Rescue from the Changeling Hive

by EKessler

Chapter 6: Hope

Rescue from the Changeling Hive

Chapter 6: Hope

From the blackness, Discord finally came to. He slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the darkness. It took a few seconds, but after a few blinks, he managed to see in front of himself. Right now, all he could see was a wall, and by the looks of its material, he must have still been in the hive. But where?

He moved his arms to pick himself up, but immediately found himself held in place. Something held his wrists to the floor. He tried moving his legs next, but found the same difficulties there as well. Not yet giving up, he tried arching his head upwards to have a better look around, instead finding that his neck was securely fastened to the floor as well, providing absolutely no freedom of movement. He couldn't even turn his head.

Still desperate to know where he was, he did his best to arch his eyes around the area, even managing to use his powers to shift them around to the back of his head to get a better look. This was more from necessity than enjoyment, as he sensed his abilities were being severely restrained, likely from the same magic that held him down. As he looked around, he finally saw how confined the dimensions were. He could see that he was being held in a hole in the wall, one of the many cells he had seen as he tried to find Chrysalis to begin with. The roof of the cell was extremely low to just accommodate his body's height from the floor, and the room was just long enough. He was lucky he wasn't claustrophobic.

"He's awake!"

His eyes then instantly rolled back into place as the strange voice surprised him. He turned his eyes to the source, finding two drones eyeing him from just outside the webbed green covering of the cell, their horns glowing constantly. He realized it must have been them who held him there.

"Eyes to yourself, demon!" hissed one of the drones, glaring at him.

He glared back, but turned away after a moment, not in the mood to fight, not that he could. It didn’t seem like there was a way out of there.

Unless…

Closing his eyes, he tried phasing through the restraints and into the floor. At first, it worked, as he could feel his middle body going through the floor. Unfortunately, just as he began extending the ability into the areas held by the restraints, a painful jolt rocketed through his body, effectively halting his efforts completely.

Figures, he thought, frustrated. The drones then laughed at him, seeing that his attempt had failed. He didn't bother to spare them a glare this time, though.

Saving his energy, at least for now, Discord thought back to the events that led him here to begin with. His thoughts immediately went back to his brief bout with the queen, that wretched witch who caused all of this. He remembered how she easily overpowered him, using her might that had only grown thanks to Screwball's love and devotion. The concept still made his stomach turn.

He then thought about the way she mocked him after he had lost, about how he had wasted his last chance to save Screwball in a blind effort to hurt her. Now that he was able, or, rather, forced to think about her words, he painfully realized how true they were.

Chrysalis herself allowed her anger to get the better of her and lost track of Screwball for the briefest of moments, and it was the opportunity he had been waiting for. Yet he allowed himself to be too enraged to see the opportunity to retrieve her. His rage resulted from his love and concern for Screwball, that much he didn't doubt about himself. What bothered him was that he had allowed something to overshadow her safety: revenge. The second Chrysalis struck her, the only thing he desired was the queen's pain, and that was what sealed their fate. He was blinded by the primitive desire for revenge, just as Celestia and Fluttershy had warned him, he now realized. He could have saved her, then and there, and he didn't. And now they had taken her once more.

He closed his eyes tight, trying to fight the guilt of failure that overcame him, but it was a losing fight. There was no way to escape, and he had no idea what became of Screwball. As far as he was concerned, all reasonable hope was lost. All that could possibly be left to do is to hope and pray that Screwball wasn't in pain. And maybe, just maybe, if fate is kind, another opportunity would present itself, and Discord wouldn't waste it again. He mentally promised himself that he wouldn't dare let his anger get in his way again, and that he would put Screwball first and get her free, if he only had one last chance.

But that simply wasn't the way the world worked.

---

With Discord incarcerated, the rest of the hive had finally settled down, for the most part at least. Most of the changelings went about their merry way once they were informed that the spirit of chaos was no longer roaming free among them. As such, security inside and out had been loosened slightly, and the insectoids were free to enter and leave the hive as they pleased once again. This led to much of the army that swarmed around the hive when Discord had arrived to retreat into their home. This was very lucky for the large group of ponies that began a slow ground approach to the hive as dusk began to fall upon the desert. At their head was Princess Celestia.

