//------------------------------// // Act: I Chapter Four: ...And Now For The Final Illusion // Story: Cogs & Needles // by Frostmourne //------------------------------// There is a saying, as old as Equestria itself, and perhaps even older. The saying goes as such: The best laid plans of ponies and puppets often go astray.” The meaning of the saying is that no matter how well a pony plans something out, something can always go wrong. In short, expect the unexpected. But often times, ponies tend to forget the saying, and the meaning of it as well. They go ahead and make their plans anyways, thinking that nothing could ever go wrong with them. They believe the things they tell themselves to, and their hearts simply follow. Upon the Island of the Decayed, Chrysalis would learn to heed the advice of the old saying, for she would soon realise that not everything always goes according to plan... &&& Blizzard Underwood, a pony who had been put into his own personal version of hell, specifically tailored to torture him, and him alone, washed up on a shore of enchanted lies, the shore of an island. His unconscious form presented well all of the things he had been through. He was in terrible condition: His clothes were torn and wet, his mane was in complete disarray, and his front hooves and left wing had large stab wound in them, which had not yet closed up because of the salty ocean water, and still bled. He had been put through the worst moments in his life, from being tormented by his own home, to watching the love of his life get murdered before his very own eyes by a Demon that haunted and hunted him at every turn. As he lie on the sandy shore, he was unconscious, but unresting. His mind was plagued with the memories of the things he had witnessed, and the things that had been done to him. He lied there on the shore, completely still except for the expanding of his chest when he took in air to breathe. It was quite a spell before he finally began to wake. As he roused from his restless sleep, he winced at the pain he felt in his hooves and wing. He’d never been stabbed in them before, so they hurt substantially more than they would otherwise. He was wounded not only physically, but emotionally, as well. And it was because of those wounds that he barely had the will to sit up. When he finally did, he checked himself over, looking at his injuries, which were only starting to heal. His clothes, fur, and mane were all almost completely dry from basking in the light of the sun as long as he had been. He saw the position of the sun in the sky, and realised that it was still morning, most likely around nine o’clock if he had to guess. He then looked down the shoreline, quickly noticing how everything a meter away and further was progressively blurry the further away it was. He felt his face, and noticed that his glasses were gone. He assumed that they had most likely been lost in the ocean that had carried him to the island he found himself on. He sighed, resigning to just get used to seeing without them on. He stood up slowly, his front hooves getting used to holding up his weight again, stinging with pain as they did. He languidly trotted up and down the shore of the island, not knowing what to do, or where to go. He looked out at the ocean, and gazed in amazement at each wondrous wave he saw. He then turned to look at the forest behind him, which the island was home to. The brown of the bark of each tree looked full of life, and the leaves on the top of each were a vivid green. His eyes almost begged for him to stay in the extraordinary place he found himself in. Everything around him was beautiful, and he couldn’t believe that the place he was in was real. The sun which illuminated the island from above seemed to calm him. It helped him to push the horrible memories away, but no matter how hard he tried, they would always come back. Even though he was serene, and slightly peaceful, he didn’t know whether or not he wanted to go on. Everything seemed hopeless and pointless to him. What’s the point of fighting, when there’s nothing to save? Hollow was no more, and without her, there just didn’t seem like there was a point in living anymore. He then wondered, even if he was to try to end his life, how would he do it? He didn’t think he could drown himself, his phobia of drowning would never allow him to. There was no rope to be found anywhere either, so he couldn’t exactly hang himself. He decided to just give up on everything altogether, and took a seat on the shore once more. He was going to wait until he died of starvation, or dehydration. Whichever came first. Just as he had given up, however, he heard something. A voice. Smooth as silk and sweet as honey. ...Hollow’s voice. He turned back, only to catch a fleeting glimpse of what he thought was her. No... It’s not possible. She’s dead. I saw her die right before my eyes... He stood up and looked into the forest as far as he could, not seeing anything else. Just as he was going to