"She's late. Again."
Spike was sitting on the bench with his arms folded, and his face scrunched up in annoyance.
"Dang it, Chryssi, where are you?"
Suddenly, a blue streak became visible in the corner of his eye, and the bench shook violently.
"AH!" Spike reeled away from the blur.
The rainbow-maned pony that now sat next to him grinned. "You know, baby dragon, it feels awesome to mimic a pegasus."
"Chryssi!" Spike glared at the pony, then settled back into his seat. "Are you trying to draw attention to yourself?"
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow and pointed to herself with her hoof.
"Oh. Right." Spike scratched the back of his head and looked away. "Rainbow Dash's emotions."
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "As I was saying. Mimicking a pegasus is awesome; changelings are used to flapping their wings a lot faster than pegasi, because our wings push less air. So, when a changeling mimics a pegasus, they can fly super fast!"
Spike sighed. "I have the feeling this is going to be a very one-sided conversation."
"I heard that, baby dragon." Chrysalis glared at Spike.
Spike edged away. "A-nyway. There's actually something I wanted to talk about in particular today."
Chrysalis tilted her head. "What's that?"
Spike frowned and looked away. "What is life as a changeling like?" Spike put a claw to his chin. " No, that's not quite what I'm asking... more like, how is life as a changeling?"
"I'm not quite sure what you mean, baby dragon..."
"As far as I can tell, life as a changeling... kinda sucks."
"Well..." Chrysalis looked up to the sky. "That's really all perspective, I think."
Spike looked at Chrysalis once more. She seemed almost... wistful. "But... it's a life of treachery and deceit..."
Chrysalis sighed. "It's the life we know, baby dragon. To us, there's nothing bad about it."
"Really?" Spike gave her a skeptical look. "I don't buy it..."
"It doesn't matter whether you 'buy' it or not, baby dragon; it's my answer."
Spike sighed. "Well, then... what about love?"
"Pardon me?" Chrysalis had risen a hoof and had an eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?"
"Can changelings love? Do they even get the chance to love? Do changelings know of love as anything but food?" Spike was talking faster and faster with each sentence he spoke, putting himself out of breath.
"Calm down, baby dragon." Chrysalis smiled. "Of course changelings can love. You should know by now that we are not emotionless creatures. Why do you ask?"
Spike looked away. "I was thinking about how changelings and ponies could live together in peace. And I was thinking... if a changeling fell in love with a pony, and the pony loved them back, wouldn't that be a non-decietful life for the changeling?"
Chrysalis sighed. "I guess it's possible. Completely unprecedented, though. Besides, for that to happen, changelings would have to be accepted in Equestria."
Spike frowned. "And, unfortunately, they're not."
"Though... your idea is a bit strict, actually. A pony wouldn't actually have to fall in love with a changeling..."
Spike tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
"There's kinds of love besides romantic love, baby dragon." Chrysalis looked up to the sky. "There are three basic kinds of love changelings can feed off of. First is, as you know, is romantic love; the one feels towards their marefriend or coltfriend, their husband or wife. This is the most potent food for a changeling, and it often can boost our magical powers when consumed in large quantities.
"Next is familial love; the love one feels towards members of their family or towards incredibly close friends. This is a basic food source for changelings. We can live off of a steady stream of familial love indefinitely.
"The last is friendly love; the love one feels towards their friends. While friendly love will work in a pinch for a changeling, only young changelings can truly survive off of it. Adults can normally last for about a month on it."
"Huh..." Spike looked away, a claw to his chin. "So you're saying that all that would really need to happen for a changeling to live an honest life is for him or her to become really close friends with somepony..."
"Easier said than done, baby dragon." Chrysalis slumped back into the bench. "If it was that simple, we wouldn't be hated by the entire society you live in."
Spike looked up at Chrysalis. "This is really bothering you, isn't it?"
Chrysalis returned his glance. "What do you mean?"
Spike frowned. "You stopped talking like Dash a while back."
Chrysalis looked away. "I... guess I just want my subjects to be safe... and it's hard to guarantee that if the changelings and the ponies don't live in peace with each other..."
Spike gave a halfhearted smile towards Chrysalis. "I'm sure it'll happen someday..."
Chrysalis glanced over at Spike. "You're a terrible liar, you know that? Even if I couldn't sense the uncertainty about you, I would be able to tell just by looking."
Spike slumped over. "You know... this sucks."
"Hmm?" Chrysalis looked at Spike curiously.
"All I want is to be able to help you right now. You seem like you don't deserve this. I... don't think the changelings as a whole truly deserve this." He looked up at Chrysalis. "But I can't help. I can't really do anything, as it seems. I'm just a useless baby dragon." He slumped his head down again.
Chrysalis gave a warm, motherly smile towards Spike. She pulled him closer with her wing. "Don't say that, baby dragon. You're anything but useless. You had enough of a heart to give me a chance. There's no way that someone like that could be useless."
Spike looked up at Chrysalis again. "You take good care of your changelings, don't you...?" He gave a slight smile.
"That's better." Chrysalis patted Spike on the head with her wing.
Spike looked down at the ground. "I can understand why your subjects see you as a mother-figure..."
Chrysalis looked away. "Thank you..."
Spike hopped off of the bench. "Unfortunately, it seems like it's time to go."
Chrysalis looked at him nervously. "Um... Spike?"
Spike looked back at her. "Yeah?"
She sighed. "Make sure you're on time tomorrow... I need to tell you a few things..." She looked away. "I need to tell you the truth."
Spike raised an eyebrow. "You saying you lied about some things "?"
"Yes..."
Spike grinned. "Well, you're forgiven. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he ran off.
Chrysalis watched Spike disappear over the horizon. "I have to tell him..."