CHAPTER 13
“Organic life reacts to stimuli in unpredictable ways. We wish to learn.”
Twilight Sparkle sat at a table in the Royal Canterlot Library, a sizeable stack of books piled up next to her. Across from the books was a piece of parchment, on which were written notes of all the things she had read. Finishing up with her current book, Twilight tossed it up to the top of the stack and grabbed another one, titled A Pithy Publication of Pandemics by Doctor Scope. She flipped it open and skimmed over the words, busily taking notes as she did so. Of course, none of the books she had picked out mentioned nanoviruses, but she did not expect them to. Twilight was simply content to lose herself in her work, whether or not it actually helped.
Twilight felt a presence appearing behind her, and the lavender alicorn turned around to see who it was, smiling when she saw Cadance. It was immediately clear to Twilight that the princess of love had heard the news, and had not gotten much sleep. Heavy bags rested beneath her red eyes, and hastily-dried tears stained her cheeks. She gently approached Twilight and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Twilight stood from her chair and they shared a hug before stepping away.
“Hello, Twilight,” Cadance said, her usually energetic voice filled with sorrow.
“Hi, Cadance…” Twilight replied. “I assume that you spoke to Luna?”
“Yes…” Cadance answered. “It’s hard to believe… I never thought that I would live in a world without Celestia.”
“Neither did I,” Twilight said, turning around to face her books. “But I’ve been doing some work, trying to find a way to cure the virus. Have you seen Legion anywhere?”
“Luna didn’t tell you?” Cadance asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Twilight. “She sent Legion away. She… sort of blames him.”
“What?” Twilight said, surprised. “Why would she do that? Legion was our best chance at curing the disease!”
“I know…” Cadance said. “I wish I had gotten to meet him…” Twilight sat down in her chair, nodding.
“Well,” she said. “We still have that crashed ship up in the north. With luck, I can figure some things out.”
“Twilight…” Cadance took a few steps behind the lavender alicorn, frowning. “Why are you doing this?”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, turning around in her chair.
“Losing yourself in your work,” Cadance said. “I cannot imagine how much this must hurt for you. She was my adoptive aunt, yes, but you had a bond with her that nopony else, minus Luna, shared. When you were a filly, I was one of the only ponies who you would open up to. Please, open up to me again. I can help.” Twilight sighed, and sat back in her chair.
“I…” she started. “I don’t think I’m quite there yet… I need some time, Cadance. Just some time to think and process everything. Once that’s done… I promise I’ll come talk to you about it.” Cadance smiled, and patted Twilight on her back.
“Good,” she said. “If you need anything… I’m here for you.” Cadance then turned and exited the massive library, leaving Twilight to her work.
Legion sat in its chair aboard its ship, left arm outstretched and omni-tool activated. Although the peace that it was experiencing in space was increasing productivity, Legion found that it had hit a brick wall in terms of progress on the disease. Even if it had the facilities to synthesize a cure, Legion simply didn’t have the data to even come up with ideas for one. The data collected from the sick pegasus had helped, but there was too much missing information. Without access to more samples or more advanced medical technology, there was no way that Legion was going to cure this disease.
The ship had also had no luck in finding element zero, as over the past few hours that Legion had been in orbit, very little data had been collected on the planet’s surface. The northern polar region was entirely mapped, showing that it had very few deposits of any valuable minerals, let alone element zero. The scanners had now ventured into Equestrian territory, but so far, nothing of interest had been found. As the ship continued scanning, Legion became very aware that it may have to face the reality that it would be trapped here forever. Unless by some miracle another organic or geth ship came through the relay, Legion would never return to charted space.
Briefly, the programs within Legion turned their thoughts toward what could possibly be happening on the surface. Equestria had just lost one of its leaders, and based on Luna’s reaction, it was going to have quite the negative effect. If they were unable to reorganize in time, the disease would continue to spread, the changelings would continue to kidnap the sick, and the collectors would continue doing whatever they were doing with the kidnapped.
