The Heart Thief

by Helrael

Chapter 8

“Rainbow Dash, this cloud is falling apart!” Rarity complained nervously, watching increasingly larger numbers of small fluffy tufts break apart from the cloud she and Spike sat upon. “I'm fairly certain we're sinking!”

“Well, get better at casting that cloud walker spell,” Rainbow Dash grunted from behind her. “That's the third time you say you've been sinking through.” The pegasus grunted again. “Yet... here you are. Still complaining.”

“I wish you would take me more seriously. Especially when we're thousands of feet aboveground!”

“We are not,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, enjoying Rarity's panic far too much. “Mountainside's just a few hundred feet below us. From there it's about two miles down. Give or take. “

“Rainbow! My hoof is poking through!”

The pegasus went silent for a moment, but the unicorn wouldn’t risk looking behind her to see what she was doing. At this point, she felt the slightest movement on her part would cause her and Spike to sink right through the bottom of the cloud they were nestled in.

“Nope.”

Rarity felt Rainbow Dash's hooves return to the cloud, pushing it a little faster up along the mountainside. She dared to twist her head around, not quite far enough to see Rainbow Dash, but far enough that she would see the unicorn's scowl.

“What do you mean, no!?”

“You're being paranoid, Rarity. If you want up a mile-high mountain without hiking, this is the safest way. Provided you're half-decent with that spell.”

“I never said I was! There has to be a better way.”

“Oh there's a better way, alright. Remember the Best Young Flyer competition?”

Rarity grimaced. “Yes?”

“I bet I could carry both of you all the way up the mountain if I was going supersonic. It'd take a few seconds, tops.”

Rarity scoffed. “If you could do that, then why aren't we already at the top?”

“Well you guys aren't exactly aerodynamic,” Rainbow Dash explained, grunting with effort to make her point. “I'd need a running start.”

“And smash into us at the speed of sound? How is that a better plan?”

“Obviously you need to be moving too.”

“If I could move, Rainbow, we wouldn't even be having this problem. Honestly.”

“Didn't say you needed to move up.” Rarity shifted around a little further, giving Rainbow Dash a questioning look. The pegasus was giving her an unsettling, mischievous smirk. “Best Young Flyer competition, remember?”

“No.”

“You sure?” Rainbow Dash cackled. “Bet it'll take just one good kick, and this cloud'll fall apart.”

“No!”

“I give you a few seconds, and then I swoop down. I do the 'Boom, grab you and Spike, and pull up just before we hit the mountainside!”

“Alright, you've made your point, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity conceded, turning around and reclining against the plush cloud, trying to ignore the sinking sensation.

“What point?”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “I never took you for the sort to hold grudges.”

“Was that a 'yes' on the skydive?”

“No! Absolutely not! If you had any idea how much my leg is ‒” Rarity paused, catching sight of the first green thing she'd seen since they had passed the tree line. Not far above the trio, the craggy mountainside that they had been faced with for the past two hours receded, forming a small plateau. A strange-looking tree grew at the very edge of the plateau, and as the pegasus continued to carry her farther up, Rarity saw many more exotic plants hover into view.

“Oh, I think we're here! This must be the garden you described!”

Rainbow Dash peeked up from behind the cloud and smiled. “Finally! How's Spike doing?”

Rarity leaned in over the dragon sitting in her lap. His expression was somber as usual, and he was freezing to the touch. “He hasn't changed much since we left the ground. I suppose you were right after all. I'm surprised he made it through the night, let alone the trip up here.”

“He almost looks a little better,” Rainbow Dash observed, repositioning herself to push the cloud toward the garden.

“And you're sure this dragoness won't mind us dropping in?” Rarity inquired, spotting the cavern entrance beyond the garden plaza. The sheer size of it filled her with a sense of dread.

“Er, well, Spike was welcome. The two of us might have to camp outside.”

“Then why did we go through the trouble of getting up here?” Rarity demanded, ears folding back in annoyance.

“You'd rather stay down there with the dragons? I'm not flying up and down the mountain all day just to check on you two.”

“Do you at least have a tent?”

“Nope. All my stuff got blown to smithereens.”

Rarity groaned. “Maybe the dragoness will let us sleep in her cave.”

Rainbow Dash offered only a scoff in response.

