The moment I woke up, I knew it was going to be a long day.
Pain from every bruise, cut, and burn I'd suffered from the fight wracked my body the moment I regained consciousness. As if that wasn’t enough, the late morning sun fell on me from the balcony, adding to the migraine that greeted me. Bandages were wrapped all over my body, particularly the legs, wings, and a portion of my skull. Once my senses caught up, my nostrils were overwhelmed by the scent of peppermint emanating from my body, likely an herbal salve to clean my wounds and reduce the swelling. Thank the Heart for the pony who had patched me up.
I made small movements with my hooves to test my wounds. Nothing seemed broken or fractured thankfully, but I was far from being able to move freely. I was surprised to find I had been placed on my bed at the castle rather than the infirmary. Why wouldn’t Twilight drop me off in the infirmary first? Or had she already gone there, and they patched me up before returning me to her place?
That’s when I remembered what had led up to this point and how Twilight had found me. What a mess.
Considering the flimsy excuse I had used to leave the party early, Twilight must have had a barrage of questions ready to figure out why I was being carried out of the Everfree half-dead. There was also the discovery of that terrifying magic the changelings had gotten a hold of.
I grimaced. That was… vexing. Why would Trojan hide such critical information like that from us? From me?
A cool calm seeped into my veins, yet I didn't shiver. I had to remind myself that Trojan didn’t come off malicious in her attempts to conceal the information, and there were too many unknowns I didn’t have answers for. I didn't know a lot of things. But that was fine. I could deal with a surprise or two.
Besides, she did save my life.
At any rate, I'd have to wait until I saw her again to figure it out rather than risk jumping to the wrong conclusion. More importantly, I needed to find Twilight, and…
Right. And do a lot of explaining, I guess.
I breathed in deep, and let it out slowly. Just like catching KP back as a private. I could do this.
Once I was acclimatized to the aches, I started my morning routines. Getting cleaned up, doing careful calisthenics to limber up and throwing on my armor and helmet after giving it a decent polish using oil and rough cloth stored in my personal armor kit. Regardless of the wounds and circumstances, I had a duty as captain of Twilight’s guard to be ready and assist her in whatever she needed… even if I was the only actual guard.
As I traversed the castle to find Twilight, the sound of chatter echoed down one of the halls. I followed the path to find Twilight and her friends sitting in the council room speaking animatedly with each other, sans Pinkie Pie but including Trojan and Spike. They seemed so caught up in the conversation they hadn’t noticed me approaching them.
“Good morning, every…” The words died on my lips as everypony’s eyes whipped towards me. Judging from the awkwardness that hung silently in the air, I entered the conversation at a bad time.
“Good morning, Mr. Hero!” Trojan smiled a little too widely. In fact, Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity’s smiles were way too wide for my liking. Meanwhile, Fluttershy twiddled her hooves together nervously, Spike seemed anxious, and Twilight gaped at me like she saw a ghost. Why Twilight’s muzzle lit up like a furnace was beyond me.
“Hero? What?” Right then, it clicked that she was referring to whatever she told them happened last night. I had no idea how to respond other than smile out of blissful ignorance, as I didn’t want to say anything that contradicted what Trojan and Spike might have told them.
“Sassy just finished telling us about that awesome fight you had last night! Didn’t realize you royal guards had it in ya!” Rainbow said.
If I wasn’t so confused, I would have been annoyed by that comment.
“Sorry, my memory is a little foggy about last night. Could one of you fill me in?” I asked. For now, it seemed better to play dumb and let them fill in the answers for me.
Applejack was the first to speak up. “Sassy was tellin’ us how a timberwolf dun pounced you all while you were chattin’ with Mr. Cake, and you were brave enough to tackle it head on and let it chase you into Everfree to keep everypony safe.”
“O-oh. Right. Timberwolves. Now it’s coming back to me.” It seemed like a safe enough story to tell them. That still didn’t explain the mixed expressions. When I stole a glance at Twilight, she seemed completely locked into her thoughts. How strange.
