//------------------------------// // 6. Captive Audience // Story: Dysphoria, Arc 3: Canterlot // by thedarkprep //------------------------------// 6. Captive Audience Rose awoke with a start. For the first few seconds she was thrown in a panic, finding herself unable to see anything or to make any type of movements. However, slowly but surely, the memories of what happened started to come back to her. She began to organize them in the best way she knew how. “What do you know?” she thought to herself. “I’ve been impersonated by somepony calling himself Slant Rhyme. He looks, sounds, and is essentially who I was. We fought, and I won, after which I was assaulted and ponynapped from Canterlot by five ponies in addition to Slant.” Rose stopped in realization that those were the only facts she knew. “Ok then, what don’t you know that you should?” she thought to herself in exasperation. “I don’t know who the other five ponies are. I don’t know where they are taking me. I don’t know where we are now. I don’t know who is impersonating me, or why. I don’t know how he convinced my family. I don’t know what the group is planning.” Rose then set her mind on trying to answer as many of those questions as she could. “Let’s start with the first one,” she thought. Rose thought back to the attack, but there was not much to look back on. The strange ponies had come out of nowhere, swiftly incapacitating her and tying her up. The shadows in that alleyway had concealed any defining characteristics, thus assuring their anonymity. With frustration she realized that there was no way of knowing where she was being taken, what their plans were, or anything regarding Slant without having the chance to draw the answers directly from him, which was still not a guarantee seeing how little success she had encountered on her first attempt. “There is at least one question that I could try to answer,” Rose thought as she tried to pick up as much sound as she could from her surroundings. Gone were the sounds of the city. Rose could not hear the sound of hoofsteps on stone, or the chattering of crowds. Instead, such sounds were replaced with the rustling of leaves and the soft chatter of various animals. She could also hear the sound of the wheels of the cart she was being transported in as they displaced the dirt, grass, and gravel underneath. “Ok, so I’m in some kind of forest,” she thought. “Probably at the foot of the mountain, depending on how long I’ve been gone…” She stopped her train of thought. The thought occurred to her that since she had passed out from exhaustion, Rose did not actually know how long she had been missing, and there was no way to find out. This meant that she could be as far as Foal Mountain or Baltimare depending on how long she had been out. “It seems I won’t get any answers until they untie me,” she thought. She would not have to wait long. Soon the cart stopped. Rose strained to hear her surroundings again, hearing someone open the door and removing her covering. Soon Rose found herself face to face with Slant Rhyme and that manic smile of his. Slant untied Rose’s restraints from the compartment, giving one of her restraints to each of the five ponies to keep hold of as Rose exited her confinement. It took a second to adjust to the darkness. She was inside of a shadowy cave. “Move,” ordered Slant. Her five captors pulled at her restraints, the tensing chords urging her forward. Seeing no way out of her predicament, she decided to comply. The group walked in silence for what felt like hours to Rose. As she walked, she tried to ascertain her location or the identity of the five ponies restraining her, letting out a frustrated sigh when she proved unable. “There are caves all through Equestria,” Rose thought. “And it’s too dark to see anything but outlines. I wish there was some sort of...” As they rounded a corner, Rose noticed a sight that derailed her thoughts. “…light.” Rose studied the light as they passed it. It was stemming from a green substance that covered a small section of the wall. It irradiated an emerald green glow that illuminated the corridor without doing much to dissuade the shadows or darkness. It made Rose uncomfortable. More than that, the unnatural glow that captivated her gave her a feeling of unease and anxiety that arose with each passing second. She looked away, turning to face the path they were traveling on, only to see the faint green light further up ahead. As they continued, the green substance with its ethereal glow became more plentiful and appeared more often. Eventually the tunnels looked like a fully lit street. Rose took this opportunity to finally study her assailants. The five ponies were Primrose, Perry Pierce, Spring Fresh, Graphite, and Strawberry Lime, all of them young nobility, not unlike Slant himself, with the exception of all of them being unicorns. “At least now I know with whom I was supposedly hanging out with,” Rose thought. “But I guess the question is why?” Rose struggled to think under the daunting green lights. She remembered these ponies from school and from the various dinner parties her parents had forced her to sit through. She had obviously not hung out with them, but if she remembered correctly, none of them were particularly amiable with each other either. It was not until ponies got older that they cared about spending time with other nobility, and in those cases it was only to increase their own status. These ponies preferred to stay by themselves. “So why now?” Such thoughts were pushed out of her mind as they arrived at a large cavern within the cave. The space was brightly illuminated with the same green radiance, with the entirety of the walls being covered by the strange substance. Rose could see that there were tunnels carved all along the edges of the walls, meaning that the compound was a lot bigger than what she had been shown, with this room serving as its central hub. Scattered around the room were also some creatures. They were ponylike in shape, and yet, not ponylike at all. They seemed more like insects. Rose noted the membrane-like wings they each possessed, sending a cold shiver down her spine. They also had gnarled horns, and holes in their legs, giving them the appearance of something rotting and broken. Their fangs gleamed as white marble and their iris-less blue eyes showcased no emotions. These creatures were black. Rose wanted to follow the movements of the ten or so creatures as they surrounded her, joining the six ponies that had brought her here as they forced her to her knees. She wanted to focus on the building bug-like buzzing from their wings as the sound bounced off the walls in a continuously growing loop of sound. She wanted to attempt to escape. And yet, none of those seemed like an option. None of those seemed like an option because Rose’s mind was unable to think or focus on anything