> On the Brink
>  by Digital Ghost
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Rendezvous
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 1
Rendezvous


Ponyville was as lively and busy as ever. The grown-ups were out and going about their daily lives while the foals were at school. Everything would have been routine, but with new ponies coming in every few days or so, the townsponies were meeting and greeting like there was no tomorrow. It just so happens that another new face was making his way through the market stalls.

Everypony was greeting Black Frost, the newest arrival in town, and by far the friendliest. He was a larger-than-average unicorn with a dark grey coat and a wind-blown mane. Frost waved in return to the ponies who greeted him and continued to walk three steps before being stopped again by another greeting pony. This went on of for, well, quite a while. He was starting to get irritated since his progress was slowed to a crawl as everypony went to greet him. Since Pinkie Pie was still away in Canterlot for the royal wedding, the ponies in Ponyville must have taken it upon themselves to greet the new comers.

At this point, his face was hurting from smiling too much, and he was feeling a bit on edge. Was everypony here this... creepy? Sure, it's nice to be treated like a friend even though you're a complete stranger, but this is just ridiculous! Ugh, ponies and their... interesting ways. He thought, I guess this makes it easier for me to blend in. Can't complain anyhow.

=====

Meanwhile...

Inside the dark Everfree forest, a lone tree was shaking it's crown without the presence of the wind. It shook once, twice, and thrice before something dropped down with a sickening thud on the wet ground. It was a changeling! Covered in utter darkness of the shadows, he shook a little before using his front hooves to prop himself up. He slowly rose up to stand, but a sharp pang of pain sent him to his knees.

The changeling locked his jaw, trying to conquer the pain. It appeared that his right shoulder was dislocated. He vaguely remembered being flung off by some heart-shaped force field and landing on top of a tree after flying for what felt like an eternity. All the while his body was frozen from the residual magic that sent him flying in the first place. The impact must have caused the dislocation. At least it wasn't anything too serious. "No way am I gonna survive with this. Here goes nothing..." He reluctantly stepped on his right hoof, taking a deep breath. If only there was another way of fixing this. With clenched teeth, he forcefully pulled his right shoulder up while his other hoof held his foreleg in place, which caused the shoulder to make a popping sound as well sending a pulse of pain through his system.

"AAAHHHHGGG!!!" The pain burned into his back, causing him to collapse on his knees again. His shout echoed throughout the forest. Startled birds scrambled to the skies in alarm. For the third time, the changeling rose to his hooves but made sure to keep off his injured foreleg. That needed a day's rest before it would be any good as a limb.

He limped over a tree to just lean back and get his bearings. "Okay, so I'm lost, wet, cold -" his stomach growled as if it wanted to join in on his monologue, "-and hungry... Okay, first thing's first, stop talking to yourself!" It wasn't like anyling was there to hear him talk to himself, but then again knowing his own kind, they could be hiding there as a tree or a rock.

First step: Changeling calls. He shook his body a little to loosen up, took a deep breath to clear his mind. This call needed a focused mind, and a calm body. Slowly he huffed once more and exhaled his voice in a controlled manner. "IS THERE ANYLING HERE?!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, causing another round of startled birds to take off. The changeling's ears scanned every direction, only to be greeted with silence. "Well... that didn't work. Hmm, I should get going, no point staying around here." 

The changeling flapped his wings and found that he couldn't lift himself off. Upon close inspection, he saw that his wings were wet from when he fell face-first into the puddle. He looked around to get an idea where to go. Just to his right was a path that lead towards a darker part of the forest. Opposite to that was another path that lead to another darker part of the forest. Great. Which ever path he took, he'd end up in a darker place.

The canopy overhead was too thick to let light through, so he couldn't determine whether it was night or morning. Where was he anyway? It was cold, damp, and dark. Similar to where the hive was hidden, except the air felt... fresher? That only told him that there weren't any hives nearby. But this place did have a creepy aura to it, so that wasn't so bad. At least he'd feel right at home.

SNAP! A twig snapped in the area behind him, causing the changeling to jolt to a blind run towards the left path all the while screaming his lungs out. 

"GOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAY! CHRYSALIS SAVE ME!"

=====

Back in Ponyville, Frost was with one of the newer ponies who arrived three days ahead of him. She was an earth pony who had a maroon coat, a golden mane that reached to her knees, and her tail was almost touching the ground. They had been talking for a while now and looked be getting intimate.

"Let's go to my place, we'll have more privacy to talk there." The mare started off and Frost followed close beside her. Small talk were plenty between the two. The topics ranged from their foalhoods, to the weather, and finally to how they ended up here in Ponyville.

Golden Belle opened the door of a simple two-story cottage. The inside was furnished with simple things like a sofa, a coffee table, and a few vases full of flowers. "Over here slowpoke!" Frost followed the mare upstairs into a dark room. The windows were covered by heavy curtains and the room was filled with the sweet aroma of lavender.

"I didn't expect to run into anypony like me. Or should I say-" Golden Belle was suddenly engulfed in bright green flames which subsided as quickly as it came. "-anyling else." Where the once beautiful earth pony stood, another creature took her place. She now had a body of black, holes in her hooves, a horn, a pair of transparent insectoid wings and a dark blue shell on her back.

Unfazed by the sudden transformation, Black Frost followed suit and was engulfed by the same ring of green fire, illuminating the room for a second time in the eerie glow of the flames. Another changeling stood where Frost was previously.

The two changelings standing there looked identical to one another. At first glance, the only noticeable difference between the two was the size between the male and female of the changeling species, with females being generally smaller and softer in comparison. The only other noticeable difference was that Frost had a slightly crooked horn.

This might not be important to other species, but to the changelings, this noted a higher rank.

"What's your designation, soldier?" Frost started, seeing as he was an officer and the other one was a subordinate.

Golden shifted in her spot, embarrassed because she had insulted a hive officer by calling him a slowpoke. "I'm Zulu. Scout of team 5."

Frost nodded. "The name's Ghost. Commander of team 2. Can you tell me where you landed after that force field threw us off? I'd like to know how scattered we are."

Zulu opened her mouth to answer the commander's question, but the sound of her front door busting open interrupted her. There was no time to react before a pony came to her room. "Golden! They found... a changeling... in Everfree!" he said between gasps of air. "They-" The pony suddenly realized that Golden wasn't in the room, but instead there were two changelings.

Without hesitation, Ghost bucked the pony in the face, knocking him to the floor, unconscious.

"Well that was a close one." Ghost wiped off the sweat on his forehead.

Zulu pushed the changeling officer out of her way and rushed to the downed pony. "Why would you do that? Oh Chrysalis, please be alright."

Ghost tilted his head. "Are you telling me this in another changeling?"

"Well no, he's just a regular earth pony. Its just..." She checked to make sure the pony didn't have any concussions.

"Wait, don't tell me you actually care about this pony."

Zulu was silent as Ghost just blankly stared.

The changeling commander walked to the end of the room, shaking his head. "I don't believe this. Did you tell him that you were a changeling?"

"No, of course not! Well... maybe a little..."

Are you crazy! Do you want to get yourself caught? Ghost's eye was twitching from frustration. He wanted to let his thoughts explode all over the room, but he couldn't risk losing his only changeling contact. How could a changeling break the most basic rule of insurgency? It was the most basic of the basic. Why on Equestria would she do such a thing? She will hear from Chrysalis about this... As soon as I find her. The changeling stormed out the room.

Zulu looked up at Ghost, but he just passed her without a word. "Where are you going?"

"To find the other changeling that pony mention. Where was it, Everfree or something?"

"I'll come along."

"No!" He didn't mean to scream, but the frustration just slipped out. He made a deep sigh before saying anything else. "Make sure he's alright." He pointed to the limp pony before turning himself back into Black Frost. "And don't be going around telling everypony that you're a changeling. They wont be too friendly after that failed invasion." He cringed at the thought. How could their queen be that careless?

With a defeated nod, Zulu uttered something similar to "Good luck" before tending to the pony.

Closing the door with a sigh, Frost went around town to see if he could find directions for Everfree. 

"Excuse me." He tapped the shoulder of a grey pegasus with a messy looking mane and tail. She was carrying bags full of paper and envelopes.

"Oh, hi! How can I help you?" She turned to Frost, staring at him at two different points.

Okay... a wall-eyed pegasus mare. Don't see that everyday. "I, uh..." He was too distracted by the mare's eyes to structure a sensible sentence.

"Hey! It's rude to stare you know!"

"Huh? Oh! I'm really sorry! It's just..." you look weird "Um never mind. Can you tell me where to find Everfree?"

"What? You mean Everfree Forest?" The mare looked at him funny - well, funnier that before. "Why would you go there? It's a very dangerous place."

Frost raised an eyebrow. A very dangerous place? Aw come on, a changeling can handle any "dangers" there are in that forest, but it seems like he needed to convince the mare first before he could get anything from her.

"Well you see, a friend of mine told me that he was going to Everfree, but forgot to tell me where it was."

"But it's dangerous to go there alone!" The mare protested, flapping her wings as if to emphasize the word dangerous.

"All the more reason why I need to find him quickly to... make sure he's alright."

The mare scratched her head before finally giving in. Pointing to a cluster of trees covered in what looked like a blanket of darkness. It was visible through the gaps of the houses. "It's that way."

Frost shook the mare's hoof and darted for the forest, throwing a "Thank you!" at her. Gah, all this sappy goodie goodie stuff is making me sick.

=====

"Come on, Rook! You gotta find a way out of here. Where did those ponies run off to? I'm sure they came running down this way. Dang it, stop talking to yourself!" A few moments ago, Rook was running for his life after something snapped a twig behind him. He even almost completely forgot his sore shoulder from the fright.

As he was running he crashed into a couple of ponies. They didn't stay long though. As soon as they saw him, they sort of just ran off like two streaks of lightning bolts, screaming. It was then he realized that he forgot to put on a disguise.

Live and learn I guess. Rook kept trotting in one direction, keeping off his sore limb which now started to hurt a lot after his mad dash. I'll find my way out of here eventually. He reassured himself.

He decided to sit down for a breather. Where ever those ponies were, they're long gone now, so might as well rest up, right? "This isn't so bad, I mean sure it has bugs, ticks, leaches, spiders, and centipedes... but every forest has that, right?"

He leaned back on a tree and just let himself relax. With his eyes closed, he could hear the peaceful racket of the forest. The chirping birds, the growling wolves, the changeling language drifting through the - Wait!

His ears perked up as he jumped to his hooves. Did he really hear that right? A few moments of silence later, he could hear wings buzzing, accompanied with verbal clicks. He recognized it! It was the changelings' language!

Excitedly, he buzzed his wings in response. A few clicking sounds could be heard in reply. Translated, it said, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm glad you're here." was Rook's response in the insectoid language. "I'm over by the tree." Yeah, completely helpful Rook! It's not like there's only one tree here.

The buzzing from the other changeling grew louder as he approached. Rook almost jumped for joy when he saw the form of another changeling.

"Designation?" The other changeling asked. Now that he was closer, Rook could see the other changeling had a larger and a slightly more crooked horn. An officer! he thought.

"Rook. Squad 4."

