-EQUUS, THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, CRYSTAL CASTLE: LUNA’S RESIDENCE-

Having just awoken from Chrysalis’s nightmare, Luna slowly raises her head and rubs it with a forehoof, appearing to have a migraine. All the while, Chrysalis still remained unconscious beside her.

From what Luna could observe as she looked over Chrysalis’s form, the former ruler of the changelings was sleeping peacefully. This brought a smile to Luna’s face, but something else bothered her as she mutters:

“Nightcrawler… why doth that name seem so familiar to us? But unfamiliar all the same?” The alicorn’s features then narrows angrily, “And this ‘Yharim’ character… why doth thy name and presence enrage us so? We know that thy cretin tormented Chrysalis’s dreams, but why doth thou torment our heart?” Luna shakes her head, “Nay, it’s more than our heart… it’s as if thou hath wronged our very soul.”

The dark alicorn then fires up her horn and teleports herself to the outside balcony of her residence. She lifts herself up and places her forehooves onto the railing as she looks out towards The Empire. Luna could see many night guards flying through the skies and those who were incapable of flight surveyed the streets. Many of the lights were currently out and those that were still on consisted mostly of street light poles. Of course, the greatest light source of this night, or any night for that matter, was Luna’s moon.

“We can not explain our strange experience within The Dream Realm, but we feel as if the information Tzana hath given us recently is somehow tied to it. Nay, that other world… Terraria… we can’t but feel as if we’ve been there before.”

Luna gets off of the railing and starts to make her way back into the room.

“But that can’t be right. We and our dear sister were born here on Equus, and the only ones to hath ever been to Terraria art The Element Bearers. Well, there’s also Dis-” Suddenly, Luna’s eyes widened in realization, “Of course… Discord originates from Terraria… couldst he hath knowledge of any sort of link between that world and ours?”

[KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK]

Three knocks emit from the residence’s entrance as Luna’s ears twitch in response.

“Who couldst be knocking on our residence at this time of night?” She glances towards Chrysalis as to ensure she was still unconscious, then walks over to the door. Firing up her horn, Luna opens it but is surprised to see… no one?

“Down here.” A deep voice responds which causes the alicorn to lower her gaze and her eyes widen upon seeing the source of the voice.

“Wh… t-thou art… Fluttershy’s rabbit?”

“Shh,” The rabbit holds a single finger before his mouth, “Let us talk inside, Luna.”

“Th-thou can t-talk?”

The rabbit raises an eyebrow, “Seriously? A talking rabbit is what throws you off? You’re all talking ponies for Terra’s sake,” The rabbit then waves his paw, “That’s not important right now, I must speak with you in private.”

“Y-yes, please... come in.” Luna steps aside and allows the rabbit to hop into the residence as she closes the door behind him.

……….

“Is she deeply unconscious?” The rabbit inquires as he takes notice of Chrysalis’s unconscious form; on Luna’s bed.

“Yes, our spell should keep her unconscious until we raise the sun in the morning.”

“Excellent. Then we can get right down to it.”

“Wait, just who art thou? And why art thee here?”

“My name, my true name, is: Rajah Rabbit. Harmony sent me because she could sense your recent endeavor within The Dream Realm.”

This understandably shocks the dark alicorn as she momentarily imitates a goldfish.

“Wh.. art thou saying that Harmony herself hath sent thee?”

“Yes, Luna. You probably already know this, but she is the divine creator of this entire world.”

Luna nods, “It is also from her that The Elements came to be. But, we must inquire, why did she send thee?”

Rajah Rabbit pauses for a moment before finally taking a deep breath, and sighs, “I’m going to tell you this bluntly: Luna, both you and your sister are the children of Nightcrawler and Daybringer’s reincarnations. In addition, this entire world is connected to Terraria in a very unique way.”

Absolute shock overtakes Luna as she falls backwards onto her flank, and questions in absolute disbelief:

“W-what? B-but, our parents… t-that means-”

“Your parents, Solaris and Faust… they were the reincarnations of those two entities. They in turn were brought into being in Terraria.”

……….

