James looked nervously at the northern horizon as the sun slowly rose in the east. He had sent scouts to confirm whether or not the other hives were gathering an army. They had returned to reveal that this was in fact true. A large Changeling army was not only formed, but approaching, and contact was imminent; the time of their arrival was estimated to be three days. There were easily over twenty thousand of them.
He had already set his best engineers to digging a tunnel in order to break into the enemy hive. Unfortunately, no one was absolutely sure just how far down they'd have to dig to reach the street levels of the hive. There were estimates, and the allied Changelings had some decent ones forthcoming, but no one could give absolute knowledge on the subject. As such, while the tunnel was being dug, and was being dug with speed, there was no direct plan of just how to finish it.
No secret entrances had been discovered, in spite of tiresome efforts by the allied forces. Either they weren't there to find, or they were hidden too well to found accept by accident. Of course, it was also possible they were kept hidden with magic, a possibility that was uncomfortable with him, to say the least. Unicorns were, of course, looking into the subject and going along with the search parties, but they'd uncovered no magical camouflage whatsoever. It was almost as if the enemy didn't exist, for all the signs of them that were visible.
Its like trying to find ghosts that don't want to be found. He sighed irritably. Having no way into the enemy stronghold other than mining his way in was annoying. And there wasn't much he could do about it.
Artillery occasionally fired at the mesa, trying to provoke something, anything, from the enemy. No response had been forthcoming as of yet, though the artillery crews kept trying. At least they were doing it under orders, or rather, an acceptance of the practice, instead of doing it on their own whim. A battery tried, even now, to get shake some sort of response. Again, shells burst against and under the mesa. Again, there was no response of any sort; not a single drone or bolt of green energy to counteract the fire. Again, after a minute or two of firing to no effect whatsoever, the guns went silent. James sighed once more, even though he'd expected no different.
Friendly Changelings began to fly around the mesa once the guns ceased fire, trying to find some sort of opening. He, Shining, and the Queens had elected to try swarming the mesa in the hopes that thousands upon thousands of individuals could find some sort of opening or entrance there. But, after two hours, they returned. "Can't find any trace of them," one of the Changelings from Metamorphosis' hive said, taking a long drink from a tub of water before continuing. "They can't afford to not have something up there. But we couldn't find a thing out of place, other than craters."
James patted the bug's neck as he drank again, all the while thinking about the problem. He couldn't see any solution other than the few he and the others had already set into motion.
"Well, thank you for making the effort anyway. With any luck, something will turn up."
"Thanks, General." The Changeling went back to drinking.
James turned and went back to a tent that had been set up for him and the other commanders. It was enclosed, so he had some measure of privacy; there was even a small desk and a matching chair, which he sat in.
Maps wouldn't help here, nor any of the tools he was used to using. Neither Queen had anything like an adequate map, not that he'd expected one. Chrysalis would not have been - and surely wasn't - interested in giving away secrets. She was also determined to remain permanently hostile, and she had the power to inflict severe damage on the allied army if she elected to do it. And she would, given time.
Or perhaps she's waiting for the approaching Changeling army to meet up with her before pressing the issue. He didn't know what to do about that. If he took his army out of their positions around the enemy hive to form a line of battle, the enemies inside the hive would attack him from the rear. If he stayed put, his army risked being flanked and thrown back piecemeal.
He banged his fist on the table. There was little he could do other than pull all the troops back to the encampment he was residing in, the one most southward, so that if he was attacked, at least it would be from the front, and the army would stand some chance.
Rrrrrrr! The problems with this... operation are so blasted complex! If only we could just find one entrance, if only the hive wasn't underground, if only the enemy would give up and make it easier on themselves, and on us...
He made an effort to calm himself. It was not easy, given all the problems the siege was giving him. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, trying to make his mind blank. The effort wasn't entirely successful, but it had the effect of dropping some of the mental burden.
James stood up, sighed with regret, and walked back outside. The hot air met him, though softer than it usually did, as a breeze caressed his face.
