Gene frowned slightly as he looked across the Gem Fields, the location where Spike had last been known to be. It was, as the name suggests, a large field where gems were commonly known to be, all caused by some magical mishap that happened before Ponyville was first founded; Twilight had been talking too fast to be understandable. The virus didn’t blame her though, it was her way to cope and prevent hysteria from overtaking her.

His viral eyes methodically examined the field, seeing several things that seemed out of place. Speaking softly, he turned to Snow, who stood beside him and examined the field. “Have you ever been here before?”

“Once.” The disguised Changeling replied. “Not too long ago, too. Maybe three or four months. I came here with a few Changelings to find some gems, particularly sapphires.”

“What’s the cause of the holes?” Gene asked.

“The empty ones or the filled ones?” She replied.

“Filled. The empty ones are where ponies have dug for gems before, I assume.”

“You assume correctly.” Snow said, then continued. “The Gem Fields used to house a pack of Diamond Dogs, and they had a habit of foalnapping ponies for slave work. Unfortunately, nopony knew where the ponies where disappearing to since the Dogs were careful to cover their tracks. After a time, the Dogs began getting bolder without any Guards finding them. They began foalnapping ponies in more open places, eventually revealing the location of their main warrens. Guards swarmed them and ran them out of Equestria. The filled holes are the remains of where the Guards used the Dogs’ own tunnels to invade them.”

“Do you think the Dogs have returned?” Gene asked, concerned.

“No, I know they haven’t. The ponies have ensured that the Dogs won’t be coming back. Underneath us, the warrens have been entirely filled with dirt, while some Unicorns also cast sensory spells on the surrounding area. If any Diamond Dogs are back near Ponyville, it’s not the Gem Fields.” Snow replied.

The viral pony looked down slightly, looking at the six ponies who were combing the area below the rise he stood on. None of them had their attention directed toward him, and a quick glance showed him the sun was almost directly behind him as it began to set. With a quick glance to Snow, he spoke. “I’m going to use a couple of my abilities to see if I can spot anything. Don’t be surprised if my eyes change.”

“Right.” Snow replied, smiling to him after throwing a quick glance behind them. “The sun should keep them from seeing anything.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for.” Gene said, then began administering the changes. First, the virus’ eyes began to glow slightly as the blue iris shifted into a glowing orange mass, the outward appearance his thermal sight took, a peculiar trait of the virus. Absently, he noted that he should work on making the change far more subtle than it was. A preliminary quick glance over the field revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Slowing down, he swept across the dirt plain with his eyes, searching for any abnormal heat signatures. Fulfilling his own expectations, he found nothing with thermal.

His eyes shifted again to focus light from a smaller origin, effectively ‘zooming’ his sight in, though it was incredibly disorienting at first. He started near the closest edge of the field and began searching for tracks in a grid pattern, knowing he would eventually cover the entire field with his method, even if it did take some time. At first, he saw nothing but the hoof tracks of the six mares below him, the tracks of the Dogs having long since been washed away under the countless showers and storms since then. Each warren hole he saw was filled with packed dirt, clearly having been undisturbed for some time, further ruling out Diamond Dog activity.

Near the southern edge of the field, though, he saw something out of the ordinary. Burnt wood. At first, he assumed it to be the remnants of an old campfire, then discarded it immediately. The wood wasn’t in any order or shape, just haphazardly scattered around a certain area. It couldn’t have been from a natural fire, either. The fields held no trees, the ‘border’ only being a sudden shift from dusty ground to grassy land, another peculiar quirk by the magic Twilight had mentioned quickly. Further in his interest was the disturbed ground, the area having clearly seen a lot of activity since the last rain.

Returning his eyes to normal, Gene decided to get a closer look from the ground and began descending the rise, gesturing for Snow to follow him. The mare matched his pace, coming to his side, as she spoke. “Did you see something?”

“Possibly.” Gene replied. “There’s some burnt wood and torn up ground toward the south edge of the field. I’m going to get a closer look, but I’m not sure if it has anything to do with Spike. It’s worth a check, at least.”

