Chapter 6 - The Watchdogs
Spike sat at a table in the dining area, the side of his face pressed against the tablecloth. He could feel Rarity’s eyes boring a hole in the back of his skull, and any minute now his brains would leak out all over Celestia’s clean table linens.
It’d be a fitting end to the most frustrating night of his life.
“Five pounds…” Rarity said, repeating the words for the umpteenth time. “Five pounds of shrimp puffs, when you know that shrimp makes you gassy.”
“At least it came out of the polite end,” Spike countered in a lame attempt to defend himself. He focused on the black dinner jacket he was wearing, looking for loose threads to pluck at and finding none.
“There is nothing polite about a belch!” she hissed. “I almost wish it had been flatulence – at least fire doesn’t come out of that end!”
“Depends on what I eat,” he joked crudely.
The disapproving murmur from his fillyfriend let him know exactly what she thought of his attempts at making a joke of the matter. Rarity was surprisingly crass when she wanted to be, but never in public.
Spike sat up with a groan. The second he tried to make eye contact with Rarity she turned away in a huff, folding her arms over her chest and turning her snout upwards.
“You can’t stay mad forever,” he sighed. “I’m sorry, okay? I was just really bored, then Pinkie started dancing around, and I laughed, and laughing made me burp. It was an accident!”
Rarity responded by turning away a little further, adding a delicate little, “Hmph!” as she did so.
“I love you…” he said in a desperate gambit to turn the situation around.
Rarity made a sort of annoyed growling noise at the back of her throat.
“Do you love me?” he asked as he gently prodded her with one outstretched claw.
Rarity made the noise again, a little louder. “Yes…”
Applejack chose that moment to join them at their table. She jumped onto a chair and leaned against the table, letting her head loll to the side tiredly.
“Corn-feathers, Rares,” Applejack cursed, “just forgive the boy already. It wasn’t that bad. A few of them fancy fellers even clapped when he burped up all that fire. It’s mighty impressive the first time you see it.”
Rarity made the noise a third time, but uncrossed her arms and leveled an annoyed look at Applejack. This was progress, at least as far as Spike was concerned.
“This had better not affect my chances at commissions with the contacts I made tonight,” Rarity said pointedly. “I shall be very cross indeed.”
“Even if it did, I’m sure Spike’ll make it up to you,” Applejack said with a smirk. “At least you didn’t lose a whole bushel-worth of apples to that donnybrook... or whatever the equivalent of a bushel is in dresses…”
Pinkie Pie hopped up on a chair next to Applejack. The bubbly pink mare was a little dirty from helping the staff clean up the mess she’d inadvertently caused, and her mane lacked a good deal of its characteristic fluffiness.
“I’m super-duper sorry, you guys…” Pinkie Pie said as she hung her head in shame. “I didn’t think things would get so out of hoof. That was, like, the third worst Pony Pokey I’ve ever seen. Even my Pinkie Sense couldn’t have predicted it would have gone down like that.”
Spike’s eyebrows knitted together thoughtfully. “You’ve seen two other Pony Pokies that went worse?”
“Yeah,” Pinkie said tiredly as she pressed her forehead against the table. “But this is the first time there wasn’t any marmalade involved – I’ve got a hard and fast rule about doing the Pony Pokey with marmalade in the room. That’s why it was such a surprise!”
Rainbow Dash trudged over to their table, wading through the throng of ponies lining up to fight over what was left of the catering. Surprisingly, nopony had left the Gala, despite more than a few of the upper crust types being covered in the gooey remnants of food. A few of the ponies in the back of the line had just started eating off of their clothing when they thought nopony was looking.
“Hay of a party,” Rainbow Dash muttered as she climbed into an empty chair next to Pinkie.
“That’s an understatement,” Spike sighed. “Thought there was going to be a riot for a second there.”
“There probably would have been if Princess Celestia hadn’t arrived on the scene and started laughing,” Rarity pointed out. “Our dear princess is a real trendsetter. Not a soul here would ever dream of saying a bad word against how the night turned out now that the princess has publically approved of the spectacle. Nopony even wants to be seen leaving early.”
“How was the VIP section?” Applejack asked, nodding in Rainbow Dash’s direction. She pulled off her hat and dropped it on the table to shake out her mane. The braid that Rarity had tied it into earlier had already come loose while she was helping the cleaning staff haul away her cart. “You get to hang out with the Wonderbolts like you wanted?”
“Yeah, kind of,” Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. “I didn’t get to talk much to any of them. Lots of ponies fighting for their attention, ya know? Soarin’s kind of cool. He’s a real nice guy, and the other Wonderbolts were nice, too… Didn’t get to see Spitfire again, though… Really wanted to talk to her about my application for the Reserves Camp next year, but Soarin said she’s on some kind of secret mission.”
“Secret mission?” Spike asked, his interest in the conversation suddenly skyrocketing.
Rainbow Dash nodded. “It’s probably something super awesome. Some kind of top secret, black-bag, redacted folder kind of cloak-and-dagger stuff. He wouldn’t spill about it, though, so who knows what it could be?”
“Well, it’s nice to know that things happen in Equestria that don’t require our intervention,” Rarity said jokingly.
“I just want to go home, already,” Applejack muttered. “How much longer is this shindig going for, anyway?”
“We’ve still got about an hour, I think,” Spike said. His declaration was met with a chorus of groans.
Pinkie Pie suddenly sat up straight, her ears wiggling curiously as she craned her neck and started looking around the room.
“Hey,” she exclaimed, “has anypony seen Fluttershy all night? She was supposed to go get punch and she never came back.”
The other occupants at the table glanced around.
“She was with Spikey and I when we got off the carriage,” Rarity said. “I think the poor darling didn’t much like the amount of attention her dress was getting.”
“You were kind of directing attention towards her,” Spike said, frowning as he scratched at his cheek absently. “You were turning her around and showing off your dress like she was one of your dress dummies.”
Rarity’s eyes narrowed in anger at the accusation. She raised a hoof pointedly, no doubt ready to refute the claim that she’d been anything less than fully accommodating of her friend’s shy nature. Her ire fell away as she slowly lowered her hoof.
“You’re quite right,” she admitted, her voice wilted with shame. “I was very inconsiderate to the both of you. I was just so… I don’t know, it hardly matters, since it doesn’t excuse how I acted.”
“Especially when Blueblood showed up,” Spike added, crossing his arms and huffing in a passable imitation of the cold shoulder that Rarity had been giving him only minutes ago.
“Oh, Spikey, you know that I was just being polite,” Rarity said soothingly as she drew little circles on the agitated dragon’s bicep with her hooftip. “He’s very handsome, but he can’t hold a candle to you.”
Spike leaned against the table on his elbow, his cheek resting on his open palm. His lips split into a wide grin that showed off all his sparkling white, viciously sharp teeth. “Is that so? Tell me more.”
Applejack spoiled the mood by knocking loudly on the table. “Could the two of you quit pawing at each other long enough to get back to what all we were just talking about?” she chastised. “I reckon we’ve all been pretty lousy friends to Fluttershy tonight. Our nights may have sucked apple seeds, but hers went to pot first, and none of us made good on our promise to not let her spend the night sulking alone.”
“Has anypony gone and checked out the entrance hall?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Maybe Fluttershy went to go hang out with Shine and the princesses. Somepony should stick their head in there and see.”
