Heart of the Hive
What Didn't Happen
by Zeg
Chapter V – Heart of the Hive
Ouch...
Twilight was suddenly stirred from her sleep by something sharp jabbing her side. She leaned away from the pain and pushed the bedroll's covers up high enough to get a glance at the offending thing. A glint of something metallic shined back at her, and a second later her sleepy mind realized that she had rolled over on top of the Element of Magic that she had been hiding there. After a few seconds more, she fully remembered why she was hiding it there. The translucency cloak that she maintained to hide the crown was easy enough for a spell caster of her ability to manage while she was awake or asleep with very little effort. However, her sleeping subconscious mind had been fully occupied with maintaining control over her dream states lately, for she couldn't risk a stray dream giving herself away to Nightmare Moon. Still feeling the need for more sleep, she pulled the edges of the bedroll's covers back tight over her back and tucked them around under her chin.
“Not much of a morning pony, are ya?”
Twilight's eyes had no more than just slid shut when she heard Rainbow's voice. She considered ignoring it for a brief moment, but then thought better of herself. Turning her head toward where the voice had come from, she blinked her eyes as she glanced to see Rainbow Dash laying near the tent's entryway, who was grinning back with a waving a hoof. “Morning,” she said.
Twilight pushed herself to sit up, trying to respond back with the same greeting but only managing something that was more of a tired groan when her mouth refused to cooperate. She glanced around the inside of the tent, noticing that the rest of the mares were nowhere to be found.
“Where is everyone?” Twilight asked as she rubbed at the stiffness in the side of her neck.
“They got up a couple hours ago.”
Twilight found it hard to believe it was already morning, as she still wasn't used to the lack of a sunrise. Her mind was still trying to convince herself that she should at least have another hour or two of sleep left to go. “Well, guess I should get up then.”
“Yeah, Sergeant Fussyfeathers was here earlier looking for ya, like five times. I finally told her that you were busy and to quit bothering me about it.” Rainbow made a 'shoo, go away' motion with a hoof as she explained her earlier encounters with the guard.
Twilight tilted her head, pondering the nickname that Rainbow had given to Gale, the Sergeant Nightguard that had found their group in the forest days ago. “Gale was here? You shouldn't be hard on her, Dash. She's just doing her job.”
Rainbow clucked her tongue in response. “Yeah well, she 'does her job' too much, it's annoying.”
“I should probably see what she needs,” Twilight said, the end of her sentence tapering off in a yawn. She shook her head, trying to fully shake the sleepy state from her mind. “Do you see anypony close by?”
Rainbow leaned her head a bit toward the tent's entrance, pulling the flap back just slightly to glance outside. “Nah, looks clear.”
Twilight tossed the bed sheet aside and allowed her wings to fully stretch out before tucking them back to her sides. She methodically prepared herself for the day, donning her velvet jacket and perching her crown on her head before her magic made it fade from view. She wondered for a moment how much longer she would have to keep up the unicorn act, and if she was pushing her luck. So far it seemed nopony was even remotely suspicious, but she had worried that somepony might see a stray feather come loose and drop out of her jacket. Luckily there were plenty of pegasus guards around, and finding a colorful feather laying around the camp wasn't anything for them to raise alarm about. However, the urgency to find a solution to getting the Elements within the hooves of her friends was still there. Every day that passed without success was another day they risked being found out. So far, they had successfully made it through three.
“Oh yeah, Fluttershy left you some breakfast there,” Rainbow said as she pointed to something wrapped in a cloth.
Twilight narrowed her eyes at the wrapped block of foodstuff, seeming to hesitate. She had come to associate that shape with something unpleasant in the last few days. “Goodie, more rations that taste like old boot?”
Rainbow snerked at the remark. “Yeah, probably.”
Twilight sighed as she took up and unwrapped the compressed veggie brick and then took a nip from it. It wasn't that it was the most terrible thing to eat in the world, it was just dry and bland. “You know, I think one of the first things I should do when I get back to my own time is check out the guard rations. If they're anything like this then I'll have to get that changed. How can they keep their morale up with this stuff?”
“Who knows,” Rainbow said with a shrug.
Twilight managed to finish off the tasteless veggie brick and then stood to leave. “Thanks for keeping an eye out again. I'm going to go check in with Gale,” she said as she made her way out of the tent.
---
“Sergeant Gale? You were looking for me?” Twilight trotted up to a group of Nightguard, one of which was the Sergeant. Gale shifted her glance toward Twilight shortly before giving the rest of the guards a quick 'dismissed' order, causing them to disperse.
“I was beginning to wonder if you were going to be busy sleeping through the entire day,” Gale said as she gave Twilight her full attention.
Twilight stopped just in front of Gale, giving her a polite nod. “I'm sorry if Rainbow Dash came across a bit short with you this morning. I mentioned to her that I was feeling exhausted from the training last night.”
“I have heard that the training is going well, so I suppose you do deserve some leniency there. And, I keep having to remind myself that you and your friends are civilians, so the rules of the guard don't really apply to you.” Gale motioned for Twilight to follow her as she began walking toward the perimeter of the camp. “Since you're up now, and since you've become our resident changeling expert here, I wanted to ask your opinion on some strange hive activity.”
