Chapter 4
 
>You are stirred awake, quickly rising to from your bed.
>You shake yourself out of the sleepiness.
>You were in your room- that was for sure.
>A solitary beam of sunlight shone through the single window above your bed.
>You turn to Christie’s bed, only to find it empty.
>You turn away and try to leave your bed, only have it prevented by a weight on your legs.
>You tug at it, but whatever it was, it was heavy.
>You lazily turn to see this mystery item.
>A hand races to hit you in the face, dazzling you- and knocking you off the bed.
>You know that bad bed habits anywhere.
>And there she was- the changeling of the century.
>Sprawled over the wall-side of your bed, arms out stretched, peacefully drooling onto your clean bed.
>As soon as she senses your absence, she moves in to take over the bed.
>She grabs your pillow, and goes back to her dormant state.
>That changeling was a demon under that fake human skin.
>You sigh, and grab the blanket under her.
>A thought of yanking the cloth under her comes to your mind.
>She could be on the floor, just like you are.
>You feel a sinister grin coming to your face.
>You hold tight and-
>Give it a gentle pull.
>You make sure the blanket is completely out, and you flap it wide.
>And then you quickly slip it over Christie, and tuck her in.
>You can see a smile forming on her face.
>You fix the edges of the bed, and admire your handiwork.
>You could say you were admiring-
>No.
>…
>Okay, maybe once.
>You lower yourself over Christie’s sleeping form, and plant a simple kiss in her forehead.
>There, all done.
>You quickly rush out of the room, trying to wipe away your blush.
>You close the door gently, and sigh again.
>Unknown to you, you weren’t the only one awake in that room.
 
>You are hit face first with the smell of cooking.
>Legit, delicious food in the making.
>That could only mean one thing.
>You quickly hurry up the stairs, and open mother’s room.
>Her bed is empty.
>”Anonymous, you up?” You hear her call from down stairs.
>You run down the stairs, all the way to the first.
>You jump over the few bottom stairs, landing with a thud.
>Mom comes in, holding the usual beakers and a frying pan.
>”Anon, you alright?”
>You smile, and run to your mother.
>And then you hold her into hug, still smiling.
>She drops the two items, and hugs you back.
“Glad to have you back, mom.”
>”Good to be back, but- I’m not making that egg again.”
>You let go, and rush back to your room.
>You slam open the door, and go to the most amazing mare in your life.
>She stirs awake from the ruckus, and looks to you with fazed glare.
>You jump into the bed, and hug her.
“THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANK-“
>”OOOOKAY.”
>Her face says no, but her body is saying otherwise.
>Wait, why is this starting to sound like rape story?
>”Anon.”
>You still hold on to her, in some awkward to say thanks.
>”Anonymous.”
>You grip tighter.
>”Let go.”
“No.”
>”Fine.”
>A burst of green flames erupt from Chrysalis.
>As if that could scare you.
>And then, you hear a chink of metal, before some tidbits fall to your head.
>You shake it off, wondering what that was.
>You look up, and gasp.
>PERFECT TEETH
>Well, in their standards.
>NO BRACES
>You see her tongue feeling for the lost metal, and then to her evenly matched canines.
>”What the…”
>Her green eyes were in full slit now, looking more reptilian.
>Her horn was longer and better angled, but still had those holes.
>Her short mane was now up on your face.
>Mind you, you were at the bottom of her neck.
>She blows it away, and looks to you.
>”You had your chance, Anon…”
“Christie, y-“
>She interrupts you with a quick kiss on the lips, and then pulling back with a playful smile.
>Damn, you forgot these ponies had very flexible necks.
>You can feel yourself blushing up a storm.
>She grins, and turns back to her human form.
>You feel your arms loosening up, and Chrysalis goes back to her struggling.
>And then you lose your balance, falling out of the bed again.
>You panic, and hold tighter.
>”A-NOOOOOONNNN!”
>She shouts as she falls with you.
>You land on your back- hard.
>No, that was not a euphemism.
>Christie is sprawled right over you, pinning to the floor.
>”Oh, this is one of your ruses, isn’t it- Anon?”
“Dammit Christie.”
>”What?” She smiles.
“Also, I like your new look.”
>”What?”
“What?”
>”What new look?”
“Your changeling form?”
>Chrysalis immediately gets off you, and goes to the looking glass.
>She quickly changes into her original form, and begins to look around.
>Was she always that tall?
>She grins, frown, smiles, and pouts at the mirror, getting a better feel of her new teeth.
>She then turns to you, face full of triumph.
>”I told you it was a phase.”
>You shrug.
