Chapters Of Crystals and Chitin
To say that Melody was having an odd week would be the understatement of the millenium. It all started when King Sombra tried to take over the Crystal Empire, and event which ended with the entirety of the Empire to be kicked roughly a thousand years into the future. After that was settled, she caught a cold, keeping her bedridden for three whole days. And now, it seemed, it was only going to get weirder.
She had no idea what to do, she’d never seen anything like this… thing that was unconscious on her sofa. It looked vaguely pony-ish, but instead of fur, it had a hard, black carapace. It was also ghastly thin, and its legs were riddled with holes. It also seemed to have both a jagged horn and thin, gossamer-like wings.
Whatever it was, Melody didn’t get the feeling that it wanted to hurt her, but its appearance discouraged her from relaxing around it. She had no idea how long she stared at it, but she jumped when it rolled over and opened its eyes.
They were light blue, but had no pupils or whites, and Melody couldn’t help but stare at them. For a few moments, they just sat there and stared at one another, neither one breaking the silence. Then it spoke.
“Please, ma’am, don’t freak out, I’ll be going now.” it said in a raspy, monotonous voice and raising its hooves in a conciliatory gesture.
“No, wait. You don’t have to leave.” Melody said, wanting to know more about this strange creature.
“Aren’t you scared of me?” it asked, looking a bit confused. Melody had to admit, the thing was adorable, if more than just a little bit creepy.
“Why would I be afraid of you” I don’t even know what you are.” she said, taking a step closer to it (him?).
“Really? Hasn’t the news gotten around?”
“It’s been a weird couple of days.” she said.
“Well then, as to what I am, I’m a changeling.” it said.
Melody had heard the term before, but she couldn’t really remember where it came from. All she knew for certain is that it was from after the Time Skip. Something about a wedding in Canterlot maybe? She put these thoughts aside, they can wait for later.
“Do you have a name?” she asked.
“Yes. I am called Wolf Spider.”
Of Crystal and Chitin
“Well, Wolf Spider the changeling, it’s nice to meet you. Not to be rude, but would you mind telling me what it is that you’re doing in my home?” she said, wanting to get that question out of the way.
Wolf Spider thought about it. After the fiasco at the wedding, the Hive was literally scattered to the four winds. He vaguely remembered landing in a field of snow, but the trauma from the crash had left holes in his memory of the event itself and its aftermath.
“I don’t know. One minute, I was in Canterlot, the next thing I know, I woke up here.” he left out the reason he was in Canterlot.
”If she doesn’t know already, no need to tell her.” he thought.
“Well, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need to.” she said, finally noticing cracks and dried… something on his carapace that she assumed to be changeling blood.
“That’s not necessary, in fact, I should probably get going.” he said, attempting to get up.
Apparently, his wounds were more severe than he thought. He grimaced as an intense wave of pain overwhelmed his already frayed nerves. He nearly blacked out again from the pain. He knew immediately that he wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.
“No, until your wounds are healed, you’ll stay here in my guest bedroom.” she said forcefully.
At this point, Wolf noticed something. He felt something he hadn’t felt in a long while. This mare, out of the kindness of her heart, had given him permission to stay in her home until he was better, and he could feel a small trickle of compassion from her, something that was close enough to love that changelings could use it as a love substitute. And even though it was small, it was still enough to kickstart the healing process.
“Thank you, ma’am. I’ll be out of your hair in a week or two.” he said.
“Please, call me Melody. Are you hungry?” she asked, feeling her own stomach rumble.
“I could eat.” he said, not wanting to offend her.
But neither did he mention that, as a changeling, eating pony food wouldn’t have any effect on him. He did however, have enough love left over from the Wedding to sustain him for a while. Long enough to heal, he hoped.
“Well then, I’ll be right back. Hope you like celery soup!”
Wolf Spider had no idea if he liked soup or not, in fact, he had never had pony food before of any kind. He decided to take a diagnostic test while he waited. He started flexing his different muscle groups, checking each one for damage. Once he was satisfied there were no lethal injuries there, he began to check over his carapace: it was cracked, scratched, and scarred, as well as being in need of a serious polishing, but still in one piece.