“What activity did you notice that was strange?” Twilight asked as she walked along side the Sergeant.
Gale stopped just at the edge of the camp, looking out through the tree line at the moonlit shadow of the hive. Twilight stopped there with her, glancing out at the hive as well. “That there isn't any,” Gale finally answered, causing Twilight's attention to be drawn back to her. “Ever since you revealed the one that took the Captain's place, we haven't seen a single one of them. Before that, we would see at least a few around the hive from a distance almost constantly.”
Twilight tapped a hoof on the ground for a moment as she thought about the strange behavior. “So, they pulled back into the hive?”
“We don't know for sure, because we haven't risked sending anypony in that thing, and I really don't feel comfortable ordering someone on a suicide mission. The ambushes have stopped all together though, so they don't appear to be coming out of the hive anymore. It's possible they all just left, but I don't know if that kind of behavior is normal.”
Twilight shook her head. “I've never heard of a hive suddenly going silent or being abandoned. Have you asked our prisoner about it?”
“We haven't gotten a single thing out if it,” Gale said through a sigh. “The Queen is starting to get desperate for some information. I was actually given the go ahead to get one of our more talented casters to try a reading on it just this morning—”
“No!” Twilight's eyes were wide and somewhat fearful. “Don't do that, it's far too dangerous.”
Gale stared back silently for a moment. Frowning, she asked, “Care to elaborate?”
“Yes, well, changelings communicate with each other with something that is like telepathic magic, but on an enormous scale. It's like they're all telepathically connected to each other all at once, even though something like that would be impossible to do with a magic spell as far as we know. I call it the 'hive mind' effect.
“Since we know so little about how it works, we don't know how to correctly guard ourselves against its effects. Trying to do a reading on the changeling would connect the caster with the hive mind through it, and the assault they could carry out on the caster's mind would be devastating. And, should the hive queen be present... well, lets just say that her suggestions are very compelling. Her thoughts override any sort of individual will that the drones might have and can have a very similar effect on anypony else.”
“So, if this bug queen were to telepathically tell our prisoner not to give us any information...,” Gale started to ask.
Twilight completed the thought for the Sergeant. “Then she wouldn't, even if it meant her death. She simply wouldn't have the choice.”
Gale let go a groaning sigh as she hung her head. “Well, that doesn't make it very useful, does it? Makes me wonder why we're even bothering to keep the thing.”
Twilight silently pondered some possibilities as she stared back out at the hive along with the Sergeant. After a moment of silence between the two, she suddenly came across a possible idea. “We could let her go.”
“Let it go, you mean?” Gale said as she gave Twilight a confused look. “And why would we do that anyway?”
“Two reasons, actually,” Twilight said. “Anything that gets overheard becomes something else that the hive knows, so technically we still have a changeling spy eavesdropping for the hive sitting right here in the camp. The other reason is while the changelings may not be giving us information willingly, there are other methods of getting information magically without any of them even knowing. All it would take is the right set of scrying enchantments discreetly placed on our captive. I happen to know a few.”
“And so their spy becomes our spy,” Gale said as she nodded at the idea. “I think I should have talked to you about this days ago. Well, it sounds like you have a plan in mind, which is more than what I have. We should probably discuss this with her Majesty, since it does involve letting our captive go.”
---
Convincing Nightmare Moon of the merits of her plan had proven to be very easy for Twilight. At first the Queen had seemed a little hesitant at the notion of letting the prisoner go free, but when she was told that they would in effect be using the changelings’ own spy against them, she had found herself unable to resist the chance. Twilight had even noticed a mischievous grin showing briefly on the Queen’s muzzle, a feature that had reminded her of Princess Luna. For a brief moment, Twilight found herself wondering just how much of Luna was there just under the surface of the Queen’s psyche, and if it were at all possible to reach her without the use of the Elements. It was a fleeting thought that she had quickly put aside.
Twilight had made one final attempt to question the captive drone, but her questions had only been met with silence as she had expected. Afterwards, a group of five guards had accompanied Twilight and Sergeant Gale as they escorted the prisoner in chains to the nearby cliff side. The drone had made no attempts to resist as it was guided to the edge of the cliff. After reaching the edge, it was turned around by the guards to face Twilight and Gale, its back to the long drop below.
Twilight looked into the deep blue compound eyes that stared back at her, noticing a complete lack of emotion looking back. She felt pity for the drone, knowing that it couldn’t fully control its own actions even to attempt to save its own life. “So, you really have nothing that you want to say?” she asked once more.
“Just do what you brought me here to do,” the drone said in response, its voice carrying an almost buzzing resonance as it spoke. It didn't beg, and didn't seem afraid. Instead, it appeared that the drone had accepted what ever its fate may be.
“Very well,” Twilight said with a nod. While her magic worked to undo the chains that held the drone prisoner, a secondary spell came off the tip of her horn like a tiny, nearly transparent blue ribbon. It circled and looped through the air after it left her horn like it was riding a light breeze, and came to rest unseen nor felt behind the drone's ear. Once the shackles were undone and had fallen to the ground, the drone stood there looking at the bindings lying around it, eventually glancing up at Twilight with a questioning glance.
