//------------------------------// // Four and Two: Portents // Story: Five Weeks Till Nightfall // by DualThrone //------------------------------// “Our purpose here was actually to do a simple reconnaissance, to remain unseen and not undertake any sort of sabotage,” the zebra told them as they walked. It turned out that zebra burial rites were identical to those of ponies, although them having been soldiers meant that their arms and armor were to be used as their grave markers. Just as with her own cloak, the mare smashed the enchanted jewels beyond repair before draping them over the artfully-piled accruements and pinning them in place with each fallen soldier’s combat blade. “What changed then?” Verde inquired. “The praetus arrived with new instructions for us,” she replied. “We’d heard vague rumblings of a turnaround at Colthav and the disaster around Stalliongrad but we’ve been in-country for weeks and news was very sparse.” “You’ve been skulking around the Barrens for weeks without being seen?” Astra looked and sounded impressed. The zebra laughed lightly. “Don’t be overawed by the achievement. It’s not hard to survey a place where everyone smiles at you and enthusiastically suggests their favorite bit of scenery.” “Hid in plain sight?” “And it was so easy, a foal with half a brain could do it.” The zebra confirmed. “The Ministry of Morale does not exist here by decree of Queen Chrysalis and because the Ministry of Morale exists everywhere else, Her Highness’ subjects are very used to strange zebras.” “I don’t know about that,” Astra commented. “You’re very pony to me.” The comment earned her an odd look. “Is that meant as a compliment?” “From her, it is,” Verde told her. “Then thank you,” she smiled slightly. “But by ‘strange’, I simply meant zebras that aren’t well-known to them. But although easy, almost a vacation, the task has its challenges. As you might have noticed, my fellows have… er, had strong feelings on the subject of Nightmare Moon and a willingness to voice these feelings. There’ve been many close calls these last two months when some of our party drank too much excellent wine and spoke too freely. Nothing about our purpose—too much discipline, even drunk—but a bit too much about Nightmare.” “Nightmare? Not the nightmare?” “Nyx Sparkle isn’t a bad dream,” she replied dryly. “She’s a pony, with a mother named Twilight Sparkle.” All three of them halted and turned to look at her with various degrees of surprise, causing the zebra to grin a little. “I told you, the mission of I and my companions was to gather intelligence. Why are you so surprised that I’d know who Nightmare Moon’s mother is?” “Because it means that you’re the first non-Equestrian zebra we’ve met who isn’t completely insane!” Astra exclaimed. “You referred to her by name! You acknowledged that she has a mother! This is huge!” The zebra frowned heavily at this, although the expression was more disturbed and pensive than angry. “It’s… rare for my people to acknowledge Nightmare Moon’s given name?” Verde stared at her. “How can you not know that?” “I… um,” the zebra sort of shrank a little, biting her lip, “avoid discussing the matter with my peers and they don’t talk about it amongst themselves. The nightmare may be drawn by the speaking of her name and they fear that.” “What about you?” Chrysalis asked. “Why do you avoid discussing it with your peers?” “I would be a heretic,” she responded quietly. “I would be right, for Princess Nyx Sparkle is no force of evil, but I would also be a heretic. The tradition of the malevolent stars is ancient, going back to a time before there were Princesses to raise and lower the Great Lights, and to doubt is anathema.” “Why do you?” “Because when I was a young filly, before the war, Nightmare visited my village. She wanted to meet the extended family of a zebra friend of the family, and so I got to see her with my own eyes.” She smiled. “She was… cool. Just as comfortable playing tag with children as enjoying some intellectual sparring with adults and I still remember being in awe at how smart she was.” “She gets it from her mother.” Chrysalis smiled broadly. “Never met a more intelligent pony in my long life.” “I’ve heard that she’s quite unique,” the zebra agreed. “Youngest child of Dusk Shine and Orion, older brother is the Captain of the Royal Guard, soon to retire. She’s unmarried, one child, close maternal-esque relationship with a young adult dragon named ‘Spike’ who’s her closest companion and assistant. Sixty-three years of age, no medical complaints, no signs of age-related dementia and it’s theorized that she has too strong of magical reserves to be at risk for a wasting disorder of that nature. Magical reserves are too plentiful to be accurately charted, ninety-ninth plus nine percentile intellect, known for a comprehensive grasp of all major and minor branches of unicorn spellcraft, insatiably intellectually curious and one report claims that she has such an advanced spell mimicry ability that she can cast any