The Age of Hunting

by SwordTune

The Rivalry

Spectra looked back across her pack as they began to cross the wetlands, at the border of the hive's influence. Here, the land was densely inhabited by long, thick-skinned reptiles and massive whisker-fish. They were moving as slower than before due to their new prey.

The Marblestop children were hardest to manage. They were afraid of everything and needed to be tied up before they were put into the boats. The elderly had to handled gently. The range of complications, from bad joints to muscle aches, made Spectra wonder if they were even worth carrying back to the hive. At best they'd live a few more months before stressed broke their bodies down.

She watched carefully with her own drones, keeping an eye on Tenacity's prey as well. She had brought five stallions with her from the hive, but without her or her pack to keep them in check, that responsibility was put on Spectra now. Majesta was right about them; Tenacity rushed her hunt, picking up ponies with so little left to live for that the emotions in their magic tasted like bitter wax. Still, they at least gave her hunter-drones the energy to make the march home.

"Gator!" cried a lookout on one of their rowboats. The hunter-drone dived into the water, transforming to mimic the massive toothy reptile making its way for one of the fillies on the boats. They locked in a battle while one of Zorne's lieutenants circled around the animal and drove his horn through the top of its flat head.

"See Lunti," Spectra said to the pony beside her, "we protect our food. No need to worry."

She had a cord of rope around her neck that tied her to Spectra foreleg. It kept her in close reach of Spectra while reminding her that even if she wasn't going to be treated like the other ponies, her status was little more than a pet, like a chicken that a farmer prized for her eggs.

"Come on, you and I will be at the vanguard with Zorne," Spectra said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lunti sat quietly, looking back on the other boats. One of them was makeshift, built from the rafts they had used to make it across in the first place, but the other rowboats were sophisticated fishing vessels. The boats were simply there when they reached the wetlands as if someone had put them there for them.

"Just ask," Spectra said. "I can smell your curiosity."

"It's nothing," she grumbled. After Zorne had forced her to help him find Spectra, the Changelings were a lot more forthcoming with their true nature, now that she already knew so much about them. But it unnerved Lunti to think they could read her thought just by scent.

"Well then you better stop thinking about whatever it is you're curious about," Spectra said. "Curiosity makes your magic taste salty and crispy, probably like those potatoes cooked in oil that they serve in Riverfork. And it's giving me quite the appetite."

She swallowed her discomfort at the idea of tasting like potatoes. "If you can eat our food why eat our magic at all?"

"It's not like I could ever stomach that garbage," Spectra retorted. "We can pick up on what pony food is supposed to taste like, but the truth is I'd rather eat raw flesh than a bowl of steamed carrots." She paused for a moment and then corrected herself. "Cheese actually isn't that bad, now that I think of it."

"So where'd you get the other boats?" Lunti asked.

"Picked a talkative one, didn't you?" Zorne remarked. Lunti was surprised to hear a snarky remark from Zorne. Going back to their hive seem to put a different jaunt in his demeanour.

"I sent a lieutenant ahead to the groundskeepers around the wetlands," Spectra said. "Over the years the hive has stored all kinds of stolen watercraft in this area. It's a bit of a hassle to get them though, groundskeepers are hard to work with."

Lunti peered across the water to the treeline that surrounded them on either side. Somewhere out there were more nests, made to dock boats and rafts built by ponies. It horrified her that their entire culture was built around harvesting ponies and their wealth. She grew up thinking Changelings hunted among them like wolves, only now realizing that they were more like cattle, each city like a pen for their shepherds to choose from.

Behind her, the other ponies were staring. They hated her, the chanters. She got their trust and it ended up getting them all captured. She wanted to believe she felt bad because she had betrayed her kind by helping the Changelings, but seeing the orange-robed chanter stare daggers at her, Lunti could only wonder if they'd ever take revenge on her.

Zorne leaned his head out the boat at something ahead. "Rear guard, reinforce our centre!" he shouted, his voice turning from regular speech to the Changeling's language of hisses and clicks.

Lunti looked to Spectra to figure out what was happening, but she wore the face of someone who didn't want to be bothered. Besides, as bolts of magic arced through the air at them, she got her answer. Majesta never wanted to reach the hive first. She wanted time to set a trap for her sister.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This way, princess." Halfwing crawled through the gap just under a stone that blocked the passageway out, held up by one of her drones. Cut off from the sun, the collapsed tunnel was lit up only by a very slight ambient glow from her horn. It was all she could manage with what was left of her magic.

