Chapter 4 - The Wings
Chrysalis already made some distance from where the construct had met its end and where she was at now, but getting out of this deeper section of the cave was taking longer than anticipated.
Chrysalis grumbled and stomped her hoof, how much longer would it take to get out of here?
Most folks reasonably assumed that all immortals were master schemers who could patiently wait years, decades, or even centuries for their plans to come to fruition. It wasn’t illogical to think that immortals viewed everything in terms of a grand design, carefully manipulating mortals to bring about their master plan. Chrysalis boldly defied this expectation, impatiently lashing out whenever the things took slightly longer than expected. Chrysalis did actually have a grand plan that would span centuries, but that didn’t preclude her from feeling justifiably angry when things didn’t go her way.
She could practically taste it, anger wasn’t just bubbling up inside her. Now, it was pouring out of her like a raging waterfall. She noticed the spice of anger on her tongue, and that she was getting worked up over practically nothing. She thought for a moment about the last time she had been this angry over something so minor. It was quite a long time ago, while she was enduring the cruelest torture ponykind has ever invented, Manehatten traffic. At the time she was disguised as an earth pony, preventing her from flying or teleporting to solve the issue. By the fourth hour of not getting anywhere, she considered blowing her cover by teleporting in broad daylight just to avoid waiting any longer. Reminiscing on this, Chrysalis realized that both then and now she was furious over so little.
Chrysalis took a few deep breaths, cooling off until the anger within subsided.
The high cliff sides preventing her from getting out on both sides had long since merged with the cave ceiling, having gotten lower and lower the further she went. Even still, she was deeper down than before, and the cave ceiling was still a ways above her.
During her moment of anger, she hadn’t even realized it yet, but now she could see clearly now, there was an opening in front of her.
Chrysalis let out a relieved sigh, “Finally, I’ve reached the end of this lower ravine. I don’t think I could’ve taken much more of that.”
She walked up to the opening and tried to listen in. She heard nothing, and decided it was safe enough to enter.
Upon entering the room, a bright light immediately switched on with no input from Chrysalis. Her expression changed to one of shock as she failed to cover her eyes in time, she had to stare at it, her insectoid instincts demanded it. It was blinding at first, but her vision quickly adjusted. The light was coming from a glowing piece of quartz in the ceiling. Chrysalis reasoned that the quartz was likely enchanted so that it would glow whenever it detected a living thing in the room.
Now she could see the entire area, it seemed to be one large room made entirely of white marble. On one side of the room, Chrysalis spotted a strange apparatus that looked like the sort of display you’d use to hold up a mannequin. Next to it was a desk with several strange blueprints. Chrysalis, seeing no other creatures around to stop her, made her way to the desk and investigated the blueprints.
They contained writing that she could fully understand, the same language most creatures used these days. That fact alone gave her several ideas, but she shut them down to focus on reading what it said, Combat Construct V9, Recon Variant.
The blueprint resembled an earth pony construct, identical to the one Chrysalis had recently fought with.
Intriguing, so that construct must’ve been a design they were testing, whoever “they” are. Apparently it was a recon variant, which explains its high speed, and why it was so far out. But, who could've made this? Actually, I think I’m worried less about who’s responsible and more about the fact that “variant” implies there’s at least a few more of these constructs somewhere in this cave.
She investigated the display, and realized that it was mannequin-sized so that it could serve as a place to store a construct. A yellow gem connected via some wiring to the display indicated it was likely a charging station.
Chrysalis then began her investigation of the other side of the room. There, she saw several glass containers on a counter and lining the wall. Inside these containers were the remains of various small reptiles and insects, preserved for study and dissection. Chrysalis knew of this practice, a rather unpopular practice among ponies. She was never personally interested in the idea of studying and displaying critter corpses, she vastly preferred the company of the living.
Still, this was fortunate for her, very fortunate indeed. If she ever needed a critter for a potion she was brewing, this place would provide. Once her wings were in working order again, she could make several trips down here until everything of value was brought back to Cobweb Cove. With that construct gone, it was all ripe for the taking.
“Now that I think about it, this is probably some sort of research outpost, maybe a lab of some kind?” she considered.