except for the creature she was now kneeling in front of. The creature rose to a grand stature, dwarfing every other inhabitant in the cave. This creature was black like the other creatures had been, but there were various variations aside from the height difference. For starters, this creature had a teal mane and tail which the other creatures lacked. She also possessed a blue-green chitinous plating over her midsection. Lastly, there were elongated pupils in her dark green eyes, the same green eyes that now stared down at Rose with malice and contempt. “What is this that my subjects have brought me?” the creature spoke. Rose recoiled at her voice. There was something oddly dissonant about the timber and enunciation of each syllable, a subtle echo that underscored each word, driving her voice into Rose’s subconscious. Slant stepped forward. “This pony attacked me in the city. I believe this is the pony I am posing as, and therefore thought it prudent to come back to the hive and ask for your orders,” Slant said. “The pony was ill-prepared for conflict, with the only weapon found being this blade.” Slant passed the blade through magic to the creature, who eyed it with interest. “You’ve done well to do so, my child,” the creature spoke, eyeing Rose. There were too many questions in Rose’s mind for her to organize properly. Even if she had, these questions would take second priority, with the first being that of survival. Rose weighed her options. She was trapped, could not run, and could not fight. Her only option was to talk, which she forced herself to do despite her fear. “Who and what are you?” Rose asked. The creature looked confused and taken aback. She looked back at Slant as if expecting an answer, but Slant only stood there in silent resolution. Turning back to Rose, the creature toyed with the blade before speaking. “Well, what a fool we found,” the creature said. “You must know not the art of combat, or hold it in distaste, to have broken every rule so thoroughly. You mean to tell me that you sought to hunt and fight an enemy of which you had no knowledge of and no information, wielding not magic, nor wingblade, nor sword, but a mere dagger?” The creature threw the small blade at Rose, which landed a short distance in front of her. The clang of metal striking the floor echoed through the cave and was allowed to ring out and fade before the creature spoke again. “I hope it is inexperience and not arrogance that has led you to be here,” the creature said with distaste. “For it being the latter would prove an insult most grave.” “I wasn’t hunting you!” Rose yelled. The creature eyed her with curiosity, but motioned for Rose to continue. “I don’t know who you are or what you are, but I wasn’t trying to find you or fight you,” Rose pleaded, motioning to Slant. “I was looking for him, and not to attack him. That just happened. All I wanted were answers. I wanted to know why I was being impersonated and by whom; in this case, by what.” The creature stepped towards Rose, analyzing her for the first time since their meeting. Recognition appeared on the creature’s face. “Oh my, well isn’t this queer,” the creature sneered. “It would seem this is Miss Slant Rhyme. I’ve seen many things in my time, child, but this is certainly new.” Many of the creatures behind Rose laughed. “My name is Evening Rose!” she shouted. “I’m tired of these games; I need answers.” The creature shushed her. “Oh, you are no fun, Ms. Rose,” the creature said, “You seem to have forgotten that you were trying to stall for time to escape me killing you.” The words brought fear to Rose. “There it is,” the creature continued. “Well, if you’re so interested in talking, let us talk. Subjects, leave us. I can take care of her. Guard the entrances and await further instructions.” The creatures and the six ponies behind Rose dispersed into the various tunnels, leaving Rose and the main creature behind. “Now that we’re alone, let’s begin,” said the creature. Rose waited. “My name Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings.” Rose looked at her in confusion. “Changelings?” “Indeed child, changelings. That is the name of the unique species you see before you, though one such as yourself should not feel ignorant at not having recognized us. Most of your kind does not remember we exist.” Rose took a deep breath. Some of her questions were being answered, which brought her some relief. Maybe she could learn more and thwart whatever plan the queen had. “Oh my, defiance! A rare emotion indeed, but not quite to my taste,” Chrysalis said. The mare before her stood in shock. “How did you? “Know your emotions?” asked the queen, “It is what us changelings do. We can taste it; it is what we feed upon.” Rose sat down, listening intently. A grin befell Chrysalis, as she did always love a listening audience. “Changelings feed on love: it is how we thrive and survive. As such, we can smell and taste it much like you can smell and taste food. It is one of our special talents.” She waited for the next logical question. “What are the others?” Rose asked. “Oh, a bit of this and that,” said Chrysalis, obviously satisfied. “We can activate a telepathic hive mind to communicate with each other instantly. Every changeling has both a unicorn’s magic and a pegasus’ flight. Our changeling magic allows us to change our body to that of any pony and to mimic them perfectly; our ability to feast on love means we do not need to eat physical food, our natural lifetimes span centuries, and our bodies heal extremely quickly.” She turned to glare at Rose. “It makes us the perfect species, wouldn’t you say? Now as entertaining as your visit has been, you are interrupting a very important engagement. Between that interruption and your unwelcome discovery of our kind, the time has come for me to eliminate you. Thank you for the pleasant conversation and do not try to run. It shall be less painful this way,” she finished as she walked towards Rose. Rose stared at the queen but she had already stopped listening about halfway through her speech. Her mind caught on a particular detail. “Your magic can change bodies?” she asked. Chrysalis stopped. She stared at the pony with confusion, sensing the air for emotions. There was no fear, or panic, or sadness in the air. There was not a dignified solemnity or a regretful sentiment. The queen did, however, smell an emotion. It was a sweet emotion, warm and inviting, but something not often found by changelings. Hope. The queen stared at Rose with a critical eye, seeing that same emotion reflected in her eyes. The pony had dared to ask the queen something of real personal value; she dared to hope for something she had given up on years ago. Nothing else mattered to her at that moment. Chrysalis evaluated her options before speaking. “Actually, I think we might be able to work out a deal of some sort.”