Roseluck focused her binoculars. Her and the usual ponies hid behind a sand dune, watching to see if the changelings take the bait.
The giant statue of Chrysalis had been Pinky’s idea, however, they were not following her plan. Pinky had wanted to draw attention to the North gate, so that the Pegasi could sneak them over the West gate. From there her plan involved a Rube Golberg machine that would be built from rubber chickens, an accordion, two oranges, a lasso, an umbrella, magnets, and water balloons. The lasso may only be there so that Applejack wouldn’t feel left out, regardless they weren’t doing that.
Pinky had already procured the chocolate, during a shortage no less, figured out how to get it across a desert without melting, and employed the Cakes and Donut Joe as sculptors.
The statue was more regal then Pinky had expected. Artists have certain go to poses when trying to depict a princess, and they figured they could use the same for a queen. Though it was Chrysalis’s body, the pose was based on one of the great works of Equestrian history, the coronation of Celestia first immortalized by Virtuoso Polymare. Some find the old masters work a bit pretentious, yet she couldn’t deny his ability to flatter the subject.
Twilight was going to follow the plan, she really was. Every time she doubted Pinky, Twilight would remind herself of events like the end of the parasprite infestation, or what happened when she doubted Pinky sense. The newest princess didn’t want to disregard all Pinky’s efforts, yet another idea was suggested to her, and it was slightly less ridiculous. Instead of following Pinky’s plan they recruited Shining Armour to hide inside the statue.
Shining Armour’s magic shield can encompass the entire city of Canterlot. The Canterlot invasion had been stopped by generating a love boosted shield while the changelings were already inside the city.
As long as the Changelings take the statue into the hive, Shining could secure the entire hive and incapacitate every drone. Twilight had no doubt of her big brothers awesome power.
Pinky didn’t like this. She wished they had gone with her idea. Moreover, she didn’t like the prospect of evicting creatures, even temporarily, from their homes.
“Okay,” said Roseluck, “I see changelings examining the statue. Now they’re talking with the changelings who work the drawbridge. One is flying off, probably to talk to the queen. A crowd is gathering.”
“The sentries at the West gate have left their posts.”
“Pinky, I told you we’re not following your plan.” Twilight turned to Roseluck. “Are they opening the drawbridge?”
“No, the changeling that left is coming back. They’re lifting the statue. Maybe they want to fly it over the wall. They’re lifting it higher. They’re above the drawbridge. It’s higher than the top of the palace.”
Twilight nibbled her hooves. What were they up to?
“It’s headed up to the clouds.”
“At that height the air would be really thin.” Rainbow Dash added. “A unicorn would pass out up there.”
“THEY DROPPED IT! THEY DROPPED IT!”
“BBBFF!” Twilight screamed in horror.
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“You hear that screaming?” One changeling sentry spoke in wingbeats.
“Yes, it’s coming from behind that sand dune.”
“How many soldiers should I send?”
“200, I’d say.”
“Better make it 500, just to be sure.”
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A ruler slapped against the desk.
Twilight Sparkle was startled into wakefulness. The lavender mare looked about the room, all eyes were upon her. She could vaguely hear whispers from the ponies farther away. Were they whispering about her? Twilight, the wonder student, caught sleeping in class.
It couldn’t be. She never slept in class. Sometimes she stayed up late, reading. Once in a while she skipped meals because she was so enthralled in a book. Even then she never slept in class. The lessons were so riveting.
She looked up at the mare who had startled her, the teacher.
“Ms. Harshwhinny!” This wasn’t right, was it?
“Sleeping in class, Ms. Sparkle?”
“Was I?” Twilight touched her hooves to her temples, as though confused. “No, I couldn’t have been.”
“Oh, paying attention were you? Then you should have no problem solving the problem on the board.”
There was indeed a problem on the backboard. Twilight turned her head left, then right. So many eyes were upon her. The whispers were deafening, so many that they were unintelligible, yet she was so conscious of the noise, the noise drowned out the voice telling her this was all wrong.
‘All ready caught sleeping in class, such shame, what will I write to the princess? The problem on the board, it’s a toughie. Too tough for the foals in this class. Is the teacher punishing me? Maybe if I solve it I can redeem myself.’
“Well Ms. Sparkle, I’m waiting.”
“The problem can’t be solved as it is.”