"Ghost. Squad 2 commander. You look hurt, are you alright?" Ghost pointed to Rook's foreleg.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rook's stomach growled for the second time. "Although a bit hungry..."

"Okay, we'll have to get back to town and regroup. How long were you in here?"

"I'm not really sure. I remember getting blasted off by that force field thing, -which rudely interrupted my meal by the way- and next thing I know, I fell face first into a puddle, starving." Rook extended his wings to show that they were soggy. "I've been wandering for a few hours."

Ghost raised an eyebrow, being a bit skeptical of his story. "You mean to tell me, you've been up in that tree for a week?"

A week!? Rook stammered for words. Was he really out for a week? That would explain why he was starving.

"We'll worry about it later. For now we have to regroup and get you fed before you turn insane and kill us all."

"Haha, very funny sir." He chuckled, but Ghost remained expressionless. "Wait... you mean I'm going to go insane?"

Ghost was covered by green fire and when it subsided, Black Frost took his place. "Call me Black Frost. You do have enough energy to shape-shift, right?"

"You bet!" After being engulfed by green flames, Rook turned into a simple beige colored unicorn pony with black mane and tail. His mane was short and messy while his tail was about mid length and also a bit messy. "Just call me Rook. I've never been so good with making up names."

Frost rolled his eyes. "Now I know why they call you 'Rook.' Okay, lets move."

The first few minutes were completely silent, until Rook asked a question. "So what's the story of your cutie mark? I mean I know it's not real, but what do you tell the ponies when they ask about it?"

"It's a snowflake, does it need to be explained?"

"Of course! I mean a snowflake can mean anything between making snow, turning into snow, controlling snow, you know. Just look at mine." Rook gestured to his flank. "I'm naturally good at chess so I picked the piece with the same name as me. That way I wouldn't have to stammer when they ask me out of the blue."

That was actually a good idea. This grub might have a future as a strategist. Ghost thought. "I can make it snow, is that good enough?" With a spark from his horn, a tiny cloud appeared above Rook's head. A short while late, tiny snowflakes fell on the aforementioned pony's head.

"Whoa, I never knew changelings could do that. Where'd you learn it?"

"Natural talent. An' a bit of practice."

"Yeah, that's great an' all, but can you get this could off of me? I'm starting to freeze here! AH-CHOO!"

Ghost couldn't help but laugh as Rook was apparently already blanketed with snow. "Sorry about that."

=====

The sun had already set when the two changelings-turned-ponies arrived. The streets were lit up by oil lamps. Not a single pony came into view, but the lights inside their homes betrayed the deserted village feel.

"So, where are we headed?" asked Rook. "Kinda running on fumes here."

"Relax," Frost said, "we'll get you some love, then we'll meet up with Golden."

"Hold up, I got this!" Rook suddenly jumped between an alley where he transformed into a white, cotton tailed bunny.

He winked as he hopped off to a mare which was late in closing up her flower shop.

"Aww, aren't you a cutie pie?" The flower mare took the bunny in her arms and hugged it.

"I guess that's one way of doing it." Frost commented. In truth, he never really thought about doing what Rook just did. He's a sharp one, I'd give him that.

The mare put Rook the bunny down and he hopped back to the alley where he returned to being Rook the pony. "Well I've had my fill." He looked around before turning to Frost again. "So, where were we headed again?"

"To Zulu's place."

"I thought we were going to Golden's"

Frost drove his hoof directly to the center of his face. "That's her pony name."

"Oh, why didn't you say so?"

The rest of the walk towards Golden's cottage was full of silence. Frost knocked on the door and was promptly answered by the buzzing voice of the mareling, "Coming!"

The door opened to a dark room. "Why is this place so dark?" Frost asked.

"Slate has a nasty headache and complained that the light hurt his eyes." Zulu responded.

"Slate? Oh right, the pony."

"Don't worry, he's sleeping soundly. Let's go to upstairs, nopony can see us there." Zulu lead the way, with Frost and Rook following close behind.

Once the door was closed, Frost and Rook reverted to their changeling forms.

"Okay," Ghost started, "can you tell me exactly why you weren't in a disguise just now? I mean, do you want these ponies to lug you into a jail cell?"

"I know, I'm sorry! It's just I'm not used to walking around like a pony."

"We'll have to do something about that pony. We can't have him slipping up and accidentally telling everypony that you're a changeling." Ghost scratched his chin. He did his best to make his sentence as respectable as he could manage, given that the mareling had fallen for the earth pony, genuinely.

"I... took care of it with a memory spell." Zulu sighed with a hint of regret.

"Really now?" Frost gave her an impressed look. Honestly, he didn't think that the mareling had that much sense in that skull of hers.

"Yeah. Felt like the best thing to do." Zulu turned her attention the new member of the group who had been idly standing there by the door. "So what's your name?"
> Chapter 2: Gone with the Wind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2
Gone with the Wind


It had only been a week and the changeling population within Ponyville had increased by five. Ghost, Rook, and Zulu had been searching around the town, and the surrounding forests of Everfree and White Tail. It wasn't hard searching the forests since the changelings were free to be normal and use their calls consisting of clicks and buzzes.

Zulu was feeling good about their progress, but there was just something wrong with all of this. Usually changelings communicated with each other via a telepathic link. It was usually a way for the Queen and the hive's highest officials to relay orders to everyling. But the two weeks after the invasion was silent in that channel. It was like that world just vanished.

She understood why the others weren't alert of that fact, given that the grunts -as they were called- were only contacted through that manner when there was an immediate order to be carried out. Only ranked officials were using it constantly. That channel was some kind of secret that only the higher-ups knew how to use. The only time grunts like herself could talk through the channel was when an official commanding them opened some sort of private line.

The mareling didn't understand how it worked, and questioned why the officials were the only ones allowed to initiate channel conversations. It didn't make any sense. What if a grunt found something important and needed someling's immediate attention? What if someling was alone and dying, and the closest changeling was just behind a wall? There was a hundred reasons on top of the mareling's head why it was a bad idea to limit the channel's usage.

Because she was too distracted with thinking, Zulu didn't notice the tree in front of her until she ultimately ran face-first into it. She landed on her rump with a yelp which echoed throughout the Everfree forest.

"Hey, are you alright?" A male changeling behind her helped her up.

"Yeah, thank you, Jellybean." Zulu smirked at the changeling.

"I told you, my name's not-"

"Break it up you two! We're already late as it is." A third changeling pulled up beside the two, another male.

Zulu nodded and together the three of them silently walked down the path. The two changelings with her were one of the new additions to the group. Jellybean was from squad 8. They found him near White Tail.

A little filly was struggling with a jar of jellybeans. She tried so hard to open it until she finally gave up and tossed the jar away in disgust. When Rook and Zulu went to check the jar, they were surprised to see a changeling transforming from it, which earned him that nickname.

The other changeling was Runner, from squad 4. Rook was happy to see an old buddy. Runner lived up to his name by being the fastest flier and runner in his squad, and because of his skills, he was appointed as the messenger. He strayed into Ponyville as a rabbit to score an easy meal. What's with squad 4 and rabbits anyway? It seemed to Zulu that they specialized in being rabbits.

"The cave should be around here, right?" Zulu turned to Runner.

"Just behind these vines, I think... Jackpot!" Runner opened the curtain of vines to reveal the mouth of a cave. It was dark and the air was stale, not to mention it was eerily cold. "Come on, the others should be here already."

Zulu reluctantly entered the cave. She was never really good at dealing with tight spaces, which was why she opted for scouting since all she had to do was turn into a bird and fly around. Luckily the cave wasn't that cramped. Actually, it was quite spacious which helped relieve her claustrophobia, even by a little bit.

The only source of light in that cave were the faint illumination of the changelings' horns.

"This place could do with some torches. Can hardly see in front of m- YOUCH!" Jellybean rammed straight into a stalactite, causing him to yelp in pain. "Stupid cave."

Seeing that the only thing harmed was Jellybean's pride, the trio continued onwards to their meeting spot, with the other two giggling at Jellybean's expense. After what felt like hours, they finally see a dim light at the far end of the cave accompanied by buzzing voices. They galloped towards the rest of the group.

"One, two, three. Okay, so I guess were not the last one's to get here" Zulu said enthusiastically as the three of them joined the others around a glowing, organic sac.

"Actually, you are the last ones here. Ghost and Rook got bored of waiting and decided to explore that part of the cave." Siren, the only other mareling in the group said, pointing to a small exit just behind her.

Siren was a hive drone, the changeling equivalent of pony architects and nurses. Their jobs were to keep the hive in one piece, build hive outposts, stockpiling supplies, taking care of the young, and at times, create cocoons to hold their captives and wounded changelings, caring for the latter and the former.

Drones are the backbone of the whole hive. They had the innate ability to produce certain types of sacs. The organic sac in the middle of the cave giving off light was an example. How they make it was their secret.

The other two remained quiet, still a bit tired with their run-in with an ursa the day prior. 

The first one, Coal, was scrawnier than the average-sized changeling, and had distinct scratch marks on his chitin. He was an overaggressive fighter. A bit twitchy and quick to jump in at the first sign of trouble.

The other one, Brutus, resembled someling who stayed too long in the gym. He was the muscle of his squad, apparently. In comparison to Coal, Brutus -or "Brute" as he was known- was a little more reserved and had a calm mind, despite his nickname. 

Both of them belonged to the 10th squad, and formed something close to a brotherhood. Even as the two of them were flung out of Canterlot, they were never separated for long.

"How long were they gone for?" asked Zulu.

"Just about twenty minutes or so." Siren shrugged. "So what took you?"

=====

"How much farther does this tunnel go? We've been walking for hours!" Rook whined.

"We've only been walking for ten minutes." Ghost replied with a chill of annoyance in his voice.

"Well it feels like five hours."

"Get a grip and keep that light alive. We don't want to fall down any holes."

Rook and Ghost had left three changelings at the meeting spot so the two of them could look around the cave. Who knows? Maybe there might be something special about it. Though Ghost had other motives for snooping around. If things were going well and there were still other changelings out there, this cave would be a suitable HQ for them.

He didn't know what good would come out of turning this cave into an HQ, other than a place to stay at night, but he was sure it could amount to something. Maybe a hive outpost? A place for other changelings to seek refuge? That would be a plausible purpose.

The path was winding and narrow and it was awfully dark, and the air was even staler than at the site. It became increasingly compressed as they moved along. Rook wasn't by his side. Ghost shrugged, declaring that he must be behind him.

"Hey, check this out!" Rook called out. He was a few meters ahead of the commander.

Wait, when did he get over there? Ghost was confused but trotted closer to where a ray of light pierced through the floor.

"Isn't that the meeting site?" Rook said, looking at the hole in the floor.

Curious, Ghost took a peek at the hole. "It is." He confirmed. "Look, Zulu and the others just arrived."

The two of them could hear the others talking from up there. "We shouldn't keep them waiting." Ghost said, turning for the exit.

"Right behind you Bo- AAAAaaa!" Rook suddenly screamed as the ground crumbled beneath him, landing on top of the pile of rock and dirt with a thump. The startled gasps of the fellows in the room followed, along with rushing hoof falls.

