Before We Begin
They quickly found that the music the record player they left playing was even louder than they thought and was echoing very deep into the hive itself, enough that the negative affects the hard rock music had on the changelings was apparent even well outside of the chamber the record player was in. They were witness to this first hoof after having only gone a short distance from the chamber and almost stumbled upon a changeling sitting no less than five feet away from them around the corner of an intersecting tunnel, the sight of him alarming the group for a brief second. But this changeling not only had his back turned to them, but his head was also bobbing and weaving around unsteadily almost like he was intoxicated, negatively affected by the hard rock music that could still be heard fairly well from here. He was so busy trying to steady himself and shake off these effects unsuccessfully that the quintet of intruders were able to slip right past him without him noticing them at all.
“I am so glad you had brought that record of yours with you, Spike,” Trixie remarked not long after they did this. “Who knew hard rock would prove so useful this deep in the changeling hive?”
But it was for precisely this same reason that Thorax refused to remove the earmuffs he still wore for much of their trek towards the throne room, knowing that doing so would only affect him just as much as the changelings around him, and it wouldn’t stop until he was far enough away from it that the music couldn’t be heard clearly enough to have that effect. This caused some occasional frustration with the rest of the group because it meant Thorax had a harder time hearing them when they tried to talk to him, but regardless, they managed. Soon they realized they had bigger concerns to worry about, because it wasn’t too long before they noticed that activity within the hive had been gradually going up, and now catching sight of other changelings wandering about the corridors was finally becoming a bit more frequent. Thorax explained this was for multiple reasons; it was getting close to the next mealtime and changelings were starting to stir so to prep for that, they were drawing closer to the queen’s sanctum which was always a greater focal point of changeling activity regardless of the time of day, and of course the fact that word of their sighting and the record player they had left playing was starting to get around and no doubt raising the alarm within the hive.
Fortunately, despite the blow to it that had forced them to resort to the record player in the first place, their luck still seemed to be holding for the most part, as whenever they did catch sight of another changeling, it was usually from far enough away that it was relatively simple to avoid them, preserving their cover for a few minutes longer. But it was starting to get to be anyone’s guess on how much longer it would last.
“We’re really starting to push our luck here,” Spike mumbled aloud as they slipped past a pair of guard changelings checking in with each other in a nearby intersection they were slinking past. “We nearly got caught once already, I can’t help but think we’re going to get caught again soon at this rate.”
“I did like our chances better before the hive went on alert like this,” Ember agreed, walking behind him and serving as a sort of rear guard for their group. She listened to the echoing sounds of the hard rock music that could faintly still be heard. “Maybe leaving that record player playing wasn’t such a good idea…it only seems to have alerted the rest of the hive that someone’s here who shouldn’t be.”
“It doesn’t really matter at this point,” Thorax pointed out, who was finally but cautiously removing the earmuffs from his head, wincing slightly at the faint sound of the music that could still be heard, but not suffering enough negative effects that it would hinder his ability to press on. “The moment that patrol came looking for us was the real moment the hive started raising the alarm. No, Starlight was right to leave the record player behind to serve as a distraction. It’ll buy us time to get the rest of the way to the queen’s sanctuary, especially now that we’re finally back on the right track for it.” Indeed, Thorax was pleased to note that the layout in these portions of the hive were fairly the same as he always remembered them and thus much easier for him to navigate.
They pressed on, eventually arriving at the base of a towering spire with a spiral staircase looping repeatedly around it as it traveled upwards. Arriving here both excited and worried Thorax, who revealed it was the “final stretch” leading to their destination, the top of the stairs exiting right at the entrance of the queen’s sanctum. Eager to keep moving, they cautiously started climbing up the many steps, still on the lookout for trouble. Changelings of all sorts could be seen moving about within the room, usually by air, but were typically still seen from afar and thus far they hadn’t noticed the intruders within the room. Regardless, none of them were eager to stick around long enough to find out if they ever would, and Thorax knew they needed to hurry as the number of changelings moving about the hive was only going to keep increasing.
At last, they arrived at the top of the stairs, but had to stop from stepping up onto the expansive landing it ended at, instead keeping ducked down and peering over the top step at the sight awaiting them. Some distance ahead at the other end of the not-quite level landing was a massive pair of iridescent swinging doors—the first they had seen within the hive—that appeared as if they were giant wing-cases for a beetle. They happened to arrive in time for the doors to be swung open so to permit entry of a duo of changelings flying into the tunnels beyond. Once they were through, the doors were permitted to swing closed again. Stationed before the two doors in two distinct rows were about six changeling guards, alert and on the lookout for trouble and all wearing armor for protection, including a uniquely shaped helmet with shaped mandibles protruding out from either side of their heads. The group made sure to keep ducked low so to not be seen by them.
