Urohringr

by Imploding Colon

Into This House We're Born

A dull bass reverberation boomed across the windswept air. Ebon Mane's and Eagle Eye's heads instantly turned from where the two ponies had set up a bonfire on the temple floor alongside the Noble Jury. Floydien peered curiously through the cockpit while Bellesmith and Zaid rushed up to the edge of the ship's tilted upper deck.

Rainwater was rolling off the balcony of the large round building immediately facing them. The heavy vibrations continued, culminating in a stream of dust that fell from one particular spot along the big structure's underbelly, followed by a column of loose bricks that trickled towards the distant temples hovering through the storm below.

At last, the rumbling ended, and the Jurists heard nothing but the consistent howl once again.

"Was..." Ebon stammered. "Was that thunder just now...?"

"No..." Floydien said, trotting out from the cockpit and peering over the ship's edge for a better look. "That was a different kind of glimmer."

"It came from inside the central temple," Eagle Eye thought out loud. He turned and glanced worriedly at the others. "I could have sworn..."

Belle's pupils shrank as she held Kera tighter. "Pilate..."

"Oh jeez..." Ebon Mane hissed through clenched teeth. "What could they have gotten themselves into?"

"Zaid?!" Eagle Eye exclaimed in a panicking tone.

The lanky stallion was already speaking into his sound stone. "Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash, this is the Noble Jury! Come in!"

Belle's eyes wandered twitchingly towards the temple floor as her blood went cold. Her breaths came in shallower and shallower bursts.

---

"Rainbow?! This ain't funny, girl! Say something!"

The sound stone broadcasted Zaid's voice in distorted waves, on account of the fractures that had formed in the enchanted shard's surface. The weight of several layers of mortar was crushing down on it, and Rainbow Dash wasn't any luckier.

"Nnnngh..." The pegasus stirred, opening her eyes to dust and dimness. Her ruby pendant illuminated a claustrophobic grave of bricks and ancient rock.

"Come on! Give us something! Let us hear your sexy voice!"

"Snnkt..." Rainbow inched forward, squirming through the rubble in a trembling attempt to reach the sound stone. She stretched a tender hoof ahead of her. "Don't... leave the Jury..." She wheezed and hissed. "Changeling... Prowse is... a ch-changeling..."

"Rainbow?! Is that you?! We can barely make out what you're saying! What was that loud noise just now?!"

"Darn it..." Rainbow growled. She stretched her wings, stretching the space out a bit more so she could have room to shimmy upwards. "Just st-stay where you are and don't... d-don't trust—"

A strong hoof suddenly reached down and snatched Rainbow by her forelimb.

The petite pegasus gasped, feeling herself yanked out of the rubble and into the hazy torchlight. Rainbow wheezed for breath, teetering with the weight of her pendant and saddlebags. "Unnngh... Thanks. Where're the others? Is anypony hurt—?"

The hoof immediately reached back, produced a tiny shiv, and sliced Rainbow across the fetlock.

"Gaaaah!" Rainbow immediately jerked back. Half a second later, she savagely bucked whoever it was in front of her. "Friggin' melon fudge!" She clutched her sliced forelimb, hissing like a kindergarten foal. "What was that for?!"

Seclorum stumbled backwards, catching his breath. He gripped the dagger while battered ponies helped each other to their hooves behind him. "Show us your hoof," he said.

"I'll show your muzzle your own sphincter, you dirty sonuva—"

"Show. Us." He glared while two stallions stood alongside him—a Xonan and a Ledomaritan. "Your. Hoof."

With a perplexed frown, Rainbow held her bleeding limb out. "There! For Luna's sake! Feast your eyes!"

Seclorum squinted at the blood leaking out of her wound, then stared closely at the red liquid on the edge of his shiv. His nostrils flared. "She's clean." He turned to look across the rubble-strewn interior. "Check the others."

Rainbow's mouth moved. "'Check... the others?'" She turned and instantly gasped. "Hey!"

Arcshod was levitating a tiny Xonan ceremonial dagger beside himself as he helped Pilate up.

"R-Rainbow?! What's going on? Where did Prowse—?" The zebra's face contorted in pain as he felt the cold kiss of a knife across his forelimb. "Aaaugh! Spark alive, that hurts!"

"Hey!" Rainbow rocketed across the compartment and rammed into the Xonan's side. "Buzz off! What's the big idea?!"

Arcshod fell on his flank, stunned and blinking. He snarled Rainbow's way and stumbled back up with a glowing horn. "Suliu'enna drennalakkan dressul thien, trenn'tessa!" Seclorum and another warrior held him back before he could charge the pegasus.

"Easy there, numb tongue," Seclorum muttered, his eyes glancing between Arcshod's dagger and Pilate's wound. "Also clean." He turned his head. "The rest?!"

"Secchy," Josho grumbled, shrugging off a pair of ponies as he stood up with a glare. "You'd better have a good explanation about this, old friend."

"All in good time." Seclorum motioned with his hoof. "The blonde one."

"For the love of soot, Seclorum!" An awkwardly familiar voice exclaimed. Rainbow Dash turned to see a thinner, weaker Prowse leaning his stub of a leg against a crutch. "She's my bloody niece!" the stallion snarled.

"That remains to be seen."

"Please, everypony..." Aatxe shuffled up to Props, snatching the shiv from a pony in front of her. He glanced back at the huddled equines with a sympathetic expression. "It's not like we have to butcher them." Sighing, he grasped Props' hoof and held the tip of the blade to it. "Sorry, sweetie. This will hurt a bit." He slashed swiftly.

"Ghhh!" Props clenched one eye shut, squirming noticeably. "Owie owie owie owie..."

Aatxe stared closely at the blade, his breaths coming and going quickly. After the blood stayed red, he exhaled with relief. "She's exactly who she looks like." He backtrotted and motioned towards the pale stallion behind him. "Congratulations, Prowse, on your happy reunion."