Satisfied that he would survive his physical maladies, he decided to check his ability to transform, immediately switching to the first pony he could think of, Melody. It was at this moment that Melody leaned her head into the room to ask Wolf how he took his tea. When she saw herself sitting on the sofa, she blinked once, twice… and fainted.
“Miss Melody? Can you hear me?” Wolf was about to start panicking.
”I need to leave, when she wakes up, she’s going to freak out. But I can’t just leave her like this. This is not good, not good at all.” he thought to himself, pacing frantically.
It had been about three minutes since she’d passed out and he had moved her to the sofa, but it felt like hours to the changeling. He continued pacing, trying to decide what to do next and continuing to panic and wonder if he should just walk away.
Luckily, Melody answered his question for him. She let out a quiet groan and stirred. She slowly opened her eyes, and Wolf caught himself staring. She was quite attractive: golden-brown translucent coat, long, curly blonde mane (also translucent), dark gray eyes, but Wolf didn’t normally notice things like that. He pushed that thought to the side, and focused on making sure she wasn’t hurt.
“Miss Melody, are you okay?” he asked, still praying she wouldn’t scream.
“Oh, I had the weirdest dream; I came in here to ask you something, but it was me sitting on the couch!” she said.
“That… wasn’t a dream. I, uh, probably should’ve told you, changelings have a very… unique ability. We can change form at will, and I was making sure that I wasn’t badly injured, so I changed to the first pony I thought of, you. In hindsight, probably not the best idea, I’m sorry I startled you.”
Melody gave him a confused look. She didn’t know if he was trying to be funny or not, but didn’t think he’d just lie to her. Still, she was a bit skeptical of his story, so she gave a nervous, little chuckle and smiled.
“You’re kidding.” to which he kept staring at the ground, “Right?” she asked, smile fading.
He sighed, and she she gasped as he was engulfed in green flames. When the unearthly fire dissipated, the stallion that stood there wasn’t Wolf Spider. He stood about a half a head taller, he had a gray coat, dark gray mane, and pale gray, almost white in fact, eyes, and a cutie mark of a trio of musical notes.
“See? We use it to help… blend in to pony society.” he said.
He spoke with an accent that Melody couldn’t place. It had an almost regal quality to it, and it added a sense of wisdom to his words. It was a pleasant effect, one that Melody thought was almost fitting of the stallion standing before her.
“That’s… strange. Wh-who are… you?” she asked, not totally sure how to phrase the question.
“This is nopony. I pieced him together from several ponies. I use him to walk around without being noticed.” he said.
Once again, he was engulfed in fire, and when it dissipated, Wolf was once again standing in front of her. He opened his eyes, and saw Melody thinking things over. He hoped that this little exchange didn’t freak her out too much. He knew that he had to change the subject, otherwise she’d start asking questions, so he said the first thing that came to mind.
“But enough about me, tell me about yourself.”
“Alright, what would you like to know?”
“Just enough so that I know more about you than your name.”
“Alright, but first, I’d like to make that soup.”
Of Crystal and Chitin
Wolf, after consuming two bowlfuls of the stuff, concluded that he did, in fact, quite like celery soup. Melody was just happy that her meager ability to cook seemed to be more than enough for her strange new houseguest.
Also, Wolf had gathered from Melody that he was in the Crystal Empire, which had recently reappeared in the Frozen North about a week or two ago. He nearly choked when she told him who was now in charge of the Empire: Princess Mi’ Amore Cadenza and her new husband, Prince Shining Armor. Two names he hoped never to hear again.
“Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” she asked, a little alarmed.
“I’m… fine. Just… need to… slow down… on the soup.” he cleared his throat, “You were telling me about yourself?” he said to change the subject.
“Oh, yes. Well, as I said before, my name is Melody Crescendo, I live here in the Empire, and I’m a singer.” she said.
“Really? Do you sing in a band?” Wolf asked, getting curious.
“Sort of; I sing at a nightclub called the Diamond in the Rough, and there’s always a band playing, but not always the same one. In fact, in the four years I’ve worked there, I don’t think I’ve sang with any band more than once or twice.”
“Do you have a special somepony?” he asked, causing her cheeks to blush slightly.
“No, not at the moment. What What about you? Got anypony back home?”
“No. How about family? Or really good friends?”