Spike glanced around the room unhappily. “I don’t see any easy way around those guards,” he noted aloud. “How are we going to slip past them?”
“I don’t think we can,” Thorax admitted nervously. He had been getting increasingly more and more on edge the closer to the throne room they got and now it seemed to have reached a new peak. “It doesn’t help that the number of guards has of course been increased because of the alerted status the hive’s on at the moment.” He shook his head. “Oh, I don’t like this one bit.”
“There must be some way to get past them without causing more trouble for ourselves,” Starlight murmured thoughtfully, surveying the situation.
Ember gripped her scepter, gauging the changeling guards. “Well, at least there’s only six of them this time,” she noted. “Betcha if I could catch them by surprise, I could take out most of them long enough to get us past.”
But Thorax immediately shook his head. “You wouldn’t stand a chance, Dragon Lord Ember,” he assured her confidently and pointed a holed hoof at the guards. “Those aren’t just any guards, they’re members of the queen’s private army of centurions, who are trained to be fierce warriors and are more skilled in combat than any other class of changeling in the hive.”
“The best of the best, huh?” Trixie surmised.
“Of the best,” Thorax added for extra emphasis. “They are absolutely nothing to take lightly.”
“So now what?” Spike asked.
Starlight gazed at the doors they needed to get through, shaking her head. “We need to get in there somehow, so there must be a way to do it.”
“Starlight, even if I wanted to, there’s no way past those guards,” Thorax assured her. “We’ll be noticed for sure, and I can guarantee you, they won’t go easy on us.”
Starlight nodded to herself, thinking. “We need another distraction, then.”
Trixie sighed, peering into her saddlebags. “Too bad I’m all out of smoke bombs now,” she muttered to herself in regret. “Maybe I shouldn’t have used all of them back in that one chamber…”
Spike was searching his mind for the most distracting thing he could think of, but was either drawing a blank or knew it would involve things they didn’t actually have with them. He let out a frustrated growl under his breath. “We’re so close…all we gotta do is get those guards looking the wrong way for just a minute, tops.”
“It can’t be a distraction that’s too obvious it’s a distraction once they come up to it though,” Thorax added. “That’ll only clue the centurions in that something’s up and will go investigate next.”
“I know a good distraction that’ll keep them busy,” Ember promised, still weighing up the six guards. “A fight, which I’m more than willing to give, and I think my odds are better than you think, Thorax.”
“I absolutely disagree,” Thorax responded immediately, leveling a disapproving glare at the dragoness.
“Do you really think you could take all six of them?” Trixie asked, deciding they might as well hear Ember out.
Ember shrugged. “Take them on, yes,” she replied. “Actually win the fight, though? From the sound of it, it’ll be close, I admit.” She looked around at the others. “But I’m not hearing any other suggestions from all of you.”
Starlight studied the sanctum’s doors again for a second. “Thorax, is there perhaps any other way in there?” she asked.
“Well, I suppose there is a back door entrance for the queen’s use in emergencies,” Thorax admitted. “But for that very reason, it’ll probably be stationed with the same number of guards too, so to ensure the way is still clear and safe for the queen if she ever has to use it.”
“There must be some way in that isn’t going to be so heavily guarded,” Starlight noted, frustrated. “And I’m not willing to use anyone as bait to buy the rest of us time to get in just yet. We all got here safely as a group thus far, I want to at least try to continue that.”
Spike regarded the entrance to the sanctum for a moment, mulling about how sealed off from the rest of the hive it seemed to be. “Thorax, how do they get fresh air in there?”
Thorax looked at him blankly. “Huh?”
“Fresh air,” Spike repeated. “I mean, this whole place is enclosed as if it’s underground, so the air needs some way to ventilate, wouldn’t it? So how do they get fresh air in there?”
Thorax thought about it. “There are ventilation shafts running throughout the rest of the hive, so there’d have to be some for the queen’s sanctum too…” he shook his head, “…but with the hive being on alert like it is, it wouldn’t surprise me if there are guards stationed there too, and anyway, the tunnels are very narrow—just big enough for a changeling to squeeze through for maintenance purposes. The rest of us might be able to fit through it, but Dragon Lord Ember, being the biggest, certainly wouldn’t.”
