The changeling nest wasn’t in a good state, every changeling was starving and Chrysalis could literally feel that overwhelming hunger. It came to a point that her changelings had involuntarily begun feeding on whatever they could, from small bugs to some unfortunate predator that they got a drop on. But even then, they could never get enough to consider as ‘their fill’ over these simple creatures, not when compared to a pony’s pure and unadulterated love.
If love had a taste, most might describe it as sweet, maybe honey-like. For Chrysalis, it tasted something akin to alcohol, good ones at that, maybe like rum or something. And when she first tasted it when she was a little drone, oh ho, she knew she couldn’t and would never get enough of it. It was a fact that nearly every changeling could agree on.
However, unlike the common drone of her hive, who would do anything at her behest or at the prospect of getting a sizable fill of so-called ‘love nectar’. She didn’t know how to feel about these children of hers, in all honesty, reciprocating emotions was something that a changeling rarely has to ever fully commit to, but for a changeling queen, well... it wasn’t as cut and dry as she would have loved it to be, let alone admit. And especially so after the failed invasion of Canterlot, which only served to further damage her own self-esteem, in honesty, it was such a good plan and one that nearly succeeded.
So, when she found herself back to square one of being the leader of a starving nest, she naturally took to her first instinct as a bug queen, which was to distance herself from her hive, not out of malice or anything, just the simple fact that she didn’t want them to see her in a vulnerable state, and if it meant leaving them for a few weeks out, then so be it.
And so here she was, wandering out in the Everfree, far from any prying eyes and far enough for and from any sniffing drone or informant. The Everfree itself was a near impenetrable forest, hard to navigate but easy enough to get a good feel of how far in deep you were in, which come to think of it, is simply just fear and uncertainty itself with just how often it seemed like it was always shifting. Truly, it created subtle chaos that has since screwed over many wandering explorers, and to some honest hearts, become a trance-like feeling that invited them to go in once more after the first.
She walked with a stride like no other, content with simply walking blindly outside the path of this forest, carefully avoiding any fallen branches and other miscellaneous that could potentially alert other creatures nearby. Then again, even if she was to alert anything, it was likely that she was the most dangerous creature within this forest, even with just an echo, she could probably send shivers down the spines of many who were unfortunate enough to hear it.
Just then, at the flick of an ear, she heard a branch break to her side, but before she could see what the creature might be, she wasn’t able to transform in time as a small little colt suddenly appeared just opposite from where she was, on a small clearing amidst what is already the thick forestry at its strongest.
Wide-eyed, Chrysalis was initially baffled by this unassuming colt. Was he lost? Where are his parents? Why is he here in the middle of nowhere? All questions only served to grow her intrigue with this colt. After all, it wasn’t every day she could eat a decent snack, besides, she knew that the youthful love of a colt has a distinct taste when compared it a full-grown pony, it was much, much, more... refined, unadulterated so to speak. So she did something she has done time and time again.
She turned into a youthful pegasus mare, planning on seducing this young colt into becoming her snack for the day, maybe he could even last her a week. After all, youthful energy isn’t one to be underestimated if her experience was anything to go by.
“Don’t…” The colt meekly said, clearly dumbfounded and apprehensive by the transformation he saw. He knew what she was, he saw it with his own eyes, and like any good sensible colt his age, he slowly back peddled away in a hint of fear as he tried his best not to make any sudden movement that might cause the changeling to suddenly lunge at him.
“And who might you be, little one?” the changeling queen asked, ignoring what he said as she approached him with malicious intent, which turned into an even bigger surprise when it turned out that this young colt was a unicorn with a blank flack. ‘Aw, how cute…’ was her first thought, although that thought was short-lived as it went into some darker places, and she’d use this colt’s naivety to her advantage.
Truth be told, unicorn fillies or colts were usually some of the first to gain a cutie mark, and it was a damn shame she might have to kill a young one. It wasn’t the first time, but when push comes to shove, she knew she’d have to do what must be done to conceal her identities.
The colt, for his part, stood in shocked silence, almost as if he was in a trance-like state of apprehension. But, in his little mind, something turned as he gave a strange answer that Chrysalis didn’t expect.
“Call me Strange! Strange Fate.” The colt replied, having no qualms, or even as she tasted the air she could taste his fears being sidelined for another emotion, despite the clearly dangerous and ill-willed approaching changeling. “A-and you are…?”
