Star Trail fires a bolt of energy which misses me by a hair, and hits the shadow using my moment of distraction to attack. It’s that, more than the ripped sky, shattered crystal spire, or the broken castle which draws me back to reality. If even Star Trail considers this such a threat that he’s actively helping, then we need to end this.
Two short love blades grow from my forelegs as I duck from under shadow One’s swing, and slash upwards. A burning emerald scar appears on the shadow’s surface. More than the visible effect, the fact that the shadow backs away to avoid another attack is the clear sign that my attacks are working.
Without the energy drain, the unfairness of the fight switches completely, and I’m slowly but surely pushing the faliling creature back. Few moments later, a golden blast evaporates the upper half of the shadow, and Star Trail passes by in his slow limp, giving me only a short glance accompanied with a frown.
I have so many questions, and yet I can’t ask any, because the sound isn’t working. On the other hole, there is only one answer, which is that One and Cryo still need help, so I run to them.
I jump at One’s shadow from behind, only because she’s closer than Cryo, and punch it’s skull in. Coupled with the damage One has already caused, the shadow falls on the ground and starts melting.
“NO, DON’T TOUCH IT!” One’s mental scream finally reaches my mind and turns into a confused, “Uhh what?”
I point behind me with the message-
“Don’t kill him immediately, he’s helping.”
-and run to Cryo.
“What the actual fu- oh screw diplomacy! Why the actual fuck is STAR TRAIL helping us? I ripped his heart out few days ago.”
“That’s the first thing I’m going to ask after we get rid of the thing above us… somehow,” I reply, slashing at One’s shadow fighting Cryo.
As One joins the fight, I begin feeling a third Crystal Heart nearby. One is the real thing in Cryo’s mouth, obviously. One is Three hanging on for dear life on One’s back. And the final one…
Walking in front of a rank of unicorns led by Shining Armor, a line of Elevens, Cryo’s new spawn, and Six riding on Gem’s back, is princess Cadance, glowing pink to my eyes.
Cryo stomps the final shadow against the street, leaving a small crater of shattered crystal, and spits out the real Crystal Heart at me.
I smirk, give the crystal to Three, and point at Cadance.
“There’s an amplifier we can use.”
Three buzzes over to the approaching princess as Contradiction’s tentacles fight the massive creature. How she still isn’t dead of exhaustion I will never know, but I suspect pure desperation. Even we changelings are at the end of our rope in this situation, but she’s still fighting against a force that would crush all of us at once.
The unicorns behind Cadance point their horns at Three, but Cadance’s pink telekinetic grip helps him land on her back, making them three into a totem of pure love.
Three’s eyes flash, and love of proportions never seen before flares up around us. Ponies probably can’t feel it, but for all of us it’s… it’s… I can’t describe it.
Then I hear Contradiction scream, and feel the shockwave as her horn explodes from the raw power and she flies away, unconscious or dead even before she hits the ground. The tentacles disappear instantly, and the shaped darkness of the colossus lunges forward, reaching its blunt arm towards us as its spread ribs grab the edges of the rift, and push.
The colossus aims its eyeless stare on the only remaining threat - Cromach.
The griffon is straining, green lightning constantly coursing from his forelegs to the rift obviously being the only remaining obstacle between the colossus and our reality. Two and Seven might be helping a tiny bit, but their interference is only adding seconds to our time.
There’s movement behind Cromach as the pink aura emanating from Cadance, Three, and the Crystal Heart reaches him. I’m not sure if anyone else can see it, but the pink mist forms a shape that could be an alicorn if I squint enough, and it wraps one wing around Cromach’s back.
Funny, I never thought I could read lips, much less a beak and from behind, but for a moment I’m absolutely certain that Cromach said:
“I will wait no matter how long it takes. There is no force in the universe that will stop me.”
And at least at this point in time, I will help.
