Part: 2
Edited by: Chaotic Dreams, Typoglyphic, and Airy Words
“This is not right,” Chrysalis mouthed. Her hooves crunched upon the freshly fallen ash, leaving a trail that disappeared almost as soon as it was made. She slowly made her way through Downtown Canterlot’s shopping district. This was supposed to be one of the busiest areas of the city. She should be shoulder to shoulder to a river of passing ponies. Shopkeeps should be tending to their wares. The air should be filled with the sound of a bustling, thriving city. Yet, in place of that, there was nothing. It was completely abandoned. The changeling had yet to see, or hear, a single soul.
Her eyes wandered with her advance. The once brilliant storefronts, which had held expensive goods imported from far-off lands or sourced locally from talented artisans, all had their windows boarded up and their doors locked. It genuinely looked abandoned, as if their owners had simply taken everything and ran. Not recently, but for a long time. Years, even. Paint was chipped. Metal was rusted. Wood was weathered and rotten.
Chrysalis flicked her long, serpent-like tongue. It had been a while since the former queen had been in her true body, but it was a habit she picked back up almost immediately. Thankfully, her primal senses were still sharp—changelings could taste emotions much in the same way as how a snake flicks its tongue to smell.
She tasted for emotions but found nothing.
“Seems I truly am alone,” Chrysalis muttered.
She stopped to view one building in particular.
It fared the same as all the others. Weathered and decayed, but this particular storefront held a different feeling to the changeling. She had been there earlier that day. It was the store where she had worked for the past month—five days a week, nine to five. The pearly white exterior was faded. The sign that had once read “Book & Keep, Chartered Accountants Ltd.” was barely legible. She had been their secretary. Now, the shop looked closed. A few boards had been nailed over the doors and windows. Chrysalis took a deep inhale through her nose. She could smell it’s rotting wood facade. A falling piece of ash made its way into the changeling’s nose. Her face scrunched, and she sneezed.
The sound echoed from everywhere.
After the echo subsided, it was quiet. Much too quiet. There was no sound. Not wind, or the creaking of buildings. Absolutely nothing, save for the sound of her breath that hissed past her teeth. Sound was deafening to a changeling—their heightened hearing far surpassed that of any pony. Silence was foreign to them—to her.
Chrysalis shook off the falling ash that had begun to clump on her coat and mane. She looked forward down the road. The fog only allowed her a few meters of clear sight. Chrysalis growled. Her horn lit as she cast a simple light spell to try and pierce the fog. The spell stood strong for several seconds, then flickered out. Chrysalis reeled at a sudden bout of vertigo, and for the first time in almost a year, the excruciating Hunger clawed at her chest. It had been a long time since she had fed.
Chrysalis shook her head once more. Even if the spell had held, it had done nothing to dispel the fog. Nothing made sense. Why had she reverted to her natural form? Where had everypony gone? Why was the city in such a state of decay? It appeared that the entire city had been abandoned. Why? What had happened to cause everyone to leave at the drop of a hat? Did it have something to do with the fog or the ash?
Am I dreaming?
The idea seemed plausible. Had Luna’s spell actually worked? Was she in the dream that… wasn’t a dream? She had understood little of what Luna had tried to explain about her current situation regarding her nightmares. She paused to think about that. It was possible that she was just dreaming, though it didn’t feel like it, but there was an easy way to confirm it. The changeling sat up and looked around. She spotted a metal lamppost on the other side of the road. It looked fairly solid, even with the flaked black paint barely clung to its surface. Chrysalis shrugged. It would do. She trotted up to it and gave it a strong headbutt. The lamppost creaked in protest. Pain shot up the changeling’s skull. She fell onto her rump and brought her hooves to her head. It pulsed and throbbed.
She wasn’t dreaming.
Her impulsive idea had brought her nothing but a pounding headache. As the pain subsided, anger replaced it. She had remembered something. Or, perhaps, she had realized something: whatever had happened, it was that pony’s fault. Chrysalis growled. Pain forgotten, she turned towards back to her place of employment. She needed answers, and the former queen wasn’t going to allow a few boards to stop her from getting them. In the fear of the Hunger, Chrysalis opted to use her fangs and hooves instead of magic. With a mighty tug, Chrysalis began to rip the boards off, one-by-one.