“Chrysalis, Queen Chrysalis,” She replied, a bit smug at being able to stroke her ego a bit. “And you’ll be my meal for today,”
“A-and well, what are you gonna do to me? Suck me dry?” he asked, the question itself is rhetorical and a challenge, as both knew what a changeling could do apart from actually change, and that was to seek Love Nectar.
“Yes.” She said, having no qualms in admitting with a straight face, a matter of fact and life in her eyes.
The same cannot be said for Strange, as he realized just who he was facing with that remark alone. It was the Changeling queen herself, nothing more, nothing less. Her approach to him did not cease, and he realized that he was frozen in place in fear, so, sensing that his time might be up, he decided to do one throwaway before he might end.
“What is love?” he asked meekly, his fear and realization coming in full swing at the situation he found himself in.
“Love?” she asked aloud, initially baffled by his question. “Like, what does love taste like? Or…” that question left Chrysalis’s mouth and mind suddenly empty to wander free, but before she could give herself a straight answer to that question, Strange found her face odd and deduced what she was about to say in his own terms.
“Aw come on!” He exclaimed, “I’ve seen that face plenty of times, now you’re going to say something generic like ‘oh, but love is like so sweet like honey, absolutely divine’ or some bullshit. I don’t want to hear that.” He said, setting his taste and tone straight for the changeling, a final act to pair in what he thought to be his last moments of living.
Although he did not realize it, his little outburst was given more credit than what was due, spiking a bit of intrigue for the changeling queen as he seemed to have set a new bar of expectations. Clearly, he wasn’t like most colts and was mature enough with his language and taste, then again, strange fates do tend to make for even stranger creatures.
“Then pray tell, what do you think love taste like?” she asked in turn, with a little hiss with her tongue like a snake to show that, although she may be willing to give him some more time, he wasn’t anywhere near out of danger. She’ll have her meal after she had toyed with it for a good while, after all, rarely did she find anything amusing.
On the other side of the table, Strange was caught off guard by the sudden turn of attitude by the changeling-disguised mare, the young colt visibly scrunched his face as he tried to think of an honest answer to his own question. Hesitantly, he gave his reluctant opinion on the matter. “I- I think it tastes like wine, the aged one that they call ‘fine wine’. I think it leans more into something sour or bitter, but they still come back to drink it because of the novelty and because of what it means.”
“And what do you think that meaning would be?” She asked, following his answer with great anticipation. This was a colt who proved to be smarter than what he’d let on, his taste clearly reflecting that, and dare she say, had an even better taste than what that stud of an Armor's juice box.
“Well, I guess the phrase ‘like fine wine’ shows that it’s the process or something. I’m not a philosopher nor am I good with metaphors.” He replied, his honesty seemingly having no bounds as the changeling queen found him perplexing.
“Still, a pony’s love is pure and near-unadulterated, a level of euphoric bliss! Erhm, if you ask me that is,” she responded, her description of what love tastes like being anything other than less than the actual taste, like the sweetness of honey, as she might say.
Which made the little colt wonder if such is the case. “Then what do you think about ponies?” his question was a no-brainer for the changeling queen, who answered in kind with a sober tone of seriousness.
“I LOATH, each and every single one of them, especially that Cadenza one...” She vehemently replied, having no qualms in telling that fact, and honest and deeply sown truth to her. It wasn’t every day a pony would get to see a changeling, but Strange found it enjoyable being able to pass the time
Although there was clearly venom in her voice, Strange wasn’t buying what she said. “You don’t even know what you mean, not even when you say it yourself, do you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, taking what he said as a condescending insult, which was reasonable, all things considered. “Like a colt, the likes of you would know anything about such a topic. So tell me, what is it to you then? Being young and all must have its perks, after all.” As she said this in turn, her condensing tone and challenge, it came as a pleasant surprise when the colt took up the podium of opposition, with Strange never realizing that she was slowly approaching her.
So he gave her a challenge. “Then riddle me this, what is the opposite of love?”
“Hate.” She once again replied, straightforwardly without even thinking about it. Simply telling him what she thought to be her honest, and what is in all regards a faithful answer to his question.