spell that’s cast in her presence even if she was not previously aware of that spell’s existence. The personal student, ward, and protégé of Princess Celestia; former minister-without-portfolio for the south-southeast province of Equestria encompassing the Everfree Forest, Night Palace, and the town of Ponyville; current Mare of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences.” She paused in her smooth, almost monotone, recitation and smiled a little. “Deeply devoted mother and beloved friend of the other five Ministry Mares, Bearer of the Element of Magic, classified into the so-called ‘Second Triumvirate’ encompassing the Mares of the three most powerful wartime Ministries.” Verde couldn’t stop her jaw from dropping as the mare casually recited what sounded like the summary page of a vastly more comprehensive intelligence file. “Do you have those for… every pony of significance?” “Just about,” she chuckled. “The files are our lifeblood, as important as eating and breathing, and so we’re supposed to memorize them. The one on Twilight Sparkle is especially large because of the policy of the Praetorium towards her: conduct ongoing comprehensive research on Mare Sparkle but under no circumstances is she to be targeted for assassination.” “But the others Mares are?” “Except for Mare Fluttershy, yes,” she nodded. “None of us know why the Praetorium is protecting Sparkle but it’s obvious why Fluttershy is off limits.” “It is,” Verde acknowledged, almost smirking at the absurdity of anyone regarding the famously shy and kindly Mare as a threat. “I don’t mean to discourage your very helpful and chatty disposition but why are you telling us all this? You must know that the moment we have a chance, we’re going to pass all the juicy tidbits up the line.” “I’m tired,” she replied. “I’ve been fighting these battles for the last nine years and in all that time, I’ve rarely seen home or loved ones. I could wall it off before I was assigned to infiltrate the Barrens and conduct a survey and intelligence assessment but now…” She sighed. “The Barrens are so much like home that it’s almost physically painful. Strangers are treated with basic decency and warmth. The prickly pear wine is sweet and tart in just the right way. Old stallions sit on porches in cool evenings, talking about anything and everything and nothing. The beaches are peaceful and when I walk out a little ways, I can find a welcoming stillness that washes all the troubles away in the profound silence. “I ache for the love and safety of home, family, and familiarity; it’s a hunger you can feel in your soul. Yet here I am, fighting a war against ponies I do not hate to hurt a Princess I regard with warmth and fondness and the only way it’s going to end is a beautiful land, perhaps two, scoured by balefire. I volunteered to be your prisoner because my experience leads me to believe that Equestria holds the key to saving both zebra and pony and if I can put the tools in your hooves to do just that, I intend to.” She paused and gave Chrysalis a shy smile. “And when this is all over, I’d be honored if Queen Chrysalis would let a washed-up old zebra veteran start a family in her kingdom.” “I’d be delighted to have you,” Chrysalis assured her with a smile. “Does your request come with a name?” “Zaelkyra,” the mare responded. “I’m sure you’ve heard of my aunt, Zecora, although what I hear is that she isn’t very well-loved among Equestrians right now.” “Yup,” Verde agreed with a touch of cheerfulness. “Arch traitor and all that. Stole the designs for an anti-machine rifle and gave it to the zebras. Got spirited away by other traitors at the last moment and returned to Zebrina a hero. Granted, she’s not actually a traitor, she was given those designs because they provided no tactical advantage, and she’s actually a brilliant spy but all the rest is totally true.” Zaelkyra smirked. “Yes, Aunt Zecora told us. You can tell Mare Dash that the cover was perfect, by the way, but there’s no fooling family that knows you well.” “She wasn’t supposed to do that,” Verde frowned. “The more that know…” “…the more that can accidentally say something.” Zaelkyra nodded. “But we knew without being told, so being told changed nothing. Fear naught, there’s no more chance of us accidentally revealing her to the Praetors than there is of you accidentally hoofing your companion over to the Ministry of Morale for interrogation.” Verde and Astra winced simultaneously. “Don’t even joke about something like that,” Astra told her with a shudder. “There’s a damn good reason most zebra citizens are sequestering themselves or fleeing to the Barrens. The only reason dear old Dad isn’t is that he’s got a sister in law…” Astra realized what she was revealing and stopped abruptly but she’d already said too much based on the suddenly thoughtful expression on Zaelkyra’s face. “Which means your aunt has enough power in the Ministry to make it buck off.” She frowned. “That’s not possible; the Ministry has a reputation for being utterly