Of Crystal and Chitin

by Gandalf158

Wolf Spider

Of Crystal and Chitin
By: Gandalf158
Chapter 1: Wolf Spider

“Well, Wolf Spider the changeling, it’s nice to meet you. Not to be rude, but would you mind telling me what it is that you’re doing in my home?” she said, wanting to get that question out of the way.

Wolf Spider thought about it. After the fiasco at the wedding, the Hive was literally scattered to the four winds. He vaguely remembered landing in a field of snow, but the trauma from the crash had left holes in his memory of the event itself and its aftermath.

“I don’t know. One minute, I was in Canterlot, the next thing I know, I woke up here.” he left out the reason he was in Canterlot.

”If she doesn’t know already, no need to tell her.” he thought.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need to.” she said, finally noticing cracks and dried… something on his carapace that she assumed to be changeling blood.

“That’s not necessary, in fact, I should probably get going.” he said, attempting to get up.

Apparently, his wounds were more severe than he thought. He grimaced as an intense wave of pain overwhelmed his already frayed nerves. He nearly blacked out again from the pain. He knew immediately that he wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.

“No, until your wounds are healed, you’ll stay here in my guest bedroom.” she said forcefully.

At this point, Wolf noticed something. He felt something he hadn’t felt in a long while. This mare, out of the kindness of her heart, had given him permission to stay in her home until he was better, and he could feel a small trickle of compassion from her, something that was close enough to love that changelings could use it as a love substitute. And even though it was small, it was still enough to kickstart the healing process.

“Thank you, ma’am. I’ll be out of your hair in a week or two.” he said.

“Please, call me Melody. Are you hungry?” she asked, feeling her own stomach rumble.

“I could eat.” he said, not wanting to offend her.

But neither did he mention that, as a changeling, eating pony food wouldn’t have any effect on him. He did however, have enough love left over from the Wedding to sustain him for a while. Long enough to heal, he hoped.

“Well then, I’ll be right back. Hope you like celery soup!”

Wolf Spider had no idea if he liked soup or not, in fact, he had never had pony food before of any kind. He decided to take a diagnostic test while he waited. He started flexing his different muscle groups, checking each one for damage. Once he was satisfied there were no lethal injuries there, he began to check over his carapace: it was cracked, scratched, and scarred, as well as being in need of a serious polishing, but still in one piece.

Satisfied that he would survive his physical maladies, he decided to check his ability to transform, immediately switching to the first pony he could think of, Melody. It was at this moment that Melody leaned her head into the room to ask Wolf how he took his tea. When she saw herself sitting on the sofa, she blinked once, twice… and fainted.

“Miss Melody? Can you hear me?” Wolf was about to start panicking.

”I need to leave, when she wakes up, she’s going to freak out. But I can’t just leave her like this. This is not good, not good at all.” he thought to himself, pacing frantically.

It had been about three minutes since she’d passed out and he had moved her to the sofa, but it felt like hours to the changeling. He continued pacing, trying to decide what to do next and continuing to panic and wonder if he should just walk away.

Luckily, Melody answered his question for him. She let out a quiet groan and stirred. She slowly opened her eyes, and Wolf caught himself staring. She was quite attractive: golden-brown translucent coat, long, curly blonde mane (also translucent), dark gray eyes, but Wolf didn’t normally notice things like that. He pushed that thought to the side, and focused on making sure she wasn’t hurt.

“Miss Melody, are you okay?” he asked, still praying she wouldn’t scream.

“Oh, I had the weirdest dream; I came in here to ask you something, but it was me sitting on the couch!” she said.

“That… wasn’t a dream. I, uh, probably should’ve told you, changelings have a very… unique ability. We can change form at will, and I was making sure that I wasn’t badly injured, so I changed to the first pony I thought of, you. In hindsight, probably not the best idea, I’m sorry I startled you.”

Melody gave him a confused look. She didn’t know if he was trying to be funny or not, but didn’t think he’d just lie to her. Still, she was a bit skeptical of his story, so she gave a nervous, little chuckle and smiled.

“You’re kidding.” to which he kept staring at the ground, “Right?” she asked, smile fading.

He sighed, and she she gasped as he was engulfed in green flames. When the unearthly fire dissipated, the stallion that stood there wasn’t Wolf Spider. He stood about a half a head taller, he had a gray coat, dark gray mane, and pale gray, almost white in fact, eyes, and a cutie mark of a trio of musical notes.

“See? We use it to help… blend in to pony society.” he said.

He spoke with an accent that Melody couldn’t place. It had an almost regal quality to it, and it added a sense of wisdom to his words. It was a pleasant effect, one that Melody thought was almost fitting of the stallion standing before her.

“That’s… strange. Wh-who are… you?” she asked, not totally sure how to phrase the question.

“This is nopony. I pieced him together from several ponies. I use him to walk around without being noticed.” he said.

Once again, he was engulfed in fire, and when it dissipated, Wolf was once again standing in front of her. He opened his eyes, and saw Melody thinking things over. He hoped that this little exchange didn’t freak her out too much. He knew that he had to change the subject, otherwise she’d start asking questions, so he said the first thing that came to mind.

“But enough about me, tell me about yourself.”

“Alright, what would you like to know?”

“Just enough so that I know more about you than your name.”

“Alright, but first, I’d like to make that soup.”

Comments

[Gyro Pony]

No comments?!

This story has a decent start. I don't write so don't expect anything critical.

The Crystal Empire seemed like a good setting for an innocent introduction.
Please continue!!

[Gandalf158]

4217483 Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I'll try to post more chapters soon.

[Deathclaw2014]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the same problems progress from the last chapter, so I'd rather not repeat myself. But here it is anyway: Thoughts; Feelings; Memories; Exposition; - Please, show, don't tell.