"If our allies don't even know what we're doing, the enemy certainly won't."
-Star Sterling, House Argent, 54 CE
It was six in the morning, and the stars were still shining brightly in the night sky. Luna's moon had descended from the heavens, but Celestia's sun was nowhere to be seen. Nervous whispers made their way around the campsite, mostly from Flash Point, Dive Bomb, and Daisy, while Thunderball paced about with increasing agitation.
"This is bad," he muttered though a half-empty flask of whiskey. "The last few times the heavens became disordered, Equestria was under attack." Thunderball punched one of the larger rocks, leaving a hoofprint in its side. "I should never have left! We're too far away to help now."
Meriwether grabbed him by the wrist and put a cap on the flask. "Calm down, pone, I'm sure Celestia's faithful warrior-princess can handle it just fine. She's been on a roll lately."
"It is the duty of a member of the armed forces to serve Equestria in times of need."
"Look, if you're going to sulk about this, I'm going to suit up."
She sighed when she received no response and left him sitting next to Creme Brulee. The changeling glanced at Thunderball nervously, unsure of what to say. "So, um, does Twilight mean a lot to you?"
"I owe her. A lot. Both for helping me...realize I had an unhealthy hatred for changelings, and for giving me a position in her castle. I wish I was there to help her, and makes this mission all the more difficult -- we're pretty much breaking the Princess's trust with all we've done."
"I know all this must be hard on you, but, well, Daring Do has a habit of going after artifacts that can, literally, change the world, so you're still helping Equestria by being here."
"I suppose."
"You don't believe me?"
"I'd rather know I was doing the right thing in the big picture, and not being distracted by a sidequest." Thunderball gestured to his cousins, who were in various stages of readiness. "Look at us! We've each got the training and equipment for each of us to count as a one-pony assault squad. We could do so much good for Equestria, but we're going about pursuing our own selfish agendas. I'll grant that they often align with Celestia's, but not always; even when they do, it would be more efficient if we were able to coordinate with her own efforts."
"Then why are you here?"
"I suppose that's because, at the end of the day, family's family, even if they do drive you up a wall at times," Thunderball sighed. "But I can't keep dealing with these antics if I'm to work for Her Highness, even if I want to be with them again."
Meriwether shot him a glare from across the pit. "Is this about Zanzebra?"
"Zanzebra was a mistake, and you know it!" Thunderball looked as if he would spring up, but Creme quickly held him down.
Phrase Mark and Flash Point exchanged uneasy glances as their voices rose, and quickly set up a dampening field around the encampment to prevent anyone from hearing the argument.
"You saw the priest, the ritual, and the kid," Meriwether growled. "And how her father allowed a demon to possess her."
"We could have taught her to deal with it, maybe even exorcised it. But none of you even wanted to try doing the right thing."
"The right thing was to take the safe option and put her out of her misery. We couldn't risk letting some abomination manifest just for the sake of your conscience!" Her voice cracked as tears started pouring down her face. "You think I wanted to do it? To see the life drain out of her eyes, see her lips begging for help that we couldn't to give? To end up rotting away from the inside from touching so much raw eldritch power? But I...we had to."
"Thunderball held her head to his chest. "I'm sorry. I didn't like it either." He gently stroked her prosthetic wing. "I didn't mean to upset you. You've suffered enough from that…encounter. I just...sometimes I wonder if we're really the good guys."
Daisy stepped forward and handed Meriwether a handkerchief. "Of course we are. We do what is necessary for the security of Equestria. Sometimes we may have to play dirty in order to win, but only because failure is not an option."
Creme's forelegs tensed around Thunderball's frame. "And what are you doing now?"
Daisy frowned. "We are rescuing a pony so her captors cannot learn sensitive information that could compromise Equestrian security."
"But the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. Changelings can probe memories, but without a clear objective, they'd only learn about your family by pure chance. They're more likely to come across deep seated personal issues, or childhood memories. What're you afraid they'll be directly searching for?"
Thunderball shot Daisy a venomous look. "I swear by Celestia, if you're hiding anything from me, I'm taking off for Ponyville right now, and taking Creme with me."
"Hey, calm down f' Luna's sake!" Dive Bomb quickly stepped in front of Daisy. "Look, we didn't bring it up at the time because we weren't sure, but Daring Do made use of our archives. Said might give her a clue on finding some sort of scarab amulet. I did some reading and it's supposed t' let the owner control the sun, but believe me, we didn't know if she actually found it or not."
