Halfling

by Dee Pad

Chapter 17 - Reunion

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 17: Reunion

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"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with... 'R.'"

Applejack let out an exasperated sigh. "Is it 'rock'?" she answered with no enthusiasm.

Pinkie Pie beamed happily. "You got it! Wow, you are really good at this game, Applejack."

The orange earth pony glanced around at the rather featureless caverns they were navigating, seeing nothing but rocks. "Yeah, go figure."

Pinkie hopped eagerly. "Okay, okay, your turn! Gimmie a tough one!"

Applejack groaned quietly, looking pleadingly at the alicorn walking alongside her. "Twilight."

The pink pony frowned slightly. "You're not supposed to tell me what it is. Come on, pick something else."

"I think that's enough games, Pinkie," Twilight told her. "There are only so many things here you can spy anyway."

"What about... 'stones,' or 'stalactites'?"

"You did both of those already. Can we please give it a rest?" Applejack begged her exuberant friend.

"Alright, fine," Pinkie agreed, though reluctantly. "You know, you've been awfully grouchy today, Applejack. Not much of a morning person?"

Applejack took off her hat for a moment to run a hoof through her blonde mane, breathing a sigh as she did. "Actually, it's the exact opposite. Ah usually get up early so Ah can get a head start on mah chores. But it's kinda hard to enjoy the morning when we can't even tell if it's morning."

"It certainly doesn't help that we had to sleep on the jagged, stone floor," Twilight added, stretching to work out the kinks in her neck and back.

Pinkie Pie waved off their griping dismissively. "I don't know what you're talking about. I slept like a baby."

"Says the gal that grew up on a rock farm," Applejack deadpanned. "Y'all probably slept on a mattress filled with rocks."

Pinkie quirked an eyebrow. "What, you don't?"

Twilight simply shook her head, ignoring Pinkie. "I have to admit, this whole rescue mission hasn't exactly been encouraging either. We still haven't seen any sign of anypony we've been looking for. I'm starting to get very worried."

"It ain't gonna be easy to find anypony down here," Applejack said in an attempt to be reassuring. "And, if Ah'm bein' honest, I figured we'd've found 'em an' brought 'em home by now. Guess we brought supplies fer a reason, but still..."

"I'm sorry, girls," Twilight apologized. "Maybe it would've been for the best to tell somepony we were coming here. It may have been foolhardy to think just the six of us could handle the entire changeling colony."

Pinkie Pie placed a hoof on the alicorn's shoulder comfortingly. "Aw, don't beat yourself up, Twilight. If we're gone for too long, Spike will probably let Princess Celestia know. He's a reliable little guy."

Twilight managed a small smile. "I suppose that's true. I know we can count on Spike to get help if he really thinks we need it."

"Ah think Ah'm a little more worried about Rarity's group," expressed Applejack. "Ya gotta wonder how well they'll handle themselves when they get into a tight spot. But even worse 'n' that is Snowflake and his parents. Chamella, too, o' course."

"No kidding," agreed Twilight. "Shade and Chamella might be fine here on their own, and Snowflake must've been taken for a reason, but Winter is the one in the most danger, for sure."

"An' with how she's been actin' lately, Ah'm afraid she's gonna run headlong into trouble."

Their conversation had to be put on hold for the moment, as the trio had found themselves at a juncture. Shining their headlamps around, they spotted numerous tunnels and passageways hollowed out into not just the walls, but the ceiling and even a few in the floor.

"Well, this is a dilly of a pickle," Pinkie Pie stated, scratching her head as she looked at all of the options in front of them. "What way should we go, Twilight?"

The alicorn was a little caught off guard by the question. "Huh? H-How should I know? I've never been here before."

"Ah 'spose it's just as well to pick one at random, huh?" Applejack surmised. "Ain't like we know where we're going anyway."

The stetson-wearing mare was about to just head down the tunnel directly ahead of them, but Twilight reached out to stop her.

"Hold on. We may not know where we are, but that doesn't mean we should just haphazardly choose a path."

Applejack raised her brow curiously. "Ya got any suggestions then?"

"Actually, there may be a way we can narrow down our options."

Upon saying that, Twilight lit up her horn. After a moment, a stream of pink energy began to flow out in a long strand, curving and swirling around before it began making its way to one of the tunnels on the group's left.

Applejack observed the magic trail, slightly confused. "That yer tether spell, or whatever?"

Twilight nodded. "It is. This should help us a little bit."

"Wait wait wait, hold up," Pinkie requested, waving her hooves as she attempted to comprehend Twilight's intention. "I thought the tether was supposed to lead us back to Rarity. Why's it going that way? Shouldn't it be leading us the way we came?"

"Actually, the tether spell will lead us down the shortest path to its other anchor. Apparently, that path is down that way," Twilight explained, pointing to the tunnel where the magic trail was leading them.

"So that means that that path joins up with the path that Rarity an' the others are on," Applejack inferred. "Not that I wouldn't mind regrouping, but wouldn't that kinda defeat the purpose of splittin' up in the first place?"

The alicorn shook her head. "That's not what I'm suggesting. What this tells us is that there's no need for us to go down that way; Rarity and the others are that way, so it's probably better for us to pick another path," she elaborated, her horn dimming and the trail fading away.

Pinkie clapped her hooves enthusiastically. "Great! So that just leaves..." Her ears drooped a little as she noted their many remaining options. "...all of this... How exactly did that help?"

Twilight, too, pondered their choices thoughtfully. "Well, since we know the general direction of our friends, we can focus our attention away from the left side. And considering I'm the only one of the three of us that can fly, we can probably rule out the vertical routes."

