Changelings gathered their magical energies and sustained their beings by draining life out of other living creatures. Emotions, talents, drives, abilities, vitality, all that could be consumed as raw ethereal essence. Being able to mimic anything, they would take an unsuspecting pony, take that pony's place and then siphon off love in a controlled fashion, feeding it back to the hive on occasion. After the changeling invasion, spells had been distributed to unicorns who could use them to reveal any changeling. However there were still individual changelings that thought they were unnoticed. One of them had been spotted by Silver's espionage squads. She, her real name unknown, but her token name being Peach Harvest, lived as a yellow earth pony at a peach farm. It was unclear when the transaction had taken place that had swapped the changeling for the real Peach, but it had to be over two years ago. She was the best bet for getting into the hive, either by Sarah impersonating her, or by convincing her that Sarah was a forgotten changeling that had waited for orders that she had never gotten.
Sarah had drunk deep from Marenaris, who was still unheard from and recovering in the hospital. Whatever hesitation there had been in her sneaking was gone. If she wanted to, she would be one with the shadows. In any situation she knew just how to deploy ponies and play off their strengths to gain tactical ground. Years of experience harvested with a single sickening sweet kiss. Her last meeting with her father had been brief he had given her something he called a radio, which she tucked under the wing covers on her back. She simply had to extend an antenna using her mouth, be in a spot without trees, click her front hooves together and she would be able to speak to an operative. And it wasn't magical, he had insisted, but wouldn't explain how it worked. She was only to use it the few times she had something vital to report, or if she was in trouble.
In front of her sat a brick and straw house. In fields as far as the eye could see were rows upon rows of peach trees. Sarah sat in the bushes, obscured and hidden. Peach came into view again, happily nuzzling a little filly and sending her off with some buckets. Sarah was free to approach Peach anyway she thought best. There two hidden lunar guards here, in case she decided kidnapping was the better option. She was free to chose her plan of attack.
Sarah looked in both directions. She had followed quite an extensive dirt road to get to this house, so there weren't any other ponies around. The guards were there, of course, but they weren't about to reveal themselves to Peach, that would just be idiotic. Sarah took a deep breath and chose her disguise. She looked, for the most part, like a normal unicorn. Fairly pretty, a light blue mane and a much darker blue coat. But there were strange things wrong with her if one was to look closer. Her right foreleg and left hind leg each had a clearly visible hole in them, and while her left pupil was green, her right one was blue. A single white fang hung down past her lip. She emerged from a row of the peach trees, limping significantly, as if barely able to put any weight on her front right leg at all. It was only a matter of waiting to be seen. She had considered waiting until dark, but time was critical.
Peach kept working, a bit oblivious to the road for a while, busy with the act of rinsing and scrubbing the tangy sweet fruits. But when she looked up her eyes locked on Sarah, and studied what she saw quickly. She dropped the peaches and jumped over the fence, with a hiss and baring of sharp teeth that weren't in her mouth seconds before.
"Foolish! You could have hidden until nightfall. Don't answer. No time to think about what you could have done, get into the cellar with me. Now!" She supported Sarah, and quickly moved her towards a cellar which was flung open with a burst of magical power, a power an earth pony couldn't have had. Glasses and jars everywhere had peaches soaking in their juices. "You can let go now, I locked the cellar door behind us."
Sarah collapsed to the ground, panting heavily as if she was having trouble breathing. "I was stationed in the Everfree almost a month ago." She hissed. "They told me to wait for orders, told me to wait a day or two. Nopony came. Nopony ever came." She said weakly. She reached out a shaking hoof towards Peach, but did not advance on her. "I haven't fed... they told me to stay... I stayed."
"Who told you?" Peach asked with a raised eyebrow. Looking suspicious about Sarah, not sure what exactly had been dumped at her feet. "You're not changing back… how long have been stayed in disguise? Who did you replace, and how long did you live that role?" She didn't raise her voice, it was softening in some concern, even if there was irritation in it. "Someone.. told you to stay near the border.. what did you do before that?" Going over into the corner she levitated a black book out and started leafing through it.
Sarah had been briefed on several names of ponie who had been taken, it was only a matter of finding one which suited her purpose. She had chosen an ocean loving pony with no children. The less ties the pony had, the easier they were to infiltrate.
"I have not changed back once, so... at least five weeks." Sarah explained. "My orders were to remain in disguise and wait for orders. Orders that never came." She added a faint quivering to her voice that she was rather proud of. "My name is Seashell Shores, I run a pawn shop out of things that wash up on the beach."
Apparently she found an entry on that, because after a bit she put the book back. "Okay... your name is not Seashell Shores, and thankfully you seem to know that." She approached Sarah and nudged the body in various places. "Let go of yourself... try to relax and forget about Seashell. Here, like this." With a flash of green fire she stood replaced with a dark carapace and fangs. "Let your body remember that."
"I've been trying..." Sarah insisted. "You see what I've accomplished so far, this is all I can manage. I'm just too hungry. I can't focus enough to shift." She sighed, her stomach rumbling. That was convenient timing on her part, she hadn't eaten all day in preparation for this encounter. "There has to be something." She gave a semi vile grin, Changelings were known for being ruthless. "How about that child you were with? She'd make a decent appetizer."
"And I'm sure you'd feed off her until she was a shell of what she used to be. And then we'd have royal guards on our flanks. I'm starting to wonder whether you were intentionally left behind." Rubbing her temple with a hoof she thought for a bit. "Are you completely unable to change? Because I very well can't bring you into the building, looking like its Nightmare Night can I?"
