Side Quest
Remind me again what was so urgent we needed to collect our gear and leave the house at three in the morning? Without coffee? Sombra grumbled through his walkie-talkie.
Spike was currently flying high above the clouds over Equestria, with Sombra sitting in the dragon saddle, which was much less comfortable than their bed. Which up until twenty minutes ago he and Spike had been snuggled up together in, Sombra nestled at Spike's side with a wing draped over him like a blanket.
Spike had suddenly jumped out of bed, leaving Sombra barely conscious as Spike rattled on about some mystery crisis. Sombra had gotten scooped up and told to get the walkies out of the nightstand while Spike got the dragon saddle. Everything else was something of a blur, and Spike's explanation had been lost on Sombra.
Sombra had eventually woken himself up entirely and equipped his walkie-talkie after realizing they were already in the air. It seemed the only things Spike had deemed important enough to bring was the saddle, the walkie-talkie earrings, and Sombra's scarf. While Sombra was thankful for the inclusion of his ever-present and singular article of clothing he was still a bit miffed.
Oh hey, you're awake. I'm sorry about the rush and all, but duty calls. The star-thing the tree branded me with is burning like crazy, which probably means something bad is going down. It's not really telling me anything, because that would obviously be too easy. But I just kinda feel like this is the way we need to go, as encouraging as that has to sound. Spike attempted to explain.
Sombra would have normally been fine with such an answer, but as it was currently three AM he was more than a bit cross with a certain crystal tree. The fact that there was a mere ten days left before their extended stay in Canterlot was to begin didn't help matters either.
Still, if there was a rampaging monster or power-mad villain running about it was worth taking care of.
Hopefully it's something relatively minor. We were going to to try and catch that new movie with the singer you like with Lyra and Bon Bon tonight. What was her name, again? Topaz Towers? Or perhaps Ruby roads? Sombra tried to recall.
Sapphire Shores, and yeah I wouldn't mind seeing it. But if there's trouble we should really check it out. I think we're closing in on it now though, it's in the forest somewhere. We should go by ground from here, too many trees to see anything from up top. Spike replied.
Spike landed in a clearing below, although the instant they touched down a chill ran through their spines.
The area seemed populated only by black trees barren of all leaves. A strange sight, as it was just now the first week of August. Hardly any leaves had started to change colors as of yet. Even stranger was the fact the soil had not a single blade of grass growing out of it, and it seemed more gray than brown. It felt more like ash than earth underhoof.
It was as though the entire area was 'off' somehow.
Thanks to Sombra's awakening he could see in the dark even better than he could in the day. Darkness was his element, and right now it was showing him the worried expression on Spike's face. That, and the star on his chest, steadily pulsating outwardly with green light every few seconds.
"We're here... I really wish we weren't though." Spike practically groaned.
Suspicions confirmed, Sombra braced himself for whatever trouble awaited them.
"You did look like you knew where we are. I was just going to let you inform me on your own time, but this seems important." Sombra replied.
Spike sighed deeply before adopting a serious expression.
"This area of the Everfree is called The Dead Woods. Nothing lives here because it can't. It's what's referred to as a blank-zone. No magic here at all for three miles in every direction in the air or ground. These trees are all petrified, been here longer than it's been like this I guess. All I really know about the place itself is what Mo told me. If you stay here too long you'll get so tired it's impossible to move, and magic is extremely difficult to use here. This is the biggest zone in Equestria." Spike explained.
Sombra hadn't been able to put a pin in why the place had given him a bad feeling, but a complete lack of magic hadn't run through his mind. All things contained minute traces of magic. Air, water, dirt, people, and even the dead. Whatever had befouled the Dead Woods was likely lost to the ages by the look of the place.
Something Sombra was grateful for.
"Interesting, as well as just a bit disturbing. If there is nothing here why would we be needed?" Sombra asked, not really posing the question to Spike but in a general sense.
Spike scooped up a clawful of the ashy soil, letting it trickle down and blow away in the breeze. Even the texture of the earth felt wrong, like it was somehow an imitation of actual dirt. The whole place felt like a plastic forgery of a forest, but it didn't have any sort of smell, nor did the air have any sort of taste.
