Bona Fide
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Population: One
By Trials
Proofread by Fluttrick
Special thanks to Alondro and Amit
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Chapter 6: Bona Fide
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The night was cold, and bitterness hung in the air. Dark blotches filled the sky where stars used to come out to shine. A lone unicorn stumbled through a forest with her companion in the lead. The latter was in post-haste, using her strong, reliable legs to climb up the hill, but the weakest of the pair was slowing down. Walking became almost unbearable, to the point of giving up, but the pony continued plodding on. Through her companion's calls and commands, she marched, and through the absence of light, she did not give in. She would not give in, because she could not give in.
A chill went down the young unicorn's back as she gazed behind her. The sight of an empty city greeted her. “Population: Zero,” she said softly, lowering her head. She was right — no lights were lit, and no lives were lived, exactly as she recalled. Of course, there was a presence in the town, but she certainly didn't consider it life. It was a dictated life, as she thought, and so, it was no life at all; they had been forced to live that life, and what is life without the freedom of choice?
“Hurry up, Twilight!” the changeling said in a hushed but commanding tone, “they must've found our scent by now.”
“Coming,” Twilight Sparkle said. Her hooves were heavy, but her words were even more so. It hurt her to speak, to move her mouth in any direction, but thinking was what hurt her the most. Her brain was so overwhelmed, so desperately overwhelmed, that she felt like simply lying down. Her body needed to rest, but her mind was so completely battered and bruised, beyond comparisson to her body. One hour of sleep. Only one hour. She had resented the amount of time previously, but she would've leapt at the chance to have it again.
Even Celestia wouldn't know how long the pair of them had walked that day. Effingo must have been some form of athlete or super-pony to think that this was a small distance. A small distance was from Twilight's library to Sugarcube Corner. A short walk was from Sugarcube Corner to Applejack's ranch, but not this insane amount of distance. Twilight was only a pony. She wasn't a strong, reliable horse; she was much weaker, especially from her wounds.
You know what? The ground did feel a lot more comfier lying on it than walking on it for miles upon miles. Even though the cold, decaying grass did feel as rough as sandpaper, and tore beneath her weight, Twilight preferred to lie amongst it. “Twilight?” Effingo called out, “where'd you go?” Twilight could've responded, but felt inclined not to. She had only been rescued by Eff-for-efficiency to rescue everyone else — there was no personal attachment. The changeling had admitted it as clear as day, which, by today's standards, wasn't very clear, but that wasn't the point. In other words, had it not been for Twilight's profession, she would've been left to die.
Why should she repay such a notion? Why was it so hard to just let her lie down for a while Questions, but no answers. Twilight didn't feel like answering anything when the only answers she received were terrible and misconceived. Look where answers got her. She wanted the lurkers to finish her off a couple of hours ago, and Eff came to her rescue. She wanted someone to speak to her again, and the lurkers did. She wanted a friend, any friend at all, and Spike answered that call.
Twilight felt the last sliver of energy leave her body. It may have been in the form of blood from the wounds she had sustained, or it could have been the last bubble of her sanity bursting. All the other bubbles had burst, of course, so the last one's demise came as no surprise. Twilight would've laughed at the image of sanity being represented as bubbles, but her diminishing strength didn't allow it.
“Twilight?” a voice called out in the distance, “where are you?” Again, Twilight didn't reply. She simply tore several dead blades of dead grass from the dead ground, noting their status of deadness. Nothing. They were definitely, indubitably, positively dead without a single doubt in her mind. Dead. Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead. Even the word filled her with dread. Everything she knew was dead. Not literally dead, of course, but dead in her mind. Her family. Her princesses. Her friends. Why did her own death matter so much? It was only another drop in the ocean; it meant nothing in the long run. Just death upon more death. It was there she decided: her death would be one amongst millions. If this catastrovent ever finished, either by Twilight's hoof or by chance, her death would simply be a statistic. Nothing more.
“Where did you go, Twilight?” the voice asked once more.
“Why does it matter?” Twilight whispered back.
A growl.
Twilight saw it before it pounced out of the long grass. There was nothing she could do about it, even though she had seen it first. It was on her in an instant, teeth bared and claws digging into her abdomen. “Why fight it, Twilight? Why fight the inevitable?” the voice of an old friend said. The beast was much leaner and than Twilight, and the bonus of wings proved very useful to it. While it held Twilight down with its wings and claws, it roared an eerie cry down on her, sending strands of saliva into her face.