implacable.” A paused. “Actually, it’s not impossible but if true, it means that your aunt is either Mare Pie—whom, last we checked, has no family married to a zebra—or…” She facehoofed and spat an imprecation in Zebrish. “No wonder the praetus wanted to get her hooves on you! You’re a relation of the aster-damned Undermare of Morale!” “I doubt she knew that,” Verde pointed out. “Most friends of the family aren’t aware that Viridian Rain has a zebra-looking niece.” “I wouldn’t be too sure. I don’t know specifics but the Praetorium has developed an extremely good source in Manehattan where the biggest hub of your Ministry of Morale is located,” Zaelkyra replied. “They’ve become convinced that the Undermare of Morale is the true power behind the throne, so to speak, of the Ministry. They’re further convinced that she’s the one in control, not Pinkie Pie.” “That’s a load of ponypies!” Astra growled. “Aunt Viridian has nothing to do with Mare Pie’s mad policies. Sure, it’s her ambition to get rid of Pinkie Pie somehow so she can stop with the rip-memories-from-heads stuff but for now, the only thing she controls is Grey Brigade.” Zael gaped at her. “She has her own black ops unit?” “She does,” Verde confirmed. “Started by her daughter, her niece, and a soldier colt named Pale Ribbons. It’s been a fairly successful venture so far and as Pale puts it, it’s bucking nice to do some good instead of just doing what the Ministry wants.” “Mutually exclusive?” “Increasingly, yes.” Zael looked steadily at her before sighing. “Right now, I’m drinking in the bitter irony of Equestria destroying itself while its military commanders win the war.” “As much as the Ministry of Morale causes problems…” “I’m not just talking about them,” the zebra interrupted. “Elements of the Ministry of Wartime Technology tried to murder Mare Applejack. We wouldn’t have megaspells without the helpful assistance of the Ministry of Peace and Mare Fluttershy just hoofing over her Ministry’s research. And there’s something… wrong about Stable-Tec.” “Wrong how?” Chrysalis inquired, glancing back over her shoulder. “And I think we need a place to set up camp soon. I don’t think any of us are exactly exhausted but I’m sure that when we get to the Hive, we’ll want to well-rested and sharp.” “We don’t exactly have the supplies for much in the way of a camp, Chrysalis,” Verde pointed out. “All we need is two sleeping pads and an autonomous soundproofing bubble spell,” she replied, glancing between Astra and Verde with a grin. “You know, just in case.” Verde felt her cheeks get warm. “I don’t think the bubble would be necessary, Your Majesty.” “It’s better than giving the two of you a kick if you get too enthusiastic,” the changeling queen grinned wider now, making her delicate fangs stand out. Zaelkyra looked between the grinning Chrysalis and the blushing Astra and Verde. “Dare I ask?” “It’d be great if you didn’t.” The zebra thought about this for a moment. “Then I won’t. To answer your question about Stable-Tec, Queen Chrysalis, when a construction company puts one set of blueprints on file for public examination and sends a slightly different set to the construction site, there’s something off.” Verde’s ears perked at that. “Are you certain?” “I’ve seen the two myself,” she replied. “Both sets have an architect stamp from President Apple Bloom and an engineer stamp from President Scootaloo but they’re not identical. Very, very subtle differences, the hallmark of a very intelligent designer hiding his work. But there’s no way to know when they were altered, why they were altered, and who altered them; all we know is that the alterations were approved, assuming that they were even noticed.” Her brow furrowed. “So some of the Stables could be dangerous?” “In the way your gun is,” Zael replied. “The changes make it possible to seriously endanger ponies but whether the danger is realized is entirely in pony hooves.” “Granted, but it doesn’t feel like a coincidence that both you and that Royal Guard mentioned that Stable-Tec is a concern.” “Royal Guard?” “Yeah,” Astra jumped in. “Pegasus mare, dark coloration, nice as hay. We think she’s one of Princess Luna’s personal guards because we’ve never seen any of Celestia’s laugh and smile and be friendly.” “Are you sure she wasn’t Luna’s twin sister in disguise?” Zaelkyra inquired, smiling. “It’d be very much in keeping with Nyx’ sense of humor to pretend to be a Royal Guard just so she could surprise ponies with a Guard who’s very normal and approachable instead of a damn statue.” “It would explain all of her unusual quirks,” Chrysalis commented thoughtfully, pulling a very neatly folded and magically-compressed ground cloth out of an internal pocket of her robes, which seemed to double as a saddlebag. “Taking implied criticism of the Thrones so personally, apparently acting as Luna’s doppelganger to give her time to enjoy the night skies, her sense of childlike wonder at seeing something new like Mount Lepi, and especially the way she just stood