//------------------------------// // Chapter 45 // Story: My Little Pony: Morphing is Magic // by Tricondon //------------------------------// Chapter 45 Marco You know those stories about people getting lost in the White House or the Taj Mahal, and how fake they always seem? I would always scoff about the media hyping things out of proportion, but now I actually feel that there may have been some truth to them. Of course, something like the President’s office is far different from a giant alien castle built by highly-intelligent horses on the side of a mountain, but all the same, I was lost. Even from the outside I couldn’t figure out which window or doorway was the one I needed to take. For that matter, even when I was outside I still couldn’t tell which way was the front. I’m fairly certain if the sky wasn’t blue I wouldn’t know which way was up, either. The castle grounds were littered with debris. Chunks of walls and towers had broken off, along with the burning wrecks of at least a dozen Bug Fighters. Guard ponies were still fighting controllers, but the conflicts were sparser than the ones inside. This made my life considerably easier. My magic levels were feeling really drained after my separation from Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and I was trying to avoid confrontation as much as possible. Not as easy as it sounds when your current form is a giant black mutant bug horse. My wings were still smoking from where a stray Dracon Beam had gotten a lucky shot at me and it was affecting my speed and agility. Up ahead I heard the sounds of Dracon fire, so I made a sharp left to avoid it. Part of me hated leaving others to fight a war they didn’t even realize was happening, but weak as I was I couldn’t do much to help. A thunderous roar came not a moment later and brought a smile to my face. At least Rachel was making up for me. I traversed around another piece of debris and instantly noticed something. There was a long wall made of hedge up ahead, and in the space between I saw green grass. I guessed that these were the Palace Gardens, and from the sounds of things there wasn’t any fighting going on inside. Still, I proceeded with caution. The interior of the gardens were big. Everywhere there were hedge walls, which in some areas formed into massive mazes, and statues of ponies everywhere. But there was a distinct lack of actual flesh-and-blood ponies, or any other species for that matter. So I hid behind the nearest statue and began to demorph as fast as I could. A sharp cry suddenly filled the area, causing me to freeze mid-morph. It sounded like it had come from inside the hedge maze. So much for my skills at deducing how secluded a place is. I quickly remorphed and glanced at the entrance of the maze. There was nothing at the entrance, so hopefully whatever was in there hadn’t seen me. I leapt and began flying, zeroing in on the pony easily — with a moment’s wondering how I knew where she was. She was in the middle of a crossroad with three Hork Bajir blocking all possible escape paths, each brandishing a hand-held Dracon Beam. Focused on the lone pony, which of itself I found rather odd, none of them noticed me until I blasted the nearest one with a beam of magic. He went down and the other two swerved to look at me, giving me a good angle to fly past them, smashing a well-timed hoof into each face. They each gave out a single grunt before collapsing. I landed, feeling even more exhausted than before, and turned to the pony. She was cowering against the hedge, looking at me fearfully. At first glance it was like I was looking at Twilight, but there were some obvious differences between the two. The main one being that her muzzle was white, almost like a normal horse’s, and she had a few freckles. Also, her mark was a lightning bolt and... a pencil? “Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you,” I said, trying to make this creepy Changeling voice sound as sincere as possible. Which was a lot harder than it sounds, actually. The unicorn didn’t seem all too convinced by me, so I tried saying something else. “You should get out of here while you can, miss. They probably have friends–” “I’m a guy!” the pony shouted indignantly, his fear almost immediately vanishing. My eyes went wide and I did a double take. The only thing about him that looked kind of male were the eyes, which seemed to lack the usual long lashes. Still, this had to be the most overly feminine pony I’ve seen on this planet, including the mares we were helping. And yes, this is taking Rarity into account. “Wow... sorry, sir,” I said. “They still probably have friends around here. You should get out of here while you can.” The pony didn’t move, staring at me coldly. “Didn’t you hear me? You need to move.” “Why? So you can use me for food?” The sound of rustling leaves behind me drew my attention and I risked a quick glance. Sure enough, a swarm of Changelings