Heart of Magic

by TheCrimsonDM

Chapter Thirty Five: Creepy Chrysy

Heart of Magic

Chapter Thirty Five: Creepy Chrysy

Written by TheCrimsonDM

“Twilight?” Celestia’s voice came out with a slight demanding tone.

Twilight snapped to attention. Celestia’s personal study was large, large enough for a whole family to live in. Celestia was lying on the couch and reading a book, she was looking down at Twilight who lay on the floor doing much the same.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Um, yes Princess Celestia?”

“Did you learn anything new?”

Twilight looked down at the book again. The words were all jumbled together and made little to no sense. The moment she thought she understood a word it would shift and change into a different one. “No, I… don’t think so.”

Celestia nodded. “Of course not. You never learn.”

Twilight blinked. “I’m… I’m sorry I’m not smart enough.”

“Nopony is as smart as me,” Celestia said. “That’s why you should always listen to me and never question my authority.”

Twilight nodded. “Of course, Princess Celestia, who would ever dare to question you?”

Celestia’s eye narrowed on Twilight. “You have.”

Twilight stood up. “N-no I haven’t. I’d never question you.”

“When I forbid you from entering the dark library.”

Twilight felt her mouth working for her, speaking before she could even think. “I broke into it.”

“When your friend Fluttershy killed my phoenix.”

“I tried to help cover it up.”

“When you nearly destroyed Ponyville with parasprites that you made ten times worse with magic, instead of listening to your friends.”

“I lied to you about it.”

“When I wanted to destroy the Seeker’s Archive.”

“I fought you, and tried to kill you for it.”

Celestia closed the book. “So, what have you learned today?”

Twilight smiled and spoke without deciding to. “That I’m a traitorous little cur and should never be trusted.”

Celestia nodded. “And what will you do about it?”

Twilight looked out to the balcony. “I’ll throw myself off the ledge to make up for my misdeeds.”

Twilight began walking to the balcony. She tried to stop herself but she couldn’t force her body to stop. It was like fighting against concrete, she couldn’t stop her legs from working against her. The doors to the balcony opened up on their own and she stepped out onto the ledge.

“N-n-n.” Twilight tried to say anything, do anything to stop herself from getting to the edge. But she couldn’t. She climbed up onto the ledge and was stopped short.

A soft wing brushed the back of Twilight’s neck and she looked over to see Luna standing there. Luna smiled softly and it was like Twilight’s muscles lost all power. Luna’s lips moved and a moment later, out of synch with the motion she heard the words, “Wake up, Twilight.”

***

Naps didn’t work well to pass the time for Twilight. She had to admit, passing through Ponyville was challenging. Sure Wind Rider had to stop off and try and see his daughter one last time. They were going to war, he didn’t know what his chances were anymore than she did. Rainbow Dash was of course her usual ornery self but Twilight couldn’t blame her either. She was sure that Wind Rider didn’t tell her what was going on. So all Rainbow had to go on was how Wind Rider acted nearly twenty years ago when they were dating for a time.

Could Twilight ever be strong enough to get past it if Luna cheated on her with younger more attractive mares? She didn’t think so, but at least as a unicorn she wouldn’t have to live with such an atrocity for eternity. She would die someday. Lucky for her she also had a lot more trust in Luna then Rainbow ever had in Wind Rider.

Twilight remained below deck in the boiler room. It was warm here, and the hum of the engine was soothing. With her magical talking scarf and her books she was fine not going out and confronting any of the passengers among this ship. Chrysalis had found a dark room to reside in, sometimes Twilight could swear when she was walking through the ship she could hear Chrysalis chittering away. It was unnerving to say the least.

How far out were they? It had been over twenty four hours since they left Ponyville so they could be anywhere by now. The ship didn’t exactly move the fastest. Twilight stood up, shook herself and opened the hatch leading to the hallway. She walked out and as she passed by a dark room she could hear that haunting chittering sound. It stopped as soon as Twilight walked past the room.

Twilight walked up the stairs and made her way to the deck where she saw Wind Rider at the helm looking more like a pirate captain sailing into the great unknown then a retired Wonderbolt. Sunset was staring out over the deck. All around them were red rocks, jagged spires of sandstone, and desert plains as far as the eye could see. Of course Twilight knew this would change into a lush jungle soon enough. She’d once taken this trip on hoof to charge after Queen Chrysalis, but this time she was in an airship with the same foalnapper as an ally. Times were certainly changing.

Twilight made her way to Sunset’s side. “So, how long before we get there?”

Sunset closed her eyes. “At this pace, tomorrow at the latest, maybe a few hours if the wind continues to favor us. We’ll arrive at the changeling ruins soon.”

Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine. She’d already seen those ruins. “Why are we going there?”

Sunset didn’t look away from the horizon. “We’re only observing them on our way, you didn’t know what you were facing back then. Now that we do, I realize we missed something important.” She bit her lower lip. “I don’t want to drag Chrysy back there, to remind her of that mess, but from the readings I got, there is a powerful dark energy brewing there and I’m sure it’s the Pony of Shadows. Its best to take it out now, rather than allow it to continue drawing strength.”