“I’ll go check!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she leapt out of her seat and trotted off. The crowded ballroom didn’t even slow her down as she wound her way through the tables.
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings to hover above the table. “I’ll go check the little fillies’ room,” she explained as she sped off in the direction of the restrooms.
“Don’t fly, Rainbow Dash, everypony can see up your skirt!” Rarity shouted after her friend. “Oh, she won’t listen. I swear, that girl was raised in a barn – no offense meant to you, Applejack.”
Applejack frowned deeply as she picked up her hat and tapped it back onto her head. “I’m gunna go ahead and pretend I didn’t hear that. I’ll go ask the guards if any of them have seen Shy.”
Spike frowned as he watched Applejack walk away. He turned to Rarity and cocked an eyebrow. “What should we do?” he asked.
Rarity tapped her chin in thought. “I shall go and question the ponies at the catering table. Why don’t you check under the tables here in the dining area? The poor dear might have curled up under one of these tablecloths to get away from the attention my fabulous designs attract.”
“You got it,” he answered as he slipped under the table and crawled along the floor. His lithe, draconic frame allowed him to glide along close to the ground with the agility of a greased snake.
As a dragon, he had very good hearing, and he could pick up Rarity muttering to herself under the surprised exclamations of the ponies sitting at the table he’d just crawled under.
“Maybe I should have told him to be more discreet…” she lamented with a heavy sigh.
* * *
Twilight really wished she had some coffee. The endless stream of fresh coffee during the investigation had held her weariness at bay easily enough, but now she was starting to come down from the buzz.
After returning to her friends and explaining the situation – Fluttershy had looked a little faint, and that was without Twilight even describing the state of the corpse she’d found – they’d left the egg chamber to continue their search for a way out. There were a few tunnels and pathways leading away from the egg chamber, but a cursory exploration had found that only one of them had more of the enchanted light crystals.
They followed the trail of lights, knowing that eventually it’d lead them to the changelings – and by now they were all fairly certain that it was changelings – and possibly to a way out. If nothing else, the glowing crystals meant that the two pegasi in their party wouldn’t be at the mercy of the darkness if anything happened to Twilight.
The ground was littered with hoofprints of various sizes and depth, which meant that the lit tunnel was far more traveled than the ones earlier. That made sense, since the changelings had bothered to put in fixtured lighting solutions. Logically, this meant that the changelings were in this area of the mines often.
And yet they still hadn’t come across anypony else. Changelings may have been masters of disguise, but the literature never said anything about them being particularly good at full-on concealment spells. That was incredibly high-tiered magic, and so it was unlikely that the changelings were simply hiding.
Twilight led them into another chamber, and what she found made her heart skip a beat.
The cavern walls had been freshly dug here, creating an alcove enclosed by steel bars and a swinging door with a lock, forming a large, sturdy-looking prison cell. The light from the crystals didn’t quite make it to the back of the cell, but Twilight could faintly make out ponies huddling together in the shadows just out of sight.
“Twilight?” a thick, raspy voice called out from the shadows.
Twilight’s eyes went wide as she watched a teal-coated pegasus with a ginger-red mane hobble towards the edge of the cell. A large iron ball was attached to Lollipop’s rear leg, limiting her ability to fly, and her front hooves were joined together by a pair of shackles with a very short chain. It wasn’t enough to immobilize her, but it did stop her from flying and shorten her stride enough to prevent her from running. Every step she took was accompanied by the grating sound of her restraints dragging across the ground.
Twilight felt movement behind her. She quickly held a hoof out, stopping Spitfire’s attempt to charge to the rescue. She ignored her fellow soldier’s angry glare and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the mare in the cage.
“Where did we first meet?” Twilight asked. Maybe she was being paranoid, but the literature had all agreed that you should never trust your eyes when changelings were involved.
“You were on sentry duty outside the kitchen,” Lollipop explained, the faint traces of a smile playing tiredly across her lips. “It was your first day on the job, though I didn’t learn that until later. What’s my favorite flavor of cupcake?”
“Whatever was the last flavor you tasted,” Twilight answered.
Lollipop collapsed to the ground with an exhausted moan. “Thank the stars it’s you,” she croaked. “For a second there I thought it might be another one of those things.”
Twilight quickly trotted up to the cage, Spitfire and Fluttershy right behind her, and kneeled down to get a better look at the bars. Spitfire was on sentry, her eyes scanning the room while Twilight worked.
“Changelings?” Twilight asked.
“I guess,” Lollipop said. “If that’s what you call bugponies that can steal your face.”
Twilight nodded. Some of the ponies at the back of the cage were cautiously stepping out of the darkness. Every face that revealed itself was familiar to Twilight. She knew each of them by name, where they lived, what their hobbies were, what sort of talents they had. She was a stranger to them, but she knew them all like they were old friends. Little Breezy Socks shuffled out of the darkness, half hiding behind the legs of a big stallion, and Twilight had to resist the urge to tear the bars out with her bare hooves.
Twilight blinked away the moisture forming at the corner of her eyes. “Where are they all at?” Twilight asked, turning her attention back to Lollipop.
“I don’t know,” Lollipop replied. “We haven’t seen any of them for a while. It’s hard to tell time.”
An earth pony stallion stepped forward, clearing his throat. His name was Clockstopper, and his special talent was watch repair. He was a big fan of light jazz and hated the taste of green peppers. He tried to speak, but his words were drowned by a dry, wheezing coughing fit. He worked his mouth and composed himself before trying again. “It’s been fifty-three hours since the last time one of our jailers came to give us food and water,” he said.
“You don’t have any water, do you?” a pegasus colt named Blue Bomber asked. His favorite sport was hoofball and he never drank chocolate milk, only strawberry.
There was an excited murmur from the crowd of prisoners at the mention of water.
“I’m sorry, we don’t,” Twilight said. “But I’m going to get you out of here, okay? Step away from the bars.”
They did as instructed, and Twilight shooed Spitfire and Fluttershy away as well. Once everypony was clear, Twilight drew her chakram and focused her magic into it. The bladed ring hummed audibly as the steel harmonized and pulsed with her magic.
With only the barest nudge of her will the chakram darted along the ceiling in one direction then swept across the ground going the opposite way. In a single, fluid motion, Twilight had cleanly cut half the bars away like they were made of paper. The loose bars loudly clattered to the ground. Twilight gathered them up in her magic and moved them out of the way.
Twilight blushed as she realized that everypony in the room was gazing at her in awe. “What?” she asked, blushing furiously as she felt the combined weight of their stares.
“So, uh…” Spitfire began with a nervous grin. “I always wondered what that thing could do… Hah, guess I know now.”
Twilight did her best to ignore the looks she was getting and stepped into the cell. “Everypony hold out your shackles,” she commanded as she brought her chakram up again.
They did as instructed and within a few minutes she’d cleanly sliced through all of their chains. They all still wore their shackles, but for the moment it was enough that they could walk and fly without being restricted. The unicorns in the group were all still wearing tiny iron rings around their horns, inscribed with sigils that prevented the casting of magic. There was nothing to do about that right now, though. Twilight had more than enough control with her chakram to cut the rings off, but there was still the danger of their group being attacked, and the last thing she needed was to get shot in the back by some unsalted caster blindly firing a force bolt into the middle of a fight.
Spitfire trotted up to Twilight and jerked her head towards the group of ponies they’d just rescued. “Okay, we found our ponies,” Spitfire said. “What now? This is a huge group to blindly lead through the mines. Two of us on a security detail for thirty ponies? That’s not going to fly too far.”
