The Dimensions of Polyn

Chapter 7: Call Me Queen

The Sun begins to set and the forest is shrouded in darkness except for the random moonlight that randomly invades through the canopy. Rui glows and Polyn leads the way. They have been walking for a few hours already. Kallan was tired of the silent treatment. The crunch of hooves clomping on the forest floor was getting tiresome.

“We've been in this place for a while now and I don't even miss my shabby government pigsty apartment,” he shouts with joy to the silence around him. The tired colt starts to ramble. The determined unicorn continues her march forward with no response.

“My parents died when I was young and other than those I guarded, I never really had any real friends. Come to think of it...”

He reflects on the old city, the lonely guard tower where he worked near the Government offices, and how he felt about leaving everything behind. He thought of Polyn and her confidence in the face of entrapment or certain death. His thoughts soon drifted to ponies he knew and to Lyra. He stops moving. Polyn walks forward but notices something is off. She turns back.

“Whats the problem?”

Kallan is staring down at the leaves on the ground. It takes him a minute but he starts walking again and catches up.

“What was that all about? It's getting dark soon, we need to go.”

“I was just thinking. You must miss Lyra.” Kallan approaches her and makes direct eye contact. “You know if you ever want to talk about it, It might be good for both of us to keep our world in perspective, you know.”

Polyn seems to have grown more irritated by him.

“I don't need to talk about it. It's in the past.” She looks forward into the endless forest. “Lyra made her Choice,” she says starting the walk forward again.

It annoyed Kallan a little that she wouldn't talk about her troubles, but he eventually got over it and moved on. As they walk further, the forest becomes more decayed and corroded. The animals are nowhere to be seen and the trees begin to twist. The wind is gone too and the darkness has taken away all light but Rui's glow. The ground is no longer filled with grass and lush leaves. Their hooves hit patches of dirt and dust with a soft thud as they walk. After a while the landscape becomes barren almost like a desert. All of trees are dead or dying.

A stone building becomes visible in the distance. The walls have cracks in them and have faded. There is a small rock that has been rolled in front of a large hole in the side. It takes both of them to move the rock aside. As they enter, she hands him the Core Knife for his protection and possibly hers. She didn't think of him as much of a warrior, despite his large size or even though he had proven himself in the battle with the Displacers.

The building is very old. As they enter past the stone opening, there is a small courtyard with three large statues. They have been warn down over a long time. Only the central one is recognizable. A large pony stands, a pegasus, but also with a unicorn horn.

“Alicorn,” Polyn whispers.

“What.”

“It's what you get when you cross a unicorn with a pegasus. Of course, they are made up fantasy beings in our world; little children's stories, usually.”

Around the area there are bags containing various household pots and pans and old dusty wooden tables that have chunks taken out of them. Huge clumps of old dust cover everything. The previous inhabitants have been gone for a long time.

“So, this proves they exist?”

“Or maybe the settlers, just worshipped a statue based on something made up.”

The large colt notices a description on the statue. It is warn but he can make out two words.

“Watcher...Queen.” He turns to his traveling companion. “What could that mean?”

“You sound like Zecora, she jokes, “let's go, maybe we'll find out inside.”

Kallan stares at the statue for a little longer as the wind begins to blow the dust around him surrounding with gray specks.

They reach a long staircase leading downward with unlit candles, each one with it's own small alcove along the wall. Polyn Levitates Rui in the air and small fire bursts come out relighting the candles as the party makes their way down the staircase. Only two sets of hooves and the small crackling of the flames can be heard.

The staircase levels out and the once crackly, dry floor is slightly moist. There are some small side passages that lead to an old table in an alcove. They also pass what may have been a kitchen with some more dusty bags on the shelves as well as an old parchment that was unreadable. Kallan coughs from the dust, it echos as the main path begins to become wider eventually opening into a large chamber. Small vines and moss gather on the walls. Water drips from the precarious rocks around them. Kallan whispers,

“This is a tomb right? With the big stone and everything...umm, it's not much of a tomb when there aren't any bodies.”

“There might be some in those bags.” Polyn says annoyed.

“I don't see how we are going to find a magical energy source here.”

A sound lingers in to Polyn's ears.

“Wait, I hear flowing water.”

They began to quicken their pace. The sound of the water gets louder. The focused unicorn keens her ears on the source of the sound, moving ever closer and not looking anywhere but straight ahead. Her traveling companion looks around making sure nothing is going to jump out at them, however the darkness around them makes that difficult. The path narrows. They reach a stream that has carved out a path in the rock. A faint light seems to be emanating from further down the small river.

“You have good instincts,” Kallan compliments.

Two sets of hooves began to slosh through the water as things get brighter around them. There is a dead end ahead with the evening moonlight coming through a small crack in the ceiling. They stop and stare at the wall. Polyn looks up.

“A Light at the end of the tunnel, funny,” her dry wit is not very amusing even to herself.

“I am sensing a magical energy of great power nearby,” Rui beeps.

