//------------------------------// // CH 34 (plans and interuption) // Story: Accepting Change // by drFraud //------------------------------// Spine   I woke up with a start, almost jumping to my hooves. I don’t know why though, but I could take a guess. Shaking my head, I sat up looking around my office with bleary eyes, blinking the sleep away. My office was never as clean and organized as Carrion’s, but it wasn’t a mess either. Today was an exception though. Parchments were everywhere, covering the floor making it almost impossible to walk without stepping on one. My desk was on my left, shattered into pieces, and gathered next to the wall. ‘I should make a bed in this office at some point,’ I yawned, stretching my neck. Lowering my head, I looked through the parchments and I felt my gut drop for a moment. If Chrysalis came in, she would have all the reasons to just smite me in my sleep, so I guess my luck tossed me a bone here. Closing my eyes, I ran through my recent memories before I fell asleep. ‘She was lost somewhere in the… north corridor. Good.’ Igniting my horn, I focused on cleaning up the mess that I left. Sketches and maps of our little queendom as well as the castle, lists of ‘lings that I can fully trust and those that I could easily convince, plans and ideas to deal with the hatred crystals. There were also I few ideas on how to get Chrysalis distracted in order to give the ascended the time he needs, lists of materials I need, and lastly, a scrawled, crumpled, and scratched-out piece of parchment with only four words that were legible, bold, and underlined: cut off her head. I smirked a bit when I picked it up, crumpling it up further and tossing it into my maw. I barely tasted the ink, and it probably wasn’t healthy for me, but I felt a bit better after swallowing it. Looking around I spotted the last bit of parchments that were left as well as a hastily scrawled message. ~Went through the notes you gave me. This is utterly insane, but I believe you. Can’t believe Carrion managed to forget something like this, but he was old. Even our memory isn’t flawless at that age I guess. Meet up at our usual, we will talk. Scurry~ Crumpling up the message I pushed some more magic into my horn, igniting the letter. ‘How could you be so careless Carrion,’ I shook my head picking up the leftover notes that I managed to salvage from his office. I wasn’t able to save much of it, the Queen tore almost all of them apart, but it’s all that’s left of her old diary. Checking the vault, it was cleaned of any leftovers. Making sure that the diary was safely secured and rolled up, I opened up my elytra and carefully placed them under the plate. ‘We really should get those pouches the ponies are using,’ I snored, finishing the clean-up. Once I made sure that all the parchments were in one place I ignited my horn again easily turning the whole stack into ash. I didn’t need them anymore after memorizing all the information. All that was left was the desk, but I’ll send someling I can trust to fix it. Standing up I heard something clink and looking down I noticed the empty inkwell as well as a used-up quill. With a frown, I kicked the inkwell to the side watching it bounce and clink along the floor until it hit the wall with a clatter. Taking a deep breath to settle my nerves I ignited my horn opening a hole in the wall far away from my usual spot. Seeing as noling was in the corridor itself I exited the office and made my way to one of the few ‘pubs’ that changelings had in the resident section. Time to start this rebellion. … Trotting through the resident section with a frown I made good time to the ‘pub’. I had a deep frown on my face, making all the ‘lings that stood in front of me move out of my way. I wasn’t in a bad mood though; I wasn’t in a mood at all. I did take some time to look around though. The resident section wasn’t much to look at compared to the stuff the ponies had. All the ‘houses’ were a uniform oval shape in various shades of green, tall enough to have an extra floor. The windows are circular, with a thin layer of resin allowing others to see through them, while the doors were made of wood and also circular. Made from processed resin, it is a durable house build but only recently did it start to feel… depressing. There was no individuality to it, no colors or anything else that showed that we, the changelings, were just as varied as the ponies in our personalities. Just how much did this parasite take from us, while turning us into this. And why do I only now notice this? ‘Was I blind to it before?’ I shook my head taking a right turn and entering a fairly large building with a plaque above the wooden door saying, ‘Lovely Buzz’. The moment I entered the whole pub fell silent, with various patrons slowly turning their heads to me. I ran my eyes through the twenty or so lings that were sitting down with a chug nodding my head. “Stupid buzzing idiot!” I heard a shout from the back of the room and Scurry weaved between tables to me, “In the armor!? Are you stupid or something?” Scurry got close to me and without warning, I got a smack on the head. It caused some of the patrons to gasp but Scurry did not care. Frowning at him I cast a quick illusion spell making my armor invisible exposing the various holes on my carapace. They weren’t as numerous as some other ‘lings have it, but still. “Better?” I asked with a huff making my way to a table in the back, away from everyling else. “Yes. Alright, alright, get back to your drinks!” I heard him shout while I waved over the barling. Ordering two chugs I sat down at the low circular table casting a quick silencing bubble around it. I doubt that my brother would pick a place that is dangerous but better safe than sorry. Scurry sat down in front of me still frowning, but from his expression, I could tell that there was more to it. “How do you feel?” He asked with a tilt of his head. His voice, usually scratchy and crisp carried a soft undertone causing me to momentarily slump. Scurry was, is one of the top infiltrators that focused more on teaching others lately rather than infiltrating. I think ponies call this ‘being retired’. He was slim, and thin, which is a bit of a surprise given the training all the infiltrators go through and still keep up on a daily basis, and his body was riddled with holes. It was all a façade though. Scurry was incredibly adept at illusions and I know for a fact that his body was hole-free top to bottom. From what he explained to me, he likes to visit some places in Equestria but he never specified which ones, and he always had a hidden supply of love that he absolutely loathed sharing, even with his brother. He was also more feminine for a stallion, but I did not care. The two chugs arrived, carried on a tray held with magic; small resin shot glasses filled with a sweet, thick liquid made from honey mushrooms that grow underground in Badlands with a small spoon of processed love. The liquid itself was amber in color, with a pinkish hue and it’s the only known liquid that can get a changeling drunk. In the same way salt does to ponies. Takes less than four chugs though, it’s that potent. Which is why it’s drunk slowly, with some lings preferring to take licks of it rather than actually drink it. Noling knows why we started calling it a chug, but there we go, it stuck. Taking the two glasses off the tray with my magic, and passing one to my older brother, we both gave a nod of thanks to the barling and turned to each other. “I’ve been… better. It’s not even Carrion’s death so much as everything else that accompanied it,” I lifted the glass with my hoof and swirled my tongue through it enjoying the flavor before tilting it to my lips. The sweetness made me shudder as I rarely partook in it, but I needed it. I’m one of the few lings that don’t particularly enjoy sweets. “I can imagine. I haven’t been to the castle in months, but I heard the happenings every once in a while,” Scurry took a dainty sip from his own chug held in his magic. “I always thought that she was a bit high-strung but this is something else.” “Bah,” I put the glass to my lips again and slurped the whole chug in, with my tongue cleaning up the glass completely, “calling her high-strung is underselling it. She has lost her mind completely.” I put the glass to the side and pushed it a little bit for good measure. Scurry nodded his head but said nothing, opting to slowly sip his own glass looking at something above me. We sat there quietly for several minutes, both of us lost in thought, but that was normal for us. As brothers we rarely talked to each other, only saying what is needed and that was okay for us. “So, what’s the plan?” Scurry placed his own glass down, now half empty, and waved over the barling getting me another chug. This one I chose to savor. “What, you don’t have one?” I teased with a smirk getting a smirk in return. “You know I was never one with one for plan making, but I do have a few this time,” he took another sip while giving me a wink. I wasn’t very amused by the wink, “Right now, one of the plans is to let the ponies in on the current situation. They have a plan of their own as well as an ace in the form of an ascended changeling.” That got him to freeze with the chug in his mouth and if I could see his eyes they would be very wide now. “I’m sorry, what now?” He asked after a full minute of processing. “An ascended changeling, like the ‘Queen’. I don’t know how they got this Patchwork, but the pony princess is convinced he is able to take on Chrysalis.” After a few seconds, he shook his head and then looked at his chug. “Okay, let’s say I… believe that” he placed his drink gingerly to the side and clasped his hooves in front of him, “what else?” “Right,” I leaned in with a nod, “the other part of the plan is two-fold: one, distract Chrysalis as much as possible to give the ascended as much time as possible…” “Putting everyling in jeopardy,” he muttered but I continued anyway. “And two, organize a ‘resistance’ and sabotage those hatred crystals I told you about. I don’t know what they are for, but they are one of the reasons why we can’t even eat in the castle anymore.” Scurry looked deep in thought and I let him be while I went over the rest of the plans in my head, one of them being to gather plenty of explosive crystals that I can detonate with enough force that not even the ‘Queen’ could survive it. “I have an idea,” he slowly drawled out. Perking both of my ears I sat up a little bit straighter all but forgetting the half-empty chug next to me. “I am supposed to go and… do my thing in a few days. Normally everyling knows that I am gone for a while, so…” He let me put the pieces together and I felt my mouth stretch out into a grin. “I’ll give you a list of lings, patrol routes, and anything else you can use. What about your stash though?” I was worried that he might run out of his prized possession. He put too much value into his stock. “Don’t worry about it. If ‘she’ gets her way I will probably lose it anyway. Either that or my life.” He shrugged and it took me a moment to realize that I was okay with his line of thinking. I did not let it show on my muzzle though. “Right. So here is the plan. You got a parchment?”   