The Heart Thief

by Helrael

Chapter 7

Rarity blinked her eyes rapidly as she gritted her teeth, taking her breaths in short gasps. Behind her, the newly bound bandage about her thigh tightened in response to her magic, and each end of the silk strip tied together in a large bow that covered her cutie mark.

Rarity lifted her head and closed her eyes, taking a few deeper breaths to steady herself. Eventually, the pain faded, returning sensation to the rest of her body. She stood still for a few moments, enjoying the tranquility of her surroundings.

It seemed a long time ago she'd felt the sun on her face like this. She had lost a day after being thrown overboard, she was almost certain of that. The skies had been unseasonably cloudy the day she had spent at sea. The day before that had been spent cooped up in a train cabin all day.

Spike's birthday, she concluded, smiling thinly. That was the last time she'd truly felt the sun. Ironic. Both of them had been such lovely days, and she would be spending them stuck with Spike.

She heard the leaves of the surrounding forest rustle before she felt the breeze on her face, robbing her of the warmth brought by the sun. Sighing, she opened her eyes and lowered her gaze to find Spike standing inches beside her.

With a loud yelp, the unicorn jumped backwards in surprise, immediately regretting it. Rarity suppressed a scream even as her left hind leg screamed back at her, flooding her vision with a million swimming stars.

“Spike!” she complained, shooting the vacant dragon a glare. “How many times must I tell you not to sneak up on me!?”

“Inside sleep thaw hair eye.”

Rarity gave the dragon an uneasy look, and a chill went down her spine, just as it did every time Spike spoke in his jumbled words and phrases.

She looked through the foliage of the surrounding forest and toward the peaks that marked their destination, still hopelessly far away. It would be long past midnight by the time they came anywhere near. Provided, of course, that they kept going for that long.

Her gaze dropped once more to Spike. She hadn't noticed it at first when they had met last night, but without the soot and in the daylight, it was made all the more clear. Spike's condition was far worse than Twilight had anticipated. The twinkle in his eyes was long gone, and whenever Rarity looked at them, she was met with the distinct impression of something... not quite alive watching her. His scales were several shades paler since she had last seen him aboard the train, and he was constantly shivering, giving him a frail, decrepit appearance.

She wasn't certain he would last past midnight.

Even now, after the morning's descent down the mountain and having spent noon traversing the valley, the little dragon looked utterly exhausted. Still, he stood where she had left him, holding what remained of Rarity's roll of silk. In hindsight, having him carry her bandages ‒ while fair ‒ had perhaps not been the best idea.

She took hold of the silk with her magic, tugging at the roll a few times before Spike let go. She debated on whether she could balance it on her back somehow before simply unfurling the cloth and draping it over herself like a cape.

“I hope you're up for a little more walking, Spike.” She motioned toward a break in the undergrowth ahead, the only one afforded to them in the increasingly dense forest covering the valley floor. “Little ones first.”

Spike glanced slowly at the proposed path, then looked back to Rarity for a moment before shuffling his feet forward at a snail's pace.

Rarity tried her best at an encouraging smile, despite the situation. “Come now. If I can walk this far on only three legs, you can walk... without a heart, right?”

Somehow, for whatever reason, Spike seemed to agree, lengthening his strides. He set into the forest at brisk pace, leaving Rarity struggling to keep up.

Although they had been traveling through the woods for several hours, they had yet to find a single trail or just the slightest hint of a path. It was impeding their progress far more severely than Rarity would have imagined when she had seen the valley from above the night before. Seeing the path that lay ahead of them now, Rarity began doubting her previous estimate of reaching the mountain before dawn. Not that they'd be able to keep going for that long.

Picking their way across the jungle-like terrain had at least one benefit, Rarity consoled herself. Spike's smaller size meant he could duck and weave through the brush much easier than Rarity. The unicorn could maintain a healthy distance between herself and the dragon without having to pace herself.

Rarity ducked under a branch, glancing at her freshly bandaged leg as she did so. Spike had always been so mild-mannered around her, around everypony. She couldn't remember ever seeing him losing his temper, or showing the slightest hint of even being capable of anger. There had been his growth spurt a year ago, but even so, it had never occurred to her just how dangerous he could be. Not until those gem-crushing jaws had been closed around her thigh.

