//------------------------------// // 38 - Intruder // Story: Change // by tom117z //------------------------------// The Crystal Empire Scarlet was shaking. She was nervous. She was scared. She was excited. There were so many emotions that ran through her system as Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor got up to leave the dining room, leaving her and her husband alone. They had just finished eating an exquisite lunch prepared by the palace’s chief chef, a rather young, but enthusiastic crystal pony who had apparently been bouncing on the walls when the princess had offered him the position soon after King Sombra was defeated and killed. The dining room itself had the same crystal architecture as everything else in the empire, with two types of banners decorating the walls; the first banner type had Shining Armor’s cutie mark and the other Princess Cadance’s. A large chandelier hung above the table, and the table itself was decorated with several crystalline candle holders atop a blue and pink table cloth. Vladimir hadn’t attended lunch with them, as he was visiting a friend who had volunteered to join and train new members of the crystal guard when the empire returned. As for Cadance and Shining Armor, their meals were eaten and royal duties called out to them both. Broad Sword had finished his, but Scarlet Snow was being deliberately slow in eating her dessert. Cadance paused halfway through the door, and turned to them. “We are sorry to leave you like this, but my court is to start soon,” she apologised. “And Shining has to go and meet with some of the guard. Will you two be alright?” “We’ll be fine,” Broad Sword assured. “Once Scarlet has finished her meal I’m sure we can think of something to do.” “Well, alright then,” Cadance conceded. “If you need anything, I’m sure any of the palace guard or staff will be willing to help. Have fun you two.” Nodding her head slightly, Cadance slipped from the room. Scarlet sighed in relief as Cadance left the room. Now it was just her and Broad Sword left together. If there was ever a time to reveal the ‘small’ fact that she was pregnant with his child, now was the time. “Out with it then,” Broad Sword chuckled. Scarlet gawked at her husband. “I’m sorry?” “You’re fighting, going slow with your food. You want to tell me something and wanted us to be alone to say it. I assume it has to do with what you tried to tell me yesterday?” “Y-yes,” Scarlet lowered her spoon next to her vanilla and chocolate ice cream dessert. “There is something I have wanted to tell you. I went to the doctors just before we left, I had a test done.” Broad Sword adopted a concerned expression. “Test? Is something wrong, you’re not ill are you?” “No!” Scarlet said quickly. “Nothing is wrong, the complete opposite in fact!” Now that she had his undivided attention, and with nothing stopping her, no distraction, it was time. She breathed deeply in and out a few times to calm her growing nerves, and then opened her mouth. “Honey, something wonderful has-" Just then, because obviously some cruel outside force just loved to mess with them, the doors to the dining room flung open and slammed heavily against the wall, chipping the crystal. Moments later Shining Armor, Vladimir and another orange Pegasus guard came running in. Scarlet’s face slammed into the table from sheer exasperation. “Scarlet, Broad Sword, we need you to come quickly!” Shining waved the two towards him. The two ponies scrambled from the seats and headed towards the crystal prince, the urgency apparent in his posture. “Shining? What happened?” Broad Sword asked hurriedly. Shining gestured to the Pegasus and Thestral beside him. “Vladimir and Flash Sentry caught a changeling trying to take the crystal heart!” “What?!” both ponies shouted at the news. Shining turned to the Pegasus. “Sentry, go gather the rest of the guard. I want this changeling found!” “Yes, your highness!” the Pegasus saluted, and then galloped off to carry out his orders. “Vladimir, Broad Sword and Scarlet, you three are with me.” “Do we have any idea which hive the drone belongs to?” Broad Sword asked. “No idea,” Vladimir answered. “Shining, could your sister help with that?” Shining Armor shook his head. “No, she and Chrysalis would have already departed for the Council and will be out of reach. We are on our own.” “Council?” Vladimir asked questioningly. “What council?” “Queens' Council, long story,” Shining dismissed. “Twily has only told me a bit in her letters.” “Well, she may have young Spike with her. Why not send a letter?” “No, she’s going to be under enough pressure. The last thing she need is to be worrying about us.” “What else can you tell us?” Scarlet interjected. Vladimir shrugged. “Not much. There was one, couldn’t tell the gender from a distance. The changeling ran as soon as Flash and I spotted it. But where there is one there could be more, and I could see an opportunistic queen trying to gain the heart for themselves. The amount of love in that