Segment Music

Chrysalis

"He's coming to," Starlight announced to the room.

Trotting beside her, I saw that Thorax was groggily returning to the land of the living, sitting up in the cot we placed him on. Moving just within his direct line of sight, his tired eyes fixated on me, before opening wide in a panic. Thorax desperately struggled against the magical restraints Starlight had placed on him, attempting to escape to no avail.

"Brother, calm down, we're all here," Phrayrnx stated, stepping forward as well. Thankfully, this seemed to actually calm Thorax down; he stopped his hopeless struggle, instead choosing to plead with his family members.

They frowned sympathetically, knowing that this was for his own good. I had already explained myself to the rest of them, now it was Thorax's turn to hear me out.

"Thorax," I softly called out. He stopped moving, head rigid and eyes refusing to look at me as he stared toward a corner of the room.

"Thorax," I said more firmly, this time eliciting a response, to some extent. His head craned ever so slightly until he was looking at me sideways.

Well, at least it's a start. "I'm sorry, I hurt you. I was selfish, coldhearted, and abusive toward the changelings, towards you. In the pursuit of conquest, I-I lost sight of what I already had, family," I found my eyes drifting downward, despite myself.

An awkward silence filled the room, the cloud of guilt hanging over me becoming more prevalent. "You...have a younger brother, you know. He's a few months old now, physically, I think. I'm not quite sure, it's complicated with changelings, he's a special case, but I digress. It was he who taught me how to give love for once in my life. Thanks to him, I realized just how terrible I had been."

I tilted my head back up to see that Thorax was now looking in my direction but not quite at me yet. Shaking his head, he raised a hoof to his forehead before lying back down. Thinking I had lost him, I trotted closer to his bedside, both eager and anxious to explain myself.

I stared down at him as he massaged his head in slow methodical circles. "I abandoned you," he mumbled too quietly for me to discern.

"I-I'm sorry dear, I didn't quite catch that."

Thorax remained silent. I shot a glance at Starlight who only offered a sympathetic frown. "Were you conscious?"

I turned back to Thorax, confused. "What?"

"Were you conscious when...you were in stone?"

Just as I was about to respond, I took note of the noticeable change in the atmosphere of the room. The emotions emanating from Thorax were bitter, suffocating. The overwhelming sense of guilt I had mistaken as solely being my own, was not entirely my own. I knew I had to be very careful with what I said next. I felt like I should lie and say no, but at the same time, I knew that honestly was crucial at times like this. Panicked, I glanced back at Starlight for some type of answer.

She nodded firmly, an action that spoke volumes. Somehow, I now knew what I needed to do. "I...was, yes."

He arched his back, moaning in frustration. Honestly, it wasn't all bad...okay, it was up until Chimera hatched. The feeling of not being able to move your own body, watching as the world went by but still being conscious was unbearable. But he doesn't need to know that.

Rotating on his side, Thorax fell silent once more. No longer did respond to any form of stimuli, nor did he attempt to escape. Starlight placed a hoof on me, motioning her head toward the entryway toward the room, where everyling was already going. Regrettably, I trudged out of the room as well, a taste of sadness lingering in the air.

This wasn't at all how this was supposed to go. I came here to be forgiven for my sins. How can I resolve this issue if the one I sought forgiveness from can't forgive themself? Unbecoming of myself, a sudden spike in frustration and confusion caused me to do something rash.

Just before I stepped through the door frame, I slammed it shut, securing it with an advanced sealing spell. It was a spell I often used to protect my nests whenever we lacked martial power or had too many young to risk. Millennia of refining the spell have made it virtually unbreakable. Of course, it can be broken through with excessive force and only works on inanimate objects, but the spell itself should be indestructible.

Moving away from the door, I faced down Thorax, who was now sitting upright in his bed, shooting me a very confused look.

Slowly, I trotted up to him, ignoring the metallic banging sound coming from behind me. I was fully intent on settling this matter once and for all. I'd be damned if I came all this way for things to end like this. As a queen - no - a mother, it is my duty to see this through until the end!

Soul

"Testing, testing, can you hear me?" An echoed voice spoke from the bog that was my mind.

Sweet filly Celestia, I feel like a butt cheek on a stick. From the looks of it, I'm in some sort of medical treatment room. How did I get here? I could've sworn I was in Rarity's class. I can't remember anything. "Faust, is that you?"

"Ah, it appears you're finally awake," she said, sounding relieved.

Finally? "Wait, what happened?"

"Via unknown methods, it would seem that your soul was temporarily destabilized. I did my best to patch you up, but I suggest you take it easy for a while," her tone instantly transitioned to a more stern and serious one, "However, reality's been compromised, but I can't discern what exactly was compromised. When you're up to it, feel free to investigate the matter, several other lords are already on top of it."

Destabilized? What could have destabilized my soul? I've gained mastery over it after centuries of training. Sitting up in my bed, I was quickly advised by my own vessel that I was not okay. The splitting 'headache,' that accompanied my every movement made itself very apparent. It's not actually a headache, that's just the closest sensation I could compare it to.

