~~~The changeling camp~~~
Mortain had been pondering about the possibility of peace himself for some time. The letter Chrysalis received was not a guarantee that something like this would be possible. "The Princesses might simply be luring us into a trap" said his mind. After all they were invited to their domain, in their seat of power where they would alone to fend for themselves if the ponies decided to attack them. Should that happen he was ready, ready to fight to the death if need be, ready to take them all on, even if it would be impossible to win. After all he was the captain of the royal guard, the bodyguard of the Queen but also her friend. He was appointed to that position by the Queen herself, and that showed great trust from her part, not only for his ability to protect others but for his conviction that he would protect her no matter what. He raised his head and took a deep breath pumping his chest and quickening his hoof steps. He crossed improvised tents from wood, stone, dirt and cloth where the changeling families lived through the forest. "Come what may... i shall not fail" he said, maybe a little louder than he wanted.
"Fail in what?" he heard a voice saying behind him. Immediately he turned around and instinctively went into battle stance. To his surprise, or perhaps that of his sub-conscious no pony guard was there, or something perhaps worse, assaulting him from behind. He was greeted by an olive green mane flowing in the wind, and light brown eyes looking at him. With a slight smile on her face Safana continued.
"So... where are you going in such a hurry? I saw you from afar and could not help but notice how your chest stuck out with pride. Some important mission by the Queen i guess?"
"Y-yea..." he says slowly relaxing and slowing his breath and heartbeat.
"So... are you in a hurry? Can you even tell me about it? Maybe i can help you?" She said trying to offer herself. She knew that if the mission had anything to do with covert-ops she would need him. Sometimes Mortain's pride in his skills was too much to hide, she thought.
"Actually... i was sent to find you... and the rest of the us. We are going... on a trip." he said sighing.
"Something wrong?"
"It's just... our destination... it's Canterlot. I think we are going to try negotiating a truce. If we can that is."
"You do not sound convinced it's even possible i assume?"
"Nothing is certain, these are dark times for all of us. I will not falter however, there is no way i am backing down from ANY challenge." he firmly pressed his hoof on the ground.
"Ease up Mortain... i know you... i know that you would never retreat unless it's necessary. To be fair i am skeptical as well."
"We were always hiding, always far away from any form of foreign society."
"You forget that we are changelings. We have always adapted, we have shared what we had with each other, and that has helped us survive."
"Up until now that is... They will not accept us, and why would they? They will start whinnying about how we destroyed their homes or whatever else. They might start demanding war-compensations and i do not even know what else. They certainly will not give us love to feed on." he responded pushing his hoof against the ground in his frustration.
"Don't be so sure... their mentality about protecting their own might not be so different. I have observed them myself after all. And i would not mind giving up riches, gems, or anything else for that matter. You know the alternative after all..."
"I will never bow to them Safana..."
"I never asked of you to do something like this... what I am trying to say is that if we had to give up material possessions to survive i would gladly do this."
"Perhaps... we just need to see if it is even possible."
"We will. By the way where are you heading to now?"
"To the training camp where Jonaleth is."
"They've finished exercising half an hour ago. He woke them up early this day... clearly the changelings weren't happy about it. Not many complaints but... you know."
"Where is he now?"
"He went to the incubation chambers. He was inspecting the rest of the camp for combat-readiness."
Mortain said nothing more and started trotting towards the northern end of the camp. But he noticed a yank from behind his shoulder.
"What is it?" he looked back at Safana. He expected her to follow him, but clearly there was something he missed.
"Did you forget?" she scolded him.
"What?"
"You sure you want to go with that outfit to meet a representative of another nation?" she pointed at the "whole" of him as she narrowed her eyes.
"Ehmm.... yea..." He shrugged "I guess not...." realizing what had slipped of his mind he blushes a little.
"I am going to get our formal cloaks and get some "supplies" for the journey just to be on the safe side."
"Then i will not keep you busy any longer."
