Magic. Really? Chrysalis writes with magic. Had someone told me a few days ago that I would be talking to a horse fly with magic, I would have called them crazy. Now, though, I may have to reconsider my world view.

The second comment in her latest letter threw me for a spin. What does she mean, ‘what is a pen?’ Doesn't everybody know what a… pen… She was using quills. Is it possible that her world is less technologically advanced than ours? I must ask her about that tonight.

“Hell yeah!” Nick roared at the screen. His button mashing fingers were currently trumping mine. We had been playing video games together at his house for the past five hours. A very rough five hours for me. It didn't matter the game, be it shooter or RPG or what-have-you, I was no match for the game master sitting next to me. Oh, look! My car just drove off a cliff! Yay me!

“You win, Nick.” At this, I had to concede victory. Placing my controller on the couch, I stood up to stretch.

“I win again, Will. Now, my beverage ~” Nick ordered. The deal was that whoever lost had to get the drinks before the next round. Of course, he had to say it in the most stuck up, snobbish voice he could muster.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get your stupid soda. Coke or Pepsi?”

“Coke, DIET Coke.”

“One coke, extra lard, coming up!” Nick slugged my shoulder at my not-so-witty remark.

Walking into his large, cream colored kitchen, I reached for the fridge door.

[I just wish getting love from these ponies was easier.]

“What?” I asked aloud. That voice I heard in my head sounded like Chrysalis’s voice, but it couldn’t be. I was awake. Wasn’t I?

“Dude, hurry up,” Nick hollered from the other room. I ignored him.

“Chrysalis?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. I didn’t get a response. Trying again, but this time only imagining to say the words, I asked [Chrysalis?]

This time, the response was immediate: [What!? Who’s there?]

[Queen Chrysalis, it’s me, William.]

[What are you doing in my head, human?]

[I’d ask you the same thing, but I think we both know the answer. Whatever connection we have, it’s getting stronger.]

[This is an interesting development. Unfortunately, I cannot talk now. I’m in a meeting and my changelings are getting worried. Their queen is not supposed to stare off into space without reason.]

[Then we shall talk later. Good day,] I concluded. Quickly grabbing Nick’s Coke from the fridge, I rushed back to him.

“What took you so long, dude?” Nick inquired as I re-entered the game room.

I replied, “Chrysalis,” and went on to explain my latest development with the strange creature. Throughout my explanation, he didn’t speak, only raising an eyebrow. Afterwards, he seemed surprised, but somewhat skeptical what I had just told him.

“Are you sure this is real, and you’re not just imagining thing?”

I just stared at him. “Really, Nick, really? You saw me teleport your pen, and you saw me get that junk dumped on my head. Oh, and there’s this,” I said, pulling out the parchment Chrysalis had sent me earlier in the day. He quickly looked over the artifact. When Nick was seemingly satisfied, he handed it back to me. I returned the parchment to my pocket.

“So you can teleport junk to some bug lady in another world. What now?” he asked.

So I said, “Honestly, I don’t know. As soon as I can, I plan to have a real Q & A session with her. If we’re going to be head mates, I want to get to know my fellow tenant ASAP.”

“Sounds creepy when you put it like that, Will.”

“Even more so when you have to live with it.”

It was after dinner time. I stood at the sink, rinsing off the meatloaf-encrusted dishes. My younger brother lounged on the sofa, too lazy to do his part of the nights chores. Mom was off doing the cross-word puzzle in the paper. Who knows where Dad is. Ehhh, he’ll turn up sometime or later. He hasn't left the house.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Wash, rin–

My rhythm was thrown off when my two huge Labradors came barreling into the kitchen, one chasing the other. The larger of the two crashed into my legs, causing me to fall over. The plate I was holding met it’s end with a crash course in physics. My mom called out, “Will, are you alright?”

I replied, “I’m fine, but the plate wasn’t so lucky. I’ll get it cleaned up in a second.” Then, under my breath, I muttered, “stupid plate.” Real mature of me right there, resulting to petty insults for inanimate objects.

I bent down to clean up the pieces, but stopped abruptly. My hand, It was GLOWING. There was a faint, iridescent green aura surrounding my hand. Out of panic, I willed my hand to stop glowing, and it complied. I’d never heard of human bio-luminescence before. Perhaps…

[Hey, Chrysalis. Does glowing green auras around your limbs mean anything to you?]

[Oh, hello, William. That’s certainly an odd question. I don’t know about limbs, but changeling horns glow in that manner when they are using magic. Does that help? Why do you ask?] she inquired.

[It might help. My hand was glowing just a moment ago, but humans can’t use magic,] I thought to Chrysalis, [Of course, humans also can’t talk to others telepathically, and yet here we are.] As this conversation progressed, I continued to clean up the floor. Piece by piece, the broken plate slowly migrated into the trash can. Meanwhile, my family remained unaware that a conversation was even going on in my head.

[If it is magic, then maybe I could teach you how to use it. Although, I’ve never actually taught magic before.]

