//------------------------------// // Chapter XVIII // Story: What I Am // by Knight Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter XVIII “When do ya think she’ll wake up?  Ah mean, Rainbow and Written Script were up and about lickity split, but…” Twilight grumbled a little bit, but ignored the annoying, yet strangely familiar voice.  Didn't they know she was trying to sleep? “You heard the doctor, Applejack.  She’ll awake when the spell has worn off, and no later!” “I hope she’s alright… I mean, she did get attacked by one of those nasty changelings, and from what Rainbow said, she was the closest to the scroll…” Before anyone said anything else, there was the sound of a door opening, causing Twilight to groan inwardly.  That’s just great… someone else to keep me from sleeping… “Hey, guys- Oh!  Good!  Twilight’s awake!” “Uh… I beg yer pardon Spike, but Twilight ain’t awake.” There was a tutting sound, one that Twilight had always dreaded hearing.  It meant that her little dragon assistant was tired of seeing her sleep the day away.  “Guys, if you’ve lived with Twilight as long as I have, you start to pick up on a few things.”  There was a gentle shuffling sound, which Twilight had long ago associated with the end of her peaceful slumber.  “You see, Twilight is in that weird spot between being awake and being asleep.  She probably doesn’t even remember what happened earlier, and just wants us to go away.  Luckily for you, I know the secret of getting her to get up.” There were more of those odd, shuffling footsteps, followed by a weight on the bed right behind her head.  It doesn’t matter what he offers this time, I’m not getting out of this bed…  she thought to herself. “Twilight… Celestia said that she found Starswirl’s lost work, and she wants you to decipher it…” Instantly, Twilight was wide awake, upright, and holding Spike’s chubby cheeks between her hooves.  “Really?  Then we don’t have time to waste!” She was then out of her bed in a flash, took two steps, then suddenly realized that this wasn’t her room.  “Spike… Where…?” Then, like a bolt out of the blue, everything came back to her.  She had been in ~Alex’s~ room, the guard had given her that note, then… She looked around, and noticed immediately the general hospital feel of the room.  What also caught her attention was the fact that she and Spike weren’t the only ones in this room.  Next to her bed were Applejack and Fluttershy, while Rarity was lounging in a chair a little closer to the door.  Rarity had a book in her hooves, but she seemed to have closed it when she realized that Twilight was awake.  “Twilight! You’re awake!” Her friends all came together around her in a group hug, but that was hardly comforting to the young unicorn at the moment.  “What… What happened?” “You’ve been out cold since that changlin’ came and stole ~Alex~ away, sugarcube,” Applejack said as she took a couple of steps back. “Wait, what?”  Twilight shouted at the top of her voice. “You better sit down for this one, Twilight.  It’s a bit of a doozy…”  Spike said, folding his claws in front of him. “Wait… if there are changelings… then how can I be sure that-” “I’m going to stop you right there, darling,” Rarity said as she walked back to her chair and picked up her book again.  “Spike has already vouched for himself, seeing as how he knew exactly how to wake you.  And if he’s not a changeling, than it’s quite likely that none of us are changelings.  But we will submit to a magic disruption spell if you wish.  It has already been cast on all four of us at least three times today alone…”  At that, Rarity rubbed her head right behind her horn, as if she were still nursing a headache.  “But if you really need proof, I see no reason why not…” “No… No, it’s okay, I believe you…” Twilight said, rubbing her head uncertainly.  “Just… what happened?” Applejack shook her head a little.  “Ta be honest, we don’t really know much.  Just that ~Alex~ was taken, and Princess Luna took yer brother and a bunch ‘o soldiers ta go get him back.” Twilight furrowed her eyebrows at that, then her eyes went wide.  “The medical beacon!” she said, suddenly understanding how Luna would know where the hapless ~human~ had gotten to. “Bingo,” Spike said.  He then pointed behind himself at the door.  “According to the doctors that were taking care of him, he’s not only still sending data, but we’ve apparently learned a ton of information about how his body works.; I dunno what half the stuff they were talking about means, but they apparently are going to have a lot of questions for him once he learns the language.” “But more importantly than that, we now know where the changelings are hiding!” Twilight said as she moved towards the door.  “If we have any luck in this, Luna will be able to capture one!  Then we’ll be able to figure out how… to…” Twilight trailed off when she heard a commotion from beyond her hospital room’s door.  She gave her friends a questioning look, but they seemed just as confused as she was. “That’s odd… I do hope nothing dreadful happened in town…” Rarity said as she closed her book again.  “That attack by that… hideous beast earlier left a lot of ponies without their homes, or worse, their lives...” Twilight shook her head at that.  “When that happened, you could feel it from the castle.  You guys didn't feel anything strange while I was out, did you?” When the others all shook their heads in the negative, Twilight turned back to the door and, with a deep, cleansing breath, reached out with her magic and turned the knob. The door swung inward, allowing Twilight and her friends to see a doctor and two nurses rush past, pushing a gurney and chatting with each other quite animatedly.  