She knew it wasn't his fault. His missing heart was affecting him somehow. He had been cornered by a ferocious dragon. It was completely understandable for him to lash out.

And yet, she had barely slept last night, knowing that he was lying there beside her, only a few steps away. The fact that he not once shut his eyes all night had made her all the more wary. More than once, she had considered using the silk to tie him up. Even now as they walked, Rarity refused having him trailing behind her.

Great, fire-breathing dragons would occasionally circle around in the sky above, the valley forest was a nigh impassable mess of roots and branches, and her left hind leg throbbed painfully with every step she took. But if anything was making this journey so much more unbearable than the one they had made from Canterlot to Ponyville, it was the distrust. Needing to constantly stay alert ‒ around Spike of all people.

The foliage overhead thinned for a brief moment as Rarity struggled past a series of drooping branches, taking care not to snag her makeshift cape. Miles and miles away, she could just see the peaks of the mountain they were pursuing. Unsurprisingly, they seemed as far away as they had fifteen minutes ago.

Rarity shook her head. She wasn't even sure what she was doing anymore. She had seen Rainbow Dash fly past those peaks last night. With the pegasus' speed, there was no telling how far away she'd be by now. She could only hope she and Twilight would remain in the area. Whatever had led to Spike becoming separated from their group, the two ponies couldn't expect him to have gotten far.

Rarity stole a glance back the way she and Spike had come. The mountain they'd started at still seemed deceptively near, discouragingly so.

They should have stayed where they were, Rarity realized with a sinking heart. Signaling Rainbow Dash from atop a mountain would have been easy. But stuck in this forest, the pegasus could be flying by right overhead without either noticing the other.

A soft thud drew Rarity back to the matter at hoof, and she looked ahead to find that Spike had abruptly vanished.

“Spike?” The unicorn hurried forwards as best she could through the path trod out by the dragon, finding him lying face down on the grass. Rarity circled around him carefully, looking for any injuries. “Are you alright, dear?”

Spike stirred, but made no further effort to get up or reply. Not that the reply would have been in any way intelligible.

“Can you stand?”

Again, Spike neither moved nor replied.

Rarity lifted him up onto his feet using her magic, only for him to flop right over again when she let go. “Come on, Spike,” she pleaded, pulling him up again. “We're in the middle of a forest a hundred miles away from anything resembling civilization! I need you to walk!”

Push and pull and plead as she might, however, the dragon refused to move a muscle, looking for all the world to be asleep were it not for his tired-looking, half-lidded eyes.

Rarity grimaced. “I suppose there's nothing for it...” She lifted the dragon again, bobbing him up and down in the air gently to test his weight. With a despairing sigh, she dropped him to the ground again, realizing he would be much too heavy for her to carry in her magic.

Chewing at her lower lip in thought, she paced about the dragon one more time before finally giving in.

“If you bite me again...” she warned Spike, lifting him up onto her back. “I'm leaving y‒” Rarity yelped in surprise the moment she put Spike down, feeling a deep chill emanating from the little dragon even through the silk cape she was wearing. When Spike slumped down further and the side of his head touched her uncovered neck, she screeched even louder. To say he was cold as ice would have been an exaggeration, but only barely. He was far colder than any pony should ever be, and absolutely freezing for a dragon. Compared to the almost tropical heat of the valley, it was an unsettling, unnatural cold.

Rarity shivered. From the cold. From Spike's dire state. From knowing his teeth were inches from her neck.

The mere thought gave her a mild surge of adrenaline, and with a grunt of effort, she moved forwards, limping toward their shared destination.

“Here we are again,” she sighed, finding the forest a good deal harder to navigate without Spike clearing the way first. “You're too tired to stand, and I'm stuck carrying you home. A hopelessly long path lies ahead of us, and a disaster lies behind us.” Rarity scoffed and shook her head. “Really, though, after our trials of fire and water I can hardly call a simple date a disaster. No horrid dragons, no storms at sea.”

The sound of a twig snapping somewhere off to her right distracted Rarity, and she threw a wary gaze in the direction of the sound. She didn't stop. Walking on three legs was hard. Doing so while balancing Spike on her back required a rhythm she couldn't afford to break.