Twilight could agree with that. “Best to nip this one in the bud before it can destroy Equestria.”

“Exactly.”

Twilight let out a sigh, this was going to be a long trip and she did not look forward to it whatsoever. At least when this was done and Sunset’s plan was completed she could go back to her simple life in Starlight’s town. Or perhaps move to the castle and be beside Luna all the time?

Cozy Glow oddly enough had to be somewhere on the ship, Twilight just wasn’t sure where. She’d find the mare sooner or later for now she was going back to her boiler room. To hopefully avoid any more creepy Chrysy encounters she activated a spell making her hooves silent as she went down the steps. Once more she passed by a door that was ajar revealing only darkness inside. Once more she heard the chittering noises from inside. This time they didn’t stop as Twilight passed the door. For a moment Twilight was just going to walk past but then she got curious, why did the sounds only stop when Twilight noisily walked past before, but now that she was silent as a ghost the sounds kept going.

Twilight went to the door and pushed it open. Inside she saw Chrysalis with her back facing the door. The light from the hall entered the room and Chrysalis replied in a low growl, “Shut the door and leave if you value your life.”

Something was off. Chrysalis’s ears were folded back and her wings seemed to droop to her sides. It was like all the energy had been drained from her being. Was she also weakened like Discord?

Discord’s voice came out, he sounded tired but he spoke gently, “Twilight, don’t leave her.”

Twilight glanced down at her scarf. She was going to ask why, but thought better of it. A look around the room revealed a bunk bed, a dresser and a mirror that was aimed at an odd angle in the room. It reflected Chrysalis from the front but with the lack of light Twilight couldn’t see her properly. With a flick of the light switch the lights came on and Twilight could see the reflection much clearer.

Green slime ran down the sides of Chrysalis’s face, stemming from her tightly closed eyes down her cheeks and pooling into a puddle at the floor. It didn’t take an interspecies biologist to realize that Queen Chrysalis was… crying. She opened her eyes, they were red and blood shot and her mouth worked slightly as a chittering sound escaped her lips.

Twilight sat down, she was floored. “That sound, your, your sobbing.”

Chrysalis didn’t dare look back she just closed her eyes again. “I am the Great Queen Chrysalis, I am fear incarnate, I, do, not, cry.”

Twilight shook herself and walked into the room. “Chrysalis, I-“

Chrysalis’s wings flared and she spun around to face Twilight. “I will skin you if you and wear you like a coat if you do not leave this instant.”

Twilight stayed still for a moment but watched as those wings began to droop. The green tears were still flowing from Chrysalis’s eyes. After a moment the chittering sound escaped Chrysalis’s mouth and she shut her lips tight. Twilight continued forward until she was only a couple feet away from the giant.

“Chrysalis, I’m sorry.”

Queen Chrysalis glared down at her. “I blame you.”

Twilight didn’t look away from those eyes. “I’m sure you do.”

“We just wanted a new home.” Queen Chrysalis’s body was shaking. “A home, and some food, warm loving food. Yet you stole that away from us, made my children starve, I fed them all that I had in me, but they starved and died, and it was only the animals in that jungle that rebuilt us. We found a way to survive off them.”

Twilights nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“Yet when those monsters first came to our attention we realized we couldn’t face them. I couldn’t face them.” Chrysalis nearly spat her words. “So we ran, we ran to the border, trying to escape and you cut us down like dogs. We tried to break through, to sneak through, to fight our way through but again and again you cut us down. On one side we were annihilated and corrupted by these Corrupted Alicorns, and on the other your people murdered us like dogs.”

Twilight stamped a hoof. “If you’d just have talked to us, we would have helped your people.”

Chrysalis glared at her. “Why would we trust you, not only after all we’ve done to your kind, but after all you’ve done back to us?”

Twilight stared up at her. “Because I offered you a chance to redeem yourself once, and that offer never went away.”

Chrysalis’s eyes widened. “You…” her lips trembled and it was like she was reliving something that Twilight couldn’t see. Then her eyes narrowed and her horn glowed. Twilight was lifted into the air and moved out of the room. She was dropped into the hallway just outside. The lights inside the room went off and Chrysalis spoke as the door closed. “Just leave me alone.”

Twilight watched the door close and lock. She let out a sigh. “I… I tried.”

Discord replied. “You did good, after all she didn’t skin you alive did she?”

Twilight shook her head and headed back toward her boiler room. “I failed her and her people. I failed the changelings. I don’t deserve to any kindness.”

Twilight entered her room, shut the door behind her and laid down on her pillow and blanket pile. She was ready for another nap, so that she could sob into Luna’s embrace about her most recent failure. She looked for her box of cheese chips. It was nowhere by her side. She looked around and saw them in the corner, in a pair of gray hooves belonging to certain young pegasus. An overweight, gray fur, black and white lightning bolt hair colored pegasus.

Blackout stared at Twilight, “Uh… sup?”

Twilight blinked. “Oh… gosh darn it, now Rainbow’s going to kill me.”

Discord laughed. “Now this is what I call a fun road trip.”

Blackout looked at Twilight’s scarf. “Did your neck thing just… talk?”