This brought up another point to the geth: what were the collectors doing? No one knew what their goal was when the collectors requisitioned the kidnapping of a small group of individuals, but in the case of the mission Legion had joined, it knew that they were capturing humans to construct a Reaper. Still, that had taken them months of work to even capture enough humans to build the basic structure of the machine. To completely finish it they were going to have to attack Earth itself, though that was never going to happen now. Equestria did not have nearly enough ponies living on it to build a full-size Reaper, and the collectors here had crash landed, they were not sent by others. Whatever they were up to, Legion knew that it was not good.
Captain Silent Dart of the Nighthawks paced through Appleloosa, taking a look at the carnage. By direct order of Princess Luna, he and a smaller squad had been relocated from Westrock (which was now almost completely empty after all of the kidnappings) to the desert town to find out the extent of the changeling assault. The buildings were all intact, and were it not for the bodies, it would appear as if nopony had ever been present.
But unfortunately, there were a lot of bodies. Some were guards who were already stationed at Appleloosa, but most were Dart’s fellow Nighthawks. They all lay on the ground in a pool of their own crimson blood, each of them having been murdered in a different way. Most were with blades, as was evident due to all of the slash marks. A few bodies even lay beheaded, an insult to Silent Dart and the Nighthawks as a whole.
Curiously, some did not have any slash marks to speak of. These dead instead had been riddled with several tiny holes, each of which extended far back into the pony’s body and cut through bones and major organs. Silent Dart had no idea what had killed these ponies; it was as if a unicorn had picked up a dozen small rocks, then hurled them at their target at hundreds of miles per hour. The captain made a mental note to mention them to Princess Luna in his report to see if she could recognize the wound. She was thousands of years old than him, after all, perhaps this was the art of some ancient foe that she had vanquished before the unification of Equestria.
Wandering into the town center, Silent Dart found the most curious display of all. No Nighthawks lay slain, though there were bodies in the center of the large circular area. They were not ponies, but changelings. Each of them had an incredibly painful burn mark running across it, looking like a mage had channeled their energy into a beam of devastation and not let up until all of the changelings were dead.
Not far from the pile of dead changelings was something even stranger: a cylindrical device sitting horizontally on the ground. It would light up every few seconds, and the device was constantly emitting a soft humming noise. Dart had no idea what it was, but pointed a hoof at it, instructing the Nighthawks following behind him to take it for study. They saluted, then ran over to the device and picked it up, the unicorns using telekinesis and the others using their hooves. Their constant grunting told Silent dart just how heavy the device was, so he trotted over to lend some help. He grabbed it in his telekinesis as well, taking some of the weight off, but not enough to make taking it away a cakewalk. They were going to have to reserve a chariot just to carry the thing back to Canterlot.
Suddenly, the dirt in front of Silent Dart was kicked up as unseen projectiles buried themselves in the ground. The Nighthawks all acted on instinct and dropped the cylindrical device, darting out of the way to find cover. Dart ducked behind a stack of barrels that normally would have done little to protect against the projectiles. Fortunately they seemed to be filled with sand, which dampened the force of the projectiles and prevented them from making it all the way through.
Dart and the unicorn Nighthawks all charged their horns for magical blasts, while the earth ponies and pegasi equipped advanced crossbows with magically-enhanced bolts. Each bolt, when they hit, would transfer some sort of effect to the target, most commonly fire. The Nighthawks preferred lightning, as it was quieter and did the job much quicker than flames. His horn charged, Dart quickly peeked out of cover and released a bolt of energy, sending it flying in the general direction of their assailant. It hit a stack of crates, knocking them over and blowing one up, causing the contents to spill all over the ground. Briefly, Dart thought he saw the movement of a dark brown creature run from behind the destroyed cover to some other location. A moment later the enemy fire continued, tearing across the town center and coming dangerously near to the ponies.
“Combine your shots!” Silent Dart cried over the din of battle. “Earth ponies and pegasi, provide suppression! Unicorns, fire on my mark!” The captain peered out of his cover, trying to pinpoint exactly where the fire was coming from. It did not take long, as the projectiles seemed to be emitted from a very bright flash. The crossbow bolts of the non-unicorn Nighthawks began to pepper the area, keeping the assailant pinned down. Confident that they were safe, Silent Dart and the other unicorns stood up and all began to charge their horns.
