Chapter 10

9-19-13, 3:02 A.M.

Jeremy wandered through the high school, looking perhaps for a new gun or some morphine. Was he hurt? He didn’t remember getting hurt. In fact, he’d had the strangest dream about My Little Pony. He opened a closet door, and walked out into his bedroom, which quickly changed between his Canterlot bedroom and his Earth one. He walked over to his desk and opened a book, which read “Come Outside” in the middle of a bunch of text on physics. Jeremy was suddenly standing outside, and Luna was beside him. She reached out a hoof, and promptly hit him across the face.

“Ow… what… huh?” Jeremy spluttered as he staggered away.

“We need thee conscious in this dream, this is important,” Luna explained.

“I… um… I’m dreaming?” Jeremy asked to confirm his thoughts. Luna nodded, and he looked around. “So, now that I’m conscious…” Luna gestured to his house and the void surrounding it.

“Until thou wake up, thou have full control of thy dream world. But that is not why we are here!” Jeremy frowned.

“Why even are you here? I mean, it was nice to visit, even if I’m asleep, but…” Luna shushed him with a hoof.

“Our sister has been captured by some sort of sentient plant. We are going to see if we can rescue her.” Jeremy whirled around in alarm.

“So, shouldn’t I be waking up? I can’t rescue her if I’m asleep!” Luna motioned for him to let her continue, and he reluctantly did so.

“That is exactly what we are not asking,” she replied. “Do not rescue our sister, or us if it should come to that. Twilight Sparkle should have things well in hoof. We can’t afford thee getting seen, not after what we discussed.” Jeremy shifted from one foot to the other anxiously.

“Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do to help?” he asked. Luna thought for a moment and then shook her head.

“Too risky. Stay in Canterlot, as we are sure Twilight will venture to Ponyville the moment she learns.” Jeremy didn’t like it, but it was sound advice. “We thank thee, this takes quite a load of worry off!” Luna stated, relieved. Jeremy raised an eyebrow – clearly she understood the gravity of the situation… or maybe she was just concerned about him? Luna, obviously reading his thoughts, replied “A little of both. Now, if thou will excuse us, we must attend to the sun and moon in our sister’s absence.” Jeremy shrugged in agreement, and she exited the dream world in a flash of light.

Unsure of what to do, Jeremy wandered around his own dream. He could make things appear and disappear, but if he wasn’t concentrating they went back to what they were doing. The oddest part was, now that he was ‘awake’, it all felt so real. What to do? Jeremy decided to try flying. He took a running leap, and jumped, soaring off into the sky above his home town. Rapidly, the surface below him flickered between suburbs and what appeared to be a cold, gray surface – that was new. As Jeremy came closer to the ground, it flickered again and settled on the other place. He landed perfectly, wondering how he knew how to do so. Where was this? Jeremy inspected the rocky terrain – it appeared devoid of just about everything, except for gray rocks and lighter gray rocks. He looked upward, and his eyes widened.

He was staring at a vague facsimile of Earth – but something was missing. The continents were smaller, the planet seemed either too close or too large, and the shapes of the continents were less defined than in the NASA photos he’d seen. It was clear that he was on the Moon – but what was up with the Earth? Jeremy had thought that dreams were only influenced by his own memories, but these weren’t his. As he looked around, he had a thought – these were Luna’s memories. Somehow, he’d gained access to her memory of banishment on the moon.

As fascinating as being on a moon was, after a few hours Jeremy had to admit he could understand why this was a hell of a punishment. The moon was, after the first few minutes, boring. It wasn’t like he could take soil samples or anything interesting like that, and now that he was in Luna’s memory instead of his own, he didn’t seem to be able to leave – would he have to wake up? Or would he simply never wake up at all? The one fun thing to note was that gravity, like the moon back home, was lower here – Jeremy could jump over tall ledges if he so wished. As he jumped over one such crevasse, the world around him suddenly turned to white.

9-19-13, 7:30 A.M.

Jeremy woke up with a start. What the hell? Unlike his usual dreams, he remembered everything – a side effect of being ‘awakened’, he supposed. He got on his clothes, and stepped outside. And stared.

The sky was split in two – the moon on one side, the sun on the other. Fittingly, the backdrop of the sky was also split between day and night. Ponies who were just waking up were also glancing confusedly, while guards ran around trying to reassure the populace that everything was going to be alright.

