Nighttime in Canterlot often brought a sense of peace. With the hustle and bustle of the day drifting off into Luna's Land of Nod, it left a tranquility that brought out the best in nature. Owls hooted, crickets chirped, and fireflies danced in the meadow at the base of the mountain the city resided on awaiting any who decided to follow them. It meant a chance to recharge, to let all of life's burdens pass away, and to bring a peace of mind to everypony who needed it. With Princess Luna once again taking charge and kicking nightmares' flanks, it was the perfect getaway.
However, not everyone was asleep. When the sun went down, Canterlot's more rowdy populace took to the streets for their own brand of adult-only fun. With the city experiencing a recent boom in families moving to the capital, multiple orders had been carried out to ensure that the wilder citizens presented no harm to the fillies and colts that frolicked about during the day. The arrangement ensured that the young stayed safe, while also allowing adults to engage in activities more suited for their age. Dueq to the nature of those activities, an elite group of guards patrolled the whole town, keeping the letter of the law with an iron hoof, and it was a normal routine for Luna to get all cases handled before swapping with Celestia after sunrise.
Yet, even with all the roughrousers that occupied the Canterlot Bridle District, that seedy area was currently not the most heavily-guarded location in town. That honor belonged to a mansion a little higher up on the mountain, isolated even from the noble district and one could only be allowed access by invitation only.
The four-story tall marble structure had been around ever since the founding of Canterlot, originally calling Chancellor Puddinghead and Mage Meadowbrook home, and over the centuries had been converted to host dignitaries from Equestria's allies. Currently, however, it was where Celestia's niece Mi Amore Cadenza, Cadance for short, resided with the Captain of the Guard Shining Armor. Twenty of Celestia's best guards stood careful watch over the engaged couple, doing their best to keep things in perfect harmony.
However, everything changed when the skies attacked.
"Raise the al-" Caught completely off guard by the sudden assault from above, the guards at the mansion gate were overwhelmed by sickly shadows that rained down like an inky mist and left him no time to alert the troops inside the mansion. Knocked to the ground and gasping for breath, the squad leader looked up, onIy to be greeted by a pair of luminous blue eyes. "Wh-who are you?!"
"That is not important for now," A male voice replied, the horn at the top of his head glowing a sickly green as the guard joined his fellow troops in a spell-induced slumber. Once the male was certain the guard was asleep, he looked into the depths of night that lurked behind him, and the forty-nine pairs of eyes like his own that started back at him. "Buck Fang, Fibula, Mandible, you three make sure that these guards are fine. No feeding off of or gunking them, for it is mission critical that they are unharmed. Pharynx, you take Steel Wing, Fibris, Fly Trap, and Prancing Mantis and replace the guards that we just knocked out. As for the rest of you, you're with me, now let's go."
"On it!" Pharynx replied, flashing a salute each of their eyes could see in the low light environment as the addressed carried out their orders. As he went to leave, however, he placed a hoof on his commander's shoulder. "Thorax, I just want to say, this is the biggest night in changeling history my brother, and I am glad to serve your orders."
"Appreciated, now go," Thorax said, his brother finally leaving and going to do his duties. Taking a few silent breaths to calm his nerves, the commander turned to his remaining group. "Alright, Phase Alpha is completed, now onto Phase Bravo. Follow my lead."
Multiple, quick green flashes soon dotted the mountainside, and to anyone that was observing from the city and in the mansion would have been made to believe that the resident Will-o-wisps had moved down to dance with the Breezies that had took refuge in the higher elevations to escape the brutal summer heat wave that had gripped the city for the previous two weeks. However, where many soldiers once stood, tiny flies buzzed in formation towards one of the open windows on the first floor.
The vast, Prench designed interior seemed like a vast cave to the miniaturized invaders, engulfing them in the exquisite beauty that it had been crafted into by master hooves. Tall marble archways and columns displayed many hoof-painted murals that told the tales of battles throughout the centuries. From Commander Hurricane and the Unification War, to the Prench Restoration Movement, each display had been carefully preserved like a delicate flower, and even the older works were as vivid as the day they were birthed into existence as the stroke of a brush.
