Barnacle Salt’s retirement was a solemn occasion, but it didn’t bring Cabbage’s world to a stop. With the premiere date of the theater looming ever closer, work on Changeling of the Opera went into full swing, interrupted only by efforts to end Prince Blueblood’s stalling on proving his claim to the crystal mines. Two weeks had gone by of him dodging both the Council and the Hive’s efforts to make him produce the alleged deed, and everypony was getting weary of it.
Cabbage finally decided to force the issue, but on the morning she intended to put her plan into action…
Cabbage Patch woke up to the sounds of panicking ponies in the streets and echoes of the same panic in the Changeling Hive Mind. What’s happening? she asked in a general sending.
Just look outside, My Queen, came the reply from Morph.
Cabbage extracted herself from the hodgepodge of cloth that comprised her bedclothes – a holdover from the days when her bed was a nest of cast-off rags in a corner of Trixie’s show wagon – and threw open the shutters of the window of her bedroom on second floor of the Shifting Perspective Theater’s residential annex. The source of the panic was immediately obvious: the sky appeared to be split in half between dusk in the west and high noon in the east, and both the sun and moon hung in the sky near the demarcation. Is someone near the castle right now? Cabbage asked.
I’m at the gates, Morph replied. The Guard’s not answering my questions, even when I told them I’m your official representative to the Princesses –
To be fair, you aren’t, Morph, Turnip cut in, disapproving.
He is now, Cabbage said, at least until we get the information we need. Morph, tell the Guard that- The street below Cabbage’s window suddenly broke apart as three black, thorny vines erupted and started flailing about. One of the vines swung at the window and caught the sill, then lunged for Cabbage. Screaming, Cabbage leaped back from the window and onto her bed. Another of the vines grabbed the windowsill and started trying to tear the window out as the first vine slithered across the floor toward the bed. “Get back!” Cabbage yelled, throwing her pillow at the vine, to no avail.
The bedroom door burst open and Turnip and two other Changeling ran in, firing sickly green fire at the vines. The vine pulling at the window withdrew quickly, but the one going for Cabbage continued to stretch toward her until the three Changelings focused their magic at a single point and cut it in half. While the other two Changelings chased the living half of the vine out the window, Turnip turned to Cabbage and asked, “Are you ok?”
“Scared out of my wits,” Cabbage said, putting a hoof to her heart, “but I’m not hurt.”
“Good,” Turnip said, and then frowned down at the severed black vine. “What is this thing?”
“If you don’t know,” Cabbage said, “then no ‘ling in the Hive will.”
“I know one thing,” one of the other Changelings said as he and his partner backed away from the window, “there are more growing out of the street already!” Sure enough, three more vines forced their way through the window.
“Move!” Cabbage shouted, running for the door. Turnip on the other were hot on her heels. Are these vines showing up anywhere else, Cabbage asked the Hive, or is it just-
I see some at Restaurant Row! one Changeling reported.
Whole bunch at the airship docks. I think they’re climbing the mountain!
Heading for the train station, but it doesn’t look good.
You tryin’ to run away or something, Kumquat?
No! I have friends working there, Imago you dolt!
Enough, Cabbage said. She ran down the stairs as she gave orders. Everyling in the theater and dorms, gather to me. Everyling else, get somewhere safe. That means you too, Morph. If those Guardponies don’t want to share what they know, we’ll just survive this on our own. Mental voices of assent flowed through Cabbage’s head, accompanied by opening doors and hole-studded hooves on thin carpet as the Changelings emerged and fell into step behind their Queen. Chrysalis was among the first to join the entourage, although she remained unusually reserved and quiet through the whole walk. Soon, the group reached the doors to the street, and Turnip cautiously opened them with telekinesis and sent two Changelings ahead to check for trouble before letting Cabbage and the rest outside.
The panic Cabbage had picked up on from the abnormal state of the sky paled in comparison to the pandemonium caused by the strange black vines. Ponies were running about every which way trying to avoid the clingy vines or rescue friends and loved ones who had been wrapped up or entangled. Above the skyline, strange dark clouds that looked to be full of spikes were gathering and seemingly hunting any Pegasus pony that flew too high. A trio of Wonderbolts attacked one such cloud, only to end up stuck inside the thing.
“This is getting worse by the minute,” Chrysalis said, speaking up for the first time. “What shall we do, oh Queen?”