Ember snorted, smoke puffing from her nostrils faintly. “Well, since I wouldn’t be able to join the rest of you anyway, I might as well buy you all a distraction in hopes it’ll lure whatever guards that shaft away long enough for you all to slip inside,” she reasoned adamantly. “If I do overpower all the guards, then I can meet up with all of you on the other side of those doors.” She pointed a claw at the beetle-like doors.
“And if you get captured?” Starlight challenged.
“Then add me to the list of rescuees to snag before you all leave,” Ember concluded dismissively. She glanced at Thorax. “You said we’re all of more use to the hive alive and not dead, right?”
“Right, as prey,” Thorax reminded.
Ember snorted again. “It’s not like I’ll even be awake to notice,” she pointed out. “And who cares, anyway? It’s not like we all have to reach the throne room, just so long as someone reaches the room that can actually do something about it. Besides, we’re running out time. Do you all hear that?”
The group listened for a second. Other than the distant flutter of changeling wings, their surroundings were fairly quiet.
“I don’t hear anything,” Trixie noted finally.
“Exactly,” Ember concluded, looking at the group determinedly. “Someone’s stopped the record player.”
The others blinked and looked at one another as they realized they could no longer hear the sound of Spike’s hard rock music echoing throughout the hive.
Spike winced. “There’s no way it could’ve reached the end of that record just yet,” he said gravely.
“But how did they even get at it?” Starlight asked. “Get too close and no changeling could keep themselves level, we all saw that for ourselves.”
“Maybe they didn’t need to,” Thorax reasoned. “Changelings do have magic, so I suppose if one was able to line up a clean enough of a shot, someone could’ve just sniped it from afar.”
“Darn, I liked that record player,” Trixie grumbled.
“And I liked that record,” Spike agreed, inwardly mourning for the likely loss of his favorite record. “But how they did it doesn’t matter, because it still means they don’t have that to distract them now.”
“Yeah, and now they know we’re not there, patrols are probably going to be sweeping the hive, trying to find us,” Thorax concluded, rubbing his hooves together nervously.
Starlight shook her head. “Still, there’s got to be a better way,” she persisted. “We just need a chance to think of it!”
“Too late,” Spike suddenly interrupted, who had turned to peer over the edge of the top steps they hid behind.
The others turned to look and saw that while they had all been distracted discussing the matter, Ember had already taken it upon herself to act and was racing towards the six guards. With a small final hop, she dropped down directly in front of them with a thud that immediately drew the attention of all six.
“Before we begin,” Ember remarked coyly as she twirled her scepter, taking a defensive stance, “would anyone like to leave?”
The six guards responded by all hissing loudly and throwing themselves at the dragoness to attack. Ember merely bellowed back and leapt towards them, meeting them halfway. In the next second, she had vanished into the mass of changelings as the fight began. Shocked at the suddenness of it all, the others could only look on for second.
“Horseapples!” Starlight cursed but seeing the choice had been made for her, she urgently turned to Thorax. “Thorax, you had better get us to one those ventilation shafts, quick.”
Thorax let out a throaty groan as he glanced warily back at the fight between Ember and the changelings taking place before them, but he too saw no alternatives now and begrudgingly led the way from the fight to one side of the entrance. He admittedly didn’t actually know where the entrance to such a shaft might be, but he did still know to look for, and was quickly able to locate such an alcove. Better still, they arrived just in time for the alcove’s one guard to be lured away from it by the commotion of the fight taking place nearby. Thorax quickly led all of them into the alcove and caused the shaft’s hidden opening to expand into existence. Making sure they weren’t observed, they all then filed into the dim, narrow, and drafty shaft. It went up a couple of feet before leveling out, presumably to head out over individual rooms within the sanctum, or so was their hope.
Spike, being the smallest, had no problem slipping into it, and though the tips of Thorax’s wings constantly brushed against the roof of the shaft, knocking loose a thin layer of dust that had accumulated within the shaft, he fit inside without problem too. For Starlight and Trixie though, the shaft was a bit narrow for them to comfortably move inside it, but they were still able to slip inside too. Trixie at one point got stuck, but was able to quickly pop herself free before causing too much of a panic. They traveled through the shaft just far enough to reach the closest room inside of the sanctum, an empty meeting room of sorts, and then all clambered out of the shaft again. They quickly hurried out of the room and to the main tunnel that the sanctum’s main entrance they had bypassed opened into, the whole affair only taking ten minutes at most.
