"Ah, those were the days." She fondly smiled, most likely reminiscing. "Back when I was but a little nymph, nobody really expected or demanded anything out of me, and all I had to worry about was to keep those around me happy so that I could remain fed; something that was really easy to accomplish at the time..."
"I see."
I gave her a few moments to dwell with whatever pleasant memories she seemed to be going through. Eventually, her rather exotic eyes refocused back to the present, and I waited until her gaze settled back on me before prodding further.
"However, I can't help but notice that you're almost making it sound as if everything was perfect back then. Everything has its ups and downs. Certainly, there must've been a bump or two along the way when it came to your foalhood? Especially considering how you had been... 'discovered' shortly after the infamous invasion of Canterlot; an event which earned your kind quite the negative reputation across all of Equestria?"
The young queen's smile faltered long before I finished.
"Artemis?" Cadance asked, having hurried with her bathroom break to check up on the nymph.
Silence greeted her in the large lobby.
The alicorn felt a pang of panic at that, but quickly pushed it back down.
Th-this had happened before! The little one was probably just playing hide and seek again!
Cadance giggled to herself before beginning to look for the excitable foal, already picturing the adorable expression of surprise that the nymph would have upon being discovered...
==============================================
"hm-Hm, HM-Hmmm! hm-Hmmm-HMMmmmm~~"
Feather Wind steadily slowed her cart down to a stop upon hearing the sounds of somepony quietly humming a song.
"Hmmmm Hm-m-mmmm, hm-Hmmm hmmmmmm..."
She couldn't quite figure out where exactly the catchy tune was coming from, however. No matter where she swiveled her ears, the music's volume remained constant. It was... as if...
"...!"
The maid, having hazarded a look up to the distant ceiling, stared in disbelief at the tiny changeling that was at that very same moment gazing back at her with widened eyes, holding what seemed to be a stuffed doll of Daring Do between its minuscule jaws.
Neither side moved a muscle.
There was a lack of blinking.
Unrelenting gazes were shared.
Breaths were held...
...until the pegasus eventually ended up directing her stare at the pot of coffee that she had recently delivered to the eccentric doctor.
By the time Feather Wind looked up again, the changeling was gone.
...
Or...
...perhaps there never was one to begin with...?
After all, what were the odds that a changeling would be within the castle nowadays, humming a song, prancing on the ceiling while carrying a stuffed toy around? The mere thought was ridiculou— No, no, she did not just see a tiny black figure blur around the corner on the ceiling.
Nope.
Definitely not.
Must've been a trick of the light, or the coffee having something weird in it, never mind the fact that she was the one who prepared it.
Yup!
No other explanation.
Thus it was that Feather Wind somewhat reassured herself and resumed her trot with the cart in tow, though anypony would be able to notice without much difficulty that her movements seemed a bit stiffer than normal.
Feather Wind was a troubled worried calm and collected mare.
--------------------------------------------
A breath of relief soon escaped from my little muzzle. I had been hiding behind one of the arches on the ceiling, waiting to see if that pony would try to follow, until I eventually sensed that she had continued on her way. Although, she seemed to be restraining her own panic, oddly enough.
'Note to self: don't get into James Bond songs too much.'
I hadn't even realized I was humming out loud, honestly. It was kind of strange though, I could've sworn that there was some background music following me around for a while, and I wasn't talking about a song playing in my head...
Oh well. It wasn't as if music could play out of nowhere. That would be ridiculous on a whole new level.
However, I couldn't help but notice that my chitin's dark coloring made me pretty easy to spot due to its stark contrast with the light-purple-blue'ish color of the ceiling. As that mare proved, all it took was nothing more than a mere decision to look up for anyone to immediately see me. So far, I had been hiding behind the occasional banner on the wall and using any shade that I could find to escape the notice of wandering ponies, and it was kind of working up until now, but I would rather not have luck determine how long I'd remain undetected. Perhaps I could...
*Fwoomph*
There we go! Skin, hair and tail with an identical coloration to the ceiling!
...
*Fwoomph*
Skin Chitin, mane and tail with an identical coloration to the ceiling!
Ahhh, much better.
All I had to do now was sandwich Lara between myself and my improvised 'floor' whenever I'd want to make sure that we'd be as unnoticeable as possible. This was probably the best I could come up with for now, though I was curious as to whether or not magic could be used to further improve my 'camouflage'. Was invisibility a thing?
I'd have to ask whoever would end up taking the role of being my 'magic instructor'. Right after the mandatory surprise hug, of course.
Looking down ahead at the direction I was previously going towards before I had briefly gotten spotted, I, uh... hmm, yet another intersection... which way to go...?
'Eeny-meeny miney-mo, I'm-not-sure-how-this-song-went, eeny-meeny— oh screw it, I'm going left.'
Remaining on the ceiling, I carefully went around the next corner, finally reaching... another dead end with various doors dotting each side of the short corridor that probably didn't lead to my brother considering that I felt he was much further away.
I quietly grumbled, my frustration quickly rising as I went back and picked another direction.
As demonstrated by the fact that I was still wandering around after, I don't know... at least ten, maybe twenty minutes ever since I left Cadance? I finally realized something that I would never admit to anyone else ever, and that I may or may not have been in denial about.
I mean, it wasn't really that big of a deal...
Honest!
I was just... maybe, kinda, terribly, hopelessly... lost.
This place turned out to be way bigger than I thought it would be. And no, I didn't mean that in relation to my own miniature size, even though that much was true as well. One would think that inherently knowing which direction my brother was at would help, and to some extent one would be right in assuming so, but as I've quickly learned, there just wasn't a clear path towards him.
