Did you know some authors put quotes at the beginning of each chapter they write? Seems awful pretentious if you ask me.
~ Liarra Sniffles
"Boss... Hey Boss!" Chirped the gruff looking changeling, standing in the most dark alley-like path they could find.
"What is it Tony?" Grumbled the bigger of the two.
"What are we doing here again?" The dim glow of a single light nearby barely strong enough to cast shadows.
"I am here to nab that new arrival and bring her to the big boss, who was asked to bring her to bigger boss, probably by biggest boss. You are here to help." The cigar was lit with a spark of magic, a soft fwoosh and a sudden, momentary increase in light revealing the battered fedora on Boss's head. "Didn't I tell you this already Tony?"
Tony adjusted his weight around a little.
"Well yeah, and I know we're going to use that magical strap thing to hide her presence while we hightail it out of here, but I mean..." Tony chewed his cheek a little. "How are we supposed to get the strap on in the first place? I don't think I could focus on a spell if she gets much closer."
"Tony... Let me tell you something I don't tell many 'lings." Boss double checked to make sure they were alone before continuing, although to a casual observer he would just look like he was fidgeting with his wings. "I was one of the three hundred." Tony was silent at this.
"Whoa Boss. Really?" Tony looked at his companion closer. "Where's your mark then?" Boss simply closed his eyes.
"I was busy fighting Loyalty when I was hit, let's just say my wife is the only one to see it frequently." Tony felt a blush coming on but managed not to let it show, Boss had made quite a catch with Precilla.
"So that means you can only feel one emotion?" Tony asked carefully.
"I can already tell what you really wanted to ask." Boss opened his eyes and scuffed a hoof on the ground. "I can sense only the feeling someling will get just before they need to yawn." It wasn't actually quite as useless as it sounded, but Tony could certainly see why Boss wouldn't be so free with this information.
"I can hardly believe the three hundred are even real, I guess skitter wasn't pulling my antennae after all." The silence returned once Tony said this, Boss not having anything to add other than a grunt.
A short time later, the two stepped into the shadows on either side of the alley in unison, and a tall humanoid figure rounded the corner. For her part, Tourmaline walked at a slow pace, clearly thinking about other things. Completely oblivious to the trap she was about to step into.
Just as she passed where the two changelings had been standing, Boss leaped out from a nook in the wall and silently threw a short strip of black material at her, neatly clipping on the thing around her neck with his magic in an instant. Tourmaline let out a small "eep" before all hell broke loose.
Not even a second after the strap had been secured around her neck, did the large stone on the front light up, getting brighter and brighter to the point where noling would be able to look right at it. Boss just shielded his eyes and crossed his wings, this wasn't how it was supposed to go but he wouldn't back down just yet.
"Uh, what is this really bright thing on my neck?" Tourmaline asked in an octave she was unsure she could replicate in future, the light was so bright she had to tightly closer her eyes and she was still seeing spots.
Boss didn't respond, but did back up a few steps as the light got brighter and brighter, everything was so bright that all the colours he would normally perceive started to bleed out making his whole world nothing but black and white contrasts through his tightly squinting eyes.
Then it exploded.
It wasn't really that loud of an explosion, more like someone dropping a small glass onto stone. The light died out in an instant leaving everyling present unable to see anything and Boss found himself being peppered with sharp fragments of the once dull stone, now bright pink. They cut into the soft skin around his joints and stung like hell, almost like being in a really strong sandstorm, he fell to the ground in quite a lot of pain immediately.
The surrounding stone walls, once dark black in colour, found themselves bleached white as if left in the sun for too long, interestingly one could even see the shadow where Boss had been standing forever etched onto the wall.
Tourmaline clutched at her neck before quickly giving herself a once over with her hands, still unable to see. She seemed to have suffered no harm, but wouldn't really know until her vision returned. In the distance she could hear the rumble of hooves and wings so she supposed help would arrive in a moment. The strange choker was still tightly clasped on her neck, and she could not find a latch to undo it with her fingers, but it didn't feel particularly alien to the touch. She left it be and tried to feel around for a wall before she heard a strangled groan from nearby.
"Oh no, are you hurt? What happened, was it my fault? Where are you?" Boss could only groan in response, where the hell was Tony? Tourmaline shuffled forwards on her hands and knees until she came upon the similarly blind changeling. Still unable to see she blindly groped out for the changeling and made contact. She instantly wished she hadn't as he howled upon the contact as if in pain.
For his part, Boss was feeling an intense burning at the contact with Maline, he felt it spreading all over his body and eventually focusing on an area between his thighs as well as around his fresh cuts and scrapes. After what seemed like eternity the burning faded and so did his screams, his senses were going wild with the feelings all around him, namely the intense amount of love radiating through the air. His previous disability seemingly gone, he was no longer protected from the very close presence to Tourmaline, and quickly his thoughts turned to mush and he passed out, still being poked, prodded and shaken by a frantic hybrid.
With a pop, Chrysalis appeared at the scene, shortly before a veritable horde of changelings poured out of every entrance to the small passage. Thinking quickly, the queen put up a large bubble shield to prevent the masses from getting in her way and appraised the area. It was quite a sight indeed, the walls, floor and ceiling looked to have been bleached a near perfect white, reminding her of Celestia's castle.
To her left, an unconscious changeling lay in a heap behind some garbage, seemingly shielded from whatever happened by his sleeping place.
In front of her the floor and right wall were covered in thousands of tiny sparkling pink motes, shards of crystal or stone from the look of it, best be careful not to breathe any in.
To her right, a frantic looking Tourmaline was trying to rouse another equally unconscious changeling who seemed to have collapsed against the wall. A strange incident to be sure, but what really caught her attention was Tourmaline and the second changeling.
Both Tourmaline and the changeling looked to have been dumped in a vat of bleach, everything from Tourmaline's hair and hooves to the changeling's fedora where as white as snow, she even spotted a still lit cigar on the floor equally bleached. The only thing seemingly untouched appeared to be Tourmaline's eyes, though it didn't look like she could currently see.
Chrysalis jumped slightly as another pop heralded the arrival of Wispy, still decked out with multiple party hats, who took one look at the scene and said exactly what the queen was thinking.
"What the buck."