Ghost rushed over to the enlarged hole to see a dizzy Rook being aided by the other changelings. The commander changeling fluttered down gently beside the group. "You okay Rook?"

"Aft pft ah?" was Rook's groggy reply.

"He's fine. Let's get on to business."

The group of eight changelings gathered around the organic torch and settled down, their eyes on their appointed leader.

"As you know," Ghost started, "we haven't been contacted by anyling after the invasion."

The disheartened nods from the changelings confirmed Ghost's statement.

"I've been trying to contact my fellow officers and squad mates, but no dice. Now I know what you're all thinking, but I'm sure that it's only because we're out of range."

"Did you try contacting our squad mates?" Zulu chimed in, backed up by questioning stares of the others.

"It's not that easy." Ghost responded. "To successfully contact another changeling, you have to know their designation, their rank, squad, how they look, and... basically who they are. So it's either you met them beforehoof, or someling gave you details about the changeling in question. Because of that I can only get in touch with my squad and other officers. It's a bit complicated."

"So does that mean you can contact us now that we've met?" Coal, the changeling with the scratched chitin spoke up.

"Yeah." Ghost let out a sigh. It didn't sound like a sigh of disappointment, or relief. It sounded like a sigh from someone who knew that he was going to regret something he was about to do.

"Gather 'round, everyling." There was a short pause. He had second thoughts about it, but decided it was for the best. "We're cut off from the others with no idea where the closest cluster is." He paused again, diverting his eyes from looking directly at the group. "We have to break a few rules if we want to stay together as a group. So I'm going to teach you how to use the channel."

=====

"WHY THE BUCK DID I TEACH THEM HOW TO USE THE CHANNEL?!" It had only been a day, and Ghost already regretted that lesson in the cave.

"This is so cool!"

"Hey can ya hear me?"

"I can see you from here, Zulu!"

"Anyone seen Jellybean?"

"Told you my name's not Jell-"

"CHRYSALIS! Watch were you're going, Rook!"

"Watch out for that tree!"

"WOULD EVERYLING JUST SHUT UP?" Ghost screamed through, but his calls fell on deaf ears. 

"Ha ha! Nice crash Rook!"

I can see why this thing was officer-exclusive. The channel traffic had, so far, only served as way to get a horrible headache for the commander. Maybe it would have been better if he only taught them how to link a private line.

"Hey guys! Siren here, and I think I found something. It looks like an old ruin or something." The mareling's serious tone was like a cue for silence, much to Ghost's relief. "Meet me there."

=====

It only took a couple of minutes before everyling was at the ruined entrance of what looked like a former castle. The craftsmanship of the standing pillars stood the test of time... mostly anyway. But they were not there to admire pony craftsmanship.

The place was like a candle attracting a swarm of moths. It was almost eerie, and the clouded night sky didn't help at all at making the scene any more welcoming.

Nonetheless, the group cantered through the hallway towards a throne room Siren had described beforehoof.

"Siren?" Rook's voice echoed throughout the large throne room. "No time for games, Siren! Come out, come out where ever you are!" But only echos of his voice filled the still night air.

"Shh! Keep quiet for a second." Ghost looked around and saw no sign of the changeling anywhere. The place was quiet. He felt a chill run down his shell. No place should be this quiet, even if it was an abandoned ruin in the middle of a forest. "Something's not right here. Everyling, buddy up and scramble. Look for any clues."

The changelings paired up with their buddies except Ghost. He headed behind the thrones. If it was anything like the hive, surely there would be something hidden there. He scrutinized every brick on the walls and floor for any signs of some loose or movable doodads. Every ancient castle had that, right?

Finding nothing on that part of the wall, he moved to inspect another, then another, until found himself facing a door, cleverly hidden behind the remnants of once-bright red curtains. What do we have here?

=====

Rook paired up with Runner and the two of them opted to backtrack and make sure they didn't miss anything after they rushed towards the throne room. Surely enough, they found... nothing. Well, they did find a neat sculpture of gears on one part of the wall, but that didn't really give them any ideas where the missing mareling was. Still, it was nice to look at, if you were the gear nerd type of changeling.

Runner went up to that sculpture and tried turning the large gear, just to humor himself. "This one's stuck." He said with a grin. "Well, there's nothing here. Want to go search someplace else? Uhh, Rook?"

He looked around, but couldn't find his squad mate. Great, another missing changeling. "Rook? Where are ya? This isn't funny, Rook!"

"Hey, over here!" A voice beckoned from out of nowhere. It was barely audible, let alone recognizable. 

"That you, Rook?"

"Behind the curtains! I found something."

Shrugging, Runner sheepishly approached the tapestry across from where he was. Careful not to rip the rotting fibers, the changeling ducked under it and what he saw surprised him. Not! It was wall. A dead end crawling with moss and bugs.

"Quit playing Rook." Just out of his view, a hoof reached out behind him, slowly inching it's way to his shoulder. "This is serious, we need to find Siren and- GAH!" Runner suddenly jumped, and in a split second found himself fixed on the ceiling, using claws to keep a grip on the stone surface.

"Runner, where'd ya run off to?" Rook said, coming out of the shadows of a hidden passage. His head was full of cobwebs and he clawed at his own face to clear his view. "Stupid webs." In hindsight, perhaps it would have been best if he used his horn to illuminate the passage before blindly treading the darkness.

Once the webs were out of his eyes, he looked left, right, and finally above, where he saw a stiff figure of a clawed changeling hanging upside-down with his whole body shaking violently and his teeth clattering. "Runner? What are you doing up there?"

Hearing his friend's voice, Runner stiffly turned his head to where the other stood and let out a nervous laugh. He wasn't ready to let go of the ceiling just yet, his muscles were still tense. The same couldn't be said for the ceiling though, as it crumbled from age plus the constant vibrations from the scared fixture.

It was only a matter of seconds before the crumbling stone gave way, and with it a spectacular rain of changeling and rubble.

"DAMMIT! D-Don't scare me like th-that!" was the first thing Runner screamed when he got back to his hooves.

Rook shrank under Runner's twitching eye as he said his apologies, though completely unaware of what he did. "So anyway, I found a secret passage. I accidentally leaned back on a loose brick and this part of the wall-" he gestured to where he came out of earlier. "-just slid open. There's some really neat stuff in here. Come on, I'll show you."

Not waiting for a reply, Rook dragged his partner through the tight hallway with only their horns lighting the walls. "Watch your step," he cautioned.

The path introduced a set of stairs which lead downward. It wasn't long until they stumbled upon a rectangular room which was surprisingly well lighted, and Rook pointed out why.

He trotted over to a corner and planted his hoof on a very familiar object. A glowing sac, just like the one at the cave before. "Know what this means?" Rook asked. He was clearly beaming from his find. "Someling's been here. And we know Siren could make this kind of sac."

"Good find." Runner was visibly impressed and didn't waste time contacting the others. "Runner here. Rook found a light sac, or torch sac, or whatever you guys call it, in a hidden room. Looks like Siren's been busy looking around. Anyling tried contacting her yet?"

"She doesn't answer." Ghost reported. "Been trying to contact her, but she's silent. Though I can say for sure she's here. I can feel it. Just can't pinpoint where exactly."

"Let me guess, an officer's secret?" Coal poked. He sounded annoyed, probably because he didn't like others hiding things from him.

"Watch your tone Coal. Not my fault the hive has these rules. Just know that I basically exiled myself from the hive by teaching you how to use the channel. Arguments aside, keep up the search. She has to be here somewhere. And the sooner we find her, the sooner we can get out of this place. I can't shake the feeling that someone's watching us. I might just be imagining things, but double time it. Any luck on your end Zulu?"

=====

"None so far. Jellybean and I have been wandering around these rooms for quite a while now. Nothing but dust and broken furniture." The mareling reported.

"I told you, my name is not- GAH! Forget it." Jellybean didn't even bother saying it through the channel. He'd probably get cut off again. Might as well let the name grow on him. At least it didn't sound as corny as his real name, and he started to like it to be honest.

"There, there, Jellybean." Zulu said with mocked pity.

The changeling just snickered as he moved to the edge of the room to resume his search. So far the only thing the pair found was jewelry, utensils, broken mugs, and the occasional jumping spider, which preferred to jump on the mareling rather than Jellybean himself.

It was entertaining for him to watch Zulu suddenly cry out and throw herself at the end of the room in less than a second. It was like she had legs made of springs or something.

"Well I got nothing." Jellybean slammed the drawer shut. Just like the other rooms before, this one held nothing but useless junk and a ridiculous amount of dust. The two changelings even fashioned a type of filter over their faces, but they still sneezed once in a while. "Lets move on before my head explodes from sneezing."

They opened the door to another room and found that it was surprisingly empty. "There has to be something here!" Jellybean declared. "I mean a big empty room with absolutely nothing inside. Yeah, spells 'nothing here', right? And that's exactly what they want us to think! They're hiding something here, I can just smell it."

Zulu couldn't help but tear up trying to hold back her laugh at Jellybean's ridiculous claims. "Wait, who's they?"

"They. You know, who ever made this place. I bet there's even some booby traps here."

"Hey, watch were you step. The whole ceiling might fall down and crush us. Heh heh."

Jellybean boldly marched into the room with his head held high. "Ha-ha. Want to bet we'll find something h-" His train of though halted abruptly as his senses indicated that the brick he just stepped on felt a little loose. A spine-chilling click followed. "Uhhh... I win?"

He was trying to act cool, but the sound of turning mechanisms just behind the walls quickly made him pale.

"What did you do?" Zulu inquired in a state of panic.

But Jellybean was frozen stiff. The sound of turning cogs and chains moved from one part of the wall to another. Every second feeling like a minute. Everything just slowed down from his perspective.

The door was shut with a loud bang.

Then suddenly, from the wall he was facing, large spikes shot out from the holes -taken for mere design before- and rapidly made their way towards the changelings.

Zulu barely managed to dive out of the way. She closed her eyes as the sound of Jellybean's screams and the sound of metal grinding into stone filled the room. 

It became deathly silent. The rain began to pour. She didn't want to look. She didn't want to see her partner impaled on the wall. She just curled up into a ball and let the tears roll down her face. What a way to go.

"A... A l-little h-h-help, pl-please?"

"Jelly!" Zulu rose up and spun around to see her partner impaled on the wall, but not in the way she imagined it. The projectiles went strait through the holes of Jellybean's hooves. He looked like a pin cushion from where Zulu stood.

"Don't just stand there! Get me down from here!"

"I don't know. You look better like that to be honest."

"ZULU!"

=====

"What'cha got there Brute?" Coal asked from across the room. 

They were in some kind of gallery. The paintings and portraits were rotting with age, just like everything else in this forsaken ruin. Critters were prancing about the hall like it was part of the forest itself. Well, the way it's looking now sure makes it look that way.

"A whole lot of rusted metal and broken glass." replied Brutus. "You know it's weird, it's like the glass was just broken a few moments ago. Doesn't really sit well with the old, broken down castle look."

"Really?" Coal trotted closer to his partner. "Hmm. Probably broke cause of these critters or a stray rock or something. Don't think too much about it, we have to focus on finding Siren."

