Becoming Whole

by Chivalry

Chapter 8: Black (Unedited)

Author's Note:

This is unedited in almost every way, so if you spot something out of the ordinary or notice a few mistakes, feel free to point them out to me as you always do. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner than this one was, so until then I will see you all later. Also, if you like this story, be sure to check out the other stories I've started and tell me which ones you like. The more people tell me they like a specific story, the more likely I will be to work on it again instead of just starting a new one.

Chapter 8: Black

The violent sounds of the howling gale outside as the sand clawed against the building woke Chrysalis. Slowly returning to the realm of consciousness, she could feel a throbbing pressure in her head. In an attempt to assuage the pain, she moved her hooves to massage her temples. While this action did little to help relieve the pain, she could finally open her eyes to see where she has awoken this time.

I hope I don't make a habit out of this...

Thankfully, the air was cool and the curtains were drawn, which allowed the queen a thankful respite from the brutality of the desert sun. She was sitting in a large, comfortable armchair with a small lamp next to her, apparently the only source of light in the room. Glancing about, Chrysalis could see books lining the walls every which way she looked. Based on the titles and the size of the tomes, this was clearly some kind of historical archive. It was not as expansive as the royal library in Canterlot she had been shown during the invasion, but it surely held information just as prevalent.

After Chrysalis had taken inventory of the room, she heard the slight creaking of an old door hinge behind her. Sensing there to be no threat, she eased back in her chair upon realizing who had entered the room.

"Greetings, stranger," Chrysalis said, realizing that she had failed to ascertain her host's name yet.

With a stifled yelp, the mare walked into view of her guest. "I-I'm sorry miss, I thought you were resting."

Her nervous tone brought a small grin to the queen's muzzle. It reminded her of a small filly who was meeting their father's work associate for the first time.

"I was, although the noise outside woke me just a few minutes before you walked in," she replied, feigning a tender tone to put the other mare at ease.

It had seemed to have worked. The mare visibly relaxed which allowed Chrysalis to ask her questions without much incident. The mare, whom Chrysalis now knew as Scribes, was the town's librarian who came out to this frontier land to seek an adventure. Unfortunately, the town was far more dangerous than adventurous, thanks to the giant snake that roamed the desert at night. Based on what she said about the town itself, Chrysalis gathered that it was almost completely abandoned save for the shop owners and a few travelers from time to time, and that the stallion Caduceus had told her about lived in the cellar of the tavern. Most importantly, the changeling learned that the presence of authorities was slim to none which meant that avoiding the royal guard would be an easy task. Still, she would have to make subtle changes to her appearance to keep from drawing too much attention. Surely even out here news of the invasion of Canterlot would be common knowledge. It's not every day that your monarch is nearly dethroned.

After Scribes had finished answering Chrysalis' questions, it was time to return the favor.

"So," she began. "What is your name? Caduceus wasn't able to tell me."

Chrysalis sighed in relief of her good fortune, That makes this a lot easier, but which alias should I assume this time? Perhaps Star Gazer, the astronomy major from Manehattan University? No, I'd have no motive to be out this far. What about the archeologist Bones? Oh wait, I know the perfect cover!

"My name is Arcana Black," she declared, holding a hoof to her chest as she raised her chin with a sly smirk. "I've been traveling all over Equestria in search of a magical tome of rare spells and incantations."

Scribes eyes became as large as saucers. "Oh wow, a mage!" she exclaimed in a girlish squeal. "You must have been on quite a few adventures!" She stared at Chrysalis, a silent plea for the changeling to indulge her curiosity.

"Oh, so very many... but I have a feeling that if I started we would be here for days without getting anything done."

Her ears folded back with a heavy sigh. Scribes knew what she meant and withdrew her curiosities... for the time being at least. However, there were still a few more questions she needed to ask. "How did you meet Caduceus?"

