M̸y̶ ̸L̴i̶t̸t̶l̴e̶ C̵o̸r̷r̴u̶p̶t̶e̷d̸-P̵o̴n̴y̷

by ScorchingFlamesInc

Chapter 5: Survivors

"Well, we're here!" Spike proclaimed when the glimmering Treehouse came into view.

"Yuck..." Chrysalis mumbled to herself, not pleased by how it looks. The bright colors, the shine that it had even while it was night... it was disgusting.

Pinkie happily hopped over to the tree, and Chrysalis noticed that the missing half of her tail all of a sudden grew back, good as new.

"How did that-"

"She's Pinkie," Spike answered quickly. Without further elaboration, he continued onwards to the Treehouse.

Chrysalis didn't dare ask any more questions. She just looked at the Treehouse, contemplating her decision one last time. The decision to step in the treehouse or not, she felt, was the final test, the final thing needed to determine her choice.

She decided to go. Reminding herself that in spite of its appearance, it's only a Treehouse. What could it do? It's not like it could just manifest into a form and speak to her. Just the thought of it seemed ridiculous. Slowly, she followed the other two inside.

None of them expected what came to happen next. Out of nowhere, a muffled voice from upstairs spoke.

"Hey, I think someone else is here," said the voice.

Chrysalis didn't recognize who it was. But Spike and Pinkie did. There was a sound of fast stepping... different than hoofsteps. Chrysalis had her crossbow prepared but Spike and Pinkie had no intentions for attacking or self-defense. In fact, Spike placed a hand on the crossbow and pushed it down a little, assuring Chrysalis to not panic.

“They sound normal,” Spike said. “And we know them really well, too. You don’t need to use that.”

Without a response, Chrysalis lowered the weapon, glaring at Spike.

In a matter of moments, the two unexpected visitors showed themselves. A young Dragon and a young Griffon that Spike and Pinkie were both relieved to see.

"Smolder!" exclaimed Spike.

"Gallus!" Pinkie squealed.

"Hold it!" Smolder shouted before pointing a claw at Chrysalis. "What's she doing here, and why does she have that... stuff on her?!"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Wait! She's on our side!" Spike exclaimed. "Long story short, she nearly got corrupted, fought back and took control, we encountered her, and she decided to help us!"

"Really?" Gallus sarcastically raised his eyebrows. "I don't buy it..."

"Oh well that’s such a big surprise there..." Chrysalis sarcastically grumbled. "I'm not going to waste my time, getting down and begging for you to trust me. If you don't trust me especially in the severity of the situation, then that is none of my concern. All I care about is getting rid of this corruption so I could proceed onward with my plans!"

Gallus and Smolder glared at Pinkie and Spike.

Smolder spoke up. "And you're keeping her because?..."

"She's really all that we have right now..." Spike answered. "You already know about the corrupting black matter, right?"

"Yeah, we're here hiding from it," said Gallus. "So... same reason as you three being here?"

"Yep!" Pinkie nods.

"It got Twilight..." Spike continued. "The corruption got her. And Starlight, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy... anyone that you would expect to be here with us! She's the only one with us right now that's... well... more powerful."

"Still don't like it..." Smolder grumbled. "Just be careful, okay? Her just being here is risky already but... having some of that corruption also? She could be an even bigger problem if she turns against you."

"I hear every last word you're saying!" Chrysalis bellowed.

"I thought you said you didn't care!" replied Gallus.

"What about you two?" Pinkie asked. "Where are the other four?"

Smolder sighed. "The... corruption stuff attacked the six of us when we were all together. We tried to fight, show it who's boss, and then we had to run. We lost Ocellus first. Everyone else followed right after. Gallus and I had no choice. We had to run, no looking back. And this was the first place we had in mind to go to."

"I'm sorry that happened," Spike apologized. "I guess we both lost close friends."

"But we're all here now!" Pinkie assured. "We're all together! And if we found each other, then there could be a super-big-bunch of survivors out there!"

