"Are you sure you're okay?" Twilight asked, as she saw Thorax stagger slightly and shake his head.
"I'll be fine!" The changeling replied. "Though I still feel as if some-ling stuck a stick in one ear and stirred it around in my brain."
"I shouldn't have pushed so much of Chrysalis's knowledge and memories over the mind-link." Twilight fretted, pacing back and forth. She stopped and faced him. "We can delay for a few more hours for you to sort out your thoughts, let things settle down..."
"We can't!" Thorax's reply was abrupt, then he softened his tone as he gave a rueful smile. "Sorry, but you know why we can't risk delaying any longer, the same reason you copied so much at once in the first place. I'll be fine by the time we get there. After all, I have a nice long walk in the sunshine to settle myself."
"That's hardly what I'd call it." Twilight shuddered, looking towards the sharp boundary where the verdant forest they were standing in cut off to be replaced by the miles upon miles of desolation that surrounded the Changeling kingdom, and the twisted, hole-filled spires of the castle-like hive at the centre. She pulled a pair of binoculars from her saddlebags and examined the sky around it. The saddlebags were her own, and unlike Northern Star's had no space expansion charms, which was as well, as they'd fail once the two of them entered the wasteland. "I don't see any patrols..."
"Things must be worse than we thought!" Thorax exclaimed, as a Royal guard-pony came trotting up.
"Princess Twilight, we have the additional canteens ready." He looked out towards the hive and his expression hardened. "Are you sure you don't want some of my troops as an escort? Going in with only..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but with the way he looked at Thorax he didn't need to.
"Thank you Lieutenant Ironheart, but this isn't a combat mission." Twilight replied coolly. "If there is any trouble, I trust Thorax with my life, and have done so on several occasions. You wouldn't be able to fly or call on your pegasus magic in other ways beyond this point anyway. Only Changeling magic works within their domain and Thorax and I are the only ones that can wield it. And until my coronation, I'm not officially a Princess."
"Yes your... ma'am." He saluted and walked stiffly away.
"It's okay Twilight, you don't need to defend me." Thorax said, "He has a right to be suspicious, from his surface emotions he was probably on duty during the Royal Wedding when the barrier over Canterlot went down. I'm just glad you stopped Chrysalis before the attack had more than started. Still, I knew some ponies wouldn't be so quick to forget. He's just trying to protect you."
Twilight dropped her head, apparently examining the patch of dirt she was scuffing with her fore-hoof. "Okay, I'll apologise. I just don't want you to have to deal with ponies' negative emotions all the time."
"I'll cope. I'm getting better at filtering them. Let's go get your supplies." With that he started off back to the small encampment of Royal guards that sat some way back in the forest, and Twilight followed.
&&&
The two of them trudged across the barren waste side by side, under a sky of orange tinted clouds. There were a few half-hearted mounds and outcroppings and snags of ancient, fossilised trees, but not enough to be any obstacle. Twilight could have flown along with Thorax, using changeling magic to de-manifest her regular wings and replace them with insectile ones, but they'd both agreed that they needed to conserve every scrap of energy they had to deal with the likely situation they'd finds inside the hive. It was the same reason they'd come here by chariot.
Twilight was still examining the area with interest. "Hmm, I wonder if this barrenness is a side effect of the magic absorbing stone at the heart of the hive? Chrysalis doesn't seem to have thought about it."
"I don't know, it's always been like this. It could be, I guess." Thorax replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"It might be interesting to see if samples of Chrysalis's throne retain the power when separated from the main stone. It could be a useful restraining tool if another being with powerful magic tried to attack Equestria."
"You think that's likely?"
"Since Nightmare Moon, we've had two other major villains, three if you count Sombra, rise up to threaten Equestria. I'd just like to have a solution which doesn't involve putting my friends in harms way or me charging them with my horn down."
They carried on, slowing as they approached the castle itself. Thorax spoke. "No guards... there are always guards on the main entrance."
"I know, let's avoid it anyway." The knowledge Twilight had gained from Chrysalis made her completely familiar with the patterns that occurred in the ever changing holes that expanded and contracted seemingly at random in the walls of the hive. She cantered towards a place on the wall, and just as she reached it, the wall opened up in front of her. She continued on through without breaking stride, and Thorax followed a few paces behind.
The interior of the hive was a maze of tunnels and chambers, similar to a natural limestone cave. It was dimly lit by clusters of fading green pods, and the combination of odd shadows and every changing holes in the walls gave it a distinctly creepy vibe. Twilight brought a firefly lantern from her saddlebags and hung it on a loop attached to her saddlebag straps. They barely needed the light to navigate by, Chrysalis's memories led them unerringly to their first destination, but they did need warning of holes opening in the floor ahead.