"Oh, bless my blighted beard..." Prowse lurched, limped, lunged forward, dropping his crutch and sweeping Props into a deep hug with one forelimb. "I never th-thought I'd see you again, lassie! You're a sight for this stallion's sore eyes..."

"I... I..." Props stared at him, lips quivering. "But, Unky Prowsy, I don't understand..."

"I imagine you don't..." He leaned back, smiling. But that grin soon faded. "The fact that you're here means that you've been deceived." He gulped, and frown hardened across his emaciated face. "And in the worse way."

"That..." Props gazed at the pile of rubble that the exploded prosthetic had made. "That other you was... was..."

"I never wanted this sort of rubbish to befall you, Propsicle." He caressed her mane as his eyes glazed over with tears. "What are you even doing out here?! Why didn't you stay home in Gray Smoke?"

"The shop was closed, Unky Prowsy!" she exclaimed, blue eyes wide. "Everything was cleared out! The ponies all around said that you had gone off on your long-awaited expedition! You..."

Prowse slowly, slowly shook his head.

Props blinked, her breath thin. "Y-you never meant to leave Gray Smoke, did you?"

"I went on a trading errand, Propsicle," he said. "I was captured, robbed of all my tools, and throttled unconscious. The next thing I knew—I was on a derelict zeppelin with several other ponies... most of which you see here." He gestured towards far ends of the firelit chamber. "We crashed into this bloody nightmare in the sky before I had a chance to take over the ship's controls. A lot of us didn't survive..."

"All this time..." Props winced. "I thought that he was you!" She gritted her teeth. "He looked like you... smelled like you... even talked like you!"

"Was he really me?" Prowse narrowed his eyes. "Or something that made you think he was me?"

Props blinked. "I... I..."

"Propsicle, lassie..." He smiled slightly as he caressed her chin. "'Th' lest time Ah talked loch thes was when Ah needed tae squeeze it a wee bit ay profit each week tae compete wi' th' bapit sooters frae th' Roost District'" He took a deep, deep breath, then said, "You were always, always proud of my salesponyship." He gulped. "Maybe a little too proud."

Props shivered, then hung her head, striking it several times with a hard hoof. "Unnngh! I'm such a stupid Props! Stupid stupid stupid stupid Props!"

"Shhhh-shhh..." Prowse shoved one of her forelimbs down and hugged her once again. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Propsicle." He sniffled, looking wearily over her shoulder. "You're not the first one to be fooled by these merciless tykes..." He shuddered. "And you won't be the last."

"Josho?" Seclorum marched firmly across the room. "Old friend? You're being awful hesitant..."

"Because I don't like being sliced and diced up outside of battle!" Josho stood his ground before the many ponies, folding his forelimbs with an angry expression. "Ledo's toilet, Secchy! Only time you ever drew a blade on me was during shore leave in the Blue Bordello—"

"I don't care what you remember and how detailed those memories are," Seclorum said, his eyes hard like the daggers the ponies were holding. "Until you show me a sign of trust, you are no trusted companion of mine."

"Don't push him too hard, Seclorum," Aatxe said.

"Bite your tongue!" Seclorum sneered aside, his eyes continually trained on Josho. "You know as well as I do that some of them are more ignorant than us."

"Oh, I get it alright!" Josho frowned. "This whole 'blood-runs-red' thing: it's to make sure we're not changelings. Doesn't take a tubeworm to understand that—"

"You don't get anything," Seclorum grumbled, shaking his head. "I can make you bleed in a hundred different ways, Josho." His horn levitated a crossbow by his side. "And over half of them from long range."

"Unnngh..." Josho rolled his eyes. "For the love of—"

"Josho..."

Josho looked over.

Rainbow Dash stared at him from where she supported Pilate's trembling body. "Just get it over with."

"Rainbow, we just found these creepazoids! You can't honestly expect—"

"Josho." Rainbow stared icily.

The stallion blinked, his lips pursing at that. Frowning, he flashed his horn and yanked a blade out a gasping mare's grip. "Fine. At least let me do it myself." He sliced across his upper forelimb, then turned his shoulder into the firelight for all to see. "There. Red. You happy?"

Seclorum's nostrils flared as he lowered the crossbolt by his side. "Always the drama queen, Josho."

"Buck you." Josho flung the knife forward.

Clank! It embedded into the frame of Seclorum's crossbolt. "Wonderful." The Ledomaritan looked up with bored eyes. "I actually found the world a lot more comfortable with the thought of you actually being dead."

"Likewise, ya gray-assed mule." Josho shrugged the ponies around him away as he marched over towards his companions. "At least you're not magicless and locked up in a friggin' fetish cage."

"Huh...?!"

"Long ass story." Josho stood by Rainbow's side. "Maybe you'll hear it, seeing as we're trapped down here with you and all."

"Belusuu'naa rekkharasso fem'keema thiulen ranna'theem," Arcshod muttered, glaring daggers over his shoulder at the group.

Aatxe sighed at the Xonan. "They're no more guilty of 'stupidity' than the rest of us that got stuck here, Arcshod!" The stallion frowned. "And the same can be said of your Princess!"

Arcshod snarled at him, having to be held back by his fellow warriors. "Fe'mulien restro trenn'ett!" he spat.

"Wait, so if that dude is here..." Rainbow Dash pointed at the ponies as she squinted at them from a distance, one after the other. "And Lasairfion is here... and Seclorum and Prowse are here..." She winced as if from a resounding migraine. "...then what brought them all the way east from the main continent?"

"Are you asking me?" Josho huffed, his eyes rolling. "Or the 'freakish shapeshifter Josho who can somehow still perform magic and wield a shotgun before your bird-brained eyes?'"

Rainbow retorted, "Look, will you get over that?! Something big is going on here!"