“We were friends before, right, Twi? Best pals? Why not now? I mean, it's still me. I'm still the original, egghead,” the lurker spat, prodding Twilight with a wing. “Join us, Twi. You don't need to fix the fixed. There's nothing to cure.” Twilight felt darkness. Coldness. It slipped down her throat like a snake, twisting and turning till it met her very core. It was trying to change her into one of them. She gulped, trying to purge herself of the darkness. It twisted around her, taking hold of her mind and body in its tight grip. A gasp escaped her lips as the taut lines wrapped around her thoughts.
“We are the next stage, egghead,” the lurker snapped, increasing its own grip on Twilight. “Accept us as one of you, and yourself as one of us. Don't be a dweeb.” The darkness became intoxicating, blocking out all of the outside stimulus. She could feel the pace of her heart and lungs slow down, but even that was a struggle — both were losing their strength, and soon, Twilight couldn't hear them at all. All she could hear was the darkness inside her. It was talking to her, trying to corrupt her.
In an instant, she saw the world as it was now. Nothing had changed. No hope could be seen. Not a single, rational form of life survived, and the darkness reigned over all. Twilight looked down on her own body, or at least the lurker form of it. Fangs hung around her mouth, and her eyes were akin to the darkness of the night. She could see the monster she'd become, and the inability of herself to change it. Twilight was a hunter, through and through, and every hour she had put into denying that existence was all for nought. There was no succeeding, no survivors and, worst of all, no hope.
And then she realised.
She had faced the same foe before.
“What?” the lurker above her cried, “you cannot beat us, Twilight Sparkle! There is no denying the inevitable!” Twilight found herself staring back at the lurker. It had been an illusion, just like King Sombra had done before. She was wiser, and she was way more powerful than he had anticipated. With her hooves suddenly feeling stronger, Twilight used her back legs to kick her assailant up into the air. When the lurker fell with a cry, she was on it in a moment, pinning its limbs down. It tried to knock her off with its powerful wings, but Twilight withstood them. The lurker snarled in anger, and began using its words as a weapon.
“Twilight, remember when you cheered for me in the Best Young Flier Competition? I was so happy. You made me so happy. Why do this?” the lurker barked, “I thought we were friends! Let go of me, and I'll forgive you. We can be friends again. Great friends. Just let go, and we can be friends again! We can be one, Twilight, but only if you let go of me right now. Right now!”
“Nice trick, but it's not so great when there's only one of you,” Twilight said with a smile, “you'll have to try harder than that, Sombra.” The lurker glared at her with pure, unadulterated rage. Its eyebrows furrowed, and saliva flew from its mouth as it yelled at Twilight. It batted its hooves aimlessly at the unicorn, trying to disrupt her balance, but Twilight wouldn't let it. With a quick, precise hoof to the lurker's temple, Twilight knocked it out cold, and the body flopped motionless beneath her.
“You'll thank me later, Dash,” Twilight whispered to the lurker. The unicorn moved the body off gently, placing the limp hooves across its chest. Though it was one of them, Twilight couldn't bear to see the form of her friend hurt. She saw the darkness as a hostile takeover, not a welcomed one. Although it was terrible for Twilight to almost become one of the lurkers by the hooves of one of her best friends, she figured that it must've been worse for her. She could imagine it; a life where you sat still in your thoughts, watching as your body as it committed unmentionable things to the very things it had previously loved.
Twilight had seen a preview of it, and she made a silent vow to never let another creature experience it.
“Twilight, you still with me?” a voice called out from in front of her.
“Yeah, still here, Eff.” Twilight said. She was more awake than before. Something about fighting for her life probably had something to do with that. It was better to not mention the unconscious lurker behind her; if Eff held any kind of anger towards them... Twilight wouldn't be able to forgive herself for what would follow. She simply didn't have the heart.
“Well, hurry up! It's in sight!” Eff shouted. Twilight did as told, and with the new energy created from the scuffle, she ran up towards the voice. Vines and nettles lashed at her hooves, but it made no difference. Twilight was in full galloping mode, and nothing, not even lurkers, would slow her down. She felt so energetic! The unicorn could feel the blood course through her veins, her heart beating it quickly around to her power-hungry muscles and her lungs breathe in and out in rhythm. Twilight felt almost... too powerful, like her body couldn't contain it all. It was as if something had leached onto her body, and shoved in some more energy.