"Hey guys, this is Zulu. Watch out for traps. Jellybean nearly got skewered. Other than that, still no luck finding any clues about Siren."

Coal sighed. As if a search wasn't wasting enough time, now they had to worry about booby traps? "Thanks Zulu. We'll keep our eyes peeled."

"Ponies wouldn't booby trap a gallery, would they?" Brute asked.

"If they did, it must have been fun for the janitor."

They resumed their vain search for clues, only to end up empty hoofed a few minutes later. 

This whole search was pointless. Why did that drone go off by herself and waste our time? Coal was undoubtedly annoyed with the whole thing, because for one, he was geared for action, not sleuthing, and two, he could have cared less about that drone. If she decided to go into tight spaces and fall down a hole fifty feet deep then, served her right! Everyling knows better than to go off and get yourself killed. Then again, what could he expect from someling on the lowest rank of all changelings?

"You don't seem too upset about our missing mareling." Brutus cut through to Coal's train of thought.

"What'd you expect? She goes around getting lost, and now we have to waste our time finding her? She could have at least placed some markers where she went so we wouldn't have to blindly prod the darkness. And look! The rain just fell. Perfect."

"Oh, I see. It's because you had to skip out on that date of yours with that little filly?"

"What? Of course not! What do you take me for?"

"I don't know, I mean, you are the one who decided to masquerade as a young colt from out of town."

"Aw come on. It's the oldest trick in the scroll! Colts and fillies are easily loved by everypony."

"Oh I can see that. I'm pretty sure that grey filly with the blue-rimmed glasses found you rather dashing."

"Hey, shut it!" Coal started to walk away, but before he made some distance, the ground whole floor suddenly shook. 

When the shaking and rumbling stopped just a few moments later, it was Rook's voice which came through the telepathic channel first. "I did not do that! I swear!"

Runner tuned in with an explanation. "He tripped on a lever on the wall and set off some kind of machine."

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Really now?" It was Ghost talking this time. "It's a shame. Who ever was responsible for that also opened a passage. Too bad, eh? I guess I'll take the credit for this find."

"What? That's not fair!"

"Alright everyling, double time it back to the throne room."
> Chapter 3: Traps
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3
Traps


Ghost had lead the group down a wide and straight tunnel lit only by light sacs clinging to the walls. Judging from the amount of light it gave off, it was placed not too long ago. Siren must have been here, or so the changelings hoped.

"Gah, still can't get in touch with her." Ghost's exhaustion showed through the brave face he was putting on. He would try to get a link through to Siren every five minutes, but all he got was just a whole lot of quiet.

He didn't want to admit it, but he couldn't help but think that the mareling had some sort of accident. If that was true, and with the discovery of booby traps, all the commander could do was hope that it wasn't anything fatal.

Their pace was agonizingly slow, but they couldn't risk setting off a trap. But fate had other plans.

CLICK!

"What was that?" Jellybean got jumpy. He already survived one trap, and that was enough for him.

Everyling was standing still, waiting for whatever it was they sprung.

"Do you hear that?" Ghost whipped back. The passageway started to rumble.

"That's not a good sign." Rook declared. "Something's moving."

The changelings looked back the way they came and a wall with a face full of spikes was heading strait towards them.

"Fly! FLY!" Ghost commanded, and the changelings took off for a race for their lives. "Runner! Go on ahead, find a place where we can dodge this thing!"

Runner immediately sped off ahead to find a side route, or at least a niche they could huddle in to avoid the wall of death steadily gaining on the others. No pressure, right? Not like everyling's life hung on the line.

The rush of adrenalin in his veins made his stomach go queasy, but this mostly went unnoticed due to the urgency of the situation. He couldn't afford to miss an escape route and be crushed along with the scrambled remains of what used to be the swarm. No, that's not how he was going to die. He'll make sure of it.

In front of him, he could see the trail of light sacs end, and a faint crack of light was visible to the left. He stopped to see what it was. Another pathway lit up by the sacs. He quickly gestured for the others to make the turn there before diving in himself to give room.

His heart rang in his eardrums as he watched the entrance for any signs of his group. He inched closer as the beating of their wings became louder. Ghost was shouting something to the other changelings, though Runner couldn't make anything out.

But he didn't need to worry about that. Soon enough the rest of the group scampered into view, barely getting scraped by the wall of spikes. Runner breathed a sigh of relief as the group dusted themselves off. 

Ghost proceeded to pat him on the back and went straight down the tunnel. Well, it was something at least.

The group felt the exhaustion kick in when the adrenaline wore off. Needless to say, they were all dragging their flanks by the time they reached the end of the hall.

"Why don't you take a rest here. I'll check ahead." Ghost said, taking his leave.

Breathless and overcome with fatigue, the changelings dropped to the ground for a well-earned rest. No words were exchanged as the terror of almost finding their end was still fresh in their minds.

=====

"Excellent. I never thought that they could find that secret passageway that easily, let alone sidestep the traps, and surviving the ones they triggered."

"Dumb luck. Should we send the experiments after them?"

"No, not yet. Those things will have their time."

"That female doesn't seem to exhibit the same characteristics as the first one."

"That's because she's not a drone. She's just another soldier."

"Ahh, I see. Just another useless subject for the- HURK! Ckk... gha... S-stop!"

"Watch you're tongue, Doctor, or you'll end up without one. You! Send out the experiments. And make sure those changelings are left alive, or you'll have to fill in for them. This had been a nice chat, Doc, but I have other things to attend to. Ta-ta."

"Gah! Tch... One of these days..."

=====

"Whew, I really needed that break." Zulu said, her face beaming with enthusiasm. The same couldn't be said for the others though as they got up to rejoin their leader. "I thought we were going to be crushed by that thing." Still she was met with silence. It made her feel a bit awkward, not only that, it made her feel like she wasn't even there. "That's just rude..." She mumbled as she followed behind the others.

Little did the changelings know that just beyond earshot, claws were scratching on the walls, destroying the light source that lead them there. Creatures of darkness quietly stalk their prey with bared fangs dripping with saliva, savoring the moment when their claws tear and break the changelings' chitinous exoskeletons.

An uneasy silence loomed over the party. Even Zulu had succumbed to the silence. Only hoof falls could be heard ringing in the tunnel.

The group started feeling chills running down their spines, but didn't dare talk about it. Everyling was still trembling, and none of them wanted to spark the panic.

=====

Ghost's nagging feeling only grew the longer he stayed in the confines of this wretched tunnel. There weren't any exits, no vents, not even holes made by rodents. In fact, not a single rodent or bug was seen ever since they entered the secret passage. What's going on here? He knew exactly what was going on. Everything was playing out too smoothly. Not once have they faced a dead end. It was like they were being intentionally led somewhere. This has got to be a trap. Someone's pulling the strings here...

The changeling's body abruptly froze, and with it his mind. "Oh, Chrysalis..." He took a shaky step forward, feeling as if he would burst out screaming at any moment. His mind was trying to figure out what the scene ahead of him meant, but in it's rattled pace, it just simply froze.

"No... Don't tell me we were too late..."

Ghost planted an angry hoof at the ground before turning away in disgust. "Waste of time..." he grumbled under his breath. "Everyling turn back. We're done he-"

"G-ghost..."

The commander stopped and whipped his head back, to be greeted with the gruesome scene he laid his eyes upon earlier. Blood stained walls adorned with deep scratches on the surface, scorch marks from a changeling's magic blasts. Evidence of a fight, and by the presence of what looked to be a set of changeling wings on the ground and a piece of a broken blue shell, it was a loosing fight for the drone. But there was one thing he overlooked. The body of the drone he though laid lifeless on a pool of her own blood, was miraculously breathing, albeit slowly. Her time was running out.

"Gh... ost..." She managed to squeak out a second time which made the commander rush to her side.

"What happened to you? Who did this?"

"It... is... a trap."

"GHOST!"

A volley of hoof falls could be heard ringing in the distance. Ghost spotted movement down the tunnel, a closer look revealed the other changelings running in panic. A horde of... something was chasing them. 

Dammit! It's a dead end here. Suddenly the wall to his left opened up to another unlit passage. "Not this again." Between suffering a horrible death from unknown creatures and living for a few more minutes, he took the second option. "Over here!"

Ghost picked up the wounded drone and lead the other changelings into the new passage, not knowing what it held for them, nor did he care. It was clear that whoever was behind this was only playing with them. What significant difference did it make?

Right on cue, when the changelings were all huddled together, that part of the wall was shut, snuffing out the light that came from the outside and leaving darkness to reign.

"Everyone alright? Rook?"

"Here."

"Zulu."

"Here."

"Coal?"

There was no answer.

"Coal?"

Still nothing.

"He's gone." Ghost identified the voice of Brutus.

"What do you mean?" he inquired.

"Those things got him," said Runner. "One of them drove a scythe through his back. He was swallowed up by that mob before we could do anything."

"I see... anyling else?"

"Just him."

Ghost illuminated the room with his horn. He saw the sorrow-stricken faces of his comrades. It hurt him that he didn't show that kind of empathy. Through his years as a commander, he saw his own soldiers dying in front of him. Often those soldiers had grown on him. Seeing them die caused him die inside as well. In a way, it made him better at his job.

The moment of silence was interrupted by the sudden sound of erupting flames. The changelings were blinded by the sudden influx of light. So this is it? We die by burning in our own chitin? Fine, at least this nightmare will be over. Ghost waited for his time to end, but found that there was a lack of extreme heat and agonizing pain. His eyes soon adjusted to light and was greeted by a room surrounded by lit torches, and another hall leading straight ahead.

But at that moment of being bathed in the immaculate glow of fire, he saw a horrific scene. The walls were covered in dried blood. Bones were piled on the corners, and only now did the smell of death and decay enter his nostrils. "What kind of sick place is this?"

There was only silence until a voice seeped out from the walls with a sense of vileness that rivaled even the queen's. "Hello, changelings." The voice said. The party scrambled to find where the voice was coming from. "Welcome to my little maze. Shall we play a game?"

Zulu pointed to small, blackened vents protruding from the walls, a possible es- 

"Don't even bother turning into bugs. The vents will burn you to a crisp, let me show you." A sudden jet of flames roared from the vents which turned the room into a boiling microwave. It sucked up all the oxygen in the room before being snuffed out, but by then the changelings were already gasping for precious air.

"Ha ha ha ha! Now lets have a little fun. Find your way out of the maze, and we'll get to the parts worth dying for."

The deep sound of double doors busting open in the distance brought with it fresh air which the changelings greedily gasped up to save their dear lives.

"This is not good!" Rook stood over Siren with an expression of utter horror. "She's not gonna last long like this." Siren had almost bled out from the wounds she suffered, and the heat just made things worse by increasing her bleeding.

"Outta the way!" Jellybean cut through the others and immediately cast a spell that made the mareling's wounds glow. Siren winced weakly. "Don't worry, you'll be fine, Siren." But Jellybean's face said otherwise. He could see that her wounds were deeper than expected and went through some vital areas. It was surprising that she was still breathing. The wounds fully closed thanks to Jellybean's magic, but the damage had already been done. It was only a matter of time for her.

