//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Reinforcements // Story: Nature of Change // by PostNinja //------------------------------// “Darling, are you sure this is the right way? It’s hard to tell in the dark, but that tree stump over there looks familiar....” “Yes, I’m sure. I’m certain that it was this way. We will get there. Eventually.” “Can’t you just use magic to get us there?” “Spike, I’m a unicorn, not a navigator. Teleportation isn’t safe when you don’t know where you are or how far away are you from where you want to go.” Cephalon scratched the side of his head as he listened to the prattle of the two unicorns and the baby dragon as they walked down the forest path. The changeling captain was hiding in a nearby bush, the rest of his squad scattered nearby. The changelings had shadowed the trio for a while now, preparing their ambush. But, after listening to those three argue for an hour, he wasn't sure that this was even worth leaving his post at the bridge. To think that earlier he was worried that one squad wasn’t maybe enough to subdue these three! The supposed Element of Generosity had done nothing besides complained about everything like some pampered noble. The dragon was clearly just a child, and by the sound of it, this Starlight was just a student, a failing one at that. Earlier, she had expressed nervousness at struggling with lessons Twilight had given to her. All things considered, a dressmaker, a baby dragon, and a magic student hardly felt like a threat. Even if they all were known associates of Twilight Sparkle. Oh well, it just meant that this would be over in quick order. Cephalon hurried past the trio under the cover of the trees, making his way further down the road, other changelings taking their positions to surround their targets. Cephalon had first intended to fool the trio using disguises, but now it just felt pointless to waste magic on these fools. Besides, it was always more enjoyable to see ponies trembling in fear when they realized what was going to happen to them. The changeling captain hid behind a large boulder, waiting for the two unicorns and the dragon to get closer. Once they were close enough, Cephalon jumped on top of the boulder, allowing the trio to see him as he looked down at them. They reacted exactly as he knew they would, stopping in their tracks and looking at him with their eyes wide open. Cephalon could almost smell their fear and anxiety in the air. All ponies reacted in the same way. Next, one of them would scream “Changelings! Run!” and… “See, Rarity?” Starlight said, raising her hoof to point at Cephalon. “It was more than just a broken bridge.” Cephalon blinked, turning down to look at the trio. Rarity also looked at the changeling captain and instead of screaming in terror, sighed and shook her head. “There goes my hope of getting a decent amount of sleep tonight. Changelings mean that something dreadful is going on. Whatever they are up to, it can’t be anything good.” Cephalon blinked again, feeling lost. This wasn’t how this usually went. He soon rallied, however. These ponies obviously didn’t understand their situation. That was why they acted so casually. The changeling captain gestured with his hoof, the other changelings revealing themselves. The ponies were soon surrounded by drones, their glowing eyes forming a circle around the trio. Both unicorns took a step back as they saw the changelings stepping out of shadows, the baby dragon trembling nervously between them. “Surrender, and you won’t be harmed,” Cephalon said. It was true. After all, the very last thing changelings wanted to do was to hurt their food source. They would be kept safe in a cocoon just like all the others. The two unicorns looked at each other and at the baby dragon between them, nodding to each other. From their determined expressions, Cephalon knew that they were about to do something, although the changeling captain couldn’t tell what it was. Maybe one of them would try to fight them as the others tried to escape? Rarity stepped forward and after spending a second staring at Cephalon’s armor with a frown on her face, turned to look at the changeling captain. “I know you are evil changelings and all, but is there any chance that we could skip all the barbarism and you could just tell us what that unpleasant queen of yours is up to this time?” Cephalon stared at Rarity, at first not understanding what the unicorn was talking about. Finally, he recomposed and straightened his back, looking down at the ponies. “You are surrounded and outnumbered, unicorn. I’m not going to tell you anything. Stop playing brave and act more fitting to your station, prey.” Rarity scoffed at Cephalon and turned to look at the other unicorn. “Starlight, what do you think?” Starlight looked