//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 // Story: New Family // by awesomesauce4 //------------------------------// They awoke hours later to find that night had fallen, and Luna was peeking in on them. “Oh, my. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” she declared, surveying their tangled, sleeping forms with some amusement. “Hwha…?” Jeremy answered intelligently, sitting up and blearily rubbing his eyes. Unfortunately, moving his arms caused Chrysalis’ head to fall to the pillow, and she awoke with a snort, looking around wildly before remembering where she was. Luna was by now furiously trying to stifle giggles, as she beheld their antics. “You know, any nap longer than about fifteen minutes is awful for your sleep schedule,” she lectured before stepping out into the hallway, leaving them to wake up fully. “Wanna skip dinner…?” Jeremy drowsily asked. “Already ate… wanna sleep…” Chrysalis groaned, rolling over to escape the lamplight. Jeremy’s belly rumbled with amusement, and he replaced the covers over the two of them, cuddling close to Chrysalis once more. He once more awoke in the field of flowers, but this time he was in a different place. The large, many-petaled black and green flower was nowhere in sight, and his back was against something. He got up, stretching slightly, and looked around. Behind him was the Tree of Harmony, exactly the same as it had been when he first encountered it. The jewels set into its trunk were glimmering with an inner fire, even in the ‘daylight’ of this strange dream world, and the boughs glistened as though coated in morning dew. One of its branches, the one pointing almost directly upwards, looked strangely swollen compared to the last time he had seen it. Jeremy looked around for something to do – surely there had to be some reason he kept coming back here? He turned back to the Tree of Harmony. Supposedly, the Elements at least had some form of intelligence – the white alicorn told him last time that ‘Loyalty’ didn’t like being touched. “Where do I go?” he asked them. It was still a bit silly that he was conversing with six crystals, but this was a dream. For a moment, neither the tree nor the Elements responded. Then, a beam of light shot out of Magic, before ‘solidifying’ into a steady purple laser. Jeremy glanced at this in mild surprise, then looked back at Magic. “Okay, thanks,” he contentedly replied, and set off in that direction. An unknown amount of time spent walking later, the laser ended, simply terminating in thin air as though something were blocking it. Jeremy looked down at the flowers in this area. They were black, with green petals, but not like the larger one he had seen – these were all separate flowers. He leaned down to examine one, and touched it. It stiffened, petals initially shying away from his touch, and then slowly, almost cautiously, returned to its former position. Jeremy reached out to touch it again, and though it quivered, it didn’t move away. He gently stroked a petal, wondering what the relation was to the giant flower he had seen earlier. Was this one related? A different type of the same flower, maybe? As he touched this new flower, an image flashed through his mind – a dilapidated, brown stone palace, destroyed beyond all recognition and deep inside a cave. Before he could ruminate on this further, his world went white. Jeremy woke up again to find Chrysalis still asleep, and gently chewing on his arm, a slightly disgruntled expression on her slumbering face. Grinning, Jeremy gently extricated his arm and kissed her on the forehead, before restlessly exiting his bed. He found Luna and Nightmare Moon together in one room, viewing the stars. “-sure that humans doth dream? Verily, we hath only seen one dream of his, and we hadst forced it into being. Lately… we couldst not even find his dreaming self,” Nightmare Moon was saying. “I’ve both viewed and entered Sam’s dreams without difficulty. While I have not entered the other humans’ dreams, and they do show some remarkable differences to pony dreams, I have at least been able to view them in the dreamscape,” Luna replied. Jeremy quickly exited, eavesdropping by the door – he didn’t think they had heard him… “But if he doth not dream… where doth he go when asleep…?” Nightmare Moon mused. Luna snorted. “Somewhere beyond my domain, that is for certain. I have taken to searching every night for his dreams, with little luck.” Jeremy had heard enough, and quietly made for the main compartment. There, he found Thorax and a few other changelings cuddled up, sleeping as well. Jeremy had to admit, Thorax’s normally strong-looking form looked adorable when he was snuggling with other changelings. Avery was there as well, working on something. “Still writing your story?” Jeremy asked quietly, and Avery jumped about a foot into the air, hurriedly covering up a few papers. Jeremy caught a glimpse of writing and what appeared to be a