Chapter 8
Six months before Integration…
Caramel shivered. He stood on the rocky ledge and risked a look down, but it was a bit too dark to see the foot of the mountain. At best, he could only make out the dark shapes of pine trees and the lighter shades of barren rock on the sheer face of the mountainside. But in the distance, Ponyville glowed a warm yellow in the night, reminding him that a non-pegasus had absolutely no business being on the top of a mountain so late past bedtime. A sharp, cold wind moaned in the gaps between the mountain’s multiple peaks, and he shivered once more and retreated to the little cave on the other side of the ledge. Sassaflash was tending to a little campfire at the entrance, humming to the tune of one of Pinkie Pie’s songs as she roasted some marshmallows on a stick.
“Remind me again why we’re up here?” Caramel asked as he trotted over and sat down by her side.
“I wanted to show you something,” she replied.
He looked out and down at the valley. “It’s beautiful, yeah.”
“That’s not all I wanted to show you.” Sash gestured towards the little cave behind them. “I spent quite a lot of my time up here. When I wasn’t at school or work, I mean.”
Caramel squinted. From what he could see from the firelight, the cave was little more than a hollow in the rock. There was a narrow corner where maybe one or two could comfortably curl up in, but apart from that, it was hardly a place he would consider desirable for somepony to stay in for long.
“Umm, I see,” he said uncertainly. “Did your mom or dad take you up here for camping or something? Seems an awful long way to come.” His muscles were still aching slightly from the long, long climb.
Sash grinned and nudged him in the ribs with her wing elbow. “I got these, remember?”
Aagh, ticklish! Caramel giggled and brushed her wing aside with his foreleg. “Right, duh. I forgot.”
“And, uh… my parents didn’t take me up here. I kind of got around on my own.”
Caramel raised an eyebrow. That’s new…
Sash was quiet for a moment, and seemed to be working up the courage to tell him something. After being her special somepony for almost five years, he was already quite familiar with whenever she got into this mood. Hearts and Hooves Day was tomorrow, and he’d been waiting for a long time to meet her parents. She’d already met Mom and Dad, and they seemed to approve. A little too eagerly, actually. He mentally rolled his eyes as he remembered their words, “We want grandkids, Caramel!”
At any rate, parents and relatives were apparently a touchy subject for Sash, and since she’d never actually introduced him to anypony from her family, he could only guess that there was some history behind that. After all, five years was a pretty long time to not talk much about them, let alone their childhood years. But at the same time, he could feel that she was looking for the right moment, and he was sure that he could wait. He’d be there for her when she was ready. That’s what friends were for, right?
At length, Sash sighed softly.
Caramel knew that sigh, too, along with the slight drooping of her wings and ears. Another time, then.
“Well, I like this place,” he said with a smile. “It’s pretty homey.”
That seemed to lift her out of her pensiveness. “Glad that you do. ‘Cause we’re going to spend the night in here.” She lifted the stick of marshmallows and offered it to him. “Hungry? We could start on these, then move on to the rose sandwiches.”
He nipped off one of the slightly charred marshmallows and said, “Yeah, I kind of figured that out.”
* * * * *
“Wakey-wakey!” Sash sang as she prodded him with a hoof.
“Mmm, gimme five more hours,” he mumbled, opening a bleary eye. The sun was already up, and its rays were shining into the cave, casting sharp shadows in the nooks and crannies. He rolled to the side and was about to go back to sleep, until one particularly insistent thought managed to barge its way through his lethargy. The sun was already up. Caramel sat bolt upright and groaned. “Oh rats, I’m sorry. You wanted to catch the sunrise, didn’t you?”
Sash simply shrugged her wings. “I did at first. But I kind of overslept too.” She then smiled and rummaged through her saddlebags. “But that wasn’t what I wanted to show you today.”
“Oh?”
Sash pulled out a bunch of apples and carrots and tossed them over to him. “Breakfast first, then you’ll see!”
Caramel could tell that Sash was unusually excited. She wolfed down her breakfast and busied herself with her saddlebags once more. Her every movement seemed to quiver with anticipation, and as he finished off his food, he realised that she was inspecting an assortment of straps and buckles, though for what purpose, he couldn’t tell.
No wonder her saddlebags were so bulky.
Sash continued to work, checking her equipment with a single-mindedness that didn’t end even after he was done with breakfast.
Eventually he said, “Err, are those mountain-climbing gear? Are we heading to the summit or something?”
“Nah. We’re going back down.”
Caramel glanced at the misty valley, bathed in the morning sunlight, then turned back to Sash. “Over the sheer cliff? Can’t we just take the same path that we used to get up here yesterday?”
Sash chuckled and shook her head. “Nope. We’re not climbing.” She then grabbed the tangle of straps and buckles and lifted them up. They unravelled as she did so, and he noticed that they looked like a pair of harnesses.
“Err, I’m still not sure what you’re getting at,” he admitted.
“We’re flying!” She cracked a mischievous grin and tossed a pair of goggles at him. “I got this from Cloudsdale—remember that time you said that you’ve always wanted to know what flying was like? Well, now’s your chance. Just put this on, and leave the rest to me!”
Caramel caught the goggles, but he suddenly felt dizzy. Maybe this was some residual magic from that time when Twilight Sparkle’s spell made all the mares in town go crazy for some old doll. Big Mac was skimpy on the details, but he’d mentioned that Sash had actually fought him for custody of the odd toy. He looked back at the panoramic view and gulped. It was a long way down.
“Are you sure this is safe?” he asked with a nervous smile.
“Yeah, it’s a flight harness. Pegasi use it for training those who are too afraid to learn to fly on their own, to help them get used to being in the air. The colt or filly is strapped to the grown up, and off they go. I just needed to get an adult-sized one for you.”
“But… are you strong enough to carry me?” Caramel looked her over. Her wings were in good shape, as far as he could tell as a non-pegasus, and she seemed fit enough. But he wasn’t exactly a colt anymore.
Sash was unfazed. “Yep. I’ve been practicing for almost six months straight. I can easily carry Granny Smith’s cooking pot – which I borrowed – from Sweet Apple Acres all the way to town and back without needing to land.”
Caramel tilted his head slightly to one side. “A pot.”
“It’s a big one. More like a cauldron, actually.”
“It’s a pot.” He wasn’t sure if this was some subtle joke that he wasn’t getting.
“It’s heavy enough.” She favoured him with another reassuring smile. “If I can manage that huge thing with powered flight, a simple glide down from a height with you should be a trot in the park.”
Not a joke, then. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he was aware of a tiny spark of excitement that was threatening to grow into full-blown enthusiasm for the crazy plan. He bit his lip and shifted nervously. Was there any safe way for him to back out of this?
Sash’s smile wavered a little. “Come on, it’ll be fun. I promise I’ll keep you safe.”
Caramel gazed into her eyes and saw that she really meant it. But still…
“You once helped me learn to swim. I think I’d like to return the favour. Trust me.”
She’s got me there, he thought. He’d been wondering when she’d pull that card out. After a moment of silence, he gave her a small smile and put on the goggles. Sash wasn’t the reckless type—she wouldn’t have planned this and brought him up all the way if she wasn’t sure she could do it. Besides, hearing her whoop of delight when he agreed to her plan probably made the whole thing worth it.
After some minor hassle with putting everything on, Caramel found himself crouching low on the ledge with Sassaflash standing directly over him with her legs on either side of him. Their harnesses were linked very closely to avoid excessive swaying in flight, but that also meant that outside of flight, they were in a position that would’ve been considered awkward at the very least. If he straightened up even a little, she’d be lying on top of him.
“Why do I get the feeling that we look a bit ridiculous?” he wondered aloud.
“Because we probably do. Guess we’re lucky that nopony’s around to see us.”
“We’re on the second-tallest mountain around here,” he pointed out. “Anypony looking up can see us.”
“Nah. We’re too high up right now.” Sash squared her shoulders and flapped her wings experimentally.
Those few flaps were pretty powerful. She rose in the air, and Caramel felt the harness go taut as she lifted him up. He resisted the urge to flail and get back on solid ground, and instead allowed his legs to dangle freely. It was a little humbling to feel that she was the only one in control, and he was only along for the ride.
Sash maintained the hover for almost a full minute, beating her wings in steady, regular strokes. Eventually, she settled back on the mountain, right at the edge of their rocky outcrop.
“Warm up’s over. You ready for this?” she asked excitedly. Caramel was happy to note that she didn’t sound out of breath.
“Don’t give me time to answer that,” he replied. “Just do it before I change my—aaaghhh!”
We’re falling!
