//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: All Nightmare Long (Unedited) // Story: Becoming Whole // by Chivalry //------------------------------// Chapter 5: All Nightmare Long Caduceus walked over to his workbench and opened one of the drawers, searching for something. After a few minutes of sifting through everything there, he pulled out a small package held together by a thin leather binding. He let out a deep sigh as his hoof ran over the rough paper wrappings, taking them in. Chrysalis could feel his emotions, his nostalgia for a time long past. Caduceus opened one of the pouches on his saddlebag and carefully slid the package inside. Turning his attention back to his bench, he opened a different drawer to reveal two sets of faded white robes as well as a few other assorted materials. "Who is this pony you are taking me to?" she asked. "You will need to put one of these on before we head outside. Whether it's day or night, this will save your life," he explained, pulling one out and placing it on the bed for her. Wait, I don't understand, Chrysalis thought. These are made of really thick material. Does he want me to burn alive in this thing? As if reading the confusion on her face, Caduceus continued. "The robes will keep you from getting dehydrated in the day and protect you from the cold bite of the night air." "I'm not putting it on until you tell me who you are taking me to," she said folding her legs and looking away from the articles of clothing laid before her. With an annoyed sigh, Caduceus continued to search through the house as he spoke. "A few years ago, a traveler arrived at the settlement and asked if I could make an herbal remedy to use for his skin. He had a strange breathing apparatus that emitted some kind of steam strapped to his muzzle and was unable to walk without his cane. When I examined him, I noticed a very similar scar on his shoulder. When I asked him about it, he covered it up and pulled away. Suddenly, he became very defensive, telling me to stop the examination as he covered up. Until now, I had dismissed the entire ordeal, but now..." He turned to face her, his expression stone cold. "Now, I think it is time to confront him and find out what was behind that scar." Chrysalis was startled. She didn't expect such an intense reaction from the otherwise cheerful stallion. "Why do you want to know?" she asked, recovering from her shock. Caduceus turned and continued to pack his supplies, "After what you told me about your dream and everything you were put through, I just want to know more about this and why someone would do what they did. Don't you?" "I mostly want to know why they did it... and why me," she said, eyes scanning the robes that lay on the bed. "Well, due to your injury, we cannot take the fastest route into town. The sand gives way beneath your hooves and if you try to walk across, it will only make your injury worse," Caduceus explained, reaching a hoof into his saddlebag and pulling out an old map as well as a few cartographer tools. "But I can fly," Chrysalis stated, buzzing her wings for a moment. "I can just fly next to you." He chuckled, "Were it so easy.... If the sun starts to go down before we can reach town, you will be blown away by the strong winds and I will probably never find you again," he stated flatly, making a few marks on his map. She could hear him muttering under his breath. "It looks like no matter what alternate route we take, we will have to trek through the canyon..." "Is going through the canyon a problem?" He let out a deep sigh, "Yes. Back in Ethiponia, we called them gwenga sukukuyiri or Blind Desert Serpent, but the locals here just call it ‘The Maw,’” he began, a tinge of grief staining his words. “They can grow to be fifty-five hooves in length and will eat just about anything they can smell. Locals say that they have spotted the creature moving in and out of the canyon during the night. If we leave now, we can move into a cave there as the sun sets and get out before it comes.” With that said, Caduceus stood up and returned the map to its proper place before slinging his bags onto his back. “I have to go fill the canteens,” he said softly as he walked by. “You stay here and get dressed.” Chrysalis looked to the clothes on the bed and—Wait, ‘here?’ Chrysalis’s eyes darted in the direction he was walking to see him opening what looked like a trap door and then climbing down the stairs into what she could only guess was his cellar. Guess the house was bigger than I thought… -------------------------------------------- “Why is this so hard?!” she grunted, trying to get the long robe over her head; her bad foreleg making it all the more difficult to get the first sleeve on. “Come on, you stupid thi—whoa!” Chrysalis tripped on one of the long sleeves of her robes and tumbled backwards, getting entangled in the lengthy cloth. Pain surged from the back of her head as it bounced off the hard floor, and all she could see for a few moments were stars as little bells rang in her ears. “Oh my! Are you okay?” Chrysalis groaned. Of course he saw that! Chrysalis scrambled to her hooves and sent her caregiver a death glare. “If it weren’t for this excruciating pain, I would rip out your tongue so you couldn’t tell anyone what you have witnessed here!” Caduceus threw his head back and laughed. “But if I couldn’t talk, how would you know where to go?” “I’m thrilled by your amusement,” she said, almost snarling as she tried to get the robes on once again. He walked over to her, his fits of laughter subsiding. “Here, let me help you get that.” "No!" Chrysalis barked, her pride keeping her from accepting