Scootaloo and her friends snuck into Night’s Reach through a hole Starswirl punched in the wall with magic. They came through into an unlit stone room. It was difficult to tell what the room had once been used for. It had two central columns of stone, and the back half had extrusions from the wall, as though it had once been sectioned off. A dungeon cell, maybe? The small amount of wood and metal they found within had decayed and rusted beyond the point of recognition.
“We’ll stay here for about five minutes,” Scootaloo said. “To give Starswirl time to get into position and make sure as many changelings move to the upper floors as possible.” Everypony nodded. Scootaloo edged closer to the door, ears alert for any sounds coming from the hall. The door was warped and decayed beyond practical use.
“No changelings in here, at least. So far, so good,” Apple Bloom said.
“Yeah. Hopefully we can keep that trend up,” Thistleroot said. “You know what they say. No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”
“Who says that?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Uh, you know, I’m not actually sure. I mostly hear it in reference to Ogres and Oubliettes.”
“You play O&O?” Spike asked. “What class?”
Scootaloo eased the door open, wincing as the hinges squealed in protest. She listened again, closing her eyes to focus on the hallway outside.
“The best one, obviously,” Thistleroot answered.
“Wizard?” Spike asked.
“Cleric?” Sweetie Belle asked at the same time.
“Fighter,” Apple Bloom said in tandem with the others.
“Bard, actually.”
“Oh, lame,” Spike said. Thistleroot stuck out his tongue in response.
“Guys, quiet,” Scootaloo whispered. There was something coming, but it was faint. Hoofsteps?
“I’m telling you, I heard something,” An unfamiliar voice voice said from somewhere above her. The sound of hoofsteps grew louder. Somepony climbing down the stairs to their level, maybe.
“I think you’re just avoiding trouble,” another voice said.
“Whatever’s going on up there, it’s nothing the queens can’t handle. If there’s someone down here where they shouldn’t be, it could be our chance to get some credit.”
“As long as no one reports us for slacking,” the second voice said.
Scootaloo pulled back from the door and waved a hoof side to side. Her friends took the hint and scattered. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hid behind the pillars in the center of the room. Spike and Thistleroot took the stone extrusions, and Mimic simply ducked into the shadiest corner of the room and changed to match the color and pattern of the bricks behind her.
Scootaloo crouched behind the dilapidated door and waited. Her heart hammered in the near total silence as the two sets of hoofsteps shuffled closer. If these two managed to raise an alarm, this rescue mission was done before it had even begun.
Just keep going, she thought as the hoofsteps drew even with the room.
“Might have been this,” the first voice said, moving even closer. The door moved, almost smacking Scootaloo in the snout and she backed away, barely daring to breath. The squeal of rusted metal hinges hid any sound her movement might have made.
“See, I told you I heard something,” the voice said again. “It must have been one of these doors.”
“But no one is supposed to be working down here today,” the second voice said. “Maybe a breeze moved the door?”
“I doubt it, it’s pretty stiff,” the first voice said again, and the door moved away from Scootaloo, almost closing. In the peripheral of her vision she saw Mimic move from her hiding spot, changing back to her usual colors and dropping to the floor in the center of the room. She tried to catch the changeling’s eye and wave her back into hiding, but it looked like Mimic’s eyes were closed.
The door opened again and Scootaloo huddled against the wall, trying to make herself as small as possible. Two changelings entered the room. “Anyone in here?”
They stopped, and one nudged the other before pointing at Mimic. “Told you. Hey, drone!”
Mimic lifted her head, one eye opening. She yawned and dropped her head again.
“Hey, I’m talking to you,” the first changeling said again, moving past Scootaloo’s hiding spot, focused on Mimic. The second changeling followed. Of course, they couldn’t possibly miss Scootaloo on their way out.
She came to this realization at the same time she saw Apple Bloom circling around the column she’d been hiding behind. Scootaloo nodded once to her friend and the two of them began moving into the room, positioning behind the changelings.
Mimic’s head came up again and she stood, taking a long moment to stretch and yawn. “What do you want?”
“What’s your name and function?” the first changeling asked.
“Was there always a hole in the wall down here?” the second changeling asked, looking past her at the entrance Starswirl had made for them.
“I don’t know,” Mimic said. “That was there when I got here.”
“Who are you?” the first changeling asked again. “Where are you supposed to be working?”