She turned her attention to the ceiling, and made her greatest discovery thus far. There was a hatch up there, which Chrysalis gleefully yanked open with her magic field. Out came a ladder, and Chrysalis took a peek up through the now opened hatch. She couldn’t tell where it went from down here.
Chrysalis grabbed one of the glass containers, specifically containing a lizard known for its ability to stick to walls, and made her way up the ladder.
At the top, she found what she had been hoping for, a way out. It wasn’t a way out of this cave, she wasn’t that lucky, but it was a way back to the upper level of the cave she came from.
Knowing the rough direction she needed to head from here in order to get back to Cobweb Cove, she ventured forth.
She passed by the glowing crystals with strange shapes on her way back, now even more irritated by them than ever. She spit at the one that vaguely resembled a pony, feeling a bit better afterwards.
Eventually, she managed to stumble through the door, drained from her prior battle and irritatingly long journey here.
She managed to force herself past the bedroom, as tempting as it was, and down the hall into the alchemy lab.
“Finally,” said Chrysalis. “We can get to work.”
Chrysalis immediately began preparations. Vials were laid out and placed in the proper racks. She chopped up various ingredients and placed them right alongside the vials. Tubes of glass interconnected each vial, which she could open or close when needed. This left the possibility open for her to use more complex alchemical processes, though this particular concoction would be relatively simple.
First, she filled the main flask with water. Luckily, Chrysalis was able to locate a functional magic-powered burner inside the nearby instrument cabinet, and with a full charge to boot! She heated the primary flask, and bubbles began to rise up in the flask. Smoke soon followed suit, masking the lab with the scent of sulfur. She made sure to let the water simmer for a bit before the next step could begin.
“Seems I’d forgotten just how obnoxious it is to set up for alchemy. So far the only thing I've successfully brewed up is boiled water in a fancy flask,” said Chrysalis, frustrated at how little progress she’d made.
Chrysalis, as she continued to demonstrate time and time again, utterly despised anything that involved a lot of waiting around. Chrysalis was fully capable of mulling about when it was for a worthwhile cause, such as brewing a life-saving potion, but that didn't mean she had to enjoy it. Considering how much waiting was involved in a simple task like cooking your own meals, Chrysalis was lucky to be an emotivore.
The next step was ingredient purification. She carefully placed crushed up sprinkles of magnesium into one of the smaller vials. She then poured water in the vial, and began to rapidly heat it. After several agonizing minutes of waiting, the magnesium had been successfully purified.
She then repeated this process in another of the vials, but instead of crushed up minerals the bat fur was used instead. She watched in satisfaction as the boiling water dissolved the bat fur and changed its coloration before her eyes.
She then mixed it all in with the main flask by opening the interconnecting tubes. She stirred the mixture up, grinding it until it was fully liquid. Then, she waited for the potion to settle.
Finally, after all that effort, the infamous Potion of Fancy Flying was within her grasp.
Chrysalis wasted no time and immediately gulped down the entire potion. Normally, this sort of thing would be ill-advised, as even the most avid users of this performance enhancing potion only took small sips at a time. Chrysalis didn’t particularly care what “normal” individuals thought was safe, and she especially didn’t care when those individuals were ponies.
Unfortunately for Chrysalis, she instantly learned the precise reason as to why the potion was taken in small doses. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, like it was somehow both empowered and incapable of doing anything at the same time. The main area of pain was the wings, which felt less like they were healing faster and more like an entirely new set of wings was trying to grow in their place.
Chrysalis was nearly paralyzed, she reached a hoof to the hallway in desperation, hoping to make it to the bedroom so she could get a proper rest. Unfortunately, she was stopped in her tracks by her own body, unable to reach the bedroom she so desperately craved. With nowhere else to go, she was left with no choice but to lie down and spend the rest of the day on the cold stone floor. It was anything but comfortable, but it wasn’t her mind’s decision to make, her body was in control and it refused to budge.
The wing restoration process took the entirety of the next two days. Throughout the entire process, Chrysalis was unable to move, speak, or do much of anything besides lie there. It was as excruciating as the pain of a tooth growing in where an existing tooth was already in place, except instead of a tooth it was one of your limbs. Still, she knew it would be worth it.
The thought that kept her going despite her unimaginable pain was simple. I have to survive, for the sake of my revenge.
