The War of 1002

by Fireheart 1945


Chapter 59; At all costs

"Allied units have surrounded the Queen and her army," an earth pony captain said. "There were more of them than we thought there would be; there are closer to a thousand or so, maybe twice that, even. They've made repeated attempts to break through, but we've managed to hold them, if barely."

Shining sighed with relief. He'd been worried that the Queen would manage to escape. The monster who had impersonated his wife and had tried to conquer Canterlot and all of Equestria was encircled and entrapped. She could be finished off now.

"That still leaves her hive to deal with, though," James pointed out. "They know we're here now, and they're not just going to sit around doing nothing."

"Indeed," Metamorphosis observed. "We need to keep up the siege here, and make sure she can't escape. We should be able to do that, assuming we remain alert."

"She'll probably try to make a run for it tonight," Shining said, "since we're all tired from marching and flying all day."

"True. I'd advise that whoever we're going to leave as sentries get some rest now, and we should rotate them every couple of hours or so."

"Not the worst suggestion ever," James noted. The night is when they'll make their move; after all, its easy for them to hide in the dark."

"Oughta jus' get 'em now, when both o' us r' tired," Camilla urged.

"We won't be able to fight at our best," her fellow Queen observed.

"Neither will they, when they've been fightin', runnin', and flyin' all day. We have a good deal more n' they ta spend."

"But the point is to spend as little as possible, especially now that this war is about to be wrapped up."

"Would ya rather us be known as cowards and fools, then?"

"All right, enough," James broke in. "Enough of that. The war's hard enough without us trading words. Our army needs rest after the furious pace we've set today. Yes, they'll be at their best tomorrow, but so will we, and since we have more troops and better, that means the balance swings much more in our favor."

Camilla huffed, crossed her forelegs in front of her chest, and said nothing further.

"I'm just hoping we can do this without bungling it," Shining said nervously. "Its just when you're about to win when things go wrong."

"If we can keep them inside the ring we set around them, we'll come out on top," Metamorphosis said. "Now, I suggest that we get a good night's sleep. There's a fight to be had tomorrow, and we have to win it."

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James watched the sun sink slowly over the horizon. Night was fast approaching, and darkness would soon fall over this area of the world.

Is the conflict here almost over? And what will that mean for the eastern front? Will our newfound allies fight for us there, or will they just be content to win here? Not that I can exactly blame them. The two Changeling hives the allies had liberated had clearly suffered under the enemy's rule. They weren't obligated, by any means, to assist the Equestrian army in the east. He wondered how many of them had even seen a griffon, or if any of them had.

"Take things one step at a time," he verbally reminded himself. "First, we crush the Queen, and then we worry about the next fight."

He wondered what would happen once victory came. Would he only be removing one dictator, and allow another to rise instead of the one he was fighting? He had no idea what the other Changeling Queens were like. In hindsight, he probably should have asked that question before now. Could the old, "proper" order be restored? Or would the Queens decide that unity was best when faced with a world that generally despised them, and elect one to represent them as a confederation? Those were questions he had no answer to, and he didn't think he had the power or influence to do much about it. Until Chrysalis was dethroned, those questions were moot anyway; to have answers, the victory had to come first.

What will be the legacy of our campaigns here? Will we just be toppling the old orders without creating a new one, and leave our former enemies to decide for themselves the course they should take? I want our victory in this war to mean something, so I don't have to come back and redo the job just because I screwed up the first time.

He sighed. The future would come. How he, and everyone else, met it would be the challenge.

Already, the air was getting colder. He shivered slightly, and began making his way back toward the camp.

Luckily, the Badlands didn't have many mosquitoes or any other similar pests, though scorpions were a constant threat. No one had died yet from being bitten, but there had been a couple of close calls. Which was why, when he saw one crawling around the path he was using, he crushed the little creeper under his shoe. It made a crunching sound as it died. He didn't know whether the thing would have killed anyone, but he didn't want to take the chance. If a colony of fire ants took up residence in your yard, you got rid of them before they could inflict damage on people and property. It didn't make him feel any better about doing it, of course.

He made it back to the dome-like structure a Changeling had built for him. it wasn't roomy, but it was big enough for him to lie down in. He drew a blanket around himself, making sure his weapons were within reach. It wouldn't do if there was a surprise attack and he was caught unarmed, after all. He yawned as he got himself comfortable, and was asleep not long afterward.