They soon lay in a crude pile beside the door.
Chrysalis spit out a few splinters, then observed the now unbarred entrance. The changeling raised her hoof for the doorknob but paused. For some reason, what she was doing suddenly felt wrong. Like, she was doing something out of time. A small chill ran up her spine. Chrysalis soon shook off the feeling. Now isn’t the time for hesitation, she told herself. The changeling grabbed the door and pulled. It hissed as the rusted hinges protested but still gave once she put more muscle into it. With the door now open, Chrysalis took a single step inside. A chilled wind washed over her like a freezing draft. It penetrated Chrysalis’ to her very soul.
Get out… the feeling seemed to whisper.
Chrysalis balked in response but did not immediately retreat. Instead, she took a few steps forward. The feeling only got worse. It chilled her to the bone. A feeling of extreme unease washed over her. Something wasn’t right. It was an unnatural chill, like every single one of her reflexes, senses and instincts were screaming the same thing: Get out!
Something didn’t want her to enter.
Though reluctant, the changeling complied with the ghostly wish. She backed away until her entire body was outside of the establishment. On its own, the door creaked closed in front of her. The cold retreated. The feeling went away.
With a shiver, the changeling turned away from the door and back onto the main road. She briefly mused over the experience. Why hadn't she just pushed forward? Yes, it was unsettling, but she had faced worse, hadn’t she? Perhaps it was the build up of unanswered questions and unease that had pulled her away. Chrysalis shook her head. Best not to dwell on this—there were more pressing matters to attend too.
Like a vagabond, Chrysalis wandered the abandoned road. No map, no direction, no destination in mind. She guided herself by the cracked asphalt that peaked through the fallen ash and hoped it would lead her to something. Anything, that would bring light to her confusing predicament.
Chrysalis’ hooves came to a stop at an intersection. Two different paths stood before her: one continuing forward, while the other took her right. She peered briefly down both directions but was unable to see anything through the fog.
“Which way?” the changeling mused aloud. “Does it matter?”
Chrysalis absentmindedly licked the air. She raised an eyebrow. A familiar taste washed over her tongue—a mixture of regret and shame. She took another sample.
“Pony?”
Somehow, she knew who it belonged to. She had only been in the presence of the individual for a few conscious moments, but it was still enough to burn the taste into her mind.
Luna…
The Changeling's tongue flicked out of her mouth some more. She began to track the taste. It had been a while since she had done so, but the action was still second nature to her. She found that it wafted from the road directly before her. With little hesitation, Chrysalis followed the familiar taste.
It was about time she got some answers.
The buildings that bordered the road seemed to grow gradually taller as she advanced. The changeling believed this to signal a change in focus. To what, she was yet to know. The city layout seemed to have subtly changed.
Chrysalis licked the air once more, then went stiff.
A new taste suddenly graced her lips: a toxic mix of both fear and anger. It was strong. This meant that the pony was not alone, as they both did not originate from the same source. The changeling lowered into an offensive stance before she resumed her hunt. She didn’t know if this new entity was friend or foe—in fact, she even questioned the same about the one she did know.
The changeling paused once more as her ears perked up. A sound breached the silence. Chrysalis focused. It sounded to her like something heavy was being dragged. She scanned the immediate area around her.
The outline of… something, began to breach the fog. Chrysalis stood stock still and observed the approaching outline with a worried expression. From her position, it appeared that the outline was close to dwarfing her in size.
The fog cleared enough for her gain usable detail. The outline was some sort of dark pony—a pegasus clad in dented black armor. It backed its way toward her, apparently dragging something behind it.
Against her better judgment, Chrysalis called out. “You, there!”
The armor-clad pony halted. Its head shot up, then whipped in the direction of changeling. Chrysalis gasped. It's eyes were sewn shut by some kind of black wire. The changeling took a tentative step back.
“What happened to you?” she asked, not knowing what else to say.
The creature gurgled in response, then clicked as it shook its head side-to-side violently.
Chrysalis was about to question further when the blinded pony let out a gut-wrenching roar. It stomped a hoof a few times, then charged in her direction. Chrysalis acted fast and out of the way. She rolled back onto her hooves and immediately faced the direction the creature had charged. It had apparently slowed and now stood with its head flicking side-to-side.
