//------------------------------// // On the Bright Side, Changelings Don't Deal with OSHA (3) // Story: The Hidden of the Everfree // by musicman722 //------------------------------// “Have Moth Wing and Aphid reported in yet?” Chrysalis asked. It had been several hours and her guards hadn't returned, forcing her to take two guards off their patrols to protect her. “No, your majesty.” General Arachne said, “In fact I was about to send down a squad to bring them back in case they were dozing off or actually need help. Have you tried the Hive mind?” Every changeling was connected to the biological network that allowed for instant relay of messages and identifying the changelings from the ponies they imitate. Chrysalis nodded, “I have. Several times. They don't respond at all, even when I'm practically shouting at them.” This was made worse by the fact that changelings are usually light sleepers and they always respond to the Hive mind when the Queen speaks. The only way they wouldn't respond is if they were out of range, unconscious, or dead. Chrysalis hoped it wasn't the last option. Arachne tapped a hoof to his chin, “Hmm, that is troubling.” he said ominously, “The drone who told you of this place, where is he? I'd like to get some answers from him while my guards go investigate.” “Of course.” the Queen agreed, “His name is Mantis. I believe he was working on the south tunnels when we met.” “Good. Perhaps he can shed some light on this.” Arachne said before bowing and trotting into the tunnels. Using the Hive mind, he quickly contacted some of his soldiers to meet up at the area where the two changelings went missing. Then he got hold of one of the drone supervisors and requested him to bring Mantis aside for questioning. As he made his way through the tunnels, he couldn't help but feel that something bad was about to happen. It was a gut feeling and experience told him to trust his gut. It saved his sorry hide more times than he could count. ***** Mantis shifted uncomfortably in his spot, sitting on his haunches instead of trotting in place like a nervous wreck would. 'Oh no. What happened? Did I do something wrong? Did June bite another larva? Was my work not good enough? June is okay right?' his thoughts ran at a frantic pace, almost making his body follow suit. Only his loyalty to the Hive kept him in place. As he pondered what reason his supervisor had for pulling him aside, he heard hoof steps down the hall and a changeling came into view. But not just any changeling, it was General Arachne! 'Yup, I'm done for. They're gonna zap me into sludge. Maybe even feed me to the manticores. It's game over! Game over!' Mantis thought defeatedly, on the verge of shock. “You are Mantis, correct.” It wasn't a question. If the general asked for someling in particular, he got that someling in particular. Mantis nodded furiously, “Yes, Sir!” he shouted, half in fear and half in duty. General Arachne gave him a withering glare, “You're not in trouble, but if you don't calm down, you will be.” While contradictory, Mantis heeded his words and calmed down to manageable levels. That is, going from panic attack to mild anxiety. “W-what's going on?” Mantis asked, truly curious as to why the General himself would pick him out of all the drones. Arachne paced around the room and started to spew facts, “Earlier you told the Queen about a strange cave deep in the ground. This caught her attention and she sent two of her guard to go investigate it for possible threats.” He stopped dead in front of Mantis, “Now those two guards are unreachable by the Hive mind and are presumed missing, if not dead.” Mantis gulped, “W-what does that have to do with me? I'm just a drone.” “Aye, but you were the first drone down there.” Arachne poked Mantis in the chest, pushing the point across. “So tell me, what happened down there? In detail, leave nothing out.” he ordered as he laid on his belly with his forehooves crossed. And that's exactly what Mantis did. Aside from a few questions, the General stayed quiet. When Mantis finished, slightly thirsty and out of breath, he stared at Arachne and awaited his judgement. However, his 'Judge' remained pensive and silent. After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke. “Did you happen to notice the markings of the bones?” “Huh?” “The bones.” Arachne explained, “Were they charred from dragon fire? Broken by manticore teeth and paws? Gnawed to the marrow by slobbering Diamond Dogs or Timberwolves? Perhaps petrified by a cockatrice's stare? The more we know, we can figure out what was down there and counter it accordingly.” “Um...actually, none of that.” Mantis said as the gears in his head turned with logic and memory, “They looked clean and intact. Scattered, though. Kinda like they were ripped apart or something. I don't think I saw a complete skeleton, I mean a correctly arranged one, down there. But they weren't touched like how you described it. In fact, I think it just decomposed on the spot, but I'm not a forensic scientist so I can't be sure.” Arachne raised an eyebrow, “You mean to say that there were no bone markings?” Mantis nodded. “Interesting. Then maybe the poor souls had probably gotten stuck down there and starved to death.” “That...doesn't make much sense.” Mantis said, then quickly added, “I mean, yeah they could have starved, but that many? You'd think after the first three skeletons that somepony would stick a sign outside saying 'Do not enter'. Not to mention it's the Everfree Forest we're talking about. Plenty of fearsome creatures, but I don't think they're that