//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Five for the Hive // by HypnoticGemini //------------------------------// A/N: I meant to finish this a lot sooner, but I've been rather busy what with exams and... well, a lot of stuff. Okay, I also procrastinated a little (DotA, why you so addicting?!) Next chapter probably won't take so long... Twilight and the three disguised changelings stepped into the main lobby of the hotel. The unicorn receptionist behind the counter on the far side looked up and smiled warmly at them. “Ah, Miss Sparkle. Have friends of yours come to visit?” she asked. “You could say that,” Twilight replied. “Room for three, please.” “Four,” corrected Caduceus. “We’ve got a friend holding our stuff, waiting for us to call him.” “Very well. And how long do you wish to stay?” asked the receptionist, jotting down notes with a quill. “Until further notice,” said Level Scale. “We’re not sure yet.” “I see. Now, normally I’d ask for the payment up front, but I suppose that you could pay for each day in the morning. For tonight, that’ll be sixteen bits.” The receptionist set down her quill and extended a forehoof. “Umm... bits?” asked Torchlight in confusion. Pyralis, alias Level Scale, mentally facehoofed. He hadn’t expected Gemini to say something that stupid, and judging by her look of disapproval, neither did his sister. “Well, yeah,” said Twilight in a tone of voice which suggested that she was stating the most obvious thing in the world (which, for non-changeling ponies, it probably was). “How else are you going to pay for your room? You three do have some bits, don’t you?” “Okay... do you take these?” Torchlight pulled out several glowing green crystals. Both the receptionist and Twilight stared at them, and it took Pyralis all his willpower to not maim Gemini then and there. It was perhaps a good thing that the lobby was otherwise deserted, since the crystals would likely have drawn the attention of any other ponies that happened to be nearby. And if one of them happened to recognize one as an Eciton gem... “These?” the receptionist looked at the gems in confusion. “Well... I don’t think so. What are they?” “Never mind. That’s all we had.” Gemini quickly withdrew the gems. Pyralis breathed a mental sigh of relief. “Then I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that you won’t be able to stay,” said the receptionist with a shrug. “That’s all right,” said Caduceus. “Have a nice day. Come on, guys.” She strode out the door, and her two companions followed, with Twilight quickly following suit. “Wait a sec, where are you going to be staying, then?” Twilight asked once they had left the hotel, placing a hoof on Caduceus’s shoulder. “We’ll improvise,” Scale replied curtly. “We’ll camp in the forest or something.” Twilight shook her head. “Oh, no you’re not,” she said sternly. “The Everfree Forest? That’s way too dangerous! There’s no way I’m letting you camp there. How about...” She paused to think. “Maybe you could stay at my place? There’s plenty of room.” Pyralis tried not to smirk. As soon as he laid eyes on this Twilight Sparkle pony, he could tell that she was a possible threat that he needed to keep an eye on. But now, he no longer had to worry about that. “I don’t know... are you sure that you’re comfortable with letting three random ponies into your home?” he said, pretending to relent. “Well, would those three random ponies be comfortable rooming with Princess Celestia’s student?” replied Twilight. Now Pyralis knew that she was a liability – one that he couldn’t do much about. He made a mental note to remind the others to tread lightly, if they didn’t get the message already. Which was rather likely, considering how foolish Gemini’s little maneuver with the gems was. “Well, it’s quite an honour...” said Anopheles, giving her brother a “we-are-in-so-much-trouble” grimace. Pyralis nodded; for once, they agreed on something. *** Dorylus paced back and forth, constantly alert. He had been entrusted with the task of guarding their princess, and he would do with his life. Come Tartarus or high water, nothing could make him leave her side. Nothing could break his focus. There was no distracting him from his sacred mission, not even... “Gemini!” Dorylus fell backwards in surprise as he turned and suddenly found himself face-to-face with the red-eyed changeling, landing unceremoniously on his rump. Gemini smirked. “‘Nothing can break your focus,’ eh? I didn’t know you were into monologuing.” If changelings could blush, Dorylus’s face would have matched Gemini’s eyes. “I wasn’t monologuing! I was, uh, narrating. To myself. Hence the third person.” Gemini nodded. “Mm-hmm. So, you have that feeling too, huh?” “What feeling?” asked Dorylus, tilting his head in genuine confusion. “Just a strange feeling, like someone is watching your every move and writing it down for the whole world to read? Know what I’m talking about?” “No clue.” Now it was Gemini’s turn to feel embarrassed. “Ahem... never mind then. Anyway, we’ve found ourselves a place to stay. Just get the princess and follow me.” Dorylus loaded the cocoon onto his back. “Okay. Lead on.” “One second.” Gemini raised a hoof, stopping Dorylus in his tracks. His horn began to glow. “Lemme just...” *** Pyralis and Anopheles looked up at the tree before them with fascination. At least, it looked like a tree, because in their experience, trees usually didn’t come with windows and doors. “Here we are,” Twilight announced proudly, “home sweet home.” Anopheles forced herself to nod. “Well, what a, um, unique home you have, Twilight... May we go in?” “Sure thing, Caduceus,” replied Twilight, opening the door. “Make yourselves at home.” Pyralis and Anopheles entered the door and found