Drawing on the love aura everywhere around, I let out a beam of crackling power straight into the rift. It blasts the colossus, making it reel backwards. And as seconds pass, I can see more and more beams from all around converging towards the rift. Pink from Cadance, blue from Shining Armor, gold from Star Trail, a battery of red lasers from the north with one added green beam from Five. Who doesn’t know how to help by closing the rift itself is just adding raw energy to push the colossus further away.
And finally, one little stubby horn lights up too. Three’s horn lets out a green shockwave of pure love which blinds us all. And when the brilliant light fades…
...the sky is clear, the colossus is gone, and I can finally feel gentle breeze against my chitin again.
“We won,” I whisper, and laugh as I realize I can hear myself, “It’s over.”
“AAAAH!” I hear Two scream, “WHAT IS THIS?! WHY AM I LIKE THIS? AAAAAAH!”
“EVERYONE LOOKS AWESOME NOW!” Three yells inside the hive mind with unrestrained joy.
Even as the love aura slowly withdraws, the crystal guards are glowing as if made of stained glass, pink light is swirling around Cadance like a see-through gown, and changelings…
I look at my hooves, which are now mossy green, and shake my head with some added weight. Antlers, really? Give me a good simple horn any day over these.
“No amount of blood on my hooves can make this look cool,” comments One, “I was hoping we stopped this last time.”
...we are all in shades of green, from lime to mossy dark. All but Cryo, who is bright blue.
“AAAAH, MY EYES HURT FROM LOOKING AT MY OWN REFLECTION!” screams the queen currently running backwards in an attempt to possible escape her own body, “UNBEARD ME NOW!”
I wonder if… yep, Cryo’s changelings as well as Eleven’s main body are blue too.
Last but not least, Three is golden and watching everything around with the amazed expression of someone whose all dreams came true at once.
“Boss, I’m looking as if Three chewed me up and then spat me out,” I hear Five, “Please tell me I’m not the only one.”
“Nope,” is all I can say.
“Then I’m heading home with the mechs. Last thing we need is for ponies to see us in full force.”
“Where did you get those anyway? Did dwarves discover some intact cache while I was gone?”
“Not exactly,” Five chuckles, “I’ll explain everything when we’re home and safe.”
“We might have some celebrating ahead of us. I wish you’d stay here with us.”
“Boss, you know I’m the shadow that works for the good of the hive. I don’t need praise, and I do what’s necessary.”
“You’re an amazing changeling, Five. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
“I know. I’ll shoot anyone who says that.”
Unicorn medics rush past me towards Contradiction with Cromach leaning over her.
There’s only one thing left before we head home.
Nevermind, two things, but I’m trying to avoid the big one.
With a moment of focus, I shapeshift back into what a real changeling should look like. All my lings do the same, and after some help from Two even Cryo returns to her preferred form. Only Three remains all gold as he hops off of Cadance’s back, puts the Crystal Heart on the ground, and runs to me.
“I liked it more when you were all sparkly. Now it’s just me...”
For once, I know exactly what to say.
“No cupholders, Three.”
He freezes mid bounce, his eyes go wide as he looks at his forelegs with the sudden expression of utter heresy happening, and then quickly transforms into his old self.
“This is going to need some fine tuning,” he mumbles, his tone making me sure that we haven’t seen the last of gold Three.
As my changelings gather around, there’s the final thing to deal with, and here’s where I have no idea how to even start.
Star Trail is sitting on a piece of non-shattered crystal floor, his face completely expressionless, simply content with breathing.
One, baring her fangs, approaches first, and cracks her neck. If I don’t stop her, she’ll kill him.
I realize that I don’t want to stop her. This needs to end.
Before One can stomp Star Trail into paste, she looks down at Three who runs between her legs, stops in front of the undead ex-paladin…
...and hugs him.
Star Trail leans back a little as the small legs wrap around his barrel, but otherwise doesn’t move.
“Thank you for saving the boss from the baddies,” mumbles Three.
