Something terrible is spreading through Chrysalis's hive, killing her children one by one. How much will she sacrifice to find a cure?
Chrysalis and her swarm have suffered through much in the last few years. Starving to the point of desperation has pushed them to the brink. But now something far worse than hunger has begun to fester in their caves. A mysterious fungus that infests her subjects brains and drives them mad, is now destroying the already crippled race. With few options remaining, Chrysalis must decide if her pride is worth the lives of her children. She can only hope her enemies would be merciful to them.
((Inspired by the video game "The Last of Us." This is NOT a crossover however.))
Chrysalis had little need for decor in her study. For one, living in a cave didn't lend itself well to that sort of thing, and two, she wasn't exactly the sentimental type. Things should be as they were. Trying to hide the rough walls, carved out by years of hard work, behind tapestries and paintings would be meaningless. This room needed to be one thing to the changeling queen, a place to get work done. It was quiet, tranquil, and far below the main cavern where her subjects lived and worked. Chrysalis spent many hours of seclusion here, going over reports from her spies in Equestria, or taking stock of her hive's resources. She only left this small sanctuary on occasion, mostly to see the work of her drones or to spend time in the nursery with the latest brood of future workers and soldiers. There were the even rarer occasions where she left the hive entirely, like the failed mission to take control of Canterlot, but she hadn't set out on a personal undertakings like that since.
It pained Chrysalis to this day to know that she'd come closer than any other queen in history to having a stable source of food for her subjects, and it all slipped past her hooves because of one stupid assumption about her enemies. How could she have been so blind as to think that love couldn't fuel magic in other species like it did for the changelings? It was beyond short sighted of her, and it had cost her dearly. Not only were they starving, but all of Equestria was now aware of the changeling presence and determined not to let even one go by unnoticed. Everypony and their mother was now being taught how to recognize a changeling from one of their own, making it even harder for harvesters to collect love, exacerbating the already appalling food situation. If they didn't find a new source of food, few if any changelings would last the next winter.
Unfortunately, even that was becoming more and more of a pipe dream every day. Since the failure at Canterlot, things had been changing rapidly within Equestria. Every time Chrysalis came up with a feasible new plan for taking over Equestria, or at the very least reintegrating her swarm into the pony population, some new history making event would occur and send her back to the drawing board. First it was the crowning of Princess Twilight Sparkle, which enraged Chrysalis to the point of destroying her own living quarters. Then it was the Everfree going wild, destroying a key hive closer to Canterlot mountain and forcing her to mount a secret rescue operation right under the nose of three powerful Alicorns. And then recently, the attempted coup d'état by a creature that went by the name of Lord Tirek, a pathetic waste of power Chrysalis had ever heard of.
"All brawn and no ambition." Chrysalis had thought when the report came to her. "Idiot. Hope he's rotting in his cell right now."
But Tirek's attempt at the Equestrian seat of power, had made one thing perfectly clear to her: she was woefully out classed by the Alicorn princesses' power. If she were to defeat them, it would have to be with the greatest of subterfuge, and an unrealistic amount of luck. Again, only a pipe dream at best. At this point, Chrysalis was ready to pack up and find new hunting grounds for her people. Equestria had proven itself time and time again to be a worthy adversary, and that was the last thing they needed right now. They needed an easy target, something to help them get back on their hooves.
"I want my vengeance." Chrysalis thought out loud as she read the latest report from what few spies she had left. "But my children need to come first."
A ringing bell announced a visiter at her door, a chime that sounded far more pleasant than any knock. "Enter." Chrysalis yelled from her cushion, rolling the report up and stowing it away for later perusal.
A Healer opened the door and bowed low before his queen before he'd even crossed the threshold. Healers looked much like the far more common drones that buzzed about the hive, only they had highly sensitive noses and antenna that distinguished them from the rest. They were also slightly more intelligent than the others as well, which made them good caretakers for the others when sickness would set in, hence their name.
"Ah, Larvus," Chrysalis said. "Come in. I received your message yesterday about your patient. I was wondering when you would make a follow up report."
"I am sorry to keep you waiting my Queen," Larvus said, standing at attention before her. "But my patient was... demanding, you could say."
"How so?"
Larvus opened and closed his mouth several times, as if unable to find the words. He eventually sighed and closed his eyes before speaking very slowly and carefully. "Before I dive into a full account, I... regret to inform you, my patient, the female worker drone known as Ent, died of lethal injection this morning."
Chrysalis's eyes went wide in surprise before slanting dangerously in anger. "You killed her?"
"I did my Queen." Larvus bowed his head in shame. "But in my defense, I'd say it was a mercy killing. She was in a lot of pain and past the point of being helped."
"I will be the judge of that." Chrysalis scowled at the figure before her as it began to shudder. "Full Report Larvus. I want to know everything, from the point this Changeling was found yesterday to now."
"Yes my Queen." Larvus then straightened himself up and began his summation of the last two days.
"As I reported to you yesterday, the changeling known as Ent was found at around eight AM, leaving the western mines. She was there doing some extra morning work in hopes of earning an extra share of love at breakfast. When she emerged, she walked right past the supervisor on duty, failing to report on where she had dug and how far. The supervisor caught up with her and asked what she was doing, according to him Ent seemed disoriented and surprised to see him, as if she'd been snapped out of a trance. Ent then claimed she was exhausted and asked to return to her hovel. The supervisor then sent two other drones to make sure she got home, but instead they brought her to my infirmary. They claimed on their way to Ent's hovel, she attempted to wander off in a completely different direction, until her escorts got her attention, once again snapping her out of a trance like state. They left Ent with me and went back to work.
At first I thought it was simple exhaustion, so I brought her to one of the beds and asked her to take a nap, which she agreed to. However, five minutes later she got up and attempted to leave the infirmary. I stopped her, and immediately she became distraught over the fact that she didn't remember getting out of bed. At this point I thought this might have been something more, so I placed Ent in a locked room and began a close observation of her. When ever I spoke to her, her attention would be on me, yet I could tell she was distracted by something. When I stopped talking to her and remained quiet, she would get up and walk to the door to try and open it. When the door wouldn't open, she'd start walking around the room, before going back to the door to try again. She did this several times before I got her attention, again causing her great confusion.
It was at this point I decided to send a message to you, which I planned to follow up on later in the afternoon... but that's when things started taking a turn for the worse."
Larvus stopped to gather his thoughts while Chrysalis waited patiently. When he looked ready to continue, she nodded at him to do so.
"Around sunset yesterday, roughly twelve hours after she emerged from the mines, Ent ceased all attempts to leave her room. She curled up in the corner and remained there in silence. I asked her how she was feeling, she responded in a few one word sentences: "Tired." "Fine." "Sleep." I assumed she was finally ready to stop moving about and get some rest, so I left the room, locking it behind me. I was about to write back to you, when she started screaming. When I reentered the room with two other Healers, she was clutching at her head, howling in pain. We restrained her to her bed, and then administered a pain suppressant. But no matter how much we gave her, she still continued to scream. We were forced to spend the entire night trying desperately to find the source of her distress, even going so far as to link with the hive mind. Nothing helped, and we couldn't find anything. Her thoughts were muddy and blurred, as if her mind itself was disintegrating.
Then, at about two in the morning, she finally stopped. But we knew she was still conscious and in pain, because her eyes would dart back and forth. They were filled with agony and fear. It was at that point we decided it would be kinder to just put her out of her misery than let it continue. I administered the injection, then spent the next few hours by her side, trying to figure out what went wrong.
By sunrise, I caved and decided it was time to report to you what had happened. But as I looked upon Ent one last time before standing to leave, I saw... something... bulging from her left forehead. And then..."
Larvus hesitated at that point. A look of pure disgust and horror evident on his face. Chrysalis sighed and stood, approaching him. "I don't have time for queasiness Larvus," she said as she bent down to touch her horn to his. "Show me what you saw."
"A-as you wish my Queen." Larvus stuttered before closing his eyes. Chrysalis did the same and suddenly her thoughts were full of images from the hive mind.
The infirmary. The private room. The changeling called Ent, eyes still full of fear even after death. Something above her left eye twitched, then her tough skin split into an inch wide hole. A tendril of some foul abomination grew out of the hole, twisting about Ent's horn, then budding at the end. The image seemed to fast forward, showing more unpleasantness growing across the corpse's face. The image ended shortly after as Larvus had evidently fled the scene.
Chrysalis pulled back, her breathing uneven as the images continued to flash in her mind.
"I-I'm sorry my Queen." Larvus said as his mistress turned away. "What should we-"
"Burn the body." Chrysalis said without hesitation.
"Wh-what?"
"You heard me!" Chrysalis shouted, spinning back around. "Burn it! I don't want even a trace of that... THING in my hive! Then find out where this drone was digging and seal off that entire area! NOW!"
"Yes my Queen! At once!"
Larvus quickly exited the study, closing the door roughly behind him. Chrysalis sighed and walked towards another door, which led to her private quarters. She walked, shakily, to the one and only bit of decor she DID have: a simple mirror. She looked upon herself, her dazzling green eyes, and her molted green hair. Her wings and legs, filled with holes, giving her an almost decayed look.
"The ponies of Equestria see us as monsters." She murmured quietly. "But that thing in infirmary... makes me look more beautiful than Celestia."
~~~~~
Larvus stepped out of the winding tunnel leading to his majesty's home, and looked around at the massive cavern that housed thousands of his kin. Everywhere there were changelings, buzzing to and fro as they went about their work, unaware of the horrors growing under their very noses. Larvus sighed, the long night had drained him, and the adrenaline that had pumped through his body at the sight of that... thing... had worn off long ago. He felt tired, he'd have to go and take a rest after he climbed to the top of the hive.
Larvus stopped. "Climb to the top of the hive?" he thought with confusion. "No. I'm going to the infirmary to burn that body like my Queen commanded." He shook his head slightly and started walking. The infirmary was across the hive in a secluded area, so he took the stairs and started climbing upwards. After he stepped out onto the fourth floor, he had a full view of the lower levels, where he should have been walking through.
"What in tartarus?" he mumbled. "Why am I up here?"
The exhaustion was really getting to him. He couldn't think straight as his body started moving by itself, climbing higher and higher.
"Yeah... no changeling hangs out up here... it might be a nice spot for a nap... then I'll go... I'll go... go to the top... go... top..."
Chrysalis spent the remainder of the day running through the remainder of the reports from Equestria. Nothing really stood out though, which could have been a good thing. Maybe things were finally slowing down and she could at last formulate a plan that didn't fall apart before she could even enact it. All the same though, the image of that changeling in infirmary continued to naw at and distract her. She considered retiring early, maybe a good night's rest would clear her head.
The bell rang out again sometime past midday. And at Chrysalis' invitation, her visiter entered.
"My Queen." Said the slightly lanky Changeling as he entered and bowed.
"Rise, Monarc," the Queen commanded with barely even a glance upwards.
The Changeling known as Monarch did as he was told, shutting the door behind him and approaching Chrysalis. Monarch's outward appearance would suggest to most that he was a healer like Larvus. However a second glance would show that he was far more than that. For one, his eyes were not the solid turquoise with a hint of white that most changelings had. They were more like the queen's, with distinguishable pupils and irises. His horn was also slightly longer than the average changeling, with a slight twist to it, again like the queen's. Lastly, his wings were of a different shape, more like that of a butterfly's. Monarch was a special changeling, one of only a few who's eggs were personally bred and raised by the Queen herself. In every sense of the word, Monarch was a son of Queen Chrysalis.
"You missed lunch my Queen. " Monarch said in his usual dutiful tone, but with the slightest hint of curiosity.
"I've been preoccupied." Chrysalis said, rolling up yet another scroll and tossing it into a pile of the already studied.
"May I?" Monarch asked, reaching for one of these scrolls for his own perusal.
"You may."
Monarch pulled and unrolled a scroll at random. Scanning it, he smirked at its contents. "'September 23rd. Running of the leaves held in Ponyville.'" He read outloud. "'Unicorn known as 'Comet Tail' wins. Nothing else of note to report.' Hardly an exciting month we've been having."
"Hopefully it remains that way." Chrysalis said with irritation.
"None of it really looks to be very time consuming, or worthy of my Queen's time. So what exactly have you been preoccupied with?"
Chrysalis lifted her gaze slowly from the new scroll she had pulled and glared at her son. "Be thankful you are of my nest, otherwise I would have just incinerated you for your insolence."
With a moment's hesitation, Monarch nervously cleared his throat and quickly placed the scroll back into the pile before standing at attention. "My apologies my Queen, I was simply curious."
"That curiosity will get you killed one day boy. You'd be wise to cull your... enthusiasm for knowledge gathering."
"Yes my Queen."
Chrysalis sighed and looked back to her scroll. "If you must know," She said. "I've been reading through these reports more for my own sanity than anything. I've been trying to keep my mind off of the events that happened in the infirmary this morning."
"Is something amiss?" Monarch asked, tilting his head slightly.
Chrysalis opened her mouth slightly to respond, but then halted herself. On reflection, it might be for the best if few knew about what had become of the drone formally known as Ent. Then again, Monarch had an annoying way of ferreting out information when he really wanted it, so she might as well point him in the right direction.
"I'd rather you not know," She said. "But if you're that curious, go find the Healer known as Larvus. He's the one who reported it to me."
"I could do that." Monarch said. "But your hesitation to tell me yourself indicates something rather offensive. So for your sake I'll simply wait until whatever it is makes its way around the Hivemind. I don't have the patience to track down one healer anyway."
Chrysalis grunted in the affirmative. "Is that all then?"
"Not quite," Monarch said, stepping forward. "Like I said, you missed lunch, so I brought you something." Gently Monarch stretched his neck out and pecked a small kiss on his Queen's cheek, and as he did so he transferred some of his stock piled Love over to her. "I love you Mother."
"And I you Monarch. You are dismissed."
Monarch bowed and left, leaving his tired queen to stare at the door as it closed. Sighing, Chrysalis decided her son was right. Nothing in the multitude of reports was even worth the effort she was putting into them. Tossing the scroll into the 'read' pile without rolling it up, she returned to her chambers and collapsed on the bed sized cushion.
"What I wouldn't give for some absinthe right now." She mumbled as she pulled blanket over herself and slowly drifting off to sleep.
~~~~~
The comforting embrace of her bedding did little to quell Chrysalis' mind as the night wore on. She continued to reel and cringe at the thought of the monster that had killed one of her kin, and the horrors it would disperse upon the changeling race if it ever got out. She dreamed of the thing in infirmary consuming her hive like a plague of ravenous Fire Hornets. Her imaginary fear grew as it crawled out of the ward and attacked one changeling after another, biting down and piercing their tough chitin. Her subjects collapsed like dominos, their heads erupted in horrid tendrils and platelets, only to rise again to infect even more victims. The creatures made their way downward, entering into her quarters and tearing her apart in her sleep, before finally finding the nursery and destroying the eggs and larva. Her own clutch was last, and she screamed out in terror as her own children met the same fate as her.