What was left of her pack was pitiful. Her captain, Carrier, and two other drones had survived their fight against Tenacity. Worse still was that they didn't even win. She was somewhere behind them, crawling through the mines. However, Halfwing imagined her sister wasn't much better off. They had both suffered extreme losses.

She squeezed herself out the other side of the rock only to hit another wall of collapsed stone. It reminded her of the place she was born in. Crushed and cramped, there was barely room to stand.

"Don't come through, there's not enough space for two," she said. Halfwing knelt down and took a look at the rocks in front of her. There were gaps between the stones, wide enough for a tunnel snake. But she had underestimated Tenacity's namesake and spent too much magic fighting.

"Carrier, can you transform into a tunnel snake?" she asked.

"I don't know if I can, princess," he said, "but I will if that is what you need."

"Good. I'll come back through and let you go ahead." She exhaled, letting all the air out of her body so she could flatten herself through the narrow gap again. "By now I think Majesta's gone, so once you slither out, you should be able to make it to Marblestop and get any surviving ponies to help dig us out."

He nodded, determination written across his scent. Piece by piece his chitin began to fall apart, shedding into the softer scales of a white, beady-eyed tunnel snake. In that form, even the narrowest of gaps posed no problem. And once his tail vanished into the other side of the rock, the wait began.

Her drone set down the slab of stone and sat down to rest. The other did the same, positioning himself behind them, watching the way they came from in case Tenacity caught up.

Not knowing how long it'd take, Halfwing closed her eyes to rest. Without magic left, if she had to come to blows with her sister, she'd need the energy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another lieutenant screamed as he plummeted to the ground, smouldering from a direct hit from one of Majesta's own magic bolts. That left her captain and one other lieutenant leading the pack. Zorne was occupied with his drones further ahead, holding back the majority of the fighting while Spectra got the ponies out of the way.

"Stop struggling!" hissed one of her drones to the chanters.

They moved erratically, eager to tip their boats over just to disrupt Spectra's forces. It was working. Distracted by stray bolts of magic and having to return attacks, the drones couldn't force the ponies to stay in line. The best they could do was tug at them and hold them steady.

"I don't care how you do it," Spectra shouted, throwing up a shield to deflect an arcing shot. "Get them out of the way!"

Lunti ducked, even if she was safe behind Spectra's magic. The ponies at the back couldn't see how badly their position was. Numerous gators, probably Changelings, were already working their way through the water. They would've been vulnerable, if not for the suppressing magic provided by the rest of the drones, and if the gator made it past Zorne, it wouldn't take long for them to be ripped to shreds.

"You have to listen to them!" Lunti shouted to the chanters. She knew they could hear her, even if they weren't interested in what she had to say. "They're trying to protect you right now, that's all you need to know. If we don't get out of this, then there's nothing left. We'll die, and the Changelings will win. You'll never see Marblestop again."

"That's your fault," stood up one of the colts, before a well-placed magic bolt arced its way past Spectra's shield and into his chest. The young pony went limp and slid down, straight into the water. The rest of them screamed, of course, but the next bolt of magic narrowly missed one of the chanters.

Despite their reservations, even they couldn't deny that they were not where they wanted to be. Quickly, fear froze their movement, so that only two drones had to push them back into a field of tall water-grass while the other drones fought.

"Cover us from the back," Spectra ordered her captain. "I'll take half the pack and reinforce Zorne. Move up with us once we begin pushing back on them."

"I should lead the-"

Spectra looked sternly at her captain. "Do as I say." He nodded.

Following the hisses of their princess, half of Spectra's back charged behind her toward Zorne's drones, who were struggling against both the bombardment of magic and the gators. Spectra dealt with the magic first, throwing up her own barrier to cover the gaps in Zorne's defence.

Her pack dropped below, working in pairs to distract and attack Majesta's transformed drones. One by one, the Changelings shifted back into their natural form, either by death or because they needed a different angle of attack. Spectra pushed forward, bringing down two of her sister's drones before reaching the other shore.

