Chapter 1: Future Of A Shattered Past
Cadance trudged down the sludge that made up the road of the mountainside. She had been traveling downhill for several miles previously, but now up was her new destination in her blisteringly-cold surroundings. But the princess continued onwards, ignoring the numb chill of the snow peppering her cheek or the tiredness slowing down her movements.
She had been trekking this mountain for so long she had already lost count of the days. But she made do with her journey the best she could. Not the best of condition for a royal princess, Cadance toughed it out in the woods with only nature as her companion for many a day for one specific purpose. That purpose being revealed when she finally reached her destination.
Or at least she hoped, before the approaching blizzard hit her. She paused, only briefly, to adjust the hood of her cloak against the winds that bit through the thick layers of clothing she wore, and even penetrated the small magical incantation she had etched into the cloth to ward off the chill of the hearty northern lands. She thought she knew cold from the years spent at the Crystal Empire, yet nothing had prepared her for this.
The princess clutched her hands tightly to her chest, flexing them inside their heavy rawhide gloves. She paused, feeling a distinct weight on her left hand’s ring finger. That was enough to spurn her onward against the biting winds and damp snow. Her muscles ached from the days of strenuous travel, and her stomach pleaded with her to pause and conjure some food to consume. She ignored these aches—the pain resting inside her heart made everything else seem trival.
Looking up to the heavens, the distant view of the top of a mountain could be seen. The image would probably be seared into her memory forever from all the times she’s seen it. But thankfully her destination wasn’t at the top of the imposing climb. Just at the base, which she was fast approaching to. Finally she’d be able to put things to rest. Whether she could move on was still up in the open.
After a few hours of hasty maneuvering, climbing over small hills and jumping over ditches and deep cracks in the earth, she could finally spot what she’d been traveling so long to find. It may have taken years of bribes to figure out, countless weeks traveling this mountain range and more effort one would think would spend into an operation like this, Cadance found the cave entrance. The entrance to the one person that could soothe her troubles at this point.
And just in time too—the snow had begun coming down heavier, nearly blinding her past a few feet. She made her way to the mouth of the cave, pausing for only a moment, before entering. She took a few steps inside, clenching and unclenching her mouth and hands to summon feeling back into them as she took stock of the cavern she stood in.
Even from here, she could tell the cavern housed riches. Gems, several larger than her torso, jutted up from the ground like garish teeth. Some were of the most precious of stones that sparkled with a mineral majesty as she walked past them while she watched as their reflective surfaces changed and altered her appearance with every steady, sure step she took deeper into the cave.
Spike would have a field day in here, she thought. The brief memories of the man with dragon blood coursing through his veins enough to make her smile, a thin, grim expression that once came so easily and so constantly to her. Odds were he was making rounds and patrolling the capital from the sky right this very moment, unless one of his children needed something done—his late wife had made him into a bleeding heart for their kids, when it was all said and done.
Cadance frowned at the thought of children, increasing her pace through the cavern. She gave a gentle gesture with her hand, as if playing a harp. A small flame, barely the width of her palm, sputtered to life, levitating in the palm of her hand and providing a source of illumination inside the cavern. While her own child had grown to a fine, strapping family man, he couldn’t understand why she had to do this. Why she had to know.
In a way, Cadance didn’t know either. All she knew was that she had a crazy, desperate feeling that had taken many of the joys out of her life.
Finally in a warmer part of the cavern, she pulled her hood back and gave a small shake of her head, letting her violet, rose, and gold-streaked hair cascade over her shoulders. She then tilted her palm, dropping the small ball of fire free from her hand. It levitated in front of her at waist height, giving the light she needed to remove her gloves and look over her delicate hands, checking the ring she wore with borderline paranoia—Shining had laughed at her countless times over fretting about the ring, but she was always so nervous she’d lose it.
On seeing the golden band was still where it needed to be, she limply held her hands to either side. A small aura encircled her feet, changing the sturdy leather boots and greeves she wore into golden heels and nylon leggings that climbed all the way up to her thighs. The aura continued rising up her body, changing her pants and traveler’s belt into a billowing skirt, which quickly rolled down her body. The spell marched on, altering her clothes until she found herself in her traditional royal ensemble—a form-fitting cloth of pink that clung tightly to her wide, child-bearing hips. The royal garments were much more comfortable than any other clothing she could wear. She ran a finger over the hard, gold-colored steel resting on her collarbone—the only faux piece of gold on her.
It was a piece of armor her aunt had worn at some point in her long, long life, and while worthless for protection on its own, it was still a token of Celestia that Cadance was proud to bear, despite its lack of function.
Speaking of lack of function… She gave a snap of her fingers. In the blink of an eye, a small, three-pronged crown appeared in her palm, briefly surrounded by the pinkish glow of her magic. The aura disappeared as she clasped the object tightly in her hand, then donned her crown. It wasn’t her favorite thing to wear, by any means, but she knew how important it was to look the part. Especially when asking a favor.
Cadance reached forward, grasping the small ball of flame with her magic and levitating it directly above her palm. She continued on, exploring the cavern cautiously, as if every step forward could be a trap. Cadance paused, hearing the sound of running water from up ahead. She ducked into a shoulder-high passage that led farther inside. After a few steps through a narrow tunnel she came out into the other side, where she was greeted by a massive room, easily the size of an amphitheatre. Up hundreds of feet in the air, she could see a faint glimmer of light, where the ceiling let small tufts of snow slowly drift and sprawled lazily down to the ground littered with stalagmites. Only a few feet to her left was a steep, direct drop into deep water, its rippling surface black, frigid, and impossibly deep. Cadance stared hard at the water, some aspect of it disarmingly strange to her. Giving up on trying to understand what made alarms ring in her head, she made her way around the jutting rock, her fingers tapping along the surface of her fire incantation.
A small plop came from down deep in the water; Cadance snapped around, her hand clutching the fireball tightly, and her free hand conjuring a hard, rose-colored beam of energy. She took a few cautious steps forward to the edge of the ground and stared once more at the water.
She could see a rippling ring fighting against the tides of the current, as if a large fish had briefly came out, bursting free of the water for a fleeting moment before going back into its cold home. After a moment of tense, foreboding silence, she let out a breath, but just as she was about to dispel her magic, it happened.