Chrysalis' mind went blank. She stared angrily at the creature. She went to charge her horn, but stopped soon after. She grit her fangs and cursed current weakness. She quickly adapted her plan of attack to accommodate her lack of magic. Her range was now limited, but that wouldn’t stop her.
The creature stood in place. It did not advance. Instead, it continued to shake it’s head and let of a weird clicking sound from deep within it throat. Chrysalis was puzzled by this. Why had it stopped? It may have been blind, but it had no problem of almost completely stampeding over her moments ago. There was something she was missing. Chrysalis took a tentative step forward. The moment her hoof crunched against the fallen ash, the creature’s head turned directly to face her. There was a split second of pause before it charged toward her once more.
This time, Chrysalis was ready. Having read the creatures attack pattern, she matched the creature’s charge and pounced once she was close enough. The changeling landed on the creature’s armored back. She gripped the creature tightly with her hooves and used its unresponsive wings as a hold.
The pony howled. It immediately began an attempt to buck his unwanted passenger free. Chrysalis used this vantage point to assess the creature. More specifically, where the joints in the armor were located: shoulder, fetlock, neck, hip, knee. It was heavily armored; even it’s joints protected by a seemingly thick leather covering beneath. That was her normal plan for taking out this type of opponent: cripple the joints and go in for the kill. In this situation, it seemed almost impossible.
The creature roared once more, then stopped its futile attempts. Chrysalis jumped clear just as it attempted to roll and created distance. From what she had observed, she had figured out her next move. She let out a sharp whistle. It must have located through sound given its impaired sight. The creature reacted immediately, turning in her direction and changing once more. This time, the changeling did not ready herself to pounce. Instead, she quickly side-stepped, allowed the creature to pass, then dove back underneath it. Chrysalis quickly sank her fangs into the creature’s unarmored underbelly, then continued on to rip apart the unarmored flesh.
The creature shrieked in pain. Black blood poured freely from the ripped-apart flesh, which coated the changeling’s muzzle. She did not care. The creature began to stumble and fall onto its stomach. Chrysalis took the opening and aimed for her prize. The changeling’s fangs hit true as she dug them through the protecting leather and into the creature’s soft neck. It took her only moments to rip out its throat. Black blood spewed from the area like a sickening geyser. The creature let out a gurgling scream, twitched, then went still.
“No mere pony bests a queen,” Chrysalis painted, winded by the experience.
Chrysalis used a free hoof to wipe off as much of the strange blood from her muzzle and face as best as she could. It was a fruitless effort. The black blood had somehow stained her chitin, which made it almost impossible to remove without a good bath. Chrysalis scoffed at her luck, then a thought popped into her head: where was the other she had sensed? Chrysalis licked the air—she tasted the telltale emotional signature of her companion. Had she sat back and watched as she had fought that creature? Chrysalis snarled. It would be like a pony to do such: let others take care of their problems. She wanted to rant further, but another thought popped into her head: Hadn't that creature been dragging something?
Anger was soon replaced with dread. Chrysalis’ head swept side to side as she searched for any sign of what the creature had been dragging. What she feared. She was pretty sure she knew the answer already. Her fears were confirmed when she spotted a motionless midnight blue mass in the fog.
No…
The changeling galloped toward the fallen alicorn. Her hooves skidded to a stop. Chrysalis looked her over with a held breath. Luna lay motionless on her side. Her eyes were closed as if in a peaceful slumber, which contrasted to her outward appearance. She bled from everywhere. Her back showed signs of splinters and glass embedded within. Bite marks of missing flesh lay patched along her frame. The flesh above one of her front hooves was swollen and bruised—all the telltale signs of a break.
“What did this to you?” Chrysalis mouthed in disbelief.
It was a shock for the changeling to see the creature which had been her jailer for the past year in such a state. Chrysalis knew Luna was no weakling, easily just as strong as her sister, so to see one of the ponies diarchs in such a state was… wrong. Chrysalis thought for a moment the creature she has just fought might have been the culprit, but dismissed the thought soon after—even by surprise, such a creature shouldn’t have been able to do this much damage… right? A thought went through the changeling’s mind which made her shiver.
There was something else out in the fog. Something able to take out an alicorn.
