Princess Celestia eyed the newspaper held in her golden magical with a creased brow and unhappy frown distorting her otherwise radiant features. Slowly, with a shaking breath, she set the paper back down onto the dining table and looked to Princess Luna, who was standing directly to her left in the large dining room with an uneasy expression on her face. “Luna… do you know what’s going on out there?”
Rainbow Dash and her friends had, despite the young Princess’ promise, not shown up when she said they would. The entire day had come and gone with not a single sign of them on the train. However, rumors had begun to circulate at a very rapid rate at some point during the day… rumors which were now plastered all over the headlines of the paper on the table, which had been put out this morning.
VIOLENT OUTBREAK ON FRIENDSHIP EXPRESS: PRINCESS RAINBOW DASH INVOLVED?
The article spoke of a violent altercation that broke out aboard the train returning to Ponyville from Manehattan, where a mare, seemingly without provocation, lashed out at another passenger in what had been described as a ‘hate-filled rage.’ What made matters even worse for Celestia was that another mare had tried to pry the assaulter off of her victim, more than once calling her ‘rainbow,’ according to witness accounts. The writer of the article was unsure, however, if the mare in question was indeed Rainbow Dash, or if, in the panic, ponies had become confused. After all, he had noted, the color of the aggressor's mane was not the prismatic range of colors Rainbow Dash normally had, but two shades of purple.
Luna sighed as she examined the page herself before her face turned grim. “...I know that Rainbow Dash’s mane was dyed to a lilac color recently… I fear that what these papers say is true. Rainbow Dash attacked somepony.”
Celestia wilted and ran a hoof over her face. She sighed heavily with exasperation, hiding her face from the world as the tried to think. “...What reason would Rainbow have to attack somepony? To pursue them so… so ruthlessly that she broke through the window of a moving train just to keep up the chase?”
Luna bit her lip at that question, taking a step back. She swallowed down her own unease and spoke. “I… may have a theory about that, actually.”
Celestia looked up from her hooves, expectant.
Luna took a slow breath and looked her sister in the eye. “Starlight Glimmer… Rainbow mentioned her more than once over the times I have visited her dreams. It seems she was absolutely terrified of her…” she explained carefully.
Celestia went rigid at the mentioning of Starlight. Her breath hitched in her throat and her eyes widened somewhat. As soon as Luna was finished talking, Celestia sat bolt upright, her ears falling flat against her head. “Rainbow Dash… oh, my daughter… what have you done?”
Luna shifted back even more, gravely concerned by the immense amount of intense dread Celestia was sudden putting on full display. “Sister…?” she ventured carefully.
Celestia stood from her seat, knocking it over in the process. Her eyes began to shake and dart around furiously, as if she were about to go into a panic. “No, no no… we weren’t supposed to interfere with her or act off of what we knew! Even having foreknowledge is incredibly dangerous! Acting off of it…” she began to mutter to herself, starting to anxiously pace back and forth.
“Sister, please!” Luna interrupted her firmly, coming forward and putting a hoof on Celestia’s chest, making her stop. “Get a hold of yourself!”
Celestia took a deep breath. Then another. Finally, she managed to calm herself and stood tall again, though a slight tremor in her voice could not be missed. “...Forgive me. But we’re dealing with the unknown, here. The moment we act based off of our knowledge of the previous world, everything can be thrown completely off-course. If the mare she attacked was indeed Starlight Glimmer, then…” she sighed and gazed out a nearby window. “Then I can not hope to predict what’s going to happen next, for better… or for worse.”
Thorax watched with a distant look in his insectoid eyes as a white pegasus stallion feebly struggled against the two changelings hauling him through the caves. He was confused and afraid, and any efforts to resist were weakened and misdirected thanks to Stinger’s magic. Finally, they stuck him against the wall, upon which were dozens of glowing green pods housing other ponies; mostly members of the royal guard. The changelings that had him restrained hissed at him, making him cower against the wall before the same green slime that made up the pods began to seep out of their fangs.
