We abandoned the train, leaping off before we got too far down the tracks from where Sable detected the change in direction. Rainbow Dash and I helped them down one by one and then we set off across the wilderness towards the Changeling hive once we had all collected together.
I looked around as we walked. Not that long ago this was a wasteland, but the plant life has begun to return, in time it would be vibrant again. Every now and then Sable stopped to check which direction the Amulet lay in, and it continued to lead us towards the Changeling hive. We must have been catching up; surely the thief couldn’t keep up this pace forever.
“Hey, I can see the hive!” Rainbow Dash flew above them, keeping an eye out. “I think I see smoke.”
“C’mon y’all. Let's pick up the pace!” Applejack reared and started to run. We followed, now all galloping, with Spike hanging on to my back. I watched for the smoke Dash saw, and spotted a low dark cloud not far from the base of the hive once we got closer.
“That’s not smoke.” Sable narrowed his eyes.
“What?” I looked again, and the cloud was settling lower, not rising into the air.
“It’s dust.”
“Dash, go on ahead, see what’s going on. If you see the thief, don’t try and fight him on your own!”
“Got it!” Rainbow Dash zipped ahead, trailing a rainbow as she flew. We continued our gallop, and she returned to us long before we caught up; we hadn’t reached the cloud yet. “I didn’t see our thief, but there’s a really big hole in the ground, and Thorax is there.”
“Thorax?”
“Leader of the reformed Changelings.” Starlight answered Sable’s question.
“We’re almost there. We should see if he knows anything.” The others agreed, and we entered the cloud, slowing so we didn’t stumble into the hole Rainbow dash saw. Rarity coughed. The dust choked out much of the late afternoon sun. I used my magic to blow the dust cloud out of our way, giving us clean air to breathe.
We reached the hole momentarily. A tall, primarily green, and mostly equine creature with orange antlers and red carapace stood at the edge of a gash in the ground. A few other similar, if much smaller, figures flitted and spun in the air above and around the hole.
“Hey, Thorax!” Spike called out from atop my back. The tall one turned towards us, surprised to see us coming.
“Twilight, Starlight, Spike! What are you all doing here!” The team came to a stop, Rarity and Fluttershy both sat down to catch their breath. Sable stepped up to the side of the hole to peer down into the darkness, and I could tell he was almost as tired as they were.
“I’m sorry to intrude on you like this. We’re chasing a thief who stole a dangerous artifact from Ponyville. We think they came this way.” I answered him, stepping up beside the Changeling leader to see what was down the hole. It was too dark to see beyond the mouth, the stone and earth appeared to have been melted, probably by a magic cutting beam. I conjured a floating light and let it drop into the pit. The shaft was deep, going far down until I spotted a glint of shadowy crystal and a few changelings working in the dark before my spell blipped out.
“A thief? What a coincidence. We’ve got a thief of our own.” Thorax gestured down into the dark pit.
“What did they take? Dirt?” Dash waved her hooves around, clearly referring to the cloud of dust around us.
“What? No. We buried the Queen’s old throne down there.” Starlight seemed concerned about this.
“Why would anypony want some old chair?” Dash again.
“Chair? Chrysalis’s throne was made from a dark stone which sucked up non-changeling magic. When we overthrew her, it was destroyed, and we dumped the fragments in here where they wouldn’t be a hassle for anypony anymore.” Thorax looked down into the hole again. “We’re still trying to figure out how much was taken.”
“Interesting.” Sable stepped away from the edge, everypony joined around in a circle to discuss as Thorax went back to organizing the other Changelings. “Do you think it could be the same individual?”
“What’s the point in stealing a magic necklace, and then something which turns magic off?” Sable shrugged at Pinkie’s question. I considered, there was no apparent meaning I could find.
“I have no idea. It can’t be good news.” Glimmer continued to fidget uncomfortably.
“Could he be trying to set up another anti-magic field somewhere?” Rarity thought out loud. A small changeling emerged from the pit to deliver a message to Thorax, who nodded and turned to join the conversation.
“If that’s what the thief is up to it won’t be very large. They only got away with a single big piece.”
“What do you mean?”
“When the throne was intact the anti-magic field it generated used to cover this whole land. It’s how the hive was kept safe.”
“Let me guess.” Sable interrupted. “The throne was large, and the field created by the material grows larger the more concentrated the material is?” Thorax nodded towards him and then looked again at Sable, confused.
“I’m sorry, have we met?”
“Probably not.”
“Right. Thorax, this is Sable Stardust.” Sable nodded respectfully towards the tall changeling as I introduced him.
“Good to meet you.” Thorax nodded quickly in return. “Anyways, with that little of the dark stone, the anti-magic field wouldn’t be very large. A few body lengths across, maybe.”
“Who’s body, mine, or yours?” Pinkie grabbed Thorax’s forelimbs and pulled, stretching them both out. “Like this? Or maybe a sea serpent’s body?” Then she zips away, to the other side of the hole, leaving Throax to faceplant into the ground. “Which would be more like this!” She shouted over the hole.
“The first one.” Thorax picked himself up. “Probably.”
“Probably? That's not exactly reassuring.” Sable sighed as Pinkie bounded back over to them.
“We never measured the exact distance. All we needed to know was that it kept us safe.”
“We’re getting off topic.” I tried to return to the problem at hand. “Thorax, how long ago did this happen?”
“There was some sort of flash of light here a few hours ago, and then the dust cloud. But none of us would go near it until just a few minutes before you arrived. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more useful.” Thorax’s ears lay flat, and he dipped his head.
“The thief has clearly moved on from here.” I sighed. “Sable, can you check which way he went?” He nodded, stepping further away from the hole to avoid possible interference before casting his tracking spell again.
I could see him cast, the little magic circles around his horn glowed neon blue. But the tiny arrow just spun. He shook his head and tried again. For a second time, the little pointer which was supposed to point towards the Alicorn Amulet turned in place. He growled in annoyance, moved further away, and then breathed deep and gave it a third try. When this third attempt also returned a useless answer he sighed and returned to the group.
“Well, I think now we know why he might have come here. The throne fragment he stole is blocking my spell. I can’t track the amulet anymore.” Sable hung his head. Reading his expression, I guessed he was blaming himself for the failure.
“If you can’t find it, that means…?” Fluttershy stepped over to stand beside him.
“He gets away.” Sable was the one to say what we were all thinking.
“That's just rotten, all this way for nothing.” Applejack stomped the ground.
“Now what? We have to just give up and go home?” Dash circled in the air above us, clearly irritated. “That bites like a flyder.”
“I wouldn’t recommend that just yet.” Thorax looked towards the sun, hanging low on the horizon. “It is a long way back to Pony lands, and this area isn’t safe after dark.” I inwardly agreed as I surveyed my friends, we were all pretty tired anyway. “You are welcome to stay with us for the night, and we can escort you back in the morning.”
“Thanks for that, Thorax. Sorry to intrude on you unannounced.” Spike apologized for us. With heavy heads we all turned towards the hive, Thorax gathered his changelings and led us all back inside as the sun set.
“Then what was the point of going after him if he just gets away!”
“It certainly wasn’t pointless. Although it did feel like a wild goose chase for a while.”
“So, in the morning, we went back home?”
“First, there’s more to say about that night.”