//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: To Serve the Hive 
// by Minds Eye 
//------------------------------//

	Cool stone dug into his forelegs, hooked on to the stalactite by their holes, but he ignored the discomfort.  He kept his wings closed, staying silent, as he kept watch over the cavern entrances.  Three tunnels emptied into the chamber, and he had positioned himself over the only exit.
 
A pair of younglings rolled along the floor under him, tangled in a mess of limbs and laughter until a sister dashed over and nipped their ears.  Their caretaker ushered them back to their group.  A brother scooped another one of them up and dragged him into the air.  The youngling squeaked and furiously flapped his wings.
 
Five more brothers caught his attention, entering from one of the tunnels.  They talked among themselves, their voices too low and he too far away to hear, as they ducked under the younglings in flight.  The one in the center scanned the room, but he kept looking down to his chest, shrugging his shoulders to readjust the pendant around his neck.
 
 He pulled himself around the stalactite, taking one last look at the silvery shine around the brother’s neck.
 
A little sister furiously beat her wings up to the ceiling before she caught sight of him.  Her eyes narrowed in study.  She flitted closer to the stone and mimicked his pose and, thankfully, his silence.
 
He snapped his jaws.
 
She hung her head and drifted back down.
 
Sounds echoed all around him, and he strained his ears, listening for any voice raised in a sharp warning.  The only change he perceived was a cacophony of footsteps creeping closer and closer to him.  He smiled and flipped around, staring down at the cavern floor.
 
“—had something important to do.”
 
He calmed his breathing.  In.  Out.
 
Three brothers walked under him, and one turned to the others behind.  “If she ordered it, it’s important.”
 
The one with the decoration passed by.  “’Keep it safe,’ she said.  That was it.  No target or goal or—”
 
“Then that’s our goal.”  The fifth brother passed under him.
 
He let go.  The brother’s mouth kept moving, but he ignored the sound.  His forelegs wrapped around his target, tackling him to the ground, and he pressed his fangs on the back of his brother’s neck.

“Dead,” he hissed.
 
“It’s HIM!”
 
He looked up to the brother that screamed, grinning at his wide-eyed terror, and loosed a flash of light into his face.
 
The brother fell to the ground, clutching at his eyes.  Two more charged him, one on the ground and the other taking flight.
 
He fired another bolt at the runner’s feet, and the brother danced, stumbled, and fell.
 
The flyer charged on and lowered his shoulder.
 
He ducked, letting the reckless blitz pass over him, and jumped up, knocking his brother off balance and down to the floor.  He grabbed a hind leg and pivoted, wrapping it around one of his own until he heard a yelp.  “Broken!”
 
The runner bared his fangs in a snarl and darted forward.

He wrestled him to the ground, wrapping his forelegs into a chokehold.  A heartbeat later, his brother’s hoof pounded in submission.
 
“Keep him busy!  I’m almost clear!”  The fourth scrubbed at his eyes with a leg.
 
He smirked and strode forward.
 
“Guys?  Did you hear me?”  The brother opened his eyes.  “Oh... I... I give!  I give!  I give up!”
 
“Unconscious, then.”  He tapped his brother’s head.
 
One of the others poked his leg.  “Behind you, Brother.”
 
He turned to see Chrysalis walking towards him.  He smiled and bowed.
 
“Well done,” she said.  “Four against one, and the one overwhelmed them easily.”
 
“The power of surprise, Your Majesty.”  He tried and failed to keep the smile off his face.  “I kept them off balance, and they were no match for me alone.”
 
“Indeed.  Your tactics were flawless.”
 
“Yes.  Just as you trained me, Your Majesty.”  He lifted his face, and his smile faded.
 
She gazed down at him with a cool disinterest.  “Just as I trained you?  Then your mission is complete.”  Her eyes hardened.  “Give me my necklace.”
 
The brothers inched away from him.
 
He spun around, but the fifth was nowhere in sight.  Nor was his target.
 
Chrysalis stepped next to him.  “And so you let your mission slip away.  All for the chance to flex your muscles in battle.”
 