“I know the way out,” said a teenaged mare that Twilight knew as Star Wink. She wore thick, black-rimmed glasses, and her chronic allergies left her with an endlessly runny nose. “I play a lot of tabletop pen-and-paper games,” she explained with a moist snort. “I’m really good at making maps for dungeons, and I made a mental one when they dragged me down here, just in case I got a chance to make a run for it.”
Twilight grinned. “Great work, soldier,” she praised the young mare. “You’re on point with me. The rest of you, when we move out you’ll fall in line behind my friend Fluttershy, here. Captain Spitfire will bring up the rear.”
Twilight glanced around, taking stock of their surroundings. Even her brightest light wouldn’t cut it if Star Wink’s mental map led them somewhere without the useful lighting crystals the changelings had prepared. She went to a wall and pried one of the smaller crystals free. She held it aloft, and smiled as the spell remained stable.
“Everypony who wants to carry their own light, please dig one out of the wall,” Twilight said to the group as she levitated the crystal to Spitfire.
Within a few minutes at least half of their group had found a crystal small enough to carry with them. Pegasi held them with their wings, while unicorns and earth ponies held their crystals between their teeth.
Twilight had been a little worried about how haggard some of their weaker party members looked. Dehydration was especially hard on the elderly and children, and she knew from the records that at least one of the colts here had asthma. Happily, a few of the stallions present solved her problem for her, and offered to carry anypony that didn’t think they’d make the trek on their own steam.
Twilight turned back to Star Wink. “Okay, looks like we’re set, which way are we—”
An enormously powerful wave of sound washed over Twilight – a thump loud and heavy enough to rattle her bones. She whipped her head around, searching for the source of sound. Somepony shrieked, and Twilight looked back to the group of ponies behind her to find Bessie Boots – a middle-aged mare who made hats for a living – breaking out of the line and backing into the shadowy recesses of the cell. Her eyes were wide with fear and staring down one of the side tunnels.
“I saw something!” she cried.
“Get them out of here, Spitfire!” Twilight commanded as she ran full tilt in the direction Bessie had been looking.
Spitfire had been shouting something at her, but it didn’t matter. Something in Twilight’s gut told her that whatever Bessie had seen, it was dangerous, and she had to run it down.
Her heart was pounding in her chest as she galloped as hard as she could through the cavern. The enchanted lights ended abruptly, and she cast a brilliant illumination spell, easily beating back the darkness.
In the far distance she could hear the steady pounding of a drum in time with her own heartbeat. It was familiar, and warm. The sound of it filled her with strength, pushing away the weariness in her limbs.
Her senses were sharp, and for the barest of moments she caught sight of something black and green rounding a corner in the darkness just ahead of her. She poured on the speed, paying no attention to the little nicks and scratches she was cutting into her armor whenever she got carelessly close to the crystals and rock formations jutting out of the walls. That was what armor was for, anyway.
She saw the black and green blur again, and again it was just for a brief moment. It was incredibly fast. Spitfire might be able to catch it, but Twilight’s instincts told her that she couldn’t let her friend near this thing, whatever it was.
She was never going to catch it, not at this rate. In a moment of desperation she charged her horn with power, set a destination point with her eyes, and winked out of existence.
The teleportation worked, and she could see what she was chasing. It was some sort of enormous – almost the size of Celestia – black pony, with a long, greasy mane, and thin, chitinous wings.
This had to be the changeling queen. The queen’s wings were buzzing angrily, propelling it forward at incredible speed, and soon it was out of sight again.
Twilight charged her horn and teleported again… then again… and again. She kept running and teleporting, the combination allowing her to keep pace with her target.
She was getting tired. Even with the intoxicating beat of those drums filling her with strength, rapid-fire teleportation was taking its toll on her. Most unicorns would be lucky to have half her range or to be able to cast the spell more than two or three times in a day. Twilight had lost count at a dozen teleports.
Her target flew into a cavern with a high, vaulted ceiling, and Twilight saw her chance. She charged another teleportation spell, timing it so she would appear a few meters in front of the regal changeling, and a few meters in the air. She cast her spell, appearing right where she wanted to be: falling through the air on a collision path with the changeling queen.
Twilight charged another spell as she was falling – an interesting defensive spell that worked by creating a dense field of magic that made the caster’s body sturdier – and released it. A peculiar side-effect of the spell was that it also made the caster far heavier, turning Twilight’s body into an improvised projectile.
The changeling stopped abruptly, braking in midair and backing away as Twilight hit the ground hard enough to kick up a cloud of dust and rocks.
Twilight glared at the thing through the haze. It was fast, but she had something faster, and now that she’d stopped it momentarily, she had her shot.
She focused her will and magic, unsheathing her weapon and sending it flying towards the changeling queen so fast that it cut through the air with a shrill whistle. The steel of her chakram flashed brilliantly as it caught the light from her illumination spell. It sang as it sliced through the queen’s long, jagged horn. She guided it back around, and the wings went next.
The queen fell to the ground, its magic and ability to fly now gone. It lay where it fell, unmoving in the brilliant light of Twilight’s illumination spell. It didn’t even look like it was breathing.
“I… I got you,” Twilight panted raggedly. Her chakram spun angrily overhead, ready to strike at the first sign of hostility.
The queen rose to her hooves slowly and grinned. Twilight had expected its voice to be feminine, maybe even beautiful, but when it spoke its voice was deep, and thrummed with raw power and an otherworldly menace.
“The anomalous girl,” the voice sang gruffly, “you’re even more impressive in person than I could’ve imagined.”
Something was wrong, she could feel it in her bones and hear it in the drumming in her head. Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t a changeling.
Twilight narrowed her eyes at the thing. It had a strange, insectoid beauty, but something in the eyes was wildly wrong. This wasn’t some parasite – this thing was a predator, pure and simple. It stuck its tongue out and licked at its maw, lapping at the emerald-colored gore that had dripped out of its mouth, down its throat, and onto its chest.
“What are you?” she demanded.
“I’m just like you,” the thing inside the changeling queen replied. “We’re just a pair of watchdogs that slipped our leashes – puppets without strings, dancing to our own tunes.”
“Meaning?”
The thing threw back its head and laughed. “I can’t tell you what you mean. That’s the whole point.”
Twilight spit on the ground angrily. She’d met enough cryptic, full-of-themselves types in her time to know one when she saw one. This thing wasn’t going to give her a straight answer. She decided to try a different approach.
“You got rid of the changelings, didn’t you?” she asked. “What was that griffon doing down here?”
“An old shell,” the thing replied, shrugging the shoulders of the changeling queen. “He didn’t last long. This body will last longer. It won’t fall apart. It will be able to eat more – maybe even enough to get me a real body.” It laughed again. “I think this shell really enjoyed the taste of its own children. Their souls were so tiny, but their hearts were delicious.”
Twilight suppressed a shiver at the mention of eating hearts. Her instincts had been right about the danger this thing posed.
“Why didn’t you eat the ponies locked in the cage?”
The queen’s face scrunched up in disgust. “Unseasoned. Their hearts would not be delicious. And I knew you wanted them, so I left them for you as a gift. That’s why I wanted us to have this talk. So you would know.”
“You didn’t want anything!” Twilight snapped. “I caught you!”