It rattled Spike a bit more than Sombra, as his senses were extremely sharp. Normally Spike knew a hundred things about any person or place near him, useful or otherwise. Here it was almost like his senses had gone dark. Ever since hitting puberty everything in his sensory ranges had been so vibrant.
Keep it together, Spike. You're a big boy. A very big boy. Spike reminded himself.
Spike returned his attention to Sombra, who Spike just realized he had left hanging.
"You know about Chrysalis, right? We promised the changelings to keep her locked up for them, and the general public thinks she's in a facility carved into the crystal beneath Canterlot. That's a lie." Spike began.
Sombra immediately realized why the Dead Woods was making Spike so nervous.
"She's here then?" Sombra surmised.
Spike nodded.
"Luna built a prison here for any villains we can catch. She realized sealing stuff away wasn't a great option, given personal experience. Instead we'll use an actual prison that's almost magic-proof and keeps people at bay. Luna was supposedly the only person able to stay here indefinitely without getting tired since the moon is pretty intense.
"It's pretty deep underground too, so it'd take a toll on you just trying to get down. Getting back up would be hard. We're sturdier than most though, so we should be alright here for a little while. What I'm worried about is whether or not we're alone." Spike explained.
"I see... If the tree were to send us here, I imagine there is a high likelihood Chrysalis is gone. That doesn't bode well at all." Sombra grimaced.
"Yeah... My least favorite villain in Ma's Rouge's Gallery. Not to mention this couldn't be happening at a worse time. Chrysalis is small change compared to Dootha, Beznik, and the court." Spike huffed.
"All the more reason to get on with it then." Sombra decided, walking off to begin searching for an entrance to the prison.
Spike chuckled a little at himself, knowing full well Sombra was right.
Then he followed Sombra's example.
Sombra could feel his legs becoming a bit shakier as the minutes passed, but still they searched for the entrance to the prison. Neither of them had any clue as to what the entrance looked like, making things a bit difficult. Even worse, in the half hour it took them to find it Spike and Sombra were beginning to feel ill in the pits of their stomachs, almost to the point of losing balance.
The entrance was little more than a manhole cover built into a stump of petrified wood. The manhole cover had gone unnoticed for so long due to the fact it was exactly the same color as the black trees. It wasn't until Spike caught the scent of metal that they discovered it. Thankfully the manhole was the only scent in the whole blank zone to smell.
Upon inspection they found the lock had been destroyed. A hole, punched straight through the manhole's lock, and the manhole itself. Ten inches of magically reinforced steel from the top down. A feat that would have required exceptional magical ability, draconian strength and claws, or a seriously powerful machine.
Spike's money was on the former.
"Shit... Somebody broke Chrysalis out of jail. Somebody with real firepower and know-how too." Spike cursed.
Angry and upset, Spike dug his clawed hand into the stump and ripped the exceptionally heavy manhole and the setting out entirely. The entrance to the prison below was about five feet in diameter, plenty of room for a pony, but far too little room for Spike. Sombra knew precisely where this was going and readied his shadowy appendages to climb the access ladder down.
Spike was going to stop him, but they needed to know as much about what was going on as possible and he couldn't fit.
"Right then. I'll just pop down and look for clues. I doubt anyone so magically inclined would leave much behind, but I think it best I try, lest we miss something important." Sombra sighed.
"Just be careful down there. We don't know who or what is still down there and our walkies aren't working here." Spike cautioned.
Sombra used his shadowy had to salute and disappeared into the darkness of the prison, leaving Spike to stew on his frustrations for a time.
Spike momentarily let his anger boil over and grabbed one of the nearby trees. With one hand, Spike ripped it out of the ground and crushed it into rubble. It was a pointless act of violence Spike wished he could say he was above, but right now he had something of a hair trigger. Sombra wasn't there to calm him down right then but that wasn't an excuse.
Chrysalis had done his family and the rest of Equestria a lot of harm. She was on the top of Spike's most hated list, with the possible exception of Dootha and Beznik. Spike couldn't deal with everything on an empty stomach and with such little sleep and the blank zone's tiring effects. Without thinking, Spike popped one of the petrified wood chunks into his mouth and ate it.