at the two dozen changelings around them and shrugged, smiling. “I think they should have brought more changelings.” Cephalon chuckled, amused. “A baby dragon, a dressmaker and a failing magic student are going to overpower all of us? You’re delusional, even for a pony.” Starlight blinked, tilting her head. “A failing magic student? What do you mean?” Cephalon snorted. Clearly, these ponies were too dense to understand that changelings had shadowed them ever since they left the bridge. “I heard what you said earlier. That you are struggling with your lessons, afraid of disappointing Princess Twilight.” Cephalon said, expecting the unicorn to flinch in shame. Instead, Starlight gave a sweet smile to Cephalon. “Oh, I see. I think you misunderstood. I’m struggling with my friendship lessons.” Suddenly, Starlight’s horn started to glow with bright light as the unicorn continued: “I'm passing my magic lessons with flying colors.” Cephalon laughed. It was such an obvious trick! Twilight's student was trying to make him think that she was some sort of master mage. Any unicorn could make their horn glow. How could a pony need lessons about friendship anyway? Yet, something in the way how Starlight smiled made Cephalon feel uneasy. That smug, unnerving grin felt out-of-place. It almost reminded Cephalon of Chrysalis herself. So, just in case this was something else than a desperate bluff, Cephalon waved his hoof, signaling for his squad to attack before Starlight could finish whatever spell she was about to cast. The changelings reacted immediately, charging at the two ponies and the baby dragon from all sides as Cephalon stood on the boulder, content on watching what he expected to be pathetic resistance from the unicorns. His smile dropped when Rarity gracefully turned around and slammed her hooves into the face of the first drone to reach her, sending the unlucky changeling tumbling away. Then, Starlight released her spell. A shockwave of white-blue energy blasted the four changelings closest to the unicorn away with enough force to rattle Cephalon’s teeth, making the changeling captain avert his eyes to avoid the bright light. When he could see again, Twilight’s student turned her head and released a second blast of magic that proved just as devastating as the first one. With almost half of his drones beaten already, Cephalon’s throat felt dry. More changelings came at Starlight, but suddenly the unicorn was flying. Or rather, floating in the air high above them as the third blast of magic hit even more of Cephalon’s soldiers, smashing into them like a stone wall. He turned his gaze down and saw Rarity standing next to the baby dragon, a gem-like sphere separating them both from the changelings who tried in vain to crack the barrier between them and their prey. The white unicorn was visibly sweating from the effort of sustaining the protective spell as changelings hammered their hooves against it, but Cephalon could already see that before they would be done with the barrier, Starlight would be done with them. Cephalon quickly evaluated the situation and decided that it was time for a tactical retreat. He could escape while he still had drones left standing to occupy the unicorns. The changeling captain quickly turned around and jumped into the air, intending to put as much distance between himself and the fight as possible. Yet, before he could make good of his escape, a ray of magic hit him from behind. However, instead of injuring him, Cephalon felt like somepony was pouring freezing water all over him. The sensation lasted only for a second, but when it passed, the changeling captain found that he no longer could move his limbs, or even close his mouth. Everything in his vision had a weird blue tint in it. Cephalon understood what had happened to him when the block of crystal he was now encased in dropped on the boulder he had stood on, sliding over as it fell on the ground, turning his world sideways. Fluttershy sighed in relief when she saw the house of her parents at the other end of the street. The house was dark, which wasn’t surprising at this hour. It wasn’t very kind to wake them up this late at night, but this was an emergency. Fluttershy’s chest felt tight, but she tried her best to stay calm, taking deep, slow breaths. She still didn’t know for certain how much Swirl Breeze and Rose Dust knew. What if they didn’t know that their daughter was a changeling? If that was the case, Fluttershy was ready to do anything to convince them. If she couldn’t make her own parents believe who she was, she had no hope of convincing her friends about it. Pulling the cloak more tightly about her, Fluttershy started making her way towards the house, when suddenly she heard a familiar voice from behind her. “Fluttershy!” The young