Cogs & Needles

by Frostmourne

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Romance, Princess Luna, Original Character, Tragedy, Queen Chrysalis, Adventure, Princess Celestia
Length: 26965

Chrysalis searches for power, but meets somepony who may change her mind.

[NOT GRIMDARK]
Chrysalis may have been defeated, but that doesn't mean she is gone forever and eternally weak. She searches for a way to obtain extreme power and retake Canterlot through force. Along the way, however, she meets somepony from her past who may change her mind, and maybe even her heart, as he tries to keep her anger in balance for not only the sake of Equestria, but for him as well.

Meanwhile, tensions rise in Canterlot as Luna and Celestia argue over how to run Equestria, and ponies throughout Equestria choose a side in the matter, forming two regime-like parties: The Lunar Crusade, and The Solar Legion. Not only is everypony else divided in the issue, but the mane six are as well, and still try to hold their friendship together through the hard times Equestria is going through.

Author's Note: This story is set in an alternate universe where all technology is powered by cogs, steam, and oils. I know that it has been done before by RavensDagger with Of Steam, Gears, and Wings, but mine is less apocalyptic, and more of just a setting to add mechanical tools and inventions to Equestria, and to add the Lunar/Solar conflict. There are a couple of Noir elements as well, to add to the drama, and to create a more gothic style of setting.

Author's Note the Second: I have read the guide to the story genres recently made by Wanderer D, and have thusly decided to add a few extra genres to my story, and I have decided to create a small guide on which story arcs they are featured in below this. Alternate Universe shall not be added to the lists, as it applies to the story as a whole.

Act One: Lullaby of the Crucified = Adventure, Romance, Tragedy

Act Two: This Is Why We Fight = Adventure, Dark, Tragedy

Act Three: Salt In The Wounds = Adventure, Romance, Tragedy

I would like to credit ThatOneGuy92 for Creative Assistance in this project.

Published 2012-05-06 08:04:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-20 23:24:31 UTC

Prologue: Revenge

“I may fall, but I'll come back more ambitious, success is sweet, but revenge is so delicious...” - Borgore

Defeat. That despicable word brings a scowl to my face, and anger to my mind. I despise that word with such passionate fury and rage right now, that if my magic was fuelled by my own emotions alone, I could blow a hole through a mountain, particularly the one that distasteful city of Canterlot resides on. I almost had it all, I almost ruled over all of Equestria: the country that has frolicked and grown across the land for over a century, the disgusting ponies living within it forever living on, generation by generation, with the greatest of ease, whilst we changelings had to fight and survive; was almost in my hooves. Almost. Oh, how I hate that word as well...

I was there, atop of it all, more powerful than Celestia herself, and about to rule over Equestria with an iron hoof. The kingdom was mine for the taking, the city of Canterlot overtaken by my changelings. I would have had it all. I would have had the whole kingdom, were it not for those two daft fools. They defeated me with the power of love. Love, the emotion that gives me the most power when I drain it from one of those worthless ponies. The reason why it defeated me is unexplainable to say the very least. I should have simply absorbed it and through it gained such god-like power that even Discord would have bowed to my every whim. But instead, instead it flung me from the city, like a shock wave of incredible power the likes of which I had never seen before.

'How did it happen?' One would ask. How was I so close, only to be thrown down, and denied ultimate power, by two of those horrendous ponies who do not even deserve to lick my hooves? I cannot help but wonder that very question myself, despite knowing that it is unexplainable. Perhaps... Perhaps I had been too power hungry for my own good, letting my insatiable lust for extreme supremacy overtake my natural instincts of survival and stealth that all changelings possess.

It was originally supposed to be a grand reconnaissance quest that we had been planning for months. Equestria is known for the mass amount of love that is spread throughout its landscape. We would replace half of the populace of a city, feed off of their love, and using memory erasing spells, make it seem like nothing ever happened, leaving directly afterwards. We would stealthily move from village to village, town to town, and so on, until we had drained all the love we could have possibly obtained. We would have amounted enough love to keep us sustained for two years at least. But no, when I had a taste of the power of that fool of a pony's love, my mind had been corrupted with ideas of domination and power beyond my wildest dreams, and had made me change the plans from “Stealth and Survival” to “Invasion and Dominance”.

I suppose another factor that may have influenced my mind was my extreme hatred for the pony race, for you see, I had tried to live amongst them before. I was in my teens when I escaped from my kingdom, sick of my royal duties, sick of my mother bossing me around, sick of all the hatred that she gave me, sick of everything. I had heard of a land named Equestria, a land of peace, prosperity, kindness, and tranquillity. I did not know it at the time, but what I would find was quite the opposite. I had come across the city of Trottingham, its old fashioned walls and structures amongst the steam and clockwork powered machines and tools pleasing to the eye, and welcoming to any and all. I disguised myself, assuming the form of a pony, and blended in with the population of the city.

It was absolutely exquisite. All the kindness and love in the air itself was overwhelming to a single changeling, even a changeling princess. Ponies were nice to me, told me how beautiful I was, and even became my friends. One had gotten very close to me, closer than any being ever did before and ever has. He was handsome, charming, intelligent, kind, ...romantic. But I constantly reminded myself that it was fake, a façade. He had fallen in love with me, but only because I was disguised as a pony. I knew that if I ever unshifted and showed him what I truly was, he would treat me like all other ponies treat changelings: With hatred and disgust.

Every now and then, I would ask him the same question, time and time again: “What would you do if I wasn't who you think I am?”. Surprisingly to me, he had never taken the question as something to be deemed suspicious. He just gave me the same answer every time I had asked: “I would love you, and accept you all the same.” He was a true gentlecolt. He was... He was perfect. I couldn't believe it, but I was falling in love with him. I began to love him just as he loved me. I felt so... alive!

But that, like all things, was not meant to be, not meant to stand the test of time. I had decided to make a decision that I did not know would change my life forever, for better, or for worse. I had decided to show him who I truly was, what I truly was on the inside: a Changeling Princess. I had waited for the perfect moment: a moment when we could be truly alone to talk freely as lovers. That moment had come awfully, tragically sooner than expected. His parents and brother were out visiting Manehatten, and we alone were in his house, holding each other on his bed. It was paradise, a true moment of happiness I could not ever have dreamed of.

But then, he got up to show me something, and when he did, I did as well, preparing all of my courage. As he looked in his closet for what he wanted to show me, I told him that I would have something to show him as well. I shifted into my original form, noticing that I had gotten taller as a changeling over the time I had been living amongst the ponies. Once I told him I was ready, he turned around, holding a small black wooden box with silver linings. Once he saw me, and registered that his eyes were not playing him for a fool, he dropped it, causing it to open, the silver emerald encrusted ring that was inside sliding across the floor. I realised then that he was going to propose to me, ask me to marry him so that we could be together forever. But as he stood there looking up at me, all he could do was stutter and mumble, not a single word forming upon his lips, his eyes as wide as they could possibly be. He... He feared me. I knew he did. I also knew what came with fear: hate. Tears fell from my eyes as I realised he did not truly love me, and as I galloped out of his room and out of his house, I bit my lip so hard that my fang pierced it, a small amount of my blood dripping down and from my muzzle to the floor.

I soon realised that going outside in a gallop was not the best way to get out of a city unnoticed, as when I got outside, the ponies around looked at me and screamed, terror spreading amongst them as they saw me and realised what I was. Some began to throw things at me, and before long, the officers came and attempted to capture me, but I used my magic to fend them off and gallop away as fast as I could. The world had turned completely upside down for me, and the realisation devastated me. I galloped and galloped until I could not gallop no more. I stopped in an empty cave for shelter and rest, and as I lied down, all I could do was cry my eyes out. I cried for a peaceful life lost, I cried for lost friendship, I cried for lost love. As I lied there in complete misery and melancholy, I felt something rising inside of me, small at first, but gradually increasing in size until it consumed me: Wrath. I began to get furious, at the colt, at the ponies of the town, at everything. I even got furious at myself, telling myself that I was a fool to believe that they would accept me for who I truly was, and that I should have never put a hoof in that horrible city. I knew then that they hated me, and I swore that I would forever hate them back. I knew then what I had to do. I travelled back to my kingdom, as as if by fate, I discovered that my mother was on her deathbed. I was to have it all: the throne as Queen, and a kingdom of subjects to bend to my every command that I issued. But when I was crowned Queen, I did not care for those, I did not care for any of it at all I cared for one thing, and one thing only: Revenge.

I was supposed to feed my kingdom, take care of them, allow them to live. Now, for all I know, they are all dead. Every last one of my changelings, my subjects, are dead. And it is all my fault. I am the only one to truly place blame on for the death of my race. I let my personal feelings get in the way of my royal duties, and ultimately caused the very near extinction of my race. I would shed a tear for them if I could, but my tear ducts have long since stopped working by my will, for I am too refined to cry. Crying is for the weak, and I will not let that word ever define me again. I will find a way to survive. I will find a way to obtain extreme power. I will find a way to take what is rightfully mine and now mine alone.

I will take revenge.

Act: I Chapter One: Ponies Are Strange

It was mid day on the thirteenth of May, and all of the humble town of Ponyville was bustling with the everyday commotion it normally had. Some ponies were doing their daily jobs: from inventing and mechanic work to housebuilding, selling merchandise, and farming; some were enjoying a stroll through town and resting or eating at the park or at restaurants, but then there some ponies who were doing, well, a whole lot of nothing. Blizzard Underwood was one of those ponies, but not by choice. He was sitting in his cushioned desk chair: his throne, as he called it; and most simply just staring at an accursedly blank page in his typewriter. He had a case of Writer's Block, and a bad one at that. His eye that was uncovered by his royal purple mane, which was styled so that it covered just one and went over his glasses, twitched every now and then as his brain tried to process different ways to begin the chaper he was on in his story, but the uncreative blockage in his mind just would not clear out of the way for his creative processes to work. Blizz had worked in Canterlot as a Detective Commander for the Lunar Department not just because it was part of his his special talent, but because he loved doing it. His special talents were writing and detective work: the magnifying glass and letters upon his flank broadcasted that message well.

Eventually, he closed his eye and sighed, giving up on writing for the day, and upon opening it, typed three words, the click-clack of the keys the only sound resounding throughout the room he was in: "Woe, is me." He hopped out of his throne, and looked around the room, his unfinished bedroom. He had just moved into the house a couple days prior, and had not had the time to finish unpacking. There was only the basics: A bed, a nightstand, a birdcage holding his pet raven Nevermore, and a desk with his typewriter upon it. Upon his nightstand next to the mechanised alarm clock he had, was an autographed picture of his favourite show pony, the in/famous Great and Powerful Trixie. He smiled at it, remembering when he had gotten it from her, and the circumstances it was under. He had been in the city of Baltimare, on an investigation to find a chaotic pony who had begun to take his pranks too far, either literally scaring ponies to death, or tricking them into trotting into a deathtrap, finding a sick amusement in all of it. He stopped in a cabaret club to grab a coffee and clear his thoughts to better focus on the case. Whilst he was drinking his coffee in the corner booth table, however, Trixie had come on stage to preform, acting as grand as she always did. She invited a pony up on stage to do an act with, and lo and behold, it was the murderer! Blizz couldn't believe his luck, he had found his suspect, and he didn't even have to try. Blizz let Trixie do her magic trick on the unknowing crook, a classic fake cutting in half trick. Blizz laughed at the irony, knowing that that was one of the ways the criminal had murdered his victims. After the trick was over, Blizz trotted up on stage and held out his badge, arresting the pony and publicly thanking Trixie for her help in a murder case. He then trotted down and sent a message through Nevermore to the Baltimare police department, and waited for officers to show up by watching Trixie do the rest of her act, and forcing the crook to stay and watch with him. After the show was over, and the Baltimare officers came to take the criminal away, Trixie approached Blizz and gave him an autographed picture, telling him that it was so he "Would never forget the awesome show-stopping power of the Great Trixie."

He turned from the picture to some boxes of his clothes and belongings, deciding that if he was going out for a stroll through town, he might as well look good whilst doing it. He trotted over and opened the box closest to him, and upon opening it, was surprised. The set of clothes in the box on top of all the others was his old detective outfit. He hadn't worn it since a month ago when Luna made him come to Ponyville on paid vacation to spend time with his family. The only reasons he bought a house on the other side of town was because he liked the way the area looked, and so that he could have friends over and be out as late as he wanted. Shaking away all those thoughts to focus on the present, he pulled out the old outfit and began to put it on, from the black vest and tie with the white shirt underneath to the black trench, goggles and the clockwork decorated fedora. He put his glasses in their case and put them in one of the many pockets in his trench. Sometimes ponies would marvel at all the things he kept in his trench, asking where it all went when he put it in the coat, to which he came up with the response "It's bigger on the inside." He trotted over to the unhung mirror he had leaning against a wall, and spread his dark sapphire blue wings, remembering his glory days of working nights on end to find clues to catch a crminal and stop a spree of crimes. He trotted out of his room after grabbing his coin satchel, deciding that he would go to Cafe Everfree to grab a cup of coffee and hopefully catch a live broadcast of Everfree Radio. He trotted out into the Living Room/Kitchen area, and upon smelling something ghastly horrible, looked at the burnt mac and cheese he had failed at making earlier. He never was good at mac and cheese, like his old university roomie was. He trotted out his door, making sure to lock it, especially in the hard times Equestria was beginning to go through.

He trotted down the tan brick road that traversed the town, the section of it in the area of town he lived in a darker shade, almost a dark brown, seeing and listening to Lyra, who was playing a song on her lyre, eyes closed and a top hat next to her on the bench she was sitting awkwardly on. She was wearing a dark red stained leather corsette and a white blouse with a matching skirt. He brought out thirteen silver royals and dropped them in her top hat. Watching the coins fall in, he remembered two years ago back when he had used the old Equestrian currency: bits. They were a precursor to royals, being that they were small copper coins, but their value was too small. Some more fortunate ponies had begun to complain that having to carry so many at a time was becoming tedious, for the weight would begin to add up, and not to metion, you would have to have had multiple things to carry them in. After her return, Luna had listened to the complaints, and suggested to Celestia that perhaps a change in the system would be good to make transactions simpler and to show the advancements they had made in the Equestrian economy since over a thousand years ago. The Princesses had decided upon a suggestion from an inventor to make a three tier system of copper, silver, and gold coins. He went even further so as to suggest the name Royals, saying that hey could be made to show Celestia's sun and Luna's moon on the two sides. Thus, royals were born, and everypony took an immediate liking to them, happy that transactions would be much simpler from there on out. The conversion system was fairly simple, as well: One-hundred copper royals to a silver, one hundred silver royals to a gold.

