I Don't Wanna Be In Love
Ponyville, Equestria. A lovely little town, just out of the way, filled to bursting with a good community of hard working ponies. It wasn't the sticks, but it was no city either. It was just the right mix of the two. It was just as it neared nightfall, the pegasus had a scheduled rainstorm to prepare. On the weather team was the famous Rainbow Dash, a cyan pegasus of much renown. But, this story isn't her's.
Just on the outskirts of town there was a forest, known by all as Everfree Forest. A dangerous place full of hostile creatures, poisonous plants, all manor of creepy-crawlies, and one dragon. This dragon was, however, probably the least threatening thing in that forest. He was known as Spike, and for at least a year now, he had been living out there.
The wind howled outside the cave's mouth, and he knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep that night. He hated thunder, and couldn't sleep while it was booming just outside his home. He prepared himself for a full night of laying on the cold floor to wait out the storm.
He had grown, very much so, over the years he had lived in Ponyville. He was just happy he had grown only to be the size of an average adult stallion. At first he had been distraught by the mere notion that he would need to leave, but he had slowly become accustomed to living on his own, and was even enjoying it at this point. Besides, it wasn't like he was far from his friends and surrogate sister.
He silently wondered to himself, letting his mind drift, trying to ignore the patter of rain just outside. He was getting to the age where his instincts wanted him to settle down with a nice dragoness and have some hatchlings. Sadly, he knew of no female dragons anywhere near Ponyville, and that is besides the fact that most dragons, no matter the gender, were hostile to the point of savagery. He let his thoughts go to a certain mare he'd known for a long time. Rarity was beautiful, to be sure, as well as generous and kind to her friends. But she had settled down ages ago with somepony else, shattering his dreams of being with her.
Spike let out a sigh, he wouldn't go down that road again. He had decided long ago that he would let her be happy, if he really loved her then he would have to. Besides, just thinking about it made him depressed.
The sound of insects was almost deafening, but to the former queen it gave her a sense of belonging, reminding her of home, of her family. The fireflies were flying low, which means they predicted rain. She just hoped they were wrong, as she had no shelter at the moment. Of course, as if just to spite her, she felt a drop of water fall on her head. She groaned in displeasure, just great.
Chrysalis started her full gallop through the forest, dodging bushes, low branches, and roots. She would need to find somewhere to stay until the storm blew over, lest she be soaked to the bone. She remembered when she didn't need to hide, back when she had a whole swarm of minions at her beck and call, back when she was still a leader, doing everything she could for her subjects. It felt like decades had passed since that day when she lost her reign when, in reality, it was ten years ago. That fateful day she tried to take over Canterlot.
Then she spotted it, coming to a screeching halt, a cave. Perfect! She could wait out the storm there. Just in time, too, as the downpour had just started in earnest. A clap of thunder signaled her to go inside with gusto. The inside of the cave was the same temperature as outside, but at least it was dry. The queen herself hadn't changed at all over the years, physically at least. Her mentality hadn't taken much of a blow, either. One would expect to be humbled by years of exile, but not her. All her outcast-status had done was assert her survivalist nature. She would feed where it was possible, travelers and small animals, easy targets. Then she would wander, always looking for more.
Speaking of 'more,' she heard movement, a sort of scraping sound. Spike dragged his claws across the stone ground as he shifted, he could' have sworn he heard somepony come in. He rose to his feet and glanced around, he saw his few belongings, mostly just trinkets, not much of a hoard. He saw what, at first, he thought were emeralds, floating in the darkness. But he quickly realized, emeralds don't float. His instincts kicked in, it was an intruder, somepony who didn't belong here.
Chrysalis watched as the dragon rose to his full height, and boy was he unimpressive. She had been under the impression dragons were huge, fire-breathing, monsters. Something you would run from. His scales were purple, purple for goodness sake. You can't be scary and purple! She decided, she could take him, probably with ease too.
“Who's there?” He called, trying his best to sound threatening. It didn't work, as a hint of fear could be heard. He was on edge, and she hadn't even done anything yet. This would be easy. She approached him, taking calm, even steps until she was mere feet from the dragon. He glowered at her, obviously not recognizing the changeling. “What do you want?” He questioned, sounding much more confidant then before. He probably thought she was just some mare thanks to the low light. His wings unfurl and expand outward, making him seem larger and more powerful by extent, but his wings are far from mighty and all it does is make her hold back a laugh.
“My, my. We are hostile, aren't we?” She drawls in a bored tone, taking a few more careful steps toward him. She's close now, almost close enough that he can see her clearly. This mare, she sounds familiar to him, but it's a distant memory and he can't place it. “I'm simply trying to get out of the rain, can't you just bare with me until it lets up?” She sounds innocent, though she is far from it. The first thing that should have set off a red flag was that she didn't even flinch at the sight of him. He may not be a dangerous dragon to most, but he was still a dragon, and that scares most ponies. He didn't take notice, however.
He slowly reeled in his wings and folded them at his sides, not taking his eyes off her shadowy figure. There was something alluring about her, even if he couldn't see her clearly, despite himself he could feel his heartbeat quicken. She was so close now, he could make out only a few details. He cursed his extremely dim cave. The intruder had a horn, so she must have been a unicorn, though something was definitely off.
Chrysalis was so close she could touch him, she could feel the faint hint of something in the air, swirling like cigarette smoke. Invisible to most creatures, the emotion called 'love' was a delectable treat to her kind, and this dragon was experiencing it. She nearly laughed, he didn't even see her clearly and he was infatuated. This could work to her advantage.
Spike cursed his hormones, he didn't know this mare. She was too close now, her felt something dry and hard drag across his scaly chest and he nearly jumped through the ceiling at the unexpected touch. Chrysalis drew small circles on his chest with her hoof, smirking as she felt him shiver. He thoughts were hazy, a single thought piercing through the muck. Run away. He tried, to his credit, but his legs refused to respond to any stimulus.