“Leave, before I change my mind,” Twilight said. The drone glanced warily at the other guards to its sides as it backed away a step, and then finally spun around and leaped from the cliff side into the air. Its wings rapidly buzzed as it took off as fast as it could toward the hive. Twilight turned away and began to walk back toward the camp. “I got the spell off unnoticed. We should get a good look at the inside now.”
---
Twilight's horn glowed with a faint magenta aura as she kept her focus on the map of the Everfree Forest laid out before her. She sat just across the table from Nightmare Moon, who was also focused on the map as she watched Twilight's scrying spell taking shape. Gale watched from her post just inside the entryway of the Queen's command tent.
At the center of the map, a light blue see-through structure was taking shape as a tiny blue dot of light flickered just above the part of the map that depicted the perimeter of the hive. As the small dot moved, more of the air around it filled in with details of the hive's internal structure, revealing a spiral ramp that traced counterclockwise at a slight incline around the central core of the hive. The inside of the hive was many times the height of the ancient ruins of the castle, and encompassed them completely. The hive became smaller in width the higher the dot climbed as it tapered off to the dome on top, and there appeared to be something large suspended inside at the center just above the ruins.
“That's strange,” Twilight commented. “The scrying spell is obviously working, but one of the traits that I worked into the spell should be showing us other changelings that this one sees. Either that part isn't working or there isn't any other changelings.”
“Are you saying that the hive might really be abandoned?” Gale asked.
Just then, the blue dot that had been climbing in altitude made it to the top of the hive, filling in the view of the platform that made up the room just under the hive’s upper dome. There near it, a second blue dot flickered into view.
“Ah, there's one,” Twilight said as she pointed the tip of her hoof at the new dot. The drone’s dot continued to move toward the large object suspended at the center of the hive until it stopped just short of it, and after a moment both of the small blue dots of light vanished leaving only the glowing blue structure of the interior behind.
Gale blinked and squinted from where she was standing. “What happened?”
“I-I'm not sure,” Twilight said as she strained to check the spell's integrity.
The Queen narrowed her eyes at the scrying spell. “Did they disable the spell?”
Twilight quickly shook her head. “No, the spell is still active.” If there had been any form of tampering with the spell, Twilight would have felt it the very moment anything attempted to remove it. The only other option that remained was that her scrying target was somehow no longer in range of the map that the spell had been attuned to. “I think the drone just isn't there any more.”
Gale stepped from her post, coming up beside Twilight as she looked hard at the image floating above the table. “So, are you saying it just vanished?”
Twilight shook her head again as she continued to study the transparent model of the hive's interior. “No, I think it left the area somehow. We just saw the drone deliberately climb all the way to the top of the hive without stopping and go straight to the tip of this,” Twilight said as she pointed to the top of the large structure suspended in the hive. “There has to be some significance to that.”
“It appears to be a crystal,” Nightmare Moon commented as she eyed the structure in the center of the hive. “A rather large crystal at that. There is a rather dangerous form of magic that involves channeling spells through a focusing crystal to amplify them, though I have never heard of such a thing being attempted with one so large. However, in olden times, teleportation magic was known to be used with such methods to increase the range of the spell, but the method was not very often used. It is tedious to prepare, as another focusing crystal charged with equal power is required at the destination to receive the spell. It was never commonly used since one small mistake in the spell's casting could very easily mean the death of the one being teleported. And, it is also impossible for the caster to teleport themselves through the link, since they have to remain focused on channeling the spell into the crystal for it to work.”
Twilight considered Nightmare Moon's theory as she traced her eyes over the crystal structure suspended at the core of the image. She had spent a great deal of time conversing with Princess Luna about ancient magic over the last two and a half centuries of her life, and knew that she was very knowledgeable about the subject. It seemed reasonable to believe that Nightmare Moon would be equally versed on the subject. “That sounds like a plausible explanation for what we just saw. The large crystal must be there for some reason, and the changelings must be going somewhere. The only form of travel that could move them so quickly that the scrying spell wouldn't see it would have to be a teleportation spell. If the rest already left over the last few days, that would explain why the hive appears to be empty, though I can’t say where they might have gone.”
“Most likely fleeing like cowards. They likely know of our new capabilities,” Nightmare Moon said as she stood from her seat. “Now would be the right time to strike, before they have a chance to return. Sergeant, I want you to ready a detachment of Nightguard to enter the hive.”
Gale quickly bowed to her leader and left to attend to her task. Twilight turned her head to watch as Gale left the command tent, and then brought her attention back to the Queen. “Your Majesty, are you planning on ambushing the changelings when they return?”
“Nay, that is not our intention. The changelings may have something very important to Equestria's history in their possession that must be recovered. Since the hive appears empty, this is the most opportune time to attempt the recovery.”
