//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Chrysalis // by 1023nelly //------------------------------// Big Macintosh hurtled down the street, pulling a wildly swerving cart behind him. In this cart was a hysterical Rarity. The body of Applejack was also in the cart. Although Applejack was not dead, she seemed very close to becoming so. As Rarity tried her best to stay in the cart and keep an eye on Applejack, she thought she noticed something. Was Applejack turning...green? As the cart thundered down the main street in Ponyville, it attracted as much attention as a royal chariot. Ponies stared in wonder as Big Mac whooshed past them like Rainbow Dash running away from Pinkie Pie, or more accurately, like a stallion trying to save his sister from impending doom. Rarity’s attention was now entirely focused on Applejack, and while she had no idea what was going on, she was sure of one thing: Applejack was, most definitely, turning green. No doubt about it. After what seemed like hours, but was really only about three minutes, Big Mac arrived at Fluttershy’s tree home. Rarity hopped out of the cart and galloped at full speed toward Fluttershy’s door. The magic she summoned to open it was not needed; Rarity crashed right through the wooden portal, leaving a unicorn-shaped cutout in it. “Fluttershy!” she yelled. Fluttershy squeaked in alarm, and the squirrels she had been feeding ran in all directions. Rarity, barely glancing over, used her stored-up magic to bring them back together, huddling in a ball in the corner. “Fluttershy, dear, I need your help,” Rarity said, pretending to be out of breath, like the drama queen she was. “Oh, Rarity, it’s you,” said Fluttershy softly, her initial fear draining away as she realized it was her friend and not a dragon of any kind. “Thank you for gathering up the squirrels for me. Do you really need my help? Gosh, I—“ “Fluttershy, there’s no time to explain. Come outside with me!” Rarity used her magic to yank Fluttershy after her as she ran out the door. “B-but wait…why do you need my help?” Rarity didn’t answer. As soon as they were outside, Fluttershy saw the cart and a piece of leather peeking out of it. “Oh no, what happened?” asked a shocked Fluttershy, rushing over to the cart. “I-I don’t know,” confessed Rarity, staying in the doorway. “I found her surrounded by mountains of apple cores, and in the next thirty seconds, she was completely still…but not dead. That’s was so puzzling about this whole thing. She’s still alive, but…barely.” Rarity felt tears welling up in her eyes but blinked them away. She had to be strong throughout this ordeal. “Are—are you sure she isn’t d-dead?” stammered Fluttershy, her voice breaking. “I c-can’t hear anything through th-this…this shell.” “What shell?” asked Rarity, intrigued. She walked over and looked in the cart, and sure enough, the peculiar greenness that had been enveloping Applejack was now a shell-like covering, like a beetle’s carapace. A sour smell, like a crushed caterpillar, rose from the totally inert body. All the features were the same, even her cutie mark, but seemed molded in transparent green stone. Fluttershy looked hard at Applejack. Suddenly she gasped. “I know what’s going on!” she said. “But I’d rather have everypony around when I tell them. Can you get Pinkie Pie and Twilight to meet me and Rainbow Dash at the library?” Rarity nodded. “Good. Hurry!” said Fluttershy, making sure she was heard. Rarity didn’t waste a minute. She turned in the direction of Ponyville and sped off, a look of determination on her face. As she raced down into the town, she couldn’t help but wonder—how did Fluttershy know what afflicted Applejack? Fluttershy turned to Big Mac. “Can you take Applejack down to the library for me?” Big Mac nodded. “Yup.” “Okay. Please hurry!” she pleaded. Big Mac turned around and headed into Ponyville, following the cloud of dust left behind by Rarity. Fluttershy, as determined as Rarity, flew up into the sky in the direction of Cloudsdale. Flying at speeds close to Mach 5, she nearly created a sonic rainboom in her haste to get to Rainbow Dash. The fact that she was clearing the sky of clouds was unknown to her, but greatly appreciated by the ponies down below. As she