"NOOOOOOO!!!" She howled in anger and sorrow, ripping through her sheets until she managed to find purchase on the floor.
She huffed and puffed as her senses returned to her, assuring her that it was just a dream. She was alive, as was her swarm and her children. She sighed and collapsed amongst the shredded bed spread, breathing deeply to try and calm herself down. "What a foal." She mumbled. "Getting so worked up over a nightmare."
She looked up at the time piece on her wall. It had been almost a full day since Larvus had come to her. Surely her orders would have been carried out by now. Her hive was safe, and she had nothing to worry about.
"Then why do I have this awful feeling in my gut?" She thought out loud.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
A rapid banging at her door forced her to squint her eyes in frustration. Groaning, she sat up right just in time to hear the frantic cries from the other side of the entrance.
"My Queen! Forgive my intrusion! But something has happened!"
"What now." Chrysalis mumbled as she stood and levitated her crown to her head. She then walked to the door and flung it open, revealing another of her immediate spawn looking up at her in fear. "Speak, Birdwing."
Her Captain of the Guard, 'Birdwing' bowed low before he stuttered out his report. "My Queen... Something... Th-There's something in the infirmary! Something is overtaking it!"
Chrysalis' already cold blood went even colder as she looked down at the shivering, armored changeling. "What sort of 'thing'?"
"It- It's like a fungus! It's grown all over the body of a dead worker drone, and it's filled the air with spores!"
"...spores..." Chrysalis breathed out with the slightest quiver. "Did you breath them in? DID YOU BREATH IN THESE SPORES?!"
Birdwing seemed to have cold reality crash down on him as he did his best to respond in a calm manner. "I... I did not... but several of the drones under my command did..."
Chrysalis began to hyperventilate at this point with barely restrained anger and fear. Why did Larvus not burn the corpse as she had instructed? Why had he allowed it to grow like this? She slowly stepped out of her quarters and trotted down the hall, Birdwing following close behind.
"Are you sure you did not inhale these spores?" She asked.
"I did not even enter the infirmary. I sent a half dozen drones in and they came out nearly in a state of shock at what they had seen. If I hadn't connected with the hive mind, I wouldn't have believed their report. Though at this point I wish I hadn't."
"Find the Changelings you sent in and quarantine them." Chrysalis responded, trying to retain her ability to lead and command despite the anxiety eating away at her. "What of the healers who were working the infirmary?"
"They were no where to be found my Queen. They have simply vanished."
Chrysalis ground her teeth in frustration. 'Great' she thought. 'Not only did they NOT burn the body, now they've gone AWOL!'
The two reached the end of the tunnel and entered into the main hive. She looked down at Birdwing and began to give her orders.
"Birdwing, this is important. Before this... fungus... spreads any farther, seal off the infirmary. No changeling gets in or out! Then, in addition to your own drones, send someone to find the healer called Larvus! He and his staff have put this hive at risk by not following orders! They are to burn whatever that is in their infirmary, then burn themselves while they are at it! And when all that is done, return here to me."
"Y-Yes my Queen!" Birdwing cried before quickly extending his larger than average wings and bolting off in the direction of the infirmary.
Chrysalis watched him go, then looked out over the hive. It was still early morning, and very few of her subjects were awake at this point. She made a silent prayer to her ancestors that all she saw would be safe from whatever parasite was waiting to latch on to them, before spinning around to return to her study.
"Something wrong my Queen?" Came a voice from one of the side passages.
"Monarch." Chrysalis said wearily. "Gather your brothers and sisters and have them meet me in my quarters. Now."
"Umm... by 'brothers and sisters' do you mean-"
"I mean the Changelings I personally bred and raised within my own hovel, you foal."
"Oh, yes, of course my Queen."
"And avoid the Infirmary at all costs. Birdwing is there at the moment, so leave him be."
"Yes my Queen." Monarch said before he dashed out of the tunnel.
A half hour latter, twenty two of Chrysalis's twenty three children were gathered in her hovel. Like Monarch, they all looked at first glance to be Drones, but each had something unique to them that set them apart from the rest of the hive. A longer horn here and there, as well as differently shaped wings or colorations. Some had armored chitins, the telling sign of warriors or guards, who stood around the edge of the room like sentinels. There were three standing near the front that were lighter coloured with larger body structures, these were the nurses who took care of the young changelings and the eggs in the nursery. The remainder were more like Monarch, changelings that were smarter and more observant than the rest, and who's roll in the hive was to lead where Chrysalis couldn't. She was only one Changeling after all.
Chrysalis herself sat upon her cushion, tapping a hoof absentmindedly while she waited for them to process the information she'd fed them through the Hivemind. Each and every one of them had made some form of indication of disgust when the fate of Ent was revealed, and horror had set in when the idea of the fungus spreading had set in.
Eventually, Birdwing also joined them, though he no longer looked like the head of the changeling Guard. He looked like someone who had just been told he had mere hours left in his life.
"Birdwing, at last." Chrysalis said. "Did you find Larvus?"
"I did my queen." He said somberly as he too made a connection with the hive mind. "He's dead. As well as the rest of the infirmary staff."
There was a wave of fearful chatter through the room at this, before Chrysalis waved her hoof for quite. "let me guess, the fungus?"
"Indeed. The seven of them were found on the very top floor, laying near the edge of the rim that overlooked the rest of the hive. They had long since sprouted polyps from their head, and the spores in the process of ejecting."
"But... that would mean the rest of the hive is already infected!" One of the others shouted.
"We could ALL be infected right now!" another cried out.
"Enough." Chrysalis said with a slight waver in her voice. "We don't know how 'infectious' these spores are, so until we start growing stalks of our own, we shall continue to act like the intelligent children I raised you to be." There was a general nod of assent, but worry was still on the face of every one there. "Let us look at the facts, and then plan accordingly. Birdwing, your drones burned the bodies, correct?"
"Yes my Queen."
"And themselves?"
"They gladly accepted their fate. They're currently in Infirmary along with the rest of the exposed drones."
"Good. The area will need to be cleansed with fire before we do anything else. Monarch, how many changeling's live in the upper levels?"
"None." Monarch said. "Not for more than twenty years. The highest any changeling lives is three floors from the top, on floor four. Out of the one-thousand twenty eight changelings currently living in the hive, only three hundred and six have chosen to have hovels on the fourth floor. However, because of the dome shape of the main cavern, the over hang might have spared them. The changelings we should worry about more are the one's in the center of the ground floor."
"That's where the bulk of our population lives," Chrysalis stated with calm horror.
"Yes. The spores will have created a type of snipers ally in that location, and based off of the information we have on this fungus, it's affects start taking hold within roughly an hour to two hours."
"And who knows how long it's been since the Healers had sprouted," one of the nurses pointed out. "There might already be more infected drones headed upwards to take the Healers' place."
"So what do we do?" Birdwing asked. "There's far too much conjecture at this point! We can't hope to burn every spore in the hive, and if we miss even one infected drone... oh by the ancestors."
"What is it?" Chrysalis asked.
"I said there were seven up on the top floor. But Larvus's report yesterday said he only entered Ent's room with two other healers. Where did the other four come from?"
"...the mines..." Monarch whispered. "That's where Ent picked up this fungus, and Changelings have been going in and out since her infection...two mornings ago."
Silence rang like a mighty gong through Chrysalis's home. This wasn't just like her nightmare, it was worse. This wasn't just some sort of zombie outbreak, the fungus was an almost invisible threat to her and her swarm. Nothing could stop this, not even if they'd caught it in time.
"We're dead," one of the youngest in the room said. "Aren't we mother?"
Chrysalis looked to the changeling in question, the one she called '88' due to the peculiar pattern on his wings. She'd always known that there was a distinct possibility that her race would die out in her lifetime. Starvation had pushed them to do so many drastic things. They'd had to kill, steal, kidnap, even attempt to concur a vastly larger and more established nation. All of it was for the sake of survival, to endure the harshness of a world that so obviously wanted them gone. And now the world was throwing its worst at them. Nature itself would be there undoing.
"No," Chrysalis said, rising from her seat. "Not today. Not now. Not ever." Chrysalis walked to the mirror and looked at herself one last time before she lifted it off its hook and casted it aside. The reflected surface cracked violently as she pressed a hoof against an hidden imprint in the wall, causing a secret doorway to shutter open and reveal a passageway she had carved out of the rock long ago.
"My children," she said simply. "We're leaving. Birdwing, go and sound the evacuation horn. I may have lost this Hive, but I will not lose this swarm."
There was a rush of activity as the assembled changelings, not needing to be told twice, scrambled for the exit. Chrysalis watched them all go, save for Birdwing, who rushed to raise the alarm, and the three Nurses.
"My Queen." One of them said. "What of your eggs?"
Chrysalis felt her heart sink. It pained her to leave them behind, but she didn't have much choice. "There isn't time." she said. "I can't afford to risk current life for possible life."
"But we can." The nurses responded. "You bred us to take care of the young in this hive. Let us do our job. Let us retrieve them."
Chrysalis's face twitched, her mind struggling between the desire to see all of her children safe and sound, and ALL of her children safe and sound. She sighed, then looked sternly between the three as the sound of the massive evacuation horn reached her ears. "You have three hours. Gather as many as you can, then escape with the rest of the swarm. Take the outer tunnels and stay out of the main hive."
"Yes my Queen." They responded and darted out the door, leaving Chrysalis to follow the rest of her brood out the secret passage.
~~~~~
The tunnel came out under a large rock formation about a mile away from the main exit of the hive. It was nearing noon in the bad lands, and in three hours the sun would be high in the sky.
"This disease sure had perfect timing." Monarch said to one of his siblings, who nodded in agreement.
"Enough talk." Chrysalis said as she exited the tunnel. "Ulysses, Goliath, Swallowtail, and Morpho." Four armored changelings assembled in front of her at attention. "Go to the main exit, Meet up with Birdwing, Hairstreak, Brimstone, and Peacock. The later three will hopefully have my clutch of eggs, but you will need to assist Birdwing in rooting out the infected and the non-infected. Wait three hours, anyone that tries to wander off is to be killed and burned. Anyone left must follow through with the evacuation plan, integrate with Equestrian society and make their way to the Manhattan hive. You three," She pointed to Ulysses, Goliath, and Swallowtail. "Will go with them and act in my stead. Morpho will return here to us with the Nurses and my eggs. These are your Queen's orders, now go!"
"Yes my Queen!" the four shouted before flapping open their wings and buzzing off in perfect synchronization.
All that remained were fifteen, plus the Queen. They huddled together in the shade of the formation they'd crawled out from. "Nobody sleeps," Chrysalis stated plainly. "And nobody wanders off. That includes me."
~~~~~
Three hours came and went. And in that time, Chrysalis had to kill two of her own. The corpses of two of her sons lay burning within plain sight of the others. Monarch and 88 couldn't take their eyes off of them, while the rest had averted their eyes to try and block out the sight. They didn't blame their mother. They couldn't, what she'd done had been a mercy, both to their infected siblings and to themselves.
As the sun drew high, Morpho returned to them, alone. The lack of the three nurses hammering home a truth so horrible that 88 actually started to tear up.
"Well." Chrysalis sighed. "Report."
"Goliath almost turned on our way there." Morpho said. "He dipped out of formation, and when we accosted him he realized what was happening and demanded we kill him. The remaining three of us joined up with Birdwing. Over the next three hours, only about five hundred drones left the tunnel... and almost half of them 'wandered off' my queen."
"How many... How many are left?"
"...less than three hundred."
"And the nurses?"
"Never showed up.... Also, Birdwing began to turn about an hour in."
"Curse it all to Tartarus!" Chrysalis swore as she rose abruptly. She started pacing about the area, fuming in anger and misery.
"Roughly half the swarm ignored the evacuation horn." Monarch said quietly in disbelief.
"Or were already becoming one of those... things..." 88 murmured.
Monarch closed his eyes. He couldn't help but imagine the screams that would surely be starting at any moment. The cacophony of wailing would rival even those in Tartarus.
Chrysalis stopped her pacing and looked northward, out of the Badlands. "We're heading out now. We're going to make our way to the Smokey Mountain hive."
"Smokey Mountain?" 88 asked. "But the rest of the swarm-"
"Is at risk of alerting Equestria of what is going on. A mass exodus like this wasn't something I thought would ever happen. The Evacuation plan was more of a hypothetical scenario. Three hundred changelings traveling northward, ponies are going to notice. And then their accursed Sun Princess will be pushing to find out what's going on. I don't want any of us caught in the middle of that."
"So they're a distraction," Monarch said.
"I wouldn't use that word, but yes."
The remaining members of Chrysalis's brood looked at each other worriedly for a few seconds before Monarch rose and barked at them. "You heard your Queen! We're leaving!" And with that, they all burst into green flame, giving themselves proper disguises for the long trip through enemy territory.
~~~~~
Two Hours Later
The secret exit stirred once again as three more changelings emerged. The missing Nurses clambered out, twitching slightly every now and then as the spores in their brains tapped into a very instinctual drive in all of Chrysalis's children: To be with and support their mother.
"M- Mother..." one murmured, sniffing at the air and locating the queen's scent.
The three stumbled into the wastes, bringing the fungus with them as they made their way to Equestria.
Braeburn hated mornings. The sunrise was just about the only thing he liked about them, but after that it was right into the often arduous task of taking care of a rather large apple orchard. Now the work itself wasn't so bad, it was just hard for the stallion to shake the sleep from his eyes. He often wished he could have one of those fancy coffee grinders he'd heard about, because as it was he didn't have time in the early hours to run to The Salt Lick for a cup-a-joe before he started work.
The ponies of Appleloosa were halfway through the Fall harvest, with only a few more days to go before the apples passed the 'prime picking point' that the old curmudgeons of the Apple Family always went on about. Braeburn didn't always get the traditions that had been laid out by the family hundreds of years ago, but it wasn't exactly his place to question it. All he had to do was kick trees just right enough so the apples would fall neatly into the buckets arranged by the other harvesters working ahead of him. They'd then circle back around and pick up the apples he'd bucked from the trees, hopefully finishing up around high noon.
"Slow going Brae?" Shouted one of the ponies haling a loaded cart past him around 11 O'clock.
"Bout as slow as it always is." Braeburn responded, tipping his hat and wiping the sweat from his brow. He kicked another tree, then stopped to listen to the telltale thumps of apples hitting wood. "How much further they got me going today?"