His cry of surprise became a silent scream as the wind roared in his ears. But after a second or two, he heard Sash grunt and their direction promptly shifted to a swift, downward glide. The incline was gentle, even though their speed was still considerable. Clouds whipped past them, and when he looked behind, the ledge from which they’d jumped was already far behind, shrinking away. He spared a glance upwards and saw Sash’s wings spread wide, teal feathers stiffly fluttering in the breeze. She gave him a smug grin when she saw him looking.
“Yeah, yeah, I guess that wasn’t so bad,” he said.
She raised an eyebrow and leaned closer, cocking an ear.
“That wasn’t too bad!” he half-shouted, so she could hear through the roaring wind.
“Told you!” she yelled back.
Caramel felt an irrepressible grin coming on as he took in the world far, far below him. Lakes and ponds looked like smooth, blue mirrors carved set into the green carpet of forests and meadows, with the occasional outcropping of rock here and there. Cottages and huts looked like toys from such a height. The morning mist was rapidly clearing, except for the area to the east of Ponyville, where the clouds hung heavy over the gloomy Everfree Forest. A flock of birds were flying far beneath in a V pattern, oblivious to the fact that there was an earth pony directly above them.
I’m flying, hee hee!
Slowly, he lifted his legs until they were in alignment with the air current whooshing past them, and the hairs on his forelegs actually rippled from the force of the wind. He could feel its substantial tug on his mane and tail as well. Come to think of it, that was probably why she’d given him the goggles. He wouldn’t have been able to gaze at the view quite so easily without them; he’d have to squint against the wind like Sash was doing.
A glimmer on the surface of a lake below caught his eye, and on a whim, he shifted his weight and leaned a little to the side to try to get a better look. To his surprise, their angle shifted. He shifted the other way, and they tilted in that direction in response. Caramel’s eyes widened. It was as if Sash was adjusting her glide to mimic his movements... He looked up and found her smiling as if she’d just given a foal a really nice present.
“Go ahead, Cadet Caramel, you get to drive!” she said. “Let’s see if you’re Wonderbolt material!”
He grinned and threw his weight to one side, and gasped in surprise as Sash held him tight with her forelegs and did a barrel roll. It took him a moment of rapid breathing to recover from that, but his glee returned quickly enough.
“C’mon, you can do better than that!” she yelled.
Caramel complied, and he let loose a whoop of joy as Sash pulled him up into an aerial somersault. He tried various manoeuvres, doing his level best to mimic the moves that he’d seen the Wonderbolts do on their performances. Of course, there was no way that a pegasus and earth pony could do all of that strapped together, but he thought that the dives, rolls and spirals were more than anypony could ask for. For a moment, he truly felt like a Wonderbolt!
All too soon, it was time for the ride to end. Ponyville was rapidly approaching, and he could tell that Sash was already tiring.
Hang on, how are we going to land? he thought as they rapidly descended.
Sash answered that for him easily enough. “Brace yourself!” she said as they swooped past the rooftops of the tallest shop houses, towards the town park. Caramel grit his teeth as the ground rushed up to meet them, but Sash pulled up at the last second and beat her wings rapidly, creating a strong downdraft that blew dirt and grass in a circle, allowing them to descend more slowly. She suddenly stopped when they were about three tail-lengths above the grass, and he landed heavily on all fours.
“Phew. So… what do… you think?” Sash asked as she lay panting on his back. “Still think it was crazy? Or was it… totally worth it?”
Caramel chuckled and nuzzled her on the cheek as he carried her over to the nearest tree for shade. “Can’t it be both? That was… I don’t know… there’s nothing like it. It was great. You were great!”
“Well, you did pretty well yourself. You’re a natural.”
Caramel rolled his eyes. “Heh, you’re bluffing.”
Sash smiled back. “Well, maybe just a little bit. If you had wings, I think with a little practice you’d be able to give Rainbow Dash a flight for her money.”
Caramel rubbed his mane in embarrassment at her exaggeration. He then glanced around and felt his ears and cheeks heat up. “Come on,” he said as he sat on his haunches to set her hind hooves back on the ground. “Let’s get out of this rig. I think ponies are looking at us.”
She followed his eyes and chuckled. “Yeah. Wouldn’t want to give them funny ideas.”
* * * * *
Eighteen days before Integration…
Caramel had one side of his face squashed against the rocky floor. He could taste grainy dirt mixed with sweat on his tongue.
What am I doing here?
The world felt like it was swaying to and fro slowly, and everything was dull and muted, as if he was underwater. But that couldn’t be right; he could breathe, albeit somewhat raggedly. When he opened his eyes, dark shapes surged around in the air above him, and when they collided, there was an accompanying dull thud.
Something’s wrong.
Pain started seeping into his consciousness; he could feel it somewhere on the left side of his head. He tried to feel it with a hoof, but his foreleg felt like it was made of granite. He grimaced as the pain sharpened and a rapid thumping filled his skull.
Wait…
He remembered. Something about strange, rough voices echoing through the tunnels. Yellow eyes. Snarls, chirping, loud shrieks of alarm. Rancid stink. A massive shape charging towards him—
“Diamond dogs!” he gasped.
Clarity returned with a rush as the weight pressing down on his senses lifted. Sounds seemed to speed up and sharpen, and he realised that the rapid thumping inside his head was actually blood from his racing heart. The dark shape in his foggy vision coalesced, shrinking from an amorphous cloud into more curved and angular features. He blinked once, and a changeling was suddenly looming over him.
“Oh good, you’re still alive,” said Rax as he backed away to give Caramel some space.
Caramel tried to get up, and to his relief found that he could move again. He got onto all fours, heard a rapid series of scraping sounds, turned his head… and gasped when he saw a massive, furry brute hurtling towards him, claws outstretched. Luckily for him, his training finally kicked back into action, and he dropped low before the diamond dog could rake his face off. Its claws passed over his head, and he quickly unleashed a burst of energy on its back as its momentum carried it past him. The shot was weaker than he liked, but it was still enough to make the diamond dog lose its balance and crash snout-first to the floor.
He readied another magical blast as the dog got back onto its feet. Or tried to. Rax had flown over it and smashed onto its back with all four hooves when it was halfway up. The cracking thud that followed made Caramel wince, but the diamond dog suddenly rolled, unbalanced Rax, and grabbed his neck with a massive paw. The changeling bit down hard, drawing blood, but the diamond dog didn’t let go. In fact, it grinned, and as its paw tensed, Rax’s eyes went wide.
The sight of his friend flailing in the choking grip shocked Caramel back into action.
“Let go, you freak!” he bellowed, sending a fiery blast straight at its chest.
Rax fell to the floor in a gasping heap as the diamond dog crashed into a stalagmite, bounced over it, and rolled until it was stopped by the wall.
Caramel dashed over to Rax, and he could smell the sour stink of singed fur hovering over him.
“I’m fine, idiot—stop it!” his friend rasped, pointing a hoof at the diamond dog.
Caramel hesitated for a second, but decided that restraining the beast was more important at the moment. It wasn’t out cold yet. He broke into a gallop, releasing the tension in his glands at the same time. By the time the trickling sensation inside his legs had begun, he was upon the diamond dog. It growled and swiped at him, but its aim was poor and he easily leaped over it. When he landed on his back, he proceeded to slather the viscous fluid oozing out of his pores all over its limbs, starting with its front paws. The resin was quick to harden, but not quite quickly enough to stop it from reaching out with one paw to grab his hoof, snapping several strands of the sticky stuff in the process.
Yikes! He tried to pull away, but it wouldn’t let go, and its claws dug painfully into his foreleg as it squeezed.
A second later, a pair of hooves came crashing down on the muscular limb, and the diamond dog howled in pain. Rax had leaped and stomped on it mercilessly.
“Thanks,” Caramel muttered as they spread more resin over the brute.
Rax grunted in response.
The diamond dog growled again and tried to break free. The resin stretched, and for a moment Caramel thought that it wouldn’t hold, but in the next moment the greenish strands snapped back into position as the dog relented. It glared at him balefully and spat out something that sounded like a dirty word.
“Go help the others! I’ll finish up here,” Rax snapped.
Caramel made to leave, but stopped when he caught sight of the fractured plates on Rax’s neck. They looked like they were bending inwards slightly. Come to think of it, his voice did sound rather strained… “You’re hurt,” he said.
“And you’re wasting time. Quit staring and get back to fighting!” Rax retorted. He coughed once, then frowned and added, “Or did that thing manage to punch out your brain?”
His hoof instinctively went up to the throbbing lump on the side of his head. Oh, so that’s where that came from. He also realised that Rax was getting annoyed with him, so he quickly turned tail and headed back into the tunnel from which they’d come. His mind raced as he recalled what had happened in the past few minutes.
