Chapter 46

10-25-14, 12:17 P.M.

Jeremy woke up to find Celestia had left some time ago. Luna was obviously asleep by now, and he probably shouldn’t be bothering Celestia during work hours. So, he set off to the dungeons, not expecting anything much.

True to form, Ethan was still in his cell, disallowed from eating with the other prisoners due to his unique extraterrestrial status, as well as basically having committed one of the highest degrees of treason – an odd thing about Equestrian prisoners was that they were still extremely loyal to the diarchy, so they would probably attack him if they found out what he was in for. As soon as Jeremy entered, Ethan looked up.

“So, you’re getting married?” he asked. Jeremy cocked an eyebrow as he leaned against a wall.

“Yep. How’d you hear?”

Ethan grunted. “The guards talk about it a lot. Also, I heard the Royal Canterlot Voice yesterday.”

Jeremy laughed. “That tends to happen when she’s excited, yeah. We’re still planning it out, but the wedding should be pretty soon.”

They walked through Canterlot, Jeremy making sure to avoid his office – the last thing he wanted was Ethan getting his hands on the many weapons stashed inside.

“So, what are those guys’ plans for me?” he asked Ethan out of the blue.

“Shit, I dunno. They didn’t give me much beyond ‘let’s get revenge on that guy,” Ethan replied.

Jeremy sighed in frustration. “Man, you are useless as an information source,” he complained.

“Well, excuse me for not knowing other languages!” Ethan replied indignantly. Jeremy rolled his eyes.

Approaching the main square, he was surprised to see Chrysalis wandering around, checking the shops. As usual, the ponies regarded her with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion, but her casual and respectful manner threw them off enough that they weren’t openly hostile. Jeremy smiled in satisfaction as he walked up.

“They aren’t even running,” he commented, Ethan following behind.

Chrysalis smiled. “It certainly helps that I’m not attacking them, at any rate. Still got the vermin tagging along?”

Jeremy looked back at Ethan, who was hyperventilating a little upon seeing Chrysalis without the safety of a cage. “Yep. At this point, it’s more out of my boredom than anything else. When I asked for a break from schoolwork, I didn’t think it would be this uneventful…”

Chrysalis shrugged. “I’d ask if you wanted to come hang out at the hive, but I can’t have him tagging along…” she said, pointing a hoof at Ethan.

“It’s cool, I’ll stay behind,” Ethan answered nervously.

Chrysalis darkly chuckled. “Yes. Yes, you will,” she answered, turning around and heading off in the direction of the castle.

As they headed back to the castle, Ethan seemed to be too nervous to speak in front of Chrysalis, while Jeremy remained as impassive as ever. Finally, he cleared his throat.

“Hey, Queen Chrysalis,” Ethan started, stuttering slightly. Chrysalis looked at him.

“Yes?” she asked, unamused.

“I just wanted to say… sorry… for being an asshole,” Ethan muttered.

Jeremy stifled a giggle as Chrysalis remained unfazed, her stony expression amusing him greatly. This quickly changed when she replied.

“It’s going to take a whole lot more than ‘sorry’ to make up for what you did – right now, it is only out of respect to Jeremy that keeps my changelings from hunting you down and ripping. You. Apart,” she hissed between clenched teeth, her face getting threateningly closer to his with every punctuated word. Ethan gulped audibly, while Jeremy raised an eyebrow. Chrysalis continued her rant, getting visibly worked up. “You teleport in here over a year ago pretending to help us, you kidnap my only friend and lover, and now you waltz in here like nothing happened?! No. NO! I won’t forgive you, I CAN’T FORGIVE YOU! I HATE YOU!” Chrysalis screamed as Jeremy looked on in shock. Passersby stared in alarm, and Jeremy looked over at them and made a ‘shoo’ing motion while Chrysalis wasn’t looking. After they scampered off, Jeremy placed a consoling arm around Chrysalis, while glaring at Ethan, all his old hatred surfacing as Chrysalis managed to give voice to his deepest thoughts. Ethan, to his credit, looked contrite.

“Chrysalis…” he started, adopting a serious tone of voice. Chrysalis glared at him through wet, acid-green eyes, and Ethan continued.

"I know that I almost killed you, did terrible things to the guy you loved, and approved wanton slaughter by giving you weapons. I haven't forgotten that, and you have every right to hate me for it. But after I escaped those awful people… I thought about what hate and disinterest for others’ feelings had done to us both. I know that I might never get your forgiveness. I know that what I've done was... well, completely unforgivable. What I did was atrocious. The part of me that thought that sort of thing was okay died the second I woke up in prison. And… I don’t want you, or anyone, to love me. Hell, I’m okay with you hating me. But… can you teach me how to change? To be a better person? I just… I want to stop being this, right now, this person you hate…” Ethan finished.