They were disheartened to see that Ember was not already inside the doors, waiting for them. Wordlessly, they all settled down out of sight around a nearby corner and waited for her to show. But as the minutes ticked by, she still didn’t appear, and it started to become hard to not assume the worst.
“We can’t keep waiting,” Thorax finally concluded, turning to look back at the others. “Between seeing her and the incident with the record player, the hive’s going to be crawling with changelings searching for us soon.”
“But we need her still, don’t we?” Spike asked urgently. “We need her firebreath to try and destroy the throne.”
“We still have your firebreath though, Spike,” Starlight reminded.
“Mine isn’t nearly as strong as hers and you know it,” Spike reminded grumpily.
“But as much as I don’t want to admit it, Thorax is probably right,” Trixie interjected. “Ember’s probably already been captured, so—”
“Hello? Fellow rescuers?”
The group stopped talking at the sound of Ember’s voice and cautiously peered around the corner at the entrance doors in time to see Ember’s lithe body slip through. She seemed unhurt, but she was missing her scepter, and the optimistic look on her face as she looked around for them seemed oddly out of place. The others glanced at one another briefly, all biting their lips, but seeing no immediate reason not to, they slowly stepped out from behind the corner and into Ember’s line of view.”
“There you all are!” Ember noted with a smug grin, moving to join them. “I was starting to wonder if something happened to you.”
“You managed to beat the guards?” Trixie asked, surprised at this.
“Of course, you really thought I wouldn’t?” Ember replied. “I mean, it was close, but I did it!”
“Then we shouldn’t stay,” Starlight pointed out, watching Thorax as he sniffed the air. He was frowning, but he didn’t yet voice any objections. “We still have a throne to find.”
“Oh!” Ember declared, brightening. “That reminds me! As I was fighting those guards, I heard one of them say they know where it is and how to get to it!”
The others blinked, taken aback by how convenient that was, and exchanged glances.
“Eaisht lesh dagh cleaysh…” Spike chose to prompt to Ember, trailing off to let her reply with the other half of the code phrase.
But Ember just looked at them blankly. “You shouldn’t slur your words, it makes it hard to understand you,” she told Spike, but then moved to slip past them and on deeper into the sanctum. “Now, follow me!”
The others reluctantly followed, but at enough of a distance to quietly whisper amongst themselves without too much risk of being overheard. “You all know that’s not Ember, right?” Starlight asked the others.
“Obviously,” Trixie whispered back, like it didn’t even need saying at this point.
Thorax’s ears were folded back as he quickly nodded in agreement. “At this point, I don’t even need to get a good whiff of her scent to tell you that too,” he added.
“Yeah, and she’s coming across as a bit too chipper to really be Ember,” Spike grumbled as he glared at the changeling posing as the dragoness, cheerily motioning them closer as they arrived at a fork in the passage.
“This way!” The false Ember urged, waving them to keep following as she headed down the tunnel to the left. “We’re almost there!”
The others, however, didn’t move. “I know this trick,” Thorax said nervously, knowing how dangerous the game they were playing was as he looked at the others. “If she says to go left, we should definitely go right instead. She’s leading us to a swarm waiting to attack us.”
“Fine then, let’s go right and get on with this,” Spike concluded grumpily, motioning to the tunnel to their right.
“We can’t just not follow her, though,” Starlight pointed out. “There’s no way those changelings are going to just let us go right when they clearly don’t want us to.”
Trixie groaned, but then took in a deep breath. “All right,” she said, stepping forward. “I’ll work to keep her distracted, the rest of you just get ready to run into the other tunnel.”
“Wait, what?” Thorax declared in alarm, twisting around to look at Trixie.
“Trixie, no!” Starlight objected and immediately moved to block Trixie’s path. “You can’t! We’ve already lost Ember, I don’t want to add you to the list too!”
“It’ll be okay, Starlight, it’s like Thorax told Ember, they’ll keep me alive, I’m more useful that way, and besides, I’ve been in a cocoon once before, I know what I’m getting myself into.”