Behind them, her captain and the rest of her hunter drones lobbed volleys of blazing spells, splintering the trees in front and removing Majesta's cover. Spectra's sister was in retreat now, moving back through the tree line with her drones blocking off Spectra's drones. But they didn't stand a chance, now that they were running.

"I'm circling around to catch her," Spectra told Zorne, already building up magic in her stomach to transform. "Get rid of her drones and keep Majesta on her path."

She whistled to her drones. They followed the signal instantly, breaking off over the trees and transforming into various birds. Spectra chose a falcon's form, one of the fastest animals she knew, and cut a path on the side of the sun. Her shadow ran across the thin trees and muddy ground, gaining on Majesta quicker as she folded her wings and began to dive. A couple bursts of magic popped in the air, but Spectra had the sun behind her, and its blinding light would shield her.

Spectra had to transform at the last moment before she collided with Majesta. Bird bones had incredibly light bones, but they were also fragile. She took the form of a house cat, landing hard on her sister's face, clawing at her eyes.

Majesta shrieked and slammed them both into a tree. Spectra was thrown off, though she returned to her form and fired a volley of magic at her sister just before hitting the muddy ground. One shot hit Majesta hard, though it only grazed its way through her shoulder, nothing vital. She retaliated with glinting fangs, flying down and biting hard on Spectra.

"Get off!" Spectra yelled, kicking her sister in the face. Majesta didn't return the hit, instead, breaking off the fight and taking to the sky. She began to sprout feathers as she took the form of a pigeon, but Spectra was quick to knock her out of the air with a blast of magic. She tumbled back down to the ground in her own form but didn't stop running away.

Spectra growled and gave chase. Where did she think she was going? She was the one who attacked first, and now Spectra was going to make sure she faced the consequences.

She lurched forward as her hooves turned to rounded claws, legs stretching out as she turned into a massive chase-hound, the fastest hunting dogs in Riverfork. Spectra felt the rush of air through her tongue as she raced after Majesta in great bounds. The hound's sharp hearing caught the sound of her drones gaining behind her, pressing in on Majesta's path on both sides.

But before she could clamp her jaws around her sister, something bit Spectra in the leg and she tumbled into the mud. Her face buried itself in the soft ground, blocking out sight and sound. She could only hear the distant screeches of her drones, calling for her to get up quickly.

Another piercing pain shot through her leg, however, lodging itself deeply. Spectra scrambled up to see what had hit her, but when she stood up, a heavy stone thumped into her head. She fell over again. And while slumped on the ground, she looked to see what happened to both her rear legs.

Thick bolts made from sharpened tree branches had pierced through her calves, making it impossible to stand. They were tied at the ends to thin cords of rope, probably harvested from Marblestop before Majesta left the village.

"Die!" cried one of Spectra's drone, dropping from the sky in his own form and firing an arc of magic at Majesta. Seemingly out of nowhere, however, a spear flew out of the tall grass and punched through the drone's carapace. His body slumped over and hit the ground next to Spectra.

His death shocked the other hunter-drones so much they didn't have time to react to the volleys of stones that were hurled at them from the ground. It normally wouldn't have been a problem, but being caught so off guard, the drones had no time to transform back into Changelings. The stones grounded them, hitting their wings or their skulls, but either way, killing them before they could retaliate.

Through her muddy eyes, Spectra spotted the attackers in the tall grass, ponies lathered in mud, grass, and the faeces of local animals. Their scent, even at close range, was completely masked. To her hunter-drones, they must have thought they were being attacked by invisible enemies.

Spectra cried out when Majesta began pulling at the bolts in her legs. She was still a hound, howling out in hopes that Zorne and her captain could hear her. But every sound she made hurt more, Majesta beating her in the face if she even made a squeal. Spectra claws with the legs she still had, pushing Majesta off and scratching at her eyes.

"Another," her sister simply said, standing back. From a patch of tall grass a pony, armed with a rudimentary spear thrower, stood up. He had another sharpened branch levelled onto a long, carved piece of wood. Swinging it on his hoof like the arm of a catapult, he flung the bolt into Spectra's right shoulder.

She screamed as it dug in, splintering and rubbing its abrasive wood against Spectra's flesh. Ichor spurted out as her body forced itself back into her Changeling form, attempting to save itself with the magic she had left.

