Not Worth It... ?

I opened my eyes, feeling as if I've lost touch with lucidity. I glanced around my body, and much to my chagrin, I was apparently semi-transparent. It was no doubt that I'm in some sort of confounding dream.

'Another peculiar dream... or is it?' as if an echo, those words came back to me very audibly and in seamless clarity, being resent by nowhere in particular as seemingly the entire vicinity was filled with my voice.

I flinched at the resonance of my voice. 'This is definitely a dream this time.' Once more, those words concealed in my thoughts were played back just as soon after.

I felt no sensation within my body, but I somehow sense a feeling of... a mess of emotions clinging onto my mind.

A butterfly fluttered by me as it emerged from the bed of flowers. Out of reflex, I reached out to touch it. My hoof simply glided through the butterfly's body; it was as if I was intangible, but my mind was as lucid as ever. The definition of this dream would be... ethereally enigmatic.

I was in some sort of meadow far from the realm of reality. The grass seemed to distort with every step that I took--flittering static and their shapes deforming. As I took another step forward, I noticed that they'd flicker in and out of their unperturbed forms whenever I stopped moving.

It was apparently night, but the plains were illuminated as if it was daytime. It was merely a few shades darker than night usually was. It basically felt like I had absolute night vision.

Should I take a step, the grass and foliage around me would meld into some sort of conglomerate of static. Quite menacing actually.

Should I stop, the greenery and everything in my surroundings would cease to be warped nor be twisted by whatever imperceptible force lied behind this dream.

So I stopped, making myself motionless. It felt like that was something warranting that.

I simply stared, gawking at the skyline. Nebulae and comets trailing across the midnight cerulean of the skies above. The stars dotted across the black canvas, illuminating it as if disseminating glitter brushing along the winds.

Suddenly, my mane was flung to the side as a waft of wind bolted past me. Tendrils of my mane waved away against the unforeseen gust.

I blinked in surprise. The wind originated eastward yonder? Definitely felt like it.

Before I swiveled my head to the right, my gaze encountered something truly terrifying. It was a celestial being, occupying the skies above. It posed an equine form, but it was nowhere near the boundaries of semblance when it came to comparing it and another pony. It was simply a leviathan.

Its body was as if it was constructed of the cosmos. Its mane fluttered in a wavy pattern, its transparency causing it to appear as if it too was made from the celestial beings. Its eyes, however, boasted a much more ominously grim mien. It was red--crimson as if it was blood.

Then it stared at me.

Its mouth moved, speaking words that were garbled and far too indecipherable for me to grasp what it was even trying to convey.

Before I could even react, I was brought back to consciousness as something stimulated my body.

A straying ray of brisk light of morning gleamed through the glass pane of the window, finding its way into my lidded eyes. Its mild stinging sensation burned into my iris as they all so suddenly yanked me away from slumber.

I shifted and jerked, strewing the bed sheets around, my face still showing its startled appearance as I did.

I flung upwards with a gasp, the side of my head profusely hemorrhaging out cold sweat. I swiftly darted my eyes throughout the room. Fortunately, the fell, stellar beast was not here--yes. Of course it wouldn't be here; it's simply a phantasm of my dream.

'Yes.' I calmed myself down as I placed a hoof onto my chest, feeling the hastened rhythm of my heartbeat. 'Simply something from my dream. Nothing more...'

I shook my head, snapping me out of the terrified state. Placing the soft fabric of the sheets aside. I blinked, rubbing my hoof as everything seemed to be a blur. I yawned, a single drop of a tear welling in my eye.

"Bloody blazes!" I cursed out in a muffled hush. I turned to look at Depth Perception who was thankfully sound asleep and was still tucked in the sheets. I let out a relieved sigh. "Good. I would've been mortified had he seen me like... that."

Everything seemed to be in order. The roof, now sealed and renovated with just a subtle patch of conspicuous wood of a differing color acting as a form of scar. The floor was repaired, and with considerable attention, if I might add; the floor appeared as if it wasn't tarnished at all.

Then I glanced to the left of me, a groggy-looking stallion with a faint blush seething out of his cheeks.

I sighed at him, a not-so-subtle trace of disappointment and sadism in my tone. "I did not enjoy last night whatsoever."

His eyes alight themselves with embarrassment as his warmth suddenly doubled in intensity--I could even feel it from where I lay.

He burrowed his face upon the sheets that he was cradling on his hooves. I caught a glimpse of his face reddening even further. "I'm sorry! At least I lasted-"

"Fifteen minutes," I made him abruptly pause as I cut him off with that. His eyes presented themselves to me, their pupils glistening at the sunlight as they seemed to pierce right into my soul.

I sighed once more. "Fifteen minutes. What kind of 'fun time' is that anyways? Fifteen minutes; can you even endure longer than that? As far as I remember, your limit is that-"

"With your... flourish, no stallion could last--say--more than ten minutes." He let out a disgruntled huff, trying to conceal the reddening of skin upon his face. "More like torture than it is sex. Torture with intense pleasure, but torture nonetheless." He folded his front legs together.

His figure was a bit shaky, jerking a bit every few seconds or so, but he still retained that facade of a steeled composure. He was trying his hardest not to look sheepish by the look of things.

"Chin up, you hopeless idiot." I patted him, my hoof's caress gently stroking the fuzzy tufts on his mane. He couldn't hold back the reflex to make his ears flick in delight as he let out a barely audible hum.

I felt a metaphorical dagger plunge deep into my chest. 'Be damned his adorable visage! Just what is this? Some sort of unholy sorcery? How. Is. He. That... appealing?'

"At least you have other redeeming traits," I said, making my tone as reassuring as possible.

Like a slithering snake, I bolted off the edge of the bed, my hooves landing in elegance as they thumped onto the ground, making an audible synchronized thud.

I stretched and turned my body, my joints and bones popping into place, the relaxation I felt throughout my figure becoming slipstreamed.

I glanced at him--my 'partner' as he referred to it. He seemed to have spaced out as I was running my hoof along his mane as he his eyes were inattentively closed and his head was still suspended on the same exact spot.