“You do not,” Thorax interjected, moving to join the argument, Spike following. “Last time, no one was harvesting your emotions off of you. That won’t be the case this time, and regardless, I don’t—”
“We don’t have time to argue this!” Trixie interrupted as she glanced back at the tunnel the false Ember had gone down. No doubt the disguised changeling would notice they had stopped following and would be doubling back soon. “Someone needs to keep those changelings off your tails long enough to give you a fighting chance to get the rest of the way to the throne room, and we’re too close to mess it up now! I can do this! Please let me!” She focused her attention on Starlight. “Starlight, trust your best friend. Besides,” she gave the unicorn a nudge with one hoof, “you think you don’t, but you’ve got this. Your quick thinking helped get us this far, so with Thorax and Spike’s help, you just might still pull this off and then all this won’t matter. You trust yourself and do what you need to pull this off. Promise me?”
Starlight looked at Trixie for a long moment then pulled the mare into a quick, one-hoofed hug. “I promise, Trixie. I promise.”
“And don’t be afraid to take charge if you have to,” Trixie added as she pulled away from her best friend, “because you’re still good at it. Really good.” She turned to Spike. “Spike, the bitter and moody rebel attitude really isn’t working for you, so when this is all over, let’s throw that out, turn you back into the cheery guy I first met you as, and get you back where you belong, okay?”
Spike smirked a little, but it was bittersweet. “Deal,” he said, “so long as we can work on toning down that pesky ego of yours.”
“A fair enough trade,” Trixie agreed with a nod.
“You guys coming?” the false Ember called from within the left tunnel behind them, starting to walk back to where they were.
“Just hold up a second, Ember! Uh, Spike stubbed his toe, but we’ll catch up in just a moment!” Trixie called back so to stall. She then turned to the final one in the group. “Thorax…”
“Trixie, don’t do this,” Thorax urged anxiously, trying to talk the showmare out of it. “You don’t have to. No one has to.”
“Someone has to, and you know it,” Trixie argued back, stepping closer to the changeling while Starlight and Spike stepped to one side and looked on. “Without Ember to count on for these things, we’re short on options anyway. Besides, you don’t really need me for this, you never did. I’ve just been a liability from the start what with my rampant emotions and all. The only worthwhile thing I contributed during this whole thing was a record player because I was too stupid to think my saddlebags might actually be easier to carry if I didn’t have that in there weighing it down when we were back at the air yacht.”
“I don’t want you giving yourself up for me, though!” Thorax persisted. “Enough have already done that for my sake these past several moons, and I want to be able to return the favor for a change. Look, I’ll go instead, I’ll keep whoever is posing as Ember there and…”
“You will not, because you are of no use to them and you know they won’t be so afraid to hurt you,” Trixie said, cutting him short. “But they will with me! Forget what I need, Thorax. I’m expendable, not the important one here. Starlight’s brains, Spike’s firebreath, and your knowledge of the hive, that’s what you need.”
“But you’re still important to me, Trixie,” Thorax persisted with feeling, so much so there was no mistaking he meant it. “Look, there must be another way, we can—”
“Oh, just shut up already, you silly bug,” Trixie interrupted then acting impulsively, kissed the changeling full on the lips.
Starlight and Spike blinked in surprise at this sudden action, and shocked as he was, Thorax didn’t really make much effort to kiss back, but he certainly didn’t resist either, leaving Trixie free to take control of the kiss. She took full advantage of this, losing herself for a moment in the undoubtedly not conservative kiss…but then she started to become self-aware of the pointed fangs she was dodging in the process, and slowly noticed that Thorax’s tongue was way longer than she thought it was. Realizing what she was doing, Trixie pulled back and looked sheepishly at Thorax for a second.
Thorax, dazed, blankly stared back at her. “Huu,” he squeaked, apparently having been rendered unable to speak in his shock.
“Um, yeah,” she said, forcing a timid grin before patting the changeling on the shoulder. “Good luck, Mister Jar Catcher.” She then turned and started off for the tunnel to left before anyone could say anything else, muttering to herself. “Sweet Celestia, I just kissed a changeling…”
Starlight and Spike watched Trixie walk off for a second then looked back at the shellshocked Thorax, standing there with wide eyes and his mouth still slightly ajar. “Thorax,” Spike said slowly, “you okay?”
“Huu,” Thorax only squeaked again, clearly still processing what had just happened.
“Hey Ember!” Trixie was heard calling from just within the left tunnel, cutting off any further chance for discussion on the matter. She strolled up to the false Ember who had just strolled back into view looking for them while Trixie reached into one of her saddlebags, pulling something out. “You want to see the new trick I’ve been working on?”
“Um, sure, I guess?” the false Ember replied hesitantly.
“Great!” Trixie said as she took one of the false Ember’s claws with her hoof and covered both with a piece of cloth, waving her other hoof mysteriously over it. “Because you’ll love this! I call it…” she whipped the cloth away to show she had tied her hoof to the false Ember’s wrist with a series of trick scarves tied together, “…the Changeling Catcher!” As the false Ember then turned furious, realizing what had happened, Trixie quickly spun around to see the others were still standing just outside the tunnel’s entrance. “RUN!”
Spike and Starlight immediately went into action, pushing Thorax forward and towards the right tunnel, precisely as the changeling snapped out of his momentary daze and realized in a panic what was happening. “No, wait, Trixie!” he shouted after the mare despite the other two getting him moving forward in the needed direction, taking him further away. “Trixie!”
Trixie’s attention was brought back on the false Ember however when the changeling abruptly dropped its disguise, and with its hoof still tied to Trixie’s by the trick scarves, gave Trixie a hiss and took to the air, flying over Trixie’s head and trying to race after the other three as they vanished into the tunnel on the right. Trixie, in a panic, turned around with him only to see the trick scarves, being trick scarves, unraveling to their full length, which was naturally several feet longer than they initially appeared to be. Trixie quickly wrapped her end of the scarves around her hoof and gave them a yank backwards, jolting the changeling tied to the other end to a suddenly halt right as it reached the tunnel opening. It let out a chitter of annoyance and tugged back, but Trixie kept pulling back with all her might, keeping him in place as much as she could…
…until she heard a series of hissing and chattering coming from very close above her. She looked up in horror to see the dark ceiling of the tunnel was alight with the blue eyes of dozens of changelings all peering down at her angrily, having her surrounded.
Trixie gulped, wincing. “Ta-da?” she squeaked, right before the changelings all swarmed her.
Meanwhile, Thorax and Starlight galloped on through the tunnels, heading deeper into the sanctum as fast as they could, Spike having been moved onto Thorax’s back when he couldn’t quite keep up with the urgent pace of the other two. As they ran, they could distinctly hear the buzz of changeling wings as several pursuers raced through the corridors behind them, trying to find and catch up with them.
“They’re coming after us…” Spike remarked with ominous concern. “And we’re not going to stop them so easily this time, either!”
“Thorax, which of these tunnels will take us to the throne room?” Starlight asked as they passed several of these tunnels.
“At this point, it doesn’t matter!” Thorax answered, who was visibly unsettled by Trixie’s sacrifice. “Any of these tunnels will eventually connect up with the throne room!”
Starlight bit her lip for a second, considering that the swarms of changelings pursuing them no doubt greatly outnumbered them and how they’d stand a better chance if they could break up those numbers a bit. “Split up!” she finally commanded, pointing Spike and Thorax for adjacent tunnel entrances, then before either of the two could object added, “First one to the throne room, distract whoever is in there so whichever of us arrives next can have the chance to try and do something about the throne!”
She then veered into a tunnel to the left, vanishing from sight. Thorax and Spike watched her go, then Spike, obeying Starlight, leapt off Thorax’s back and raced into a tunnel to the right. This leaving Thorax on his own, he randomly chose a tunnel to duck into ahead of him. Moments later, the pursuing swarm passed through and split up themselves as groups of them veered into tunnels in search of their targets.
I wish the changeling hive had elevators so I could've had Ember do her little reference properly... 
Next chapter: things start to go down. 
Also, for stylistic reasons and so to not interrupt the emotional flow, unless I have an emergency announcement I need to make, there will be no author's notes for the next couple chapters.
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...wait, that's it?! NO! I can't wait another week!!! AUGH!!!
Blasted author and his evil cliffhanger endings....and we still haven't seen Chrysalis yet! WHY?! Why haven't we seen the villain yet?!
You're doing a great job weaving the lines right from the episodes into your version. And the ones that switched to the substitute characters are working really well!
Go Trix, finally just making the damn move already!
Can't wait for next week!
Alas, we will never hear the tale of the brave changeling who decided to step up for the good of the hive and plugged his ears with goop in order to try and protect themselves as they went forwards into the strange 'magic' that the intruders had used to strike down any changeling that entered its field.
