Who Died and Made YOU King?

Chrysalis knew that look.

It was her look.

The look of all changelings in the field.

The look of lust and hunger held back by a thin veil of polite conversation and socially acceptable boundaries.

Only. It wasn't on a changeling.

No. This thing was new. This thing was...

Intriguing.

Despite oppressive waves of lust radiating off the creature, he wielded it like a master swordspony. He sipped his drink cooly and kept an engaged conversation with the bartender mare, never once directing his lust towards her. Such restraint Chrysalis had only witnessed from herself and only the most seasoned of her once exceptional family.

His voice resonated far. Even over the thrum of the bass-laden music and the dozens of speaking ponies, Chrysalis' highly sensitive ears could pick up wisps of his baritone speech. She had to speak with him, for no other reason than to satiate her burning curiosity.

As Chrysalis walked towards the bipedal creature, powerful stimuli all around assaulted her senses. The constant movement between screeching notes and rumbling bass in the music made her head hurt, and the high energy of the atmosphere made her feel her age. Oh how Chrysalis fondly remembered the days of old, where balls and masquerades were common place. Canterlot high society still had them once or twice a year in order to show off wealth and extravagance, but the days in which they were common place had Chrysalis yearning. The gentle and relaxing tones of Canterlot's greatest classical melodies, and even later jazz were a far and away preferable accompaniment to her evening than the electronic drivel that had replaced it.

And the gossip. Oh! How she loved the hushed tons of scandalous conversation between nobles. Whispers of adulterous high profile couples and the rumored spiraling destruction of years of accumulated wealth from even some of the most minor mistakes. Infinitely more fascinating than words of the latest pop-star or arcade opening these young stallions and mares were into. For what is was worth, however, the spry young colts in the clubs had the energy to keep her entertained for hours. Even the ones that popped quickly were simply her version of "fast food".

Deciding to be direct with her target, Chrysalis approached the bar and chose the stool directly next to the creature, hopping up on top. Her disguise belonged to Scarlet Letter, a few centuries old mare who was long gone. She had a scarlet coat and a curly blonde mane with a cutie mark of an unsealed envelope. She was outcasted by her village for her adulterous activities and Chrysalis had found her nearly starved to death on the outskirts of the badlands. Knowing the pain of losing family and starving, Chrysalis had nursed Scarlet back to health. Chrysalis offered her the choice to stay in the safety of the hive and spend the rest of her days dispensing love for her drones or leave to fend for herself again. It wasn't much of a choice.

"I've heard of 'red hot', but you give it a whole new definition." Scarlet was yanked out of her reminiscing by a familiar voice.

Caught off guard by the creature's remark, Scarlet momentarily struggled to find the words to respond.

"Oh, shit. Sorry. That was out of line. I misread the moment. My mistake."

Scarlet blinked before clearing her throat. "No, no. It's quite all right. Nothing wrong with coming onto me, or in me for that matter."

The creature smirked and chuckled, running a hand through his thick black hair. "Good. I had a feeling you were special. Can I get you a drink?"

Oh, I'll be drinking from you real soon, big boy.

"A hard rough screw against the wall, please."

"You mean a slow comfortable screw?"

Scarlet feigned innocence. "Oh dear, that must be what I meant. Slip of the tongue." She batted her eyes at him.

He gave a hearty laugh.

"Yo, Sandy! A slow comfortable screw against the wall for the mare I'm taking home tonight."

Nyx below, this creature was going to make her flood the club.

"My my. Mighty presumptuous of you."

"I know how this works. You made up your mind 5 minutes ago."

Scarlet felt her chest tighten. She was being read like a book, and no part of her wanted it to stop.

"Well, we can at least pretend to be above our primal desire. Besides, I don't even know what name I'll be screaming yet."

"The name's Anonymous, and before you ask; I am something called a human, and I am the only of my kind as far as I know. I'm not related to minotaurs, and I'm omnivorous."

While on a sheer technicality Chrysalis was not the only changeling, she certainly was alone. She realized her new companion may be more similar to her than she even realized.

No sooner had she completed the thought than her drink appeared on a coaster in front of her Unicorn bartenders are so fast. She levitated the orange slice from the rim and squeezed its contents into her drink.

"And what can I call you?"

Scarlet levitated the glass to her muzzle.

"You can call me 'your majesty', but my name is Scarlet Letter." She took a long sip from her drink.

Anonymous chuckled. "Did you cheat on your husband and get thrown out of your village?"

Scarlet choked on her drink "*cough* WHAT!? *cough*."

Anon threw his hands up. "Easy there, it was just a joke."

Scarlet gathered herself through coughing fits, managing to take another sip to ease her throat. Some joke. She cleared her throat.

"No, no. It's okay. That was... that was just a long, long time ago. You could even say I'm a completely different mare now."

"No shit? Huh. Well, I know a thing or two about having to start over as well." Anon reached for his own drink and held it into the air between the two.

"To new beginnings."

Scarlet smirked

"To new beginnings." She echoed, and their glasses collided softly.