"General? Excuse me, are you the General?"
"Hmm?" He turned a little to his left so see a group of six ponies, all wearing uniforms. "Yes, I'm a General, though not the only one present in the army."
"Yes, well, we were given a message by Princess Celestia to give to you; it's urgent," said the one who seemed to be the leader, a gray pegasus.
"Oh? So many of you?"
The leader nodded. "There are a lot of Changelings about."
"Not all of them hostile," James said, waving his right hand to encompass the army.
"Not all of them friendly, either," the pegasus replied, which was certainly true. "We needed to make sure it reached you, and there's safety in numbers."
"I suppose it can't fault that logic," he answered. "Alright, back into the tent with me."
He walked back into the tent he'd just been sitting in and turned around, sitting in the chair once more. "Now, first off," he said, blowing some dust off himself, "what can I do for you?"
The pegasus smiled. It took a couple seconds before James registered just what sort of smile it was. "Die."
All six ponies lined up... and green energy started building up around their foreheads.
Assassination! was the first thing that ran through his mind. It was so obvious. So this is how I'll die...
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he knocked over the desk, crouched, and drew his revolver. At the same moment, the disguised Changelings opened fire.
Their beams all flew over his head, ripping through the tent cloth and setting it on fire. One of them whipped mere inches above his head, close enough for him to feel a slight wind as the deadly projectile passed over him.
He didn't stop to question, he just fired. The gun roared; the gray pegasus fell, shot through the head. He reverted back to a normal, undisguised Changeling as he died.
James didn't sit still. He ducked to his right under the cover of the smoke the pistol had emitted. Just in time too; another volley passed right through where he'd been a second before.
The smoke obscured his vision, but he fired blindly into it, silently and wordlessly praying that no friendly soldiers were standing somewhere behind his target where they could be hit. A cry of pain, only a few feet in front of him burst out, so he figured that he had nothing to worry about on that score... yet.
Another, more ragged volley of green bolts struck the desk; he could hear the wood catching on fire. He raised the gun above the now smoldering desk and fired blindly. No scream of thud answered him this time. "Damn it!" Another bolt passed over his head. "Fuck!" he screamed this time as another impacted on a rock nearby.
He heard the enemy speaking in their own language, as well as their hooves getting closer. They were going to rush him.
This is how it ends... went through his mind. One of the assassins climbed over the desk, only to be blasted in the face. He clutched at his face as he reeled over backward and disappeared.
"I'm not that easy to kill." In the next moment, though, pain ran through shoulder, and he screamed as agony consumed him. One of the Changelings had gotten him at last. He aimed at the one who had shot him and fired, hitting the enemy in the neck.
A cyan-colored hoof knocked the gun away as a fifth attacker was upon him. Luckily, the blow didn't have much force, and didn't throw the pistol far. He rolled over - in spite of the building pain - and retrieved it, holding it by the barrel. It wasn't a smart decision, as his hand was immediately burned by the hot barrel, but he managed to club the blue enemy in the face before dropping the gun again. The Changeling he had hit reeled, holding his nose, which bled green, as James held his right hand in his left and twisted from the pain in his shoulder... and his right leg, which had been badly cut by the enemy warrior just before James had hit him.
The final foe powered up a bolt as he aimed from behind the desk. "We said, die!" he hissed in triumph.
Another gunshot rang out. The Changeling suddenly slumped onto the desk, abruptly lifeless. In reflex, the bolt fired, soaring over James' body and going through the wall of the tent. The Changeling with the broken nose, still disguised, turned in time to see someone shoot him in the leg. He howled as he too went down, and his disguise faded, leaving only a struggling black body in a misplaced blue uniform.
A pony entered the tent, fully armed and uniformed. Screaming in fury and pain and full of adrenaline, he picked up the gun by the barrel again and charged. He could see the fear on his target's face as he came closer.
Suddenly, he stopped moving; he was encased in a whitish-gray field, which he recognized as magic cast by a unicorn. At the same time, someone just ahead of him shouted, "Control yourself, General! We're friendly! We're on your side!"
