//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Idle Chat // Story: Dark as Chitin: Soul Theory // by LostBox //------------------------------// Chapter Music Starlight Glimmer "What's going on?" I asked in confusion, my words falling on deaf ears. Okay, I guess I'll just come back later. Turning to trot away, I came just a few steps away from bumping into Chrysalis who was wearing a difficult-to-read expression. "Chrysalis, I didn't see you there. Are you going to the kitchen? It's a bit of a mess right now so-" "No," she said as she shook her head solemnly before looking me in the eyes. "Starlight, could I have a moment of your time, to talk, in private?" She wants to talk to me? Well, I've never been one to turn down a friend. "Of course, did you have somewhere specific in mind?" I always wondered what Chrysalis' room looked like. I never went or even peered inside out of respect for her privacy, so now is kind of a confounding moment for me. We had cleared out the old storage room for her, giving her full reign to decorate it however she liked. Surprisingly, her knack for interior design is phenomenal. Seriously, this room would put Twilight's royal chamber to shame. Hard to believe it was just a dusty storage room not too long ago. We sat across from each other at a small coffee table as Chrysalis poured each of us a cup of tea. Taking a sip, I savored the flavor of lemongrass before placing the cup back down. Such a gesture was something Twilight had taught me; it establishes an unspoken vow of trust between parties. I'm sure my display did not go unnoticed as Chrysalis smiled softly to herself before clearing her throat. "Anyways, the reason I brought you here was to talk about...Thorax." Thorax? Oh boy, this can't be good. I nodded understandingly, bracing myself for what she had in store. "What," she paused, looking down at the table with a troubled expression, "what was he like?" Huh? ??? The soul is a semi-self sustainable storage medium, a culmination of a being's experiences, memories, and will. Every being has a soul, even artificial ones can eventually develop a soul if they reach a certain level of intelligence. As for what the soul is made of, it's ephemeral metaphysical energy I've dubbed, anima. The mind and body nourish the soul and vice versa. When the body perishes, the soul will extract the data from the mind before separating itself from the vessel and finding its way into the afterlife. It will then enter "The Cycle," where it will be cleansed and recharged, the data extracted into "it." Shapeless, incompressible...hungry. Subsequently, the souls will be distributed throughout the universe at unfathomable speeds in search of a new vessel. I'm not quite sure what "it," is, but I do know that it won't let me go. I've existed for quite some time, from the primordial soup to the modern age of man, reincarnating an incalculable amount of times, unable to escape the grasp of the entity. For whatever reason, "it," refuses to extract my data, I'm uncertain if it even can at this point. Through my many lives, I've obtained knowledge of countless species, some surpassing any advancement mankind could ever hope to accomplish, others as insignificant as dust. After being alive for so long, however, I want nothing more than to be freed from my shackles of existence. Thus, I devised a plan. Under normal circumstances, souls are bound to the realm of reality they're created in, but by modifying my anima and injecting it into another's soul, those restrictions come undone. Gateways to other realities open. When the soul leaves the body, it also leaves behind its anima signature in minuscule amounts. That signature can then be traced back to the soul, no matter where it is. It's part of the reason I can't escape this eternal cycle of torment. That changes now though. You see, the universe doesn't like it when you change its rules, and it tends to react rather violently to even the smallest adjustments in its laws. So, what would happen if one were to create a breach in reality, establishing a link between worlds: worlds in separate plains of existence, worlds with their own laws of physics, worlds with their own forms of energy? In theory, as the most likely outcome, both worlds will perish. When exposed to unknown elements and physics, dark matter becomes highly unstable, destroying itself and whatever it was exposed to. It just so happens that dark matter accounts for nearly 85% of the matter in the universe. Once the link is established, destruction is assured. I just need to make sure to be careful with my newest subject, he's one of a kind. I'm starving for freedom and I just found my meal ticket. Now then, let's see where his soul went. Soul I feel like someone's talking about me...oh well. Now that the day's over, I can finally stretch my wings. Releasing the transformation spell I had on my vessel, I grew to my full height as I took on my alicorn form. To be honest, I have many forms, but I've grown accustomed to this one after centuries of training in Faust's domain while using it. I'm not truly an alicorn or anything else, for that matter. I suppose I'm something akin to a golem, capable of conjuring a physical form around my core through magical transmutation. Staring up at an open window from below a building at Silver Shoals, I steadied myself in preparation to sing my heart out, taking in the visage of the beautiful night sky, Luna's night sky. Just before I could start, however, I sensed a familiar magical presence from behind me. I spun on a dime already in the motion of initiating I and Chimera's signature hoof-shake, which was met with a satisfying click and thud. We pulled each other in hugging the other with our free hoof. "Chimera, what's up bro?" We broke our embrace, standing a few steps away from each other. "Not much," he said as he looked up at the sky, "I just wanted to talk about Cozy." Cozy? Oh, that filly I was assigned to watch. "Yeah? I'm listening, cute ki-," I stopped mid-sentence, remembering that's the technical term for a baby coat "filly, cute filly, by the way." Chimera shook his head as he smiled to himself. "Firstly, thanks for looking after her, but I was wondering if you could maybe dial it down a bit. She came home exhausted, talking about wanting to...strangle you." Huh, I do have that effect on people. "I'll admit, I was a bit overbearing. I'll tone down from now on, pinkie promise." "Thanks, Soul. I, uh, guess I'll leave you to do what you were