Chrysalis tapped a hoof to her chin for a moment before clicking her tongue, one of the many quirks about her that the changeling had learned to imitate flawlessly. "I was working on a new spell when the magic talisman I used backfired, causing a large explosion and blasting me here," she said in a slightly disgruntled tone. "I was fortunate enough to be found by our mutual friend and cared for until I was well."

Not a complete lie, but not necessarily the truth either.

"What caused the talisman to explode in the first place?"

Chrysalis flashed a cheshire grin as she lifted her hooves before her in a gesture of in-depth explanation, "Magic."

Creators, I love using that excuse, she though as she stifled a giggle. It explains everything that can't be explained!

Scribes tilted her head before she shrugged, "Fair enough, but I have to know-"

A ringing bell from the next room caused Chrysalis to turn an ear towards the door. Out of instinct, her body tensed and she poised herself to leap from the chair until the mare across from her let out a frustrated grunt.

Turning back to Chrysalis, Scribes flashed a small smile. "Excuse me, but there is a stallion out there who doesn't seem to grasp the concept of patience."

With that said, she stood from her chair and walked over to a nearby shelf. With her wing, she deftly removed three books and carried them over to the door before cracking the door open just enough to slip through.

"Bout time you found those," a stallion said. His voice was muffled by the door, but Chrysalis could tell that he had been joking. Curious, the changeling used her magic to determine the situation outside. Sure enough, she could feel no emotions of ill will from either party, although something caught her attention about the stallion. Furrowing her brow, Chrysalis strained to put more power behind her spell. It was harder than she had initially anticipated, but rewarding to say the least; Both Scribes and the stallion shared some basic emotional liking for one another. However, it was clear that the stallion was rather smitten with the pegasus librarian, which caused her mouth to water slightly.

It was the perfect opportunity to feed, and she was completely starved. She quietly rose from the chair and made her way over to the door, getting as close as she could without actually entering the room. Since she had not spent enough time around the sky blue mare to learn her speech patterns and personality archetype, she would have to feed indirectly by intercepting the flow of emotions. A simple trick changeling children had to rely on to survive, however she was a full grown adult and would require more sustenance than one feeding like this would garner. Still, she would take what she could get.

o.0.o

Caduceus opened his eyes for the first time since being buried alive by the morning sandstorm. His body ached all over, but knowing full well what he had just gone through, he thanked Baba he was still alive. Testing the waters, the stallion tried to move each part of his body to assess the damage. His hind legs were sluggish but completely responsive. He felt little pain in is fore hooves, mostly cuts from the wind whipping at his then exposed flesh. When he tried to move them around, he seized up and let out a pained hiss. However, the pain was far more dull than he had initially expected, but it was surprising none the less.

Craning his neck, the injured stallion surveyed the room. With a relieved smile, he realized that the aura of the location matched that of Scribes, the librarian of the town and his personal assistant. That explained why his wounds had been dressed with such quality, but something confused him. Even with the special medicine he developed and the help of the young mare, there was no way that his injuries would have healed to this level of progress unless he had been incapacitated for at least two months. The corrosive poison coating of the sukukuyiri's skin had eaten away most of the muscle tissue and his body would have shut down to recover, putting him in a temporary coma. However, a quick look around revealed a calendar marked no more than one week after his last trip into town.

Strange, he thought. Carefully, the zebra brought a hoof to his chin and furrowed his brow. Perhaps Chrysalis was able to perform her spell again.

Resigning to ask the mare such questions in person, he decided to get out of the bed to relieve some of the tension that had build up in his body. He needed to stretch and walk about before he started to get comfortable. A body in motion tends to stay in motion, as they say. Throwing the covers back, Caduceus gently moved his body to the edge of the bed and rolled onto his stomach, landing on all fours at once. Due to the stagnation his body had been accustomed to, his landing was... less than graceful. In fact, the resounding thud that had followed his rather intimate contact with the floorboards had actually knocked a few books off of their shelves, each attempted to perform an imitation of the stallions graceful dismount, though all paled in comparison.