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He awoke the next morning. The sun was already up in the sky as he stretched, fastened on his weapons, and got out of the dwelling, rifle slung over his shoulder.

He met Shining Armor and the two Queens in large tent where meals were being served. He got a couple apples, two pieces of bread, and a bit of butter and went to sit down with them. "Morning, James," Shining said in greeting.

"Good day to end a war, or for ending part of it, anyway," James replied, sitting down.

"Let's hope that happens," Metamorphosis said in response. "I have trouble believing it will be over that quickly."

"An' how not?" her fellow ruler asked.

"Because, while Chrysalis is a tyrant, she's not stupid. She'll be thinking of some way to get out of this mess."

James shrugged. "If she had a secret entrance inside the ring we have around her, she would have used it by now."

"I know. Still, she's not just going to sit there and do nothing. I think we've all seen things go wrong just when they appear to be going right."

"Hmm, yes," James murmured, feeling a pinprick of worry. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to be careful."

Just then a pegasus flew into the tent, clearly looking for someone. Upon seeing James and Shining, he flew over to them and landed. "Generals, a lone Changeling is approaching our surrounding force from the enemy lines."

"Is he making a lone effort to attack?"

"No. He has some sort of banner. It looks white, but there parts of it so dark with dust its hard to see."

James looked back at the others, who were already looking at each other. "I didn't think the Queen would be one to surrender," James muttered.

"I'm not sure that's what it is," Metamorphosis said worriedly. "Could be anything. Could be a distraction, or a trap, even."

"If it is, maybe we ought to play along, just long enough to hopefully spring the trap without us getting it."

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An hour and a half later, James and his fellow commanders had reached the western side of the force that had surrounded Chrysalis and her command. Basic trenches had been dug, and artillery had been well placed and sited to prevent a successful attack. Hundreds of black bodies lay in front of those positions. The Changelings had tried to break through, tried and failed bloodily. From the number of slain, they'd tried repeatedly, only to find that attacking the Equestrians and their allies head-on was ineffective.

"That's their camp, of in the distance," the pegasus said, pointing with a hoof.

"I see." James could see black bodies moving around. There were far fewer than he expected. The enemy casualties he'd seen might have had something to do with that. "And where is the Changeling you said was coming?"

"He's over there," a silver-coated unicorn said, pointing a hoof at the Changeling, who, now that James was looking, was standing about fifty yards away.

"Thanks," James said quietly, and began walking over to the enemy warrior, who was standing there, holding a pole with a white banner, which was speckled with dust and dirt.

As they approached, the Changeling turned and looked at them. "Am I to assume you are the commanders for this excuse of an army, as well as the traitor Queens?" he said in pompous, arrogant and contemptuous tones.

Shining made a noise that sounded like a hiss. James let out an angry growl. "Yes, we are. And you'd do well to remember you're not among friends."

"That is irrelevant," the Changeling said. "Her Majesty, Queen of all Changelings and Ruler of the Badlands, will come in an hour to discuss terms for the termination of the war."

"So she's given up the ghost, has she?" James said. "Took her long enough. She's coming to surrender, then?"

"I would not even attempt to think of what our glorious and magnificent ruler has imagined," the enemy warrior said, in the same tones as before.

"Maybe that's why this war has gone so badly for you," James replied, and got an angry glare in return.

"Not a particularly polite thing to do, forcing a peace conference when she's the one responsible for the war," Shining grumbled. "Not to mention to bad attitude of the messenger she sent."

"What others think does not matter," the Changeling said, and now it was his turn to receive angry looks. "She will be here in about an hour. be rea-"

"Stop giving us orders," Metamorphosis interrupted. "We'll see her... but we're not obligated to obey your commands."

The Changeling glared at her to, then made his face blank. "I leave to report to the Queen," he said, in a more level voice than before but with some of the original arrogance still there. Without any further ado, the Changeling turned and began to leave.

"Oughta throw the bastard in jail," Camilla muttered angrily. "Got nerve, callin' us traitors, as though we owed her."

"Let him go," James answered. "As far as his hive is concerned, he's just another leg or arm, or part thereof. In the meantime, I'm going to inspect our lines here. Wouldn't do to just let her escape, not now."

"Gave up mornin' coffee fer this?" Camilla grumbled, muttering under her breath as she walked away.

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Shining looked with approval at the allied defenses in the area. Looking and pointing at the slain enemies, he turned to a sergeant next to him. "Did you have any trouble fighting them off?"

