//------------------------------//
// Rewritten 
// Story: Phantom Krystal: An Unstable Ruby 
// by Lifeblood_Wisp 
//------------------------------//

Arachnis stumbled through Canterlot like a pony attempting to walk on only its hind hooves. His energy was still heavily drained, and there was too much on his mind after his recent encounter. As each minute went by, he only felt he was covering less ground. He dragged himself along until he reached the mark that his fight with Chrysalis left on the town. He looked up to see the large crater that he left when Chrysalis slammed him into the ground. Townsponies of all kinds gathered around it, and the crowd that formed was full of whispers. Arachnis could only make out some of the sentences, but most of it sounded just sounded like noise to him. Noise that irritated him. He tried to quicken his pace, to leave the noise as fast as possible, but he only found that to hinder more than help as he tripped and tumbled down the crater that Chrysalis helped him create. 

Now at the bottom with even more bruises on his body than he did before his fight. He fell to the floor, feeling almost drained of his energy. The crowd seemed to move in closer, surrounding Arachnis on every side. Despite the masses asking if he was ok, and even some offering a hoof up, Arachnis almost didn’t appreciate any of it. Too many voices for only two ears to handle. Arachnis felt as if his body was on the verge of shutting down completely, and only then did his hidden power return to him. His body that was one various shades of red began to conform into only two different shades, and contort between those two shades. The flashes made the crowd back away in fear, even causing some foals to cry. Arachnis’ head was in a throbbing pain, one that kept him from even standing. He was about to close his eyes…

Until he saw a familiar changeling land right in front of him.

He looked up to see Zoey with an expression so worrisome, she might’ve been on the verge of tears. “I thought Chrysalis would’ve done you in a lot worse….let’s get you outta here.” Zoey carried Arachnis and hovered in the air. She suddenly felt something graze her leg. She looked down to see a pencil falling toward the ground and an uproar of ponies. They detested Zoey from throwing objects to shouting names and even what many to be considered slurs. Zoey looked down upon the angry audience she caused. She knew Changelings weren’t liked everywhere, but so see this about of hatred directed only toward her was…off putting to say the least. She turned around, took one last look, and flied away, Arachnis in hand.



Arachnis felt a cold but soothing sensation on his forehead. One that he knew he had never felt before but in some sense or another, felt familiar to him. He opened his eyes, expecting to still be in the middle of Canterlot, but instead found himself lying in what appeared to be a hospital bed. He leaned into a upright sitting position only discover to a sharp pain in his midsection. His body yelled at him to go to a more desirable position, but his mind told him to scan his surroundings. Telling himself he can push through the pain, he sat up and looked around. The architecture was quite similar to Canterlot's palace, but something seemed...off about it. He attempted to get up, but to no avail. His efforts only resulted in him falling off the bed and onto the cold floor below. Eventually, he stood himself up, only to see a singular door in the room. It was the only exit, but it felt like the wrong one. As Arachnis approached the door, he could hear voices, familiar ones at that. He listened closely, and realized that recognizing those voices was one of the worst things he could've done. They were the voices of both Zack and Zane, the two changelings other than Zoey tasked with protecting him as a foal. They weren't just normal voices though, they were quiet. muffled screams  that Arachnis remembered all too well. At this point, he didn't want to open the door, but it was the only way out.

He turned the knob, opened the door, and stepped into...the Hive? This made even less sense to Arachnis, and was a clear indicator this was a dream, but no ordinary dream. It seemed to him it was one that targeted specific memories of his, almost as if it was being dictated by someone or something. Still, Arachnis had no way to go but forward, so he continued. It was down a long, thin hallway, only dimly lit by small green lights. With each step he took, he heard the voices of Zack and Zane, slowly taunting him in the worst way possible. Their tones were dull and full of spite, and their words were carefully sharpened to cut deep into Arachnis' mental state, and warp it into the frail foal they saw him to be. Zane spoke, "We could've lived our lives...", then Zack, "...if you hadn't been so afraid.". Arachnis was now trying his very hardest not to show it, but the voices...they were agonizing to hear. "Afraid?" Zane started. "Only afraid? It couldn't have been only thing that stopped him. It was our lives. Something else had to be there. Something... like disregard." He continued. "Oh? Or maybe it was...weakness? Yes, weakness always seemed to plague those higher than us. No different from Chrysalis.

He couldn't object to anything they told him. He knew he couldn't. He could've sworn up and down that he didn't care for Chrysalis anymore but deep down, he felt this slight sting when they called Chrysalis weak, but what seemed to pain him the most was his own apparent weakness. He recalled his encounter with Cozy Glow, and his fight with Chrysalis. He felt so powerful then, like he was taking steps to being as strong as Chrysalis and yet, he felt so helpless, like intangible knives were cutting straight though his heart. His pace through the tight hallway quickened, like a fish trying to escape a predator. His speed trot quickly turned into a full sprint as he raced down the hallway, desperately looking for a way out. The word began to ring in his head, constantly repeating itself.

"You're weak...you know you are..."

"All your power came from her...she's gone"

Arachnis couldn't do anything aside from visualize the words "shut up" in his mind's eye. Eventually, he came to a dead end. He tried to use his magic to blast the wall open, but it was of no avail. A hand grabbed Arachnis by the neck and tossed him into the air. During that short period, he saw Tirek with a smug smile on his face. His eyes hadn't even widened all the way before he was slammed into the ground. With each slamming motion, ropes of red and green blood escaped from his face. before making a contorted mess. Tirek winded up a punch, and thrusted his fist at Arachnis with everything he had. Once it made collision, Arachnis' vision went black.



Arachnis woke up in a room nearly identical to the one he was in before his nightmare began, the only difference being that the design was much more "nighttime" and "hospital". He was in considerable less pain, yet still some muscles ached and many others felt stiff. He looked to his side to find Zoey's clawed hand, leading up to her body in almost the same position as him. He quickly deduced that she was asleep. 

"Quite the nap you took Arachnis."

Arachnis looked up to see Princess Luna sitting down, looking out her telescope and into the cosmos. She turned away from it to give Arachnis a short lived, but warm smile. Arachnis was hesitant to return the sentiment, but did so anyway. He looked toward the sleeping Zoey.

“She carried you all the way up here.” Luna explained. “You were out for hours, but she refused to leave, even after I advised her to. She’s a loyal one.”

Arachnis looked at her, and thought about his “dream”. Though she forgave him, the guilt would probably never leave him. He didn’t want to think about it too much. He wanted to leave the past in the past.  Zack and Zane, Chrysalis, even the name she gave him, he wanted to leave it all behind. He thought it fit to start with the pony that closely reminded him of his mother.

“H-hey Luna?”

“Something wrong Arachnis?”

“Well…” Arachnis looked at Zoey again. “I’ve put Chrysalis behind be but…I wanna start with a clean slate. I wanna erase everything I had to do with her, including my name.” He said.

Luna have a surprise expression but it followed with a much longer lasting smile. “Chrysalis was a bad influence for all of us. I deeply understand. In such a case, what would you like to go by?”

Arachnis had thought long and hard about this is a younger colt. There was always a name that seemed to resonate with him, no matter how many times Chrysalis told him it sounded a bit edgy.

“Phantom Krystal.” He said, half smiling. "Oh! Could you tell everypony else about this. I...wanna stay with Zoey for bit." He asked.

Luna simply nodded, and with a flash of her horn, and popping of midnight sparks, she was gone. Phantom looked back at Zoey, noticing a small scratch on her leg. She and his horn were enveloped in a crimson light and before long her scar was healed. He smiled, and laid down beside her.