“Are you sure you’re ready for this, Pharynx?”

The changeling rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Please, if it wasn’t a problem for you, then I can handle this month just fine!”

“It’s just…” Thorax started, nervously pressing his hooves together. “This is your first time doing this, I want to make sure that you’ll have fun!”

Pharynx squinted, looking at his brother in confusion. “Thorax, how much fun am I going to have going through a whole month of NOT doing something that’s enjoyable?”

“Well, it’s more than just not doing something! This is a chance to have fun and talk with a bunch of other creatures you wouldn’t ordinarily talk to!” Thorax grinned. “You could see what life’s like in Ponyville, or make friends with one of the griffons…”

“Or get a lecture from our former queen about our reputation…” Pharynx snarked under his breath.

Thorax smirked, playfully elbowing Pharynx in the ribs. “Hah, what did she say to you?”

“Probably the same thing she told you last year. Expectations and standards and whatever,” Pharynx shrugged. “I didn’t think she’d be taking this thing so seriously. I thought that this was just some weird competition.”

“I think having that orgy at the end with all the winners would raise the stakes for anyone, but changelings especially.”

“Eh, I guess you have a point.” Pharynx nodded. “Still, it was kinda weird how serious she was about it all.”

Thorax chuckled nervously, sheepishly rubbing his foreleg. “That, uh…might be due to the fact that Ocellus went out and I nearly lost last year, ehehehe…”

Pharynx couldn’t stop the smug grin from growing on his face. “Oh yeah, I remember when you came back to the hive! Aw, your entire face was red for like, the whole day!”

“Ha ha,” Thorax laughed sarcastically. “We’ll see how funny it is when everyone around you is overflowing with lust.”

Pharynx gave his brother a punch in the shoulder. “Pff, I’ll be fine! We’re four days in and the thought hasn’t even crossed my mind!”

“So, have you got your eye on anyone for the big celebration at the end of the month?”

“I dunno, might try things out with your girlfriend if she makes it, find out what it is you see in her,” Pharynx smirked.

Thorax’s cheeks immediately flushed a familiar shade of red. “Wha-Ember!? B-But she’s not my-”

“Hey, I didn’t say a name, you’re the one that wanted to fill in the blank,” Pharynx said, flashing a cheeky grin at his brother.

“T-That’s not funny, Pharynx!”

“Really? Cause I think it’s hilarious.”

Down at Twilight’s School of Friendship, three of the students were spending a lazy afternoon at a desk in the library, though based on the lack of books or notes nearby, studying was not on their agenda.

“So, how are you girls holding up?” Gallus asked, leaning against the desk. “Cause I’m doing great!”

Smolder crossed her arms with a confident smirk. “Pfff, I’m fiiiine! This is totally my year!”

“Says the dragon who was second to be eliminated last year…” Ocellus pretended to whisper to Gallus, her voice barely trying to be quiet.

“Hey! It’s not like you have a perfect record either!” Smolder huffed. “Don’t think you get to lecture me on self-control when you get off to a movie!”

Ocellus nervously rubbed the back of her neck, looking down in a bit of shame.

“Heh heh, a shame you two didn’t make it last year,” Gallus leaned back in his seat, resting his arms behind his head. “Was a loooot of fun doing it with two princesses. It feels good to be in the winner’s circle.”

“Yeah, it must be nice to actually be there now, ‘Mr. Midterm Study Relief’. I’m pretty sure your track record’s still worse than both of ours.” Smolder raised an eyebrow at Gallus’s bout of cockiness.

“Fine, I guess none of us are perfect…” Gallus winced. “Still, I guess that means neither of us are guaranteed to be in…”

“Well then, it’s a good thing we have a backup strategy if any of us don’t make it,” Ocellus nodded.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we should just be fine with going out!” Smolder said. “Besides, it won’t mean anything if our backups go out with us, too! We still gotta aim for all three of us making it to that orgy!”

“I dunno, doing it with Princess Luna and Twilight was pretty nice,” Gallus mused out loud. “I kiiiinda wanna find out what sex with Ember would be like…”

Smolder snorted a puff of smoke out from her nostrils in annoyance. “Yeah, and I wanna find out how many seconds it’ll take of me riding you before you cry out for mercy!” She growled, stepping up on the table and staring down at the griffon.

“Oh yeah?” Gallus put a claw on Smolder’s chest. “You sure Professor Rarity isn’t gonna screw over your chances again?”