She set them down past the center of the plaza, relieving Rarity of the chilly dragon before helping the unicorn disembark. Although she was grateful for the return to terra firma, her injured leg did not take the transition well. Either she had been sitting still for far too long during their flight up the mountain, or she had gotten too used to the weightless feeling of riding the cloud. Judging from the pain, it had to be both. She hobbled stiffly toward the dragon's lair, leaning heavily against Rainbow Dash for support.

The dragoness herself emerged from the cavern ahead, taking only a few great strides to meet the ponies in the garden.

Rarity found herself quite stunned at the dragoness' beauty. Rainbow Dash had led her to believe that a brutish beast would greet them upon their arrival, but the magnificent creature of gold and lavender seemed to be living proof of the two ponies' difference in perspective.

Her golden eyes slowly swept across the two ponies, finally settling on Spike, riding on the back of the pegasus. Upon seeing the half-comatose dragon, the great dragoness' lips curled back into a frightening snarl. A low growl could be heard all across the garden, and the air around the two ponies heated up noticeably.

Even so, Rarity felt far from threatened. She had faced a truly furious ‒ or perhaps fearful ‒ dragon not long ago, and the one standing before them now was neither. Angry, perhaps, but above all else upset, just like Rarity herself.

“Whatever justice your princess has in store for this thief,” the dragoness rumbled, another wave of heat washing over the two ponies, “it is not enough.” Her eyes found Rarity's, and suddenly the unicorn felt less safe. “You will take him to The Great Heart.”

“She's hurt,” Rainbow Dash pointed out, shifting slightly to readjust Spike's position on her back. “I'll do it.”

The dragoness spoke no words, but her low growl returned as she looked briefly to the pegasus.

“It's alright, Rainbow.” Rarity grabbed onto Spike with her magic and draped his unmoving form across her back. The added weight was slightly larger than she had anticipated, but she shouldered both the pain and the dragon coolly. “Compared to Spike, I haven't much to complain about.”

“Or, you know, the hundred-ton dragon could carry him six steps,” Rainbow Dash observed, raising an eyebrow at the dragoness. Nobody paid her any mind, however, and the pegasus found she could do no more than watch as her friend hobbled across the garden at a pathetic pace.

The dragon moved aside and stepped past the two ponies, reaching the far side of the plaza with a few steps. Rainbow Dash remained where she stood for a while longer, giving Rarity a worried look. Unlike Twilight, she had no desire to challenge something a thousand times her own size, but she couldn’t help but wonder why Rarity had been allowed in. It was better than Spike going in alone, she supposed.

Eventually, she turned to look at the dragon behind her. She stood upon the precipice of the plaza, gazing southward. Throwing one last glance Rarity's way, Rainbow Dash decided to join the dragoness, flying the short distance across the garden. If she wanted somewhere to sleep for the night, she'd have to fly down the mountain to get more clouds, she realized, passing the remnants of the one she had carried Rarity and Spike in. For whatever reason, the dragons' clouds seemed a whole lot less solid than the ones in Equestria.

She landed next to the dragoness, not bothering with any greeting. It would go unanswered, she was sure. Instead, she followed the dragon's gaze, trying to see if she had found anything out upon the southern horizon. Besides the columns of smoke rising from sleeping dragons across the realm, however, the pegasus could see nothing.

“You ponies are frail things,” the dragon offered softly, her eyes scanning the horizon slowly. “I could smell the infection on the white one.”

“Oh.” The pegasus looked back again at Rarity, nearing the stairway to the cavern now. True enough, the unicorn's condition had seemed to worsen during just the short time they’d spent together. It was always hard to tell with Rarity, though, so she hadn't thought much of it until now.

Perhaps the dragon was more perceptive than Rainbow Dash had given her credit for. “Will she be alright?”

“The Great Heart will sustain her, as it will the youngling. But not for long... I hate to see such weakness in a dragon,” the dragoness murmured, her gaze hardening. “I could have reached the borderlands and returned twice by now, and yet here we wait.”

“I coulda done it three times,” Rainbow Dash agreed.

“It is taking too long.” The dragoness opened her wings halfway, but folded them again, as if thinking better of it. “I should not have permitted it. Her failure will cost us his life.”

“She's late. It can't be easy lugging that monster back here, but she'll pull through. She always does.”

“Until she does not. I should not have gambled the life of a dragon in the way your Celestia gambles her kingdom.”

