Chrysalis made her way back to her hotel in the 1st Arrondissement of Paris. It had been a productive morning, she thought. She had managed to engage in some socialite things, such as interacting with and participating in high society, and had just come back from a fine lunch at the Cheval D'or, one of the best cafes in the city, where she had met with many of the rich and famous of Parisian society. In short, a morning well spent, she thought.
"C'est une chaude journée! J'ai hâte de prendre une douche pour me rafraîchir," she said. (It is a hot day! I look forward to having a shower to cool off.)
She turned another street corner, and found herself at the Hôtel Défectueux, which was (apparently) one of the best in the city. Chrysalis entered through the revolving door and into the relative cool of the lobby, where she went over to the check-in desk to retrieve her key.
"Bonjour, madame! Vous vous déconnectez aujourd'hui?" asked the desk clerk. ("Good afternoon, madame! Are you signing out today?")
"Oui monsieur. Aujourd'hui est malheureusement mon dernier jour à Paris. Je reviendrai à Marseille en TGV ce soir," Chrysalis replied. ("Yes sir. Today is sadly my last day in Paris. I will be returning to Marseilles by TGV this evening.")
"Eh bien, j'espère que vous avez apprécié votre séjour," replied the clerk. "Voici votre clé." ("Well, I hope you enjoyed your stay. Here is your key.")
"Merci beaucoup." ("Thank you very much.")
Chrysalis, key in hand, headed upstairs via the old, charming elevator, still doing stellar service despite being over 100 years old. It reached her floor and she stepped out, her boots echoing on the floor as she walked to her room, No 52. 52 was a nice, solid room, with white walls and nice furnishings. She closed the door behind her and walked over to her mirror. "Je me sens un peu en retrait. C'est peut-être juste la chaleur qui m'atteint. Paris est vraiment chaud à cette période de l'année!" ("I feel a little off. Perhaps it's just the heat getting to me. Paris sure is hot at this time of year!")
However, it wasn't the heat that was getting to her. It was something else that happens to all that were formally Jimmy, and as he removed her beret and hung it up, it suddenly flashed brightly.
"Quoi dans le monde?" ("What in the world?")
Moments later, she looked at her clothing, and saw it was starting to change. Her boots began to shrink, the toe caps splitting off from the body of the boots, and the covering split into a top plate and sides, with laces threading themselves back into place where they had once been. Her tights, which looked like a mouse had nibbled several holes in them, vanished, as if they had never been there. Her skirt, which had this odd, washed out look to it, suddenly began to shift in colour, changing from the current colour gradient to a cream shade. The parts of the skirt suddenly divided in two, becoming a pair of shorts, and a zip and button reappeared in their rightful places. Her polo shirt switched back to its former red, followed by a pair of glasses appearing on her face (Chrysalis had taken hers off when she had entered the room).
"Penser que je le ferais wear something so hideous!" she said, her voice shifting back to Jimmy's as she spoke, made clear by the considerable lump on her throat. Her eyes turned back to blue, and her face shifted into that of a twenty something male as her skin turned pale again from the previous charcoal. Her shoulders suddenly started to broaden as her breasts shrank into her chest, and her hips narrowed as something else reappeared between her legs (or, by the time it was done, his legs). His legs thickened briefly, and his feet and shoes grew in size, with socks doing the same to prevent them suffering any damage.
"Well, that was an interesting few hours," he said, brushing himself off and consulting his desk for things. "But I personally feel that I've still got a few things to see and do around here before I go. You only turn 24 once, after all." Quite why he was suddenly on another continent in a world without the blasted virus never occurred to him, as he went and grabbed a bag from the counter (filled with his useful items) and he went for the door, opening it and then locking it behind him. After that laborious but critical exercise was completed, he took the elevator back to the lobby and handed his key to the desk clerk. "I'll be back before dark!" he said.
"Enjoy your day monsieur!" the clerk replied, before looking at the key in confusion. "Ca c'est drôle. J'aurais pu jurer que c'était la chambre dans laquelle cette femme à qui je parlais était." (That's funny. I could've sworn that was the room that woman I just spoke to was staying in.")
Jimmy, undeterred by the odd response of the desk clerk, set right back off into the city. Chrysalis had been right, after all. The heat did collect in urban environments and make it muggy and sticky. Jimmy was thankful he was wearing short sleeves or else he may have been overheating in this weather. No wonder so many French people fled the Summer heat and went to the south coast, all on the same day, which often caused massive traffic jams on the highway.
As he walked along, he soon came to a conclusion as to what he wanted to do here. His brother, David, who was still in the United States, was on his own. Jimmy figured that he should get him something to cheer him up. Something from Paris that really spoke of the marvellous city, the cultural hub of Europe. He soon found what he was looking for, and decided to ask another person for directions.