As she heard the clinking of the coins in the hat next to her, Lyra opened her eyes, halting her playing hoof upon seeing Blizz. She looked in the hat and saw the thirteen silver amongst the small amount of copper. "Blizz, you know I can't accept thirteen silver, that's too much. And besides, you're my friend."

Blizz rolled his eyes playfully with a kind smile. "Nonsense, Lyra. You play way too well for the small amount of royals that ponies around here pay you. You deserve those royals, especially since they are mine. Just promise me you'll buy something nice for yourself with them. And I'm not taking no for an answer."

Lyra smiled at Blizz, setting down her lyre and giving him a hug as she hopped off of the bench. "Thanks Blizz, you're a better friend than I deserve."

"No problem, I'm just that nice a colt." Blizz said as Lyra ended the hug. "You're still up for that party at Pinkie's place tonight, right?"

"Heck yeah, Pinkie throws awesome parties, you think I would miss one of them for anything else?" She put her lyre in her top hat and held it up next to her with her magic. "I'll see you then, okay?"

"'Kay." Blizz said, and Lyra began to trot away, a happy smile on her face. Blizz smiled to himself. Everypony should be happy, no matter what. And if I have to be the one to make sure of it, then so be it. He trotted away from the bench, and towards the town market, the sound of the ponies arguing over prices able to be heard around five yards away.

He trotted around the various stalls of the market, scowling at the greed consumed merchants selling their wares: strange trinkets that supposedly gave you good luck, and poorly built mechanisms said to do various things but to the trained eye were only good for four or five uses, among others; for prices that were higher than the actual values of the items they were selling. Among the voices, however, he heard a friendly one, one that could be distinguished by it's accent alone. "Howdy partner, would ya care fer some apples? I sell for fair and honest prices, as everypony should." He turned and looked in the direction of the voice to see it was exactly who he thought it was: Applejack, the Honest Mechanic. He trotted over to see the customer she had been talking to kindly refuse, apologising as they trotted away. She sighed before she looked around and saw Blizz approaching her. As she saw him, a smile spread across her face, happy to see a friend. "Shoot, Blizz! It's always good ta see a friendly face." She straightened her hat and adjusted her goggles upon her forehead, and held a hoof out. "Ya here fer some apples?" She then patted her satchel with her trusty wrench in it. "Or do ya need somethin' fixed?"

Blizz chuckled, knowing that back home he had a couple of things in need of some fixing up, but he would never ask Applejack to do such trivial things when he could do them if he tried. An apple or two did sound good, however. "Sure, I'll take a couple." He flicked back his coat to reach for his coin satchel, and in the process, caused something to fall from his coat and onto the ground. "Hold up a minute, what's this?" He picked it up, noticing that it was a black wallet with decorative framing paint arund the edges. Could it be? He thought, opening it up. Upon seeing his silver badge from back when he was on the job, he smiled widely. "Blimey, it is! My badge! I could have swore I left it in my desk back at Canterlot!" He ran his hoof tip across the engraved calligraphic lettering that said his name and rank.

Applejack looked at the badge, reading Blizz's rank with a sense of pride growing inside her for the young stallion in front of her. "Detective Commander, huh? Ya never told us about that."

"Yeah, I never did, did I? I just thought it wasn't that big a deal, I guess." Blizz said, closing the wallet and putting it back in it's respective pocket in his coat.

Applejack scoffed. "Shoot, not that big a deal? Detective work is something ta be proud of!" She patted Blizz on the shoulder. "Detectives always search for the truth, and I admire that." She nodded her head, beaming at him.

Blizz blushed a bit at the compliment, not used to getting any. "Thanks Applejack, that means a lot to me to hear you say that. Not many ponies thank me for the work I do, besides my family and Luna, for obvious reasons." He smiled at her before he reached back towards his coin satchel. "Now about those apples-"

Before Blizz could finish his sentence however, there came a voice from the direction to their left. "Get out of Ponyville!"

Then another. "Yeah, you don't belong here, Solar Legionnaires!"

One more. "Well I ain't goin' nowhere, you moon-loving idiots!"

And finally another. "Neither am I!"

Blizz put a hoof sternly to the ground. "What in Luna's name is all that racket?" He said, turning toward the source of the yelling. The merchants and other ponies around him and Applejack stopped what they were doing to listen to the arguing, some went to go see what it was.

Applejack put a closed sign in her stand, and trotted ahead of Blizz motioning with her hoof to tell him to follow. "Let's go see what the problem is fer ourselves." She sped up to a slow gallop, Blizz right behind her. After a minute, they arrived upon the area around Town Hall, a moderately sized amount of ponies outside the building itself. They were separated into two smaller groups: One holding up flags and signs with a crescent moon with wings and a star on them, the other holding up flags and signs of the sun with rays spreading out from it with a silhouette of Celestia raising it in the centre. "Ah think this is about that Conflict Twilight was telling me about the other day... Ah hope nopony gets hurt, that would be a real shame." Applejack whispered to Blizz as they joined the circle of ponies around the two groups.

So far all that seemed to be happening between the two groups was just a bunch of shouting insults and opinions, but nevertheless, Blizz watched closely. He'd been through some arguments like the one in front of him before, and even had to break up a few. He knew that at any moment, somepony could make a stupid decision, and turn a simply disturbance of the peace into a riot. He looked at the Town Hall, and saw a pair of mulberry coloured hooves close a window, probably trying to block out the noise from the argument. He leaned towards Applejack, and whispered ino her ear. "I think somepony is talking to the Mayor to try and figure out a way to either regulate, or break up this argument." He looked again at the two groups, seeing how riled up they were. "Although, if they think they are going to do either without a little reinforcement from the law, I don't think they're going to get too far." He saw one pony trot forward a bit, pointing at the ground infront of him with a hoof, as if challenging a pony on the other side to fight him. "And that's not a good sign. Wait here, I'll wave you over if I need assisstance. I'll try to handle it for the most part. I've done this before, so don't worry." He made his way through the circle of ponies and into the line of space between the two groups, holding a hoof out to the pony who was making a challenge and making the pony sink back into his particular group. The two parties quieted down a bit, waiting for him to say something. "Good day, everypony. I am under the assumption that this is an argument over who should rule Equestria, am I correct?" Some ponies shook their heads, telling him he was right. He continued, "It is fine if you debate about it in public, so long as you keep your voices down and speak rationally." He pulled out his badge and showed it to them. "I am a Canterlot Officer, and if I see any violence out of any of you, I won't hesitate to place you under arrest."

"Ah, shut up, you stupid official. I see that badge, you work under Luna, and that automatically pits you with them!" A Solar supporter yelled, pointing at the Lunar supporters with a hoof.

Blizz sighed, rolling his ice blue eyes behind his goggles, unsurprised that somepony would make such an assumption. "I may work under Princess Luna in the Lunar Department, yes, but I deal out justice in fair measure, never in an opinionated way. Even if the ponies to my right support me," He looked at the Lunar supporters with a stern face to make sure they got his message. "I won't hesitate to place them under arrest as well, should they commit any crimes. Are we clear?" He saw some of the Lunar supporters nod in agreement, listening to him with more respect because he works under Luna. He turned back to the Solar supporters. "I am just here to act as a mediator for this debate, and to make sure that nopony gets hurt under any circumstances."

The same Solar supporter spoke once again. "A debate, that's all you think this is?! This is an outright war! Those moon-lovers want Princess Celestia out of the way so that Luna can rule over Equestria by herself and make it eternal night! If that doesn't go against justice and the Equestrian way, then I don't know if I can even bother to listen to somepony like you who holds the law so highly, you snotty night-defender!"

As the Lunar supporters began to yell in retaliation, Blizz put a hoof up, quieting them down, having a slight degree of control over them. He swallowed hard, fighting back his anger. I hate being called snotty. "Now, now, there is no need to insult an officer of the law, at least not to his face. In any case, now that we've heard plenty of your side of the argument, let's hear what the other side's view on things is." He turned to a Lunar supporter who looked eager and knowledgeable, despite his youth. He reminded Blizz of himself a couple years ago. "You good chap, could you represent the Lunar supporters for a moment, and tell me what you think?"

The young stallion bowed to him, and stood up with a polite smile on his face. "Certainly, Detective Commander." Blizz tried to hide his small smirk, he liked when ponies called him solely by his rank. The stallion continued. "Firstly, that talk of "Eternal Night" while it would be nice, is completely false. There would be no food to harvest without the sun, so we want it to stay in the sky as well. We just believe that Celestia does not listen to the ponies of Equestria enough, and not asking Princess Luna her opinion on something before doing it. Celestia has ruled by herself for a thousand years, and because of it, she has become slightly tyrannical, thinking that only her word is law, and that Princess Luna's word does not mean anything. She sets higher taxes for living, and then adds a tax to the food we buy, all without asking for Princess Luna's opinion on the subject, let alone the six members of the Equestrian High Court. We believe that everypony deserves a say in the matter, not just Celestia herself." The other Lunar supporters cheered for the young stallion, who blushed at the praise.

"Very well put, and without acting rash, thank you very much for participating. You may trot back into your group now." Blizz nodded to the pony with a kind smile, and saw the pony do exactly what he said. When he looked over at the Solar supporters, however, he could see scowls through the whole group.

A different Solar supporter from the one who spoke before, just as stubborn and rude as the one before, trotted forward and spoke. "Oh, so you're just going to believe their lies and slander because they were polite about it? Let me tell you this: We don't need anypony else to decide what's better for Equestria. Princess Celestia knows what she is doing, because she's done the same thing for over a thousand years, and could very well do it again! She doesn't need no help from that crazy sister of hers, or anypony else! She is all Equestria needs!" The Solar supporters cheered for him much like the Lunar supporters did for their representative.

A lunar supporter spoke up. "That is a completely empirical way of thinking! We need equality for this land to function correctly!"

"I'll show you empirical!" A Solar supporter galloped over and began to fight, other ponies beginning to join in before Blizz could do anything about it, and soon enough, Blizz's prediction had come true: a riot had started, and it was only going to grow in size unless he did something about it as soon as possible.

He waved Applejack over, and just as he was about to yell for everypony to halt, a voice rang out over the fighting, as if amplified. "Everypony please calm down! There is no need for violence!" Everypony looked at the entrance to town hall to see Mayor Mare with a megaphone, her mane in a bit of a mess. "I am ashamed of you ponies, starting a fight in the middle of Ponyville!"

A pony trotted out and stood next to her, a mulberry pony Blizz recognised: Twilight Sparkle, the Mechanomancer Inventor. She looked around at the ponies before her, seeing that they had stopped to look at the Mayor and her. "If everypony could please break up this riot and return to your homes and respective places of work, it would be a great show of respect for Mayor Mare and all of Ponyville."

A Lunar supporter spoke up. "Respect, like how you respect Celestia? I bet you lick her hooves, you mule!"

Blizz had had enough. Nopony insults his friends. "That is quite enough!" He galloped up onto town hall, spreading his wings, Applejack galloping up next to him. "You have two choices, either break up this fight like Twilight asked, or I will personally arrest every single one of you for not only disturbance of the peace, but assault as well!" Sweat was on his brow, which was arched in anger.

Applejack patted Blizz on the back, calming him down. "Relax partner, ah got your back." She whispered to him before she turned to the crowd with a condescending look. "An' ah won't be afraid ta help him, either! So if any of y'all want ta feel my hindhooves in your face, ah suggest you leave here right now, quietly, and peacefully." She spoke in a way that got her message accross, but didn't make the ponies want to retaliate.

Ponies who had their hooves up for punches and their rears up for bucks stopped and stood up straight, scowling at the members of the opposite factions, before all trotting away, the fight over and the perpetrators dissipating from the area. Twilight sighed with relief, turning to see Mayor Mare head back inside town hall after doing the same. As Mayor Mare closed the doors, she mumbled something about getting too old for her job. Twilight looked over at Blizz: who had calmed down a bit, his wings folded; and Applejack, who gave her a kind smile. "Thanks for the help you two, I don't think that situation would have ended too well if you hadn't shown up."

Applejack chuckled. "Shucks, no problem, Twi. I'll always be ready ta help ya out when ya need it, ya just gotta ask me."

Blizz sighed, still blowing off some steam. "I'm sorry that that pony insulted you like that, Twilight. Next time I see him, I'll be sure to buck him in the face for you."

Twilight was surprised, blushing a bit, and her eyes fluttering behind her goggles. "Blizz, you don't have to do that, that's highly unnecessary." Upon seeing Blizz hang his head in shame, however, she spoke again. "But thanks for the offer." She said it with a mischievous giggle at the end, a smile upon her muzzle.

Blizz smiled at her, and got curious looking from her to Applejack. "What do you think about the Conflict, you two?"

Applejack spoke first, her mind already made up. "Ah think all this fighting and arguing is just down-right ridiculous. Ah think the Princesses should rule together, like they did before, and a thousand years ago." She placed a hoof down getting her point across.

Twilight hummed, considering Applejack's point of view. "I agree with you Applejack. But I also think that some of the accusations of Princess Celestia being tyrannical and misguided ideas deduced by uninformed ponies."

"Well, if Princess Luna wasn't there with her, I'm sure she might be a bit." Applejack stated, hoping Twilight wouldn't take it the wrong way.

Twilight was taken aback. "Applejack, Princess Celestia is in no way empirical or tyrannical, she-"

Blizz interrupted her. "Y'know what, let's just forget I asked. We don't need something as ridiculous as the Conflict tearing us apart. Especially you two, Elements of Harmony and all that..."

Applejack sighed with relief. "Blizz is right, Twilight. We shouldn't fight over something like the Conflict."

Twilight smiled at her two friends. "I agree. We should just let other ponies fight over it."

Blizz chuckled. "Now how about we all go have a nice chat over food and drink?"

Applejack lightly hit Blizz on the shoulder with a chuckle. "I'll take ya up on that offer partner." She started to trot away, Blizz trotting next to her.

Twilight smiled to herself, seeing how well Blizz and Applejack got along. "That does sound good right now." She trotted a bit fast to catch up to her friends, trotting over a feew of the signs and flags that the supporters were holding up. She didn't pay them any mind, and did not want to. Her friends were more important to her than any Conflict or ponies who insulted her could ever be. As she caught up to Blizz and Applejack, all that she could focus on was one thought: I have amazing friends, and I will never let something trivial get in the way of our friendships. Even if it is a civil conflict.

