//------------------------------// // Chapter XVIII - Misdirection // Story: Collateral // by Ogopogo //------------------------------// "...methyst. Amethyst!” the faint voice repeated. The pain in my head announced itself proudly just as I opened my eyes to look directly into the light overhead. Groaning, I rolled over, curling slightly into a ball. The voice sighed. “At least we know he is in good health.” It tutted. I managed to get my hooves under me, and slowly rose. Gently trying to shake the ache from my head. “Masters, what hit me?” “That is what we are trying to figure out,” Luna replied, coming into focus from a blue blur. “That, and what happened to the laboratory.” I ignored the second question but tackled the first. “Well, I think you have a little more to worry about.” “Pray tell, why is that?” she asked. “Well, there are more changelings involved.” “What?” she exclaimed. I winced at the volume. “Not so loud, please...” She ignored that. “Do you know if they are from the invasion?” I shook my head. The mere motion set my head pounding. “No, not unless there were any male changelings the size of Celestia, running around Canterlot. Oh, and the blue mane was kind of a give-away.” Luna frowned. “As size implies power, if what you said was true... Why would he appear now? After all that has happened, what does he stand to gain?” Her eyes refocused on me. “What do you make of it, Amethyst?” “Sorry. Can't think straight through this headache.” She leaned forward, and placed her horn near my head. It glowed a soft blue and the pain receded like the tide. “Better?” I nodded. “Much.” “Could you better explain this stallion’s appearance?” “Not much more than that,” I admitted, sighing in reluctance. I could have described the way he had looked at me, but I just could not put the emotion in words. “They hit me head, dazing me.” “What about Private Cake?” Luna questioned. The guard had been laid out on the floor, and a few nurses dabbed at his forehead with a wet cloth. His helmet rested beside him, a sizable dent in the back of it. I shuddered to think what would have happened had he not been wearing it. “He tried to tackle him and got shot back into the wall for his troubles.” “And what of the screams that were heard by the servants?” “You see those scientists and doctors anywhere?” Luna blanched. “You mean...” I nodded. “He took them.” She was silent for a moment.“Celestia will not be pleased to hear this. We have no means of finding any of them either. Am I to understand that it was he who torched the laboratory?” My poker face could sure use some work. “Amethyst...” Luna growled, glaring at me. “What did you do?” Real smooth, Amethyst. “Did you say that they could examine Liotic’s body?” “No, but that is beside the –” “Then why did I find them ready to start dissecting her like some sort of lab rat?” “W-What!” she sputtered. “We specifically said to –” I held my hooves out wide. “Then how do you explain this?” Luna looked at the burnt room, then back to me, eyes narrowed. I followed her gaze, seeing nothing but ash. “They were preparing to cut her open when I got there,” I added. “Amethyst... We saw her body being brought up by a guard as we were coming down here.” The hell? Nopony had known about what I was intending to do except Private Cake, Tirith and... Holy shit. “Luna, where did you see them.” “Just near Cytri’s room, why do you ask?” I opened my mouth to tell her, but hesitated. Luna didn’t need to worry about potential changelings in the guard on top of these new changelings. Actually, there was a distinct possibility that the guards utterly loyal to Luna and Celestia might be outnumbered by changelings in disguise, traitors and ponies who really didn’t care what happened to us, like the five from the showers. I suspected the last group would make up the majority of them. So instead, I lied. “Nothing, just happy to see that they received the body. Still, why were they even let near the body? Celestia said she would prevent this from happening.” “I’m not sure,” Luna admitted. “They did come to us and try and change our decision a few days prior, but we were firm with our decision. They must have went around us to someone else with the authority to grant their request.” “Such as...” “Princess Cadence, Captain Shining Armour, General Breeze and Prince Blueblood are the only individuals with the power, though parliament and a few other groups could override our decision.” My brows furrowed. “I thought you had final say.” “For the most part, we do. However, say General Breeze thought it prudent to study Liotic’s body for purposes of national defense. He could contest our decision, forcing parliament to deliver a verdict. It goes without saying that they are not the most sympathetic to changelings at the present time.” “So he –” A raised hoof cut me off. “No. The general is away from Canterlot at the moment.” “Then who?” “We are not sure. If you would excuse me, I’ll make some inquiries into the matter.” I knew it was coming, it was just a matter of asking. “And –” “You will remain here until Private Cake recovers. At that point, you are to return to Cytri and ask her a few questions. Extra precautions must, and will, be put in place to assure this doesn’t happen again.” I had half a mind to tell her that it mattered little what she wanted. With that power, these new changelings could simply do and take whatever he pleased. Still, she might have had a wild card somewhere in that starry mane of hers. I knew that in a fight, I myself wouldn’t last even a second against him. If he was still around, I’d have to watch my step. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cake must have been hit much harder than his helmet’s dent let on. He was out for well over an hour more than even me. The sleep spell which had been put on me still lingered, and I had to fight the urge to lie back down and doze off. The nurses attending to him couldn’t help much, simply dabbing at his head with a wet cloth. There must have been a better way to wake him. Once he was on his hooves, he seemed steady enough, though he still glowered at me. Yet regardless of what happened, he refused to say a word. Was this guy mute or something? I think Cytri was a little surprised when she opened the door and saw me there, though I’m not sure whether she was pleasantly surprised. If I had to guess from her stuttering, she almost opened her mouth to speak in Equestrian before she realised her close mistake. Cytri would never have been able to infiltrate Canterlot. She would have been far too sloppy to escape unnoticed. Couldn’t say I would have done any better, to be honest. Great at illusions, poor at acting. “Greetings, Amethyst,” she said. “Hello, Cytri,” I replied. “Could I come inside to talk to you for a few minutes?” “Is it just you?” “Of course.” Many heads turned my way as I stumbled into the room, and I was given a better chance to see just how battered they were. Hell, some of my worst flight crashes had me less injured than some of these changelings. Torn wings, cracked chitten, deep gouges… Many of them lay on soft mattresses laid out around the room in place of full beds. “Am...” Cytri hesitated, obviously wanting to ask me something. “Yes?” Cytri looked down to the ground, shying away from me. “It’s nothing,” she muttered. “What is it?” “It’s nothing,” she insisted. “It isn’t right of me to ask you.” I sighed. “Look, whatever it is, I’m sure I can help you.” She looked back up at me. “I know you can, it is not a question of that.” Ok, now this was starting to get irritating. “Then tell me!” I exclaimed. “I can’t read your mind!” She seemed taken aback by my outburst, and some of the changelings around the room eyed me warily. Cytri recovered, looking around the room at the others. “” she explained in Changic. ‘Energy’ was not really the precise translation, but it was a good enough synonym. There was no real translation for the energy we received from emotion. “” She seemed almost ashamed of the request. “That’s it?” Her mouth fell open, her eyes wide in surprise, and she jerked her head back. “What?” Oh, great. This was probably some changeling taboo I didn’t know about. “Alright, tell me what I did wrong, and remember, I didn’t grow up in a hive.” I cut her off with a raised hoof. “Scratch that, just tell me how I can give you energy and lets get on with it.” “Um, just focus on bringing your...” She paused as she realized the translation issue. “Bring your energy to your horn like you were going to cast a spell. I can do the rest.” The magic flowed up to my jagged horn as I focused, the pool of energy Marmalade had given me bubbling. I had to say, it was an odd feeling, just holding it there. It was like holding my breath before a dive, in freefall. Focused on that, I didn’t notice Cytri’s part in this, and I realized why she didn’t want to ask it. Her horn touched mine and I felt the energy began to cross to hers, our faces only centimetres apart. Her face was flushed red, and mine quickly copied the shade. We avoided each other’s eyes. More than just the proximity was an apparent sense of closeness brought about by our magic. To pull energy from me, her magic had to slightly intermingle with my own. When I felt that she had taken enough (just over half my reserves), I took a step back, ending the connection. Cytri nearly fell forward, hastily recovering and scrambling to turn her back to me. I averted my gaze and found great interest in the ceiling. Colourful frescoes! Some of the changelings watching us found our reactions amusing, chuckling. I glared at the lot of them. Yet, I guess the display did boost their trust in me, something I sorely needed after my talk with Tirith. The overall impression I got was that they were no longer uneasy with me. Rather than speak to me, Cytri hid beneath her mane as she moved about the room, repeating the procedure with some of the other changelings. Her apparent embarrassment faded as she distributed the energy. “Amethyst.” I turned, trying to see who had called for my attention. It hadn’t been Cytri. A changeling mare waved me over from where she lay. She was small by pony standards, but I imagined still a little undersized by changeling ones. The chitin of her rear legs were almost completely shattered, judging by the sheer number of cracks which ran through them. Canterlot, or capture? “” she stated. “” I replied in Changic. “” “” I looked back over my shoulder at Cytri still working her way around. “” “” the mare said, sighing contentedly. “” “” The stallion lying next to her coughed. “” He opened his mouth to say something more, but stopped when he noticed Cytri approaching. “” Cytri said. “” I thought I had been doing better with the changeling language, but I still missed the rest of what the changeling mare