“Your Majesty, I—”
 
“Bloodlust will be the end of you!”  She grasped his throat in her magic and squeezed.  “If you’re going to gamble with your life so freely, I should take it now.”
 
He shook his head, gasping for air.
 
Her grip tightened.  “Then I should risk you exposing yourself unnecessarily?  Why?  And for what?  Your pride?”
 
He had been a fool.  He didn’t answer, or move, but stared back at her.
 
“The world will not give you a second chance.  I, however, am giving you half an hour.”
 
The magic yanked him towards the tunnel.  He stumbled, regained his balance, and sprinted on.
 



 
Dawnbreaker wove his way towards Ninth Street at a trot, trying to bleed off his nerves and excitement while focusing on the mental map he had created from Canterlot’s rooftops.  The trip was taking longer than he recalled from the day before, which did nothing to make his task easier.  The urge to charge—to gallop, fly, just get inside his target—was always there.
 
So was the danger, however.
 
He was heading into the jaws of his enemies, and his only shield was Cherry Blossom.  Her presence would help him expand his map of the city, but didn’t change the consequences of his true nature being discovered.  His memory of Canterlot’s alleys and escape routes meant nothing inside the castle walls.
 
He ran his tongue across his now-replaced fangs.  This wasn’t the day to use them.  Not yet.  Not without an escape plan.
 
Bloodlust would not be the end of him.
 
Cherry Blossom waited for him on the same corner, just as she said.  Her eyes darted from pony to pony, and when they landed on him, she bit her lip and looked away.
 
Odd.  “Morning.”
 
“Hi,” she said, giving him a small, tight smile.
 
“Hi,” he repeated slowly, cocking his head.  “Are we still on for today?”
 
“Yeah.”  She took a breath and started down the street.  “I have another delivery to make, if you don’t mind helping me with it.”
 
“That...”  That’s it?  That’s her plan?  He trotted after her.  “Is that really the best you can—I mean, really the best way?  The guards stopped me cold last time.”
 
“It’s the same gate guards today as last time and... well, you’ll see.”  She led him into an alley, where two boxes were waiting for them.  “Could you get the one on the left?”
 
He shrugged.  “As you wish.”  The box was no different from the other he had carried, and he grabbed it to tilt it the same way.  “Did they at least tell you what—whoa!”  It slipped out of his hooves and crashed to the ground.
 
Cherry yelped behind him.
 
“Sorry,” he said.  “Just, ah, a lot heavier than I thought.”
 
“It’s too much, isn’t it?”
 
“No, I’ve got it.”  He lifted the box again, grunting from the exertion, and slipped his shoulders under it.  His muscles burned as he stood straight.  She’s back at four if this doesn’t work.  “Your turn.  Let me give you a hoof.”
 
“Done.”
 
“Done?”  He spun around, nearly tipping the balance of his heavy load, and saw her stand up with ease.  “How did...?  Did they at least tell you what’s in them this time?”
 
“We’re just taking some supplies to the garden.”  She looked him over.  “Are you sure you’re okay?”
 
His shoulders screamed in protest as he shrugged the box back into place, but Dawnbreaker smiled.  “I’ll live.”  He trudged after her onto the road, puzzling over the ease of her steps and trying to gauge the weight on his back.  He had assumed the two crates from the other day weighed the same, and she had carried them both for—
 
“Move it, pal!”
 
He staggered away from the charging cab driver.
 
Cherry’s head snapped over her shoulder.  “Are you sure—”
 
“Yes, I’m sure,” he huffed.  Even her voice is steady.  He shook his head and pushed away his thoughts.  This wouldn’t be the first time he had underestimated her.
 
The road passed by in silence between them, even after Cherry slowed her pace down to match him.  From the corner of his eye, he spotted her stealing glances at him, worrying at her lip, but she kept her peace.  He welcomed that at first, but as they approached the castle gates, he couldn’t ignore what she had failed to say.
 
“So what’s phase two?”
 
“Just act natural,” she said.  Cherry sped up and stopped in front of the guards.  “Good morning, Silverbolt!”  She flashed a smile and looked back to him.  “Do you think you could let my friend through this time?  The least I can do is give him a drink of water for helping me like this.”
 
