A Changecid

It was a sunny day in Canterlot, it was always a sunny day in Canterlot thanks to Celestia, but ever since Luna had been from her curse, the sunny days were sometimes accompanied by a slight chill. This day was one of them but the slight chill had intensified today, forcing ponies to seek refuge from the cold either by clothing or hiding from it inside their homes, shops, and cafes.

Chrysalis was one of those who tried to find refuge on this frozen sunny day. Cadence was located in the city at this time according to her agents. Wasting no time, she successfully adorned a disguise and got into the city with minimal problems.

Now all she had to do was find her exact location. Which should be easy, considering she was looking for the literal embodiment of love. Or so she thought, two days she spent with no sign of the princess. Maybe her agents gave her the wrong information? Oh, there would be Tartarus to pay if that had happened.

Her line of thinking got cut by her body shuddering in the frigid winds. Bah, she’ll find her sooner or later but now? She needed to find some semblance of warmth and some love. Keeping both the disguise and trying to keep herself warm had drained her supply. She shuddered again and tried to rub her hooves together, she never did enjoy the cold.

She entered a random shop on the corner of a street, the bell on the glass door giving a twinkle as she pushed it. If she had to handle any more of this cold she’d turn into an icicle. The warmth hit her face instantly and she allowed herself to relax for just a second, ahh…No! She can’t drop her guard!

Shaking her head and regaining her focus, she quickly scanned the room. The tables were almost full, there were only two remaining empty ones. A clerk attended to the customers from behind a glass display case, its shelves filled to the brim with sweets. Most were donuts but there were still cakes and chocolates and whatever these ponies ate.

‘’Welcome to Joe’s! Please take a seat and relax, you can order whenever you're ready.’’ The clerk, who Chrysalis assumed was Joe called out to her and then went back to helping the customers.

She took the empty table in the corner of the shop, next to the windows in case she needed a quick getaway of course. Swiftly forming a plan in her head she got up from the table and made her way to the line.

Passing through a table, Chrysalis ‘accidentally’ bumped into a mare causing her to almost fall, if she wasn’t caught by the nearby stallion of course. Both of them looked at each other and blushed before both looking away with a small laugh.

Ha, this was going to be easy. Looks like she won’t need to waste a lot of time here before she is filled up. Licking her lips and showing a wicked smile only to herself, and stood in line.

She turned her head and looked towards the ponies she matched together; talking, chatting, laughing, all red in the cheeks. She could taste the love radiating from them, but she couldn’t feel it.

Chrysalis couldn’t help but watch...she couldn’t help but wonder how it actually felt- She scoffed and with a frown on her face looked away, as if.

Eruidum stepped off the train, his eyes had heavy bags under them and he was walking wobbly. It would be an understatement to say he did not enjoy the trip from Appleloosa. Did you know that there were 325 ways to make a pie? Well, he didn’t, but now he unfortunately does.

He quickly waved the memory off and began walking towards the center of the city. His disguise was on the verge of falling off, those ponies on the train had forced him to be on his guard every single second.

His eyes sluggishly closed and his head began falling towards the ground, if not for the cold wind hitting his face he would come crashing down onto the paved road. His head shot up and his eyes opened all the way. He desperately needed some sleep.

His ears picked up the sound of something wailing, a wounded animal. Then he felt it, a rumbling. It was not an animal but his stomach begging for scraps at this point. His supply had mostly run out and he was running on fumes.

Searching around the city Eruidum finally found what he was searching for, a shop full of ponies. Not wasting any more time denying his stomach of food he walked in, a bell tingled as he did so, huh? Looking up he saw the mechanism, these ponies were really strange creatures weren’t they? Only they could come up with something like this.

He couldn’t even take a look inside before being hit by it. Love. Eugh, this place was filled with love, he forced himself to toughen it out and look at the sight. The shop was filled with either couples or ponies on the way to becoming couples and he saw them: sharing a milkshake, avoiding eye contact with blushes on their faces, and holding hooves. He couldn’t have picked a worse spot if he tried!

The pony behind the counter said something but he didn’t hear it, he was too focused on not collapsing from hunger and this overexposure to love. Searching for a place to sit and rest was now his top priority.

Hmm, he couldn’t find anywhere but…what’s this feeling? Starting to feel something different than this love, Eruidum started following it. He weaved around the tables that were too busy to pay him any of their time anyhow. Then he reached it, a table in the corner of the shop, right next to the windows. A perfect place for a messy but quick getaway. This table was perfect for him, but there was a slight problem.

There was a white-furred, green-eyed unicorn sitting in one of the two chairs. He still couldn’t figure out what this feeling was it tasted bitter but he liked it? He was sure it came from that mare, who was now staring at Eruidum, one of her brows forming a crescent. Uh oh.