“I do appreciate it,” she added after a moment, deciding that there was nothing out there. “Nopony in town knows how to woo a lady quite like you. Not many try.”

A short, steep incline greeted her after pushing aside a cluster of ferns, and the unicorn groaned with exasperation. “If only... things weren't so... complicated. I wish I... didn't need you, but...” Rarity shook her head, panting as she reached the top of the incline. “I wish I could show you I don't need you. Find a nice stallion, preferably a prince, or some member of the Canterlot elite. No ordinary pony will do, you see. I hope you appreciate just how high you've managed to set the bar, Spike.”

She hadn't expected much of a reply, but even so, Spike's silence was disquieting. She chanced a glance backwards, finding the dragon slumped motionless across her back. It was not unlike how she'd originally positioned him, yet his stillness remained... unnerving.

“Spike? Say something, Spike.”

Spike stirred sleepily, muttering incoherently. “Super, ugh, pond everpluh...”

For what felt like the umpteenth time that day, Rarity grimaced, frowning with worry at the dragon. With a swift tug of her magic, she yanked the silk out from underneath him, gasping at the sudden cold when the rest of his body came in contact with hers. She draped the cape over Spike, covering both him and herself.

Rarity continued on through the forest, feeling Spike slowly going from motionless to shivering. It was a change she could only hope was positive.

“Don't die, Spike,” Rarity muttered, returning her attention to the forest ahead of her. “Not like this. Not when it's my fault. You're not supposed to die for another thousand years. Or however long it is you dragons live.”

Spike's hands tightened momentarily, giving the fur on her throat a tiny squeeze that both encouraged her and terrified her. She chastised herself for the latter. Spike was in mortal peril, and yet she was still worrying about his teeth.

“I need you Spike,” she repeated, her tone more subdued. Spike's chill was slowly creeping into her bones, making her shiver every now and then despite the warm weather. “I'm not sure what it is you see in me. What you love about me. But you make me feel like so much more than I am.”

She gave the half-conscious dragon a sad smile. “Why, I'm afraid without you, I'm just some mare living alone with her cat. One of Equestria's hundreds of dressmakers trying to make a name for herself.”

She retained her bitter smile as she looked forwards again, focusing her attention on climbing yet another incline. “I can't help but wonder if that's what love is. Needing someone. Not being able to ‒”

“Rainbow. Iron own rainbow.”

Rarity raised her eyebrow at the interruption, and lifted her gaze to the skies. “Now, that was two 'rainbows'...” She took hold of a thin overhanging branch with her magic, and pulled it aside with her magic, just in time to see Rainbow Dash hovering by not far above her.

The pegasus must have caught the glint of magic, for she looked down at that exact moment, spotting both Rarity and Spike.

“Rarity?” Rainbow Dash threw a quick glance at the mountain the unicorn had come from before dipping through the foliage and landing beside her. The pegasus stood there panting for a short moment, giving her a confused look. “The hay are you doing here? And is that Spike?”

“It's a long story.” Rarity pulled back the front of her silk covering to reveal the sickly pale scales on Spike's head. “We need to get Spike his heart at once. At this rate, I doubt he'll make it through the night.”

“Right...” Rainbow Dash gave Rarity an unmistakably suspicious look. She nodded in the direction they had to go ‒ a ways to the right of Rarity's original course ‒ following after only when the unicorn began moving. “But how did you end up here?”

“A storm hit our ship,” Rarity explained, trying her best to ignore Rainbow Dash's stare. “I got thrown overboard, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here.”

“You woke up here? In the middle of The Dragon Territories? That's not exactly what I'd call a long story.”

“Well, we don't exactly have time ‒” A sharp prod to the back of her head interrupted Rarity's reply, and she whipped her head around to shoot a withering glare at Rainbow Dash hovering behind her, still wearing her suspicious frown. “Do tell if there's anything I can you help with, Rainbow Dash,” she growled through gritted teeth.

“Sorry.” The pegasus sounded anything but apologetic. “It's just last time I saw Spike, me and Twilight were getting our flanks handed to us by a mutated changeling. And now here he is, riding my friend, who's supposed to be in the borderlands right about now.”

