• Published 27th May 2012
  • 4,128 Views, 333 Comments

Collateral - Ogopogo



The search for changelings hiding in Equestria doesn't just affect the guilty.

  • ...
23
 333
 4,128

Chapter XV - Confrontation

"Dammit,” I shouted, snatching my hooves back from what I had been lifting. An unseen nail had been sticking out from the board. My chitin now bore a long tapering scratch. I brought it up to my mouth, sucking on it to try and dull the sting

“Careful,” Starlight chided. “This is no place to be fooling about.”

I bit back a reply over the smarting sting. It was easy for her to say that when she could use her magic so freely to shift the rubble and debris out of the way, despite the warnings of her brother. She had suggested I use my own, but I wasn’t comfortable doing so. I was trapped with what energy I had. Sure I might get a trickle from Ocean and Starlight, but nothing compared to what Marmalade had given me.

Half and hour had come and gone and still, we had found nothing. Well, that wasn’t quite true; we had found a few badly melted pieces of silver. Each one of them was distorted almost beyond recognition. It was a sickening conclusion, but probably there wasn’t anything left. Her inn was a lot bigger than my home, and more fuel meant a larger fire.

Sure, I could bring Marmalade a memento of her inn, but that wasn’t what I was looking for. What use would she have for a burst plank or a shattered tile? I suppose molten slag might do, but only if she could recognize what it had once been through the soot and ash.

Further to the left of me, Ocean Wind had produced a set of hoof guards, and was digging through the remains with little pause or delay. I had a feeling Fusillade had provided the protective gear, though there was little way to be sure.

Returning my attention to the piece of wood before me, I struggled to tip it upright. I gave it a push when I finally managed to, sending it crashing in the other direction. Below the ruined beam I had worked so hard to move was nothing more than ash. I wiped the sweat from my brow and took a moment of rest. Embers from a fire this size took a while to die out, and I could still feel some of the heat lingering. Though I was somewhat resistant to heat, the others must be uncomfortably warm. I could understand why the fire department had put aside clearing the rubble until today.

“Hey,” Fusillade called out from the far side of the debris. “Found something.”

Starlight, Ocean Wind and I came stumbling over the wreckage to see what Sill might have unearthed. Though I thought it was probably just another plate or something, I was surprised to see him pull out a chest.

“Looks like this chest must have been a little fireproof,” Sill said, tapping the somewhat intact metal construct.

“Can you open it?” I asked, seeing the latch without a lock.

“It needs a little longer to cool off,” he said. “The metal is still too hot to touch.”

To his vocal protests, I touched the mechanism for the latch, getting a feel for the temperature. It was a little uncomfortable, but nothing I couldn't handle. After a few moments of fiddling, I managed to get the lid open.

“Nothing!” I sighed irritably. Well, nothing save more piles of ash.

Ocean Wind looked inside the chest and dug around for the moment, drawing out a burnt feather. “Wouldn’t quite say nothing,” he said.

“A feather?” I scoffed. “What good is that?”

“More than you would think,” he replied. “It’s probably from a pillow stored in here.”

“Might as well be nothing,” I snapped. “What good is that going to do us?”

“If something so fragile as a feather could survive this intact, another chest could hold more.”

“So?”

“The other night, I couldn’t help but notice that Marmalade didn’t have her own, separate room,” Ocean Wind explained, sifting through the ash at the bottom of the chest. “Chances are she probably used the same type of room as her guests. If all the rooms are the same, then she certainly had a chest of her own and probably didn’t keep pillows in it.”

“So we’re looking for a chest that just might have something in it?”

Ocean Wind shrugged, scanning the twisted ruins. “Well, it’s more to go by than just digging around.”

Mindful of Ocean’s suggestion, we resumed scavenging through the debris. I thought back to the night, trying to picture where everything in the building had been. When we had gone up for a shower, Marmalade had been pretty specific on which room to use. There was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that it was the one that I should be looking at. Problem was, I had to recall the building’s room plans and orientation in order to figure where it now was.

I remembered entering through the back door the first time I had visited, and seeing the building to the left of me. Using that, I built up the building in my mind’s eye, placing walls, doorways and the stairs. When I put it all together, I hurried over to the spot, and began to dig through the mess. Ten minutes later my efforts were rewarded. Just as Ocean Wind had predicted, there was another of the chests, appearing almost identical to the one from earlier. I didn’t call them over as I fiddled with the latch.

