Chapter 2

My name is Queen Chrysalis and with my last breath I place the „Last Order“ on Twilight Sparkle!

These were the last words that we heard from our beloved Queen before we lost the link to her.

I hung my head low and closed my eyes to give our mother a minute of silence, to give her the last honor, around me twenty Changelings did the same.

After a minute that felt like hours General Drake nudged my side. I looked at him with a empty expression before I took position and stood at attention.

“I will be honest with all of you, if you think it is bad than I can assure you it is worse, but there's still one thing we can do, carry out Last Order” Drake said while he walked around in front of us “Now all of you most likely ask, what is Last Order”.

He paused and looked at us, “Last Order is a very old Emergency protocol that is activated if the survival of the whole species is in danger and was created by Queen Minerva”

With the last word nearly all of us lost their pose and shot looks of disbelief at the General.

Queen Minerva was one of the first Queens since the beginning of Changeling history and her scientific findings in genetics and biology are legendary, a good seventy percent of the knowledge Changelings have about genetics is based on her work, saying her name without respect and gratitude was a sin, and whatever the plan was, after hearing her name many found some hope and looked with expectant faces at General Drake.

“The plan is simple, in Queen Chrysalis' chamber is a secret entrance to a sealed room, inside the room are four vials containing a serum, four of us have to drink it and create a rune circle around the target, activate their magic and the serum will do the rest, we are heading out at T-30 minutes, location, the royal chamber, any Questions?” explained Drake.

“Sir, what is the serum, what are the effects?” asked Shadow, a small Changeling who you could tell with one look wasn't good at fighting, but if there's one thing I never managed to beat Shadow at than it was his speed. He was so fast he created a mach cone at his to speed.

“I have no idea” he said. Many of us looked at him with faces that just screamed 'Are you kidding me?', but before we could voice any of it he continued: ”History tells that after not leaving her private laboratory for months Queen Minerva suddenly went out, approached her daughter and gave the vials and instructions on how to use them, at the Question as to what the serum did she just answer, 'to never use them except when she has lost all hope for our race at least twice' and that is how it was given from Queen to Queen through the generations”

“Sir, with all respect, you want us to collect ourselves in thirty minutes after a crash over ninety-seven point four miles and launch an attack operation at one of the most important Ponies in the kingdom with one operation cell plus one, we barely have enough magic left for two days we will die from overexertion on the way to the target location, not talking about being able to do force this pony to stand still for the seven seconds we need for the circle and before that take down possible defences she has?” asked Brain.

Brain was not his real name but when you get to know him better you know why the Changelings around him choose this name over his original one, that guy was so intelligent his brain should've already expanded outside of his head and he had the ego of a dragon to back it up. He never passed the opportunity to brag how smart he was and he wasn't the number one strategist in the swarm for nothing.

Many Changelings nodded in agreement but Drake took none of it.

“This may sound stupid but we don't have time to argue about this right now thirty minutes is all I can give you and then we have to move out, we could be the last way for our race to survive” he argued back.

This sounded very wrong to me we still had some love reserves stored in the barracks, why couldn't we use them?

My Eyes went wide when the realization hit me, quickly I performed all medical scan spells that could think of.

Something like a Changeling performing eight advanced medical spells did not go unnoticed by my fellow lings and I quickly had the all the attention and questioning looks at me, the general being the only exception. He looked at me with sad eyes.

I looked blankly at him until the spell sends me back the results.

My face changed from a blank to terrified.

“Eh, Heal... are you ok?” Shadow asked me with a worried tone.

“We can't absorb love anymore...” I whispered.

They all looked at me, their faces filled with more questions and worry than before.

“What you mean, we can't absorb love, stop being ridiculous and tell me what is wrong” he asked again with even more worry in his voice.

“E-exactly what I said. We can't absorb l-love anymore, C-changelings have a passive love absorbing system in their body that runs mainly through our brain, this system only w-works when receiving a auto signal that comes directly from the ruling Queen...” I explained slowly with a cracked voice, the questioning faces slowly turning into shock: ”If we want or not the next two days are our last ones” I said while a tear ran down my face.