Finally, she found Effingo. She was crouched in the plants and weeds of the undergrowth, gazing into the distance. “Twilight! Keep it down, okay? They're all over this place, so we have to be sneaky.” It took a couple more paces than usual for Twilight to stop. Though she nearly managed to dive head-first into a tree, she managed to stay on four legs. Effingo looked around at the unicorn, her eyes narrowed. “What's up with you, then? One second, you were slowing down, and the next... well, you're like that!”
“I dunno, but I'm here.” Twilight said with a shrug. Eff continued to stare at her for a few seconds before facing back forwards.
“You see that hole in the hill?” she said, pointing a hoof. Twilight had to squint her eyes to see, but there was most definitely something where Eff was pointing. On closer inspection, it looked like some kind of cave. Most unnatural for the area, but very much hidden to the untrained eye. Luckily for Twilight, she was trained in almost every field. Aside from big, social events. And finesse. Pretty much everything else, though.
“Sure.”
“That's what we're here for, but we're not the only ones,” Effingo whispered. “We've got multiple lurkers all around here, and I don't feel up to a fight. Got any ideas?” Twilight glanced around, noticing the prowling lurkers around the cave. They looked hungry. One lurker growled at another angrily, slashing it with its razor-sharp claws. The victim ran off with its tail tucked between its legs. Though it was an amusing scene, the unicorn had more important matters. Twilight looked over to the cave again. It wasn't that far — only twenty metres or so.
“We could always try and sprint the distance,” Twilight said, stroking her chin.
“No way,” Effingo whispered, “they'll hear us coming as soon as we jump up.”
“Are you thinking we sneak around?”
“Well, there's not much more we can do, right?”
“True. Do you want to take the lead?”
“Fine. We'll use this long grass as cover. You stick to me, though. One wrong move, and we're both finished,” Effingo said, crawling out of the growth. Twilight felt inclined to follow her after that last statement. The changeling made her way over to a nearby boulder, peering over it to get a better look. With a secondary glance, she returned to lying on the grass. She made a detour to the right. Twilight felt like mentioning the additional distance, but was quickly reminded by a roar from a lurker.
Before long, the two had crept to the far right of the cliff. The entrance was only a couple of metres away, the unicorn guessed. Twilight couldn't see a thing from the long grass. Maybe it was best; it meant that the lurkers couldn't see them either. Suddenly, Eff stopped crawling. She turned to Twilight, raising her hoof in the air. Both stopped still, and as the noise of rustling grass subsided, Twilight began hearing the sniffing of a lurker. She couldn't see it, but it was pretty obvious it was close. Maybe it had picked up their scent. Twilight could hear it approaching step by step, crunching the grass beneath its hooves.
A face appeared over the long grass. It stopped momentarily, taking a deep sniff of the air. Within seconds, it looked down on Effingo and Twilight. The lurker opened its mouth to roar, but a hoof from the grass quickly silenced it. Eff pulled the beast into the grass with her by its mouth, and lay on its neck. Twilight half expected it to crunch, but Effingo wasn't using her entire weight. She only wanted to choke it, not kill it. After a few seconds, the thing fell motionless. Effingo, unfazed, turned to Twilight, and with a point of her hoof, began the final stretch.
Twilight finally saw the hole in the cliff-face, and followed the changeling inside. “Eff, that was amazing!”
Effingo looked at her with a strange smile. “Are you okay, Twi? You're not sounding yourself.”
“I told you I was fine, didn't I?!” Twilight cried. Eff jumped at the sudden increase in volume, and then proceeded to look around outside to find any curious lurkers.
“Twilight...” Eff began, “actually, it doesn't matter. Let's just get out of here before they find us.”
“Fine by me,” Twilight said with a huff. The unicorn peered down the slope of the cave, trying to find the bottom. With a step forward, she noticed that it was a lot colder than outside, and her hooves felt wet against the rocky ground beneath her. A sense of dampness hung in the air, almost so strongly that Twilight could feel it on the tip of her tongue. Effingo took the lead. Twilight followed her closely — such an old, dark place probably had some booby traps around, but Eff had already been here.
“You sure you know your way around here, Eff?” Twilight asked.
“Yup,” she said.
“How did you get in before?”
“With luck,” Eff said with a snort.
“Care to elaborate?”
“Not really,” the changeling said. “Why does it matter? I know my way around. That's it.” The pair came up to a door with a wheel for a handle. Effingo began twisting it, grunting in exertion as she opened it. She briefly glanced over at Twilight before putting all her effort into the door.
