>You wander the narrow corridors again.
>Cold stone surrounds you in a way you’re pretty familiar with now.
>This place isn’t exactly new anymore.
>The echo of your footsteps seems less spooky.
>But only a little.
>The occasional torch hangs on the bare walls, lighting your way.
>No more than necessary, as you remember.
>Leaving plenty of shadows to haunt the place.
>Seriously, those ponies should do something about that.
>But you’re not really here to evaluate the state of the dungeon.
>You’re here for that one important prisoner.
>The Queen of changelings.
>Or former, maybe.
>It might be a bit odd to go see her again, considering her status as a national enemy.
>A status that’s pretty justified.
>But the two of you have been getting along strangely well.
>And you don’t know of anyone else who could want to visit her in this gloomy pit.
>Following the familiar path to her cell, you slowly walk on.
>And there it is.
>Larger than the others.
>Deep in the dungeon’s heart.
>And…
>No…
>You stop in front of it.
>The thick metallic bars that trapped her securely…
>A large perfectly spherical shape has melted a hole large enough for you to walk through.
>The chains that hindered her legs lie shattered on the floor
>Along with the torn bindings that held her wings.
>A few purple fragments here and there are all that remain of the gem that suppressed her horn’s magic.
>… Oh shit.
>Oh dear god, she wasn’t kidding.
>You quickly step into the cell do double-check the lack of a changeling queen.
>As if there might be some feeble chance of her not being gone after all.
>After mentally slapping yourself in the face for such a redundant act, you run back.
>Hastily tracking your path back through the dungeon to the outside world.
>Your legs carry you with unusual ease and swiftness.
>You and Chrysalis had been getting along.
>But fuck that shit, now she’s no longer trapped in a prison cell!
>She turned out to be a surprisingly fun-loving female with plenty of humour.
>Doesn’t matter, though, since she’s also a crazy succubus with her own army who’s now on the loose!
>Sprinting through the final corridor, the dungeon’s entrance appears like a light at the end of a tunnel.
>Two guardponies stationed by it, the same who let you enter, suddenly block your path.
>”Halt, human! What are you in such a hurry for?”
>You don’t waste any time.
”Chrysalis! She’s gone! Her cell is open and empty!”
>The white stallions give you a quiet look.
>And then Celestia appears behind them.
>”What’s this I’m hearing about Chrysalis?”
>Her gentle voice fails to give you any real comfort under the current circumstances.
”She’s gone! Broke out of her cell!”
>”Indeed?”
>She gives you a very sceptical look, peering at you with her purple eyes.
”YES! I’m not kidding!”
>The two guards, still turned towards you, look back at her.
>”I wonder…”
>Her expression grows into one of amusement.
>”… what were you doing with her in the dungeon?”
>You’re perplexed.
”I…”
>Why the hell does that matter right now?
>She just smirks.
>”Have you been doing foul things behind my back, dear ape?”
>Huh?
>Wait…
“What did you call me?”
>And then horror sets in.
>Oh no…
>Celestia grins.
>Her eyes are green.
>No no no no no no no no no!
>The two guardponies morph.
>Their pristine coats slowly turn black and the golden armours melt away like a fading illusion.
>You don’t wait for anything to happen.
>You turn around and fucking run!
>Back into the depths of the labyrinthine dungeon.
>Celestia’s laughter follows you.
>Her warm voice slowly distorts and turns into something both vile and very, very familiar.
>Crap!
>Fuck!
>Shit!
>You have to hide!
>You take a turn left.
>Another right.
>Running around to where-ever.
>You can’t take the path back to Chrysalis’ cell, they’d find you.
>But you have no idea where you’re going now.
>No, that doesn’t matter!
>What matters is not getting caught by any goddamn changelings!
>You’ll probably get lost.
>You only knew the way to that one cell.
>But if it saves your skin, it saves your skin.
>You stop.
>You don’t know where you are.
>Another row of cells are in front of you, leading further into the spooky depths.
>A single torch enlightens this branch of the dungeon.
>But that’s not what caught your attention.
>Everything is…
>Perfectly quiet.
>If it wasn’t for the merciless beating of your heart and your ragged breath, you would be experiencing perfect silence.
>Of the ominous sort.
>Dammit, you just KNOW they’re lurking somewhere!
>How many could there even be?
>It’s obvious Chrysalis escaped with the outside help of her minions.
>You only saw two, but why the hell wouldn’t she have brought even more?
>Better yet, would you be able to fight them?
>You don’t know jackshit about those creepy fuckers!
>If cornered, would you be able to overpower one or two?
>They didn’t really look strong, but you were definitely willing to believe that their looks could be deceptive.
>Would they cast spells like Twilight with their horns? Or just stab you?
>No, that’s all too much
>Before crumbling beneath your own speculations, you start moving again.
>Jogging further into the dungeon.
>You notice your footsteps.
>As always, they’re loud in here.
>Dammit, they could easily hear you both fleeing and approaching.
>You’re not very experienced with serious sneaking, though.
>… This is looking really bad.
>You sit down and untie your shoelaces.
>Pulling your shoes off your feet, you stand up on sock-covered soles.
>The floor feels cold through the cloth.
>Taking a few steps, your footsteps are remarkably less noisy.
>You imagine your feet are probably going to be sore later, but you’ll deal with that.
>You pick up your shoes and look back towards where you came to check if-
>Over in the corner, a dark, pony-like figure is staring at you.