"Stallions," she called out, her voice just low enough to not attract the attention of the few changelings that still patrolled the air around the hive, "this is it." She turned around and waited until each of the few dozen Royal Guards had stopped to listen. "Inside that nest are two things: dozens of our citizens being held captive by a parasitic queen, and Discord, who has taken his own initiative to rescue somepony precious to himself, also being held captive by the queen." She saw the wary looks some of the guards gave her at the mention of his name, so she adopted a stern look as she continued. "Remember what I told you. He is here as an ally. His daughter is in there, and he came here by himself to rescue her. And as I have not yet heard from him, I can only assume he is still in there." She began pacing the ranks back and forth as she spoke, the guards' eyes following her. "As such, you are all under these orders: if any of you come across Discord or his daughter," she had described her to them as they traveled, "you are to assist them in any way they need, preferably to escape. And if any one of you come across...Queen Chrysalis," she paused, remembering the last time she encountered her, and how she was defeated, "you are to avoid her if at all possible, unless it is to assist Discord or any of the hostages we are here to rescue." She stayed her hooves and turned back to them. "Am I understood?" she shouted.

"Yes, Your Highness," cried every single guard in unison. They may have been wary of Celestia's choice of allies, but their resolve was not in question.

"Good," she called back. The Princess then turned to the hive, taking care to note how many changelings were circling the hive. "Pegasi, forward." At her word, the division of pegasi guards broke rank and stepped forward. "Take to the skies, and keep them off of us. Focus on keeping them outside the hive. Stay until I say otherwise."

"Yes, Your Highness," shouted the pegasi in unison as they bowed. Then, in almost perfect synchronization, they launched themselves into the sky.

From their safe position on the ground, Celestia and the others were able to see how well the pegasi guards engaged the changelings. Almost instantaneously, they swarmed round the guards in defense of the hive, and the battle was underway. Here and there, groups of three or four of each faction engaged each other in spectacular dogfights, tackling each other midair or, in the changelings' case, using magical attacks and disguise. However, it seemed difficult for them to hold a disguise while concentrating on aerial combat, much to the benefit of the pegasi.

Celestia then turned back and gestured forward. "With me," she commanded. The Earth pony and unicorn guards, about twenty in total, then followed her, keeping to the ground as the changelings were occupied high above them. They quickly made it to the enormous wall of the hive, spanning far beyond their sight.

Several unicorn guards then stepped up beside her. "Please, allow us, Your Highness," said the white stallion to her right.

"Very well." Celestia then stepped aside as the unicorns took their positions.

Light blue aura then covered the unicorns' horns as they lowered their heads slightly in the direction of the wall. In unison, beams of concentrated magical energy shot from their horns and struck different parts of the wall directly in front of them. They then began shifting them around, trailing the wall to form a perfect circle, the border digging deep into the wall. Once the circle was complete, the black unicorn in the center charged his own horn, much more than previously. Then, with a blast, he released his stored magic upon the wall, the large beam of energy breaking through the circle with ease. Once the smoke had cleared, they could all see the fruit of their labor: a perfectly circular wound in the wall, leading right into a tunnel that no doubt extended deeper into the hive.

"Excellent work, stallions," praised the white alicorn with a smile.

The black unicorn that blew the wall approached her. "Your Highness, with your permission, might I make a suggestion?" The Princess nodded. "If we were to divide our party into two groups, we could search the hive more quickly."

Celestia mulled it over for a second. "Very well, but nopony leaves the hive until all of us regroup."

The stallion bowed. "Of course, Your Highness." He then walked to the entrance and turned to the others. Without saying a word, roughly half of the unicorns and half of the Earth ponies broke rank and joined him. Together, they entered the fractured wall and departed down the left end of the tunnel. The other guards gathered around the Princess.

"Okay, then. Everypony, with me." They then departed down the opposite end of the tunnel.

---

A low rumbling in the ground shook Screwball. Trying to turn herself upright, she slowly opened her eyes. She quickly found herself in what looked like a simple hole in the wall, big enough to accommodate her and allow her room to stretch her legs, though it still looked painfully uninviting. At least it was a step up from the webbed cell she shared with the queen, primarily because she wasn't there.

She stood up, but quickly felt a tug at her neck. She looked behind herself to find a chain attached to the floor leading up to her neck. She put her hoof to her neck to feel a simple restraint, connecting her to the chain. She began tugging at it, not really expecting anything to happen.