Jeremy went back inside to wait until lunch, as well as to stay out of any potential cameras’ sightlines. So what happened? Luna said she was going to raise the sun, and then lower the moon, in that order. Then, Jeremy thought, she must have successfully raised the sun, but was unable to lower the moon before being interrupted and most likely captured. Jeremy gripped the sides of the table. God dammit. He was going to take Luna’s advice and stay put, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. He had to do something! He looked out the window towards the thorny mass of black-and bluish-green vines advancing on Ponyville. They looked oddly familiar, like a plant version of a changeling. Hey… that was something to do! He could interrogate Chrysalis as to whether she knew anything or was responsible. It wouldn’t surprise Jeremy if this was some kind of revenge.

He walked off towards the prison, being sure to take back alleys and avoid the streets as much as possible. After taking a few roundabout routes, he arrived, and carefully walked inside. He quickly found Chrysalis’ cell, where she was staring out the barred window. “Oh, it’s you again,” she said without turning around.

“Yep, me,” Jeremy said by way of greeting.

“Did you know Equestria’s being invaded by vines?” Chrysalis asked with the air of one discussing the weather.

“Yeah. Came up here to see if you knew anything, because the vines look awfully familiar,” Jeremy inquired. Chrysalis shook her head.

“No relation to us, or anything we’ve made – although you shouldn’t take my word on it.” Jeremy had to agree with that statement. Chrysalis, as though just realizing something, turned around to look at him.

“…Why do you keep visiting me?” she asked bluntly. Jeremy wasn’t sure how to answer.

“I get bored easily, and your conversations are interesting,” he replied. Hey, it was mostly the truth. Chrysalis grinned.

“Really? Perhaps you’d find me more interesting if you got to know me,” she smoothly remarked.

Jeremy rolled his eyes. “As if I’m that stupid – who’s to say you won’t hypnotize me the moment I’m off guard? No, I prefer you behind bars.”

Chrysalis angrily looked back towards the window, and Jeremy casted about for another topic. He found one that would work. “So, I did some research on love,” he casually announced.

Chrysalis slowly turned back, glaring. “And?” Jeremy inwardly smiled; he could tell she was secretly interested.

“Turns out, love magic can be synthesized. You just need the chemical formula for the compounds that send the brain the right signal.” Chrysalis slapped a hoof to her face, an overdramatic response in Jeremy’s opinion.

“You idiot – no one’s ever managed to pin that down, and we probably never will. One of the many, many reasons my changelings are hungry.” Jeremy laughed, and this time it was he who got to drop the bombshell – an extremely pleasant feeling.

“Guess what I know?” he taunted in a singsong voice. To his delight, this shocked Chrysalis into silence.

“You can’t be serious… You’re just a child among your race, how could you possibly know?” she asked disbelievingly. Jeremy smirked.

“We have something called the Internet – among other things, it’s the largest information database available to the public. I was bored one day, looked it up, and found out. Plus, chemistry is one of my many hobbies – so I know the molecular structures as well.”  Chrysalis seemed unsure of how to respond. Finally, she hung her head.

“Alright… what do I have to do?”

Jeremy was confused. “For what?” Chrysalis placed her hooves against the bars so her face was only a few inches away from him.

“To get those compounds, you…!” She seemed to be restraining herself from hurling insults at him.

“Well…” Jeremy thought out loud. What did he want from her? He wasn’t the right person to be exploiting others – he didn’t have the stomach or the cleverness for it. Was there something she could do, or should he just give them to her? Oh. No, wait, he had the perfect idea.

“I want you… to do the following,” he started. Chrysalis listened attentively. “One, never invade any other country, ever again.”

Chrysalis raised a hoof like she was in a classroom. “What if some hapless nation invades us?”

Jeremy shrugged. “Then, it’s your call. Rule number two: Changelings are never to drain the love or whatever of other sentient beings – after all, you shouldn’t need to.” Chrysalis nodded in agreement.

“Fair enough – anything else?” she asked, with the air of one who wanted the conversation to end quickly.

“Third? Form an alliance with Equestria, or at the very least a peaceful truce,” he finished. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.

“…Why?” she asked – not belligerently, but curiously.

“You know how Equestria never loses a fight? They’re basically invincible – fate is on their side,” he said. It wasn’t all of the truth, but it was the truth she needed to know.

“So you’re saying it’s best to never fight them? They can do anything they want?” Chrysalis demanded. Jeremy smiled.

“Not quite, but as long as they're doing good stuff, you should be with them," he answered.