From the water emerged a creature’s head, its shape reminding Cadance of a large toad, with bugged-out eyes and a wide, soft face. It gave a curious stare at her before letting out a small, questioning warble. Another plop came, further upstream. The princess glanced over, where another frog-creature treaded water, this one showcasing some of its grey torso. She couldn’t help but shiver in disgust at the wart-covered body.
Cadance heard a small scuffle up ahead, and she turned to see one of the creatures was standing, partially hidden by a stalagmite. It peeked around the object, drooling while clutching at the stone. Small flecks of spittle rolled down its fat chops and landed on the ground, leaving a small puff of smoke on contact with the rock. It took a hobbling half-step towards her direction, then rose, coming to about her shoulder blade in height. Letting out a grumble, it then sharply barked—once, twice, three times, when Cadance heard dozens of barks from the water in kind.
She swore, the harsh word uneven and foreign coming from her mouth. She thrust her hand forward, propelling the fireball free and blasting the creature directly in the chest. An unearthly shriek filled the air as the beast fell onto its back, writhing and pawing desperately at the injury before slumping down, dead.
Cadance quickly gestured once more, as if twisting a door open, and she felt a tingle form at the tips of her fingers, not unlike the very start of a hand falling asleep. She quickly pushed forward, going farther away from the water and mentally conjuring her heels once more into sturdy boots, and the rest of her ensemble followed suit, becoming form-fitting leather armor and breeches. She heard the sound of the creatures breaking water, and a sickly thwock as their sticky palms connected with the vertical walls and they began climbing up towards her in a swarm.
She pressed forward just as the creatures crowned the plateau’s edge and scrambled to their feet, then charged in one fluid motion, barking loudly as they sprinted on all fours towards her. She threw her palm out once again; bolts of electricity flew from her fingertips, blowing through several of them and filling the room with a smoky, charred scent that made Cadance gag even with everything else happening to her. Still, even then, more climbed from the water and surged towards her, so she turned and sprinted farther into the cave, the creatures not only on her feet, but gaining at that. In the distance she saw a steep upward pathway; at the apex of the pathway, she could just make out what seemed to be a rope-lined switchback leading further up. It was the only way she saw out of here, so now her life depended on making it.
A creature shot out a long, barb-coated tongue; it punctured through her greeve, nicking the bare leg underneath. Cadance tripped and fell, landing hard on the ground. She swung behind her blindly with the blade she made from concentrated magic, striking true and lopping off the creatures tongue in a devisive strike. It collapsed, gargling and choking, as blood pooled into its mouth. Cadance struggled to her knees and crawled forward, rising to a hunch just as one of the toadmen pounced on her back. Sshe twisted as she fell, landing on top of the creature and elbowing it, slamming its head against the ground. Another came and pounced on her chest, screaming into her face. Cadance watched as flecks of spittle landed on her chestpiece, eating at the leather.
With one desperate, violent gesture, she shoved forward, channeling magic into the blow. It propelled the creature that had jumped on her high into the air. It spun futilely and came down, landing directly on a stalagmite, impaling itself. The one she laid on top of didn’t fare any better—it turned to a disgusting soup from the blastback of the propulsion spell. She scrambled backwards in a crab-walk, over twenty of the creatures still running at her. Just before another pounced, she made a triangle shape with her index fingers and thumbs. A rose-colored sphere surrounded her. As soon as a creature touched the magic, it bounced back weakly. The creatures circled her, beating at all directions of the sphere, trying to find some sort of weakness in it.
Sweat pooled over the princess’s body, the advanced spell already taking its toll on her. Her jaw clenched tight, cramping her face as her pupils became pinpricks and her whites bloodshot. Her arms and legs first twitched, then took to trembling with every blow the creatures swarming her made against the shield. She had not even minutes, but seconds before her power would fade and she would be finished.
Gleaming… I’m sorry. Your mother was a fool.
She clenched her eyes shut, letting out a weak, choked sob as her shield flickered and lost some of its rose-hued vibrancy.
Shining… I’ll be with you soon.
But her dashed hopes of reuniting with her husband were cut short by the appearance of an inferno before her shield. The bright green flames turned the toadmen to ash, their screams barely being let out before they burned to a crisp. The fiery attack of magic lasted but a few moments longer, only to die out and dissipate in an instant, leaving scorch marks on the ground.
“You know, it’s dangerous to enter these caves unprepared,” a voice spoke from the shadows, green eyes glowing in the darkness.
Cadance looked over at the shadowy figure, her vision swimming from exhausting her magic. She mouthed a small word and tried to numbly rise, only to collapse on the ground, her vision dimming and the noises of approaching footsteps growing distant and muted.
“Oh dear…”
The princess let out a gasp, snapping her eyes open and twitching reflexively, her hands clenching into fists. Before she could rise or struggle up to her feet, she paused in confusion at where she lay, and the thick wolfskin blanket covering her.
“You’re welcome,” that same voice from before spoke behind her.
“What?” Cadance muttered, blinking her eyes to get a better look at her surroundings. High stone ceiling, a small bit before her with a blazing fire, and various tools and pans scattered around her. Her best guess was that she was in a camp of some sort.
“Just saying it now before you thank me later,” the voice said, clearly feminine and smug. “You know, what with the saving you from monsters and dragging your sorry hide to my home and all. And using my bed as well.”
“Where am I?” Cadance asked, laying a hand on her forehead.
“I just said it: my home.” The person behind moved about, the clinking and clanking of pans clearly heard. “Just a lonely hole in this mountain, but it makes do for me.”
Cadance weakly rose to a sit, glancing down at her hands. “I can say I expected something different,” she admitted. “Considering…”
“Considering…?” she encouraged.
“Considering the circumstances regarding the last time we met,” Cadance explained. She rose, stumbling as she walked to the fire and sat by it, frowning slightly at the dirt on her dress, then glancing towards the voice. “I assumed there would be more of your kind here. Patrolling, scouting, watching. Yet here you are, without even another to guard your name.”
“Well, let’s just say after the failure that resulted in us meeting up before… a change of leadership played out,” the voice said dejectedly, followed by a sigh. “Reason why I’m here in the first place. Exiled to the one place they could tolerate me being. Not the grandest living, but it is one. Better than straight up execution is what I say.”
