It had been the dead of night after Arachnis and Zoey’s skirmish at Cozy’s new castle, they both knew they had become targets now. As such, they trekked for another three hours on top of the two hours they had spent simply distancing themselves from Cozy. They knew her dangerous potential more than most people did, and they knew to stay as far away as possible. They decided to make camp in the deepest parts of a nearby forest. It was now morning, and Zoey awoke to the sun’s warm glare. She felt so much better now that she had time to rest her body. Her muscles, while deeply sore, felt much better than they did last night. She looked to Arachnis, who was sleeping inside a translucent bubble he had conjured for himself. Zoey closely examined the restful half-changeling.
“He’s so peaceful when he’s sleeping.” She thought. “It’s…almost cute.”. Zoey now had a small blush forming on her face. After some fantasizing, she eventually stopped her mind from going to unsanctioned places. She refocused herself and tapped Arachnis’ bubble with her pitchfork. “Arachnis…yo, Arachnis. Wake up will ya!”. Arachnis’ eyes fluttered open before he deactivated the bubbles and stood. “I’m up, I’m up. So how far are we from Ponyville?” He asked? “Actually, we aren’t far at all. This is a neighboring forest to Ponyville actually. Ponies don’t really come here at night, which made it a good place to rest. We just gotta head…this way!” Zoey exclaimed while pointing westward. She fluttered her wings and hovered ever so close to the ground. “Ready?” She asked. “Ready.” Said Arachnis.
And so they continued their journey to Ponyville. As time went on, Zoey wondered more and more about Arachnis. As a matter of fact, he’s been the only thing on her mind as of late. At first she found it a bit weird for her to think about her superior so much, but it took her mind off grieving for Zack and Zane, so she allowed her mind to go places, but not too far. She felt it was dishonorable to think lewd or inappropriate about him. After all, he was still her prince, and in her eyes, a valuable pony in her life. Now that she thought on it more, she didn’t think Arachnis would be so up in arms about a few questions about himself.
Finally finding the courage to speak, she took a deep breath and ventured outside her comfort zone. “So uh..Arachnis? How was life in the hive before the whole Chrysalis situation?” Asked Zoey with a profuse blush on her face. Arachnis gazed at her, almost confused as to where the question came from, and what she might be getting at. Nonetheless, he answered. “Well, it wasn’t terrible. Chrysalis fed me well, royal situations were relatively easy to deal with, and…well just having power over others was, kind of fun in a sense.” He replied. Zoey was a bit surprised, not at Chrysalis being a good parent (for the most part anyway), nor was it how easily he dealt with the royal side of life, but about him saying that having royal power was somewhat fun to him. She never really heard him describe something he does as fun. Then again she thought it a common characteristic of a prince to deeply enjoy their power, so she thought nothing more of it. “Uhm..oh! As a little filly, did Chrysalis ever-“.
“Shh!” Arachnis said, pulling Zoey up and into a tree, cutting Zoe’s off mid-sentence. Initially, she was going to ask why. Then she looked down, and got her answer. They both saw a pegasus mare with a light pink mane that covered one of her eyes and pale coat. She was happily humming and trotting along with a basket full of fruits in her mouth. She stopped next to a large bush of multiple types of berries. She sat her basket down and began to pick any berries she saw fit to take. “Hopefully I’m able to get this to Pinky before night.” She said. Her voice was very soft and low in volume, like a nervous pony speaking publicly. Zoey looked at Arachnis, who was staring intently at the seemingly harmless mare. She was about to verbalize her inquiry, but Arachnis gave the answer right then and there. “I’ve…seen this mare before. Chrysalis showed me…”.
Arachnis’ mind went back, way back. Back to a time where he didn’t have much worries with being a prince, that his only responsibility was himself, and nothing else. He was in his mother’s room, and she had a hexagonal graph in front of him. On each corner, was a symbol; a purple star, pink butterflies, . Each symbol was worn by a mare that occupied the corners. Chrysalis levitated it for Arachnis to see. “Arachnis. These six mares all hold a powerful force called and ‘element’. When they come together, they form the Elements of Harmony. These six are what stand in our way from expanding our empire. These are our enemies.” Chrysalis explained. Arachnis grew a cocky smile on his face and said “One day, I’ll be just as strong as them. I’ll be able to beat them all!”. Chrysalis gave a chuckle, and levitated Arachnis onto her back. “Mommy believes in you, my little June bug.“ Chrysalis charismatically said.
