The Unseen

by Shadow Beast

Chapter 4: Foreign Dogma

It’s so funny how a song can get stuck in your head. Imagine if you could sing... You hear the notes and your throat would naturally follow along. That’s how this all works. You take a fierce warrior’s training... You just stick it into their head.
Just stick it into their head....
Just stick it into their head!

Stick it deep enough in there and nobody will be able to tell it’s there.

Stick...

Get the stick.

“Go on...” a familiar voice spoke out in the darkness. “Get the stick!”

Starchy opened his eyes. He tried to get up, but a sharp pain in his chest kept him on the ground. He looked down at his chest and found no sign that he had been stabbed, despite the tremendous pain. The recruit looked around to confirm where he was. The abandoned shacks still surrounded him. The checkpoint itself was eerily silent as ever.

Then he heard a dog panting.

Starchy turned to find a timberwolf bounding towards him. The pain made it impossible to move out of the way in time. A stick caught his eye on the ground nearby. He picked it up with his magic and threw it past the wolf. It turned and chased after it. The recruit breathed a sigh of relief.

“Wow,” the familiar voice said. “You’re already awake?” Shadow Beast stepped forward from the shadows. His timberwolf pet returned the stick to him. He patted the wolf on the head as he looked at the wounded changeling. “I thought you had at least an hour or so yet...”

“How... how long was I out?” Starchy asked in pain. “What happened to me?”

“I... I was kinda hoping you’d tell me,” Shadow replied with an awkward laugh. “I came when I saw that emergency flare and when I got here there was nobody in the town and you were just laying there bleeding.” He chuckled nervously. “Either way... I had to help you out, so I used one of my old healing spells.” He gulped and crooked his head. “How... How are you feeling?”

Starchy looked at his chest then back to Shadow. “My chest really hurts.”

“That's... Not good. I mean... You'll be fine after like an hour but... Yeah.”

“Are you... Are you any help to me at all?”

Shadow smirked and twitched. “I mean... I healed you.” He looked from the recruit to his wolf and back. “Keep the timberwolves off you...” His voice grew quieter with each word. “And I guess...” His mouth kept moving, silently, for a few more seconds.

Starchy crooked his head. “I... I don't suppose you have anything for this pain, do you?”

Shadow shook his head. Then he crooked it and shrugged. “If it's caused by something being misaligned, then I could fix it.”

“You wanna check?”

Shadow winced. “I mean... If nothing's wrong then the pain could easily get worse.”

Starchy winced and bared his fangs in pain. “Help. Me.”

Shadow trotted over to the changeling and looked over his carapace. He was careful not to touch any part of Starchy's body. With a deep breath, he looked through the carapace with a magic spell, checking for any anomalies.

The inside of the changeling was like a lava lamp. Shadow was used to the sight but something about this particular changeling disturbed him. Something was definitely amiss, and he had to fix it. With his mind concentrating so hard, he didn't feel his hoof move toward the changeling's stomach.

The gentlest prod sent the a shockwave of agony through Starchy's body. He screamed loud enough to stun the Shadow and his beast.

“So sorry...” Shadow whispered under his breath.

Heaving breathing had Starchy's chest beating like a heart under his audible whispers. The intensity didn't seem to waver. Then Shadow started hearing words within the grunts of pain.

“Uhn... Dor... Un... Ooo...”

Shadow crooked his head.

“Un... Do. Un. Do.”

The changeling brought up his spell again to check the patient’s chest. The “lava” was swirling rhythmically around the spot that had had a stab wound in it. Unsure of what else to do, Shadow gulped and carefully undid the healing spell. Blood began to pour from the changeling's chest and the heaving finally stopped.

The timberwolf’s head perked up at the scent.

Starchy fell unconscious from the pain. Shadow nodded solemnly. He looked up to see his companion bounding toward them. He jumped in between it and his sleeping friend, his horn aglow.

“Stop!”

It kept coming.

“I said STOP!”

Its eyes stared through him as it refused.

“STOP!” Shadow’s horn fizzled, his magic exhausted from the healing spells. He shook his head, out of breath. “He’s not dead--”

It pounced onto Shadow. The changeling was helpless to the claws of the beast. The patient shook subtly in his sleep, tormented by the screams.

“Please, stop!”

The voice faded.

No...
Not dead. Can’t die.

The new voice wasn’t a changeling’s.

Can’t die. Can’t die. Can’t die.

At the farthest reaches of the darkness, a green light flickered.

Can’t die. Can’t die. Can’t die.

A low growl shook up the chanting. The green light came back, stronger than before.

Stop. This isn’t right.

The growling died down.

A foreboding, yet somehow familiar, feminine chuckle echoed inside Starchy’s mind. He could feel his eyelids again. His eyes were closed. Something was watching him.

The changeling opened his eyes to his one-eyed general, giving him a very worried look. He let out a sigh of relief and slowly got up from the ground. She crooked her head at him.

“You’re alright?” she asked him, utterly dumbfounded.

