7 - Reports
Canterlot
“You will be safe, won’t you?” Scarlet asked, the rays of the morning sun illuminating her features as they stood at the front door of their home.
Broad Sword, who was in full armour, shot her a smirk. “When am I not?”
“I won’t answer that,” she deadpanned back. “Need I remind you exactly how we met?”
“Trussed up like a trophy in some cave by a changeling infiltrator?” he retorted. “Believe me, I didn’t forget.”
Scarlet rolled her eyes, but grabbed him by the neck and pulled him close. “Well then, if you need me to come to your rescue again, feel free to let me know.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he responded, excepting a quick kiss on the lips.
Scarlet chuckled, pulling away and turning to the colt just behind her.
“Now, I really need to get a certain colt to school.”
Valiant visibly gagged. “But I don’t want to! It’s boring.”
Scarlet quirked an eyebrow and looked at her son pointedly. “Valiant Snow, don’t you want to join your father in the Royal Guard?”
Valiant scuffed the ground, his head drooping. “Yes…”
“Well, then you need a good education. Now come on, chop chop!”
He groaned, but did as he was told. Picking up his bag with his hooves, he deposited it on his back and then trotted out the doorway.
“I should be off then,” Broad Sword stated. “You two enjoy yourselves.”
“I’m sure we’ll manage, now go,” Scarlet said. “I’m sure the Princess will be keeping you plenty busy.”
Broad Sword bid his family some final farewells for the day, before sauntering away down the street while they went in the opposite direction towards the school. As he went, he passed by the odd pony who gave the Captain of the Solar Guard a nod of respect, which he returned. The castle wasn’t so far from his residence, and after some minutes of walking he was already there. On reaching the front gates the guards on duty all saluted the Captain as he passed through; despite the lack of noise or feeling he was all too aware of the enchantments scanning him as he passed through the entrance, enchantments designed to reveal any changeling attempting to sneak into the castle disguised. He couldn’t help but consider that if they had had the security measures the castle currently held ten years ago, then the Canterlot Wedding would never have happened. Still, Broad Sword had to concede that in hindsight, perhaps all of it was for the best that the initial attempt at the wedding did proceed as it did. After all, without Queen Chrysalis’ actions they wouldn’t have these new measures at all, and of course, Twilight Sparkle would be dead.
Still, that was in the past, and today was the present. As such, Broad Sword had a job to do and he intended to do it well.
He entered the castle proper, intending to report in directly to Princess Celestia, who would usually be in her study preparing for day court at that point in the morning. After that, he had wanted to perform a surprise inspection of the barracks, it had been too long since one had occurred, and troops had a habit of getting complacent.
None of this would happen, however, when he heard his name being called from behind him down the corridor.
“Broad Sword!” Vladimir shouted, the armoured thestral flying down the hallway in a rush to catch up.
Broad Sword stopped in his tracks, turning to face his Lunar Guard counterpart as Vladimir came to land a short distance away.
“Vladimir? What is it?” he asked. “And can it wait, I was just on my way to report in to the Princess.”
“No need,” the thestral responded, stopping just in front of the Pegasus. “She and Princess Luna are in the war room, I was sent to retrieve you.”
“The war room?” Broad Sword cautiously questioned, a frown growing. “Why?”
“All will be explained,” he responded. “It will just be us and the princesses for now.”
“Just us? If it’s just us, and not any of the generals, then why the war room and not the throne room or even one of their studies?”
“We need a map,” Vladimir answered. “As I said, all will be explained. Come on.”
A little confused, Broad Sword motioned for the thestral to lead the way.
Vladimir walked on with Broad Sword close behind him. It was on their way to the war room that Broad Sword noticed an unusual amount of changeling activity around the castle, several stallions and mares he knew to be from Twilight’s embassy walked the castle halls with changeling adorned in blue armour escorting them. Broad Sword even spotted a few of Queen Draco’s changelings, though they were now connected to Twilight’s hive mind, and their guards had swapped out their red changeling guard armour for the blue of Twilight’s hive; at least until their Queen was hopefully found alive.
But most of the changelings he saw tended to spend their days at the embassies, why would they be here and in the numbers he was seeing? He, of course, had heard about some of the troubles the changeling civilisation was having as of late; as such, he concluded that something else had come up related to the missing hives. Either way, he was about to find out.
Deep into the castle, the two ponies entered a large dimly lit rectangular chamber, a large wooden rounded table sitting at its centre. The table had many chairs around it, along with a throne at either end, one with sun motifs and with moon motifs. At that moment both princesses were waiting by Celestia’s throne, whispering to one another.