Celestia I was going through something I never taught would ever find its way to my desk: a detailed report from a different ‘country’ on the current situation in the changeling queendom. This one was written by a changeling named Scurry. The older brother of captain Spine and the current ‘leader’ of the resistance. The report was articulate, descriptive, and long, describing the current actions of the ‘resistance’, the mad queen’s movement, and the state of the citizens. Not much I could do about any of them except giving some advice here and there, but I would wager even that is enough at this point. ‘Major dissatisfaction with the populace… The queen is probably beyond care at this point and is focused solely on the resistance,’ I scratched at the side of my jaw with my hoof, inspecting it afterward. ‘I could do with a hooficure later today.’ It was still early in the morning so I had plenty of time. Shaking my head off the useless thoughts (making a note of the hooficure though), I rolled up the response I finished writing and gave it to the changeling that stood next to Dicty in my private office. Instinct looked a bit stout for a changeling but she held herself professionally, not even flinching when she met me. Her body wasn’t as riddled with holes as Mantis’s carapace though, and her elytra was a lovely dark yellow which shone almost golden against the light of the office. Instinct took the offered scroll, gave me a crisp salute, and left without speaking a word. She did transform into a beige earth pony before leaving though. The whole time Dicty was staring into the distance with her eyes glazed over. “Something on your mind, my dear?” I asked while stretching my wings. She blinked her eyes a few times before looking at me. “Just thinking about the whole situation,” She bit her lower lip, “I never once thought that everything would escalate like this in such a short amount of time.” “That is how it is, usually. Things remain as status quo for a long time until the right spark is added,” I took a parchment from the ‘to do’ pile and frowned at the writing. ‘How many times did I tell them ‘no’ to this?’ “I wouldn’t categorize this as a ‘spark’ to be honest,” She muttered loud enough for me to hear then shuffled over to one of the free pillows. “By the way, how is the plan coming along?” “It was already ready to go, and I was just waiting for Patchwork to get some confidence with his powers, but now…” I paused with the quill held in my magic above the signature for one of the new suggestions. ‘Three hundred thousand divided by two… no, no, no. One and a half.’ I added my own suggestion to the document and placed it to the side for later. “I sent an explanation of the plan to Scurry just now, among other things, but all in all, it’s just about getting the pieces together,” I lifted my head up looking at the ceiling and going over the plan once more, “I already sent a message to scouts yesterday about sorting out the location and we will be good to go in about… two weeks maximum.” “Good,” Dicty nodded, “hopefully Patch will be ready.” “He will,” I smiled, then immediately frowned when a loud clop of heavy hooves at full gallop was heard through the door. Using my magic, I opened the door before the galloping pony reached it revealing my wife with a bit of a panic in her eyes. I was on my hooves before she even spoke. “We got a bit of a problem,” She was breathing heavily so it took a bit for the message to get through. “What happened?” I circled my desk while closing the door with my magic, placing a few extra wards just in case. Dicty was also up with her ears perked. “Twilight Velvet was attacked by a few changelings a couple of minutes ago,” I could hear a curse from Dicty but it was too quiet to recognize. “How many, where and what is the damage?” I rattled out while igniting my horn preparing for a mass teleport. “Four changelings, well trained, in one of the side alleys on the way to Velvet’s school. Damage is still assessed, but we know that her left foreleg was broken.” I stopped mid-charge while establishing the location before looking down at her. “How did you find out?” I fully charged my horn for three and focused intently on the entrance to Velvet’s school: Quill’s School of Higher Education. In a flash, all three of us landed just short of the entrance and made our way following Shield to our destination. Dicty was in the form of a red unicorn mare with a white mane and tail and a white spark as the cutie mark “Patchwork was walking with Vel to her school but he went to a nearby bakery to buy something and left her for a few minutes,” She