Heck, I'm pretty sure I've gone past that one specific golden armored pony statue for the third time! I recognized that tiny dent on the left side of the helmet and another minuscule one on the back, as well as the scratch that went from the barrel all the way to its flank.
Seeing that familiar 'landmark', however, meant that this next hallway was the last one I hadn't gone through in this entire section of the building, which also meant that I was finally, finally going to find...!
...Another dead end.
Grr!
I've had enough of this place! I've had enough of these winding hallways that led to everywhere except where I actually wanted to go! I wanted to see my brother now! I wanted to meet mom now! I wanted to...
To...
I quickly moved to a slightly more concealed spot and held my breath as another pair of armored unicorn guards marched below me, patrolling like the numerous other ponies I had seen at this place while I did my best to reign my rising frustration back.
Why were they walking so slowly?
Come on!
I had places to be, a brother to meet, a mother to see and siblings to greet!
Hurry uuup!
To my dismay, they paused to chat with each other right under me, which meant that I had to wait because I didn't want to risk getting seen, which in turn angered me even further because I had, to... because... I wanted... I...
'Deep breaths, Artemis. Deep breaths.'
Why was I so angry? How had I gotten to that point to begin with?
I mean, sure, the fact that I was being delayed from meeting my brother was kind of annoying...
Okay, maybe a little more than annoying when I thought about it. I only felt like punching something. Perhaps a bit harder than what would be considered normal.
But, still, I knew for a fact that I could be patient. After all, fishing took patience. The occasional hunting trip took patience. Smiling at grumpy and ungrateful people all day long while waiting for your shift to end took patience.
I was a patient person. I am a patient person; that much was something that I was sure of.
And since I wasn't really in any actual rush despite how much I wanted to find my bro, I could patiently wait until those two guards—which were still conversing—left. Surely it wouldn't take that long. They were probably going to leave any minute now.
...
...
Any minute now.
...
...
Any moment now.
...
...
Aaaany second now.
...
...
...
Oh come on, hurry up!
My mental pleas for mercy finally went answered when the pair suddenly decided that they had had enough about unknowingly torturing little baby changelings, continuing on their merry way a few seconds after having stopped to start talking to each other.
Alright! Now to head back to what I had labeled as intersection fourteen, and hopefully there wouldn't be any more guards taking breaks to babble to each other while on-duty along the way. If they were going to be patrolling, then they better be patrolling right, dammit!
Speaking of guards, just what exactly was this place that so many of them would be needed? What kind of person or, err, pony, would even own this sheer amount of luxury? Did all of this belong to Lara, Cadance and/or Sparkles? Or... was there someone else who was higher up?
I slowed down my ceiling-walk slightly in contemplation.
Was Lara forced to bring me here? I did remember that she felt resigned right before we left that little house in the middle of nowhere, even though she seemed to be enjoying what little time we had spent together back then. If she didn't have any obligations, then I was pretty sure that she would've simply kept me in her humble cottage as company.
I did get to meet Cadance and Sparkles because of Lara bringing me here, however, and they were both really good people as far as I could tell. If my pegasus friend was willing to leave me alone with Cadance, it also meant that she trusted the alicorn enough to properly take care of me.
N-not that I needed to be taken care of. Though, I was relatively new to this whole world...
...and after all was said and done, I kind of did appreciate their unending love.
'Alright, I don't think I've tried this corridor yet.'
Not counting the maid that had briefly seen me not too long ago, every pony I've met in this building so far had been nice to me. Was there even a point to sneaking around? I mean, Lara had been careful with me ever since we 'met', even while I was in my egg; a memory that still felt a little surreal when I thought about it.
Being conscious while in an egg, that is. Lara's unconditional love less so.
She also fought and most likely risked her life to come back for me in that fortress as well, thus I was fairly certain that she wouldn't do anything that would ultimately put me in danger after going through those lengths. By that logic, Lara would not have brought me here if she didn't think that I'd be safe, therefore these guards, maids and other ponies that had trotted under me were at the very least allied to her.
And if they were her friends, then they should all be nice, civilized ponies... right?
...
Well, they may be nice with Lara, but I was still an unknown to the world, not counting the fact that I wasn't even a pony to begin with. Heck, the mere act of showing my fangs to Cadance and Sparkles seemed to set off their 'fight or flight' response, as if evoking a sort of instinctual, primal fear, easily noticeable by their immediate flinching away from me. Thankfully, the fact that they chose to not smite me hinted towards ponies being pacifists.
Or maybe I was just making up stereotypes based on the few food sources I had. The 'bandits' out in that jungle surely didn't seem to hesitate on trying to fatally hurt Lara...
Bleh, and I just now realized that I completely missed Cadance's first reaction in regards to the fact that I was part of a different species due to being asleep when it happened, and Sparkles somewhat seemed to know what to expect when she came to visit, too. If you discounted her initial freak-out, at least.
But, even if I only took Cadance into consideration, why was she trying to be as friendly as possible while barely knowing me? Unlike Sparkles, the alicorn took every opportunity she could to cuddle, nuzzle, hug, or even pet me; basically going for as much physical contact as possible. I obviously didn't mind since I was literally getting delicious bursts of love whenever any of those occurred, but the fact remained that I doubted even ponies were that much 'touchy-feely' with strangers, no matter their age.
Though, I had the feeling that Lara would've been doing the same, had Cadance and Sparkles not been around...