“Three… two…” Dart counted down, preparing a very powerful blast. “One… Mark!” All of the unicorns fired at once. The magical blasts combined in mid-air and streaked towards the attacker, hitting the building right behind it. The force of the blast sent out a huge shockwave, catching the building that had been hit on fire. The flames exploded outward and engulfed the area where the attacker was hiding, as became evident when shrieks of pain filled the air. Preparing his horn again, Silent Dart slowly crept forward towards the hiding spot of their assailant. When it came into view, it became clear that the creature was dead. What was not clear, however, was exactly what the creature was.
Silent Dart had never seen anything like it. It stood far taller than a pony, looking as though it may have been around the height of Princess Celestia. On the surface, the creature had a chitinous exoskeleton of a beige complexion. Burn marks interrupted the natural shell, and were the most likely cause of death. The head was vaguely pyramidal and tapered off at the back. On it were four glowing amber eyes which stared endlessly above it, never moving around. Curiously, Silent Dart poked it with a hoof, and, upon receiving no reaction, finally released the energy built up in his horn. He turned around to issue orders to his soldiers, who had come up behind the captain while the stallion was examining their attacker.
“Come on,” he said. “We need to send a message to Canterlot. One chariot for that device, and one chariot for this… thing. Let’s move.” They all saluted, and turned around to walk across the town center. Silent Dart followed behind them, and halfway across, something caught his eye. He stopped in his tracks and looked down to the dirt, finding a sizeable pool of blood sitting in a depression on the ground. It looked as though some of it had dried, but for the most part it still retained a glossy sheen. Looking back up, Dart called to his soldiers.
“Hey!” he shouted. “Were any of you hit?”
“No, sir!” each of them called back in unison. Raising an eyebrow, Dart looked back down to the pool of blood. It was definitely pony blood, as the creature that they had killed was not bleeding, and changeling blood was a deep blue. However, none of them had been hit, and there was no trail showing that the blood came from or led anywhere. Shrugging, Dart started jogging to catch up with his soldiers. Once he was back at the front of the group, they began their trek back to the chariot in which they had arrived. He hoped that Princess Luna would believe him when he told her what had transpired. This was going to be an interesting report…
Queen Chrysalis walked along on the surface of the badlands, taking in the bleak view. It was not often that she left the comfort of the hive, as business rarely required her to come out here. Even if she did find herself with free time, the surface was no better than the hives. It was a desolate, flat environment that stretched on for miles. On a clear day such as this one, Chrysalis found herself able to see the peaks of the Dragon Mountains, where the infamous dragons had made their dwellings, only a few hundred miles away. Another couple hundred miles beyond those were old changeling hives, taken by the diamond dogs only a few decades after the changelings had been forced out of them by Celestia and Luna, thousands of years ago. A few dozen miles behind her, in the opposite direction of the Dragon Mountains, was the Western Sea. The shores had never been seen by pony civilization, and seeing as there were no ships in existence to circumnavigate the globe, unless they came through the dragons, it was going to stay that way.
As Chrysalis paced about the land, a black speck suddenly started growing on the horizon. As it came closer, it soon became clear that it was a squad of changeling scouts she had sent out to discover how the ponies had disabled the nanovirus. Flying alongside them were two collectors scouts, flapping their insect-like wings incredibly fast to keep up with the more agile changelings. Chrysalis still did not understand how the wings supported flight for the collectors, but they were aliens. It was very likely that she would not understand the answer if she knew it. A few moments later, the changeling/collector squad landed and approached the queen. The changelings bowed, and awaited orders.
“Report,” Chrysalis commanded, pointing to the closest changeling.
“Your excellency, we believe that we have discovered how the ponies disabled the disease,” he said, head still bowed. Occasionally he would peek up to gauge his majesty’s reaction.