It took several seconds for my words to sink in.

Some of us broke down and started crying while others simply sat down and looked to the ground with completely empty eyes.

I looked to my side to see Mimic. The nymph and I were combat buddies since we started at the military, her being the strong front fighter while I watched her back as medic, she has grown to me. I didn’t know if I loved her as more than a friend or what she thinks about me but right then I only wanted to be close to her.

I found her eyes with shock and sadness. We looked at each other for barely a second before she took a short leap forward into my hooves and started crying. The only thing I could do now is to hold her as best as possible and that is what I did while I silently cried myself, tears running down my face.

“You are kidding, please tell this some kind of STUPID JOKE” Shadow half screamed out. His eyes searching for someling to stand up and tell him that he felt victim to most cruel joke he could think of, he looked everywhere, his search stopped when he saw Drake who simply looked back with cold expression.

“BUCK ALL OF YOU. I AM NOT GOING TO DIE LIKE THIS!” Brain screamed out and took off to his laboratory.

“PROFESSOR WALTER BLACKSHELL, AS YOUR...!” Drake tried to order him back only to be interrupted.

”DON’T YOU DARE TO LEAVE WITHOUT ME SO SIT ON YOUR FLANK AND WAIT WHILE I USE MY INTELLIGENCE TO SAVE US, SO SHUT IT AND DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE!” Brain screamed back without turning around.

“Why is this happening, did we not go through enough, why do the gods hate us?” Mimic asked while sobbing into me.

“I don’t know” I slowly answered.

“I know that I am cruel to ask you this now but I want all of you to stand strong, we will not survive long but we can do more than sit and pity ourselves” the general slowly began “I will not force any of you, if you think that you can spend your time better than trying to do something useful for our species go do it, but for all of you who want to go down fighting... thirty minutes that is all I can give you to finish some personal business, after that we are off to get Twilight Sparkle”

Slowly our group started to split apart, me and Mimic stayed Embraced for a while.

“Can... Can I stay with you Heal?”

“Yes”

I slowly stood up and went for my home Mimic close after me, as we slowly approached Spero, the only Changeling town we managed to call home, one hundred fifty-three years old, so young compared to other towns, now dead, empty.

To make sure we that we were able to win the invasion literally everyling went with the invasion force, now they were all dead, the ponies most likely don’t even know they now have about two thousand graves in their hometown, the Changeling force was weakened by hunger and very low on magic to begin with, the hate that they had for us could skin us alive when pointed directly at one of us.

When the force field hit they had no chances, their body quickly tried to repair the kinetic damage using all energy they had left, when the Changeling body has no magic left to use it tries to make its own, what results in burning every cell in our body.

We don’t leave a body, when we die, we fall together into a pile of ashes.

Slowly we approach my destination, a little house with a garden that my family built with me, it was small but cozy.

I stopped in front of the door a little smile appearing on my face.

Opening it I went to the side to let Mimic go in first, she looked at me like she just saw Discord riding on the back of a Queen while dancing.

“I rather go to Tartarus then dropping my good manners” I said while pointing my hooves at the door to ask her in.

She bursted into laughter while going inside.

I went in after her and closed the door. Mimic fell on the sofa still laughing, tears of joy running down her eyes, at least I managed to get her to some joy.

My target inside was a picture, it showed five Changelings smiling into the Camera. My mother, father and my two younger sisters, I was the oldest so it always was on me to protect them. That is what I promised my father on his deathbed, he was a medic like me, he always said:”Soldiers always run into some sort of trouble it is on us, the medics, to get them out of there and make sure they can come back to their beloved ones”.

I held the words clear in front of me when I joined the army, to protect lives, that is what I always wanted.

Mimic who got herself together after her little outbreak sat next to me, watching the picture.

“Your sisters?” she asked.

I nodded “This is Rose” Pointing at the mare to my left “And her name is Lilith” I pointed to my right. “They are twins, both of them are florists” I couldn't bring myself to say that they were florists. ”very skilled ones, they always took care of the Garden when I was away and to be honest the more often I was away the better it looked.”