It took him a moment for his rage to die down, and before he realized that the pony he'd been about to attack was in fact just a soldier who'd come to see what was going on. The adrenaline cut out, and as the unicorn behind his would-be target released the magic, he fell to the ground, dropping his gun and clutching his shoulder. "Damn... it," he mumbled, leaning on something. "The same... damn... one..."
"General, hold on; a medic will be here right away!"
James only groaned in response. "Sorry," he moaned at the soldier he'd almost attacked. The pony simply nodded in understanding.
"We need to get him out of here, the tent is burning!"
On hearing that, James made sure to find his gun and grasp it tightly. A couple of ponies picked him up and carried him outside. He took that long to realize that the tent was indeed burning furiously, and anything that remained inside would have been likely to have burned along with it.
"Another tent - ach! - lost," he murmured as they set him down. "Same... fucking... arm..." he groaned as he tried to get comfortable in what made for a bed in the field hospital.
"Don't worry, General. We'll get those wounds treated," a doctor said from his right.
"Ugh... ugh... How bad is it?" he asked.
"Well, you got a bad burn on your shoulder, which is shot through, I'm afraid. The cut on your leg didn't slice an artery, so you'll live through that, thought its certainly not pretty. The shoulder wound is what's bothering me most, but I believe you'll live through it."
"Great. Now what... aaaaaah.... do my shoulder's prospects look like, and when will I be back in the fight?"
"Well..." the doctor touched a hoof to his chin. "I think there's a good chance you'll recover fully. A week at the very least before the shoulder's working the way its supposed to, though you'll be able to walk well before then. In my professional opinion, your shoulder will need more than a week."
"Haven't got a week, doctor. Three days at tops, and we might be fighting for our lives." He groaned again as another burst of pain ripped through the shattered shoulder.
"Good thing you're right hoof- er, right clawed, or whatever you'd call it, otherwise you'd have trouble."
"At least you're not threatening to tie my arms and legs to the bed if I don't agree to stay."
"How says I won't do it? But if you're right, you'll need to fight just to stay alive. We all will. I shiver just to think of what will happen if we get captured."
"They won't get me, doc. I'll make them pay full price for taking me out."
"I believe you. I notice you kept a good grip on that gun of yours."
James lifted his right arm to his face. Sure enough, he was still holding his pistol - by the handle, this time, not by the barrel. "I'll need it," he said blankly.
He waited as the doctor gave him something for the pain, which succeeded in reducing, but not entirely eliminating, the ripples of fury shaking his shoulder. He waited, too, as the staff got to work. In the end, he got a bandage on the arm and a pillow under his head. Not a very good way to get a proper bed to sleep in, he thought.
The medicine he'd taken for the pain was still in effect when Shining Armor and the Queens walked in minutes later. "You too, huh?" Shining said.
"What do you mean, 'you too?'"
"They tried to get me," the white stallion explained. "Five of them, saying they had a message for my from the Princess, and then when they got me alone, they tried to blast me. Luckily I'm a master at casting shield spells, so I was able to block them. After that, some of our soldiers came and took them down. We captured two of them, and they've been sent back to Canterlot for imprisonment."
"They made an attempt to do us in, too," Metamorphosis added.
"Aye, they tried blazin' us when our backs were turned," Camilla said, sounding furious. "Buggers musta forgot, they was messin' with a pair o' Queens. Fools. Well, they ain't gettin' up again, and we're still here."
"Sounds like they were trying to wipe out the army's leadership all at once," James observed. "What I want to know is, how did they get past our security. It's not like we didn't think about enemy infiltration. We have a unicorn and a Changeling from each hive at all entrances. And we have patrols flying overhead all the time. How did they get through?"
"I don't know," Metamorphosis said, looking down. "We had everything set up like it was supposed to be, and they still got through."
"If one o' 'em guards was sleepin' on tha job, he'll be in my prison before nightfall, mark me," Camilla said angrily.