Fluttershy opted to put in her two bits next. “A-although I was surprised you were able to take on five of them at the same time. Especially when they could shoot magical eye lasers.”
...What?
“I never knew Timberwolves were capable of such magic, but it would explain the burn marks we found you with,” Rarity quipped.
What?!
“And to think, that’s not even the craziest part, according to Sassy!” Rainbow beamed.
WHAT?!
I shot a confused glance at the pony in question. Spike shrunk in his seat and turned red as Trojan bared an all-too-innocent grin. Was it crazier that Sassy and Spike came up with such an absurd story, or that the other mares and Twilight, an inquisitive genius, bought it?
I gulped as I dared myself to ask Rainbow to elaborate. What could possibly be crazier than a Timberwolf that shot magical laser beams from its eyes? “W-what did Sassy tell you I said?”
“Oh nothing~” Rainbow sang. I knew that tune anywhere, and instinctively knew I was not ready for whatever Rainbow was about to say. “Only that Sassy caught you saying that you—”
“RAINBOW!”
All of us turned to Twilight, who slammed her hooves on the table. The room instantly grew quiet. Forget confused. I was downright frightened to know what Sassy said that inspired such a reaction from Twilight.
“I...w-what I mean is, Flash just woke up, so let’s not bother him with silly recollections. The trouble is in the past, so there’s no need to discuss it any further.” Twilight awkwardly shifted out of her seat and started pushing me out of the council room. I didn’t bother resisting as I let her shove me out.
Confused as I was, I had to admit Twilight looked cute when flustered.
“You got this, Twilight! Don’t break him now!” Rainbow shouted at us, eliciting a burst of giggles from everypony.
“Hush!” Twilight barked.
At this point, I decided I was not going to bother asking what was going on and just wait until there was a good opportunity to ask.
Once we were out of earshot of the others, Twilight shot me an apologetic look. “S-sorry about shoving you out like that.”
“It’s okay, Twilight. I’m sure you had your reasons.” Reasons I was dying to figure out.
“Anyway, how are you feeling?”
“Certainly had better days, but nothing I’m not used to.”
“Really?” Twilight tossed me a surprised glance. “I thought the Crystal Empire was very peaceful.”
I grinned. “Who do you think keeps the empire at peace?”
“Is it really that dangerous?”
“To be fair, it’s not the citizens that makes it dangerous. Well, not all the time. In fact, there are indeed long periods of peace where nothing really happens. That’s what makes the Crystal Empire dangerous.”
Twilight quirked an eyebrow. “I don’t get it. How can something be dangerous when it’s mostly peaceful?”
“In a word, complacency. If you encounter danger all the time, you’re always ready because you’re expecting it. It’s when you have those long periods of peace and silence that will test your discipline and readiness. Sometimes you will go weeks, or even months with no dangerous activity. Then just when you start to relax and think everything will be fine, suddenly you have a gang of Diamond Dogs wreaking havoc or have to tango with a wandering Dragon.” Or in this case, hate-powered changelings hiding in plain sight.
“Interesting, but it does make sense. A long period of laxity can lead to depreciative brain activity that invites such security vulnerabilities.”
“Exactly. Though most of the time, if I’m being perfectly honest, most of our troubles usually comes from Flurry Heart when she wants to show us ‘something really cool’ she learned. On a good day, you’ll just be next to a thorny rose bush when she tests a plant growth spell, or get your tail set on fire.” I smiled wryly.
“Pfft,” Twilight snerked, bursting into a fit of giggles. I couldn’t help but laugh with her. “I recalled hearing Flurry Heart had grown into a very active filly in recent years, but I didn’t realize things were that exciting with her.”
“‘Exciting’ is definitely understatement of the year. But we enjoy having her around. She really knows how to brighten up the day and make us smile. Gives us something to look forward to as we take bets on what sort of shenanigans she will cause next… oh, um, please don’t tell Princess Cadance or Shining Armor that we take bets on their daughter.”
“Hmm…” Twilight paused to think to herself. As we entered my room and closed the door behind us, a grin broke out on her muzzle. “Only if you tell me more stories. Also, you have to give me all the dirt on Cadance and Shining.”
