//------------------------------// // Anypony // Story: Harmonics // by ezra09 //------------------------------// The group made their way back along the walkway. Scootaloo walked side by side with the Librarian, a satisfied smile firmly in place. The ground beneath them shuddered. Everypony paused. Another small quake shook them. This time the shudder was enough to kick up dust from the bookshelves. A few seconds later, a muted thud echoed through the cavernous room. And then another. The Librarian looked over the railing. The dust that had been knocked from the shelves swirled between the shelves, caught in otherwise unseen currents of air. “Strange. I wonder what that is.” “You don’t know?” Scootaloo asked. The Librarian shook his head. The ground shuddered a third time. “It’s coming from real deep,” Apple Bloom said. “That crystal never did answer,” Mimic said, “but why did Nocturne want to seal Libiris in the first place?” Another moment of silence from the Librarian. “I still don’t remember. There was... something. Cusadrehk jedym. Important.” A series of impossibly loud ratcheting clicks filled the room, echoing from every direction. They stopped after about fifteen seconds. “Something I was meant to be watching,” the Librarian continued thoughtfully. That didn’t sound promising. “Let’s go,” Scootaloo said. “Whatever it is, we’ve got enough to be dealing with.” “Yes,” the Librarian said. “Yes, you seem to have your hooves full. The command word to return to the surface is cinvyla.” “You’re not coming?” Scootaloo asked. The Librarian shook his head, looking back down over the railing. “I’m still not remembering. It’s been... so long since I’ve even thought about anything. There’s something important here. Something I must see to.” Scootaloo wanted to argue. If the Librarian was supposed to be guarding something dangerous, something she’d inadvertently set loose, if he ended up dead because of her... No. The Librarian was a grown... whatever he was. Surely he understood the risks, and he had the option of accompanying them. They had their own job to do, and apparently the Librarian had his. “Thank you. Let’s go.” The galloped the last fifty feet to the stairs and gathered onto the circle. “Cinvyla!” Scootaloo called, and that horrible feeling of falling overtook her senses again. It passed after a moment later and they were in ground level of Libiris. The lights were shining even brighter than before. So brightly they hurt to look at. The silence that had been so oppressive before had been replaced by a roar of white noise so loud Scootaloo couldn’t think straight. She ran across the room, head ducked low against the lights, and hit the door full force. It opened easily and she was out of Libiris and into the pitch black night. The noise outside was worse. Not as loud, but more distinct. Scootaloo could make out the cries of animals. Some were cries of fear, others the screaming and caterwauling of predators. The creaking of trees in the wind and rustling of leaves were at times almost enough to drown the animals out. Scootaloo could feel a malice in the air that hadn’t been there before. It was as though the forest itself was furious at them. Thistleroot and Sweetie Belle provided a light and the group ran for it. Scootaloo didn’t want to move into the thick covering of trees, but she wanted to find out what was happening in Libiris even less. She tore through the tangled path. The branches and vines seemed to latch onto her as she passed. Thorns clawed at her hide, and she felt warm droplets of blood on her right side. A guttural growl challenged them from a few feet off the path and Mimic responded with an overwhelming torrent of changeling fire. It was met with a cry of pain and the tearing of plants as something large moved away from them. After another minute they were free and on the main path. They ran all out. Scootaloo’s shoulder burned with exhaustion, and she could only imagine how bad Mimic was doing after her injuries in the battle of Canterlot, but nopony complained or tried to stop. Her lungs began to ache. The deafening cries of the forest began to fade. Finally after another twenty minutes Sweetie Belle tripped over something and stumbled before crashing into a roll. She came to a stop and lay breathing heavily. Everypony stopped and doubled back for her. “Ya okay, Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom asked. Sweetie Belle nodded and pushed herself up to a sitting position. “I think we’re far enough away to be a little safer,” Scootaloo said. “Water, everypony. Once we catch