The dragoness seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if seeing something on the horizon. Rainbow Dash tried to follow her gaze, but as before, she saw nothing.

The dragoness gave a throaty sigh, blowing a thick cloud of smoke into the mountain winds. “A storm is coming. The last one brought nothing good with it.” Awaiting no reply, she turned and stomped away past Rainbow Dash, back into the cavern.

The pegasus eyed the remnants of the cloud behind her, all but gone at this point. With a sigh, she spread her wings and stepped off the edge of the plaza, gliding steadily down the mountain toward where clouds seeped forth from the cliffs far below.

---

Rarity had reached the mouth of the enormous cavern by the time the dragoness appeared behind her. It had taken minutes for Rarity to walk just a fraction of the distance the dragon had cleared in a matter of seconds. She passed by the unicorn without sparing her much of a glance, sending tremors throughout the cavern with every step. The great dragon laid down along the right side of the cavern, her long neck extending across the opening deeper within the cavern, on the far side from the entrance.

The golden eyes regarded Rarity with something akin to curiosity, following her unblinkingly as the unicorn made her sluggish way toward their owner. She would have felt self-conscious to be sure, having such a magnificent creature scrutinizing her every move, but she was too exhausted to worry about it. Her leg was in agony, growing more unbearable with every step she took, but she had found her rhythm. If she stopped now, she wouldn't ever make it across the cavern.

It was an odd silence that lay between unicorn and dragon, enforced in a way by the latter's awing, yet quiet presence. Yet it was constantly disturbed by the former's grunts and gasps as she proceeded down the length of the cavern, casting whispering echoes from wall to wall. It was a silence that would neither settle nor break. To Rarity, it seemed a thin veil between the dragon's current courteous disdain and an underlying, more dangerous disposition. It was a silence that wore on for several more minutes as Rarity kept walking, until finally the dragoness deigned to speak.

“He would give away his heart... to you.” There was no small hint of accusation in her voice, but she sounded curious as well, as if she were posing a question to either herself or Rarity.

Despite the protests of her bandaged leg, the unicorn found it necessary to stop. The way before her was blocked by the dragon's head, several times larger than her own Carousel Boutique. She had the feeling it wouldn't be moving aside before the dragoness had said what she wanted to say. Besides, Rarity had already wandered far too close to those titanic jaws to feel anywhere near at ease.

“Do you love him?”

Rarity blinked. She looked back to Spike, resting unconscious on her back.

It was the question she had asked herself just before running into Rainbow Dash. Of course, the answer seemed as elusive now as it had then. Perhaps even more so, given the enormous golden eyes weighing heavily on the back of her head.

“I... I suppose I do.”

The dragoness regarded her silently for a good while longer, judging the sincerity of her words. Eventually, she lifted her head, as clear a gesture as any for Rarity to continue. The unicorn did just that, all too aware of the dragon's scrutiny, but too preoccupied with regaining her rhythm of walking to do anything about it.

“Would you surrender your heart to him? As he has done for you?” the dragoness asked suddenly, just as Rarity passed beneath her.

The unicorn grimaced, making sure the dragon above her didn't see. “That's a rather personal question,” she muttered evasively, continuing on past the dragon.

The opening ahead of her lacked the elaborate equine carvings that had decorated the entrance behind her. And while the entrance had possessed an obvious symmetrical design, the opening leading deeper into the cave had a much more irregular, natural appearance. Most of its edges were jagged and rough, giving Rarity the impression that the opening had once been much smaller, before it had been forced to accommodate a dragon's size. Many other edges had been smoothed out, and the surrounding cliff face bore strange ripples, no doubt the result of a prolonged exposure to dragonfire.

Rarity raised an eyebrow at the apparent vandalism, but made no comment. She passed through the opening, and the chamber of The Great Heart opened up before her. This area was fairly well lit compared to the antechamber behind her, and even larger. The chamber was vaguely ovoid in shape, with vein-like trails carved into the surface of the walls, giving the whole place a very organic feel. There wasn't much of a floor in front of Rarity: The stone floor jutted out a good fifty feet from the entrance before ending abruptly, forming a jagged balcony overlooking the chamber.