"Uhm... everypony?" Pilate's muzzle scrunched as he tilted his ears about. "What ever happened to—?"

"The only big thing I see is the doofuses who have been cooped up here for so long that they think they run the place!" Josho grunted. "I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want a second chance to speak with my long-lost friend, but I'm not down with Secchy being part of the Spontaneous Hoof-Slicing-Club!"

"I'm not too keen of it either, boyo," Prowse said from where he hugged Props close. "But, as you can imagine, it's our only way of testing ponies to see if they bleed the real thing or the juice that runs through an imposter."

"Yeah, and I get that!" Josho hoarsely replied, leaning in. "But why hole yourself up in here to rot away in the dark?!"

"You really don't understand, do you, old friend?" Seclorum trotted up, squinting. "What brought us here wasn't a small group of shape-shifting freaks. Oh no..." He pointed back at the regal unicorn standing at a far distance with her loyal protectors. "If they could bring the Spark-forsaken Queen of Tattoo-Land to this place, then we're dealing with a full-fledged army of monsters!" He frowned. "Spark only knows what they'd be capable of! They could restructure the entire political structure of the world! They could even change the war in Ledomare!"

"Secchy, the war is over!" Josho shouted.

Seclorum doubled-back at that. A shrill gasp flew through the crowd.

Arcshod blinked, his tattooed face stretched in shock.

Ledomaritans exchanged awkward glances while Xonan warriors gazed in stunned silence at their Princess.

Josho took a fuming breath. "These so-called monsters that brought you all here have already done their fair share of damage, but we stopped them before they could do the absolute worst!"

Rainbow Dash hovered forward, acquiring everypony's attention as she spoke. "Lasairfion was replaced with a version of herself that took power and started a Xonan civil war." She raised her voice over the ensuing gasps. "Seclorum was replaced with a crazed general who held a suicidal line along the eastern front of the Ledomaritan conflict! During all of this, the shapeshifters must have somehow weaseled their way into the Xonan high command, 'cuz they took advantage of a Divine, a powerful dragon named Nevlamas, who had been corrupted throughout the ages by chaos magic! They convinced masses of eastern unicorns that Nevlamas was actually the Goddess Nagu'n and attempted to corrupt the very heart of this world! Everypony on either side of the war was nearly wiped out in a single day!"

Ledomaritans muttered in shock, meanwhile most of the Xonans broke out in shivers and sobs. Arcshod stared numbly into torchlit space, his lips hanging open. "Haranna thiulen res'trunnul messu, Xon-Nagu'n..."

"But... but it's okay!" Rainbow Dash said with an awkward smile. "I mean..." She instantly winced. "No, tons of ponies lost their lives on both sides. I'm talking about thousands of Ledomaritans and Xonans alike. But... but..." She gulped and said, "The war is over. Nevlamas was defeated; the shape shifters were exposed. The battle stopped just before everypony had the opportunity to wipe each other out. And now—from the last we've heard—there's a permanent cease-fire. Don't you get it?" She grinned hopefully. "Your continent's been saved!"

Silence.

Then, a series of graceful hoofsteps.

"Ehm... excuse it, for it is most full of the curious," spoke a velvety soft voice, in spite of the thick accent.

Rainbow jerked her gaze aside.

Lasairfion was trotting forward despite the insistence of her closest subjects. Her eyes pierced across the darkness, resting on Rainbow's hovering face. "It speaks of the salvation of a land covered in blood. Might it ask of it... who was the savior?"

Rainbow opened her mouth, hesitated, then glanced aside.

Josho and Props nervously fidgeted. Pilate, despite his blindness, almost appeared to be looking straight at the pegasus.

"Uhm..." Rainbow gulped and looked towards the regal Xonan. "I... I guess you could say I was."

Lasairfion's eyes narrowed. "And yet... is has somehow arrived here... in this place with so many children of loss and woe..."

Rainbow was silent.

With a melancholic breath, Lasairfion said, "Does it think this is of the pure and coincidental?"

Pilate bit his lip.

Rainbow's wings stopped flapping. She touched down on numb hooves, her face blank.

---

"It's simple, guys," Eagle Eye said. "We have to get over there."

"Get over there?!" Ebon Mane stammered, squinting across the rainswept space between the edge of their temple and the round structure. "How?!"

"Yeah..." Zaid nodded. "Rainbow's not here to carry us. And I mean that in the most literal way possible."

"A good running leap should just about do it," the ex-mercenary said. "And if that fails, I know of at least a dozen ways that my telekinesis could provide a boost."

"For what—yourself?"

"I'm sure I could bring another pony with me," Eagle said. "But... no more. That'd be risking too much."

"You're risking enough just by suggesting you even leave this spot!" Ebon Mane said. "I won't let you do it!"

"Won't let me?!" Eagle Eye blanched at him. "Ebon, you heard that noise just like the rest of us! Something terrible happened across the way! An explosion or a collapse or something even worse! And now that we try to get through to Rainbow Dash's party, nopony answers! They're our friends and they deserve to have whatever happened investigated!"

"I know that, but—"

"Floydien agrees with lavender lumps," the elk said from where he stood close to the ship's hull. "Striped boomer is over there, blind and weak, and yet he is just one of many boomers that need the fetch-fetch."

"I just don't like the idea of splitting us up any further!" Ebon said, then struggled to squeak forth, "And I d-don't want you to be galloping into blind danger?"

"Why not? Striped boomer did."

Ebon stamped his hoof. "That's not the point! Rainbow Dash is with them! Who knows! Maybe they're safe!"

"As awesome as that may sound, buddy, we know that not everypony is perfect."

"How about we pilot the Noble Jury closer so that all of us can drop down onto the building's balcony and look as a larger group?"

"In these winds?! Floydien's Nancy Jane would be lucky to fly in circles without kersplodey pops!"

"Well, there's gotta be a better idea! Let's think of something!"