“I’ll go tell the others.” Snow said, looking out at the mares who had spread their search further into the field, though none were currently near the southern edge. After a moment of watching, she noticed they seem to be following paths something, each one walking around while staring at the ground. “What are they doing? Did they find Spike’s tracks?”

“I think so.” Gene said. “He must have been here a while, or came often, to have individual trails for them to follow. I’ll call out for you if I find something important, Snow.”

The white pony turned her attention back to Gene and smiled, leaning forward and nuzzling him, her soft coat rubbing against his slightly rougher one. Gene returned both the smile and the gesture, the equine gesture providing a feeling of intimacy that he enjoyed. The two separated, still smiling softly to each other, and Snow turned, heading toward the others and began walking. Gene’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to his marefriend’s swaying flanks as she walked.

The virus hummed lightly. It may not be her real form, but Snow was still attractive even when disguised. He was sure Snow knew it, just as he was sure she knew he had been staring, if the more pronounced swaying meant anything. Smiling more, he redirected his attention toward the location he had seen from the small rise. Making his way over quickly, he stopped as he realized that the area was a larger than he expected, his ability to judge sizes with his ‘zoomed’ vision being rather lacking.

Looking around, there was, by his estimate, three hundred pounds of burnt lumber in the area. Some were clearly logs, their attached bark and large size showing as much. There were quite a number of sticks, most broken or partially disintegrated. A rare bit of leafy material was still attached to some of the wood, though most seemed to have been burnt off. Walking over to a particularly strange mass of wood, it being partially head-shaped but mostly destroyed, he saw large, sharpened bits of wood that reminded him of his own incisors.

Timberwolves, then. Either there were quite a few of them, or only a few large ones. This is a lot of wood for some wolves. Gene thought to himself.

Before he called the others over, he first wanted to ensure that it involved Spike. While incredibly unlikely, it was entirely possible that these burned Timberwolf remains had nothing to do with the young drake at all. He didn’t want Twilight to panic without proof. The Unicorn had already been near-hysterical on the way, he didn’t want to possibly make it worse.

Another quick search, this time actually looking for something, revealed to him the unfortunate proof he sought. Several of Spike’s prints were met and intermingled with the Timberwolves’ prints. Further proof was a small tooth with DNA matching Spike’s, coated in a small splatter of his blood. He found a trail soon after, matted dirt showing where something, likely Spike, had been dragged away. The lack of a continuous trail of blood revealed two things to Gene. The first was that Spike was still alive, and the second was that Spike had, at the time of his attack, no open wound that was bleeding profusely.

Turning his head slightly, he shouted over his shoulder. “Hey! I found something over here!”

A pop of energy and the sound of hard hoofsteps in the distance told him that his company was on their way. Milliseconds later, another pop emanated from beside him as Twilight appeared in a flash of purple magic. He immediately noticed her frazzled mane and wild, unfocused eyes. It was clear to him that her worry was slowly driving her crazy. After reappearing, she spoke, almost shouting at him from the sheer volume. “What did you find? Is Spike okay? Please be okay!”

Hearing the sheer hysteria in her voice, Gene made a sudden decision, though he wasn’t sure how to pull it off. The virus turned to face her fully. He placed a hoof on her shoulder, the unexpected contact making her blink repeatedly in slight confusion. He used his hoof to administer a small dosage of calming agents, then spoke softly. “Twilight, do you trust me?”

The purple Unicorn blinked sluggishly as she calmed, then opened her muzzle slowly as she answered lethargically. “Y-yes.”

“Do you trust your friends?” He asked.

“Yes.” The answer came again, firmer this time as she recovered from the sudden shift in emotions.

“Go home.” Gene said simply.

“W-What?” Twilight asked, her ears splaying back as she looked at him, confusion and concern shining clear in her eyes. “How could you suggest that? Spike is out th-”

Gene cut her off by placing a hoof on her muzzle, shocking her into silence. “Go home, Twilight. You’re so worried that you’re going crazy. I could feel the stress and fear you feel. Go home, relax a little, and prepare a meal for you and Spike. He’s going to be hungry when we bring him back.”

