoof on the floor. “Some of the changelings were interested in all the stuff to do, so I gave them permission to mess around a bit. I hope you don’t mind?” she asked. Jeremy shook his head.

“As long as they don’t break something, I’m okay with it. You might want to ask Luna, though, as she’s in charge of all the official stuff.”

Chrysalis nodded agreeably. "Already did... but you own the office, so I thought I'd ask," she answered, and Jeremy shrugged and nodded. It was hard for him to quite grasp that he was actually in charge of something - it hadn't occurred to him that he would have authority as such. Ah well, Jeremy thought as he took a seat at his desk, examining the placard with his name on it.

He had nearly exhausted drawings for weapons last time, but that didn’t mean some couldn’t use an update or rehash – occasionally drawings were rejected with statements saying that even magic couldn’t provide for that level of technology. Selecting one such drawing, he began to erase the labels of components, writing in new ones.

Jeremy kept at this for a solid hour before his body reminded him that he needed food. Thankfully, lunch was still in session, so he stepped out of the office and locked the door. Celestia was usually present at lunch, so he would get the chance to update her on the situation there. Approaching the food line, he grabbed a plate and set about making a sandwich, avoiding the more species-specific ingredients such as hay and grass.

Quickly finishing, he searched up and down the area for Celestia. Lunch was held in the gardens outside the castle, so it was sometimes hard to see everyone what with the maze of hedges. Walking around, he finally found her, enjoying a donut in a corner. “Hey, Celestia,” he called out as he came within earshot. Celestia looked up. “How’s it going?” she casually asked, setting down her donut on a plate laying on the grass.

“Pretty good,” Jeremy answered. “Got the whole situation with Chrysalis resolved… although I still don’t like it.” He explained his reservations about committing murder once more, and Celestia nodded wisely.

“Not to equivalate the two, but I had similar reservations when I banished my sister to the moon – I always wondered whether there wasn’t some more peaceful course of action. Why don’t you put all that engineering skill towards solving that problem? You might find that the politics would allow for an exception if all other combatants were unable to fight, for instance,” she pointed out. Jeremy nodded thoughtfully.

“That's a pretty good idea, actually. I'd have to see what Chrysalis thinks... See you tonight?” he asked. Celestia nodded, smiling slightly. With that, Jeremy set off back to his office.

Jeremy opened the locked door with his key, and headed towards his desk. Taking out a new sheet of paper, he began to sketch out a few ideas for an incapacitating weapon – something that wouldn’t kill or hurt a changeling in the long run, but would make them unable to fight for at least a few days. A few ideas were instantly discarded as unsafe, and a few more as impractical. Finally, Jeremy had one or two ideas he thought would work, and set about developing these into more finished weapons.

It took him two solid hours to finish drawing, and one more to label everything. Jeremy always found it harder to draw original weapons, as he was used to fitting the technology to a pre-existing container, instead of the other way around. Finally, he was done, and he laid the papers in an “Outbox” tray on his desk before logging into his computer. Selecting a particularly bloody game, he winced a little at the gore – it still reminded him of terrible things – but otherwise thought he could handle it.

Before he knew it, it was dark outside. That meant it would soon be time for dinner, so he brought his current drawing to a decent stopping point and headed out. While he walked, Jeremy reflected on his schedule – school started back up in just a few days, on January 5th. Until then, he was probably going to hang out in Equestria, as this was a hell of a lot better than most winter breaks of his. Dinner was much the same as lunch, only the gardens were lit by lamps, adding an interesting feeling to the area. Jeremy did his usual thing – ate without talking to anyone, put his dishes away, and headed towards the castle.

Celestia was, as usual, waiting on her throne, Luna beside her. As soon as Jeremy entered, Celestia stepped off her throne and approached him. “Hello, Jeremy,” she casually greeted. Celestia then led him off to her private quarters. Once more laying down on her bed, she adopted a somewhat serious pose. “As soon as Luna gets back, we have something to show you,” she informed him. Jeremy nodded.

“I also brought some cool stuff,” he mentioned, and Celestia raised an eyebrow.

They waited for a few minutes, with Celestia returning to her book and Jeremy simply spacing out for a moment. For once, he wasn’t really thinking about anything – a welcome relief after the stressing events of earlier that day.

Luna finally walked in, settling down next to Jeremy. “Sister, thou didn’t show him already, didst thee?” she asked. Celestia shook her head. “Good. In that case, please proceed,” Luna told her, and Celestia pulled out a small rectangle of paper – another brochure, Jeremy realized. “We made it biannual,” Luna commented, and Jeremy read the brochure - another karaoke night?

“I hope that doesn’t inconvenience the planners or civilians too much,” Jeremy mused.

“In fact, we put it to a vote – and the answer was overwhelmingly yes. Even the management didn’t complain. Apparently they’ll enjoy the extra business,” explained Celestia.

“So, more singing. Hmm – the last time I sang, I proposed to someone,” Jeremy pretended to think out loud. “I wonder what could possibly happen this time?” Celestia looked at him, a slight smile on her face.

“Is that a yes?” she asked.

Jeremy laughed. “Yeah, well, it’s pretty much tradition at this point, so why not? Still have to figure out what song to sing – gotta parse all the symbolism and all that.”

Celestia looked at him, intrigued. “There was symbolism? I must have missed it.” Jeremy nodded.

