//------------------------------// // Memoirs of a Fleeting Heart // Story: To Glory // by Quantum Solace //------------------------------// To Glory Chapter III Memoirs of a Fleeting Heart We stood, frozen in horror, as the Queen of Changelings descended from her perch on a large chair and trotted towards us at a luxurious pace. She radiated such power, as her eyes literally glowed. This was not the feeble Queen who had attacked our home so long ago; this was the queen in her prime. We lowered ourselves into a defensive stance, readying ourselves for an attack. We heard the crackle of Chrysalis’ odd laughter, and our coat bristled in anger. “Come now princess,” she said, “I wouldn't have ordered Judgment to free you, if I had intentions to kill you myself, now would I?” Unfortunately,  the horror did indeed have a point. However, we were speaking to the Queen of deception and trickery! We did not intend to be fooled as we were when she invaded. “We dost not know how thee twisted mind works,” we spat in response, “But we are not  to be fooled by thee again.” We turned our attention to our horn, focusing on it as hard as possible. There was a flicker, and suddenly, electricity surged through it, arcing over our body. Our powers had returned to us! It filled our body with warm magic, closing the old scars and small cuts that we had received our previous engagement. The Changeling Queen looked thoroughly perplexed, as if she did not expect for us to return at full power. Her loss, our gain. We raised ourselves on our back hooves, and worked out a simple spell. Our horn glowed, and the room filled with the smell of ozone, as we fired a burst of lightning at the Queen. Unfortunately, It did not make contact. Moving with an incredibly speed for his size, the white furred dragon moved in a blur before the Changeling Queen. The twin horns atop his head began to glow bright and a large burning white shield was conjured. Our mouth almost crashed to the floor again as the shield distributed our magic around it, rendering that blast absolutely useless. This was... new. Standing challengingly before us was a dragon working magic, previously capable only for a unicorn or an alicorn! It was unheard of! This was not how things worked! But you have been gone for several months, came a voice in her mind. Things have changed. For the time being, we ignored the familiar pony speaking in our mind, and narrowed our eyes at the dragon. “Begone!” we growled, “It is not thy place to meddle.” The Dragon returned our offensive growl with an a lot more menacing growl of it’s own. “Your majesty, Princess Luna, Queen Chrysalis has worked very hard to save your life. We are all among friends here, however,” his shield dropped and he took a threatening forwards, “That may change quickly.” Our heart skipped a beat. Although our power had returned, getting in a fight was probably not the smartest move we could make. “Art thou threatening us?” We asked boldly. We were aware of a slight quiver in it, and by the dragon’s expression, it was aware of it was well. “You were taken in, half dead, by her orders,” he moved aside so he could point a claw at the impassive Chrysalis standing behind him, “You were fed, and taken care of, and healed, and one of the first things you decided to do was attack the one who made it all possible, in her own home.” He seemed to stress the last part a bit more than needed. We were suddenly consumed with shame. Although our desire for revenge was great, this dragon made us feel... ashamed we suppose. His voice softened, as if he could read our mind. “I understand that you are confused right now princess, but striking out blindly isn’t the smart play here.” “My apologies,” we muttered. “We were... mistaken.” We looked up to find that dragon smiling at us broadly. That irked us enough to send a glare his way. He snorted as he walked in our direction. We flinched back as he walked closer, but he merely whispered, “My goodness, if looks could kill,” in our ear, before lying down close to us. We flinched away again, but lowered our flank to the ground, mimicking Chrysalis before us, who was also sitting. “Now then,” Chrysalis drawled, “Now that we are all warm and cozy, you are obviously wondering why I decided to save you.” We nodded earnestly. “Well I don't care.” She snorted. “You will find out soon enough, but first, I am going to ask you some simple questions, and I want you to answer them.” Our ears flicked. To what purpose did this serve? Answering questions? The rational side of our mind was teeming with ideas. Maybe we were just a source from information to her? Did she think we knew of secrets that our sister had? However, another side of our mind... was silent. Silent in the way that it knew what she was going to ask. It was not comforting. “Which do you favor most, pie, or cake?” We