“What do you look so grim for?” Pharynx’s voice deadpanned as he strolled up to Thorax’s side. “You know what, forget that. Why aren’t you out there looking for someone to replace?”
Thorax shied away from Pharynx, his wings buzzing weakly on his back with discomfort. “I… I don’t know. I’m just worried about all of this. I mean…” he looked into the eyes of the pony that was now being adhered to the wall, saw the fear and confusion behind those eyes and looked away, shivering. “...Is this right?”
Pharynx’s hoof smacked Thorax harshly across the back of his head, sending him sprawling to the cave floor in a heap. The older changeling growled menacingly down at him while planting his strong hoof squarely between Thorax’s shoulder blades. “You watch it, little brother! Talk like that is likely to get you drained by the queen.” he snarled
“I know! I know!” Thorax gasped, squirming. “I’m sorry!”
Pharynx released his hoof from Throax’s back before helping him back to his hooves with an almost disgusted look on his face. “Why does it bother you so much?” he demanded in a somewhat quieter tone. “We’re changelings. This is what we have to do to survive.”
Thorax took a shaky breath, unable to look towards the wall of pods. Instead, he turned his gaze towards the rest of the large cavern chamber in which they stood. Dozens of changelings in there, all of them performing one task or another, but it harvesting and storing the love of the captured ponies, practicing their disguises, or sparring with each other to ensure they were ready for what was coming.
Thorax gulped.
“I dunno… I just don’t like seeing things so… scared.” he finally managed, expecting another smack.
“You think I like seeing our victims afraid?” Pharynx asked incredulously. Thorax looked back to him with a tilt of his head. Pharynx almost looked insulted. “I don't. None of us do. Fear tastes awful. Why do you think we use the pods?”
“I, uh… might have missed that part of training.” Thorax half-admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with a hoof.
“Oh my gosh, you are hopeless,” Pharynx snorted before grabbing Thorax by a hoof and practically dragging him over to the pods. Once they arrived, she forcefully shoved Thorax closer so he could look. “Take a look in there.”
Thorax shuddered somewhat, then did as instructed. He looked the pod up and down a bit before his eyes refocused a little, allowing him to see the faint trails of pink light that were steadily flowing out of the chest of the trapped pony. She was asleep inside the pod, a neutral look on her face. “Well… uh…”
“See the love in there?” Pharynx asked, gesturing to the pink trails of energy. “Well, we can’t exactly harvest love when a pony is terrified for themselves. Afraid for their loved ones, maybe, but the love becomes soured if we go that route. That’s what the pods are for, Thorax. Not just keeping prisoners, but harvesting what we need from them cleanly and without the pollution of fear.”
Thorax nodded slowly, biting his lip. “I see…” he managed to say with a weak voice before looking away.
Pharynx sighed. “Thorax, you’ve got the potential to be a great infiltrator, to do wonderful things for the hive. But if you keep second-guessing yourself and, more importantly, the Queen, you’re going to advertise yourself as a liability instead of an asset. I don’t want to lose my younger brother, okay?” he said in an almost worried way. Thorax looked to him, surprised, but Pharynx’s expression had already hardened again. “So stop moping around here! Go out there and follow your orders. You still need to find somepony to replace and you need to take care of it soon. Queen Chrysalis will be here in a few days at most!”
Thorax flinched back from his elder brother’s shouting, but nodded and broke into a gallop for one of the many exits that would take him back out to the surface. On the way, he was consumed with a swirl of putrid green flames. As the fires faded, he was shown to have assumed the form of a plain pegasus stallion with a light grey coat and icy-blue mane and tail. He took to the air with a flap of his wings, soon finding his way out of the caves.
His exit put him just outside the northern walls of Canterlot, at an old entrance to the caves first constructed back when they were used as an active gem and mineral mine. Looking up, Thorax saw the Canterlot weather teams going about setting up what looked to be some rainy weather for later.