Chrysalis looked up and scanned the fog. Fear washed over her. She looked back down to the fallen alicorn. For some reason she felt… regret? Why? It felt like this was her fault. Why did she feel that way? She owed the pony nothing. Luna was the reason why she was stuck in this nightmare of a place. She was the reason why she had been trapped as a pony for the past year. Such a being should receive no sympathy from her. The changeling placed her ear against the fallen alicorns chest. She heard the faint pattern of a heartbeat. It was weak, but still there. Relief washed over her. Why? She, again, did not know.
“Have you put some spell upon yourself to gain my sympathy?” Chrysalis muttered angrily under her breath. “Stupid pony…”
For whatever reason, Chrysalis felt responsible for the pony at her hooves. She felt an urge to protect her. The feeling sickened the changeling, but she couldn’t find the strength to resist. She let out an angry snort, then re-evaluated the alicorns condition. The pony wasn’t dead, but would be so soon if she didn’t do anything. Chrysalis lacked the magic reserves to cast any sort of healing spell—which she probably wouldn’t have wasted anyways—so that left standard medical treatment, which she again lacked the resources to do. Chrysalis ground her teeth, then perked up at another thought.
Perhaps the gargantuan creature had supplies?
Chrysalis turned to where she remembered killing the creature, and began to search for the corpse. To her surprise, she found nothing. She widened her search, thinking she might have gotten turned around in the dog, but again found nothing. There was no body.
“How?”
Chrysalis trotted even further away, as far as she could without losing track of the alicorn. It was a fruitless effort that yielded nothing. She returned to the same spot, confused and slightly unnerved. Had the creature gotten up and walked away? Doubtful. Nothing should be able to survive with a torn throat. Had come and taken it? That was a more plausible possibility, and one that made her shudder. She knew there was something bigger in this fog. Something dangerous enough to down an alicorn. And if her hunch was right, it had to be close by.
“This is not good…” she muttered in a panicked whisper, “I need to get away from this place.”
Chrysalis turned back toward where she had left Luna, intent on grabbing the pony and running as soon as she could, and began a brisk trot. Her eyes were so focused on the fog she has forgotten to look down, and eventually slipped on something and fell straight onto her muzzle.
The changeling let out an annoyed huff. She quickly rose to her hooves, then stopped when a familiar smell hit her nostrils. It was now that she felt the all too familiar The changeling put a hoof to her muzzle and wiped it.
Her hoof shone crimson read with blood.
It wasn’t like the putrid black plasma that still coated her body for the… thing she had just killed. No, it was fresh. It was warm. It smelt of pony. Chrysalis looked down, expecting to find the remains of her unwanted charge, but what she found was something that she never would have expected.
A gift from the sun will warm the way,
Bring back the wounded—sister of the day.
Back to where you were first denied,
Let the fear become your guide
It was written clearly, yet sloppily, into the asphalt in thick, read blood. It was fresh, and she could tell by how red it was—blood only remains this red right after a kill, as it has not properly oxidized yet. A strange feeling overtook the changeling, one that she could not properly put into words: it was a mix of confusion, worry, fear, and, strongest of most, rage.
There was silence.
Then, without warning, there was laughter.
Chrysalis’ body heaved as her lungs struggled to keep up with her. Her body shook. The former queen threw her head back as she let out a roar of laughter that could be mistaken for insanity. It was laughter that surprised even her. Tears filled her eyes. It went on for what could have been hours or even days—she did not care—as she let out her frustrations in a madder fitting for the Mad Queen.
When it stopped, and she tried to catch her breath, the changeling managed to utter out a single sentence. “Am I being mocked?”
It was stupid. Laughable. A riddle, out of blood? It was so cliche that even a newborn hatchling could think up better. Someone, or something, was mocking her. She should have been scared. Even as dumb as it was, she was still in enemy territory. The rules of the game that she found herself in were still foreign to her. She had no advantages here, and that did bring fear. Something was hunting her, and it was attempting to use confusion, fear, and misdirection in order to gain the upper hand. The only problem was…
“They are mine,” she hissed through clenched fangs.
What would have been takes as an unsetting message to most, was a challenge to her. There were her tactics. This was her war. Things came into place: She was not alone, something else with a solid mind was there with her… and it was mocking her.
Anger filled her soul, and she let this be known. “Who is out there?!” Chrysalis screamed, damning the consequences of letting her presence be known. In fact, she now wanted to be known. “I care not for riddles! Come to me, face me, let me show you what happens to those try and play with the queen of blood!”
