Gene made his way out the front door, Snow Flight at his side. “I guess the Guard closed the gate when he left.”

“I guess so. That Rune of Access is what probably opens it.” Snow replied, pointing to a symbol on the wall next to the gate’s recessed alcove.

“I wouldn’t know.” Gene said, a small grin on his muzzle. “No magical skill in any form.”

Snow rolled her eyes, though she had a smile, too. “Just press your hoof against it.”

The pair reached the gate’s alcove and the viral pony pressed his hoof flat against the symbol and the gate swung open, revealing his visitor. It was Twilight. She stood with her hoof raised to knock again, though she put her hoof down when she saw him and Snow.

“Hey, Twilight. What brings you by?” Gene asked companionably.

“I just wanted to ask you a few things. Are you free?” She replied with a small smile.

Gene turned and looked to Snow for a moment. The hidden Changeling leaned forward and kissed him lightly. “Go ahead. I’ll rest a bit more, then I’ll make my way to the town. There’s somepony I want to meet.”

“Who?” Gene asked curiously.

“Pinkie.” She replied, making Gene nod and speak.

“Good luck. Be careful.” His words were simple enough but they carried a hidden meaning, one that Snow noticed. He had, with four words, reminded her that Pinkie had seen through his disguise and might see through hers.

Gene turned back to the violent Unicorn and spoke. “Yeah, I’m free. I have some business I need to take care of later today, but we have time.”

“Great, let’s go!” Twilight exclaimed, her horn instantly alighting with a magical aura. With a quick flash of light, the pair vanished. The disguised Queen smiled lightly and turned around, heading back inside with the intent to relieve some of the stress she developed after tasting her partner’s lust.

Offset from the center of the town, another flash of light lit up a room before fading, revealing Gene and Twilight. The viral pony glanced around quickly, noticing the familiar ordered bookshelves, the iconic wood grain in the walls, the same decor, and the same room layout. He recognized it as the main room in Twilight’s library. He quickly noticed two large cushions arrayed on the floor, a tea set in between the two. Gene turned his attention back to Twilight, who waved at him to take a seat. The Earth pony did so and she sat across from him, her magical grasp pouring two cups of tea, one of which was given to him.

He grasped it and took a small sip, instantly realizing it was a tea that either didn’t exist on Earth, or was a home blend. Though, it tasted like green tea, one of the few he had liked on Earth. He set it back down right as Twilight began speaking.

“Out of curiosity, who was that mare that was with you? She’s new to Ponyville, isn’t she?”

Gene nodded, a small smile coming across his muzzle. “That’s Snow Flight, my partner in both senses of the word. We’ve been working together for a couple of weeks, though we got together about three days ago.”

Twilight hummed. “That coincides with Pinkie becoming even more excited than normal. She’s been running around, saying good news had happened. She wouldn’t explain it, though. Did you tell her?”

“No, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she sensed it.” Gene replied.

“I could believe it.” Twilight replied. “So you love Snow?”

Gene hummed for a moment. “Honestly? I wouldn’t call it love. Not yet. We’ve been together three days. I’m attracted to her and I care for her, but I don’t honestly think I love her. Not yet.”

“Though I can grow to love her easily.” Gene added after a short moment.

“That’s...a very mature way of thinking, Gene. I may not have ever had a partner myself, but I’ve seen plenty of ponies around Canterlot and Ponyville act foolishly for what they thought was love. It’s always a shame when I saw them with a different pony a few weeks later.” Twilight said. “Have you and Snow had any arguments yet? Did you solve them?”

Gene laughed lightly. “It’s been three days, Twilight. We haven’t argued yet. I’m sure we will, just as I’m sure we’ll solve it peacefully, but it’s too early.”

“What about time away from each other?” Twilight asked quickly.

“Right now, for one. Though, we’ve been with each other the last two days as we made our way to Canterlot. Honestly, these are questions I’ve expected from Princess Cadence, not you.” Gene said simply.

Twilight blushed lightly as she coughed into her hoof, ignoring the bright grin Gene had as he took a sip of his tea. “Well, that’s because I’ve spent so much time with Cadence. She was my foalsitter, and as I grew up, she became my friend. She does always call me a special kind of blind, though. I can help couples with their relationships, help solve arguments, plan events, and just generally help others. On the other hoof, if somepony shows interest in me, I don’t notice. If somepony points it out, I freak out and completely forget everything I know.”