"I still can't get over it, I know the Queen stripped the hive to provide as many changelings for the invasion, but I'd have expected at least some of them to have returned." Thorax said quietly, looking around. "We should have met some-ling by now."
"Well if they're anywhere, they'll be up ahead." Twilight replied. "It was one of the few places she left a dedicated guard."
&&&
Carapace was the senior changeling of those left behind to maintain the hive when Queen Chrysalis had taken her army to secure Canterlot. Carapace was now dying, as were the two dozen other changelings who were laying sprawled around the hatching chamber. The holes in his legs were large enough that he could no longer stand, and his wings were tattered rags, and the others were no better off, their chitin dull and cracked and their eyes dim.
They had originally retreated here to sustain themselves on the leakage from the mana storage cells that served the larvae maturation pods. However, the power in the cells was all but exhausted, even with the maturation pods in standby mode; keeping the dozens of larvae in stasis rather than feeding and teaching them. When they finally died, so would the larvae, and the changelings lying there with him. Those fools who had gone to ground in Equestria wouldn't last much longer, even with the energy they'd received to enact the invasion. The entire race was under a death sentence.
He cursed those few among them who had returned with news of the great defeat, and the later ones, that of their Queen's death at the horn of a unicorn. They hadn't even stopped to collect any love, not that it mattered with the Queen dead. Without her ability to convert the love into magical energy to feed them, they would all starve, even if they were suddenly dumped in the middle of a pony village during Hearts and Hooves day. For a moment, he wondered if it had been a wise idea for the Queen to lead the mission personally, but then crushed the thought that smacked of questioning her judgement.
His empathic faculty was as weakened as everything else, but he could still feel something approaching. A changeling, though something seemed off about his aura, and... a pony? More importantly, they had an aura of powerful magic, changeling magic, as powerful as the Queen Chrysalis, almost as powerful, he corrected himself. It was ironic, if he'd had even a bit more energy in reserve, he could have attempted to siphon off some of that energy for himself. As it was, he was too weak to initiate an energy siphon. The only way he'd be able to receive energy was if some-ling fed it to him, and what changeling other than the Queen would give energy to some-ling else?
They entered the chamber, and his philogastric sac constricted. Wings and a horn, the pony was an alicorn princess? She was purple, with a star shaped flank marking, which matched the description of the unicorn who was supposed to have died killing Chrysalis. The creature beside her looked bizarre, a hybrid of changeling, pony and deer, but he didn't seem to be transformed. Confusion gave way to despair, the ponies must have turned the changeling with her somehow, and they were clearly not willing to let time and starvation finish the job of ending the changeling race.
His mind was in too much of a turmoil to read the flurry of emotions coming from them as they saw him and the rest of the chamber's occupants. He made a supreme effort and managed to drag himself forward to place himself between the larvae and the newcomers. Changelings might not care, even for one another, but he was still loyal to the queen, and he would do his best to carry out her last order.
"Please..." he rasped, "Do what you want to us, we're dead anyway, but don't kill the hatchlings."
As they towered over him he finally felt their emotions, and got... sympathy?
"We're not here to kill any-pony, any-ling either." the alicorn said, and charged her horn. The pseudo-changeling next to her did the same. Twin beams of changeling magic flowed from their horns to strike the storage cells and be greedily absorbed. The energy was intense, and somehow different from any changeling magic he'd ever felt. Even the leakage was enough that he could absorb it passively, and feel his senses sharpen and his body go from dying to simply starving. When the beams vanished, the storage cells were full, brimming with energy and the alicorn was barely breathing hard.
"But... we invaded you, tried to steal your kingdom... why would you help us?" Carapace asked, still weakly.
"Because we don't want an entire race to suffer for one mad-mare's schemes." the alicorn replied. "We know she ordered the invasion, and you had no choice but to obey."
Carapace bridled at the insult, but was still too weak to do anything about it becond exclaiming, "You talk about Queen Chrysalis that way? We were her loyal subjects, we did as she commanded. To do otherwise was unthinkable."
"Like I said, you had no choice, Carapace, isn't it?." The alicorn turned to the pseudo-changeling and said, "You handle that side, I'll take the these others."
Her horn glowed again, and this time something even more impossible happened. He felt a mind-link, connecting him to the alicorn, and his newly restored senses felt that every other changeling on this side of the chamber was a part of it. Energy spilled down the link, gloriously rich and tasty filling him in a way that he'd never felt before. He felt the alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, brush his mind through the link, absorbing his surface thoughts with all the skill of Queen Chrysalis.
'How... This is impossible!' he exclaimed, then clamped down, his fear spiking. An outburst like that before the Queen, speaking over the link without permission would be severely punished. But rather than outrage, he felt humour from the alicorn, mixed with pity.