He suddenly regained his connection with reality as his eyes snapped open as his head fell to the cushion below it.

"Oh," he deadpanned as he began to leap out from bed. His hooves colliding with the wooden boards of the floor echoed throughout the room. "At least you can say that without your entire aggravating snide in your voice."

I rolled my eyes dismissively, turning my head to the windowsill. A sudden thought lit itself in my mind, 'Perhaps I could try using shapeshifting this time again? Perhaps I've regained some of my skill?'

Afire, my horn spat out embers of green magic as I honed my focus. My steps were deliberately slow, a step only being traveled in lengthy intervals. Concentration was needed, thus impairing my walking.

"Trying that again?" I heard Depth Perception sigh. "I'm pretty sure you'll end up hurting yourself like last time-"

"Shut up," I snarled, my eyes twitching rapidly like a tremor as I sent his way a joy-deadening glare. He simply rolled his eyes at my threatening gesture. Probably because I've used this look at him for about more than twenty times at him these few weeks--perhaps I should learn something else.

Finally, I let the torrent of magic engulf my body, causing them to run freely as they whirled around my body in some sort of entrancing dance.

My body was transfiguring, changing, undergoing metamorphose as the emerald luminescence of the flames obscured my body whole.

The flames died out and with that, my body was no longer of mine own; the shapeshifting process didn't even lasted a second. I blinked, astounded at how quick that was this time. 'Finally. My abilities to switch bodies in mere milliseconds is returning.'

I appeared to be that of Depth Perception, that moron who was just spectating my change of appearance on the side of the bed. I mirrored him without tarnish, save for the exception that I didn't bother mirroring his gender, thus letting me remain as a mare.

I swished my body side to side, taking a few discerning glances at my coat. The exact whitish pink of his, and my mane was like of his, a brown-shaded orange, though it was slightly longer; that was to fit my feminine appearance of course.

"Not a single flaw," I prided my self with those words as I turned to face Depth who was eyeing me skeptically. "And quite faster this time, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Yay." He clapped his hooves together mockingly. "You're certainly recovering quite fast, but," his eyes briefly resonated a confounded appearance, "why'd you choose a form that looks almost exactly like me?"

"Why?" I tilted my head at him, smirking slyly. "Don't like it?"

He gave me no reply other than a silent stare. I let out a suppressed laugh, enroute to my reflection upon the glass window.

I felt the surface of the glass; it was quite cold, bitterly exposed to the night's chilling streams of gusts presumably the reason for this. I fidgeted the latch on the window. With a click, the lock clicked its mechanisms and unlocked itself.

I lifted the frame of the window. Its ascent was quickly halted as the groove above it allowed it to slip in and render the frame locked in place.

The many faces of carefree ponies, the sense of vehemence that came from each skip in their steps, and the stretch of skies above with no cloud whatsoever to stifle the general feeling of vehemence in this day.

I loathed it.

Grimacing, I closed the window shut with a bit of bite, causing the glass embedded within it to quake slightly. Turning away, I approached the adorable idiot--Depth Perception.

"So, a few weeks ago, you mentioned that you had to travel within the Everfree." I swayed my head, stopping exactly at the direction of his eyes. "I'm intrigued."

"Intrigued?" he repeated, a rather noticeable skepticism in his tone. He squinted at me. "I'm pretty certain that you have another motive for just that."

I shook my head, but wasn't able to stop the malice in me from making me crook my lips upward, forming a daunting smirk. "The meaning of your words are intangible; I can't seem to get a grasp of it."

"Ulterior motives." He took a daring step forward towards me. "I know you have at least one of them since you've been bothering me to go check for 'something' hidden in those woods."

A chuckle escaped from my mouth. "And I haven't even told you what that 'something' is, now have I?"

He shook his head, not opting for a vocal reply.

"Well then, I'm a bit equivocal on this subject, but if you must know," I leaned towards him, a bit too melodramatically, "Some say that the previous castle of the Two Sisters, some say that it's no longer there. Collapsed, never even existed, or simply subdued entirely from base to rooftop by the Everfree's unrelenting overgrowth."

"Really?" Depth cocked his head to the left as he let his jaw hang a bit open in disbelief. "You want to risk your life finding a dumb castle that might not even be there or existed in the first place?"

"Life's full of gambles, my friend." I trudged towards a door to the left corner of the room. "Sometimes you've gotta make bets in order to win some of the bits you've lost."

"Why not just walk away?" he suggested. "Gambling isn't really that healthy anyways."

"Yes. You go do that. Walk away as I take a bath," his eyes sparked out in realization that I was in fact rearing towards the bathroom door.

He lunged at me, but before he descended from the air fully, I swiftly turned the knob, its mechanisms clicking into place as I swung the door open. With a deft flourish, I slammed the door shut.

I could hear him slam against the door as the wooden frames of said door shook a bit. His tormented shouts were muffled, but I could still hear them with satisfactory vividness as he barraged the opposing side of the door with frantic knocks.

"Chrysalis!" there came a rattling of the door as I presumed he tried turning the knob. "Chrysalis!" he continued on shouting for a good few seconds or so. "Not fair! You went in first last time! Now open the door!"

"And another moment passed in agony for Depth Perception." I trudged towards the bathtub, its cold, glossy surface of white glass sending chills to my body as I settled down in it.

A steadily flowing torrent of water released itself from the sink as I turned its valve. As if to make my victory even more savory, the water was warm. Warm enough that a vapory white mist emerged as the water struck the cold tub.

I look towards the edge of the tub, spotting a golden-colored novelty sitting recumbent on it. I stared at it curiously. "A rubber duck. I'm curious as to how these ponies made the concept of it."

I clutched it in my hooves, applying a bit of pressure onto it. A squeaking sound emanated from it, causing me to snort in amusement at its peculiarity.

I set it upon the water that had now raised itself just below the tub's capacity. It floated, bobbing its head around as it strayed across the waters.

I stared at it as its buoyant body kept it afloat. A strange amusement instilling itself within me.

