Tales of Equestria: Changing into Love

by Noratcat

Chapter 11

Chrysalis felt another sharp pain course through her head. Silently she cursed the dragon claw nectar again. Its hangovers were long-lasting.

“You alright Crystal?” Spring’s voice jolted Chrysalis out of her pain.

“Hmm? Oh yes,” Chrysalis half-lied.

Spring accepted the answer, going back to tending the fire.

The fire itself was a mild one, not too big and not too large. Regardless of its size, it was nice and toasty. So much Chrysalis found herself leaning in to take in the heat. Sitting around, it brought back memories of the time she, Tirek, and Cozy glow were searching for Grogar’s bell. Of course, she knew by now that the entire thing was a sham by Discord, but that little event had taught them the basics of working together. Part of her still found it amusing that Discord didn’t foresee their little betrayal happening. The chaos spirit was so arrogant and full of himself. Then again, so was she, but she at least wouldn’t let herself get careless.

But she supposed right now she was betraying her decree. Here she was relaxing, and she certainly had become careless.

“Wow hard to believe we did this last year, feels like forever ago,” Summer remarked.

Chrysalis made herself even more comfortable, “So you celebrate your parent's demise by embarking on a camping trip?” Chrysalis asked, wincing once more as she felt another pain in her head.

“Yep! Every year for the past five,” Said Spring.

And then Spring’s face fell, “Man, hard to believe Mom and Dad have been dead for five years,” Summer remarked sadly.

Chrysalis noticed the forlorn expressions upon the two ponies' faces, “What happened to them?”

Summer and Sprig looked at one another, before looking back towards Chrysalis, “They were attacked by a bugbear,” Said Spring.

“A bugbear?” Chrysalis repeated. She had heard of the creatures but had never seen one in person.

“Yeah, apparently one got loose from a holding facility, wandered her and well... let's just say that was our parent’s first and last encounter with a bugbear,” Said Spring.

“Case you’re wondering, they eventually caught it, but it was too late obviously,” Summer said with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

Chrysalis wasn’t expecting this, least not from a pony. Ponies always seemed to have an idyllic life. Such tragedies didn’t seem applicable to them.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Chrysalis found herself saying. It surprised her nonetheless, for there was no sense of insincerity within her voice.

“It’s fine, my brother and I have had five years to cope,” Summer said. The mare suddenly cast a quick eye to the fire and said, “Oh darn, the fire’s going out, better go get more firewood!”

Spring looked to the fire and exclaimed, “But the fire’s not-” but his sister was long gone. The stallion blew out a sigh, his sister was not very subtle.

“Your sister never ceases to be strange,” Chrysalis noted.

“She’s a character all right,” Spring sighed once more.

“Quite so,” Chrysalis chuckled.

A moment of silence fell over the pair, a silence the mare quickly broke, “So, what were your parents like?”

Spring for a moment looked surprised but accepted it.

“Well they were great,” Spring’s answer was short and simple.

“You know what I mean,” Chrysalis started with slight exasperation, wincing once more, “Start with tell me how they met.”

Spring glanced at Chrysalis curiously, “Wow, you’ve never asked these types of questions before.”

“Oh sorry!” Chrysalis announced, “Didn’t mean to be nosy, it just you speak so highly of them I was curious.”

“It’s fine,” Spring assured, “Well first off how they met...would you believe they met when my mother was trying to rob my father?”

Chrysalis blinked in surprise, “Your mother was a thief?”

“Not exactly. You see, she left home with only a few bits to her name, but she got swindled out of everything she had and had to resort to begging. Though pickings were slim wherever she went so she traveled until she stumbled upon Trotter. So here she was, broke and hungry, then she saw my dad’s house and figured maybe she could get a quick bite.

“So your mother begged outside your father’s door?” Chrysalis asked.

“Nope, she pretty much broke through an open window and tried to steal my dad’s food,” Spring clarified.

Chrysalis gave a shocked expression, “Your mother was a thief?”

“You could say that, at least when she had nothing to lose, but she didn’t get far, my dad ended up catching her, but instead of kicking her out, he talked to her, she opened up to him, and he let her stay the night,” Spring looked on towards the fire, the warm light illuminating his face, “Long story short, they got married and had kids.”

Chrysalis let out a small chuckle, “Obviously.”

“Once she got settled, Mom turned out to have a penchant for cooking, all those recipes we’ve shown you? She made them first,” Spring explained, “She was kind, sweet, and always had time for us.”

“And your father?” Chrysalis pressed.

“Very much the same, and he was one heck of a doctor, taught me and Summer everything he knew,” Spring recalled longingly, “He also smoked a pipe.”

“A pipe?” Chrysalis repeated.

“Yeah, one of those you think a detective would smoke,” Spring explained.

Chrysalis looked at the stallion curiously, “I’m surprised a health professional would partake in something as unhealthy as that.”

“He wasn’t obnoxious about it, and the tobacco he used smelled pretty nice. If anything he did it to relieve stress or just relax, and it kind of made him look distinguished,” Said Spring, “Once I took over as co-doctor, I tried smoking a pipe,” Spring reminisced, “Bad move on my part, ended up nearly hacking my lungs out.”

That made Chrysalis giggle a bit, but then she subsided into a sigh that escaped Chrysalis, “I know how he feels, maybe I should take up smoking?”

Spring let out a good-hearted chuckle, “You smoke?” Thinking for a moment, he added, “Actually I could see it, maybe one of those long cigarette filters?”

