Chapter 15: /Your dreams/
Chrysalis was laughing. Not a warm, personable laugh, nor a cold, mirthless laugh.
This laughter was filled with contempt and derision; filled with joy at the suffering of others.
Celestia weakly lifted her head from where she rested on the ground, broken and bloodied. She slowly opened her one unbruised eye to look at Chrysalis, her face grim and resigned.
“You had nothing to gain by doing any of this, Chrysalis. Tell me why. Why did you do this to us?!”
Chrysalis stifled her laughter down to chuckles as she surveyed the damage. Canterlot was in ruins; not a single structure of the city was left standing. Entire chunks of the city had been broken free of the mountain, and fallen to the ground below. Fires were still raging all around, consuming everything not made of stone. The roof had been torn off of the royal observatory, granting an excellent view of the devastation, and it was on this platform – now just a simple, empty disc of stone, bereft of all its instrumentation and accoutrements – that Chrysalis stood, a small distance from Celestia.
“Nothing to gain? Why, Celestia, don't be so materialistic! There was ever so much to gain!”
Chrysalis let another laugh ring out – a haunting sound, somehow conveying malice and mirth as though they were the same concept – and happily pranced over to Celestia, her eyes glinting with joy and hatred.
“For instance, there's so much satisfaction to be gained from doing this!”
And with that, Chrysalis' horn lit up, lifting Celestia in a sickly green aura. Chrysalis scoffed, and absent-mindedly flung Celestia off of the observatory, before trotting up to the edge to see where she would land.
Celestia crashed into the last standing corner of a stone building with a sickening crunch, sending dust and rubble flying. At this, Chrysalis was seized with laughter, as though she had just heard a joke so funny that she was physically incapable of halting the reaction. She continued this way, her twisted laughter ringing out over the ruins of Canterlot, for almost a full minute, until she was heaving and rolling on the ground, totally unable to control herself.
She slowly brought her laughter under control, tears at the corner of her eyes from the outburst, and she simply hopped back over to the edge and sprang off, like the most carefree pegasus in the world. She gently glided down to where Celestia had landed, inspecting the damage and gently removing individual pieces of rubble.
Before she could uncover her victim, however, she was blindsided by a violet blast of magical energy, catching her squarely in the left side of her face, and sending her reeling to her right. Surprised and enraged, she glanced back to her left, only to see a panting, injured Twilight, with Cadance at her side, the lights of both of their horns fizzling out like candles in a window, caught in a gust of rain.
At this sight, Chrysalis' malevolent smile returned, as a wild hunger overtook her eyes.
“Oh my, Twilight Sparkle, here to save the day! I had thought that without your friends, you would fall to despair, but it seems you are just so determined to entertain me just a bit more!”
“I still have friends, Chrysalis, and I-”
With a flare of her horn, Chrysalis conjured a magical green cup of energy, which affixed itself to Twilight's muzzle, silencing her. Twilight gave a few panicked grunts as she tried to remove it, both physically and magically, but found herself too weak to do so.
“Oh, you still have friends, you say... Like, for instance, Cadance?”
Cadance opened her mouth, fire and determination in her eyes, but whatever she was about to say went unsaid; Chrysalis hit her with another blast of sickly green energy, and she froze in place – literally.
Twilight looked in horror over at her friend, now an ice sculpture, and gently tried to touch her. At this contact, Cadance tipped over, shattering on the ground. Twilight screamed, the sound muffled by the cup over her face, and realized she couldn't breathe. Her movements to remove it became more and more panicked as Chrysalis' laughter only grew louder and louder.
And then, just like that, the muzzle melted off of Twilight's face. She took several panicked gasps of air as Chrysalis whipped her head around, eyes full of hatred, to find the source of the interference. Her eyes came to rest on another changeling – smaller than she was, but far more regal, with a glowing red, white and black pattern on her wings and mane, and a slender, curved horn.
“Ah, Chiri. Decided to side with the ponies after all, have you?”
Chiri's eyes were filled with the unforgettable, distinctive look of despair on the face of someone betrayed.
“Why are you doing this?! They're my family! You said you would never do anything to hurt me or my friends!”
“They aren't your true family, Chiri. They're ponies. If you would side with them, instead of me, then you have no use to me.”
“Use? Use to you?! We're sisters, our bond isn't supposed to be based on... on...!”
“Chiri, you were created to assist the hive – to assist me. You performed your function admirably, as it was the trust you gained from these foolish creatures that made all of this possible. Don't throw it all away now, dearie.”
At that, you could no longer control yourself. You had waited silently, unnoticed, in the corner, watching events unfold with a growing sense of disgust and horror – but you had said nothing. You had been determined to let this nightmare pass without becoming involved.
