//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: On the Brink // Story: Back to the Swarm // by PointlessGizmo //------------------------------// Those gathered at the former invasion site just stared at the sight of the battered and exhausted little changeling, laying on his side with his eyes closed and taking short, shallow breaths. Some looked on with sad eyes, others with indifference. Many of the gathered Soldiers couldn't see what the fuss was - he was just a maintenance drone, after all. Leech's tongue hung limply from the side of his mouth, whilst Clone examined the gouge wound in his side. After a few moments,he turned his head to face Chrysalis, and slowly shook it from side to side. Trixie looked at Clone with a quizzically raised eyebrow, and then turned to Chrysalis. "What does that mean?" she said numbly, still in shock from seeing her friend like this. Chrysalis hung her head and let out a heavy sigh. "It means... he's too far gone." she whispered. "That injury isn't going to heal by itself, it's too deep and he's lost too much energy. He needs Necrosia if he is to survive it." Trixie swallowed hard at the lump in her throat, and tried not to let her feelings get to her. She breathed deeply and attempted to sound optimistic. "Well, that's alright!" she said, almost-brightly, putting on a forced smile. "There was tons of it brought here, let's just grab some of that!" This was met with yet another shake of Clone's head. "What is it with you and doing that head-shaking thing?" spat Trixie crossly, the emotional floodgates beginning to part. "If you've got something to say, just say it! Or better yet, help!" "You frustration is quite understandable, my friend." he responded, calmly. "But Leech destroyed Aurora's entire Necrosia supply by dropping it in Two-Mile Lake. He used his very last ounce of energy to do it." he added, admiringly. ---------- Trixie looked around, her mind a blur. All she could see wherever she turned were faces looking at her, some with confusion but many with sadness and sympathy. She wasn't interested in any of that for the moment, she just wanted to find something that could change what was happening! Her eyes darted up and down, left to right until... she caught sight of a half pod of Necrosia. It was still left over from when Switcher had attempted to forcibly complete her transformation. It lay on a nearby patch of grass next to the sharpened twig that Switcher had planned to use a delivery method. New hope in her eyes, Trixie quickly darted away from Leech's side and, using what little of her unicorn magic was left, levitated the pod over to where Leech lay. Setting it down and looking around, however, Trixie noticed that neither Clone or Chrysalis shared her enthusiasm. "Let me guess..." she sighed, her hope fading and a sickly feeling rising in her stomach, "... there's some reason why I can't use this?" "Unfortunately, there are two reasons." Chrysalis began to explain. "Firstly, it's not a matter of immersing the wound in Necrosia - there's internal damage, and absorption will take too long to fix it in time. If you were to use this on him, we'd need a way of administering it internally - and that twig would cause more damage than it solved." Hearing this, Clone put looked to the sky thoughtfully as Chrysalis continued her explanation to Trixie. "Additionally, I've already got plans for this Necrosia. It is the element needed to revert both yourself and the Sentries back to your pre-changeling forms. By my estimate, there's just enough here to treat the five of you. If we treat Leech, one or possibly several of you won't get to return to your previous bodies, possibly for a long time." she finished. Upon hearing this, Trixie went into deep thought for what seemed like an eternity. Could she wait until more Necrosia was available before going back to her old form? Exactly how long would it be before more was made? It could be years - after all, only dead and dying changelings were used to make it under normal hive rules, and Switcher had gotten rid of any changeling who had so much as a sniffle. It was likely to be a long time before any more dead or dying changelings came along. But then even if she did give up her share of the half-pod that sat before her, Chrysalis said there'd be no way of administering it to Leech without killing him even sooner. If her only friend DID die, maybe she'd be better off staying as a changeling anyway - at least she'd have company! Her train of thought was derailed by Clone, who stopped rubbing his chin and suddenly stared straight ahead, as if an idea had hit him. "Wait here." he suddenly said, urgently. "Try and get him to hang on just a little bit longer..." he added cryptically, before hurtling away through the trees. Chrysalis wondered where in Equestria he was going all of a sudden, as Trixie put a hoof around her catatonic companion, in a sort of half-hug. At that moment, the four former Sentry drones appeared from the forest's darkness, and stepped into the moonlit clearing. Chrysalis greeted them warmly, before taking them to one side and explaining the situation with Leech and the remaining Necrosia. One Sentry in particular was deeply saddened by the sobbing half-changeling he saw