“Well done,” the queen said, smiling. “Come, we must report to--”
“But your excellency, that is not all,” the changeling continued. “There was a squad of Nighthawks there. We tried to stay silent, but one of the collectors feared we had been spotted. He opened fire on them. We got away… but the collector was killed.” Chrysalis felt her stomach drop as her knees weakened from the news. The collector captain had made it abundantly clear that if any of his drones died while outside of the hive, it was on her head. Gulping, Chrysalis nodded and turned around.
“Go, get rest,” she ordered. “Collectors, come with me. You will report to your captain the means by which the ponies disabled his virus.” She walked several feet forward to the entrance of what, to the untrained eye, would look like a sinkhole. In reality, this was the main entrance to their largest hive, one of fifteen scattered along the western edge of the badlands.
Hidden amongst the shadows of the entrance were changeling guards, all of them ready to pounce at the sight of an intruder. Of course intruders never came here – it was simply too far away from civilization. But Chrysalis was increasingly paranoid after her defeat at the hooves of the ponies, and with how weakened they had become, she did not want to risk anything.
Chrysalis stepped into the hole, her eyes automatically adjusting to the darkness. The collectors and changeling scouts entered behind her, and the changelings turned down a side passage to their barracks. The collectors stayed with Chrysalis for every step during the walk to their captain.
As she neared the chamber where the captain kept himself, her heart began pounding in her chest. Her legs felt numb, and she knew that the consequences for the death of the collector were going to be extreme. Even though it had been the collector’s own fault, he was out there by Chrysalis’s request. The collectors on Equis were few in numbers, even fewer than the changelings themselves. This was not going to end well.
Gulping again, Chrysalis pushed the door open, revealing the large, dark chamber beyond. It was filled floor-to-ceiling with various pieces of alien machinery that the queen did not recognize. Even the simplest one was so far beyond her that she could not even begin to grasp how it worked. The collector captain stood over one piece of machinery, idly pressing buttons while watching lines of text scroll past on a transparent screen. He turned around as the door opened, approaching Chrysalis and the collectors who accompanied her.
“What is it, Chrysalis?” he asked. Chrysalis gulped, and decided to deliver the good news first. Perhaps it would make his reaction to the death less violent. Maybe. Probably not.
“My changelings and your collectors believe that they have discovered how the ponies disabled your nanovirus,” she said, stepping aside so the collectors who accompanied her could explain.
“While in Appleloosa, we observed a piece of geth technology,” one of them said. “Based on readings collected from long-range scanning equipment, it appeared to be an electromagnetic pulse emitter.”
“EMP…” the captain said quietly to himself. “That would make sense… Good. Now I know how to improve future versions to prevent EMP’s from being effective. But Chrysalis… I sense that there is more you need to tell me.” Chrysalis sighed and stepped forward again.
“During the reconnaissance…” she began. “One of your collectors opened fire on a squad of ponies… and was killed…” Chrysalis winced, ready for the response.
Silence. That is all Chrysalis heard. Then, the collector captain spoke.
“Leave us.” Sighing, Chrysalis knew to prepare for the worst. The collector drones turned and exited the chamber, closing the door behind them.
There was a brief pause, before the collector captain lashed out and smacked Chrysalis clear across the room. She impacted on one of the walls, cracking the stone and causing her head to swim. Just as she was beginning to collect herself, Chrysalis felt a clawed hand around her neck. A moment later she was being lifted up off of the ground, and when her vision cleared, it revealed the six glowing eyes of the captain.
“You do remember what I said, do you not?” he asked quietly. Chrysalis coughed, but forced a nod. “And you also know that one of my drones dying is a significant blow to our numbers?” Chrysalis nodded again, though the edges of her vision were beginning to go black. As she struggled for air, the collector captain dropped her to the ground, where she landed in a heap. Holding a hoof to her chest, Chrysalis began to gasp in great bounties of sweet, sweet oxygen.
“We are few in numbers, Chrysalis,” the captain continued. “With this death, there is one less collector to see our plan through.”
“Why… don’t… you…” Chrysalis struggled through her deep breaths of air. “Why don’t you… just… call for reinforcements?” The captain advanced towards the changeling queen once more, causing her to scurry backward in fear. He stopped just shy of reaching her, and pointed a finger.