was buzzing into view. There had to be at least fifty of them, most of whom had a malicious look in their eyes. But some of them had something else in there as well, more along the lines of confusion. I told the pony, whose eyes went wide with confusion and he glanced all around. Some of the Changelings took notice and flew towards him, at which point he finally decided now was a good time to run. I swerved my horn towards them and fired off several blasts of magic, catching the three Changelings nearest to him and sending them veering into the hedge walls, somehow making perfect outlines of their bodies as they passed through. There was even another crash that came from the palace, adding to the effect. Instantly the pony was forgotten, and all the Changelings turned to face me. I yelled something incomprehensible and charged at them, lowering my horn and running head-first. I swatted the Changelings away like flies with anything that made contact, from hoof to horn to tail. One managed to get a lucky shot on my side and pinned me to the hedge walls. Of course, I was twice their size, so I recovered fast and smacked the Changeling’s head into the ground. I quickly spun away from him, ready to fight off another wave, but was yet again facing down a mob of Changelings that refused to fight me. They just stared at me wide-eyed and gave off that same buzzing sound. I was feeling incredibly weak by this point and knew I had to end the fight soon, and seeing that they were already incapacitated I decided now would be as good a time as any to make my escape. No sooner had I decided to run with my tail between my legs — figuratively speaking— when what could only be described as a rainbow of light suddenly swarmed around me, entrapping each of the Changelings. I stared, dumbstruck, as the light vanished and each Changeling simply fell over, unmoving. I then said something that I’d rather not repeat in polite company. I crept over to the Changelings cautiously, inspecting them while also keeping a wary ear and eye out for any other danger. They lay on the ground, prone, though still breathing very slightly. One might almost assume them to be asleep. I decided not to push my luck and fly away as quick as I could, leaving the Changelings behind. As I flew over the castle grounds, I noticed that all the sounds of fighting had simply stopped. No Dracon Beams were being fired, no blasts of magic, no sound of metal clashing. The sky was curiously free of Bug Fighters, and most shocking of all, the ground was littered with humans, Hork-Bajir, Taxxon, and Changelings, all asleep. There were even a fair number of ponies, though it seemed to be split evenly between those still walking and those laying down. Every controller...simply sleeping peacefully. What did this? My question was answered in the form of a massive burst of light from one of the more damaged sides of the palace. It faded as quickly as it came but it was my only lead at the moment, so I hurried towards it. Each of Twilight’s friends were lying on the ground, along with Twilight herself, Applebloom, the Princess, Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Ax, and Tobias. And standing among them was a regal-looking white horse — and I mean an actual horse like we have back on Earth, not one of these midget ponies. She had a lot in common with the Princess, from the flowing mane to having both a horn and wings. She even had a necklace, tiara, and shoes made of gold. I landed nearby Jake and the others, who were all staring at this new arrival with confusion, or wonder and awe in Cassie’s case. Ax swerved an eyestalk towards me, but otherwise they didn’t acknowledge my arrival. he said. Jake and I looked at each other, and then to the horse. Currently she was busy looking at the ponies, though I got the feeling that she was observing us as well. Ax and Cassie moved in front of us to block her view and we began to demorph. Even then, I still got an eery feeling in the back of my head. Once we were both human again the others stepped away. As they did, I saw Rainbow’s eyes open and instantly lock onto the horse. “Princess?” Rainbow asked in amazement. The horse brought a hoof forward as if to silence her, and smiled warmly. Rainbow went silent, and the horse turned towards us. “So, you six are the ones who crashed into my palace?” She spoke without malice or anger, a calm tone that just radiated sympathy. For a moment I suspected she was casting a spell on us; considering the kinds of things Twilight could do it didn’t seem that impossible by comparison. Jake stepped forward and gave a nod. “Unintentionally, I assure you. We were attacked while in orbit and forced to crash.” He paused for a moment, possibly expecting the horse to raise an objection or ask questions, but she just stood there, smiling. “We, uh, are sorry.” “And I, too, must apologize for not seeing that you were granted an audience with me