I froze, staring at Twilight in shock. That was the last thing I ever expected to hear from the princess. “W-what?”
Twilight’s playful grin dropped as she frowned worriedly. “S-sorry. I was just joking around.”
“No, no, no, you didn’t say anything wrong. I was just surprised. I mean, I know Princess Cadance can be playful at times, but I just didn’t expect...well...you know...”
Understanding dawned on Twilight as her eyes lit up. “Because I am a princess?”
“Er, yeah.”
“I may be a princess, but I’m still a pony like everypony else and enjoy a little bit of harmless fun from time to time. Sorry if I weirded you out.”
It was odd having this kind of conversation with Twilight. Never thought I would be bartering embarrassing secrets with Shining’s sister. “Not at all. If we’re being transparent here, I like it.”
“R-really?” I really wish Twilight wouldn’t look so damn cute smiling. It’s contagious.
“Yeah, and I’ll be more than happy to share some stories and fun stuff about the princess and captain. Just as long as we’re clear that you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Sounds like a deal!”
“Let’s see…” I knew I should have been asking about the conversation she had with Trojan, but I’m sure that was something I could talk to my… partner about later. Besides, knowing the stressful series of events I would be dealing with and how flustered Twilight was earlier, I was looking forward to a calm and entertaining conversation with Twilight. “Well, I suppose I could start by telling you that—”
“—when I get this feeling, I need sexual healing~” The door to my room suddenly flew open with Spike standing next to Trojan, whose hooves were spread while singing a very familiar and inappropriate song. “Hey Twilight. Did you two already talking about how Flash was saying how much he—”
“Oh! Well l-look at the time! Gotta go take care of that one thing! Get some rest Flash!” In a flustered panic, Twilight used her teleport to exit the room.
“Oh, come on!” I bellowed as I threw my hooves in the air out of frustration. Of all the times for Trojan to interrupt me with her obstructive humor. So much for a stress-free moment.
The moment Twilight left, Spike sighed. “Did you REALLY have to chase her out like that? Sounded like Twilight was enjoying herself.”
“Normally I wouldn’t care, but we have more important stuff to talk about.” Trojan tossed me a deadpan stare. “Speaking of which, you’ve caused me quite a bit of trouble, Buttermilk.”
I bristled as I stormed up to Trojan’s face. “I caused YOU trouble?! What in the world was all that about Timberwolves shooting lasers out of their eyes?”
Trojan rolled her eyes. “First off, morning breath. Get a mint. Second, that bit was Spike’s idea. I wanted to wring his neck when he dropped that on them.”
“Well, I had to say something!” Spike protested hotly. “Twilight was going to continue poking holes in your story unless we came up with an explanation for that weird magic signature that was on his burns. It was the best thing I could come up with.”
It took a moment to remember the training I had for tracking magic users. Every living being that used magic left a trace that was the equivalent of a magical hoof print. It was invisible to the naked eye, but the right spell could reveal traces of it on the affected environment, object, or individual. Though difficult, it was possible for somepony sensitive to magic to be able to sense hints of the magic signature. Considering I’ve never heard even a hint about hate magic before, I couldn’t imagine it was a very common occurrence.
Thankfully for Spike, I remembered a perfect topic-switcher just then. “Trojan, why didn’t you mention anything about that magic we faced earlier? What was that?”
"It's… complicated." She met my eyes, though I caught the hesitation in her tone, “and you know as well as I do Shining would’ve never let me on the mission if he knew what you know now.”
I simply stared back, unblinking. To be fair, she was right. Shining would likely have cut his losses and sent the information about Chrysalis up the chain before letting a changeling with that kind of magic near his sister.
Which brought up another point. "Trojan," I began, keeping my voice as neutral as possible. "I have to ask. Are you a danger to us, to Twilight? Are you going to—"
"No." Her reply was clipped, her expression static. "I don't use the same... I don't have that pathos ruling me like that changeling you fought before."
"Pathos?" Spike cut in.