“Fine,” Twilight murmured under her breath, “as talkative as ever.”
Effingo finally turned to face the unicorn. “I'll probably be more chatty once we've saved the world, Twilight! Maybe I'm not the one needing to get my priorities straight.”
“What do you mean by that?” Twilight said, narrowing her eyes.
“Well, I wasn't the one skulking around town for ninety-odd days, only focused on my own survival,” Effingo said with a huff. “Maybe if you'd been a little more active, perhaps actually tried to save the world before conforming to it, more lives would've been saved, but no! Poor Twilight had to keep her ol' pal alive, make him her little pet! What a glorious, dignified existence that must've been, eh?”
Twilight simply stared at the changeling, her mouth open wide. Effingo rolled her eyes, and after an uncomfortable amount of silent minutes, the door finally creaked open. It was much darker in the next room. She could feel the cool breeze leave through the door frame as the door came to a stop. Effingo took the lead, as per usual, and Twilight followed her as she crossed the darkened room. With a flick of her horn, Twilight sent an light spell into the air above her. Great plates of marble comforted her hooves, though the coldness of them surprised her. When she yelped, Effingo turned to stare daggers.
“Be careful what you touch, Twilight — some of this stuff is much older than you think.”Effingo said from in front. The unicorn gazed around the room, noting the immediate smell of blood. The entire room stank of it! Twilight had been around enough blood over the past months to tell what blood smelt like, and that was, without a single doubt in her mind, blood. Only when the ball of light continued to hover further did she realise her mistake.
Discord stood in the far corner of the room.
“Effingo! Let's get the hell out of here!” Twilight said quietly.
“Why?” came the reply.
“Because I don't think our friend will appreciate the company!”
“What friend?”
“The one on the far side!”
Silence filled the room, and as time passed slowly on, Twilight grew more wary. “... You do realise that's a statue, right?” Effingo asked. Twilight squinted her eyes, so as to get a closer look. Discord was standing completely still, and on closer inspection, Twilight could see the glimmer of metal. Someone had obviously been a fan, because they'd managed to replicate the height of Discord perfectly. It was just too bad that they hadn't spent as much time on maintenance — rust filled every nook and cranny of the statue, which had, in turn, filled the room with the same smell of blood.
“Yeah, of course I knew that,” Twilight lied.
“Whatever,” Eff said. Twilight walked up closer to get a better look. She looked around the walls, which had obviously seen some damage. Large chunks of marble were missing, and moss hid in every crack. Bits of the wall were scattered on the floor, and as Twilight stepped over a piece to get a better look, another piece broke off in front of her. It was strange; this placed looked stable and secure from the outside — of course, it was built in a cliff — but the walls had taken some damage over time. It was thousands of years old, Twilight had to admit.
Bearing a wry smile, the statue looked exactly like Discord, even if the pony who made it had exaggerated some features. It looked relatively young compared to what Discord looked like now. He had a full head of hair, his eyebrows were far more bushier and he didn't even have a beard growing on his chin. Discord looked almost young! The statue stood proudly, and had obviously done so for many years. Despite the cracks in the walls and floor, the statue had none. At least, Twilight couldn't see any. It looked as if it was made with a different form or rock. It was a much darker hue than the marble, but it had the same texture.
On closer inspection, there was a small pedestal sitting below the thing. It was a beautiful frame of thin metal. Twilight could clearly see thousands upon thousands of odd shapes cut into it. Though she couldn't quite make out several of the the symbols, there were more recognisable shapes mixed in between. Images of ponies seemed to be a recurring theme, but Twilight could honestly say that not one shape was ever repeated. All of the symbols were too old to read. The unicorn had studied symbols of ancient Equestria for quite some time, but the symbols on the pedestal only looked vaguely reminiscent of the things Twilight had studied.
It was a shame that such a work of art had gone without maintenance. She could see the taint of rust gathering on every edge and an odd type of moss layering the black metal. Nature had obviously had its way in this room. Looking around, Twilight could see dozens of cobwebs layering the ceiling. She wasn't afraid of spiders, but the pure number of webs shocked her, even if the previous residents had deceased. Twilight heard an odd beat from the machine. Something stuck out of the pedestal... almost like a horn. Not a normal horn, not the sort a unicorn would have, but a horn, nonetheless. It had to be his: Sombra's horn.
“Eff, is that the device?” Twilight asked.