"So we'll pick somethin' on the right." Applejack had a gander at what that left. On the right side of the crossroads were only three tunnels of varying size that were easily accessible to the two earth ponies. "How do we decide which one?"

Pinkie Pie threw her hoof up eagerly. "Oh! I know! I'm thinking of a number between one and three..."

Applejack groaned. "Fer pete's sake, Pinkie, another game?"

"Well, it's not like I have any ideas as to how to narrow it down any further," said Twilight with a shrug. "Go for it, Pinkie."

The pink pony hopped in place, tickled that she was given the opportunity to help out in her own unique way. "Okay, so, if Applejack guesses it, then we go down the leftmost path. If Twilight guesses it, we go down the rightmost path. And if neither of you guess it, we go down the middle path."

Twilight scratched her ear with a reluctant sigh. "This isn't exactly scientific, but, whatever. I guess three."

"Ah'll take one."

"Okey dokey, the votes are in! Drrrrum roll, please!"

Pinkie began to mimic the sound of a snare drum with her tongue, causing Applejack to furrow her brow impatiently.

"Could you just get on with it? We don't have all day, Pinkie," the orange mare insisted.

"The results are in! The number actually waaaas... two! Da da-da daaaaa!" Pinkie shouted exuberantly.

"Alright, middle path it is," said Twilight, already heading for their decided route.

The chosen tunnel wasn't really any more distinct than any of the other paths, and it almost just felt like they were back on the same path they'd been walking all along. Applejack had a look around as they trotted, taking note of the one distinguishing feature of the cave.

"Ain't seen them mushrooms around 'til now," the orange earth pony commented, gesturing to the glowing, blue fungi growing around the passage. "Must mean we're gettin' pretty deep in the hive."

"It looks like somepony strung up some Hearth's Warming lights," Pinkie said with a touch of whimsy. "Granted, the spacing is a little... well, it's a lot; a lot of spacing. The changeling's could use somepony to decorate for festive occasions. You think they'd hire me?"

"Don't think they had anythin' to do with how they're placed, Sugarcube," Applejack replied. "Plus, Ah don't know if it'd be a good idea to leave yer contact information 'round these parts."

Pinkie lolled her head back and forth as she hummed in thought. "Mmm, maybe when things are a little more peaceful between us. These caves could use some serious redecorating. Whadda you think, Twilight?"

The lavender mare didn't respond. She was too busy eyeing the mushrooms analytically as they passed by. Pinkie noted the look of suspicion on the alicorn's face. However, before she could inquire as to what was going through Twilight's head, Applejack interrupted.

"Hey, check it out."

Pinkie Pie and Twilight followed Applejack's pointing hoof, noticing a faint, blue glow coming from further down the tunnel. Rather than speculate as to what it was, the trio simply hurried their pace to see for themselves. They quickly found themselves within a chamber brimming with more of the same mushrooms, but of much larger size for the most part. The walls and the stone columns in the room were absolutely plastered with them.

Applejack tilted her hat back as she took in the view of the luminescent room. "Well, ain't that a sight."

Pinkie Pie reacted similarly, but with an awestruck grin as she twirled around slowly. "Whoa. Maybe they don't need an interior decorator after all."

"Can't say Ah was expecting to see something like this down here," said Applejack in mild amazement.

Pinkie prodded a particularly large mushroom cap with her hoof, taking delight in its soft sponginess. "They're so soft. You could probably use 'em as pillows." She lay down on her back, resting her head against the mushroom to test that theory. "Mmm, not bad. Pretty cozy actually." The pink pony hopped back up, eyeing some of the smaller fungi, plucking one and looking it over. "Y' know, they actually look like they'd be kinda tasty." Without even a moment of hesitation, Pinkie tossed it into the air, opening her mouth as she prepared to catch it.

"Pinkie, stop!"

At Applejack's warning, the mushroom inexplicably halted in midair just inches from the pink pony's waiting maw. Pinkie looked over at Applejack with a quirked eyebrow, at which point the mushroom succumbed to gravity's grasp once more, bouncing harmlessly off the mare's muzzle.

"Don't you have any common sense?! You can't just eat random mushrooms!" Applejack scolded her. "What if they're poisonous?"

Pinkie's eyes widened a bit at the realization of the mistake she had nearly made. "Oh, whoops. Guess I wasn't thinking," she giggled with embarrassment.

Applejack simply shook her head and sighed in exasperation. "Well, think before you act from now on, okay? I mean, just lookit these things." She picked up the one Pinkie had nearly eaten. "The way they glow, they might not just be poisonous, they could be, like, radioactive or somethin'. Right, Twilight?"

"Actually, their bioluminescence is the result of an interaction between a compound called luciferin and the luciferase enzyme in the presence of oxygen." Twilight looked up from the mushrooms she was examining to the uncomprehending looks of her friends. "That is to say, no, it has nothing to do with radioactivity."

"But they're probably still poisonous, right?" assumed Applejack.

Twilight held one of the them up with her magic, looking it over scrutinously before answering. "In a sense, yes."

"You know what these mushrooms are then?" Pinkie presumed.

"If I'm not mistaken, I believe I read about this particular species of fungus in a book once. Their called the phobia amanita."

Applejack tilted her head in confusion. "The... phobi-what-now?"

"Phobia amanita, and their very presence here is a huge discovery; they supposedly went extinct a few hundred years ago. Apparently their spores are a rather potent hallucinogen."

Pinkie clamped her hooves over her mouth, holding her breath fearfully.

"Relax, Pinkie. You'll only feel the effects if you ingest large amounts of the spores."

"So if you eat 'em," Applejack inferred, casting a reprimanding glance at the pink mare.

