//------------------------------// // Chapter XVIII: Sprinkleshine // Story: A Princess and Her Queen // by kildeez //------------------------------// Sprinkleshine the pegasus stirred and grimaced, colors swimming in front of her eyes. She tried to lift her head off the cold, hard surface, and the world reeled under her body, the colors making like the stuff in lava lamps and turning the inside of her eyelids into something an animator might throw together in the middle of a bad acid trip. She tried to lift a hoof to her aching head, but both forehooves stubbornly refused to budge. Grimacing, she tried again, only this time she actually felt the bonds straining against her every move, cutting into the chitin around the holes in her legs. Wait… Holes…chitin! Sprinkleshine’s eyes bugged open. Ignoring the pain (and the pun: bugged open, indeed) she kept her gaze locked straight ahead until the colors stopped swimming around and faded into translucency, finally allowing for a look down at herself. What she saw made her heart leap into her throat. “Oh…nuh…” she groaned, her voice coming as a pathetic, barely-audible wheeze. Black, chitin-covered hooves looked back up at her, a ratty-looking rope twisted through the holes in her legs, binding them tightly. Her black, ribbed body rested atop a pair of translucent wings that gave a pitiful quiver out of fear. Though she couldn’t see her own face, she didn’t need a mirror to know there would be a curved, spiky horn in the middle of her forehead, like an upside-down fang, right in between a pair of cold, pupil-less eyes and above a snout that seemed to be twisted in a permanent snarl. She bit back a sob, almost piercing her own lip with a pair of razor-sharp fangs. Sprinkleshine the pegasus was gone, probably forever, and in her place… “So, you’re awake,” a voice devoid of any emotion stated somewhere in the dark. Though the voice was emotionless, it was obvious the pony behind it was not. The changeling felt waves of barely-restrained rage pour from the darkness, practically inundating her, drowning her and making each breath even harder, and with her injuries it was like trying to breathe on an incredibly humid day with a cracked ribcage and a temperature in the triple digits. The changeling again bit back another sob. Only one pony would feel that much rage just on seeing her in her natural form. “Petals…” she choked before the lump in her throat closed off any hope of saying something else. She continued to sob silently, wishing her natural body had the ability to cry like a pony. “Don’t you call me that!” The mare shrieked, stepping into the light. She’d seen better days: her mane disheveled, eyes wide and bloodshot, shoulders heaving with every short, quick gasp of breath. “Only my friends get to call me that, and I’d never be friends with something like you!” The changeling’s head hit the floor with a low thud, body wracked with each new, silent sob. The anger coming off the pony flickered for the quickest moment, then came roaring back. “Where is she?” She hissed, voice still cold enough to elicit a shiver from the changeling. “Huh-huh…” the changeling gasped, dry-heaved, and swallowed to regain her voice: “…who?” “The mare you kidnapped, you filthy little bug!” The mare stomped her hooves next to the changeling’s head angrily. “Where is she!?” “I-I…” clearing her throat to steady herself, the changeling kept her eyes on the floor. “I kidnapped no one.” “LIAR!” Suddenly, Petalgrown’s hooves lashed out in a stomp against the changeling’s face. Blood started gushing from the creature’s nose immediately, and this time, she didn’t bite anything back. She let a sob ring out, long and hard. Either because she didn’t notice the blood or didn’t care, Petalgrown screamed in the changeling’s face: “That’s all things like you do! You lie, and you steal, and you rob ponies right out from their loved ones just so you can…” “Enough!” Another voice rang out, clear and sharp, echoing off the walls of the makeshift prison. Twilight Sparkle stepped out of the darkness this time, horn glowing to illuminate the room just a bit more. “She knows where Sprinkles is!” Petalgrown shrieked, nearing hysterics. “How can you say enough when she knows…” “If we knock it out, it won’t be able to tell us anything,” the lavender unicorn glared into the other mare’s wide eyes, their snouts pressed up against each other’s, horn glowing threateningly. Twilight’s voice was flat and calm, but the changeling could feel the emotional hurricane tearing through her heart. “You’re too emotionally invested in this to get anything, so stand aside and let someone who knows what they’re doing handle this.” Petalgrown glared back, making as if to argue, but the combination of Twilight’s glare with that threatening crackle of magic off her horn shut her up and forced her back. Muttering curse words under her breath, the other mare stomped off into the darkness, her exit highlighted by the sound of a door so swinging open and a rectangle of light appearing somewhere far-off in the darkness. “RAZZA-FRAZZIN!” The mare screamed before the door slammed shut and the rectangle vanished. The changeling couldn’t help but smile at that. Good ol’ Petalgrown never was very good at swearing. The smile vanished as soon as the lavender unicorn levelled a calm, steely gaze on her little black body, and suddenly the gravity of the situation hit the changeling