//------------------------------// // The Loyalty // Story: The Age of Hunting // by SwordTune //------------------------------// Lunti's eyes darted tirelessly around as she entered the square itself. The four temples of the village watched over the workshops and stores. She had visited Marblestop once with her father, when she was very young, but remembered the temples and their mosaic art. These new temples, however, surprised her. They were grander and taller, made with fresh caementine and bricks for the walls. Pheonix, Obsidian, Moonstone, and Ashe, their temples had copper idols of their spirit animals, hanging above the doors. As Lunti neared the steps to Pheonix's temple she noticed the air was charged with energy. She looked up at the two copper phoenix idols. Their beaks were slightly open, and at the tip of their tongues, Lunti saw where crystals had been slotted into place. The mouths shone with a white light, like the moon, with the crystals at the centre. No ponies casting a spell. Lunti was surprised. It was all done by enchanted crystals. And above each idol, Lunti could see a thin trail of white light, connecting with the barrier. This was the same for every idol at every temple, their magic working together to create massive barrier greater than their own. She stepped through the barrier and, once again, it was like nothing was there. She walked into the echoing entrance chamber, listening to the soft chanting inside. She expected a few hundred at least to be left inside, but it sounded like only a few remained in the temple. Their village centre was surrounded entirely, and if all Changelings could smell like Zorne, then trying to escape would lead to being hunted down. It seemed impossible that hundreds of ponies could just disappear. She kept to herself along the wall, listening. On both sides, marble hallways turned sharply into the heart of the temple. There, tall marble pillars touched the ceiling, and every visible surface was covered in paintings. Some were new, impressive for a few months of rebuilding, but still crude and lifeless. Others were intricate originals, crafted by true masters. Copper was embedded in the marble with some caementine. The shiny metal created the illusion of movement in the firelight. Dozens of lanterns hung from the top of the pillars, burning scented oils. Sweet flowers and rich pine filled the temple's air. As for the ponies inside, their chanting became clear once Lunti entered the room. It was in an old dialect Marblestop use to speak before Riverfork's eclectic tongue became common across Equestria. Tehraem mi abliga, mour ono genta, Sacvamti. The words drew out their breath, stretching many seconds for each syllabus. Lunti understood only a few words but recognized the chant as a whole. It was part of the many lessons she learned from her private tutors. "Kill the monsters inside us," she mouthed, translating what little she knew. It was a chant given by ponies begging the spirits for forgiveness, symbolizing a purging of a pony's bad decisions and desires. The words, however, were all too fitting for their situation. Lunti recalled a scholar's theory that the chant was older than its written version in scrolls, and that it referred to literal monsters hiding within ponies. In other words, Changelings. Lunti couldn't help but smile. There were ways to fight the Changelings, even if they couldn't overcome them with violence. Slowly she approached, putting herself into the dim light the others chanted with. It looked like they sat around a candle, but as she neared them, it became clear. A young phoenix, the animal of Marblestop's chief patron spirit. The chanting stopped at last as the phoenix's firelight revealed Lunti to the other ponies. "Who are you?" one of them asked. She was at the centre of the group, dressed in a plain garment as they were, though the fabric was a much deeper orange compared to their browns. Lunti hesitated. She knew they'd suspect her if she told them the truth, that the Changelings forced her to come and lower the barrier. They might not even listen to her warnings if they did. But what lie could she say that would convince them that she wasn't a random pony who happened to know the Changeling's plans? "The name's Lunti," she said, "and I'm going to sound crazy to you at first, but you need to listen to the whole truth before you judge me." The others looked at her warily but said nothing. They were clearly on edge, but they trusted their magic barriers enough to assume she wasn't a threat. "The Changelings outside your dome, they want their kind back," Lunti explained. "They wouldn't tell me everything, but I'm guessing you captured one of their leaders." She waved her hoof in the air above her. "And all these barriers are the prison walls." The orange-robed chanter stepped forward, placing herself between Lunti and the other ponies. There was an awkward silence as she inspected her, glaring into her tired eyes and gazing over her gaunt frame. "You serve them?" she asked sadly. "What choice did I have?" Lunti defended herself. "They're hunters with senses sharper than the best hounds in Equestria. They're smart too. They've built catapults around the town square, and they'll destroy everything in here until they get an answer." "That's impossible," said the orange-robed mare, grasping for words. "I thought we'd have more time. Lady Changeling hasn't returned from her camp." Lunti furrowed her brows. "Who in Equestria is 'Lady Changeling?'" The orange-robed mare turned to her herd, looking to them for advice. But all they gave her were blank stares. They didn't know what to do either. She sighed. "The Changelings didn't simply attack our village. Lady Changeling