//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Bound to Darkness // by asylum1388 //------------------------------// A sharp knock woke Twilight from a mercifully dreamless sleep and she stretched out with a yawn. Feeling oddly refreshed, she rolled out of bed, trotted over to the bedroom door, and pulled it open to find a stone-faced guard glaring back at her. "The Bearers demand to see you. Now!" he barked. "Okay. Lead the way," she sighed, not at all surprised at the hostility. She followed him to the hallway’s staircase and down to the first floor where she saw Rarity and Pinkie Pie waiting for her in front of a closed doorway a few meters down. Without waiting for permission, she trotted past the guard and greeted them with a smile. “Good morning! What’s up?” “Good morning. The ponies you wished to speak to are here. I hope you’ve prepared,” Rarity said coldly. She looked past Twilight to the guard with a haughty sneer. “You are dismissed.” “But—” “You are dismissed! Don’t make me speak to your commanding officer,” she growled, causing the guard to recoil. He gave her a sharp salute and galloped away. Rarity watched, making sure he was out of earshot before turning back to Twilight. “I’m sorry about that, Twilight. I really hate having to act so distant towards you. How did you sleep?” “It’s okay, Rarity, I understand. And I slept surprisingly well,” Twilight murmured, giving Rarity a forgiving hug. “So, what do you need to see me about?” Rarity and Pinkie exchanged nervous glances before Rarity responded. “Your parents are here. We told Icewing that you wanted to apologize to them, so he let Rainbow Dash go to get them.” “You did what? Why would you do that?” Twilight squealed. “The news of what happened yesterday — or rather, what we said happened — was on the front page of every major newspaper this morning,” Rarity said apologetically. “We thought that your parents should at least know the truth: that you’re actually safe and sound. Relatively safe, that is.” “Dashie told them everything, but I don’t think they really believe her,” Pinkie said softly. “I don’t really blame them though. I still have a hard time believing it and I saw some of it happen!” “You’re coming in with me, right?” Twilight asked pleadingly. “Of course!” Rarity answered forcefully. “Why would you even ask that? We’d never leave you alone.” She motioned to the door with a hoof and Pinkie opened it, bounding through. Twilight gave Rarity a sick smile and stepped through the door where she found her parents waiting with her other three friends. Her heart immediately leapt into her throat as she met her father’s icy gaze. His face was passive, curious even, but his eyes radiated suspicion and loathing. Her mother, however, walked up to her cautiously. The older mare gave her a confused frown and Twilight hung her head, unable to look even at her mother. Just then, a hoof beneath her chin gently pulled her head up, forcing her to look into her mother’s eyes. The older mare smiled warmly and threw her hooves around Twilight’s neck, hugging her tightly. Twilight’s father frowned slightly. “Velvet?” “It’s her, Night Light. There isn’t a doubt in my mind,” Twilight Velvet murmured happily “I’m sorry mom. I was trying to help Equestria and I really screwed up,” Twilight sighed sadly. “It’s okay, honey,” Velvet cooed. “You’re okay, and that’s all I care about. Everything will be fine in the end; I know it.” “But mom—” “No buts! I know Lieutenant Icewing; he was Shining’s bunkmate during boot camp. He’s a good pony and he really respects your brother. He won’t let anything happen to your body, especially if he thinks that you’re still in it,” Velvet said with a smile. “She’s right,” Night Light consoled. “It’s just a relief to know that you’re here and not out where you can get hurt. The rest can be handled in due time.” “Thanks dad....” Further conversation was cut off as Icewing barged through the door, positively fuming. He stared around angrily before stumbling over his words. “M-Mrs. Twilight Velvet, Mr. Night Light, if you’ll excuse me, I need to speak with the changeling. I’ve arranged for the two of you to stay at the palace under a protective detail.” A guard stepped through the door and bowed apologetically to Twilight Velvet and Night Light before murmuring, “Right this way.” Icewing waited until Night Light and Twilight Velvet both reluctantly left before wheeling around on Twilight. “You... With me. Now!” Without waiting for her to respond, Icewing turned around and stomped away. Twilight followed wordlessly, not wanting to press her luck by questioning him. He led her down the hall and into a small room overlooking one of the castle’s courtyards and turned around to glare at her, pointing out the nearby window. “Explain.” She stepped over to the window to look out and her jaw dropped. Outside in the courtyard, over a hundred changelings milled