Paved With Good Intentions

Drip drip drip.

Darkness. That was the first thought that occurred to him as he woke. The room was completely enveloped in smothering pitch black darkness. He could barely tell the difference between his eyes being open or closed.

Drip drip drip.

His fingers dug into the bizarre mattress he rested on as he slowly tried to understand his situation. Touch and sound were the only sensations he could use now; he intended to make the most of them. Whatever he was lying on was hard, smooth, rounded, and slightly cold. His fingers sticking slightly to the strange material, like there was a thin film of some sort of adhesive on it. As he pulled his hand away, he could feel a small amount of the sticky substance remain on his hand.

Drip drip drip.

Other than the object he was lying on, the only thing his senses picked up was the sound of some dripping liquid. No, wait, that wasn’t true. Beneath the dripping, he could barely make out the presence of another sound, though it was too faint for him to tell what it was. More importantly, that repetitive drip was making him realize just how parched his throat was, and how desperately he needed something to slack his thirst.

Carefully swinging his feet over to the edge of what he was laying on, he cautiously stretched them down until his bare toes touched the smooth stone floor only a few feet beneath him. One thing was for sure about his situation: wherever he was, it wasn’t naturally formed. This rock was sanded over with precision.

“Hello?” he croaked out. The act of speaking felt like rubbing sandpaper along the inside of his throat. Coughing slightly at the sudden pain, he tried again. “Is anyone there? Where am I?” Every word he forced out felt like it tore away at his throat as it left his lips. The constant dripping sound was all the response he heard.

His mind driving him to find the source of the dripping liquid, he slowly forced himself off the slightly sticky mattress, needing to peel his clothes away. Cautiously standing upright in the absolute darkness, he held his hands out in front of him and slowly slid his feet across the floor. Moving slowly, in case the ground suddenly dropped away, he marveled at how smooth the floor felt to his bare feet. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t find a single crack or indent which would signify a connection of tiles; the entire floor was all one single piece.

Eventually making his way across the incredibly smooth stone, his grasping fingers finally reached a solid wall. The texture of the wall felt like it was made of the same stone material as the floor. As he ran his hand across it, he noticed a major difference between the floor and the wall. Unlike the floor, the wall wasn’t smooth. Lines and markings had been deliberately etched into the wall, forming themselves into a precise pattern. Though of course he couldn’t tell what the pattern showed so long as he didn’t have any light to see it.

One hand tracing along the wall, he held the other one out and continued to carefully search for the source of the dripping noise. After several more minutes of searching in the dark, following the wall and continuing to test for any sudden drop-offs, he stopped when his forward toe touched some sort of liquid. Hastily pulling his foot away from it, he kneeled next to it and cautiously dipped a finger into the unknown liquid. Not able to see what it was and almost thirsty enough to not care, he stuck his wetted finger in his mouth and tasted it.

Water. Glorious, glorious water. A little murky, but he could remember camping trips when he had drunken worse. Cupping his palms, he dunked them into the water and brought it up to his mouth, pouring the sweet revitalizing liquid down his throat. Some splashed his shirt, but he didn’t care and just dipped his hands into the water again.

After several repetitions of this, his thirst was mostly slacked and he sat down, his back pressing against the stone wall. That pressing need taken care of, he took the opportunity to try and figure out his current situation.

“Alright, what do I know?” he asked the empty air. After a moment’s thought, he decided to make the act a little more fun. Clearing his throat, he started dictating to the empty air around him. “Captain’s Log: Day… let’s go with One. Location: probably some sort of cave.” With the stone walls and floors, he couldn’t think of any other explanation. Now that he thought about it, the air was slightly stale as well, meaning he was probably a good distance away from any openings outside. “Last known location: certainly not here.”

The last thing he remembered was wishing his girlfriend a good night before heading off to sleep in his college dorm. He had a midterm exam in a few days, but he was pretty sure his teachers would accept ‘lost in a cave’ a fair enough reason to retake the exam if he missed it. Wouldn’t be the first time he could remember getting himself lost on a hiking expedition. A thought occurred to him and he hastily grabbed for his pants pockets, sighing in disappointment when he found they were empty. Oh well. Probably wouldn’t be able to get cell reception this deep underground anyway.