Diamond dogs. He’d been on patrol with Rax when someone raised the alarm—the dogs had dug a tunnel up into one of the lower chambers and clashed with some of the guards. Probably trying to expand their territory or something. Whatever the case, when he and Rax had rushed to help, it had become clear that these diamond dogs were far nastier than the ones he’d heard about on the surface. These were dirtier, larger, and more wolf-like in appearance, and they only spoke in some language that he didn’t recognise. The ones on the surface were known to speak Equestrian at times. Also, it had become painfully apparent that they could easily kill any lone changeling. This dog alone had managed to push him and Rax this far down this particular tunnel.
Two other warriors joined him from adjacent tunnels as he galloped back towards the point of incursion, and sounds of battle became audible.
“There you are. Where’s Thorax?” asked Scritch.
“Back the other way.”
“Is he okay? We came as soon as we heard,” Chitin piped up.
“He says he’s fine. We’ve got bigger problems to worry about.”
Caramel found a scene of chaos when he leaped out of the tunnel and into the lower chamber. There were almost a dozen or so diamond dogs armed with various clubs and axes, engaged in combat with nearly twice as many changelings. Although they had the advantage of numbers, the smallest diamond dog looked easily thrice the weight of any one of them, and their weapons appeared well-used. Caramel could see a few motionless changelings lying on the floor, and only one diamond dog had been dragged to a corner and ensnared with resin.
Chitin and Scritch charged forward without hesitation, but Caramel lingered. For a moment, he was paralysed with indecision.
But then, he heard a resonant hiss echo from the tunnel behind him, and his next breath made his blood rise and his doubts melt away. It had been a while since he’d experienced it, and although he’d promised himself not to be taken by it again, he couldn’t think of a better time to break that promise. He cracked a grin as the combat pheromones coursed through him, firing up his senses and dulling his pain.
Chrysalis is coming!
Caramel leaped into the fray and bucked a dog that had been about to brain a changeling with its club and scorched its side with a beam of fiery magic before it could get up. Its howls of pain made him giddy with excitement.
The other changelings were quickly being affected by the pheromones as well. Everything became a blur of action as the warriors whipped themselves into a frenzy, leaping onto the dogs to bite, buck or burn with magic. Caramel did his part by joining those who were adept at magic, providing fire support whilst clinging to the ceiling, safely out of reach and blasting away at the dogs with his now considerable reserves of energy.
But even with their redoubled efforts, the dogs were not easy to take down. Many of them carried on fighting even when their flesh was torn or smoking, and Caramel was aware in some small part at the back of his mind that he was horrified by the sight of a massive, brown-furred diamond dog smashing Chitin on the head with its club. She went down and didn’t get back up.
Caramel tried to rush to her and see if she was okay, but paused when he saw a lanky dog looking at him. He couldn’t see its eyes through the narrow slits on its roughshod, bucket-like helmet, but it was obvious that he had its attention. It snarled and brandished its club at him.
You want some, eh? He sent a blast of green fire its way, but it was ready; it leaped aside and hurled its club straight at him.
Oh, ponyfea—
The heavy block of wood struck him in the chest. He thought he heard a crunch just as all the air was driven out of his lungs, and he lost his grip and dropped from the ceiling like a stunned insect. Fortunately, he’d not been directly over the dog or he would’ve been a goner. Instead, his fall was broken by a fellow changeling.
“Get off me, you idiot!” hissed Overseer Skeehar.
Why does everypony like calling me that so much? he thought, half-dazed as he lay on top of her.
Skeehar was wearing her usual carapace-like armour, and there was a black spear lying on the ground beside her. When he didn’t react to her warning, she shoved him off and levitated the spear, thrusting it straight at the diamond dog that had dislodged him from his perch.
So many. This is crazy.
Then Caramel remembered what had happened to Chitin, and he leaped back onto all fours and weaved his way through the battle, dodging blows and scorching enemies whenever he found an opportunity. She had only been less than twenty tail-lengths away, but it seemed far longer than that with all the chaos around him.
He saw the dog that had bashed her rake Scritch in the side before punching another warrior senseless. Then, it shifted its attention back to Chitin, its face twisted into a feral snarl. It hefted its club as it trudged towards her, as if it was going to finish her off.
Hayseed. She’s unconscious.
Caramel tried to gallop, but suddenly found that his legs refused to go any faster. He also found that his muscles were burning, and that funny wheezy noise he’d been hearing was actually coming from his lungs. As he collapsed to the floor, he cried out, “Somepony help her!”
The diamond dog was standing directly over her. Caramel fired a blast of magic at it, but in his current state his aim was so poor that the diamond dog merely looked at the scorch mark on the ceiling above it, then spared him a glance and chuckled. It lifted its club for the final blow, and he saw that the gnarled, heavy wood was glistening with dark changeling blood. But before it could bring it down and crush her, a blinding beam of green energy struck it squarely in the back, and sent it flying off to the far side of the chamber. Its club clattered to the floor.
Caramel turned towards the source of the blast and felt his heart leap. He’d never been so happy to see her before.
“Paws off my children, you vermin!” Chrysalis bellowed in a rippling, resonant voice. Caramel winced, hoping that the ringing in his ears wasn’t a sign of permanent damage.
At the sight of the livid queen, one of the dogs howled something out to its companions, and the half-dozen or so that were still standing began to beat a hasty retreat. Caramel attempted to rise and give chase with his fellow warriors, but fell down with a gasp as pain shot through his chest. Hooves thundered and wings buzzed all around him as everyone swarmed past him towards the fleeing dogs. It was all he could do to focus on breathing and not passing out.
Chrysalis’ arrival had pretty much put an end the skirmish. She was simply too powerful for the diamond dogs—one of them lay in a crumpled, whimpering heap, its limbs twisted in unnatural angles and its tail in a literal, bloody knot, thoroughly smothered in green resin. The unlucky few to have still been in range of her magic as they retreated had been dragged back and quickly engulfed in a swarm of changelings.
* * * * *
It was difficult to breathe. That blow to his chest had apparently done more damage than he’d initially thought, now that the pheromones had worn off. It was as if his ribs had been wrapped in rubber bands, squeezing him tight—drawing in breath was a conscious chore that he was painfully aware of. And every now and then, little spikes of agony would run through his ribs as he breathed. Still, there was nothing bubbling in his lungs or any other whistling sounds, so he was sure that at least they weren’t punctured. That would’ve been really bad.
He simply lay on the ground, too tired to do more than watch as changelings from other castes poured into the chamber and began their work on the captive diamond dogs. They were apparently going to be wrapped in cocoons. It wasn’t exactly a fate that Caramel would wish on anyone, but given the circumstances, he was finding it difficult to dredge up much sympathy for them.
“All right, you’ve had your fun. Back to your posts, I want a full sweep of the passages and any loitering mutts rounded and wrapped up by the end of this cycle!” shouted Overseer Skeehar. She then glanced at a changeling who was nursing a broken leg and barked out another command, “And get the wounded to the nearest pod—we’ve had no casualties and I plan to keep it that way. Move!”
The warriors were quick to obey, helping the injured to their hooves and herding them off to the tunnels that led upwards. Some even carried on their backs those who could no longer walk.
Nearest pods? Caramel wondered. Were the injured going to be wrapped in a different kind of cocoon to heal up inside?
Queen Chrysalis lingered to stabilise a few severely injured changelings that had been brought to her, one of which was Chitin. There was a nasty crack on her skull, and blue blood was oozing out of it. Her eyes were unfocused and she was barely breathing. From his spot, Caramel watched as the Queen sent tendrils of magic to the injured ones—the green magic slithered over their wounds, and the gashes and cracks shrank a little as they stopped bleeding.
Caramel knew healing magic when he saw it, and it only made him more uneasy of the queen’s power—even the best of unicorn doctors struggled to perform that spell. The only ones who were known to reliably cast it were the princesses. But at the same time, some part of him couldn’t help but admire that Chrysalis was treating the changelings herself and not leaving it to her subordinates. When Chitin hissed in pain as the magic worked on her head injury, Caramel thought he could hear the queen crooning to her.
“Huh,” he said. He wouldn’t have thought the queen to be like that. For all her talk of not tolerating weakness in the hive, she was being rather… motherly.
“Surprised?” asked Rax, who was suddenly standing over him.
Caramel glanced up at his friend, turned back to the queen and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well, there’s more on the way.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Rax responded by sliding a foreleg under his hauling him back onto his hooves. “We’ll show you. You can walk, right?”
Caramel grunted as pain lanced through his skull, but nodded and took a shaky step forward. The world tilted sideways, and he cried out as he fell, but his shoulder landed on Rax’s and he mumbled his thanks as his friend helped to steady him.