Majesta walked back up, now that she was pinned, and pressed her hoof down into her sister's face. "I didn't want to take pleasure in this," she said. "But thinking about the way you got caught by Halfwing, it makes me hate being your sister."

She wrapped the ropes around her leg and dragged Spectra through the mud, throwing her against the trunk of a fallen tree. "You're a disgrace to our hive, yet you somehow managed to crawl your way out of that mine. I might have been fine if it was Tenacity, at least she has some strengths. But you?"

Majesta clamped her hooves down on either side of Spectra's face, locking open her sister's jaw. "You're just the same as the mud I'm standing on." She flipped Spectra over and shovelled the mud into her mouth, pinning Spectra harder and harder the more she struggled to breathe, finally letting up when her convulsions grew too weak.

"Funny, the only reason we're here now is mother's gift to you." Majesta kicked Spectra out of the mud and stomped down on the bolt in her shoulder, wiggling it around until it broke through the other side. Spectra began screaming again.

"You're useless without Zorne," Majesta said, "but if he hadn't claimed that group of ponies for you, I wouldn't have found the soldiers hiding among their dead." She gestured to the ten stallions that surrounded them, all of them covered in mud and armed with sharpened sticks.

"One of them was surprisingly clever," Majesta said, pointing to a stallion in the middle of the group. "He suggested this ambush, said they'd fight if I let them go home."

Spectra turned her head to them. "Did you really believe her? You're all idiots." She forced the forced through her ragged breath, but the desperation in her voice did nothing to stir the ponies.

Majesta shrugged. "Maybe, but a chance at freedom is better than none. Besides, the stallion who planned it all, I don't think he likes you very much." She stepped away, letting the pony canter over to take a took for himself. Face-to-face, Spectra could finally detect his scent through the mud.

"Septarian?" she croaked.

He clenched his jaw. "Good. At least you'll know the pony who avenged Lady Changeling." He raised his spear and shoved it into Spectra's stomach, twisting it so that the uneven surface of the branch scraped apart her chitin carapace.

"I didn't-" Spectra gasped, her vision quickly fading to black from the pain. "Majesta brought the mountain down. She killed our sisters."

"Liar!" he shouted. "You showed up to our village. It was you they came for."

Spectra struggled to stay awake. The angrier Septarian got, the more of his emotions she could smell. Halfwing had imprinted a lot of feelings onto him, so much so that now he didn't even want freedom. There was no hope or desire in his magic, only a bloody thirst for revenge. Spectra had to wonder what Halfwing did to him to get so much loyalty.

"It was all Majesta," Spectra repeated faintly. "She told me about what Halfwing did, and asked us to join her in a war against our sister. She put me in your village as bait, to distract you. She was always going to kill her, Septarian. Majesta was always going to take away your closest love."

"Oh, for the sake of love, just kill her," Majesta shouted. "Zorne won't be long, and if he sees this, none of us is going to live much longer." The other soldiers murmured. They were eager to be free, but they weren't on the same death-quest as Septarian.

"I could have killed her outside in the camp," Spectra pleaded. "I was so close, I could have used all my magic in one killing blow, but I didn't. Halfwing's a rival, but she's still my sister. I still know what it means to lose her."

Majesta stormed up behind Septarian and shoved him aside. "Forget it, we don't have time. I can smell them already." She lowered her horn at Spectra's throat and reared up.

"No!"

Spectra fought to conceal a smirk. Septarian believed her. He believed, and now he was stabbing his spear into Majesta's back. She screamed for help, hissing to something in the distance. Confused, but faithful to their commander, the soldiers charged at Majesta instead, levelling their spears to the ground. But a flash of light came from the grass as Majesta's captain surfaced from a pit of mud.

His magic blasted through the other ponies, splitting them in half. Septarian turned around to rush the Changeling before the nest burst, but the captain simply knocked him aside with his horn and snatched up Majesta. Septarian picked up spear thrower and launched a bolt at the captain, but he effortlessly twisted through the air and flew out of range, heading straight to the Changeling hive.

"Where did that one come from?" Septarian asked himself, rushing over to his head soldiers.

Spectra would have laughed if she could. "Majesta would never have armed you if she wasn't absolutely certain she couldn't stop you from turning on her. Guess he wasn't quick enough though."

He grunted. "Did you mean what you said about Lad- I mean, Halfwing?"