Following close behind was a soldier, a look of grim determination on his face as he followed the medical professionals past the open door. While Twilight was quite knowledgeable in a variety of fields, she was hardly a trained medical professional, and as such, most of what the doctor and his nurses said was complete gibberish to her.  Not that she had paid much attention to what they said, anyway; no, her attention was solely on the black, bug-like creature that lay writhing in pain on the gurney that the nurses pushed between them... * * * “Tell me, please: after you have obtained from ~Alex~ the information you require, and after you have brought his tormentors to justice, what do you intend to do with him?” Celestia asked, her eyes boring into the snake-alien before her.  She also wanted to ask ‘and after him, what do you intend to do to us?’ but felt that she might be pressing her luck with that.  Celestia knew that the alien in front of her was supposedly friendly, but that did not mean that she had the planet of Equis’ best interests at heart. Despite the subservient tone this ‘Akitesh’ had been taking with her, Celestia knew that the snake held all the cards.  With only a word, she could unleash a firestorm from the heavens, burn away the atmosphere, and kill every last living thing on this planet.  The aliens didn’t need to ask for anything.  They had the power to take whatever they wanted, and there would be nothing that the Equestrians could do to stop them. Which is why it was so confusing to Celestia that every single thing this Akitesh had wanted from the Equestrians had been asked for, not demanded. “We have law, that young race, your race and his, not be contact.  We not supposed to talk, you not know we here, until you grow up,” Akitesh said, an apology lingering in her eyes.  “That law broken, so next law very clear.  First, we catch responsible party.” Celestia was a little bit offended by that, but she didn’t show it.  After all, calling her and her people ‘young’ was a lot nicer than calling them ‘primitive.’  It showed that Akitesh at least saw the Equestrians as potential equals, rather than stupid savages.  Still, it was somewhat galling to be called ‘young.’  She hadn’t been called young in over a thousand years.  “And what is the next step?” she asked, pushing down her irritation for the moment. “Next, if possible, remove disruption, and erase memory of existence,” Akitesh said with a bow.  “At moment, not think possible.  Too many see, too many know.  Very hard to remove all, someone slip through hole, damage still done.” Celestia didn’t know what this ‘erase memory of existence’ entailed, but she didn’t like the sound of it, not even a little bit.  “And because it’s impossible now, what will you do?” “Now, once things calm, and guilty caught, we leave teacher,” Akitesh said, inclining her head ever so slightly.  “You young, and harm caused by knowing things before ready can harm.  We leave teachers, to teach and guide.  Up to you, listen.  Up to you, learn.  But we lessen damage as much as can.  You people, done great disservice.  Not allowed to grow at own pace, not allowed to become at own pace.  We lessen damage as much can, teach at you pace if can, but know cannot fully give back what was lost.  Not able to give back what you not know you had.” Celestia was… honestly a bit shocked at that.  It was the last thing she thought she was going to hear at these meetings.  But still, deep in her gut, she felt that there was something that Akitesh wasn’t telling her.  “And what will these ‘teachers’ require of us in return?” “No want anything in return,” Akitesh said, shaking her head a little.  “They there not work to be paid, but work to pay back.  We in you debt, not other way around.”  She let out a slight cough, then rubbed her lower hands together.  “If possible, we-” the snake started to say, but stopped when she noticed the conference room door opening. Celestia quickly turned toward the door, both dreading and hoping at what the widening portal would reveal.  She quickly spotted one of her sister's captains enter the room, a serious look on his face as he approached the solar diarch.  “Yes, Captain?” “Your Highness, your sister and her guard have returned,” he said in a whisper only Celestia could hear.  “She wishes to inform you that the mission was largely a success, though there were unforeseen complications.  She wishes to speak with you at the earliest possible convenience, as what she has learned may affect any further decisions.” Celestia didn't answer the soldier immediately.  Instead, she turned back to her guests and gently inclined her head.  “I apologize, but it seems that something has come up.  We will have to continue this discussion at a later date, but in the meantime, I will speak with ~Alex~ about your request.  For now, I would ask you to return to your vessel.” The large insectoid, ‘Hazalk’ if Celestia was pronouncing it correctly, discreetly returned the small ‘calculation device’ to the pocket at the side of his trunk and leaned over to whisper something to Akitesh.  Celestia was certain that she hadn't been meant to notice him pull that device out, or the many times he had returned it, so she had pretended not to.  The princess guessed that the strange creature had been communicating with his ship, which made sense, since he seemed to not possess even the basic translating magic that his snake-like counterpart had at her disposal, making his presence ceremonial at best. While Celestia appreciated the gesture, she would have rather had the strange creature not been there.  