There you laid, eyes wide open, under the warm embrace of a sleeping yellow pegasus.
Yesterday, well, it was calming. After the meditation thing went south, you just opted for staying in the cottage and just resting or napping. Though, that did get boring, prompting you to help Fluttershy tidy up the place using the basic magic your horn allowed, an act that didn’t go unnoticed as Fluttershy, for once, made you something at your request rather than it being some health crap. She even made sure Angel stayed on his best behavior. Honestly, it was the best kind of meditation you could have gotten.
And yet, you laid there, staring into the dark, with only tiny beams of light poking through the window as the sun ever slowly makes its appearance. It was that time, and despite everything going better before you went to bed, you found yourself filled with terrible dread.
Why? You thought you were ready. But for some reason, the thought of losing Chrysalis, losing Twilight, or things falling apart in general wouldn’t stop dancing in your mind. You thought you’d be able to handle this like a pro, but the feeling you were going to make some sort of mistake was torturing your very soul.
You could just stay in bed, not worry about it, but then what would Chrysalis do? What if this was the last day she had to execute her plan, and you not being there meant her end as she just waited for you to arrive. It made you shiver to know your inaction could be even worse than taking action.
You had to get up, get ready, and just go.
You slowly squirm and wiggle out of Fluttershy’s embrace, not wanting to wake her, and hop off the bed. You take your saddle bag, wanting to be ready in case anything bad happened. Your horn, you had to deplete your three charges now, just in case Chrysalis pulled some bullshit and said something like “YOU FOOL! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU HONESTLY TRUSTED ME! HOW NAIVE!”. Or some shit like that.
You put on your horn, and use your charges to produce a scroll that never stopped floating and another to produce a quill of ever changing color. Dumb items for sure, but you’d use them to leave a note for Fluttershy and-
“Anon?” You hear, a whisper behind you.
Shit! You look behind yourself to see Fluttershy on the bed, turned to face you, a worried and tired look on her face. “Aunt Fluttershy? You’re awake.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Mhmm, it is the morning. And… Well, I really couldn’t sleep with you shaking like that. At first, I thought you were cold. But then I realized you were worried, and I tried to think of something to tell you to help you calm down, but then I thought if I held you close, you’d feel safe.”
Mmmm… “Sorry, Aunt Fluttershy, I didn’t mean to worry you like that.”
“Oh no no!” Fluttershy quickly hopped out of bed to give you a comforting snuggle “Don’t apologize over something like that, never apologize for something like that. You’re family, no matter what, so if I worry about you, it’s because I care about you.”
Fluttershy… “I… I know. I just, I dunno, I thought this would be easier. I guess I’m just worried that something bad is going to happen. I didn’t even think I’d be scared like this, it seemed so much easier when I thought whatever plan she might have was going to be easy to thwart.”
“Well, who said it wouldn’t be? I know, deep deep down, that Chrysalis cares about you. If anypony can stop her, it’ll be you. Why, I bet she’ll come around before she even decides to leave her home.” Fluttershy said, trying to cheer you up. “I bet we don’t have to prepare at all.”
Did she really mean that? Wait, no, you knew this trope. Still, it felt calming to you to just hear that from her, so you held back from asking if she truly meant it. “You’re probably right. I know her inside and out, and there is no possible way she can get close to Twilight. I don’t even think she could get to the town. I mean, if I’m with her, I could just alert everypony anyway. Yeah… If she wants me to be there, whatever cover she has would be blown anyway. Woah…” Holy shit, how did you not even consider that?
Fluttershy too, seemed astonished. “That’s right. Um, maybe she really has no plan after all. It seems so odd to involve you, even more than before. Even if you didn’t stop her, you could still tell us where she is so we can instead.” Fluttershy then giggled at the thought. “I think that might be it. Oh my, I might have to prepare something for her to show her we don’t mean any harm.”
“Well, I know when it comes to physical food, she can eat popcorn and lasagna. So, yeah, that’s something. But, uh, just in case, let’s just stick with the plan. I just used two of my charges, and I’m going to use my third one to teleport to her house. It’s still possible she might try to get away from me so she can get at Twilight.” You explain.
“Two of your charges? Oh my, do you think she might try to take the horn from you?” Fluttershy asked, worried.
“She says she doesn’t need it, but just in case, I’m making sure it’s useless to her. Diamond said I should be careful, to not underestimate her.” You really had to consider her words now. You can’t make a single mistake.
Fluttershy nodded. “A good idea. But are you really sure she can’t hurt you? I swear, even though I want her to be good, if she touches a single hair on you, I’ll do something really bad to her. I-I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s something I wouldn’t approve of.”
Heh, that made you wonder what she would have done to the Storm King if she actually managed to get her hooves on him. “She can’t, she can’t hurt anypony but Twilight, so I’ll be fine. Besides, if anything does go super wrong, I’ll call Dad as a last resort.”
