Viva Las Chrysalis

by Aureane

III: Paralight Digmer

Dime lies still within the queen's forehooves, the old villain gazing down with sympathy as she gives the filly's sky blue mane a ruffle. She lets out with a soothing sigh as her thin pupils meet up with her former rival, making do with a signature, sharp smirk, fangs just screaming changeling all up in Twilight's face. "Tell me; did you find Dime amusing?"

Twilight's eyes stray away to a nearby trophy; she'll never get used to those horrendous, soul-piercing spheres. "I'll admit, her magic level is pretty impressive."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong." Chrysalis can't help but laugh pretentiously, drawing the alicorn's attention right back to her. "I didn't forget, Twilight. The day it was taken away from me! I came this close to total domination until Thorax and his pesky, pink friend showed up."

"Hey! She's my friend, too!" Twilight points out.

"Is she?" Chrysalis makes out with a hiss. "Dime, if you would be so kind..."

"Definitely!" Dime's head rises, her horn channeling a wave of energy into the air. At first, the horizontal line flattens out, its form aligning between the two enemies, one sly, and the other tense; then, the equalizer begins its playback.

~- Starlight... / What about them? -
- It's just that she isn't my apprentice anymore -
- I mean, we still talk, but not like we would when I was still teaching her -
- We've grown pretty distant, and now -~

Dime flicks her head and ends the timeline. Twilight's mouth is agape, and she's barely able to say anything. "N-- nu- no way- how... you, a filly? An audio lapse..."

Chrysalis simply rewards herself with a single snicker, her eyes squinting at the dumbfounded princess. "You see, at the moment... Dime is Starlight."

Twilight, at this point, is too frozen to even think up an objection. Instead, she's more intrigued to learn. "S-- so... you teleporting back there and poking me, no matter where I went--"

Dime cuts her off, listing the spells at the top of her head, bouncing her hoof during each one. "Mn... global tracing, reflex boosting, memory reading, audio lapsing, interest scanning, age shifting, and... cutie blending, all at once. Your friend has learned a lot within a short amount of time."

Twilight knows about all of those, except for the last one. "Cutie blending? As in, hiding a cutie mark? What for?"

Dime looks up at Chrysalis, to whom replies with a nod. The filly hops onto the desk, and after a flash of her horn, a unique type of cutie mark appears. It is an ethereal key with a ghostly flame working about it; chains work their way around its perimeter as they crawl to no end around the object. The key itself is a pasty green, much like the swirls on Starlight's cutie mark, and the chains are an astral violet, no different than the star. The flame glows white as the entire mark remains in motion.

"It's... moving?!" Is all the alicorn can blurt out. Her face is so close that Dime could knock her out right then and there.

"That's right. And, age shifting, as you heard..." Before Twilight's eyes, Dime's hooves extend, and her entire body increases in proportion- up until she's about the same age as the princess. "Are you alright, dear? This is my original self. I sound better than Rarity, don't you think?" Her voice shifts- "Or maybe I could be a Pinkie Pie. Nah, too bright! Maybe-" after a 'Pinkie laugh'- "I'll just be me. Ick, voice warping does take its fair toll if you use it too much. You can call me Paradigm." Her voice holds a high level of authority as she makes out with her words. She sits up on the desk, her cutie mark fading back into a blank, and she taps Twilight's muzzle with a hoof. "Eh, Chrysalis, I think we've lost her."

"Give her some time. It's a lot to take in at once." Chrysalis leans back in her office chair, entertaining herself at the lost look on Twilight's face.

"I'm... fine," Twilight's right eye twitches as she moves along with her ambiguous context. "She was like, Tap! Tap! On my shoulder here, and I was all thinking, what the? And then phew, but then tap! Does that make sense? Oh no, but it moves. And it turns out, it's not just Chrysalis. I was like, 'dime, be my student' but no, she belongs to Chrysalis. Paradigm. Paradigm? Chrysalis and Paradigm. Okay." Twilight takes a deep breath to calm herself down, her pupils slowly reclining into their original size. She looks up at the verdant pony.

"So... why did you bring me here?" Twilight asks.

"To give you a chance to join us," Paradigm states, tossing a bit up into the air, flipping it over every now and then.

"Well, you already know my answer."

"Do we?" The rogue snaps, "It seems to me as if you're all alone, Twilight."

"I'm not. And I swear, whatever you two are planning, my friends and I will--" Before she can finish, Paradigm unleashes a visionary field. It reveals a point of view through the eyes of somepony opening the door to Twilight's castle.

"Remember; I'm directly linked to Starlight." Paradigm catches the bit in her hoof, focusing on the field. "This is happening right now. Observe."

Twilight has no choice but to obey.

"Twilight," Starlight calls. "Twilight?" No response. "Guess she's out doing something."

"Yes I am," the princess mutters to herself, though she knows that her friend can't hear her.

Starlight heads over to the friendship map- after looking around one more time, sound emanates from her horn as the map inverts colors, fading into a pitch black. After a successful conversion, three marks light up onto the board in various areas: one in the Badlands, the other in the Dragon's Lair, and the last in the South Luna ocean. A final mark is at Neighagra Falls, but instead of a light, it has a red X. "One down, three to go," Starlight chimes. She takes out the ancient statue, a crimson glow outlining its shell; a pegasus.

Paradigm cuts off the transmission. "Any questions?"

"Yes, actually. What, exactly, is Starlight trying to achieve?"

Chrysalis intervenes. "She wants to become an alicorn."

Twilight looks at her missing enemy like she's gone nuts. "For what?"

"Why- to enslave Equestria, of course."

"The equal signs? I thought that was over and done with."

"You underestimate your previous apprentice," Paradigm states.

"No. I know for sure that she's changed."

"Really, now? Then, I don't suppose I just happened to record this after linking with Starlight's mark." The rogue brings up another audio lapse:

~- If only I just had more power -
- Maybe it's really better for us to all be equal -
- Twilight doesn't know what I'm capable of -
- Thorax, Trixie, Discord -
- I'm sorry -~

"Impossible. Impossible!" Twilight cries. "Let me talk to her. I need to talk to her."

Chrysalis grins, her sharp fangs almost smiling themselves. "Very well. Dime!"

"Yes, Chrysalis!" The pony is back to her young self, and she rests on top of her ally's lap as the bit clinks onto the desk.

When Chrysalis nods to her, Twilight hops up from the chair. "This has to be a big misunderstanding. I'll sort this out." She turns to leave, but before she knows it, she nearly bumps into Starlight- though she leaps back just in time. Dime had relocated her in the blink of an eye.

"Twilight?!" Starlight blurts. "I- I mean. Twilight! Long time no talk... but I really wasn't expecting you to appear out of nowhere."

"Yeah... it's been a long day," Twilight claims. "Listen, Starlight- do you have a moment?"

"Well, if you think about it, I do now... what's on your mind?"

"Oh, I'll tell you... but I'm starved. Being dressed as a changeling that's also a detective while almost being mauled by an angry mob is quite the heart attack. It doesn't help that the filly I thought was a filly wasn't actually one."

Starlight scratches her head, only just now noticing the changeling costume and trench coat. "Okay... you definitely have quite the story to tell. What say we go to Hayburger? My treat."

"That works for me... thanks." As she paces aside Starlight to their destination, Twilight can't help but think to herself.

Oh, it's more than a story...