"I don't think that's the problem," Shining said. "I'll be going around and asking questions, but I doubt it was any lack of security, at least on that looking outside, that let them in."
"We'll need to be extra vigilant." James tried to sit up, failed, and laid back down. "Blast it, if only we'd found one of their tunnels, we wouldn't have to... dig one of our... own..." He stopped talking.
"What?"
"...I'm an idiot," James said simply.
"I don't see how," Metamorphosis replied. "I... oh." She lifted a hoof to her mouth.
"I think you see it now. They must have one of their secret entrances here, somewhere in the camp, right under our noses." James breathed heavily. "We kept looking outside the camp, while what we were looking for was here the whole time."
"Do... do you think so?" Shining said after several seconds of silence, caught off-guard.
"It makes sense," Metamorphosis said quietly, clearly thinking. "It would explain how they got in in spite of the guards. We'll have to increase camp security overall. And above all, we'll need to find this hidden entrance and use it against them if we can."
"That's just it, though," Shining protested. "We haven't found any entrances anywhere. How can we find one in our own camp, if we haven't found one outside it?"
"We'll have to keep trying," James insisted. "This time, we look inward, instead of outward."
"We might not have time to find it," Metamorphosis interrupted. "There is a big army coming down from the north, in case you haven't noticed."
"True." James sighed. "We have to find out how to deal with that. I'd would like to do it without withdrawing from our current positions, but I don't see how that's possible."
"Its not over until its over," the Queen said encouragingly. "If they defect to us-"
"That's a big if," Shining interrupted. "And what do we do if they don't?"
The Queen lowered her head. "I'm hoping that doesn't happen," she said. "We'll have to fight, in that case, and do our best in trying circumstances. But I've got a card to play," she went on, looking up. "I'll go up and try to reason with them before any battle takes place."
"Ye won' be alone," Camilla said encouragingly. "I'll go with ya."
"I can't ask you to do that."
"Ya don' have ta." Camilla rubbed her head against that of her friend.
"In the meantime, I'll order us to prepare, in case we do have to fight," Shining put in. "And I'll help and try to find out how they got in. If we can find an entrance..."
"We'll be able to get in," James finished. "I hope my shoulder is well enough by then."
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Soldiers were busy digging trenches and stockpiling what supplies and equipment they had. Artillery was kept in perfect working order and guns were looked after with special care. Allied Changelings made a number of defensive structures and helped to strengthen the positions all around the camp.
It was three days after James had been wounded, and, while he had been allowed out of bed, the doctors had made it absolutely clear that he was not to utilize his left arm whatsoever, and, though they hadn't told him, he knew they had a medic tailing him to make sure he listened to their instructions.
The Changeling army was approaching; scouts had confirmed it, and pickets had seen them approaching. He felt the fear of the impending battle. There had been no effort by the approaching army to contact the allied forces, and the Changelings the two Queens had sent hadn't returned.
They couldn't afford to lose. Equestria was still advancing against the griffons. They needed as many soldiers as possible there. At the very least, if they lost here, Equestria would have to bring more soldiers from that front to this one in order to shore things up, and that would give the enemy in the east time to recover. That was something Equestria could not afford.
The Changelings with them really couldn't afford to lose. They faced continued slavery - or worse, extermination - if they lost. There was a subtle but visible determination in their actions today that hadn't been there previously. They set themselves to their tasks, refusing to let anything slow them down. None of them backed away from any task, there was no complaining, and they hardly spoke at all, except when circumstances demanded it, and then only laconically, short, sharp, and to the point.
James looked at his shoulder. the doctors had said it was healing, though not as fast as he'd have liked. He let some air out of his nose in place of a sigh. His frustration, his worries... it was all building up inside, as it always did before a fight.
How many of these faces will never be seen again after today? he thought dejectedly. He rubbed his arm nervously.
"Sir? Sir, it's time to go."
James shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "I suppose so," he replied, still distracted.
"Sir, is something wrong?"
"It's... complicated. Let's go."