our breath we can start moving at an easier pace. Running blindly isn’t going to make us safer from predators.” “True,” Thistleroot said, flopping limply onto the ground beside Sweetie Belle and digging a canteen from his pack. “What about pretending to be dead. Doesn’t that deter bears or something? Maybe it works on other things too.” “Dunno,” Scootaloo said. “I’ve got a friend I can ask for you once we unstone her.” “Sounds good. I’m just gonna lie here for a few more seconds. Then I’ll be good to go.” They rested for several minutes, drinking most of the remaining water, and finally got on their way again. Star Charmer had said the forest went on for twenty miles. They’d probably run three. The ponies could cover the rest in four hours or so. Mimic was probably the same. Scootaloo could only hope Spike, being the only two legged creature of the group, would be able to keep up. Dragons didn’t seem as suited for travel as ponies did, but she wouldn’t feel safe sleeping until they were out of the forest. As it turned out, Spike was able to keep up. The group wasn’t as fast as Scootaloo had hoped, but the trees began clearing just after about five hours. They continued going without needing to talk about it for another twenty minutes before coming to a stop. Mimic and Thistleroot gathered some wood, and with Mimic’s magic they had a fire going in no time. Between Sweetie Belle’s energy bars, Thistleroot’s rations, and Apple Bloom’s apples, they had a decent if not particularly satisfying dinner. “Spike,” Scootaloo said as everypony was picking out a spot to sleep. “I just wanted to say thank you.” She saw Sweetie Belle look up in their direction and trot over. “What for?” Spike asked. “For getting us the help in Libiris,” Scootaloo said. “Oh, that? That was nothing. Any of you would have done the same.” “Maybe, but we didn’t. You did. I just wanted you to know how much we appreciate what you did. I know it was hard for you.” Spike glanced away. “Yeah. But it was just a thing, right? It was only special because Twilight gave it to me. Between a comic book and saving everypony, it’s no contest, right?” Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” “Plus,” Sweetie Belle added, “you know Rarity is going to be super proud of you when she finds out just how generous you were. She might even reward you with a kiss.” Sweetie Belle winked as Spike looked away from both of them. “I didn’t do it so that anypony would be proud of me. Could you two stop making a big deal out of it.” He paused. “Wait, do you really think so?” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both giggled. Spike tried to look angry, but after a second he couldn’t help but chuckle too. Scootaloo had guessed he’d grown out of that precocious crush, but seeing him able to laugh about it was something different. Not necessarily bad, but it reminded her of just how much had changed in the past ten years. And yet, they were still friends. Sitting with her friends and knowing that they had a chance to save her sister and everypony else, Scootaloo let herself slip into a moment of peace. “Scootaloo,” Mimic said as she watched the flames of the campfire dance. “What happens to the changelings if we win?” Well, that was a nice thirty seconds. The other ponies fell silent. For a while, the only sound in the campsite was the cracking of wood in the fire. “I guess it’s hard for you,” Sweetie Belle said. “Working against your own kind, isn’t it?” “Why are ya helping us, anyway?” Apple Bloom asked. “Ah think Scootaloo mentioned y'all had a deal?” “We did. I freed her from imprisonment within the changeling hive and in return she was going to petition the princess on behalf of my brother and me. It was easier to justify. Lirian had her schemes and plans, but they wouldn’t miss a single gatherer. And she didn’t need Scootaloo, she was just a vicious lunatic who wanted to hurt her. It wouldn’t really be a problem to free her. It’s different now. Changelings have won, and I’m actively working against them.” Her voice threatened to crack on the last word. “If it makes you feel any better,” Spike said, “being a dragon, I sort of understand how you’re feeling. It’s hard to do the right thing when it means going against your nature. If you ever want to talk-” Mimic’s face hardened. “Get one thing straight. I’m not helping you because it’s the right thing to do. I’m here for the same reason as before, to help myself.” “Okay, okay, sorry,” Spike said. Scootaloo frowned. How was Mimic’s involvement at this point self serving? Was it likely that that many