Lazni was glad that they did not have to wait in the Mayor's residence before meeting her. The entire place smelled strongly of generations of ponies, a stench that was bad enough that it bothered her. She could only imagine how Pupae and Prominence must feel, as Lazni was never bothered by pony smell until now. They had been invited into a dining hall which had been furnished with crackers and tea, despite the late hour. The sun had gone down by the time the three were inside and seated, which fit them just fine. The stone fence surrounding the Mayor's residence allowed for a view of the flower garden from the dining room, but was limiting enough that no passerbys would see what was going to happen.
A grand table set with shining dishes reflected light form a magically lit chandler onto the tall glass windows that lined the east and northern walls of the room. Perhaps if this had been built on a coast the windows would have been more fulfilling, but Lazni couldn't see how it was fun to stare at a dead garden for a fourth of the year.
"So, your assistant has told me that you have brought news!" The mayor said jovially, seating herself carefully and picking up a cracker. Prominence gave Lazni a glance, and the nodded, standing up and approaching the other side of the table with Pupae, both of them looking down with a sense of purpose at the mayor.
"I will handle this, Prominence." Pupae said. "Lower the curtains and ensure that we are alone."
"Do not delegate these menial tasks to me, Pupae." Prominence responded harshly.
"W-What are you doing? What's going on?" the mayor suddenly was no longer jovial, her demeanor changing to one of fear. Rather than allow her a chance to scream for help, Prominence struck the mare sharply across the face with magical force, sending her tumbling onto the floor in a heap.
"Smooth." Pupae remarked, checking the crumpled elderly pony. "I wonder how many of her bones you broke."
"That hardly matters. Lazni! the curtains. Pupae, check the courthouse. Lazni and I shall check this building." Prominence commanded. Pupae begrudgingly turned and set off in the general direction of the courthouse, weaving her way through the unfamiliar home. Lazni used telekinesis to drop the curtains in the dining room, staring at the crumpled heap of pony on the floor. With two flashes of flame, Prominence and Lazni dropped their disguises. They needed to only give each other firm nods to understand each other, setting off over the rest of the house and securing the windows and doors, ensuring that no pony from outside would disturb them without their knowing.
As Lazni and Prominence were securing the upstairs bedrooms, Lazni felt her ears perk up. There had been a squeaking on the floorboards, as if somepony was going down the stairs.
"Prominence!" Lazni said hushedly. "I heard something going down the stairs."
Prominence narrowed her eyes, and then motioned for Lazni to follow behind her. They slowly crept down the stairs, staying in the shadows of the house. they did not need to get to close to hear somepony sobbing from the dining room-- although it was not befitting the mayor. Prominence stood up straight, not bothering to disguise herself as she rounded the corner. Lazni followed in her hoofsteps, breaking off once she was inside to block the other exit.
The chandler was still lit, and by it's light every detail of the scene before the two changelings was visible. A young filly who appeared to be barely of school age was cradling the mayor, who was breathing faintly. Lazni knew that Prominence had struck the elderly pony hard, but not hard enough to cause this much damage. Prominence stood completely still, her jaw hanging open slightly as she stared forward in horror. The filly paid no attention to the two visitors, and instead tried shaking their relative, calling them a mother of mothers as Lazni understood it, the filly begging for them to say something.
The entire scene was frozen in time, nothing daring to change. Prominence was slowly trying to slide herself away, her eyes wide and staring. There was no fire in her personality, something about what she was witnessing had doused her entire demeanor. Prominence's jaw shook as she tried to withdraw faster, staring at the broken body of one pony, and that of the younger one cradling it. Lazni knew that she had to take some action, she would have to act because Prominence could not.
With a burst of fire, Lazni disguised herself so as to not alarm the foal. she knew how to tend to Changelings, but it was a much easier matter to help a changeling grow new chitin than to fix the complex and fragile biology of a pony. "We need her to lay down." Lazni said, magically wrapping the mayor in energy and lifting her up, the Filly let out a gasp of protest, her eyes filled with tears as she charged at Lazni, tackling into her leg.
