Chrysalis and the Cipher
Several days passed and Luna and Bill continued to have their little meetings on the side, though, many of them were less dangerous as their first outing into the Mindscape together.
They went on a whole bunch of various other adventures within the Mindscape, but this time Bill was more aware of his surroundings than just picking a planet at random for them to enjoy themselves on. He created duplicate versions of himself that he sent down to make sure that nothing would be able to interrupt them this time.
They surfed on the waves of an exploding supernova, swam through the rivers of the world of the dead, and even had a game of chess with a Sumerian god, Gozer, itself, with the backdrop of a world in flames…
… That one was admittedly a little too weird…Even for Bill, not least because Gozer existed thousands of years ago and this was just a dream, but also because Gozer was in the form of what Bill had explained to her as being Humanoid, a creature from his home dimension.
However, it was the actual form of Gozer that confused her. Why was a gender-specific creature like Gozer in the form of a Humanoid female (seemingly) wearing slimy clothing, -?
… It wasn’t until Bill explained it to her did she finally understand. She was still confused, but understood…a little.
*****
Back in Changeling Kingdom, life continued like it always had with the Changelings always searching for other viable sources of love to feed on.
At the center of the Changeling Empire was the capital castle where future Queen Chrysalis’s mother ruled the entire empire. Every day news was delivered there at the castle about the constant updates relating to the matters taking place beyond the empire borders.
Far, far, far into the distance, a bright light emanated from beyond the horizon. Changelings looked to it, wondering endlessly what the strange lights were, -
…though, no one would actually dare to venture there.
Not least because of the dark clouds lingering above the area where this was taking place, but because ghostly shapes had been flying towards it. Their ghostly mist trailing behind them as they flew towards the ever-present green glow. The ground shook violently with tremors as if the very earth, itself, was coming to life.
The incredible thirst for answers as to what was causing the bright glow was one that every living creature, not just the Changelings, wanted to quench, but the fear of what lay beyond the horizon was unfortunately the thing that held them back, preventing them from going any further than they already had.
… They should have then just been fortunate that whatever was happening beyond the horizon did not reach them…yet.
*****
With the castle, inside her private room Chrysalis was sitting atop her bed in a bored state, lazily supporting her head by her hooves since there was nothing else for her to do at the moment.
Letting out a loud groan in annoyance she continually shifted back and forth on the bed. She rolled around atop her bed, unable to get into a spot that was comfortable nor even enjoyable, there wasn’t much else to do when there wasn’t anything for her to do.
Laying down with her head on her pillow she exhales a bored sigh, staring blankly up at the ceiling above her.
With a gentle turn of her head, she looks out to her left, staring silently at the small triangle form of glass. Her eyes blinking as they watched small grains of sand moving up from the ground, almost like the grains of an hour-glass…but in reverse, as they were instead moving back up.
Scoffing at it, she stood up on the bed, jumping back down onto the ground, immediately starting for the door to her room.
She picks up the glass triangle and levitates it along beside her as she trotted across the floor. With a deadpanned monotone stare mounted on her face, she used her magic to open the door, making her way out into the hallway rather quick for a filly her size.
As she wandered down through the large hollow hallways of her mother’s castle, she could not keep her eyes from wandering back to the triangle. Unable to look away from it, and the weirdness that was taking place contained within the glass casing.
“Mother would probably know what to make of you…At the very least she will be able to explain what this thing Bill Cipher gave me is” she said to herself while using her magic to move it around in front of her face as she walked so she could constantly get better glances at its strange shape, -
…but whenever she would look in through a triangle from another angle she always saw a different image in each one. The reverse sand grains could only be seen from specific angles.
She didn’t try to look for long in either of the other triangular ‘’windows’’ because what she saw on the other side of the glass were all kinds of horrific nightmares…Some she couldn’t bring herself to want to try bringing back up in her mind on for too long since they had been quite gruesome and she didn’t have any desires of seeing them for longer than was necessary.
Upon arriving at the doors of her mother’s throne room, she inhaled a soft breath before stepping inside.
The door creaked open, causing the inhabitants that were on the inside to have their attention be drawn towards the loud door that was being pushed open.
Seeing the small figure step into the throne room brought a smile to her mother’s face. Especially when she noticed the class triangle suspended in midair. Her smile grew even wider at that big detail.
Her guards ignored the arrival of the Changeling Princess, instead resuming their duties as they stood motionless in place.
Crossing the hall at an albeit slow pace Chrysalis wore a serious stare on her face as she watched her mother’s throne getting closer and closer with every step she took on the red carpet that reached all the way up to the two giant doors behind her.
Upon finally reaching her mother’s throne she raised her head so she was facing her mother. The only thing she could explicitly on her face in terms of emotions was a warm smile that was greeting her daughter as warmly as she could.
“Chrysalis,” Pollus stated. “Beloved daughter of mine, what has earned your kind visit?”
Chrysalis turned her head, looking straight at the triangle, following it as her magic levitated it up to her mother, whose own aura of magic grabbed hold of the triangle, lifting it up into the air, and suspending it in front of her face. Her eyes staring back at the transparent reflection in the glass, catching glimpses of grains of sand floating back up instead of down.
“I want to know what this thing does...I am bored that I’d like to do something, anything” Chrysalis said.
Her mother looked away from the triangle back down to her daughter, and then back towards the cube, and then back towards Chrysalis again.
