Crimson Flask paced back and forth in front of the massive doors of Solaris’ chambers. He adjusted his coat collar and slicked back his mane, frowning as it returned back to its normal messy self.
There was a loud crash as the doors flew open. Crimson yelped as he jumped back.
“Blueblood, I do not know how many times I have told you, fund it yourself! You are not getting tax money for it, nor are you getting an increase in your stipend!” a voice boomed from within.
“B-but!” Blueblood stammered as he backed out of the room.
“Blueblood, if you ever pull a stunt like this again, I swear there will be consequences. I am getting fed up with your behavior!”
“But—”
“Enough! Now leave!” the voice shouted.
Blueblood’s ears flattened as he hung his head. Crimson looked up at him, a gentle look on his face.
“What are you looking at, peasant?” Blueblood snorted.
Crimson rolled his eyes in response.
“Hmph!” Blueblood replied, lifting his head as he walked away.
Crimson stood back up, remembering the matter at hoof. Slowly, he took a peek inside the now open doors. There, he saw his boss, Lord Solaris [1], standing with his back turned towards him and wings flared. He could hear him breathing heavily.
You know, maybe I should come back later, Crimson thought as he sat beside the door, out of view. He rubbed his forehooves together, biting his lip. Yeah, now is not the best time to tell him. I should wait until he calms down. [2]
“Who is it?” Solaris called from inside his room.
Crimson jumped. “U-um, it’s me, my lord.”
“Enter.”
Crimson gulped audibly as he adjusted his glasses. Taking a deep breath, he quietly walked inside and gently closed the door behind him. Again adjusting his glasses, he walked to the center of the room and sat on a pillow.
“Ah, Dr. Flask, it is good to see you,” Solaris said as he turned around to face Crimson. “So, what brings you to my chambers today?”
Crimson’s eyes widened slightly as he looked up at Solaris’ crimson eyes. Even though Crimson Flask had personally met and talked with Solaris many times, he always felt nervous when meeting him. Standing more than twice the height of the average pony and having an ethereal mane and tail that looked as if a fire was blazing out of him, Solaris was truly an intimidating figure.
Solaris looked down at the dazed pony. He smiled and asked gently again, “So, what brings you to me on this fine day, doctor?”
Crimson blinked and adjusted his glasses. “Well, sir, we found another one near the city.”
Solaris’ smile vanished. “Was it another dead one like the rest that we found?”
“No, sir, it’s actually alive,” Crimson responded.
“Excellent!” Solaris exclaimed as his smile returned. “Then we proceed as planned.”
Crimson tugged his collar while his eyes darted around.
Solaris looked down at the unicorn in front of him, raising his eyebrow. “Crimson, is something wrong?”
Crimson rubbed his forehooves together. “While we technically found one, it’s not the type we were looking for.”
“Wait,” Solaris replied as he shook his head. “What do you mean we didn’t find the right type? We wanted to see if we could find one of their soldiers or infiltrators alive.”
“Except,” Crimson interrupted weakly, “we found a worker.”
Solaris squinted his eyes as he looked down at Crimson. “What do you mean we found a worker?”
“W-well,” Crimson began shakily, “preliminary tests show that the changeling we have is neither a soldier nor infiltrator. Her chitin exoskeleton is nowhere near as strong or thick as we have seen with the changelings that invaded. I suspect that she is most likely a worker.”
“What makes you say that?” Solaris asked.
"I found this with her, so it must belong to her,” Crimson said as he pulled out a small book from his coat.
Solaris grabbed the book with his magic. He turned the book around to examine it before opening the book and begin reading its contents.
Solaris frowned. “This is the diary of a child. A weak, naive child. Tell me, Crimson, was this changeling conscious when you found her?”
“Yes, she was,” Crimson quickly replied.
“And how did she react when you found her?”
“Not that well, to be perfectly honest,” Crimson confessed as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Crimson stopped for a moment as he rubbed his eyes. “I-I’m sorry, it was just hard for me to look at her. What do you do when someone looks at you as if you were a monster? I couldn’t look at that face. It was just too much. She was so scared at that point. I mean, I actually had to cover her face so I could work. That was not easy for me, my lord.”