said. It took a few seconds for Cytri to pass off the energy to him, before repeating the process with Nulta. Finally, she turned to me, finally able to look me in the eye. “” “” Cytri’s eyes bulged. “” “” Coming off as selfish would not do, especially at this point in our diplomatic relationship... “” She licked her lips. Marmalade had given me a little more than I had let on. I just didn’t want our relationship to be public just yet. There was way too much going on to have to worry about that. I just prayed that Luna did the smart thing and kept her mouth shut about barging in on us. “" “” I rolled the words over my tongue, trying to avoid telling her something I shouldn’t. I didn’t want to cause panic, or anything to that effect. If that changeling had been here to help them, he would have done so already, assuming he hadn’t already. However, I doubt they would still be in this room if he had. “Well, not so much Luna as me. I’m sure I saw a changeling. Just a glimpse.” Confusion shifted to concern. “" Cytri stumbled over the words, speaking rapidly. “” I assured her. “” Gatith and Nulta perked up at the news. With some discomfort, they squirmed upright. However, Cytri had returned to confusion, raising a hoof to her muzzle in thought. “” Nulta offered. “” Cytri pleaded. “” She stamped her hoof in frustration. “” “” This argument was making no sense. “” I protested. “” “” Gatith ordered. “” “” It was a word I had been missing before. I had heard it murmured before, but only now did I recognize the changeling phrase for what they considered outsider. It was a combination of a few words, and they seemed to mean more literally, “one outside the family”. I didn’t know if I had just been insulted or not. Cytri took advantage of my momentary lapse of silence to push her argument. Still, she approached the argument seemingly shy and frightened. “” They chittered in disagreement. “” The mare turned to me. “” Cytri deflated, and I knew there was no sense of continuing. I knew if she stood up to them, she would have been heard. Instead, she crumbled like ruins in the desert. Oh, well. Snorting, I trudged outside, ignoring Private Cake for the few steps it took to reach the adjacent room. The doors slammed solidly against the wall when I stomped inside. I already knew that Tirith was going to make my foul mood even worse. The sight and scent of hundreds of flowers greeted me when the door opened. There was not a single plant I recognized. They had to be ones only changelings knew about. Then where had he even gotten them from? Litotic’s body lay on a table covered in white satin, a wide strip rising to cover her eyes and the bridge of her nose. She was nearly submerged by the ocean of flowers set expertly around her. The blooms’ colours were muted and somber tones, save for a pair of white... what looked like some sort of lily clutched in her hooves. Underneath, where her heart would have been, a bolt of black silk hid the hole. Tirith actually hissed when he saw me “Leave at once.” I gulped; he looked ready to fight. “I just wanted to–” “I know what happened,” he snapped, interrupting me before I could finish. “I am well aware what you let them do to her.” “Hold on a moment! I didn’t do anything, and I certainly didn’t let them try to experiment on her!” He snorted, placing the flowers he was holding back in the pile. “If that is what actually happened, he wouldn’t have brought her here. A favour we will have to repay to him and his hive later on.” He screeched, angrily. “That changeling with the blue mane, he attacked me! How do you expect me to do anything?” “I didn’t. She was a fool to trust you.” He shook his head. “Fine, I was weaker than him, but I didn’t see you doing any better!” “Explain.” “I thought your job was to protect the other changelings? How did that work out?” His narrowed eyes sought to smite me where I stood. “Out of all the changelings here, you seemed to be the only one who wasn’t hurt. If you’re actually as good as you say you are, I’d wager you just protected yourself and none of the others.” “False assumptions kill.” Tirith let go of the satin he was holding in his hooves. I gave no thought to my words before they left my mouth. “Well, they told me you were supposed to protect Cytri. Fat lot of good that did for her. A cracked lens? How–” As it turns out, Tirith could move very fast. In an instant, he crossed the distance and smashed a hoof into my jaw. I staggered backwards, nearly falling over. “Do not assume what–” This time, I silenced him. My hoof didn’t have nearly the force behind it, but it did the job. He barely flinched. He swept my legs out from under me, his hoof meeting my chin in an uppercut as I fell, flipping me onto my back. He snagged my horn in the holes in his leg and pulled my head up painfully. “I thought not.” He dragged me to the door, knocked it open, and threw me out. Groaning, I rolled back over onto my hooves. Spots danced across my vision. The guards looked like they wanted either to laugh or ignore the matter entirely. Damn, Tirith could hit hard. There was no reason to pursue the matter, and I could imagine the response I would get if I went back to see Nulta. “Let’s go,” I grumbled to Private Cake. Without a word, he fell in alongside me. Seriously, did he ever say anything? He’s about as talkative as a boulder. Next stop was to go check in with Marmalade and see how her cousins