changeling queen froze at the mention of her name, turning around towards the voice. When she saw who it was who had called her, she sighed in relief. “Rainbow Dash!” The newest wonderbolt grinned at Fluttershy as she came down, quickly walking to her. “I have been looking you from everywhere!" Fluttershy’s smile dropped when Rainbow Dash came close and she noticed how battered the pegasus was, her mane disheveled, small bruises and scratch marks over her. “Dash, are you alright?” Fluttershy said, looking at her friend’s injuries. Rainbow Dash blinked. “Even in this situation, you are first worrying about me instead of yourself?” The pegasus shook her head, chuckling. “Don’t worry, it looks worse than it actually is. What’s important is that I finally found you.” Fluttershy felt like collapsing on the spot now when Rainbow Dash was with her, feeling all accumulated tension leaving her weary limbs. With her best friend with her, she could relax. Together, they could get through anything. Fluttershy rose her hoof to pull her hood down but seeing her own elongated limb made her pause as she stared at the holes in it. She had almost forgotten how she looked now. “You know it is me? Despite the fact that I now look like… well, this?” Fluttershy said, gesturing at herself. Rainbow Dash nodded enthusiastically. “Of course I know it is you!” The pegasus gestured to Fluttershy with her hoof, turning around. “Come on, we should go before anypony sees us.” Fluttershy blinked in turn, turning to look at the house of her parents before returning her gaze to her friend. “Go? To where?” Rainbow Dash sighed exasperatedly. “To Ponyville! Come on! We don’t have much time.” Fluttershy nodded and pulled down her cloak to free her wings, Rainbow Dash already in the air. But, something made her stop. Instead of rising to the air to follow her friend, Fluttershy stayed where she was. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. There was something missing. Rainbow Dash turned back to look at Fluttershy, now looking annoyed. “What is it? Why are you looking me like that?” Fluttershy stared at her friend, trying to understand what was wrong in here, making her hesitant. Then, Fluttershy realized it. She didn't feel any love from Rainbow Dash. She was starving for love. By this point it was so bad that she could feel it seeping from every house around her, emanating from pegasi sleeping inside. Yet, when she stared at Rainbow Dash now, she felt nothing. That tiny voice at the back of her mind was completely silent. Fluttershy felt no urge whatsoever to steal Rainbow Dash’s love from the pegasus to feed herself. The pegasus had so little love in her that Fluttershy could barely even feel it. Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed and she bit her lip as she stared at Rainbow Dash. After thinking for a moment, the young changeling queen made her decision. “Dash, what did those bullies use to call you?” Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash frowned. “Bullies? What do you mean?” Fluttershy’s heart skip a beat, but she didn’t show any of it on her face as she continued: “When you landed in that trash can. What was what they started calling you after that?” The pegasus opened her mouth to speak but stayed silent instead. Her eyes moved rapidly from side to side and finally after hesitating a moment she said: “Rainbow... trash?” Fluttershy stared at the pegasus, struggling to hold back her tears as she lowered her head down to stare at the cloud that made the street they stood on. It just wasn’t fair! Every time she thought she could finally relax, something went wrong again. Would the rest of her life be like this? Never able to trust anypony’s face? Fluttershy took a deep breath and rose her head, narrowing her eyes as she looked at the pegasus. Or at least, the thing that looked like a pegasus. “Wrong answer. You are not Rainbow Dash.” The pegasus was silent for a moment and then pressed her lips together, sighing and shaking her head. “I guess it was pointless to try to fool a queen.” There was a flash of emerald fire as the changeling took its real form, revealing the armored form of a changeling captain Fluttershy hadn't met before, his expression unreadable. Fluttershy stared at the changeling, not bothering to hide her irritation. “Just leave me alone.” She said, despite knowing already that it was pointless. “I’m sorry, but we can’t do that.” The changeling captain said, gesturing with his hoof. In response, a dozen changelings appeared from the shadows, surrounding Fluttershy. “Our orders are to bring you back.” Fluttershy looked at the changelings surrounding her. To a pony, their expressions were unreadable. But, Fluttershy had already learned to look for the signs. The little gestures that gave away their emotions. That is why she could tell that they all felt uncomfortable, reluctant. None of them wanted to do this. It gave her hope. “And if I’m not willing to come back? Are you going to attack me and drag me back?” Fluttershy said, looking at each of them in turn. The changelings avoided her gaze, a few fidgeting their hooves. Even their captain looked awkward, finally shaking his head. “If there was no other choice? Yes. Queen Chrysalis is already displeased with our hive, we can’t cause her any further aggravation.” he said, other changelings straightening as they heard his words. “But, we won’t need to. You are going to come back with us voluntarily.” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, looking at the changeling. To his credit, the changeling captain met her gaze head on. “If we return without you, the Queen will punish us. Severely.” The changeling captain said, looking at Fluttershy with a pained expression. “She told us to tell you that. And that she is more than willing to… discard some drones to teach a petulant child a lesson.” Fluttershy bit her lip, narrowing her eyes. She wasn’t sure which annoyed her more. The fact that Chrysalis was threatening her own subjects so casually, or that other changelings saw it as her right to do and didn’t even question it. Was it a bluff? Fluttershy’s gut told her that her aunt didn’t make idle threats. Or place any value for the well-being of other changelings. The changeling captain opened his mouth, closed it again and looked at his fellow changelings. Finally, after some hesitation he spoke again: “Also, we are not supposed to tell you this, but we captured Rainbow Dash earlier in the day. She is being held in the hive.” A chill ran down Fluttershy’s spine, her throat suddenly feeling dry. She tried to speak, but the words died in her throat. Her hooves trembled, the young changeling queen again feeling like her hooves would collapse from under her at any moment, this time from fear instead of relief. “I… is she alright?” Fluttershy managed to stutter out. She didn’t ask was it true or not, she already knew that it was. She wasn’t sure could these changelings tell a direct lie to her face even if they wanted to. “Yes, she is kept unconscious in a cocoon, like all the others.” The changeling captain said, looking both guilty and relieved at the same time. Fluttershy stayed silent, but they both knew already what she would choose to do. She could never choose to do a thing that would put other ponies at risk. Or changelings. Fluttershy gave one last, longing glance at the house on the other end of the street, before turning back towards the changeling captain and rising to the air with him. The other changelings formed a loose circle around the two as they disappeared into the darkness, Chrysalis straightened her back as she stepped out of the hive, carrying a small leather bag on her side. She looked down with disdain as her hooves touched the soft, muddy ground. Soon she would no longer need to hide in swamps and caves. Changelings everywhere could step into the light and take their rightful places as rulers of Equestria. With her leading them, of course. And it would all start here. Originally, she had intended to hit Ponyville, Canterlot and Crystal Empire all at the same time. Unfortunately, discovering Fluttershy had forced Chrysalis to accelerate her timetable. Ponyville had to be taken care of before others, tonight. Before news of a second changeling queen in Equestria could spread any further. Chrysalis moved her hoof to open the bag and looked at the jagged piece of black rock resting inside. The changeling queen smiled and gently tapped the rock with her hoof before closing the bag and turning her gaze upwards, towards the thick canopy of trees and the night sky behind them. This time, she was prepared for ponies and their magic. Chrysalis stretched her limbs and jumped into the air, flying higher. She darted through the tangled mess of tree branches, making her way through the thick canopy. As the changeling queen emerged through the leaves and made it into the open sky above the forest, Chrysalis was met by dozens upon dozens of glowing eyes all around her. The changeling queen smiled as she looked at her loyal army silently hovering around her. This was more like it! Unlike those weaklings in that pathetic hive below them, these drones wouldn’t question her orders. All they knew was hunger, untainted by prolonged contact with ponies and their naive ways. Chrysalis’s smile grew wider as she rose higher into the air, turning to the west, towards Ponyville. Without a word, the swarm of changeling drones followed their queen in a black cloud of fangs, hisses, and buzzing of wings. They all had just a single thought in their minds. Soon, they would feed.