//------------------------------// // 14 Unexpected Consequences // Story: The Luna Cypher // by iisaw //------------------------------// Chapter Fourteen Unexpected Consequences The changelings led me down a long curving ramp lit by occasional globes of a pallid greenish substance I couldn't identify. We reached a junction and found another heap of mixed bodies. "What happened here? Where are we going?" I asked. "They broke in shortly after the battle began, Your Highness," the friendlier of the two changelings answered. "One frantic last push because you wiped out their fliers," the other half-snarled at me. "We've trapped them in an empty brood chamber, but I doubt we can hold them long." I sped up. It was only another minute or so before we emerged into a large chamber where the stench of burning flesh hung in the air. Chrysalis had her back turned to us. She was facing a wall of the same green substance that had sealed off the hive's entrances, and around her hooves lay a heap of mixed bodies. I winced at the sight of the carnage and briefly wondered when I had gotten so sympathetic toward changelings in general. Beyond the wall, frantic shadows thrashed violently with scraping sounds and dull impacts. The queen turned her head as I entered. "Ah, good. I could probably deal with this myself," she said, flicking a surreptitious glance at her attendants, "but I don't take any chances when my people are in danger. I am going to dissolve two holes in this barrier, and then you and I will fire into the room until all the creatures are dead. Be careful: they can squeeze through very small spaces." Before I could answer, there came a voice from the floor near Chrysalis. "P—princess Twilight?" She was much bigger than when I had last seen her, probably due to some quirk of changeling biology tied to her promotion to General of the Hive. If it wasn't for her voice, I wouldn't have recognized her, not even if I had been looking for a familiar face in the tangle of bodies. "Csharreee?" I darted over to her and then hesitated. What could I do for her that wouldn't cause more harm than good? "Chrysalis, you've got to help her!" "She feels no pain now, Twilight Sparkle. We have enemies before us." "You have to do something!" The queen lifted her lip just enough to show the tip of a fang. "Are all of you ponies so crippled by sentimentality? We must destroy our foe before they break free or find another way out of the brood chamber. The general would tell you the same." I looked back to Csharreee, but she had closed her eyes again and lay with her head to one side of her broken forelegs. "Destruction? That's what you want?" My own lips peeled back and I took a step toward Chrysalis. "That is something I'm getting pretty good at!" Chrysalis took a step backwards, her shadow wavering across the cave wall behind her, and I turned to the wall, my horn blazing. "Tell me now if there's anything in there you don't want destroyed." No answer. In a confined space like that, it was easy. One long, concentrated blast was all it took to both burn a small hole in the wall and incinerate the monsters beyond. Then the monster on my side of the wall lit her horn and plugged the hole to keep the black, greasy smoke from choking us all. "Now," I said to Chrysalis in a tone of voice that made the other changelings close in around her protectively, "help Csharreee!" Chrysalis held my gaze for a long moment and then shook her head, and I knew with a sinking heart that she wasn't refusing me. I cleared a space beside Csharreee and lay down beside her. "You," I said, pointing to the unhappy changeling beside Chrysalis, "go back to my airship and get the rest of my friends!" "I—" "Do it," I hissed. She went without even glancing at Chrysalis for confirmation. I spread one wing across Csharreee's back, being careful not to put any pressure on her. I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know if she was awake enough to hear any comforting words I might come up with, so I finally began to sing softly to her. "Neg-a-tive bee, plus or minus radi-ical..." = = = The Rainbow Power isn't a magic that can be commanded or directed: it can only be unleashed. Essentially, I point it at a problem and say, "Fix that." Whatever happens afterward is out of my hooves. The power also seems to be a bit fussy about details. Unless the six of us are in harmony and our intent is for a greater good, instead of a big, flashy light show, we get a long moment of embarrassed silence. This had been true even back when we needed the Elements to call it up. So, I was worried about whether my friends would think it was something we ought to do. Stated bluntly, healing an unrepentant changeling, particularly one