With the doors secured behind them, the guards made themselves known with Vladimir giving a loud clearance of his throat. Both princesses heard him, and Celestia arose from the throne as both she and her sister gave the Pegasus and thestral their attention.
“You highnesses,” Broad Sword spoke. “You requested my presence?”
“Yes, Captain,” Celestia confirmed. “Please, take a seat.”
Broad Sword nodded, and both he and Vladimir took the two seats closest to the right of Celestia’s throne. Celestia herself sat back down, but Princess Luna remained standing to her sister’s right.
“Your Highness, might I ask why we are meeting here if the EUP generals are not going to be involved?”
“You know what a gathering of the generals in this room would mean for Equestria, Captain,” Celestia stated. “They have received their orders in relation to what we must discuss, but for now further discussions shall remain between us.”
“And yet my question remains,” Broad Sword pointed out. “Why here, and not the throne room? Captain Vladimir mentioned something about maps?”
Celestia gave her sister a sideways glance, followed by a small nod. Luna nodded back, lighting up her horn with a soft blue hue, the magic interacting with the table. A moment later the top of the table was enveloped with a bright light as a projection of Equestria spread across its surface.
“I assume you noticed the increased changeling presence in the castle today?” Celestia enquired.
“I did,” Broad Sword confirmed.
“Well, I understand if your first conclusion is it has to do with the recent disappearances of changeling hives…” Celestia sat forwards in her seat, examining the location on the map where the Equestrian Hive was marked down. “And you would be correct.”
“Firstly,” Luna picked up where her sister left off. “Queen Twilight Sparkle has been called off to a changeling council, a gathering of the remaining Changeling Queens. She left this morning, though her message to us indicates the council is of direct relation to these troubling events.”
“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” Vladimir asked. “Leaving her hive during a time like this?”
“The hive is in Equestria’s borders,” Luna pointed out. “Should something arise we are not far away. We do look after our friends…” Luna glanced at Celestia, who was still staring at the Equestrian Hive on the map. “…And our family.”
“So a council has been called, and how does that relate to what’s going on around the castle?” the Solar Captain enquired.
“They are here to help us examine some… odd reports we have been receiving. Reports that have concerning implications,” Celestia spoke up, as blinking red dots began appearing in several places all around the map.
“From both EUP patrols and civilians alike, there have been sightings of unidentified changelings around Equestria - Changelings who all quickly flee after being spotted.”
“Undisguised?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes. It’s like they are getting a lay of the land, or at least, that is our best guess from the pattern we have seen these sightings take… And yet, they are not overly concerned about being seen.”
“They could be patrols from other changeling hives,” Vladimir suggested. “Not too much of a stretch to believe such patrols would begin after recent events, Changeling Queens would be going to extra length to secure their hives.”
“While that is one possibility, and Twilight will likely inform us of such if she finds out about any activity like this at the Council,” Luna continued. “But the mere presence of changelings isn’t actually what is concerning about these reports.”
Broad Sword scratched his chin. “Then what is?”
“Their appearance.”
The Captain blinked. “Their appearance? What is that meant to mean?”
“Their appearance has been described by some who sighted these changelings as ‘strange’,” Luna explained with a grimace. “More detailed descriptions given by members of the EUP state that the strangeness originates from their eyes, namely that instead of the usual blue their eyes are red.”
“I don’t see the issue,” Broad Sword stated in confusion. “Twilight has lavender eyes instead of the green most Changeling Queens have. And apparently, her father also had lavender eyes instead of the usual blue most drones have, it’s him she got that particular gene from I would assume. So what if these drones have different eyes colours?”
“Most normal eye colours don’t give off red magical vapour trails, energy pouring from the corner of the eye and out into the open air. It looks akin to how dark magic pours from the user’s eyes, just to a lesser and more subtle degree.”
That caught Broad Sword’s attention. “Magic? So the red hue to their eyes was induced then, and isn’t natural?”
“That is the theory,” Luna responded. “Only the changelings here in Canterlot, from both Twilight and Draco’s respective hives, have never heard of such a thing occurring.”
“Hold on,” Vladimir interrupted, a thought coming to him. “Is it possible that these changelings are, well… that they are some of the changelings from the missing hives?”
“That is exactly what we are beginning to believe,” Celestia grimly stated. “Something has happened to these changelings, and we must assume to their rulers as well.”