changelings knew about her part in freeing Scootaloo? That they could recognize her amongst the countless changelings in the hive? Now that Lirian was dead and everything was up in the air, surely Mimic and her brother could have found safety elsewhere. Scootaloo considered voicing her thoughts, but the look on Mimic’s face was not one that invited argument. “So, any ideas on what happens to the other changelings if we free your princesses and stop the first queen?” “Honestly, no,” Scootaloo said. “Princess Celestia tried to reason with Lirian once. I think she wanted to help the changelings, but Lirian wouldn’t listen. Maybe now that she’s gone, a peace could be reached. But it would be on the changelings to accept.” Mimic seemed to accept that answer. Without further discussion, she curled up where she was and closed her eyes. Could she be trusted? Scootaloo hated the idea the moment she thought it, but she couldn’t help but have her doubts. Mimic was a changeling after all. Sure, she was Scootaloo’s friend, but if she didn’t care about doing the right thing, what reason did she have for working with them? Would friendship be enough to convince Scootaloo to side with the changelings? Why had Mimic joined them on their trip to Libiris? Scootaloo was glad she’d come, of course. Without her help in retrieving the fragment of harmony and in breaking the seal, their trip would have been worse than useless. But why had she come? She’d had her brother, the one thing that had driven her to free Scootaloo and escape the hive. Scootaloo lay down and closed her own eyes, ready to dwell on the question for as long as sleep eluded her. She was asleep before she was fully settled. ***** The trip to Canterlot was a long one. Greenhaven Grotto was one of the Westernmost towns in Equestria. On the second day they managed to hop onto a train passing heading to Ponyville. From there it was another day and a half to the current location of the Canterlot refugees. “There aren’t as many tents as before,” Sweetie Belle said. “Probably a lot of ponies moving to other towns,” Scootaloo said. “Where they have families and solid housing. Hmm, did we ever find out what happened to all of the ponies that were replaced by changelings before the attack?” “Most of them, I think,” Spike said. “A lot of them came back in the day or two after Canterlot... you know. A bunch of them had been abducted the day before and dropped off by changelings miles away. They had just enough time for the changelings to get into place. “Starswirl also said they didn’t have to have every changeling replace a pony. For the last attack, in the confusion, nopony would notice a bunch of made up faces.” “I wonder if Pal is somewhere around here.” Thistleroot said. “Do you want to go find him?” Scootaloo asked. Thistleroot considered it and shook his head. “I will, but later. Better stay close. Al the Shaved might want to leave immediately.” They found Starswirl back in his tent, looking over a scroll, a quill dripping ink as he held it in an absent minded telekinetic grip a few inches away. He glanced up as they entered before looking back to the scroll. “Back already, eh?” “Yeah, we are,” Scootaloo said. “Well, don’t feel too bad. Ponies have spent years—” “Nocturne’s castle is in the Northwest mountains, near Yakyakistan. We marked it on a map before coming back,” Scootaloo said. Starswirl blinked. He set the scroll down and blinked again. He turned to give them a long, skeptical look. A grin spread across his face, which quickly turned into a full blown laugh. “You didn’t really, did you?” Scootaloo nodded. She heard her friends chime in with a chorus of yeps and uhuhs to back her up. “How?” “We had to use changeling, dragon, and pony magic all at the same time,” Scootaloo said. “Nocturne was one of the creatures that sealed Libiris in the first place.” “Well, I have to say, I’m impressed. I wasn’t expecting any non-ponies to have been involved.” Starswirl shook his head. “Bah, even if I had, don’t know how I would have gotten a changeling to cooperate. Well done, then.” He dropped the quill onto the forgotten scroll, spattering it with ink, and stood up to fully face them. “I’ll need to ask for more details about Libiris, but my curiosity can wait. Did you find anything else out about this Nocturne?” “She was first sealed away by Discord!” Apple Bloom said. “Rose probably got the details when she learned how to make her own Elements of Disharmony.” “And Nocturne created the changelings, windigos, and specters,” Spike said. “She made the changelings last, because the other