The two went on opposite directions. Once again Mortain walked alone towards the northern part of the camp, nearing the mountains. Passing through improvised tents he saw each changeling family fending for themselves. Some seek to gather their daily food be that meat, vegetables, fruit or otherwise. Some were repairing their homes working in teams with the magic and strength. Others are sharing love energy among them and the more needy changelings, and others were simply talking. Mortain overheard them talking about their parents, their loved ones. He saw tears streaming down their faces as they try to comfort each other. He guessed the subject: hunger. He knows it has claimed a lot in the past years, and the rate was steadily increasing, many of the changelings were orphans from this. Some just could not take it... their primal instincts rose up, as they do to every creature in hunger, and logic was slowly torn from their minds. Inside this... "madness" there was nothing of the former changeling to save, and it was even worse when this occurred near their own people. Because the change was not only mental... Their bodies changed too, they became unstable, much bigger but with extremely thick muscular structure and scales as hard as iron. In this state the remaining lifespan of the changeling was short, and while absorbing "love" kept them alive longer their hunger could never be sated. "Devourers"... that is what they called them, from the way they ate their victims whole absorbing every bit of their essence. He and his friends had been forced to kill many changelings that ended this way, but those close to them sometimes could not. How could one strike one his own race, much more one of his own family? Fortunately the invasion in Canterlot allowed them some moment of rest from the constant fighting each other, but if they wanted to avoid this entirely something HAD to be done.
He soon arrived at the mountains near which they had set camp. There besides the towering sides of the mountain he saw a pile of dirt and rocks, and on the right of it two changeling guards armored top from bottom guarding a cave entrance. They were strictly looking ahead with their spears crossed between them as they saw him coming their way. From the dirt and rocks he understood that the changelings residing inside were still working on the expansion of the cave. The guards recognized him and pulled their spears aside and, as he passed, closed behind him. This cave existed before they came here but its' size was nowhere near what it originally was, not to mention that before they came the path was not lit by lanterns hanging from the ceiling of the cave. As he went farther down the path, he saw numerous changeling guards standing at the sides. There were also changelings digging at the sides, expanding the paths already created by nature. At last he saw the familiar green glow of the changeling pods.
To a common pony these would look like alien abomination, semi-transparent eggs filled with green slime, inside which a creature attached to a tube flowed willing to kill or drain you as soon as it came out. The truth was that in this state the changelings were at their weakest. That is why past the guards and their caretakers, there was usually at least one parent overlooking each egg. Being in the place he was Mortain wasn't surprised that he witnessed the aftermath of the birth of a changeling.
Changelings were gathered around "something" or more specifically "someone" . Among them Mortain noticed Jonaleth and Alianna but he knew not to interfere with their work in such crucial moments could result in someone's death. Jonaleth's horn begun glowing and soon Mortain saw the egg, covered with a magical green glow, it hovered away as the rest of the changelings step away from the exhausted changeling-mare. Standing beside her, the husband of the changeling mare took her hoof and kissed it repeatedly holding her close. But she didn't let herself rest yet, even though she was tired and the sweat on her face was visible.
"It it okay? Is it healthy?" she asked trying to get to her hooves, but Alianna kept her in place by placing her hooves gently on her. She spoke to her calmly and looked her in the eyes. She wanted to show her, that she felt what she felt, and that she wasn't alone.
"You need to rest... you are exhausted. "She" is fine... perfectly normal, and we shall do our best to keep it that way." Alianna knew the justified pain she had experienced, and what she had been through before delivering her child. The baby couldn't transform inside the womb. Attempting to transform to creatures of different size, weight or shape would, in most cases, kill her and the baby. The mother had to spend almost three months deprived of her most powerful weapon and escape tool: her transformations and she had to spend double to triple the time taking shifts with her husband into taking care of it. Because although all eggs would eventually grow a stronger exterior, their starting state was very fragile.
While she was comforting the worried couple Jonaleth looked for a suitable spot to place the egg. He saw the changeling as it floated inside. There was a fleshy core at the bottom of the egg. It was round shaped with a darker core, and the changeling is connected with the umbilical cord to it. Among many of other changeling "eggs" he found a suitable spot and started digging using his strong hooves. Gently and slowly he placed the egg on the ground and pushed the dirt around it so it can stabilize. Some time after it touched the ground the core of the egg came alive and "roots" started growing out of the fleshy bottom into the soil. The "roots" would take water, micro minerals, trace elements and anything else the babies needed to build their scales and help them grow. From time to time the caretakers or the parents would inspect the integrity of the pod, and refresh the "love" energy to make sure the young do not die before birth. No changeling was born with holes, but it became less possible to keep it that way by each passing day.
After that he left the caretakers and the parents to continue their work, while he and Alianna take a step back. Seeing them free at last Mortain approached them, and as he got close he listened to their conversation.
"So everything is alright?"
"Yes, but i doubt we will be ready to move the pods should anything happen. Convincing the parents to take the kids away will be hard."
"None wants to leave their children. They are our future, those we depend on and i am sure that it will be painful, but still the time will come and we must be ready. You do know we will not be staying out here forever right?"