“I see.” Twilight knew exactly what the ‘something very important’ must be. She had suspected from the beginning that Nightmare Moon's interest in the hive centered around it being located at the last known location of the Elements. It was a desperate move considering that the Queen had only consolidated power under her rule weeks ago, and showed just how much she feared the Elements being in somepony else’s hooves. With the Nightguard being mobilized to recover the Elements, this was going to be the only chance that Twilight would have to get her friends to the Elements first. “My companions and I could accompany Sergeant Gale to help with the search.”
A pleased smile graced the Queen’s muzzle before she spoke. “Of course, we had actually planned on asking for your aid. You and your friends have proven yourselves very capable and trustworthy, and it would be a waste to keep a spell caster of your ability here at the camp. Please, gather your companions and prepare to accompany us into the hive.”
Twilight gave the Queen a short bow before she turned to leave the tent. As she exited, she found herself wrestling with conflicting emotions. She was beginning to feel guilt over deceiving Nightmare Moon, even though she knew this was all ultimately for the better of everypony involved, including the Queen herself. Still, the occasional moments where Luna’s personality seemed to show through to the surface were not making her choices any easier.
---
The detachment of Nightguard that Gale had chosen to lead into the hive numbered over two dozen, with nearly half being unicorns that had been trained to make use of Twilight’s anti-changeling spells. The rest were evenly split between earth ponies and pegasi. Nightmare Moon had chosen to attend this venture into the hive herself as well.
Twilight had gathered her friends, and together with Nightmare Moon’s Nightguard they had all made their way just inside the hive’s entrance. They found a small, contained world that was unlike their own just inside. The ruins of the ancient castle laid just before them, but suspended over it was a large crystal easily three times as tall as the tallest remaining tower of the ruins, all of which was still fully enclosed by the tall dome-like structure. Instead of darkness, they found the inside of the hive to be lit with yellowish and greenish glows that came from hundreds of luminescent orbs attached to the hive walls and dangling from the above. To their right was the beginnings of the spiral ramp that lead up to flat platforms that seemed to be suspended from the ramp above, many of which connected to and encircled the large crystal in the center. The view was just as much awe inspiring as viewing the ivory spiers of the Canterlot Palace.
The group had chosen to venture into the ruins of the castle first, finding the pedestal that the Elements should have been resting on, but finding the pedestal empty. Twilight had asked Rarity to discreetly check for the location of the Elements shortly after they had arrived within the hive, and after a short burst of her gem finding magic Rarity was able to confirm that they were somewhere within the hive above them. Twilight brought out the map that she had attuned to her scrying spell earlier, drawing some gawking stares from the other ponies around her as she studied the three dimensional structure that hovered just above it.
“It’s possible that the relics were moved, so they could be more easily protected,” Twilight reasoned as she looked the map over. In her mind, she considered the most likely location to be the very top, but she didn’t volunteer that information. She wanted to give Rarity the chance to try and pinpoint the location of the Elements as they neared them, and then find a reason to split off from the main group to collect them without the Nightguard knowing. A simple plan, but simple was usually best when the option was available.
“A sound observation,” Nightmare Moon said in response. “We should check the upper levels then. Let us move quickly.”
The group moved as one, sticking together on the wide ramp since most of them were ground bound and nopony wanted to risk anypony being out of range of the protective spells. Twilight and her group of friends had clustered fairly close to each other next to the group of Nightguard as they all ascended the first length of ramp that lead up to the nearest platform. For many long minutes, the only sound was the echo of nearly three dozen sets of hooves walking through the otherwise empty hive.
“So,” Rainbow Dash said as she glanced down at the ramp. “How did they make all this?”
Twilight glanced to her side, raising an eyebrow at the question. “You really wanna know?” When her friend silently nodded back, Twilight hummed to herself for a second as she considered the best way to describe it. “Well, they use these secretions that harden—”
“Dah!” Rainbow yelped as she suddenly lifted off a few inches, hovering just above the ramp.
“Ew! Ew ew ew,” Rarity said as she danced on her hoof tips trying to touch as little of the ramp as possible.
“It’s hardened, you can’t get any of it on you,” Twilight said as she rolled her eyes and tapped a forehoof against the ramp.
“Still! Nopony mentioned anything about walking on secretions, hardened or otherwise.” Rarity let go a harumph, still trying to touch the ramp as little as possible as she balanced on one foreleg and one back leg.
“That is a lotta secretions,” Pinkie said as she looked up at the where the spiraling ramp lead.
Twilight glanced up at the winding walkway as well. “Actually, most of it is just dirt from around the area. They mix the dirt in to make a building material that can be formed into just about any shape, but it’s hard as a rock when it dries. It’s pretty amazing if you think about it.”
“It’s just like how some of the little wasps and bees make their homes,” Fluttershy said as she glanced around curiously. The usually skittish pegasus had actually seemed very interested in seeing the inside of the hive, much like she how she took interest in many things in nature.
Rarity finally relented and allowed her hooves to rest on the floor again. “Well, I suppose if you think of it that way, it doesn’t seem so bad.”
