//------------------------------// // Peach Seed // Story: Scattered Seeds // by Istaran //------------------------------// Peach Seed, the earth mare whose coat resembled the fruit she was named after, and whose main was the same brown as the seeds in question, panted heavily as she snuggled against the masculine form of 'South Wind', the yellow furred pegasus guise of her king, as they enjoyed their afterglow. Having sex in the stables of her mother's barn always held a bit of extra excitement for her at the thought of being caught, ever since she actually had been caught getting frisky at what she now admitted was quite a bit too young of an age. But she was an adult in her own right now, and she knew her mother wouldn't actually scold her for it at this point. Nevertheless, something was off. [It's just not the same,] she thought-spoke to South Wind. [I don't mean to be ungrateful. I'm really happy that you spent the time to be with me like this, but it was a lot better when you were with me in person.] [Are you sure that isn't just because that was your first time in six months?] her king answered. [In any case, you know I can't. I can't even stay connected any longer. We're approaching Manehattan now, I'll have to disconnect and focus on my surroundings. Take care of yourselves! I'm counting on you.] She nodded understandingly. [Be safe! I know you're all tough but none of you are invincible. And don't forget what happened to Mirror in Canterlot. I know what you're doing is important, believe me! But I don't want to lose you, none of us do. And I don't want you to have to lose anyone with you.] South Wind gave her a nod, a smile, and a kiss goodbye before his consciousness left the changeling. With a wave of green magic the yellow pegasus form was replaced with a dull brown earth pony. [That was quite the experience,] the changeling, 'Little Buck' commented, [are you going to want to do that every time?] She shook her head, and then treated him to a nice kiss all his own. [No, the king is too busy for that, and besides you deserve some loving of your own. Later. I'm still a little sore, and drained, and we still have a hard day's work before we hit the road again.] [Looking forward to it, though truth by told my body is a bit drained from all that as well. Our king may have been in control, but it was my muscles doing all the work and my stallionhood getting all the attention,] he commented as he started cleaning up the mess from their coupling. [What about the love you draw when we do that? Don't try to deny it, I could feel you feeding off me. Or is it off both of us?] she asked, curiously as she pitched in. [It's just from you. I can feel his love for you when it's happening but it doesn't really flow through me in a way I can get at it. More just an awareness of his heart and mind through the connection. And as for feeding off you.. it's pretty much the same as being disguised as somepony. It's an indirect sort of love, much less personal and less efficient than when you and I are simply ourselves,] he explained. [Aww,] she said, giving him a light nuzzle. [Next time I'll have to see if I can give you a bit more.. personal appreciation while we're at it.] [Don't. You're fond of our king, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. Don't make it more complicated than it already is. I'm happy to be a go-between. It's.. weird. It's kind of very familiar; we're used to pretending to be somepony else like that, even in bed. Normally, there's kind of.. a part of my mind that is in charge of 'being' that pony, while the rest of me is still busy being me. But doing the avatar thing, the king basically just took the place of that part of my mind,] he said as they left the stables, heading out into the morning sunlight. [Well enough about that for now,] she thought. "Let's go take on the day!" she said aloud, as the rest of their group fell into line and headed out among the trees. In the past, approaching another group of seasonal workers on the road was often a joyous occasion. At worst it was a neutral matter. While they were in a sense competitors, their rivalry never approached what the farming families often felt. There was always plenty of work to go around, and the rates earned were based on what they managed to harvest, plant, or what have you. So when itinerant families would meet, they would either have a friendly exchange of greeting, an impromptu celebration, or at worst pass each other quietly on their way to their respective destinations. This time, however, there was a new tension to the encounter, increased by the need to bear false smiles while they quickly planned their move. Changelings could sense the presence of other changelings, a side effect of their general empathy. The same sense that let them 'taste' the love of ponies could also sense a very different 'flavor' from their fellow shapeshifters. And so the changelings in