"I know... the hardest thing will be for the orphans, i wish i had the time to take care of them all..." as she said that she noticed Mortain who had just reached them and turned to him followed by Jonaleth. They were pleasantly surprised to see him, but Jonaleth knew that him coming here meant something had happened, so he waited for some news from the Queen. However it was Alianna that spoke first.
"Mortain! What brings you to this place? Oh no... Something happened to the Queen? Is she wounded? I shall go Immediately !". Her face turned pale for a moment and she was ready to dash towards the exit, but Jonaleth placed his hoof in front of her and stopped her. He looked for a moment towards Alianna, as he motioned her to wait for a second.
"He would not be so relaxed if there was something wrong with the Queen... i think Mortain would have told us by now. Right?"
"Don't worry the Queen is fine..." said Mortain faintly smiling. But no matter how much he tried to hide it, it was not enough to do that .
"Something wrong? By your expression i figure that something IS wrong."
"She is not hurt is she? You are sure of that?" asked Alianna once again.
"She is fine... Physically that is." but Jonaleth had noticed something in Mortain's answer.
"So there IS something wrong with her. Alright Mortain... cut to the chase. What brings you here? What is going on?"
He took a deep breath and aired it out within a moment's notice.
"We're going to Canterlot."
There was silence for a moment as the changelings around them shifted their attention towards them. Anger and fear filled their minds. All the attention, the whispers slowly that escalated in volume, the gathered questions... Alianna lowered her head and gulped scared as she was. But she couldn't stop their voices from reaching her ears.
"Is this true?"
"Are we going to surrender to the ponies?"
"Has our Queen betrayed us?"
"When were you going to tell us?"
"Please... this is not the place to fight!" Alianna begged but her low voice could barely be heard inside this fuss.
"You're gonna be the ones accused of betrayal if you do not listen!" yelled Mortain back at them. He gritted his teeth angrily and shuffled his eyebrows. He felt offended at how easily they are discouraged , and how easily they can change their minds. But not all are as loyal as he is, and in the last few weeks calamity among the camps was very unstable.
"ENOUGH!" it was Jonaleth's voice that addressed everyone in a commanding tone. His booming voice made everyone hold their words for a bit. Alianna stood still with eyes wide-open and however much she tried to run she knew that she had to stay. Even Mortain calmed down for a second to listen. Jonaleth shook his head in disappointment as he addressed everyone with his next words.
"Bringing the end of the world, are we? Do you not see what we have done?" he pointed at the pods behind him. Many changelings looked at each other unable to understand what he meant.
"WAKE UP!!! Taste the consequences of the path we followed so far! We are so used to living like isolationists, far away from any kind of society, that we do not know what would happen if we asked help from the ponies. We have been denying every and any help given to us, because we are afraid, or stubbornly proud, or even both! Why... why do you cling on your old habits so much? Why are you afraid to admit that... that we did a mistake. Are you afraid they will think we look hideous or that we are monsters? Or perhaps it is that we think ourselves as monsters?"
Some truths are always painful to hear and the silence that follows his words show that. He needs to be harsh to show them how vulnerable they are right now. But at the same time, it is necessary that they be reminded of their greatest strength. He grabs the chance while everyone is listening.
"We are changelings... "change" is within our name. We should be capable not only of superficial change but of bigger and greater breakthroughs! Change is like a river and we have a choice. We can stand like rocks against it, insisting that the way we are living is the only way to live, ignoring the fact that we know this will lead. Or we could... flow. We could listen to our hearts and see what we truly need in our future. Another war would perhaps result in victory, but even if that happened there would not be enough changelings in the aftermath. We need peace... not for us, but for our children. Our Queen knows this, she cares about us. I am sure she would never surrender so easily."
Jonaleth knew that they were listening, but still none of them dared move. They needed one final push, something to spark anew their faith. He turned to Alianna who has been sitting on the ground during this time listening. He gave her a hoof, and as she stood he turned his head, encouraging her to look to the crowd. Alianna saw their faces dragged down by life's events, and couldn't help but sympathize with them. She grew up together with some of them after all. She didn't want to disappoint them, nor her friends who counted on her strength, or the Queen that saw her talent and put her in this place. She rose slowly, took a deep breath and spoke with a steady and calm voice.
She pointed at the newborn changeling's pod as she tried to appeal on their hearts. "This child has the right to live and grow old, she has the right to be able to bury her parents and not the other way around! Continuing with the same stubbornness will lead us only to destruction and more grief."