Ms. Harshwhinny sneered, and Twilight quivered at the sneer. Had any teacher ever been mad at her before. The whispers grew louder. Twilight continued:
“You have to do a change of variables. Change the ‘u’ into csc( x ) and arrange it to use cosine law.”
The whispers stopped. For a moment all was silent. Twilight was at last able to think clearly. Dream logic, she thought. Everything seems real in a dream, while you’re dreaming. She wasn’t a foal. This wasn’t a junior high class. That was more of a college problem. She’d been sleepwalking. There was a sweet odour in the air, perhaps something that induced the state she was in.
The world came into focus. The foals where changelings, they didn’t whisper, they laughed at her. The walls were a sickly green material, neither mucous nor honeycomb. Twilights left hind hoof was shackled, and there was more honeycomb on her horn blocking her magic. A green flame seemed to encompass the body of Ms. Harshwhinny. The teacher, who was never a teacher, disappeared into the flame, and Queen Chrysalis appeared in her place. The blackboard was real.
Twilight looked again at the blackboard. She knew this problem, she solved something similar once with the breezies.
“This is a transformation algorithm, Twilight declared. I can’t help you with this.”
“That’s all right,” came the disinterested yet menacing voice of Chrysalis. “Change of variable, I got it.”
She solved the problem straight through. Never did she pause, the chalk kept moving until the correct answer appeared. Although Twilight could have done it in two less steps.
“Take her to the dungeon.” Chrysalis ordered.
The queen laughed to herself. She’d put aside much of her ego as of late. Not long ago Chrysalis would never have smashed such a flattering statue of herself, even though it was an obvious trap. Those foolish ponies should have just used the statue as a distraction, they could have easily invaded from the West wall. Still, she prides herself a being the grand deceiver, even if it is only to such foolish creatures.
Chrysalis made her way to the potion room. In her lifetime she had certainly learned at least as much magic as an alicorn who had yet to pass through a single century. She’d have solved the problem sooner or later.
The Queen munched on a few pieces of chocolate, giving little thought to the possibility of contaminating her concoction. She mixed timber wolf splinters, the green and indigo of a rainbow, cockatrice feather, and poison joke in roughly the concentrations that twilight had calculated, boiled it for a bit with magical energy from her own horn, then cooled it in a water bath and shook the concoction. As long as it turned black she’d know the mixture was successful. She shook it and waited. She shook it and ate more chocolate. She shook it wildly and angrily, practically willing the concoction to change colour. Finally it turned black, as black as a changelings armour.
The Queen took the concoction to Daisy who was still waiting in the throne room.
At first she was respectful and cautious not to touch anything. After a while she grew bored and looked for something to occupy herself. She began reading through Chrysalis’s book. It was the newest book in the ‘Afterglow’ series. In the book, the pony with a bell and swan wings on her flank confronted the queen. Changeling had been missing for some time. With the help of Draconequus they stormed the hive. The terrifying Changeling Queen overwhelmed Draconequus and stabbed him with her horn. Then she approached the pony. She moved closer and closer and then…
The page was covered in a shadow. A tingle moved up Daisy’s spine. Chrysalis loomed over Daisy.
She dropped the concoction in front of her. “Drink it or don’t. I don’t really care.”
Daisy eyed the concoction, and then took a drink.
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The worst part would be hearing Pinky say: “I told you so.”
Everything was going according to her plan. Her ridiculous, absurd, crazy plan was actually working. It was only when Twilight deviated from the plan that they were captured.
Maybe that wasn’t the worst part.
Was her brother even alive?
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Drone and the Pestilence glared at one another.
Several more changelings gathered around their brother. When Drone didn’t return from working the fields, two changelings were ordered to check up on him. At first the two were just upset to be missing the chocolate. The Pestilence didn’t move at all, and seemed to be a dead thing. One changeling obeyed Drone and went to gather soldiers. Another joined him in guarding against the creature.
The changeling turned to look at Drone. “You think it’s asleep?” He spoke in wingbeats.
“It’s waited a long time. It’s very patient.”
“It’s probably just dead,” said another. “Hey did you hear about the chocolate. It’s scattered all over the palace courtyard.”
“Keep your eyes on the creature.”
“We should probably just kill it ourselves. This thing is not worth bothering momma over.”
The daring changeling inched closer. “Stay away from it,” Drone warned.
“It’s so pathetic. If this is the thing that killed the old queen it just wasted itself away in Tartarus.” He moved closer still.