“I try to make all the songs I pick have hidden meanings – it’s kind of fun.” Celestia frowned.

“I wish I could go back over the previous songs, then…” To her evident surprise, Jeremy held up a finger for her to wait and dug around in his pocket, finally pulling out a small cyan square of metal, about an eighth of an inch thick.

“This is a music player,” he explained. “I can listen to thousands of songs at any time I wish, in good quality.” Celestia examined the tiny music player, fascinated. “So, this button turns it on, and you touch the screen or drag it to do stuff,” Jeremy explained. He then held up his pair of earbuds. “These fit in the ears, and play the sounds – that way you can listen to music in private.”

With Jeremy’s help, Celestia donned the earbuds and selected a song at random. Jeremy watched the expression on her face, which looked shocked before transitioning into a delighted smile. “This is amazing!” she commented, taking out one earbud. Jeremy grinned.

“Now, I believe you wanted to hear the songs I used previously – I set up a playlist for those.” He showed her how to reach the playlist, and Celestia scrolled through the action music before tapping the first song after those. Jeremy left her to it, and dug into his pocket again, this time pulling out his cellphone.

Luna appraised the device. “Is this another music player? It looks larger,” she commented. Jeremy shook his head.

“This is a phone,” he replied. “It’s also a miniature computer, text messaging device, music player, calculator, has some very simple games, and does a bunch of other stuff that I almost never use. It’s pretty much my go-to device for when I need to do stuff but can’t find an actual computer.” Luna stared openmouthed, then looked up at him in disbelief.

“Surely thou art joking – such a small device cannot accommodate so many functions,” she declared.

Jeremy merely raised an eyebrow and smiled, entering his password into the phone and showing her each one of the functions. “Gotta love miniaturized transistors,” he commented.

He handed the phone off to Luna, who promptly turned it off. “Oh. Yeah, you’ve gotta be careful with that button,” Jeremy remarked as he turned it back on and re-entered his password. Taking care to avoid the button, Luna scrolled around the phone, mesmerized by the touch screen and its bright colors. Jeremy looked around. “Well, my work here is done – you are both now addicted to modern electronics. Have fun!” he joked.

Celestia smiled, and showed him the screen of his MP3 player. “What do you think about this one?” she asked. Jeremy examined it, and thought deeply. Oddly, it fit very well - he suspected yet more fateful involvement.

“You know what? That works perfectly, let’s do it,” he replied.

Celestia asked to keep the music player a little while longer, and Jeremy reluctantly agreed, wishing that some of the songs on there were a little less silly. Clearly reading his thoughts, Celestia laughed. “Oh, come on, they can’t be that bad,” she replied as she placed the MP3 player on her bedside desk.

Luna giggled as she gave him back his phone. “So, we believe Celestia owes thee a massage this time,” Luna commented in Celestia’s direction, eliciting a blush from her.

“Oh, we’re still doing that trade agreement?” Jeremy remarked, grinning. He got up and laid on the bed next to Celestia.

“Sister, I’m unsure of what to do here…” Celestia admitted, looking at Jeremy.

“Just follow my lead,” Luna said, and started. Jeremy quickly gave himself over to the pleasurable sensation of their hooves working out the kinks in his joints, and he was even aware of making a few moans.

What seemed like an eternity and also a split second later, they took their hooves off of him, and Jeremy got up. “Oh, thou actually managed to stay awake this time,” Luna commented. Jeremy gave a quiet laugh, and Celestia looked over at Luna.

“Did he fall asleep when you did this?” Luna nodded, and Jeremy blushed. Celestia chuckled, and Jeremy promptly blushed even harder.

“So… is this what you two do in your off hours?” Jeremy asked. Celestia shrugged.

“When one spends their working hours constantly answering questions, making public appearances and ruling a country, a little time off can be just what one needs.” Jeremy understood this, and nodded.

“Honestly, sister, thou make us sound so boring,” Luna commented. Celestia laughed.

“I swear, we’re interesting!” she fake-insisted.

“You sure?” Jeremy commented mockingly.

Celestia leveled her gaze at him. “Want me to prove it?” she seductively replied. Jeremy immediately shut up, and Luna burst into laughter. Jeremy joined in after a second or two.

12-27-13, 12:46 A.M.

At about this time, Jeremy realized he should probably head to bed. He excused himself politely, and headed back to his apartment. When he got there, a note was posted to his door. Pulling it off, he stepped inside and read it by the lamplight. “Get over to the Hive early tomorrow – we have to get you trained. –Queen Chrysalis”, he read aloud. “Ugh. Getting up early again…” he muttered, setting his alarm. He assumed ‘early’ meant sunrise, so he set it to 5:30 A.M. and crawled into bed.

For a while, Jeremy lay there staring at the dark ceiling. He knew he should concentrate on going to sleep, but all he could think about was this so-called training, and the battle he was being ‘trained’ for. There was a notable difference between his normal style – just rushing into battle and rolling with it – as compared to actually training for things. Jeremy wondered how exactly he would be ‘training’ – would he be mock-fighting changelings? He didn’t look forward to it. Also, it occurred to him that he should probably also be working on that incapacitory weapon. He’d have to wait for the R&D team to approve the design, but it should be fairly simple – and suitably ironic.

Next Chapter: Chapter 26 Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 23 Minutes