“‘W-we?’” Twilight parroted with a small stutter. Gene simply gestured behind her. Turning around, she saw the other Elements standing, or hovering in Rainbow’s case, all with their own degrees of worry in their eyes. In contrast, Snow stood confidently, understanding Gene’s plan and wanting to help Twilight as well. Though worry lay in their eyes, determination claimed it’s place on each muzzle, everypony wanting to find Spike as quickly as possible.

“Let us find him. Don’t worry yourself into a breakdown, just let us do what we can do.” Gene said softly.

Twilight stood silently for a long moment, her gaze drifting between each of her friends. Her thoughts were in turmoil- that much could be seen from her face, though she looked to be calming as she thought it through. In time, she turned to face Gene again.

“Okay.” She said simply, her voice tinged with a softness rivaling Fluttershy’s. “I’ll go home and trust you.”

“Thank you, Twilight.” Gene said again. She nodded slowly in return, a hint of hesitation in her expressive eyes.

“Everypony else, let’s make our way toward the Forest.” Gene said aloud, getting the attention of the others. “I’ll explain what I found on the way.”

They nodded and Gene began walking toward the Everfree, though he gave a slight bump to Twilight to reassure her. As they walked past, each of her friends nuzzled her gently; even Snow gave her a calming smile as she passed. Pinkie was last, and his hearing picked up what she said to Twilight. “We’ll find him. I trust Gene, and he knows forests and animals better than anypony except maybe Flutters. Spike will be home safe and sound in just a couple hours.”

“Thank you, Pinkie.” Twilight replied. Pinkie nuzzled her once before moving on and joining the rest of the party. Twilight watched the group head toward the Everfree for a time. Once the group was nothing more than a speck in the distance, she turned and started walking back toward Ponyville, deep in thought.

Please, Gene. Bring Spike back to me.

“So Spike should still be alive?” Rainbow asked, hoping to confirm her suspicions.

“Yes. The Timberwolves only knocked him out and dragged him away.” Gene said, then pointed down. “There’s no blood in the trail, so Spike isn’t bleeding constantly. Maybe a light bleed, but nothing life-threatening. The thing I’m most worried about is how scared he’s going to be after this.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement, though Gene couldn’t see it. “Being a-attacked by Timberwolves is scary enough. I can’t imagine what it would be like t-taken by them.”

“My little Spikey-Wikey must be so scared and confused. Gene, please tell me we are getting closer!” Rarity said, hope echoing in her voice.

“I honestly don’t know.” Gene replied. “I can’t tell if the trail is slowing, and I can’t hear anything either.”

“Ah think we should move faster, then.” Applejack said in return. Everypony else agreed vocally, even Rarity to Gene’s surprise.

With a nod, he sped up to a fast jog and the others matched his pace, following the trail left by the wooden wolves. After what must have easily been half an hour, his viral hearing began to pick up on the sounds of growling from ahead of them. Outwardly, he didn’t show anything as a normal pony would not have been able to hear it yet. Yet he still began making minor alterations to his body; from the sounds of it, there were a lot of Timberwolves.

Within moments, he had hardened his tail into something reminiscent of a club. Next, he split his hooves on the bottom and allowed small blades to jut out. His strength and durability needed no alterations as he was already strong enough, but he did focus more on his hearing so he could tell if a Wolf was trying to sneak up on them or attack the ponies following alongside him. Snow came up beside him as they both began to pull ahead of the others slightly. Her power surge from feeding off of his regularly allowed her to sustain the increased pace with barely any effort, even as he moved faster than the others.

“Snow, when we find him and the Timberwolves, I’m going to lure them away.” Gene said quietly, knowing she would hear him anyway.

