Nevermore would Chrysalis question the barriers between reality and the plains beyond. In her current situation, she doubted that she would ever be able to question the true nature of anything that lay outside the walls of her home ever again.
Her body felt weightless, and the endless space that surrounded her was too strange to intricately describe. Expanding into the endless reaches was an amorphous stretch of white. All around her she could see nothing but the simple color. It surrounded her, encased her in this land of the unknown. She felt afraid, despite there ever being the presence of a danger she could neither see nor sense for many lengths around. The greenery of the Everfree Forest was a spectacle she now longed for. She hadn’t the slightest clue as to how she got where she was now, and the unfamiliar sensation of weightlessness deviated her mind from questioning why.
When her senses returned in full, she realized that she was floating in mid-air, suspended in the middle of nowhere by an invisible force of nothingness. No strings, no wires, nor taut vines held an uplifting grip around her body. Her thread-like lengths of hair floated alongside her head like reeds in a cold pond. She slowly moved her right hoof through them, feeling each strand glide over the dark skin of her cracked and chipped sole.
Suddenly, she heard an echo, a soft coo that carried on for dozens of miles into the boundless distance. Then, she felt something cold blow across her face and body. It circled around and blew through her mane as well, gently carrying it around the back of her head and neck like a gentle river current. It felt good basking in the bliss of winds cooler and more pleasant than those during a hot summer day in the Everfree.
With the coming of these alien winds, a new force, the all-too familiar force of gravity, made its entrance into the world. The queen looked up and noticed that her ghostly mane was slowly rising upwards. She felt a mysterious energy being directed down onto her body. She did not know what to make of it. She had only felt such a sensation whilst submerged in water, the few times in her life she had actually done so anyway.
Seconds later, her front hooves suddenly touched down onto an invisible bottom surface, startling her. She gasped and pulled them away, but became calmer once she finally realized that her body was being gradually lowered. Her hind legs touched down with the gentleness of a snowflake, and after calming her mind she extended her forelegs and let them touch down as well. Immediately afterward, gravity returned in full force. Her mane and tail dropped like dead weights. The sudden reintroduction to the laws of physics nearly caused Chrysalis to fall over, but with quick reflexes she regained her balance, wiggling her hooves to make sure that she could still feel them.
“…w-where am I?” Chrysalis whispered to herself, remaining still while turning her head to look in all four directions, only to be greeted by blankness at every bearing.
Follow the silver contrails…
A soft gasp escaped under the lonesome queen’s breath as a mystical voice ahead of her rang out in the world of white. It was one of the most soothing sounds she had ever heard in her life, and for her to make that assumption so quickly only forced her to further accept that her mind had escaped the fields of reality. It sounded feminine in tone, and each word echoed through the void accompanied by the numinous twinkling of bells.
“C-contrails?” whispered Chrysalis, continuing to nervously scan the plains around her. “W-what contrails? Hello? I-Is there someone there?”
My bearer of peace will show you the way…
“Bearer of peace?” mumbled Chrysalis in confusion.
Since the voice arose from somewhere up ahead, the queen redirected her gaze and narrowed her eyes, focusing hard on that one direction in hopes of catching sight of this “bearer of peace”, whatever their appearance may be. Seeing anything other than the mats of limbo right now would have been a great way to help set her mind at ease.
After a full minute of staring ahead, she still could find nothing but smooth, taunting emptiness. The endless backdrop made her eyes ache, forcing her to look away to rub away the discomfort.
In that moment, Chrysalis sensed a slight tingling sensation on the tip of her muzzle. She slowly removed her hooves from her face and opened her eyes to stumble upon something she had never seen before; something seemingly unique, but by no means a permit to let her guard down.
A very small, winged creature laid flat at the tip of her soft nose. It proudly displayed two, pointed wings sitting parallel on either side of its slender form. Behind these wings sat a smaller pair of winglets that mirrored its larger counterparts. Its body was of a silvery color, but its defining feature, the wings, was what caught her attention for the longest time. They were of a bright sapphire hue, more so than the bluest oceans, and they seemed to sparkle like rare crystals when viewed at the right angle.
Chrysalis was both baffled and vastly amazed at what she was looking at. Never in all her life had she seen such a stunning display. There was simply no way a creature as beautiful as this could ever exist in the real world, let alone in the Everfree Forest. The only part of the creature she recognized were two short, stubby antennae that jutted out from what she figured was the head. If anything, it was a pest of some sort, like one of the many lesser entities commonly found among the muddy dregs of the Everfree floor, but she did not wish to believe it. Its beauty alone was far too mesmerizing. This had to have been the bearer of peace the voice was telling her about. Besides it being the only other living thing for miles around, what could be more peaceful than splendor like this?