Pinkie let out her breath again, relieved at the news.

Applejack looked over the mushroom she was holding. "These seem like the kinda thing some shady types might deal with in back alleys."

Twilight shook her head. "From what I've read, not even drug dealers wanted to risk dealing with these mushrooms. They don't offer any sort of euphoric high like other hallucinogens. Instead, they target the subconscious while the victim sleeps, inducing incredibly lucid dreams."

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad," Pinkie commented. "I wouldn't mind running around my dreams feeling like it was real."

"It's not as simple as that. The name of these fungi—phobia amanita—should say it all. They specifically target the darkest reaches of your mind, pulling out your deepest fears and manifesting them in the form of nightmares. They were even more commonly known as fear 'shrooms."

Pinkie deflated a little upon hearing that. "Oh. Yeah, that does not sound pleasant. I wouldn't want to have to live out that one nightmare I had where my pastries were trying to eat me."

"Exactly," the alicorn said with a nod. "Those nightmares were said to feel so real, it was next to impossible for those affected to tell it was a dream, even after waking up. There were actually several cases of these mushrooms' effects causing serious and sometimes irreversible psychological damage. Some victims even had to be admitted into psychiatric hospitals as a result."

Applejack found her jaw hanging open a bit after hearing all this. "Dang. Guess it wasn't so bad that these things went extinct then, huh?"

"That was actually Princess Celestia's doing," Twilight explained. "Having heard the reports, she ordered that any of these mushrooms that were found were to be destroyed immediately. They were simply too harmful." She looked around the chamber they were currently standing in, noting just how many of the supposedly-extinct mushrooms were surrounding them. "But I suppose they couldn't all be eradicated. I guess it makes sense that they would continue to thrive in areas where ponies never go."

"You think the changelings eat them?" Pinkie asked. She pointed to a spot nearby, pointing out a small mushroom that looked as though something had bitten it. "Looks like something does anyway."

"Shade and Chamella did say that mushrooms were one o' their more consistent food sources, right?" Applejack cited.

"True, but they've never mentioned anything about nightmares," added Twilight. "I suppose it's possible that, over time, changelings could have built up an immunity to their effects. I just hope that Winter would have the common sense to avoid eating them."

"Yeah, I mean, who would be dumb enough to eat something so obviously dangerous?" Pinkie snickered, earning an eye roll from Applejack.

The orange earth pony cast a grin in Twilight's direction. "Well, hey. Ah reckon you must see this as the opportunity of a lifetime, eh, Twi? Ain't every day you stumble on a species that was supposed ta be extinct. You gonna pack up some specimens to study when we get back?"

Twilight hummed quietly. "Admittedly, that thought had occurred to me." She hesitated for a moment, staring intently at the mushroom in her magical grasp. However, she shook the thought from her mind, dropping the fungus on the ground. "But Princess Celestia ordered their eradication for a reason. I don't want to be the one responsible for them popping up in mainland Equestria again."

"So does that mean you're gonna get rid of 'em instead? Y' know, follow the princess's order?"

Again, Twilight mulled over the suggestion. "No, I don't think I should. These mushrooms are an important form of sustenance for the changelings. Since they don't seem to be affected by them, and since they haven't appeared to spread outside of these caves, I see no harm in letting them be. I'll be sure to let Princess Celestia know of their existence, though, just in case."

Applejack adjusted her hat and started for the other end of the chamber. "Well, as educational as this has been, we should probably be hittin' the road. We can't lollygag too much when our missing persons already have such a big head start on us."

"Agreed. Let's keep moving," said Twilight following behind her.

Applejack paused, noticing that somepony hadn't caught up yet. She glanced back to find Pinkie Pie attempting with difficulty to uproot one of the larger mushrooms. "Pinkie!"

The party pony glanced in Applejack's direction, noting the disapproving expression on her face.

"No mushroom pillows."

With a huff and a pout, Pinkie released the fungus and trotted over to her friends. "Fine, but sleepovers would be so much cooler with glow-in-the-dark pillows."

***** ***** *****

Shade felt like he was making no progress whatsoever. As many times as he'd entered the hive, either to attend an address from Queen Chrysalis or to scavenge for food, he still didn't really know his way around. Thankfully, he was able to get a little sleep the previous night, and Glory hadn't shown up again after he left her behind. He figured it would be difficult to pursue anypony down here considering how many routes he could have taken. In any case, the few hours of rest he was able to get seemed to help with his headaches; the pain had died down a bit, though was still noticeable. After what happened during his encounter with Glory, he decided it might be a good idea to avoid using magic if he could help it.

But headaches weren't his only problem right now. Shade was starting to get pretty hungry. He figured it wouldn't be too difficult to find something to snack on, but he'd apparently overestimated his luck. He hadn't happened upon any of the mushrooms that were known to grow within the caves, so his only sustenance since returning to the Changeling Kingdom had been a few random bugs he had found crawling around. Not exactly filling nor appetizing, but it was all that was available. He was now confronted with a dilemma: he wanted to find Snowflake, or Winter and Chamella, but right now, it may be for the best if he were to focus on finding something to eat. He knew how to locate where mushrooms grew in large numbers, the only problem was stumbling upon the telltale signs.

Shade slowed down for a second, perking his ears up. He could hear buzzing. There wasn't exactly anywhere to hide, so Shade was going to have to either get ready to run if it happened to be more soldiers, or just hope it was some random drones that wouldn't know who he was. Although the chances of a group of other drones being this deep in the hive were unlikely, and Shade wasn't exactly in the mood for another fight. He needed to be ready to escape at a moment's notice.