Her words echoed.
She didn’t want games, and she knew one when she saw one. Confusion, fear, and misdirection were her tools of war. She would not be tricked by her own craft. No, she had earned to right to play by the rules of combat.
Her words of defiance echoed through her surroundings like a soulless courus. Chrysalis looked around, waiting to hear or see a reply. Anything. Something that she could lash out at, sink her fangs into and grace with a rage-fueled death.
Silence was her answer.
With a huff, the changeling fell onto her haunches and ground her hooves into the ash-covered asphalt. She glared daggers at the ground at her hooves, using ever ounce of her strength not to scream madness once again.
A noise broke the fog.
Chrysalis looked up, jerking her head so hard that she could feel the joints in her neck pop. Her fangs were bear, but she almost instantly let out a sigh when she only noticed that she somehow no stood only a few hooves away from a familiar midnight blue heap.
“Seems I found you,” the changeling muttered as she poked the heap with a hoof. The heap let out a soft groan. “I had almost wished you were dead.”
Luna lay at the changeling’s hooves. She softly moaned in absent pain, but clearly was still uselessly unconscious.
{What trouble you are}, Chrysalis though. Against her better judgement, the changeling stood, the procedure to lift the useless princess onto her back with a grunt. Once she felt like Luna was secure on her back, the changeling looked around to get her bearings. From what she could tell, she had somehow wandered into what looked like the financial district of the city. The buildings were tall, modern, and a far stretch from the practical ghetto that she had been living in. Brilliantly tall builds rose from the main street, neatly lined in rows, with each of each perfectly planned block leading to another intersection.
At least, that was how it was supposed to look.
Like with the rest she had seen, decay now lay about the city. Pain was chipped, and the marble looked weather stained and damp. Almost every window that wasn’t boarded up were broken or cracked. Crystal lamp posts stood with most, if not all, cracked or laying in useless heaps. Several had even fallen into the sidewalks they were supposed to be lighting.
With the height of the building, and the still thick rain of ash, the changeling could not gain any form of bearings. The castle that she had been using as a marker was nowhere to be seen. This annoyed her further, adding to the list of things that she wanted to reduce to even worse condition they were already in.
“Marvalous,” she huffed. “I wonder if things could get any worse?”
Several thoughts filled her mind: Where should she go? What should she do? And what to do with the lump on her back? She had no answers, no direction, and the added weight of a charge on her back. With the high possibility of there being more creature that she had just ran into lurking in the remains of the city, it would be unwise for her to remain in place. She had no vantage point, no protection. She was a sitting duck. And with the possibility of something toying with her, she couldn’t take any chances. With no proper direction present, the changeling chose forward.
After all, what better way to go?
“You are far more heavy then you have any right to be,” Chrysalis muttered to her still useless charge.
It had been rightly a half an hour since she had left the place she had found the princess. So far, she had not run into anything new, and the air still tasted baren. She was still relatively alone, for the most part, she Chrysalis wondered if that was a good thing or not. She was still on alert, of course. She was not stupid to let this calm make her lower her guard. But, at the same time, she was in no rush. With no idea of what was going on, there was no urgency at all.
A soft groan filled her ears.
Well, what wasn’t entirely true.
“Yes, yes, princess. I know,” the changeling muttered, reminded that she had a critically wounded creature on her back. “I’ll find something to patch you up so you can hopefully give me a clue of what is going on.”
Despite her strange and unexplainable attachment to pony on her back, Chrysalis had to fight the urge to just dump Luna and continue on her own. She had been nothing but dead weight. But, this thought process had been stopped by the thought that there still might be a use for the pony. At best, she could give her some insight into what was going on, or explain what had crippled her. Any info she could get on a creature that could take down an alicorn would be useful. At worst, she could use her as bait, or even a meat shield if she ran into another one of those blinded creatures.
It was this thought that had given her some direction. She needed supplies. She had no first aid of any kind, and magic was still out of the question. She had tried to feed of the pony, but had gotten nothing. She radiated no useful emotions at all. She could use what she did as some form of locating beacon, but they were not powerful enough to actually give her any feed. She could try and force it, or even a magic drain, but in the princess’ condition it would only lead to her death. Plus, she didn’t even have enough magic of her own to even cast the draining spell.