“And it was very impressive,” the voice replied in amusement. “I’ve been watching you since you walked out of the city of Anubis’ children. You’re not like the others of this land. They can struggle as they wish, blindly believing themselves free, but they could never slip their chains as we have.”
The queen’s mouth split into a smile and kept going. The edges of her mouth stretched back, further and further, beyond the reaches of a natural smile.
Twilight had grown up with a big-heart dragon for an older brother. Spike smiled easily, always showing off those long, dagger-sharp teeth. She knew a reptilian smile when she saw one.
The teeth in the queen’s mouth were reptilian, but they were nothing like Spike’s teeth. Her brother used his teeth to smile at pretty mares and to chew up gems. This thing’s teeth were made for tearing and crushing and piercing, for rending apart anything that got caught between its jaws. When this thing smiled, it wasn’t friendly, it was a threat.
In that moment, Twilight heard the drums again, and she knew the truth. This thing, whatever was inside of the changeling queen – whatever had killed her, stolen her body, and forced her to eat her own children – this was what Twilight had been looking for.
Her legs felt weak, and her mouth felt dry. “You’re the thing that manipulated Dingo and the other diamond dogs, aren’t you…?”
Its sickening smile pulled even wider, and its mouth opened to an impossible size. A long, reptilian tongue lolled out of its mouth and flicked at the air, as if tasting the space between them. When it spoke, the words seemed to come directly from its throat, formed without the aid of mouth or tongue.
“A watchdog without its leash – free to hunt and eat.”
Twilight thrust her chakram forward as hard as she could, fast enough to pierce the air with a loud crack. She aimed for the creature’s neck, hoping to take its head, but she only hit air. The beast had simply vanished without spell or smoke, as though it hadn’t even existed in the first place. Her chakram buried itself in the wall at the other end of the cavern, and she summoned it back to her side.
Twilight increased the power of her light to blinding levels, casting it around in a mad search for where her target could have gone.
“I’ll see you soon,” the voice taunted her. Its words bounced off the walls in the chamber, making it impossible to tell where it was coming from. “I believe we might meet again in the land of frozen hearts... Though, with beings the likes of us, it's impossible to tell for certain. I hope we do... What a feast it will be.”
The drums in Twilight’s head faded away, and she knew she was alone. Her legs gave out from under her, and she fell to the ground, lying on her side and panting in a pool or her own sweat. Her weapon fell to the ground in front of her, the bare minimum concentration she needed to keep it aloft having failed her. Her lighting spell was fading, too. She forced herself to keep it going.
Twilight grabbed the chakram with her hooves and hugged it to her chest. Somehow, she could feel the cool steel of the weapon through the plating and padding in her armor.
* * *
Twilight entered the bedroom she and Cadance shared in the royal suites. She pulled her chakram out of its holster with her teeth and tossed it onto the bed. Her horn flared and all the buckles and straps on her armor came undone at once. She pulled off her armor, a piece at a time, and flung it angrily against the wall.
She was vaguely aware of the sound of breaking glass as her breastplate knocked a framed photo off a table. She ignored it.
She was vaguely aware of Cadance dismissing the guards, who were watching her tirade with worried eyes. She ignored that, too.
“He was here, Cadance!” Twilight shouted. She paced around the room, seething with anger and frustration. “Here, in Canterlot! Right under our city! Under our castle! Under our bed!”
“I know, Twilight,” Cadance answered with unnatural calm. Or maybe it only seemed unnatural because of how angry Twilight was. “I was there when you were explaining it to the Guard Captain.”
“We need to find it! But the Centurion thinks that’s too low of a priority! He thinks it’s more important to search for more changelings! This thing eats changelings! It drove Dingo insane through his dreams, it plots against gods, it steals corpses, and Steel Century thinks we should be flipping over rocks looking for ladybugs!”
Twilight didn’t even realize Cadance was walking towards her until she felt herself being hugged. Twilight tried to pull away, tried to hold on to the fire in her belly, but her body was weak from lack of sleep and the exertion of her attempt to run down the reanimated corpse of the changeling queen. Cadance held fast, and Twilight was forced to submit to the cuddling.
She buried her face into Cadance’s neck and let herself be hugged. Cadance’s coat smelled of that new peachy shampoo she wanted to try, and the ridiculously expensive perfume that she only wore for special occasions. Twilight felt something wet against her face and it took her a few seconds to realize it was her own tears.
She gave in and hugged back, squeezing desperately. Cadance grunted softly, and Twilight had to relax her hold just a little. Cadance may have had an alicorn’s strength, but she didn’t work out nearly as often as Twilight did.
“How can you be so calm right now?” Twilight asked. “That thing is on the loose out there. It’s here in Equestria and it’s been watching us.”
“I’m just glad you’re safe,” Cadance replied as she gently stroked Twilight’s back. “That’s the only thing that matters to me right now…”
All the anger and frustration bled out of Twilight’s body. That anger had been the only thing holding her upright to this point. Without it, she felt hollow – a tired shell in the shape of a pony. She leaned into Cadance, and the love and support radiating from her lover filled the empty vessel of Twilight’s body.
“I have to find it…” Twilight muttered as she sniffled.
“It doesn’t always have to be you,” Cadance said.
“I have to…” Twilight repeated.
Cadance just nuzzled the top of Twilight’s head, and after several long heartbeats, she said, “It can wait.”
“Okay…” Twilight reluctantly agreed. She sighed heavily. “I’m so tired, Cadance…”
“I know, honey… do you want to go to bed?”
“No,” she said, though it was a tempting proposition. Tired as she was, she wasn’t in the mood to actually go to bed. Just sitting here with Cadance was enough.
The appearance of the… thing in the mines was weighing heavily on her, but it wasn’t even remotely the only concern she was having at the moment.
She’d heard those drums again. The ones she’d heard in Zebrica, and again on the airship ride home. Both times it had come to her while she was holding her chakram, so it wasn’t much of a leap to assume that her weapon was the source of the sound.
But what was it? Before, she’d chalked it up to something mysterious and magical, connected to the Ways that Basenji had spoken to her about. But she’d had the chakram by her side for months without hearing them again. Tonight the drums had not only returned, they’d been loud, and filled her with strength as she chased that monster through the dark tunnels beneath Canterlot.
Running after it alone, and leaving Spitfire to look after thirty civilians on her own… that wasn’t like her, but the drums and the adrenaline had swept her up and led her on the chase. Thinking back on it, Twilight didn’t think she was being influenced, but whatever power the chakram had imparted to her had made her impulsive. If she was going to control it, then she would need to know more.
“I need to write a letter to Basenji,” Twilight said.
“About what happened in the mines?”
Twilight considered telling Cadance about the drums.
“Yes,” she said, and left it at that. Her poor girlfriend had had enough excitement for one night. That was another thing that could wait.
“You made me very proud today,” Cadance whispered as she nibbled tenderly on Twilight’s ear. “You did exactly what you said you would.”
“Through pure dumb luck…” Twilight sighed. “I fell down a hole like an idiot and stumbled into a cave. I had just as much of a chance of breaking my spine as I did of saving the day.”
“You’re the furthest pony from an idiot I know, Twilight,” Cadance said. “And besides, Fluttershy’s not an idiot, and she fell down a hole, too.”
“I wonder how Fluttershy is doing. I know Spitfire’s still answering questions for that guy from the Air Force, but I don’t think Fluttershy got a debriefing like we did.”