ended the system of debt slavery. She forced the old masters out of the village, and those who did not leave were captured as her food so that the rest of us could live peacefully." Lunti slowly understood. She had seen the size of a pack when she was taken from Riverfork, and a single pack could never hope to overpower a village like Marblestop. Its militia included almost every stallion, and their blacksmiths worked iron into the finest weapons. But starting a slave revolt as an opportunity to strike changed things. And hundreds of former masters to feed off of? No wonder the Changelings from the hive wanted Marblestop for themselves. By comparison, she and Chevron were scraps of food on a dinner plate. "If she's not here then you're on your own," Lunti told the mare. "Lower the barrier or the Changelings will destroy everything." "You can't!" cried one of the other chanters. Murmurs from the rest seemed to agree. The orange-robed mare hushed her ponies before answering Lunti. "We've hidden our young and old in the catacombs below the temple. If the barrier is dropped, they'll have nowhere to go." "Just the young and old?" Lunti looked around the temple. There was definitely no one else in the room with them, and the other temples seemed silent and empty. "What about all the others?" "The soldiers? They split up," she explained. "Some escorted the Changelings to the mountains, others took the long way out of the village." "How?" She pointed to the ground around them. "Old waterways for flood control run through the village square. But they were dug up by the Changelings just after the soldiers left." Lunti threw a hoof up in disbelief. "Well, they're not looking for you now! They're putting all their efforts into finishing their catapults. This is your last chance to get out of here." She knew it was true for herself, too. Zorne was hoping she'd be afraid enough to cooperate, but there was no chance she'd help them after they pulled her away from Riverfork. Now they had a way out of the village, and the monsters that had once cut off every path of escape were distracted by their new constructs. The leader of the chanters considered it for a moment. Their soldiers were lucky to have left through the tunnels before the Changelings had a chance to find the passages. She thought after they were surrounded, there was no hope of escape. Even now, she was doubtful, but the chance presented itself, and there was no way of knowing if it would ever happen again. "Help me open the floor panels," she told Lunti, waving her over the back of the temple. "We sealed the entrances to the tunnels once the Changelings started tunnelling." She pointed to the rest of the chanters. "Go down to the catacombs and get every pony up here. We can't be sure how long until the Changelings start their siege, so be quick." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Halfwing ran out to her camp to find a blaze of mining crystals blowing holes into the mountainside. All manner of animals and monsters were fighting the ponies, quickly overwhelming their formations. She launched heavy arcs of searing magic, scorching the fur on the bears and manticores attacking her new hive. From above, hawks and crows carried crystals high into the air, cracking them like nuts and dropping them to explode onto the pony soldiers. To her relief, however, Septarian had managed to erect a defence against the attack. Carts of iron ore were overturned to form low walls for the soldiers to hide behind. Others worked together to flip over tables as barricades, thrusting at the Changelings from safety. Yelled orders to the ponies running out of the mines behind her, moving them to avoid incoming crystal explosions and reinforcing troops who were pinned down. Months ago fighting even one manticore was a fantasy for Halfwing. But since then she had fed on more magic than any captain she had encountered in the hive. She levelled her horn and charged forward. A barrier formed around her, but she warped its shape to focus into a spearhead wherever her horn pointed. The energy lance burst through the chest of the first bear she saw, evaporating the spray of blood as she passed through. Her ponies rallied at the sight, many of them throwing themselves from their barricades to join the fight. To the attackers' surprise, the ponies had become fierce animals, bearing iron weapons that made thick fur redundant. "For the Lady!" shouted one stallion, leaping off a table with a spear on each foreleg and landing on the back of a manticore. He thrust them both into the monster and steered the screeching beast into the rest of the forces. When it became apparent that fear no longer affected the ponies, the Changelings adapted their tactics. Dozens of bears moulted away, becoming slender mountain cats that could pounce on and maul a pony before they attacked. Halfwing fought her way through the madness to reach Septarian. "Have you seen my sisters?" "Hard to tell," he said, grunting with enormous effort as he pressed his spear through the ribs of a mountain cat. "If they're here, they're not taking any special forms." More explosions went off around the mountain, collapsing more rocks on the miners trying to join the fight. Halfwing turned and blasted the boulders away, but between that and all the fighting, it was a matter of time before the entrance caved. "Hunter-drones don't fight this hard unless ordered to," Halfwing said, breathing heavily as he spent more magic trying to land blows onto the faster cats. "Then if we hold the line, we'll find them eventually," Septarian reassured her. Halfwing scanned the battle, searching for any creature that was acting like her sisters. Tenacity would be fighting