“It looks like it,” Effingo said. She moved next to Twilight, raising a hoof to her chin. “When I was in here last... the things outside looked like they were taking orders from it. I couldn't hear a conversation, but they were definitely responding.”
“You think King Sombra is commanding them?”
“Well, who else would be?” Eff said, rolling her eyes. “They're obviously not acting how they like, and if you say Sombra took control of you, it's got to be.”
Twilight paused. “I never said that.” She frowned.
The changeling looked as if she was going to respond, but suddenly went against it. She moved away, suddenly becoming interested in the walls. “Eff?” The changeling turned with a puzzled expression. She opened her mouth again, but no words came out. “Eff, are you all right?”A scream erupted from the changeling. Her body stretched as the noise increased in volume. Twilight had to cover her ears. “Eff?!” she asked again. The unicorn could only watch as her friend screamed in agony. She saw her turquoise eyes change to a light green.
Finally, Effingo stopped screaming. “Are you okay?” Twilight asked. She knew it was pointless trying — whatever had happened, it had caused the changeling a lot of pain. She wasn't going to be okay. Eff turned, breathing hard. She glared at Twilight, her brow furrowing. With a yelp, she leapt into the air and brought a hoof to Twilight's cheek. The unicorn jumped back in pain, using her hoof to inspect the damage. “Eff! What are you doing?!” Effingo answered by a roar. She ran forward, sliding along the marble floor to knock Twilight off her hooves.
Twilight got up in a hurry. She braced herself for another attack. “Stop this now, or I'm going to fight back!” she cried. The changeling cocked her head, saliva falling from her mouth. With a creepy smile, she charged again. Twilight stepped back at the last moment, holding out a hoof. Effingo charged straight into it, and she reeled back in pain. “I'm warning you!” Twilight tried. The changeling licked the blood off her lips, smiling once more.
Letting out a scream, Effingo jumped over to Twilight. She used the unicorn as a punching bag, hitting her over and over with her hooves. Twilight tried to fight back, but any attempt was blocked by the changeling. With a final punch, the mare staggered back, letting out a cry of pain. Effingo put her entire weight on her front hooves, and bucked Twilight in the head with her back legs. Twilight fell to the floor, her vision blurry and her head hurting. A black figure cackled above her, until another hoof finally threw Twilight into nothingness.
Pain. Her face burned with it. It hurt to open her dreary eyes, but she couldn't spend another second blind. Twilight tried to move her hooves, to move her entire body, but nothing responded. She looked above to find her front hooves bound by a green, magical loop, and looked down to find the same with her back hooves. She was well and truly tied up, and the only thing she could move was her face. “Effingo,” she cried, “are you there?” When nothing replied, Twilight bit her lip. She could be in serious trouble. Sombra's horn was only several metres away, and the room around her was completely dark. Twilight tried to wriggle free from the bond, but it was no use.
Her hooves were sore from the magical loop. Twilight had no idea how long she had been strung up for. She could see the red lines forming on her hooves, but she could barely feel them. She tried to move them, but only assisted in tiring herself out. “Hello?” she called desperately. “Anyone? Please?” Twilight felt panic rise in her stomach. What if no-one was there? What if she had just been left to die slowly? Twilight shook her legs harder, desperately wanting to be free. She needed to be free! She could finally save the world, and all that stopped her was the bond. Twilight felt her breath grow more rapid.
“Twilight,” came the distant reply.
“Eff!” Twilight shouted. “What the hell are you doing?”
A shape moved in the darkness. Moving towards her. Twilight gulped. “I swear to Celestia, if you don't untie me right now, I won't be able to control my actions!”
“That's a magic bond you've got on you. You can always try!” the changeling said in the darkness. A maniacal laugh echoed around the room, scaring Twilight out of her fur. She tried using her horn to free herself, but the magic she sent forth was only reflected back into her. The mare screamed. “I guess you tried!” said the voice, laughing. Twilight's breath grew faster and faster as her body finally started panicking. She could feel the beads of sweat falling down her forehead.
“Why are you doing this? We can end this nightmare right now!”
A light filled the room, this time more blinding than the last. Twilight blinked again and again, attempting to regain her sight. It did illuminate everything, but just too brightly; the unicorn could only see white spots. Eventually, her sight bled back in, and she was met face-to-face with Effingo. “Oh, can we? Are you sure about that, Twilight Sparkle?”