Cadance released her hold on Twilight and levitated a moist towel into the room from the bath. “I got a note about it from Aunt Celestia during the meeting with the Guard Captain,” she explained as she cleaned up Twilight’s face. After Twilight was clean, Cadance stripped away her royal accessories and cleaned herself off. “The royal physician gave her some stitches and discharged her. Aunt Celestia gave the girls a room to share a little down the hall from us. She offered them all their own rooms, but they insisted on sticking together.”
“Think they’d mind if we popped in to say hello?” Twilight asked hopefully.
“I’m sure they’d love that, hon,” Cadance replied as she leaned in and kissed the tip of Twilight’s nose. “Let’s go visit your brother’s harem.”
“I already made that joke to Fluttershy down in the mines,” Twilight said with a puckish grin.
Cadance cooed with delighted approval. “Oh, babe. You’re just making me so proud tonight.”
* * *
Fluttershy sat on a cushion on the floor of the room Princess Celestia had given her and her friends. The other girls had all insisted on staying with her, refusing to let her out of their sight. After the night she’d had, Fluttershy had been glad for the company.
Then Shining Armor dropped in and things turned bad.
“I can’t believe you kept something like this from us!” Applejack shouted. She was right up in Shining Armor’s face, her face twisted up into an angry scowl as she jabbed a hoof into the big stallion’s chest. “You should have told us!”
“You didn’t need to know,” Shining Armor said in a carefully measured tone, the strain in his voice betraying just how close he was to actually shouting back.
“Says who?” Applejack demanded. “You? We let you call the shots on our adventures and such, but that don’t make you our boss, Shining Armor! You don’t get to decide what’s best for us!”
Shining Armor’s brittle mask of self-restraint crumbled under the verbal assault. “I was just doing what Princess Celestia would have done! You think she tells her subjects everything? She keeps secrets to protect ponies like you and me every day!”
Fluttershy looked around the room, desperate for somepony to step in and break up this fight. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were sitting next to her – they’d both been physically at her side since she’d been checked out of the infirmary, and neither looked ready to abandon their self-imposed posts. Rarity was frowning, not in anger, but in sheer disappointment. Pinkie Pie looked just as eager to stop the fight as she was, but an attempt to make everypony laugh early in the argument had been stonewalled, and now she appeared at a loss for what to do.
Rainbow Dash was standing next to the door, fidgeting and scowling at Shining Armor’s back. She’d taken sentry at the door, loudly declaring that she wasn’t going to let anything get near Fluttershy, even despite assurances from the others that the two Royal Guards outside their door would be adequate for their protection.
Spike was next to Rainbow, standing upright and leaning on his shoulder against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. The look on his face was difficult to read as he stood there and watched the argument unfold.
“A fat lot of good your ‘protection’ did for Fluttershy!” Applejack snapped. “She could’ve died on account of your thinking you know so much better than anypony else. Here’s something you might not know, Shining: we ain’t your subjects, and you ain’t a princess! You’re supposed to be our friend, dadgummit!”
“Please stop fighting!” Fluttershy shouted as loudly as she could. She was crying, and her voice cracked shrilly as she spoke. Pinkie Pie and Rarity pressed against her, patting her back gently and stroking her mane in an attempt to calm her down.
“See what you did?” Applejack said as she pointed angrily in Fluttershy’s direction.
There was a knock at the door.
“Go away!” Rainbow Dash shouted over her shoulder.
“This is Decurion Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight called from the other side of the door, “is everything alright?”
Fluttershy felt a relief so powerful that she almost collapsed.
Spike stepped away from the wall and opened the door just enough to stick his head through. “Hey, Twi, now’s not a good time…” he said.
“Let her in,” Fluttershy quickly said.
Spike tilted his head curiously at Fluttershy, and for a moment she was afraid that he might insist on having Twilight leave. To her incredible relief, he stepped back and pulled the door open to allow Twilight to enter.
Twilight look tired and her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. It looked like she might have been crying recently. She was out of her armor, but that strange ring-thingy was strapped to her side with some sort of harness.
Another pony walked in after Twilight, and Fluttershy blinked as she realized that it was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. She almost stood to bow in greeting, just as she would have to Princesses Celestia and Luna, but the pink alicorn princess just smiled kindly and waved a hoof.
“Please, don’t bow,” the princess said, addressing the room. Fluttershy realized that the others – minus Shining Armor and Spike – had also moved to bow in greeting. “I’m not even wearing my crown right now.”
“Little tip for you guys,” Twilight said as she sat on her haunches, “the walls are pretty soundproof, but these doors are flimsier than they look. If you want to scream in here without waking up the whole castle, you’re going to need to cast a privacy charm.”
“We learned that the hard way,” Princess Mi Amore stated as she waggled her eyebrows.
Twilight pressed her hoof against her face and massaged a spot between her eyes. “It’s bad enough you do that in front of my mom, can you please not make jokes like that in front of my brothers?”
There was a long, confusing pause where everypony in the room stared at the princess and the guard. Recognition of what the princess had been implying slowly made its way around the room, and surprisingly, Rarity was the first to crack.
Rarity tried and failed to suppress a nasally snort of laughter. The sound set off a chain reaction that hit Pinkie Pie next, then Rainbow Dash. Even Applejack couldn’t resist the urge to lightly chuckle at Twilight’s embarrassment. Fluttershy blushed, but joined in on the fun with a demure giggle. Shining Armor was blushing furiously, and Spike was just scratching uncomfortably at his neck and staring up at the ceiling.
Applejack walked up to Twilight and wrapped her up in a tight hug. A full-strength hug from Applejack was best described as ‘bone-crushing’, but Twilight seemed to weather it fairly well.
“Can’t thank you enough for everything you did for Fluttershy,” Applejack said as she released Twilight from the embrace. “I reckon I speak for all of us when I say that. And it’s great to finally meet you.”
“I was glad to do it,” Twilight said. “But, um, maybe you guys could tell me what all this yelling is about?”
“It’s nothing,” Shining Armor quickly said.
“They’re mad because Shining didn’t tell them about the foalnappings,” Spike supplied, pointedly ignoring the dark look Shining Armor was leveling at him.
Twilight frowned. “Yeah, Fluttershy mentioned something like that down in the mines…” Twilight rubbed at the back of her neck uncomfortably. “What happened with that, Shining? You were supposed to tell them what was up in case you guys needed to use the Elements.”
“I realized that I didn’t need to,” Shining Armor said defensively. “Everypony was going to be inside the castle anyway, surrounded by Royal Guards.”
“Everypony except Fluttershy,” Twilight pointed out.
Shining Armor lowered his gaze. “She… she wasn’t supposed to leave the castle. I told her the garden was going to be closed off.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “So it was her fault?”
“No!” Shining snapped as he stomped a hoof angrily. “Don’t try to turn my words around on me! This isn’t even any of your business!”
“You’re right, Shining,” Twilight said with a nod. Fluttershy chirped in surprise as Twilight suddenly locked eyes with her. “Fluttershy. I think maybe you should tell Shining Armor how you feel.”
Fluttershy shook her head. she hated confrontation, and as much as she hated seeing her friends fight, she just didn’t know what she could do to stop it. “N-no, I… I don’t… it’s fine…”
“Fluttershy,” Twilight said. Her voice was gentle and surprisingly full of warmth. “One step at a time…”
The words of encouragement Twilight had given her down in the mines came flooding back to Fluttershy. She took a deep breath and stood up. She took a step forward, and then another. She tried to think of something to say as she walked the short distance across the room with her eyes closed in concentration, but nothing came to her.
