• Published 26th Apr 2015
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The Substitute Demon - Reykan



Right before the Elements struck, the Nightmare unleashed a spell out of desperation. A substitution spell. Otherwise known as the correct use of Kawarimi.

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Beginning of the End

It was early in the morning when Cimmerian left for Zarris. A quick shower, a trip to the ritual room that now sported two set of armor to collect Luna's silvered armor for his trip, and finally a stop by one of the supply buildings for his packs and he was on his way.

Zelus followed closely, still grinning widely at him. She'd been asking him repeatedly how he slept, knowing full well that both Pandinus and himself had spent the majority of the night engaged in other activities. The fact that the queen was walking around with several jars of love in her bags told him she knew exactly what had occurred.

Still, he wouldn't harp on her too much. How often had she been allowed to tease or joke with another in the past? The fact that both Zelus and Pandinus were developing a mischievous side was fine with him. It expanded their personality. They weren't just some Overmind of the hive anymore, doling out orders that would be carried out by mindless and inconsequential drones. They were learning to interact with servants and followers that didn't have to serve them. They were learning to interact with equals as well, learning to accept that others could be their equals.

Pandinus had been adamant about queens not working together when they'd first discussed it months prior but now the two queens were completely at ease in each other's presence, trusting in each other to fulfill duties the other could not. The fact that they would acknowledge such shortcomings to another queen was in itself an alien idea. To trust in another queen to cover such weaknesses and to not take advantage of the provided knowledge? It was insane...but it worked. The two had said several times that they'd never felt better about their current situation, both in terms of general health of the hive and how they felt personally. Not only did two queens split the worries, it also split the jobs normally only a queen could perform, like egg production and directing the workers. This left them both with plenty of time to grow in other ways, from pursuing their pranks to learning how to interact with others to picking the brains of the alicorn mares on various topics.

'Come to think of it, Cadance has been just as likely to corner Din as Din has been to chase after Cadance or Celestia. I think they've been teaching each other.'

The fact that Cadance had begun using the array to control and direct drones had left Twilight following the pink alicorn for several hours, asking hundreds of questions a minute, some of which he didn't understand more than three words of. Going by the twitching of the smaller alicorn's eyes, Cadance wasn't picking up much more than the fact that words were being flung at her either.

Speaking of Twilight, the mare was currently riding her new drone, this one with several streaks of purple and a much sturdier frame than the last one, and flying beside Zelus. Being so intimately familiar with both the layout of the labs the queens were being kept in and the layout of Canterlot in general, it wasn't a difficult decision to bring her along as well. Zelus was keeping a tight grip on the drone as well, preparing for any issues that may arise when they came closer to the control crystals.

"...and the tertiary tunnel systems are connected directly to the sewer systems, so that's another entry point if we're having difficulty with the overt routes. Of course, I'd be looking to drive you there myself, as it's easier to overwhelm a strike force when they're trapped inside magic-insulated tunnels and can't teleport away. The drones can sleep for a long time so the ones I assigned to those entrances may still be there. Now, the crystals are only capable of being programmed from a specific chamber inside the labs. I made certain they couldn't be bypassed from a distance, though I never considered a queen wandering into that room. If we can get in there I can walk you through the shut-down or over-ride process and we'll break what little control of the swarms the Nightmare still has. After that it's a matter of breaking the control crystals in such a way as to avoid too many rabid drones at once and disconnecting the queens."

"The queens shouldn't be too much of an issue themselves. Most were in the mental hibernation last time I checked. I'd be cautious of getting too close, but they were also de-horned, so they wont be able to cast even if they see you."

"We're going to have to figure out how to deal with them," Cimmerian said to the mares. "I know she wasn't here for it Zel but remember what happened with Lestidae?"

The armored queen's mood soured at the mention of her one-time ally.

"Yes. Do you think we'll really have to fight some of them?"

"It's a possibility. Some of them are old. Some will be flexible enough to recognize a better way while for others it may be the opposite. They'll have been living a certain way for so long that change may not be possible. As much as I hate to, we may have to keep them with us for a while. So many queen's would likely strain our supply. The other option would be to let a bunch of half-starved, hornless and possibly bloated queen's waddle off into the wilderness. After that it could go several ways that we won't be able to easily counter.