"Put her down!" the foal yelled, slamming her hooves and head against Lazni, biting and punching any inch of her she could. Lazni knew that she had her chitin to protect her, even if it was disguised at the moment, and ignored the slight trauma to her thin outer shell. She carried the mayor out of the room, heading up the stairs, the foal biting and gripping onto her leg.Prominence fell backwards, her face aghast as she watched the tireless foal attack Lazni without remorse or rationality. Lazni continued up the stairs, laying the mayor in the first bed she found and then wrapping a cover over her with magic.
"Stay with her. We must locate a healer. Is there a doctor in this town?" Lazni asked.
The foal let out a snort, followed by an angry neigh as they hugged their relative. Despite their sadness and fury, they were able to spit out one phrase, enough for Lazni to work with.
"Horseshoe street, Ol' Doc Whitebark." Lazni repeated. The filly nodded, her eyes burning with fire as she stared forward with a sentinel's gaze. Lazni nodded back to the filly, turning and entering into the hallway. Prominence was standing here, still with no disguise, looking on at the picture with emotion that had now changed to terror.
"Prominence. Princess Prominence!" Lazni said, tapping her on the shoulder with urgency.
"I-- yes?" Prominence asked, looking adrift in her own little world.
"I am going to locate a healer. We are not here to hurt ponies." Lazni said fiercely, continuing after she took a deep breath, "Please watch her and make sure she does not alert the guards?"
"I-- yes, of course." Prominence said, her voice drifting off into the night. Lazni sighed, hurrying down the stairs and coming face to face with Pupae as she returned from the courthouse.
"Ah, Lazni!" Pupae started. "The courthouse is cleared-- where is Princess Prominence?"
"Upstairs keeping watch on the ponies." Lazni said hurriedly, pushing past her. "Please do not disturb them, the smaller one enjoys a scrap."
"Ponies? As in more than one? Lazni!" Pupae called after Lazni as she galloped for the door. Pupae fluttered her wings and landed in front of her, blocking the door. "Why is she a concern? Did Prominence not simply subdue the other pony as well?"
"Because Prominence is too violent for her own good!" Lazni half closed her eyes and lit her horn up, feeling magic flow through it and throw Pupae to the side, freeing the path to the door. "Don't hurt her, just don't let her leave. and put on disguises!"
"Lazni, what is wrong with you? It's just a pony?" Pupae took a step back as soon as the words had left her maw. Lazni felt her face tighten as she leered at the queen before exiting the residence and magically slamming the door in her staring face.
The air outside was bitter and freezing, filled with the thickness of pre-winter chill that would make the faint of heart shudder in their chest as the first cold wave crashed upon them and washed away any memories of summer. Lazni was disguised as a pony, this much was true, but it did nothing to keep her warm. She could feel the cold biting into her eyes, ears, and nostrils, chilling her past the chitin and into her very soul.
Despite the cold, Lazni pushed herself through the streets, eventually reaching horseshoe street. She scanned the signs before finding one with "Doctor" in it's title. slamming her hoof on the door, Lazni waited outside.
and waited.
and knocked again...
Finally, a tired looking older pony answered the door, a much younger mare standing behind him. "The doctor was sleeping, and the sun is down. We're closed, come back tomorrow!" Lazni blinked at the pony referring to himself in third person, opening her mouth to protest.
"The mayor has collapsed! She needs help!" Lazni blurted out, putting her hoof in the doorway so that the pony could not close it.
"Get off my property before I call the guards!" The doctor said, shoving Lazni backwards. She found no balance and felt her backside crash into the cobblestone as she looked up at the slamming door. Lazni did her best to worm her way up, feeling pain shoot through her hindquarters in protest. Before she was fully up, the younger pony stepped outside, a bag in her mouth and an overly large red coat wrapped around her body and a smaller brown coat on her back.
"L-let's go-- and please, put this on. You'll catch cold." She said solemnly, nodding to Lazni before she set off down the road. Lazni did not argue with the mare, needing only to glance at the medical cross on the bag before complying. Although she had no doubt that Prominence and Pupae would poke fun at her, she didn't particularly care at the moment. She was very angry with Prominence's methods, Pupae being no better as she behaved with impunity.