"It's what we call it," Trojan shrugged, glancing to the side. "It just means 'suffering'. Some of us... revel in it, unfortunately, and look, can we move on, please?" Her ears folded back in discomfort.
Fair enough. "If I'm going to keep you on this mission, you need to tell us everything," I stated plainly. "About this magic. Why you had to hide it from us. What's really going on here, Trojan?"
She blinked, meeting my gaze again, though with a strange sense of impassivity. "You can't get rid of me. You can only do this mission because I'm here, so don't think for a second you can bully me like your fellow toy soldiers."
"Not yet, anyway," I half-snarled.
This time, Trojan flinched. "What did you just say?"
"I said, 'not yet'. As in, your future is becoming increasingly murky, Trojan." I pointed a hoof towards her in punctuation, sighting down the leg as though with a crossbow.
Spike slipped between us, extending his arms to keep us separate. “Hey, hey, let’s calm down you two. We're on the same team here.”
I gently nudged Spike’s hand down with my hoof. “Not now, Spike. She hid critical information from us that placed everypony at risk. There’s no telling what else she could be hiding, and if I’m going to trust her, I need to know everything.”
“Correction: if you’re going to trust a changeling, you need to know everything.” Trojan quipped.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Spike asked.
I growled under my breath. “That’s not what I meant, you manipulative little—”
I stopped to take a breath. I couldn’t let myself play into her game. I needed to make my point and retain control of the situation. “Look, you being a changeling has nothing to do with it. Point is, if you can’t be upfront with us, I can’t let you be part of this operation.”
“Alright, I’ll entertain this farce of yours.” Trojan smiled coyly. “Tell me then; why do you think you can do this mission without me? Shiny tried just about everything to see what made me tick. Why do you think you can solve something where your boss, who is far more capable and intelligent, couldn’t? Huh?”
“It was likely Shining didn’t know about this hate magic… or 'pathos', which you’ve kept concealed until now. Now that we have a better understanding of what’s going on, not to mention a helpful volunteer locked away in the empire, we can work to uncover this crazy magic and find Chrysalis without you.”
“Interesting. If you caught me when I was still a hatchling, you might’ve pulled that fast one over my eyes. But I know you’re bluffing just to try and pry more information out of me. You can’t lie to a changeling. Our ability to sense emotions as well as our intimate understanding of your physiology makes that impossible.”
I couldn’t deny that I was actually bluffing. I didn't need to test that to believe she could detect lies. Considering how she managed to hide this much information until this point, I’m inclined to trust that. Unfortunately for her, I’d had to deal with my fair share of liars in my time and knew how to beat her at her own game. “I’ll concede that you caught me bluffing, as I have no idea how much information we could actually pull out of that changeling. However, that doesn’t matter since I know how to pry the information out of you.”
“How so? Gonna tickle me into submission? Threaten me?” Trojan sneered. I couldn’t detect a hint of nervousness or change of expression. Time to fix that.
“I’m going to tell Twilight everything.”
Trojan’s face morphed into a furious expression. That hit home.
Spike gaped at me. “W-what? Already? But weren’t you saying that you couldn’t tell her because of how she would react?”
“You’re right, Spike. Normally, I would stay true to Shining’s orders and stay silent. But I’ve just confirmed the threat of the changelings in Ponyville, not to mention this bizarre magic that’s been affecting the populace. Once I fully explain the situation and give Twilight the assurance of our shield chokers, we can put our heads together and come up with a plan. With or without Trojan’s help,” I emphasized while directing my attention to said changeling.
“I don’t know what game you’re playing, but telling Twilight would cause more problems than you think. You will get her killed and ruin what chance we have at getting to Chrysalis.” I saw the tiniest twitch in her features. Her facade was cracking.
“I’m not going to let that happen, and it’s a risk I will have to take if I’m forced to do so. That is, if you don’t have another reason for me not telling her the truth.”
Trojan's voice turned low, and dangerous. “You can’t tell her. Not yet.”
“And why not?”