were doing. I was most worried about Flare. There hadn’t been any news of his condition, and Boulder hadn’t left his side to come tell us. He wasn’t doing well. I just hope he wasn’t doing too poorly. The doctors and nurses barely glanced upwards from their work, and I walked through trying to see my friends. A flood of sadness hit me, nearly strong enough to make me cry out in shock. I had found Boulder and Marmalade, that was for sure, but I knew it wasn’t good news. They sat in a shaded corner on a large plush chair. Boulder had his head buried in Marmalade’s shoulder, and his body shook with silent sobs. Marmalade was trying to comfort him, her legs wrapping around him into a tight hug, but the sobs didn’t stop. She looked up with tears in her eyes when I drew near. “Oh, Amethyst,” she murmured. “What happened?” I asked quietly. Boulder didn’t even seem to notice my presence. Marmalade rose from the seat, propping Boulder against the cushion. He kept his head bowed. “Let’s go somewhere else for this.” Around the corner was far enough to get out of earshot of Boulder. Whatever it was, we didn’t need to be reminding him of his brother’s condition. “What happened?” I asked again. Marmalade rushed forward and embraced me, screaming into my shoulder, shaking. I returned the hug, pressing her into my chest. A couple of ponies walked past, glancing at the sound of the noise. At my sharp glare, they averted their gaze and picked up their pace. “Amethyst, Flare didn’t come through.” Marmalade said, cheek pressed against my throat, her words muffled slightly. “They had no choice but to amputate his legs below the knee before the infection spread any further.” Masters, no... Anger swelled in my heart, boiling. It may have been his Flare’s choice and will to ignore the pain that his body used to beg him to stop, but I wasn’t guiltless. I was just as responsible as him, and he ultimately paid the price for both of us. Perhaps it might have been different had there been nothing I could have done, but that was not the case. I swallowed my guilt, but my voice was still choked. “How’s Boulder taking it?” “He refused to believe it at first, but the doctors... Gem... Boulder and Flare are farmers. Their fields are their livelihood. Without his legs...” She did not need to finish that statement. “Boulder has accepted it now, but it doesn’t make it any easier for him when he has to go back home.” “Should I go talk to him?” She shook her head slowly. “He needs some time to himself, Amethyst. Just leave him for now.” “What about you?” “Well... I’m not sure. I think I should speak to the Princesses – Princess Luna. She’ll want to know about this.” I followed Marmalade towards the exit. I didn’t need to be a changeling to tell how the bad news was tearing at her. Her body and spirit sagged under the weight of Flare’s condition, as I knew my own did. “I needed to go check with her too,” I admitted. “Guess I’ll come with you.” Marmalade pressed in close to me, rubbing shoulders with me. Sighing, I returned the gesture, unsure of what would come next. Even with everything that had happened to me, I still felt like nothing was in my control. Well, at the very least, making up with Marmalade had been all on me, but so many of the situations I was being forced into or had walked into I had so little say in. It was a sudden realization that angered me. Even now, I was being carted around upon Luna’s request, restricted by a guard to do what I needed to do. No, I wasn’t angry at Luna – I understood her concerns and worries. But that didn’t make the situation any more pleasant for me. More than ever, I wanted to just ditch the castle and go searching for those responsible on my own. But with only one guard, and still being forbidden from taking a disguise, entering the city again would be a death wish, especially with those protestors at the gates. What were they even protesting? They weren’t happy that changelings were in the castle. But what did they want? Did they really expect Celestia and Luna, the wise and just, to bypass the ancient justice system? That hatted pony probably knew all about what it meant and what they were hoping to accomplish. It was just a matter of finding him, which was the whole problem to begin with. If rocks were being thrown at the castle, like the one that broke through the stained glass windows, things probably would escalate quickly if something more were to happen. Still, what more could happen? The ponies could get restless, unhappy that nothing was changing, but they would probably just get tired of it after a while, and drop the matter. If more changelings were found, I expect it would strengthen their resolve, but I didn’t think it would do much more than that. I suddenly realised Marmalade had just asked me a question. “Sorry, what?” I asked. “I said, what are you thinking about?” she repeated, cocking her head ever so slightly. “Have you seen outside the castle lately?” I asked. She nodded. The tone of her emotions shifted to those of warm caring. “I heard about the protests from one of the doctors. Apparently they want the Princesses’ to turn you and the changelings over to them if they aren’t going to punish them.” A thought struck me. “What happened to the changelings they captured before I arrived?” Marmalade hesitated. “There really weren’t any. The only changelings found were the bodies of a few when they were