"They didn't really have a chance to break through, sir," the sergeant replied. "They tried like hell, though. They got some of us. Nothing like what they lost themselves, though, and they didn't capture anypony, thank goodness."

Shining let his hoof fall to the ground. "Did they particularly try to capture our troops?"

"Yes. They failed, but they tried, and very hard. My guess is, they wanted to suck the love out of 'em so they could power themselves up and hit us with enhanced power. 'Course, nopony really knows what those freaks are thinking at any one time."

Shining grunted at that. "We're still here, and now the tables have turned. They don't have much choice."

"They'll go out fighting if they get orders from that insane Queen of theirs," came the answer. "Anything she tells 'em is automatically right with 'em. She tells 'em to fight, they'll do it, and they won't ask or even think of questions. That's not true bravery, not true self sacrifice."

"Whether it is or isn't, we may be able to end the war today."

"Maybe." The sergeant didn't sound convinced. That wasn't particularly surprising. Sergeants often tended to be pessimistic, if not downright cynical.

A loud trumpeting sound came from the east. "They must be coming," Shining said, observing the enemy camp.

"Maybe," the sergeant said again. "Could be coming to attack us, though. We should make ourselves ready. Something in these bones o' mine tells me something's gonna go wrong."

"Hopefully you're wrong. I've got to go up and get ready to meet her."

"I'll keep watch over here," the sergeant said. "Good luck, general."

"The same to you."

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James watched as Queen Chrysalis, surrounded by a party of bodyguards and possible officials, walked into the camp. She looked just like she had when she'd attacked Canterlot, and she had an air of power about her. She bore an expression on her face, a sort of sneer, and arrogance and self-assuredness seemed to come off her in waves.

He sniffed. He'd come prepared; he was clutching a rifle. Currently, the barrel was angled toward the ground, but he could bring it up into firing position real quick. No matter how much power the Queen had, a bullet would always be faster than a sudden charge or an attempted spell. And he wasn't the only one with a weapon; most of the ponies nearby were prepared, as were the allied Changelings, who looked on, ready for action if something happened.

Several Changelings on his side shouted insults. Most were in their own language, but a few were in English. James heard one cry out a bloodthirsty threat that made him cringe. Metamorphosis shouted something at her followers, who abruptly stopped their catcalling. After a moment, Camilla followed suit, and her subject became quiet too.

Chrysalis hadn't responded to the jeers she had just endured, other than to sneer even harder. She came up to James, Shining, and the other two Queens. No one said a word as she came to a stop.

It was Chrysalis who spoke first. She turned to Metamorphosis and smiled wickedly. "So the one who craves softness has come to betray her rightful allegiance and set herself against me. How do you like knowing that you've set our race back centuries with your treacherous actions?"

"Tyrant," Metamorphosis spat. "You never deserved my allegiance. You don't even deserve that of your own subjects."

"Ah, the fool speaks. Too bad you're too stupid to know what's being done for your own good."

"Damn bitch," Camilla shouted.

"And the even more backwards Camilla. How lovely to see that you're just as blunt an idiot as ever. I'm surprised your lips haven't fallen, knowing how much you use your foul mouth. Why don't you do us all a favor and shut it for once?"

She turned slowly toward Shining. "My would-be husband," she remarked. "It was fun having you as my puppet, it really was. I wonder how well you're getting along with Cadence, considering how much time you ended up spending with me before you were officially married."

"Get to the point of this visit," James said, interrupting before anyone could leap forward and murder the Queen. "Your unconditional surrender. Now."

Chrysalis turned her contempt on him. "And the over-sized gorilla. And experiment of Celestia, possibly, or perhaps of her violet follower."

James moved the barrel of the rifle so that it was closer to the Queen. "You might want to remember where you are," he said in a menacing voice. "We're the ones winning the war. You'd do best to remember that."

"Point that thing somewhere else. You have no idea who you're dealing with."

James didn't move. It was hard to resist raising the barrel of the gun and pulling the trigger. "You're giving up," he said. "When you're our prisoner, you won't be mocking anyone."

"Fool. Why would you think I came to offer my surrender?" Chrysalis smiled nastily again. "it is your surrender I have come to demand, not to offer my own."

Shining stood there with his mouth wide open. "You've got to be kidding. You're outnumbered. You're losing. We have your hive surrounded, and your army, too. We can crush you in a matter of hours, if that."