two weren’t as good as she’d hoped.” Starswirl tilted his head, a small frown coming to his lips. “She made them? That’s worrying. Something like that takes power. Even more than I thought she had.” Scootaloo nodded. “She also has a bunch of different names,” Thistleroot said. “Nocturne, obviously, and the First Queen. She was also called the Night Queen. Wasn’t there something about feral instinct?” “Eternal spirit,” Scootaloo said. “It was Eternal Spirit of Feral Instinct.” The crystal had used the same phrase for Discord, the Eternal Spirit of Chaos. Starswirl was silent for a long moment. At first, Scootaloo thought he was thinking over what they’d said, but then she noticed his eyes had widened, and she would have sworn she could see color draining from his already grayed face. “Does that mean something to you?” Scootaloo asked. Starswirl nodded. “Aye, it means something, alright. It means we’re a mite short on luck.” He stepped back and sank onto the chair behind him. “I was hoping she’d beaten Celestia just because the princess was already worn down, but we might just be looking at something on par with Discord, and without the elements.” “That’s why we go to her castle, Night’s End. We storm in or sneak in or whatever, get the girls back, and turn them back into ponies. The elements are strong enough to beat Discord, they’re strong enough to beat Nocturne.” Starswirl pondered the words. “Maybe. Yeah, it’s better than doing nothing.” Another pause. “And I reckon you lot have earned a bit of credit. Are you all intent on going?” Scootaloo nodded. She didn’t have to look behind her to know her friends would do the same. “Then I have some ground rules. Just one, actually. You obey any order I give, when I give it. I say jump, you jump. I say run, you run. I say hide, you hide. Anypony that can’t agree to that can stay behind.” “We agree,” Scootaloo said. “Ha, alright then. We don’t want to move in now, we’ll want the cover of night. It’ll give me time to set up a teleportation spell.” He turned, horn glowing and several sheets of paper spread out across the table. The quill he’d set down early twirled into the air. “Let’s see, elevation is a big factor. Don’t want to teleport into a mountain. Where’s that reference to Yakyakistan?” “Over here,” Spike said, pointing toward a corner armchair stacked with books. “Thanks. Alright, you all get some rest if you need it. Meet back here at sunset.” ***** Effigy looked up at Mimic as she entered the tent. “Uh, hey. It’s me,” Mimic said, letting her eyes turn blue and pupiless for a moment before becoming pony eyes again. Her brother looked at her, his expression guarded. “Hey, Mimic. I was starting to worry.” Mimic fought down a sudden anxiety as he tried to meet her gaze. She glanced down at his hooves, and then turned to pace across the room. “Yes, sorry I couldn’t come back to talk to you sooner. Some things have been happening and I had to leave the camp for a few days.” “What things?” Effigy asked. “Just, you know. Gaining the ponies trust.” Mimic kicked up some of the dirt of the tent floor, refusing to meet his eyes. “But I’m back and I wanted to see you again.” “Okay,” he said, drawing out the word with a skeptical tone. “Then are we ready to do this? I know I said I could wait a few days, but you were gone almost a week. I was worried you’d been captured.” “We could. Once the sun goes down, I could bust you out,” Mimic said. Or we could just walk out, she thought, but decided not to tell him that part just yet. “What do we do once you’re out?” “Haven’t you been paying attention? Whatever we want. I could teach you how to be an infiltrator. Show you how to replace a pony. And you can show me what you do, right? How you find food, and whatever else gatherers learn.” “Why would we learn stuff like that,” Mimic asked. The thought of taking another ponies place, of living as someone else and feeding off their family wasn’t an unfamiliar one. She’d once wondered what it would be like to be an infiltrator, one of the soldier’s in Queen Chrysalis’s and Queen Lirian’s wars against the ponies. Now the thought just made her carapace crawl. What’s happening to you? She asked herself. Effigy shrugged. “It’s something to do.” “What would we do with the pony we replaced. We wouldn’t be working with carriers to bring captured ponies to the hive.” She considered their other options, and had to fight to keep the sudden anxiety from her face. “Well, I may not be as good as Queen Chrysalis was with mind control magic, but really no one was. Still, I know a decent amount. I can’t