“I’m so—” She paused, shutting her mouth. A part of her felt that even this wasn’t enough. The woman had imprisoned her, and had plotted to overtake the country. If anything, she should have suffered worse, especially considering what she tried to do to Cadance’s husband. Yet a small splinter of herself knew how long, how painfully long back those years were. She stared hard into the fire, resting her forearms on her knees. “We all have to play with the cards we’re dealt. Nothing changes that.”
“Yet you were given a royal flush,” the voice mocked, an oh-so-familiar laugh following it. “And me? I got a crummy pair of twos.”
“I never said it was fair.”
“No, it isn’t,” she replied back bitterly. “It wasn’t fair for me at all to be defeated like that. But for you? You got a brand new empire with hubby to rule in. How’s that for fair?”
“I never invaded a peace-loving country and did horrific, manipulative actions like you. I’d say that evens the playing field.” Cadance bit at her lip, shuffling a bit. “But I don’t want to rekindle those thoughts between us. It’s been almost a century. I have no interest in retribution, or anything like that.”
“Then why are you here?” she asked. “Why else enter my domain and risk your life?”
Swallowing, she grimly smiled. “During my travels I asked myself the same question. The only answer I came up with during the long nights and longer days is closure.”
“For what?” the voice asked, her voice irritable.
“Join me by the fire, changeling queen,” Cadance said. “I wish to see you in the light.”
A huff followed this statement, and soon Chrysalis made her way to the light of the fire.
The years had treated her well. She stood, a few inches shorter than Cadance, with green, stringy hair that sank down to her thighs. As she observed the royalty before her, she brushed one of her bangs behind her delicate face and trailed a hand down her tanned neckline, briefly running down the cleavage that was oversized for her narrow figure, and finally coming to a rest at the waistline of her airy dress adorned in dozens of green shades.
Taking a seat far enough away from her by the fire, Chrysalis parted a lock of green hair from her face and scowled. “Listen, if this is about me and Shining that time he was under my control, nothing happened. You don’t have to worry about that.”
Cadance paused, surprised at the other’s forward approach. She stared evenly at Chrysalis, unblinking. “There was a time when I didn’t think I could trust your word. My younger self would be furious at me now, I feel, yet…” She adjusted herself to where she sat cross-legged on the floor. “You swear to me?”
“Yeah. I may have wanted your kingdom, but your husband did not interest me.” Chrysalis’ cheeks brightened red for a brief moment. “Though I had my thoughts, I did not act upon them. Does that satisfy you?”
The princess clenched tightly at her dress, exhaling evenally. She felt tears sting at the corners of her eyes. I’m sorry I ever doubted you, my love, she thought, barely keeping her composure. She finally grit her teeth and nodded quickly.
“I believe you. Thank you, Chrysalis. I mean it from the deepest part of my heart.”
“Though I did make him do some embarrassing acts, if that puts your heart more at ease,” Chrysalis said, a small smile on her face. “Dress up like a maid, clean the house, do the dishes while blindfolded. Was a great deal of fun.”
She should have been furious at the admittance, but the years had dulled the anger away. Instead, she pictured her Shining in a costume like that and felt the first genuine smile cross her face in what felt like a millennia. “I can only imagine!” she replied with a small laugh, the noise foreign and horse. “All that muscle underneath frills. It must of been quite a sight!” Her expression faded after a moment. “I can say I never had the courage to ask him to do something that silly. There are times when I wonder all that I missed with him…” She grew aware of the woman once more and explained herself. “He passed on a few years ago.”
“Oh…” Chrysalis coughed into her hand, eyes moving across her small abode everywhere except on Cadance. “I’m sorry about that. I truly am. Shining was a good man.”
“He was,” she agreed. “I’ve yet to see another even come close to him.” Cadance’s next words were out of her mouth before she could even think. “You’ve changed.”
“Well, so have you,” Chrysalis noted, nodding her head. “It’s been near a century. Of course one would differ from what they once were. Though for you, it is less an improvement, and more a…” Chrysalis tapped her chin in thought. “Sadness?”
“I suppose it is,” she quietly agreed. It seemed strange, confiding in a woman who should be a bitter enemy. Yet… “Chrysalis, I have no concept of your culture or life, but have you ever had someone precious to you?”
“Well…” Chrysalis looked towards the flames, bringing her legs up closer together. “Not really. The life of a queen meant distancing myself from relationships so I wouldn’t be betrayed. I was more of a user of suitors than one who cared for them. Then there was the entire love sucking aspect of any relationship I form. So truthfully, no, there hasn’t been really anyone in my life who I’ve truly cared about.”
“It’s hard describing it to you, then,” Cadance said, trailing a finger over the stone she sat upon. “He gave me a sort of… completeness. As if he was the second part to myself. The years I had with him were the best I’ve ever lived. He gave me everything he had, and we were blessed with a child together. It’s—” A strangled choke passed her lips. “I know he lived a long life, especially for a magic user. It’s selfish, but…” This time the tears flowed freely from her eyes as her hands balled into fists. “I wanted more. Now he’s gone and I don’t even know how many years I have to be alone. I have my aunts, but it’s just not…” She sniffed hard, wiping angrily at her eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t burden you with this. I’m sure you have no interest in my life.”
“No… no, I do care,” Chrysalis said, scooting closer to Cadance but still keeping a respectable distance. “Shining was a good man. The best I have ever seen in my life. His love for you was so pure and great that originally I didn’t know if I could even control it. He truly did care for you unconditionally.” Chrysalis reached out with a hand to lay it down on Cadance’s knee. “Never had I witnessed such beauty that was true love. And to know that love is snuffed out by his death… It saddens me, Cadance. It really does. For your sake and the death of a man I admired greatly and was…” Chrysalis gulped, turning her head away to hide her blush. “Slightly envious I could never have.”
Cadance rested her hand on top of Chrysalis. “Thank you for your words. I mean that, Chrysalis.” She looked once more into the changeling's eyes. “You’ve become a good woman. I want you to know that. And I’m glad there’s someone still in this world that remembers him as vividly as myself.” Wiping at her nose, she squeezed the woman’s hand. “Chrysalis…”
“There is still the reason for you being here,” Chrysalis reminded her, returning Cadance’s gaze with one as intense of her own. “What do you need so badly you’d risk life and limb just to meet with me?”