"Excusez-moi monsieur? Pouvez-vous me diriger vers la maison d'Eiffel?" he asked. ("Excuse me, sir? Can you direct me to the House of Eiffel?")
"Bien sur monsieur. Vous tournez à gauche au prochain virage, passez devant la branche locale de Coco Chanel, et la maison d'Eiffel devrait être sur votre droite." ("Of course, sir. You take a left at the next turning, walk past the local branch of Coco Chanel, and the House of Eiffel should be on your right.")
"Coco Channel? J'espère qu'ils ne causeront plus de problèmes à Mlle Pommel. Merci pour les directions!" ("Coco Channel? I hope they don't cause Miss Pommel any more trouble. Thank you for the directions!")
As he headed into the distance, the French person called after him. "Jamais de problème, monsieur!" ("Never a problem, sir.") She then spoke to herself as she walked away. "Vous pouvez repérer les Américains à un kilomètre. Leur français est toujours terrible. Mais le sien était ... meilleur que la plupart." ("You can spot Americans a mile off. Their French is always terrible. But his was... better than most.")
After his succesful arrival at the Maison d'Eiffel (having been careful to avoid a somewhat annoyed looking woman saying something about a cream coloured pony), Jimmy went in through the doors, and soon saw why this place was the talk of the town. Anything and everything that you could have imagined was inside that marvellous and grand building, filled with everything you could imagine, from dancing Eiffel Towers, to expensive jewellery, to high end shoes, to the usual tourist items. Jimmy walked to the desk to ask for directions.
"Bon après-midi monsieur! Comment puis-je vous aider aujourd'hui?" asked the cashier. ("Good afternoon sir! How can I help you today?")
"C'est mon avant-dernier jour ici, et je veux acheter un cadeau à offrir à mon frère à mon retour aux États-Unis. Où recommanderiez-vous que je regarde?" ("This is my penultimate day here, and I want to purchase a gift to give to my brother when I return to the United States. Where would you recommend I look?")
Clearly, having been French Chrysalis had helped here, as before today Jimmy had little skill in foreign tongues. The cashier was clearly delighted to hear a foreign visitor speaking to her, and in her native language too! "Je serais ravi, monsieur! Vous devrez vous diriger dans la section des bijoux pour atteindre l'endroit où nous gardons les tours Eiffel dansantes. Veuillez faire attention à ne rien endommager!" ("I would be delighted, sir! You will need to head through the jewellery section to reach the place where we keep the dancing Eiffel Towers. Please do be careful not to damage anything!")
"Je vous remercie!" ("Thank you!") Jimmy then set off in the direction of the 'bijoux'.
The cashier nodded. "C'est un honneur... princesse." ("It's an honour... princess.")
Jimmy found what he was looking for soon enough. There was a section in there that stopped him on his way back, Eiffel Tower in hand, and he stopped to take a closer look. It was a golden necklace, with a small yellow gem set into it that seemed to glow gently. "Now I wonder who made that?" he asked, as he looked closer. He then noticed an inscription on the side of the necklace.
For my love, Mi Amore Cadenza.
"I didn't know they were selling reproductions of the Princesses' regalia," Jimmy noted, and stepped closer still. It was then that the necklace came to life, flying out of its stand and crashing through the door that separated the cabinet from the rest of the world. The necklace slowed down around his neck, and latched itself into place, sitting comfortably around his neck. There was then a jolt of energy that flew into his body. He knew where this was going. And the magic inside the necklace soon got to work.
He got his first awareness of what was going on when his fringe began to pull back up, much of his hair being tied into a bun at the back, although some of it still fell down his back to his shoulders. That fragment then began to grow longer, all the way down to his waist. At the front, the colour of his hair turned purple, then gradiated backwards towards the bun to pink, and then beyond there to the back of the bun it was blonde with pink streaks. His eyes changed from blue to pink as he removed his glasses. He no longer needed them this time, and smiled as his face reshaped into that of a young woman in her mid to late twenties. His eyebrows turned purple, and his neck contracted as his Adam's Apple receeded into it, soon joined by the necklace shrinking slightly in size to compensate.
He felt his chest tingle, and his shirt started to lift up as he gained a pair of breasts. These continued to grow steadily for a few seconds before stopping. People could clearly see his navel now, and his stomach suddenly pulled in as all of his body fat either sloughed off of him or repositioned itself elsewhere, joined by his shoulders narrowing. Some cracking later, and his hips began to widen, soon giving him a woman's body shape, an impression that was maintained when another thing got pulled into his body for the second time that day.
Not long after, her thighs and legs began to slim down, as did her arms, and her feet and hands shrank as they did so, becoming smaller and daintier.