"How long was I out?"

"A few hours at most."

Dragging my body off the bed, a much large wave of pain washed over me, causing my legs to buckle underneath me. I need to perform a self-evaluation.

Closing my eyes, I retracted my sense of self into myself. I started by realigning my soul with my core, adjusting the magicules to precisely accommodate my soul. This is a mess, something really did a number on me. Magicules strayed far away from the nucleus, some colliding with each other at high speeds, others escaping entirely, causing unnecessary damage to my vessel.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I stood up, the pain dissipating with each step I took. "That's better, but I've lost a lot of magic...oh well, it recovers passively."

Until then, I should probably let Ms. Rarity know I'm fine. Look at me, acting like a normal student...

Segment Music

Chimera

As we trotted through Ponyville, I couldn't help but notice how out of it Cozy seemed. I thought she would have been excited being able to covet whatever she wanted. She held up her end of the bargain after all.

"Something up, Cozy?"

Dawn, who eagerly insisted on joining us, shot her a worried glance. "I can go back if you want," Dawn somberly offered.

"No, that's not it, just doing some thinking."

I hummed to myself, attempting to process her words for more than face value. Despite being a changeling, I couldn't quite discern what it was she was feeling. It was incredibly complicated, something unusual for the filly, but there were hints of something akin to...anxiety? If she was feeling something, she was hardly able to hide it, magically that is. She's quite good at wearing fake faces.

"Anxious?"

Her forehead creased ever so slightly before a devious smile quickly crept across her face. "Nah, but I hope you are," she brazenly announced as she flew in front of me, pointing a hoof at my face, "because your wallet's going to need a stretcher when I'm done with it."

In not even a second, she managed to switch her mood up, impressive. "Oh, yeah," I teleported a noticeably bulging bottomless bag in front of myself, levitating it just before her, "do your worst."

She smiled smugly. "Alright, let's go to Manehattan."

A cold shiver ran up my spine.

Regret, that is all I feel right now. How could one filly be so expensive?

Cozy excitedly pointed at a...toilet bowl night light as stood up on my back. "Ooh, and that!"

I let out an exasperated sigh to which I heard Dawn giggle. I shot Cozy an incredulous look from over my shoulder, taking in the large mountain of miscellaneous items I was levitating in my magic. "Seriously?"

Cozy returned the expression in kind. "You said anything."

Unfortunately, I did. Steeling my resolve, I reluctantly pulled out my almost empty bag of bits, pulling the night light off the back wall and placing it on the counter. The cashier gave me a sympathetic look before she rang me up once again.

Exiting the shopping center, I noticed that the sun had now fallen, a testament to how long we had been in there. I checked my bottomless bag; there were no more than a few hundred bits left.

Damn, she really bodied my wallet. A small rumble spread across my back. Cozy spontaneous flew off my back, clutching her stomach.

She's probably hungry. Ah, what the hay, I should have enough bits left to eat out.

"C'mon, let's find someplace to eat."

"Ooh, I've been wanting to try authentic Japaneighse food," Dawn chimed in.

Japaneighse? Sounds familiar. I don't see why not. "Sure, you fine with that, Cozy?"

Lowering herself in the air, this time landing on Dawn's back, she nodded. "Anything's fine so long as it tastes good," she muttered.

Starlight Glimmer

"Chrysalis! Open the door!" I shouted, pounding on the dense blockade.
"What's going on?"

"I'll go around, see if I can get in through a window or something."

Pushing nor pulling on the door bore fruit. The direction of the keyhole indicated that it should have been unlocked, yet it wouldn't budge. That's when I noticed the copious amounts of magic surrounding the door itself.

In an attempt to decipher the spell set in place, I found that it was not only extremely refined but also complicated. The magic also distinctly belonged to Chrysalis. Why had she sealed us out? Or...did she seal herself in?

Brushing the thought aside, I set out to teleport inside of the room instead, but I found myself unwilling to. I had the nagging feeling that I just shouldn't. Thus, I opted to listen instead. Pressing an ear to the door, I could hear the sound of muffled voices exchanging words back in forth. It was hard to make out and I didn't want to risk using a sound amplification spell in case the volume ever peaked.

"Not...fault!"

"...Is!"

The sound of glass suddenly shattering caused me to wince but I resumed listening anyway. "Love you!" Chrysalis screamed before the room was consumed by the sound of violent thumping and more things breaking.

Unable to bear the suspense any longer, I teleported inside the room, beholding a familiar sight. Thorax and Chrysalis were tumbling over each other as Chrysalis tightly held onto Throax's barrel once again.

"Forgive me!"

"Forgive me first!"

Their banter caught me off guard, almost to the point where I was unable to act. Almost...

Separating the two with my magic, I was remise to see that they were still shouting at each other.

"Foolish colt, why are you so stubborn!" Chrysalis sneered.

Taking offense to this, Thorax glared back. "Oh, I'm stubborn?!"

This is gonna be a long night.

Author's Note

Sorry about the late update. Ran out of insomnia meds and was low on energy for a while.