After Dozer had left Scootaloo, Flake, Rainbow Dash and Trek earlier after giving them an insight on where they could find the next hidden pony, they made their way back through the tunnel in that direction. Flake, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo seemed to lead ahead, while Trek trailed behind, keeping his distance.
Scootaloo noticed Trek falling behind, and she turned her neck to glance to him. “You can walk beside us, you know.”
“I’m fine back here,” he replied with an awkward murmur.
Raising a brow, Scootaloo could see the tension Trek was experiencing. While he was willing to follow them, it was obvious that he was feeling a lack of pride in doing so. She turned to Flake, then to Rainbow Dash, who were focused on walking ahead. She sighed and stopped, and she turned to face him. Rainbow Dash and Flake stopped pacing forward to see what she was up to.
“Trek,” she stepped up to him and tilted her head. Trek’s ears folded back, and he squinted at her curiously. “Is something the matter?”
“Ehh…” He turned away and sighed. “Just… feels like I’m betraying my Queen.”
Scootaloo exhaled through her nostrils and sat on her flank. “Well, you’re doing this in hopes it creates a better life for the changelings. Right?”
“I guess?”
“So…” Scootaloo squinted. “Then wouldn’t she understand, and perhaps welcome it if it works?”
He cringed at the thought. “I sincerely doubt it.” He looked back to her, and she could see the guilt expressed in his eyes. “Now that I’ve chosen to walk with you, she’ll only consider me as good as dead.”
“At this point, if I had the choice to side with her or the ponies, I would choose the ponies,” Flake loyally exclaimed. The others looked to him in question; Trek had a raised brow. “I intend to speak to her myself, if I get the chance to. I do want us all to see eye to eye.”
“Are you suggesting that the Queen might even consider this a good idea?” Trek muttered. “If you have expectations for that, then all I can say to you is that you have some extreme wishful thinking.” He winced and shook his head. “You don’t know Chrysalis like the rest of us do.”
Flake winced at that. “What’re you saying?”
“I’m saying, that you and I are as good as banished from this hive forever.” The way Trek was speaking was in a worrisome tone. “Where do we even go from here?”
Flake sighed and made the attempt to ease his frustrations. “Look, I know you’re scared. But we can’t think about that right now.”
“No, listen!” Trek twitched. “Even if we do find these ponies you’re looking for, what will we accomplish afterward?”
Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo exchanged glances.
“Look at the cards we are dealt with!” He pointed at the others for emphasis. “We will never reach the core of the hive—there are thousands of changelings throughout every corridor! Even if we find these hidden friends of yours, we’ve then got a few ponies, and two changelings.”
“Three changelings,” a voice exclaimed from behind. Trek blinked and turned around to see a wounded changeling limping toward them.
“Dozer?” Trek winced at him, examining the cuts and scars on his body. “The hell happened to you?”
Dozer went silent at first. He coughed and grit his teeth nervously. “I just came back… because I needed to tell you that you’re no longer safe in these abandoned tunnels.”
Their eyes all widened in response. They exchanged looks, and Flake cringed at him. “What did you do?”
“It wasn’t my fault,” the wounded changeling exclaimed. “Further into the tunnels, I bumped into Chitin.”
Everypony stood in silence. Flake trotted up closer to him, squinting. “What did you tell him?”
Dozer’s eyes wandered, frightfully, and he shook his head. “I-I didn’t tell him anything. He just took one look at me, and attacked me.”
“What?” they questioned him together.
“Flake, Trek… It’s like Chitin has gone insane.” He chewed on his bottom lip. “He is taking desperate measures to keep his title as Captain. He wanted Trek and I to go through Canterlot’s entrance, only because he wanted the phoenix to get us on the way in.” He lowered his head. “Seeing me, and acknowledging that we in fact survived getting into the back entrance of the hive; he went ballistic.”
Flake and Trek exchanged looks and expressed their concerns. They turned back to Dozer, anticipating more details.
“I have my doubts that he went back to inform Chrysalis, because he’s trying to make this mission all about himself,” Dozer continued. “He knew we were here all along. He was down this far into the hives to look for us.”
