Changeling Mine

by Futile Task

Chapter Twenty One: A Darkness Arises

“My lady?”

A head rose from a massive skeleton it was resting upon, the figures violet pupiless eyes glowing bright as she stared down at the pony who addressed her, her wings fluttering a bit as she began to speak. “What is it, son of my flesh?”

“We…we have word from the mainland my lady, it appears a daughter of your flesh has…has taken changelings into her care, and is doing what she can to see that they recover.”

“I see,” said the mare, sighing a bit before looking toward the map of Equestria which hung on her wall. “Anything else, son of my flesh?”

“Yes my lady,” said the stallion, “it seems that the daughter of your flesh is also with foal, a changeling queen if what we heard is true.”

“Interesting,” said the mare, “very well, you may depart.”

The stallion nodded and left, leaving the mare to her lonesome as she summoned up an orb, the orb showing the image of a crib with a tiny foal inside, the sight bringing tears to her eyes as she spoke to it. “You have made mama so proud, and soon I will return to you, my darling little star.”

When Twilight entered the darkened room, she was quick to close the door, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness before opening her mouth to speak. “Shining…you in here?”

“Twiliy…”

Twilight moved toward the voice, coming to a stop near a bed and finally getting her first good look at Shining since she had bound his magic.

His eyes had turned a sickly green color, and his veins were now visible, pulsing green in the darkness and making his now darkened coat stand out. His mane and tail were in shambles, and he was now sporting a thick beard and mustache.

“You look like shit,” said Twilight.

“And you look like an alicorn,” said Shining in a hoarse voice, moving a bit in bed to get a good look at her, his eyes showing evident surprise. “It’s so hard to believe, I mean…I remembered that you became one, but I didn’t really…”

He trailed off, falling silent as he looked toward the closed window, his eyes looking wantonly at it as he spoke again. “Twilight…can you tell me what happened to me, I…the one who was tending to me says she can’t tell me anything, only you can.”

“How much do you want to know?”

“As much as you can tell me.”

Twilight sighed, and then moved to sit next to the bed, getting comfortable before speaking. “How much do you remember from after the wedding announcement you made to the ponies of Canterlot?”

“Not much,” said Shining, “I…I remember that Cadance had started to act kinda funny a week after our announcement, and the last thing I remember was her horn lighting up, but it wasn’t her normal color, and then…only bits and pieces.”

“How oddly was she acting?”

“Every time she would start flirting with me, she would get this…this Shetland accent to her voice, which made no sense, she’s never been to the Shetland Island’s.”

“I see, well the reason why she was acting so strange is because shortly after your announcement, she was replaced by a changeling queen known as Chrysalis, and the reason you cant remember anything after her horn began to glow is because she hit you with a powerful changeling spell known as compulsion, which has some…well some really bad side effects if left in the body for a long time.”

“What kind?” asked Shining.

Twilight sighed, “When left in the body for a long amount of time, the spell transforms into a poison which removes a ponies inhibitions, as it did you. When it did…you did some awful things Shining, which forced me to bind your magic.”

Shining didn’t speak for a long moment, Twilight watching as he seemed to struggle with something, before finally he looked up at her with a look of fear in his eyes. “What did I do?”

“…You nearly committed genocide.”

Shining looked like he was going to be sick, and then after a moment he charged toward the trash can in the room, throwing up into it before looking back at her with concern in his eyes. “H…how…why…?”

“Because the changelings had wronged you,” said Twilight, “and because of the poison, you…you acted on thoughts you normally wouldn’t…but luckily I was able to stop you in time…well with a little help from Chrysalis.”

For a long moment, there was silence, neither one of them saying anything for a long moment, and then shining went over and leaned himself against Twilight, crying hard as the young mare wrapped her wings around him, holding him as he cried his pain away.

“Beloved, wake up.”

The dark figure watched as something stirred in the darkness of a great cave, a smile stretched on her face as she saw the something begin to move closer to her.

“Come on beloved, you can do it, I know it’s hard, but I need you.”

From the darkness, a shaggy furred hoof stepped forth, and then another, and then a great shaggy head came forth, looking strained but smiling all the same.

The dark figure knew how much strain she was under, for she was fat with many foals, many new soldiers for her growing army. But she needed her, for she needed a pair of eyes and ears within her star’s growing kingdom, for she needed to know how many changelings were left on the mainland.

“What is it you would ask of me…beloved?”

The dark figure kneeled down, pulling the large Changeling into her embrace before whispering into her ear. “My dear Nashandra, I need you to do something for me, I need eyes in the kingdom of my birth, many eyes.”

“In…infultrators would be best, they have no scent, unable to be detected as false.”

“I know,” said the dark figure, “select your finest, have them undergo the change, then send them to the oldest son of my flesh, he will lead them from there.”

“And…and when they reach their destination…?”

I will give them instructions on what to do, don’t worry, now sleep, we shall speak again soon.”

Nashandra nodded, then lowered her head onto the ground, falling fast asleep as the dark figure departed the cave, a smile on her face and a bounce in her step.

“Finally…after so long…I can begin my journey home.”

Author's Note:

I'm going to be spoiling you guys this month, so expect more chapters for Changeling Mine in the future. As for this chapter, this is where the major plot is going to start developing, and this dark figure is going to become a central character in later chapters. Don't worry though, we will be seeing more of Twilight and her changelings journey, so don't you fret, just expect more of the Dark Figure as well (yes that is going to be what she is called for the time being).

Also a word of warning, The next chapter is going to be our first time skip. I have been hemming and hawing about it for the past week, and decided it was time, so be prepared to be several mouths in the future. And as always, if you guys have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them down below, I love hearing from you guys.

Comments

[Traveling Soul]

Awesome!!
More update!!

[Wasko736]

Clover the Clever?! Queen i can understand, but how she is alive?

[ArchAngelGundam]

That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.

[OminousBrony]

6826226
If it is her, and because of how she was described, she is probably a lich.

[nioniosbbbb]

Infltrators not inful.

[Arhrark]

Yeah !
So happy that you have continued you story !!
Thank you !!

[rippenspear]

Im so happy you started updating this again

[FinalFan]

Nitpicks noticed:

removes a ponies inhibitions

pony's

then shining went

Shining (caps)

infultrators

infiltrators

[Razzy]

Poor Shiny.