“Near as we can tell,” Moonrose said. “She was attempting some sort of scrying ritual when a strong resonance feedback occurred. The shock of it was contained and amplified by her circle and when her will broke, it flooded the room. Any charged item would have reacted.”
“Could you discern what she was looking for?” Sombra asked.
Twilight shook her head. “Without knowing which items she was using, it’s hard to say. I know of at least five different rituals requiring different foci, all of which were present and destroyed.”
“All of them?” Sorla said, brow furrowing.
“Yeah, all five.”
Sorla shook her head. “There's no reason all five would have been charged once she picked a ritual. Only the main foci would have been given any mana.”
“Then why did the others erupt?” Hope asked.
“The only reason I can think of is deliberate sabotage,” I said. “The Archmage might have stumbled across the same thing we did, and they sent an Umbrum to prevent her from revealing themselves.”
“That is far too direct for them,” Sombra said. “They prefer trickery over direct assaults.”
“Changelings love duplicity, though,” Twilight said. “And if what we suspect is true, then it’s not far out of the realm of possibility.”
“The Changelings have not left their land in nearly a century,” Radiant Hope said. “Our treaty with them limits their numbers within our lands.”
“If it is the Changeling we think it is,” I said. “She isn’t bound by your treaty, and has plenty of reasons to hate us personally.”
“There is a caravan currently in the city,” Sorla said. “Would you be able to tell if one of them is your rogue?”
“We never really nailed down a perfect way to out a Changeling.” I sighed. “The best we can do is a glamour dispelling. It interferes with their magic temporarily.”
“Raven, where are they being lodged?” Sombra asked.
The Unicorn consulted her clipboard. “They are currently housed in the guest quarters in the east wing.”
“They’re in the Castle?” Twilight asked.
“Bring them to us,” Sombra commanded. “We’ll settle this issue before you depart.”
Shortly, five Changelings entered, the colorful carapaces glinting in the lamplight.
I recognized Thorax, his green body a bit more vibrant than when I had last laid eyes on the Changeling King. He walked with a confidence that set him apart from the shy, awkward one I knew. And next to him…
Twilight stammered. “Chrysalis?”
The Changeling Queen stood tall and proud next to her King, her carapace gleaming in shades of royal blue and rose gold. Her eyes were soft, glittering pools of jade. Her wings hung behind her, iridescent azure beneath dark blue elytra. Upon her head sat a small tiara, in a similar style to Thorax’s small circlet.
“Do we know each other, young pony?” she asked, voice soft and kind, not a trace of malice to be found.
“Not precisely,” I said. I was shocked to see a reformed Chrysalis, considering the last time I saw her she was trying to destroy everything to get to Starlight. “But we have some concerns with who might be one of your race.”
“I don’t understand,” Thorax said. “We haven’t heard of any misconduct by any of our caravaners. Has something happened?”
“It’s possible that a rogue member has infiltrated your group and attacked the Archmage several days ago,” Sombra said. “Have any new members joined your caravan recently, or any unexplained missing time?”
The two royals glanced at each other and then turned to their contingent.
“Well?” Thorax asked. “Have any of you seen or heard anything?”
It was so hard seeing him act with the regality I usually associated with Celestia or Cadence. I was used to the lovable goof that I knew, but I wasn’t even thrown off by the differences in this world anymore.
I wonder what that says about me.
None of the caravan members responded, at which point Thorax sighed and turned back to Sombra.
“I’m afraid that they may not speak based on past persecutions,” he said. “The purge of Changelings is not so long ago that my people have forgotten it.”
“I understand,” Sombra said. “Would you allow us to conduct a brief check of your party to ascertain that they have not been replaced?”
Chrysalis frowned. “What would this entail?” Her voice dipped a little, a hint of the one I knew slipping free.
“A simple spell,” I said, bowing my head in respect. “A normal dispelling charm.”
Thorax puzzled over it for a moment, then nodded.
“Proceed,” he said. “A rogue changeling would be a danger to us all.”
“I agree,” Chrysalis said. “Were I to engage in espionage or sabotage, where better to hide than in plain sight?”
The way she said that bothered me for a moment.
Twilight and I stepped forward, horns beginning to glimmer as we cast the dispelling charm. The spell washed over Thorax and Chrysalis with no change in their appearance. As the spell began to weave amongst the other caravan members, one of them broke from the group and took off for the open balcony, its form shimmering as the glamour was disrupted.