“If Twilight knows what’s going on, there’s no way she’s going to sit still and just let it happen. She’s going to investigate. She’s going to be suspicious. Habits will change. Questions will be asked. And believe me, they will know she’s onto them, and that will put the nail in our coffin. And if you don’t believe how deep our information network is, just ask Shining where he got most of that data in the mission file from.”
Well, now. That was some important intel she dropped. If most changelings were privy to such intimate levels of information about Twilight and her friends, that would make my life far more difficult than I thought. It was a surprising amount of information for Trojan to let slip like that. Perhaps she had more difficulty controlling herself under duress than I thought.
The fact that she was a carrier for that pathos only amplified my worries dealing with her on this high-risk mission.
“While I’m willing to believe they might be able to figure out we’re onto them from Twilight’s possible change in behavior, we can use that against them as well,” I said. “After all, they don’t know you’re with us, nor that we’re aware of the knowledge they possess. Something would change in their tactics, and that’s when we would catch them. You’re running out of excuses as to why not to tell her now, Trojan.”
Surprisingly, she didn’t say anything.
I expected some sort of comeback or even something to slip around my reasoning. Instead, she seemed constipated like she was getting sick. Spike shifted nervously as the tension between us thickened. “Trojan? Are you alright?” Spike asked.
I couldn’t tell if she was scared or struggling with whatever she was trying to keep secret. Maybe both. But there was only one way to find out. “I’m going to assume you don’t have any other excuses to hide behind, so I’m going now—”
“Wait!” Trojan called out just as my hoof touched the door handle. I turned to face her, keeping my face passive and patient. “Just… before I mention anything, there’s something I need to know about you.”
“Me?” I had no idea where she was going with this, but I’m hoping this meant she was willing to give me something to assure me I could trust her on some level.
“What made you help me last night?”
It took a moment for me to recall what she was referring to. With all of those magic bolts flying at us during the fight, it was indeed a grim situation. The look on Spike’s face told me he wanted to be in the loop. “She’s referring to when the hateling was raining magic bolts on us, and all we had to keep us alive was a tree. I volunteered love energy to help her drain the monster.”
At the word 'monster', Trojan’s gaze lowered to the floor. Right. I had to remember the hateling we took down was also her comrade at some point.
“Yikes,” Spike breathed. “But wait, that doesn’t seem like a mystery. You guys were in danger, and Flash probably had the idea of giving you energy to beat it. Just like when I gave you my energy to help you wipe Pinkie Pie’s memory.”
“If it were anypony else, I would buy that.” Trojan’s suspicious gaze fell on me. “But I felt something else in him at the time, and it doesn’t make sense, especially considering it was only a few days ago when he tried to kill me during our first meeting.”
“W-w-what?!” Spike paled as he slowly turned to look at me. “Is she telling the truth? Did you really try to kill her?”
Well, buck. We’re going this direction.
I was uncomfortable talking about this in front of Spike. Or anypony, for that matter. But if talking about it meant Trojan would come clean, then I had to stallion up and deal with it...one on one with Trojan. “It’s… not one of my proudest moments, I admit. It’s complicated. Say, could you step out for a bit, Spike? I need to discuss something privately with Trojan.”
“Oh no, you don’t.” Trojan said as she slung her leg around Spike’s shoulders. “It’s like you said earlier; Spike’s part of our little team. And it’s going to be important, now more than ever, that he knows what’s going on in your head.”
What did she mean by that? Was I missing something here? Regardless, I needed to put my hoof down rather than let Trojan continue manipulating the situation. Spike didn’t need to hear this. Especially not after how badly I embarrassed myself in front of him yesterday. “I’m not disregarding him as a team member, but this matter is private.”
Spike wore a thoughtful look for a moment as his eyes darted between us. His face then twisted into a determined frown as he carefully removed Trojan’s leg and gave me a hard look. “I’ll stay here with you, Flash.”
“Please, Spike. I’m only asking—”
“I know what you’re asking, Flash, but I’m telling you that I promise not to judge you, no matter what it is. I think you’re a good guy, no matter how bad the stuff you got going on is.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the dragon. While it didn’t make what I was going to talk about any easier, it was reassuring to know my respect for the drake wasn’t misplaced. I took a deep breath or two to brace myself.
