//------------------------------// // Unacceptable // Story: Unchangeable // by TAW //------------------------------// Unchangeable It was a week later, and Chrysalis was beginning to feel the strength return to her movements. She remained a shadow of her former self, but she was recovering. Soon she could rise up and regain the rest of her strength by taking Equestria back and draining the very life from its inhabitants. Chrysalis knew she would be strong enough to leave and make the journey back to her children shortly. She still felt the comforting presence of the hivemind, but hadn't attempted to probe further. Even with her people's help, she didn't know how quickly she could recover without Pine. "Got any threes?" Pine asked, looking at Chrysalis over the cards he held between his hooves. He and Chrysalis had spent the day doing some light farming work; The tree harvest was soon to begin, so all of the other work now was simply for sustenance. With Chrysalis joining him, he needed to farm more than previous years, but she was strong enough to help out now and the work went quickly. To pass the time more enjoyably now that Chrysalis wasn't confined to her bed, Longest Pine had decided to teach her some simple card games. Chrysalis had never bothered with card games; They were the sort of thing fillies and colts did, and she was always too preoccupied on destroying the hopes and dreams of their family to sit down and play cards. Chrysalis looked down at her cards. She had a two of clubs, a five of diamonds, a three of hearts, an ace of spades, and a queen of diamonds. She silently cursed fate, pulling the three out of her hooves and passing it to him. How could such a simple game be so difficult? Chrysalis was losing, badly. That was unacceptable. "How about a five, Chris?" Pine asked, grinning as if he knew he was only a few cards away from victory. Over the past week he had grown closer to Chris, and their conversations had gone from short practical snippets to longer, more in-depth discussions. Chrysalis had to admit she had no idea there were so many things to know about wood, and while it was still far from the most interesting thing in the world it wasn't completely without merit. Something akin to Pine's rail-less train could be a huge aid to the war effort. "Nope, sorry!" Chrysalis chirped, lying through her teeth, "I guess you'll have to go fish!" Longest Pine laughed, and moved to grab a card from the deck at the centre of the table. Chrysalis awoke the next morning with a minor headache, in a messy bed. The night before had eventually ended in cider. While it normally wouldn't affect her, in her weakened state it was quite potent. The last thing she remembered was collapsing against the wooden table after a single mug. Pine must have carried her up and left her to rest. Chrysalis pulled herself out of bed, groaning and cursing the whole way as every motion triggered another shooting pain through her head. "Never again," she moaned, staring herself in the mirror. She looked better than she had a week ago, but that wasn't difficult. Her coat was fuller, and bristled with life, but her mane and tail were frazzled and unkempt. What Chris wouldn't give for a hairbrush right now. Her tail was of particular interest. Chrysalis' disguises were near-perfect, and that meant replicating everything, down to a naturally growing tail. The sharp cut was beginning to soften as the hairs grew, leaving Chris looking less out of place. There was still the matter of her complete lack of cutie mark. Longest Pine had yet to mention that, though he couldn't possibly have missed it. Chrysalis supposed that she could wear some kind of clothing if she needed to travel among other ponies in this form, and shelved the problem away for later. Even in her current state, where the simple act of walking across the wooden floor turned her normally quiet hooffalls into bangs and crashes, Chrysalis could easily best her arch-enemy: the bedroom door. It no longer posed a threat to her, and she pulled the handle down expertly before swinging the whole thing around on its hinges. Chrysalis laughed; An old Changeling certainly can learn new tricks. She made her way down to the kitchen, ignoring everything that wasn't the path towards the sink as if she was wearing blinkers. She needed a drink of water. The tap proved no obstacle, and a quick nuzzle had a wet stream of water flowing down into the sink in no time. Chrysalis knelt down and began to lap up some of the water, not resting until she felt a little better. Eventually, she yanked the plug from the sink, and watched as the remaining liquid flowed away. She felt a little better, and went to grab an apple from Pine's fruit basket. It was a quiet life, but Chris had found herself getting used to it. Chrysalis continually reminded her that she hated every minute of it. As she sat next to the small dining table, munching on the apple, Chris noticed the note. Reflexively she moved to open it, before remembering that with an apple in her mouth her options were quite limited. Chrysalis cursed the limitations of the equine body and quickly finished off the apple. The note was short and to the point. It was written in a hasty and unpractised scrawl, but was quite legible. If she squinted. Chris, Sorry about last night, I keep forgetting how weak you still are. If you feel up to it when you wake, I'll be out in the shed working on the train. I know you like her, I'd be happy to show you how she works if you like. Longest Pine Chris smiled; It was true, she had expressed great interest in the rail-less train. The tactical advantages it could give in siege situations would be unmatched, at least assuming that there weren't other ponies around who could conjure a city-wide shield. That hadn't done wonders for Chrysalis' invasion plot. More than that, though, Chris liked the way Pine smiled when he mentioned it. He clearly cared about it, and Chrysalis could feel the energy that produced. It had been a while since she'd had to forge a relationship as opposed to simply stealing it, but she remembered that a strong shared interest could work wonders, and let her siphon off some of that energy. Delicious. Chris stopped to