drawing of a heart, but was unable to make out any more specifics. “Uh… yeah. It’s a major plot point, so I didn’t want to spoil it for anyone yet,” Avery answered, quickly stuffing the papers back into a backpack he had carried with him. Jeremy looked at him suspiciously, but was still too drowsy to question it, and instead took a seat across from Avery, staring out at the moonlight. They stared at the beautiful night sky in silence, Luna’s moon softly illuminating the otherwise dark main compartment of the train. “Is it hard, being a King?” Avery asked after a moment. Jeremy took a moment to ponder this. “I… I think I got off easy, to be honest. There’s no bureaucratic organization I have to deal with, no economics to speak of, and all of my attempts at ‘politics’ so far have involved dealing with other nations’ royalty and their... problems.” Avery hummed in thought. “What do you do, if not pass trade laws and judge citizens?” he wondered, clearly half-joking. Jeremy smirked. “Snuggles, mostly. Snuggles and defending the kingdom.” Avery chuckled quietly. “Snuggles?” he asked incredulously. Jeremy blushed slightly, looking away. “I’m apparently the best source of food they’ve ever had, so… technically I’m also the breadwinner for the entire kingdom? It’s a very difficult and important job, Avery!” he pretended to defend, and Avery chuckled louder, falling silent a moment later as he apparently remembered that others were sleeping. Another silence passed between them, though it was more drowsy than awkward. Jeremy stared at the couch cushion, mesmerized by the patterns stitched onto it as the train car shook around them. “What’s it like, battling… well, villains?” Avery asked, once again breaking the silence. “What do you mean?” Jeremy asked, curiously lifting his head again to gaze at Avery. “Well… what do you experience when you’re fighting? Do you get ‘bullet time’, or what?” Avery wondered. Ah, he must be collecting details for a fight scene in his story, Jeremy realized. “Well… it’s not exactly ‘bullet time,’ but I become a lot more… spatially aware,” he answered after a moment. It wasn’t technically a lie: the ‘bullet board’ that appeared whenever he started fighting someone allowed him to see all forms of attack happening around him. “Anything else?” Avery asked, intrigued. “Uh… well, whenever I get injured, it doesn’t really… hurt anymore,” Jeremy continued, wondering how much of his strange game world he was willing to reveal to his fellow Element. “How so?” Avery asked. “Well, I guess I’ve just kind of gotten used to it,” Jeremy mused. He could have sworn he saw a brief moment of triumph on Avery’s face, but it might have been a trick of the moonlight. “Huh. Pain tolerance is a thing, then?” Avery asked curiously, and Jeremy shrugged. “Apparently.” With nothing else to say, they went back to staring at the night sky. A while later, Jeremy returned to bed, as Avery kept staring at him when he thought Jeremy wasn’t looking. He supposed he stood out a bit, even among the other six aliens in this land, but it was still creepy. Chrysalis was still asleep, though she was shivering with cold – Jeremy had forgotten to replace the blanket when he left. He quickly clambered into bed, wrapping the blanket and his arms around her, and she smiled at the renewed warmth. Jeremy drifted off again, wondering if he’d visit the flower world once more. To his dismay, he awoke almost immediately to find sunlight streaming through the windows. Chrysalis was already up, and balancing a tray of breakfast in her magic. When she saw him awake, she smiled and laid it down on top of his torso. “I heard your stomach growling in your sleep,” she explained, levitating utensils over as Jeremy gratefully dug in. “Thanks…” he mumbled sleepily after a moment. “We’re almost in Canterlot, we’re traveling up the mountain right now. The others wanted me to wake you for a meeting, but I decided to bring you breakfast first,” Chrysalis informed him, watching him eat with a satisfied smile. “At least somebody’s got their priorities straight,” Jeremy joked. He finished rapidly, and Chrysalis set the tray on the bedstand as the two of them headed for the main carriage. “About time,” Nick called as soon as they entered. “Nick, I will have my beauty sleep no matter what you say,” Jeremy immediately retorted, joining the rest of the humans who were sitting in a circle in the center of the room. “We were discussing our plans for the future. I proposed that because training you to use your Elements has… well, become more or less redundant, that you be left to your own devices until such time as you believe you are ready to face the challenges on Earth,” Celestia brought him up to speed. She was still combing her pink, shortened hair, wincing every time her comb hit a snag. “I rebutted that we don’t know what we need in order to fix Earth, so the timescale on that ‘readiness’ could be anything from right the heck