their with utter calm and confidence when Captain Droso’s detachment had guns pointed at you. “Then again, Nyx is known for her gift for creating golems out of the substance of her magic that carry a fragment of her soul and a duplicate of her mind and personality. Night could just as easily be one of those golems and her confidence that she could make the transmission towers in the clouds work comes from the fact that Nyx could and, being a semi-living extension of Nyx, Nyx knows everything that she does.” Verde nodded. “Either one would explain why she was so considerate. Taking the time to talk about home, family, hobbies, and life… brewing some of that wonderful ‘ambrosia’ tea out of sheer niceness… frankly, I’m surprised I didn’t leap to that conclusion immediately.” “Even when you know that two of the Princesses are inclined to mix casually and easily with common ponies, it’s hard to imagine that you might be the common pony they’re mingling with,” Chrysalis smiled as she unfolded the ground cloth into two, levitating a section over to Zael and to Verde and Astra. “Thanks, Chrysalis.” Verde spread the cloth out then pulled a sleeping pad, magically compressed like the ground cloth, from her saddlebag and unrolled it, letting it expand into a one-and-a-half pad that would very comfortably fit a couple snuggled up together. “Are you not planning to sleep?” Chrysalis laughed. “Commander Tin, I’m a changeling. Gritty, sandy ground over hardbaked soil may be painful for a pony...” With a greenish glow from her horn, the changeling’s form flowed outwards and upwards and in moments, where a changeling had once stood, there was a black-scaled dragoness about twice the size of a pony. She was much more slender than an ordinary dragon, more lithe and almost feline than exuding the sense of overwhelming size and presence that dragons ordinarily did. Chrysalis craned her neck around and smiled, her eyes and mane the same but now decorating a slim and graceful draconic head instead of a distinctly equine one. “…but it’s quite nice for a dragon,” she finished, her voice acquiring a slightly husky purring quality. “It makes it wonderfully easy to go on vacation when I can just pick a clear spot of ground and sleep comfortably.” “…you can transform yourself into a dragon at will.” Zaelkyra said, in a very waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop tone of voice. “Is this something all changelings can do?” “A few,” Chrysalis replied, curling up so her chin was resting on her tail facing the zebra, looking very comfortable. “But it doesn’t make us dragons, it gives us the physical shapes of dragons. I can no more fly or breathe fire in this form than I can reorder reality at will, even though it’s technically possible for this body to do both.” “Ah,” Zael replied, looking faintly relieved. Chrysalis laughed softly again at the zebra’s evident relief. “Come now, Zaelkyra… if changelings could become dragons at will, this war wouldn’t have lasted nearly this long. The only reason shifting among pony shapes doesn’t impair us is that we’re quite pony-like.” “I’m impressed, Your Majesty,” Verde offered as she lay down and slipped her forelegs comfortably around Astra as the zebra-looking mare cuddled up lightly to her. “Not only are all the details right, you made significant variations.” “Form reflects function reflects self,” Chrysalis replied, followed by a wide-mouthed and very toothy yawn. “Brute power was my way but once and I learned a painful lesson by it. So, without me consciously choosing it, I’m a lithe dragon with a light tread and touch. I wish I had the energy to maintain it for weeks at a time instead of a few days… it’s a very comfortable shape to wear.” “You do look quite comfortable, Queen Chrysalis,” Zael commented as she lay her head down and shifted a little to find a comfortable position, not bothering with a sleeping pad. “Not nearly as comfortable as our two companions,” Chrysalis chuckled, closing her eyes and settling her head comfortably on her tail. “Rest well, Zaelkyra.” “Rest well, milady Queen,” the zebra replied. Verde smiled as she looked between the zebra and the transformed changeling before burying her muzzle in Astra’s mane, still smelling faintly of mint. “A real zebra that’s normal, love,” she murmured. “Who would have thought?” “Mmm… couldn’t all be insane, could they?” Astra replied in a relaxed, languid voice as she pressed lightly into the enfolding legs. “Well, I suppose they could but they… mmm… aren’t.” “Not nearly as cool as having traveled with Nightmare Moon gone incognito on us, though,” Verde grinned. “Bet she’s been sitting on a cloud somewhere laughing her plot off at having fooled us. She sure dropped plenty of hints—from Ponyville, knew the Six, mom still has a home back in the town, ‘father’ wanted her to be the opposite of the mare she’s become—but still couldn’t look passed the solicitous guard with the turquoise eyes.” Astra deftly twisted around so they were laying belly-to-belly then pressed her lips softly to Verde’s. “It’s OK, cuz… I forgive you for not being your mom.” Verde mmm’ed happily, lingering in the kiss for a moment. “Not sure she would… she’d be all like ‘Observe, ask, deduce, act Verde. Oh-ay-dee-ay. Make sure your remember it.’ And then she’d lock me in a room with a bunch of photographs and not let me out until I had a clever observation for each one.” Astra pulled back, blinking. “Seriously?” Verde managed to restrain her giggle to a light snort. “No, you silly filly. You know as well as I do that she has a ‘sad puppy eyes’ weakness like none other.” She nuzzled under her fillyfriend’s chin, pausing, shifting subjects. “Do you think there’s anything to Night and Zaelkyra fretting about Stable-Tec?” “If there is, we’re totally bucked,” Astra replied, trying with limited success to frown heavily while making a small noise of pleased contentedness at the nuzzle. “If somepony’s altering the blueprints, screwing around with the Stables, they’ve already got hundreds of thousands of pony victims in their hooves and we can’t do a bucking thing about it. I mean, what would we do? Spread the word that the most secure and thoroughly-engineered safe places in Equestria could possibly be dangerous? Make ponies afraid to take shelter in them if the worst happens?” Verde gave her another light kiss before meeting the other mare’s beautifully sapphire eyes. “There’s a reason I got so much support for upgrading the Alishield, dear,” she told her. “I didn’t realize it until Night expressed her concern but I think Aunt Scarlet knows something that makes her reluctant to throw all her eggs in the Stable-Tec basket. Can’t imagine what it’d be… your mom’s awesome but a cunning spyfilly she ain’t.” “But she has one for a sister,” Astra pointed out. “There’s no asset quite like family.” “Oh yes,” Verde all but purred. “Great spyfillies, awesome pranksters, the one-mare source of the world’s chocolate chip cookies… and a nice warm mare for bracing desert nights.” Astra was noticeably less successful at containing her giggle. “Isn’t the playful, irrelevant innuendo supposed to be my thing?” “I stole your thing,” Verde stuck her tongue out and had to contain a groan as Astra deftly sucked the appendage into her muzzle and turned it into another, albeit deeper, kiss. “Yes, well, you’re welcome to it,” she murmured when, after a complete minute, the kiss broke. “Good to see you break out of the obsessive analyst mold.” “Well, I did bring my notes…” Astra fixed her with a death-glare. “Don’t you dare, Verde Tin. I’ll totally cocoon you in duct tape and roll you around if you lay telekinesis or teeth on those damn drawings.” “You have duct tape too?” “A mare needs only three things in life: oil if it should move but doesn’t, duct tape if it does move but shouldn’t, and a frying pan if her fillyfriend needs enforced spa visitation,” Astra informed her in perfect deadpan. “I made sure to bring them all.” Verde waited for a long moment then grinned widely as Astra sighed. “May I?” Astra rolled her eyes with a touch of fondness. “Might as well get it over with.” “Restraints and lube.” She faked a serious expression. “Is there something you want to tell me, love?” She couldn’t help but follow the question with a soft giggle. “Oh, yuk it up cousin,” Astra nipped her lightly. “That’s the last straight line you’re getting out of me for the rest of the trip.” “Fine with me.” Verde hugged her closer, sighing contentedly at the soft warmth of her fillyfriend’s body and a warm muzzle resting in the hollow of her throat. “Should get some sleep.” “Eeyup,” Astra agreed, going completely relaxed. “Love ya, Day.” “Love ya, Zen,” she murmured, letting her eyes close. “Sleep well.” ><>< “I’m pretty sure that traditionally, the monarch is the one that’s supposed to be carried around, not the subjects,” Chrysalis observed wryly. “You’re the only who can do the dragon thing, Your Majesty,” Astra replied, grinning. “This way is much faster and besides, didn’t you say you’re really comfy as a dragon?” “I did at that,” the changeling-turned-dragoness admitted as she returned her gaze to the path ahead. They’d been awoken by what sounded like distant explosive detonations and the harsh sun of the Barrens near noon and, unable to figure out where the detonations had come from and not hearing them repeated, they’d quickly packed up camp and started out along the tracks. After nearly an hour of having to trot at a rapid clip to keep up with Chrysalis’ expanded stride (she’d elected to keep herself in her draconic form for intimidation purposes), Verde had hit on the idea of Chrysalis slightly expanding her size and carrying the other three on her back. After much cajoling (and Chrysalis finally losing patience with having to travel so slowly so they wouldn’t fall behind), she’d agreed and it turned out that not only was Chrysalis’ form lithe like that of a feline, her hide was more like that of a pony than a dragon (proving her point that she couldn’t use the form for