“Eff? Just—”
“Shush, Twilight,” the changeling said, pressing a hoof down on Twilight's mouth. “Just shush for a second. I want to hear my own thoughts. Just shush.” The mare tried to speak, but the hoof blocked her words. Eff suddenly snapped, slapping Twilight's cheek. “I said shush! Can you not understand a simple command? I swear I'm surrounded by simpletons... And don't you dare try to lick my hoof.”
Twilight didn't even consider it.
“You know what, Twilight? I've had enough of you and your smug attitude. I've had enough with having to drag you around this place, trying to keep you alive before finally revealing my true mission. It's hard work, you know?” said Effingo, stroking Twilight's chin. “And, to be honest, I don't think you're worth it. You'll be the only one who will know of it. You'll see the point of this little adventure, and no one else ever will. I'll save the world, and you'll just be another rotting corpse among the hundreds of thousands.”
“And to think that you knew me as an ordinary changeling.”
The changeling was enveloped in an iridescent light. It covered every part of her, from head to hoof. Twilight squinted to get a better look, and she could've sworn she saw Effingo's limbs grow larger. The light became more violent, growing larger in its shine. Twilight gasped. It was too much light, almost as if it was going to consume her, too. She couldn't shield her eyes from the brightness, and turning her face didn't help at all. Before long, the light began diminishing. Twilight could feel her sight returning for the second time, and as soon as it had fully recovered, she watched Effingo carefully.
The changeling had changed. Her small, stumpy legs had been transformed into sleek, elegant limbs. Instead of the paper-thin wings of her previous form, the changeling's wings had become more powerful and longer. A giant horn dwarfed the previous one atop her head, which threatened to stab Twilight in the face. Her greenish eyes had been completely transformed into a mix of different shades of green, and with these, she stared intently into Twilight's own. They shimmered in the darkness like glow-worms, shaking as a great, maniacal laugh escaped her lips.
“Queen Chrysalis?” Twilight cried, finally free of the changeling's hoof. “What? But... but then why did you...” Chrysalis frowned, raising her hoof to threaten Twilight into silence.
Once she was sure she got the message, the queen gave another audible laugh. “I am Effingo!” she yelled, her voice brimming with joy. “This entire time, when 'Effingo' met you in the library, it was me! Always me! You see, on day one of this... mistake, I came down to watch as your puny town became dust and bones. And guess what I saw? I saw you! Before the whole 'lurker' thing, as you called it, everyone becoming evil creatures, or something or other, I managed to save you!”
“I had the power to preserve you and myself from Sombra's influence! You never wondered how you managed to survive something that you, and you alone, avoided? Fool!” the queen exclaimed, laughing mere inches away from Twilight's ear. “It was only to play with you at first of course, but I then decided that I needed you to solve this whole thing. I guess I was having so much fun watching you suffer, but even good times have to end sometimes. That was when I donned the identity of Effingo,” she said, pointing to herself. Chrysalis changed her voice to Effingo's with a cough. “Where are you, Twi? I know how this happened, Twi! Come with me, Twi. I know exactly what to do, Twi!”
Twilight gasped as the thought sunk in.
“You see, Twilight, I needed to get you here so you can fix this entire mess of mine, but I thought I might as well have my fun with you first! And it's proven very entertaining, even by my standards!” Chrysalis said with a twinkle in her eye. “Want to hear the great tale of how I tricked you?”
Twilight simply stared into the queen's dark eyes.
“I'll take that as a yes,” she said before clearing her throat. “Well, let's just start from the very beginning, shall we?” When Twilight refused to respond, Chrysalis bared her teeth. “Now, how about we be a bit more grown-up, eh? No use in me telling such a great story if you won't even talk. So, let's start again: want to hear the great tale of how I tricked you?”
Twilight still resisted. Though she was well and truly trapped, she'd do everything in her power to dissatisfy her captor. After a few seconds, Chrysalis tutted. Suddenly, Twilight felt her head tilting up and down with a green glow. “Yes, oh, mighty Queen. I'd love to hear the story,” the queen said in a mock voice, giggling at the sight of her defenceless prisoner. “Well, such a worthy tale deserves an introduction, no? Let me start from the very beginning.”
“You see, when you so rudely kicked us changelings out of your wonderful kingdom, we weren't very happy. In fact, we weren't very happy at all. To be frank, we wanted revenge, pure and simple, but vengeance is a very hard thing to get when your enemy somehow always manages have the upper hoof.” Queen Chrysalis tilted her head. “We needed a game-changer, you see, and I just so happened to have an idea. Remember when I explained the ancient machine?” she asked, pointing her hoof over to the pedestal, “well, let's just say that I was one of the few who knew about it.”
