Old Wounds

by Sylpheed Dashstep

Act II; Scene II: The Lost Hearts

She had been in this town for almost a year now. Yes keeping up appearances was a bit challenging, but it was worth it in the end, just to interact with other ponies, to see somepony who wasn't scared of her. Even if the pony they weren't scared of was all a lie. It was nice to pretend she was liked.

She was laying in the forest that surrounded the town, her disguise down and her mind thinking of things that could never happen. She had a greenish-blue mane, with bright green eyes and a chacoal colored coat to top it all off. Her wings were paper thin and there were thin veins running in each one, pulsing with bright green blood. Her hooves had holes in them, as well as her horn. They didn't hurt or bleed, in fact, they felt normal.

She had wondered about what they were untill one day she was in a library and she was looking through a book, not really reading, but looking at the pictures. There had been a Dragonequius, a Manticore, a Dragon. And then she saw a picture of her, or something like her and she read the entry. She was a Changeling. A mythical creature that feeds on the emotions of other creatures to feed itself.

Now the feeding on emotions part was...not true in the least. She didn't feed on emotions, she could feel them though. They felt like such amazing things. But she didn't feed on them.

"Crystal," a voice broke her out of her thoughts.

She quickly donned her disguise, a mint-green Pegasus with an olive colored mane and bright green eyes. She didn't have to get rid of everything about herself.

"I'm up here, Shell," she yelled to the peach colored Unicorn that trotted through the bushes.

The mare teleported up to her, giving her a goofy little grin that Chrysalis loved so much, as she asked, "What are you doing way out here then?"

Chrysalis smiled at her and said, "Just enjoying the view, so what about you then, why are you out here?"
Something was tugging at her heart and she allowed herself to be overcome by the emotions coming from her friend. Excitement, fear, and...something Chrysalis had been feeling for a few days now, but she couldn't tell what it was. She racked her brain for a few seconds until she realized something. This was love. Her best friend was in love. "So, who's the lucky stallion," she teased.

Shell blushed and rolled her eyes, "It's not very fair you can do that, I can't keep anything from you!"

Chrysalis smiled and pushed Shell playfully saying, "And it's not very fair that you're keeping things from me, so who's the stallion?"

Shell blushed a little more and struggled to keep her balance as she said, "Well, it's not a stallion, it's a mare."

Chrysalis was unaffected, with only about ten percent of the population being stallions it wasn't uncommon, so she asked, "Well who's the mare then?"

Shell looked away from Chrysalis and began tracing marks into the tree with her hooves as she said, "I-I'd rather not tell."

Chrysalis laid a reassuring hoof on Shells shoulder and said, "Look, I'm your best friend, I'm not going to go tell all of what's left of Equestria about who you like."

Shell sighed and said, "You swear?"

Chrysalis gave her most mature face and said, "Cross my heart and hope to die. Now can you tell me who it is?"

Shell began to sway her back hooves hanging off the tree and Chrysalis could feel the fear rising in her as she said, "It...it's you Crystal."

A wave of emotions flew through Chrysalis and she took a calming breath, trying to distill the rising emotions as she said, "I...I don't know what to say."

Shell looked hopeful and she said, "If you like me then show me, if not then tell me."

Chrysalis sighed and said, "First, I have something to show you, now turn around and don't turn back until I say so, okay?"

Shell nodded her head and turned to face the tree, leaving Chrysalis wondering if she should do this. It felt like something was stuck in her throat. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, couldn't do anything. But eventually she found the strength to use her magic to lower her disguise and she managed to get out, "Okay, Shell, turn around slowly. And don't be scared, I'm still the same, I'm still Crystal." Shell turned and shrieked a little and Chrysalis quickly said, "It's still me, I just look different." Chrysalis's wings fluttered a little and Shell practically screamed leaving Chrysalis with a rushed explanation, "I'm still the same Shell. The Crystal you love. Please it's me."