At this, Melody’s smile faded, and Wolf felt a wave of sadness radiate off of her. It went away almost as fast as it appeared, but Wolf knew that he had just asked the wrong question. For a few moments, she was silent, but then she started to talk again.
“As for friends, no. I’ve never been that social, and family is a different story. Before Sombra’s Time Skip crap, I lived here with my grandmother and my mother, Harmony. But, my mother had gone to perform an opera in Equestria. That was the day before the Empire, Sombra, and anypony that was still in the nation got kicked 1,000 years into the future.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“You couldn’t have known. Is there anything else you’d like to know, Wolf?’ she asked, smile returning.
Wolf couldn’t think of anything else, but didn’t want the conversation to end. He put his hoof to his chin in thought, which Melody thought looked both adorable and unnerving at the same time. Then, suddenly, he thought of something.
“Other than singing, what is your favorite thing to do?”
“That’s an easy one, I really like to read.” she said.
“What do you read about? Mysteries, fantasy, romance?” he asked, intrigued.
“Mostly stuff about other countries and their cultures. I suppose that my books are a little out of date, but I have some very interesting ones on the Zebra nation of Savannah.”
“Have you ever been?” he asked.
“Where?” she asked, confused.
"Savannah."
"No, I haven't really been anywhere but the Empire. Have you?"
“Once. It was beautiful. The zebra have a very rich, interesting culture.” he thought, but left out the part about them being very, very skilled fighters.
“That’s amazing! Where else have you been?”
“Everywhere, I’ve been to every major nation on Equus.” he said.
“Why did you go to all those places?” he wished she didn’t ask questions like that, but didn’t want to make her suspicious.
“Oh, I just follow the Hive and go where they tell me.” he hoped that would satisfy her curiosity, but still wanted to change the subject from him back to her, so he asked again, “Do you have any other hobbies?”
“No, not particularly. Until recently, taking care of my grandmother took up most of my free time.” she said, eyes starting to tear up again.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up sad memories.” Wolf said, looking down in shame.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s ancient history.” she said, giving a weary chuckle at her own joke.
She seemed to brighten up after that, so Wolf dropped the subject. He looked around the room, trying to find anything there that he could use to learn more about her. He got what he was looking for in the form of a violin hanging on the wall to his left.
“Do you play?” he asked, gesturing to the instrument in question.
“A little bit. Not since about a month or two before Sombra’s psychotic breakdown. Why, do you?”
“I play a little saxophone.” he noticed she had a quizzical look on her face, “You’ve never heard of a saxophone before, have you?” to this, she shook her head.
He realized the saxophone, along with many other instruments that were commonplace now wouldn’t have been invented until a few hundred years after the Empire’s disappearance. He felt, for what had to be the hundredth time that day, like a complete and utter idiot.
“It isn’t important. This soup is amazing, by the way.”
“Thank you, it’s my mother’s recipe.” she said.
“May I ask you a question?” she nodded apprehensively, “What happened to your grandmother? You said that ‘until recently’ you took care of her. Did she go with your mother?”
“She, uh… she passed away just before Sombra’s rise to power.” she said,.
“I’ll drop it.”
“Is there anything else?”
“Just one more, this nightclub, do you like working there?”
“Yes. It’s the best club in town, and the owner is an old friend of the family. Hey! I have an idea, how about tonight, you come with me to the club?” she asked.
“That sounds like a lot of fun.”
“Great! I bet you’ll have a blast. Maybe even meet a pretty mare?” she added the last bit with a sly smile.
Wolf seriously doubted it, but he still gave a small chuckle. He didn’t know why, but he was really starting to like this Melody, maybe staying there wouldn’t be as bad as he thought.
Author's Note
Hey, just a heads up, I might be rewriting this chapter, so this is a work in progress.
Diamond
Of Crystal and Chitin
The walls of the room were made of a dark brown crystal that looked like wood grain, and it was lit with light gems. The band on stage was playing an archaic form of all-brass jazz music, which Wolf thought was very nice, and Melody was singing some song from the glory days of the Empire. Wolf, in his disguise, was over at the bar, enjoying some nice cider, and thinking about what he should do next.
On the one hoof, he thought, I can’t really go anywhere until I’m better. He involuntarily cringed as another wave of pain raced across his nervous system. But on the other, the longer I stay here, the more of a chance that I’ll be found out. They might not have heard the details of the Wedding yet, but they will. Especially with the not-so-happy couple ruling the place.
