Chapter 22
"So what's up with all the guards you were looking at?" Andrew finally asked.
Chrysalis was in the middle of looking into her room when he asked, and she had to pull her head back to answer him. "They were good at hiding it behind those masks of theirs, but their animosity towards me was practically palpable. I'm pretty certain there was one guard in particular that was resisting the urge to run me through with his spear as we were passing by."
Andrew grimaced, he knew very well what that was like. Chrysalis entered the room while he followed suit. Seeing as he was staying in a castle, he wasn't surprised by the fact that the room was easily twice the size of his living room. The floor was a white and purple checkerboard, while the walls were a light arsenic. What did surprise him was how lightly furnished it was. There was a dresser with a mirror above it to their left, with two large windows right behind it that nearly reached the ceiling.
There were two doors along the right wall that likely led to a restroom and closet, and on the opposite side of the room from them was the large exit to the balcony draped in purple curtains.
Trying to ignore the room, Andrew continued the conversation with, "So, what do you want to do about the guards?" Surely she didn't want to stay at the castle where so many armed ponies hated her guts.
"Nothing right now," she trotted towards the bed and jumped onto it.
"You... don't seem very worried..."
"I'll be able to sense them before they even enter the room." She grabbed the other side of the blanket in her magic and threw it over herself as she laid her head down to sleep.
"And will that be enough to wake you up?"
Her eyes fluttered open before training themselves on him. "Good point, I suppose it would be enough of a deterrent if we simply stay together."
"Can't we just tell Celestia?" He suggested.
"We could," Chrysalis started, "but on the off chance that a guard does act on their desire for vengeance, which they will no doubt fail to carry out, it would at least set an example for anyone else that has similar ideas."
Andrew walked over and sat on the bed next to the changeling, who was now resting her head on top of her crossed forehooves.
He nodded, "I get it, they mentioned that there might be groups that want to come after us because we're both the only ones of our species alive. You just want to get the word out that it won't be that easy."
"Precisely," Chrysalis confirmed, "and the shame and embarrassment the princess will feel after the rest of Equestria find out that the royal guard tried to kill someone in their sleep is just icing on the cake."
Andrew moved further away from the changeling and turned towards her. "So let me get this straight, you want someone to attack us tonight?"
"Yes, why?" She grinned. "Are you frightened?"
"You know I'm not," he replied seriously. She could easily read his emotional state, all she was trying to do was get under his skin. Even despite knowing this, however, he couldn't help but get the slightest bit peeved.
"Sorry," Andrew muttered.
The changeling chuckled in response, "I'm flattered, truly, but I think it would be best if you find somewhere else to sleep."
"I wasn't trying to!" Andrew started, then stopped when he noticed the smirk on her face. He rolled his eyes and walked towards the door. "I haven't showered since yesterday morning."
"While you're at it, go ahead and bring the other bed here too," Chrysalis said. "We need to stay close by anyways just in case."
"Alright," he agreed. He turned around and exited through the balcony instead. The moment he exited the room he was assaulted by the chorus of the city below. He approached the railing and leaned over to get a better look. The city was a vast expanse of white, gold and purple. The few streets he could make out in their entirety from this distance and height were full of moving specks. Above the chaos of the paved roads, pegasi were making full use of their wings to navigate their environment.
"As much as I hate Celestia, I have to admit she has an eye for architecture."
Andrew nodded in agreement, glancing to the side to see Chrysalis gazing out into the city as well. He was so enraptured by the view that he almost failed to notice her. When he finally pried his eyes away to fully look at the changeling, he saw the half-formed, membranous wings on her back flutter about excitedly.
"Have your wings gotten bigger?" He asked.
She followed his gaze, giving the half-wings another few flaps before they folded back against her body and each was then covered by what looked like large chitinous plates. The plates themselves were the same dark green color that covered her midsection, and were practically invisible, not even an outline giving away their presence.
"They have," she answered. "They should be fully formed in a day or so, then I'd like to wait for one more before I actually start to use them."
