"Wait! WAIT! Leech fail uzzefulnezz tezzts on purpozze! Leech can be uzzeful drone! General, pleazze, lizzten to Leech!" wailed Leech, as he felt Switcher's transformative powers coursing through his body.
To his amazement, the fiery green onslaught ceased, Switcher opened his eyes and took a step towards the pod that held Leech. He rubbed a hoof to his chin, as if in thought.
"So..." he began. "You threw your tests, you say?"
Leech nodded as best he could from within the fluid that surrounded him.
"You openly admit attempting to deceive our Queen... a serious charge indeed, 1017. You understand there will be sanctions for this?" asked Switcher, gravely.
Another round of vigorous nodding from Leech greeted this.
"Leech do any punishment Queen likezz!" he jabbered, desperately.
"Very well then." conceded Switcher, turning away from Leech and taking a few steps. "Now, my knowledge of changeling law is by no means comprehensive, but I believe I know what the sanction for deceiving a hive leader is."
Leech waited, his heart almost in the back of his throat with anticipation. Switcher turned to face Leech once more, his face the very picture of deranged, sadistic glee.
"The penalty is death. Death by Necrosia." he cackled, before firing up his horn, and the aura again enveloped Leech's pod.
The tingling sensation resumed, as Leech curled himself into a ball and waited for it to all be over.
----------
Several tingly minutes passed, and Leech noticed a distinct lack of being dead on his part. Uncurling and taking a glance at his forelegs, he couldn't help but notice that his body still retained a somewhat undissolved quality to it. Presently, the green aura died down, and a frustrated Switcher approached the pod, his face a mixture of surprise, disappointment and disgust.
"I gave you enough juice to make Necrosia out of at least seven drones! Why aren't you a changeling smoothie by now?" he grumbled, annoyed.
He rubbed his chin once again, his eyes widening after a few moments.
"There must be another type of magic which is interfering with my own." he concluded. "Maybe it's because you wasted several months of your life larking about in the presence of that unicorn!"
Leech, in an uncharacteristic show of intelligence, had already deduced what the cause of the magical interference was. It wasn't residual magic from being in proximity to Trixie, but the tooth regrowth potion the zebra tribe had given to him. It contained a basic type of magic, and was still active within his body. As such, its magic energies had conflicted with those of Switcher, temporarily rendering him incompatible with whatever power Switcher was invoking. Leech wondered how much more it would take before the zebra magic broke down and left him vulnerable to the Necrosia process - not that much, he guessed.
His tiny mind in overdrive, Leech desperately attempted to conceive a way to escape his pod-shaped prison - fortunately, his chance came sooner than expected. Switcher's horn glowed gently as he received a telepathic message from Chrysalis.
"Yes, my Queen? What is it?" he answered.
His horn pulsated in response.
"Now?" he asked, moodily. "But I'm in the middle of somethi-"
An immediate, intense burst of light followed this.
"Y-y-yes! Of course my Queen! I shall be there right away!" Switcher promised.
He turned and glared at Leech, who was still floating helplessly in the pod, occasionally twitching with sparks of green magic emanating from his body.
"My Queen requires me urgently. But mark my words 1017, I'll tend to you later!" snapped Switcher, flying off into the darkness of the cave.
This was Leech's chance.
"Leech nearly forgot..." thought Leech to himself, "Leech is maintenanzze drone!"
He looked at his digging spurs and smiled. These were designed for going through rock and mud, so they'd have no trouble with the rubbery walls of this pod!
That was the theory at least. In practice, the pod wall just flexed every time he pushed his spurs into it, and being suspended in a gel he was unable to get much purchase - pushing against the pod simply propelled him backwards. Slamming his front hooves into the pod didn't help, the rebound from the pod resulting in Leech punching himself in the face several times. After a few minutes of futile attempts to push his spurs through the pod, he tried a different approach. He used the sharp tips of the spurs to make horizontal slashing movements, scoring the pod's lining. After several increasingly desperate slashes, he finally weakened one part of the pod enough for it to come apart with a satisfying ripping sound.
Leech was propelled out of the pod and onto the ground, riding on a thick torrent of Necrosia Base. He stood up and quickly shook the remnants of the fetid fluid from his body and wings. Finally, he was free.
"Leech better hide himzzelf!" he buzzed, looking around him. "Or even more better-er-er, Leech better ezzcape!"