"Not too far, I'd say another row or two. Best hurry up, or you'll miss the stampede!"
'Shoot, that was today?' Braeburn thought. He hastened over to the next tree and almost kicked the tree too hard in his rush. He hadn't missed a buffalo stampede since they'd settled a peace between the two races. It wasn't just out of respect for his once antagonistic neighbors, he just couldn't miss a chance to talk with the Chieftain's daughter, Little Strongheart. They used to see each other often, but their duties had started to clash with increasing frequency as of late. With that on his mind, Braeburn had that extra fire in his steam engine, and he quickened his step as fast as he dared.
He was on the last leg of his harvest, his back legs poised to buck another tree, when all at once he heard coughing and gasping coming from the brush nearby. He halted himself and placed his legs back on the ground. The bush shuttered as something struggled to get through, wheezing and hacking all the way.
"Hello?" Braeburn said, cautiously walking over to the bush. "You alright? Sound's like you got a mighty bad case of the HOLY SWEET CELESTIA!"
What came out of the bush was nothing like Braeburn had ever seen. It's body was black and hard looking, with its carapace gleaming slightly in the late morning sun. Its hooves were full of holes that seemed to have collected a fair bit of dirt as the creature dragged its limbs around. Its wings, equally hole riddled, seemed to sputter in distress every now and then as it stumbled. It whipped its head all around, sniffing at the air as it did so. Braeburn knew enough to tell that this was a changeling, straight out of stories he'd heard from ponies more well traveled then he. But those travelers seemed to have forgotten one key detail in describing these creatures: the hideous growths that sprouted from their heads.
Braeburn took several steps back as the changeling freed itself from the bush. It jerked its head about, still taking huge amounts of air in through its nose, until finally it seemed to lock eyes on Braeburn. Braeburn was almost paralyzed with fear, he just couldn't take his eyes off the huge stalks sprouting out from behind it's left eye, pushing the lid down on an otherwise wide and fear stricken grey eye. The other eye, still blue as the sky, quivered ever so slightly as it stared at him. Then the changeling opened its mouth and let loose a moan that was both agony and sorrow filled. It was a sound so horrible as to break Braeburn from his paralysis and send him sprinting through the orchard.
"CHANGELING!" He screamed out. "Celestia have mercy on me there's a changeling in the orchard!"
He ran passed several other ponies finishing up their work, before he broke through the tree line and into the town proper. Immediately Braeburn made a bee line to Sheriff Silver Star's office, where he could see the Sheriff speaking with the Chieftain of the Buffalos, Chief Thunderhooves.
"Sheriff Silver Star!" Braeburn yelled as he skidded to a halt right in front of the two. "We have a problem!"
"I'll say we do!" The Sheriff said with a sly smirk. "Thunderhooves here is saying you been distract'n his daughter someth'n fierce! You got any thing to say to that accusation?"
"Yes. Wait, no. Ahhgg! Sheriff, there's a Changeling in the orchard!"
Silver Star's smile turned into a look of tired irritation as he sighed. "You been taking those Merchant Ponies' stories too seriously boy."
"There not just stories sheriff! There really is a-"
"Sheriff!" Came another call for Silver Star's attention as three more ponies rushed up to him. "There's a monster in the orchard!"
Silver Star's eyes went wide as he looked from the three new arrivals, over to Braeburn, then to Chief Thunder Hooves. "Chief I think our conversation's gonna have to be put on hold for a moment."
"Of Course. Though might I join you?" The Buffalo inquired. "I have heard of these... Changelings before. And if their is some manner of monster in our lands I would very much like to know of it."
"Fine by me. Lead the way Braeburn."
"Don't think it's gonna be hard to find sir. It was stumble'n about more than a blind pony in a sand storm."
The group made their way to the orchard, meeting a few more ponies on the way who had seen the monster in the trees. The Changeling was still a good ways in when they finally found it, still sniffing about at the air and jerking around.
"By the sun and moon." Silver Star swore as he looked at the hideously deformed creature before him.
"I have heard many a story about the horrible creatures that live in this world." Chief Thunder Hooves said in awestruck fear. "Never have I seen or heard of something such as this."
"HEY! FREAK SHOW!" One of the ponies that had followed the sheriff yelled. "Get out of our orchard!"
The changeling halted itself and jerked its head to look over at the group. Then it simply continued to sniff and jerk its limbs forward as it continued on its way.
"We got to get rid of this thing." Braeburn whispered. "Preferably before it starts lay'n eggs in the trees."
Silver Star sneered in disgust at the idea and took a few steps toward the changeling. "Ho there!" He shouted. "I'm Sheriff Silver Star. And y'all trespassing in the orchard of Appleloosa. You got five minutes to skidaddle out of here, before me and my boys here MAKE you skidaddle. You hear me bug?"
The changeling ether didn't understand or didn't care for the sheriff's words. It just kept going on its way, moaning all the while. "Ma... Moth..."
"Last warning! You'd best get go'n before you get yer self hurt!"
"Moth...er..."
"Have it yer way then!" The sheriff yelled as he bent his head low and charged at the changeling. He rammed low into the creature's side and tossed it upwards, sending it flying a good ten feet away.
The ponies gave a few whoops and hollers at the Sheriff's actions, before the changeling simply got back up and started walking again.
"You got manure for brains bug?" Silver Star yelled. "Get out a here!"
"Stop!" Yelled a tiny buffalo girl as she leaped in front of the group. "You're hurting it!"
"Strong Heart?" Braeburn said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Father was taking too long to get back to the herd." Little Strong Heart explained. "But that's not the issue right now! Why are you tormenting this creature?"
"Girl, I don't know if you've noticed," Silver Star said. "But that thing ain't exactly friendly looking. And besides that, it's trespassing in our orchard, probably get'n ready to lay all kinds of nasty eggs or someth'n."
Strong Heart gave a very incredulous and disbelieving look to the lot of them before gesturing over to the changeling. "It's in pain and distress! And can't you hear what it's muttering?"
"Who cares what it's muttering!" One of the ponies yelled. "I heard a whole army of those things attacked Canterlot a while back!"
"I heard tell that their queen tried to suck the soul right out of Prince Shining Armor!" Yelled another. "And you think we should let one of those things wander into our home? No thanks!"
Strong Heart rolled her eyes and beckoned over to Braeburn. "Brae, get over here."
"I ain't get'n anywhere near that thing Strong!"
"Brae, you get over here, or no good bye hug this afternoon."
"WHAT?!" Shouted both Braeburn and Chief Thunderhooves at the same time. The farm pony turned to look at the chief and got a death glare in response. Sighing in resignation, Braeburn approached Little Strong Heart as she led him over to the changeling.
"Listen." Strong Heart said.
Breaburn gulped down a knot in his throat and twitched his ears towards the changeling.
"Ma... Mothhhh..."
"Moth?" Braeburn guessed.
"Mothhhheerr.... Mother..."
"Mother?"
"Yes!" Little Strong Heart said. "It's looking for its Mother Braeburn!"
"Boo freaking hoo." Silver Star said. "Its mommy ain't here! So it can go look somewhere else!"
"Sheriff Silver Star, You and my Father have to be the most thick headed people I've ever met! Well if you won't help this creature, then I will!"
"And how do you intend on doing that?" Braeburn asked. "The thing is out of it more than that old coot that spends too much time at the Salt Lick. It can't even say anything past mumbling the same word over and over again."
"W-well... What about your Princess?" Strong Heart said before pointing over to the pony that brought up the invasion of Canterlot. "You said their kind attacked the capital, so if anypony would know about these things it'd probably be her right?"
Silver Star humphed at that. "The Princess probably got more important things to worry about."
"Well can you at least write her a message first before you kick this wreck of a creature back into the desert?"
"By the sun and moon you're tenacious!" Silver Star groaned. "Fine! But that thing is staying in a cell until I hear otherwise! Speaking of which, can somepony get me a rope before it wanders off again?"
Braeburn and Strong Heart turned to look back at the Changeling, only to find it had gotten a good distance away while they were arguing.
"I sure hope you're right about this Strong." Braeburn sighed as the two of them followed after it.
"Please, you act like this creature is capable of some great evil."
"With all the stories I've heard, I wouldn't put it past this thing."
Sometime Later
A carrier pigeon landed in the Canterlot guard tower carrying the message from Appleloosa. The guard on duty pulled the slip of paper from the pouch tied around the bird's leg, then read it once to himself as it flew away. He then had to read it again to make sure he read it right, then a third time because the second round hadn't convinced him. He then bolted out of the tower to find his commanding officer. The C.O. took the note and read it three times as well, before rushing off into the castle proper.
Celestia was currently in what she called "Day Court," a time when ponies from all over could come to her and ask for assistance or other wise lodge complaints. It wasn't the most exciting time of her schedule, but it was always nice to be able to hear from her subjects and see in what ways she might make their lives better. At the moment though she was being inundated by more than a few rumors about Changelings in the east country side. Nothing was confirmed, but it seemed as if enough ponies had noticed something suspicious for representatives to make the journey to Canterlot just to inform her.
The message from Appleloosa was brought to her at a momentary lull in the proceedings, and at first she thought it was simply another report of Changelings. However, the description of growths from the head and mumbled desires for the creature's "Mother" caught her attention.
"Lieutenant?" She said to the Guard who had brought the message.
"Yes your Majesty?"
"Send a response back to Appleloosa. They are to confine the Changeling until a detachment of guards can arrive and escort it to Canterlot. Inform Captain Strong Wind and tell him to send which ever soldiers he deems fit for the task, and tell them to bring a unicorn with knowledge of a quarantine spell."
"At once your Majesty!" The guard then bowed low and left her to her duties.
Unfortunately, Celestia spent the rest of the Day Court preoccupied in thought over this mysterious changeling. She was tempted to call it off and devote her time in the library, perhaps there were records of this "growth" she could find for reference.
'Is it some sort of sickness?' she wondered. 'such a catastrophic amount of damage to the head would cripple a pony. And who is this 'Mother?' The Queen? Why would one of her ilk be searching for her in Equestria? Unless of course she's IN Equestria now, which would indicate she's making some sort of movement against us.'
"Uhhh... your Majesty?" said one of the ponies before her, snapping her out of her daze.
"What? Oh... my apologies, I was lost in thought for a moment. Please continue."
'This will have to wait.' she thought, setting her mind back on the matters of her subjects and placing all other thoughts on the back burner until later.
Chapter 4: Trying to feel pain, but my heart's gone numb
4 days after first infection Somewhere in the Everfree Forest.
A changeling that was now two days into it's journey stumbled about the under growth of the most dangerous forest in Equestria: Everfree. It was following the scent of pheromones left behind wherever its queen went, for it was this changeling's instinctual duty to be with the queen, to help and provide for her, where ever she was. It was having a rather difficult time of it however, thanks in part to the large growths that had started to obscure both eyes. The changeling was practically blind at this point, it could still sense light, but the ability to discern shapes or colours was forever lost to it. It would frequently trip over exposed roots or rocks in the grounds, groaning as it lifted itself up and continued unperturbed.
All around the changeling, creatures of the Everfree would watch it move about. Sometimes they would draw close, before backing off quickly when they inhaled the subtle scent of decay wafting off of it. This thing did not belong in this forest, it had brought with it something vile and sickly that terrified everything around it with even a slightly above average sense of smell. But not even the strongest nose in this forest could smell what the changeling could, it could tell that its queen had flown over this forest in a north westerly direction not even a day ago.
"Mother..." The changeling moaned as it continued on its way.
As the changeling pushed its way through a bush, it put its hoof down on a loose patch of earth, which gave way and allowed gravity to take hold of it, dragging it out of the bush and over the side of a cliff. A brief fall, and a sickening crunch later, the changeling was splayed out on its side on the forest floor. After a few moments of moaning, it attempted to get back up, only to find its left front leg had broken horribly when it impacted the ground. The changeling ignored this latest mangling of its body and began dragging its now good as dead limb beside it, its already slow pace now drastically slower. Some part of the Changeling's brain was screaming in pain, begging the fungus to just let it die... but the fungus pushed the changeling on, indifferent to its misery.
On the edge of Ghastly Gorge
In between the Everfree forest and the town of Appleloosa, there was a large crevasse that split open the earth like a great scar. Ghastly Gorge had earned its name by being one of the most eire and unsettling places in Equestria. Few ponies were daring enough to enter it, partly because of the high risk of rock slides, but mostly because of the Quarray Eels that made the caverns of the gorge their home, to say nothing of the rumors that the trench was haunted by the ghosts of those that had entered but never came out. Along the edge of the east side however was a lone figure, pacing about the cliff trying to find a way across.
"Mother..." The changeling moaned as it whipped its now lopsided head about. The fungus had basically consumed the entire right side of its face, leaving one eye completely gone and the other one barely capable of sight.
It was enough though to keep the Changeling from stumbling over the edge when it had followed the queens scent to this point. The wind had carried Queen Chrysalis's pheromones far and wide across the southern half of Equestria, but even half dead her children could follow the trail wherever it went. The fungus pumped more chemicals into the Changeling's brain to make it get a move on, and the changeling began to walk northward toward Ponyville, where it would possibly continue in the direction of its mother.
The Smokey Mountain Hive
Chrysalis and her kin, after two days of almost non stop flight, finally touched down at the western most hive under her control, the Smokey Mountain. Hundreds of years ago, the mountain was a former home to a large dragon population, before Celestia ran them out for ruining the weather of her kingdom with their constant napping. Although "ran them out" might not have been the most accurate description of what had happened. Chrysalis had learned that Celestia had only put down one dragon after they refused to leave despite her generous offer of treasure, and that had sent the rest running for the southern mountains. Had the stupid beasts thought to attack together, Equestria wouldn't have expanded westward past Ponyville.
Luck, Chrysalis decided, was the only reason the ponies had survived as long as they had and thrived as well as they were. 'I need some of that luck right now.' The queen thought.
All fifteen still disguised changelings entered into a large cave in the side of the mountain, just big enough for about fifty ponies to stand around in comfortably. At the moment though there was only one, a pegasus sitting by a fire and starring intently at the flames. When he heard the hoofsteps of a large group entering, he looked up and smiled.
"Hello there! Lovely day for a hike isn't it?"
"Open the gate." Chrysalis said as she dropped her disguise. "Your queen demands it."
"At once my Queen." The pegasus said, discarding his fake cheer as he stood and approached the back wall. He tapped three times on a particular spot of a featureless slab of rock, which then pulled apart at an invisible seem. The Pegasus stood to the side and bowed before Chrysalis.
"The Smokey Mountain Hive welcomes you my Queen."
