Chapters We Were Trapped in Stone, And Now We're Free
I wake up to find myself in some kind of cave; the shine of crystals sheds light on the scene I wake up to. I get up onto my hoofs and hear a voice behind me.
"Sunny, w-what's happening?!" Asks Izzy.
I turn to face her and gasp in horror. There stands Izzy, Hitch, Zipp, and Pipp. All four of them look to me with fearful expressions. In the dim light, I see their bodies are unmoving; almost as if they are stone. Then I realize they are stone; all but their faces, which continue to look to me with expressions of fear and pain. I try to move towards them, but find myself unable to move from where I stand. I look down to find my hooves encased in the same stone. Indeed, the stone is slowly moving up my legs, preventing me from moving from where I stand.
My four friends cry out to me; hoping for answers. Hoping for help. But I have no answers and can only watch as the stone slowly covers their faces, freezing their horrified expressions in statue. I stare at them; despite their now unchanging appearance, I can still feel their pleading for help. It is a feeling I have felt before though only vaguely. I remember the stone statue that me and Izzy had come upon a month ago. Just as I connect the dots in my head though, I hear a laugh.
I look around the dark recesses of the cavern; the laugh seems to come from everywhere. It is not at all a joyful laugh, but one filled with anger and pain. And what's more, I know to whom the laugh belongs to. The first I see of her is her eyes; a pair of green glowing orbs within the darkness. She steps into the light; almost an insectoid parody of an Alicorn. Chrysalis.
When I had freed the three from their stone prison, they all had acted very oddly. Cozy Glow; the Pegasus filly; had taken to deeply taking in simple sensations such as gliding in the breeze and rolling around in grass. Yet, she also was very cautious. She seemed afraid of us, like as if a single wrong step would bring upon dire consequences to her. Tirek; the centaur; was a very quiet creature. He seemed to struggle with his grip on reality; as if waking up from a dream that had spanned his entire life. He would often just sit and look upon the sea with a contemplative look.
But Chrysalis was a very different sort. I had pieced together that she was a changeling and for the most part, she seemed almost feral. She kept to herself and seemed much like a rapid, abused animal; ready to attack anyone that approached her.
I had deduced that these three were foes of the Equestrian heroes of old; and more prominently, that they had been fully aware during their imprisonment. I felt deeply sorry for them; I couldn't begin to imagine their horrible state of being for so very long. So, my friends and I have done our best to care for them as they adjust to their newfound freedom. I had always felt that Chrysalis was someone to very careful and wary of, but I would never have expected this.
"Hello, Sunny Starscout." Chrysalis hisses. “So, nice of you to join us."
I can feel the stone sarcophagus inching up my body as a look between my already incased friends and our captor. "Chrysalis, w-what is this?! What are you doing?!"
Chrysalis comes closer to me. "Oh, but isn't it obvious. You're all being turned to stone. Well, your friends already are; you took a bit longer to wake up."
"But why?!" I ask as the stone reaches up to my chest. I find it becoming difficult to breath; my heart and lungs slowly giving way to granite.
Chrysalis' green eyes gleam as they stare at me. "Why? Why?! I would think you would already know!" She steps closer; her glowing eyes glaring down at me. "You know what I have suffered through, don’t you? A thousand years of unending agony, trapped in stone."
I nod. "Yes, I know; but why are doing this? We haven't done anything to you!"
Chrysalis let out some kind of snort and rolled her eyes to look upon each of us. "You think you know, but you don't!" She fixes her gaze back on me. "Discord set us up and they left us to suffer! They left us to stew in our agony and with every day, my hatred boiled in my mind as my body remained forever still. Forced to watch day after day go on and on and on and on and on and on!"
"Yes, I know." I answer, the stone rising to my collar bone.
"NO!" She shouts as she puts her face to mine, her green eyes staring daggers into mine." "You don't know! But you will. You and your friends will know. It took time. Time to feed off the love you all share to gain the power I needed. But now, you all will know my pain!"
"But why?!" I ask again in desperation. "We haven't done anything to you!" I repeat.
She hisses, looking to the ground with her wild eyes. "I wanted them to suffer. They should've suffered! Every fiber of my being begged for it and continues to! But they're gone. So, you; you who have taken to representing them will suffer in their stead! You will have to take the hatred I have harbored for over a thousand years! The hate that has boiled in my mind; burning within me for time untold!"
"I understand!" I plead to her as the stone reaches up to my neck. "I understand why you feel like this. But hatred isn't the answer!"
She strikes me across the face at this statement; her eyes are wild and her voice is hysterical to such a point I hadn't seen before.
