A wolf amongst the Sheep.

        How long had she laid there, in that ditch? A day, a week? Unable to stand, unable to move, barely able to speak. Her strength had long left. All her energy poured into repairing the damage the fall had done to her. And what a fall it was. Several thousand leagues of land passed beneath her as she fell, thrown by the very energy that had sustained her, had empowered her.

She survived, but only barely.

Queen Chrysalis, the mighty matriarch of the changeling horde, reduced to nothing more than a hollow shell, filled only with loathing and hate. That stuck-up princess and her naive fiancee, Shining Armor, she cursed them, moments before she struck the ground. Her plan had been flawless, capturing the Princess, childsplay. Duping her oaf of a coltfriend, even simpler. Even the omniscient Celestia had fallen for her tricks. Who'd have thought that all that could have been undone by the actions of a single unicorn? She thought herself doomed, locking horns with an alicorn was a fools errand and yet Celestia had fallen, defeated, even she hadn't realized just how powerful she had become. To have overcome the bearers of Harmony, and the Goddess of the Sun herself, only to be defeated by love.

Talk about irony.

She felt her strength fading and she along with it, the gaps in her hooves continually growing in size as her body could no longer sustain itself. She knew she had hours left, maybe even minutes. Soon she'd be naught but dust on the wind. She could sense it, her end fast approaching. She didn't want to die here. With no other options, Chrysalis closed her eyes and did something she had never done before.

She prayed.

She had no Gods to call upon, the only ones who existed she had challenged, only to be cast out, exiled. Instead she willed her prayer to be heard by someone, anyone. The queen's eyes watered as time continued to pass, she feared her prayer was unheard.

Then she heard it, a voice echoing across the glade.

They were getting closer, she could sense them, a bubbling pair of ponies, one large, one small. A mother and her foal perhaps? Her elation was quickly replaced by fear however, when she realized her salvation may in actual fact be her demise. She still looked like herself, any sane pony would run screaming from a changeling, even one as injured as herself.

Summoning what little of her strength that remained she cast her spell, it wasn't enough to cloak her completely but it would have to suffice. She hid her horn, the holes in her hooves and replaced her chitin with dark fur. Her insect wings replaced by thick plumage. If she was lucky, she could convince them she was simply an injured pegasus. She heard some rustling not far from her, a loud gasp and then fast approaching hoofsteps. She had been discovered. Her vision hazy she turned towards her finders. She managed to mutter two words before she blacked out.

"Help...Me..."

Having finished their business at Zecora's house, Twilight trotted along the well worn path back towards Ponyville, her saddlebags bulging with herbs and potions. Since the whole poison joke fiasco, Zecora's reputation had improved remarkably. The Ponyville Hospital and the spa being two of the first to capitalize on these new zebrican remedies. Of course as with all medicines rigorous testing was required before they could be distributed, and that's where Twilight came in. She made arrangements to visit and collect samples from Zecora every week.

For her assistant however, there were more pressing issues at hand. "C'mon Twilight, we're going to be late!" Spike said, he sat with his arms crossed, leaning back into Twilight's neck.

Twilight groaned, he'd been complaining the entire way there and the entire way back. "Relax Spike, Rarity won't mind, she's always late whenever we invite her over for lunch."

"Yeah, but when she does it it's fashionable." He huffed.

"That doesn't make any sense, how is being late fashionable?"

"It just is okay? Everything Rarity does is fashionable."

"So by being late we are also being fashionable, and since Rarity likes stuff like that, she would approve of us being late, right?"

"Now whose not making sense?"

"Look we're going to get there on time okay? I just have to drop these bags off at home, if it's that big a deal, why don't you start walking there now, I'll just-" Twilight cut herself off with a gasp.

"Twilight? Why'd you stop?" Spike spun around on Twilight's back, the mare frozen in place, her eyes narrowing as she focused on something in the distance. He almost slipped as she took off into a gallop. When she finally stopped again he leaned over to the left, try to see what had caused her sudden panic. His voice caught in his throat as he saw her.

A downed pegasus, in a deep crater. She looked over at them. Shakily she lifted her head from the dirt.

"Help...me..." She whispered. They gasped as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Whipping her head round Twilight spoke with urgency. "Spike quick, get off." He nodded and hopped off of Twilight's back. She threw off her saddlebags and magically lifted the downed pegasus onto her back.

Confident that her new passenger was secure, she turned to face her assistant. "Get to Rarity's tell her what's happened, then meet me at the library." She said. Her horn lit up and the pair disappeared. The young dragon waddled over to the saddlebags and gripped them by the straps. He dragged them along the path for a while, past the considerable hole in the ground. To take his mind off of the fact that not only was he going to be late to visit Rarity, he'd also have to drag Twilight's bags home as well, he started to think. He wondered how fast that pegasus must have been going, and more importantly how she was even still breathing. Even Rainbow Dash would have had a hard time walking away from a crash like that. She certainly didn't look like any of the pegasi he'd seen around Ponyville before. Then a question came to mind. She looked like she'd been there for a while so how had they missed her? They didn't pass the pegasus on their way to Zecora's that's for sure. He looked around, and realized to his horror that he was no longer on the path. Twilight must have wandered the wrong way whilst they were arguing.

"Where the hay am I?!"