It tasted like exceptionally bland sawdust, but Spike didn't particularly care at the moment. Though he did tuck a chunk under his wing. Lyra would be disappointed she missed anything big, and it seemed a decent souvenir. The strange black trees produced petrified wood that looked like obsidian. Pretty, if nothing else.
After a few more minutes Spike couldn't help but worry about Sombra. He was feeling awfully tired himself right about now due to the seemingly infectious lifelessness of the blank-zone. Sombra was already tired when they had arrived, and they been inside the the dead woods for almost an hour now.
Fortunately, as soon as the hour neared four-thirty a fount of black energy surged up out of the tunnel.
Spike rose to his feet as quickly as he could manage, but he couldn't see Sombra in his shadow-cloaked state against the backdrop of night. That didn't seem much of an issue as Sombra fell back to earth on top of him. Spike scrambled to right Sombra, but it felt like he was grasping at air. Clouds at best.
Sorry, hold on a moment... Let me just... There." Sombra sighed in relief.
Spike noticed he could feel Sombra again, and within seconds Sombra was sitting beside him looking beaten.
"It would appear that while I took Arimaspi's shadows away, I do not share his ghostly ability to become intangible at will. It is considerably more difficult than I might have imagined. At least pulling yourself back together anyway. But I'm too exhausted to move my legs at the moment, and it seemed the best option to get out." Sombra joked weakly.
Spike was a bit concerned for Sombra's safety, but at present he seemed quite happy with himself. Instead Spike needed to know what was down in the prison. There was a lot riding on finding Chrysalis.
"Did you find anything down there?" Spike had to ask.
Sombra's pride in his abilities seemed to waver as the question hit. A look of mild disgust and fear graced Sombra's face as he recalled the pit.
"The cell was made of an ultra-dense transparent plastic, which had been sliced clean through. Some sort of tank had been encased in a wall, filtering a diluted aerosol mixture of liquid love to the cell's air. To keep Chrysalis fed, but not powerful I suppose. It had been ripped out of wall and sliced open.
"Much more disturbing was the state of the cell. The floor was covered in a viscous green slime of some sort, and there were large bits of black chitin all over. Given there wasn't anything that resembled... meat, I would say she's merely shed her shell. I did take this though, as I found it rather unlikely a changeling normally sheds theirs."
Sombra reached into his flowing mane, pulling out an object that gave Spike pause.
It was almost as long as Sombra's leg, and it was black and gnarled. It was the horn of the former changeling queen. Spike had seen Chrysalis use it to do battle with Celestia, and there was no mistaking it.
"Holy shit. That's Chrysalis' horn... So... Does that mean she's powerless? And defenseless? Without her shell or her horn I dunno if she could even survive." Spike wondered, his tone shifting dramatically.
"Hmm. At any rate, we should alert the princesses and Clypeus to Chrysalis' escape. Or her possible kidnapping?" Sombra suggested.
Spike nodded his head in agreement, and Sombra used his ethereal limbs to climb up and back into the saddle. He didn't possess the strength to use his legs for the time being.
Spike had to walk out of the dead woods, since he literally couldn't muster the tremendous strength necessary to take off. While it took a bit longer than flying, Spike managed to snag an unsuspecting cockatrice on the way. While Spike preferred his meat cooked he would take what he could get right now.
The sun had risen by the time the pair made it to New Everfree.
The guards at the check point let Spike through without questioning, although Spike had to wave of quite a few well-wishers who had heard of their exploits in Griffonstone. Since it was early morning thestrals were scarce, but there were plenty of changelings about. The upper building was as buzzing with activity as always.
Sombra actually seemed to regain a great deal of stamina, feeling well enough to exit the saddle by the time they were on board the freight elevator. It seemed his healing factor down in the abyss hadn't been a one-time event. Though he still had no real control of it. It seemed to come and go as it pleased and in random measure.
Regardless, once they arrived in the underground city they made a beeline for Clypeus's office.
There as usual stood Clypeus's personal guards in their special armor. Roach the changeling, and Gravy the thestral, looking alert as ever. Which in comparison to Celestia's guards was relatively lax.
"Morning guys. We've got some code-red stuff we need to talk to the matriarch about like, now." Spike practically demanded.
Roach seemed ready to let them pass, but Gravy was a bit more diligent than her frequently influenced comrade.