Many of the changelings closed their eyes in response and even whispers between them are silenced.
"You say that we are so different from the ponies, yet there is one we both love... "life" . We both want the best for our children. We want our children to grow old, next to their parents. We want them to fall in love. "You" want the changelings live for the moment that we will stop feeding on love like parasites. I want to see those children grow, but if we go to war again we are depriving them choice. We are depriving them the chance to choose their own path, be it peace or war. I will not pretend i know if peace with the ponies are possible or not. But i trust our Queen knows what she is doing when she proposes such a thing."
She walked among them, looking at them as they made way for her. She turned her head left and right observing their reactions and often placed a hoof on those who needed it. She wanted to show them that she felt their pain, that she shared their worries, and that she would stand with them in those moments. Her steps led her in front of the newborn she had just helped deliver into this world. Her eyes shone, and her face beamed up with a smile.
"I have raised many children in my life. I want to be able to raise more, because their smile is my smile. Being a part of their happiness excites me to no end. I am willing to give peace a chance for that. We aren't doing it for the ponies after all, but for our future" . At this point she realized that they have dragged the conversation long enough, and that since they were listening to her they were willing to do something about it.
"Fate favors those who work for it... and we all have work to do. The children... our future needs you."
She did not have to say a word more. After the first changeling decided to get back to its' work the rest followed slowly and steadily. There was a slightly happier "vibe" in the incubation chambers. Even her own friends turned to her with a smile, but even though she felt well about herself, she still wondered the reason they were smiling.
"What?"
"You have a very soothing voice." admitted Jonaleth.
"You can be very convincing when you want to." Mortain added.
"I wish i could say that this would last, but the situation is very unstable here. It all depends if we can do the impossible... and I am just not talking about peace."
"Come on guys. Let's go reach Nousios and get this gathering over with." said Mortain wanting to remind them of their goal.
The three of them promptly proceeded to exit the incubation chambers and head towards forest clearing at the eastern part of the camp where the changelings practiced sorcery.
While survival was the main topic of discussion, it wasn't the only thing that the life of changeling revolved around. Hating inactivity and silence Mortain grabbed this chance to change the topic and ask a question.
"How is the "Strength" division doing Jon? Any potential recruits for the royal guard?"
"If they can get their heads into good use, they might learn what true "strength" is. They have a lot of potential for developing extraordinary genes but they need to take their time to do that. Evolution takes it's own time and cannot be pushed... and we certainly got a lot of "push" and expectations from them considering the situation."
Alianna was concerned too... but for different reasons. "Are they at least getting properly fed? I know that we have some problems in love-supply but is their "normal" food adequate?"
"Thank the maker it is... but they are a little stressed. I hear Nousios is having tons of fun with the "Magic" division. Safana must be doing well too... considering i have not seen any of her squads over time. They must be getting better at their camouflage techniques."
Alianna followed them as they keep talking about it. She knew that all changelings' lives were greatly affected by their unique "evolutions" . Being the caretaker of the newborn she was one of many changelings that were studying their species' genetics. There was one gene in particular that was rather "tricky", and still baffled many of generations who studied it. It was called "The Protean Gene" and it had three possible forms it could take. During a changeling's life it would adapt, change, depending on the situation a changeling was put in. Each position it took on the genetic code allowed the changeling to excel at different sectors: Strength, Dexterity, Magic. Added to that an unique characteristic was given to the changeling by it. Jonaleth's muscular structure was one, the reinforced scales of Mortain were another, her affinity with healing and there were countless others possibilities she couldn't even fathom. They had more in common with the ponies than they thought. They might not have been looking for "Cutie Marks" their whole lives, but they too had a part of their lives when they looked for their own path, their place in society, their special ability.
As the trio walked towards their destination they noticed some of the trees are burned in some spots. Their ears "catch" short swirling and fizzing sounds: a sign of manipulation of magic energy. One sound responded to the other which only meant one thing: there was a fight. But when the trees went out of the way and revealed a clearing they saw that it was just a team of changelings sparring with Nousios. As he was dancing and laughing he dodged shots and slips out of the way each time a spell is about to hit him. As they stood there watching, they hear Nousios singing happily.
"Catch me if you can
This how fast i am
I am dancing all the way
Growing stronger everyday
Working together five of his apprentices surrounded him. They thought they had him, and so they charge their magic. But a quick high jump allowed Nousios to dodge the kinetic blasts just a split second before it hit. And so their "dance" continued.