"Let me try." Sarah made a face, scrunched up in concentration as if she was trying, really really hard. She was more pony than Changeling, so it would have been suspicious at this point if she managed to take on an entire carapace. The two holes in her legs filled in with flesh, fur growing over them. "It was not my intention to expose you, I made sure the area was safe first. I'm just so tired of waiting, it's not like them to just abandon me!"
"Now, I don't know who left you behind, or why, so I'm not going to guess. I'm leaving for the hive soon, and you trust me and I'll trust you and take you along. There's no time to integrate you into the family, and transact you with any of the members. We feed tonight, join up with my group and take what we find back to the hive. She nudged various parts of her again. "Remember the tail... and I can still see your wings. Just take it step by step."
Sarah nodded, and the fang that hung down past her lip shrank back into an enamel covered stump. Her wings... well she'd have to do that later, if she got rid of her wings now the radio might fall out, and it'd be game over. Her tail burst into a healthier shine, but the wings remained and her eyes were still different colors. "That's all I can manage for now. It should be enough under the cover of darkness."
"Good, stay hidden down here. I'll sneak down some food for you eventually, and let you out when its time to feed. After that we make a break for the Everfree forest." Peach explained, and turned back into the yellow earth pony with a green flash. Leaving Sarah down in the cellar. The mission had begun. Sarah had freedom to do whatever it took to stay hidden, but this was getting serious, she was expected to feed now. She wouldn't be able to hide it if she faked feeding, Peach would be able to tell.
Sarah paced back and forth, she had infiltrated the Changelings successfully. But now, all she had to do was wait. She explored the cellar, looking for anything that might help her in her quest, and of course tasting the peach juice.
The food was bland, it always was. She needed sustenance, but there wasn't any joy to eating the food itself. Feeding off someone who had memories of a fantastic meal was all the difference in the world. The two fillies didn't deserve what would be done to them. It was atrocious, it was necessary... and yet even then, the thought was starting to bring spittle to her mouth. Peach didn't come down with food. There was nothing in the room, except the ledger that gave quite an inventory of transactions and kidnapped ponies. It whether it was a complete manifest, but there was enough time to transmit the names and places via radio if she chose to do so in the interim of time. Eventually the moon had reached its zenith and midnight had come. Peach opened the cellar door. She looked a little weak. "Can you sneak about quietly?" She asked.
Sarah had spent a good amount of time on the radio with her father, dictating and transcribing as much of the contents of the manifest as she possibly could. When she heard the distant hoofsteps, Sarah quickly signed off, and resumed her normal look. She glanced at Peach with a look of annoyance. "Can Chrysalis take down Celestia?" She asked. A vague question that implied yes, she could. "Are you alright? You look terrible."
Peach didn't answer the question, except that her steps became silent as she walked, went in through an already opened door motioning Sarah to follow. There was quiet in the earth pony residency, except for a single grandfather clock ticking away. She hesitated in front of a door, gathering courage, and went in. There were two beds opposite each other, two caramel brown fillies were snuggled under the covers. One of them stirred as Peach entered and she knelt down. "Shhh, its just me Yogurt... want me to sing you a song? Okay." And she did, her voice a low sing-song lullaby. When Sarah entered she saw the filly cradled in Peach's arms being rocked slowly and gently, a white ghostly gas light seemed to flow from the fillies mouth into her own.
Sarah made no move to interrupt the act. A large part of her training had been simulated exposure to terrible, awful things, from orphans trapped in burning buildings to needing to feed from her own mother following a botched infiltration attempt. This sort of mission required heartlessness, there was no place for emotional conflict. Sarah approached the second filly, standing near the bed, and looking down at her.
"Good evening, little one." She said pleasantly, directing her attention away from what Peach was doing.
The little filly was blinking with its eyes, slowly becoming awake, partially lulled with the song that Peach had sung. When the little filly didn't recognise Sarah, she flung her eyes open and looked around, and when she saw what was happening to her twin sister, she gathered air to scream.
Sarah wasted no time, and pulled the young filly towards her. She let her Changeling mind take over, instincts which were usually very carefully kept buried. She did not assume her Changeling form, but did begin to gently shush the little girl, drawing forth from her memories and emotions. Removing from her the very essence that gave her energy. "Be still now, this will only take a moment."
Happy days running around the lake with Yogurt... The first time her mother had taken the two to a harvest dance.. Visiting Uncle Hayseed... when her cutie mark had appeared... the pride and joy of these things filled Sarah as she quickly drew the dreams, hopes and memories from the little filly, who merely sighed, her eyes rolling up into her head. Power surged inside Sarah.
"Put her down gently and tuck her into bed." Peach ordered, a hoof stroking the mane of the other girl who had fallen unconscious. She leaned down whispered something into the filly's ears and kissed her cheek.
She wasted no time in obeying, he had what she needed. The filly was tucked back into bed, very gently. Sarah mentally commanded her coat to return to its normal blue shine, up until now it had been faded as if someone had used too much bleach, an effect which made her look malnourished or sick. "I'll have a few choice words for my commanding officer." She growled quietly.
Peach sneered back. "What's it to you, grubling? I've filed and fed away more than you'll count. But Peach loved her fillies and so do I for the same reason." Shaking her head, wings unfolded from her back as she dropped her disguise, walking over to the window. She dug into the saddle bag, taking out the ledger and burned it with a quick spell. "Are you ready? Better keep up." And with that she jumped cleanly from the window sill, wings fluttering and trailing a bee line across the peach trees. The point of no return for Sarah.
Sarah waited only a moment after Peach had gone. She leaned down to kiss each of the fillies on the head. "I'm sorry," She whispered, and then took after Peach, silken wings materializing from her back and lifting her into the air. She wasn't quite as fast, but she was determined. "I'm coming!"
The hive awaited her.