Behind the pair, Gene could hear Pinkie speaking energetically about a new cupcake recipe she had invented. Her voice, easily drowning out his and Snow’s conversation, carried in the Forest. At first, he wasn’t sure why she had suddenly began talking when she had been silent since reassuring Twilight. Then he realized she was letting him and Snow talk undisturbed. He smiled at the helpful gesture from the mare.

Then he cursed her foolishness once he realized the Timberwolves had gone silent, clearly having heard her speaking. “I need you to keep the others focused on Spike while I distract the Wolves.”

“You’re going to use your abilities, aren’t you?” Snow asked as Pinkie continued to ramble.

“Bladed hooves and a club tail are already formed.” Gene replied.

Snow leaned over and nuzzled him. “Good luck and be safe.”

“I will, of course.” The virus replied with a confident grin. “Keep yourself safe. Teleport you and the others away if you get cornered or surrounded, even if it exposes you. We both will have a pardon, you know it.”

“That’ll take a lot of magic.” Snow mused. “I’ll only be able to do it twice at most.”

“I’ll be sure to refill your magic reserves when we get back to our home.” Gene replied with a grin. Snow’s tongue darted out of her muzzle and licked her lips once she realized what he meant.

“Your love is delightfully tasty.” Snow whispered seductively.

Before Gene could think on the double meaning of her reply, the company passed into a large clearing, the other half of which was blocked with a line of Timberwolves standing shoulder to shoulder. Only one had broken the line, a massive Timberwolf that could be no one other than the Alpha of the pack. The beast was formed not of sticks and twigs held precariously together by magic, but of roots and logs woven together to form the solid foundation of a hunter. His eyes, unlike the rest of his pack’s, were not a poisonous green, but rather a silver than seemed to flow like liquid.

Behind him, the virus could hear the others come to a sudden stop and gasp as they saw the small army that stood between them and Spike, though they couldn’t quite see Spike. A quick glance to Snow and a shake of her head told him that she couldn’t sense him, either. “Girls, I’m going to distract the Wolves. Find Spike and get him out of here!”

Immediately, a chorus of complaints met him but he ignored them all. All except Fluttershy, who whispered to him. “They won’t fall for that. The Alpha’s too smart.”

Another glance to the Alpha confused him. His previously silver eyes were now red and yellow, though the beast still stood confidently in the center of the clearing. The eyes were familiar, though he knew not where he had seen them befor-

Disarray.

“It’ll work.” Gene said confidently as he thought one eye closed quickly in a wink. Without another word, he darted to the right side of the clearing and shouted.

“Come on you reject Ents! Free dinner right here!” The virus shouted, though he knew it was unnecessary. As soon as he started running, the pack’s instincts kicked in and they began chasing him. They erupted into savage growls and eager barks as they chased him, the Alpha seemingly encouraging them all to chase. A quick glance back a minute later showed that the Alpha’s eyes were back to normal, though he didn’t seem to want to turn around.

Few more miles, then I’ll let loose. Gene thought to himself.

“Come on, girls!” Snow shouted as she led the way forward, trying to ensure none of the others would follow Gene and the Wolves. “They didn’t take Spike, so they left him in their den!”

“Where is their den?” Rainbow asked as she flapped her wings, easily catching up to Snow.

“It would most likely be a cave.” Fluttershy answered for her. “Caves provide the warmth, shelter, and security they would need.”

When Fluttershy spoke, Rarity perked up. “I know a spell to detect gemstones.”

Rainbow interrupted her before she could continue. “And how’s that going to help us?”

Rarity rolled her eyes, but continued without a rebuke. “It works by sensing the ground, examining rocks, dirt, and the like. When it finds a gem, I can, well, feel, it’s location. It also works for empty spaces because the spell doesn’t find anything to examine.”

“How large of a range can you cast it?” Snow asked, getting her point.

“Maybe...one hundred meters.” Rarity said hesitantly. “If all of you could lend me some of your magic, I could extend it to five hundred.”

Snow’s eyes widened slightly at that, though she quickly calmed her features to hide it. Even as she nodded to Rarity, who lit her horn, she was worried. The Changeling feared that Rarity would realize that her magic felt more like a Unicorn, not a Pegasus.

