//------------------------------// // Chrysalis' Story Chapter 21: It's a Hive Life // Story: Emblem of Harmony: The Blazing Sword // by icebraker //------------------------------// Aurora held her breath. She only lasted forty three seconds before gasping for air and stating the obvious. “Oh Celestia, this place reeks!” “Of course it does, it’s a sewer,” Mark said, keeping his nose covered as he walked in a three legged gait. “Do we really have to search this entire place?” Trixie asked, her head surrounded by a magical bubble like a space helmet. On top of the bubble rested her magician hat which somehow avoided slipping off. Mark gave a small shake of his head. “Probably not. I’m pretty sure I have an idea where the hive, lair, or whatever is.” “Then why aren’t we there yet?” Rainbow Dash asked. “HOLY FUCK!” Mark jumped in surprise. Upon landing, his front hoof slipped and he plummeted towards the small river of wastes. “OH SHIT!” ‘Both figuratively and quite literally.’ Suddenly something wrapped around his waist, stopping him approximately two feet from hitting the water. With a forceful tug, Mark was thrown back onto the walkways with a hard landing on his butt. His eyes following the length of rope that saved him, Mark found himself face to face with an Appleoosian Bandit. Or at least as close to one as an orange mare can be when she has a red bandana tied around her face. “Mark, what’ve ah told ya about watching that tongue of yours?” Applejack asked as she rewound her lasso. “First of all, I’m old enough to say what I want. Second, how the fu-” Applejack’s eyes narrowed at him. “-uuudge did you get here?” “They followed me after you had me go back to the Weary Bray to get my lance,” Aurora said with an almost Pinkie-like smile. “And you didn’t bother to tell me this?” Mark asked in a flat tone. Aurora looked to him confused on an answer. “You didn’t ask?” Mark still glared at her. “I told Trixie?” Mark’s head swiveled so he was now glaring at the magician who was avoiding eye contact and doing her best to suppress her giggles. Facehoofing, Mark returned his attention to his two friends who, he noticed, were carrying the weapons from the Ponyville attack days before. “So what are you two doing here anyways? I thought you two made it perfectly clear that you didn’t like my idea to find Chrysalis and would rather leave it to ponies better equipped for it.” “Well, as much as we wanted to leave it to the city guard, you’re persistence on finding her has got me curious ‘bout something,” Applejack remarked. Rainbow flew between AJ and Mark. “That and AJ told me you need somepony tough watching your back,” she added with swagger. Mark scratched his head, still processing this sudden turn of good luck. “Okay, sounds good! What do you girls think?” He asked, turning back to the batpony and unicorn. “It couldn’t hurt to bring in more helping hooves,” Aurora said with a shrug. Trixie nodded, her hat still somehow staying firmly on top of the bubble. “Yes, Trixie agrees that there’s strength in numbers.” “Then it’s decided.” Mark said, clapping his hooves together. “At this rate we’ll probably have no trouble finding her. Especially if there’s no unpleasant surprises.” Pinkie Pie popped her head out of a nearby pipe wearing a gas mask. “There’s no such thing as an unpleasant surprise, silly!” “Gah!” “Whoah!” “Hi Pinkie.” “OH MY CELESTIA!” Rainbow, Applejack, Aurora, and Mark shouted at the same time and in that order. Mark held his hoof over his chest trying to calm his racing heart. “Pinkie. I’m not going to question it, let me just make sure I’m not dead from that heart attack you gave me.” “Well I AM gonna question it! Pinkie how the heck did you get here?” Rainbow asked loudly. “Well, after Trixie asked Aurora to help her shop, I kept posting up my super well done fliers-” Pinkie went on telling about every ridiculous place she posted them. There was some mention of being chased by guards and other individuals, but Mark ignored that until she finally got to the end of her story. “-And then I realized that I didn’t put any down here and I found you guys.” Mark scratched his head. “Umm…Nice story Pinkie but-” “Mark here says he knows where Chrysalis is,” Rainbow interrupted. Mark rolled his eyes. “I was talking about the general direction of where she is. This is the first time I’ve been in any sewer.” Pinkie gasped, grabbed the sides of Mark’s head, and brought their faces so close that it could have been mistaken for a kiss had the gas mask not been in the way. “We better be careful not to get eaten by the scary invisible sewer monster.” Applejack and Rainbow’s eyes widened and they started looking around. “Whoa, what? There’s a monster down here?” Rainbow asked. “An invisible one to boot?” Applejack added. Mark let out a heavy sigh. “No the monster’s actually changelings.” Aurora tilted her head in confusion. “Wait, so changelings are monsters?” Once again, the batpony found herself on the receiving end of Mark’s glare, though this time he was also gritting his teeth. “No I explained this earlier. I mean changelings are the reason the rumors of a sewer monster started.” “Psh! Oh Mark, don’t be silly. Why would changelings start a rumor like that?” Pinkie asked with her usual cheer. Mark’s eye twitched violently. “Because-” He was unable to finish as Pinkie suddenly gasped loudly. “Ooooh! Unless they did it to keep curious ponies away from their home and set up countermeasures to keep their secret safe! Why didn’t you just say so Mark?” “I...you...I don’t even...ugh.” Mark felt a headache start to come on, though he couldn’t tell if it was because of the awful smell or because he had started thumping his hoof on his forehead. Probably both. To help quell the incoming headache Mark began thinking of positive things. ‘Daisies. Puppies. Sunshine. Honey...uh...’ ‘Mint. Apples. Chocolate. Wow, all those nice smelling thoughts have me hungry.’ Mark looked again at the small canal of sewage and watched as a large brown chunk of something floated by. ‘Nevermind, hunger’s gone.’ The group continued moving through the sewer system, occasionally having to backtrack from dead ends and complaining about the smell. Until they were eventually stopped by a pony in a safety vest and hard hat that blocked their path. “Hey you...the area past here is currently under maintenance…please take a different route,” The pony said, his voice sounding a little slurred. With a groan, all but Mark and Applejack turned around to find another way. Applejack because she was about argue their case while Mark was busy looking to the side of the pony where two empty bottles of booze stood neatly against the wall. He then returned his gaze to the pony and squinted as if looking for something. “Mark, what are ya doing? We gotta go another way,” Rainbow called back. “Actually we might not have to…” Mark mumbled squinting harder before his eyes widened and he smiled. Turning back, Mark galloped up to Aurora and yanked the off lance she had strapped to her back.“I need to borrow this for a sec.” Lance gripped firmly in his magic, he swung it around to get a feel for it. Removing the hard hat, Mark stepped to the side of the pony who watched him but didn’t say anything more. There was a crack as Mark suddenly swung the blunt side of the lance and hit the back of the pony’s head, causing him to crumple to the ground. “WHAT THE HAY MARK?” Rainbow and Applejack shouted, rushing to the pony’s side. Applejack cradled the pony’s head while, unsure what to do, Rainbow tried poking the pony back to consciousness. After confirming that the pony was still breathing, Applejack gave Mark a death glare though the tactician didn’t seemed phased by it. “What the hay did you do that for?” Instead of regret Mark looked triumphant. “I did it because we’re on the right trail. Take a look at his eyes.” Mark said, pointing a hoof at the pony. Suspicious but curious all the same, Applejack carefully lifted one of the pony’s eyelids and began her examination. Though the pupil’s were contracted, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the pony’s eyes other than the fact they were bloodshot. That is until she noticed the almost transparent purple tint around his sclera. Applejack’s eyes widened and she almost dropped the pony’s head in surprise.