themselves in a rather wide room. It was much more spacious inside than the two changelings expected, considering that they were standing in a tree trunk. The walls were lined with bookshelves, one of which lay in splinters on the floor with its contents strewn all over the place. Most changelings would not recognize said contents as books, as they weren’t very common in changeling hives. Anopheles was one of the few exceptions. Having gotten her hooves on a few during outings, she knew that they were meant to be read by ponies, mainly for the purpose of absorbing knowledge. However, being unable to decipher their contents, she did not know what kind of knowledge they held. She concluded that it was probably nothing important anyway. In the middle of the mess was a small purple dragon who was sorting the books into piles, while a small bird that the changelings did not recognize helped him out. “Sorry about the mess,” Twilight explained apologetically, “but as you can see, we did have a bit of a mishap with one of the bookshelves. Now let me introduce you to my number one assistant, Spike.” The baby dragon – whom the changelings assumed was Spike – turned around to face them with a curious look on its face. Pyralis immediately sensed the strong – almost parental – bond between the unicorn and the dragon; it would surely provide plentiful sustenance. He helped himself to a small sample, absorbing some of their love through his horn, as Spike spoke. “Huh? I don’t remember ever seeing you two around Ponyville... I suppose you’re those new ponies that Pinkie was talking about?” “I suppose so,” replied Anopheles, “unless anypony else just happened to show up at the same time as us.” As if on cue, a pegasus stallion entered, followed by an earth pony colt carrying a pile of luggage on his back. Pyralis and Anopheles instantly recognized their cohorts beneath their disguises – as well as the cleverly disguised cocoon – but fortunately for them, Twilight and Spike did not. “Well, what a coincidence!” remarked Pyralis, not even bothering to feign surprise. “About time you two showed up.” “Sorry to keep you waiting,” replied Gemini, alias Torchlight. “Thanks for letting us stay, Twilight. This is our buddy, Mirror Match. Mirror, meet Twilight Sparkle.” “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Twilight, extending her hoof towards the colt, who began looking rather wary. “Take it,” Anopheles hissed into his ear. Dorylus, alias Mirror Match, complied immediately, only to have his foreleg wrung rather forcefully. The pile of items on his back fell to the ground with a thud, prompting a wince from the four disguised changelings which did not go unnoticed by Twilight. “Whoops... sorry. Did I make you drop something fragile?” “Well... Guess that’s one way to put it...” said Dorylus, casting a worried glance at Pyralis and Anopheles, who looked somewhat less than amused, and at Gemini, who rushed over to inspect the damage. Of course, he couldn’t blame them. "Any damage done? Please say no, please say no..." said Anopheles in a worried murmur. "It's hard to say," replied Gemini. "We'll find out soon enough. For now, let's just hope that the cushioning did its job." "Can I take a look? Whatever it is you're so worried about, I'm sure I can help you fix it," Twilight offered, taking a tentative step toward the pile of luggage, but Gemini raised a hoof to stop her. "Um, I'm not sure that's such a good idea..." "Why, Torchlight? What is it?" Twilight asked. "Yeah! What are you trying to hide?!" demanded Spike. Anopheles smiled, a bit defensively. "Oh, nothing really... Don't worry about it..." "What's the matter, Caduceus?" asked Twilight, leaning in closer. "Why are you being so defensive all of a sudden? Come on, let me take a look!" "Incominnnng!" At that moment, a hole was blasted into the wall next to the door. Pyralis was the first to recover; lowering the hoof that he had raised to shield himself, he noticed that the cause of the destruction was, surprisingly for him, a pegasus pony with sky-blue fur and a multicolored mane. He was, however, thankful for the distraction from the “cargo.” “Ehehehe... sorry?” “It’s okay. I was about to open a window anyway,” replied Gemini. The pegasus pulled herself onto her hooves and brushed her mane out of her eyes, while Twilight shook her head. “Rainbow Dash, are you breaking holes into the library on purpose?” “Not really, it just tends to happen. Besides, you know how excited I am about that new Daring Do book, don’t you? And... hey, who are your friends?” “Oh boy...” thought Pyralis, as Twilight ran through the introductions. Her companion grinned. “Looks like Pinkie’s party is for you guys then. I’m Rainbow Dash, Best Young Flier and fastest pegasus in Equestria! Of course, I do believe my reputation precedes me...” “Sorry,” Pyralis said dryly, “all I understood from that was ‘just another pony that I’ve never heard of.’” Rainbow looked both surprised and a little offended. Before she could retort, however, Twilight stepped in between the mare and the disguised changeling. “Well, there’ll be plenty of time for us to get to know each other better. Let’s go down to Sugarcube Corner and see what Pinkie Pie’s prepared for you,” she suggested diplomatically. “Which would be what exactly?” asked Gemini. “Well,” said Rainbow, raising a hoof to her chin in mock thought, “considering it’s Pinkie Pie, I can’t be sure. But whatever it is, you guys are going to love it! Especially the food. You guys are hungry right?” As though responding to her question, Pyralis’s stomach growled. “So that’s a yes?” asked Spike, as Gemini and Rainbow began to snicker. If looks could kill, Pyralis would have struck the three of them dead then and there.