He took to the air, flying easily over the walls with a practiced, casual posture. The various guards on the wall gave him glances as he went, but determined he wasn’t a threat as he went. Thorax sighed inwardly at that before settling down somewhere in one of the main and busy streets of Canterlot so he could lose himself in the crowd.
His eyes shifted around as he went, keeping a subtle eye out for potential targets. He cringed as he thought about that… but he had his orders, from Stinger and Pharynx, and if he disobeyed, he was likely to be drained of every ounce of love he had in him. An occurrence that many changelings were terrified of. The never-ending hunger of a changeling was bad enough, but to have what few scraps a common drone could feed on forcefully extracted until there was nothing left… it was a fate no changeling wanted.
“A mandatory measure to ensure the prosperity of the hive,” Queen Chrysalis had once said. “There is no room among our ranks for traitors or underperformers. Do what is expected of you for the benefit of the hive, or perish for the benefit of the hive. No matter the case, you’re contribution to our survival is assured…”
Thorax shivered as he recalled those words, spoken to the entirety of the hive so far away. I don’t want to end up like that…
“Dreamy!” a little filly’s voice snapped Thorax out of his ruminations. He blinked and looked to his right, where a little green bat-pony filly with a pale blue mane and tail had just tackled an adult bat-pony stallion.
“Hey, Wind Whisper!” the stallion replied, sounding like he was only just an adult. He returned the hug happily with a small laugh before setting the filly down. “What did we say about using my nickname in public, though, sis?”
“Oh!” the filly’s hooves clamped over her mouth, a small red tint coming to her cheeks. “Sorry, big brother.”
“It’s all good,” the stallion gave a nod and smile before giving her a little push. “You go on inside, alright? I’ll be right in. Just gonna check the mail first.” he said.
“Okay!” The filly hugged his foreleg and then darted into the house they had met in front of. The stallion chuckled lightly before turning to his mailbox. He caught sight of Thorax watching and gave a sheepish smile.
“Oh, good morning!” he managed before prying open the mailbox and withdrawing the contents.
“Heh, yeah, good morning,” Thorax replied anxiously, prodding at the ground with a hoof.
“I don't think I’ve seen you before. I’m Squall Dreamer,” the bat-pony, Squall, said with a friendly smile before extending a hoof. “Member of the Lunar Guard.”
Thorax blinked in surprise while meeting Squall’s hoof with his own. “The Lunar Guard? That’s a thing?”
“Well,” Squall shrugged half-heartedly. “Kinda. It only really got reformed a few months ago. Until Princess Luna came back, there hadn’t been a Lunar Guard since Nightmare Moon was initially banished. Most of the old Lunar Guard was relegated to the Solar Guard.”
“Oh. That’s interesting,” Thorax gave a small smile and nod. “I’m, uh…” he paused, trying to think of a name for himself. “Thunder Max,” he managed, inwardly cringing when he realized just how stupid that sounded.
“Thunder Max?” Squall snorted in mild amusement before reigning it in. “Heh. Sorry. Kind of an unusual name. Nice to meet you, Max.”
Thorax chuckled weakly, a small red tint coming to his cheeks. “Yeah, I don’t like to talk about it.”
Squall laughed heartily. “Yeah, I bet,” he looked at the contents of his mailbox before glancing back at his house. “Anyways, I’d love to chat some more, but my little sister’s waiting for me. See you around.” he gave a nod and wave before turning and disappearing into his house, leaving Thorax behind to look on.
“Yeah… heh… you too.” he said quietly before taking a step back.
He looked into the air and his eyes refocused. The sheer amount of pink energy, raw love that was filling the air right where Squall had been standing when he had hugged his little sister… it was drool-worthy, and Thorax’s mouth watered somewhat. He instantly felt a spear of guilt when he caught himself licking his lips instinctively.
“There is no room among our ranks for traitors or underperformers. Do what is expected of you for the benefit of the hive, or perish for the benefit of the hive.”
My orders are to find somepony to replace… somepony with loved ones… Thorax thought before looking at the house again. “...I’m so sorry…” he whispered under his breath before sulking off into the shadows of a nearby alley.