Chapter 8
The hull-breacher said ‘hello’ in a voice like thunder.
The force of the impact sent the bug creature flying off its hooves and half way across the room where it landed in a broken pile, smoking and leaking a considerable amount of ichor.
Spike shook his head to get his eyes to focus again as the gunfire echoed off the outer walls of the safe house and the adjacent buildings. His snout was filled with the sharp, acrid scent of burnt black powder and whatever passed as blood for the bug monster. He didn’t know where Princess Cadance had been hiding the gun, but he was suddenly glad she had it. Spike worked his jaw and frills, trying to get his hearing back, and lifted himself to a standing position.
Princess Cadance didn’t waste time, reloading that huge cannon by breaching the barrel and pouring in more powder from a horn and another shot that looked as big as a plump grape. Her mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. All he was getting was a lot of loud ringing.
“Uugh...where did you come from? That thing got the drop on us and it hit Twi—oh Tartarus! Twilight‽” Spike swung around, looking for his sister and spotted her slumped against the wall near the bottom of the stairs with blood dripping from her ankle and hip.
Spike started toward Twilight when Princess Cadance waved at him and pointed at the fallen assassin. He glanced at the creature and against everything he would have thought possible, it was moving. Spike stared as it rotated its legs and head in a way that made him feel nauseous, and lifted itself off the floor. When it straightened up, he could see the wound the gun had left in its torso. And the wall behind it.
He took a step back, his lips curled into a snarl as the creature fixed its creepy pony-like eyes on him. It said something but his hearing was still too shot to make anything out. Whatever this thing was, he wasn’t going to let it hurt Twilight and Cadance. The wound in its chest started to close as he watched and it smiled at him before it leaped to the side.
“No you don’t!” Spike roared and sprang after it, his tail doing most of the pushing as he tackled the monster into and then through the shuttered and barred window. The chitin in his claws shifted unsettlingly as they rolled in the grass and Spike gasped when he felt fangs rake across his scales. He didn’t know if they’d gotten through, but he knew he’d have some new scars after this fight.
Spike kept his claws clamped tight on the bug that was doing its best to writhe out of his grip. When they came to a stop with him on top, Spike slammed the creature into the ground as hard as he could. Its weird pony-like face didn’t look bothered by that, but he heard it grunt.
“Oh good, my hearing is coming back!”
“Isn’t that nice? Now won’t you be a good dragon and just die!”
“How about no!” Spike opened his mouth wide and let out a blast of fire into the face of the bug-pony. The fire spread around them and set the yard and flower bed ablaze. The thing charred somewhat, but now it only looked annoyed.
“Spike! Get back!”
The dragon let go and hopped off the monster and rolled away as soon as he heard Twilight; he’d been in enough tight situations with the Battlemage to know what was about to happen. He looked up in time to see Twilight at the broken window, supported by Princess Cadance, unleash hell from her horn. Twilight hit it with pure mystical force hard enough to crater it into the earth by more than a hoofspan deep. She then gouged a trench by pushing it through the loamy soil from there to the outer wall which spiderwebbed with cracks under the pressure.
“And...stay down…” Twilight gasped once the spell ended, sagging limply in Princess Cadance’s grip.
“Spike! Help me, Twilight’s been poisoned!” Cadance adjusted her hold and eased Twilight down to the floor. Spike could see the Princess’ horn glowing, her pale blue colored aura pressing over Twilight’s wounds. “I’m doing what I can, but I’m not trained for more than the basics! We need to keep her injuries closed and slowing the spread of the poison, but I can’t clear it out of her system. We’re going to need a doctor!”
“There’s a clinic nearby.” Spike huffed, catching his breath and climbing to his feet. “We can take her there!”
“No.” Cadance licked her lips and looked at the now still body of the monster. “Canterlot isn’t safe. Those things can mimic anything, especially ponies. We need to get out of here, but I can’t move Twily by myself.”
Spike jogged over to where Cadance was hovering protectively over Twilight. He leaned down and plucked a small pouch on Twilight’s harness open and pulled out a slip of paper. “If Canterlot is out, then we’ll have to use another option. I know a place we can go, Princess, and somepony we can trust to help out Twilight.”
Spike flicked his wrist and the paper released a transmutation enchantment, growing into the saddle he had worn earlier when picking Cadance up at the airship terminal. Spike then released a similar enchantment on himself and grew into his huge winged form.
“Grab Twi’s staff and get on. I can get us there in an hour if the winds cooperates.”
“Shieldmaidens! Secure the perimeter!” Shining Armor nodded to himself as he oversaw the rest of the Shieldmaidens of Luna erect a massive shield around the former safe house. Once the glowing shield was in place and opaque against the gathering crowds of onlookers, he gestured for the Princesses.
Princess Celestia lead the way down the ramp from their immense private airship, the HMS Eclipse, followed closely at hoof by Princess Luna. The Royal Sisters disembarked and Celestia herself broke the enchantment holding the door to the inner courtyard closed with a tap of her horn. Princess Luna motioned for Shining Armor to join them a moment later.
“Talk to me, ‘Maiden. Have you discovered any new information from the public?”
