I'm ashamed to admit I was away on one of my walks around the Crystal Empire when word finally reached me about Cersus’ disappearance. If the out of breath pegasus hadn’t profusely apologized for his role in Cersus’s disappearance, then I might have done something hasty…
“Have you informed my wife,Topaz?” It was all I could ask to simmer my rising anger and need to bolt off to look for the lost nymph, but I was more disciplined then the average pony and bit my lip while I waited for him to finish recounting the events.
“Another flier was dispatched at their highness’s command…” he took one moment to steal a breath before continuing.”...while I went looking for you.. per orders of Corporal Unstoppable, and Princess Cadenza. His highness.. Prince Shining Armor is leading a squad…”
‘Shining Armor is leading a squad?’ It was the only part of his statement that stuck with me as it was the first sign of possibly repairing our friendship, even if it might be on Cadence’s insistence. It was a relief.
“Thank you Guard, you are free to return to your squad.” The large pegasus gave me a salute and with a strain threw himself into the sky heading in the direction of the castle. His dark colors made him easy to pick out among the bright sheen of the blue sky and pinkish shield that covered the city.
I had no idea where to even begin searching for Cersus, and thus decided to make my way toward the university to meet with Topaz, if she herself hadn’t already taken to the streets in search. Cursing under my breath I began trotting the whole distance to the university which was on the other side of my current position, but centrally located between the train station and the Crystal Castle making my journey longer than necessary. The candy store was closer to me if you took effort into account and not actual distance, yet Shining’s presence was enough to warrant the time it took to seek Topaz.
That, and it's the only proper course of action even if I myself would have preferred Topaz starting the search earlier if our situations were reversed.
My regular outings have exposed myself to many perils of the Empire. I'd previously failed to identify such traffic, intense glare coming off the crystal houses, and, but not limited to the need to seek out ponies in certain professions to thank them. Neither of these are a terrible more than they could become a small hindrance to some ponies, but by the grace of Order and Harmony there were few ponies on the road today, the sun was hidden behind a stray cloud while the ponies here recognized me and gave a friendly wave and smile shaving minutes off my time.
All roads lead to the Crystal Spire the old saying went, and while the Spire was no more, replaced with the current castle we see standing today, the normal mass of ponies had been separated and corralled to the edges nearest the shops and house to provide the guard with an easier path. Realistically, I would have sternly reminded the commander to send the ponies home as to limited civilian interference with this search, but I was on leave, and could care less about the slack in discipline when I needed to find Topaz and start my own search ASAP.
It was around this moment when my hurried trot turned into a full gallop as I knew my destination was fast approaching,
It was still early high noon and thankfully what ponies were milling about had been drawn to the plaza to see what had riled guard, leaving the road toward the university barren save for the limited few that weren’t interested with anything but their own matters. It was like this all the way to the university’s private courtyard leaving me the lone soul galloping to the main building, and up the stairs toward Topaz’s office which was located near the end of the hall past several lecture rooms for the department. Of the ten on this floor, only three were currently in use with the room closest to her office being the one Topaz herself was lecturing.
“Hurry up.” I whispered as I peered through the glass window as she took a piece of chalk off the board and proceeded to draw her own rendition of poison joke. I hadn’t even noticed the half empty jar of poison joke bulbs on the table which she would reference in her drawing.
Against the constant screaming to leave Topaz here so I could search for Cersus, and my need to inform Topaz of the situation myself kept me conflicted majority of the time as finally looked my way, smiled and turned to the class making a gesture with her wings before the nine students (I counted thrice) began gathering their study material. I retreated to the opposite wall of the door just as the students began nearing the door, and with each face displaying a different emotion as the stallions mostly nodding or offering a rough salute as they passed; the mares were more subdued in their expressions deciding to wave or scurry past with their heads down, but one felt the need to wave before making a high pitch squeal as she bolted to catch up with the rest who all joined in making that sound.
I hadn’t even made it inside the room when Topaz spoke. “I speak about Cersus and you frequently. They were just excited to finally meet you.”
I was momentarily stunned by her casualty during this extremity that was beyond my understanding. She must have sensed this for she suddenly retreated behind her desk, opened one of the drawers, and produced a rolled up piece of parchment and laid it on the desk, mentioning for me to come see it. My mission was momentarily forgotten as Topaz’s emotions were stable and not in fluctuation as I expected the news would have caused, and this calmness cooled my own rambunctious mind.
The hybrid parchment/ newspaper displayed a black and white printing of the five of us: Topaz, Cersus, Shining Armor, Cadence, and myself. All of us were wearing our dresses and uniforms while the chariot carried us toward the castle, and by the lack of panic I could assume it was taken before the mob rushed us. I looked up at Topaz who was smiling.
“Ponies, especially the young love to gossip and it didn’t take much for them to recognize who I was, and during downtimes I would tell them stories about you and Cersus. They seemed to enjoy it.”
