//------------------------------// // Lack of Foresight // Story: With Wretched Fangs // by Shadow Beast //------------------------------// "GET BACK!" Midnight screamed. A glowing orb surrounded him; his magic shielded him from the other workers. "STAY BACK!" Vertigo and her new team watched from above as her old team circled the bubble, waiting for the slightest hint of weakness. Their target still lacked usable hind legs, keeping him vulnerable underneath the shield. "Why do they get all the fun?" asked one of her new assassins. Vertigo patted it on the head. "Two days. We have two days before we are allowed to kill him. Until then, we watch." Midnight's ear twitched and his spell flickered. Then the spell intensified, glowing brighter. Then, erupting into a bright flash, blinding the other changelings. When the two workers could see again, they found their prey exhausted and unshielded. They attacked. The first came from Midnight's left. It jumped towards him hooves first, only to be dodged. The target had risen from the ground, on all fours, and galloped towards the surprised second. He tackled it to the ground. He put a hoof onto its throat to subdue it as the first started moving toward him again. As it went to jump again, it saw Midnight's horn glow, then felt a great pain from his back as his broken wing was pulled from his side into a form not unlike its natural span. It screamed and lost balance, falling to the ground. "Broken wings are the worst, aren't they?" Midnight said to the first, almost out of breath. He put more pressure on the second's throat to encourage its rest. "They're not nearly as easy to heal as a cracked exoskeleton." He shook his head, chuckling to himself. "Even that is difficult without a lot of magical charge... Good thing you two couldn't differentiate between a charging changeling and a shielded one!" His hoof moved to back of the sleeping changeling and rubbed it as he continued. "Not much good trying to fix a wing, sadly." He raised the hoof again, then let it hover over the unconscious throat. "There's no fixing them. They just sit there on your back and grief you with pain. ...Until you remove them fully." His hoof slammed into the changeling's neck, crushing it. The body crumpled into ash as Midnight approached his next victim. "Four... Three..." the changeling said through the pain. "Ooh! A perceptive one!" Midnight said, smiling. "Four... Three... Four... Four..." "Okay, now you need to think of something more interesting to say." Midnight placed a hoof onto the changeling's back. "Three... Four... Four..." the changeling reiterated, loud enough for even Vertigo to hear. Midnight leaned in. Magic pulled the changeling's ear toward his mouth. "Three," he whispered. Then the magic took a hold of the changeling's head and wrung it the wrong way. The body crumpled to ash. Midnight looked up toward the three spectators. "Vertigo!" he called. "Finish the sequence and I won't try to escape!" Vertigo looked towards her allies, who appeared just as confused. She tried to reason. "Assuming he was just repeating the sequence, the next one should be four... Right?" The others nodded in agreement. Vertigo peeked over the edge. "Four! Four completes the sequence!" Midnight looked up and smiled. "Sorry! He was actually going to say three, three, four, four!" "And how we supposed to figure that one out?" she called back down. He smiled. "Sometimes, the simplest sequences are the hardest to grasp." Midnight galloped toward the base of the stairs and started climbing fast. Vertigo spread her allies to create a barricade as he approached. "So you plan on keeping me here for two days?" Midnight said as he approached the barricade at full speed. "Good luck!” Midnight jumped toward the barricade, his horn began glowing and suddenly flashed bright enough to blind the three. They stayed still and braced for impact. It never came. Vertigo looked around with less and less strain until it was clear the changeling had vanished. But she heard the flutter of wings above. They charged to the top of the stairs in time to see Midnight, with two pristine wings, gallop out of the Hive. "We have to follow him!" Vertigo commanded. "But it's still storming outside!" "If that washes away his hoofprints we lose him forever! Come on!" she shouted, galloping toward the exit. A look over the edge saw Midnight at the bottom, now galloping over the wide open plain outside. The two assassins did their best to keep up with their leader, whose finesse in rock climbing only hastened the chase. Vertigo caught up to the soaked fugitive, out of breath after the ordeal. He just smiled at her in the pouring rain. She just stared back, holding her ground long enough for the assassins to catch up. "Why?" Midnight asked them. "Why not just stay high and dry? Why come out here in the elements, where creatures even more dangerous than I may lurk?" "I want answers and I want my promotion." "You won't get either from me... Nor the Queen." The three changelings