I hope we don’t have to use that pardon. Snow thought to herself.

Steeling herself, she nodded again to Rarity, who began shaping the matrix to cast the spell she knew well. Moments later, the white Unicorn felt threads of foreign magic connect to her own. Mentally reaching out, she ‘grabbed’ the ropes and pulled as much as they allowed, ceasing once they stopped feeding her magic. They might not have provided enough to match a Unicorn, but combined, they were able to empower her spell several times over.

With a bright blue pulse of energy, the spell was completed and cast. Rarity gasped and stumbled to the side as information was fed to her, the sheer knowledge a kilometer of ground contained momentarily overwhelming her. Then, after a short time leaning against Snow, she recovered enough to speak. There were dozens of caves running through the Everfree, most of them far below ground and pocketed with bubbling magma. One specific one stood out, though. From several hundred meters in front of them, a surface-level cave sat in contrast to the ground around it, feeling like a void in the world. The spell was so powerful, she could even feel the dirt being torn up as Gene and the Wolves ran in the distance.

“Four hundred and twenty seven meters forward, one hundred and sixteen meters right. There’s a cave, and it’s large. It’s the only cave with a surface entrance in a kilometer in each direction.” Rarity said quickly as the magic burned it’s way through her veins and magical pathways. Her horn throbbed painfully as a spark shot out, making her wince and continue hurriedly. “It’s not very large and it’s mostly a straight line. There’s a single room at the bottom. I think he’s there.”

Her horn throbbed again and the others watched as Rarity promptly passed out, the magical strain proving too much for her horn. Snow, after a moment of thinking, spoke aloud. “Rainbow, grab Rarity and bring her to Ponyville’s hospital. Pinkie, head their as quick as you can and warn them of two, possibly three or more, arrivals needing treatment. Fluttershy and Applejack, stay with me as we make use of Rarity’s information.”

Rainbow looked like she wanted to argue, then stopped herself. She grabbed Rarity gently and flew off, beelining toward Ponyville. Pinkie saluted her, then dove into a nearby bush. Snow ceased sensing her as soon as she disappeared into the shrubbery, and the disguised mare knew she was already in town. A quick gesture with her head was all it took to get Fluttershy and Applejack moving again.

“Real sense of deja vu, there.” Applejack mumbled softly as they kept moving forward. Seeing Snow glance back, she elaborated. “Ah was talkin’ ‘bout the last time we were in tha Forest. Gene had Pinkie run back ta warn tha hospital while he carried Rainbow on his back. He used our talents ta be as effective as he could. You did tha same. It makes me wonder where he got that kinda training. Was he a Guard?”

Snow shook her head. “Now’s not the time to talk about Gene, particularly not when he could be fighting for his life.”

Applejack nodded, though she couldn’t shake the questions she had about one of Ponyville’s newest residents. Unlike most ponies, he seemed content to remain mostly solitary, though she knew he never ran company off. Then she pushed the thoughts away, focusing on finding Spike.

A fifteen minute jog through the dense forest later and they came across the cave Rarity had told them of. It descended steeply and turned further down, making it impossible to see the bottom. A number of jutting rocks, not quite stalagmites or stalactites, ensured they would have to move carefully, lest they wanted to tell the doctor that the earth lacerated them. “Come on, let’s go.”

With Snow’s prompting, the three stepped into the cave and began to carefully make their down the decline. Snow led the way, carefully picking a safe path for the other two to follow. Their hoofing was uneven, though not so much so to make one of them fall. Going down the cave, she realized they would have to fly out; there was just no way they were making the climb with Spike with them, whether he could walk or not.

The group of three reached the bend and rounded the corner. Immediately, Fluttershy ran forward at the sight of an unconscious Spike slumped against the far wall. She reached him in moments, taking out a small kit Snow hadn’t noticed and began to treat his wounds. A quick glance told Snow that he was mostly bruised, so she turned her attention away. “Applejack, you and me need to make sure nothing gets down here to interrupt Fluttershy. Once she’s done, we’ll have to hurry to Ponyville before the Wolves come back. If needed, I can carry you and Fluttershy can carry Spike.”

