Common Ground

by LunasCaptain

Ambassador, Captain, and Queen

Chrysalis sat in the light of the rising sun, eyes half-closed and wings folded primly against her shell. She wasn't a fan of the cold. Frost glittered on her hooves, her horn, her mane--all the places that her lukewarm blood didn't reach often enough to warm. She could feel a sluggish pulse inside of her, her body trying desperately to speed up the functions that last night's freeze had slowed down.

She and gossamer had crossed the southern border of the Crystal Empire sometime before sunset. They had flown across a windswept plain as pegasi, and when the temperature began to drop, they holed up in this evergreen forest so that she could sleep and Gossamer could drop into shallow hibernation.

It was still "sleeping" behind her, under a thin shell of frost. Chrysalis resisted the urge to kick it awake. They had plenty of time.

She closed her eyes fully and sighed. Doubt had been eating away at her for two nights and a day now--for some reason, the certainty that Carapace was dead had lodged itself in her mind. She couldn't shake it. She knew it as innately as she had known that Elytra was dead...and that was why she hadn't turned around and gone home. It, Anomaly, and the possibility that she was wrong about Carapace.

Chrysalis wrestled with the vague sense of uneasiness she got whenever she thought of those three. There was something, fluttering in the back of her mind...but she didn't remember.

It probably didn't matter, anyway.

---

"Prince Shining!"

Wearily, Shining Armor pried his eyes open. It felt like he had just barely laid down, after a night of trying to chase down rogue pegasi.

"What's wrong?" he asked irritably, glancing up. Pulse, the kirin medic, was standing over him. Her helmet was gone, exposing a short, spiky purple mane.

Instead of answering, she stepped aside. Cadance came forward and bent her head towards him.

He scrambled to his hooves, pulling his wife into an embrace with one foreleg. If she was uncomfortable, being pressed against his diamond-hard armor, she didn't say so.

"Cadance," he said. His voice was muffled by her mane. "Is--is something wrong?"

"There are two Changelings loose in my city and my husband has been missing for the past few days," she replied, her voice unusually crisp. He pulled back and gave her a sheepish smile that quickly dissolved into a sigh.

"I'm sorry," Shining said. "I shouldn't have left you."

"You did what you thought was right." Cadance briefly touched her horn to his. "At least I found you."

"So what's the problem?" He stepped back, glancing around at the sleeping unicorns and earth ponies on either side of him. They were in the back room of a restaurant owned by a former member of the Amore guards.

"The Changeling 'ambassador' turned out to be a spy," she said bitterly. "And Captain Claymore is an agent of Chrysalis, too."

"What?" He stared at her. "You've got to be kidding."

"No. Twilight heard him and our Changeling discussing their plans, and now he's nowhere to be found."

"I--I thought I knew him..." Shining shook his head. Cadance put a hoof on his wither.

"Everypony did, but we can't focus on that right now," she said. "We need to find those Changelings. Twilight is leading a crack team of unicorns through the city, using her spell to try and expose them. Can you put together a team and--keep watch over her? Step in if they find anything."

"Of course," he nodded.

"I need to get word to Celestia." Cadance glanced over her withers. "I'll join you as soon as I can."

"We'll find them in no time," he said gently, kissing her quickly on the cheek. "Don't worry."

She offered him a quick smile, hurrying back out into the light of early morning. Immediately, Pulse was beside him.

"I have magic-infused pills," she said, nodding to where her kit was leaning against the wall. "It's not healthy, but it should be okay this one time. Everypony will be able to perform at their peak."

"Good idea," he nodded, moving towards the door that led into the restaurant. "Wake everypony else up--I'll see if I can get us some food."

The owner of the restaurant was more than happy to support their case. After a breakfast of oatmeal, coffee, and Pulse's medication (passed out reluctantly), everypony was bouncing on their hooves, more than ready to go. Even Shining felt rejuvenated.

"We're looking for a herd of armored unicorns led by a purple mare," he told his attentive soldiers. "We'll start near the palace and work out--they couldn't have gotten far."

---

Twilight nodded to the pale blue stallion, who nodded back and, screwing up his face, fired a quick spell at the nervous-looking mare in front of him. She blinked rapidly, but nothing else happened.

"Thank you for your time, ma'am. You can go." She watched her scuttle off, then glanced around her. All of her rapidly-trained stallions were working quickly and efficiently, testing ponies at an impressive rate and switching out so that everypony got a chance. Several had even managed to cast the spell wide enough to test several at once.