She blinked, and noticed a lot of people looking at her. "I need to get out of here!" she said, in a voice that sounded oddly familiar to her. She sprinted as best she could, but suddenly became aware of being tilted forward for some reason. She looked down to see the cause of the problem, only to realise her shoes had changed into a pair of golden heels that glinted in the light, and seemed to glow with their own light. She finally found a door, and pushed through it.
She suddenly found herself in a very large room, with a bed to one side, a mirror and dressing table, and several other useful implements. She, of course, continued to change. Her shorts turned pink, and the legs merged together (again) into one garment, once more creating a skirt. The zip and button vanished, and the now skirt grew longer and longer, unlike the previous one where it had stayed short. The skirt grew to the floor, covering over her feet and heels, and she felt more fabric tumble down behind it, pushing the skirt outwards inch by inch.
Multiple petticoats had appeared behind the skirt to give it extra volume, and it soon expanded to be approximately two to three feet in diamater. It settled down, but it was still huge, voluminous, and beautiful. She giggled at the sight of it. Now she really felt like a princess!
Her shirt began to change as well, the material detaching over her shoulders and sliding down into the body of the skirt to connect the shirt to the skirt, as well as give it a little extra volume. The dress now had no sleeves and stopped at her breasts (she had something else on to help hold those in place), and a golden band rang along the top of the bodice as a golden tiara with a purple gemstone set into appeared atop her head.
Jimmy was soon able to figure out who she was, based on the voice and, of course, the massive dress she was now wearing. "I'm Princess Cadence?" She, being in this position for the first time in a while, decided to give a quick twirl, and grinned with glee as she saw the skirt float up and around before returning to normal. Ever since she was a little kid she'd wanted to do that, and it wasn't so easy doing that in her usual dress, which was inhibited by a crinoline frame.
She couldn't have been happier, when she heard a voice outside. "Cadence?"
"Shining?" she asked, and smiled happily when she saw her husband enter, dressed up suitable for the occassion in his old Guard uniform. That red jacket with blue trousers certainly looked good on him.
"I see you found the gift," he smiled. "It's to mark our wedding anniversary. Boy was that day chaotic."
Cadence nodded. "Chrysalis did make a mess, but the Changelings are much nicer now. I guess love really does have an effect." She then panicked. "Wait, where's Flurry?"
"Don't worry!" Shining replied. "She's safe with mom. She's a very good carer. I didn't turn out too bad, did I?"
"Not at all. You're still the wonderful, charming young man I met all those years ago."
Now it was Shining's turn to look very happy. "And you're still the sweet, beautiful woman who stole my heart." He paused, and looked about. "Handy thing this event and our wedding anniversary coincide. Tonight, it's just you and me. But if you're ready, we might as well head out." He held out his hand.
Cadence took it, and the pair set off. "Be careful not to tread on my dress."
"Understood, ma'am."
They entered the central chamber of Canterlot Castle, to see nobles, and the other Princesses, already assembled.
"Prince Shining Armour and Princess Mi Amore Ca-"
"Cadence, please."
"Prince Shining Armour and Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire!" announced Captain Steimer.
Twilight, in her full regalia for the first time in a while (her dress was hardly practical for field work), waved to them, at which point she and Cadence engaged in an old ritual from Cadence's babysitting days.
"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hands and do a little shake!"
"Hello!" Twilight continued. "I haven't seen you two since the wedding!"
"Wedding?" Cadence asked, confused.
"Don't you remember, honey?" Shining asked. "Flash Sentry and Twily got married a few months ago! How's it going?"
"We couldn't be happier," Twilight replied. "How about you two?"
"Flurry's a bit of a handful, but we came to expect that when we decided to have kids."
Just then, the band struck up a fine waltz. As everybody who was everybody took to the dance floor, Shining and Cadence never once broke contact and kept looking into each other's eyes, completely and totally in love with one another.
Meanwhile, in Paris, another woman, identical in appearance to Cadence, was looking in a cabinet that was empty. "That's odd!" she said. "I swore he said it would be here. Shining? Where are you?"
Author's Note
There are quite a few references in the opening scene. If you can spot any of them, let me know.
This is the first time I have written about Cadence as a central character, but she's really interesting as a character, not least because of her energy and sense of fun, but because she's the only princess who's also a mother, which adds a whole extra dynamic to proceedings.
The other princesses look like this;
Shining Armour is from this story;
EA Prince's Tale
Tom goes on another crazy adventure.
The Blue EM2 ·
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The ending takes place in the world established in My Week with Luna, linked here;
TMy Week with Luna
The Moon shall rise once more...
The Blue EM2 ·
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· 16
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And, lastly; happy birthday, Jimmy.