stepped forward, and the fugitive took a step back. The sky flashed as they stared at one another, waiting for the chase to resume. But the ground grew darker and the thunder grew deeper, louder and the wind blew in more directions. A dragon flew down from the sky and snatched up the lone changeling, screaming from the beast's claws. "C-can we go home yet?" an assassin asked, shivering from mostly damp coldness. Vertigo shook her head, splashing water on her allies. "We must confirm that he's dead." "Are you insane?!" cried the other one, shaking from mostly fear. Vertigo galloped after the soaring reptile. The assassins had no choice but to follow. After soaring across the plain, the dragon finally landed on a plateau several paces ahead. Bright green light flashed from the summit, witnessed by the pursuers at the bottom. Vertigo's climbing abilities saw her at the top first, alone to confront the fugitive. Another changeling was talking to him, the dragon nowhere to be found. They didn't see her. "Look, Dredge, the plan's off! I couldn't infiltrate the Hive, and I couldn't even get close to the freaks!" Midnight's tone was panicked. The other changeling's voice was slightly higher pitched. "Hey! I couldn't fool those dragons with a semi-grown form, but am I going to quit? We have to try again. We are too close." "Yeah, yeah... But I was recognized as a wretcher. If the Queen sniffs me out again, I'm not going to be trotting away with both halves of my body!" "You're overreacting! We haven't been around here for centuries!" "I severely agitated an executioner that the Queen has wrapped around her hoof. The only way I got out was because she's not supposed to kill me for two days!" His worries were met with a blank stare. "The executioner is female..." "Ooh. Yeah, I was wondering why the Queen would limit herself." A frown of worry creased the changeling's snout. "But why limit a killing machine?" Vertigo felt some pride hearing the two discuss her obedience. "Its name is Vertigo, Dredge." Dredge burst out laughing. "She must hate that thing. So why are you worried?" Vertigo's pride turned to a burning rage. She got up from her cover, leaving her assassins still hiding. "Because I don't give up easily," Vertigo shouted at the changelings. "You have got to be kidding!" Midnight screamed in anger. "You see me grow back my legs, my wings, and get grabbed by a large dragon... And you still follow me! I'm out of the Hive! What do you want?!" "Calm down, Masquerade," Dredge said with a smile. "She can't take us both alone!" "Not alone." Vertigo smiled as the two assassins joined her. Midnight gritted his teeth as his horn glowed. He grabbed the two assassins with his magic, lifting them into the air, and slammed them together. "Nobody!" he screamed as he slammed them into the ground. "Cares!" He slammed them into each other again. "About!" Ground. "These!" Ground. "Stupid!" Each other. "Assassins!" He slammed the two to the ground again, releasing them from his grasp. They laid on the ground next to Dredge, who watched them moan and writhe in pain. "Dude..." Dredge stared at his ally in disbelief. "Why do you care so much about these psychopaths!" Midnight screamed at the executioner. Vertigo took a step back. "They're just marks!" Midnight continued. "Just little notches used against you!" "Of course they are! Why do you think I care about them?" Vertigo said, trying to keep herself from shaking in the unhelpful rain. Midnight grunted and his horn glowed. A hoof fell on his shoulder. "Masquerade, you've exerted yourself too much," Dredge affirmed. "I'll handle this." He turned to Vertigo. "You are stronger than your name implies... You could join us." "And why would I ever do that?" "Because whether you like it or not, you're in between us..." He gestured towards Midnight then back to himself. "And immortality." Vertigo looked over Midnight. "900 years, huh?" She turned back to Dredge. "So he wasn't making that up?" Dredge smiled. "Oh, he's been around much longer than that." The smile faded. "But that is a story for another time. For now, you must understand that we need a breeder from the Hive. If you help us, you may be able to leave the Queen's tormenting employ. If you don't... We may be forced to kill you." Vertigo chuckled. "If you could kill me you would have done it already." "We don't work like that. If we did, you would have all been reduced to ashes when I came to Masquerade's side." Thunder crashed overhead. "Really?" Her voice was filled with doubt. "I could assume the form again and just gobble you down. Right now." Vertigo smiled and crooked her head. "This is taking too long," Midnight interjected. He trotted toward the two assassins. "Come back from a storm with no team and you'll be done. Your career, everything... All over." "Wait!" one of the assassins squealed. "I... I'll join you..." "You reek of fear and woe. This is not your choice to make." Midnight turned to Vertigo. "We will kill them both. If you do not join us, you will have