now to a few years down the line,” Sam added. Jeremy shrugged. “What’s the hurry? Last I checked, we’ve got at least three experienced time-travelers in the room. If picking up where we left off is that much of an issue, we can just figure out how to reenter our universe at the appropriate time.” Avery raised his hand. “Um, question. Who’s the third time-traveler?” Jeremy stiffened as he realized his unintentional slip-up. Man, I am terrible at this, he chastised himself, hurriedly searching for an excuse. “Haven’t you time-traveled in the past?” he asked Celestia, who shook her head. “I can’t say I have. Wherever did you hear that?” Jeremy shrugged again, a bit quicker this time. “Dunno, just thought I… read about it somewhere. Two time travelers, then.” Starlight snorted. “Two’s all we need, really. I’ve done enough modification to that time-traveling spell that I can probably adapt it to the portal spell Celestia used back in the Crystal Kingdom.” Twilight looked at her, mildly impressed. “And you’re sure the spells will mesh appropriately?” she asked skeptically. Starlight rolled her eyes. “Oh, here we go,” she muttered. “What? Magical safety is critical when mixing two unicorns’ magic, you know that!” Twilight lectured. Chrysalis looked at Jeremy worriedly, but his only reaction was a slight twitch of the arm. “Back on topic, you two,” he called out, and Starlight and Twilight hastily got out of each other’s faces and back in the circle. “Sorry. Um, yeah, we’ll work that out when we get to it. So… if the humans aren’t learning about friendship, then what will they be doing?” Starlight asked Celestia. The solar princess gave Jeremy a knowing look. “To clarify, my earlier strategy was to attempt to force as many friendship lessons into as short a time as possible, in order to get you humans more quickly prepared for your destiny. However, upon further reflection, I believe that the best path would be to let the lessons come to you, much like your previous work with the Journal of Friendship,” Celestia nodded at Twilight. “Does this mean we can finally head back to Ponyville? I can’t wait to get back on the farm,” Applejack exclaimed in relief. “And I can finally show all the humans my awesome house!” Rainbow boasted. “And I can throw a ‘Welcome-to-Ponyville’ party for them! Again!” Pinkie squealed, hopping up on Brayden’s shoulders. “Did I miss the first one?” Jeremy asked, disappointed. Cory nodded. “You were out cold in the hospital and also possibly dead, so… yeah.” Jeremy grimaced, but said nothing more. Luna cleared her throat, evidently intending to resume the discussion. “We also decided on this for a few more reasons. For starters, we’re aware that the changelings are eager to discover their lost history, and in the spirit of mutual scientific interest, we are allowing Jeremy and his changelings to lead the expedition, wherever it may take them. We will also be providing scholars of our own to assist as needed.” “That’s… quite some trouble to go through,” Jeremy noted with some surprise. Luna snorted. “The mystery of Pacem was one of the hottest research topics in my time. I am frustrated to see that it still has not been solved.” Jeremy chuckled at her grumpy expression. “Well, we’ll try our best to find some answers. Speaking of which, that definitely sounds like an adventure. Anyone wanna come with?” he asked. “Count me in,” Sam immediately answered, fistbumping Jeremy. “Well, if Glorious Leader is going…” Nick snarked, and Starlight flinched. “We have to go now, splitting up would just be dumb,” Cory pointed out exasperatedly. “Anyone want to stay? Don’t be shy, we’ll manage with or without anyone who needs to stay behind,” Sam offered. Nobody volunteered, and after a while he shrugged. “Guess that settles it, we’re all going. Hope you know how to teach archaeology, Jeremy,” he ribbed. Jeremy rolled his eyes. “I used to hunt for gems and fossils. Pretty sure archaeology is gonna be pretty similar,” he replied nonchalantly. A well-groomed conductor mare poked her head through the doorway to their compartment. “Now arriving in Canterlot! Please be ready to disembark!” she announced before ducking her head back through the door and vanishing. “Well, you’ll certainly have plenty of help if you need it,” Celestia continued, ignoring the interruption. “We should have asked some of the umbra before they left,” Sombra muttered. Jeremy shrugged. “Maybe we can open a portal to send some letters?” he suggested. “I could do that,” Celestia agreed. A short while later, they had successfully navigated the busy train station and returned to the Secret Hallway, where Jeremy flopped onto his bed. “Hoo boy… it’s good to be back,” he murmured. “Best not to rest too long, honey, we’ve got a big day ahead of us,” Chrysalis yawned, jumping up to snuggle with him. “Yeah… just five minutes, I wanna get used to this bed again…” he mumbled, already drifting off. Several hours later, Jeremy