The group pressed on and made it to the first platform. This one stretched from the ramp to just under the crystal in an oval shape. As the group walked onto the platform, they could see something partially hidden in the dim shadows of the giant crystal. It seemed to move and shift slightly, and glisten from the glowing lights illuminating the area. As they approached it, its full appearance became easier to discern. It seemed to be some sort of large mass that was connected to the very bottom of the crystal. Large veins snaked across its surface and latched onto the crystal and the platform, connecting the two. It pulsed in a slow, steady rhythm. The group stopped many paces away from it, staring on with a mix of curious and disgusted expressions.
“Oooh... ew,” Rarity said as an involuntary shiver shook her entire body.
“Yep,” Applejack said with a quick nod. “I have’ta agree with Rares on this one. That is one big ball of ew.”
Gale took a few cautious steps closer to the pulsing mass. “So, what is it?” she asked with a curious glance back to Twilight.
Twilight blinked back and forth between Gale and the unidentified thing. “I have no idea,” she finally said. When she saw the frown that Gale returned on that answer she added, “Hey, this is my first time in a hive too. My best guess is it’s something we shouldn’t disturb.”
“Agreed,” Nightmare Moon said as she turned away from the sight. “Let us not dawdle here. We have doubts this has anything to do with our goal.” With that soundly decided, the group turned and made their way back to the spiral ramp to follow it up to the next platform.
As the group made their way around the ramp to the next stop, they could see that it was actually more of a suspended dome than a flat platform. It was shaped in such a way that it looked like the changelings had taken a large, wide platform and folded the edges of it up and around the crystal to create the dome, leaving an enclosure with an opening facing the ramp. They cautiously stepped just within the opening, and found a room that was like a miniature version of the hive with the same lighting hanging from the walls and rounded ceiling. It was hard to tell where the floor ended and the walls began since they gently sloped into each other, and the same could be said about where the walls and ceiling met. At the opposite end of the room, a glow from the light being refracted by the side of the crystal caused faint reflections of green and yellow light to dance through the room.
Also within the room were many cylindrical objects that laid up against the sloped walls. They each laid in a groove in the wall that seemed to be shaped perfectly for holding them. Closer inspection revealed that they appeared to move ever so slightly.
“Are these... eggs?” Rainbow asked as she hovered a hoof near one of the objects.
“Don’t touch that,” Twilight said as she reached over and pulled on Rainbow’s shoulder a bit. “I doubt they’re eggs. They’re far too big to be.”
“Cocoons,” Nightmare Moon simply said, drawing everypony’s attention to her. “What you see here is how these beings spread their curse.” Most of the ponies in the room felt a sense of dread wash over them at the realization of what the Queen had just revealed. The suffocating tension was only broken by a small giggle from the side of the room.
Pinkie poked the middle of one of the cocoons with the tip of her forehoof, and giggled when she saw it ‘poke’ back at her. She kept repeating this, her laughter getting a bit more uncontrolled each time the cocoon responded to her touch. She only stopped when she finally noticed somepony was calling out her name in a strained whisper.
“Pinkie!” Twilight said like an embarrassed mother trying to quietly scold her child in public. Pinkie hummed a questioning note as she turned her head around, and then saw the entire group of ponies staring at her. The range of looks she received were varied between the confused, the disapproving, and the just plain grossed out. Twilight slowly shook her head, her lips soundlessly forming the word ‘No’. Pinkie let go a quiet little whimper of disappointment as she hung her head and walked back over to the group.
Nightmare Moon’s eyes followed Pinkie as she plodded back over. “We should probably refrain from disturbing these as well,” she said simply as she maintained her gaze on Pinkie for a few seconds longer. She then turned away to lead the group out of the room. “Let us continue our search further into the hive.”
Most of the platforms that were suspended higher in the hive lacked anything of interest, which was to say they lacked the relics they were searching for. They pressed on until they came to a large platform that encircled the upper mid section of the crystal, the last one before the very top level. The group crossed a bridge that spanned the gap between the ramp and the circular platform, gathering at the other side.
“Um... girls.” Fluttershy pointed a hoof up as her wide eyes darted about, glancing at something above.
Rainbow quickly glanced up as well, and gasped when she saw the ceiling. “Whoa....”
Everypony’s attention was drawn upward. There above the group was a ceiling full of dangling casings. The eerie illumination inside the hive caused them to appear to have a dim greenish glow. There were dozens, perhaps even a hundred or more just hanging there.
“What are they?” one of the stallions among the group asked.
“Victims,” Twilight said simply, drawing most of the groups attention to her. “Anypony that they’ve captured is likely in one of those things.”
“Our missing scouts, and the Captain,” Gale said as she looked out at the dozens of hanging casings. “But there’s way too many.”
“I’m sure the changelings have quite a few more victims than the guards they ambushed,” Twilight said as she walked into the room.
Nightmare Moon walked up next to Gale, looking down to her. “Sergeant, check them,” she said as she nodded up toward the ceiling.
Gale quickly commanded another half dozen pegasi to join her as she took to the air. The guards began to search each of the casings, looking for anypony recognizable.
“This is one of the scouts!” one of the pegasi called out, drawing the rest of the group on the ground nearby.
