//------------------------------// // Chapter XVII - Discovery // Story: Collateral // by Ogopogo //------------------------------// I woke up to the pounding of hooves on a door. Again. Marmalade’s forelegs tightened around my torso as I shifted. I turned my head so I wouldn’t shout in her face. “Give me a moment,” I answered. Marmalade began to stir at my call. Her eyelids had yet to lift open. Mumbling softly, she pulled me closer to her. Last night couldn’t have been more perfect. In spite of our love and the champagne Marmalade honoured my request, but the night had been no less passionate for it. I felt so perfectly content, her affection banishing all my aches and pains. The doors rattled as they were struck again. “Amethyst, we request thy presence at once.” Oh, cripes. Luna. “Just one moment!” I tried again. By now, Marmalade’s eyes had opened, though it would be a lie to call her awake. “Morning, Gem,” she cooed. Last night, Marmalade had coined the nickname for me: Gem. It was a bit embarrassing, but coming from her, I couldn’t just ignore it or even dislike it. “Morning, Marm’,” I replied, glancing back to the door. “Would you mind if –” For whatever reason, Luna had decided that she could not wait any longer. The doors to my room slammed open. Marmalade shrieked in fright, clinging to me tighter. “Amethyst!” Luna shouted, “Rouse yourself...” Finally noticing me and Marmalade, and the position we were in, she blushed, her cheeks coloured an almost complete magenta. She feigned a cough into her hoof, averting her eyes from us. “My apologies. This is important –” I sat up, rubbing my temple. “Luna, please, just get out.” “Of course,” she blurted. She hastily retreated outside, shutting the doors behind her. “Some wake-up call, huh?” Marmalade joked, reaching up to my head to pull it down. “Tell me about it,” I replied, then met her lips with my own, morning breath and all. As much as I would have liked, snuggling with Marmalade wasn’t really an option with one of the biggest power-players in Equestria waiting outside the doors. I rose from the bed and straightened the tangles from my mane. A mirror behind a door offered me a look at myself. I ran my hoof across my fin and went out to greet Luna. The blush was mostly gone from her cheeks, but Luna still couldn’t meet my gaze. “My apologies, Amethyst. I hadn’t realised you had bedded a mare.” “It wasn’t anything like that,” I countered quickly. I groaned and shook my head. “Look... just forget about it.” “I see.” Luna was quiet for a moment. She had been accompanied by two Lunar Guards today, and Private Cake still stood by the door in the spot where I had left him last night. “There is no easy way to put this,” she began, her mouth slumping into a tight frown. “Last night two more buildings were burnt to the ground, and another one almost joined them. Were that all, perhaps it could be dismissed as a freak occurrence.” “There’s more, of course,” I sighed. A weight settled in my gut. Luna nodded. “One of the fires the fire department couldn’t reach in time, but the other was because ponies held them back. What’s worse, the apparent reason for setting them alight was the belief that ponies who lived there were actually changelings. Of the two houses which burnt down, only one had ponies inside at the time. A stallion and his wife managed to escape with burns, but were beaten viciously until the fireponies rescued them.” This was nothing new to me. That hatted bastard’s plan was working. Ponies were playing right into his hooves, and no one was the wiser for it. “There’s... yet more, I’m afraid.” “What?” I exclaimed. “I’m sure you remember the changeling which was” – she grimaced – “displayed over the castle’s entrance. The spears were traced back to their owners, and two arrests have been made.” “Who are they?” I demanded. The poor changeling deserved justice, no matter what. “Sergeant Ocean Wind and Corporal Starlight.” The declaration came crashing down on me and the flame, hungry for justice, burning in my heart. Starlight and Ocean Wind? No. They couldn’t have. Never. “Are you sure?” “Positive. The spears, without doubt, belong to Starlight and Ocean Wind. The spears for the Royal Guard can only be removed from storage after magical identification.” “Let me guess, a process put in place after the invasion.” She nodded. I felt sick, like someone had punched me in the gut. The air was stolen from me; I didn’t understand why they would do that. It just made no sense. I trusted them. They knew what changelings were like, and they would never have stabbed me in the back like that. They had ample opportunity to do horrible things to me. “They didn’t do it,” I said. There was a tiny crack glimmering in Luna’s argument, but it was so slim that pursuing the lead would make me seem desperate. I