"So whaddya want to do?" Andrew asked, "Leave right after you're ready?"
She shrugged, "The sooner we leave the better, I say, though I admit I'm somewhat biased in that."
"Fair enough," Andrew responded. "I'm gonna get the other bed now."
He turned around and opened the door to what was supposed to be his room. It was just as advertised, a perfect mirroring of the other room, the bed was against the wall to his left, likely right next to its twin on the other side. He didn't bother entering the room, opting instead to reach out a hand to grasp the bed in his telekinesis. It levitated off the ground before turning on its side, the blankets nearly fell before he caught and bunched them up alongside the mattress. He backed up to make room for the bed to go through the doorway.
"Do your powers come from your hands?" Chrysalis asked.
"Hm?" Andrew inquired, tilting his head to the side to better catch her attention as he brought the bed through the other door.
"Your hands," she repeated, "are they the catalyst for your magic the same way my horn is for mine?"
"Not exactly," he replied, dropping his hand to his side. The bed continued into the room before being set down on the left side of the room between the bathroom and closet. "I don't need to use my hands, it just kind of feels right to." He re-entered the room and removed his cloak, setting it down folded on top of the dresser as Chrysalis got back on her own bed.
She snorted, "So it's the equivalent of a foal still having to point their horn at things when they use their magic?"
He would have been offended by the comparison if he didn't already know she was just messing with him. He still wasn't sure what to make of her nonchalant attitude in the face of.. well, everything. "Do you want to head out and explore the city?" He asked.
"You can do whatever you want, I'm perfectly fine where I am." She replied.
"Suit yourself," Andrew said with a shrug. He wanted to ask if she would be fine by herself, but he could already see her snapping at him for the implication. Just her magic alone probably meant she could overpower anything but another magic user with ease. Well, maybe not a dragon, but it's not like that will ever be a problem.
He walked over to and opened the balcony door, stepping through only partially before pausing and leaning back into the room. His brows narrowed suspiciously as he locked eyes with the changeling for a long moment.
Too long, apparently.
"Are you going to say something, or are you just going to keep staring at me?"
"Ughh," he started, "You're not going to... like, make yourself look like me and pull something, are you?" In the silence that followed, he had plenty of time to regret his question as Chrysalis’ confused expression turned mischievous.
"Never," she stated flatly, the candid, prideful tone of her voice clearly at odds with the sly smile adorning her face.
"Whatever," Andrew said with a sigh, "I'll be back in a bit."
Chrysalis just muttered a short "mhm" as he closed the balcony door and wasted no time before setting off into the air, eager to explore the breathtaking city.
"This place sucks."
Andrew received several nasty looks from the ponies nearest him. He was seated on a wooden bench at the heart of the city. He had been walking around for almost an hour, and he had yet to see anything that garnered his interest. It didn't help that most of the ponies were snobs that regarded his passing with contempt. Looking around, he locked eyes momentarily with a lime-colored filly. She looked at him curiously for a few seconds before an older mare—presumably her mother—said something to her and ushered the filly away.
He looked away with a scoff. He may not want to be the center of attention, and he was more than used to being ignored and blending into the background, but this was different. Everyone here seemed to be going out of their way to avoid him. He idly wondered if he should make the trip back to Ponyville. A round trip by flight shouldn't take very long at all, especially considering how fast he could go. Without having decided, he got up from his seat and raised himself into the air. He heard several gasps from below, but he paid them no heed as he continued to rise at a steady pace until he could barely make out the faces looking up at him below. He looked Southward and saw the vague shape of a town in the distance. Ponyville.
He turned around. Located far behind the castle, nearly on the horizon, was the floating city of Cloudsdale. He scratched his chin in thought, then shook his head. He wasn't too keen on flying uninvited to a city that basically used magic to exist. Worst case scenario would be the evaporation of all the clouds from a telekinetic outburst from him if he was attacked. He scrunched his eyebrows as he pursued the train of thought further.
"Wait a minute," he muttered aloud to himself, "would the clouds evaporate because of me since they're made of magic, or would I just make it rain because that's what's keeping it all together?"