But seeing Chiri betrayed was just too much for you to handle. All of Canterlot shook from your rage and indignation, as you screamed incoherently at Chrysalis, showing yourself in the street and planting yourself between her and the one you called your sister. You were smaller than her, but you were determined to put an end to this madness.
And when Chrysalis saw you, her eyes lit up, as though a new, far more interesting morsel had crawled onto her plate.
“Got you.”
Chrysalis caught you in a magical aura, and may have intended unspeakable things for you. But your outburst did not only get Chrysalis' attention.
It also got mine.
“Begone, apparition!” I cried, blasting Chrysalis with such force as to send her under the rock of the street, carving a trough with her body. It was more force than was necessary for such things, but after seeing Celestia, Twilight and Cadance treated with such disdain, I had been shaking with rage.
You looked up at me, eyes full of wonder and hope. For a moment, we both hesitated, before you broke the silence, your voice and body shaking.
“Princess Luna?”
I nodded, a small smile teasing at my features. “Peace be to you, changeling child. I know not what events bring you to Equestria, nor why you face such terrors in the night, but you shall not face them alone, so long as you are here.”
“Are you saying that... that the nightmares will stop, now?”
I was going to tell you that the nightmares were of your own creation, and that only you could put an end to them. Oh, how mistaken I was.
I heard the sound just barely in time to raise a shield – a reflex of the waking world that Cadance had insisted was useful beyond measure – and deflect a massive chunk of rock, more than thrice my size, that had been hurled at me. Looking towards the source in panic, I realized that Chrysalis stood before me, having sprung free of the street, and then having hurled a large portion of it at me.
Where there should have been fear, I primarily felt confusion.
“How do you yet stand? You are an apparition, a being of dreams.”
Chrysalis began laughing yet again. Though I knew it made little sense to let an apparition bother me, I felt frustrated at the impertinence of this one, and I responded to her laughter by catching the still-airborne chunk of rock and hurling it back towards her.
To my astonishment, she idly sliced the rock in half with a blast from her horn, the two halves landing on either side of her. Seeing my response only made her laugh harder, and I slowly began to realize what must be happening, before Chrysalis confirmed it for me.
“This isn't her dream, you foolish princess. It's mine!”
She gestured to you – now hiding behind me – as she spoke, and with her declaration, she sent a sickly green beam of energy at me. I considered deflecting or blocking it, but instead I opted to let it strike home. I felt myself turn into an ice statue, much as Cadance had done before. Chrysalis happily trotted forward, intent on tipping me over – only to catch a blast of energy, square to the nose, from you.
“You keep away from her! You're not going to hurt anyone else!”
Chrysalis' manic grin returned as she eyed you, stalking closer.
“Naive nymph... you're the one I'm after!”
She tried to catch you in her magical grasp again – but this time, she was interrupted by something other than magic.
My hoof slammed into her jaw, sending her into a rather comical spin-out along the street, before my mane came to life and whipped out around her, coiling around her entire body, binding her limbs – and wrapping around her horn, suppressing her magic.
“Fear not for me, little one!” I declared, the ice still melting off of me. I had hoped Chrysalis would be drawn in my by ruse of frailty, getting close enough for me to bind her before realizing that I could not be so easily harmed within my own realm – but your assault worked just as well.
Chrysalis struggled against the bonds, and I could feel them weakening. I looked over towards you and quickly added, “You must get out of here! You need to wake up – I cannot control this creature for much longer!”
You looked up at me in dismay, before looking over at the struggling Chrysalis. Tears filled your eyes as you came to a grim realization.
“Not even you can stop it.”
And then you woke up, crying and shivering in your bed, though you could only barely recall why.
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What.
Well that's a mystery for another chapter to solve i guess.
It's finally here! The journey you began ninety-nine weeks ago is coming to its grand conclusion!
ok that was cool
My guess right now is that there are two Chrysalises here—"you" the dreamer and "Chrysalis" the apparition, a rather violent representation of her fears of self-sabotage and how others view her; a bit like Luna and Nightmare Moon.
6749209 Nightmare Cheese? Or Nightmare Bug?
Cya
Raziel-chan
Curious. Several possibilities present themselves. I'm not going to guess until I get further information.
Also, reading this now.
Related to either the Tantabus or The Nightmare or both?
Oh, clever. Chrysalis is dreaming simultaneously from the perspectives of young Cecily and her older self.
7466357 *Malevolent author laughter*
What.
That was just confusing.
I sprained my imagonation (from imago?), or, rather imagination, muscle XD