who had been a part of the invasion of Canterlot, wasn't exactly something that would top any of their to-do lists. In the minutes before they arrived, I began marshaling arguments to sway them if they showed reluctance. I needn't have bothered. Sun and Moon, I love those girls! They piled into the room ready to light it up, no questions asked. Well, there was one question: "What will it do to my hive?" Chrysalis asked. Good question, bad timing. "I have no idea," I replied. "But it's Csharreee's only hope, and she won't survive if we try to move her. We're doing it here and now." Chrysalis looked like she was going to say something for a second, but then she shrugged and moved toward the exit. "Let me know how it turns out," she said over her shoulder as she left, taking her attendants with her. My friends closed around me, and we brought up the magic that we all shared. The Rainbow Power filled and transformed us, arcs of energy swirling around the chamber. I had just enough time to notice that the ribbons of magic slid through the walls like they were made of smoke, and then the power reached its peak and exploded around us. At the very least, I had expected that the power would heal Csharreee. I had sort of hoped that it would transform my friend into a pony, even though I knew she wasn't all that interested in being one. At least she would be alive, we'd be able to be friends at a closer distance, and I could help her to acclimatize. But, like I said before, the Rainbow Power uses us, not the other way around.[1] ---------- [1] I hope nopony really thinks I'd voluntarily look like that while the Power has possession of me, despite what the gossip rags say. ---------- Csharreee arose, tall, strong, whole... and nearly an exact double of Chrysalis. She even had the little topknot that looked like a crown. The last thing I expected was that we would end up with another changeling queen on our hooves. "Well, ain't this a hoot an' a holler?" Folksy phrasing aside, I think Applejack spoke for all of us. When Csharree opened her eyes, we could all see one major difference between her and Chrysalis; They were shades of a smoky golden color rather than green. Looking closer, I saw her mane and tail were also warmer colors. Also a surprise was the three other changelings that arose from the big pile of what we had wrongly assumed to be all dead bodies. Their eyes were just as bright and golden. Csharreee looked down at her long, perforated legs and then up at me in puzzlement. "I thought I saw you, Princess. I think I was dreaming about you teaching me algebra. Then everything went all multicolored and... what happened to me?" "Well," I said, grinning in embarassment. "That's kind of a funny story, Your Majesty." = = = Chrysalis was unhappy, Csharreee was unhappy, and most of the rest of the expeditionary force was mildly miffed. We were on a very tight schedule and having a sudden possible civil war thrown into the mix didn't exactly improve matters. Several of my officers recommended we proceed on schedule and leave the changelings to sort out their own affairs by themselves, but it was a mess I'd created, and I felt an obligation to fix it. Going by an insect model of hive politics, there could only be one queen. Chrysalis and Csharree would either fight to the death, or one of them would go off to found a new colony. Neither of those options appealed very much to me. But the changelings weren't mindless insects, and I was certain I could negotiate some compromise between them. I cleared Evenstar's starboard bunkroom and set it up as a meeting space with tables to each side. Then, I sent messengers to both queens, offering my services as mediator. We were all intelligent beings and I was sure we could find some peaceful way out of the situation. I was wrong, of course. I was sitting between the long tables, arranging a gavel, quills, and notepad, when Luna popped into existence next to me. Luna looked just a tiny bit disheveled and perplexed. "Prithee, Twilight, dearest," she said, giving me a sidelong gaze. "Canst thou provide me with any sane reason why the bug queen is even now on my flight deck with a full five score of her minions, beseeching me for political asylum? She doth assert 'tis thy fault, entire, though I ken well what a deceitful creature she is." That took me so aback that I couldn't think of anything to say for a moment. Then, when I decided I needed more clarification and took in a breath to begin some counter-questioning, Csharreee and a dozen attendants flew in the open hatches. "Ah," Luna mumbled under her breath. "I have gone mad. That explains it." "I think there won't be any need for negotiations, Princess," Csharreee said. "But thank