“What will you do now?” Mimic asked me while I placed the picture back

“I don’t know, it is funny, we were prepared for the end for about one hundred years and now that it is near there is nothing I really can do, except for saying goodbye.” after looking a bit around me I continued “What about you?”

“I don’t really have anyone to say goodbye to” she continued “I was a military breed the only reason I am here is because we needed more fighters.” sadly she looked at me “Is this really all I am good for, to fight and to take lives?”

“We both know that that is the biggest pile of crap you could think of” before she could interrupt me I continued “You are Mimic Storm one of the greatest Changelings I know, ready to throw yourself in the line of fire for someling you barely know, and I had to get you back together often enough to prove that”

“You are the shy Nymph that can go one on one with the best of us, you are not just a fighter you are a Protector, a shield for all of us. I can put them back into one piece if they get hit but you can prevent them from ever getting attacked”

“You don’t really think that I would stick with ‘Just a fighter’ for so long?” I finished after a while looking her straight in her eyes.

“How comes you are always there to sew me back together like that?”

“It is my job, and the best thing I can do.”

“And still, you always do so much more.” she said while closing the little distance between us.

“I always envied that about you, you can heal all my wounds, on my body” her lips coming closer, ”And my soul” barely whispering “That is what I always loved about you”

After thirty minutes we went to the royal chamber for the strategic meeting. General Drake took the lead.

“So let’s save our race!” He loudly shouted out.

“We will need all attacks and defence we have to protect the four lings who carry the package, these four will be Shadow Dancer, Healing Wind, Kane Fire and Blade Wall, you four are the fastest and best with magic we have.”

The four of us went forward to stand next to Drake, who was right in front of Queen Chrysalis' bed chambers.

“The rest will-” Drake started only to be interrupted by the voice of a very angry Brain.

“I TOLD YOU TO WAIT, BUT NOT LET’S LEAVE THE GENIUS PROFESSOR BEHIND!”

He really loved to brag...

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS BLACKSHELL?!” Drake shouted out.

“You can thank me later” he said while walking towards me.

Before I could react he showed something into my mouth, I tried to get it out whatever it was but a little punch to on my chin from Brain made me swallow it.

“Brain what in Tartarus do you think you are doing!?” Mimic asked perplexed while walking towards us, that was very unusual behaviour from her so many started staring at her but she paid them no mind as she walked to us.

Brain completely ignored her and ordered me “Check your magic reserves!”

Completely confused and regaining my breath I did what he said.

.
.
.

“How in Tartarus did you..?” I tried to ask.

“I AM A GENIUS, THAT IS HOW!” he screamed out.

I could not believe the readings, my magic was at thirty five percent and when I checked thirty minutes ago I was barely at ten.

Somehow that sick bastard managed to get magic from my stomach into my mana system, that idea alone is so sick that I started to question my sanity for a while, but my medical mind kicked in and I immediately performed all my other spell, Brain just stood there and watched me as if he waited for something to happen.

It was a crystal he shoved into me and not a really small one, ‘wait a minute, that thing is way too large for my throat... IT IS GETTING BIGGER’.

I immediately started to panic “BRAIN WHAT THE BUCK IS THAT THING?!” while he just stood there and continued watching me.

But before I could really freak out it stopped.

I stood there with a face that screamed murder.

“Huh, you are still alive...”

His scream could be heard over the whole town.

My hoof connected with his face while Mimic gave him a good buck between his hind legs.

“I deserve that” he moaned from the ground.

“You deserve that, YOU DESERVE THAT?!” I screamed out “I NOW HAVE A FIVE INCH CRYSTAL IN MY STOMACH WHAT THE BUCK WHERE YOU THINKING?!”

“Well, I needed a test subject for this little thing and you with your medical spells could send me the best results” Brain explained.

My left eye twitches a bit before I jumped at him with the intention to tear his head of.

Lucky for him Mimic stopped me mid air and kept holding me down so I couldn't reach my target.

General Drake just watched us while slowly shaking his head in disappointment.

