//------------------------------// // Ch. 4: A Familiar Stranger // Story: Her Next Life As a Bug's Big Brother // by TundraStanza //------------------------------// To the untrained eye, the badlands hadn't changed one bit. For the queen of the hive, she felt years sliding off her shell. In truth, it was only one month since she had deployed her spies. Out of the choice locations she had sent them, only the ones from Canterlot had reported back. At one point, she had placed a random pebble in her mouth and rolled her tongue around it. The dummy locations, she could understand. Those spies were meant to distract from any pony that happened to be tailing them. Plus, she figured a larger group would cause more worry, more of a diversion of the enemies' firepower. No, what bothered her was the lack of word from her reconnaissance in Ponyville and the Crystal Empire. Those were smaller teams more familiar with disguise and low-profile tasks. Chrysalis spat her pebble out at a passing drone. The worker changeling screeched out in pain before locking eyes with her queen. Immediately, she stopped her noise and hurried out of the throne room. Chrysalis sighed and fiddled with a beetle-shaped object made of dark and bronze metal. "I didn't overlook anything." She flipped the 'beetle' onto its back. "I couldn't overlook anything. I'm the queen. That means I know everything by default." She let out another sigh and set the 'beetle' down, right-side up. "What's taking them so long?" --- Princess Cadance didn't have to wait long. An old teacher went to work right away. He fastened clamps onto her horn. She had been given warning that such a treatment would hurt. She had carefully read and signed the waiver agreement before it had reached this point. She was familiar with feeling this pain, but usually it was after a manner of days. This time, the stress on her internal power was instantaneous. She gasped for breath. Sweat ran down either side of her face. She heard a constant drumming noise. Folding her ears down only made it worse. She wasn't sure how long it had been, but she found herself floating in the room she had been standing. Glancing to her left and right, it seemed her wings had decided to flap in rhythm with her heartbeat. She held her hoof against her chest, taking in as much as she could with one breath. She paused to a count of four. Her wings slowed down, enough that she floated back toward the floor. When she exhaled, she straightened her hoof out. Her other three hooves had found solid support. She brought her hoof back to her chest. Three more times, she slowed her breathing down. Gradually, her wings relaxed and folded against her sides. Once her body was in a more steady condition, she trotted over to a table. A teapot had already been set up with a candle underneath. Without even touching it, she willed the teapot to pour its water into a cup. After turning the teapot back onto its stand, she took the cup and willed it over to her teacher. He grabbed it in a levitation spell and took a sip. "Are you really the same little filly? The ankle-biter student I remember wouldn't have made it past two seconds without having a heart attack. Pardon the pun, Your Majesty." "It's definitely uncomfortable, no denying that." Cadance's tail swished. "But, right now, it feels like I can manage." "Well, good." He whispered something into her ear before taking another sip. "If you're serious about what's to come, you won't use the safe word until Chrysanthemum, or whatever she calls herself, is standing in front of you." "She won't get the jump on us again." Cadance poured a cup for herself. "A couple of changelings on our side is a start, but we should train ourselves too." " 'If a princess doesn't lead, how can she expect her subjects to follow?' ~Wisdom of Clovers and Stars, page 42." He nodded. "Still, this last lesson I have for you is but one tool. It is up to you to know when to wield it." Cadance gently smiled. "Don't worry. I haven't forgotten what you've taught me." --- Pharynx knew they had to prepare. Given his lack of communication with the queen, he guessed that it wouldn't be much longer until Chrysalis moved on with her plan out of desperation. He had to get these crystal guards up to par as soon as possible. That was why he was standing in a gymnasium type room with a line. Each time one pony stepped up, Pharynx surrounded himself with a bit of bluish-green flame. For the next several minutes, he performed mixed styles of hoof-to-hoof combat in what she recalled as "mirror matches". However, this was no arcade game, and a loss could result in worse than a mere seventy-five cents if he wasn't careful. Sometimes, he got to fly against his opponent. Other times, he got to cast simple spells. He was always using