All this time, Belle had been staring into the rain-swept vistas of Stratopolis. Her ears twitched to the sounds of the stallion's rising voices. At last, she took a deep breath, and spoke firmly. "I'll go."

Everypony looked at her.

"Belle...?" Eagle Eye blinked.

"My beloved's in there. If he's in trouble, then I want to make sure he gets out of there safe." Belle took a deep breath. "The same can be said for Rainbow Dash and the rest of my friends."

"Belle, please, you don't have to—"

"Yes, EE. I do." Belle stroked Kera's mane a few more times. "Please, let's not wear out what everyone here is already thinking. I can only take so much in a single week." She gazed down at Kera, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. When she reopened them, she was staring at Zaid. "Zaid..."

"Erhm... Hello, gorgeous?" The stallion smiled nervously.

She gulped and trotted towards him. "I... I-I'm going to need you to take care of Kera while I'm gone."

His jaw fell open. "Buh?"

"Yes, yes... I know..." Belle muttered as she gently raised Kera and cradled her limp body in his forelimbs. "You're crude, tactless, and you possess an unhealthy obsession for needless junk." She sighed, her glossy eyes cherishing the foal's placid face. "But, more than that, I know that nopony else could better take care of her."

"I... uh..." Zaid chuckled drly as he held the foal to his shoulder, rocking her slightly. "Eheh... I didn't realize you felt that way about me."

"That's because I didn't," Belle said, frowning. "And in a lot of ways, I still don't. But... I can't let that get in the way of what needs to be done right now."

"And... that is...?"

"Pilate, my beloved." She gulped. "And Rainbow Dash. I need to have faith that they're okay..." She shuddered as she finally turned towards Eagle Eye. "And I need to have faith that they can still need me. EE, I'll join you. But I'm going to need your help in getting over."

Eagle Eye nodded with a soft smile. "You know you can always depend on me, Belle. All you gotta do is ask."

"Well, that's what I'm doing now. Asking." Belle turned to glare at Zaid one last time. "If I come back and she has one single mark on her beautiful tattooed body—"

"Hey! Heyyyyy..." Zaid chuckled, waving a forelimb. "I get it. You don't have to make it any clearer." He patted Kera lovingly as he smirked. "Believe me, bunking with the Herald? Khao threatened me tons of times about spontaneously becoming a eunich."

"Bouncing boomers better hurry," Floydien said, nodding with his antlers towards the large structure ahead of them. "Who's to know what manner of bleed bleed threatens Floydien's friends."

"Right..." Eagle Eye levitated his sword and shield over from the campfire. "Belle, I'll hop over first. Then I'll help pull you over with my floating shield. Trust me. It'll be a lot simpler than it sounds."

"That's okay, EE. I have full faith in you."

"Likewise."

"Eagle Eye..." Ebon winced, staring down at his squirming hooves. "I..." He winced. "Please forgive me. I didn't want to sound like a coward. It's just that—"

"Shhhh..." Eagle Eye was suddenly in front of him, resting a hoof on the earth pony's shoulder. "It's okay. I get it. And besides..." He smiled. "Nopony elects himself as the ship's only cook and pretends to not be brave."

Ebon smiled awkwardly. His eyes fluttered, and his head drifted forward—only to jerk back suddenly. "Erm... ehhh..." His muzzle flushed a deeper burgundy. "That... uhm... th-that totally wasn't... wh-what it looked like it was about to be. I was just—" His lips stopped moving. It may have had something to do with Eagle's muzzle locking suddenly with them. Either way, he froze in place with an inward squeak.

Floydien raised an eyebrow.

Zaid blinked. Quiet as a rock, he covered Kera's catatonic eyes.

Eagle Eye leaned back, smiling warmly at Ebon. "It takes a lot to be brave," the petite stallion said. "Trust me. I'm learning with each and every day."

"I... erm..." Ebon trembled, speechless. "Derp...?"

"It's alright." Eagle Eye winked. "When we get back with our friends, you can test your bravery too." He patted Belle's shoulder. "Okay. You ready?"

"Uhhhh..." Belle's chestnut eyes darted between the two stallions. "Are you...?"

"Figure I could do with a cold shower," Eagle sing-songed, and skipped out into the streaming rain. "Wait for my lead, girl!"

Belle nodded. She trotted after him, but not without pausing to pass a sly glance Ebon's way, and then both were gone.

Ebon plopped down on his haunches besides Floydien and Zaid, his chest palpitating.

"I know this might be weird timing and all, but..." Zaid leaned in, cradling Kera. "Think you can make us both some brunch?"

---

"I'm sorry, but..." Seclorum looked across the torchlit space with jaded eyes. "I'm not convinced that you actually saved anything, bird-pony."

"Unnngh!" Josho groaned towards the ceiling. "Secchy, old friend! Did you hear a single word that she said?!" He frowned from where he stood by the fresh rubble. "She single-hoofedly stopped a freakin' chaos dragon! Her actions exposed the shapeshifters and put an end to their plot!"

"That's simply too good to be true," Aatxe said, staring lethargically at the group. "These monsters have been planning their subterfuge for far too long and on such a grandiose scale that all that could have been accomplished on your end was a minor setback."

"How do you know that?" Pilate asked.

"Because I've been here a long... long time," the stallion said. "My name is Aatxe. I was once the captain of a large manaship, the Tarkington, that crash-landed into one of the lower temples of this storm. Our ship remained in one piece, but the engine had died out. So myself and at least a dozen of my surviving crewmmates went looking for materials to salvage the core. We made it to this structure through much trial and error. It was then that these... changelings ambushed us and whittled our numbers down to three. The transports that brought us here were wrecked, and we had to escape to these lower corridors in order to form a last stand. We were the first ponies of this group to end up here in living condition. As time went by, more and more joined our sides—those who spoke our language and those who didn't. Eventually, we ran into ponies who shared the same calendar with us. That's how we've come to realize that we've been marooned here for at least seventeen years."