awoke to find Chrysalis gently shaking him and kissing him on the forehead. “I’m up,” he mumbled contentedly, grinning as Chrysalis ignored him and continued to plant smooches on his face as she pleased. He retaliated by interrupting one of her attempts with a smooch of his own, their lips meeting in the middle as Jeremy triumphantly smiled at her. “How long was I out?” he asked curiously, instinctively looking out the window. “It’s about noon, so a few hours. I let you sleep while I got everything ready,” Chrysalis answered. “Weird…” Jeremy muttered. He hadn’t visited the flower world this time. Nor, now that he thought of it, had he had any dreams at all. He threw on his trademark black-and-white striped sweater, and followed Chrysalis back out into the palace. Once there, he was surprised to find several of both his and Thorax’s changelings waiting for them, eager smiles on their faces, as well as Thorax, the other humans, and a familiar face. “…A.K. Yearling?” Jeremy queried in some surprise, as the cloaked brown pegasus appraised him. “Celestia said she’d be sending the best archaeologist she had, and that’s me,” she quipped. Jeremy chuckled. “Guess so. You have any leads on this?” he asked hopefully, and A.K. Yearling shrugged. “Not really. Pacem’s one of the oldest cultures in the world, and we only know bare hints about it. No recovered artifacts, no known locations… you’d think a culture that spanned the continent would have left something to show for it, but we’ve had no such luck so far.” Jeremy grumbled in disappointment. “Well… maybe today will be different. You know where we’re headed?” he asked, and Yearling nodded. “Your changelings call it ‘the Pool’. I’m assuming it’s sacred, judging from the reverence I hear whenever its name is spoken. Am I allowed to enter?” she shrewdly asked. “Unfortunately, no. We’ll bring what samples we find out for you to examine,” Jeremy answered. “Alright, how long will it take us to get to the Pool from here?” he asked Chrysalis. “It’s about ten hours’ flight for us, so converting that to chariot speed would be about two hours. Still, that’s quite a distance for us to travel, so I asked Celestia for tips to speed things up a bit,” Chrysalis revealed, lighting her horn. It buzzed and crackled with more energy than usual, and she shot forth a beam of emerald-green magic that hit the palace wall and expanded to create a portal, identical to one of Celestia’s save for the color. A forest clearing was visible beyond it, the wind gently blowing through the hole in space as birds chirped and hooted somewhere out of sight. “Not bad,” A.K. Yearling appraised. She stepped through the portal without hesitation, and the rest of the changelings followed. “Come on, guys, it’s safe,” Jeremy spoke up, noticing his fellow Elements’ reluctance, and hopped through himself to demonstrate, waving at them from the other end. “Okay, okay, just… give us a sec,” Sam grumbled, carefully stepping through the portal as though it might close at any second. The others hastily followed, and the last to step through was Chrysalis, daintily closing the portal behind her with a flick of her horn. “The Pool is about five minutes’ walk from here. I will lead my King and Thorax there, and we will return with what samples we find,” Chrysalis instructed A.K. Yearling, who nodded smartly. “I’ll set up in the meantime,” she answered. “The rest of the humans and changelings can help me categorize the samples if we get too many.” That done, Chrysalis nodded to Jeremy and Thorax, who exchanged a nervous glance before following after her. The forest beyond the clearing was dense with foliage, and Jeremy had to push more than a few branches out of his and Thorax’s way before they could proceed, carefully ensuring they wouldn’t spring back and hit the two of them in the back of the head. “Nervous?” Jeremy asked, noticing Thorax twitching slightly. “I’m going to be the first non-queen, non-nurse changeling to be allowed in here… ever,” Thorax reminded him. “Yeah, I’m a little nervous.” Jeremy chuckled dryly. “I’m going to be the first non-changeling in there, so I’m a bit nervous too. Should be fine, though…” he trailed off. They reached a large, grassy hill, where Chrysalis stopped. “Here we are. The entrance is concealed and warded so that only a Queen may authorize entrance, so I’ll just…” She lit her horn, and part of the grass in front of them melted away to reveal a perfectly Queen-sized passageway of carefully carved stone. “After you,” she invited. Jeremy stooped down to enter, blinking and adjusting his eyes to the sudden darkness as he slowly made his way into the most sacred place of his entire kingdom. His first thought was that he couldn’t see anything. He brushed into a wall, stumbling backward, and was surprised when it lit up green. The green glow continued to spread along the wall, illuminating the entire cave, finally allowing him to see. The cave was