//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - Learning New Things. // Story: Chrysalis' unexpected child // by coto616 //------------------------------// --------------------------------- Chapter 3 - Learning New Things. --------------------------------- The couple had already been searching for hours in the forest and were closer to the city, always calling the mother of the little one and attentive if they heard someone shouting the name of the unicorn, the queen raised her head to the sky to see the position of the sun, it was already past noon and surely the little unicorn would be hungry and a little thirsty. "Are you hungry or a little thirsty?" Asked the queen to her little companion. "I'm not hungry, but thank you for asking." Replied the foal seconds before his stomach rumbled causing a slight chuckle from the queen. "You don't have to lie, if you're hungry or thirsty just tell me and we'll get something." Replied the queen stopping to take out the apple she had been offered last night and passing it to the unicorn for something to eat, then the queen began to walk a little slower looking for some berries. "In that case Ms. Chrysalis, can I have some water?". The unicorn asked as he ate the apple. Chrysalis chuckled at the innocence of her little companion. "First we'll get you some more food and then we'll go to the river to drink some water, I'm a little thirsty too." Seconds later the queen felt the foal call out to her tapping her shoulder to which she turned her head to find out what her little companion wanted. "Is something wrong?" Asked the queen when she saw a hoof approaching offering her half an apple. "Eat this Ms. Chrysalis, you haven't eaten anything since morning either." Said the unicorn with a smile. "Don't worry, I'm not hungry." Replied the queen before walking again, but she felt her shoulder being tapped again. "You don't have to lie to me, if you're hungry or thirsty, we'll get something." Replied the little unicorn laughing softly back. The queen took the offered half of the apple with her magic and watched it for a few seconds with wide eyes, then popped it in her mouth and chewed it a couple of times before swallowing it, she found it delicious. "Emmm... Thank you..." Replied the queen honestly. "...Well, let's continue." She said before continuing to look forage for the little unicorn and herself. After they both ate some berries and the unicorn ate some leaves that the queen picked, they both headed to the river to drink before continuing the search, then the queen took the little unicorn and settled it back on her back, they both nodded and continued walking. "Ms. Chrysalis." Said the little unicorn. "You have a family?" "Yes, I have my min... my brothers and sisters, some cousins and grandchildren." "And you don't have a mom or a dad?" "I have a mother I haven't seen for years and I never knew my father." "And you never wanted to meet him?" Asked the unicorn a little surprised. "There was a time when I was interested but that was a long time ago, now I must worry about other things." Replied the queen. "Like what, what could be more important than family?" "You for example." Replied the queen without thinking and stopping as she realized what she said. "We must find your mother as soon as possible, and what is she like?." Asked the queen to change the subject. "She is very good to me and takes good care of me, but..." Finished saying the little unicorn with some sadness. "Is something wrong?" "She is sometimes very sad and cries a lot." "The life of an adult mare is sometimes a little difficult when she doesn't have a stallion by her side to help her." "I know, but she has a lot of friends to help her when she is sad." "It's good that she has friends that help her when she needs it." "Yes, sometimes I hear her crying from my room and her friends stay with her all night until she stops crying, you can tell they love her very much because the next day they all wake up very happy." Replied the happy unicorn. "Everyone?" Asked the queen raising an eyebrow. "Yes, almost every day a stallion accompanies her until she stops crying, but sometimes when she feels very bad two or three accompany her to make her feel better, sometimes some mares also help her." "Your mother has a social life that is very... active." "I like that my mommy has a lot of friends to help her when she is sad." "It's nice to have ponies that care about you..." Chrysalis understood perfectly well what Clear Spark meant when she said her mother `cried` all night and was a little glad that the foal's fragile and innocent mind was not soiled by her mother's loving sounds. "...But I would like to talk to your mother about her friends when I meet her." The queen was going to have to have a serious talk with Petal Dance about having to attend to her needs away from her son. The rest of the day passed and it was already getting late in the afternoon without either of them giving much importance to the time, they started walking straight to Canterlot and each time they called less and less to Petal Dance until they stopped calling her and neither paid attention if someone called the colt, slowly and unknowingly each one was enjoying the company of the other and learning from each other, talking about life and their likes and dislikes. The queen in her curiosity learned a little about comics and a lot about music. "That's why every day when classes are over, the teacher accompanies me to the music studio and allows me to play some instrument, she says that I am by far the best at knowing if an instrument is out of tune or not and she allows me to tune them as long as I don't break them." Said the colt with a chuckle. The queen let out a laugh in return. "And have you