call himself insane, however, he heard it again, and swore he could feel her standing next to him. That time, however, he heard her say something. “Look in your pocket.” He turned to his left to see nothing once more, and the feeling Hollow had ever been there had gone as well. He really did think he was becoming insane, but he cast that thought aside for the moment. She had told him to look in his pocket. ...That’s how he would determine if he was insane or not: If there was something in his pocket, then he was still sane, but if there was nothing in his pocket, then he was truly going mad. He haltingly brought a hoof up to his vest pocket, and reached inside. He felt something immediately as he did so. He grasped it with his hoof, and pulled it out. It was a black paper packet with a ribbon holding it closed. The ribbon was the exact same shade of green as Hollow’s eyes. He wasn’t going insane. He untied the ribbon with his teeth, and was surprised to find thick paper cards inside the packet. He let the packet drop, along with the ribbon, as he pulled the cards out. The cards were the same colour as the packet. He thought they were blank at first, but when he flipped one over to look at the other side, he realised that he had just done exactly what he was supposed to. There was magically glowing green lettering on it, and it only had one word on it: Run. As soon as he had read it, he felt a presence to his right, and ominous malevolent presence that he remembered well. He looked to his right, only to see the Demon trotting towards him, every trot taking him the length of two. Blizz put the cards in his pocket, and began to gallop, running from the Demon, just as the cards had told him to. He galloped into the forest as fast as he could with two injured hooves. He was confused and scared. How had the cards gotten in his pocket? And where was he supposed to go, what direction was he supposed to run in? The last question was answered as soon as he had thought it. He saw another vision of Hollow. It went a certain way, and something in Blizz’s gut told him to follow it. He turned in the direction he saw it go, not stopping for a second, and galloped onwards. The whole time he ran, he could feel the Demon right behind him. He continued to see visions of Hollow, and every time he did, he would follow them in the direction he saw them going. They were leading him through the forest. Trees... So many trees... Why does there have to be so many trees? He galloped hard, trying to keep up with the visions of his dead lover, and at the same time, trying to outrun death. The situation went on as such for a while, until Blizz stopped seeing the visions of Hollow. The same time those ended, however, the feeling of the Demon chasing him had vanished as well. He stopped dead in his tracks, looking behind him as soon as he did. His feeling was right, the Demon was gone. But so were the visions of Hollow, and without them, he was once again lost in a forest with seemingly no end in sight. It was at that point, though, that he heard the music. It was the music of a violin and a cello, playing a song of sorrow and melancholy together. He trotted in direction of the music, relying purely on his sense of hearing to guide the way. After a short time, he found a clearing in the forest. In the middle of the clearing was a building made out of what seemed to be black bricks. It looked to be an erotic cabaret. Golden metal lettering above a deep red overhang over the door displayed the name of the establishment: L’Inferno. He trotted up to the building, noticing as he did that the doors of it were wide open. The music had become louder, and changed in tone. It had went from a song of gloom and dismalness, to a song of passion, and love. It was as intoxicating as the heady aroma of perfume that emanated from the building. He trotted inside, red candelabra on the walls leading him down a hallway and into the main room. The main room was comprised of four stages: Three for the dancers, and one for the cabaret band. Only the middle dance stage and the cabaret band stage were lit up. He couldn’t make out the faces of the ponies playing the music, and nor did he care who they were once he saw just who was dancing on the middle stage. Hollow. Blizz was taken aback in shock. Hollow was alive. He didn’t know how, but she was alive, and dancing. She motioned for him to come over and take a seat. He stood in the entryway for a moment, still confounded at the fact that she was alive, but soon enough trotted over and took his seat, just as Hollow wanted him to. He took a seat on the left side of the stage, since it was the closest to the entryway he had come through. After he had taken his seat, Hollow did a slow and sensual spin around the pole in the center of the stage, letting him look at her from every angle. Blizz’s heart began to beat fast, he was feeling a new sensation: Lust. He swallowed hard as he began to sweat. Hollow stopped dancing for a moment, and trotted over to him. She gently rubbed a hoof against his cheek before reaching in his vest pocket and taking out the cards. She set them down in front of him on the stage. She flipped the first, and then flipped a second, placing it over the first. Just as she went back to dancing, Blizz saw something he didn’t want to see across from him. The Demon. The Demon was sitting directly across from him on the other side of the stage. Blizz gasped in fright, and stared at it. He was afraid that it was going to kill Hollow again. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he anticipated the Demon to move, but it did no such thing. It merely sat there, just as Blizz was sitting. Blizz looked up at Hollow, who looked at him, and nodded to the cards. He looked down at the cards, and saw the message that was on the second one that Hollow had flipped. Hello, my love. Relax and sit back. We are safe for now. He again looked back up at Hollow, who smiled kindly at him. She lightly tossed something to him, which he caught. It was a golden apple. Not just golden in colour, but the skin of it looked like it was made out of actual edible gold. Hollow flipped another card for him to read. Eat it, my love. It will heal you of your wounds. It seemed that the cards were her way of talking to him in that moment. He guessed it was most likely because of the Demon, who he could feel was smiling at him. The Demon was enjoying the show, the sick fiend. Blizz began to sweat a bit more from the stress that the Demon was putting on him. He tried to focus on Hollow’s dance, and began to eat the apple. With every bite that he took, his injuries healed up more and more. Before long he had finished it, and all that was left was a core, which he set down on the stage next to the cards, standing it upright, glancing again at the Demon. As he did that, Hollow flipped another card for him. He can’t hurt us here, my love, do not worry. Just focus on me, forget everything else. He did exactly what the card said as soon as he finished reading it. He watched Hollow, and watched her only. She became the only thing in the room after a moment. He stayed focused, and watched in awe. Every move that Hollow made was mesmerising, and was done with poise and elegance. She shook her hips, bringing his attention to her flank, and he could barely keep his eyes off of it, but he felt naughty for looking at it so, and swallowed hard once again. He wasn’t used to things of the erotic nature, even though he did read about them in books. The real thing was much much different. It excited him, in a way that his stories couldn’t. After a while, the music slowly began to end, and as did Hollow’s dance. When everything else began to come back into focus, Blizz chanced a look at the Demon, only to see, with surprise, that it was gone. His gaze rested back on Hollow, as she lie upon the stage in a pose, looking at him. She flipped the last card. Let’s leave this awful place. Blizz looked up from the card and into her eyes, before she stood up, and hopped down from the stage. She wanted him to follow her, and he knew it. He got up out of his chair and followed her as she lead him out of the cabaret, realising that the perfume he had smelled before was hers. He not only followed her with sight, but by scent as well, getting absorbed in the smell of the perfume. He tried to figure out what it smelled like, but he just couldn’t place a hoof on it. He followed her, watching the way her hips swayed the whole time. Her dance had shown him just how voluptuous her body was, and he wasn’t going to forget it anytime soon. When they were finally outside, they trotted around to the back of the building, and began to trot through the forest. Blizz was glad to be out of the cabaret, only because he felt that the further away they were from it, the further away they were from the Demon. He followed Hollow closely, not wanting to lose her again like he had done before. As they made their way through the greenery and trees, he looked at the edge of the treeline ahead of them, and noticed it was beginning to thin out, as if they were reaching the end of it. He realised that Hollow was leading him to the other side of the island, but he didn’t mind. He didn’t care where he was as long as he was with her. He would follow her into the night anytime, just like he had the night before. Wherever she went was paradise to him, because she was in it. As they reached the treeline, and came out upon the sandy shore of the island, Blizz was once again amazed at the beauty of it all, and with Hollow there to share it with him, it was comparable to heaven. Hollow turned around and looked in his eyes, and he looked into hers. They trotted towards each other then, stopping only when their noses touched. Hollow spoke to Blizz, and he was happy to hear her voice again, especially because of the words she said. “My darling, close your eyes, I’ll be your lover tonight.” It reminded him of poetry, as if it were the words