"Carry on." Chrysalis said simply as she crossed the threshold, leading her children inside before it slid shut once more.
They entered into a large foyer like cavern, which split off in all different directions leading deeper into the mountain. It was decorated with all manner of tapestries and columns and statues depicting Chrysalis. Chrysalis herself sneered at the sight, she began to regret putting him in charge.
"My Queen!" Came a shout from a very proud looking changeling wearing a suit of all things rushed forward to greet her. "So very good to see you again!"
"Greetings Mimic. I see you've added your usual unneeded and undue sense of flair to this hive since my last visit."
"Ah, yes, well I've always felt that the chance to live in comfort is what drives many a creature to push themselves to do more than they are capable of."
"Mmmm... and by comfort, you of course mean insuring that the changelings under your care are well fed. Am I correct?"
Mimic's smile dipped at this. "Well, I assume the food situation at the main hive is no worse than it is here my Queen."
"The Food Situation at the main hive is nonexistent, as is the main hive itself."
"...I'm afraid I don't understand my Queen."
"I am not here for a casual visit Mimic." Chrysalis said angrily as she walked past the stuttering changeling. "I was forced to evacuate the Main Hive."
"What! B-but why? Was it the ponies? Did they find us?"
"No. The threat was not external, but internal. One of the drones found something in the mines."
"The Diamond Dogs then?"
Chrysalis wheeled around impatiently and bent her neck down, striking her horn against Mimic's and sending a torrent of memories and information concerning the last few days directly into his mind. Mimic reeled back in shock and curled over as he struggled to process the surge of data. Eventually his eyes flew open in horror, looking up at his queen in sure terror.
"By the ancestors." He said, voice quivering. "I guess that explains the reports I've received of increased changeling sightings in the east."
Chrysalis ground her teeth at this. If news had gotten here already, it would mean her swarm was in so much of a panic that they were revealing their presence far sooner than she anticipated.
"Mimic, please." Chrysalis said, trying to regain her composure. "I didn't come here just to avoid getting caught in the scramble, I have need of your...uniqueness."
Mimic wasn't simply another changeling, nor was he one of Chrysalis' brilliant children. Mimic was special in that he was one of the few changelings to have not been born as such. He had started his life as a unicorn pony in Canterlot, but ten years ago he abandoned his race to join with the Changelings. He brought with him scientific and magical knowledge he himself had researched, and in return Chrysalis had granted his wish to become as them. She never asked him of his reasons, because she knew that once he became a changeling it wouldn't even matter, he'd bend to her will like any common drone. But Mimic had a strong mind and heart, and what emerged from the pod she'd placed the pony in was close enough her own brood that it almost terrified her. Regardless, he was as loyal to her as any of her own was, to the point where Chrysalis started to suspect his reasons for wanting to be with her were... perverse to say the least. Still, he became a valuable asset and thinker, proving his usefulness time and time again until she saw fit to allow him to have some semblance of power within the hive. He grew into his role, and when the time came to set up another outpost within Equestria, he stepped forward and volunteered to lead it. Chrysalis would have preferred sending one of her brood to be in charge, or at the very least a Nurse, but this seemed like a good test of the pony turned changeling. He proved himself to be a good, if eccentric leader, and encouraged Chrysalis to find more ponies of great intelligence that she could turn to her side. The failure at Canterlot put a dash through those plans however, which infuriated Chrysalis even more at the time as Shining Armor would have been a perfect candidate. Alas, Mimic would remain one of only a few.
But now Chrysalis needed his experience as a researcher and scientist, he would find the cause of this plague, and perhaps even a cure.
"Mimic." Chrysalis said. "I have given you all the information we have on the Fungus that attacked the main hive. I want you to find out what exactly this thing is. And find out if there's anything in that massive collection of books you're so proud of that might give us some way of protecting ourselves against it. I'd hate to see such a vast store of knowledge go to waste after you spent so much time stealing it."
"Of course my Queen." Mimic said, bowing. "Though I'm afraid I might not have enough to find what you need. If I had a sample of the fungus-"
"Out of the question." Chrysalis said quickly. "No one goes back to the main hive. It should be considered lost from this point on. Is that clear?"
"Yes my Queen." Mimic said dourly as the weight of his work dropped on him.
"Now, my children and I will be appropriating your quarters for ourselves. You can have your 'comforts' back when you have results for me."
Canterlot
Celestia didn't journey down into the dungeons often. In fact, she didn't think she'd been down in these less than happy corridors in decades. Her guard led her past several empty cells before they stopped at one that was surrounded by a translucent blue bubble. Inside was the Changeling from Appleloosa, circling about aimlessly and occasionally stopping at a wall to thunk its fungus ridden head against it.
"Good heavens." She said softly as she looked upon the creature.
"It hasn't done much since we put it in there." The guard in charge of the quarantine spell said. "But it did freak out the other changeling prisoners we brought in yesterday. They screamed and begged to be let out, they kept saying something like 'It wants me next' or 'I won't become one of those things.'"
"Interesting." Celestia said, eyes still locked on the changeling in front of her.
"Indeed. Especially after they've been so tight lipped. We hadn't heard even a peep out of them until this one showed up." The guard smirked slightly as an idea crossed his mind. "You think they'll tell us where their hive is if we threaten to toss them in with this one?"
"Absolutely not!" Celestia said. "I will not condone such a cruel idea! They may be our enemies, but if this thing terrifies them so much, then it must be truly awful."
"Isn't that a good thing?" One of the guards whispered, thinking Celestia couldn't hear him.
Celestia sighed. "Has my sister seen this yet?"
"Yes, she oversaw us bringing it in early this morning. She said she wanted to know your opinion before she did anything with it."
"Meaning she already has plans for it." Celestia groaned. "Very well, I will seek her out. But first..." She paused, then she stepped toward the containment field. She noted that the air within the cell seemed to have groan thick with dust, probably from the cell's lack of use over the years. "Changeling." she said. "Can you hear me? What has happened to you?" The changeling ignored her and continued to pace around the small chamber. Celestia pursed her lips in thought, then lip up her horn and spoke again, the spell making her voice sound as close to the Changeling Queen's as she could. "Changeling. What has happened to you?"
The Changeling seemed to perk up at this. It didn't say anything, but it did start vigorously sniffing at the air. After a few moments, it simply went back to pacing.
"Doesn't look like this one's going to talk." The guard said. "We moved the others to another hall if you want to try with them."
"Thank you." Celestia said, casting one more look at the changeling before adding. "Take care of her, I think she's in enough pain at the moment."
"She?"
"It's a nurse lieutenant. You can tell by the lighter colours and the larger proportions."
"Oh." The guard said uninterestedly. "I thought it was just fat off of all the love it stole."
Celestia sighed again before she walked away. She and her guard took a few turns and found themselves in another hall with several more Guards watching over three occupied cells. Each one held a healthy changeling, sitting in the corner quietly.
"Have they said anything?" Celestia asked.
"Not since we moved them over here your majesty."
Celestia nodded and approached the first cell. "Hello." She said simply, getting the Changeling's attention. "I'd like to know why you were discovered in Baltimare yesterday, could you tell me?" The changeling remained silent, unsurprisingly. "Alright, then how about the Changeling we brought in this morning. What's wrong with her?" The changeling's face twitched slightly as he readjusted himself and turned his eyes to the wall. Celestia began to walk down the line of cells, looking to each changeling in turn as she did so. "Please, can any of you tell me? She seems to be in a lot of pain and I would like to help."
"You want to help her?" One of the changelings asked sneeringly.
Celestia stopped to look at the changeling in question. "Yes, I do."
"Then kill her and burn her corpse." The changeling said simply. "It'd be the greatest kindness you could give to her."
"How can you say that?" Celestia asked, shocked at the changeling's bluntness. "Surely her condition is not so horrible as to warrant killing her."
"Sun Princess." The changeling said with anger and spite. "She's worse than dead right now."
Celestia stood in silence, staring at the changeling for a few moments before turning away and walking to the dungeon's exit.
"I must speak with my sister now," She said to her escorts. "This might be worse than we thought."
Chapter 5: Trying to heal, but I don't know where this blood is coming from
"Well Mimic?" Chrysalis asked as she stood in the middle of of a large library. "Have you found anything?"
"Unfortunately not my Queen." Mimic said as he flitted about the shelves, pulling about a dozen different books out before landing and placing them on a desk with many others. "I started with medical and botany texts, thinking that this might have been something the ponies had known about, but there was no mention of anything, fungus or otherwise, that sounded close to this plague. I've since moved onto more indirect sources: history books, legends, even the occasional old mares tale. So far, nothing even remotely close has even been mentioned at all."
"Somehow I doubt the Ponies would know about this, unless they somehow caused it." Chrysalis said as she started walking down the shelves, eyeing the books as if to try and intimidate them into giving up their secrets.
"Not entirely improbable," Mimic said, skimming through another book. "There are definitely ponies out there who wouldn't think twice about unleashing this sort of thing on us. The question isn't 'would they' but 'could they?'"
Chrysalis scrunched up her face in thought. She ran through the myriad of reports she'd read in the last few months, trying to remember anything that might have hinted the ponies were planing to launch an attack in this way. Nothing came to mind, but like Mimic said, it might be possible.
The doors to the library flew open as a drone burst inside, carrying a scroll with him. "News from our Canterlot Spies!" He cried as he skidded to a halt at the desk Mimic was occupying. Chrysalis turned her attention to the messenger, curious as to what Celestia was up to now. Mimic took the scroll and began reading it, and as he did his eyes got wider and wider.
"Who sent this report?" He asked.
"One of our spies within the guards! He's stationed at the dungeon they were keeping her in!"
"Is there a problem Mimic?" Chrysalis asked as she approached. The drone flinched when he realized his Queen was there and dipped into a low bow.
"I'm afraid so." Mimic responded somberly, hoofing the report over to her. "I fear the fungus didn't feel like staying in the main hive."
Chrysalis snatched up the scroll and started reading it for herself. She almost got sick by the end of it however. One of her nurses was in the custody of the royal guard, half dead due to the fungus rapidly growing out of her head. Worse, she was being kept alive on Celestia's orders. Chrysalis screamed in frustration as she tore the report apart, stomping her hooves to the ground and cursing for all it was worth.
"Is this some sort of joke?!" She howled. "Is this abomination truly that desperate to eradicate us from the face of the earth?!"
"My Queen, Please!" Mimic rushed to her side and tried to reign in the Queen's rage. "Compose yourself!"
Chrysalis spun about and gave Mimic the nastiest snarl she could muster, causing both him and the messenger to bolt backwards in fear. "My subjects are being eaten away by a plant, and you want me to compose myself?!"
Neither of them had a response, and after a few moments of glaring, Chrysalis turned back around and started to pace. "Send a message to your spy. Tell him to kill and burn the infected changeling at any cost, even if it means blowing his cover."
"Yes my Queen!" The messenger bowed once more and left as quickly as possible, leaving Chrysalis and Mimic alone once more.
Silence reined in the library for some time before Mimic finally spoke. "It might be difficult for our spy to carry that order out my Queen." He said. "Celestia rotates her guard on a frequent basis, he might not get a chance. We might have to send a changeling in to specifically handle the matter."
"You mean an assassin." Chrysalis said bluntly.
"Yes my Queen."
Chrysalis sighed and let her head sag for a moment. "Come with me Mimic, I need to converse with my children on this matter."
Canterlot
Celestia was fuming with barely restrained anger at the moment, stepping out of the Grand Council room, slamming the door shut behind her as confusion and annoyance needled at her mind. Celestia had expected a lack of enthusiasm to help the quarantined changeling, she had even expected the desire to simply banish the creature and its fellows to Tartarus. What the Solar Matriarch had not expected was the Council's collective agreement that a creature in the midst of pain and suffering was an opportunity for a more violent and despicable mode of gaining peace with the Changeling Swarms: Extermination.
Everyone in Canterlot who knew about the quarantined changeling seemed determined to use this fungus as a weapon, without even for a moment considering the moral and ethical ramifications of such a thing. Talk of unleashing the afflicting spores to root out Changelings was abound, and what truely saddened and angered Celestia was that her sister of all ponies was agreeing with them.
"They are our enemies," Luna had said to the Council. "Worse than that, they feed on us, like a spider would a butterfly. It seems clear to me that neither race can live while the other still draws breath."
"You are all talking about genocide," Celestia had responded, looking about the hall with revulsion. "You have no right to end an entire race in such a horrific way, none of us do."
"I'm sure Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight Sparkle will disagree," Prime Minister Iron Gavel had said. "After what happened to the two of them during the royal wedding, I'm sure they'd be all for insuring that the changeling menace never troubled them or their subjects again."
Luna nodded solemnly at this, but Celsetia's hair had visibly begun to flicker like a growing flame. She inhaled deeply and made her motion. "Fine then. Send a message to both to have them convene with us here in Canterlot. This is not a matter we should take lightly and all of Equestria's rulers should have a say in the matter."
Luna shook her head, as well did several Council members. "Very well, but you are merely delaying the inevitable sister."
Celestia had adjured the Council at that point and stomped out of the room before anypony could approach her. Now she was left to wander and think to herself about how blinded by fear her dear subjects were becoming. 'Would they have been like this if we had gone to war with the gryphons?' she wondered. She hoped not, but this attitude toward the changelings wasn't very indicative of that hope.
When the Changeling Invasion was thwarted last year, Celestia had devoted much of her time to try and find out as much as she could about them. To her shock and dismay, changelings were almost completely missing from the Canterlot archives, save for a few mentions here or there. There was no explanation of their culture, or their anatomy, or anything else that could have given her a basis for understanding them. Such a lack of information had set Celestia on edge and made her wonder with increasing anxiousness what could push them to such desperate actions. Her only indication to their motivations was the Queen's words when she had revealed herself after being confronted by the true Princess Cadence. The only thing that could be gleaned from her boasts though was that she was trying to feed her subjects, in addition to wanting to concur Equestria. 'Were they starving?' Celestia had wondered at the time. The thought had actually made her a little sad.
To her slight surprise, Celestia's musings had brought her back to the dungeons, where the infected changeling, as well as the uninfected ones, were still being kept. She stood and stared at the door, a plan formulating in that fifteen hundred year old brain of hers. She sighed, knowing full well that no pony would be happy with what she was about to do. She entered into the dungeons, passing several guards as she went by the cell of the infected changeling, who was still pacing about. She arrived at the cells containing the healthy changelings, none of them looking up when she passed by. She stopped at the cell with the changeling who had been open enough to speak with her before.
"Sun Princess." The changeling hissed. "Have you burned our suffering kinsman yet?"
"No." Celestia responded. "And I don't intend to until I know what's wrong with her and know you're telling the truth, that she can't be saved."
