The Garden
I sometimes wish all the world could be a garden. It would be so relaxing and I wouldn’t have to endure the stuffy indoors. Of course, my own kingdom’s insides were quite relaxing, but that’s only if you’re a changeling. Other species don’t have our refined taste. Yet, even such finery couldn’t compare to a good bed of grass and the sun high above, warming my back as I watched my children play. I felt at peace.
Thinking about how content I was with this, I couldn’t help but chuckle. I used to slaughter entire world, gorging on flesh and the like with such glee. How did I ever become so tame? I blame ponies. They seem to bring out the best in everything, for better or worse.
They slithered on the ground like snakes, hissing and tackling each other. Well, Adagio and Sonata were. They were born fighters, but Aria… she was cowering within my forelegs. This was their first time outside and she hadn’t taken to it well yet. I really need to teach her to be more open and outgoing. No prodigy of mine will grow up a coward, but I wasn’t going to ruin her day.
I nuzzled my little purple… thing. I really need to come up with a name for them. Thankfully, I am quite clever so it shouldn’t be a problem. “Aria, don’t you want to play with your siblings?” She mewled in response and backed up further into me. I sighed. I needed to think of something and do it quickly. At this rate, she’d become a second Pansy. How that mare could be related to my hunk is beyond me.
Thankfully, we were out in the gardens. There is one thing I’ve learned over the years. Changelings, while excellent at scouring a planet of all life, are rather good with nature. Perhaps it’s because we’ve devoured and used so many bits of DNA in our castes that we just know how all life works. We eat something and we gain it’s knowledge and abilities. Quite useful.
I looked up to see a few birds. Funny creatures, birds. They could be so cuddly, but so cruel. Perhaps the cruelest of them all and I loved them for their tenacity. Their ancestors would be proud of them, if not disappointed they didn’t rule this world like they did. I held up a hoof and called out. I didn’t use words. I just sang a tune. There were no words or any real ways to describe it, not that any mortal could. To put it bluntly, I was speaking to the bird’s very soul, peacefully calling to it.
The bird listened, flying down and landing on my hoof. “See, Aria?” I brought it closer to my daughter, but not too close. “This is a bird. He’s not going to hurt you.”
Little Aria gazed at the bird with a cute, curious expression. She looked up at me for support and I smiled up at her. She steeled herself like the good girl I know she is. She even put on a brave face. It didn’t really look brave, just silly, but I appreciated the effort. Then, she moved her head closer to the bird. She didn’t touch it, just looked at it. That is, until the bird chirped and went over and nuzzled her. She squeaked and moved her head down.
“She was saying hello,” I chuckled, giving her a loving nuzzle of my own. “It’s rude not to say hello back.”
Aria looked a bit down at that, so she tried again. This time, she touched the bird lightly with her snout. The bird chirped, nuzzling again. This time Aria smiled and giggled. My child took the bird, I think it’s a Bluebird if I remember the local name, into her arms. I beamed at the sight. She was getting stronger already.
However, the peace didn’t last. I heard something similar to my song, but it was different. It was harmonic, but wrong. Like a musician trying to mimic someone but also trying to be so different. I looked over to my other two girls who were trying to sing to. I furrowed my brow. There was something different to it. While my songs could connect to another lifeform, this one seemed to grab another without consent.
The birds, beside the one in Aria’s arms, were clumsily being forced to crash near them. What ever are they… Oh dear. I know those looks. I have those looks when I’m hungry. “Girls, do not-” I quickly put a hoof over the bird and Aria’s eyes and used my magic to make sure she couldn’t hear the carnage.
The two were certainly owning up to their carnivorous nature and I couldn’t help but feel a tad bit proud. Why wouldn’t I? I’m a predator too. It’s just that I wanted this outing to be without bloodshed. I didn’t even get to teach them to hunt yet. That’d be soon and I’ll have to make sure they don’t try this again. As well, they were making a mess. Adagio was making quick kills, mostly biting heads off with some throat ripping. Brutal but effective. She was shaping up to be a perfect predator. Sonata, well, she was taking her time.
There was just a joyful malice to her. She was tearing out feathers, making slashes along the bird's legs and chest, pulling limbs off. Just anything she could do to make them suffer and she was laughing. It was rather disturbing. I’m not one to play with my food. You kill it and eat it. That’s it. Perhaps she got a little too much of her grandfather. I couldn’t help but cringe. Beings of chaos were notorious for their cruel personalities, my brother Discord included. I can recall all the times he tormented others, but he didn’t kill them or… eat them like Sonata was. She was a bit different.
I was going to have to curb some of that soon enough. “Sonata, we do not play with our food.”
“You took them hunting without me?” I heard my husband’s voice come up from behind. I grinned as I turned around and he kissed my cheek. “I thought we agreed to do that together.”
“We did,” I said, nodding towards the bloody duo. “They decided otherwise.”
Hurricane nodded and then looked down at little Aria with her bird. “And she’s not eating her bird, because…?”
“I think she wants to keep it,” I huffed. “I don’t think I’ve seen such a scared creature since your niece.”
Hurricane frowned. “She will not grow up like Pansy. I love that mare, but my daughter will be strong and proud.” He fixed Aria with a hard stare. “You’re going to be strong, Aria. If I have it my way, you’ll be the strongest of us all.” He sighed when Aria hid her face behind her bird.
“Perhaps you put a bit too much edge in your voice,” I chuckled, nuzzling him. “She’s not a warrior yet.”