“So, any clue how you got out of it so quick?”
>She shrugs as well.
>”Not a clue.”
>She thinks for a while, placing a hoof under her jaw.
>You do the same, and sit on the open window.
“Maybe it was last night?”
>She raises a brow, looking at your bed.
“No, not that! The healing!”
>”Oh, that.”
>She turns into a human again and close in on you.
>”Possibly.”
>You are slightly leaning outwards, trying to maintain some sense of respectful distance.
>She studies you carefully, before coming closer.
>”Just an experiment…”
>She’s just an inch away from you now.
>You’re almost half-way out of the window.
>Actually-
>You lose balance, and you heart sinks as you start to fall backwards.
>A hand quickly grabs your shoulder, holding you.
“Oh gee, thanks Chry-“
>She pulls you to her lips.
>You awkwardly kiss once again, your arms held up chest high in surprise.
>She then lets go, and starts smiling again.
>”I knew it! I knew you cared about me!”
>Your heart sinks again.
“Care?”
>”Yeah, looks like it’s a powerful boost- remember last night?”
>You’re trying to wrap your head around this.
>”I tapped into your emotions last night, and got this sudden surge.”
“Do you think that caused your growth?”
>”Possibly.”
“So, ‘Care’ is the most powerful?”
>”As far as I can tell, then yes.”
“Then how come you never felt it before?”
>She cocks her head to the side.
>”What do you mean?”
“I mean I- I Care about you and-“
>Anon, your stupid is showing again.
“Nevermind.”
>You quickly escape the room, rushing over to mom.
>”What the hell?” Chrysalis exclaims, not sure what just happened.
>And she thought she was the one holding the wild cards.
>Your descend down the stairs wasn’t exactly nice.
>As soon as you hit the floor, that murky smell caught you again.
>It was not even ten, and Mom was already off making more brews.
>”You should have eaten breakfast early, honey!”
>She shouts over her chemistry set.
>She already has five vials set.
>Wait, where were those flasks last time?
>And the glass- all cleaned up.
>You secretly hope you could mooch off your mother forever, seeing how clean she is.
>You spot a plate of eggs on the kitchen table.
>Without a word, you go for it, downing it in one go.
>”Anon, you should have told me if you were that hungry.”
>She smiles warmly, before placing your canteen on the table.
>You take a sip of the mixture, almost getting nausea over the blend of the two tastes.
>You force them down.
>You can’t help to poke out your tongue in disgust.
>Christie comes over and sits across you, eyeing your expression.
>”You tried eating with the mix, didn’t you.”
>You nod, while taking a glass of water.
>You cough is quickly drowned out by the mixture.
>Some escape, as you hit your chest.
>”Well, are we done? We need to get back to our ‘job’.”
>”You kids got work?” Mom chimes in.
“Err, yeah, we got one by the market.”
>Mom has this stoic look on her face, she’s not buying it.
“Well, gotta go, love you.”
>You and Chrysalis leave the establishment immediately, taking your respective bags.
>Mom has barely a second to answer, as the sick and wounded started to pour in.
>You barely have a second to catch your breath, as Christie starts making her way to the markets.
>Just got out, and she’s already at work.
 
>You rendezvous with your partner in crime by lunch time.
>She’s waiting by the same corner, back in her human form.
>”Got good cuts today?”
“Enough.”
>”Wish I could say the same.”
“What did you fuck up now?”
>”Nothing! At least that’s what I’m thinking.”
>You cross your arms.
>Typical.
>”Look, two mares have been following me all day! They keep saying strange stuff at me, alright?”
“Mares?”
>You then feel a strange tingling on your back.
>You turn around, to see five mares staring at you and Christie.
>”Oh god, there’s five of them now!”
“Let’s just… get out of here.”
>You push Chrysalis into her tracks, and she runs with you into a nearby alley.
>As if by cue, the five mares run as well.
>You glance back to see six mares behind you.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Who did you piss off now?”
>”No one! Well, there was this stallion…”
>You can’t help smiling.
“Don’t ever change, Christie.”
>”I don’t plan on it.”
>You turn again to the mares, and your mouth hangs open.
>Their colorful form melts away, and you see six sickly creatures against you.
>They look like-
>You turn to your friend.
>Chrysalis?
“Christie.”
>”Saw it!”
>One of the changelings finally speaks up.
>”Halt!”
>Funnily enough, the two of you comply.
>”Who are you, what do you want?”
>Another steps up.
>Actually, they do look like Christie, but something is off.
>Five of them are way shorter, almost normal pony-sized.