up in the front, no doubt. But as much as she wanted to take revenge that moment, Majesta was a far bigger threat. She looked up at the sky. Her bigger sister would take the strongest advantage, and those magic crystals were hurting the ponies' formations the most. Every time she spotted one, Halfwing fired on a bird. Rarely she managed to hit, but to evade her bolts of magic the Changelings had to let go of their crystals. Halfwing caught these and tossed them back to her ponies. They used them to great effect, driving back the other creatures with one explosion after the other. Halfwing found she was so caught up in the success that she didn't notice the mine's entrance until the miners began shouting from it. There, the rubble had been pushed aside as birds swooped down and transformed themselves into cave snakes and rodents the size of hounds. "For the love of Phoenix," Halfwing cursed herself for not realizing what was happening. She reformed her vocals and sent a shrill call through the entire mining camp. It hit the ears of every creature with a honed frequency. Her own hunter-drones were familiar to it by now, but to both ponies and her sister's drones alike, the screech was nothing but disorienting. "Majesta's headed for the mines," she told her pack. "Kill her before she releases Spectra and outnumbers us." In unison, eleven drones took to the air and swarmed into the mine. Carrier, as always, flew over and grabbed her up, carrying her to fight alongside her pack. Septarian retreated to tighten the formation. Without the magic of the pack, the ponies were forced to fight closer together, relying on the strength of their training instead of magic. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spectra was wise to stand away from her cell door. Bright flashes of light seeped through the cracks. Fading cries echoed through the tunnels of the mine as ponies died defending their prisoners. The door cracked open with a flare of power. It flew off its stone hinges and bounced around the stone room. Tenacity stood in the middle of the settling dust, her horn and those of her drones flaring with magic as they drove back ponies. "Quite the show," Spectra said as she rushed to her sister's side, shooting down two miners charging with iron picks strapped to their hooves. "I guess this means Halfwing's taken care of?" "She put up a stronger fight," Tenacity said. "Majesta should be taking care of it though." Spectra groaned. "Another thing our sister can take credit for." They fought their way deeper into the mine, following the unmistakable scent of Changelings. Spectra knew neither Halfwing nor her pack would have bothered to go this deep into the mine. Such tasks were for worker-drones or, in this case, ponies. They put up a good fight, the miners. The familiarity with the mines showed as they organized themselves into efficient formations, cutting off escape for the Changelings. But the hive was far more complex than anything ponies could dig up, and by instinct alone, Spectra and Tenacity slaughtered their way through the ponies' ranks. They paused at the first door they encountered. There was a faint Changeling smell, but it was too old for it to be Spectra's pack. Though the cell door, they could smell a vortex of despair and hope. It stung their tongues with bitter-sweet flavours of love. "This must be her larder," Tenacity said, licking her lips. "It's not right for Halfwing to be so lucky." "Not that I don't agree," Spectra said wistfully, "but if we take our time Majesta's going to have all the credit for winning this battle." Tenacity grumbled. "Then we'll take them back before we return home." They reached the deepest parts of the mine, slipping through narrower tunnels into natural caverns that the miners must have stumbled upon. Acidic water and calcified walls filled the air with a familiar smell, and it reminded Spectra strongly of their hive. It seemed that Halfwing really did intend to break away completely. There were hardly any ponies left in the mine now, but the few in the cavern were thickly armoured in layered robes and heavy masks. At the back of the cavern Spectra smelled her pack, but along the way was at least a dozen workstations with complex contraptions she barely understood. Copper flasks and tubes crisscrossed, refining the various fluids running through them by repeated heating and cooling. The products were stored in thick pots made of refined caementine, the recipe so well mixed that its surface was glassy and smooth. Inside the pots, Spectra looked and found numerous crystals piled at the bottom, all pointing upward like stalactites. As they flew across the cavern, their pack descended onto the remaining ponies. Most ran and cowered, curling up behind tables and hoping to be spared. But a few brave souls stood at the final door at the back of the cave, two pots of crystal fluid at either side. These ponies were likely slaves to scholars, alchemists, and magicians, Spectra guessed from their apparatuses. They were fit for delicate work, not the back-breaking labour of building or digging. Whatever was in the caementine pots would have to be dealt with carefully. "Neither you nor your drones are leaving here alive," shouted one of the three ponies. He stuck his hoof into the pot and pulled out a jagged crystal rod, shaped with a narrow point at the end like the rest of the stalactite-looking crystals. His robe had a loose loop on the sleeve for wrapping around the crystal, holding it somewhat in place while he levelled his foreleg at the Changelings. Tenacity eyed him carefully, and the others too as they presented their own crystals. She kept her horn lowered but kept her magic restrained, just below the surface. Spectra looked at her, then back at crystals. The ponies were frightened and her sister, despite her strong composure, was overeager to go for the kill. Spectra decided to pool her magic as well, taking the time to picture a cat in her mind. If fighting broke out, the only thing she had to focus on was avoiding their attacks and setting her pack free. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They were still too close to the village to feel free yet, but Lunti's heartbeat flutter with elation as the last of the elderly exited the old waterways and into the open light. The sun was on its way to the horizon now, about to turn orange in an hour or so. No doubt the Changelings had already started launching their stones at the village square. It was uneventful leaving the village, though they did pass under the Changelings a small number of times. As Lunti guessed, they were preoccupied with their catapults. Even if they had the ability to build siege engines, it was clear the Changelings were not used to it. Once they passed a set of Changelings unable to keep tension in a rope. Another group had measured their planks wrong, and nothing fit together tightly. Nevertheless, they finished construction before the chanters could lead their herd out of the village. The crunching sounds of stone was an unmistakable sign. From below, the ponies whimpered every time they felt the ground rumble. Chunks of marble walls were being hurled at their village square, no doubt. Lunti had seen how many catapults the Changelings were building and knew it wouldn't be long until the entire square was turned to ruins. Even if she didn't feel defended by Marblestop's spirits, but she still felt a deep sadness for the loss of the temples. Lunti had met every artist her father hired whenever he wanted to the council hall to be decorated, but this was different. The mosaics were ancient, but whoever had first built the temples could put every living artist to shame. "We need to head for the mines. Lady Changeling can offer safety to the children and elderly." The orange-robed mare directed her heard once they had passed the last building in Marblestop. She was as secretive at the Changelings, keeping her name to herself. But every pony else put absolute confidence in her words. "Look, uh, Orange," Lunti said cautiously. "I know she did a lot for you, but Lady Changeling is the reason why the others are here. It's some sort of power struggle between their leaders." "All the more reason to go," Orange answered. "Lady Changeling has at least shown mercy to some ponies. Can you say the same for the other princesses?" Lunti shook her head but was hesitant to agree. The mountains of Marblestop was the source of all the marble and iron in their region of Equestria. There were numerous mines and quarries spread across the land, but from the village, all she could see was a range of green giants that stretched from the earth to the stars. There was the wild, and there the Changelings would be in their element. But Lunti found herself following anyways. Ponies needed to stick to a herd for safety, and even if they disagreed, it was by far a better idea to stay with the chanters. Going back to Riverfork alone meant danger; if Zorne didn't catch her scent and track her down, then wild timber wolves and mountain lions would have her as their dinner. They trotted slowly along overgrown paths up the mountainside. The chanters herded the children together, who were excited despite the grizzly battlefield they had just escaped. Between them, all Lunti could hear was high pitched chatter about seeing Lady Changeling and her magic. The elder ponies were slower going. A couple chanters followed on either side of them to make sure they handled the climb, but the herd couldn't help but be spread thin by the two drastically different groups. They were prime prey for Changelings, and it made Lunti uneasy. "The barrier crystals," Lunti mentioned in order to her mind off of it, "how did you create those?" "Oh, those aren't mine," she answered. "Marblestop was the largest buyer of northern crystals. We bought blast crystals for mining, while the old masters bought all sorts of trinkets with odd tricks." "I'm familiar," Lunti said, remembering how her friend Reiter had bought sound-cancelling boots. "Well, Marblestop has its own share of scholars," she continued. "Those of us who worked for them had to learn some of what they did to create their own crystals. They used chemical reagents and enchantments to create new crystals so we wouldn't have to keep selling iron to northern villages." "So some ponies just sat around and experimented until they got the right crystal?" Lunti was in disbelief. Magic was a spectacle, but their process sounded monotonous and tiring. Orange laughed. "Sometimes hard work is what gets you to your goal. Every pony Lady Changeling helped was once a slave, so we know all about hard work." Lunti wanted to ask more questions and press her for her real name. But just as the mountain soil started turning rough and stony, explosions began to ring through the trees. "Were those blasting crystals?" Lunti asked, hoping it wasn't. "We have to hurry," Orange shouted to her flock before leaning closer to Lunti. "You have to stay with us. If Lady Changeling is in trouble, there won't be any pony left to protect our herd." Lunti nodded reflexively and galloped ahead of the herd alongside Orange. Whatever wishes she had for a peaceful were gone, and she realized as the mining camp came into view that she had no idea what she was doing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Not here either," said another lieutenant. "Found another one," said a hunter-drone to