Chrysalis only blinked back at her mother continued exchanges back between her and the triangle.
She scoffed softly at it. Her eyes may be looking at the triangle, but her was staring back down at Chrysalis.
“Yes, I’ve heard about things like this before–…” her eyes were guided back to look down at Chrysalis.
“… but I’ve never actually seen one in action. I’ve heard that all you have to do is put it down on the floor.”
Chrysalis raised a confused brow at what her mother was telling her, but she still complied, giving a gentle nod of her head.
She gently put the triangle down on the floor and looked back up at her mother.
“Okay, now what?”
“Hmm,” Pollus thought, giving off a thoughtful look as she brought a hoof up, holding it underneath her chin.
Her thought-filled eyes looked up from the floor, staring back at Chrysalis with more open eyes.
“Shatter it.”
Pollus’ instruction hit the filly like a brick, surprising her, and causing her to look back up at her mother with a puzzled look, scrunching back at her with a disapproving frown of the idea of stepping on glass.
“You want me to what?” her vocal response was.
This made her mother chuckle, showing an obvious sign of this when her serious face that changed to a sudden (and poorly done) repressed smile.
“Not you…Just break it with something.”
This immediately cleared it up, as evidenced when Chrysalis responded with a, “Ohhhhh…”
Outside the castle, the ghostly forms of mist suddenly stopped in mid-air, turning towards the castle of the Changelings, looking at it for a few seconds as they could sense…something behind those walls.
Something very powerful was behind those walls, but they dared not to go any further. Turning away, they floated away from the castle, heading out their original headings.
Using her magic Chrysalis’s mother summoned up a dark crystal for her to use to shatter the glass shape.
Holding it with her own magic Chrysalis could not help but give off confused glances back up at her mother and the triangle that was placed on the floor.
“A-are you certain that is what I’m supposed to do?”
She questioned her mother since her uncertainty was being quite dominant in her decisions right now.
After exchanging confused glances between her mother and the triangle she finally raised it up above her head.
She managed to hold it in place for a while, only staring back down at the triangle, her holding on it, before she eventually brought the crystal down with a sharp thrust, instantly shattering the triangle.
The top portion of the triangle was left exposed with evident damage to its top portion.
Slowly, Chrysalis stepped towards it, nervously leaning her head down to look inside it, but inside the triangle was…nothing.
It was empty.
She looked up at her mother with a raised brow, giving off a confused look as she was puzzled by how nothing was happening.
“Mother, I don’t thin-...”
…but before she could continue that sentence a burst of light shot out from the cracked triangle.
Catching Chrysalis, her mother and everyone by surprise, causing them to flinch at its sudden light!
Chrysalis especially immediately started to back away from it, fearful of what might happen if she gets too close to the broken triangle, and especially the light.
The light starts dying down, but that only made it take on a physical form, as while the light’s intensity was reduced, a ball of light and energy floated up into the air from the broken top triangles top.
However, it just hung there in the air, hovering suspended in mid-air above its former casing.
Chrysalis, her mother, and everyone else present had their eyes almost glued to the sphere, staring at it with wide-eyed stares of amazement at the ball of energy’s unexpected appearance.
“Touch it.”
Entranced by the sphere and beckoned even more by her mother’s suggestion to touch it, she slowly raised a hoof up, extending it out towards the sphere to touch it.
She gently touched the orb, but fortunately her hoof was prevented from going any deeper into the sphere, just being able to gently touch its surface.
It started to float up into the air, -
…but instead of doing nothing a sudden shockwave shot out from it, -
…and within a single second the shockwave moved out across the room, instantly changing everything about it within what would be the equivalent of one of the heartbeats that was in a minute.
Everything in front of her line of vision changes, transforming the dark-green slimy walls, floor, and ceiling into black stone with an almost rainbow-ish color outlines.
The room is dark, but somewhat illuminated due to a bright red light whose shadow has fallen upon her where she is standing on the floor.
“What the-…”
She questions as she turns around to see whatever is shining that light upon her, -
… However her eyes widen in sheer astonishment as she sees the source of the projected light.
Seeing what is behind her immediately causes her to flinch, almost jumping at the sight of a massive, red, stained-glass mural depicting an oval eye with a slit pupil. In front of it is what seems to be an elevated pedestal.
Nothing appears to be happening, -
…until a shape whooshed past her from behind.
Her attention was focused on the object, and after squinting her eyes narrowed them so she could get a better look of what it was.
“W-who is there?”
She called out towards the place where her ears had heard the sound.
However, nothing was there that she could see.
With gentle turns, she looked around her surroundings, staring up at the twisting forms of the ceiling, the odd and twisted architecture in general, and…just the weirdness that took place there in general.
There were several doorways on the normal ground, that was fine, but then there were also ones up on the ceiling. It looked like one of those paintings that she had heard so much about where the equestrians through that just by illustrating their artistry on a sheet of paper that it qualified as ‘’art’’. To her it just looked like the insane drawings of someone who clearly had waaaaay too much time on their hooves to be coming up with that stuff.
As her mind began thinking about other things with just as much ‘’creativity’’ put into them, -
…she failed to take notice of a figure that floated past her behind her back with no sound being made that her ears could pick up on.
The figure (seen to be a black silhouette) floated up from behind the elevated pedestal.
Putting its arms behind its back it was silent as it looked down at her, its shadow falling upon her as she was unaware of him hovering there atop the pedestal behind her.