"How troublesome…"
Chrysalis shook her head dejectedly and absentmindedly licking the air with her forked tongue. Her eyes shrank to pinpricks. The air was suddenly overwhelmed with the thick taste of toxic emotions—the same taste as the creature she had slain.
Her hooves froze. The fog seems to get thicker, as if attracted to the stench. Her field of view limited her to mere feet. It was like the world was closing in around her.
Another taste soon began to fill the air, building by the second. Chrysalis flicked her tongue, but balked when the full flavor hit her. It was thick, putrid, and made the queen gag and struggle to keep from both vomiting and casting her charge off her back.
Chrysalis' breath hitched. Fear like no other began to fill her. Something was coming. She could sense it now. The changeling slowly looked around. She tried to at least catch a glimpse of whatever she had felt was so she could run full speed in the opposite direction. Something told her this was not a fight she could win. All her bravato from her challenge was now gone. She tried to gain a reading on the source of this new emotional discharge, but the aura around her was so saturated in the toxic emotional stew that such method seemed impossible.
Chrysalis's ears soon stood on end at the sudden appearance of a familiar clicking noise. She slowly turned her head to see shadows emerged from the fog. Creatures like the one she had recently killed came into view,each of them appeared almost identical to the first, save for small differences in their scars and hair color, but it was clear that the had all went through the same suffering. Chrysalis cursed herself at not noticing them sooner, so focused on the bigger threat that she had forgot the rest of her senses. She could see three, so far, but something told her that there was more lurking in the fog.
Given their way of hunting, she found that they could be ignored for the most part, and probably not a problem all together if she played her cards right and didn't get ambushed. With their blinded vision, she would be safe as long as she remains quiet.
Despite their appearance, the changeling did to flee. No, the true cause for her concern was yet to appear. Something else was in the fog. Chrysalis eyed the three creatures as they unnaturally shook and clicked. The did not appear to be advancing towards her, seemingly oblivious to her presence. They were a formidable opponent, one she had already proven she could take care of on her own, but the group was a different story. She was not stupid enough to try, pride be damned.
Taking this into account, Chrysalis chose not to deviate from her current plan and waited for her true enemy to make itself known. She took her eyes off them as she scanned the rest of the fog, her breath even, but made sure to keep track or their path. Something deep within her screamed for her not to take it lightly.
And she was right.
At first, she heard the sound of creaking metal—almost like a rusty hinge being forced open ever so slowly—then immediately slammed shut—the sound of a train derailment, followed by a subsequent crash. Her eyes shot towards the source of the sound—not far behind where she was tracking the three creatures. She caught a glimpse of a hulking silhouette just as it was retreating back into the fog it had appeared from. It carried on of the creatures with it, caught in what resembled large bear-trap esc that encompasses almost half of the creature.
Chrysalis couldn't move.
Crunching of bones, scraping of metal, and the sickening sound of tearing flesh filled the air. The remaining two creatures reacted almost immediately—their heads snapped back, their throats gargled, and they both charged towards the sound of the carnage.
Chrysalis still couldn't move.
A roar with the volume that could rival any full-groan drake filled the air. It was raspy and strained, filled with malice, hate, and screaming metal.
She did not hear a fight, but a slaughter. The creature roared their garbled war cry, but were only to be met the slam of metal, then silence. Fear gripped the changeling. Fear unlike any that she had felt before. Although she could not see it; Chrysalis knew that the creature was still right in front of her, just beyond the fog’s grasp.
Piercing red eyes was all it took for her snap out of her daze.
Her hooves thoundered against the cracked pavement. Her muscles began to burn from the strain—her lungs gasping for much-needed oxygen. Behind her, heavy hoofsteps followed her. There were forever at her heels, almost like the creature purposely kept just enough distance between them. Chrysalis wanted to risk a look back, but couldn’t. Her charge rested uselessly on her back, but she couldn’t bring herself to drop the alicorn.
Hooves skidding to a stop, the changeling made a mad dash for a narrow alley. With luck, it would be too small for her pursuer to follow, but she didn’t dare risk slowing down. Her legs burned and threatened to give out, but she pushed past the discomfort and continued forward.