"Option one: they fully recover and go right back to kidnapping ponies and infiltrating societies. The infiltrations I don't mind but kidnapping? That's kind of scary. It won't just be ponies at risk either. Known changelings who aren't near another hive member would be simple targets, because ponies may not be able to tell the difference."

"Option two: Chrysalis. They go and kill a ton of wild-life and build a drone army with the emotions. With, what was it, about fifteen queens? That could cause a lot of damage."

"Of course, even if they willingly stay, that will come with its own issues. Their drone production is currently too high, so we won't be able to supply them with enough emotion. In that case we have a whole new list of issues.
Option one if we keep them: the queen's keep producing drones and use the emotion to make even more drones, overwhelming us with much stronger drones.

"Option two: they do what Lestidae did. They recover and then steal several sapient drones to start a hive, thus leading back to option A1."


Both mare's drooped at the list.

"That's a lot of things that could go wrong," Twilight muttered.

"It is, but as Cimmerian said the other day we were both given the opportunity to recover. Would you damn another when you were given a second chance at life? If my mother is one of the surviving queens I want her to see me, to hear that I've never felt safer, that I trusted another queen with my hatchlings and they were waiting for me when I returned to the hive."

"She may accept it, or she could hate it. Lestidae saw this way of life as a perversion of the changeling race. Others may embrace it, while still others could be lost entirely. This whole experience, its not going away. Ponies are currently bound to a queen back near Equestria," Cimmerian pointed out. "Those ponies aren't going to forget the changelings. There won't be anymore of this fading into the shadows. Everyone knows about them by now, the only thing you can do is move forward, trying to find something that works in this new world."

"Another queen?" Twilight asked.

Zelus nodded.

"She called herself Heart. She was left to guard the Elements and the princesses."

"Oh, I remember her. She was left in the castle...with...oh Spike..."

"Zecora and Applebloom are patching him up, so don't worry about him," Cimmerian said. "We're going to remove this threat, find a way to deal with the minotaurs, then we can start worrying about cleaning up the mess the Nightmare made of everything. No worrying about issues it's created until afterwards, okay? It doesn't help anyone."

"Agreed. We don't start training drones before they're hatched," Zelus added. "Even you took some time to come into your new abilities, though I will admit you surprised me with how quickly you adapted. You've done well, aside from that mistake."

The drone buzzed her wings and giggled nervously.

"I'm kind of used to having more magic to work with. Even when I was a unicorn, if I pushed myself too hard there weren't any real negative side effects aside from a headache. If I use too much power as a drone though..."

"She almost killed the drone she was riding," Zelus said with a chuckle. "Most changelings understand there's not much difference between our magic and our life force, but for one used to them being two separate pools of energy she didn't think twice about burning it all. If it wasn't for the fact that her friends were there immediately pouring emotion into her, she would have been waiting for the new drone in the dream-side of the hive."

The group landed outside of Zarris' gates, waiting patiently for the guards to run their checks and inspections before walking into the city. The city wasn't too busy at the moment, but Cimmerian was also aware there wasn't much to be done outside the city in this direction just yet. Maybe one day, but that would be sometime in the future. Until then, most of the activity would be towards the docks and the Talon compound.

Zelus took a deep breath, smiling brightly as they walked through the streets.

"So much energy, so much emotion. I'm getting giddy again just being out and about. You'll travel a little after all of this, right? I heard of so many places that I want to see, there's just..."

"I'm certain you will have plenty of opportunities in the future."

Cimmerian nodded and opened his mouth to agree but stopped, jerking his head to the source of the voice.

"Prin-er, Celestia! What are you doing here? What about...why is everypony here?" Twilight asked, flitting closer to the approaching group of ponies.

"Several reasons, dear," Celestia said with a calm smile. "For one, I wish to see my subjects again. I've already started to recover, and with the collapse of the Nightmare's power I do not believe there will be any real danger from her or her forces. Not away from Canterlot, at least. The reason the Element Bearers are here is for, well they're here for you. Or the Nightmare. Her body. Once the Nightmare is captured, we can properly purge her from Twilight's body."

The mares behind Celestia, the full number of the Elements of Harmony if you included the changeling drone that was currently hugging two of them, nodded emphatically at Celestia's reasoning.

Cimmerian groaned in irritation.