remarkably smooth, almost perfectly so – if it weren’t for the rivulets of water running down the walls, and the glowing lichen over every surface, Jeremy would have suspected it of being carved rather than made naturally. He turned his gaze downward, and got his first glimpse of the Pool. It was a bubbling, churning sea of viscous green liquid, a gentle froth simmering on the surface as it boiled like lava. “Don’t let it get on you,” Chrysalis spoke up from behind him, and he jumped and whirled around, startled. “That’s supposedly the liquid that first created us changelings, mutating us from some distant ancestor of the mosquito and the corpse of a pony who’d fallen into the pool. What I know for sure is that it mutates anything it comes into contact with.” Thorax, who had been examining the pool with reverence, hurriedly stepped back, just in time to avoid a small splatter of liquid from one of the bubbles bursting. “Wow…” Jeremy murmured, staring at the glowing, broiling pond. It smelled slightly sweet, and Jeremy’s head swam as he fought the urge to take a deeper breath. “…Okay, let’s start looking around. Good thing we have plenty of light in here,” Jeremy decided after a moment, snapping out of his reverie. “Is this the only cavern?” Thorax asked, looking around. “As far as I know, yes,” Chrysalis answered. “Then again, I was taught not to look around too much – just to stay still and appreciate this place ceremonially.” Jeremy hummed in thought, skirting around the edge of the glowing pool. “How deep is this?” he asked, gesturing to the liquid. Chrysalis shrugged. “One of the nurses once tried poking in a stick to try and find out. It became some kind of… sentient, changeling-like... vine, and then it disappeared.” Jeremy jerked his head up sharply. “This vine, was it black with blue spikes coming out?” he asked. “Yes, it was. Why, have you seen them?” Chrysalis asked curiously. “Discord took them. He was initially using them to attack the Tree of Harmony, which is why the pony Bearers had to return them and protect the Tree,” Jeremy explained. “They’re currently suppressed by the Elements, somewhere in the Everfree Forest. I’m just surprised they came from here, is all.” Chrysalis shrugged. “This pool will mutate anything it touches, regardless of whether it’s ‘alive’ or not. Anyway, point is, we never found the depth.” Jeremy examined the edges of the pool, doing a rough calculation in his head. “Well, the slope at the banks would suggest something like ten feet, but that’s not accounting for pits, raised surfaces, or other imperfections,” he thought aloud. “Why are you trying to figure out the depth?” Thorax asked curiously. “I’m wondering how this pool was formed. If it’s deep, it’s probably springing up from a well somewhere below us. If it’s shallow, it might have collected from some other source or even have been deposited artificially by the historical changelings,” Jeremy explained. They spent a while just looking around, examining the floor and walls to try and find any trace of writing or other such clues. “Anything?” Jeremy called from across the pool. “No… I’m beginning to think there’s nothing here,” Chrysalis answered, carefully poking at a rock. “I might have found something!” Thorax called out, and they both turned. “No, wait, just another rock,” he corrected sheepishly after a moment. “This location’s a waste of time,” Chrysalis decided, heading for the exit in exasperation. “Hespera probably didn’t even do much in here-“ But before she could finish, she bumped into a rock, only to shift it over a few inches despite its apparent weight. “What the-“ Chrysalis began again, examining it closely. She lifted it up, and her eyes went wide. “Come over here,” she commanded. Thorax and Jeremy immediately circled the pool to meet up with her, and looked at the underside of the rock. After centuries of pitting and erosion, it was barely visible… but it was clearly a map. “A fake rock!” Jeremy laughed, inspecting it further. “Oh, that’s a classic.” “Our first sample!” Thorax cheered, while Chrysalis grinned bashfully. “Okay, I’ll take this back to Daring – I mean, A.K. Yearling. You two keep looking,” Jeremy instructed. “Maybe there are more clues on the undersides of some of these other rocks?” Thorax wondered as Jeremy left the cave, blinking to adjust to the sunlight. He found A.K. Yearling and the humans in the clearing without too much difficulty. The humans were busying themselves with various books and papers, and A.K. appeared to be reviewing some archaeological texts she had brought along with her. As he entered the clearing, all of them looked up hopefully. “We’ve only found one sample so far,” he admitted, and there was a collective groan. “Archaeology is boring!” Cory exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. Jeremy laughed. “So’s most kinds of field work. Anyway, this sample’s pretty interesting. We think it might be some kind of