broken any instruments?" "Emmm..." Hesitated the little unicorn to answer, which caused the queen to chuckle. "Come on, you can tell me, I promise I won't tell anyone." "Okay, but you have to keep it a secret, ok?." The queen nodded her head. "At first I was very excited by the sounds and vibrations of the musical instruments, and in the excitement, I tried to play the drum but instead of taking the drumsticks I mistakenly took a pair of flutes and when I played the drum with them, both flutes broke... and... so did the drum." Clear Spark replied somewhat chagrined. The queen let out a laugh again. "But I'm raising money to pay for it, I swear Ms. Chrysalis, I don't have much money right now but I'm going to do it someday." "You're a good colt, you know that?" Said the queen. "Thank you Ms. Chrysalis, you are also a good mare for helping me, and what do you do for a living?". Clear Spark mimicking her caretaker's curiosity learned something about politics and a lot about botany. "And this plant is known as poison ivy." Said the queen as she took a couple of leaves from the plant and carefully brought it close to the little unicorn for him to smell. "Beware of touching it, it is not deadly but its oil is very irritating to the skin, and never eat its fruits, those can be deadly, remember its smell." Clear Spark sniffed deeply and nodded when he finished. "It's a common plant but it has a little-known utility." "Does it serve as some medicine?" The queen shook her head. "Concentrate and tell me what you hear." Chrysalis paused and waited for the foal to focus all around him. "Focus and tell me what you hear, Close your eyes and analyze every sound around you." Clear Spark closed his eyes and took slow, deep breaths as he separated and analyzed each sound. "I hear... trees and... birdsong." "Well, what else do you hear." "I hear some squirrels and a very distant howl." "Excellent, your hearing is very good, I can't hear such a howl, can you hear anything else." "I hear... a river." "In which direction, point it with your hoof." Clear Spark concentrated on isolating the sound of the river and raised his hoof to point to his right. "Okay, let's investigate." The queen started walking in the direction the foal pointed and in less than a minute she found a stream. "Good job, you found the stream and you did it all by yourself, I'm impressed." "b-b-but how?" The foal asked in surprise. "I didn't know there was a river here." "Poison ivy is a plant whose roots need a lot of liquid and always grow near a water source, a lake or a river." "Wow." "If you remember the smell of poison ivy you can always find a water source nearby." "Thank you Ms. Chrysalis." "It was a pleasure, now let's continue, because before we get to Canterlot I want to show you a plant that grows around here and serves as an antidote for the poison ivy." "You know a lot about bo...but...buta...plants and stuff?." "The word you're looking for is botany and yes I do know a lot about it, I've spent a lot of my life camping and have had to learn as I go along about plants and their uses." "Have you ever eaten something that was bad for your tummy?." The queen thought about it for a second. "I don't remember eating anything that caused me to be sick for more than a day or two but I do remember once touching a blue-petaled flower that grows in the swamp." "And what happened." "Emmm..." Hesitated the queen to answer, causing Clear Spark to let out a chuckle. "You know we are among friends Ms. Chrysalis, and I promise I won't tell anyone." The queen chuckled as she heard the same words she said a few minutes before. "Ok, but this stays between us." The unicorn nodded her head. "A few years back I found this flower when I was camping in the swamp and since I hadn't seen it before it caught my attention and I went over to touch it, it's a very beautiful flower and I had the brilliant idea to cut a few and make an ornament for my mane with them, one of my worst ideas I must say." "And what happened then?" "I woke up the next day with my mane stuck to the bed and when I tried to peel it off with my hooves they were stuck too, it took me a long time to be able to get out of bed and stand on my four legs, and it took me weeks to find a solution for my sticky mane." "Were you able to find any plants to make a remedy.?" "Not really, after having a pillow stuck to my head for several days, I simply took a pair of scissors and cut off my mane." The little colt let out a laugh as he heard the story followed by a chuckle from the queen. They both kept walking and laughing about different things until Chrysalis stopped in front of a plant with long, fat leaves. "Come down for a second and smell this plant in front of you." The little unicorn followed the queen's instructions and brought her snout closer to smell and remember the new plant. "It reminds me of garlic." "Exactly, now reach over, carefully take a leaf and break it off." Clear Spark followed the instructions and with a little work managed to pull a leaf off the plant and snap it in two. "Ugh... it's slimy." "This plant is called Aloe, and it is one of the best natural medicines there is, its pulp won't cure the irritation of poison ivy but it will eliminate the pain for long enough until your body eliminates the poison, plus it is a very common plant in various parts of Equestria." After a light explanation of how to extract and use the plant, Clear Spark settled on the queen's back before continuing the journey, asking all he could about plants and more stories of how the queen learned about them, after an hour or two walking they arrived at Canterlot, and from her position, the queen could see a couple of guards at the entrance and some ponies going in and out of the city.