"Hold it. What is the nature of the emergency? The Matriarch is a busy mare, and she's just getting in to her office. I can't just keep letting you barge in. There's protocols for reasons. Please elaborate on the nature of the crisis." Gravy asked out of obligation.
Spike practically growled out of fatigue and annoyance, but there were indeed protocols in place.
If a duke was caught disregarding the law when put on the spot it would set a bad precedent.
Spike summoned up a tiny faux-leather book in a flurry of emerald flames and hastily began flipping through pages. There were tiny notes stuck in here and there, amended and updated passages from what Sombra could tell.
After a few minutes Spike seemed to find whatever it was he was looking for.
"Situation code red, possibly code black. Authorization; Delta-Romeo-Alpha, eight-six-seven-five-three-O'-nine. Codephrase; The Queen of Hearts is coming to dinner." Spike rambled off.
Gravy blinked, and then her pupils shrank to pinpricks. After a moment she fished about inside of her breastplate for something. Soon she produced a silver whistle which she placed in her mouth. After taking in a hearty breath she blew into it, but it produced no audible sound, or at least to Sombra's ears.
In seconds the air was full of thestrals, seemingly wide awake. They zoomed about every which way, many of them trying to equip armor mid-flight. Spike rubbed his ear as if there was a fly buzzing about, but Sombra realized the frequency must have been to high pitched for normal ears.
Dragons and thestrals both must have much superior hearing. Sombra mused.
Once Gravy had sounded the call to arms, she had no problem rushing Spike and Sombra into the office building.
"What the devil was that gibberish you told her?" Sombra asked as they headed down the halls.
Despite the seriousness of the situation Spike chuckled a bit.
"It's military code. Luna loves all the spy stuff, and thestrals emulate the hell out of her. Good luck getting anything out of a thestral that knows you have connections without knowing the phonetic alphabet and your ID number. Luna invented code-phrases for all kinds of terrible things, including Chrysalis escaping.
"I can never remember all of them, so I keep my code-book in the wall safe behind the china cabinet. Oh hey, we were going to go see a spy movie tonight weren't we? Weird." Spike explained with mild amusement.
"Yes, coincidences abound. We're here." Sombra pointed out.
Spike returned his tired mind's focus directly ahead of him, seeing Gravy holding the door to Clypeus's office open.
Clypeus herself sat at her desk, nursing a large ceramic mug with a ladybug on it.
The matriarchal changeling herself had changed a bit since their last meeting. Her membranous hair and tail were now a vibrant pink, and even curlier than before. Her wings seemed to be covered by a ladybug shell, though beneath it was easy enough to see they were translucent pink. Her back-shell was a now a lavender color as well, rather than the dark green of their last meeting.
Even her eyes were a shade of pink rather than green.
"Oh, hello boys. I wasn't expecting company so early. What do you think of the new look? I've finally completely come into my own as queen. All my adorable little nymphs are changing too~! All my brothers and sisters are going to stay as they are, but most of them aren't too fond of pink anyway." Clypeus buzzed happily.
Spike felt his heart drop into the pit in his stomach, commiting suicide before it had to listen to him tell Clypeus the news.
"As much as I would love for this to be a social call, but there's some crazy stuff going on. We need to talk to you in private, and right now." Spike told Clypeus in a deathly serious tone.
Clypeus placed her mug on a coaster, then waved off Gravy who saluted before going back to her post. Clypeus hit a button near the intercom on her desk, causing delightfully upbeat, yet calming music to play in each of the office building's hallways. There was no way anyone could eavesdrop from outside.
"Okay then. I'm all ears. Is this something about Dootha?" Clypeus guessed, equal parts worried and excited.
Clypeus was much more awake than only just a moment ago. With the arrival of Spike and Sombra she had essentially just been force-fed breakfast. She could tell things had escalated intensely in the short time since last they met, and that Spike and Sombra had already formed a strong bond.
She could also tell that whatever was going on it bothered Spike greatly. Sombra less so, but he was greatly concerned for Spike. All the worry tasted sour, but only a bit. Their positive emotions still outweighed anything else.
Spike stepped forward, hesitating a moment to tell Clypeus.
"We just paid a visit to the Dead Woods. Someone destroyed the lock on Chrysalis's prison from the outside. She was gone, but we aren't sure if she left willingly, or even alive."