‘’What?’’ she asked in an annoyed tone.

‘’Oh, I-’’ he coughed to clear his throat and let him gather his thoughts for a split second. He wasn’t expecting such a harsh-sounding voice from a pony. ‘’I was just wondering if you would allow me to sit here?’’

‘’No.’’

‘’Please, there is no other place to sit,’’ he said almost begging.

The unicorn scoffed. ‘’And how is that my problem?’’ she said, crossing her hooves. Tough customer, Eruidum thought ponies were supposed to be easy to convince. He had seen it first hoof.

‘’I won’t bother you at all, if you want me to be silent I’ll be silent,’’ He flashed her a cheeky smile. ‘’-and if you want a conversation partner, I have seen many things and have met as much as interesting creatures. I’m certain you’ll be surprised and intrigued.’’ he said while trying to look as friendly as possible. ‘’If you want to of course.’’

She narrowed her eyes and looked at him, ah. He knew this stare, it was to figure out his actual intention. He had seen this many, many, many times before and had mastered to disillusion the looker. There was no need to waste any more energy though, his actual intent really was to sit here.

After a brief shakedown by stare, she relented. ‘’Fine. Don’t talk until spoken to.’’ Right. She’s one of those, alright, he had experience in that field too.

‘’As you wish. Ms…’’

‘’Crystal Truth.’’

He nodded and took the other seat opposite of her. There was still that feeling, and he still couldn’t figure out what exactly it was. He heard another scoff.

‘’I give you my name and you give back none in return? If this is how this is going to be, you might as well remove yourself from my table,’’ she said in obvious annoyance.

Did he forget to give out his name? Agh, the hunger and the exhaustion were getting to him. But her demeanor was strange, she was wildly different from the ponies he had encountered until now.

‘’My apologies, I’m just tired.’’ She scoffed at that. ‘’Not that it’s any excuse. You may call me White Raven,’’ he said, extending a hoof.

She looked at the hoof for a second and then cautiously extended her hoof, shaking Eruidum’s a few times before letting go. He moved to speak but was cut short by Crystal raising her hoof in a silencing manner. This was going to be annoying, but it was somehow a welcome change none of the ponies he had met until now was like this.

‘’So tell me, why are you here?’’ she questioned.

‘’I’m hungry and exhausted, this place looked good enough.’’

‘’I don’t see any foodstuffs with you,’’ she said. Eruidum could swear he saw a mocking smile.

‘’Well, I don’t see any with you.’’ he countered back, and again he could swear that smile broke for just a single second, before getting bigger.

‘’I never said I was here to eat, did I?’’

‘’Right, I just assumed creatures come here to eat food since this is a place that sells food no?’’

She looked at him with eyes so piercing that his facade almost broke but he kept it on. It wouldn’t be proper to back out now, his pride was on the line. His stomach growled again, and apparently, her ears picked up on the sound because her frown turned into a mocking smile. Ah, crud.

‘’Excuse me for a second,’’ he said with an embarrassed face, while getting off the chair

‘’Take all the time you need,’’ she replied, in a derisively polite tone.

He would be getting his meal now or he would just collapse on the spot, looking towards the rest of the room his face scrunched up in disgust but he kept pushing forward. Eruidum noticed one pony getting up from one of the tables that were filled with love and going to the washroom. Ah, there it is.

Quickly Eruidum followed the pony inside and saw him head inside one of the stalls. Looking around he saw a wooden stool behind the door. Must be how they reach places far up inside. He took the stool and carefully positioned it so that the stall door couldn’t be unlocked. Slowly taking his hooves off the stool, he gently knocked on the stall.

‘’Occupied.’’

Perfect. Now he knew how his voice sounded. Squeezing the last bit of energy out of his body, Eruidum changed into the pony, splashed a bit of water to keep him awake, and left. He made his way over to the table of the pony he was now disguised as.

‘’O-oh, welcome back!’’ said the mare across her, with a flustered voice and red cheeks. Eugh. He had to fight the bile rising up in his throat.

In a matter of minutes, he had managed to turn the nervous and excited face of the mare into the face of one that was only filled with annoyance and frustration. He could barely feel any love radiating off her now. Now was the time.

Eruidum excused himself, the mare almost breathed a sigh of relief as he got off the table. He went back to the bathroom and changed back into his original disguise. The stall handle rattled beside him.

‘’Ugh, is anyone there, can someone help?’’

‘’I’ll help you, just wait a second,’’ Eruidum replied.

‘’Oh thank you! You’re such a lifesaver. My date has been going so well, I don’t want to keep her waiting anymore.’’ The toilet prisoner sounded extremely relieved that a savior had arrived just in the nick of time.

