Dark as Chitin: Soul Theory

Chapter Music

Chrysalis

"Well," Doctor Coping said as he removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes before placing them back on, "it sounds like you've had it quite rough. You mentioned your son, Chimera, yes? How is he doing?"

What am I doing here? I don't remember scheduling an appointment today. Wait, did I?

"He's doing great, I presume. He saved Equestria and got engaged not too long ago," I stated.

"Good, that's good," he murmured to himself as he began scribbling away at his clipboard.

What is that? Why does he keep doing that?

"Would you say that you're," he paused, tapping his chin with his quill, "proud of him?"

Proud of him? Of course, I'm proud of him. "I am, very much so, yes."

"And, what of your other children? Thorax, for example. Would you say you're proud of him as well?"

"Of course not! He betrayed me and left me to rot in a stone prison!"

Doctor Coping hummed to himself, rolling his head around, chewing on the response before turning to write on his clipboard once more.

There it is again. Every time he does it, I feel anxious.

"But he also saved Equestria too, did he not? As well as lead your people into a far more prosperous age, correct?"

"What, well, yes, but," I found myself frozen at a loss for words.

"But what?" He said with that oh-so-familiar look of expectancy.

It's true, he did do those things, but he... he betrayed me!

"He turned on me!" I planted my hooves on the table, raising my voice more than I would have liked.

The doctor cocked an eyebrow at me. " Yes, that's what you keep saying. Do you mind going into more detail? Why did he turn on you?"

Why did Thorax turn on me? I-I don't know. H-He must've deemed me unnecessary to his plans. Yeah, that's it.

"He wanted the throne for himself! So, he sided with the ponies, persuaded the changelings, and overthrew me!" I declared as I brought my hoof down on the table to emphasize each point. I was angry, angry that I even had to explain this.

Doctor Coping clicked his tongue, placing his clipboard down. "Chrissy, you're hiding again."

"Hiding? A queen does not hide," I maintained, crossing my forehooves as I sat back down, avoiding the doctor's gaze.

"Then look at me and tell me about Thorax before he turned on you. What was your child like?"

Thorax was...well, he was like every other changeling, wasn't he?

"He was like every other changeling," I confessed as I turned back to face Doctor Coping.

"Like every other changeling?"

"Well, yes. We had a hivemind and I was its master, thus I controlled all of the changelings."

"You controlled all of the changelings?"

"Yes."

"Could they think for themselves?"

I pondered the thought. "I...suppose so?"

Coping's eyes narrowed, the anxiety from earlier returning.

"They could," I further elaborated.

The doctor looked at me incredulously, a look I was familiar with, but still served to increase my anxiety.

As if on queue, the mechanical contraption on the desk, an alarm clock, as the doctor calls it, began letting out its signature screeching sound. I felt my magic flare-up in preparation to eradicate the blasted thing, but Doctor Coping snatched it, turning it off with the press of a hoof.

The doctor clicked his tongue once more. "Temper, Chrissy, we talked about this. Anyway, it looks like that's all the time we have for today. Remember to keep up with your exercises, we'll meet again one week from now. Until then, I think you should do some self-reflection, maybe talk with your acquaintance, Starlight, about the revolution of the changelings. Perhaps the faster you reconcile these issues, the faster you'll get those grandfoals you've been pining over, eh?"

Hmm, that is certainly a possibility. If Chimera sees my progression, he might feel the need to expand the family to keep up. But...how am I to progress?

Luster Dawn

He really has come a long way. It feels like just yesterday when his magic was an out-of-control mess. Anon's already capable of utilizing teleportation magic in just a few months of having learned the spell. It's kind of absurd how fast he's growing. He's constantly training but somehow makes time for me and everypony else. Sometimes, I worry that he might be overworking himself, but he insists on being fine. I keep up with my training as well, yet not to the same extent. On some nights, he doesn't even come to bed, instead choosing to train further in the Magic Chamber. If he wasn't a changeling, he probably would have keeled over quite some time ago.

I can tell he's still not over what happened not too long ago. Honestly, I'm not either; it's probably the scariest incident in recorded history. He talks in his sleep though, consistently waking up in a cold sweat. To which I have to coax him back to sleep. He doesn't tell me what the nightmares are about, often brushes them off as "just a bad dream."

I haven't told anypony, but I'm contemplating telling his mother. Maybe she could get through to him. I don't want to be a tattletail; I'm just worried is all. He's been nothing but sweet and loving to me, us, actually. In spite of not yet being married, I already feel like we have a proper family.

I just wish Cozy would come around more. We've gotten closer, I think, but it's clear there's still some distance. I know what she did and I'm willing to look past all of it. It's just that, it's hard to bond with a filly that doesn't want to bond. It doesn't really help that she doesn't exactly have the mentality of a filly either. My friendship lessons don't seem to apply to her at all. Chrysalis makes sense, they have a history together, but I don't know how Anon does it.