like a ton of bricks: she was alone, bound, weak, and helpless in a room with the bearer of the Element of Magic, easily the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria. A pony who had now seen both her friends and her immediate family threatened by the changeling race on TWO occasions, the first of which nearly ruined what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her brother’s life. If changelings could shit bricks, this one would have jettisoned an entire outhouse by now. As it was, she had to satisfy herself with curling up into a little ball and crying into her forehooves. “Crocodile tears won’t help you now,” Twilight said, her voice as cold as ever. “You might as well give up and tell us what happened to the real Sprinkleshine. And don’t lie. I’ve known that mare since I arrived in Ponyville, so if you try to…” “Y-you don’t know her,” the changeling stammered miserably. “You’ve had two full conversations with her: once, outside Rarity’s boutique, when you had a conversation about new possible gem-mining areas that would be free of Diamond Dogs, and another time when you commented on an incoming rainstorm and wound up giving her an hour-long lecture on convection currents in the lower atmosphere.” Twilight blinked. “That’s…I had that conversation with somepony my first week in Ponyville, right after Nightmare Moon…” The changeling nodded, sniffling a bit. She wished her hooves were free, if only to wipe at the bit of snot bubbling at the end of her muzzle. She knew there’d be no running away, not with The Twilight Sparkle right there. “It was my fourth disguise. I was still trying to establish a decent rapport with the locals then…” Twilight snorted angrily, glaring down at the changeling and stomping her hooves. “How long have you been holding Sprinkleshine prisoner, you monster!? Has it been all this time!?” “No, no! Don’t you see!? I am Sprinkleshine!” The changeling sobbed. Twilight kept up her glare, but sat back on her haunches, maintaining eye contact with the bound creature. “Explain.” The changeling nodded. Heaven knows this mare was capable of so much more than what she was threatening. Odds were Twilight would get it out of her, one way or another. Besides, her main reason for maintaining her cover - for maintaining anything from her life in Ponyville, for that matter - had just stormed out without a second glance over her shoulder. “I was selected for a specialized program,” the changeling sighed. “The objective was to create a totally fictional pony to live in Equestria. Restraining a pony and taking their place has its shortcomings: keeping them contained without others noticing, studying them long enough to maintain their identity, but if one could create a completely fictional p-pony…” Twilight was a smart mare, the changeling knew. She pieced it together relatively fast. “My dearest, sweetest Celestia…all those risks would vanish…there wouldn’t be anypony to find an inconsistency with the way they acted before the replacement since there never technically was a replacement…” The changeling nodded and sniffled. “The Queen thought it up after we had a good love harvest one year. The changelings selected for the program would be able to survive off love stores until they became reliable sources of love. It was supposed to be more long-term, so…” “But then…where were you during the Canterlot invasion!?” The changeling’s stomach backflipped, and she looked up at the mare pleadingly. “Please…please, not with Sprinkles right there, please…” Twilight just lowered her head, glowering mercilessly. “Where?” “I was there, okay!?” The changeling bawled, her strange, layered voice echoing off the walls. “I was there…I saw you and the others there, and it broke my heart to do what I did but I knew the Hive would suffer if I didn’t, and…” She stopped herself, her lower lip quivering, her head lowered, her ears pinning to her skull. “And I’m sorry,” she said in a voice so quiet Twilight practically had to lean over her to hear. The changeling heard a derisive snort, then hooves stomping away into the darkness, followed by a door slamming shut. Still, she didn’t move. She sat there and cried for a few extra minutes, then sighed and laid on her flank for another few. She took her time recomposing herself. Time was all she had left now, after all. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Sparkle emerged from the makeshift cell with crackles of energy pealing off her mane, glaring as if Discord, Chrysalis, and Nightmare Moon were all doing a little jig on the tip of her snout. If what this changeling said was true…Celestia above, Equestria was in a lot more trouble than she’d thought. Changeling infiltrators could be anywhere! She had to get this information to Celestia somehow, but how… Ugh, and that was only the beginning of her problems. Barring the possibility of changeling infiltrators everywhere, barring the riots and mobs that would certainly result from this knowledge being released to the public, and barring the fact that she was trapped behind enemy lines with no way home, she still had to break this news to Petals. But Celestia above, how did one do that?! How did you tell somepony that the mare they’d been pining after, the one who inspired them to write terrible poetry and buy chocolates and flowers and fantasize about sunlit walks for years on end had just been a construct to serve an enemy agent’s