The mayor's house was still dark when they stepped inside, and Lazni lit her horn for the pony, leading her up the stairs to where the mayor was resting. The mare set down her bag and opened it, pulling back the covers and reaching out to check for breathing and pulse in her patient. Prominence and Pupae, disguised, were standing next to the window, talking in hushed whispers and looking at the filly and now, the young mare that had joined their company.
"What happened?" The mare asked the gaggle of 'ponies.'
"We were having dinner with her and she suddenly collapsed." Pupae said, speaking for Prominence. Prominence still did not seem to have recovered herself completely, and the terror in her face was still plain for anyone close by to see. Lazni gave Pupae a glare at this, but didn't protest.
"You're not the doctor." The filly hissed at the mare, looking like she was considering having a go at the mare treating the mayor.
"His assistant and niece. I probably do a better job than he does." She said, replacing the covers over the mayor. "She needs rest, I'm not sure what is wrong with her. When she wakes up, I can do more. I'll stay here until that happens."
"Not like she has much choice." Pupae said, barely audible on the other side of the room. "Lazni, join us in the hallway." Pupae said. Lazni nodded, stepping into the hallway with the other two and staring up at both of them.
"What are you wearing?" Pupae asked. "Take that off and lets drop these disguises, I can't take this conversation seriously when we look like this."
Lazni nodded, assuming her normal form as Prominence and Pupae did the same. Now they stood in their true forms, Pupae giving a victorious smile.
"I believe that we will be able to seal off plenty of rooms in this manor and the courthouse, at least to begin things. In a week or two, we'll have this place looking like a proper hive, although on the surface everything will look normal."
"That's going to be a lot of work, and we don't have the numbers to get that work done. We're all exhausted from the trip..."
Pupae let out a mirthful giggle at Lazni's statement. "Lazni, Lazni. In that room there are two ponies ready to serve under Prominence. It's not the way I'd like to do this, but I won't lie that it's very effective." Lazni rounded on Prominence, who looked like she was about to puke her insides out onto the hardwood floors.
"Go on, Prominence. Go in there and subdue those other two ponies. Become the Queen we both know you want to be." Pupae was possessed with fervor, relishing the chance to finally dish out abuse rather than be Prominence's verbal punching bag.
Prominence sank to her knees, laying down in the hallway and staring at the door. Pupae gave a snort, opening the door and stepping inside as she said, "I knew you couldn't do it, coward." The door shut, leaving Lazni out in the hallway with the deteriorating Prominence.
"Prominence..." Lazni said, leaning down to her side and giving her a hug.
"I'm a monster." Prominence coughed.
"No you're not," Lazni said, brushing her side. "Overzealous, but not a monster. I understand-- we're going to need changelings and ponies to survive. There is strength in numbers." Prominence looked like she was about to start crying, and Lazni hurriedly tried her best to salvage the situation. "Prominence! They won't be ponies anymore, they'll be changelings. Better, improved, happy! they'll be free from the absurdity of their existence!"
"Is that how you truly see it?" Prominence asked, her voice a faint whisper. Lazni nodded to her. "I knew that would happen when we arrived here. We'd convert others. We'd grow as a new hive. Not a--- not like Hive Lalartu, but a better hive. One ruled by you and Pupae!"
Prominence was silent for a few minutes, leaning against Lazni. finally she looked up, her eyes resigned. "This town shall have two Hives. I will not bow to another queen again." A little strength returned to Prominence's voice, and she found the strength to rise to her hooves.
"Lazni, please fetch the nymph and the drones." Prominence whispered, stepping towards the door. It seemed to take an eternity for Prominence to twist open the door and step inside. Lazni made sure she was gone before Prominence began, knowing the filly and the doctor mare would be the first of many bound to the Changeling army.
Lazni shook her head. No, they weren't an army, they were a new hive. Armies existed to cause violence, and she didn't want to see anymore changelings or ponies getting hurt.
