• Published 16th Sep 2014
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Yaerfaerda - Imploding Colon



Rainbow Dash and the Noble Jury continue to fly east.

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Just a Date With the Devil

“Is everything okay, Rainbow?”

Rainbow stared ahead, blinking. After a few seconds, she looked aside in mid-trot. “Hmmm?”

Ebon Mane gazed at her worriedly. “You... you really seem preoccupied. I... I-I mean...” He winced slightly. “I suppose you have every reason to be. Not... not like there's a problem with that or—”

“Ebon, it's okay,” Rainbow said, smiling. “I had a long talk with the Queen yesterday Morning. I feel that what I'm doing here is the next best thing.”

“Yeah. Yeah okay...” Ebon gazed ahead as the two were escorted by six armed reindeer guards down a long darkly-lit basement deep beneath the Val Roan Military Compound. “I mean... I'm sure it will be the next best thing. Even if it isn't all good, it can st-still be for the best. But... th-that's probably because you're so good at making the best of things and... and...”

“Ebon...” Rainbow flapped her wings, hovering so that she could spare a leg and press it to his shoulder. “I can handle whatever happens next. But are you okay?”

“Me? Oh... yes! Yeah! I'm... uh... I'm fine...” He tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. “I mean... aside from my only flesh-and-blood connection in this world being a former megalomaniacal bug vampire of emotion who's now imprisoned deep within the bowels of an angry kingdom...”

“Nopony should have to see someone they care about imprisoned,” Rainbow said. “It's gotta suck, I bet.”

“Sometimes...” Ebon shuddered. “Sometimes I think I'm the only one in this world who loves her... like truly loves her.” He bit his lip, gazing down at the floor passing beneath them. “It kind of makes me feel alone.”

“You've got Eagle Eye, haven't you?”

“Yes...” He smiled, his eyes flickering with warm green light. “Yes I do.” Nevertheless, he sighed. “But, with Mother's empathy gone, I... find it hard to read her. And not even EE can change the fact that... that...”

“That what?”

Ebon sniffled. “...I'm not even sure if she's capable of loving me back.”

The two reached a heavily armored door flanked by guards. Nevertheless, Rainbow pivoted about and placed both of her hooves on Ebon's shoulders. “Give it time, Ebon. You've only had the luxury of chatting with Chrysalis for a few days. Meanwhile, she's kinda sorta eons old.”

“Yeah...” Ebon shuddered, then bore an awkward smile. “It'll make getting her a birthday cake super awkward.”

“Considering you're all headed to Ether Point soon?” Rainbow winked. “I'd settle for ice cream.”

Ebon smiled. Then, with a bittersweet sigh, he turned towards the guards on either side of the door... and nodded.

They nodded back. Then, with glowing antlers, they powered the mechanisms within the doorframe. The heavy metal panels slid open with a grating noise. Inside, a dimly-lit chamber lay, with a barred cell at the very end.

“You... you want some company?” Ebon asked. “I might be able to persuade Mother to... to...”

“No.” Rainbow shook her head. “I have to talk to her alone.” With a flick of her colorful tail, she trotted ahead. “I... gotta start getting used to doing things alone.”

“Uhm... okay...” Ebon waved pensively as Rainbow trotted ahead. “Best of luck in learning what you need to learn. And remember, Rainbow...” He smiled as the doors behind her closed. “...she's changed now. Don't be afraid.”


THUD! The doors closed loudly.

Rainbow stood in the dimly lit dungeon, her breath forming tiny vapors.

“Luna's nipple, it's cold in here,” she whispered to herself.

“As it should be, Rainbow Dash,” a voice drifted out from beyond the glinting bars ahead of the pegasus. “Without the ability to shape-shift, my body reverts to its original state. A low temperature is the best way to regulate a changeling's metabolism.”

Eyes narrow, Rainbow trotted ahead. Slowly, the jagged features of a decrepit, horn-less alicorn formed beyond the bars, seated on a pile of velvet mattresses with her dark flank against the wall.

“How did you know it was me?” Rainbow asked. “I thought your empathic abilities and everything else went 'bye-bye' when you snapped your horn off.”

“But I still know you, Rainbow Dash,” Chrysalis calmly said. “Perhaps more than your friends know you. Why else would you be here?”

Rainbow frowned. “I'm here because the Val Roans have been an isolationist society for centuries. They know nothing about the outside world... not yet, at least. You, on the other hoof, have flown all across the world within the span of a mortal lifetime. Maybe two.”

“Yes, and?”

“I would like to know what you know about the rest of the world between here and the eastern edge.” Rainbow cleared her throat. “If... if you don't mind sharing, that is.”

“You mean you wish to know about how I scaled the Grand Choke.”

Rainbow's ears flattened. She merely nodded.

With a pained breath, Chrysalis slowly stood up. She winced from her fresh wounds, and only when she trotted closer into the torchlight did Rainbow see several bandages wrapped around the top of her forehead. The alicorn's long translucent mane had been completely lopped off, which made her skull and neck seem even ganglier than before.

