I Waited

I must've started to subconsciously get used to being knocked out, because I was coming to much quicker than last time—that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"Nnnggh," I groaned, "again with the knockout...?"

My head was pounding, but I felt more or less okay. I tried opening my eyes and adjusting to the surroundings... wherever I was; but it was after a few seconds that I felt the floor beneath me... moving, swerving about.

Stumbling to my hooves, I fell against the wall and ended with my hooves falling through them. I wasn't just in a box—I was in a cage, hanging high above the ground.

Was it strange to be a pegasus and have some slight fear of heights?

"Hello?" I called out, expecting someone to answer back, but there was no such answer. "Starlight?"

Was she okay? How long have I been out for? Were any of them okay?

I closed my eyes. There was no point in getting so worked up so fast. I had to focus on getting out of here first, and then I could go and look for them. I glanced around the cage, seeing if there was anything that could aid me, but it was bare and cold.

There was no door, either. This had to have been a magically crafted cage. My head was skinny enough to fit through the bars and look around the place, trying to find anyone and anything.

And I definitely found someone. All of them.

The elements, Discord, Trixie, they were all up, clinging to the ceiling, captured and imprisoned in pods of goo. But no Thorax or Starlight. At least someone was still out there.

I turned my head to look upward, just above the cage. I was hanging from a single metal chain. The more I moved, the more the cage would swing. That was when I had an idea: If I swung fast enough and hard enough, I could potentially break the chains connecting me.

I started for the other side of the cage, just enough to start building up momentum. When the cage went as far as it could go, I moved to the other side. In a matter of moments, I was slowly building up enough speed to start swinging from side to side. The floor became slippery, but I held my ground.

Then suddenly, just as I was far enough, the cage struck an invisible wall, forcing me to crash into the bars on the other side, and I quickly lost momentum. I was trapped in another bubble.

"Great," I said sarcastically. "Now what?"

A gasp came from down below. I peered out through the bars again and saw Starlight staring up at the others in the pods. Her face was horrified and honestly afraid.

"Starlight!" I whispered to her. Thankfully, the bubble wasn't soundproof and she could hear me.

She called out my name in relief. "Are you okay?"

"Yea-aagh...!" The pain in my broken wing started to resurface. "Sort of. One of my wings are broken."

"Just stay there. I'll get you out of there—"

"No," I quickly said. "Don't worry about me, just get the others out before—"

A laugh filled the entirety of the room, and I felt my heart race just a beat faster when I could recognize the voice.

"One little pony all by herself..."

Suddenly, the form of Queen Chrysalis herself appeared from behind the pods, her body cracking and bending itself together.

"Oh, how will I ever prevent this daring rescue?" She grinned evily.

Before Starlight could react, she found herself surrounded by changelings and forced to the ground, while I could do nothing but just watch. Chrysalis flew down to the bottom and inspected Starlight's form.

"Well, well, well. The Princess of Friendship's sole pupil," she stated as she walked over to the unicorn. "Honestly, I didn't think you were worth replacing with one of my drones."

"You won't get away with this!" Starlight yelled back.

"I already have. Nopony is coming to save you. Your little squad was it. And now, there's just you."

"I'm still breathing!" I yelled back to the changeling queen. "And as soon as I get out of this cage, I'm gonna kick your little bug-eyed—whaaah!"

I lost my voice as the cage started to plummet to the floor, Chrysalis having severed the chain. It slammed into the floor with a loud boom, and I landed on my broken wing once again. The pain burned into my brain and I tried to hold back a scream.

"Leave him alone!" Starlight yelled.

"And what will he do?" the queen teased. "He's in there, and you're out here."

"Thorax is still out there! He'll—"

"Don't mention that traitor's name in my kingdom!" Chrysalis roared, ready to strike Starlight, but stopping at the last second. "He was a fool to leave and even more a fool to return! When I find him, he'll learn just what happens to those who betray the hive!"

Starlight tried to back away and whimpered at the looming figure. Chrysalis then saw something in Starlight's eyes, a gleam. I saw it too at the last second.

She chuckled menacingly. "And it seems I don't have far to look... do I?"