any more of his help. "I'll do this myself!" Finally, she got the robes over her head and draped them down her haunches. The robes fit her surprisingly well, despite her slightly larger stature compared to the average pony. The wool material scratched at her skin and caused a great amount of discomfort, but there was nothing she could do about it except grin and bear it. Looking over to Caduceus, she saw him finish covering his head in cloth, but instead of covering his muzzle as he usually did, he let the final piece of cloth hang down his neck so she could hear him clearly. "Before we proceed, you... um... need to change form," he said. Chrysalis shot him a puzzled look. "What is wrong with my current form?" she asked, mock anger in her voice. "Do you not like the way I look?" "N-No! N-Nothing's wrong with the way you look. But... um... your current form might attract unwanted attention," he stuttered, his face a deep crimson. Chrysalis chuckled. "I understand what you mean, especially since the Royal Guard might be searching for me. Perhaps it is best if I change into something more fitting." Closing her eyes in concentration, Chrysalis prepared to perform her spell. . A bright green flame slowly engulfed her as her new form took shape. Contrary to common belief, the changelings' ability to change form was not some simple form of outward camouflage, but rather a complete shift in their anatomical makeup. As great as this was, transforming while injured was an extremely dangerous process and could kill if the changeling was not strong enough to handle the added strain. Luckily, Chrysalis had absorbed enough emotion to safely perform the spell. Soon, she was completely engulfed in the magical aura, allowing for the final changes she needed in order to properly impersonate the pony she had in mind. As the neon embers subsided, they revealed an orange earth mare with a yellow mane. She was a few inches shorter than Caduceus but just as physically toned, and her face was that of a young country mare, graced with freckles on each cheek and long eyelashes. She opened her eyes to reveal great emerald pools not unlike Chrysalis's own, except for her irises, which were now round instead of the snake-like slits they once were. The robes that she wore were not as stretched out as they were before due to her smaller size, but still clung to her snugly. "There," Chrysalis said, her voice slightly higher than before. "Now what?" After his shock subsided, Caduceus shook his head and reached for something in his bag. "Do you know how to put one of these on?" he asked, holding out what she could only guess were the head wrappings. Taking it from his hoof, Chrysalis tried to imitate his movements by first laying out the square cloth, folding it in half, and carefully wrapping it around her head. "That's very good," Caduceus remarked. "But you are a mare, and there is a different method to wearing it." His hooves carefully removed her headdress and started from scratch. This time, he wrapped around her head like a hood, instead of a cowl. Looking her over once more, he smiled, "Okay, it looks like you are covered up properly." Chrysalis sighed. About time! I've been stuck in this place for what seems like months! Caduceus walked over to the small wooden door of the adobe home, but stopped just before the door. "Chrysalis, once we are out in the desert, things are going to get pretty chaotic. I need you to stay close and listen carefully if you want to get out of this alive. If I tell you to do something, you do it without a second thought or moment's hesitation. If I say jump, you jump as high as you can. If I say run, you run... and if I say to leave me behind, you never look back." Chrysalis was a bit shocked by his statement, but understood the gravity of the situation they were getting into. She gave a slight nod and Caduceus put a hoof on the door, lightly pulling on the handle. The pressure from the violent winds outside caused the door to fly open at his touch, letting the hot air from the wasteland outside flood the room. Chrysalis felt as if the flames of Tartarus were crashing against her like a tidal wave, the coarse grains of sand ripping at the few bits of her exposed flesh. Walking out of the house and into the direct exposure of the sun's ultraviolet onslaught caused beads of sweat to pour down her covered face like a waterfall as her eyes clenched shut to shield them from the bright light. Once her eyes adjusted, Chrysalis peered out onto the barren wasteland to see nothing but an endless ocean of sand and death. Bones of creatures long passed lay dried and shattered amongst the great rolling dunes of the desert as they engulfed everything in their wake. It was a sight she seldom wished to see but knew far too well. Once the famine had fallen upon the hive, her people fought for what little food was left and left their once great city a defiled crypt of blood and bone. Thinking of what happened to her people, what she witnessed, brought back very painful memories. "Is there something wrong?" Chrysalis shook herself from her reverie to notice that her traveling companion stood at her side waiting for her. "No. I am ready," she replied, her voice shaking ever so slightly. "What direction should we head?" Caduceus looked up to the sun and pulled out a small necklace that he had tucked into his ragged robes. Holding it flat in his hoof, he studied the innermost circle of the device as it rotated to face a designated direction. "The canyon is due southeast, so we need to go that way," he declared, pointing in the opposite direction of the small hut. Wrapping the final piece around