I sighed.
So many unanswered questions.
I'd need a way to get an unbiased reaction...
Maybe I could reveal myself to one of those ponies roaming down there? It'd be like a live simulation of a first contact scenario, and I'd finally get to see an honest response in how other ponies would react to seeing me!
Besides, I had seen myself in a mirror already. I knew that I was kind of adorable and cute. There was no way anyone could resist me!
And that was a weird thought, all things considered. More so due to the odd pride that I felt in knowing that.
If anything, this hallway that I found myself in seemed like a good place to try. I could already sense someone approaching, and there wasn't anyone else that I could feel for what I felt was a safe enough distance to have an isolated encounter.
And whoever was aproaching would give me all of their love!
Already I could feel my little wings buzzing in anticipation of the upcoming feast, and I, I... whoa.
...
...I, I think I... w-was I suffering from love withdrawal or something?
I-I mean, I had been getting a large and constant supply of it when I was with Lara, Cadance and Sparkles, but once two of them left, I... I hadn't noticed just how much I had gotten used to that nonstop stream of mouth-watering food. As it currently stood, I had to restrain myself a bit at the prospect of getting fed again allthelove—Nngh!—no matter how little I might end up getting.
I probably wouldn't even be roaming around this place if all three mares had stayed with me. Not because their presence would've made it harder to leave undetected, but because their combined love was so great and never-ending that I'm pretty sure I literally wouldn't have been able to tear myself away from it.
In fact, I'm not sure I would've even left the room if it was just Lara and I. Her love for me truly was the sweetest, bestest, most succulent, delicious, flavorful— Argh! Get a hold of yourself, Artemis! You're stronger than these annoying instincts!
Even though I was kind of missing Lara already...
'I wonder where she is and what she's doing right now—'
Enough of those thoughts! Now was not the time to think about th-that; I had to give my all to this impromptu meeting with a random pony in order to determine... a lot of things, really.
The being that came into view turned out to be a large white-coated unicorn with a blonde mane, trotting at a leisurely pace with his head held high. His posture and the way he carried himself seemed to scream 'nobility', and was flawlessly being maintained, showing that he'd had a lot of practice in strutting like so beforehand.
But... when he gave a quick look around and noticed he was 'alone', he slumped and let out a forlorn sigh, feeling somewhat sad as he stared at the ground while slowing down his pace, seemingly going into deep thought.
If this wasn't a perfect opportunity to simultaneously introduce myself and make him love me feed on the love cheer him up, then I didn't know what this was.
Quickly scaling down the ceiling and wall while remaining as quiet as I could in order to greet him on equal footing—didn't want him to know I could climb walls, just in case things somehow went sour—I double checked my senses to ensure that we would be alone for a few minutes, at the very least.
I idly wondered if love being emitted by male ponies tasted any different...
Sure enough, we had a certain measure of privacy, so I waited for him to pass by before I eagerly took the remaining steps to finally reach the floor behind him.
Gah, regular gravity felt really weird, now.
'Okay, sit down, tenderly squeeze Lola against my barrel with both of my arms forelegs, perk my ears, maintain happy face, and prepare to tilt head after he turns around to look at me.'
I should probably present myself in my base form as well, just to make sure I'd get an honest reaction to what I really was.
*Fwoomph*
The subtle sound of my changing didn't garner his attention yet, so... should I chirp to get it, or do I say hi? Hmm...
"Hi!" I chirped, the sound echoing across the otherwise quiet hallway.
The startled unicorn jumped slightly at my sudden greeting, rapidly glancing left and right before he swiveled around, at which point he proceeded to stare at me with abnormally widened and shocked eyes, his irises becoming nothing more than mere pinpricks.
"Ch..."
I was prepared for him to sprout a smile of his own and coo at me, much like the three mares I had known would've undoubtedly done. I was prepared for him to trot up to me and engage in delicious nuzzles and hugs with a side dressing of cuddles. I was prepared for him to unconditionally surrender to my adorableness and give me the love that I yearned for. The love that I needed.
"Ch, ch-cha..."
What he did kind of went against my expectations by a large margin.
"Ch-changeling. Changeling! CHANGELING!" he screamed in what was certainly not a manly voice, repeatedly shouting the same word over and over again while he turned tail and galloped away from me, as if death incarnate was chasing him.
But not before releasing incredible amounts of disgusting revulsion and fear my way.
I merely sat there in disbelief.
Did... had I done something wrong? I made sure not to grin so that he wouldn't see my fangs, I made sure to appear as non-threatening as possible, and I smiled at him! W-why didn't he l-love me?
Heck, he was afraid of me!
I didn't even reach higher than his knees in height, and I had a plushy with me for crying out loud!
Fear of all things!
What could I, a tiny baby changeling, possibly do to scare him that bad?!
I mean, he even knew, the... name of... my species...
...
W-what? Did Sparkles already share her findings with others? Was I too late?
"It's over here!" the voice of the unicorn I had scared away stated from afar...
...with two extra angry and determined presences right behind him; the thundering sounds of multiple hoof-steps nearing my current location at dangerous speeds.
I yelped and scrambled to get back on all fours, grabbing Lola with my mouth as I ran in the opposite direction as fast as my little legs could allow me to go. It was only after rounding the nearby corner that I started my climb to the familiar ceiling; the adrenaline rush I was experiencing from the feeling of imminent danger fueling my steps to go up faster than usual.