Zulu suddenly cut through the silence as her hooves clacked against the floor. "We wont get out of this by just sitting around. We have to find a way out."

"IF there is a way out."

"Rook, I know things are looking bad-"

"Looking bad? We've been separated from the swarm for two weeks with no contact or even an idea if there is even a swarm to return to." Rook took a step forward which made Zulu stumble two steps back. "Cole's dead, Siren's dying, and soon we'll all be joining them in Tartarus! For who? A puppeteer who's been pulling the strings ever since we-"

"Enough!" Ghost extended one of his forelegs into a blade, getting in between the two. "We get it. But sitting here on our haunches will only make us starve ourselves to death." He turned the blade back into a hoof and trotted off down the hall and past the double doors they had heard earlier.

"We are changelings. Adaptability is what we're all about. We will find a way." It sure sounded encouraging enough, but Ghost had his doubts too. Unsettling would be an understatement of how he felt as he made his way down the hall, but there was no way his pride as a hive official would allow him to turn back after what he said. Zulu was quick to follow him.

Green flames surrounded Brutus as his frame heightened and expanded. His hind legs straightened, his body went erect, muscles bulged throughout the body. shoulders articulated to the sides and the his fore hooves separated into five digits on each. Grey fur covered his body like a winter coat, his horn split into two and rested on either side of his head. When the flames died, it revealed a hulking minotaur, roughly twice as big as the average pony.

Brute wrapped his arms around the fatally wounded drone and cradled her in his arms. "I'll carry her. It's easier this way." Without waiting for the others, he followed the commander down the hall with Jellybean close by to check on the mareling's condition.

"Rook..." Runner started after the others but glanced back at his buddy, "There's no point in just standing around here, waiting to die. Come on, before those things come busting through the walls."

Not wanting to be left alone, Rook followed the rest of the party down the hall to their dooms. Doom was such an appropriate word if the blood stains on the walls said anything about it. He passed the double doors and joined the others in the maze. Through twists and turns, the party walked in pairs, understanding the importance of utilizing the buddy system, but none of them talked.

For half an hour, they walked aimlessly in the maze, in utter silence. The heavy miasma of death which filled the whole maze made it hard not to gag with every shallow breath. The deeper they got into the maze, the heavier the air became. It was a bad omen that would soon prove to be real.

Jellybean's ears twitched in different directions, "Did you hear that?" All eyes turned to question him before their ears took the liberty to scan the air for themselves.

"I don't hear anything, Jelly." said Zulu. The others nodded in affirmation of silence.

"I swear I heard something. There! Did you hear that?" The other changelings' faces were twisted with confusion. "How could you not hear it?" Hearing the noise again, Jellybean decided to let his ears lead him and whoever decided to follow. He cantered off ahead of the others.

"Hey, stick to your buddy! Jellybean!" Ghost and the others quickly trailed after the changeling, only to find three paths splitting off to different directions with no indication to where the changeling had gone. "Great. Jellybean! Where are you, which path did you take?"

When no response was given, Ghost decided to try the channel. "Jellybean, which path did you take?"

An abrupt, terrified scream from the one they were looking for gave them all the directions they needed. Without wasting another second, they ran off to the right path and followed it through to another crossroad where a second scream pointed the way. The nearness of which was enough to urge the party to increase their pace.

They stopped dead in their tracks at the foot of a changeling's fresh corpse, speared through the heart by a broken bone. It's blood drained into a pool which trailed the niches of the cobble floor. 

A shivering figure, covered in fresh blood, kicked itself against the wall. "S-S-Sorry... I-I am... s-so sorry..." A closer look revealed that the figure was Jellybean, a terrified expression plastered his face. Zulu's instincts kicked in and she rushed over to the frightened changeling, and like a pony mother trying to calm down her foal, she stroked Jellybean's head to shush him down. It was an unusual display for a changeling. Changelings never cared for the grubs, even if it were their own. They had the drones take care of them, and even they weren't that motherly. Zulu spending too much time as a pony was the common thoughts of every other changeling there.

Ghost prodded the corpse with his hoof before unceremoniously flipping it over so he could inspect the other side of the body "It's Coal." He announced, indicating a scar on the corpse's chitin. "You said those things took him."

"They did." Rook answered. "We saw it with our own eyes. Something impaled him with a scythe, or a giant claw before he was overrun by those... monstrosities."

"He... He at-ta-at-attacked me." Jellybean squeaked. "Tried to bite my throat out."

Ghost checked, but there was no evidence of a mind control spell. Moving on to the physical checks on the corpse, he found what looked to be bite marks on the back of his neck but it wasn't like any bite marks any of them ever saw. It looked like three fangs making a triangular pattern, equal spacing as if it were from a precision tool.

The commander glanced back at Zulu and Jellybean. The mareling's effort paid off. Jellybean had calmed down considerably and mumbled something about him being a medic and not being built for that kind of experience and stress.

He looked at the minotaur who was isolated in one side, checking the mareling drone to avoid looking at the corpse of his squad mate. Losing a friend was hard, he cannot be blamed.

Going back to checking Coal's dead body, Ghost lifted an eyelid open. The blue hues of his eyes were completely replaced by crimson. That only meant one thing. "He was driven mad."

"Driven mad... by what?" Brutus asked. "I know he is- was a little unstable, but..."

"He was driven mad by love starvation." That somehow made the air around the room feel heavier.

"But he had enough supply for two days when we got here." Rook said in uncertainty. "It's not like he used it all up in an hour."

"I think he's been drained. And I'm sure these marks had something to do with it." Ghost would have gone on, but the sound of growling made it clear that there were other things lurking here, and he highly doubted that whatever those things were were friendly.

"Channel only. Come on, and no one strays off again."
> Chapter 4: Forks and Crossroads
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4
Forks and Crossroads


"They seem to be doing well, a bit too well."

"Since when were you so worried? You said it yourself, none left the maze alive, and they are only half way there. By the way, isn't it about that time?"

"Oh? How silly of me to forget. Excuse me."

=====

Ghost's group found themselves faced with a fork in the road. The maze split off in two directions. "At this point, we can just guess which way to take." The commander glanced back at the group. "So, left or right?"

Zulu put a hoof to her chin and mused on it. She winced, put her hooves to her head and massaged her temples, giving a groan.

"Hey, no need to pop your head thinking about it." Runner jokingly said.

The mareling tossed left and right which made them start to worry.

"You alright Zulu? Zulu? Hey? Hey!"

Zulu's tossing became more desperate and now she was grinding her teeth. "My head! It hurts!" She moaned in pain. "It BUCKING hurts! Make it stop!"

Jellybean's horn glowed over the mareling but he soon felt a sharp pain in his head. He dropped to the ground with his fore hooves on his head and began to chant about the pain. "It hurts, it hurts!"

Rook was the next to fall victim to the strange sickness, then Brutus went to the ground. Everyling fell to the ground holding their heads and chanting something similar to Zulu's mantra. Ghost tried to power through the massive headache, his skull feeling like it was going to burst at any moment. The pain was so intense that he could hardly even breathe. Eventually his limbs failed him and he dropped on the hard floor. He could feel his cranium pulsing, ready to burst in a gory explosion of brain matter.

As if the headaches weren't enough, the maze rumbled, indicating another mechanism was at work. The rumbling was but a gentle hum, but to them it felt as if hammers were being dropped on their heads from the top of Canterlot Castle's spire. One part of the floor was rising. 

"No..."

It rose and rose until it became a low wall.

"No!" Ghost stood up through sheer will power and clumsily dragged himself to the wall which continued to rise without giving a sign of slowing down. The wall hit the ceiling with a deep, loud, reverberating bang, sending dust and small debris to pummel the changelings.

The commander threw a punch at the wall before ramming his head on it and slid down back to the cold cobble. The wall had split the party in half.

Just as Ghost felt like his skull couldn't take it anymore, the pain disappeared like a stone dropped into the bog, swallowed up by the murky waters. The changeling commander didn't waste time and surrounded himself with flames. When it subsided, there was no physical change. "What in Equestria?" He tried to morph again, but gained the same result.

"Let me try." Runner attempted to change into a pony, only to be stuck being a changeling. "That's odd."

Zulu shook her head after her attempt failed.

"Hey! Can you hear me?" Rook's muffled voice pierced through the thick wall. "I, I can't use the channel, and transforming is a no go too."

"Same here." Runner spoke up for the other two. "Are the others with you?"

"Yeah. Jellybean, Brutus and I recovered from the headache, but Siren's not doing so hot."

This time Ghost spoke, "Alright, I want you to take a torch and mark the walls as you move through the maze. It's a long shot, but maybe we'll cross paths. We'll do the same over here." Like he said, it was a long shot and the chances of them meeting up were slim

Ghost could hear some panicked murmuring from the other side.

"Sweet Chrysalis, they're everywhere! Go, go, go! Ghost, we've run into a problem, gotta run!" The sound of hooves on cobble faded into the darkness. What problem did they run into?

Ghost glanced at the two changelings with him. "Let's get moving." He pulled out a torch from the wall with his magic. "Well at least that still works. Come on."

The group followed the right side of the wall, hoping to eventually find an exit. They took turns holding the torch against the wall to leave a black line of soot to mark where they had been. Not a single trap was triggered yet as they took the time to scrutinize every inch of the cobble as they made tracks. Ghost felt like they were being watched again and slightly quickened their pace.

"I hope the others are alright." The mareling mumbled to herself.

Runner heard her and flashed her a smile. "Don't worry about it, Rook's a smart little nymph. He'll stay out of trouble. And if trouble finds them, that muscle mass of Brutus will break down any obstacle. As for us, we have our great leader here to keep us safe."

"I guess... but... no, you're right! They'll be okay, and so will we."

Great leader? Safe? Ghost couldn't help but cringe. The last time those three words were strung together in a single sentence, things didn't end well. Dark memories invaded his mind. He could see the young faces of the troops he was leading against satyr raiders in the forest bordering the hive. They were fresh from training and eager to take on their first ever mission. He was just promoted to captain back then, and he shared their enthusiasm as this was his first mission in command. Funny how things could easily change course.

"Hey, Commander. Your turn with the torch." Runner pulled Ghost out of the darker recesses of his mind. "You okay, sir? You looked like you zoned out."

"It's nothing to worry about." He said, taking hold of the torch. "It's just... never mind. It's nothing, really."

A cold breeze stopped the party of three where they stood. "Tell me I wasn't the only one who felt that." The mareling shuddered.

The party looked around and their eyes laid upon a large hole in the ceiling big enough for the three of them to fly side by side.

"Looks like we found our way out of here, let's go!" Runner flew up but was immediately grounded by the mareling.

"We don't know what's up there!" the mareling said.

Ghost levitated the torch through the hole. Something sparkled inside, like a cluster of tiny gems reflecting the light back. He drove the torch further and was terrified of what he saw. "Oh sweet Chrysalis." The tiny glimmering gems were actually a set of eyes, the owner of which hissed and spat at the torch, dousing the light.