Trek grit his teeth and trotted up to a wall, and slammed his forehoof into it. “BUCK!!” He turned back to Dozer, yelling, “What the hell do we do now?!”
“GUYS!” Scootaloo shouted, catching their attention. “Panicking is not going to accomplish anything right now.”
“Well what do you propose, hm? Scootaloo?” Trek muttered cynically. “We can’t go back where we came from because of the phoenix, we can’t stay here because we’re now being hunted, and we can’t go forward because we will never survive the swarm of changelings when we get into the heart of the hive! So?” He raised his voice, “What do we do, huh?!”
“Hmh…” Scootaloo shook her head. “We keep doing what we were doing.”
Trek raised a brow and trotted to her anxiously. “Hold on, you still want to keep going against all these odds.” He squinted in discomfort. “You’re serious.”
“We’ve come this far alive. So why stop here?”
“Because it’s suicide?” he replied.
“So, let me get this straight…” Scootaloo paced forward, and circled around the wounded changeling. “You’re trying to tell me, that if we go back, we die. If we stay here, we die. And if we keep moving forward, we die.” She stopped to glare into his eyes. “Right?”
Trek and Dozer exchanged looks with each other.
“Well, if the result to any path we choose leads to an inevitable death, then I for one do not want to die a coward.” She took a step closer to both of them for emphasis. “You’re either with me, or you’re not. I’m going to stay in these abandoned tunnels until I find each of Chrysalis’ hidden ponies. Even if I have to tear the place apart with my bare hooves. So if you’re not coming with me, then which way are you going to go?”
Rainbow Dash and Flake grinned at the inspiring enthusiasm Scootaloo was presenting to the newcomer changelings. Trek and Dozer’s eyes wandered in response to her loyal behaviour. They didn’t seem to have anything to say in response; her little speech tended to silence them.
Scootaloo exhaled and examined Dozer’s wounds again. “I’ll see what I can do about your cuts in the meantime.” She turned her head to her side, and realized her saddlebags were missing. “Oh, shoot!” She lifted her wings and spun around, searching for it.
“You dropped your saddlebag when Dozer dragged you off in a cocoon,” Flake revealed. “I tried getting to it when fighting Trek, but somewhere during our fight, I lost track of it.”
“Uuugh…” Scootaloo sat on her flank and clunked her hoof against her forehead. “Okay, so we’re low on resources.” She put her hoof back down. “Sorry, Dozer, looks like I don’t have any medicine for you.”
“Heh…” he mumbled. “Well, if Trek and I didn’t attack you, you would still have it. So it’s only fair to say it’s my fault.”
Scootaloo turned to Rainbow Dash in question. “Did Rarity know any healing spells?”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “No idea, but why don’t we ask her.” She looked to Dozer. “You said she’s just down the cave somewhere in a corridor.”
He nodded. “The unicorn? Yeah. I saw her in a narrow path. It’s actually not too far from here.”
“Alright.” Scootaloo grinned. “So does that mean you’re sticking around?”
Dozer rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yes, I’m in.” He winced and looked away. “It’s not like I’ll have anywhere to go considering I’m betraying my race.”
Flake cleared his throat and shrugged. “You know… I for one don’t believe we are betraying anypony.”
Dozer raised a brow at that. “What do you mean?”
“We’re all in this for the benefit of both ponies and changelings alike.” He smiled. “I mean, what if this does work? What if we can make a better life for all of us? Do you honestly believe Chrysalis would object?”
Dozer just winced. “I do, yes.”
“You really don’t know Chrysalis very well,” Trek exclaimed to Flake. “She hates compromise, and she hates change. Trust us, we’ve worked under her orders for years.” He tilted his head. “You said it yourself, Flake. You’ve been away from the hive for so many years; how would you know what the Queen is like?”
Flake just squinted in response. He didn’t have anything to say to that. To end the subject, he turned to Scootaloo. “Maybe we should just move on.”
“Right. Let’s discuss these matters later,” Scootaloo suggested and turned around. “Let’s get going and not waste any more time.” She gestured forward, looking to Dozer. “Maybe you should lead the way; you said you know where she is.”