With crossed eyes, she slowly turned her head to the side, looking out at the entire room to make certain that nothing was there in the room with her. She narrowed her eyes so there was no way that she would have possibly ignored anything.
“I know that there is something here.”
She guided her sight slightly upwards to the ceiling, staring up to where she had not been able to see what had been up there.
“My ears are never wrong, so whoever I heard trying to sneak up on me come out or face my wrath.” She spoke out into the room.
She received no response, aside from the ambient silence of the room she was in.
In a very silent manner the figure put its arms behind its back where it connected them, staring down at her in silence as she didn’t even seem to notice it being there.
“Hiya kiddo” a sudden voice spoke up from behind.
The sudden introduction of a voice was enough to make her jump in surprise in her spot, exclaiming as she reacted with the loudest and most terrified scream.
She instantly turned around, discharging a blast from her horn up at the origin-point where the voice had come from.
The blast shot through the air up towards the figure who only extended an arm, catching her energy with its hand, causing her to gasp when it happened.
It looked down at the ball of crackling energy, and with casual gentleness threw it away. The glass behind the figure pulled back, allowing the ball of energy to pass through it.
Outside the glass it fell till it reached a form of steel and exploded. Meanwhile the glass resealed itself back up.
Her brows jumped, startled at what it had so casually done with her given-form magic.
Putting its arm behind its back it just looked down at her in silence, an aura of menace falling over it.
*Gulp*
She swallowed down as she did not dare to break eye-contact with the figure. The figure just being silent and remaining motionless as it returned her stares.
Suddenly, it floated down from where it had been, moving towards the floor in front of her, to which she could only back away from it. Giving it room.
When its lazily, hanging limbs touched the floor it remained just as silent and motionless. Its eye remained transfixed on her where she was standing.
However, in a move that she never expected something this threatening and nerve-wracking to do it suddenly stood on its knee, bowing itself down in front of her in a respectful manner.
It was bowing to her!
“Welcome, your Highness.”
It said in an echoing voice that Chrysalis knew all too well, and instantly recognized from when she had heard it back in her mother’s throne room in the palace.
“Wait a minute, I know that voice.”
Hanging her head, she thought about it, and while she was doing trying to find the label that would better suit the silhouetted figure, -
…all while something was sneaking up on her from behind, its hands ready for whatever it was planning on doing.
Her head shot up, staring out at the silhouetted form with wide eyes as the name that she had been searching for finally came to her.
“Bill Cipher!” She said with an almost whispering tone in her voice.
*Poke*
*Loud horrified scream*
*Snapping of fingers*
*Poof*
“…AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
After having been poked on the back of her shoulder Chrysalis had the biggest freak-out she ever had, screaming like never seen, and instantly running around the room in wild panic.
Meanwhile, the two figures moved closer to each other, standing beside one another as they watched the insanity of the Changing princess freaking out the way she was.
Their eyes following her as she ran all around the room as if she was being chased by one’s worst nightmare.
She continued like this for five minutes straight before she, just lightly looking in their direction and noticing them watching her, she looked behind her, seeing that there was wasn’t anything there, and officially bringing this little moment of apparent ‘’hilarity’’ to an end.
Her previous look of pure terror contorted into an angry stare that she immediately directed towards the two figures standing idly by and watching her.
The veil that obstructed her from properly seeing the two figures was dropped, and their no-longer silhouetted forms were revealed to be that of the one that she had predicted it would be (based off its voice)
Her eyes widened as she saw her mother’s ‘’friend’’ standing beside his other identical clone, leaning against his clone, its arms crossed and just staring at her with such a casual mannerism.
Chuckling slightly one of the Bill’s stood back up-right, crossing its across, but she just groaned annoyed at it, rolling her eyes as she turned away from him, turning towards one of the hallways that lead out of this room. It was apparent that nothing was being achieved by hanging out here anymore.
When her back was turned to them all the way the Bill on the right (the one that had leaned against the other) raised a hand up, making it rotate 360 degrees.
The other Bill’s eye looked to his right, noticing the raised hand.
He gently raised his hand, clapping it against the already raised hand’s palm. The sound of it making Chrysalis stop in her place.
She would have looked behind her towards them, but decided against it since she knew that it would just be them rubbing their stupid scare of her in her face.
She just lightly shook her head and then resumed trotting towards the triangular doorway, all while the two Bill clones behind her disintegrated into blue mist that flew up towards the ceiling, passing the dark stones like a ghost.
Gently turning her head to look behind her she couldn’t see anything of the Bill clones or anyone for that matter.
She was (thankfully) alone.
Exhaling a sigh of relief, she conjured up a small smile now that she was free of Bill’s obnoxious voice.
*****
She continued down the triangular-shaped hallway, a look of determination on her face as she strode forward through the hallway.
Strange shapes could be seen all around the hallways, things looked like a mix between stained glass windows and crystal oval shapes could be seen on the walls in some parts, there were support beams in random places for no reason whatsoever, and then there was this room that resembled a giant black void filled with countless numbers of staircases going in random directions with glowing eye-shaped-windows placed in random places on the staircases.
“Somepony has clearly spent too much time admiring abstract art.”
Her face contorted itself into a confused grimace as she could not take her eyes off the weirdness that was taking place in this room.