“Acquiring it was easy — I only had to... dismiss several royal guards surrounding it, use my minions for the disguise and then the machine was mine! Now, here comes the tricky part. We needed something to operate the machine. Something with extraordinary power, that would be able to carry out my will upon your kingdom. That was when we heard about good, old King Sombra, bless his soul. We heard all about your courageous adventure to save the Crystal Kingdom, and then we heard about... that horn,” she said, pointing over to the horn in the pedestal before looking down on her own raised hoof. “That was also pretty easy to get our hooves on — you ponies should be more careful about who you hire as guards!” she said, letting out a laugh.
“But, that's beside the point. So, we had this device capable of reaching all of Equestria, and a source capable of wreaking general havoc. Can you guess what you get when you combine the two? Well, I'm pretty sure you know. My vengeance didn't work, the whole world got messed over and, more importantly, I'm a queen of nothing. All my beautiful children — gone. Now, you may say that this is my fault, but I had no idea what Ol' Sombra was capable of! He just—”
“You did this!?” Twilight screamed, finally finding her voice. She attempted to shake free her bonds, but she was too weak. Her body fell to a slump once more, and she continued glaring into her captor's eyes. Chrysalis simply brushed Twilight's cheek lightly, reminding her of the position she was in. She tutted at the pony.
“Ooh,” Chrysalis cooed, “hit a soft spot I see. Well, if you must say so, then yes. It was all my fault.” Queen Chrysalis leaned in closer to Twilight's face. “... But who's going to know? When you've fixed this mess, I'll be far gone, and you... well, you won't be able to tell anyone.”
“Why?” Twilight asked, her voice annoyed.
Chrysalis blinked. “Oh, because I wanted to. I wanted to see your precious Ponyville suffer, and though that may have gotten a little out of hoof, I've had my fun. Now I want my children and my kingdom back.”
“No, moron — why won't I be speaking?”
“Moron?” Chrysalis choked, “how dare you speak of me in such a manner!” The queen raised a hoof to strike, but slowly placed it back down, laughing. “Well, it matters little. I may as well answer your petty question — I don't know why, but it gives me such joy to see despair on your face,” she said, smiling darkly. “Is that normal?” The unicorn opened her mouth to answer, but was quickly silenced by a hoof. “Don't answer that. I guess I forgot to explain something. This machine — it requires a lot of energy. Not just any small amount. Sombra's horn fitted quite well, as... well, he has a lot of power. You, on the other hoof, will not be so lucky.”
“Do you know why I didn't just force you up here? I could've done, you know. You're not as powerful as you think. It's not just for the satisfaction I get from tricking you; it's the knowledge that you, in your final moments, will know of my betrayal. I worked so hard to get your loyalty, only to stab you in the back, and now you'll see where it got you with the final twist of the knife. The device will take your energy, both magic and life energy, just to fix everything. You're going to die, Twilight Sparkle, and I'll be here to watch you the entire time.”
“Y-you're insane,” Twilight tried, “why didn't you just sort out this entire mess yourself? It was your own fault! You wanted your pointless revenge, and now you've had it — countless creatures have died because of you, and that's putting it gently!” Twilight felt her throat burn as she talked.
“Well... no one's going to know! Only one of us will be walking away from this, and it's certainly not going to be you!” Chrysalis snarled. “I did what I had to! I've claimed my justice. Now, you're going to fix the side effects, and I'm going to walk away without a single blame.”
“You've killed your children, Chrysalis, and for what? For petty revenge? For the knowledge that you tricked me? Well, great job. You got me. I was tricked. Does that make up for the fact that you slaughtered your own people to feel better about yourself? You've committed genocide, Chrysalis, not just against the creatures in my race, but the creatures in your race, too. Do what you can to redeem it.”
“There is nothing to redeem!” the queen yelled, slapping Twilight with a strong hoof. “I've done nothing wrong! I got my vengeance, and now you're going to fix this situation whether you volunteer or not.” Twilight received another slap. “What makes you so fantastic, Twilight Sparkle? I didn't see you trying to save the world when all hell broke loose! You were trying to survive, like some form of cockroach, living off of scraps and hiding in the dark. You did nothing to help the helpless around you; the great Twilight Sparkle simply hid away and protected herself. Oh, how heroic! My hero!” Chrysalis said, clamping her hooves together.