Dozer exhaled through his nostrils, and nodded slowly. Moving on, he lead the others through the cave.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Together, the pegasi and changelings made their way through the tunnels in search of the cocoon containing Rarity. Dozer lead the others to a corridor to their right. The crevice in the wall was only three inches wide; far too narrow for any of them to fit. Scootaloo peaked through the crack, and within the dark room on the other side, she could see a cocoon hanging from the ceiling.
Rainbow Dash sighed. “If we had a unicorn in our group, we could blow this opening bigger.”
“Yeah, well… there’s one right there.” Scootaloo stepped back and pointed through the crevice, wincing at the irony.
Rainbow stepped to the crack and took a look for herself. “Yeah, that’s Rarity alright.” She stepped back and turned to the others. “How are we supposed to get in there?”
“I got this,” Flake said and stepped forward. The others watched him curiously as he concentrated a shapeshifting spell. His body engulfed with green flames, and the fire illuminated the vicinity with a faint neon glow. When the flames surrounding his body dissipated, he revealed himself as a small winged creature.
“A bat?” Rainbow Dash raised a brow.
Scootaloo exhaled through her nostrils and acknowledged what he did. The reminder was tender to her, though she tried not to express it too much. “You took Mercy’s form?”
“He told me he could take the form of any creature that could express love,” Trek explained. “Apparently he’s been practicing that.”
Flake could see that his form was perhaps not the best choice for Scootaloo. Feeling bad for the pegasus, he decided to act quickly before changing back. Flying toward the crevice in the wall, he slipped his tiny body through the gap. Once he had passed through, he descended to the ground and landed, curling his wings up. Then in the flash of green flames, he changed back to his original form. He turned to the crack behind him and looked to Scootaloo on the other side of the wall.
“I apologize, Scootaloo. I should have chosen a different form.”
“Flake, it’s fine,” the pegasus insisted. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” She briefly exhaled a small chuckle to ease the tension, and she shrugged. “In a way, it’s as if Mercy is still helping. Even though he isn’t with us.”
“How so?”
“If you haven’t met him, you wouldn’t have been able to choose that form. Is that right?”
Flake nodded, now understanding what she meant. The others looked to Scootaloo curiously.
“Mercy?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Scootaloo lowered her head. “Mercy was a bat I encountered when I was alone. He helped me see through danger, and if it weren’t for him, I’d be either dead or in a cocoon right now.” She looked up to the agile mare. “Mercy died saving my life from the phoenix in Canterlot.”
“Oh,” Rainbow Dash murmured, “I see.” She blinked a few times. “Phoenix? In Canterlot?”
Scootaloo just nodded in question.
“Could it be Princess Celestia’s royal pet, Philomena?” Rainbow questioned further.
“You mean to tell me a pony once tamed that thing?” Dozer muttered.
“And it sounds like you changelings pissed it off when you captured our Princess,” Rainbow exclaimed cynically. “I can only guess it attacked Scootaloo with the assumption that she was a changeling, too.”
Flake exhaled and turned around to face Rarity’s cocoon. “Whatever, let’s get this unicorn out of her prison.” Stepping toward her, he examined the unconscious pony inside the concealing mesh. Concentrating on a spell, he cast a dart of turquoise magic into the cocoon. The shell of the cocoon began to crackle and melt, and he stepped back and watched, waiting patiently for the spell to fully kick in. After a few moments, the base of the cocoon split, and the liquid from inside oozed out, dripping on the floor. Then the unicorn inside slipped out, and she dropped into the puddle on the floor with a thump and a small splash.
He stepped up to her, and looked down to the sleeping mare.
“Uh, Flake? Are you sure it’d be a good idea for you to be the first thing she sees when she wakes up?” Scootaloo suggested. “You do remember what happened when Rainbow Dash woke up, right?”
“Meh, it’s fine.” Flake waved his hoof through the air. “She’s going to freak out sooner or later regardless.”
“Yeah, well, you haven’t seen Rarity freak out,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“Neither have I.” Scootaloo shrugged and chuckled. “Sweetie Belle says its quite hilarious.”