They headed to one of the tunnels leading upwards, which Queen Chrysalis was already ascending with the injured changelings in tow. Her healing spell apparently hadn’t been strong enough to give them a full recovery. They were still groggy and unable to walk on their own, so she was lifting all seven of them with magic.
Silently, they followed the queen. It was difficult. Pain would shoot up his hind leg whenever he put his weight on it, and the throbbing in his skull was coming back. His chest was also hurting where Rax was holding him, but he held his tongue—his support was well worth the discomfort.
One step at a time… You’ll get there. Just don’t think about how far it is…
Something warm trickled down his cheek, and he paused to wipe it away. When he looked at it, there was a blue smear on his hoof.
Wow, I’m literally blue-blooded. Too bad it didn’t come with any of the perks that royalty seemed to enjoy. He chuckled and grimaced when his lungs wheezed in protest.
They had to ascend a vertical shaft at one point, and Caramel had been forced to swallow his pride and allow Rax to help drag him up.
The place that Chrysalis led them to was a chamber that he’d never been to before. It was somewhere above the level of the fungus farms, if his sense of direction was anything to go by. It was cool and moist in there. Something about the curves of its ceiling and hollows in its walls gave the place a cosy feeling, and he found himself thinking that the place would’ve been pretty nice to live in if it hadn’t been for the fact that the surface of its walls were coated in resin, and that runoff from the rains on the surface was dripping in.
But deeper in, he changed his mind. The place was littered with the husky remnants of what looked like butterfly cocoons. Massive ones that were big enough for a pony to crawl into. Caramel’s blood suddenly ran cold. Some of them were still whole and hanging from the ceiling, and he could see figures floating inside. Pony figures.
And there were changelings all around the occupied pods, standing still with their eyes closed, pointing their horns towards the ponies within. Chrysalis called out sharply, and several changelings appeared from amongst the pods and out of nearby niches to assist her patients in tow. One by one, the infirm changelings were carried to a separate pod, and Caramel watched nervously as each one of them grew a little restless and struggled to get as close as possible to the sleeping occupants.
Oh no.
“Caramel!” someone cried out.
“Sash!” He saw her rushing over from one of the pods. She nearly tripped over one warrior lying on the ground, but ignored his hiss of annoyance and skidded to a halt in front of Caramel.
“What happened to you?” she asked, urgently inspecting his injuries.
“Diamond dogs,” he rasped. It was still hard to breathe and speak properly.
“As ponies would say—not bad for a rookie,” Rax added with a grin. “He just needs to learn to watch his back and be less of a dummy.”
“Come on, let’s get you to a pod,” she urged, tugging on his foreleg, “you’ll need to—”
Caramel brushed her off and broke free of Rax’s grip. “Look, I… I just…” He shook his head and glanced at the dozens of changelings around the pods. Their horns were glowing, and green fire was dancing on their bodies, licking at their injuries. Their wounds shrank and closed, and it was like watching fire burning holes in paper, except in reverse. Waves of relief and glee flooded his senses as they experimentally flexed their limbs and peeled off the remaining scraps of damaged carapace still clinging to the sites of their now non-existent injuries. Those who were incapacitated were suddenly able to stand again, and those with lesser injuries looked like they were ready and itching for another battle.
“This is… you’re…” Caramel suddenly found it difficult to speak. And it wasn’t because he was having trouble breathing.
“Yes, I work here,” Sash interrupted. “But we can talk about this later. You’re injured, and you need help.”
“Yeah, sometime this century, please,” Rax added.
“But…” he protested weakly.
“No buts. Get moving, grub. Skeehar is not going to be very happy if you aren’t back in fighting shape.”
Caramel’s mind descended into a haze as he was bullied along by Rax with Sash fussing over his injuries by his side. They brought him to a pod that wasn’t being fed on by anyone and released him. It was hanging rather close to the ground—close enough that its upside down occupant’s head was level with his when he was standing up. It was too dark to see the pony’s face, so he cast a little light on the pod. Sash said something in protest, but he didn’t listen. It wasn’t somepony he recognised—she was wearing torn clothing that looked like it had been taken through the wilderness and back, and her eyes were shut as she floated, unaware of the fate that had befallen her.
“Caramel, look at me, please.”
He turned to Sash. Her eyes were pleading, but her voice was firm. “I’m sorry that you had to learn it this way, but you need to feed. You’re clearly having trouble breathing, and you’re losing blood from that head wound. Doing this will heal you. Trust me.”
“I don’t even know how this is supposed to work,” he growled.
“I’ll teach you,” she replied.
He took a step backwards and shook his head. Not this time.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Rax groaned. “Are you telling me that you’re getting cold hooves now? How could you not have figured out what goes on in here after spending all that time with us?”
“You’re not helping!” Sash snapped at him. She turned back to Caramel and continued, “Please, we can deal with this issue later. Just get yourself fixed first, okay? You’re not thinking straight with a head injury like that.”
“I’m guessing feeding on love heals us, right? Aren’t I doing that with you already?” he asked. “I’ve been feeling it whenever you visited for a long time. Now I know why being with you always made me feel better.”
“It’s not—” Sash frowned. “Hang on, you can do that already? You can actually taste my… emotions?”
He nodded.
“Well, that’s—never mind, we can talk about that later too. The point’s that it’s not the same.” Sash waved aside his protest before it even left his mouth. Then, pushing him towards the pod, she continued, “Love freely given empowers you, but that’s not going to do a lot of good if you can’t cast a healing spell. But our natural feeding will—”
“There’s nothing natural about what you guys are doing here!” Caramel shouted, then doubled over as a fit of coughing overtook him.
He felt her hoof gently touch his shoulder. “Please… don’t make this any harder for everyone, especially yourself. You need help.”
Caramel spat out a glob of phlegm. “Not the kind that you guys are offering. I’m not going to hurt anypony.”
“It doesn’t really hurt them if you—”
“No,” he said. From the corner of his eye, Caramel saw Queen Chrysalis trotting over to them. He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing for the moment; it was difficult to think when he was hurting all over. When he judged her to be close enough by her hoof steps, he growled, “Was this your plan all along?”
“You know enough to make an educated guess. Now do as you’re told.”
He looked up at her defiantly and shook his head. “I’m not going to be a part of this.”
Rax and Sash fell silent as he locked eyes with Chrysalis. They stared at each other for almost a minute, neither willing to look away. Her face was unreadable, and he could not sense any of her emotions. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead when he realised that he might have crossed a line; he clearly remembered the first time he’d tried to act tough in front of her, and it was an experience that he didn’t want to repeat.
But instead of the retribution he expected, she simply sighed. “It looks like you’re due for another lesson.”
What?
“Calyx, take us to the ones we caught last month,” Chrysalis said to Sash.
Sash’s eyes widened. “Uh, those ponies, specifically?”
Caramel eyed her suspiciously. She was clearly nervous, and he’d caught her eyes flicking over to him right after the queen’s request. There was definitely something there that she was trying to hide.
“You heard me,” Chrysalis replied.
Sash slumped. “I… they’re this way.”
Caramel followed her and the queen, feeling a pit of dread opening up in his stomach. Sash led them deeper in, to a cluster of pods that were a lighter hue of green than the others, and a little glossier, too. They were apparently newer than most of those he’d seen.
“Go on, take a look,” said Chrysalis. “It’s time your eyes were opened.”
Sash stepped in front of him and said, “Wait, Caramel, please listen for a second—”
He shouldered past her and trotted forward. The closest pod had a fairly large pony inside – a stallion, judging by his size – but it was difficult to see his face.
Here goes.
Caramel lit up his horn, and felt his ears droop. The greenish fluid distorted the colours, but it was clear that the stallion’s coat was greyish, and his mane was black. The four-leafed clover cutie mark was unmistakable.
Lucky.
His expression was rather serene with the corners of his lips curled up slightly, as if he was simply having a pleasant nap. With his pulse rapidly rising, Caramel shone his light on the other pods and found Cherry Berry in one, plus a few others whom he was sure he’d seen somewhere in Ponyville before. They all looked unharmed, save for the fact that they bore the marks of long and hard travelling.
Did they come looking for me? It seemed possible; he’d not really bothered to cover his tracks because he wouldn’t have thought anypony would’ve been crazy enough to follow him. And what were the odds that they would’ve found the same place? Unless…
Caramel turned around slowly and glared at Sash. “Did you guys hunt them down? That’s what you do, right? Hunter Caste and all that?”
“We do send patrols out from time to time,” Chrysalis confirmed. “And, well, your special somepony happened to be out that day and found your little rescue party out there, quite ready to die of thirst, actually. The poor little ponies hadn’t planned their little excursion very well. And after hearing the reports, I decided that we simply couldn’t let them go to waste.”