about aimlessly; the civilian members of Chrysalis' hive. "What the heck are they doing here?" "I was hoping you'd tell me," Icewing hissed. "They said they're here for you. Odd considering that other members of your hive are actively fighting against us." "I know, I don't understand it either," Twilight muttered. "What exactly did they say?" Icewing nodded to a nearby Corporal, and he jumped as Twilight gave him an inquisitive frown. "Oh! They appeared shortly before dawn. I was leading one of the squads guarding the city gates and we saw the swarm approaching low in the sky. We raised the alarm and braced for an air-raid, but before they got in range, they descended and landed on the road approaching the city. Then, a few of them just walked right up to the city gates, knocked, and asked if they could see 'the queen'. I assume they meant you." Twilight nodded and he continued. "Well, we told them no and prepared for an attack, but instead they just moved over to the side of the road and sat down. Darnedest thing I've ever seen." "Then how'd they get up here?" "My orders," Icewing grunted. "Some of the ponies passing by began to harass them and I wanted to prevent an incident. Besides, it's easier to handle them when they're boxed in like this." "Can I go talk to them? Maybe I can get a better answer," Twilight muttered hopefully. "What a great idea! We're finally getting somewhere," Icewing seethed sarcastically. Twilight bit off her retort and turned to walk through the nearby door and onto the balcony overlooking the courtyard. The low hum of conversation immediately died as every pair of eyes turned to her. "Who's in charge here?" "You are!" a hundred voices chirped in unison. "I should've expected that," she grumbled, carefully churning over her next words in her head. "Okay, aside from me, who's the oldest changeling here?" A single hoof quickly shot up and Twilight beckoned her to come closer. With a moment’s hesitation, the drone rose from the crowd and flitted up to the balcony, landing in front of her with a bow. "Hi, I just have a few questions, okay?" Twilight asked her softly. "I know you all left the nest to come find me, but someone had to organize that, right?" The drone nodded vigorously and Twilight continued, "Was it you?" "No. Organizers did that. I'm a digger!" the drone chittered proudly. "Oh. Who's the oldest organizer?" Twilight asked with exaggerated enthusiasm. "Number 3,587." "Can you go get her for me?" The drone nodded and flew off, landing in the middle of the swarm. Seconds later, another, smaller, changeling flew out of the same spot and landed in front of Twilight. "35-87?" "Yes, my queen!" she replied happily. "Why did you come here?" Twilight asked sternly. "To help. We want to help the queen," 35-87 replied frowning slightly. "But why? The soldiers left me to re-join with Chrysalis. Why didn't you?" Twilight insisted, tilting her head slightly to seem less aggressive. "Because... you are queen? New queen, or old queen, wanted new queen," the drone murmured nervously. "So you all heard Chrysalis' call, but chose not to obey. Why?" Twilight asked, lowering her voice so that none of the nearby ponies would hear. 35-87 didn't respond, but instead shuffled uncomfortably where she stood. "You... don't actually know why, do you?" Twilight pursed her lips, feeling slightly guilty about pressing her like that. "Listen, I appreciate that you chose to follow me. I'm just confused, okay?" "W-we scared," 35-87 muttered slowly, as if confessing to some grievous sin. "Want to help queen so she can come home!" "That’s... great! How can you help?" Twilight asked, doing her best to sound sincere and friendly. "Don't know but want to." "Well I don't know eith- wait, I've got it!" She turned and trotted inside. Ignoring Icewing, she took a piece of parchment and quill from a nearby desk and trotted back outside, stretching to her full height to address the hive. "I need to see the fastest flyer! The one who can get to the nest and back the fastest." A few changelings rose from the crowd and glanced at each other. After a moment, one flew up to the balcony while the remainder returned to the ground. Twilight nodded to her politely and asked, “And you are..?” “3,722!” she chirped excitedly. “Okay, 37-22, I have a very important job for you,” Twilight said as encouragingly as she could. She quickly wrote down "Blood Bind" on the paper she held, and passed it to the drone. "In my bedroom, there are a bunch of scrolls. I need you to find the one with those symbols written on it and bring it here right away. Can you do that for me?" The drone seized the piece of paper in her mouth and nodded to Twilight. She snapped to a sharp salute and took off into the sky. Twilight watched her go before turning back to 35-87. "Wait here for a bit. I need to talk to the ponies." She waited for the drone to bow slowly before retreating