If Celestia was being honest, both aliens were quite disturbing, their very appearance evoking a nameless dread of things that were beyond her understanding. Akitesh nodded at what Hazalk had said, then turned back to Celestia and gave a low bow.  “We return tomorrow.  Hope continue build trust.  Hope continue work together.  Take care of ~Alexander Cunningham,~ let know what talk about today.” “I will.  My guard will see you to your craft.” The two aliens respectfully inclined their heads, then moved to follow the soldiers back to their landing craft.  Celestia waited until they had left the room completely before letting out a sigh of relief and turning to the captain at her side.  “What news have you brought for me, Captain?” The captain bowed to the princess, then straightened.  “Before we begin, I would ask you to perform a magical disruption spell on me, to eliminate from your mind the possibility of a changeling trick.” Celestia looked at the captain questioningly, but did as she had been asked.  “I am sorry for this, Captain.”  Her horn hummed ominously as she wove the spellform in her mind, and without a second thought, released the spell on the hapless dust pony. The effects of the spell were instantaneous.  The captain fell to his side like a felled tree, his limbs splayed out stiffly, while his eyes rolled into the back of his head.  Celestia waited patiently for the poor stallion to regain his senses, well aware of the pain that that particular spell could inflict. It took the stallion a good four to five minutes to regain his head, during which time Celestia’s guard had returned, informing her of the alien’s departure.  “I apologize for the wait, My Princess,” the guard said as he got unsteadily back to his feet. “It is fine.  Now, tell me, what news do you bring from my sister?” Celestia asked, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. The guard gave an uncertain bow, then returned to an at-ready posture.  “The meeting with the changeling queen was both more productive, and more disastrous than we initially thought.  As of now, The Queen has surrendered her entire hive and people to us, as well as the secret to unmasking her citizens.” Celestia was floored by this news, with the guards that she had present muttering among themselves at this turn of events.  No wonder the captain had requested a magical disruption spell; an announcement like that would have almost certainly been met with distrust.  “Why?  How?  A little under a year ago, she and her ilk were attempting to conquer our whole nation!” “I assure you, it is quite true.  There is a catch to this news, however: She is not the only changeling queen, and her hive is not the only one out there.  According to her, it was a completely different changeling queen that staged the attack on Canterlot.  This ‘Queen Chrysalis,’ as she calls her, was also responsible for the attack on ~Alex~ and the two bearers in his company.  All this queen did, as she claims, was intercept ~Alex~ and hold him for our arrival.” Celestia looked at the captain skeptically.  “How can you be so certain of her words, Captain?  She is a changeling, and from the little that we know of their kind, they live on deceit.” “It is quite simple, Your Highness.  While we were there, this ‘Queen Chrysalis’ sent her minions to attack the surrendered hive.  There were many casualties, and Canterlot General has been turned into a wartime relief hospital,” the captain said with a bow.  “Even now, we are sending more troops to reinforce the hive, while the Queen, Princess Luna, and the ~human~ all await your presence in the throne room.” Celestia stared at the captain for quite some time, trying to make sense of the information that had been dumped on her.  It seemed completely fantastical, yet something in the captain’s eye told her that he wasn’t making any of this up. This I must see for myself… Celestia thought as she swept past the bowing captain.  “I take it you were there during the conflict?” Celestia asked as she opened the door to the council chamber. “I was, Your Highness.  I was part of the strike force that Shining Armor led to reacquire ~Alex.~” “Good.  You are to come with me, and tell me all you can along the way, Captain…?” Celestia asked, briefly turning back to the messenger. “Knight Breeze, Your Highness.” “Very well, Captain Breeze.  Now, tell me more about these ‘friendly’ changelings.  I wish to know all you know about them,” Celestia said as she left the room, Captain Breeze hot on her heels. * * * The guards that the two had left in the room looked at each other, hope rising in their eyes.  “Do you think it’s true, sarge?” one of them asked. “Only time will tell.  From the sound of it, though, they’re going to need help down at the barracks and hospital.  Get a move on, stallions!” With a grunt of acknowledgement, the soldiers filed out of the room, firmly closing the door behind them. The room was almost eerily quiet after that, the only sound being the faint sound of hooves in a distant hallway, and the only movement being a lone bird at the council room’s window.  The bird looked into the room, its eye revealing far more intelligence than its simple frame would suggest as it pondered the information it managed to overhear.  It didn’t twitter or sing, its expression never changing as it unfurled its wings and turned away from the window it had perched upon. Without a second thought, the bird took off into the quickly darkening night sky, its wings taking it south, out of the castle grounds and into the city proper.  It ducked low over a familiar building, before swooping into the open window and alighting on the bed frame it found there. The owner of the bed, a nondescript beige pony with curly, green hair, looked up at the unannounced guest, then quickly made his way to the window before shutting it firmly and drawing the curtains closed.  “What have you overheard, Glitterwing?” The pony turned toward the bed, his eyes seeking out the creature that had once been perching on his bed.  It was gone, and in its place stood a changeling, its expression that of complete panic.  “They know how to rout us out!  The Queen’s plan of destroying Providence has failed!” the changeling said, as he nervously bounced from hoof to hoof. The nondescript pony’s face turned down in a frown.  “We must leave Canterlot, then.  We will only be discovered as the Equestrians rout out all of our kind and execute us.  We must warn the Queen, and inform her that Providence has doomed us all.” "Sir, what about Thorax?” The nondescript pony just shook his head, before dropping his disguise.  “We must leave him.  If he manages to return, then good.  If he is caught, he knows what his duty is.” Glitterwing looked like he was about to argue, but thought better of it.  They didn’t have the ‘lingpower to mount a rescue, and the tightening of the security of Canterlot Castle meant that it was now impossible to get a message through.  With any luck, the poor changeling could manage a beacon teleport before Providence could reveal that magic’s weakness too. As fire engulfed the two changelings, however, Glitterwing couldn’t help but feel as if he were abandoning Thorax to a fate worse than death. * * * Queen Chrysalis was not happy.  Not happy at all.  The weird alien weapon had slipped through her hooves again, Providence had escaped her grasp, and now all of Equestria knew how to sniff out her agents. And the worst part was that she knew it was all her fault. All because she had underestimated this ‘weapon.’  This thing that, when she had first heard about it, had filled her with an overwhelming hope. This weapon, she thought.  Surely this weapon is what we need to conquer Equestria. All she had to show for her efforts, however, was a dead or captured contingent of some of her finest forces, and an allied front against her.  With a frustrated snarl, she swept past her drones, causing them to scatter as they desperately tried to stay out of the queen’s way.  Eventually, her warpath led her to a closed, fleshy door, its quietly undulating folds carelessly preventing the fuming queen access to the room beyond. A bit more forcefully than she intended, she touched the door with her horn.  Open, she ordered, sending the command through the hive and to her consort.  After a few seconds, the door dutifully opened, allowing her entrance to the room beyond. This room was surprisingly bare, containing only a few stalactites and stalagmites, remnants of the cave that this hive used to be, and a single cocoon which dangled from the ceiling. The cocoon was complete, so as to hide the majority of the creature it contained from view.  It did, however, allow the creature’s face to be shown, and that alone was enough to give Chrysalis the shivers.  Its dark grey chitin was cracked in several places, but it still spoke of something otherworldly, something far beyond her understanding.  Its mandibles were slack, and its bright green eyes were staring out into space. Chrysalis’s horn briefly glowed, causing the creature’s eyes to glow in response.  It looked down at her, its eyes still staring unseeingly at the changeling queen, patiently awaiting her orders. “Tell me more of this ‘weapon’ you were making,” Chrysalis said in the still somewhat unfamiliar tongue of the alien.  “I thought you said you lobotomized it, that there should be nothing left of its old personality and ingenuity.” The alien looked down at her blankly, its stare uncomprehending of what Chrysalis had asked of it.  “We did…” it said, its monotone voice giving the impression that the creature had no idea what it was saying. “I saw it with my own eyes.  It wasn’t wearing the restraining band around its neck, yet it cut through my troops like paper.  Explain.” The alien took a deep, shuddering breath, before answering in the same, monotone voice.  “The weapon should be incapable of more than basic thought and movement.  A vegetable without any sort of controller.  If it is capable of more… I must inform the emperor… He needs to know that the experiment was a failure…” Chrysalis frowned at the alien, as the alien’s true personality started to show through the queen’s brainwashing.  With a negligent charge of her horn, she reestablished total control, the alien’s face becoming slack once more.  “Tell me, what was your experiment supposed to accomplish?  What were you hoping to achieve with this… monstrosity?” The alien’s eyes stared at the queen, his breath slowly echoing through the chamber, before he opened his mandibles and answered her.  “The experiment was to see if control could ever be established against our enemies.  The experiment’s race shares many unique qualities with our enemy, qualities we were hoping to exploit.  We hoped to bring our enemies under our thrall.  The weaponizing of the experiment’s body was merely a ruse, in case our work fell into their hands.” Queen Chrysalis looked at the alien with interest, her eyebrows furrowed as she stepped closer to the cocooned creature.  “These… others, these enemies of yours, they are powerful, yes?” “They are.” “Good… good…” Chrysalis said, a sinister smile appearing on her lips.  “Now, tell me everything you know about these… enemies of yours…” The alien pulled in another, shaky breath, before he started to talk, unfeeling, unthinking, and completely unaware of the role he was to play in the days to come.