There is something weird with the cave wall. Something may have shifted or blurred a little. She puts her hoof on the wall and it sinks into it. The wall is a magical illusion. Without hesitation she pushes through and disappears. Her companion yells for her but there is no response. After a deep breath he runs through the wall suddenly tripping on a small tombstone.

“Ouch, so that's where they hid the tombstones.” He slowly stands, his head throbbing.

This new room looks the same as the previous room, however it is dry as a bone. Whatever this wall, it was made by powerful forces to keep something in. Polyn goes over to the wall where they came through and it is solid as a rock.

“We're not going back,” she says glancing back at Kallan. He is looking at the words written on many of the tombstones around him.

“These must be where the settlers are buried.” He starts to read off one of the stones. “Our beloved Derpy, choked on a muffin...may she rest in peace.”

One tombstone is larger than the others. It reads, “Twilight Sparkle, who now sleeps beyond the dimensions.”

A creeping darkness grabs Kallan while he is distracted by the words. He struggles to get free of it's grasp. He yells as Polyn throws a blast of fire at it only to have it miss completely. She can make out the large morphing shape frantically moving away from her. The screaming colt is pulled into an illusion wall by the shrouded assailant.

Polyn runs over to where the wall was and runs through it only to appear in another cave room. This one has vines and small flowers and bushes everywhere, a large tree with apples on it, and an opening in the corner. Allowing light in.

The sun is shinning brightly through the cave, starting from the skylight opening and creating shadows on the far side of the room but providing enough light to feel like the forest outside.

“Did I travel through time?”

“No," Rui beeps, "there is powerful magic here.”

Kallan has the core knife out and is struggling with a large mare or at least she thinks it's a mare. The creature screams in pain as he stabs it with the knife. Polyn uses fire again and it hits the creature square on the head. Writhing in pain it musters to kick her companion backwards. A large orange bush breaks his fall. The knife is still stuck inside the creature's flesh but there is no blood. The strange dark mare starts to get up but it's wounds are too painful for the time being and she remains in a seated position. Polyn stands nearby, glaring at it, while trying to make out it's appearance.

“Don't try to hurt my friend, if you do, my next attack wont be so forgiving.” Polyn shouts. “That knife is pulsating with fire, don't try to move, unless you like pain.

To Polyn's surprise It grunts as it struggles to stand. It is dark green, part mare and part mantis or insect like animal. It has circular shaped holes in both its hooves and wings like chunks have been taken out. It has a long crooked horn and looks like a unicorn but only barely. It's wings are like that of a fly or bug. The creature is as dark and corroded as the cave around it.

“Ha ha, you have no way out now.” It glares back. “I am the only one who can open the barriers. You will be here as long as I desire.”

Polyn gets closer to her.

“Then we may have to make things more difficult, Who are you?”

“I am Chrysalis. You can call me Queen.”

“Full of yourself are we...you're the one who summoned the Displacers,” Kallan says.

“And you're the one who destroyed them. She points her hoof at Polyn. “Do you know how long it took to conjure them?”

“Why are you terrorizing the farm?” Kallan asks.

“Those foolish mares, they take from my forest, bring in their foreign animals, and refuse to leave me alone, just like those magical settlers. I've had enough of ponies taking from me.”

“They only take what they need.” Kallan begins to defend Applejack. They have a barn too, they rarely step foot in your forest.”

Chrysalis grunts at him. “You two aren't from this world, are you? Tell me your story and I'll tell you mine. After an awkward silence, Polyn begins her story again, leaving out some important details that she doesn't wish to share.

Chrysalis explains that she has been living in the forest so long that she has forgotten what her original purpose was for being there. When the settlers came, she didn't mind them living there as long as they didn't bother her.

However, the settlers were powerful magicians who practiced a dark magic. This was appealing to the Queen, who began to share magical secrets with them.

When the dark magics turned the forest desolate, Chrysalis tried to force them out, to avoid any further degradation of the forest but they refused to leave, using their magic against her, trapping her behind the illusion walls. So much time went by that they buried their dead in the cave next to where she was trapped. They mocked her, calling her Chrysalis, queen of the dead.

As time passed, she was able to break the barrier spell on the walls. When she was once again able to see the forest surface, the settlers had moved on. They had taken all of the resources in the area, leaving miles of dead forest and the graves of their dead families behind.

“You see why I wanted them out? They stole from the forest and from me, leaving nothing but desolation in their wake, those putrid leeches. Your friends living in the barn do the same, they take and never give back.  After a moment of silence, Polyn takes the core knife out of the queen. She gasps.

“Well, I'm sure you don't want this back.” Polyn says with a hint of sarcasm. “Also what makes this forest yours?”

“Long ago I was tasked to watch over it, It's my forest and my responsibility.”

Polyn tries to comprehend what she means.

“What of the statues outside?”

“I am not sure, perhaps they are of me or someone I associated with in a different time.” She clears her throat. “Usually statues are built to honor somepony. There must have been a time when I was worthy of such honor.”

