Crimson watched the shimmering image of Mirage pace back and forth as they discussed their next move. Convincing Queen Echo that the Atlanteans hadn’t foalnapped Princess Blossom would be extremely hard, not least because they were in her hive. But it would be necessary if they were to get the Whispering Hive off their backs and continue fighting the Dominion.
“Can we get some of our guys out of those cocoons?” Coal Dust asked. “It seems simple enough.”
“Easier said than done,” Mirage deadpanned. “You have to make it look like they’re still in the cocoon, which means patching the hole perfectly. You have to have enough time for them to recover. You have to watch for guards - not to mention Echo herself. She’s been on and off that balcony for hours.”
“Can we take her prisoner without the entire hive descending on us?” Rose asked.
“Not really. It’s why a queen is usually killed, not imprisoned. That one time in Emberforge, we were lucky.”
“Then how do we convince her to lay off?” Dust plopped on the ground, clearly ready to give up.
Crimson shrugged his shoulders. “We can’t just leave them here, and we can’t kill Echo, or take her prisoner, which is something I’d rather not get dinged for.”
“Can we use an airship?” Rose looked thoughtful. “After all, there should be one within a day’s travel as the crow flies from here.”
“Against an underground enemy? Good luck.” Dust smirked.
Her cheeks flushed. “It was just a suggestion.” She sounded hurt.
Crimson stepped in before Dust could respond. “Shut up, Dust. If you have something that will actually help, then please, enlighten us. Otherwise, keep you mouth shut.”
“Ask the damn Unicorn. She’s got the magic,” he protested.
“I said shut it. Honestly, if you’re like most Rangers, then I’m fine with leaving your buddies in their cocoons.”
Rose put her hoof on Crimson’s shoulder. “Dad’s not like this, and neither are Rangers I knew. If they are now, it’s because the Doms have Port Snowfall. I’ve never even met Dust until earlier today, so he’s probably a local recruit.”
“Alright, Lieutenant Thorn, but we have bigger problems. Like how to effectively convince a Changeling Queen that we did nothing wrong? It’s far easier to prove one guilty than innocent.”
Mirage’s image shimmered. “See if there’s an armory. If there is, and you can get to it, then blow it up. Take out her military and logistical capability. If anything, the Doms taught us that.”
“Good. Mirage, get over here, and we’ll talk more about it.” Mirage’s horn flared and her image dissipated. “Dust, get off your ass. Rose, check for nearby guards.” Muttering, Dust stood up, while Rose cast a short-range scrying spell.
A moment later, Mirage was there. Her horn glowing, she demanded, “Chrome finish?”
“Not on my train,” Crimson replied. Mirage’s spell faltered and faded away. “Had to make sure, Crimson.”
“That’s fine. So, where do you think the armory is?”
“Judging by Queen Echo’s movements, her quarters are directly above us,” the princess replied. “Naturally, she would want the weapons near enough to quickly defend herself, but far enough to not explode her room. I think it’s across the palace.”
“We’ll go off of that. Do you think you can create a distraction, you and Dust? Rose will follow me.”
“Sure. give you five minutes to get in position before I start.”
Crimson smiled and hurried to the palace entryway, closely followed by the pink nurse. Mirage watched them go, then turned to Dust.
“When I say ‘go,’ head in the opposite direction they did. Make as much noise as you can once I’m out of sight,” Mirage ordered.
Coal Dust nodded.
Five minutes passed. “Go!”
The Earth pony bolted down the hall, screaming louder than Mirage thought possible. Within seconds, a squad of Changeling guards appeared and chased after him. They paid no heed to the princess, who was as silent as a rock.
She waited a minute. The constant scream stopped as Dust inhaled, then continued as he galloped through the hive’s streets. With a hollow thwap, he finally shut up and was unceremoniously dragged to the cocoon chamber.
Where Mirage stood at the door. As the guards hauled Coal Dust through the open door, she blasted them with lightning, missing the pony by a hair. He woke when his head hit the floor, scrambling to his hooves and trying not to let his anger control him.
“You let them take me!”