Hiding in the nearest shade I could find, I stayed as still as possible and held my breath as the trio finally reached the spot I had met the unicorn at. I held Lola between my barrel and the ceiling to further prevent her coat's colors to show too much for anyone who would observe from the ground, simultaneously changing my chitin's color to match with my immediate surroundings.
"(I saw it right here a few seconds ago! It couldn't have gone far!)" the one I had somehow freaked out claimed, his voice still shaky from him being distraught for whatever reason.
The two that followed him were beginning to feel confused. "(How do you know it was a) changeling (in disguise and not some random pony, your highness?)" one asked.
"(I thought Princess) Cadance (got rid of all of them, anyway,)" the other added with a small hint of relief behind his own doubt.
Wait, they knew about changelings too...?
Anger "(You dare question what I, Prince Blueblood, have clearly seen with my own eyes?!)" the noble indignantly replied. "(It was sitting right there, looking at me with its dreadful, evil and glowing red eyes! It had chitin instead of fur, holes in its legs, and it was this tall—)"
Annoyed "Yes, (Prince Blueblood, we know) what a changeling looks like. (Their eyes are tinted sky-blue, however, and...)" The male gave a slight pause. "(...You said it was this tall?)"
From my vantage point, I carefully peeked around the corner to see who exactly the unicorn had brought with him...
"(With a doll of Daring Do that it was strangling, as if to say that I would be next!)" dramatically exclaimed the one I had revealed myself to—
He went to get guards!?
There was a brief lull in their conversation as both of the armed ponies stared at the blonde unicorn with cocked eyebrows.
Unamused "(Riiight. Don't worry, your highness; we'll make sure to keep an eye out for 'tiny undisguised red-eyed changelings carrying dolls',)" guard number one stated in a semi-sarcastic tone, both of the golden-armored ponies—
Shit, gotta hide!
"(And make sure to bring it to me once you do find it!)" the 'noble' pony called out as the pair of guards walked away from him and under me.
It was only once I found myself alone a few seconds later that I resumed my search for my elusive brother at a much more hurried pace.
That... that short encounter raised way more questions than it answered. My plan should've been flawless in its purpose of distributing diabetes to anyone watching. Had I done something wrong? Did I merely stumble upon the wrong pony...?
No, no, those guards gained spikes of anger whenever... changelings were mentioned...
How did they already know about us? I sincerely doubted that Sparkles had enough time to tell everyone. Did the invasion that my family... had it gone bad? It would also explain why I had this nagging feeling of emptiness deep down inside ever since that time in my egg with the weird wave— n-no, what was I thinking?! I, I-I'm sure they were fine and looking for me! From what I had heard at the hive, they knew exactly what they were doing, and they had already infiltrated... w-wherever it was that they were going for.
B-besides! I had a brother nearby!
Though I... wasn't really sure what he was doing here since Mom said that everyo— everyling would be pulled for the attack they were planning. Was it already over? Because if not, the only reason I'd have a brother here would be that this is the place they'd have invaded...
No. They succeeded in their attack which did not occur here, they found out I was gone, and sent someone for me! E-everything was going to be fine, just as soon as I'd find my brother! Forget about those notes from Sparkles, we'd be getting out of here as soon as possible!
On the bright side, there weren't as many people in this section that I currently found myself in after some extra wandering, and I was pretty sure that I was finally going the right way for once, considering that I felt that I was getting much closer to my brother's location than I had before, based on what the link was telling me.
Yeah, this was definitely the right way from what I could gather. I was close enough to be able to feel his emotions a lot more accurately, just like I was also able to send him my own with a newfound ease.
Though, I wondered why he hadn't sent me back as much warmth/joy/love as I had sent him this entire time, especially when he seemed to have randomly gotten a panic attack a good while back. It was kind of hard to send anything to him properly because of the distance, however. I wouldn't be surprised if most of it ended up dissipating or getting lost along the way.
But, surely he... must've had a reason or two for not sending as much love back to me, if he had even returned any to begin with. At least I still had a pretty decent supply stored, though I wondered why his own capacity for love was so small since I may have given him too much at that one point, because I literally wasn't able to send anything after that little surge I sent to calm him down...
However, he finally opened his side of the link with me once that happened, to my delight. I guess I hadn't mentioned just how good it felt to once more have that faint little voice in the back of my head comforting me with its presence, knowing it was originating from a member of my family.
Come to think of it, I was pretty sure I was a 'relay changeling' because of those inaudible whispers. We were the only ones able to use the links as a means of long distance communication, right?
Well, besides Mom of course.
I really missed the constant 'buzz' of the hive, though. Having those hundreds of presences around, each and every single one emanating love between themselves and me, and I to them, forming an endless cycle of joy that was occasionally refueled with those we had cocooned; it was simply... amazing. Wonderful. Actually, scratch that, words literally weren't enough to properly convey how great it both was and felt.
Unfortunately, I only got to start experiencing that... that...
...hive-mind? Yeah, that seemed like one way to describe it; It was only a day or two before everyone had left for the invasion that I fully got to start experiencing the 'hive-mind'.
I hoped I would get to meet everyone again soon after leaving this place. It's been way too long since I've felt anyling besides this brother of mine that I was headed towards, and I didn't even know his name yet!
I was snapped away from my musings by the readings that were suddenly coming from the link I had with my brother.
He just started panicking out of nowhere! And he... he... uh, wait, never mind? He was already back to being relatively calm, apparently.
Huh. Weird.
Regardless, I knew I had to hurry and find him as soon as possible. People didn't tend to freak out unless something was horribly wrong, and I was beginning to have that unwelcome gut feeling that something bad was going to happen sometime soon.