‘’Yup, I get you.’’ The ‘savior’ replied in kind, eager to help. ‘’Here.’’

The stallion thanked him countless times and left the bathroom. Again Eruidum splashed a bit of water on his face to keep him awake. He hoped that the mare would be confused and angry by the sudden changes in the stallion's behavior. If that didn’t work? He…wasn’t sure. It was a do-or-die plan really, the type of plan that he hated but this time he had no choice. He had neither the energy nor the time.

Leaving the bathroom he saw his new ‘friend’ from a distance. She was looking at something or someone. He followed her gaze and saw that she was staring at one of the couples. Her eyes were sharp and narrowed, but her mouth had no semblance of a smile. Ah, now he got it. He finally understood what that feeling was.

Jealously. Huh.

‘’I hope I didn’t keep you waiting for too long.’’ he said as he sat on his chair.

His sudden appearance made her jump a bit and she immediately focused on him.‘’...Who said I was waiting for you?’’ She looked past his head for a second and shook her head. He was sure she looked at the couple from before.

‘’Anyhow, you promised me stories. Now tell them. And don’t bore me. If you tell me something boring I’ll kick you out.’’

He showed a small smile and mock bowed his head. ‘’As you wish.’’ he could barely catch a glimpse of a small smile from her. He certainly didn’t wish to disappoint her, he didn’t know why.

So he started talking about his exploits. Of course, he didn’t tell them exactly how it happened, just a little different. At first, she seemed disinterested, she outright didn’t believe the first one he told.

‘’Bah, what a tale you’ve spun. Do you always tell lies?.’’

‘’Ah, but it is no lie.’’

‘’You can’t possibly expect me to believe that you King Umberto is just two small griffons in a really big robe,’’ she said scoffing and rolling her eyes.

‘’I have seen it with my own eyes!’’ he exclaimed. ‘’Haven’t you noticed that his claws were a little small? And how he never appears to the public without that signature robe?’’

She hummed in thought. ‘’Well, yes but his robe is an important part of his rule. It is a sign of legitimacy and royalty. And his claws might have been smaller compared to the average Griffon but that doesn’t mean he is truly two small griffons.’’

‘’Again, I have seen it with my own eyes!’’ he almost screamed out.

‘’And how have you seen it?’’ she urged him to continue.

‘’That is a story for another time.’’ He heard her click her tongue at that.

And then, steadily, she started getting into the stories. Her eyebrows raised in surprise or curiosity, asking questions and the like.

‘’I didn’t know that the minotaurs had underground libraries that required someone to pass through a maze,’’ she said, imagining how hard it would be to transport anything there.

‘’Right? And think of how I felt when I asked a local for directions to the library and he gave me a riddle to solve.’’ he threw out his hooves in frustration.

‘’That certainly seems like-’’ She let out a small chuckle. ‘’-a nuisance.’’

‘’Oh, it undoubtedly was.’’ he groaned out.

He got so into telling the stories that he was completely oblivious to the commotion happening inside the store, his story buddy was none the wiser either.

‘’Make up your mind! First, you treat me wonderfully, then you treat me like I’m nothing, then you try to treat me like you did before?!’’ The mare screamed out.

‘’I-what- I don’t?’’ The confused stallion couldn’t even get the semblance of a sentence out. ‘’I don’t understa-’’

‘’Don’t play coy, you know what? I’m done. This was a terrible idea.’’ said the mare, frustrated, she left the store hurriedly. The confused stallion ran behind her. Most of the store’s attention was focused on the arguing couple—all except for the table in the corner.

‘’Wait, so camels actually exist? I thought they were a myth!’’ said Crystal, amazed that there were camels.

‘’Yep, and they’re quite friendly if I might add. If they didn’t find me in that desert, I would have been toast…literally,’’ said Raven, the memories of the desert coming back to him as he recalled his tale. ‘’Apparently, they found me on top of a dune yelling, ‘I’m the desert-made manifest, bow before me mortals!’ ’’ he saw her trying to hold in her laugh with her hooves. ‘’And that I was in a ferocious battle with a vicious beetle.’’

Her shaky smile broke and she started laughing, this was the first time he heard her laugh, a little chuckle sure but she was boisterously laughing. Attracting the attention of the other customers by her volume alone. Eruidum laughed along with her, when was the last time he laughed like this?

He didn’t discern any jealousy coming from Crystal at this point too, it was slowly replaced by something…he didn’t know yet again. It made him feel, comforted? He wasn’t sure, he didn’t hate it. This one singular pony had confused him, entertained him, and intrigued him all at the same time. Just who was she?

And how did he not succumb to exhaustion at this point?

‘’What a battle it must have been!’’ She said between her laughing.

‘’One for the ages.’’