Cabbage bit her lip, looking around in indecision. “I think…” she started to say, and then stopped when she noticed a unicorn try to blast a vine with magic, succeeding only in catching the plant’s attention and being grabbed by it. “I think our combat magic might work better than unicorn magic on these things,” Cabbage said, growing determined, “so, we fight.” She turned to face her subjects and, broadcasting across the Hive Mind as she spoke, commanded, “Everyling, pair up, spread out, and help the ponies fight these vines off. I want at least two pairs in the sky to help coordinate our movements and see if we can do something about those clouds.”
Chrysalis scoffed. “Do you expect the ponies of this city to see a bunch of Changelings flying around during a disaster as good thing?”
Cabbage gave Chrysalis a flat look. “Maybe not at first,” Cabbage admitted, “but when they see we’re attacking the weird moving plants and not them, I doubt they’ll complain much. Do well enough, and we should get enough gratitude to at least break even against the energy we’ll have to expend.”
My Queen, Morph’s mental voice rang out suddenly, I just had an… encounter with Princess Twilight Sparkle, and she gave me a message to pass on.
Go ahead, Cabbage said.
She says Princesses Celestia and Luna have both gone missing, and she’s told the Royal Guard to let us help them search for the Princesses, if we can spare anyling. Oh, and Princess Sparkle has to go handle another crisis in Ponyville.
Cabbage groaned and rubbed her head. Counting herself, there were only twenty-six Changelings to go around, but with Luna and Celestia missing… All right, she said, slight change of plans. Turnip, Chrysalis, Morph, I want you three helping search for the Princesses. The rest of us are on weed-whacking duty. Any objections?
Turnip and Chrysalis exchanged a distrustful glare, but neither they nor anyling else spoke up.
“Ok then,” Cabbage said. “Go!” The Changelings took to the air and scattered, the Hive Mind thick with rapid discussion over partnerships. Cabbage watched until they had all disappeared over the buildings, and then looked down at herself. “This is no job for an earth pony,” she grumbled, and with a sigh cast off her sea-green form in exchange for the black chitin, wings, and horn of her natural, queenly shape. She spread her wings, preparing to take to the sky herself and get the lay of the land, when she heard the rapid rhythm of hoofbeats coming down the street toward her. She turned her head and saw Trixie, Maggie, and Harlequin galloping toward her, pursued by some vines creeping rapidly along the buildings on either side of the street. A cracking sound from the annex building warned Cabbage that the vines that had come after her had caught up, and she galloped to meet up with her friends.
“Morning, Cabbage,” Harlequin said with affected calm, “lovely day for a major catastrophe, isn’t it?”
“What are we going to do?” Maggie asked as the vines started to surround the group.
Cabbage sent out a mental distress call and then started channeling her magic before answering, “The Changelings are spreading out to give help wherever they can, but I think the best we can do is try to survive until somepony finds the root of the problem.” She unleashed a blast of fire at the vines growing through the annex, halting their advance for a moment. “No pun intended.”
Trixie grunted and cast a spell at a vine that was aiming for her, and managed to get it tangled around a streetlamp. “That ‘somepony’ will be Twilight Sparkle, like as not,” Trixie said. “This definitely looks like something on her level.” She raised a shield around herself and the two earth ponies just in time to keep some vines from getting a grip on them. “What I’d give for power like hers right now…”
Cabbage burned the vines back and threw up a shield of her own to complement Trixie’s. “You’re doing better than other unicorns I’ve seen today,” Cabbage said. Trixie’s aura flared with gratitude, and Cabbage skimmed some off to top up her magic before the emotion faded. I still need back-up here, she told the Hive Mind.
“We’re here!” Lemon Zest shouted as she and another Changeling landed next to the group, casting green fire over the vines as they came. Lemon glanced at Trixie, Harlequin, and Maggie, and asked Cabbage, “We’re getting them someplace safe, right, My Queen?”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie objects to that,” Trixie said. “Get me someplace I can fight without being surrounded.”
“I don’t think anywhere’s ‘safe’ right now,” Harlequin said, “but here, I’d rather not be.”
Trixie and Cabbage lowered their shields, each of the Changelings grabbed a pony, and they took flight, leaving the vines to flail harmlessly in their wake. Taking guidance from a mental map of vine hotspots that the rest of the Hive was compiling, Cabbage led the group to a rooftop in an area of the city’s upper quarter that hadn’t been attacked yet.
“Can you work from this spot, Trixie?” Cabbage asked.
The azure unicorn looked around over the parts of Canterlot visible from the roof. “It’ll do, I suppose,” she said. With a flash of her horn, she summoned her signature hat and cape, and then with a grand, sweeping gesture conjured a long bank of fireworks along the edge of the roof. “Let’s see how these evil plants like my Great and Powerful pyrotechnics.”