"We're not walking into a discussion, we're walking into a warfront. Canterlot currently has drones flying all over, the minotaurs are marching on the city, Heart and the Talons are holding Freeside. We're literally walking into a three-sided war."

"Hey, we've dealt with changeling invasions before, right girls?" Rainbow Dash said with a cocky grin.

"No, you dealt with a dying queen who wanted everyone alive so that she could feed. The drones will have no qualms killing you, your friends and anyone they can find if they don't try to force you into their link as they were doing when we first escaped," Zelus responded, jabbing a hoof into the smaller mare's nose. "It has been a while, so before we even consider letting you close I wish to know how the situation has progressed in our absence."

"The biggest question is what has the Nightmare done in the interim," Cimmerian said as he walked through the group on his way to the Talon compound. "Has she launched an offensive? Has she consolidated her drones and set up defenses? What about Discord? What about Luna?"

The stallion stopped as he spotted Herrick making his way to the group, a squad of Talons following him.

"We can discuss that in private, Cimmerian. Things have gotten...odd in Equestria since your assault."

"What do you mean, odd?" Celestia asked. "Have you seen any trace of Luna?"

"No, but as I said we'll discuss it in private. This way please."

<-(0)->

The group was lead to the Talon compound, Cimmerian following the griffon into what looked like a meeting room that was occupied by several other griffons while the others were guided to another room to wait.

"Actually Herrick, I'd like to keep Zelus and the drone."

The older griffon shrugged, nodding to the mercenaries to allow the specified individuals to follow. Closing the door behind them, he introduced the other group.

"Cimmerian, the griffons you're looking at are going to be leading strike forces to retake our lands. The glyphs are still causing a bit of confusion amongst the changeling drones. We're still using them but the effectiveness is falling."

"It's likely that the Nightmare is trying to just add new orders on top of the ones already active," Twilight said, shrinking back when the griffons focused on her.

"What do you mean? Do you know how the arrays work?" a hen asked, leaning closer.

"She should," Zelus huffed.

"Herrick, do you remember what I told you about the Mad Queen?" Cimmerian asked before pulling the drone a bit closer. "You can think of this as proof."

"What do you..." the griffon started before looking closer to the drone. specifically the purple streaks and the focused eyes that the non-sentient drones tended to lack.

His feathers started to bristle as he made the connection, but he looked to the alicorn before acting.

"You've given us a lot, Cimmerian, so I'm going to give you a chance to explain. What in the Skylord's domain made you think it was..."

"I've had her for a day. I really don't know what this will do to the drones, but Twilight has been working against the Nightmare for a while now. This is the last straw, Herrick. That thing, that thing that wants to ruin this world, has lost one of its last cards. The only thing it still has is the queens and the drones and even then it doesn't know how to use them properly."

"She doesn't know how to program them," Twilight explained. "I was the one doing the programming, or at least...it was my memories of the programming that she was using."

The other griffons began to tense up, realizing what Herrick was getting at. One splayed his claws, moving closer. Herrick motioned for him to stop, but he continued to glare at the drone.

"Why did you bring her here? Why should we not just kill her?"

"Because I worked hard on that drone," Zelus shot at the griffon with irritation. "It wouldn't destroy her either. She's bound to my hive and would be returned to the hive's dream-side if you destroy this shell. It would do nothing to help us either. You are looking at a veritable font of knowledge, including all routes into the city, side passages, secret tunnels, patrol routes and most importantly, how to deactivate the arrays. With the arrays down, we would be able to stop the queens from producing so many drones, or at least start to slow their production. She built them, she is intimately familiar with how they work."

"Besides, if anyone had a reason to hate her it would be the changelings. If Pandinus and I, whose species has been brought to the brink of extinction by the Nightmare, can accept her presence and even allow her the use of a drone then you can leave the drone unharmed. She can hide nothing from us, but there is nothing she wishes to hide. Bound to her and with access to both her mind and emotions, I can speak with certainty that she wishes for this horrific experience to be over. Even if her body is destroyed in the process."

Herrick scowled at that last bit of knowledge.

"What would happen to her if we destroyed her body? Her alicorn body?"