The changeling tched and turned away, clearly not wanting to talk anymore. Celestia sighed and stepped closer to the bars. "Who is the fastest flyer in your group?" She asked, surprising both the changeling and the guards behind her. "I have a message for your queen and I have no other way to contact her aside from you four."
The changeling squinted his eyes and glared at Celestia. "What message would you give to my Queen?"
"That help will always be found in Equestria for those that ask for it. I can tell that you and your kind are in the middle of a crisis, and I am willing to assist you in any way I can. All I ask is that you put down the swords and come forward in the name of peace."
The changeling gawked at her for a good minute, its mouth hanging open in disbelief, before it suddenly smiled and started to laugh huskily. The other changelings joined in as Celestia simply waited patiently for an answer.
"Are you serious?" The changeling asked. "Our Queen would never accept help from someone as weak as you! You are her prey! Not her friend! Why do you care anyway? Are we not your enemies?"
Celestia sighed and lifted the keys off one of the guards. "I value life in all its forms. If that is weakness, then I hope I never know strength." The keys rattled as she unlocked the door to the changeling's cell.
The changeling frowned, stepping forward until he was standing in the doorway. "You ARE serious." he said, looking at Celestia. He shook his head and then turned back into his cell. "Silver Gloss." He said. "Send him, he's the fastest. Silver, return to our Queen and let her know the sun princess's message."
"Yes Sir!" Came a call two cells down.
Celestia smiled at the small victory. "Thank you. Might I have your name?"
"My Mother dubbed me Swallowtail." Was all he said.
"Your mother." Celestia said with a curious voice. "Changelings have a family system?"
"No." Swallowtail said bluntly, obviously not ready to just start flapping his gums off to the leader of the enemy. Celestia sighed, though still felt elated that she at least got far enough to get a name.
The cell door was closed and Celestia moved to Silver Gloss's cell to open it. "Guards." Celestia said to the ponies present as the keys rattled and the cell door creaked. "If my sister asks what happened here and why she is one prisoner short, feel free to tell her what I have done."
"Y-Yes Your Majesty!" The guard in charge said as Celestia and Silver Gloss departed.
"If you feel the need to have a disguise, you might want to take one now."
Silver didn't respond, but a flash of green fire turned him into a pegasus guard, complete with a set of armor. They took a side hallway, going the long way around so that they could avoid the infected changeling and the other group of guards. When they left the dungeons, they headed straight for a window large enough to fly out of.
"Do you need me to repeat my message?" Celestia asked as she threw the window open.
"No." Silver Gloss responded.
"Then go now."
The disguised changeling let his wings flap a few times before he launched out the open window and into the cool autumn air. Celestia watched him go for a while before shutting the windows and heading for her personal quarters. When she arrived she took a seat at her drawing desk and pulled out a blank scroll and her favorite Phoenix quill. After a moment of thought, she began to write, hoping that her plan would be set in motion before Luna or any other member of the Council had a chance to try and put a stop to it.
The Western Hive
The quarters Chrysalis had commandeered from Mimic were on par with what she imagined the Pony Monarchs had in their lofty castle. Garish, impractical, and reeking of self importance. Still, even she was impressed with how comfy the bed was. Her children had gathered around her as she lounged on the mattress, occasionally poking at the almost cloud like pallet while they waited for the last few members of the changeling royal family.
"Viceroy." Chrysalis said suddenly as she flipped onto her back with a very serious look on her face. "Make a mental note to see about acquiring or making beds such as this."
"Yes my Queen." Her child known as Viceroy responded. "Might I inquire why?"
"I slept like a larva last night." Chrysalis said, just as the doors opened. "And when I awoke I felt ready to properly think about our situation. I want that feeling every morning, and I think the rest of you might benefit from it as well."
"I can provide you with a list of materials my Queen." Mimic said as he walked in with both Monarch and 88. "I'm pleased you approve of at least one of my 'unneeded comforts.'"
"A good night's rest is hardly unneeded." Chrysalis said, straightening up. "I can hardly say that for the rest of your... decor." She eyed the painting on the far wall of her standing proudly atop an onyx black spire.
"If it displeases you my Queen, I can have anything you deem irrelevant removed."
"That would be advisable, Mimic. Now, enough chit chat, down to the matter at hand." Mimic, Monarch, and 88 took their seats amongst the others and waited for their queen to speak. "My children, it has come to my attention that one of your sisters is alive and kept within the castle of Canterlot, under the captivity of the ponies." Several frustrated hisses followed this. "'Alive' however, might not be the correct word. As I understand it, she has fallen to the fungus that claimed our hive in the Badlands." The looks of anger turned to looks of fear and confusion. "At present we do not have any idea how she survived this long or why the fungus drove her to leave the hive entirely and head for pony inhabited lands. I do know that she is most likely suffering greatly, and the longer she goes on without her body being destroyed, the greater threat she poses to us. I have already sent word to our informant to kill and burn the infected, but the odds of him succeeding are unfavorable. As such, I have decided to send an assassin, to insure that the job is done." Chrysalis took in a deep breath, eyeing each of her spawn and Mimic before continuing. "I am asking that one of you infiltrate the Canterlot dungeon, and put an end to your sister's suffering."
The room was quite for a long time. No one was eager to volunteer, especially if it meant risking exposure, but they still felt sick at the idea of one of their own being in such a state. After a while, Monarch finally rose and stepped forward until he was standing before his queen.
"Mother... I will go."
Chrysalis stared in consideration at her son before nodding. "Very well. Mimic, you will provide Monarch with whatever he requests. Soldiers, equipment, rations, information, whatever. I am counting on you to insure he succeeds."
"Yes my Queen." Mimic said as he too stood up.
Monarch was about turn and leave with him before Chrysalis placed a hoof on his shoulder and pulled him close. She lowered her horn to Monarch's and gave him part of her stockpile of love. "May the ancestors guide you. Be safe my dear."
"Of course my Queen." Monarch said before he and Mimic left the room to prepare for the coming mission.
The morning found both Chrysalis and Mimic back in the library, dozens of books stacked in a pile after they decided none of them were of any use. They had been looking all through the night, leaving only to feed and see to necessary functions within the hive. To their growing frustration however, their search was in vain. Not one book, of any kind, bore any mention whatsoever of a fungus that grew and spread in such a violent and repulsive fashion.
"This is ridiculous." The Changeling Queen snarled "How could such a despicable little plant remain so elusive throughout hundreds of years of recorded history?"
"The same way it took decades for the Parasprites to be discovered in Equestria." Mimic said, tossing another book to the towering discard pile. "From what I heard, Celestia never even heard of the wretched little insects until they nearly destroyed Ponyville and Fillydelphia."
Chrysalis allowed herself a small smirk at that. "Seems like bugs have a way of getting under Celestia's skin."
"Yes," Mimic said with ill retained annoyance and disgust. "And this fungus has a way of getting under ours. My Queen, I'm afraid there's nothing to be found here."
"So it would seem." Chrysalis said before disdainfully pushing over another stack of books, completely disregarding Mimic's whimper at the sight of his precious books having their spines and covers bent. "We need a new angle. A fresh mind to bounce ideas off of perhaps. I'll speak with a few of my children, we might be able to think of some other way of learning about our foe."
"My Queen, I implore you," Mimic said as Chrysalis began to walk out of the library. "If we could get a sample of this fungus, I could possibly devise a way to counteract it."
"I've already forbidden it Mimic," Chrysalis said sternly. "That fungus shall not enter this, or any other hive, so long as I draw breath. And besides," She looked back to Mimic and did her best to drive this last point home. "You'd be the fungus' next victim if you got it anywhere near you."
Mimic twitched his bottom lip slightly and flickered his eyes back and forth. "Well..." He said quietly. "Not necessarily."
Before Chrysalis could question that statement, a loud banging came from the library door. "My Queen!" Came a shout. "I come with news from Canterlot!"
"So soon?" Chrysalis asked to herself. Monarch and the help he'd requested from Mimic had left only last night. There was no way they'd have gotten to Canterlot, eliminated the infected Changeling, then sent word back so quickly. She swung the doors wide open with her magic, revealing a very tired looking changeling, who still seemed to be gasping for breath, as if he'd ran all the way from the Equestrian Capital.
The changeling took one more big gasp of breath and then stood up straight as best he could before going straight into a bow. "My Queen." He said. "Silver Gloss. Scouting sentient. I come before you with a message from Canterlot."
"Did Monarch send you?" Chrysalis asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. Mimic hadn't sent any scouts with her son.
The Scout looked rather confused as well as he looked up at his queen. "Prince Monarch? No My Queen. I and several others, including Prince Swallowtail, were caught in the exodus from the main hive. We were brought to Canterlot and placed in their dungeons."
"Swallowtail was with you?" Chrysalis mused, tapping a hoof on her chin. "I knew the risk of being discovered by the ponies was great, but out of all the evacuees I would have thought my own children would go undetected." She started to pace back and forth, running scenarios through her head of what happened... and more importantly, how this would effect Monarch's mission. "That may be a blessing in disguise, surely both he and Monarch could handle themselves. Very well, proceed with your report. However, I am already aware of the situation with the infected nurse also in captivity at Canterlot. I sent Prince Monarch there to settle the matter."
Silver Gloss nodded and then continued. "The condemned nurse was brought in not long after us, she'd been caught in the pony settlement of Appleoosa. My comrades and I, to our shame, started to panic. They moved us to cells several halls down, and then the Sun Princess came before us."
"Celestia." Chrysalis growled.
"We demanded her to kill and burn the infected Changeling, but she would not take heed. Yesterday, she returned to our cells and..." Silver Gloss paused for a moment before snickering. "The Sun Princess wanted one of us to deliver a message to you."
That actually managed to surprise Chrysalis. Celestia had a message for her? And she was willing to let a prisoner go in order to get it to her? Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at the scout. "You weren't followed were you? You don't have a tracking spell placed on you?"
"No my Queen." Silver Gloss said. "I made sure of both before I got more than a mile out."
Chrysalis was still wary however. If Celestia wanted to know where she was, this would have been the best opportunity for the Solar Matriarch to try and do so. But regardless, there was nothing more that could be done if that was the case. "Very well, what was the message?"
The Changeling scout snickered again. "She said, quote, 'Help will always be found in Equestria for those that ask for it. I can tell that you and your kind are in the middle of a crisis, and I am willing to assist you in any way I can. All I ask is that you put down the swords and come forward in the name of peace.'"
Chrysalis didn't move or react in anyway to that for almost a full minute, she was too busy trying to register the fact that Celestia, her sworn enemy, had just invited her to Canterlot. In the name of peace no less. Eventually she started to smile and snicker herself. The idea was ludicrous. Why in the world would Celestia invite the Changelings to Canterlot for 'Peace Talks?' What possible reason could she have for doing so? There was nothing to gain, except for putting the Changeling Queen in the perfect position to be captured and tried for the crime of trying to feed an entire race.
"What gall Celestia has!" Mimic said, joining in on the laughter. "Anyone can see that this is an obvious trap! We have no need for her 'help' my Queen, of that I can assure you."
"Quite right Mimic." Chrysalis said, settling down from her small fit of giggles. "She'll be the one begging for help one of these days. Scout Silver Gloss, please show me the moment she told you this message! I'm in a laughing mood now."
"Of course My Queen." Silver Gloss said, drawing closer to her. "Though I must admit she did not give the message directly to me, but to Prince Swallow Tail."
"No matter, just hearing her insipid voice spout such nonsense will be enough."
Chrysalis placed her horn against Silver Gloss' and they both glowed green as the transfer of memories began. Chrysalis closed her eyes and she saw a vision of the inside of what she assumed was a cell in Canterlot. She then heard the voice of her son Swallow Tail ask for Celestia's message, then the Solar Princess herself spoke. She offered help to the Changelings despite their past conflict, which was met by laughter from both the Changeling's in the memory as well as herself. Swallow Tail balked at Celestia, and then she responded with another clique and pious quip about the sanctity of life. It almost made Chrysalis gag...except, now that she was hearing it for herself - in Celestia's own voice - she couldn't help but notice something strange. Celestia's voice was bereft of any scent of deception, and even Swallow Tail seemed to notice this. It was as if there was sincerity in Celestia's voice, and genuine worry for another race.
The vision ended, but Chrysalis didn't feel like laughing. She took a deep breath and started walking past the scout. "I'm going to step outside the hive. I've been stuck in this stuffy palace for too long."
"I'll see about getting better airflow my Queen." Mimic said as the doors closed between himself and Chrysalis.
Chrysalis walked through the halls of the hive in silence. She barely noticed when changelings bowed to her as she passed, her thoughts were cloudy and unclear. There was no possible way that her going to Canterlot was a good idea, and yet some small part of the changeling queen continually whispered "What if?" Answers to their problems wouldn't be found sitting around looking serious and praying for a miracle, but they also wouldn't be found if she and her children were all captured or dead.
"I've lost so much already." She thought sadly. "Seven of my children within the span of a day, along with more than three fourths of the main hive."
She walked into the entrance cave and past the guard, who closed the hidden door with nary a bow and a whisper of "My Queen." She didn't even bother with a disguise as she walked to the cave mouth and sat down. She looked across the land of Equestria, its emerald fields, its violet mountains, the sky as clear as could be. It was a magnificent view, one without peer anywhere except for perhaps Canterlot. Chrysalis felt cheated at that moment, all of this could have been hers to rule. All the beauty and lushness, it would have been a paradise for both her and her swarm. But instead they were forced to make do with the arid and lifeless badlands, a place so depressing and stagnant that there wasn't even so much as a roving band of monsters. Well, unless one were to count the changelings as monsters.
Chrysalis sighed as she looked to the east, where the mountains dominated the horizon. She could only just barely make out the spire that was the tallest peak in Equestria, where Canterlot stood as the seat of power. It was there that her children were suffering, and she begged that her ancestors would bring them back to her, safe and healthy.
~~~~~
Canterlot
It was midday when Monarch and three of Mimic's infiltrators arrived in Canterlot. They went in by train, boarding in different cars and disguised as surreptitiously as possible. Monarch had only a few things in his saddle bag, most of which were there to supplement his disguise as a wealthy tourist, but he also had a few Flash Crystals to use in case of emergency. One zap of his horn and the crystal would emit a blinding light to stun any pursuers he might pick up should his true identity be revealed. But he wasn't truly worried about that, same went for his companions. They'd all been trained to get into whatever needed getting into: buildings, organizations, minds, everything. The world's greatest thieves would be envious of their talents, but even they would think that sneaking into the Castle of Canterlot would be a fools errand. Even Queen Chrysalis had needed every ounce of tact and cunning to even get close enough to have a chance at taking the place of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. But if she could do that, Monarch was reasonably confident they'd be able to get to the much less protected dungeons. But first, he had a contact to meet.