“No!” he shouted. “The others can never know that we are here! Do you understand? If they find out that we are here, the entire plan will be compromised. Do you understand!?” Though Chrysalis did not understand, she nodded anyway. The collector stepped back, seeming to be satisfied.
“Go…” he said. “I must work on modifying the nanovirus to reduce the effectiveness of EMP’s. It will be done in a few days. I will come to you when it is ready.” Chrysalis shakily stood up and walked to the door of the chamber, using all of her strength to push it open. She stumbled out into the empty hallway, glad that none of her changelings were here to see her in this sorry state. Taking a moment to compose herself, Chrysalis turned around and set off for a destination deeper within the hive. Right now, she did not want to be near the captain. She did not want to be near anyone.
When Chrysalis felt she had gone far enough, she let out an agitated scream. It echoed through the stone tunnels, alerting any nearby changelings to her presence. The queen kicked at the walls, getting her frustrations out with every hit.
What have I become? the queen asked herself as her rage began to subside. In its place she felt only sorrow. All that she had done, all that she had sacrificed for the collectors, and this was how she was treated. The collector captain did not see Chrysalis as an equal, that much was certain. The changelings were not his allies, they were his pawns.
And yet, what choice did she have? Chrysalis fell to her flank, tears threatening to surface. Because of her actions a year before, the changelings were just as weak as they had been thousands of years ago, when Celestia and Luna ended their ruthless “purge.” She needed the collectors to regain that strength, Chrysalis knew. But at what cost? Chrysalis felt a nagging feeling at the back of her mind, telling her that this would not end well for her or her kind.
“Your excellency?” The queen abruptly spun around, her green eyes settling on a small changeling drone at the end of a nearby tunnel. Chrysalis quickly collected herself, standing up.
“Yes?” she asked.
“Your prisoner has awoken,” the changeling reported. Finally, Chrysalis felt a smile grow on her face. She crossed to the small changeling, her grin widening. She had somepony to go see...
Princess Luna slammed the door to her bedroom shut, taking in a deep breath of air before she walked over to her bed and collapsed onto it, exhausted. After experiencing one of Celestia’s day courts, the solitude offered by her night court suddenly did not seem too bad. From the moment that day court began, to the second it ended, Luna had not had a single minute to herself. Though the ponies were a bit confused at seeing Luna instead of the more familiar Celestia, they did not use that as a reason to abandon their appointments.
The complaints and concerns ranged from semi-logical to outright ridiculous. Luna wondered for a moment whether or not most of the ponies were actually serious when they showed up to speak with her sister. Some of them clearly were, but others Luna had no idea. Who would have expected that getting one less quill in a box of quills was such a hot-button issue? No, Luna decided. That pony was not serious.
Of course, while the ponies did not fully mind speaking with Princess Luna, some seemed apprehensive about it. The clearly were expecting Celestia, and to many of them, Luna was an unknown entity. They knew about her existence, but with rarely any public appearances, they knew nothing about her as a pony. This had led to a few ponies walking out, although most stayed. Luna also was not surprised when she had been first asked, “Where is Princess Celestia?”
With some assistance from her advisors, Luna had drafted a cover story stating that Celestia was seeing to a very important issue that had just come up, regarding trade routes and national borders. It was believable for a pony in her position, and was just descriptive enough not to prompt too much further questioning. Still, some did not seem fully comfortable around the princess of the night. She had tried her best to be warm and open, but with recent events she found that difficult to do.
Luna was close to sleep, which she knew she should be avoiding, when a knock on the door disrupted her. Lazily, she stood up and wandered back over to the door, opening it and letting in a copious amount of sunlight from the windows in the hall. It would not be long before she had to deal with the sun, a task which filled her with dread and sadness. Standing in the hall was one of her personal guards, who bowed at his majesty’s presence.