>Only one looked JUST LIKE Chrysalis.
>The tallest one steps out; you can smell the pride from here.
>”We got wind of a new queen emerging here, and look what we have here.”
>You turn to Christie.
“Christie?”
>The other changeling laughs.
>”Christie? Is that some pet name he’s giving you?”
>Chrysalis steps up.
>Oh she mad.
>”Is that an insult?”
>You back away slowly.
>Chrysalis turns into her original form, glancing angrily at the offending changeling.
>To be honest, they do look alike.
>Just their iris and mane is differently colored.
>The other one also has a much more angled head, giving a more masculine feeling.
“What do you want?”
>”Me? Want? No.”
>She blinks once.
>”I COMMAND.”
>”Idiots, by the looks of it.” Chrysalis drops a comment.
>She points at the lesser changelings, who look strangely dazed.
”Are they alright?”
>The Chysalis-look-alike glance back and forth, looking worried.
>”Interesting, looks like your pheromones are quite strong as well.”
>“Somep0ny translate.” Chrysalis looks uninterested.
>”When SHE fully developed, she is ready to become a queen, human.”
>You turn to Chrysalis.
>She makes small circles next to her head.
>Yeah, I think she’s nuts too.
>”Pheromones, eh?” Chrysalis steps up.
>”Then how come you’re unaffected?”
>The doppelganger facepalms.
>”Because I’m also a queen, you twat.”
>Are they family? That would explain so much.
>”And?” Chrysalis shoots a disdaining glare.
>The other ‘queen’ draws out a dagger.
>”I’m going to have to kill you.”
>A changeling whispers something to her, and she grins manically.
>”And the human, just for kicks.”
“Oh come on.”
>Chrysalis turns to you, smiling.
>”Let’s see if they can catch us.”
>And with that, the two of you are away.
>You race through the alleys, occasionally splitting with Chrysalis.
>After years of work, this was almost too easy.
>You knew the paths, in and out.
>They didn’t.
>Soon enough, you lost all of the little changelings.
>Only the contending queen is behind the two of you, still holding her dagger.
>She was a lousy shot with her magic.
>Chrysalis done better- and she was drunk that time.
>”Come back here, human!” She calls.
>Wait, why you?
>You’re not a changeling as far as you can tell.
>Or, are you?
>You just loved internal monologues, didn’t you?
>Chrysalis slides out of view, and you find yourself back at the market.
>You try to crouch and blend with the ponies, but more you do it, more attention you gather.
>The changeling was already half way through the crowd.
>You could see the anger and determination in her eyes.
>And then, shit goes to hell.
>”Pickpocket!” Some jackass calls to you.
>Everyone backs off.
>The changeling smiles, and licks her lips.
>She changes to a human, still with her knife.
>Ponies are now blocking your path and exit, due to their frightened state of having a pickpocket.
>You are starting to panic, she’s getting closer.
>And closer.
>”Anon!” You hear a familiar voice.
>The changeling is now on a full-on sprint, dagger aimed at you.
>Was it Chrys?
>No, it was not her-
>The changeling stepped up to you, as did another person.
>”Time to end this.”
>”There you are, son!”
>The rest is a blur.
>Mom comes up to you, right in front of you, with a worried expression.
>She gives you a shake, not because of she’s angry.
>But because of that red stream of liquid behind her, and the shocked changeling far beyond that.
>You mother’s expression goes wide, and she slowly falls to her knees.
>And then, the crowd started to scream.
>The ponies quickly move out of the area, as you stared at your mother’s dying form.
>She’s holding your ankles, for her dear life.
>You quietly lean down, spotting the knife plunged to her back.
>You are at a loss of words.
>Mother goes limp, going silent.
>You start to shutter, glancing at the changeling and the knife.
>She then grins at you, and runs off.
>You kneel and hold your mother one last time.
“I’m sorry mom, I’m so sorry…”
>You keep on muttering.
>Soon, you see a figure emerge from one of the alleys.
>It’s Christie.
>She has a smug expression, but that goes away when she spots you.
>Wasn’t hard, the bazaar is empty now.
>”Anon…” She crouches next to you, and touches your mother.
>”She’s gone, Anon.”
“No, no no no no, she’s still here, Christie, right here.”
>Christie pats your shoulder.
>”I’m sorry Anon.”
>Your tears break out at this point, and you find yourself burying your head in Christie’s shoulders.
>She holds you for a while.
>And then, she feels a spark of emotion.
>Something burns up within you, as you clutch the knife which was once buried in your mother.
>Chrysalis has to back away; it burned her.
 
“Let’s go visit someone.”