//------------------------------// // Spiracle // Story: Little Keys // by Skijarama //------------------------------// The Everfree Forest was a strange place. During the light of day, it could be seen as a place of solemn beauty. Being an ancient Primal Zone, it was perhaps a rare watermark of what Equestria had been like before the pegasi domesticated the weather across much of the landmass, or the earth ponies tamed the land itself: tranquil, wild, serene, and unpredictable.  In stark contrast to this was the ominous aura the forest took on during the night. Under the shroud of the moon and stars, it became a dark, brooding, hostile place that promised pain and suffering to anyone stupid enough to dare venture under its claw-like boughs. Malevolent beasts of all shapes and sizes hid away in the darkness under the branches, glowing eyes piercing the dark and just waiting for some poor soul to wander too close. And then there was the forest in the light of the approaching sunrise. It struck a paradoxical middle ground between frightening and enchanting, terrifying and enthralling. The shadows beneath the canopy promised misery and wonder both, while the calls of the animals that called the forest home somehow soothed, but also unsettled, the soul. Twilight looked down on it all from high in the air, her wings pumping slowly and evenly to keep her aloft. She swallowed heavily, watching the leaves sway as a gentle breeze ran through them. She followed the ripple of movement with her eyes until it disappeared into the distance. “...This might be a really dumb idea,” she eventually said out loud, her lips quirking into a crooked smile. “You said it, not me.” Twilight scoffed before drifting forward, doing her best not to give the voice any attention. She focused her eyes down on the branches below, looking for any sign of the renegade changeling she had flown out here to find. She must have been flying over the forest for fifteen minutes before she finally realized that it was probably a lost cause. The forest canopy was already dense enough by the edge of the ravine, leaving only a few scattered pockets where she could see the ground. It was only a few dozen yards from the ravine before the canopy became too thick to see anything meaningful. Just rolling hills of green, drooping leaves. Swearing under her breath, Twilight came to a stop and spun in a slow circle, racking her brain. Spiracle was bound to be out here somewhere, right? If what she said earlier was true, then it stood to reason she had been eyeing Twilight for a little while, now. That meant she probably had a campsite of some description set up not far away. Assuming Spiracle hadn’t broken camp after Twilight’s outburst, then finding that would be her best bet of also finding her. Swallowing heavily, Twilight descended beneath the forest canopy not far from the edge of the ravine. She spared a glance down towards the Tree of Harmony’s cave, and a tingle ran down her spine. It was watching her. She knew it. “I can’t mess this up…” Twilight took a deep breath before facing deeper into the forest. It loomed ahead of her like a great gaping maw, the gnarled branches reminiscent of crooked fangs and grasping claws ready to snatch her away to some unspeakable fate. The way the ground had been torn and shredded in places after the Plundervines passed through only added to the unsettling imagery. Twilight’s throat involuntarily stiffened, her breaths becoming a little strained as her memory of being suffocated by sleeping gas filtered into her mind. She shook her head to dismiss the image after a moment. Setting her jaw, she set off at a brisk pace, eager to get this over and done with. The more time she stood around feeling sorry for herself or what she had been through, the more time the others had to wake up and realize she was gone again, and she planned to find Spiracle and put things right before they had a chance for that. “An optimistic plan,” the voice noted. “Considering the sun’s already starting to rise. They’ll be waking up any minute now. Do you really think you can find Spiracle before Thorax, Fluttershy, and Spike find you?” Twilight nodded. “I do.” “How come?” “Because I know they’ll search the castle first. That gives me at least a little room to breathe. Plus, this forest is big. They’d need to find my tracks first, and that could take a while.” The voice hummed but did not follow up on that for the moment, allowing Twilight the freedom she needed to focus on her search. Her efforts were slightly hindered, however, as her mind wandered back to her three friends back in the castle. She didn’t doubt they were going to be worried about