She opened her eyes and saw Shining Armor watching her. His eyes were full of worry. He was scared – terrified, even – of what she might say. All at once Fluttershy felt the urge to give in to her own nature and just hug him, to reassure him that she still cared about him.
So she did.
He stiffened under her touch, so she reached up and stroked his mane, just like Pinkie had done for her earlier when she was crying. A lifetime dedicated to caring and nurturing animals had taught her that a gentle touch and a soothing voice was a kind of magic in itself.
“It’s okay, Shining,” Fluttershy told him as she petted. In her mind, she could almost imagine him as a giant bunny, or some sort of miniature bear. “I forgive you for keeping secrets.”
“B-but… but I practically lied to you…” he admitted in a small, strained voice. “You got hurt because of me.”
“I forgive you for that, too,” Fluttershy said, adding, “because that’s what friends do.”
Fluttershy felt him return the hug, and moments later she felt arms closing around her from all sides as her friends joined in. Out the corner of her eye she could see Twilight and the princess leaning against one another, smiling as they watched her and her friends hug out their differences.
They stayed that way for a while, and when they finally pulled apart from one another, the sense of dread and tension that had been hanging in the air had completely lifted. This didn't mean they were back to where they were before Shining Armor chose to betray everypony's confidence, but it did mean they all wanted to get back to that place of trust. They all wanted to be okay, so even if it took a little time, they would be.
“I’m sorry, everypony…” Shining said. “I… I just wanted so badly for all of you to have a good time tonight. It’s not that I didn’t trust you, I just wanted to…”
Shining Armor seemed to be having trouble expressing exactly what he wanted to say, but everypony in the room got the general idea of it. It was no secret that Shining Armor had a certain zeal for protecting the ponies closest to him. He was the sort of stallion that always wanted to look out for everypony’s best interests. It was one of the things that Fluttershy and the girls really admired about him. Disappointed as they all were, nopony would say that his heart hadn’t been in the right place.
“You don’t always have to be the only one looking out for everypony,” Fluttershy said. She was feeling brave, emboldened by the wonderfully reassuring hug she’d just gotten, so she reached up and tapped him on the nose. “Boop. We’re all friends, Shining Armor. We look out for each other. Nopony has to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders alone. Not as long as they have friends.”
Fluttershy shot a look in Twilight's direction. She was staring at her hooves, her eyebrows knit together in concentration like she was thinking long and hard about something. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was standing at her side, smiling. Somehow, for some reason, the princess’ smile looked vaguely smug.
“Look, Shine,” Rainbow Dash said as she ran a hoof up and down her arm sheepishly, “I’m still pretty mad about this whole lying business, but… if Fluttershy wants to forgive you, I guess I can, too. Just don’t do it again or I’m going to kick you in the jaw.”
“Ditto,” Applejack said with a grin. “And I kick a lot harder than she does.”
“Indeed,” Rarity added with a flip of her mane.
“I’ll just make a piano fall on your head,” Pinkie Pie said with a shrug.
“I, uh… I promise,” Shining Armor said.
Shining Armor wasn’t the only one that took a nervous step away from the smiling pink mare.
“Okay, enough of all this drama,” Rainbow Dash declared. “Fluttershy! Tell us what happened down in those mines! All we’ve heard is that you helped save twenty-nine foalnapped ponies and crawled out of a hole in the ground covered in green goop! What the hay happened!?”
Fluttershy shot a panicked look towards Twilight, who seemed to have finally snapped out of whatever introspection she’d been lost in. She pleaded silently for help, and Twilight just smirked.
“Rainbow Dash, I’m sure Fluttershy is really excited to tell you all about how brave she was down in the spooky, possibly haunted, abandoned mines,” Twilight teased mysteriously, “but why don’t you let her just relax tonight? She probably doesn’t want to think about it just right now.”
Rainbow Dash and Spike groaned dejectedly, and Fluttershy beamed a grateful smile towards her savior.
“Shine-Shine and Spikey’s sister is right!” Pinkie Pie declared as she hopped up on the coffee table. “Fluttershy needs to get her mind off of spooky mines! I propose a slumber party!”
Pinkie Pie’s suggestion was seconded and approved by a chorus of cheers from the girls.
“That sounds like fun, but why don’t I just leave you girls to it?” Shining suggested. “I think I need to write a letter.”
“Why don’t I lend you a claw with that?” Spike offered. “Twilight, it was great seeing you. Catch up over breakfast tomorrow?”
The princess cleared her throat. “Why don’t you make that lunch instead? Twilight will be sleeping in today. She hasn’t gotten much rest.”
Spike laughed at that. “Sure thing. Let’s call it a late lunch, just to be safe.”
Spike and Shining Armor said goodnight to everypony – Spike of course got an extra little ‘goodnight’ from Rarity – and left the room discussing how to best draft their letter to Princess Celestia.
“Twilight, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, would you two like to join us for the slumber party?” Fluttershy asked.
“We’d love to,” the princess replied, cutting off Twilight before she could answer, “as long as you call me Cadance, that is.”
“Cadance?” Rarity asked.
“My parents named me Mi Amore Cadenza,” Cadance said with a huff and an exaggerated roll of her eyes that moved her whole head. “I hate my full name. Cadance, please, or no deal.”
“Um, sure, Cadance,” Fluttershy said with a giggle.
“Fabulous!” Cadance said with a stomp of her hoof. Her horn glowed and a huge black bottle appeared in the air. “Who wants to play Spin the Bottle to try and win a kiss off my girlfriend?”
“I think that bottle’s full,” Pinkie Pie said, seemingly the only pony in the room unfazed by the offer. The rest of the girls, including Twilight, were all staring at the pink alicorn in disbelief.
“Oh, so it is,” Cadance said as she inspected the bottle. She held it aloft in her magic a second time. “Who wants to help me drink this magnum of wine so we can play Spin the Bottle?”
“Me!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she raised a hoof like an excited schoolfilly.
Twilight was rubbing at the spot between her eyes again.
* * *
Spitfire sat in the office of the Centurion, admiring the desk as she waited for Steel Century to show up. As the Captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire had a few offices in different buildings around Equestria. A couple of them had really nice desks in them, but the Centurion’s desk put them all to shame. If this desk told her desks to jump, they’d ask how high.
Spitfire groaned. She was tired and her was mind was wandering.
After Twilight ran off to chase whatever she was chasing, Spitfire and the nerdy chick were able to lead their little group back topside. She’d made extra sure to warn them all against touching anything protruding from the walls, of course, and everypony got out safely.
The tunnel had ended up leading up to the park near Lollipop’s house, and Spitfire had almost crowed in victory when she realized her stupid hunch had been right all along. Apparently the park was a fairly popular place for busy ponies to stop for lunch or a coffee on the way home from work. From what the victims had told her, the changeling strategy was something like those weird spiders that waited in a hole in the ground for something to wander by. It was oddly appropriate stratagem for a bunch of creepy bugs.
The police had taken the civs away to get checked out by medics and fed. She and Twilight ended up being escorted back to the castle for a debriefing, but unlike Twilight, Spitfire had had to repeat her entire statement for some intel officer from the Air Force. It was an obnoxious bit of red tape, but that was just how it was.