And, shortly thereafter, I felt an even more intense wave of panic flowing through the link. In fact, it was even worse than that time where I had just left Cadance!
My brother was in trouble!
'Hang on! I'm almost there!'
I quickened my pace, simultaneously sending to him what I hoped were calming emotions through the link, taking care to not overwhelm him with too much at once, unlike last time. I may have overestimated how much he could take once more, though.
If my senses were correct, then he should be... behind that door right there!
Finally!
I finally found him! And...
...Sparkles was there too? But, was... she wasn't doing anything to my brother, was she? Even though I was pretty sure she had been studying me in some way, she still eagerly and happily taught me a bunch of words in her language, and she was really nice to me for the entire time we had spent together pouring through books—
The link I had with my brother abruptly became muted after she approached him.
...
Sh, sh-she made him go unconscious!?
No, there was no way that Sparkles had done any harm to him, she was a good pony!
...R-right?!
And yet, despite my desire to remain undetected, ripping that door off its hinges to check on him was very quickly becoming an appealing idea, to the point where I almost began making my way down to the floor to do so.
Almost.
I wasn't sure what exactly happened in there, but fortunately for Sparkles' continued wellbeing, I decided to try to calm the minor part of me that was currently screaming for me to immediately get in there and rescue my lone brother.
Easier said than done.
The more seconds ticked by, the more I felt the urge to ignore that little part of me that wanted to calmly approach and analyze the situation. Why was I even waiting? My brother was right there, unconscious, potentially even in danger! And...
...and I audibly growled groaned in anger frustration at being delayed further from enacting any sort of rescue plan, forced to remain hidden for just a while longer if I wanted everything to go smoothly, simply because I could sense someone approaching from where I had come from.
Still, it would not do to have the entirety of the guards of this place swarming us if changelings were truly hated, based on what I felt from those earlier guards. I could be patient until such a time came for it to be completely safe to get in there and neutralize Sparkles. Besides, at the speed that the being was approaching, he or she was probably flying because I doubted anyone could actually run that fast, quadruped or not.
Wait...
...that background flavor that simultaneously reminded me of roses and of the most exquisite of chocolates...
...Cadance?
She, she was so... I couldn't... even from that far, I, I had trouble keeping myself from shivering and c-crying from how I felt her distressed emotional state affecting me.
Sh-shit, was this because I h-had left her? I didn't, didn't think that she'd be so...
Then she actually came into view.
I wasn't sure what the worst part was; that she had tears streaming across the already soaked fur on her face from her glistening eyes rimmed with red, that she was frantically scanning the ground left and right while looking behind every single ornament that adorned the hallway as she erratically flew by, or that she kept calling out my name in-between choked sobs with whispers I could barely hear.
The fact that it was very likely that I was the reason she was like that to begin with didn't help at all.
It took an ungodly amount of effort on my part to prevent myself from going down there to let her know that I was okay, that I was sorry I ran away from her, that she could hug me as much as she wanted to, that she should stop feeling so sad because it was disgusting, that I just wanted to meet my brother so that I could get reunited with the rest of the family and make sure mom knew I was fine...
...but in the end, no matter how much I liked Cadance or how much I didn't want to make her feel bad, my family took priority over everything else. I had to remain hidden for now.
While I used Lola to soak my empathy-induced tears in order to avoid having them fall to the ground and potentially alert Cadance to my presence, the alicorn in question soon reached the heavily-labeled door that led to my brother, failing to land properly when she tripped on her own hooves after folding her wings.
"Tuh," she tried to say towards the door, her voice hitching when she stumbled while attempting to get back up. "Tw, Twi..." Trembling as she shook her head and attempted to blink her tears away, she managed to charge her horn with the two lines meant for the levitation spell, except... this time she crossed the two streams.
Not even a second later, a huge section of the wall was, just... gone; turned into rubble that was then spread out across the entire hallway after she had 'grabbed' the door.
"TWILIGHT!" Cadance screamed into the room with a tone so desperate that it figuratively and literally tore away at my own heart, to the point where I had to use Lola to muffle the whimper that I couldn't hold back from the bitter outburst.
It didn't help that Sparkles immediately panicked from the sudden breach. "What the—"
"(Intruder alert! Prime the cannons! Man the shields! Save the waffles!)" I heard my brother exclaim, the link alive once more with... with... weird fluctuations in his feelings...
"Oh no, no no no! Cadance! Why did you have to—"
"Artemis is g-gone!" Cadance cried, storming into the room and out of my sight.
"(I don't feel so good...)"
"What do you mean she's gone!?"
"(I-I had to go to the bathroom and when I got out I couldn't find her immediately s-so I thought she was playing hide and seek with me again because it seemed to be her favorite game since it always made her so happy but...)" I didn't need to see Cadance to know that our s— her sobbing was getting worse. "I looked everywhere! (She wasn't in the lobby, she wasn't in any of the bedrooms she wasn't in the kitchen she—)"
"(Did you try to do a magic scan of the general area?)" Sparkles urgently interrupted.
"Yes!" Cadance immediately replied with a shaky voice. "(It didn't find anything! I was completely a-alone in that entire wing of the castle, except for the two guards that were making sure nopony would enter the area!)"
Sparkles seemed to be pacing back and forth from what I could hear. "This is bad, really bad!"
Desperation "(Y-you have to help me find her!)"
Another shudder went through me at Cadance's outcry. Her distress was such that I was barely managing to keep inside through sheer willpower whatever my body was urging me to get rid of, and I wasn't sure how much longer I'd be able to hold off the increasing need to do so.
