//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Weird communications // Story: The Chronicles of No One // by Pr1me Sh0ck //------------------------------// Chapter 14 Rainbow dash flew low over the houses of Ponyville, skimming bare meters from the rooftops. Her goal, Ditzy’s house, where it was rumoured a ‘new arrival’ was lodged. She swooped upwards, gaining some altitude and bleeding off her speed, before tilting over and dropping like a stone. Seconds before she hit the ground Rainbow Dash flared out her wings and killed her speed, landing lightly on her hooves in front of Ditzy’s door. She trotted up, rapping at the door before leaning back for a response. After a few moments of silence she tried again, no response was given. Rainbow turned around, now slightly worried that something bad had befallen Ditzy and Dinky. She spied a neighbour exiting their own house and trotted over to her. “Have you seen Ditzy today?” Rainbow asked urgently. “Um, she went to the markets with Dinky I think,” the mare replied, thrown at the abrupt question. “Thanks. Oh you don’t happen to know if she is playing host to a new arrival in town do you?” “Well that would explain the other pony leaving her house. Missed them by about ten minutes I’d say.” Rainbow began peppering the mare with questions. “This stranger, was he small, black body, weird wings and such?” ‘Um I don’t know,” the mare was clearly flustered by the barrage of questions, “He was wearing a large cloak that hid most of his features, but he wasn’t small, quite large… very large now that I think about it.” “Hmm, strange, did you see where he went?” A look of intense thought crossed Rainbow’s face. “N-no, just went in the opposite direction of the markets, sorry.” “Well thanks anyway,” Rainbow replied cheerfully, her demeanour changing from intensely inquisitive to strangely happing in the blink of an eye. “You’re…welcome?” The mare said to the now empty space in front of her, a rainbow coloured contrail that shot upwards betrayed Rainbow’s hasty exit. “Well that was weird,” she muttered to herself. “What was weird?” Secret Strike asked from behind. The mare jumped into the air in surprise, as she landed she turned quickly on the spot, identifying her possible attacker as the town guard. “Secret, you really should sneak up on ponies like that, you almost gave me a heart attack.” “Terribly sorry, just passing through to check up on the newest arrival, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Secret replied honestly. “Huh, you too.” “What do you mean by ‘you too’?” Secret enquired. “Oh, Rainbow Dash wanted to know where he was as well, told her I didn’t know and that she should go ask Ditzy.” “Okay do you know where Ditzy is right now?” “Nope sorry, my best guess is the markets she headed off in that general direction.” “Well thank you for the info,” Secret replied earnestly, trotting off to the markets, “And sorry about scaring you,” she called over her shoulder. No new memories, Noah thought solemnly. Oh, Noah perked up, What kind of skills? Nope Nope What the heck are those? And nope. Chrissy sighed, I can understand you better and better. Your thoughts are less like structured emotions and more like words. What do I need to do? Noah enquired. Chrissy replied cryptically. Noah took a deep breath in, as he released he found his mind drifting back to reality. With one last snap his eyes flicked open, his blurred vision clearing in an instant. He quickly thought back to the last command given by his friend. As hard as he could he thought to contact the one he knew as Chrissy. A full minute passed with nothing happening, Noah concentrated further determined to make contact outside of his mind. Slowly he began to feel a familiar consciousness in the in the front of his mind. He pressed against it with his thoughts, determined to break through the wall that divided them. With one final push the barrier dissipated, a familiar feeling washed through his thoughts, touching every corner of his mind. A half second later the racket of thousands upon thousands of minds flooded into his thoughts, invading his mind with constant chatter. Noah screamed at the sudden onrush of thoughts, unprepared for the onslaught his eyes rolled back into his head as consciousness fleeted from him. Gravity won its battle against Noah’s balance as he pitched forward, unconscious. Rainbow Dash circled above the markets, like a hawk scanning for its prey, her eyes darted from the features of one pony to another. She hadn’t been searching for long when she spied the features of Dinky sitting on a bench by the fountain. Rainbow circled once more before lazily drifting down in front of filly. “Hey Dinky, don’t suppose your mother is around, I’ve got to talk to her about the ‘new arrival’ that’s staying with her.” “Um she’s in Sugar Cube Corner getting some muffins, but she’s probably gonna be a while.” Rainbow grumbled in annoyance, the one thing that Ditzy loved after her daughter was a muffin, no doubt she would be in the café for a while deciding what to get. “I don’t suppose you know anything about the new pony? Like maybe where he is right now?” she asked Dinky, desperation creeping into her voice. “Oh that’s easy, he said he’d be at the hospital, he was going to meet us in about half an