Then he sensed it. He sensed something coming. What was this? He felt as if he was lost in a nameless bog, he felt as if he was falling down an endless pit, he felt as if he was being swallowed whole by it. He started breathing erratically, his hoof shook, and his vision started becoming blurry. He could no longer hear Crystal’s laughter.

Eruidum only heard the ring above the door chime.

He looked towards the entrance and saw it.

It looked as if it was pure darkness, pitch black except for two purple slits where eyes are usually supposed to be. Its darkish tentacles reached out across the room, enveloping almost the entirety of it. What is this thing?! He never encountered something so terrifying in his lifetime! If he wasn’t in a fear-ridden coma he would have jumped out of the table now.

He almost yelled out when someone touched his hoof. Looking at it, he saw Crystal holding it, her eyes filled with surprise and some concern.

‘’Are you okay?’’ she asked.

‘’...I’m fine,’’ he said, not breaking his gaze on the monster in fear of what would happen if he even so blinked.

Crystal looked towards where his eyes were fixed on. Once she saw what was there she unconsciously tightened her grip on his hoof, and she almost hissed.

The creature started moving towards the table. Eruidum panicked.

‘’I-um, it was a pleasure to talk to you Ms. Crystal, b-but I must really take my leave now!’’ He said pulling his hoof back and throwing himself off the chair.
‘’Wait!’’ Crystal yelled out.

But Erudium didn’t listen, although he wished he could stay just a bit longer. He dashed to the exit, trying his best to avoid the slimy tentacles. Pushing chairs out of the way, creating many confused and angry ponies. He passed the entity, which was stuck in place. Eruidum thanked whatever god, spirit, or what else was up there and made it to the door.

He was halted by one of the tentacles, it grabbed a hold of him and kept him in place. His panic rising, he almost broke his disguise and after much effort was able to break free from his hold and escape from the store. The sun had already given way to letting the moon take its place.

Run, just run, don’t look back. Legs burning up? Let them burn. Heart beating so loud it deafens your ears? Let it beat. Breath stuck in throat you have to force it out? Force it.

He ran, he ran and he ran. Where could he hide from this terrifying beast? Out of breath he stopped for a moment and looked up.

The castle. The castle would be the safest place. If he got caught it was over for him, but being caught by the local ponies seemed better than that horror. Getting his breathing under control, he started making his way over to the castle.

It was high up on the mountain, how did ponies get there? Well, the pegasi could fly sure but what of the other? And then he saw the stairs. Oh, joy.

This day had been a rollercoaster for him. And a small part of his mind was still stuck on that mare.

‘’Let’s meet again, Crystal Truth.’’ he hoped this was not their last encounter. He again didn’t know why he wished that, but he didn’t hate the idea.

Chrysalis was confused, extremely confused. First, a strange pony approached her, whom she had no intention of entertaining but something compelled her to agree to his request. She couldn’t properly make out what he was feeling at the time too, which was weird since pony emotions were easy to sense and see, but he was clouded and complex.

Secondly, she actually enjoyed their talks. She enjoyed them so much that she completely forgot about her mission for the briefest of moments. She found herself smiling while he was telling his silly stories.

Thirdly, he seemed bothered by something out of the blue, almost as if a switch had been flipped. A second ago he was laughing along with her, then he looked as if he was about to keel over dead. And she worried about him. She. worried. about. him. What was becoming of her? She had a duty to her hive! She shouldn’t distract herself with frivolous things like this.

And lastly, her mission's main target had just walked into the store. Chrysalis didn’t know if she should be happy or angry at her.

…

She should be happy?! Why would she be angry at all, yup. Why would she be angry that her partner-... conversation partner, had bolted at the sight of the Princess of Love? She wasn’t angry at her.

‘’Um, hi? Are you…okay? You seem a bit angry.’’

‘’H-huh?’’

Chrysalis hadn’t realized that she was face to face with Cadance. When had she moved so close to her?

‘’Yes! I’m fine,’’ said Chrysalis and took a couple of steps back.

‘’Are you sure?’’ said Cadance taking a step forward. ‘’I…saw what happened, I tried to stop him but he ran,’’ she said in a low, soft voice. Did she look sad? ‘’I know that some stallions can be jerks. Would you like to talk?’’

‘’...okay.’’

Seems like her plan was already in motion, now all Chrysalis needed to do was befriend her and take her place when they were alone together. She should be happy that her mission was going so well.

‘’So, what’s your name?’’

‘’I’m Crystal. Crystal Truth.’’

Cadence smiled and shook hooves with Chrysalis. ‘’I’m Cadance! Nice to meet you, and don’t worry I’ll find you a stallion a million times better than that guy.’’

But a small part of her wished that she was still talking to him.