He musings were halted when a haze of shimmering green smoke whipped past him and headed in the direction of the castle. He turned his head to see where it came from but found nothing that wasn't already there before. He could have sworn he saw something like it before, and flew ahead to try and catch up with the twinkling trail.
He caught up to about half a dozen yards behind it. He had no clue where it was taking him, but he was determined to find out. Besides, it was a nice distraction if anything. It moved at a decent pace, then slowed as it entered the castle grounds. It finally entered a room through what he could only describe as a huge, framed entrance. When he flew into the room and lowered himself to the ground, he was met with none other than Princess Celestia. She looked at him with an expression of mixed shock and amusement. She was lying on a thin, circular cushion next to an unlit fireplace. She held a scroll aloft in front of her, and she set it aside to focus on him.
"Umm," she began, "is there something I can help you with, Andrew?"
He gave her a blank look, his eyes darting around to survey the room. On the other side of the room to his left was her bed, a modest size with tan sheets. The floor was a light purple with dark purple flowing patterns, while the walls were blue with purple clouds strewn about.
"Andrew," Celestia continued when he didn't answer, "I can see that you are just as surprised as I am, but that alone doesn't explain why you are flying into random bedrooms."
"I..." Andrew began, "I was only following this green trail. It came in here, so I just followed it.
"Ah," Celestia said, "That must have been the letter Twilight just sent." She raised the scroll again in her magic. "Surely you must have noticed how spike uses his dragon fire to send and receive scrolls?"
"That's right!" Andrew exclaimed, "I knew I saw it somewhere before."
"Yes." Celestia agreed. “Might I ask what you were doing before this?"
Andrew's expression soured, and he gave her a brief explanation of his lackluster experience in Canterlot so far.
Celestia sighed when he finished, pressing a forehoof to her forehead as she shook her head. "My apologies, I knew Canterlot wasn't the most welcoming of places for foreigners, but I would never have expected it to be this bad."
"It's fine, we won't actually be here for more than a few days anyway."
"Even still, that's no way to treat anypony." Celestia scooted over to one side of the cushion. "Please, while you're here, have a seat, I was getting a bit bored myself anyways.
Andrew accepted the invitation, removing his shoes and sitting cross-legged across from the alicorn. "About Chrysalis, how is she doing?" Celestia asked.
"Chrysalis? Fine I guess, why?"
"I'm worried about her," Celestia said, looking down with a frown. "She can't survive without love, and I don't see how she's going to get it if not by force, which I simply can't allow. The only thing that could possibly solve this is Cadence, whose help Chrysalis absolutely refuses." Celestia tsked in frustration, biting her lip. She looked at him and asked, "You've spent more time with her than anypony else, do you have any ideas?"
Andrew could only shake his head. He couldn't exactly admit he wasn't against Chrysalis using her shapeshifting abilities to get the love she needed.
"And even if she does get away with stealing love, Equestria is a large nation, and you could spend weeks alone. What then?
Andrew remained silent. This wasn't what he was expecting to be doing today, but he couldn't exactly pretend he didn't care.
"What about friendship?" Celestia suggested hopefully.
"What?" Andrew replied skeptically. She couldn't be serious...
"Surely friendship is just a weaker form of love, right? You two are friends, and even if it isn't as strong, she's going to be with you all day."
Andrew looked at the alicorn like she was crazy.
"Y-You two are friends, are you not?" Celestia asked expectantly.
"I-I mean..." Andrew stammered. "That's isn't exactly something you can just spring on someone."
"It's just a yes or no question, Andrew," Celestia said.
"It's not that simple!" He snapped.
She was taken aback by his tone of voice. "I'm sorry, I just... I just don't don't want her to suffer any more than she already has. Besides, it only just occurred to me that it probably wouldn't work with you anyway, seeing as your magic immunity likely extends to Chrysalis as well."
Andrew raised a brow at the comment. They didn't know that chrysalis could actually sense his emotions. For that matter, did they even know about Chrysalis's emotion detecting abilities?