“That’s a might bit far, Snow. Ya sure you can do that?” Applejack asked in slight concern.

“It’ll tire me out, but yes. I made sure to keep enough of my magic for it while I was helping Rarity.” Snow replied. She walked forward, moving to stand by the entrance and perked her ears, listening for any sounds coming from outside. “As it is, I don’t hear anything. Stay prepared anyway, we don’t know if one of them is trying to sneak in.”

Applejack nodded and joined her, staying silent as she listened as well. The Forest was silent, though, paying it’s respect to the ongoing hunt. The only sounds they could hear was Fluttershy softly talking as she worked, and the gently rasp of cloth on scales as she covered his bruises with a soft pad to protect the sensitive scales.

Must’ve been a strong hit to bruise scale. Snow thought to herself.

After what felt like half an hour, Fluttershy spoke up, though her voice still remained quiet. “I’m done. We can go.”

Snow nodded and spoke. “Pick him up, Fluttershy. We’ll have to fly out of the cave; it is too steep for us to climb like we did on the way in.”

The Pegasus nodded and grabbed the baby dragon, then began flying the way they had came. Snow hovered in the air and hooked her hooves under Applejack, then began to fly up the cave. The farm pony might have been in good shape, but that only made her heavier, enough that Snow had to boost her wings slightly to keep them in the air. When they exited a few minutes later, she gestured to Fluttershy to keep flying. “We’ll fly our way back to Ponyville! Gene should see us and start heading back to Ponyville after he loses the Wolves!”

Fluttershy nodded and the pair kept flying toward the town, knowing that the hospital would be waiting for Spike.

In the distance, Gene watched the flyers as he ran. He could clearly see Applejack hanging under Snow and Spike being cradled by Fluttershy. He kept running, waiting until the four were completely out of sight.

Time for the Forest to respect the new hunter. Gene thought, having since figured out why the Forest was silent. It was alive, at least to a slightly greater degree than a normal forest. As soon as the chase had begun, the Forest had gone entirely silent, and he occasionally caught glimpse of another creature. Sometimes he saw other predators, sometimes he saw prey. All watched as he ran, and he knew the Forest was enjoying the entertainment.

Glancing back, the virus saw easily four dozen Wolves chasing him, including the Alpha. Deciding immediately to forgo hoof-to-claw combat in favor of something faster and more efficient, he decided to slay the Wolves in a burst of motion and chaos.

Stopping on a dime and spinning around, his front hooves, chest, neck, and head erupted into two dozen tendrils, eached ending and lined in a molecularly sharp blade. Before the Wolves had even ceased their momentum, he was already in between them and had killed easily a dozen. His blades moved in a horrifying mixture of whip and saw, switching directions unpredictably as they sang through the air. The sheer chaos caused by the jerking tendrils made it impossible for the Wolves to dodge. All they could do was be torn apart as a hail of wood chips and twigs rained down around him.

Moments later, it was over. The tendrils retreated into his body and he reformed into the pony he was disguised as. Walking over to the only living Wolf, he stopped in front of the eviscerated body of the Alpha. The beast’s head rolled on cracked shoulders weakly, staring up at him as it growled pitifully. Gene couldn’t help but chuckle, only to be stopped short. He yelped and jerked back as the Alpha’s teeth sank into his leg, fearing another curse.

The virus calmed immediately as he saw that the teeth had failed to pierce his leg entirely, and that the wooden teeth were nothing more than wood. With an annoyed grunt, Gene stepped forward and crushed the wooden head under his hoof. Turning around, Gene began walking through the Forest, unaware of the potent magic pulse that was sent through the Forest the moment he was bit. He was completely unaware of the dozens of predators awakening throughout the cursed woods, each one intimately aware of Gene’s location, and each one horrifically hungry.