Up above, the vaulted ceiling gave plenty of room for the group to spread out and fly, their tiny wing being unheard by the guards below. Using the space to their advantage, they worked in lockstep, knocking out their targets and taking their forms while swarming in on their ultimate target on the top floor. There, behind an ornate door that was trimmed in pearls and gold leaf, was the reason why this mission was so critical.
"Everyling in position?" Thorax whispered as he and his group resumed their natural forms, his troops giving him a silent nod as he knocked on the door. "Good, because we are well past the point of no return."
It wasn't long before a tall stallion with a coat that glistened like snow answered the door, the solid and toned muscles developed from a lifetime of training rippling in alert as he glared down at the drone with the fierceness of a dragon guarding its horde.
"Who are you?!" The stallion demanded, using the force of a parade ground tone to enhance the question as he snagged Thorax in his magical grip. "How did you manage to get here, and there are my guards?"
"At ease, Captain Shining Armor," Thorax said, using a calm tone to show that he was not terrified of the mare that had been trained first-hoof by the Princess of the Sun. "My name is Thorax, and I speak for the hive, all I ask for is a few moments of your time. There's a great evil who wants you both gone, I should know, for she's my mom. However, her plan is foolish and stale, but I have a plan that will put her in jail."
"If your mom wants me gone, what reason do I have to trust you?" Shining said, narrowing his eyes as something behind him moved. "How do I know you offering to help is genuine? You telling me these things could be nothing more than a cover, a ruse to trap me so I can't interfere with your mother's plans. I have been a military colt my entire life, from the Junior Cadets all the way up the ladder to where I stand as the Captain of the Guard, so I have to remain vigilant of any traps in the information I receive. Your warning is noted, but what is stopping me from throwing you and your entire lot into the dungeon and throwing away the key?"
"If you did that, you would lose the best chance you have to prevent the invasion before it had an opportunity to begin," One of Thorax's soldiers, Dragonfly, said as she stepped up to the front of the group. "Changelings, by nature, are masters of deception, and just us revealing ourselves to a pony is a treasonable offense that results in beheading."
"Now that seems like overkill," Shining said, slightly lowering his guard at that revelation. "However, something of that sort could be used to try and gain symp-"
"Shiny, is everything ok?" A female voice said from the depths of darkness that consisted of the bedroom. After a moment, a blue glow was seen before all the lights came to life, dancing their glow over the figure that had spoken. With her pink coat and tri-colored mane, she left little to the imagination that she could have been a candy creation come to life. Moving out of the bed and gracefully across the floor, each step showed off the curves that she had developed in maturity, an elegant sway that hypnotized any who were caught in its trap. "Say, you didn't tell me that you were getting some new guards in your squad, rather adorable ones at that."
"Adorable?!" Pharynx huffed, baring his fangs and making hissing sounds at the mare. "Have you lost your mind pony, do you think this is still adorable?! Just one bite will make you go to sleep for a day, and that isn't even-"
"SQUEEEEEE!" The mare's pitch was enough to rattle the mansion's windows, and before Pharynx had a chance to react he was pulled to the mare and being snuggled against her silky fur. "By my aunt's cake collection, we got to keep them! Can we Shiny? Please! Please! Please!"
"Cadance, my dear," Shining's tone was apprehensive, ready to strike at a moment's notice, but he could tell by the way Pharynx was reacting the drone was too embarrassed to react. "The… changeling, that I am holding in my magic claims to have been sent here by their queen, a queen that wants us gone. Why do you want to keep a potential threat in your presence, one that could betray you at any given moment?"
"Oh will you lighten up?" Cadance said, her horn briefly pulsing and Shining felt her magic thump him in the back of the head. "I was born a royal pegasus remember? I went through my fair share of guard duty growing up before I ascended and got my horn, so I can see where your concerns and hesitation are justified. That being said, it is my duty as a princess to keep an open mind. You can catch far more flies in honey than you can with vinegar, and it is better to keep an enemy close at all times so that they are constantly monitored. So, Captain, I request you put the drone down and we head to the negotiation room downstairs to get the full story."