Gene laughed again, speaking once he quieted. “That’s something I can see you doing. Still, our relationship is new, but we both are mature. We know how to talk things out, spend some alone time, and have fun with each other or with friends. Any stories to tell of your romantic exploits?”

Twilight lowered her head slightly, refusing to look at his teasing grin. “There was a Guard in Canterlot who liked me when I lived there. I never noticed his attempts at getting my attention. He did all kinds of simple things, like give me flowers or presents, but he also tried to plan dates, get advice from others who knew me, and just generally tried to get me to notice him.”

“What happened?” Gene asked when she paused.

“I moved to Ponyville. Cadence told me about him much later, and I went back to Canterlot after a freak out and several days of preparing myself. I spoke to my brother and found out that he had transferred into the Equestrian Rangers. They’re a group of ponies that handle animal and monster threats, rather than pony criminals. He now travels all over Equestria.” Twilight said softly.

A moment of silence passed before Gene spoke. “What is his name?”

“Iron Wall.” She replied.

“I’ll keep an eye out for you.” Gene said.

Twilight looked back to him and smiled lightly. “Thank you. I really want to truly meet him, now.”

Then she inhaled, held it, and exhaled. “Onto a better topic, I had a couple questions I wanted to ask you. I wanted to clarify a couple of things that have made me feel like I’ve been going crazy from all my all-night study sessions.”

“Ask away then.” Gene replied.

“First of all, when you first arrived in town, how did you pay to stay at the Green Dragon? I don’t remember seeing any saddlebags on you and that has been bothering me for a long time now. I mean, maybe I’m seeing, or not seeing, things because of how late I’ve been staying up but studying can’t be a bad thing, can it?!” Twilight asked quickly, her voice taking on a frantic note at the end.

“Calm down, Twilight.” The equine replied, his voice laced with amusement. “You aren’t going crazy. I wasn’t wearing any saddlebags then. I carried my bits on me with a small pouch wrapped around my foreleg. I moved it recently to around my neck, but you can see that I’m not carrying it on me. I usually don’t, normally.”

Twilight relaxed as he proved her fears unfounded. “I’m glad I’m not going crazy. Though, you don’t carry bits on you normally? Why not? What happens if you see something you want?”

Gene smiled at her. “When I was younger, I had what was essentially an obsession. OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is what it’s called. Anything technical I saw, I would buy. It didn’t matter if I needed it or not, I’d buy it. I’d buy it just so I could take it apart, learn what I could, then throw it away. It got so bad at points that I couldn’t afford to buy food for myself, and I would struggle to pay my rent.”

The Unicorn frowned in concern at him at that. “That’s horrible. I couldn’t imagine being unable to afford to feed Spike and myself.”

“The few friends I had and my family took care of me. They understood what was going on and would always make sure I had enough to eat. I was always so thankful for that, and for them. I wasn’t delusion; I knew I had an obsession that I needed to get rid of, but I couldn’t.” Gene said, then cracked a smile. “Obviously, I did. Over time, I forced myself to stop. It took a couple years. Early on, I stopped carrying money on me, which helped lessen the urge. Then, I started carrying just enough to buy what I needed, nothing more. I’d go on small shopping trips over the course of a week rather than one big one, which helped stop me from having too much money on me at a time. Eventually, I fully removed the urge.”

“Of course, after that, I worked hard to pay my friends and family back for all the help they gave me. I worked a couple of jobs for a few years, paying them back. They didn’t want me to, but I wasn’t letting that kindness be forgotten.” Gene added after a moment. “Now I just have a habit of not carrying bits on me, which isn’t that bad of a habit, honestly.”

Twilight nodded in reply. “Much better than the obsession you had before. Though, you only had a ‘few’ friends?”

Gene nodded. “Yeah, four. A couple of them didn’t get along perfectly well unless I was there, though, but they were my friends.”

“Only four? I’m close friends with at least a dozen ponies, and friends with most of the town.” Then her eyes widened lightly. “Oh! I’m so sorry! I’m not bragging, I swear!”