Shell just tried to move back again saying, "N-no you're not, you're a monster." And with that she was gone, flashed to the town, leaving Chrysalis crying and in want of a friend.

All she wanted was a friend, someone to at least try and talk to in her normal form, not somepony who would scream and run at the first sight of her. There was a commotion in the distance and she turned to see a crowd of ponies coming her way with Shell at the lead and Chrysalis took off, flying across the heads of the town below her, silently thanking Celestia the town was only filled with Unicorns and Earth Ponies.

A rock slammed into her wing as she passed into the town boundaries, sending her spiraling out of control and falling to the ground. She slammed into the ground, her wings bloodied and her snout feeling as though it had been cracked. She tried to use her magic, but her horn failed as it always did, leaving her on the ground and on the run.

She passed building after building, and turned down a corner, turning back to see the mob of ponies gaining on her making her run faster. Her snout hit a wall, leaving her dazed and splayed out on the ground. She quickly recovered though, picking herself off the ground and turning to face the crowd. A few ponies stepped forward and she closed her eyes, waiting for something to happen.

After nothing happened for a few seconds she opened her eyes to see a massacre. There was blood and guts splayed everywhere. Hooves and limbs were laying on the ground and the soil was soaked in blood. No pony was alive except for one figure, huddled in the middle of the bodies. Shell.

Tendrils of shadow came down and pulled her into the air. Dangling her as she screamed.

"NO STOP," Chrysalis screamed out.

The filly was dropped and Chrysalis rushed forward to help her as she fell into the pile of gore. A shadow appeared and blocked Chrysalis's path as it asked, "Why don't you let me kill her, she was the cause of all of this after all."

Chrysalis gave it a hardened stare and said, "Because I love her."

The shadow gave a laugh and said, "And yet, she was about to kill you," a shadow lashed out and cut Shells cheek as the beast said this.

"Stop it," Chrysalis shouted at it as she pushed through the obstruction, leaving her freezing and almost unable to move, but she pushed forward, determined to get to Shell. She fell to her knees as she got to Shell and said, "I'm sorry about all of this."

Shell was crying and she said, "Don't be, it's m-," was all she got out before she was snatched up into the air, her sentence trailing off into a scream.

Chrysalis reacted quickly and grabbed the other filly's hooves, getting dragged up with Shell. They were dragged higher and higher, both of their screams cut short as they stopped.

Shell looked Chrysalis in the eyes and said, "Crystal, let go, you can fly and get out, just go." She kissed Chrysalis and began swinging her hooves, trying to get Chrysalis off. "I'm sorry," she said and began to shake harder as Chrysalis's grip got stronger.

"NO I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO, NOT NOW, NOT EVER," she screamed at Shell, "YOU CAN'T DO THIS, I'M NOT LETTING GO!" She had tears streaming down her muzzle, but she was determined not to let go.

Suddenly her grip faltered and Shell was pulled away from her as she began her plummet to the ground. She watched as Shells face twisted from one of sadness into one of pain as blood dribbled from her mouth as well as down her sides. The drops fell faster than Chrysalis and they mingled with her tears, as well as pelting her coat, turning it a darker color. Shells coat began to peel away from her body and Chrysalis turned to face the approaching ground, not being able to watch any longer.

The ground rushing at her was a welcome sight. It was a way out. A way to end it all. All the pain, the suffering, the fear. And so she let herself fall. Wishing nothing more than to end it. Just get everything done and over with.

She closed her eyes and imagined herself sitting in that tree her and Shell had shared. Their special place. The place they went when they needed to get away or talk. She imagined herself up there with Shell now as she lay her head on Shells stomach, feeling the softness of her fur.

Chrysalis threw her eyes open to find herself in a stone room lying on a plush bed instead of plummiting to the ground, praying for a swift death.

She began to cry. She cried tears of hate. Tears of joy. Tears of sadness. But mostly, tears of anger. Anger because she couldn't even die right. Anger that she wasn't like anypony else and that she was shunned. Locked away from the rest of the world. Something to be hidden.