The left guard shook his head.  “Cherry, why are you even asking again?”  He nodded to the other guard.  “You’re up, Duster.”
 
He growled at the ground, but Dawnbreaker masked his frustration.  “I don’t envy you, pal.  This one’s even heavier.”
 
The right guard, Duster, bumped the box with his shoulder.  He swallowed, shaking his head.  “You know, Captain Armor chewed me out a bit when he saw me away from my post last time.  I think we should follow our orders.”

Silverbolt scowled at his fellow guard.
 
“It’s too much for me to take on my own,” Cherry pleaded.  “We’re just going to the shack.  He’ll take a break and fly right back out.  I promise.”
 
Silverbolt looked between the two of them, at a loss for words.  He opened and closed his mouth several times until he let out a sigh.  “By the Sisters, girl, you’ll be the end of me.”  He waved them through.

He followed Cherry past the gate, craning his neck back to stare up at the gilded, white stone of the towers dominating the sky.  A courtyard stretched out before him, with a burbling fountain in the center surrounded by a stone path that led to the base of a gleaming white staircase.  The same path, made of the same white stone as the towers, ran under his hooves and veered off to both his right and left.
 
“I said you could trust me,” Cherry whispered.  She bumped him and headed to the left.
 
“So I can,” he whispered back, looking up at the unicorns patrolling along the ramparts overhead.  A few glanced back down, but quickly resumed their watch.  They walked between walls, the guards on their left and glimpses of posh interiors through windows on their right.  “So this is it, huh?  This is all yours?”
 
“I thought so before I started, but no.  If you look behind you...”  Her eyes landed on his crate.  “On second thought, don’t turn around.  One of the towers of the castle is the school Princess Celestia runs for unicorns.  The school does its own thing for the most part, but they pitch in by keeping the grass down.  If it’s taller than a few inches, it’s my job.”
 
“School, huh?”  He had overheard the name a time or two, but never associated it with the castle.  Possible entrances—and witnesses—floated through his mind.  “Do they help out inside, too?”
 
“Sometimes.  Rarely.  Punishments, you know?”  She shrugged.  “The school isn’t even connected to the castle.  It looks like it, with the tower being so close and all, but they really have their own buildings.  Speaking of which...”
 
Cherry led him to a dilapidated shack nestled at the corner of the castle.  “Welcome to home away from home.  Such as it is.  Watch your step.”
 
He stepped over a loosely coiled hose and quickly scanned the crowded room of tools and supplies.  His flank bumped into a wheelbarrow as he spun, searching for an empty space.  “Where do you want this thing?”
 
“Right there is good.”  Cherry lifted a shoulder, and her box fell off, bouncing and rolling along the floor, light as a feather.  She looked at him with flushed cheeks.  “I-I’ll give you some help with that.”
 
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.  Sly.  I underestimated her again.  He dumped his box.
 
Chunks of cement and paving stones spilled out as the box burst open.
 
“I’m sorry!” she blurted out.  “Yours was the one they would—“
 
He backed into a wall, doubled over in laughter.  The hanging tools rattled, and a rake fell off.  He crouched down and bit his ankle until he regained control of himself.  “Good—ha!—good trick.”  A deep breath calmed him down, and he stood back up.  “I should have thought of that one.  I’ll have to remember it.”
 
Cherry laughed and pushed the debris into a pile.  “And here I thought you’d be furious at me.”
 
“My back is.”  He kicked one of the chunks of stone closer to her.  “I brought it here, but I’m not carrying it out.”
 
“You won’t have to.  I could use that stuff here, actually.”  She grinned.  “So, since you have the gate guard’s permission to be here, how about a tour?”
 
He grinned back.  Sly indeed.  “And you’re sure your friend won’t mind?”
 
“Who, Silverbolt?  He’s a big softie when you get to know him.”
 
“And how well do you know him?”  He stepped out and cast a glance towards the gate.  “That was the second time I’ve seen him melt under your smile.  You really have him wrapped around your hoof, don’t you?”
 
“I do not!  He’s a friend.  He helped me when...”  She sighed, then smiled.  “Why do you ask?  Jealous?”
 
