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// Chapter 6: More Questions 
// Story: In Remembrance of Me 
// by Kalameet 
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Chapter 6: More Questions

Room 211. Icarus had navigated himself to the office without difficulty, although he had slipped a couple of times due to his bloody hooves, causing his underside to have a thin coat of blood clinging to it.

He shoved the key into the doorknob and opened the door. Upon entry, nothing really stood out to Icarus as bizarre or odd. The office consisted of a desk, a couple of filing cabinets, a whiteboard, and a couple suitcases. It was just a plain office.

Icarus was a bit disappointed, but aesthetics weren't the reason he had come. He sat in a nearby chair behind the desk, then pulled up the closet suitcase. Its label read "Patients A-H."

He set it back on the ground. Icarus needed the section containing his name. He grabbed the next case in line. "R-Z." The next one. Hospital staff information. Next. Dr. Adams' notes.

This could be useful. He opened it up and browsed the introduction contents. He paused when he saw the title "Bizarre Treatments." After the note was given to him by Eve, Icarus had questioned the methods of treatment the hospital had performed. He flipped to that section and began skimming the notes.

Some of these "treatments" had seemed more hurtful than helpful, such as when a mutated pony with five legs had its extra leg dipped into an acid to dissolve it. Other treatments were simply weird, including a case where a pony had peanut butter slathered over the boils covering its body.

He continued his search. Page after page, but nothing was useful. Finally, he noticed a memory section amid other atrocities. He flipped to it and took a sudden, short breath at the first patient. It was Eve. She looked different though. In this picture, her coat and mane were both a beautiful royal blue color. However, when she was downstairs only minutes ago, her coat was black with a dark navy blue mane. Perhaps it was a mistake.

Icarus looked at the treatment summary.

"Eve was our first available patient that we could attempt memory reconfiguration on. Fortunately for us, she was in a coma when she arrived, which allowed us to secure her in a lock-down room safely. We fastened her hooves in place, as well as her head and jaw..."

What? What was memory reconfiguration? Why did they need to do it on Eve? Why were the doctors so cautious around her? He kept reading.

"The purpose of this operation is to remove parts of the memory which include violence, triggers to aggression, and motivations towards hostile activity. This procedure should render the patient oblivious of any harmful actions or events that have been present in his/her life, thus making the pony harmless. Due to the conditions that these patients are under, it is only fitting that we take the necessary precautions to keep anypony from getting hurt. Unfortunately, we underestimated Eve. She refused to eat one day, which allowed the disability drugs to begin to fade. Eve realized we were drugging her, so she stopped eating altogether. We hadn't realized this at the time because she was throwing food away using her magic from her horn. We thought she was unable to do this because of the drugs we assumed she had taken would prevent it. After the effects had completely worn off, she managed to unlatch her bindings. When the doctors came to visit her that afternoon, Eve was gone. To the current date, she is still missing."

The description ended there. Icarus looked back at the picture again. Was she really as hostile as the description claimed? He then thought about the slaughter downstairs. That might have been caused by her. If it was, Icarus knew he would have to be very careful the next time he encountered her.

He turned the page, eyes widening at the next subject. It was him. He had suspected he might have been somewhere in this section, but he wasn't certain. He read the description.

"Icarus was our second patient that we had the opportunity to perform memory reconfiguration on. At the time, it was vital that we perform the operation successfully. Being an associate of Eve, he was a huge threat and we made sure not to underestimate him after the incident with Eve's escape..."

He had a past with Eve? But more importantly, had he really been an aggressive pony that needed to have such a surgery? He couldn't imagine himself hurting anypony else.

"A couple of days after he arrived, we performed the memory reconfiguration operation. It was a huge success. We also decided it was for the best that we remove his horn as well. After Icarus woke up a couple of days later, he could not remember any of his past. We started and are currently keeping him drugged until we receive further notice."

Further notice? Who was directing the doctors? Why would they remove his horn? He didn't even know he used to have one. Whatever. He had found what he wanted, at least about why he was taken there. He crammed the files back into the suitcase and set it back on the floor.

Icarus picked up the last suitcase. "Equestrian Letters and News." This might include where he could go after he left the hospital. He opened it up and started with entry one.



As quickly as Icarus had left the Everfree forest, he reappeared in a clearing. The sickly green sky ominously loomed over the dark terrain that covered the land. The only visible landmark was a dome-shaped structure further down the valley Icarus had teleported himself to.