The eye-catching newcomer twitched impulsively before leaping off her muzzle and hovering above her head while beating its dual sets of wings rapidly against the air to showcase its prominence. The grace in the movement of its wings was another dazzling feature that Chrysalis could do nothing but continue to stare at. It darted around her head with the agility of a housefly, giving the queen’s wandering eyes an entertaining demonstration of its otherworldly capabilities.
Suddenly, it took off, speeding past the queen’s head and leaving behind a sparkling trail of dust that floated for a brief moment before vanishing into the ether.
“The silver contrail…” Chrysalis whispered, remembering what the voice told her. She wasted no time in starting her pursuit. She was relieved to find that she could still run, though she was very careful as not to take a too big of a step to either side, not wanting to risk falling off of some sort of invisible cliff or some other hidden pitfall beside her.
The winged being was abnormally fast for its small size. Such large wings should have made this kind of dexterity next to impossible. Eventually, it was no more than a single blue speck on the face of the sunless horizon. The trail it created began to dissipate entirely. Chrysalis panicked and tried desperately to pick up the pace. Still, there was something about the creature that struck a rather…odd note to her, but her mind was more focused on catching up to it than wondering what it was that bugged her.
“W-wait! Stop! Please!” she yelled, her spine tingling when she heard her own voice create a loud echo.
Her added effort was of no use. The creature had flown too far away to be seen at all, and its glistening tracer soon faded out altogether. She was left to wade in a pool of shock. She slowed her running down to a slow walking pace, feeling the bitterness of defeat slowly creep up her body.
You’ve made it this far…
The voice had returned again. This time, it sounded much closer than before. However, the ethereal bells chimes had been silenced.
“W-what? I-I…who are you?” Chrysalis stuttered, doing a miserable job at hiding her fear.
No one has ever made it this far…you must be the one that I seek.
“J-just show yourself!” Chrysalis shouted, swallowing hard afterward. “Please?”
Of course. Turn around.
Slowly, the changeling queen turned to face the opposite direction, taking in and releasing a deep, relaxing breath to aid her in confronting the unknown.
She felt confident in facing whoever had brought her here, but as soon as the corner of her eye caught sight of an eerie blue light she flinched and immediately turned away.
There is no part of me that you should fear. The voice spoke up again, keeping its calm tone of voice. I give you my word that no harm shall befall you here.
Chrysalis paused to build up the courage to try again. Slowly but surely she turned around. She reluctantly kept her head down the whole time, only bringing it up to duly note the visitor’s presence after preparing herself mentally.
Standing across from her just a stone’s throw away was the very recognizable figure of a pony, a very tall pony at that, whose body shape resembled that of a grown mare. Her mind went straight to the image of an alicorn, immediately thinking of the three princesses in the royal cities of Equestria, but her assumption was quickly overruled once she saw that the pony lacked the hefty, trademark wings of the regal species. It did however possess a long, white horn matching its shiny coat color; a simple clue but no stronger.
Its mane and tail were just as remarkable. Unlike the princesses, they did not flow in a way that made it appear as if they were caught in the flow of an invisible, gentle wind, but their luxurious colors of emerald and navy blue were two things that could very well give Celestia’s mane a run for its money. Its eyes were practically gemstones themselves. Everything about the mare resembled magnificence in its prime, but what did she want with someone as lowly as the much-hated queen of the changelings?
“Good,” the strange pony spoke with a smile, her voice losing its echoing properties. “Now I see what I have been waiting for.”
“W-who are you?” murmured Chrysalis, nervous.
The otherworldly pony lifted one of her hooves, revealing a golden slipper that was commonplace with the Equestrian monarchs. A shimmering blue pendant accented the face of the thin pantofle, crafted to appear as a near-mirror image of the creature Chrysalis had encountered only a mere minute ago. The mare’s posture appeared to be imitating some type of noble bow.
“I am Folia, the sole keeper of this paradise we now stand within.”
These words angered Chrysalis, a harsh upstart of feeling forcefully sent on its way. Just the mention of a “paradise” anywhere in the world drove her to speak out against it, denying its existence. It was in her blood. She had lived a hard life nearly all of her life, and she would not permit others to wave their superior hallmarks to the rest of the world, especially not to her face.
“Paradise?” replied Chrysalis with a furrowed brow, baffled. “This place is a wasteland! There’s nothing here. How did I even get here anyway?!” The queen raised her voice once her questions became more forceful. The bite in her voice was all but a sudden ruse.
“Calm yourself,” ordered Folia, lowering her hoof. “This is no place for anger.”
