Amie pushed the book closed in front of her, darting across the room to meet the waiting pony. She had rarely felt such negativity coming from one creature before, let alone someone she cared about. But real ponies had much stronger feelings than any of her bugs, even when the difficulties they suffered through weren't as severe.
"Are you okay, Ivy? I knew you hated reading, but I didn't think it would be that bad."
The unicorn shut the door behind her with a little magic, but otherwise kept her distance from Amie. "I knew the transition would be difficult. Coming to Canterlot—I knew it would be bucking awful. But I volunteered to do it anyway, because I thought I was on an important mission to help a friend."
Thought. That word stuck into Amie's mind, sharper than any of the negativity boiling from this mare. She'd seen none of it in the letter—but Ivy had sent that almost two weeks ago. Was it the delay that cost her so much goodwill, or something else?
Amie took another tentative step forward, but no further. With each one, the unicorn grew tenser. This was supposed to be a happy reunion with a good friend, not angry and bitter! "I haven't had a chance to read it all yet. But what I saw—it looks like you found what I needed. There's a thousand people who will call you a hero for doing this... more! It's not just my campers, but their families who get them back."
"Of course they will." Ivy flicked her tail, making her slow way across the room towards a mostly empty desk. There was a single slim folio there, one she hadn't noticed with the obvious stack of important books on the other side. "This whole story was always so dramatic. They're starving. There are thousands of them. You'll save the whole world, Ivy. Just do exactly what your dad always wanted, and you'll save the day."
Amie trailed after her, glancing once at the shut library door. This much negativity coming from one pony, and she couldn't even identify specific emotions through the morass. She had never even felt many of these from another creature before, and it took some guesswork to identify what they might be.
Betrayal. "Bet you thought I would never figure it out, didn't you? I would be off to Canterlot, you get your paycheck, and another contract gets filed away complete. Isn't that right?"
I shouldn't be here. Amie looked back at the way she'd come, judging the distance to the exit. She could outrun Ivy, probably—but there were soldiers here. She felt the house guards filling this place, at least a dozen of them, all tense and alert. Even if she could get out of the library, she'd never escape this place. She hadn't brought weapons, and wouldn't use them on random guards who were just protecting their family in any case. All she had was a digital camera, to capture whatever pages of lore that Ivy found.
"I never lied about anything important, Ivy. My position in Stella Lacus—the people depending on me, the help you could give us—it's the truth. It's truer now than ever." She backed away, towards the pile of research Ivy had gathered. "If there's enough here to recreate this research—or maybe if that specialist you wrote about can help—it could save lives."
"Save lives," Ivy repeated, bitter. She flicked the folder open, paging through it. "My father sent me here to take on the family's responsibilities. His attitude is so... backwards, so tribal. He thinks that a unicorn doesn't belong on the battlefield, they should be managing affairs from behind the lines. Say, his finances."
She lifted up a stack of sheets from within, turning them towards Amie. "Like these receipts from something called the Agate Rent-a-Friend. The place that failures and losers go when they don't have anypony to talk to. Special contract for family member. Are you going to lie about this too? Want me to go over the dates?" Tears streamed down her face. Her voice cracked, tone faltering. She wasn't even looking at Amie anymore.
Amie almost fled. She would have, but that would leave Beth here, confused and defenseless. Whatever portion of Beth's awareness was still there, it came with desperate need for help, terror that she would be abandoned. I won't.
"That's how it started," Amie said. "When we first met—it was a job, like the contract says. But that's not how it stayed! Do you really think I would tell you everything over a contract? Your dad's soldiers killed the last campers they found! You're my friend, Ivy. Does it matter if it started as something else?"
Ivy sniffed, then wiped away the tears with her leg. Amie still didn't taste anything edible coming from her, but at least some of the anger was gone. "If we were friends, why did your truth mean convincing me to do exactly what my dad paid you to do? I bet you're not even a changeling. What kind of illusion spell did you use?"
"It's not an illusion!" There was one advantage to a house without windows—there was no one else to see. Amie changed, abandoning her disguise and retaking Beth's natural, drone shape.
The pony recoiled from her. Shock and fear overpowered the maelstrom of her other emotions, however briefly. "I didn't even suggest going back to Canterlot, you did! I never would've asked for something that was... obviously painful for you. I was gonna come here and do the research myself. You thought I would get caught, remember?"
Her wings buzzed with the anxiety of two bugs instead of one. She actually lifted off the ground, hovering a few inches higher so she was at Ivy's eye-level. Amie couldn't hover, let alone with insect wings. But Beth could.
Amie was crying too. The guilt of one betrayal might have eased in the execution that didn't kill her, but this one was fresh. Unlike her brother, Ivy was still hurt, and had been for weeks. "I should've told you sooner. I thought it wouldn't matter, and I was wrong. But if it was all lies and I didn't care, why would I be here right now? Why bother coming back to collect this research I didn't need? Canterlot hates changelings! This is where the evil ones attacked. If Agate can't tell the difference, these ponies sure won't."
Ivy had no answer. She stared back, expression an unreadable mess of pain. "You have to go, Amie. Right now. Before—"
The wall behind her banged open, revealing a secret door concealed there. Amie stared open-mouthed as four ponies poured out, spears drawn and aimed at her.
I didn't sense them! She backed away, mouth hanging open in pure stupefaction. Even now, with the ponies right before her eyes and anger visible under their helmets, she sensed nothing at all.