Rainbow Dash's jaw fell. "Seventeen years...?"

"And believe me, if the changelings wanted to finish us off, they would have," Aatxe said. "But, for some reason, they kept us alive... even going so far as to leave us food for sustenance. At first we rejected it, but time and hunger does a number on one's pride. Still, we never hesitated to murder a shape-shifter as soon as we figured out who was who underneath the fake skin."

"And even after they lost their own kind to you..." Pilate tilted his head aside. "...they still didn't murder you senselessly?"

Aatxe shook his head. "They don't think or act like you or me. They have no love for single individuals among their brood. They'll gladly sacrifice massive numbers of their own kind just to accomplish their putrid will. Sometimes this sacrifice means sending their drones to slaughter. At other times, it means something much... much more sinister."

"Like what?" Props asked.

"Selective brainwashing, lassie," Prowse said to her with a sad expression. "While some of their kind impersonate us on purpose, it's not always enough to get the job of deception done."

"So they make a select few of their drones forget who and what they are," Seclorum muttered. "And in exchange for being part of the hive mind, they take on the full consciousness and personality of the pony who's form they've taken."

"Their drones have no idea that they're not really changelings," Aatxe said. "Maybe now you all can understand why we... wh-why we had to forcibly 'test' you."

"That..." Josho's brow furrowed at the thought. "That explains why the Seclorum we killed was so surprised..."

"Wait..." Seclorum blinked. "You killed the other me?"

"Was that not clear?" Josho droned.

"Heh..." Seclorum folded his forelimbs. "No wonger you're so far from the Queen's country. You should be a regular fugitive by now."

"Sorry to break your bubble, but it wasn't from slaughtering you. You're just not that important."

"Tell that to the changelings."

"So wait..." Props squinted into the torchlight. "So if these nasty wasties knew that they might be losing control of Nevlamas and all that jazz way back west in deathland..." She glanced up at Rainbow Dash. "Then why go through with it to begin with?"

Rainbow Dash's eyes darted about. She thought out loud, "'Hate is just another form of love...'"

"Huh?" Aatxe glanced over.

"It's something that the changeling posing as Lasairfion said to me," Rainbow Dash uttered. "Or else... something like it." She glanced up. "And I had posed her a very similar question. 'What was she expecting to accomplish?'" She paced about, her pendant rattling around her neck. "According to Princess Celestia, ancient changelings were empathic, and they feast off of emotions—most commonly love. But... but what if hate and love could feed a modern changeling all the same?"

"All of the dying and the bleeding," Lasairfion's voice drifted sadly from afar. "Ha'lanna siulen trennadren Xon-Nagu'n. The blessed children of Nag'un..."

"If what you're trying to say is that pain and devastation is right up these creatures' alleyway, then you'll hardly find us surprised," Aatxe said. "This place is practically a monument to their malice."

"No... It's not a monument. It's a prison," Rainbow Dash said, swiveling to look sharply at the group. "They brought each and every one of you here so they could study you, impersonate you out in the field, and then accomplish some stupidly crazy master plan!" Rainbow Dash gnashed her teeth as she punched one hoof against another. "The question is—just what's the big picture?! And how's it going to help their Queen Chrysalis?!"

Seclorum did a double-take, his eyes wide. "Where did you hear that name?!"

Rainbow Dash blinked. He squinted back at him. "Where did you?"

The room fell deathly silent.

Just then, a mountain of rubble shifted towards the side.

"Eeep!" Props jumped into Prowse's embrace as both shifted away from it.

"What in the...?!" Josho spat.

"Nnnngh..." A beak emerged from the shifting debris. "Thank goodness I was born with a hard shell!"

"That..." Pilate shifted. "That sounded like..."

"Elma!" Rainbow Dash darted down, grabbing the turtle's legs and hoisting her out of the mess. "OmigoshOmigoshOmigosh! Speak to me, girl!"

"Unnngh..." Elma wheezed. "Do I have to?"

"I'm so, so sorry! Are you hurt?! Things got heated and there were knives involved and... and..."

"It's okay... r-really..." Elma waved a scaled hand, reeling dizzily. "I've been through rougher straits, believe me. Especially while surviving alongside the Professor—" Her eyes widened as she gasped at Rainbow. "The Professor! What happened?! One moment, he was tossing his metal leg, and then the next—!"

"Whoah.... whoah... easy, Elma," Rainbow Dash said, patting her head and smiling. "We're still trying to figure it all out ourselves. The bad news is—we're kind of stranded here cuz the creep posing as him caused the hallway to cave in."

"Really?! No way..." Elma stammered. "How could none of us have seen it coming?"

It was around this time that Props realized she was suddenly standing alone. "Unky... Prowsy...?" She turned and looked over her shoulder.

The thin stallion was leaning over towards Arcshod and Seclorum, whispering something lightly. Arcshod's eyes widened while Seclorum gravely nodded. While Rainbow and Elma spoke, the three shuffled stealthily towards the scene.

"Something big is going on here, Elma," Rainbow Dash said. "But don't you worry. We're going to get to the bottom of it... right after I find a way to get us out of here." She glared at the rubble blocking the entrance way. "Somewhere out there, the Noble Jury is waiting to hear back from us. And pretty soon, they'll have no choice but to—"

"Excuse me for interrupting," Seclorum said as he trotted right past Rainbow Dash. "Ma'am, what's your name?"

"Uhm..." The snapping turtle glanced up. "Elma. Elma Boreal."

"You don't look like you're from around here, Ms. Boreal."

"Joshooooo...?" Rainbow droned, her eyebrows dead straight. "What's your worst-best-friend doing?"

"Uhm... Secchy...?"

"I..." Elma squinted. "Why, I'm from..."