The queen pulled in closer to Twilight, her mouth only inches away. The unicorn could feel her very breath. She could hear Chrysalis punctuate every syllable. “You were nothing Twilight. You are nothing. You will always be nothing.”
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*And then Alondro sneaks up behind and stabs Chrysalis with a dagger he'd cleverly hidden in his cloak!* Nyah ha ha ha!
2336057 Ah, you sneaky bastard, you... I guess the world is saved and all.
PLOT TWIST
Just one mistake;
"You" is misspelled.
2336236 Ah, thanks, man! Just went and corrected it.
2336293 Oh...
You think this is the end?
And, to me, Chrysalis has always seemed like that kind of baddie to reveal their plan just for shits and giggles.
The plot....thickens? We'll see where this goes....
2336072 *Alondro is a tricky one! A regular "Mack the Knife"!*
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEllHMWkXE]
2336553 you mean it got more "holy".
Chrysalis juuuust might be redeemable. anyway I also hope that Twilight ends up sacrificing herself willingly to stop the nightmare, rather than some convoluted deus ex machina ending where she ends up surviving along with every other important character. just happens way too often.
.
I think Chrysalis is forgetting something...
Assuming that Twilight doesn't pull some psychological reversal to make Chrysalis power the machine, Twilight is supposed to pay her life and power to fix the world, and it's going to hurt a lot--Chrysalis even said she was going to stand by and watch while Twilight suffers and dies.
Twilight's screams are going to get the attention of every single lurker in the area, and that cave only has one exit.
/!\ Chrysalis has startled the Witch!
Here they come...
Interesting twist, interestingly enough though, I think she made up most of her reasoning. I believe her intial hope to get revenge on the ponies is true, and that she acquired the machine and what not aswell. But I don't think she had intended for Twilight not to get changed, and for what happened to happen. She likely more expected Discord-esque magic versus truly dark magic; even darker than Chrysalis could have imagined. So she was knocked out by the device and then woke to a living hell where some of her changelings were being eaten by lurkers(other changelings) and slaughtered the lurkers but was unable to save any of her subjects in the cave. So she attempted to remove the horn and it didn't work, so she decided to figure out how to turn it back off. She then traveled back to her "hive" only to find it a bloody mess overran by lurkers, so she traveled to Canterlot's library to find information. But upon her arrival and finding of the actual way to fix it, she was ran out of the city by a giant lurker (Celestia) and fled toward the SW. She then spotted Twilight and decided that rather than herself being a sacrafice, that the pony who caused her anger would fit far better. Then proceded to manipulate Twilight. Though I think in the end, Chrysalis and Twilight are practically insane so oddly enough, Chryalis may actually have comed to enjoy Twilight's company.
Considering the vast amount of power Twilight has, she may not only fix things bit completly destroy the Queen and anything else within a 2 mile radius. Or Twilight can shoot lasers right?
Sweet, another chapter, tbh, I think Twilight is semi-immune because she used dark magic before
and I would venture to say that if she tried using that dark magic again, in this new world, that she would be capable of devastating power
just my own 0.02 on the matter
in other news, this makes for some great background music reading this [the whole soundtrack does though]
2336597 Not saying.
2337310 True dat. But, not spoiling anything, that's not the only thing she has to worry about...
2338305 Or was I doing that deliberately?
2337489 Well, she didn't really anticipate any of what's happened to happen, so I guess she's been making it up as she went along. I'll explain a bit further in the upcoming chapter, but, pretty much, she tried to control the horn for evil purposes, and it completely backfires. Sombra is released into the world with all his power, and does whatever he wants with it (e.g. make lurkers). Of course, Chrysalis didn't want to completely screw the world over — she just wanted some good, old revenge. You've got that last part nailed, though. I truly do believe that she was just batshit insane, and would pretty much try anything to have company.
2338338 I do try.
I want to know how Chrysalis came up with the name of Effingo or was that another little thing to stick it to twilight.
2338596 Just to screw her over.
A changeling within a changeling.....
she's such a troll.. :D excellent!!
the changeling (•_•) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■) was a changeling YEAAAAHHH!!!!
how did I not know this was being rewritten until now?
hmmmm....
>Completed Story Compendium
3329854 Responsibility, staaahp.
This being the 1st ffanfic i ever read im saddened to see it get rewritten then forgotten
I wanna see what you do with it and the difference in the endings
this is a great story it makes me sad that it is being rewritten since it was the first fiction i ever read and all that
What happened to the author anyone?
I believe in you