to a song. The words enchanted him, and made him long for her all the more. He was happier than he’d ever been in his life. Hollow was back, and as far as he knew, the Demon was gone. They were all alone, in a place where the sun was silent. He closed his eyes, and he felt her muzzle press against his. He opened his lips to let her tongue in, for he knew that was what she wanted him to do. Their lips locked, and her tongue entered his mouth, wrapping around his tongue like a snake would it’s prey. Her tongue felt long, but he didn’t pay that fact any mind. Besides, if anything, he liked it. Her tongue massaged his in ways he didn’t think was possible, and it made him feel weak in the knees. He could barely contain himself. His heart was pounding frantically in his chest, and he felt like he could barely breathe. He got caught up in the moment, and opened his eyes to look into Hollow’s, only to see her eyes glowing a brilliant green, like how the horn of a unicorn glowed when the unicorn used magic. That was when it happened. He felt something in his mind break, as if a metaphorical knife had been plunged into it, right where his memories lie. He cringed, pulling his head back. His lips separated from hers, and it was at that point that he noticed her tongue. Not only had it felt like a snake’s tongue, it was a snake’s tongue. It was forked at the tip, and was just as long as he thought it had felt. It slithered back into Hollow’s mouth, and just as it did, the colour and shape of her muzzle faded away like falling sand. It faded to reveal a muzzle that was more pointed, had a very dark grey coat of fur, and had gleaming fangs that protruded from either side of it’s mouth. She spoke again, but when she spoke, however, her voice had taken on new qualities. It sounded more seductive and commanding, and sounded layered, as well, as if she had two voices at once. “Behold, who I truly am!” Blizz’s mind stung once more, as if when she spoke the metaphorical knife was twisted. The body of Hollow began to fade away just as her muzzle had, the sand-like substance disappearing before it hit the ground. It faded away to reveal the body of a different female. A body that was taller, and more monstrous. A wicked horn with a brilliant green flame around it formed from her forehead, and thin shabby blue metal-wired wings sprouted from her sides. Holes appeared in her hooves, and her mane and tail became longer and unkempt, changing to a dark cerulean colour, and possessed holes in them as well. The near black fur coat she had was soon covered by clothes of a tattered but regal semblance, and finally, a crown-like tophat formed upon her head. The one standing before Blizz was no pony. No, the female embodiment standing before him was the noble and exalted form of the one and only Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings. Blizz’s eyes were wide as he looked upon the gorgeous nightmare that was Chrysalis, watching as her wings began to flap, and she began to rise. She held her hooves out in a position of power, and began to shout in vehement and paramount anger. “I have been reborn! I have broken free! You can’t deny me, do not defy me! I am drunk on lust, and sovereignty!” With every syllable that she spoke, Blizz felt his mind get stabbed and shanked over and over again. He realised what was happening. Chrysalis was breaking the barrier in his mind that he couldn’t break himself. “Abandon all hope, for beyond time I stand! I have been reborn!” With every blow to the barrier that was dealt, Blizz’s head snapped left and right, as if he was being punched. Blood had begun to come out from his nose, and he started to cough it up as well. The forceful destruction of the barrier in his mind took it’s toll on him, and he slowly became limp from the trauma. With the last strike, he fell backwards to the ground, his vision hazy, and his head pounding from the violation it had just received. Spatters of blood were around him, and he coughed, adding a few more. He was weak, and he could barely feel his body. His mind had been assaulted, and it had weakened his body in the process. He felt himself get yanked up off of the ground, green magic flames around his hooves and neck. He was floated up towards Chrysalis, as as he was, his vision started to clear. He closed them hard, trying to get rid of the haziness in them, and when he opened them, he locked eyes with the former changeling queen. As soon as he did, he felt information spread throughout his mind, broadcasting to him all the memories that had been once locked away. ...He remembered her. He remembered everything. “I... I remember now...” He muttered weakly, his mind processing every memory in detail. Chrysalis smiled wickedly as she stared into his eyes, seeing the recognition of her in them. “You do, do you? Good, for that means my spell worked. And that also means that you can now answer a few questions for me.” She grabbed his jaw with a hoof, and brought one of her glowing