"Perhaps I should tell you the time where I almost took over all of Equestria..." I said as I fetched it from the water, bringing it close to my eyes. "First thing that I had to resolve was that damned Princess of 'Love'..."

.....

"So. What are we looking for exactly?" I asked Depth who was staring blankly at the forest before us. "You haven't exactly disclosed that question to me for a while now."

"Huh?" he uttered out as he scratched the back of his head. "I haven't? Well, better late than never, I suppose. We're supposed to be looking for a bird."

"A bird?" I crossed eyes with him, my face riddled with vexation with a frown. "Whoever gave you this request must be borderline insane to think that we can find a bird in the middle of the Everfree."

"Oh. That bird is a phoenix," he sent me a steely glare at me. I felt a chill running down my spine as those words struck me. "Sorry for leaving that detail out," he finished.

"A phoenix?" With a flourish of my hoof, I set a stray line of my mane away from my face. I've been told that I do that often when I get a bit fidgety, but I don't do this that often at all. "A bird like that belonging to somepony in Ponyville?"

"What do you mean by that?" He squinted slightly at me. I could see my reflection through his slightly-lidded eyes. I appeared to be a bit shrunk back, my hoof absently scratching my leg in an ashamed fashion?

Quite unnatural for me to do. This bastard rubbing off his pitiful nature on me, or something else perhaps?

He sent an annoyed tone at me as he spoke out, "Please don't tell me that you think the residents of Ponyville aren't too wealthy to own one."

I shrugged off whatever I was feeling. Regaining my composure, I stood upright, hanging my chest high in charisma--the signature pose of the changeling queen.

"I'm not implying that at all," I snorted a bit disparagingly, "I'm implying that the ponies here aren't too fond of expensive leisure to the point that they'd waste their precious bits on something as rare and exotic as a bird of undying flame."

His face began to twitch. Then his frown began to dissipate, a bit of a saddening expression replacing it. He spoke as he drooped his figure in defeat, "Alright. I must admit, this bird belongs to a Canterlotian--a renowned member of the Royal Guard, actually. He was staying for Ponyville for only for a few days for a small reunion with his family. He wanted to flaunt his sizable pricey to them by bringing his pet phoenix, but ended up losing it."

"That wouldn't happen to be that idiot Shining Armor, could it?"

"Nope." He shook his head. "Somepony else."

"Alright. At the very least, it's not that bleeding idiot Shining Armor." I had to coerce a snarl to go muffled as I stomped the ground a bit. My composure returning, I spoke to him, "Bleeding Tartarus. What makes you think I'll help you find a phoenix for a Royal Guard? I'd rather see it that bastard suffers for being careless enough."

"Well, I anticipated you saying such, which is exactly why I have this piece of paper." Without even looking behind him, he reached out to his saddlebag. Drawing away from its contents, he withdrew a parchment of some sort. "Here," he hoofed it towards me, "Go ahead. Read it aloud."

Unrolling the piece of paper in my magical vice, I glanced at him skeptically. Unfolding the paper flat, I hovered it just a few inches away from my eyes. Clearing my throat, I began to read the letter audibly.

"I, Golden Sun, the leading intelligence officer of the Canterlot Royal Guard, would like to inform you, Princess Celestia and Luna, that I've managed to pinpoint the location a good portion of the remnants of the changeling army who had invaded us weeks prior." I glowered at those words, as if stuck in a trance. My jaw hung loosely. Gulping down, I continued reading, "I would like to authorization to bring them to justice and see it that they get imprisoned."

I stared at the letter for a bit more than it was necessary--ten seconds or so. I snapped out of my stunned stupor. Biting down my lip as I quivered in anger, I burnt the letter. The letter was lit afire as emerald flames swirled back and forth around it, spitting out glowing green embers.

I heard Depth Perception spoke from behind me, "Well, I was thinking of just curling it up into a ball and just discarding it somewhere, but that works too-"

I grasped him by the throat with my magic, effectively strangling him. "Listen. Where did you find this?"

He thrashed his hooves a bit, gesturing at his throat. Asphyxiated slightly, he began to recover as I let go of my magical hold. "The Tartarus was that for!?"

"Sorry, sorry." My pupils dilated as I just realized what I have arbitrarily spoken. Did I really just apologize? Shrugging, I continued. "I just snapped."

"That's... okay." He let out a weary sigh. "Just avoid nearly crushing my windpipe next time, aigh't?"

I nodded as a silent chuckle exited from my throat. "Mind telling me how you got this letter now?"

He responded with a nod. "I was simply minding my own business in the streets a few days back. Then I found that, just simply gliding through the wind."

A pang of astonishment resonated from my mind as my face fidgeted. "You just simply found it?" I said, unconvinced.

"That's my talent, okay? Finding things." He shuddered dismissively. "It even scares me sometimes. As I was saying, however, I simply found it--it even landed in front of me. I opened it up and was just as shocked as you were when I read it. I hightailed my way around town, looking for him. Eventually, I found him, and safe to say, he was quite distressed."

"Distressed because he lost that fiery bird, correct?"

"Correct," he simply responded. "I talked to him, all the while keeping his letter hidden in my saddlebag. He stated that he had lost his pet phoenix and asked if he could help him. To which I answered yes in return for the information of where the straggling changelings are at."

I deadpanned a swift laugh. "You pulled that off? Please. Don't try and trick me like that."

He tilted his posture towards me, his eyes filled with the nettle of bantering spite. "Hey! I should be ashamed for having to lie like that!" A huff of discontent fled from his mouth as he crossed his front legs together. "I guess you're rubbing off me."

"Same could be said for me..." I turned away from him, facing the Everfree as I whispered.

"Uh? Didn't quite hear that?"

"Never mind what I just said." I began to walk into the void-like darkness of the Everfree. "Let's get going! We're wasting daylight here."

"Oh. Uh- right!" he said as his hastily-made hoofsteps got nearer and nearer towards me.

Our physiques were basked with darkness as we entered the Everfree. I paused, taking a quick look on how Depth was faring--it was obvious that he wasn't doing so well. His head would frantically look in several directions in the span of a second every few moments or so. His body was quaking, his steps hesitant, but hasty at the same time.