doing," Chimera gestured with a hoof before stepping back and teleporting away. Alright then, back to Luna. Now I know what you're thinking, "it's not a good idea to fall for your bosses' daughter," but I fear it's too late. It happened shortly after my departure from Faust's realm. Yes, I remember it like it was yesterday. I had been taking a nap under the night sky atop Twilight's Castle when Luna came to me in a dream, curious about my identity. With good reason; I would be concerned too if a demi-god suddenly appeared in my world without warning. From there we bonded over common interests like foalish pranks and concepts of modern technology. Before I knew it, I had fallen for her, which brings us to now. I cleared my throat once more in preparation to sing when a sudden crippling wave of nausea passed over me. It was as if I was being pulled, but not in any particular direction, just pulled. As quickly as the nausea had hit, it had left, leaving me very confused. What was that? Has Pinkie Pie finally sought revenge on me by using her experimental laughing gas? "Fine, you win, Pinkie! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for teaching Li'l Cheese the B-word!" "You should be!" Pinkie yelled as she popped out of a nearby bush. It's always something. I looked again as I heard the sound of stifled laughter to see Luna giggling into a hoof. Well, at least she's happy. Starlight Glimmer "No, that can't be true," Chrysalis muttered to herself as she paced back and forth before snapping her head to look at me, "you're lying!" "Chrysalis, I've done nothing but tell you the truth. Thorax didn't want to do what he did, he felt he had to." "B-but, that would mean," Chrysalis suddenly fell on her flank, a looking of defeat on her face as she came to tears, "I'm a bad mother." Oh Faust, no, no. I can't leave her like this. Getting off my seat, I trotted over her, bringing her into a hug. The fact that she didn't fight it in the slightest was concerning. "Chrysalis, while I'm sure your parenting antics have been...questionable in the past, that's clearly no longer the case. Just look at Chimera. You raised him all on your own while being trapped in stone, only to have him go on to save all of Equestria from one of the greatest threats it has ever faced. He's now engaged and continues to rigorously push himself to new heights just in case the situation ever arises where he'll need to step up. Some nights, he doesn't even sleep," I pushed Chrysalis away, holding her by the shoulders to look her in the eyes, "Please talk to him about that, by the way. It's scaring my daughter." Chrysalis looked down at the floor. "Even so, that doesn't change the past. I did terrible things to my children: used them, abused them, I even sacrificed them for my own selfish ambition." "Yeah, that does sound pretty bad...but owning up to your mistakes is part of the path to redemption. Believe it or not, that guilt you feel is a good thing, in moderation. But if you hold that guilt inside without reconciling the issue behind it, it will eat away at you. You feel like a bad mother, so apologize to your children." "But how can I?" Chyrsalis' voice cracked. "How can I face them after everything I've done?" I grabbed Chrysalis' face in my hooves, craning her head until she was looking at me. "You don't have to do it alone, but the words need to come from you," I pressed a hoof to her chest, "your heart." I released Chrysalis, walking over to the door, opening it with my magic, and turning to look back at her. "I'll be waiting, so when you're ready just let me know." Turning back around to face the doorway, I took a few steps before stopping as I heard Chrysalis speak up from behind me. "Thank you, Starlight. I really don't know how to repay you." "It's what friends are for, but you could start by talking to Chimera about his...insomnia. He's probably in the magic chamber as we speak." Chimera Damnit, it's still too inefficient! Whenever I teleport, I expend far too much magic during the execution of the spell, so I can't use it more than three times in a row under normal circumstances. The only reason I'm still conscious is that I'm in the magic chamber. How can I protect anypony when I'm still so weak? I took a deep breath, prepared to teleport once more only to stop myself as the door to the room creaked open. I craned my neck around to see my mother. Immediately, I concealed my frustration, trotting over to greet her. Mother hardly ever come into the magic chamber, so seeing her here felt somewhat strange. Not that I wasn't happy to see her, I mean, I'm always happy to see her. Unless it's when I catch her on the other end of a door, listening in on conversations between Dawn and me. "Mother, what brings you-," I paused, taking note of the telltale signs that she had been crying, "Is everything alright? What's wrong?" She wiped her face with a foreleg, shaking her head afterward, "I'll tell you what's wrong, your sleep habits are terrible. It's not good for your health." My sleep habits? "Mom, it's fine, I can just replenish my vitality using ma-" I promptly silenced with a hoof to the mouth. "None of that, besides, even if you are fine physically, you won't be mentally. The mind needs time to rest, it's not meant to be running at full capacity all of the time. Don't you know your performance decreases the more sleep-deprived you are?" I did read something about that... "Whatever has gotten into you, child?" I looked down at my hooves, unsure of what to say. "Hmm, yes, I see. That certainly is cause for concern." Huh? "Dear, please. Hiding your emotions from me is as impossible as it is to hiss and yawn at the same time," she stated plainly as she turned my face toward her with her hooves, "you're scared, frustrated even, are you not?" She's right. I am scared, scared of not being strong enough to- "You're scared of not being strong enough to protect those important to you. Well, that's natural. Yet, in pursuit of power, make sure you don't lose sight of the reason you started in the first place," she paused, giving time for the words to sink in, "Tell me, when did you last allow yourself to rest?" "Two...days ago," I murmured. "That won't do at all, your future children will suffer. Get to bed," she said, releasing me as she trotted over to the door, "and look after your health from now on. Don't forget, your betrothed worries about you as well." Dawn...I should probably get to bed. I have been feeling kind of strange lately.