//------------------------------//
// The Crown Jewel Left Tarnished 
// Story: The Darkest Hour 
// by Anemptyshell 
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Seven, I counted seven very pointy pieces of metal. They were impossible to ignore since they've been inches from my face for the last two minutes. Those were just the ones I could see without turning. The spears I could understand. The whole sentiment behind them was half the reason we'd climbed a mountain in the first place. No, what got me was those holding the spears. I'd been informed of their existence, so it wasn't the fact they were here. It was the fact that they were bugs, big, chittering, almost uniform bug ponies. They were the Changelings. 

We'd hiked miles up a mountain road, and now some odd half-mile from the dilapidated gates to Canterlot, we were ambushed. We hadn't seen or heard them until it was too late. Now, Solemn had taken up explanations with whichever was in charge. I couldn't have pointed them out if my life depended on it. Black chitin, fins instead of manes, and wiry flittering wings. 

"Some nerve," Blue tutted. A spear jabbing at him for his troubles. Blueblood looked more irritated than threatened at the moment. To be honest, so did Sabre. 

In fact, our noble guardian seemed to be assessing how likely he could draw his blade and skewer the two closest spear-wielding changelings to himself. Spade had struck up a conversation with the changeling most relative to himself. If anypony could, I suppose it'd be the guy who hung out with the dead. 

"As you can see, we are here in direct concourse with Shining Armor's blessing."

Solemn said as he and the changeling he'd talked to moved back towards the group. Bright offered a wave, though more subdued than his usual theatrics. It seems there was a survival instinct in his head somewhere. 

"Captain mentioned new arrivals. We've seen your face before. The others," the changeling pointed to the rest of us. "More bats, very concerning."

"That's racist," I said. I got poked for it, but as of mountain climbing o'clock, I didn't really care. Everypony made things far more complicated than anything needed to be. 

"Well, yes, I can see why you'd think so," Solemn agreed, leveling a glare at me. "We are more than happy to acquiesce to whatever means you may need."

"Hmmm, we'll have Captain decide. You will wait here. We will not be long."

That said, the bug took off and buzzed out. This left the rest of us with a dozen changelings who seemed uncertain if they should continue holding us at spearpoint. The fact that Solemn was left undetained eventually convinced them to keep close and on edge but allowed us the right to breathe without risk of stab wounds. 

"So, I don't mean changeling the topic, but if you're shapeshifters and you have no reason or need to change anymore, more or less, are you really even changelings anymore?"

I was baffled. Spade looked an antsy armed soldier to his face, an existential question when it may very well cost him his life. The face of the changeling, heck, all the changelings didn't fare much better than my own. Yet, Spade stood a single brow raised as the changeling he'd asked looked to his comrades for a bailout. 

"That's a great question, Spade. Oh, you think we should come up with another name for them? I bet between all of us, we could have it figured out before the captain guy shows up."

Bright was in on it, and the changelings looked between offense and bewilderment. It was probably the only place they could go. It was undoubtedly where I ended up. This whole ordeal was a test of my tenuous grip on sanity. 

"For your safety, please do not ask our Queen such things. A death by the spear would be much less painful," one of the changelings, an older ling? A more senior soldier if his gruff reverbs were anything to go on. He also seemed to favor his left hind hoof a bit. 

"I'd heed that warning," Blueblood said. 

"Smart one, the unicorn, it seems," the same older changeling smirked. Blueblood nodded in kind before muttering something under his breath and looking through his saddlebags. The closest changeling soldiers readied their spears even as Blue pulled out a pencil and some scrap paper. He gave the soldier a wry smile before he began jotting whatever had his interest down. Hell, I'd believe he pulled his items out just to keep our captors on edge.  

The time passed in relative silence from there. It was all the same to me. The break allowed my legs to recover somewhat from the trek up the mountain and the last march before that. It was only as we stopped that the fatigue set in.

When the Captain and his comrade did return, it hadn't been that long, to be honest, but sitting around waiting to know if you were gonna get stabbed or not kept the seconds to a crawl. The Captain, however, was unimpressive. He looked like the other changelings, though much smaller. The constant fighting kept the rest big, or maybe they have castes? If they had a distinctive hierarchy like other insects, the fact some are larger than others would make sense. That, however, did not explain the Captain nor his clear nervous ticking as he meandered behind his escort. 

"Interesting," Sabre said. 

The other changelings, however, parted to both sides giving the Captain a wide berth. Several shot knowing glances as they watched the approach. When the new arrivals stopped, the escorting guard joined the others to one side, and the Captain was left, staring at the ground. 

"Sir, these are the new arrivals. They claim to be the party Sir Armor requested. We leave such things to your judgment, sir."

The escort stood at attention, rest flared forward. He spoke in an even tone and was concise and to the point. The issue was that I'd spent months with Sabre tailing my every move. In that time, I'd learned a few secrets behind their mannerisms. I'd got good enough at reading my escort that I'd even started reading the little signals the guards back at the castle used. 