stared at her. We almost assumed it was a joke. However, her piercing green eyes were scathing our own with it’s gaze. She was completely serious. ‘Well... cake we suppose?” I said in confusion. Chrysalis shared an odd glance with Judgment. “Very well.” Chrysalis said slowly. “What is your favorite game?” These questions are ridiculous. “I do not care for games.” we responded hotly, “What purpose do these increasingly ludicrous questions serve?” We glanced at the dragon to our left, then to the Changeling Queen, to find that they were both staring at us with equally surprised expressions. “One final question.” Chrysalis supplied, ignoring our outburst,  “What did you do in the week before you were banished to the moon for a thousand years.” “We-” we paused, “We believe our-” we thought hard; we could not remember what we did preceeding our banishment. Come to think of it, we could not seem to remember any specific events in general that preceded our lunar banishment. Our childhood with Celestia, any of our court orders, our education; none of it came to mind, as if it had been stripped from our mind. We began to hyperventilate. “Our memories!” we exclaimed, “What has happened to them!?” we rounded on Chrysalis, “Remove thy curse from our mind! This is your villainous  handiwork at play!” The Changeling Queen sat, saying nothing, but gave us a look that made us shrink back. There was an ominous silence for a moment, before Chrysalis spoke again. “No, I have nothing to do with your memories. That reeks or Celestia.”                 Our heart gave a little twinge at our sisters name. “What dost... that pony... have to do with our sudden memory loss?” “One of the many inventions that Princess Twilight Sparkle created,” Judgment explained, “Was a type of machine that allowed a pony to manipulate others memories. Really, right now it can only allow others to view them, or make a pony forget them. But in theory, it should allow one to completely control another pony through their minds. The Solar Empire has been using it to look at others memories and extract information from them.”                 “Which means,” Chrysalis summarized, “The Solar Empire knows what we’re up to. Well, may the goddesses rape me with their forehooves!... Not literally.” she added quickly before we could voice our opinions on the matter. “We need to begin moving now. Are you ready for the mission Judgment?”            “Of course Chrysalis, but is she ready?”            “We don’t have time for Luna to make a full recovery. We must have her move before the Solar Empire puts two and two together.”                 We were utterly confused. “Wait!” we said to the bickering duo, “What do you mean the Empire knows of your plans? What plans? What is so important about my memories? And what makes thou think I will do anything for thee?” Our bombardment of questions was returned with shared glances, and a sly smile from Chrysalis.                 “Your memories,” she said slowly, “Are vitally important. Also it just so happens that I know some of the important parts that the Solar Empire is after.”                 “How dost thou know?!” we demanded hotly, “What are they?!”                 Chrysalis’ grin grew wider. “Oh, of course I’ll tell you.. but first, I’d like you to... do me a little favor.”                 Beside us, Judgment gave a sigh. “Chrysalis, I’m still not sure shes ready for this type of-”                 “Fine.” we said abruptly, interrupting the white behemoth, who whipped around to glare at us. This dragon was not allowed to dictate if we were ready to do anything or not. We strode up to Chrysalis, who got to her hooves, probably in case we attempted to shoot her again. “What is the nature of this mission?"                 Chrysalis grinned gleefully, her wings buzzing as she took to the air. We watched as she hit a few buttons on a dashboard. The multiple screens flickered out, then relit themselves, collectively featuring a sense that appeared to us like if should be from some sci-fi horror movie mix. An ominous obsidian black castle with sleek black walls, was perched on a rocky cliff, and was completely surrounded by a blue field of flickering blue energy. We could just make the small meandering shapes of our sisters guards. “This,” Chrysalis explained, ‘Is our old home at Blackrock, now named the Lunar Asylum, a joke insulting your banishment perhaps. It is the most secure prison in all of Equestria, and holds only a single prisoner. I want you to go in, wreck havoc, and release that single prisoner. Then bring him back here.”                 