The Spy within the Royal Guard was currently on his off shift, which gave Monarch the chance to meet with him without going anywhere near the barracks. The spy, known as Silence, was spending his time off at a cafe five blocks down from the castle, and that was where Monarch met him.
"Corporal Silence! Ten hut!" Monarch called out as he got close.
Immediately the changeling disguised as a generic white coated, blue haired guard sprung up to attention, before Monarch entered his field of vision with a smile. "Oh come on!" Silence shouted with exasperation. He sat back down as Monarch laughed and joined him.
"Good to see you cousin." Monarch said, falling into his roll while still preparing to get information. "How's work been?"
"Abysmal." Silence said, glaring up at the castle for a moment before looking back. "They took me out of my favorite watch post. Now I can't watch all those tall mares walk by at night, the ones that work at the hospital. You know the ones? The mares with legs that go right to the sun and moon?" Translation: They took me off of dungeon watch and now I have no idea what the princesses have in store for the infected nurse.
"Sorry to hear that." Monarch said. "Any sign of getting back to see your lovely nurses?"
"Not for a while. They got me working the outer wall now. But I think I got a way back in." Silence smiled as he leaned in close, Monarch doing the same. "Turns out, one of the guards that took my spot ain't a big fan of nurses. Might be able to get him to switch with me for a few nights."
"Well that's good to hear, think me and some friends might get to see 'em?"
Silence pursed his lips and squinted his eyes. "How many friends we talking?"
"Just three man. You don't need to worry about your nurses, I'm sure there's enough to go around for all of us right?"
"There's just one I'm worried about." Silence said, nearly breaking character as he leaned backward with a frown.
Monarch looked intently at Silence. He wasn't expecting that their spy would already have a way back in, but then again, Royal guards don't just swap shifts willy nilly. No, unless this one guard with a dislike of nurses was truly desperate to get away, the garrison wouldn't let Silence back into the dungeons. Monarch looked up at the castle as the gears in his blessed mind whirred around, planning out their first move.
"Well, either way," Monarch said. "You ought to go see about changing shifts. Even if we can't see the nurses, it doesn't mean you can't."
Silence chuckled under his breath as he stood, giving Monarch a curt nod. "You're right cousin. I'll go see about that right now. I'll meet up with you and your friends later, we'll have a drink or something before I have to start work."
"Sounds good, we'll be at the Plaza Hotel, room 333."
~~~~~
Just outside Canterlot Castle
Celestia and Luna stood side by side at the front gate to the Castle as two chariots descended from the sky. One was crystalline and drawn by four equally crystalline pegasi guards, the other was more mundane looking but no less regal. The two landed almost in sync with each other and came to a steady halt right in front of the two princesses. From the Crystal one stepped the ruler of the Crystal Empire and Princess of love, Princess Cadance, and from the other arrived the newly inaugurated Princess Twilight Sparkle. The four princesses stepped closer to each other and bowed before they rose and proceeded with more familiar greetings.
"Good to see you again Aunt Tia!" Cadance said as she embraced Celestia.
"And you as well Cadance." Celestia responded. "How have things been in the Empire?"
"In comparison to the excitement of the Equestria Games? Surprisingly quite. Shining's having a hard time finding out what to do with himself now that he's not training athletes. I suggested doing actual royal duties and his face turned redder than a tomato!"
"That's our Shining." Twilight said, rolling her eyes before letting Luna out of their own embrace. "I bet he misses running drills with the guards here in Canterlot."
"Like you wouldn't believe." Cadance said as she took her turn hugging with Luna. "And how have you been Aunt Luna?"
"I have..." Luna started, before her smile dipped slightly. "Been better I'm afraid." Her gaze darted to her sister.
Cadance and Twilight exchanged a glance with each other before looking back at their elder co rulers. "Is this about what you needed our help with?" Twilight asked.
"It is." Celestia said with a hint of trepidation before turning and leading the other three into the castle. "Come. This will be easier to explain if we show you."
~~~~~
An hour later, the four princesses were sitting alone in the council room, arranged around the center table. Twilight and Cadance were both in a state of quiet horror, having just had the situation explained to them by Celestia and Luna after their visit to the dungeons. The two had an understandably terrified reaction to seeing the infected changeling, who's head was now almost completely covered in the fungus. It no longer mumbled and sniffed out for its 'Mother', but now it made a sound similar to air being quickly blown through a tightly rolled up sheet of construction paper. Twilight asked the obvious question of what could have resulted in such a creature, and seemed more horrified by the lack of an answer then of the changeling itself.
"It's not right." Twilight murmured as she looked at her mentor from across the table, her eyes locked in a permanent state of shock. "I've seen so many different species of fungi, read about three dozen ones not native to Equestria, but none could do something like this. It's like something out of a horror story."
"I assure you Twilight." Luna said. "This is not one of H.P. Heartstopper's works. It's real, and we have to do something about it."
"And what, pray tell." Cadance said, nearly yelling. "Do you suggest we do? That...thing... is an affront to nature! It... we..." she mumbled as her voice caught after every other word. She was so distraught that she actually looked like she was going to be sick all over the round table. She breathed in slowly before muttering in quite, almost cold fear. "We should just destroy it."
"Cadance!" Celestia said indignantly. "That thing is a living creature. It's sick and needs our help!"
Cadance looked at her aunt like she had suddenly groan three more heads. "Celestia... have you seen that thing? It's already dead! its cell is filled with a cloud of what I can only guess is innumerable spores! If it weren't for that quarantine spell, then I shudder to imagine what effect it would have on ponies!" Cadance paused to look at the other two princesses before turning back to Celestia, tears forming around her eyes. "Just put it out of its misery and be done with it aunty."
Celestia sighed and looked down at the table. Luna then spoke up. "Cadance, surely you see the benefits we could gain from this fungus."
"Benefits?" Cadance scoffed. "What benefits?"
"This fungus," Luna started as she stood up. "So far, it hasn't shown any ill effects towards ponies. The Appaloosans who found the changeling that carries it have not reported any sickness or, indeed, any change in health. Mentally or Physically. It leads me to believe that perhaps this fungus only affects changelings, and that ponies are in fact immune."
"Even if that were the case." Cadance said. "I still don't see the upside."
"Don't you? Think about it Cadance. A fungus that only harms the changelings. If we could find a way to utilize it against them-"
"You mean a weapon?" Cadance said, stunned realization creeping across her face.
"Yes." Luna said, smiling with what she must have thought was kindness. "Finally, we can be rid of these monsters for good! You and Shining Armor and all of your subjects will have one less threat to worry about. And what's more, you can finally have vengeance for what was done to Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle, and yourself!"
"Vengeance?! Have the both of you taken leave of your senses?!" Cadance yelled, flicking her eyes from Luna to Celestia and back again. "You want to kill them all." she looked back to Celestia. "You want to try and save them. How could you possibly want either of these things?!"
"Because they're our enemy!" Luna yelled back. "They're monsters! We're nothing but food to them! We have everything to gain by destroying them! It would ensure the protection of each and every citizen of Equestria! Have you forgotten what they did to Canterlot? What they did to you?"
Cadance, eyes now filled with anger that none of the assembled mares had ever seen from the Princess of Love, slowly rose to confront Luna. "Oh, I remember." She said quietly. "I remember spending almost three days in the caverns alone and hungry. I remember the horror of seeing the love of my life led around like a dog as that bug fed off him. I remember that feeling of hopelessness when Twilight and her friends were captured before they could reach the Elements of Harmony." Cadance was now almost nose to nose with Luna. "And I also remember that you were completely absent from the events of that day, instead of being there to insure that Shining Armor, his family, and yours, had one of the most important days of their lives go absolutely perfectly."
"Step away from me and stop speaking nonsense, Cadenza." Luna said coldly.
"If you'd been there, like you were supposed to be, Celestia would have defeated the Changeling Queen." Tears started to fall from Cadance's eyes as she started to shout again. "But you weren't! So you have no room to talk about 'vengeance!'"
"Why you disrespectful spurious little pegasus!" Luna shouted as she clashed her horn against Cadance's.
"Self important hypocritical laggard!" Cadance shouted in response as she forced her horn back.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Celestia yelled as her horn flashed brightly, wrapping both Luna and Cadance in her gold magic and dragging the two apart. "I will not have two of the ponies I love most in this world fight like foals and point hooves at one another over past tragedies! We are here to discuss the problem right in front of us! Preferably with the dignity and poise that is expected of us! Do I make myself- Luna?" Celestia stopped in her rant as her eyes fell on her sister.
Luna looked absolutely horrified at the moment, tears rolled down her eyes as her mouth opened and closed rapidly, muttering the same quite phrase over and over again. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Celestia dropped the magic surrounding the two and they both fell to the floor with a clattering of their hooves. She looked from Luna to Cadance, who seemed to be in just as much shock over her actions as Luna was.
Luna, with one last look at Cadance, quickly rushed from the room, leaving the doors wide open behind her.
"I..." Cadance muttered as she looked at her fore hooves. "I have no idea what came over me... I... I think I'm going to be sick." And with that, Cadance was out the door as well, leaving only Twilight and Celestia.
The two of them stood in silence for a long time, looking at the door where their fellow princesses had left. Eventually they turned to look at each other with confusion and despair. Celestia sighed and shook her head. "I guess I should have seen that coming."
"Seen that coming?" Twilight said in disbelief. "I've never seen either of them act like that! They were ready to go to blows! How could you have 'seen that coming?'"
"Twilight, you've been in Ponyville for the last two years, so you haven't noticed this, but those two have been at odds with each other since the day of Luna's return. Imagine for a moment that you are my sister, Luna. You come back from banishment after a thousand years. You're afraid that nothing has changed, and you fear that your subjects still have no love to give to you. Then you meet Cadance, a pony that ascended to royal status not by birth, but by your sister's hoof. The same hoof that banished you in the first place. What sort of feelings would you harbor for this new princess?"
Twilight had to think for a moment before the depressing realization came over her. "I... I'd feel like I'd been replaced."
Celestia nodded and continued. "I'm afraid tensions have been on a never ending rise between the two. But that does not excuse their behavior here today. We are Equestria's rulers. And the ponies of Equestria look to us for guidance. What sort of example do we set when we squabble and fight like children?" Celestia and Twilight looked to each other for another stretch of time, before Celestia let out another sigh of air. "Cadance wants to bury and forget about the problem, Luna wants to turn it into a weapon, believing our subject's safety lies in the destruction of another race. And I want to try and fix a bridge the Changelings destroyed before they could cross it. What would you have us do, Princess Twilight?"
Twilight looked about the room at this, unsure of what the answer could possibly be. All she knew was that the fungus down in the dungeon, slowly eating away at its host, was an anomaly, something she didn't understand. How could she possibly make a decision when such a big part of that decision was a complete unknown.
"I don't know what we should do." Twilight admitted to Celestia. "But I think a good place to start would be to understand what it is we're dealing with. Princess Celestia, I move to begin study of the fungus and its host. We learn about it, and our decision of how to deal with it might become that much clearer."
Celestia nodded at this. "I had a feeling that would be your choice. Very well. You may begin your study of the Fungus and its changeling host. However, before you do, I would like to ask a favor of you."
"Yes Princess Celestia?"
"Please go to Cadance and talk with her. I will do so as well, but I feel I must go to my sister's side first."
Celestia stood before the door to her sister's chambers, gathering her thoughts and thinking of what she would have to say, or rather what she could say. This conversation had been a long time coming, and Celestia berated herself for, once again, not taking better care to mind the emotions of her younger sibling. Again and again the two of them seemed to be trapped in this loop of stepping over each other's hooves when it came to communicating their thoughts. Too often they found themselves trying to excuse their inaction by saying that Equestria came first, and that there would be time to talk about each other later. But that time needed to be now, they needed to sort out their internal troubles if they were going to effect their decision making to such a degree. With a deep intake of breath, Celestia pushed on the highly decorated wood and pushed, only to find it locked. Sighing, Celestia knocked gently and called through the closed threshold.
"Luna. I'm coming in. We need to talk." She waited for a moment to see if there'd be a reply but none came. Taking another deep breath of air, Celestia began to work her magic into the door's keyhole, only to retreat when she made contact with her sister's magic already at work on the lock. The bolt slid back with a click, allowing Celestia to push the door open and then silently close it behind her.
"Sister?" Celestia called out softly as she stepped into the room proper. Her eye went immediately to the bed where Luna lay, her forelegs clutching at a pillow as she pressed her face into it. Celestia walked to the bedside and, after a moment's hesitation, clambered onto the mattress and joined her sister. She waited for a reaction from Luna, but none came. "How are you feeling?" She asked.
"Lousy," Luna said through the fluff of her pillow before she pulled her face away. "I feel like somepony has been tinkering around in my head, only they don't seem to know how my mind works so they keep screwing things up."
"I know the feeling," Celestia said, lifting up a wing and draping it over her sister, embracing her. "It's just one of those times when it seems the best idea is to simply stop, go back to bed, and come back when your head is screwed on straight."
"Hmph, I doubt it's ever that simple a fix." Luna leaned herself against her sister, reciprocating the physical display of comfort. "She's right you know."
"Who?" Celestia asked.
"Cadence. If I'd bothered to be at her wedding, you and I could have defeated the queen easily. But I wasn't. I let you all down."
Celestia remained quite for some time before responding. "That is irrelevant now Luna." Luna's head snapped up to look at Celestia with shock and confusion. "Was I disappointed of your disinterest in Cadence? Yes. Were we disappointed you weren't at her wedding? Yes. Would your presence have turned the tide and brought down the Changeling Queen? Maybe. But that's all in the past. It doesn't matter anymore."
"How can you say that?" Luna balked.
"Because I am your sister," Celestia said simply. "I love you. I loved you when you were young and just learning how to move the moon. I loved you when your jealousy consumed you and you became Nightmare Moon. I loved you all those years you were gone. And I love you even now. Whatever mistakes you have made and will make, that fact will not change."
Luna lowered her head back to her pillow, silently deliberating her sister's words.
"I understand why you were upset when you met Cadence," Celestia continued. "And I have my assumptions about what your vendetta is against the changelings. However I'd much rather hear it from you. Tell me sister, why to you pursue their end so vehemently?"
Luna remained quiet for a moment before she pulled herself out of Celestia's embrace and rose from the bed. She walked slowly and deliberately to the window sill, where the sun was drifting from its zenith in the sky.