Misty vapor lingered between them as Chrysalis produced the breaths to speak: “Many have attempted to travel the Grand Choke. I know this. My broodlings have transmitted countless tales to my consciousness of ponies who have attempted the sojourn from both the western desert and the eastern shores. In all cases, none were ever heard of again.” The former Queen's eyes narrowed. “Am I to understand that Val Roa has in its possession the relics of a successful group of travelers?”

Rainbow cocked her head aside. “How would you know that?”

“I didn't,” Chrysalis said. “But Sharp Quill did.” She paced slowly, her porous hooves scuffling across the concrete floor on her side of the bars. “He also knew less savory facts that—no doubt—Queen Azira failed to mention.”

“What?” Rainbow watched her, standing still. “That Terra, Eddings, and the other ancient ponies from the west cannibalized on their fellow companions?”

Chrysalis stopped, swiveling to blink at Rainbow. “So Azira did tell you.”

“Why do you find that so surprising?” Rainbow asked. “I may be a stranger from Equestria, but she's placed her trust in me.”

“A very curious thing.”

“Or maybe you're just not used to trust,” Rainbow said. “Or at least trust that comes out of choice and respect.”

“I hadn't guessed that you had actually come to lecture to me, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow motioned towards the large doors behind her with her head. “Out there is a little lost changeling who loves you.” Rainbow's eyes narrowed. “I mean truly... truly loves you. And as much as I wanna find out how I can make it across the Grand Choke, there's a part of me that wants to make sure that his adoration won't go unanswered once I'm gone.”

“I cannot pretend to explain why Ebon Mane worships me so,” Chrysalis said, shuddering slightly. “Only that he was once a drone...”

“Is that so?” Rainbow smirked. “Then why did you refer to him by his chosen name?”

“... … ...” Chrysalis fidgeted. “He... appreciates being called that...”

Rainbow took a deep breath. “So... maybe there is some hope for you yet.” She sat back on her haunches. “Now... is there any hope for me?”

“I doubt it will be of any surprise to you,” Chrysalis said. “You cannot cross the Grand Choke—alone or with the company of others—so long as you lack the one thing that I possess.”

Rainbow swallowed hard. “Immortality.”

“Indeed.” Chrysalis nodded gravely.

Rainbow bowed her head. “...then it really is impossible.”

“Not necessarily.”

Rainbow looked up.

“Alicorn magic, as it turns out, is the one thing strong enough to preserve life in a place that is defined by total desolation.” Chrysalis cocked her head aside while pointing at Rainbow. “And you are not entirely devoid of alicorn magic, now are you?”

Rainbow raised a hoof to her pendant. “My Element...”

“A blessing... and a curse...” Chrysalis stood up straight, her brow furrowed. “I sensed both of them in you on each occasion you brushed paths with my broodlings. As you carved a path eastward, I felt it like a knife being dragged across my collective consciousness.” She raised a hoof towards the ceiling. “There was a time, Rainbow Dash, when I felt this entire world like a firm mattress being stretched and shaken all around me. My mind was a fabric that I shared with this entire sun-lit plane. And only the dark side was a mystery that blinded me...” She hung her head. “...that blinded me to my sister.”

Rainbow leaned closer to the bars. “Is that why you went after me, then? Because I stood out like a hot knife or some-such?”

“Partially. More than anything, I knew that a living juxtaposition of both chaos and harmony possessed an unprecedented purpose, and intercepting that could affect the outcome of thousands... millions. My broodlings had to feed, and using you to alter the landscape and provide them nourishment was just too tempting of an opportunity to pass up.”

“Only... you bucked up,” Rainbow said, smirking slightly. “You tried to get me to sow chaos. And, though a lot of bad stuff happened, the world behind me is a lot better off than it was before. Did you ever expect that?

“If I was wiser, perhaps I would have.” Chrysalis shuddered. “I... I'm old, Rainbow Dash. Older than you can possibly comprehend.” She gulped, then continued in a humbler voice. “Old enough to forget that Tchern is not my only sister.”

Rainbow blinked.

“Celestia and Luna... they gave everything to protect you. And yet, instead of choosing to die a peaceful and harmonic death in Equestria, you chose adventure. You chose danger. You chose... change.” Chrysalis met Rainbow's gaze. “This world is dying, Rainbow. Even in all of my selfish pursuits, I knew it. I thought that by reinforcing Tchern and finishing the Trinary War, I might shift the balance of power so that we might take control and save both sides of the plane before it was too late. But that goal was flimsy, nebulous at best. It didn't work for the alicorn hosts when they first arrived, and we numbered in the thousands then. What are a few paltry survivors meant to accomplish in the long run?”

Rainbow Dash gulped, then quietly said, “We'll find a solution, Chrysalis. Between Celestia, Luna, Axan—whoever... this part of Urohringr won't bite the dust.”

You are the solution, Rainbow Dash,” Chrysalis said firmly. “Only when you defeated me did I finally realize this.” She took a deep breath. “Yes, you could very well make it past the Grand Choke. Or, you may not. Either way... it's what lies ahead that concerns me more than anything. What stands between the Grand Choke and the Eastern Edge is more dangerous, conniving, and malevolent than a thousand Grand Chokes piled together.”

Rainbow's hairs stood on end, though she nevertheless muttered, “Verlax.”

Chrysalis nodded. “Verlax.”

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