"Now now Chrysalis, no need to cry," a voice cooed, sounding sympathetic to her.

She looked around the room, her eyes landing on a shadow in the corner that seemed...different. "Who are you," she asked it.

"Well, you can call me whatever you want. A saint, or a demon. But let me tell you this, I'm the one who can take away those horrid emotions of yours, make you feel nothing, but it will come at a price and a deed as well. Which would you like to know first," the shadow said as it slowly emerged, slipping between the cracks of moon light slipping between the shutters on the window.

"W-what do you mean," she said in between sniffles.

The beast sighed and said, "Those things you're feeling, the pain, the betrayal, the fear. I can take it all away, but it comes at a price. And you have to do something for me as well, my dear."
` "What's the price," she asked, a little hesitant.

"Well, I know you've read about Changelings and how they feed off of emotions," it said. She shook her head, signaling she understood and it continued, "Well, I'll make you like that. You won't feel anything, but you will need to feed off of emotions every once in a while otherwise you will die. Now, about that favor. I need you to help a friend of mine. It's nothing major. Just a little fight. Do this and you'll be able to keep the powers and the lack of emotions, what do you say, my dear?"
Chrysalis thought for a few minutes before her broken heart decided and said, "Ok, I'll take the deal."

---

The next few minutes were a blur. Just things fading in and out. All she knew was that she couldn't feel anything and that it felt...good. It felt better than having all of those things stacked up, just wating to collapse into a pile of grief, anguish, and pain.

All of the pain, all of the fear, all of the bad things drifted away. Leaving her without any regret. Untill the happiness and the joy began to fade away as well. It began to bleed out, leaving her feeling less and less with each passing second. Soon she had no emotions left. She was a husk of what she once was without her emotions, but she didn't regret it at all.

---

She found herself in the hall before Celestias throne room. The woman that had caused the downfall of the future. The one who had destroyed it all. Was Chrysalis about to face the Queen? The one who had caused so much harm and pain and had driven everypony into hiding?

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the click of nails on the stone floor and turned to see the legendary Dragonequius who had stood up to Queen Celestia on that first day she had risen up and made the kingdom fall. He had fought bravely as the legends said, and he had rose so high. He got to the throne room, facing the Queen herself, before he had finally fell and his age caught up with him, leaving him nothing but a shrivelled form of what he once was.

"Well now, may I inquire who you are and what you are doing here," his voice questioned.

"I don't entirely know, a shadow sent me," she said, knowing how crazy it sounded, but not really caring.

"So you as well," he said, "well then, I guess we had better wait for the third party member before we go to take out Queen Celestia."

Something clicked in her mind and she looked at Discord. He had called Celestia the Queen. He must be from the future then...right?

"Discord, can I ask you something," she asked.

"Why certainly," he said.

"I heard that you died on the first day of Celestias uprising. If that's true, then how are you here," she questioned.

"Oh, my dear, you have been left terribly out of the loop," he said. "We are in the year 1,012. We've been taken back in time. A chance to prevent everything from happening. A chance to rebuild the kingdom."

"But that still doesn't explain my question. How are you here, you died on the first day of the uprising," she exclaimed.

"Let me explain something to you. I was born on July 27, 2035. I was born as a regular Pegasus. But things went wrong and I was offered another chance by the shadow, but I was to be changed into this form for the battle as well as the rest of my life. Little did I know what form it was, for now I am immortal, as well as you. Queen Chrysalis," he finished the last statement as if it were sad news.

It was sad news indeed as the rest of the puzzle pieces fell into place the minute Nightmare Moon walked around the corner. They were the three biggest enemies to the kingdom. Untill the Queen of Equestria rose that is.

Author's Note:

Is it bad I made myself cry a little while writing this?
~Sylpheed Dashstep

Comments

[Iridescence T Wind]

The Random appearance of slaughtered villagers and Chrysalis random trust of something that just killed her new 'special somepony' seems a bit out place in consideration. But good work.