She could taste it now, his love, so close to it, all she would need to do now is reach up and take it for herself. Nothing would stop her, so she did just that. Spike closed his eyes, he felt fear, unbridled terror. Whoever this was had some sort of power over him, and he didn't like it one bit. All those instinctive thoughts, however, fled him when he felt something dry brush over his lips. It was hard and cold, he wanted to fight against it, but instead he snaked his arms around whatever had captured his mouth. She felt his arms around her neck and smirked into the kiss, just the reaction she was looking for.
Chrysalis let her tongue glide gently over his scaly lips, demanding entrance. Spike granted it, and instantly regretted the action. As soon as he opened his mouth he felt her forked tongue shoot down into his throat, it was dry, contrary to what one would think, and it tasted sour. He wanted to gag, but even basic reflexes ignored him. He wanted to fight back so much, but couldn't muster the courage for the actions. He just stood there, stock still as he was ravished by the strange mare. He couldn't say he enjoyed it, but some twisted part of him told him he couldn't say he didn't either.
Chrysalis thought he tasted divine, in both a physical sense and an emotional sense. His love would sate her thirst, and she thought, for just a second, she might even keep him. Spike felt exhausted, and extremely so. One of the side effects of having your emotions eaten by a Changeling, as he would find out eventually. But right now, it was getting to be a bit too much to handle. He felt like he would faint dead away. His grip on the mare's neck started to slack, and continue to get more and more loose until he had let go all together.
Chrysalis felt him release her from his hold, only to stare into her eyes, obviously conflicted. She let her smirk turn into a full grin, he was wobbling, back and forth, trying to stay standing. She might have gotten a bit carried away with her feeding, but it was of no consequence. Spike was going to fall, he could tell, he knew it was coming, but hadn't the strength to brace himself. He just let it happen, his vision blurring substantially, he collapsed. He expected the ground to come rushing to meet him, but it never did. He felt a tingling sensation all around him as he was slowly laid on the floor of his cave. He didn't register how cold it was this time, he was numb, and if his mind wasn't so clouded, he would've realized that.
It would do her no good if her new toy were to break on the stone, so Chrysalis saw it fit to save him the pain of hitting it full force. She let him down gently, and almost within seconds he was out like a light. The former changeling queen licked her lips, savoring the lingering taste of his lips, the taste itself almost like fire. Yes, she would definitely keep him. She lowered herself next to him, cuddling into his prone form, and closing her eyes. The buzz the emotions had given her would keep her up for some time, but soon enough she would drift into a restful slumber.
The sunlight pierced through the canopy, dyed a pleasant shade of light green from the leaves. Chrysalis was trying her best to enjoy it, the sounds of the forest accompanying the warming rays brilliantly. However, she had a remnant of a thought. When that dragon awoke, she would need to strike some fear into him, force him to keep her a secret from whatever visitors he would have. It's not that she didn't enjoy the fact that she could terrorize a dragon, a creature not usually on the receiving end of such a thing, it was just that she didn't want to exert herself too much. Stress was not good for a changeling, after all.
A small stream had formed near the cave, not too close but not too far. A perfect place for a drink, which she realized she desperately needed. Chrysalis trotted over to it and inspected it with a critical eye. Nothing seemed overly wrong with it, so she lowered her head and started to drink from the brook. The water was clean, and definitely refreshing, she relished the hydrating water, her mind blank of all troubled thoughts.
Spike was beginning to stir, he unconsciously clawed at the floor beside him. Something was missing, a source of warmth that had been there previously. Realizing that whatever had been there was gone now, his mind started to awaken, relieving him of the clouds that fogged it. His eyes fluttered open on their own accord, and he was met with the dim light of the cave he had grown so used too. Now it seemed to cramped and depressing then ever before.
“It seems the beast has awoken.” Came a voice, he instinctively turned toward the noise, his mind suddenly alert. There she stood, the mare he had seen so little of the night before. The memories, which had been lost on him only a moment ago, had come back to him in full force. She had kissed him, and he had kissed back, though not consciously. Seeing her in the full lighting, he couldn't imagine what had attracted him to her. Her body was unshapely, the creature's horn was bent at odd angles and she had strange holes in her hooves, mane, and wings. That was to only name a few of the things wrong with the way she looked. He had to admit, somewhere in the back of his mind, she was a good kisser. He tried to raise himself up, to curse at her, to spit in her general direction, but he couldn't find the strength. He settled on just cursing at her.
“What the buck are you?” He questioned, and much to his dismay, she laughed at his struggle.
“I don't think I will tell you.” She spoke through her fit of giggles. He was such a sorry sight that she couldn't contain herself.
Spike tried a different tactic. “What do you want with me?” And for his trouble, she was on him in a second. Her hoof pressing down on his head, he hadn't the courage or power to fight back as she started to press down. It didn't really hurt, but the fact she could do this to him was shameful to the dragon.
“I want one simple thing,” She chose her words carefully and spoke slowly, like talking to a child. “love.” Her wicked grin unnerved him, and he wondered just how far she would go to get the love she wanted to fiercely. Chrysalis released his head from underhoof and strode around the cave, he followed her with his eyes, which he couldn't keep off her flank for whatever reason. A sudden force pushed him against the cave wall, he saw through squinted eyes that, even though she wasn't facing him, the mare's horn was glowing. She was trying to rough him up!
“What makes you think I'd give you what you want?” He croaked, he didn't want some weird filly pushing him around like he was her punching bag.
“Give? What makes you think that I need you to give it to me when I can just..” She trotted over to him until she was close enough that he could feel her breath on his face. “Take it.”