her, and a significant part of her ached with guilt at making them worry like that. “But I have to do this on my terms,” she told herself, trying to bury her guilt. “They’ll understand.” “Are you sure about that?” Twilight frowned in irritation. “Don’t you have something better to do than bother me all the time?” “Not really.” Twilight grunted in annoyance, about ready to tear into the voice and give it a solid piece of her mind for being such a persistent pest. Before she could get the words out, though, a sound caught her ear. She froze, perking up her ears, and waiting for it to come again. A few seconds passed until it did, loud enough for Twilight to make it out. Whimpers. Twilight slowly turned to face the sound. Ahead of her, the trees formed a line that was almost a wall, and she couldn’t see through the shade they cast. But there was something whimpering on the other side of that veil, and it sounded familiar. Twilight smirked triumphantly. “Hey, look, I think I found her.” “Congratulations,” the voice deadpanned. “Would you like a medal for this magnificent achievement, or would you prefer a biography?” “Oh, shut up.” Whatever witty retort the voice had, Twilight drowned it out as she approached the whimpers. She moved slowly and carefully, not wanting to startle Spiracle if the one whimpering was indeed her. A small bead of worry began to form in Twilight’s gut as she drew closer. Why would Spiracle be whimpering? If she worked as an infiltrator, as Thorax had suggested, it implied that she was at least emotionally mature enough to hold her composure. “Being in a position of power does not mean you can’t have childish meltdowns,” the voice snarked. “I mean, just look at Rainbow Dash.” Twilight went rigid, her coat bristling and her pupils dilating. “Don’t talk about her like that.” “Why not? I’m right.” “She’s suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, grief, and probably depression!” Twilight shot back, her ears flattening back in barely-contained rage. “And?” Twilight growled deep in her throat before screwing her eyes shut and taking a deep breath. She didn’t give the voice the satisfaction of a response this time. She didn’t expect it to understand Rainbow Dash’s condition, nor did she expect it to ever learn to. She did her best to drown out whatever remarks it made before carefully pushing through the wall of foliage. As she had suspected, a campsite came into view, albeit not one she had ever seen the likes of before. There wasn’t a tent in the traditional sense. Instead, there was a vaguely igloo-shaped dome of green resin with one side open to the world and supported by a thick, slimy green pillar. A makeshift fire pit sat in the heart of the small clearing, and a pair of makeshift saddlebags made from yet more resin was leaning next to them. Also, as Twilight had suspected, Spiracle was there. She was sitting on her haunches by the fire pit, a pained grimace on her face as she dug through her saddlebags. “Come on, come on… I know I had at least a few more bandages, didn’t I?” she asked through clenched teeth. She winced, screwing her eyes shut and throwing a hoof down to her left hind leg. Twilight’s eyes followed the movement before going wide. Spiracle’s leg had obviously suffered some sort of injury in her retreat. The chitin along her hip had been shattered, exposing the grey, rough skin that sat underneath. It was swollen and bruised, and Twilight did not imagine it felt good to try and walk around like that. “Sweet Celestia…” she breathed. Spiracle’s ears twitched at the sound, and she quickly rounded to face Twilight, her lips peeling back to show her sharp teeth. “Who’s there?!” she demanded in a loud hiss, although it was evident she was trying, and failing, to suppress a groan of pain as she put weight on her injured leg. Twilight quickly held up her hooves, falling to her haunches in the process. “Woah, woah, hey, easy! I’m not here to hurt you,” she said, her ears folding back. Spiracle blinked, her hostile expression melting away and replaced with a frown of confusion. “What…? Twilight? What are you doing here? I thought- ACK!” “Oh my gosh!” Twilight gasped as Spiracle collapsed to the ground, her injured leg giving out under her. Twilight quickly rose and cantered over to get a better look, and she realized that the wound was a lot worse than it looked. “What happened to you?!” Spiracle groaned before opening an eye and glancing up at Twilight. “...Giant lizard made of rocks jumped me on the way back,” she said through grit teeth. “Got a pretty good chomp on me before I got away…” Twilight winced. “A cragodile… They’re nasty, and probably still wound up