Chrysalis had been staring at him the whole time, alternating between glaring and narrow-eyed skepticism as Ethan rambled. For a moment, they stared at each other, then Chrysalis grumbled something and looked away.

“Sorry, what?” Ethan asked.

“FINE!” Chrysalis yelled, causing both Jeremy and Ethan to stumble back in alarm. “You want to learn how to be a better person, that’s fine by me. But I’m not teaching you. Go talk to Princess Celestia or something, she’s great at that – I can’t stand the sight of you.”

Ethan, after looking horrified and dejected for a moment, bowed his head. “Okay,” he whispered.

They entered the throne room, to find Celestia calmly examining a stained-glass window.

“Greetings, you three. Finished already?” she inquired.

“You could say that,” Jeremy muttered.

Ethan seemed to collect himself for a moment, then slowly approached Celestia. “I… I want to be a better person… Can you teach me?” he falteringly asked.

Celestia gave him a searching look for a moment, then turned to face him fully. “Of course, Ethan,” she replied – and Jeremy noticed her calm tone had shifted for a moment, eerily reminiscent of last year’s possession. Ethan, smiling, held out a hand, and Celestia recoiled. “Don’t you dare touch me,” she snarled, and Ethan withdrew his hand, shocked. Celestia stretched her wings out threateningly. “I overheard your conversation a short while ago, and while I’m touched by your sincerity, I can see into your mind. We are not anything together, Ethan – and don’t think for a single second that we ever will be.”

Ethan backed off, both hands raised in a protective gesture. “Yes, sure, okay,” he hurriedly agreed. Jeremy opened the door to the dungeon, and Ethan quickly walked through, his fearful eyes never quite able to leave Celestia’s penetrating glare. Chrysalis followed in soon after, and Jeremy shut the door after giving an alarmed look to Celestia.

They dropped Ethan off back in the dungeon without incident, and Chrysalis fairly pranced as she exited.

“…What are you doing?” Jeremy asked in consternation and mild amusement.

“What? It feels good to be able to enter and exit this place of my own free will,” Chrysalis answered.

Jeremy laughed, then stopped as he caught sight of Ethan again while rounding the corner. The guy was leaning against the wall, an arm cushioning and hiding his face. For all his hatred, Jeremy was actually feeling pretty sorry for the guy – he was by all accounts sincerely repentant, but all the same he deserved whatever he got. As he and Chrysalis exited the throne room, Jeremy walked over to Celestia. Luna had by now woken up, and was getting ready to raise the moon.

“You two are scaring me, you know that?” Jeremy remarked worriedly. Celestia averted her gaze.

“I know, I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that,” she admitted. “But his thoughts… as soon as he looked at me, he was thinking about doing it with me, and I just couldn’t take it, so I snapped. Judging from that conversation, looks like I wasn’t the only one,” Celestia commented, her glance shifting over to Chrysalis.

Chrysalis glared right back. “At least you’ve only had to deal with him once,” she muttered.

Celestia didn’t look as though she knew how to respond, and thus left to lower the sun, leaving Jeremy and Chrysalis alone. Chrysalis stalked off in the direction of the hive, and Jeremy followed after waving to Luna.

“I need a break from this break,” Jeremy sighed a few minutes later as they arrived at the hive.

“You, me, and everyone else who’s ever dealt with that guy,” replied Chrysalis.

She greeted her drones with a pleased hiss, and they exchanged a rapid-fire conversation – presumably, Jeremy surmised, about their day. He dropped them a nod, and they just as coolly returned it – at this rate, they’d be able to hold their own in a human conversation, Jeremy wryly thought. He was distracted from this when Chrysalis lit up her horn, and Jeremy was lifted into the air.  

“Hey! Whoa, put me down!” he exclaimed.

Chrysalis laughed. “Are you kidding? I’ve been waiting for this since the beginning of break.”

She tossed him over onto her cocoon, where Jeremy landed with a soft thump.

“What exactly are we doing?” Jeremy asked, and Chrysalis flew over on top of him, sitting on his chest.

“You. Me. Hours of cuddling. Starting now,” she answered, and Jeremy laughed as he embraced her in a tight hug, leaning back and relaxing.

10-25-14, 9:18 P.M.

“I can’t believe you got bored of cuddling after only an hour,” Jeremy panted, exhausted.

“I can’t believe you expected me to be satisfied with just cuddling,” joked Chrysalis in return.

Jeremy chuckled, and pulled her closer. A crack of thunder sounded just outside the hive, startling him, and Chrysalis looked up as Luna rushed in, drenched. She stopped at the sight of the two of them, still sweaty.

