//------------------------------// // The Other Side of the Coin // Story: A Plea for Help // by thecookiewookie //------------------------------// Things were getting worse every day. The whole hive was on edge. Phylum could feel it, even from this distance. It felt like the back of his skull was humming, there was so much nervousness flowing through the Fora. He didn’t focus on any of it, letting the thoughts and worries of his hive fade into background noise in his brain. There was no time to dwell on it now. Phylum’s concentration was focused on maintaining proper social skills and blending in with the crowd. Just a few more moments, and I’ll be out the gates and free to relax, and maybe look into today’s news a bit more thoroughly… As Phylum trotted out the Canterlot gates, he smiled at the guards and resettled his saddlebags, being careful around his wings. The disguise he was wearing was a cute but nondescript chestnut-colored pegasus mare. The feathers on his wings never stopped feeling strange to the changeling, but he hid his discomfort well. Phylum walked along until he came to a small, familiar dirt path turning off of the main road. He followed it until he was sure no passers-by could see him, then ducked into the underbrush. Once he was a short ways into the mountain forest, he finally allowed himself to relax against a fallen log, dispelling his disguise with a subdued surge of emerald flames. The changeling stretched, letting the tension out of his wings and flexing his leathery chitin. Disguises were comfortable enough, but it still got cramped after too long in somepony else’s shape. Feeling somewhat more comfortable and more at ease now that he was alone, Phylum lay down with his muzzle on his crossed front hooves, closed his eyes, and let his mind drift into the Fora. Immediately, the harvester was struck by the intensity of activity. It seemed that every changeling in the hive was nervous, and as a result the atmosphere of the link was tense. Skimming past personal discussions and meetings, he felt for the day’s news, hoping for an update on what was happening at home. When he found it, the news didn’t seem to be good. The queen was preparing a weakened and vulnerable hive to send all of its soldiers and defensive forces elsewhere with the purpose of capturing a city. On top of that already tall order, those same forces had already tried and failed to take Canterlot, and many were still recovering from injuries sustained from the blast which had repelled them. ‘She’s getting worse all the time,’ he thought. ‘Is Chrysalis so obsessed with taking one city that she’s forgotten how long it takes to heal cracked chitin?’ Shaking off the worrisome thought, Phylum scanned through the Fora again, searching for the thoughts of his friends amongst the Soldiers. The generals he had contacted had agreed to keep him appraised of goings on and their opinions on them. Shortly, he found an acquaintance whom he had quickly grown to like. General Hygiea was in charge of field medics and non-combatant specialists, and she seemed among the most sensible of changeling military leaders. She briefly exchanged thoughts with him, her mind not at all as regimented as one would expect from a soldier. The contact was brief, with little interaction, but a great deal of information was exchanged. Phylum retracted the link and began to interpret what Hygiea had told him. The queen was clearly obsessed and not thinking properly. She was not sleeping often, if at all, and was growing increasingly erratic. She was persistently trying to ready the hive for a battle which it did not need or want, and for which it was woefully unprepared. The generals, meant to counsel the monarch and help her to make good decisions, were being consistently ignored, and Chrysalis was being increasingly threatening toward them. None dared to openly question the queen, but Hygiea was certain that the queen was no longer rational. Phylum was even more worried now. The generals and their civilian counterparts had always been afforded a great deal of respect by changeling monarchs. It was considered a sign of madness or corruption for a king or queen to disregard their council. If Chrysalis had fallen so far as to threaten them, then the future was looking grim indeed. He looked through the rest of Hygiea’s message. The hive was growing more and more uneasy, and of the other four generals, three agreed with her, while the fourth, General Bellator, was still loyal to the queen. Even so, Hygiea said he had seemed uncertain in his support of Chrysalis. As for the civilian advisors, the five Envoys, three were deliberately neutral, not wanting to anger any of the other councilors. However, Envoy Tignarus had stated his opposition to any offensive action, on the simple basis that the hive’s defenses were in disrepair, and they could not spare the soldiers’ protection. Envoy Curantis, the last of the civilian advisors, had stated her disapproval of such a bold act, but she seemed mostly uncommitted. Here, the information provided by Hygiea ended. Phylum gave a halfhearted smile at her last observation. Envoy Curantis was an excellent diplomat, as a Harvester must be. Though she appeared only faintly aligned, Phylum knew better. When his worries had become too great to ignore, he had taken them to his highest superior, Curantis herself. It had been her idea to communicate with Hygiea, and through Phylum she could keep a better eye on both the hive and Equestria. He pulled himself from the Fora. He shook his head to clear it of foreign thoughts, then took stock of the situation. He thought back to the night before, feeling a pang of guilt. He preferred to avoid married ponies, but he had needed the mare’s connections. After he had heard her somewhat-inebriated complaints about her job in the guard, he knew he’d found his messenger, the one he could try to warn. The extra love had been important, too; he’d picked up enough spare energy from one evening of cuddling to feed a few families. Phylum ran a holed hoof along his webbed mane. Curantis would not be happy when she found out that he had compromised changeling security so badly, but he hadn’t had another option. Now, his only hope for vindication was that a mare he’d never met before would take pity on him after he’d assaulted her and impersonated her. He sighed and let his head knock against a tree. The future was not looking promising.