back inside and nodding to Icewing. "It's okay. They're friendly." "I'm listening," Icewing said blandly. "Okay. From what I can tell, they were given the same opportunity to go rogue as the changelings following Chr- following Twilight Sparkle did, but they didn't take it. They can't seem to tell me why they chose to remain loyal, but I doubt they really know themselves." "So, they're not hostile, for the moment; that doesn't mean they're not dangerous," Icewing miffed. "They're all civilians, bred specifically to be workers, not fighters. The most dangerous ones out there are probably the diggers, and they’re more likely to burrow away from a fight than engage in it. That's why they came here, I think. They were alone in the nest, leaderless, defenseless, and scared out of their wits," Twilight explained. "They probably understood that I was in some sort of trouble, so they came to try to help me so that I could go home with them. I actually just sent one to find a scroll that might help me uncurse the Princesses." Icewing blinked at Twilight's last sentence and narrowed his eyes. "That's... good?" He turned his gaze back to the window to glare at the changelings in the courtyard. "Just when I thought things couldn't get any more complicated. I hate my job," he mumbled. He strode across the office, pacing back and forth, muttering to himself for a minute before turning around. "Sergeant!" A large Earth Pony mare burst into the room and saluted. "Post snipers on the roof around the courtyard. Arbalists and spellslingers both. They are permitted to fire upon the changelings, but only in response to direct acts of aggression, and only on aggressors. Any who fire unprovoked or upon nonaggressive changelings during an incident will be imprisoned and charged with firing upon noncombatants. I’m talking a life sentence. Clear?" "Crystal, sir!" the Sergeant thundered before galloping back out. Icewing turned back around and prodded Twilight's armored chest with a hoof. "You are quickly reaching the limits of my trust, but harming civilians goes against everything the Guard stands for. They will stay in the courtyard, and they will do as they're told, or I'll have them all in chains. Got it?" "I can live with that, but you don't have to be so rude. We're on the same side here and I already agreed to follow your orders," Twilight snarled, slapping away his hoof. "Right, sorry," Icewing blurted with a guilty wince. "It's not personal; I just wasn't prepared for all this crap to happen all at once. There's a reason Shining Armor was promoted ahead of me." "I understand. I'd just appreciate it if you didn't vent your temper on me," Twilight replied consolingly. "To be honest, you've been very generous so far, and I appreciate it. Unfortunately, it makes my next request much harder to ask." "Oh, great," Icewing groaned, massaging his forehead. "What is it?" "They're all severely malnourished ," Twilight said, pointing towards the door. "Some of them probably haven't eaten anything at all in days, and none of them have had a proper meal in at least a week. Could you find it in your heart to feed them?" "I... That might be a tall order, there are a lot of them out there, and the kitchen staff isn’t the most cooperative group of ponies in Equestria," Icewing grumbled apologetically, scratching the back if his head. "What do they even eat?" "Anything you'll give them. Please, I'll do anything you ask, just don't let them starve!" Twilight pleaded. "I'd be grateful even if you just pushed a dumpster of kitchen scraps out there." "I think we could probably do bit better than that," Icewing muttered. "Let me... Let me talk it over with the castle's staff and what they can be convinced to donate." He trotted away and Twilight dragged herself back out to the balcony with a sigh where 35-87 greeted her with a nervous frown. "Ponies mean to queen?" "Sort of. It's a complicated situation," Twilight grumbled tiredly. She laid down to look the drone in the eyes. "Okay, here's what's going on. The hive is going to stay here for a while. I want everyone to be polite and do whatever the ponies tell you to. If you do that, they won't hurt you and might even bring you some food later, okay?" 35-87 perked up immediately at the mention of sustenance. "Food? Ponies bring food?" she chattered excitedly. "Yes, but only if you're good," Twilight replied, suppressing a giggle. "In the meantime, I'm going to be in the castle trying to help the ponies find the old queen before she hurts anyone. I'll be real close by and if you need anything, you can just ask the ponies to get me, okay?" "Be good and listen to ponies so queen can find old queen. Okay!" she rattled off. "Queen be okay, ponies help us." "Exactly. Now, I'm putting you in charge while I'm not here. It's your job to make sure everyone's taken care of and follows the rules. Can you handle that?" "I... in charge. Can