I sighed as I continued on walking.

What was laid before us was a myriad of flowers and serrated leaves of halls among halls of bushes stretching out seemingly endlessly into the gradually darkening abyss of the forest. The trees stood high, their leaves forming a canopy that enshrouded much of the ground in shadows, only allowing a few trickles of sunlight to peer through.

"We're really here," Depth Perception announced. His figure was swathed in a few layers of fabric; covering his neck was a brown scarf. Understandable since this forest was renowned for being frigid at night. A black jacket covered most of his body as a saddlebag lay recumbent on his back.

"I can see that," I spoke, my image still retaining its guise. I still appeared exactly like him, save for the gender difference. "Quite a smooth lie. You saying to questioning ponies that I'm your sister from a very distant place."

"Yes, yes." He let out a quip as he began to inch closer into the entrance of the cave, "It wasn't as if you couldn't helped out fabricating some sort of fallacy- Oh wait. You could've, but you just stood there doing nothing."

I tailed him closely as the shadows began to mask my figure as I too stepped into the Everfree forest. "I was expecting you to mess it up, leading me to save your skin, but fortunately for you, that wasn't the case."

"So you wanted me to be in debt to you?"

"No," I answered as a twig broke underneath the pressure of my steps. "I wanted to get even."

"Even?"

"Yes. You saved me from death." I gave him an inquiring gaze complimented with an arched eyelash.

"I told you. It was nothing." He swiveled his face away from me, steeling at the dusky atmosphere of the forest ahead of him.

'Pft. Trying to stroke your vanity will only get you so far.' I shot him a subtle wispy eye. He convulsed every few seconds or so as he took each step. The sides of his head was glistening with a steady income of sweat--though, I'm not so certain if the reason for that is due to how humid this place is right now or the fact that he actually is starting to panic.

I accelerated my pacing, keeping an even momentum with him as I shot him a berating grin, "What? Afraid already?" he recoiled his figure a bit, but he wasn't stunned at the very least as I spoke that, "We've not even managed to go more than, say, a few yards or so into this place."

"Quit it." He dismissed me with a shooing gesture done by his hoof. "You can't deny how eerie this place is."

I nodded, taking a few glances around the terrain. "Yes, even I, a changeling queen, must admit how terrifying this place is," I replied with a snarky tone, feigning arrogant intrepidity.

Still, I can understand why this place is so renowned for being... scary.

The lumber of the colossal trees seemed to be distorted by the darkness, a few gaps in them seemed to appear as if they were jaws of some sort of behemoth. Vines pooled into the maws of the boles of trees. Vines hung loosely from the branches, suspended in the air.

A constant supply of falling leaves careened to the ground in abstract dancing motions; if one was paranoid enough, one would mistake the movement of these leaves for something else.

The thickets of leaves parted now and then due to the currents of winds, giving way to a narrow hall to darkness. A darkness that seemed to stretch out eternally.

"Remember what I'm looking for," I spoke to him as we continued on trudging through the dirt path of the Everfree. "An abandoned castle somewhere standing in the middle of this forsaken place."

"Hey-" He let out a condemning sigh as he tripped over a vine. With swift relocation of his footing, he stopped himself from face planting into the ground. "We might have not enough time for that. For now, let's focus on finding that bird."

"Alright. We'll do it your way then," I spoke as I nodded.

He took a few steps inwards into the depths of this forest. The lingering shadows only becoming more pitch black as we advanced.

As I walked, I keened my perception, making certain that nothing is planning on preying upon us. It wasn't too difficult discerning movement among the foliage, but I would certainly do much better had I been standing still rather than not walking.

"You're awfully dead quiet, Chrysalis," I heard Depth spoke from beside me as we continued walking.

"Something feels off." There was a miasma of doubt lingering in the air. It's as if the forest's atmosphere just up and worsened itself.

Still, I could spot nothing amiss. The bushes swayed in their natural rhythm in the breeze. The darkness concealed nothing within their mantle, otherwise, I would've known. A changeling's night vision is unrivaled.

"Like that unusual crevice in that bush?" Depth Perception muttered out as he pointed at something in the distance.

"The Tartarus are you on about-"

My eyes darted towards where he was pointing, cutting myself off just as I examined it finely--some sort of depression in the middle of the patches of thick leaves. The leaves were caving inwards; something of size must have fallen towards there.

I nodded. "Yes... That's where I'm getting this ominous vibe from."

"It's just a hole in the middle of the bushes. Is it really off-putting for you?" he inquired. "If you must, go ahead and check it out."

"I think I'll do just that..." I stated as I made my way through the patches of ivy. "Also..." I turned my head around as I walked further into the rift of leaves, "be damned your finding-ability. I should have been the one to spot this first."

Halfway through my legs, the leaves and twigs of the bushes grasped around them, their rasping edges rubbing against my surface. I heeded not a single care for them, shrugging them off as I approached the depression in the bushes inch by inch.

With one more step, I made it to the hole. I leaned over, tilting my head to look what was inside. It was... black? It appeared to be equine in appearance, its black figure accompanied by its... semi-transparent wings mangled...

"Oh no..." I whispered to myself in a shallow tone. A chilling touch of sorrow pang through my chest, forcing me to look away.

I staggered a bit backwards, the revelation a bit too much for me to handle. I shut my eyes tight as I felt a trickle of a tear running down my face. Shrugging it off, I began to cross the patches of bushes once more.

I looked at Depth Perception, his face apparently riddled with confusion. "Huh? Did you find something?"

"I found one of my changelings." I bit my lip, unable to look at him straight. "Dead."

Despite my vision obscured by my eyelids, I could hear him take a step back, tripping over something--presumably a root of a tree or some sort--as he stumbled.

I shook my head, a mixture of pain and despair still piercing through my head. "Must have fallen all the way here. He didn't stand a chance..."

"I'm... sorry."

"Bleeding- The entire Equestria are you sorry for?" my tone knelled, its voice dead and completely devoid and hushed into some sort of whisper.