“Since we’re in a revelationous mood, how about you tell me why Yharim makes me quake in fear…” The voice of Chrysalis injects itself which catches Rajah Rabbit’s attention and pulls Luna out of her shocked state as she questions:

“Wait, how art thou awake?”

Chrysalis chuckles, “Oh come now, I can’t reveal all of my secrets to you.”

As this goes on, Rajah Rabbit clears his throat in an effort to garner their attention.

“For your question, Chrysalis… I don’t think that I should be the one to reveal that information.” Rajah Rabbit responds.

Chrysalis raises an eyebrow, “Why not? Obviously that Yharim fellow has done something to me and I have a hunch that he’s also connected to Luna’s parents. And yes, I heard all of it.”

Rajah Rabbit looks over to Luna with a deadpan expression, “So much for keeping her under your spell until morning,” He then looks back to the changeling, “Since I have little to no choice, given the circumstances, do you promise to keep everything we’ve discussed her secretive until the appropriate time arrives for revelations?”

Chrysalis rolls her eyes, “Keeping secrets is what kept my hive alive all these years; while other Queens failed and their hives faded into history. Not that they didn’t deserve it, and trust me when I say that my rule was far kinder than what those Queens did to their prisoners.”

“I shall not inquire on those events and will simply take your word for it.”

Chrysalis smirks, “Oh? And how do you know that I’m not just tricking you right now just to get your guard down?”

Rajah crosses his forearms, “I doubt that because despite your harsh words and your past actions, deep down, you possess your mother’s heart.” This causes Chrysalis’s eyes to widen, “Even though you won’t often admit it, you care a lot about your children and will defend them by your own means. Also, you are a somewhat kind hearted individual for why else would you be aiding The Coalition against The Corruption? Even going so far as to become an agent in Luna’s employ.”

This naturally shocks both Luna and Chrysalis as the changeling questions:

“How do you know all of this? And… my mother?”

“As I told Luna, I shall also be straightforward with you: Chrysalis, you are the daughter of Chrysella and the only royal sibling to your brother: Echo Silhouette. You were given to Harmony as to ensure the future of your mother’s legacy.”

Chrysalis’s mouth drops shortly as her eyes open to their absolute limits. Luna was also shocked to learn of this as she turned towards Chrysalis with a face of absolute disbelief.

“Of course, your mother wasn’t the only one who thought to do this as other Queens performed the same action; hence the other hives you mentioned before,” Rajah then takes on a sympathetic expression, “Yharim was the monster who committed near genocide on your race. He tracked down hive after hive and burned them all down to the ground. Those who managed to escape the flames were instantly killed by him and his forces.”

“Insufferable worm!” Chrysalis suddenly roars out as a primal rage overtakes her. This in turn surprises Luna, “How dare he try to destroy the changeling race as a whole! I shall drain his love from his rotting corpse!”

“I appreciate the enthusiasm, Chrysalis. But you are not nearly powerful enough to take on, Yharim. The real, Yharim.” Rajah Rabbit said

“I don’t care!” Chrysalis shouts with green flashing eyes, “I can admit to being afraid of him like in my dream, and he may very well destroy me with a single thought. However, I will not go down like some groveling grub if he dares to threaten my children!”

Chrysalis continues to growl; all while Luna places a wing onto the enraged changeling’s form. However, Rajah Rabbit seemed to smile at this as he comments:

“That proves it. You truly are Chrysella’s daughter, Chrysalis. You even act the same way as she did, a warrior and a protective mother to the very end.”

Chrysalis’s face seemed to immediately shift from pure rage to a sympathetic sadness as she responds:

“Did she at least die fighting him?”

Rajah Rabbit smirks, “To the very end. During those times, only gods and Ancients dared to even face him. Mortal races would often flee from The Jungle Tyrant, but your mother? She was one of the few who spat in his face and battled him to her last dying breath.”

Luna’s wing was still present on the changeling’s back, and Chrysalis chuckles, “She definitely sounds like someone who’d be my mother. I don’t recall her face, but her name always made me feel better in my dreams. Now that I know that she didn’t go down without a fight, she has my respect.”

“I wish you could’ve seen her face when she gave you to Harmony for safe keeping,” Rajah Rabbit said with a sorrowful gaze, “That was the look of a mother who was giving up everything and hoping that her child would survive.”