Flake turned around to glance back at them. “Hey, are we here to joke around or save your frie—”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!” He was cut off with a sudden loud shriek from beneath him. He jumped in surprise and turned to look down at the unicorn, who had just woken up. As quick as she was able to in her exhausted state, she scrambled to her hooves and staggered backwards across the floor away from him. “Don’t you dare touch me!!” she dramatically threatened him.
“Uh, I didn’t—”
“HELP!!” she screamed out as loud as she could, leaning against her back to the wall. “Somepony! Anypony!!”
Flake just watched Rarity stand there and scream, and with lacking amusement, he turned to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, giving them an unimpressed expression through the crevice. Turning back to the terrified unicorn, he opened his mouth in the attempt to talk to her, and found that her horn was illuminating.
“Don’t come any closer!!” she threatened him, “Or I’ll turn you into a newt!!”
The confused changeling raised a brow at that comment. “First, I could just do that to myself anyway. Second, are you a witch or something?” He blinked. “A newt? Really?”
“I’ll do it!” Rarity snapped with a booming voice. “I will!!”
“Rarity, calm down,” Rainbow Dash said to her from through the crevice. Rarity blinked and turned to face her.
“Rai-Rainbow Dash??” Rarity stuttered, turning back to the changeling, then back to the pegasus. “NO!!” she snapped. “Y… You’re just a changeling, too!” She pointed at her accusingly. “Go on! Turn back into your true self!”
“Rarity, it’s me,” the agile pegasus exclaimed factually.
“Ohhh REALLY now,” Rarity growled. “Prove it!”
Rainbow Dash raised a brow and sighed. She put that to thought for a moment, thinking about what would be the best thing to tell Rarity to prove to her that she is who she says she is. After a moment, she thought of something; one simple word. “Tom.”
Rarity’s cheeks lit up bright red, and she just stared at her. “Uhhhh…”
Flake raised a brow and turned to Rainbow Dash. “Tom?”
“Nevermind!” Rarity quickly said, trying to change the subject. Getting down on four hooves, she cleared her throat. “Could somepony please tell me what in Equestria is going on here?!” She raised a hoof and gestured to Flake. “You know this changeling?? He’s on your side??”
“Well, as far as I know,” Rainbow Dash replied.
Rarity looked back to Flake and raised a brow. “I see.” She leaned forward and squinted at him. She gave him a long, intimidating glare, making him feel uneasy. He just looked back into her eyes, uncertain what was on her mind, but he got the impression that she didn’t trust him. She pointed a hoof at him up close. “I’ll be watching you, so you’d better not be getting any ideas!” she sneered.
“I...deas?” Flake question her, and turned to Rainbow Dash on the other side of the split in the wall for an explanation. Rainbow Dash just shrugged.
Feeling soaked and disgusting from the ooze, Rarity examined herself. “Eeeewww… What is this?!” She shook her dripping hooves, shivering from the disturbing texture of the liquid mesh.
“You were concealed in a cocoon for ten years,” Flake explained to her. “You were floating in this liquid, which is what kept you asleep until now.”
“Te… ten yea...” Rarity limped backwards, trying to recollect her words. “Ten years?!” The changeling nodded in response, and she felt a heavy weight in her gut. She spun around, examining the circular room around her. “Wherever even are we?”
“We’re in the far ends of the changeling hive,” Flake replied. “We should keep moving though. Do you know any spells to break through this wall?”
She looked to the crevice he was pointing at, where she saw Rainbow Dash on the other side. “Is that our only way out?” She turned back to Flake in question, still feeling uneasy with him in her presence. “How did you even get in here?”
“I shapeshifted into a smaller creature,” he replied with simplicity. “I don’t know any spells of my own that could break through this wall.”
“Well, I’m certainly not staying in this musty old place,” Rarity exclaimed and stepped up to the crack in the wall. She examined it, and knocked on it with a hoof. “Hm, it’s rock solid… I’d teleport to the other side, but I’m a little rusty with that spell.”
