//------------------------------// // Chapter 36. // Story: "Little Pony" // by ButterscotchFTW //------------------------------// Princess Luna had no idea how long it had been since she'd entered this construct. This behemoth of a maze that had been constructed presumably to keep her out of the colts dreams. It was impressive at first glance, the idea of a colt creating a labyrinth of who knows what intrigued her. Though once she had actually stepped hoof into the thing, she found annoying. Annoying in the sense that it had her constantly walking along varying paths which either would be well lit, or the complete opposite and completely pitch black. She had found it massively tedious and lacking. Huffing to herself as she took another right turn and walked into a dead end, making her form a frown before stomping the ground and turning around. Only to walk into another wall. As she stumbled back in confusion she wouldnt notice the area around her shift in ways one would think impossible before finally, the wall to her right slid open. Pulling herself together sue would turn to her right and peer into the narrowing passage, tilting her head as she vaguely made out a beam of light at the end. Knowing there was nowhere else but dead ends for her, she turned and walked into the passage. Finding it getting harder and harder for her to fit through the shrinking hallway before having to squeeze her way through, eventually getting to the point of where her hips got stuck. She puffed out her cheeks as she tries continuing forwards, only just barely scraping by as the sound her body made against the metal proved her struggle. "..damned...WAL-oof!" As she continued her struggle the hallway suddenly pushed her forward and dropped her onto her muzzle. She groaned once more before pushing herself up onto her hooves, turning to rub at her hips. She fell short as she noticed the small passageway she entered had suddenly turned into a closed off space. It made her blink for a moment, hadnt she just been struggling to fit through there just a moment ago? Where had the... Her thoughts were cut short as her ears pricked up at the distant sound of something, drawing her attention over to the sudden change in scenery. She was now standing at the foot of an entrance to a cave, the inside being impossible to see from where she was standing. Wasnt she just stuck In a narrow hallwa- she was interrupted by the sound she heard picking up in volume. No longer muffled and seemingly getting closer. She took a step and backed away from the entrance to the cave, a sense of caution and fear starting to settle in as she braced her horn just in case of anything. The sound started up once again and now she could clearly make out the sound of footsteps specifically those of a pony. Hence the clopping of hooves against a rocky surface. Though the sound did slightly relive and confuse her at the same time, the only other pony here were her and the colt. Who else would be here? Then her thoughts were completely thrown off track as the sight of her one and only sister stepped out of the cave. Stopping just in front of her as she just stated blankly at her. Luna was taken back by the sudden appearance, though quickly breathes a sigh of relief at the sight. Her guard dropped and she went to question her sister for just randomly appearing and frightening her. Why would she just randomly appear here if she had told her before hoof that an approach like this didnt seem necessary. How was she here if she didnt have the ability to enter ones dreams? That made her stop, her relief turning into suspicions as quickly as a spinning dial. "Sister..?" She said slowly. Taking in the rather put of character blank stare she was being given by her sister. She got no response. As she took a step back. Celestia took a step forwards. As this was happening, she could feel herself getting increasingly apprehensive. A thought at the back of her head faintly warning her about the pony in front of her. Though before she could think any further or even act on anything, she was interrupted by a sickening crunch coming from her sister. Startling her into taking another step back as her sisters form started to curl in on itself while continuing to emit the sickening noise. Luna could only stare on in horror as her sister body continued contorting and bending until finally, black limbs broke through from underneath her sisters pony form and sprouted upwards before curving onto the floor. The tattered body of her sister was hauled into the air as the limbs rose to their full height. An orange substance ran across the underside of the newly forming creature and packed together, creating a glowing abdomen of sorts. Luna couldn't find it in herself to move. She was full of fear and could only stare as her sisters body continued being subject to the creatures transformation. With it all ending as the creature kept Celestias head as it's own and twisted it upside down. Rearing backwards and using her sisters head as a puppet of sorts, it roared and immediately lunged for her frozen form. She couldn't even muster out a scream before everything went dark. -- I watched the large monitor with a disappointed expression. Ever since I fell asleep and noticed that a little certain someone was currently in my little defense maze. I decided to just imagine up a large monitor that would let me see into and focus on individuals in the maze. Which was Princess Luna, until she up and died. I kinds expected her to put up some sort of fight against the creatures in the maze. But I guess the Nosk was too traumatizing for her.. "Hmm. Wonder if this will reflect any meetings I'll have with the Princesses in the future.." --- Queen Chrysalis stood at the foot of her basically paraplegic younger sisters bed with a very unamused frown on her face. Her fangs dug against the bottom of her lips as she gave her one more look over before turning her attention to the shaking drone standing next to her. Casually turning her head over to look at him, she internally sighed at the sight of his shaky form getting even worse the longer she just stared at him. Part of her was happy at the fact of her being that visually frightening to her subordinates, and the other half was disappointed that this was what her sister had to offer in the form of drones. She finally broke the silence as the pitiful sight started forming a sour taste in the back of her throat. "Fret not little drone.. everything will surely turn out alright." She finished with a devilish grin, lowering her head closer to his and simply laughed as he flinched. Truly pitiful. On the other hoof. Now that she clearly had to wait for the spell she used to quicken the process of her recovery, she could focus on the one thing that stood out to her. When she had decided to question those who knew of the situation regarding her sister, mainly the drone that she took with her. Even despite the injuries that he sported he was still able to stay conscious enough for her to get all the information she needed...before his speech disassembled and he was fixated on a specific pony. A colt to be in fact. It intrigued her at the moment, though she couldn't get much after that because the drone was so fixated that the colt was all that they were talking about. At first it made her wonder what exactly her sister was teaching and encouraging her children to do before hearing a specific phrase that made her thoughts stop entirely. Even though the drone sounded so unhinged that his speech was immediately interpreted as meaningless drabble, but it still intrigued her nonetheless. An endless amount of love? From a child no less? It was a chance that she was very willing to chase after, no matter how outrageous it sounded. Even if it did turn out to be false, the outcome still benefited her. Children were easier to manipulate and drain love out of, so it's still a win win situation in her head. But with that in mind. She once again turned towards the shaking drone in the room and smiled once more, knowing exactly what she was going to do. "Drone." He jumped before turning his head to her, avoiding eye contact as soon as his own eyes met hers. "Yes, Queen Chrysalis?" He said in a weak voice. "Gather all of your infiltrators together. I'll be needing to speak them. Understand?" "Y-yes Que-" he never got the chance to speak as he was once again interrupted. "Good. Now run along." She said with a wave of her hoof, prompting him to quickly turn tail and vacate the room. Leaving Chrysalis to her own evil thoughts. To be continued.