They hadn't told anypony anything, but the Amore guards were widely trusted in the Crystal City. Everypony they approached allowed them to perform the spell, though confusion was spreading quickly. There were lots of questions, of course. Both from the ponies they tested and the non-ponies they passed by. But Twilight felt that it was best not to answer; there was no reason to incite a panic.

She saw Convoy, the stallion that she had experimented on, approaching a pegasus mare and an earth pony stallion with a younger, nervous-looking guard in tow. His muzzle moved as he explained the spell, gesturing to the other guard. But instead of nodding and submitting, the two ponies shook their heads, backing away. It looked like they were complaining. Intrigued, Twilight headed over.

"...rare condition," the mare was saying as she approached. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"It's totally safe," Convoy assured her. "You'll be fine."

"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked, scrutinizing the mare and stallion in front of her. They looked nervous, but there was nothing really strange about them. No eyes suddenly flashing green, no gossamer wings popping out--nothing that screamed "Changeling!"

"Commander Twilight." Convoy saluted smartly, and so did his companion. Twilight raised an eyebrow. She didn't remember being promoted to the title of military commander. "She--" he jerked his head toward the pegasus mare "--says that she and her, uh..."

"Cousin," she offered.

"...have some sort of weird magical allergy." Convoy glanced at Twilight to gauge her reaction. She gave him a significant look, then turned her attention back to the ponies in front of her.

"I've read about cases, but it's much more common in unicorns," she said, trying to keep her voice even. "At any rate, the spell is very quick. It doesn't even touch you, so you should be okay."

"I don't--" the mare began, but Twilight waved a hoof, cutting her off.

"We're in a hurry," she explained, studying the mare closely. Still no signs that she was actually a Changeling. "If you do have a reaction, there's an infirmary at the palace--they'll be able to help you."

She still looked nervous, but Twilight just nodded to Convoy and the other guard (who immediately began to cast) and stared hard at the two ponies.

The stallion just blinked and shook his head as the spell passed over him. The mare, however, shrieked as golden boils--the exact same color as the guard's magic--erupted all over her. Her wings flapped, and both guards shrank back, stammering apologies.

"I--I'm so sorry!" Twilight reached out, but the stallion herded his cousin rapidly away from her.

"I think you've done enough," he said curtly, hurrying her away. Twilight stood stock-still, watching them go.

"I really thought that they were just making up excuses," she said in a small voice. Convoy let out an explosive sigh that sounded more like a laugh.

"That's okay, so did I, Commander," he said, patting her heavily on the withers. "Hey. What's Trebuchet doing?"

She followed his gaze to see a cream-colored stallion sneaking up behind, oddly enough, another pony couple consisting of a pegasus and an earth pony. They seemed to be having a heated conversation with an overzealous street vendor.

"I thought I told everypony to ask permission," she muttered, starting forward. A civilian lawsuit directed at the Amore guards was the last thing Cadance needed. But before she could reach him, Trebuchet released the spell.

The outlines of the two ponies rippled for a moment, before their disguises disintegrated. Twilight--and everypony else--stared in shock at the two exposed Changelings. One was immediately recognizable as Carapace, while the other was slightly larger, with green eyes and a close-cropped mane. That one was the first to recover. Shaking off the slight disorientation caused by the spell, it bared its fangs and snarled at Trebuchet. He stumbled back, unprepared, and the green Changeling whirled around to give Carapace a shove. They were both in in motion before Twilight could react.

"Stunning spells!" she shouted, turning to her unicorns and spurring them into action. "Go!"

There was a flash of gossamer out of the corner of her eye, and then something buzzed over her head. She dropped to her belly out of instinct, glancing up in time to see a desiccated hoof, gleaming in the sun, and to catch the tail end of a hissed conversation.

"--forms that the Queen showed us--"

"I remember."

Four hooves struck the ground behind Twilight as she scrambled to hers. She spun around, her mind going a mile a minute and her horn beginning to glow with an attack spell. It wasn't a Changeling. At least, not anymore. A soft yellow coat, a flowing pink mane and tail, teal eyes. Oh, no.

"Twilight?" Fluttershy whispered, her ears slowly lowering and her eyes widening as she met the gaze of the other mare. "Wh-what are you doing?"