“Ugh… Twilight could help us with that,” Rainbow Dash muttered.
Rarity stepped back, and she illuminated her horn. “I don’t know if I can blow a hole in this wall, but I will give it a shot.” Concentrating, her horn glowed brighter. Rainbow Dash stepped away from the wall as well, and waited for Rarity to cast her spell. Then with a flash of light from her horn, she fired a blast of magic at the wall. On impact with the wall, the spell exploded with a crackle, and a cloud of dust emanated throughout the vicinity. When the dust had cleared, the wall was still standing; her spell had only merely cracked the surface. “Oh, fiddle,” she muttered disappointedly.
From the other side, Rainbow Dash leapt into the wall, and spun around to buck it with her back legs. “YAH!” On impact with the pre-cracked wall, the cracks in the surface grew larger, and the wall sagged a bit in several large chunks of stone.
“That’s more like it,” Rarity exclaimed, and using her unicorn magic, she began to levitate the loose rocks away from the wall and set them aside in a decorative fashion. Flake watched how Rarity placed the rocks so delicately together, seemingly attempting to make some form of art. He opened his mouth to question it, but decided against it and just sat there waiting.
Once she had cleared the rocks away, the opening was then large enough for her to pass through. Stepping through the widened crevice in the wall, she approached Rainbow Dash with a sigh.
“I was beginning to get worried that I’d never get out of th—AAAAHH!!” She jumped to the side, and made a quick ninety degree turn, face to face with Trek and Dozer. She illuminated her horn and stepped backwards.
“It’s fine, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash reassured her. “They’re with us, too.”
Rarity’s widened eyes trailed from changeling to changeling, then she made contact with Scootaloo. “Who are you?!” she demanded and turned back to Rainbow Dash. “All of this is just too much!! Tell me what’s going on!”
“Rarity, that’s Scootaloo,” Rainbow answered the frightened unicorn.
Rarity paused, and turned to the bright orange mare in question. She raised a brow and looked at her curiously. “Scootaloo?” She stepped a little closer to her. “Sweetie Belle’s friend, Scootaloo?”
Scootaloo nodded.
“Oh, my…” Rarity sat on her flank, trying to absorb everything that was going on. She took in a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. “I see you’ve got your cutie mark,” she tried making a conversation to ease the tension for herself.
“Oh.” Scootaloo glanced at her flank with a slight grin. “Yeah, took long enough.” She then turned to her and raised a brow. “So, who’s this Tom that Rainbow Dash mentioned?”
Rarity just squinted at her, and said nothing.
“What?” Scootaloo shrugged.
Dropping the subject, Rarity turned to the changelings and cleared her throat. “So, are changelings all nameless, or do I call you something?”
Scootaloo took the liberty to introduce them, starting off with the changeling stepping out from the cave Rarity was trapped in. “This is Flake,” she exclaimed, then turned to the other two and pointed them out. “And this is Trek and Dozer.” Scootaloo sat on her flank and looked to Rarity. “I know this is a lot to take in, but you can trust them.”
Rarity acknowledged that Dozer specifically was scarred up pretty badly. Wincing, she approached him in question. “What happened to you?”
“He got into a fight with another changeling,” Rainbow Dash explained the situation on his behalf. “We were actually hoping you could heal him with your magic.”
“Well, I’m not so keen on the idea of assisting a changeling,” the unicorn muttered, and sighed as she stepped up to him. “But, just this once. I would feel bad not to.”
With her magic, Rarity focused an aura around the changeling’s wounds. He winced at first, as it burned when she did so. “This will take a few minutes, so bear with me.”
Dozer’s eyes wandered as Rarity healed him. The fact a pony was helping him recover from a fight against his own kind gave him a lot to think about. He sat and relaxed, feeling his cuts slowly closing up.
“So where do we go next when the unicorn is done healing him?” Trek asked.
Scootaloo shrugged. “Can’t say I know where we can keep looking for the next element. They could be anywhere in these tunnels.”
“Well, we’re not going to find them sitting around,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with enthusiasm.
Flake nodded. “Right. As soon as Dozer is healed, we’ll move out.”