As they rematerialized inside the library, Twilight trotted quickly over to her couch and slowly rolled the pegasus onto it. She gave her a quick look over. Whatever injuries she had seemed to be superficial, a couple of bruises. Not exactly consistent with a high speed collision. If anything she just seemed to be exhausted.

She shrugged. "I guess all I can do is make sure she's comfortable and wait till she wakes up."

As she turned and walked into the kitchen, unbeknownst to her, the 'pegasus' started to awaken.

W-where am I? Am I dead?" She looked around as best as her stiff neck would allow.

Have I truly been saved?

She tried to rise from her seat, comfortable though it was, but as soon as she put pressure on her forehooves they shudder and fell from under her.

This is no good, have to feed.

She cast her mind outwards, searching for any potential prey, she felt the presence of a pony nearby.

The one who found me in the forest, but then where is the young one?

She decided not to concern herself with such petty things. Her goal was clear, seduce her saviour, restore her strength and then, when she was strong enough, reassemble her scattered horde. Chrysalis hoped her disguise was alluring enough. Her musing were interrupted by a chipper voice.

"Oh good you're awake!"

Her heart sank, she'd recognize that voice anywhere. Sure enough, running to her side was the last unicorn Chrysalis wanted to see.

Fate is cruel...

"My name's Twilight Sparkle. I found you crashed in the woods on the outskirts of town. Are you alright? Can I get you anything?"

She mentally sighed, well at least she had managed to fool her this time around.

I guess as long as I avoid taking on the form of her family and friends, she's as gullible as anypony.

Adopting the softest voice she could Chrysalis replied. "N-no thank you, where, where am I?"

"You're at the Ponyville library."

"You live in a library?"

No wonder she's such a know-it-all...

Twilight nodded, the changeling queen didn't like that look she was giving her though, she felt like she was being scrutinized. It took all of her willpower not to snap at the purple mare.

Ugh. I better get this over with.

"So do you, live by yourself?"

"Oh no, there's also Spike."

Spike? That's a male name. If she's not single, then I'm in trouble.

"Spike, is that your um... coltfriend?" Twilight's face scrunched up in confusion, then much to Chrysalis' surprise, she started laughing.

"That's... no okay, Spike isn't my coltfriend, he's my assistant." Twilight said wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye.

She tucked her chin in, letting her mane fall over her face, peering through she spoke ever so softly

        "Oh sorry I just thought..."

She waved a hoof dismissively. "Don't worry about it."

"It's odd, how someone as pretty as you lives alone."

Twilight blushed, inwardly Chrysalis smirked. She'd done this thousands of times before, and she was getting VERY good at it.

Gotcha! Now to reel you in.

"I- that's nice of you to say, your nice too, I guess?" She cleared her throat akwardly. "Are you sure I can't get you anything?"

"No, I'm feeling a little better now actually."

"Okay, well I'm going to make some tea, would you like some?"

"You've done so much for me already. Though tea does sound nice." She faked a smile.

I don't know if I'll be able to do this, normally by now their is at least some attraction I can feed off. How is she resisting, even if she isn't a filly fooler, some platonic love would be able to tide me over.

When Twilight returned with the teapot, she and Chrysalis sat and talked, the hours flickering by, the changeling queen trying every trick in the book, dropping in compliments every other sentance, fluttering her eyes, even faking a blush or two. All her efforts were rewarded with was barely a trickle of emotion. Friendship. She felt like a kid being forced to eat her vegetables. It may be good for her, and when your starving you can't be picky about what you eat, but she needed something sweet, something to tip her out of the friendzone before she was stuck there. If ever she were to regain her strength she needed love.

With the energy she had Chrysalis was finally able to sit up without shaking, hopefully Twilight would put her rejuvenation down to the tea. She'd fabricated a believable background, as far as this unicorn was concerned she was simply a courier caught in a storm. She decided on the name, Facade, she thought it somewhat fitting. The conversation, however was starting to run dry, she decided it was now or never.

"So, is it alright if I stay here for a while?"

"Of course, I'm afraid there's only the one bed, but don't worry I'll just sleep on the couch."

"Oh I couldn't do that! You've been so kind to me, I can't possibly kick you out of your bed. Besides this couch is more than comfortable enough."

"Well by that logic is it really so bad for me to sleep on, besides it's only temporary."

"Well, there is a... third option."

"Oh, and what's that?"

"We could... share?"

Chrysalis didn't think it was possible for a pony to change colours, yet before her eyes Twilight went from a lilac to a bright burning crimson.

I hate being so forward... Then again this is clearly the world's most oblivious pony.

Her moment of boldness however did not go unrewarded. She was actually surprised to see Twilight get up and walk towards her.

"Do you really mean that?"

She brought her head closer, Chrysalis could feel the nervous breaths on her snout.

Now who's being bold? Cute, she's getting all flustered. You know, I may actually enjoy this after all, what better way to get back at her brother and her teacher at the same time?

"You know what I'm thinking?"

Their lips were moments away from touching, Chrysalis began shaking in anticipation.

"I can guess."

'Facade' closed her eyes and leaned forward to close the kiss, only she met naught but air. When she opened her eyes, Twilight had retreated a little, she was still blushing but she had a mischievous grin on her face.

"You can quit with the act, changeling."

         That sinking feeling made a glorious comeback.

Oh no...