his muzzle, he began to walk towards their objective. Chrysalis pulled down the hood of her head wrap and followed closely behind. -------------------------------------------- The strong arid winds tore through the dunes as the sun relentlessly beat down on the two travelers trekking the desolate wasteland. They had been trudging through the sand for what felt like days; Chrysalis actually surprised herself with her own strength, but the Changeling Queen was wearing down. Fast. Just put one hoof in front of the other. C'mon now, she encouraged herself, her exhausted body screaming in protest. She looked forward to her companion, who was much farther along the trail, taking note of how easily he traversed the land without any sign of fatigue or dehydration. It only makes sense, she thought. He has made this journey nearly every day since I met him... Trying to give her body some much-needed nourishment, she used her magic and reached for him, trying to find any kind of emotion she could feed off of to keep her going. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to get very emotional about taking a stroll through Tartarus on Equestria. Who knew? Looking over his shoulder, Caduceus realized just how far behind Chrysalis had fallen. He wanted to slow down and allow them to catch their breath, but after a quick glance to the horizon, he realized that they were out of time. "Chrysalis!" he started yelling, running toward her as fast as he could. However, his voice was muffled and distorted from the wind. Chrysalis could not understand his words, but upon hearing his voice, she lifted her head to see him charging her. While she couldn't understand everything he was saying, she heard one thing loud and clear: "GET DOWN!" Turning around, Chrysalis was engulfed in an endless wall of sand that quickly swallowed her whole. Within a moment, the world disappeared into nothingness. The roar from the twisting winds was deafening, and the blinding flurry of sand circled around her like a bloodthirsty shark, ready for the kill. She could neither see nor hear in the middle of the dense sandstorm. There was no up, no down, no forward nor back... only sand. Chrysalis called out to Caduceus but was silenced when another billow of sand flew directly into her face, blinding her and making her gag. She raised a hoof to cover her eyes as the sand cut and dug its way into her irises like shards of glass. The pain was excruciating. She tried to rub the coarse grains of earth from her eyes, but every touch made the sand dig deeper and deeper. Fighting her instincts, she stopped rubbing and tried to look around for even an outline of her guide, but her vision was clouded by the sand and the tears it had caused, and she could see nothing but a blurred shadow in the distance. “Caduceus?” she asked, slowly walking toward the shadow through the hurricane of sand raging around her. The ground gave way beneath her, causing her to stumble and fall down one of the dunes. As she fell, her scarf came undone, exposing her face to the elements at play. It felt as if a thousand tiny needles were poking and prodding her mercilessly. Deciding to cut her losses, Chrysalis rolled onto her side and did whatever she could to shield herself from the world of pain around her, like a filly hiding under the covers from the monsters at night. After what felt like an eternity, the wind began to calm and the air cooled. Peering out from her hiding place, she noticed that she was buried under a large pile of sand, which weighed down on her, making it hard to breathe. Using what strength she had left, she burst from her involuntary burrow and looked around, cringing as the sand scraped against her joints as she moved. All she knew was that she was in the middle of nowhere, and it was night. The wisps of sand and wind danced gracefully across the plains as the large neon moon rose in the dark blue sky. One more thing that she noticed was that the once-scorching desert had become as cold as the great Mammoth Tundras. I’m not sure what I prefer, the heat or the cold, she joked with herself, pulling the cloak tighter. She was extremely grateful that Caduceus had given it to her. Otherwise, she would have just burrowed into the sand and hidden till the sun came out. Snapping out of her train of thought, Chrysalis decided to climb a nearby dune to find a vantage point. Trying to climb up the ridge was a lot harder than she thought it would be. Once atop the mountain of sand, she was able to see for miles around. She heaved a depressed sigh. Just as I thought. Nothing. Looking up to the night sky, she reveled in the serenity of the night like she did back when her life was peaceful... A young black filly covered in bandages with her right foreleg wrapped in a sling sat at the windowsill, gazing out at the gracefully dancing lights in the night sky. "Beautiful, aren't they?" The filly squealed in surprise. She had been so caught up that she didn't even notice her caretaker walk into the room. "You scared me, Miss Maíz," she said, catching her breath. The elder mare laughed softly. "It's been a week since we met. How long are you going to continue to call me 'Miss,’ little one?" "S-sorry," the black filly apologized, blushing a little. Seeing this made Maíz chuckle, "You never answered my question, Mijita." The black filly looked up to her caretaker and then back to the dancing lights just outside the window, "Yes. I think they are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." Just then, Maíz walked behind the filly and knelt down. "You know, you can't really see the stars from here. How would you like me to take you up to