“What the heck? What’s wrong with him?” Applejack opened the pony’s eye again to confirm her finding and Rainbow took a look herself. “He’s here to deter ponies from reaching the hive,” Mark said confidently. “From what Twilight told me about mind control spells, they usually cause issues with the victim’s free will and thus range of what they can do. In Shining’s case, the spell was probably just to keep him from realizing that ‘Cadance’ wasn’t Cadance so he wasn’t limited in his actions. This guy however seems to be just a lookout, if somepony doesn’t turn around, he'd've probably alerted someone and we’d likely walk into a trap.” Rainbow looked at Mark, skeptical. “You got all that just by looking at him?” Mark flashed his friend a cocky grin. “I’m smarter than what I make others think.” “It’s true.” Aurora added, lifting the pony in the air by his head and out of Applejack’s reach. “Hmmm...” “What’s wrong? You actually look like you’re thinking,” Mark stated bluntly. “I think I’ve seen this guy before…” Aurora answered, squinting even harder as she tried to recognize him. No name coming to mind, Aurora sighed and dropped him. “Must be my imagination.” Mark shook his head and placed the pony’s hard hat back on it’s owners head. “We’re on the right track. I have the feeling that we’ll reach the hive soon too. If we run into trouble, let me do the talking. Okay?” Mark and the group stopped at the steel lance pointed in their direction. Almost in Mark’s face to be exact. “S-Stop! What are ponies doing here?” The changeling guard asked more to himself than the group. Judging by the fact his hoof trembled from holding the lance straight, it was likely he wasn’t very experienced. Or at least never had ponies make it to the entrance. Rainbow looked like she was about to defend her friends by striking first until Mark shot her a derisive glare. After cowing Rainbow temporarily, a cross look spread over Mark’s face and he shoved the lance aside. The changeling lost his grip on it and it clattered onto the ground. “Ponies? We’re changelings,” Mark said, looking directly into the changeling’s purple eyes. The guard gulped and backed off a bit, taking another look at Mark and the one’s behind him. “Umm...Are you sure?” His personal bubble was once again broken as the pink one suddenly appeared in front of him with a silly smile on her face. “Yuppers. Captain Icey and we’re his-” Mark placed a hoof over Pinkie’s mouth and pushed her back. “I am in no mood to explain me, or my unit’s life story. As it stands, we barely escaped before things at our hive went south now why don’t you tell us where our queen is. I need to report in.” “B-But why are you still in disguise?” Mark inhaled deeply as his expression contorted into one of pure rage. He moved towards the changeling who in turn began backing up until Mark had him cornered against the wall. “What did I just say?” The changeling was trembling under Mark’s intense gaze. “Th-that you don’t-” “That I don’t have to explain!” Mark quickly confirmed, making his voice sound deeper and raspier. “Now are you gonna let us through or are you gonna have to explain to her highness why her best infiltrators were turned away?” “SorrypleaseproceedqueenChrysalisiscurrentlyaguestattheroyalpalace.” The changeling guard squeaked all in one breath, pointing down the path towards a large castle-like structure. With that, Mark turned away from the guard and signalled the group to follow him. Once they were out of earshot to the guard, Mark couldn’t contain himself any longer and broke out into a fit of laughter. “That was great! Haha, I haven’t acted that well since I tricked Blueblood’s tailor into changing his order of vests into an order of dresses.” Rainbow snorted at the thought. “Man, that must’ve been hilarious.” “You have no idea,” Mark snickered. As his laughter died down Mark made note of his surroundings. He and his friends would have gawked if the sewage smell weren’t still present. Based off past experiences, Mark expected glowing cocoons along the ceiling and damp cave walls covered in sticky slime. Instead, he was met with was a city within a huge cavern and whose buildings glowed lightly with a purplish tint. The size could even compete with some of Manehatten’s skyscrapers if it weren’t for the fact that they met the ceiling, providing both housing and additional support for the cavern. In the air, changelings buzzed by, flying as they went about what business they had with a few opting to walk along the ground or on the sides of the buildings. Much to everyone’s surprise, there were even ponies down here spreading a purplish goop along the structures. There were several audible gulps as they realized that all the working ponies had a light purplish glow coming from their eyes. “It’s kinda odd that nopo- no changeling’s stopped us again,” Applejack said, her voice still muffled a little from the bandana as she stayed alert. Mark’s face scrunched as he began breathing with his mouth. “I bet it’s because no one’s ever infiltrated a changeling hive before. Kinda ironic really.” “OH! Now I remember!” Aurora’s shout startled everypony and caused a few changelings to look in their direction before ignoring them again. Though the bat mare was usually oblivious to most things, she could definitely tell from everypony’s looks and glares that they wanted her to quietly explain. Sheepishly, Aurora began scratching the side of her head. “That pony that Mark knocked out. He was on Equestria’s most wanted list for robbery last year.” There was a period of skeptical silence until Mark slowly nodded his head as he recalled a newspaper headline he read on the matter. “I...I think I remember that. Yeah, the guards chased him to a warehouse in Manehatten but he suddenly disappeared without a trace. I guess he went to the sewers to escape and well...you know.” Aurora’s eyes lit up as she recognized more of the working ponies and excitedly wrapped a hoof around Trixie’s head before pointing at them. “Oh look there! That guy’s a convict who escaped during a Canterlot jailbreak two years ago,” she said, before gagging at the stench, and then pointing at a mare. “She’s the double agent who got caught trying to feed information to griffins about Saddle Arabia two months ago!” At this point, Aurora was giggling like a little filly, she was in bounty hunter heaven. “How is it that you can remember who they are, what they did, and when they did it, but can’t remember where you leave your lance and the blood packs?” Mark asked, remembering exactly what had happened before they left for the sewers. Aurora shut her mouth, placing her hoof on her chin as she thought. She started rubbing her temples to help her think harder but it was no use and she could only respond to Mark with a pitiful shrug. Mark shook his head and walked on. As they got closer and closer to the hive’s royal palace there were loud shouts followed by a loud crack that echoed a bit in the cavern. At first Mark thought it would be an arena of some kind. Upon closer examination however, it was a shown to be an underground baseball field -only without the grass- and instead of a baseball, the changeling in the center ran towards the batter before curling up into a ball and getting hit with what appeared to be a log. They all watched the ‘pitcher’ get sent flying through the air before Rainbow voiced her thoughts. “What’s that?” “That would be their society declining and the weak getting preyed on,” Mark said humorously. Rainbow and Aurora chuckled. “Mark, it’s a game.” “I know, but my story was more dramatic,” he responded with a flourish. Their curiosity sated, the group returned to their business of moving to the palace and Applejack’s expression became more and more solemn the closer they got. It wasn’t until a hundred meters from the palace door that she voiced her concern. “Alright, I’ve held back questioning, but what are we going to do when we get inside that palace?” Mark’s response was quick and to the point having expected somepony to ask eventually. “We aren’t doing anything. I’m going in there alone while you all stay outside and act inconspicuous.” They had reached the door and Mark brought his hoof up to open it. That is until Applejack knocked his hoof down. “Nuh uh. We already came this far with you, we ain’t leaving you alone in the heart of that place.” “Really? We’re having this conversation now?” Mark asked, giving the orange mare an incredulous look. “If I brought it up earlier you’d slip away faster than a snake at a leather factory.” “What?” Applejack poked Mark hard in the chest. “You’d dodge the question and leave when nopony was looking.” ‘She knows you so well.’ Mark let out a puff of air as he brought his hoof back up to open the door. “Fine, then let me put it this way, what’s most likely to get attention, a group of ponies, three of whom I know can’t lie that well, or me, the dashing, handsome, street-smart unicorn?” Applejack rolled her eyes and adjusted her hat. “You’re something alright.” “Glad we agree. Now try not to draw too much attention to yourselves. If something goes wrong somepony give the signal,” Mark concluded, pushing the door open and slipping inside before he could be stopped again. “Wait what’s the signal?” Rainbow asked confused. Aurora shrugged. Moving to the side of the door and taking a seat, Applejack prepared to wait. “Knowing Mark, it’ll be the most outrageous, most improvised thing he can think of.” *********************************** ‘Empty.’ “Nope.” ‘Supply Closet.’ “Nope.” ‘Empty again.’ “Nope.” ‘Two changelings having sex.’ “No-WOAH! Sorry!” Mark shouted, slamming the door to the last room in the hallway and making a hasty escape before he drew further attention. Mark groaned as he walked towards the last hallway for the floor. After making his way into the castle Mark passed by several rooms and went through a hall which opened up into a grand foyer. Grand might be an understatement though, seeing as it was basically a wide open room, six stories tall with a balconies and around twenty more hallways bored into the strange, purple-like resin walls of every floor. Doodling the math onto the wall, Mark figured that he had maybe eight hundred and twenty more rooms to check. ‘That’s if I don’t kill myself first!’ ‘Think of it as an adventure. A long, boring adventure where you might get an occasional glimpse of changeling reproduction in the works and have to scribble math equations on walls.’ ‘This is definitely one of those days.’ Mark jumped as a loud, clear voice was directed at him from behind. “You there, what are you doing in a disguise? I don’t recognize your scent.” At first, Mark had thought the voice belonged to Chrysalis, but then he realized that it had the slight accent you’d hear from usually hear from the Manehatten elite. Turning around, he was greeted by the sight of a changeling with a holed, wavy purple mane. It was clear that she was a royal changeling since she stood about as tall as Chrysalis did. Unlike Chrysalis however, this queen reeked of too much perfume, had symmetrical holes in both her cheeks, and had no reason to leave Mark alive if she discovered who he was. Mark gulped, staring through the changeling’s cheeks, imagining how her sharp teeth could rip a piece or two out of him if she deemed fit. “You can smell past that stench?” Mark responded. It was the first thing that came to mind. The changeling’s pupils constricted into slits. “Are you saying I, Queen Miasma, the most beautiful and elegant changeling queen, smell bad?!” ‘Wow. And I thought you were the only one here with an over-the-top opinion of yourself.’ Noticing movement behind the queen, Mark saw two small changelings suddenly start swinging the incense burners in their mouths, almost hitting each other in the process. He then returned his attention to the angry changeling glaring at him and gave her a bow. “Not at all. I arrived recently and haven’t gotten used to the...unique smell. At least not enough to differentiate any other scent.” Miamsa’s brow raised. “A new arrival? Who are you?” Mark kept his head bowed, mainly to avoid eye contact. “Beetle. I and a few others were lucky enough to be on assignment outside the hive before Morphos took control.” “So...stragglers from Chrysalis’ hive.” Miasma responded, her tone full of distaste. The yellow unicorn’s head remained bowed as the queen continued to stare at him silently. Mark gulped again, developing a cold sweat. His legs started to tremble. Could she possibly have pierced through his deception with cunning intellect? Was he destined to become a mind controlled slave? ‘Will his subconscious ever get a decent meal to eat? Or better yet, a mouth and stomach of his own to eat with? Find out next time on the next episode of-’ “I see. In that case, stop wandering the hallways and help her form that plan quicker. As much as I like watching her beat herself up over her mistakes, the moping around my hive is getting annoying.” Miasma forced Mark’s chin up so their eyes met. “And I don’t like the idea of one of hers spying in my home.” Mark backed up and chuckled weakly. “I’m not spying, just...lost.” “Have you not gotten her location through the hivemind?” ‘Hivemind communication...so that’s a thing.’ ‘Seems to be.’ “I...have. She made me aware that she was here in the palace but that’s it.” “Of course she did,” Miasma scoffed. “Can’t even give directions to her own troops. No wonder she lost her hive in the first place.” The queen then made a shooing motion with her holed hoof. “She’s on the third floor in the thirtieth room. Now away with you.” The moment he heard her dismissal, Mark scrambled away as fast as he could go towards where he had last seen the stairs. Closing her eyes, Miasma reached out through her hive to the captain of her personal guard. ‘Tinder, something isn’t right. Find out about our new arrivals.’ As the queen opened her eyes and turned around, she stopped halfway after she saw something she didn’t like. ‘And find out who’s been writing math problems on my palace’s walls again!’ “Too many losses,” Chrysalis muttered before angrily swatting all the pieces off the war table for the twenty third time. Sighing, she scooped another spoonful of love jelly and took a bite. As much as it pained her to ask for help from Miasma of all changelings, she was close by and willing to help if only to rub it in Chrysalis’ face. Aside from Miasma being her usual self of course, now Chrysalis had to properly strategize how the assault to take back her hive would go. Infiltration wouldn’t work since both sides were changelings, stealth was out of the question because that required training that Miasma’s troops didn’t have, and an assault of any kind was logistically disastrous. Had the queen’s dignity been weak, she would probably be crying from the frustration. Every plan she came up with ended in too much death for her and Miasma’s hive. There was a quick knock at the door behind her before she heard it open. It couldn’t have been Edge, since he was discussing something with Captain Tinder, and Razor was still on her way back from the market. Which only left one changeling with a reason to visit her. “Still haven’t had enough gloating Miasma? Get it over with, I have more important things to think about and I could use some noise to ignore.” To her surprise, Miasma didn’t fume like she normally would at a statement like that. Instead, Miasma’s breathing was the only thing that signified her presence. Chrysalis turned around and her narrowed eyes slowly widened when she found that the individual wasn’t Miasma. It was Mark. Mark took a deep breath before speaking. “I...owe you an apology.” Faster than he could blink, Chrysalis flew up to him and punched him in the cheek hard enough to send him flying into the wall. “I don’t know how you found out about him, but you better stop it before I flay you alive!” ‘You totally had that coming.’ “I’ll admit that I had that coming,” Mark said, holding back tears as he rubbed his cheek tenderly. “But I’m not a changeling. I’m the real thing.” Chrysalis just stared at Mark, with Mark reciprocating. That is until he found a chitin covered hoof shoved in his mouth as Chrysalis moved to the door and looked to make sure there wasn’t anyone else around. She then closed the door and removed her hoof from Mark’s mouth. “What are you doing here? Are you trying to get yourself killed? If Miasma catches you in here she’ll either kill you or manipulate your mind to become a laborer!” Chrysalis hissed at him. “Yeah I kinda got the idea she’d do something like that,” Mark muttered to himself. “I’m glad you care.” Chrysalis scowled. “I-I don’t! Now leave before I change my mind.” Mark solemnly shook his head. “I can’t. Not after the way we left things. Not after what I said to you.” “It doesn’t matter, I don’t need you! Now go or I’ll send for some guards to arrest you,” the changeling queen said, shoving a hoof in Mark’s chest. Mark sat on his hindquarters and crossed his front hooves in challenge. “Then go ahead and call the guards. Let them come and take me away to my death or slavery or whatever.” Chrysalis’ frown deepened as she glared at the tactician. She then looked away and sat down in defeat. “I hate you.” “And you have every right to,” Mark responded through another sigh. Despite knowing that her words contradicted her actions, they still hurt. The two remained seated there in silence, occasionally glancing at the other but unable to think of what to say next. “So Cryst...Chrysalis, how have you been?” Mark asked, breaking the silence. ‘Jeez. Like you can’t be anymore awkward.’ Chrysalis’ eye twitched in annoyance. “Really? You actually find me by infiltrating a changeling hive and that’s what you ask me?” She hissed. “I know, I know,” Mark replied, rubbing his head and mentally kicking himself. He had a lot of questions but knew that he didn’t have the time to get them all answered. Three, however, popped in his head as the most important. “I’m not sure how to go about this eloquently so I’ll just be direct as possible. Did you really consider me your friend, why did you leave five years ago, and what’s the deal with Morphos?” Chrysalis angrily let out a puff of air but complied by starting with his first question. “I did. But then again, I’m just a ‘No-Good, Ugly, Stinking, Lying’ changeling.” Mark’s face flushed and he looked to the ground. “I...Overreacted. Did you expect me not to? Come on, my best friend was a changeling for my whole life and I only find out about it after she reappears from nowhere.” “I expected an overreaction, I just wasn’t prepared for it,” Chrysalis admitted remorsefully. There was a pause before Chrysalis found the words to respond to the second question. “Five years ago was the ending of my rite, the time when a changeling experiences the world and sets up a unique identity. I had to return to the hive and start acting like the queen I was.” Mark lifted his head as he noticed the tinge of sadness in Chrysalis’ voice. “I’ve had ups and downs during my rule, but the fact that my own brother led a successful coup is perhaps my lowest point.” Mark nodded. “I guess that is lower than failing at an invasion of Canterlot.” Chrysalis gave Mark a surprised look since she had hoped that he wouldn’t figure out she was the queen at Canterlot. “Twilight told me.” At the mention of Twilight Sparkle, Chrysalis was reminded of the unicorn’s interference both here and at the wedding and snorted in annoyance. Not letting the lavender menace get her down, she puffed her out her chest with pride. “The truth of the matter is that my ‘invasion’, quote-unquote, was a complete success. Not to mention my greatest achievement and lesson.” “So being sent flying by a spell powered by love was all a part of the plan and taught you the value of physics?” Mark asked sarcastically. Chrysalis’ jagged horn glowed green with magic and Mark suddenly found his cheeks being pinched and pulled hard. “No. My hive was starving and needed an immediate solution to our insufficient love.” After giving his cheeks one more painful pull, the queen ended her magic and continued as if nothing happened. “Because of that, I decided that the best course of action was a city-scale gathering of love. The fact that Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding was just a week after the originally planned date was a coincidence that I gladly milked for all it was worth.” “That doesn’t explain you wanting to conquer Equestria,” Mark said, doing his best to ignore his sore cheeks. “I’ll get to that,” Chrysalis dismissed. “After locking Cadence in the Canterlot Caves with food and a bucket for...wastes, I anonymously tipped off Celestia and the guard to an unknown and imminent threat.” Mark’s eyebrows creased in thought until his eyes widened in revelation. “But since you were already inside, you did that to weaken Shining after he raised a shield!” Chrysalis’ lips slowly formed into a large, wicked smile that sent a shiver down Mark’s spine. “Yes. As he held up that ridiculously large shield over Canterlot, I discreetly drained him of love until I actually had to give him a little bit of magic each day just for him to maintain it.” “And then Twilight discovered you and you got kicked out.” Mark once again felt Chrysalis’ magic, though this time it pressed his lips together so that he was unable to speak. “Shush. After acquiring enough love for my hive with Shining Armor alone, I thought to myself, how much more love can I get from these ponies? If I could get that much love from just one pony, how much could I get from a whole nation? It was then I decided to change my plans of harvest to that of conquest and organized my army.” Chrysalis strode to the large purple membrane which served as the room’s window, her voice steady but still bursting with pride. “From there you probably know the rest. We triumphed over your defenses, and claimed Canterlot for our own, if only for a short while. I underestimated Cadenza and Twilight Sparkle’s resolve and the next thing I knew, my hive and I were sent flying from a love powered spell.” Chrysalis suddenly giggled, providing Mark with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. “What none of you ponies knew however was that during Canterlot’s ‘occupation’ we gathered massive amounts of love, and when that spell sent us away, we were able to drain the love used in it. Then, despite injuries from fighting the Element Bearers, guards, and some unfortunate landings from that spell, there were absolutely no deaths on either side.” Mark stared at her with an expression of fear and awe, not realizing immediately that Chrysalis had released her magic again. “You came up with that all by yourself?” Chrysalis’ face softened into a wistful smile from a memory of earlier in her life. One where a certain yellow unicorn colt had beaten her time and again at chess until she had almost decided to beat him with the board. That is, until the colt sat beside her and started talking her through the strategies he had used, most of them involving deception and misdirection. “I can’t take all the credit. I had some help thinking of the plan’s...direction. So to speak.” “You’re terrifying.” Chrysalis’ eyes hardened and Mark jumped as he realized his mistake. “Sorry, I meant that it was a brilliant plan and you executed it so well all for the sake of your subjects that it’s...well...You’re so awesome it’s terrifying,” Mark admitted with a light blush. “Under your circumstances, I don’t think I could have planned anything better.” It was Chrysalis’ turn to blush now, but she turned her head away so Mark wouldn’t see. “It was just a modified strategy from the smartest pony I know.” “Pony? A pony taught-” Mark stopped himself as he quickly realized whom Chrysalis was referring. “Oh.” ‘Congrats. That means it was mostly your fault that the invasion had gone so well initially.’ Mark ignored Brain and tried to get the conversation back on topic. “And this Morphos guy...He’s your brother?” Mark asked quietly. The queen stared out of the membrane-window, her revelry gone as the present events came forward. “Yes...Even when we were nymphs we didn’t get along. I don’t know how he did it, but somehow he’s gained enough power to match Celestia. No, actually even more than that. I should know since I defeated her once.” Mark’s eyes widened in alarm. “How can someone have that much power?” “I don’t know how he managed to get it, but his power isn’t limitless. He can be beaten.” Though she tried to sound factual, she couldn’t hide the uncertainty in her voice “You just said he’s more powerful than Celestia. How exactly are we supposed to beat that?” Chrysalis grit her teeth angrily. “He’s selfish and stupid. He probably only transferred a necessary amount of love to his troops so that they weren’t mindless, love-hungry animals. Mark raised an eyebrow at her sudden anger. “Like the ones in that cave?” “Yes.” Mark briefly closed his eyes in thought. “Okay, stop me if I’m wrong, but if you changelings can convert love into power and vise versa, and if you can transfer that energy, then can’t he make his troops overpowered to the point of ridiculousness?” Chrysalis shook her head. “No. Normal changelings can only contain so much love before they...Only royal changelings can hold so much love at once. He can make his troops powerful, but it would depend on their own skills once they're at the limit.” The tactician’s eyebrow raised again at Chrysalis’ behavior. “Why? Do they explode or something after that ‘limit’?” The queen’s cheeks reddened a little. “No.” “What happens then?” “They become useless. I’m leaving it at that,” Chrysalis responded, again avoiding a direct answer. Mark couldn’t help but roll his eyes at her hiding things, but did understand the fact she’d be reluctant to share her species’ weakness. It was time to get back to business anyways. “I see…So the queen here, Miasma, she’s going to assist you in taking back your hive?” “Yes. Her hive’s not as big or powerful as mine, but our hives have been allies for generations. I believe that Miasma and I can defeat Morphos with our combined power.” Mark scratched his head. He realized where she was going with this. “So you’ve got it all figured out, huh? You don’t need me anymore.” Chrysalis didn’t look at him. She just continued to stare out the membrane-window with her eyes never settling on one thing. Inhaling and exhaling a large breath, she finally answered. “No.” The yellow unicorn stood up and walked to the queen’s side. “In that case, before I go I just want you to know-” Mark’s ears twitched as he suddenly felt a minor vibration in the floor as well as he heard the sound of buzzing wings slowly began getting louder. Then without warning several armed changeling guards passed outside the window that Mark and Chrysalis were looking through. ‘What’s going on? Was I discovered?’ Mark quickly looked to Chrysalis in distress and noted that she looked just as surprised as he did. ‘Ummm, Mark, I think there was a discovery except that it wasn’t you.’ “Oh no!” Turning one-hundred and eighty degrees, Mark started for the door in a sprint but slid to a stop when a changeling slammed open the door. Unlike the other changelings in the hive however, this one had blue eyes and midsection. “My queen! The ponies are here and- YOU!” The changeling’s movements froze, though her eye’s were narrowed in an angry glare towards Mark. ‘I know that voice! It’s all changeling-fied, but that’s definitely Sugar’s voice.’ ‘And that’s definitely a hoof heading right for your-’ Razor’s hoof made contact with Mark’s cheek and sent him flying backwards into the purple membrane window which stretched then flung Mark into the same spot on the wall he hit earlier. Slowly, Mark slid down the wall until he reached the floor and flopped onto his back with a groan. “It’s a stretch, but I’ll accept the fact I may have deserved that too,” Mark mumbled painfully. His eyes widened a little as Razor stood over him with an arrow, held through one of the holes in her hoof and poised to stab him. ‘I’m going to die.’ The thought came to Mark calm and collected. ‘Why the hell am I not panicking?’ ‘As the deep-seated thoughts in your head, I can safely say that it’s because you’re a little crazy and because you know you’re not going to die here.’ Brain was proven right when Razor’s hoof was surrounded by a green glow that held it in place. “Enough Razor,” Chrysalis ordered. Razor scowled at Mark but followed orders and backed away after her hoof was released. “Now what is it you were saying?” Razor stood to attention. “The guards have discovered intruders, some of which are Element Bearers.” Chrysalis turned her head to Mark. “You brought others with you?” “Yeah and now I gotta get them outta here,” Mark said, as he rushed towards the door only to have it slammed shut in his face. He turned his head to see that Chrysalis’ horn was glowing green. “I can’t let you do that Mark.” “Ya better back off unless another one of ya wants ta get hurt,” Applejack warned the changelings that surrounded her and her friends. Heeding the warning, the changelings remained several yards away. Their unfortunate reminder of how strong the orange mare was being a guard who had gotten too close, now stuck in the nearby wall. “Th-This isn’t looking good! Do you think they got Mark?” Trixie asked in a nervous whisper. “Ah don’t know but we’ve got to get outta here and get the city guard!” Applejack replied. Rainbow angrily glanced at the orange mare before returning her attention to the crowd that surrounded them. “I’m not leaving Mark behind!” “Me neither,” Aurora nodded in agreement. Applejack grit her teeth, her eyes never leaving the changelings as she prepared to charge and clear a path for their escape. “We ain’t got a choice or else-” “Now isn’t this a surprise, ponies coming to the hive all on their own,” an echoey voice cut in. The crowd of changeling’s parted and a large female changeling walked to them, her expression matching her tone. Cruel and amused. “But before you receive your punishment, why don’t you explain how you got here and why?” A chill went down the ponies’ spines and Rainbow grit her teeth angrily. “What do you mean, punishment? We didn’t do anything wrong!” Miasma flipped part of her mane over her shoulder. “You’re intruders in my kingdom, once I know what you’ve learned I believe a couple of years of indentured servitude and memory-wipe will suffice.” Applejack stomped her hoof defiantly. “Just like all those ponies we saw slaving away in your hive.” “Slaving?” Miasma chuckled. “We simply borrow those ne'er-do-wells and “unwanted” ones to work. They are productive to society and have purpose. Once we’re done with them we send them back. In fact I hear that over seventy percent change their lives for the better after working for us.” “Yeah, somehow I just don’t believe something with ugly holes in their face,” Rainbow commented. Miasma’s pupils contracted and she hissed at the ponies. “Well it’s not like I care about your opinion, now are you going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?” “Or you can let us go and we swear we won’t tell anyone about your hive,” Trixie cut in desperately. For a moment, it looked as though Miasma considered the idea before her lips spread into a scowl. “NO! I’m not going to risk the safety of my hive on the word of some arrogant pony.” Slowly the surrounding soldiers began to close in and the ponies were almost out of time. “Anypony got any bright ideas?” Applejack asked. Rainbow glanced at the others. “What was the signal again?” Aurora shrugged. “What if we waved our hooves around and made bird noises?” Pinkie suggested, taking a deep breath as she prepared to demonstrate. However, she was stopped when Trixie’s hoof covered her mouth. “I have an idea,” Trixie whispered, knowing Pinkie would quickly spread the word. Miasma angrily cleared her throat. She hated to be suddenly ignored, and by ponies no less. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but enough is enough.” Miasma turned to the armored changeling to her right. “Captain Tinder, set them onto labor protocol alpha then- What are you doing?” Miasma shouted after Applejack bucked a changeling so hard that it cleared a path. Trixie held up three tennis ball sized spheres out of her cloak. “THIS!” Trixie shouted back before throwing the spheres down. There was a loud bang and smoke instantly covered the entire area. Miasma and her troops’ eyes watered and they coughed as the smoke choked and blinded them. Fortunately, the smokescreen didn’t last more than fifteen seconds before it cleared. Where once a group of ponies stood, now only an empty space remained. “Find them! No one leaves or enters my hive without my express permission!” Miasma snarled at her troops who immediately took to the air. The purple changeling queen flared her wings and took off to join the search. After the changelings had left the area in pursuit of the ponies, Rainbow dropped down from the darkness of the cavern ceiling. Since she was the fastest and could fly it was only natural that she’d be the one to go into the palace, retrieve Mark, and escape unscathed while the others distracted the majority of changelings. At least that’s what Pinkie had whispered to her about Trixie’s plan. With a determined look, Rainbow crashed through the main door of the changeling palace. “What do you mean I can’t?” Mark asked evenly. “I can’t let you rush out there and try to save them on your own,” Chrysalis responded immediately. “So you’re going to help me?” Chrysalis shook her head. “I’m going to have Razor here discretely escort you to another exit and from there you can make your way back into Manehatten. After the business with Morphos is taken care of, I’ll negotiate a way to release the ones that followed you here.” Mark didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. Immediately after hearing what Chrysalis said, Mark walked right up to the queen and for the first time in his life, slapped a girl. Razor looked ready to kill Mark, but Chrysalis held a hoof up telling her to stand down. “I’m doing this for your own good, Mark,” Chrysalis said, her voice calm and steady despite Mark’s affront. “I don’t care. I’m going to save them whether or not you decide to help me,” Mark said, the volume in his voice increasing. Chrysalis grit her teeth. “Will you just listen to me for once?!” “Not when it means abandoning my friends! I won’t abandon you so I certainly won’t abandon them!” Mark all but shouted. That took the queen by surprise. “What do you mean?” Chrysalis asked, her eyes narrowed. “I mean that once I get my friends out of here I’m coming back for you! To finish what I started and get your hive back!” Mark exclaimed, pointing at the changeling queen. He opened his mouth to say something else but stopped to calm down instead. Once Mark had collected himself, he looked Chrysalis in the eye. “I didn’t come here to start a fight about what I should or shouldn't do. I came because I wanted answers, and in the best case scenario, your forgiveness. I get it, you don’t need my help anymore but right now I know a group of ponies who do.” Mark walked back to the door and re-opened it with the intent to leave, but paused when Chrysalis asked one more thing. “Why would you come back for me?” The tactician was once again sporting his characteristic, arrogant grin.