green eyes close to one of his. “Tell me, what happened that night all those years ago, when I showed you what I was, what I am now: Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings?” Blizz coughed to the side, a couple drops of blood coming out and falling to the sand of the shore below. “You and I were in my room... And I was going to ask you to marry me...” He was weary, just barely able to speak. “But then when I was going to show you the ring... I saw you were a... a changeling...” Chrysalis shook him violently, putting her hooves around his throat, her anger taking her over. “Then tell me, if I had stayed, what would you have done? You would have hated me, wouldn’t you?! You would have begun to hate me, just because I wasn’t the pony that you thought I was!” She wanted answers. She wanted to know that what she had thought was true. She wanted to know that he hated her because she deceived him, just like she thought he did. Blizz groaned in agony as she shook him, his brain feeling as though it rattled inside his skull when she had done it. He thought back to that fateful night. He thought about how he felt for her. He was going to propose to her, because of how much he loved her, and how much he could tell she loved him. He wanted her to make him the happiest colt in the world. But just as he was ring out, he turned around to see that Hollow, his Hollow, had changed. ...Into a changeling. He thought hard about how he felt at that moment, and thought about how he would have felt if she had stayed. “...No. I wouldn’t have hated you.” Chrysalis blinking in surprise. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard him say. “Wh... What?! No, you’re lying! Do not lie to me, fool!” She took a hoof from his throat, and smacked him across the muzzle, making his nose bleed even more. “I want the truth, tell me the truth! You would have hated me, just as you must hate me now!” She was becoming furious. She didn’t want to believe that he loved her, because that would only make her love him. Blizz took the abuse she dealt upon him without even trying to move his head to dodge it. He couldn’t have dodged it even if he wanted to, for he was still limp and powerless. He swallowed hard, and spoke as clearly and loudly as he could, trying to let her know that he meant every word that he said, and that it was all truth. “I am not lying! I wouldn’t have hated you! ...I may have felt paralyzed and somewhat betrayed, but I realised that if you hadn’t disguised yourself, you couldn’t have lived among ponies. And if you hadn’t lived among ponies, then I would have never met you. I also knew that no matter what, you were still the Hollow that I knew and loved. It doesn’t matter what you are on the outside, it is who you are on the inside that counts. And on the inside, you are the one I fell in love with. ...And I still do love you, even after all you have done to me. Because I know that the only reason you have done all this to me is because you thought I hated you. But I don’t hate you. I love you. That is the truth.” Chrysalis could only feel disbelief. She absolutely couldn’t fathom what he had just said as being truth. How can he still love me, after all of the torment that I have put him through?! He should hate me, just like I thought he would! She growled, and yelled in anger. “No... No! You speak lies! You utter slander! How dare you!” She whipped her head, and flung him with her magic. As Blizz was released, and flung towards the forest line, his side hit a tree, damaging his wing, and hurting his chest. He fell to the ground, landing on the sand of the shore. He remembered what happened after Chrysalis had ran out of his room and disappeared into the night. He had thought that she had ran because she didn’t want to marry him. His heart was broken, and when it was coupled with the shock he felt from finding out that his lover was a changeling, something in his mind snapped. He went insane. He formed a story in his head that Hollow had died, and had been killed by another pony. In his insane sate, his imagination was reality. He believed everything he had imagined to be real. He wrote messages upon his bedroom walls in his madness, ranging from things like “Calm Consumes Me”, and “Please don’t hate me for what I’ve done...” to things of a much more lunatical nature, such as “He did it, I’m sure of it. He is the pony who killed Hollow, and now I have to kill him before he does it again.” He had gone into a full on psychosis, running out in the middle of the night, playing the part he himself had written in his mind. He almost killed a pony, accusing the pony of being the one who killed Hollow. He was put in a straightjacket, and locked up in an asylum for the insane. And that was when the barrier in his mind was made. The doctors had brought in a unicorn who was doing experiments in the field of mental magic, seeing if there was a way to bring someone back to sanity after they had gone insane. The unicorn put a magic barrier