As Shade crept closer to the source of the buzzing, he found himself nearing a considerably large chamber. He immediately recognized the room as a nursery. The ceiling and floor were littered with egg sacs, all of them broken. Of course that meant that the buzzing was coming from the newborn larvae flittering about. They must have hatched recently since the fluids from the egg sacs had yet to completely dry and there were still a few hatchlings loitering around the chamber. Thankfully most of them had moved on in search of food. Shade wasn't as concerned when there were only a small number of them. Had he arrived sooner, they likely would have had no qualms about attacking him the moment he entered, but even these infantile creatures knew better than to attack an adult changeling when there were so few of them.

A couple of larvae flew over to Shade curiously as he entered the chamber. He simply gave them an authoritative glare to assure them that he wasn't above fighting back if they decided to get violent. The hatchlings wisely kept their distance, but continued to eye him, hissing and growling quietly. It was hard to believe now that he once feared his own son would turn out like these creatures.

Ignoring the larvae, the question now became which direction should he go from here? Like most nurseries, there were many entrances and exits to make it easier for the females to find one when it came time to lay eggs. Shade figured his best bet was to just keep going in the direction he was going, so he started towards the opposite end of the chamber.

As he made his way toward his chosen exit, Shade paused for a moment. He heard something through the endless buzzing. He couldn't identify what it was over the noise, but it was certainly strange. Shade looked to his right, from where he thought he could hear the sound coming. He noticed a narrow crack in the far wall somewhat concealed by a few large rocks laying around it. Shade cautiously crept closer to the crack. There was definitely something in there, and the closer he got, the more clear it became.

It sounded like... whimpering.

Careful not to let his guard down, Shade approached the crevice. The possibility still existed that this was some kind of trap; he knew the soldiers were looking for him, so it was entirely possible that they had set an ambush. Shade peered inside, lighting up his horn to illuminate the crevice and finally discovering the source of the sound.

A sobbing pegasus mare, her alabaster coat and crimson mane stained with dirt.

Shade's eyes widened in shock and he had to force himself to keep his voice down. "Winter?!"

The pegasus's head shot up at the sound of Shade's voice, staring in disbelief for a few seconds before her brain was able to accept the fact that what she was looking at was real. "Sh-Shade?!" She wiped the tears from her eyes, attempting to stand as best she could in the cramped crevice. "I-Is that really you? What are you doing here?!" she stammered in a hushed tone.

Shade glanced over his shoulder back into the chamber. As time went on, the larvae's numbers thinned more and more. At this point, there weren't enough left to really pose much of a threat even if they decided to attack all at once. "In a minute. First, we have to get somewhere safe. Stay behind me."

"What?! Are you crazy?! Those little monsters'll tear me apart!" Winter stated fearfully.

"They won't do anything as long as I'm in the way, and I can protect us with a barrier if that'll make you feel better. Come on."

Winter hesitated, but trusted Shade, following him out into the chamber. The moment she was exposed, the few hatchlings that remained immediately locked their sights on her. A few of them noticed the adult changeling standing there and thought better of attempting anything. However, a few of them we brave enough to have a go at them.

The pegasus cowered behind Shade as the few larvae beelined toward them. Shade didn't hesitate to do as he said he would and erected a bright green shield around the two of them. The little changelings slowed down when the barrier went up, looking a little confused. After a brief moment, they all backed off, assuming that the pony had already been claimed as a meal by the older changeling.

Shade shook his head lightly, the throbbing in his temples having resurfaced for a few seconds after casting that spell. Winter didn't seem to notice the brief moment of pain on his face, focusing instead on the larvae as they flittered away. Gesturing with is hoof, Shade lead Winter to the nearest tunnel, going deeply enough down to ensure they were safe from the larvae. Once they were in the clear, Winter collapsed to her haunches, shaking and breathing heavily.

Shade tenderly placed a hoof on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Instead of answering, Winter threw herself at him, wrapping her hooves around him and nuzzling into his neck as tears of relief started to run down her cheeks. Shade couldn't help but grin. He was just happy to see that she was alright. Of course, he knew that their troubles were far from over, but seeing her again at least took some of the weight off his mind.

The pegasus finally pulled back, wiping the moisture from her face with a grateful smile. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you. I thought I was gonna die."

"What happened anyway?" asked Shade curiously, wondering how Winter had found herself in that predicament.

"Chamella and I just happened to wind up in that nursery right as the eggs were hatching."

Hearing the name suddenly caused Shade's heart rate to jump in worry. "Where is Chamella? She didn't get..."

Winter shook her head, alleviating that concern. "She managed to get away, but I was too scared. That crack in the wall was the closest place to hide. I figured I could lay low for a while until all the larvae left." She let out long sigh. "I must have been in there for a couple of hours. I was starting to think I was never gonna get out of there alive."

"Guess it's a good thing I showed up when I did. You certainly have a penchant for getting saved from changeling larvae at the last minute, huh?"

Winter glared at him, her cheeks lighting up slightly. "Is this really the time to be making jokes at my expense?"

"Sorry, sorry. Anyway, do you remember what way Chamella went? We should try to find her."

"Oh, actually, it was this way," she said, indicating the tunnel they were currently in.

Shade quirked an eyebrow, surprised at the convenience of that answer. "Really? Well, I guess we should get going then. We don't know how far ahead she might have gotten," he suggested, making his way down the path with Winter following behind him.

"She could've waited for me," Winter grumbled. "Or try to save me, or something. But instead she just took off and left me to fend for myself."

"Something must've happened. She'd never just leave you to die. Maybe some soldiers spotted her, so she had to run."

Winter simply shrugged. "Maybe."

