Zinnias

by Serinity Southerland

Letters 1

“Dear Princess Celestia,

My friend, Applejack has allowed our new friend, Zinnia to stay with her in exchange for helping around the farm. I admit I was a little concerned that she might have a hard time fitting in since she says she comes from Manehatten, but Applejack assured me that Zinnia seems to be having no troubles with her new environment. Rarity is also quite taken with her, as she has offered to take her to visit Ponyville’s spa for a girls day out. Considering how much she has been through, that is probably for the best. She seems like she could use a little relaxation. There is something that concerns me however, and I would like your opinion on the matter.

I have been thinking about what Zinnia said in the hospital, about the ripples both my friend, Rainbow Dash and I have observed occurring over the Everfree Forest. I believe in my last letter to you, I had mentioned that they seemed to start only a month before Zinnia was found and have grown in size and frequency up until her arrival, after which they seem to have slowed once more. I believe that the two events are connected.

My current theory is that there may be something causing rifts to open across Equestria, though what the cause could be is still under speculation. These rifts may act as portals of a sort, allowing near instant travel between two locations much like how the teleportation spell works, but over much greater distances. This theory is supported by the fact that Zinnia has stated that she saw several such rifts occurring in the mountains to the south of Manehatten where she was camping, exhibiting evidence of sound transference (in the form of running hooves and angry monsters, potentially manticores, from her description.)

I believe these rifts are responsible for her arrival here as well. It seems as though she has no contacts here in Ponyville, as her testimony to the guards was corroborated with the town’s roster of citizens via Mayor Mare. Unfortunately, Manehatten is far too large to request a similar transcript of their citizenry, so identifying her origins may be difficult, if not impossible at this point in time. From what I can tell, it would seem that she simply stumbled into one of these rifts by mere happenstance and wound up in one of the worst places luck could have placed her, save for maybe a volcano or dragon’s den.

I am still unsure as to why you would like us to keep an eye on her. She seems, for all intents and purposes, to be a normal pegasus (albeit one with an interesting special talent more befitting an earth pony, though to be fair, it wouldn’t be the first time in recorded history that somepony stepped outside their tribe’s general roles.) She seems content to remain in Ponyville for the moment, though I am sure she would like to visit home again despite her adventurous nature. I shall alert you, should she decide to leave, so that you may continue observing her should you still feel the need to.

On another note, I am glad to report that Applejack has learned the importance of accepting help from others. She really is the best friend a pony could ever have, and she's always there to help anypony. The only trouble is, when she needs help she finds it hard to accept it. So while friendship is about giving of ourselves to friends, it's also about accepting what our friends have to offer.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

---

Princess Celestia rolled up the scroll and placed it in a growing pile of letters she had been receiving from her student. As expected, the tasks she had given her student were being performed dutifully as she had received at least one letter every week detailing a new discovery about the wonders of friendship, peppered with observations concerning the rifts happening over the Everfree. She sighed as she turned her head, throwing her tired gaze out of her window towards the setting sun. “It would seem that we may have been lucky…”

Celestia sat lost in thought for several minutes before a soft rapping sounded from her chamber doors, followed by her sister entering the room, doing her best to see around her through bleary eyes. Celestia smiled happily as Luna attempted to rub away the sleep with a hoof before spotting her sister. “Good morning, Tia,” the lunar princess said with a yawn.

“Good evening, Lulu. I take it you slept well?” Celestia stood to greet her sister, meeting her with a nuzzle as Luna stifled another yawn.

“Yes. With the veil having settled down, we were able to sleep much more soundly, sister. Praytell, has your student discovered anything new regarding the disturbances within the veil of magic?” Luna said sleepily, pointing out the new roll of parchment upon the pile.

“Nothing we haven’t already been aware of, though she believes this new entity to be friendly in nature. She doesn’t seem to notice any difference between it and our ponies. I wish to believe that it’s just a foalish concern, but I fear that even if this ‘Zinnia’ is indeed harmless, it hearkens to a greater potential threat.” The solar princess wore a mask of concern in front of her sister, unable to stifle the worry growing within her. “Has it had any more dreams since it’s been recovered from the Everfree?”

