//------------------------------//
// Ch. 5: "I Cast Darkness!" 
// Story: Her Next Life As a Bug's Big Brother 
// by TundraStanza 
//------------------------------//

As soon as the group got into the royal wing of the palace, Thorax slammed face-first into nothing.  At least, that's what it seemed to be until Pharynx also ran into the invisible thing.  They grunted in confusion while tapping a wall that wasn't a wall.  Things were a little clearer when Starlight managed to walk through with little more than a tingle up her spine.

"It's some kind of anti-changeling shield," she deduced.

"Hmm..." Trixie moseyed on through the barrier and felt the magical ripple. "That's convenient, but why is it here?"

"Either Shining Armor was paranoid..." Pharynx took a step back.

"Or some of the hive is already in there." Thorax lightly tapped the wall and looked directly at Starlight. "Be careful, you guys."

Starlight nodded before giving her companion a glance. "Ready for this?"

"Th-The Great and Totally-Not-Trying-To-Hold-In-A-Nervous-Leg-Sweat-Why-Do-You-Ask Trixie is totally not trying to hold in a nervous leg sweat! Why do you ask?" Trixie's tail went rigid as she galloped next to her friend.

The two unicorns barged in through the large doors.  Well, Starlight barged in.  Trixie slid in two seconds after the break-in.  Their expressions went from tense to surprised.  As if to reflect their surprise, Cadance and Shining Armor dispelled whatever they were charging and stared wide-eyed.

"Wait, you're Twilight's student, right?" Shining Armor asked. "And since you got through while my shield is still up, you're the real deal."

As Starlight was about to answer, she got a look at the rest of the bed room properly.  At least ten of Chrysalis's changeling drones were slammed against the walls and ceiling.  The bodies were crumpled and oozing.  A few of the gossamer wings had been torn off.

"Ew..." Starlight coughed. "I was coming to warn you about the changeling threat, but I guess you already know."

"Only as far as their attempted ambush here." Cadance lightly patted down some of her bed mane. "What's the news from Ponyville?"

Starlight pointed a hoof behind herself. "Maybe we should let Thorax and Pharynx in first so we can exchange information all at once."

"Oh, right." Shining Armor shot a spell out the door.  A few seconds later, Thorax and Pharynx walked in. Then, he cast the shield again to be around them, not blast out from him.

"Right." Starlight nodded. "So, first of all..."

She talked about her dream interaction with Luna and how the changelings dragged the princess right out of it.  Likely, they had already gotten what they wanted from Canterlot.  Then, she touched on how Twilight and all seven members of the harmony table were replaced.  Shining Armor and Cadance told Starlight and Trixie about what they knew of Chrysalis's plan, with Pharynx affirming the story.

Shining punched a wall. "How did they get Twily?! She's the Element of Magic for Celestia's sake!"

Thorax held a hoof under his chin. "Maybe, they brought a piece of Chrysalis's throne with them."

Pharynx shrugged. "Or at least the same kind of magic absorption stone.  It might not have taken her powers away completely, but it would be enough to catch any pony off guard."

Shining Armor's eyes were blood-shot as he marched out of the room. "Guards! Ready all of the troops! We're going to march for the changeling hive in the Badlands immediately!"

Cadance opened her mouth and held up a hoof.  But she immediately closed it and shook her head. "I don't blame him for being mad, but we should probably plan for this."

"Plan with what?" Trixie piped up. "We're down to one out of four alicorn princesses!  No offense, Your Highness, but I don't like our odds!"

"You know, if I weren't such a nice guy, I'd be offended when ponies talk about powerful creatures and somehow forget about me."

The five living occupants of the room looked around.  After a double-take, Starlight spotted a familiar face and body structure reclining on the bed.  Discord seemed bored while reading a pamphlet covered in gibberish.  The unicorn trotted over cautiously.

"Is that Discord?" Starlight lowered her brow. "How do we know you're the real Discord?"

The draconequus deadpanned and snapped his claws.  The changeling corpses shed themselves down to skeletons and danced around sporadically.  The bed sang an opera.  Outside, the sky depicted the sun and moon playing 'Ring-Around-The-Rosie'.  The floor turned into soap and Trixie tripped.  Thorax, Pharynx, and Cadance flapped their wings to avoid slipping.

Discord snapped with his lion paw, returning everything to its state before he arrived. "Shall I continue?"

"Will you help us, please?" Starlight asked. "The changeling hive has practically taken over Equestria!"

"Bah, let them run around for a bit." Discord continued his fake-nap. "It has been a while since monsters last ruled the land, present company excluded."

Pharynx spat. "Gee, thanks."

"It's more than just a land takeover." Cadance trotted up. "They've captured Celestia, Luna, all of Twilight's friends-"

Discord was suddenly upright. "They took Fluttershy?!"

