Enchanted

by The Whiskey Spirit

Ch 56: The Informant

Ashwyn stood outside the door of the guest room that had been granted to her and the Alpha. She shifted on her paws nervously, still unsure how wise it was to go into this alone, but knowing it was likely her best option at the moment. She didn’t want to lose this contact with a potential ally because she couldn’t handle a single interaction on her own. The Alpha surely wouldn’t be pleased about that.

At the least, she could tell who was on the other side of the door. As far as her nose could pick up, it was only the one that had been assumed the informant. Of course, these changelings were able to change their physical forms, who’s to say they couldn’t change their scent as well?

Were they aware of her capabilities? Were they aware of the Alpha’s? Or were they still operating under their noses? She didn’t know. The Alpha might have had a hunch, but she couldn’t speak with him at the moment.

She shook her head and refocused on the door in front of her. She was stalling the inevitable with these thoughts. She needed to be more like the Alpha right now. She had to be confident in herself and face this obstacle head on.

Swallowing whatever unease she had, she finally reached out and opened the door. The room beyond was as she had left it that morning, but more importantly, empty. Of course, Ashwyn knew that not to be the case. She allowed the door to swing shut behind her as she stared in the direction the scent was coming from. The scent originated just around the small desk that was situated in the corner.

Once the door closed, an uneasy tension fell upon the room. Neither party said anything, and the changeling had yet to reveal itself, despite Ashwyn looking directly at it. The tension didn’t lighten up, even when someone finally spoke.

“Ashwyn.” The voice that addressed her was surprising. It held none of the confidence or authority she was anticipating. In fact, it sounded fairly demure. Even stranger was the fact that she couldn’t tell if the voice was male or female. The soft tones could have belonged to either. “I am going to reveal myself, please don’t panic.” The voice told her, raising some confusion in Ashwyn’s mind. Why would she panic?

Within the space she was staring at, a faint shimmer revealed itself, before the magic faded and a figure slowly became visible.

The books she had read about the changelings didn’t include any pictures, but simply had loose descriptions based on eye witness accounts. None of them did the changelings any justice.

The creature before her appeared as a strange amalgamation of insectoid and pony features. In fact, she wouldn’t have been surprised to find something like them during her time in his lab. A black chitin covered their body, protecting their fleshy insides, though the part that she thought of as strange were the holes in their legs. It didn’t appear as wounds that the creature had sustained, but as a natural part of their body.

Bright cyan eyes stared back at her, seemingly lacking a pupil. Though upon closer inspection, a faintly lighter circle could be seen within. Insectoid wings rested upon its back, and fangs, longer than even her own, hung from its mouth. As it opened its mouth to speak, she noticed those fangs were the only ones to speak of in its mouth, as the rest were more akin to a pony’s.

“I-I’m on your side.” The changeling said, nervousness enveloping its voice. Ashwyn couldn’t help but feel a little thrown off. This was nowhere near what she was expecting.

“I… know?” She said slowly, her confusion showing on her face as she peered at the changeling before her. It was smaller than her, and it certainly didn’t help that it seemed to shrink under her gaze.

“You know!?” The changeling exclaimed in shock, before apparently remembering why it was afraid and returning to a more submissive position. “How?”

Ashwyn stared at him for a long moment, still unsure of what to make of this situation. “Alpha figure out. Say you is informant.” The changeling nodded slowly.

“I am… I…” The changeling paused with a frown before sighing. “It hasn’t done a whole lot of good.”

“What you mean?” Ashwyn asked, instinctively taking a step forward to comfort the obviously saddened creature. That, however made the changeling’s wings buzz in effort as it flew back, landing on the desk. It stared at her with wide eyes for a moment, before it seemed to finally relax.

“Sorry.” It offered meekly as it gingerly stepped down from the desk. “It’s… I… nothing is going right.” It said after a few moments of stumbling over its own words, bringing its hooves up to cradle its head.