around every memory Blizz had of Hollow, and everything up to the point when the barrier was created. After the barrier was made, Blizz had thought it was still the day before he had met Hollow. He had no recollection of her whatsoever. The experiment had been a success. The doctors told him that a package a mailpony was delivering had fallen on his head and put him in a coma. As Blizz remembered all that, however, Chrysalis had different thoughts in her mind. She was confounded by Blizz’s words, and was telling herself that they weren’t truthful. He’s lying! He’s trying to trick me into falling in love with him so that I will become helpless as we link hearts. Well no more. No more! I will not be tricked by him, not now, not ever! It is time for this to end! She landed upon the shore, and shifted into the Demon, so that she could torment Blizz one last time before killing him. She trotted over to him, and picked him up with a hoof, shifting the other one into one of the Demon’s blades. She held him against a tree by his throat, looking at him in her disguise. She spoke in the Demon’s voice, just as she had done before. “This is the end for you, pathetic mortal! You will pay for your sins with your accursed blood!” Blizz shook his head, trying to regain full consciousness. He looked around them, and saw Chrysalis nowhere. He spoke to Chrysalis, believing that she was the Demon. “What... What did you do with her?! I was trying to prove to her that I still love her!” He began to assume the worst, and Chrysalis confirmed his fears. “I killed her again, for the last time. Now you will join her in death, by paying for your crimes!” Chrysalis said as the Demon, growling every word. She brought her blade hoof back, ready to stab him, but just as she trying to stab him, she realised she couldn’t. Damn it, just do it! Kill him, stab the blade into his stomach, and rip open his torso! Why am I hesitating?! She thought for a moment, and the recognition of why she couldn’t do it hit her, angering her so. ...No... No! I don’t love him! He hates me! Why can’t I kill him!? She was fighting herself internally. One side of her wanted to believe everything Blizz had said. It wanted to love him, just as he loved her. But the other side of her refused to believe any of it was true. It wanted to kill him for breaking her heart all those years ago. Blizz bared his teeth at what Chrysalis, as the Demon, had said. “No! I’ve come too far and been through too much shit to die now! And who are you to accuse me of crimes and sins, Demon?! Who are you!?” He threw a hoof up in an attempt to do an uppercut, but failed. Instead, he caught the hood of the Demon’s hood, ripping it and flinging it back, revealing just what the Demon looked like. Blizz was horrified at what his eyes were seeing. “No... It can’t be! That’s not possible!” Blizz was staring straight into a twisted copy of his own face. Demonic teeth adorned it’s mouth, and blood red eyes glowed with the evil inside them. Chrysalis spoke again, still fighting herself on the inside, baring her teeth. “I am you. I am the embodiment of all you have ever done wrong. I am a part of you, and now...” She was finally able to control her body. The murderous side of her had won. “I’m going to kill you!” She thrust her blade hoof forward, and tried to stab Blizz, but only stabbed into the tree behind him as Blizz moved his stomach out of the way to dodge it. Blizz bucked her away, un-impaling her blade hoof from the tree. He fell to the ground as his throat was let go. He stood up with his newfound strength. “You are a part of me I need to destroy then. I will kill you, and in doing so, kill the dark side of myself. I will be clean!” He began to trot over to the disguised form of Chrysalis, his hoof falls powerful, and his eyes full of divine rage. He was ready for it all to be over. The suffering, the pain, all of it. He was ready for it to end. Chrysalis was astounded by what Blizz had just done. How did he do that?! Where did he get the strength to buck me away from!? She stood up, but then suddenly felt as though she couldn’t attack him. She could do everything else but try to harm Blizz. And it wasn’t her mind’s fault. No! He’s taken control over the dreamscape! His mind took control back from me as I was trying to stab him! I can’t control anything anymore! She began to back up, realising her weakness. But just as she was going to run, Blizz galloped at her and tackled her to the ground, sitting on top of her so she couldn’t move. He began to scream in extreme anger, and started to hit her as hard as he could, mauling her with his hooves, the whole time thinking that he’s killing the Demon. “Now I destroy you, Demon! Sinew is ripped to shreds, and stripped from your body, crimson! Fury of righteousness will now consume you in death! Choke on blood, and writhe in pain you thought you’d never know!” Soon, after every hit he made, the dreamscape began to break, pieces of the world crumbling, and falling