"There's something I've been meaning to let you know," Andrew said, trying to change the topic.
"Oh?" Celestia said, gesturing for him to continue.
"It's about your guards," Andrew began, "I don't think Chrysalis is safe here. When you were taking us to our rooms they didn't let you see, but the second you passed by them they were looking at Chrysalis like they wanted to kill her. I can't be the only person that sees anything wrong with her staying at the castle she tried to take over not too long ago." All he did was reiterate his previous conversation with the Changeling, but there was no reason he couldn't just make it seem like he was the one that noticed the guards behavior.
Celestia stayed silent for a long moment, deep in thought. When she finally broke the silence, it was with a sigh. "I understand, tell her not to leave her room past nightfall. It has been many centuries since a guard of any nation has done something so deplorable, and even if I don't believe my own guards would do such a thing, I take your words to heart."
Andrew thanked her then asked, "What exactly are you going to do?"
"I'm going to set up a complex barrier spell that only Luna and I can undo. It won't stop anypony from leaving in case of an emergency, but nothing will be able to enter." She stood up from the cushion and walked over to a cabinet next to her bed. She opened the bottom drawer, and immediately found what she was looking for, removing a long yet thin cylindrical container. It was black with intricately embossed gold designs that flowed from one end to the center to form a sun. Celestia twirled it to show that the other side was the same, but with silver and a moon instead, with the silver tendrils coming from the opposing side. She opened the golden end, which fell against the side of the container with a metallic clang, hanging by a silver chain. She removed from the container a scroll and levitated it over to him.
He tentatively reached out a hand and plucked it from the air with a short-lived fizzle. He took a moment to appreciate the four handles of the scroll. The vertical rightmost handles were gold, while the left were silver, matching its container. Feeling Celestia's eyes on him, he carefully unfurled the scroll horizontally. The scroll pictured a map of Equestria, and it was no doubt the most detailed map he had ever seen in his life. He already knew what a map of Equestria looked like, but this particular map was done was such attention to detail that it was better suited hung on a wall then stowed away in a container.
"I was thinking you might like it," Celestia said, earning his attention. "I was hoping you could get better use out of it than me. I haven't found a use for it since it's more or less ingrained into my memory."
"Are you sure?" Andrew asked. The case alone must already be crazy expensive, he didn't even want to imagine what the map itself must be worth. He rolled the map back together and placed it in its container.
"Andrew," Celestia began, "That map has been tucked away in that drawer for the better part of this century, and before that I recall it being in the closet. I would much rather it be used for its intended purpose, and I can think of nopony better suited than yourself.
"I..." Andrew started to speak but paused. Since he first woke up in Equestria, with the exception of a few less than pleasant encounters, he had been showered with kindness. It almost made the events before his death feel like a distant dream.
But he knew in his heart that it wasn't a dream. He killed Steve, even if was an accident. He was the one who tried robbing a gas station, he was...
"I don't deserve this," he stated.
Celestia frowned at him. "Perhaps, perhaps not, what does it matter. It's a gift, you need only accept it." She stepped closer to him. "Nopony is perfect Andrew, and I have seen ponies do far worse and be forgiven. Take Discord for example, he ruled for generations. Those generations lived and died filled with hopelessness and uncertainty for the future. He may not have directly taken any lives, but some might argue what he did was worse." When he didn't respond, she continued.
"Even I am not without my faults."
This earned his attention.
"During the changeling war, I had those thought to be changelings locked away for months at a time. I had presumed that the months of isolation would do them no harm if they were ponies. The Changelings either starved or failed to maintain their disguise and promptly interrogated with prejudice. We thought... I thought that if they were ponies, they had nothing to fear, that a few months alone would do them no harm. They were given plenty of reading material, the cells were furnished relatively amicably. I thought it was perfect.”
She closed her eyes.