“I’ve heard that changelings have an eidetic memory for forms they adapt and view. Is this true?”
Chrysalis shrugged. “Well, yes… but it depends. Mostly on how skilled the changeling is, and how long they knew the host they’d be transforming into.”
“Then I have a request of you, changeling queen. If you’d be willing to humor someone as foolish as myself.” Cadance brought her right hand to her left and briefly wrapped a finger around the wedding ring she wore. “I want to see him again. Please,” she practically begged, taking Chrysalis’ hands into her own. “I just need this, once more. Whatever it takes, it’s yours.”
“That… is a pretty simple request, actually,” Chrysalis said, staring down at Cadance’s hands desperately gripping her own. “But do you really want such a thing? The ghosts of your past, especially his, to haunt you now? You might think it could bring closure, but instead it could bring more heartache for one person to bear.”
She winced, but nodded after only a brief pause. “It’s the only thing I can think of to stop the dreams I have of him. To stop the memories that poison my heart—I’m desperate for anything to help me end my loneliness. At this point, I don’t think it can hurt me.”
Chrysalis sighed again, this time deep with a tinge of something else lost in her breath. “So be it. I will try to the best of my abilities. For you.”
Closing her eyes, Chrysalis took in a great gulp of air, sucking it into her lungs as she stood still with her hands continuing to hold onto Cadance’s. Then, with a release of the breath, came the change. Like a green mist falling upon her, the changeling’s entire form changed. Her green hair soon shortened out to dark and light-blue stripes that spiked at the ends. The face of a beautiful woman was exchanged for that of a handsome face of a young man with chiseled features and a hard jawline. This soon spread to result in longer shoulders, a more buff and masculine body, along with the appropriate royal clothes as well. Cadance couldn’t help but notice that at the end of the transformation, her Shining, the one she married on the day of her wedding, was before her.
Opening his–or more truthfully, her eyes, Shining looked to her and smiled faintly. A smile she had once thought she would only see in her memories. “So… is this okay?” Shining asked, giving Cadance’s hands a slight squeeze.
“Yes,” she choked out. With a shaking, nervous hand, she took to Shining’s face, resting it against his cheek. Cadance’s eyes watered as she reached up and brushed some of the bangs away from his forehead. “Exactly l-like I remember him.”
“I try my best,” Shining chuckled, reaching out to touch her hand against his cheek. “I just hope you don’t mind I chose this outfit. It was the only one I could recall that really made him… dashing, I guess the appropriate word to use.”
She trailed her hands down to the neckline and gave a crooked, little half-smile as she played with the cloth adorning his collar. “I never understood the ascott myself, but he insisted on it.”
“So, what now?” Shining asked her, staring deep into her eyes. “What did you need to say? Something you never got to during when I was alive? What was it?”
“That I’m sorry for ever doubting you, dear,” she whispered. “I know you never held my fears against me, and for that, I’m grateful. Shining…” Cadance leaned forward, smelling the cologne he always used, and running over the small rough patch of stubble he always seemed to miss in the mornings. “You completed me.” She brought herself closer still to his face, resting against his forehead with her own. “Thank you.”
She brought her lips to his, clashing against them blindly, desperately as she unashamedly wept once more. Cadance grasped the back of his head, gripping and squeezing his hair as she lost herself in the moment, lost herself in the memories of the countless years of marriage. The joys, the losses, and everything between. Her other hand trailed south, daintily touching the hard muscles of his pecs, then down to his abdomen, then finally at his member. Briefly putting a hand on it through the fabric, she paused, surprised it remained flaccid.
Just when she was about to ask what was wrong, her actions came to her; she jerked away, nearly landing on her back.
“Chrysalis,” she spoke, her eyes panicked. “I-I’m sorry. I just… he was…”
“No, don’t be,” Shining said, his face flustered in that embarrassed way she knew all too well. “I just wasn’t ready. Male bodies can be bothersome to use sometimes. We can…” Shining stared down at the area she had just touched. “We can still do that, if you want.”
“No,” Cadance quickly said. “It’s not, no. I don’t want that. Not like this. I just got caught in the moment.” She sighed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a woman’s pleasure. Seeing him, no, seeing you changed into him just made me lose myself for a moment.”
“For whatever time you had to wait, I’ve had to wait longer.” Shining scooted up closer, reaching out with a hand to grasp Cadance’s arm in his loving grip. “I can be just like him, you know. It doesn’t have to be about love or anything else. I know how much you miss him, especially certain parts of him. Certain parts I can substitute.”
“You can make a form of him. I don’t want a form, Chrysalis. I don’t want to be held in your arms while you’re trying to be something you can’t be.” She looked up at him—at her, she corrected. “It doesn’t have to be about love, but I want it to be just that. I wish you could understand.”
“Oh, I understand alright,” Shining said with a scowl, scoffing at her excuses. “You just can’t let the past go. How can you ever expect to move on with your life when all thoughts just return back to Shining? And even with the opportunity to be with the best thing that can compare to him, you turn away. Are you just afraid of being happy again, Cadance? Of falling in love without Shining? Because unless you can move on with your life, his death will mean yours as well. And I’m pretty sure you know he wouldn’t want that for you, would he?”
As much as she wanted to argue, scream, swear at the changeling that she was lying, Cadance knew, deep down, one simple truth.
Shining would want her to love again.
“I-I don’t know if I can,” she said, gazing away from the imposter. “You don’t understand what it’s like to be like this. Am I afraid? Maybe in a way I am. Is that so wrong?” This time she was able to ignore the hitch in her chest. “But I know that I just… can’t.” She took Shining’s hands. “Turn back, Chrysalis.”
With an erant glow of magic Chrysalis returned to her original form, though her beauty was ruined by a tragic frown playing out on her face. “Cadance…”
“I’m sorry, Chrysalis. I just couldn’t bear to see you as him a moment longer. Maybe you were right; it stirred up things perhaps best forgotten.” The princess looked down at their hands with a troubled frown.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she replied, turning and mechanically going back to work over several pans. Cadance could smell the distinct scent of meat and her stomach let out a growl of frustration, reminding her of not only the skipped meals, but the bland tasteless ones she had brought forth with magic on her journey north.