after all the chaos the Plundervines caused,” she said, slowly sitting back on her haunches. Her eyes fell on Spiracle’s saddlebags, and she noticed that they were largely see-through. She saw a small roll of bandage wrap at the bottom of the right pouch. Spiracle sucked in a breath before rolling onto her back and slowly sitting up onto her haunches. “Gh! Ack! Ow, that hurts, ow, ow…” she protested as she went. “Here, let me help,” Twilight offered, putting her hoof to Spiracles back to support her as she went up. A few seconds passed before the drone was sitting upright, and she gave off a relieved sigh. Twilight smiled and withdrew her hoof. “There you go. That’s better. Here, let me get some bandages for your leg.” Spiracle watched, transfixed, as Twilight reached into the right pouch with her magic and withdrew the bandages. Twilight began to unroll a long strip of gauss, looking down at the injury again to get an idea of how much she would need. A queasy grimace spread on her muzzle at the sight of Spiracle’s brutalized flank, and she realized that she was probably not the best pony for the job. Fluttershy would be better. For now, at least, she could ease the pain. Fluttershy could do a better job later. With that determination in mind, Twilight leaned down and carefully applied the bandages to the wound, wrapping them around a few times before tying it off at the end to apply some pressure. She leaned back a moment later to survey her work. It was sloppy, but it would do the trick for now. Spiracle looked down at the bandaged leg, visibly relieved and already looking less pained. She then looked up to Twilight and tilted her head. “Thank you… but, um… I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but… uh… why are you helping me like this?” she asked quietly. She looked down and away, her ears drooping as if in shame. “I mean… you made it pretty clear how you felt about me back in the castle…” Twilight’s heart withered in her chest at the reminder. She gave off a weak sigh and looked down at the ground. “...I know. I’m really sorry about before,” she apologized meekly. “I’ve just been dealing with some really personal problems, lately. Been struggling to overcome some ‘inner demons,’ you could say. It’s been driving me up the wall for a while, now, and… I guess I took my anger over it all out on you… It was wrong of me, and it was stupid, and I want to make up for it.” Spiracle eyed her in surprise. She fidgeted in place for a few moments, briefly reminding Twilight of Fluttershy before she spoke again. “Really? How do you plan to do that?” Twilight hesitated for a moment before lifting her head. “Well… I’ll start by hearing your story. All of it. I didn’t listen to you back in the castle, and that was a huge mistake…” Spiracle blinked a few times before looking away, running a hoof over her shoulder. “Um… well, uh… oh, jeez. Where do I start?” she asked sheepishly. Twilight put on a reassuring smile. “How about you start with what happened after Chrysalis was sealed?” Spiracle was quiet for a few seconds before nodding her head. “Well… after the battle in the Empire, all of us drones just sort of… felt it, I guess. We just knew that we had lost, and that we needed to go home. The whole trip back was silent, and when we returned to the Hive, nobody said much of anything. It was completely silent for three days…” Spiracle turned to Twilight with a distant, horrified look on her face. “Do you know what that’s like? To be surrounded by noise at all times when home, with drones flying around and chattering, constantly working, always in motion, only for it all to go completely still? It was the most harrowing thing I’ve ever experienced… even worse than that shadow in the snow…” She shuddered, hugging herself. “And then, when there was noise again, it was just… chaos. There was no order, no structure. Everyone just… started yelling and arguing and fighting. The throne was empty. We had no queen. There was nobody there to give us direction or purpose. Our clutches were unattended for the first time in centuries, and no one knew what to do… I lost count of the fights that broke out on just that first day alone… It was horrible.” Twilight winced and looked away. “I’m sorry you had to go through that… But remember, we were defending ourselves up in the Empire. We only did what we had to do to protect ourselves from the swarm. Chrysalis was an immediate and existential threat to me and everypony I love. I don’t regret sealing her in that tree. As far as I see it, Chrysalis was a monster. She got what she deserved.” “Maybe…” Spiracle mumbled before shrugging. “It doesn’t matter now, though. It’s done, and