“Try to loosen it at the top, but don’t crack the casing,” Twilight said as she positioned herself just below. Three of the pegasi guards flew up to the top of the casing, finding where it was attached to the ceiling. They began to work at prying the casing loose where the top thinned down to a single hardened shaft that stuck to the ceiling above. After working it back and forth, it began to peel loose from the ceiling, and after a few more swings it fully came loose with a snap. The casing dropped quickly quite a few inches before Twilight grabbed it with her levitation spell and then gently lowered it to the ground. Gale landed just next to the casing, squinting through the semi-transparent walls at a Nightguard trapped inside. “We need to be very careful when we open this,” Twilight said.
“There’s another here! I think it’s the Captain!” another pegasus called out.
Twilight quickly moved to position herself to help catch the next casing. She kept her focus on the dangling casing above her as the guards worked it loose. Like the previous one, it came loose with a snap and Twilight quickly grabbed it with her levitation spell to begin safely lowering it to the ground. However, she caught something else just barely out of her peripherals. Glancing to her side, she could see Gale placing a forehoof on the side of the other casing, and her touch was making it roll. “Hey, I said be careful!” Twilight called out, unable to otherwise act as she strained to maintain her levitation magic.
The casing suddenly shifted out from under Gale’s touch and rolled over a few times, coming to a sudden stop next to Fluttershy when it hit an uneven spot on the floor. The hardened green casing let out a cracking sound when it stopped, and a hiss of gas escaping from the inside followed a green puff of air that shot out directly into Fluttershy's face. She coughed and gagged as her lungs involuntarily constricted to try and purge the vapor that she had accidentally inhaled. She stumbled away only a few steps before she lost her balance and fell, sprawled out on her back.
Rainbow Dash was there near instantly, landing right next her and trying to prop her head up so she could get air. Fluttershy wheezed as she tried to fill her lungs with fresh air and flailed her forelegs about like somepony that was drowning. Some of the Nightguard and Fluttershy's friends had quickly gathered nearby, but none of them knew what they could do in this situation as they looked on helplessly. “She needs help!” Rainbow frantically called out.
Twilight had managed to finish handling the casing she had been levitating to the ground as quickly as she could without breaking it, and then galloped over. “Hold her up,” Twilight said as she sat down in front of Fluttershy, to which Rainbow quickly pulled her up so she had her back against Rainbow's chest. Casting a light spell from her horn, Twilight began to try to check her friend, gently placing a hoof on either side of Fluttershy's face to hold her steady. “Fluttershy? Look at me, okay? You're going to be alright, just try to breath,” she said as she tried to examine her for any symptoms.
Fluttershy drew in many wide mouth gaping breaths, her voice wheezing as she did so. “Twiliiiight,” Fluttershy weakly drawled out in a shaky voice as her wide eyes wandered around aimlessly, not focusing on anything. Despite the bright light coming from Twilight's horn, her pupils were fully dilated.
“It's okay, I'm right here. We're all right here,” Twilight said as she tried to keep her friend calm. Fluttershy’s forelegs had managed to find Twilight’s and were now holding on as if her life depended on it.
Twilight felt a light touch on her shoulder, and glanced back to see Rarity staring back looking both concerned and a bit terrified. “Is she going to be alright?” she asked.
“She'll be alright,” Twilight said as she and Rainbow continued to hold Fluttershy steady. “The vapor doesn't do any permanent harm, but it will make her hallucinate. Since she was only exposed for a second it shouldn't last too long, but she needs to rest until this wears off.”
“It's bright,” Fluttershy complained as she blinked her eyes against the bright light coming from Twilight’s horn. Twilight let her light spell fade, and helped Rainbow as they laid Fluttershy down to get her more comfortable. Her eyes wandered about as she laid there on her belly, seeming to be following something in her field of view. “Do you see that?” She slowly asked nopony in particular.
“What do you see?” Twilight asked as she gently rest one of her hooves just on top of Fluttershy’s.
Fluttershy slowly swung her head around to look up at Twilight, which in itself was a good sign. “It's pretty,” she finally said after a short moment of staring.
Rainbow Dash glanced down at her friend with a worried look for a moment before she turned her head to look over her shoulder, catching the gaze of Sergeant Gale. Her expression suddenly contorted into anger, and she began to stand but was very quickly stopped when Twilight reached out and put a hoof on her shoulder.
“Dash, what are you doing?” Twilight asked quietly, knowing full well what her friend’s intentions likely were.
“I’m going to go rip her a new one,” Rainbow growled in a whisper as she glared at the Sergeant.
Twilight kept her grip on her angry friend, shaking her shoulder to draw her attention back. Quietly, she whispered, “We don't need a fight right now. Just let me handle it.” Rainbow stared back at Twilight for a few seconds, finally jerking her shoulder away from Twilight's touch but otherwise remained there saying nothing. “Just watch over Fluttershy. She needs you right now, okay?”
“Fine,” Rainbow grumbled as she laid down next Fluttershy.
Twilight let go a sigh as she stood and walked over to Gale. The Sergeant met her halfway, still looking on where Fluttershy was laying. “Is she going to be alright?” Gale asked.