no assassins. No Hope." Vertigo scoffed. "You were going to let them live?" "Your assassins are too weary of us," Dredge explained. "If you are to join us, they cannot follow you." "Why should my immortality cost two lives?" "Because it doesn't," Midnight explained. "They are not just changelings... They are assassins! Psychopaths with no reason to exist beyond destruction! Killing them saves how many more 'lives?'" "And I am their leader," she replied, scorn in her voice. "And that is why you will choose," Dredge said. "Life or death?" He smiled, "That is, to throw away the lives of your weaker allies to gain even greater power, or to let yourself die at the Hive alone and weak." Vertigo sighed. Her head lowered under the weight of mostly the heavy rain pour. She found the strength to lift it back up to ask one final question to the two outsiders. "If I help you get a breeder, will you leave this Hive alone? The rest of it, including myself, untainted by your presence forever?" "You wish us gone after we secure a breeder, eh?" Dredge confirmed. "Then you surrender the lives of your allies?" "Only these two and the breeder. No one else is to be harmed." She glared at Midnight. "Nobody." The other assassin thrashed about on the ground, his legs broken in the assault. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS! IT'S TREASON!" Vertigo ignored the cries. "As quick and painless as possible, please." She watched as the outsiders smiled at one another. A bolt of energy shot from Dredge's horn, paralyzing the assassins. Midnight took the closer one and bit into its neck, crushing it in his jaws. Dredge did the same to the other. With subsequent bursts of green flame the two outsiders emerged looking exactly like the assassins they had killed. Vertigo's stoic countenance finally swayed, revealing shock and horror. "That shouldn't be possible." "We're shapeshifters," the assassin killed by Midnight said. "We've always had the potential, but are too prideful to try." They looked back towards the Hive in the rain. The thunder and lightning became further away with each step they took. "So what are your real names?" Vertigo asked her zombie assassins. "Friends call me Dredge. I think it started as 'Drudge,' but I got better at my job." "Which is?" "Sorting out potential and learning to take a dragon's form," he proudly explained. "I have many ways of stunning prey and I've almost integrated with their society." "Hm." Vertigo turned to her left. "What about you, Midnight?" "Midnight Masquerade. Born a pony, turned changeling, made executioner from saboteur elite, and finally got completely lost after an unsuccessful invasion. Teamed up with outcasts and looked into spooky magics that can help us survive." "Midnight knows more healing spells than anyone I've seen..." Dredge added. "So you really were part of the Hive..." Vertigo said. "But my real name is Foresight." The other two changelings stopped and stared at him. "No... It isn't..." Dredge said, confused. "It is. After killing an innocent changeling I dropped the Executioner title and worked towards spells and incantations to sense the future, so it wouldn't happen again." "When exactly did you get that name?" Dredge asked, still confused. "The Queen will dub me 'Foresight' when I genuinely integrate into the Hive." "Can I ask you something?" Vertigo asked. "Past, present, or future?" "Any that apply." The vague response intrigued him. "Okay." "Are you insane?" Foresight chuckled. "Yep." "I'll admit," Dredge said. "Foresight can be a bit... crazy from time to time but his, well, foresight is very accurate. If he says something is going to happen, like getting a new name, I'm just gonna go ahead and start calling him by it." Vertigo shrugged. "'Foresight' it is then." The three made it back to the Hive after a few minutes of silent trotting. The rainstorm had passed but the cliff face was still slick, as were their wings. Vertigo found the climb too easy even for her tastes; the three made it to the top without a slip. She stopped at the top, hesitant to step back inside. "Something wrong, boss?" the zombie asked. "I've never had anyone other than assassins follow me before." She turned to her troops. "Do you really think a breeder would join our team?" "Just tell the Queen you want a breeder to join you," the other zombie said kindly. "I'm sure if you ask ni--" The first zombie interrupted. "If you were going to say 'nice,' you'd better check who you're dealing with. She's not just going to give us a breeder, and it could be detrimental to our mission to ask for one." "And how do you know her so well?" Vertigo asked the first. The zombie frowned, and crooked his head towards her. "Did you mix us up or something? I used to live here. And I've caught a glimpse of what she will do." Foresight chuckled and turned to Dredge. "Do all the assassins really look alike?" "So you know how she'll respond to me meeting with her?" "What?" Foresight asked in a brief state of utter confusion. "Oh, right. Yeah, I