The bottom of the chamber lay far below, though most of its floor was concealed beneath the dragoness' vast hoard: Absurdly huge piles of gold, gems and other treasures filled the enormous chamber, swept away from the center and hugging the walls all around. The piles closest to Rarity were so large that they reached up and above the narrow overhang she stood upon, more than a hundred feet above the bottom of the chamber.

In the center was what Rarity could only assume was The Great Heart. It was a large structure in the shape of a rounded cone, following the curvature of the chamber's walls, and the same vein-like carvings riddled its surface, though much thicker. Although the Heart appeared to be of the same stone as the rest of the cavern, a deep red glow emanating from all over its surface made it hard to tell. The veins in the stone ‒ both in the Heart and along the walls ‒ shone with slow pulses of multi-colored light, traveling from the Heart, across the floor, up the walls and into the ceiling where the veins all converged.

Rarity wasn't sure if she was hearing the dull thumping of The Great Heart, or if she was simply imagining it. Standing where she stood now, she could feel the power of The Dragon Territories. The abundant force of life and creation that flowed between The Badlands and The Graylands, the fire of every mountain around them, the richness of the air in her lungs, the majesty of the towering mountain ranges, the ferocity of the storm that had brought her here. It was overwhelming to say the least.

“You do not deserve to be here,” the dragoness muttered disdainfully, her head poking through the entrance into the chamber. “But you need it.”

Rarity almost felt inclined to agree. Compared to the heartbeat of the land, she felt small. Insignificant. “Will he be safe here?”

“Perhaps.” Rarity felt the sweltering heat of the dragon's breath against her back. “You must go deeper.”

Rarity frowned. A hundred feet separated her from the ground below, making it quite clear that the chamber had been designed for those with wings. “How am I ‒?” she started, before seeing the piles of treasure rearing up on either side of her. Knowing she'd get no help from the dragon, she sighed, making her way to the pile on her right.

“Hearts are the realm of emotion,” the dragoness told her, stepping into the chamber after her. “The Great Heart is no different.”

Rarity nodded weakly, focusing on lifting the unconscious Spike off her back and onto the treasure pile. Giving him a little push with her magic, she sent him sliding gently down the steep incline.

“Do you love him as he loves you?” the dragoness pressed, rephrasing her question this time.

Rarity glanced at the dragon uncertainly, sensing concern in her voice. True enough, although her expression could be hard to read, Rarity now saw a certain measure of anxiety written plain on her face. “Why... I-I'm quite...” The unicorn trailed off awkwardly. The look she was being given by the dragoness, so abruptly earnest and compassionate, was throwing her off, filling her with uncertainty. “I don't know,” she admitted, lowering her gaze almost shamefully. She stepped gingerly out onto the pile of gold, worried about leaving Spike for too long.

“Love will nourish him,” the dragoness explained, following the unicorn further inside. “Within the Heart, it is a tangible force, the heart's very essence. I have seen its miracles many times. But doubt, hesitation...” The dragoness' head snaked down after her as Rarity began sliding uncontrollably down the pile, stifling a scream as her leg inadvertently shifted back and forth. “They are constructs of the mind. Poison to the heart.”

Even if Rarity had had a reply, she was unable to deliver one, her teeth clenched tight in pain. She finally reached the bottom of the treasure pile, skidding to a stop next to Spike, who lay face down in a scattered collection of golden chalices.

It took her a few moments to rise to her hooves again, gasping all the while. Her thigh felt as though it were on fire, burning with the same pain she had felt when Spike had first bitten her. While she was rising, the floor beneath her trembled as the dragoness stepped down into the lower recesses of the chamber with her, sending cascades of gold and silver trickling down the mountains of treasure all around.

The massive creature stepped halfway around The Great Heart. Although the structure was almost a hundred feet tall and wider around its base than most of Ponyville, she had no trouble wrapping herself almost all the way around the Heart, her head coming to rest on a mound of gold coins not far from Rarity and Spike.

“If you do love him,” she said, the slight movements of her jaws scattering coins everywhere. “Then go.”

Rarity was grimacing with pain. She pulled Spike off the floor with her magic and slammed him onto her own back in frustration, succeeding only in making the pain worse. She spotted the entrance to the Heart ‒ an unassuming gap between two veins, just large enough for a big pony to pass through ‒ and set off toward it, stumbling and limping.

The dragoness watched her go quietly. She looked far from convinced of Rarity's resolve, but she made no move against the unicorn, allowing her to enter the Heart unchallenged.

