“It's getting late, my love. I hope you enjoyed your dinner. I knew that you'd appreciate a quiet evening at home after such a long, hard day at work. Now that the dishes are washed and the little ones are asleep, let's enjoy a little alone time before bed. What's that? Of course they're asleep already; they went down like a dream. I just told them a story and off they went.
What story? Oh, just an old folktale my mother told me. A little story about a beautiful lady, about love and loss. Just a simple tale from a simpler time.
You'd like to hear it? Surely there are… other ways for a husband and wife to spend the evening with the little ones fast asleep. Or are you too exhausted even for that?
Tell you what. Why don’t we snuggle close, and I’ll tell you the story, and we’ll see what happens after. Sound good? Good.
No need to go into the closet, love. Your pajamas have already been laid out. Why don’t you put them on while I light some candles and slip into something a little more… appropriate for snuggling?
There, isn’t this nice? Candles, a warm bed… I even brought some wine. Now, hold me close. That’s it. Hold me, and I’ll tell you the tale of the last temptation of Chrystabelle.
Once upon a time, in the long ago days before there was such a place as Equestria, there was a kingdom whose name has faded from history. The land was ruled by a race of unicorns, their lives dedicated to the expansion of the magical arts and the improvement of life for all ponies, everywhere.
Among these unicorns, none was more beautiful, nor more beloved, than a mare named Chrystabelle. Sonnets were written about the color of her mane, ballads sung in praise of the green tint of her eyes… she truly was beyond compare. But the most beautiful part of her, by far, was her heart. Chrystabelle loved all things, great and small. She was kind, she was generous… she was all these things and more. On top of all that, she (unlike most other unicorns) had also been born with wings, marking her as somepony with a great and untapped destiny.
She was also quite rich, with vast lands and a grand family estate, but that’s neither here nor there.
Naturally, a mare of Chrystabelle’s standing attracted many suitors from across the kingdom. They came for her beauty just as much as they came for her gold. There were dukes and lords and even a prince or two, all vying for her hoof in marriage.
She turned them all away.
‘My heart beats for one and one alone,’ she would say, ‘and on the day our paths cross, my heart will tell me true.’
The years came and went, and somehow Chrystabelle only grew more and more beautiful. But each year, her loneliness would also grow, and she began to fear that she would never meet the one for whom her heart beat.
One day, while on a stroll through her family’s orchards, Chrystabelle happened upon a young stallion stealing apples from a tree. ‘Why are you stealing my family’s apples?’ she asked him.
‘I beg pardon, my lady.’ The stallion bowed low before her. ‘But your family has so very many apple trees, and so very many apples go unpicked. Left too long, they will lose their sweetness. They will wither and rot on the branch. Wouldn’t that be a terrible waste?’
Chrystabelle was quite taken with the stallion’s demeanor and told him he could have all the apples he desired, so long as he would visit and walk with her each day.
The stallion happily agreed.
In the long days that followed, Chrystabelle and Bright Eyes (for that was the stallion’s name) took many walks and became very dear friends. When several weeks had gone by, Chrystabelle looked to him as they were about to part and touched her hoof to his. ‘Long has my heart waited for you, Bright Eyes. I believe it is you and only you that my heart beats for. Would you have my hoof, my love, and my riches? Would you sit by my side and love me?’
And Bright Eyes said, ‘No.’
A stunned Chrystabelle listened as Bright Eyes told her that his heart had already been claimed by another; a mare in his village named Selene. He told her of how her laugh had entranced him and her smile was enough to light even his darkest days. He saw her distress, and assured her that this was no personal sleight. ‘The heart wants what the heart wants.’ He told her.
Chrystabelle forced a smile and told him there was no sleight. She was happy for him and hoped that he would introduce her to this Selene one day. But when they parted, Chrystabelle was filled with anger and something she’d never felt before; jealousy. Who was this mare that had so ensnared the stallion she loved? Was she more beautiful than a mare to which sonnets and poems were dedicated? Was her family so wealthy that they made her own look impoverished?
She needed to know.
So the next day, Chrystabelle disguised herself with rags and ventured from her family’s grounds to the nearby village where Bright Eyes lived. When she finally found the mare she’d been searching for, she very nearly spoiled her disguise with a burst of laughter. This was the mare Bright Eyes had spurned her for? She was quite lovely, no questioning that. But to compare her with Chrystabelle?