didn’t know how, but they had been set up. “It just seems...” “So obvious?” Luna cut in. “I agree, Amethyst. I believe they are innocent. Though they would be taken to court, they would most likely be found guilty of nothing but improper care of their weapons, and disciplined.” “Then why have they been arrested?” Luna sighed, thinly veiled irritation present. “Sometimes due process has to be followed. If I simply pardoned them, how does that make me look? The law is the law, and even I have to follow it.” “Well, how long till they are on trial?” “A few weeks to a month,” she said. “That long?” I exclaimed. “The invasion caused quite a bit of damage and disruption to much of the city. A bit of a backlog has built up, as some ponies used the chaos as a chance to loot.” I opened my mouth, but snapped it shut quickly with a click. What if it had been made to be so obvious for a specific reason? No one in their right mind would make the crime so easy to trace back. That is, unless the apparent carelessness served its exact purpose. The hat... “Is something wrong, Amethyst?” Everything is. “No, nothing,” I said. The bastard gotten the government to play exactly to his rules. He had sown distrust within both the guards and the castle staff. Luna would be looking for someone with access to where the spears were kept, and she couldn’t trust anyone save her sister with the matter. A mole in the ranks was a lot more trouble to them than some random murderer outside the walls of Canterlot Castle. I had to admit, though, that even then it didn’t make too much sense. Short of causing confusion and headaches later on, what would the framing do? Everyone knew Star and Ocean didn’t do it. “Very well, then,” she replied. “While I know you are sensitive about sharing information on your magic, I was hoping you could shed some light on your abilities in light of the fight in the shower yesterday.” “What would you like to know?” Marmalade chose that moment to leave the room, yawning gently as she shut the door behind her. Her mane was tossed up into a ponytail and managed to look slightly better than mine. “Morning, Princess.” “Morning, Marmalade. Once again, you have my most sincere apologies for barging in like that.” She shrugged, choosing to remain silent. Luna turned back to me. “Amethyst, could you explain to me a little bit of your magic? I was doing some reading last night onto how to make illusions. They are not the simplest spells, and they require all of your attention. The glow of a horn also gives one away. What makes you so able to cast them so discreetly and easily?” Concentrating carefully, I created a miniature moon floating in the space before me. It was so detailed you could make out the very edges of craters if you looked closely enough. “Illusions are not something most changelings can do,” I explained with a hint of pride. “Well, all can, but realistic, proper illusions are difficult.” “It is so intricate, Amethyst,” Luna exclaimed in awe, peering at the shape. “How do you do this?” “Mirra explained it to me very well one time. Creating an illusion requires equal parts concentration and ignorance. Too much concentration, and the illusion will appear without any flaws, which will make it look too perfect, and that’ll trip up the target’s mind. If you place it too far back in your mind, it will be muddled and have too many flaws.” “I meant, how are you casting it?” Luna clarified. “Your horn gives no indication you are using any magic.” “I’m sure if it were a pitch black room, you might see a faint glow. I asked Mirra about it as well, once, and she told me just to accept that illusions use the entire body to cast rather than the horn.” “Is that what the holes in your legs are for?” Marmalade asked. More than once, I had seen ponies ask me if the holes in my legs hurt, or how they felt. That would be like me asking them if having legs without holes in them felt weird. “I don’t know.” “Who is this ‘Mirra’?” Luna asked after a moment of silence. “Well, that’s a rather big question,” I answered. “Mirra is the changeling who taught me everything I know about magic. She also answered any questions I had.” Most of the time. “She is an illusionist of the highest order.” “Are you one as well?” That got a chuckle out of me. Hopefully, when this is all done and done... “I’m her apprentice.” “Would you be able to contact her then? Certainly she must know more.” This got a bark of laughter from me. “I wish I could contact her. Not once did Mirra ever give me some way for me to do so. She came only when she wanted to, not when I asked her to. It’s been four years since the last day I’ve seen her.” That was true. Mirra had put my apprenticeship on hold, thanks to a decision she had refused to specify to me. Before the next daybreak, she’d left. “Are you certain