//------------------------------//
// 33 - Peacebringer 
// Story: Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat 
// by David Silver 
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Chrysalis yawned wide, showing off her impressive fangs before she leveled a bored gaze at Silver, "Are you done? Your ideas bore me to tears."

Silver's ears fell. This wasn't how it was supposed to work.

She pointed at the three non-changelings, "Take them away, throw them in a pod. They'll be more useful there." A small cloud of changelings quickly swarmed into the room, grabbing the three. Night tried to fight them, throwing a changeling to the ground before whipping around to catch another in the mouth with a hoof, but for each she injured, three took their place, and she was soon pressed down under the mass.

Fast become a bear, throwing Changelings aside like rag dolls, but two could play that game. The changelings become great beetle-like creatures, wrestling with her evenly, but there were more of them than her, and they forced her to the ground.

Stand In landed before Silver, "I don't think I have to tackle you."

Silver shook his head, feeling hollow inside, "No."

Stand In smiled, "Good. This way. You know where we're going."

The door to Chrysalis' room slid shut once Silver and his herd were led out of it. Stand In glanced back, then leaned in, whispering in Silver's ear, "Your ideas did not bore me."

Silver twitched the ear, "I thought you ran off to get food?"

Stand In snorted and said nothing more as they marched through the hive back to the pods. "I have this," She said to the others, "Return to your duties immediately!"

The drones scattered, leaving Stand In alone with the three outsiders.

Fast hopped up to her hooves, "That was your last mistake!" She charged forward, only for Silver to get in the way. "Move it! I'll squish her like the bug she is."

Silver frowned at Fast, "The last 'friend' of mine to shove me out of the way stopped being much of a friend. Please trust me."

Fast bristled, but settled down.

Night was looking at Stand In with more curiosity, "What do you have in mind?"

Stand In smirked, "Right to business, good. Queen Chrysalis has cost us much. Before her we were hungry, but we survived. After her, we were exposed, and many died. The ponies know of us far too well, and living quietly has ceased to be as easy as once it was." She pointed at Silver, "You're not helping, and yet, you are helping. Confusing 'human', you may yet be our salvation."

Silver approached and sat on his haunches by Stand In, "Do others feel this way?"

Stand In raised a chitinous brow, "Of those capable of considering it, yes. The drones don't care. They have difficulty thinking beyond direct orders, poor saps."

Silver nodded slowly, "Alright, here's what we'll do."

Stand In huffed, "Now you have great plans?"

Silver nodded more quickly, "Yes! Listen. We have friends who will break into here and break us out. Bring us to Rough and Trixie, let them take us away. Once we're out, meet us, you and anyone else that wants out, and as many drones as you can reasonably liberate. Once you're in our custody, I'm extending my diplomatic rights to make you, uh, refugees, that's the word. Refugees of the human nation. We can then negotiate with Equestria for you to gain refugee status there."

Stand In peered at Silver quietly a moment, "That's insane, the good kind. Better than the cackling drivel that emerges from the 'Queen's' mouth. We are doomed if we stay, so you have our faith for now. You've been forthright so far."

Night slipped in closer to Silver, "She's not wrong, that's crazy."

Silver shrugged, "But is it illegal?"

Night shook her head, "Technically not? But they should be shipped out to your homeland immediately, which we can't do!"

Fast smiled, "Then we'll just have to make sure it works."

Silver nodded at Fast, "Exactly."

Stand In pointed down a tunnel, "If you're done whispering, this way." She lead the group past the feeding pods to a smaller room. It was dark and moist. As soon as they entered the place, Stand In backed out, "Wait here for your rescuers." The door slid shut with the sound of some kind of mechanism.

Silver and Fast both lit up their horns to see. The sudden muffled squeal of Trixie reached their ears, making them look up to where Trixie and Rough dangled by a length of the same green snot, bound in place. Rough appeared to be asleep, but woke up when Trixie began thrashing around.

Fast sprouted wings, becoming an alicorn, at least in shape. She quickly soared up to the captives and broke them loose. They fell immediately, but were caught by Night's surprisingly strong wings, set on the ground gently. Silver rushed up to the two with a broad smile, "I'm so glad to see you!" He then noticed they were still gagged and helped free them of the last of the green gunk.

Rough threw a leg over Silver, squeezing him, "You've returned the favor!"

Silver laughed in the hug, snuggling up to his pony-self/father happily, "You have no idea how worried I was."

Trixie shook herself off, "Trixie is glad to see you too, but are you not trapped just as she is?"

Silver moved to nuzzle up to Trixie next, "We have a plan."

Night pointed at Silver, "He has a plan. It's as crazy as his plans tends to be."

Fast nodded in agreement, "Well at least half of it should work out. We have backup, and they'll bust us out."

Rough perked a brown ear, "What kind of backup?"