From the path Spectra had chased Majesta, twin arcs of magic splattered mud over them. It was her captain and Zorne, leading the rest of the hunter-drones.

"Doesn't matter if I did, you'd better run for your life," Spectra said with relief. "If you make it back to Marblestop, you might find her. Majesta only destroyed the entrance, so Halfwing might still be alive inside the mountain."

He looked at her, and then the pack. Green blasts were already flying their way again, and seeing the spear in his hooves, her drones were likely to shoot first and ask questions second. Spectra smiled at him, a gesture that filled his magic with trust. Only she knew how entertaining he looked, holding onto the impossible hope that he'd make it back to his "lady" alive. If the gators didn't kill him, Spectra assumed he'd bury himself trying to "save" Halfwing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The drones carried Spectra gingerly to the nearest nest, calling for the groundskeeper's aid. Now deeper south and reaching drier land, the prey had to be kept under a tight watch, and tighter rope. The nests in the wetlands didn't have high nest-rooms with deadly falls, the trees were thinner and shorter than northern pines. So, the drones were forced to tie up the ponies and keep an eye on them while Spectra healed.

"She needs magic," Zorne said to the groundskeeper.

"Not if you want a sac of ichor for a princess," he replied somberly. "Those weapons did a lot to her. If things aren't put back in place, her body won't know how to heal properly."

"Can you fix it?" asked Spectra's captain.

"I know what to do," he said, "but actually doing it is another thing. The spear opened up the nitrous tubes by her hindgut. It's probably leaked some acid into her body by now."

"We don't need a lesson on her body, just fix it," said Zorne.

While they were debating how to proceed, they heard a shout from one of their drones. Spectra's personal prey, Lunti, was screaming something to them.

"What now?" Zorne bellowed back to the drone. "Just kill her if you have to."

"But, she says the ponies might be able to help, sir," replied the drone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lunti stared nervously up at the nest above them, where Spectra was hanging onto her life. If she died, then their fates were sealed. More importantly, the hive would not distinguish between her and the other ponies.

"What do you think will happen if she dies?" she asked the chanters. "I know you're not just servants to the Spirits. Temples take in the sick and injured all the time."

"Even if we could," said Orange, "we wouldn't help the monster princess."

"Not even to make your lives better?" she asked back.

"We'll accept what comes."

Lunti didn't like it, but she needed Spectra. She was the only thing protecting her, from both the other drones and the other ponies. Without her, it wouldn't be long before they realized they could take revenge on her. Maybe she wouldn't be killed, but there'd be beatings and humiliation every single day for what she did to them.

"Hey!" Lunti shouted to one of the hunter-drones guarding them. "Let us see her, we might be helpful."

"What?" one of the chanters pounce on her. "We're not going to do anything!" He tied at the front and back legs, but still managed to pounce and pin her down.

The drone reacted, glaring a bright flash of magic into their eyes. "Hold still," he said, which was probably the extent of his free will. But Lunti was determined not to die. She scrambled off the floor of the nest-room and shouted up from the edge to the top.

"We can help you save her!" Lunti shouted. Immediately, one of the drones kicked her back into the other ponies, but when Zorne's voice responded, the drone answered accordingly.

"She says the ponies might be able to help, sir."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The orange-robed chanter and Lunti were carried up to Spectra's nest-room. She was unconscious and slowly bleeding the clear, blood-like ichor of Changelings.

"She lied, I can't help," said Orange.

"Can't or won't?" asked Spectra's captain.

She smirked. "Do you honestly think I would know anything about your bodies? You need a surgeon, but I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Our anatomy is a fusion between insect and mammalian structures," Zorne said, gesturing to the groundskeeper. "He will talk you through what needs to be done, just as long as you can do it."

"There's nothing I can without medical tools," she replied, glaring at Zorne. "There were plenty in the temples that you destroyed, however."

He nodded. "I'm well aware. We came across them when we were digging through the rubble to find your bodies." He produced a small bag that was lying on the other side of the nest-room. Inside were small, thin knives, magnifying lenses, copper pincers and tweezers, and a bolt of fine wire for stitches.

"Don't worry, we're not asking for a miracle, though if you had one, we wouldn't mind you sharing," the groundskeeper said. "She needs to be sutured in a few places before we can heal her with magic."