He faltered a bit, sizing his figure small. "I don't know-"

"Then don't apologize. Especially when it isn't even your fault."

"Hey. I'm just trying to be nice, alright?"

I opened my mouth, but no words were being sounded out. Seconds passed as I eyed at him. I shut my mouth, hanging my head in respect for my fallen changeling.

I stared at him a bit gloomily. "You know. I just wanted my race to live long and perhaps made an actual civilization that would've been both admired and loathed. Loathed, but nevertheless admired."

He stared back at me, his gaze steeled and unfaltering. For a brief moment, I thought that he was simply going to just stare and not say anything--but that disproved as he opened his mouth.

"I... I really don't like it. The way that our own race dejects each other because of differences we can't relate to each other to. Why can't we just learn to understand each other?"

"You ask if I'd know the answer."

"You're right... I should have asked why you choose to just throw in kindling into the flames that is the hatred."

I arched my eyebrow, taken aback as I jerked back in surprise. "Pardon me?"

"The Siege of Canterlot. You had the choice not to do it, but you went forward with it anyways!" his words, despite the terrain, echoed. IT seemed as if the forest itself silenced itself at his ire .

I stepped further at him, my chest expanding and contracting a bit rapidly. "Well. Forgive me, but it was either that or complete starvation-"

"No!" he yelled out, causing some of the roosted birds to soar into the distant skies, their fleeting tiny bodies forming into silhouettes. "There was another option--I don't know what, but I'm sure that there was!"

"Oh. Forgive me. Forgive me." I furrowed my eyebrows at him. "Sorry for just nonchalantly making the decision of attacking one of your cities. It wasn't like it was such a hard option to go with!" I exclaimed, sarcasm dripping from my words like acid.

His jaw hung loosely, trying to make words, but he couldn't make any coherent sentences as he simply remained silent. He broke eye contact from me, drooping his eyes to face the ground.

"Sorry," he spoke out, his words barely audible. "Dunno what came over me. I'm really sorry. I don't even have the right to-"

"Shush it," I stated firmly. "Don't be like that. You actually made me recount some things. And thinking back in the past, there were times where I could have changed things."

He glanced at me once more, his eyes meeting mine. "You're one of the few that can actually do that, for that I commend you."

He steeled his gaze at me.

"Thank you."

"Don't be." I began walking towards the path of dirt, delving gradually deeper into the inner parts of the forest. "Come now. We don't want to be just bickering all day long. We have to find what we were looking for."

"R- right!" he exclaimed back at me. I could hear his hoofsteps in a frenzy as he caught up to me.

..........

The embers of the evening soon was freezing and soon to wither into ash. The skies were bathed in a crimson red light as the sunset drew closer each passing minute.The yolk of darkening night becoming apparently larger.

Nothing but scattering leaves among the wind and patches of ivy stretching across the vegetation dotted with trees to my left…

...same could be said to my right…

...and same could be said to forwards and backwards as well. The only difference being that some trees are more or less shaded by the eerie darkness.

“I'd wager that we've but a mere hour before dusk settles in. We best bet that we either leave this forsaken place or find shelter before then; the ravenous predators do not take their prey lightly here, so I've heard.”

"Seriously? I wished we never came here in the first place. I don’t think this is worth it anymore," Depth said as he walked beside me. “Did you really have to tag along?”

"The Tartarus are you babbling about? It was my own whim that I chose to accompany you." I eyed him with a narrowed leer as I continued walking. "Besides, it's not as if you'd last a single night in this place."

He sighed a bit too drearily. "You really think that we won't be able to find it before it gets dark?"

A wall of bushes and creeping vines presented itself before me as I approached it. Igniting my horn, I summoned a green blade of magic.

The blade levitated just slightly distant away from my eyes, its jade-like glow mesmerizing me. “Ah. This brings back much nostalgia,” I spoke to myself in some hum-like tone.

Flicking my neck, I cut down the adverse plants that dared to try to get in my way. I hacked away, my blade dancing and forming into a massive flurry.

The leaves were fleeting to the air as I cut, but before they could even settle among the ground, I was already finished with their comrades--the bushy wall was no more than a mess of scorched kindling on the ground.

"Even if we do retrieve that damned thing you're looking for, there's no way for us to head back without being acquainted with the night,” I spoke out, regaining my breath.

A twig snapped under his pressure as he fidgeted nervously. "So regardless, we have to find somewhere to stay the night in, otherwise we'd be done for."

"Not necessarily done for, but rather inconvenienced,” I spoke matter of factly. Dispersing the magic torrented in my horn, the blade vanished in a flash of green fire.

"You implying that you could fend off the nightly hunters of this place?"

I nodded my head, scoffing, "But of course. Just who do you think you are to underestimate a changeling queen?"

"I think you might be overestimating yourself or underestimating the things lurking around here; or perhaps both."

I let out a feigned sigh of annoyance. "Hm. Something lacking of a mind can hardly stand against me."

"What about the cockatrice? They petrify everything in their gaze."

I leaned towards his direction. "I'll leave them on the ground stonecold dare they try to do that."

"Manticores?" he said as he arched his brow.

"They don't have nine lives despite being part-feline; I've got ‘the cat in the bag’."

"Timberwolves then?"

"Mere firewood that's all bark and no bite."

Depth Perception squinted at me rather unnervingly. "You're sadistic for making those puns."

"Oh. Excuse me for attempting to jest."

"No worries. That was actually quite refreshing, I admit."

"How so?" I spoke in more of a threatening tone rather than an inquiring one.

"You never seem to joke around. You always seem so... stern."

"A queen is renowned for her serious attitude-"

"Hey! Watch out!" he yelled out, causing my words to fell short.

Before I could even realize it, Depth Perception darted his hoof towards mine, seizing it firmly. He pulled me towards him, causing me to stagger a bit backwards.

I blinked.

Nothing seemed to have warranted that action as I’m failing to see any danger lurking amidst us.

"Watch out for what, exactly?" I asked him, burrowing a piercing gaze into him.

"That," he spoke as he pointed out a patch of flowers. Their petals were that of an ominous blue. "They're... quite troublesome."