Her horn lit up and blasted Starlight. Before I could shout, I held my breath.

"... Thorax?"

"THORAX?!" Chrysalis yelled, and her children hissed at their own sibling, as if ready to kill him at a moment's notice.

But a clinging noise stopped Chrysalis and prompted her, and me, to inspect the noise. Starlight, the real Starlight, was bashing a rock against the structure of the throne, struggling to make even a dent in it. She looked up and saw Chrysalis readying her horn and fired off a shot, but Starlight dodged the attack and dove into the throne. The queen attempted to seek her out.

I did nothing but watch. Without the materials to break through, I was left to just sit and hope Starlight would figure something out, and Chrysalis knew what I was feeling. She craved it.

"Very clever," she began," and clearly Thorax revealed to you the secret of my throne. I can't have powerful ponies using their abilities against me. Even with your rather embarrassing little rescue attempt, everything has gone according to my plan."

"What plan?" I could hear Starlight's muffled voice scream back. "Why did you do all this?!"

"So I could feed, of course! By replacing the most beloved figures in Equestria, my drones will be able to store all the love meant for them and return it here to me. Everypony will do as I command, and my subjects and I will feed on their love for generations!"

Starlight escaped the throne and hid behind cover, looking at both me and Thorax. A single glance at his pearly wings gave her an idea.

"... What if you didn't have to?"

"Ridiculous!" Chrysalis screeched as she dragged Starlight by the tail and threw her a short distance, subduing her under two changelings. "The hunger of changelings can never be satisfied!"

"Exactly! Thorax left the hive and made a friend. He shared love, and now he doesn't need to feed. You don't have to live your lives starving all the time!"

"Listen to her!" I yelled. "She's telling the truth! We've seen it our—"

But Chrysalis refused to listen. She picked Starlight up and slammed her against the wall.

"Star!" I shouted. The unicorn tried to get up, but found herself falling back down. One of her hooves seemed sprained, or worse, broken.

I was then suddenly lifted by a magic field and pulled out of the cage, until I was face to face with the evil queen herself.

"You know nothing." But then her grimace turned into a smirk. "Or should I say... you know everything? Everything that I need."

"I'd rather burn in Tartarus than share any of this with you," I growled.

Chrysalis threw me to the ground. "I'm not giving you a choice."

Her magic formed into a beam that shot directly into my head. My eyes glowed a heavy white. Instantly, I could feel her trying to poke through my mind, reading through every entry I've written, every book I've read, every theory I've studied—everything she needed to rule—but I was quick to shut it off.

But she simply giggled. "Fool! Not even the strongest or smartest pony will be able to keep me back! Soon, I will unlock every bit of your mind and simply take what I want. Millions upon millions of years of knowledge and memories will soon be mine!"

I tried to stop her from saying that, but it was too late.

"... What do you mean?" It was the first thing Starlight asked.

I had enough willpower to turn my head to her, to look her in her... confused eyes. But I didn't have the willpower to say anything. Chrysalis laughed maniacally again.

"Oh, this is wonderful. He never told you? Never told you all those years he spent locked away in solitude and misery? Ha ha ha! Wonderful indeed. Perhaps he's better off staying quiet, and better off showing you instead."

"No, please, don't—"

But it was too late for that. With a flash of her magic, a screen appeared above us, allowing Thorax, Chrysalis, Starlight, and every other changeling in the room to see exactly what I saw all those years ago. All the millions of years ago. All the—

"If this ends up working properly, then I should begin. My name is... Well, I don't remember. But about five years ago, I woke up here in this strange... dome, as it appears to be. Inside contains books archiving—if I'm correct—every event that has currently happened in the universe. There are even books archiving popularized spells capable of the use without a unicorn horn. I chose to use it to my advantage and create this video... camera thing. I will be recording logs both here and on paper as I—"

"Boring," Chrysalis sang as she flipped further forward.

"Today marks twenty four years since my arrival here in this dome. I've been writing down everything I can learn, everything I can memorize. I am still, as some say, wonky when it comes to the magic, but I'm greatly improving. Another factor that I wanted to point out is that, in the twenty four years here, I haven't seemed to age. At all. Nor have I needed to eat or sleep or even drink. It's funny. Interesting... but funny."

