Chapter 19
“Wild Flower? Can you hear me?” Acrylic was edging forward much more cautiously than her fellow thestrals, who were marching forward at a steady pace. They stared blankly forward, appearing to see right through her. The only indication she had that they realized she was there was the sparks beginning to fly from their hooves. Acrylic gulped, but stood her ground. No way was she going to lose her sister like this.
“Hey, girl. It’s me, Acrylic. Your sister?” Wild Flower still wasn’t responding. Acrylic frowned. “I know you can hear me. So do me a favor and stop playing around. You’re scaring me.” Nothing. “Wild Flower! Snap out of it! I really need you to snap out of it! Please!”
Wild Flower finally managed a flame. It was snaking across the stone floor towards her. The flame flickered and sputtered- it was very weak, as Wild Flower was not the most talented fire dancer. Of course, neither was Acrylic without any of her husband’s training, so even this pathetic little spark instilled terror in her heart. The Doctor started forward to help, but Ditzy held him back.
“No! Wild Flower, please!” Acrylic started backing up now. “Wild Flower, don’t! Don’t hurt me!” The two stallions marched on, but Wild Flower faltered. This slight misstep was enough to give Acrylic courage. Cedar and Torchwood broke off, targeting the three other ponies while Wild Flower continued towards her sister. “Please wake up! I need you!” Wild Flower blinked a few times, but her flame was still growing bigger.
Acrylic’s rump hit cold stone; she had worked herself into a corner. There was no turning back now. She took a steadying breath, and locked eyes with Wild Flower. Reminding herself that Wild Flower’s weak flame couldn’t hurt her, she stood firm. “Wild Flower, I need your help. If Chrysalis succeeds, she’s going to hurt a lot of ponies. Including me, Cedar, Torch, and everypony we love.” Wild Flower had stopped moving, at least.
“We can stop her, but you have to fight it. Get her out of your head, Flower. I know you can do it. I believe in you.” Her sister’s brow kneaded in concentration, a mental war raging in her head. Neither side was giving up, and things seemed to have come to a standstill. “Come on, girl. You’re not one to let the bad guy win. Believe me, I know.
“You remember Ash, the really annoying girl from our sector that was always bullying us? I wanted to ignore her and hope for the best, but not you. There were times you came this close to throttling her! I remember one day she was teasing me about how I hadn’t gotten my cutie mark yet. It was nothing new, but you were fed up. But you were so clever about it: you knew you’d get in trouble if you actually wrung her neck, so you challenged her instead. The two of you were going to race to the edge of the Everfree and back. We weren’t allowed out there, for fear of being spotted and because of all the monsters. We used to do it anyway, when we were young. Father would’ve had our heads if he found out.
“Even I tried to talk you out of the race; it was different when it was just the two of us, but you wouldn’t listen. And when you didn’t back down, of course Ash wouldn’t, either. All the colts and fillies somehow caught wind of it, and you two became the biggest spectacle around. You both took off like bullets... but since you knew the terrain better, you knew the best shortcuts. Ash tried to follow you, and wound up getting lost. Nopony found her until the next morning. She was hysterical, raving about near encounters with timberwolves and manticores. Everyone was so scared of getting caught, no one told the adults what really happened- not even Ash.
“You won that race for me, all because Ash pushed the wrong button. You... you protected me then, and I need you to do it again now. Please, Wild Flower, do it again. Pretend Chrysalis is Ash. Leave that changeling in the dust. Come back to me. Please, sis.”
Wild Flower was close enough now for Acrylic to touch her. So she did, resting her head on her sister’s shoulder. Even now, under these... odd circumstances, it still felt right. She would always feel like home.
“A... Acrylic?”
“Sis?!” Acrylic jerked back with a gasp, nearly hitting her head on the stone wall behind her. “Are you...?”
“Am I what? What in the hay happened?” She groaned, and rubbed her head. Acrylic’s vision blurred, and tears of relief and joy dampened both her and Wild Flower’s fur. “Acrylic? You okay?” Wild Flower cautiously asked.
“Yeah,” her sister sniffed. “I am now.”
“Girls? A little help down here?” Both mares turned and noticed Cadance, Ditzy and the Doctor quickly becoming cornered by the two remaining zombie-drones.
“Cedar? Torch! What are you guys doing?”
“Come on! I’ll explain on the way.” Acrylic led the charge down to the lower level. “The three of you were being controlled by Chrysalis.”
“The changeling?” Wild Flower gasped.
“Yeah. Ditzy and the Doctor convinced her that Torch and I had some all-powerful love... it got weird. But the point is, we’ve gotta wake up the other two, like, NOW. It took me forever just to get you back, and we’re running out of time.”
“Right. You take one and I’ll take the other?”
“You’ll have more success with Cedar. I guess that means I’m left with... Torch.” Acrylic’s cheeks flushed at the thought. As if things weren’t awkward enough.