The slow, rhythmic beating of the Heart ‒ imagined or otherwise ‒ grew louder and more powerful as Rarity passed into its hollow core. The heartbeat almost drowned out her own, clashing with its frantic throbbing. Something about the discordance elicited a deep ache in her chest, and she found her vision darkening after taking just a few steps. Before she knew it, she was lying on the ground, gasping for air.

Beside her, Spike was stirring, but Rarity could hardly concern herself with that now. She rolled onto her back, easing her breathing somewhat.

The inside of The Great Heart was stone like the rest of the outside chamber, but the walls surrounding Rarity now were perfectly smooth, nearly unmarred. Unlike the pervasive, deep red outside, the inside walls possessed a glow of cornflower blue, its brightness varying in a chaotic pattern that kept shifting all around her. The color was oddly comforting, but its constant motion was enough to make her nauseous.

Scattered across the inside of the Heart’s walls, like stars on a bright blue sky, were hundreds of large gemstones, each glowing with a hue of their own. Rarity's eyes were drawn to each of them in turn, sensing the deep power emanating from every one of them.

Her pained grimace was broken by a confused frown as she quickly, instinctively, realized what she was looking at. “These are... hearts?”

---

“They're gonna hear us...” Fluttershy whimpered, wincing at the dull clang of hoof against steel. Her face was pressed firmly against the bars of the trio's prison cell, eyes darting nervously left and right to peek down the dungeon corridors.

“If they cared about us, they'da brought us food a long time ago,” Applejack grunted. She inspected the increasingly crooked steel bar in front of her with a smile. It was slow going, but they were getting there.

She took a step back and nodded to Pinkie Pie, who swung her tail back in front of the dent in the steel bar. “I can't believe they'd lock us up and just forget about us!” the pink pony complained, trying to keep her tail steady for Applejack.

“The guards that locked us up must have left with the others,” Fluttershy gathered, cringing in advance when she saw Applejack turn her back on the crooked bar. “I suppose they were in an awful hurry.”

“Or they just didn't care,” a voice spat from the cell across from the three ponies'. A lone changeling sat within, incarcerated only two hours after the ponies had been imprisoned. The prisoner had spared them few words, but Applejack assumed she had been a ring leader of the riots that had broken out after the battle between Chrysalis and the heart thief. Either a loyalist of Chrysalis or a supporter of the usurper, depending on who had ended up winning. Applejack suspected she was the former.

Returning her attention to the task at hoof, the farm pony lifted her backside, coiling up like a spring for half a second. Her forelegs shuffled backwards a few inches before both her hind legs lashed out with tremendous force, landing a perfect hit against the bar. The recoil, as well as the sound of the impact, was softened by the fluff of Pinkie Pie's tail, leaving Applejack with only a dull ache in her hooves.

“Don't sweat it, Fluttershy,” she reassured the pegasus, panting from the effort. “If they didn't come runnin' half an hour ago, they ain't gonna now.” Pinkie Pie removed her tail, and Applejack gave a short laugh when she saw the crack separating the top and bottom half of the metal bar. “Now we're talkin'!”

The changeling across from them watched with a curious eye as Applejack kicked against the lower half of the bar again, not bothering with dampening the noise with Pinkie Pie's tail. After just a few kicks, the bar was bent completely out of shape, opening up a hole large enough for the ponies to squeeze through.

Applejack went first, closely followed by Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. The changeling prisoner across from them pressed up against the bars of her cell, giving the three ponies an imploring look. “I know every square inch of this hive. I can help you get out of here.”

“Sure.” Applejack scoffed, throwing a wary glance up and down the prison corridor, trying to remember where the exit lay. “Let's trust a changeling to get us outta here.”

The changeling frowned. “I'm in this prison for a reason!”

“She's got a point,” Pinkie Pie offered.

“Yeah. Even her own kind don't trust her.”

“I know where that dragon monster is going,” the changeling insisted. “I'll tell you when we make it outside. Trust me,” she added, noting Applejack's raised eyebrow. “If you want to save Equestria, you'll want to know.”

Applejack frowned. She looked to Pinkie Pie, then Fluttershy. After a long moment of hesitation, it was Fluttershy who spoke. “We went through an awful lot of twists and turns getting here. I wouldn't know how to find the exit.”