The changeling stayed quiet for a moment, expecting Winter to say something else. Instead, she also went silent, walking quietly behind him with a mildly upset grimace. Shade had to wonder if something had happened between Winter and Chamella since they got to the Changeling Kingdom. He knew the two of them had a rather... fragile relationship, so he wouldn't have been surprised to hear that they had had an argument or disagreement at some point. Though he certainly didn't believe it could get so bad that Chamella would be willing to abandon her. There had to be some sort of explanation.

The silence was suddenly broken by the sound of a low rumbling. Winter turned her gaze to Shade, specifically his stomach.

"You sound hungry," she surmised.

Shade let out a long sigh. "Yeah, I didn't really take the time to pack any supplies, and I haven't had much luck finding anything in here." He looked pleadingly at the pegasus. "You brought some food with you, right? Where're your bags?"

Winter turned away slightly, letting out a sigh of her own. "Chamella had them. Truth be told, I'm a little hungry, too."

"Guess we just have to hold out hope that we find her then." He stared at Winter for a few seconds. There was a question on his mind, but he was pretty sure he knew the answer already. Regardless, he figured he'd ask anyway. "I don't suppose you've got any leads on Snow."

Winter blinked, hesitating. "Snow? Uh, no, nothing."

Shade shook his head. It was the answer he was expecting, but that didn't make it any less discouraging. He then furrowed his brow, glaring forward into the darkness. "I don't care what Chrysalis wants with him, we're getting him back. I'll make her pay for taking him if I have to."

"Try not to let your thirst for vengeance get out of hoof, okay? I don't want you to get hurt," Winter requested compassionately.

Shade lifted an eyebrow at her. "No offense, but that sounds kind of hypocritical coming from you. I figured you'd want her head more than anypony."

Winter cleared her throat awkwardly, straightening up a little. "Well, obviously I want her to get her comeuppance, but I don't really think we're the ones who can really do that. Maybe we can ask Twilight and her friends to help out once we get out of here."

Shade groaned, his hindsight taking the forefront once more. "Wish we would've thought to do that before coming out here."

Winter's eyes drifted to the floor, her ears drooping with them. She didn't say anything, though, the silence between the two speaking volumes. Shade knew they had both messed up. They made bad judgment calls and now all the people they cared about most were in grave danger. They were both going to have to take a long, hard look at themselves and their priorities when they got back home, assuming they even make it out of the Changeling Kingdom alive.

Shade snapped out of his thoughts for a moment, stopping in his tracks and staring forward, his expression one of great confusion. Ahead of them was nothing but a solid wall of rock; a dead end. It wasn't as though there had been any signs of a cave in, this was actually the end of the road. Shade didn't recall seeing any branching paths on the way there, so it wasn't like Chamella could have veered off somewhere. Winter must have been mistaken about which path she took.

"I think you might have made a mistake, Winter," Shade informed her, carefully looking around for any cracks or crevices that weren't immediately noticeable. "Chamella couldn't have come this way. There's nowhere to go from here."

He didn't receive an answer from Winter, but before he could turn around to question her, he was suddenly tackled to the ground from behind. Shade found himself on his back, with none other than Winter pinning him down, a smug smirk on her face. It didn't take anything else for Shade to figure out what was happening. He'd been duped. It wasn't Winter at all. Glory must have gotten ahead of him somehow and lay in wait for him.

Shade struggled against the disguised changeling, but wasn't able to loosen the pressure on his pinned legs. "Ugh, I should've known it was too good to be true."

"Well, it's not all bad," the changeling said, Winter's voice sounding just wrong to Shade with that patronizing tone. "After all, we get see each other again after all this time."

Shade ceased his struggling, his eyes locking with those of the fake Winter on top of him. The beautiful amber he was so familiar with had been replaced by blood red. Shade felt his blood beginning to boil. The red eyes; the patronizing tone; the self-satisfied smirk. Shade's pupils narrowed like a tiger ready to pounce and he bore his fangs furiously. Without another moment of hesitation, he wrenched his right hoof free and swung it straight at his attacker's jaw.

With a pained grunt, the disguised changeling staggered backward, bringing their hoof to their cheek. Shade quickly stood up, glaring icy daggers. He was going to have to deal with the mental image of punching Winter later. Right now, he was too focused on the unbridled hatred seething through him.

"Winter" turned back to face him, an expression of mock hurt on their face as they rubbed their injured cheek. "Geez, is that how you greet old friends? You need to work on your social skills." Their pursed lips curled into that recognizable smirk once more, and the imposter was then wreathed in green magic to reveal who Shade had already known it was.

Guise. Just seeing his face again was enough to make Shade's stomach churn with disgust.

"What are you doing here?" Shade asked, his voice dripping with venom.

Guise ran a hoof through his spiky, red mane, scoffing at the question. "What kind of question is that? I've been locked up in the hive's dungeon for who knows how long because of you," he answered, his voice equally disdainful.

"I figured Chrysalis would've executed you for planning to usurp her."

"If she killed every changeling that wanted the throne for themselves, there'd be none of us left. Honestly, I almost wish she had. Being locked up down here is enough to drive a guy crazy. Trust me, I've seen it for myself."

"So what are you doing out now? You manage to escape somehow?" Shade inquired.

Guise flashed his signature devious grin. "As luck would have it, I was given a proposition. My release for your life. Two birds with one stone as they say. How could I pass on that?"

Shade grimaced. If it weren't enough to have the soldiers after him, they've even sicced Guise on him, too. As if he needed any more trouble as it was. "So that's it then? You're here to kill me, is that it?"

Guise simply smirked.