"(A unicorn here, a pretty pony princess there, a nymph right outside and, a-and, and I'm s-so saa-aaa-aaad!)" my brother wailed.
"...W-what?!"
"(Uh, don't, don't mind him! There's nothing wrong with Shining at all! He's simply under medication!)" Sparkles quickly said, trying to sound convincing while Cadance's emotions were steadily getting worse after my brother's declaration, if that was even possible. "(It's just a side effect of the—)"
"N-no! (Not outside! She can't go outside!)" Cadance shouted before I saw her fly out of the room through the gaping hole she had created.
"Cadance! Wait!" Sparkles called out, quickly coming into view as well.
But Cadance was already gone.
The sounds of someone puking could be heard from within the room, and my brother felt considerably better afterwards. Sparkles turned around to presumably to face him, but ended up gaping at whatever she saw before she ran back into the room, leaving me free to fall from the ceiling; not because I wanted to, but because the urgency with which I felt the need to do whatever I was about to do was becoming too strong for me to ignore, to the point where I couldn't even concentrate on maintaining my grip.
Landing with a muffled *Thunk* that I barely felt over my peaking internal discomfort, I stumbled a few feet away from the room to make sure that I'd at least be outside of Sparkles' view range.
Or, at least, I tried to.
Realizing that I couldn't hold it off any longer, I quickly threw Lola off to the side and finally gave in to my urges, violently expelling from my muzzle a constant stream of some sort of thick, dark-blue liquid amidst the rubble in front of me.
I didn't care that this weird stuff apparently came from my insides, or that I probably could've fed one or two full-grown ponies with what I had thrown-up so far, assuming whatever this was ended up being edible. All I knew was that I felt better the more I purged my body of it.
Marginally better.
On and on it went, the pleasant feeling of throwing up persisting for a few seconds, but when I finally felt it was over—and that I found myself unable to feel sad for Cadance in any capacity—I was left to stare at the relatively large puddle of... whatever that stuff was. Despite the fact that it didn't actually look disgusting whatsoever, I felt utterly repulsed by it.
It also seemed to be evaporating at a very slow yet steady rate.
Then I registered that Sparkles was shocked/afraid/worried. I knew I should've made a larger effort to hide— oh, wait, I couldn't even see her, therefore I wasn't the reason she felt that way. Something else must've garnered her attention. Most likely my brother, since she was right next to him—
She was right next to him!
I leapt over the rubble separating me from the hole, and I stopped myself, shoving away my sudden desire to rush in and protect a sibling, calming myself down as best as I could.
He was fine. He was awake, and Sparkles was... probably a good pony, therefore he wasn't in any danger.
...
Though it certainly wouldn't hurt to assess the situation, just in case.
"What do I do? What do I do!? (Lab Coat never said anything about you throwing up strange substances!)" Sparkles stammered from behind a few tables that were obstructing my... view...
...holy crap were there lots of papers littering the room. How was I supposed to tell which of them were notes on us changelings?!
I decided to climb to the ceiling once more to get a good view of the room and its occupan— there were papers stuck up there too!?
"(Is there a procedure for when a sibling expels foreign liquids through their mouth during their metamorphosis into a different species after being subjected to unknown chemicals?)" Sparkles quickly asked after a couple flashes occurred near her location, the rapid flittering of multiple pages being heard right afterwards while she spoke. I could practically taste her frown shortly thereafter. "(Of course not! We don't know anything about) changelings!" she angrily exclaimed, throwing a few enormous books into the air where they promptly vanished from another complicated spell that I sensed her use.
I had almost reached my destination, but I paused for a second when I felt the anger that Sparkles emitted when she uttered my species' name. Where the heck did that come from? She never felt that way around me as far as I could tell, save for that time where I accidentally cut a page with my horn when I reached down to try and use my lips to grab and flip said page. Was I wrong about her? Did she secretly hate my kind?
"(You could be extremely sick right now, or this might be something completely normal for you to do at this point in time, and there is literally no possible way for me to ascertain whether either of those are even close to being right!)" she ranted in severe frustration, her voice hitching as she reached the end of it when sorrow had begun taking over.
I winced at that. The memory of how Cadance felt and made me feel was still too fresh. I didn't want to have to endure the horrible taste of sorrow any longer, even if it wasn't nearly as strong as it recently was. I didn't want to feel sadness anymore, I didn't want to...
...to...
I blinked. As if a switch was flipped, I... couldn't quite remember what I was feeling just now.
"Nooooo, no no no," my brother slurred. "(Mom, it's okay, don't cry! Look! This is how a smile looks like!)"
Confused "...W-what? (I'm not mom,) I'm Twilight! Twilight Sparkle! (Your s-sister!)"
I stopped my climb half-way up the wall to turn and stare at Sparkles. Why the heck was she practically shouting her name at my brother?
"Oh. Okay. (Whatever you say, mom.)"
"I'm Twilight Sparkle, not Twilight Velvet!"
The room was littered with machinery and contraptions that I was unfamiliar with while papers covered the dozens of desks around the place, but a black object caught my attention on the other side of the room as it sat on a table with... lots of equipment nearby...
"(...Oh! We're playing pretend! Hah, I love that game! Okay, you'll be Twiley, I'll be, uh...)"
...Except... except it wasn't a...
Frustrated "I AM Twilight Sparkle! And you're Shining Armor!"
I rubbed my eyes, because there w-was no way that there was—
It was still there.