It's not really her! Twilight screamed inside her own head, struggling to hold onto and complete the spell. But it was no use. They'd gotten the most vulnerable of her friends correct down to the last detail--the texture of her mane, the curve of her eyelashes, even the minuscule scar on her chest that she had gotten while sliding on her belly to save Philomena.

Celestia's crest and Luna's latch. How did they do that?

"Hit her!" Twilight yelled. She gave up and scrambled backwards. "The spell! Hit her with it!"

Convoy charged forward and aimed his horn at the cowering Fluttershy. His face tensed in an expression of extreme concentration, and--nothing happened.

He raised his head, blinking. "I can't do it!"

"What?!" Before she could turn and give him an incredulous look, she had been knocked onto her back and there was a pair of soft yellow hooves on her chest. She stared up into Fluttershy's eyes as they flickered into acidic green.

"We're not here to attack the Crystal Empire," the Changeling murmured in Fluttershy's voice. "We only want to be left alone. Please believe me."

"I've seen what happens when I trust one of you," Twilight growled, struggling physically as she tried to get a handle on her magic. In the background, she could hear the unicorn stallions trying and failing, one by one, to perform the spell. She wouldn't realize until much later that everypony that couldn't do it had already performed it once before.

Fluttershy sighed. "So you'll keep hunting us?"

"Obviou--"

"I'm sorry, but I have to protect my sister and myself." With a miniature burst of green fire, Fluttershy sprouted a unicorn horn. Flickering green magic wreathed it, and wrapped around Twilight's foreleg. "This will probably hurt."

"Twiley!" somepony bellowed just as she began to feel an uncomfortable pressure on her leg. Fluttershy-the-Changeling looked up, the green magic diminishing, just in time for nearly one hundred and fifty pounds of armored stallion to smash into her.

Twilight rolled over, igniting her horn and rising to her hooves. Shining Armor was standing on top of a writhing, green-eyed Changeling, glancing back over his withers at her.

"Are you alright?" he called.

"I'm fine." She glanced behind her to see a ragged but determined-looking regiment of earth ponies and unicorns. "Don't let it get away!"

Shining planted his hooves more firmly as Twilight hurried over, her horn glowing with a premade stunning smell. The Changeling jerked underneath him, snarling.

"There's another one, right?" he asked warily, watching her aim.

"Yes, but--"

There was a sudden chorus of shrieks and hisses as a pair of brawny earth ponies hauled a blue-eyed Changeling out of an alley. A unicorn mare shot a quick bolt of silvery magic towards it, and it fell silent, stunned.

"So, that's it. It's over, right?" a nearby stallion asked as Twilight released a similar spell onto the second Changeling. She glanced at him.

"I guess."

Comments

[Listie The Scribe Maid]

(Joke) Alt. Title: Featured At Common Ground Zero

[LunasCaptain]

2019242

I think I love you.

[LunasCaptain]

2019266

I've heard that before. I started calling her Cadance in the later chapters, simply because so many people do.

[Crusadier]

I'm hating Cadence, Twilight, (notshiningarmor)< and liking the other changelings more aside from Chrysalis and Dumbwheat.

[Percussor Armis]

2020707
Righto
I'll leave a better opinion and examination that will hopefully be more useful to you after reading the next chapter, although the review itself may need to wait until tommorrow.
Happy writing Cap'
Honora Imperator

[LunasCaptain]

2020760

I hope you know how much I appreciate your reviews. Thank you.

[LunasCaptain]

2020975

Ah. Thanks for noticing that.

[Otrepony]

Yet another sweet chapter.

[LunasCaptain]

2029577

I appreciate the corrections. I have a tendency to miss simple mistakes like that, and I'll be sure to go back and fix them. Thank you.

[Percussor Armis]

Wow, I really keep missing these chapters, I was just about to start the review, and I saw this new one
You either have stocked up material, or you write like a hurricane, or I need to get faster .
Oh well.
Anyway, This chapter brought the story back on track, I'm intrigued with Elytra's fixation with killing Twilight, even though she's the one most likely to believe them, AND he's spent the most time among ponies, but then he'd do anyhting to keep him and Carapace free and alive away from Chrysallis. So it makes sense. Looking forward to reading on, lets see thier reaction to getting themselves nowhere.
Reading on.
Also don't remember many mistakes, but may re-read to make sure.
Honora Imperator

[Dainn]

And here I was hoping that they'd get away.