//------------------------------// // 14 - The Other Queen Comes Over to Play // Story: Love Lost // by Eeveexpert //------------------------------// Metal ground against asphalt as one particular cover slowly tilted open, allowing just enough space for a set of glowing purple eyes to peer out from the darkness underneath. Their owner swung them to the left and to the right, both plotting out a path and making sure the coast was clear. Fortunately, Manehattan had been swathed under night's starry blanket for a good few hours. The odd streetlamp flickered erratically, its glow tinged yellow from the glass long overdue for cleaning. Any walking under it would no doubt appreciate the little bit of light and yet there was not a soul to be found. In a movement faster than the untrained eye could see, the sewer cover tilted back a few inches more and a shadow jumped from the pit below. Its rapid movement didn't cease until it had found another clump of darkness in the nearby alleyway. The lighter pieces of litter behind the trash can chosen as shelter shifted from the shadow's arrival. The dark creature waited but a moment to assure himself that his flight had gone unnoticed. When sufficiently confident enough, the changeling stepped away from the metal cylinder and further into the dark alleyway. The Miasma soldier moved as silently as the shadow he resembled. The narrow brick corridors between the countless Manehattan buildings were his second home and he knew them just as well as his first. Thus far, every stop the soldier made to glance out onto the sidewalk had only served to prove the streets completely empty. After the sixth pause, the changeling bared his fangs in a silent hiss of frustration. Six stops and not a damn thing! Most hunts usually weren't this monotonous. Fed up, he finally trudged back into the darkness. "C'mon, Velvet, put that list down and hear me out." "I don't want to hear it, Strap. I told you before we left that this trip was strictly business. Nothing more." The new voices had not yet finished ringing against the changeling's ears before he was back at the alley's corner. He chanced one swift look around the wall to identify his prey. Yellow earth pony, lavender unicorn. His quick eyes took in the entire scene, letting him slip back into hiding in mere seconds. The mare carrying the list... She's already distracted. I'll take the earth pony. Fully engrossed in their respective interests, the two ponies continued down the sidewalk, unaware of the danger that each step brought them closer to. The conversation passed his hiding spot...and the soldier struck like lightning. One hoof went around the yellow stallion's neck, the other his mouth, ripping him from his companion's side. Without missing a beat, the Miasma soldier spun his prey to face him. A hypnosis spell flashed from the changeling's pupilless eyes. No control of his mind meant no control of his limbs. A pile of trash provided the earth pony's limp body with a cushioned, if rather unsanitary, landing. The changeling studied the unconscious heap to better assume his appearance. One more spell disguised the soldier's black carapace under this very same appearance. "Thanks for the face," he snickered, unable to resist a victorious jeer. "I'll bring it back shortly." The fake pony slipped from the shadowed corridor and trotted off in pursuit of his other victim. This time, subtlety was thrown to the wind. The instant he came within hoof's reach, the mare was twisted around to face the hypnosis spell emanating from his eyes. The changeling’s extremely forward assault would have been flawless, were it not for the unseen witness behind him. Whump! A blinding flash went off in the back of the Miasma's soldier's head and he hit the cement like a wet sack. "Wh-what happened?" Freed from the hypnosis spell, the unicorn mare staggered backwards, shaking her head. "Who are you-" she added upon catching sight of the newly arrived unicorn stallion. "Walk away." the gray pony ordered. "Find your friend." No qualms were given in the face of such a rigid command. The mare backed away slowly before finally turning and sprinting down the sidewalk. So far, everything has gone according to plan and the full moon should be directly overhead... Disguised eyes were turned skyward. Right on time. ------------------------- Any plan expected to succeed requires two things above all else; careful preparations and a leader capable of seeing these preparations through to fruition. Blackfin's recent incursion into the Miasma hive fulfilled both of these conditions. The five soldiers with him were well aware of their objective, but one final debriefing was in order. Once they entered the