Her eyes, which could not be ripped away from all the staircases going off in different directions, immediately snapped from one staircase to another as soon as she could not help but glimpse another one way sooner than her rapidly deflating excitement at seeing weirdly positioned staircases would have liked.
She even passed by a door at one point that had the initials OPEN TO PUBLIC COME IN! written on it.
… However she did not notice it since she was not tall enough to spot the sign in front of the door as it was shrouded in a thick fog of darkness that rendered it invisible to all but the one who shrouded it.
Continuing like this for a while as she explored the rest of…Bill’s home she finally seemed to be on the right track since there was a long red carpet that stretched down a lone hallway that did not seem to connect to the one she was currently following.
She decided it to follow it for curiosity’s sake, and also because it had an sign above it that read Throne room which was an obvious sign that this was where Bill would most likely be.
With a turn left she gently made her way down this new corridor, following it to wherever it leads.
After following the hallway for some time, she finally stepped out into a much bigger room.
Immediately the filly’s eyes widened and jaw dropped, hanging wide open as she was taken aback by the room that she had just entered…AND-…
*****
With crossed eyes, she muttered soundlessly under her breath as she saw the room, then proceeding to let out an angry groan in frustration.
“This is just where I started from!”
She shouted into the room as all her rage exploded to the surface at having gone around in circles and returning to the first room she had seen.
It was true, she had returned to that room with the strange raised pedestal and the weird mural glass-thing that was up on the wall behind it.
Even the strange pillar shapes were all in the same spot she had seen them.
“Ugh…I can’t believe this!”
She growled to herself as she trotted out into the room, an angry frown looking out across the room, making sure that everything was the same as before.
Coming to a halt at the center of the room she looked back up to the pedestal thing, staring back at it with a blank stare.
“Cipher, are you here!”
She called up towards the pedestal, expecting an answer to be given, -
…but receiving nothing.
The entire room was quiet, eerily silent.
Turning her head, she looked around the room to make sure that there weren’t any Bill clones there this time to scare her like they had earlier.
… But not even they were there.
The entire room was dead silent, the only lifeform capable of movement and speech being her.
Her gaze shifted around the room for several minutes, hoping to find something or someone else that could at least point her in direction of where Bill Cipher might be in this insane place, though, if they were anything like the rest of this place then maybe that was not such a bad thing.
With an annoyed groan, she spun on her heel and strode back down the way she had come.
After taking a good nine steps away from where she had stood one of her ears twitched as she heard a sound from behind her speak up as she was about to leave.
“Leave so soon?” An all-to-familiar voice reached her ears.
Her head shot up, staring out in front of her with wide eyes.
Slowly, she turned around, turning her entire body around so her eyes could indeed glimpse what she assumed had to be the real deal.
True enough, once she was now facing the pedestal and the large window she saw a triangle suspended in mid-air on the pedestal, its arms behind its back, legs crossed and a casual, calm demeanor about it as its lone eye looked back down at her.
“Hey.”
He extended a hand, waving it at her, but all the Changeling filly could do was stare up at him with shock.
She closed her mouth, but not because she was happy to have found him, on the contrary, she was furious with him. Evidenced when her face’s expression contorted into an angry glare that looked to be suppressing some of the anger she was experiencing at this moment.
She closed her eyes and looked a little of her head away from him, exhaling a heavy sigh as she suppressed her anger even more.
Upon opening her eyes again, she was about to begin laying the angry words she was saving up when she suddenly noticed that the room had immediately changed into something that was far from the room that she had been staring at seconds before.
Instead everything had been changed or re-arranged into a far more different layout…That was false, the entire room was still the same, except that the glass window had changed into a large oval window with a flat end at the bottom, inside which was an arrow pointing upwards with strange (but surprisingly well-crafted) shapes at the top and inside the triangle. There were banners on the both sides of a sharp and spiked throne that had taken the place of the pedestal, and the banners themselves depicted images of Bill Cipher with raised arms and the landscape of trees and other objects on fire.
Despite being a throne that he should have had no problems sitting on the Dream Demon that hovered above the seat looked to be far smaller compared to its large and grand size than was expected. Even the Bills on the banners looked big enough to sit on it.
“Yes, Princess Chrysalis- “
He said, his arms reaching out towards the throne’s armrests but not managing to reach due to the armrests being further away, and thus just falling right down.
He was surprised by it, and almost lost his stable hovering if not for catching himself half-way through falling with his arms that had failed to connect with the armrests, making him exclaim a “Whooahhh!” As he lost his balance.
Putting a hoof to her mussel she snickered at his failed attempt to put his arms down on the throne’s sides in a menacing display.
His eye looked up, his gaze falling upon where she was standing not that far away from his throne, narrowing his eye at her.
Her head shot up, staring back at him wide-eyed as his crossed eye met her staring pair.
With hanging arms, he locked eyes with her, creating a back-and-forth stare between the two that was not broken.
A silence devoid of any motion from either fell upon the room that lasted for a good couple of seconds, -
… it being only interrupted when Bill suddenly began to snicker.
What started out as a simple snicker eventually got progressively louder and louder before turning into a full-out laugh.
Seeing Bill reacting the way he was Chrysalis gently started to join him in laughing, not getting her voice any louder than that of a nervous laugh.
They went on for laughing for a solid five minutes with no signs of stopping.
By the end of it Chrysalis’ laugh had been reduced down into an annoyed laughter that was just so darn angry about things having gotten so drawn out.