“Seize him!” Sombra roared, the members of the guard already in motion. I saw a pair block the way but the running Changeling opened its wings and soared overhead.
A blast of brilliant blue magic shot out and sent the Changeling crashing to the crystal of the balcony, skidding against the railing. One wing had a charred edge and would not retract under the carapace. I glanced back to see Radiant Hope’s horn still glimmering, a look of outrage on her face.
“Who are you?” Thorax asked. “Who are you to endanger my Hive?”
The Changeling began to laugh. “Your precious hive isn’t really so safe, King Thorax. We are legion.”
I strode forward as the shape of the Changeling began to dissolve back into the shape I had known before Starlight had gone and rescued the royal families from Chrysalis. Pitch black, pitted, and with gouges and holes in it’s limbs. Its voice slowly slid back into a hissing rasp and it’s damaged wing began to dissolve.
But the part that bothered me was it’s eyes, burning with purple streaks.
“Umbrum,” I spat. Weapons were leveled at the being and horns all around the room flared into life.
“And a pleasure it is to meet you, Princess Sunset,” it hissed. “How are you liking your vacation?”
I surged forward, horn flaring red and enough mana thrumming through it I could feel the faint ache from where it had shattered months ago and my shoulders tensed as though trying to flare my wings. I jerked it into the air, my aura shimmering around it like an angry cloud.
“What did you do?” I growled. “Tell me!”
“Sunset!” Sorla cried, echoed by Twilight.
I slammed the being against the floor, releasing it from my magic as I tried to reign in the anger. It knew how we had gotten here, and it probably knew how to get us back.
Sombra stepped forward, eyes cold. “Did you attack the Archmage?”
It sniffed. “Please. That hardly counts as an attack. Just a simple gap in her circle, made to erupt after a few minutes. Making sure the other artifacts erupted as well was the hard part.”
“Prepare a set of shackles,” Sombra said, not letting his gaze waver.
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, your majesty.” The Changeling struggled to it’s hooves. “I won’t be needing them.”
Before any of us could do anything, it hopped off the balcony, plummeting to the ground. I rushed forward and looked down in time to see the purple glow vanish and a confused look grow on the Changeling’s face moments before it impacted the ground several stories below.
Sombra looked down with a clenched jaw.
“Send guards out with the necessary spells to make a sweep,” he said quietly. “Make sure that no other secure locations are compromised.”
As guards left to carry out his orders, Hope turned to the visiting contingent.
“I am sorry about your countrypony,” she whispered.
Thorax nodded, a flame of anger in his eyes. “We shall return and verify that everypony is who they say they are. We’ll make sure there are no more hidden agents.”
Twilight looked at me. “It can’t be a coincidence that we come back to find the Tree under attack and Umbrum agents roaming about.”
“And they know who we really are,” I added.
“Send word to the Calico,” Sombra said quietly. “They leave in twenty minutes rather they are restocked or not. We need to circumvent this vile invasion.”
He then turned to Raven and began making plans, he and Hope moving away.
I could still feel the tension in my shoulders, the itching and burning sensation similar to when my wings had been held stiff for too long.
I was going to make it home, no matter what I had to do.
No matter who I had to go through.
Luna stared at what had once been a simple cave with the Tree nestled in it.
Huge cracks littered the walls, including one long crag that led deeper underground. Chips of crystal and stone lay littered about. The statue of Discord was shattered in pieces behind the ruined mess of the Tree.
Whatever had done this had clearly been centered upon it. It's trunk looked as though something had exploded from within, roots ripped up and limbs flung all around.
And the Elements were absent.
“Runner,” she said softly. A slight Thestral stepped forward, her two-toned eyes glimmering in the darkness.
“Corporal Candlelight Sonata reporting, your Majesty,” the batpony snapped a salute.
“Send word that we are going to proceed within the cavern. There are reinforcements from the Crystal Empire en route. When they arrive, see to it they are brought here.”
The Thestral saluted again and sped off.
“Secure the area,” Luna said. “I’d prefer not to have something come at us from behind while investigating.”
While several ponies broke off and took up positions at both the bottom of the staircase and the crag that led deeper into the cave network.
“Move out,” Luna intoned, spreading her wings as she stalked forward.
As the column moved into the tunnel, nopony noticed when a Pegasus soldier’s eyes flashed purple for but a moment.