“Why?” Mimic asked. “Do you think you’ll get a reward for catching me slacking off? Fine, I’ll tell you.” She yawned again, loudly. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom moved forward just a bit more. Scootaloo’s heart was racing. Whatever was about to happen would have to be fast and quiet.
“My name is Mimic,” Mimic said. “I was a gatherer, but right now I’m bait.”
Scootaloo flapped her wings once, flipping over and shooting up to the ceiling above the second changeling. She pushed off with her hooves as hard as she could, flapping her wings again, and landed on the changeling. Her front hooves hit the top of his head and slammed his entire body downward onto the stone floor.
Apple Bloom moved at the same time, simply barreling into the first changeling to knock him to the floor, and then turning to give him a solid buck. He hit the wall on the other side of Mimic and collapsed.
The changeling under Scootaloo stirred, dazed but not unconscious. She pulled the scarf Sweetie Belle had given her from around her neck and gagged him before grabbing his hooves. Thistleroot was there a moment later with another scarf helping to tie him up.
“Whew, nice one you three,” Thistleroot said once the changeling was secure. He offered a hoof to Mimic who stared at him just long enough for it to become awkward before bumping it with her own hoof.
The changeling Apple Bloom had bucked was out cold, but Sweetie Belle and Spike helped tie him up anyway. As they did, Mimic walked up to the changeling Scootaloo had stunned.
“We should knock him out before he recovers. Those won’t to hold him if he uses magic.” The changeling blinked several times and his horn started to glow, but Mimic put her hoof on it in a silent warning and he went still.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Scootaloo said, looking down at their prisoner. She lifted her hoof, then set it back down. She swallowed hard and lifted it again. It was one thing to attack somepony during a fight, but beating somepony who’d been tied up just seemed wrong. What if she hit him too hard? Still, they couldn’t just leave him like this. He’d escape the moment they left.
She glanced back up at Mimic, expecting to be met with a look of impatience. Instead, Mimic was pointedly looking at the floor a few feet away.
“Well, somepony’s got to,” Apple Bloom said, stepping up beside Scootaloo and rearing up onto her hind legs. Scootaloo winced and looked away just before she heard the thud of impact and a squeal from the changeling.
A few seconds passed as Apple Bloom made sure the changeling was just unconscious, and then they started making their way toward the door. “Sorry,” Scootaloo said.
“Ain’t nothing to apologize for,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah know none of us here actually likes hurting anypony. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Not even if they are your enemies?” Mimic asked.
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “No, Mimic. Not even then.”
Again, Scootaloo expected impatience or a jab at ponies in general from the changeling, but Mimic kept quiet as the group moved out into the hall.
Apple Bloom opened her mouth to say something more, but never got the chance. A bolt of pink energy took her across the chest. At the same time another bolt struck Mimic in the side. Both girls were thrown back with the impact. Apple Bloom collided with Sweetie Belle and the smaller girl squealed in surprise.
The air next to Scootaloo shimmered and Rosalia simply appeared, horn glowing dangerously. Her hoof struck Scootaloo before she could react. Light flashed at the back of her eyes and she tumbled head over hooves. It took her a moment to gather herself again. When she did, she wobbly pushed herself back to her hooves.
Spike was already down, and neither Apple Bloom nor Mimic had gotten back up.
Sweetie Belle took the next attack, still stunned from being struck by Apple Bloom. Thistleroot tried to act, but wasn’t fast enough. A fifth bolt struck him and he cried out in pain before falling still.
Scootaloo could only stare in shock as her friends fell around her. She didn’t know if they were hurt or killed outright. The attack had happened too suddenly for her to even try to protect them.
And now Rosalia was standing over her. For just a moment, Scootaloo saw a flash of anger in her eyes, but then it was gone, replaced by perfectly controlled calm.
Rosalia’s horn began to glow brighter and Scootaloo tensed. No pain came, however. Instead she felt a tingle, like static electricity running across her entire body. Out of the corner of her eye she saw each of her friends begin to glow. She was jerked into the air and light blotted out the rest of the room.
*****
Starswirl threw everything he could muster at the first changeling queen in a single beam of brilliant silver fire. Nocturne met the attack with a stream of shadow, and for a brief moment the beams collided, burning at the center and straining to gain ground.
Their attacks were near evenly matched, but the Night Queen seemed to be the stronger of the two, as he’d expected.