hour though, but that was back at the house.” “Hospital,” Rainbow muttered to herself, “Thanks squirt,” she exclaimed as she shot off toward Ponyville Hospital. “Huh… weird,” Dinky said to herself as she returned to her own thoughts. “What’s weird?” Secret asked as she approached the filly, she arrived just as Rainbow Dash had shot off into the air. “Oh, Hi Miss Secret, just Rainbow Dash, she wanted to speak with my mum but then she wanted to know where No One was,” the filly replied casually. “Oh and how is your guest? Behaving himself I hope,” Secret asked subtly. “He’s doing fine, had some sort of nightmare last night, a bad one that woke me and mummy up. We all slept together to comfort him.” The first thought that went through Secret’s mind was ‘dawww’, the next was a pang of jealously at Ditzy luck to sleep next to the mysterious stallion. “And this morning after breakfast,” Dinky continued happily, “He said he might have a way to help mummy with her condition.” “You mean her eyes?” Secret asked confused about what No One could do to help the poor mare. “Sort of, he said he had a similar problem once, and then something about sound. I didn’t understand all of it, but he said he would try to help, and now mummy is really happy.” “So he’s been an absolutely wonderful guest by the sound of things.” Dinky nodded in agreement. “I don’t suppose you know where I could find him?” Secret asked. “Yeah he said he would be at the hospital for a while and then he was going to meet us around here.” “Thanks Dinky,” Secret said, smiling at the filly, “Also I may drop around tonight just for another chat with your mum and No One together, do you think that will be alright.” Dinky thought hard for a moment, “That should be alright, mummy always likes to entertain guests.” “Thanks again,” Secret said as she turned to leave, “Oh don’t forget to mention this to your mum, I wouldn’t want to drop in unexpected.” “You’re welcome Miss Secret,” Dinky called as she waved at the withdrawing mare. “Hey sweetie, did you miss me?” Ditzy called to her daughter as she exited Sugar Cube Corner a few minutes later and approached the bench. “Yeah, but I got to have a nice chat with Miss Secret just before you arrived.” “Oh and what were you two chatting about?” Ditzy enquired “Nothing much, she just wanted to know how No One was doing,” Dinky replied with a smile, “Oh and she said she was going to drop by for a chat with you two later tonight, I said that would be alright. It is alright isn’t it?” “Yes sweetie, you know I love to have guests over,” Ditzy said with a smile, she tussled the mane of her child before they both moved on to continue shopping. Rainbow Dash landed in front of the hospital with a soft thud, no longer in the mood for any theatrics with her landings. She quickly trotted though the front doors and made her way over to the front desk. “Hello and welcome to Ponyville Hospital, I’m Nurse Redheart, how can I direct you today?” the nurse on the front desk asked not looking up from her paperwork. “Hiya nurse, I’m looking for somepony, a new arrival, would have come in within the last twenty minutes or so.” Nurse Redheart looked up from her work and she placed a hoof to her muzzle as she thought. “Oh,” she exclaimed suddenly, “A new arrival, well No One is here rig-.” “Uagh,” Rainbow Dash interrupted in defeat, “Of course I’d miss the new pony by minutes, thanks for your time anyway.” She made her way back out of the front doors, the feeling of defeat weighed heavy on her mind. She took one large flap and launched herself into the air As Rainbow Dash left for Sugar Cube Corner Secret Strike entered the hospital, trotting straight up to the front desk. “Hi Nurse Redheart, I’m just wondering if you’d seen No One today?” “Oh yes,” the nurse replied as she looked up from her work, “The funniest thing, I think Miss Dash was looking for him, but didn’t know his name, I tried to tell her he was here but she just up and left.” Secret looked at the mare in confusion, “What exactly did you say to her?” “I said, ‘Well No One is here right now…” she tapered off, realising why Rainbow had left so suddenly. The two mares shared a small chuckle. “I don’t suppose I could go see him?” Secret asked casually. “I’m terribly sorry but he is otherwise preoccupied screaming at walls and I’m not sure how long he will be.” “Well when he comes out, tell him I said ‘hi’ and that I’ll see him later tonight at Derpy’s.” “I will do,” Nurse Redheart replied, “Can I help you with anything else?” “No not right now, however Pointguard will probably come around to interview you about an incident yesterday. It’s nothing too big just a formality.” The two mares shared a knowing glance. “Flower sisters?” the nurse asked. “Flower sisters,” Secret replied. Another small chuckle was given before the guard departed. Nurse Redheart looked at the work in front of her. She hadn’t been able to get any of it done with all the distraction of the day thus far. As such she decided to go check up on No One, make sure he was still alive at least. Noah’s mind drifted in and out of consciousness, and at times he thought he could hear the voice of a mare calling his name. “NOoo ONEee” the disembodied voice echoed once more. Recent memories returned to Noah, the flood of information jolting