the balcony?" she asked quietly. The filly's eyes lit up, but when a realization dawned on her, she sighed, "I wish... But Doctor Comfort said I wasn't allowed to leave my room till tomorrow." Maíz looked over to a small clock on the nearby nightstand for a few moments. The black filly listened to the light ticking. After a slightly louder click and the soft sound of twelve chimes, Maíz turned to the filly and asked, "Guess what?" Before the filly could answer her question, Maíz picked the small filly up and placed her on her back. "It's tomorrow! Come, let's get you out of this stuffy room." Walking out into the hallway and up the stairs, they arrived at the small opening that led to the home’s small balcony. The filly gently slid off of the elder mare's back and looked up to the night sky in awe. Stars! Stars everywhere! Beautiful spectacles of light endlessly waltzing in the heavens to the song of the night. While this night sky was nothing like she saw in the paintings from one of the old books Maíz let her read, it was still breathtaking. "Come little one! I want to tell you a story," the elder mare called from an old rocking chair she had there for nights just like this. The filly slowly hobbled over to the chair and asked, "What kind of story?" Maíz gently picked the small filly up and placed her on her lap, "I want to tell you El Cuento de las Estrellas..." As the elderly mare retold the story of the stars, the filly sat there in complete awe at the majestic tale of the great Princess Luna and the creation of the night sky. For hours, the two of them sat in the chair, asking and answering questions about the stars and their constellations until the young filly fell asleep, nuzzled comfortably in her caretaker's warm embrace. A few stray tears slid down Chrysalis’ face, and she found herself wishing she could return to those enchanted days. Smiling, she raised her hoof and pointed at the stars, just as she did all those years ago. There's Taurus, Aries, and over there is Cygnus and that one in the middle is... Chrysalis's eyes shot open in realization. "That's Polaris! The North Star!" she exclaimed, jubilantly jumping up and down atop the dune. Caduceus said the canyon was to the southeast, so if I go that way…. Her eyes traced the imaginary trail leading from Polaris towards what she hoped was the canyon. Well, nothing to do but try, she decided. After about three hours of walking through the desert, Chrysalis was just about to give up hope until she climbed atop a large ridge of sand to see an almost unbelievable sight. There, carved into the very ocean of sand lay the canyon she had been hoping to find. The sand cascaded down the sides of the great chasm into oblivion. A small path was carved into the rock face, allowing passage through its treacherous maw. Great, she thought. There is no way I can cross that on my own, not right now anyways. I think I should wait here for Caduceus. Maybe I beat him here. Sighing in defeat, Chrysalis let herself fall to her haunches and rest, if only for a moment. She lay back into a bed of sand to contemplate just what had happened that day and saying a silent prayer of thanks to the creators. Nopony would think that the Queen of Changelings was by any means religious, but her mother taught her many good habits. All of the bad ones she picked up on her own. Suddenly, Chrysalis felt the very earth beneath her shaking from unseen tremor. Looking toward where she thought the tremor had started, her heart sank as she cursed her luck. She could see something charging her position, creating a wake of sand as it carved its way through the wasteland. It must be the creature Caduceus spoke of, Chrysalis decided, her heart sinking. Her eyes darted to and fro, trying to find a place to run. To her dismay, the only place to hide was the very reason she waited atop the ridge. Deciding on the lesser of two evils, Chrysalis began running into the mouth of the canyon in search of refuge. A cave or something. Anything. She could hear the monstrous creature's bloodthirsty roar as it chased her into the crevice. How did it catch up so quickly? She thought, but fought the urge look back. The path she was on was too unstable. Turning her attention away from the earth beneath her for even a second would lead to her certain doom, and in the time it would take her to recover, the creature would be on top of her. The earth quaked as the creature rampaged behind her, doing whatever it could to knock her into the dark abyss. Chrysalis used her magic to form her wings, helping her balance on the thin patch of rock she was running on. However, the creature's tantrum caused a large portion of the path ahead of her to collapse. Chrysalis skidded to a halt just at the edge of the path, cornered by the great beast behind her. At this moment, time slowed down for Chrysalis. Sand fell around her like a light rain as she turned to face the beast. Behind her, she saw death incarnate rising from the dark of the crevice. She couldn't see everything, but by the dim light of the moon, she could see just how terrifying the beast truly was. Its enormous body was covered with thick, sharp scales that meshed with every sinister move, its almost fin-like spine protruded through the surface, carving its way through the ocean of sand as it stalked its prey. But the most nightmarish feature of this demon was by far its glowing yellow eyes that seemed to pierce her very soul and leave her paralyzed. Submitting to her end, Chrysalis lowered her head as the creature opened its great maw, bearing rows of razor sharp fangs down on her. Is this really it? Is this how I am going to die?