map,” he explained, handing the stone over to A.K. Yearling. She scrutinized it closely, turning it over and muttering to herself. “Well, you’re right, it’s definitely a map. This appears to be Equestria, but half the coastline is dead wrong, and the other half is barely detailed enough to pass. Even for a map of Pacem, this isn’t terribly accurate,” Yearling revealed after a moment more of examination. “Where’s it lead?” Jeremy asked curiously. “Let’s see, this would be… roughly somewhere in the Eastern Crystal Mountain range. Maybe just northeast of Manehattan,” A.K. guessed. “Well, at least we’ll have something to do there,” Cory grumbled. The changelings who had accompanied them all crowded around to look at the fake stone curiously, and A.K. Yearling pushed them away in irritation. “Gimme a sec to make a cast, take some photos, and draw this thing. I don’t want anypony ruining the first Pacem artifact in recorded history.” Jeremy nodded at the changelings, and they grumpily moved away from A.K. Yearling, allowing her to unpack a kit of plaster, a notebook and quill, and a small camera. “What kind of camera is that?” Jeremy asked, glancing at it. “Magnesium flash. Top of the line, apparently. Why?” Yearling replied. “Anyone got a phone?” Jeremy called over to the humans, and Nick instantly raised his. “We can take color pictures with our phones,” he explained to Yearling. “You… take pictures… with your phones,” she deadpanned. Jeremy snorted. “Among other things.” A.K. Yearling rolled her eyes. “Aliens,” she muttered, but she was grinning. A few minutes later, the rock had been removed from its plaster casting and passed around to the changelings while A.K. Yearling continued unpacking her sizable bag of equipment. “Last thing I’m gonna do is preserve it in a magical stasis field. I’ve heard about you humans and your ability to nullify magic, so don’t touch this crystal,” she warned as she pulled out a yellow, octahedral gem. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Jeremy promised. The changelings obediently passed the rock back to her, and she touched the gem to it. The rock glowed yellow as the crystal’s color dulled to white, and Yearling put it in a burlap sack before placing it in her saddlebag. “Okay, that settles that. Any more samples?” she asked. “I’ll go check,” Jeremy answered, standing up and making to leave. “Aren’t you telepathic?” Sam called over. Jeremy stopped short at this, an embarrassed grimace appearing on his face. “Yes, Sam. Yes we are. Thank you for conveniently reminding me of that,” he complained as the changelings around him chuckled. Any new finds? He queried mentally. Nope, Thorax denied, and Jeremy was surprised to hear him speak telepathically for the first time. Nothing. No other rocks in the cave had anything on them… Thorax, what are you doing? Chrysalis asked, projecting a feeling of confusion. I just remembered, Spike taught me this during our Ogres and Oubliettes campaign! He said to always look for secret entrances and exits in important places, Thorax explained excitedly. Thorax, there’s not going to be a- Chrysalis began in exasperation, but stopped short. He… he actually found one… She declared after a moment, and the assorted changelings gasped. “What?” A.K. asked, having watched the silent conversation with some irritation. “Thorax found a secret room,” Jeremy clarified. “And I want to go look at it. Be right back!” he called over his shoulder. “Wait!” Nick called, before tossing Jeremy his phone. “It’s got the best camera on the market, and a decent flash,” he answered Jeremy’s unspoken question. “Oh… thanks,” Jeremy answered, surprised. “You better take good pictures, though. I have a reputation to uphold,” Nick proclaimed, to the others’ snickers. To his surprise, Thorax was the one waiting in the cave. “Chrysalis is through here,” he answered Jeremy’s unspoken question, pushing aside a tangle of lichen that had been cleverly disguised to appear as though it covered a wall. “She’s um… yeah. See for yourself,” he added after a moment. “O…kay…?” Jeremy replied, crouching down and crawling through. He found Chrysalis in a much smaller room, horn lit green as she carefully studied the walls. Jeremy looked closer, only to find that the entire room was covered in miniscule, carefully-carved writing in a language he didn’t quite recognize. “Can you read any of this?” he asked quietly. “Just one word. ‘Hespera,’ right there. I think… I think this was her room. Where she woke up,” Chrysalis answered, voice barely above a whisper. Jeremy swallowed nervously as he looked around – Pool aside, this was hallowed ground. “Can I… take pictures?” he timidly asked, looking at her. “Pictures?” Chrysalis wondered, still apparently dazed. “Of the writing. So A.K. Yearling can decipher it,” he explained. “Oh… sure…” Chrysalis murmured, still staring at the walls. A few carefully taken photos later, Jeremy pocketed Nick’s phone and returned