Thunderball looked up at the sky. "You might have mentioned this when the bucking sun didn't show up on time."
"Ok, um, calm down, alright? Look, we can still do something about it, we just need to…" Creme Brulee trailed off as he started to listen to what he was saying. "Go into the hive and defeat Queen Chrysalis."
"Creme? Are you sure?" Thunderball looked worried. "I thought you wanted us to disrupt the hive as little as possible."
"This has gone too far; she's holding the sun hostage. I don't think we can avoid a conflict anymore," Creme sighed. "And since we're the closest group able to do something about it…"
"Right," Thunderball nodded. "It falls to us to do something, before the situation gets out of hand. "Any objections?"
Meriwether shook her head. "No, but I sure as heck wish we were going into this with a company of stormtroopers and the Elements of Harmony at our side."
"Well, look on the bright side," Dive Bomb grinned. "We may not have the Elements of Harmony, but we'll certainly have the element of surprise."
At seven in the morning, the desert sand in the middle of the outcropping began shaking. It rippled like water before collapsing into a sinkhole. The subsequent dust cloud filled the air like a dense fog. The ponies could barely make out three dark figures pulling themselves out of the ground and into the camp sight, but even so, there was no mistaking their vaguely canine forms.
"The ponies are here," the tallest one growled, in an annoyingly high pitched voice. "Looks like I lost a bet."
Meriwether stepped forward, with a bulky bag in her mouth. "Nice to see you too, Gypsum."
Gypsum grabbed the sack and opened to reveal three bars of a glistening silvery metal, though judging from how easily she handled it, it weighed much less than silver, or even steel. When she was finished admiring her payment, she tossed it to one of her underlings. "Less talk, more walk, ponies. Being in changeling territory is bad enough without incessant babble."
She snapped her fingers and the other two dove back into the ground. "As promised, we will dig to your desired coordinates. If they're wrong, too bad. If you get stuck in the hive, you're on your own. Get out alive, well, I don't care."
"Good doing business with you." Meriwether motioned for the others to follow her as she jumped into the sinkhole.
They went down past sand, dirt, and rock until they were at a depth of sixty meters, at least according to Dive Bomb and his 'depth intuition'. Thunderball switched on his night vision goggles; there was a soft click and the world was bathed in an eerie green light. He could see the others walking around him in perfect formation, though Creme kept close to his side and kept shooting nervous glances over his shoulder, as if expecting some monster to pounce on him from the shadows.
The Diamond Dogs ahead tunneled through the rock as if it were water, growing slower and more careful the closer they got to the hive. The silent tension in the tunnel increased with each step, and the quiet conversations that sprang up were almost inevitable.
Meriwether strolled alongside Thunderball and Creme Brulee in the back, with a frown on her face. "You know I've been thinking. There's no way we'll be able to cover this up, right?
Thunderball shook his head. "We've got nearly thirty ponies to rescue, only one of which will be professional enough to keep her mouth shut. And even if the others did, how would they explain their absence?"
"Um, maybe they could say they were on vacation?" Creme Brulee laughed nervously.
"We can expect a resurgence of changeling phobia after this becomes known, which is going to interfere with several of Her Highness's plans."
Meriwether's ears perked up. "What, like using the Crystal Heart to feed friendly changelings?"
Thunderball and Creme exchanged glances.
"That was an idea, yes," Thunderball nodded. "Though Prince Armor and Princess Cadance's prior experiences with changelings would make that challenging. Another plan was to have changelings relocate to the Everfree Castle along with their loved ones, which is rather impractical as it means leaving jobs, friends, family, etc."
"Honestly, our best bet is a pod farm." Creme Brulee shuddered. "Though where you'd find ponies willing to spend time in one of them is beyond me."
Meriwether tapped her chin. "Those pods can put you in a dream, right? What kind are we talking about?"
"Well, it depends on how the dream matrix is designed, but, theoretically, the only limits to realism or scope is the talent of the designer. You could simulate a town like Ponyville right down to the books in the library if you had enough skill."
"Hey, so maybe we can offer it as entertainment! You know, give ponies a chance to experience an adventure, or even some sort of romance, in exchange for harvesting some of their love!"
Dive Bomb paused and looked back. "Why not just open a brothel?"
The tunnel was completely silent.