Caramel ignored the queen and continued to glare at Sash. “Well?”
She averted her eyes and said, “They weren’t in good shape when we found them. The badlands cannot support that many ponies in one place at the same time, and—”
He snorted and waved aside her excuses. “I get it; you saved their lives or something. But why did you bring them here? Sash, they’re your friends too! Why did you put them in” – he glanced at the pods and wrinkled his nose in disgust – “these things?”
“Because I told them to,” said Chrysalis.
“I had… no choice,” whispered Sash as she stared at the ground.
Caramel remembered those words. Those were the same ones she’d said when he’d confronted her about the invasion of Canterlot, just before she left him.
“No,” he growled, stomping a hoof in emphasis. He cringed as pain shot up his leg, but managed to not topple over and continued, “There’s always a choice, and this isn’t the right one!”
“And that’s where you’re wrong.” Queen Chrysalis placed a hoof on his shoulder and slowly but inexorably guided him closer to Lucky’s pod, until his face was just inches away from his unconscious friend’s, separated only by a layer of resin. “Until now, you’ve only been passively absorbing love from Calyx, and perhaps a little friendly companionship from your caste mates. It’s time for you to learn to actively feed.”
Caramel coughed, but shook his head and backed away from Lucky. He turned and glared at Chrysalis, Sash and Rax one by one. “You guys can do what you want.” He allowed his gaze to linger on Sash, and she seemed to wilt a little. He tasted bitter regret in the air, along with a tinge of concern. “I’m not going to be a part of this.”
Chrysalis chuckled. “There’s no need to delude yourself, my dear. You already are, and you are going to learn how to feed by practicing on your friend in there.”
He bared his fangs and buzzed his wings in challenge. “Make me.”
She smiled. “Only because you asked so nicely.”
Chrysalis leaned in close, jagged horn aglow, and whispered, “Feed. Now.”
Her voice had taken on a more resonant quality, and something about it was… authoritative. It was difficult to think of a reason why he should refuse such a simple command. All he had to do was to take a few steps forward, focus on Lucky, and—
Oh, ponyfeathers! Caramel realised that he’d been doing exactly as he’d been thinking, and jerked away at the last moment. His magic had been on the tip of his horn, ready to reach into the pod, but he quickly reeled it in. He shuddered at the thought that he’d been so close to obeying the queen and—
An intense feeling of dread, guilt and regret wormed its way up his gut at the thought that he was disobeying a direct order from Chrysalis.
“Here, let me show you,” he heard her say.
He could do that. It was easy enough, and better than listening to her first command. The gut-wrenching guilt subsided to a tolerable level.
“Use your magic. Feel your surroundings. You can taste it, can’t you? The sweet dreams of the pony before you. Reach out. Don’t be afraid.”
His vision grew blurry. He allowed his magic to flow out, and gasped at the sudden rush of ‘smells’ and ‘lights’. There were many clusters of them, each probably corresponding to a cocooned pony somewhere. The brightest one was directly in front of him, and he could sense the pleasant sweetness of nourishment. He found himself salivating.
“It’s called dream-stalking. Dive in.”
Caramel obeyed, and the world instantly became a billowing storm of grey shapes and dark smoke. He caught glimpses of Lucky prancing around, with several happy mares in tow. Then he saw a younger Lucky, laughing along with and equally young Shining Armour as they teased and made fun of other colts and fillies. Then there he was snuggling up to his parents as a foal. Flashes of other scenes blazed past him, and every time a happy or tender memory or fantasy did so, the surging, dark clouds would suddenly glow vibrantly with all colours of the rainbow.
“Now, take it in. Feed,” said Chrysalis’ echoing, disembodied voice.
Wait, no. Hayseed, no.
Caramel tried to pull himself out of Lucky’s dreams, but only managed to withdraw a little. He became partially aware of both his physical surroundings and the dream, unwilling to go back in and unable to fully drag himself out. There was that horrible feeling of guilt and dread again, like he’d been caught stealing, and was awaiting punishment.
He was also somehow acutely aware of his injuries. There were numerous gashes on his hide; some of his ribs were fractured; he was losing blood; one of his lungs was now filling with fluid; and through it all, pain was coursing through his nerves like lightning.
No. I’m a pony. I will not hurt my friends!
Caramel groaned as the pain intensified. So did the unnatural guilt. With every passing second, it was as if he was committing another atrocity. Imaginary ones, he was sure, but they felt so real… He’d stomped on a puppy’s tail and kicked it away. He’d slapped a foal when it cooed at him. He’d laughed at somepony’s funeral and blown a raspberry at the coffin in front of everypony.
Please… stop.
One after another, his mind filled with all of the terrible things he was capable doing. He whimpered when he felt like he’d flown into a rage when Shining Armour had teased him in school, leaping on him like a frenzied, rabid animal and pressed both fore hooves on his throat… throttling the life out of his classmate until his eyes glazed over…
Tears began to flow.
No, no more…
Caramel dove back in, and as soon as he tasted what lay in Lucky’s dreams, he realised how much he needed it. There was love in there, and it would heal his wounds. It would give him strength. And the flood of guilt would finally end. As soon as the thought occurred to him, he was beyond stopping himself. He fed greedily, siphoning off the love and happiness out of his surroundings. Almost immediately, he sensed fire rush through his veins, burning away impurities, mending broken bones and knitting flesh back together again. And his power grew. He could feel it pooling in his magical reserves, to be called on whenever he needed it. It was like the time when Chrysalis had shared some power with him to feed the nymphs. He felt invigorated, and drew in as much of it as he could.
When he was finally sated, he felt a shiver run through him, and the real world came back with a rush. He was just in time to see green flames dissipating around him before he dropped to the floor, panting after the bout of feeding.
“Quite the appetite,” Rax commented dryly. “Looks like you just gave him nightmares.”
“Well, at least there’s no permanent harm,” added Chrysalis. She was wearing a proud smile as she towered over him. “You’ve far more potential than I’ve given you credit for. You didn’t even need lessons for slipping on your first disguise.”
Disguise?
Caramel sat on his haunches and shook his head. Something was a little off about his body. He felt bigger, and a little ungainly in his movements. Frowning, he inspected his forelegs and noticed that his muscles were a little more pronounced, and… his coat was grey. And the holes in his legs were gone—it was the same with his hind legs. He no longer had wings, and a quick exploration with his hoof told him that his horn was also gone. He looked back and saw that his tail hair was jet black, and his cutie mark of three blue horseshoes had been replaced by a green, four-leafed clover.
He stared blankly at the foreign cutie mark for a while. He could guess what had happened easily enough, but reconciling that knowledge with his heart was another matter. He glanced at Chrysalis who was watching him in amusement, at Rax who seemed half concerned and half exasperated, and at Sash, who was looking at him with a mixture of guilt and sympathy. He began to shiver.
I can’t be seen like this. This isn’t me. He whirled around, looking for a place to hide, but there were changelings everywhere, watching him. When he glanced up and saw Lucky floating in the pod, with his face twisted in a slight grimace, Caramel uttered a cry of panic and frantically clawed at his grey coat.
“How do you get this off?” he cried. He kept twisting and turning in an attempt to hide himself from everyone, unable to meet their eyes, but there was nowhere to run or hide. After scraping himself raw on his forelegs, he felt another shiver run through his body, and green fire erupted over his coat and ate away at his false form. He sighed heavily as they faded away into wisps of smoke, leaving his familiar tan coat over dark, hard skin dotted with holes on his lower legs. His cutie mark reappeared, and he’d never been so relieved to see it in his life. With a feeble moan, he slumped onto his haunches and hung his head.
I really am an idiot. How did I not see this coming?
“This isn’t right,” Caramel whispered to himself.
He felt someone’s hoof under his chin, and his face was lifted up. Chrysalis smiled at him and said, “Right and wrong is a matter of perspective. You’ve seen what we have to deal with down here; you know that some of your siblings would die without access to these reserves. And given your role in battle, I’m sure that you also know how valuable magic is in defending ourselves. ”
“They’re ponies. They have feelings. They have families.” Caramel felt his voice rising. Although he was emotionally worn out, he could feel his magical reserves bleeding in to compensate. “You can’t just keep them here like… like, I don’t know, things that you feed on like snacks whenever you feel like it!” He looked at Sash, Rax, Chitin and the others who were standing around and growled, “And how can you guys just go along with this? This isn’t right and you know it! How would you feel if ponies threw you into jail, or dragged you out of your homes, or—”
Caramel’s next word died on his lips as the realisation sank in.