Chrysalis laughed. It was a bitter, mocking laugh, designed deliberately to insult. "You are an idiot, just like I've always known. You do not understand the power of the Changeling Kingdom," she said. "Of the nation I built, that I now lead."

"A nation built on the backs of slaves," Metamorphosis hissed. "We've been treated like dogs - no, worse than dogs, like inanimate objects. We've had to suffer big losses in this war. We've been insulted and abused. And yet you expect us to remain loyal, in spite of everything?"

"That is the price of building and maintaining a powerful empire, wretch," Chrysalis retorted. "Our people are now on the brink of being the greatest on the face of the Earth."

"No; we're now engaged in a fight to rid ourselves of tyranny, a war of Changeling against Changeling."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Don't ya dare point a hoof at us," Camilla growled. "Ya love power, and ya love beatin' us, like we was slaves."

"If you act like disobedient children, that's how you get treated." Chrysalis shrugged. "You kept balking at what I told you to do."

"It would have cost our hives too much!"

"Price of success, you worthless traitor. No one gets anywhere without paying that price. Once the Equestrians mobilized against us, I needed every available Changeling warrior. If a few die here and there-"

"You didn't care about our lives, stop pretending to be so innocent!" Metamorphosis burst out.

"Don't you dare interrupt me! And you're right. As long as the Changeling Kingdom gets what it needs, I don't need to count the cost."

"You mean as long as you get what you want."

"If you're determined to see it that way, yes. As long as I get what I want."

"I don't think there's any reason for you to stay," James warned. "Unless you give up right now, we'll crush you and your hive."

Chrysalis laughed again. "And how would that fuel your altruistic ego? You people supposedly claim to be the good guys. Let me make this clear to you; as long as I am on the throne, my entire hive - of all ages - will fight, to the bitter end, if necessary. We will never give up. You can't beat us. And when we triumph, you'll only be remembered as the filth under our hooves."

James sniffed audibly. "We'll find a way to win. Now, I think you were just leaving. Your demands for our surrender are rejected without hesitation."

Someone - James never found out who - tripped Chrysalis with a rifle. She fell to the ground in a heap, letting out a scream of surprise. Allied soldiers laughed loudly as she got back up, steaming with anger.

"You'll pay for that," she hissed. "You'll all pay!"

"I doubt it. Now get out of here. Why don't you go and think the situation over before we pound you and your little army to pieces?" James suggested.

Chrysalis turned her back on him. She hissed something to her subordinates, who fell into formation behind her. They left without another word.

"Shoulda jus' grabbed her and made off," Camilla growled. "That'd shut 'er up, and we'd be rid a problem."

James shook his head. "They'd just fight to free her anyway. Her whole hive would attack us." We also have honor, he thought to himself, but he didn't say it out loud. Someone would have said something cynical if he had, and he detested cynicism, especially of the mocking sort.

Camilla sniffed and shook her head. "No one listens ta me."

"Don't worry, C. Soon, we'll win this war, and we'll be free again."

"I'm more worried about the power she mentioned," James said. "I'm assuming that means the combined forces of the other Changeling hives, which are probably coming to fight on her behalf."

"That's probably it," Metamorphosis agreed, nodding. "At least, I think so. But still," she went one, a bit of concern in her voice, "she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. The only other possibility would be a major magical attack, but the amount of energy needed at that scale... Our observers have seen hardly any canisters used to contain emotional energy in their camp, and without a huge stock of it, she can't make an attack of that magnitude. And she obviously doesn't have a secret entrance in the area to escape from us, or she would have used it by now."

"Which leaves it up to us to make a move. I see." James scratched his chin. "Wow, I need a shave," he muttered under his breath. "Alright. I'll go back to our main camp to plan an attack on their hive. Our forces will keep the Queen surrounded and attack from all sides, giving her no chance to breathe."

"Right," Shining replied. He looked away. James couldn't be sure just what he was thinking. Maybe Chrysalis' words had struck a nerve. James decided not to push the issue. Some things had to be resolved alone.

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Shining studied the plateau - or perhaps it was a mesa or butte, the three were very similar - ahead, under which the enemy hive resided. It wasn't all that tall, but big enough to look imposing. He couldn't see any holes or slots for defensive weaponry, but that didn't mean anything, except possibly that the enemy had camouflaged any above-ground defenses they had set up.

He let down the spyglass he'd been using and sighed. The problem at the moment was that, as of yet, allied troops hadn't found any hidden entrances to use. Obviously, the enemy knew too much about camouflage. They would, he thought bitterly. After all, they can make themselves look just like us.