He narrowed his eyes, studying her face.  Why did she stop?
 
Her smile faltered.
 
“So how about that tour?”  He headed around the corner.  “These are two nice looking trees you have here.”
 
“Trees?”  Cherry stifled a laugh.  “Trees, Mr. Dawnbreaker?  These aren’t any old trees here, no sir!  Not only are these some beautiful examples of birch, you are looking at Mr. Greenhooves’ favorite napping trees!  Why, you could never find the kind soul anywhere else after he spent hours on end introducing his trainee to all the plants she’d care for!”
 
“Fascinating.  And what is this?”  He tapped the path where it branched another way.  “It seems we have a choice to make.”
 
“Indeed.  Straight ahead is the Arboreal Garden.”  She pointed to another cluster of birch trees.  “That’s where we keep Princess Celestia’s personal menagerie, to go with some other trees deeper in.  We have some willows, oaks, even pecan.  I’d never seen a pecan tree until I worked here!”
 
“Huh.  Seems odd to recreate a forest in the middle of a city.”
 
“Maybe, but just wait until autumn rolls around, when the fresh nuts fall and the leaves change.  I can’t wait!”

Something in her voice caught his attention.  Her mouth moved, but all he heard was—once again—the sharpness of an exclamation.  She stood with her head raised and back straight as she went on about the changes autumn brought.  Her eyes shone as she smiled at him.

He could almost see the glint of red and gold in them.

“Well?”

He snapped out of it.  “Well what?”

She gave a faint roll of her eyes.  “Which way do you want to go?  We can cut through the trees, or this other path will take us by the castle.”

“I’d... like to see the castle if you don’t mind.”  He cast a glance to the trees again.  “I thought you wanted to take me through the gardens, though?”

“I am.  We’re just not going through the Arboreal Garden.”  She nodded her head to the side.  “Come on.  The Party Grounds are this way.”

“The whats?”

“The Party Grounds,” she said, starting down the path.  “It’s where we hold the big events.  The reception for the wedding, the Grand Galloping Gala, all the castle garden parties, that sort of thing.”

He shook his head.  “We just saw a forest back there.  How many gardens do you have?”

“Four.  The Arboreal, Party Grounds, our Sculpture Garden, and the hedge maze.”

He opened his mouth.

“Don’t get me started on the hedge maze.”

“Not all good, huh?”

“It can be a lot for one pony.  I’ve got the four gardens, plus a few trees on the school grounds and all the potted plants to keep track of inside.”  She tossed her head back, sending a wave through her mane.  “Mr. Greenhooves said he was glad my hair was already white.  This way I won’t have to worry about watching it turn gray.”

The path led them to an open field next to a wing of the castle.  Metal archways decorated with vines of flowers divided the grounds into segments.  Trees from the arboreal section provided a backdrop, to go with the shrubberies that made up each section.

Cherry waved a hoof over the landscape.  “And here we are, Dawn!  Welcome to the world famous site of all the parties your lady would kill to be invited for!”

He choked off a laugh, then rubbed his sore throat.  “What about that big room there?  I thought it would be guarded.”

“That would be the ballroom, and no, not until dusk.  Even then, I think there’s just a patrol that swings by every now and then.  The guards are more concerned with the doors leading inside the castle, you know?  This one’s only connected by a promenade.”

“Makes sense, I guess.”  He grunted.  “So every door is covered at night?”

“And day.  The only real difference is that there are a lot more patrols at night.  Enough about that, though.  You have to see this!”  Cherry galloped over to one of the arches covered in roses.

He looked past it and saw another section of the garden.  “It’s... very pretty.”  He turned around.  “Just as pretty as this section, actually.  It looks the same.”

“The roses, Dawn.  Look at the roses!”

“Uh, they’re very nice.”  He craned his neck to examine the entire arch of them.  “What exactly am I looking for?”

“The colors!  Look.”  Cherry reached out and brushed one of the flower’s deep red petals.  “See this one’s vine?  Look where it goes.”  Her hoof pushed most of the slim vines away.

He followed the lone path left to its next flower.  “Hey, it matches you.”  He leaned in and sniffed at the pink rose.  “Smells nice, but what’s so special about it?”