Sombra produced the horn, placing it atop Clypeus's desk wordlessly.
For a whole two minutes Clypeus merely sat there at her desk with her mouth open a bit. Then, much to Spike and Sombra's surprise, Clypeus actually began to tear up. She grabbed the horn, holding up to her chest. She quickly began to cry in full force, extremely emotional and upset.
"M-Mother was a terrible person... I k-know that. But she was my mother! The day we decided to capture her for Equestria, it was the worst day of my life. But we were all so hungry!" Clypeus cried.
She summoned up a pink lace hanky, blowing her nose into it before continuing.
"We were all going to die if we didn't change our ways, but she would have rathered us all starve to death than give in. T-then I had to take the crown off her head... I was the oldest female, and my covers had always been teachers, babysitters, nurses, and things like that. My brothers and sisters knew I would be able to raise new changelings with love and care we never got from Mother... But I miss her sometimes, y'know? She was so strong, even when we were in such poor shape. I never once saw her shed a tear." Clypeus sobbed.
Spike carefully walked around and hugged Clypeus, giving her a literal and figurative taste of emotional support. Sombra was a bit less ready to give such support with no preparation, but he too offered his condolences. It wasn't what they had expected to be doing after telling Clypeus the news, but they hadn't realized Chrysalis still meant anything to the changelings.
While she had been an evil, plotting, vain, and shifty despot, she was also the mother of all the changelings in Clypeus's generation. Several thousand in number. Blood, or whatever the changeling equivalent was, ran thick it seemed. It had to have been truly heartbreaking to be forced to betray one's own mother.
After a few minutes Clypeus calmed down, and she passed the horn back to Sombra.
"I-I can't keep it. I just can't. Please, just take care of it for me. I imagine Gravy has already got the thestrals into emergency positions, and I'll need to do the same with my family in case Mother is out for revenge or there's a changeling-hunter on the loose. Thank you both for telling me this in person, Spike, Sombra. If there's anything you need, you just let me know." Clypeus graciously thanked her guests.
The duly elected matriarch bowed before Spike and Sombra, making the both of them feel worse about the situation than they already did.
"Clypeus, you don't need to bow or anything, really. We're friend's right? We could use a few pieces of parchment and a pen though. We came to you before anybody else, and we should really let the princesses know too." Spike requested.
"Of course, we're all friends here. It's just been a long day, and it's only eight AM." Clypeus chuckled sadly.
Clypeus wiped the last of the tears from her face, then used her magic to pull a pack of paper from her desk as well as a ballpoint pen. Thankfully it was ordinary white stationary, not Clypeus typical colorful personalized stationary. Spike selected five pieces and quickly penned five separate missives.
The first went to his mother, the second to Cadence, the third to Shining Armor, the fourth to Celestia, and the last one went to Luna. The order Spike assumed Chrysalis would have the most hatred for from greatest to least. Once that was finished, Spike passed the writing materials back to Clypeus.
"Okay then. Everybody should know now. Now we just have to wait and see what happens. Just remember that if anything major happens we're not all that far away. We'll get here as soon as we can." Spike assured Clypeus.
Clypeus felt a bit better after Spike and Sombra's help, and she knew Spike was being genuine with him.
Getting out of the now now locked-down underground city took a bit longer than getting in had. Longer still was the trek through the woods and back to the house in Spike's tired condition. By the time they got back to the house it was nearly noon, and Spike was absolutely exhausted.
Sombra watched as Spike settled in for a nap on their bed, waiting for him to fall asleep.
Once Spike had begun to snore, Sombra removed Chrysalis's horn from his mane and placed it upon the mantle with some of Spike's other souvenirs from adventures past. While Chrysalis's fate was uncertain it was one of the first adventures he and Spike had gone on in their hopefully long future together.
Perhaps I too should start collecting unusual items from our adventures? The horn of a changeling queen is certainly a good place to start. Sombra though smugly.
After placing the horn, Sombra joined Spike for a midday nap. There was little else to do until more information on Chrysalis surfaced, and they had more pressing concerns. In a little over a week they would have to forgo their routine in favor of learning from Luna and Celestia. Every moment they were together was a moment they didn't need to stress.