"Save your strength, pony." Screwball quickly turned to the hissing voice, finding a drone behind a green webbing at the edge of the cell. "It's a useless effort. You aren't leaving that cell anytime soon." His voice was coldly indifferent, at least the way Screwball heard it. It was hard to detect emotion in a changeling's voice.

The pink filly sat back down, deciding it would be useless to argue. She instead let her mind wonder, and naturally, her thoughts returned to her father. For what seemed to her like the longest time now, she had feared for his safety, for one reason or another. She had discovered the thing that kept her company was a phony, Chrysalis in disguise, and that her father had to sneak through an entire hive just to save her. And when he finally found her, the queen had the gall to use her as a meat shield, threatening her safety to hold him at bay. Then the queen even struck her when she stood up for her father. And then…

Screwball then realized, she didn't know what became of her father, but judging by the fact that she was still held prisoner, she could guess that whatever he did, he must have lost. But what happened to him? Was he a prisoner also? Had he been thrown out of the hive? Was he…

She refused to think about it further. She closed the thoughts out of her mind. He was alive. She knew he was.

Still, she couldn't help but worry about him. After all, changelings weren't exactly known for their mercy. Then again, she knew her father had escaped worse circumstances. Like when he was stone…

---

Two Years Ago

Screwball had been alive for barely two days when it had happened. Her father, reshaping reality to his amusement, was simply cast into stone, forced to live as nothing more than a statue in Canterlot.

When that happened, the only kind of world Screwball ever knew was torn from her before she could truly begin to enjoy it. Spawned from her father's chaotic powers, she relished in the disharmony he so beautifully fabricated. But when he was taken away, the world she loved simply fell apart.

It wasn't even the disharmony itself she loved so much. It was the chimera that brought it to be. Though, she never really knew him as he was then. They had met just once during his reign over Ponyville, and it wasn't the ideal father-daughter moment. He did seem to like her, but she didn't think it was anything more than the care an artist would give to his painting, the same care he would give to all his works. To her father, it seemed she was nothing more than everything else he put out of place in the world, much like the chocolate rain or the sun rising in the west for a brief twelve seconds.

But it didn't matter to her. To her, he was her father, and she loved him. And she admired him. And as such, she admired his work, namely his merciless indifference to the fabric of reality. That is, she did until that existence fell apart around her. When Fluttershy and her friends encased him in stone and sent him to Canterlot, Screwball had nothing left. Her father, his world, everything she knew from the time of her creation was gone.

Ever since then, she just barely scraped by in Ponyville, now a town of order and predictability, just like the rest of the world. For a short while, perhaps a month, she didn't live that well of a life. She survived on handouts from the most generous in town, and slept wherever it was safe to do so. It wasn't a good way to live, but admittedly, the uncertainty of things were reminiscent of the world she missed. But it did little to fill the void.

She wouldn't live this way for long, however. Soon, she caught the attention of some ponies who believed she would be better off in the Ponyville Orphanage, and they didn't really give her much choice in the matter. Truth be told, she wasn't in favor of the idea, and her fears about the place were confirmed once they had settled her in.

Sure, it was a nice touch to have a roof over her head every night, but she did not feel like she belonged there. She was used to being on her own, so she wouldn't have to follow anypony else's rules. Now, she was thrust into a confined environment full of foals who mostly seemed much younger than her, she seeming to be more of a teenager. But she wasn't as emotionally mature as they were. She still dealt with being a chaos spawn in a world of order, only a few months old, and it still didn't sit well for her.

Unfortunately, she couldn't even socialize well with those who made an honest effort to reach out to her. As it turned out, Screwball wasn't exactly secretive about her origins, or about her father, and most others didn't take her very seriously. She could still remember the things they said to her.

Oh my gosh! Discord was just here, but it looks like you missed him.

If your dad's Discord, then Princess Luna is my mom!

Face it, Screwball. Your dad's not any more real than mine is.

It was so lonely there for her. The only person she felt comfortable around was the caretaker, a kind elderly mare who was in charge of the orphanage, but even she was slightly deterred by Screwball's claims to have been brought into existence by the chaos spirit. Screwball never, in that entire time, understood what was wrong with it.