Smolder started cracking her knuckles. “That’s it, I’m gonna-”

Ocellus was quick to intervene, wedging herself between her bickering friends and pushing them apart. “Save it for December, you two! Unless you just want me to win by default!”

With a low grumble, Smolder backed off, and Gallus crossed his arms while muttering to himself.

“Come on, we aren’t even a week in, you can’t let this stuff get to you so early!”

Gallus begrudgingly rolled his eyes. “Fine, I guess you’re right. Might as well put my energy into what I’m gonna do as a victory celebration…”

Ocellus leaned forward on the table, letting out a quiet sigh. “I wish that Yona, Sandbar, and Silverstream were invited to participate, too. It would’ve been fun to have them take part.”

“Yeah, but I think they’re counting themselves lucky that they don’t have to be pent up all month…” Smolder grumbled.

The harsh, wild, and often unforgiving environment of the Everfree Forest is not a welcome living space for most ponies. Fortunately for Chrysalis, she isn’t most ponies. The fact that it was mostly separated from the rest of civilization made it an ideal home for the former queen. It gave her time to be alone, time to think, time to scheme.

“Hmph, I hope Pharynx has taken what I’ve said to heart. For his sake…” she muttered to herself.

Her home in the forest wasn’t much, but she had more than enough to survive. One of the benefits of the isolation was that she only had herself to worry about.

However, today was different, as she came home to see a very uninvited guest. One particular pink pegasus had decided to lounge on her couch, idly munching away on several bags of chips.

“Sup,” Cozy Glow said flatly, not even bothering to look in the changeling’s general direction.

Chrysalis tensed up her entire body to suppress her rage. “Why must you always insist on invading my home?” she said through gritted fangs.

“Food’s free,” the pegasus casually replied, shaking some more chips out of the bag and into her mouth.

“It most certainly is NOT!” Chrysalis’s horn began to glow green, taking the snacks out of the hooves of her unwanted guest.

Cozy let out a groan of disgust at having her food taken away. “What’s the big deal? You feed off love or whatever, you don’t need to eat all this stuff!”

“Just because I can doesn’t mean I get to,” Chrysalis grumbled. “As tempting as it is, feeding off the nearby ponies whenever I wanted would lead to…unfortunate consequences.”

Cozy slumped further on the couch. “Whatever. So did you do your dumb rallying speech to Ocellus and Pharynx?”

Chrysalis sat down on the couch next to Cozy. “I told them that they better not tarnish the reputation that the changelings have, and not to give into temptation…no matter what form it takes.” She said with a particular venom in her voice.

“Heheh, yeah…” Cozy nodded, smiling in self-satisfaction, unfazed by the daggers being glared at her.

“Regardless,” Chrysalis snarled. “Now that I’m participating again, I’ll be able to set a good example for them to follow on how a real changeling performs.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you hold SO much command and authority over them now,” Cozy scoffed, shaking her head.

Chrysalis forcibly turned Cozy’s head towards her. “And part of that is making sure that noPONY tries anything to sabotage their chances, am I being clear?”

“Sure are!” Cozy smirked. “I mean, I was gonna try and do some sneaky seduction and tricks, buuuut I guess I can just settle for a nice, peaceful movie night, heh heh heh…”

“Okay listen,” Chrysalis growled, putting her muzzle right up to Cozy’s. “Promise me that you won’t try and ruin this for me, Pharynx, or Ocellus!”

“Why?” The pegasus scoffed, casually pushing Chrysalis back. “What’s in it for me? Besides, it’s not like you’d even believe me if I did promise.”

“Because, I know you’re still quite sore that you weren’t invited to be a participant this year, unlike me.” Chrysalis shot Cozy her own sinister slasher smile, using a bit of her changeling magic to make her fangs longer and sharper for the sake of intimidation. “And on the off-chance you get in next year, I don’t think you want to see what it looks like when I’m not playing nice!”

“Fine, sheesh. I promise I won’t do anything bad this month!” Cozy winced. Once Chrysalis dropped her, she crossed her hooves across her chest and pouted.

“Good.” Chrysalis settled down on the couch once more, sitting in a tense, awkward, long silence…then begrudgingly giving one of the bags of chips back to Cozy.

Author's Note

Kinda figures that a bug like Chrysalis wouldn't be a fan of raids.