Spring awoke to the nudges of his cell mates.
"Wake up. She will be here soon!" They urged.
"Who will? Where am I?" Spring asked with groggy eyes.
"The queen. She comes and inspects us once a week, and it's our time. She gets angry if we are not at attention!" they continued to nudge him to get him awake. 88 was trying to get under his chest to lift him up onto his hooves.
The queen's guards arrives, heralding her imminent presence. Spring was finally able to stand, thanks to 88's efforts.
Soon, the queen's horn poked into view, as Spring shuddered at the very thought of her mocking face. It was almost as thought he world was in slow motion as she came into sight, her humorless face being revealed bit by bit in a cold and smooth fashion.
"Good morning my pets... has anyone decided to repent? Perhaps you could make me happy this morning and relent to your queen. Bring a smile to my face... no?" she said in half sentences, trying to elicit a response.
"And you, my newest larva... have you thought about our talk on the way here?" she asked. She had kept her profile facing the cell, and trained her eye on Spring in a most disconcerting way.
"I uh... I can't... what did we..." he said nervously.
"YOU CAN'T REMEMBER!?!" she screeched. "I asked you to speak to a creature for me! That wretched Fluttershy is too well protected, and Discord promised that you knew enough about animals to speak to this creature for me and assure me that I could make a deal! Did you not hear my words, you disgusting little worm??" she asked in shock and disbelief. She was very honestly upset and surprised that such a meek creature would dare ignore her important words. Just who did he think he was dealing with?
"I... I'm sorry. I'll speak to this creature, if you want me to, but I'm not Fluttershy. I don't know what you were told, but I'm not really as good with animals as all that."
The queen did not respond with words, but rather by stomping with her feet as if she was getting ready to charge him. She motioned for the guards to open the prison, and she had murder in her eyes as she waited with frayed patience for guards to grant entry for her.
As the door swung open, 88 and 26 interposed themselves, bowing in exaggerated motions.
"We will repent! Please my queen, accept our surrender. We see the error of our ways. We have been wrong, and deserve whatever fate you decree." the two said, shivering as they declared their guilt.
"Oh, do you now? I may accept... but first..." she stepped over them with her graceful yet menacing legs to croon her neck down and meet the gaze of Spring. "First you will come with me. You had better stop this pathetic display and come with more vigor in your step, or I will feed you to the creature in hopes that it obeys me. One way or another, I will find a use for you, and I don't care if you get chewed up in the process. Do you hear me?" Her voice was steady and threatening, with a hint of a quiver behind it. Spring had never heard such naked hate in his life, and it made his bones ache just to contemplate it.
"Yes... queen... I will go with you." he managed to stammer. She huffed, and turned around.
"I will be back for you soon. Be ready, for I do not suffer incompetence..." she said, leaving with the same predator's grace that Spring had noticed before. The guards left shortly after, leaving the cell in relative peace. 88 was the first to speak.
"Please do not go with her. Many have tried what you are about to attempt. None have returned." For the first time, Spring looked to 88 and tried to read the face of his cell mate. He didn't know changelings very well, but he could swear that 88 cared about him, as did 26.
"But I don't have much of a choice. I imagine that she will kill me no matter what I do. Maybe I can do something worthwhile. It could be the only chance I have. Thank you for repenting by the way. It seemed to take the sting out of her anger. But what did she want you to repent about?" Spring asked, looking to the both of them.
"We are branded 'misfits' for wanting to see the outside world. She deems us unsuitable for integration with the hive. She imprisons all so called misfits until they repent." 88 said sorrowfully.
"But once we do repent, she doesn't let us go back into the hive... we get 'exterminated'. She does this to teach the others the price of dissenting. We had hoped to hear from you about the outside before she took you away, but it looks like our time ran out. Still, it was nice to learn even a little bit about your world." said 26.
88 approached Spring, resting her muzzle on his back. "You outsiders are warm. It's kind of nice. I bet everything is warmer where you are from."
Spring was taken aback, but he did not move. Something about these two was different than any expectation he may have had about changelings. Were there other changelings like them?
"I will request that you go with me, then. If I tell her I need you to help with this creature, she may believe me. If we see an opportunity to escape, we will. I'll take you with me, and I can show you my world. I promise." He said to the pair. Now they both approached him, trying to share in his warmth. He wasn't sure why, but it was actually comforting. They had risked their lives for his, despite not knowing him, and it was the kind of thing that Spring might do for them. He couldn't be sure of all changelings being nice, but these two certainly were, and he was happy at least for that small relief amidst the unrelenting disaster that his life had become.
"Spring... tell us about your world before she comes back. I want to know even just a few details in case we are to be exterminated." 88 asked, with a resigned sadness. Spring cleared his throat before beginning.
"I come from a small town called Ponyville, and I'm certain that you would like it there. The people are so kind that hardly anyone is without a smile..." As Spring continued his story, the two changelings stopped feeling sad, and were for a moment calm at having a small portion of their dreams fulfilled.