***

Oh how revenge will taste so sweet upon my tongue when I am sitting upon Celestia's throne. I will find a way to make every last one of those ponies feel my true furious wrath. Perhaps I could take a look through some of their literature and museums. There may be old treasure or spells, the kind of which would grant the holder or caster with an incredible amount of power. Chrysalis thought to herself as she trotted through the Everfree Forest at near midnight, tired from hiding so long in the forest and avoiding towns. All since her last feeding in Appleoosa. That fool with the ridiculous hat did not give me as much love as I thought he would, only as much as I needed to get by. However, my mortal form grows weak, and I desire sustenance. ...I may not find some anytime soon, however. This forest it much to large in size to trot through, but I must, for I am too weak to fly in my current condition, and do not feel like shifting unless I know I am sure to find either love or kindness nearby. 'Tis the curse of being shunned by an entire race. Confounded ponies... She looked around her, and stopped in place. Her wicked horn began to grow the sickly poision-like harlequin green of her eyes, which promptly closed. She focused on scrying the sounds around her, trying to conserve her energy, for a visual scry would be too draining to do with the state she was in. She heard voices not too far off from her position to her right, about a quarter of a mile away. She opened her eyes, her horn's glow dissipating, and licked her lips and her fangs hungrily, a sinister smile spreading across her muzzle, a small evil chuckle escaping her throat. Where there are voices, there are ponies, and where there are ponies, there is love to be drained.

She went into a gallop towards her right, and as she dodged branches and bushes, shifted into the form of a pony, specifically one she had not used for quite some time. She shifted into a pony with a long straight and layered jet black mane and tail, a royal purple coat, and eyes the same colour as her own but more pony shaped, and unslitted. It was a simple shift form, one of her very first. Upon her flank was her favourite part of it, a fake cutie mark of a broken heart, a drop of blood dripping from it's tip. She burst through a tangle of branches and out into a small open field of grass, the light of Luna's moon shining down on her from above. To her right was a small cottage, a chicken coop outside. A road led from the cottage to a town not too far away. She could practically smell the love coming from the town on the wind, and it compelled her to keep her hooves moving. She galloped down the the brick road that led to the town until the town border was in sight, at which point she slowed down to a trot. She looked at the aesthetics of the buildings around her. Pipes on the rooves of some emitted steam, and upon the porches of most were clockwork tools and machines. She looked at the lamp posts on the sides of the road, seeing that the lit up lamps upon the were most likely powered by an oil, probably gasoline. Her eyes then wandered towards the ponies around her, their faces as ugly as monsters to her. The females wore fancy decorative dresses for show and poise, to tight fitting cloth and leather outfits with some decorative clockwork on them for manoeuvrability and style. The males either wore dress suits with pocket watches in their pockets, or cloth and leather outfits, both for much the same reasons as the women wore theirs. She was on the side of town closest to the forest, and as such, a few ponies carried small weapons: clockwork or flintlock pistols; to defend themselves against the creatures of the forest if they ever needed to.

The ponies seemed to be eager to get inside their homes and places of rest, the sky above growing dark as the pegasi began to move dark stormclouds over the town, a scheduled storm ready to take place. The light of the moon was blotted out from the sky as if it had been painted black, and the only light left was that from the windows of homes, and that of the gas lamps on the edges of the road. Chrysalis stood still in the light of a lamp post as she looked up at the clouds that had caused the inky blackness around her. Suddenly, a drop of rain fell upon her muzzle, and soon after another and another. Before she knew it, a light rain began to pour, which then progressed into a moderate downpour. The fake mane and tail she wore became wet, loosing their volume, and became completely straight. The false coat she donned was wet as well, it's purple even a deeper shade than it had been before. She trotted forward once again, trudging her dark form through the rain, the dark alleys and melancholy roads around her creating a sombre scene with the droplets of water falling from the clouds, cracks of lightning the only thing lighting up the alleyways she passed. Everything seemed to become diverse shades of black, grey, and white, as if she had trotted hoof into a gothic storybook. Through the pattering of the rain hitting the road and the slight whistle of the light wind, a kind laugh could be heard, the laugh of a pony trotting out of a building ahead of her, saying his farewells to the ponies who lived within. She tried to focus her sight through the rain, trying to get a glimpse of the pony in question, but the only thing she had been able to see before he closed the door behind him was a mane that was a carbon-copy of her false coat, the colour of it exactly the same. After the light of the building had left it's place around him, he became as dark a figure in the night as her. She followed him near silently, not only trotting lightly, but matching the stallion's hoof falls to mask the sound of her own. She was disconcerted by the leisurely pace he was trotting at, considering the weather they found themselves in. It was almost as if he was enraptured by the gloomy ambience he perceived around him. Chrysalis couldn't condemn him for it, the tenebrous and the funereal had a fascinating enchantment to them that near nothing else in the world could hold, in her mind.

She had gotten too ensnared by her own thoughts, however, and had off guardedly trotted upon a stray tree branch that had been placed before her by the wind and the current of the water. As the crack of the wood resounded through the cold night air, the stallion she was pursuing stopped in place, forcing her to do the same. He turned around to see nothing of her but a silhouette in the blackness. In the area betwixt them, a lamp post stood seldom from the rest, as if the world around them had ceased to exist, the lamp post the only source of light in a dark world. The stallion took a trot forward, and as did Chrysalis, following the lead of the somehow entrancing pony before her who seemed to enjoy the dismal and the dreary as much as she did. They shared trot after trot, until finally, as if in a peaceful climax, they had trotted into the light of the gas lamp, illuminating both of their forms for each other to see. She looked at him as curiously as he looked at her, if not more. His dark sapphire blue coat gleaming in the light from the wetness it had accumulated in the rain. Chrysalis swore she recognised the stallion before her, well-nigh seeming to remember him. The mane he had under his hat drooped over one of his eyes, which were both concealed by a pair of goggles. His hooves grasped the sides of his goggles, and pulled them down, allowing his eyes to get a better view of the sight before him. Letting his goggles hang around his neck, he opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light by opening them with lethargy, and when they were finally open wide, that was the second Chrysalis revived in her mind the memory of who he was. She could never obliterate the vision of those ice blue eyes from her mind. The eyes that lied. The eyes that had snared her heart, and then slain it. The piercingly frostbitten ice blue eyes of the first stallion who she had ever loved, he who had not loved her after all. It was him, the stallion from Trottingham. He stood before her, mouth agape, summoning his voice from his throat, the voice that had not changed at all since she saw him last. "Excuse me, but who might you be?" He didn't remember her form, the same form she had lived in the whole time they had fallen in love together. A fact that would make it that much easier to fool him once again, like the imbecilic stallion he was.

Chrysalis cleared her throat: stuffy after such a period of being unused; assuming the exact same voice she had adopted back then, back in Trottingham. "I'm just a stranger here, I arrived in town around ten minutes ago, before this rain started." She gestured to the falling rain with a hoof, before taking upon a look of weakness by bending her legs. "I don't really have anywhere to go, and no one to stay with."

The stallion smiled warmly at her. "No worries, you can come stay at my place for the night. I've got plenty of room, seeing as I just moved in." Chrysalis could feel the kindness coming off of him beginning to strengthen her, making it not as much of a toll on her to stay in her false form no longer.

"Thank you, you are too kind to a poor down-on-her-luck pony like me. My name is Hollow, Hollow Heart." She put on a face that almost seemed ready to become a pout, striking at the stallion's heartstrings.

The stallion put a hoof on her back, and did not stop smiling the whole while, almost beaming at her. "The name's Blizzard, Blizzard Underwood. But you can just call me Blizz for short. I swear to you, as long as you're with me, you'll be safe. I promise." He took off his detective's coat, and wrapped it around her cold form. He took off his fedora, and placed it upon her head, so that the rain would not wet down her mane any more than it already had. "Just follow me, and we'll be there in no time." He began to trot ahead of her, and Chrysalis soon followed in his hoof trots. Unknown to Blizz, Chrysalis wore a dark and mischievous smile as she trotted behind him. She couldn't believe the absurd amount of luck she had somehow attained. She had found a tool. An instrument in her grand plan. She would drain the love out of him just like she did that troublesome fool in Canterlot. He would be the crux in her vendetta against all of those accursed ponies who stand against her when they should revere her as a Goddess amongst them all. Throughout her mind, as present as it always was, was one constant and unending thought, the thought that she had never stopped keeping ensnared amongst all others and above them all.

Revenge.

Act: I Chapter Two: Strangling Infatuation

Blizzard Underwood could not have been happier in the moment he was in. He’d made a new friend, and a beautiful filly at that. Ever since Pinkie Pie had taught him how to make friends the first time he came to Ponyville, he’d amassed friends all around town, but what had just happened between him and Hollow was... different, somehow. The way they had trotted up to each other in the cascading rain, their eyes locking as they met, and the world seeming to fade away around them as they did, it was something that he thought only happened in the romance novels he read. His smile didn’t fade one bit the whole time they trotted on the way to his house, and he looked back a couple of times at Hollow to see her give a gentle smile back. Once they had finally come upon his front yard, standing in front of the black metal of the gate and fence that bordered it, he spoke again. It felt as though the walk home had been longer than usual.

“Well, here it is, my humble abode. I know it’s not much, but it’s still home, and it’s a nice one at that.” He pushed the gate open with a hoof, and the two trotted up the near-black smooth stone path and the ebony wood steps to the porch, where they stopped as Blizz reached into his vest pocket. After taking his keys out from it, he unlocked the door and allowed Hollow inside before him, like a true gentlecolt would. Before he trotted inside, he chanced a look around at the neighbourhood for a few seconds, taking a deep breath and sighing happily.

He then trotted inside, closing the door behind him, unsure whether or not to lock it, for he did not want to solicit the wrong idea. He trotted over and lit the lantern next to the couch before setting his keys down next to his toaster in the kitchen. He noticed that the toaster would need to be filled again, for its water supply was low, and if it ran out he wouldn’t be able to make toast for his Egg In A Baskets that he loved so much. Really, after all, what’s an Egg In A Basket when the bread’s not toasted? ...It’s just a worse tasting Egg In A Basket is what it is. He turned around to see Hollow lying on the couch, the coat and fedora she had been wearing both on the coffee table in front of her. Blizz’s mind began to wander as he stared at her.

She must really be exhausted. I wonder how she even got to Ponyville. Did she come by train, or by hoof? If she trotted here, it’s no wonder she’s tired, even if she is an earth pony, especially if the place she trotted from was rather far, like Canterlot, or Appleoosa. How long had she been trotting since her last rest? Did she even rest at all on the way here? He shook his head, freeing his mind of the constant flow of questions he kept asking himself. He smiled as he rolled his eyes at how silly he was being, and trotted over to the couch. Hollow looked up at him, her eyelids half open, and a yawn escaped her muzzle.

She’s really cute when she’s tired, at least. Especially when she yawns. Blizz cleared his throat. “You do know I’m not letting you sleep on the couch, right?”

Hollow rubbed an eye with a hoof, groaning sleepily. “But I’m extremely tired, and I can’t just sleep on the floor, it’s not comfortable enough!” Her eyes opened wide and her lips puckered out to form a pout that would sway even Detective Strahm, Blizz’s childhood hero, and one of the toughest Detectives in the history of the profession.

“Oh, c’mon, I’m not mean! I know you’re tired, and that’s why you will be sleeping in my bed while I sleep out here on the couch, just as it should be.” He chuckled as he took her hoof in his, and helped her off of the couch. He led her down the hallway and into his room, where he helped her into bed and covered her up to allow her as much comfort as possible. He trotted over to his desk and grabbed his typewriter, the embossed silver lettering on its side bearing the name “Stephano” shimmering lightly in the light of Luna’s moon from his bedroom window as he did so.

Just as Blizz was trotting out of the room, Hollow spoke once again, her voice that of a gentle whisper, comparable to a pleasant late night breeze. “Thank you, Blizz.”

Blizz turned to look at her after she said it, and her alluring green eyes trapped his gaze, locking his eyes on hers. Time seemed to stand still in that moment, and Blizz felt his heartbeat hasten. Her eyes had an entrancing effect upon him, as if they were hypnotically drawing him in.

A dryness scratched at his throat as he swallowed, struggling to force the words out. “N-no problem, Hollow. ...You’re welcome to stay here whenever …and however long you like.” He finally blinked, and upon doing so, shook his head, keeping his eyes shut. “G-good night.” He trotted out of the room, closing the door behind him as he did so.

After he did, he sighed with relief in the darkness of the hallway, taking a few deep breaths. His body felt as if he had just galloped around Ponyville, and he couldn’t understand why. He trotted down the hallway and into his living room quietly as he possibly could, not wanting to prevent Hollow from falling asleep. He set his typewriter down on his coat and moved his fedora aside. He took out the page he had typed on early that morning, leaving a blank one in it’s place. He raised his hooves to get ready to type, but just as he did, he realised his mind wasn’t going to allow him to anything of the sort. As he stared at the blank page, into the pure emptiness of it’s whiteness, his mind could only think about Hollow, and how she had made him feel as he left the room. He had a deep feeling, not just in his heart, but in his mind as well, that gazing into Hollow’s eyes reminded him of something very similar, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember what it was. That feeling, I swear I feel as though I have felt it before, but I know for a fact I never have... Or maybe I have felt it before, and I just cannot remember when and where I did, and with whom...

He rummaged through his mind as best he could, filing through the different memories he had, as if he was filing cases he had worked on in a file cabinet. At one point, however, he felt a mental rift, an anomaly that shouldn’t be there. He delved towards it, striving to remember, trying to figure out what was in the rift, but no matter what, as his mind tried to close in on the rift, and access the memories within, it became harder and harder to just try. It was as if a brick wall had been built around that section of his memory banks. It had to be there for a reason, but why? He tried to force his way inside, and access the information behind the metaphorical wall. He tried to take down the wall, brick by mental brick, but just as he began to feel as though he had only removed one brick, one single piece of metal blockage, tears streamed down his face, and a great feeling of melancholy began to wash over him. What could the memories behind the wall be? Why do they cause me to cry, and feel so much despair? What could have happened that was so horrible and traumatic to me that it cause my mind to block it off from the rest of my consciousness? Why can’t I remember it?