"Yes!" Starlight nodded.

His eyes briefly turned solid crimson as he leaned in close. "Where?"

"To their hive in the Badlands," answered Starlight. "That's where."

---

Suddenly, everyone was standing in a lightly wooded area.  Cadance, Trixie, and Starlight looked around in confusion.  Thorax and Pharynx recognized the landmark and knew they were at least within an hour's flight from their old home.  Shining Armor and several of his sleepy soldiers were piled in a stack.  After tripping over one guard, the prince caught sight of the draconequus.

"Discord..." He seethed.

"Why Young Prince, why do you sound so angry to see me?" Discord brushed some tail feathers off his dust.

"I don't know." Sarcasm dripped like venom. "Maybe the fact that you practically gift-wrapped Equestria's magic for Tirek has something to do with it!"

Discord blew a raspberry... into a nearby tree. "I said I was sorry."

"Apologies imply that you'll try to avoid repeating the wrong actions." Shining Armor crossed his front hooves. "How do we know you're not looking to betray us to the changelings or any future enemies?"

Discord scoffed. "I don't know what the future holds! As for the changelings, they stole my Fluttershy! I won't willingly work for creatures when they steal my stuff!"

Shining Armor turned around and muttered, "Anything you say can and will be used against you."

"Speaking of Fluttershy!" Discord magically donned a camouflage army suit and a flying pig steed. "I'll save you!"

He flew forth with haste.  However, as soon as he crossed over a cliff, the pig and his outfit vanished into the aether.  He yelped and grabbed a dying tree branch before pulling himself up.  He tried snapping another flying pig into existence.  When this pig flew past the cliff, it turned into a vapor as well.

"That's not going to work," said Pharynx.

Discord turned his head with a creaking noise. "Pardon vous?"

Thorax took a step forward. "Chrysalis's throne is made of a specially mined stone.  It absorbs magic from anything other than changelings that enters her territory.  That's how she keeps the hive safe."

Starlight trotted up to the cliff and tried casting a light beam spell.  It left for about two centimeters.  Then, the spell evaporated.  She grimaced as she thought a bit.

"But if I can't teleport us over there, how do we get there?" Discord crossed his arms.

"Walking." Starlight found a makeshift path of small cliffs down the rocky slope.

Discord grabbed the skin under his eyes. "But I haven't walked anywhere in centuries!"

"Your Majesty, what should we do?" asked one of the crystal armored soldiers.

Shining Armor looked down.  His eyes danced left and right.  Then, he looked up at the hive mountain. "A fake-out.  A larger force will charge in, making them think we're doing a desperate frontal assault.  Meanwhile, a smaller force will find a back way entrance and try to dismantle the magic-absorbing throne inside."

"How do we hold off changelings when they have magic and we don't?" Onyx brought up a point.

"You brought your spear, didn't you?" Shining Armor stared at the formerly egotistic recruit. "Get creative."

After a brief discussion, the two forces were decided.  Shining Armor would lead the Crystal Empire soldiers in the frontal assault.  Meanwhile, Pharynx and Thorax would lead the smaller force through the hive's interior.  Starlight, Trixie, Discord, and Cadance would be part of the smaller force.

Shining Armor and Cadance held each other in an embrace and kissed.  Then, Shining Armor started his long march in front of his army.  After about five minutes, the smaller group hopped down to begin their own trek.  The amount of sand and dry rock was draining to look at.

---

"Are we there yet?" Discord whined.  His wings had gotten droopy.

"If we were, don't you think the hive would be right in front of us?" Trixie shook her head. "Why did we let him come along?"

"Because of his potential once we get rid of Chrysalis's throne." Starlight glanced over her shoulder. "Discord could just sneeze the changelings away if he wanted to."

"That's right!" Discord crept up and placed a talon on Trixie's nose. "I'm here because of what I can eventually do!  Which is a little more than can be said about you, little pony."

Trixie whacked the limb away. "At least Trixie does not moan and whine about having to use her perfectly toned legs."

"Pah, as if you know anything about being a body-builder!" Discord chuckled. "You're a street performer.  Lying to your audience is all you're good for."

"Hmph!" Trixie stuck her face up. "You'd know all about lying, wouldn't you?  Your own body doesn't even know what species it's supposed to be!"

"Would you two quit it?!" Starlight panted after her outburst. "We need to save our strength in case we have to fight or run away from changelings inside.  Don't waste it fighting each other before the job's done."

"Fine." Discord took his hoof and foot and power walked. "I can be the bigger pony and let this go."

"Not if Trixie lets it go first!" Trixie broke into a canter.

Starlight face-hoofed before continuing to walk along.