grab another apple before leaving and heading over to the barn. Longest Pine often complained she wasn't eating enough. It was completely false, of course, his compassion was all the food Chrysalis could need, but if a small meaningless gesture brought a smile to his face then what was the harm? "Pine?" Chris called, walking into the barn. The doors had been open, so Pine couldn't be far away, but she couldn't see him. It was fairly dark inside, which didn't help matters. Chrysalis cursed the poor equine night vision and pressed on, searching through the open barn. Chrysalis hadn't spent much time around the train, and was looking forward to an explanation of how it all worked, but something felt off about it. It was normally held a foot or so off of the ground by various wooden supports, but it seemed almost lopsided at the moment. Chrysalis stopped. An almost imperceptible—at least to pony ears—noise alerted her to the fact that she wasn't alone. It was coming from the far side of the room, behind the train. An insistent scraping, like from some small creature, or from a larger creature that could move very little. Another sound joined it a few moments later, sending chills through Chris' body. It was a pained grunt, in Longest Pine's voice. She dropped the apple as she ran, darting around the side of the train to see what was happening. It was even darker on this side, but Chrysalis estimated the noise was coming from further down. She continued running, trying to catch the noise between hooffalls to ensure she hadn't run past it. Suddenly, the ground beneath her became slick, and Chris fell. Her face hit the hard dirt ground, and she slid the next few feet on a foul smelling liquid. The shock threw her, but she recovered quickly. "Pine?" she called, pulling her head away from the ground. She couldn't stand on her smooth pony hooves, and she could barely see with her weak pony eyes, but her ears worked just fine. "C... Chris!" Pine quietly called back, his voice weak and pained as if every word was an effort. "Here!" "What happened?!" Chrysalis asked, crawling over to the voice and feeling outwards with her hooves until she connected with Longest Pine's body. His coat was damp and slick with the same stuff that covered the floor. A little more feeling around suggested that he was pinned beneath the hard dirt and the harder train. Perhaps one of the supports had broken, or given way? "Train fell... on me." Pine coughed as the effort overcame him for a moment. He continued, "Was working on the oil, accidentally broke the pipe. Got everywhere, support slipped and I couldn't get out fast enough. Sorry, Chris." Sorry? What did he have to apologise for? It sounded like an accident and nothing more. "What can I do?" Chris insistently asked, still almost blind due to the lack of light, and unable to stand due to the oil. "Nothing, Chris. I'm sorry. I ain't got nothing that can lift this train, and by the time you could get help I'd be long gone. I'm bleeding pretty bad down here. I'm so sorry, Chris." he whispered, accepting his fate. The train was a several dozen meter long construction of wood and metal. Perhaps a talented unicorn could lift it, or a team of trained pegasi. Chris looked around the barn, but it was too dark to see anything, never mind try and fashion something that could lift the train. She knew it was hopeless anyway, Pine was a far superior craftsman to herself. Chrysalis cursed a life of taking what she wanted, and never knowing how to build anything she needed. "Pine? Is there anything I can do to...?" Chris whispered, resting a hoof against his cheek. There was no answer, he had fallen unconscious. He was still breathing, but barely. His last words had been thinking of her, and now he was dying in her arms. His last words had been thinking of her. Chrysalis could taste the energy radiating out of him, and started to feast; It wasn't the first time somebody had died for her, and it probably wouldn't be the last. His energy was strong, and Chrysalis eagerly accepted it. It empowered her, and brought her strength back. She still couldn't compare to what she had once been, but with all that power she could vastly outstrip a single pony. With Longest Pine unconscious, and probably already dead, there was no need to stick to her disguise so stringently. Her eyeballs twisted as she improved her night vision, allowing her to finally see. Claws grew from her hooves, giving her the grip she needed to stand once more. Now she could see the situation properly. The support at the far side had been rotting, not that Pine could have hoped to notice it, and the oil had caused the base to move enough to break the whole structure, and send the whole thing crashing down. The oil had already gotten everywhere by that point, and Pine had been unable to find grip to escape. He had, probably by luck, dived in the right direction, and the train had only pinned down his leg. Unfortunately, the metal was sharp and the cut was deep. It wasn't necessarily a fatal injury, so long as he got help soon. Chrysalis knew a lot about fatal injuries, she'd caused many. Chrysalis turned to leave. She could easily make the journey back now, either walking or by regenerating her wings and taking flight. Longest Pine had served his purpose, she had no further use for him. "I hate ponies," Chrysalis told herself, striding out of the barn. The claws on her hooves were covered in a mixture of blood and oil. Mostly oil, Pine had lost blood but not enough to be fatal yet. Not that that mattered, because Chrysalis was leaving him to die. Leaving him to die, even though he'd saved her life, and then almost given his for her. Chris would never do that. Chrysalis would, in an instant, and she'd relish in it. "Come on, you can save him. It won't hurt you at all," Chris insisted. She was an act, a personality construct designed for deception. Chrysalis could be rid of her in an instant, and yet she still remained. "It gains me nothing either!" Chrysalis snapped, driving her foreclaws several inches into the ground with a petulant stomp. "That tasted better than it should have, didn't it? You know why, don't you. He could be useful. Save him, please." Chris asked, almost