"Well we saw a lot of other ponies scrambling to get away," Gallus shrugged. "And yeah, we did find you three. We just gotta figure out what to do next."

"That's probably going to be the hardest part," Spike mumbled. "Like... if there are more survivors out there, where are they? What do we even need to do to defeat the corruption and win? And... is it even possible?..."

“Perhaps… I know where we can start,” Chrysalis said. “As my time being partially under this corruption went on, I’ve come to notice a sharp increase in my abilities. But that’s not all. Since I’ve come in contact with the dark matter, I’ve felt brief periodic links to those whose minds are long gone. I can feel where they are or their next intent. Not entirely, but the feeling… it’s there. I have a proposal. I believe if I concentrate, give time, divert all energy into the black matter, treat this like how Luna treated her nightly duties, maybe… just maybe… I can come across someone that’s hunting survivors.”

“You really think it will work?” Smolder asked, arms crossed. “You don’t even know any spells for these things!”

“I am perfectly aware, fool, but what else would the point of experimenting be? And you must also know that not all spells require being figured out like puzzles! Now I request you leave me to do this, and do not disturb me unless absolutely necessary.”

“Your wish is my command, your majesty,” Gallus said with complete sarcasm. Smolder gave a nudge in response, even though she didn’t trust the idea of having Chrysalis around as much as he did.

Chrysalis hissed, but went ahead and situated herself, closing her eyes. She concentrated, thinking about the darkness, and only the darkness, feeling the dark matter on her body. It felt strong… but not strong enough. Power had to be diverted somewhere else at the same time as her horn. And she knew where too. The place where most of the ooze resides. It was a complicated task, but she managed to divert focus and energy to her eye while also managing to keep her horn in use.

The pull felt stronger. She knew where she was going. But she had to get even deeper, and open the door to multiple options that she could look through fast… taking it slow was not something she wanted to do in the slightest.

She had to do one more thing. She had to reach for that pull… and take it.

And she did. When the pull to the link hit its peak, Chrysalis took it, and suddenly she felt herself connected to many minds and voices, a few of them feeling much too foreign for her. Her vision, although a bit disoriented, was clear, and she stared through the eyes of a drone wandering around Ponyville.

She was quick to figure out how to switch, simply blinking and giving herself the feeling of taking a different direction.

She ignored all the other ones that felt the same. Wandering, wandering, wandering…

It was the fastest she assumed she could go. Once again she cursed herself for not thinking it all completely through.

But it could be worse.

It didn’t take long for Chrysalis to figure out faster ways. She sped through, waiting for that sense of urgency, attack, and malice, instead of nothing at all.

She soon found it. It took a few minutes and many pairs of eyes, but she soon found that feeling of aggression, and took it.

The eyes she stared through was from what appeared to be a pony with a spring-bud like color, most likely a stallion because of the shape of his snout. In front of him was a figure, seeming faded but clearly seen, flying away from whatever was in front of her. It was something Chrysalis had a hard time identifying, but it appeared to be a creature she only remembered seeing once before. It was a Hippogriff, colored a light type of magenta, and her swishing tail colored shades of blue and blue-gray.

Where this chase scene was happening was unknown but the hallways seemed somewhat large.

“Help!” a voice shrieked, coming from the one being chased. “Help me! Someone! Anyone!”

The Hippogriff took a sharp turn into a room, which ended up being a library. Before anything else happened, Chrysalis came to, her soul and mind all being pulled back to reality.

“What did you see?” Spike inquired.

“I was… staring through the eyes of a stallion…” Chrysalis began to explain. “I believe it was a stallion… and he was chasing a… Hippogriff… she was flying away, and she went into… a library…-“

“Wait! Where was this happening?!” Smolder asked.

“Large hallways…”

“Any rugs, banners?…”

“Now that you speak of it…” Chrysalis rubbed her chin. “Yeah, they were present! And there was a shield on it-“

“Gallus! She might be talking about Silverstream!” Smolder exclaimed. “She might be okay! If we leave now we could go get her!”

“Alright, hold on a second!” Gallus said. “How do you know it’s even safe? The town’s crawling with corrupted ponies!”

