//------------------------------//
// Changes of Heart 
// Story: With Wretched Fangs 
// by Shadow Beast 
//------------------------------//

Ascending the stairs, Vertigo found the Queen's orders already carried out; two armed guards blocked the door to the breeding chambers. She trotted back down a few steps and slipped into the armory. Sure enough, the guards had left several Spears unattended. Vertigo picked one from the rack. As her hoof glided across its rough handle, she wondered where exactly the point would go. She shook her head and put the spear back on the rack. 

Trotting past the guards and the top of the stairs, she finally found the two zombies waiting for her. Seeing one of them smile as she approached almost made her wish the spear had remained in her hoof. 

"Welcome back," one of them said kindly.

"Outside. Now," Vertigo commanded, gesturing toward the exit.

The other zombie mumbled something under his breath as the three left the Hive proper and stood on the edge of the cliff that marked its entrance. The rock was dryer than before, baking under the evening sun.

"Before we do anything else," Vertigo started, staring at the two from a bit further away from the edge. "I need some answers."

The more solemn of the two sighed. "I repurposed the DNA and didn't expect a runt to count the holes and notice I was filling them." 

Vertigo crooked her head in confusion. "...What?"

"Oh, you weren't going to ask about the sequence?"

Vertigo sighed. "Why are you here?" She raised a hoof to Foresight. "Is it really just to get a breeder?"

"It never was," Foresight admitted. "I just wanted to be a part of the Hive again."

"Plans fall through," Dredge added. "We couldn't just sit around and starve because of dragons or changelings not taking kind to us." He looked toward Foresight. "Getting a breeder is a last ditch effort. I could see why he wants to deny it but it is the plan now." He turned back to Vertigo. "If we get a breeder, we can promise you won't ever see us again."

"Well, I'll still be here in a hundred years, but whatever. It's not like I'll make a difference." Foresight smiled.

"So, you don't really want a breeder?" Vertigo asked again.

"We need one." Dredge looked at his friend again for a brief moment. "In order to keep our deal with you." He frowned at Vertigo. "I know you value changeling lives too much to let these two..." Dredge gestured toward the forms he and his friend took, "...go to waste."

"I already told you-" 

Dredge finished her sentence. "You barely agreed with him; you refused to say the words."

Foresight smiled. "Why do you think we're here?" he said in a half-mocking voice.

Vertigo snarled. "You want to destroy the Hive and eat everyone in it because you're all cannibals who hate what the Hive represents!"

Foresight nodded along, then crooked his head when she noticed. "Is that all?" Vertigo's bare fangs answered his question. "Because she left out a major detail: our origins."

"You probably crawled out of a stinking hole somewhere..."

Foresight chuckled. "Well, you're not wrong." He cleared his throat. "Back in the day, the Queen didn't believe in death penalties. So whenever someone really messed up, they were thrown out of the Hive. Permanently." He sighed. "Desperate to get back in, missing everything we loved about the Hive... We outcasts broke the many guidelines of our shapeshifting teachings and began taking the forms of changelings within the Hive just to belong again. But this weakens us, and we become as wretches."

Vertigo maintained a straight face. "And where did cannibalism come from then?" she asked with a condescending tone.

"One of the guidelines. We warp flesh that isn't ours, repurposing it to fit our more dire needs. Changeling flesh is the easiest to warp, for obvious reasons."

Dredge stepped forward. "We only hurt those who would do others harm: assassins and the like. If we get a breeder, we can stop discriminating by species." He stepped forward still, removing his disguise and patting Vertigo on the back. "You could help us. You could save so many innocent lives out there and maybe even live forever!"

Vertigo sighed. "You guys really want to live forever?"

Dredge nodded. Foresight shook his head.

She smiled. "Too bad."

Pushing Dredge out of the way, she smashed into Foresight. A quick stomp crushed his foreleg. When Dredge predictably went in for the counter attack, she dodged past him and booted him over the edge. 

The cliff shook.