his attention to Chrysalis, who was now looking at him. “Can you hear her, like you hear the other queens?” he quietly wondered. “Hespera doesn’t speak often… but yes, she was showing me a few things. Her memories here… they all came rushing back when she and I entered this place,” Chrysalis explained. “You okay?” Jeremy asked worriedly. “I’ll be fine,” Chrysalis answered, smiling at him after a moment. The three of them returned to the clearing to find A.K. waiting impatiently. “What was in there?” she asked. “Writing, tons of it. Neither of us recognized the language, though,” Jeremy explained, showing her the photos on Nick’s phone. “This is tiny,” A.K. complained, peering at the miniscule script. “You can zoom in,” Jeremy replied, demonstrating. “Oh! That’s much better. I don’t recognize this either, though… no matter, we can figure it out. I’ve had to translate worse,” A.K. snorted confidently. “Chrysalis recognized a single word, about… here. That’s ‘Hespera,’ apparently. The name of the first Queen we remember,” Jeremy added, showing her the zoomed-in word. “Now that is helpful. That’ll give me at the very least a syllable or character match,” A.K. happily proclaimed, before pausing in thought. “Unless this is hieroglyphic, in which case… ah, well. Anyway, we’ve got our next lead!” she cheered, packing up her bags. “Where are we going?” Chrysalis asked. “The map on that rock led to somewhere in the Eastern Crystal Mountains, so we’re headed there,” Jeremy quickly summarized to her. I personally think it might be pretty close to Starlight’s cave outside of Our Town, he telepathically added. That’s the Windigo’s section of the continent, right? Chrysalis clarified, and he nodded. Should be close to the Windigo-changeling border, if Star Swirl’s notes are to be believed. Speaking of which, shouldn’t Diligita’s Hive be somewhere around there? Jeremy noted. Yes, but ‘the eastern half of the continent’ is rather a tall order to pinpoint a location from, especially a Changeling Hive, Chrysalis mused, lighting her horn to cast another portal spell. As the wormhole in space opened, a blisteringly cold wind swept around the clearing, carrying with it harsh, stinging flakes of snow that quickly melted in the afternoon sun. “Looks like it’s a snowstorm over there. Did you open it in the mountains?” Sam asked Chrysalis, who nodded. “Thought it’d be closer,” she grumbled before closing the portal. “Maybe…. hmm. What if you opened one to Manehattan? We’d have a place to stay if this is going to be a multi-day adventure,” Jeremy noted. “Celestia did give me a few vouchers for hotels across Equestria before we left, so that’s fine by me,” Yearling agreed. “Ooh, can we see the sights while we’re there?” Cory asked excitedly. Jeremy rolled his eyes. “Might as well,” he gave in, and the other humans cheered. Chrysalis grinned, opening another emerald-green portal, and a busy Manehattan street was now visible through the other end, ponies close to the portal stopping and staring in openmouthed astonishment. “What?” Jeremy asked them, stepping through. “You look like you’ve never seen aliens before.” Laughing, the other humans and changelings followed. It didn’t take long to find one of the hotels A.K. Yearling had received a voucher for. The receptionist was none too happy to see that none of them would be paying, but brightened considerably when she received the voucher. “Are they really that valuable?” Sam muttered, watching her. “Reimbursed by the crown, if I had to guess,” Jeremy whispered back. As it turned out, the rooms they were staying in were all part of a single suite, much like the Secret Hallway back in Canterlot but better lit and with different wall paneling and carpeting. Jeremy had actually gotten a double room with Thorax instead of Chrysalis, which he was a bit unhappy with but didn’t have the courage to speak up about. The other humans and changelings made for their respective beds, with Thorax in particular going face-first into the pillow. “You okay?” Jeremy asked, sitting beside him as he followed the larger green changeling into their shared room. “Oh, you know, just stressed… and tired… from all this excitement,” Thorax mumbled, his voice muffled by fluffy cotton. “Heh… well, tomorrow’s going to be pretty exciting too, I bet. Make sure to get some rest,” Jeremy soothed, briefly rubbing Thorax’s head. He hummed contentedly, causing Jeremy to stop as he realized what he was doing. He pulled his hand away, embarrassed slightly. “Why’d you stop?” Thorax complained. “Sorry…” Jeremy apologized. “Uh… I’d better go check on Chrysalis,” he hurriedly explained, before getting up and leaving the room, embarrassed. Chrysalis was busy staring out a window, looking at the ponies and carts go by in the street below. “Busy place, huh?” Jeremy noted, following her gaze. “Yeah…” Chrysalis trailed off. She crossed to the bed, throwing herself onto it in an eerily similar manner to