----------
As he readied himself to leave, Leech remembered that another changeling was in the holding area when Switcher dragged him away - High General Clone. He decided he'd better go and rescue the apparent 'traitor' - anyone he was able to get on his side would be an enormous advantage at this point! He remembered Clone from the days before he was separated from the swarm - he'd been one of Chrysalis' personal advisors, but a reasonable authority figure with it. He'd often calm the Queen down when she was in one of her fits of rage, and was firm but fair with the underlings. Leech liked him, and wondered what in Equestria he could have done to earn the title of traitor - Leech didn't think Clone had it in him to betray his swarm.
Leech quickly zipped back to the holding area, as fast as his wings would carry him. He landed outside the cave where Clone was being kept, and peered inside. The High General was very pleased to see the little maintenance drone, and motioned for him to come closer to the webbing that covered the front of the cave.
"There's no time to lose!" he said quickly. "Put your hoof where my horn once was!".
He lowered his head to reveal the stump where his horn had been broken off. Leech, a hundred questions whirling through his mind, decided not to ask and just did as Clone had told him. He placed his hoof through a gap in the web and onto the superior changeling's head, and immediately felt a warm sensation in both the hoof and his own horn.
Leech watched in amazement as Clone created an opening in the webbing, using his own powers focused via Leech's horn. Clone stepped out of the cave, and Leech removed his hoof from his superior's head.
"Many thanks, 1017. Whilst my powers are strong enough to manipulate this stuff, I'm about as much use as a scout drone with no legs if I haven't got a horn to focus them with! Now, hurry, we've got to get out of here before Switcher gets back." he said, again with a tone of urgency.
Leech nodded. Whilst Clone ordinarily outranked Switcher, no changeling would heed his word now that he was classed as a traitor - least of all, Switcher. And without the use of his powers, Switcher would easily be able to defeat the deposed High General. Whilst Clone was at least a head taller than Switcher and far more powerfully built, Leech somehow doubted the wicked General would attempt to engage them in a bare-hoof fight.
Noticing a crack wider than most in the ceiling of the cave, through which daylight poured and provided the dank area's primary source of illumination, Clone pointed upwards. The two changelings flew vertically towards the light, with the crack only being millimeters wide enough to accomodate Clone's bulk. The two emerged from the other side of the crack, out into the warm winds and overcast skies of the Badlands.
----------
They flew for some considerable distance before setting down among an expanse of jagged rocks, around half a mile from the hive. They both gasped for breath after such an intense flight, and Leech's legs began to feel as much like cheese as they looked, as the adrenaline rush wore off.
"A fine piece of work indeed, 1017." congratulated Clone warmly, placing a hoof on Leech's shoulder. "You're a credit to your swarm."
Leech was amazed - this was the first positive response he had received since returning to the hive. Heck, it was only the third or fourth one he'd ever had in the company of his brethren! Now that the danger was over, Leech plucked up courage to ask Clone some of the questions that were troubling him.
"High General Clone... can Leech call you Clone?" asked Leech. Clone nodded, and Leech continued. "Clone, why doezz General think Clone is traitor to zzswarm?"
Clone took a deep breath, and let out a heavy sigh.
"In truth, 1017... I mean, Leech... things have been extremely strange around the hive since the failed invasion of Canterlot. Queen Chrysalis seems to have become obsessed with conquering the pony capital and she's had a massive restructure of the swarm's hierarchy. Switcher is her new personal advisor, and rumor has it he's second-in-command of the entire swarm now!" he explained sadly.
Leech nodded, as Clone continued.
"Whilst Chrysalis is bad tempered at times, and occasionally revels in the defeat of targets a little too much, she's no monster. Ultimately she cares for the benefit of her subjects, and our raids are for the purposes of sustaining ourselves rather than conquest. So I'm mystified as to why she's seen fit to make Necrosia out of nearly a fifth of the surviving swarm - many of those injured could have recovered! It used to be that Necrosia was strictly a method of recycling our dead, or as an act of mercy to those injured beyond recovery, if they so chose." he said, slowly shaking his head. He composed himself, and continued explaining his situation.
"Around a week ago, I began to receive a strange telepathic signal - it was very weak, but definitely present. It was far too distant to identify positively, but I attempted to track it nonetheless. My search eventually led me to a cliff face in a valley roughly three miles East of here. As I landed, the signal's strength became greater, although I was still unable to see its source. The next thing I know, Switcher and those four Sentries that follow him everywhere jumped me. And let me tell you, there's something not right about those Sentries..." he muttered, going off into deep thought for a moment.
"I fought them off for a while, but Switcher got a lucky hit on my horn, and destroyed it." he continued, as he gingerly felt the spot on his head where it had once been.
