8. Escape
8. Escape
Chrysalis slowly turned to face the intruder, seeing the black pegasus trembling with shock.
“Oh dear, you did not hear that, did you?” she said in the softest voice she could muster.
Rose stared at the queen for what felt like an eternity, watching as the queen unfurled her wings and took a tentative step towards her. She was very aware of her rising heartbeat, deafening her to the echoes of the cave. She was also aware of every hair standing on end, eyes wide and urging her to move, but so frozen in her spot that the struggle for movement required every ounce of energy she had to give. In reality, Rose had only been staring for a second; the next second, she was gone.
A shadow passed along the tunnels of the hive as Rose ran frantically towards what she hoped was the exit. She had wandered this labyrinth many times but the need to escape had been a notion that had never chanced to cross her mind until now.
“That’s mistake number one,” she thought as she took a sharp right turn. She was angry and bitter as she ran, both at the queen and at herself for having had trusted in the changelings. Anger and bitterness took a back seat to panic and her fight for survival. Still, the sting of betrayal was palpable.
“That’s mistake number two,” she thought. She kept running and trying to empty her mind, but the thought of her actions was unrelenting. She had put Octavia and the rest of Equestria in danger.
“That’s mistake number three.” Rose banked left, making the turn but scraping the cave walls. Her mind was clouded in thoughts and it was messing with her ability to focus on the escape at hoof. She decided that if she could not clear her mind, the least she could do was organize it.
“What do you know?” she asked herself. “The changeling hive is planning to invade Canterlot. The changelings I’ve seen are not the whole hive, only a small fraction. The whole hive will be arriving when the invasion starts. The recon agents are keeping important families hostage. They are not afraid to use lethal force. The invasion was already planned for sometime next week. Because of me they can meet that deadline. Anything else?”
She gave herself a moment of thought.
“And it seems I’m not being chased.”
As she thought this the ground beneath her caved, and from the cracks and debris emerged the changeling queen, swiping at where Rose would have been. In fact, Rose would have been out cold had it not been for her instinct to take flight and bank left the second the ground started to collapse. The queen gave chase, forcing Rose to have to pull a lot of tight corners in order to lose her. After a while she could not see her anymore.
Rose looked back to ensure she was not being followed. When she turned to check her path she saw three changelings blocking her path. She narrowly missed them by spinning just enough to pass between them. They were now chasing her.
Rose attempted to lose them in the same way she lost the queen, but quickly found that the drone changelings had much better maneuverability. As she was exhausted, it got harder for Rose to maintain her lead over the changelings. With each passing turn she lost speed as the changelings seemed to gain both momentum and numbers.
Eventually one caught her. Rose could not think, she could not strategize, and she could not plan. All she could do was act on instinct. This would prove fortunate.
Rose turned and bucked the changeling that had caught her onto the wall. His unconscious body then crashed into the oncoming changelings, buying enough time for Rose to continue on her flight. Then she saw it.
Shining in the distance Rose spotted a dim white light. She rushed towards it.
Behind her the ground groaned and cracked before braking again as the queen resurfaced, this time firing bolts of magic at the pegasus. Each bolt echoed through the cave, as did the explosions of dirt, rock, and magic that materialized on contact.
Rose avoided the attacks through sheer luck, as she madly dodged and turned in mid-air. A particular bolt came close to her, grazing her mane and smelling of acid and heat. Rose did not dwell on the close call, instead focusing on her quickly-approaching target. The queen fired a powerful blast at the roof of the entrance, forcing it to collapse. Rose saw the collapsing tunnel as rocks of various sizes descended from the heavens, but she did not stop, beating her wings and flying faster than she had ever done before. Through reflexes and intuition unknown to even herself, she managed to avoid the falling rocks, exiting onto the temperate night sky. Those pursuing her were not that lucky.
The black pegasus collapsed onto the ground, exhausted and hurting from the exertion she had just undergone, allowing herself a sigh of relief. A cool breeze cradled her underneath the moonlight as the smell of trees and pine calmed her. Then she turned around.
Digging through the rubble she could see the black forms of the changelings freeing themselves, hissing at her as they moved through the dirt. Rose tried to fly but could not, her wings refusing to lift her with pain as their protest. Running out of time, she ran, delving into the unknown forest in front of her.
The moonlight sifted through the tree branches, casting odd shadows all throughout Rose’s field of vision, which did nothing to alleviate her unease. She could hear the changelings chasing her but did not dare to turn around, instead dashing every so often in between trees and bushes, hoping to lose her pursuers. The changelings picked up their pace, flying through the forest with ease, appearing seamlessly in her path or attacking from her sides before disappearing into the shadows.
The wind picked up, rustling the surrounding leaves and branches. The new sound combined with the shadows created an altered world in which Rose found no possible path to safety that she might traverse. She could be attacked from anywhere. Filled with panic, Rose took off in a frantic run with no direction or destination, which she continued for the better part of an hour. Eventually, however, she could run no more.
Rose found a clearing to rest on, as her legs gave out underneath her.
She could hear noises behind her, but she could not turn around. She could not run, she could not fly; all she could do was sit there and await whatever fate might befall her. Rose’s ears perked up at the sound of something landing softly behind her.
Despite the protests of her body, Rose tried to crawl away as she had done that previous summer. Tears arose in her eyes as she struggled to drag herself away from the creature as her body threatened to tear from the strain, at least until she heard her voice.