“I hope you’re prepared to stay for a bit,” Chrysalis spoke up, leaning over a pot and sipping at the stock. “The blizzard that hit is bound to keep you here for some days.”
“I’ll be fine,” Cadance dismissed quickly.
“Very well.” She gestured, pointing past her but not looking up from her work. “If you’re in need of a wash, there’s a waterfall I use. Heated magically, so it should be a good way to get rid of a chill too. I also have some spare skins for a bed.”
Cadance nodded, watching Chrysalis focus on the pot before her for a long, drawn out moment. Finally, she morosely spoke once more. “Chrysalis…”
“Save it,” Chrysalis replied, hiding her face from Cadance’s gaze as she stared down at her pot. “What happened happened. Let’s just… move on, okay?”
Not knowing how to reply to that, Cadance nodded, got up, and departed for the side tunnel Chrysalis had pointed to. Walking down its dark corridors, the darkness soon gave way to light from the luminous crystals littering the path. Following them, Cadance soon heard the crashing of water against rock, followed by the smell of fresh water.
Finally, she entered a cavern of impressive size. The roof reached several yards high into the air, the glowing crystals shedding plenty of light to allow one to see the majestic waterfall falling down below. From where the waterfall fell there was crated a river, which flowed down another pathway into the cave systems. Cadance’s best guess was that the flow of fresh water was from the ice of the mountains melting in the hotter temperatures of the cave.
She took off a glove and put a hand in the water. Perfect. Another smile crossed her face. It had been ages since she had a bath due to her travels. Having one in such a beautiful place was grand.
Taking off her other glove and placing them alongside her crown by the water’s edge, she proceeded to strip, removing her shoes, and taking out first one arm, then the other from her dresses’ sleeves. She shimmied the royal dress she wore down her body, exposing her full breasts, then her taut, thin stomach, and finally past her lusciously wide hips. She bent down and tossed the dress by her shoes, then paused, hesitating only a moment before removing her ring and placing it delicately on top of the dress. She stretched for a moment, glad to be free from the clothing and stepped forward, marching into the water until she stood at the center of the river, the gently-moving stream lapping at her nipples, causing them to involuntarily pucker.
She shut her eyes, leaning back and floating as the water washed away the tightness of her muscles and some of the worries of her mind.
Gods, how long has it been since I’ve had a bath like this? she pondered. If she had some soap and shampoo, Cadance would even say it was better than the royal bath house. She ran a hand through her hair and dove, sinking to the bottom and letting an inward moan of contentment go through her mind before rising above the surface again, taking in a deep breath and letting it out once more, feeling reborn as she moved a bit closer to the shore and sat on a flat rock, keeping only her head above the water.
“Mind if I join you?” Chrysalis asked behind her, Cadance nearly jumping out of her skin from her sudden intrusion.
“What are you–” Cadance’s mouth snapped shut when she turned around. Chrysalis was completely naked, just like her, precipitation from the falls dampening her form, clinging her dark, green hair in tight strands and obscuring her breasts underneath the wavy silk. Yet she had no modesty about her body, her flower remained exposed, not covered in the slightest by a hand or otherwise. She took a few steps forward, submerging herself waist-high in the water and brushing her hair back, exposing her brown nipples to Cadance.
“Bathing, obviously,” she answered, then nodded towards the shore, where a small bar of soap sat next to Cadance’s clothing. “Plus, you forgot something.”
“O-oh,” she stammered out, glancing away from Chrysalis. “I see. Thank you.”
“Mmm,” she grunted, cupping water and then bringing it up to trickle down her face. It ran down her body, trailing over her collarbone, around and between her massive, swollen breasts, and over her toned stomach. Chrysalis looked downward at Cadance and arched a brow. “Need something?”
“No. I’m simply…” She gestured blindly towards the changeling with a hand, glancing towards the ceiling to protect the others decency. “Not used to bathing with others, I guess.”
“Huh. Guess the royals in your kingdom are more privy than mine.” Chrysalis shrugged, running a hand through her moist hair. “Changelings have large bathhouses where we bathe in, so you get used to washing with others.”
“Some of the other towns under Celestia’s jurisdiction house such places,” Cadance agreed, glancing towards the woman she was talking to out of habit, then quickly looking down at her hands. “However, the capitol and Crystal Kingdom are more… modest, if you will.” She pursed her lips into a small smile. “I can hardly imagine you in a bathhouse like you were the years before. They had to have feared you.”
“Yeah, well, they had other things on their mind while bathing with me other than fear,” Chrysalis said with a small smile on her lips. Lifting up her soap bar, she asked, “So, are you going to soap up, or just float there?”
“I suppose I’d better,” she agreed, rising and turning towards her clothes. “Though the water’s nice enough I was about to fall asleep.” She walked across the stones and squatted down, picking up the bar and once more entering the water. Cadance quickly lathered her hands and ran them through her hair, before taking the bar and rubbing it over her neck, then her collarbone. She paused, glancing over at Chrysalis, then blushed self-consciously, lathering her hands and rubbing over her full, rounded breasts, then underneath the heavy mounds.
“So,” she started, gazing down at her work and trying her best to fight through the embarrassment of bathing in front of another. “What prompted a bath from you now?”
“It’s been about three days since I last bathed, and it’s a pain running this spell twice to heat the water up,” Chrysalis replied, running her soap bar up and down her fine, curvaceous hips. “So I thought might as well as do it now.”
“That makes sense,” she replied. “Don’t you worry about those… creatures that attacked earlier?”
“They never come up the falls, and I have several wards ready to fry them if they ever do decide to. One of those wards warned me that you were here. If not, you surely would’ve died under their attack.” Chrysalis smiled a bit smugly now. “Also, I never did get a real, proper ‘thanks’ for that…”
“I suppose you didn’t.” Cadance this time stared at the woman before her, her manners overriding the self-consciousness she was feeling at the moment. She deeply bowed, ignoring how silly it must look to do in the buff. “Chrysalis of the changelings, I, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, thank you for saving my life. Any favor you see fit, simply ask and it is yours.”
“My, my, quite generous, aren’t we?” Chrysalis chuckled. Shrugging her shoulders, she soaped up her stomach, running the bar up between her cleavage. “I suppose asylum in your country wouldn’t be too much of a favor? Sticking in this cave can be a bit of a bore at times.”