Upon reaching that question within his mind, he snapped out of his trance, and came back to reality. As he did, he was breathing heavily, and his head pounded with pain, much like what would happen if he were to come out of a coma. He looked at his big clockwork clock he kept on the wall, and noticed something that shocked him. He had been sitting on the couch, infiltrating his mind for the past twenty minutes. He couldn’t believe he had been doing it for that long. He felt even worse than he had before he started, and was able to shut his eyes after using a bit of force, They felt as dry as the desert of Saddle Arabia. He leant over and blew out the lantern he had lit upon coming home. As he lied his head down on the couch pillow, he felt like he hadn’t slept for days. He slowly closed his eyes, letting relaxation and peace blanket him as he did so. He had one last thought before he fell asleep, and his body began to rest, but that last thought would stick with him as he slept that night, for it was the only thing his mind could think about. If whatever I can not remember brings me such extreme feelings of misery and depression, then I don’t think I want to even remember it at all...

&&&

As the morning light of Celestia’s sun seeped into the windows of the home of Blizzard Underwood, and slowly began to creep over his shut eyelids, all in the house was peacefully still, the bliss of silence blanketing every room. The only thing that would dare interrupt such a calm moment would be something unknowing of the gift of silence, such as an inanimate object. And so, the clock upon the wall in Blizz’s living room began to chime, breaking the silence, and noting the hour as the first hour of dawn. The combination of the blinding light of Celestia’s sun, and the ringing in his ears from the clock forcefully summoned Blizz from his slumber, opening his eyes only to close them tightly again in blinding pain. A sneeze escaped his muzzle, a reaction from the sun blinding him, and he groaned quietly.

“Come on, Celestia, why do you have to wake up so early every morning?” He slowly sat up, rubbing an eye with a hoof as he did. After a stifled post-sleep yawn, he viewed his surroundings, the events of the past night replaying life a short film within his mind. He hopped off the couch, his hooves resounding on the ebony wood floorboards, and after stretching his hooves, back, and wings, shook his head to eliminate all the tiredness he still had in his body.

He quietly trotted down the hallway and to his bedroom door, which he promptly opened as gently as possible. He peeked his head in, and came upon the vision of Hollow, lying peacefully in his bed. She was still in a deep and quiet slumber despite the fracas that the clock had just made a moment before. Blizz smiled at the sight, admiring how elegant she looked, even whilst she slept. He softly closed the door, keeping as quiet as possible so as to allow Hollow to sleep. He trotted down the hallway once again, heading out into the kitchen, so he could begin his day. He still didn’t know why, but all he could think about was Hollow, just like the night before. It was as if his mind couldn’t get enough of her. Hollow Heart... Such a beautiful name... One befitting of a noble of some kind. I wonder if she had been a noble wherever she came from... It would explain the elegance and grace of her every movement, the air with which she holds herself, and the beauty which she beholds.

He retrieved a cup from a cupboard, and after filling it with water from the tap, emptied the water into the toaster’s reserve. He opened the window behind the toaster, preparing for the steam that came off of the appliance as it did its magic. He extracted two slices of bread from a loaf in his pantry, set them inside the toaster, and pushed down the slider that began its cooking process. Steam began to flow from the exhaust pipe and out the window, just as it always did when he used it. He admired the wonders of the engineering that went into the toaster as he watched the steam engine heat up and begin to cook his toast. With a smile, he turned from the machine, and trotted out into the front room. Once there, he trotted over to the three book cases he had, the titles ranging from Daring Do and the Griffon’s Goblet, and Potter the Pony and Clever Clover’s Stone, to Ruler of the Bracelet: The Brotherhood of the Bracelet, the last of which he took out to read. He sat on the couch and opened the book, relaxing as he waited for his food to finish heating up. However, his food wasn’t really what he was waiting for, and even he knew it. He was waiting for Hollow to get up. He couldn’t explain it, or find a reason why. The only thing he did know, was that he could not get enough of her.

&&&

Not until six hours later did Chrysalis, still disguised as Hollow, awake. Her coma-like sleep was disrupted by the sound of wood being knocked upon by hooves, and she scowled at the fact that she had been roused before her full sleep cycle was finished. She needed more sleep than normal, due to the length at which she had trotted without sleep from Appleoosa. As her senses came back to her, she began to hear muffled and hushed voices from behind the wall and down the hall. Curiosity rose inside her. Who could those voices be coming from? As far as she could tell, there were two other voices besides that of Blizz’s, who seemed to sound surprised, and perhaps... reluctant about something. Hmm... Are there ponies inquiring about me? Bah, it is most likely nothing, the fool does not have any recollection of me, and therefore has no reason to betray me. As far as he knows, I am just a poor pony who wandered into town and has no friends. The worst thing it could possibly be is a couple friends of his, wondering just exactly why they have to be quiet.

She chuckled darkly to herself as she pulled the blankets off of her slowly, stretching her disguised limbs, feeling much better than she had the night before, especially with the kindness that Blizz had given her, along with the small amount of love she had been able to extract by putting on her charms for him, and entrancing him with her eyes. That knave is playing right into my hooves. The changeling gaze I had cast upon him last night meant more than he most likely thought it did. It was a magical presence, one that implanted thoughts of love into his head, and made him begin to love me. The spell I cast upon him with my eyes was one of longing, and lust. I wouldn’t doubt that he’s probably thought about me non-stop all day because of it. She descended from the bed and onto the wooden floor, landing softly, so as not to alert Blizz and whomever he was with to her awakeness. She quietly sauntered over to the mirror that leaned against the wall, the cold dark black metal frame of flowers and angelic ponies adorning it unaffected by the light of the sun that was cast upon it, as if the metal was made specifically for that purpose. She gazed upon herself, or rather, her false self, in the fine reflective glass of mirror, and patted down sections of her fake mane, morphing sections if she had to, until it was in perfect order. She began to trot towards the door, only to find it open for her, instead of having to open it herself.

The pony responsible for the opening of the door, Blizz, stood within the doorway. He gasped upon locking eyes with her, and swallowed hard just afterwards. He stood there for a good ten seconds, breathing deeply, before he was finally able to summon words from the vocal cords in his throat, the whole time Hollow giving him a kind and warm smile.

“Er... Th... There’s a couple ponies I’d like you to meet, and who would like to meet you. I was just coming in to wake you up. ...Me and my friends didn’t wake you with our talking, did we? Or what about their knocking? I tried to tell them to stay quiet. Well, I only had to tell one of them to stay quiet, but you know what I mean...”

“No, ‘tis perfectly fine, I slept for a longer time than acceptable anyways, and I needed to be woken up. Now then, show me to them, if you please,” Hollow said, lying through her teeth. She was still slightly peeved that she had been so rudely awoken, but the small amount of love emanating from Blizz was giving her enough pleasure to help her keep calm.

Blizz sighed with relief to find that Hollow was not visibly angry. He swallowed again before he spoke, feeling as though his throat was dry. “Right...” He turned and trotted out of the bedroom, and down the hall. As they came into the living room, the sight of two ponies became clear, a light gray one wearing a regal looking dress and top hat with glasses, and a pale light grayish gold one wearing a casual dress and decorative protective covering upon her wings. Hollow recognised the both of them, and it took all she had to not growl upon seeing them. They were Rarity, the noble and generous lady, and Fluttershy, the kind and timid. Two of the ponies that opposed her at Canterlot when she had tried to take over. Rarity smiled and stood proudly, used to meeting new ponies, but Fluttershy however seemed to try to hide behind Rarity, her shyness getting the best of her as it always did. Hollow and Blizz stopped in front of them, and Blizz cleared his throat as best he could, swallowing once again. “Rarity, Fluttershy, this is Hollow, Hollow, these are my friends Rarity and Fluttershy.”

Hollow smiled gently at the two ponies before her. “Hello, my name is Hollow, Hollow Heart. It is so very nice to meet you, Rarity and Fluttershy.” After she finished her sentence, she bowed before them, like a true lady. She could not have been any more convincing.

Rarity bowed before Hollow as well before speaking, happy to see somepony else who enjoyed proper etiquette as much as she did. “And it is very nice to meet you too, Hollow Heart. Just as Blizzard told you, my name is Rarity. I am the local tailor of this town. Perhaps you have heard of me? I have made dresses for ponies such as Hoity Toity and Sapphire Shores before.”

Hollow pretended to be taken aback. “Why, I have heard of you before! Your designs are simply magnificent, Miss Rarity. The way you sew your dresses is absolutely divine.” Rarity’s eyes lit up upon hearing Hollow say that, and Hollow knew she had Rarity in the bag, hook, line, and sinker.

“Why Hollow Heart, you flatter me! You simply must come by my shop here in town sometime. I would be more than happy to make you a fine dress that would perfectly show everypony just how ravishing you are! It would be my pleasure, and my honour,” Rarity said, placing a hoof upon her chest in pride.

Hollow smiled politely and bowed her head slightly in a respectful way, to show she was grateful for the offer Rarity had just made her. “Thank you very much, Miss Rarity. I’d be more than happy to stop by your shop sometime and get a dress made for me. I’d love to see you in action as you do your magic.”

“Oh, please, Hollow Heart, stop it! The amount of praise you are giving me is just too much! I am not worthy of such a grand amount of praise! ...But no, really, you can praise me all you like, I quite enjoy it,” Rarity said with a gleeful smile. She gestured a hoof over to the couch in the middle of the living room, and Hollow nodded her head, agreeing to the invitation to sit down that Rarity had presented to her.

As Rarity and Hollow trotted over and sat upon the couch, discussing all sorts of different things, and getting to know each other, Blizz trotted up to Fluttershy, who was standing a little bit taller since Hollow had trotted away from her. “Heya, Shy, how’ve you been since last night? I remember you left the party early because you didn’t want to get stuck in the rain, and because the loud music that was playing bothered you.”

A dainty little smile spread across Fluttershy’s lips as her back and neck straightened, and she stood at normal height. She was finally comfortable again since one of her friends was talking to her. “Oh, I’ve been just fine, Blizzard, thank you for asking. But, I didn’t leave the party for just those reasons, I also left the party because I wanted to be home to be able to put all of the animals I take care of to bed. I couldn’t just leave them unattended all night.”

Blizz smiled knowingly as he heard Fluttershy’s explanation. “Ah, it’s fine, Shy. No need to worry about it. There’s been times where I’ve had to leave a party because of prior engagements, as well, so I can completely understand where you’re coming from in that regard.” He gestured his head back and to the right, towards the kitchen. “C’mon, let’s talk more in the kitchen. I’ll grab us both a glass of water while we’re at it, too, ‘cause I’m feeling parched.”

He turned around and led Fluttershy into the kitchen, where the scent of Egg In A Baskets could still be caught upon the nose. Fluttershy took a seat at the small circular dining table, whilst Blizz grabbed two glass cups and filled them full of cold water from the tap. After filling them both, he brought them over to the table on his wings, sliding Fluttershy’s in front of her, whilst sliding his over in front of the seat he wanted to take. He sat down and took a sip from his glass while Fluttershy did the same, and then finally spoke again.

“So, what do you think of Hollow, Shy? Isn’t she just the most beautiful filly you’ve ever seen?”

Fluttershy didn’t really know how to respond to the question, because Hollow was the last thing on her mind at that moment. “I... I guess she is, yeah...” Her response had come out almost as a whisper, just as soft-spoken as ever. “I mean, she is really pretty and all, and Rarity seems to like her, but...” Fluttershy stopped there, she didn’t want to say anything that would anger Blizz.

Blizz, however, could tell that Fluttershy had stopped before she was about to say something. Three years of Detective work taught him to be able to read into ponies speaking patterns, and also the expressions on their faces. Unluckily for her, the expression on Fluttershy’s face at that moment showed that she had something to hide. “Fluttershy, you don’t have to keep things to yourself. I’m your friend, you can trust me. Now, I may disagree with something you may say, but in the end, it’s your opinion, and it’s not my place to change it. Even so, however, you’re my friend, and your opinion matters to me, whether I like it or not, so please, tell me what’s on your mind.”

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, but then sighed in resolve. She knew that Blizz meant what he said, and that she didn’t have to worry about him getting mad at her. “Well, it’s about Hollow. I’m not sure if she’s really a nice girl or not. Sure, her words and her voice may sound kind, but her eyes... When I looked into her eyes, all I could see was darkness, and... and hate.” Fluttershy looked away from Blizz as she spoke, feeling bad for disapproving of Blizz’s liking for Hollow.

Blizz was surprised at what Fluttershy had said, and could hardly believe it. Whenever he had looked into Hollow’s eyes, all he saw was kindness, caring, and... and something else he couldn’t put his hoof on, but he knew that it wasn’t bad. If anything, the feeling he had gotten was better than any he had felt in his entire life, he just didn’t know what it was called. “I... I don’t know what to say, Shy. I’m just confused. I mean, I don’t see either of those things when I look in her eyes. When I look in her eyes, I get a feeling of... of...” He was trying his hardest to figure out what the feeling was, but no matter how hard he tried, he didn’t know what it was called, or what to call it. “What is that feeling called, where... where you feel your heart beating faster, and you have trouble breathing normally. And... and it feels as though butterflies are in your stomach?”

It was Fluttershy’s turn to be surprised at something somepony said. She absolutely couldn’t believe that Blizz didn’t know what it was called when somepony loved another. She wondered for a moment if that meant that Blizz had never fallen in love with anypony before, but she decided not to ask that. “Blizz, that feeling... That feeling is called Love. It’s when you like a pony so much that you can’t help but think about them all the time, or want to be with them all the time. That’s what you’re trying to say, right? That you feel love for Hollow?”

A smile appeared on Blizz’s face. “Oh my gosh, I’m so stupid! I can’t believe I couldn’t tell that it was love!” He blushed, and leaned his head down and forward. “Er... Yes, I... I think I love Hollow.” He was happy to finally say it aloud. He felt as though he wanted to shout it from the roof of his house, but at the same time, he felt as though he wanted to keep it secret, and keep it safe. “Wow, that’s... That’s amazing. In all of those romance novels that I’ve read, I’ve read about love so many times, it’s not even funny. ...And yet, I couldn’t tell that I was in love myself.” He grabbed one of Fluttershy’s hooves between both of his own, causing her to blush. “Thank you, Fluttershy, thank you!” He felt so happy, he just couldn’t contain it.

Fluttershy was taken aback, and gave Blizz a nervous smile as she nodded her head. She slipped her hoof out from between Blizz’s, and sighed with relief before she spoke again, with a kind smile. “No problem, Blizz, I’m happy I could help. Now, I know you may love her, but please, remember what I said, and be cautious. I don’t want one of my friends to get hurt. That would be just awful!”