do, will do." "Good. Now I have to go back inside. Take care, okay?" Twilight leaned forward and nuzzled 35-87 and the drone jumped with surprise. She shook for a moment, then bowed deeply to Twilight and took off, landing back in the crowd of changelings. Standing back up, Twilight gazed over the hive with her best attempt at a comforting smile before turning around and trotting back inside. She sat down and waited for Icewing, who returned a few minutes later. "The kitchens had a bunch of leftovers that they wouldn’t serve proper guests; stale bread, wilted vegetables and such," he said with a satisfied nod. "A few of my troops will bring it out along with some barrels of water shortly." "Oh thank you. Thank you so much," Twilight said with a relieved sigh. "I can't tell you how much this means to me." "You're, ummm, welcome," Icewing muttered hesitantly, seeming unsure of Twilight's gratitude. He stepped over to the nearby window and stared out at the courtyard. "I... still don't like you or your kind, to be honest. If I had a better option, I'd still have all of you locked in the dungeons and be fixing this myself." He sighed, chewing on his lip and pointedly refusing to look at her. "Even so, Princess Celestia would be very disappointed with me if I withheld food. You can't imagine what that's like; I'd rather have her angry with me than disappointed." "I know someone like that," Twilight replied, stifling a giggle. Icewing merely grunted incoherently before turning back to her. "I have things to attend to. Stay out of trouble." "I will," Twilight said assuringly. "Is there anything else you need for the moment?" "Actually, the spell I need to cast to... perform an exorcism on Twilight Sparkle requires a pretty complex potion that takes a few days to brew," she shrugged. "I can write up a list of ingredients for you." "Do it," Icewing ordered as he started walking to the door. "Bring it to my office. If I'm not there, leave it with my assistant. I want it brewing as soon as possible." Without another word, he stomped out. Twilight waited a minute to ensure that he was gone before following him out, allowing her muscles to finally relax. She made it only two steps before bumping into Rarity in the otherwise empty hall. "Oh, hi!" "I saw some of the guards bringing a very large amount of food to the changelings. Your doing, I take it?" the fashionista muttered. "Now, Rarity, I know what you're going to say: don't get too close to them," Twilight said quickly. "But you can't suggest I let them go hungry!" "Actually, I'm quite I'm proud of you; though I would still advise against getting too close to them," Rarity murmured with an approving smile. "But that's not why I came. I have some good news." "Oh?" Twilight asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Yes, I have. You see, the rumor that's just started spreading around the castle is that Twilight Sparkle's parents have forgiven a certain changeling queen for her crimes against their family," Rarity explained tantalizingly. "I see. And would you happen to have anything to do with this rumor spreading?" Twilight quipped with a roll of her eyes. "I'm hurt! A lady never spreads gossip," Rarity quipped far too innocently, eliciting a chuckle from Twilight. She winked and continued, "The rumor also says that they've asked the castle's kitchens to prepare a special dinner to celebrate. A dinner that coincidentally includes Twilight Sparkle's favorite dish." Twilight grinned widely. "Hayburgers?" "Indeed," Rarity snickered triumphantly. "In the meantime, however, I think you may want to get to work on whatever the Lieutenant assigned you." "Oh. Yeah, that," Twilight stumbled, snapping out of her daydreams. "I'm supposed to 'exorcise' the 'spirit' from my body when he captures Chrysalis. So, I'll need to replicate the spell I made that switched us in the first place. I told him I'd give him a list of things I'd need to make the potion." "I can help you with that, since you probably haven't handled a quill without magic in years," Rarity teased. "What else was there? I remember you mentioning gems to me when you first started working on it." "Yes. I need 700 grams of coarse ruby dust, a shaped emerald, and a piece of my body," Twilight listed off. "Preferably a relatively new piece, a year-old strand of hair wouldn't be any good." "Oh, yes. That's what it was. Well, I can help you with the rubies and emerald, and it wouldn't be too difficult to convince a guard to head to Ponyville to grab your brush or something," Rarity mused. "Shall we?" "Let's!" The next evening... "It's... pink," Rainbow Dash muttered as she stared into a small bubbling cauldron. "It's supposed to be," Twilight groaned, nudging the pegasus out of the way so she could stir the potion. "I thought you said it was supposed to be blue," Rainbow retorted, once again shoving her intrusive head over the pot. "After