“You didn't catch the thief!?” Rarity gave the pegasus a wide eyed stare. “How are we going to save Spike!?”

“Shuh... hay ink princess.”

Rainbow Dash, looking ready to burst with a reply of her own, paused at Spike's sleepily muttered interruption. “Uh. What'd he just say?”

“Absolute nonsense, dear,” Rarity replied, ducking under an overhanging branch. “I haven't gotten a coherent sentence out of him since I met him last night. I suspect it may have to do with the fact that he's dying. How could you lose the changeling!?”

“Hey! No changing subject!” Rainbow Dash flew up over the branch Rarity had just passed and overtook the limping unicorn, turning around to face her as she hovered in the air in front of her. “Tell me something only the real Rarity would know!”

Rarity raised an eyebrow, but when Rainbow Dash didn't seem inclined to back down, she sighed. “About a year ago, I had a brief, delirious obsession with a boulder I named Tom.”

Rainbow shook her head. “Everypony knows about that.”

“They what!?”

“Try again.”

Rarity gave her another scowl, then smiled. “A certain pegasus ‒ I believe she had had more than a few tankards of cider ‒ once confided in me that 'she kinda liked the color pink'. Said it made her feel more ‒”

“Nuh-uh!” Now it was Rainbow Dash's turn to glare at the unicorn, who smiled smugly back. “Not in front of Spike!”

“‒ girly.”

The pegasus' scowl was broken when she bumped her head into another branch from her continued backwards hover. “Fine. I believe you.” She let herself drop to the ground at Rarity's side, matching her rather sluggish pace. “And don't worry too much about Spike. He should feel better once we reach that mountain up ahead.” She nodded her head at Rarity's bandaged leg. “But what about you? You've been leaving a trail of those from all the way up the mountain back there. What happened?”

---

Applejack had never much liked riding trains. The ride from Ponyville to Baltimare had been no exception. Sailing with the S.S. Sunshine had been far worse. The Graylands had been a living nightmare. Not frightening or all that dangerous, just... soul-sucking.

And now, after a day's march with little to no rest, she and Pinkie Pie found themselves wandering through a smelly swamp. The young farmer had thought she missed the shade of green after all the time spent in The Graylands, but the ones surrounding her were all wrong.

The sickly olive green of the moss underhoof, squelching wetly with every step. The pale green and autumnal colors of the lichen clinging to every tree and rock in sight. Trees were sparse in this area, and the few that hadn't succumbed to fungal infections bore leaves of unhealthy yellow shades. Immense stretches of stagnant water surrounded them on both sides of the narrow path they were being led along by the changelings. Bright yellow-green algae covered every inch of the water, giving the surface a deceptively solid appearance.

It seemed all they had done was wander from one wasteland into another. From one that sustained nothing but ashes, to one that sustained nothing but the mosquitoes and flies buzzing incessantly all around her.

Oddly enough, she was more annoyed with her current predicament than scared. She'd convinced herself a long while ago that Chrysalis wouldn't be bold enough to hurt her or Pinkie Pie. She had no reason to, and every reason not to. The two ponies were close friends of the princesses. All four of them. At best, Chrysalis would release them for fear of further antagonizing Equestria. At worst, they'd be held hostage and the princesses would have to ransom them.

Even so, Applejack threw a worried glance back at her fellow captive. Her legs had regained their usual bright pink color after the group had waded through a flooded area a few hours ago, contrasting the slightly gray tinge that still clung to the rest of her coat.

Applejack was used to long days working the orchards. Even with her hooves shackled, she had the endurance to keep up with the forced march of the changeling party. She couldn't say the same for Pinkie Pie. She looked absolutely exhausted, dragging her hooves and hanging her head, yet she kept going. Neither of the ponies had much of a choice in the matter.

“For Pete's sake, an hour's all Ah'm asking!” Applejack groaned, turning her head to glare at the changeling commander that had been utterly ignoring her for the past twenty minutes.

This time, however, he finally turned his head to give her a haughty look. “Gag her.”