"Alafreo?" Prowse remarked, hobbling back by Props' side. "Born and raised in the eastern continent?"

"Why..." Elma nodded. "Yes."

"And do you know where it was that you died?" Prowse asked, his eyes hard.

Elma's beak hung open. "...what?" That's when Arcshod grabbed her from behind. "Aah!"

"Hey!" Rainbow darted forward, only to be yanked to a stop by Aatxe. "Lemme go, creep!"

"I'm so sorry," Aatxe stammered.

"For what?!"

"Tell me, old friend," Seclorum spoke to Josho as he marched forward with a levitating dagger. "When was the last time..." He cave a massive scrape to the turtle's backside. "...that you saw a turtle's shell bleed?"

"Augh!" Elma yelped in pain.

"Seclorum!" Josho snarled. "For Ledo's sake, stop—!" His voice stopped as soon as he saw the blade floating before his eyes. A dollop of viscous green liquid dribbled off the shiv's pointed end. "...mother of Spark."

"Oh no..." Pilate muttered blindly, his ears drooping.

Rainbow flashed the zebra a look, then gaped at Elma.

"What...?!" Elma struggled in Arcshod's grasp. "What... is everypony... looking at..." She stopped in mid-speech, feeling a warm liquid running down her shell and over her head. It ran between her eyes, sticking to her beak like emerald tree sap. "What... where did that...?"

"It's just like we said, old friend," Secolrum droned.

Arcshod dropped Elma to the rubble and galloped aside. He let loose a shout, and a line of Xonans rushed up, crossbolts trained on the "turtle."

"The worst weapons of the changelings are, in fact, victims themselves."

Elma brought a foot up to her head, dipping it into the hot colored slime. She stared in horror, her breaths coming in quick pants. A flicker of light darted through her eyes. Suddenly, she could see through her limb, for it had turned thin, porous, with a glossy black exoskelton. "This... th-this isn't..."

"They're planted among us—inside and outside this place—to study us closely and figure out what makes us tick. Then, once they're returned to the hive mind, they pass on the knowledge of how to become us." Seclorum turned to look at Rainbow Dash. "You haven't saved anything, my dear. So long as these monsters are in the world, everypony that exists is in a prison."

"Elma...?" Props mewled, her eyes misty.

"No... it's not... I'm not..." Elma hyperventilated, her voice wavering, shrinking, suddenly accompanied with a deeply resonated buzz, like a pathetic purr. Her beak was replaced with fangs while her wounded shell shrank into thin haunches with folded gossamer wings. "I... I-I've laid eggs..." She shrieked; she sobbed. "I have ch-children!"

"This is worse than I thought," Aatxe muttered. "Two shape-shifters planted in one group?" He glanced aside at Arcshod and Seclorum. "What could they have wanted so bad that they would have steered this winged pony and her friends here?"

"R-Rainbow..." The bleeding creature curled into a fetal position, staring up with quivering green eyes. "Rainbow... please... h-help me...!"

Rainbow grimaced. She looked at her hooves, and she gasped. Wincing, she darted over towards the survivors. "How long would it take for these creeps to copy your body?! Your inner essence?!"

"I... I..." Aatxe shook his head. "I don't—"

"You've been stuck here for seventeen years, pal!" Rainbow Dash frowned. "Don't tell me you haven't gotten a clue!"

"Honestly, they could make themselves look like anything they want! But to literally become you?" Aatxe shrugged. "They would have to have been exposed to you emotionally and mentally for a prolonged period of time! Then, theoretically, that information would be channeled into the hive mind! Into all of them!"

"Then... then all of Chrysalis' brood could become me." Rainbow Dash blinked aside. With a look of horror, she turned towards a certain zebra. "Pilate..."

He was already speaking the same thought. "The control room."

Rainbow's ears folded. "Oh Luna poop..."

---

Inside a vast chamber illuminated by refracted rivulets of rain water, a dark shadow flitted over the tomb of Commander Hurricane.

In the center of the room, a body hovered low over the many-many rods sticking out of the grooves in the granite floor.

A black, porous hoof descended upon a dormant shard at the top of one staff. Then—with a band of emerald fire—that same black hoof turned fuzzy blue. It lowered and contacted the shard, which illuminated immediately upon touch. With unimpeded ease, the rod was shoved across its groove and towards another staff.

---

"Nnngh!" Eagle Eye landed on the balcony of the round structure. Almost slipping on the water-slick surface, he caught his breath and spun around, facing the temple floating just a few naked feet away. "Alright, Belle! You ready?"

The mare stood precariously on the temple's edge. She winced against the pelting wind and rain. "Ready as I'll ever be!"

"Good!" Eagle floated his shield alongside himself and held it high for the mare to see. "I'm going to toss you my shield! But don't worry! It's still in my levitation field! Grab onto it and make like you're jumping the gap! I'll carry you the rest of the way! Got it?!"

"Got it!"

"And a one... and a two... and a..." He held his breath as he tossed the disc towards her.

Lifting herself up on her rear hooves, Belle effortlessly caught the thing. She exhaled with relief, gripping on tight. "Okay! Here goes!" Biting her lip, she courageously kicked off the temple's edge. Stifling a shriek, she drifted forward, being carried by Eagle Eye's enchanted shield.

The stallion licked his lips, concentrating hard as he brought Belle across the gap. In less than five seconds, she joined him on the balcony's edge. "Gotcha!" He grabbed her by the forelimb and hoisted her onto an upper level besides a collapsed zeppelin. "There!" He smiled. "Now that wasn't so bad, was—?"

One of the floating obelisks pulsed brightly.

Belle gasped. Eagle spun about, blinking. "What in the Spark...?"

The temple with the Noble Jury was floating away, and at an alarming speed. The obelisk that brought it there was retreating towards the rainswept depths of Stratopolis.

"It's moving..." Bellesmith said, then repeated her exclamation with a loud shout. "It's moving!"