Fluttershy meant what she said, and Blizz could tell. He smiled, happy to know that no matter what, his friends will always look out for him. “Again, thanks, Shy. You have no idea just how much what you’ve done and said means to me, so I’ll keep that in mind.” He took another sip from his drink, and just as he did, the clock in the living room rang, telling everypony within the house that it was three o'clock. Just after it finished, the sound of hooves upon the wooden floor of the house could be heard coming towards the kitchen, and Rarity trotted in, Hollow behind her.

Rarity quietly and politely cleared her throat before she spoke, announcing her presence in the room, and Blizz and Fluttershy turned to look at her. “Sorry to have to leave so soon Blizzard, but Fluttershy and I simply cannot be late for our spa appointment. Aloe and Lotus would be disappointed if I didn’t show up today, because I always get a treatment there on this day of the week, and I am their favourite customer.”

Blizz gently hopped out of his seat with a content smile. “Ah, no problem Rarity, Fluttershy and I had just finished talking anyways.” He helped Fluttershy out of her seat, and after emptying the two glasses he had poured in the sink and leaving them on the counter for cleaning, the four trotted out into the living room and to the door, which Blizz opened for Rarity and Fluttershy, who both left with a kind goodbye to him and Hollow. “See you two around!” Blizz said with a wave of his hoof, just before closing the door softly.

He turned from the door with his eyes closed as he adjusted his tie. “Those two are really nice ponies, don’t ya think, Hollow?” With the utterance of her name, Blizz opened his eyes to see Hollow lying upon the couch. Blizz gulped as he looked at her. The position she was in, in which she lie spread out upon the couch, was intently alluring, but what was more importantly alluring as well, was her eyes, which seemed to glow once again with a virulent green that hypnotized him, just as they had the night before.

He couldn’t look anywhere else but her eyes, the spell they were casting on him was tainting, it stained his mind with an paramount and sovereign feeling of absolute rapturous passion that blanketed his mind and all of his thoughts, entirely wrapping them within. She was everything to him in that moment, and his body was under her ultimate authority. His hooves began to move on their own accord, lifting themselves one by one, trotting ever closer and closer to Hollow, who was waiting for him as they did so. He stopped in front of her, his head bent down as his eyes were still locked with hers. He felt his neck motion forward and downward, and as it did so, his muzzle became closer to Hollow’s, and a blush spread across his cheeks. Then, in one nimble act, Hollow’s lips locked with his, and his eyes opened wide, whilst hers closed. He felt her silken tongue brush against his lips, and he couldn’t take it anymore, his heart was fit to burst as his lips parted to allow Hollow entry into his mouth, and as did hers. Their tongues began to glide against each other, and wrap themselves around one another, like snakes, her tongue more so than his.

It was the final stroke, Hollow had finally won him over perfectly and wholly. He had been corrupted, ruined, by her kiss, for it was the kiss of a changeling, which is much akin to venom of the highest potency, or poison of the highest caliber. Once their lips finally parted, a small string of saliva dangled between them, which Hollow licked up. Hollow gestured to the space in front of her that was left on the couch. Without needing instruction, Blizz did exactly what she wanted him to, to the letter. He snuggled up next to her upon the couch, and she wrapped her hooves around him, one under his wing and around his chest, and one around his neck, holding him close to her. She kissed him on the cheek, and his eyes began to close slowly, sleep coming to him much easier than it normally did, as he breathed slowly and calmly, until he was finally unconscious between the hooves of the filly he had fallen in love with.

Just as he did so, a wicked and sinister smile spread across the disguised lips of Chrysalis, for she had just gotten the most insidious idea for a plan within her mind, one that would allow her to take complete revenge upon the fool she was holding betwixt her hooves. One that would put every single one of his limits to the test, and make him face every wrong that he had committed against her on that fateful day when she had learned to hate his race. By the end of it, he would be driven mad, completely and utterly insane, and in his hysteria, he would take his own life. It would be a flawless and supreme form of revenge, and Chrysalis was surprised she hadn’t thought of it sooner than that moment. She looked down at Blizz, who was still breathing softly, his body tranquil, and his mind comfortably numb and mellow. She would wait until night spread throughout the land, and once it did, lead Blizz away from the town and all of its inhabitants, and deep into the Everfree Forest.

The forest that will become his eternal resting place...

&&&

Throughout the history of Equestria, ponies have been faced with consequences for the actions they’ve made. They’ve been frozen absolutely solid for hating each other, they’ve been locked up for committing such crimes as treason, theft, or murder. They’ve been imprisoned, or banished, to domains where they couldn’t hurt anypony, and some had even been turned to stone. But with all of the punishment that had been dealt throughout time immemorial, some crimes are never given punishment for. Crimes against the heart being just one kind of them. The only time that the committees of crimes such as those were punished for them, was when somepony knew about them, and in a queer sort of vigilante justice, punished them for the crimes they had committed against whomever, be it the vigilante themselves, or somepony else that the vigilante cared about.

Blizz did not remember it, but he had committed those very same crimes long ago, when he had lived in Trottingham. Chrysalis, however, remembered everything. Every single exact detail about the crimes. She remembered the rejection, the fear, and the hate. All of them. And the fact that he was unpunished for them, it made her outright furious. She knew that the only possible way for him to be punished for the crimes he had committed against her, the only way for him to face consequences for his actions, would be if she made him face the consequences. And so, it was with that, that Chrysalis had devised her plan. As night descended across the land, she waited patiently. The immense amount of patience she beheld whilst waiting for night was nearly infinite, for she knew the time for justice was drawing near, and it was in that fact that she found resolve and patience. As night finally arrived, and the light of dusk was no longer upon the horizon, the time of action had finally arrived. And Chrysalis would not waste any second of it for all the world.

Blizz awoke with a start, gasping for breath as he did so. He felt as though his lungs had been crushed just a moment before he awoke it was hard to breathe. He concluded that his body seemed to be numb. He couldn’t move anything, except for his eyes, which were open wide. He realised he was still on his couch, and found peace in that fact, but he could not feel Hollow behind him anymore. Instead, all he felt was the chill of the emptiness of the space she had left behind him. He could barely see anything as his eyes wandered, his vision trying to adjust to the darkness all around him within the house. It was then, however, that he came upon a disturbing sight: his front door was open, however slightly. He normally wasn’t a pony to give into paranoia easily, but at that moment, he was extremely susceptible to the normally facile perception. After a moment or two, feeling slowly began to come back to his body, and with feeling, came slow and careful movement.

He slid off of the couch, placing his hooves on the floor as silently as possible. He quietly moved over to the door, looking around with caution as he did. He cracked the door open a tad further, just enough to stick his head out through the opening. As he looked around outside, he spied nopony within his vision. Nopony but one. A most familiar silhouette sat between the gate to his front yard, and in that instant, he knew that the reason for the door being open was her. It was Hollow, staring at him through the cloudless moonlight, a hoof out, as if inviting him to come out to her. He was standing in his doorway by that time, the door open fully. He had a feeling that she wanted to take him somewhere. Somewhere they would be all night. He trotted back inside quickly, and set the contents of his vest pockets upon the coffee table, not wanting to accidentally lose any of them, before trotting back to the doorway. As he looked back out upon the sight of Hollow, he saw her standing, ready to begin trotting to wherever she wanted to trot. Blizz turned the lock on the door as he trotted outside.

As he began to trot down the path from his home to the road, Hollow began to trot as well, beginning to lead him to where she wanted to go. As he followed her, Blizz couldn’t help but wonder where she was taking him. He remained silent, not wanting to ruin the moment, but in his head, he kept asking questions that would not receive answers.

We seem to be trotting further within the dark side of town, closer to the forest... Could that be where she’s taking me? Somewhere within the forest? What could be in the forest that she wants to show me? It there a specific place in the forest that is special to her? ...I guess I’ll just have to trust her. She most likely knows what she is doing if she is daring to trot within the Everfree... Blizz decided to quit asking himself questions, and to just simply let things happen as they happened.

After a trek that seemed to forever, the buildings around them began to fade as they trotted away from them. They were trotting through a grassy field, the Everfree Forest drawing nearer and nearer as they moved along. After a few minutes, they had finally reached the forest line, where the forest started, and the field ended. However, they had come upon an entrance to the forest Blizz had not seen or heard of before. They trotted inside, and before long, they were surrounded by trees from every direction, and darkness shrouded the places between them. Blizz could barely keep an easy track of the direction he was going, and the only ways he was able to keep following Hollow were the short glimpses he caught of her from openings in the forest ceiling that let in a very small amount of light, and the sounds of leaves and sticks crunching and snapping under her hooves as she made her way through the trees. Blizz tried his best to stay on the path that Hollow was laying out before him, and keep as close to her as possible in the darkness, but no matter how hard he tried, he felt as though he was only moving slower and slower, as Hollow began to move further away from him with each trot he made. Even in a full on gallop, pushing his limbs to the limit, he could not seem to catch up to her. It was as if the distance between them only grew, and never shrank.

Eventually, he had lost sight of Hollow, and could not even hear the sounds of sticks and leaves beneath her hooves. He stopped right where he was, in the middle of the forest, stuck with no idea where to go. Hollow hadn’t led him on a straight path, so it wasn’t as if he could simply just turn around, or just keep trotting forward. It was in that moment that he began to feel lost, abandoned by the world, and completely on his own with no help whatsoever.

He swallowed hard, clearing his throat. “Hello?” He spoke out. “Hollow, where are you? Which way did you go?” He was afraid to shout, and draw attention to himself from the creatures of the forest. He stood in near silence, the only sounds he could hear being those of the forest, such as the falling of leaves, or the caw of a bird. Then, all was still, and the indomitable quiet flooded over everything, presiding as the ultimate authority within the forest at that moment. In an instant, however, in the bleakness of the forest, the silence was broken, as a low, deep, dark growl seemed to rumble from a short distance behind him. What he presumed to be the paw falls of a large creature then followed, sounding as if they were coming in his direction.

His body quaked with fear, and he began to wander once more to see if he could find Hollow, and hopefully escape whatever was behind him. The sounds, however only got closer, and the only thing he could do was trot faster, trotting faster and faster until he was once again in a gallop. He began to perceive a light up ahead of him, a cry of salvation, one to lead him to safety and harmony. Just as he was half of the distance he had been to it when he had first noticed it, however, a loud roar erupted from behind him, causing him to jump from fright, trip from losing his balance, and fall to the ground. As he flipped around to face what was chasing him, he found... nothing. Nothing was behind him, even though he could have swore that the roar had come from only a few feet away. He was shocked, more than just astounded by the fact that he had been running from nothing, noises that had probably been part of his imagination, created from the fear and paranoia that the forest seemed to awaken within him. He searched through the darkness of the forest, and happened upon a fleeting glimpse of Hollow, the silken hair of her tail vanishing behind a tree.

It was then that Blizz had been presented with a choice. He turned and looked back at the exit to the forest, the safe and calming light coming from it calling to him, telling him that if he stayed upon the path towards it, he would find salvation, and harmony. He then looked back into the forest, catching a glimpse of Hollow once again, seeing her face in the light of the moon for only a second before she disappeared once more. He was presented with a choice: Trust his faith, and follow the path out, or falter from the path set before him, submit to the temptations of his heart, and try to follow Hollow through the darkness of the forest. As he stood there, his heart pounding, and his mind torn on the decision, his body made the choice for him. He began to trot back into the forest. It was true, Hollow’s kiss had ruined him. It had made him a slave to her every whim, and he was doing exactly what she wanted him to.

As he trotted away from the entrance to salvation, the trees seemed to weep around him, weeping for his loss. His loss of innocence, peace, and harmony. They wept for him as he was lured away from the gilded gate of the exit, and led into a deadly, forbidden dance.

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” -Dante Alighieri

Act: I Chapter Three: The Seductress and the Demon

As Blizzard Underwood trotted away from the forest exit that he had just a moment before been trotting towards, blessed fortune screamed for him, weeping for the misfortune that he was bringing upon himself. With each and every hoof fall that he took, he was trapping himself further and deeper within a tangled web of tragedy from with there was no escape. Near black darkness was all around him, and the shadows within seemed to move around him as he trotted through it. Fantasy had grasped his mind, and the trees of the forest that he trotted through began to look as though they had faces. Faces that bared no other emotions but fear, and melancholy. He swore he could hear the mourning for him, as if he was trotting to his death, but he merely ignored it. The obsession, the pure lust he had formed for Hollow was more important to him than the feelings of the trees that surrounded him in that moment, for she was all he cared about.

He trotted through the woods for what seemed like an eternity, the amount of trees unending. It was not all for naught, however, as he saw a vision of something ahead of him through the foliage and the bark. As he trotted closer, however, he recognised just what it was. The fence, the gate, the outline of the structure, he recognised it all, for after all, how could he forget what his own house looked like. He stopped and stood before the gate, the black metal seemingly darker than it had ever been before. The steel seemed to let off a cold chill, a frigidness that was reminiscent of the kind that a corpse beheld, which was like virgin snow. He was baffled by the sight, and wondered for a moment why his house was in the middle of the Everfree, when normally it would be in Ponyville. After a few minutes, he decided to stop asking such questions, as he would only end up wasting time. Time that he didn’t have. He pushed the gate open with a hoof, the metal hinges grinding as he did so, piercing the veil of silence that was within the forest around him.

As he trotted up the black stone path, it was then that he noticed who was standing upon the front porch, waiting for him. It was Hollow, her figure calling to him. She had a hoof out, motioning for him to come closer. He did just as she wanted him to, and trotted up to the steps and in front of her. His breath was heavy as he was finally granted a rest from trotting, and he stared straight into her eyes, just as he always did, and became lost in them. It was that which was his mistake, however, as he did not notice when she placed her hooves upon his chest. She pushed him into the door, which was burst open as his body slammed into it. His body was in shock from the violent force it had just went through, and he had to catch his breath before he was able to stand up on all hooves again. He looked upon Hollow’s silhouette in the doorway, and he couldn’t believe what she had just done to him. He at first wondered what he had done wrong for her to do that to him, but then, he realised, just how had she been able to push him so fiercely. She didn’t look to have the amount of strength that would be required to push like like she just had.

Before Blizz could even say a word, however, the door closed on its own accord. It locked itself, and just after doing so, the lock and handle melted away, preventing anything inside from getting out, and anything outside from getting in. Blizz slammed against the door with his hooves as hard as he could, but with every hit that he made against the wood, the door only morphed further and further into the wall, as if it was sinking into water. Before long, Blizz was pounding on an empty space on the wall. Any notions that had about escaping from the house-shaped prison he found himself in were dashed away utterly and completely. He stopped pounding and let himself slide down the wall and to the floor, all the while completely perplexed at what was happening to him. What he was witnessing with his eyes had no reasonable explanation, and he was sure that to try and figure one out would only drive him mad.