“ Because you’re my friend. And Chrysalis, whatever happens, if you ever want my help with…anything, all you have to do is ask. So no more lies, okay?” Chrysalis then watched as Mark lifted his cloak’s hood over his head and left at a sprint. “You’re highness, I can still stop him and do as you asked,” Razor offered after seeing the conflict on her queen’s face. “No...he’s made his decision,” Chrysalis responded softly. She turned back to the war table and picked up the pieces she’d knocked onto the floor earlier. “And now I have to make mine.” For the twenty fourth time the pieces were set onto the war table, but this time none of them moved. The black pieces didn’t assault the red; the blue never flanked yellow. They were as still as the one who had set them there. Razor had prepared for many things when she trained and eventually became a member of her queen’s personal guard. But here she was with Chrysalis blatantly troubled by her ‘meeting’ with Mark, and the sniper had no idea what to do to help. “My Queen, is there anything I can do, you’re-” “Razor, why are we here?” Chrysalis interrupted. For a moment Razor looked taken aback by the question but answered to the fullest of her abilities.“You believed that with Miasma’s assistance, our hive can be retaken.” “Edge advised against using her help, did I make the right choice coming here?” “My Queen, you've been in here planning for hours, you-” Chrysalis was no longer staring vacantly at the war table, her gaze shifted solely onto her guard and her voice taking on the authority of a queen. “Razor, you’re not answering my question.” Razor remained silent for a moment before bowing her head. “I wouldn’t know. I only know that you haven’t been acting like your usual self since we arrived. But whatever you decide, I will follow you to the end.” “Thank you,” Chrysalis said with a soft smile. She turned away from the sniper with a glint in her eye. She had reached a decision and was ready to suffer any and all consequences. “Razor, go to the armory and get the tranquilizer. Then, find Mark. I trust you know what to do from there?” Razor smiled as she stood to attention and saluted. “Who’s bright idea was it to go into a changeling hive again?” Rainbow yelled. Mark looked up at Rainbow who was currently carrying him after escaping the palace. In any other circumstance, he would’ve poked fun at her for having a hard time carrying him. Something that they could and would joke about for future reference. Trying to escape a hive of changelings wasn’t one of those moments unfortunately. “Stop talking and fly faster! I thought you were the fastest in Equestria for crying out loud.” “Bite me!” Rainbow rounded a corner and almost hit a banner that stretched from one side of the street to the other, like the one’s you’d see in a parade. Luckily she managed to pull up in time, though Mark gave a muffled cry of surprise and had started thrashing for some reason. Keeping her eyes ahead, Rainbow tightened her grip on the tactician until he stopped moving. “What the hay are you doing Mark? I’m trying to fly here!” “Bite me,” came Mark’s annoyed and rather muffled response. Actually looking at him now, Rainbow found the reason. The banner had somehow managed to wrap itself almost entirely around Mark’s head. “Dang it Mark! How does that even happen?” Rainbow shouted as Mark started wiggling until his forelegs were free and the pegasus was now gripping him around his waist. Though Mark wasn’t that heavy, his constant movement and the change of gripping position made Rainbow noticeably slower than before. It also didn’t help that Mark’s center of gravity caused him to slide until Rainbow was now holding the unicorn by his back legs. Mark wasn’t happy in the least, but it did free his front legs to unwrap his head from the banner. “Okay, new rule. Next time you want to pick me up, you warn me or buy me some beer or coffee first.” “I didn’t know you drank coffee,” Rainbow retorted, ignoring his complaint. “Seriously! How is that so hard to imagine? Behind them, Mark saw that a group of changeling soldiers were now in pursuit, probably from hearing the two bicker. Narrowing his eyes, he waited as the changelings began closing in on them. Mark grinned and released the banner, timing it just right to watch in amusement as the changelings flew straight into it, causing them to crash into a building. “What was that?” Rainbow asked, too busy flying to see what Mark had done. “Nothing, just crowd control. You see Applejack?” “Not yet.” “Well I don’t see anymore pursuers at the moment, so lets...uh oh.” Mark gulped. “Uh oh?” “Hey Rainbow, how good are you at dodging arrows?” Rainbow’s face fell flat. She was sick of this place. “Let me guess, there’s an archer down there.” “Four.” “Bows already drawn?” “Yep.” Rainbow took a sharp breath through her teeth as she heard the twang of the bowstrings in the distance. “...Bring it on.” Applejack, Trixie, Pinkie, and Aurora continued moving through the empty street, fast but also cautious. “Has anypony else noticed this seems too easy?” Trixie said quietly, scanning the surroundings for danger. They had already fought off an ambush after they separated from Mark and Rainbow, and she didn’t want to get caught off guard again. Applejack nodded, comparing the difference in her fight here and the changelings that attacked back in Ponyville. “Are ya talking about the fact that the changelings ran away after a couple whacks or that most of them are so terrified of you they won’t come near anymore?” “It was self-defense!” Trixie shouted defensively. “Ya darn near burned an entire block!” Applejack responded, pointing back the way they came to the blackened and scorched area. Trixie puffed her cheeks in a pout. “I didn’t kill anyone.” “That’s cause they up and skedaddled before ya could,” Applejack replied. “They were also screaming something, but ah wasn’t paying enough attention to hear it.” Aurora raised her hoof, “Oh they were saying stuff like-” She stopped after she and the group heard buzzing and the clamor of numerous hooves. The ponies prepared for a fight, expecting battle-hardened soldiers to round the corner. They were caught off guard when, instead, it was changelings in cheap spring outfits. Both parties stared at one another in shock. For a minute the two groups continued their staring contest until Trixie moved to the front and cleared her throat. The intention was to proudly announce that the “Great and Powerful Trixie” demanded them to step aside. The result was nothing short of chaos as the changelings started screaming, running, and flying around in a panic. “AAAAH! It’s the witch!” “Run for your life!” “The horror, the horror!” In the chaos, two changelings, one male the other female, fell in front of Trixie. The male was the first to recover and realize his situation. Immediately he pointed at the other changeling. “NOOO! Burn her! Burn her! I’m too young to die!” The female teared up. “I thought you loved me! W-WAAAAAH!” “Yeah, they were saying stuff like that,” Aurora said flying in front of Trixie and ignoring the changeling girl who ran down a nearby alley while sobbing. “Trixie, are you alright? You’re trembling.” Trixie gave no response as she stood there, mouth agape, trying to process what just happened. Pinkie appeared next to Aurora with what looked like several tubs of pinkish green jelly and some spoons. “I know what will make you feel all better,” Pinkie said, taking a large scoop of the jelly substance and shoving it into Trixie’s open mouth. The shock of the flavor snapped Trixie out of her stupor and she grabbed one of the tubs from Pinkie. “Th-That’s delicious! What is that?” “I have no idea!” Pinkie shouted cheerfully. “Can I have some?” Aurora asked politely after wiping the drool from her mouth. Trixie hovered over her tub protectively but Pinkie was more than happy to oblige with a large spoonful of the substance. Aurora savored the strange but extremely pleasant flavor and texture. “Mmmmm. It tastes just like the jelly I used when I made Mark a sandwich.” Applejack looked less inclined eat the jelly. “Uh, Pinkie...where’d you even get that stuff? I know ya didn’t have it earlier.” “The nice lady over there sells tubs of it.” Pinkie said, pointing ahead where a changeling probably the equal to Granny Apple’s age sat behind a stall. “Thanks again for the treat ma’am.” “Wha-? I don’t hear a beat,” The old changeling said looking around for whoever said that. “Aw well. I better make more love jelly in case that freakishly pink changeling wants more.” Apparently her eyesight was failing faster than her hearing. Reaching under the stall, the elder pulled out an empty tub. “Girls we need to keep moving and...uh...Pinkie...What’s she doing?” Applejack asked noticing the elder changeling put her front hooves into the tub. Pinkie didn’t give much of a reply except for a shrug as she happily continued snacking. The ponies watched in fascination as a dark green slime