Gene arrived back in town just in time to see Snow step out of the hospital. She saw him and grinned happily, content to know he was okay. They approached each other and met in an embrace, Snow’s wing coming to rest over Gene’s side. “Any trouble?”

“Nope.” Snow said, shaking her head. “I’m uninjured. Spike and Rarity will be okay. Rarity just had magic exhaustion and Spike had a few bruises, a small cut on a leg, and a missing tooth where a Wolf kicked him. Twilight wants to thank you, and so does Spike, but I convinced them to let you rest before they come over.”

“Let’s get home, then.” Gene said. Snow smiled and lead the way. As the two passed in between two houses, taking a shortcut to another street, the pair vanished as Snow teleported the two. They reappeared in their room, Gene having already added Snow to the ponies that could teleport straight in. Gene turned around to face Snow, intending to warn her that what she did was risky. The words died in his throat at what he saw.

Lying on the bed, collapsed in exhaustion and weakness, Chrysalis lied in her true form. Her chitin was cracked all over, her eyes dulled down, and her dry tongue hanging out as she struggled just to rest. Jay was on the bed in an instant, his form already shifted as he pulled her to him gently. “Chryssi, what the hell happened to you?”

“Used a lot...of magic. Helped Rarity...cast a spell, then used it to...bolster my wings.” She said weakly, breaking her speech with deep breaths as she tried to settle her lungs.

“Feed.” Jay said, baring his neck to her as he leaned down. He tensed again as her teeth latched on to his neck. Unlike the first time she fed on him, she remained aware of her surroundings and was gentle with her feeding. Jay felt his eyes drift closed as a warmth spread across his entire body, relaxing him and making his head dip lower.

The virus must have dozed for a second because he was next aware of Chrysalis gently shaking his shoulder. He raised his head from its lowered position and faced her, seeing instantly that she fed enough to tinge her lips pink. He leaned down and kissed her gently, the taste of sweet strawberries gracing his tongue before they parted. Jay licked his lips, then spoke after a second. “Strawberries?”

“That’s what your love tastes like.” Chrysalis replied. “It’s different for everypony.”

Jay looked to her again and smiled when he noticed that she looked much better. Her chitin, while not perfect, was healing even as he watched. Her eyes shone with the familiar brightness he knew, and she no longer sounded like she was struggling to breathe. The Evolved rested his head against the Queen’s as he relaxed. “That was foolish.”

“But it might have saved them.” Chrysalis replied.

“What about you?” Jay asked worriedly. “Do I have to nurse you back from Death’s Door each time you want to help somepony? What happens if you go a step too far?”

“I wasn’t even close to dying, Jay.” Chrysalis said gently, realizing he wasn’t just berating her, that he was worried for her and her health. It would take more than a few days for her to get used to being cared for. “I was tired and weak, but not dying. I’m careful with my energy.”

“Chrysalis, you only used that much magic because you knew I would be back to replenish your energy. You need to be careful. What if you come back and I’m unavailable because I had to solve a problem or chase a monster away? What are you going to do then?” Though his words were stern, the clear concern she heard and tasted was unmistakable. She leaned up and nuzzled him gently.

“I’ll be more careful.” She promised.

“Thank you.” Jay said in relief. “I know you’re powerful, physically and magically, but you have your limits. Everyone does.”

“Even you?” The Queen asked playfully, though he nodded seriously.

“Even me. You already know I’m weak to magic. The right spell could destroy this body, and that’s a major limitation when most of the world has some form of magic at their disposal.” Chrysalis smiled lightly, despite the topic. She had caught his meaning by ‘destroy this body.’

“Fair enough.” Chrysalis replied with another nuzzle. “Now, tell me about the Wolves.”

“Only if you tell me how you’re half with. I’m not quite sure why I saw Rainbow fly off with Rarity, or why Pinkie leapt out of a bush and tripped a Wolf before disappearing again.” Jay replied with his own smile as he kissed the bridge of her muzzle.