begging. Chrysalis knew what she was talking about—the fact they were the same person helped with that—and knew that she was right. When a Changeling fed, most of the nutrients—for lack of a better word to describe the good stuff in care and affection—were stripped away by being aimed at something other than the changeling. Chris and Chrysalis were close enough to each other that that didn't happen. The energy of a dying creature was potent, but it had no right to restore her to this much power. Not unless Chrysalis had taken it unfiltered. Chrysalis grunted, turning back and returning to the train. The sharp metal that had sliced through Pine's leg wasn't still embedded in him, and while the train pinning him down and cutting off his circulation was probably the only reason he was still breathing, lightly as that was, with medical attention he could still be saved. Chrysalis screamed, putting every scrap of energy she could find into strengthening her muscles and pushing the train free. With a gasp, she gave it one last shove, sending it crashing to the ground as it tumbled from its other supports and lay sideways on the floor. Chrysalis' claws retracted as she scooped Pine up and put him on her back. It wouldn't do to impale the stallion she was trying to save. Two days later, Chrysalis awoke to a minor headache and a messy bed. Her limbs felt weak, and her mane was once more a tangled mess. Her form was once again fully equine, but the knowledge that she could regain the rest of her functionality if and when she needed it made that more bearable. Giving energy was as easy as taking it for a Changeling. Chrysalis, unfortunately, simply had no practice in it. The burning feeling in the back of her mind and the shaking in her limbs reminded her of how it had felt to learn how to feed as a youngling fresh from her pod. Those pains had gone away, and she hoped these would too. Longest Pine was recovering, slowly. His natural energies were getting stronger all the time and Chrysalis felt sure he would awaken soon enough. As it was, she was keeping herself busy tending to him and ensuring he got enough food and water to subsist on, as well as changing his bandages to ensure against infection. In her free time, she harvested the crops to ensure that they wouldn't run out of food, and contemplated going back inside of the train barn. She hadn't done that yet. She had closed the door and left it all in there. She might not go back in at all. The hivemind too was growing in strength, as if more of her children were joining. Soon it would be time for her to leave, but not yet. She still had time yet. Longest Pine coughed. Chrysalis was at his side within seconds. He seemed to be waking up. He tried to speak, but simply ended up coughing again. Chrysalis pressed her hoof against his forehead. "You're burning up," she whispered, "I'll go get you some water." As she went to pour a glass, she felt her grip on her own energies begin to weaken once more. Sometimes it was hard to keep hold of it, especially when performing an act of kindness. Chrysalis ignored that; This was a selfish act, trying to keep him alive so she could feed more. Nothing else. Still, she let that energy go free, hoping that he could put it to better use aiding his recovery. She returned with the water a few moments later, and pressed it to his lips, tipping it so that a little dribbled between them so he could drink. "You okay?" she asked once he had finished, and seemed like he would be strong enough to talk. "I can hardly move, Chris, but that's a damn sight better than I thought I was gonna be. Thank you, I don't know how you managed it but without you I'd be dead." "Just repaying the favour." Chrysalis smiled. "Nah, I just found you. I couldn't leave you like that. You could've, I told you there was no hope. Thank you, really. I owe you my life." Chris felt a single tear form in the corner of her eye. Chrysalis quickly ripped her tear ducts out to ensure that wouldn't happen again. "I'm just glad you're okay, Pine," she said, resting a hoof against his cheek. Pine grunted with exertion as he raised one of his forelegs to hers. He weakly pushed it towards his mouth, and gave it a light kiss. Chrysalis felt his life energy pulse, as if he were overwhelmingly nervous—not that that would be surprising, given the situation. "This last week has been happier than my last year, Chris. I never realised how lonely I'd become until I met you, and you started to remind me of everything I loved about... well, let's not mention her. I know this is a lot to ask, Chris, but I have a big house and a big farm, and it's plenty big enough for two, if you'd like." "I'd like that," Chris replied. She bent down, pressing her nose against Pine's neck, and nuzzled him with all the enthusiasm she could bring to bear. As she raised her head, her nose ticked against his coat. It was still dirty and matted from the oil, and the blood, because she hadn't had a chance to wash it yet, but she didn't care. An overwhelming desire came over her, and she acted without a thought. Her lips brushed over his as she moved forward to return his earlier kiss. Their energies spiked together, and began to mix. She quickly lost hold of much of her own energy, but so did he. The two merged and became one, washing between the both of them like waves through a pool. Their lips played against each other, and Chris found her tongue slowly running against his teeth as if begging for him to open them and let her inside. To let her share even more of herself, and let their energies mix completely. The sensation, to both of them, was indescribable. Like being hit by a lightning bolt, except it kept flowing between them, back and forth with every instant of connection. It was the most beautiful, and delicious, thing Chrysalis had ever encountered. What the hay was she doing? Chrysalis pulled back and staggered away. "I can't do this. This isn't me. I'm sorry." Chrysalis ran, kicking through Pine's front door and taking off towards the hivemind's centre. Whatever just happened had left her weaker, much of her energy still lay within Pine, but she still had enough to sprout wings and take flight. "Hold on, my children. I'm coming."