his mind into a conscious state. “NO ONE,” the voice screamed at him. Noah snapped his head around to the source of the voice. The sudden movement disorientated him and dizziness overtook his senses as he found himself collapsing to the ground once more. Before he toppled over, a pair of strong hooves wrapped around him, and pulled him into a seated position before stroking his mane in a comforting fashion. “There there, it’s alright,” the voice cooed, “You’re alright.” “What… what happened?” Noah asked, confused about his current state. “You did something I didn’t think you could and as a consequence collapsed, don’t worry you’re alright.” Noah looked around. The lazy sun above illuminated the pitch black sky, he saw himself floating above an endless hallway held tight in the caring embrace of a very familiar and very large mare. “Chrissy?” he asked hesitantly. “Yes?” “What happened?” “In short you accessed my swarms hive mind. Your sudden alien presence caused my subjects to attack you before I realised what you had done.” “Isn’t that what you asked me to do?” Noah asked, confused about what he had done wrong. “No… Well not really. I created a separate connection for you to find, I thought you may be drawn to that, and I was most surprised to find your consciousness within my swarms hive mind.” “So I wasn’t supposed to push at the barrier that felt like you?” “No not at all,” Chrissy answered, “In fact only those from my swarm are able to enter and exit the hive mind. You weren’t supposed to even be able to do that.” “I’m sorry,” Noah responded dejectedly. “I’m not angry, if anything I was worried about how far my people had gone to attack you before I intervened. You should be alright, additionally I’ve told my hive to give you space should you ever re-enter the hive mind.” “So what is this place?” Noah asked, confused about the difference between the hive mind and this place. “This is your mind, or at least a representation of it, the only reason I can access it is because you reached out for help and I just happened to answer. You alone continue to allow me access.” “I…I,” Noah started, unsure of what he should ask, “I have so many questions, I don’t know where to start.” “Start with the most important question as I will only answer one, you need to rest from your ordeal.” Noah thought silently for a moment, just one question kept floating into his mind, “How are you holding me right now? You were just a shadow.” Chrissy sighed, taking a deep breath as she thought of her answer. “When you joined the hive mind, you saw me how everypony else would see me, this combined with your leap forward in this type of communication allows me to project my actual form into your mind. A test for you, you should have the most basic information on me, recall it and repeat it to me.” Noah thought hard for a minute, delving back into the information contained within the memory he found what he was looking for. “Your name is Chrysalis, Queen Chrysalis, you are… A Queen. I’m sorry any other information just isn’t there.” “That is for good purpose, I… We are a secretive species, the less ponies know of us the better. As such all you will find of me in my hive mind is a name and maybe what I look like. Outside of the hive mind you would be very hard pressed to find even that much.” “So Queen Chrysalis-,” Noah started. “Please, you are my friend, you may call me Chrissy, not many do and it is nice to know someone who would.” “Sorry Chrissy, may I ask you one more question?” Noah asked. “No, you may not, you need to recuperate and more information will not help. Besides you’re drawing close to being late to meet with Ditzy.” Noah grumbled his reply, yet he followed the request and quickly drew himself back into the waking world. He stood up silently and made his way over to the door. The door swung open just as Nurse Redheart was about to knock, she pulled her hoof back from the action to avoid striking No One in the face. “Ah I was just about to come and check up on you, you know make sure you weren’t dead,” she said with surprise. Noah felt a smile upon his face, “Not dead yet,” he said as he made his way down the hall towards the entrance, “Very much alive in fact.” “So I can see, and very popular it seems,” the mare replied, falling into step behind him. “Hmm how so?” “Well Rainbow Dash and Secret Strike both came in a few minutes ago looking for you, seems like they couldn’t hang around though.” “Huh don’t know a Rainbow Dash, what did Secret want?” “She just wanted to let you know that she may join you and Ditzy for dinner tonight and ask you some questions. It didn’t seem like anything big though.” She tapered off as they reached the front desk. “Well thank you very much for your services this morning, I’m not sure if I’ll need them again but I’m sure I can count on you in the future,” Noah said as he walked up to the front door. “You can count on my services any time,” Nurse Redheart said, she had dropped her voice down to an alluring level and winked seductively at No One. Noah’s eyes went wide, his mouth dropped open and he hastily stumbled through the doors and out onto the street. Inside the hospital Nurse Redheart gave a hearty chuckle, “Still got it,” she said to herself before she returned to her paperwork with renewed vigour.