“Current materials: none.” Other than his t-shirt, jeans, and underwear, he didn’t have anything else on him. That was a little strange. Last time he could remember waking up with no memory of how he’d gotten there, he hadn’t even had his clothes left with him. Granted, that time he’d woken up in a dumpster instead of some strange cave, but the situation was still unlike anything he’d had before.

“Likeliest reason for being here: unknown” He couldn’t come up with anything. He lived in the middle of a fairly large city. The nearest caves were several hours’ drive away – he’d been there – but they were completely different from this place. Those caves were naturally formed, but this place was anything but. It felt like the floors and walls had been meticulously smoothed out before someone had carved something into the walls.

“Current status: boned. Ending data log.” That had been fun.  Dropping the act, he used the wall as a support to help lever himself to his feet. Well, whatever. This place was fascinating, but leaving was more important at the moment. Whatever the reason he was in this cave, he doubted the people who had brought him here were friendly.

Walking past the tiny puddle, which he discovered was seeping through a tiny crack in the wall and draining out a small hole in the floor, he continued along the wall. His fingers tracing the patterns along the smooth rock, he was beginning to get a sense of what these murals portrayed. Eventually, before he could figure out what the images could possibly be, his reaching fingers finally met air as the wall disappeared. He had finally reached the doorway.

To his surprise, there was nothing blocking the doorway. Did the people who put him in here not want to imprison him? Or had they just not gotten around to it yet? Regardless of the reason, it was fine with him. Trying not to make any noise, he slipped out of the room he was in and into the dark hallway beyond.

Still unable to see anything, he carefully stretched his free hand as far as he could away from the wall his other hand was still touching. When his fingers touched nothing, he cautiously moved away from the wall, making sure to move in a straight line so he could find his way back. He needn’t have worried, as his other hand reached another wall almost instantly. He guessed the corridor he was in was about six feet across. Since one direction was as good as another, he picked one and set off as silently as he could.

Now that he was away from the noise of the dripping water, he could clearly make out the noise he had heard before. It was a bizarre rustling coming from the direction he was heading, like hundreds of insects constantly climbing over one another. This was getting freakier and freakier. Maybe the other direction was a better choice after all.

As he turned to head the other way, he heard another noise over the rustling. It was an abrupt clop noise, like suddenly banging two coconut halves together. Worryingly, it had come from the direction he had just come from. And it sounded close.

“Hello?” he quietly whispered. “Is-is someone there?” Complete silence answered his query. Total and absolute silence, as the rustling up ahead had stopped as well. Okay, this is beyond freaky. Panic beginning to set in, he saw a tiny light flare off in the distance down the tunnel. Tinting the hallway with a haze of green, he was able to see the hallway for the first time since he woke up.

Looking back down the hallway behind him, he saw a slight hint of movement low to the ground. Focusing on that spot, he focused hard as he could to see what had moved. His imagination conjured up all sorts of nasty monsters waiting for him in the darkness, but he tried to squash those thoughts. This place was scary enough without feeding his fears.

Without warning, a pair of glowing eyes suddenly stared back at him from the spot he was staring at. The blank blue soulless eyes were slightly below his waist height, but that did nothing to detract from the absolute terror he felt from seeing them. A tiny mouth opened beneath the eyes, the green light glinting off a pair of fangs within, and the monster hissed at him.

A tiny whimper escaped from between his lips and he felt a slight warmth trickling down his legs as the monster took a step towards him. Fear paralyzing his shaking legs, he fell back against the wall as it approached closer… and closer… and closer.

When it was within arm’s reach of him, it stopped. Blankly gazing up at him, he saw himself reflected in those horrible expressionless eyes. He looked so tiny, so insignificant in that reflection. He felt like a bug trapped in amber, hopelessly struggling against his fate but unable to do anything to change it. Despite looming nearly twice as tall as the monster, he felt absolutely helpless before it. It pinned him to the wall with nothing more than its gaze, and neither of them moved for what felt like several minutes.

Suddenly, the monster blinked and took a step back, releasing him from the paralysis. Turning away from the monster, he ran away from it as fast as his legs could carry him towards the green light. He didn’t know what was there, but it couldn’t be worse than what he had already seen.

Rushing through the corridor, he suddenly burst out into a large cavern. Too late, he realized that charging blindly in was a terrible idea as several monsters identical to the one he had left behind turned towards his abrupt appearance. The light was stronger here, and he was finally able to get a good look at them.