“She will be,” Hurricane smiled and it was a warm kind that only I and my daughters ever saw. “But for now, she can be my little flower.”
“Flower?” I quirked an eyebrow. Why would he compare her to a plant? Ponies are strange.
“Because she’s delicate and beautiful,” he answered. “Like a daisy.” He frowned. “That will of course be changed. She will be a warrior.”
“Am I a flower?” I grinned.
“A rose,” he kissed me. Oh how I love the feeling of his lips and the surge of love that comes with it. “Beautiful and always ready to harm another.”
“I like it,” I giggled, keeping myself close. Little Aria held up her bird as if she wanted her daddy to welcome him.
Hurricane rolled his eyes and nuzzled the bird, “Yes, that’s a nice bird, Aria.” Aria giggled and pulled the bird back. Finally, Adagio and Sonata came over to us, covered in blood and feathers. I quickly used a spell to clean them off. “Excellent technique, Adagio. Always go for the kill. Sonata…” He sighed as the bloated babe fell asleep. “She’s her own set of problems. By the way, was that them singing just a moment before?”
I frowned, remembering their singing. There was something off about it. Then the pain came. Changelings can stand pain. It makes us sick, so I had cut it off. Yet, they seemed stronger after it all. It was almost like the misery and fear gave them power. I would dwell on that later. “Yes, it seems they want to sing like their mommy.”
“Now won’t that be something,” Hurricane chuckled. He wrapped the other two daughters in his winger and nestled himself next to me. His fur bristled against mine in a pleasing fashion and I regurgitated some meat to feed little Aria. She wouldn’t go hungry either, but it seems my little darlings can eat solid meat. At least, somewhat. They were going to get sick, so I’ll need to get some of the Nurse cast to watch over them. Still, that was then. Now I just stayed in the garden with my family. We just sat there, enjoying some peace and quiet. There was honestly no other place I’d rather be and I wished, oh how I wished this could last forever.
For my children’s sake, I hope it would. My own childhood was… turbulent. They weren’t going to suffer, not on my watch. They would always be under my watchful eye and no one was going to change that.
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Definatle worth the wait.
There is this... interesting combination of motherly ferociousness that is both cute and alarming. It's like watching a tiger teach her cubs to hunt.
Gosh darn you Evo for making Chrysalis both cute and terrifying
Chrysalis' mothering instincts do her credit, but, well. . .
Her children are literally murdering birds for fun. I'm not sure if she's a good mother or a horrible mother.
Does Hurricane have a brother or a sister? (Sorry if you've already said, I forget lots of the little details like this.)
6853562 I was unsure of whether to make Pansy one of Hurricane's illegitimate children before he met Chrysalis or just a niece. I decided on the latter, so yeah and no, I haven't mentioned it before since it hasn't come up. Yeah, her mothering skills aren't what most call 'normal'.
6851575 Glad you think so.
What did you like about it?
6854291 Mostly the way you write this story from the character perspective without using too much 'I'.
6854705 Thanks. I've been trying not to sound too repetitive and I'm grateful it's working out so far.
...I think this might have crossed into Dark tag territory.
Sonata is shaping up to be quite the twisted little psychopath. I'd like to say it's still cute (Aria's part definitely was), but there's only so much evil someone can do before their antics just aren't adorable anymore.
6856066 There are going to be dark elements to this story, but for the most part I'll try not to make it too overt. It's just that, well, I kind of see Sonata as a cute 'psycho'. She just enjoys causing pain, partially because she's a bit twisted and can't properly understand it. Eh, that's just me. Again, for the most part, it won't be that overt and I'll focus on more softer stuff for a while.
Did I go a bit too far in your opinion?
6856086
Well, it was established early on that their mother was a remorseless destroyer of worlds, so I really shouldn't be surprised that maybe her kids are messed up too, but still? Try to imagine a human being, be it man, woman, or child, slowly, tortuously killing an animal (or anything else, really) pretty much just for giggles. What would your first thought of this person be?
I understand that they're monsters, I don't think it was ever suggested otherwise, but the dark bits kind of (no pun intended) overshadowed the cute, fluffy aspect there, at least for me. There's no reason you can't proceed however you like with this, but 'cute psycho' is a delicate art. Too far in either direction and it risks getting lost in that side.
If you have them cutting people and/or mashing up bunny rabbits with a meat tenderizer every day, it's hard to sympathize when someone calls the police. If you have them be just a little too affectionate all the time, but never do anything the least bit harmful to anyone, then they just become harmless cuddlebugs. Both are fine (so to speak), but they aren't simultaneously cute and psychotic.
...Does that makes sense?
6856226 It was never my intention to make this a permanent part of the story. This chapter was more to highlight a bit more of their personality and Adagio isn't going to grow up to be a cold hearted killer. {She'll get Sonata on a leash one of these days.} Most of the story is going to focus on character interactions and it shouldn't get that heavy until the end. {Yeah, I'll be covering their banishment at the end......Chrysalis isn't going to like it though.}
6856281
Oh. Well, that's reassuring, I guess!
I might just be a teensy bit paranoid about dark material getting marginally worse as time goes on, seen it get pretty ridiculous in a few other stories, but I'll try to reserve judgement until they're older and a touch more stable.
6856315 I'm not a fan of overtly dark stuff either. It's just they are rather carnivorous.
I'll be sure to steer away from it, especially for the rest of the kid arc.
Oh, I love this!!!! The writing style is just so unique! You have converted me: I now ship Hurricane and Chrysalis. Keep up the great work!!!