The Guard led him to Shining and the two Queens. "'Bout time ya showed up," Camilla said smartly.
Metamorphosis rolled her eyes. "It's only been five minutes."
"Time is everathin'," came the reply, and none of them could find anything to immediately counter that. "Gotta head 'em off 'fore they get 'ere."
"Let's be off, then," James suggested.
---------------------------------------------------
Camilla felt her thoughts collide with one another as they walked northward. Even as they did so, soldiers fell back past them, preparing to utilize the positions being prepared to the south.
Her memories went into overtime. Her first memories of her mother as a hatchling... Her first time ingesting the royal jelly that would mark her ascension to a princess of the hive... her first lessons in speaking the Equestrian language... The death of her gentle - though very firm - mother... years of oppression under the enemy... the revolt that freed her people...
She sighed quietly. Her memories may not have been the happiest ever, but they were what she had as she headed toward possible doom.
No. That's not all I have, she thought, shaking her head. She had her subjects, and her hive. A home to fight for. New memories to make. Better ones. A future at peace. Free.
She wondered what she could do to make that happen. She didn't let her feelings show on the outside; the others would think she was her old, defiant self if they looked at her right now. But she could feel the emotions of James and Shining Armor, and both were worried, with great anxiety also coming from both of them. The result was a spiraling feeling of despair; only a desperate Changeling would even think of feeding off such a mixture, as it would have the same effect on her hunger as drinking salt water would have on someone who was thirsty.
She tried to shake it off by thinking of the more happy memories. She well remembered the day she was introduced to the subjects she'd one day rule by her mother, who was still well at that point. She remembered meeting Metamorphosis, and how the two of them got along like peas in a pod, playing games and practicing what they knew on each other. She had to fight to keep a smile off her face at that. If she'd been a pony, a Changeling feeding off the emotions from that sort of memory would keep him or her feed for about a week.
Camilla saw James point somewhere ahead. There, in sight, was the potentially hostile army Chrysalis had brought together. On catching sight of it, her mind fell back into a most unpleasant memory; that of her hive's army being destroyed on the field of battle, down to the last soldier. The enemy army had stood victorious despite their own massive losses, and most terrible of all was the death of her mother on the field of battle. Chrysalis had walked right up to her, and forced her to surrender her hive's sovereignty. After that had been seven and a half years of terror, abuse, and repression.
The mix of emotions could confuse even a Changeling Queen. She didn't know how to deal with them, and wondered how Metamorphosis was handling the problem. Surely she was affected in the same way. She gave a mental shrug. It was irrelevant to what they had to do, or at least, she hoped it was, or would be.
She noticed as James' emotions cooled suddenly. She didn't turn, but the eye on the right side of her head - the side facing him - swiveled slightly in order to get a better look.
The foreign general was holding a small object in his had - a tiny, metallic cross. After a moment, he put his hand to his forehead, brought it down to his chest, and across his shoulders.
Camilla remembered that Metamorphosis had mentioned that James had talked to her about his beliefs. While Camilla herself was sometimes tempted away from believing in anything, a result of years of being under a heavy hoof, she was never able to remain in that state of mind for long. Something always seemed to get her out of it.
Before she had any chance to ask him about it, Shining spoke up. "We could all die in the next little while."
James blinked. "Well, Govan," he said, in an accent not unlike her own, "If we are to die, let us die like men."*
Camilla wasn't sure if he was making light fun of the way she pronounced his language. She looked toward Shining Armor, who saw and shook his head slightly. Somewhat perplexed, she kept walking with the others.
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Metamorphosis looked at the army that seemed to stretch across the plain. They definitely outnumbered the soldiers in the allied forces, that was for certain.
And five Queens led them; all of them had prepared for battle differently. A couple wore armor, with varying amounts of décor. One wore silver armor and helmet but no crown, one wore no armor but had jewels and gems threaded into her mane and tail, and the fifth wore nothing but her crown.
A mixed lot indeed, she thought to herself.