Unable to take it anymore she snapped!
“AUUGHHHHH!” She shouted in a pint-up rage, her raised voice being enough to about the room being silenced.
Breathing heavily from having used her voice like that she guided her eyes back down towards the hovering triangle who was now looking back at her with a blank expression about its eye.
Reading its face was going to prove a little problematic.
Panting softly, she watched him adjust his bowtie before he floated through the air towards her, his hands meeting behind his back where they folded.
Watching him approach her with a look about his eye that told her he was either irritated with her and was now going to do something about that. She couldn’t know for certain unless she watched what transpired next, but whatever happened next would decide whether she would be relying on the precaution of a teleportation spell was indeed even more uncertain.
However, when the triangle reached her he immediately stopped right in front of her, he put his hands behind his back and directed his eye back to meet her gaze as he hovered in place.
Almost immediately a form of the ground started to raise up underneath, a rectangular box formed underneath him.
None of this made sense, but then again it was Bill Cipher, he was so strange and bizarre that he might as well have been Discord’s grandfather.
He then got down on one knee, bowing his…well…part of his triangular tip down in a manner that was close enough.
His actions confused her more than anything she had seen so far, in this palace of insanity
She had expected to see a few bizarre things, but one thing that she had never thought she would see was him, Bill Cipher himself, bowing before her like one of her subjects.
“Princess Chrysalis, what is thy bidding?” he automatically asked her as if this was just something he did on a regular basis.
She backed away from him, her paranoia growing with everything that he was doing now.
“Uh…what is happening?” she asked obviously weirded out by his strange behavior.’’
He looked up, both meeting the others eyes/eye.
“You are royalty, - “ he stood up, the floor sinking back down underneath him. Returning to normal. “Are you not?” he asked, doing random, but seemingly casual, hand gestures through the air.
Wait! He recognizes me as royalty…despite having the power to destroy our entire race under his boot?
Realizing that she had not answered him she quickly nodded her head to indicate that she had noticed his question.
“Y-yes, I am the Princess of the Changelings” she said with a little stutter unfortunately sneaking its way into her reply to him.
“Indeed… And as your mother regent I am in bound in servitude to you alike.”
His hands were behind his back and his eye looked back at her with a blank deadpanned look that greatly reminded her of her mother’s veteran guards back home who always responded to an instruction in the same kind of monotone voice.
“B-but you’re Bill Cipher,” she stated with a raising of her brow and a new mounting expression that perfectly suited the descriptions falling under suspicious. “Your far more powerful than even the Lord of Chaos, and I doubt the Elements of Harmony would have any effect on someone as powerful as you.”
She was taking a great risk on saying this to him since she knew full well that it could easily backfire, but her newfound curiosity towards this insanely powerful godly figure was behaving in front of her, something that could barely be considered a challenge with how strong her power was now let alone further down the line when she was older.
Outside of casually blinking his eye at her there was no auditable response from him.
“You forget that I don’t possess royal blood, thus I am not entitled to the throne of either the Changelings or any race on this world” he said while gesturing through the air with his arm.
“But that should hardly matter to someone such as you who can- “
“…control reality? Use the thread in the fabric of reality as a toothpick?” he interrupted her, gesturing with his hand in the air as he crossed his eye, narrowing it towards her.
Uh…How can one use reality as a toothpick? You don’t even have a mouth, she thought as she raised a confused brow at him.
“Just because I could move the Sun and the Moon with my finger does not mean that I am entitled to rule over everyone that cannot measure up to my levels of power…”
She was about to say something but he held up his hand, indicating to her that she was to remain silent.
“…If anything it just makes everything incredibly unfair for the those that I am subjugating under my rule, and what is the fun in just taking something because you can?” he asked as he held up his hands.
“I want to feel frustration at the possibility of losing, the heat of battle, and the sense of victory when I actually do win because it was through the might of my own power that brought it about.”
With a blank stare on her face, but raising a brow at him, she tried to not seem too surprised by his sudden change in mannerism.
However, in truth she was nothing but speechless at this since she had only seen him as being an insane party animal…like Discord, who did nothing but whatever he wanted. She had never in her entire life imagined him to actually have anything close to a moral standing considering he could so easily just do whatever he wanted if someone disobeyed him.
“But isn’t it…kinda…insane to not use any of the power that one like yourself who has such incredible powers by wasting it on such inferior creatures below?”
Putting his hands behind his back he folded them as his expression took on more of a smirk.
Thus, he hovered a little closer to her…Maybe getting a little too close for comfort.
“If I was to do that, Princess, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
After saying that he hovered away from her, providing her with some breathing space.
Raising a brow, she looked back at him confused by his statement.
“Why?” she asked, even though deep down she probably knew the answer to her own question but wanting him to answer it for her so she wouldn’t have to draw any conclusions that quick on her own.
“Because the Changelings rule Equestria?” she said nervously in an attempt, hoping that it was the correct answer to her question that she was looking for.
She only watched as his expression changed into a delightfully evil smirk.
“I would be ruling over Equestria…and would be the one holding your chains since you would be nothing to me but slaves.”
Her eyes wide in horror at the thoughts that entered her head.
Connecting his hands behind his back-Bill floats through the air – soundlessly – and approaches her with this creepy expression about him.
“How fortunate for us both that I am not like that…” he says right to her face.