you for the offer." I took in the group of changelings that stood by her sides. They all had golden eyes. "It looks like you've acquired some more... uh... followers. Do you mind if I ask you how you did that?" "It seems that if a changeling decides that I am the rightful queen, they physically change." "Huh. As simple as that? Pretty convenient." She nodded. "At first I thought there would be a fight between us, but as I traveled through the hive, most of the drones I met became golden-eyed. It seems that they have become used to me being in charge while Chrysalis has been absent. With fully eighty-three percent of the hive supporting me, there is no point in a battle. Chrysalis is wise enough to know that." "Well, that's half the problem solved," I said, trying really hard to keep the snarky tone out of my voice. "Now all we have to do is figure out what to do with Chrysalis." "Take her away with you," Csharreee said, suddenly earnest. "I have served and admired her all my life, but now I feel a very strong urge, an almost primal need, to kill her." "Yeah, that happens to me pretty often, too. Uh... sorry, sorry! I didn't mean for that to come out the way it did." I thought for a second. "Well, I think we can arrange that." I glanced at Luna for confirmation and she nodded cautiously. "Yes, I'm sure that can be done." "Thank you, Twilight. You have done so much for me that I doubt I'll ever be able to repay you." Csharreee paused and then suddenly smiled. "If you someday decide to overthrow Celestia, you can count on my support!" I'm sure she meant well. = = = More than two hours behind schedule, I said my goodbyes to the girls, then grabbed a pair of saddlebags and prepared to depart for Hazina, still floating inside of one of our jury-rigged clouds. On my way out, as I hovered outside the bridge hatch to get a brief report from Captain Zephyr, I noticed that a second battle medallion had already been painted beside the first. Below it were the words, Bug Town. I sighed and told myself to let it go. I had too many real battles to fight to worry about minuscule matters of offensive language. I climbed away from Evenstar, grimacing at the sight of the new patches of white cloth on the upper surface of her envelope. When I got to the altitude of Hazina's cloud, I slowed and glided in until I could make out her shape in the mist. I called out to the pilot as my hooves touched down on the big hatch cover aft of the old-style burner that supplied hot air to keep Hazina aloft. "Welcome aboard, Your Highness," he called down to me from the quarterdeck. "We got your message." "Good. I'm sorry to be late. I'm going to start working now. Please keep me from being interrupted unless it's important." "Aye aye, ma'am." I floated the heavy wooden hatch cover to one side and descended into the cargo hold. All of the equipment and alchemical supplies were secured right where I had last seen them, and I set about unfastening the ropes and opening the crates. Some time later, Luna came aboard. I heard the pilot greet her and begin to pass along my desire to be uninterrupted when he was interrupted by another voice. "I think you'll find that Her Divine Majesty outranks the princess." "Stand down, Corporal Flicker," Luna said calmly. "He is just doing his duty." "Crabapples!" The pilot exclaimed. "Is that you, Flicker? I'd heard that you'd gone over to the... uh... well...." His voice trailed off. "I will leave you two fine soldiers here on deck to catch up," Luna said, and I heard her hooffalls approaching above me. She dropped into the hold with a precise sweep of her wings and touched down with scarcely a sound. I hadn't even finished drawing in a breath to welcome her when she unbuckled her helmet and set it aside. I was late. There were important tasks to accomplish. I had very little time to finish my complicated and delicate preparations. All that was going through my mind, as I unfastened my chamfron and put it on the deck. Muzzle against muzzle, lips on lips and cheek and neck and throat, all tangled with swirling caresses of magic as I devoured the sight and scent and feel of my lover for all too brief a time. "I... I can't..." "I know, my love," Luna said on a long exhalation of breath. "But I had to see you once more, alone, before the battle tomorrow." I nodded. "Yes, but after that, I am going to completely neglect everything but you, for at least a week!" We were silent for a while after that, simply standing with our cheeks pressed together, listening to each other draw breath. Finally, I shifted and sighed, turning back to my work. Luna stood and watched me assemble the wires and cables for several minutes. "'Tis a cunning piece of work, my love. I knew your