Pinkie Pie nodded her agreement, and Applejack sighed. “S'pose you're right.” She eyed the changeling. “If ya know this place so well, where do we find the keys to your cell?”

“Warden's quarters are that way,” the prisoner replied, nodding her head right. “By the exit. I doubt you'll run into anyone.”

Applejack nodded warily, following after Pinkie Pie, who had already begun bouncing off in the proffered direction. Together, the three ponies made their way through the twisted, narrow corridors of the dungeon, passing by several empty cells of vastly varying sizes and conditions before coming upon a stairwell that no doubt led up into the rest of the hive.

Just left of the stairs was a heavy-looking door, unlike any they had seen in the rest of the dungeon. It was locked, but it only took a few kicks for Applejack to knock it off its hinges. As the door fell to ground with a heavy thud, the ponies were faced with a surprisingly small chamber. Its only furnishings were a large, black desk and a solid, stone chair, reminiscent of a throne. Another door led deeper into the warden's quarters, but Pinkie Pie quickly found what they were looking for in one of the drawers of the desk.

It didn't take them long to return to the imprisoned changeling, who very promptly pulled the key from Pinkie Pie's mouth with her magic. The changeling gave a relieved sigh when the key clicked in the lock, and the cell door swung open shortly after.

“Follow me,” she told the three ponies, heading down the corridor in the opposite direction of where they'd just come from. “Keep close. I'm not coming back for you.”

Applejack plodded along after the changeling, giving a shake of the head. “Figures.”

“Where are we going?” Fluttershy asked softly, falling in behind Pinkie Pie as she bounced off after Applejack. “The exit's the other way, isn't it?”

“The entire hive and everyone in it is what's the other way,” the changeling retorted without even looking back. “I plan on avoiding them.”

“Good plan!” Pinkie Pie commended her.

The changeling drew to a halt, almost as if in response to the pony's compliment, but turned her attention instead to the two empty cells on either side of her. Her magic grabbed hold of four steel bars, seemingly at random, and gave each of them a swift twist.

Something beneath them clicked in response, and the changeling opened a large hatch that had been expertly concealed within the floor of the corridor.

“This leads out beyond the hive's fortifications,” the changeling told them, jumping through the hatchway and lighting her horn to drive away the darkness below. “Mind the step.”

Wary of any traps, Applejack approached the hole in the floor, noticing that the 'step' was an eight foot drop. The changeling stood at the bottom, waiting at the entrance of a narrow, unlit tunnel. One by one, the three ponies leapt down the cramped shaft, and the changeling closed the hatch above them, leaving the four of them completely reliant on the light shining from her horn.

“You weren't kiddin' when ya said you knew this place,” Applejack muttered, pushing ahead to the front of the group. The tight confines of the tunnel were making her uneasy, and the last thing she wanted was the changeling running off with their only source of light.

“A little paranoia is healthy for our queens,” the changeling told them, motioning for Applejack to start walking. “There are a dozen of these secret tunnels all over the hive. Very few know about them.”

“Ah take it you were close to Chrysalis, then,” Applejack observed. The floor was rougher than she had expected, and her own shadow was making it hard to see in front of her. “That how you ended up behind bars?”

“Something like that.”

“What happened to your queen?” Fluttershy piped up from behind.

“Nothing good.” The changeling's tone bore a grim finality to it, and she fell silent for a while.

Applejack frowned to herself. She couldn't say she was surprised with the changeling's revelation. The transformation she had witnessed within the throne room had been truly terrifying. Only the changeling soldiers' bravery ‒ however brief ‒ had gotten the three ponies out of that throne room alive.

Chrysalis was no friend of Equestria, yet somewhere, it bothered Applejack that no one had saved her. And if the thief had taken her place, the ponies' situation had only worsened. Not only would recovering Spike's heart be that much harder, but the changelings could very well pose a real threat to Equestria. Especially with Twilight off who knew where and the other princesses up in The Crystal Empire.

It wasn't long before the farm pony bumped her head against a sloped wooden surface above her, marking the end of the tunnel. She pushed against the wood, and with a great creak and moan, the half-rotted hatch opened up, revealing the all too familiar marshes outside the hive.

“Color me impressed,” Applejack muttered. She stepped outside and held the hatch open for the other three. “Didn't imagine we'd get out the hive that easily.”