Everything was dark, no matter where Chrysalis looked, the dark surrounded her. She reached for her camera, hoping she could use the flash to guide her. Strangely, it wasn’t there. Her horn light wouldn’t activate either, despite trying it several times it just kept fizzling out.
Deep, deep below here she could hear a heartbeat. It smelled like chocolate, the very same scent that would alert any changeling that the most valuable emotion of them all was nearby, true love. It was a rare commodity, and Chrysalis quickly began trying to determine its source. Could it be a loving couple, a pure and devoted partner doing everything for their other half, or could it be a caring mother protecting her young from a terrible threat? Chrysalis went through every possibility, but something was ... off about this love, though that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was just very ... different to what she was used to from her previous experiences with true love, yet positive in its own way.
Except, it felt distant, very distant, but still just as warm as a cozy fireplace. Chrysalis couldn’t explain why, but she had a sudden urge to go much, much deeper into this cave, no matter how dark things got. If she could find this massive love source in the deepest reaches of this place, she would have enough power to take over Equestria and enact her revenge and still have plenty to spare.
This beating heart, whatever it was, was unlike anything Chrysalis or really any changeling had ever experienced before. Just being this great distance from it was nearly overloading her senses.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, the heart continued to beat with a steady rhythm.
Was this a dream? Perhaps, but she had noticed traces of this in the real world before, hints at something greater that she had ignored at first. Now, the reality of this massive love source was becoming undeniable.
That was when something loud and commanding called out to Chrysalis from within the darkness, unlike any voice she had ever heard before.
“HEAR OUR VOICE AND OBEY!”
Thunder and lighting roared all around Chrysalis the moment the voice spoke. The voice, amplified by thunder, echoed from every direction at once. Strangely, the lightning never struck Chrysalis, it was narrowly avoiding her at every opportunity.
“THY TALENT FOR EMOTIONAL DETECTION SHALL SERVE THEE WELL. WE ARE CERTAIN A COMMON GOAL IS SHARED BETWEEN US. LET LOVE BE THINE GUIDE, AND A GREAT TREASURE SHALL FOLLOW BEHIND.”
Chrysalis saw a pink trail in the air extending from her all the way to the deepest point in the dark she could see, and likely much further beyond that. It was the same scent as before, the chocolate smell associated with love. Her suspicions were correct, it seemed, a massive love source was somewhere deep in this cave, ripe for the taking. She was practically salivating at the mere idea of such a thing, when she was interrupted by the booming voice dissipating the pink trail entirely.
“REACH THE HEART, HIDDEN WITHIN THE DARKEST DEPTHS. TRUTH SHALL SERVE AS THY REWARD.”
Chrysalis was puzzled, wondering what sort of truth could be so important that she would listen to this voice just to discover it. She was a master of deception, truth was the complete antithesis of everything she stood for. Why would she ever want any kind of truth as a reward for a job well done? Unless ... perhaps that truth was that her changelings were playing the long game, merely pretending to reject their old ways, biding their time for the right moment to reinstate Chrysalis as their queen. That was a ridiculous idea though, and Chrysalis knew it. They would’ve consulted her about such a plan, and even if they didn’t she would’ve heard something from a changeling agent by now if it was all a ruse. For plentiful reasons, it couldn’t be the truth, but it’s the only idea of a truth Chrysalis desired that she could come up with.
“OBEY OUR WISHES, AND WE SHALL PROVIDE THEE ALL THE AID WE CAN MUSTER, BUT DO NOT STRAY FROM THE PATH TOO FAR, OR FOR TOO LONG. TIME IS TICKING AWAY, DO NOT DELAY!”
Finally, the voice faded out, leaving Chrysalis alone in the dark to process everything she just learned.
With the voice finally done delivering its message, Chrysalis realized she had never felt so compelled to listen to any kind of authority in her entire life. It almost felt unreal, like something was terribly wrong with her for even considering that she try to listen to this mystery voice. She already wanted to find this so-called heart the moment she understood the potential of its love-based power. But now, with this strange voice? She felt an even greater desire to accomplish this task, though not just because the voice had given her orders to.
Queen Chrysalis, taking orders from a higher authority? That was an acknowledgement from her that another creature was greater in strength and force of will than herself. She would never admit such a thing, surely this was some sort of dream. No other explanation made any sense to her.