know what she'll do a hundred years from now. And very little even then." Vertigo sighed. "Whatever. You two wait here, I'll go talk to her." She turned to head down into the Hive, but found her snout twisting back to see the two one last time. "And don't touch anything!" She turned back and continued down the stairs. She stopped for a brief moment, peeking through the door which held the breeders. She could see them spinning a cocoon tighter as the prey inside had tried to escape, weakening the casing. She moved down past the armory and soldier bedrooms to the familiar, large doors of the throne room.The soldiers saw her coming and opened them, smiling the same smile again. Chrysalis looked almost half confused as Vertigo entered, but the look was soon replaced with the old condescending smile. "Is the wretcher dead, then?" "No, ma'am," Vertigo answered. "He killed those assassin workers and somehow--" "Yes, yes, he pulled himself all back together better than new and flew away. But then your team chased him. Please only start with what I don't already know." "We chased him out, caught up to him, then a dragon swooped down and carried him off." "And then?" Vertigo shrugged. "Well you can't expect me to assume he's dead!" Chrysalis cleared her throat. "And. Then." Her tone grew darker. "You are not one to let a little rain keep you from knowing the fate of a target." Vertigo felt anxious. "But we couldn't kill him until--" The Queen's raised hoof silenced her. "I know you. And you don't usually lie." Her smile had faded completely, replaced by a deep frown. "You talked to him, didn't you?" Vertigo steeled herself. "Never, ma'am. He was carried off by--" "Another changeling in a dragon's form," Chrysalis finished. "Probably another wretcher. And your team went after them." "We came right back. It took forever to climb all the way back up here with the cliff so damp!" "Vertigo, do you understand what is at stake right now?!" the Queen screamed, her patience exhausted. Vertigo gulped, and the Queen caught her breath. "Do you even know what a wretcher is?" she asked almost quietly. "No, ma'am," Vertigo said in a voice more quiet. "Wretchers are the antithesis of what we changelings stand for. What we are... And what we hope to gain. They are shapeshifters who use their powers for their own selfish gain, and to destroy entire ways of life that question theirs. They hate unity and conformity." "And why would one of these want to join the Hive?" "Midnight. That changeling was one of the first executioners. They defined that rank. But that was almost a thousand years ago." She looked down at Vertigo. "Tell me, Vertigo, you've been on dangerous missions. How many would you be able to do in a row without returning here for rest?" "I don't know..." "How many years would waste your body away?" She smiled. "Midnight Masquerade is dead. Long dead. Whatever that monster outside is, it's not him. In fact, it probably killed him." She chuckled. "Because that's what they do. They kill changelings. They eat changelings. They dig their wretched fangs into their flesh and feed on the ashes of our own family. It's what gives them their strength." "But how do ashes even keep them alive?" "I don't know," Chrysalis admitted. "But there is something within our shape shifting logic that wretchers completely ignore. They take the form of other changelings, after all." "So any changeling in the Hive could be..." "No. I will not have such paranoia spread around. It would ruin the foundation of trust that keeps the Hive working. We must instead be absolutely sure no wretchers ever enter the Hive. Ever." She paused for a moment. "Do you understand what is at stake now?" "Almost." Vertigo decided to let her curiosity speak for her. "Midnight mentioned a breeder being the only thing he wanted while he was running scared from us. Any idea what that would help them accomplish?" The Queen's eyes grew wide for a second. "Breeders are, as you know, changelings who can produce a special form of cocooning material from their mouths. The cocoons made from that can convert any creature into a changeling... Or, in this case, wretcher food." "So they could eat anything." Vertigo looked up. "Shouldn't we just give them a breeder then? So they can stop going after the Hive?" "Midnight and the dragon are but a dying flame. Let them be blown out by the wind, or snuff them out yourself if they try anything. We will not encourage their terrible ways. Lock up the breeders and have guards posted at the door. Wretchers will not take any part of this Hive." "Understood, ma'am." Vertigo turned to leave the chamber. "Oh, and Vertigo..." "Yes?" "If you did talk to Midnight... Bring him back here. We can break him a thousand times over and have him as a trophy. Do that, and I might just promote you." Vertigo smiled at the Queen. Then turned and galloped out of the chamber. As the doors closed behind her she looked towards the sunlight at the top of the Hive. And toward the two "assassins" waiting for her.