"Without that, I was easy prey against the five of them. Switcher and his minions took me back to the Queen, who proclaimed that I was trespassing in a restricted area and sentenced me to the N.R. for treachery. To this day, I have no idea why... the only possibly explanation is that there was something in that area. Something that neither Switcher nor Chrysalis wanted anyone to find, and I came too close to be allowed to live." he finished, his previously sullen face taking on a look of grim determination.
Leech looked quizzically at Clone, his head cocked to one side.
"What izz Clone thinking?" he asked. "What'zz our next move? Should we get azz far away from here azz we can?"
"No, Leech." replied Clone uneasily. "Something serious is ahoof, something which could destroy our very swarm as we know it. And it's up to us to get to the bottom of it. I'm heading back to the valley where the signal came from, I HAVE to know what is there." he finished, with a steely gaze to the East horizon.
Leech gasped, and nearly fell over with shock.
"Hazz Clone gone crazzzy?" he yelped. "What if ZZSwitcher and hizz goonzz get you again?"
"I'm afraid that's just a risk I have to take." sighed Clone. "Whatever disgraces I have against my name, justly or unjustly, I will not stand by and watch my swarm perish before my eyes." he said grimly as he looked down at Leech.
"I understand that you have built a life for yourself away from this place, Leech? That being the case, I would recommend that you return to it - you have loved ones to think of." he advised.
Leech pondered hard. He thought of Trixie, and their wagon, and all the special places he'd been and the creatures he'd met. Sure, he wanted to return to this life as soon as he possibly could, but ultimately he was a changeling. So whatever was happening elsewhere, and as much as he'd tried to ignore it, he still had a loyalty to his swarm. And although he didn't want to live with the swarm anymore, he certainly didn't want to see it destroyed. He turned back to Clone.
"ZZSo we go Eazzt to cliffzz? Leech izz down with that!" he smiled, putting on his bravest voice.
Clone patted a hoof on Leech's head.
"I'll say one thing, you may not be the most intelligent but you're one of the gutsiest little drones I've ever met." he said, genuine admiration in his voice.
In reality of course, Leech was probably just a little too dense to fully realize the danger.
----------
With this, the two took off and began to head East. After a short flight, the valley came into view - neither Clone nor Leech could see any of Switcher's Sentry team, nor Switcher himself. Constantly looking around them, the two touched down at the foot of the cliff where Clone had traced the signal to previously.
"Can you sense anything? I'm not much use at this without my horn. Fly up and down and cliff and see where the signal is strongest." Clone whispered to Leech.
Acknowledging the request, Leech took off and began to methodically scan the cliff face. He thought back to the 'vibe' he'd gotten from Switcher, back when Leech knew him as Liebesauger. Though his changeling detection sense was underdeveloped and vestigial compared to most, Leech was eventually able to pinpoint where this signal was strongest.
"It'zz here!" he called down triumphantly, landing heavily on a rock jutting out from the cliff.
Too heavily.
Leech leapt off the rock in horror as he felt it move beneath his hooves, but it was too late. The rock continued to slide out of place, and the dozens of rocks above it followed suit. Slowly at first, the sliding stones soon gathered pace, and before they knew it Leech and Clone were flying for their lives away from a massive rockslide. If Switcher and his minions were within a mile of the place, they'd certainly have heard this! The two took cover behind some especially large rocks, as Clone began to question the wisdom in bringing this well-meaning but ultimately hopeless little drone with him.
The rocks settled, the dust cleared and the two changelings waited. Hardly daring to breathe, they occasionally peeked out from their hiding place to check for any hostile forces. After several minutes, Clone was satisfied that nobody had heard them, and he led Leech back out into the open. The two looked up at the cliff face - where the rocks had fallen away, an opening was now visible. A faint green glow was emanating from within. Wasting no time, they flew up to the now-uncovered cave to investigate. The two made their way through the narrow opening, and into a much larger 'room', deep inside the cliff.
In the center of the room, stood what could only be described as a large, green monolith. Measuring around 20 feet in each direction, it was vaguely block-shaped, and appeared to be constructed of the same material changelings made cocoons from, except it was solid rather than filled with liquid. It gently pulsated with a dim green light, in a rhythmic pattern of increasing and decreasing intensity.
Leech followed his horn, and told Clone that this was definitely the source of the changeling signal, although neither could explain what it was. It was definitely changeling-made, but what in Equestria was it? And why was it giving off a signal? Clone decided that he would need time to figure out its purpose and - perhaps against his better judgement - sent Leech to watch the entrance.
They needn't have worried, however. Switcher and his Sentries were miles away, flying into the West of the Badlands to investigate reports of an intruder on changeling territory...
Sure enough, amid the desolate landscape, a blue unicorn with a wagon in tow wandered the wastes, looking for her friend...