Suddenly realizing this, Chrysalis awoke, snapping back from her mysterious dream to the real world.
Chrysalis had made it to the end of day two out of pure unbridled spite. But when she woke up on the third day’s dawn, she felt like a Phoenix that had risen from the ashes of death itself.
Well, that was certainly an interesting dream. I’ll have to tell Lt. Sparkle all about it! For now though, let’s check in to see if my bodily functions have improved as much as I anticipated.
She moved her hooves around, trying to determine if her state of paralysis was truly over. She could move, finally. Even more exciting was what she saw to her sides. After all that pain and effort, her wings were back to their former glory. Her wing membranes were completely healed, and that meant she would need to test them out.
She inspected them again just to be safe, and realized they were actually as “completely healed” as she thought. Physically, they were back in peak condition, but she would have to get in some practice before she felt comfortable flying everywhere again.
She wouldn’t let herself celebrate too early. Jumping for joy over minor victories would be highly embarrassing for a royal such as herself. That kind of thing was for ponies, no matter how good she was at faking it, she had to remind herself that she most certainly wasn’t one.
How could she not be at least a little happy, though? Her wings were back to their full functionality, she could fly again! She ended up disregarding her prior concerns, and buzzed around the lab with the excitement of a young pegasus that had just learned to fly for the first time. For a frequent flier like Chrysalis, this was like regaining the ability to walk.
Chrysalis let out a brief evil laugh. “Hah, take that, manticore! And take that, puny construct! I’ve survived your worthless attempts on my life and come out the other side all the stronger for it! It’s all thanks to my alchemical talents, my achievements, my abilities, MINE!” said Chrysalis, maniacally laughing some more.
“Focus, Chrysalis, focus! Now that I can fly, what’s next?” thought Chrysalis aloud, realizing she had lost track in her moment of joy.
“Right, my horn is still a bit worse for wear. On top of that, the manticore toxin is still flowing through my veins, though it seems my physiology has kept me from the worst effects for the time being. For now, fixing my fractured horn should be my number one priority. Without my spells, I won’t stand a chance at finding a cure for the toxin, or that strange heart from my dream,” she continued.
“Let’s see here,” Chrysalis searched the lab’s aging old cabinet shelves for something of use. “Perfect! Here it is, a guide to the basics of alchemy. It even includes plenty of potion recipes, how convenient! In contrast to the past few days, today just keeps getting better and better,” said Chrysalis.
Topaz tonic’s alchemical essentials wasn’t the most exciting read, but it might as well have been the most engaging book in the world to one in Chrysalis’s situation. She flipped through page after page until she found something that seemed promising for her predicament.
“Here we have it, a remedy of horn healing, exactly what I need. It might need some tweaking due to my unique horn, but that shouldn’t pose much of a problem. This formula seems simple enough, all I need is an olive shroom, and they’re native to caves! Well then, finding these ingredients should be easy enough for a changeling of my talents,” proclaimed Chrysalis.
She was about to step out of the door, considering this next task so easy as to be entirely beneath her.
“What’s that you say, Lieutenant, I missed something?” asked Chrysalis, looking to her prized purple log for guidance.
Suddenly, she remembered something, and she ran back to the open book she’d left on the counter. She gave the recipe a second look, reading over the potion recipe again.
“Wait, you’re right, I did miss one of the key ingredients. It’s only mentioned in passing, but this horn healing potion requires ground-up emerald dust. The healing properties present in emeralds are a necessity.”
“How am I meant to obtain emerald dust? This guide book is ludicrous, no creature has easy access to emeralds that they can afford to grind up on a whim!” yelled Chrysalis.
She briefly considered throwing the book in frustration, but she stopped herself. It wasn’t because her common sense stopped her, though, it was because a sudden ache reverberated throughout her entire body.
She could feel her horn begin to writhe and crack just a bit further, slowly falling apart at the seams. She began to have a dreadful headache, completely preventing her from thinking.
This excruciating headache lasted for the next five full minutes before she could regain her regal composure. Still, she’s been through worse before, much worse, she got up, and she soldiered on.
Ugh ... that was ... awful. I need to find a way to repair my horn, and soon. Otherwise, these headaches will get to me before the manticore toxin does, thought Chrysalis, with a mix of resignation and comfort at the thought of not having to deal with the toxin if her horn problems finished the job.