"Back away, miss. We'll take it from here." One soldier shoved Ivy back, while the others surrounded Amie, cutting her off from either doorway, or any route of escape.
Terror flared in her, overwhelming her. Beth wanted to fly away right now, to soar over their heads and through the open passage.
No! Amie crushed that desire, overwhelming the girl with all the will she could command. They'll kill you! They'd rather kill a bug than let you escape! She dropped to the ground in front of them, wings falling still.
"Don't hurt her!" Ivy called, voice strained and desperate. "I don't even know if she's a real changeling! My father would never hire one of them..."
"Magister will find the truth of that," said the same soldier as before. He had a fancier blue frill on his helmet. He was also the one to command the other guards, gesturing them back towards the door. "You've done a great service for Equestria, Miss Path. This infiltration is dead before it could begin."
He tossed something onto the ground at Amie's hooves—a set of heavy iron manacles, with a faintly glowing crystal on the links between them. "Put those on, prisoner. If you resist, if you fight, if you try to transform—my stallions here will kill you. Do you understand?"
Stay calm, Beth. I know this is happening. I'm going to get you out of this. But you have to stay alive until I can rescue you. Amie nodded slowly to the guard, then advanced two slow hoofsteps, close enough to reach the manacles. "I am not an infiltrator. I only came to do magical research... that's all."
The guard smacked his spear into the ground in front of her, loud and hard enough to stop her dead. "We're not interested in your lies, prisoner. You will answer the magister's questions. Until then, do not speak. Only obey."
Amie obeyed in silence. House guards arrived to escort Ivy away, rushing her down the hall and out of sight. Amie caught one last guilty look in her eyes, and then she was gone.
There were restraints for both sets of legs, linked closely enough together that she could only awkwardly shuffle forward. Once they were bound, another soldier produced a cloth strap, which they wrapped tightly around Amie's wings. Not hard enough to hurt—this wasn't a torture device. But if she tried to fly away, that might change.
Amie tried to reach out, probing for Rick. He would be close, their only chance to make a real escape. Yet she felt nothing—not him, not the emotions of the ponies all around her. The horror settled on her all at once, a single overwhelming wave.
I'm stuck. I can't go back and send help! What would happen to her real body, resting in the nest? How long could Stella Lacus keep going without her? Her wings twitched with anxiety, but only ached against her restraints. There was no easy escape from this.
She marched solemnly along at the commands of angry royal guards, struggling to keep ahead of their spear points. But she said nothing, not to these men. Stay calm, Beth. They're going to take us to the princess. All we have to do is see Luna. She already judged me once; she's not going to kill me now.
There was no response, at least not in words. But she felt something from the bug, just beneath the surface. Beth's thoughts were like a dream from days before, remembered only vaguely. It was enough to keep them calm all the way out onto the streets of Canterlot.
A crowd of ponies gathered there, lining just outside the Path gates. Ponies muttered and whispered to each other, pointing at Amie as they marched her down the sidewalk. A prison wagon was already waiting there, heavy iron bars far too close together for even a small bug to squeeze through. Ivy was planning this. She had the Royal Guard waiting for the right moment.
She had trusted in her changeling powers to sense when ponies were aggressive—but they had both fooled her. The guards with some unknown magical defense, and Ivy—through her own naivete. She had felt the girl's pain. But by then, it was already too late.
"This infiltration ends here!" the stallion ahead of her shouted, as they stepped out onto the street. "Noble citizens of our illustrious city, go to your homes in confidence! Canterlot will not be victimized again!"
It was right for Amie to bear their ridicule, instead of Beth. Trapped or not, it was better for the other bug not to have memories of this nightmare. The princesses ruled from this city—one of them would come for her, then she could explain. She just had to endure a little longer.
"Let her go!" A scream shook the crowd, loud enough that ponies turned to stare. The guards stopped their advance, though they put up their weapons. No one wanted to risk piercing a citizen of Canterlot with their spears.
A pegasus shoved his way through from the back, spreading out both wings to be as large as possible. The gentry of Canterlot clearly didn't know what to make of him, and scattered out of his way, losing purses and canes into the gutter. "Let her go!"
"Get away!" Amie screamed back, terrified. She wasn't sure where those words came from—but come they did, without her meaning to. "Leave!"
Either Rick didn't hear her, or he didn't care. He reached the nearest royal guard, then shoved against him, pushing the stallion aside. Or he tried, anyway. The pony's bewilderment wore off, and he tensed, widening his stance. Rick stumbled back, overpowered.
"This must be her accomplice!" the officer yelled, as loud as Rick's own. "Bring him in for interrogation!"
Amie felt hot tears on her face, tears of frustration and fear and rage all blended together. They weren't hers, but they still clouded her vision.
But no number of tears could hide what happened next.
Rick shoved again, attacking with more energy than the little nerd could possibly hold. Two other guards closed in around him, smacking down with the sides of their spears. He kept coming. "Let... her... go!"
Light exploded from around him, lifting the nearest guards up into the air and sending them flying down the street. The jail-cart rocked to one side under the force, and even Amie went stumbling back. There was no pegasus flying there beside the cart—but he wasn't a changeling drone either.
She could still see some of Rick there—but he was transformed, shedding black armor for bright greens and purples, and a shiny beetle's carapace to cover his wings. For one awed moment he hovered there, radiating magical power as Amie and the watching ponies could barely imagine.
Until a spear pierced his side, and he tumbled out of the air like a rock.