Dark as Chitin

Segment Music

I followed behind Twilight through the castle. As we walked, I noticed how the guards looked at me with apprehension. I suppose everypony was on edge after what happened tonight, that is if it even was the same night.

"Princess?"

"Yes?"

"How long was I out for?"

She pursed her lips, bobbing her head for an answer. "Maybe five or four hours," she stated.
I sighed in relief, glad that it was only for a short time. For one thing, I didn't want to be gone from Starlight's castle for too long, Dawn might worry, and for another, I had a feeling there wasn't much time left to complete my mission.

Twilight spoke again. "I hope I'm not overstepping my boundaries by assuming things but were you perhaps upset by the destruction of Chrysalis' statue?"

I looked at the ground, recalling the hurricane of emotions. "I thought they killed my mother."

"Your mother is...Chrysalis? Like directly your mother?"

"That's right."

"That explains your pre-renaissance form, I suppose. But how? She's been in stone for almost two decades now," Twilight stated, sounding immensely confused.

"Don't tell her," Chrysalis urged.

"I can't do that. There's no point in hiding my identity anymore, besides, I have a plan anyway. If I can prove my usefulness outweighs my risk, which it does, then they'll be forced to accept me, in some capacity at least. There's also something you need to know."

"I'll explain everything once we get to the Council Room if that's okay with you princess?" I said out loud.

"How did you know we were going to the throne room?"

"I did some reading. A crisis threatening all of Equestria, no, beyond that. I assume you'll be needing all hand- all hooves on deck."

Twilight's wings seemed to flatten against her sides at the hearing this.

"It's okay, I fully intend on helping, the fate of this universe depends on it."

I feel like myself, Chimera, but I have access to an entire database of memories from someone else. It's like they copied and pasted their information into my head without overwriting my personality. Wait, does that mean they just left me with a huge obligation? That's kind of messed up... but I'm up for the challenge.

Somewhere in the Badlands...

Sombra was growing impatient. "What's taking them so long?"

"It appears three of my eyes have been disposed of, although one of them is still active. This may prove to be troublesome if they end up being interrogated. She may be mute, but high-level mental interference magic would prove to be dangerous. I'll have to sever my connection with her."

"I see, then what's our next move?" Sombra inquired.

"It seems you will have to do some heavy lifting, my child."

Remaining silent, Sombra stared at an altar at the center of the room.

"I need more souls. I can only consume so many stars before it begins to take its toll."

Sombra stood up from his throne, walking to the center of the room. "What are your orders?" Sombra said as he levitated a black cube that seemed dimensionless on sight. It was as if it was absorbing all of the light around it.

"Relocate the cube, preferably within a densely populated area. I'll take care of the rest."

Starlight's Castle... (Segment Music)

Shortly after Anon flew away, Discord also vanished, then the princess showed up to retrieve Spike who was apparently in the castle. Needless to say, Luster Dawn was very confused.

"What in Equestria is going on?"

Luster Dawn had even tried looking for her parents, but they too were gone. That's when Luster Dawn got an idea. The map seemed to be the epicenter of the mysterious behavior of all these individuals, maybe it would tell her something. Going back to the storage room, she sought out the map. Upon reaching it, she noticed a black sphere traveling rather quickly toward The Crystal Empire. It immediately gave her an ominous feeling, causing her to step back. She had to tell somepony, but nopony that could do anything was around.

Rushing to her room, she grabbed a bag of bits and packed a suitcase before heading toward the train station. After acquiring a train ticket to the Crystal Empire, Luster Dawn boarded the train. Taking a seat, she rested her head on the window ceil, thinking about what she would even do. She was worried, yes, but for some reason, she felt warm and safe. Luster Dawn wrapped her hooves around her necklace, drifting off to sleep.

Canterlot Castle Council Room...

Twilight stopped in front of a large set of doors, oddly, there were no guards stationed outside these ones. Twilight's horn flashed for a brief second before the doors slid open, revealing a very large table with a plethora of figures sitting all around it.

Among them were the former rulers of Equestria, the rulers of the Crystal Empire, Starlight, Discord, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and a few others I hadn't recognized. Twilight walked up to two larger seats placed at the closest end of the table, taking a seat. She nodded to the seat next to her, which I took as well. It was largely disproportionate to my size, but she must have been preparing for my larger form. Unfortunately, my head barely came up to the table.

