Rootless Fears
Rainbow Dash’s breath came in frantic, heaving gasps. Her back was to the wall and her entire body was shaking in complete and utter terror.
Everything had fallen apart. It had all happened so fast! One minute, Cadance and Shining Armor were reciting their vows with Celestia presiding, leaning in to kiss and officially become married. Before their lips met, though, the floor beneath them had exploded upwards in a flurry of green flames.
Everything after that became a haze. The world had gone dark, leaving Rainbow all on her own with the strength leaving her paralyzed body.
Twilight Sparkle was standing in front of her in a protective stance, her horn alight with magic and her wings outstretched in defiance. But despite the alicorn’s brave stance, there was no denying that she was just as terrified as Rainbow, if not more.
“Twilight, just go!” Rainbow pleaded for what felt like the millionth time. “Go, save yourself!”
The alicorn did not respond to the request. She spread her stance out, and the light on her horn swelled with power.
Suddenly, another great pillar of emerald flames erupted into the air from ahead of them, accompanied by the agonized and rapidly fading screams of Princess Celestia. And yet, despite the blinding light, the world remained shrouded in darkness. If anything, it grew even darker, to the point that all Rainbow could see was the fire, and Twilight standing protectively in front of her.
A blast of hot, sticky wind washed over them from the eruption of flames, causing Rainbow to shudder with revulsion. Her stomach churned, and she had to resist the urge to gag as a smell filled her nostrils she would rather not try to describe.
And then a haunting voice began to sing, low, cruel.
“This day is going to be perfect…”
Rainbow’s eyes widened, her heart accelerating to the point of being painful with every beat. She watched, powerless, as the tell-tale silhouette of Queen Chrysalis emerged from the flames, her eyes piercing in the darkness. Her teeth were showing in a sadistic crescent of a grin.
“The kind of day of which I’ve dreamed since I was small…”
Twilight let out a guttural cry, unleashing her magic in a powerful beam. However, much to her and Rainbow’s swiftly mounting panic, Chrysalis swat it aside with her magic as if it were little more than a mildly bothersome gnat.
“Twilight Sparkle will soon lay dead…”
“TWILIGHT!” Rainbow screamed, trying in vain to force herself to stand. Alas, there was no strength in her body. All she could do was watch.
“The last princess will drown in dread…”
Twilight fired off another blast, and just like before it was deflected with no effort.
Chrysalis was soon towering over them, her nose held high and her eyes lidded with what almost seemed to be boredom. Twilight shrank back, her ears drooping. With a desperate and frantic cry, she fired off one more bolt of magic. Chrysalis didn’t even bother deflecting it, allowing her armored chitin to do the work for her.
Rainbow’s blood turned to ice when Chrysalis’ grin returned. “Who says a girl can’t really have it all?” she finished her song before lifting her hoof and backhanding Twilight across the face. A loud crack filled the air, and the aliicorn was sent falling to the ground with a cry of pain.
“Twilight, no!” Rainbow shouted, her eyes focused on the alicorn.
Chrysalis chuckled ominously in response to Rainbow’s despair before craning her neck down to peer deep into her eyes. “Now, now, don’t fret… you’ll be joining her soon enough,” she cooed before standing to her full height and looking over her shoulder. “Stinger.”
“Of course,” a raspy voice suddenly said from the pillar of flames before a familiar changeling drone stepped forth. There was a twisted and manic grin on her face, her eyes narrowed with smug satisfaction. She was heading directly for Twilight.
“Leave her alone!” Rainbow begged, barely lifting one of her hooves. “Just stop! Please! Take me instead!”
“Were you not listening?” Chrysalis asked, reaching out and placing her hoof on Rainbow’s head. She drew it along in a feather-light touch, caressing Rainbow’s jawline before pulling away from her chin. The queen knelt down and smiled softly, her muzzle right up against Rainbow’s. “I said you would be joining her soon enough…”
“No… NO!”
Stinger cackled as she approached Twilight, who was now struggling to stand. The drone lifted one of her forelegs and drove it down between her shoulder blades, forcing her back down to the ground with a gasp of pain. Stinger then leaned down to growl in Twilight’s ear. “It’s funny. The last time I saw you, you were a corpse. Yet here you are, alive and well enough to scream.”