Not far away, a battery of guns began to fire at the plateau. Perhaps the gunners were bored, or else they were trying to provoke some sort of response, because he had given no orders for them to take any such action.

Whatever their intention, they got no response. He'd hoped they wouldn't; he didn't want the army fighting a battle, unless it was on terms friendly to the allies. After a few minutes of ineffectual fire, the battery fell silent. The plateau was completely undamaged, except for some new shell holes that hadn't been there previously. Shining made a mental note to chastise the gunners later; the army had ammunition, yes, but not enough to just throw away ordinance whenever soldiers felt like it.

Out of nowhere, he felt his head hurt, around the area of his horn. Instinctively, he lifted a hoof to the affected area, unleashing a quiet moan as he did so. "Gotta get some pills for this later," he muttered.

Something didn't feel quite right. Usually, he could feel a headache coming on. And something was off about the feeling. It felt... he didn't know exactly how to say it, but it felt like it was magic-oriented, or perhaps brought on by magic instead of some internal problem.

Somewhat perplexed and a little disturbed, he let his hoof drop to the ground, where it threw up a bit of dust as it made a clopping sound. He turned and looked at the artillery battery. One of the unicorns was rubbing his head, just as he had been doing.

Just a coincidence... Or maybe my subconscious is remembering back to when... He shook his head as he began to walk back to the camp. He didn't want to think about the time, just prior to the wedding, when he had been under her control. Just seeing her again had been enough to get him into a rage.

He grew more concerned, however, when he saw other unicorns acting in a similar way. Even non-unicorns seemed to act stiffly, and were looking around, as though expecting a nasty surprise to come about any moment.

The Changelings in the army were acting even worse. Their wings constantly buzzed, even though most of them remained on the ground. They were especially jumpy, jerking in surprise at every unexpected noise and movement. One or two were on the ground, groaning and clutching their heads. It was disconcerting to say the least. he still didn't particularly like them, but they had proven that they were on his side, and frankly, he didn't enjoy seeing others in pain, even former enemies.

He saw James sitting on a rock up ahead, cleaning his pistol. He lifted it up to his eyes, examined it for a moment, then shook his head and wiped it again. Shining smiled slightly. At least James didn't seem affected by whatever was going around.

He walked up to him. "Hey," he said in greeting."

James looked up. "Oh, hi," he said, sounding a little distracted. "What's up?"

"Not much, unless you count a sudden outbreak of headaches going around."

"That hasn't happened to me, not yet." James paused. "Something still don't feel right, though."

"You too?"

"Yeah. I think everyone can feel that something's... off. I think every unicorn has what you have, and other ponies can feel something too. Changelings.... they've gone nuts."

"Ugh, I'd hoped it was just me." Shining tried to think through the pangs of pain in his forehead. "Maybe the Queens know something about this. They'd better, or we won't be any closer to an answer. Only thing that comes to mind, and strongly, is magic. Bad magic. Very bad magic."

"I've got the feeling something terrible's about to happen," James said quietly.

"I hope you're wrong."

"So do I," Metamorphosis said, landing right next to them. "My head's burning, and the place where my wings connect to my body is just on fire."

"Do you know what's up, then?" Shining asked.

"No," she said, and the stallion's head fell. "All I can think of is magic, for something like this to happen."

"Do you think Chrysalis is trying to bewitch us?" James asked.

Metamorphosis shook her head. "No," she said again. "For one thing, she'd never settle for just giving us all headaches and a bad feeling. She'd try to burn us all alive, or something equally painful." She cricked her neck several times before continuing. "I can say that it isn't anyone in the camp with us, so it must be something the enemy are doing."

"If so, we'd better get them before they get us," James said, standing up. "Let's hit them, before they finish whatever they're doing."

Something green flashed off in the southeast. "What was that?" the human asked, looking.

Whatever it was, it was green. From some distance away, a green beam flew toward the hive; it struck the lower area of the plateau, causing an explosion at the base of the natural structure. Even from here, Shining could feel a wave of intense heat from the beam.

Abruptly, the pain in his head vanished. That brought him out of his awestruck state. "What in the world was that!?!"

"What did they do?" the Queen added. Suddenly, she jumped back in horror. "How did they do it?"

"That came from their camp," James observed. "That means that our force we sent, the one that was trying to block them..." his voice broke. "They're gone."

