Silver Lining flew silently, careful not to disturb the other workers. He didn't want them to wake up and report him to a collection. He just needed to check the shed before the day started. That way, he could grab his tools and start work earlier.
He carefully wove through support beams, unfinished walls and miscellaneous supplies. He reached the shed quickly, fumbled with the lock, and stepped inside. He lit his horn dimly, searching the shelves. Minutes later, he found the box - but there was nothing inside.
He frowned. Someone had stolen them, even with the lock. He'd been saving up for months, hoping to earn enough money to buy an apartment, at least for a little while.
Now he would have to pay a replacement fee plus a property loss additive, and it was a felony for workers to lose things in the first place. He would have to pay another fee to get out of an execution, which although steep should be doable. As long as he could pay, the queen would let him live.
He sighed dejectedly. He'd have to sleep on beams for another year in order to amount a reasonable down payment. He'd done it before, but he had been so close!
An hour later, he arrived at the Bureau of Civilian Law's worker drone subdivision. He filed a report, clipped a payment of 160 shills on it, and handed it over. The guards nearby took him to a small interrogation room, where they would give him the sum of his survival.
A bureau lawyer in an official-looking blazer brought in a few papers, then began a lecture. It was all about what to put where, and which companies were funding which laws and why. Every so often he would point to a sheet on the wall, calling out individual laws like "worker exclusive - Obsidian VII - adaptation 3.A56" or "worker exclusive -Obsidian VII - adaptation 8.L47". Silver tuned it out, but couldn't help but notice all of the laws mentioned started with "worker exclusive - Obsidian VII".
He worked quickly on the papers, dropping them in the center of the room. He wasn't given a chair or table, but he was fine with levitating them. Once those were completed, the lawyer read through and wrote down the sum.
"As you can see, you are obliged to pay immediately. The queen waits for no one." The lawyer passed the papers to Silver Lining. He reached forward calmly, then read the notes.
"What?!" He wasn't aware that he'd said it aloud; he was too engrossed in the impossible sum of 250,000 shills. "That's insane! I thought they could only come to fifteen thousand!"
The changeling in front of him huffed. "Of course not, the recent law changed that." He muttered something that sounded a lot like "worker imbeciles."
Silver blinked. "But the queen's been silent for weeks! There aren't any new laws!"
"Incorrect," the lawyer said. "She just hasn't announced them. It's right there," he said, pointing to the sheet. "Under 'worker exclusive - Obsidian VII - adaptation 7.P92'."
"But she has to announce them, right?"
"Of course not. See? 'Full Hive - Obsidian VII - adaptation 7.P01'.
He heaved a sigh, nodding slowly. He dumped out the bag of shills and counted them out. There were only 20,000 - not nearly enough to pay.
Suddenly, the guards standing on either side of the door shot forward, lifting Silver up. He let them carry him out; if he ran, someone might actually pay attention.
♠
Suddenly he registered a voice. He woke up with a jolt, nearly dunking his head into a plate of spaghetti. The pink mare across the table eyed him warily. "You okay, hon? Because you look like you're about to pass out."
He blinked, still half asleep. "Yeah, I just..." Silver nodded off again.
Cherry smiled. Her new friend, or whatever the relationship was, had a nice personality. She just hoped he'd be able to eat breakfast without checking in to Dreamland Motel.
She leaned over the table, absolutely silent. She had to stop herself from laughing if this would work... She balanced herself on the joints of her forelegs, cupping her hooves around her mouth. She was about to yell "WAKE UP!" at the top of her lungs when...
"Bleh!" The changeling leaned forward abruptly, turning his face into that of a lizard. Cherry pulled back, spinning out of her chair and landing on her rump. Silver laughed loudly. "And that's how you surprise people," he said, helping her to her hooves.
"Okay, three things," the confectioner said, wincing at the pain in her rear. "One, never underestimate my pranking skills. Two, don't do that again. Ever." She grinned slightly. "Third, what's 'people'?"
Silver smiled sheepishly. "Uh, sorry. Cultural difference. Changelings have to live with other species a lot, so we don't really use the 'any, blank' stuff. We just stick with a basic set of terms. Otherwise it's just confusing."
Cherry frowned, but nodded anyway. "Fair enough, I guess."
They went back to the meal, but it was silent for a long time. Silver picked at his food, which was confusing for a while until the mare remembered that changelings fed off of love instead. Maybe they couldn't eat food?
