Memories
Chrysalis was pacing up and down in her throne room. She was restless, and she did not have the slightest idea why that was. For some reason, she felt like she had to be somewhere, but could not remember where.
With a flash of her horn, several vases flew across the room and shattered on the far wall. Her guards had already vacated the area, to escape her wrath. What in the name of all that was holy, was this nagging feeling at the back of her mind? Each time she tried to remember, her anger grew and she felt the desire to crush something under her hooves.
“DAMIT!”, she screamed, knocking her throne over. Some of the stuffing came out of the green and black silk that covered it from top to bottom, as her hooves struck it. Chrysalis walked over to the fallen piece of furniture, looking down at it mournfully.
“Great... I liked that thing...”, she growled to no one in particular. With an irritated snort, the Changeling queen turned and stormed out of the room. She planned on taking a walk to calm her down, but not before grunting an order to one of her subordinates, whom she met on her way, to repair her throne. The drone nodded silently, and went about it's business again once she was out of sight.
Chrysalis walked through the slimy corridors of her hive as if she was sleepwalking. Her hooves moved without her wanting them to. Round and round she went, until she came to the northernmost part of her hive. There were some storage chambers here in which her swarm kept construction materials, but not much else. She walked right past a tunnel that would have led her out of her hive, as if she did not see it at all, continuing her rounds. Hours went by that way and for the ninth time the queen found herself standing in the same spot. Two doors led into storage rooms, while there was a tunnel without a door in between them. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two doors.
“What.... do I keep coming back here for?”, she asked herself, rubbing one of her temples with a hoof. She didn't understand it one bit. There was nothing of interest to see here. The more she thought about it, the worse the queen felt. Her head started to feel like it was splitting open, while her vision started to blur slightly.
She shook her head and her eyes focused once again. It was, or so she assumed, time to take some rest. Chrysalis doubted that she would be able to sleep, yet there was nothing else to do. Maybe it would ease her headache, and her restlessness....
An hour later
Chrysalis was tossing in turning in her sleep. The green sheet of silk was on the floor next to the bed. In her dreams, the queen of the Changeling swarm saw something that had haunted her for weeks now. She dreamed about the same thing each and every night. This dream plagued her ever since she had been defeated by Shining Armor and Princess Cadences love for one another. She was standing on a snowy plain. There was nothing but snow as far as her eyes could see. Tears were pouring from her eyes, and she had a feeling of loss, like nothing she had ever felt before. She turned away from the sight and walked towards a cave. It's opening was so dark that she could see nothing but blackness inside.
Once inside, she walked in complete darkness, not bothering to light up her horn. First she took a right turn, then a left and then she went right again. Chrysalis did not know where she went, or why she was going there. All she knew was, that she had to be there and that it was important. But just before she could turn the final corner, someone pocked her in the side with a hoof....
Chrysalis awoke with a start. She was damp with sweat, and the feeling of urgency she had felt had increased considerably, instead of subsiding. With and irritated snort of annoyance at her sudden awakening, she glared at the drone that had poked her.
“WHAT?”, she snarled, unable to contain her rage. The drone seemed unfazed by her outburst however.
“I am here to report that the repairs on your throne have been finished your highness.”, the drone hissed, matching her angry glare with a look of indifference of it's own.
Outraged that she had not seen what was in that cave, just because this drone deemed it necessary to inform her of the completion of a minor task, she flung it against the wall with her magic. Chrysalis had meant to give it a good scare, instead it's head crushed on the wall. For a moment she felt sorry for that drone. She hadn't even known it's name.... Sighing the queen decided to get up and go to her throne room to inspect her drones work. There wasn't anything else to do anyway....
As she stood in the doorway to her private chambers, she thought she might also have to instruct one of her drones to clean up the mess she had just made. Throwing one last glance back over her shoulder however, she stopped dead in her tracks. Her muzzle hung open as she saw that the crushed body of the drone had disappeared. There wasn't even any blood where it had lain...
Chrysalis shook her head, which had started to hurt again, and dismissed the incident. The body had disappeared without her noticing, so what? One of her drones had seen the mess and had cleaned it up fast, and without her seeing it. That was the kind of loyalty that she expected from her underlings after all.... Or was it?
More irritated then ever, she made her way from the most southern part of her hive to her throne room. First taking a right turn, then a left and a right again. She stopped. This was exactly how she had walked in her dream. More conscious of her steps this time, she resumed her way. At each turn, she tried to remember the path she had taken in her dream, and compare it to the one she was walking on now. When she finally arrived in front of her throne room, she realized that it was exactly the same. The number of steps and each turn she had taken in her dream, were exactly the same as the ones she had to walk when she wanted to get to her throne room from her bedchambers.