enemy hive, there would be no further opportunities for questions. Blackfin was the first one onto the beach. One look around verified that he was indeed alone upon the sand. He gave a subtle nod that summoned the rest of his party from the rolling surf. "Listen up. This is Miasma territory under our hooves, so I shall keep this brief. This is a terminal strike; every last Miasma soldier within the enemy's hive must be slain. Our task is to sabotage six key points in the sewer system and bottleneck all activity to the main chamber for Queen Myxine's arrival, before which she will seal her entry point." During his speech, Blackfin's magic had been sketching out a rudimentary map of several city blocks. "These five points will be your access to the hive." The changeling pointed in turn to five small circles etched in the sand. "The tunnels at these points have collapsed and fallen into disuse. They will no doubt be deserted, but in the instance that you come across any of the enemy, slay them quickly and quietly. You are not to spill a single drop of blood. This strike must be made to appear as an accident. Once you have broken the line, proceed to the main chamber to assist with the final eradication. I will sabotage the main line, located here. This will introduce the greatest volume of water into the main chamber. Are your tasks clear?" "Crystal!" "Excellent. Miasma's soldiers will be on the streets hunting at this time. Each of you are to locate one of them; eliminate him and assume his pheromones and appearance. Be swift, I want you in the tunnels before the moon reaches its highest point. Good luck. May Her Majesty's favor be with us." Each of the five soldiers flashed themselves into the guise of an average pony. Blackfin watched as they galloped away toward the Manehattan skyline. Finally, he glanced up at the light of the full moon to note the time. His own disguise, a gray unicorn stallion, followed soon after. ------------------------- All right, this is the entrance that Blackfin marked. A blue aura took hold of the round cover that was the doorway to the fetid pit below. Near total darkness enveloped the Hagfish soldier once the lid grated back into place. As the harsh metallic sound faded away down the corridor, the only sound left to the changeling's ears was the sloppy gurgling of the sludgy muck flowing alongside the narrow walkway. Never once had the soldier wished to discover where the children of Miasma had gotten their signature odor and now that he had seen it, never would he wish to smell it again. A quick swallow suppressed the sour bile rising in the back of his throat. His steps down the walkway were slow and methodical. He walked upon a knife's edge; every hoofstep carried with it the potential to unravel the whole of his mission. Any sound that was not his own froze the soldier in his tracks. All the while, he kept his eyes trained upon a dim magenta glow leaking from a wall far in the darkness. The closer the changeling got to this glow, the closer his belly came to the ground, until it brushed against the slimy, mildewed masonry. An exasperated tone halted him at the edge of the crude hole. "We haven't used this tunnel in years. What exactly am I to be repairing again?" "Her Majesty wants all of the sewer lines properly sealed and repaired. She does not want to return to a flooded hive. Do you hear those drips? It is because we haven't used this tunnel in years that you hear them. Get that line repaired at once." Sewer line... The Hagfish soldier looked around the gloom until finding the source of the spoken of drips. A massive pipe hung from the ceiling, the bolts holding it together rusted and worn from the years of exposure to the disgusting humidity of its home. At intervals one could keep time with, a single drop of water squeezed from the rusted joints to hit the ground with a wet plink! "Really?" "Not my orders. Get to it." "Fine..." Soft hoofsteps, along with an unintelligible grumbling, floated to the waiting ears of the Hagfish soldier. They became ever louder before the purple-backed owner of both stepped into the dark corridor. The intruder was so close he could have reached out and tapped the other changeling on the shoulder. He went for a slightly more aggressive approach. In a single fluid move, two hooves went around the neck of the unsuspecting Miasma changeling, a hoof around each of his hind legs, and his attacker's momentum carried them both into the filthy sewer water. The way he had tackled the enemy soldier left the Hagfish intruder in complete control. All his victim could do was flail about with his two forelegs, with the pitch black water ensuring that said flailing was horribly