----
All six of the changeling spent the night in the Mayor's residence, Prominence taking on the role of the mayor and announcing that she was very busy with the news she had received and would not be taking any appointments. Lazni and Pupae helped the disguised Prominence close off the mayor's residence, leaving the courthouse mostly open to continue it's functions. By the time ponies were breaking for lunch Prominence was confident that the two was fooled, at least for the immediate future. She had invited Lazni to come and see the preparations for what would eventually become her hive, and Lazni complied. Pupae's drones had been hard at work, tirelessly trying to contribute not only to the future hive, but also to their survival.
Lazni learned that the more important reason that she had been invited to observe these preparations was to observe an upstairs room that had it's windows boarded up. There was a bathroom attached to the room, but other than the aminities of having running water all of the furniture had been removed or broken down.
"It turns out pony furniture breaks down well, I never knew that." Prominence said, showing the room to Lazni. the corners were now occupied by an oozing green substance that Lazni knew was sticky to the touch. Although changelings could slide through it in their chitin, any other creature would become hopelessly entangled.
"That's very good, because we're going to need a lot of it to insulate the hive walls, as well as all of it's general uses." Lazni said, her eyes turning away from the piles of ooze breaking down wooden and fabric remains of blankets, a mattress, and what she assumed was the bed frame, towards the far end of the room. here there were too cocoons, one much larger than the other but both having the same composition.
Prominence pointedly looked away from the cocoons as Lazni gazed inside, observing the ponies. Both the mare from the doctor's office and the small filly that had assaulted Lazni last night were curled up around themselves, sleeping warmly in their safe cocoons. Lazni felt oddly happy about this, as she knew the end result.
"We did the right thing for them, Prominence. They are very lucky that they are going to be able to evolve, rather than just being part of the herd."
"Yeah." Prominence's tone was emotionless and unreadable, but Lazni felt a throb from her... one of regret?
Lazni cocked her head at Prominence, asking, "Are you alright Prominence?"
"Yes. Yes, I'm fine." Prominence said absently. "Please uh-- keep an eye on these ponies. that is my task to you. You've always been better at rearing new drones than I have-- and I don't particularly care for the job."
"Of course, Prominence. Um..." Lazni trailed off at the last bit.
"Yes?" Prominence asked, pausing at the door of the room as she prepared to resume her disguise.
"Is it Princess Prominence, or Queen Prominence now?" Lazni asked.
Prominence's expression softened. "Princess Prominence, please. I like the ring it has, and I'm planning on taking up a far better title than merely 'queen.'" Lazni looked on after Prominence as she assumed the form of the mayor pony, heading down the stairs. Lazni ducked out and poked her head int other room where the mayor pony was sleepig, just confirming she was still alive before heading down the stairs, taking on the guise of a nondescript mayor's assistant.
==============
Underneath the earth, behind magical barriers designed to protect them and obscure them from those who would seek them out, a group of ponies gathered together in a living room setting. They had comfy sofas and chairs that possessed moth-eaten chew marks in unlikely places, but were otherwise grander than what any other residence in Raspberry Creek possessed. Five figures paused, none of them desiring to speak the obvious.
"They've finally arrived. that disappearance last night of the young mare coupled with the odd behaviour of our mayor is the trademark modus operandi of changelings." The youngest of the group said.
"There is no proof that the mare didn't simply run off on her own, she is at that age. Our mayor has also always been an eccentric one, perhaps she reacted poorly to whatever news she received?" said the next oldest.
"It matters not, there is no fault in caution. We should keep our guard up and be prepared to fight them if they have indeed visited our town." The second oldest said.
All of them nodded, the oldest of the five speaking out finally, "We have weathered this Changeling Empire for centuries, unable to spur our distant relatives into travelling this far to destroy them. We shall defeat these Changelings, if they are indeed Changelings, as we have always done." Once more, the group nodded solemnly, some of them secretly hoping that the incidents stopped. The younger ponies almost bouncing in their seats at the chance confront and destroy changelings, a spirit only matched by the hubris in their elders.