Luna shook her head slowly, “No, not fully realized dreams at least. We felt it two nights past as it slumbered. The echoes of sadness and longing for home haunted it. It also felt embarrassment and fear as it weaved in and out of sleep last night, though for what we are unsure.” Luna took on a thoughtful appearance as she watched her sister’s sun resting atop the horizon, waiting to be put to sleep for her night to reign. “If what it feels is true, it may not be here of its own volition.”

“In either case, we must proceed with caution. Nothing good has ever come from chaotic magics, and though I sense that this entity doesn’t contain any, it may yet pose a threat to us all. We don’t know what sort of world it comes from, or what forms of magic it may possess, if any at all.” Celestia’s horn began to glow as she spoke, quickly brightening in intensity as she gripped the sun with her power and lowered it, revealing a starlit sky.

Luna’s horn then began to glow and a large pale disk lifted from behind the horizon, shedding its dim light across the lands that lay before them. “What do you mean, sister? Are you saying that it may not have any magic?” Luna turned to face her sister with a quizzical look after placing her moon just above the horizon.

Celestia seemed unsure herself as she pieced together her thoughts, “It has the capability to control harmonious magic, but I feel very little magic flowing through. But that isn’t to say that it has no magic at all. It’s difficult to describe, but it's akin to a newborn foal. As though it’s unable to control the magic it has.”

“Then it should be of little concern, should it not?” Luna said, brushing off her sister’s growing paranoia.

“Why do you believe it to be anything less than a great concern, Luna. We do not have any experience with something like this.” Celestia was exasperated that her sister would act so nonchalant about this. For all she knew, the entity could simply open up a black hole and attempt to swallow all of Equus or subtly corrupt her ponies with dark magics for which they had no way of fighting.

“Because, dear sister, how are we to know how to contend with a threat we know nothing about? Is that not why you tasked Twilight Sparkle with monitoring the entity? Do you not have faith in your student that she will discover what threat, if any, this creature may pose?” Luna could feel that she hit a nerve as she questioned Celestia’s faith in her student, but continued her line of reasoning un-phased by her sister’s glare.

“One does not attempt to put out a fire borne of oils with water. Overreacting to a situation without proper knowledge often leads to problems much larger than the original. Until we can determine the entity’s purpose here, it would be wise to maintain vigilance, but stay our action.”

Celestia considered her sister’s words carefully. While Luna was the younger of the two, she often proved to have a more metered response to dangers such as these, tempering Celestia’s own somewhat impulsive nature. After mulling over Luna’s wisdom, Celestia sighed heavily and returned her attention to her sister with a smile. “I believe that may be the correct response. Though we should also be mindful to not sit idle while our uncertainty remains. Let’s allow Twilight to continue reporting her findings for now, and form our strategy from there.”

“We agree, that may be for the best,” Luna made to stand and stretch, pushing her forelegs forwards and extending her wings as she worked the stiffness from her muscles before approaching and nuzzling her sister. Celestia returned her affection with a stifled yawn of her own. “It would seem your day has been long, Tia. Take the moment to rest while all is calm. You may worry about what the future holds once you’ve had a good night’s sleep.”

Celestia nodded with a smile as Luna lowered her head in a cordial bow before leaving her sister’s room to assume her duties. The stars wouldn’t align themselves, after all.

---

(Extra)

A low droning thrum echoed throughout the cavernous expanse of rocky tunnels, drawing her closer in an almost hypnotic trance. The sound buzzed, tickling her eardrums, beckoning her deeper into the catacombs with faint whispers promising shelter, comfort, and sustenance. The sounds of thousands of skittering limbs clamoring around the pitch black walls brought comfort to her, reminding her of her kin as they sang songs of sorrow. The deeper she went into the gloom, the more the noise increased in volume, the low droning becoming a steady rhythmic pulse as the voices sang louder of a paradise of love and despair.

Thousands of blue and green orbs darted around the damp cave as the skittering and squelching of her family welcomed her home. It seemed like she’d been walking for hours now, her hard black limbs growing tired as she marched ever deeper, the strains of her kind rising into a deafening wail that threatened to burst her senses with every step she took. She winced in pain, but some inner voice drove her on, something whispering in her core, demanding her to continue.