“Guys!” I shouted excitedly after I opened the chest. “Found something!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took the remaining twenty minutes to untangle the chest from the rest of the mess, and another twenty to scrounge together a cart to take it back to the castle. The fireponies and weather team had all too quickly moved in behind us, eager to get started. Starlight bid her brother farewell with a one-leg hug. He returned the favour with another rib-crushing embrace. Ocean Wind and I pulled the harnesses of the cart, gradually building speed to a steady canter. My harness jerked as the cart took on more weight. Ocean scowled at Starlight as she sat cheerily alongside the chest.

The streets passed by slowly, ponies shooting us odd glances. However, the looks received seemed to ask not why we had the chest, but where it was headed. Crossing an intersection, I caught a glimpse of the sun hanging just above the horizon. Wouldn’t be long before dark now.

A servant was busy lighting the entrance to the castle when we finally arrived. The guards standing duty paid us little heed after Ocean Wind gave them a brief nod. Starlight and I bore the weight of the chest back to the room, holding it aloft in the air. Though I would have rather not, there were worse ways to expend some of my magic. We set it down to a solid thud in the corner of my room.

“Alright, Amethyst, loose the disguise,” Ocean said, waving a hoof at me as he went to retrieve his armour. He slid pieces of armour back on, the enchanted plates returning his colours to the traditional white and blues of the Solar Guard.

For once, I complied without protest. With a second of focus, I retook my natural appearance. “Any extra sheets or a table cloth around here?” I questioned, peeking through a few drawers.

“Uh...” Starlight hummed. “Maybe –”

“In the drawer to the left of you,” a mare said flatly.

I whipped my head to face the doorway and found Pastel leaning against the doorframe. Everything about her simply sung of agitation. “Hi, Pastel,” I tried weakly.

“Care to explain why I found Marmalade crying her eyes out?” she asked, pacing towards me like a lion towards a rabbit.

“Well, you see –”

“Or why she called you, and I quote, ‘an arrogant jerk’?” She stopped a few metres away from me and gave me a baleful glare. “It took me a good half hour to get her to calm down to tell me what happened. I am not impressed.”

I shuffled my hooves, looking down at the ground. “I’m not impressed with myself,” I agreed quietly.

“Then why haven’t you done anything about it?” Pastel demanded, closing the distance between us. “Heaven knows that girl has been through enough.”

“I’m trying to get everything together to apologize to her.”

“You better be preparing a very good apology then,” she told me. “I’ve never seen somepony so heartbroken.”

“I hope this will be enough,” I said, lifting the lid to Marmalade’s trunk. I had to admit, I never would have dreamed of finding something so precious.

She leaned over, peering at what lay inside. When she recognized it, her mouth fell open. “You got this from her inn?” she asked.

“That’s what I’ve been doing for the past few hours,” I admitted. “I wanted to surprise her. I was going to see if I could arrange supper, and then apologize and surprise with the chest after.”

Pastel pursed her lips in thought for a moment. “Tell you what,” she began slowly. “You go get cleaned up and I’ll arrange the evening for you. Be here at seven o’clock. I suggest you think very hard about what you are going to say to Marmalade.” She prodded me in the chest. “You got that?”

“Yes ma’am,” I replied.

“Good, now scram.” She shooed me off with a hoof.

“Well, what now?” I asked Ocean Wind, as Pastel shut the doors behind us.

“Perhaps you should get a shower?” He gestured to my filthy carapace.

“Where, though?” I asked. “Can’t have one in my room.”

“I’ll take you down to the barracks and see if you can’t have one there.”

“How long do we have?”

“About an hour and a half.”

“Let’s go, then,” I replied, starting downwards..

We ran into Luna on the way down there. She looked run-ragged, the bags beneath her eyes sagging almost comically, and her mane draped lifeless over her head and neck.

“Ah, Amethyst, pleasure to bump into you.”

“Likewise,” I replied, matching her faint sarcasm with my own.

“I just spent the past few minutes listening to the complaint of the captain of the Canterlot Weather Team. He even made mention of you, and said you told him that my sister should go sit on a cactus.”

“I may have.”

