It was only a day later in the throne room of the Crystal Empire when one of the Crystal Guardsponies strode in. “Your Majesties, I know you said not to be disturbed while you debated the fate of the mimic, but there is a foreign dignitary who is demanding to speak to you about it!”
Cadance, Shining Armor, Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst all exchanged glances.
“How did someone outside of the Crystal Empire know about the mimic?” Cadance asked.
“Well, I didn’t tell anyone but you, Princess Cadance,” Sunburst protested. “I mean… I suppose there were guards who heard me frantically yelling ‘Mimic, mimic!’ as I ran through the castle doors.”
“Yes, and then they all got confused, thought you were playing some sort of game where they were supposed to mimic you, and started running after you and yelling ‘Mimic, mimic!’ as well,” Starlight said.
The guard said nothing, only giving a sheepish grin as his crystalline cheeks colored.
Starlight gave him a flat look that she then turned toward Shining Armor. “No offense, but you should really train them better.”
Shining Armor drew himself up. “Hey, I trained them exactly as well as I trained the Canterlot Royal Guard!”
Starlight opened her mouth to speak again but Twilight covered her mouth with a hoof and shook her head.
“Listen, that can wait later,” Twilight said. “What matters is that somepony else knows about that monster Sunburst found. Let’s find out what they want.”
Cadance nodded. “You’re right, Twilight. Guard, who is this visitor and where are they now?”
The guard suddenly smiled. “Actually, I can answer both of those questions right now…”
There was a green flash of flame and the guard was replaced by a new creature with purple eyes, a dark green chitinous hide, and red, pincer-like horns rising in a V-shape from his head.
“Pharynx!” Starlight exclaimed.
“Ha ha! Exactly, Starburst!”
Starlight visibly drooped. “Um… it’s Starlight,” she said, forcing a smile.
“That’s not important,” he said, waving a hoof. “I am here on behalf of the Changeling Hive and my brother, Thorax, and I demand to see the mimic!”
Cadance cleared her throat. “Well, Prince Pharynx,” she began, bowing graciously, “let me welcome you for the first time to the Crystal Empire.”
“Ugh, don’t call me ‘Prince’ under any circumstances!” Pharynx snarled.
“But I thought your brother was King!” Sunburst said. “Doesn’t that make you Prince by default?”
“At first, but I’ve renounced that title because I have no interest in ruling; my only goal is the protection of the Hive.”
“Oh,” Shining Armor said, nodding thoughtfully. “So you’re the Changeling formerly known as ‘Prince?’”
“Yes. I don’t want to be compared to my brother by some misguided foreign politician.”
“Oh, don’t be silly, Pharynx,” Starlight said, “nothing compares to you!”
“Look, I didn’t come here for royal puffery!” Pharynx growled, his insectoid wings flaring. “Just tell me one thing: where is the mimic?!”
Shining Armor stepped forward. “Pharynx,” he began calmly, “not to be disrespectful, but how did you even know about it? We hadn’t really publicized this and the only ones who knew about it were the ponies in this room and our top security.”
“As I told my brother,” Pharynx said with a smirk, “the best way to stay in the game is to have a piece on the board.”
Shining Armor blinked. “Wait… you mean you have changeling spies in the Crystal Empire?!”
“Let’s just say that I like to keep an eye on our neighbors,” Pharynx replied with a smirk.
Cadance joined her husband, matching his scowl. “That is a direct violation of our peaceful agreement to—”
Twilight suddenly appeared in a flash as she teleported between them. “Okay, okay, let’s all calm down and see if we can get to the bottom of this!” she said, forcing a smile.
Pharynx took a step back as Cadance and Shining Armor shared a look and likewise calmed themselves.
“Regardless of how I know,” Pharynx said, placing a hoof to his chest, “I heard that some bumbling idiot bought what he thought was a treasure chest only to get himself devoured by it. Sorry for your loss, and please send my condolences to the idiot and his stupid family.”
“Hey, that idiot was me!” Sunburst exclaimed. “And I was only nearly devoured by it!” He shuffled his hooves as his cheeks colored. “I was just lucky Starlight was there.”
Starlight raised her head. “And I almost blasted a hole in it trying to save him, for the record.”