Gene laughed loudly at that for several moments, only replying once he had quieted down. “It’s okay, Twilight. I know you’re not bragging. In all seriousness, I’ve normally been a rather reserved pony. I kept to myself mostly, but I’m certainly not upset with this change of pace. I have plenty of friends, a marefriend, and a good job. I’m happy, there’s no doubt about that. Much better than the forest I lived in.”

“That’s another thing I wanted to ask you. What forest did you live in?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Honestly, Twilight?” Gene said, speaking slowly to stall for time as he formulated an effective cover. “I don’t know. I left my parent’s house a long time ago, just wandering across Equestria until I came across the forest I lived in. After several years there, nearly a decade, I left the forest. I followed the roads for a few days, just wondering, until I came to Manehattan. I stayed there for a couple weeks, then boarded a train to Ponyville.”

Twilight hummed lightly as she thought. “You followed the roads for a couple days? Well, you might have come from Winding Woods. It’s not that important to know, anyway. I was just curious if you knew.”

“Sorry, Twilight, but I don’t know.” Gene replied.

The Unicorn smiled to him. “Don’t be. It’s not like it’s important information, just idle curiosity.”

After a moment of comfortable silence as the pair sipped at their drinks, Gene spoke up. “Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?”

“Oh! Yeah, there’s one thing. Your new home, why is it so fortified?” Twilight asked after a moment of thinking.

“Well, my home is more than just a home. It’s also the Everfree Expedition Staging Point. It’s where me, Snow, and several Guards will be stationed as we send expeditions into the Forest. It’s fortified to act as a literal fortress to stop Everfree monsters from getting to Ponyville.” Gene explained, using the ‘official’ story of the Peace Estate.

Twilight nodded. “That makes sense. Princess Celestia likely did it to combat the increase of Everfree predators, correct?”

“What?” Gene asked. “What are you talking about?”

“You aren’t aware?” Twilight asked in surprise, to which Gene shook his head. “Two Manticores attacked a town a few days away from here, and the Rangers had to drive a Timberwolf pack back into the Forest. The predators have been coming out of the Forest for some reason, something they’ve never done before. Do you know why?”

The concern in her voice was clear, as was the reason for it. Ponyville, built right on the edge of the Everfree, was right in the danger zone because of these events, something that concerned the mare who cared for her friends. “Honestly, I don’t. However, the Point will have Guards stationed there soon, and we’ll do everything we can to defend Ponyville from anything that comes out of the Forest.”

Twilight nodded, calming only slightly. “Gene, if something happens, and you need a magic user, get me. I won’t hesitate to help Ponyville, no matter what it is.”

Gene nodded respectfully. “Thank you for the offer. Ponyville will be safe, don’t doubt that.”

Twilight smiled worriedly and Gene decided to change the topic. “So Twilight, what have you and Spike been up to recently?”

The Unicorn’s smile brightened at the happier topic, glad that Gene was distracting her from her worry.

Snow flight walked out of the front gate, a content smile on her muzzle. Her mind was far less muddled than before, a fact that she owed to her personal time. After activating the exterior rune to close the gate, she made her way toward Ponyville, intending to find the most excitable pony in the small town.

The disguised Queen felt around as she entered the town, her senses picking up countless ponies emitting love, joy, and happiness, with the rare speck of sadness scattered through the town. In the distance, she felt trickles of amusement and contentment, those emotions being Gene’s. In the past, she would have felt this feast and began feeding, gathering as much love as she could for her Hive and herself. Now, though, the thought of feeding on these ponies bothered her. Snow had no desire to feed off of the ponies; Gene was her only source of love now. Her Hive had the Blossoms, an near-limitless supply of love that would ensure her Changelings would never again need to starve.

Snow felt her. At the edges of her senses, outside of town, she felt the powerful source of love, joy, happiness, amusement, and contentment, as well as a thread of patient anticipation. It was Pinkie. Making her way in the direction she felt the emotions, she eventually exited the town again, following an old road as she walked through a small flower field. After some time, she rounded a small rise in the ground and came across a pond. It was filled with crystal clear water, small fish swimming in the life-giving substance. Several trees dotted the edges of the pond, providing cooling shade as respite from the heat of the solar flame. Seated calmly beneath one of the trees was the pink mare herself.