As the internal monologue continued, Melody finished her set and came over to his table with another crystal pony following behind her. She had an off-white coat and a dark grey mane and she carried herself the same way that the Canterlot elite did before the wedding.
“Wolf, I’d like you to meet my boss, Diamond. She owns the club, and it’s named for her.” Melody said, gesturing of the new arrival.
“A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Diamond.” he said, shaking her hoof.
“Please, call me Diamond. How do you like my little club?” she asked.
“I think it’s great. I really like the music here. What kind of music is it, anyway? I’ve never heard anything that sounds quite like it.”
“I don’t think you would have; it was an Empire specialty, not many outsiders know about it even today. It’s not got a proper name, so we just call it brass jazz.” she said, casting a glance at the band on stage, “So, Wolf, what brings you to our little slice of heaven?” the question hit Wolf like a ton of bricks.
Wolf started to panic, he didn’t know if she knew about the Wedding or not, so he couldn’t reveal himself to be a changeling, and he couldn’t lie in front of Melody, or she’d get suspicious. He didn’t know what to do, until the band started to play a song, then he had a crazy idea.
“Hold that thought, Miss Diamond. Miss Melody, may I have this dance?” he asked, much to everypony present’s surprise.
“Alright, we’ll be right back, Diamond.” the other mare simply waved them off.
“Have fun you two.”
The music was a mix between the brass jazz the band had been playing almost all night along with a little bit of Waltz-esque melodies thrown in to make more of a slow dance song. All in all, it was a nice song. Melody and Wolf, not knowing exactly how to dance, kept tripping over each other’s hooves, and most of the conversation was one or both of them apologizing to each other or one of the other couples.
“I’m sorry, I’ve always had four left hooves.” she said, a small blush forming.
“It’s okay, I’m not much better.” he replied after another stumble, grimacing from the pain that it caused him. His injuries did not help his dancing.
They danced, or tried to, and Wolf caught himself staring into Melody’s dark grey eyes, and a blush took over his features as well. She seemed not to notice, a bit too focused on his lighter grey orbs. They almost didn’t notice that the music had stopped, were it not for the fact that Melody was still on the job.
“Oh! I’m sorry to cut this short, I need to get back on stage.” she said, trotting back up onto the stage.
“Well, that was quite a show. I take it you don’t have much experience with dancing.” Diamond said, finally catching up to Wolf on his way to the bar for another drink, “So, you never answered my question. What brings you to the Empire?”
“Just a… spontaneous decision really.” he said, hoping she didn’t pursue it any longer.
“Well then, where are you from, Wolf Spider?” she asked, and he almost lost it.
“Trottingham. I’m from Trottingham.” he said, a little too quickly. Thankfully, the club’s owner and namesake didn’t seem to notice.
“Hmm. Never been to Trottingham, is it a nice place?” luckily, an employee of the club approached her at this time, interrupting her question, “What is it Emerald?”
The newcomer whispered something into Diamond’s ear that Wolf couldn’t quite catch, but Diamond’s smile faded, “What?!? I’ll be right there. Sorry to rush off like this, but duty calls.” she said.
Much to Wolf’s relief, Diamond didn’t come back to ask more questions. The night wore on, Melody sang her last set, and the duo left the club, walking down the quiet, nearly empty streets back to Melody’s home. On the way home, Melody struck up a conversation with Wolf.
“So, what do you think of Diamond?” she asked.
“She seems nice.”
“I meant the club, silly! What do think of the club?”
“Oh!” a third time that night he felt like an idiot, “It was very nice. I enjoyed myself.” he said.
“I’m glad you liked it. Maybe you can come back sometime when you’re feeling better. Maybe then we can dance without tripping over each other so much.” she said with a sheepish grin.
“I thought it was fun. By the way, your singing was beautiful, Melody. I mean, I know you told me you can sing, but that was amazing! Where did you learn to sing like that?”
“My mother taught me.” she said, “She was more into the opera, but I adapted it to my own style.”
They reached the door to Melody’s home, and they both went inside. It was late, so they bid each other goodnight and went to their respective bedrooms and fell asleep.