"Troublesome? As in poisonous?" I asked as I observed the flower bed of the alarming plant. Suddenly, a light in my eyes flared up as I just realized what those plants were. "Oh! These must be the Poison Joke I've heard so much about, is it not?"

“Yup. These are Poison Jokes.” He nodded his head tensely. "I guess you haven't seen this before?"

Shaking my head, I felt a bit infuriated as to how I haven't recognized this plant before. "No--I haven't. But I've heard 'things' about the effects of this piece of flora."

"Such as?" he asked with curiosity tagging along his voice.

"I've heard about murmurs that one time, a pony exposed to it had his senses gone awry. He claimed that he could see through his nose, hear through his tongue, and taste through his ears." I let out a groan. "I'm not so sure on how how much truth that tale adheres to, however."

"I think I've heard of that somewhere too..." Depth Perception rested his chin upon his hoof, entranced lightly in thought. "But anyways, let's go find another path."

"I can just simply cut these down, you know."

"Bits and flecks of it will flung off in random directions, you know? There’d be a chance that it could land on one of us." Depth Perception grimaced slightly. "I'd rather not gamble with it."

"Perhaps I could burn it?"

"No!" Depth yelped out, a bit startled. "I'm pretty certain that the vapor of the burned plant will have the same effect of just touching it."

"Fine, fine. If it bothers you that much, let's go find another route then."

Then I suddenly noticed something--he still had his hoof clinging onto mine.

I stared at him with an off look. "Ahem."

"Hm?" he inattentively let out as he exchanged my gaze with a clueless look. Suddenly, he took notice that he still had his hoof clutched onto mine.

As most awkward as one could be, he retracted his hoof with a scarlet hue beginning to appear upon his face.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Right," I prolonged the vowel of that word as I began to walk to the opposite path of the bed of Poison Joke, Depth Perception tailing closely behind me.

"So which path should we tread through, exactly?" I asked him as I glanced towards the evanescing clouds. The sun was fleeting, nearing the end of its shift for the day as it clung onto just the edge of the horizon. The skyline was becoming dim--alarmingly dim.

I followed up my words, "We don't exactly have much time left."

I snuck in a glance at Depth Perception, who was bolting his head around, alternating from left to right. "We might be able to- Wait! Look!" he yelled out as he pointed something in the distance.

I focused my vision, directing it towards where he was pointing at. We were at the same glade we were at mere moments ago, but now the surroundings were faintly lit by flittering lights. These lights--fireflies by the looks of them--danced around the vines and leaves.

What was most notable, however, was a pathway of plants that clenched and shrunk their leaves. A road filled of these plants was made as all of them collectively shut their greenery. This was definitely not here before.

"It's not some form of illusion this forest is using to try and trick me, right?"

"I can see it as well. Perhaps those plants are simply active during the day and simply shut their structures during the night?"

"That would make sense..."

I paused, examining it intently. It seemed to stretch out for as far as my eye can see. Then again, my eye can't see much as there's shrubbery everywhere.

"So, we need a route, and right before us, a pathway opened up just for us."

"Are you really thinking of going through there?"

"It's either that or backtracking to find whatever we can use for refuge."

Depth Perception let out an irate sigh. "I see your point, but what if it leads to nothing?"

"Then we made a mistake," I approached the pathway of vegetation-paved ground, "but that's only if we get unlucky."

I followed along the pathway, my silhouette becoming yoked by the shadows. "Seems perfectly safe! Come over here already."

Without bothering to check if he'd follow, I traveled deeper into the road. Sure enough, I heard hasty footsteps from behind me. With much dexterity, he slipped to the side of me, walking along me.

"I don't like this," Depth Perception uttered out as he looked around warily. "It feels as if we're being watched from those bushes and trees over there."

"Eh. That's pretty natural when you're stuck in hostile environment filled with hungry predators."

"That's not exactly reassuring," he commented.

We continued walking, passing the time in silence as only the steps of our hooves made any discernible sound.

Finally, he broke the silence, "Quite soundless."

"The predators tend to avoid making sound while prowling about and the prey needs to be careful as to not alert said predator," I said.

He quipped, "Once again, not exactly reassuring."

"Hush now. We're nearing the end of this path."

The parallel lines of bushes had dissipated just a few feet away, dispersing into a less packed wall of emerald leaves. Wherever this thing is leading us to, we're going to make it there in a few seconds.

I walked, the sensation of suspense gripping tightly my mind. Finally, I stepped out of the pathway, my eyes darting around for anything of interest.

It was another glade. It was relatively clear of most plants. A ring of trees encompassed it, luminous plants forming ivies around their branches. The ivies had strange-appearing bulbs running across them that gave off a faint, green-bluish radiance.

I looked towards the end of the glade, spotting a rather unsafe bridge. The ropes suspending it was worn and tattered. Several twines of the rope stuck out, making some of the sections of the rope dangerously thin. Moss and miniature plants have began to bond with the wood of the bridge, forming off-looking green patches on its planks.

The question was where did this bridge lead to?

I focused my vision, trying to get at least a glimpse through whatever was behind that hazy fog. Suddenly, I was met with the view of cinder blocks. A mass of cinder blocks accompanied by windows.

'This couldn't be it. Could it?' I felt my heart thumping in my throat, a bead of sweat running down my head as my breathing became accelerated.

I closed in on the structure in the distance. My footsteps were shallow as I lightly tapped the ground all the way to the middle of the glade.

"Really now?" Depth deadpanned as he walked beside me. "That was an awfully short walk-"

With a flourish, I placed my hoof on his snout, causing him to abruptly stop whatever he was saying as he let out a muffled whimper. "You weren't kidding when you said you have a penchant of finding things."

"What do you..." his accent fell, as if he just realized something. I assume he's seeing the castle that I'm seeing in the distance. "Oh... Is that it?" he asked.

"Yup--well at least I think so. The Castle of the Two Sisters." I glowered over him, my eyes half-lidded as my expression went grim with a bemuse frown. "You're right. Your ability to find things is scary."