“I was actually thinking a pipe like your father? Maybe one of those long ones,” Chrysalis suggested.

Thinking further for a moment, Spring added, “I could see it. Tell you what? Once we head one will look one up for you.”

A strange feeling swelled up in Chrysalis at that very moment, it was a feeling she hadn’t felt in all her life. She couldn’t place it at first, but soon she realized she was touched, “Thanks...you know my mother used to smoke sometimes?”

“Your mother?”

“Yes, she smoked one of those pipe things with a long tube.”

“A hookah?”

“Yes! That’s what it was called,” Chrysalis looked on ahead, staring deeply into the fire, “I remember the smell of the smoke from it, it was so foul-smelling and it made me gag. Once my mother died the first thing I did was get rid of that thing.”

Now it was Spring’s turn to look curiously at Chrysalis, “You never mentioned your mother before.”

All Chrysalis could say was, “There isn’t much to tell. She wasn’t like your mother, not by a long shot.”

“What was she like?” Spring asked though he felt the answer was obvious.

“It isn’t hard, there were three words that summed her up: cruel, calculating, and cold,” Chrysalis stated.

Spring winced, “That bad?”

“No, worse. My mother was a woman who commanded a lot of respect from her peers...no, it was fear. Everyone was afraid of her, including me,” Chrysalis remarked sadly.

“I’m sorry, that must have been hard,” Spring replied sympathetically.

“It was...she was a very difficult woman to please. She never said “I love you”, she felt love and friendship were just tools to use. I was so afraid of her, so afraid of displeasing her. Sometimes she would get..,physical if I made her unhappy,” Chrysalis winced as she recalled every blow and harsh word given to her.

Spring listened, his face growing all the more concerned, “She sounds like a monster.”

“She was, but I suppose it’s a family tradition I suppose, her mother was a monster, and her mother before her, and so forth. When she died I didn’t feel any sadness, but I think I was happy. I suppose that’s horrible to say?”

“Well I wouldn’t wish death on another creature, but the way you feel is understandable...but it seems like you’ve broken the tradition,” Spring said as he inched closer.

“Whatever do you mean?” Chrysalis asked.

“For one thing you aren’t like her,” Spring noted, “You aren’t terrible.”

Chrysalis looked away, and Spring moved in closer but kept a respectable distance so as not to break boundaries.

“Trust me Spring, there are things about me you are better off not knowing, but know this: I’m not nice.”

“But you are. Even if you didn’t start that way, you’ve changed. Little by little I’ve noticed it. The way you talk, move, and maybe you’re just being too harsh on yourself?”

Thinking back on it, Chrysalis had noticed a change in her. Without the constant need to feed on love within her, she found herself steadily growing open to a broader range of emotions. At first, she had fought against them, tried her best to push them down, viewed them as a weakness, but she couldn’t deny it anymore: she was enjoying them.

“Maybe you’re right?” Chrysalis admitted, “I just, this is all so new to me. Every time friendship was offered to me I turned it away, and I don’t know how to feel about it. It’s all so confusing!”

Without looking up, she could tell Spring had inched closer to her.

“Crystal.”

Chrysalis looked up and found herself staring into Spring’s eyes. His bold and handsome eyes. Likewise, Spring started into her own. Her beautiful and alluring eyes.

“Spring.”

The new mare didn’t know what she was feeling. All she knew was that she wanted Spring and only Spring. She felt herself leaning in and Spring did the same. Part of her knew what was coming and she didn’t fight against it. She wanted it. It had been building up from the moment she and Spring had met, and now it was paying off.

And that’s when the pain in her head spiked up. Chrysalis let out a whine as the pain hit her.

“Crystal? Are you alright?” Spring asked concernedly.

Shaking her head, Chrysalis put a hoof to her forehead, “Yes I’m fine, Just a leftover bit from the hangover.”

Oh, how wrong she was. The pain spiked again, and again, and it soon became apparent this was no mere hangover. And it didn’t just stop at her head. The pain passed through her entire body, so much she felt as if her skin was breaking apart.

“Crystal! What’s wrong?!” Spring asked, the panic growing in his voice.

Chrysalis’s breathing grew heavy. Her chest heaved up and down, each breath a struggle, “Spring...I don’t...know...help me!” She pleaded, fear now fully taking control.

Throughout it all, Chrysalis had attempted to hold it in. She didn’t know what it was, but she let it out at last. A green flash passed through her eyes and in an instant the pain subsided. Her breathing calmed and the panic left her. And then she saw Spring’s eyes.

“Spring? What’s wrong?” A small gasp escaped Chrysalis as she spoke. Her voice sounded different. No, not different, for it was not a new voice. The tone was different but she knew it well.

Then she saw her hooves. They were no longer the smooth skin of a pony, but instead black with holes all about. She felt something upon her back and she felt the familiar sensation of wings. When it dawned upon her, she, at last, realized why Spring’s expression had changed: he was gazing upon the familiar visage of Queen Chrysalis.

“Crystal?” Was all Spring could manage.

Comments

[Daybreaker218]

Ooooh, her secret revealed!

[GrandAdmiral MitthRawN]

Well damn.. damnnn m8. You surprised me again!

[origami]

So, she couldn't shift before but she can now. Wonder what happened?

[Noratcat]

10968202
We shall see.

[Doctor_Den]

this turn was very unexpected.
everything happened at such an inopportune moment that I am now sure that whoever originally sealed Chrysalis in this form canceled it at that very moment, especially for greater meanness.