"I don't all of them will be," Metamorphosis said, shaking herself out of the silent shock. "The ones trying to stop them from reaching the hive will be, unless I'm mistaken."

'We have to get over there," James said, scrambling for his weapons. "Bring some soldiers."

"I'll send my entire army," the Queen said. "We'll come at them fast and hard. But I think that whatever that was supposed to do, it succeeded. They'll be escaping even now. We need to move, now."

"I'll rally out best units to attack," Shining said. "Let's go!"

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James stared in shock at the devastation at what used to be the western side of the blocking force. The area was blackened around the area the beam had travelled. Cannons lay on the ground, barrels melted and wood burned away. Carters in the ground showed where ammunition had been stored prior to... whatever it was that had happened. As for losses... little remained but blackened husks. Certain pieces of ground had been turned to glass. Burned out wood and melted pieces of metal were all that remained of the rifles the troops had been using. The northern, southern, and eastern sides of the blocking force had escape unscathed, so the disaster wasn't complete. But it was bad enough as it was.

He shook his head. "I never thought she had the power inside herself to do this," he muttered.

"She didn't," Metamorphosis said, walking up behind him. "And I think I may have an answer. We need to go and examine what remains of their camp. I hope my suspicions are wrong," she added, shaking her head fiercely, as if to get rid of a swarm of bees. "My subjects should have overwhelmed all resistance by now."

"How would they be able to do that, when they could have fried the entire attacking force like they did here?" James demanded.

"I don't think she had the resources to do that twice," Metamorphosis said. "Come on, let's get out of here."

James looked at her. "You don't think that what we'll find over there," he said, pointing to the enemy camp, "will be any better than what we found here, though."

"I... I don't," the Queen admitted.

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James made sure his rifle was at the ready. Without a trigger guard, the weapon wasn't as easy to hold as a human-built rifle would have been, but even so, he pointed it at the first black body he saw.

Metamorphosis put her hoof on top of the rifle and forced it down. "It's one of ours," she said quickly. "I can tell."

James lowered the rifle. "Hey, you," he called to the Changeling ahead. "Yeah, you," he added as the Changeling pointed to itself in question. "Over here."

The large, pony-like insect flew over to them and landed in front of them. "Ah, my Queen," he said in English, bowing to her.

"Never mind about royal ritual," Metamorphosis said. "Just tell us what we need to know."

"I will."

"How heavy was the resistance you faced?" James asked.

The Changeling snorted. "There was hardly any resistance at all. A couple beams - just the usual horn blasts - and a few that tried to gore us, but not much else."

"The rest of them are gone, then," James sighed.

"Uh, well," the Changeling said, scuffing the ground with his hooves, "I wouldn't say that."

"Hold on, I thought you just said there was almost no resistance."

"Oh it's true. But... Well, I think you'll have to see for yourself."

James and the others followed him to somewhere approximately in the middle of the camp. There, James stopped in shock. Hundreds - probably a thousand, or more - black bodies lay on the ground. A few were still groaning and moaning feebly. The rest were clearly dead, and looked the worse for wear. He made the sign of the Cross, looking on the sight with horror.

Metamorphosis sighed. "Just as I'd feared."

"Did you do this?" James asked the Changeling.

The Changeling threw up his hooves. "No! I swear, we found them like this when we got here. In fact, there probably weren't more than a dozen still able to fight, and they weren't able to do anything but put up a token resistance before we subdued them. Most of our captives died shortly after, and the ones we took are dying."

James looked around. Some of the enemy were still moving a little. Now that he looked, though, they looked almost as if they had starved to death; in numerous cases, he saw the stomach area was scrunched up, as though more muscle or bone had been there was wasn't any more.

"If we didn't do this, who did?" he demanded. He turned to face the Queen - the friendly Queen. "What were those suspicions of yours?"

"I... I never thought even she would do this," she said, not immediately answering him. She turned her head away. "Changelings feed off of emotional energy. A normal drone can only feed off of ponies - off of any sentient creature, actually, but we can only reliably impersonate ponies. However, a Queen has the option to take energy from her own subjects, if need be. It's what she did here; she drained them almost entirely of emotional energy and used it to fuel the spell she used against us."

"By killing her own people?" James said in a weak voice.

Metamorphosis nodded, still looking away. "It's the only reasonable explanation."

"They can't have had that much energy left, and if she had been able to get that energy by love, why didn't she use it to fry Canterlot back when the initial invasion of the city failed?"