"My sincerest apologies Princess Cadenza," Shining said, dipping into a half now before setting Thorax down and gesturing down the hallway. "You have one chance to prove your worth, any funny business and you will be arrested. However, you never did answer my earlier question about where my troops are…"
"They are in the root beer cellar asleep," Pharynx said, finally being able to escape Cadance's powerful snuggle powers and making Shining give him a look of disbelief. "Their minds are fully clear of our magic, all we used was a strong enough sleep spell to make sure they stay asleep until sunrise. Commander Thorax ordered us not to do any harm, so we went with the safest option. Come sunrise, they will wake up feeling like they took a two week vacation to the Neighponese Hot Spring Resort."
"That's highly convenient," Shining snorted, receiving another thump to the back of his head before leading the group downstairs to the room where all the nation leaders gathered to discuss trade agreements. The room itself was built like a miniature auditorium, housing over one hundred seats for the leaders and their delegates to sit down in comfort after a long travel, and had built-in wards to handle everything from magical outbursts to dragonfire and a herd of rampaging yaks. Moving to the front of the toom, the two ponies sat while Thorax walked over to the chalkboard, waiting to continue. "Alright, I think we are settled in, so you may begin."
"Thank you," Thorax said, smiling as he wrote 'Changeling 101' in cursive and cleared his throat. "To recap, me and my soldiers are a species called changelings. Much like unicorns we can use spells, and we can naturally fly like a pegasus or griffin, but those two comparisons and the fact we walk on four hooves in our natural form is where the similarities end.
"It is well known that unicorns draw their magic from the leylines that run throughout the panet, Earth Ponies get theirs from the life force of the ground itself, and pegasi get theirs from the wind currents and moisture in the sky. However, a changeling gets their magic from emotions."
"Emotions?" Shining piped up, and Thorax nodded from not being bothered at being asked questions. "Like love, hate, and such?"
"You are correct Captain," Thorax said, drawing a makeshift anatomical diagram of a changeling, but circled one of the sacs that he drew. "However, it goes further and is vastly more complicated than just surface emotions. Things like greed, disdain, aggregation, and affection are all easy to collect, and even the different kinds of love and lust all have a different flavor from each other. When collected, either by the ambient feelings in the air or by force, they are stored in this emotion sac to be used or returned to the hive to be shared. Depending on how much is collected, that is, but the most powerful emotion for our magic is love.
Love to a changeling is like red velvet cake to Celestia, absolutely necessary for our survival. Unlike ponies and other species, we don't need physical food to sustain us, for the love we collect is our food source. Going too long without any love intake makes changelings ravenous, attacking anyone that has the slightest bit of love in them and draining them dry like a spider does to a captured fly."
"Yikes," Shining said, now feeling a bit disturbed as that mental image played in his head. "Even describing that sounds brutal, but what happens to the… victims, after a draining? Do they recover or do they die?"
"A full draining?" Thorax's tone implied raising an eyebrow that he physically did have as he drew a pony that looked more like a raisin with stubby legs. "Physically they are fine, but mentally it is like a chunk gets ripped out. The victim waters around in a drunk-like state, and on average requires four to six weeks to recover; however, it will be like lost time to them because they will not remember the changeling draining them or the ensuing period until they recover."
"Well, at least they don't die," Shining said, relaxing his muscles in relief. "Still, if love is your food source, what does that have to do with your queen wanting me out the way?"
"It isn't you she wants tone Captain Armor," Dragonfly said, stepping up to Thorax's side as she looked directly at Cadance. "Your fianceé however is a different matter entirely. Considering she is the Princess of Love, and you love her, the queen wants her out the way so she can take her place at your side and feed off it. A well fed changeling queen, at full power, could easily defeat Celestia in hoof to hoof combat."
"You can't be serious," Shining tried to leap out his seat to get in Thorax's face, but was held in place by Cadance's magic until he calmed down. "No creature has been able to defeat her! All who have tried ended up either dead, put in stone, or thrown in Tartarus, what makes you think that the queen that you claim to be rebelling against can defeat the Princess of the Sun?"
"By taking away Celestia's biggest advantage," Dragonfly said, taking the chalk and drawing Celestia's cutie mark. "Tell me, Captain, out of all the tales and fables involving the Sun Bringer calling down her plasma, do any of them occur around one of Equestria's settlements, or are they all during wars and minor skirmishes as a rather rude 'negotiating' tactic to force the enemy to surrender and retreat?"
