Chapter 3: Thoughts and Unpleasant Things
Double-Take, disguised again, stood on the second floor balcony, her hooves on the guardrail, the wind in her mane. She knew that she didn't want to read the letter. Whatever was in it, whatever Grand Façade had to say, she knew she wouldn't like it. The fresh air and the late afternoon sun helped to calm her nerves. Looking around, a duo caught her eye. It was Ditzy Doo and Dinky Doo. It looked like they were out on a walk, enjoying life. As simple as it may have been, it brought a smile to break the monotony of Double-Take's pensiveness. If anypony was a testament to taking joy in simplicity, it was Ditzy and her daughter.
Double-Take sighed. “I guess I can't run from it,” she whispered under the her breath. “Not any more.” The wind was howling so quietly as to whisper secrets, calling like a siren's song. After a moment, she finally pulled away from her balcony and into her cottage once more.
It took a while, but she finally mixed together some of the Agent. Some of the ingredients were plants common in potions and the other ingredients were commonplace in the Everfree Forest, but rare in the rest of the world. There was one final ingredient that was always mixed in last, just before it was used: Changeling blood. Thee drops would suffice, any less would be too impotent and any more would ruin the Agent; just another security measure.
Double-Take took her dagger and made a very shallow cut across the cannon of her foreleg, the letter laying out on the desk and the vial of inactive Agent resting on a stand. A small bit of blood on her dagger, be it her own blood or the blood of fallen foes, was a sight she had never missed. The sheen of the dagger and the jade green of Changeling blood... Just the smell of Changeling blood brought with it undesired thoughts and memories. She held the blade over the vial and let the viscous fluid lazily roll down it to the tip. Each drop of blood changed the color of the Agent until it was a celadon shade at the third drop.
She closed her eyes and let her magic flow. The Agent siphoned out of the vial and began to drip, drip, drip onto the blank papyrus until the entirety of the letter of the covered, neither dripping nor soaked, hardly a drop of the Agent remained. The magical aura then surrounded the letter, turning from the warm insectoid green of Changeling magics to the a blackish fog, wisps of silvery light slithering through the opaque aura, forming an intricate pattern of organic composition giving way to geometric designs; circles and triangles connected by lines and squares like constellations in an astronomer's atlas. After several moments, the aura and the light dispersed in an instant, filling the room with a black mist and silvery specks, suspended like the winter's first snow in stasis on a moonless night. The remnants of the magic, hidden from the outside by blackout curtains, faded a minute later. It was a spectacle to behold, but one to be performed in secret, away from prying eyes. It was a spectacle that Double-Take had seen enough times. Only after the last of the misty aura and foggy remnants of the spell had gone did Double-Take open her eyes.
The papyrus in front of her now was now covered in an alphabet that would appear abstract and alien to the ponies of Equestria. Every character was written in an ink of brilliant dark green that caught the glow of the candles around the room, giving the letter an eerily luminous quality. It was enchanting. It was beautiful. It was terribly unnerving.
It had been years since she read Changeling, but the characters were as familiar to her as the faces of the friends. Changelings were good at recognizing both information and faces. They could tell apart identical twins in identical outfits that they had met moments prior in the blink of an eye, and the best could easily distinguish an original painting or photograph from amongst dozens perfect copies in a glance. It was a natural ability of the shadowy species, and one that could be honed. To a Changeling, others of the species were as distinct as a griffin among ponies.
Double-Take took another deep breath before reading, though she read the words as though they were written in Equestrian.
Double-Take,
I regret disturbing you. I know that you no longer desire to take any part in this war. I know why you left and I can understand why you might never want to return. But I write this letter in a time of great uncertainty. This letter is threefold: the first is a warning, the second is a request, and the third is a simple collection of facts.
You are being hunted. The Tyrant Queen has once more ordered a bounty to be placed against you and three assassin teams of standard size have already been dispatched. I do not know if they are aware of your location, but I promise you that Quick Wit will not be followed. You remember him, I'm certain. Quite possibly the fastest and most cautious courier we have. He is a dependable drone that I trust with my life. I know of the assassins because we have agents working within the Tyrant's ranks. None are in positions of power, but their observations have been a boon.
I want to speak with you personally. You gave us an advantage that few others could have. You had done enough for us while you were within our ranks. I know that you bear no ill will toward us, so you are free to deny this request.
Finally, the Tyrant Queen is getting desperate. Unfortunately, so are we. Chrysalis's end goals are becoming apparent, and they involve Equestria. She seeks domination and power. She seeks a food source on a massive scale. Her purpose of invading Canterlot several weeks ago was to slowly drain the emotions of the city's denizens until nothing remained but husks, slaves for her to control with simple words. She would bolster her armies, create an expendable labor force, and use every resource gained from the conquest to crush the Abandoned. We would stand no chance. After we were dealt with, Chrysalis would refuse to stop. Power consumes, Double-Take, and some are more easily corrupted than others. She would turn her sights to the Northern Reaches, to Saddle Arabia, to the Griffin Kingdoms, and to every other sovereign nation in this world. Total dominion. And, much like dominoes in branching paths, each part of the sequence would simply increase its momentum. It would become more difficult to stop until nothing remained to defy her but simple obstacles, trampled like weeds or brushed aside as though they were dust.