She sat on the very edge of the pond, one of hooves swirling through the water as she hummed a cheerful tune. Snow stopped, just watching for a few moments at the decidedly peaceful scene.

“Well? Are you coming over?” Pinkie asked calmly, looking over her shoulder to Snow.

Snow snapped out of it and walked over, taking a seat next to Pinkie. The pair sat in silence for a moment, a silence that was comfortable for Pinkie and nerve-wracking for Snow.

“Care to introduce yourself?” Pinkie asked after a moment.

“I’m Snow Flight.” Snow replied.

“No, you aren’t.” The party mare replied. “Be honest.”

Snow was silent for a moment, her mouth open as she tried to speak. After a time, she ended up answering honestly. “Chrysalis.”

“Good.” Pinkie said, smiling at the Changeling. “It’s better to be honest. Now, why did you look for me?”

“I wanted to meet you.” Chrysalis replied easily, only to balk at the stern look Pinkie gave her. She coughed once, then corrected herself. “I wanted to apologize.”

“To me?” Pinkie asked as if she knew the answer.

“To the Element Bearers, to the Princesses, to Princess Cadence, to Shining Armor, and to Equestria. I figured, out of everypony, you would be the one most likely to hear me out. I chose you because I thought you would be the best pony to start with.” Chrysalis said, everything flowing out easily, to her surprise.

Pinkie nodded. “You know you hurt a lot of ponies, right?”

Chrysalis looked away quickly, staring into the pond. “I know.”

“And you mean to apologize to them, right?”

“I do.” The disguised mare replied.

The two were silent for a long moment. Chrysalis watched Pinkie out of the corner of her eye, waiting for her to say or do something. Pinkie did nothing but smile as she watched the fish in the water swim around peacefully. After nearly half an hour of silence, interspersed with Chrysalis’ fidgeting, the Queen decided to try to mimic Pinkie and turned her attention to the fish. They were koi, a type of fish Chrysalis had never seen before, other than goldfish. The only fish in the Badlands were the grotesque fish that lived in subterranean lakes deep beneath the surface.

They drifted through the water serenely, almost like they were exuding peace itself as the cut through the water with grace. Their colors reflected each others’, forming a kaleidoscope of countless shades thrown throughout the water. Chrysalis watched as the fish seemingly played with each other, chasing each other throughout the pond, in and out of small plant life on the bottom. They showed no fear of predators, no fear of the much larger creatures near the surface. A pair of koi even swam up, lightly rubbing against Pinkie’s hoof, even as it moved through the water in circular motions.

Chrysalis felt around her with her senses, finding no ponies anywhere near the two. With a flash of magic, she took her true form and softly slid forward, setting her hoof in the water. Showing no fear, the two koi drifted over and swam around her leg. After a moment, one even swam through the natural holes in her form. She smiled at the ticklish sensations she felt as it’s fins brushed against her chitin.

As the Queen watched the two fish dance around and through her leg, she felt her fear and worry fade as a calm descended over her. They showed no fear, no concern, no care, just the endless contentment as they played with whatever entered their domain.

“I like to come here because of the koi.” Pinkie said quietly, her voice failing to disrupt the peace the pair felt. “They know that you could eat them. They know I could pull them out the water. They aren’t worried. They just want to play. The fish teach us that, sometimes, it’s okay to just forget your worries and play for a while.”

Pinkie stood up slowly, the fur on one hoof matted from the water. She placed a hoof on Chrysalis’ leg and smiled when the Changeling looked up to her. “I forgive you.”

Then Pinkie turned and walked back towards the town, humming the same cheerful tune she had been humming when Chrysalis arrived. The chitinous mare watched as Pinkie rounded the rise, then turned her attention back to the koi that still swam around her. As she watched, a small smile slowly spread across her muzzle as she realized Pinkie was right.

“Thank you.” Chrysalis said, both to the unhearing fish and the long-gone mare.

Gene hummed lightly as he exited the town, following Pinkie’s directions. He had left Twilight’s fifteen minutes earlier only to be intercepted by the excitable mare as she directed him toward Snow. While bewildered, he had learned to trust the mare, and he did, deciding to just accept her directions and go.