a new face. Some of his sparring foes managed to flip him over in a daze. After recovering from such rounds, he nodded at them in approval with his own form. To the rest, he gave tips on weak points he discovered on his borrowed forms. Perfection didn't exist, and he knew all of them could strive for better. Once he was done with the line, he stepped outside of the barracks and looked to the sky. Not a cloud could be seen. A stray water bottle floated in his peripheral vision. He grabbed it with his hoof and sniffed the top. "Is this poisoned?" he asked rhetorically. "Not unless plain old water is poisonous to you, Commander Pharynx." He spun around and faced the other speaker. It was a gray-white unicorn with a short, black mane. Pharynx's human side winced at the sight of too much makeup on the pony's face. Yet, he was more concerned with discerning where he had seen her previously. He crossed his front hooves and lowered his voice. "Did the queen send you to check on me?" He deadpanned. "Pfft. Oh, that is just precious." The mare snickered. "Did the city of pretty rocks soften you up? Paranoia doesn't suit you. But I do like what you've done with the purple glitter." "Violet fluorescence of shared love." "Yeah, that. Whatever." Pharynx glared metaphorical daggers. "What do you really want?" "Oh, you don't have to act like you're impressing any-ling. It's just you and me here." She magically yanked up the water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and dunked its contents all over the changeling. He shook several droplets off himself. "Grr..." "I want to extend an invitation, Pharynx." The mare batted her eyes. "You see, some buddies and I have decided that Chrysalis's end-goals no longer coincide with ours." She used her tail hairs to wipe his face. "We'll still replace some ponies, but we'll be the ruling kings and queens of wherever we end up." "Not interested." Pharynx spat. "Oh, you can't fool me." She pressed her hoof under his muzzle. "I saw the hungry bug inside your heart for years. You can't deny that having power would be the greatest feeling." He slapped her hoof away. "You're the fool, Cantrip. Every king, queen, prince, and princess has eventually run into a problem that power couldn't solve. Maintaining supply lines, means of travel, and dealing with the blame for everything that the ruler can't handle... that is not a position I would ever want. Take your offer and shove it down your nectar-hole." "Tch." The unicorn, allegedly Cantrip, rubbed her front hooves. "You're no fun, shooting down dreams with your logic." "I wouldn't have needed to, if you had any logic to begin with." Pharynx turned around and trotted away. Cantrip's horn glowed green. In the next instant, she vanished with a last, echoing voice. "Hope you're less of a grouch when we see you again!" Pharynx rolled his eyes and headed back into the barracks. He found his way to the locker room and grabbed a towel from a pile. He dried off the rest of his shell and sighed. 'So, Cantrip is on her own as well. If Chrysalis is overlooking that, then she is really tripping. Actually, would that even be possible? None of the fungi in the hive's caverns are that kind of shrooms.' --- It was kind of possible that they no longer needed to eat. At least, that was one conclusion that Thorax and Pharynx drew. Another possibility was that they had some kind of sickness, but there was less evidence to suggest that. After all, even when they only ate half of their meals at the table, their bodies remained at their natural sizes. Exercising and playing didn't tire them out any more than it usually did. If anything, the two guests felt better ever since their wings gained brighter hues. That was a little difficult to notice after that evening's meal. Sunburst had taken to rocking Flurry Heart in her personal cradle. Meanwhile, Shining Armor was staring intently downward. Cadance was massaging her temple with her hooves. Thorax's eyes were open wide. Pharynx had somehow managed to fold his napkin into an origami swan. "Yeah..." "I mean, on one hoof, it's good that there are other changelings against Chrysalis." Cadance shifted her feathers in place. "But on the other, their intended measures are just as bad as hers." Shining Armor poured some extra wine into a goblet. "Stealing love meant for some pony else is wrong, no matter what." Thorax poked his fork against the fish bones on his plate. "But what can we do about this splinter pack?" Sunburst looked over. "Until they actually strike, we have no leads." Cadance took a deep breath and exhaled quietly. "We won't get anywhere while we're tired and worried. Let's sleep on this and work out a plan in the morning." As if to agree with her mother, Flurry Heart yawned. She wrapped herself up in