Cabbage nodded in satisfaction and turned to Lemon Zest and her partner. “You two stay here and watch over my friends. I’ve got a rescue effort to coordinate.”
“Yes, My Queen,” the two Changelings said in unison as Cabbage took flight and began directing Changelings toward various parts of the city.
Turnip, Chrysalis, and Morph alighted at the entrance to the old crystal mines beneath Canterlot. Together, they peered into the depths, able to see down to a surprising depth thanks to the cave pointing more on the “noon” side of the sky than the “evening” side, and the crystalline structures in the walls catching and scattering the daylight farther into the caverns than it could normally reach. “Remind me again why we’re going in here,” Chrysalis said.
“It was your idea, in a way,” Morph replied. “You got into a hissing contest with that one Guard Unicorn over joining the search for the big Princesses, and we got onto the subject of where you’d hide a couple of alicorns if you’d been behind this, and you mentioned how you put Princess Mi Amore Cadenza down here when you replaced her at her wedding, so the Guard told us since we came up with the lead we should be the ones to follow it.” He gave Chrysalis a cheeky, sideways look. “That was only a few minutes ago, you know.”
“Yes,” Chrysalis growled, “I know.” She spread her wings and flew into the cave, forcing Turnip and Morph to hurry after her. When Chrysalis reached the edge of the sunlit area, she alighted on a ledge and waited for the others to catch up. “This should be far enough away,” she said, “and with Cabbage’s attention focused on the rest of the Hive…” She turned to Morph and asked, “What do you really think of our young Queen and her… passive methods?”
Morph squinted one eye at Chrysalis. “Our Lorekeeper’s right here,” he said, pointing at Turnip, “and you think any conversation we have here won’t make it back to Queen Patch?”
Chrysalis shrugged. “We could kill him to keep him quiet.”
Morph backed away from Chrysalis, wings buzzing with tension. “You are sick in the head,” he declared. “How can you even suggest killing a fellow Changeling, let alone the only full Lorekeeper we still have? That’s… so wrong I shouldn’t have to say it.”
Chrysalis pouted. “You’re only parroting the morals Cabbage set in place,” she said.
“No,” Turnip said, shaking his head. “Cabbage may have expanded the rules to prohibit willfully harming ponies and other races, but killing another Changeling has never been condoned.”
Chrysalis gave Turnip a wicked grin. “Ah, but weren’t you the one pressuring Cabbage to kill me after she took the Hive from me?”
Turnip was speechless for a few seconds. “That’s… different,” he said at last. “Two Queens can’t coexist peacefully. It’s conventional wisdom. And your behavior hasn’t given me any cause to reconsider that fact,” he added when Chrysalis opened her mouth to retort. Turnip snorted. “You’re taking advantage of Cabbage’s merciful nature, but I doubt you had any second thoughts yourself about killing the Queen before you.”
“True,” Chrysalis said, “but given the circumstances…”
“What circumstances?” Turnip asked.
Chrysalis and Morph both looked at Turnip in confusion. “What?” Chrysalis asked, “our great Lorekeeper doesn’t know the lore of how the great Queen Chrysalis rose to power?”
Turnip shuffled his feet in embarrassment. “That must’ve been lost with the rest of the Lorekeepers at-”
“Turnip,” Morph said flatly, pointing a hoof at Chrysalis. “You can’t have lost that. Not while she’s still alive.”
Chrysalis sniffed and gave Turnip a condescending look. “Honestly, Lorekeeper,” she said, “letting your disdain for me prevent you from doing your duty. A Changeling Queen’s memories are rather central to the Hive’s lore, if I recall my lessons correctly. Granted it has been a few centuries…” Turnip grumbled and avoided the gaze of the other two Changelings. “And you still haven’t answered my question, Morph,” Chrysalis said. “I’m sincerely curious. As a Collector, you’re on the front lines of Cabbage’s little experiment. Is it working?”
“It’s hard,” Morph said. “Hard finding ponies willing to put up with me backsliding into aggressive feeding. But, it’s still easier and more fulfilling than the old catch-and-replace. Less time between first contact and first, uh, harvest, if you will.” He glanced at Turnip with an apologetic shrug for his choice of words. “Besides,” Morph said, giving Chrysalis a flat look, “Cabbage is our Queen now, not you, and I follow the Queen’s instructions. And, if you’ll recall, our instructions right now are to try and find the big pony Princesses.” He spread his wings, called green light to his horn, and plunged deeper into the mines.