“No! I won’t calm myself!” Chrysalis shouted. She began taking several steps forward, forcing Folia, deeply confused, to begin stepping back. “I demand that you tell me how I got here! I want you to explain everything! Now!”
Chrysalis ceased her intimidating approach with Folia following suit. Not a single sign of incited fury was present on the pony’s face, though her welcoming smile had been driven out by the newcomer’s rant. Her mouth hung open slightly as she took a moment to gather herself after the brief introduction to the queen’s vicious demeanor.
“W-we…are nowhere.” Folia spoke nervously, nearly matching meeting the queen’s original manner of greeting.
“Oh? So now it’s nowhere now? Just tell me where I am!” Chrysalis stamped her right hoof in frustration.
“Why must you act so hostile? I bear no intentions of bringing harm to you in any way.”
Chrysalis’s frustration reformed into an anxious frown. In an instant, she began acting like a completely different changeling.
“Because I…” She began to stutter. “I-It’s mostly…well, entirely b-because I’m—“
“Deep breaths,” Folia cooed, cracking a smile once again to help calm the clearly-frightened queen. “Take deep breaths and release them slowly. They will help.”
Disinclined at first, Chrysalis did as the pony suggested. She closed her eyes and began a steady cycle of relaxation, taking in fresh, cool air through her nostrils and releasing it just as slowly. When she felt that she had enough, she returned her attention to the half-bodied equine.
“There…” Chrysalis sighed. Folia’s smile grew wider.
“Thank you,” the white mare responded. “Now, please. What is it you were trying to tell me?”
“I’d…rather not say now.”
“Keeping it held within your heart will not make you feel any better.”
“I’d really rather not…”
“Speak your mind and I will do what I can to help.” Folia leaned back and sat on her haunches, appearing quite interested in what the queen had to say, which lightened her up a bit. “You have nothing to fear here. Remember that.”
Chrysalis hardly felt like giving away information to a being she had only just recently met, let alone to a pony in a world that, unlike her own, left no trace of evidence that could maybe giver her new understanding. In the realm in which she lived in, reality was by far the most difficult entity to differ from anything else. The Everfree Forest was the stuff of nightmares from the very beginning. What the ponies had in their land of sunshine and rainbows the inhabitants of the Everfree had the exact opposite; literally. Was what controlled was natural, and what was contained was now next to unstoppable. Even the arcane forces of the miraculous and the mystic were victim to the backwards nature of this otherworldly plain.
“Wait,” started Chrysalis, giving Folia a stern look in the eyes. “Just…please, before anything, tell me where I am first. I need to know.”
Folia nodded a single time, returning Chrysalis’s stare with one of her own to remotely transmit her full, undivided attention as well as her notions of being a truthful ally, potential or otherwise, to establish a better, more trustworthy connection among strangers.
“What I have told you before was…not as accurate as I chose to portray this land. This is a paradise, to me anyway. To you it appears as a world of white in all directions, never ending, like a terrible disaster. My own mind bars me from describing what I truly see here. It would be…unbearably complicated just to begin! Even now my mind forces me to continue to communicate with only the goal of digressing even further away from the matter.”
“Can you put it in simple terms?”
Folia opened her mouth to speak, but then immediately closed it when no words would come to her. She tried again, and again her thought process failed her. She scanned the seemingly empty space around her, taking fleeting glances at whatever sort of areas interested her most like a cat observing the flight path of a mosquito. She tapped her chin with the tip of her hoof, reaching into the depths of her ostensibly delicate mind in search of the answer to put the queen’s poor soul at ease. Finally, after much searching, Folia spread a grin thin from cheek to cheek and nodded to confirm her inner judgment, returning her attention to her awaiting visitor.
“It’s…heavenly.”
The word slipped right off the mare’s tongue. It felt so warm and inviting, like a delusion of the same term. Chrysalis had difficulty imagining just what part of the world around her was like that, though she did not mind with not knowing the real answer. Ignorance is bliss, as the ponies once said. So long as she was safe she was happy, even if her alert sense of security was short-lived.
“Thank you,” She sighed, relieved. “But my earlier question still remains. How did I get here?”
“I’m afraid I have no answer for that.” Folia shrugged. “I’ve never met anyone who stayed long enough to ask that question.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? You’ve been talking to me ever since I arrived.”
“You and a thousand others…” Folia looked away, her expression suddenly sullen.