“But that’s why I came here right now! Cersus is missing and we’ve started…”
She leaned over the desk and placed her lips on mine, ending my train of thought at that moment. “It’s alright Idol. Cersus isn’t lost. Why, she’s likely off being ‘independent’ like you’re always pushing her to be.”
“How can you say that when we’ve been told she’s missing?” It took a great will of strength to stop myself from yelling to vent my distraught. Topaz left the desk and moved closer so we were just a hoof step away.
“She did this all the time back in Canterlot, don't you remember? You encouraged her independence, and truth be told I’ve encouraged her to have that freedom here as well. Go out and make some friends I ‘ve told her, for Celestia knows we don’t want her becoming a shut-in!”
‘I can’t breathe!’
Why was I feeling so conflicted right now when I should be ecstatic knowing Cersus hadn’t been abducted by foreign powers, or Harmony I say it, by other changelings looking for any sort of leverage that might grant them the possibility of returning to the hive? If that strange feeling I felt in the first couple months wasn’t a fragment of the mind, and if our recent encounter with the merchant couple proved anything, it was that exiles were already moving to the Empire.
It was only a matter of time when they would hear of The Crystal City and its love, but my own arrogance blinded me to the belief they wouldn’t come seeking this place just as I did (unwilling though). Topaz noticed my distress and moved next to me, rubbing a wing along my back as she explained some of the ‘adventures’ as the nymph calls them to me. I started to accept this is what happened, and was less agitated before when panicked hooves echoed down the hallway… stop… more running…stop… more running… stop…
It was then the owner of these hooves made her grand appearance, looking more out of breath then she did during our first joint exercise routine nearly five months back. Her larger than normal wings had all of their feathers fluffed in an effort to cool the young mare off…
“Corporal Fireflight.” I addressed the mare who would have looked surprised to see me if she weren’t desperately trying to regain her breath. “I fear the circumstances of our meeting may have been..excessive, but a job well done nonetheless.”
“Idol, what are you talking about?” Topaz had stopped massaging my back with her wing as she focused her attention on the exhausted guard standing in the doorway. Fireflight and myself shared a look that Topaz picked up on and assumed a position I was aware of- she folded her wings in front of her as she began tapping her right forehoof.
“The search for Cersus…”
“What search?” Her voice had lost that sunshine in favor of a bristled brush. I looked at Fireflight who flinched, but held her ground.
“Colonel Hooves. Mrs. Showers. The search for your daughter is proceeding well with the first section of the city already being searched…” Her voice trailed off when Topaz’s head whipped toward her.
“What Search!?”
“You didn’t tell her?” I choked out earning her attention as well.
“Ma’am. There’s a search being conducted for the young lady as we speak with Prince Shining Armor leading the operation.”
‘I will have to make it up to Corporal Fireflight later.’ I mentally stated as Topaz’s eyes went wide and her fur bristled in agitation at the declaration.
“I…Wha… Idol…” She sputtered incomplete words as she kept turning between the guard and myself, slapped herself with one of her wings and proceeded toward the door, much to Fireflight’s terror. “WE NEED TO GO NOW!”
I was already following Topaz by that time, and motioning for Fireflight to follow along.
“So, what brings you to the Crystal Empire at the risk of freezing to death?”
It was the nymph’s first question and Thorax was unsure how he should answer it without exposing too much of his past to the strange, yet powerful nymph sitting before him. Unsure how to proceed, and to a fault very curious about the nymph’s origins and business with the Crystal Empire, he had invited the nymph in where she walked in, insulted his pony lodgings, and took a seat on the only chair he owned.
He wasn’t going to argue with a potential proto queen on principle alone, but it was the threat her mother would find him if the nymph so much as uttered a word about his situation. So, as it was Thorax took a seat on the cold floor trying his best to entertain his guest with the hope she left in a good mood that didn’t involve draining him of his love. For a race that prided themselves on deceit, the idea he told the truth because it ‘felt right’ wasn’t even laughable to his fellow lings who viewed the act as betrayal for what the implications it might bring.
Still, this was proto queen. A young one, but the nymph still out ranked him, and she seemed pleasant enough by not busting down his door…
“Our hive failed, and we were scattered because of that failure.” Truth by omittance.
“Oh…” Was all the nymph said as she lowered her head while pinning her ears back to create the impression she felt for their plight. If anything, Thorax believed she in some small way did feel for the ling. “...I heard about it. It was terrifying..I mean for the ponies no doubt.”
He caught her possible slip up, and partially out of fear said nothing to avoid earning her ire, but also couldn’t help but to wonder if this nymph’s hive had spies during the invasion? If so, then it meant they had a greater awareness of his own hive…
“It was terrible..I..I never wanted to do it.” He found his own admittance troubling, but somehow necessary. It removed this weight from him and he quickly found himself wanting to talk more. “I was a simple drone meant to perform basic tasks and found myself in the frontlines of the attack. She used the whole hive to attack save the grubs and nurses!”