A sickening crunch came from Twilight’s back. She threw her head back as a long howl of unrestrained suffering tore past her lips. She thrashed and she struggled, but it was in vain.
“PLEASE, STOP!” Rainbow called to no avail.
Stinger’s maniacal grin somehow became even more twisted. “I guess I missed a spot…” she mewled before standing to her full height and lighting up her horn with magic. “Let’s fix that, shall we?”
Rainbow didn’t even have a chance to scream before the spell was unleashed on Twilight, the alicorn instantly falling still. The smell of burning fur flooded Rainbow’s nostrils.
Rainbow Dash gasped sharply, her eyes snapping wide open. Her entire body was coated in a cold sweat, and her chest rose and fell rapidly with her ragged, panicky breaths. She quickly sat bolt upright, her gaze frantically looking around for any sign of Chrysalis, Stinger, or Twilight.
All she found was a peaceful and silent bedroom in the Crystal Palace, sunlight streaming in through the window off to her right, announcing the arrival of the dawn. Off to her left, stirring quietly at the sudden disturbance was the peaceful image of a sleeping Twilight Sparkle. A few birds saw fit to chirp outside of their window, allowing Rainbow’s mind to finally come down from its terror and back to reality.
With a relieved sigh, she flopped loosely back down onto her pillow, her gaze affixed to the ceiling. “...It was just a dream,” she thought to herself, resting the back of her hoof on her forehead and closing her eyes. “Just a dream.”
Nightmares were nothing new to her, of course. She had lost count of how many of them she had suffered through over her life. But somehow, for some reason, this one stuck out to her. Her face scrunched up in thought as she tried to figure out what, exactly, could be causing her to feel such tension and anxiety all of a sudden.
She took a deep breath and thought back on what she had seen, and began to consider every element of the dream in detail. Just like Luna would encourage her to.
“In the dream, Chrysalis got loose from her tree and crashed the wedding,” she recounted to herself, pulling the blankets back and quietly slipping out of bed. “It all got really dark really fast, and I almost couldn’t move my body.”
Careful not to make a sound, Rainbow opened the door of the room and slipped out into the hallway. With a relieved sigh at not being in any position to disturb Twilight’s rest, she turned and slowly trotted down the corridor, allowing her mind to ponder her dream while her hooves carried her wherever they wished.
She was not entirely sure how long she spent aimlessly meandering like that. It felt like a long time. Every so often she passed a patrolling guard or passing castle servant, and they would always give her a respectful bow or nod of their head as she passed, and she would respond in kind with a nod and smile of her own.
Eventually, she turned into a hallway that she immediately recognized. This was the corridor that would take her to the throne room. She hesitated for a second before taking a deep breath and following the red carpet that marked the way. “Maybe Cadance is awake…” she whispered to herself.
The doors to the throne room came into sight soon enough, two crystal guards dutifully standing watch outside of it. They both nodded at her as she passed by them and pushed the doors open. They creaked loudly as they parted for her, revealing the chamber beyond.
It was magnificent, that was for sure. The high ceiling sparkled and glistened with the rays of the early morning sunlight that streamed in through the windows, as did the throne itself. Cadance was seated atop it, a stack of papers and a steaming mug of coffee floating in front of her in her cyan magic. She glanced up from the papers and smiled warmly.
“Oh, Rainbow Dash! I wasn’t expecting you to be up this early,” she called in greeting before setting her papers aside and taking a large swig from her coffee. That done, she rose from her throne and trotted forward to meet the other princess.
Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah, I didn’t sleep all that good last night. No biggie,” she explained in an effort to sound nonchalant.
Cadance, however, saw right through her. She cocked an eyebrow and took a slower, more measured sip of her drink before speaking. “No biggie, huh? You sure? I know you sometimes have trouble with nightmares…”
Rainbow’s eye twitched, cursing Cadance for all of the times she had looked after her instead of Twilight when she was little. She sighed and looked down. “That transparent, huh?”
“Not transparent,” Cadance corrected before lightly patting Rainbow on the head and giving her a warm smile. “Just… expressive. That and you forgot to do up your ponytail, which I know you try to maintain.”