“No, ma’am. No one has reported anything credible yet. Most people were already inside for the night. So far we’ve been told that there was some sort of loud bang, followed by the sound of breaking glass and then another loud boom.” Shining Armor saluted and then lowered his voice. “Please don’t call me that, Princess.”
Celestia smirked as she raised her reinforced war tankard of coffee and took a long sip of the hot brew. “We’ll know more in a moment. Some canvassing of the local fliers report a dragon resembling Spike left here two hours ago with what could have been two ponies on his back.”
Princess Celestia pushed the door open and scanned the yard and patio without stepping in. “I can plainly see signs of a struggle. I can still smell a hint of dragonfire too.”
“Then step aside, sister. My night grows late and we need to know what is going on and why our niece did not contact us.” Luna moved forward and pass Celestia, her wheeled harness rolling over the threshold. “Time is of the essence…”
Luna faded out as she looked into the far corner of the yard. “Celestia, come. Shining, close the door and leave us.”
“But Princess, I’m to remain at your side!”
“Close the door and leave us, ‘Maiden, or ‘Maiden no longer shall you be.” Luna kept her gaze focused on the far wall and her voice soft, but even Celestia raised her eyebrows at her tone. “Is that clear?”
“...as crystal, Princess.” Shining frowned and nodded to Celestia. After she was through, he closed and resealed the door behind her.
“Luna...what is it?” Celestia sipped from her oversized tankard, following Luna’s gaze with a slight tilt of her head. She took in the destruction, her mind piecing together a timeline for what she saw. The broken window came first, blown out from the inside. The burnt yard likely came afterward, parts of it were still smoking. The trench was obviously fresh, the exposed soil untouched by the fire. And then there was the shattered wall the trench led to. Her breath caught when she saw the crumpled pile of black and green in the foot of the wall.
Celestia let out her breath in a hiss and trotted over to the still body.
Luna followed her sister slowly, her eyes sweeping over the remains of the battle. When she reached the final crater, Celestia was kneeling by the body, gently brushing the odd webbing that formed its ‘mane’ out of the creature’s face. Luna raised an eyebrow at the tender gesture. “Knowing your protégé, dear sister, it was likely quick. If that’s any consolation.”
“No.”
Both of Luna’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “What does that mean? I’ve been on the receiving end of Twilight Sparkle, remember?” Luna gestured at her harness. “There is no way it wasn’t quick once Twilight had her in her sights.”
“No. I mean it isn’t dead.” Celestia’s horn flared and the layered plates of chitin that made up the creature’s face bulged and then slid sickenly back into place with a wet snapping sound. Green iridescent eyes opened slowly, one of them covered in a thin layer of milky mucus, and focused on the two alicorns.
“I...live...for now.”
“It’s still alive?” Luna blinked as the creature twitched spasmodically and then went still after a long second. “What did you do to our niece and her protectors?”
“What happened here?” Celestia stayed close, her mug steaming where it sat on the charred lawn next to the Sun Princess. “Why are you trying the kill Princess Cadance?”
“I...failed my...Lord. He doesn’t...tolerate failure. He would have...the Queen eat...me.” She made a sticky wet noise when she gasped for breath. “She is his will...made manifest.”
Luna shook her head. “This thing has had its brains, or whatever it has that passes for a brain, dislodged. It makes no sense, and this isn’t getting us any closer to answers.”
Celestia paid her sister no heed and lifted the creature into a sitting position. It continued to leak ichor on to the soil, visibly growing weaker. “Is the Queen you speak of, Chrysalis? What does she have to do with all of this? Are there more of your kind? More changelings?”
The changeling coughed and blinked very slowly as a grin spread over its face. “The prophecy will...come to pass and...a new princess will rise. But this time, it will be...a Queen.”
“Celestia, what is this thing talking about?” Luna stepped closer and her horn flashed as it did a quick scan of the creature. Its vital signs were fading quickly. “What prophecy is it babbling about? What is this nonsense about more changelings? You’ve always assured me there was only one!”
Celestia was silent and climbed back to her hooves. She lifted her war tankard of coffee and mumbled quietly under her breath before turning back toward the house. “I need to find Chrysalis.”
“What are you talking about? You cannot leave me in the dark on this, Tia. I have a right to…”
Luna paused as the changeling on the ground started to spasm and make a choking noise. It took her a moment, but she realized that the rapidly dying monster was laughing. The question was just forming on her lips when Luna felt a sudden spike in the local magical field.
She tried to yell out a warning, but it was too late when the crystal defenses embedded in the walls around them went critical.
The flight was blessedly quick.
Cadance wasn’t sure how much longer she could’ve held the poison in Twilight’s veins from reaching her heart. It took all of her concentration to keep the tiny blood vessels in Twily’s leg closed off. If she maintained it for too long, Twily could lose the leg even if she survived whatever the shapeshifter had put into her.
Twilight was out cold before they had even made it into the air, but as Spike lined up for a landing in what she suspected was the Everfree Preserve, the unicorn was still breathing, if shallowly. “Spike! Are we there yet?”
“Yeah, this is the place. There is a clearing just ahead. After we land I’ll help you carry Twilight inside.”
“Inside what?” Cadance squinted but she couldn’t make out anything amid the black mass of forest sweeping past below them. “Where are we going?”
“To see Zecora, the sage. If we can trust anypony to fix up Twi, it’s her.”