He took a moment to make himself invisible like he had done in Zecora's hut, then transported himself to the base of the structure. He looked up and marveled at its magnificent size. The changelings hive was larger than he had imagined, but its lack of color refrained it from reaching its true potential.

Icarus could see drones coming and going every couple of minutes. A couple of them paused to look where he stood, but they continued on.

This was going to be difficult. Due to the nature of changelings, they can sense all kinds of emotions inside creatures, no matter how minute. His invisibility wouldn't help him as much he wished.

He approached what he believed to be one of the main entrances and walked inside. It was dark. Icarus could see nonetheless, but it was still difficult. The corridor was lit by glowing blue stones encased in the walls.

Where were all the changelings? It didn't bother Icarus about their absence, but it was somewhat unsettling. It then struck him that they might be nocturnal, so they could be resting.

Icarus came to the end of the hall, which opened up into a large, dome-shaped room in the center of the hive. This atrium was buzzing with changeling activity. Some were practicing their transformations, while others were talking or hurrying off to places they needed to be.

Nope, they weren't nocturnal. Icarus chuckled to himself at his mistake. He walked forward, hoping to himself that he wouldn't be found, but it was in vain.

He hadn't taken ten steps before the atrium began to quiet down while the changelings looked around curiously. Icarus was too driven by his emotions to conceal them. They weren't fooled by his attempt at deception, and he knew it. He allowed himself to become visible.

In the next moment, he was being stared at by hundreds of blue-eyed creatures. There was a moment of pause, then a faint growl began to resonate throughout the room. It grew. It grew until Icarus couldn't hear himself think.

It was intimidating, but it had a deeper feel to it. Rage. As Icarus looked into the eyes of changelings around him, he could see the hatred they contained. They wanted to kill. He tried to back away, but he noticed they had surrounded him.

Icarus was frantically thinking of how he could escape. He had already stressed his magical limits when he had teleported such a long distance; He didn't think he could safely transport away. They were closing in.

"Stop!" boomed a voice.

The changelings immediately stopped their advance and ominous growling, but they never stopped looking at him with anger in their eyes. From above descended what appeared to be the changeling queen. She glided gracefully to the opening before Icarus. She looked him over before she spoke again.

"So under what circumstances cause you to intrude upon my domain in such methods?" Her voice was hard.

"Um... I... I..." Icarus sighed. "I came to obtain a morph gem that could help me in my quest."

"Thief!" came a voice from the crowd. "We should rid us of him right now!"

"Peace," spoke the queen, and all was silent. "I am Amber, queen of the changelings. I protect them and do what I believe is best for the hive. Right now, it appears you are a threat that needs eradicating."

"Wait!" Icarus spoke up. "If I complete my quest, I will have the ability to help you and your entire hive to thrive."

Amber raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"I will soon have the power to destroy Celestia and take control of Equestria. When I become ruler, I can preserve peace between our nations."

"You just attempted to sneak into our home and steal one of our unique gems that we allow no outsider access, and you expect me to suddenly have a change of heart because you claim you can help us? Your actions say otherwise."

Icarus looked at the ground in shame. "I was afraid you wouldn't be willing to part with one of your gems to a stranger like me, regardless of what I pleaded. I was going to take it, but I would return it to you when I finish. However, this I promise: I will confront Celestia and I will honor our agreement if you agree to it.

"How do I know I can trust you?" her eyes narrowed.

"You could send some of your changelings to spy on me for the remainder of my journey to tell you of my whereabouts. From there, you could verify if I was telling you the truth or not."

Amber suddenly widened her eyes, as if struck by some great revelation, but she concealed it as quickly as it had appeared. "I have something else in mind, but very well." She pulled out a small, octagonal-shaped green gem out from one of her wings. "You need to crush it up and sprinkle the powder into drinking water, then consume it. Good luck Icarus."

Icarus nodded and began to walk down the path from whence he came. Obtaining the morph gem had been surprisingly easy. He only needed one more stop until- wait... How did Amber know his name?



A/N: I hope you liked the chapter! The next one is the longest I've written so far so that's something to look forward to! Just to let you guys know, every time I look at the story and notice it has a new comment or like it really means a lot to me that you would take time out of your day just to read a story that I wrote. It sincerely gives me that incentive to keep writing, because it means that I'm not writing for a bunch of people who skim the summary and skip it on the site. It means that you actually enjoy my work! So I wanted to make this author's note to specifically thank you, the readers, for reading and (hopefully) enjoying the story! ~Kalameet