A roar erupted from the bottom of the cliff, and Dredge's dragon form rose up, its eyes level with the changeling's. Vertigo smiled at the reptile. The dragon inhaled, readying a breath of fire. The executioner zapped the beast's throat with magic, cutting the breath short. This gave her plenty of time. She looked over toward Foresight, who appeared to be in shock, then toward some rocks by the entrance. The dragon steadied itself only to see Vertigo at the edge of the cliff. It's maw opened up to swallow the executioner. A rock flew in, lodging itself in the dragon's windpipe. Vertigo's horn glowed as she suppressed Dredge's magic, stopping him from healing himself. Foresight rose from the ground on three legs. The dragon gasped for air. Vertigo stood her ground. Dredge gasped for air. Foresight charged Vertigo. The dragon's head began to sway. Vertigo released Dredge. Foresight's leg was pulled out from under him. Dredge was out of air and energy. The dragon fell to the ground, burst into green flame, and left behind nothing but a small pile of ash.

Foresight landed on his broken foreleg, sending even more pain through his body as he attempted to get up. Vertigo approached, taking an extra step to put her hoof on his chest. Unable to squirm out of the executioner's hold, Foresight simply relaxed his hurt leg and looked up at the changeling. She could feel his breathing relax.

After a short moment Foresight chuckled, then burst out laughing.

Vertigo stomped on his stomach, silencing him. "What's so funny?"

"Because," Foresight started, out of breath. "Because... You. I get it..."

"What?" 

Foresight laughed again. Vertigo punched him again.

The zombie looked up into its former master's eyes. A familiar voice whispered from its mouth. "C-can I go home yet?" 

Vertigo's tongue flinched.

"I want to join you."

Vertigo shook her head thoroughly. "No. You're not him. You're just a double."

"No, it's me!" the assassin's voice shrieked. "The monster was in my head... But now I think he's gone."

Vertigo gritted her teeth. Then an idea popped into her head.

"I'm sorry, sir," the assassin pleaded. "I couldn't control myself."

Vertigo chuckled. "Shut up, Foresight. I wasn't going to kill you anyways." She lifted her hoof of the changeling. 

"I'm not Foresight!" the changeling said, lifting himself off the ground on three hooves. "It's just me again, another assassin."

"You crushed that neck in your own mouth and expect me to believe it's alive?"

"That's how they get in! These monsters aren't changelings at all!" The changeling limped backwards from her. "Wouldn't this have healed by now if Foresight was still here?" He reached out with his broken leg.

An extra set of hoofsteps grabbed the two changelings' attention. A guard appeared at the entrance of the Hive. It wore the helmet issued to members of the Royal Guard of the Queen. 

"Whenever you're done talking to Midnight, the Queen wants you to bring him down soon."

It disappeared back down the stairs.

Vertigo stepped toward the entrance, turning back toward the injured assassin. "Come on. Let's explain this to Her."

"With me?" the assassin asked. The changeling's lips quivered at the site of the affirming nod. "You mean I get to actually enter Her throne room?!"

The genuine excitement in the assassin's voice threw Vertigo off; it was too fitting. Assassins were never allowed close to the Throne, and this particular one was more sheepish than the others. If the changeling had somehow survived all of the wretcher's abuse, this would be the best day of its life.

As the two changelings made their way down the winding stairs, conflicting thoughts bounced throughout Vertigo's head. She stopped in front of the Breeder den. The assassin turned to the door, the guards, then to her. 

"I require an update on the breeders," Vertigo said to the guard.

"We got some new recruits to work on. No trouble yet," the sentry replied. 

"May we step inside for a more thorough check? The security of the Hive is not something I'm willing to risk on words."

The soldier shrugged. "Sure. But don't complain if you step in anything."

The door opened slowly before them. Vertigo walked through it and the assassin followed without a word. At the other side of the room, the breeders continued to spin long strands of sticky, greenish slime over the ponies unfortunate enough to be brought into the Hive. Consumed by their work, they would not notice the two visitors. Vertigo looked over her right shoulder to find the assassin gone. On her left, she heard a soft gasp. The misplaced changeling dug a book out of a discarded pile of ooze. It slowly opened it with a smile. Vertigo trotted over and tried to read over its shoulder. Unsure of what the changeling had found, she prodded him and motioned to the door. They left quietly, certain that their visit did not disrupt the delicate breeding cycle.

Outside, they both got a closer look at the book.

"Five... Seven... Five..." the assassin read, its hoof sliding along with its eyes.