The virus rounded a small rise in the ground and came across a rather surprising sight. Sitting at the edge of a small pond, both of her front hooves in the water, was Chrysalis. Not Snow, Chrysalis. She had an incredibly peaceful smile on her muzzle, her viridian eyes closed. She seemed so content and happy that he loathed to interrupt her, so much so that he considered turning around and leaving.

“Well? Are you going to stand there or join me?” Chrysalis asked softly.

Gene smiled as he walked over, sitting down next to her. His attention momentarily drifted to Chrysalis’ hooves, where several koi were swimming around her legs peacefully. His attention was pulled back up to the Queen when she spoke again. “Take your true form. I want to see Jay again.”

“Bit risky, Chryssi.” Gene said, worry lacing his tone.

“Jay, I’m sensing for emotions anywhere near us. I’ll be warned far ahead of time if anypony comes near us. Go ahead and take your form, Jay. We’ll be fine.” Chrysalis said, her calm smile not fading.

Gene sighed. “You’re playing it risky, you know. If we get caught, that’s it for Ponyville.”

Though he was slightly reluctant, he shifted back into his real form. Jay couldn’t help but smile as Chrysalis leaned against his side, the familiar feel of her chitin against his side calming his worry. He watched the koi with her for a time, then spoke. “What brought you out here, and how’d Pinkie know?”

“I spoke with Pinkie earlier.” Chrysalis replied. “I wanted to apologize to her. I didn’t need to, though. She knew.”

“And the fish?” Jay asked, gesturing to the pond.

“Words of wisdom, Jay.” Chrysalis said, happily cryptic. “Words of wisdom from a deceptively wise mare.”

“Fair enough.” The viral man replied as he draped one arm around the Queen’s form. “As long as it helped you, I’m content.”

He felt Chrysalis nod against him. “She helped me, no doubt about it. I feel calmer after her advice.”

“You sure it’s not because of the activity you did?” Jay asked suggestively, a sly smile on his face.

His body moved slightly as she looked up at him. “What?”

The virus grinned down at the shapeshifter. “My nose is infinitely more advanced than almost anything else’s. I can smell the remnants of what you did to relieve yourself of stress. Did you even wash yourself afterward?”

Her muzzle tinted a light green as she spoke. “N-no.”

“Naughty mare.” Jay said, making her muzzle light up brighter with her blush.

“Don’t judge me, Jay.” Chrysalis said softly, making him lean down and kiss her lightly.

“I’m not judging you at all. You have needs and you know how to take care of them. I did it quite often when I was younger, when I still felt that urge. There’s no shame in it, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to tease you.” The virus said after the two parted.

“Fair enough.” Chrysalis said, mimicking what Jay had said earlier.

Jay laughed lightly when he heard that. “Oh God, I’m corrupting you!”

“God?” The Queen asked curiously.

“Do Changelings believe in a force greater than them, like a higher Deity?” Jay asked suddenly.

“Just the same that most other races believe in. The Mother and her Son.” She replied. “The Mother created the world with her power, while the Son sought out life to fill it. He took inspiration in the life from other worlds. He made each and every race on Equis to fill a role, each one coming out as he saw perfect. The Mother then went and found beings, each one assigned a role to protect life. That’s all I know of the stories.”

“This is a very basic comparison, but imagine that ‘Mother’ is God, and the Son is technically the same person. That’s an incredibly basic, watered-down version of two of the beings Christians worship in Christianity, the name of one of the prominent religions on Earth.” Jay said after she stopped.

“One of the religions? There’s more than one?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yeah. Hundreds, probably. I barely know any of them. Never believed in them. Equis only has one origin story?” The virus asked.

“Just the one. You never believed in any of the religions your world had?” She asked in reply.

“Never.” Jay replied, then elaborated. “I grew up in a rather religion-lax household. My mother was Catholic, my father too. I was told what Christianity was, of course, and taught it’s values, but I was left to my own devices on what religion I chose to believe in and follow. In the end, I chose Atheism, the lack of a belief in God. There weren’t many Atheists in my home town, being in Louisiana and all, so I took steps to try to not offend anyone with my beliefs. I made sure I didn’t insult anyone’s beliefs, and I didn’t question their religion. There were a few people I could hold a friendly debate with, but only a few.”

