//------------------------------// // Phase 3 - Infiltration // Story: Thysania // by Kawa //------------------------------// An earth pony was keeping busy repairing one of the many thatched roofs in Ponyville. He turned to his pegasus partner, who helped him by bringing clumps of straw. “You know, Skystrike, I don’t see why these ponies insist on these roofs. They’re so… damage prone.” “I dunno, mate,” the pegasus disagreed. “I’m not sayin’ you’re wrong, but maybe you’re just looking at this from the wrong perspective?” “And what sort of perspective would you suggest?” the other argued as he stuck some of the hay Skystrike had brought him into a hole. “Well… let me think. I don’t want to be unintentionally insulting…” “Strikey, you are regularly insulting to me.” “Yeah but that’s intentional. Anyway, what if, because there’re so little towns with thatched roofs nowadays, you’re getting rusty at maintaining them. And therefore, when you repair a thatched roof you do a lousier job at it than before. And therefore the roof gets progressively worse and needs repairs more often?” “I hadn’t thought of it like that,” the earth pony admitted. He turned to his patchwork and considered if he really did so bad at it. “Ah, Hay Stack?” Skystrike called out, pointing at a commotion in the distance. “Look at that. We’ve got visitors coming, and it’s a lot of ‘em! Migrants, you think?” A group of twenty ponies, mostly earth with a few unicorns, made their way to the outskirts of Ponyville. Most of them had subdued, earthy tones, and those that didn’t had pretty average colors nonetheless. The only pony that really stood out was the unicorn leading them. She was slightly taller than the others, with an off-white coat, a rusty, short mane, and a shepherd’s crook for a cutie mark. Shortly after the group crossed into Ponyville, Hay Stack and Skystrike met them in the street. “Good afternoon, travelers,” the earth pony called out in greeting. “Welcome to Ponyville. You lot travelers?” “We are indeed, sir,” the unicorn leader confirmed. “My name is Shepard, and my ponies could use a place to stay for the night. It’s been a long walk since our last stop.” “Well ma’am, I’ll be happy to let you know that we’ve got plenty spare beds and the hospitality to go with ‘em,” Hay Stack said near-gloating. He quickly turned to Skystrike and whispered to him, “Go find Miss Pie, tell her the new ponies are just passing through.” “Excellent. Also, where can I find the mayor, or whoever else is in charge here?” “It depends. Mayor’s office is over there in town hall,” Hay Stack indicated, “and Princess Twilight’s castle is… well, hard to miss.” “Thank you, sir.” Later that day, in the park, Shepard sat and ate with her followers. She’d sent one to the local bakery, and he was telling the others about the owner. “I swear, you could hardly tell she’d changed much at all in all these years. I wonder if it’s a Harmony thing?” “Don’t ponder it too much, Grit,” Shepard dismissed as she finished her bagel. “Pinkie Pie has always been a force to be reckoned with.” “Have you met her?” “I’ve had the good fortune. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must execute the next phase of our little plan. Enjoy the baked goods – if I fail this might be the last time you get the chance.” “Don’t be too negative, Captain,” another traveler admonished as she followed Shepard to wherever she intended to go for this “next phase”. Shepard and the traveler who followed her stood before the impressive crystal castle of Princess Twilight and her friends. Anxiety clear on her face, Shepard firmly knocked on the door, finding it opened by a familiar young dragon. “Oh hey, you’re the leader of those travelers, aren’t you? Do you need anything?” Spike asked. “I’d like to speak to Princess Sparkle. It’s rather a sensitive issue that absolutely needs to be addressed,” Shepard spoke in a clear tone. “In private, if possible.” “Hmm. Okay. I’ll be right back!” Spike closed the door and left Shepard waiting for all of twenty seconds before he opened it again. “Okay, Twilight’ll see you. If you’ll follow me, please?” “Miss Shepard,” Twilight greeted as the unicorn entered the private little side room she’d been waiting in. “What’s the issue you wanted to talk about?” “In a word: changelings,” Shepard blurted out. Her follower flinched in surprise. “Oh no! What is it? Another incursion?” Twilight asked, panic already building. “That was the original idea, yes. But we’ve decided early on in the journey here that we’d try a different, friendlier approach.” “What” was all Twilight could say. Did Shepard really just admit to her face that she and her followers were the changeling incursion force? “Tell me, Princess… do you like history?” “…yes?” “And you strike me as a particularly logical mare, if I may.” “Thank you?” Shepard started pacing around the small room, circling the wisteria alicorn sitting at the desk in the center. “Changelings have been around for hundreds of years, if not a thousand or more. Incursions as you know them are a modern thing.” Every few laps around the room, with Twilight’s back to her, “Shepard” changed a little bit. It was a very gradual process indeed. “What does your logic tell you, Princess?” “It tells me that… that the changelings used to feed in a different way. There are almost no reports of incursions or forced feeding from before the last fifty or so years, but missing ponies appear almost all throughout the records,” Twilight started, quickly lapsing into egghead mode. “Do you think those missing ponies were kidnapped? Or perhaps it’s possible that they were never ponies to begin with, but changelings who got found out or something?” “I suppose it depends on what that earlier, different way was. If the changelings of that age kidnapped and replaced ponies… wait. Weren’t you white?” Twilight asked in surprise. “Took you long enough to notice, Princess,” the changeling captain smirked. Two bright flashes of green fire later, she and her underling had revealed their true forms. Before Twilight could even think to scream, Thysania levitated a scroll from her drone’s saddlebags. The scroll bore a particularly distinctive seal and ribbon that immediately shut Twilight up, for it was clearly from Princess Luna.