it has cooked for nine hours," Rarity interjected. "Rainbow, did you listen to Twilight at all earlier?" "What?" Rainbow asked, turning her head in Rarity's direction. "Well, that answers that," Twilight muttered. She glanced around the room impatiently and sighed. "Where are Applejack and Pinkie Pie? They should've been back by now." "Y-you don't think..." Fluttershy whimpered. "No! They were well-guarded," Rarity replied, putting a comforting hoof around Fluttershy's shoulders. "Yeah; and Applejack wouldn't let a few overgrown bugs take her down that easy," Rainbow said. "Ah wouldn't what?" a voice asked from the nearby hallway moments before Applejack trotted through the door with Pinkie bouncing at her heels. "We were just assuring Fluttershy that you two were okay," Rarity smiled. "So? How did it go?" Twilight asked eagerly. "We got nothin'. Even yer hairbrush was clean!" Applejack grumbled. "Darn! Chrysalis must've figured out how the spell worked and cleaned up the place," Twilight moaned. "Sure, blame Chrysalis for that," Rainbow chortled, eliciting a laugh from Applejack. "Hey, I may be a bit of a neat freak, but even I'm not obsessive enough to pull every single hair out of my brushes," Twilight muttered embarrassedly, causing Rainbow and Applejack to laugh even harder. She tried to keep a venomous glare on her face, but was unable to and found herself join in with giggles of her own. After the laughter died down, she sighed and stomped a hoof on the floor. "I'm serious though. Chrysalis probably put together my notes and destroyed anything I could use to cast the spell." "So you won't be able to do anything until they catch her?" Pinkie replied, more of a statement than a question. "Pretty much," Twilight replied with a deep sigh. "Oh ponyfeathers... If I were you, Twilight, I'd go inform somepony of your progress. They'll be looking for good news," Rarity said in an abrupt change of subject. "Good idea, Rare," Applejack said, slapping the fashionista on the back. "Pinkie 'n Ah can even come with ya. Hearin' some bad news from us might even make yer good news sound better!" "I doubt it, but it's worth a try," Twilight shrugged. She got up and stretched out before allowing Applejack and Pinkie to lead her out. They made the short trek down the hall and to Icewing’s office. Applejack knocked once on the door and pushed her way in. The three of them entered to find a stone-faced sergeant sitting behind his desk reading over several scrolls. She fixed Twilight in a furious glare and sneered. "What's the meaning of this?" she barked irritably. "We, uhhh, wanted to report to the Lieutenant about our mission to Ponyville," Applejack muttered, gesturing to Pinkie. "Y'all know where he is?" "He is indisposed for the moment. Give me your report and I'll see to it that he gets it," the sergeant ordered. "Okay... Well, to put it short, the mission was bunk. We tore the place apart and didn't find nothin'," Applejack stated plainly, resisting the urge to laugh when she hear a sharp intake of breath from Twilight. "Damn," the sergeant blurted out, slamming her hoof on the desk. "I knew it. I wanted to believe you'd succeed, but I just knew it." "Well thanks for y'all's vote of confidence," Applejack growled. The sergeant ignored her outburst and looked past her to Twilight. "And you?" "The potion is brewing as we speak. It needs to cook for another nine hours before I add the last few ingredients, then simmer for another five after that," Twilight explained politely. "Hmph. At least you can do something right," the sergeant snarled. Twilight frowned at her, but that just seemed to make the mare angrier. "Make no mistake, that potion is the only thing keeping you alive right now. Either it works, or you die." Twilight gulped, but kept her expression defiant. "I know that, and chastising me isn't going to make its success more likely." "Yeah! And she's trying to help us! What's your problem?" Pinkie screeched, zipping up to the desk and staring at the sergeant accusingly. "Get. Out!" "Fine. Let's go you two," Applejack barked, giving the sergeant one last glower. They trotted out into the hallway and began heading back towards the lounge that Twilight had set up her laboratory in. They were barely out of hearing distance before Pinkie burst. "Can you believe her? You're trying to help and she still talks like that to you? Who spit in her oatmeal?" "Pinkie, she doesn't know who I really am. To her, I'm just a changeling," Twilight mumbled sadly. "Yeah, but that's no reason for her to be a mean meanie-head!" "Pinkie, ya gotta understand. Some ponies're just— uh-oh," Applejack muttered, pointing ahead to where a soldier stood in the doorway of the lounge. His head shot towards them at the sound of Applejack's voice. "Changeling queen! Thank heavens. We need you right away," he exclaimed, face full of relief. "Come with me!" Without waiting