thing would make a queen more powerful than any of our own princesses or even the other queens.” “Agreed,” Shining said. “Which is why it must be defended. I will have the guard stay close to it while this threat is present, anypony who approaches will be subject to a scanning spell just to be safe. As for us, we are going to catch ourselves a changeling.” Earlier That Day Soronis tried to stay calm as she walked down the pathway on the side of the grand highway leading directly to the palace. The giant gleaming jewel sprawled out before her, and her objective lay beneath it. She kept her breathing steady as she passed all sorts of ponies. Families, young couples going on their first date, and one odd pegasus visitor to the empire who flew into a shop’s sign and plonked down onto the path. The mare just didn’t know what went wrong. After several more minutes of walking, during which she passed by several establishments and she tried not to make eye contact with any of the city’s many ponies. Soronis finally came up on her destination; in front of her the crystal palace itself sat what just seemed like mere metres away. She could even see the heart as it gently span on its pedestal. Soronis began to move towards the heart, but stopped when she saw the four large archways that made up the palace’s base were roped off with guards standing in front of them, keeping out trespassers. She had guessed it wouldn’t be as easy as just walking up to the thing. Concealing herself in a nearby shadow covered alleyway, Soronis sat in darkness for a while, watching the guards as they patrolled around the city centre. Eventually she came up with a plan, and reluctantly carried it out. She waited for about an hour, and then she finally spotted a lone guard exiting the palace, still in his armour. However, his relaxed demeanour compared to the stone faces of his peers gave away that he had just come off duty, and was heading home for the day. The guard had a golden shimmering crystal coat and an orange mane, it contrasted slightly with the blue and purple colouration most crystal ponies had. The young changeling waited as the guard passed the checkpoint unopposed and walked across the street, and as luck would have it, right past the alleyway Soronis was hiding in. She emerged as he passed. “Help, please!” Soronis called out to the guard. The guard stopped in his tracks and spun to spot the owner of the voice. “Ma’am?” He slipped back into his trained professionalism. “What is the matter?” “It’s my baby sister!” Soronis lied. “She is hurt really bad, and she needs help, please!” “Oh shit,” Soronis heard the guard mutter under his breath. “Hold on ma’am, I will get help.” “No!” she objected. “She needs help now, it can’t wait.” The guard considered for a few moment, but then nodded. “Alright ma’am, it will be OK. Can you take me to her?” Soronis nodded and turned back towards the alleyway, motioning the guard to follow. The crystal pony guard quickly followed Soronis down an alleyway. Soronis kept slightly ahead of him, and then turned a sharp corner. When he also turned the corner he was met with the black shape of a changeling drone, a drone whose horn was glowing a bright green as she charged a spell. “By crystals!” the guard shouted in surprise, quickly reaching for his holstered blade. Only for a green bolt to shoot from the changeling’s horn and impact the pony in the face. The guard slumped to the floor, unconscious. Soronis stayed frozen for a few moment, before releasing the breath she had been holding in. “Sorry,” Soronis whispered apologetically as she removed the guard’s armour and weapons, a green glow filling the alley a moment later as she took his form. Soronis shuddered, not being a fan of taking a disguise of the opposite gender. But desperate times called for desperate measures. She lifted and put on his armour and armaments, before making sure the guard was OK, and placing a basic sleeping spell on him for good measure. Her time in her hive’s library studying magical theory had paid off. She missed that library. She missed her family. She missed it all. Soronis fought back tears as she banished thoughts of her destroyed home from her mind. After regaining her composure, she made her way out of the alley and back towards the castle. “Golden Flash,” one of the guards greeted as the disguised Soronis approached the roped off area. “I though you went home for the day?” “Yeah I…uh, forgot something in the barracks,” Soronis lied. “I just need to quickly retrieve it and then be on my way.” The guard, a lieutenant judging by the pin on his armor, shook his head. “You really should keep a better eye on your stuff, Private. Go on then.” “Thank you sir,” Soronis nodded, before passing by the guards and heading inwards, towards the doors leading into the palace at first. Soronis stopped a short way in, and examined her surroundings. She could see the guards around the edges were all facing outwards, not inwards. And there were few