The commander turned and galloped as fast as he could, beckoning the other two to follow quickly. But they just stood there for a moment, unsure of what to think. The creature that resided in the hole crept down, dropping debris down below. Zulu gave a cry of pure terror when she realized why the commander galloped off in such a hurry. She too galloped after him and Runner was urging her to go beyond her maximum speed. Because just behind them, an eight legged creature crawled out of the ceiling with fangs the size of a fully grown changeling. Its' many eyes kept a constant glare as they beamed out the reflected light from the torches on the walls.

"Come on!" Ghost was standing just ahead the two of them.

"What are you doing? RUN!" Zulu screamed, nearly tripping over her own hooves from fright.

The two passed by him and Ghost sent the torches on the walls clattering in front of the giant arachnid then galloped at top speed. That only slowed down the colossal spider for a second. It took refuge on the ceiling, still chasing it's prey. Flying would have helped here, if only there weren't so many cobwebs to blind them.

Arrows whizzed by, spikes shot out from the ceiling and the floors. Trap by trap, they triggered each one in their mad dash. Neither the changelings nor the arachnid were phased. The arachnid was bent on catching it's prey, and the changelings were bent on living another day. As they rounded the last corner, the spider was mere inches away. Just as it was about to strike down it's first victim, one of the changelings stepped on a loose brick which made part of the ceiling come crashing down and landing on the spider before rising up again, stunning it momentarily. Noticing this, Ghost went back for the button. This chase ends here.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Runner and Zulu sang in chorus, stopping where they were.

Ghost misjudged his move and found himself looking desperately for the pressure plate. He found it, but before he could send the ceiling to crash down, the spider sent it's foreleg through the changeling's hind leg. Ghost screamed in pain as his body earned another hole. "Press the button!" He screamed, pointing at the pressure plate. "Press it!"

Runner jumped into action, going full steam ahead. There was no time. The spider was already spinning it's web to mummify it's prey. He got to the plate but hesitated pressing it.

"What are you waiting for?! Press the bucking plate!" Ghost fought through the tumbling and spinning he was subjected to.

"But you'll be crushed too!"

"Press- Pmhh!" The changeling was now completely covered in a cocoon.

With all his might, Runner pressed the plate hard and the ceiling crusher slammed down. He repeatedly pressed the button, hoping that mashing it as fast as he could would make the crusher stronger. He ignored the spider's pleas and just pressed and pressed and pressed. He could hear every squishy detail of crusher meeting spider. The monstrous arachnid dropped, loosing the last ounce of life it had. Just before the final blow, Zulu yanked the cocoon free from the spider's appendages with her magic. The last blow broke the spider's hardened body, cracked it open like an egg thrown against a wall. The arachnid literally exploded on contact. It's fluids decorated the walls and bathed the changelings in crimson, green and brown.

Desperately, they clawed at the cocoon, separating web from changeling. It was a task easier said than done as their own hooves stuck to the fresh webbing. The stench of spider innards rivaled that of the nursing pool inside the hive, no, it was worse than that, about twenty times worse. The changelings, used to gross stuff like this had to stop for a moment to keep themselves from being reintroduced to the last solid thing they ate. Finally after what felt like an eternity, they freed Ghost's head from his prison. He gasped up for air as soon as he was able. His lungs burned as if the air was hot sauce. In a few more minutes he was free.

"Why did it have to be spiders?" Zulu was fighting every nerve she had to work up the courage to even get that close to the thing, let alone be close enough to yank Ghost out of its clutches.

From the end of the hall, they could hear clattering of tiny clawed feet. The ground started to rumble as well. "Oh, you just had to say it!" Ghost groaned. He tried to stand but his wounded hind leg was bleeding and burning. That leg wouldn't be useful any time soon. "Help me up, will you?"

Runner threw Ghost on his back and dragged him to a spot well away from the dead arachnid. "It really got you good. That leg is mangled. Zulu, grab the webbing, maybe we can use it to put pressure on the wound."

"Alright." The mareling didn't delay in gathering up the thick web scraps.

Runner checked Ghost's wings and found that they were in perfect condition. "At least you can still fly."

Ghost nodded to this. "Hey. Good work."

"Don't mention it, Commander."

"I thought I told you guys to call me Ghost."

"Can't hurt to be formal."

The gentle clip-clopping of hooves announced Zulu's return with the make-shift bandages. With a little help from Runner, the two of them covered the wound with the spider web. To Ghost, his leg felt numb and stiff, but considering he was still breathing, it wasn't much of a bother. He tried to stand up, trying to put the least amount of pressure on his wounded leg. "Come on. We have to find a way out, fast before anything else pops up."

He wasn't met with resistance and the three of them started off to continue their trek. Meanwhile, the other party wasn't doing so well fighting off their troubles.

=====

WE ARE DEAD! That was probably the only thing running through everyling's mind right now.

Rook, Jellybean, and Brutus - who was still a minotaur and carrying Siren - were galloping as fast as their hooves could carry their frames for just a tiny distance away, a swarm of spiders were chasing them. Jellybean identified them as black widows, tiny but very dangerous. A few moments ago, Rook was talking to Runner and the others through the wall when those things began flooding out of the vents. The corridor was absolutely pitch black thanks to those spiders. They swallowed up the walls, floor and ceiling like a demonic shadow erasing everything it touched.

"I would love to see Zulu's face when she sees this," said Rook, trying to make the situation feel less dire as it was.

Jellybean was busy launching torches at the spider swarm but gave a nervous chuckle. "Rook, I don't... I don't think we'll make it. Running out of juice here, buddy."

"Do you hear running water?" Brutus said.

"Is... is that a waterfall?"

"One way to find out, this way!"

They rounded a dim corner and immediately fell down a hole. The minotaur instinctively curled up into a ball to protect Siren as he tumbled along. The other two changelings weren't as nimble and their ride down the slope was rough. They were beaten and stabbed by outcrops of rocks. At the end of their tumble, they were thrown into an underground river and whisked away by the current.

Rook broke the surface with a gasp for air. The other changeling popped out a short distance from him. He seemed to be okay, but where were the other two, Brutus and Siren? Rook looked around in panic, but it was Jellybean who spotted them. Siren miraculously had her head above the water but the current was trying to drag her down, almost succeeding a couple of times. A short while later, they spotted the back of the minotaur floating on the water. He wasn't moving.

Jellybean made for the mareling and Rook went for the bull. Jellybean helped Siren keep her head out of the water, but that was all he could do. Before Rook could get to Brutus, the party sudden felt like they were pulled down. It didn't take long for them to realize that they were falling. Too exhausted to scream, the conscious changelings just closed their eyes and hoped that this was all over.

SPLASH!

Rook found himself being dragged across the water. The sound of a waterfall was distant, but yet clear... somewhat soothing. He was in some kind of cave. A nice, quiet cave. It was almost as big as the caves at the hive. The sense of familiarity made him forget his current situation. He was hoisted up and dropped on the floor. He couldn't move. He didn't want to move. He just wanted to lie there and take a nap. A nice long nap.

Something moved behind him, nudging him behind the head. "You're alive? Thank Chrysalis." It spoke, sounding feminine.

"Siren?" Rook said without moving.

"I'm sorry I got you all into this mess."

"You couldn't have known."

Rook heard the mareling gag, followed by a 'splosh' sound. In a few seconds, light shone from behind him. It was a dim light, but better than nothing. He turned around to see Siren, visibly pale under the soft glow of the light sac. She had blood oozing out of her mouth, the source of the crimson puddle underneath her. "I can't make it." She said as she leaned against the wall. Rook could see that her remaining strength was quickly diminishing with every second they wasted. It hit him like an arrow straight through the heart. He couldn't waste time. For her sake.

"No! We'll get through this. All of us! By the way, have you seen Jellybean and Brutus?"

Without saying a word, Siren pointed behind her, levitating the sac over to where a changeling and a minotaur was laying down by the water's edge. Unconscious, but breathing. Disturbed by the light, the pair stirred and awoke. The changeling went into a state of panic as soon as he got his bearings. "Siren? Siren!" He was frantically looking at the expanse of water before him, unaware that the one he was looking for was just to his side. He was about to dive into the water, but the minotaur was quick enough to pull him in. "Calm down, she's right here!"

Brutus held the panicked changeling in front of Siren. Jellybean just sighed and gave an embarrassed grin before being dropped on the ground. He shot an annoyed look at the minotaur before standing up.

"Hold on." Rook confusedly said, "Jellybean and Brutus were both unconscious, so that means..." He gave Siren a questioning look.

Siren just smiled weakly, giving her reply, "I'm a drone. Caring for nymphs like you is my job. Dying or not." She let out a giggle followed by a cough of blood.

"We have to get moving. Hang in there Siren" Rook lead the way along the path. Where were they anyway?

Brutus bent over to pick up the mareling but got waved off. "I can walk fine now. Thank you." Siren said as she got to her hooves.

"Are you sure?" He asked. Siren just nodded. Brutus shrugged and tried to turn himself back into a changeling, but when the flames cleared he found himself still a minotaur. "I guess I'm stuck like this."

It wasn't long before they found a tunnel leading away from the river, which gave him a sinking feeling. They were going back into the maze, weren't they? There was no other choice. The area ahead was barred and they couldn't use their shape-shifting at all. Brutus' muscles wouldn't have a chance against those thick bars either.

Shaking off the doubts, he marched in ahead and immediately regretted it. Not three steps into the tunnel, he was tackled by something and next thing he knew, there was a green pegasus holding a dagger over his head. "DIE!" he shouted before being tackled from the side.

"Woah! Woah! Calm down!" The one who tackled the pony shouted. To everyone's surprise, it was another changeling. "Just look at him! His eyes aren't the crazy red like the others!"

He got off the pegasus and helped up Rook. "Thank Chrysalis! I thought I would never see another soul down here. Much less a minotaur. Wait, they're taking minotaurs now?"

"Actually... I'm just a changeling stuck in this form." Brutus scratched his head. "Say, can you shape-shift still?" he asked the unknown changeling.

"No," he replied, "I got a massive headache and I just couldn't shape-shift anymore. My magic's gone too. By the way, my name's Coon, and the pegasus here is..."

"... Rusty Pick." the pegasus finished with an annoyed tone.

"Nice to meet you two. I'm Rook and that's Brutus, Jellybean, and Siren." Rook introduced the party to the two new ones.

Coon turned to the others "We've been stuck here for days on end. We keep running into maddened changelings and quite a few others down here. We're getting a little jumpy."

They exchanged stories as they walked along. Apparently Coon found a small cave somewhere near Canterlot. He was with some other changelings. Sadly they fell to the traps. Rusty apparently was digging for gems in an Appleloosan mine when he and a few buddies of his broke through a wall. There was a cave in and their only way out was completely blocked and their equipment were either broken or buried. This raised two flags for Rook: how big was this complex, and what was it used for?

Rook abruptly stopped and told everyone to keep quiet. He noiselessly made his way to a bend where he heard faint hoof falls. 

"I know you're there," a voice said.

He froze at the statement. Was it the pony who talked through the vents? 

"Come out of the shadows and I will lead you to the end of this vile place. You and your friends don't have much time, especially that one."

'How did he...?' Rook cautiously stepped out. There was a unicorn pony sitting on his haunches. Grey coat, red mane, light red eyes and his cutie mark was a ball, a crystal ball if his eyes were still working right. He was also wearing a fancy bow tie. Must be from Canterlot. That felt like a jab in the gut for him. He didn't want to have to deal with grudges right now. Surprisingly, the pony just raised an eyebrow.