"I have failed you and all of Equestria on several occasions now." Luna said with an eerie calmness. "You may say that you love me despite my 'mistakes', but I can't love myself until I've atoned for what I've done. I won't feel satisfied with my life until I feel I've righted my wrongs. I dishonored my title of Princess by not being at Cadance's wedding, and it nearly led to the fall of Canterlot. Since that day, I've been doing my best to make amends. I instituted a changeling watch, I captured dozens of them to try and learn their weaknesses, and when the Crystal Empire returned I volunteered to go to Cadance's side out of fear that Sombra might have also risen from the ice after a thousand years." Luna turned to face Celestia, her eyes filled with regret. "But the damage has been done and the bridge has burned it seems."
Celestia contemplated her sister, before sighing and rising up from the bed as well. "That doesn't mean it can't be rebuilt." She said softly. "And the first step in doing so would be to meet her halfway. You are too concerned with trying to earn forgiveness, when all you have to do is ask."
Luna shook her head and grimaced. "After today, I'm not sure that's even possible."
"It is." Celestia said. "If I am willing to give the changelings a chance, then I know Cadance is willing to do the same with you."
Luna, despite herself, allowed a small smile to cross her lips, before they fell into a stern frown. "I don't much care for the comparison, but you've made your point."
"Good." Celestia said with a nod. "Does this mean you will cease your attempts eradicate the changelings?"
"No." Luna said without hesitation, causing Celestia's ears and wings to droop slightly. "It may not be what you or Cadance wants, but the Changelings present a threat to our subjects."
"Luna..." Celestia pleaded.
"No, sister, they are as locusts attacking a field of our precious crops, or a weed or vine strangling the life out of the trees and flowers," Luna paused for a moment before tilting her head down and looking right up into her sister's eyes. "Or even the very fungus that clings to them. There is no good in allowing them to roam our country."
"That isn't for you-" Celestia started before stopping mid sentence. She sighed, and gazed back into Luna's eyes. "If I can find something in them that is good, that proves that they can be reasoned with, that they don't have to be a threat to Equestria, would you give them a chance?"
Luna opened her mouth to respond, but then simply sighed. "You are... welcome to try sister."
"Trying is all we can ever do, and I would appreciate it if you could do the same." With that, Celestia turned to leave, calling back as she did so. "Please be at dinner tonight sister, you and Cadence can make amends at that time."
Luna grunted in the affirmative, her mind descending back into deep thought.
~~~~~
Twilight had managed to catch up to Cadence just as she was arriving at her guest chambers for the evening. "Cadence!" Twilight called, getting her former foal sister's attention. "Are you alright? Can we talk?"
"I, um... yeah, sure. Come in." Cadence held the door open as Twilight stepped in first, then followed in behind her. "I suppose an explanation would be in order?"
"It isn't... necessary," Twilight said slowly as she headed for the set of chairs arranged next to a table, set with a tea pot and cups. "What you said to Luna, and what she said to you, I won't pretend it didn't frighten me a bit, but I don't know what I could really say or do to fix it. That seems like something the two of you need to work out face to face." Twilight waited for Cadence to join her before taking a seat. "But if you want to talk, I'm all ears."
Cadence nodded after a moment, then took her seat opposite Twilight. She took her time to check the teapot and, finding it's contents of earl grey to be satisfactory, poured some for both herself and Twilight. The two lifted the cups and spent a few silent minutes drinking, Cadence's brow was creased in thought, and Twilight simply watched her patiently to see if her fellow princess would take her up on her offer.
"Do you remember," Cadence said after she laid her empty tea cup down. "When I told you the story of how I became an Alicorn?"
Twilight nodded. It wasn't long after she herself had ascended, she was worried about her duties as a princess in Equestria, what she might be expected to do for her country, and she needed someone to confide these worries in. Cadence was the one she turned to, and in response, Cadence had recounted her life prior to the two of them meeting. She'd been raised by earth ponies after being found alone in the woods as a foal. She'd been a mere pegasus at the time, but after an encounter with a jealous enchantress bent on stealing away the compassion of every pony in her town, Cadence had met with Celestia and became the Princess of Love. Twilight had found comfort in the story, and in the idea that Cadence could relate to what she was going through.
"Well, I hadn't told you what came after... long after in fact. The day you left for Ponyville, and the day Luna returned to Equestria." Cadence paused for a moment, before continuing. "For all my time as a Princess of Equestria, I never heard a word against me or my accession. But when Luna walked through the castle gates for the first time, and I was there to greet her with a smile, all she could do was freeze at the sight of me. She turned to Celestia and asked 'what is this?' She made no attempt to hide all the anger and disgust and betrayal she was feeling in that moment. And I had to just stand there and take it, even though my smile was faltering. I was so confused and hurt, I thought I'd done something wrong, that I'd somehow offended her. Celestia tried to reassure me that wasn't the case when Luna left to see to her own quarters. She tried to tell me that Luna just needed time to accept that I wasn't there to be her replacement, but to be her friend and equal. But months went by, and despite all my best efforts to make friends with her, she only elected to ignore me. It got a little better after Nightmare Night, when she visited you and your friends in Ponyville, but still, she wanted almost nothing to do with me. Celestia and I kept working to try and get her to at least speak with me on friendly terms, we even asked her to be my maid of honor at my wedding. But she refused to even entertain the idea of even being at the ceremony. And then the big week came and..."
Cadence faltered in her story, closing her eyes and breathing out heavily. Twilight reached over to place a comforting hoof over her stepsister's foreleg. Cadence looked up to her and nodded.
"When I next saw Luna, she was completely distraught, and trying to hide it. Celestia had waited to tell her what had happened until after the reception, and she came to me and Shining as we were loading our carriage to leave on our honeymoon. She said nothing about the wedding, or what had happened before it, but her eyes were twitching and her hair was fraying, as if she'd just gotten done trying to pull it out. She asked us if she could get us anything for the trip, wanted to know when we'd be back, then invited me to tea when we returned." Cadence hesitated, then shook her head shamefully. "I declined. I blamed her for everything that happened, just as much as I blamed the one's who had actually attacked us. And when I came back to Canterlot, it was as if our roles had reversed. I no longer wanted anything to do with her, and she was doing everything she could to make friends with me." She looked to her teacup and sighed before pouring more for herself. "I'm a fool, and a hypocrite. I let my anger control my actions, I couldn't see how much remorse and guilt she was dealing with, I ignored her just as she ignored me. And she felt obligated to make it up to me, to do whatever it took to make me happy. But I left for the Crystal Empire before she could, I left her to stew in her own guilt."
Cadence and Twilight sat in silence for a long time, Cadence sipped at her tea as she stared blankly at the ceiling, and Twilight ran over all the information and experience she had swimming around in her head, trying to find the right thing to say. The most logical course of action was to get Luna and Cadence to just talk to each other, to listen and maybe even forgive. But would they even want to forgive each other? Was it really so easy to, as Celestia said, fix a destroyed bridge? Then Twilight remembered something. Something from that same day that Cadence had mentioned, the day she left for Ponyville, the day Luna returned to Equestria.
"Do you think," Twilight said softly. "You two could make amends? To just sweep away what happened and start over?"
"I don't know Twilight... I hope we can, but, what can we say to make all of that go away?"
"How about, 'I'm sorry?'"
Cadence actually looked surprised for a moment, she looked back at Twilight, who was smiling at her gently.
"It worked for Celestia and Luna, don't see why it can't work now."
Cadence gaped for a moment, then let her head fall backward into the chair. She draped a hoof over her face and sighed, before she started to giggle to herself, which turned into full blown laughter after a few moments.
"'I'm sorry,'" Cadence said through her amusement. "Truly the two hardest words in the Equine language to say. And yet so much hardship could be avoided if we just say them."
Twilight started to chuckle as well, then poured herself some more tea and lifted the cup up in a toast. "Well, here's to forgiveness!"
"Here's to a couple of mares taking things way too seriously!"
The two brought their teacups to their lips and drank from them like they were big mugs of cider. They had another laugh before Twilight put her cup down and stood from her chair.
"I've got some research I wanted to do before Dinner time, but I expect to see both you and Luna there, hugging it out like the best of friends when I get there."
"Yes Miss Sparkle!" Cadence chimed like she was a school filly responding to her teacher after being reprimanded.
One more bout of giggles, then Twilight was out the door, heading in the direction of the Canterlot Royal Library.
"Now then," she said under her breath. "Time to go see what the Archives can tell me about this fungus. Probably should send a letter to Zecora too while I'm at it."
~~~~~
Room 333 of the Plaza Hotel was a bustle with activity, all four of its residents were looking through bags of seemingly random nicknacks and groceries. Most of the contents had been tossed aside, only bought to add to the ruse of the four being tourists in the big city, what was left was being taken apart and sorted on a dining table in their suite's kitchen. No one said anything, save for the occasional request for a specific tool or mutter of apology when they bumped into each other.
There was a sudden knock at the door, a very specific knock: two, pause, three, pause, four, then the password.
"Little pig, little pig, hurry up and let me in!"
Monarch stood and approached the door, ready with one of his flash crystals. One of his companions went to the window sill and prepared to open the latch in case they had to escape. Monarch then called out the response phrase.
"That's not how that goes, Silence. Want to try again?"
"Oh just open up already, you bleeding heart!"
Monarch quickly opened the door and put on what would pass as a genuine welcoming smile. "Nice of you to drop by."
Silence smiled as well and started to walk in. "Eh, not due for work until later. I actually got my shift at the hospital back! Thought I'd drop by and see what you clowns were up to. Even brought a welcome gift!" He pulled out a long tube and waggled it about. "Wanna see what a real Canterlot mare looks like?"
"Do I ever!" Monarch responded before finally closing the door behind them and dropping the charade. His smile disappeared instantly as he lead a very irate looking Silence into the kitchen. "I take it that's the dungeon blue prints?"
"Mhmm..." Silence grunted. It was only while in his disguise that Silence ever said more than a few words. Now that he was in a secure location with his fellow changelings, the perverted, jockish, guard pony vanished. He laid the tube on the counter and pulled out the contents, a map of the entire castle dungeon. The dungeon was shaped in a large rectangle with a cross through its center. The only entrance was in the bottom corner, and every hall had dozens of tiny squares that designated the cells. Several marks and notes had already been made, some showing the location of the infected Changeling and its guard, they were just around the corner from the entrance. There were a few marks down a separate hall for the other changelings and their guards, and then there were a few random marks here and there showing the dungeon's other residents.
Monarch scanned the map while Silence looked over his shoulder and the others continued their work. He pursed his lips and tapped on the mark for the healthy changelings.
"Who are these?" he asked Silence.
"One Drone, One Sentient," Silence said flatly. "Prince Swallowtail is in the far right one."
"Swallowtail is here?" Monarch said with amusement and surprise. "Oh that just made everything a heck of alot easier!"
"How do you mean sir?" One of the others working at the table said without turning away from what he was doing.
"Swallowtail knows shield spells, I was afraid we might have to burn the entire ward down just to make sure we got the job done. With him, all we need to do is stun or else incapacitate the guards, have him put a barrier around our target's cell to keep ourselves safe, then we burn the inside of the cell down to the mortar. Minimum casualties, might actually be able to make an escape, if we manage to avoid raising an alarm before the job is done."
"You didn't think we'd make it out?" Said another of their companions.
"Honestly," Monarch said sadly. "I almost expected us to have to burn ourselves after this was all done."
The work at the table paused briefly, before the third changeling spoke up with a question that confirmed that Monarch's words hadn't swayed them from their mission.
"When do we act?"
"At sundown," Monarch said. "When the princesses are away for Dinner and for the changing of the Sun and Moon. We can pose as guards bringing food for the prisoners."
~~~~~
"My Queen?" The guard said as he stepped out of the cave and joined Chrysalis on the cliff overlooking the Equestrian countryside. "You've been out here for a few hours now. Is there anything I could get for you?"
"No," Chrysalis said sternly. "Return to your post."
The drone bowed low and retreated back to his place by the fire. Chrysalis snorted in boredom and frustration. Her thoughts had been circling around and around from the moment she stepped outside, but they were starting to calm down now, at least until the guard came out and snapped her out of her zen like meditative state. She looked up at the sky and grimaced, it looked like they were due a light drizzle soon, and she wasn't in the mood to let herself get wet. Standing, she took a few more minutes to cast her gaze over the landscape, breathing air that was starting to get heavily tinged with the scent of grass and trees as the humidity rose. She twitched her ears around, picking up the sound of the wind rising, rustling the leaves of a few scattered saplings clinging to the side of the mountain. However, one sound and one scent seemed out of place on that cliff side.
The scent was musky, almost like that of a pony that had been left in the dungeons for too long without bathing. The sound was like the uncomfortable grunts and moans made by the drones when they're lungs filled with fluids during especially cold seasons. Slowly, Chrysalis turned her head and looked down the mountain path, searching for the source of disturbance to the mountain atmosphere. At first, Chrysalis didn't know what she was looking at, it looked like a shambling bush with the most peculiar blooms on it. It also looked half dead, it was all brown and grey, much of it looked shriveled and wilted, and occasionally it would sway and a piece of itself would drop. As the thing got closer, Chrysalis's eyes slowly got wider and wider as she recognized that what she was looking at was not some mobile bush. Then her mouth fell open and she screamed when she realized the moans she was hearing were the creatures attempt at saying "Mother." And finally her mind snapped when she came to the conclusion that the abomination headed right for her was one of her children, their entire front half covered in fungal growth.
"GHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Her blood curdling screech echoed across the mountain ridge, birds scattered every which way, and even the wind itself seemed to blow away from her. The infected changeling paused, sniffed at the air, then let out one long high pitched snarl that was almost lost in Chrysalis' screaming.
"MMMMOOOOOOTHHHHEEERRRRR!!!"
The changeling began shambling forward with greater speed, its forelegs falling apart from the strain, and then when it was halfway to her, they snapped at the knee. But it ignored this sudden impairment of its mobility and continued its charge, until it was within about a dozen meters of her.
"My Queen!" Came a shout from the cave as the guard rushed out and tackled the infected to the ground.
Chrysalis broke out of her maddened state long enough to realize what was happening, and cry out, "NOOO!! Keep away from it!!"
But too late this warning came as her protector had several fungal blooms shoved into his exposed face. The creature's gaping mouth, deformed by the many roots spreading and tearing at its face, bit down on the guard's upper foreleg, causing him to cry out in pain as he continued to hold down the monster.
"Run my Queen!" He cried. "Leave me and get inside!"
Chrysalis nearly did exactly that before a jet of fire burst from the cave entrance, striking both the guard and the infected. The guard squealed as he leapt from the fungus and tore its leg out of the changeling's mouth. The jet of fire continued and began covering the infected changeling and most of the outcropping they stood on. The changeling was able to get out one last scream for its mother before its carapace started to pop and incinerate under the immense heat. Soon the fungus was burned away and the silhouette of a changeling skeleton remained for a few more moments before it turned to ash. The jet of fire continued for almost a full minute before its wielder finally shut it off.