“What?” said Chrysalis. “Where? I don’t see—“
“Before you, many, many others that have passed through these lands. They just seemed to appear out of nowhere. I remember nothing but their faces. Their names are but lost breaths to me. They were terrified and alone, and some even resorted to crying upon arrival, begging for their “nightmares” to end. Before I could speak with nearly any of them, they ran off blindly into the new dominion they were inserted into. I do not know what became of them. I have no knowledge of what lies beyond my home, so leaving to search for them would have beared little success.”
Folia looked up to the pure white sky above, gazing up at its mystery.
“Many have come and gone, but not once have I seen someone like you. This…paradise…it seems to move with me. Should I take a step, the ground beneath me, and the sky above, follows. I-I can’t easily explain it. I awoke in this place in what felt like eons ago. I have no recollection of my past. All I was left with was my name and my soul that never seems to age. It truly is a paradise when you think about it. When I first arrived here, something, somewhere, told me to seek out a truly misfortunate being. The purpose of which I do not know. Are…are you that of which is misfortunate?”
Chrysalis sighed.
“Yes. I’ve had my fair share of hard times recently.”
“Good,” Folia suddenly jolted, realizing the harsh degree of her response. “I-I apologize. I meant it in my favor.”
“It’s alright,” replied Chrysalis. “The reasons for my misfortune are too tortuous to list. You see...I possess a rare, priceless gift…a son.”
“A son?” questioned Folia, intrigued. “You mean…this one?”
Chrysalis watched as a thin stream of blue energy twirled up and around Folia’s horn until it impacted the snowy tip, giving off a great flash of white. Folia remained as she was, which was good in a sense, but above the low ground before her hovered the translucent hologram-like image of the queen’s sleeping infant, displaying Ditto curled up like a kitten in his hanging crib of vines. His eyes were closed, and he occasionally rolled from side to side while he silently dreamed the hours away. Upon seeing his peaceful face, Chrysalis felt like crying tears of joy. Having spent this long in the world of white she longed to do nothing more than to feel his soft, playful touch again.
“Ditto…” Chrysalis whispered, her eyes gently quivering.
“That is its name?”
“Its?” Chrysalis gasped, feeling that the designation was a minor insult.
“Forgive me, but I must admit that it was quite difficult to determine your gender at first glance. I find it…strange that I couldn’t tell immediately, like there is a force of magic involved. There’s just something about you that I can’t put my mind on. Did you give birth to him? Do you care for him and treat him as your own?”
“Yes. I—“ Suddenly, it hit her, a late sense of reasoning previously left without a valid elucidation. Chrysalis paused to hoof through every part of their meeting up this very moment, and indeed something was out of place, and it frightened her more than she cared to admit. Being in the presence of what could may as well have been a wandering deity only abetted her rising tensions of fear.
“Is something wrong?” asked Folia.
Chrysalis swallowed hard.
“H-How did you know what he looked like? How did you know he was sleeping, and where? That’s impossible…unless…”
“I-It came so suddenly to me,” Folia admitted, quickly raising a voice of reason to explain. “It wasn’t long after you arrived. Your energy and his felt so similar, as if close by. I know no more. The rest is left to coincidence it seems.”
“None of this still explains why I’m here, though.”
“As I roam these lands I oft at times come across someone completely different, not in the same manner as the many that have arrived into this world before. Like the others, they seem to appear out of nowhere, wandering aimlessly in the same fearful manner as you did. I would call to them, but they would never listen, with you being the only exception I have ever known. Now that you’re here, my goal has been achieved. What is to come is a mystery. Maybe it was the forces of fate that have brought about this meeting.”
“I doubt that. Fate has…lost its favor in me,” Chrysalis whispered, frowning. “Even now I wonder why you have yet to contempt me…”
“Why would I ever do that? I have no quarrel with you.”
“You don’t know who I am?” Chrysalis was puzzled. This was the first time she had ever met someone who was clueless as to what a changeling was. “My kind has been hated for well over a millennia.”
“A millennia, you say?” Folia raised an eyebrow. “What sort of atrocities would ever hold a grudge against something for over a thousand years? I can see the good held within you.”
“Good? W-within me?” Chrysalis sighed. “No. That can’t be true. The things I have done are far from what could ever be considered good. I’m a monster…”
“No. You are a mother.” Folia pointed to the image of Ditto, smiling. “He is peaceful, is he not? You claim to be misfortunate, yet looking at him now I would most certainly say that your job of caring for him is far from over. You are a mother. Not a monster. A true mother would never act poorly to their young ones. Looking upon his face I see that you devote more of your time to him than anything else, especially in harsh times like the ones you speak of. You may prove to be an impeccable example to all who wish to bear a child of their own.”
“So…you’re saying that I’m the perfect mother?”