"I don't know," Cimmerian answered. "I didn't actually anticipate this outcome when I gave the Element bearers a holiday gift. After I brought her to the shared dream I'd set up the Nightmare woke up, leaving me with a mare's soul attached to me. I put it in the one place where I figured it wouldn't be harmed, my wife's hive."

"I could try to put her back, but I don't think it's worth it. As it stands I think it would be easier to capture the Nightmare then work out returning her to her body afterwards."

"We may not be able to capture the Nightmare, though," one of the other griffons pointed out.

"Which is why I've said I don't mind if you destroy my body," Twilight said to the gathered griffons. "It's...it hasn't been mine for a long time. Even if I did get it back, that's the pony that did this, the face that betrayed Equestria. I don't...I don't want...I don't think I could look at myself, much less have ponies looking at me."

"One thing I have to ask," the hen from earlier said, holding up a talon. "It was your, er, brain that the information was in, right? So how-"

"Oh, it's like being hooved a book. Only the pages are scrambled and sometimes its not even in Equestrian. The information is in my brain, true, but the Nightmare has no idea where to find the information. It's fascinating because changelings don't actually have this issue. A queen can decipher a new mind in less than five hours after being linked to a pony. They're minds are all but made for decrypting the minds of those connected to them. It's why queens can steal drones and have to be careful about how much information each drone has access to. The Nightmare doesn't bother to learn anything though, because it's host provides the index, the translations and everything else it needs."

Putting a hoof to her muzzle, the drone frowned.

"Actually, I don't know what the Nightmare really does have without me. It's possible that it went through a period of having to relearn how to walk after I was removed from its control, but I don't think it was that reliant on me."

"So you're willing to work against the Nightmare?" Herrick asked, his gaze moving from Twilight to the queen and alicorn. "You've not put us in danger yet, Cimmerian. I hope for all our sakes you know what your doing here."

"I visited Twilight shortly after Celestia revealed someone was working against the Nightmare," he said. "I was curious and as expected, the Nightmare didn't waste time protecting its host from dream walkers. Why would it when the only one who could force dreams was contained? I saw both of them there, the Nightmare and Twilight. It actually was using her form even in the dream. I don't think it has a form of its own."

"If we do manage to stop this Nightmare..." another griffon began, only to receive a nod from Cimmerian.

"There was an item created by Luna in the past, a dream catcher. When powered they actually make it more difficult to force your way into a dream. With a creature that's as weak as an unattached nightmare, we might be able to use them to stop any further attempts at these creatures to enter this world. Make no mistake, though. I intend to find out what I can about these creatures and how to stop them."

"Know your prey and you increase the chance of a successful hunt," Herrick said, nodding in agreement. "Not something I expected to hear from a pony, but then again-"

"Griffons are actually closer to the species I lived as before the first Nightmare used me to escape the Elements of Harmony. Don't be so surprised when I act more like a predator than a pony in some instances, as I have the instincts and upbringing of both," Cimmerian said, flashing the griffon a sharp-toothed smile.

Herrick chuckled, his gaze flashing to the queen before settling back on the alicorn.

"Right. I assume you want passage to Equestria?"

"I do," the stallion answered. "I don't plan on taking Celestia or the Elements, though. If they want to go back, they're going to have to find another way. As it stands I have gold, medical supplies, and-"

"The last time we gave you passage to Equestria, you ripped a gaping hole in the Nightmare's power-base. I'll take the medical supplies, as those are always in demand, but gold wont do us any good right now," Herrick explained, gesturing to the next room. "Besides, Equestrians were the ones that held to the gold standard. Without that, well let's just say bits aren't worth as much as they used to be."

"I assume you'll want to bring these two, though. That's why you asked to bring them into this meeting, right?"

Cimmerian nodded.

"Twilight will be willing and able to explain patrols and forces when we get there. I can't think of anyone on the planet with a more intimate knowledge of how the changelings will react to any and all attacks or feints. We may even be able to use the programming against them and lead them into what would otherwise be considered an obvious trap."

"I, I remember most of the programs I wrote in the crystals," Twilight offered. "I can write them out if you need. Maybe you can think of other ways to use the programming."

"I still don't like it," one of the commanders said before shrugging, "but it's your call, sir. You haven't led us wrong yet."