“I cannot speak for Celestia or Luna. However…” She slowly nodded. “I can speak to themregarding asylum. If the spirit of chaos himself has been redeemed, then surely you can be too.”
“Huh, so Discord turned over?” Chrysalis hid a chuckle under her breath, shaking her head slowly. “Wow, that must surely be a sight to see.”
“It is quite the sight. Nearly unlimited cosmic power, and he spends it entertaining children on most days. Celestia herself even performs with him on occasion.” She tiredly smiled, brushing her hair back. “They seem quite happy together, on days like that.”
“Wow… didn’t see that coming either,” Chrysalis said. “Guess anyone, even people so different as them, can be together…”
A brief spark came back to Cadance’s eyes at that. She gave an enthusiastic nod in agreement. “That’s the true strength of love, Chrysalis. It can bring anyone together. It can stop wars, feed the homeless, and unite land under a banner. All it takes is a spark and a realization.”
“Eh… For something so great, it tastes an awful lot like peaches.”
Cadance paused at that. She moved and sat back down on the stone perch she found and looked at Chrysalis questioningly. “What happens to the love you consume?”
“It fuels my magic. I don’t steal it directly, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s mostly the love that’s radiated out from a person. Like heat from the sun.” Chrysalis tapped her chin. “It’s… hard to explain, but whenever I do feed on it, it tastes like peaches. Every time.”
“I see,” Cadance replied. She wasn’t sure if she did enterally, but a bit of it made sense to her. “Then why not simply find a partner for yourself to… harvest from? Why go through the trouble to overtake a kingdom?”
“Because changelings cannot feed on love from one another. And I had an entire nation to feed to fuel their magic. Yours seemed the best to go for on such short notice. Didn’t work out as I originally hoped.” Chrysalis sighed deeply, washing her arm slowly with the soap. “Even if it did, I didn’t know how long it would’ve lasted. It was a dangerous gambit from the start, and I lost.”
Cadance took a few steps forward, coming closer to the woman. “There’s a saying my mother taught me: ‘You’ll earn more in one day begging than you will a lifetime of thievery.’ My aunt would have been willing to help your people. And I’m sure there would be someone interested in your gift.” She rested a hand on the other’s shoulder. “I think we could have been friends, Chrysalis.”
Chrysalis bit her bottom lip, avoiding eye contact with Cadance. Brushing a wet lock of hair from her face, her hand stopped scrubbing herself with the soap. “I just… I… I…” Chrysalis gulped, her eyes shifting side to side. “I never really had… a friend.”
“Oh.” After taking a moment, she took Chrysalis’ hand in her own. “You have one now,” she said. Another pause. “It must be lonely.”
Chrysalis nodded. “You get used to it. Not much different than when I was a queen. At least now no one is around to be afraid of me anymore…”
Cadance’s maternal instincts pushed her still further away from her comfort zone. She reached forward, bringing the shorter woman into a hard, tight embrace against her skin. “Don’t think like that,” she lectured, resting the changeling’s head against her collarbone. “You deserve friends now, Chrysalis. A lover. Some day a family too—not a brood or swarm, but a child. You’ve become something better, believe me.”
A small huff escaped Chrysalis when Cadance embraced her. After the princess was done talking, Chrysalis realized how close they were together. Their breasts were pushed up firmly together, squished and slippery from the water and suds that Chrysalis was covered in. Not to mention Cadance’s face, a beautiful and elegant visage that only one of a princessly nature could have, was only inches away. Chrysalis’ face was fully flustered by the close contact, and by the look of the red appearing on Cadance’s as well, she too noticed how their bodies touched.
Reaching out with a hand, Chrysalis hesitantly touched Cadance’s cheek, just barely brushing her finger on the surface of her skin. “Are you sure, Cadance? That someone out there could possibly love someone like me?”
“All it takes is a spark and a realization,” Cadance replied quietly, a need in her lower stomach heating her entire body as she gazed into the woman’s eyes. “Chrysalis,” she breathed out, her whisper a wispy question.
“Yes?” Chrysalis asked, moving her face so close to Cadance’s that they’re lips were only inches from one another. The roar of the falls behind the pair died out, the two lost in their own world. Hot, steamy, smelling faintly of the mountains and soap, and connection that twisted their stomachs and made their hearts beat to a crescendo. “What do you need?”
“I’m still afraid, of… of this, but…” She moved her hands to the other’s shoulders, then took one down to the small of Chrysalis’ back. “I…” Cadance nervously licked her lips, gazing into her eyes. “I…”
“Just say it already,” Chrysalis said, with a bit of spite backing her words. “If you can’t say it, then do not say it at all.”
“I just want to…” Cadance winced, turning away from Chrysalis’ line of sight. “I just don’t know how to say it.”
“Is something keeping you from saying it?” Chrysalis asked.
“Maybe… yes.”
Chrysalis tilted her head to the side in question. “What does the Princess of the Crystal Empire fear so greatly?”
“Love,” Cadance said, practically spitting out the word.
“But aren’t you the Princess of Love? How can you fear your very nature?”
“Because I…” Cadance took a shuddering breath, opening her eyes to stare back in Chrysalis’. “Because I have not felt love for another since Shining. Because I am afraid of losing that love again. To be alone, helpless… loveless. The very thing that I represent hurts me the most of all. And because of that… I am afraid to love again.”
The two stood silent for a moment, neither speaking or making hardly any sound at all. Then, gently squeezing Cadance’s shoulder, Chrysalis asked, “Were you going to ask me for a kiss?”
“Y-yes,” Cadance replied in shock, her mouth hanging open slightly. “But h-how did you know?”
“Because I want it too,” Chrysalis all but whispered, her warm breath falling on Cadance’s lips and making her skin tingle as she leaned in closer. “Does this… does it mean what I think it does? Do you want to take the risk… with me?”
“I think I want to,” Cadance answered. Inhibitions from before were quickly swept away as a new impulsiveness blossomed in her heart. Cadance leaned forward, meeting the other's lips gently, a butterfly landing on a leaf. Pressing forward, she deepened the kiss, tilting her head to delve deeper into the changeling’s mouth and letting out a small moan of satisfaction. She pulled back after a moment, gauging Chrysalis’ reaction. “How was that?”