Orange stared at the bag of tools. "If I do this, we all go free." She looked at Lunti. "All of us."

Spectra's captain gawked at her proposal. "You expect us-"

"Deal," Zorne said. He leaned off the nest and clicked his throat at the drones.

"What was that?"

"I just ordered your elderly to be untied, and for the drones to let them walk away. The rest of you will be free once we have our princess in full health."

Spectra's captain stared at Zorne, surprised by his decision. It wasn't in their nature to compromise with their prey, much less free them when they were less than a day's march away from the hive. But, as the orange-robed pony began to examine Spectra's wounds, he couldn't deny the result was what they needed.

The groundskeeper first showed her the nitrous tubes that rested beside the stomach. Soaked in lymphatic fluids, it was the organ in many insects responsible for producing digestive acid from nitrous waste. He directed Orange to the lacerations that would not heal properly, showing exactly where they needed to be sutured to before Spectra could heal.

Then there were the bolts in her legs and shoulder. Like insects, Changelings had no bones to speak of, so once their outer skeleton was punctured, their inner organs were exposed. In the legs, the groundkeeper revealed thin channels that dealt with limb control. The channels filled with ichor to extend the legs, allowing all their muscles to focus on retracting.

Spectra's were cut and twisted in multiple directions. If she had healed herself with magic, her channels would not have connected themselves, and she would have lost the ability to move her legs.

The orange-robed pony gingerly brought the broken channels together, stitching them together just enough to hold them in place while she used tweezers to remove the other issue, the splinters from the wooden bolts. They were infected with the wetland's mud and filth and would have posed a serious problem in the future if the wound closed over them. Fortunately, the groundskeeper could help in that regard, using his magic to levitate the splinters that were impossible to reach with they pony's tools.

Once all the bolts were removed and Spectra's body was properly stitched together, the groundskeeper gave Zorne a nod.

"Don't move," he told Orange before flying down to the other ponies. She was shocked to hear the struggling voices of her chanters and the terrified screams from the younger ponies.

"We made a deal!" she shouted.

"Relax, he's not hurting them." The groundskeeper waved a hoof at her concern. "The princess can't take in magic if she's unconscious. But, transfusions are easy enough. Our ichor is universally compatible, quite unlike the different blood types you ponies have."

A minute later Zorne returned, and his body was almost radiating from the magic he had consumed so quickly. Without saying a word, he stuck out his foreleg and let the groundskeeper bite a small hole through his chitin. His horn glowed as he levitated one of the ichor channels from his leg.

At first, Lunti thought he was simply pulling it out. But it didn't stretch thinner as it got longer. Thanks to magic, the channel was growing faster than anything she had seen before. It reached out, almost as if it was searching for the other half of itself to reconnect to, finally coming to a rest at one of Spectra's ichor channels. It attached to one of the loosely stitched channels, engulfing the cut and inflating to double its thickness.

Lunti had to stare for a while to confirm what she was seeing. The ichor flowing between them was charged with so much magic it was glowing faintly on its own. Almost immediately, Spectra's body began to heal, driven by the natural instinct of all flesh to recover itself. The channels sealed up first, followed by the surrounding muscle fibres, and then the delicate nitrous tubes beside her stomach. The sound was similar to meat cooked on a pan, sizzling as the magic purged her ichor of infections. For all their terrible faults, Lunti could not deny that the Changelings were miraculous creatures.

Her chitin was the last thing to grow back, and it did so much slower than the rest of her body as the magic between Spectra and Zorne quickly began to fade. With one swift bite, the groundskeeper cut off the tube where it had connected, allowing her leg to fully close up. Zorne did the same, removing the extra section of his ichor channel that he had grown out before charging his own leg up with magic to heal the cut.

"Is it done?" asked Orange.

"She'll wake in a few hours, probably," said the groundskeeper. "There's still minor damage that her body needs to heal on its own."

"That's not my problem," she replied. "Are we free to go now?" The groundskeeper looked curiously at Zorne, who seemed to mull over the thought of actually staying true to his word.

"Did you ever really expect me to let you all go?" he asked her.

"I had some hope," she replied.

"I know. It smelled delicious."

Orange clenched her jaw and flashed a look at Lunti. "Are you happy now? I'm a traitor to Equestria now because of you."