“I killed you...” he says, clearly stumped more than all of us put together.
“And now I’m even better than before. I glow!” replies Three as if it was a perfectly acceptable answer. In his head, it probably is.
Star Trail closes his eyes. After a while he shakes his head, and pushes Three away. Not forcefully, at least.
He looks up at me.
“I destroyed Arcane Hex for good, but there is only one way this can end completely. Finish this. I can’t come back anymore.”
My thoughs slip to Gem, and to the life she had to end. I surprise myself when I say:
“You aren’t dead yet. You can help fix what you caused.”
Star Trail chuckles.
“No, changeling, I want to finally see Puff again. That’s all. If you have more mercy than I would ever show to you or your kind, end this.”
“Come on!” Three waves his foreleg to get Star Trail’s attention, “Miss Fury told us Puff’s story, and I’m sure that he wouldn’t want to see you like-”
Star Trail pats Three’s head.
“Most of all, Puff wouldn’t want to see me like this in the first place. Besides,” he taps his chest, “this is the only thing I regret. Turning into an undead and threatening my princess and my country,” he pauses, “No, this and hurting you. I’m sorry, little guy, I mean it. You and you alone deserve my apology.”
I look at Cromach who joins us after Crystal Guard medics have put Contradiction on a stretcher and carried her off.
“Don’t look at me. My job was Arcane Hex, this choice is only yours. Of course, if zombie McEvil here isn’t lying.”
In my head, I hear One who can’t keep quiet anymore.
“Even if you spare him, his change of heart might be temporary and he can turn back if you refuse his request. Kill him, and you’ll show kindness to a broken pony as well as protect your hive.”
From my last experience fighting him, I know how these crafted undead bodies work.
“Any last words?” I ask as green flame erupts from my hoof.
“Tell Bright Star he was right in the end.”
I nod and stab him, shattering the power crystal in place of his heart. Not even Gem complains this time.
“...thank… y...” he whispers and dies for the final time.
***
Nights are never silent in Manehattan, and this one is no different, not even inside the Silver Sun headquarters.
Flying by window after window while invisible, I finally find one through which I can see a white griffon sleeping with his head on the desk. Shifting my hoof to claws for better manipulation, I open the window and silently fly inside. Cromach doesn’t even twitch as I approach.
I lean over him, open my mouth, and prepare to bite him.
Presumably, at this point, One, Comfort, Two, and Gem are doing the same to Astray, Anvil, Bubbles, and Contradiction all over the mansion.
Our goal isn’t to harm anyone, but we need to protect Brauheim. All we want is to erase their memories of the city, dwarves, and any technology they saw including any questions they might have about the squad of mechs Five brought to stop the shadow colossus.
Before I close my mouth around Cromach’s neck, I find something wedged in it, keeping it open.
It’s a pen.
A pen previously held in Cromach’s talons.
The griffon is looking at me, smirking, and flicks my nose. How fast is he?
“Beardy, beardy, beardy...” I don’t see him move, but in an instant filled with green lightning he’s standing on the other side of the desk, “Let me guess. Trying to erase any evidence of the living Silversmith presence in the north before my guys could write anything down or analyze what they saw. Now, I assume Connie, Astray, and Bubbles are the targets, and maybe Anvil for good measure since she was part of the team even if she never saw your little city.”
He’s got me against the wall, so I stay silent.
“Now, I think I know you well enough, so you can’t have known that you have picked the least protected target in this mansion.”
I immediately try to mentally contact the others, and don’t get any answer. I can feel their hive links, and there’s no threat coming from anyone as if everything was going according to plan.
“Knock knock...” I hear an unknown voice inside my head.
“Who’s there?” is the best answer I can muster.
Quiet laughter inside my head accompanied by real knocking on the door are my answer.
A white unicorn mare with purple mane enters, leading Comfort by a set of burning chains connecting her legs to the mare’s horn.