She giggled.  “And look at the next one.”

“It’s purple.  So?”

“So how is it purple?  One is red, the next pink, and the other purple.  Every single vine is like that!  Not one rose repeats the color of the one before it!”

He raised an eyebrow.  “How?”

“I have no idea!”  Cherry grinned and stroked the roses.  “I’ve seen two colors on bushes before.  You have to cut and graft two different plants, but these are three or four colors on vines!  Vines!  I’ve never worked up the nerve to ask Princess Celestia how it happened.”  She nuzzled one of the flowers.  “And you guys aren’t telling me, are you?  Maybe you just don’t know me well enough yet.”

“Or maybe they grafted the vines.”

“Earth pony, remember?  I can feel the difference in a grafted bush.”

He smirked.  “I wonder if each flower on a vine tastes the same?”

Cherry swiped a hoof at him, laughing.  “Don’t you dare!  Go ahead and scoff at real magic when you see it!  This wasn’t even my work anyway.”  She grinned and led him back to the path.  “My pride and joy is inside the castle.  Maybe that’s more up your alley.  I’d like for you to see it somehow.”

Inside the castle, hm?  “So would I.”

They continued on to two stones leaning against each other in balance.  They were worn and smooth, taller than he, and sat in a broken ring of marble.  Cracks ran along the base, leading to a gaping maw of empty space.
 
“What kind of statue is this?”
 
“It’s a fountain.  See the spout?”  Cherry pointed to something sticking up a few inches between the stones.  “I think Princess Luna likes it.  I’ve seen her sitting here a few times when I’ve had to stay late.  Back when it was running.”
 
He poked a broken edge of the basin.  “What happened to it?”
 
Her expression fell.  “The invasion.”
 
His hoof froze.  “They attacked here, too?”
 
“The changelings?  Yes.  Of course they did.”  Cherry traced a hoof around the gap.  “It wasn’t just the fountain, either.  They hit the city, the grounds, the castle, everything.  We’ve cleaned up what we could here, but the princesses decided that the city should get all the repairs first.  The pegasi have been flown ragged trying to cover all the holes that haven’t been patched up yet.”
 
“That explains all the night flights I’ve seen.”  His thoughts drifted back to his brothers, to his own memories of the invasion.  He saw them ignite the sky with green flames to start the changelings’ first war, only to see them defeated in less than an hour.  All that he knew to be true about that day were the scars he had seen in the city.  “Did you see them?  The changelings?”
 
She didn’t answer him.
 
“I mean, I’ve heard the stories around town.”  The Princess and her Captain triumphed over the horde of evil.  “Are they right?  Did you see what happened?”
 
Cherry sat down and looked at the ground.  “I wasn’t... I didn’t see what was going on.”
 
“Why not?  Were you here?”
 
“I was.  We were all making sure everything was ready for the reception, but...”
 
He glanced at the ruined fountain.  “Did they attack you?”
 
“N-no, I never saw one.”
 
“So... wait, what?”  He sat next to her.  “You were here, they were here, but you didn’t even see them?  What happened?”
 
Cherry bit her lip.
 
 “They fell from the sky, and you don’t exactly blend in, you know?  How did they miss—” He caught his words as her shoulders sagged.  “I-I’m sorry.  I just... rumors.  All I know are rumors.”  He kicked at the ground.  “I was hoping I could learn more while I was in Canterlot, and you were right here.  I thought for sure you would know.”
 
She turned her face away, letting her mane fall between them.
 
Fool!
 
“I just mean that it was a big day.  Nothing has been the same since then.”  He looked back to the wall in the distance, towards the city beyond it, and the wilderness beyond even that.  “It never will be again, either, will it?”  He lowered his eyes to her.  “I’m glad...”  They left you alone.  They didn’t find you.  Something!  “I’m glad you weren’t hurt,” he finished lamely.
 
She mumbled something.
 
“What was that?”
 
“I said I hid.”  She met his eyes.  “When the attack came, I hid.  And I cried.”
 
They sat, unmoving, in silence.
 