before this whole mess was begun,” she said, again in that overly-calm tone. “I admit that I was not myself the last few days.” “P-Princess...you were a controller?” Twilight weakly gasped, struggling to her hooves and trying to walk towards the white horse. It finally struck me that she wasn’t being restrained or held back at all, which meant that either she’d been freed from her Yeerk, or the others were being way too trusting. “If they’re both princesses, where’s the king and queen?” Rachel whispered to me. “Isn’t Twilight supposed to be a controller?” I hissed at her. “Why aren’t we keeping her locked up?” “The Yeerk left her,” Rachel said matter-of-factly. “Visser Seven is just a stain on Rainbow’s hoof,” she added with a grin. I was about to ask for more details, since I had to hear that story in full, when I decided we should be worrying about the princess ahead of us and where she’d been. There would be time to play catch-up later. Even so, I found it rather hard to imagine any of these ponies killing another creature, even Rainbow Dash. Sure, they’d fight them to defend their friends and homes, but to kill, now that’s something different. “Sister, is it true?” Luna asked, her voice almost cracking. “Were you indoctrinated?” She looked at the other princess, her eyes wide and tearful. “Or did I make a mistake?” The white princess closed her eyes in regret. “You did...and yet, you did not.” She opened her eyes and looked at each of us in turn, and for a moment I saw the pain she was keeping under tight control. “I owe each of you a debt of gratitude, and I know I will have to work hard to repair the damage that has been done by my own foolishness. To answer your first question, no. I was always in complete control of my faculties, which makes my actions and decisions over the past days all the more regrettable. And no, Luna, you were not mistaken in your actions.” “And what does that mean?” I asked. “Were you working for the Yeerks or weren’t you?” Both Twilight and Princess Luna seemed appalled by my statement. I don’t blame them, I was probably coming across as some disrespectful jerk, even if she was a princess. But they haven’t been at this as long as I have, and sometimes you have to be a jerk to survive. As for the other princess, though, she just stared at me. “Yeerks. Is that what they call themselves?” She seemed to think for a moment before continuing, “No, at least not consciously. I had reason to believe that Canterlot was under the threat of attack, and wrongfully assumed it to be another attempt from the Changelings. The reports I was receiving led me to think that many of the guards and even my own sister had been compromised, but it was conjecture and supposition. If I was wrong I would look paranoid, seeing phantoms where there weren’t any. I couldn’t act until I was certain and so I was forced to wait for my apparent enemy to make the first move. And to hide that I decided to put on a show for any possible imposters.” “And who was telling you all this?” I inquired. “The Captain of the Guard, who in turn filtered reports from his own command, and Twilight Sparkle.” “Me?” Twilight asked, concerned. “I sent you plenty of friendship reports, but only mentioned a possible invasion no more than three days ago. And you never responded to me, besides.” Rarity weakly lifted her head. “Twilight, dear, you recall that ghastly time we spent in the Everfree with Spike? That thing in his head could have made him do all sorts of awful stuff in your name. You do dictate a fair number of your letters to him, so a message in his writing wouldn’t seem unusual to the Princess.” Tobias cut in. “You are correct, sir Tobias, but I fear splintered as we are that Canterlot currently lacks the resources to give aid much beyond our borders,” Princess Luna said. “Yeerks all gone!” The shrill voice cut through the still air and everyone present snapped their heads towards a lone Changeling standing a short distance away. It smiled broadly, oblivious to the glare that the white princess was sending it. “Purple pony save us!” “Wait, Illusion?” Rachel asked, at which the Changeling nodded exuberantly. “What are you doing here? Didn’t we leave you with the queen?” “Queen safe with other Drones,” he said happily. “She come soon. I come prepare for Queen. She want deal with Ponies. Yes. Make amends and thank Andalites.” He was bubbling with excitement, barely pausing for breath. “As generous as the offer is, I’m afraid now is not a good time to play host,” the other princess said graciously. “Afraid I’ll attempt another coup, dear Celestia?” Illusion spun in place and bowed as the Changeling queen landed behind him, supported on either side by several Changelings. Even as she stood at least two of them were helping her remain upright, though she acted as if she had always needed their help. The horse, who I guessed was Celestia, watched her carefully. “What are you doing