Cadance mulled something over while glancing at the remaining two of the group. "Is there anything else changelings can shape-shift into besides ponies?"

"Well, sure." Thorax held out a hoof and moved it up and down. "We can turn into rocks, curtains, birds, snakes, gryphons, and even larger versions of ourselves if we want to."

"So, disguising yourselves as a draconequus isn't beyond your scope?" Cadance wondered.

"Probably." Pharynx shrugged. "It wouldn't be comfortable to hold such a weird form for longer than a few minutes, but it's doable.  Why?"

"We need a password between the six of us.  It's in case we get separated and some changeling tries to impersonate us." Starlight trotted into the conversation.

"Exactly." Cadance nodded.

"Oooo! Can we pick our own codenames?" Discord smiled and shook curled up hands in front of his chest. "This is Chaos1 to Blue0! Come in, Blue-Zerooooh!" He tripped over what looked like a horned skull.  He got a face full of dirt.

Trixie smirked. "How about 'Klutzy Draconequus'?"

"Klutzy Draconequus?" Starlight tapped her chin. "Hmm."

"Klutzy Draconequus." Thorax tilted his head back and forth. "It's weird enough to work."

Pharynx nodded. "I can remember Klutzy Draconequus."

Cadance wrote some air cursive with her hoof. "Klutzy Draconequus."

"Klutzy Draconequus! / Klutzy Draconequus! / Klutzy Draconequus! / Klutzy Draconequus! / Klutzy Draconequus!" All five of them said at the same time.

Discord picked himself off the ground. "I don't think I like this password."

"Then, it's settled!" Trixie chuckled. "Now there's no way we'll get fooled by an enemy changeling."

Suddenly, the long walk was the last reason Discord felt tired of this mission.

---

There was a cacophony of battle cries filling the air.  It was time for the small force to move away from the most-trodden path.  Each creature kept an eye out for any enemy changelings.  It looked like Shining Armor's force was doing its job and attracting a lot of changelings to the front.

As Pharynx quietly crawled along, he caught a glimpse of some stray lines of blood.  A couple changelings were carrying away an unconscious pony guard toward the higher floors of the hive mountain.  He wondered why he was feeling internally pained by the sight.  This feeling wasn't all coming from her mind.  He shook his head.  He was part of a team and they had a mission to complete.

The entrances in the base of the hive rapidly shifted.  He was relieved that Thorax seemed unperturbed after being away for so long.  The unicorns, alicorn, and draconequus were a little more shaken by the environment.  Discord in particular yanked on his tail, not used to having to pay attention to where he was at all times.

"So far, so good." Starlight's darting eyes betrayed her calm tone.

"Yeah, right into the wasps' nest where one wrong move gets the love drained from out of us." Trixie shuffled her hooves. "Speaking of which, are either of you feeling hungry?"

"Um, not really." Thorax looked back.

"Nope." Pharynx shook his head.

"But you could still get hungry somewhat soon?" Trixie's teeth chattered as she asked.

"Actually, I haven't really felt hungry since I met Spike." admitted Thorax. "Once I made a few friends, feeding felt not so important."

"Besides, your narcissism would give us heartburn." Pharynx trotted along while carefully watching the tunnels.

Cadance stifled a chuckle.

"Wow." Discord grinned, but kept walking.

Trixie tilted her head. "What?"

Starlight trotted up. "So, which way do we have to go?"

Pharynx pointed up. "Up a couple ladder-like rocks..."

Thorax crossed his front hooves. "Down a spiraling coral..."

"Through a bear-shaped cave..."

"Take a left at the birds and keys..."

"And into the throne room proper. / And into the throne room proper." The brothers finished together.

"I'm surprised you remember that," said Pharynx.

"Yeah, I just needed you to say the first direction and then I've got it." Thorax smiled.

"Yes, well... if you two are finished reciting nursery rhymes," Discord said while holding out his arms, "I've got a Fluttershy to save!"  His last word echoed off the rocky walls.

"We should probably keep it down," reminded Cadance. "We don't want the changelings that are still in here to find us."

"Oh, please." Discord waved dismissively. "Your shiny hubby's got the whole hive distracted out the front."

Pharynx scrunched his mouth. "Actually, from what I saw, only a third of the hive's staying changelings were fighting outside."

"At worst, it was less than one fourth," Thorax added, "depending on how many changelings Chrysalis has hatched since the big wedding in Canterlot."

"How many children does a queen need?" Trixie shook her head in disgust.

"Wait, does any pony else hear... humming?" Starlight's ears perked up.

After a careful listen, there was a rhythm of buzzing noises.  It was getting louder as the seconds ticked by.

"It's a full patrol!" Thorax's breaths became short and panicky.

"Chitin," muttered Pharynx.
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