We considered this. We needed our memories back. The changeling seemed legitimate; and the dragon... we paused and glanced at him, finding that he was also glancing at us. As we looked at each other, I could see a turmoil emotions  in his eyes; hope, pain, and longing for forgiveness; And fear. A fear of us-- no, for us. This was confusing. We once again found ourselves reflecting back on our escape. Judgment the Dragon had saved our life from a mental institute, where we had been a prisoner of our own mind for almost a year. He had risked his life for us. We believe it’s safe to assume that he is a moderate ally in the least. We turned our stare to the Changeling Queen. We opened our mouth to give her an answer, but she answered before we could make the words escape from our mouth. “Good,” she said, her wings taking her into the air again,  “Of course, I will hand over some fine resources, and Judgment will be accompanying you.” Somehow, the thought of the dragon by our side made us feel warm and protected inside. We could not explain it, and yet we felt our heart flutter a bit. We scowled at ourselves inwardly.  Romance wasn’t something we enjoyed. Being able to dream-walk had made us quite keen to what happens in the night, and we were not just about ready to experience it. Either way, we’d just met the furry mass. No such things as feelings that face. perhaps we had a heart condition? We made a mental note to inquire later.                 We were shaken from our thoughts when Chrysalis dropped three items before us: the first was a saddle pack bulging with... whatever was in it. The next vaguely resembled a  long, flat, rectangular watch, or a hoof band to be worn on our hooves. The third item definitely caused our feathers to quiver. It was a rather long, large, magical rifle looking weapon. It glowed an ominous orange color as we inspected it. We could tell which side was the barrel, but we could see hole to allow a bullet to pass through. When we levitated it, the orange veins of power began to change color to match the shade of our coat. "What is it?” we asked in awe, rotating it around to that we could get a better look. “It’s a  Z-750 Special Application Sniper Rifle, known more commonly as the Binary Rifle. It includes two core-mounted particle accelerators with unparallel stopping power to bring down distant foes with one shot. The shot, when inflicted on an enemy, causes them to disintegrate. It also has two zoom modes to fulfill its purpose as a long range precision rifle. You can mess with these zoom settings with the-” She stopped at our blank expressions. “It’s basically a long range magical sniper rifle,” She sighed. “And it has a chance to disintegrate targets on hit.” Our gleeful grin must have scared her, for we noticed she gave a slight shiver. Our eyes were drawn to a small engraving on the rear of the weapon: an upside-down crescent moon with wings sprouting from its sides. A memory sparked into our mind, but it faded as we attempted to grasp it. We turned to butt of the gun to face chrysalis. “What is this?’ we inquired. Chrysalis gave it a side long glance. “Oh, it’s just a-” She froze, staring at the symbole. A tornado of afflictions tore through her eyes as they glued themselves to the mark. Slowly, her eyes turned to Judgment, who was nonchalantly glaring back at her. We looked between the two’s staring battle before Chrysalis broke off, and turned back to us. “It’s... nothing important. Just a little indent of it’s previous owner.” So, even the Changeling Queen couldn't lie out of everything. We added another mental note to press her for information later. “The saddle pack is filled with food, and ammunition. “Chrysalis said moving on. “There are a few healing potions, and thats just about it.” “Then what is this?” we asked, nudging the final contraption at our feet. Chrysalis opened her mouth to respond, then shut it, grinning at us. “Put it on. You’ll find out eventually.” We obeyed, slipping on the band. It was made of a cool metal, and it slipped cleanly onto our hooves. There was a sharp click, and it tightened. Our cutie mark then appeared on it’s screen, before it winked back into blackness. We stared at it for a second, before levitating the saddle bags onto our back, and pushing the rifle in between the straps. "What happens now?” We asked. “Now,” the dragon said, finally standing, “I get my gear. Meanwhile, I think it’s time you caught up with an old friend.” Chrysalis nodded in agreement. An old friend? As far as we were concerned, we had no friends. A few Allies, but no pony to really call a “friend,” even in the loosest sense of the words. However, Chrysalis indeed pressed a button on her obscenely large dashboard, and the door behind us creaked open. We turned, slightly afraid at what we might see. Our jaw was once again scraping the floor as we looked into the familiar purple eyes of a pink alicorn, with a crystal heart cutie mark. A long thin sword hung soundly beneath her wing, and she had old battle scars marring her face, but somehow not marring her beauty. “P-Princess Cadence!?”