Rainbow blinked and glanced down at her shoulder. Sure enough, there was her mane, wild and unbound. She chuckled sheepishly and flicked it back so it was out of the way. “Heh, yeah, fair enough.”
Cadance chuckled quietly before a more serious expression erased her mirth. “Are you feeling alright, though?”
Rainbow’s own smile faded. She looked down as she pondered the question, her muzzle scrunching up in thought. Was she alright? She’d had a really nasty nightmare, yes, but aside from that, everything was pretty much fine, wasn’t it?
“...I think so,” she eventually said, her words slow and tentative. “But… something’s bugging me.”
“What is it?”
Rainbow took a deep breath before she spoke again, trying to keep her tone level and calm. “...What did you do with Chrysalis after Twi and I left the Empire?”
Cadance blinked in surprise at the question. She downed the rest of her coffee in one quick swig and floated it back to rest on the armrest of her throne. “I had the tree you sealed her in moved into the palace and locked up in a heavily warded chamber filled with other forms of exotic flora. She’s the centerpiece of a garden, now.”
Rainbow nodded slowly, glancing over her shoulder. “Alright… and there’s no way she can get out?”
“Not unless you and your friends let her out,” Cadance assured her with a small smile. “A spell cast by the Elements of Harmony is pretty much unbreakable.”
Rainbow winced, her mind briefly wandering back to how Discord had been able to talk to her because of Twilight’s time spent dead. “Alright… can I see her?” she eventually asked.
Cadance raised an eyebrow. She didn’t wait long before smiling and nodding. “Of course. I can take you to her.”
“Please do.”
Without another word, Cadance led the way from the throne room, the great doors closing behind them with a loud thunk.
The door that Cadance brought Rainbow to was remarkably plain. The only thing that set it apart from its fellows was the lack of any clearly defined handle. In the place of one was a vaguely-hoof shaped and sized crystal. There was also the matter of the lone guard who stood watch outside of it. He looked over at the two princesses as they approached and nodded his head. “Your highnesses,” he greeted politely.
Cadance smiled and gestured towards the door. “Good morning. We’d like access to the garden, please.”
“Of course,” the guard bowed his head before turning and placing his hoof against the crystal pad. The armored horseshoe he wore immediately pulsed with blue light, and the lock responded in kind. After a moment, the door opened a few inches with a resounding click. The chamber beyond was dark, no immediate source of illumination visible from Rainbow’s perspective.
Cadance turned to her and nodded towards the door. “After you,” she said quietly.
Rainbow hesitated, a small pit of anxiety forming in her gut. She was quick to swallow it down, though, and stepped past the guard, entering the garden.
It was a lot different than she was expecting. Like Cadance had said before, it was exotic. The room was round in shape with finely-carved containers to house plants. Closer to the walls, the containers were higher, and the odd, foreign plants they housed were larger, many of them emitting blue or purple bioluminescent light. As one drew closer to the center of the room, the containers got lower to the floor, and the plants within were smaller, though no less fascinating.
But all of that paled in comparison to the tree that served as Queen Chrysalis’ prison, housed in the very center of the chamber, its roots digging into a circle of fresh dirt. Said circle was surrounded by a series of softly glowing magical runes that Rainbow figured were some of those wards Cadance had mentioned.
Rainbow slowly drew closer to the tree, her eyes following one of the long lengths of dark teal spider silk hair that wove through and hung from the branches. After two years without seeing this thing, it was hard to wrap her head around the fact that Chrysalis was trapped inside. Or had she been turned into the tree itself? It was hard to tell, really.
“As you can see,” Cadance began from her side in a quiet voice, so as to not startle her or disrupt the serene atmosphere of the garden. The door silently clicked shut behind her, plunging the room into only dim blue light. “Chrysalis has remained stationary and has caused no problems at all since you left. She is contained and completely inert.”
“Yeah… I guess so,” Rainbow conceded, her wings ruffling on her back. She eyed the trunk, and for a brief moment, her mind flickered with the image of Discord’s petrified face, and her expression soured. “Hmmm… do you think she can hear us in there?”
Cadance glanced at Rainbow curiously. “Hear us? I… I don’t think so, no.”
“Well,” Rainbow took another step forward, puffing up her chest and staring the tree down. “Discord could hear us in his stone prison. Hay, after what happened to Twilight, he gained the ability to talk to me and my friends if we got close enough.”