Zorne. He pointed his horn to a collapsed phoenix idol, its head misshapen by a pile of marble bricks. Zorne joined the drone and reached out to the idol, stopping short as his hoof was thrust back by a weak pushing force. The crystal inside the idol's beak was cracked, but it still managed a localized barrier around its head. "We were stopped by a bunch of crystals?" Zorne looked around at all the other idols his pack had uncovered from the rubble. The small barriers were unstable, shifting their shape as they tried to work together and form a stronger bond. But they were all too damaged to hold a larger barrier. He blasted an arc of magic at the ground in frustration, which flung itself around the village square and struck a wall after being repelled by a crystal. His lieutenants came from around the square to report their scouts' findings. "Her scent leads to mountains," one of them informed Zorne. "Used the tunnels." Zorne stomped his hoof. He had ordered the siege engines to be built as fast as possible. That left no guards at any of the escape tunnels. He expected the ponies to stay inside their barrier, not flee. But as long as they had the scent, it didn't matter. "Gather the pack and get ready to fly," he ordered. They had been flushed out of their hiding place, and there wasn't a single place in Equestria they could go without leaving their scent. Zorne licked his fangs as he thought about how he'd question the ponies they'd find. It had been years since he went out with the Queen on a hunt. He hoped he hadn't lost his touch. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Halfwing and her pack flew through a graveyard. The mine's tunnels were soaked in blood, heavy with the scent of fear. The dead and injured lay strewn throughout the mine in equal amounts, all the way to the deepest end of the mine. The echoing voices became clearer as they neared the entrance to the alchemy laboratory. "Neither you nor your drones are leaving here alive," shouted a pony. It was as good of a time as any to test the new blast crystals, Halfwing supposed. She and her pack rushed into the cavern, launching bolts of magic at the ground to draw a line between her sisters and the exit. Spectra was, of course, freed, but to Halfwing's surprise, it wasn't Majesta who had entered the mine, but Tenacity. Her sisters' drones returned the attack with green shells of magic, but even after the battle outside Halfwing still had more than enough magic stored inside her. She disintegrated their blasts with a wave of her horn. "The pony's right, sisters," she taunted, waving her horn at them. "I knew since the night we attacked that you'd show up eventually. And so I made preparations." She gestured to the pony who had spoken. He looked at her with uncertainty, but there was trust written in the scent of his magic. He took his crystal and smashed it against the ground, breaking off the end. It rattled with power, flaring like a red iron at a forge. Tenacity's hunter-drones produced barriers from their horns to deflect the blast, but it didn't stop the crystal from launching itself across the cavern. The broken end ejected magic in a stream, forcing itself through the air like a bird diving for its prey. The stalactite-shaped crystal soared wildly, but it managed to find itself lodged in the chest of a hunter-drone anyway. It jammed itself into the chitin, glowing brighter and deepening its cracks. The whole pack scattered as the crystal erupted inside the Changeling, spraying his ichor and flesh in the air as a fine mist. The other ponies were ecstatic to see their creation work. But Tenacity didn't give them a moment to appreciate it. She flung herself onto the pony who fired the crystal and tore his throat out with her fangs. Her pack swarmed the other two, who in their panic launched their crystals in wayward directions. "That's enough!" Halfwing screeched, ordering her drones to stop her sisters. The two packs collided and their magic lit up the cavern like broad daylight. Tenacity pushed Spectra aside and pounced onto Halfwing the first chance she had. They clung onto each other, by fang and horn, and release bursts of energy from their horns even at close range. As Halfwing expected, Tenacity was a brutal fighter, biting at her eyes and throat relentlessly. In the struggle, neither had the time to transform. They broke apart only when a loose bolt of magic came between them. Tenacity was immediately on her hooves, stretching her wings to intimidate. Halfwing refused to back down. She did the same, flaring open her one good wing. Her horn crackled with magic, but it had grown less potent after so many spells. At her prime, Halfwing knew she should have been able to immolate her sister with a single spell. Now it seemed they had more equal footing. "I should have thrown you in the pit when we were born," Tenacity hissed, unleashing a beam of magic. "and kept your other wing as a reminder of how worthless you were." Halfwing deflected the beam with a barrier, erupting a pot of crystals on the other side of the cavern. She pressed, charging down Tenacity with her horn levelled. The two locked horns, but Halfwing carried more momentum, pressing her sister back into the cavern wall. Bolts of magic flew at them as Tenacity's hunter-drones tried to rescue her, but even though they outnumbered Halfwing's pack, the difference between their reserves of energy was insurmountable. Halfwing's drones had magic to spare, throwing around Tenacity's forces like dolls. But they fought harder to save their princess when Tenacity roared. Pain surged through her body as Halfwing burned a hole through her chitin by focusing her magic onto a single point. Tenacity struggled to coat