Chrysalis frowned in thought. “For a larvae, you’re awfully prescient about politics,” she observed. Jeremy laughed.

“Please, this is hardly politics. Throw in a few more nations and non-governmental organizations, economic sanctions and civil unrest, and then you’ll have an idea of what we think goes for ‘politics’ back on my home planet.”

Chrysalis chuckled, and then collected herself. “I agree to all of those terms – but what of Equestria’s plans for me? It looks like I’m going to be here for a while, and my changeling army has undoubtedly regrouped at the hive by now.” Jeremy thought.

“Equestrian prison shouldn’t be that bad – I mean, look at this place. Ignoring the bars, you have a comfortable bed, free food, and amenities. Do they even call you trash daily?” Chrysalis confusedly shook her head.

“Ha. See? It can’t be that bad,” Jeremy continued jokingly.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Regardless… when do I get those formulas? A deal’s a deal, after all,” she demanded.

“I’ll give you more than just formulas – if you go through with all that, I’ll build you the machine to do it,” Jeremy proudly announced.

Chrysalis’ eyes widened. “You would do that for me? You are confusing – scant days ago, you were terrorizing my army with a length of pipe and a smile.”

Jeremy shrugged. “The way I see it, if I do this for you guys, you'll hopefully leave the rest of us alone. Otherwise, we would start some ridiculous cycle of revenge. Can't have that.”

They were interrupted by a royal guard coming through. Catching Jeremy’s eye, she coolly nodded before unlocking Chrysalis’ door and magically clamping chains around her wings and horn. “What’s going on?” Jeremy asked.

“Our royal princesses have just gotten back, and Celestia wants to see her immediately,” the guard stated professionally. Jeremy nodded – so Twilight came through. He hadn’t seriously doubted her, but some small part of him always wondered. “Celestia also invited you to this meeting as well – she thought you might be interested,” the guard continued. Jeremy nodded and walked along with them, Chrysalis darkly muttering to herself before getting a jab in the ribcage by the guard.

They entered what appeared to be a conference room, where Celestia and Luna sat. Celestia looked furious; she snarled the moment Chrysalis entered the room. “You must have thought you were pretty clever,” she spat. Chrysalis looked at Jeremy, and he shrugged – he had no idea what was going on. Luna noticed, and looked at him, to which he remained impassive. Celestia used her magic to lift a small paper bag on the table. Taking it out, she revealed a fragment of vine and passed it to Chrysalis. Now that they were side by side, the texture similarities were striking to Jeremy: If he hadn’t known better, he’d say that the vine could have been a severed limb of a changeling. “I’ll ask you once, and only once: Where did you get these, and what did Discord give you for them?” Celestia imperiously demanded.

Chrysalis looked up at her, cold fury in her eyes. “I don’t know what these are. They look similar, that is true, but surely you cannot judge by-“ She was interrupted by Celestia slamming her hooves on the table.

“Do not play games with me! I know you were behind this. Where did you get these?!”

Now Chrysalis was truly frightened. “I swear, I do not know!” This obviously didn’t convince Celestia. Luna looked nervous at Celestia’s behavior, but wasn’t saying anything. Chrysalis was silent, in fear of inciting Celestia’s retribution. In fact, Jeremy realized, the only one in the room with a free tongue was him.

But as he was about to speak, Celestia pulled out an official-looking scroll. “For royal treason and kidnapping of two princesses, we the royal judge sentence the defendant to Tartarus for eternity in solitary confinement.” She leaned over the table. “Last chance to back out, changeling.” This spurred Jeremy to action, and he interrupted Chrysalis this time.

“What are you doing?” he asked furiously. Celestia looked at him in surprise, and he continued. “This isn’t a fair trial – this is you throwing a temper tantrum and making a mockery of logical conclusions. I will not stand for this, relationship with Luna or no – this isn’t you, Celestia. Come on, Chrysalis – you’re going home, and that will be that.” At the end of his speech, Celestia was openmouthed in shock.

“But you – you were the one who defeated her in the first place! Surely you must hate her?!” Jeremy turned back to look at her, shooing Chrysalis out of the room with one hand.

“At least I hated her for a reason,” he coldly replied. “Luna, I’ll be seeing you later tonight – it appears I have to do Celestia’s job and make peace for a change.”

With that, he departed from the room, Chrysalis in tow.

Next Chapter: Chapter 11 Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 12 Minutes