Out from the cave stepped Mimic and three more heavily armed guards. Mimic looked like all the anger in the world was flowing through him all at once, flames still flickered around his horn as he looked around the cliff. When he saw that bits of fungus were still left here and there, he gestured to his guards and pointed to the mountain path.
"You three. Scorch the earth to the very bottom. Keep a ten meter buffer between yourself and any... remains."
The guards nodded and then set to work. Mimic then looked to his Queen and stepped towards her. "Are you alright, my Queen?"
"No I am not alright you fool!" Chrysalis cried out, attempting to keep her composure and failing as her voice started to crack. "That was one of my nurses! She followed me all the way from the main hive! She... she followed... oh ancestors why..." She clamped her eyes tight and attempted to stop the flow of tears gathering around her eyes. A moan of pain caused her to open them again and look across the outcropping, towards the changeling that had saved her life.
The poor thing looked to be in a miserable state. A large swath of his right side was cracked and molted from the fire, smoke still rising from him even as he tried to lift himself up. The left side was faring no better as the bite wound bled profusely, dripping down his leg and pooling at his hooves. Mimic spat in anger and disgust, then placed himself between the downed guard and his Queen.
"Drone Oak," he said sadly but firmly. "You have done the swarm a great service and made your ancestors proud, but I ask that you remain still where you are until I can get a medical team-"
"No," Chrysalis said, turning her eyes away. "Put him out of his misery."
"What?" Mimic gasped, turning his head to look at her. "But My Queen, he's still alive!"
"And infected with that accursed plant!" She snarled at Mimic. "He's beyond help now! Better to end his life with honor then allow him to turn his brothers and sisters into those things!"
"If my life... huuhhh... is a danger... to my siblings..." The drone named Oak moaned. "Then I'll gladly... huhhuu... go into the eternal sleep."
"The Queens of old will reward you greatly," Chrysalis said, then glared at Mimic. "He is one of your charges. End him quickly."
"Wait!" Mimic said, looking between Oak and Chrysalis. "Drone Oak, you can still do more for your Queen and Swarm! We need a cure, or a way of eradicating the fungus! If we study you as you turn, it may lead us to an answer!"
"Silence!" Chrysalis shouted. "I will not have that fungus in this or any other hive! What's more, you are suggesting we allow this changeling to suffer endless pain in the hopes that it might lead to a solution. I am not so cruel as to allow that to happen, especially not to one who has sacrificed himself as he has!
"But he could save us all! I... I can quarantine him! I know the spell! I've studied the procedures ponies use and I can alter them to fit our resources!"
"I won't hear anymore of this! End him now or I will end both of you!"
Mimic threw himself to his Queen's hooves and began to grovel and plead his case. "A well constructed cocoon pod will ensure his and the infection’s isolation, and I can fill it with chemicals and herbs that will numb his pain as he dies! Please My Queen! Punish me as you wish, but do not throw away this chance to save your children!"
"MY CHILDREN ARE ALREADY DEAD!" The Queen shouted before kicking Mimic out of the way and charging up her horn.
"My Queen..." Oak said slowly, lifting up his head as much as he dared. "Is what he said true... huuhhh... if I continue on... can he save you? Can I save my family by suffering more?"
Chrysalis froze, her horn dying down slightly before she answered. "It... is possible. But my decision is final. Go in peace young drone."
"No!" The drone cried as he wrestled against gravity to lift his body to his hooves. "I stand... hurrk... ready to serve... my Hive... my brothers and sisters... the royal brood... and you... My Queen." Chrysalis watched as the drone, with the last of his strength, bowed before her. Her breath caught in her throat as he croaked out one last promise. "For... the... Queen. For... the... Swarm."
And with that, Oak the guard drone succumbed to his injuries and fell to the ground, unconscious.
Chrysalis stood still as she dared for a brief moment, before shutting off the flow of magic to her horn and turning back into the cave. She turned to give Mimic one more seething glare.
"Do as you wish, you pathetic little mockery of my race," she spat at him. "But if we lose this hive because of your stupidity, then I will do everything in my power to strip your memory from the Hivemind. Forgotten forever, by both ponies and changelings."
"I swear, My Queen," Mimic said somberly. "I will not fail you."
Libraries had always been a reliable sanctum for Twilight. Whenever something was troubling her and it was out of her friends' areas of expertise, the library was always the first place she went. While her friends would often add the sort of perspective that a book could never offer, the issue of the fungus wasn't likely to be something they could help with. Zecora was the exception though, her knowledge of foreign and mysterious flora and fauna might be invaluable in this situation. But while she did send a letter to her through Spike, Twilight would have to depend on the Royal Canterlot Archive until she got a response, at least if she wanted immediate results.
Twilight had enlisted the help of a few librarians to help her search, any book that touched on the subject of fungus was quickly yanked from their shelf and brought to a large table where she'd set up shop. Twilight had made speed reading an art form, and soon she was tearing through stacks of books in her search. The herbology books were replaced within the hour by journals that recounted expeditions to every corner of the known world, then those were replaced by medical texts that had sections of fungal infections.
The hands of the clock whizzed by unseen by Twilight, until the chimes finally rang six o'clock. Twilight grumbled in annoyance. It was dinner time and she hadn't found a thing. The closest she got was an expedition to the great jungles of the south, where explorers had found a fungus that lured small insects into an orifice with a sweet smelling scent before it closed and devoured it. Twilight almost didn't want to stop, she considered sending word with one of the guards that she wouldn't make it. But the idea of stiffing the other three princesses, when it was such a rare occurrence for all of them to have a casual sit down, put a rather bad taste in her mouth.
Still, she wasn't about to let her whole afternoon go to waste, she wanted to be able to present some sort of results to Celestia, Luna, and Cadence come tomorrow. Twilight sighed and shut the last of the books. Getting up, she nodded in thanks to the librarians who had assisted her, then headed to the library entrance where some of her guards stood.
"Tell Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence that I shall be late for dinner," She ordered one of the guards, who then dutifully saluted. "I'm going to make a few inquiries of our guests in the dungeons."
"Of course your highness," the guard responded, before lowering his foreleg and leaving.
The other guard, and a few others stationed nearby awaiting her command, fell into rank behind her, following her out. Twilight, at first, didn't really like the idea of being followed everywhere by an entourage of armored ponies, but thinking about who she was about to go visit made her think that a little extra protection might not be such a bad thing.
~~~~~
So far, Monarch's plan had gone as smoothly as he could have hoped. He and his infiltrators had easily gotten into the castle through a delivery wagon, clinging to its bottom as the unsuspecting post-stallion escorted them right through the front gate. The guards had done a base scan of the wagon for any illusory magic, but since none of the changelings were in disguise, the scan didn't pick up anything out of the ordinary. Once inside, the four had taken on the appearance of some unassuming guards and made their way in the general direction of the dungeons.
They passed by the staff kitchen, where the castle's maintenance and servants got their daily meals. It also made the meals for the prisoners in the dungeons, so when a group of four guards pushing a trolley stepped out, the changelings altered their speed to ensure that they were close enough to the guards right as the group passed a broom closet. In the blink of an eye, all four changelings pulled a rag out of their armor and shoved it into the face of one of the guards. All four of them hit the floor after only the briefest of struggles, and the changelings quickly dragged their unconscious bodies to the broom closet and tossed them inside after stealing their identification tags. With some minor changes to their disguises to match the guards they had just subdued, they took the trolley and headed to the dungeons.
Now they stood before the double doors, pausing only to let the guards on either side open them for the changelings. Inside of the dungeons, it was eerily silent. The sound of the trolley's wheels and the clacking of metal horseshoes against the stone floor echoed all around them. They passed dozens of empty cells, and stopped at a couple of occupied cells, feeding their occupants in order to keep their appearances up. Soon they came to a lineup of six guards, standing opposite of the cells holding their captive brethren. The closest guard turned and smirked as the food trolleys approached, then reached for the keys attached to his saddle.
"Don't know why we bother feeding them," he said, approaching the first cell door as the trolley stopped. "Not like they eat any of this stuff anyway. I think they believe if they hunger strike long enough, we'll give them a hooker or something to feed off of."
Ignoring, for the moment, the racist misconception of his race, Monarch looked into the cell and saw his brother Swallowtail staring confusedly back at him. Monarch winked, then approached the guard, pulling the rag out again as he did so.
"That's funny sir," Monarch said sneeringly. "But we'd rather have your wife instead. By the way, does this smell like chloroform to you?"
Monarch shoved the rag into the guard's face as he turned around, and three more guards were taken care of by the infiltrators. The fifth guard in the lineup barely had time to bare his spear before the sixth one wrapped his forelegs around his neck, placing him in a strangle hold. All five hostile guards fell to the ground unconscious, Monarch smiled at the sixth as his victim collapsed from oxygen deprivation.
"Nice work, Silence."
"Mmm," Silence grunted.
"Rather impressive all around I must say," Swallowtail said as he pushed the now unlocked cell door and pulled the keys from the lock. "Though I am a little confused as to why you're here brother. I didn't think I was worth sending the Queen's pride and joy directly into the heart of our enemy's capital."
"You're not," Monarch said, smirking as he started to strip the armor off of three of the guards while Swallowtail unlocked the other two cells. "The Ponies' other guest is our priority."
Swallowtail scowled and turned to glare at Monarch. "I told the Sun Princess that there could be no help for us, and that the best thing she could do for our sister was to kill her and burn the corpse. But she's ignorant enough to believe a cure is possible."
"A cure?" Monarch scoffed disbelievingly. "Bah! What reason could she possibly have to help us?"
"I don't know, but she seemed sincere." The last cell swung open and the drone walked out. "The Moon Princess, on the other hoof, is a lot less naive. From the way she was talking, it seemed like she and the rest of the Equestrian government intend to use the fungus as a weapon against us."
"Now that, I believe. And all the more reason to cleanse a good chunk of this place with fire. We're going to need your help though."
"Don't know what you expect me to do," Swallowtail said shaking his head. "I barely have enough energy to keep a disguise for more than a few minutes."
"Silence, and you three," Monarch said, pointing out the infiltrators. "Give him whatever you can spare. Swallowtail, we need you to put up a shield around the cell when we get there and we take out the guards."
Everyone nodded and got started. The four changelings passed enough magic over to Swallowtail for him to cast his spell, then one of the infiltrators took off his armor and handed it over to Swallowtail, who disguised himself to fit it. The other two infiltrators, Monarch, and Swallowtail, all formed up on the food trolleys, then Monarch turned to the remaining four changelings.
"Stash the guards in the cell, then get their armor on and follow up behind us."
Monarch and his group started forward, leaving Silence and his group to clean up. Monarch did a mental rundown of how much time they had. It had been about ten minutes since they'd knocked out the first group of guards, they'd be out for at least thirty minutes. The guards in front of the infected's cell would be down in less than five, leaving fifteen minutes for them to burn and make their escape before an alarm was raised. Hopefully the sight of eight unaccounted for pegasus guards flying in formation away from the castle wouldn't raise enough suspicion for them to be stopped.
They rounded the corner and saw their targets: three guards, two holding spears at attention, the third casting the quarantine spell. Monarch gulped nervously, if they screwed this up, they'd all be captured, or worse infected. But really, that wasn't what made him so tense. The idea of failure wasn't as unsettling as having to see one of his beloved sisters in a horrifying state, and he saw quite enough of that from the memories of Healer Larvus.
Averting his gaze from the cell for the moment, Monarch and the two infiltrators with him focussed their attention on the guards. One of them nodded to them as they were passing, just before Monarch pounced on him, dragging out the chloroform laced rag once more and shoving it in the unsuspecting guards face. The infiltrators did the same with the other two, and the unicorn controlling the quarantine slowly lost all the magic in his horn. When all three guards were down, Monarch turned to see that the field of blue magic over the cell had been replaced with a green one. Then Monarch had to swallow a mouthful of bile as he beheld what was beyond the shield.
The air inside was so thick with spores that it was like a fog had settled in the small ten foot square room. A few places around the room had patches of fungus growing here and there, and the biggest concentration was in the back corner. It didn't take long for Monarch to recognize that this patch was once a changeling. There was enough still visible for him to tell that this was indeed one of his royal brood siblings, but not enough to tell which one. There was so much fungus growing out of its now decaying carapace, that it had even started creeping up the wall it was leaning against.
"By the ancestors," Monarch swore.
A sudden intake of breath could be heard inside the cell, as if in response to the sound of Monarch's voice. The former changeling struggled within its shell of fungus, moaning and crying as it did so. Its body was so weak and fragile now, that every movement was causing something to break.
"Mother help me," Swallowtail said, his eyes bulging out. "She's still alive. Those accursed ponies left her to suffer like this!"
"Who was she?" Monarch said softly. "When they brought her in. Did you see who she was?"
Swallowtail grimaced, not daring to look his brother in the eye. "It was Brimstone."
Monarch sighed, trying hard not to start tearing up as he sparked his horn and stepped toward the shield. He focussed on Brimstone's struggling form, not wanting to look away, determined to pay final respect to the once beautiful nurse.
"Go in peace Brimstone," Monarch said. "May the Queens of old embrace you and the many children you've brought into this world."
And without further delay, the inside of the cell exploded in a roaring inferno. The infiltrators soon joined their magic with Monarch's to insure that the blaze did not falter. Silence and the others soon joined them, all of them disguised as guards for the journey out. Everyone of them stared into the fire, watching as the silhouette of their kinsman crumbled to dust, finally finding release from the fungus.
After five minutes, they ended the blaze. The entirety of the cell's insides were charred black, everything down to the mortar was either incinerated or turned to ash. For a moment, the only sound was the twinkle of Swallowtail's magic.
And then the entrance to the dungeon swung open with a mighty clang, then a few seconds later, Twilight Sparkle and several guards came round the corner. The eight disguised changelings, so distracted by their own vigil, were frozen in place as the Alicorn princess looked from them, to the smoldering cell, to the unconscious guards on the floor. Sparkle's face lit up with confusion and anger, and before even her guards could react, she unleashed a massive shock wave from her horn that hoisted the imposters into the air and dispelled their disguises.
The guards rushed to the levitating changelings, pointing their spears up at them, as the princess ran to the now unshielded cell, gawking at the destruction inside.
"What have you done," she said disbelievingly, before rounding on the captured shape shifters. "What have you done!?"
Monarch snickered in spite of himself, he looked down at the ponies staring coldly up at him and smirked. "For Queen and Swarm."