raced through the sky, she couldn’t help but wonder—was she wrong? * * * Rainbow Dash was reclining on her favorite cloud in her bedroom in Cloudsdale when she heard a sound. She’d heard it before, but this was much louder, which was saying something. It was the sound of Fluttershy—flying? Fluttershy burst right through the right-hoof cloud wall and shot through the left-hoof one. A few seconds later, she poked her head through the hole she made. “O-oh, I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash,” she said softly. “D-did I scare you?” The answer to this question seemed obvious: Rainbow was now cowering under the cloud, her forelegs covering her head and her eyes squeezed closed as if expecting an explosion. She opened one eye, then, seeing Fluttershy, zipped out from her hiding place. “Course not,” she scoffed. “I was…practicing. Yeah. In case of…uh...you know.” She blushed slightly, embarrassed at the fact that she could not come up with an excuse. “Oh, I see,” said Fluttershy, coming in the room and hovering above the floor. “Um, I need you to come with me to the library.” Here she looked away. “O-only if you want to, though. It’s sort of an emergency.” “An emergency?” The cyan mare always helped out with emergencies, whether it was a bunny trapped in a tree or a full-scale changeling invasion. She put on her ‘hero’ face. “What kind of emergency? I’ll assist in any way I can!” “Oh, um, well, it’s kind of about Applejack,” supplied the butter-yellow pegasus. “Applejack?!” Rainbow Dash’s hero face fell faster than a hiker whose rope has been cut, and was immediately replaced with the look of determination that everypony seemed to be wearing these days. “I’m on my way!” She faced the floor and dove straight through it, creating a third hole in as many minutes. “W-wait up, Rainbow!” called Fluttershy. She positioned herself above the hole in the floor and followed suit. * * * Down in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie was at Sugarcube Corner, mixing up the ingredients to make her Cherry-Chongas. She was repeating an odd chant over and over to herself: “Cherry-Chonga, Chonga-Cherry, Cherry-Chonga, Chonga-Cherry!” She giggled. “What a tongue twister!” Suddenly, Rarity burst through the door of the kitchen. “Pinkie! Come with me! There’s no time to explain!” she exclaimed. “Oh, hiya, Rarity! I’m just finishing up my Cherry-Chongas! Would you like to try some?” she offered. “There’s no time,” panted Rarity. “I need you to come with me right now!” “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie answered. “Just give me one teensy-weensy second…” “Nope!” Rarity used magic to drag Pinkie after her and out the door. “Hey!” protested Pinkie. “I wasn’t done!” Rarity stopped and relinquished her magical grip on the pink earth pony. “Sorry, dear. It’s just that Applejack has been overtaken by some kind of mysterious disease, and Fluttershy knows what it is, but she won’t tell anypony until we’re all there, but I don’t know where Twilight is and I need to find her!” “Twilight?” For a moment, she forgot about her cherry dessert and turned to face Rarity. “She stopped by earlier and told me that she was going to Zecora’s house for some magical plants.” “Oh, that’s just perfect,” said Rarity, her voice dripping with exasperation. “Now how am I supposed to get her in time?” “I’ll do it!” offered Pinkie Pie. She zoomed off. Fifteen seconds later she returned with Twilight, who was looking extremely confused and scared. “Here you go!” said Pinkie. “What in the name of Celestia is going on?” asked Twilight. “One minute I was talking to Zecora, and the next I’m here! Pinkie, what was so urgent that you had to break the laws of physics?” “Well, I don’t know what physics is—” Figures, thought Rarity. “—but something’s wrong with Applejack, and we all need to be at the library so that Fluttershy can tell us what’s going on. We have to hurry, or Applejack might not get better in time!” exclaimed the pink pony. “Applejack? But why—” began Twilight. “There’s no time to talk now! The fate of Equestria is at stake!” Pinkie interrupted. She zipped off toward the library. “Is the fate of Equestria really at stake?” Twilight asked Rarity. “I honestly don’t know,” replied Rarity.