was excreted from the holes in the elder’s hooves. When the tub was nearly full, the old lady pulled her hooves out and began stirring the slime with a wooden spoon while her small horn glowed. A pink-ish aura left her horn and went into the slime, but as she continued the aura got larger and larger and the slime’s consistency and color began changing. Instead of the green, sticky, and generally unpleasant substance that was originally in the tub, it was now the same jelly Trixie, Pinkie, and Aurora were eating. Trixie let out a shriek in horror and threw the tub aside. “I think I’m gonna be sick.” The sound of hooves returned and Trixie mentally prepared to be called a witch again and then possibly barf. This time, however, she realized too late that the changelings were soldiers and had filed into the street in front and behind them. Once again the ponies found themselves surrounded and they prepared for a fight. The elder, jelly-selling changeling on the other hoof offered some fresh tubs to the nearby soldiers, but was ignored for the most part. Before anyone started fighting each other, a black blur suddenly crashed into the middle of the changelings in front of the ponies. The next thing they knew, the changelings were being sent flying through the air. Some of them hit the walls or smashed through the gel windows of the nearby buildings, though most of them ended up ended up crashing into their fellows. Quickly, the scarred changeling swung his axe in a circle, using the blunt side rather than the sharp end to knock the soldiers aside. Once the path was clear he shouted at the ponies. “What are you doing? Run to the exit!” “Look out!” Aurora shouted as one of the soldiers who had manage to dodge, lunged at the axe-wielder. The scarred changeling’s hoof went up and knocked the charging soldier flat on his back. Applejack’s expression reflected what she and the others were feeling. “Why are you-” “No talking. I am not your enemy. Keep going, I’ll take care of the soldiers that come this way,” the changeling said sternly before he flew over the ponies and landed between them and the remaining group of soldiers who were still recovering from the shock of seeing their allies get almost instantaneously beaten. Not needing anymore incentive, Applejack and the others made a break for it through the path created. “Who was that?” The orange pony asked while they ran, hoping one of the others could explain to her what just happened. “That was definitely Edge,” Aurora answered, flying directly over Applejack. “Who?” This time it was Trixie’s turn to answer. “We rescued him in a cave but he was a purple pony at the time. I guess he just returned the favor.” Applejack nodded and smiled after seeing their goal was about two hundred yards ahead of them. “Look, there’s the way we came in. And not a changeling in sight, thank Celestia.” Aurora’s ears twitched and her eyes widened. “Uh, Applejack…” Several arrows landed in an area ahead of the ponies causing them to come to a halt. The trap sprung, armored changelings flew out of alleyways ahead of them and formed wall of soldiers, blocking the ponies’ path. In a large purple flash the changeling queen from before appeared behind the soldiers with a mockingly victorious grin on her face. “I heard buzzing ahead,” Aurora said, better late than never. Applejack grit her teeth at the last obstacle between them and their freedom. “Ponyfeathers.” “Did you really think I wouldn’t have countermeasures at the ONLY obvious exit?” Miasma mocked. She then pointed to the ponies. “Captain Tinder, throw these ponies in the dungeon. Kill them if they resist.” The ponies gave each other uneasy looks. If they chose to fight, all of them might not make it out of there alive. On the other hand, if they surrendered, they didn’t know how long they’d be stuck in this hive. Or if Queen Miasma would keep her word. Applejack gripped the hand-axe Mark had given her almost a week ago and stepped forward. “Ah don’t know about ya’ll but I’m not going down without a fight!” Seeing Applejack’s courage inspired their own and Trixie, Aurora and Pinkie stepped up beside her. “Right!” They shouted in unison. Miasma scowled angrily but wasn’t surprised that it had come to this. “Archers, fire!” The ponies’ eyes widened and the moment they heard the twang of the arrows, Trixie raised a blue magical shield around them all. Time seemed to slow as both the ponies and the changelings watched the arrows approach. Both sides knew that once that shield was hit, all hell was going to break loose. Or at least that would be the case had two large blasts of green magic not completely vaporised the arrows mid-air. “What! What’s going on?” Miasma shouted. The surprise and confusion only increasing as, one by one, arrows zipped from an unknown location and struck down her archers. As the last of the archers fell, a distinctive and all too familiar chuckle echoed in the area. Everyone looked to the source to find Chrysalis walking towards them. Unlike the when they saw her earlier though, she was equipped with her rapier strapped to firmly her side. Walking beside her was a nervous Mimzy who held an iron lance and had several bags strapped to his back. Mimzy’s whole face took on a red tint as he saw everyone looking at him and his queen. “Um...hi girls.” “What do you think you’re doing?” Miasma seethed. Chrysalis gave the other changeling queen a small bow, though the way she did it implied the exact opposite of respect. “Thank you for your hospitality, however, I believe that we have overstayed our welcome.” “Have you gone mad? I offered you my hive’s troops and you would jeopardize that to what end? To save these ponies?” “Of course not. I’m just doing what I believe will be best to reclaim my hive,” Chrysalis replied diplomatically before laying down the hard truth. “I knew that your military relied more on quantity rather than quality, but lets face it, your troops are just pathetic.” “You arrogant bitch. You think that you’re a better ruler just because of your hive’s military?” Chrysalis snorted. “No. I’m a better ruler because I can make the harder and smarter decisions.” At this point Miasma didn’t even care anymore about maintaining any sense of regality. “ENOUGH! KILL THEM!” Captain Tinder as well as the rest of Miasma’s personal guard looked to their leader uneasily. “My Queen, are you sure that’s-” “I SAID ATTACK!” Reluctantly, Tinder hoof-signalled to the other soldiers and they began their assault. Instead of an all out charge, six of the changelings armed with swords and axes moved carefully along the ground while the remaining four lance wielders, including Tinder, took to the air. “I see you’ve gotten another magical tome,” Chrysalis said idly to Trixie. “Shouldn’t you be worried about the changelings attacking us?” “No. I don’t need to worry.” Chrysalis replied before turning her head towards an alleyway to her right with an expectant look. “Isn’t that right Mark?” Rainbow along with Mark emerged from the alley at full speed, but at the sight of Chrysalis, Rainbow flapped her wings in hopes to brake and change direction. It was only enough for the two to instead be on a crash course towards Mimzy. Surprisingly, Mimzy didn’t budge more than a couple inches after Mark and Rainbow made contact with him. The former acting as a cushion for the latter. Noticing that Mark was going to need a little time to recover, Chrysalis pushed the oncoming changelings back with a wall of magic to buy a little more time while not using much energy. Despite having the wind knocked out of him, Mark remained aware of his surroundings. The movement of soldiers in his peripherals, the looks on his friends faces, but most surprising of all, the presence of a certain Changeling Queen who he thought wouldn’t help. “You’re here,” Mark said weakly, his breathing a little wheezy from the impact though he still managed to put on a smile. Chrysalis returned the unicorn’s smile and turned her attention to Miasma’s soldiers. “Yes, I’m here. Now, do you think Captain Tinder and the rest will be a problem?” She asked Mark. “Of course not, but honestly, I’m just waiting for this day to end,” Mark muttered through a sigh before turning his attention to Applejack’s group. “Applejack, Rainbow, watch our backs and protect Pinkie and...uh...champ here.” “Mimzy,” Pinkie whispered loudly. “Yeah, him. Aurora, Trixie, you two get over here, the usual formation.” It was like clockwork. The experience from their battles since Hoofington shown through as Mark took steps back behind Chrysalis while Aurora and Trixie quickly took places to the side of him, resulting in an arrow head-like formation. Their formation set, Chrysalis took the initiative the moment the first enemy entered her ‘range’. Moving forward