Another flicker, another time.

"It is officially five-thousand, eight-hundred and ninety-two years since my arrival, and I... I'm starting to get a little lonely. So..." The past me shrugged his eyes, and then moved the magic camera into view of... "... I built a robot. I'm thinking of a name. So far, I have three ideas: Bolts, Cranks, and Clanks. Original, I'm aware. He's a work-in-progress, but if I am successful, I will have officially created life. Hopefully, it doesn't try and kill me."

I laughed to myself subconsciously, but cringed as Chrysalis continued to force her way into my brain to cling onto more memories—but she was getting the results she was looking for. Starlight stared at me and nothing else, her eyes frozen and her breathing slow. It was like time had almost stopped for her.

I didn't want her to—

"One-million years... That's something you don't hear or think about every day."

The sound of the number one-million caused Starlight to gasp. Nopony could hear it but me.

"Hmm..." Zap.

"Fourteen-million, seven-hundred and two thousand, and twelve years. I've come up with a new hypothesis, it's been millennia since I've done this. I call it," old me wrote on a makeshift chalkboard, "the Cortex Paradox. The idea of the paradox is that—"

But there was no more that Chrysalis wanted to show. She undid her magic and eyed me intently, then turned to Starlight.

"There's more. Much more. But I think it would be best to hear him say it." She giggled.

But Starlight wasn't laughing. She was on the verge of tears and staring at me, trying to pierce my eyes with her own. I turned away from her.

"... How long were you really gone for...?" She tried to raise her voice, but it cracked.

I shut my eyes and kept them tightly shut. "Starlight, please..."

"How LONG?" she yelled.

"Nineteen-billion, eight-hundred and ninety-five million, two-hundred and eighty-eight thousand, one-hundred and thirty-two years," I said without fault. My voice fell into a tearful whisper as I added, "... Last time I checked."

The answer froze Starlight in her tracks. She couldn't move her body or her eyes, and she almost lost her balance. I didn't hear her breathe for a moment. It broke her, shattered her image of normality, her sense of hope. Whatever part of said hope that was left vanished from her face, and all that was left was a mare who simply didn't know.

I opened my eyes and turned to her. Tears were running down her face, but she didn't falter.

"Star—"

Chrysalis enveloped me with her magic and launched me several hooves away, knocking me to the cold ground surrounded by changelings, changelings who were unsure of what to do to me. Starlight screamed my name, only to be pressed against the wall by the queen.

"You see? You couldn't even save your precious friend from an eternity of misery," she said to Starlight. "What makes you think you could ever be more than me? A leader? You know nothing of the changelings or what it takes to be their queen. I decide what is best for my subjects, not some mewling grub like you."

Starlight stared at Chrysalis. Before, she would have tried to free herself, try and fight back. But now, she decided not to fight, not to stoop low. She spoke true to her message, to the task at hoof.

"I know what it's like to lead by fear and intimidation," she said calmly. "and I know what it's like to want everypony to do what you say. But I was wrong. A real leader doesn't force her subjects to deny who they are. She celebrates what makes them unique and listens when one of them finds a better way."

Through the lump of changeling hooves holding me down, I smiled. But Chrysalis refused to be convinced.

"The only thing Thorax has found is what happens to those who turn their back on the hive!" Chrysalis growled.

She slammed Starlight against the wall in an attempt to knock her unconscious, but failed. Rather than do anything any further, she went over to Thorax, who had been struggling for most of the time, and immediately enveloped him in her magic.

"No! Stop!" Starlight yelled, but was immediately held back by two other changelings.

Chrysalis laughed. "Just as soon as I drain every last ounce of love from him and show my subjects what a real leader is!"

Thorax tried to push her away, resist her evil influence, but it was slowly seeping into his brain and draining him of love.

"I can feel the love inside me slipping away...! I can't hold onto it much longer!"

Suddenly, Starlight had an idea with a gasp. "Then don't! Sharing love is what made you different to begin with! You should share yours with Chrysalis! Give her all of it!

"Do it, Thorax!" I screamed behind the group of changelings.