Even from here, she could also see a knot of councilors, conspicuous by the arrogant way they bore themselves and how they kept imperiously shouting instructions.
The group came to a halt about five hundred yards in front of the advancing Changeling army. The opposing army also halted. Even from here, she could hear the furious shouts of the councilors as they tried to force the various Queens to keep advancing. One of the Queens - who seemed to have taken charge of the others - snarled back, and suddenly several drones leaped on the counselors, wrestling them to the ground and holding them there.
Hoped sprang in her heart as the Queens bounded forward, galloping toward the small band of Equestrians and Changelings.
"Good thing we remembered to bring white flags," James murmured. A pony, off to the right, was carrying one, as was a Changeling, to the left.
"A very good thing," she replied. "I don't know what sort of reception we'd have gotten if we'd forgotten them. They probably wouldn't have known we'd have come to parley, and I don't think we'd have lasted long."
"Us and our bodyguards vs. tens of thousands of them?" James snorted in a sort of half amused, half frightened sort of way. "According to practical standards, we'd be dead in two minutes." He thought about it. "Maybe five."
Metamorphosis would have replied to that - not that there was much to argue about - but the other Queens were getting close, and so she kept silent.
The one in the lead - who wore armor largely bare of decoration except for red gems set in it here and there - motioned to the others to stop. Metamorphosis recognized her as Queen Cocoon, who was ruler of the northern most Changeling hive. After the others had stopped, she kept trotting forward for a few seconds before coming to a halt. "Camilla, Metamorphosis," she shouted, "Is that you?"
"Aye," Camilla shouted back. "What fore 'ave ya come?"
"For war, what else?" Cocoon yelled in return. "At least, that's what they told us," she went on, jerking her head back toward the councilors, who were still struggling to get free.
"And what do you tell us?" Metamorphosis said loudly.
"That maybe we have, and maybe we haven't," came the reply. "Each of us got your message, and what we don't quite agree upon is how to answer."
"I suppose that means your infiltrators got in with the knowledge of the revolt," James said quietly.
"Indeed. I hope they were successful," Metamorphosis said, also quietly. "What are you here for then?" she asked, raising her voice.
"We want to know whether its possible, after years of oppression under Chrysalis, to overthrow her, before we take any action for or against her."
"Well, that was brutally honest," Shining muttered.
"Wasn't sure whether to believe you myself," Cocoon went on. "Not until minutes ago, when I saw you in league with ponies."
"Why do you hesitate then?"
"Because we also want to know whether things will be any better if we do manage to beat the tyrant Queen. Will we have to live under occupation?"
"They can try," she shouted in the Changeling tongue. "Celestia said that wouldn't happen, and I believe her."
"You met Celestia?" Cocoon asked.
"Yes, and considering that I'm still here and haven't been turned to vapor, I'd say she's sincere."
Cocoon didn't reply immediately. Instead ,she went back to confer with the four other Queens with her.
"What do they need to talk about?" Shining asked, clearly frustrated. "They must know that between them and us we have Chrysalis outnumbered badly."
"Numbers don't always matter the way you think they do," James said, and the stallion winced. So did Metamorphosis, who like throwing up once more as the memory of what had happened only a few days ago came to mind. "The councilors will have made sure they knew about that incident," James went on, "and probably exaggerated it for effect."
"Prob'ly tol' 'em we'd died when they sent those assassins three days ago," Camilla added. "That should shake their trust of 'em."
"If they told them," Metamorphosis answered.
After a few minutes, the five Queens stopped talking, and Cocoon came back. "We'll listen to what you have to say," she said. "Come forward and we'll talk."
All four of the commanders of the allied army looked at one another. Then, with a unanimous though unspoken accord, they nodded and began walking forward.
------------------------------------------------
By the time they'd reached the five other Queens, Metamorphosis wasn't so sure it had been the best idea to approach them. None of them looked especially friendly. Three of them were obviously nervous, one she wasn't sure of - that particular Queen seemed to have negativity, though not hostility, coming off her - and Cocoon looked... was that worry, skepticism, or something else?