before him - he was the one who had driven his horn into Leech's side. He had of course been operating under Switcher's direct control, and had been unable to stop himself. But that did nothing to erase the memory of the event from the synthetic changeling's mind. The Sentry looked across at Trixie, who was talking to Leech and attempting to revive him using the love from their friendship, not knowing the little changeling was too damaged even to feed. He shook his head and sighed, before turning back to Chrysalis, who was still talking to his fellow synthetic Sentries. Like Trixie, he then offered to give up his share of the Necrosia to save Leech - he felt that he owed it to him. Alas, once told by Chrysalis that this wasn't possible, he simply closed his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to look in Trixie's direction again. He began to wish that he and his comrades hadn't almost totally vaporized Switcher - otherwise they could have used his remains to make more Necrosia. He couldn't help but chuckle internally at how fitting such a fate would have been, before bowing his head once more. ---------- Clone ran through the darkness, through trees and bushes, branches and twigs hitting his body from all angles. But he didn't care - he had to find what he was looking for, and quickly! The woods looked different now that it was totally dark, and he hoped with all his heart that he was heading in the right direction. "I hope I didn't kill it... I hope it hasn't wandered off..." he gasped quietly to himself. Finally, he came to the same clearing where he had engaged the Soldiers, and where Leech had acquired his wound. Glancing around the darkness, he couldn't see anything... but a twinge in his horn told him what he sought was nearby. It was the signal that a changeling was near, although this signal was far harder to pinpoint than usual. A wave of excitement rippled through his body as he began to fervently search for his target. After much rooting through bushes head-first, and accidentally shoving his snout directly into a sleeping hedgehog, Clone finally found what he'd come all this way for. His horn glowed, and he levitated his objective in front of his face. Vek simply gave the High General a blank look as he floated in midair. Now that he was no longer under Switcher's control, he'd reverted to his base instincts. As he hovered before Clone, he attempted to scratch behind one of his ears with a hind hoof, before giving up, and looking at Clone again. He blinked his eyes, ever-so-slightly out of sync. Clone cared nothing for this, however. All he was interested in was the state of Vek's abdomen. He smiled as he inspected the tiny Changeling hybrid's stinger sac. "Still got a dose in there!" he said to himself, his attention turning to Vek's stinger barb. "And a suitable internal delivery system to boot. Come on, you pesky little freak - I'm going to put you to good use!" He hurried back through the trees with a nonchalant Vek in tow. All he could do now was hope he didn't get back too late. ---------- Meanwhile, Chrysalis had sent all the Soldier drones back to the hive. They needed rest and recovery from their own ordeal, and had also been ordered to brief the rest of the swarm as to what was happening. She'd also caught a couple of them trying to get a sip of the love Trixie was attempting to pass to Leech. They had both received a telepathic message from Chrysalis informing them that they were now on latrine duty for the next month. The only changelings present around Leech now were Chrysalis, the Sentries and Trixie. Trixie was still talking to her unaware friend, vainly hoping that something, anything would get through. "...and then when you're better and I'm me again, we'll go back on tour. I'll even do my fair share of pulling the wagon! Things will be just as they were..." she continued, beginning to doubt whether her own words would come to pass. An eerie silence descended over the clearing, as if all present were listening for Leech's last breath. The tiny, rasping wheezes were all that was audible in the stillness of the night. Until, there was a rustling sound - it sounded like a changeling attempting to run through bushes in the pitch dark. Which of course, is exactly what it was. Clone burst out from the undergrowth, with Vek hovering in his magic aura not far behind him. Everyone present turned to look at Clone. "I'm not too late, am I?" he gasped, agitated. "No, he's still with us, just." began Chrysalis. "But I'm afraid it won't be..." "...it won't be happening!" cried Clone, excitedly. He levitated Vek over to where Leech lay and, using incredible control of his powers, pushed the Vector drone's barb into Leech's soft underbelly, causing far less damage than the twig would have. Then, he gently squeezed Vek's abdomen, and a dose of Necrosia flowed into Leech's body. Pulling the stinger out of the injured Leech, Clone then set Vek down on the ground nearby. Vek immediately sat down disinterestedly and started scratching his ears again, completely none the wiser as to what was going on. Everyone watched, with baited breath. At first, nothing seemed to happen - Leech still lay perfectly still, the only motion in his body being the fast but