As he lie there upon the wooden floor in silence, it was in that moment that he finally noticed the sound of ticking, emanating from the clock on the wall. It resonated throughout the room with every second that passed, and it was almost calming to him as it graced his ears. It was a constant sound, something that made sense, something that obeyed order and reason, and was not chaotic in nature. He stood up once more, and slowly made his way in front of it. He sat on his flank and stared at the hands of the clock as they pointed to the different increments of time. He took the time that he had to calm himself down, resting his body after the long way that he had come on his hooves. He looked at the second hand, watching it tick its way around the clock. But, as he watched it, something happened.

It began to speed up. Faster and faster it went around the clock, the other hands speeding up along with it. Seconds turned into milliseconds, minutes turned into seconds, and hours turned into minutes. But it didn’t stop there. It continued to speed up. And as it did, the clockwork gears inside it began to grind from being forced to turn so fast. The noise generated from the grinding of the gears was like that of a cat’s nails upon a blackboard. It violated Blizz’s ears, making him hold his hooves over his ears in pain. It became a whirlwind of metal, spinning so fast at that point that the hour hand was more like a millisecond hand. The noise only got louder, and as it did, Blizz turned away from the clock, trying to trot away from it on his hind hooves. He wobbled around as he did so, for he didn’t try trotting on only two hooves very often.

It was then that he noticed that the books upon his bookcases were shaking, as if they were caught in an earthquake. Suddenly, one by one, the books began to fling from their shelves, flying directly at Blizz as they did. He took his hooves off of his ears, which began to ring from the grinding of the clock, and dodged the books as best he could, bucking and throwing hooves at them when he needed to. When they dropped to the ground, however, they levitated back up, shaking just as they had been before, and hurled themselves at him again. It was a continuous cycle, a vicious circle, and Blizz knew that he would only wear himself out if he tried to keep fighting them.

He quickly galloped down the hallway, heading towards his bedroom. His door was open, and after he trotted through it, he shut it closed. He heard the books slam against it, before hitting the floor, and staying there. He sighed with relief, glad to be safe once again. He couldn’t hear the sound of the clock anymore as well, surprisingly, and the pain it had inflicted upon his ears slowly started to subside. He looked around at his room, seeing that it looked exactly the same as it always had, which surprised him. Even his pet raven, Nevermore, was still in his cage. He remembered that ever since Hollow had come to town, he’d forgotten all about Nevermore. He went over to the cage, and saw that the raven’s food bowl was still half full. “Sorry I haven’t been paying much attention to you, mate.” The raven cocked its head to the side, as if to say, ‘It is fine.’ Blizz looked back at the rest of the room once again. He expected something to happen, or something to be different, but there was nothing of the sort.

He trotted over to the window, seeing that a heavy rain had begun to fall outside, and was hitting the glass panes with slight force, the pitter-patter of it slightly loud. He then looked over to the mirror that lie unhung. He trotted over and looked at himself. He was a mess: His mane was ruffled, his vest and shirt had a couple cuts in them, most likely from the branches of the trees, and his eyes had bags under them. He also noted that he looked pale, almost as if he had seen a ghost. Just as he sat down to fix his mane, lighting struck outside, right by the window. And in that moment, the mirror was illuminated, not showing him anymore, but instead showing a figure in a dark cloak. The cloak seemed to absorb all the darkness around it, as if it was made purely out of the shadows themselves. There was an aura around it as well, that resembled a black flame.

The figure’s face was shrouded in the shadow of it’s hood, but Blizz could tell it was staring right at him, just as he was staring back at it. His eyes grew wide as the figure mirrored every move he made on the mark. He tilted his head, the figure did the same. He stood up, and the figure did it right along with him. What truly terrified him, however, was when it stopped acting as such. It was no longer a twisted reflection, it was its own entity. As he backed away from the mirror, the figure did something that shocked Blizz to his very core as he watched it. It climbed out of the mirror as if it was a pool of water, and stood there before him in the bedroom, a completely physical being. Just when Blizz had thought it couldn’t get worse, however, it did. The figure spoke, it’s voice sounded demonic in nature, as if the very shadows it’s cloak was made out of were speaking with it.

“The time has come imprisoned soul. You will face the consequences of the sins you have committed, the crimes you have enacted and executed over the years of your life. Judgement will be dealt upon you, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. You will suffer, and you will suffer silently. Your accursed tongue will be stilled, and you will be tortured for what you have done. Eternal damnation awaits you.” The creature’s voice boomed throughout the room, echoing off of the walls as it spoke. Blizz didn’t know what it had meant. What had he done that he deserved to be put through the hell he was in? What he did know, was that the creature before him wasn’t a pony. No, it was a fiend, a monster, a Demon. It was a horror from Tartarus, and it was there to kill him.

The Demon leaped forward at him, its hooves turning into shadowy blade-like appendages, reminiscent of the blades that scythes have. Blizz hopped out of the way as it did so, and it tore the bed to shreds in its wake. Blizz bucked the door to his room open, and galloped down the hall. He didn’t know what good it would do, but having a wall, or at least a door between him and the thing that was chasing him, would give him more time to escape. He bolted into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. After he did so, he stayed quiet, hoping that the demon had lost him. He listened carefully to the sounds of the house, and to his surprise, heard nothing. No hoof falls, no clock, no books, absolutely nothing. It was purely silent in his house once more, and he didn’t like it one bit, even if it did give him a slight peace of mind.

He found himself in his own personal hell, and he didn’t know why. The Demon had said that Blizz had committed sins and crimes, but Blizz couldn’t think of any that he had done. As far as he knew, he was being punished for something he just didn’t do. He sighed, and trotted over to the window. He pulled the curtains open, and pulled the blinds up. He saw the forest outside, illuminated in patches by the light of Luna’s moon, and raindrops as they fell to the ground and hit the glass of the window itself. He unlocked the window, and tried to push it open, but it was to no avail. It was keeping him in, just as the door had before, and he knew better than to try hitting it. He watched as the rain streamed down the window, and thought about how they resembled the tears of a mare whose heart had been broken. The thought brought a feeling of sadness to him, and he turned away, not wanting to think about something so sorrowful.

He trotted over to the sink, and took a drink before taking his glasses off and splashing his face. He dried it with a towel before putting them back on, and after he did, concluded to simply sit in the middle of the room. He was trapped inside of his own house, and there was nothing he could do about it. The walls around him seemed to be closing in, the bath and everything else disappearing in them. He almost felt like giving up, until he remembered Hollow. He thought about the feelings he had for her, and he knew that he couldn’t give up. Just as he thought of her, he heard a knock at the window.

When he looked up, he saw her. She stood right outside the window. She stared at him from beyond the sacred glass, and just the sight of her calmed him, and made him feel at peace. Her eyes glowed bright, mesmerising as they always were. She was completely dry, as if the rain didn’t dare touch her. Blizz’s heart began to beat faster as he looked upon her vision. His bleeding heart beat only for her, that much was obvious. He started to sweat profusely, and his breathing became ragged, as if he could barely breathe. The effect she had on him was intense. She raised a hoof, and beckoned for him to come to her. She slowly trotted away from the window, until he could not see her anymore. In that moment Blizz knew that she was the only one who could lead him out of the hell he was in. He could feel it. The window looked loose, as if by some sort of magic, Hollow had made it breakable. He stood up, and with a burst of energy, galloped at the window, and jumped through it, breaking it. Shattered glass and wooden framing flung around him as he did so.

When he stood back up from the ground, he noticed it was no longer raining. All that was left of it was the fog from the humidity that it left in the air. He looked ahead of him to see that a path had formed that was not previously there before. He saw Hollow standing in the middle of it, just on the edge of the fog. It seemed to stop short of her, as if she had some kind of invisible barrier was around her. He was breathless as he looked upon her, taken away by just how beautiful she was in that moment. It was as if time itself had stopped, just for them. She beckoned for him once again, and he trotted towards her on command. He would do whatever she wanted him to do. Her lips begged to be kissed, and as did her hips. The sway of the latter when she trotted was as hypnotic as her eyes. He loved everything about her, through and through. She was his temptress, his Seductress, and she was the only thing he had in the hell he was in.

He stopped right in front of her, and she spoke to him, her voice like sweet honey upon his ears. “Follow me, my love, to a place where we can both be free. It is a place where we can escape all of the pain and problems of the world. It is a place so peaceful that even the sun is silent above it.” She began to trot, leading him to the mystical place she spoke of, and he followed eagerly. She spoke again. “But as we make our way there, my love, tread carefully, for the path I trot is paved with thousands of unmarked graves.”

Blizzard was confused as to what she meant by her last comment. “What do you mean?” He asked, just before the answer hit him in the face. The whole time he’s known her, he’s never once asked her about her family, or where she came from. “Are you talking about your family?” He trotted next to her at this point, his face one of curiousity.

“That I am, my lover. Everypony I loved or ever knew is dead. My family is no more. I am the last of my line, and it is a burden that I must carry with me for the rest of my life.” Chrysalis spoke the truth, albeit in a disguised way for the sake of the mask that she wore in that moment. The graves she spoke of were the graves of her changelings, the subjects of her kingdom, all of which were dead, solely because of her. She was the last living changeling, and it was her fault.The guilt hung heavy on her heart, but the knowledge that she would one day soon avenge them, starting by driving Blizz to insanity, was what kept her going.

Blizz noticed the sorrow upon her face, and he extended a wing over her back, like one would place a hoof. “I’m so, so sorry... Nopony deserves to have to suffer through something like that. That is a sadness that nopony should have to behold.” He nuzzled her neck, comforting her as best he could. He knew how he would feel if his whole family was dead. His mother, his father, and his brother. All of them meant so much to him. And the very thought of them dying panged at his heartstrings in a way he just couldn’t bare. He nuzzled her once again, and kissed her neck, letting her know that he understood how she felt.

Chrysalis blushed at the pure affection he was showing her. It didn’t just feed her like it normally did, it made her feel something else, as well. It made her feel... happy. How much he truly cared for her made her happy, and she realised she was making a mistake. No, no! What am I doing, I’m falling for him all over again! Just like back in Trottingham. I’d told him about how my mother treated me, and he consoled me, and made me feel better. He’s doing it again, and I’m letting myself fall for him, just like before! She yelled at herself in her mind, cursing at her mistake. She physically shook her head, and began to trot ahead, leading the way once more. If she was going to go through with her plan, she would have to have no feelings at all for him, which would be hard, because of the history that they shared. “We are almost there, I can see the bridge.” She galloped ahead up the path, and across the rope bridge she had spoke of seeing. She turned back to look at Blizz, who was only a quarter of the way over.

Blizz was being careful. He didn’t want to fall through any of the planks. The cut in the ground that the bridge spanned across, which ended in a river far below, would be a hard place for a pegasus to recover from a fall from. Even Rainbow Dash would have slight difficulty doing it. Blizzard was by no means as good at Rainbow Dash at flying. If anything, he was only half as good as her at best. If he fell, he could potentially run face first into one of the sides of the ravine, and knock himself out. It was a long way to the river below, and he didn’t want to take that chance. Why he didn’t just fly across the gap was beyond him, but it didn’t matter. He was already halfway across, and if Hollow could make it over, he could as well. He kept that thought in his mind until he heard a horrified gasp. He looked up to see the Demon standing before Hollow. How did that thing get out here?! I thought we left it behind at the house!

The Demon looked at him, and Blizz could feel the sinister smile from within the darkness of it’s hood. It looked back to Hollow, and formed it’s scythe blade appendages once again. Blizz’s eyes were wide with extreme horror as he witnessed what happened next. The Demon cut Hollow’s throat, striking her down to the ground. “Filthy tramp!” It yelled as it did so.

Blizz could only yell in shock. “NO!!!” Just as he was about to galloped, however, the Demon placed both of it’s blades upon the ropes of the bridge, and cut them with a light pull, like a knife cut through hot butter. Blizz was almost to the edge, and when the bridge began to fall, he did as well. He bucked off of the falling wooden planks below him, and flapped his wings a couple times, just barely catching the ledge. He started to try to pull himself up, but both of his hooves were impaled by the Demon’s blades. He looked straight up into the Demon’s shrouded face, tearing up from the dual pain he was feeling, emotional and physical.

The Demon yelled in Blizz’s face, and Blizz could feel the force of the Demon’s voice full on. “You will suffer eternally, of this I will make sure. I am the punisher, the torturer, and the reaper, and I will be the one who kills you. I am going to give you a fate worse than death, for there is hell to pay, and it will be paid in full.” He took a blade out of one of Blizz’s hooves, and stabbed through one of Blizz’s wings. Blizz was just barely able to scream in pain before his other hoof was un-impaled, and he fell to his doom.

Blizz couldn’t save himself from the fall even if he wanted to. His wing was out of commission from being stabbed, and there was no way it would be able to flap strong enough to keep him up in the state it was in. As he fell down the ravine, bumping off of the walls every now and then, all he could think about was what had happened to Hollow. She was dead. The Demon had killed her to get at Blizz. Her death was Blizz’s fault, and it dwelled on him with extreme pain. What did I ever do to deserve this? What did I ever do? At that point, he didn’t care anymore what happened to him. The only thing he had in the hell he was in was gone, and he knew there was no way to get her back. He might as well be dead, too. He closed his eyes, and straightened his body, speeding up his descent. When he finally hit the water, it only slowed him down a bit, and he hit the bed of the river head first, getting knocked unconscious. His body was carried by buoyancy and the flow of the water, and he surfaced, his unconscious form able to breathe, but unable to move, as it floated downstream.

&&&

High up above, an unmasked Chrysalis looked down at Blizz as as he floated down the river. Everything was going according to plan. The illusion of her false form’s death had taken it’s toll on Blizz, and he was all the more closer to the brink of insanity. Yet... She couldn’t smile. In a normal situation such as the one she was in, she would be smiling wickedly, laughing darkly and proudly at the work she had done. But this situation was different. She felt somehow, sorry, for him. He didn’t know why he was being punished, and the only crime he was really punishable for was loving her so much. Chrysalis growled, baring her teeth as she slammed a hoof against a tree, putting a dent in it. Curse him, the fool. His love is corrupting me. I feel almost as strong as I did when I took over Canterlot, but at the same time, I feel weak. I feel as though I am tied to him. How can I still have feelings for him after what he did to me?!