Solaris slowly looked up at the ceiling, his eyes distant and cloudy.
Crimson looked up at Solaris, waiting for him to respond, yet Solaris just sat there, unmoving.
“My lord?”
Solaris blinked, shaking his head.
“Is everything alright, my lord?”
“It’s nothing. Just memories,” Solaris answered softly.
“Oh,” Crimson replied. He wanted to inquire further as he was curious but felt it would be a bad idea to pry any more.
“Back to the matter at hoof.” Solaris sighed. “This is not good at all.”
Crimson quickly bowed as low as he could, shaking while shutting his eyes tight. “A-a thousand apologies, Lord Solaris! I did not know my actions would cause problems for you. B-but I am a doctor, and I s-still have my Hippocratic Oath to follow! I c-couldn’t just let something die in front of me and—”
“Stop!” Solaris ordered as he rubbed his forehead.
Crimson instantly stopped, not even daring to breathe.
Solaris took a deep breath before looking down at Crimson Flask as his face softened. “Crimson, please get up.”
Crimson slowly opened his eyes and lifted himself to all four hooves. “Y-yes, my lord?”
“Crimson,” Solaris continued softly as he knelt down in front of him, his eyes staring into Crimson’s. “Do you know what makes someone a monster?”
“Um,” Crimson replied, rubbing his forehooves. “Is it doing bad things, my lord?”
“Not exactly." Solaris looked back up. “It is when you start to enjoy doing bad things. That is when you truly become a monster.”
“Oh…”
“Crimson, I would be disappointed if you didn’t help her. If you took enjoyment out of her fear, that would be troubling. But you didn’t because you are a good pony with a gentle heart. You never have to worry about doing the right thing, understood?”
“Really?” Crimson asked as he stood wide eyed and his mouth slightly agape.
“Yes,” Solaris replied as he stood up. “I am upset not at you, but at me. Did you happen to read her journal?”
“Part of it,” Crimson said as he straightened his coat. “Once I found out what it was, I thought it was best to stop reading it and give it to you immediately.”
Solaris sighed, holding a hoof to his temple. “The problem is that she is a mere child. I needed a soldier or infiltrator for my plans, not a messenger girl. Is she awake now?”
“Actually, she won’t be for approximately another month. She has some very serious injuries, so I was forced to put her in an induced coma. I felt this was necessary to make sure her body heals properly and more quickly,” Crimson replied.
“Hmmm,” Solaris said as he rubbed his chin. “I trust your judgment on this subject. Also, this will give me time to figure out what to do with her when she wakes up. I want you to keep me informed concerning her status. In addition, I want you to gather as much information on changelings as possible while you are at it.”
“I will, my lord,” Crimson said with a slight bow.
Solaris smiled as he placed a hoof on Crimson’s back. “We are on the same page, I hope. You did do the right thing and have nothing to worry about, understood?”
“Yes, thank you, sir.”
“And,” Solaris added, “you do not have to address me like that, my friend. We are friends, are we not? You earned the right to be informal a long time ago.”
“Sorry, force of habit,” Crimson apologized as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Thank you, Solaris.”
A flame flickered on the end of a candle, casting a warm glow through Solaris’ chambers. Solaris sat over his desk, examining Honeycomb’s satchel. He reached in, pulling out a piece of charcoal. Are they forced to write with charcoal? His ears flicked when he heard a soft knock on his door.
“I am busy right now. I do not wish to be disturbed.”
“Too busy even for room service?" came a familiar voice, clearly feigning hurt.
Solaris chuckled slightly as he got up. He turned around and opened the door, seeing his little sister. “Not fair, Luna, you know I will always have time for you. Please, come on in.”
Luna smiled as she walked in, taking a seat in the middle of the room. Solaris walked over to a trolley with a coffee pot and poured two cups of coffee. He then sat across from Luna, levitating her a cup whilst keeping one himself. Luna nodded in thanks and took a sip.
“So, Luna, what brings you to my room at this hour? I thought you would be doing something on your shift, not that I don’t enjoy your company.” Solaris followed this with a sip.
“Well,” Luna replied, “I have heard from my staff that you captured a changeling.”