“What is the light behind you?” Kallan asks.

Chrysalis is able to walk forward and stretch a bit. She towers over them.

“It is a magical illusion that act's like a sun, allowing the plants to grow. The settlers originally created it. They wanted me to suffer for an eternity. Starvation would have been too easy. Of course, I forgot to tell them that I don't eat.”

The young unicorn feels very impatient.

“We want you to leave Applejack alone.”

Rui mentions something softly to Polyn as she floats by.

“The illusion is powerful enough for me to generate a dimensional jump, I will only need a small amount of the energy, and It won't damage the illusion.” Polyn looks back at the queen.

“We also need to take some power from the magical illusion. I only need a little bit of the magical waves it possesses.”

“One question, unicorn. If you are from an alternate word and just passing through, why does it matter what happens to Applejack?”

“What do you mean, Kallan asks.”

“I hardly believe you and your unicorn friend are that selfless, to want to help others. No one is, at least not anymore.” Chrysalis narrows her gaze, everyone has a selfish agenda of their own.

“Where I come from, there is corruption and evil deeds. I want to live in a world without corruption, and I will do whatever it takes to stop it.”

Kallan secretly is impressed but a little annoyed that she didn't share her newfound crusade with him earlier.

“Then why run away from it, why not use your magical prowess to fight back against those who have wronged you.”

Polyn contemplates the question, tilting her head slightly upward then back at the so-called Queen.

“Its personal. I don't belong there, I'm not going back.” She sighs and glances at Kallan. “What is in the past must remain there. Just like you, the place I came from shall remain forgotten.”

“Then I will leave the farm alone provided that you listen to a story.” The comment took the two travelers aback. Just a story. It seemed too easy. The queen could be hiding something.

“Fine, then.” Polyn' agrees.

“I saw you looking over at a grave stone earlier, concerning one...Twilight Sparkle.” She stares into the dark shadow of the room. “A time not too long ago, a settler couple made a journey down into the cave. I watched from the darkness as they set up a gravestone and put some flowers on top of it. They etched a message into the stone and then cried for a while. They were so pathetic...but even from behind the wall, what they said in their mourning haunted me. I knew that this situation was different from just a simple ponies death.”

Her wings sputter outward as she stretches her legs.

“Who now sleeps beyond the dimensions.” Polyn recites.

The queen grins.

“This Twilight apparently vanished out of thin air with no warning. No one could conjure her back and no reveal spell could return her. I think that it would be-hoof you to investigate this, since you are going to use my illusion to wonder into new worlds.”

“You want us to find out what happened to Twilight Sparkle?”

“Why would she just vanish beyond the magical grasp of even the settlers?” The queen asks her question rhetorically.

The story may have seemed trivial at first but it stuck in Polyn's mind. Did this Twilight Sparkle find a way to challenge the universe itself or was somepony the cause of her disappearance. Were there other Twilights in other worlds that had also disappeared? It hurt her brain to think about it. If she wanted a world without corruption where she could belong, this would help her to find it.

“Promise me that you will find the answer to this question.” The queen demands. “And I will let you go.”

Kallan steps forward.

"You're hiding something.” He accuses. The queen frowns.

“My dear colt, this is bigger than you or me. If a pony has disappeared from the dimensional flow, then this harkens back to the beginning of all things. There may be something sinister at work here. There could be something ancient, powerful and very corrupt causing these disappearances.”

“You are an Alicorn, aren't you?” Polyn asks.

The queen moves over as Rui floats over to analyze the illusion.

"Perhaps I might have been, I don't really remember, I do know that I came here tasked with watching over something and that I am not from this world originally either. “I have visions that may suggest my origin and possibly the existence of other Alicorns.

Rui beeps and speaks,

"It takes an immense power to create an illusion of this magnitude, there is even heat and the ability to photosynthesize. If you are ready I will begin the teleportation sequence.” Polyn agrees and motions for Kallan to join her, which he does reluctantly.

A great light whirls around them. Followed by waves of magical energy. Soon there is a column of light emanating from next to where the illusion is.

“When you are ready step into the light,” Rui says.

Polyn has one last word for the queen.

“I hope you can keep your end of the bargain.”

“It's fine, I try to kidnap you, you attack me, then we talk it out and come to an agreement. You're much more agreeable than the settlers.”

Light begins to surround Polyn.

“How do I get back?”

“I trust you'll find a way.”

The three disappear into the light. It blinds Chrysalis for a second. Soon the light column disappears.

“Be careful Polyn,” The Queen says to herself. “Little do you know what awaits you. There are powers in the universe far greater and more corrupt than you can possibly imagine.” She picks up an apple that immediately turns to rot in her dark hoof. “Curse you Aurora!” Chrysalis says shaking the rot away.

She takes a few steps away from the bush and looks up at the light as if talking to it. “She has Starswirl's staff, sooner or later, she is going to come for you, I hope you are ready, Celestia.