“Why... haven't I noticed this before?”, the queen mumbled, stepping inside her throne room. She had to squint a little because her vision was becoming blurry once again. Something was not wrong with her, and she knew it. She had to sit down. Stumbling Chrysalis made her way towards her throne, when she saw something out of the corner of her eyes. A piece of furniture that had not been here before. Her eyes snapped open, as she stared at it for a moment. There, in what should have been her throne room, stood a wooden dresser that was decorated with golden rim. Immediately she called out for one of her drones. What did a dresser do in her throne room? The answer she got when she asked the drone about it puzzled her however.
“What dresser your highness?”, it answered, eying her carefully. As Chrysalis looked into the direction where it had been only moments before, there was nothing then a portion of bare wall. She looked around, thinking that she may have mistaken it's location but didn't find it anywhere. With a wave of her hoof the queen dismissed the drone, slumping down on her throne.
“What is wrong with me? Disappearing corpses, dressers that are not there.... Am I finally loosing it?”, she asked herself doubtfully.
After an hour of just sitting there and trying to calm her nerves, Chrysalis decided to take another walk. Unless she wanted to plan another attack on Canterlot, she really didn't have anything else to do anyway.... She found it strange, that she did not encounter a single drone on her way through the hives corridors, but didn't think much of it. It wouldn't have been the first time that they all disappeared somewhere. In the end, they always came back to her. This thought in mind, she walked a path, that brought her to the northernmost corner of her hive once again. All the while her eyes stayed vacant, and she was not the one who directed her steps.
Only when she smelled the familiar scent of rot, did she snap out of her dream like state. She was standing in front of the two doors once again, which caused a frown to find it's way on her face. This time Chrysalis decided to take a look into both of the rooms. Whatever she was looking for so desperately may be in one of them. It was the only reason she could think of for coming here over and over again anyway.
Opening the first door, the smell of rot grew stronger in her nostrils. Inside she saw several stacks of plywood that just waited to be used. There were some stacks of bricks as well. For what she was worth, she was unable to remember what her swarm needed those materials for. They lived underground, so they didn't need any materials to build houses.... The queen decided to have her drones throw them out once they had returned from their “field trip”.
The other room was a different story entirely. The smell that came from the inside was more then unpleasant. Yet she found several stacks of hay, some glasses of filled with fresh fruits and some other provisions that were fit for Ponies. Just why was her swarm keeping those? Changelings fed on love, and that could not be canned.... as far as she knew. There seemed to be several things that needed to be reorganized in her hive it seemed.
Chrysalis sighed and went back to her throne room. This walk had done her no good after all. Instead she had just ended up in the same place as before. Again, she didn't encounter a single drone on her way back. As she stepped into the throne room again, however, she caught sight of the dresser again. It was definitely there. It's white wood shimmered in a light green, and Chrysalis recognized her own magical aura.
“Now isn't THAT interesting.”, she chuckled to herself. Without bothering to call one of her guards this time, she walked over to inspect the dresser closer. It was, by all means, just an ordinary dresser. The only remarkable thing she was able to find, was a small gemstone that lay on the ground in front of it. It was a Sapphire, no doubt about that. Chrysalis picked it up with her magic to inspect it. This stone was of high quality! Nearly flawless and shaped like a tear, it resembled near perfection! If she were to sell it, she would get a few thousand bits for it for sure. Something in her scoffed at the idea. Torn between selling the stone and keeping it, the queen decided to decide later. Right now she was more interested in what was in this dresser.
For the second time that day, her jaw hung open. There were only three items in the dresser, but all three looked worn and damaged. Yet she could still make out that they must have been beautiful once. The sapphire blue robe with a white fur lace looked as if it was just about the right size for her. So was the slightly rusty piece of barding, that looked like it would fit around her neck perfectly. And then there was the last item.... A single golden horseshoe with a small, tear shaped, indentation on the front. Now she knew where the gemstone had come from. It was a piece of this horseshoe. A small tear rolled down her cheek. She had never owned something this beautiful, even if it was only one horseshoe, and the rest of the outfit was damaged as well.... Someone had wanted to surprise her, she thought as she put it on. Everything fitted perfectly, as if it had been made for her. Yet, as soon as the latch of the barding closed around her neck, a flash of blue magic surged forth from it. The queen recoiled as everything around her went dark. The faint green glow that the walls usually emanated vanished completely, as did the blue magic that had caused this.
Chrysalis cast a simple illumination spell to pierce the darkness all around her. To her surprise, she did not recognize her surroundings. The..... cave she was standing in was shaped exactly like her throne room, but lacked everything that made it recognizable. In place of her slightly hard throne, was just a pile of rocks that had been covered with hay. The fine red carpet that had lined the floor had been replaced by autumn leafs from last year, while a portrait of herself that was supposed to hang on one wall, was now nothing more then a crude drawing, done with charcoal. Hadn't she known that it was supposed to be her, she wouldn't have recognized the childish scribbles....
Anger began to well up in the queen. No one had wanted to surprise her with a gift. At least not in a positive manner. This was some kind of a prank, and she didn't like it one bit. Her temper rising, she began to walk through the network of tunnels, that resembled her hive to the last pebble. She wanted to find whoever had transported her here, and give him or her a piece of her mind. By this point, she had completely forgotten the robe, the barding and the single horseshoe she was still wearing.