Next is Gem walking in, thankfully unharmed, followed by an older, brownish-black griffon who slaps her butt and sticks his tongue out as she looks backwards and just sighs. No, it’s a changeling transformed into a griffon.
Two follows, eyes blankly staring ahead as if someone else was controlling her. Speaking of whom…
...a changeling queen with amethyst eyes, mane, and secondary plating smirks at me.
“I believe this little scoundrel is yours,” her voice resonates through my head.
Infiltrator queen. Damn. That’s why my mind is an open book to her.
Shadowstep, the loyalist. The faint echoes of ancient memories in my head identify the queen. One of the same group of Chrysalis’ generals as Cryo is from.
Finally, One enters, head hung low, and I grit my teeth. Her chitin is cracked and scarred. She’s missing a tooth, and her right eye is bloodshot.
“Even you, One?” I mentally facehoof.
“I’m not seeing you doing better...” she grumbles, “And be careful, because that guy behind me could wipe the floor with us all at once. I’m not kidding.”
What enteres behind One is not a changeling. He’s something pretending to be a changeling. The fact that on the surface he looks like an overgrown batpony doesn’t mean anything to me.
“Did you have to be so rough with miss One here, Cross?” Cromach snickers.
“I overestimated her a little after her first show of force. My mistake,” says the ‘batpony’ calmly.
He… overestimated... One? What’s going on here?
“So, Beardy,” Cromach turns towards me. That bastard knows that I’m not going to run and leave my changelings here, “I believe we were talking about a Silversmith city.”
I scowl. To my growing irritation, his grin only grows.
“We will protect those who gave us sanctuary when we needed. Chrysalis thinks that no matter what happened, she’s our queen. She’s wrong. However, no matter what happened, I am the king of the dwarves, and they want to remain secret.”
“Unfortunately for you, it’s not in your power to make me forget these ‘dwarves’, and I certainly don’t intend to. The others beyond the Silver Sun… don’t need to know,” Cromach sits down on top of his desk. I growl at him, and his expression finally turns serious, “You have surrounded yourself with the best, many of whom have grown under your command beyond even their wildest dreams. The problem for you is that I was much luckier in doing the same, so I’m going to presume you are smart enough not to try doing anything like this again.”
I’ll believe that only after a lobotomy.
“So what now, Cromach?” I ask. He wouldn’t be like this if he didn’t want anything.
To my surprise, he sighs, and gives me a look that makes him seem centuries older than his early thirties.
“I am going to use you, king beard. You are going to provide me with working Silversmith technology, and in turn I will share our knowledge about divinity. Maybe I might even allow your One to practice with Cross here on occasion. She could use a real opponent. Now, the technology you will provide me with will be used solely for Silver Sun, and maybe fragments of it to trade for new inventions of the griffon Black Ops.”
“And what if I say no? How can you trust me?” I ask.
“There is something about you I really like. You are a good pony. Even what you did tonight was out of duty to your tiny friends. What my order, and be sure it is an order and not a request… what my order is that you take on a little bigger mantle of not protecting just one small underground city, but the whole world.”
“What do you mean?”
“That you know next to nothing about the darkest threats to this reality, and me simply talking about them wouldn’t make you truly understand. What we faced in the Crystal Empire was only a drop in the sea. You need to understand for yourself, and once you do, you will never be the same sane changeling. You and the dwarves or Silversmiths or whatever they are will help me protect everything and in turn I will make sure all mentions of them are considered only conspiracy theories. ‘No’ is not an answer. Your duty will be over when I reach my goal,“ he snaps his talons. Two gets released from the amethyst queen’s control, the magic chains binding Comfort disappear, Gem simply looks at me, and One growls, “You are dismissed.”
“Protection isn’t a goal, Cromach, it’s a process. It’s never over, trust me,” I say, “So what is this goal you are talking about?”
He grabs the bronze statuette of an alicorn standing on his deck, and twirls it in his talons.
“Excellent question, beardy.”