"(Okay, sure! I think I can do that! But...)"
I rubbed my eyes again and shook my head. I, I refused to believe it. It was an illusion. A mirage. I hadn't drunk any water ever since I hatched. Y-yeah! Thirst-induced hallucinations! Hahah! That could happen even if I hadn't ever felt thirsty to begin with, right? Heh, I'll just, I'll slowly open my eyes now, and I will realize that I was being silly and imagining things, because in the end, there never was... a... there never... a...
He was still there.
"(...who is Artemis going to pretend to be?)"
Sprawled on a table.
"What do you mean, 'Artemis'? She's not even here!"
Wires connected to his body from various machines.
"(Oh, I get it! She's a statue!)"
His limp body that I couldn't link to.
"(*Sigh* Whatever you're pointing at, it's just a hallucina—)" Shock
His l-lifeless b-body.
Panic "A-Artemis!?" Sparkles squeaked.
The legs dotted with holes, the dark chitinous shell, the tattered, transparent wings that were splayed out and the curved horn on the forehead... this, this was unmistakably a changeling. One of my brothers.
One of my d-dead brothers.
Here.
Dead. Gone.
Wires connected to his body. They had been doing things to him. They were experimenting on us.
Brother that was alive. Glowing things around his legs. He was trying to move. Couldn't. Glowing purple magic stopped that.
Sparkles was doing things. Motions. Talking to me? Communicating? Panicked. Worried.
"—ome on, A-Artemis. (You can't... we have to get you away from here! Uh, please come down?)"
Wanted me to leave safe spot?
"(I'll, uh... I'll give you love! Do you want some love?)"
Wanted hug?
Oh.
...Okay.
Hugs were good.
Sparkles smiled. Strained. Fake. "(Yes, th-that's a good little changeling!)" Ear twitched. Resent hidden under worry.
Purple fur was soft. Warm. Fuzzy. Not fluffy.
Hugs were good.
"(Th-there, now let's get you back!)" Sparkles quickly said. Nervous. Straddling me with a foreleg. Taking hasty steps towards exit. "(You really shouldn't be outside of your room!) Cadance (is very worried about yo—Urk!)"
Hugs were good.
*Thump*
Sparkles was bad.
I retracted my fangs from where I had bitten her, glaring at the purple unicorn's shocked and betrayed expression. Even then, she still dared to ask a simple question, one that she clearly knew the answer to, while her body rapidly stiffened from the application of my venom.
"Wh... w-why?"
The very subtle glow around her horn soon spluttered out, and it was only afterwards that the magical bindings holding my... my still living brother, vanished.
It all made sense now.
The disgust she felt towards me when we first met. Her nervousness around me. The sounds of scribbling as she constantly took notes on me. Her fascinated look whenever I transformed. Her reluctance to play with me. The negligible amount of love she shared with me compared to the others.
In her eyes, I must've merely been some... some thing to study. The fact that she had somehow figured out that my disguised brother was actually a changeling and that she had restrained him with her magic further convinced me of that.
She had even managed to get a hold of one of my deceased siblings.
How?
Were there more corpses of us around?
I... I wasn't sure I wanted to know. I was still reeling from the implications of what I had just stumbled upon.
I really wanted to believe that this purple mare had merely received the dead body from someone else, that she wasn't the one who had caused his death; but at this point I just... I didn't know what to believe. Sure, she had been really 'nice' during the day, though then again, I was being cooperative and I did continuously try to gain her affection.
Yet, despite my efforts, it was obvious to anyone paying close attention that she never actually felt fully comfortable whenever I was too close to her in my true form.
"(Is the game over?)" my brother asked, wobbling about until he saw us, focusing his gaze on me with narrowed eyes, as if he had trouble seeing. "(Twilight? Did you see mom? She was right over... uh...)" He scrunched his muzzle, tripped on his hooves and fell to the floor, giggling to himself. "(...Somewhere... hee hee! Ooh, hello!)"
What the heck was he—
"Yes? Hi! Yes? Hi! Yes? Hi! Yes?" he continuously repeated, staring into space at a particular spot with a goofy smile— wait a minute...
...Sparkles drugged him!?
"Yes? What? What?! What! What do you want!? Yes, I'm listening!"
I whipped around to bore my gaze into Sparkles', yet my expression promptly lost its glare, instead turning into a confused frown. Out of all the things I expected Sparkles to feel, I hadn't thought that she would be emanating worry while staring at my sibling.
No, it wasn't the "I'm worried for myself" kind of worry. She felt concern for my brother.
...What?
I let out a surprised squeak when I suddenly found myself hefted up into the air via a dark purple glow that surrounded my body, which gently—if awkwardly—set me on top of a soft and oddly squishier-than-I-expected white-furred coat.
"(Come on, Twilight! We're leaving! The parasprites here have no manners! No manners, I say!)" my brother grumpily exclaimed as he wobbled towards the exit with me on his back. "(Besides, this place is full of feel-bads! What kind of candy store has no happy medicine in it!?)"
I had no clue about what he just said, but he sure felt happier as I hugged his neck as best as I could with my tiny limbs, trying to find some measure of comfort after finding out what they were doing with us.
"N... n-nuh... Shai-nee..." Sparkles tried to mumble as we went past her paralyzed body, her gaze switching from desperation while staring at my brother, to confusion and anger when she looked at me.
I glared right back at her, even as I felt like I was missing something from the big picture, as if the bite I gave her wasn't the whole reason she had this resentment whenever she focused on me...