*** Back in Ponyville ***
Fluttershy had fussed about packing for far too long, but Discord was more than happy to watch her do it. Hearing her fuss almost made him happy. But why?
"My dear, you are simply over-preparing. I can take care of our every necessity." Discord said while reclining on thin air.
"But this isn't for us. It's for Spring, if we find him. He might be hurt, and while I know you can feed and take care of us, I don't think you are as good at tending to people as I am. No offense, of course. I could teach you, if you wanted to... but there's no time for that now. I have to be prepared for anything. I just know if my brother was-" she spoke before being cut off.
"Slow down, Fluttershy. This is a missing persons case, not a war zone. And while I appreciate that you feel connected to this familial emergency, don't let it cloud your judgement. I'm only going with you as a formality, not because I think it will be dangerous or exciting. I only wish it were either of those things. Now if this were a safari, I'd-" It was Discord's turn to be cut off.
"You seem awfully calm about this. This man has been missing for days. He isn't the kind of person who knows how to survive in the wilderness. He could be dying! Don't you even care?" She said, tears welling in her eyes. She too asked herself why.
"Oh I am concerned. But I er... need to keep my head calm. I'm very sorry that I'm not being more sensitive to your sensitivity, but that's one of the things that I find most-" and again he was cut off. This time by Autumn, who entered the room with his heretofore severe expression, eliciting a half-sneer from Discord.
"We should be prepared for anything and everything" he said, bringing in a sack full of weapons.
"Oh my. I don't know about this..." Fluttershy vacillated. She didn't like the prospect of hurting anyone unnecessarily. She wondered nervously if it would in fact come to that. Discord quickly interjected.
"Listen, my good friend, you are traveling with a powerful being. I hardly think that weapons are necessary."
Autumn huffed in frustration and stared Discord down.
"You would think so, but your power isn't bringing my brother back like I thought it should, so we are doing this my way." he said in a decisive tone.
Discord began to speak, but Fluttershy quickly interposed herself between the two agitators.
"This is Autumn's brother, so we should listen to him. But Autumn, please don't use those weapons unless you very much have to. I'd like to minimize any blood shed." she said calmly. She had worried that this mission was going to be a failure mostly due to the conflicting issues. The only reason she hadn't tried to get the help of her friends is that she knew that more voices could lead to more disc... tension, and time was precious.
"We should go, I think we are ready, and we have to be quick. I will try to scout by air, but the forest is thick so we should do most of our searching on hoof." she asserted, and made her way for the front door. Autumn followed quickly after, shooting a glance back at Discord as he did, to which Discord responded by sticking his tongue out, and blinking from Fluttershy's room to the outside of her home, ahead of the other two.
"Well, lets do this then. No time like the present." he said dully as he took the lead. Fluttershy and Autumn exchanged a look of uncertainty as they followed their apparent leader, whom was evidently very confident in the direction in which he was walking.
***At the hive***
The trio had fallen asleep in a huddle, and were resting in relative peace when they were woken by a the unfriendly voice of the queen.
"Wake up, scum! It's time for executions... except for you, outsider. You come with me after I deal with them..." her scowl and venom were enough to send 26 and 88 to press against the back wall out of fear. Spring merely stood, strong enough to bear his own weight for the first time in days, and approached the door to the cell bravely.
"You will take the three of us or none of us. I need their help in this task." He spoke with conviction, which surprised the queen considerably.
"So you DO remember our discussion... but you're certain that THEY can help?" her eyes were full of skepticism, but her mouth was pursed in contemplation. She had bargained for this pony's life with a powerful being, and she didn't feel like doing so again. She would have to trust that he was telling the truth. That aside, there would always be time to execute the dissidents later.
"Very well... bring them. I won't hesitate to feed either of you to the creature once we get there, so you had better be everything that the stupid mish mosh thing said you'd be. The unpleasantness of your failure will be felt far and wide. Do you hear me?" she said, her horn glowing in a display of her raw emotional expression.
Spring gulped and nodded, losing some of his bravado from the nauseating anger radiating from her very being.
"Good!" She said with a sudden smile that was somehow slightly more terrifying than her scowl. "Let's get moving!"
The quartet made their way out of the hive in a relatively short time. Spring attempted to keep note of the hive's twists and turns to make sure he could find his way out if need be. All the while, 26 and 88 stuck closely to Spring, at once ready to protect him from the queen, and draw strength from his newfound confidence.
But what neither 26 nor 88 were prepared for was the sight that awaited them. Having lived in the hive their entire lives, they were shocked by the grandeur of the open sky, the beauty of nature, and the clean winds that brushed at their faces. To them, this was an alien vista, and a beautiful one. They cried in awe, causing Spring to smile at them. He winked and nudged them once he was sure that they had a moment to take it all in. He didn't want their moment to be ruined by the queen's wrath, and he succeeded in prodding them at just the right moment, as the group had set off in search of the mysterious creature.