I do not write in uncertainty, Double-Take. This is her final goal. But I believe that there is more at work than Chrysalis. There is something that doesn't bode well for anyone. There is an urgency with which I write this letter. There are reasons for sending this beyond a request and a warning, but I dare not put them to paper. You know where to find me if you decide to speak with me.
Grand Façade
Double-Take set the letter on the desk and leaned back, her wings heavy and eyes tired. With a single sigh, she mumbled a Changeling curse. “This is not something I want to deal with.”
She spent hours pacing. “What should I do?” she asked herself, nearly expecting a response. The chairs offered no advice and the mirror simply stared blankly at her troubles. “At such a scale... Is Chrysalis really so desperate as to resort to conquest? Only a fool fights a war on two fronts. Only a desperate fool fights a war on two fronts simply to use the resources gained from the conquest of one to fight another. Does she perceive herself infallible? After a failed invasion, would she really try it again? What else could she-” Her words caught in throat, heart beginning to race. Another foul memory found its way to the front of her mind.
She felt the heat of flames rending asunder the darkness of night. She heard the wind calling, howling, screaming. She saw the glowing embers amongst blackened wood, the scorched rubble of stone, and the bodies of the citizens of a town five times the size of Ponyville. The architecture was far different from Equestrian design and ever body was a Changeling's, some in guard uniforms, some simple citizens, and others in tattered and singed cloaks sharing an emblem; three concentric circles with a diagonal line bisecting all of them. They were Abandoned cloaks, but the uniforms were standard and simple, betraying only their purpose of protecting the town.
Double-Take ran through the streets, her helmet dropping to the ground with a ringing clatter, fearful worries in her eyes. The twists and turns of the streets were almost unrecognizable in the wake of warfare. She tripped and stumbled, but never fell. It was too important to fall. One last corner she rounded, revealing a house among many in the residential district. The doors were blown off their hinges, scorched and battered.
She ran through the entryway, the house faring no better than the rest of the town. “Hello?” she called. No voice rose to responded. The only sound breaking the silence was a fire still raging off in the distance. Double-Take ran through several rooms until she came to the common room, her fears confirmed. She stared upon three bodies, daggers in each of their necks. Dropping to the ground, her began to cry. She never screamed, yet she never tried to hide her mourning.
She couldn't tell how long she cried, but she remembered one last thing. Several Changelings in identical armor to hers entered the house.
Double-Take tried to shake the memory away. “That damned Purge...” she muttered with such contempt. “Of all the...” A tear began to well in her eye. “No. Not again. Chrysalis may be so ruthless, but she's no fool. She would only invade if she was certain of success. And now that she knows of the Elements of Harmony, she won't be so rash in her tactics. She will invade again, but she will be far more cunning. I guess that leaves only a single option. I can't leave the world to burn.” After a moment of thought, her mind turned to the shop. “But I can't leave so suddenly. How will I explain this to Zecora or Rosie? Or the rest of the group?” She parted the curtains to see that the moon was rising in the sky already. “And I thought I might actually get some sleep tonight.” With a sigh, she grabbed a journal, a quill, and an ink well.
I leave this note with a heavy heart. To those curious about where I am, about what I'm doing, please forgive me, but I can't say. Knowledge is dangerous, both to those that seek it and to those that already have it. For your safety, I can only say that my past is catching up to me. The less you know, the less likely you are to be dragged in.
I don't know who will find this letter first, but I beg you not to investigate it further. I thank everypony for a wonderful life here in Ponyville, but all things end eventually. The day ends and the night begins. Lakes are finite, rivers end in lakes or seas. The only clouds to last are those used in Pegasus architecture, and those are subject to change over time without maintenance.
I've always been secretive, and I know that many have been curious. I don't know if anypony ever suspected me of a secret past, but if there are those thoughts, I will simply say that some things are best left forgotten. There are some mysteries best left unsolved.
This is my final goodbye. I don't know if I'll ever return, or what awaits me once I leave.
Double-Take ripped out the page and crumpled it up, dropping it to the ground to sit, forgotten, with nearly two dozen of other pages. “How to say it? What to say? What is there to say?” She leaned her head back and hissed in frustration, her thoughts eluding organized scrutiny. After several moments, one though crossed her mind that she had wished arrived hours earlier. “Starlight and Velvet...”
She stood up and opened the window once more. It was just after midnight and she knew that she would see little rest until long after morning. With a few deep inhales followed by slow exhales, she sat down at her desk once more and took several sheets of loose paper from a drawer.