stupid to walk into a cave and not expect something already inside.” General Arachne stared at Mantis with a new found respect, “You're quite intelligent for a drone.” Mantis smiled sheepishly, “I read a lot of mystery novels during my scouting missions. Helps to find my sister and get her to sleep.” “Nonetheless, quite a deduction. You are correct though. I was just being optimistic.” he said gravely, “I hope that is what happened, because if it is some creature, then I've no idea what it could be without looking for myself or until my soldiers get back.” The General got up on his hooves, stretching his joints and getting his blood flowing. “It's getting late. You should go catch up with your sister before you have to start your next shift.” he said as he left, barely hearing the “Yes sir” behind him. ***** “I got a baaad feeling about this.” one of the soldiers murmured. He was part of the group the General sent to investigate one of the tunnels for missing changelings. They found them all right. It took a few minutes to scrape Moth Wings body parts together, plus or minus some chitin. Aphid was another story altogether. Some of the soldiers had to turn into unicorns or earth ponies to dive into the water and retrieve the body parts. No one wanted wet wings. They simply couldn't fly wet. After about an hour, they pulled out everything they could find of Aphid and set him into a pile of his own, anatomically arranged though. Even changelings knew to respect the dead. “What should we do?” another soldier asked. “Let's get them preserved and show it to the general.” the first soldier said, “Then we give them a burial.” “They were good changelings.” one soldier said. Everyling agreed in silence. “Come on.” the first soldier said, “This place gives me the creeps. I don't want to be here any longer.” Everyling knew the unspoken words as they picked up the bodies and left. ...in case whatever killed them comes back for us. ***** It was quiet. Too quiet. Fluttershy realized this as she woke up to cook breakfast. In the mornings, she would hear the chirping of the birds, the crow of the rooster, and Angel's impatient foot thumping for breakfast. With Discord around, sometimes there would be another noise as he ate whatever mealtime that suited him (You didn't expect him to eat breakfast in the morning, did you?). However, there was none of that. Only the ambient chirping of bugs in the flowerbeds broke the silence. With her orange juice in one hoof, she slowly hoofed her way through the cottage. “Angel?” she called out, “Angel, I made breakfast for you. It's carrot juice and salad. Your favorite.” Not even the delectable treat lured the rabbit out of hiding. “Angel?” Fluttershy trotted over to the living room, where Angel and all her other animals slept. She went over to the little bunny mansion that he (totally extorted out of Fluttershy's kindness and) lived in. “Angel?” Fluttershy nudged the doors to the bunny's bed to see a motionless lump. “Come on out, Angel. It's time for breakfast.” she said sweetly. However, the bunny stayed still. For a moment, Fluttershy thought that Discord turned Angel into a slipper again and went to pull the covers off her pet. “Angel, it's time for- Eep!” she exclaimed when a white paw snaked out and smacked her hoof away. Angel's face appeared for a second, only to glare at her before shutting the doors and flipping the bed over to hide himself. Fluttershy blinked at this odd behavior. Once in a while Angel would like to sleep in, but he was never this objective to waking up. Peering around the room, she saw that all her other animals were huddled in their beds and under their blankets. 'W-what's going on?' she thought, 'Is everyone sick?' Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar figure resting outside on her lawn. “Discord?” she said in surprise and confusion. While the draconequus was odd and eccentric, she wondered, not for the first time, what he was doing. But in this case, it was the lack of chaos that had her perplexed. He just sat curled on a knoll, staring pensively out into space with a frown on his face. Discord was many things, but quiet and still were not him. The canary mare trotted cautiously out and up to the chaotic being. Each step so gentle as if a mine would go off if she took a wrong one. “I-is everything okay, Discord?” she asked tentatively. “Mmhmm.” Discord grumbled noncommittally, not tearing his gaze from the horizon. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “W-well, my animals aren't coming out to eat breakfast. Did you do anything?” “That's nice.” he grumbled again, still not moving. “Oh. Okay then.” she said. Thinking for a few moments, she tried to put together the most chaotic request to try to elicit a reaction from the dour draconequus. When she finished, she spoke, “Well I was wondering if you would help me take the Princesses hostage using some traffic cones and rubber chickens and take over Equestria?” If that didn't shake him, Fluttershy didn't know what would. “Maybe later.” Fluttershy's jaw dropped at record speed. Okay, something was definitely wrong. “O-oh, okay.” the shocked mare stuttered out as she slowly backed away, “I'll just be...friending my meets. Byeseeyoulater.” Before she left, she noticed that Discord's gaze was locked onto the Everfree. 'Maybe Twilight can help me?' she thought as she flew quickly into town. Discord trying to take over Equestria was bad, but Discord just sitting and staring at the Everfree? She shuddered at the thought of what could keep the rambunctious spirit still for more than a minute.