“Yeah, but you’re here now. Out of the way,” she said, starting to cast a spell. The crackle of lightning filled the air. Sparks flew off her horn. A ring of fire formed in the air between Mirage and the door. Then, with a strain in her eye and tears on her face, she let loose.
As Crimson and Rose remembered, the insane lightning spell cast at Emberforge Valley was the biggest ever conjured. It had been easily enough to trick the Dom artillery teams into shooting each other while they were still blinded. It allowed the airship Perplexus to dive in and evacuate the surrounded Atlanteans, letting them live to fight another day. The strike itself had originated from Mirage and had struck both sides of the valley from her vantage point. At least 150 Doms were simply incinerated upon impact; the rest in the immediate vicinity were permanently blinded or deafened, and both in some cases, and had to be relieved by fresh troops as they went home.
This one was bigger. Instead of a dual strike, Mirage opted for a single target: the ceiling just above the hive’s urban area. This put more power into the one bolt that now streaked through the massive cavern. It shone brighter than the sun and crackled with pure magical energy. Several branches scorched the walls and set suburban homes afire.
The bolt slammed into the rock ceiling at the speed of light. Concentrated magic seeped into the solid stone and ripped it apart atom by atom, shattering tons of rock and sending brightly lit cracks in all directions. Some of the supporting “skyrises” collapsed into heaps of rubble. Above the hive, seven tons of solid Whispering Mountain granite was annihilated and rained down as red-hot balls of magma. The real sky, gradually turning orange with the morning, could just barely be seen through the thinner layers of smoke and dust.
Then the sound rebounded off the cavern walls. It completely destroyed damaged buildings and, together with the shockwave, turned practically everypony to jelly. Mirage couldn’t stand up; her legs and balance were that disrupted. But the combo did disintegrate the thousands of cocoons and spilled their ponies onto the cave floor. Disoriented ponies stumbled in the goop, slipping and falling down.
Mirage struggled back to her hooves. She held a hoof to her ear, trying to figure out why she couldn’t hear anything. When she looked at her hoof, it was covered in green blood. A quick check on her other ear told her the same thing. She tried to cast a healing spell, but the green magic fizzled out as soon as it materialized.
Coal Dust shook his head, knocking a few pieces of his shattered, bloodied eardrums loose. His mouth moved, but no sound came out. Surprised by this development, he checked his ears.
A black and white Earth pony rubbed his head. He approached the two, and recognizing, Coal Dust, gave the Ranger a bear hug. Dust practically jumped, but calmed down when he saw who it was.
“Solitaire! I didn’t even hear you!” he said.
Solitaire said something in reply, but Dust cocked his head to the side. “What? I can’t hear you.”
The Ranger leader’s mouth moved again in exasperation.
Dust jerked his hoof at his ear. “I don’t know what you’re saying. It’s kaput.”
Realization dawned on Solitaire. He waved a Unicorn over, who proceeded to cast a healing spell on Dust. Within a minute, he could hear again. “I think the other one’s broke, too.”
“That’s fine. At least you can understand me,” Solitaire said. “As I was saying, thanks for getting us out.”
“I didn’t do it. She did,” Dust replied, gesturing to Mirage. “I think she can’t hear either, and that lightning spell probably took all of her magic.”
The Ranger nodded and ordered the Unicorn to heal Mirage’s ears. “We owe you two a great debt. What’s next?”
“I don’t even know. This was supposed to be the distraction.”
Mirage joined them, adjusting to her hearing. She picked up her scattered equipment and saluted Treetop as he walked through the green cavern-wide gooey mess.
“Good job, Mirage,” he said.
A horde of Changeling guards entered the open doorway to the hive, weapons ready. With a sudden halt, they blinked surprise at the thousands of prisoners standing around. Then one of them roared something in the Changeling language, and they streamed forward toward the group.
Treetop brandished Mirage’s secondary curved-blade cutlass from her pack. The princess readied her own usual short sword, although weakly. Solitaire picked up a large rock, prepared to throw it.
“Well then,” Treetop said. “We’ve got ourselves some idiots in serious need of an ass-kicking.”