Her frilled ears felt as though they bled, and her brain practically vibrated within her chitinous skull as she pushed against the wall of sound before her, its sheer weight threatening to crush her exoskeleton to dust, but just before she succumbed to the all consuming cacophony, it stopped. Silence fell in the darkness around her, the excruciating pain all but gone as her family fell silent, leaving her alone in the depths with nothing but the slow drip of water quietly echoing in the distance, barely audible over the ringing in her ears.

But she wasn’t alone. The hundreds of pairs of eyes that had darted and skittered about the walls and ceiling all sat still, glowing like countless stars in the night sky, something she’s only seen a hoof full of times before. It was difficult to see where they were looking, since their eyes lacked pupils and irises to help one determine the direction of their gaze; But she felt them, as all of the eyes fell upon her. The ringing in her ears began to grow in an ever increasing pitch as the eyes on the walls seemed to pierce through her very being, begging her in their emotionless glare.

For several, long moments, her world was nothing but the eyes of her family and the tinnitus in her ears. Something under the ringing continued to whisper in a quiet, tortured scream. She focused on the voice, its familiar tones playing across her mind as she tried to grasp where she’s heard it before. “Re…”

Tears fell from her eyes as she struggled to remain conscious through the lancing pain behind her twisted horn. Through the brine, she saw a shimmering portal showing a strange world beyond. Millions of strange creatures milling about with bored, sad, pained, happy, and desperate faces through forests of stone and glass. She stared through the portal, trembling as she held herself, unable to stop the seizures brought on by the blinding drill clawing its way deep into her psyche. “Re..rn…”

She threw her fang-filled maw open wide and screamed against the overwhelming stream of sound that accosted her but her own agonized wail fell silent against the all consuming din within her skull. She was unable to tear her eyes away from the portal before her, and her belly growled with the hunger of all of her kin and her Queen, threatening to consume what little soul she thought she had. The dissonant voices beneath the ringing became clearer until it pierced through her mind like a searing metal spear, driving her towards a single minded goal as her free will melted away like flesh in a wildfire...

“Return to the hive!”

Author's Note:

Hello, Everyone! I hope this double feature finds you well! I wanted to leave a quick side note here, since the second part of this chapter may be a tad bit confusing to some.

Extra isn't from the view of Zinnia, or anyone else we've seen in this story (yet.) Just think of it as a cute little teaser for another story I'm in the process of making. I've been so excited about it, that I figured, "Hey, what's a teaser between friends?"

I'm shivering with anticipation to bring you the next few chapters, as they have been my favorite to write so far, but I shall maintain my promise of a single chapter a week (no matter how much it kills me to want to break my own rule.)

In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll see you again for next Saturday's release!

Comments

[Chrome Masquerade]

“Dear Princess Celestia,

Oddly, this immediately occurred to me upon reading that line.

[Phetiamwantip]

I think it's a great chapter, Serinity Southerland. I like it. I'm crossing my fingers if the doctor is going to check Z's wings that way, she can train with Rainbow Dash to learn how to fly. Everyone has the ability to increase resilience to stress. It requires hard work and dedication, but over time, you can equip yourself to handle whatever life throws your way without adverse effects to your health. Training your brain to manage stress won't just affect the quality of your life, but perhaps even the length of it.

[Morphy]

It's curious how her wings are all but useless, her brain not knowing what to do with them, at least on a conscious level, while she was able to speak, hear, and read Equestrian as soon as she was dumped in the Everfree.

As for the unknown changeling, the portal makes it obvious this is another lost human. The mental torture takes this down a dark path quickly, however.

[Serinity Southerland]

11209617
As for her wings, that's coming rather soon. 😉

Dreams 2 is kind of more like a teaser for another story based in the same timeline. I haven't released that one yet, but I have the first few chapters worked out though, so I could begin posting that one as well sometime soon.

[Bluecatfics17]

interesting, so you will do a spin off of this story?, that sounds great.

[Serinity Southerland]

11228125
I will, though I don't plan on making any releases on it for a while yet since I want to dedicate myself to one story at a time. I want to make sure to give every chapter the best effort I can muster.

[Luckyfanisaac]

and returned her attention to her sister with a smile.

[Harsen]

Poor man, to lose his individuality by becoming a substitute. Become part of the whole, merging with the mind of the swarm. Even death would be a boon to him. So his mind would be gutted and he would unwittingly bring Chrysalis into his world to feed on them. Creepy.