device would be intricate, but I had not thought it would be so beautiful." I stopped and stepped back, regarding the branching web-work of brass and copper that surrounded the big iron tank at the center. "It's the mathematics of it," I explained. "It does look pretty, but each piece is where it needs to be. All of it is dictated by harmonics." "As in music?" "Yes, exactly! Only in several extra dimensions." "And the mere shape of it will bleed away the magic that is creating the foul creatures? I still marvel that such a thing can be done." Well, I hoped it could be done. I certainly wasn't counting on the monsters standing around while the device slowly harmonized their life energy away. That's what the structure I had put together a year ago in the cavern housing the dark crystal had been designed to do.[2] But for a job that had to be done in the heat of battle and as fast as possible, I had come up with a twist on the idea. ---------- [2] And it worked perfectly, until the changelings ruined it, I might add. See The Theory and Construction of Thaumic Waveguides Expressed in Fractally Divided n-Dimensional Hypervolumes, T. Sparkle, Canterlot University Press, 1007, for more details. ---------- Instead of creating matching inverted waveforms to dampen out the dark magic to little more than background energy, my new device was designed to consume a small fortune in reagents to produce a complimentary stream of pure magic generated by the central alchemical engine. The opposing magic would annihilate both sets of waveforms in a burst of heat and light that would be projected upward through the atmosphere to harmlessly dissipate in space. Simple, really. All I had to do was activate the engine and drop it into the pit in the ruined city. The field it generated would keep the engine safe from the impact. It was a shame that the same couldn't be said for Hazina. Luna made me take a break before continuing with my work. With all the excitement of the morning and early afternoon, I'd completely forgotten about eating, and my stomach began grumbling as soon as I smelled the food that Luna pulled out of her saddlebags. I ate about three quarters of it, not wanting to risk making a mistake with my device while in a satiated torpor. But I couldn't pass up the cookies that Pinkie Pie had sent along: They were shaped like little dark magic monsters. Dark chocolate batter and chunks of semi-sweet chocolate made a texture quite like the surface of the creatures, with little slivered almonds for claws and fangs and raisins for eyes. When I bit into one, I discovered a greenish, cinnamon-y, chewy center. They were absolutely delicious. Luna savagely bit into one like it was a real enemy, growling as she did so. When I started chuckling, she leaned forward and said in pompous tones, "See the fate of those who would threaten mighty Equestria!" Then she stuck out her tongue and displayed the gross glob of masticated cookie thereon. I couldn't help myself. I rolled back onto the deck with a clank and a thump as I burst into laughter. How could she manage to be adorable and disgusting at the same time? Lunch was over all too soon. Luna gave me a lingering cinnamon kiss before she left, and I returned to my work, calm, re-energized and relaxed. I found myself humming the tune she had danced to in the Canterlot river garden as I wove the nets of fine wire together, effortlessly and quickly setting out the necessary patterns. When I paused to drink some cold tea and check the Wheel of the Moon, I found I had made up nearly all the time I had lost that morning. Not only was Luna beautiful, strong, sly, funny, and sexy, she was good for me. How could anypony be surprised that I loved her? For that matter, why wasn't everypony in love with her? I shook my head and returned to my work, recalling something that Granny Smith had once said to me, "Th'ain't none as strange as ponies, I reckon." = = = We had a final command meeting on board Solar Flare a little past midnight. Our battle plan was similar to the one we'd used at the changeling hive, only this time Solar Flare would lead the attack while Evenstar and Hazina remained hidden until it was time for them to strike. The weather pegasi were already at work, patching the slowly evaporating clouds and generating the wind necessary to take us to our target. Shining Armor had been practicing with ellipsoid shields and was confident he could hold one for an indefinite period around the airship. Next to shielding a whole city, it would be foalsplay, he assured me, even though the shape wasn't as strong as a sphere and would require more raw power to provide the same amount of protection. After the meeting, I went down to the crew deck to