She began to trot through the forest, in the direction Blizz’s body was heading, thinking along the way. She thought back to those moments they had shared all those years ago. How he accepted her for who she was, even with the way she acted. He had truly loved her for who she was, but... She then thought back to his reaction when he had seen what she was, and remembered the pain and sorrow she felt, being looked upon by him in shock and fear. She had thought that the next emotion that would come out of him was hate, and that was why she ran out of his house on him. She didn’t want to feel that emotion from him. She loved him too much to want to suffer through that.

...But then again, what really would have happened, had she stayed in his bedroom? What would he have said? Would he really have begun to hate her, or would he have accepted her, just as he had done before? After all, she was still the same personality that he knew and loved, she just wasn’t the pony that he had thought she was. She was a changeling. But really, would that one fact have been enough to make him hate her? She had to know. She didn’t know why, but she just did. She thought about the next trial that she had planned for him: The Island of the Decayed. It was to be the halfway point, the point at which everything was supposed to start turning against him, even her. But because of the questions that she needed answers to, it would have to be the end.

She would reveal herself to him as the Changeling Queen, and get answers for all of her questions, no matter the cost. And when she finally got them, she would permanently entrance him, just like she had done to that fool in Canterlot. She galloped through the forest, towards the Island. Little did she know, the plan that she had just come up with would be her undoing, for the events that were to take place upon that island would not only answer her questions in full, but they would also be her downfall.

“Caution must be obeyed, on an Island of the Decayed...” - Alesana

Act: I Chapter Four: ...And Now For The Final Illusion

There is a saying, as old as Equestria itself, and perhaps even older. The saying goes as such: The best laid plans of ponies and puppets often go astray.” The meaning of the saying is that no matter how well a pony plans something out, something can always go wrong. In short, expect the unexpected. But often times, ponies tend to forget the saying, and the meaning of it as well. They go ahead and make their plans anyways, thinking that nothing could ever go wrong with them. They believe the things they tell themselves to, and their hearts simply follow. Upon the Island of the Decayed, Chrysalis would learn to heed the advice of the old saying, for she would soon realise that not everything always goes according to plan...

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Blizzard Underwood, a pony who had been put into his own personal version of hell, specifically tailored to torture him, and him alone, washed up on a shore of enchanted lies, the shore of an island. His unconscious form presented well all of the things he had been through. He was in terrible condition: His clothes were torn and wet, his mane was in complete disarray, and his front hooves and left wing had large stab wound in them, which had not yet closed up because of the salty ocean water, and still bled. He had been put through the worst moments in his life, from being tormented by his own home, to watching the love of his life get murdered before his very own eyes by a Demon that haunted and hunted him at every turn. As he lie on the sandy shore, he was unconscious, but unresting. His mind was plagued with the memories of the things he had witnessed, and the things that had been done to him. He lied there on the shore, completely still except for the expanding of his chest when he took in air to breathe. It was quite a spell before he finally began to wake.

As he roused from his restless sleep, he winced at the pain he felt in his hooves and wing. He’d never been stabbed in them before, so they hurt substantially more than they would otherwise. He was wounded not only physically, but emotionally, as well. And it was because of those wounds that he barely had the will to sit up. When he finally did, he checked himself over, looking at his injuries, which were only starting to heal. His clothes, fur, and mane were all almost completely dry from basking in the light of the sun as long as he had been. He saw the position of the sun in the sky, and realised that it was still morning, most likely around nine o’clock if he had to guess. He then looked down the shoreline, quickly noticing how everything a meter away and further was progressively blurry the further away it was.

He felt his face, and noticed that his glasses were gone. He assumed that they had most likely been lost in the ocean that had carried him to the island he found himself on. He sighed, resigning to just get used to seeing without them on. He stood up slowly, his front hooves getting used to holding up his weight again, stinging with pain as they did. He languidly trotted up and down the shore of the island, not knowing what to do, or where to go. He looked out at the ocean, and gazed in amazement at each wondrous wave he saw. He then turned to look at the forest behind him, which the island was home to. The brown of the bark of each tree looked full of life, and the leaves on the top of each were a vivid green. His eyes almost begged for him to stay in the extraordinary place he found himself in. Everything around him was beautiful, and he couldn’t believe that the place he was in was real.

The sun which illuminated the island from above seemed to calm him. It helped him to push the horrible memories away, but no matter how hard he tried, they would always come back. Even though he was serene, and slightly peaceful, he didn’t know whether or not he wanted to go on. Everything seemed hopeless and pointless to him. What’s the point of fighting, when there’s nothing to save? Hollow was no more, and without her, there just didn’t seem like there was a point in living anymore. He then wondered, even if he was to try to end his life, how would he do it? He didn’t think he could drown himself, his phobia of drowning would never allow him to. There was no rope to be found anywhere either, so he couldn’t exactly hang himself. He decided to just give up on everything altogether, and took a seat on the shore once more. He was going to wait until he died of starvation, or dehydration. Whichever came first.

Just as he had given up, however, he heard something. A voice. Smooth as silk and sweet as honey. ...Hollow’s voice. He turned back, only to catch a fleeting glimpse of what he thought was her. No... It’s not possible. She’s dead. I saw her die right before my eyes... He stood up and looked into the forest as far as he could, not seeing anything else. Just as he was going to call himself insane, however, he heard it again, and swore he could feel her standing next to him. That time, however, he heard her say something.

“Look in your pocket.” He turned to his left to see nothing once more, and the feeling Hollow had ever been there had gone as well. He really did think he was becoming insane, but he cast that thought aside for the moment. She had told him to look in his pocket. ...That’s how he would determine if he was insane or not: If there was something in his pocket, then he was still sane, but if there was nothing in his pocket, then he was truly going mad. He haltingly brought a hoof up to his vest pocket, and reached inside. He felt something immediately as he did so. He grasped it with his hoof, and pulled it out. It was a black paper packet with a ribbon holding it closed. The ribbon was the exact same shade of green as Hollow’s eyes.

He wasn’t going insane. He untied the ribbon with his teeth, and was surprised to find thick paper cards inside the packet. He let the packet drop, along with the ribbon, as he pulled the cards out. The cards were the same colour as the packet. He thought they were blank at first, but when he flipped one over to look at the other side, he realised that he had just done exactly what he was supposed to. There was magically glowing green lettering on it, and it only had one word on it: Run. As soon as he had read it, he felt a presence to his right, and ominous malevolent presence that he remembered well. He looked to his right, only to see the Demon trotting towards him, every trot taking him the length of two. Blizz put the cards in his pocket, and began to gallop, running from the Demon, just as the cards had told him to.

He galloped into the forest as fast as he could with two injured hooves. He was confused and scared. How had the cards gotten in his pocket? And where was he supposed to go, what direction was he supposed to run in? The last question was answered as soon as he had thought it. He saw another vision of Hollow. It went a certain way, and something in Blizz’s gut told him to follow it. He turned in the direction he saw it go, not stopping for a second, and galloped onwards. The whole time he ran, he could feel the Demon right behind him. He continued to see visions of Hollow, and every time he did, he would follow them in the direction he saw them going. They were leading him through the forest. Trees... So many trees... Why does there have to be so many trees? He galloped hard, trying to keep up with the visions of his dead lover, and at the same time, trying to outrun death. The situation went on as such for a while, until Blizz stopped seeing the visions of Hollow. The same time those ended, however, the feeling of the Demon chasing him had vanished as well.

He stopped dead in his tracks, looking behind him as soon as he did. His feeling was right, the Demon was gone. But so were the visions of Hollow, and without them, he was once again lost in a forest with seemingly no end in sight. It was at that point, though, that he heard the music. It was the music of a violin and a cello, playing a song of sorrow and melancholy together. He trotted in direction of the music, relying purely on his sense of hearing to guide the way. After a short time, he found a clearing in the forest. In the middle of the clearing was a building made out of what seemed to be black bricks. It looked to be an erotic cabaret. Golden metal lettering above a deep red overhang over the door displayed the name of the establishment: L’Inferno. He trotted up to the building, noticing as he did that the doors of it were wide open. The music had become louder, and changed in tone. It had went from a song of gloom and dismalness, to a song of passion, and love. It was as intoxicating as the heady aroma of perfume that emanated from the building.

He trotted inside, red candelabra on the walls leading him down a hallway and into the main room. The main room was comprised of four stages: Three for the dancers, and one for the cabaret band. Only the middle dance stage and the cabaret band stage were lit up. He couldn’t make out the faces of the ponies playing the music, and nor did he care who they were once he saw just who was dancing on the middle stage. Hollow. Blizz was taken aback in shock. Hollow was alive. He didn’t know how, but she was alive, and dancing. She motioned for him to come over and take a seat. He stood in the entryway for a moment, still confounded at the fact that she was alive, but soon enough trotted over and took his seat, just as Hollow wanted him to. He took a seat on the left side of the stage, since it was the closest to the entryway he had come through.

After he had taken his seat, Hollow did a slow and sensual spin around the pole in the center of the stage, letting him look at her from every angle. Blizz’s heart began to beat fast, he was feeling a new sensation: Lust. He swallowed hard as he began to sweat. Hollow stopped dancing for a moment, and trotted over to him. She gently rubbed a hoof against his cheek before reaching in his vest pocket and taking out the cards. She set them down in front of him on the stage. She flipped the first, and then flipped a second, placing it over the first. Just as she went back to dancing, Blizz saw something he didn’t want to see across from him. The Demon. The Demon was sitting directly across from him on the other side of the stage.

Blizz gasped in fright, and stared at it. He was afraid that it was going to kill Hollow again. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he anticipated the Demon to move, but it did no such thing. It merely sat there, just as Blizz was sitting. Blizz looked up at Hollow, who looked at him, and nodded to the cards. He looked down at the cards, and saw the message that was on the second one that Hollow had flipped. Hello, my love. Relax and sit back. We are safe for now. He again looked back up at Hollow, who smiled kindly at him. She lightly tossed something to him, which he caught. It was a golden apple. Not just golden in colour, but the skin of it looked like it was made out of actual edible gold. Hollow flipped another card for him to read.

Eat it, my love. It will heal you of your wounds. It seemed that the cards were her way of talking to him in that moment. He guessed it was most likely because of the Demon, who he could feel was smiling at him. The Demon was enjoying the show, the sick fiend. Blizz began to sweat a bit more from the stress that the Demon was putting on him. He tried to focus on Hollow’s dance, and began to eat the apple. With every bite that he took, his injuries healed up more and more. Before long he had finished it, and all that was left was a core, which he set down on the stage next to the cards, standing it upright, glancing again at the Demon.

As he did that, Hollow flipped another card for him. He can’t hurt us here, my love, do not worry. Just focus on me, forget everything else. He did exactly what the card said as soon as he finished reading it. He watched Hollow, and watched her only. She became the only thing in the room after a moment. He stayed focused, and watched in awe. Every move that Hollow made was mesmerising, and was done with poise and elegance. She shook her hips, bringing his attention to her flank, and he could barely keep his eyes off of it, but he felt naughty for looking at it so, and swallowed hard once again. He wasn’t used to things of the erotic nature, even though he did read about them in books. The real thing was much much different. It excited him, in a way that his stories couldn’t. After a while, the music slowly began to end, and as did Hollow’s dance. When everything else began to come back into focus, Blizz chanced a look at the Demon, only to see, with surprise, that it was gone. His gaze rested back on Hollow, as she lie upon the stage in a pose, looking at him. She flipped the last card. Let’s leave this awful place.

Blizz looked up from the card and into her eyes, before she stood up, and hopped down from the stage. She wanted him to follow her, and he knew it. He got up out of his chair and followed her as she lead him out of the cabaret, realising that the perfume he had smelled before was hers. He not only followed her with sight, but by scent as well, getting absorbed in the smell of the perfume. He tried to figure out what it smelled like, but he just couldn’t place a hoof on it. He followed her, watching the way her hips swayed the whole time. Her dance had shown him just how voluptuous her body was, and he wasn’t going to forget it anytime soon. When they were finally outside, they trotted around to the back of the building, and began to trot through the forest. Blizz was glad to be out of the cabaret, only because he felt that the further away they were from it, the further away they were from the Demon.

He followed Hollow closely, not wanting to lose her again like he had done before. As they made their way through the greenery and trees, he looked at the edge of the treeline ahead of them, and noticed it was beginning to thin out, as if they were reaching the end of it. He realised that Hollow was leading him to the other side of the island, but he didn’t mind. He didn’t care where he was as long as he was with her. He would follow her into the night anytime, just like he had the night before. Wherever she went was paradise to him, because she was in it. As they reached the treeline, and came out upon the sandy shore of the island, Blizz was once again amazed at the beauty of it all, and with Hollow there to share it with him, it was comparable to heaven. Hollow turned around and looked in his eyes, and he looked into hers. They trotted towards each other then, stopping only when their noses touched. Hollow spoke to Blizz, and he was happy to hear her voice again, especially because of the words she said. “My darling, close your eyes, I’ll be your lover tonight.” It reminded him of poetry, as if it were the words to a song. The words enchanted him, and made him long for her all the more.

He was happier than he’d ever been in his life. Hollow was back, and as far as he knew, the Demon was gone. They were all alone, in a place where the sun was silent. He closed his eyes, and he felt her muzzle press against his. He opened his lips to let her tongue in, for he knew that was what she wanted him to do. Their lips locked, and her tongue entered his mouth, wrapping around his tongue like a snake would it’s prey. Her tongue felt long, but he didn’t pay that fact any mind. Besides, if anything, he liked it. Her tongue massaged his in ways he didn’t think was possible, and it made him feel weak in the knees. He could barely contain himself. His heart was pounding frantically in his chest, and he felt like he could barely breathe. He got caught up in the moment, and opened his eyes to look into Hollow’s, only to see her eyes glowing a brilliant green, like how the horn of a unicorn glowed when the unicorn used magic.

That was when it happened. He felt something in his mind break, as if a metaphorical knife had been plunged into it, right where his memories lie. He cringed, pulling his head back. His lips separated from hers, and it was at that point that he noticed her tongue. Not only had it felt like a snake’s tongue, it was a snake’s tongue. It was forked at the tip, and was just as long as he thought it had felt. It slithered back into Hollow’s mouth, and just as it did, the colour and shape of her muzzle faded away like falling sand. It faded to reveal a muzzle that was more pointed, had a very dark grey coat of fur, and had gleaming fangs that protruded from either side of it’s mouth. She spoke again, but when she spoke, however, her voice had taken on new qualities. It sounded more seductive and commanding, and sounded layered, as well, as if she had two voices at once. “Behold, who I truly am!” Blizz’s mind stung once more, as if when she spoke the metaphorical knife was twisted.