He paused for a moment, then continued. “Of course, that didn’t stop some people from being offended just by me being an Atheist. ‘You’re going to Hell!’ was a pretty common phrase a lot.”

“Hell?”

“Tartarus.” Jay replied. “Anyway, whenever someone insulted me for no reason, I turned into a right asshole. My favorite reply was ‘With you here, I’m already there.’ I wasn’t nice if someone didn’t return the same civilities I gave them.”

Chrysalis made a face at that, halfway between amused and disgusted. “Were a lot of ‘Christians’ like that? They sound horrible.”

“No, not at all. Most Christians are wonderful people.” Jay replied. “They help people whenever they can, they trust each other, and they’re just generally good people. But there’s always those few bad people who make a lot of noise and get a lot of attention drawn to them. Those are the ones I met.”

“That makes me glad that Equis only has one belief. There’s no argument about who is right.” The Queen replied.

“That is a good thing, though it surprises me that there’s only one religion. I honestly expected more than one.” Jay replied, to which Chrysalis shook her head.

“Nope. The Mother and the Son is the only one, discounting cults. Those accept the origin story, but worship other beings anyway.”

A comfortable silence fell over the pair for a moment before Chrysalis spoke up again. “You’re not going to believe in the Mother, are you?”

“Probably not.” Jay replied honestly. “At least, not easily. I hope that doesn’t bother you.”

“Not at all.” Chrysalis said, leaning up and kissing him lightly again. “You’re you, you don’t need to follow our beliefs.”

“Thank you for understanding.” Jay said, a small smile on his face.

“Of course I will.” Chrysalis replied. “I care for you too much to not.”

Another comfortable silence fell on the two as the sat, just watching the fish. A short moment later, Chrysalis sat up straight. “Quick, disguise yourself!”

A flash of fire and whirl of tendrils later, the two sat in their pony forms, reclining on each other as they stared into the pond. A moment later, a familiar Pegasus touched down on the ground in front of them, a look of worry on her face.

“What’s wrong, Rainbow?” Gene asked.

“Spike’s missing! Have you seen him today?” She asked in concern.

“No, I haven’t. I was at the library with Twilight earlier but I didn’t ask if he was there.” The Earth pony replied.

“I haven’t seen him, either.” Snow answered as well.

“Twilight said he was going to look for gems, but he never returned.”

Gene and Snow stood up. “We’ll help look for him. Where are the others?”

“Meet us at the library!” Rainbow shouted, then shot off into the sky.

Gene looked to Snow in concern. “I hope he’s alright. The kid’s not bad.”

“I hope so, too.” Snow said honestly. “Let’s go or we’ll be late. I don’t want to try teleporting all your weight.”

“I know I’m fat, but you don’t need to rub it in.” Gene said jokingly as he knocked Snow onto his back and began to run, his tireless nature allowing him to run all the way back to Ponyville without becoming even slightly tired. He navigated quickly through the streets, making his way to the library. He arrived just in time to see the group of mares quickly walk out of the library, Twilight in the lead.

Gene stopped and let Snow get off his back, then looked to the lavender Unicorn. “What do you know?”

“He went to the western Gem Fields earlier today to get some gems for him to snack on. That was early this morning. He should have been back by now so I went there to check on him, and he was gone. I went around Ponyville, asking around, and plenty of ponies saw him leave Ponyville, but none of them saw him come back in. The Town Guard don’t know what happened, either! We’re going to go back there and try to find him.” Twilight said quickly, speaking almost as quickly as Pinkie as she kept trotting, everyone following behind or beside her.

“You have our help, of course.” Gene said. “We’ll find him. There’s no doubt about it.”

“Thank you, Gene. That means a lot.” Twilight said, though the fearful frown didn’t lessen at all.

Author's Notes:

First off, I'm horribly sorry for this being so late, especially right after I changed how often I planned to update. I could try to explain why this was late, but there's really no singular reason. I just didn't finish it until now.

Second, yes, Jay is Atheist. This might upset some of you, others might not care. Don't start a religious debate about Jay's religious views. It's useless.

Finally, don't hesitate to tell me how you feel about this chapter, particularly about Pinkie's scene. She's acting quite a bit different than you would expect her to based on the show.