The conflicting magics fused where they met, becoming unstable and exploding in a white burst of energy. Starswirl staggered back, shielding his eyes against the light, then blindly dodged to his right.
A bolt of dark energy struck the ground where he had been standing. He kept moving, circling around Nocturne as the light faded. He launched a wide burst of fire in her general direction.
She ducked her head and simply took the blast as her horn glowed. The flames forced her back a step, and Starswirl thought he could make out a look of surprised pain.
A spear of black jagged glass appeared beside Nocturne and hurled itself at Starswirl. He threw up his best shield in a quarter dome ahead of him. The spear struck the shield and shattered, driving him backwards into one of the stone statues decorating Nocturne’s throne room.
She launched another spear at Starswirl, and he caught it again. The spear shattered and destructive magic pulsed into his shield, nearly tearing it to pieces. His body was forced backward again, pushing roughly against the statue.
Nocturne hurled a third spear. Starswirl dropped his shield and vanished in a flash, reappearing on her other side and countering with a burst of light.
The light struck Nocturne’s flank, forcing her sideways several steps with a pained hiss. The spear struck the statue Starswirl had been against, shattering against it. The destructive magic pulsed into the stone and it turned in on itself, crumbling.
Nocturne caught the fractured pieces with a gust of wind and hurled them toward Starswirl. His horn glowed in answer. The stones pulled inward to a center point and the entire massed bounced higher into the air, taking the form of a very confused sheep.
The sheep bounced once on the tiled floor before skittering away. Starswirl and Nocturne watched each other, waiting for the other to move.
Nocturne spoke. “You are powerful. More than any pony we’ve seen. Maybe even more powerful than those we fought just after we were released. Who are you?”
“Just somepony who doesn’t want to see a lifetime of work go to waste,” Starswirl answered. He stretched his right foreleg gingerly. “Maybe we should talk. Ain’t as young as I used to be.”
She tilted her head. “Go on.”
“See, you’ve been gone for a long time. Things are different now.”
“Yes, we have seen as much. Ponies have conquered this land, forced all their natural threats elsewhere, and then grown weak and complacent. They allow the few, those such as yourself, to protect them when a threat arises.”
“Yeah, sure. That’s one way of putting it, and sometimes I wonder about that myself. But it’s not my place to make those decision, is it?” Starswirl shook his head. “Ponies can only grow complacent in a world where they’re safe most days of the week. It’s the nature of living things to look out for themselves. If living their day to day lives and letting their princesses or other exceptional ponies protect them ends up keeping them safe, isn’t that the direction they should be taking?”
“Your argument would hold more weight if those princesses and ponies had not already fallen,” Nocturne said.
“Not all of them,” Starswirl said. “Not just yet.”
“You are referring to those who are sneaking into my home from the lowest level? If so, you are mistaken. Rosalia has surely dealt with them by now, so this distraction of yours is ultimately meaningless.”
Starswirl cursed, eyes going wide. Fear for Scootaloo’s group hit him, pouring ice into his veins, and he threw his magic at the lock he’d placed over the room so that he could teleport out. The fight had lasted less than a minute, maybe if he hurried—
Three feet of jagged black glass buried itself into his chest.
Pain tore away the teleportation spell he’d been preparing. He looked down at the vicious spear as warm blood trailed down his front legs. It pulsed, pouring its destructive energy straight into his body.
He collapsed, head falling forward as his vision swam with white. The end of the spear hit the stone floor and cracked.
“Still in a single piece,” Nocturne said. “He really was an interesting one. A shame.” She began to turn away, but paused, her eyebrows coming together in concern.
Starswirl pushed himself back up to his hooves. The spear twisted as he did, the end scraping against the stone.
Nocturne’s expression darkened. “That’s not... that shouldn’t be possible,” she said. Starswirl forced the pain back and grinned in defiance. “You’re not a pony, are you?" She asked. "Are you even mortal?” As if intent on answering her own question, she created four more spears beside her.
A sphere of pink light appeared at the center of the room and vanished, leaving Rosalia, Scootaloo, and the others where it had been. Scootaloo’s eyes were wide with fear as she looked about the room in confusion. Her gaze met with Starswirl’s, and he saw a brief flash of relief before she could register his appearance. It was quickly replaced with horror.
Nocturne looked at the group when they appeared. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and hurled the spears at Starswirl.
He had just enough time for a single thought before they hit their mark.
I shoulda stayed retired.
Pain and darkness followed.