*Gulp*
Upon noticing her swallowing down in such a horrified state, he hovered back away from her – his arms hanging back down beside him.
Returning to sitting in his throne his arms grew a little longer so that they finally reached the throne’s armrests.
Stepping back away from him a little she held a horrified expression upon her face as she beheld him sitting on that throne in the silent manner that he was.
“But enough about what I would like, what do you want to do, Princess?” he just – quite randomly at that – asked her as he adjusted his posture on the throne.
He raised his legs up to the right armrest, perching them there while his arms were brought up behind his triangular form.
His changed posture making him look quite relaxed.
“W-what are you doing?” she asked, her uncertainty surrounding Bill being returned in some small amount due to his quite…sporadic character.
Rolling his eye, he gently lowered his one leg down – letting it hang – while the other was still perched atop the side.
“Well, whatever you wish, your Highness…I assume you put yourself through so much effort to come here to seek me out for a reason.” he gestured in the air with his hand.
She tripped over herself trying to find the words that could dispute what he was saying, but there was nothing she could say that would not be the truth for her wanting to seek out Bill Cipher.
Finally, not trying to conceal it anymore, her expression turning into a blank frown upon her face, she meets his unbreakable stare that was awaiting her response.
“I’m bored.” she just blurted out in a deadpan monotone voice.
“There is nothing to do back home so I thought a little visit to you might find some way of making t a little…less boring, at least.”
“Hmmm…” he brought a hand up to his non-existent cheek, surprisingly thinking about it.
His eye looked up, staring back at her.
Standing back up in his throne he put his arms behind his back as he took to floating in the air towards her.
Stopping ten inches away from her with a deadpanned expression about him. It looked very serious.
Before the silence got to the point of getting silly, the floor was suddenly overtaken by violent tremors that shook the entire chamber with violent intensity.
She had a little trouble maintaining her balance, but it didn’t seem like it was necessary considering what came next.
With tremendous speed the floor suddenly caved in, a circular shape speeding downwards through the earth in something that was quite ludicrous, -
…and that was putting it lightly.
Holding on tightly with all possible strength that was enough to keep her from just flying off Chrysalis’ hind legs started moving up the more speed it continued to pick up.
Her skin started trail behind her, the sheer intensity of the speed being so strong that it was pulling on her skin back out of place.
Being able to spare a glance she could look out to the sides, seeing with her own eyes what this long tunnel was digging down through, -
… Instantly her eyes went wide in surprised shock at what she was seeing.
Everywhere she could see it was all dark clouds with large forms of light that were seen emerging from behind them.
All throughout she could see forms of various colors flying around. Some of them trying to get up-close to her.
However, they were unable to get within the carved circle since a protective green forcefield appeared whenever they tried.
Eventually some of them got bored and just floated away, though, there were still a few stragglers who could not bother themselves with doing something else and just continued following her despite not being able to penetrate the forcefield.
This is weird, she thought, but then again shouldn’t that already have outrun its use a while ago?
Just as she was beginning to delve deeper into her thoughts while thing carved circular piece of the floor was speeding down towards where wherever it was taking her…it suddenly stopped dead in midair.
This caused Chrysalis to be flung face-first against the dark stones.
“Urgh…” she groaned as she just lay there for a few seconds.
Lifting her head – as well as her body – she returned to standing up on her odd hooves.
Her pupil’s spine around inside her eyes momentarily, but a quick shaking of her head easily got rid of that, allowing her to return to full functionality once again.
“Ohhh…” she groaned as she rubbed the back of her sore head from that rough landing. “Let’s not do that again.” she moaned.
“I am sorry to say that it isn’t entirely over yet…” a familiar voice said to her.
She quickly spun around, staring directly back at the one who had spoken.
“… Especially if you are still feeling up for not spending the rest of the day in boredom.”
Crossing his arms, he looked back at her as his triangular form hovered through the air towards her.
Scrunching her face, she was suppressing some of her frustration with him doing all these…quite unnecessary things to impress her of his power.
Uttering a low growl, she looked back at him with a frown.
“Fine…” said Chrysalis as she returned to standing up on all fours in not such a dizzy state. “But you better deliver on what you’re promising me for the remainder of this day.”
Bill’s eye smirked at her. His arms hanging down.
“Oh, when have I ever disappointed you so far during your visit, Princess?”
*Snap*
The next to follow right after Bill snapped his fingers was that the platform suddenly exploded!
Each stone shattering into dust that no longer gave Chrysalis something to stand on, and instead just drift through…wherever in Tartarus this weird place was!
Moving around frantically in the air her panic was short-lived as a portal swirling in on itself opened right below her and Bill, who was just casually hovering there beside her while she was having some trouble with the gravity in this place.
Looking back him – despite drifting upside down – her eyes meet his lone, managing just a single stare before the two of them were pulled into the portal.
‘’BILL CIPHER!’’ were the only words uttered from her before they entered the tunnel of light.
*****
(Later, at night)
Sitting on her throne in a darkened chamber that was only being illuminated by the torches aligning the wall, Empress Pollus was discussing the foreign matters that was being brought to her attention by her Generals, who were all gathered in the throne room with her.
“Hmm…” she grumbled, going to her thoughts to think about what had just been brought to her attention. “That is indeed very troubling, General.” she replied, lowering the hoof form her chin, eyes looking up to meet him.