She decided to peruse the guide book’s pages once more, looking for something, anything she could use. In spite of her best efforts, there was no substitute she could use this time, not for a horn healing potion. Ground-up emerald dust really was the only option.
“What can I use, what can I use? Ah, right, this is what my advisors are usually for, it’s been a long time since I last had to rely on their council. Lt. Sparkle, I know alchemy isn’t exactly your field, but do you have any suggestions? asked Chrysalis, desperately hoping for an answer.
She decided she heard the lavender log provide her with helpful advice, and replied as such. “Good catch, Lieutenant, that’s genius! You remind me a bit of myself with that ingenuity of yours,” replied Chrysalis.
She quickly flipped over to the appropriate page. The “ultra-stick potion.” Usually used for sealing cracks in buildings, construction work, or repairing damaged objects. Considering her horn was cracked, not broken, she figured it would work on her horn well enough. All the potion recipe required is several sticky substances.
“According to this guide, there’s one very difficult ingredient to obtain. Hmm ... the guide says here that the most dangerous ingredient needed is ... changeling goo?” read Chrysalis.
Chrysalis took a moment to laugh. “Hah, I can produce that on a whim! Now then, what else is there? Yes, this might be a bit troublesome. The other ingredient we don’t have is giant spider silk, but giant spiders shouldn’t be too difficult to find in this dreary cave, I’ll just have to go searching for one of their webs, lie in wait, and then give them a good poking with my horn.”
“It’s settled then, I’ll rest up for now. Once that’s done we’ll head out to find some of this giant spider silk,” said Chrysalis, confident that things would only get easier from here.
After spending briefly resting in her bedroom to fight off another minor horn ache, Chrysalis gathered her things, attached one saddlebag to each side, and set out to gather the ingredients for her next potion. Her horn would be good as new in no time, she just knew it!
She galloped on and on, setting out further into the cavernous void then she had ever gone before.
“Ah, astute as always, Lieutenant,” said Chrysalis, noticing what she believed to be Lt. Sparkle inquiring about the nature of giant spiders.
“Unlike a regular spider, these horrid beasts fit the classical definition of a monster. Also, as the name implies, they’re gigantic. Well, they’re gigantic in comparison to a regular spider, in reality they’re only as big as a pony. Giant spiders are highly aggressive towards anything other than their own kin. Actually, scratch that, they don’t even get along with other giant spiders,” explained Chrysalis.
“One might call them lone wolves, lone wolf spiders? I’ll keep workshopping that one,” said Chrysalis, thinking out loud.
“Oh, and I forgot to mention, giant spiders are all just as venomous as their smaller counterparts except amped up to the appropriate level for their size. One bite from a giant spider can leave the victim completely unconscious for days on end, so it’s paramount that we avoid meeting that fate. I’ve already got manticore venom coursing through my veins, and I’m not exactly looking to add another poisonous substance to the mix, nor would I like to repeat the process I just went through of being paralyzed for two straight days” grumbled Chrysalis, distraught with the idea of having two poisons in her bloodstream.
“I wonder though, would two poisons cancel each other out, or simply be twice as potent? How would that all interact with my own biology, my changeling blood is closer to acid than it is to a normal creature’s blood. Would my own acidic blood melt me from the inside somehow, or has it already burned away the other toxins? Perhaps I should’ve paid more attention when my drones were delivering reports about the hive’s medical wing, though it’s too late for that now. You know what, Lieutenant? let’s hope we don’t have to find the answers to any of that out,” said Chrysalis, deciding her questions were better left unanswered.
She continued to drift further into the never-ending darkness. A pony, or any other sane creature for that matter, would’ve lost their composure, turned tail, and fled the moment they got a glimpse of the murky abyss that Chrysalis was casually wandering through. Fortunately for Chrysalis, she was anything but ordinary, she was the glorious leader of the changelings. She wasn’t about to let a little darkness get in the way of her ambitions.
Naturally, Chrysalis still thought of herself as the queen and rightful ruler of the changelings, even if they had cast her out. If by some strange happenstance she encountered any of them while she was down here, she’d expect them to address her as such. Even treasonous little rebels could show their former leader the proper amount of respect, couldn’t they?