"Hey! Heeeeeey!" Eagle Eye waved his forelimbs and shouted towards the temple. "Guys! Your temple! It's floating away!"

Three bodies congregating around the Noble Jury glanced awkwardly at the two ponies.

"Why is this happening?!" Bellesmith stammered breathlessly. "Why would Rainbow Dash be moving our platform further back?"

"I don't know, but from the looks of it—" There was another pulse of light. Eagle craned his neck to the right, and instantly his ears flattened. "Oh heavens, no."

"What?" Belle turned to look. Her eyes widened.

---

"What in the spit?!" Floydien growled, pacing back and forth. "What in the spit—What in the spit—What in the spit spit?!"

"Just calm down!" Ebon exclaimed. "There's gotta be a reasonable explanation for this!"

"Reasonable?" Zaid cackled from where he stood on the Noble Jury's top deck, cradling Kera. "More like ridiculous! Seriously, Rainbow Dash picked a bad time for granite musical chairs—" He caught a flash of light in his peripheral vision. Spinning about, the stallion blinked, then hugged Kera tighter. "Ohhhhhhhh crikey."

"Huh?!" Ebon craned his neck to look.

While the Jury's temple was flying outward, the next two closest obelisks were traveling inward, and they were carrying large buildings along with them... buildings that were hurling in a crash-course straight for them.

"Get in Nancy!" Floydien shouted, already galloping towards the rear hangar, his cloven hooves splashing through the shallow puddles. "Get in Nancy!"

"Oh crud oh crud oh crud!" Ebon squeaked, stumbling after him. He would have heard himself shrieking next, if it weren't for the explosive sounds of two random temples colliding a hundred meters off their left side, hurling stone and granite debris into the murderous winds of Stratopolis... and sailing towards them.

Comments

[AppleTank]

1) Woo! EEE confirmed
2) Crap, Changeling on the loose
3) Double Crap, Ebon might be a changeling
4) Triple Crap, I am a changeling. I reeeally hope this doesn't automatically make her evil.

[SugarPesticide]

Well things got bad pretty fast. I am strangely okay with this turn of events. Poor Elma though.

His lips stopped moving. It may have had something to do with Eagle's muzzle locking suddenly with them.

[That_one_guy]

This is escalating really quickly

kolin pls

[IceKitsune]

Well shit is about to get a heck of a lot worse. Also the whole Eagle Eye and Ebon romance is going to end one of two ways (if Ebon is a changeling, which is really, really likely at this point) either Ebon gets killed (by these guys, the Lounge, or in some sacrifice) or Ebon and Eagle leave the Jury to live somewhere safe. Given this story I'm going with the first one is the most likely, with it being a sacrifice for now.

[Jake The Army Guy]

You know, I really hate "Changeling pretends to be X character to sow seeds of mistrust/foo them into doing something" plots. If this changeling pretends to be Dash and gets on the Jury and is not figured out quick, I'm gonna be real pissed.

Forty flutterkicks, ):(. Knock 'em out!

[Ms_Fruit_Bat]

Shit.
That's the one word that can describe this.

[Jonathon Smythe]

...Oh, sunovabitch. Elma, I'm... I'm so sorry.

[FloydienSlip]

Oh dear. This is worse than I thought.

[silvadel]

I called it a LONG time ago that the turtle was a changeling :)

[IceKitsune]

You know I really, really hope that Ebon isn't a changeling,and is just some kind of empath or something. The more I think about it the more I think its possible hes not (or at least somehow we will never find out either way) simply because IC seems to be dropping far to many hints that he is one. I'm beginning to think IC is doing this so he can pull the twist that he isn't one.

Of course he could be doing that so that we think hes trying to subvert our expectations, and Ebon is a changeling after all, therefore subverting the subversion.

[destinedjagold]

whoa whoa whoa....
the changelings have gone so...so...

...also, I knew Elma would be dead... =(

[Tchernobog]

...the heck have I and/or Chryssi been planning?

[RoboRed]

...Into this world we're thrown...

[Booster Spice]

Im sad that the classic trick of moving buildings around to hit each other can actually occur. Youd have thought that given the obelisks and floating rocks sliding in radial channels, that even if all the controls were moved at th same time, theyd at most come together, stationary relative and touching each other, in one heavy central clump?

Poor Elma, sooo deep a sleeper.

[Dusty Sage]

The Department of References would like to mention Seventeen, a book from my formative years -- well, it was written in 1916, and I wasn't even imagined yet -- by one Booth, um, Tarkington.

It's a certainty IC has read it.

[VNilla]

Shiiiiiit... First Prowse, now Elma, a fake Rainbow Dash, and a pancake Noble Jury? SHIIIIIIIT.

I don't ship in general, but d'awwwww EEE they're adorable. Hopefully neither of them turn out to be changelings next chapter...

4214724
allmystery.de/i/tabe1d5_mlfw939_Fluttershy_Kick.gif
Am I doing this right, sir?

[Vandratha]

And the shoe drops. Well... one of them. Let's just hope the next one isn't Ebon.

Thank Celestia I was right. Prowse is understandable!

[Starlit Skies]

When was the last time we had this many plot developments in a single chapter? Like, holy crap.

[CasualMarshmallow]

"She's clean." He turned to look across the rubble-strewn interior. "Check the others."

And that's where emo ponies come from.

There is one other way the real Rainbow Dash could be identified: by taking off her pendant.

[Hap]

This is a shit sandwich, with bacon, romaine lettuce, the finest tomatoes, dubliner cheese, and avocado, on toasted sourdough bread.

[Zytharros]

...do you all realize that the Shell-changeling and the Imre changeling could still be out there? Or the real ones?
What did Rainbow kill?

[Zaid ValRoa]

So much hate. So much mistrust. So much despair.
And somehow I can only focus on that one kiss.