herself in a layer of magic, but nothing she made withstood the determination built into the spearhead of Halfwing's final blow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spectra ripped open the door to her pack's cells and found them bound tightly to the cavern floor. Their horns had crystal rods tied to them, threatening to explode if they attempted to use magic to escape. It was cruelly clever, and though she would have done it as well, Spectra couldn't stand the sight of her hunter-drones mistreated. "They're fighting each other?" her captain asked once she undid their bindings. "Tenacity and Halfwing," she said cheerfully now that her pack was around her again. "But what's new?" Her captain looked through the door to see the fight for himself. "Halfwing's winning this time, so there's that." "Well I hope Tenacity can hold out long enough for us to leave this mess," she said, pointing to the crystals that had been strapped to her drones. "Grab more of those on your way out. We'll use it to collapse the mine behind us." Her captain smiled. There was obviously no way Spectra could have planned to trap her sisters in the mine, but her patience with being captured was finally about to pay off. Two rivals with one ruse. The only way it could be better was if Princess Majesta had joined the attack. They rushed their way through the skirmish, picking off Halfwing's hunter-drones one at a time. With their reserves of magic, they were the largest threat to their escape. Spectra believed they had made it until Tenacity's screamed ceased. Halfwing broke off her attack and shouted to her drones. "Do not let them escape!" Immediately, Tenacity bit her in the neck. Spectra's pack hurried for the exit, firing bolts of magic at the pots of crystals they passed. The explosions worked as expected, cracking off chunks of stone from the walls and denying Halfwing's drones an easy chase. Once they were in the tunnels, Spectra's captain began dropping the crystals behind them. Hunter-drones took turns smashing the crystal rods and firing them back at their chasers. After three explosions they had sealed in the other Changelings. But both Spectra and her captain were unsure of how much magic Halfwing's pack still had. To be sure, they collapsed the mine the entire way until they reached the highest level of the mines, where sunlight was finally visible. Sunlight, and the shadow of Spectra's other sister. Majesta stood expectantly for Spectra outside the mine. For a moment, she was surprised her sister actually seemed happy to see her. But in Majesta's hoof was a small satchel, and when she dumped the contents on the floor, Spectra couldn't help but feel enraged. Her sister had stolen her idea. The satchel dropped a number of cracked blasting crystals, the same kind that had been destabilising the entire surface of the mountain for the duration of the battle. Spectra lowered her head and sprung for the exit, flying just an inch off the ground just to beat the crystals' explosion. But her efforts simply ended up putting her closer to the explosion. The force threw her back into her pack. Worst still, she could feel the earth giving way to magic's violent actions. Ray by ray, beams of sunlight winked away while a few tons of solid marble and granite crumbled over the mouth of the mine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lunti knew the moment she saw the Changeling princess that it wasn't Spectra. She was too tall and seemed more physically intimidating than the rest of her pack. The others knew it too. Orange and her chanters had already positioned themselves in front of the young and elderly, a bad sign that they were not dealing with their beloved Lady Changeling. The princess alerted her pack and ordered them to take to the air and hover above them. Their pupilless eyes shimmered blue in sunlight reflecting off their carapace. Black chitinous armour made them imposing, their gaze like vultures staring at carrion. "That is enough, Princess Majesta." The voice came from behind the ponies, followed by the buzzing of yet another Changeling pack. The voice was filled with sharp clicks and lower resonation, but Lunti still recognized Zorne. "My pack hasn't eaten in a while captain Zorne," answered Majesta. She gestured to the collapsed entrance. "And my sisters won't be needing it now." He looked at the pile of stone slabs piled up inside the mine's entrance. "Impressively done, Princess, but that doesn't change the Queen's orders." Majesta laughed at that notion. "You stubborn old fool, your orders are over. Spectra is dead." "Then I will find her body," he replied calmly. "But either way, princess, you will move aside." "Watch your tone, drone." Her eyes narrowed. "Do not forget, my mother is not here. My word is law on this hunt." But her claim caused an aggressive bristling across Zorne's pack. His drones, each one with decades of experience, were wholly dedicated to their Queen. The ponies were speechless now. Surrounded on all sides by Changelings, even the chanters cowered and waited for the fighting to begin, hoping for a chance to escape. Their Lady was in that mine too, and the chance that she was dead broke their confidence. Lunti was amazed to see the difference in loyalty. Zorne, a creature of deception, was standing against his own kind to find his leader. Meanwhile, Majesta's captains rallied the remainder of her drones. In the fight, she had lost a few hunter-drones, but her two packs combined still had the numbers to match Zorne, even if they lacked the experience. But she knew it too. Zorne's loyalty was impenetrable. Against any other captain, her dominance would have been enough to turn the whole pack submissive, but Zorne