Looking around, Applejack spotted the hive's fortifications behind her, quite a ways away. A large copse of trees stood between the ponies and the imposing palace, shielding them from view.

“I wouldn't count yourselves safe just yet,” the changeling warned them, scanning the skies. “If a patrol catches us together...” Her eyes narrowed, and her face fell. “Ah. Well I suppose we'll find out.”

Applejack followed the changeling's gaze and spotted a dark shape against the early evening sky. “Great.”

“There's just one,” the changeling observed. “If we're lucky, we can ‒”

“That's... not a changeling,” Fluttershy ventured, and Applejack gave the approaching figure a closer look.

True enough, the creature's wings were flapping much too slowly to belong to a changeling, and the figure itself was much too small to be a dragon. The wings beat with an erraticism that didn't seem quite right for a pegasus, however, leaving Applejack stumped as to what it was.

“It's Twilight!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, waving a hoof in the air excitedly.

Fluttershy nodded her agreement with a smile, and the changeling rolled her eyes.

“Another one?”

“I never noticed how well the fake Twilight was flying,” Fluttershy remarked, marveling at the distant Twilight's wobbling flight. “That should have been a dead giveaway.”

Twilight seemed to have spotted the group even before Pinkie Pie started hopping and waving, and within moments, the alicorn landed none too gracefully in front of them all, breathing heavily. She gave the changeling a confused look before turning her questioning gaze to Applejack.

“What are you girls doing here? Where's Rarity?”

Applejack grimaced. “She's... It's a long story.” She gave a nod to Twilight. “But, uh... What about you?”

“She's probably after the thief,” Pinkie Pie pointed out, and Twilight gave the three of them a worried look.

“You saw him,” she murmured, sounding much like Applejack felt.

“We did a lot more than see him,” the farm pony explained. “We only just busted outta their prison.”

“He took over the hive,” Twilight gathered, looking out at the distant fortifications. “What about Chrysalis?”

Everyone's eyes turned to the changeling, whose gaze was fixed on the ground. After a long moment, she looked at Twilight. “He struck her down in front of the whole hive. He took her crown and threw her in the dungeons.”

Applejack's brow furrowed at that, remembering all the empty cells she'd passed during their escape. The changeling noticed her expression and shot her a quick look that told her to keep her mouth shut.

“He took her crown...”

The changeling's gaze returned to Twilight, spotting the look of despair that had crossed her features. “You know what that means, don't you?”

The alicorn nodded quietly.

“What? What does it mean?” Pinkie Pie asked them, looking back and forth between the changeling and Twilight.

“Chrysalis wore a crown of sorts the last time we saw her,” Twilight explained, looking north, presumably toward wherever Spike and Rainbow Dash were. “A growth, behind her horn. Attached to it were four crystals.”

“Like the big one growing out of the thief's head,” Fluttershy whispered in understanding.

“Four hearts,” Applejack muttered, seeing the problem.

“They were the source of Chrysalis' power,” Twilight continued. “But now he's claimed them. His dragon's heart is fuelling an unquenchable thirst for power.”

“And he knows the power of the heart now,” the changeling added, catching Twilight's attention again. “You won't find him here. He took our entire army north almost two days ago. More than a thousand changelings. He's going to conquer The Heart Vault.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “And what's that?”

The changeling shot her an annoyed look and sighed. “A long time ago, before the dragons came and when The Changeling Kingdom was at its highest, our kings and queens did not inherit the right to rule as they do today. They fought each other for the throne. To do so, they claimed the hearts of... 'lesser' creatures, growing more powerful than you can imagine. Rather than passing down their power, they chose to be buried with the hearts they had taken. In The Heart Vault.”

The changeling sighed again and shook her head. “There must be hundreds of hearts in there, ripe for the taking. If that monster makes it inside the vault... not even your princesses will be able to stand against him.”

“Where is this vault?” There was a deep worry, a fear perhaps, in Twilight's eyes. It was one of the last things Applejack wanted to see at this point.

“You'd have passed right by it to get here,” the changeling replied wryly. “It's in the middle of The Dragon Territories. I believe they call it ‒”

“The Great Heart,” Twilight finished, turning halfway north. “Oh no...” Applejack was feeling plenty worried with the changeling's revelations alone, but Twilight obviously knew something the others did not. Her breathing quickened as she looked to The Dragon Territories, and the color drained from her face. Her eyes found Applejack's. If they had held worry before, they were most definitely filled with fear now. “Spike's there. I left him there.”