Chrysalis licked her lips. “Tastes like peaches.” With a friendly push she submerged Cadance underneath the water, jumping in with her as well. Wrapping her arms around Cadance’s luscious body as they both reached the surface, Chrysalis smiled slyly at her. “I want to taste more, if you don’t mind.”
Cadance smiled tenderly. “And I want more of you.” Her smile briefly faded as she thought for a moment. “I think…” She reached forward, slowly rubbing the tanned woman’s back. “I think this already has helped more than seeing him again.”
Chrysalis’ hands were at work, quickly sliding underwater to grab ahold of Cadance’s sizable ass and giving a cheek a tight squeeze. Her breath came out in short gasps as she realized how long she’s longed for this type of contact. “Love does that?”
“Love does everything,” she whispered, feeling her netherlips becoming tender and desperate. Cadance held the other tightly, kissing her cheek and trailing down the woman’s neckline, then planting a kiss at the other’s chest. While she had never been with another woman before, the princess knew at least what she liked. She reached forward, grasping the other’s breast and lifting the massive mound, its flesh swallowing her fingertips.
“Mmmm,” Chrysalis moaned, just as Cadance started suckling on her nipple. Letting out another moan, Chrysalis started playing with Cadance’s breasts herself, much more skilled in the act of breast-play. Soon enough, her other hand was diving beneath the surface of the water and sought out Cadance’s sex, pushing forward for the prize she so eagerly wanted. Chrysalis’ fingers temperedly played with Cadance’s lower lips, not quite diving into them yet but teasing them instead. “Like that?”
“Yes,” Cadance panted out, her hips twitching in anticipation of her passage being explored. She brushed back a strand of Chrysalis’ hair, her other hand reaching behind to cup the changeling’s full cheek. “Amazing.”
“It’s been so long since I’ve been with another,” Chrysalis whispered, reaching with her fingers fully into Cadance’s tight walls. “I just hope I am adequate.” Inside Cadance Chrysalis’ fingers twirled and widened out her organ, pushing her fingers in deeper and pulling out just as quick in a steady pace. “Since I am not the person you wish I was.”
“D-don’t say that,” Cadance replied, thrusting herself forward to swallow Chrysalis’ fingers deeper still. “I want you as you are.” She cupped Chrysalis’ face and once more kissed the woman, offering her tongue to her and groaning into the changeling’s mouth as the queen continued her stimulation.
Chrysalis returned her kiss full force with her own tongue, the taste of peaches almost addictive as the heat passed through all her body. Her fingers became much more vigorously, digging deep in Cadance’s body and wringing their movement this way and that, pulling her bottom lips apart. As the duo’s kiss deepened, so did Chrysalis’ fingers, to the point Cadance was moaning and panting into Chrysalis’ mouth. Cadance reached down and gave an unsure travel around Chrysalis’ walls with a finger. She plunged into Chrysalis, reaching up with a thumb to rotate the tanned woman’s clitorious and gently pressing down on the button, electing a small shiver from the changeling.
“Beautiful. You’re beautiful,” Cadance said, licking the other’s neck from her collar all the way to her chin. She returned to Chrysalis’ breasts after a pause of indecision, suckling once more at a nipple as her hands worked the other’s walls.
“Oh yes, right there!” Chrysalis begged, working harder on Cadance as the other did the same thing with just as much vigor. “It feels so good… I’m going to cum!”
A familiar tingle felt its way along Cadance’s lower stomach, first a quiet murmur, then building up into a pleasurable volcano as she shivered. She clutched the woman tightly once more, almost squeezing the air out of her as she bit a knuckle and let out a satisfied groan. She climaxed hard, her legs buckling and nearly taking her and Chrysalis down into the river as Cadance became awash in pleasure, her womanhood soaked in water and her own juices and her nipples beady, hard stones on top of her oversized breasts.
Chrysalis fared the same fate of Cadance, although she actually screamed at the top of her lungs when her orgasm wracked her body. The pair supported one another in the water, their groins pleasurably sore from the encounter. Both tried to catch their breath, still riding high on their climaxes.
“Wow,” Chrysalis muttered, resting her chin on Cadance’s shoulder. “That was… amazing. I haven’t been this nicely fucked in years.”
“We didn’t ‘fuck,’” Cadance corrected, the word strange coming from her pretty mouth. She brushed the other’s hair back behind her forehead and gently smiled at her. “We made love.”
“Well, can we make more of it?” Chrysalis asked eagerly, biting her bottom lip in anticipation. “I still feel plenty antsy.”
Cadance quietly laughed. “I’m sated. However…” she blushed, nodding toward the rocks. “Please, sit on the shore.”
Chrysalis complied, reaching the smooth rocks of the shore and sitting down with a wide smile on her face. “What now, princess?”
“I’m…” She floated towards her, her breasts and arms scraping against the water’s edge. “I’m going to try something. Let me know if I’m, uh, doing this right.” She rose a bit, putting her arms against Chrysalis’ thighs and leaning forward towards the changeling’s pearl. She stared briefly at the organ before sticking her tongue out and trailing it along her outer wall, pausing once she ran a lap across the other’s sex. “H-how’s this?”
“Yes, yes… that’s grand,” Chrysalis sighed, her head leaning back as she supported herself on her elbows. “You’re better at this than I’d have thought.”
She looked up, staring past Chrysalis’ heaving breasts and towards her face. “I hope I’ll have more chances to practice.”
Chrysalis smiled, wincing as Cadance swiped her tongue on the lips of her vagina once again. “Me as well. Along with the chance of me practicing on you sometime.”
Cadance gave an expermental roll of Chrysalis’ clitours in her tongue, then suckled at it, lapping her tongue against the protrusion. Chrysalis reached down, pulling at Cadance’s hair as she gasped in pleasure. The princess took it a step further, finally plunging her tongue into Chrysalis’ cavern. The taste was not quite what she expected one to taste like; it was salty, with a sort of musky, albeit pleasurable, aftertaste. She inserted her tongue into the cunt, running along her walls slowly, applying pressure to the woman’s sex.