Applejack opened her mouth to protest, only to have a coil of her own rope jammed in between her teeth. Whichever changeling was working his magic, he wasted no time on pleasantries, tugging the piece of rope back forcefully and tightening it around her skull before tying it up securely.

“You can have your rest on the ferry.” The commander returned to the front of the changeling party, approaching, Applejack realized belatedly, a great wall, forming the periphery of a circle that must be several miles wide.

The wall seemed simple enough in its design, consisting of hundreds, probably thousands of thick, wooden logs raised on end, one end buried deeply and securely in the soft ground or within the murky, stagnant waters, and the other end, fifteen feet aboveground, sharpened to a needle point. The logs were all arranged in a sturdy-looking bi-layer formation, mortared to each other by some tar-like substance that coated every inch of wood, making the wall look more like it had been hewn from a single piece of stone rather than its individual timbers.

The whole thing was covered in a thick layer of moss and lichen, explaining why Applejack hadn't immediately noticed the structure. Its massive size made it anything but subtle, but it didn't seem out of place either, not after having passed by the dozen changeling outposts between here and the borderlands.

Applejack stepped forward to follow the rest of the changelings approaching what she assumed to be their final destination, but she was surprised to find herself simply stepping out of the ropes that had been securely bound about her hooves. At the same time, she felt the knot on her gag loosen, allowing her to spit it out with ease.

None of the changelings in front of her seemed to have noticed, but warning shouts instantly rose from the back of the party. The changeling commander turned, immediately adopting a guarded stance. Applejack did the same, but quickly realized none of the changelings were looking at her. She turned her head to look at Pinkie Pie, who had been similarly untied. Her attention was turned to the back of the party like the rest of the changelings, and she wore a bright smile.

Applejack followed her gaze, and her jaw nearly dropped when she saw Twilight approaching the party of changelings, Fluttershy walking at her side. The pegasus looked distinctly uncomfortable, trying her best to hide her face behind her mane as she shuffled forwards cautiously. Twilight, on the other hoof, seemed strangely at ease, smiling at each of the changelings in turn as she strode confidently forward, almost passing into the midst of the group before the soldiers in the rear had the presence of mind to block her path.

“Hello!” Twilight greeted them jovially. Whether she was speaking to Applejack and Pinkie Pie or the changelings, Applejack had no way of telling. “I'm not sure if you recognize me, but ‒”

“I recognize you,” the commander spat, striding through his fellow soldiers while sneering at Twilight. “You blasted me halfway across Canterlot!”

Twilight gave the changeling commander an empty smile. “I'm sure I did.”

A green glow flared up around the commander's horn, and the other changelings rearranged themselves quickly, moving into a defensive formation around the two earth ponies.

“I can't recommend that.”

The commander promptly ignored the warning and fired a magical bolt at Twilight. The spell flew forth with blinding speed, bounced off an invisible barrier a few inches in front of Twilight, and struck the commander in the chest, bowling him over and sending him plowing through the moss.

“These ponies were caught trespassing!” one of the changelings behind Applejack piped up, his voice wavering ever so slightly. “They must be brought before Queen Chrysalis!”

Twilight nodded, walking forwards toward her friends' captors. The alicorn's smile was gone, leaving her expression unreadable. When she showed no sign of stopping, the changelings that had been blocking her path parted before her, watching her guardedly as she walked straight past them.

Applejack gave an appreciative smile and was about to thank Twilight when the alicorn walked straight past her and Pinkie Pie as well, sparing them little more than a crooked smile. Every pony and changeling stared at the princess quizzically, watching in silence as she made her way to the front of the group.

Once she had passed the last changeling and the commander, still groaning as he lay buried in the damp moss, she turned to face everyone once more. “You can bring my friends to Chrysalis. They'll be coming with me.”

The changelings closest to Twilight gave each other questioning glances, but two of them eventually stepped forwards past Twilight and their fallen commander. Their horns glowed in unison, and a large hatch hidden beneath the moss between the group of changelings and the timber wall opened up with a rusty creak, revealing a narrow stairway leading underground.

Twilight nodded her thanks at the two changelings and promptly disappeared down the stairs, leaving the two changelings staring at each other uneasily, no doubt wondering what Chrysalis would have in store for them. The rest of the group, including Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, followed after in awkward silence, broken only by a few murmurs from among the changelings.