Fluttershy seemed to be relieved by those words. “Good, I know your father can protect you in ways I couldn’t. I-I just hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“It won’t…” You move up to Fluttershy to give her a hug, something she returns before giving you a kiss on the forehead. “I love you, Aunt Fluttershy. I’ll see you soon, ok? And I’ll have a big sister right behind me.”
“Anon, my little gentlecolt.” Fluttershy said, still worried, but doing her best to seem calm as to not to worry you. “I love you too. You be careful, ok?”
“I will. Seeya soon, promise!” You say with a salute, as you vanish.
All three charges used. You really hoped her plan involved the horn, it’d make it easier to stop her, just because you wouldn’t have to worry about anything else.
You appear in front of her door, nothing seeming amiss so far. You take a deep breath, and start to knock. “Chrysalis? It’s me, Anon, I’m here to see your evil plan.”
It took her no time to speak, it seemed she was waiting for you, waiting for the very moment you knocked on her door. “The door is unlocked, Anon. Please, come in.” She sounded pretty jovial, was she that excited to show you her plan?
“Alright…” You take another breath, and step inside to the main hall. “Chrysalis?” You looked around, she wasn’t at the top of the stairs, nowhere in the hall itself, nor was she creeping around on the ceiling or walls behind you. “Chrysalis?”
“I can hear you, Anon. Be patient, I want to make a grand entrance. Trust me, you’ll find it very ‘cool’, as you’d say.” She said, ominously, her voice echoing from someplace.
“...Is that a pun? Is the house going to turn to ice or something?” Crap, she got ice powers?! That isn’t good! Did she make a plan with the windigos? Is that even possible?!
Suddenly, she began to yell angrily. “A pun?! Do you think so low of me to think I’d make a pun like that?! Anon, I am a sophisticated queen with sophisticated tastes! Ah…” Suddenly, you heard her go from angry, to snickering once more. “But, I won’t allow it to annoy me. I won’t allow you to infect me with ‘your’ friendship like those ponies have infected you. Are you ready, Anon?”
As she spoke, the main hall began to grow darker, you didn’t notice, but black tree roots were twisting around the windows, covering them, as the ground began to shake, giant roots bursting through the ground around you, bursting through the ceiling. You were stunned alright, you couldn’t even move. What?! You looked down to see roots growing around your legs, until they were locked in place. What in the fuck?! “What?! What is this?!”
Then the laughing came, The roots that burst through the ceiling began to come back down, shaped like a throne as Chrysalis sat upon it, cackling. “My new power, Anon. From somepony I can consider a real friend.” Chrysalis said with a dark chuckle as the throne lowered down in front of you. She hopped off to look down at you with an evil smirk. “I bet you weren’t expecting this.”
No, you fucking weren’t! “What is this?! Is this the power of the fucking Everfree?! How?! Ngh!” But then, those words. ‘Consider a real friend’. “Chrysalis, what in the fuck are you doing?!”
“Truthfully? Nothing. Like I said, this all comes from one I can consider my true friend. Somepony who enjoys everything I enjoy, including my lust for revenge.” Chrysalis snickered, then, almost giddily, began to speak in a sing song fashion. “Guess who it is! Come on, guess! You know you want toooo guuuesssss.”
Oh god… Maybe it really was… Maybe the Storm King was right… And you just… You didn’t see it.
“C-Cozy Glow?” Who else could it be? It pained you to say that, considering what she’s been through, and how nice she was. But, you truly somehow couldn’t let his words go. Fuck, and yet you did nothing to stop it! FUCK! CHRYSALIS HAS THE STAFF!
“Who?” Chrysalis said in confusion. “What kind of stupid name is that?”
Wut?
“You… Aren’t doing this with a chaos staff?” Ok, so now you had to consider yourself a dumbass for even guessing that. But if it wasn't Cozy Glow, and it wasn’t the staff, then what was it?
“Ugh, always a mood killer.” Chrysalis says as she rolls her eyes. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter anymore. You don’t matter anymore. Anon, allow me to introduce you to… My friend.” Chrysalis stepped aside as the throne began to open up, a small figure jumping down from it with an evil smirk. That pony, you… what?! It was… You?! “Anon.” Chrysalis said as she began to cackle once more.
“Uh, really? I thought we agreed on Dark Anon.” The other you said. Indeed, this Anon. His eyes, crueller looking, his colors were darker, his teeth were somehow sharper, and his cutie mark… It was a twisted looking version of your own. And on top of his head? A horn?! This one, it was different, it was black, twisted, like the roots around you. What in the goddamn...
“Are you seriously going to ruin my moment with that nonsense? Why do you insist on that stupid name?” Chrysalis said, her mood immediately destroyed once again, this time by the aggravated evil you.
“Because it sounds cooler. Like, the dark version of anything always gets the ladies, and the shipping, and the better fan art. No one is going to call me ‘Anon’, that'd be fucking dumb. That’s like calling Wario Mario, it’s stupid and just doesn’t work.” The evil you said, rolling his eyes at Chrysalis.
Chrysalis groaned as she brought her hoof to her forehead. “Great… A minute in and I already regret everything.”