//------------------------------//
// Chapter 81 
// Story: Don't Bug Me 
// by Starscribe 
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Amie watched the sunrise over Equestria while one real pony and one fake one slept beside her. She considered more than once how she might make her return to the camp—what route she would take, how she would get the gold, every step involved. 
But all those would have to wait until her royal meeting with the princesses of Equestria.
She had finally done it. The mountains were climbed, and she finally found a way to make them listen. Once Equestria wasn’t trying to kill her changelings, they wouldn’t even have to hide to research the leads on portal magic that Ivy had found. They could harvest friendship in peace, read all the right books, and get her kids home.
She just had to hold things together a little longer, and it could all be over. 
Canterlot was a beautiful city, easily a rival of any of the similarly situated capitals on Earth. If they were stranded here for the rest of their lives, she could definitely see herself enjoying it. With the magic of farcasting, she could take an extended holiday and see the whole thing.
While she waited, Amie turned over a few different versions of her argument for the pony diarchs. Maybe Celestia would approach the argument from the same position as her sister—or maybe she would be hostile and require additional convincing. Either way, she would be prepared. Having Beth and Rick in town would certainly help provide a direct illustration of who Equestria was hunting.
Her powers as a queen were strong enough to monitor Stella Lacus in the meantime. Even at such a great distance, she felt her “workers” in the back of her mind. They did very little, entirely focused on the tasks she had assigned them. Many now devoted themselves to the nursery, ensuring conditions remained optimal to keep her eggs growing strong.
When one felt a sudden burst of fear, that drew Amie’s attention instantly. The workers felt very little of their own emotions anymore, almost nothing in fact. That was how she knew that the bugs were lost in the first place.
She no longer needed the crutch of a flame and a ritual chamber, not to farcast into the bugs she had used so many times before. She settled into a resting position against the wall and was suddenly somewhere else.
Cannonfire blasted into Stella Lacus from high above. Each blast was far louder than the small ceremonial gun they fired at the beginning of each camp session—larger than anything Amie had heard in her life.
Each blast was soon joined by another terrible roar—trees crushed, or something worse. Crunching buildings, shattered and broken in the impact.
Amie was in the body of a scout, one she left high in the trees near camp to watch for danger. She expected that danger to come from the hill, perhaps in the form of a few holdouts from camp deciding they were going to mount a coup on Amie. This attack came from the wrong direction.
Her worker was a pegasus, one with mottled green feathers chosen to imitate the evergreens she hid her in. Even so, she dropped lower in the trees, hovering there so her head barely protruded. Amie didn’t have to think about how to fly—instinct dominated, so her mind could focus on something far more important. 
What… is…? Were those words? Where had they come from? Another question for her to figure out when the camp wasn’t under attack.
The sky held a half-dozen airships, at least by the Equestrian definition. Many had balloons, though they were also far larger than any gas could possibly lift. Many were built like seafaring ships, with cannons along the broadside in a very similar fashion. These all pointed towards her mountain, bombarding it with barrage after barrage. 
We knew this could happen. That’s why I wanted everyone in the mine. She reached towards camp with her magical senses but found none of her workers there. That did not mean it was empty—there were bugs up there, mostly adults now. A handful of staff who disagreed with Albrecht’s surrender, along with some older, collaborator students. Less than fifty bugs, the last time she counted.
But no bugs should be up there under that barrage. Her ears folded flat as the guns fired, sending blast after blast through the air. With each one, ships rocked to one side, then had to wait for the cloud to part and make way for their next shot. 
We’re defenseless. We don’t have anything up there to fire back.
For a few seconds, Amie did very little—she could only cower, watching as her favorite place in any world was leveled by cannons. Hopefully whatever bugs were up there had the good sense to rush down to the mine. In the shelter of the trees, they might still have safety.
This is only the beginning. When they finish bombarding us, they’re going to send in ground troops to clean up. Path decided to kill us.
Fury boiled in her, far brighter than she had ever known it. Equestria was listening! She had an audience with the princesses that day! How could she lose it all now?
She almost lifted into the air, flying straight up at Commander Path’s capital ship. Either she could convince him to wait another day to attack the camp or kill him dead. 
But no—she’d never make it. No pony on those airships would be fooled by her disguise, not when they were attacking a changeling camp. 
I need to get a radio. She turned towards the mine entrance, leaving her post in the trees behind. She left one final command to the drone, instructing her to get down to the nest where it was safe, and protect the eggs if she had to. Then Amie moved, into the gift shop office.
They hadn’t built anything too important up there of course—the entire point of the mine was to prepare for hostility from either the humans of Stella Lacus, or the ponies at the base of their mountain. 
Predictably, the bugs inside were panicked, rushing around in confused groups. Most at least had the sense to push deeper, though some were crying out to leave the building.