Shade breathed an exasperated sigh. "Guess some things never change. Unfortunately, I don't have time for your crap right now. I have bigger fish to fry."

Guise's smirk vanished, his eye twitching ever so slightly. "'Don't... have... time'?" He grit his teeth, growling angrily as he spoke. "Don't talk to me about time. I know I never really had much of a life here to begin with, but being locked in a dungeon for... How long exactly?"

Shade hesitated for a brief moment before answering reluctantly. "About two years."

The other changeling's red eyes twitched again, continuing through clenched teeth. "Two years... Well, there's not exactly much to do other than think. And among the things I've thought about were all the ways I could exact my revenge on the guy who got me put in there. I'm a little single-minded right now, you can understand that, right?"

"So am I, which is why I don't intend to entertain you or your murderous fantasies."

Guise scowled at Shade's nonchalant attitude. However, he discreetly glanced over his own shoulder, peeking behind him. His grin returned. "That's too bad, because as you pointed out, this is a dead end. If you want to get back on track, you have to go past me, and I think we both know I'm not about to stand aside without a fight."

As much as Shade hated to admit it, Guise had a point. He was cornered. The tunnel was certainly quite large, but it still wouldn't be difficult for Guise to cut him off if he tried to fly past him. But Shade wasn't only in no mood, nor did he have the time to deal with Guise, but he wasn't exactly in any condition to fight him, health-wise. His headaches, while not as bad as they once were, were likely to get worse if he tried to fight back, especially if he was forced to use magic. Not to mention he had gotten a few scrapes and bruises that were still pretty sore from his encounter with Glory.

With all of this in mind, Shade made a decision. Not wasting anymore time talking to Guise, Shade took to the air, flying up high and as fast as he could to try and get by Guise. The other changeling hadn't been expecting such an abrupt escape attempt, but immediately flew upward to cut Shade off in the air. Shade darted left to avoid him, but Guise quickly caught up, tackling Shade in midair to send both of them hurtling toward the ground again. They both got back to their hooves quickly, staring each other down and waiting for the other to make a move.

"What did I just say?" Guise growled. "You're not getting out of this, Shade."

"Look, if you're this hung up on it, fine. But can we put it off for a while? Like I said, I've got stuff to do."

Guise snarled furiously, his pupils narrowing like a rabid animal. "Don't brush me off like I'm not worth your time! You think you're better than me?!"

Shade stared at him, clearly annoyed, yet still calm, unfazed by Guise's roiling anger. "You know what? Yes. Yes I do. Because look where being you got you; locked up in the dungeon for two years, fixating on some dumb vendetta, while I've been enjoying my life with people who care about me."

Guise nearly popped a blood vessel he was fuming so much, his teeth threatening to crack from how hard he was gritting them. He lunged forward, drawing back a hoof and taking a swing at Shade with an enraged cry. Shade sidestepped out of the way, Guise's hoof slamming hard into the solid stone wall. Shade took the opportunity after evading the attack to flee once more, continuing to hold true to what he said about not wanting to waste time. Guise himself wasted no time chasing after him, having no intention of letting Shade escape his grasp after waiting for this moment for so long.

Before long, Shade found himself back in the nursery they had left just a short time ago. He came to a quick stop midair in the center of the chamber, glancing all around him. There were even fewer larvae left here now than there were before, but that wasn't really here nor there; the problem of which way he should go now arose. There must have been at least twenty different tunnels branching off from the nursery, and he wasn't sure which path he had come from in the first place anymore. He was just going to have to pick one at random and hope for the best.

However, before Shade could start toward any of the available passages, he heard the frantic buzzing of wings quickly coming up from behind him. He didn't even have a chance to turn around before Guise rammed him once more, wrapping his forelegs around Shade's midsection and dragging him down to the floor.

The two changelings hit the ground rather hard, both of them wincing in pain as they recovered from the impact. Guise fought through the pain, immediately jumping on top of Shade before he could get up. Guise reared his head back, opening his mouth wide. Shade throw a hoof over his face in defense, with Guise lunging down at him fangs first. Thankfully, his aggressor's pointed fangs wound up harmlessly slipping through the naturally occurring holes in Shade's leg, but Guise bit down hard regardless, enough to draw blood. Shade saw an opportunity to retaliate, jerking his bitten hoof to the side and pulling Guise with it, causing him to roll off of the green-eyed changeling. Shade quickly followed up by rolling with Guise, kicking him in the gut with one of his hind legs. The blow knocked the wind out of Guise for a moment, forcing him to release his toothy grip. Shade scrambled to his hooves again, rubbing his fetlock where Guise had chomped down on him.

Guise coughed from the strike he'd received as he started to stand up. However, the vengeful changeling didn't even bother to catch his breath before swinging around, horn first, to continue his relentless assault. Shade only barely managed to take a step back, the pointed tip of Guise's curved horn missing his throat by an inch. The unexpected attack caused Shade to stumble backward, falling onto his haunches. Guise took that moment to leap at him, knocking him onto his back again with a full force tackle. Guise roughly slammed Shade down onto the stone floor, grinning maniacally now that he had his quarry right where he wanted him.

"By the way, like the new look you've got going there," he said with a sadistic chuckle, indicating Shade's broken fang. "But how about I even that out for you?!"

Shade raised his forelegs to protect himself as Guise began to mercilessly beat down on him with his hooves. The bruises he'd received from Glory were starting to become more noticeable as Guise repeatedly struck him, giving Shade no room to counter. He didn't want to use magic on account of his headaches, but at this point, he really didn't have any other recourse.