for her to respond, he turned and galloped away. Twilight frowned and gave her friends a shrug before charging after him. She followed him down the hall and outside. As they wound through the royal gardens, Twilight breathed of the perfumed air heavily. It had been well over a week since she had been outside for more than a few minutes, and she intended to savor the brief treat of fresh air. Unfortunately, the facade of the castle's main wing loomed ahead. Her moment of freedom at an end, she followed the soldier in and he led her to the castle's foyer — the vast, empty atrium that connected the throne room to the castle gates. She found a mass of ponies, guards and servants both, huddled in the foyer's corner. She approached and they let her through. At the center of the circle, she found Lieutenant Icewing and a medic standing over a wounded changeling. Number 3,722 — the one she had sent back to the nest. "What happened? What did you do?" she screamed, finding herself unable to hold back. "We did not do this," Icewing replied quickly. "It flew into the city in this condition and collapsed. A few of my guards managed to scoop it up and bring it here before any civilians got to it." Twilight bristled every time Icewing used the word 'it', but knew it wouldn't do any good to correct him. Instead, she stepped closer, hovering over the drone. "I'm no expert in changeling physiology, but the wounds are nowhere near as bad as they look," the medic, an Earth Pony stallion, said. "I'd say that its current state has more to do with acute fatigue than its injuries." "Okay, thank you," Twilight muttered half-heartedly. She knelt down beside 37-22 and gently touched a hoof to her shoulder. The changeling's eyes snapped open and fixed on Twilight. She stared for a moment, disbelieving, then broke into a broad grin. "Queen! Brought the scroll." She pushed herself up with a leg, revealing the crumpled parchment she lay on and gently slid it across the floor to Twilight before flopping back down. "Yes. Yes you did. Good job," Twilight cooed, barely regarding the scroll. The drone's eyes lit up at the praise and Twilight was overwhelmed as the drone’s emotions washed over her. Accomplishment. A lifelong dream completed. Her praise brought about a feeling in the changeling that was all too familiar to her. It was the same elation she felt when Celestia praised her. No, the very first time that Celestia had praised her. The knowledge that 37-22 was feeling that way, that she was the reason the drone was feeling that way made Twilight want to smile. "What happened to you? How were you hurt?" 37-22 blanched, seemingly shocked at the question. "S-soldiers attacked," it stammered, tears welling in her eyes. "Impossible. I would've been notified," Icewing mumbled. "I think she meant the changelings that are following Ms. Sparkle. They're soldiers,” Twilight replied fluidly. The drone nodded slowly and Icewing knelt down himself. "Where? Where were you attacked?" he asked, gentle, but insistent. 37-22 recoiled from him and looked to Twilight for guidance, so she gave her an encouraging nod. "R-right outside city." Icewing shot to his hooves, bellowing orders to nearby guards. The royal soldiers scattered in every direction and the observing members of the castle's staff slipped away in the chaos. Twilight, however, didn't move from her spot on the floor. "Lieutenant? Lieutenant Icewing!" Her shouts got the pegasus' attention and he wheeled around at her, the intensity in his face dying immediately at her expression. He shook his head and turned to the medic. "Take the changeling to the infirmary. I want it well cared-for." He turned to leave, but stopped and turned around again slowly, locking eyes with the drone. "Uhhh, thank you." He galloped off without another word, leaving only Twilight, 37-22, and the medic behind. Twilight watched him leave with an exasperated sigh and helped the drone to her hooves. "Female?" the medic asked her uncertainly. Twilight merely nodded at him. "Very good. I can take her from here. She'll be given the best treatment available. I promise." "I appreciate that," Twilight murmured, gently stroking the drone's back. "Don't fret too much. As I said before, the wounds are mostly superficial. Properly bandaged, they'll heal quickly," the medic replied, offering his hoof to the drone. "Even so, I'd like to keep her overnight; she's exhausted. Some rest and intravenous fluids are just what she needs right now. Later on, I'll get her to eat something if she can keep it down." Twilight offered the medic a thankful bow of her head. "Thank you." She smiled at the drone warmly. "Go with this pony. He's a healer, like some of your sisters were before the invasion. You can trust him." 37-22 nodded at Twilight — unquestioning trust shining in her eyes — and allowed herself to be led away. Twilight then realized that she was now completely