Laughable.
She watched as Bright Eyes approached Selene and offered her (to Chrystabelle’s fury) a shining red apple from her family’s orchards. As she watched the two together, a plan began to take shape in the beautiful mare’s mind.
Knowing that time was of the essence, Chrystabelle raced back to her family’s estate and sequestered herself in her study. You see, in addition to her acclaimed beauty and legendary generosity, Chrystabelle was also a gifted magician and sorceress. In no time at all, she had concocted a spell that could temporarily alter her appearance to that of another. Once she was sure it would work, she stood before a mirror and cast the enchantment. She watched with utmost satisfaction as her own visage vanished in a flash of green fire, only to be replaced by the sweet face of Selene. Her disguise ready, Chrystabelle raced to the orchards to await Bright Eyes’ arrival.
He came at his usual time, and was naturally shocked to see his love waiting for him so far from the village. ‘Selene?’ He asked. ‘What are you doing here?’
Using the other mare’s voice, Chrystabelle coldly told Bright Eyes that she’d fallen for another stallion and would be leaving the village, and him, for her new love. Bright Eyes begged and pleaded, but Chrystabelle would not budge. ‘The heart wants what the heart wants.’ She told him, trying to keep the satisfaction from her voice. When she was certain that she’d broken the stallion’s heart as thoroughly as he’d broken hers, she turned and walked away, only returning to the estate when she was sure he could no longer see her.
But her satisfaction was short-lived. She realized that Bright Eyes would easily discover her deception once he returned home and confronted the real Selene. Quick as a flash, she resumed her normal shape, spread her wings, and flew with all speed to the nearby village. She quickly found Selene and snatched her into the sky before the mare had time to scream. Upon her return to the estate, she chained the mare in the cellar and brought her some food and water. ‘Just for a short while, my dear.’ She told the terrified mare. ‘Just long enough for me to claim what is rightly mine.’
The next day, Bright Eyes did not come to the orchard.
Nor did he come the next day.
On the third day, Chrystabelle flew to the village and sought him out. She found him in his cottage, nestled in the embrace of darkness. When he greeted her, his voice was cold and bereft of emotion. Feigning ignorance, Chrystabelle pressed him for what was troubling him so. He tearfully told her of Selene’s betrayal of his love and the hollowness that now filled his heart without her. Chrystabelle crossed the room to him and laid her hoof upon his. She whispered that she still loved him, and that her heart, and all else she was possessed, was still his to have.
And, again, Bright Eyes said ‘No.’
He told the stunned Chrystabelle that despite her betrayal, his heart still beat for Selene and Selene alone. If she would not have him, then alone he would have to remain.
Alas, poor Chrystabelle! Never before in her blessed life of privilege had she found something that she so desperately wished to possess, and yet stubbornly was kept from her grasp!
A new plan was born from desperation.
Chrystabelle bid Bright Eyes good-bye and left the cottage. When she was a safe distance away, she again cast the charm and changed her appearance to that of Selene. She rushed back to the cottage and burst inside, tearfully begging Bright Eyes’ forgiveness for her betrayal and for leaving him for what had been a mere infatuation.
When she felt the stallion embrace her at last, she felt the slightest fleeting rush of victory.
The victorious feeling, however, was short-lived. Chrystabelle knew the real Selene was still chained in her cellar, confused and frightened. She knew her own family would soon begin to worry. She could not just take Selene’s place forever. So she gave herself an ultimatum; she would keep the charade up for three days, just long enough to ensure that when she dropped her disguise, Bright Eyes would realize that it was her that he truly loved and not the common mare he’d simply fallen for.
The next day was one of the happiest of Chrystabelle’s life. She and Bright Eyes spent every moment together, playing and laughing and loving. But as the sun set on the first day, the strain of holding her illusion intact began to wear on her. She needed to rest without the charm in place to replenish herself, but she found herself unwilling to tear herself from Bright Eyes for even a moment.
A solution soon presented itself.