Cadance’s eyes widened, and her eyes focused on the tree. She was quiet for several seconds before rejoining Rainbow’s side. “I see… if that’s the case, then maybe. It doesn’t matter, though. She’s stuck here.”
“Yeah…” Rainbow nodded slowly, taking a moment to stare at the blackened bark of the tree and savoring the sense of superiority it granted her. Even if she hadn’t done it alone, the fact was that she had survived everything Chrysalis had thrown at her.
But there was one other changeling to think about, wasn’t there?
Rainbow’s expression slowly darkened, the back of her skull starting to tingle with long-repressed hatred as the image of a certain female changeling drone appeared before her mind’s eye. She clenched her teeth for a second before swallowing and lowering her head. “Chrysalis is stuck here… but Stinger isn’t.”
Cadance sighed and nodded. “Yes… we’re still not entirely sure how she escaped. I can only assume she took advantage of everypony recovering from their amnesia and the shift in royal power here to make a window.”
“Are you any closer to finding her?” Rainbow pressed, her nostrils flaring.
Cadance looked down regretfully. “I’m afraid not. We lost all track of her after she slipped away. I’ve had my guards keeping an eye out for her, but…” she hesitated for a few seconds before turning to Rainbow directly. “Rainbow, it’s been almost two years. I’m starting to think that we aren’t going to be seeing her again.”
“She’s a changeling,” Rainbow pointed out, her teeth grinding together. “I’m willing to bet she’s capable of being patient…”
For that, Cadance had no reply. She fell quiet for some time, the two of them staring at Chrysalis' prison, though now with far more on their minds than just the former queen of the changelings.
Suddenly, a knock came to the door, and it swung open again. Rainbow and Cadance turned to see the guard poking his head in curiously. “Majesties, it’s Twilight Sparkle. She is asking to enter,” he informed them, his gaze drifting back over his shoulder.
“Of course, send her in,” Cadance ordered with a warm smile, facing the doorway directly.
The guard nodded and stepped aside, allowing the alicorn to trot in herself. Her eyes immediately locked onto Rainbow, and she visibly relaxed with relief. “Rainbow!” she greeted, increasing her pace and stopping in front of her. “Spike and I were worried about you. You weren’t in your bed when we got up, and you forgot your hairband.”
To emphasize her point, Twilight lifted her hoof and, sure enough, there was the thick blue band Rainbow often used to tie her mane into a ponytail. She looked at it for a second before smiling and taking it. “Heh. Thanks, Twilight,” she said quietly before reaching up to run her mane through it.
“Where did you go?” Twilight asked, watching Rainbow do up her mane real quick. “You don’t usually leave on us like that.”
Rainbow tugged on the ends of her hair a few times to make sure it was like she wanted it, then turned back to the tree at the heart of the chamber. “...I just needed to check something. That’s all,” she said simply.
Twilight’s eyes wandered past Rainbow and glued themselves to the tree. “Woah…” she breathed quietly, disbelief clear on her features as she stepped forward. “Is this…?”
“Yup. Queen Chrysalis,” Rainbow confirmed, not even bothering to hide the distaste in her mouth. “Or what’s left of her, at least.”
“We’ve been holding her here since she was trapped like this,” Cadance elaborated as Twilight went to speak, answering her question before it even reached her lips. “Just in case she ever somehow manages to escape.”
“But I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Rainbow stated with finality before looking back over at Cadance and smiling. “I’ve seen what I came here to see. I think I’m ready to get out of here.”
Cadance considered her for a moment, her eyes critical. It didn’t last long, and she soon smiled and nodded for the door. “Alright. Let’s go, then. I still have a hundred and one things I need to check on to make sure everything’s ready for the wedding.”
“And I need a shower,” Rainbow agreed, briefly contemplating sniffing at her pits, but deciding she rather liked her sense of smell undamaged. “Cold sweats do not leave pleasant odors behind, lemme tell ya.”
Twilight giggled at that remark, falling into stride next to them. “Ha, no kidding. You do kinda smell right now,” she teased, a small smirk appearing on her face.