cause? She emerged on the main floor of the abandoned factory, shuffling past rows of abandoned iron carts and drag chains and trotting up the stairs to the main control offices, opening a door onto a room full of dusty control panels and switches that hadn’t seen power in decades. Still, she smiled at the sight of her friends amidst the equipment. Rainbow and Applejack stayed at the tiny windows, occasionally ducking down as the buzzing of insect-like wings approached. Rarity remained vigilant at the windows looking out over the factory floor…or, she remained as vigilant as a mare with an appletini in one hoof and a stallion shaving down her other could be, Twilight supposed. “Rarity!” Twilight groaned. “The stallions are supposed to be patrolling the factory grounds, not giving pedicures!” Rarity just looked over her sunglasses at Twilight. “Darling, in case you’ve forgotten, we are still on vacation. A few changelings aren’t going to change that.” “A few…Rarity, the Crystal Empire’s been invaded!” Twilight groaned, her hooves massaging deep into her eyes. “Half our friends are missing, they’re doing who-knows-what to my brother and Cadence, the Crystal Heart is probably being used as a battery for that bug-bitch to charge up for an invasion of Equestria, we have no way to contact Princess Celestia, who by the way, is now totally alone if the changelings’ announcements can be believed and Luna has actually been captured…” “Number One, this is a mani, not a pedi,” Rarity said, nodding to the stallion. “A mare should know the difference, darling. Stu here did, and he’s doing a wonderful job.” “Thank you, Miss Rarity,” the stallion said with a grin. “But I…” Twilight started. “Number Two, what do you intend for us to do now? We certainly aren’t going to charge the Crystal Palace all willy-nilly, and we’re under your orders to remain here until nightfall to avoid detection, so what’s wrong with a little R&R in the meantime?” “But…” “Honestly dearie, you should relax,” Rarity smiled easily as she sipped her appletini and snuggled into her lawn chair. “Just a little? At least as much as Dashie and Applejack.” “What? Rainbow and Applejack aren’t relaxed, they’re…” her eyes lifted to the mares in question, and her jaw dropped. During her glance, she’d missed the martini glasses held in each mare’s hoof, which they took constant sips at. “Rainbow Dash! Applejack!” Both cringed and turned to her with sheepish smiles on their faces. “Sorry sugarcube, y’know it’s Apple Family policy t’never turn down a free drink.” “Yeah, and if Appleflank can handle her booze and keep a lookout for changelings at the same time, I sure can,” Rainbow growled, downing the rest of her drink with a loud belch. “Whuh…where did you even get those!?” “Bartender,” AJ replied, sipping with surprising daintiness. “Where else?” “Bartender!? We’re a small rebel cell, since when do we have…” and at last, Twilight noticed the long table set up against the wall, with the same stallion that had been running the tavern manning it, currently deeply involved with a scuff mark on his new bar’s surface. Holding to a deadpan stare, Twilight trotted up to the stallion and sat in front of him, remaining in place until he finally looked up from his work and grinned sheepishly. “Really?” She asked. “I mean, really?” “Heheh…sorry…” he said, a grin forming beneath his mustache. “It is my life, though. I’m not ashamed to admit I’m one of those stallions defined completely by their occupation.” “Where did you even find alcohol and martini mix in this place?” “Never underestimate a professional’s ability to procure booze,” the stallion replied, his chest inflating with pride. “I…ugh, I don’t have time for this,” Twilight grumbled, massaging her temple as she sank to her flanks. “I need to find Petalgrown, I need to talk to her.” Rainbow Dash abandoned her post to dart to Twilight’s side. “Is it about Sprinkleshine!?” She gasped. “Did that bug downstairs give up her location!? Is it close!? Can we mount a rescue mission!?” “Rainbow!” Twilight said, her muzzle wrinkling against the stench of alcohol on the mare’s breath. “I’m as concerned for a fellow Ponyville citizen as the next mare, but we aren’t going to go charging to the rescue all willy-nilly! We can’t value one pony’s freedom over the safety of the Empire!” Rainbow Dash groaned. “I get that egghead, I was just hoping it might be something we can handle now, instead of sitting on our flanks and waiting for something to happen.” At that, Twilight smiled thinly and laid a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “I know, and I’m sorry,” she said, softening instantly. “This whole situation has me stressed is all. Celestia knows what they’re doing to my brother and Cadence.” “Aww heck, I didn’t even think of it that way,” Applejack said, trotting up to the pair with a martini still in her hoof. “Our friends might be stuck, but you’re the one who has actual kin in danger. Don’t get me wrong, Pinkie and Flutters bein’ in trouble makes me all kinds a’ coarse, and I’m quiverin’ like a filly wonderin’ what could be happening to ‘em, but it’s a little different to know blood’s in trouble.” “I’m…quite sure they’re alright, dearies,” Rarity said, turning in her chair to face the trio. “We saw the changelings just capture Luna, Fluttershy, and Pinkie, and they seemed to be treated alright. I see no reason why they wouldn’t extend that treatment to your