here?” “Exactly what my drone said. To make amends, and to give aid.” She smiled a toothy grin that prominently displayed her fangs, yet it didn’t come off as menacing or intimidating — which was saying a lot considering her whole appearance. It didn’t appear to convince Celestia. “You ever get the feeling there’s a history here we’re missing?” Rachel whispered to me. I just gave a slight nod in return. “And what aid could you give?” Luna asked. “Rounding up all these creatures that are currently immobile and tending to the injured. I admit, the number of free drones I have is limited, but surely the added help would be appreciated? I for one know I will be only too happy to see these pests banished.” “Hey, Jake!” I hissed under my breath and edged towards him, tapping his shoulder. “Jake, man. All these controllers could be freed. We get them back to Earth and suddenly our own war is made fifty times easier.” I thought for a moment. “Not to mention, we saved the local royalty from being enslaved. Maybe we could ask them to send a few unicorns back with us too, as a favour. Or an intergalactic exchange program.” “I doubt the Princess would be willing to send her people halfway across the galaxy. But it’s worth asking, at least.” “Princess Celestia,” Applejack spoke up, standing with much less effort than any of the others. “Ah think she’s tellin’ the truth. Ah’ve fought beside her and trusted her, an’ Ah think she deserves another chance.” Fluttershy walked up beside Applejack, the weight of her necklace seemingly weighing her down. “Um, Princess Celestia, I also think she’s being truthful. Because, um, she doesn’t look like she can really hurt us in the state that she’s in.” She looked over at Chrysalis, as if sizing her up. “Like an injured puppy.” “Your highness,” Jake said, stepping forward. “We escaped from the Changeling Hive with her. If she had these free drones before then, she didn’t think to try and subdue us. With your consent, I say we give her a chance.” The Changeling seemed to smile and chuckle. “Glad the humans are so eager to support me,” she said coolly. The princess gave her a cold look. “Very well, I’ll allow you and your Changelings to assist in gathering the injured and incapacitated. But be warned, I am keeping you on a very short leash.” She turned to Luna and spoke in hushed tones for a moment. Luna nodded and stepped towards the Changelings. “We shall accompany you, to assure our subjects they are not in any immediate danger.” “It would be a pleasure, Princess.” The queen smiled at her and the Changelings each took hold of her sides. Carefully they lifted her into the air, with Illusion soon flying up to follow them. Luna spread her own wings and they all flew off, no doubt to find the rest of Crysalis’ drones. “And the good news just keeps coming,” I muttered to myself. If anyone else heard me they didn’t acknowledge it. “Yeah, Ax? What’s up?” Jake asked. He paused a moment, looking around with his eyestalks. “I know,” Jake said. “So, next priority is taking out an entire Yeerk mothership, it seems.” “And how are we supposed to do that?” Cassie asked, having demorphed at some point. “There’s going to be a small army’s worth of crew against the six of us. And then there’s getting up there in the first place.” “Some of the Bug Fighters lying around here might work,” Rachel said. “I think I left at least one intact,” she added with a grin. Tobias said. “Guys,” Cassie cut in. “It’s still just six of us against the entire ship. There’s no way we can win against that.” She paused in thought for a moment. “Besides which, we should really help out down here. There were a lot of controllers, both alien and indigenous. How will they contain them all?” “These ponies have magic, I’m sure they can just whip up a portal to some pocket dimension or build a prison in next-to-no time,” I pointed out. “I wouldn’t be so sure.” The voice of the princess caught me off guard and caused me to nearly smack her from reflex. “I’ve yet to see a unicorn capable of creating an alternate dimension, though Twilight has tried several times.” She smiled slightly before her face took a more stoic demeanor. “Now, you said these Yeerks have more soldiers in space?” She shook her head slightly, clucking her tongue. “Oh, that will never do. I couldn’t allow you to go off on such a dangerous mission. It would be unconscionable.” “If we don’t do something then they’ll send a message and alert their friends!” Rachel protested. “Oh, I agree,” Celestia said with a smile. “But all the same, you must be weary after you fought so gallantly. Please, rest a while before you continue. You may even come up with a better plan in the meanwhile.” With a self-conscious chuckle the princess turned and briskly walked away, both mane and tail blowing in some invisible wind. I followed her until she was out of sight, gone behind some rubble. In some strange way, she reminded me of the Ellimist.