“Including Queen Draco,” Luna added. “And if they are truly attempting to get a lay of the land…”
“Trouble,” Broad Sword finished. “Trouble is likely to follow.”
Celestia nodded. “Indeed. The implications are worrying indeed. But the fact is we have too little information, we must hope the Council that Twilight is attending will provide us with some more insight.”
“So we must wait for her return, or a message delivered by her dragon assistant,” Vladimir noted. “What is to be done in the meantime?”
“I did mention orders have been provided to the generals,” Celestia reminded him. “We have had them increase EUP patrols around Equestria, and we would like you to do the same for the Royal Guard around Canterlot, especially in the area directly around the changeling embassies. We must provide them with sufficient protection from whatever is happening, so they don’t feel like they’re going to vanish just walking the streets.”
Princess Celestia sat back in her chair with an audible sigh. “EUP patrols will also help keep an eye on the Equestrian Hive, and we have had Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor do the same with the Crystal Guard.”
“We can do that,” Vladimir stated. “I’ll arrange a meeting with my direct subordinates once we are done here.”
“And I will do the same,” Broad Sword added in. “Though I must say, I doubt this is something that is simply going to blow over. Things might get worse, and the last thing we need is the changeling civilians currently within the city panicking.”
“We’ll just have to reassure them of their safety, and that we won’t let anything happen to them while they remain here,” Celestia said. “Aside from that, we will just have to remain vigilant. For now, it’s up to Twilight to find out more about what is going on, and how to put a stop to it before things get out of hoof.”
“And the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony?” Vladimir asked, his leathery wings ruffling. “Shall we be calling upon them?”
“Not yet,” Celestia stated. “We hardly have a target for them to use the Elements of Harmony on. Even if we did, I would prefer not to place them in harm’s way unless it proves necessary, mother knows they have done more for this country than most mortals should have to in one lifetime.”
“It’s not every day you save the world,” Vladimir chuckled. “Still, you should have a message ready to go in case the situation changes.”
“Should it become necessary, one will be sent post haste,” Celestia assured. “For now, you two have your orders. And I need not say for you and your ponies to keep this as quiet as you can. Word of much of these events has already spread, but the details could cause unnecessary fear and panic to arise.”
“Don’t worry,” Broad Sword stated, standing up. “This is hardly our first rodeo.”
“As I am well aware,” Celestia said, giving them a small smile. “For now, that is all.”
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Interesting. No one in the show has ever had RED trails before... Only purple... Red, in ancient Egypt, was considered the color of evil, due to it's representation of the dry sands where nothing would grow. Could this be because of some kind of depletion of food or the hive mind?
Uh oh... That red eye glow can't be good...
7786761
Based on these other chapters, and a bit of an aside to a pre-history event, I'd say Queen Draco found the regalia of the ancient Queen of Queens, who dominated all other Changeling Queens into being... essentially, her drones. The armor must still contain her essence, or at least her will, and Draco is now possessed by the Queen of Queens of old, who was defeated by Twilight's ancestor using the Elements of Harmony.
7786995 That doesn't explain the red trails.
7787133 Yet, this did not happen thousands or years ago, when the regalia was first used.
7787153 It depends on how much the Empress is exerting her control. In the prologue she allowed them most of their free will, with the threat of that being taken away in an instant keeping them in line (After all, without free will they would have little initiative, and less be productive).
The red glow marks a changeling as being completely under her control, and essentially being programmed to be what she wants that changeling to be.
7787133
Yup.
7786995
You're on the right lines, though not completely right. The regalia doesn't contain anything, think of it as a conduit, a transmitter. But the question is, if its a transmitter, where is the transmission coming from?
7787153
I'm not sure why one would think things have to be exactly the same in order to have similar or the same origin. After all, it's an unrevealed plot point. For all we know there's new variables changing the end point-
7787183
Oh, quite like that. Indeed, this is interesting.
7787481 Okay, that makes sense. Thank you
The ancient queen has waited for eons. And now she is starting to make her moves again. From beyond the void. I can't help but imagine a stained glass window with her looming over all the changelings with strings attached to everyone. Like a pupeteer. That seems to be the situation Draco has found herself in. And soon many others.
7787183 wrote :
The regalia doesn't contain anything, think of it as a conduit, a transmitter. But the question is, if its a transmitter, where is the transmission coming from?
---
The Demon Realms?
me think the regalia hold the soul of the old changeling empress so any queen who near it or wear it get taken over, atleast that my theory
Doesn't look good for our heroes :O
7789301
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw2567-2c6.png
pls don't take offense