"And Cimmerian hasn't been wrong either," Herrick said, nodding. "Stupid, yes. Foolish, impatient, and all the other kinds of things that would get him killed were he a normal leader, certainly, but if he's willing to take the hits, I'll allow it. Heart's last report was...interesting. I think you three will be interested to know what's been happening in your absence."

"Excellent, do you know when the next ship leaves?" the alicorn asked with a grin.

"Ship?" Herrick asked, picking up a grin of his own. "Oh, I don't think we're going to use ships this time. After all, we have two alicorns and a lot of supplies I'd like to get to Hightalon. We're going to take back our home, Cimmerian. And you and Celestia are going to provide us the power to do so. In return, you'll get your passage to Equestria. After all, goods and services are worth more than gold. We'll consider it payment for the queen and drone's passage."

The alicorn looked confused for a moment before realization set in. The talons were planning on using the grid and they were planning on using it extensively.

"Have you asked for volunteers from Shadowtalon? I'm certain you'd get plenty of griffons that want to go home, even if it means fighting the entire way."

"The ships are already filled with griffons on their way back. We haven't made it official yet, but with all the griffons and even ponies swelling our ranks after the latest incidents, we're going to be pressing our supply lines as it is. The grid is only going to be for the elites. The ones I want there now. We're leaving tomorrow, alicorn," Herrick told him with visible anticipation. "Make sure you're rested, I've been told the power drain is significant."

<-(0)->

The meeting concluded with the griffons asking to keep Twilight with them for any and all information she may have regarding the defenses at Hightalon. The strike leaders seemed a bit reluctant to accept Twilight's information, which was perfectly understandable, but Herrick wasn't hearing it.

"We're taking back our home. Those queens the alicorn keeps around have become extremely protective of him. There's no way they'd let a pony that wanted him dead get that close to him. If the Nightmare actually controlled her, that would be her primary goal," the old tom had finally said, leaving Cimmerian shaking his head and Zelus holding her head high.

It was true though. He'd had to hold Zelus back several times on their trip, her first instinct to any perceived threat being to maul it.


"Your speeches could use some work," Celestia said as he entered the next room.

He shrugged his wings in response, moving to a cushion beside the white alicorn

"I'm not a born politician. I really would have preferred not saying that but by the same token I cant stand the idea of not being truthful with those who are putting so much trust in me. I don't need the infamy now, so I have to deal with the repercussions of using the Nightmare's infamy to boost my own powerbase."

"I don't think you give them enough credit," the older mare said with a gentle smile. "The ponies, the gnolls, the changelings, even the few thestrals that I ran into spoke fondly of you."

"The changelings I get. Zelus and Pandinus wouldn't give up what they have now for this. Not only that, Din knew a while ago and it never even slowed her...attempts. The gnolls..." he trailed off.

"...follow their alpha. Buster explained what happened. While I would have preferred to hear the situation was resolved peacefully, you're not exactly a pony. Neither are some of your subjects. Even I have had ponies who challenged my rule. I've learned how to subvert them from a distance over the years, but you don't have that luxury. There was a time when I didn't either."

"As to the thestrals, they were quite impressed with you. I believe some even cited you as truer to their way of life than Luna, which is impressive considering the fanaticism some view her with. They also see you as her son, or at least a direct relation to her. So you have what they see as a blood-relation to Luna, the endorsement of their goddess and you went to them directly to offer them shelter should the worst come to pass. You also found a spy in their midst, which I'm certain helped prove your case."

"I didn't find Trixie, Zelus did."

"But she never would have been allowed in the city if not for the fact that she was your bodyguard. Anything guards do is seen as a reflection of the leader they serve. The same goes for diplomats, Cimmerian.

"I'd be happy to teach you a bit about running a kingdom after everything is settling down. I know it doesn't sound like much of a deal after this, but-"

The dark alicorn shook his head.

"No, you were all caught by surprise by a mental parasite. I'm not going to hold it over your heads forever...just long enough to make you uncomfortable. I still need a lot of practice with magic as well. You're not useless to me just yet, Celestia."

"I'm glad to hear that," the older mare said with a rueful smile. "I'd be more than happy to speak with you, either offering advice or just an ear to voice your concerns. After all, it has been a long time since I've been able to offer help to somepony who may be around as long as myself."

"Right," Cimmerian nodded, his ears drooping at the reminder. "Right..."

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