"You can read?" Vertigo asked in bewilderment.

"Only a little. I used to a lot more before I hurt my head." It rubbed a small, almost unnoticeable scar on the back of its head. "An assassin hit me with one of the tomes. The Queen said my sanity didn't make it, so now I'm an assassin like the rest." It turned to Vertigo. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't ramble about the past..."

"It's fine," Vertigo said. "How long ago was this?"

"A few months ago. I remember the assassin being angry about being assigned to you. Then after the attack, he didn't come back. Now here I am at your side." The changeling shrugged. "This morning, when I was assigned to you, I didn't think I'd survive. And now here I am, reading a strange book and going to see the Queen soon."

Vertigo put a hoof on the assassin's healthier shoulder. "It will be alright." There was a short pause as a memory popped into her mind. "You know, I remember that guy who hurt you."

The changeling turned quickly to its leader, but shied away from talking.

"He was eaten by a dragon." She chuckled. "That was the day I learned how to kill the overgrown lizards."

The assassin chuckled awkwardly. "Dragons, wretchers... I wish I could kill things as good as you. Then I'd've killed that monster before he got me." He looked toward Vertigo. "Do you think he'll come back?"

"Not twice," Vertigo said with a smirk. "Let's update the Queen, shall we?" 

She bounded down the stairs, past the armory and soldier beds to the Throne Room. Behind her, the assassin limped down the stairs. Slipping a bit, it dropped the book and with a few loud thumps it had beaten the changeling to the bottom. Finally, it caught up with its leader. Without a second glance at the book, they entered the Room.

"My, my... You allowed him to change shapes," Chrysalis said upon seeing the two arrive.

Vertigo sternly looked up at the Queen. "This is Not Midnight, your highness. The wretcher took control of his mind somehow, but now it's gone." 

"And who told you that?" The Queen's eyes stayed fixed on the assassin, who shook subtly with a closed mouth.

"This one acts perfectly normal and has memory of events so obscure that not even F--Midnight could know it." She cleared her throat, giving herself time to recover from almost saying "Foresight." "I've seen changelings in disguise, ma'am... They don't change underneath. They can't know everything their prey knows."

The Queen laughed for a moment. "Whatever gave you the idea that wretchers are anything like changelings?! And even if they do somehow 'take control,' what's to stop it happening again?"

"I know that wretchers are just changeling outcasts. I won't let you deny that."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"She's... She's right." The changeling's voice shook with its body as it tried to talk. "He was... He was in my head. I saw..."

The Queen sighed. "I'm starting to remember why we don't let assassins inside of our Throne Room." She turned to Vertigo. "Go upstairs and grab a spear, would you? I don't think this one has enough strength to leave here."

Vertigo obeyed. The doors closed behind her and she hoped that the nervous assassin could defend itself while she was gone. Then again, that's exactly what defends it; Foresight was confident and outspoken. 

The executioner trotted up the stairs toward the armory, wondering what the Queen was planning. Her eyes searched above her for any sign of the wretcher, while her mind searched for solid proof that he was gone. But her hoof found the armory door first. Inside, the same spears from before were still just laying on the unattended rack.  She sighed as she recognized the sharpest one there. She shook her head and pulled it off the rack. 

Leaving the armory, Vertigo stopped at the stairs and looked up again towards the sunlight shining at the top of the Hive. The light shone a calm blue, typical of dusk. She trotted down the steps. She tried to keep her mind clear of the haunting doubt that what she was about to do was a mistake. The two guards opened the doors without a glance, without a smile. The doors closed behind her as she returned to the assassin’s side; it stood before the Queen, shaking not from mostly fear.

“You can’t do that!” the assassin screamed at the Queen. “You... You just can’t!”

The Queen smiled, being the only one in the room to recognize the executioner’s presence. “It seems your input may be required here, Vertigo.”

Vertigo glanced from one to the other. The assassin snarled at the Queen, who simply smiled back from upon her throne. “What did she do?” she asked the former. “What happened?” she asked the latter.

The Queen chuckled in anticipation. “Well, Mercy?”

“You can’t name me that!” “Mercy” shouted back. It shook in pure frustration. “You can never name any assassin that!”