slight rising and falling of his torso as he struggled for each inhale and exhale. Clone began to grit his teeth, willing the Necrosia to work, and inwardly began to convince himself he'd taken too long and gotten back too late... Then, Leech's breathing began to slow. But not in a bad way - the breaths were less frequent, but they were also longer, and deeper. His tongue retreated back into his mouth, and his eyes opened into tiny green slits. He slowly picked his head up and looked around him, everything a murky blur against the backdrop of the darkened night sky. He turned his head to look at his wound - his eyes suddenly shot open as he watched the wound begin to glow green. The brilliant green glow began to get smaller as the wound closed up, and eventually died down completely, leaving nothing but a small mark on Leech's exoskeleton. New energy coursed through his body, and soon he was able to stand. As he did so, he stretched, yawned and took a deep breath in. He exhaled contentedly, before turning to Trixie with a little smile on his face. "That wazz worzzt nap Leech ever had!" he remarked with another yawn. "And what'zz more-" He was cut off by Trixie grabbing him into possibly the tightest hug he'd ever received. Although he was very happy to see his friend, he soon began to feel a pain in his side again. "Ow ow ow, Trixzzie hurting Leech!" he yelped. Trixie immediately jumped back, apologizing profusely and hoping she hadn't undone any of the healing. Clone stepped over to inspect the mark left behind by the injury. "Hmmm." he said thoughtfully. "It seems that wasn't quite a large enough dose to heal you completely... but, you're out of danger. The remaining injury should clear up with a bit of rest. Welcome back, Leech!" he said with a broad smile. ---------- Chrysalis observed the scene before her, with Trixie, the Sentries and Clone joyously welcoming Leech back from the edge of oblivion, with an introspective smile on her face. The events from the last couple of days had definitely given her pause - she had much to think about, especially in relation to the way she ran her hive and the methods she used for collecting love. She now knew what it was to be replaced and have others do things in her name, and it wasn't something she'd wish on anypony anymore. Her thoughts were distracted by a tiny orange-eyed changeling sitting nearby, chewing on one of its own legs. Chrysalis approached it, and gently lifted it with one of her front hooves. "Who's this?" she asked. Clone turned around and responded. "That's the Vector drone prototype we were telling you about, the one that was going to be used to infect the ponies of Canterlot. It doesn't seem harmful without Switcher's control and nothing in its stinger sac, but nevertheless, maybe we should consider humanely destr..." Clone stopped speaking as he beheld what was happening before him. Chrysalis was holding the tiny drone up to her face and nuzzling it. Vek seemed to have a smile on his face, and was doing the same back to Chrysalis! "Maybe we should consider keeping him!" she cooed. "Who's the cutest widdle crime against nature? You are! Yes you are! So Switcher called you Vek, eh? I too shall call you Vek, and you shall be mine, and you shall be my Vek. You are the most adorable harbinger of doom ever! Yes! Yes you are!" Trixie, Leech, Clone and the Sentries all watched speechlessly as the regal ruler of the changeling race was nuzzling and talking to this tiny drone like a filly playing with a puppy! Chrysalis eventually noticed their disbelieving faces and smiled. "What?" she asked "Can't a Queen have a pet?" Clone tried to think of a suitable answer, but eventually gave up and said nothing. Leech thought it was rather sweet - and was very pleased, since now he was only the second most unintelligent changeling in the swarm! Chrysalis placed Vek on her back, and quickly regained her royal demeanor. "Very well, everyling." she announced. "We've all been through a lot these last few days - it is now time for us to return to our hive, and begin to repair the damage that Switcher and Aurora have done. Starting with the five ponies present - restoring you to your former selves will be our top priority." she promised. "Leech help! Leech will carry Necrozzia back to the hive!" he said enthusiastically. Chrysalis, Clone and Trixie's eyes all went wide with horror, remembering Leech's less-than-stellar record when it came to looking after things. "LEECH, NO!" they all cried in unison, diving between Leech and the Necrosia pod. "Umm, that is.... you're still hurt. We don't want you to strain yourself." Trixie quickly lied, which seemed to appease Leech. "You're the bozz!" he shrugged, before taking off and heading for the hive. Clone soon followed, carrying Trixie in his front hooves. Chrysalis came next, with Vek seeming to enjoy the flight on her back, and finally the four synthetic Sentries took off, in a square formation and the precious Necrosia pod being levitated in the center. As the cavalcade of changelings took off and headed for home through the starry skies of Luna's night, the last lights went out in Canterlot, as the sleeping city remained none the wiser to the catastrophe that had so very nearly befallen it.