visit Chrysalis. It was awkward, and she wasn't exactly in a forgiving mood. "I will do my best to make sure things work out for you and your followers, I promise," I told her. "It won't be too bad; you were spending more time in Equestria than in your hive, anyway." "My hive?" she snarled. "Don't you mean Bug Town?" Oh. So she'd heard about that. "I'm sorry about that. Soldiers can be pretty crude sometimes." She huffed and turned away to stare out the porthole into the night. "Look," I began again. "I will still work on a way to keep you from reverting to a pony, and then you can be with Blueblood all the time. Won't that be better? I mean, I suppose you could get married... if you want. Or, maybe..." Chrysalis let me flounder on for a few seconds before she turned back and snapped at me. "Oh, yes, won't that be nice! I could wear your sister-in-law's dress; I know it will fit me. But I wonder if the prince will object to a hundred or so hungry step-children. What do you think?" "I think if you weren't an imitation of a pony, you could have your own foals with him!" Yikes! Where had that come from? It just popped out of my mouth, a lightning fast riposte that had been meant to hurt her. I regretted saying it almost instantly. Her eyes went wide for a moment and then narrowed down as her muzzle wrinkled up. "Oh, I am so looking forward to your breakup with Luna! That love gone sour will taste sweet to me! Now, get out." She turned away any dismissed me with a wave of her decayed hoof. I felt a flush of anger at her insult, but tamped it down. It was all I deserved after my own verbal attack. I opened the door and then paused halfway through. "I'm still willing to help. I don't care if you dislike me or not, you'd be foolish to—" "Get out!" Chrysalis hissed. I closed the door behind me. The whole expedition had been focused on eliminating a threat to Equestria, and I'd gone and made another one. Or two. Possibly. Csharreee was a friend, but she was also, by her very nature, a parasite that preyed on ponies. I knew that she could overcome her nature and coexist peacefully with us. From what I knew of her, I was almost certain she would guide her swarm to that end. But things happen. Then there was Chrysalis. Now a potential enemy again, much closer to home and with me to blame for her exile. Yeah… That was going to work out fine. I sighed and tried to put the changeling complications out of my mind. There would be time to deal with all that after I'd gotten rid of the more immediate problem of the dark magic monsters. = = = "Luna?" "Mm?" I raised my head from her back where we lay on top of the broad upper surface of Solar Flare's envelope. Except for a minimal crew keeping her engines turning over just enough for her to be able to steer and a few lookouts, everypony below us was asleep, resting for the battle that would come with the dawn. "I think I have to come to terms with the fact that I can't fix everything." She lifted her head and rolled an eye at me. "You are so adorable when you say things like that, my love." "I'm serious!" "Hence, the adorableness." I bit her on the flank. Not too hard, just a nip. "Ahh! Still adorable, now shading into desirable." I chuckled and put my head back down on the smooth rise of her back, between her wings. "I just can't seem to worry about everything being perfect anymore," I murmured. "I know I have you, and that's all that seems to matter." "There is the small matter of a battle in a couple of hours. Perhaps a tiny amount of worry is warranted." "I already did that job of worrying and checked it off. You've given me enough magical sleep to keep me fresh for days, if I need it, I've checked the device over five times, and everypony knows their jobs. Chrysalis is so furious with me that anything I try to do about that situation will only make matters worse. So... didn't somepony once say, 'If there is nothing to be done, do nothing?' Well, here I am, doing nothing with the mare I love for the next forty-seven minutes, until I need to armor up and report to Hazina." "'Tis odd," Luna said, shifting her chin so that it nestled in the little flat space forward of my rump. "Of all the things that we share, the feasting, the jesting, the practice of combat, the sweeter struggles a-bed, the play of magic... What brings such a surprise of joy to me is to simply be with thee, alone like this, together doing nothing." "Yeah." I grinned even though she couldn't see it. "Let's do this a lot, okay?" "Now and always. Together through all the years to come, my love," she said. Of course, we didn't have years. By then, we had less than four hours before we were to be separated by a gulf greater than all the oceans of the world. = = = =