Twilight nodded. “Yes, she just needs to ride it out. The vapor just causes hallucinations. Nothing too serious.”
Gale let out a calming breath. “Well, that's a relief. The way your friend looked at me I was worried I had done something absolutely horrible to her.”
“She's... protective of her friends,” Twilight said as she glanced back over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash. She could see Rainbow saying something to Fluttershy, the former resting a foreleg over her friend’s withers. “You might want to stay clear of her until she has time to cool off,” Twilight warned, turning her glance back to Gale.
“Understood,” Gale said with a solemn nod. “I do completely understand. I was careless, and I apologize.”
“We’re all just lucky it wasn’t serious,” Twilight said, and then took a moment to reflect on the situation. She knew they had to be closing in on the location of the Elements. There wasn’t much of the hive left to search, and every time Rarity had used her magic she had always detected the Elements being further up.
Fluttershy was in no condition to be moved, and likely wouldn’t be for at least a while longer. This had happened at the worst possible moment. The only thing keeping the Nightguard from finding the Elements before them now was the impromptu rescue effort.
The group continued to search for and save the Nightguard that they could find among the hanging casings. They had began to open the casings from a safe distance, using unicorn telekinesis to break the casings open without exposing anypony else to the fumes that escaped. The rescued guards seemed to be in a comatose state, completely unresponsive to any sound, touch, or sight for quite awhile even after they had been removed from the casings. Only a few of the guards that had been freed first were even beginning to show signs of consciousness.
Nightmare Moon had made a point of having her own Nightguard prioritised in the search, claiming that the rest of the changelings’ victims could be rescued at a later time when they were more prepared to handle it. This cut down the amount of time Twilight had left to come up with a plan considerably. After all of the missing Nightguard had been successfully accounted for, Twilight gathered with her friends near where Fluttershy had been resting, and after checking to see that they were safely out of earshot she spoke to them about their next move.
“How is Fluttershy doing?” Twilight asked first.
“I’m good, I’m doing reaaaally good,” Fluttershy said as she pushed herself up with her forehooves. Rainbow quickly tried to steady her when she wobbled suddenly, nearly losing herself.
Pinkie drew in a hiss of air when she saw Fluttershy nearly go into a face plant. “You don’t look really good.”
“No no, I’m okay now,” Fluttershy declared somewhat more loudly than her normal speaking voice. “We can go find the El-”
Twilight quickly cupped a hoof over Fluttershy’s mouth, causing a muffled squeak to escape from her. “That’s our little secret, remember?” Twilight said quietly through clenched teeth.
“Oooooh yeah,” Fluttershy said as her eyes traced through the air following something. “Sorry,” she whispered quietly.
“Uh, she ain’t all there yet, is she?” Applejack asked.
“I’m all here,” Fluttershy said with a scowl as her head wobbally swung around to face Applejack, who just gave a deadpan stare back for a few seconds before her eyes shifted over to Twilight.
“Okay, new plan then,” Twilight said as she rubbed her temples with her hooves. “I think Fluttershy should rest a bit more—”
“I’m fiiiiine,” Fluttershy whined in protest.
“—and I think Rainbow should stay with her so she stays out of trouble.” Twilight lowered her voice to a whisper, leaning into the group a bit as she did. “We can’t just wait around through. Nightmare Moon will want to continue the search as soon as possible, but I think I can convince her to send the rest of us on the search instead of her guards. If we can find out exactly where the Elements are, we might be able to keep the guards from searching there long enough for Fluttershy to clear her head.”
“We’re kinda runnin’ out of hive to search though, ain’t we?” Applejack brought up a good point. There wasn’t much left to the hive that could be searched. The ramp circled up to its end at the ceiling just above them, which was the last platform.
“I know, but we still have to find them first. Things will get really complicated if the Nightguard locate them before we do.”
“Well, stop talking about it and get going,” Rainbow said as she nudged Twilight’s shoulder. “I’ll make sure Fluttershy stays put.” With that, the rest of the mares left Rainbow to care for Fluttershy in their absence.
Twilight approached Nightmare Moon along with Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie to ask for permission to continue searching the hive. She claimed that her group could scout ahead, unseen if necessary, and report back with any findings while the Nightguard focused on giving the recovering guards the attention they needed. After the short discussion with the Queen, the group of four were on their way, tasked with scouting ahead to find the lost relics.
---
“How close are we now, Rarity?” Twilight asked.
Rarity lit her horn, pursing her lips as she concentrated on reading the location through her spell. “Very close,” she said as she let the spell fade away. “They’re still a bit above us, but it won’t be long now and we should be there.”
“So when we get there, how we gonna get all the Elements outta here without anypony else knowin?” Applejack asked as she cocked her head in a side glance to the other mares with her. “We can’t just run out with em and leave Dash and Fluttershy here, and I’m pretty sure we ain’t got a way to hide em on us to sneak em out, unless you think we can stuff em in our manes or somethin.”
“No, I doubt that would work,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “I’m still working on that part of the plan. I had actually thought I could shroud them like I do mine, but without Rainbow and Fluttershy here to claim theirs, that kind of makes that not possible.”