Chrysalis continued on her journey through the dark expanse. She still wasn’t fully comfortable with flying again, and she didn’t want to risk interfering with the healing process if it had anything left to do, so she still walked across the hard stone surface of the cave for the journey’s duration. After hours of trekking across the hard stone floor, though, she began to start wiping the sweat off her brow. She felt weary, she could practically feel her aching muscles begging her for mercy, begging her to slow down and relax, but she had to press onwards. Her time was running out.
“How strange?” Chrysalis was puzzled. “normally I can walk for days at a time without needing to sleep. You may not believe this Lieutenant, but I once managed to force myself to travel for 2 weeks without resting while journeying from the badlands to the other side of the world,” explained Chrysalis.
“In fairness, I was only able to manage that feat because I was leading a rushed rescue mission to recover a captured changeling agent before they could reveal any crucial information. I would tell you, but it’s a long story. Maybe some day?” added Chrysalis.
“And to think, after doing all that and more, my subjects had the gall to turn on me. What was going on in their minds? I still just can’t fathom why they betrayed me, those worthless turncoats!” yelled Chrysalis. Her furious cry echoed across the cave, repeating “worthless turncoats!” over and over again.
Chrysalis lifted the purple stick from her saddlebag so it could listen the echo. “Hear that echo, Lieutenant? Even the cave agrees with me.”
Despite how far the echo went in all directions, nothing showed up to track down the source of the noise. Chrysalis decided to take this as another sign that her luck was turning around.
She pressed on, rambling about her betrayal and chatting with her Lieutenant had done wonders for passing the time and an hour had already passed. The next hour of walking in silent solitude then passed by without a single word from Chrysalis or her Lieutenant. It wasn’t that she was tired of hearing herself talk, far from it, hearing her regal voice resonate across rooms was one of the things she enjoyed most.
Rather, it was in the interest of not drawing unwanted attention to herself. She was lucky that nothing heard her echoing voice the first time, and she didn’t want to test her luck again.
More time passed, and despite feeling like her legs would give out at any moment, she forged ahead. Whenever things got too dark, she relied on her trusty camera flash to light her way, so her horn light could have a break.
Again, being tired after only a few hours of walking in a straight line was unusual for Chrysalis. “I’m not worried about this in the slightest, it’s probably just a side effect of the potion of fancy flying now that it’s starting to wear off. That performance-enhancing potion was outlawed for a valid reason, I suppose,” said Chrysalis, rationalizing her abnormal behavior.
Chrysalis berated her subordinate for an imaginary reply, questioning if this is the manticore venom taking effect. “What? Of course, it isn’t the manticore venom! Yes, I’m aware that the potion already caused me to crash once before, but I did drink an entire flask of the stuff.”
Satisfied that she won the argument with the Lieutenant, she carried on. She made it past a few interesting rock formations, but aside from that, there wasn’t much to write home about. Not that she could write home even if she wanted to, what with their currently less than favorable opinions of her and her reign.
“Home ... Cobweb Cove is slowly starting to feel like a temporary home, but make no mistake Lieutenant, my true home is the hive. I have the rightful claim to every last part of it. Me and my first few subjects cleared out the old cave systems and it was our work that led to the hive becoming the masterpiece of architecture it is today. I personally helped carve out most of the tunnels and caverns in the hive. The only reason any of those ungrateful wretches are able to live in that hive is because of my tunneling efforts!” declared Chrysalis.
“I’ll admit, Cobweb Cove is … quite cozy. Maybe I should be thinking of this like a vacation. At the very least, Cobweb Cove was far better than the Everfree. It reminds me of the early days, when it was just me and about two dozen subjects. I truly miss those first few changelings, we were all so close back then, and I hardly considered myself a queen, I was just the organizer. We were a perfect hive mind, metaphorically at least, and none of us were more important than each other. I really do miss the old days, Lieutenant. If I had to pick anyone in the world to serve me in circumstances as dire as these, I’m glad to have one as trustworthy as you by my side,” said Chrysalis, fondly reminiscing on the old days.
Chrysalis got so lost in nostalgia that she failed to notice a pony-sized web she had walked directly into.
“Ack, what’s the meaning of this? I demand you show yourself, foul beast!” said Chrysalis.
