“Give me my magic back!” Chrysalis demanded, horn glowing blue. Blue! BLUE! Not the royal and imperial and wonderful green it was supposed to be, but BLUE!
Tirek and Cozy still stared at her. “What…happened?” Cozy asked.
“I Reformed, you idiot!” Chrysalis exclaimed, turning to hiss at Cozy. She paused as she did, then ran her tongue over her teeth. Her eyes widened. “My fangs! Where are my fangs?!”
“Why did you Reform?” Tirek asked.
Chrysalis turned on the centaur. “I’m a changeling! Love is magic, magic is love, I shared my magic so I shared my love and now look at me! LOOK AT ME! Give me my magic back now!”
Tirek did, much to the Queen’s surprise, though some part of her imagined it was as much to try and calm her down than anything. It didn’t work. Chrysalis had rather hoped that doing so would revert her to her previous form, her true form, but while her stomach filled up and her power fully returned, she still looked like she’d had a terrible accident in both a paint store and a hair salon.
“HHHZZZKKK!” She screamed, wings buzzing. She could still do a proper changeling scream, at least. She whirled on Cozy Glow. “This is all your fault! ‘Just share your magic, Chrysalis! It’s the only way, Chrysalis! It’ll make Tirek strong enough, Chrysalis!’ Now look at me!”
“How was I supposed to know?” Cozy demanded. “I’m just a kid! I don’t know about changelings.”
“Is it permanent?” Tirek asked, poking Chrysalis in her cheek. She whirled and tried to bite him, but his reflexes were too fast and he pulled away. “Did you know you’re fuzzy now – ”
“OF COURSE I KNOW!”
Cozy lifted herself up off the ground, wings buzzing as she went over to Tirek’s side, still clutching the Bewitching Bell. “Look, I can tell this is upsetting you. But maybe…you should look on the bright side? Can’t Reformed changelings make their own love? So now you’ll never go hungry again! That’s good, isn’t it?”
Blue (accursed blue!) fire washed over Chrysalis as she transformed into a copy of Cozy Glow. “That’s good, isn’t it?” She mocked in Cozy's voice. “No it’s not good, you dolt! Hunger is a powerful motivator. Hunger drives the changelings forward to glory and power and conquest and – ”
“Did you know that your eyes are blue now too?” Tirek asked.
Chrysalis returned to her new true form and screamed.
Good observation skills Tirek!
I feel like... Tirek could be a secret fashionista..
Didn't you, like, go to school with one? A school where I'm pretty sure this was on the curriculum? Well, perhaps it was before you transferred in.
I do like that detail about Chrysalis using hunger for motivation. I figured she would've used the whole 'It's better to take love from others' reason.
9653307 Well, he's just more observant than his peers. He has lived longer than Chrysalis and Cozy. That, and I'm sure he'll need a hobby
9653307
Maybe a bit of a crush there?
9653594
I strangely enjoy that idea.
One track mind, that one....
Yup.
9653307
It’s like House Sturmvoraus in Girl Genius. Secret evil fashion designers, the lot of them.
9653358
Rule one, Cozy lies.
9653594
Wouldn’t put it past them. Two power parasites with god complexes, you know they’ll either try to kill each other or shack up... :p
There are many reasons that excuse doesn't hold much water, Cozy.
9661435
The biggest reason is the fact that she went to school with a changling and directly interacted with one, plus being twis's (former) right-hoove pony
Somehow reminds me of this one:
9681477
That’s about the scream I was going for, yeah.
You're not helping, Tirek.
9653594
and they were roommates!
This was a hilarious and awesomely chill chapter.
9653298
He rolled high on his Spot Check.
Honestly, I have to sympathize with Chrysalis here. Undergoing this sort of change when it's something you personally initiated and wanted is one thing; having your body rebuild itself like this out of the blue most feel... honestly, it must feel pretty violating.
I’m laughing and feeling really bad for Chrysalis at the same time...
Can chryssy change back to her old form?
11287572
Yes, but I like to imagine that changelings can hold a form for only so long before reflexive action forced them back into their true form. On top of that, taking and holding a form requires a constant input of magic/love, explaining why, for example, changelings don’t just charge into battle in the form of dragons all the time: they’d quickly exhaust themselves.
And then finally, I like to think that when a Changeling becomes a thing, they are that thing, inside and out. If Chrysalis became her old self, she’d get the constant drain on magic/love that changelings have, on top of also needing to spend magic/love to maintain the form. So basically if she tried to be her old self all the time, she’d end up going hungry faster than ever before.