Get the prize if you can
This is how cool i am
Trying to catch me you say "Damn!"
But don't you worry i won't scram.
As the battle continued another changeling prepares for a close-range hit. Nousios charged with a smile, and with his own horn he pushed away the changeling's horn to the right. As a result the blast was re-directed towards another changeling that fell with its' back on a tree. The force of the crash knocked the apprentice unconscious but luckily no physical harm was done.
Come on try to laugh!
This is practice not a draft
Competition can wait,
This is a party...
The last of the changeling bowed and lowered its' head in surrender. Nousios stopped the singing half-way and smiles as he gave him his hoof to stand up.He did the same to the rest. They weren't hurt but a little bit dizzy. Knowing that everyone was alright he encouraged them to continue practicing.
"Don't forget to smile!" he exclaimed and finished the song.
And remember... smile at fate!
Hoof-claps are heard from the side and so Nousios turned, only to see his friends cheering him on. His smile became even wider as he rushed at Mortain, jumped on his scales and started rubbing his head to the point of overheating it. It was his way of showing his appreciation to him.
"Hey stop it! Ouch! Hey!" says Mortain as he tries to snatch him. Slippery like a tricky rabbit Nousios avoided his grabs as he continued teasing him. Jonaleth and Alianna giggled at the two.
"Say please..."
"QUIT IT!!" Mortain charged at a tree, but before they crash Nousios jumped back in disappointment.
"Oh geez fine!" Fortunately Mortain stopped before it's too late but that doesn't stop his frustration at Nousios. Acting as a voice of reason Jonaleth tried to stop them.
"Hey we are busy! We don't have time for this." he said seriously as Alianna laughed Nousios' enthusiasm.
"I swear to the maker if it wasn't for Jonaleth holding me back I would challenge you right here and now."
"Don't be such a party pooper my friend... it's all to put a smile on your face." he pulled his skin downwards making a ridiculous imitation of what his face looked like. His grimace didn't make Mortain laugh, instead he got even more serious.
"The Queen is waiting for us so let's go before it gets late. We are going to the Princesses! So are you going to get real and come with us or not?"
"Oh hell yea I am coming! Anything to put a smile on a friend's face!" sneaking between Alianna and Jonaleth, he surprised them both with a tight group hug. Trying to breathe Alianna declared resistance futile.
"Trust me you are not going to stop his smile Mortain... so don't try." But Mortain ignored that, clearly having reached the limits of his tolerance.
"I don't get it Nousios... didn't you hear what i said?"
"Yes i did... trust me on that, my ears have not been cut off just yet."
"I don't think you are listening. Because if you did you would at least protest, you would say something! ... You would not just say "Oh ok."". Despite Mortain's frustration Nousios didn't stop smiling. He did however let Jonaleth and Alianna out of his tight hug.
"You expect me to say that it is impossible when I am dedicated into un-doing the impossible? We seriously need to erase that word from our vocabulary. In a world where magic, science, technology exist the state of "im-possibility" of something is very fragile and prone to change. Do you expect me to say that we can't find a common ground? Or perhaps to say "Alas this cannot be done, we are going to die!"" Right then he raises his hoof and placed it in reverse on his forehead dramatically, as he mocked the imaginary situation for a moment. But then he continued in the same tone.
"No... i simply won't remain stagnant and grim. I won't stick to the past and keep the war going because "That's how things are". No matter what i intend to keep smiling, because i am simply not a pessimistic changeling and you know it. It's not that i don't acknowledge the fragile situation i have before me. I simply "choose" to look on the possible good results and encourage that way the possibility of them actualizing in the real world. In other words, if you want good things to happen you need a happy and accepting attitude towards them. If as most changelings say "This is the worst state we can fall into.", then i see something positive in that... If we can "fall" no longer then there is only one way this situation goes... "Up"". He took a deep breath relaxing and smiling back at them as wide as before.
No matter how much Mortain raised his hoof, or his huffs of protest, he couldn't think of something to object with his attitude. The silence was broken by Jonaleth.
"We have something important to do? If you forgot..."
"Yea... let's go..." he turns around "Follow me... i know where the Queen is and don't worry... Safana will meet us there."
After he encouraged his apprentices to continue practicing, and congratulated them for their progress, he joined the other three. So it was that the all now headed towards the outskirts of the camp where the Queen was waiting. The thoughts of the upcoming events occupied their minds as they walked towards their destination. They all cared about their Queen, and were willing to stand by her side in this. Because deep inside their hearts they knew... she would do the same for them.