“We know,” Sash replied.
“So did our ancestors,” said another changeling at the back.
“It’s hard being on the wrong side of the fence, isn’t it?” asked Chrysalis. “Your forebears drove us into this wasteland.”
If you guys didn’t try to steal love in the first place… But even as he tried to justify their actions, Caramel realised that pointing that out would only lead to an endless game of blaming one another for past wrongs. There was nothing else to be said.
“Whatever you may think, the facts remain. We live here because you ponies don’t like us. Life is hard in our world, and many of us would die if we didn’t make use of our abilities. Feeding on love is the most efficient and reliable source of magic, which happens to be what we need for nourishment and defence, so don’t expect apologies from us anytime soon. And lastly, your siblings do this because they have no choice.”
“There is always a choice,” he whispered.
“Not for us,” said Sash.
“The queen commands; the hive obeys,” almost all of the changelings said in unison.
“Well, most of the time,” Rax added.
“Caramel, slap Thorax for me,” commanded Chrysalis.
He promptly got up and smacked Rax on the cheek. At his friend’s surprised grunt, he blinked and looked at his hoof in shock. What did I do that for?
“Good. Now hit Calyx.”
Caramel turned to Sash and raised his hoof, but stopped at the last moment when she flinched. But then he felt a growing pang of guilt rising in his heart, and the memory of the horrible things he’d imagined he’d done surged back. Not again! Before he could stop himself, he’d already struck her on the face, far harder than he’d intended, and she was suddenly sprawled on the ground, nursing the growing lump on her cheek.
“I’m sorry!” he cried out as he rushed to her side. “I don’t know what—”
“It’s okay, I’m tougher than that,” she interjected, gently pushing him away.
“Get up and look at me.”
Grinding his teeth in frustration, Caramel turned away from Sash and found himself face to face with Queen Chrysalis. She wasn’t smiling anymore.
“You are in our world now,” she said in a resonant voice. “And the first rule of the hive is simple; obey the queen. So let me make this clear: you will not attempt to free these ponies or sabotage Hunter Caste in any way; you will not go to the surface or try to flee from work; you will not abandon your post and your siblings.”
Her horn was glowing throughout her speech, and as each command was iterated, Caramel felt as if a growing weight was pressing down on his mind, harder and harder. But when she’d finished and her horn stopped glowing, the pressure vanished. Her voice returned to normal after that. “But I’ll be reasonable; you’re still free to go wherever you please within your bounds, and so long as you continue to do your part as you have from the beginning, I will place no further restrictions on your freedom. You are still family, after all, and I would hate to make you miserable after all you’ve given up for us.”
Too late for that, he thought numbly.
Chrysalis patted him on the head. “You’re excused from duty for the next cycle. I’m sure you’ll need the time to revise your understanding of how you fit into all of this. But I expect you to be back on duty after that. Your siblings need you.”
Caramel had no words left. He simply stared at the ground in silence. After a while, he looked up and realised that the queen was gone, and so were most of the onlookers. The only ones left were Rax, Chitin and Sash, and a few other members of Hunter Caste working in the background, keeping a discreet distance from them.
“Really, now,” Chitin began, “there’s no need to be so upset about this. You’re all better now, and so am I!” She hopped in front of him and did a little somersault in the air. “We’d still be crawling around like slugs if we hadn’t fed.”
“Leave me alone,” Caramel grunted.
“But—”
“Chitin, not now. Give him some time,” Sash interrupted.
“Oh, okay.” Chitin turned to Rax and announced, “I’m heading back down. You coming? Scritch and Mandy might be getting worried.”
“I’ll come later.”
Chitin nodded, then waved goodbye and cheerfully trotted off. Caramel watched until she was out of sight, then turned his gaze onto Sash, wondering what exactly he was supposed to make of her now. The others, he could understand—they had no reason to treat Lucky and Cherry any differently from the rest of their ‘prey’. But Sash had been their childhood friend for ages, and he felt that she should’ve at least tried to do something to help them instead of dragging them underground.
Sash simply gazed back in silence. It was hard to tell what she was feeling at the moment. Maybe she was guarding her emotions carefully, now that she knew that he could sense them at times.
“Do you want me to go too?” she asked.
He closed his eyes tight and nodded. More than anything else, her role in capturing Lucky and Cherry felt like a betrayal, and he was afraid that he would tear up if he looked her in the eyes. He could still feel the wetness from when he’d cried after strangling Shining Armour.
No, that didn’t actually happen! he angrily corrected himself.
“I’ll see you later.” There was silence for a few seconds, and then Sash whispered, “Please don’t beat yourself up too hard, okay? Anypony else would’ve done the same thing in your place.”
“Just go. Please.”
“All right, I’ll be around if you need me,” she said.
When her hoof steps had receded, he sighed and held his head in his hooves. He wanted to be angry at her for what she’d done, and for keeping him in the dark for so long. They’d been caught for over a month, for crying out loud! But at the same time, he could see that there was probably nothing that she could’ve changed. He couldn’t expect her to fight all her siblings who’d been on patrol with her, and she certainly couldn’t have done anything against Chrysalis. It was painfully apparent that changelings were physically incapable of disobeying direct orders from their queen.
And now she’s my queen, too, he thought miserably. If he couldn’t fight against the compulsion even as a half-pony, then how could he expect Sash, a full changeling to do the same? And now, they were trapped. They were both free to be with one another, but only within the confines of the hive. And it seemed that there was nothing he could do about it.
Caramel groaned in frustration and whirled around, searching for something to wreck. He found a loose chunk of rock, seized it with magic, and hurled it as hard as he could against the wall. It exploded into a hundred little pieces, leaving a powdery smudge on the wall and a cloud of dust.
“Good throw, though you could’ve saved it for a real fight,” Rax commented. He was sitting in a rather comfortable position, nestled between a rock column and an empty pod, watching him.
Caramel rounded on him and growled, “Why are you still here?”
“Foalsitting,” he chirped.
He scowled and supressed the urge to throw something at him. He wasn’t in the mood for jokes. “I. Don’t. Need. A foalsitter.”
Rax was unrepentant. But he did wipe the grin off his face and replied, “Fine. It’s my job to keep you safe, remember? I’m here to make sure you don’t do something stupid.”
“Like what?”
Rax narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin with a hoof. “Oh, I don’t know. There are plenty of ways to do yourself in if you feel like it. Strangle yourself, drown, poke the queen in the eye, whatever. It’d be pretty funny to watch you try, but Chrysalis would bust my shell and turn me into mushroom compost if you succeeded.” He then grinned again and added, “Can’t let that happen. Priorities, you know?”
“Gee, how thoughtful of you. I feel so much better, now,” Caramel groused.
“Oh, that was unintentional. Do you think you could stay miserable for a little longer, then? I don’t feel like going back to the barracks just yet. It’s much nicer up here; it’s not so wet.”
Enough was enough. He’d just discovered what Sash really did in the hive, and on top of that, he’d had his mind invaded and abused by Chrysalis and been forced to feed on his childhood friend like some dirty leech. Caramel leapt up and stomped over to Rax. “Look, you guys may find all of this normal, but I’m a little out of my depth here, okay? I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be anymore!” he shouted.
Rax raised an eyebrow. “You don’t like being a changeling? Well, that’s too bad. What were you expecting when you joined us? You really should have thought this through before coming.”
I know that! Caramel let loose an angry hiss and raised his hoof, but slammed it back on the ground instead of punching Rax’s stupid face. “Hayseed, I hate you guys,” he said through gritted teeth.
Rax laughed. “Are you sure about that? Because it sure looks like you’re hating yourself right now.” So saying, he burst into green flames, and an instant later, a half-changeling Caramel was sitting languidly in his place, wearing a smug grin. He had the same dirty tan coat as he did, which had gone patchy in some places on his back and neck, and had completely receded from his lower legs, which were full of holes. His wings were almost full-sized, and the last patch of hair on his tail looked just about ready to fall off. His mane, although filthy, was still intact. All in all, it was the exact appearance he knew he had. Except the eyes. Due to the lack of mirrors in the hive, he’d not been aware that his eye whites had gone completely blue. His pupils remained the same.
Do I really look like that now? He backed away a few inches and shook his head. There was no going back for him. He’d already crossed a line.
The fake Caramel gave him a toothy grin and asked in his own voice, “Like it?”
“Enough…” he warned.