civilians passing by at the present time, and those who did were not paying any particular attention to the heart. Not knowing how long her luck would hold out, Soronis knew she had to act quickly. She turned away from the doors she was initially heading towards, and began to walk towards the heart at a brisk pace. She stopped just in front of the object, examining it in awe. She could feel the love energy it held just from proximity, and it was powerful. She was almost afraid of it, but something about it calmed her. And when she dropped her disguise and placed her horn on its surface it stopped spinning, and simply allowed her to extract some of the love stored within. She gently began to collect some of the love, promising mentally to only take as much as she needed, and not a drop more. The heart had, for whatever reason, placed its trust in her and she intended to keep that trust. And then everything went wrong. … “-the crystal ponies have really come a long way in the past few years,” Flash Sentry said to Vladimir as they walked down the staircase towards the entrance of the palace. “Credit where it was due, it wasn’t easy for them. Being a thousand years out of time and all that.” “I know what you mean,” Vladimir said. “You and the others did a good job training them and bringing them up to speed.” “They deserve the credit, not us,” Flash disputed. “We only helped when necessary. The crystal ponies are a tough group, given all they have been through.” “What about all you have been through?” Vladimir smirked. “Hitting on the Prince’s sister, for instance?” Flash groaned. “I did no such thing, we bumped into each other a while back and she acted… odd. Almost like she knew me or something. Didn’t stop Prince Armor from putting me on latrine duty for a month after the fact.” “Whatever happened to that mirror they were all fussing over anyway?” Vladimir asked. “Did you ever find out what that was all about?” “I have no idea what happened to the mirror,” Flash sighed. “As for why there was a big fuss over the thing, when I tried to look into it everything came back with a big red ‘classified’ stamp over everything. In the end we took the hint and left it well alone.” “Fair enough,” Vladimir said as they reached the doorway at the bottom of the stairs. Vladimir placed a hoof on one of the doors, and pulled it open. Flash Sentry exited the building first with Vladimir following behind and closing the large door as he went. “It still is weird though,” Vladimir said. “I wonder if that mirror- hey!” Vladimir suddenly shouted in panic. The two ponies both caught sight of a changeling drone in crystal guard armor interacting with the Crystal Heart, drawing energy out of it. “Stop that changeling!” Vladimir barked out as both he and Flash bolted towards it. … Soronis was nearly finished when she heard a voice from the palace entrance. “Stop that changeling!” Soronis instantly cut her connection and spun around. She spotted a Pegasus and thestral charging at her, the Pegasus had his sword drawn. Panic and dread immediately filled her being, and she quickly tore off her armour and flung it towards the two ponies with her magic, while simply dropping Golden Flash’s sword to the ground. The two ponies cursed as the armour collided with them, and Soronis took the opportunity to turn and dart in the opposite direction, giving a flap of her wings to boost her speed. Her panic only began to rise as all the other guards turned and also spotted her, a few arrows flew over her head as a few of those guards armed with crossbows opened fire. She flew towards the alleyway she had initially hid in, but had to go through a group of guards to get to it. One of the guards rushed forwards to meet her, sword raised. However, Soronis utilised some of the extraordinarily pure love energy from the heart to magically boost herself through the group, and those guards who did not jump out of the way were knocked to the ground in a heap. She quickly entered the alleyway, hoping the pursuing guards would stop for the unconscious Golden Flash and thus let her gain some ground between her and them. It partially worked, and those who didn’t stop soon lost sight of their target as she bobbed and weaved through the various alleys and backstreets. After what seemed like hours of flying through the empire, Soronis finally allowed herself to rest in the shadow of a large building. She tried to stop herself from hyperventilating as she processed what had just happened. The whole city would be on alert, every single pony would be looking for her. She had to get the love energy to Puellula, but she couldn’t return to the cellar. At least, not yet. Soronis realised she would have to wait until things calmed down before she could return. Doing otherwise could put Puellula at risk of being discovered if she was spotted or followed. She would just have to lay low until things calmed down, and try not to get caught. “Don’t worry Puellula, I will be there soon. Just hold on.”