Equestria in Conflict - Discovering Home

Tacit Darkness, the commander of Changeling Sub-Group #28, was lost.

It was an easy assignment: get into Canterlot castle and follow the map in the Hive Mind until they reached the Archives. Once there, steal several scrolls and get out as fast as possible. Unfortunately, thanks to several now-dead Royal Guards, that plan was in hiatus.

When they had landed, he had split his force in two: Forty would go and rescue the prisoners that Chrysalis had been informed were being held inside of the castle, while he and the other forty would journey to the Archives, where Chrysalis had instructed them to steal several specific scrolls.

His first clue that something had gone wrong was when the five Changelings in front of him had suddenly been assaulted by dozens of magical bolts. Throwing up a shield, the more magically-talented Changelings in the group had held the guards in the hallway off long enough for him to come up with an alternant plan: They would take another route.

That alternant route had cost them ten minutes, and seven more of his highly-trained Unitfriends had fallen to the Royal Guards, but not before taking a greater number of the blasted ponies with them. When they finally reached the entrance to the Archives, the twenty guards at the entrance had cost them eight more minutes, and a Changeling for each one.

The Archives had been easy to break through after that, and the scrolls were found and quickly copied. Other than the break-in itself, there was no need to single just what they had stolen, lest the ponies figure it out and form a block for… Whatever Chrysalis intended the scrolls for.

A large force of guards had come into the room right as they had finished. While he had instructed four more of his dwindling numbers of Changelings to hold them off, he and the other sixteen had exited the Archives through an unmarked side passage, which turned out to lead to the tunnels beneath Canterlot.

Tunnels which remained unmapped by the Hive Mind.

And now he stood with his Unitfriends and subordinates, trying to figure out a plan before the ponies found them, or worse, something else.

“…And that is why we should head north.” One of them finished.

“For Chrysalis’s sake, Shade. You couldn’t tell directions if someling handed you a compass.” Another one replied.

“Hey, at least I got better marks in Infiltration and Evasion than you!” Snapped ‘Shade’.

“Do those even matter? We’re in the middle of a cave!” The other Changeling replied.

Tacit Darkness was content to let them argue for a few more minutes, before he stepped in with a thought-out plan. However, the argument was obviously going to take much more time than that to settle, so he decided to defuse it before it could begin in earnest.

“Both of you, stop.” Tacit said. “You’re supposed to be the best that the Hive has, and many of you were given the Cyan Streaks by Chrysalis herself. Stop acting like foals, and start acting like the Changelings you should be.”

The comment bit deep for many of them. The ‘Cyan Streaks’ was a term for the Cyan-colored metal streaks that would be grafted onto a Changeling’s armor if they excelled in combat, made out of an unknown, but extremely strong metal found beneath the Main Hive. If a Changeling received them, but did not act according to what they represented (namely duty, honor, and loyalty), they would be taken away: A severe blow to anyling who had earned them. And, in Tacit’s opinion, the Changelings here were acting like complete foals: The newest additions to any Changeling hive, and always the ones to cause the most trouble.

“Now, before you panic any more, I would enjoy it if someling would explain why we can’t connect to the Hive Mind down in these caves.” Tacit said. “Anyling up?”

“The walls and roof of the cave is too thick.” One of the Changelings in back said. “Distance and an object are the only things that can affect the Hive Mind, and we have both down here.”

“Good enough.” Tacit said, taking a deep breath before directing his gave out at the group. “Everyling follow me: I think I can find us a path out of here.”

With that, Tacit Darkness set out, the other Changelings following right behind him.

-=-=-

Canterlot Castle

Same time

“Are you sure they are in the caves?” One of the guards asked Cobalt Sky.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” The Pegasus/Changeling replied. “Remember, I may look like a pegasus, but I still can access the Hive Mind. It’s one of the things that all hybrids seem to inherit.”

“If I hadn’t been told by Princess Celestia herself that you were on our side, I would have apprehended you for that comment alone.” The guard said.

“But I’m working for you, so you won’t.” Cobalt replied as one of the guards went off to spread the news to the rest of them.

“I know.” Another guard said, shaking his head. “And it bugs me beyond belief. But you’re working for us, and that makes you OK in my book.”

-=-=-

“When are we finally going to find an exit?” One of the Changelings next to Tacit asked.

“When we do.” The annoyed commander practically growled. “We’re in a bucking mountain! If we go any direction, we eventually come out from it!”

“… What if we go the wrong way?” One of them asked in jest.

Tacit stopped for a moment, slamming a forehoof into his forehead and repeating a simple mantra in his head:

‘You will not kill him, Tacit. You will not. You won’t.’ He kept on repeating, before giving up and walking forward with a frustrated snort.

So far, they had been walking for around twenty minutes. And he had been forced to listen to every single joke that one of them made, and had to repeat the frustration every two minutes. It had been grating on his nerves, and he just hoped that it would end.

“So, did any of you hear what happened to the second team?” One of the Changeling said.

“I lost all connection with them when we all lost connection with the Hive Mind.” Tacit deadpanned. “I would assume they succeeded, however.”

“How many guards does Canterlot have, anyway?” Another one asked.

“In the hundreds. Even we don’t know: We haven’t been able to infiltrate into their guard.” The first one replied.

“Why?”

“One of ours said something about a lie test before his mind was cut off.” Tacit said. “We assume that she was killed at that time. After the fifth time that happened, we quit trying. It was a horrible waste of good infiltrators.”

“Did you hear what happened to one of ours?” ‘Shade’ said. “Amethyst Star, I heard her name was. One of Queen Chrysalis’s children. Anyway, when she tried to overtake Ponyville, she had to teleport out after everyling was killed.”

“Did the follow-up force take Ponyville?” One of the Changelings asked.

“Seeing as we had to detour around it: No.” Tacit said.

Sudden, he and the others detected something familiar in the distance: The Hive Mind. Eagerly, they quickened their pace, before they found themselves at the opening to a cave. Moonlight filtered in, and when Tacit took a look outside, he could see the city of Canterlot hanging a few hundred feet above them, with a very steep drop below.

Quickly, he and the others connected back into the Hive Mind. As soon as he entered, he felt himself receive a message from Chrysalis.

“[Tacit Darkness, where have your forces been!]” The voice thundered.

‘[Apologies, my Queen. We have the scrolls, but we were forced to retreat into the caved beneath Canterlot, and we were lost until this point.]’

“[Fair enough. Team two did not succeed: They were a total loss. Return to the command position south of Baltimare. You are needed for an important mission.]”

Before he could even reply, the connection was cut.

Turning to the other Changelings, he looked them over before delving into the Hive Mind for information on their route. With that gather, he took a deep breath and spoke.

“Team two was lost. Completely. We are to report south of Baltimare for another mission, one which Chrysalis did not tell me anything about. Everyling, follow me.”

With that, he turned and jumped out of the cave, opening and rapidly beating his insect-like wings, quickly pulling out of his dive. Looking behind him, he could see the others following him, moving in key with his movements. He banked towards the south, heading in the direction of Baltimare.

For his first mission this far into Equestria, he could count this one as a partial loss. At least they had the copied scrolls, along with whatever was contained inside of them. He just had one question on his mind, though, which had been crossing his mind ever since he had looked at one of the scrolls.

What use would Chrysalis have for an ‘ELD Teleportation Spell’?