'Don't worry, I won't punish you for speaking your mind, I'm not Queen Chrysalis.' She cut the flow of energy, and he felt for a second that this was her punishment, but her voice quickly disabused him. 'You are all starving, and this energy is more potent than you're used to. When ponies eat too much rich food after starvation, it can harm them as their bodies can't assimilate it. I don't know if something similar will happen to changelings, but I don't want to risk it. You should have more than enough energy to restore yourselves and survive for the moment.'
Carapace could feel the energy within him, and it was amazing. It even blunted his ever present hunger. However, this effort, on top of the previous one had clearly caused more of a drain. The aura of changeling magic around them was weaker, more powerful than him or any of his fellows, but not vastly so. He felt her extending the link, and a second presence became sensible. It was the white changeling, and between him and the alicorn they were connected to all of the changelings in the chamber. The two of them were working together in synergy, and both of them seemed to have the same presence as the Queen had.
'I am Twilight Sparkle.' 'and I am Thorax.' The two mind voices flowed together as they spoke. 'I was the pony who killed your Queen, by accident as I only intended to distract her.' All the changelings could feel her genuine sorrow over the link, which blunted their shock and anger towards her claim.
'In the process I became a sink for a massive amount of changeling magic. I absorbed some of it, and somehow imprinted much of Queen Chrysalis's memories. That's how I recognise each of you, Carapace, Chitin, Compound...' Twilight proceeded to name each of the changelings present, and over the link it was far more than just a spoken name. It was clear she remembered their aura patterns, that she truly had the Queen's knowledge.
Thorax continued. 'I am Thorax, and I was once a changeling infiltrator. However, I decided after the Queen's death that I could no longer steal love as the she had commanded. I fled, and found I could generate small amounts of magical energy by myself from the ambient positive emotions of the ponies around me, enough to stay alive.'
Carapace was shocked again by this blasphemy, as were the others if his empathic sense was anything to go by, but couldn't refute the truth he sensed in Thorax's words. To claim to be able to convert love to magic the way Queen Chrysalis had was absurd on the face of it, but then how had he survived and become so strong?
'I wanted more, though. I wanted to share love with a friend, have feelings directed to me, Thorax, not some pony I was replacing. I found that friendship in the person of Twilight Sparkle. We had several adventures together, and became friends. In the process I discovered that energy produced from emotion freely given and directed at you is far more powerful than that from stolen emotions. My wings healed, and I no longer felt the hunger.' A montage of mental images passed over the link, showing the events in some detail.
'Ultimately, Twilight fought a great foe in the far north, one that if it hadn't been stopped would have overtaken Equestria and possibly the world. I was supplying her with energy to fight it, and at the end, freely gave her all the energy I had. I was changed into what you see now.' He smiled, and the changelings around him felt his presence wash over them. 'I no longer need to feed on emotions to survive, I generate my own magic through sharing my friendship with Twilight, and receiving her friendship in return. Though positive emotions from others do enhance my power.'
Twilight took up the narrative. 'I shared the memories from Queen Chrysalis with Thorax, and together we realised that the Hive was almost empty, and the maturation chambers would soon run out of energy, even though they were just sustaining the larvae, not growing them. So we came here to restore them, and any changelings who were here. They deserve a chance at life, and so do all of you.'
Carapace felt her warm regard over the link, and found that his magic was strengthening, even though she hadn't fed him any more energy. She must have picked up his surface thoughts and confusion, because she added, 'The energy transfer included a healing spell, it restored your atrophied philogastric sacs to working order. That is the organ that converts love to magic, every changeling has one, but Chrysalis hid the fact from all of you so you were utterly dependent on her, and forced to give her the emotional energy you'd collected simply to survive.'
One of the other changelings, Reflect by name, exclaimed out loud, "You say such horrible things about our Queen! She was strict, even cruel at times, but she did what she had to for the sake of the Hive, and all of us!"
'That was how she portrayed it, yes, but I have her private memories, and I know how she truly felt. Let me show you all.'
Memories and dialogue were pushed over the link, some with the unmistakable signature of Queen Chrysalis. There could be no evasion, no denial of their content. Twilight was asking about why changelings couldn't produce their own energy. There was a weird sense of a double viewpoint, seeing the conversation from both sides.
"I made sure none of my subjects could. Everything passed through me. I gave the orders, I collected and converted the love they gathered to energy, and I decided how much of that energy to dole out to each of them, just enough for their tasks."
"But why? It's clear they can convert love to magic to sustain themselves on their own, Thorax is proof of that."
"Control, you silly pony! Every changeling is indoctrinated from hatching that all love comes to me and that I provide them with their food. Preventing them from converting the love they collect by themselves keeps their philogastric sacs atrophied and weak. I don't know what would happen if a drone had all the energy it wanted, and I didn't want to find out."