Arachnis had to stop himself from playing back those old memories. He didn’t wish to cry, at least not in front of anyone. “That mare…is an Element of Harmony…” He said. Zoey looked to him with a confused expression. “What’s..an Element of Harmony?” She asked. “It means she holds a powerful force inside her. Though, now that I’m thinking, she doesn’t look like she has much power at all. No horn, but has wings…”. Arachnis began to slowly think inside his head as opposed to thinking out loud. “Should we engage?” Zoey asked. Arachnis thought for a while, until his eyes opened a bit wider, signaling to Zoey that he had a plan. “Remember how I might’ve taken Cozy’s abilities? I might be able to mind control her. Then we can go from there.” He said. “Alright, go for it.” She said enthusiastically. Arachnid made a successful attempt at activating the copied magic. His horn flared up, but not in red. Instead, it glowed pink, and within a few seconds, the pale pegasus froze in place. Her eyes went from expressive to lifeless as she succumbed to the mind control.
The pink-haired mare looked up at Zoey, and gave a nod. Zoey then flew down with an excited expression. “Wow! You did it.” She said. Arachnis spoke from the mare’s mouth, and our came a very soft voice. “Yeah. I didn’t know Cozy was able to control speaking as well. I see what she sees, and can look into her memories. Apparently, this mare’s name is Fluttershy, and she’s the element of kindness. She….has memories of Chrysalis, but they’re all fuzzy. We might actually be able to find some things about her if we find the others.” He explained. He turned to walk in the direction from whence Fluttershy had originally came, but Zoey tugged at his tail. “She probably came from Ponyville, in which case, I’m not gonna let you go on your own. I’ll stay in the air, and swoop in if things get hairy.” She said. Arachnis wanted Zoey to stay where she might’ve been out of danger, but he knew that Zoey was capable of taking cer of herself and even then, she wouldn’t take no for an answer, especially it’s is about protecting him. It was what she was hired by Chrysalis to do after all. “Alright, fine. Just try not to attract attention.” Arachnis said.
Ponyville came into view as a controlled Fluttershy and a zeta changeling stood at the exit of the forest. Arachnis gave a nod to Zoey, and she flapped her wings, and ascended into the air until she was barely visible. Arachnis then looked forward, and ventured into uncharted territory. He has never seen so many ponies in one place before. He was a bit shocked to see how lively and colorful Ponyville was. Almost every pony he passed by waved at him, and he reluctantly waved back to all of them. He could tell that Fluttershy was well known here. As he explored the town, he looked into her memories and searched them for where the other elements are, or might be.
With most memories being blurry to Arachnis, he struggled to find one that could be a lead. Eventually, he saw trying to master this power right then and there would be too difficult and time consuming, he began to simply search through the town manually, by himself. Even though he was controlling another pony’s body, Arachnis felt heavily nervous around others ponies, insecure almost. He wondered what they would think or say had he not been using mom control. He began to over analyze, thinking for the worst when he conjured scenarios in his head. He was now in his own world, only being occupied by his mind rather than looking for the other elements. He began to wander, not fully conscious of where he was going, nor why he would go there. All sounds were blocked out to him, with the only voice he could hear being one in his head. It sounded identical to that of Fluttershy, but it sounded more intimidated and scared rather than shy and bashful.
“W-who are you! Get out my head, please! W-what have I ever done to you!” The voice yelled. Its pitch was high, but it wasn’t what snapped Arachnis out of his daydreams. It was the voice’s words that got to him. Arachnis slowly felt himself being pulled from Fluttershy’s mind, a sign that he couldn’t keep up the kind control for much longer. He looked all round him, and eventually saw a peculiar treehouse. On its door, was a painted star in purple and white. Nearly a second later, and Arachnis found himself back in the forest. Zoey noticed quickly, as she saw Fluttershy suddenly collapse. She flew back to the forest as fast as she could.
Zoey found Arachnis slumped by a tree stump, catching his breath. Zoey descended to him, resting a hand around his shoulder. “Hey, you ok Arachnis? What happened?” She asked. “I was in her head, but she fought back. I don’t have full masterly of Cozy's magic, so I came up short.” He said almost weakly. “Did you find anything before that though?” Zoey asked. “Yeah. I know exactly where we need to go now.”.