her own wings and a tiny blanket. Almost everyone present in the dining room felt a bit of tension leave their hides. Pharynx was the exception, still not entirely sure if the wrapped creature was capable of stealing souls. He shivered as everyone got ready to leave and/or clear the table. --- A high-pitched scream broke Pharynx out of slumber. Thorax groaned and looked around, still half-asleep. Pharynx trotted over and opened the bedroom door. It was just in time for a blur of blue to gallop hysterically past. "Trixie, wait!" A different voice said. The pony attached to it trotted by, short on breath. "I haven't recovered after that long-distance teleport." She panted, paused, and looked to her right. She blinked. Pharynx blinked right back. The unicorn gasped and backed up to the opposite wall. "They're already here!" she exclaimed. "Huh?" Thorax rubbed his eyes and looked out the door. "That sounds like... Starlight? Is that you?" "Oh, Thorax!" Starlight's expression shifted from a sigh of relief back to panic. "Look out! A bad changeling's right next to you!" Pharynx jumped out of the way just in time. A cyan magic beam from the unicorn zipped underneath his hooves. He did a somersault and shape-shifted into a copy of the unicorn mare. He pinned her to the floor. He kept his own voice to say, "I'm not a bad changeling. Stop blasting and listen for a minu-" Pharynx suddenly found himself unable to move or speak. His personal space had been covered in a slightly pinkish crystal. As he fell onto his side, he could barely turn his eyes. His shape had been forced back to his default self. He saw the unicorn panting for breath. Despite her fatigue, she looked determined with another spell charging in her horn. "Starlight, stop!" Thorax jumped in front of Pharynx. "He's my brother!" Starlight blinked twice. "Wait, huh?" "Well, technically he's my brood mate who hatched before I did." He shook his head. "Anyway, he's good now!" The unicorn lowered her brow, pointing her horn at the younger changeling. "How do I know you're the real Thorax, and not some other changeling pretending to be Thorax?" Thorax sighed. "After Spike stood up for me, Princess Twilight said..." He shape-shifted into a lavender alicorn, complete with her voice. "As the Princess of Friendship, I should set an example for all of Equestria. But today it was Spike who taught me-" "Okay!" Starlight held up her hoof and fizzled her horn. "You don't need to do the whole speech! I believe you." She turned her horn and shot a smaller blast. This spell disintegrated the crystal, allowing Pharynx to draw breath. He stood up and breathed loudly for a few counts. Thorax shifted back to his changeling self and gently rubbed his hoof against Pharynx's back. "Starlight, this is Pharynx." Thorax smiled. "My brother, like I said." "Uh, nice to meet you?" Starlight held out her hoof. "Sorry about thinking you were bad." "Meh, not the worst reaction I've gotten." Pharynx smirked and shook hooves. "Five more of you, and the pony army would have no trouble destroying your enemies." "Eh heh heh..." Starlight chuckled nervously. Then she looked up suddenly. "Oh! I almost forgot." She cast a long-range spell through the hall. Her blue companion was still running her hooves, even though she was magically being pulled backward. "Trixie, this is Thorax and Pharynx. They're reformed changelings, on our side. Understand?" Trixie stopped her screaming and nodded slowly. Then, Starlight dropped her spell and lowered the other unicorn to the ground. Thorax held out his hoof for a greeting. Trixie, however, shuffled behind her companion. "Look, I'll believe Starlight that you're on our side. Just... don't come any closer right now, okay?" Trixie shook in place. Starlight tilted her head. "Hey, your wings look different." The two changelings flapped their respective wings once each. They shimmered in teal and violet respectively. "Yeah, they do. Something about living and loving, I guess." Thorax scratched the back of his head. Pharynx cleared his throat. "Any particular reason you ladies were running around like Cerberus was on your tails?" "Shoot, that's right!" Starlight turned on her hind legs. "The changelings have captured Princess Celestia, Luna, Twilight and her friends! We need help from the Crystal Empire as soon as possible!" "I know the way to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's room." Thorax trotted along briskly. The other three followed him at a similar pace. Pharynx took the long trek to ponder some thoughts. 'Chrysalis is enacting her plan now? Her intel can't be up to date. I never reported back. Unless...' He grit his teeth. 'Cantrip. I knew that drone was full of crud, but I didn't bother to measure how much crud. Who the crud measures crud?' ---