They all accumulated in something all too obvious to myself, Sabre, and maybe Blue. However, the unicorn was still scribing away on whatever he'd started a few minutes ago, so I doubt he was paying that much attention. 

This changeling, he did not care for the Captain more than that. I was almost positive he downright hated him. Something the Captain seemed to know as well. The smaller changeling cleared his throat and, for the first time, actually looked at our party eye to eye. 

"Thank you, Hetesiris."

Hetesiris, the escort, didn't so much as shift his weight. Instead, he left whatever the Captain's duty here was to Captain. This was something again that left the whole of the congregation silent and nervous. 

"Solemn Mind, I'm glad you're all right. I know you've been gone a while, and it's nice to know you didn't get captured or worse."

Solemn stepped forward and peered long and hard at the Captain. Several seconds ticked by, and the changeling folded under the discerning glare of my mentor. 

"Thorax? I don't mean to be rude, but last time I checked, your brother was the Captain of the Changeling Guard."

The words were more like a sledgehammer to the face. Thorax, as it was wilted to the point of nearly bowing. He shook in place as he looked anywhere but at Solemn. This only led to the scholar sidling up closer. His glare and fallen to a wistful glance. 

"Thorax, what happened?"

Thorax didn't reply. The poor guy seemed ready to cry. I had no idea if changelings could call for that matter. The whole insect thing was stuck to my forethoughts like glue. After a minute of non-answers, the escort, Heresteris, stepped forward. 

"Captain Pharynx died in the line of work, sir."

"Oh."

That was all Solemn said. It was decidedly both an apt and definitive response. Thorax was, in fact, crying now. The guards were no longer being subtle with their leers of defiance. Whomever this Pharynx was, he was a big deal to the changelings. The fact that Solemn had pulled Thorax into a hug laid claim to just how exceptional this dead Captain was. 

"Anypony else a bit lost?" Spade asked. 

I offered a shrug. "No idea, really."

For several minutes that was the sum of the meeting, Thorax cried in Solemn's hooves, and the other guards scowled with a fury. When Thorax managed to calm himself, Solemn helped the poor bug.

"When?" Solemn asked. 

Thorax stomped a hoof grinding the dirt and debris into powder. 

"Not long."

"I see, of course. I'm sorry, my friend."

Thorax didn't respond. Heresteris, however, decided things needed to progress. 

"Sir, what of the arrivals."

The venom in those words had me flinch. Thorax didn't acknowledge the remark. Instead, he nodded to Solemn. 

"The Queen and Sir Armor are waiting for you. I'll escort you."

Thorax looked over to Heresteris. "You and the others can return to your duties. I wouldn't want to waste any more of your time."

The guards seethed as Thorax turned, and Solemn led the pack. We followed. It was strange for all the anger. Thorax looked more sad, and not just because of his brother. He looked at Heresteris like he was a trapped animal, something to pity, not resent. I could have been reading too deep into it. I didn't know these ponies? The changelings were their own race, which surely meant their customs.

"That was interesting, sir."

I looked back to Sabre, who still had a hoof on his rapier. He did not look amused. To that fact, this might be one of the only times he looked mad. It left me feeling relatively small. I'd hate to see what it did to someone he hated. 

"The price of war," Blue said from beside me. He'd finished with his jotting and looked back to the guards we left behind. "All the more pity. They clearly valued their former Captain quite a bit. One of the few that did not need to command respect. He earned it."

"That doesn't explain Thorax, though," I countered. 

"No, no, it does not. A story I very well doubt it a pleasant one," Blue agreed. 

"It stories from the heart that is most needed, yet rarely shared."

Bright had wiped a trail of tears from his cheek. It seemed that Thorax's breakdown had touched home on the writer. I'd like to claim it was as simple as that. That such poetic romanticization of the world could alter its course. I'd like to, but I can't. Nightmare Moon's rule was proof enough for that. The fact that my mind was still plagued with little before I arrived at the Everfree. The world was passed such bright times. That's why I came to Canterlot, to begin with. In search of light, no matter how small.

The rest of the walk to and through the seriously guarded gates wasn't much of a hassle. The guards, even those here, still gave Thorax some less than friendly looks. It was rather irritating, yet he simply shook it off and waved at the other changelings like he'd not been crying ten minutes ago. 

"So, besides, your 'promotion' has anything thing else of note happened?" Solemn asked Thorax. The bug hissed at the word promotion but otherwise kept it together. 

"Unfortunately, it gets harder and harder to gather enough supplies to sustain our efforts. Every time we get even the smallest victory, it always comes at a price."

Solemn pursed his lips as we passed some non-changeling rebels. This time it was us thestrals that got baleful looks and whispered threats. Guess our whole crew was nothing but outcasts and weirdos. I only add weirdo because from what I could tell, Spade's isolation was his choosing and Bright was a socialite, even if an odd one. 

