“My ears have never heard such news!” Ruby Gleam grabbed at her cheeks with her hooves. “We’re going to need drinks. Come on, Snowy,” She bolted off to the bar of the spa. “This is cause for celebration!”
“Umm, I’m uh, not so sure…” Snowy Skies floated along behind her, rubbing at one knee. “The queen got captured.”
“We should have known something like this would happen…” Golden Lily sighed. “What are we going to do, mistress?” She asked Spirit Wave.
Spirit Wave, for her part, marched over to the spa doors and drew the curtains shut. Then she jerked her head towards the living chambers. “Everyone down here. I need to know all the details.”
The six other spa ponies wordlessly put away what they were doing and followed their mistress downstairs. After locking the doors, they took their seats around the dinner table and dropped their disguises, with the exception of Dahlia.
“Now, tell us everything,” Psithyra instructed.
“Here,” Mava slid Dahlia a glass of cold cider.
Dahlia nodded her thanks to Mava and took a sip of the drink.
“Well, I first found out when a messenger came to see one of the captains,” Dahlia began to explain. “I was dusting outside his office at the time and I overheard them talking.”
“Oh, here we go…” Salegg sighed and reached for the bottle of cider, only for Azal to swat her on the hoof and shake his head disapprovingly. Salegg rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Dahlia.
Dahlia continued. “The messenger was telling the captain about how a platoon of guards had gone out to the badlands and secured the changeling queen. I immediately knew this was not good news and went down to the dungeons to see if it was true. I saw the cell that Queen Chrysalis is being kept in. There’s no mistake. The ponies have her.”
“Did you try to communicate with the queen?” Khama asked.
Dahlia shook her head. “I didn’t want to risk blowing my cover. Besides, castle maids are rarely allowed down in the dungeons anyway. It would have been suspicious if I had gone any closer.”
Psithyra sat in silence for a good three minutes.
“I suppose it isn’t any good sending any more letters, then. Those cells down there are bound. No magic can get in or out of them.”
“What are we going to do, your highness?” Hafet asked, looking uncomfortable. “We can’t just leave Queen Chrysalis in there.”
“No, we can’t,” Psithyra agreed. “I know her; she will do anything to get out of there. Including trading us in for leniency.”
At this, there was an outburst of disbelief and outrage from most of the table’s occupants.
“She wouldn’t!” Mava exclaimed angrily.
“She totally would,” Salegg told Mava snidely. “If she hasn’t already.”
Azal rubbed his face with a hole-riddled hoof. “We are in quite a lot of trouble. Princess, what should we do?”
Psithyra stared at the table, as if she were trying to set it on fire through force of will alone. The other six changelings waited quietly for her to say something, while Salegg quietly stole the cider bottle.
Finally Psithyra looked up. There was a steely expression on her face. “We have only one choice here, if we are to get out of this situation with all of our assets intact.”
“And what is that?” Hafet asked with bated breath.
“We are going to have to rescue Queen Chrysalis.”
Salegg slammed the cider bottle onto the table, spilling some of its contents.
“You can’t be serious!”
“I am very serious, Salegg,” Psithyra said coldly. “And to do it, I will need all of your help. Will you stand by me as I undertake this supremely important task?”
“Yes, princess!” Azal stood up and saluted.
“Yes, princess,” Dahlia affirmed.
“I will follow you anywhere, do anything,” Mava said. “I’m with you.”
“Me too!” Said Hafet. “Queen Chrysalis might not be my ideal leader, but she’s still the queen.”
“Agreed,” Khama brushed a lock of her mane from in front of her face. “I will do whatever is asked of me, princess.”
Everyone looked at Salegg. She groaned and threw the now-empty bottle into the trash.
“Fine. I’ll help too, but after we break her out, princess, please tell Queen Chrysalis that she’s a bonehead.”
“I think I can manage that,” Psithyra stood up and pushed her chair back in. “Now, here’s what I need you to do. Our time window of opportunity is small, so I need it all done with all speed and discretion. Feel free to use any of the blackmail that we have stored in the caverns. We have to get Chrysalis out before she has a chance to tell the ponies where we are.”
“I feel like we’re going to regret this. Big time…” Salegg groaned, but followed along. “Whatever happens, know that I had stood against this plan.”
An hour later, a nondescript brown pegasus flew down from the Canterlot weather station back towards the Metamorphosis, holding a small cloth bag between her teeth. She made sure nopony was watching before slipping into the back door.
Once inside, the pegasus was engulfed in green flames, revealing Mava. She hurried down to the room that had the secret passage to the caves and soon found herself meeting with the other members of the spa staff, gathered around a medium sized cauldron.
“I’ve got it!” Mava levitated the bag out and opened it. Inside was a glass bottle that was filled with a swirling multicolored liquid. “One bottle of rainbow’s glow, just as requested.”
“Thank you, Mava,” Psithyra said, taking the bottle and pouring it into the cauldron, “We’ll add that to the bits of cloud that Hafet got earlier. Now, all we need is… this,” The changeling princess pulled out a pegasus feather that one of the spa guests had dropped earlier that day. She stuck the feather into the cauldron and began to stir the contents. The ingredients came together smoothly, turning a bright pink and emitting heart-shaped bubbles.
“Perfect,” Psithyra crooned. “Azal, do you have the knives?”
Azal came forward with four bandoliers of short, stubby knives in his telekinetic grip. Each one was made of discarded chitin and therefore could be smuggled through any metal detecting spell fields. Without a word he began dipping each knife into the cauldron’s contents.