“Whoa…” Was all Cersus could say having never even considered there might have been changelings against the attack on her friends and family. It surprised her greatly enough to consider giving the worried ling a hug.
Because Cersus was afraid to admit it, but she might have messed up using her ‘powers’ because somehow it kept them linked to one another. The entire time this Thorax was talking, she would sit there listening and feeling his emotions through what she guessed was telepathy.
‘Just like the comics.’ She would think, and almost pride herself on as it opened the door to many possibilities the nymph hadn’t considered before like crime fighting!
This wasn’t like pony feelings that could be seen and tasted, but a changeling’s own emotions that were always surprised to avoid leaking vital emotions, or so Idol had told her some time ago. It was another thing she had noticed after months of living in the Crystal Empire, in that her normal changeling abilities had been growing, and not by a small bit either, but by a huge amount. Never would she admit it, but Cersus had been reading Idol’s emotions on occasion trying to learn how he thought about certain questions she wanted to breach but didn’t know if she could; HAY! She’d even been sampling their emotions whenever they wanted to snuggle, which is gross mind any sane pony or ling, but the curiosity had always been there on why the emotions from it were so filling and sweet tasting.
It made Cersus wonder about her friends back in Canterlot.
“Our Queen had always looked after the hive the best she could, but…” Thorax looked up and seemed to be peering around before he switched to their mental link which sent a tingle down the back of her head and down her spine. “...I think she was hiding something.”
“Like what?” Cersus asked as her wings buzzed with interest.
The act unnerved Thorax as he had never seen a nymph so lively as the one sitting before him, but he guessed it could be a trait of proto-queen nymphs before they’re trained, yet he doubted that. The Young queen had mentioned being an exile herself, but he’d never heard of a Queen baring a daughter let alone even considering exiling her! No matter how disappointed he might be with his mother, at least she wasn’t that cruel or careless.
“I won’t say for sure, but the Queen always seemed to know things. She would do things, and watch.”
Thorax couldn’t hide his terror from the hive link, and felt sympathy for the nymph as she nearly retreated from the link all together. For this he withdrew himself from their connection to spare the nymph any more anguish. Cersus recovered once the connection was severed, and even thanked him for his kindness in another display of her foreign, but welcomed change he’d come to enjoy living amongst the ponies; the love they exhibited to one another filled him with feelings he never experienced before nor knew existed, or how happy they all seemed even on a bad day for they knew a new day would bring something better.
The hive had none of this, and if he could, Thorax would bring all of this back to share with his fellow lings.
“Is she..the queen.. Is she always like that?” Thorax nodded.
“Her majesty’s design is unknown to all but herself, and I will say she is terrifying. There is no mercy for the smallest of mistakes, and all is met with banishment.” his ears pinned back and it was only now did Cersus realize he still looked like a pony, just like her. “I left after our attack.”
The two lings didn’t know what to say after that, but for Cersus it would be a risky step that would ultimately guide her down a path she’d been looking for while Thorax found his own fantasies of changeling and pony cohabitation could be a possibility.
“That's why I left. My eyes are bad, but Mrs. Topaz doesn’t act like they are.”
Thorax looked up from his doom and gloom to peer at the filly with a new outlook he’d never felt before- hope.
“I didn’t know hives would allow a qu..one so young to leave. Did Mrs Topaz go with you?”
“Nope. She’s a pony.” Thorax felt one of his hearts stop.
“A PONY!” the filly nodded
“Yep. She and Idol take care of me until I can return to the hive..I really don’t want to though, but Idol says it's for my own good.”
He was at a loss, so much so that he failed to question why an exile would willingly want an exiled proto- queen to return to the hive they were banished from- it was suicided. Yet, that and the fact she was being raised by a pony bothered him less than this ‘Idol’ pony.
“Who is Idol?” He asked over the hive link just to assure himself he would be able to speak, and not stutter from a growing sense of dread, and intrigue forming within his second stomach.
“Idol? He’s my father-like guardian who is an exile like me while Topaz is…” she looked down and bumped her hooves together “..well..she’s a mother-like pony. BUT THAT’S BECAUSE IT'S A PONY THING TO DO!”
"A changeling and a pony..."
"Well it's more like friends benefits! She provides us love, and Idol provides her with a test subject. It's part of the illusion we're a pony family..."
Her outburst didn’t bother him for he had been conditioned to deal with pony nymphs on a daily basis, yet her suggestion to be raised by an exile and a pony baffled and equally filled him with a desire to run. It didn’t make sense he would tell himself as he fought the rising nervousness, and surprising anger growing within for the young queen recklessly endangering their hive like that. It was this fear that truly terrified Thorax as he could feel it becoming more dangerous to the nymph as it kept calling him to ‘right the wrong’.
Cerus knew none of his inner turmoil her admittance caused the deserter out of fear of looking helpless among a peer, and kept justifying her living arrangements by suggesting a lack of bits is keeping her from moving out.