“I have also spoken with Doctor Sweet Fields, who complained you left before they could finish their research for the day.”

“Look,” I said, “just because I agreed to it does not mean I am going to spend my entire day letting them test me, especially when they are so invasive.”

Luna regarded me wearily. “There were also reports you were unwilling to explain to them how your magic works.”

One of the more minor points of the research was when they requested I use my magic and allow it to be displayed and measured. Unlike the other two things I had refused, there was little way they could force me to comply. They simply had to move on after my refusals. There was a reason for my obstinance, despite how long it had taken for me to reach a conclusion.

Although some of the changeling race had invaded Canterlot, I still couldn’t bring myself to offer up anything that anyone else could use against us. Understanding how our magic worked would make it much easier for them to pursue and find us. Even though it could be used against the hive which invaded Canterlot, it could also be used against innocents.

“Yes, and I will always refuse to let them measure, or for me to explain our magic.”

Luna cocked an eyebrow. “And why is that? I thought you were willing.”

“Willing to help you learn about changelings, not learn how to fight them,” I said. “And if you think you can talk me into it, you are fooling yourself.”

“The knowledge would help us defend ourselves,” Luna protested.

“And help you attack them,” I added.

“We would never –”

“Stop. Think about that very carefully,” I interrupted. “Can you guarantee that it would never be used against any changeling who is innocent? Anyone like me, for that matter?” Her expression told me enough. “Exactly. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.”

“One moment, Amethyst. I have a question for Sergeant Ocean Wind.”

He stood at attention as his name was mentioned. “Yes ma’am?” he asked.

“I understand you accompanied Amethyst into the city, him in a disguise and both you and Corporal Starlight without your armour, both of which I expressly ordered you not to do.”

“Just shut up already,” I exclaimed. Quickly focusing, I assumed my disguise again. “This is the appearence I took: hardly that
noticeable a difference. You even said yourself that the way I went out before might not have been the best idea.”

“I was considering getting extra guards, not letting you wander around the city with just two undercover guards.”

“How about when you finally figure it out, you tell me,” I said. “Till then, I’ll keep doing what I am doing. It’s not like you could even stop me from escaping anyway.”

“I’ll make sure to have something put together quickly, then,” she said, a mix of emotions flaring.

There was a bitter retort forming on my lips, but it never came to life. Marmalade’s words and my promise rang through my head. I was already letting myself slip. Getting worked up at something there was no need to get worked up over. Luna had a right to be concerned, so I shouldn’t spit it right back at her.

I took a deep, calming breath, letting go of some of the anger. “Look...” I sighed. “I apologize for running off into the city without first telling you. Something happened, and it is too important for me to let it slip by. If it meant anything less to me than it does, I would have asked you first.”

Perhaps this wasn’t as difficult as I had thought. It was certainly funny enough watching Luna suddenly fill with utter bafflement. She recoiled and cocked her head as though I had lightly slapped her. I didn’t need to look to either side of me to feel the same surprise radiating from Ocean and Starlight.

“Very well, Amethyst,” Luna said finally. “Just please leave some mention that you are leaving the castle next time. I apologize for returning to the topic, but would you consider showing us at least some of your magic?”

I had given the question some thought already. “Well, maybe I can explain the basics to them,” I said. “So long as they don’t learn the actual mechanics of it, I guess I could tell them. But, you owe me for this.”

Luna smiled, dipping her head. “Thank you, Amethyst. We understand how difficult this must be for you.” She walked off.

“Going to be making a habit of this?” Ocean Wind asked dryly.

“Just trying to make good on the promise I made to Marmalade,” I replied, again walking towards the barracks.

“What did you promise?”

Reluctantly, I told them, and even gave them a little background info. I still didn’t know why I had so readily agreed to it. I did like Marmalade, but I’d agreed with so little thought. The easy answer would be that I had agreed quickly just to ease her mind. That admission didn’t sit too well with me. Yet I still couldn’t admit I said it because I meant it. The whole deal left a bad taste in my mouth either way. I gave her my word, and I was planning to stand by it.

“Wow, I’m surprised,” Ocean Wind admitted.

“I know, I still am,” I agreed.

“What made you agree?”

“Can we just get to the barracks?”

“We’re doing that already,” Starlight pointed out.

