Unchangeable
"Hey, I don't suppose there's anything I could help out with, is there?" Chris asked a few days later. She had done just about everything she could to stave off boredom, but several days of nothing but lounging around and reading subpar pony literature had left her bored and lethargic.
Chrysalis shared these feelings, though she had an ulterior motive - Pine was working most of the day, and that meant she was alone. When she was alone, she couldn't feed. When she couldn't feed, she grew bored and lethargic, and didn't recover.
The farm she'd found herself in was both a blessing and a curse. The farmer had a map, and had showed her where she was - the nearest settlement was too long to walk, and a decent flight. She couldn't hope to make the journey until she was fairly well recovered. On the other hand, that did mean that she was unlikely to be discovered while she couldn't fight back - bar the fortnightly mail delivery, Pine said he barely saw another soul.
He was starved of contact and affection - easy prey. Chrysalis would have felt bad for taking advantage of such a defenceless and kind pony, were that not exactly what she lived to do.
"I'm sure I can find you something, Chris, why don't we start tomorrow?" Longest Pine replied, with a smile. It was like he was honestly grateful she wanted to help, and didn't consider it repayment for any of his kindness at all. Tasty.
"I'd like that." Chris replied, before turning back to her book. Pine had many books, all of them on the subject of woodworking. Chrysalis would remember this stallion for a long time as an example of exactly why ponies needed to be enslaved - she didn't understand how they managed to get through the day, never mind run a successful kingdom. Everything they did was so boring. Playing little miss nice was killing her, even if she had to do it to get her strength back up.
The following morning, Chrysalis awoke in the guest bed, as she had for the past few days. After her initial welcome, the farmer had suggested she might be more comfortable in a room less cluttered by his memories - he even found an old mirror to put in there. Chris thanked him honestly for it, Chrysalis was slightly irritated she didn't get to share his bed. Feeding is never easier than when they're sleeping.
Unlike the previous few days, she was woken up far too early by somebody else's hoof. "It's an early start, Chris, you still up for it?" Longest Pine asked, the expression on his face showing he was perfectly fine if she wasn't recovered enough to help.
Chrysalis took this as a challenge, and Chris assured him she was fine. "Of course, I'm happy to help, Pine! Just give me a few minutes to get ready and I'll be straight down."
"Alright then, take your time. There's no rush, there ain't a great deal to do."
He left, and went downstairs to wait while Chrysalis prepared herself. A few moments later she realised she didn't have anything to prepare - she was too used to being nobility, or royalty. A little sheepishly, she managed to prise open the door and went down to join Pine.
"So, how can I help?" Chris chirped, with just the right amount of eagerness to give the impression she wasn't doing it because she felt she should. "Where do I start?"
"Well, today we're gonna pull up some of those carrots, it's time for a good harvest. Shouldn't be too much work, but it'll go faster with 2 pairs of hooves." Pine explained. It sounded quite amazingly dull.
As they walked towards the carrot field, they passed several of the barns. Chrysalis looked up at the one she'd crashed into, and noted that the hole had already been repaired - though it wasn't perfect, and the repairs were fairly obvious, Pine clearly had some skill.
More interesting was the other barn. "Hey, what's in that one?" she asked as they went by.
Longest Pine's face immediately grew into a grin, and he dashed over to the barn doors to pull them open. "This here's my pride and joy, Chris. Ain't she a beauty?"
Chrysalis had absolutely no idea what she was looking at. Some sort of giant cart? "What... is that?" she asked, not having to fake the confusion.
"She's a rail-less train. Wood burning engine, wheels with rough tracks so she can drive over the hills here, enough space for a dozen ponies to fit inside, and she can pull 15 horsepower if you really push 'er." Pine explained, in awe.
"Ooh!" Chrysalis chirped. That sounded a lot more fun than carrots, "Can we try it out?"
Longest Pine's face fell. "'fraid not, Chris. She burns through wood like nothing else, I ain't had reason to take her for a spin in years. One day, though."