combat) and thus very comfortable to ride on. “Can you give us any idea of what we’ll see when we get to the hives, Zael?” Verde asked the zebra, who’d elected to take position on Chrysalis’ shoulder. “Zaelkyra,” she corrected her. “Zael is one of my cousins. The proper familiar shortening of my name would be ‘Kyra’ and although you have been pleasant to me, I don’t think we are quite that familiar with one another just yet. At any rate, my best guess is one of two extremes: either we’ll see nothing or we’ll see the results of a successful establishment of a beachhead.” “And nothing in between?” “Either they chose to stage the invasion last night when the coastal emplacements would be sight-impaired and vulnerable to being blinded by bright lights, or they held off to prepare the ground first,” Kyra replied. “The signaling station on the coast was already taken offline and the coastal batteries have no garrison, so if invasion was attempted, it will have been successful.” “Losing the signaling station wouldn’t matter,” Verde told her. “The Royal Guard we were traveling with left to break into one of the relays and open up communications before we encountered you.” “That would explain why we were unable to find a relay to sabotage and were forced to sabotage the station instead,” Kyra commented thoughtfully. “Ingenious to place the relays where only Equestrians can access them.” “We thought so,” Chrysalis chuckled. “Although you’re undoubtedly right about the invasion being successful if attempted. Even if Night got a message to the military within moments of leaving us, it’ll still take days for them to arrive.” “Except for General Dash’s forces,” Astra pointed out. “Except for them, yes,” Chrystalis agreed. “But there’re limits to what ordinance a pegasi can carry—part of the reason I support Scarlet Knife’s initiative to add mechanical fliers to our forces—so they can only harass the beachhead and make it more difficult to quickly secure. No, the heavy equipment that we’d need to defeat the invasion moves on trains and I have no doubt that Zaelkyra and her companions were quite thorough about destroying switches.” “Assuming it does arrive,” Verde pointed out. “If nothing else, the zebras have always been known for thoroughness. All it would take would be an extra team blowing switches far and wide and movement of heavy forces into the Barrens would get… complicated.” “They’d still arrived eventually, though.” “Not necessarily, Your Highness,” Astra said. “It’s quite obvious that the invasion of the Barrens is meant to try and divert forces from following up at Stalliongrad and command would be aware of that. No way in Tartarus they’d abandon you, but fighting the zebras over empty land would be low on their priority list.” Verde felt Chrysalis tense below her. “So you think we may be on our own?” “No, but I think that your uninvited guests aren’t going to be shown the door very soon.” Astra patted the changeling sympathetically. “One of the hazards of being one of the few places in Equestria where we can safely trade space for time.” “So we’re traveling towards their likely invasion site… why?” “In case we’re wrong or in case our eyewitness report convinces command that they can do major damage with a minimum investment,” Verde told her. “Sending one of the new dreadnaught refits to draw some blood, tow in a rail battery, use one of the new stutter-bombs to take out vital targets, maybe even giving some of Mare Applejack’s new power-armor soldiers a lift out here to act as Mare Dash’s heavy artillery. There’s lots of options, Chrysalis.” The tension left and Chrysalis craned her neck around to give Verde a grateful look. “Thanks, Commander.” “Speaking of the title, I was wondering something, Verde,” Kyra said, looking at her in a way that made it clear the curiosity was anything but casual. “That being?” “How did your mother get into the position of Undermare without running afoul of Mare Pie’s so-called ‘Pinkie Sense’?” Verde sighed. “I take it that one of the things you found out about Mom is her daughter’s name.” “Yes, and your cousin whispers quite loudly,” Kyra’s eyes twinkled. “I’m sure she does other things quite loudly as well.” Both Verde and Astra colored at this but they were saved from having to answer by a kerthump kerthump of explosions, vastly closer this time. Chrysalis didn’t need to be prompted, pausing to gently dump her passengers before breaking into an easy feline lope; clearly, although she couldn’t fly, she had no trouble figuring out how to run effectively and she was already out of shouting distance before Verde could think to protest. “What the hay does she think she’ll be able to do alone?” Verde demanded of no one, glaring after the retreating form of the transformed queen. A series of kerthumps echoed in the near distance and Verde shook her head, grimacing as she started trotting in the direction they were coming from. “I guess this answers the question of whether they’ve established a beachhead,” she muttered.