Chrystabelle had long theorized that emotions, especially deep emotions, had a magical energy all their own. With nothing to lose, she carefully began to draw from Bright Eyes’ love for Selene. Just as she’d predicted, her own magic was replenished and she found that she was able to maintain the illusion with no effort at all. As an unexpected side effect, she found that the magic she drew from Bright Eyes also replenished her body, as her cravings for food and water faded to almost nothing.
It was on the second day that Chrystabelle began to notice how lethargic Bright Eyes was becoming. His love never wavered, but he had less energy and complained of painful migraines. He seemed so much weaker than he’d been before.
As the sun set on the third day, he found he could not even rise from his bed to join her at the supper table. Chrystabelle begged him to join her, as she’d prepared a veritable feast as a prelude to her telling him the truth of her identity. When he told her again that he hadn’t the strength to rise, she decided the moment had come at last.
She kissed him with the mask one final time, and then let the spell slip away.
No smile of recognition and understanding came to Bright Eyes’ face. Instead, he screamed in terror and pointed a shaking hoof. ‘Monster!’ He cried. ‘Where is my beloved?!’
‘Right here, my love.’ She told him, but her voice was different, cracked and raw from days of mimicking another’s. ‘It is Chrystabelle you’ve loved these last few days.’
Bright Eyes only continued to scream, fear etched in every line of his weakened face. ‘Where is my beloved Selene?! What have you done with… ?’ He said no more, for the shock and terror was too much for his weakened heart. He fell to the bed and was still.
Chrystabelle reached for him… and stared in shock at her hoof. The skin had hardened and become jet black. Here and there were holes, as though her very body had begun to rot and fray. She quickly found a mirror…
…and beheld the monster that she had become.
She’d kept the spell active too long. The magic had twisted and destroyed her beauty, transformed her into something chitinous and horrible. Her famed beauty was gone, replaced by a leering visage baring razor sharp fangs. Her once amazing wings were now those of an insect, thin and membranous. Her luscious mane that had inspired many a song was now a limp, greasy mess.
Only her vibrant green eyes remained intact.
Unable to look upon herself any longer, she flew back to her family’s estate and sealed herself in her chambers. Hunger eventually intruded on her solitude, but she felt no craving for fruit or leaf or seed. She could only think of how delicious and sustaining Bright Eyes’ love had been…
She went to the cellar to where Selene was still chained, but this time she wore the face of the stallion that had stolen, and broken, her heart.
...
No, I'm afraid that’s where the story ends.
I suppose there should be a moral, shouldn’t there? Some lesson to be learned? Really, the only thing that you could really take away is the fact that sometimes a broken heart never heals.
Sometimes it festers.
Did you enjoy my little tale, darling? I’m ever so fond of it. Not just because I inspired it, but because it keeps little ponies like you captivated while I feed.
Oh, don’t be like that. You were wonderful, you know, but true love is ever so fleeting. I’ll bet that you’re just now realizing how weak you feel. When you’ve been at this as long as I have, you know how slowly to feed on your prey without alerting them to your true intentions. With Bright Eyes it took three days. I’ve barely been holding you for half an hour.
Even now you can feel yourself slipping into a deep, blissful sleep, can’t you? That’s your organs shutting down, I’m afraid.
Shh… don’t try to scream. You don’t have the strength. Just try to enjoy these last moments between us. I’ll even keep wearing this face until you’re gone, just so you have something familiar to look at. I imagine seeing my true self in these final moments wouldn’t help your state of mind at all.
You loved this mare so much… possibly even more than she loved you. I haven’t fed this well in a very long time.
She’s in the closet, by the way. Your wife, I mean. I had to stash her somewhere while I served you and the children dinner. I’m afraid I had to be more… hasty with her. She picked up on the fact that I wasn’t you quite quickly. Mare’s intuition, I suppose. Or maybe I’m just not great at being a stallion. Selene saw through my disguise quickly, too. Don’t worry; I’ll place her here beside you once you’re gone. That way they can bury you together. Won’t that be nice?
Oh, there it goes. I see the last bits of light fading from your eyes. I imagine my voice sounds like it’s getting farther and farther away. Go in peace, my love. Take solace in the fact that your last act was to give your heart to one who so truly needed it…
Oh! And you needn’t worry about the children…
They loved your wife just as much as you did.”
Author's Note