"I can agree with that," he went off, approaching the bridge warily. "Now, will you agree that we should head there before we get ambushed by some sort of lurker?"

I nodded. "Better than sticking around in the darkness."

I brushed past through the dimness, catching up to him in deft steps. He seemed to be prodding away at the posts of the bridge. With a mere light tap, the post shuddered, threatening to break.

"I see that it isn't exactly safe?" Taking note of the bridge, I realized that it was swaying back and forth as the winds grazed through it. Calling this bridge unsafe would be akin to calling a lion that hasn't eaten for days a 'disgruntled cat'.

"Yup." He groaned. "I think we have a better survival chance of staying outdoors rather than crossing this bridge."

"No worries, I can see the piece of land where the bridge ends at." I looked forwards, past the withering planks of the bridge, I could see a distinct formation masked in shadows. "I can teleport us there."

"And by what assurance can you give me that you won't end up vaporizing us or end up teleporting elsewhere?"

"A changeling queen can-"

"Yes, yes. I've heard all about that." He flicked his head, rolling his eyes. "It's just that you're still recovering."

I puffed my chest proudly. "For your information, I'm as able as I can be right now."

"Very well..." I heard him gulp down, his facade of confidence waning a bit as he shook ever so subtly. "Go ahead. I have full faith in you."

"Don't forget to thank me later..." I spoke to him lastly as I reared my head in concentration upon the patch of land.

Flares of green illuminated the darkness as my horn channeled torrents of magic within it. I remained steeled as I focused on the point of destination. Finally, the magical torrent reached its zenith as a bead of sweat came trickling down from my head.

I unleashed the magic brimming within my horn, engulfing both Depth and I in green flames. In a split second, my vision was blocked by green fire--presumably Depth's as well.

Before I could even react to my eyes being masked with fire, my vision normalized. I could see nothing off-putting. I looked around and apparently the teleportation was successful as I've made it to the destination in relative success.

I glanced around my body. My limbs were--oh no! There are holes in them- Wait. That's natural. My coat seemed to be in place; no distortions and whatnot.

I looked towards my left, spotting Depth who was somewhat fazed by the sequence of magically being transported. He stumbled around as if intoxicated.

He shook his head, but still, the baffled grimace still clung to his face. "Chrysalis! I think something went awry."

"Nope. Nope." I began to walk towards the castle. "It worked. Definitely it did. It's just that you're not used to that yet."

"Ugh... Really? Wow. I expected teleportation to be less..."

"Disorientating?" I nodded as bit. "Yes. It can be like that, but only if you're inexperienced with it. Come now. We've not much time left. Let's get to the castle. We'll stay there for the night."

We descended into the darkness, making our way into the entrance of the castle...

.......

The walls within the castle have long since succumbed to age, their surface abrasive and shattered. Many flecks of cobble littered the ground everywhere. The canopy--whatever was left of it anyways--was breached, a wide hole exposing the cerulean skies above in its stretch. The stars bled across the black canvas known at a very subtle, slow pace.

I sighed. There was not much to talk about within this decrepit castle.

A bright warmth caressed my face as I gazed forward, the orange glow of the flames lighting up my face. There stood a campfire before my sitting position, a campfire that I've set up shortly after both Depth and I entered this old place.

I gazed upon the kindling ablaze with fire. The flames were moderate, just below head's height as I am kneeling down. Across the flames, I could see Depth Perception, simply gazing about in the nothingness within the castle's numerous corridors.

There pervaded a miasma of dew and vines within the castle's atmosphere; it was both refreshing and eerie at the same time. It was cool, yet within its scent held a distinct aged smell. Perhaps the mixture of the overgrowth breaching this place and the olden stone of this place?

"So... are you bored?" Depth asked.

I glared at him, the fires between us causing his figure to be blocked a bit. "Yes. I am."

"That makes the both of us, then." Drooping his head, Depth laid on the floor.

"How about we tell stories then?"

"Heh? Where's this all coming from?"

"I've heard that it was tradition among ponies to tell stories by the fire." I pondered a bit, tilting my head. "That is true, right?"

"It is... but I'm not really a storyteller."

"Then why don't you perk up and listen to me?"

"You have a story?"

I nodded. "Yes. A very aged one, to be factual. It's about the first ever changeling."

"Oh. Interesting. Go ahead then." Depth returned to a kneeling posture, his head leaning towards my way as his ears shot up intently.

I took a deep breath, turning my head away from the fire as so that I avoid inhaling the faint trail of fumy smoke. I opened my eyes, glancing over him with a stoic face.

"Contrary to your race's popular belief, we changelings actually didn't originated in the Badlands as you'd call it." I glanced at him. He seemed to be listening intently as evidenced by his perked ears. "Nay. We actually started off a century ago or so in some abandoned village near pony settlements."

"Why an abandoned village?"

I cocked my eye at him. "Dunno."

Clearing my throat, I continued. "Some say that there was once a mare with a pure heart that absolutely loved everything that was cursed into the being akin to me."

"Curse? Mare? That even true?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. I know the truth, but I think I'll withhold it for now and give you suspense."

He frowned a bit.

I continued, "Before the town became the moor it is today, heck, I don't even know what is of this town today. It was once lively, its streets crowded with carefree spirits of your kin."

"Among your kin was a mare. Not a single soul knew how, but she always seemed to be lively no matter the current predicament was thrust in her way."

I poked away at the fire with a stick in my magical vice. "One day, she met a beautiful, but ill-stricken mare. The ill mare pleaded to the other mare. The main mare--that's what I'll refer to her for now--agreed to help, but she was appalled when it was made certain that the ill mare intended to keep whatever problem she had a secret. Finally, through many promises and oaths, the ill mare revealed to our main mare that she cursed herself in order to obtain magic far beyond a regular pony's grasp and that if she doesn't get a dosage of emotion known as love, she'd die."

I wasn't paying much attention to see if he was listening, but I moved my head a bit, slipping a glance at him. Indeed, he was listening. His eyes were reflecting faintly the dancing fires as his ears remained perked.