“To answer your question, Trojan, it was pure luck and instinct I even thought to give you my energy. When I witnessed how hard you were fighting to both keep me alive and deal with the hateling, I thought to myself that maybe, just maybe, I could give you a real chance to earn my trust.”
“That’s the part I don’t get,” Trojan said. “From what Shining warned me about and your reaction to our first meeting, I was pretty sure you hated me.”
And now for the difficult part. “I don’t hate you. I hate what you are.”
The atmosphere immediately turned awkward.
Spike looked decidedly uncomfortable while Trojan looked both irritated and confused. It was a fair response. “That doesn’t make sense. How could you hate changelings and not hate me?” Trojan asked.
“Like I said before, it’s complicated. Point is, I can kind of tolerate you as a personality. At least, what you show yourself to be so far. But the less I have to deal with your kind, the better. If I never saw a changeling again in my life, I would not shed a tear.”
I would be lying if I said I was not venting my frustrations a little, but there was no point in beating around the bush. Just thinking about it made my blood pressure rise, and it was evident in my tone towards Trojan. “There. Are you ready to talk now?”
Trojan closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out in a long, cleansing sigh.
“When my brethren and I were banished from Canterlot, we were sent flying further than we expected. All the way to the frozen north.”
“That far?” I blinked, genuinely surprised. I knew they were pushed outside Equestrian bounds, but there’s very little, if any, life that far out that’s known. Combined with the size of the invasion force… “How in the world did you all survive?”
“A lot of us didn’t. The tundras of the north is practically a loveless zone. Were it not for Mother... that is, Chrysalis, we would have died long ago. We were forced to survive and scrape for every ounce of food and emotion we could get for about a year, our numbers dropping every single day. If you think you have a shitty life, try waking up every night to see one of your family members starve to death.”
That was… damn, I couldn’t find the heart to stay mad at her. On a certain level, I could relate to that pain.
Trojan walked towards the balcony, staring out into space. “One day, we took shelter in some weird-looking structure. Looked abandoned and ancient. It was there we met… someone. Thanks to my mother, he was able to integrate with our hive mind link and infused us with the dark magic you two saw earlier. He also helped us survive and adapt to the harsh tundras while we grew in strength and numbers. Rather than rely solely on devouring positive emotions like love, we could also feed off of negative emotions, such as hatred.
"But nothing is without a price. In return for survivability and new abilities, we were tasked to spread hatred, conflict and corruption as far as we could.”
This explained quite a few things. While I’m not sure what this had to do with her keeping it a secret, I at least knew the origins of where this power came from. “Who is this creature you met, exactly? What is he?”
“Wish I knew. Mother refused to tell us anything about him, but we could always feel his chilling presence in the hive mind network. He learned quickly how much we valued information and worked hard to deny us that, likely ensuring we didn’t find a way to deal with him. The important thing here is the last order I was able to catch wind of before I severed my connection of the hive. He’s after something big, and it involves Twilight. That’s the only reason she hasn’t been killed sooner, where we had plenty of opportunity.
“I don’t know why or what’s going on, but if they find out Twilight’s friends are onto their plan, they will most certainly accelerate their plans and be impossible to stop. I need to figure out what this creature Mother met is really planning before they wise up and cover up any chances I have of figuring it out or he decides we’re enough of a threat to be killed outright. Once we figure that out, I will personally reveal everything to Twilight.”
For once, I felt Trojan was actually being straight with me, but this made the situation far worse than I could’ve expected. Not only did we have to deal with the changelings, but had to deal with an unknown quantity who was influencing the changelings. I was reminded of that unsettling feeling I got when I saw that mist of pathos energy coming off Pinkie Pie.
“Trojan, why couldn’t you have told us this from the beginning?” I asked. “Had you just told us all this from the start, we could’ve come up with better countermeasures to deal with this unknown quantity and stop Chrysalis.”
“I have my reasons. Let’s leave it at that and move on to something actually important, like our next move. Luckily, I don’t think that hateling managed to alert our presence, but they’re going to be investigating the loss of their infiltrator. Probably think he’s dead since we’ve severed him from the hive link.”
