• Published 13th Nov 2018
  • 2,492 Views, 892 Comments

Halls of the Changeling King - Nameless Narrator



A little changeling drone couldn't make it for the big invasion. With the help of other desperate changelings, he avoided pony retribution as long as he could, but in the end, ponies found him. Now alone, he's just trying to survive.

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23: Leaderless

Scream follows Eight’s mad dash as the carpet under the warrior’s hooves gets torn into shreds which then explode into ash behind her. While such physical manifestation of rage is enough to make the alicorn raise an impressed eyebrow, Scream is busy plotting her next step.

Room? Its door shatters as Eight simply rams into it, following the scent of blood more than splatters anymore. The dark priest must have treated his wound in some way. There’s a stone wall between her and the scent now-

Not anymore. Perfectly hewn stones scatter everywhere in an explosion of rocks, mortar, dust, and metal. As it turns out, there indeed was a secret door on hidden hinges made to open in some intricate way, or when hit with enough force to shatter two hooves thick masonry.

The hole leads into a well-maintained and lit tunnel with barely an specks of dust, although with the occasional drop of blood on the floor.

”Remind me to never use you for a sneaking mission...” Scream rolls her eyes as Eight thunders down the sloping tunnel, leaving hoof marks burned into the stones, ”You know, it would be a smart idea to slow down a bit in case you run into a minefield or something,” Scream raises her voice.

The alicorn has no clue whether Eight is simply ignoring her or hasn’t heard her, but her pace doesn’t change whatsoever. The neat tunnel gives way to round, uneven mine shaft which eventually opens into a massive crevasse. Eight is lost for a moment before she notices a long staircase carved into the side of the hole, and deep down in the darkness…

...is a tiny, flickering speck of light.

Eight looks at the staircase, then at the bottomless drop, and then jumps without even spreading her wings.

”Alright, this needs someone less berserk-y,” Scream connects to Two, ”Hey, smart bug, have you heard the news?”

”W-What’s going on, Scream?!” answers Two immediately, ”I can’t sense the boss, and no one else knows anything!”

”Boss bug is dying in the castle, poisoned by some concoction that supposedly kills even alicorns, and punch bug is chasing the assassin.”

”WHAAAAAAAAAT?!”

”Shocked screaming later, now I need you to get over here as fast as you can in case punch bug meets a cannon she can’t tank. These dark priests have technology I haven’t seen since the disappearance of the Silversmiths.”

”Okay,” Two forces herself to simply listen. Five was right in a way. There are times when being just tools working for the good of the hive and nothing more is crucial, ”Where do you need me?”

”Do you know where punch bug is?”

”I’m not sure...” Two focuses, trying to break into Eight’s one-track mind, ”She’s not mapping. I… I… I think I can find her!” she clutches her head. Eight is moving too fast with only her warrior instincts tracking her surroundings. It’s clearly enough for her, but Two’s infiltrator mind isn’t made to process that kind of fragmented and snap information.

”The haul ass, smart bug. Demigod out,” Scream breaks her link to Two, now following Eight’s dive into the depths of the ruptured earth.

Eight’s wings burn green as she shifts them to withstand the acceleration caused by her drop and stop her fall without them tearing off. The scent of blood is strong here, mixed with overpowering smell of sweat. Growling, Eight lands on an outcropping made of metal at the bottom of the stairs as well as the ravine right above flowing river of magma. The stone walls here have the familiar dark purple-black hue of bedrock, and there’s a shiny, hexagonal metal door through which the assassin clearly disappeared.

Eight punches the door which doesn’t give an inch.

She bites her hoof so hard blood starts pouring from her frog, and then she presses it against the door. With eyes closed, she digs inside herself for fragments of knowledge she hasn’t needed to use in a very long time - One’s.

Gradually, the metal begins corroding under the effect of her transformed blood, and not much time later, Eight simply pushes a blackened sheet of steel forward, and then her whole hoof through the door as thick as her thigh. A pony would need to make a bigger hole before they got through, thus giving the assassin time to escape. A changeling, though, has a natural advantage in that respect.

A hoof-sized Eight buzzes through the smoldering hole as her blood keeps corroding bigger and bigger part of the door before transforming back into her full size on the other side. The walls are made of smooth bedrock here covered in carvings, and seem to emit gentle light on their own. Eight, however, is interested in only one thing - the occasional speck of blood here and there.