about that, Amethyst?” Luna questioned me. “Surely there must be some way. A teacher never leaves their student without –” “There isn’t,” I insisted. “The –” Now I was being interrupted myself, when a beiged maned pegasus came dashing around the corner. “Princess Luna, one of the changelings wants something.” The alicorn’s eyebrows furrowed. “And what could that be?” “We have no idea,” he reported. “The only thing we can understand is ‘Amethyst.’” I knew where the next bit was going. “Marmalade, want to come see the other changelings?” “Thanks, Amethyst, but I’m just going to check on Boulder and Flare,” she replied. She turned to Luna. “Can you tell me where the medical wing is?” “I’ll have Shimmer Step take you there,” Luna answered. “I fear I have to return to work now. Please come and tell me of their request when you are done, Amethyst.” I was about to ask her why she couldn’t accompany me when I remember what Marmalade had said last night. Luna was swamped in work, mainly because of my actions. Shame filled my gut as Luna trotted away, all business. “Alright.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shimmer Step had said a changeling had been asking for me. It was Tirith. He stood impatiently, looking for all the world like he wanted to fly past the wary guards and search for me himself. “'There you are," he clicked when I came into sight. “'” “" I answered. He snorted, his face twisting in a scowl. "" "” I stumbled over the second part, nearly asking something entirely different, and a rather rude question at that. "" "" I asked. He shook his head. "" I couldn’t understand the next part. I couldn’t even guess. I relayed the request to the guards standing watch, and naturally they refused. I nearly snapped after them, before remembering what I had said to Marmalade. I needed to remain calm. “Look, we need to go elsewhere to discuss funeral arrangements. He doesn’t want to have to do it in front of the others.” They relented, and we were quickly escorted to the adjacent room. Thankfully the guards waited outside the doors rather than inside. We didn’t have to speak Changic, which made this much easier for me. “First off, where is her body?” Tirith asked. He wasn’t one to mince words. “Well, you see...” His eyes narrowed. “Where is the body?” Denial wouldn’t work, and he had fair right to see her. “I didn’t want to tell you in front of Cytri. I didn’t want her to know.” “And why would she not have the right?” he asked, testily. Barely contained fire boiled off his aura. “Because I didn’t think she could take it.” With Ocean Wind and Starlight having been framed, I was desperately buying time to figure out how to say it. I might trust them, but he sure as hell wouldn’t, not after what Liotic went through. “Out with it.” It wasn’t a command, it was an ultimatum. If I refused, all the trust they had in me would go down the drain, and my reputation dirtied even more. “Liotic wasn’t just murdered. She was mutilated and used as an example.” He blanched. “Mutilated,” he murmured, slipping back into Changic. “She was pinned to a wall with two spears through her eyes.” “Spears... This was the work of the Royal Guard. Wasn’t it?” “No, they were not!” I protested. “Ocean Wind and Starlight are innocent.” I realized what I had said just after I had finished saying it. Great job, Amethyst. “I thought you told us we could trust them.” “It wasn’t them that did it!” I insisted. “If they wanted to hurt me or any other changelings, they could have done it long ago. They were framed.” His eyes narrowed, and any emotion trickling from him all but stopped. I was losing his trust, and that of the captured changelings. “And what proof do you have of that?” “The pony who killed her left a calling card of sorts. It was the same pony who killed my parents, and just a few nights ago he tried to kill me again. He left his hat on her head, knowing that I would recognize it.” He studied me for a second. ”’Calling card’. A pattern should have been easy to trace,” he said, snorting derisively. “You believe so much in Equestrian incompetence?” “I do,” I stated. “Fool.” Asshole. “So what do you need me to do for the funeral?” I asked, trying to push another retort to the back of my mind. “I’m not sure I want you to do it now,” he shot back. “But what I want doesn’t matter.” He sighed. “All you have to do is burn Liotic’s body, magically. Simple enough task.” “You mean change her body to ash?” I questioned. “Yes,” he answered. “We are going to hold her funeral at seven in the garden. You are to arrive there at that time, and stay out of sight until you are called upon. Understood?” “Perfectly,” I answered, growling. He talked down to me like he was superior. “The other thing I need you to do is to get her body brought to this room. I need to prepare her as best I am