“You’d better get used to it, because that’s what you’ll look like for the rest of—”
That’s it. Caramel roared as he leapt onto his doppelganger and delivered a swift punch to his muzzle. He then tried to pin him down with both hooves, but he flinched when the fake Caramel snapped at his foreleg and kicked him in the belly. He fell flat on his back, but quickly got up and charged once more. They collided and wrestled for several minutes, tumbling all over the place, smashing each other against the walls and floor and trading blows. He grew hot and sweaty, but refused to quit until he’d beaten an apology out of his opponent. It wasn’t until he bit down on his ear that he finally got a verbal reaction.
“Yargh!” Rax yelped.
Oh, yuck! He’d forgotten about his fangs—they’d pierced Rax’s fleshy ear and its hard, serrated edges felt crunchy between his teeth.
When Rax tried to buck him off, he simply yanked harder.
“Get off, you stupi—aaargh!”
Caramel refused to let go, even though the filthy, coppery taste in his mouth was beginning to nauseate him. Rax’s wings buzzed futilely against his chest, and whenever he tried to shift to gain leverage, Caramel simply pulled harder and gnawed.
“Okay, okay, I give!” Rax whined.
Hayseed, I sound pathetic.
“Pthlargh!” Caramel released out Rax’s mangled ear and spat out a glob of blood mixed with his saliva. The taste lingered, though, and he gagged and chucked up a little splatter of bile onto the floor. When he’d finally gotten his stomach under control, he saw Rax shift back into changeling form in a burst of green fire.
“Wow, I need to remember how sensitive pony ears are. Would’ve been really useful to know during the invasion,” Rax muttered, nursing his ear. It was no longer bleeding, but the damage remained. There were two holes in it.
They did nothing for but stare at each other for a while, panting from the exertion, but Rax eventually spoke again, “So… feel better after throwing your little tantrum?”
Somehow, Caramel did feel better. Maybe changelings could only feel so many things at once before new stimuli crowded out their emotions. He slumped to the ground and sighed. “Yeah.” But after a moment, he grimaced and spat out another glob of saliva, saying, “Ugh, revenge definitely isn’t sweet. You taste lousy.”
Rax shook his head and smiled. “Not so fast. Guess whose form I was wearing when you bit me?”
Oh, right. Caramel winced at the thought. That wasn’t something he wanted to think of at the moment. He rubbed the back of his head and tentatively said, “So… um… thanks for that. I guess I needed it.”
Rax frowned at him. “What are you talking about? I was just looking for an excuse to do something other than watch you mope.”
Caramel gave a weak chuckle. Rax had a really… unconventional way of helping things, but he couldn’t argue with the results. But he knew that it wasn’t going to fix anything in the long run. In spite of feeling a bit better, he was aware that his frustration and turmoil were still simmering at the back of his mind, and no amount of excitement or physical exertion was going to help him forget about his disillusionment. And what had Lucky and Cherry been doing out in the wilderness in the first place? Searching for him? And how many others were aware of the specifics of his disappearance? Before setting out to find Sassaflash, he’d certainly not announced his intentions to the world or anything.
“Thanks for helping, but I’m going to need some time to sort this out,” he said, staring at the ground as he traced patterns idly in the dirt with his hoof. “I need to think about… all of this.”
He then heard Rax smacking a hoof to his forehead. “Blargh, more boring stuff.”
At least you’re not the one dealing with it. Caramel remained silent as he lay down. No matter how much he wished it otherwise, things couldn’t go back to how they were.
* * * * *
Caramel awoke with a gasp. But instead of drawing in air, he felt something thick and viscous inside his lungs.
What the…
His movements felt ponderously slow, and everything was green and distorted, as if he was underwater. He reached out, and his hoof pressed against something that was tough yet stretchy. Panic rose in his chest when he realised that he was upside down and trapped with no air, but slowly, he found that breathing in the heavy fluid was relieving the burning in his lungs. And then the realisation came to him; he was inside a changeling cocoon.
That can’t be. I remember…
He’d joined the hive. He’d been set to work in Forager Caste, then Keeper and then Warrior, and he’d made friends with a few changelings, and Sash was there with him, and Chrysalis had been turning him into one of them... And then he remembered fighting the diamond dogs, and…
I fed on Lucky. Like a changeling. Chrysalis made me do it.
He looked at his hooves. Even looking through the thick fluid, he could easily tell that there were no holes, and his coat was all there. He couldn’t feel his wings, and his magic was completely gone. He wasn’t a changeling; he was still a pony.
It felt darned real…
Relief warred with panic. He’d not actually turned on his friends, then! He wasn’t going to become a changeling! But at the same time, he was now the prey rather than the predator. Maybe the changelings had just laughed at him and wrapped him up in his sleep during his first night; it was the only time they could’ve done it, before he was given his first dose of royal jelly.
But before he could decide whether he liked this sudden turn of events, he glimpsed something dark at the edge of his vision. It looked eerily familiar. As his pulse quickened, he heard someone whisper to him. The voice was distorted and indistinct, but it wasn’t something he’d imagined. He squinted at the dark, blurry figure outside of the pod. It was definitely pony shaped. Or it could’ve just as easily been a changeling.
Am I going to get fed on?
A faint, light green line appeared in front of him, trailing behind a dark little dot that travelled down in a straight line. As he watched, the line fattened and curved out in the middle, until it was more like—
Somepony’s cutting me out.
Caramel braced himself as he spilled out of the cocoon. His fall was somewhat cushioned by the heavy fluid, and it took him a moment to right himself and begin coughing the stuff up and out of his lungs. It was as thick as honey and incredibly uncomfortable to bring up, especially after he’d gotten some air into his lungs. He took a deep, gurgling breath and choked out little globs of gunk at a time.
“Be still. You are safe now,” a soothing voice said.
Caramel froze. He looked up, slowly, and saw a wraith-like figure towering over him.
Chrysalis?
But in the next instant, he realised that it wasn’t the queen. The figure was dark and blurry around the edges, but he could tell that it – no, she – had no holes in her legs; her horn wasn’t jagged, and her wings were neither translucent nor serrated. He frowned as he peered at her. She wasn’t quite black; the longer he stared, the more he thought that her body actually had colour. Maybe blue, a blue so dark that it was almost black.
Wait a minute…
He whirled around, sweeping his gaze in every direction. The cavern’s massive, dark expanse was filled with thousands of pods, and far in the distance, he could see the outlines of tunnel entrances that glowed with a deep, purple light. The shadows were angled in impossible directions in relation to the light.
“What have they done to you?” asked the wraith. This time, the voice was distinctly feminine, but it also carried a steely undertone.
Caramel stared at her once more, simultaneously fighting the urge to flee. Slowly, the wispy edges on her form settled, and he took in a sharp breath. Dark blue coat, feathered wings, a mane and tail that rippled and waved in the windless air, tiara and breastplate.
“I’ve seen you before,” he murmured.
* * * * *
Caramel awoke with a gasp. And this time, it was air and not fluid that filled his lungs. He sat up and found that he was back in what he was starting to think of as the hive’s love repository. Lucky and Cherry were still floating in their pods nearby, and so was everypony else. Further down the cavern, he spotted several changelings hanging upside down from the ceiling as they wove strands of resin around a fresh pod. It was a little larger than the others, and when Caramel squinted, he realised that it was because the occupant was a diamond dog.
Guess this place doubles as a dungeon.
He got up and found Rax asleep right where he’d left him. He peered at him closely and sighed. Nothing had changed. After the dream, he’d entertained the hope that maybe some of the things that had happened in the past hours hadn’t been real, but Rax’s fractured neck plates and bitten ear were evidence to the contrary. And that meant that he still had a lot to think about. Not the least of which was the fact that he’d discovered what was responsible for his intermittent nightmares. Or more specifically, who. Now that he’d thought about it, they almost always occurred during the cycles that coincided with night time. He could finally put a name to the nameless shade that had chased him in his dreams.
Princess Luna. Formerly, Nightmare Moon.
If being forced to feed on his friend was like being thrown into the deep end of a pool and finding that there was a shark in it, then this new discovery was like finding there was a hydra in the pool, too. He didn’t know who was supposed to be scared of whom. Or whether he was getting out alive once the winner was finished with the other.
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Now that was a great chapter. Very dark and intense, just the way I like it
There were plenty of casualties. Casualty is defined as such: A person killed or injured in a war or accident.
The word you're looking for is fatalities.
Aw and the story was so not-dark :(
Oh well, twas inevitable, I guess...
Two words can describe that last bit there.
Oh, shit.
Kinda looking forward to the fallout of this, just saying.
Luna: DreamWalker!
Yay another chapter
2481532 So after the changelings feed on them and give them nightmares, it's Luna's job to calm their dreams? No wonder she was missing during the battle. Busy busy!
2481476
Actually, Casualties refers to Fatalities, or Injuries that can remove one from active duty. Since the changeling's know the extend of healing that c omes from feeding, anyone injured, but not seriously enough to not be allowed to fight again, would not be a casualty.