“I heard the shield break.  I looked up, and I saw these... things.  I couldn’t tell what they were, and then they started falling.  It was... fire.  Green fire falling from the sky.”
 
“What was it like?”
 
“I-I just heard it.  I heard them hit the ground, and then... I heard the screaming.”  She swallowed, blinking rapidly, and looked back to the fountain.  “The city was screaming.  The castle was screaming.  And then... some of them hit the gardens, and... and it felt like the whole earth was screaming under my hooves.  I curled up under a bush, covered my head, and cried.”
 
He kept his silence.
 
She kicked at a loose piece of rubble.  “So that was my brush with history.  I was turned into a quivering mess of a pony that had to be coaxed out of hiding by two guards with a carrot, like I was some kind of animal.  I didn’t even know what attacked us until the day after.”
 
“Why didn’t you run?”
 
Someone laughed behind them.  “Forget that!  How could you even show your face in the castle again?”
 
He spun around to see two mares sitting down, both unicorns dressed in black with white aprons, and cursed under his breath.  Fool!  FOOL!  How were you so distracted?
 
The one of the left smiled at him.  “Cherry, you should have told us you were bringing a guest today.  You could have joined us for lunch.”
 
“I know,” the other one said.  “There was so much we could have talked about.”  The mare walked between them, bumping Cherry’s shoulder as she went.  “Like that little story you just told him.  Don’t you know how long we’ve wondered what happened to you?  And the truth!” She smacked her lips.  “Oh, it is so much juicier than I could have imagined!”
 
Cherry looked straight ahead to the castle, jaw set, stubborn.  But her eyes shifted from the unicorn still laughing, to him.  He could almost feel her fear.
 
The first one stopped laughing, her teeth bared to show too much white.  “She doesn’t have to guts to stand her ground, or the brains to run for cover, and she can barely handle a garden by herself, but she’s still here somehow.  She must be good at something, right?”
 
Cherry grit her teeth.  “I’m not—!”  She clenched her eyes shut and bowed her head.
 
“Ah, she’s clamping up again.”
 
“Too bad,” the second said, and she sidled up next to him.  “How ‘bout it, hot shot?  Can you clue us in?  What’s our little gold-digger really good at?”
 
Cherry’s glistening eyes flicked over to him, then away.  She retreated behind her mane.

He dug his hooves into the earth.  Even here she gets overwhelmed?
 
“Oh, he can’t even answer.”  The other wrapped her leg around Cherry’s shoulders.  “Don’t worry, love.  At least you have a little more experience under you.  Maybe your next stallion will enjoy you a little more.”
 
He slapped the maid’s hoof away.  “Enough!  You two are supposed to represent the castle?  This is what the home of your leaders stands for?  You’re no different than the street punks I see every day!”
 
She pulled her struck leg to her chest, shooting him a glare.  “You dare—!”
 
“Looks like the pup has a guard dog!” the second said, moving swiftly to put a restraining hoof on her friend’s shoulder.  “But she forgot his leash, didn’t she?”
 
“Yes.  That she did.”  The mare’s glare turned to a wicked smile.  “She really should know better.”
 
“I bet Shining Armor would love to hear about this.”
 
“That he would, wouldn’t he?”  They headed for the castle, and the first threw one more glare over her shoulder.  “That he would.”
 
He returned the look until they were out of sight.  “I take it those were some of the ones you told me about.”
 
There was no sound behind him.
 
“Cherry?”  He turned back, seeing her unmoved.  “Cherry!”
 
She looked up with red eyes and a tear-streaked muzzle.  “You should go.”
 
“Go?  I... why?”  He glanced back to the castle, and didn’t see anypony walking out yet.  “I can explain why I’m here.  We got permission, didn’t we?  Frankly, I wouldn’t mind meeting this Captain of yours either.  I’ve heard a lot about him.”
 
“Dawn...”  Her eyes drifted away, and her voice came out a hoarse whisper.  “Go.”
 
She walked away from him, mane still hanging over her face, tail drooped to trail through the dirt.
 
He stood, rooted to the spot.  “Will... will I see you tomorrow?”
 
She didn’t look back.

Reluctantly, Dawnbreaker spread his wings and did as she asked.