"We'll hear what you have to say," Cocoon said when they drew near.
"Yeah, and then wonder whether or not to die in a futile battle," another of the Queens said.
"Queen Nocturnal," Metamorphosis said, bowing to her.
"In the flesh. Say your say."
Cocoon turned to her, but Nocturnal just glanced back and said nothing.
Metamorphosis started at the beginning, just prior to the revolt that freed her hive, and her story went on until the point where the allies had cut off Chrysalis from her home. She'd tried her best to get a positive impression across without lying or exaggerating anything, but of course, she couldn't really skip over the bad occurrences either. To her relief, none of her audience seemed to out-and-out disbelieve her, thought Nocturnal remained aloof.
At the end of her story, Cocoon stepped forward. "I'm impressed," she admitted. "You've managed to free yourselves, with Equestrian help, of course, and have come quite a ways. Yet, and please forgive me, I think you forgot part of the tale."
"Which part?"
"The part where half your army was obliterated, by the Queen herself."
"Is that the lie she told you?" Metamorphosis shook her head. "They got a few hundred maybe; definitely not thousands. And that was merely done in to escape us, done more out of desperation than anything else. I suppose she didn't tell you how she did it?"
"No, all we were told was that she managed to get enough love in order to get the spell to work-"
"She took the energy from her own drones, leaving them starving and dying, while she escaped."
Even Nocturnal, negative though her outlook was, couldn't ignore that; she lifted her eyebrows. The other four Queens gasped in shock. "You can't be serious..." Cocoon tried to protest.
"I'll show you the camp they had. I'd show you the bodies, but they've since been buried, for moral as well as health concerns. And this isn't the first time she's lied through her councilors. I suppose they told you that they tried and failed to assassinate me and the other leaders of the coalition?"
"Something like that," Cocoon answered. "I guess the results speak for themselves." She was quiet for a moment.
"Do any of you remember how life was before she took over?" Metamorphosis asked. "How we went about our lives without someone from another hive giving us tyrannical orders that we could not realistically fulfill? What's stopping you from joining us now?" She took a deep breath. "Our biggest mistake was not helping on another when she came to power. She was able to conquer each of our hives one by one. If we'd stood together then, we would have been able to beat her, and perhaps we wouldn't be out here, fumbling about under another Queen, who has no right to give another of her equals orders. But we have a chance to finish her for good now. She lost many of her drones in the assault on Canterlot, and many, many more since the war began. We outnumber her just with the army our alliance has formed; if we all join forces, victory won't just be assured, but imminent. I ask you all, please, to consider whether you want a destructive war of Changeling against Changeling, tearing apart our hives' futures, or if you want to end this here and now."
For a few moments, there was no reply. They're not going to buy it, she thought, trying to cut out the panic she was feeling.
Then Cocoon did something unexpected. She smiled. It was so unexpected that Metamorphosis took a couple steps back in surprise. "I knew you had it in you," she said.
"Wait, what?"
"Do you think we hadn't discussed this before now with each other? We were already leaning towards helping you."
"But then why act like the issue was in the balance?"
"Because a couple of our number still weren't sure whether they were backing the right horse, so to speak. And, in general, I just like messing with people."
"Hmm, I must have forgotten that aspect of your personality since the conquest. I was so busy dealing with matters at home..."
"We all were. We didn't really have the time or the chance to see one another, except at her bequest, and then we weren't even allowed to speak to one another. Now, though, we have the chance to change things. I suppose it fits things. We are Changelings after all."
Metamorphosis snorted in faint amusement. "So, will you help us?"
"Go forward, probably get ourselves killed for no reason?" Nocturnal said negatively. Then a smile swept across her face as well. "Sure, why not?"
James and Shining both sighed with relief. Camilla chuckled a little. Metamorphosis remained calm, though inside she felt a rising tide.
Look out, Chrysalis. The world has aligned against you, and your reign is about to come crashing down around your very ears.