into a black abyss, which started to consume the whole land. The illusion was broken. The spell Chrysalis had put him under to create the dreamscape was shattered, and as it was, Blizz began to wake up. He fell to his side, waking up from the dream in which he was supposed to die. &&& Blizzard Underwood woke up on his bed in his room. All he remembered from the night before was being with Hollow. Loving her, kissing her, falling asleep in her arms. It had been a perfect night. Until he went to sleep, that is. When he fell asleep, he had a dream. A dream that turned into a complete nightmare by the end of it. He could barely remember what even happened in it though. He only knew that it had tormented him as he slept. He woke up sweating, as if he had run for miles. He had read somewhere before that dreams have deeper meaning. That they are cries from a ponies subconscious. He never really thought that such an idea was true, but he did want to ask Hollow what her thoughts on his dream were. He would recount it to her, and she would help him get over it. He knew she would know just what to say. She always did. He flipped onto his other side in bed to look at Hollow, but instead of seeing his lover, he saw a much more gruesome and grisly sight. He saw the pale, barely breathing form of Chrysalis. Her body was covered in liquid crimson, from her mane and tail, to her fur and clothes. Even the bed sheets under and around her had been painted sanguine. He screamed in absolute horror at the sight, and in his shock, fell out of bed. He hastily stood up, so he could look at her. Who could have done this?! He asked himself, terror gripping his heart as he looked at the morbid sight before him. He then came to a realisation. Wait... He turned to the metal decorated mirror that he had hung last night before he and Hollow went to bed. A mirror never lies... He saw himself coated with blood, most of it on his hooves. The memories of the dream came flooding back to him, and it was at that point that he came to a grand, yet horrific, understanding: He was the one who had done it. He thought he was killing the Demon, but the Demon had just been one of Chrysalis’ disguises. Tears began to cascade from his eyes, just as the blood on his hooves trickled down to the floorboards below them. He screamed again, screaming in misery and woe. “No, no, no, no, no!” He looked back to Chrysalis, only to bare witness to her taking her last breaths. ...He got an idea. A desperate idea. There was a chance he could save her. A chance. But a chance was all he needed. He swiftly rushed to her, and held her in his hooves. “No, please! Don’t die! Don’t you fucking die on me! I love you! I’ve always loved you! Without you, I’m nothing! I can’t live without you!” He was giving it his all. He was giving her all of the raw concentrated love he possibly could, the whole time crying in extreme melancholy. “Please, come back! I love you! And it’s because I love you that you can’t fucking die!” With every word of love that he spoke, Chrysalis’ wounds slowly began to close up, and she started to heal. But in his frantic efforts, and through his blurry tear-filled eyes, he did not notice her healing at all. There was only one last thing he could think of doing. One thing that would give her as much love as she needed to live. He gently brought his hooves to the sides of her head. He looked at her features. He looked at just how bewitching and ravishing she was, even with the stillness of death consuming her. He could not stop crying. His tears leaked from his eyes continuously as woe blanketed his body and choked his heart. It was then that he locked lips with her, kissing her passionately. He kissed her as long as he possibly could. He was giving her every ounce of love he could, and more. He didn’t know it, but he was turning his own life energy into more love for her. He cared about her so dearly, so profoundly, that he was willing to die for her. That much was proven in that moment. When he finally pulled away from her, parting his lips from hers, he felt extremely weak, as if he hadn’t eaten or drank anything for days. He looked over Chrysalis’ body, seeing all of her wounds were healed, but noticing one thing, the one thing he didn’t want to see: She wasn’t breathing. He fell to her side in the bed, his vision becoming blurry not only from his tears, but from the haziness that dying brought to them. After a moment, his tears stopped coming, and his mouth felt dry. He muttered four words, wanting them to be the last words he said before he died. “I love you, Chrysalis...” He accepted his death at that point. He was ready to die. He didn’t want to live in a world where the one he loved was dead. Just as he had accepted his death, however, he saw something happen through the fuzziness of his vision. Something that only made him think that irony truly hated him, and wanted to play a macabre joke on him. He saw the form of the changeling queen next to him begin to breathe.