“Without talking about this?” I asked, raising my voice. They fell back a few steps, and we walked in silence the rest of the way.
For a changeling, feeling someone think and the shift of different emotions it comes with it is a rather interesting feeling all on its own. Emotions come and go, but someone’s mood as a whole remains pretty much constant. Teacher instructed me to always do this during moments of silence, when my thoughts were otherwise unoccupied. Guess it is similar to listening closely for sounds, or certain smells.

I’ve been trying for a long while now to explain to myself and others just how this seventh sense, so to speak, works for changelings. Emotions are never concrete or so unique that I can declare anger to be just that: anger. Anger could be a rather broad range of emotions, considering that emotions themselves differ from pony to pony. If that wasn’t enough, anger could be anger at anything – anger at oneself or someone else were two very different things. I try not to, but I know I was very guilty of interpreting what I felt as certain fact.

We arrived at the barracks. At the time, a few ponies were coming and going. It have been nearly supper time for the Royal Guards, or at least recess. I had to ask Starlight and Ocean Wind about that, sometime; it would be interesting to know.
I received glares aplenty as I walked in. They weren’t quite the same glares as before, however. My story must have gotten around as more than a couple seemed to pity me. That being said, the rest of them were far more accusing. My actions had condemned me. Goring Celestia in the eye was going to keep coming back to bite me in the flank.

“Right,” I muttered. “Let’s find that shower and get out of here.”

Ocean Wind took the lead and found the shower soon enough, a wide open room with shower heads hung along the walls on bare pipe. Members of both sex stood around washing up after a hard day’s work. Ocean whispered something to Starlight, and she darted off towards another room. She returned moments later with a few bottles of shampoo. If the bottles were anything to go by, I was guessing they belonged to Ocean. The pair of them took up position nearby, standing watch.

The water turned a dark ashen brown as I washed off for the first time, as did the soap as I scrubbed out my mane and tail. I would have really liked to have a brush to scour my chitin, but I had no such luck. It took a few more times rinsing and scrubbing for the water to even come close to being clean. When I rinsed off for the final time, the water finally staying clear, I became aware of something happening at the door. Both Starlight and Ocean Wind had placed themselves at the entrance to the room, blocking access to a few ponies outside.

“Just let us through already,” a stallion snarled.

“You are way out of line, Private!” Ocean Wind shouted.

That didn’t sound good.

“Am I?” he demanded. “All I know there is a bloody bug in there, and you saw what it did to Celestia. Let –”

“Luna’s orders. Last warning,” Ocean Wind declared. The ice in his voice was obvious and frightening. He had his wings unfurled ever so slightly, tensed and ready to spring.

“Alright, fine,” the stallion relented.

“Now get –”

Whatever he was going to say was lost as Ocean was flung back into the shower room, slamming into the far wall and cracking the white tiles. Starlight fell back to him quickly, shooting a few stunners to stave them off for a moment. Miraculously, Ocean Wind rose from the foot of the wall, his armour blackened from the blast, steaming underneath the torrent of water from a broken showerhead.

Five ponies rushed in, each clad in the armour of the City Watch. One of them broke off from the others and charged at me, while the others headed to delay Starlight and Ocean Wind. Both them saw the danger I was in, but they were in no position to help. When it came to fighting, I stood no chance against a trained guard. I was about to be beaten into a pulp. Still, I wasn’t going to take this lying down, especially since I intended to apologize to Marmalade at my room and not from a hospital bed.

Luckily for me, I had kept my magic for a situation just like this. It was probably my only hope. Teacher preferred teaching me non-combat magic, but she had still taught me how to protect myself. I recited her instructions in my mind one more time. Disorient, close the distance, distract and attack.

A bright ball of light exploded into existence in front of me, its rays piercing through my tightly clenched eyelids. The unicorn’s cries told me he hadn’t been so lucky. As he staggered about, trying to regain his sight and sense of balance, I galloped towards him. Just as he began to recover, a focused and created a timberwolf... or at least, the growl of one.

He yelped, stumbling back on instinct. I threw myself at him shoulder-first, aiming right where his armour ended. We went flying, and I managed to stay on top as we skidded across the floor. He wrapped a hoof around my neck and tried to pull me down. Panicking, I felt something at the base in my throat constrict and a pasty vile liquid force itself into my mouth. I spat out the glob, and it hit his neck. Shocked, he let go of me, and tried to tear off the expanding pale purple goo. I watched the whole thing in equal shock; I could make that stuff? The moment it stopped expanding, it hardened, so that his hooves were pinned to his neck and his neck to the floor.