Now, if they were to lose a leg, and regrowing a leg were to be out of the bounds of healing, then they would be a casualty.
But injured and casualty are not the same thing, casualty just refers to no longer being able to serve, through illness, physical restrictions, death, or in some cases, mental status.
One does not simply change alliance it seems. Luna can make life hard on an ex-pony.
Sorry, someone had to do it.
2481848
But they were taken off active duty, otherwise Carmel and the others would have chased after the retreating diamond dogs.
When a wounded soldier is medivaced to a hospital they are still referred to as casualties. That does not mean the soldier can not make a full recovery and return to active duty later.
As for the story, the feeding chamber/prison doubles as the changeling hospital where they healed. Just because they were healed in the space of a minute or however long it took doesn't change that.
Casualty includes both dead and wounded soldiers who can not continue fighting in their current condition. That is why Caramel and the others are classified as casualties.
2482083
They didn't chase the dogs because they weren't ordered to pursue.
Seeing a field medic is not the same as being relieved of active duty. The closest we got was Carmel getting to skip a cycle and that wasn't related to the attack other then the part it played in his discovery.
As far as most of the changeling were concerned, they had a minor inconvenience, not casualties.
Either way, this doesn't need to spiral into a debate.
2481848
Agreed. Having served in the military, you are only a casualty if you are no longer able to do your job. You are simply injured if you can keep going. TECHNICALLY I would say falling unconcious falls in the casualty catagory though, as well as being unable to move yourself to treatment, but Chrysy is a bitch and probably only meant if you are dead, since healing is a fairly quick process.
Fabulous! I always get excited when this one gets updated, and this was definitely no disappointment.
Youch, this just took a couple surprising turns. Didn't see the pony prisoners or the dream encounter with Luna coming at all.
I see some major developments coming from this if Luna can find him and if she discovers the prisoners.
2482287
Broke Dick!
Or more commonly known as: Profiles!
I'm former Army aviation. (CH-47's)
This was a great chapter and very dark too. Scary mind rape on a massive scale and horrible philosophies.
So Chrysalis wants efficiency and reliability? Let's do that shall we?
First, slavery! People being oppressed to do hard work is very efficient.
Next, removal of old people! They can't work much and take up too many resources.
Then, eradication of the diseased or injured! If someone is sick or injured beyond speedy recovery, they'll take up too many resources.
Finally, massive amounts of population and genetic control! Those with good genes will be forced to mate with other good genetic partners when needed.
Clearly, having the most efficient society possible probably isn't a good thing. Maybe if Chrysalis wasn't such a blowhard and stopped being oppressive, her people could come up with better ways to live!
Given Chrysalis' utilization of mind control, I would wager the reason they were driven out of society was primarily due to her machinations of domination.
She must be killed...
Ruh roh! I get the feeling that the princess of the night won't be so understanding of the changelings and Caramel's transformation. Also, the whole having normal pupils but blue instead of whites really creeped me out. Sash must really love him if she's still willing to be physically close to him when he looks like that.
2482678 I can't run Top, I got a broke dick! Oh god why
Damn, (mostly) light-hearted story got all creepy now.
Let's hope Luna can fix this mess.
Nice long chapter, and I am curious about how Caramel is going to handle Princess Luna's visits. Nightmares, run Caramel run! Or explaining...
Wonder what will happen... Luna starts to understand and grows sympathetic with the Changelings, or just assumes and grows furious. Where will this story go?
2481889 Was kind of waiting for that. And you didn't disappoint!
2482840 Hmm, the way I see it, Chrysalis doesn't need to have every single changeling under constant mind control. Their 'default setting' is to listen to their mom, anyway. But she does have the natural mechanism in place should there be any upstarts.
2484039 Coming from a race that elicits reactions of fear or disgust from any others they encounter, it would probably be hypocritical of her to feel that way towards Caramel. Or maybe changelings just have a much more flexible perception of attractiveness to broaden their scope for potential victims.
2484768 Or help things escalate...
... 
... 
The "show you" has been doubled!
It's always fun when the mind control starts. I don't know why, but I love reading those sequences. Up until now, Caramel's been dead-set that changelings just had a bad rap, but it's damned difficult to justify mind control. And making a dude slap his girlfriend? If this story don't end with Chryssie going "Et tu, Tibia?" we're going to have words.
Wow, this was intense. And all hail the arrival of Luna!
Thank you for writing this masterpiece, it is the best fic I've ever read. Really, sir, you are awesome!
I am looking forward to the next chapter!
Time, time, why do you pass so slowly?...
wait, is minuette supposed to be like another name for octavia?
2508363 Nope. Minuette is the merchandise name for Colgate.
2508604 oh ok cuz minuette is like a musical term so...
I must admit I really like whole story so far. It's the first changeling fic that I've read, showing changelings in different light, than others, their society, casts, and biology, and they are really likeable. I like that the whole story doesn't feel rushed and author is slowly creating whole Underground changeling world with Caramel slowly turning in one of them. Good to see that not everyone sees the changelings like simple bugs, hissing and spitting acid ewerywhere. I really like the idea of changeling developing their own language it have so much sense! I also like that they have males and females there not only queen and bucnh of nameless drones. I like how the changeling friends of Caramel are created and how living in badlands makes their live hard, I wish to somebody help them and this is very good in creating of their world. I alvays wanted to thing that this 'drone' form of changeling is just their 'battle form' and usually ordinary changelings are much more similar to Chrysalis (except being much smaller of course) having actually manes and pupils :P But I guess it's only my headcannon and nobody likes to make them a little less creepy and different to each other :/. Only thing that is little confusing are the dream sequences sometimes they are really messing with my mind. I'm glad to see that the author doesn't putted a whole bunch of main characters staying with only the minor ones, that helps to focus better around Caramel. I also really like whole transformation thing with crawling the walls and stuff :D.
I hope to see a flying lessions and I really hope to see happy ending. Most of changeling stories are alvays filled with pain and hatred from anyone whose not a pony :P. I wanted to thank author for that story. Keeping my interest by whole 8 chapters is quite an achivement! Especially that I have never have any interest for any colt character xD
Keep it awesome!
Great chapter! I loved how you managed to paint the Changeling actions as morally ambiguous, as overtly wrong as they might be. I can't wait to see how this revelation will affect Caramel.
MAKE CHAP 9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!plz
ps:free hugs
I have a feeling Caramel's not going to get the chance to explain properly, once this shitstorm hits...
2534867
Agreed. Though if we're lucky, he'll be able to work as an ambassador accidental like.
2552463 Indeed; that could be interesting!
I love this story so far
[quoteThere is always a choice]"No there really is-int"
-Captain Martin Walker Spec ops the line
Repetition
I've been waiting for a chapter like this. Something brimming with emotion and giving the story a new sense of direction. I was originally quite hesitant about reading this story, but the world building is spectacular and the romance is pretty good as well. Really interested in seeing how this goes.
So, the proverbial fecal matter collides with the equally proverbial rotary air circulation device.
He has now fed, and Luna is trying to "save" him. She will soon realize there is nothing left of him to save, besides his resilience.
5372575
Indeed.
And I'll be expressing now that I'm glad I kept reading. Things seemed to have tightened up as I go, so I can pretty much just... enjoy it.
Whee
I hate when characters lose their free will and/or forced to do things through mind control.
Nothing is worse than losing your free will.
What point is there in living if you can't control how you live?
Oh, great, now Luna's going to come in and make everything worse. I hope Chryssie kicks her ass.
And seriously, would Caramel rather have his friends die horribly in the sweltering desert?
And the Cutelings have to hey by somehow, since ponies had too important things in progress with their fertile lands, like maintaining lower population density than central Australia, to share any of if with the changelings.
Cya
Raziel-chan
Caramel is an idiot. I'm with the other changelings; how did he not know? It's unbelievable to the point of breaking my suspension of disbelief. He even said in the first chapters that he thought they might put him in a cocoon, so his reaction makes no sense.
6691600
Depends on how much you trust the Changelings' narrative to adhere to reality. It's very easy to confabulate a reason to take something when you really want or need it, as the Changelings do with captives. His friends could've mounted the best equipped rescue expedition in history and it wouldn't have mattered; they still would've counted as "dying" for the purpose of taking them back to the hive. After all, nobody back home is going to poke holes in story that justifies bringing back things necessary for life. Nobody but that idiot Caramel.
Never think i would had problems living a changeling... But now i see it could be very... Harsh
There a still minor gramer mistakes in this chapter
Luna has almost established contact again!
9528154
That is some hilarious irony.
I friggin' love this chapter, just BTW.