"Lively one, aren't you?" The groundskeeper carefully, but forcefully, lifted the orange-robed chanter up with his magic. "But just take it easy. You'll find a cosy place in the hive. Maybe marry one of the other cave-dwelling ponies, raise a family in complete darkness with no hope of ever seeing the sun; it'll be fun, trust me."

She struggled against the sudden loss of control, squirming in the air as the groundskeeper brought her back down to the other prey. "I should have let her die!" she shouted at Lunti. She screamed louder, but her voice quickly softened as the groundskeeper cast a spell to dampen her sound.

"Send one of the drones to gather up the old ponies," Zorne clicked to one of the drones hovering by them. "They probably haven't gotten far."

He then looked over to Lunti, who was frozen still and staring at Spectra. "How did you know she'd be able to close up the wounds?"

"Temples take in the sick and injured all the time," she replied absentmindedly. "Thought you'd know that, considering how much time you've spent among us."

"But they could have just been regular singers," said Spectra's captain.

Lunti shook her head. "They were all slaves, weren't they? Slaves in Marblestop have, or had, the hardest jobs."

The two Changelings traded glances. Despite all their time among ponies, Zorne especially, they were still reluctant to seek anything from ponies that wasn't food. It was simply their nature; wolves did not approach sheep pens hoping to borrow wool.

Which begged the question, why did the princesses use the ponies so easily? Zorne shoved the question to the back of his mind. There was still the question of what to do with Lunti. If she rejoined the others, there was no doubt there'd be trouble, even fighting. He scrutinized her. She stood passively around Spectra, staring only out of shock at everything she had just watched, like a dead animal being brought back to life.

"Well then!" bellowed the groundskeeper, flying back up to the nest-room. His deep, hollow voice scared a squeal out from Lunti.

"Oh, sorry there. Should've guessed you'd be shaken after seeing that, but don't worry, I won't stick you back down there with them." He patted Lunti on the back.

She looked at him, confused. "Did you just say 'sorry?'"

"Yeah, isn't that what polite ponies say?" He looked at Spectra's captain. "They do still say that, don't they?"

"Yes," he replied bluntly.

"We do," Lunti said, "but we just don't hear it from Changelings very often."

The groundskeeper laughed, another sound Lunti didn't think she would ever hear. "True, but we don't show ourselves very often." He checked the sun, which had dipped far past its peak by now. "Hey, are you hungry?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lunti chewed on a tough piece of a salt lick that the groundskeeper was apparently responsible for maintaining, both for ponies and for Changelings. She followed behind Spectra's captain, who had to carry an exhausted Spectra while she regained the energy to move on her own.

Behind them, Zorne and his pack kept the ponies in marching order, forcing even the elderly to march along faster than they should have been able to. Lunti could feel all of them staring daggers at her back, but she didn't really care. It was the first time since she had been captured that she ate something that wasn't berries or cave-grown mushrooms.

The sun had just risen above the horizon, cutting through the thick morning fog. They had to stay the night at the nest, of course. Even with her injuries healed, Spectra's body was still weak and tender, barely prepared to make the last day of marching back to the hive.

Lunti was amazed at how quickly everything had changed. Less than a month ago she was still in Riverfork, enjoying her life by taking advantage of her friend Reiter. Then, it took only a few days after being captured to return to the river, though far to the west from her village.

Even if she had to live in the hive again, Lunti hoped things would stop changing for a while.

"Having second thoughts?" Spectra said to her from Zorne's back.

"What?"

"About getting that chanter from Marblestop to heal me, you're having second thoughts, aren't you?"

Lunti sat on that question for a while, but Spectra already seemed content with her answer. The scent of her magic, probably, revealed her true feelings, even if she didn't fully understand them herself. She wanted freedom from Spectra, of course, but being with ponies who wanted her dead changed the context, and made her value the Changelings' protection. So, did that mean she was on their side?

She shook her head clear. "For my sake, you need to live."

"And in the process, you think you'll get special treatment," Spectra smirked. "Is that right?"

"No use hiding it. You've always been right about me. I used Reiter for my own gain, just like I'm using the other ponies to hold myself up. I always have, even with my own father."

"And that makes you happy?" Spectra looked at her.

Lunti shrugged. "It makes me think clearly."