the hive practically fell apart because of it. Everyone started squabbling over food and resources, and factions started springing up as powerful drones began clawing for the throne, fighting each other off. The hive practically became a battleground… Eventually, the fighting became so bad I decided I couldn’t stay anymore. But I was too scared to leave, at first. I was petrified by the idea of being alone out here, no idea where to go or what to do, but I was just as petrified of staying at the hive, where I could get caught up in the crossfire at any moment...” Then Spiracle lifted her head, a tiny smile appearing on her face. “But then, my old commanding officer, Pharynx, began to vie for the throne himself… and the speeches he gave… He told everyone of his brother, Thorax, and how the pacifist runt of the hive had discovered something not even our queens had managed to discover.” “How to feed properly, right?” Twilight asked carefully. “How to get love without hurting others? How to stop being hungry all the time?” Spiracle nodded. “Exactly! A lot of drones blew off his words as the delusional ramblings of the brother of a soft-headed traitor, but I know Pharynx! I worked under him for years, and I know that he trusted his brother. Thorax had found a way to end our hunger, and he found a place to call home here in Equestria! When I heard about him, I knew I had to come looking. I had to come find him. But… I had no idea where to look, at first. Equestria is such a big place… I’m used to only having one ‘colony’ as my entire nation within the hive. Having so many cities and towns across all this land, just… confused me.” “Cultural whiplash,” Twilight noted. “Yeah, that’ll get ya… It took Thorax a while to adapt, too, from what I heard.” “Well, he had a place to call home right from the start,” Spiracle commented with a slightly jealous tone. “I didn’t… When I first came to Equestria, I showed up as just myself. And how was I greeted?” Spiracle sighed and idly kicked at one of the stones around her fire pit. “...With an angry mob, torches, pitchforks and all. They ran me out of town before I even had a chance to explain myself or ask for help…” Twilight sighed, placing a hoof on Spiracle’s back. “I’m so sorry… Ponies aren’t typically malicious creatures, but… well, a lot of us have a bad habit of holding grudges, and a lot in smaller villages tend to be unhealthy in their superstitions…  I know. Ponyville had plenty when I moved there.” Spiracle hummed quietly at that. “Well… I wandered around after that, just trying to find somewhere that would be willing to accept me. I eventually started taking on new identities with every town I visited, trying to blend in, learn a few things, and get some love in my belly. But it was never enough… and when the ponies were kind to me, I…” Twilight wilted. “You started snarling and hissing, right?” Spiracle nodded. “Yeah… I’m starving, and whenever I smell so much love and kindness around me, I just… I can’t hold it in! I’m barely keeping it in around you right now! I barely ever got more than a snack before I was forced to bolt for the hills…” With every word Twilight heard, the guilt she felt for her previous anger explosion grew several times stronger. This poor drone had been run off so many times, now. She had been denied a chance at friends or happiness purely because of what she was, and when she finally saw a chance to obtain both, the very pony she had sought out to grant them—her last hope, practically—had shot her down in a wild rage. “That is not how I’m supposed to be,” Twilight thought despondently, her ears drooping. “But it is who you are,” the voice muttered. Twilight closed her eyes. “No. That’s who you are. I’m nothing like you.” “Denial denial denial,” the voice droned in irritation. “When will you open your eyes to the truth?” “Just shut up and leave me alone. I’m busy.” With that, Twilight took a deep breath and put on a warm smile. “Well… if you’re so hungry, then…” she began before spreading out her forelegs, exposing her chest. “You can have some of mine if you need it.” “WHAT?!” the voice bellowed in alarm. “Are you serious?!” Spiracle didn’t seem to be faring much better in response to the offer. Her mouth fell open while her eyes went as wide as saucers. She stared at Twilight for a few seconds, her glowing blue eyes shimmering with barely-restrained hunger. “W...w-what?” she finally managed to stammer out, completely taken aback. Twilight nodded at her, trying to ignore the way her heart was thumping anxiously against her chest. She thought of every nice thing she could imagine about Spiracle. It was regrettably little right now, but