Standing on four legs, their heads reached about his waist height. Their blank blue soulless eyes reflected everything caught in them, and something about those eyes scared him more than anything else. A pair of green insect wings sprouted from their back, and a large horn grew from their foreheads. Their wings, legs, and horns all had a moth-eaten look to them, tattered and riddled with holes. Something about the monsters itched at his memory, but he shoved it aside.

Behind him, he saw that the one he had fled from in the corridor had caught up and was blocking the entrance he had just come from. Stumbling away from it, he had no time to react as several of the monsters in the room suddenly took to the air and landed in a circle around him. He felt his legs lock up, but since he didn’t think he could have remained standing if they hadn’t, he didn’t really notice.

The monsters remained unmoving as they surrounded him, staring at him with those horrible eyes. His mind was as frozen as his body, and he could do nothing but wait until a feminine voice spoke up from the direction of the light. The voice seemed to reverberate against itself, and shivers ran up and down his spine as he heard it.

“I see our guest has awoken. Excellent.”

Turning towards the voice, he saw for the first time the source of the light. Another one of the monsters stood before him, its horn giving off a bright green light. It stood twice as tall as any of the others, standing slightly taller than he was. Green slitted pupils watched him from behind long green hair hanging limply from her skull. A flash of memory came to him, and he realized why these creatures seemed familiar to him.

No, it was impossible. They couldn’t be changelings. That was a race of villains from a TV show he enjoyed watching every week with his little sister. But there in front of him, her cruel eyes locked upon him, stood their merciless leader.

“Queen… Chrysalis…”

Her steps faltered for a moment before a slight smile twisted her face, showing the slightest hint of fangs within her mouth.

“Ho?” she asked. “You know who I am? Very interesting.” She nodded at the changelings surrounding him, and they bowed down to her before slowly retreating. Their eyes never left him, and he knew they would be able to catch him in an instant if he tried to flee. Chrysalis’ horn flared brightly as she stepped towards him, brightly illuminating and momentarily blinding him. Stepping back, he covered his eyes with a hand as he tried to blink the spots away.

“You are certainly an interesting creature,” she said, her creepy reverberating voice seeming to pierce his very core. “Why don’t you explain how you came to be within my domain, as well as who you are?” Despite her placid tone, something about her told him it wasn’t a request.

He lowered his hand and carefully stepped back, wanting as much distance as possible between them. “My name’s Alex,” he said. His eyes darted around the room, trying to find something that didn’t scare him to rest on. But everywhere he looked, he saw more changelings staring down at him. There were far more than he could count, perched in alcoves in the walls and clinging to giant spiraling  pillars in the center of the room. “Alex Krings. I’m a... human.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like a human before, Alex Krings,” Chrysalis interrupted, taking another step forwards. Alex took another step back in response. “And the changelings have been nearly everywhere in this world at one time or another. We’ve witnessed and caused the rise and fall of countries and nations. We’ve infiltrated the minotaurs, the wolves, and the gryphons. We have memories and history from before Celestia and Luna took the throne, back when simple unicorns were the ones to raise and lower the sun and moon. And yet I have no knowledge of humans. My question is simple: how did something I’ve never even heard of before suddenly appear at my hidden castle?” Her voice turned deadly serious at the end, forcing Alex to back up another step.

He stopped when he ran into the cave wall, helpless as she closed in on him. “I-I don’t know,” he stuttered, his voice squeaking as she narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not sure how I got here! Please believe me!” he pleaded. He wasn’t sure if this was a dream or something else, but it would probably be better to act like it was real for now. And a good part of that was not making the giant demonic horse monster angry at him.

Chrysalis stared at him for a few seconds more before abruptly turning away, releasing him from her pinning gaze. He collapsed to the floor, an outcropping of the wall pressing painfully into his spine. “Looking at you, it’s easy to believe you don’t know anything. You were unconscious when a patrol found you and brought you here. I was curious about you since we couldn’t feed off of you, so I decided to wait until you woke up.”

“Wha-what do you mean ‘couldn’t feed off me?’”

She grinned cruelly at him, and he felt goosebumps rise up on his skin at the sight of that fanged visage. “Exactly what I said. There’s never been any living creature we couldn’t feed off of, so I had you brought here. It’s fortunate for you that we couldn’t feed from you, since you probably never would have woken up again.” She smirked at his shudder, clearly enjoying tormenting him.