I flinched back when a spell nipped by my nose. The next blast glanced my side.

“Dammit!” I swore, stumbling back. I realized when I looked up that I was presenting the approaching unicorn a clear shot. My hooves scrabbled against the wet floor as I sought to gain any purchase. A streak of gold and white slammed into the unicorn, sending both flying into the wall. The room shuddered from the impact. Ocean Wind recovered from the crash quickly, and threw the barely conscious unicorn into the ceiling, letting him fall to the floor.

“What is going on here!” Shining Armour shouted, shouldering his way through the on lookers. The guards attacking us stopped at his appearance. His eyes quickly scanned the now room, pausing once on me suspiciously.

The shower room was a shadow of its former self. Starlight and the other unicorns had wreaked havoc on the walls. Scorch marks were everywhere, and small craters pitted the tiles. The largest of them was the one Ocean Wind had just made with the unfortunate asshole. Water roared from ruined shower heads and broken taps. The room as a whole was ruined.

“Following orders, sir,” Starlight answered, panting heavily. A scrape on her left cheek bled slightly. I thought Ocean Wind might have answered, but he was busy wheezing, standing heavily on one foreleg. He leaned against the wall.

“What order?” he demanded.

“Protecting Amethyst,” she said.

“By destroying the showers?” he exclaimed.

“We followed procedure for escalation of force.” Her voice was calm.

“Amethyst,” Ocean wheezed. “A hoof please?” He seemed to be struggling to remove his breastplate. On a closer inspection, I could see that the frontal bulge was dented, the gem missing. I rushed over while Starlight continued answering Shining Armour’s queries.

I tried to ease his breastplate off, but stopped once his expression became one of agony. “Don’t,” he gasped, gritting his teeth in pain.
Perhaps magic would do the trick. I let the fires of change tickle over the armour, trying to unmake it. The metal resisted my magic. Trying again yielded the same result. “Is there some sort of enchantment on these plates?” I called out to Shining Armour.

“A few, why –”

“Remove them,”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m not doing anything.”

“Well, unless you have something to cut him out of his armour, I suggest you do,” I snapped back. “He’s having trouble breathing because his armour is smashed in.”

That got through to him; his eyes widened in panic. He ran over, giving our former harassers a murderous look. Guess they were not getting off. Shining Armour quickly lowered his head, horn glowing as he concentrated. His horn flickered a few times as he worked, accompanied by the rasp of Ocean’s breathing. The captain stepped back and gave me a nod. Focusing, I summoned the fires of change again, and this time they took hold reshaping the dented armour plate into chalk.

With a gasp, Ocean’s chest broke through and he took several deep breaths before he calmed. He gave me a nod of thanks, shrugging off the rest of the breastplate.
Shining Armour returned his attention to the three standing guards who had attacked us. The one who had I had bound to the floor had managed to rise, though globs of the purple stuff still stuck to his neck. “You are hereby stripped of your rank and imprisoned until the time you can be brought before a military tribunal for your actions. Do I make myself clear?”

“But sir, the changeling-“ one of them began.

“You assaulted your superiors and violated a direct order from the princess!” he roared. “I don’t care what Amethyst did!” So it would seem like them trying to put me in a hospital didn’t matter.

“You are to carry your accomplice to the infirmary,” he ordered, gesturing to the unconscious unicorn, “then wait there for me to bring you to the dungeon. Again, clear?”

I heard some very bitter variations of ‘yes sir’ from them.

“Then get out of my sight,” he spat. “Ocean Wind and Starlight, when you feel ready I would like you two to report to the infirmary as well. Both of you should get a checkover. In the meantime, I’ll have Private Cupcake bring Amethyst back to his room.” He paused, staring at me for a moment. “What are you doing, Amethyst?”

While he had been talking, I had sauntered over to one of the still-working showers and begun washing again. Even though it hadn’t been a long fight, I sure as hell wasn’t fit for a date anymore. “What does it look like?” I asked. Wasn’t that the whole reason I had come down here?