do any of it anymore, but I could teach you a thing or two, right? Enough to wipe a pony’s mind for a few days, at least.” The sudden tension in Mimic’s shoulders eased a bit. Mind magic, not... something else. That was at least... better? Not that much better, but Mimic couldn’t put her hoof on why. “Everything okay, Mim?” Effigy asked. “Yes, everything’s great. Look, I think we need to figure out where we’re going before we bust out. Let’s think on it for another few days. I have some other things I need to do first.” “What? No. Why wait?” Effigy put his hooves on the wooden slats between them. “We’ll go north to the first pony town we find. There, decision made, let’s go.” “I don’t know how far the next village is,” Mimic said. “What if we run out of food?” “Finding food is what you do. You’re a gatherer,” Effigy said, voice growing agitated. “Mimic, just what is wrong with you lately? You show up, telling me you want to save me, disappear for a week, and now you’re acting like you don’t want to get me out at all.” Mimic stepped back, eyes firmly glued to the ground at her brother’s hooves. “I’m just trying to be careful. I don’t want to mess this up.” Effigy’s expression hardened. “No. You’re a terrible liar, you always have been.” It was true, Mimic admitted to herself. It was the main reason she’d been denied a position as an infiltrator. “Why are you putting this off?” “I just don’t want to ruin our chance.” “Stop lying to me.” “It’s the truth.” “Mimic,” Effigy said. His usual casual attitude was gone, replaced by the stern stare that had broken her resolve many times over once their parents had gone and he’d been left her caretaker. She took a step back. “Mimic!” Anger flared when he raised her voice, the heat of it warring against the shame and anxiety that had been building in her chest, and she found her own voice raised in response. “I don’t want to! I don’t want to take a pony’s place. I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to hurt anypony!” Effigy’s eyes widened, and for a moment he looked like he’d been slapped. “Anypony?” He shook his head. “You’ve been at this too long, you’re starting to talk like them. And what do you mean, you don’t want...” He trailed off, the full meaning of her words hitting him. “Wait. Are you taking their side?” “I’m not taking any side. I just don’t want to hurt any one, pony or otherwise. I don’t want to take any one’s place or wipe any one’s memory.” “They’re ponies. They’d do worse to us.” “Not all of them,” Mimic said. “Some of them, sure. But some of them are actually...” she trailed off. “You...” Effigy looked down at the ground, as though in thought, then looked up at her. “You made friends with the ponies. That’s why you don’t want to leave.” Mimic said nothing. Effigy shook his head. “You really have been spending too much time with them if you think they’re your friends. You’re a changeling, you’re supposed to be better than that.” “That’s not—” “Ponies killed our parents! Or have you forgotten? They have Equestria, and we have nothing. It’s us or them, and we’re winning. And you want to befriend them now of all times? Are you a changeling, or one of them? Mimic! Mimic, wait!” Mimic ignored his calls as she pushed through the flap of the tent. The guard outside watched her go, a look of outright hostility on his face, but either through incompetence or prior order’s from Al, he made no move to stop her. She half hoped he would try. It would make for a good distraction. The brief moment of hoping she’d have a chance to vent her frustrations on him passed as she saw Midlight again, clutching his broken wing. Her stomach twisted as she turned away. Silence then. She wanted to be alone. Instead what she got was worse than she could have imagined. “Mimic!” She flinched when she heard the soft voice of the white unicorn. Sweetie Belle? Yes, that sounded right. It was the same pony that had put that paste on her face the night they arrived in Greenhaven Grotto. She turned and began walking down the road without a word. To her dismay, the unicorn caught up to her. “Hi, Mimic,” she said again. “Hi,” Mimic answered brusquely, continuing down the road at a steady pace. She didn’t know where she was going, but at this point she didn’t care. Walking was better than doing nothing. Sweetie Belle walked alongside her quietly. At first, Mimic was happy for the silence, but after almost five minutes of it, she was hoping Sweetie Belle would work up the nerve to say whatever was on her mind and then leave her alone. “What is it?” Mimic asked. “Hmm?” “Did you want