alone. Not only that, but she was outside of the area she was confined to without an escort. Deciding that causing trouble at this point wasn't worth it, she immediately trotted away, reaching her destination shortly and without incident. As soon as she set hoof in the lounge, her friends hopped up, bombarding her with questions. She quickly explained what had happened and held out the scroll for all to see. "Don't just sit there looking at it! That can tell us how to save the princesses!" Rainbow howled. Twilight sighed and opened the scroll, quickly scanning it. "Well? Is there a counter-spell?" Rarity asked hopefully. "There is, but I can't cast it," Twilight grumbled. She paused, but before any of her friends could hit her with any further questions, she continued, "The curse uses the energy in blood of the caster to bind itself to the victim, then sustains itself with the caster’s own energy. Basically, only the caster can reverse it. And since Chrysalis cast the spell in my body..." "We need to get you back into your body," Fluttershy squeaked. "Right. Either that, or we need to convince Chrysalis to undo the spell herself," Twilight grumbled, well-aware that such a thing would never happen. “So, we’re back to where we started. We can’t do anything until we catch her," Rainbow grunted. "Exactly!" Twilight nodded. "So I'd like us to start working on a plan to lure her out." "Actually, we were just talking about that before you arrived," Rarity mused. "Yeah we have a plan!" Pinkie chirped. "A really, really, really good one!" Icewing was annoyed. No, annoyed was too mild a word. He was just plain pissed off. The last few days had been the worst of his life. Given the chance, he'd go back to boot camp for the next nine years just to see it end. He wasn't cut out for leadership; he was a reconnaissance flyer, one of the best. And therein lay his problem: Equestria promoted the best. Now he was in over his head. His Princesses were cursed, his close friends sister — Princess Celestia's protégé and the leader of the Element Bearers — was possessed, the city was in an uproar, there were changelings in the courtyard, and there were changelings likely preparing for another attack on Canterlot. All on his watch. Shining Armor was going to skin him alive once he got back from his honeymoon. And now the Bearers wanted to talk to him. Again. As much as he respected them and all they had done for Equestria, they hadn't been much help in the current crisis. He'd humor them — he really had no choice, they knew more about the current predicament than anypony. More than they were telling him, at least. He was still confident that they were doing their best, but that that didn't change the fact that speaking to the five young mares — fillies, really — would only make his current monster of a migraine even worse. He barged into the room he knew they would be in without bothering to knock, unsurprised to see the changeling queen with them. He was surprised, however, to find that he was glad to see her. He still wasn't sure if he should be trusting her or not, but she had been polite well-behaved, and very helpful so far. He gave a quick glance around the room, his ire rising at the sight of the six smug faces smirking back at him. "I'm here and short on patience. What do you want?" "We know how to capture Twilight Sparkle," Rarity proclaimed proudly. Instantly, his irritation melted away and he stepped forward, ready to cling onto their every word. "Go on." "A trap, with me as the bait," the queen replied nervously. "She believes I'm the biggest threat to her, so she'll have to take it." "If everything you've told me is true, then she is correct," Icewing muttered loudly. "It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this. I assume you have a plan?" "The train!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, mercifully without her signature squeals. "We put her on a train to for Ponyville with a squad of seven or eight guards," Rainbow explained, pointing at the changeling queen. "She'll probably think that I'm heading to her library to find a way to stop her. Or that I've already found a way to stop her and it's there," the queen said with a smirk. "She'll have to attack me en-route." "But what she won't know is that the rest of the passengers on the train will actually be disguised Royal Guards," Rarity snickered. "She'll attack expecting only light resistance; instead she'll find a battalion." "Ingenious," Icewing murmured. He scratched his chin, rolling over the plan in his head. The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. It was almost perfect. "I'll get it set up right away. Will you be ready to go by tomorrow morning?" he asked the queen. She nodded and he gave a relieved sigh. He grit his teeth. There was one problem he had with the plan, and he hoped his issue wouldn't offend the changeling queen too badly. She