Whatever. I doubted I would see her again—at least willingly—therefore I used my higher elevation atop my brother's back to stare at the dead changeling that we would be leaving behind for now.
He was dead.
Dead.
Someone from my family that I would never get to talk to.
Dead.
A brother I'd never get to play with.
Dead.
A sibling that would never again be able to return any hugs I'd give.
Dead.
He was gone. Gone forever.
...
Then... why...
...why couldn't I feel sad?
Isn't that how anyone would usually react when they'd learn that someone related to them died?
Heck, what was sadness? I couldn't for the life of me remember what it felt like. At all. Even remembering the fate of my adoptive parents didn't evoke anything but apathy, while I could distinctively remember the various nights where I cried myself to sleep whenever those particular memories came up.
'Is something wrong with me?'
I was soon carried through the threshold of the room's enlarged exit, rendering me unable to maintain my gaze on the corpse. The corpse that was in pristine condition from what I could see, meaning he had passed on somewhat recently.
And while I still couldn't get myself to mourn for him in any way, shape or form, a question kept coming back to me. One whose answer became more and more elusive the more I learned about this place and its occupants.
'Why did Lara bring me here!?'
It made no sense for her to bring me here when she did everything she could to protect me... unless she didn't know what they were doing with my kind. Did she even know that Sparkles was a murderer?
No, no, I didn't have proof that Sparkles did that yet, and if Lara knew anything about it, I'm sure she wouldn't have brought me here or let Sparkles anywhere near me. She cared too much.
Loved me too much.
I didn't have anything against Cadance yet, but she was super nice and helped with teaching me new words while having no ulterior motives other than wanting me to do things to make her happy, usually involving cuddling, so I guessed I could count her too as someone I could trust in this place that seemed to hate my guts.
The thought that I only trusted three people out of the dozens of ponies that I had walked past, where potentially most of them had knowledge and a dislike for my species... wasn't really comforting, however.
At least I had Lara, Cadance and...
I reluctantly pulled away from my one-sided hug to poke at my brother's neck.
"Hey, what's your name? I don't think you've told me yet," I chittered to him, simultaneously managing through heavy concentration to levitate Lola back to me from where I had thrown her.
In response to my query, the 'unicorn' I was riding on decided to start humming a tune while skipping through the hallways without a care in the world.
I narrowed my eyes. 'Riiight. He was drugged.'
"Hello? Name?" I tried again, hoping the question would register if I simplified it.
This time, my sibling slowed down to a stop with a frown of his own.
"I am..." He struck a pose with a hoof aimed at the ceiling and I struggled to maintain my grip on him from how abruptly he moved. "Shining, Armor!" he proudly declared. "(Defender of Equestria! Protector of ponies! Grandmaster of defensive magicks! Uncontested champion of 'Science: The gathering' and peanut butter eating contests!)"
Uhhh... okay? So he was called "Shining Armor"?
Never mind the fact that it was probably a name in the language that the ponies used, it felt... wrong, somehow.
"Is that your real name, or your disguises' name?" I chirped questioningly.
In response, 'Shining Armor' dropped back down to all fours and started trotting in a direction that I hoped led towards the exit of this place.
I wrinkled my muzzle in frustration. "Real name?" I asked once more.
Aaaaand he went back to humming and skipping allegedly through the hallways. I could only hope that whatever Sparkles gave him would wear off sometime soon.
I may not have been able to mourn my lost brother due to not being able to even remember what sorrow felt like, but at least I could still feel angry and annoyed at Sparkles, though it was hard to maintain those feelings with how happy I was that I at least got to save 'Shining Armor'.
Eurgh, that name just didn't feel right.
Too bad that my brother didn't appear to be able to think straight. While having a coherent conversation with him was something I greatly desired after all the time I had spent separated from my family, it didn't seem like the kind of thing that would happen anytime soon. Though, I guessed that was fine, since this really wasn't the time and place to get to know each other to begin with. We had to prioritize getting out of here, then find Mom, and finally let her know about what they were doing here so that she could mount some sort of operation to retrieve our fallen brother so that we may, uh... properly send him off?
...Do we do burials? Incinerate the bodies? Use some sort of magic to preserve them? Perform obscure rituals?
Questions that would be answered in the near future, I supposed.
Still, I actually had a brother carrying me around right now! The concept alone was new to me since I never had any siblings in my past life, and I couldn't help but feel a certain measure of happiness that I was finally with someone that was actually part of my new family. Even more joy-inducing was the fact that 'Shining' seemed to be sharing in with my own mirth despite his weird state.
Family.
The mere thought that I had one again was just...
I... I couldn't find the words that could properly convey how happy I was.
People who would care about me, who wouldn't simply leave me to fend for myself after a few arguments, who would love and cherish me, and I them. People who I could depend on, who would comfort me in my times of need, who I could put my trust into... and the list went on.
Soon.
Soon, I would meet the rest of my family. Cuddles will be had, love will flow abound, hugs will be given, nuzzles will be distributed, stories will be shared, and we'd proceed to avenge our fallen brethren by whatever means necessary.
...
Wait a minute.
"You do know where you're going, right?" I chirped questioningly to 'Shining Armor', at which point he momentarily paused in his jolly skipping, swiveling his head around to face me.
Except he quickly got distracted by the window right next to us.
Awe "(Have you ever directly looked at the sun? It's so... beautiful. So bright. So vivid. So— ARGH! ME EYES!)" he screamed, furiously rubbing his face.
Riiight. He was still drugged.
"Shit."