4214724 There'd have to be someone aboard the Jury who is capable of recognising changelings, at least someone capable of realising that this new Rainbow Dash is not like the rest.
Someone who could somehow feel the difference.
If only...

[Jade Curtiss]

Well I'm thinking this indicates Ebon is a changeling, but they'll find a way to save him from being killed in this section (for now). It'd be cooler knowing that they flying with a changeling and we could get some really nice character development, especially with Ebon and EE.

[Hymmnos]

Shit just got real.

... When will Shell make a return from beyond the grave?

[durandana]

sorry to hear about your manaship bro. have you tried calling it?

[mrjerrio]

Aw man. Is there some way we can cut Elma off from the hive mind and just let her be around forever? Cause that would just be dandy.

[IceKitsune]

4215386
I think Rainbow would have noticed different colored blood when she took the body to be burned. And really does it matter? Even if a real or changeling Shell showed up it would just likely involve him dying within a few chapters (at best) of doing so. (I could see this happening though,and really It would be fun to see Dash or someone just curb stomp a Changeling Shell, as I'm 99% sure that the RD already killed the real one) I really don't think anyone here could take him coming back in any form again for an extended period. Hes done and well past played out at this point.

Imre coming back would be interesting though.

[xXshaydXx]

Woah. Is this the biggest chapter in this saga yet?

[Lightning Bearer]

Eagon!

But yeah, shit's getting considerably more real. Given the situation, there's no way for any of them to be sure that any of the others aren't changelings... unless, of course, they cut them to check, in which case they may all look like someone who tried to give a cat a bath by the time this is done. And even more awkward is the increasingly imminent possibility that Ebon has been a changeling all along; I'm just waiting for him to get cut, and then the others may very well assume that the Ebon they knew was replaced just recently, when in fact he's (presumably) been a changeling all along, in which case the problem presents itself: how does he make his good intentions, his good heart, clear? The narrative possibilities of this whole scenario are delicious.

Again, I find myself wondering what the significance of Stratopolis is to changelings. Why go through all the effort to bring them there, of all places? I guess, back in Odrsjot, I just assumed they killed the ponies they were replacing, but...

And poor Elma... I like her, but I fear she's not long for this story.

[dafiltafish]

This kill-all policy might not be a great idea.

[Snublock]

When/if Ebon is revealed as a Changling it is going to break EE's heart.

[Jake The Army Guy]

4215437

Honestly, it will probably be Kera. Her big "come back to reality" moment would be "You're not Rainbow Dash!" Drama and whatnot, ya know?

[Zytharros]

4216288
Considering Rainbow knows how Shell fights intimately, the changeling would not have a chance. It would be as if a curbstomp, a butt-kicking, and the concept of overkill had a child.

Now, an even greater surprise?

Changeling Luna.

[Arcshod]

4215019

Actually, Tarkington is one of Aatxe's other screennames. I know that feel, dude.

[Dusty Sage]

4216574
So noted, and thanks.

[Lone Gazebo]

Changeling Ebon, Known and Protected by Eagle Eye? Is my expectation for the future. Because probably Elma will be sacrificed, and once it starts happening, our favorite changeling probably won't last unless they find something special to do. (Hive Mind Split or cure, or whatever shenanigans) Also, RainbowDash Changeling controlling the entire Temple, bodes poorly for the future.

[Nevlamas]

What? Not even Prowse is Scottish as charged?

Elma's role is awesome. This new character will be awesome. Everything is awesome. The story is currently as great as it rarely ever was. I'd really like to further impress just how great it all is but-

His lips stopped moving. It may have had something to do with Eagle's muzzle

I honestly can't. I never expected this to go beyond ship-teasing. Never ever. This is the greatest thing. Screw the entire rest of the chapter. Screw the entire rest of the story. Fuck the city. Fuck the King's Guard. Fuck the king. Let the world end. You just made my entire life.
-further commenting postponed due to the commenter's unexpected death by cardiac arrest-

[not_a_rainbow]

Soooo, are we still going with Ebon being a changeling or....

anyway, methinks that Belle and EE are gonna get owned by RD clone #1, the Jury is gonna escape and crash somewhere and the Lounge is gonna end up helping them (or not, but they will do something), and the rest of the group will find a way to escape... maybe

[Zaid ValRoa]

4216443 That would certainly be happier than what I had in mind. I still haven't let go changeling Ebon and everything...
*cough*
4216850 That kiss almost makes the lack of grilled cheese worth it.
Almost.

[Nevlamas]

4217026 I spent several hundred chapters constantly going

...honestly after all this time, I feel kind of empty. An essential part of my life has just gone out of the window and I don't know what to do now.

It does however make me very happy to know that you're still unhappy. Don't worry, cheese is still not coming.

[Zaid ValRoa]

4217432 I look forward for the development of the relationship between the two completely normal stallions, which will surely go on withouth problems.

And I'm glad my misery can bring you happiness.

[Nevlamas]

4217518 So you're happy now?

[Super Trampoline]

4215316 I was trying to remember who your character was. Then I remembered you were brutally murdered by a douche-canoe. :fluttershysad2:

[Super Trampoline]

Man, eagle eye's comment about them now figuring out how to be brave is such fucking foreshadowing.

[bassofthe]

His lips stopped moving. It may have had something to do with Eagle's muzzle locking suddenly with them.

Austraeoh is complete. We can all go home now. Anything after this is just fluff.

[Lasairfion]

Johnny Five: I'm Aliiiiive!

[YoshiFawful64]

Now we just have to hope Ebon (or Eagle ) isn't a changeling...

[whizzball1]

-Spirit

EDIT: Also no.
NO.
NO.
EDIT 2: You know what I'm talking about.

[Future Regret]

Craziness. Love it. That kiss. . That turtle twist.

[Zecoro]

It would explain why Ebon has almost no memory...