Chapter 14: Burning Memories

1. PLEASE READ MY PROFILE, I HAVE SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT POSTED AND IT WILL AFFECT THE SCHEDULE OF MLP:E&E AND TURNED.

2. I wanna make these next few chapters about what's happening back in Equestria, I haven't really done much about that. Sowwy.

I own nothing but Rachelle and the plot

Let the story begin!

Chrysalis' eyes slowly opened, seeing the black crystal ceiling above her. She let out a small groan, putting a hoof against her forehead to soothe her unholy headache.

"You're awake."

Chrysalis snapped her head towards the voice, her eyes meeting Sombra leaning against the doorway.

"So I am."

Sombra walked towards her, sitting down at her bedside.

"How do you feel?"

"Other than this migraine, I suppose I'm fine. What happened to my Changelings?"

"I have them at work, guarding the mine, making sure nopony escapes. We've had a few close calls while you were out, but nothing I couldn't handle."

"Good." she said, closing her eyes.

It was quiet for a moment, each of them in their own thoughts.

Silence.

A silence meant to be broken.

"What do you plan to do now?" Chrysalis' eyes opened again, her green eyes resting on Sombra's sitting form.

"What do you mean?"

"I know you fled from the hive because of the revolt. A little bird told me. What do you plan to do without the hive now?" Chrysalis looked down in thought.

"Rebuild it. At least, try to."

Sombra raised an eyebrow.

"I wanna raise them differently. I made a mistake with that hive by letting Thorax grow up weak. I knew something was wrong with him, but I let him go. I won't make the same mistake again."

Sombra nodded approvingly, "Let's get started, shall we? Are you able to stand?"

Chrysalis nodded unsurely, placing a black hoof on the floor shakily. She followed suit with the other three, standing up, tipping over slightly, but still standing.

Sombra smiled lightly, turning towards the door and motioning her to follow him.

She obliged. They walked down the hallway side-by-side, casting small glances towards each other.

"Celestia and Luna. Have you done anything about them?" Chrysalis finally asked.

"...No. I wasn't strong enough to take them both down. I'd managed to injure Celestia and rendered Luna unconscious but apparently, they had somepony over. They'd kept me busy until Luna woke up."

"What about Cadence and Shining Armor?"

"I hadn't seen them yet. I suppose they're at the Empire."

"We'll have to do something about them, then. Sunburst and Flurry Heart, too."

Sombra nodded as they reached the throne room, spotting a large red Earth pony being escorted in by a bulky grey Pegasus, the whites of his eyes turned green and his irises red.

"King Sombra, I've caught him trying to escape with his family. The filly and old mare are back in the mines under Royal Pin's watch but this one seems he could prove useful."

The red stallion laughed nervously. "Nope! I mean, no, sir! I-I'm just a simple farm-boy, you don't want me, I'd just fumble over my own hooves."

Sombra raised an eyebrow.

"Dustwing, bring me Starlight."

Dustwing saluted, trotting to the young unicorn's room, leaving Sombra and Chrysalis with the stallion.

"What's your name?" the Changeling queen asked.

The stallion cleared his throat, "Big MacIntosh, ma'am. But everypony calls me Big Mac for short."

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, hearing two pairs of hooves echoing through the hallway. Dustwing bowed towards the two "royals" in the room, followed slowly by...

"YOU!" Chrysalis bellowed.

Starlight's gaze remained hollow, her irises having already turned red.

Sombra put a hoof out in front of Chrysalis, calming her down.

"Starlight." he said, straightening his posture.

Starlight's slowly turned in his direction, "Yes, King Sombra?" she asked, her voice monotone.

"Please escort this colt to your room, I will be there shortly. Dustwing, you may return to the mines."

Dustwing saluted Sombra and trotted out of the castle. Big Mac looked at Starlight with fear, silently pleading her to spare him. She didn't acknowledge him.

"Yes, King Sombra." Starlight droned. She trotted over to Big Mac as her horn began to glow, the cyan aura flowing over his legs.

"Come with me please." Starlight kept her eyes forward, showing no emotion. Big Mac's legs began moving on their own, despite his best efforts to stop them.

They both disappeared down the hallway, both of their hoofsteps fading away.

Chrysalis stared at Sombra with a burning fury in her eyes. Sombra noticed and stared back.

"What?" he asked.

"What is she still doing here?!" Chrysalis roared. "I sparked a deal with Princess Twilight. Starlight would stay here, unharmed, if she and her friends never returned to Ponyville." Sombra said, turning away, Chrysalis following suit.

"Then what happens when Twilight returns?"

"If Twilight returns."

"No. When, because we both know that she will."

Sombra stopped in his tracks.

"I can sense the aggression you have towards Starlight so when Twilight returns, I'll give her to you to take your frustrations out on. She can't object, she's under my spell."

Starlight's aura covered the door knob and pushed it open, leading Big Mac in and sitting down.

Big Mac did the same, sitting on the opposite side of the room so that they were facing each other. Starlight stared ahead, motionlessly. Big Mac's forest green eyes wandered the bland room to avoid eye contact with the brain-washed pony.

But he couldn't avoid her gaze forever.

Lifting a hoof, he leaned in with worried eyes.

"What did he do to ya, Starlight?" Big Mac asked.

The unicorn only blinked. "He made me see his way, Big Mac. You will see his way too." she said. (YOU'LL FLOAT TOO! I'mma stop.)

"See his way?"

"King Sombra is a wise leader, Big Mac. Much better than Twilight ever was. I can see that now, because of him."

"King Sombra doesn't deserve to be a King at all, Starlight! He's brainwashed you, he's using you, can't you see that?"

"No, Big Mac. Twilight was using me. Twilight was using all of us. Twilight never cared about anypony but herself. She was just using me for her reputation. She's using Applejack for her reputation, Big Mac."

"No, she's not! Twilight would die for any one of us, I'm sure of it!" Big Mac said, rising to his hooves.

Starlight only tilted her head.

"How sure?"

"..."

"Your sister is probably millions of miles away from Ponyville, Big Mac, maybe even from Equestria. She could be in trouble right now, Big Mac and here you are. Why didn't you go with her?"

Big Mac's ears dropped. He always worried about Applejack when she went on her adventures, saving Equestria countless times and the thought of her loss always loomed in his head, but never had the thought of going with her crossed his mind.

"I... Because... she's a strong pony who can handle herself. If she did need me, she would've asked." he said, perking his ears up again.

"What if she couldn't ask?" Starlight said, her gaze unwavering.

"...What do you mean?"

"What if she was not allowed to ask? The princesses can be extremely secretive when they want to be. What if they told her that she and her friends had to do it alone?"

"..."

"...You will see the light soon enough, Big Mac. King Sombra will make sure of it." Starlight said, covering the door knob with her aura and trotting out, leaving the red stallion alone with his thoughts.

Okay, first off, I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO APOLOGIZE TO YOU GUYS! I'M SORRY DOESN'T BEGIN TO COVER IT, I'M SURE! THERE'S NO EXSCUSE FOR THIS, NONE AT ALL! Now that that's out of the way, I've mentioned in the last chapter that I've started high school and high school has now taken up 85% of my time. I have two free periods but the computer I use to write my stories on isn't mobile. At all. So that's gonna affect my upload schedule so now I'll just upload around 8:00 or 9:00 ECT, which is most convenient for me so...yeah. Second of all, I dunno if you guys have noticed and just don't care or not, but I have published another story called Turned. So all you TF2 fans be on the look-out. It's an X Reader, my first X Reader so a review would be nice. I don't think anyone reads the end notes so imma stop here. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Eat you later KitKats!