As Guise pulled back for another blow, Shade took that moment to attempt to strike back, firing a beam of neon green magic straight up. Guise managed to assess the sudden threat in time to lean back, barely avoiding it. The beam shot upwards, striking the ceiling and carving an erratic gouge in the rock. Guise reeled a bit, caught off guard by the attack, but having successfully rendered Shade's attack pointless, he prepared to continue his blunt force assault.

The sound of pebbles hitting the floor diverted their attention. The two changelings managed to pull their hardened gazes away from one another long enough to notice the dust and small rocks falling on and around them. Guise turned his gaze up again to where Shade's beam had struck in time to see a portion of the stone ceiling break loose, a pile of large, jagged rocks falling free and dropping straight towards them. Guise leapt off of Shade to avoid being crushed, however, Shade's legs were currently in too much pain to move quickly enough. Instead, he lit up his horn once more, covering himself in a barrier. The stones crashed on and around the shield, some of them shattering on impact while others bounced off, piling up until the barrier was completely buried.

Guise stood motionless, staring at the mound of rocks incredulously. After several seconds, the pile began to move, the stones being pushed aside as the bright green of the magic shield rose up, clearing a gap for Shade to stand up. The barrier fell, leaving the exhausted changeling standing amongst the rubble. Guise continued to stare with a baffled look on his face. Shade seemed to be struggling to keep his balance, the pain in his forelegs causing him to wobble a little. The navy-maned changeling also held a hoof to his head, clenching his eyes shut and firmly massaging his temple.

Guise, though confused by Shade's reaction, saw an opening as he was still recovering. However, rather than capitalize on the opportunity, he furrowed his brow and spoke to Shade with ire in his voice. "Oh, I see how it is now."

Shade looked at Guise through one open eye, his head still throbbing painfully. "What?"

"You really do think I'm not worth your time, don't you? Can't even be bothered to properly fight back even though you know full well you can overpower me."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Guise sighed in aggravation. "No point playing coy anymore. I figured it out."

"No, seriously, I have no idea what you're on about," Shade reiterated.

Guise stayed silent for a few seconds, analyzing Shade's expression. "Wait, really?"

He simply received a confused shrug in response.

"Did you not see what you just did?" Guise pointed to the ceiling, a scar running through the area that Shade had blasted with the beam and a crater left where the rocks that were currently scattered on the ground once rested securely. "The average changeling can't do that. You're telling me you've been feeding off of that mare's love and you didn't expect you'd be able to do something like that?"

Shade glared at Guise, taking offense at the assumption. "I haven't been feeding off of anypony's love. I've got no interest in power like that."

"Maybe you haven't been feeding directly, but the evidence speaks for itself," Guise stated matter-of-factly. "Siphoning love comes as naturally to a changeling as breathing. Whether you realize it or not, it's been happening. You remember the last time we saw each other, right? You had quite a bit a power back then, too, and I'm assuming you weren't feeding off of her then either."

Shade blinked, the realization settling in his mind. Certainly he'd noticed an improvement when it came to his skill with magic, but he had attributed that to the occasional teachings from Twilight. It hadn't even occurred to him that he was absorbing love involuntarily.

"Two years, huh?" Guise continued with a slight smirk. "Chrysalis was able to overpower Princess Celestia after just three days of love from that guard captain. You might not have been getting a lot of it at a time, but you have to have gotten more power than she had back then by now."

"What's your point?" Shade asked bluntly.

Guise grinned slyly. "My point is that you have more than enough power to kick Chrysalis out if you wanted. You could easily become king of the changelings."

Shade simply stared at Guise, bemused.

Guise waved off Shade's silent retort. "Yeah, yeah, I know, no interest. I'm just saying you could if you had a mind to. I mean, if you were king, couldn't you lead the changelings toward peace with the ponies? That's what you want, right?"

"I want nothing to do with you lot anymore. I just want to live my own peaceful life. This place can burn to the ground for all I care."

Guise was slightly taken aback by that reply. "Wow, harsh. But fine, whatever. I know I probably can't sway you. My original point was that you could have easily blown me away with that power. Now, you can't say you didn't want to resort to violence because you didn't even hesitate to give me a wallop back there. So what gives? Tell me straight: am I really not worth the effort to you?"

Shade didn't answer right away, unsure if that was information he really wanted to share with someone he knew wanted to kill him. "That's not it. I'm just... not in proper shape to be using my magic excessively."

Guise lifted an eyebrow, but recalled seeing Shade in pain after using the beam and erecting that barrier. "What, like, it hurts when you use magic?"

"Wraith gave me a once over and my head's been a little rattled ever since. And I just had an unpleasant encounter with Glory yesterday, so I've been trying to avoid getting into anymore fights."

"So basically what you're saying is: if I want to kill you, now's the time to do it."

Shade waited for Guise to make a move. However, the other changeling didn't budge. In fact, the notion he had just brought up didn't even seem to excite him. He just stood there as if contemplating something.

"What's wrong? Not going to take the chance?" Shade realized as he said it that he was poking the hornet's nest, but he was admittedly curious about Guise's sudden attitude shift.

"I want to ask you a question."

Shade stared quizzically at him, curious still, but suspicious. "What is it?"

"What are you even doing here to begin with? If you want nothing to do with us anymore, then what reason do you have to come back?"

There was a moment of hesitation. Again, Shade debated whether or not he should share that sort of information with Guise, but at the same time, he had to wonder where this would go if he told the truth.

"Because they kidnapped my son."

Guise blinked, clearly not comprehending what he had just heard. "Uh... I'm sorry, I must have misheard you. I could have sworn you just said 'your son.'"

"I did," Shade said with the utmost seriousness.