"I-" Shining paused before he could fully answer, closing his eyes and furrowing his brows as he did his best to recall every instance he had heard during his training. Even as a Private, he overheard multiple stories about Celestia's grand might and conquests from the then-higher ups in the mess hall and local tavern where the guards got drunk on their time off. "I actually can't remember any cases of her using her full magic on Equestrian soil, so why is that detail important?"
"With all due respect Princess Cadance, your fiancé is denser than a soaked yak overdue for its annual fleecing." Dragonfly said, earning a glare from the Captain as Cadance giggled. "That has everything to do with it! When she has used her plasma, none of her ponies or one of her towns were in danger of being torched, but the queen is going to come HERE and that would put everypony in jeopardy. Do you honestly think that she would fight full power knowing her subjects AND the capital would be vaporized?"
"The cost of the crown is heavy, but a wise princess knows when it is time to surrender," Cadance said, her statement making Shining wilt in his seat. "This kind of threat is what every guard trains for, defending Life, Friendship, and Country for their comrades and the good of everyone who lives in these lands no matter the cost even if it causes their end. We both have taken that Oath Shiny, however, at the same time, if this enemy is as dangerous as these drones are saying, it is best that we give them an ear and an open mind free of conviction.
Why should the two of us condemn them just because their queen is evil? They clearly want to thwart her plans for the good of Ponykind, so lets take their words to heart and see what advice and wisdom they bring to the table. I will send my aunts a letter informing them of the situation, but will suggest they stay out until the opportune moment. With that being said, you may continue Thorax."
"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Your Highness," Thorax said, giving a slight bow before taking the chalk back from Dragonfly. "Now then, changelings can disguise as anything, or anypony. From the commoner, to the Element Bearers, to the Royal Sisters nothing is off-limits to who we can blend into society as. The queen has a very detailed notebook of your habits and dislikes Princess, just like she has one on Captain Armor, from information collected from various infiltrators over the last eight months or so. It is with that information she was to flawlessly impersonate you after my squad removed you from the picture, and afterwards store your beloved's love for you for later use."
"During this timeframe," Pharynx said, joining the other two drones and picking up where his brother left off. "That being between now and the wedding, she was going to slowly layer a powerful mind control spell on the Captain, making him unable to question any differences between her and you while passing off those differences as being stressed from wedding planning. The day of the wedding, she was going to have the entire hive swarm, defeat Celestia, and take over Equestria by making everypony be servants to her. Any questions?"
"I have several," Cadance beat Shining in the race to opening their mouths, knowing that if he spoke first they were going to run out of time due his attention to detail. "You say we are on a time crunch, so I am going to make this short and blunt. When was your queen scheduled to arrive, what are the hive's numbers, and what plan do you have to stop her?"
"She is scheduled to arrive at noon," Dragonfly said, starting to write down the planned schedule on the white board. "Plenty of time for us to move you to the magic-proof cell that is waiting for you in the Canterlot Caverns, and set up the recon and backup for her arrival to make sure there are no issues. After verifying we captured you, she was going to find Captain Armor as he took his midday break from training, and plant the seed to the mind control spell."
"As far as the numbers are concerned…" Pharynx sighed, making both seated ponies' anxiety levels ramp up as they prepared for the worse. "Remember when my brother said love is the most powerful emotion for a changeling? It not only fuels our magic, but also our biological functions and reproduction. We have been on the brink of starvation for over a year, caused by the queen using most of the hive's reserves to fight off a group of Elder Cinder Dragons, their heads make a lovely addition to her throne piece…"
"You are getting off track," Dragonfly warned, making the second-in-command lower his head in shame. "Although, he is right about us starving for love. At the time of the attack we had over five thousand drones living in the hive, but from slow collecting and rations, that number now is just over two hundred. We have been able to hold off as long as we could, but since the queen sees ponies as nothing more than food, she is going to launch her attack to forcibly get it since her ego won't let her come to the Sisters and ask nicely. For her, invasion is the only option."
"Which leads us to my plan," Thorax said, grinning as he pointed at Cadance, grinning like a chaotic cat. "I hope you have some sort of energy spell princess, because we are gonna be up all night practicing!"