to say something?” “Well,” Sweetie Belle thought for a moment. “I guess I was starting to wonder where we’re going.” “Where we’re...” Mimic stopped in her tracks long enough to bury her face in a hoof in exasperation. “What did you want to talk about when you called my name?” “Oh, that. I wanted to thank you, but then you seemed like you were in a big hurry. But I guess since we’re talking about it now, thank you.” Mimic blinked. “For what?” “For a lot of things. For helping us get that crystal back and for helping us get into Libiris. And for everything you did for Scootaloo. She hasn’t told us much of what happened while she was gone, but it’s obvious she trusts you. And I guess I wanted to say that anypony that’s a friend of Scootaloo’s is a friend of mine, too. I’m sure Apple Bloom would say the same.” Sweetie Belle held out a leg, offering her hoof for Mimic to shake. Mimic looked down at Sweetie Belle’s hoof. The anger she’d been fighting down after her conversation with her brother bubbled to the surface, and she smacked Sweetie Belle’s hoof away. Sweetie Belle stepped back and looked down at her hoof with a slight frown of confusion. Then she looked back up to meet Mimic’s gaze. “I’m not a pony, and I’m not your friend. I already told you I’m only here because Scootaloo owes me.” Mimic turned away from the pony and continued on her way again. She could feel a pounding in her head, and her hooves came down onto the dirt road harder than they needed to. She savored her anger while it lasted. It gave her something to focus on. Something to think about. Unfortunately, she couldn’t keep herself angry at long before she started asking herself what she was so angry about. With those questions, and the answers she didn’t want to consider, she began to calm down. As she did, she realized with a new wave of frustration that she was being followed. She could hear the shuffling of hooves about twenty feet back. She spun on the spot and sure enough that unicorn was still there. “What do you want now?” “Um, are you okay, Mimic?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?” “Well, you’re yelling, for one. And you got angry really quickly. It seemed like something else was bothering you.” Mimic glared at the pony, but she continued talking unabated. “And if it’s anything any of us can help with, we’re here to talk.” “I don’t need to talk about anything, and I don’t need your help. I told you, I’m not your friend, so stop treating me like one.” “But, why?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Do you want me to treat you like somepony I don’t like instead?” Mimic facehoofed again. “Why are you bothering, anyway?” “I’m just trying to help,” Sweetie Belle said. Something in her tone and cheery smile made Mimic think she’d said those words countless times before, and indeed that other ponies had regretted them just as many times. “But why? What do you care? I’m a changeling, not a pony” Mimic said. “Well, yeah, but does there have to be a difference?” Sweetie Belle asked. And that single question illustrated the differences between them better than anything Mimic could have come up with on her own. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know how much trouble that kind of thinking could cause if someone voiced it back at the hives.” Mimic stepped closer. “Changelings don’t learn about any of that magic of friendship nonsense. You ponies get it so easy here, but we spend our childhood learning to survive. Learning how to better ourselves and serve the hives.” She saw in her head again the final moments of Star Shine’s life, and nausea twisted at her. She hated herself for the weakness. She stumbled over her words for just a moment, and then continued. “We learn how to be stronger. I don’t need your misplaced compassion.” “That sounds awful,” Sweetie Belle said. Her hoof came up to cover her mouth and her eyes went wide, as though she hadn’t meant to say the words aloud. Mimic just stared. “I didn’t mean to insult you,” Sweetie Belle said, speaking quickly. “It’s just, you’re not at the hives anymore. You have your friends here to help. You don’t have to survive alone, and you don’t have to,” she paused, looking apprehensive about her next words. “You don’t have to be strong all the time. Whatever’s really bothering you. You can talk to us about it.” Silence stretched between them for a long moment. The heat drained from Mimic, and without it she just felt tired. She turned away from Sweetie Belle and began walking again. “I told you. You’re not my friends.” Sweetie Belle didn’t follow her again.