“I don’t think you would find a single Changeling here would disagree with you, your Majesty.” the general replied.
She managed to let out a gentle chuckle at his attempt at humor, intentional or not, smiling warmly at him.
Her former seriousness returned as soon as she looked back out towards the rest of the Changelings in the chamber.
“Has any attempt been made to-? “
Before she could continue she was mid-way interrupted by a bright flash of light, that shortly followed to reveal the hovering figure of Bill Cipher and her daughter, Chrysalis, hovering beside him.
Her initial look of surprise changed into a smile that she used to greet the two new arrivals with upon seeing them.
“Cipher... Daughter.” she nodded her head at them individually.
Bill grabbed his top hat, but instead of tipping removing his hat he lightly tipped it.
“Empress.” said Bill in a respective tone.
The triangle with his eye flipped itself so that it was facing Chrysalis while the rest of his lower body was still facing the Empress.
“I hope that I have not inconvenienced you, but I and the Princess was just hanging out a little, you know, getting to know each other.”
Chrysalis looked towards him, but just crossed her arms, rolling her eyes at him as she hovered there.
“Oh no, it has by no means been an inconvenience…I’m just glad that she has been safely returned to me.” Her eyes shifted down from Bill to her daughter, whom she smiled heartfelt towards as she continued to hover there in the air.
…and that my little girl and one of my closest friends are finally getting along, she thought as she continually looked and forth between the two figures in the air.
Hearing a gentle yawn from their side Bill and Pollus both shifted their attention towards the source of the yawn.
Seeing that it had come from Princess Chrysalis, who was by now looking to be quite tired.
Both chuckled a little at it, staring at her as she just hovered there in the air, before shortly looking back at each other again.
“Something tells me that the young one is ready to retire for the night.” Bill said, raising his hand – his fingers outstretched – which slowly brought her back down to hovering just above the floor.
“I could not agree more.” said Pollus, watching as her daughter once again let out another much softer yawn, wiping his eye with her hoof.
Looking back down at the Generals still in the room she asked, “Will you gentlecolts excuse me, I must attend to my daughter,” to which the Generals responded with a series of “Of course, your Highness,” before bowing in respect, and afterwards leaving the chamber, leaving only the Empress, the Princess, Bill Cipher, and a few guards as the sole occupants.
Enveloping her growing progressing more tired daughter in her own magic field Pollus brought her a little closer to her through the air.
Looking to face Bill she looked towards his eye, smiling warmly at him.
“Thank you, Cipher, for keeping her entertained for the day.”
“Ah, it was no biggie, just show her a little bit of this and a little bit of that and she had her hooves full for a few hours.”
She scoffed/chuckled gently.
With a turn of her head she looked at the exhausted filly in her magic field, to which her expression deflated a little, turning into a light frown.
“I must however apologize if she might have been…a little much, even for you to handle.”
“Eh, she wasn’t all that bad...” he shrugged back a little uncertain in his tone. “And besides she’s a kid, I give her a little more leniency in that she isn’t exactly fully matured yet.”
“Here here…” Pollus nodded in agreement.
“But enough about us adults talking about her, why don’t we take her to her room?” Bill asked, gesturing towards the main door with his thumb.
“I don’t think that would be such a bad idea.”
Turning towards the main entrance to the throne they headed down the brief steps, Pollus trotted up along the red carpet that lead to those two large doors while Bill hovered in the air beside.
Standing at their attention upon seeing her, the guards also used their magic to open the door for the Empress and Cipher.
Trotting out of the throne room the two barely paid them a second glance.
*****
Venturing down the long hallway towards the Princess’s room Bill hovered silently beside the Empress. Arms behind his back as he tried to seem as high-standing as possible with the few Changelings they passed by on their way to Chrysalis’s room.
Upon reaching her daughter’s room, Bill waited in the open door as Pollus put her daughter to bed.
Standing over her bed Pollus could not help but smile as she watched her little filly gently stir under her covers, moving around in her sleep.
“Good night, my little Chrysie.” She said before leaning in and planting a kiss on her daughter’s cheek.
Watching her return to him, Bill backed out into the hallway so she could get out.
She looked back inside one final time, her magical grasp holding the door in place just before closing it, the light from the door illuminating Chrysalis so that her mother could see her child perfectly from where she stood.
With a final smile, she closed the door, enshrouding the room in darkness so that nothing would interrupt the filly’s slumber.
Turning back towards Cipher she just stared at him happily for a few seconds, before waving her hoof at him, gesturing for him to follow her as she turned and started following one of the corridors in front of her. Him hovering silently beside her.
*****
Trotting silently beside the equally silent Bill Cipher Pollus hung her head low, staring down at the floor in front of her as she trotted.
Finally, she eventually came to a stop, while Bill just continued forward, having not noticed it.
“Cipher…Am I a good mother?”
A question of that caliber, asked as sudden as it was enough to make him stop in his place.
His whole triangular form feeling an uncomfortable tension just from the weight of such a thing being asked.
He turned around to face her, seeing that her head was hung low and staring down at the floor in front of her.
“Have I failed my empire…? Have I…” she paused, lingering on like that for some time. Her mouth wide agape as if she was going to continue.
Suddenly, she lightly collapsed to the floor, Bill rushing over to her in aid.
She did not require assistance, but was now sitting up straight with her back against the wall, a sad expression upon her face that was hung low.
She looked up, meeting his eye staring back at her.