“What exactly are we doin'?” Applejack whispered to Fluttershy as the pegasus joined them, still looking visibly terrified from being around so many changelings.

Fluttershy shook her head in bewilderment. “I'm not sure.” She hesitated a moment. “She and Rainbow Dash couldn't catch the thief.”

Pinkie Pie gasped. “They missed it?”

The pegasus shook her head again. “Well... no. But he got away.”

The three ponies passed down the stairs, and entered out onto the shore of an enormous lake. On the other side of the wall, Applejack realized, the ground fell away into a gigantic crater-like depression, filled halfway with stagnant, algae-infested water.

A wavy trail split the algae, straight across the lake, leaving a brownish, murky streak of water through the green, stretching out from the shore they stood upon to an island out in the center of the lake. Upon the island, Applejack caught her first sight of what her captors had always referred to simply as 'The Hive'. Chrysalis' fortress. The capital of the changelings.

Not unlike the structure of a termite mound, the hive rose at least a hundred feet into the air, and was wider at its base than Ponyville itself. The entire structure was black, likely coated or consisting of the same resin that held together the walls surrounding the lake. The hive was completely asymmetrical in its design, with twisted spires and spikes sticking out of the main structure every which way, and giant holes pierced the structure, much like the changelings' own anatomy. It seemed the perfect cross of a bug's nest and an evil tyrant's lair. In many ways, it looked exactly like Applejack had imagined it.

“So Ah take it Twilight thinks we'll find the thief in there.”

Fluttershy nodded timidly. “It looks like it.”

Applejack gulped. “She have a plan?”

“Not that I know of.”

A large raft was tied up by the shore, and Applejack assumed that its recent passage from the hive was what had left the trail across the green waters. A group of four changelings had been guarding the ferry, but it seemed Twilight had already commandeered it somehow, standing at its front and gazing at the hive in the distance, half a mile across the lake.

“We should ask her!” Pinkie Pie chirped, trotting across the shore toward the ferry.

Applejack frowned as she looked at Twilight. There was something about her she couldn't quite put her hoof on. The way she stared so intently at the hive. She had greeted the changelings with smiles and mien that could rival Rarity's, but that made it all the more worrisome. Whether it was the jovial or impassive expression Twilight wore, Applejack was sure they both concealed a storm.

Time would be running out for Spike soon, Applejack realized, and only now did she feel truly anxious for their meeting with the queen. Chrysalis' options were limited, but Twilight looked to be capable of almost anything at this point. If she had a plan, Applejack wasn't sure she wanted to know it.

Pinkie Pie bounced merrily onto the large raft, sending the whole thing lurching up and down to the consternation of the changelings already on board. While a few of them shot her dirty looks as she kept bouncing across the raft, none of them intervened, continuing their hushed argument amongst themselves.

Applejack and Fluttershy followed more cautiously, stepping gently onto the raft and joining the two ponies at the front.

Twilight turned her head to smile at her friends as they approached. “It's good to see you both safe and sound.”

“Ah'd feel a lot safer if we weren't heading straight into the lion's den,” Applejack remarked, seating herself on the mossy timber of the raft. The crude vessel seemed to have fallen into disuse over the past many years, if indeed it had ever seen much use at all. Applejack assumed the latter, considering the inhabitants of the hive. A raft such as this was likely reserved exclusively for prisoners.

“Whatcha planning?” Pinkie Pie asked, cutting straight to the chase.

Twilight glanced at the changelings boarding the raft behind them, then shook her head. “Not now.”

“Twi... you're not thinkin' of doin' anythin' stupid, are ya?”

Twilight turned her head to look at the hive, her gaze hardening somewhat. “I'm going to find the thief. What happens from there is up to Chrysalis and him.”

“You're not alone in this,” Applejack reminded her. “We got your back, o' course, but it also means you'll be involvin' us if ya decide to take on Chrysalis.”

“I won't.” Twilight's horn was wreathed in magenta, and the raft set into motion on its own, accelerating gently across the surface of the lake. The changelings that hadn't yet boarded didn't seem to mind much, hovering after the raft at a leisurely pace.