Chrysalis was admittedly warmed by this revelation as Luna then removes her wing from the changeling’s back, but seemed to ponder on something as she questions:

“Thou mentioned Chrysalis’s sibling? Pray, what became of him?”

Chrysalis was also very interested to hear about her sibling as she attentively listened to Rajah’s coming words:

“Echo Silhouette, your brother, he fought alongside Chrysella and together they faced The Jungle Tyrant. However, towards the end of the conflict and before her death, your mother entrusted him with her hive’s collective consciousness, its hivemind.”

“And she probably forced him to escape with it.” Chrysalis responds.

“Yes, that is correct.” Rajah responds.

“We assume thou knows by personal experience?” Luna questions the changeling.

“In a manner of speaking. I passed on a piece of my hive’s collectiveness to Thorax, but I also had a backup candidate just in case things didn’t work out with him.” Chrysalis answers.

“Doth thou mean the small changeling that we observed accompanying Cozy Glow?” Luna inquires.

“Ocellus, yes. She is a royal changeling much like Thorax and Pharynx.”

……….

It was now becoming midnight and Rajah Rabbit was about to finish up their meeting. However, he wanted to make doubly sure of a couple of things as he says:

“Remember, everything we spoke of must remain hidden from everyone else. It is absolutely imperative. Also, aside from checking up on you by Harmony’s request, I also have a message from her, to you, Luna.”

Luna’s ears perk up, “What is thy message?”

Rajah Rabbit then conjures forth a small ball of light which soon begins to morph into the form of an equine figure. Two multicolored wings protrude outwards in a glorious display as a perfect imitation of Harmony herself now stands before both Luna and Chrysalis. Both of them simply stare on in awe and wonder at the divine form of Harmony as even their forelimbs start to bend down and they take on a kneeling gesture.

Noticing this, the imitation of Harmony says:

“Please rise, daughter of Chrysella and my beloved grandchild.”

They heed to her request, but Luna in particular is absolutely shocked as she stutters:

“G-grandchild? Doth thou means to say that ye art our grandmare?”

The imitation giggles, “My sweet little Luna, there is much that I must reveal to both you and your sister,” Harmony then turns towards Chrysalis, “And to you as well, Chrysalis. Your mother was a very good friend of mine and I’m glad to see you two getting along well.”

With a shocked expression, Luna exclaims: “But, Celly hath died! How could-”

Harmony’s imitation interjects, “The future has a grand surprise in store for you all, and it involves my dear Celestia as well. For the key is: The Crystal Heart. A former Life Crystal.”

Having given its message, the imitation of Harmony starts to sizzle in and out of reality. In response, Luna shouts with an extended forehoof:

“Wait! Grandmare! Please, tell us more! What doth thou mean by Celly being involved? And The Crystal Heart being this Life Crystal? What doth that foretell?”

“Have faith, my little Luna. Have faith…” Harmony’s imitation replies as she finally fades away in glittering lights. In addition, Rajah Rabbit also vanishes and leaves behind the shocked forms of Chrysalis and Luna.

……….

After recovering from this night of conflict, shock, and revelations, both Luna and Chrysalis saw fit to rest up for tomorrow as the dark alicorn says:

“We hath many questions still plaguing our mind, and it would seem that Har- I mean, our grandmare… hath a plan for us.”

“So we’re just going to watch Blueblood’s execution and pretend like everything that’s happened tonight, didn’t happen?” Chrysalis questions.

“We know it may seem rather bizarre but we think it would be wise to play along with her request. Besides, we must admit that the implications made by our grandmare hath revealed to us one thing for certain,” Luna then starts to walk out to the room’s balcony, with Chrysalis following after her, as the dark alicorn looks out into The Empire and says:

“If what our grandmare says is true… we art excited to see thou again, dear sister.”

Chrysalis joins the Princess Of The Night as the two ready themselves for the events to come. Especially with what shall transpire come morning within The Crystal Stadium: Blueblood’s execution.

Next Chapter: Chapter 8 - War In The Crystal Empire Pt:1 Estimated time remaining: 20 Hours, 28 Minutes