“Wait… where even were you all?” Spike asked.

“The school,” Smolder admitted. “We… may have snuck in after-hours.”

“And… why would you do that?…”

“Ran out of time to study, everything we needed was there, we did what we had to do- look, that’s not important! We can’t just leave her there!” proclaimed Smolder.

“We’re playing a dangerous game here, Smolder,” Gallus warned. “Are you really sure we can even pull off a rescue? By the time we get there she could be good as gone!”

“She lasted this long, didn’t she? C’mon Gallus, she’s our friend!”

Gallus sighed. “Fine. But only if we do one thing. Cheese-legs, is it possible you tag along with us and you could help double-check when we get to the school?”

“You dare call me- UGH!” Chrysalis bellowed. “Alright, listen here, I see one flaw in that plan aside from you being a potential pain in my side… how are we going to get there?! We don’t have any potential form of transport.”

“Um, hello, we all have wings!” Gallus flapped his.

“And where exactly will I reside while I give you your desired information, hm?…”

“We can find a close spot, and if we need to, buy some time,” said Smolder. Just look around, see who’s in the area, and if you can’t find Silverstream, it’ll be safe to say she’s fine.”

“You two are quite persistent enough to even believe this foolish plan will work…” Chrysalis got up. “It’s so shortsighted and unlikely to even work, that… I can’t help but be intrigued. Very well then. I’ll go.”

“Will you two be able to hold up?” Gallus asked.

Spike started to speak. “Well without Chrysalis we probably wouldn’t-“

“We’ll be super okie-dokie!” Pinkie promised.

“Well we better get moving then.” Smolder opened her wings and flew out, followed by Gallus, and then Chrysalis.

Spike gulped, watching them fly away.

“Do you really think they’ll be there in time?” he asked.

“It’s like gambling!” said Pinkie. “You’ll never know what you get until the moment is there!”

“If things don’t go well, hopefully Chrysalis can get them out of there. If we couldn’t hold our own without her… then how are we gonna survive?”

“Oh Spike, nobody’s been here yet!” Pinkie assured. “I’m sure nobody will be here while the others are go-“

Pinkie was cut off by the sound of something landing on the roof.

Spike felt a huge lump form in his throat as his eyes shrunk.

Pinkie’s ears dropped, and she gulped. “I guess I spoke too soon…”

̴“̶M̶y̶ ̸l̸i̴t̴t̷l̴e̶ ̷p̷r̶e̸t̷t̸i̷e̴s̸…̷”̵

Comments

[Catpaw616]

Man these corruption things keeps stopping them at every turn. I just hope that the three make it out ok. But most importantly, will Chrysalis be able to stand the two of them?

[Clawfoot]

*looks at the ceiling.* The F was that?

Also wonder how Chrysalis might react to seeing her former children being corrupted. I can see her both worrying and dismissing them, sad that they had fallen farther without her yet upset that they aren't strong enough to resist as she did.

[nightshroud96]

Smolder is ok too?
Sweet

[AgentKorpsman]

“And… why would you do that?…”

“Look that’s not important! We can’t just leave her there!” proclaimed Smolder.

[AgentKorpsman]

“Oh Spike, nobody’s been here yet!” Pinkie assured. “I’m sure nobody will be here while the others are go-“

*murphy law has entered the chat*
Oh, hello Murphy

[AgentKorpsman]

11513046
I don’t think she can handle seeing her daughter of her children being corrupted, because no matter how much she says she doesn’t, there is still love for her children.

[Doctor_Den]

11513206
here is a link to a selection of moments that changed Pibby's glitch on the night air.

[AllenVth]

Fluttershy? I'm guessing. Surprised it's not Rainbow Dash or Twilight.
Either way, will Pinkie and Spike be enough to fend her off or escape? Because I don't think either of them have it in them to hit her.

I really hope they rescue Silverstream at least.

[Razzy]

Figures the nuling would fall first. :V

Well, hopefully she can stay sane with these two.

And you jinxed it.