She struggled against the web, trying to use her sharp horn to cut the webs restraining her. Failing this, she calmed herself down and tried to get a look at her surroundings. Upon examining her surroundings, she made a terrible realization. She had unwittingly fallen into the dead center of a massive spider web, presumably spun by the very creature she was searching for. Unfortunately, it seemed that it was bound to find her first.
Just above her now, she could hear it, the rattling of thin legs tapping in the rough stone ceiling. She dreaded what came next. It began to lower itself with a string down towards her, revealing its hideous dark-green form as it rappelled downwards.
Chrysalis struggled and struggled, trying to get out of the webbing in time, but her efforts were futile, giant spider webs were virtually impossible to escape without the aid of magic or someone else to help drag you out. Chrysalis shuddered at the thought, as at the moment, she had access to neither.
The colossal arachnid seemed like it was about to bite into her at first, but hesitated. Instead, it went straight to work, wrapping Chrysalis up in something irritatingly familiar.
It can’t be! A silk cocoon, really?
Chrysalis couldn’t force herself to be angry, only fair that she meet the same cocooned fate as her own victims. Besides, this cocoon was expertly-crafted, she would be stunned by the spider’s craftsmanship if this were happening to anyone else. Chrysalis considered applying the spider’s techniques to her own cocooning methods once she was out of this.
Eventually, the spider sunk its fangs directly into her side, injecting her with its venom. She could feel herself getting drowsy, but still she rallied every last ounce of resolve she could muster. She fought her body’s overwhelming urge to go into a deep slumber. Her struggle continued for hours, fighting her own body the entire time. Even after that impressive display, she couldn’t hold on to consciousness, and almost drifted to a well-earned sleep as the venom within her finally worked its magic. There might’ve been some leftover manticore venom adding to that, she wasn’t sure. Regardless, she had to stop this somehow, there was nobody and nothing left that wanted to or could help her.
Chrysalis couldn’t help but feel lonely.
"No ... no ... I have to ... fight back … have to … escape this!" said Chrysalis, getting more exhausted with each strained breath.
She fought with all her limited might against the cocoon and venom combination. The spider had to inject its venom several times more before Chrysalis was finally subdued. She wanted to make sure the spider earned its prey, even if she knew she couldn’t hold out forever. After her long and tireless struggle, her eyelids could remain open no longer.
For the second time in recent memory, Chrysalis unwillingly fell unconscious.
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What crazy circumstance will save Chrysalis from this fate? Because I see no way she frees herself.
until everything of value was transferred
“How strange?” Chrysalis was puzzled. “Normally I can walk for day
It's either a period or a comma, but not both.
Here the period has to be attached to 'better'.
Other things to mention is that, in the first part of the chapter you use the name 'Chrysalis' too much, even if it is not for lack of 'she' or 'her' as substitutes.
What follows is not a big deal, but every time you use the three dots '...' you never leave the space of separation that should follow.
Giant spiders? I know they are common creatures, but... have you heard of Kumo desu ga, Nani ka? Because that's what came to mind when you mentioned them.
Also, is Chrysalis alone in that cave or not? Between the noise of the fight in the previous chapter and the manipulation and theft of the equipment in this chapter, it makes me think that her presence should have been noticed by now.
Sometimes when you plan one thing you get a completely different one
11777349
........Lt. Sparkle?
The situation seems so hopeless that all that remains is to say:
game over “you have discovered the bad ending”
Why does Chrysalis need a jar with a lizard that can stick to walls when changelings can even walk on the ceiling?
Things might seem hopeless now, but Chrysalid is quite the fighter. Until time will tell what happens to her now. As for that sticky lizard, don’t you worry, it has a good reason for being taken.
Thanks to everyone for continuing to read this, it really makes my day to know people care to check this out! I primarily wrote this story because Chrysalis is one of my favorite characters and there’s a serious lack of adventure fics relating to her that are focused specifically on Chrysalis rather than an OC changeling.
Also, I wanted to thank you all for bearing with me as I try to write my first ever story. I may stumble along the way, so all your feedback is very much appreciated!
Nuuuu, fight it, Chryssie!
I blask Lt. Sparkle.
Arachnids of unusual size? I don't think they exist.
'she had to stare it' - she had to stare at it
'pink trial' - pink trail
'masterpiece or architecture' - masterpiece of architecture