able. That is all.” He didn’t even check to see if I acknowledged him before going to the door, leaving me to trot with Private Cake towards the throne room. All this travelling. From the throne room to my room, my room to another’s, the changeling’s room to the guards’ barracks. I wished I had put the effort to learn how to teleport, like the unicorns. Changelings had their own way to get around quickly, but that took quite a bit more effort, and a lot more energy. It was more the focus that was the problem, as it was a rather hard concept to grasp. That was the gist I got from Mirra’s words, before she left. My musing ate up the time it took to get to the throne room. The few guards standing at attention announced my presence, and then opened the doors. Luna looked up as I entered, wearily rubbing her eyes as she set down the quill. “What did Cytri want?” she asked. “They wanted to hold the funeral tonight at seven, and one of them wanted to prepare her body.” Luna sighed, flipping through a few papers resting on the arm of the throne. “There is a garden party I will have to delay, but I will make sure everypony attending understands that there is to be no negotiations on the matter. The chance for peace is worth one rescheduled party.” She licked her lips. “The body is being kept in the morgue at the castle infirmary.” “This place has a morgue?” I asked. She nodded solemnly. “There are more than a few castle staff and royal guardsponies who live out their last days under our care.” The quill was lifted and quickly scratched at a sheet of paper. She passed over the note to me. “This should be permission enough for them.” “Thank you, Luna,” I said, tucking it under the edge of my bandage. All good deeds deserve commendation. I cocked my head at the expression on Luna’s face. “What?” “Thank you?” she asked. “Have you been replaced by another changeling?” Ha bloody ha. I rolled my eyes. “If you don’t like it...” “We jest.” “I jest,” I said. Her smile slid off her face like oil off water. “Don’t push your luck.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Again I walked all the way across the castle. I must have walked more kilometres per day than a horseshoe reviewer. The infirmary must have been laid out as far away from the throne room as possible for a reason, but none came to my mind. Even though I thought I knew the route, I had wound up passing through a rather stunning hall I had never been in before. It must have cost a lot to build. Shame most people wouldn’t get to see it. The walls bore massive panes of stained glass, depicting some past events. More praise for the Princesses. Yet, I found my eyes drawn to one point on the glass, where sunlight streamed through in beams. It took a second, but I realized that there was actually no glass there, just a few scattered fragments on the floor, and a rock. Puzzled, I trotted over to the hole and peered out. Had it been a few days ago, I might have been surprised by what I saw. After what Luna told me, though, I sure wasn’t. A mob had gathered outside the castle, peaceful for the moment, but anger sparked in the air like lightning. It didn’t take much to guess that these were the same ponies who had probably burnt down the buildings last night. Quite frankly, there was nothing I could do to them. I stepped back from the window, and continued on my way. What did the pony with the hat want, anyway? Chaos? No one ever did anything without a reason, and he didn’t seem the type to revel and laugh whilst ponies burnt around him, so simple chaos probably wasn’t it. Fame and notoriety? That didn’t seem right either. He never led from the front. It was always from the shadows. He merely conducted and directed the will of the crowd. He didn’t lead them. I’d bet the moment he tried to, it would turn against him. There was no money to be had from his actions, unless it involved looting. But what was left? So he hates changelings, join the club. Why would he leave early then, instead of claiming monetary reward? The thoughts kept bouncing around my head, subtlety rewording themselves. Thank the masters we reached the morgue section as quickly as we did. I couldn’t bear thinking about these questions without answers anymore. Rather fitting room. The morgue was a well-lit, small room with a single examination table and desk. The lights cast a cold, white-blue shade on everything. There were no chairs, and the walls were a chalky medical green. Utilitarian, I supposed. A silver bell sat on the desk, unattended. Looking around, I gave a little shrug and rang it... only for nothing to happen. I rung it again. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” an irritated voice called out. A pale blue stallion stepped from around the corner. He didn’t look the happy to see me. “What is it?” he asked, crossing his hooves. “I’m very busy.” “I’m here to pick up the changeling.” “The one who was killed recently in the castle grounds?” he asked, unattached. “Yes, her.” “You’re a little late for that.” “Late?” I exclaimed. “What in hell do you mean late?” The stallion pushed me back with a hoof. “Late. Somepony has already come for the body.” “Somepony?” He gestured the book on the desk. “Check for a name.” Grumbling, I peered down at the text, looking for the last entry. My eyes widened, and my heart seized up when I saw it. I was already sprinting down the hall before it started beating again. They had been so unhappy that I hadn’t been willing to supply a chitin sample, that were going to take that and so much more from Liotic’s body. Doctor Swath had just signed for the body, and I had but minutes before they cut her open. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The door lasted all of two kicks before it burst inwards. At the center of the room, an operating table stood, occupied by Liotic’s body. Sweet Fields, Inspect, Swath and Caring stood oriented around the corpse, staring at me like I had grown a third head. Floating in the air I saw two surgical scalpels, though blessedly they were unbloodied. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing!?” I bellowed. They blinked, stupidly. My opinion of them plummeted past rock bottom in the silence. “We were just about to begin,” Sweet Fields offered. “We’re –” “Not that! What gave you the right to do this to Liotic?” Doctor Swath cleared his throat. “In the event of a murder, an autopsy is permitted to help produce a verdict.” “So let me guess,” I snarled, “you just happen to be doing research at the same time?” “Amethyst, you have to understand, we are trying to...” He faltered at the look in my eyes. “Get out,” I growled, “and take her outside with you.” “Hold on, wait,” he urged. “If you let us explain why –” “Get out!” I shouted. They hopped into action, carefully lifting Liotic onto a gurney. Under my close supervision they wheeled her out into the hall, a sheet covering her wounds. Doctor Caring gave a cry of protest when I took the clipboard from her and tossed it inside the room. Satisfied, I took a step back from the doorway and levelled my horn at the opening. A torrent of purple flames erupted from my horn, filling the room with fire. Nothing in there would survive. Private Cake tackled me before I could finish the spell. We landed hard, but lying on the floor, I could see that it had been enough. The room was blackened with ash that crumbled under its own weight. I shoved the guard off me and rose to my hooves. Each of the doctors looked like they were ready to tear my head off with what I just did. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Inspect growled. Deep frustration, hatred and sorrow made for a potent mix. “Yes. Yes I do.” “There was years of research in there. Years! And you just destroyed all of it! You fool!” Inspect’s face unexpectedly slackened. His eyes widened and rose from my face look at something over my shoulder. I felt the magical buzz a moment later, but by then it was too late to stop something from slamming into the base of my skull. Though I crumbled to the floor, I was only dazed, not unconscious. My head rang like a school bell. I could barely make out anything over that and the screams. Wait, screams? My gaze snapped up, but I couldn’t see anything through the spots in my sight. Blinking a few times, my vision cleared in time to see Sweet Fields sink into the floor, screaming. The fiery edges of a blue portal faded once she was under. “Please,” I heard Doctor Caring beg. “I–” “Silence,” the deep voice of a stallion roared. Where have I heard that accent before? “You do not get to–” A white-and-gold blur tackled him, or at least tried to. Private Cake slammed into a wall, and slumped down a moment later. The newcomer’s tall, slender figure radiated power. If I had been standing, the tip of my horn would still be beneath his chin. His mane and tail were as blue as the sea in summer. He returned his attention to Inspect, his horn lighting again to pull the doctor into the ground. The changeling had nothing but icy scorn in his blue-grey eyes, as he listened to Inspect’s screams and watched him be pulled under. When the portal closed, his head slowly turned to me. Time slowed, and I matched his gaze with my own. There was something I felt in his soul. I’ll confess, I’ve never felt anything like it before. It was an emotion I could not comprehend. It was there for a moment, then it vanished. “” he said in Changic. A prick on the back of my neck and my body suddenly felt like lead. Though I still tried to rise, it was utterly futile in the face of the urge to rest. Even my eyelids were similarly affected, and drooped lower, and lower, and...