brother and Cadence.” “Perhaps because they’re the ones who defeated her in the first place, which makes them the only ponies in the world she might make an example of?” Twilight replied quietly. The mares all bit their lips, the only sound in the room being their bartender attacking the scuffmark with a combination of cleaning fluid and ferocity. At any rate, Twilight shook her head. “Either way, we need to keep our heads. Worrying won’t help anypony.” “R-right,” Rainbow Dash said, biting her lip in concern as she and Applejack shared a quick glance. “Well, Petals is on the roof if you still want to talk to her.” “Thank you,” Twilight said, nodding at her friends and giving a smile so thin and fake it could sign up for a modeling career. The mares all watched their friend trot to the roof, all sharing concerned glances. “She’s freaking out,” Rainbow Dash said. “She’s controlling it better than the ‘Smarty-Pants’ incident, but still…” “Consarn it, Twi,” Applejack muttered. “Dang fool. How can somepony as smart as her be dumb enough to try and hide her fear from her friends?” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Twilight took a deep breath as she stepped out onto the factory’s roof. The brisk air whipped her mane up around her head and filled her lungs, forcing a coughing jag, but she recovered, dodging a puddle of stagnant water and rounding a rust-covered ventilation unit, her eyes falling on the mare sitting under a hole-filled chunk of corrugated steel. She silently took a seat next to the mare, both staring out a particularly large hole in the steel at the city around them. Twilight took note of the lack of magical explosions and deafening booms that had been echoing throughout the city just a few hours before. Had the Empire’s forces been crushed so quickly? “You know, it’s warm downstairs,” Twilight said. “Less risk of getting spotted by a patrol, too.” As if to drive her point home, a tiny group of changelings buzzed by in a v-shape formation, spears held in their hooves, their gaze locked straight ahead. “I’m fine, thank you,” Petals sighed, her shoulders rising and falling in an exaggerated motion. “If they haven’t noticed me by now, they aren’t gonna.” It was hard to argue with that logic, but it was also hard to consider sitting underneath a rusted-out chunk of steel away from other ponies healthy. Twilight sighed, circling her hoof around in the filthy gravel. If only she’d gotten to know Petals better before all this, but it’s not like she could get to know everypony in Ponyville all at once! Petalgrown wasn’t part of her friendship schedule until next month, anyway. So there, this would all be so much easier if she’d just postponed the trip to the Crystal Empire another month! It wasn’t like she wouldn’t have used that time unwisely! The library filing system could always use another reorganization, anyway! Well, no use beating around the bush. She could just get it over with. “Petals…” “It claimed she was always Sprinkles, didn’t it?” Petalgrown stated flatly. Twilight’s jaw disengaged, waggled around for a while, and then clenched shut again. She sighed once more. “Exactly.” “It’s a liar.” “Now, I know why you’d say that, it can be hard to accept that a loved one isn’t what we thought they were…” Twilight started, only to be interrupted when Petalgrown rounded on her with enough hatred burning in her eyes to give King Sombra a hard-on. “It’s. A. Liar.” Petalgrown said distinctly, glaring directly into Twilight’s eyes. “That’s what they do. They lie to get what they want, and why would that thing want to help us get the real Petalgrown back?” Twilight took a couple steps back, unnerved by the glare burning into her eyes. “N-now, before you go and just dismiss this, I should point out it…I mean she…brought up some good…” “Don’t dignify that thing by calling it a she!” Petalgrown shrieked. Twilight was suddenly very grateful that they were in an abandoned part of town, where changeling patrols were less likely, but that didn’t prevent her from erecting a quick noise-cancellation barrier nonetheless. “It doesn’t deserve that title! Not after what it’s taken from me!” Twilight opened her mouth to speak again, then closed it. What would be the point? She saw nothing in the other mare’s eyes to indicate that she was anywhere close to accepting this. The only thing she could do was retreat and hope that with time, a cooler mindset would prevail in Petalgrown’s head. “T-try to keep it down out here,” Twilight whispered. “If you’re spotted, make sure you call us so we can all make a run for it.” Petalgrown just nodded and resumed her place, sitting in the gravel, glaring out her hole. Twilight shook her head and walked out her noise-cancellation barrier, trotting back into the factory. She tossed a quick charge onto the barrier for good measure before disappearing back into the factory’s bowels. Of course, she did not see the pure rage and fury that overwhelmed Petalgrown’s features the moment her back was turned. She did not see the way Petalgrown stomped a hoof repeatedly into the gravel, as if imagining a certain someone’s head beneath her hoof. And she most assuredly did not see the silent promise Petalgrown made to “get her Sprinkleshine back, no matter what,” or the dead-eyed, merciless way Petalgrown stared at her own hoof while she made that promise. Much might have been different if she had seen any of these things.