The Eighth Element?!

by PaisleyPerson

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“Acrylic! There you are!” The Doctor bounded over to her. “Don’t fry me,” he held his hooves up in surrender when she glanced his way. “Where’s Ditzy?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know. I never found her,” the gray mare shrugged.

“I’m getting worried, now.” He bit his lip. “She and Cadance never came back. You’re sure you didn’t see them?”

“No, Time Turner.”

“We aren’t going to tell anypony your secret, but if you’ve done anything to her, I swear-”

“What kind of mare do you think I am?” Acrylic looked truly offended, and clutched her chest. He sighed.

“Sorry. I just really need to find her. But do me a favor- give Torchwood a chance. He’s a good sort.”

“Will do...” she hesitantly replied. He nodded, but hurried along. Chrysalis watched him through Acrylic’s blue eyes. She briefly wondered if she should send him to the crystal caves with the rest of her prisoners. He might attract attention looking for her. Then again, he could cause worse problems if he was actually reunited with his friends and found out her true plan. He was gone before she could do anything anyway, so she moved on as well.

What was going on here? Something was definitely amiss. But if this couple’s relationship really would have that much of an impact on the fate of Equestria, it was worth looking into. She didn’t actually know for sure that these two really did have any significance- maybe that Time Turner was just crazy, or desperate to get his friends back together. But something about him made her believe what he’d said. Still, a love that could make or break the fate of Equestria? She could have total control! Plenty of food for her subjects, and access to all of the country’s resources. And perhaps even locate Kindling’s orb.

She sincerely hoped that Time Turner was telling the truth, for his sake. But even if this did prove to be a dead end, she could always fall back to her original plan, and take Princess Cadance’s place. Thinking of which, she would need one of her drones to fill in for her there before the Princess was missed. Something she could take care of later, Chrysalis decided. For now, she needed to begin adapting to this Acrylic Storm’s lifestyle and mend her relationship with Torchwood.

She located Art Life, opened the door, and rejoined the three ponies still waiting for Acrylic.

“So?” the teal mare, Wild Flower, quickly prompted.

“Did you catch her?”

“What does she know?”

“She got away,” Chrysalis shrugged.

“Blast!” Torchwood pounded his hoof on the table. “You should’ve let me go after her! I could’ve caught her, easy!”

“Now, baby,” Chrysalis sidled up to him, batting her eyes and tickling his side with her tail, “she’s not important. Not as important as me, anyway. Is she?”

“W-what?” Torchwood gulped, squirming away.

“Acrylic? What are you doing?” Wild Flower’s eyes were bugging out of her head, mouth gaping. Cedar was equally stunned. Torchwood tried to laugh.

“Very funny, Acrylic. But Ditzy and Time Turner are gone. No need to pretend like their little ploy worked.”

“Hmm?” Now Chrysalis was confused. Luckily, Wild Flower finally started laughing, too.

“Oh, is that what you’re doing? Gosh, Acrylic, you really freaked me out there. But seriously, they only tried to set you guys up on one date, and that was a total bust. If you’re trying to get them to think it worked, try and be a little realistic. At this point in a relationship, you’re just going to act a little friendly.”

“Right.” Completely and utterly perplexed, Chrysalis thought it best just to sit down and try to gather what was going on before making another move. She just reached for the closest seat, which happened to be beside Torchwood. He tried to smile, but still looked uncomfortable.

“That’s a little better,” Wild Flower jibed.

“Now hold hooves,” Cedar decided to join in on the fun.

“Ha, ha,” Torchwood rolled his eyes. Chrysalis, however, saw this as an opportunity to stick her hoof in the door.

“Oh, come on, babe, play along.” She grabbed his hoof perhaps a bit too violently to be romantic. Torchwood’s ears flattened as she gazed into his eyes. Without a horn to channel her magic, she had to choose another route. In this case, casting a spell through eye contact was the perfect opportunity. As uncomfortable as he was, though, he couldn’t seem to meet his gaze.

“Come on. Look into my eyes,” she urged.

“Yeah, Torch. Look into her eyes,” Wild Flower snorted. He sagged, coming to the conclusion that playing along would be less embarrassing than their friends laughing at him the whole time. He met her gaze, but as he did, something within him stiffened. This was a bad idea. This was wrong. Something about this... just felt wrong.

He tried to look away, but found that he couldn’t. Relax, a voice inside him urged. Surrender. Everything will be alright. A deep sense of calm suddenly fell over him.

Alright.