[Still, it’s worth a shot. A human that can use real magic. That’s a funny idea,] I thought to her.

[Very well, I have time. Shall we begin now?] Chrysalis asked.

[Be my guest,] I thought, coupling it with the mental image of me bowing to Chrysalis.

[You flatter me. First, we need to find your magic. Imagine yourself, and then go inside, towards your heart.] I did as she instructed. [Very good,] she continued, [I can see what you are visualizing. This will make things easy. Around your heart, if the magic exists within you, you should find a ball of bright light. It should be the same green as the aura you claimed to see on your... hand.]

Doing as she told, I did indeed discover the light. It wasn't as bright as I expected, but it was something. [It feels warm, almost alive,] I told her.

[Very good. Magic is alive, in a sense. For changelings, it fuels our powers and life. If we run out, our bodies begin to shut down. Now, imagine dragging this light up to your horn… err… hand.] As I did what she instructed, my hand lit again up with the undulating, green aura. [Now that you can reach your magic, let’s try levitation. Imagine pushing your magic out of your body.]

As I did so, I could feel the energy leave my body. Although it was barely visible away from my hand, I could move it around like another limb and feel exactly where it was. Stretching it out, I coiled the tendril of magic around one of the last shards of broken plate on the ground. The fragment lit up in the same aura as my hands, and I pulled upwards. The fragment lifted off the ground without any obvious physical support. I gasped in surprise and shouted, “I GOT IT!”

“Got what?” my mother called from her chair at the table. From her position, she could not see the floating shard.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing important,” I replied. [Chrysalis, I did it! I did magic!]

[Good job. You figured out the rest of my basic lesson by yourself. If you continue to do this well, it won’t take you very long to master the few spells I know.]

It was shortly after Chrysalis had finished teaching me the finer points of levitation that I was struck by a sudden thought.

*plunk*

*plunk*

*plunk*

*plunk*

The dozen marbles circling my head dropped to the floor.

[Wait, If I use up all my magic, will I die, too? How do I get more?] I asked. Running out of magic suddenly was a major concern.

Chrysalis answered, [you might indeed die from over using your magic.] I gasped at that response. She continued, [If you are like a unicorn, then–]

I cut her off, saying, [unicorn? You have unicorns in your world?] I could feel her glare from a world away. [Never mind, we can talk about those later]

[As I was saying,] Chrysalis continued, [if you are like a unicorn, then your magic will recover just by living out your life. Eating, drinking, and sleeping all recover magic for a unicorn. However, If you are like a changeling, then you will have to steal magic from another in the form of love, or some other positive emotion.]

[How does that work?] I asked, [love is just an emotion.]

[Yes, on its own, love is JUST an emotion. A changeling, however, can steal the life force and magic from any other semi-intelligent animal that is experiencing any positive emotion,] she explained. [It’s like a key, of sorts. Each emotion enables a changeling to take a different amount of energy from its prey, and gives the energy its own unique flavor. Love is by far the most potent of all the positive emotions, enabling almost full access to our prey’s energies. Fully sentient creatures have the most love, more so than any other animal.]

[So you’re an emotional vampire,] I stated. Honestly, this is starting to get very weird. [How exactly do you go about draining people? Have you fed on me?] I asked, now worried for my safety.

[No, I can’t fed upon you, despite my best attempts.]

[Hey!] I exclaimed.

She ignored my outburst. [The act of feeding is itself instinctive. Usually, we foalnap and impersonate a pony by assuming their form, and then drain their lover dry,] she though, her mental voice making it seem like the act was the most normal thing in the world. And ponies. Really? I get the feeling that they are not like the ones here on Earth.

[That’s like a horror movie plot. ‘Attack of the Shape Shifting Vampires from Another World.’ I see why you are called ‘changelings.’ What happens to the ponies you capture?]

[For short term impersonations, they are trapped somewhere out of the way. For long term impersonations, they are either killed or taken to the hive. There, they are injected with our hallucinogenic venom and cocooned while being fed upon. Although, you can’t get much energy from a cocooned pony. It’s usually not worth the effort.] She gave a mental shrug, and continued, [You seem unusually calm, for someone hearing this for the first time.]

[There are weird creatures here that have bizarre behaviors and needs. I can’t argue against your way of life,] I thought to her.

[That… is a very wise perspective you have.] I smiled at her comment. Despite our species difference and physical distance, I have a feeling that Chrysalis and I could become very good friends…

...unless she eats me first.

Author's Notes:

Yay! Chapter 3! IN COLOR!!!!1!!1!

Is it too exposition/dialogue heavy?
Do I need to spice up my characters? (don't worry. More character depth is coming as soon as I figure out how.)

NOTE TO SELF: Go to tvtropes.org!

I feel like Pavlov.
*Ding* here's a chapter.
*Ding* here's a chapter.
*Ding* here's a chapter.
*Ding* Are you drooling yet? No?

I need more chapters. =)

(Chapter edited slightly 3/2/2014)