“Oh,” was all Applejack could manage. She tried to think of something to say, to console her friend, but something about Twilight's eyes robbed her of all words. She hadn't seen eyes like that in a long time.

Luckily, Pinkie Pie came to her aid, putting a reassuring hoof on Twilight's shoulder and giving her a comforting smile. “Hey, calm down, Twilight!”

“He'll be trapped in there,” the alicorn muttered weakly, shaking her head. “He can't leave or he'll... And the thief is coming straight for him. Nothing can stop him from reaching that vault.”

“Except you,” Fluttershy offered meekly. “Right?”

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie agreed, giving Twilight a little shake. “If anypony can do it, it's Twilight!”

Twilight shook her head softly, shrugging off Pinkie Pie's hoof. “I couldn't beat him when he had one heart. How am I supposed to do it when he has five?”

Her eyes passed over each of her friends in turn, looking for any kind of answer.

“You can't,” was the changeling's helpful response.

“He ain't gone yet, sugarcube,” Applejack offered when Twilight's eyes met hers. “Pinkie's right. If anypony can stop that thief in time, it's you.”

“But how?”

Applejack gave her a shrug. “Ah don't know. But... it's Spike.”

Twilight hesitated for a moment, then nodded her head weakly. “You're right. I ‒” She stumbled away from the others, her wings extending haphazardly, trying and failing to align themselves with each other. She stopped, taking a few deep breaths. “I have to go,” she said, sounding a little more collected. Her horn began glowing, and her wings unfolded fully, catching a wind that seemed to surround only her. “I have to do something.”

“There's no way you can make it,” the changeling told her, shaking her head. “They're almost two days ahead of us. If they're not already there, they'll reach the vault before dawn.”

Twilight lowered her stance, ignoring the changeling's warning.

Applejack gave a small smile. “She can make it,” she told the changeling, keeping her eyes on the alicorn. “Friendship's what gave Twilight those wings in the first place. For Spike, she'll make it.”

Though her gaze was fixed north, Applejack caught the glimpse of an appreciative smile on Twilight's lips. The alicorn leapt upwards, promptly vanishing in a flash of magenta. She reappeared a hundred feet above the three ponies, diving a short distance to gain speed before blasting off toward the Dragon Territories, propelled by the magically summoned wind around her.

“That thing wiped the floor with Chrysalis,” the changeling remarked cynically, watching the alicorn zoom across the sky. “She's gonna need more than friendship to beat him.”

“You can cut the act,” Applejack told Chrysalis, giving a sigh as Twilight vanished past the horizon. “But ya ain't wrong...”

Comments

[TheMessenger]

Hearts are gems? How truly outrageous.

Great chapter, can't wait for the next one.

[Fido]

6260274 I find it amusing that most people dump on him for "not being up to snuff" in a manner of speaking... as if expecting him to accomplish the same things the main 6 do all the while forgetting he's a child. His age might not be specified in canon but I think it's more than clear he's not even a teenager.

[Hillbe]

6371344 Princesses assistant, janitor, cook, help in a fashion boutique, hero of the crystal empire, works in a library, carries a plushy, chases after older mares , rampages through ponyville, was the size of a full sized monster twice ,a superhero in a comic book, hatched from an egg who knows how long it sat in a pantry waiting to be hatched or turned in to an omelet, saved Twilight numerous times. yeah just in diapers.

pre15.deviantart.net/e9f3/th/pre/i/2015/235/4/2/spike_2_by_hillbe-d96v5np.jpg

great story.

[RadicalDishonesty]

6371344
That particular issue is especially egregious when some of those people in the next breath say the CMC are, in contrast, great, when Spike has accomplished more than they have in-show.

I think that is mostly people who already dislike him and are stretching for justifications, or people that hold him to a higher standard (ie: a double standard) than the other young characters.

[hentaispyder]

I really hope for some Spike ex machina, this story is suppose to be about Spike yet the whole time thus far has been main six rescues the damsel which happens to be Spike. I'm not saying this is a bad story, far from it. I just wish hope that Spike gets to stand up for himself, maybe before Twilight wins, hopefully after Twilight fails.