A groan was all the poor stallion could muster in terms of an auditory response from the pain. He clambered to his shaky hooves only to feel his forelegs give out under his own bodyweight. Even with the help of his pegasus wings, his body would simply give out. Time and time again he would attempt to stand and each time his legs refused to support him. So now, Caduceus lay there, rump in the air and wings lazily sprawled out to his sides as his face rested on the hard floor.

"Taking a break, Caduceus?" a familiar voice greeted.

Unwilling to give a sarcastic response to the changeling's question, the stallion settled to greet her with a low grunt.

Chrysalis giggled and moved over beside her friend to help him up from the floor. She was much stronger than she once was, easily hoisting his nearly dead weight up so that he could rest his fore hooves on the bedding. Standing on his hind hooves was not the most comfortable feeling in the world, but it sure beat the alternative.

"Th-thanks," Caduceus whispered in a raspy breath, probably due to the combination of medication and prolonged bed rest.

Chrysalis simply smiled at him before she turned towards the nightstand, surprised to see the small glass of water still safely atop it instead of broken on the ground. With a small touch of magic, she brought it in front of Caduceus face. Within a moment's notice, the zebra guzzled down the water as if he were really a sea pony.

"Did you have a good talk with the floor?"

After the glass had been completely drained of all liquid the stallion gasped for air, forgetting that he did indeed need oxygen to live. "The floor wanted to fight and I thought I could win. That was, until gravity helped it uppercut me in the chin," he said realizing that his accent was thick.

After he cleared his throat, Caduceus continued, "Anything important happen while I was out?"

Comments

[AppleTank]

Secret plot is still secret. Oh well.

[brony323]

Oh. Now that was a lovely finish to a chapter

[shynight]

Chrysalis taped a hoof to her chin for a moment

Well, at least it was just tape and not glue
lol, should be tapped

[watermane2000]

No more?Oh well...Oh by the way Chivalry you have an army that supports this story.

[pahnazd]

damn cheating gravity!

[Bronydragon]

End of chapter. pause for dramatical effect..... Next chapter.
Oh and something I saw.

It had seemed to have worked. The mare visibly relaxed , allowing their following conversation to proceed without much incident. The mare, whom Chrysalis now knew as Scribes, was the town's librarian who came out to this frontier land to seek an adventure.

So chysalis is just knowing Scribes name out of the blue.
Don't know if this was intended, but for me it looks like the part where Chrysalis gets to know her name is missing.
Just my thoughts on the matter.
Good chapter. Waiting for more.

Dragon

[Chivalry]

3847738
Yea, that was something that kinda sat wrong with me too. Their conversation that followed allowed Chrysalis to learn the mare's name as well as some information about the town. Is there a better way for me to show this?

[Bronydragon]

3849092
Maybe you could say that Chrissy overheard her name in a conversation she heard earlier, but this would mean her waking up earlier as well.
Other possibility could be that she asked her about it and she said it to her. But you'd need some extra lines for that.
Or you go the old fashioned way.
"I was awake for a few minutes now dear ...." "My name is Scribes."
That way you can just say it without getting too much more into the chapter.
These are just my thoughts so do what you want. As long as it makes sense everything is fine.

Dragon

[Kickback]

Alright, caught up at last and I gotta say, that's some pretty goddamn decent work, right there
I'll be waitin', mate
Hakuna Matata

[j-grizz]

Unfortunately, the town was far more dangerous than adventurous thanks to the giant snake that roams the desert at night.

roamed, also might need some punctuation after "adventurous".

Fun story, thanks.

[Blaze]

3849092 Your id picture PERFECTLY captures the personality of a Brony in Equestria.

[clonezero]

Another great story to read, good times!

Keep up the great work boss!

[ShadowRebelKSX]

"The floor wanted to fight and I thought I could win. That was, until gravity helped it uppercut me in the chin,"

that made me chuckle more then it should have

[twidashloverxox]

I Fought the Floor and the, Floor Won