Rainbow glared at her with a flat look. “Dude, Twi, c’mon, it’s too early in the morning for that. Besides,” she looked directly ahead, fighting to fight off the blush that was steadily creeping up on her. “I’m still trying to get over last night.”
Cadance looked sideways at the two with an absolutely predatory look. “Oh? And what happened last night~?” she asked slowly, her eyes shimmering with no small amount of eager anticipation.
Rainbow groaned and picked up the pace, eager to be done with this. Twilight, however, elected to stop in her tracks and stare at Cadance directly. The alicorn stopped after a few paces and turned to face her, her head tilting in curiosity.
Twilight bit her lip and scuffed her hoof along the floor before stepping up to Cadance. “W-well… this happened,” she said before suddenly dropping her chest down to the floor.
Rainbow closed her eyes. “Ah crud, here we go.”
“Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake!”
Cadance was shocked for a moment as the chant suddenly began. She recovered quickly and fell to her haunches as Twilight moved on to the next bit, their hooves loudly clopping together in the dark chamber.
“Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”
The moment the duo completed the silly little dance, Twilight’s face split wide with an enormous, elated grin. She danced in place on the tips of her toes, her wings fanning out. “Rainbow! Rainbow, I did it right!” she called out excitedly, almost like a foal in a candy shop.
Rainbow glanced back at the two of them at this point and managed to smile. Cadance looked similarly pleased, looking back and forth between the two with a grateful look in her eyes.
And then something occurred to Rainbow. Something that made her start to laugh with immense, deeply satisfied amusement.
Twilight’s prancing faltered for a moment, her smile becoming strained. “W-wait. Did I do something wrong?” she asked nervously, her mood quickly withering.
Rainbow was quick to recover. “No! No, not at all!” she assured her, trotting over and ruffling her mane. “You did fine. Now c’mon, let’s go get cleaned up and get some grub. I’m starving!”
Twilight and Cadance shared a confused glance as the pegasus knocked on the door and slipped out, but neither of them chose to comment on it any further. Rainbow waited for them to step out before the trio began their journey down the corridor. They would have to part ways soon, but for now, at least, they stuck together.
Rainbow didn’t participate in the discussion, though. She just kept chortling under her breath every so often, reveling in the fact that had made her laugh so hard.
If Chrysalis could hear them inside that tree, then she had just heard Twilight and Cadance doing that.
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REALLY good detail on Rainbow's nightmare concerning Chrysalis's return AND the showing of the precautions that were taken concerning Chrysalis's "tree". And, yeah, Rainbow's reaction to Twilight and Cadance getting their greeting right was a very welcome light touch.
All in all, splendid work on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places.
Another great chapter.
This...is one of the first nightmares Rainbow's had that Luna didn't interrupt. Guess she was busy. So that's closure for two major threats and causes of the current situation dealt with. Stinger escaping is...bad, but hopefully with the constant lookout for her, she's hard-pressed to do much. Besides, she can't free Chrysalis. Although, how did Twilight know where Rainbow was? She just ask a guard or something? And speaking of, was she an alicorn or a unicorn in the nightmare, because she's referred to as both.
Though this was the only instance of her being called a unicorn so I'm guessing that was a typo
Guessing "bland" was too.
So much for leaving out the cruel and unusual punishment
9883834
Yes, Twilight asked around. Yes, Twilight was an alicorn in the dream. Yes, I made two typos that are now fixed.
Another great chapter, it's always great to see Rainbow Dash being serious in these stories. It was also great to see Twilight and Cadence doing the chant. From what you wrote on the author's note, I'm guessing their aren't a lot of chapters left in this story and that Stinger may or may not be in this story besides the nightmare sequence?
9884869
After we get done with the wedding we will be diving into the final arc for Memories. As for Stinger, I can neither confirm nor deny her presence within the story.
9884875
Thank you for answering!
I give you an idea and you just run away with it, dontcha?
So much so it's leaking into her vocabulary in pun form.
What would happen if they burned the Chrysalis tree?
9887182
she gets reborn like a pheonix
This worries me. Considering the original timeline.
Oh no, bug Queen of buggery learned how to ladybug.
I regret nothing
Everyone was making fun of this. And sure, from that perspective, it's amusing. But from another perspective, what if Crysalis was released somehow? She'd now be better informed on how to impersonate one of them.