“Your highness,” he said, standing up from the bow. “Captain Silent Dart has arrived from Appleloosa. He says he has two things he wants you to see in the loading docks.” Her face brightening for the first time in over a day, Luna thanked the guard and exited her bedroom. Of all the ponies she wanted to see right now, Silent Dart was near the top of the list. She had sent the Nighthawk to the town of Appleloosa in the hopes that more could be discovered about the changeling attack. She knew that they had remained behind after Luna and Twilight had left. With any luck they would not have done too much damage.
A few minutes of walking later, Luna came to the door to the loading docks. Two guards stood on either side of the door, a sight which made the princess all the more curious about what Dart wanted her to see. The door was opened for her, and Luna stepped into the large docks, her eyes immediately going to the three chariots that sat landed at the edge of the platform. Luna crossed the docks to the chariots, beside which were Dart and a few of his Nighthawk soldiers.
“Princess Luna,” the captain greeted, bowing. “Thank you for coming.”
“It is no trouble, captain,” Luna replied. “How is Appleloosa?”
“It’s fine, your highness,” Dart said, rising to his full height. “No changelings were found and no further damages seemed to have been sustained, but… the entire deployment of Nighthawks that was sent there are dead.”
“I see…” Luna said sadly. She had hoped that at least a few had survived the collectors, but they did seem to be ruthless creatures. “And I am told that you have two things you wish to show me?”
“Yes, please, come this way.” Silent Dart turned around and led her further away from the three parked chariots, into a small area surrounded on three sides by crates. In the middle of the small, isolated area were two objects: one Luna immediately recognized as Legion’s electromagnetic pulse device, and the other she could not see due to a black tarp lying over it. It was long, however, and did not sit very high off of the ground. Silent Dart approached Legion’s device first, and began looking over it.
“We have no idea what it is, princess,” he said. “It’s not pony technology, and it doesn’t look like the changelings made it.”
“I will have our scientists examine it,” Luna lied. In reality she was going to lock it away forever. The device had served its purpose, and now their only hope for curing the disease resting with Healthy Heart, who was still in the crashed collector ship. The lie seemed to fool Silent Dart, and he approached the second object. He grabbed the corner of the tarp that was covering it with his telekinesis, and pulled the tarp away, causing Luna to gasp in surprise.
It perfectly matched the image that Legion had shown the princesses. The brown, chitinous exoskeleton, the four glowing eyes, it was all there. The main difference was that this one was covered in burn wounds, no doubt by the actions of the Nighthawks.
“I have never seen anything like this, your highness,” Dart said, kicking the collector lightly. “It ambushed us as we were getting ready to leave. Luckily we were able to overpower it with our magic. Do you have any idea what it is, princess?” Luna gulped, stepping forward to get a closer look at the body.
“No…” she lied again. “I do not. I will have our medical specialists examine it.” This time, Luna was not lying; she fully intended to pass the body over to Healthy Heart and her team, but only after the disease had been cured. For now, this collector was a low priority.
“Understood, your highness,” Silent Dart said. “I’ll have a full report written out for you by tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Luna said. “You are dismissed.” The soldier bowed and trotted away, leaving the princess alone with Legion’s device and the dead collector. She sighed, then followed the path that Dart had taken to get out of the area. As she re-entered the main section of the docks, she noticed that it was about time to lower the sun.
Just as her sister had taken up the responsibility for raising and lowering the moon for a thousand years, Luna would do it for Celestia. The only difference was that she would have to do it forever. Tears once again started to fill her eyes as Luna reached out with her magic and gripped the massive golden orb. Celestia always would be more skilled at manipulating the sun, just as Luna was inherently better at controlling her moon. But, unfortunately for the sun, Luna was all that it had. She gently nudged the sun down past the horizon, then quickly switched her magical grip over to the moon and brought it up into the sky.
The task complete, Luna sighed and returned to the interior of the palace, exiting the cold outdoor docks. Winter was in full swing by now – the first of many snowstorms was scheduled for tonight. Deciding that a bit of rest would do her some good, the princess began to walk down the hall back to her private quarters. Sleep would not come easy with all that was going on, but if she was to be at her full strength for Equestria, she was going to need it. That and, if today’s day court was any indication, she would need to mentally prepare herself for all of the ponies who would show up.