“Halt, who goes there, and what, pray tell, is thy business in this forest?”
Rose turned around, in fear and anticipation, coming to face a dark alicorn with royal posture and a mane that sparkled as the night sky behind her.
“Luna?” Rose asked.
The princess nodded, casting an inquisitive look at the pony before her.
“Indeed it is I,” said the princess. “Thou is Evening Rose, is thou not?” the princess demanded.
“You know me?” said Rose, looking at the princess with confusion.
“I believe so,” the princess retorted, “The mare from Ponyville who forgoes sleep in favor of watching my night, who upon reaching sleep suffers from the most horrid of nightmares. I do believe thou sent me a letter in the winter time, didst thou not?”
Rose nodded, unsure of what to say.
“It was an interesting thing, to receive correspondence. I must say that I was intrigued by the mysterious sender who had chosen me to receive the letter over my sister. And yet, after finding out information on the mare, I must confess I am more intrigued than during my time of ignorance.”
Rose shifted uncomfortably, not failing to notice the emphasis on the word ‘mare’, but she did not respond. She simply stared at the princess, allowing her to ask whatever question she might have. The questions never came.
“Still, from the state of your body and your strange choice for a resting place, it is obvious to see that right now is not the proper time to satisfy such inquiries,” Luna said. “Instead I will ask once again of you to answer my original query. What is thy business in this forest?”
This shook Rose from her stupor.
She looked around in a frenzy at the surrounding foliage. Her ears perked up at every cracking branch or every rustling of the leaves. She noticed the shadows coursing from tree to tree as her predators stalked the surrounding area, watching her. She also noticed the slight buzzing of changeling wings, masquerading as the sounds of crickets or beetles, a sound she had both grown used to and found odd and frightening. She was still being hunted; she was being observed, and her predators were positioning themselves to strike.
The princess watched the fearful pegasus with a practiced stoic face, deciding against pressuring her for an answer. Instead, she looked into the woods Rose was observing, seeing nothing but the sounds and movements of the nighttime critters.
“We’re being hunted,” Rose said.
Luna turned her attention back to the pegasus, noting the fear in her voice and the steadiness of her stare. She was still staring at the woods, but the object of her gaze was one Luna could not detect.
“There is nothing to be fearful of,” said the princess, “There is nothing out there that should not be, and should something attempt an attack, it would be folly to ignore the considerable strength at my disposal.”
Rose shook her head, fear overpowering the princess’s words in her mind.
“No, you don’t understand,” said Rose, begging the princess to comprehend. “Canterlot is in danger. Everypony is in danger. I can tell you everything on the way back but we have to leave this place now!”
Luna stared at the mare with a judging eye, surprised at the terror in the mare’s voice but unwilling to let anything disturb her stoic mask.
“How is thou so certain of this coming threat?” the princess asked.
“Because I had a part in it,” said Rose. “I helped it happen.”
The princess was taken aback for a moment, letting her façade slip for a single second. She eyed the pegasus, seeing her as far more dangerous than she had originally imagined. Still, dangerous or not, the threat she spoke of could not be taken lightly.
“Very well,” said the princess. “Thou are in no condition to attempt flight and the castle lies too far away for safe teleportation. Climb on my back and I will fly us to safety.”
Rose stepped towards the princess but then stopped as a worry crossed her mind.
She had been relieved to see the princess come in and rescue her and she now trusted her to take her back to the castle. And yet, she had trusted another being recently that proved how trust can be dangerous.
Rose eyed the princess until the buzzing from the forest caught her attention. She had spent enough time around the creatures to understand what it meant.
“They’re getting excited,” Rose thought. “Now why would that be?”
In Rose’s mind there were two distinct possibilities. Either the queen was making her approach, which meant the changelings were buzzing in anticipation for the coming attack at her side, or the princess was not who she said she was.
The princess stared at her, acknowledging her hesitation but saying nothing. Rose weighed her options. A choice needed to be made and soon, judging from the intensity of the buzzing from the forest. She could either trust this princess or run.
“When has the night ever led me astray?” Rose asked herself as she climbed onto Luna’s back. Luna shifted slightly before taking off, her silhouette illuminated by moonlight.
In the forest behind them, the changelings watched as their queen Chrysalis reached the clearing, emerging from the foliage and staring at the disappearing forms.
“Commander,” hissed Chrysalis.
“Yes, my queen?” said a drone as he stepped forward from the rest.
“Alert the swarm: we will need to attack sooner than we had previously anticipated.”
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Not bad, good to see Luna is finally in the story.
LUNA IS BEST PRINCESS.
2359529
Princess Big Mac is best princess
(Look it up)
I have just finished reading all three arcs of Dysphoria in just under an hour, and I am so very glad that I took the time to do so. Can't wait for the new chapter tomorrow!
2373454
I'm glad you're enjoying the story.
I will try not to disappoint.
The princesses better make use of their holy prowess to ease her mind.
And yet again,
this grief lies bare for the sun and the moon.
Will you not grace them?
Will you not grant them this bliss?
We shall read on.
This is not true. I have been in several argument/debates with individuals who had strongly held beliefs but after going back and forth with me, they learned something and it changed their entire outlook on the subject. These cases may be few and far between but they do exist.
Not true I recommend looking up Bartolomé de las Casas or watching Extra History's episode on him