ineffective. No matter how he twisted or turned, the Miasma changeling remained face down under his attacker. Water was the Hagfish's domain. He knew he was good as dead and yet his inherited stubbornness kept him struggling. In response to this thrashing he felt the hoof around his neck tighten sharply, to which his instinct responded by forcing an involuntary cough from his mouth. It was too dark underwater to see anything, but he could feel his eyelids growing heavy. Come on, damn you! The sapphire-backed soldier yanked against his prey's neck again. One final stream of bubbles leaked from the Miasma's mouth. He went limp shortly afterwards. The Hagfish changeling released the dead soldier and bobbed back to the surface. Water streamed off his carapace as he hauled himself from the channel. It took him no time to relocate and mount the pipe that was his target. It vibrated greatly from the pressure of the water rushing through. A blue aura enveloped the weakened flanges, eroding them little by little, until... Knnnng! The aged pipe let out one last groan before shearing apart. The newly freed water raced down the tunnel like a wild beast out for blood. The flooding of the Miasma hive had begun. ---------------------- With both Queen Miasma and Centurion Arnyx away from the hive, acting duty had been passed down to Rutoan. He remained in the main chamber, wherein he could most easily keep tabs on all of the various goings-on. The light tap of a hoof upon his shoulder broke his attention away from the constant milling of activity. "Rutoan, sir!" "At ease." The hailed changeling accepted the gesture with a dismissive wave. "Are the repairs of the west tunnels underway?" "Indeed they are. Just as was ordered." "Excellent. Report to the eastern tunnels then. Assist in any way you can. The sooner we can get those lines attended to the better." "Of course. I'm already the-" Knnnng! "Hold on soldier, what was that sound?" No further words were exchanged between the two changelings. Their ears were tuned to any other noises following the curious sound down the tunnel. "Get back down that tunnel and make sure that pipe is fixed! I don’t want to take any chances!” Rutoan shoved his hivemate back into the tunnel mouth at the same time a massive wall of water came barreling out of it. It was only thanks to his reflexes that Rutoan was able to dive from the oncoming water, unlike his fellow soldier. "That's what he calls fixed!?" Rutoan hissed. "Damned idiot! What in the name of Tartarus was he doing up there!?" ------------------------- The newly broken sewer main was indeed putting out a tremendous flow all on its own. However, it was but one of six and the others were about to follow suit. On the eastern side of the hive, another Hagfish changeling had just dropped into the same darkness. He replaced the sewer cover behind him and looked about the enemy tunnel. It was very much what he had expected; black everywhere and the thick slopping of filthy water providing the only ambient noise. Despite the alien environment, he knew exactly where the pipe would be. His mere presence in the hive of the enemy gave the soldier every excuse to keep his steps completely silent. The tunnels had been reported disused and empty, but caution was the word of the night. He stuck to every available shadow, moving with the utmost deliberation. "What a damn waste of my time..." The Hagfish soldier froze in place at the voice that was obviously Miasma in origin. "We haven't used this tunnel in years..." the voice muttered. "I don't even know where this damned pipe is..." A sound other than the voice reached the ears of the concealed soldier. The steady click-click of hoofsteps upon stone. Hoofsteps approaching his position. If there was any time to be utterly silent, it was now. The intruder made one final motion and it was only to press himself as close to the wall as possible. Even the act of breathing was out of the question. Sewer walkways are notorious for being extremely narrow and even with the Miasma changeling walking along the far edge, there would be just enough room for the two of them. The Hagfish changeling was little more than a slightly misshapen shadow against the damp wall as the hooves of the enemy soldier fell upon the stone a fraction of an inch from his nose. The purple-backed soldier carried on down the path, muttering to himself and completely unaware of the danger rising to its hooves behind him. No breaths came from the Hagfish soldier and his heart beat furiously. He had one shot. One mighty heave bashed the side of the unsuspecting soldier's head into the sewer wall. Before he had time to stop reeling from the dazing impact, he was wrestled into