Night adjusted her glasses, though one lens had shattered in the rough handling, "The warlocks."

Trixie recoiled, "The warlocks? They're practically a myth. You are joking with Trixie." She looked to Night, "I see you still have your babysitter, but who is that one?" she pointed at Fast.

Night frowned a little, "We're his herd, Mom."

Trixie went stiff, "What? This?" She looked back at Silver, "What happened after you were last spoken to? Are you still a magical pariah?"

Silver shook his head, "I got that squared away, mostly. I'm a diplomat, and we came to rescue you, with the warlocks, for real."

Rough Draft looked baffled, "I don't know who those are, but you sound confident in them, so let's wait."

He settled onto his belly, and Silver curled up beside him. The larger earth pony made him feel safe. Fast smiled at the sight, "You are too adorable with your dad. Oh, he's my dad too now. Hi Dad!"

Rough Draft looked up at the alicorn-shaped Fast Change, "Uh... I don't recognize what princess you are."

She shook off her wings, becoming a unicorn, "Sorry, shapes are my thing. I'm Fast Change. Nice to meet you both."

Trixie looked hesitant, "How do we know you're not a changeling spy?"

Silver waved a hoof meekly, "If she's a changeling spy, she already won. She has my heart."

Fast flashed her teeth, "I think that was a sweet thing to say. If I was a changeling, I would take my time with you, my little love stud."

Night cleared her throat, "Be that as it may. Silver withdrew from school, but was invited back. He is currently studying magic control with the warlocks."

Trixie looked shocked, but increasingly pleased, "Our colt, a warlock... Trixie didn't mess up after all."

Silver tilted his head at Trixie, "You never messed up. You were a great mother, and a teacher, even if I did end up going my own path at the end. I don't plan to stay with the warlocks. War isn't what I want to do."

Trixie leveled a hoof at the prone Silver, "Then no more fireballs. What possessed you to cast that spell, and where did you even find it?"

Night covered her face with a wing, "The moron made the spell, then got himself into deep water with it."

Trixie tilted her head, "When did you have time to research a spell? Did you even know it would work? Did you just... What?"

Fast waved a hoof, "Deep breaths. This is his thing, his talent. That stallion can slap together a spell in a stupidly short time."

Silver nodded slowly before drawing out his book of spells, "I still don't have all the symbols memorized, not my thing. I'll probably always be casting from a book, and I guess that is a significant handicap, but the flow, the... overall mechanic. I love it."

Trixie reached with her magic, gently taking the book when Silver let go and sitting down to read through it. "Your hornwriting is terrible, but these spells, Trixie admits that they appear solid."

Silver smiled, "Well we're stuck in here... how about I prove it. Do you have two spells memorized you can write down and I'll mash 'em together."

Trixie turned to a blank page, and Silver offered a quill. She tapped her chin a moment before jotting down two short spells, "Here you are." She smiled, "She would say make her proud, but you have already done that."

Silver warmed at her words, and took his book back, looking over the two spells curiously, "I see... light? A pattern, some sound... What do these do?"

Trixie tossed her mane, "Is it not obvious? The first is my show-starting fireworks. The second is my ursa major illusion. Simple spells."

Bobbing his head, Silver got directly to work, an idea hatching in his mind as he made wild scribbles on the paper, adding, then crossing out, just to add again. He referenced his older notes and cheat sheets on symbols before coming back and tweaking the spell some more. "Assuming the ursa major fits in like so..." he muttered to himself as he copied part of one spell into his new concoction. "And done! In theory. Sometimes it takes some tweaking afterwards."

Trixie raised a brow, "Show it to her. Trixie must see this with her own eyes."

Silver played the magical song over his horn before lights exploded from him. The motes arced upwards before brilliantly exploding a second time, revealing a picture of Trixie combating an ursa major. Each image was a different color, creating a fantastic spread of hues.

Trixie clopped her hooves together. There was little that could please her as easily as a grand display that featured herself. With a quick tear of magic, she took the page with the spell right out of Silver's book, "Trixie will keep this."

Rough Draft shook his head, "Unicorns. So you're happy with a horn?"

Silver nestled up with Rough gently, "I am, but I'm under no illusion that horny ponies are best ponies."

Fast burst into titters as Night rolled her eyes, "Well he married me and I am his first wife, so he's not entirely biased to unicorns."

Silver nodded at Night, "Night Watch is the rock of the herd. She holds us together and grounds us, when our unicorn quirks would otherwise make us float away or into trouble."

Trixie gave a soft smile, "That sounds like Rough Draft. He has been a perfect gentlecolt for Trixie, and helped ground her as well."

Rough Draft looked to Night Watch and they shared an understanding look between them. It wasn't always easy being the foundation of a household.

Fast flopped down, curling with Silver and Rough, "Nothing to do but wait."

And so they waited.