“Plenty of ponies prefer to be alone than in company, but what I did... I don't know if it was the forceful separation from their friend and family, the stress, or any combination of factors. But by the end of those few months, those who proved to be ponies were left as mere shells of their formal selves. I can still remember one unicorn stallion in particular. I'll never forget the fear in his eyes when we opened his cell door. He was huddled in the corner of the room and..."
Celestia bit her lip anxiously. "He didn't stop screaming until we closed the door. The cell itself was made to keep unicorns inside, and no form of scrying or teleportation was possible into or out of it. We tried for weeks to get him to come out, but we stopped once he started harming himself in an effort to keep us out. It started with making himself go deaf so he couldn't hear us. When we tried to get his family to coax him out, he raved about how they weren't real before gouging out his eyes in front of them. The war ended shortly after that. Everyone blamed the Changelings for what happened to him, and so did I for a few decades, but..."
She looked away from him and walked towards the balcony, with him following silently behind. Her horn shone, and the sun slowly began to set. When it finally slipped under the horizon, Celestia let the magic fade from her horn and sat on her haunches, as if waiting.
When the white of the moon peeked over the edge of the earth, she said, "If I hadn't treated my sister the way I did all those years before, she wouldn't have been trapped on the moon, she could have simply searched the dreams of our subjects and completely invalidated the Changeling's strategy. Everypony thinks that I am the better sister, pure in every way, that I can do no wrong. The truth is they have it completely backward, the only thing Luna is guilty of is being pushed to the brink and beyond by me."
When the moon finally settled high in the starry sky the solar alicorn looked at Andrew and said, "I don't care what you've done on Earth, let what you do here in Equestria define who you are." She turned around and began to walk back inside. "I will take care of her room, and please," she turned her head to look at him, “take care of Chrysalis. Good night."
With that, the entrance to her room shone golden before closing itself off, leaving behind a smooth wall in its place.
Well, now he just felt like an asshole towards Celestia.
He looked down at the container one last time before flying off the balcony. Even though it was night, the predominantly white city did well to reflect the already abundant moonlight. He had no trouble arriving at the balcony and tried his best to silently entered the room. Chrysalis was fast asleep on her bed, and the bathroom door was open, so he assumed she must have showered.
He walked past her to the dresser, where he placed the container. When he turned back to use the bathroom, he noticed something off with Chrysalis's pillow. When he approached to get a better look, it was obvious that there was a large wet spot just under her the changeling's face.
She had been crying again.
It bothered him to see her in such a state. He wished he knew what he could do about it, but didn't even know where to begin. He didn’t quite know her as well as he did Matt and Steve, yet he felt like he knew her better than anyone else in Equestria, besides Luna at least. He frowned and turned his gaze away. All this was doing was reminding him of Steve and his mother.
He took a quick shower before falling asleep in his own bed, though he could have sworn he heard a faint whimper from across the room.
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
925 users online
348,291 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Canterlot is probably the least stranger-friendly town in Equestria.
8578715
Just one last thing, then I'm done.
8578687
You know what else is impossible, at least according to every known law of physics and our combined understanding of the workings of the universe? The spontaneous acquisition of superpowers via glowing rock!
Seriously, they call his powers "Telekinesis" because they don't have a better word for it, but he's been shown multiple times -both in this fic and in the movie- to do things beyond simply "moving objects with his mind". The dermal shell thing that protects him? That's not Telekinesis in the traditional sense, yet not only is it canon to his moveset, it's something that he learned fairly early on.
8578715
Okay, I'm done now.
8579552
And let's not even start with the literal wolverine healing that Matt learns to do both on himself and others in MARTYR, the sequel to Chronicle that the original writer wrote, but was rejected by Hollywood for being too grim.
I wonder if I should introduce that ability at some point... It's practically canon!? Right!? Right..?
8579577
Wait, there was a sequel that we'll never see?
8579587
The fact that it will most likely never see the light of day is a travesty of utmost proportions. (nods imperiously)
8579587
Alas, we will never see it. However, Max shall not be silenced. Here is the script for your reading pleasure.
Pacing may be a little to slow to my tastes, but it's definitely a good story and there's never enough stories featuring Chrysalis as anything but two-dimensional character, so thanks a lot for your work!