"She had been feeding off of Shining Armor alone. Each of these Changelings probably only had a small amount to give her, but they numbered about a thousand. Whatever you can say about Shining, he's only one pony. This was a horde she sacrificed."

James looked around, breathing heavily. Dead and dying Changelings - he could barely think of them as enemies anymore - littered the ground wherever he looked. "Can she do it again?" he asked finally.

"She probably won't have any of the energy left over from the attack," the Queen answered. "Her reserves are probably empty."

"That's not what I meant," James said slowly. "What I was asking was, can she do it again if she gets back to her hive?"

Metamorphosis looked him straight in the face. "She can, and probably will."

"How are we supposed to fight that?" Shining asked, looking back at the devastated section of friendly lines.

James felt something fall inside him as he thought of something. "Can she hit more distant targets?"

"What do you mean?" the Queen asked.

"Can she, for instance, hit Canterlot from here with that... that... magic?"

Shining jolted.

The Queen thought for a couple seconds, then, thankfully shook her head. "No. I don't think she can hit something that far away, not directly. That spell requires a straight line between the... Queen and her target. Of course," she added, "no one has delved deep into that particular line of magic, and-" Metamorphosis stopped, choked, then violently retched on the ground. She coughed, then retched again. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "it's just..." She narrowly managed to keep from vomiting again. "I never thought anyone could be that vile. No one knows what that... what that line of... magic can do."

"She knew what to do with it here," James observed. "What's to keep her from blasting cities off the face of the earth?"

The Queen thought again, carefully drawing her eyes away from the dead. After a minute or two, she said, "I can't say for certain. But if she was able to do so, she wouldn't be able to do so accurately. To perform any form of magic properly, you need to personally see what you're doing, and if you're using any sort of offensive magic, you need to see what you're aiming at. If she tried it, she'd most likely miss hitting anything, on account of there's a lot more land covered empty forests, plains, and desert than with settlements. Not that I'd want to take the chance in any case."

"Or she could try over and over again, and eventually get it... wrong," he amended. "Does she need to kill to do this?"

"No, she can take raw emotional energy and do it," the Queen answered. "These drones were all she had to draw upon, and since she couldn't bust her way out of the trap conventionally..." She turned away and was abruptly sick again. "She could just take the energy stored in canisters. She wouldn't have to... do this, not unless she ran out."

James breathed deeply, and let it out again. "This makes things more complicated, but we still have a job to do," he said. "I'll send the fastest pegasi we have to deliver the message to the Princesses. If we can have enough unicorns in every town on standby, we might be able to avert damage. In the meantime, we need to speed up our progress here."

Metamorphosis looked at him as if he'd started sprouting gibberish. However, after a few seconds, the look faded and she nodded. "Indeed. We need to do something, anything, to beat her right now."

"Any ideas on how to do that?" Shining asked, speaking up suddenly.

"We can dig," the Queen suggested. "If all else fails, we can dig our way in. It also wouldn't hurt to try to move ourselves and our camp as far underground as possible, to keep from being wiped out if she really does do this again. We also keep looking for any hidden entrances and secret passages inside that we can. Oh, and one more thing."

"What?"

"When we do get inside, we go straight for her palace and take her out, one way or another, before the battle gets too far out of hoof. Otherwise, she might escape, and this will have all come to nothing."

"What do we do if the other hives have armies on the way?" James asked.

The Queen sighed and shrugged. "Do the best we can, and hope as many of us as possible live."

He heard someone else retched behind him. He turned to see Camilla recovering from throwing up. "Ugh, what on earth...?"

James and Metamorphosis looked at one another. "Chrysalis sucked all the energy out of them, to power the spell she used to break through our lines to freedom."

Camilla was sick again upon hearing that. "She realla did tha?" she asked, clearly hoping they would tell her it was some sort of fabrication. When they didn't, she spat on the ground, though not toward the rows of dead bodies. "Neva dreamed... this could happen."

"Well, it has," her compatriot said. "And now we have to deal with it."

Camilla looked again at the slain enemy bodies scattered everywhere. "Neva thought I could feel so sorry for 'em," she muttered. "I'm assumin' our job ain't changed whatever?"

"No," James answered. "We have to win here. No other outcome can be allowed to happen," He reached into his pocket and felt the tiny cross he'd stowed there. "God willing, let it be so," he said, too quietly for anyone else to hear.

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