The body of Hollow began to fade away just as her muzzle had, the sand-like substance disappearing before it hit the ground. It faded away to reveal the body of a different female. A body that was taller, and more monstrous. A wicked horn with a brilliant green flame around it formed from her forehead, and thin shabby blue metal-wired wings sprouted from her sides. Holes appeared in her hooves, and her mane and tail became longer and unkempt, changing to a dark cerulean colour, and possessed holes in them as well. The near black fur coat she had was soon covered by clothes of a tattered but regal semblance, and finally, a crown-like tophat formed upon her head. The one standing before Blizz was no pony. No, the female embodiment standing before him was the noble and exalted form of the one and only Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings.

Blizz’s eyes were wide as he looked upon the gorgeous nightmare that was Chrysalis, watching as her wings began to flap, and she began to rise. She held her hooves out in a position of power, and began to shout in vehement and paramount anger. “I have been reborn! I have broken free! You can’t deny me, do not defy me! I am drunk on lust, and sovereignty!” With every syllable that she spoke, Blizz felt his mind get stabbed and shanked over and over again. He realised what was happening. Chrysalis was breaking the barrier in his mind that he couldn’t break himself. “Abandon all hope, for beyond time I stand! I have been reborn!” With every blow to the barrier that was dealt, Blizz’s head snapped left and right, as if he was being punched. Blood had begun to come out from his nose, and he started to cough it up as well.

The forceful destruction of the barrier in his mind took it’s toll on him, and he slowly became limp from the trauma. With the last strike, he fell backwards to the ground, his vision hazy, and his head pounding from the violation it had just received. Spatters of blood were around him, and he coughed, adding a few more. He was weak, and he could barely feel his body. His mind had been assaulted, and it had weakened his body in the process. He felt himself get yanked up off of the ground, green magic flames around his hooves and neck. He was floated up towards Chrysalis, as as he was, his vision started to clear. He closed them hard, trying to get rid of the haziness in them, and when he opened them, he locked eyes with the former changeling queen. As soon as he did, he felt information spread throughout his mind, broadcasting to him all the memories that had been once locked away. ...He remembered her. He remembered everything. “I... I remember now...” He muttered weakly, his mind processing every memory in detail.

Chrysalis smiled wickedly as she stared into his eyes, seeing the recognition of her in them. “You do, do you? Good, for that means my spell worked. And that also means that you can now answer a few questions for me.” She grabbed his jaw with a hoof, and brought one of her glowing green eyes close to one of his. “Tell me, what happened that night all those years ago, when I showed you what I was, what I am now: Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings?”

Blizz coughed to the side, a couple drops of blood coming out and falling to the sand of the shore below. “You and I were in my room... And I was going to ask you to marry me...” He was weary, just barely able to speak. “But then when I was going to show you the ring... I saw you were a... a changeling...”

Chrysalis shook him violently, putting her hooves around his throat, her anger taking her over. “Then tell me, if I had stayed, what would you have done? You would have hated me, wouldn’t you?! You would have begun to hate me, just because I wasn’t the pony that you thought I was!” She wanted answers. She wanted to know that what she had thought was true. She wanted to know that he hated her because she deceived him, just like she thought he did.

Blizz groaned in agony as she shook him, his brain feeling as though it rattled inside his skull when she had done it. He thought back to that fateful night. He thought about how he felt for her. He was going to propose to her, because of how much he loved her, and how much he could tell she loved him. He wanted her to make him the happiest colt in the world. But just as he was ring out, he turned around to see that Hollow, his Hollow, had changed. ...Into a changeling. He thought hard about how he felt at that moment, and thought about how he would have felt if she had stayed. “...No. I wouldn’t have hated you.”

Chrysalis blinking in surprise. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard him say. “Wh... What?! No, you’re lying! Do not lie to me, fool!” She took a hoof from his throat, and smacked him across the muzzle, making his nose bleed even more. “I want the truth, tell me the truth! You would have hated me, just as you must hate me now!” She was becoming furious. She didn’t want to believe that he loved her, because that would only make her love him.

Blizz took the abuse she dealt upon him without even trying to move his head to dodge it. He couldn’t have dodged it even if he wanted to, for he was still limp and powerless. He swallowed hard, and spoke as clearly and loudly as he could, trying to let her know that he meant every word that he said, and that it was all truth. “I am not lying! I wouldn’t have hated you! ...I may have felt paralyzed and somewhat betrayed, but I realised that if you hadn’t disguised yourself, you couldn’t have lived among ponies. And if you hadn’t lived among ponies, then I would have never met you. I also knew that no matter what, you were still the Hollow that I knew and loved. It doesn’t matter what you are on the outside, it is who you are on the inside that counts. And on the inside, you are the one I fell in love with. ...And I still do love you, even after all you have done to me. Because I know that the only reason you have done all this to me is because you thought I hated you. But I don’t hate you. I love you. That is the truth.”

Chrysalis could only feel disbelief. She absolutely couldn’t fathom what he had just said as being truth. How can he still love me, after all of the torment that I have put him through?! He should hate me, just like I thought he would! She growled, and yelled in anger. “No... No! You speak lies! You utter slander! How dare you!” She whipped her head, and flung him with her magic.

As Blizz was released, and flung towards the forest line, his side hit a tree, damaging his wing, and hurting his chest. He fell to the ground, landing on the sand of the shore. He remembered what happened after Chrysalis had ran out of his room and disappeared into the night. He had thought that she had ran because she didn’t want to marry him. His heart was broken, and when it was coupled with the shock he felt from finding out that his lover was a changeling, something in his mind snapped. He went insane. He formed a story in his head that Hollow had died, and had been killed by another pony. In his insane sate, his imagination was reality. He believed everything he had imagined to be real. He wrote messages upon his bedroom walls in his madness, ranging from things like “Calm Consumes Me”, and “Please don’t hate me for what I’ve done...” to things of a much more lunatical nature, such as “He did it, I’m sure of it. He is the pony who killed Hollow, and now I have to kill him before he does it again.”

He had gone into a full on psychosis, running out in the middle of the night, playing the part he himself had written in his mind. He almost killed a pony, accusing the pony of being the one who killed Hollow. He was put in a straightjacket, and locked up in an asylum for the insane. And that was when the barrier in his mind was made. The doctors had brought in a unicorn who was doing experiments in the field of mental magic, seeing if there was a way to bring someone back to sanity after they had gone insane. The unicorn put a magic barrier around every memory Blizz had of Hollow, and everything up to the point when the barrier was created. After the barrier was made, Blizz had thought it was still the day before he had met Hollow. He had no recollection of her whatsoever. The experiment had been a success. The doctors told him that a package a mailpony was delivering had fallen on his head and put him in a coma.

As Blizz remembered all that, however, Chrysalis had different thoughts in her mind. She was confounded by Blizz’s words, and was telling herself that they weren’t truthful. He’s lying! He’s trying to trick me into falling in love with him so that I will become helpless as we link hearts. Well no more. No more! I will not be tricked by him, not now, not ever! It is time for this to end! She landed upon the shore, and shifted into the Demon, so that she could torment Blizz one last time before killing him. She trotted over to him, and picked him up with a hoof, shifting the other one into one of the Demon’s blades. She held him against a tree by his throat, looking at him in her disguise. She spoke in the Demon’s voice, just as she had done before. “This is the end for you, pathetic mortal! You will pay for your sins with your accursed blood!”

Blizz shook his head, trying to regain full consciousness. He looked around them, and saw Chrysalis nowhere. He spoke to Chrysalis, believing that she was the Demon. “What... What did you do with her?! I was trying to prove to her that I still love her!” He began to assume the worst, and Chrysalis confirmed his fears.

“I killed her again, for the last time. Now you will join her in death, by paying for your crimes!” Chrysalis said as the Demon, growling every word. She brought her blade hoof back, ready to stab him, but just as she trying to stab him, she realised she couldn’t. Damn it, just do it! Kill him, stab the blade into his stomach, and rip open his torso! Why am I hesitating?! She thought for a moment, and the recognition of why she couldn’t do it hit her, angering her so. ...No... No! I don’t love him! He hates me! Why can’t I kill him!? She was fighting herself internally. One side of her wanted to believe everything Blizz had said. It wanted to love him, just as he loved her. But the other side of her refused to believe any of it was true. It wanted to kill him for breaking her heart all those years ago.

Blizz bared his teeth at what Chrysalis, as the Demon, had said. “No! I’ve come too far and been through too much shit to die now! And who are you to accuse me of crimes and sins, Demon?! Who are you!?” He threw a hoof up in an attempt to do an uppercut, but failed. Instead, he caught the hood of the Demon’s hood, ripping it and flinging it back, revealing just what the Demon looked like. Blizz was horrified at what his eyes were seeing. “No... It can’t be! That’s not possible!”

Blizz was staring straight into a twisted copy of his own face. Demonic teeth adorned it’s mouth, and blood red eyes glowed with the evil inside them. Chrysalis spoke again, still fighting herself on the inside, baring her teeth. “I am you. I am the embodiment of all you have ever done wrong. I am a part of you, and now...” She was finally able to control her body. The murderous side of her had won. “I’m going to kill you!” She thrust her blade hoof forward, and tried to stab Blizz, but only stabbed into the tree behind him as Blizz moved his stomach out of the way to dodge it. Blizz bucked her away, un-impaling her blade hoof from the tree. He fell to the ground as his throat was let go.

He stood up with his newfound strength. “You are a part of me I need to destroy then. I will kill you, and in doing so, kill the dark side of myself. I will be clean!” He began to trot over to the disguised form of Chrysalis, his hoof falls powerful, and his eyes full of divine rage. He was ready for it all to be over. The suffering, the pain, all of it. He was ready for it to end.

Chrysalis was astounded by what Blizz had just done. How did he do that?! Where did he get the strength to buck me away from!? She stood up, but then suddenly felt as though she couldn’t attack him. She could do everything else but try to harm Blizz. And it wasn’t her mind’s fault. No! He’s taken control over the dreamscape! His mind took control back from me as I was trying to stab him! I can’t control anything anymore! She began to back up, realising her weakness. But just as she was going to run, Blizz galloped at her and tackled her to the ground, sitting on top of her so she couldn’t move.

He began to scream in extreme anger, and started to hit her as hard as he could, mauling her with his hooves, the whole time thinking that he’s killing the Demon. “Now I destroy you, Demon! Sinew is ripped to shreds, and stripped from your body, crimson! Fury of righteousness will now consume you in death! Choke on blood, and writhe in pain you thought you’d never know!” Soon, after every hit he made, the dreamscape began to break, pieces of the world crumbling, and falling into a black abyss, which started to consume the whole land. The illusion was broken. The spell Chrysalis had put him under to create the dreamscape was shattered, and as it was, Blizz began to wake up. He fell to his side, waking up from the dream in which he was supposed to die.

&&&

Blizzard Underwood woke up on his bed in his room. All he remembered from the night before was being with Hollow. Loving her, kissing her, falling asleep in her arms. It had been a perfect night. Until he went to sleep, that is. When he fell asleep, he had a dream. A dream that turned into a complete nightmare by the end of it. He could barely remember what even happened in it though. He only knew that it had tormented him as he slept. He woke up sweating, as if he had run for miles. He had read somewhere before that dreams have deeper meaning. That they are cries from a ponies subconscious. He never really thought that such an idea was true, but he did want to ask Hollow what her thoughts on his dream were. He would recount it to her, and she would help him get over it. He knew she would know just what to say. She always did.

He flipped onto his other side in bed to look at Hollow, but instead of seeing his lover, he saw a much more gruesome and grisly sight. He saw the pale, barely breathing form of Chrysalis. Her body was covered in liquid crimson, from her mane and tail, to her fur and clothes. Even the bed sheets under and around her had been painted sanguine. He screamed in absolute horror at the sight, and in his shock, fell out of bed. He hastily stood up, so he could look at her. Who could have done this?! He asked himself, terror gripping his heart as he looked at the morbid sight before him. He then came to a realisation. Wait... He turned to the metal decorated mirror that he had hung last night before he and Hollow went to bed. A mirror never lies... He saw himself coated with blood, most of it on his hooves.

The memories of the dream came flooding back to him, and it was at that point that he came to a grand, yet horrific, understanding: He was the one who had done it. He thought he was killing the Demon, but the Demon had just been one of Chrysalis’ disguises. Tears began to cascade from his eyes, just as the blood on his hooves trickled down to the floorboards below them. He screamed again, screaming in misery and woe. “No, no, no, no, no!” He looked back to Chrysalis, only to bare witness to her taking her last breaths.

...He got an idea. A desperate idea. There was a chance he could save her. A chance. But a chance was all he needed. He swiftly rushed to her, and held her in his hooves. “No, please! Don’t die! Don’t you fucking die on me! I love you! I’ve always loved you! Without you, I’m nothing! I can’t live without you!” He was giving it his all. He was giving her all of the raw concentrated love he possibly could, the whole time crying in extreme melancholy. “Please, come back! I love you! And it’s because I love you that you can’t fucking die!” With every word of love that he spoke, Chrysalis’ wounds slowly began to close up, and she started to heal. But in his frantic efforts, and through his blurry tear-filled eyes, he did not notice her healing at all.

There was only one last thing he could think of doing. One thing that would give her as much love as she needed to live. He gently brought his hooves to the sides of her head. He looked at her features. He looked at just how bewitching and ravishing she was, even with the stillness of death consuming her. He could not stop crying. His tears leaked from his eyes continuously as woe blanketed his body and choked his heart. It was then that he locked lips with her, kissing her passionately. He kissed her as long as he possibly could. He was giving her every ounce of love he could, and more. He didn’t know it, but he was turning his own life energy into more love for her. He cared about her so dearly, so profoundly, that he was willing to die for her. That much was proven in that moment.

When he finally pulled away from her, parting his lips from hers, he felt extremely weak, as if he hadn’t eaten or drank anything for days. He looked over Chrysalis’ body, seeing all of her wounds were healed, but noticing one thing, the one thing he didn’t want to see: She wasn’t breathing. He fell to her side in the bed, his vision becoming blurry not only from his tears, but from the haziness that dying brought to them. After a moment, his tears stopped coming, and his mouth felt dry. He muttered four words, wanting them to be the last words he said before he died. “I love you, Chrysalis...” He accepted his death at that point. He was ready to die. He didn’t want to live in a world where the one he loved was dead. Just as he had accepted his death, however, he saw something happen through the fuzziness of his vision. Something that only made him think that irony truly hated him, and wanted to play a macabre joke on him.

He saw the form of the changeling queen next to him begin to breathe.