Pinkie stopped for a short second, sitting back on her haunches as she scratched at her chin in thought. She then jumped back to her hooves when an idea hit her. “Oh! We could play ‘Hide the Elements!’ Just move them somewhere where nopony would think to find them, and come back and get them later!”
“That’s... actually not a bad idea,” Twilight said as she considered the possibility. “But, there’s a good chance that Nightmare Moon won’t leave until she has the Elements. Right now most of the guards are still distracted with helping the victims, but eventually they’ll all be back to searching this place. I get the feeling that Nightmare Moon will have this entire hive torn apart to find them if necessary.”
The group quietly continued their ascent for a moment longer, each of them seeming to be buried in their own thoughts. Rarity let go a long hum before she spoke up again. “Could Fluttershy be well enough to join us before then?”
“I hope so,” Twilight said, “otherwise this is going to be nearly impossible to pull off without getting caught.”
The group rounded a final corner where the spiral ramp turned toward the center of the hive. They ascended into the circular room created by the final huge platform that stretched from wall to wall just under the hive’s top most dome. They could see the top of the enormous crystal that jutted out of the floor at the center of the platform coming into view as they walked the final steps of the ramp.
Circling in the air just above the tip of the crystal were five geodes, each one carved with a uniquely shaped likeness of a gem on its surface. “We found them,” Twilight said as a smile spread across her muzzle.
However, just as the mares made it to the top of the ramp, they all suddenly stopped when they saw something else there near the center of the room. A tall changeling stood there, her back to the group of mares as she focused on a spell that she was channeling into the crystal. Her transparent wings spread out to her sides and shifted in a light breeze along with the fine hairs of her dull blue mane and tail. As if sensing something’s presence, she allowed her spell to fade and turned to look behind herself at the group of mares that had just arrived.
“Chrysalis,” Twilight said in a quiet breath. She knew the hive would have a queen; every changeling hive did, though she had hoped with the hive being abandoned that they wouldn’t have to face one. She had learned over the years that Chrysalis wasn’t the only changeling queen, but that all others seemed to answer to her. Before Twilight and her friends stood not just the queen of this hive, but the high queen of all changelings. However, an unexpected question came forth from her.
“Why are there only four of you?”
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What does she mean? Rainbow and Fluttershy are with each other, I guess.
Hmmm now this is intesting. It almost seems like in this time line Chrysalis was permitted a hive and food in order to protect the elements.
If that was the plan, I'm not sure I'm liking the Celestia here so much.
Really enjoying this. Keep it up.
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Ill wait till I get the details before I make my opinion^^. Maybe the ponies in the casings volunteered or payed to play living battery for some time or your guess was right and Celestia agreed that Equestria could "spare" a few ponies
Oh snap.
And the situation just got far more complicated.....though exactly how complicated remains to be seen.
I do enjoy reading the comments from you guys, and I'm glad the story is still interesting for you all. I feel I can't say much in response to them though, because I'd be dropping spoilers if I did.
This chapter took a bit longer because I was working out exactly how I wanted changelings to work in my story. They're a race that is kind of a blank slate, we don't know a whole lot about them from the show other than a bunch of them showed up in Canterlot, and the only reason we were given was they had a case of the munchies.
O-okay...I...I was not expect that last line at all. I think someone might have done more than simply changed the past...I think that someone might have broken the past. Because, quite frankly, my brain has been blown with this turn-of-event.
the way the hive is described reminds me of the first part of Metroid Prime 2 (the part when you enter a cavern and there are dead solders hanging from the ceiling)
Makes sense, room and board in exchange for protecting magic artifacts. And i doubt Chrysalis wants to live in eternal night, so she gets to play a part in saving the world. For Celestia, just a matter of how many suffer from option A compared to B.
I bet I know what happened to past Twilight! She's in one of the cocoons, isn't she? And one of the guards will bring her down and they'll be like, "Twinsies!" and then they'll make out and have hot lesbian sex and--
That's quite enough, now.
Lovely description. :D
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Enemy of my Enemy combined with an Enemy Mine, eh? A good gambit. I raise it a Chessmaster (the prior time traveller), and a Gambit Pileup, which will require some Xanatos Speed Chess to counter.
And just when I thought this couldn't possibly get even more intriguing...
2462613 You make.... the wierdest comments I've ever not had pleasure reading....
Okay, I see now. In this timeline/reality the elements are, for some unexplained time-travel reason, geodes instead of their original appearance in canon as stone spheres. It seems that whomever Twilight was chasing has made some pretty big changes so far, either actively or inactively.
Lol, Flutters got her first taste. XD
fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/095/0/9/flutterhigh_by_pronzoc-d4v58ka.jpg
YAY.
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I'd like some more of that green cloud stuff... I mean, if that's okay.
Fluttershy is totally wasted! You'd think she'd cause more trouble high.
The scene with Pinkie and the cocoons ... so good.
Chrysalis is Fluttershy, isn't she?
Really Pinkie? That's pretty bold of you to just playfully poke the mummified bodies of ponies.