“And who are you to say what I am capable of?” The chuckle became slightly more sinister. “I knew you couldn’t hide your useless powers long, Midnight.”

With the spear in one hoof, Vertigo patted “Midnight’s” shoulder with the other. “Please, you have to calm down.”

Foresight’s eyes turned toward Vertigo’s, then disappeared behind the eyes of the assassin. The shaking changed tempo, and his lips trembled. “Vertigo... The wretcher is back.” He quickly looked over his shoulder, then turned from Vertigo entirely. His snout scoped the whole room. “He was just... he was just here.” Mercy turned to the Queen. “You heard him too, right?” The smile disappeared from the Queen’s face. She nodded. 

Then kept nodding.

“I’m... I’m still here though. Where... How...?”

Vertigo’s eyes met with the Queen’s, whose gaze quickly shifted toward the spear. 

Mercy frantically searched the room again.

Vertigo glanced between the assassin and the spear.

His glance stopped on the spear. “Wha... What are you doing with that?” 

Vertigo glared back.

Before Mercy could react, the spear pierced his chest. 

Vertigo’s hooves attempted to retrieve the spear, only to find it impaled within Foresight’s chest. The assassin’s form was gone, replaced by Foresight’s true form. His fangs appeared almost serrated, with a strange green fluid dripping from them. 

“It dies with me...” the gravely wounded changeling said. He chuckled as his eyes searched for Vertigo’s. “The smart one... the kind one... the one with hope... Now a murderer of the iridescent future!” His jaw was almost limp underneath the wretched fangs, but his tongue continued. “Go to a land of feathers and claws... Learn of the past... Learn of the future. What... Foresight...” 

The wretcher slumped over and his eyes closed. Vertigo looked toward the Queen, just in time to see her confused look forcefully disappear. “What do you think he meant?”

The Queen thought for a moment. "Sounds like he was talking about the Griffin Kingdom. If there are answers to be found, that's the place to look." 

"You want me to go to the Griffin Kingdom?" Vertigo asked, half afraid to hear the answer. 

"Well, since you're practically volunteering..."

"I need a team for that. You should give me some time to--"

"I don't like being interrupted," the Queen said, cutting her off. "Your actions today have earned you a promotion, after all. Do you want it before or after you leave?"

Vertigo tried to hide her enthusiasm. "I'll take it before, please."

"Very well." The Queen rose from her throne and put her long, twisted horn on Vertigo's shoulder. "I dub you, Vertigo the Royal Executioner." Her horn patted both her shoulders before finding it's way back to the Throne.

Vertigo wondered for a moment. "What exactly does my promotion get me?"

"'What exactly should our promotion get us?' is more like it. You have your pick of the assassins now for any given mission. You also have the privilege of speaking to interiors with the Royal We." The Queen's smile returned. "Now go. You have three days to gather your assassins. Then, you must seek out the clues given to us by that idiot over there."

The body stirred. The jaw quivered for a moment as the wretcher's eyes opened and focused on the Queen. "I have... A name."

The Queen's smile didn't waver. "Yes, Foresight, you do." The other two changelings' eyes widened. "Since you have demonstrated such an excellent sense of the consequences of your actions, what else could I name you?" She turned toward Vertigo to find the executioner staring at Foresight. "Vertigo! Remove the spear from his body."

Vertigo obeyed. Foresight smiled, and his horn glowed. His body, with spear inside, flared up in green flame for a brief moment, but nothing changed. Vertigo approached him. Without any resistance, the changeling pushed the spear through the changeling completely. It was intercepted by her magic before it could hit the ground. The hole left behind was smooth and without any sign of damage, yet it implied the absence of a heart.

"How do you even do that?" Vertigo asked him.

Foresight fell into a short trance and chuckled a bit. "There is much to learn. So so so so much to learn..." 

"Go put that away and assemble your team," the Queen commanded.

"Of course, Chrysalis," Foresight replied.

"Who are you to know our name?" the Queen replied, scorn in her voice.

"A lot of things I..." Foresight paused for a bit. "Know will be hard for you to... Really understand."

Chrysalis sighed. "He's babbling nonsense now. Perfect." She pointed toward the door. "Leave my presence!"

Foresight chuckled and obeyed. 

Vertigo realized a command had been given to her and quickly obeyed as well.