she hoped it would be enough. “If you need a little love to keep yourself going, I can let you have some… You know, to make up for how I treated you before.” Spiracle licked her lips, seemingly without thinking about it. Her eyes locked onto Twilight’s chest, right onto where her heart would be. “I… a-are you sure?” Spiracle ventured timidly. “I really don’t want to hurt you… and if I start, I might not be able to stop…” “Do you need any more assurances that she’s not evil?” Twilight thought inwardly at that. “Have you ever heard of the concept of a lie? Because I don’t think you have.” Twilight elected to ignore that before nodding at Spiracle. “I’m sure. If I think you’re taking too much, I’ll stop you,” she assured. Spiracle hesitated for several seconds before looking up and around Twilight. She blinked again, and her eyes flew wide at something Twilight couldn’t see. “Oh… oh, wow…” Spiracle whispered, clutching a hoof up to her belly as it let out an audible rumble. Then, without another word, Spiracle opened her mouth. Twilight winced when she felt something tugging on her chest. She watched with uncomfortable awe as streams of pink light began to emerge from thin air and from her chest. They drifted lazily down before flowing into Spiracle’s mouth, illuminating everything inside and affording Twilight an exceptionally detailed look at a changeling maw. Spiracle began to hiss and snarl, a small trickle of drool leaking out the corner of her mouth as she feasted on what Twilight had to give. Her wings twitched and buzzed on her back, and she rose to her hooves instinctively. Twilight cringed back, tensing involuntarily as Spiracle took on a threatening, predatory pose like she was about to pounce. Twilight did not move beyond that, however. She forced herself to stay perfectly still and wait for Spiracle to make the next move. Finally, after almost a minute, Spiracle screwed her eyes shut. The hissing in her throat cut out without ceremony as she clamped her muzzle shut and looked away. All at once, the tugging sensation on Twilight’s chest ended, and she was suddenly overcome by a feeling of tiredness. Twilight gave off a heavy sigh before falling forward, barely catching herself with her forehooves. “I’m so sorry,” Spiracle mumbled a moment later. Twilight felt a pair of hooves on her back gently easing her up into a sitting position. Spiracle was staring back at her with a worried, uneasy frown. “I couldn’t stop. I haven’t eaten so much since I left the hive, and… instinct just… took over. I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Twilight shook her head, keeping one hoof planted to her chest over her heart. She shivered as an unnatural cold spread through her body, but she was quick to put on a smile. “It’s o-okay. I v-volunteered for this. I’m glad I could h-help.” Spiracle relaxed somewhat. She withdrew her hoof and stepped back to give Twilight some room to breathe. Several moments passed in silence before Twilight’s breath steadied and she was able to focus. She shook herself to chase away the hollow chill in her heart and gave Spiracle a tender smile. The changeling drone smiled back before shifting awkwardly on her haunches. “S-so… um… what now?” she asked, a crooked smile on her face. Twilight slowly rose to her hooves, wobbling slightly as she did so, and held one out to help Spiracle stand. “Now, we head back to the castle. We can have Fluttershy patch up your leg while Thorax talks to you.” Spiracle’s eyes widened as she stood up, using Twilight to support her weight. “Thorax is with you?!” she asked. Twilight nodded. “Yeah. He was visiting Fluttershy when I asked her to come with me and Spike out here, and so he decided to come along. You two used to be friends, right?” she asked while guiding Spiracle slowly out of the clearing. Spiracle hummed, looking up at the sky. “Um… sort of? I didn’t really have anything against him, honestly. He seemed really nice, but… well, I didn’t get to talk to him very often. I didn’t want to earn any disfavor from the queen by associating with the runt.” Twilight shrugged. “Well, he clearly thought pretty highly of you, since he vouched for you,” she said before focusing forward. “I’m sure he’ll have a lot of questions for you about what things were like back at the hive. And then, once you’re all patched up and caught up with him, we can take you back to Ponyville, and you can talk to Rainbow about being granted asylum.” Spiracle relaxed at that, leaning more into Twilight’s side. She gave off a relieved sigh and let her head hang down low before speaking in barely even a whisper. “...Thank you.” Twilight smiled over at her. “You’re welcome.”