Applejack wasn't quite sure she believed her. “Just remember we'll be in the middle of her hive. Don't go antagonizin' her either.”

Twilight's eyes settled on Applejack for a brief moment, laden with an uncharacteristic annoyance, before her gaze returned to the hive ahead. “I'm not stupid.”

“Ah know ya ain't, ya just... look like you're about to do somethin' stupid.” Applejack put a comforting hoof around Twilight's shoulder, and Fluttershy, having walked up on the other side of the alicorn, did the same.

“We'll get Spike's heart back,” she assured Twilight gently. “You'll see.”

Twilight nodded. “He won't get away again.”

It wasn't long before they reached Chrysalis' hive, and Twilight followed the trail in the water around the dark palace. They sailed under a low archway into the hive itself, finding a small, well concealed dock.

A few of the changelings from their party must have flown ahead to inform the soldiers guarding the dock of the situation, for no one seemed that alarmed at the four unrestrained ponies' arrival. At Twilight's approach, the doors into the interior of the hive opened, and a large group of changelings escorted the four visitors through twisted, tight, darkened corridors.

Applejack was more partial to the term 'tunnels', just as she would have identified their dock as a cavern. The interior of the hive was the same shade of black as the outside, with a few streaks of what looked crystallized green goo along the walls and ceilings. Every surface was rugged as stone, threatening to trip up the ponies as they struggled to keep up with the natives of the hive. The sparse number of torches put up along their way, burning with green fire, did little to illuminate the almost impenetrable darkness of their surroundings.

After having been led around the hive for almost ten minutes, the group of ponies came upon a much wider corridor than any they'd seen previously. At its end stood a large pair of studded iron doors, painted black with some sort of green insignia on them. As with all other doors they’d come upon, they parted before Twilight, their loud groan reverberating within the cavernous room beyond.

Unlike every other part of the hive, it seemed the throne room ahead of them was the only chamber with natural lighting. The first thing Applejack noticed upon the doors opening was the massive stained glass window on the other side of the room. It showed a simple depiction of the insignia that had been on the doors, done in varying shades of green. A shaft of light shone through the great window, falling upon the throne near the center of the chamber, raised upon a ten-foot dais overlooking the entire throne room.

The chamber itself was rather private as far as throne rooms went, especially considering the owner's arrogance. Less than fifty feet lay between the entrance and the throne, and the room was no more than about thirty feet wide, just enough to accommodate the large window in the back. The walls to the side were lined with many interconnected alcoves, making the room seem both larger and darker, and green banners hung from the walls near the ceiling, forty feet above.

With the light of the window from behind her, Chrysalis was but a silhouette to the four ponies entering, hidden in the shadow of her own black, thorned throne. Her green eyes were fixed on Twilight as they all entered, ignoring the three other ponies. A half-circle of armored changelings surrounded the doorway, parting to let the alicorn princess pass, but barring the way for the others. Applejack gave the changeling in her way a dirty look, but stepped back, keeping a watchful eye on Twilight.

“I must say, I love your new wings,” Chrysalis complimented the young alicorn as she approached the throne, her voice dripping with malice. “What brings you here? It certainly wasn't my invitation.”

Twilight stopped a few feet from the throne and gazed up at the queen. “You have something I want.”

Chrysalis' eyes narrowed. She didn't immediately say anything, but Applejack had the feeling no words were necessary. She could almost see the sparks flying between Twilight and the queen.

“Weird,” Pinkie Pie remarked quietly to the two ponies standing with her. “My fur's standing on end.”

“Me too,” Fluttershy replied, giving a little shudder.

Applejack nodded. “It ain't no Pinkie Sense,” she whispered. The hairs on Twilight's mane had started fluttering subtly, she noted, as if moved by a breeze that wasn't there.

“Celestia didn't send you, did she?” Chrysalis surmised, rising from her seat. “What is it you want?”

A brilliant glow suddenly sprung up about Twilight's figure, and a white-hot beam of light blasted out of her horn. Chrysalis leapt aside just in time, and the beam struck the back of her throne, blowing it to smithereens. The queen was caught in the explosion, and the beam continued on through, striking and shattering the massive stained glass window.