"Hate? Hate?! Hate?! Let me tell you something about hate ! I was in that stone cocoon for over a thousand years! If the word hate had been uttered by my statued self every second of every day of those thousand years, it wouldn't equal a billionth of the hate I feel! Hate! Hate! " She bursts into a fit of laughter; she sounds utterly hysterical. She sounds as if she were suffocating on her hatred. I realize then that she very likely is. For over a thousand years she has suffered and in all that time, her anger and hatred has only boiled within her. Her hatred isn't just consuming her; it's literally killing her and she must let it out.
"Please, Chrysalis." I beg as the stone crawls up my neck. "If you need to let your anger out, wouldn't you rather do it to the those responsible? Instead of the ones who freed you? Who've tried to help you?"
Chrysalis looks at me with contemplation. It seems to be an internal battle between logic and emotion in her mind. "Those responsible? They're all gone!" She shouts. "They're gone; so you have to take what I would give to them!"
The stone crawls over my head. Everything is so painfully stiff. Nothing in my body seems to work. It seems unavoidable; me and my friends are to suffer in darkness for the sake of one denied her vengeance. And who is to say we are the only ones to suffer? Indeed, it occurs to me that Chrysalis will unleash her horrible wrath on any pony that she encounters, for the sake of satisfying her unsatisfiable wrath. It is now that an idea comes to me. An idea that just might persuade this engine of rage and hatred to let us go. As the stone crawls over my face, my still free mouth wheezes out. "What about Discord?"
The crawling of the stone stops. I look into the green eyes that shine in the darkness around us. For a moment, all is silent as those eyes stare into mine.
"Discord? He's still here?"
"Yes!" I answer.
The eyes glow in intensity, a hiss echoing around us. "Where?"
We Were Trapped in Stone, And Now We're Free
I rest upon the grassy terrain about the lighthouse. It's not unusual to find me here, spreading myself about the field; taking in the sea drift breeze. Such basic sensations that I would never have spared a thought of long ago. So very long ago. But after our imprisonment, I've gained a very unique appreciation for the simple things. To spread my wings, to gallop around, to breathe in the fresh air. I've come to appreciate the warmth of the sun, the chill of the air, the touch of the rain.
And I also feel an incalculable amount of fear of it being taken away. My ambitions from before my imprisonment have been long forgotten; I honestly cannot remember what they amounted to. My only ambition is to enjoy the newfound freedom I now have that was denied for so long.
I have no idea where Tirek and Chrysalis are. Tirek spends most days in an almost meditative stance, seeming to take in everything that surrounds him. I think he has been dreaming during our time in stone, though he won't speak of it. He seemed to question for a long time if what he was experiencing was real or not. He often sits here, looking out towards the sea. I've sometimes tried talking to him, but he doesn't answer. Chrysalis though, I try to stay away from. She seems less of a pony or even changeling and more of an animal; a rabid, fearsome animal. Our imprisonment was clearly very harsh on her.
I try my best to conform to the norms of this new age we've found ourselves in. Our savior, Sunny Starscout, has been very kind and patient with us, but I've experienced for myself what such good will amounts to when you don’t conform to it. I feel as if I walk on eggshells every day; always in danger of ending up back in that hell we were subjected to.
My luxuriating is cut by the appearance of five other ponies. I hear them come up the path that leads to the lighthouse. Out of curiosity, I rise from my spot of content and hide myself against the side of the building. I listen in on the conversations among the five ponies. They are unsettled; scared even. There is talk of Chrysalis. I am able to piece together the gist of what happened. Chrysalis' hatred and rage; she took it out on them. It's easy to guess.
A great amount of fear goes through my chest. The last time I had seen Chrysalis and Tirek was around an hour ago. I had been inside while Tirek sat in his regular spot overlooking the sea. Coming out, I stopped when I saw Chrysalis at his side. She had been whispering to him. She shot a glance at me and I went back in, afraid. Next I looked, they both were gone. I knew deep down that something bad was about to happen. I tried to ignore it; I told myself I was worried over nothing. But now I see my fears were founded.
Chrysalis had done something awful and if these ponies attach this act of vengeance to me... I shudder. I feel an indescribable sensation of dread; a fear of going back to that hell which I had so recently escaped from.
I return to my spot in luxuriating from before, hoping that my houseguests will not suspect me of any ill doing. My heart pounds in my chest. It is not very long however that I'm approached by Sunny Starscout; the very pony that had freed us.
"Hey, Cozy." She greets. She tries to sound casual, but I can hear the uneasiness in her voice.
I look up to her, trying to look innocent. "Hi." I greet, unsure of how to respond. My heart continues to pound.
Rather than respond, she takes a seat next to me. For a long time, we both look out to the sea, not speaking a word to each other. Finally, I'm unable to let the weight bare on me any longer. "Did something happen?" I ask.
Sunny looks to me with a sad expression. "Yeah, something happened."
"Was it Chrysalis?" I guessed.
She only nodded.
"I swear, I had nothing to do with it!" I declare with desperation, hoping desperately that she believes me.
"I know, Cozy." She says soothingly.