“Speaking of which, can’t we interrogate him for information about their plans?” I inquired.
Trojan shook her head. “Once I got a good look at him, I knew he was a lower ranked changeling. We would have to find a changeling of a higher rank among them to get the information we need. Because of stifling presence in the hive mind network thanks to Mother’s bastard of a partner, there should be a very limited number of changelings who are able to communicate to the rest of the hive. Those are the ones I need to find.”
“Can’t forget about Twilight,” Spike said. “I get the whole secretive thing, but there’s no way she’s going to sit still when she believes there are magical Timberwolves hurting the citizens. We’ll need to keep her busy with something until we figure out Chrysalis’s plans.”
As much as I don’t like the idea, if telling Twilight too early posed that much of a risk, then holding off a little longer was the lesser of the two evils. Between keeping Twilight occupied long enough for us to find out the information first and staying one step ahead of our enemies to get their intel, I was going to have my hooves full. Me being injured wasn't helping matters either, and they were likely to look for ponies who looked injured.
I paced back and forth, considering what I'd learned. This mysterious creature gave dark magic to the changelings and were making them spread hatred. However, he was after Twilight for some specific purpose he didn’t reveal. There was something wrong with this picture from what I was told initially.
“Trojan, didn’t you say Chrysalis was trying to assassinate Twilight?”
There was a brief pause. “Chrysalis is still after Twilight, make no mistake. Twilight is at risk of being killed at anytime, which is why it’s imperative to not give my brethren a reason to kill Twilight sooner.”
Something didn’t feel right about that answer, but I had a more important task to deal with. We needed to find a changeling who would have knowledge of what Chrysalis and her partner’s plans were, but keep a low profile and keep them from harming or corrupting Twilight and her friends at the same time. We needed a solid plan, but there wasn't enough information to go on.
Wait, that was it!
“Until I'm fully recovered, I need eyes on the ground and intel on the changelings. Trojan, I need you to get your consultation office up and running as fast as possible. Spike, you will be playing a critical role in being a liaison between Trojan and I. Just be careful and keep a low profile while moving between us.”
“I got Spike covered. After all, he’s a nice little drake who is humoring the overprotective sister who wants to keep her brother out of trouble. Or whatever we come up with if somepony starts asking too many questions.” Though Trojan was looking at Spike as she spoke, I caught a smirk and sideways wink aimed at me.
“That sounds fine. Just be careful and get whatever information you can. Numbers. Bases of operation. Anything. Knowledge is power, and we can’t stay outpaced like this. Any questions?”
Trojan turned to face me, a wary look in her features. “As for keeping this operation confidential?”
“I’ll do so in one condition: You cannot let anypony—or drake—die or get seriously hurt.”
“You can’t seriously expect me to keep a promise like that,” Trojan argued. “What if an accident happens that I can’t control, or saving them puts us all at risk?”
I smiled. “Then you better get creative.”
Trojan frowned. “That is pure foolishness and unrealistic! Sometimes, a situation calls for a sacrifice for the greater good.”
“And I’ll make that call when it comes time for it. Until then, I am not budging on the issue.”
Thinking back to last night, Trojan had shown she was capable of compassion and teamwork. Rather than continue my harsh streak, I opted for a more reasonable route. “Despite my personal feelings and our differences, I want to trust you, Trojan. I know it's a selfish request, and I may seem heartless after you saved my life last night, but I need you to show me that you can be trusted. If you could show me that the lives of Equestrian citizens are safe in your hooves, I’m willing to meet you halfway. In a world of compromise, we can’t always get what we want, but we can at least work together to find a middle ground that works out for both of us.”
“Trust goes both ways…” Trojan muttered.
“What was that?”
Trojan perked up, almost as if I’d caught her off guard. “I said fine. But you better make damn sure she doesn’t find out changelings are in the area.”
“On my honor as a royal guard, I will uphold that promise as long as you uphold yours.” As long as I could, anyway. Realizing Spike had not said anything, I noticed him thinking deeply to himself, brow furrowed and arms crossed.