After her second debriefing, a Legionary had approached her and told her she was to report to the Centurion’s office. She wasn’t told why the Captain of the Guard wanted to talk to her, but she’d hoped it would go quickly. That hope died the second she walked into an empty room and was told to wait.
Officers loved making other ponies wait. She knew it for a fact because she loved making ponies wait on her in her office. It let them know she was important. Considering how important Centurion Steel Century – Captain of the Guard and First Spear of the military – was, she was in for a long wait.
She was pleasantly surprised to find that she didn’t actually have to wait long. The door opened and the Centurion strode in. Spitfire jumped out of her chair and stood at attention – standard procedure for when a superior officer enters the room.
“As you were,” he said as he took his place behind the impressive desk. He sat down heavily in the equally impressive chair. The wood frame groaned as it accepted the weight of the stallion and his armor. He removed his helmet and set it down on the desk.
For a long moment he sat there, eyes closed, leaning back against the chair with his mouth hanging open. The Centurion was an impressive stallion, but for just that moment she could see his actual age peeking around the edges of the aura of strength and vitality that he exuded.
He hefted a deep, rumbling sigh that sounded like an old steam engine starting up.
“Thank you for coming,” Steel Century said as he sat up straight. “I know you must be tired. I just wanted to tell you that you did good work these last couple of days.”
“Thank you, sir,” Spitfire said reflexively. After some thought she added, “How are the ponies we rescued?”
The Centurion shifted in his seat again. The chair looked unimaginably plush from Spitfire’s side of the desk, but the look on his face made it seem like he was anything but comfortable.
“They’re doing well,” he explained. “A few of the older ones needed to be treated for dehydration, but nopony’s staying more than a night in sick bay.”
“That’s great to hear, sir,” Spitfire said with a sigh of relief.
The Centurion nodded and produced a glass tumbler from his desk. He opened another drawer and withdrew a large bottle of some alcohol with foreign writing on it. He filled the glass and pushed it across the desk.
“Drink up,” he said as he lifted the bottle.
Spitfire blinked at the offered drink.
“I insist,” Steel Century added.
Spitfire took a sip and let the warmth slowly fill her bones. “Very smooth, sir. Thank you.”
The Centurion stared at the bottle for a moment before sighing and retrieving a second tumbler from his desk. He poured another glass and put the bottle away.
“We’re still looking for changelings,” he said as he sipped his drink. “But all we’re finding is bodies… Something split open their chests, ate the damned hearts right out of them.”
“The thing that Twilight ran off to chase after?” Spitfire asked. “What was it?”
“We don’t know.” He took another drink. “Decurion Twilight Sparkle believes this to be… she thinks finding it should be our priority. I agree to an extent, but according to her account of events, the creature fled the city. That means that our first priority is to make sure that the changeling problem is dealt with. The Decurion was none too happy about that, which I can understand. It’s possible she might have history with this monster.”
“I don’t understand, sir,” Spitfire said as she set the drink down. “How can we not know what it is? Twilight wasn’t… she wasn’t being very clear, but she said she saw it, the thing that ate the eggs we found.”
Steel Century frowned into his drink. Something was on his mind, and the look on his face made it seem unpleasant. He hefted a resigned sigh and took a sip.
“Before we continue, I want you to know something,” he said. "I knew your father."
Spitfire blinked. “I’m sorry? I… what does that have to do with—”
“I was a young Decurion when we met,” Steel Century continued. “I was always working twice as hard as anypony else, trying to prove that I deserved my post because I was good at my job, and not because of who my uncle was. I was working the beat in the city, patrolling on a weekend evening.”
The old stallion set his drink down and smiled at the memory. “I got a report that some moron was making a ruckus. The moron turned out to be an Infantry stallion on leave who’d had a bit too much good cheer. I went and arrested him, but he didn’t make it easy. I saw him a few nights later in a bar and we got to talking. We became good friends.”
“I don’t see what this has to do with Twilight’s relationship with whatever she was fighting with tonight,” Spitfire said.
Steel Century picked up his glass and downed the whole thing in a single gulp. He set the glass aside and pulled a folder from his desk.
“Decurion Twilight Sparkle has reason to believe that the creature she met tonight was responsible for the incident detailed in this report,” Steel Century said as he slid the folder across the desk.
Spitfire knew immediately what was in that folder. She reached for it with trembling hooves and tried to pull it closer, but the Centurion’s hoof held fast.
“I know you’ve been asking about this,” he said softly, “but I want you to know that, as your father’s friend, I never wanted you to see this. I’m only showing you now because if you’re anything like your father, you won’t be able to keep your nose out of trouble. It’s better if you know what you’re getting into.”
He reluctantly pulled his hoof away and put his helmet back on.
“I need to have a meeting with the Chief of Police,” he explained as he climbed out of his chair. “I’ll give you the room, but that folder’s not to leave this office… if you need it, the bottle is in the bottom left drawer.”
Spitfire nodded dumbly. She was finally going to find out what happened to her dad. All these months of not knowing, of quietly resenting her friend for not being able to breathe a word of it, and now she was going to know.
“Ah, sir!” Spitfire said as she turned to the Centurion.
The old stallion was standing at the door, his hoof resting on the handle. “What is it?”
“I just wanted to ask…” she began. “What did you arrest my dad for? The first time you met, I mean.”
Centurion Steel Century’s lips pulled into a wide grin. “Public urination. He’s the reason that ‘No Peeing’ sign is posted up at the big fountain downtown.”
The Centurion left her alone in his office, and even through the door she could hear the sound of his laughter bouncing off the walls as he walked away.
* * *
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Queen Chrysalis and the changelings might of been bad guys. But. They didn't deserve this fate in this reality.
Public Urination, the best and dumbest way to get arrested.
So, the Changeling Invasion was stopped before it could start courtesy of a bigger threat?
Oh that's just lovely.
I'm wondering what Spitfire's exact reaction to Twilight's mission report will be, but I imagine it won't be pretty.
Dat ending chapter
So, what I'm getting out of this is weird, changeling-eating X became a problem because of Twilight's actions with Baseinji (too lazy to look up spelling) in Necropolis. So am I correct in inferring that the cannon universe never had this problem because SA never rescued him, I wonder? It seems lime all this could have been avoided by sticking to the mission.
love it :)
6280536 believe me it is but your dignity dies along with it
Good plot, good chapter. I am enjoying this.
Also the threat sounds Aztec/Mayan in nature correct me if im wrong but didnt they eat hearts and blood as well?
Definitely excited, can't wait for next time, and I'm glad to finally have a 'face' for the enemy(damned corpse takers), Thanks for Writing!
Ouch on the reactions, and heck of a nasty way to wrap it all up. But that begs the question of how much spitfire is going to want revenge on that thing for what it did.
I'll be honest, I thought that the chapter break was a hallucination on twilight's part . It felt way to sudden to be a real event.
It took me a minute to realize that there was real story going on and that was not a hallucination.
May be there should have been some flavor text to describe the afterword of the encounter with twilight and the creature.
welp, Now I just cant wait for the next chapter... so this entity that I personally think is a certain somepony, is reffering to Twilight as a sort of equal, another "watchdog". I cant wait to see where you take this, please dont make me wait months, I need my fix, this is the best fic on fimfiction!!!! LOVE IT
6280565
Perfect ending for such a heavy chapter.
Interesting to see Twilight meet the main cast.