The assembled changelings could feel the contempt in those words, the way she saw them as mere interchangeable parts, slaves bound to her will.It drove Carapace to his knees as he understood beyond a shadow of a doubt that the creature he'd given his undying loyalty to would have sacrificed him without a thought, and without a care. Since he'd hatched, he'd believed the credo he'd been taught in the egg, that other individual changelings were unimportant; only the Hive mattered, and as the one who controlled the Hive and saw to the welfare of all changelings, the Queen was paramount. She alone cared for and guided all changelings in return for their unswerving loyalty.
He desperately wanted to deny the memories and the understanding that went with them, to avoid the destruction of that belief, but he knew as well as any-ling that you couldn't lie through the link, at least not without it being obvious. Chrysalis had cared for them, it was true, but only as far as they advanced her own ends. She had no interest in the welfare of the Hive beyond a source of power, a way to support her goals.
But even in his despair, he could feel something else, the sympathy coming from Thorax and Twilight. They were genuinely sorry that he and the other changelings were suffering. Between the two of them, they were showing far more concern than Chrysalis ever had. They had the power to do whatever they wanted, and they'd used it unstintingly to help him and the others. In the process they'd even weakened themselves enough that if he and the others had decided to attack them and try to take what was left, they would not have been able to defend themselves. That realisation triggered a decision within him, a surprisingly easy one.
Enacting the decision was far harder, it went against everything he'd known, but now he could see that he hadn't known enough. He rose up on his hooves and reached into the store of changeling magic he'd so recently received, and pushed it back out towards the two of them, following the method Thorax had unintentionally relayed when he'd been showing his memories of his own transformation. Carapace felt a wave of warmth flow over him and everything was obscured by a flash of light. He felt his body shift and reshape itself without any conscious decision on his part, and was momentarily drawn up into the air by the energy wreathing around him.
When he landed, he looked over his changed body. His carapace was a shaded pastel blue, his legs no longer had any holes in them, and his wings were larger and undamaged, with wing covers over them. More importantly was the change within. The hunger he'd felt his entire life was gone, not merely subdued or sated, but gone. His wonder galvanised other changelings into following in his hoof-prints, returning a portion of the energy they'd been given and transforming into new forms similar to his.
The surprise from Twilight and Thorax was almost comical, but it was tempered with happiness, something that only proved to Carapace that he'd chosen the right path. "So what happens now?"
There was a brief exchange over the link between the two that he couldn't overhear, then Thorax spoke out loud.
"Some of the changelings will have to remain here to keep on maintaining the Hive, and caring for the hatchlings when they... hatch. The rest of us will need to return to Equestria to seek out the other changelings who were scattered during the invasion. They may last longer than those here did, but they will run low on magic soon enough, and if they haven't worked out how to activate their own love conversion abilities, they could starve to death.
"Twilight and I will be returning to Ponyville, to check out if any changelings hid there. Any who are found need to come to us at Golden Oaks library, and we can provide them with magic to tide them over. If you want to use a disguise, fair enough, but long term we need to show ourselves in Equestria in our true forms. We can no longer hide in the shadows, the invasion destroyed that option quite effectively, and that same invasion gave us a massively bad first impression to overcome. It would have been far worse if it had done more than crack the shield."
"Fortunately we're not likely to be arrested on sight any longer, the Diarchs have agreed to an amnesty for all actions taken before and during the invasion. We have to show the ponies of Equestria that we're just another race that they can live alongside, like zebras or cows. We can even use our powers to help them. Twilight is also greatly respected among ponies. If she supports us, that should smooth things over considerably. She and I have been discussing ways in which we can integrate changelings into pony society. Our empathic and shape-shifting powers have many peaceful uses, and many of them will also generate positive emotional energy as a bonus.
"While you'll find you don't need it so much anymore, I've found that absorbing freely given emotion makes me stronger, faster and more powerful than I am otherwise. Of course we'll still need to collect some energy anyway to power the Hive, but working together, I know we can do it. It means all of us are going to have to adapt to new ways of doing things, but we are changelings after all. Change is what we do best."
Carapace bowed his head. "As you command, Que... King Thorax."
"Wait, King?" They could feel his shock, and Twilight's amusement at it via the still active link. "No, I just happened to have thought about what we needed to do to make sure our race survives, and to help the changelings who are still in hiding."
"Which is what a ruler does, your majesty. You saved our lives, and weakened yourself doing so, and it seems you alone have some idea of where to go from here. I think every-ling here will agree, you've done more for us than Chrysalis ever did." There were murmurs of agreement, which was unnecessary as Thorax could sense the positive affirmation of the the changelings connected to him and Twilight.
"He has a point." Twilight chuckled at the sandbagged expression on Thorax's face. "I think you'll make a great king. I'll do everything I can to help of course."
"Thank you, my Queen." Carapace interjected.
Twilight's pupils narrowed to dots as she asked, "Wait... What?"