Amie transformed her watching worker instantly, taking the bat form that had become one of her common aliases. She galloped down the steps into the gift shop, blocking the exit before any bugs could reach the doors.
Any that she saw, anyways. If there were others further away, there was little she could do for them now. “Stop!” she yelled, so loud and shrill that the whole panicked mob fell silent. Only the distant rumble of cannonfire broke the silence—explosions, followed by whistling. “Everyone, downstairs now. Demo team, be ready to collapse the entrance, just like we practiced. But I don’t want that to happen until the last moment. Whatever bugs can get in here, get them inside.”
She stopped one bug with a wing, glowering. “No, no supplies. No time for that anymore. People only, boxes stay where they are. Does anyone have a radio?”
It took another few seconds to get her hooves on a walkie-talkie, taken from one of the counselors. She turned to the new channel her faction was using, the one reserved for emergencies. Whatever else might be said about her bugs, she was quite confident they could identify a direct attack as an emergency. “Every bug outside the mine. Get to the mine now. We are going to hold the door for you as long as we can. If the gift shop looks exploded, just get as far away from here as you can. Surrender to your attackers if they let you. Otherwise, run. I am negotiating with the Equestrian princesses right now. They can stop this, but you need to stay alive. 
The old camp channel still worked and had gone from usual silence and threats to terrified screams and begging for help. She waited for an opening on that channel, then spoke again. “Stella Lacus, we are under attack by Equestria. I’ve seen their strategies myself. When they finish bombarding us, they will send troops. If you can’t get to the mine in the next ten minutes, you need to get as far away from camp as possible. Keep to the trees, stay hidden. Wait for a week, then make a smoke signal by night. I will send someone for you.”
She returned the radio to the bug she’d taken it from, then hurried towards the mine along with the press of frightened bugs. Counselor voices cut through the confusion, urging kids to remain calm and get into their groups. Amie would have to trust them to follow the plan—she had her own mission to accomplish.
She reached the gate another minute later, recessed into a rocky tunnel at the back of the store. There she found the makeshift barricade, packed high with crates and barrels of expired gas and oil. Crates of dynamite from the museum were there too for good measure, though all agreed there was no chance they would go off. The roadside attraction hadn’t been that dangerous.
Few children waited at the gate anymore. A handful of older bugs were there, carrying camp rifles and shotguns. She saw just as many abandoned weapons as those with an active wielder. Under the threat of real attack, many brave-seeming children ultimately decided to flee. Good.
In their place, adult leaders remained. Albrecht stood beside the open doorway, levitating a rifle vaguely towards the entrance. It pointed too high to accidentally fire at one of the bugs, and there was no glow on the trigger. 
But it wasn’t the old director who noticed her first—it was Tailslide. The pony had a spear, she couldn’t even guess where it had come from. He stood on the other side of the entrance, watching bugs stream past. At least until he noticed her coming.
“Amie! Amie, you’re alive! I thought—”
She met him in a brief, tight embrace, overflowing with relief and affection. So much energy radiated from him that several nearby bugs stopped retreating and instead froze in place, watching the two of them with a sudden, powerful hunger.
She had stopped the camp from starving, but most were still some degree of hungry. They had to stretch a little glamour a long way, at least until hunting finally got off the ground.
She broke apart from him much sooner than she would’ve otherwise, turning to glare at the flagging bugs. “Keep moving! They could start shooting the mine any second!”
Finally, they did, and she returned her attention to her frightened boyfriend. “You thought Equestria’s spell finally got me. Thought we were wrong before.”
He nodded tearfully. “Just vanishing like that—I know you can use unicorn magic, but you—I didn’t think you knew how.”
“I didn’t,” she agreed. “Listen—I need you to hold this entrance. If it looks like Equestria is coming, blow it down. Changelings are good at digging; we can get out another way. We’re going to keep it open to let as many bugs in as possible.”
She had already watched most of the construction crew make it in from the hotel, along with her scout from the surface. How many of her campers were still out there?
“We will hold them.” Albrecht brought his rifle straight up, moving it with precision. “But we cannot win an extended conflict, Amie. If we seal ourselves down here—they need not attack. They can guard the exit and wait for our supplies to fail. We both know how little time that will take.”
She nodded. “Pray they do that. I’m standing in an Equestrian tower, waiting for my meeting with the princess. I’ll make them stop this—I need you to keep my bugs alive in the meantime.”
“We can collapse the entrance,” Tailslide said. “How long did you say to wait?”
“If a single shot hits the hotel above us—or the cannons stop, and Equestria sends troops to the mine. But I can’t—I need to wake up now.”
“We’ll do it, Amie. Just get Celestia to call this off. We can hold them.” 
Amie kissed him on the cheek, then turned her bug towards the tunnels, and ordered her worker to retreat. She couldn’t stay to be close, or else leave the body near an explosion when it finally went off.
She closed her eyes, and let the worker go.