Guise's jaw dropped a little, visibly confused by this information. "Wha—? Like, you and the pegasus? A kid? Together?"

Shade rolled his eyes with a quiet sigh; how many times had somepony had that reaction now? "Yes, and we were just as surprised, trust me."

"Huh. Oh, so is that that 'Snow' person you mentioned before? That's the kid's name?"

"Snowflake, yes."

Guise scoffed, amused, yet disgusted at the same time. "Dumb name for a changeling," he muttered under his breath.

Shade knit his brow at the comment. "He's half-changeling."

"Whatever. Either way, it's weird," Guise said with a shrug.

"So, wait, you didn't know about him?" asked Shade.

Guise shook his head. "How was I supposed to? I've been in isolation for two years, remember?"

"They never told you why they wanted you to kill me? Why I came here in the first place?"

"Look, I already told you: they offered me a chance to get my revenge, I didn't question it."

"That still your focus?" Shade asked, still on guard in case his adversary tried something.

Guise went silent. There was a conflicted look in his blood red eyes as he stared at Shade. "I said killing you was one of the things I had to think about for the past two years. The logical progression there being what I was going to do after that."

"And?"

Guise inhaled deeply through his nose, closing his eyes for a few seconds as he contemplated. "I was never one hundred percent sure. At least, not until I actually got out. I've got little doubt that once I finish the job they give me, they're just gonna kill me anyway despite promising me freedom. The longer I stick around, the better the chance I'll never really be free."

For what felt like the first time in his life, Shade could hear the utter seriousness in Guise's voice. For all the snark and back-hoofed compliments he's given over the years, this was the first time Guise sounded like he actually cared about something enough to be worried about it, even if it was his own well being.

"So you're going to leave the Changeling Kingdom?" Shade surmised.

Guise looked straight into Shade's eyes with no maliciousness whatsoever. "I've got another question. I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but I'll ask just to be sure: this life you've made for yourself. Is it worth it?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

Guise nodded. "I figured."

"Wait, are you actually planning on... befriending ponies?" The simple notion was almost enough to make Shade start laughing. After everything Guise had said over the years, imagining him actually becoming a normal member of pony society like he was was a bizarre and amusing thought.

Guise grimaced, breaking eye contact and scoffing. Shade could have sworn he was blushing. "Don't jump to conclusions. It's... an option. I'm not really interested in changing my outlook. I just figure that if you can make a life for yourself, how hard could it be?" His trademark smirk spread across his muzzle again. "You've already done all the hard work for me. It probably wouldn't be too difficult to convince the ponies to let me in. I'd be in the perfect position to get the power I—and every other changeling—have always lusted after."

Shade glared harshly at him. "If you do that, you know I'm going to tell Princess Celestia."

Guise chuckled at the threat. "She'd still have to find me."

"Can we get back to my question now? Are you still determined to fight me or not?"

"Don't get me wrong, I still hate your guts. But right now, I think I might have to focus on number one. Besides, I know you said you're not really at peak condition at the moment, but I've seen what you can do with just a month's worth of love. Even if it would give you a bit of a headache, you could still probably blow my head off with that magic. The way I see it, I need to level the playing field before I can get back at you, which ties into what I said before. I'll come back for you some day. Count on that."

Guise turned his back to Shade, casually making his way towards one of the many exits out of the nursery. Shade wasn't entirely sure if he could trust Guise, but as he had told himself on several occasions already, he had more important things to focus on, and Guise was giving him an opportunity to get out of this confrontation.

However, before Shade could be on his way as well, Guise called out to him again. "Hey."

Shade glanced over his shoulder.

"Just so you know, your pony friends are here somewhere."

Shade's eyes widened in surprise. "What? You mean Twilight and the others?"

"Apparently. I overheard one of the soldiers telling Wraith about them. Since I know now that you didn't ask them to come with you, they probably came looking for you. I'm only telling you because the troops are seeking them out, too, so there may be more to worry about than just your family."

A wave of relief washed over Shade. "That's good to know. Thanks, Guise." An odd feeling ran up Shade's back. He was pretty sure he'd never said that before.

Without another word, Guise went on his way again, casting only a discreet, disdainful sneer in Shade's direction. Shade himself waited until Guise vanished into the darkness, still unsure if this was all some elaborate ploy to get him to drop his guard. But now he had some helpful information at least. Knowing that Twilight and the others were looking for them took a load off his mind, even if that meant they had put themselves in danger as well. In fact, it was even a possibility that they may have already found Chamella and Winter.

All in all, Shade's unexpected reunion with Guise was shocking in more ways than one. In a way, he seemed like a somewhat different person than he was used to, but perhaps that was to be expected from being imprisoned for two years with nothing to occupy his mind but the thought of revenge and reflecting on his actions. At the very least, Shade could be thankful for Guise's inability to cooperate with anyone for once, and he'd worry about his intentions later once he ensured the safety of his friends and family.

As the adrenaline finally died down, Shade felt his stomach rumble once more. Of course, he was going to have to worry about himself first and foremost.

Comments

[changeling khaos]

Well that wasn't the reunion I was expecting. Great chapter.

[harts fire]

that was a interesting twist n the end.
a grate chapter i love it.

[SkyChaser]

Awesome chapter Can't wait for the next chapter what ammi gonna read?

[Deserter Balanc]

That went better than I expected...
Guise still deserves some kind of wound, bare minimum: don't let him leave scot free

[Verdant Frost]

"True, but they've never mentioned anything about nightmares," added Twilight. "I suppose it's possible that, over time, changelings could have built up an immunity to their effects. I just hope that Winter would have the common sense to avoid eating them."

said Pegasus already ate them