"You know, for sex." he added. "I bet there'd be a ton of ponies who'd pay to spend some time in the company of Celestia and/or Luna!"
Thunderball took in a very deep breath. "I am going to ask that you keep any and all suggestions that involve lèse-majesté to yourself."
"Well, fine then." Dive Bomb turned back to the front. "I'll start my own changeling acceptance program. In Los Pegasus. With blackjack, and hookers."
Creme stared determinedly at the ground and mumbled. "It's actually fairly common practice for changelings to, you know…"
"Oh, well…" Thunderball cleared his throat. "I'm not saying we'd forbid it, but Her Highness can't be associated with…that sort of thing."
"It's not a long-term solution, at any rate -- lust isn't love. We'd need ponies to accept us, so that we could either passively feed on ambient love, or form relationships of our own."
"I don't see ponies being terribly accepting for the immediate future. Any chance you could get a coltfriend?"
Creme blushed and looked away. "I can get enough love off of Caramel to sustain me. If I was looking for a special somepony, it would be because I liked him, not because I needed to feed."
"He means he wants you," Phrase Mark whinnied from the front.
Thunderball and Creme came to an immediate halt, one out of surprise and the other out of shock.
"Creme, I'm flattered, but I've got more baggage than a freight train. I'm pretty much the worst candidate for special somepony."
"I know." Creme gave him a tight hug. "But you're a very admirable pony in a lot of ways, even if you don't think so. I understand if you're not ready for a relationship, or even interested in one. I just thought it'd be good to get off my chest." He sighed happily. "I really do want to thank you, though. For inspiring me to better myself, and for being a good friend, even though you didn't have to, and in spite of everything in your past."
Thunderball leaned into the hug and ruffled Creme's mane. "Don't want to die without settling accounts, eh?"
The moment was as brief as it was touching. "Will the ponies stop their infernal racket lest we be caught and stuffed into a cocoon?" Gypsum hissed. "We are right under their cursed hive!"
The diamond dog marked the tunnel ceiling with an "X". "The contract is fulfilled. You are now directly under their deepest storage chamber. If the ponies will excuse us, we are leaving before you bring the entire hive down on our heads."
Meriwether made a very rude gesture at their backs as they retreated out of the tunnel. "Bitch."
"And you know it," Gypsum snickered back, before disappearing around a corner.
Daisy sat down and looked up at the ceiling. "Well, I suppose this is it. Any last words?"
Thunderball pulled out his half-empty flask of whiskey and raised it high. "For Celestia, and Equestria."
"You are drinking now? At a time like this?"
"I'm sure as heck not doing this sober." He tossed his head back and downed it in one gulp. "Buck it, let's go."
Phrase Mark used her magic to strip the ponies clean of their natural scent and replaced it with changeling pheromones, while Flash Point applied telekinetic pressure to the ceiling and carved out a circular hole big enough for a single pony to get through. Pale green light poured into the tunnel from above, but the chamber was silent. Dive Bomb flew up with his kukri bared to secure the area, and let out a low whistle over the radio.
"You're going to want to see this."
Thunderball poked his head into the room to see cocoons. Hundreds of them, stacked along the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Each housing a sleeping changeling. "What the…"
"Hibernation protocols!" Creme pushed Thunderball aside and bolted out of the tunnel. "Chrysalis must have put the workers and drones here because she expects a war!"
"We need t' find another infiltration point."
"What? No, it's fine. Hibernation takes a lot of energy to initiate, and it's all lost if they wake up early. We'll be alright unless you start fighting in the cavern."
Thunderball looked around uneasily. "If you say so."
He gave the all-clear signal and the rest of the team quietly assembled in the cavern. "Alright Creme is going to take the lead. If he sees any patrols, he'll distract them long enough for us to hide."
"And if that fails, I'll give 'em the old slice-n-dice." Dive Bomb slashed at the air with his kukri.
Daisy immediately arrested his foreleg. "Would you kindly treat that weapon with the respect it deserves?"
"You're just like Daring Do; you think this should be gathering dust in a display case. But it's a tool meant to be used on the battlefield. I am treating it properly." He jerked his head towards the cavern entrance. "Now let's get this show on the road!"
Creme cautiously stepped out into the network of tunnels criss-crossing the hive and breathed a sigh of relief. There were no guards; in all likelihood, they were stationed above ground, awaiting an assault. He advanced cautiously up to the pod farm, growing ever-more tense at the eerily silent hive.