“…Have I failed my empire?” she asked again, her tone filled with sadness.
“Why would you say something like that, your Highness?” asked Bill with concern.
She didn’t answer, and instead just hung her head down again.
“I feel like while I may have a chance to save the Changelings from extinction through political means…that it will all be undone by my daughter…” she raised her head a little, directing her pupils back to looking up at his lone eye.
“She is quite suspicious of all who are not Changelings, and she has every right to be, there is much that we have done to earn such potential hostility towards us…”
“But what if an opportunity presents itself that we Changelings may live in harmony with the Ponies?” she asked him, a soft smile forming. “It will be an opportunity to save the Changelings from the extinction that could become a reality if we continue down our war-like path…” her smile quickly faded again, being replaced by sadness. “What if after my passing that Chrysalis will try to undo all my hard work because she does not trust the Ponies? How will that reflect on me as her mother?”
Hovering a little closer Bill extended a hand out to her, touching it to her shoulder. She looked up at him, meeting his sympathetic eye.
“I don’t know what the future holds for everyone, not even me, but I can tell you that as someone who has experienced Chrysalis as an individual for the first time that she is not that paranoid of others as you might think.”
She raised a brow, looking back at him.
“How can you be so sure? I have been raising her since birth, and even I’m not certain if I did it effectively.”
“That is because she was only raised amongst Changelings, not allowed to experience the kindness and hospitality that she can experience in the company of others who want nothing but to live their lives and tend to their loved ones.”
“B-but how did you do that? How could you possibly convince her that you weren’t a threat to her?”
Bill scoffed, smiling warmly.
“By showing her kindness, giving her experiences that showed her that while I am a little insane that I am just insane enough to be understand and loving.”
Pollus could only blink as they exchanged stares.
“In fact, - “snapping his fingers he summoned several squares out of thin air, that he grabbed with his hand. Holding them out to her.
“I wanted her to have these.”
Confused, she took them with her magic, moving them up in front of her face to see.
“What are-…” before she could continue her eyes had already fallen upon the pictures, and once they were seen she was virtually enthralled by them.
“It’s not much, but it’s something that I hope she might appreciate someday.” He softly rubbed his left arm, looking off to the side.
Moving squares back to the end she continued to look at them all in a relatively silent pause, her eyes watering at every single one that she saw.
“Oh Bill…” her voice was breaking, unable to hold back an overwhelming abundance of joy that seemed to coming to the surface.
“T-these are wonderful.” she said as she continued to flick through the last of them.
Looking up at him she could only see the kind expression of the Dream Demon that she had known for so long.
“…”
She was about to speak, but Bill raised his hand, silencing her.
“You don’t owe me anything…” he leaned forward slightly, extending his hand out to her shoulder. “Just that you live your life to the fullest.”
She opened her mouth about to continue speaking, but then decided against it, and instead just looked back at the squares she held in her magic field.
“Thank you, Cipher.” she nodded gently.
His eye closed as he nodded back.
Gesturing through the air his hand, she suddenly felt her right hoof overtaken by magical field that lifted it up.
He cupped it with his own two hands, looking back into her eyes with a kind expression.
“It’s what friends do.”
Left speechless by that, she didn’t even pay that much attention to when he used he let go of her hoof and floated back away from her a bit.
“Well, it is late, and as such I must now bid thee farewell…” him speaking seemed to snap her out of her trance.
“’Huh, wha -?”
“Good night to you, your Highness.” was all she managed to pick up before she saw him ready to snap his fingers, and decided to just act as quickly as she could before he left.
“G-good night to you too, Cipher.” was all she managed to utter before he snapped his fingers, vanishing in a flash before leaving the corridor devoid of life save for her.
Looking around her to make sure he wasn’t still there or just playing a trick or something on her.
When she saw that she was alone she just chuckled softly to herself, and then activated her horn, teleporting out of the corridor and back to her own room to retire for the night as well.
Vanishing with *Pop*.
*****
(Meanwhile, far far away…)
Preparing herself for a good night of rest Luna trotted back to her room, encountering many guards and other ponies of high positions that passed her by on her way to her room.
Many of them greeting her in a friendlier tone than others since they did know that just because she was royalty that she wasn’t going to despise them because they showed that they had the ability to show emotions and be friendly.
Upon returning to her room the first thing on her agenda was getting out of her royal regalia and into something more suited for sleeping.
With the aid of her magic she removed her chest plate and crown, while simply slipping out of her horseshoes like it was nothing.
Humming a gentle tune to herself she telekinetically opened the two doors to her closet, -
…but instead of continuing like she had originally intended she became motionless, her brows crossing themselves as she looked towards something that had rather caught her attention a little more than getting changed into suitable attire.
“Curious.” she pondered as her magic activated, enveloping a rectangular box, and gently lifting it out of the closet.
Backing away, she levitated the paper box over to her desk, setting it down.
Opening it, she curiously raised a brow at what she found lying inside it.
Her horn activated, and started to pull out-
“…Books?” was her response as she gently put the book down onto her desk, looking down at it with a newly mounted confusion at what she was seeing.
“Why would anypony send me books…? Or Tartarus, use a big unmarked box to get it delivered?”
There was no short supply concerning this strange find in her closet of all places.
What in the world was a box with no identification as to who had it placed been doing there?
Who put it there?
Why was there a picture of six-clawed paw on the front?