Angry, Drone nipped at his hind leg, with sharp mandibles.
“Hey!”
“Get away from it,” Drone warned.
The daring changeling walked away. Drone turned his head for one moment, to see him off.
The Pestilence lunged. The changelings would have been startled just to see it blink, yet in an instant it was upon Drone, and he was pinned to the ground. They treated Drone like a leader, and Pestilence thought to cut off the head.
The other changelings poised to attack.
Locust exploded from the creatures mane, engulfing them in the torrent.
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Another changeling burst into the room. Daisy was so startled that she nearly spit out her drink.
His wings fluttered.
There was a nub on Daisy’s forehead, the start of a growing horn. With the movement of his wingbeats she felt vibrations in her nub, forming into garbled sounds in her mind:
“Marshland… Monster… Help… Drone.”
Daisy rushed off. She ran, Chrysalis flew.
However, Chrysalis had a stop to make before she would confront the creature.
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Chrysalis made her way to the flower ponies hut. She found Lily, who was fast asleep from a hard days work. The queen knew she didn’t have time to waste, yet hesitated to wake her.
Lily slept with the egg. Even in slumber she cradled it lovingly. ‘Must be nice,’ Chrysalis thought. She was referring to the unhatched infant.
The Queen tapped Lily with a hoof.
Lily opened her eyes. She hugged the egg protectively. Once convinced she was fully awake, the queen spoke. Her voice was gentle, more gentle then Lily ever thought Chrysalis could be.
“There’s trouble. Go to the hatchery. You’ll be protected there.”
Lily grabbed her woollen saddle bag, and gently rolled her egg inside of it. She looked around the room.
“What about Daisy?”
“I turned her into a changeling. She’ll have to fight with the rest of the hive.”
“Oh.”
Perhaps it was the matter of fact way that Chrysalis told her. Maybe Lily was too shocked to process the information. She barely reacted at all.
“If you like I can have Roseluck sent to the hatchery to keep you company.”
Lily quivered. She held the egg tighter. Chrysalis was insulted by the gesture. Did Lily think she had to protect the egg from her, the biological mother? Or maybe she knew Chrysalis would never strike her while holding the infant. Either alternative bothered her.
“Roseluck escaped days ago.”
“I know she’s back.”
Lily just stuttered to find words so Chrysalis added: “Neither of you are being punished.”
“Yes, I think I’d like it if she joined me in the hatchery.”
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“Oh this is just atrocious.” Rarity complained. “The walls are a ghastly green and sticky. These shackles make me wonder if our tetanus shots are up to date, and the room smells of,” she sniffed the air, “fish.”
Roseluck smelled her own mane, wondering if the fish smell came from her. She’d taken so many showers since the barrel escape.
A guard stepped into the cell where the mane six and Roseluck are being held.
Each had one hoof shackled, the unicorns and alicorns had honeycomb on their horns to disable their powers.
The guard unshackled Roseluck and led her away.
“Where are you taking her?” Rainbow Dash demanded to know.
The changeling took the form of Chrysalis herself, in order to mimic her instructions.
“Take Roseluck to the hatchery. She’ll be safer there.”
“What about the rest of us?” Applejack asked.
“The others, they’re not important. Leave them in the dungeon.”
“Not important! Why I never,” Rarity was insulted.
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The Pestilence was poised to take a bite from Drones flesh. It had already cracked the chitin armour. This was not fatal. Drone was overdue to shed his skin anyhow. However, the meaty material underneath was now vulnerable.
One changeling fought through the torrent of locusts, ploughing forward like a creature possessed.
It turned and struck Pestilence in the snout with a mighty hind kick. Next the changeling grabbed Drone and pulled him away.
Once they were a good distance from the locusts, drone opened his eyes.
The changeling who saved Drones life stood over him. She nuzzled her face close to his. Drone caught a whiff of the scent of her hair. It was nice. She didn’t smell like one of his sisters, yet there hadn’t been separate hives in a long time. The female smelled a little bit familiar, and a little bit new.
Hair was rare for changelings. Some girls have it. Of course mother has it. Her hair was a lime green colour, it had curls and fluffiness that that was just like his loves beautiful hair. Then he saw the eyes. There were the beady blue eyes of a changeling, yet they had a kindness to them. There was no mistake. It really was her. It was Daisy.