Not even the usual caretakers were minding the pod farm; the only changeling present had her forehead pressed against Daring Do's cocoon. She seemed lost in thought -- or, more likely, Daring Do's thoughts. Thunderball gestured for Dive Bomb and Meriwether to disconnect the changeling. Dive Bomb ripping her from the pod and pressing his kukri against her throat, while Meriwether held her prosthetic leg inches from the changeling's face as electricity danced across the hoof.
"No tricks," she growled. "No rubbing your wings against your thorax to signal the others, or calling through the hive mind. We'll know if you do."
The changeling nodded slowly and let herself be dragged away from the cocoon as Thunderball and Daisy stepped up to examine it. It rather resembled the one Celestia had been imprisoned in during the attack on Canterlot, though it was stuck to the chamber floor with hardened green slime. Daisy drew her rapier and slashed at the slime, causing it to hiss vigorously and disappear as if it had been dissolved by acid.
Thunderball caught the cocoon and laid it on its side, so that Daring Do floated to the top. He made a small cross-shaped incision near her head with his combat knife and plunged his hooves into the sticky goo inside to pull her out. Her lungs spasmed the moment her head left the cocoon, and she coughed up a substantial amount of the goo from her lungs.
"Where am I?" She sputtered, looking around in panic. "Watch out! There's a changeling behind you!"
She pointed right at Creme, who backed off nervously. Daisy gently pushed Daring's hoof out of the way. "Yes, we know. He's the one that helped us find you."
"Sorry." Daring Do looked around the chamber. "Where am I? Last thing I remember, I was back at Canterlot University."
Thunderball pulled her out of the cocoon and set her on the ground. "I'm afraid that was a dream; you were captured by changelings after you left the pyramid."
Daring Do shook herself vigorously and sprayed goo over the walls. "And the Scarab?"
"Chrysalis is currently using it to control the sun."
The ensuing response was something that would have to be left out of her novelization. "Then we're going to have to get it back."
Thunderball coughed. "We're going to get it back. You will be evacuated, along with all the other captives."
"Absolutely not." Daring Do dug her hooves into the ground. "The Scarab's my responsibility; besides, I'm the only one who really understands how it works, unless you can memorize a dozen complicated rituals in the next five minutes."
Dive Bomb frowned and looked down at his blade. "What, we can't just slit her throat an' call it a day?"
Flash Point shook her head. "No; the Scarab affects the currents of aether around the sun to make it more easily manipulated by terrestrial magic. If she's made any changes with the Scarab, we'll need to use it to undo them."
"Why? Having a sun more easily moved by sounds like a good thing t' me."
"Aether is the medium through which magic flows; it's possible to make it so that only certain magic can travel through it. Think of it as controlling ocean currents; not only would you be able to move a boat at will, but prevent others from reaching it with their own boats. Our best chance of fixing this is to get that scarab back."
The changeling captive raised a hesitant hoof. "If I may? An arcane circuit connects the throne room directly to the pod farm, so she can draw on the ponies for power. Cutting her off will make her much easier to fight."
Thunderball narrowed his eyes. "Why are you telling us this?"
She looked down and sighed. "As Adjutant-General, I feel that Chrysalis's actions are not in the hive's best interests. The inevitable military response from Celestia will devastate us; better for her to be removed now than during open warfare."
Thunderball's hoof cupped Adjutant's chin and brought her head up. "And who would become the next queen?"
"There are a number of individuals in the running," Adjutant replied delicately. "Myself among them, in fact."
"Interesting. We should keep in touch." Thunderball let go of Adjutant's head and gave Dive Bomb a curt nod. After a moment's hesitation, Dive Bomb removed the blade from Adjutant's throat and brought the pommel down hard on her skull. He let her limp body fall onto the ground next to the cocoon.
"Alright, I've heard enough." Thunderball gestured to the cocoons behind him. "We'll split up. One group will free the captives while the other takes out Chrysalis."
"Splitting up is suicide," Meriwether bristled. "The radio won't reach that far; we'll have no way of knowing whether you're alive or dead."
"At the same time, I'd rather not have Chrysalis realize something's gone wrong before we reach her. Surprise will give us a greater advantage than numbers." Thunderball turned to the others. "Meriwether, Flash Point, and Phrase Mark -- you'll begin freeing ponies when you hear our breaching charge go off, then do your best to mask the scent and sound of our captives as they leave. Everyone else goes with me to the throne room."