>FUCK!
>You run.
>Again.
>You fucking SPRINT!
>Were you exhausted before?
>Doesn’t matter, you’re fucking fuelled by some brand new energy!
>Moving with a weird ease, your soft feet collide harshly with the stone floor.
>Your footsteps resemble dull *thud*s now.
>You delving deeper into the dungeon, turning randomly whenever the way splits into new ones.
>After a while you stop.
>You hear nothing.
>No flutter of insect wings, no clopping of hooves.
>…
>Are they playing with you?
>Knowing Chrysalis, that actually might be the case.
>Bitch.
>But…
>If she ever caught you, what would happen?
>That could pretty easily be some scary shit.
>Okay, so you aren’t going to let her catch you just to spite her.
>So… escape.
>You look around again.
>Another typical, gloomy corridor.
>They all look the same, really.
>Not only is the place a maze, but a confusing one.
>Then again, you did expect to get lost when running around frantically.
>Foresight. Cool.
>You turn around towards the way you came.
>And start walking.
>Slowly and carefully.
>It seems like a fairly good time to stop moving without any real direction and start doing…
>Well, something else.
>You stalk through the poorly lit dungeon on your soft feet.
>Your hyper-attentive ears can still pick up muffled sounds from your socks against the stone.
>But it’s a good improvement from your shoes.
>Peering carefully around every single corner, the deathly silence makes you paranoid.
>Then again, it’s probably not paranoia when the situation’s legitimately dangerous.
>After making a few more turns, having no memory of where exactly you came from, you hear something.
>Clopping.
>Hooves against stone.
>Straight ahead.
>You cautiously approach.
>From the slow rhythm, it sounds much more like walking than running.
>So if it’s a changeling, it hasn’t heard you yet.
>Poking your head around another corner, you look for the source of the noise.
>Oh dear god.
>Motherfucking Chrysalis, with a changeling minion standing nearby, is sticking her head into an empty cell.
>Her horn glow with a green light.
>Checking the cell, she then pulls her head back out and sighs audibly.
>You retract yourself from the corner as well.
>Fuck. Of all the changelings you could run into, you didn’t want it to be HER!
>You hear her take a few steps in your direction, but quickly stop again.
>”You know, he’s surprisingly good at this.”
>She’s talking to her minion.
>A little curious, you peek around the corner again.
>Yep, she has her head turned towards the little guy.
>Who just looks at her and makes absolutely no response.
>Weird dude.
>But Chrysalis makes nothing of it, and just taps her chin with a hoof in thought.
>It seems you’re still unnoticed.
>Nice.
>Chrysalis sticks her horn into the air, nearly poking against the ceiling.
>It glows ominously for a short while, and then releases a bright flash of light.
>A green circle spreads outs from Chrysalis, crawling quickly across the floor as it grows rapidly and touches everything around her.
>Her eyes remain closed.
>You feel the urge to panic when the strange spell approaches you, but refrain from losing your cool.
>The green magic crawls along the floor and wall, eventually touching your feet and making its way up your body.
>You suppress a gasp at having let it reach you, but to your relief you feel nothing.
>A second later you hear Chrysalis.
>”AHA!”
>That didn’t sound good.
>Looking around the corner, you see her again.
>She hasn’t moved.
>… But she’s looking straight at you!
>An almost manic grin is plastered across her face as she looks at you with terrifying delight.
>”You sneaky little thing! You’re right there!”
>GODDAMMIT!
>You turn around and run!
>Wings flutter as you hear her minion take flight.
>But you only manage to take maybe a dozen steps.
>A small form latches on to your back with four limbs.
>Ohgodno!
>In sheer panic, you waste no time hammering yourself into the hard wall, smashing the changeling between your body and the cold stone.
>The little thing squeals painfully and immediately loosens its grip.
>Reaching out and grabbing it, without thinking, you brutally tear it off yourself and throw it to the ground.
>The creature barely weighs anything in your adrenaline-fuelled state and can’t resist being sent down to the solid floor, colliding with it in a very desirable manner.
>Behind you, you hear Chrysalis’ wicked laughter.
>Looking over your shoulder, you see her slender form walking calmly after you.
>But you only allow yourself that glimpse, before resuming your escape.
>You run maybe two steps before something stops you.
>Your feet simply freeze.
>The air turns to concrete around them.
>And, of course, you fall over like a statue and hit the (unpleasant) floor.
>Looking back at your feet, you see they’re wrapped in a green glow.
>With a flash of light, Chrysalis appears out of fucking nowhere right in front of you.
>Oh Christ on a scooter, what now?!
>”You’re quite a wild ape, aren’t you?”
>She looks over at her minion who’s slowly getting back on his feet.
>But she still displays the typical wolfish grin, as if everything has only amused her.
>You don’t bother responding.
>This is fucked up.
>You’re fucked.
>What the hell can you do now?!
>”Sorry to make the chase so brief, but I don’t actually have much time here.”
>Her horn glows and you begin to levitate in front of her.
>Crap, crap, crap, crap!
>”Celestia’s bound to notice a few missing guards along with a certain prisoner, after all.”
>You look at her.
>Your gaze unrelenting in your fear.
>Whatever the fuck is coming, it can’t be good.
>”Time for us to go.”
>The light of her horn pulses.
>You suddenly feel dizzy.
>And then everything turns black.