“I did,” Solaris said, looking down into his cup.
“And that was your plan, wasn’t it?”
“It was.”
“So why are you making that face? Is the coffee not to your liking?" Luna teased with a grin.
“I feel trapped.”
“Brother!” Luna exclaimed as she burst out laughing. “I do hope you see the irony in that. Really, the captor feeling trapped?”
Solaris smiled and chuckled quietly. “Yeah, you’re right about that. It is a silly notion, isn’t it?” He let out a sigh as he continued to look down into his cup.
“So tell me, brother, what are you brooding over this time?” Luna finally asked when the laughter left her.
Solaris lifted his eyes up from his drink, looking into his sister’s. “I got the wrong one.”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
Solaris closed his eyes and sighed. “I wanted to capture one of their soldiers or infiltrators. Although we beat them in the end, they still got in undetected by us. But...”
“But what?”
“I got a worker,” Solaris continued. “And not only a mere worker, but a child at that.”
“Hmmm,” Luna said, rubbing her chin. “What makes you think it is a child?”
Solaris’ horn glowed as he levitated the small journal in front of his sister. Luna grabbed it with her own magic and started reading it.
“That seems like the journal of a child,” Solaris remarked.
" 'I can never be a legend, but that does not mean I can’t be part of one...' Oh dear," Luna muttered, flipping a page. " 'I will bring you along with me, so that I can write down all the details of our victory.' "
Luna sighed. "It seems we have a young changeling seeking glory and honor, just like ponies her age did in the past."
"We could put her on trial, but our ponies would treat her like a monster. We could interrogate her..."
"But we'd just be wasting our time." Luna set the book down on the desk.
Luna sat there, her face scrunching slightly in thought. “Well,” she finally said, “why not just let her go if she holds no importance to us?” [3]
Solaris shook his head. “In a word? Justice. She worked for the queen. She helped the invasion. There need to be consequences, even for a child...”
“So? Give her a spanking and send her home. There's no sense keeping her here. She is a child, so treat her like one."
Solaris stared at her flatly.
"Admit it," said Luna, a grin appearing on her face, "you're just mad because they cocooned you.”
“It took me days to wash the green out of my coat.”
“Did I ever tell you you're a terrible actor?"
Solaris raised an eyebrow. "Nothing I said has been anything less than the truth."
"It took a day.”
Solaris sighed. "Fine, but it was still hard to wash out."
"But that's beside the point. I was talking about your oh-so-convincing job of feigning defeat at the hooves of Chrysalis."
"What would you have had me do? Pummel her to death with my bare hooves in front of all of Canterlot?”
“No, but you could have tried a tad harder.”
“I’m sorry, but where were you?”
“How could you say such a thing?” Luna asked as she leaned back, feigning hurt. “I just did exactly what you told me to do. You told me that we should not intervene, so that our ponies can figure it out by themselves.”
“Ok, still,” Solaris replied.
“My point is that you could have done a better job.”
“Luna…” Solaris said as he looked at the ground. “I just couldn’t risk prolonging the fight. I can’t become that again.”
“Solaris!” Luna exclaimed as she stomped her hoof. “Look at me.”
Solaris lifted his head, a crestfallen look on his face.
“You are not that. You are better than that. No more of this talk.”
“But—”
“Enough of that," Luna interrupted her brother with a hug. “You’re a good pony with a good heart. No more of this talk, understood?”
“Yes,” Solaris said, returning the hug. “Thank you, Luna.”
Luna let her brother go, sitting back in her seat. “Still, there is the matter at hoof. If you are not going to let her go, then what will you do? I don’t need to remind you that we have a child on our hooves, and you said so yourself that if she is found out, our ponies may take matter into their own hooves.”
Solaris scrunched his face in thought for a minute. “I think I got an idea,” he finally said.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, I think I found a way where I can keep an eye on her and keep her out of the public, but I need to work on a few things before I finalize it.”
“That is good,” Luna replied as she stood up. “You can tell me later. I have court that I must attend.”
“Very well, take care, sister.”
“Good night, brother.”
Solaris watched as Luna left her room. His eyes drifted back to the changeling’s diary. “Looks like I have to watch over a child yet again.”