As Chrysalis reached the part of the “hive” that was supposed to be her bedroom, she frowned. There was just a big rock on the floor that somepony had flattened with magic. On top of it was a layer of hay and a torn up silken blanket.
“I swear... if this is Celestias idea of a joke, to get back at me for my attempt on taking over Canterlot, then she has another thing coming!”, the Changeling queen murmured to herself, as her legs started to take her to the northernmost part of her “hive” once again. There were two half rotten doors there, that flanked what looked like a very old tunnel indeed. Chrysalis tried to open the right one, only to have it crumple under her hoof as she touched it. Beyond it, she found stacks of rotting plywood and bricks that had seen better days indeed. The other door did not fall apart as she opened it, but she had to use quite an amount of force to get the job done. The hinges were rusted to the point where they were almost completely locked up.
The smell that assaulted her nostrils from inside made her wish that she had not opened the door. Rotting food was all over the place, and it almost made her throw up. With all her might, she pushed the door close again.
The Changeling queen turned to the tunnel between the two doors. So far everything had been a bizarre parody of her hive, yet she did not remember this tunnel.
“I guess I have found my way out!”, she exclaimed, entering the tunnel eagerly. All she wanted was to get out of this place and get back to her hive. If she met the one responsible for this prank on her way there, she would make them pay for toying around with her.
For hours on end, Chrysalis walked in a straight line along the uneven tunnel. Different from the ones in her hive, and the parody of it that she had escaped from, this tunnel seemed to have been carved through the rock in a great hurry. Whoever had done it, was not a master at creating tunnels like she was, but an amateur at best.
Finally, she reached the end of the tunnel. This she determined by a faint light that shone into a hole in the far wall of it. Chrysalis sped up, eager to finally get out of here, but was disappointed soon, as she found herself in a corridor that seemed to belong to some kind of a dungeon. She looked around and saw that the light she had seen, was coming from everlasting torches that lined the walls. Trying to get her bearings, the queen started to walk around aimlessly.
The outline of this place was a hexagon, just like her hive was. She found that out after walking a around the complex in the corridor she had come out in. Soon she found other similarities as well. The paths that led further in, were positioned at exactly the same places, they were in her hive. Chrysalis frowned at this. What was this? Another parody of her hive? Whoever was playing this prank on her, was sure going through a lot of trouble just to get a good laugh on her expense.
But as she thought about it, her headaches started up again. She had to lean against one of the walls to prevent herself from falling over. Her throne... She had to get to her throne.... Sitting down in it's silky embrace would surely do her some good.... And so the queen began to walk. She ran completely on instinct, not bothering that this was not actually her hive. All she could think of was that she had to get to the middle of this labyrinth....
It took her almost an hour to stumble through the darkness of the inner halls, but she made it in the end. She was longing for the pain to stop, but the closer she had gotten to this place, the stronger the pain got. Finally entering the center of the labyrinth, she stopped dead in her tracks. This was not her throne room, even though it had the same size and shape. This room was dimly lit by a blue light, just like the one that had started all of this. In the center of the circular room, stood a pedestal, on which a white, glowing crystal hovered. Like a moth that is drawn towards the light, Chrysalis stepped closer and closer to it.
The headache that had plagued her just moments ago was all but forgotten now, as she stepped into the circle of runes around the Gemstone. They flashed a a bright blue, and the queen realized that she had stepped into some kind of magical device. Was this a trap? No, she couldn't feel any bindings on her body, nor on her magic. But what was it then? Chrysalis looked down to read the runed that were inscribed there.
The Prism of truth and memory. Wanderer, do not enter the circle of truth if you are not prepared to get hurt.
Get hurt? So was this some kind of trap after all? Just as Chrysalis wanted to back away and leave the circle, the air on the other side of the pedestal began to shimmer like it was very hot. The figure of an Alicorn mare appeared. She wore the same outfit that Chrysalis just realized she was still wearing herself. Yet the image of the Alicorn was semi transparent and she couldn't make out any colors then a faint tinge of blue.
“So you have come here at last....”, the mare in front of her spoke, with a slight grin on her face.
“Who are you, and why did you bring me here?”, Chrysalis demanded.
“I think you know who I am, and I did not bring you here. You came here because you want to remember... You want to remember who you truly are.”
“Don't play these games with me! Tell me your name!”
“My name is.... or rather was... Crystal Iris, and I think there is a lot we have to talk about.”, the mare said, never ceasing to smile.
Something happened inside of Chrysalis, and her muzzle curved upwards into a smile. The headaches.... The feeling that she had to be somewhere.... The anger.... All of it had ceased the moment that this mare had introduced herself. She settled down onto the ground, and the mare opposite her mirrored the motion.
“I think I would like that.” Chrysalis said with a gentle smile on her lips.