Finally arriving in her comfortable bedroom, Luna immediately collapsed on the bed and shut her eyes, not even bothering to remove any of her royal garb. She allowed the comfort of sleep to slowly wash over her, and deliver her to her dreams.
Legion stood in the middle of the cockpit of its transport, its omni-tool still activated. Lines of data scrolled past, and the geth carefully examined each one before storing it in the ship’s memory. Should anything happen to the unit, it was important to preserve any and all data that had been catalogued. And in Legion’s current situation, that was a lot of data to back up. Video and audio logs, sensor recordings, every single thing that had happened to the geth since it arrived on Equis was being saved. While a few processes oversaw the transfer of data, the majority of the programs within Legion were busily continuing to go over all data collected from the sick pegasus.
No matter what they it tried, Legion could not come up with any sort of cure for the nanovirus. Nanomachines could alter themselves at any time to counteract the effects of a cure, and they were incredibly difficult to detect. EMP’s worked, but only temporarily, and it was likely that the collectors were already recreating the nanovirus to render EMP’s useless. For a machine with a limitless capacity for knowledge, Legion was coming up short. It simply did not possess the data to create a cure. There was only one place in the entire galaxy where a cure could be found, and that was the changeling hives where the collectors were hiding. They were well guarded, but the geth did have a tactical cloak that could run uninterrupted for hours at a time.
To Legion, there were only two possible solutions: either sit in orbit and wait for help to arrive, which may never occur, or return to Equis and help the ponies. To it, the latter option was more attractive. Legion quickly pulled up a map of the Equis supercontinent and scanned over it, its single eye coming to settle on the region designated as the “Badlands.” Twilight had been kind enough to show it several maps during its stay in Canterlot, so with that information, Legion knew roughly where the changeling hives were expected to be. Even if it didn’t find them right away, the ship could always run depth scans to find the network of interconnected tunnels.
Uploading the destination to the flight computer, Legion angled the ship downward and began to descend back into the atmosphere. It set up an automated flight path as well, telling the ship to re-enter orbit once the geth was clear of the craft. With all of that complete, Legion stood up and exited the cockpit, entering the room for the drop bay. Walking over to the weapon shelf, Legion decided that the standard M-98 Widow would not be sufficient enough for this mission. It would operate at long range, but in the close-quarters nature of the hives, other weapons would be more practical.
Finally, Legion decided on geth-manufactured plasma shotgun, as well as a plasma SMG, also manufactured by the geth. Legion placed the folded up weapons onto its back, then stepped onto a circular pad in the middle of the room. It gripped two handlebars on the ceiling, and a moment later the circular pad split apart, revealing the rushing winds below. Legion released the handles and dropped from the ship, falling at speeds that would tear an organic apart.
Once it was at a respectable height, the geth folded up into a compact shock-resistant form, and deployed several hidden flaps to slow its descent. Legion slammed into the ground with bone-crushing force, and unfolded from the small crater it had formed, coming to its standard tall height. The light was warped around it as Legion engaged the tactical cloak, before it set off for the western edge of the badlands. It had a hive to find.
She awoke with a start. The first thing that she became aware of was a horrible burning sensation on her neck. When she tried reaching up to scratch it, she found that her limbs would not move. It vaguely felt as if she was floating, but with her eyelids not obeying her commands to open, it was impossible to confirm. Finally, through immense strength that weakened her greatly, her eyelids opened and began to take in the sights.
It was dark. Very dark. She was suspended in some form of cocoon, the inside of which was filled with a green gelatinous liquid. It was cold, but not so cold that she became uncomfortable. Her vision was blurry at first, but gradually it became clearer. When it did, if she could have gasped, she would have. Outside of her cocoon were over a hundred more, each one with another pony occupant. All of them appeared unconscious, though their discomfort was evident. Their brows were furrowed, and occasionally their muzzles would scrunch up in pain. She looked at the cocoon right across from hers, which was host to a young pegasus stallion. His coat was pale, almost sickly so, and there were deep bags under his eyes. Dried blood coated his muzzle beneath his nostrils.