For little over a year, that was Screwball's life: living in a home of order and consistency, a kind by which she was set on edge. She lived with many others, most of them completely indifferent or disrespectful to her existence. The only comfort she ever had was thinking of her father, the chimera that allowed her to exist. Though he wasn't there with her, she felt in the back of her mind that it wasn't his fault that he was gone. She always thought that if he could be with her, he would. Somehow, someway, she knew.

Then that day came. Screwball never saw it coming, but one completely average day, her orphanage was visited by a mare she never expected to see: the yellow pegasus she now knew to be Fluttershy. The second she saw her walk in, she was taken completely aback.

She took my father away from me, she thought as she watched her speak to the caretaker.

She never heard what Fluttershy said to her that day, but whatever she said seemed to annoy her. They both kept gesturing at Screwball, so she knew it was about her. Eventually, Fluttershy led her outside, the caretaker looking rather annoyed. When the mare came back in, she looked like she saw a ghost. Next thing Screwball knew, she was being led outside by her, the caretaker never speaking a word. She was wondering what it could possibly be, and what could have set her on edge like that.

Then she saw him, standing out in the open for everypony to see, next to Fluttershy, who looked so casual next to him. Now she saw what had surprised the caretaker so much. Here, right in front of her, was the chimera she had missed for so long.

"Screwball," Discord said when he saw her, looking quite elated. "Screwball, it's really you!"

She simply stood there, staring. Her expression betrayed neither happiness nor unhappiness. Her swirled eyes simply locked with Discord's, and she froze.

This appeared to worry him. "It's me, Discord. Your father. Do you remember me?" Again, there was no response. He looked to Fluttershy, and she appeared worried as well. But she gestured to Screwball, seeming to urge him on.

He then stepped closer to her, now standing right in front of her. He bent his body downward so their eyes would be level. "Screwball, something wonderful has happened. Fluttershy here has convinced Princess Celestia to let me be free. I'm free now!" He smiled briefly, but it went away when he saw that Screwball still wasn't responding. Her eyes never left his, though.

"Screwball, I know it has been a long time, and I know that I wasn't very…" He stopped, trying to find the right word. "…caring…when we first met, but…" He appeared to be having trouble, as he wasn't his playful self at the moment. He then took a deep breath and looked her dead in the eye. "It's been a long time, and I realize that, as I brought you into this world, I am, or should be, responsible for you. I created you, and…you deserve to have a…father in your life."

She still didn't respond, but her eyes began to glimmer.

"Screwball, I know I didn't care for you as much as I should have back then, and I know I haven't been around, so…I understand if you say no, but I…" He was immediately cut off by the filly, who lunged at him and wrapped her forelegs around his neck in as tight a hug as she could muster.

Now it was Discord who was silent. He completely froze as his daughter hugged him and broke down right there, sobbing into his shoulder. Over a year of pent up loneliness was poured out, right then and there, as Screwball was finally reunited with the one she loved the most.

"Yes, Daddy! Yes, I want to be with you! That's all I've ever wanted! I-I…" She couldn't bring herself to speak any more as Discord finally hugged her back, holding his daughter as she poured her soul out for him right then and there.

She didn't know how long they stood there, but nopony interrupted them as they held each other in that perfect moment. She didn't care about anything anymore. Chaos, order, nothing of the sort made any difference to her. Held in a tight embrace, she had all she could ever want right there.

---

Present Day

"Oh, come on! Don't do that," said the drone as Screwball snapped back to reality. Feeling her face, she felt tears in her fur, realizing that she had been crying for real as she reminisced. She looked to the guard, not quite showing that she acknowledged what he said. She wasn't sure, but there was a softness to his voice that she hadn't heard before.

"Don't cry, pony. Mother isn't going to hurt you, or your father. Just…have some dignity, for crying out loud." He then turned away, resuming his duties.

Did he mean it? She didn't know, but she settled her thoughts back on the present as she made herself comfortable in her cell. Screwball never thought she would be taking advice from a changeling, but she found herself holding her head a little higher anyway. It doesn't matter. I know my dad's alive, and I know this isn't over yet.

She closed her eyes, and the faintest twitch of a smile hit her face. That's why I believe in you, Dad. You came through for me when I needed you most. You came and saved me, just like you're going to do now. And that changeling is right. Until I see you again, I'm just going to have to keep hoping and stay strong. For you.

Comments

[Changeling-Drone]

celestia never split the party and you could have brought THE ELEMENTS

[Ellington]

Question: Why do you keep calling Discord a chimera?