6280589
Consuming the strength of your enemies by eating part of them, usually the heart, is a multi-cutural thing. The only continent that I don't know has a history of it is Australia and I wouldn't be surprised to find out it happened there as well. Of course, there are other forms of ritual cannibalism, such as eating your own dead as a solemn duty.
http://news.discovery.com/history/eating-the-enemy-130514.htm
http://www.historytoday.com/richard-sugg/eating-your-enemy
Oh boy, your two stories are very closely related it seems. That was also a nice way to tie in the changeling invasion.
6280589 No. They sacrificed it to the sun and ocean gods.
It is interesting to see the parallels here. To think this much of a change from a coin flip. It will be quite interesting to see what happens when Tirek and Discord show up. Or if they even do at all. Because of shining being there maybe the CMC never get to go on a Canterlot school trip. Perhaps SA never screws around with the time magic to come back and warn himself of something. I love the what if stories.
Great cap off to this arc. Definitely excited for the next chapter. I'm already spinning plots and theories about what the big bad really is.
6280736 I am Ironically Aussie 'eh hem' now iv got reasearch to lol
Oh this is sooooooo cool!
Man the only drawback to this story is having to wait for the next chapter.
I forget what my prediction was early on, but it certainly wasn't this. Though glad to see that Basenji may be coming back into the narrative. Well done!
Also, I really enjoy smarmy Cadence, she's kind of the best.
Watchdogs, minding the borders between different levels of creation, perhaps between Dream and Death?
Oh wait, Ammit got loose.
You're spoiling us, you know.
Maybe by "slipping the leash" it means that Twilight is somehow no longer bound by fate, possibly severed from it when Anubis slashed her Cutie Mark with the Chakram
I can't wait for the next chapter, really loving it so far.
I just re read it again and I have come to an idea, well no, a theory really. You don't have to confirm or deny anything but I will just put my thoughts in a hidden box here, so read if you feel like seeing a possible (POSSIBLE) spoiler
So so far the main bad guy from the first one was Anubis, an Egyptian god. Now if we were to go along with this thinking and then look at the latest addition in rising, this "watchdog" says he or she had taken over a body and was eating the hearts... of creatures. In some Egyptian lore the heart was a soul so I believe that the next big bad is actually the goddess Ahemeit, she would devour the souls of those she saw as unworthy. In the latest chapter she said that Twilight was different.
NOW! this is my second theory, though this is a veeeeeeery big long shot, I believe that Twilight sparkle was changed after her fight with Anubis, being visited by Sky chaser in her dream state, this changed her soul in a way. Though what I am trying to say is hard to explain, my initial thoughts were that she just gained magic like basenjis but now I am more inclined to think that maybe just maybe. What if Twilight Sparkle is now like Anubis and Ahemeit, what if she is one of the Egyptian Goddess'? well... its only a theory but I like to make theories up all the time hehe, if you like it or you don't, give me a comment, I would like to hear what you thought on my theory.
and that's it really, I think that by far, I have a lot of favourite fictions on this site and many are so amazing but by far this is the most enjoyable one to read and I await another chapter with baited breathe. Thanks for the reaaaally~ reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaally~ awesome updates, I will be back for the next chapter! Cya
I want more. I have a love/hate relationship with the way you leave the scene unfinished and jump to the next. I want to see fluttershy kiss twilight dammit!
Mwahahahaha... oh man laughed so much at that.
Caught this typo;
Fluttershy shot a look in Twilight direction.
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Hype for next chapter tho. Hopefully comes out just as fast as these three.
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I thknk that your theories hold some merit but I am not quite sure how much, personally I think that Twi was changed when her cutie mark got cut by the chakram maybe a bit of Anubis got into her or something
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Now that is a great thought. I'll bet that's exactly what it means...
6281528 Its another possibility, I'm not saying mine was accurate, just a guess of the unanimously infinite ways the author could surprise us. Though I didn't think of the idea of the chakram being the instigation in that way so that's lit a few bulbs for me. Thanks for replying
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No problem it is fun to have various theories for a story
Thank you for putting the chapter up first thing this morning! I've been going crazy waiting for it since it got delayed a couple days. So, thank you for keeping the wait today to an absolute minimum! This story is really good and I loved Twi meeting all the others this chapter
I like that she seems like she'll be friends with them. Cadance...sounds like she's already drunk xD Uh-oh, Twilight, run!
So poor Chrysalis is a husk.
Aa for the possession: In ancient Egyptian mythology, a demon called Ammit is known as the Eater of Hearts - coincidence, I think not. Here's the kicker: If Anibus judged your heart unworthy, it was eaten by Ammit. So the link is there.
Also, Wouldn't it be interesting if Ammit somehow possesses Sombra?
Well, now the invasion has a reason to happen. Because screw some one having a happy day. Also, the drums seem to be a call to combat specific to Twilight, and her mind perceives it as the Ways because of the chakram being given to her by the diamond dogs God of death. Otherwise, it's just her blood picking up speed as her heart beats faster as adrenaline begins flowing to help prepare her mind and body for extreme movement and impressive focus as her fight or flight synapses switch on and prepare to push her beyond her normal limits... And now I am in the realm of creepy knowledge... Hate when that happens.
Great way to co iTunes the first story. I've where this is going. the creature talking about chrysalis' body enjoying the taste of her children's hearts
Mad creepy and what is looking like an awsome villian.
See? D&D does have real-world applications and develops life-saving skill sets.
Poor Crissy, dead, possessed husk that had to eat her own children. Let's hope Twilight puts her out of her misery.
So... It's Twily's harem now? XD we need a emoticon for troll/naughty Cadence ASAP!!
Yet another brilliant conclusion! I can't wait for the next installment
Is... is Chrysalis or another queen dead?
Wonder why it didn't take Twilight or an alicorn.
Can't stop the horny Princess of Love, she's bringing her A game!
"breath"?
I love this Cadance, feisty and strong willed with a huge mischievous streak.
Though I have always had a soft spot for Cadance, I don't know why.
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Interesting ideas. If we go this route, would Twilight actually breaking out of Anubis' dream spell have done something to her instead of being visited by Sky Chaser? I would think Twilight gains power or ability from her own accomplishments; Sky Chaser visiting Twilight in her sleep was only possible because of her earlier break through.
We also have the creature mentioning something about "puppets without strings". Would this quality extend to her brother because of the switched fates or just be a consequence? Shining has voiced a couple times that maybe the siblings are living the wrong lives, but if this was the case, Shining is getting a boring deal. Now, if the "puppets without strings" is just a result of the fate switch, then the cut strings could refer to some sort of loss of "master". Building off the idea that the monster is something similar to Ammit (Ahemait), then this things "master" was Anubis who it is now separated from, able to feast on the hearts of whoever. But this lops back to the question about who Twilight's "master" was and if Shining also has "cut strings".
ARG! I can't fight it anymore! Those aren't theories, they are ideas or hypotheses. Theories have far, far more evidence.
Ok, I feel a little better.
A body snatching, reptilian ghost, thingy.
Sounds like fun!
Three things:
1. I'm loving Twilight and Candance more and more.
2. Shining is very meh. He's got all the personality of an uncooked sausage. I miss his military confidence. He make a poor Twilight imitation.
3. You killed Cryssi. You are now on my naughty author list. Bad author. Bad.
I don't know how you keep taking me on visual adventures with each chapter great work.
When I think of drums...