"Well? What about your other friends? We don't have much time." The pony said impatiently. The rest of the group stepped out with Rusty going directly to the unicorn.

"Boy, it's nice to see a pony face for a change," he said, shooting a dirty look at the changelings which hardly got them by surprise. Really, what else were they expecting? They did after all invade the pony capital, locked their princess in a cocoon, destroyed half of the city, and ransacked their stores for cakes and sweets. Hey, just because you don't need pony food to survive, doesn't mean you should be strangers to it. Ponies made the best cakes.

In contrast to Rusty, who was visibly grinding his teeth in the changeling's presence, the unicorn was just indifferent. He didn't even care about the fact that there were four changelings there, not counting Brutus of course since he was stuck as a minotaur. "The exit is this way." The unicorn got up and went deeper into the tunnel, not taking a second guess at the fork.

Something nagged at the back of Rook's head. He was suspicious about the unnamed unicorn. How could he know where the exit was? More importantly, how did he know that they were hiding right around the bend, and why was he just sitting there? It was like he was waiting for them. It didn't feel right, but Rook decided to go with it for a while. Maybe he did know where the exit was. Looking behind him, he could tell from their faces that the other changelings had similar thoughts.

"So... got a name?" the minotaur asked, breaking a minute-long silence.

The unicorn took a glance at the rest of the group, and with a trace of annoyance in his face he simply grunted and quickened his pace. He made it clear that he didn't want to socialize with the rest of them.

"Not the friendliest of ponies, I see..." Coon muttered.

It had been an hour of awkward silence and trotting until the lead unicorn stopped and said, "We should split off here."

"Why?" the rest chorused.

The answer to their question shook them to the core. "Cause this is where the road ends." That must have been a password cause just as he finished saying it, metal grills trapped them in their quarantined part of the tunnel. The only one who was not trapped was none other than the unicorn who guided them.

Rook was about to give him a piece of his mind when the ground gave way, sending them all into another ride to who knows where. All they could do was just scream until their lungs burned. It was then when his life flashed before his eyes. That was never a good sign.

Memories of past victories and defeats of small skirmishes with various races plagued his mind. He and his squad had fought against ponies, buffalo, griffons and even the fearsome minotaurs. Boy could those brutes pack a punch. Those memories were more saddening than happy. Friends die with every mission. It was hard to believe that he'd be joining them in another world pretty soon.

Those visions were blacked out as he hit the hard cobble floor. Consciousness didn't slip away, it down right fell. When he came to, he was still on the ground. The sound of murmurs just ahead of him was enough to make his head lift up just a bit to see hooves, pony hooves. They must have seen him squirm cause he was suddenly lifted into the air. Magically, if the glow around him had something to say about it.

He couldn't see their faces. They were all wearing masks and some type of suit. All black. That could not have been a good sign. Rook heard echoing screams followed by thuds of bodies hitting the ground. That couldn't have been a good sign either. And it proved to be true. The new arrivals were the other separated changelings. Ghost had a fast recovery and upon seeing Rook being held up by the masked unicorn, he charge into action. It was short lived though as an aura surrounded his head, and snap, he fell on the floor like a lifeless rag doll.

At this point, Rook's brain just stopped functioning, and the last thing he heard was the sinister laughs of his captors followed by an order that, again, was never a good sign: "Take them."
> Chapter 5: Nightmare, Dream or Reality?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5
Nightmare, Dream or Reality?


"Where am I?"

Drip

"Who's there?"

Swish

"Hello?"

Splash

=====

"Wake up sleepy head! I said wake up!"

A cold splash of water brought with it light that flooded Rook's eyes. "Where am I?" He was staring up into the sky, watching each fluff of cloud drifting by. The sound of a nearby stream made it's way into his senses, and so did the scent of freshly trampled grass. Was that laughing he heard?

Rook got up, leaving the comfort of the grass to look around him. Everything was white. Everything except the patch of greenery he was standing on. "Hello?" That one word echoed about five times before fading out to an inaudible range. It was weird... The place was completely foreign to him, a large space of emptiness and isolation with no sign of life other than the blades of green at his hooves and himself, yet he felt right at home. Normally if anyling found themselves in this situation, they would freak out, wouldn't they? No food, no company... no one to talk to? "When did I get this needy?"

The changeling walked around aimlessly, and noticed that the ground only appeared under him while everything else stayed white. Like a reversed shadow or something along those lines. Why wasn't he freaking out at this yet? He started to canter as he recalled the last memories he had. "Ruins... Si... Siren... missing? Secret passages!... Traps and... and... Masked ponies." He panicked.

"What is this place, where am I?! Siren? Ghost? Runner? Zulu? Where are you?! Can anyling hear me!? Answer me!" He broke into a full gallop. He felt like something was chasing after him. Looking back, he saw faded figures but he instantly recognized them as the masked ponies he saw in that room. "What the... I can't fly?" Rook couldn't even feel his wings.

"No. No! Stay away from me!" The ponies multiplied since his last look. There were about twenty of them now and they were still popping up, each with their evil grins cracking up to their ears. As frightening as that sight was, something twice as frightening greeted his view when looked ahead which almost turned his insides upside-down and made his limbs feel like butter under the summer heatwave.

Lined up right in front of him were the last changelings he saw. Ghost, Zulu, Runner, Siren, Jellybean, Brutus, Coal and Coon were all tied up on some torture device. Their bodies were cut open, their insides were being pulled out, chopped into bits and dropped into a funnel that lead to who knows where.

Their blood were being drained right out of their necks by some tubes that lead into some kind of machine where one of the masked ponies was practically swimming in. He didn't even want to know what those things on the captured changeling's heads did.

His blood ran cold when the ponies dissecting his friends turned their attention to him, pointing their tools at him. Rook broke right to avoid them, but that direction brought him face to face with a certain unicorn. "You!"

Rook looked back and saw the ponies were still gaining on him. "Well I'm not gonna die alone! This is where your road ends!" He charged with what energy he had left and drove his horn through the unicorn's chest.

But to his surprise, his target just shattered in an explosion of glass. The next thing he knew, he was falling strait onto the cobble streets below. Time stood still for a moment, letting him take in every single detail that entered his eyes.

The street was decorated with regal banners of the two alicorn princesses. Ponies gasped at the sight of the changeling falling from the tower accompanied by broken glass and splintered wood. The royal guards were jumping into action, not wasting time to catch the intruder, though Rook mused if their haste was aimed to catch him from his fall, or make sure he didn't get up after he hit the ground. Their spears fastened at their side suggested it was the latter.

A dark blur passed his eyes, and a second later something caught him mid-fall. His vision whited out as he was flown away from Canterlot. To where? He didn't really care.

=====

"Hey Rook! WAAA-A-AAA-AAAKE UP!" Something was shaking the changeling by the shoulders.

"I'm up! I'm up!" He said drowsily. Rook blinked a couple of times to stop his eyeballs from spinning.

"You can really sleep when you want to, can't you?"

Rook scratched the back of his head and looked up at the sky. "Its still dawn! Why'd you wake me up so early?" he yawned.

"Cause you'll be missing the best part of the occasion! Come ooooon!"

Rook's eyes fell upon a mareling with an unusual feature. Her right eye was green while the left one was the normal blue. He took time to crack his neck before following the female. "Lead the way."

She took him to a clearing where a small group had gathered in a circle.

"There they are, what took you guys so long?" One of them said.

"Busy trading love I presume?" Another snickered which caused the group to light up with laughter.

"You're all idiots, aren't you?" Rook mumbled. This group felt familiar, yet... he didn't know their names. 'They'll probably just identify each other, no need to ask.'

The group shifted from jabbing jokes at Rook and the mareling, to telling ridiculous stories, to exchanging jokes, and back to ridiculous stories. When the sun rose from the horizon, everyling walked through the thicket of trees and came out to a cliff. Just under the cliff, was the vast expanse of the hive, well, some of the hive. There was still a lot of it underground. The structures on the surface were merely the entrances and watchtowers, but the sheer size of it was just as big as Canterlot Castle. May not be as pretty as Canterlot through pony eyes, but to the changelings, it was a sign of pure beauty.

"It's starting." The mareling who woke up Rook said.

'What was her name?'

The spire at the very top of the main hive structure started to glow a ghostly green and shot a beam straight to the sky. The beam collected to form a crystal. Similar beams from the surrounding forests joined the hub.

'Crystal...'

Suddenly, a black spot ripped through the space in front of Rook and his world slowly drained out into the black hole in front of him. "What the..."

"It's a shame that... you can't stay here longer..." He heard the mareling whisper.

"What do you mean?" Rook could see that she was being dragged into the black hole too. Seeing this, he looked to the rest of the group, just to see that they were long gone, and so was that part of the world around him.

"I missed you... but it's not time yet. Goodbye." Her being was sucked into the abyss.

'Nono, wait!' He couldn't speak. He tried to move, but he couldn't. His world collapsed. The color, the features, the hive, the textures, everything even the wind. What was left was a slimy green liquid that he found himself floating in. 'Where did this come from? Huh... Whispers?'

=====

"Careful! You're gonna break the cocoon. Learn to aim you blind mule!"

Who's there?

"It's your fault it escaped in the first place. Now we have to clean this up."

"Don't touch that! You're gonna rip the sac!"

Rook found himself floating inside some cocoon filled with green liquid. It felt like one of those recovery cocoons changelings were placed in after a skirmish gone wrong. Thanks to the liquid, he couldn't quite make out what it was moving in front of the cocoon. He could hear ponies talking, two of them. Above his head, just a few inches above, there was something sticking into the sac. It's tip was metallic and pointy.

He turned his attention to two moving figures. One was talking, the other one was pulling something out of the ground. The first one noticed that Rook had woken up. "Hey... one's awa... do so... thing?" He heard him say. The cocoon made it hard to catch all the words.

"Get the... quilizer... ba... ling..."

One of them disappeared from his sight and reemerged holding a small hose with a needle-like point. Upon seeing the needle, Rook clawed furiously inside the cocoon, hoping to cause it to break so he could get away from this. Sadly, all he did was twitch. It reminded him of his nightmare, the one where everyling was being gutted and sucked dry of blood. He tried screaming, but nothing came out, not even a squeak.

He felt numb all over. It was the cocoon. Those things were meant to keep changelings sedated for recovery. It also nullified their magic so they wouldn't accidentally discharge a possibly fatal blasts at their care takers. Things didn't look good for him and the liquid he was swimming in made his spur of the moment panic short lived. He was just limp after a minute.

The two figures were preparing to inject the hose into the cocoon, but something made them turn around. Rook couldn't see what, but from their frantic dash for their weapons, he could tell that it wasn't suppose to be there. Whatever it was made short work of the two, slicing them up with a something sharp, most likely a blade and spilling the blood all over his cocoon.

A few more came in and one of them grabbed the metallic object stuck at the top of his cocoon and brought it strait down the length of his prison. Rook fell flat on his face, kissing the ground. From his new vantage point, he could see that the two that were struck down were dressed in the same garb as the ones who hunted him in his dreams. Black suits and masks...