Damn, that had sounded interesting. It made sense that even when ponies did things that weren't mind-bogglingly dull, they wouldn't do them often. "Oh, what a shame," Chrysalis sighed, "I suppose we should go and get those carrots, then?"
"Oh, of course. This way!" Pine answered, before leading the way to the back of his farm, behind the grass fields and next to the growing trees where he grew a wide variety of produce. "Just throw 'em in this basket and we can clean them when we get back to the house."
Seemed easy enough, Chrysalis mused.
How could pulling carrots out of the ground be so difficult? Chrysalis found herself resting, exhausted, against a fence, with a new-found appreciation for how creatures not powered by the love of dozens of innocent creatures lived. She hated it. It was sweaty, tiring, and difficult.
"Oh, you'll get used to it." Pine laughed, handing her a cup filled to the brim with water.
"Thanks." Chrysalis replied, hoping very much that she wouldn't have to get used to it. The water helped sooth her body almost as much as the kindness of giving it, and she felt a little better.
"Well, I think that's all of them. You did great, Chris, especially since you couldn't walk not three days ago!" Pine encouraged, "Think you're up to helping me tug these baskets back?"
Chrysalis didn't, but she wasn't about to be outdone by her own prey. "Sure!" Chris answered, pulling herself over to the basket and yanking it onto her back. The journey to his home was taken in silence, the weight of several dozen carrots being surprisingly potent.
By the time they made it into the kitchen, Chrysalis was all but ready to collapse. She hated it, she was used to razing villages with a thought, to taking what she wanted without resistance or worry - not collapsing to the ground after carrying a basket of vegetables a few hundred meters. Lesser species did that kind of thing, not a changeling.
Chrysalis didn't have much say in the matter, however, as her body decided for her, and everything went black.
"Chris! Chris, are you okay?"
Chrysalis couldn't feel her legs. The farmer's voice seemed so far away, and she was resting on something hard and cold. She thought. Chrysalis couldn't feel much of anything - maybe she'd overexerted herself a little.
Suddenly, she noticed a spark off in the distance, catching her attention. Focussing on it, she watched it grow in her mind until she could see it for what it was - the hivemind. The farmer's worry for her was giving her enough strength to sense it, maybe even reconnect.
She dare not try - she was still too weak to make the journey to meet them, and she knew that if she gave her position away they would find her and destroy the farm, and the farmer with it. She still needed him. The knowledge that at least some of her children were still alive was happily received, though - Chrysalis couldn't destroy Equestria single handedly, as much as she might like to.
"Chris, can you hear me?" a voice asked, cutting through the darkness and bringing her back into conciousness. "Are you okay?"
"I... yeah, I'm okay. I think," Chris responded, lifting her head from the cold stone floor. "What happened?"
"You just fell. I tried to catch you, but you were too far ahead. You shouldn't push yourself like that, Chris, and I shouldn't have let you, I'm sorry."
Chrysalis silently laughed - taking advantage of this stallion was almost too easy. "It's not your fault, Pine, I thought I could do it." she apologised. Immediately, she mentally slapped herself - she'd broken character. That had been her response, not Chris' - she wasn't sure what worried her more, that she'd made such a rookie mistake, or that Pine hadn't noticed the difference.
She had to get back to the swarm. There was pillaging and destruction to be done, and without their queen, the swarm leadership would fall back to the next in line - and Chrysalis didn't trust him to stop when he needed to. Being an effective leader wasn't just about force, it was about leadership, deception, and being just ruthless enough to take only what you want without leaving the creatures you were preying on unable to give more later.
Just a few more days, maybe a week or two, and she should be strong enough to make the journey back. Chrysalis just hoped the swarm didn't do anything stupid until then - in their weakened state, the Equestrian Guard would be a legitimate threat. What they needed now was deception, not force, and she was the only one who could lead her armies to victory.
"Well, rest up, Chris, you'll need your strength if you want to try again tomorrow. We'll do something easier, I promise."