Scream stops for a moment to look at the walls, and tilts her head.

”These things… aren’t decorations,” she furrows her brows, ”This is… a guide to build a coffee maker?” she trots off a short distance away, ”Physics! Physics equations right next to it! Thaumic physics too,” her jaw drops, ”Every tunnel, every wall… they had underground bases all over the world. Technology breaks, paper rots, bedrock stays. It doesn’t rain underground, bedrock doesn’t deteriorate, knowledge stays almost forever. Their cities were encyclopedias-” Scream’s look of complete wonder disappears when she realizes Eight is long gone, ”Ah crap!”

The alicorn reappears at a crossroad near Eight just as she pounces at a fleeing dwarf who must be the assassin. She grabs him by his forelegs when he aims his hoof at her, then backflips on her hind legs while kicking against the dwarf’s barrel.

”Oh… holes...” Two, connected to Eight, fights off a bout of nausea.

”What, never seen somepony’s ribcage being kicked out of their body before?” Scream chuckles, ”Well, this is how your mom does diplomacy.”

”Am I… supposed to learn that?”

”No, that’s how you DON’T do it. Most of the time at least.”

The mangled corpse of the dwarf lands on the floor, and Eight tosses away both of the dwarf’s fetlocks still held in her claws. The dwarf looks like a bow now, only the string is the flesh of the body and some broken bones while the bendy bit is… his pelvis, spine, and the ribcage.

“One kick. She did this with one kick,” Two breathes out, now finally galloping down the castle secret tunnel.

“FUCKING RISE UP SO THAT I CAN KILL YOU AGAAAAAAAAAAAIN!” Eight roars, stomping the body into bloody paste.

A slow clip clop of hooves approaching from the left tunnel makes Eight’s head snap towards the source of noise. A bone-chilling shiver runs down Scream’s spine.

”No...” the alicorn gasps, ”What is one of them doing here…? Punch bug, get out!”

Eight stomps off towards the approaching… pony. Not a dwarf, but a pony wearing a grey robe with a hood.

”Punch bug, you know I mess around a lot, but this time when I’m telling you to go the other way and as fast as you can, YOU GO!”

“ARE YOU THIS KETCHUP’S CONTACT?!” Eight screams at the slowly walking pony.

The hood turns towards her for a second, then the rather big pony passes her without a word.

Eight screams, and grabs the passive pony by his shoulders.

“Ooof!” the world around her blurs as she flies away after a punch that leaves an indentation in her chest chitin.

”Punch buuuuuug...” Scream facehoofs, ”I know you’re seeing red right now, but if you keep this up, there won’t be a head to see anything soon.”

Then Eight darts forward at speed barely noticeable by naked eye, and punches the pony. The first thing that would stop a smart observer or a not-raging changeling, would be that the pony reacted quickly enough to block the punch with his crossed hooves. The second thing was that even if someone blocked such a blow, the force would send them flying over the horizon, which didn’t happen. What DID happen was that previously unstoppable force met an immovable object, and the force very much stopped. The pony simply stood up on his hind legs, his prehensile, reptilian tail previously hidden by the robe forming the tripod keeping him steady.

Eight finally realizes something might be wrong. A little too late, unfortunately.

Razor sharp claws on the pony’s foreleg sever Eight’s attacking leg while he grabs her by the neck with his other one, and squeezes. At the same time his tail wraps around her hind leg. Eight’s chitin reinforced to maximum resists for a whole second before her neck and spine snap, and her held hind leg gets torn off as well. The pony lets Eight drop on the floor, then meticulously stomps off her remaining hind leg and foreleg, leaving only Eight’s mangled barrel. In the end, his foreleg transforms into a tentacle which spears Eight’s chest, and tears her heart out.

Afterwards, as if nothing happened, the pony’s foreleg turns into a normal one, and he walks off.

Scream facehoofs, and sighs.

”Smart bug… I don’t know how to say it...”

Without a sound, Two arrives a short moment later, and her eyes go wide when she sees the pool of blood and complete mess that is, or more likely used to be, Eight.

Time stops as Two redirects the conversation entirely into the hive mind.

”What… what happened, Scream?”

”Punch bug met an elder Vigil, probably one who fled before we nuked their last base. I shudder to think that he survived it, because if he did then we’re all screwed. He’s still around, and I’m not sure even you as a changeling can be quiet enough to avoid him, or quick enough to flee at this point.”

”W-W-What? But Eight… she’s unstoppable...”

”Got stopped pretty finally, I’d say. Anyway, I gotta discuss this with the right ponies. See ya, and if you meet somepony weird around here, just run and hope it’s enough.”

”Ok-Okay...” Two replies to no one, feeling suddenly weak, as if her love was being drained for no reason.

She looks at Eight’s remains, and her jaw drops.

“H-how? Still breathing…?” she doesn’t dare touch Eight, and it’s still Eight, not a corpse, “Snapped neck, heartless- heh, heheheh!” Two starts laughing, then takes Eight’s mane into her mouth, and pulls while mumbling and giggling, “Tables have turned, haven’t they?”

She has no idea whether Eight’s state is just her body giving out too slowly, or whether there’s some hope of healing in this obliterated shape, but she keeps dragging Eight’s torso by her mane.

“The stairs are gonna be fun for you, heh. And don’t take this the wrong way, I’m only doing this because boss would be sad if you died for some reason. I can’t say I share his sentiment,” she lowers her head for a moment, the gravity of what Scream said about the assassination finally hitting her. Then she grits her teeth, and looks at Eight’s limbs strewn around, “I might send someone to grab those later… maybe.”

Should Eight get what she deserves? Two grins, or bares her teeth at least.

“Or maybe not,” her barking laugh echoes through the hopefully empty hallways, “Maybe I’ll give you to dwarves as some amputee fucknugget. You’re a trash mother, so you might give being a good cock sock a shot.”

She lets go of Eight’s mane, and the warrior’s already unnaturally twisted head hits the floor.

“Or maybe I should just really leave you here,” Two snarls at the unresponsive body, “so that you could rot here alone like you left me. Boss might be already dead, so there’s no one who would miss you. You might still be breathing due to how much of a monster you are, well, still wheezing I mean, but if I leave you here, no one will find you in time.”

Two scowls at the body, coming to a decision.

“Rest in pieces, you worthless cu-”

“T-Two?” a new, completely desperate voice from behind her makes Two turn around. It’s Three, his eyes wide and mouth open, “Miss Eight...?”

“She left me and Crumble to die just because she didn’t need us anymore. From what boss said about what happened before, this isn’t the first time she left everyone to die. She deserves this!” Two blocks Three from rushing to Eight.

“B-But boss will cry-” Three gives Two a pleading look when she shoves him back so hard he plops on his butt.

“Boss is dying or already dead! An assassin got to him. He’s not some unnatural, indestructible half-changeling half-construct like you! He’s just a changeling! Dwarves know about changelings, and even Scream said the poison kills EVERYTHING!”

“Let’s take her home anyway-” Three jumps back on all fours.

“And what if I don’t let you?” Two’s stomach turns when she says that, but the boiling anger and disgust from everything is stronger than any fragile morality inspired by the boss.

“Then… then I won’t hug you anymore, EVER!” Three pulls out the big guns.

“Maybe I’m fine with that as long as that monster gets what she deserves!” Two’s voice wavers a little.

Three scrunches his nose, and tries to walk past Two repeatedly, each time being blocked or shoved away. He doesn’t say anything, he always just gets up and gives it another attempt.

-GO HOME AND LET HER ROT!-

Three stops, his legs twitching. He turns halfway around, but then he faces Two again.

“N-No!” his voice is high-pitched and strained, “Miss Eight is still there, I know it. Something like getting killed won’t stop her. Boss is still there too! He’s a drone, and we’re tough. And you… you, Two… you’re just not yourself. I know you want to help me, but you’ve got your problems to deal with. You’re an amazing changeling-”

“SHUT UP!”

“I won’t, Two. I believe in you, I believe in boss, and I believe in miss Eight! Even if you go away and not help, you’ll still be better than most changelings in the old hive who would just eat miss Eight to gain what little love she still has. THAT’S WHY YOU’RE AWESOME TOO, EVEN WHEN YOU’RE BEING NASTY NOW!”

Trembling, Two takes a step towards Three, fangs bared and her eyes burning with hate. The drone grits his teeth, not moving.

She walks past him.

“Do what you want with that bitch, I don’t care. I’m going to visit my real mom who cares about me.”

Three rushes to Eight, nudges her few times, and realizes she’s way bigger even without limbs.

“Umm, Two? Miss Eight is too big and I can’t-”

-STOP CALLING HER MISS EIGHT, SHE’S A HEARTLESS COCKROACH AND DESERVES TO BE ONLY CALLED THAT!-

This time the mental command doesn’t even faze Three.

“N-No! It’s miss Eight. She saved all of us too many times to count. Without her, boss or I wouldn’t be here. Even Five, Six, or Seven wouldn’t. Can you please at least grab the legs, Two? I can’t levitate stuff like Seven or boss.”

“Then you’d better come back for those before something eats them, and grab a bag,” Two hisses, and trots off the way both she and Three came.

Three sighs, and notices green drool on Eight’s mane where Two previously dragged her. Nibbling on the hair, he gives it few experimental pulls.

“Sorry, miss Eight, you’ll wake up with a bit of a headache. Two isn’t a bad changeling, I swear. She’s just...”

Even Three can’t find the right words anymore.

”Miss Scream?” he speaks up.

”Yeah?” the alicorn’s voice answers quietly, but the demigoddess herself is nowhere to be found.

”Thank you for calling me here and telling me what was going on.”

”Pfff. I’m in it just for the inevitable fireworks when punch bug finds out what smart bug did. Without boss bug to keep her happy, punch bug’s gonna dish out some serious parental guidance, and I’ll be there with the popcorn. If the dead horse dragging… or being dragged… no, that sounds dumb… if she lives to see another minute, of course.”

”Of course, miss Scream, of course,” Three conjures a weak smile despite the situation, gives one final look to Eight’s ripped off limbs and heart, and with patience that would make Maud Pie jealous, he resumes pulling Eight’s torso, hoping against all reality that Eight is still somehow alive.

***

Two wanders the streets of Brauheim on her way to the hospital. Vendors and attractions are lined up next to each other. Axe throwing, contests of strength, various seasonal food, opportunities to taste some super rare liquor, and many many more ways for dwarves to occupy themselves, not all of which Two understands. Of course, it’s still early for the celebration to be in full swing, so it’s about fifty-fifty in regard of the public stands being open for business, but there are crowds of dwarves already trying everything this year’s Beerfest has to offer anyway.

Two stops at a small forge with door wide open and iron ingots stacked on a rack outside the door. Now this is something she understands well.

“For everything you do every day,” she reads an inscription on one of the ingots, “I heart you,” she turns another one in her hooves, “A cave-in couldn’t keep me away from you. True friendship is stronger than bedrock,” her eyes light up when she spots one that’s suitable and very simple, “For the best mom underground ever,” she smiles, “I could either give this to Crumble, or beat Eight to death with it. Dwarf gifts are so universal,” she chuckles, but can’t completely ignore the creeping guilt when she remembers that Three must still be dragging Eight from the strange, deep tunnels.

As she picks the ingot up, she realizes she doesn’t have any money. Her infiltration trips always revolved around seduction in bars or taverns and making her targets pay for her, because it usually turned out that drinks were customary.

She could always… steal it.

No! Two shakes her head. If anyone saw a changeling doing this, it wouldn’t help the situation, especially now that boss is…

Two realizes that she, in her rage, completely forgot about boss’ reported situation and was focusing only on Eight. The problem is that because she can’t connect to boss, she doesn’t know where he is, and as a quick scan of everyone’s heads shows that, other than Two and Three, no one knows that everything has gone horribly wrong. Better not to call attention to it yet, before Two knows everything.

After taking a deep breath, Two grabs the desired ingot, and walks inside the forge.

“Umm, can I have this one?” she asks the dwarf mare currently smithing something in the corner, “I don’t have any money, but I can do something for you, or you can go to the castle and ask for them to repay this… or I can do that later.”

The forgemare looks around, and tilts her head before smiling.

“Oh, you’re one of the new changers, right?”

“Changelings, yes, miss. We don’t use money, so I don’t have any on me, and my… mom is in the hospital, so I wanted to get her something, but when I came here I realized that I forgot the most important part.”

“Hmmm,” the mare scratches her head, before smiling, “I’ve got an idea! I’ll give you the ingot for free if you help me out a little.”

“Umm, sure?”

“Perfect!” the dwarf trots off and returns with a hoof-held, boxy device which she points at Two, “Say cheese!”

“Cheese?” a sudden flash blinds Two. When she blinks away the sudden blast of light, the dwarf is already holding a picture of confused Two and showing it to the even more frazzled real one, “Now, can you sign the picture?”

“Sign?”

“Something like - My name is Two, and this is my favorite shop in Brauheim,” the mare presents a thin, black tube to Two. A… pen? A pen, right.

“I...” Two realizes she can’t write. She knows the language and can read, she just has never written anything before. Experimentally, she grows claws on her foreleg, grabs the pen, and scribbles on the picture before examining the sentence of uneven letters scattered around, “I, umm, I can give it another shot.”

“Nonononono!” the dwarf mare shakes her head with a wide grin, “This is gold. Gives it the right kind of strange creature authenticity,” she pats Two’s head, “Alright, thank you very much, and the ingot is yours, of course. If you decide you want more, I’m sure we’ll work something out.”

“Thank you very much,” Two leaves, still unsure what has just happened, and only gives the mare now nailing a frame with Two’s picture to the door of the forge one last look before heading off to the hospital.

It doesn’t take too long for her to bring her cargo through the recovery ward of the hospital, and knock on the door of Crumble’s room before entering without waiting for an answer. Crumble sits up on the bed, the clutches her chest and curses.

“Does it still hurt?” Two rushes over, dropping the ingot on the bedside table. Crumble smiles, and waves her hoof dismissively.

“Nothing that would even slow me down,” she looks at Two’s gift, and her smile grows only wider, “Awwww, how traditional. I guess not everything old is so bad, heheh.”

“Are you SURE you’re okay?” Two pouts, jumping on the bed and poking Crumble.

“I’m getting better by the day. The doctors said that the bullet I got shot with was something weird, I didn’t really understand the explanation, so it caused more damage than a normal shot would, but it’s healing well at this point. Plus, being without electricity and proper surgery for so long didn’t help either. I’ll be mining again in a week or two, though.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” Two hugs Crumble with utmost care.

“What brings you here anyway? Just the get well ingot?” Crumble pats Two’s head, “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but last thing I heard was that you buggies were really busy sorting things out after the war.”

Two doesn’t let go of Crumble despite her quiet sigh.

“It’s still hectic, but I just wanted to see how you were and to tell you that you were my real mom, not that bi- queen… Eight.”

“Awww, that’s so sweet of you. I just wish I could show you around Brauheim on Beerfest, especially since I missed the last one due to the schism and the whole being an egg basket, but I can’t say I didn’t get something out of it,” she winks at Two, “It’s a completely different city, and I know all the hidden little shops that sell the weirdest but awesome stuff.”

“I, umm, already have a guide,” Two blushes a bit, “I’m meeting him after this.”

“One of yours, I assume?”

“No no, the prison guard. You know him - Topaz,” Two leans away and blinks when she sees Crumble’s fresh, thirsty grin of a shark seeing a flipping pair of legs.

“Coltfriend? EEEEEEEEK!” ignoring her wound, Crumble squeezes Two so hard the changeling’s eyes cross, “Is he good at drinking? Fighting? Mining? Did he already give you the biggest diamond ever? How’s his beard? Have you had ‘something’ together? When are grandfoals coming? I’M SO GIDDY MY LITTLE GIRL CAUGHT HER FIRST STALLION!”

“Grrrnghh...” Two foams at the mouth, but Crumble’s love and pure joy is filling her so fast her head is spinning. Or it could just be the lack of air caused by the vice-like hug that would give Three a run for his goop, “Not compared to me. Yes. I don’t know. Not yet. Soft and just the right length. Yes. I’m not sure.”

Crumble stops, scrunches her nose, and counts Two’s answers. Her eyes sparkle.

“Did you just say yes to the bed part?”

“Umm, yes?”

She leans to Two’s ear, and whispers despite there being no one else in the room.

“How was he?”

“Frothing,” Two scratches her head, managing to release one foreleg from Crumble’s embrace, “Happily, though, I think. He didn’t complain about anything. He could last longer, though. Hour and a half before he passed out the last time wasn’t bad, but… you know...”

“...I wish I had someone last that long...” Crumble complains before grinning wildly again, “Anyway, it’s great you’re enjoying it in bed. That’s one of the bases for a good relationship.”

“Well, I don’t know about this whole relationship thing, mom. We think about it too differently. For me, it was mostly for food. Not that I don’t like Topaz, it’s just that… I don’t know about this whole lifetime together plus few clutches of drones of our own.”

“Clutches...” Crumble ‘squee’s, “Like more than one grandfoal?!” she shakes her head, “Nevermind, not now! Look, Two, if you were that compatible in bed when it was just about food, imagine how awesome you’d be if you actually grow to love him.”

Two smiles.

“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, mom. It’s more about what d-d-dad-” Two has to pause to gather herself, but manages to fake a fresh smile, “more about what dad allows right now. He’s the boss, after all.”

If Crumble noticed the sudden drop in Two’s mood, she doesn’t press to know the reason.

“Then you’d better go and start practicing right now so that when big boss king says so, you’re visiting me with grandfoals immediately. Hmmm?” she nuzzles Two’s nose, immediately brightening her mood again, “Don’t leave your coltfriend waiting.”

“Hehehe,” Two giggles, and hops off of the bed, “Thanks mom. Get better soon.”

“I will. Don’t worry, honey.”

***

A short trip through the bustling city later, Living Armor meets up with Topaz. The dwarf is wearing his armor, obviously, but without a helmet, which makes it clear that he’s trimmed his dirty blond mane and short beard, and spent some time on fixing his usually sweaty grey coat. His yellow eyes, and probably the cause of his name, meet Two’s blue ones, and he gives her a soft smile. Despite Topaz liking Two in her changeling form, Two enjoys the perfected features of herself as Living Armor, so she’s been spending time with Topaz in both bodies, switching them whenever she felt like it. The dwarf didn’t mind. Or more likely he didn’t believe his luck.

“Hello, Two.”

“Hi, Topaz.”

“Are you ready to experience the wonders of Beerfest?”

“You mean when half of it isn’t set up yet?” Two tilts her head.

“Trust me, it’s better this way,” the dwarf takes lead, and Two locks her step with his, “The crowds are unbearable in the evening, although it’s part of the celebration’s charm. What definitely isn’t fun, though, are the queues.”

Two shrugs.

“What is Beerfest about anyway? Aside from beer.”

“Actually, it’s much less about beer than you’d think,” Topaz leads her to a nearby stand which offers, unsurprisingly, alcohol. And orders some bubbling green liquid, “Try this. Slowly.”

“You know I’m immune to alcohol, right? I don’t have a way to digest it.”

“Even like this?” he nudges her soft pony side.

“Mhm,” Two nods, “I don’t need most pony parts, so I’ve got my changeling insides,” she winks at him, “Aside from the bits you like, of course.”

“I like all your bits, no matter the shape. Mostly this one,” he boops Two’s nose, causing a reflexive scrunch.

“We’ll see about that later,” she playfully snaps her jaws at his hoof, and totals a shot glass of the weird fizzy, and freezing cold thing Topaz bought “So what about this not being about bee-AAAAAAH?!” green, sparkling foam starts surging from her nostrils, much to the open laughter of Topaz and several dwarves around.

“Told you to take it slow,” says Topaz when he stops choking at about the same time as Two, “These drinks are chemical solutions harmless to the body, but when you shake them, they get funny. The foam one is for beginners, but there’s also dragon breath one, steam, fresh mint, and many many others,” he points to a rack full of various bottles in front of the stand, “You up for another one?”

Two gives him a firm glare.

“You think a drink can scare me? Dragon breath, now!”

“Suuuure, just take it slow.”

Anything that helps take Two’s mind off of things is welcome, and she downs the dragon breath drink instantly.

“Oh dear...” Topaz facehoofs.

Two blinks. Hiccups. Then turns bright red. All of her.

She sneezes fire. Dwarves around jump away.

In the end, she smacks her lips.

“Huh, not bad, actually.”

“Umm, fitting choice of color…?” Topaz moves away when it turns out that Two’s display lured more customers to this particular stand.

“I, umm, can’t turn back,” Two giggles nervously, “Let’s try something less... chemical for a change before I get back to normal. So, what was that about beer?”

“Right, right,” Topaz picks a direction and leads Two through the streets again, “You see, Beerfest, or dwarven beer itself is different than that from the surface. It’s less alcohol and more a really nutritious meal. According to ancient legends, the ancestors could brew it in such way that they didn’t need normal food at all. They saved on farming space, and were able to build vast cities all over the world. A lot of it due to getting rid of logistics problems with perishable food. Cities all under the world, technically. Our beer is actually very healthy. Despite the name, Beerfest is more a celebration of what we, dwarves, achieved on our own without any outside help while the rest of the world had to cooperate to grow. Kinda a celebration of our purity too. Life underground in general, I’d say. Something we rebuilt after the ancestors disappeared.”

“Who are those ancestors you’re talking about?”

Topaz shrugs.

“I wish I could tell you, but all I know are legends which are half old and half fake, I’m pretty sure. Some say the ancestors could animate machines to look and talk like ponies, that they used bedrock as common building material, that they knew everything, in fact. I assumedark priests know more, because their enclave is supposed to be some ancestors’ fortress, but I’ve never even seen it, and I never will. All I know is that the ancestors disappeared after some huge underground war with… something. It’s difficult to believe that a whole race as powerful as them and spanning the entire world could be wiped out by a war, so you have to take legends as what they are - semi or completely fake stories to inspire dwarves.”

As they’re passing by a store featuring dwarf ponnequins wearing various articles of clothing, Two stops, and then looks at one from all angles. Topaz realizes what Two’s examining, and he looks away.

“A spidersilk corset,” she cranes her neck down to look at her belly, spreads her hind legs, then swings her hips from side to side. Noticing blushing Topaz, she smirks, “This could be useful.”

In a flash of green fire, thankfully not tomato red anymore, Living Armor is now wearing a light grey, silky corset sharply contrasting with her black, smooth coat and red mane. It’s so comfortable that it’s more an article of general clothing than bedroom wear.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” the store owner lured by the green flames peeks out of the door, pouting.

Topaz walks over to the vendor, and after few whispered words and coins exchanged, he gives Two the real corset.

“Why?” she asks.

“So that you’ve got something to remind you of me.”

“You just like how it makes my butt stand out.”

“Guilty as charged,” Topaz nuzzles Two’s neck, “But if you wear it under your armor, you’ll always feel warm, as if I was hugging you,” he realizes that contrary to other dwarves who wear clothes that couldn’t stop an axe swing only in emergencies or on festive occasions like this, Two kinda IS her armor, hence the nickname Topaz gave her and she’s been using as her real one whenever in public.

Contrary to how sweet Topaz’ gift is, the mention of warmth and hugs made Two’s mind drift to Crumble alone in the hospital…

...and then to Eight. Somewhere. Likely dead, because there’s no way anyone would survive multiple fatal wounds and that kind of blood loss.

And in the end, of course, to the warmest hugs ever, although she’d never say it in front of Three - hugs from bossdad.

A wave of weakness washes over Two, and she leans against Topaz with a sigh. The dwarf notices the change in behavior immediately, mostly because when one second his date looks as happy as ever, and then as if she was about to cry a river, no one can miss it.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something?”

“No, no no no!” Two waves her forelegs defensively. When Topaz doesn’t look persuaded, she lowers her head, ears drooped, “Can we go somewhere where no one will hear us?”

Topaz wants to joke about a quickie in some back alley, but he knows that would probably be the last thing to ever leave his mouth. Putting on his serious face, he leads Two to a nearby corner cafe, and they sit down in a private booth by the wall. Topaz orders two drinks so that they’re not interrupted by the waitress later, and asks again:

“What’s wrong? I haven’t seen you this sad… ever, really.”

Two sighs, and tells Topaz everything from boss’ supposed assassination, to Eight’s… death as well as her role in it. What doesn’t ease her tale is that from shock of hearing about both rulers being either dead or at death’s door, the expression on Topaz’ face when she gets to her role and her feelings about Eight changes to sadness and disappointment. What’s worse, even though Topaz doesn’t let it show, she can sense it from him as a changeling - disgust.

“-and I know it’s bad, but look at what she did to me? She deserved it!” Two tries to defend herself, but has to look away because despite her best attempt, she can’t stop her tears.

He doesn’t reach out to comfort her.

“I… I don’t know enough to say anything groundbreaking, Two. I can’t relate, because my parents have always been...” he shrugs, “Normal, I assume. As a foal, they dropped me off at the foal care while they were at work. Dad used to be a guard who did his best to protect Brauheim from everything nasty around, and I became a guard to follow in his hoofsteps. I still remember the day mom told me he died because of a cave in caused by tunnel worm migration.”

“Worms migrate?” Two tries to steer the conversation away from the subject of dead parents with partial success.

“Tunnel worms are big and they keep moving around, grinding rock to gravel. The ground eventually becomes too soft for them so they move to a more solid area until an earthquake makes everything collapse into solid mass again. Anyway, I think about my dad every time I get bored on watch, and I remind myself that no matter what little I do, I’m contributing to keeping other dwarves safe like he did.”

“And your… mom?”

“She’s a cook at moss farms. There’s a limit to what you can do with moss and artificial flavors, but she makes a mean fake potato and spicy moss salad,” he sighs and finally leans in to grab Two’s hooves, “I promised her to take her to Beerfest later when it’s in full swing. Why am I telling you this? Because I’m a grown dwarf with my own life, yet I still dread the inevitable day when she’s gone. I know I will still be devastated no matter how ready I think I am. I can see that what you did weighs heavily on you, Two. You know what you did was wrong...” he frowns, “Genuinely horrible, to tell the truth. Hate never ends hate.”

Two sits there, silent for a while.

“You should be a good son and go see your mom now,” she says eventually, “This way you won’t get stuck in the queues, and there’s enough of Beerfest going on already so that it’s not boring.”

“We still have time, Two.”

“I… I should go check if Three didn’t drop that musclebound slut on the way here or anything. See you… sometimes,” Two trots off, leaving Topaz sitting at the table with Two’s untouched drink.

Two doesn’t stop trotting until she’s alone, which means outskirts of the city blissfully free of Beerfest and thus dwarves. She knows she lied to Topaz about going to check up on Eight. Or, for a moment, she wanted to, but… then the rage came back, the injustice that her dad can love someone as rotten as Eight.

Two ends up in the air vents, and curls up inside one.

“If dad somehow wakes up, he’ll learn about what I did to Eight. He’ll hate me, because he loves her so much. And if he doesn’t wake up and she somehow does… she’ll just kill me.”

Two whimpers, the dark cloud hanging over her making her completely oblivious to quiet hoofsteps where none should be. She notices the incoming figure only when its hooves are right by her nose.

“Wha-?” Two looks up.

There’s a powerful zebra stallion standing in front of her. All questions about how the hole he got there without wings, what is a zebra doing in Brauheim, or anything else evaporate from Two’s mind instantly as he looks her way.

Two feels giddy when he smiles at her, her heart racing.

“Hello again, little changeling.”

HE KNOWS WHO SHE IS! Two fangirls internally while giggling.

The zebra puts his large hoof under Two’s chin, and makes her look up into his glowing, golden eyes.

“What is someone as pretty as you doing here?”

Two giggles further, happy daze settling over her.

For the second time today, she spills out everything and more. Details she wouldn’t tell Topaz or anyone else really. Every little event from the moment she woke up covered in green goo to meeting the most beautiful stallion she’s ever seen. Dwarves are strong and muscular, but this zebra is physically maybe not so bulky, but broadly built anyway, lean and toned to perfection…

...and the scent. He smells so good. She could just drown in it. Her eyes roll backwards, and Two collapses on the floor.

The zebra’s smile fades, replaced by a horrifying, bloodthirsty scowl laced with pure fury which even Eight would appreciate.

“Well, well, well. Let’s pay this dying ‘boss’ of yours a long overdue visit.”

Author's Note:

Mass Effect reference.
Teenage rebellion.
Ties to "I:New Age" and "Dawn of the Silver Sun".
Tiny amount of Silvermith background.
Did I forget anything? Probably.

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