The entire throne room erupted into chaos instantly. The sudden influx of sunlight from the broken window blinded the ponies and changeling guards momentarily, and what little they could see was obscured by the cloud of dust formed by the destruction of the dais.

A whirlwind seized the entire throne room for a brief moment, sweeping the dust out of the air and nearly bowling the three ponies over. The changeling guards had recovered much faster, and promptly rushed toward Twilight, who seemed to be approaching the stunned queen with lethal intent. Green bolts of lightning flew from their horns, ricocheting off the invisible barrier surrounding Twilight.

The alicorn threw an angry gaze back at the guards, and Applejack swore she saw a flash of green in her eyes before she smiled. Her tail erupted in green flames, and a black, tapered tail shot forth in its stead, growing more than twenty feet long with blinding speed. The draconic tail whipped across the floor, sweeping aside most of the changelings and smashing them into the wall on the other side of the throne room.

The fire that had erupted from her tail traveled further down Twilight's body, leaving black chitin and scales where there once was fur. Her hind legs tensed as they doubled, tripled, quintupled in size, the floor beneath her cracking under the growing weight of whatever Twilight was becoming. She lifted a forehoof and stepped down with sharp claws that dug into the floor. Her feathered wings expanded in great clouds of fire, leaving enormous dragon wings sprouting from her shoulders. Her head was lost to the flames, and a long, sleek neck coiled forth toward Chrysalis. The fire petered out only a few feet from the queen's prone form, revealing the head of a dragon, sporting a changeling's twisted black horn and a straighter, dark cerulean crystal horn right behind it.

The doors behind Applejack burst open, and half a hundred changelings poured in, pushing aside the three ponies. The draconic changeling turned its head again, a deep chuckle rumbling from deep within its throat as it beheld the soldiers. Its crystal horn flashed green, followed by a fiery emerald glow spreading from within its chest and up the length of its throat.

Applejack had been too stunned by the whole ordeal to really comprehend what was happening, but suddenly Pinkie Pie was beside her, pulling her down onto the floor. A moment later, brilliant emerald fire washed across the entire throne room. The armored changeling soldiers acted as a makeshift cover for the three ponies, but even so, Applejack cried out at the searing wave of heat rolling over them. The screams and shouts from further within the throne room suggested the changelings were faring no better.

Something tugged at her hoof, and Applejack saw Pinkie Pie motioning toward the exit, shouting something she couldn't hear over the sound of fire and screaming. Pinkie Pie got to her hooves shakily and ran off toward the doorway, following closely after Fluttershy who was at the door already, struggling to get past the crowd of changeling soldiers rushing in.

By the time Applejack had stumbled to the door, however, it seemed the tides had changed. She and her two friends were swept along by the surge of retreating guards, making it a few feet past the door before the changelings around them seemed to realize who and what they were. The three ponies were quickly forced up against the wall by one group of half-panicked soldiers while another group ‒ completely out of it ‒ slammed the two iron doors shut behind them, trapping the dozen changelings that hadn't yet made it out.

A changeling near Applejack cast some sort of spell, summoning glowing shackles around her hooves, then shouted at her to move down the corridor. Applejack nodded and complied, shaken just as badly as her captor. She had no intention of challenging a horde of a hundred hysterical changelings, nor did she fancy being anywhere near whatever had disguised itself as Twilight.

She followed Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy along with the majority of changelings filing out of the corridor, trying her best to filter out the sounds of screams coming from within the throne room, Chrysalis' loudest above all.

Comments

[Aotrs Commander]

Well. Didn't see that coming...

[Hillbe]

pre15.deviantart.net/e9f3/th/pre/i/2015/235/4/2/spike_2_by_hillbe-d96v5np.jpg

That's one heck of a surprise!

[dawn seeker]

ok can someone please explain to me what just happened?

[Helrael]

6351482 After escaping the changelings in the previous chapter, Fluttershy ran into the heart thief, disguised as Twilight. Fluttershy wanted to save the others, and the thief was able to use the situation to his advantage. He capitalized on everyone's confusion at "Twilight's" arrival and infiltrated the throne room.

[dawn seeker]

6351683 ok thanks