each of the groups approaching one another was aware of the presence of changelings in the other. Queen Chrysalis' drones, however, were probably unable to identify the traitors to their hive amongst Peach Seeds' group, and certainly didn't know they had alerted their pony compatriots. It was difficult for the changelings to positively identify which of the unfamiliar ponies were drones, however, like trying to tell who in a crowded elevator had passed gas. But as they approached to share hugs and other signs of friendliness, the three IK drones coordinated their senses, triangulated the slight shifts in the strength of the 'taste', and managed to isolate the three false ponies. Three dangerous cracks rang out in unison. Their pony companions screamed out in shock and terror as their 'friends and family' dropped to the ground unconscious, before promptly surrendering to the vicious, brutal, coldly evil highway brigands.. only to scream anew as the magic went out of the unconscious bug ponies, and their true forms reasserted themselves. "What the hay is going on?!" one of the ponies demanded, a clearly rattled earth pony mare. "It's okay now, calm down," Peach Seed requested as calmly as she could. "Your friends and family were replaced by changelings. That means that the real ponies are held captive, most likely in a hidden burrow nearby. Where are you headed? We'll send them along as soon as we rescue them." "Okay, but.. how'd you know they were changelings, and who the hay are you guys?" the mare questioned. "We're the Itinerant Knights. We've been deputized by the Itinerant King to help keep the roads and farms safe from threats like them," Peach Seed improvised quickly. "And we've had special training in how to do this kind of thing. I'm sorry for exposing you to such violence, but we had to get close enough to them without inspiring suspicion, both to be sure we got the right ponies, err.. non-ponies. And also to make sure they couldn't do too much harm, get away, or take one of you hostage. Now, you really should be going. We're going to interrogate these bugs and find out where your loved ones are so we can rescue them, okay?" The other ponies were still shaken, but nodded and after a short discussion ultimately settled on staying at Peach Seed's mother's farm for the next couple days before moving on. There wasn't much work to do there right now, but they weren't at full numbers and were in no state emotionally to do their regular jobs at the moment anyways. When the changelings entered the burrow, the guards greeted them on as friendly of terms as changelings commonly used, suggesting they drop the disguises and get 'comfortable'. When the disguises came off, the lack of holes and exposed ribs exposed the traitors immediately, costing the element of disguise. But three well fed changelings with enhanced strength, fast healing, and mental coordination were more than a match for the half-dozen half-starved guards. Within minutes, the last guard surrendered, happy to join the kingdom rather than join their comrades in death. With no ponies watching, the changelings didn't feel a need to be merciful. The captured changeling was named Doppel, leading to speculation as to whether he was the 'hero' that had killed Ryan in the time that was undone, but it was impossible to know. No one with the nanospiders had seen Doppel in person in that timeline, and it was a distressingly common name among changelings. He sat in a corner, waiting for the fever to overtake him after taking the blood oath while the Itinerant Knights restored their disguises and began opening the feeding pods. The missing workers were quickly found, along with a half dozen others, indicating more abductions, and pointing the way toward more enemy changelings. "How can I help?" one of the rescuees asked, a unicorn mare with a pair of crossed swords as a cutie mark. "Who are you, and what skills do you have to offer?" Peach Seed countered, looking her over. "The name is Swift Justice," she said. "I'm the sheriff of Hoofville, and if I can be of any help against these changelings, I want to help." "I'm Peach Seed, leader of this squad of Itinerant Knights. We'll talk on the way to Hoofville, but if the sheriff was here in the pod, that means there's a changeling pretending to be you right now. Falling Rocks, drop off our prisoner for 'interrogation', then catch up with us," Peach said to her stallion companion. The sheriff didn't need to know he was a new recruit. In the meantime, it was kind of fun pretending to be a battle hardened badass. No need to point out that the real 'muscle' of the group were all changelings themselves. They shook hooves before heading out into the open air. "Glad to have some help out here. It can be real hard to get any guards out here. You'll have to tell me more about your little group." "We're eager to help ourselves, Swift. I'm just glad we were able to find you."