That, and it would be a shame to fall asleep in the theater later that night.
~Elsewhere~
A terrible storm was raging across Northern Equestria, making midday seem almost like the dead of night. No one dared venture out into the outskirts of Trottingham on a day like this. The rain almost completely obscured the darkly-cloaked figures moving about the ruined abbey in the countryside.
The building's walls barely stood on their own, but the decrepit structure wasn't their reason for being there.
Two of the larger figures used the cover of the most intact section of roof to dig beneath, tirelessly breaking through dirt and rock.
"Hurry up you brainless heaps of flesh! The lady is fragile in her current condition, and we must get her into the catacombs! We have much to do while she grows into her new role over the coming months! The shadow will cull the lot of you if she catches cold!" The third cloaked figure yelled over the deluge of water and thunder.
The irate figure stood beside a tall crate, around seven feet in height.
It was leaking a luminous green fluid slowly, and had the rain not been so oppressive a disturbingly loud heartbeat coming from it. The cloaked figure that seemed to be in charge of the other two loving caressed the container, a flash of lightning revealing a blood red hoof and the dark purple color of the cloak.
With an audible crashing sound, followed by the clanging of shovels the larger cloaked strangers turned back to their leader.
"Finished." Two gravely voices stated simultaneously.
"About bloody time! Get the crate down the hole, carefully!" The leader barked in return.
They obeyed with moderate speed and unnatural movements, as if they were machines in need of oiling. Regardless as soon as the crate was into the hole their leader pushed them out of the way with ease despite their advantageous size. The hooded commander surveyed the catacombs beneath the decayed abbey and seemed pleased with the place.
It was damp, dark, full of moss, mold, and the smell of death.
It was perfect.
In a flash of crimson too fast for the brash leader's lackeys to comprehend the front of the crate fell to the floor and revealed it's contents. A massive teal cocoon twice the size of the average pony, and far too slimy to belong to any kind of butterfly. While not fully transparent there was a dark shape moving about inside, twitching randomly and pulsating like some monstrous heart.
In another flash of crimson one of the crypt doors was destroyed, and the seemingly mindless followers each took a side of the oozy chrysalis. They took it into the crypt and placed it in the corner of unsealed tomb-room. Their leader set about defiling the coffins, taking the bones of the long dead and adhering them to the bizarre sticky cocoon, humming a jaunty tune to himself as he did.
Once he was finished the glowing cocoon flashed red momentarily, as if acknowledging his perverse efforts to ensure it's safety.
"Such a magnificent creature... and such strange blood! Had we only drafted her sooner she could have furthered our purpose by centuries. Though it has taken the last of our demonic artifacts it will be well worth it when our dear queen is finished cooking. But for now we must let her stew in her juices. We have plenty of things to do in the interim.
"After so many years of waiting in the shadows, it's finally time to move into the light. We will spread the word of our lord, Dootha, the only god fit to rule over this world!" The psychotic pony laughed.
Thunder struck and lightning clashed, as if the sky itself lamented what would soon transpire.
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"It tasted like exceptionally bland sawdust", that has got to be the best phrase I've ever read tha is usted to make an analogy for something tasteless. I loved it and loved how Clypeus was re-made.
With each new chapter I'm loving your AU more and more. Keep up the good work and congratulations over this work of yours.
7062780 Thanks! I was hoping people would like her makeover. I'm glad you like the AU too! I'm fairly proud of it and I did a fair bit of work meshing it all together.
I would have to say I like how the older changeling still have feelings for their mother. Also points to the Court for realizing how us-full she could be either as a powerful weapon or has a means to make an army.
Also it was nice to see how Spike's mark works.
7065800 Thanks. Been waiting to see your take. The mark isn't going to react too often, but when it does it's gonna be important.
7065829 Throw I do have to say the tree does play favorites the girls get a buzzer but Spike get's a burning feeling, you know i would be cool if Spike's throne grew do his connection to the tree.
Also can't wait for the next chapter, the gala is going to be awesome.
Can't tell you how much seeing the changelings makes me.
You adding to this wonderful story always brightens my day
Finally finished this chapter. It has taken me like three weeks to try to get through this chapter. Somethings about this chapter dragged out making it boring. Near the end it got better but the start was rough for me to get past.