Original epilogue (non-canon)
Several days later…
The room was dark, not out of any need for secrecy, but rather because the being that at the moment was calling himself Kristal Zati preferred it. It was more like home, and as much as he had wanted to leave that home for his new one, he still found that he missed aspects of it on occasion – hence why the room was also warm and clammy in addition to being dark. He regretted that he wasn’t going to get much time to enjoy his native environment, but the Zaldians had him under constant surveillance. He couldn’t disappear for too long.
The room itself, located beneath one of the parks in Gotorleku Hiria, was strange. The walls were made of rock, but molded and smoothed out like a living thing, with an uneven floor and ceiling that Zati had no trouble standing on. There were several hidden doors that lead to the room, but any pony who somehow wandered into it would find nothing out of place. The room did not, and had never, contained anything out of the ordinary beyond what appeared to be a bizarre architectural decision. Even the corridors that lead to it let themselves out in publically-accessible places, never going anywhere near anything of importance. Even in Zaldia, there was nothing illegal about two ponies wanting a private place for their discussions. The worst that could happen were this room discovered was that it would get filled in with concrete, and that would hardly be a setback for any of the begins that made regular use of it.
Zati felt a familiar buzzing down his horn, and smiled as his compatriot entered from another corridor. “Everything is proceeding better than we had hoped,” he said, turning around to look his contact in the eye. “The Sorginbehat is essentially dissolved. The Guarsai’s numbers are being eviscerated as we speak, so many placed under arrest.”
The other being considered. “Yes. Is it safe to assume that you’re using the arrests to extract some of our own?”
“Of course,” Zati said with a bow. “They’ll be brought to some prison, forgotten about, then extracted when no one is looking anymore. New identities can be created for them.”
“Excellent,” the other being said, stepping forward. With a sigh and a flash of green light like fire, he sloughed off his disguise and assumed his true form. Zati took it as an excuse to do likewise. “Ispelu Magikoa?” Zati asked, his voice now having a distinctive buzz to it.
The other being nodded. “Prison for the rest of his life,” he said. His own voice buzzed as well now, but deeper. “King Tronua wanted execution. I convinced him to stay his hoof. Pointless waste of food.”
Zati shifted at that. “I don’t agree,” he said. “He is a powerful diviner. If any being in this world can come up with a way to see through our disguises…”
The other being smiled brightly, showing off his fangs, wings letting out a long droning buzz. “What? He will, from prison, tell the world that his land is being invaded by giant insects who can appear as anypony? He will be considered mad.”
Zati still didn’t agree, but the other one had made his choice clear. Zati was a drone, bonded to the hive lord. He could voice disagreements – indeed, this hive lord even encouraged such – but on a chemical level it was nearly impossible for him to disobey a command from his lord. A buzz down his horn let him know that the hive lord had made his decision. “What now?” he asked, changing the subject.
“The long game again,” The other being said. “We shall move more changelings into position as these ponies and griffins and camels and others fight amongst themselves. Soon this entire nation will be ours. Then we can start moving on the real target. Then, we can bring forth the Queen.”
An involuntary shudder went through Zati at the mention, the thought, of the Queen, making his wings buzz in excitement, his horn glow. Yes, he obeyed his hive lord, but he loved his Queen. Loved her with a totality that no pony could ever understand or appreciate. Every last mote of his being was hers, would always be hers. “When?” he asked with baited breath.
“Not today,” the hive lord said, stepping up closer to the drone. He reached out a hoof and stroked the drone’s cheek, and the drone could feel that the hive lord, too, was thrilled at the thought of the Queen they both served, both loved. “Not tomorrow. But soon. Everything is proceeding apace. There is no need to rush things. The ground must be prepared.”
The drone quivered with anticipation and desire to go forth and do just that. In a way, they were like farmers. They were ripping out the weeds and spreading the seed that would prepare this world for the Queen. At the moment their actions were destructive. But soon they would turn towards creation instead. Soon the ground would be prepared. Soon the Queen would arrive…
…and feast.
The hive lord stepped away from the drone. “Go now. Be prepared for extraction and reassignment; your current role has just about run its course. Get arrested if possible. But nothing too…noticeable.”
“Of course,” the drone said. “What about you?”
“My role continues,” the hive lord said, slipping back into his disguise so that he could roll his eyes in annoyance – an action that was physiologically impossible for the multifaceted eyes of a changeling. “What is the Zaldian saying…da zer da. It is what it is.”
Kristal Zati went out a different exit, of course. After all, it wouldn’t do to have a member of the Guarsai, an organization currently out of favor with the Zaldian King, to be seen associating with Ohar Garai, the king’s closest friend.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- RainbowDoubleDash · 27k words · 52 4 · 1.2k views
- GreyGuardPony · 47k words · 52 5 · 1.8k views
- Void Knight · 21k words · 49 4 · 1.4k views
- Lev the Lurker · 97k words · 79 7 · 2.2k views
- Talon and Thorn · 353k words · 59 2 · 2.2k views
- GrassAndClouds2 · 25k words · 69 0 · 1.5k views
- GrassAndClouds2 · 88k words · 101 3 · 2.6k views
- Zap Apple Smash · 17k words · 124 4 · 3.3k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.116 seconds
Total duration
874 users online
533,117 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Good grief. Big Mean Bug Pony is the Season Two big bad, isn't she?
7366271
Season 3, actually. Season 2 is someone...different.
Finally the chancelings are making an appearance in the Lunaverse.
Oh, nice ending.
In hindsight, perhaps obvious, but hey. It's a pretty good "ohhhh, crap" moment all the same.
7366322
Is this a lesson about how a nation divided by vigilance and paranoia is ironically the one easier to corrupt and bring down?
7366322 Well, he's not going to be anyone's flankhole houseguest in THIS sandbox.
7366910
I guess I meant, what are the limitations? Is there a limit to the number of things you can duplicate with it? How long the duplicates last? Their quality? There has to be some catch or the thing would be way too valuable for Ispelu to ever let it go.
GARAI?! EEEEEEEEEH??!!??
This is the writer's equivalent of a mic drop. Things getting real around here.
7366990
As Corona mentioned, it wasn't the specific effect of the ring, but the magical knowledge in it, combined with Corona own power and arcane expertise and applied to the mirror pool.
... I still like Ohar. I know he's evil, but I still like him. And besides, being that good at playing isn't part of any disguise -- he must have worked on that.
Took me entirely too long to get around to finishing this fic, but very glad I did, as it was very satisfying to see Trixie hang in there against another highly experienced mage like that and come out on top. Also, Lyra apparently knows haste. I'll keep that in mind for later. Also glad to see we're getting into foreshadowing the Changelings. Kind of wish we had more a chance to see more of Zaldia, but the story did call for a fairly localized narrative, so I can hardly complain about that.
beings
__________________
I like how you have a Hive Lord ruling over a Changeling Hive, while all of them live for Queen Chrysalis. If you continue to keep doing things this good with them, then I'm looking forward to seeing the Lings even more than I was before reading this.
7447779
Yep, and he does what any good changeling would do. Work to foster harmony / weed out corruption. So that there is more love, thus more food.
I never got how the show stuck to love pods when that not only prevents ponies from breeding (making more food), but drains them too quickly (thus preventing good food production). And I like how Ohar treats all of it like being a farmer. Also yes, that skill with his instrument took lots of hard work, so another bit of major kudos.
You know what? You were right. I did like the epilogue. :D