Suddenly, the stallion’s eyes shot open. He looked around, terrified of where he was. By the way his muzzle was opening and closing, it looked like he was calling for help. A horrible, pained expression came across his face as he screamed loud enough to actually hear through the walls of the cocoon. All of a sudden, his face contorted in extreme pain. Spots of red began to form on his face as her coat appeared to completely dissolve. There was one final pained scream, and then the young pegasus stallion simply ceased to be. The dissolution of his coat spread outwards until it was completely gone, revealing the musculature beneath. That, too, dissolved, and with it went all organs and bones. The pony has simply… melted.
She heard a dark, sadistic laugh from somewhere amidst the cocoons. It was familiar, and she did not like it. Suddenly, from the shadows stepped Queen Chrysalis.
“Hello, Celestia,” she said teasingly, approaching the princess’s pod. “I hope you’re comfortable.” Celestia tried to speak, but only found the ability to croak.
“Having some difficulty speaking, are you?” Chrysalis said, smiling sadistically. “Yes, that typically is a side effect of having your throat cut. Don’t worry; I am assured that it will be healed in no time, and you can shout obscenities at me all day long.” Celestia glared at the queen, which only seemed to amuse her.
“I bet you thought you were dead, didn’t you?” she asked. “Well, you were. Mostly. The collectors do have some truly incredibly technology, however. I was content to leave you dead, but they insisted on keeping you for the plan. They said that your genetic material was too valuable to waste. But don’t worry, you won’t dissolve just yet. That only happens to the ponies infected with the disease. Nanomachines are wonderful, aren’t they? Of course we will be infecting you shortly, just as soon as we can alter the disease to make it resist electromagnetic pulses. Valiant attempt, by the way. But no, you will not be infected yet. First we are going to capture your beloved sister, and bring her here as well. Then we’ll do the same with your student, and her friends, and everypony else in Equestria.” The queen paused her mocking speech for a moment to chuckle to herself, before continuing.
“But I’ve learned my lesson about revealing our plans to you. Admittedly, that was not my best idea. Hubris, I suppose. I am confident, but I’m not going to sit here and pester you with the finest details of the collector’s plan just yet. Besides, their plans are nothing compared to my plans for Equestria…”
Celestia only glared, feeling her hatred and anger burning within her. She struggled to move, but try as she might, the pod kept her immobile. The princess was completely powerless, forced to stare on as Chrysalis mocked her.
“You know, it also occurs to me that I should mention your magical wards to the collectors. That is how the Nighthawks in Westrock have managed not to catch it, right? It would be quite fortunate for us if we found a way past the one defense you have managed to find. Then there will be nothing to stop us from infecting all of your beloved little ponies!”
This was finally the straw that broke the camel’s back. Summoning all the energy she could muster, Celestia suddenly lurched forward, smashing her bare hooves against the thick glass of the cocoon door. She tried to scream, though no sound came from her throat. The only thing Celestia felt was a burning pain in her neck. Chrysalis laughed at the display, amused, and waited for the princess to calm down a bit before continuing.
“I bet you miss your dear Luna, and Twilight Sparkle too,” she said. “Don’t worry. You’ll see them very soon. I’m going to reserve some cocoons right across from you for them. Goodbye, Celestia. I’ll be back…” Quietly laughing to herself, Chrysalis turned and began to walk away from the cocoon. Celestia watched as the queen wandered away, glaring angrily.
As Chrysalis departed, Celestia noticed the queen stumble slightly, as though her leg had been injured. Chrysalis quickly shot her head around, staring at Celestia with a concerned glare. She maintained this expression for a moment before apparently remembering that she was the one in charge. Chrysalis theatrically waved goodbye, then turned and left, disappearing back into the shadows.
Celestia watched her leave, glaring the whole time. And though her face showed only anger, within she felt nothing but despair. Her sister and student thought she was dead. She had to get out of here. She did not know how, but she knew she had to do it. For those she loved, and for Equestria.