Cabbage Patch hovered high over the city of Canterlot, eyes half-closed as she tried to keep track of each pair of Changelings fighting the black vines while also watching for new incursions of the plants. The fight against the botanical invaders wasn’t going well, to be honest, but it wasn’t a disaster either. There were simply too many clumps of vines to deal with, and Royal Guard wasn’t as much help as it could be since a large fraction of the force was focused on locating Celestia and Luna. Panic was the dominant emotion in the city, and vines were wreaking minor havoc on the paved streets and stone buildings of the city.
Despite the bad odds, the Changelings were fighting in high spirits, as the green fire and sticky goo their emotion-charged magic conjured seemed to be the natural antithesis of whatever magic drove the vines. As Chrysalis ahd predicted, the ponies of Canterlot tended to be frightened by the sight of Changeling flying about, but wherever the Changelings burned back a clump of vines and rescued a pony being harassed or captured, the fear quickly gave way to relief and gratitude, and some of the rescued even managed to rally the courage to help fight back. Judging by the status reports Cabbage got from the Changelings, her estimation on the balance of energy expended casting spells against energy received from grateful ponies was actually tipping significantly toward the latter; most ‘lings actually came out of scuffles with more magic in reserve than they had at the start.
I just wish we could do more than slow the tide, Cabbage thought wearily.
My Queen! a Changeling called to her unexpectedly, Could you come to our location? Imago and I found something you might find… enjoyable.
Cabbage frowned. We don’t have time for distractions, Kumquat, she replied, no matter how amusing.
Trust me, Kumquat said, this will be worth your time. The statement was followed up by a mental image that brought a wicked grin to Cabbage’s face after a second.
I’ll be right there, Cabbage said, angling into a dive toward the noble quarter of the city.
She landed into front of a mansion that was covered in black vines of all sizes. One vine was reaching out of the front door and coiled almost completely around a white, blonde-mane stallion and holding him several feet off the ground. The Changelings Kumquat and Imago stood on either side of the stallion, using their magic to keep the vine mostly still. Cabbage smirked at the unicorn and said, “Hello, Prince Blueblood.”
“Finally, the queen bee appears,” Blueblood huffed. “Tell your drones to quit messing around get me free of this bothersome vine, would you?”
“I’d love to, Blueblood,” Cabbage said, “but, I can’t help but realize this is the first time I’ve managed to get within speaking distance of you for more than a couple seconds in the past… what’s it been? Two weeks?”
“Almost three, I think,” Imago offered. “The next meeting of the land rights committee is the day after tomorrow.”
“Right,” Cabbage said. “So, Blueblood, while I’ve got you here, let’s discuss that meeting.” She grabbed Blueblood and the vine in her magic and pulled them down so his face was level with hers. “I’m tired of you weaseling out of providing that deed to the mines you claim to have, so I’m not getting you out of this unless you promise to take me straight to wherever you’re hiding it. I’ll take it and present it to the committee myself, because I frankly don’t trust you to do it.” Blueblood spluttered and stammered, staring at Cabbage with wide eyes, and the Queen said, “Yes, I will show the committee your deed because I want those mines bad enough that I’ll do things the legal and proper way so nopony can give me and my Changelings grief about it later.” She released Blueblood and watched as he bounced about in the air for bit. “So, what’s it going to be, Blueblood?” she asked.
Blueblood’s eyes darted around, and he started to sweat. “Ah,” he said, “the thing is…” Before Cabbage could press him to continue, a wave of golden-white, rainbow-tinted light appeared on the horizon and began sweeping rapidly toward Canterlot. The Hive Mind quickly filled with panic as the Changelings, recalling the effects of two similar waves of light in recent history, took to the sky in a vain effort to escape. The light washed over Canterlot, and the panic gave way to confusion as the Changelings found themselves unmolested, and then surprise and celebration as the black vines and spiky clouds disintegrated.
Blueblood dropped the ground as the vine holding him broke apart, and he scrambled to his feet with surprising agility. “Ha-ha!” he exclaimed, making a break for his mansion, “You can’t hold a mighty prince of unicorns against his will, insect!” Cabbage, Imago, and Kumquat exchanged a quick, wordless thought and simultaneously shot their magic at Blueblood’s hooves, trapping him in goo up to his knees. Blueblood yelped as he wobbled back and forth until his momentum bled out, and then he looked back at the Changelings with drooping ears and defeat in his eyes. “You… you haven’t won yet,” he said. “This is unlawful imprisonment.”
“Whatever,” Cabbage said, using her magic to separate the entrapping goo from the ground and levitating the unicorn noble into the air. “We’re taking this matter to Princess Celestia, as soon as she’s been located.”