“I wondered if we would be able to feed off your love when you woke up,” she continued, “but the changeling I set to watch you reported that he was unable to get any energy from you even after you woke.” Alex realized Chrysalis must be referring to the changeling he had met in the corridor. It had been trying to feed off of him? The more he learned about where he was the more the place scared him.

“I just want to go home.” His head fell into his open hands as he spoke, his sweaty palms pressing against his eyes as he finally began to understand just how bad his situation was. Here he was, at the mercy of the cruel destructive queen of a race of monsters who fed off the love living creatures felt for others. If this wasn’t a dream, he probably wasn’t even on the same world that he remembered growing up on. Would he ever get back home again? Or was he going to be stuck here for the rest of his life?

As Alex quietly started to sink into despair, Chrysalis’ voice washed over him.

“You’re free to leave at any time.”

Alex’s head shot up and he looked straight at her. Maybe the situation wasn’t hopeless for him after all. If he got out of here, he might be able to find Twilight or one of the Princesses. Magic was commonplace in the show, right? Maybe they could help him if he explained his situation. There was just one problem.

“You’re letting me go? Just like that?” From what he remembered seeing in the few episodes she had appeared in, Chrysalis was cruel, selfish, greedy, and power-hungry. Would she really let him go so easily? Or was she just playing with his emotions again?

Chrysalis’ fangs glinted in the pale light, her expression saying that she understood Alex’s trepidation and she was amused by it. “I was curious why we couldn’t feed off you. If we can’t feed off of you now even though you’re awake, then you’re of no use to me. I am interested how you knew my name despite having never met me before.” She paused, savouring the moment as Alex squirmed in fear that she might decide to trap him here. “But it doesn’t really matter. None of it will matter shortly.” Her grin widened as Alex heaved a sigh of relief.

“Why can’t you feed off me?” Alex asked as he pulled himself onto his unsteady legs. Instead of answering, Chrysalis began walking away. Alex hesitated slightly before slowly following after her. The changelings lining the walls all turned their heads to watch him as he passed. Only their necks moved, the rest of their bodies remaining as stationary as stone statues. It was all very disquieting. When he managed to catch up to the Queen, she answered his earlier question.

“I can only think of two reasons why we wouldn’t be able to feed off of your love. The first reason is that you simply cannot feel love. This would certainly keep us from feeding off you. But since all living creatures feel love, I don’t think this is the case. The second possibility is that something or someone is protecting you; something far more powerful than I am.” Annoyance slipped into her voice for a moment, as if she took the idea of creatures stronger than herself as a personal offense.

“Isn’t there a third possibility?” Alex asked, his voice quivering. “Could you just not be able to feed of off my species?”

“Impossible,” came Chrysalis’ blunt reply. “Love is an energy shared between all creatures. Dragons to hydras to bears to ponies, it makes no difference. And we can feed off any one of them freely. Or…” her head swivelled around to look at him, “is there something else? Something you think you need to tell me?”

“…No.” The possibility of traveling to other worlds was not something Alex wanted to let the megalomaniacal warlord know about. Chrysalis only smiled knowingly at him before turning away.

“Fine, then. Keep your secrets, human.”

The pair walked in silence for a while after that. Chrysalis walked calmly and with confidence, but all the twisting tunnels were beginning to make Alex thoroughly lost. Giving up on understanding the layout of the place, his focus shifted to the murals that etched the walls they passed. Similar to the corridor he had felt his way through before, all the walls were covered in carvings and designs. Starkly portrayed in the flickering green light cast by Chrysalis’ horn, there was something both beautiful and surreal about them.

“What are these?” The idea of having another conversation with Chrysalis terrified him, but he was just too curious not to ask. The Queen’s head turned to see what he asking about at and her walk slowed and then stopped when she saw him staring at the carvings all around them.

“This… is the history of the changelings.” Alex looked at her in surprise. He hadn’t actually expected her to answer at all, or maybe just tease him with the information. Not only that, but her voice sounded a little different. It still reverberated as before, but now there was an undeniable undercurrent of sadness tainting it. “It has been passed down through the ages in this place, the most ancient of changeling catacombs. Never lost, but forgotten. Waiting. Always waiting. I wonder, did it wait too long?”

“And what does it say?”

Chrysalis huffed at him before continuing her route down the hallway. “It says that if you don’t keep up, I’ll leave you behind.”