Heeding our words, Thorax did as he commanded and immediately began to unleash all of the love he could ever hold at Chrysalis. The force pushed her back and away, slamming her into the throne and prompting her to watch the scene unfold from afar. Everyone's eyes then quickly became fixated as Thorax was suddenly encased in a shiny cocoon.

Starlight went up to touch the cocoon, but just as she did, it opened up and nearly blinded everyone. What came out was Thorax, only his body was no longer the starved, sickly changeling that used to be, but a burly, green, luminescent form. No longer was his body carved with holes.

He was healthy.

"This is what happens when you give love freely instead of taking it!" Starlight shouted to the group of changelings, encouraging them to follow Thorax's methods.

That was when we all became fixated on another figure, one that appeared from above and landed beside Thorax. I instantly recognized the figure.

"Starling!" I shouted as I gently pushed aside the nearby changelings to see the female changeling in full view. "You're okay!"

She recognized me too and gave a smile, before turning to the rest of the changeling army and presenting her own fresh form.

"Heed Starlight Glimmer's words, my siblings! Give your love, share it, and let it embrace you!"

Listening one by one, the changelings began to share their own portion of love. The sheer force of every changeling began to break apart the throne, and then in a sudden flurry of chaos, the kingdom exploded, raining debris across the region.

Thankfully, Starlight had shielded the four of us from being wiped out by the blast. When the environment came into view again, we were greeted with a brand new race of changelings, all sharing different colors and gleams in their eyes. It was hopeful.

The others—the girls, Trixie, Discord, the Princesses, and Shining Armor, along with his family—quickly came to, wiping the goo off their bodies and reconciling with glee.

"Starlight?" Twilight spoke up. "What happened?"

"Oh, not much," Starlight casually said. "We defeated the changelings with no magic at all, they found a new leader, and... they're all kinda... good now."

Twilight found herself dumbfounded, amazed, but most of all, recoiling in disbelief. But the sight was enough to convince her.

"Well done, Starlight Glimmer," Princess Luna spoke. "It seems as though you've learned a great deal since we last spoke."

"Not even the half of it."

Starlight and I couldn't help but laugh at the experience. But as soon as our eyes met, the laughter was quick to cease, and the mood became immediately somber. I knew her mind was already racing with questions that needed answers, emotions that—

"Ungh..." a voice moaned in the distance. Everyone turned to see Queen Chrysalis emerging from the ruins of her kingdom. She hissed, but immediately recoiled when she found herself highly outnumbered a thousand to one.

Starlight walked to her. "When Twilight and her friends defeated me, I chose to run away and seek revenge! You don't have to! You can be the leader your subjects deserve."

The unicorn held out a hoof to Chrysalis, hoping she would take it. At first, it seemed to be the case; her face seemed ready to light up. But the former queen swatted it away and growled.

"There is no revenge you could ever conceive of that will come close to what I will exact upon you one day, Starlight Glimmer!"

Chrysalis then suddenly dove off the cliff, and we all ran to see what became of her. She didn't plummet to her death, but flew off, towards the horizon. Twilight gave Starlight a sympathetic hoof on the shoulder. I knew we would see Chrysalis again one day—and hopefully that day wouldn't be for a long time.

As the groups all mingled together and took to Thorax as the new changeling leader, I looked to the cliff. Starlight was still sitting there, even after everyone had grouped together. She looked over and down into the valley below. Her breathing was slow and calm, but at the same time, it wasn't.

Deep in thought.

I walked over to her and sat beside her.

"... Starlight?"

Her mouth was hung open by a centimeter, and the light in her eyes, the one that I loved to see, was gone. She looked up and stared forward, not to the horizon, but just... forward. She then turned to me and stared into my eyes.

She was hurt, broken, undone. She didn't want to be.

"Nineteen billion..."

Suddenly, Starlight lurched over and lost consciousness. I quickly caught her and prevented her from going over the cliff. Everyone noticed and quickly came to her aid, asking me what happened.

"I don't know, she just passed out!" I answered. "Hey, Starlight! Can you hear me? Wake up!"

I gently shook her. Her face was pale.

"Starlight? Starlight!"