“No, but I can say this. Through good times and bad, through the worst life has to offer, you possess motherly qualities unlike anyone I have ever seen. You call yourself a monster based upon your experiences in the past, but here your heart grows warm.” Folia paused and giggled softly. “I can tell.”
The mare pointed a hoof at what Chrysalis guessed was her backside. The queen looked over her shoulder and nearly leaped up with fright upon seeing the winged creature she had tried so hard to chase earlier resting upon the edge of her tail. The pair stared at each other for few moments before the creature leaped off her tail, sailed towards Folia, and rested on the tip of her outstretched limb.
“Hello there, little one,” cooed Folia, placing the delicate creature on top of her head. “I’m glad you have returned.”
To the queen’s bewilderment, the creature began to glow softly, its body blooming brightly and blending in with the white background of the plain that surrounded it. Its light soon enveloped the head it was resting on. In moments, the glow vanished, blowing out like a candle, leaving in its place a shimmering blue circlet around the base of Folia’s horn. Chrysalis grew suspicious at first, but her thoughts were quickly put away by the prodigious impact of her surroundings of the same term that affected her mind long before.
“You bear a child during hard times,” Folia continued. “And yet you remain prosperous.”
“Well…what about…you?” asked Chrysalis, peaking a second insight.
“What do you mean? I never had a child before.”
Chrysalis took a moment to carefully choose the proper words to describe her recently-surfaced thoughts.
“Why…why are you here?”
At long last, it finally dawned upon the pony enigma, hitting her with the force of an unwilling truth.
“I-I…”
“You’ve…never thought about it before?”
“W-Well…”
“What about your family?”
A light gasp came from under Folia’s breath.
“My…family?”
An awkward pause ensued before the final question came across the queen’s mind.
“You…don’t know where you really are…do you?”
“…no,” Folia murmured, her mouth slightly agape.
“…do you even exist?”
The void around them began to displace itself, whatever mass that encircled them now rippling and splitting like breaks in a pond. Patch by patch, the whiteness that surrounded them began to turn dull and grey before eventually succumbing to blackness. Chrysalis stumbled backward in fearful awe. Folia, and the ground beneath her, then began to disappear. She could hear high-pitched echoes resonating in the void. She shut her eyes and covered her ears, frightful tears now lining her cheeks.
—ysalis?
—ysalis, come look!
~~~~~
“Chrysalis!”
The changeling queen awoke with a surprising start. Hot, humid air struck her pale face, intensifying the harshness of her rude awakening. She hastily rubbed the effects of the resident morning refuse from her eyes, opening them shortly afterward upon recounting hearing the sense of urgency in the voice of whom she recognized as Roseluck.
“N’oh, you missed it!” whined Roseluck, standing alert on the far side of the bedchamber and looking up into the sky. Though it was only for a measly second, Chrysalis could swear that she had seen something. Maybe it was just her imagination, she thought. Probably just the glisten of fog-deriving dew in the rays of the early morning sun.
Just then, Chrysalis felt a mild tingling sensation on her left side. Looking over, she discovered Ditto nuzzling her frail wings with his muzzle while emitting a low cooing noise common to many of her species when they experienced a long-awaited respite. As much as she wanted to embrace him in a hug, her recently-traumatized mind kept her soft hooves at bay. Though she felt deeply relieved to see him again, such feeling aiding her in containing her lingering mindset of recent events. She had been a victim to some truly terrible dreams in the past, but none more bizarre than this. Should she test her perception of reality just for safe measure? She inscribed a mental note, reminding her to go deeper into the subject later.
“It’s just you…” Chrysalis spoke softly, gently rubbing the side of his neck. “It’s just you…”
“Chrysalis! That was practically a once in a lifetime opportunity!” exclaimed Roseluck, stepping up to Chrysalis with a wide grin on her face.
Chrysalis remained silent, her ears having blocked out all noise in continued reverence of her return to reality.
“Err….Chrysalis?” asked Roseluck, cocking her head. Chrysalis turned her attention to the mare. “Are you feeling ok?”
“Y-Yes…” Chrysalis murmured in response, lacking even the slightest hint of guilt in her voice; a good preventative measure despite her hesitation.
“You don’t sound like it.”
“I assure you I’m fine.” Chrysalis rose to her hooves after pecking Ditto on the forehead. “There’s nothing you need to worry about, though you do recall what we are to continue today, yes?”
“Oh…right,” Roseluck grunted, taking on a grumpy, unamused frown when the iron-mailed boot of the realization fairy stomped firmly onto the face of her once trouble-free outlook. “More learning.”
“It helps him.”
“It nearly killed him yesterday.”
“No, nothing like that today. I planned ahead. I know of a better place where we may continue…uninterrupted.”