Okay, touchy subject. Alex followed behind without saying anything more, not wanting to press the issue. Since he would only become more and more curious if he looked at the walls, he turned his attention on the only other thing of note in the corridor. Namely, the Queen herself.

This close, he was able to get a much better look at her. First off, her black exterior wasn’t skin, like he had thought, but instead some form of a chitinous carapace, similar to the kind he had seen on invertebrates. He could see the way the plates shifted and moved as she walked, constantly overlapping one another. The plates practically shined in the faint light and looked like they had been cleaned constantly. The Queen must go to a great deal of effort to keep them free of dirt and grime. More likely she just has her underlings do it. As he moved to get a closer look, Chrysalis’ teasing voice interrupted him.

“You can look, but don’t touch.”

Alex scrambled back away from her. Does she have eyes on the back of her head? It honestly wouldn’t surprise him that much. At least she sounded like she was in a better mood than before. But he still couldn’t wait to get out of this place. As he thought that, the Queen’s horn suddenly snuffed out, the flickering green light vanishing in a heartbeat.

Before he could start to panic, Alex realized that he could still see despite the loss of light. From the end of the tunnel, he could see pure sunlight filtering into the cave. Letting out a joyous shout he dashed past Chrysalis, who followed at a more sedate pace.

Closing his eyes as he exited the cave, he took a deep inhalation of the fresh air, feeling it filling his lung. The warm sun beat down on his skin, warming him with its gentle caress. He cracked his eyes open, squinting into the blinding light. His heart was light and he felt like he could just fly off into the sky at the prospect of escaping the caves and, more importantly, the Queen. As the bright white glare faded and he was able to see his surroundings for the first time, he felt his heart plummet down into his stomach.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Chrysalis asked as she exited the cave behind him “A dead land for the changeling race. Certainly fitting. Welcome to the Badlands.” The land around them was barren and dusty in every direction, with a great wall of mountains rising from the earth off in the distance. The very air seemed to warp from the great heat, and there wasn’t a single source of water in sight.

“Beyond the Macintosh Hills there,” Chrysalis didn’t bother pointing since there was no doubt what she could be referring to, “you can find the lush land of Equestria. If you make it there, the residents will probably welcome you openly. Of course, I doubt you would survive the trip. Or you can return to my domain, where I will see you are… well taken care of.” After a sinister snicker, Chrysalis turned and vanished into the darkness of the cave.

Alex stared off at the mountains in the distance. Hills was a major misnomer, the mountains were tall enough to have snow capping them. But even if he could get through them, the Badlands were a natural barrier on their own. Like Chrysalis had said, he probably wouldn’t be able to reach the mountains without any supplies.

Is there really no other choice? He couldn’t leave, which meant he would have to go back into the haunting depths behind him. He would have to beg Chrysalis for help. Please, please let this just be a nightmare. Close my eyes, and relax. Now. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

Even without opening his eyes, he knew it hadn’t worked. He could still feel the sunbaked rock beneath him and the warmth of the sun’s rays against his bare arms and head. Either this was really happening, or it was the most lucid dream he’d ever had. Sighing deeply, he opened his eyes and stared up at the sun one last time. If this was going to be his reality, he’d just have to make the most of it for now.

But, Alex swore to himself, his nails digging into his palms as his hands clenched into fists, I will make it home someday. So long as I never give up, I will find a way. I… have to. With a final look at the wasteland around him, he turned and disappeared into the black void of the cavern mouth.

The darkness quickly swallowed the light, and within moments of entering the cave he was no longer able to even see his hand in front of his face. “Hello?” His quailing voice echoed feebly before being swallowed by the smothering darkness. After a few seconds of silence, a glowing pair of green eyes flared into existence less than a foot in front of his face. Alex shouted in surprise and fell back, landing heavily on his ass.

Chrysalis’ horn glowed, illuminating the rest of her body. Alex didn’t miss the smug expression on her face as she looked down on him where he sat on the cold, hard ground. She must have been keeping her eyes shut so they wouldn’t reflect any light, waiting for the right opportunity to scare the living daylights out of him.

“Hmmhmmhmm” she chuckled, her laughter reverberating throughout the passageway. “The human returns to my lair willingly. I think you will do wonders to keep me… entertained.” Alex whimpered at the emphasis she put on the last words. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea.