Winds of Change

by theOwtcast

Wait in Suspense

An eternity passed while Starlight and I waited for Discord, hiding in a burrow near the castle’s entrance and watching team after team of guards pass by us. Whether they were simply patrolling, searching for any intruders that might have snuck in, or preparing an ambush, I didn’t know, but they worried me greatly, and the possibility of getting noticed in our hiding place was the least of it!

Immediately upon entering the castle, we’d discussed our options and decided to find a place to hide either until Discord rejoined us, or until we found out that he’d been captured. This area was better lit than the rest of the hive; Chrysalis had always had to have the best of everything, and the amount and quality of lamps were no exception. Some of the lamps here contained larger creatures than the ones elsewhere, such as dogs and phoenixes, and Starlight had flinched at the sight of them despite having grown accustomed to similar sights elsewhere in the hive.

I wasn’t having it any easier.

We’d picked our hiding spot at random among the other available burrows, and though it had been empty and small and deep enough to keep us in the shadow, away from the well-illuminated main hallway, and thus hardly noticeable to the passing guards, having only one way out of it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. The abundance of cocooned creatures all around us, prey or otherwise, helped mask our love aura from them, but we were too aware that all a guard had to do was take a closer look in the burrow and we would be done with! Splitting up and hiding in separate burrows might have been a better idea from a strategic point, since that way one of us would still have a chance of remaining undetected if the other got captured, but Starlight had openly admitted that she was too afraid to be alone here, so I agreed to stay with her, even dropping my disguise in a hope it would help her relax.

Truth be told, I was afraid too, despite the disguises I could put on to evade the guards and despite my familiarity with the hive… or maybe because of that familiarity.

Of course, we had agreed that if we had to go down, we would go down kicking and screaming and biting, even if it would only delay the inevitable… but we weren’t going to sit down and wait to be defeated and possibly miss a chance, however slight, to turn things around in our favor!

But it had sounded so much better in theory; after all, we were just two awkward and unprepared individuals acting against an entire hive infamous for its ruthlessness! It was a miracle that we’d managed to come this far with only two of our friends captured… well, one captured and the other still being chased the last time we’d seen him, but I doubted that Discord could get out of it despite our hopes! How much longer could Starlight and I keep avoiding the same fate?

She was putting on a brave face, but I suspected that she was inwardly screaming in panic and worry as much as I was; the cold murkiness of her aura was certainly suggestive, even if I was having a hard time discerning her own aura from those of the many cocooned creatures. The throne’s magic suppression field had pushed her out of her element, leaving her defenseless and insecure; I’d done my best to give her the hope and reassurance she needed, and she had done the same for me, but with each passing moment, our despair grew and I feared that the support we were giving each other wouldn’t be enough for much longer! One mistake was probably all we would need to lose the remnants of our frayed composure, and when that happened, we would be left more vulnerable than ever, and possibly more likely to become careless or to make another mistake which would result in our capture!

I didn’t dare to think what might happen then; Chrysalis wasn’t going to give us a chance to free ourselves! She would most likely put Starlight in a cocoon, at least until she decided what to do with her, but I wasn’t going to be let off so easily! Betraying the hive was considered an ultimate and unforgivable act of insubordination, and she would make sure I suffered long and hard for it before she ended me!

Not that long ago, such a fate had been my worst fear, one that had kept me on edge throughout my journey through Equestria, and one that had fueled my nightmares even after my acceptance into pony society. But now, even that fear seemed laughable when faced with what was threatening to become the future of Equestria: with its leaders and most powerful protectors gone, the path was clear for Chrysalis to seize control and unleash her swarms of bloodthirsty minions onto the unsuspecting populace, wreaking havoc and leaving behind nothing but pain and destruction! And there would be no one left to stop it!

Sunburst could do something, I thought for a moment. But he was just one pony; how would he know who to trust, and how would he ensure his own safety? Would he even realize I wasn’t bringing help before it became too late?

And once she was done with Equestria, what would stand in Chrysalis’ way when she decided that she wanted even more power, and invaded and conquered other lands? With the strength her armies would gain from Equestria’s love supplies, she’d be unstoppable!

“Hey, relax, everything’s fine!” I felt Starlight grasp me by the shoulders and shake me a little. “Thorax, calm down!”

I shook myself into focus.

“Huh, what? What happened?”

“You were starting to hyperventilate, and I was worried the guards might hear you!”

“Oh… thanks, I guess.”

“What’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing… just overthinking worst-case scenarios.”

“Somehow I’m not very convinced about that ‘over’ part,” she said flatly.

“I’m sorry. I can’t help thinking that we’re going to fail!”

“Well it’s not over until it’s over, and we’re still standing!”

We sat in silence for a minute.

“You know, I just realized I haven’t eaten since some time before we got into the hive,” she said finally. “Not that I’ve had much time to think about food with everything going on, but this is as good a time to restore some energy as we’re likely to get.”

She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a box of cookies.

“My friend from my old town made these,” she said, munching. “I forgot I’d put them here until just now, and they’ve gotten a little stale, but right now they’re the best meal I could imagine!”

I nodded with a weak smile.

“I just hope it won’t be my last one,” she added grimly.

“Me too.”

“Do you want some food? I mean, it’s awkward but… you must be hungry too, and you’re my friend... so... I’m okay with you feeding on me…”

“It’s fine,” I told her. “I’m not hungry.”

“But I didn’t see you feed on any of the… um, cocoons… or did you do it while we were separated?”

“I didn’t.”

“Oh.” She pondered this. “How often do changelings eat, anyway? I don’t think you ever told me.”

“Changelings are always hungry, and eat whenever they get the chance. That is, every time they can catch somepony or inconspicuously steal their love while on missions, or if they are in the hive, whenever an individual drone’s scheduled feeding time comes up, which is usually once a day.”

“Didn’t you just say you weren’t hungry?”

“And I’m not! Ever since I got accepted into the Crystal Empire and made some friends, I’ve been hungry less and less often, and not nearly as intensely as I used to be! In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I felt the need to eat!”

“So, friendship feeds you automatically?”

“I guess it does!”

Before she could say anything more, we heard a familiar voice outside the burrow and saw two mismatched legs pacing about.

“Discord! How did you escape the guards?” Starlight wasted no time to find out as we were crawling out of the burrow.

“Oh, I just pulled some of my trusty tricks on them,” he replied jovially.

Trusty tricks? Wouldn’t anything Discord might call that be magic-based?

“What was in the vase?” I asked, fearing the answer he would give.

For an ever-so-short moment, he stared at me blankly.

“Oh, nothing important,” he said dismissively. “Come on, let’s hurry up! This passage here looks promising! Just to make sure nothing is waiting for us!”

He went into the passage, exaggerating caution as he did so.

Starlight and I shared a worried glance and a silent realization: this wasn’t Discord! Wherever he told us to go, we should avoid!

He got a few steps further into the passage. While he was looking the other way, Starlight raised an eyebrow in an unspoken question, and I pointed at another passage, one in a nearly opposite direction from the one the so-called Discord had tried to lure us in, and we galloped into it.

Soon we heard angry shouts and hissing behind us.

Comments

[StarzGecko]

Really like this so far. I do like how u extended the episode more and not having it to different from the real story.

Can’t wait for more!

[Black--Soul]

Love all the details ♡ lovely chapter

[Yoshifan30]

And discord got caught I'm assuming this was what happened to him

[Yoshifan30]

So basically we just lost I know the line now it's up to starlight and thorax to stop queen Chrysalis