The colt, scrunching a little bit at her response, couldn’t help but give his own take on the matter. “Well, I don’t think hate is the opposite of love. I mean, we just talked about that earlier. No, what I think is the opposite of love is indifference.” He stared at her, knowing that she'd listen to what he'd say just to have her fill of curiosity. “Hate, just like love, is just another form of desire, the same kind that love might be classified as, maybe the two are just two sides of the same coin, but they are not opposites. Something to fuel reason, am I right?”
“For a colt like yourself, you are a pure example of what a pony can do. Being able to complicate something so simple and mundane to the point of stupidity,” Chrysalis said, her remark visibly upsetting the little colt, “and even then, so what if you’re right on that point? I still hate their guts and would like to see them be ripped in half for all they’re worth.”
The colt was visibly upset by the remark, and nearly let out what he thought to be a clever comeback, but decided against it as he did see to the reason for this changeling. “Ah… I guess so. Well, then that leaves the door open to what I guess should have been the question, what the opposite of desire is?” the colt suggested, this time, Chrysalis’s response was on the mark and what he had initially expected.
“Then I’d say it would be indifference.”
“There ya go!” He exclaimed, “Now that’s settled on, that would mean that as a species, a changeling ‘need’ for love is simply a desire to be filled… so on that train of thought, any emotion that could fill in for ‘love’ would also follow the same directive, yes?” Strange explained, only then did he realize he had backed himself into a corner with the thick scenery behind him. Nowhere to go and nowhere to run.
Now it was the changeling’s turn to give a face, not even needing words to show that she simply disagreed with the logic of this colt. “I don’t think you’re qualified to think about a changeling in that way, much less interpret how our lives work.”
Her response was all too clear and simple, something he couldn’t deny, and so, reminiscing was what he decided to do. “You know… this reminds me of a lesson,” he began, Chrysalis ear's perked at that, any news on Canterlot was news welcomed the news, something to make her next plan even more detailed and flawless. And it came as a pleasantry when she realized she was close enough to actually start feeding off him. “They say in Canterlot that love is three things: Intimacy, Commitment, and Passion.” As he said this, he reserved himself for what felt like his last moments. “And I think most would dream as love to be either two of the former whilst most experiencing love would fall closer to the latter, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Hmm… yes~,” Chrysalis murmured, more to herself at being able to taste the naïve love that this colt was unknowingly radiating.
There was the mark, the changeling queen had finally started to feed off him. He could feel it, small as it may be he knew that much and an exasperated sigh escaped him. His deep sigh did not convey just how frustrating it was for Strange, he thought he could convince her to be something more, but in the end, nature is something he can’t really change. And it seemed like this changeling queen just wasn’t having it. Death was at his doorstep yet he could only wonder what could have been.
“So… I guess theirs more to love than defeni-” but before he could finish his final say to her, she interrupted him as she made her intentions simple and clear...
“I'm going to suck you dry, for everything that you’re worth.” She said, her final words to him, and before he could retort, she lunged unexpectedly to greedily devour her meal.
The distant sound of an owl could be heard as Strange slowly started to regain his sense. Waking up from what he thought to be him being knocked out. His first thought was to look around, from what he could see, it seemed like he was at a small clearing just beside the main path of the Everfree. A miracle he wasn’t greedily devoured by a manticore, especially if an owl’s hoot was any indication.
His muscles protested as they ached in his small and deliberate movements, it was hard at first but once he got a few stretches and the sound of pops bones were set in place and he now looked around him. It was quite, dare he say, even peaceful, the full moon could be seen in a small opening between the tree line of the Everfree, he just noticed just how late it was if the full moon was at its peak. Just how long was he out for?
‘Must’ve slipped…’ he thought, rubbing the back of his head with a hoof as he quickly cast a healing spell on himself to check and repair any unattended wound and whatnot. When he found none, he wasn’t sure what to do next… he could always go back to the way he came from.
‘What a weird dream…’ a thought that popped up as he tried to remember what happened, walking down the path of the Everfree to where he expected the nearby town of Ponyville would be.
The young colt still had a long path to follow before he’d get into town, and a much longer train ride until he could return to Canterlot for his studies. Although, there was a peculiar thought for him… to be able to have a chat with a changeling queen, couldn’t be worse than making a ten-page-long essay about a one-note story on the history of a chaotically still statue.
But who knows… maybe there is some change in a changelings definitions, not quite extreme, but different enough. Maybe he’ll get to know about love from another pony.