Somehow, he treats her like both a full-grown mare and a filly simultaneously. Speaking of Chrysalis, my soon-to-be mother-in-law, she really seems to want grand foals. I mean, I want foals of my own too, eventually. I'm just not if I'm ready for that yet. I'm still a student of the princess after all, and it can be very busy work at times. I've just been lucky with my most recent break. If I have foals, I want to be there for them when they need me, not when it's convenient, just like my mother. I also don't want to leave the work of raising our foals to somepony else.

When we adopted Cozy, for whatever reason, I couldn't find it in myself to part with her. She seemed like such an essential part of our lives and still is. Now, I'm questioning if I'm really up for the task. What am I to her? Do I even amount to the role of a legal guardian? This role seems far more imposing than any task the princess herself has ever given me. Maybe I'll talk to mom and dad about it. Still, I don't want to give up on her. She's an amazing filly, in her own way, and I know she can do great things. I'm just not so sure about myself is all...

Discord

As per request by Twilight, I've taken the position of acting as counselor to Chrysalis. Also, it gives me a chance at the reformation I was trying to accomplish all those years ago. Although, it's not as easy as I had initially hoped. She's had a rough life, given her origins and whatnot, but she can't seem to get over one teensy weensy little event. The renaissance of the changelings has left quite the bitter impression on her.

Specifically, her memories of her son, Thorax. She vehemently believes that he betrayed her for his own selfish gain. Oddly enough, she doesn't seem to hold anything personal against Starlight Glimmer despite the fact that she played a hoof in Thorax's conversion. She even lives under the same roof as her, albeit to be closer to her son, but still...

If I could just use my magic, this would be so much easier. However, for whatever reason, Twilight made it very clear that under any circumstances am I to use it on Chrysalis. I can't imagine why. The princess works in mysterious ways. All she permitted was using an alternate persona to converse with her and "scheduling" appointments.

Even without the use of chaos magic, I find myself growing increasingly exhausted with each interaction. Alas, I'm determined to see this through until the end...

I could really go for a drink with Soul though, or maybe I'll just unwind with Fluttershy. Oh, the woes of a draconequus. Speaking of Fluttershy, I have to pick her up from work in a few hours.

Cozy Glow

Finally, it's lunchtime. I was starting to get real tired of all those friendship lessons. Hug this and compliment that, ugh. Friendship doesn't last long anyway, what's the point in all of this?

Never mind that, it's lunchtime now, possibly my favorite time of day. Not only does it signify the school day being half over, but it also gives me the chance to be alone.

Walking up to the servery of the cafeteria, I took note of just how diverse it was. There were signs detailing food options for the many different Equestria species attending the school; they even had meat.

To my relief, none of the meat seemed to be from any sapient species so I guess it wasn't that concerning. It's odd though, none of this was here when I last attended the school. I guess Twilight's been pretty busy since she became Princess of Equestria.

I approached the lunch lady of the pony servery, already playing up the cutesy facade. As expected, I got a little extra than everypony else.

Nopony can resist my charm...almost nopony anyway.

Caring my tray in the amulet's magic, I made my way to an empty table toward the back of the lunchroom. Taking a seat, ready to enjoy my meal, a shadow was suddenly cast over me.

Pry, I swear if that's you again, I going to shove my tray so far up your flank.

Apprehensively, I turned my attention away from my food, looking up. To my surprise, before me was a group of ponies, hippogriff, minotaur, and a few other species. Those that could fly were doing so with their front limbs crossed as they looked down at me with arrogance and disdain. It was a clique, the kind that thought they owned the school, the popular ones. I was used to this. Being cute comes with its own baggage, envy.

I knew what this was; they were sizing me up. I sat there, midway through taking a bite, waiting for one of them to say something.

One of the ponies was the first to speak up, a unicorn. She had a silver coat, fancy dark grey mane with streaks of blue, magenta eyes, and a cutie mark related to music; notes emanating from a keyboard. "So you're Cozy Glow...I've heard a lot about you. Also heard you've been a statue for eighteen years. Tell us, how'd you deal with all the bird poop?" She said as she looked over at her posy for approval as they began laughing.

So this is the leader. Guess I should take her down a peg or two. "Better than you can deal with your brown nose actually," I said while wearing a mock smile.

The very same group that had been laughing with her, were now laughing at her. The filly looked at me incredulously, clearly taken aback before her expression quickly switched to anger.

Without warning, her horn flared pink with magic, enveloping my tray as it was flung off the table. Before any of the food or tray could hit the floor, however, it all stopped as if suspended in time. Entropy on the objects seemed to flow in reverse as all of it rearranged itself to exactly how it was prior to being thrown.

Was that magic? I couldn't sense any. That felt so unnatural to see.

"Bullying? At the school of friendship no less? How distasteful. Can't we all just get along?" Pry said, suddenly appearing behind the group, smiling kindly.

The gang stumbled back, clearly put off by this turn of events.

The filly huffed to herself before turning to trot away. "Come on, let's go. We've wasted enough time here."

Pry tilted his head in confusion, still smiling as the group left. "Was it something I said?"