Alone, afraid of being ambushed and facing the unknown, the brave changeling found the trapped patrol and the source of the horrible aura of sickness. Unsure of how to silence the horrible machine, the changeling bravely started to blast it with its magic in order to silence it, allowing medics to enter the tunnel to save the downed patrol. This changeling would be remembered as a minor hero of the hive, their tale more or less a footnote of later events but still told none the less.
I knew exactly what you were referencing the moment I read it.
lol i know what reference that is...
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8558072 Pacing~
Hmm I wonder what role spike will play since he wasn't actually in the season finale.
Elevators? Don't be ridiculous, it's not Mass Effect...
8558072
I know right? He is so diabolically good with it. He did it the whole time with this story. Guilty of writing an awesome AU, well written characters and making me addicted to this story.
An evil word-wizard.
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Oh, I completely agree with the suspense and pacing part. What I don't get is the fact that we still haven't seen Chrysalis. Up until this point with Thorax saving everyone from the changelings, Twilight was our villain. And we spent a few chapters with our obsessive, misguided and totally-on-a-warpath purple unicorn of a villain that was a ton of fun to watch...and yet now, we've seen nothing of the new bad guy that came in and beat everyone. WHY?!
Ugh...I can't wait another week! I need to know what happens now!
this is going to prove vary interesting to see play out.
Gah!!! I really thought we'd get to the throne room this chapter.
ah well, the next one for sure, where it's all gonna go down! 
I got goosbumbs! Lol
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Mm, I suppose Chrysalis had appeared in a scene before now in the episode, and "Grief" only sort of just skimmed over that part. But never fear, you'll be getting plenty of her next chapter.
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Oh good, I had been worrying about that.
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Ha, yeah, he'll get a bit upstaged here pretty quick in upcoming chapters.
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Good, I was worried that because it wasn't a word-for-word exact quote, people were going to miss it.
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Well, I do love a good cliffhanger all right...
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And then I reveal that they still won't arrive in the throne room next chapter...
Nah, I kid, the whole chapter will indeed be in that throne room, I think I can safely say that without spoiling anything.
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Nope that spoiled everything, all suspense instantly gone
No. They lost ember and Trixie. I wonder if they will loose Spike next? Good chapter.
Hypothesis: starlight shows up in the throne room first and distracts some guards in there away from the throne or whatever, thorax shows up second disguised as Spike and confronts Chrysalis, and then Spike shows up last since he's the slowest and goes and tries to destroy the throne etc etc, at that point it's aligned with the season finale except Spike is where starlight was,
then Spike gives a heartfelt story of why thorax is the best and SHOULD be the next mayor of changeling town and chrysalis says 'hahaha, he can't be mayor if I eat his love!' Then Spike says 'thorax, She can't take your love if you give it to her.' And he taps his head just like the meme.
And then they win, Twilight and Spike glare at each other, changelings are tropical skittles now, thorax and trixie don't need condoms, the end.
Well, Thorax/Trixie has reached the ship!
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Hmm, I'd like it if maybe the ending wasn't so similar and perhaps... unique!
Of course, the fruit-salad theme remains
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YES YES YES YES YES!!!
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Yep.
Hey don't sell yourself short, Spike. Heck, you killed a guy with it in the movie...
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Ack, still haven't seen the movie, still haven't seen the movie! *plugs ears* LALALALALALALA!
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It's always amusing to read the theories like this, to see how close or not close readers are to guessing upcoming events.
The downside is that, obviously, I can't say if they are actually right or wrong, though.
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Shoot, sorry. XD
your having spike agree to trixies 'lets magically cure everything' kinda line honestly ruins most of the chapter which is surprising cause on the most part it's really good, but at this point you've lost any spirit to this story if spikes just going to end up going back to cheery and everything, this should leave scars the kind that essentially change a person.
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Oh, you just wait.
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To be fair, though, Shining Armor might not be a good example of that.
(I love that series of comics 
).
Considering that this is Ember we're talking about...probably both.
Or maybe he is simply headbanging...
Just for the record: That was a new record. Did anyone record that?
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Give that 'ling a medal!
(And maybe Scyphi can spare him a few lines...)
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*Sits down next to you*
I knew I'm not the only one!
Hopefully the DVD comes out soon...
But until then: LALALALALALALA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa
It was dumb in the show and it's dumb here.
Yes, they kissed
!
Before I read this chapter, I was thinking maybe the chapter title is a reference to...
Aaaand yep, here it is!
AHAHAHAHA YES!! Lord, I've been waiting for that moment!