The Changeling King Part 2: Kings' Gambit

by th3l0stch1ld

Change of Plans

Amor exited the prison cell, Chrysalis leaning all her weight into him. He handed the spear back to Avispa as he spoke.

“He’s telling the truth, their hive is in the hayseed swamps.”

Purity had a shocked look on her face. “But that’s on the other side of Equestria! What are they doing out here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? They’re looking for us.”

“And I think they found us.” Chrysalis said, still leaning against Amor and putting a hoof to her head.

“Mother, are you alright?”

“Yes, yes, it’s just a headache.”

Amor spoke up. “We’ll talk more about this tomorrow. For now we need to prepare ourselves. Escara, how have the soldiers been doing?”

“Great, sir. Our numbers have grown since last year. Our army alone numbers in the thousands, the hive possibly triples that.”

“Are they trained? How are they in combat?”

“As well as they ever will be. I’ve been training them myself. They’re great with swords, experts with spears, masters at stealth.”

“What about infiltration?”

“We haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“We may need it.”

“Yes sir.” Amor walked with Escara as far as the castle doors. He stopped at the top of the stairs and looked over the hive. The twenty buildings from two years ago still stand, but are now part of a much larger hive. Hundreds, thousands of homes were built, the tunnels were expanded over time, so large that the farthest walls of the cave cannot be seen from the castle anymore. Some of the changelings had to resort to pods on the roof of the cave for the time being as houses were built, no possessions to hold onto yet. The hatching chamber, a large tunnel-like area off to the side of the castle, was covered wall to wall with changelings, still too young to break out of their pods. The only way into the chamber is from an opening in the tunnel on the outside of the castle. But as Amor looked on at the growing empire, a cold thought filled his head. If this started with twenty changelings, how big has Hornet’s hive grown?

Chrysalis saw Amor’s worried expression. She put her head to his and nuzzled him for comfort. “We’ll be fine.”

“I hope.” She tried to hide it by giving a comforting smile, but she too was worried. She knew that if these changelings were as dangerous as she thought they were, they wouldn’t stop at the same point Purity’s hive would.
“Come, let’s get some sleep.”

As Chrysalis washed up before bed, Amor looked over the balcony connected to their room, recently added for him instead of flying to an open guard tower, which are never empty anymore. Chrysalis appeared in the room moments later, her mane still wet. She watched Amor from the bed until he closed the balcony door and joined her. “Amor, I’ve been thinking, about the captives. It’s getting to the point where the ones we have captured are becoming a threat.”

“You think we should kill them.”

“Well, yes.”

“And I think you’re right.” Amor sighed. “I was hoping to hold off, see if we could get any more information from them, but they’re no help. You know I hate killing changelings, but since we have to, I’ll give the order tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. If there is any chance they can get out, they’ll find it eventually.” He wrapped around Chrysalis. “And I couldn’t live with myself knowing such a threat is so close to you.”

Chrysalis smiled. “Alright, I’m getting tired, aren’t you?”

As if on cue, Amor yawned. “Yeah. Goodnight, my love.” Amor kissed Chrysalis on the head before lying his head down and closing his eyes.

Even though he was tired, it took him a few moments to actually sleep. In these moments, he found it helpful to listen for the noises around him, which are usually the occasional sigh and near silent breathing of his sleeping wife. It was enough to make him grin, until he began recalling events from the day. Why was that changeling so quick to tell us where the hive is? And on that note, how could I be so stupid as to forget about Chrysalis’s spell? Idiot. Let’s just hope our troops are ready for our attack on the hive. Chrysalis began to moan quietly, which Amor expected after casting that spell. He placed a cool hoof to her head to calm her, which apparently worked. With a quiet hum a damp rag hovered out of the bathroom and onto her head. Amor smiled as he looked at her sleeping peacefully. We need to prepare. If we can get the drop on them…we might…just… Amor’s thoughts drifted off there as he finally fell into a deep sleep. What he would wake to the next morning, though, would surprise even him.

Comments

[Razzy]

Foreshadowing!