quickly, Chrysalis beamed the changeling’s head with the handle of her rapier, though it wasn’t enough to knock him out and she was forced to dodge the counterattack before striking again. By the time the soldier had hit the ground, Trixie and Aurora had already moved ahead so that they were beside Chrysalis to stop enemies from flanking her. The sudden aggression caused the other soldiers to pause in hesitation which Chrysalis took the opportunity to add an important detail for her allies “One thing I should’ve mentioned earlier, try not to kill any of them.” “Thanks for the sudden handicap, I really appreciate it. Especially knowing the fact they’d like to kill us!” Mark commented in annoyance while he stood behind the three. “I don’t see you fighting while we get stabbed at-” A lance grazed Trixie’s side. “-slashed,” Trixie backed away in time to avoid a sword. “-etcetera!” Trixie finished with an angry shout. Her eyes widened as another changeling came to attack her while she prepared to launch a fireball at it. The changeling swung his sword down, but missed Trixie when a rock hit his eye and caused him to turn to the side and accidentally knock the weapons of the changelings to his sides out of their grasp in a domino effect. Even quicker than they came, the weaponless soldiers fled, not risking picking up their weapons and giving the ponies and changeling queen another chance to attack. Grinning, Mark juggled another rock on his hoof. “That’s because I’m here providing both moral and ranged support for you to dodge them all.” ‘That was a lucky shot and you know it. Smug bastard.’ Having lost over half their fighting force already, Tinder quickly ordered the remaining soldiers to back off and protect the Queen while he tried to think of a plan. Knowing that the soldiers’ morale was so low at this point that they had basically won, Mark felt safe enough to walk to beside Chrysalis while she casually strolled towards Miasma.“So Chrysalis, why the sudden wish to preserve life?” “I’ll tell you later,” Chrysalis commented stopping a couple of yards from where Miasma stood, surrounded by her soldiers who were barely holding their weapons because they were trembling so badly. “So Miasma, why don’t you and your ‘soldiers’ move aside. I think that was a good enough sparring exercise for the day, don’t you agree?” Out of sheer desperation, one of the soldiers charged with their lance towards Chrysalis whose eyes never left Miasma as she easily moved to the side to dodge, and then held her blade at the soldier’s throat. He wet himself before fainting. “How...How are they so strong?!” One of the remaining soldiers said, his voice cracking halfway through. ‘More like how are these guys so weak?’ Chrysalis sighed out of pity and got a little distance from the soldier who just fainted. “Queen Miasma, order your troops to stand down.” Miasm glared at both Chrysalis and Mark with utter hatred. “You…Tinder, enough. As our forces stand, we can’t beat them,” Miasma admitted, and judging from her expression, it looked extremely painful to say. At their Queen’s command, the soldiers lowered their weapons, stood as far from the ponies as they could, and sighed in relief that it was all over. The ponies felt the same relief and followed in suit. “Oh, don’t give me that look, Miasma. I don’t see why you’re so angry, it’s not like you did anything wrong.” “I’ll get you back for this, Chrysalis! I’ll make you pay dearly!” “Good luck with that, especially the part where you convince your troops to fight against my hive once I get it back.” Miasma’s eyes narrowed and she briefly looked over the streets, which less than ten minutes ago counted as a battlefield, and noted her fallen soldiers.“It shouldn’t be too hard with the families of the dead.” “Funny story about that,” Chrysalis mused with her horn glowing. One of the downed changelings levitated in a green aura until there was a pop, and the arrow that was once thought to be sticking out of the changelings head was revealed to only be sticking onto it. The arrowhead had been replaced with a small suction cup with a tiny point in the center and it wasn’t hard to guess that the other arrows were the same. “Tranquilizer, courtesy of your armory.” Contrasting Miasma’s further anger and humiliation, there was a glimmer of relief in her eyes. An emotional relief that her subordinates expressed more obviously. Mark loudly cleared his throat before bringing his head close to Chrysalis’. “Umm...hey Chrissy, usually I’m all for mocking the bad guy, but why don’t we get out of here before you start another fight and make things worse. You’re kinda being an ass,” Mark whispered. Chrysalis couldn’t help but roll her eyes at where the comment came from. “Fine,” she said through a derisive snort before she walked past Mark, whispered one last thing to Miasma, and then continued until she arrived at the entrance to the tunnel that led back to Manehatten’s sewers. Mark looked back and gestured for his friends to follow Chrysalis post-haste but when he turned back around, Miasma was there glowering at him. Gulping, Mark did his best to put on a friendly face and not make the situation any worse. “Uh...Sorry about all this, but I think it’s best to leave now.” “Don’t think this is over, pony! I may not be able to get back at her,” Miasma pointed at Chrysalis, “but she won’t be able to protect you forever!” “I can still hear you, Mimi,” Chrysalis called back, using the nickname that she had given Miasma when they were nymphs and the one she still hated. Miasma hissed at Chrysalis as she and the remainder of her changeling soldiers flew away with their “wounded”. The ‘enemy’ gone, Mark realized that his muscles were tense so he took a moment to relax before walking towards Chrysalis.“Is she gonna be a problem?” Chrysalis frowned and shook her head. “Not for me, but you should be careful. While my hive has specialized in our military prowess, her’s flourished with it’s underground connections and financial manipulations.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” Mark asked, though already had an general idea of what that meant. “It means, she’s likely to get outside help such as mercenaries and assassins,” Chrysalis explained coyly. “Which means that you need someone like me to assist in keeping you safe.” Mark’s lips curled upwards into a wry grin. “Oh, so nothing new then?” The sound of buzzing drew the ponies attention, causing them to move close to Mark and take a defensive stance. On their left side, landed a sleek changeling with a bow and quiver strapped to her back, while on their right, landed the scarred, axe-wielding changeling from before. Chrysalis giggled and smiled. An unnerving thing for everyone but Mark since it looked like she was plotting something. Then again, she probably was. “I was hoping for more of a reaction out of you, Mark.” It took a moment for Mark to recognize the two new arrivals but when he did, he gestured to the others that it was alright. He then returned his attention to Chrysalis and shrugged. “At this point, I’m just kinda used to ponies, changelings, humans, etcetera trying to kill me.” “Humans?” Before Mark could respond, Applejack shoved a hoof in his mouth. “He’ll tell ya later,” she said, her tone making it clear that she was still suspicious of the changelings despite Chrysalis’ assistance. Mark shoved Applejack’s hoof away and spit out the dirt in his mouth. “What? I can’t regal the tales of my crazy awesome adventure into another world right now?” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t shut up about it for a week. I think AJ’s talking about how you should be thinking about dealing with Twilight since she-” Rainbow pointed at Chrysalis. “Is apparently coming with us. Not to mention how you kinda dragged us down here with you.” “You followed me!” Aurora popped her head into Mark’s sight as she hovered above. “Actually they followed me.” “Not right now, Aurora!” Mark exclaimed, ducking under the bat-pony. Applejack shook her head. “True, but ah don’t think Twi’s gonna see it that way.” Mark’s mouth opened but nothing came out. She was absolutely right. After Twilight heard about them getting attacked in a changeling hive in Manehatten’s sewers, she would focus less on Applejack and Rainbow, and focus almost solely on grilling him about going headfirst into a dangerous situation. That’s not even mentioning the fact that he’d take the blame for involving his friends. In general, the only thing Mark could do at this point was facehoof, he’d have some explaining to do. “Ah...Right…” “Don’t worry Mark, I’ll handle her,” Chrysalis whispered into Mark’s ear after gaining an uncomfortably close distance to him while he pondered Twilight’s reaction. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”