took a left and we followed suit, “Silent Drop took her eyes off of her for a second opting to keep an eye on the bakery and Mantis followed Patch inside.” Taking a right turn down the street I saw the side ally that was cordoned by several guards. “Anyway, there was a scream, Patch ran out and, well…” The guards moved away without even acknowledging us but they did stop Dicty. After a nod from me, they let her through and the two of us looked over the carnage. There were several cracks in the stonework, the bins were trashed and several signs on the walls of magical impact with various elements. “Apparently young Velvet can put up quite a fight, she took on all four of them and even took one down,” Shield laughed pointing at four changelings that were lying on their side with their legs and wings tied along with a wad of resins on each of their horns. All four of them looked like they were tossed around viciously, with numerous cracks, burns, and even patches of frost on their chitins. I couldn’t say which one of them was male and which one female but they were all awake and scowling at us. “Patchwork fought the rest?” Dicty asked approaching one of the changelings that was scowling at me. “Ye,” Shield nodded, “by the time Silent Drop joined in one of them was out of the fight already, and the other three were closing in. Drop distracted them long enough for him to arrive and trash the rest.” Raising my head and looking around I spotted Silent Drop to my left with a swollen left eye. Her right leather wing was also hanging a bit limply but she showed no sign of pain. “Where is Patchwork now?” I asked my wife. From the corner of my eye, I saw the new Captain of Night Guard and spymaster, Shadow Step talking to a few ponies. She looked tired but attentive. “We don’t know, ma’am,” Silent Drop spoke up, “He teleported out with her as soon as he could.” Nodding my head with a ‘thank you’ I raised my head and ignited my horn. Normally scanning for changelings is a bit difficult, but after so many spars with Patchwork, I was able to pick up his unique magic signature. “Canterlot Primary,” I muttered, “He took her to the primary hospital,” I spoke up. “It isn’t that far from here, but he is probably drained from the teleportation.” “Good, go check if they are okay, I’ll stay here,” My wife turned around and went to speak to Shadow and I turned to Dicty. “Do you wish to join me?” Dicty was still looking over the bound changelings, “No, I’ll stay here a bit longer and help out. You go ahead, your Highness.” … A quick teleport and some directions later I found Patchwork locked up in a room guarded by four guards (two unicorns, a pegasus, and an earth pony). Letting the guards know that I will be entering in a few minutes I looked into Velvet’s situation. A concussion, some bruises, and a broken foreleg. She was resting under the effect of pain removers and there was a nurse keeping her company along with a guard at her door. Talking to her for a few minutes got me the full story corroborating what I already knew. I assured her that Patch will be looked after, I wished for her swift recovery and made sure that she was taken care of by the doctors. Coming to the room housing Patchwork, I nodded to the guards and entered freezing at the door. Patch was in his changeling form pacing like a caged animal with a heavy scowl on his face. The bed and table were pushed or shoved if the scratch marks on the ground are any indication, against the wall and the table had a small chunk of it missing. On the table was an a-m ring, split in two with one of the halves being severely cracked. The window was also open letting in the cold air. Spring was coming but it was still a few weeks away. ‘Patchwork was always protective of Velvet,’ He continued pacing with a snarl, ‘This is probably tearing him apart.’ Moving into the room one of the unicorn guards entered with me placing himself between me and Patch. The guard's hackles were raised and I could see his ears twitching with every step from the large changeling. I could also see the guard’s muscles tense up every time Patch came near and after igniting his horn I decided to act before an incident occurs. Lowering my head, I placed my muzzle next to the guard’s ear making him twitch. “Please relax,” I whispered, “Patchwork is angry but he means us no harm.” A jerky nod and an extinguished horn were my answer. Raising my head, I approached Patchwork noting that he didn’t even acknowledge us. I opened my mouth to speak but a cleared throat from the window stopped me and made the guard jump. “Don’t bother, your Highness,” Mantis spoke up from the open window shocking the guard further. Before he could call for alarm I closed his muzzle with my magic and cast a silencing spell over the whole room. “I tried getting his attention for fifteen minutes now without any success,” He entered the room and sat down next to me after closing the window. Letting him pace in silence for a few minutes I frowned and shooed the two creatures out of the room leaving only myself and Patchwork. That got a reaction out of him, as he stopped pacing and sat down with a snort. Slowly approaching him, he lifted his head and growled out briefly stunning me with malice radiating from him. “Celestia, I’m gonna rip her head off.”