“Oh yeah, right there!” Chrysalis called out, grabbing the back of Cadance’s head and pushing her face in closer to her groin. “Get me right there! Don’t stop, keep on going! Lick me inside and out!”
The princess blushed, not used to a partner being this vocal with what they liked, but continuing her work diligently, running across Chrysalis’ passage and taking to squeezing the girl’s thighs tightly in her palms as she continued exploring her. She recalled what Shining did to stimulate her sometimes and increased her tempo, alternating her tentative licks and prodes in exchange for lapping at the her sex’s base like a cat drinking milk, her tongue instead collecting her partner’s fluids and relishing in the action. She let one of her hands drift away from Chrysalis’ thighs and took to cupping her own breast, kneading it tightly in her palm, squeezing a nipple in her knuckles as she faithfully served her Queen.
Chrysalis herself was in a bliss-like state of sexual ecstasy that she didn’t want to leave anytime soon. Her tits being played with, coupled with the pleasing lapping of her pussy from Cadance, was a dual act of pleasure that lifted her up to orgasmic levels of enjoyment. Speaking of orgasms, her’s was coming much sooner than she was expecting. “Oh, Cadance, faster!” Chrysalis begged, wrapping her fingers in Cadance’s soggy hair. “Just… ngh… really eat me out now!”
Cadance hummed, pressing further still into the other’s cave. She recalled one last thing Shining would do that she would never admit she loved. Cadance dipped a hand into the water, then took her thumb and put it at Chrysalis’ back entrance. With one hard press into it with her lubricated thumb, it sank in, swallowing the appendage as she continued her work on Chrysalis’ front. She gave a small movement of her hand, flexing the thumb and prodding the changeling’s ass. “Do you like this?” she asked, pausing briefly from her work at front to thrust her thumb in and out her brown eye.
“Oh yes! It’s been so long since I’ve felt such a wonderful touch!” Chrysalis screamed, dual pleasured on both fronts in pure ecstasy.
“I’m glad,” Cadance said, blushing furiously but smiling up at the woman. She moved up, tonguing Chrysalis’ clitorus once more as she stuck her fingers deep into the other’s sex, burying them up to the knuckles as she kept working her thumb in the Chrysalis’ backdoor, pausing for a moment to pull her hand out and tightly hug her pelvis, squeezing Chrysalis’ cheeks tightly in one arm. “I want you to feel good.”
“I do feel good! So good!” Chrysalis patted the back of Cadance’s head, drawing in deep breaths of air as her lower quarters were on fire from lust. She could barely contain herself a moment longer. “I’ve never quite felt this way before. Not even with my best lover when I was queen. What is happening here?”
Cadance rose out of the water on top of the changeling, sensually rubbing her body against Chrysalis’ as she stood, enjoying every brush of her skin against the other’s body. She put the woman’s face against her breast, and once more Cadance put her hand in Chrysalis’ passage. “Because it wasn’t a connection with them,” she whispered, kissing Chrysalis on the forehead. “It’s not about sating our own urges here. It’s about sating the other’s lust. The other’s loneliness...” She leaned down and brushed her lips delicately against the queen’s. “Curing the other’s fears.” With that she dove yet again into Chrysalis’ mouth, taking the hand that was not probing the changeling’s sex and slowly stroking the back of her shoulders instead, brushing down her hair.
Chrysalis’ muffled moans of joy were lost in the sweet, delectable touch of Cadance’s mouth. Her tongue wrestled and danced with her own, moving in tempo with how Cadance’s fingers shifted in Chrysalis’ inner walls. Now was a moment of complete harmony and bliss the likes of which Chrysalis never experienced before. It wasn’t fucking or sex, but lovemaking. Something she had never truly felt before. So great was this love and happiness that leaped from her heart that actual tears fell from her eyes as she finally reached her climax, much more soft spoken and quiet than last time. More of an emotional orgasm than physical, as she laid in Cadance’s arms and hugged her close as she kept on climaxing and weeping. Cadance smiled, completely understanding at the woman’s tears. She moved a finger and brushed it across her cheek.
“It’s alright now. You’re not alone anymore,” Cadance said in a gentle, motherly tone, moving to sit next to Chrysalis and wrapping an arm around her waist. She took her other hand and rested it on Chrysalis’ knee. “Just cry.”
“I just… I just…” Chrysalis sniffed, resting her head on Cadance’s shoulder. “I thought you hated me. After what I did during the invasion… and to you… and to Shining. And here you are, not only forgiving me, but also this. Why? What did I do to deserve this?”
“When it first happened… maybe I did,” Cadance admitted. “It was so long ago that anger is the only emotion I remember regarding you then.” Her hold on the woman tightened as she stared up at the roof of the cave. “But when I traveled here and saw what you lived through and how… how you changed, I could feel nothing but pity and empathy over your situation. As for…” she looked down at their bare bodies, “for this, I think it was something I needed too, Chrysalis. Not a relief from lust, that could of come from my own devices. Rather… I missed the closeness it brought.” She took her hand of Chrysalis’ knee and tucked the woman’s hair behind her ear. “I miss holding someone like this. I miss making others feel good.” She turned, kissing the changeling on the forehead, aware of how their breasts seemed to grind and fit together like gears in a cog. Pulling back with a blush, she let out a sigh of contentment.
“How long do you think the blizzard will last again?” Cadance questioned.
“Probably for about a week or so,” Chrysalis answered, tears no longer falling as she rested comfortably in Cadance’s naked embrace. “Perhaps even longer.”
“Can I stay?” Cadance exhaled. “After, I mean…” She looked at Chrysalis with a nearly pleading expression. “I want to learn about you. It’s early, but think I…” Cadance let the words fall away, instead choosing a different approach. “You’re something amazing that I want to hold on to.”
“Well then…” Chrysalis whispered, snuggling in closer to Cadance as she wrapped her arms around her bare form. “We’ll just have to hope the blizzard lasts even longer for us to get to know one another very well, won’t we?”
“And I…” She blushed, unused to any real flirtation coming from her mouth. “I can think of a fewother things I want to learn about you. And what makes you tick,” she purred, trailing a finger up the changeling’s bare stomach and in-between her breasts, then winked as she lightly grazed the queen’s neck. It was only a moment later that she let out an embarrassed laugh that Chrysalis quickly joined in on.