BTW, do you know that a story can only be featured once afaik? It's just that a three slots of 'featured stories' are reserved to show each update of a story that was featured before. So, if a story was featured once it will show up in 'featured stories' each time it's updated ... it just may not stay there long, obviously.
8579577
Oh, and as for implementing that particular ability, how's this for a scenario; sometime during their journey Chrysalis gets injured by an attack that was actually aimed for him, but before she can actually die, Andrew pulls an "I won't let you!" followed by a "Nobody else is gonna die because of me!".
8579603
Oh wow, he really can induce healing, huh?
Wicked.
8579688
Hmmm, seems a bit too emotional for him, for now at least.
Also, Matt first discovered his ability to heal when he had the flu and, to quote him, "I got that flu and I figured if I could visualize me grabbing and crushing every little virus, I could be healthy again. And it worked. So then I was like, if I could visualize me stimulating the cells to repair and knit together...and I guess that works too."
Dude literally just felt like having a go at rapid cellular regeneration one day.
8579631
I agree on the slow pacing, but in the next chapter they will finally be leaving
the safety ofCanterlot and Ponyville.8579726
Really? I agree that it would take a while before they were close enough for a scene like that, but "too emotional"? For Andrew?
8579753
Hehe, right. What I mean is, while I could absolutely see him panicking, straining to think of a way to save someone's life, I can't picture him yelling at them to not die. Hmmm, actually, I can definitely see him thinking it...
8579773
I never said he'd yell them out verbatim, I just said he'd pull something like that. There are plenty of examples in fiction of characters who are either dead or dying, only for a friend/loved one to pull them from the brink using some new power that they either didn't know about, don't have full control over, or the use of which carries a heavy price/risk.
Heck, even the sci-fi comedy "Paul" had a scene like that towards the end of it, and that's the movie that gave us this scene.
Another great chapter, I wonder if Andrew will try to comfort Chrysalis in the morning.
I also wonder if anyone might try to attack them before they leave, I wonder a lot.
Another one already?
8579688
My point was that my explanation makes fewer 'infractions' on the known laws of physics, that I know of atleast. Going off the things they do in the movie, it's more like how I'd imagine pokemon moves would work in real life.
8580578
Pokemon has ghosts, fairies, aspects of nature, and literal gods. Bringing them into this really isn't helping your argument for realism.
Also, why are you even trying to argue this? MLP already breaks physics, and it does so far more egregiously than Chronicle -or even this fic- ever did.
8580619
Because why not?
8580619
Arguing is good for you.
It's good to encounter views other than your own. Stops you making an echochamber for yourself.
8580688
Because it's a pointless argument?
8580689
Normally I'd agree, but in this case it's become tedious.
Also, you do know that you can edit your comments after posting them, right? There's no need to post two replies back-to-back like you have been.
8580698
I'm too used to websites that don't let you.
8580792
Oh dear, that doesn't seem right.
All fixed, thank you.
Them's fighting words.
8581863
Fixed...
Oh god, I left the tab open but never saved the changes.
Hrhm, well, of ya want friendliness and oneness, Canterlot really is the worst possible place for that.
Awww, poor Chryssie.
8579773 what if someone gets hurt and he said something along the lines of “Hell no I’m not gonna be blamed for this, you don't have my permission to die” and then there healed.
that's about a third of the pony population and maybe Minotaur if chrysalis wasn't that shocked by the notion of hands being used as magical conduits.
Question if Andrew died and ended up in equestria does that mean steve ended up in a parallel equestria / another world altogether or could it be that steve wasn't strong enough for his powers to save him like it did andrew.
OK this is why I hate the beginning of most displaced fics. If you're isolated like this you go insane but apparently one thousand years in stone does NOTHING I call bull. This rant had nothing to do with you other than to say good job on showing the effects of isolation on a mind. seriously tho only story I know that addresses that well is Necromancy For Foals (slight spoiler for the end of the first book you should still read it its great)
invalidated