blasted out of the city... I don’t think you could even call them bodies.” This conversation had taken a decidedly grim turn. “What happened to them?” “You’d have to ask Princess Luna. I don’t think anypony else knows.” I didn’t have a response for her. I guess I’d just have to add that to the long list of things I needed to know. Marmalade was the one who broke the silence again. “Do you know what time it is?” I blinked. “Um, is this some sort of trick question?” She bumped me with her shoulder. “I’m serious. What time is it?” “You expect me to know?” “So long as it’s before two, yes.” “Are you doing something then?” Marmalade groaned, draping a hoof over her eyes. “Yes! I’m having tea with Cadence at two. You were there when we made plans.” Oh, right... My response was interrupted by the sound of metal against marble. It was quickly getting louder. Marmalade and I scrambled back against the walls as a pack of guards came galloping around the corner, nearly flattening us. Below and above us, rock rumbled and steel sang on stone. “Hey! Do you mind!?” Marmalade shouted after them. “Sheesh.” A servant followed behind the sudden rush, sliding to a halt upon seeing us. He quickly recovered, standing up straight. “Princess Luna urgently requests your presence in the throne room. She asks you bring the changeling Cytri as well.” Great. What was it now... “Fine,” I sighed. “Tell her I’ll be there in a moment.” Once again, it seemed like my life had become little more than running around the castle on errands. Why was I still here? “Excuse me, but do you know what time it is?” Marmalade asked him. The stallion pulled out a pocket watch, flipping it open. “It’s one forty five at the moment, ma’am.” “Thank you,” she replied. He nodded and returned from where he came. “Well, I’ve have a princess to meet,” Lemon Marmalade declared. “I’ll see you in a while.” She leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek. I pulled her in for a hug. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “” I pleaded. Tirith stood at the door, denying me access. “” he replied. “” He snorted in contempt, his turquoise eyes flickering. “” “” I retorted. I nearly mispronounced a few words, almost telling him Luna would slap him with a tree. Well, I guess that wouldn’t be too off. “" “” Tirith narrowed his eyes. “" “” He fell silent, considering my offer. “” He fell silent. “” he called back into the room. “” came the response. “” “” Her response was dull, unenergetic. “” I asked, when she came out into the hall. She opened her mouth to say something, but Tirith wouldn’t have any of it. “” I suppressed the urge to buck him into next week. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with him? Yes, sure, Cytri’s mother just might have left him in charge of her protection, but that didn’t give him the right to boss her around like that. When Cytri tried to move up to speak with me, Tirith murmured something to stop her. By the time we arrived at the throne room, I was fuming. The silence had been stifling, only broken when Cytri tried to say something only to be cut off by him. He must have said something to her after I had left, telling her I was a bad influence or an insignificant outsider. Speaking of outsiders, I finally understood what he meant when he had called me that. Because I was not raised in a hive, because I knew little of their lives, I was somehow worth less. As an individual, I was beneath one of their own. It was a horrid viewpoint, one which I wanted to confront him over. Strange, what were so many guards doing here? Speaking of which, I hadn’t seen any guards on the way up besides Private Cake, whom I might just start calling Shadow. Six guards, a mixture of unicorns and pegasi, stood on either side of the door. “Hold still,” one of the unicorns said, lowering his horn. The glow of a preparing spell shimmered on his horn. Tirith planted a punch at the base of his horn. The unicorn cried out in surprise and pain. “” he hissed. The rest of the guards were within a hoof’s width from us by the time I managed to translate what Tirith had said. They withdrew reluctantly, eyes cold and focused closely on us as we edged past. I did not know what to expect as the doors creaked open. Through the crack, I was surprised to see Celestia upon her throne, her eye unbloodied yet still bandaged. Her face was twisted into a fierce scowl similar to the one Luna wore next to her. The doors finally opened far enough to see who they were looking at. My heart froze, missing a beat, and then another. Her hooves were bound in chains, and her neck menaced by the points of spears held by guards surrounding her, but she seemed barely fazed. Her black carapace was scratched and scuffed horribly, reflecting how she had probably lived for the past few days. Her mane and tail were equally unkempt, a deep cerulean tarnished by dirt and soot. Gossamer wings were folded along her back, and a long jagged horn rose from her skull. Even in spite of her chains, she held her head high, refusing to wilt beneath the simmeringly neutral gazes of the alicorns and the raw hatred radiating from the guards. It was the queen from the invasion of Canterlot; the same bitch who had started this whole mess. I recognised her from the photos in the papers. I was not the only one who recognised her. Cytri gasped, seizing up in shock, only to run towards her a second later. “Mother!”