may not have been able to use her magic, but her horn was still long and sharp enough to run him through. "Good, good. Unfortunately, there's one hitch in your plan. If you would follow me, changeling." Twilight frowned to her friends as he walked out, sparing her a glance to see if she was following. Curious, Twilight trotted after him. He led her to the courtyard where the hive waited and pointed at them with a grimace. "Send them away, please. I won't have them here if you're not." Twilight's heart sank. "B-but it's too dangerous! And they've been good! They've done everything you've asked them to." He held up a hoof to stop her. "They have been good. In fact, they've been model guests. That's why I want them to leave, because my only other option is to lock them up. If something happens and you're not here to control them, there could be bloodshed and I really don’t want that." Twilight bit her lip, uncertain. He leaned towards her and spoke in what she guessed was his best attempt at a comforting voice, "Please. I could be court-martialed for letting them go, but I'm trying to do the right thing. I'll provide them with rations and an armed aerial escort until they get a reasonable distance away from the city." Twilight blanched, staring out at the assembled changelings sadly. "What about—" "The injured one can stay until it heals. We'll see about getting it back to the rest of them when all this is over," he interrupted quickly. “In fact, I’ll let up to four others stay with it if you think that’d make it feel safer.” Twilight stared at him intensely, focusing all of her senses towards him. She still hadn't gotten used to the odd sixth-sense that came with this body, but she was getting better with it. She found only guilt in his heart. He didn't want to do this, but he saw no alternative. "O-okay." "Thank you. I'll go ready their escort; it shouldn't take more than a few minutes, so send them whenever you're ready," he said quickly, his relief flooding through Twilight's mind. He crouched down, then quickly shot into the air with all the skill of a Wonderbolt, flying off towards the castle barracks. She stepped out onto the balcony and all eyes instantly fell upon her. The hive bowed in unison and she felt heat rising to her face. "I need to speak to number 35-87," she called out. No sooner had she said it, the drone rose out of the crowd and buzzed over to her, landing with a deep bow. "My queen!" "Listen close. The ponies and I are going to try to catch the old queen, but it's going to be very dangerous. 37-22 is going to stay here with me, but I need you to pick a few to stay with her and then lead the rest back to the nest," Twilight explained slowly and softly. "But we want to help—" "I know, and I'm really proud of you for that. Really," Twilight cooed, kneeling down with a smile. "But right now the best way you can help me is by getting to safety. I need you to do this for me. Okay?" The drone stared at her for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Good. Now when you leave, there will be some pegasi — the flying ponies — to meet you. They're going to protect you from the old queen's soldiers for a little while and give you some food for the way back. I want you to listen to them and say 'thank you' for protecting and feeding you, okay?" she said, almost patronizingly. "S-say thank you. Yes," 35-87 parroted. "Queen, I'm scared." "Want to know a secret? I am too," Twilight whispered. "But we have to be brave so we can try to make things better. Okay?" The drone nodded and lifted into the air, slowly flitting back to the assembled hive. Within seconds, the buzzing of voices arose as Twilight's orders spread through the hive. Then, as one, they took off; a dark, sentient cloud floating over the castle. In less than a minute, they had disappeared from sight. Twilight took a deep breath and turned inside. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and she'd need some sleep. The next morning, Twilight got up early, said goodbye to her friends, and went straight to the castle barracks, where she was met by Icewing and the group of guards who would act as her uniformed escort. The group headed down to the train station as inconspicuously as possible. There, they loaded up, pointedly ignoring the undercover soldiers entering the train with them. Twilight remained silent through the trip, both because of nerves and because her escorts all pointedly refused to speak to her. They reached Ponyville without incident, and with little deliberation, the guards decided to turn back. As they reached the Canterlot station, Twilight knew that something had gone terribly wrong. There was a buzz of emotions in her mind, and none of them were good. She stepped off the train to find Icewing waiting for her, and he was — for the first time she had seen — afraid. “They attacked the castle. They took the princesses hostage."