“Tell me what happened.” She said, attempting to sound as comforting as possible. She briefly wondered if this was how the Alpha felt when he had to deal with her during the first couple days.

“Chrysalis has gotten too strong too fast.” The changeling said, sorrow filling his voice. “With the power she’s gaining from Cadence, she was able to use her magic to control anyone that stood a threat.” Ashwyn couldn’t help but blink at the creature before her. That sentence brought up a number of questions in her mind, but one of them struck her harder than the others.

“C-control.” The word was hard to get out, as it felt as though her heart had jumped up into her throat.

“Yes… the Queen is a master of mental magic. With the power she obtained from Cadence, she’s easily able to control anyone she sees as a remote threat.” Ashwyn didn’t like that. Ashwyn didn’t like that at all. Ashwyn had to force herself to not fly out of that room. Not to grab the Alpha and get as far away from this Chrysalis as possible.

“How… how many?” She asked through grit teeth. Her face must have not been very comforting, as the changeling was shrinking further into itself.

“Too many.” It squeaked out. “A majority of the guards and maids. Shining Armour. Even the Princesses, with their near full immunity to mental magic, have been affected due to just how much power Chrysalis is wielding.” Even the Princesses!? Ashwyn couldn’t help but take a step back from the news, her desire to grab the Alpha and flee redoubling.

“Th-there’s hope, though!” The changeling suddenly piped up, pulling Ashwyn’s eyes from the door behind her. Sadly, once her eyes shifted back to the changeling, it clammed up again. In fact, it looked more nervous than it had before.

“What?”

“Well, you see… there’s one who, er, might be able to resist her.” The changeling told her slowly, nervously shifting from hoof to hoof as it desperately avoided eye contact with her.

“Who?” She asked, a little more exasperated than she had intended. She was getting tired of this changeling beating around the bush like this.

“It’s, hmm, A-Aurick?” The changeling hesitantly glanced up at her, only to receive a look of confusion.

“Alpha? Alpha can stop it!?” Ashwyn couldn’t help but ask for confirmation. If the Alpha could stop it, then she had nothing to worry about! The Alpha would be able to take care of this whole thing!

“Maybe?” That word cut her joyous thoughts to halt. Maybe? It doesn’t know!?

“What you mean, maybe?” She frowned at it, making it look away once more. It seemed to bite its lip for a moment, occasionally glancing up at Ashwyn as though it were trying to decide whether to tell her something.

“It’s a, uh, possibility, because… because of what happened.” Ashwyn blinked at him, confused. After a moment of thought, however, her features grew hard as she glared at the meek bug pony before her.

“What happen?” She asked in a level tone, making the small changeling freak out further than it already was.

“He… He was a-attacked.” A twitch in Ashwyn’s eye made the changeling scramble back, impacting with the desk behind it. Ashwyn didn’t say anything, but the changeling clearly got the message.

Explain.

“Chrysalis somehow found out that you were onto her!” It squeaked out as fast as it could. “She attacked him in the hall, and… he lost.” At this point, Ashwyn’s mind shut down. The Alpha lost!? That was impossible!? He couldn’t have…

Fury gripped her heart. The changeling continued to speak, but she could only hear the pounding of her own heart. Wings flared, she launched herself towards the door, intending to smash through it and find the bitch that dared to hurt her Alpha.

She ended up slamming into the door, as it felt like it was made of concrete. Snorting in anger, she turned to glare at the changeling, who had his horn alight with magic.

~-~

Carina couldn’t help but wonder why he used his magic on the door. What could have possibly possessed him to do something so idiotic. Now the beastly mare had her eyes set on him. If he hadn’t already taken care of business before, he likely would have done so in that moment.

The face that glared at him was not the same face that had entered the room with him. Whereas she had some more beastly features before, it was clear she was still a pony from how she acted and the emotions she felt. Now, however… Now he felt like he had just locked himself in a cage with a lion.

The mare’s lips curled up in a feral snarl, revealing the incredibly sharp looking teeth within. He knew that this mare could easily bite through his leg with no issue, based on those teeth alone. Her claws were not better. Fully extended and digging into the tile below her, they had to be no shorter than three inches long, and looked almost as deadly as her teeth. The hair on her back stood on end, similarly to an animal’s. All in all, what scared him the most was the look in the mare’s eyes and the feelings he felt swirling within her.

Both held nothing but fury, and now it was directed at him.

“A-” He choked instantly, his voice refusing to come out as his mind desperately pleaded with him to just get the hell out of there. “Ashwyn,” He finally forced out, “please! He’s okay, he’s ali-.” He was cut off as he was suddenly held against the desk. The monstrous face of Ashwyn was mere inches from his face. She was close enough that he could smell the meat on her breath.

“Explain.” She demanded, her eyes glaring into his. He couldn’t look away if he wanted to.

“Ch-Chrysalis sent him back to the hive! He’s probably asleep in a pod! He’s safe! He won’t be hurt!” He cried out desperately, his heart racing faster than ever. “Please, don’t kill me!” Relief flooded his veins when the beastial mare released him. He fell to the floor, doing his best to calm his breathing. It didn’t work, as shortly after, Ashwyn roared in anger and struck out with her claws.

Thankfully, he wasn’t the target. The desk wasn’t so lucky. Nor was the wall. Or the chair. Or even the floor. In all honesty, he was shocked he wasn’t killed in the carnage, but he didn’t question it. He would just be thankful. He didn’t feel thankful for long, however, as Ashwyn quickly rounded on him once more.

“Where hive!?” She shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders.

“I-it’s near Fillydelphia.” He informed her.

“We go.” Carina couldn’t help but blink at her.

“What!?”

“We go hive. Rescue Alpha. Kill Bitch.” Ashwyn told him in no uncertain terms.

“But…” Any objection died in his throat when he saw the look in her eyes. He was too afraid to say no.

He couldn’t help but wonder why things could never go to plan.

Comments

[Ec1ipsis]

"We go hive. Rescue Alpha. Kill Bitch." That is probably the best and most succinct mission plan I've ever seen. Fun chapter, looking forward to the rescue mission!

[lunarstallion]

He couldn’t help but wonder why things could never go to plan.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

[Fetch]

Carina, it is ancient knowledge: No plan survives contact with the enemy.

[shadow wolf1573]

Nows our chance. To get ash in the hive she must be in a maid uniform so that it looks like she's being brought over for feeding. Taken to the pods and boom. There's elf boi

[Lady Lightning Strike]

“We go hive. Rescue Alpha. Kill Bitch.” Ashwyn told him in no uncertain terms.

That’s a plan that I can get behind! It’s also simple enough to survive contact with the enemy! Why it so simple, that even the ‘Bitch’ won’t see it coming!

[Sozmioi]

9585977
In this case, no plan survives contact with the ally.

[Liqwidice]

Exterminatis now begun.

[EvilTreerat]

Ah. Let the not-too-selective genocide of the changeling species commence.
No more second chances, no more faked remorse. Just safely dead in a few dozen pieces that no amount of magic can fix.

I like her. An actual plan that focuses on objectives not methods. She would make a good general.

[ARC190]

no plan survives first contact with the enemy

[nekoparalover]

“We go hive. Rescue Alpha. Kill Bitch.” Ashwyn told him in no uncertain terms.

Best Plan EVER!!

[Simbul]

“Ch-Chrysalis sent him back to the hive! He’s probably asleep in a pod! He’s safe! He won’t be hurt!”

>And then Ashwyn finds a torched hive and Aurick shooting spells and screaming about icky bug goop.

[SilverNightWolf]

I thought we were going to meet Thorax here, then the pov(?) shift revealed it wasn't so.
Anyhoo, onward to Fillydelphia!

[The Whiskey Spirit]

9587457
I dropped off the show around the start of season 5, so a lot of the characters and world building from later seasons won't be happening.

[SilverNightWolf]

9587603
That’s cool.