“We… had business in Ponyville, and thus had to traverse the Everfree… Alright, move over,” she declared as she pushed up beside Jeremy – the cocoon was just barely enough to accommodate them all.

“Hey! You’re soaked and freezing!” Jeremy complained as she snuggled up beside him.

“And what better way dost thou know of to warm our royal person?” Luna replied teasingly as Jeremy shivered from the sudden chill.

“I can think of a few things…” Chrysalis commented deviously, and she reached out her head and bit him on the forearm.

Jeremy stared in shock at the bloodless puncture wounds for a moment, and then realized what she had done. “Are you serious? Aphrodisiacs?” he asked Chrysalis, pretending to be unamused.

“It’s not like you can recuperate like this naturally,” purred Chrysalis, and Luna giggled, rubbing an ice-cold hoof among his chest.

A half hour later, all three were damp with sweat and rainwater, significantly more tired, but still laughing.

“You two are insatiable, honestly,” Jeremy claimed.

“Would you prefer otherwise?” Chrysalis asked. Jeremy gave this serious thought.

“…No,” he finally mumbled in response. Luna laughed even harder.

“Dunno about you guys, but I could use a shower,” Jeremy finally said, stifling a giggle of his own and grabbing his clothes, which had been tossed aside quite a while ago. Luna lit up her horn, and a second later they found themselves in front of the portal to Earth.

“Imagine your roommate’s face if he saw you like this,” Chrysalis commented snidely as Jeremy headed off to shower. Jeremy laughed, and exited the room.

After his shower, he flopped down onto his bed, still tired but happier. Dragging over his laptop, he opened his email to find that Mary had a new message for him: He was to carry at least a small firearm with him at all times. Shrugging, Jeremy forwarded this to Luna and asked her to get his revolver from the suit – he didn’t think he’d look inconspicuous with an M16 assault rifle sticking out of his backpack, but the magnum was much easier to hide and had about the same stopping power.

After a while of browsing, he closed the laptop and put it back, finally laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. His mind was awhirl with thoughts and worries. Immortality. Marriage. Ethan. Terrorists. Murder. School. He mentally chuckled at that last one – was that really a priority compared to all the other things? He supposed it was – to him, at least. Still, he kept feeling as though he were too young to be thinking about this kind of stuff – it was all so heavy. Did he really want to live forever? Was he really ready to get married? What would he do when the terrorists finally arrived?

He thought about these things for what seemed like hours, when Celestia stepped through the portal.

“Hello,” she greeted, and Jeremy moved over to make space for her on the bed.

She politely accepted, laying down next to him – it was a single-person bed, but Jeremy was skinny enough that the two could fit comfortably.

“Something on your mind?” she asked, noticing his expression. Jeremy briefly explained, and Celestia sighed.

“The answer to your question is that nobody should have to think these things – being born an immortal alicorn is one thing, but choosing immortality is quite another. And I know you well enough to know you won’t renege easily on your decision, but having regrets and worries like these is quite normal – everyone gets them, though not on the same issues, of course.”

Jeremy chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Celestia smirked. “Of course I’m right, I’m the Princess.” Jeremy playfully swatted her on the shoulder, and she used a wing to smack him in return.

“So, Luna told me what you’ve been up to in the past few hours – you do get around quickly,” she chortled.

Jeremy blushed slightly. “More like I’m dragged around,” he retorted, chuckling.

“Mind if I join in?” Celestia asked, blushing as well.

Jeremy looked over at her, a small smirk on his face. “I don’t think I ever will,” he replied, and leaned over to kiss her on the lips. As he pulled away, the spring mattress squeaked fiercely, and Celestia looked down at it.

“Goodness, maybe we should take this somewhere else,” she remarked.

“Fine by me,” Jeremy replied, and a second later they were in Celestia’s own neatly organized bedroom.

“Ready?” Celestia asked.

“As ever,” Jeremy casually replied.

Quite some time later, they were both exhausted but feeling significantly better. “How did you go for that long?” Celestia asked, as both of them basked in the afterglow under her bedcovers.

“Might be due to Chrysalis injecting me with aphrodisiacs earlier – whatever that girl cooks up in her fangs, it works,” Jeremy replied.

Celestia laughed, but her smile quickly turned into a more serious expression. “I just hope you don’t end up getting addicted to something,” she worried aloud.

“I wouldn’t dare,” Jeremy replied, stretching an arm out lazily under her neck and bringing her into a tight hug.

Moments later, Celestia snuffed the single lit candle in her room, and the two fell into deep, warm, comfortable sleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 47 Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 22 Minutes