“So, it’s… still alive?” Pharynx asked.
They all nodded.
“Then, I would like to see it,” Pharynx said. “Please,” he quietly added after a beat. “This is very important to me and to my people.”
Cadance nodded, smiling at him. “Very well, Pharynx,” she said. “After we recovered it, we placed it in a cell in the castle dungeon. It’s being closely guarded as we speak.”
In contrast to the gleaming crystal of the Imperial Palace, the dungeons were made of darker crystal, the cells' alcoves carved in a rounded shape from the rock. In such a peaceful time, they’d fallen into disuse and all the cells were empty save one that was being watched intently by a pair of guards with sharp spears at their side.
They both raised their heads when they saw Cadance, Shining Armor, and the others approaching.
“Your Majesties!” the senior guard said as they both saluted.
“Has there been any change in its condition?” Shining Armor asked.
“No, sir,” the guard replied, pointing into the cell. “Once it regained consciousness, it reverted to its disguised form and hasn’t moved at all for the last 14 hours.”
They all approached the bars slowly. The mimic was sitting there, looking for all intents and purposes like the humble treasure chest that Sunburst and Starlight had hauled back from the antique shop.
“Why would it bother to keep pretending?” Twilight wondered aloud, stroking her chin.
“Because it’s hoping that you all will doubt what Sunburst and Starlight told you,” Pharynx said, narrowing his eyes. “If you think they’re hallucinating, it assumes, you might put it somewhere else where it can find more prey. But now that I’m here, I can tell you what it is for certain.” He grinned. “And you know what I am too, don’t you, monster?”
There was a deep guttural growl that emanated from the chest and the lid suddenly moved as the mimic snarled. Its hidden eyes appeared through its wooden planks as it glared back at Pharynx.
“You two can sense each other?!” Sunburst gasped. “Wait… I think I understand now! You’re both shapeshifters! It’s like you’re, well, related!”
Pharynx grimaced. “Not something we like to advertise,” Pharynx said. “But you’ve got the right idea. We know each other instinctively… I’ve never seen one myself, but I felt it as soon as I saw it.”
“This is so incredible!” Twilight exclaimed, sharing in Sunburst’s intellectual zeal. “We’re learning so much about a new species! Or, well, a forgotten species, I guess. They’re incredibly rare!”
“More than you know,” Pharynx said, not taking his eyes off the mimic. “What you’re seeing might very well be the very last mimic in existence.”
Starlight swallowed. “And I nearly blasted it to pieces,” she muttered. “If I’d used just a little more magic, I’d have blown a hole right through it and wiped out the entire species!”
“True,” Pharynx said. Then his horn began to glow as magical power began to build in it.
The mimic’s snarling became more vicious.
“Well, since you failed to kill it, it falls to me to finish the job!” Pharynx shouted. He reared up on his hind legs and prepared to fire a concentrated beam at the mimic. “For the Hive!”
There was an audible gasp from the group as Twilight stood firmly in front of him, instantly blocking his magical bolt with a magical shield.
“Pharynx, stop!” she screamed. “Monster or not, it’s still a living creature!”
“Yes, I know, that’s what I’m trying to fix!”
Sunburst rushed to Twilight’s side. “But why would you want to destroy it?!”
He tilted his head to the side, regarding them both with a mix of amusement and pity.
“I don’t think you ponies understand the situation,” he said. “It's a mimic. They are vicious monsters that are a threat to every sapient creature around them. But more than that, they are the mortal enemies of the entire changeling race. The one you’ve found might be the very last one, and I will not be denied when I am so close to finishing the Hive’s great work!”
“Pharynx, you can’t expect us to—”
A sharp, shrill sound split the air as Starlight put her hoof to her mouth and let loose a whistle that set them all to covering their ears.
“Okay, everypony, time out!” she shouted. “Look, why don’t we all sit down and talk this over like civilized creatures? Pharynx, I’m sure if you tell us what you know about the mimic and why you want it dead, then maybe we can all talk about the best thing to do next.”
Pharynx heaved a sigh. “Very well,” he said. “It is your prisoner, after all. Let’s find a place to talk and I’ll tell you about our shared history, and then maybe you’ll see why it’s time to consign that species to oblivion…”
To be continued...