"How fares the nursery, with you having taken up a new position," Solemn waved a hoof in uncertainty."

"I still go by whenever I get the chance. They need all the help they can get."

Thorax managed a meager smile as he let himself get lost in thought. 

"So, not to interrupt, but we haven't really been told what to expect now that we're here. I don't want to assume anything or disrespect the work here. I was just hoping for details before diving into the deep end, ya know, Captain?" I asked. 

Thorax blinked himself back to reality and looked over his shoulder at me. The bright blue of his whiteless eyes left me coughing back a shudder. 

"That's okay. Everyone deserves a little forwardness. I can't afford to let anyone go in blind. Not ever. Oh, and it's acting Captain. I'm just filling in until our real Captain comes back." 

Thorax seemed to have lit a fire under his own rear. The anxious changeling had a glint in his big blue's that matched his bravado nicely. The last bit though somber, was said with a certainly that vastly outweighed anything I'd heard him speak thus far. As soon as it had sparked, however, it died back down. Thorax scuffed a hoof on the broken cobble. 

"Sorry. I didn't mean to get all mad there."

Between him and Bright, I was going to end up with diabetes. Those two could in themselves be considered a bioweapon. I chuckled as we made our way toward what was once a castle. It had holes and smashed-out windows galore. If what I read and was told later was confirmed. This was where Celestia fought Nightmare Moon after she returned from her banishment. 

It was now more of a memorial symbol for those who wanted the day back gathered. A place to house the disquieted. A time bomb. Worst case scenario, Nightmare just blows the whole city off the mountain whenever she gets bored with the entire rebellion. 

"It was beautiful once. The city, the castle, all of it."

Blueblood trailed a hoof around the castle's silhouette. His eyes sparkled as he looked over at me. I nodded. 

"I have no doubt it was. Maybe one day, it'll recapture that beauty."

"We'll have to get the day back first. I mean, the endless midnight shift is fine and all. But, all my hard work is lost in the dark. Do you know how long it takes to carve a quality gravestone, how exhausting it is?" Spade asked. "It leaves you bone-tired."

"Gaaah!"

I planted a hoof to my face. Spade smiled and increased his pace, and left me there with a Blueblood who seemed more amused by my reaction than Spade's terrible joke.

"We'll get it back. That's what heroes do. I can't right our epic if we don't win," Bright said, smiling a toothy, Fangy grin.

"No, I don't believe you can," Blueblood said. 

The castle drew up faster than one would think. The massive husk of what was once the crown jewel of the nation was still awe-inducing, even dilapidated. It sat in contrast to the Everfree Palace. A tall, decorated affair, to the straightforward, pragmatic sort we'd left. 

"They'll be in the throne room. We use it more like a staging area now, but it was the throne room. I suppose as long as the Queen sits on the former throne, it is a throne room. She doesn't really do that often, but she deserves one all the same. They both do."

Thorax had settled back into his own chitin. The walk had done pretty well at steadying his nerves. Though even now, he seemed one spook from hitting the ceiling. I offered the 'acting captain' a smile as we stepped into the castle on the whole.   

The path to the throne room was a straight shot. Though it didn't need to be to mistake the massive ceiling-high double doors. A pair of doors that were firmly closed with a half dozen guards stationed next to and around them. 

"Fancy," Spade said, tipping the guard he passed a bit. 

I had to stifle a snort. Bright openly giggled, and even Blueblood and Sabre had to hide their own smirks. The guard, for his part, shrugged and tucked the bit away. 

The party came to a stop in front of the throne room doors. Solemn and Thorax stepped forward. The guards eyed us warily. 

"Acting Captain Thorax, reporting with approved arrivals by order of Sir Armor."

The guards looked at one another and looked back. The guard closest to Thorax smacked his lips. "One moment."

The second guard, a unicorn, lit his magical appendage, and slowly the door creaked open. The guard stepped through, and the door closed behind him. 

"You know, we've been doing a whole lot of waiting today," Bright said. 

"Could be worse. You could be lined up back at my shack. I'd make the gravestones nice and pretty, just for the lot of you."

"For the love of Faust, Spade." Blueblood huffed. 

"I would appreciate that. Thank you, Spade."

Sabre offered Spade a hoof, which he clopped with his own. The door peeled open as I contemplated what course my life was before all this led me here. I was beginning to think maybe I was a criminal or something. These crazy ponies were killing me. 

"Enter. The unicorn guard from before said, retaking his original spot and this time keeping the door open. 

"Thank you, sir," Solemn said, and with that. We entered Canterlot Castle's throneroom. To meet with the Queen of changelings and the shining shield of Equestria's old guard. I couldn't explain why, but I was just as nervous entering this throne room as I was when I entered Nightmare's. It felt like deja vu, or maybe Jamais vu. It was hard to tell. 

No sooner had we past the threshold than the door creaked closed once more. There was no turning back now. I just hoped this meeting with royalty went better than the last.