Still, neither of them said anything. Cherry Fizz hated silence. In fact, she was a little scared of it. Besides, she had a lot of questions as to how the changeling arrived in that alley.
She decided to speak up. "So, kid, where're you from?" She kept her head down, attempting to lessen the question's effect. "Last time changelings showed up, there was an attack. Besides, they all looked pretty much the same. You, not so much."
Silver pulled back, frowning. "But the only contact we've had was the One-Battle War. We haven't had the strength, much less the will."
Cherry eyed him suspiciously. "Silver, there hasn't been a war in Equestria for decades, at least not since the Lion War. Where did you learn history?" She caught herself, a little too late. "Oh. They probably only taught the basics, huh?"
The changeling shook his head. "Yeah, but I at least knew the stories of the war! There was a religious argument, and a lot of hate, and the good queen went to your castle city and -"
"Good queen?" Cherry snorted. "Sorry, hon, but nopony's ever heard of a good changeling queen. The last one we ponies met was Chrysalis, and she attacked us!" The pink mare didn't even bother being nice.
"Don't you dare talk about the queen that way! She tried her best to help without the siege, but you wouldn't listen! You didn't even bother to remember!" He slammed his hooves on the table, rattling the plates. He stood up and walked away sullenly.
Cherry frowned. Of course nopony wanted to remember, that had been Canterlot's darkest hour - dismissing, of course, the demon king Tirek stealing everyone's magic and strength. And that horrible queen never asked! She couldn't have, the Princesses would have said something... Right?
♠
Obsidian heaved a sigh. She had tracked down both of the escapees, and neither of them were coming back. Yet. She would have to be careful, but the moment they were alone, she would be ready.
The red one - Mirage, maybe? - was at her little rebel treehouse. She was proving to be somewhat intelligent, keeping herself surrounded by bodyguards. Clever, that one... But it was too much of a risk to let her live. Shifters like her were rare, and Obsidian was thankful for it, but it was her duty to dispose of changelings like that...
Meanwhile, the other one - she had forgotten his name - was pushing himself away from others. It wouldn't be long until she could finish him off...
Suddenly, her horn lit on its own. The alarm! She rushed to her room, leapt through the portal, and maneuvered towards the drone's location. She reached it in seconds, the platform's speed amplified by her focus. She lit her horn blindly, already casting her lightning spell before she looked through the hole.
Inside, she saw a pastel room, adorned with framed photos of various technicolor ponies. There were a few pillows, and a couch sat in a corner. A charcoal-colored changeling had his head in his hooves, tracing the insignia of the late Chrysalis. Obsidian scowled at the traitorous drone. All the more reason to kill him...
She was about to throw a bolt down when someone opened the door on both ends. In the royal chamber, there was a nosy servant. In the vision, there was a concerned mare. Surprised, she split the bolt in half, sending one through the portal and the other at her would-be victim.
Cherry saw the flash of light seconds before it hit. She flew up, yanking Silver Lining out of the way. The lightning singed her feathers, but she was fast enough to dodge the actual bolt. On the other hand, a smooth landing was out of the question.
They spiraled out of control, slamming against the far wall. The wall split, sending a crack through the already buzzing room. The air hummed with static. Both of them were knocked unconscious, but...
There was a sickening pop as the portal closed. Obsidian drew in a hiss and reared up, flapping her sheer wings. With a roar, she shot back through into her room. The platform trailed behind her, but she didn't need it. All she needed was to beat that imbecile into the ground!
♠
Hours later, Silver Lining woke up. The room was dark and gray, and all of the furniture was gone. All he could see through the thick film that floated through the air was a shifting golden light.
Suddenly, a horrible pain erupted in his back hoof. He looked back to find a facet of the glare leaping up at it, filing through the holes. Cherry was still asleep, but she might know what this was. He kicked it away passively, but it clung like... Like...
The pieces came together. Lightning equaled heat. Inability to breath equaled smoke. Heat and smoke equaled fire. And the door was blocked, so they didn't have an exit. Fire and no exit... He didn't want to think about that.
An angry shriek filled the air. Cherry shot up, flapping her wings violently. "Gah! What are you waiting for?! Teleport us out of here!"
He shook his head. "I can't. It only takes one!" He resorted to kicking the walls, but he couldn't so much as dent it.
They were trapped.