Twilight cleared her throat before relaying the situation to everypony. She was kind enough to omit what happened in the gardens, instead, saying that I can to her to help. Celestia looked at me with concern, while Luna looked at me with confidence? Everypony else seemed confused by their presence especially the individual I recognized as Thorax, the Changeling King. Technically, that would make him my older brother... right?

"I suppose... so," Chrysalis reluctantly confirmed.

Twilight nudged me with a wing. "I believe our guest has some information to share with us."

I sat up straight, my head barely coming above the table. I sighed before I sat up in my seat, placing my front hooves on the table for balance, the words seemingly catching in my throat.

"What's wrong?" Chrysalis asked as everypony looked at me expectantly.

I knew this feeling all too well, it was stage fright. This feeling was only exacerbated by the urgency of the situation. I felt my body warming up as I looked over the council room.

Chrysalis sighed. "Close your eyes for a second, won't you?"

I closed my eyes, wondering why I was doing so.

"Now open them."

Upon opening my eyes, I noticed that everypony was somewhat blurry, their expressions indiscernible.

"Better?" Chrysalis consoled.

"A lot."

Here goes nothing...

Half an hour later...

I plopped back into my seat, a bit mentally exhausted after going over everything, my vision returning to normal. I told mostly everything: Faust, the extradimensional threat, my rebirth, my amnesia up until now, and my soul. Looking over the room again, I could see that everypony was either in some state of shock or disbelief. However, Celestia and Luna seemed to be in a state between both. Strangely enough, I had expected Starlight to lash out in some type of way, but she remained attentive and vigilant.

Twilight looked at me, concern in her voice. "Are you sure about all of this? That's a rather hefty obligation, and you just took it?"

I placed a hoof across my chest. "Pinkie promise. We just need to locate the proxy, destroy it, and Faust will handle the rest."

Twilight took a deep breath. "Okay, that's a lot to take in, but it explains quite a bit. Thank you, you have no idea how much this means to all of us," she whispered under her breath to me.

I'm sure I had some idea. The threat level is cataclysmic and I'm a major piece on the board right now. A few wrong moves and everyone's screwed, but I have a strong feeling I'm doing the right thing here.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza chimed in. "I know this threat is serious and all, but what exactly are we dealing with?"

Luna spoke next. "Our stars are vanishing into an infinite darkness."

"Yes, and that darkness is only growing closer. I can only theorize that whatever this force is utilizing some form of dark magic, necromancy, to reanimate the dead," Twilight stated.

She leaned in closer to me. "I'm sorry I didn't ask earlier, but what's your name?"

I thought about it for a second. "Chimera, Anon, or Bunny, whatever suits your fancy."

She leaned back up in her seat before speaking again. "I believe our friend, Chimera, has a trait that nullifies dark magic. It should prove to be useful in the near future."

Discord, who had been uncharacteristically quiet this entire meeting finally spoke up. He wasn't seated like everypony else, rather he was floating beside Fluttershy. "I suppose his soul is rather special, it certainly doesn't like being touched, that's for sure."

Celestia looked at Discord with a disapproving look. "We talked about this."

Discord shrugged. "What? I wasn't going to do anything. I just wanted to see if what Faust said was true."

Both Luna and Celestia raised an eyebrow at Discord.

He chuckled nervously in response. "I uh...visit occasionally."

Luna slammed her hooves on the table, standing and leaning toward Discord who was across the other side of the table. Fluttershy sank into her seat.

"How dare thee visit our mother without us!?"

Celestia joined in on the banter in a similar manner. "I want an explanation, Discord!"

Discord seemed taken aback by this, Twilight stepping in. "Everypony, please! This is serious."

Luna sat back down, eyeing Discord suspiciously. "This is not over."

Celestia merely sat down, turning her head away from Discord in annoyance.

I turned to Twilight with a familiar doubt rising in the back of my mind. "If we can't stop this, please tell me you have some sort of backup plan."

Twilight's expression became stern. "I really hope it doesn't come to that, but I've made preparations. It's a portal to an alternate dimension, if all goes south, we'll evacuate everypony in Equestria before destroying the portal."

It's good to know she has a backup plan. My confidence is wavering, but I still can't afford to give up.