Starchy shrugged before finding himself somehow out of breath. “Why? Why wouldn’t I be?” He chuckled uneasily

Verdugo quickly pushed him upright with her hoof to look at his chest. There wasn’t a mark on it. No visible blood and the changeling didn’t seem to feel even the slightest pain. She slowly released her grip on him.

She took a breath. “What happened?”

“We were checking this place out, right?”

Verdugo took a double take. “You... You don’t remember them?”

Starchy crooked his head innocently. “Who?”

“The ponies?! The one who stabbed you in the chest?!”

He looked down at his unbroken carapace and back up. “What?”

Verdugo put a hoof around him. “You know what? I don’t even care...” She breathed a sigh of relief down his back. She pushed him back to look him in the eyes again. “Chrysalis really wants to meet you.” She chuckled. “Apparently, you were our mission. Kind of ironic, huh?”

“Me?” Starchy crooked his head. “Why me?”

“No time to explain. Not anymore.” She looked up at the moon, then down to the shacks. “Get up, boys! We’re heading out! All of us!”

Brucie galloped to Starchy, but stopped himself short and stared at his clean chest.

“Yeah, he's fully healed,” Verdugo affirmed. “Just get ready to roll.”

“Is that what the Queen was talking about?” Squee asked.

Dreary punched him in the back of the head. “Confidential.” He nodded to Verdugo.

The general nodded back. The group turned and took off. As they took to the air again, something didn't feel right for Starchy. A sensation slithered down his back like slime. He turned back to see a figure standing in the middle of the empty camp with flaming green eyes glaring back. One of its forelegs seemed to be made of tree bark. He turned back to Verdugo, tempted to ask for help, but when his head went back to the camp it was empty. He shrugged off the feeling. It was probably just a timberwolf.

Verdugo turned to Starchy. “Stop me if this isn't the time, recruit, but do you remember how you managed to heal?”

Starchy shrugged. “I guess it was just rest.”

The general looked up at the moon. “We left you alone for six hours in the middle of an abandoned camp. Are you absolutely sure that's all there was?”

The recruit crooked his head. “I mean... It's probably all that happened.”

“Just leave the boy alone,” Brucie pleaded. “He's been through enough for one day.”

Verdugo sighed. “You're not wrong. But we all have... Let's just get to the castle and finish our report.”

“What about the ponies?” Squee asked.

“Don't worry about them. If Chrysalis would have them dealt with tonight, I will do it.”

The team landed at the castle. The town surrounding it had been turned into a slave town known as “Canterlot Dungeons” and the ponies were kept there. They looked down on them from the tower above while Verdugo unlocked the door.

“It's open,” she whispered.

The team trotted into the luxury of their private room in the castle. Verdugo put a hoof on Starchy’s shoulder.

“Sorry, pal, but you're gonna need to meet the Queen before you get any bedrest.”

Starchy nodded and followed Verdugo down the steps toward the larger castle tower.

“I'll be honest, I've never seen Chrysalis stay in one place this long... At least, this long after the invasion. After her successful takeover, she's been insisting on leading every charge on the enemy fronts. Her teams are always bringing in the new ponies, and my team is always on... Heh. Janitorial duty. I wonder why she's decided to focus on a breeder...”

Starchy just nodded along.

The general sighed. “Sorry for rambling... I guess even after becoming Royal Executioner, the most decorated soldier in her army, I still find myself wanting a little more action.”

The recruit turned his head. “How did you become the Royal Executioner?”

“That’s... A story for another time.” She stopped and gestured to a large set of doors with a pair of guards outside it. “This is the throne room.” She smiled at him. “You ready?”

He smiled and nodded back.

The guards ushered them into the large room. Shattered stained glass windows lined the room, and Queen Chrysalis sat on the throne at the far end. She smiled as they approached.

“Verdugo, will you ever cease to amaze?”

“Despite everything, your highness, he got better all on his own.”

Chrysalis gasped excitedly. “Really? How marvelous!”

“Was this kind of thing planned?”

The Queen shrugged. “Someone said that we never used our in-the-womb training on a cocoonist, so we did.” She smiled at Verdugo. “Of course, I could only trust my best to look after such a creature.”

“I already have two pre-trained soldiers in my squad, your highness...”

“Really? Those two are still with you?” She chuckled. “So you're a troop of four now?”

“Five, including Dreary.”

“Dreary’s alive?” She chuckled and shook her head. “I really have underestimated your abilities. You have my sincerest apologies.”

“Aww, gee...” Verdugo patted at the ground with her hoof.

“You may take a weapon from the vault,” Chrysalis said. She nodded at Verdugo’s shocked face. “Yes, that's right. One weapon. You've earned it.”

“Thank you, your highness!” Verdugo prodded Starchy and they galloped out of the throne room together.

“Oh, and Verdugo!” Chrysalis called out down the hall. “Interrogate those troublemakers before you sleep. A cleanup crew will be arriving in the morning for their corpses.”

“Of course...” Verdugo growled under her breath. “Will do!” she yelled back happily.

The throne doors were already closed.

“Yeah... I'm sure she heard me,” she said to her companion’s raised eyebrow.