His rescuers - or at least he hoped they were rescuers - started ripping open other cocoons, revealing other changelings. He heard someone saying something close to "Time to go" and he was dragged across the floor. He didn't remember anything but darkness after that. The cocoon's effects were still strong and he couldn't even lift a hoof.

He must have fallen asleep, cause the next thing he knew, all he could hear was the furious grinding of metal on metal, accompanied by battle cries and constant trash talk. To confirm his suspicion, a pair locked in a waltz of death was performing just in front of him. One got his gut sliced open and the victor was rewarded by a blade going through his back. Arrows were also flying overhead, and like a chorus of birds, they sang.

Rook decided to pass out one more time. Maybe he'd get lucky this time around. When he came to, the sounds of battle had ceased, and he was once again dragged across the ground. Body as limp as a rag doll still. He could tell that whoever was dragging him wasn't the same one who pulled him out of the cocoon. Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, he could only guess.

He was suddenly lifted up and tossed inside a cart, like freshly picked produce. There were others as well, but he couldn't tell if they were changelings or ponies. Someone climbed on and noticed the far-from-sober changeling lolling his head around. He raised a hoof and gave a hard stomp on the changeling's head. Once again introducing him to unconsciousness...

=====

"Ow, my head..." Rook groaned as he lifted himself up from the concrete. While rubbing the sore spot on his head, he noticed a ring at the base of his horn. He attempted to produce light with magic, but all he could feel was his energy fizzling out. That's when the purpose of the device on his head became clear, it was there to inhibit the use of magic.

Grand.

"Hello? Anyling here?" He called out, only to hear his own words bounce back to him a number of times. At least now he knew he was in a closed room. Not too spacy judging from the echoes. How did it get this bad? 

He remembered his dream, the one where he was rudely woken up in the most disrespectful way. The mareling, the group of changelings gathered around... the walk through the thicket... he remembered who they were and when that was now. The group was his old foalhood friends. Yeah, they had been together since they were still at the nursery.

And the walk through the thicket? That happened years ago. That was also the last time he saw all of them together. That was when they finally got assigned to their squads. Runner was the only one who was assigned to the same squad as him. But he wasn't in the dream... 

Did that mean something?

He didn't get to dwell on it as a loud crash scared away what was left of his drowsiness. A rusty, heavy, metal door creaked open, making the changeling cup his ears into his head as he cringed to the high pitched squeaks created by rubbing metal. The room flooded with light through a crack that grew into a wide opening.

"Finally." A hard-sounding stallion said as he walked into the room with only his silhouette defining him. "Well, well, well, look who's up." The statement was laced with venomous contempt for the changeling, followed by a disgusted grunt.

Rook had to cover his eyes from being completely blinded, but when his senses adjusted, he saw an earth pony adorning the solar uniform. He could see it in the armor he wore, he was battle-hardened and didn't look like the type to be playing the good guard part. Although his face was shrouded in shadows, Rook could see the scorn beaming - no, burning - through the veil, and the glare that could rival a direct shot from a crossbow at point blank. Suddenly, the changeling felt so small, so useless. And the pony knew it.

Oh he knew it alright. His grin said it all, he wasn't going to go easy on the changeling, no, not a chance. "Come with me, we've got questions for you."

Rook could already imagine what he was thinking, and all he could do was gulp. "O-oh, y-yeah?" His voice cracked, which earned a disgracing 'Hah!' from the guard.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you. Much."

Rook swallowed again. He knew he was going to say that. They always say that.

The bolt of his cell opened with a loud thud and he was dragged out by two other ponies who slid in without him noticing. The trio let out harsh laughter as they threw the changeling into a chair in the room where the guards came from. The walls were bright white and featureless. The lights hung in neat rows, giving off luminosity that, when coupled with the color of the walls, made it difficult to see anything without squinting. The table in front of the changeling was bolted to the floor, and was big enough for four ponies to play cards on.

The hard-sounding pony slammed his hoof onto the table, making Rook flinch. 

"Do you know why we're here, changeling?" the pony asked, leaning against the table at an angle.

"You had... questions for me?" Rook forced a nervous smile. His heart was beating rapidly.

"Good." The pony said simply as he leaned closer. "I got questions, and I need answers. Do you think you can provide me with what I need?"

Rook nodded twice, having a hard time making words flow out. He'd have to play real cool with this stallion or he'd risk getting mauled by superior strength.

"Let's start with something simple." The earth pony nodded to a unicorn who was standing behind Rook with another earth pony. No doubt they were there to supply muscle for their leader so that he wouldn't have to get his own hooves dirty. The unicorn summoned a map and laid it across the table.

Rook tilted his head at his interrogator with a confused look. "That's a map of Equestria. Why are you showing me this?"

The earth pony frowned at him and nodded to his minions at the back. Rook suddenly felt his head smashing against the table. The ponies behind him kept his head against the surface while the interrogator leaned in to whisper into his ear. "I ask the questions here. You keep quiet unless I ask you a question. Got that, bug?"

When the interrogator moved back, Rook's head was raised so he could see the pony pointing at the map. "Show us where your hives  are." He commanded.

Rook shook his head. "Our hive isn't inside Equestria's borders." The pony didn't seem to like his answer as Rook soon felt himself kissing the map again. The part of the map where his face landed had a smear of blood, and only a moment later, a tiny stream of red  trailed down his face.

"You disappoint me." The pony shook his head. "I honestly thought we were on the same page here." He nodded to the unicorn and soon a transparent film the same size as the map appeared over the table. It was brought down to overlay the map. Rook could see red markings that fit around the cities and settlements. One particular mark to the north of Canterlot was of special importance as it was labeled with the words "Changeling Hive."

"I swear I didn't know anything about that place." Rook said.

"Do you think we'd buy that? We know your swarm dug themselves in and tunneled to these different settlements here." The pony motioned to the marked cities. Rook was relieved that Ponyville and the Everfree was not one of them. If the others were alive, they would surely find themselves back to either of those places

"If you knew all that, why did you have to ask me?" the changeling challenged. The pony wasn't satisfied with just letting his minions slam his captive's head into the table this time, as evident with the kick he delivered himself straight to the changeling's face.

The pony snarled at Rook. "You got blood on my boots. I hope you're happy."

Rook had a witty comeback floating around in his head, but his tongue refused to relay the message. In fact, his head refused to even look up to the pony to give him a dirty look. When he finally regained control of himself, the interrogator had already dismissed the session due to Rook's unresponsiveness.

He was thrown back to his cell and was left to himself to either die or recover enough for another session of interrogation. He wasn't looking forward to either option. He had to get out of there quick, but how? A sharp pang of pain prompted him to put his forehooves on his head. He felt something wet and warm. Pulling his hooves in front of him, and - although he knew that the liquid was his blood - ignited his horn for a little luminosity to see what color his hooves were. Surprise, surprise. Red.

Rook wiped the blood off on the floor and moved to the corner that was as far away from the door as possible. This sucks, he thought to himself before settling to curl up in his corner. The situation wasn't the only thing he considered to suck, the room he was stuck in was bland and too boring, it might as well have been part of the interrogation torture. They didn't even bother to leave a light in there. It was a good thing the simplest of magic included creating a dim light. Heck, even lighting up horns was enough to make a glow.

"Wait a minute!" Rook got to his hooves in realization. He was using magic! He felt for the base of his horn and pulled off the crumbled remains of the ring they put on him while he was out. It must have broken when they repeatedly pummeled his face. Things were starting to look up, but he couldn't get careless now. there wasn't any other way out of the room, so he had to go through the interrogation room first. He made a move for the cell door, using his magic to manipulate the lock's mechanism to open it. The lock clicked and he pushed it open. Now, time for the door leading to the interrogation room.

He remembered where the locks and bolts were on the other side, so all he had to do was direct his magic to the spots and drag them out of the way. He gently pushed against the door, only making the minimal noise. When he saw that the room was clear, he went in and started his search for the door out of that place. His search was short lived.

"I see you're still alive."

Rook froze at the voice of a mare. Not two minutes of freedom and he was already caught? Ghost was going to yell at him for this. He turned around and saw a unicorn donning the Lunar uniform.

"Sorry I got rough on you, but I had to sell it," the mare explained. "Besides, the ring broke in the process, so that's a real bonus, don't you agree?"

"Who are you?" Rook asked, frowning. He already had a spell on standby to decimate the mare.

The unicorn looked around briefly before covering herself in green flames. Another changeling replaced the unicorn, but the armor was still the same, leading Rook to think that it was genuine.

The mareling trotted to the other and extended her hoof. "Reaper, specialist of 54th."

Rook couldn't help but smile. "Rook, squad 4. So there are still others out there?"

"You bet." Reaper replied. "A small group of us banded together when neither of us could find an officer. None of them contacted us. We're not sure yet what happened to the higher-ups. However, our scouts have made contact with other similar groups hiding out in the pony's towns and cities. But as you saw on the map, some of them were found out. The guards aren't the only ones hunting changelings, this is important to know."

The mareling motioned Rook to follow her to the door. "There's a certain group that's been 'napping us since week one. They're not affiliated with the guard, and the two don't seem to be on friendly terms either. I'm sure you remember the ponies I'm talking about, we were the ones who pulled you out of their laboratories, and lost you during a three-way skirmish."

Rook flashed back to the maze and the time he woke up in the medical sac. "We're they experimenting on us?"

"As far as we know, they were only studying you. At the time. Others before you, how should I put this... weren't so lucky." Reaper pressed against a hidden panel and some type of scanning device slid out. She then took a trinket from her armor and passed it over the device. "I nicked one of these from the guards' lockers along with this armor." She explained.

"What now?" Rook was disheartened. There was a great chance the creatures they ran away from, the creatures that took Coal and mangled Siren, were once changelings. He didn't seek to ask the question. He didn't know what he would have done if she confirmed his suspicion.

The mareling knew what he meant by the question though; what were they going to do once they got out of there? "I'm just a grunt. It's not up to me to make a decision like that. But we have to get you out of here. No telling what those overzealous ponies would do to you." One panel on the wall near the scanning device slid silently open, revealing a pathway that was long and narrow. "Shift into a Lunar Guard. The Solars aren't very familiar with them, but they're allowed anywhere they are and neither branch seemed to have warmed up to each other yet, so we can get through without much trouble. There's an enchanted door that only opens for genuine armors before we get out of this part of the compound, so I'm going to have to sneak a set for you from the other side." Reaper masked herself in her Lunar guard disguise.

Rook followed Reaper and got himself a Lunar pegasus. "Where should I hang around?"

"There's a bathroom near the enchanted door."

Rook rolled his eyes. "Great."

"Well, we can't have you awkwardly standing around and making the Solars nervous of your fangs and slit pupils, now can we? We're coming to the main hall now, keep the words to a minimum."

"If you say so" Rook said through the channel.

Reaper looked up in surprise, "You know how to use the channel? But that's officer-exclusive."

Rook rubbed his hoof against his chest "An officer taught me how to use it."

"Well don't disconnect, we'll need to keep in touch while we're separated. You should teach me how to do this sometime."