“I haven’t got around to fixing my battle armor yet,” Psithyra opened the crate which she had stored the armor in and looked in at the dented set inside. “But this is too heavy and noisy for this kind of work, in any case. I’ll be wearing my scouting set instead.”
Nahara dutifully brought out a lighter, more streamlined set of armor for her princess. This set was also made of hardened chitin which had been specially treated and prepared so that it was harder than steel. The hooves had claws on them for gripping onto walls and for scratching at opponents to peel off their own armor or to cause minor damage.
Psithyra stood still while Nahara began to put the armor onto her body. Once the whole set was strapped on, Psithyra went through a series of stretches and mobility tests to make sure she could move in it.
“Your swords, princess.” Khama came forward holding the pair of orichalcum blades, their edges jagged and scalloped like a changeling’s body. The weapons were sheathed and secured onto Psithyra’s flanks. The princess nodded her thanks to Khama.
“The knives are done,” Azal announced, bringing the bandoliers forth. Each one held ten knives, and Azal attached each set to one of Psithyra’s upper limbs, where they protruded like a line of spines. Azal looked at his princess with concern on his face. “Are you sure you have to do this alone?”
“I’m sure,” Psithyra told him. “The more changelings go, the more chance we have of getting caught. Besides, I’ve a task for the six of you to complete while I am gone, should things go horribly wrong.”
“Nothing will go wrong,” Azal said firmly. “We all believe in you. We all love you.”
“I know,” Psithyra said softly. “Which is why I am trusting you to stay here and wait for me. If I’m not back within three days, I want you and the others to take all the blackmail and secrets that we’ve gathered over the years to the newspapers and have it printed. If they won’t print, then just do what you must to make sure it all gets distributed to the hooves of the general public.”
“But princess, that would cause untold chaos and madness in the city,” Azal pointed out. “I’m not sure Canterlot would survive.”
Psithyra’s face grew into a grim smile. “I’m counting on it. This is my city, and if I must go down, then I am taking everypony with me.”
“I like the way you think,” Salegg snickered. “Now if only the queen had any shred of intelligence like you do.”
“Please try to tone down the criticism once I get her out,” Psithyra chided. “She is, after all, the most important creature in our society.”
Going through with the final checkups, Psithyra was surprised to see that all six of her subordinates had gathered before her standing in a row.
“Princess,” Azal announced. “If you’re really going to be venturing into enemy territory on your own, we want you to have the best possible chance of success. Having said so,” Azal took a deep breath. “We would like you to take some of our energy with you.”
Psithyra was taken aback, despite herself. “You’re giving me your love energy? Is that even possible?”
“No,” Azal shook his head. “You’re going to take it. Bring our strength with you on this most important mission. So you won’t be alone.”
The other five changeling infiltrators fixed Psithyra in their eyes, and the princess could see the unwavering loyalty and dedication to her. They might not like Queen Chrysalis as much as they should, but they believed in their princess and were willing to support her with their own bodily strength.
“Thank you, all of you,” Psithyra said, feeling humbled by the gesture.
She raised her head and lit up her horn, feeling the threads of energy laced throughout the area. She focused on the six major reservoirs before her, the infiltrators. Ribbons of green light lashed out and wrapped around the horns of each of Psithyra’s subordinates, drawing the love from them and feeding her own stores. Such a process was said to be somewhat painful, but there was not a single wince or flinch from the infiltrators as Psithyra drained them of their power.
Eventually she stopped, ending the spell once she felt she had taken all she could from them. Psithyra stood tall in her armor, positively glowing with energy.
Now she was ready.
“Dahlia,” Psithyra said. “Is the entrance to the caverns just outside Canterlot castle still open?”
Nahara shifted into Dahlia. “I believe so. It’s still being investigated by the royal guard, though. You may run into resistance if you use that route.”
“Still safer than charging in through the front doors,” Hafet commented.
Psithyra knew the route to take to get from the cavern pocket under the spa to reach Canterlot castle. It didn’t matter that there might be guards still present; nothing was going to stop her from getting Chrysalis out.
“That’s all I need to know,” Psithyra closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Her wings buzzed into motion and she lifted off the ground. “Remember, if you don’t hear from me in three days…”
“We know what must be done,” Azal saluted, and the other infiltrators followed his example. “Good luck, princess.”
Wasting no more time or words, Psithyra launched herself off into the caverns. Her internal compass told her exactly where to go, following the faint eddies of wind that blew from the openings to the crystal caves. It would be a short flight to reach the entrance that led to Canterlot castle, and she spent the journey plotting out her plan of ingress and egress. Doubtless Chrysalis would be looking for a way out, and Psithyra could not risk her sister compromising the safety she had built for herself and her subordinates. There was still an ongoing investigation about Princess Cadance’s abduction, she knew. There might be a higher than normal amount of guards to deal with.
Psithyra glanced back at her swords. So long had it been since they had drawn pony blood, and she had to admit she missed wielding them. The blades could cut through enchantments, much like her elder sister’s throne back in the main hive, leaving only changeling magic functional. Psithyra hoped that they would not be needed, as a dead body was evidence, and the ponies did not need another excuse to hate changelingkind.
After almost fifteen minutes of flight, the smell of fresh air grew stronger and her ears picked up the faint sound of metal horseshoes on stone. Psithyra slowed her flight and carefully crept up behind a stone pillar. She then peered around the rocky column, surveying the area.
There was the opening, nary three hundred feet away. There were four Solar Guardsponies between her and her goal, all clad in their shiny golden armor. One was standing at the mouth of the cave, while the other three seemed to be combing the area for clues.
Psithyra fired up her horn with a spell and sneaked closer to the nearest guard, barely flying off the ground to mask her hoofsteps.
This was going to be interesting.