I'm not convinced. "Really, I haven't even said a word to her!"
"Cozy, I believe you." She reassures. "You don't have to be afraid.”
She takes one of my hooves in her own and I look into her eyes. I see compassion in them; an understanding that I've never seen before.
"I know what you went through." She says. "And I promise, you will never go through that again. Even if we represent the ponies of the past, we will not make their mistakes. You're safe here; I promise."
I look at her; her glimmering eyes and understanding smile. I have always had a way of reading people, it’s part of my special talent, and I finally know beyond any doubt that she speaks the truth. Whatever Chrysalis has done, she does not blame me in any way. She does not hold any past transgressions against me. I realize now that I actually feel... safe around her.
Perhaps it's out of some long forgotten instinct, but I nuzzle against her in the way that a filly nuzzles against her mother. She pulls me closer and I feel deep within me that I finally have chance. A chance to live the life I was denied so long ago. A chance to find perhaps the true meaning of friendship.
A chance to finally be.
We Were Trapped in Stone, And Now We're Free
Chaos. A perpetual state of endless madness all too often surrounds me. I never did see the appeal of making sense; indeed, such a thing seemed only entertaining when flipped on it's head. I’ve never seen the line between sanity and insanity; between sense and madness. For now though, I rest on the cusp of it. It doesn't seem to matter. Perhaps once there was a time when the balance between chaos and ordered mattered, but it seems so long ago.
Still, I can recall Fluttershy; her kindness, her patience, her resilience. It sticks with me even now. She always saw the best in people; even me. Truly she was something special; something I simply couldn't find in ponykind before her or after she passed on. I had given her the chance, of course; the chance to stay with me forever. But she declined. Now, it all seems to blur together.
I've taken to resting within the mountains of Equestria. Away from both the constant nonsense of my own dimension and the petty squabbles of ponykind, I can take in the innate randomness of nature. The interwoven inconsistences of nature that often passes over the heads of ponies. A randomness that I am more able than most to really appreciate.
I hear the approach of something. Hoofsteps. A pair of ponies it sounds to be. No matter; nothing that would concern me. All too often I hear the rambunctiousness of mortal creatures within these mountains; whether they be the natural animalistic endeavors of the mountain's natural inhabitants or the adventurous exploits of pony visitors. It makes no difference to me more often than not. Just another round in an inconsistent cycle I fancy. Therefore, I pay no attention to my visitors.
I am startled when something attaches to my paw. I rise up to look only for my talons to also be hit with the substance. It’s a strange green goo. It holds me steadfast to the rock and I am unable to wrench free of it. With my claws stuck, I am unable to snap myself out either and I feel a sense of panic as my back legs are also caught in the substance. I realize now that I know this strange substance is somehow familiar. Before I can remember, I’m grabbed around the throat and my head is turned to face a pair of dark, yellow eyes. My mouth is forced open and I soon feel my magic being drained from of me. I have felt this sensation before; a very long time ago. Even before the deed is finished, I know who is draining me of my magic. I fall to the ground, weak and powerless as I stare up at the centaur. I can see his body grow taller and muscular; life and vitality being pulled back into a decrepit body. It is Tirek.
As he takes in a deep breath, I see the second half of the pair come within sight. Chrysalis; the former Changeling Queen; her demeanor ravenous. She glares down at me. "Discord." She hisses my name with venom that would kill a snake.
Tirek takes in his newfound strength and looks to the changeling. "I feel strength and power that I haven't felt in far too long. Do what you wish with this monster; I no longer have any desire for what lies within Equestria." With that, the centaur walks away, leaving me with the Changeling.
She barely seems to acknowledge her companion as she continues glares down at me with glowing, green eyes. "I've waited a very, very long time for this, Discord."
I have no idea how long I have been down here. I lay within the confines of a cavern without light or sense of time. She put me here long ago. She has since bred and sicced her younglings on me time after time. It bares no practical use for her, I know. My love rests within a time long ago. She wishes only to hurt me.
After Tirek took my magic, she dragged me down here and inflicted her accursed magic upon me. At first, she merely enveloped me within her slimy cocoon with which she has subjected many to in the past, but that was not enough. She sought to it that I fused with the formless substance, turning into a misshapen blob for her to enforce her will upon. My limps, my body, my head; all have been long fused into an incomprehensible mass; a slab of meat to be tortured. How she does it varies. Sometimes, she'll leave me to wallow in my wretched existence for extended periods of time before reminding me of whose mercy I am at. Other times, she'll throw torment after torment at me.
I am no fool; I know the source of Chrysalis' rage. A plot I had foolishly endeavored. A fate I had set up and enforced, knowing full well what would entail. She, Tirek, Cozy Glow; they had taken my sentence. Perhaps it is karma that has taken place; a sentence carried out by those I have hurt the most. Oh, if Fluttershy had ever known the truth of what I have done.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.