The rest of the march was relatively uneventful. A filly and an elderly stallion were both killed by separate snake bites after they entered they entered the jungle, but the loss simply sped up the frightened ponies. Though the salt lick the groundskeeper had given her didn't last long, the minerals inside it seemed to perk Lunti up, making her more attentive and aware of everything.

Far away from any pony activity, the jungle was filled with exotic wildlife that she didn't appreciate when they passed it the first time. She tried counting the species of birds she saw, losing track very quickly. There were large green and blue ones as tall as her that stalked the ground rather than flying. Others were adorned with creative patterns along their tailfeathers, creating beautiful dances for potential mates.

The trees, with their broad leaves, glowed bright green as the sun beat down. The leaves provided shade to everything below on the jungle floor, thankfully. Lunti didn't want to think about the sunburn she'd get from a day under the burning sun. This far south, it didn't matter if it was winter or not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A wide stream ran the length of the path to the hive, spewing its water down into the mouth of the cave that led to the hive. There was a stark beauty to cavern so massive, it allowed trees and vines to reach in and grow within it. Even the air was filled with a cloudy mist from the water, humidifying the cavern while giving it cloud-like fog.

"This is it?" one of the chanters gawked as they came to it. Based on the sky, the sun had just begun to set, but among the thick jungle trees and mountainous area, the cavern to the hive looked much darker.

Lunti stared at the view, taking in her last vision of the surface. Whatever the next step was in her life, she would take it with this image in her mind, a little scrap of hope that she'd one day return.

Spectra rolled off the back of Zorne and stood on her own. Lunti expected her to begin ordering the ponies around, but to her surprise, she and all the other Changelings stood stiff like soldiers awaiting inspection. In a few seconds, the echoed buzzing of wings from the bottom of the cavern told Lunti why.

The Changeling that emerged from the cavern was massive, easily twice her height. On either side, she was accompanied by massive drones. They stood a head shorter than their leader, but they still towered over Lunti and every pony else.

Zorne and Spectra's captain began to bow their heads first, signalling to the other Changelings to do the same. Only Spectra stood upright, though the tenseness in her limbs told Lunti that she wasn't in much more control than her drones.

"I wondered when you'd return," said the massive Changeling. "Majesta was convinced you'd be dead from your injuries."

"Sorry to disappoint you, mother," Spectra said, not trying hard to conceal some bitterness in her voice. Then again, it would have been useless to try.

"Quite the opposite," she said. "Majesta may have succeeded much more with a weaker pack, but you haven't been shying away from the action, have you?"

This was their mother? Lunti's eyes bulged at the behemoth before her. It was no wonder Spectra was so eager to prove herself as a leader among her kind. She had a large role to fill, in every sense of the phrase.

"Confronting the ponies directly," she continued, "getting captured to find Halfwing, then waiting for your sisters to free you."

"That last part-" Spectra started.

"Don't bother," her mother rolled her eyes. "I ordered Majesta's drones to tell me everything. It may have been foolish, but I can't say it wasn't clever. You escaped without having to lift a hoof."

Lunti noticed that Spectra's expression changed into something looking like relief. "And what do we have here?" She whirled around to see the mother staring into her face. "You seem different from when you first came to the hive."

Lunti leaned back, falling to her rear.

"Haha, good," the mother laughed, her voice echoing like she spoke through a hollow tube. "Fear means your emotions are still healthy and fresh."

She turned to Zorne. "What do you think, captain? How did my daughter perform?"

Zorne glanced at Spectra, thinking it over. He raised his head and approached the Queen with a determined look. "There's a lot I have to say about this hunt, Queen Chrysalis. The ponies have developed new weapons against us, but in the face of those obstacles, I believe she did as well as any Changeling could have."

The Queen nodded. "Majesta's captain said something of the barrier. You dealt with it?" Zorne nodded.

"Very well. You and your pack have an hour to resupply your magic, then meet me in my chambers. We'll have to talk about dealing with this threat."

"The Pens?" Zorne asked.

"Of course," she replied. "It's about time Spectra learned about it anyway."

"Learned what?"

"Where the hive stores its other prey of course," the Queen told her. "A special place for the ponies you don't pick for your personal larder."

Comments

[Durnstaros]

This story is brutal yet intriguing, and a very good take on changeling behaviour and biology. Definitely deserves more points!