the channel, where he disappeared with a thhhp! Several moments later and a single, sapphire-backed changeling emerged from the channel. He glanced back at the sludgy water. "And stay down." he mouthed. The Hagfish child turned to resume his mission and found himself staring into a set of empty eyes. Behind these soulless eyes was one of the many frail, emaciated husks that walked amongst the children of the Miasma hive. The skeleton of a pony stared at the intruder blankly, as if sizing up this new changeling before him. Instinct had dropped the intruding soldier into a fighting stance, wings flared and fangs on full display and yet, the unblinking eyes remained fixed upon him eerily. Mystified, the blue-shelled changeling stood up. Just when I couldn't think any lower of Miasma's hive, I find this dull creature. For how long it had done absolutely nothing, the husk was the first to break the staring contest. On legs barely strong enough to bear its own weight, the starved, tattered pony turned and began shambling away. He knew nothing of what was passing through the husk's hypnosis-clouded mind, but Queen Myxine's child knew enough to know that the witness could not be left alive. Yet, there was something that stayed his hoof for an instant. Was it pity? Spent on this...pathetic excuse of a life? The solid crack! provided by a magically-suspended chunk of concrete put an end to both the husk's servitude and the changeling's hesitation in the same instant. Keeping this sack of bones alive just to feed your lust for power... Disgusting. With no further witnessess or defenders, another of the sewer mains easily fell to the Hagfish incursion. ------------------------- "Dammit! Was that another one!?" Back in the hive's main chamber, the water level wasn't the only thing rising. With every tunnel that began spewing water, more and more changelings poured into the chamber. Their panicked attitude spread quickly. "Calm down, dammit!" Rutoan's shouting was all but drowned out by the rushing water, the rapid buzzing of hundreds of wings, and the general air of chaos. Frustration ground his fangs against one another. Finally, he grabbed one of the many panicking soldiers and shoved him against the wall. "Listen to me!" the temporary centurion roared into his face. "Calm down, or so help me, I'll throw you into that water myself!" The pinned soldier's eyes remained wide and his words ran fast with fear. "I can't! The hive is flooding! Her Majesty will be furious! We'll all be-AAAAGH!" Rutoan removed his fangs from his hivemate's shoulder and cuffed the other changeling across his mouth. "Dammit, Tirin! I'll tear you apart if you don't get a hold of yourself! Now get up that tunnel and get that pipe fixed!" The acting centurion's temper paused as he felt something lapping against his hooves. A quick look revealed the sensation to be exactly what he had thought. The water pooling in the hive's main chamber had grown at a frightening rate, fed by the efforts of the Hagfish changelings in the tunnels. The pool had breached the ledge he was standing on, licking at his hooves. Before his tongue could utter any curses at the climbing water, his eyes spotted a shadow sliding under its murky brown-gray depths. Its movement stopped mere feet from his perch, where it slowly began rising toward the surface. "That horn... No..." Like some ancient, majestic beast of the sea, the queen of the Hagfish hive rose from the pool, water streaming from her glistening carapace. Only one word managed to escape Rutoan's mouth. "Myxine..." The intruding queen offered no reply, but instead affixed the enemy changeling with a stare that told him one thing. No other hive is as adept at nonverbal communication as Queen Myxine and her children and so it was that Rutoan came to understand the dark intent in her eyes. In their cold sapphire depths he saw not only his own fate, but the fate of his home. It had not been said, but he knew this would be his last night. As if in accompaniment to this revelation, a massive curtain of water dropped itself directly onto his head, flushing him and every other changeling standing upon the ledge with him into the makeshift lake. Being of Miasma descent, Rutoan was not used to being underwater. It was...strange, beyond alien. He saw nothing but the brown muck swirling around him; he couldn't even see his hooves flailing beneath himself. Not until a blue glow began rising from the depths. It rose until it drew level with his face. Despite it being a fair distance away, the soldier could very clearly see it to be a set of glowing sapphire eyes. They hesitated but a moment more before finally rushing toward him. Everything went black soon after.