was beyond her abilities. "Captains," she ordered. "Go find any ponies who survived the battle. Zorne flushed out his prey from their hole, he can keep his hard-won spoils." They retreated to the other side of the mining camp, allowing Zorne's drones to take their place around the ponies. Zorne himself waded through the cowering crowd in search of Lunti. But she knew what would happen if she let him accuse her of betrayal.. She stood up, with a considerable amount of hope in her mind, and addressed him directly. "It took you long enough." "Excuse me?" he smirked, intrigued by her sudden boldness. "With your sense of smell I figured you would have tracked them down sooner," she lied. "I suppose it doesn't matter. In the end, they led you to your princess either way." Zorne laughed. "You mean you tricked them to lead you here?" "Didn't need tricking," Lunti shrugged, gesturing to the confused chanters and pouting children. "It's in our nature to flee. We don't pounce on prey, we gallop from predators. I figured that if they had a place secure enough for a Changeling leader, they'd go there for protection from you. I simply had to spook them." "Lunti, you can't mean this," the orange chanter said. Her expression was defensive, but Zorne could smell her magic and all the uncertainty behind it. It was the same with Lunti's scent. There was still fear in her, combined with an understandable amount of guilt, but amidst all those scents, Zorne could still tell she was lying. What part of her story was a lie, though, he could not tell. He wanted to believe it was all of it, but the results were undeniable. She had saved him the trouble of interrogating the ponies and simply tracked them down to Princess Halfwing's command centre. For now, she seemed loyal enough to earn the benefit of a doubt. Zorne turned and addressed one of his lieutenants. "No doubt there's some equipment left from the battle. Go see if you can find some rope to bind the prey. If Spectra and her pack are still alive in there, they'll appreciate the meal." "And you," he smirked at Lunti. "Good work." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The crumbling tunnel roof was not a good sign as Spectra and her captain pulled the larger stones that had collapsed at the mine's entrance. Half of her pack was already busy holding the support beams that the ponies had build, using magic to levitate otherwise useless structures. "Zorne's on the other side," her captain said, relief washing over his aura as they both sensed Zorne's powerful magic. "Not even Princess Majesta stands up to his authority." "We can count our blessings later," Spectra said. "The mountain is a force of nature even we have to respect." He nodded. "In that, I agree." Piece by piece they cleared the stones and sunlight made its way through the top of the debris. As soon as the gap was wide enough for the pack to file out, they began to escape one by one until three remained, struggling to maintain the tunnel. "I have enough magic stored to hold the tunnel," Spectra told her pack, but one of her hunter-drones pushed her toward the exit. "As soon as you go, we'll make our escape," the drone said. "But the tunnel will collapse before you all make it." He nodded. "Go, we accept our fate. Our duty to the hive is much smaller than yours." Spectra didn't like the idea of losing her hunters, they made up the backbone of her strength, the strength she needed to challenge Majesta. But they were not without reason. Hunter-drones could be replaced, there were thousands more back at the hive, and thousands more hidden all across Equestria, hunting. But if she held the mine and it collapsed, there would be no one to replace her. She turned and fled the mine without another word. "So Majesta was wrong, you did survive." Zorne waited outside, and to her surprise, so was Lunti. "Can't say the same for Tenacity and Halfwing," Spectra replied, still looking curiously at Lunti. "The princesses are on their own," Zorne said. "You're lucky I even came for you." Spectra gestured to Lunti. "Did she have something to do with that, captain?" Zorne nodded, then pointed to the other ponies his pack had captured. "She talked them into leaving the village so we could follow their scent to you." Spectra watched the angry stares of the ponies. Most were elderly or children, though a few dressed in robes looked healthy and able-bodied, excellent specimens of prey. One of them, uniquely dressed in orange, glared straight at Lunti. Hatred and betrayal ran through her magic, Lunti's magic reacting with the scent of shame and guilt. "Points all around for loyalty then." Spectra patted Lunti on the head and gestured to the other ponies. "Drain their magic before we make the march for the hive. I want my hunter-drones well fed, they've earned it." Not all, however, could appreciate the reward. Of the three remaining drones, only one of them, the oldest, managed to leave the mine before a terrifying shudder sealed the mine. Spectra accepted their fate but was thankful that the sound of crushing stone drowned out the dying cries of her drones. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The nest was filled with sounds of crying ponies once they were put into their nest-rooms high on top of the trees. The groundskeeper, along with a few of Spectra's drones, watched them carefully. The young and old were fragile catches and, without supervision, could easily become dead weight. "The princess just couldn't catch a bunch of mutes," the groundskeeper sighed as he hovered between the prey's nest-rooms. "There weren't any mutes to catch," snapped back a hunter-drone. He laughed. There was no hope of bridging the mental gap between drone and groundskeeper. Their loyalty bordered on mindless and their sense of duty removed their humour. The groundskeeper enjoyed playing around with them, even if only to distract himself from the cries of the young ponies. In the lower nest-rooms, Spectra's mind raced through what her next move had to be. Majesta had not returned to the groundskeeper with her prey. The scent trail left by the injured and scared soldiers that Majesta had captured pointed her away from the nest, heading directly south to the hive. She wanted to make it to their mother and report her success first, no doubt overplaying her role. Spectra hissed, cursing herself for not pushing her pack hard enough. If the march back home killed a few of the elderly ponies, it would have been worth it to catch up to Majesta. "You should know, I can't understand you when you're hissing like that." Lunti sat across from her in the nest-room, slowly picking apart a bowl of vegetables drizzled with olive oil. Along with the ponies, Spectra's pack also harvested numerous pony utensils, like bowls, plates, and forks, as well as food for the prey. But it was Spectra who recommended taking a few amenities as a way to keep the prey happy and to reward Lunti for her alleged contribution to Zorne's plans. Spectra reshaped her vocal chords to speak with pony words. "That's because I wasn't talking to you, sweetie." "Don't call me that," Lunti growled. "Why not? Don't like how you taste?" Lunti shifted comfortably, but there wasn't anywhere else she could go. Her place in a lower nest was purely symbolic, she was no more free than any of the other ponies. Spectra wrapped her hooves around Lunti, pressing her mouth to her ear. "Neither do I, because right now, you taste like a liar. I know you didn't help Zorne out of loyalty to me. Somewhere in your story, you're lying." The fact that Changelings could tell so much from scent alone chilled Lunti, but from experience, she knew she couldn't struggle free. Instead, her body froze, an animal playing dead. "I might not know what you're lying about," Spectra added, "but I think you'll want to tell me." "I don't-" Spectra cut her off, pressing a hoof against her mouth. Gently, she brought Lunti's neck to the tips of her fangs. She ran them down her neck slowly, drawing no more than a drop of blood. "When my sisters and I were young, we couldn't take magic directly, so we drank it from blood." Spectra licked the blood drop. "So tell me why you really helped." "That Changeling told me I'd be treated better," she answered. Spectra laughed. "Zorne stooped so low as to bargain with prey?" It was a funny thought, imagining him sitting at a table, discussing the terms of Lunti's imprisonment. But it still wasn't the whole truth. She sank her weight onto Lunti and pinched her face tightly. Restrained, Lunti could only shiver while Spectra traced the veins in her neck with her tongue. She stopped just below her jaw and nibbled open another drop of blood, lapping up the drops one by one. It was terrifying, but not because of the pain. In fact, Spectra's tongue made her neck warmer while numbing the skin where she bit. The sensation slipped deeper into her, relieving the neck pain caused by crawling through Marblestop's waterways. And this, Spectra seemed to notice. "I figured you'd like that," she smiled. "The groundskeeper's a great teacher. Did you know, some of the bats here can numb their prey before drinking blood? Found out today." "Please, I just thought you wouldn't do this if you had other ponies," Lunti pleaded, her dread easily overcoming the pain relief of Spectra's numbing saliva. Spectra shook her head and flipped Lunti onto her stomach. Leaves and twigs from the nest-room rubbed against her face, but that slight discomfort wasn't much to worry about as Spectra traced an arc with her fangs across the back of her neck. In fact, her tongue followed her spine, running up and down the length of her back, releasing the same warm, numbing sensation through her whole body. "Stop it," Lunti spat through leaves. "You don't sound very convinced," Spectra said, licking up the blood. "No wonder you can't tell me the truth, you're even lying to yourself." "I led Zorne to you," Lunti mumbled. "He helped dig you out because of me. Why are you doing this?" "Because I know you want me dead," Spectra hissed playfully, even though her last words were biting. "I need to know if you'll be loyal to me, despite your fears." "What kind of logic is that? If you think I hate you why keep me around?" Spectra smirked and flipped Lunti back around, sitting on her stomach, face to face. "Because all minds can be changed." She leaned in and pressed her chest against Lunti's constricting her lungs, forcing her to take bated breaths. Spectra pressed their lips together, pulling directly on Lunti's magic, but slowly. The strain made Lunti gag, but Spectra had an unnatural strength that shrunk her coughs into tiny convulsions. When they broke apart, Lunti had a lot to say despite her weakening voice. "I did by accident! I wanted to run away but the chanters dragged me with them to their Lady Changeling." She wiggled around to try and expand her chest for more air. "I thought Lady Changeling could protect me from you, but I had no idea Zorne could track me down before then." "Not so hard, is it?" Spectra stayed laying down on Lunti but released her weight so the pony could breathe properly. Lunti coughed, wretched, struggling to keep herself upright after that violation. "You're the worst," she said, still holding on to her defiance. She was going to suffer no matter what she did, so she held on to all the little things she could still do. "Maybe," Spectra said. "But maybe that's what I want to be."