I sighed, continuing, "Our main mare actually agreed to give her the dosage of love, but out of consideration, the ill-stricken mare elaborated on how she never attempted this before and that her life is potentially at risk. Regardless, she was not deterred by the slightest and volunteered to be sapped of her love."

I paused, giving it a bit of a dramatic effect. "The transfusion worked. The once ill mare thanked her and promised that she'd be by her side for throughout time."

I lowered my head, a bite of sorrow stinging my mind. "That didn't last long as after a year and a half or so, the pony inhabitants of the town was alarmed by a whistleblower that the would be love-drainer was that--a love-drainer. For whatever reason, persecution ensued for our first love-drainer. To think that they'd go through all that trouble. But instead of her, our main mare tributes herself, using a bit of archaic magic, she transformed herself into our love-drainer. That happened after she knocked out and concealed our love-drainer, of course."

I could see something flicker in his eyes. Sympathy--definitely a hint of that there. Sorrow; surprisingly enough, that was mixed in as well.

"After our wannabe changeling woke up, she was far too late. She had no time to mourn, however, as if fate was laughing at her. So she ran; she ran for miles away from that town. After that, she stumbled upon a close by settlement. She heard about the things about her friend from there. Things such as how they hung her, things about how they found out that our main mare used shapeshifting magic in order to exchange her life for hers."

The fires sparked out embers; embers that shot out vivace and died out a few moments later like stars bleeding across the night sky.

"Grim things like that, you know? Well, after she stormed her way into a suitable workplace, she began to not only amplify the effectiveness of the curse she was under the influence in, she did it with acknowledgment on how much this could transfigure her body. Perfecting the concept of visual deception as inspired by her now deceased friend, she set off to light that cursed, forsaken town ablaze. However, there was a bit of compassion in her heart. Instead of murdering everypony, she simply placed the same curse that bounded her--the curse of having to be dependent on stealing love to live."

"Is... is that the true story?" Depth Perception asked, his eyes widened.

"Quite so." I nodded my head. "Do you know who the first changeling turned out to be?"

Page paused, thinking for an answer. "You?"

I snapped, a twitch went unconcealed as I shouted at him, "Mongrel! Do I look like I'm over a hundred years old?! The first changeling turned out to be the first changeling queen as she took control of the minds of the lesser changelings made by her! Not only that, she is also my great grandmother."

I sneered at him, almost forming a grimace. "Ugh. The nerve of you to be this impudent. How dare you call a mare such as myself that is in the prime of her life 'old'."

Suddenly, I heard something distant and muffled. The signature tapping against the ground, the dirt being pressured downwards--sounded as if was a hoofstep.

But, whatever it was, it definitely wasn't natural.

I keened myself, honing my senses as I picked myself up from the floor. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Depth Perception replied. He stood up as well, a bit fidgety as he fumbled with his footing, tripping himself a bit in nervousness. "I don't hear a thing-"

"Listen." With a swift flourish, I darted towards him, placing my hoof against his mouth. "Just listen... Do you hear that?"

The sound grew much closer and more clearer by the second. The rhythmic tapping and the telltale sound of steps were becoming clarified. "Those aren't the sounds of animals. It's more similar to that of a mob of ponies."

"Think they know you're with me?"

"That's obvious." I reared towards the windowsill, staying low to keep myself masked by the shadows. "Let's take a look," I whispered back to him.

In the distance, I could see multiple flying pegasi--nay. They weren't just pegasi. They were adorned with with purple-hued armor. Their wings were more... bat-like; bone-like columns lined up their structure. Despite the distance and the darkness, I could still see their slit eyes looming throughout the skies.

"Luna's personal guards..." I murmured to myself in disbelief. "Luna's personal guards!" I hissed at Depth. "They're here. They must've known about my presence!"

"What? Luna's guards? The batty ones?"

"What do you think?!" I growled. "Well? What do you think? Was there a whistleblower?"

"Probably was... Sorry for being careless enough to let somepony just tell on your being here..."

"Now's not the time to be like that." I glared back at the myriad of troops nearing on the castle. Ground troops restricted running away via the forest, and the swarm of aerial bat-pegasi made certain that I won't be able to flee using flight.

"Wait!" Depth called out to me, catching my attention. "If they're here, then that means-"

"Queen Chrysalis and defector of ponykind, reveal yourselves!" a voice bellowed from just outside, its volume and intensity nearly rocking the castle itself. "There's no escape. We have eyes and ears throughout the field. Merely surrender and we shall be more lenient with your punishments!"

"That's..." Depth Perception trailed off, his worried gaze piercing into my soul.

"Luna," I answered him.

I wracked my head for any idea of escape, but I found nothing but blankness. "Do you have an idea?"

"Can you shapeshift ourselves into a mouse?"

"Yes and no. I can shapeshift to that but I won't be able to shapeshift more than one individual."

"Good. Go ahead and do that."

"Like Tartarus I will! What about you?"

"I'm going to turn myself in..."

"What!" I blurted out, my voice nearly creating an echo throughout the halls of the castle. "Don't you even-"

"Relax. I'll tell them that you've escaped days ago and is now out of Ponyville boundaries." He shook his head a bit. "I'm not getting out of this through fighting or running, so I might as well do that."

"I'm not leaving."

Depth Perception bolted at me, placing himself close against me. "If you don't do that, we'll both wind up in cells. Do you want that?"

I kept silent before answering, "No."

"Then go."

I wavered, taking few hesitant steps back. My steeled gaze still focused on him."

"Go..."

I began channeling magic within my horn, green fires emanating around it as I kept staring at him.

"Go!"

My eyes began to well up, forcing me to shut them tight. "Fine then..." I spoke at him.

Engulfing myself in magic, I turned myself into an inconspicuous mouse. In my new form, I glanced at him one more time.

He lowered his head, his face riddled with sorrow. "Please... just go."

Seconds passed. It's as if my chest was being impaled by a lance--a lance boring smelting steel.

Then a minute. I couldn't feel a thing now in my chest... I felt as if I was dead of emotion.

Finally, I scurried off into the darkness, his face being the last thing in my vision before I couldn't see a thing other than darkness.