Suddenly, he perked up. “I have an idea that can really help us out!”
We both turned to Spike, who brandished a huge grin. “Got something in mind there, Spike?” I inquired.
“Yep! I’ve been working on it for awhile. Normally, I'm able to send dragon mail to other ponies using my magic. But last year I came up with a really awesome way to use it to send secret messages that only dragons are able to detect. All I have to do is cast an enchantment on you two, and you two can communicate with me anywhere, anytime! I call it the Dragon Whisper!”
“That’s a brilliant idea, Spike!” I praised. The ability to stay in contact with these two at long distances would be absolutely critical in maintaining stable communications.
“Eh, I guess it’s better than nothing, Shortcake. Certainly no hive link.” Trojan shrugged.
“Anyway,” Spike glared at Trojan, “it’s really simple. I just need you two to stand still and relax while I prepare the spell.”
As we did as instructed, Spike took in a deep breath and breathed greenish flames over his palms. Once the flames dissipated, a glow emanated over his palms which he pressed against our chests. His hands were hot to the touch, but not painfully so. For a few seconds I felt a warmth wash over me that made my skin tingle. It only lasted for a few seconds, but then I felt normal as he retracted his palms and stepped back.
“That’s it?” I asked.
“Yep. Now to test it. Just keep in mind that whenever you want to talk to me, place your hoof where I touched you and picture me in your mind. You should feel a warm sensation that lets you know you've got a link with me. Here, let’s try it!” Spike practically skipped out the room as he disappeared around the corner.
“I’ll bet bits he’s just excited he gets to use this for a military purpose,” I mused.
Trojan quirked an eyebrow. “Oh really? And what makes you think that?”
“Because I’m stoked about this too!”
Trojan smirked as she rolled her eyes. “Leave it to you boys to get excited over the silliest things.”
“Hey, not all of us had the opportunity to have crazy communication powers from birth. Can’t be helped if we know how to appreciate talents like Spike.”
“I guess so. Too bad you can’t--wait, hold on.” Trojan placed her hoof on her chest. Her eyes slowly widened. “Holy crap, this actually works!”
“Really? But I don’t hear any--”
“Dragonfly calling T-Bolt, can you hear me? Over.”
I nearly jumped out of my skin. It was as if Spike was whispering directly in my ear. Hoof to chest, I mentally pictured Spike standing in front of me. I grinned at the use of the made-up callsigns. He really was excited to use this for the military operation. “Copy that, Dragonfly. This is T-Bolt, reading you loud and clear. Over.”
“Perfect. Hey, I’m going to run by the kitchen and get us something to eat. Do you want anything?” Rather than responding, I said nothing, waiting for him to catch on. “Uh, hello? Flash?”
“Forgot your communication protocols already, Dragonfly? When you’re done, you’re supposed to say over. That’s how that somepony knows you finished talking. Over.” I snickered, catching Trojan shaking her head while barely holding back a grin.
“Ehehe, sorry about that T-Bolt. Do you have any request for the fridge? Over.”
“Anything’s fine. Grab what isn’t nailed to the ground and bring it home. Over.”
“Aye aye, T-Bolt. Over.”
“Such a silly pony you are.” Trojan chuckled as she walked past me and towards the door. “I’ll keep contact if I notice anything. Stay low and try not to leave the castle if you can help it. Keep me posted on Twilight’s movements and if anything seems off, even if you think it might be nothing.”
With that, Trojan left, leaving me to saunter over to my bed and collapse on it. I felt like I was forgetting something, but there were far more important things to deal with. Since I was going to be stuck in the castle for a while, that would give me an opportunity to see what defenses I could get set up just in case things went south. There was also the matter of dealing with Twilight and making sure she didn't find out changelings were in the area.
An interesting thought came to mind as I laid on my bed. After all, I was going to have quite a bit of down time, and I needed to make sure my team was in top form when danger came to us. Can’t succumb to complacency, after all.
Placing a hoof on my chest, I reached out to Spike.
“Hey Spike, how would you like to get some official royal guard training?”