From alley to alley, the changeling went. She eventually skidded to a stop once she heard nothing but silence behind her. She stood there, panting, and tried to get her bearings. Nothing looked familiar. The changeling blinked. Actually, everything looked frighteningly familiar. Chrysalis turned her head and looked up at the building before her hooves.
“Book & Keep, Chartered Accountants Ltd,” the changeling muttered to herself.
Somehow, she found herself back to where she had begun. This puzzled the changeling. How am I back here? She thought as she panted. Her muscles ached. Her body was heavy. She licked the air, but tasted nothing. She was alone, again, somehow outrunning the creature.
Chrysalis looked on at the door to her former workplace that she had pried open not long ago. She briefly remembered the feeling she had gotten when she tried to enter before. She tsk’d to herself and shook her head. She licked the air once more, then froze. Slowly craining her head back, Chrysalis was shocked to see three more of the thestrals staring at her on the other side of the street, almost waiting for her. She didn’t know how they had managed to sneak up on her, but that didn’t matter now. She was cornered. She debated which direction to take, but her choice was made when the alicorn on her back let out a pained grown.
Not having time to think, Chrysalis dove into the doorway of her old employment just as the trio charged with a unison howl. A wave of sheer cold overwhelmed her. She froze in place, unable to move. Her muscles failed to respond—her teeth chattered as she shivered in place. She had screwed up. She had made a fatal mistake.
Chrysalis tried to scream, but stopped as a bright flash blinded her vision. Almost immediately afterward, the cold dispersed as her body warmed at an alarming rate. After only a few seconds, the changeling could perceive feeling return to her hooves and body. She rose upright, the alicorn sliding free from her back, then turned towards the door. She expected to see the creatures almost upon her or crash through the somehow closed door moments later.
Nothing of the sort happened.
Chrysalis licked the air. She tasted nothing but her wounded companion. It appeared that the creatures had refused to follow her and retreated outside her range, the reason unknown. In fact, it was like they never existed. Chrysalis watched the door for a few more minutes, still on edge, then slowly looked away and back to her charge.
Luna lay still on the floor, her body still limp and eyes closed. The changeling trotted closer to the fallen alicorn, then pressed her ear to her chest. She snorted when she heard faint, but still present, heartbeats.
How the hell are you still alive?
Chrysalis leaned down and nudged the mare onto her back once more. She took a look around. Instead of her familiar office, the room appeared to be some sort of lobby, most likely for a hotel. It was decayed and rotten: paint chipping, furniture rotten and splayed around in a seemingly random manner, a thick layer of dust coating everywhere. Directly across from the door she had entered was a large desk. Beside it lay two stairways, one heading up while the other heading down.
What is going on with this place?!
The changeling let out a loud huff, then glanced back at her charge. She thought back to how cumbersome the alicorn had been for her to carry, and how that had almost lead to her own death.
“Let's find a safe place where I can dump you, pony,” Chrysalis muttered, then headed for the stairs.
She ascended one floor, but found each door on said floor to be locked. This pattern continued for the next two levels, but the final floor yielded some success. At the far end of the fourth-floor hallway, a single door lay unlocked and unbarred.
Pushing past, Chrysalis slid the alicorn from her back. She stretched her sore back, smiling as she felt several satisfied cracks. She eventually paused her stretch when she noticed something strange in the room: a single pristine first aid kit. It contrasted the rest of the room greatly, as it looked as if it had been just made.
The changeling trotted up to the kit and opened it with a hoof. To her surprise, it was fully stocked. Chrysalis felt a smile spread across her lips as she closed the lid and carried it over to her unconscious charge. Sitting on her flank, the changeling began to administer the required medical attention.
After a while, she finished bandaging her unwanted companion. Being on the receiving end of many an injury, she had gained extensive experience in the art of basic medicine. The once queen looked down at the battered pony, and smiled at her work. All the wounds had been addressed, the wing and been reset and splinted, and she had also taken great care in making sure that the bandages were tight enough to hold, but loose enough to not create massive discomfort when the pony would, hopefully, awaken.
Chrysalis frowned.
That was a worrisome fact. The pony had been out cold for longer than Chrysalis would have liked, and that didn’t even how long she could have been out prior to the changeling finding her. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be out for much longer…
Chrysalis shook her head, then scowled. She took her eyes off the pony. Why did I care? Why did it matter if she awoke? So far, the pony had only brought me pain and confusion. She blinked in realization. Actually, this was all the ponies fault!