Thorax. “What does Hespera sound like?” Jeremy wondered, laying down next to her. “Like… well, like me, but much older. She sounds kind of… wispy. Frail. Like she’s just barely still there,” Chrysalis answered. Before Jeremy could worry, Chrysalis smiled. “Of course, that’s not true. She’s very much alive, we all know that. Maybe her ‘voice’ sounds like that because she speaks so rarely?” she wondered. Jeremy shrugged. “Could be,” he mumbled. “She wanted to know more about… Thorax, and his kind, so I told her about them,” Chrysalis spoke up, yawning. “You think she remembers any changelings like that?” Jeremy wondered. Chrysalis grunted in disagreement. “No… all the ones she remembers are the ‘regular’ kind. Her children.” Jeremy hummed in thought. “Also… where are Sombra and Nightmare Moon?” he asked. “I haven’t seen them all day.” Chrysalis giggled quietly. “I asked Nightmare Moon to take care of the rest of the Hive while we were away. She agreed, but only in exchange for extra cuddles.” Jeremy chuckled with her. “And Sombra?” he repeated. “He’s still writing music, actually. Says he wants to compose a few more songs, now that he’s famous.” Jeremy winced. “I’d better tell him about the pitfalls of that, then. Sequels are hard.” Chrysalis snorted. “I think he knows, he was talking to me about that too. Something about… how high the expectations are.” Jeremy nodded, reluctantly pushing himself back into a sitting position. He slipped into his pajamas and brushed his teeth before cuddling into Chrysalis, relaxing at the familiar sensation of her forelegs wrapping around him. “Is it weird… that I’m scared to find out the truth?” Chrysalis quietly wondered, as the sun fell and the moon rose to take its place. “No… that’s normal. I’m a little scared too,” Jeremy revealed. He awoke in the Flower World to find that he was still in the place with the other flowers, the black-and-green ones that were oddly separate from the bigger one he’d spent most of his time here with. He reached out to touch the one he’d poked last time, brushing a petal. Nothing happened. He tried a different flower. Still nothing. No images flashed in his head, and the flowers made no response to his touch. He felt… worried. Was he no longer welcome here? He stood up, looking around and wondering where to go. Ahead, a single flower shifted slightly. Hopeful, he walked over to it, flowers springing away from his path like usual as he examined this one. It was a rose, inky black like the rest but with a full and beautiful set of petals. The thorns that normally occupied the stem of the plant were absent, but he still felt… uneasy around this flower. Cautiously, he reached out a finger to touch it. “Hello?” he whispered, wondering who this was. As soon as his finger landed on a petal, a torrent of memories and emotions assaulted him, sending him reeling backward. First was a single, still image, looking down on a tiny changeling with a confrontational stance, angrily yelling something as tears spilled from her eyes. She had hair, colored a much darker, forest green than Chrysalis’ teal locks. A feeling of deep regret flashed through his mind at this, before it abruptly switched. Next was a view of three beings – a changeling, a Windigo, and an umbrum – a tres pacificae. The changeling and umbrum were screaming at eachother, while the windigo… was crying, attempting with all its might to break them up. A hard pit of anger boiled in his stomach at this image. The final image was that of the earlier tiny changeling, looking at him in horror through some kind of portal as a beam of blue magic connected him and her horn. Behind the portal, something had exploded outward in a million points of light. The image was blurry, and it took Jeremy a moment to realize that the person whose eyes he was seeing from was crying. But the emotion accompanying this image was not sadness, or anger – it was resignation. The feeling that the person had done everything they could, and it was still not enough. Jeremy awoke with a gasp, to find Chrysalis staring at him. “Are you okay?” she whispered. “You were having some kind of nightmare…” He took a few deep breaths, wiping his forehead to find it clammy and freezing. “Yeah… you could say that,” he muttered. “I think… I think I had some of that nightmare too,” Chrysalis revealed. “I don’t remember anything, but… I felt something.” Jeremy remembered that she shared his emotions, and suddenly another piece clicked into place. “Um… yeah. Don’t worry… it was just a nightmare. I’m okay,” he consoled, sliding an arm around her again. Chrysalis hummed discontentedly, but eventually gave in and closed her eyes again. Jeremy, meanwhile, stared up at the ceiling, wondering about what he had just seen. He slept fitfully, tossing and turning as he dreamed of that burst of white light again, and again. Why did it look so… familiar? Like he’d seen it before, in a different place. In a different time.