Chrysalis turned back towards Luna, her eyes filled with rage. She stepped over toward the unconscious pony, then placed a hoof over her throat. It would be so easy. Just a quick stomp, crushing the windpipe, and she would be dead.
It would be so easy…
The changeling’s hoof reared up, ready to strike. She commanded her hoof to stomp down. Nothing happened. Chrysalis growled, trying to complete the deed once more, but couldn’t. Something held her back. Something wouldn’t allow her to go through with it. Some part of her didn’t want to kill the cause of all her pain.
Chrysalis stared at the helpless alicorn. Her chest rose and fell softly. The anger subside, replaced with guilt. With much reluctance, Chrysalis returned her hoof to the ground, but her eyes remained on Luna. Her hesitance had brought a thought to mind—a fact she had been ignorant off moments before. Luna had been in her pace. Standing over her, able to end it all. Instead, she had given her a second chance...
Chrysalis shook her head once more, turning away from the helpless pony. The changeling trotted away toward the door. She exited, closing the door behind her. She never looked back.
I need to get out of here, the changeling thought. She tried to push all thoughts of her head that related to the alicorn out of her head. She needed to now focus on the big picture: escaping this strange and cursed place. From what she had seen thus far, this place seemed to have a path laid out for her that it forced her to take. In theory, all she had to do was wander, and this omnipresent guide would show (or force) her to where it wanted her to go.
With luck, it would lead her to an exit.
Chrysalis made her way down the hallway to the stairs. She made it down the first flight before the loud sound of clanking metal screamed in her ears. Chrysalis instantly turned around, her eyes going wide as she stared at a chain link fence that now separated her from the upper levels. She quickly ran up to it and briefly tried to tear it down with her hooves. After a few minutes of unyielded result, she sighed and up.
“Have it your way,” Chrysalis mumbled, then turned around continued down the stairs.
She passed down three stories before she returned to the building’s ‘lobby’. Nothing had changed, much to her delight. She licked the air a few times. She tasted nothing.
Chrysalis trotted forward, passing the revolving doors and into the area beyond. The outside was what she expected—warn and decayed. The fog had remained, clouding her view. The changeling trotted onto the cracked asphalt and into the road proper.
“Which way to go?” Chrysalis asked her unseen guide. It was only a matter of time before it showed her, anyways.
A low growl resonated from within the fog.
Chrysalis’ eyes went wide. Her body instinctively fell into a defensive stance. Her head shot from side-to-side, much like that of an alert sentry. From her experience in the past, the growl signaled her of approaching danger.
Eventually, Chrysalis spotted an outline in the fog. It was larger than the creature she had slain before. She stood her ground. The outline soon breached the fog, a shrouded creature taking its place. It’s entire body was covered in a concealing cloak that masked its true form. Two red, glowing eyes stared into her own from beneath its hood.
A small, wicked smile breached the changeling’s lips.
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Is it me, or have I already read thie same thing before? About Chrys fighting a blind monster, and Luna dying? I swear to god I did.
Keep writing.
Is this story dead or what?
10114658 I'm working on it!!!
Oooh, that's a very ominous cliff-hanger to leave off on.
Just so people know, this isn't dead -- I'm just having a hard time writing anything that I feel will stick. Probably thrown away about 100k of temp chapters or story arcs. I know where I want to go, just not how I want to get there.
Anywho, again, I'm working on it.
10646150
Charging?
10646150
Hello from 2022
11387147 Yes, yes. I know. It's hard to get anything I feel is right after so long. Need to finish.
11387190
Found you!
Took me forever to find this again.
For some reason I was thinking it was Celestia that Chrysalis was trapped with, not Luna: and that's why I could never find it.
And now that I'm writing this and thinking about it... I know EXACTLY what happened...
I accidentally mixed my old memory of this from 2019 with an ever older forgotten idea I had long ago that was similar to this... ooops...
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I might kinda know how this feels... I have SO many ideas and concepts. Even some prototype scripts...
But I haven't been able to follow through on any of them...
It's too bad this hasn't gotten any further chapters, I'm really loving what's been written so far.
Regardless, thanks for putting this to paper so to speak, greatly enjoyed even in its incomplete form