“We will not be able to even reach the target in the condition we are now, not talking about using any combat magic” Brain started while slowly standing up ” So I used a Uranium Crystal, filled it with magic so that it could push the magic into your system with the radiation, the only side effect is that the Uranium Crystal absorbs the magic that I filled it with and adds it to its owe mass, I can only get about seven percent of the filled magic in our body’s, and how our dear Heal just stated the Crystal has expanded in his stomach and is now five inches large. It is really not a good way but it is the only way we have right now”

“Wait a minute, only seven percent, how much love was in that Crystal Brain?” Blade Wall slowly asked with a worried tone.

“All we had in the barracks” before anyone could interrupt him he continued “And we will need way more for all of us, don’t worry, evrything is already planned, we need the whole town to get magic, small things lamps, switches, transmitters nearly everything that uses magic has a small battery in it, we can use these to fuel the crystals to restore enough energy to make this mission successful and maybe we can find a permanent way after that.”

We all just stared at him, no words left.

“What are you waiting for, we don’t have all night, you can stare at my beautiful face later, spread out get all you can find to my laboratory!”

We lost no time after his explanation and bolted of. I hate to admit it but his plan made sense, but the next time one of us has to go to the bathroom it would be very painfull.

After speeding out in all directions I looked at Mimic at my side, she had a very worried expression on her face. “Mimic?” I softly asked.

“I... I am ok I just remember something important I will meet you at Brains lab, bye!” and she took of.

Weird, well I had a job to do.

I silently gave my prayer to whoever owned this house before breaking into it and staring with my search for anything magic related.

I found a large saddle bag while entering, I emptied it and took it with me so that I could carry my findings better.

After about 2 hours I was fully loaded and went on my way to Brains home, I still found it strange that he lived in his Laboratory.

When I arrived nine Changelings were already there including Shadow, Brain and Drake and they seem to argue pretty bad about something while the rest was whispering to each other.

“How can you even suggest something like that did the ponies knocked out all sense of you with their forcefield” Shadow half shouted at Drake.

“General I have to agree with Shadow, what you just suggested IS MOST LIKELY THE WORST IDEA YOU EVER HAD!” Brain agreed with Shadow.

“Wow, Brain and Shadow having one and the same opinion, that I see something like that before I die!” I said to myself while landing next to them.

“Then tell me you genius, do you see an alternative, we both know that this was the only way to make this happen the moment you explained your method” Drake answered in a normal voice.

Brain hung his head low while quietly saying: ”You do it, I will not take that burden on my hooves”.

“Brain you can’t be serious!?” Shadow asked in a tone that you would use on a child that just told you it has beat a guard in a magic duel.

“I hate it as much as you do but he is right, there is no other way”

“Just so I don’t feel so lonely on the land of the not knowing Changelings, so can you please explain what is going on?” I asked in a flat tone.

“I can tell you what is going on our general just decided that he will go mass murderer on unborn children!” Shadow said with a tone that made me doubt his words for a few seconds.

“What do you mean by... “ then the realisation hit me, a Changeling egg can only survive if it is feed with a certain amount of magic per day this magic comes from very large battery that is placed in the Hospital. It had three emergency batteries, this system was able to support the seven hundred eggs for good fifty years, it was enough to get us all to about fifty percent, it was the best we could get but the price was obvious, the eggs would die in days. The only reason why I didn’t punch Drake in the face right now it that an egg, while laid by a normal Nymph, needs a Queen to hatch, that said the eggs are doomed anyway.

But that was just wrong, that was how do you excuse something like that how can a soul live with the blood of seven hundred eggs on their hooves.

“General, I can’t agree with that” I silently concluded while looking to the ground, while my mind was telling me that it was to only way.

“No being with a soul can but it is still the only thing we can do, who knows maybe they are in pain because they can’t hatch and we will relieve them from it, it is has be far too long.” Drake said.

We all knew that this was so true but so, so wrongs but we said nothing, Brain gave the crystals and he went off.

Not one ling dared to say one word.

“Hey, sorry it took me so long I was jus... ” I heard Mimics voice.

All Changelings turned their heads to her at the same time.

“What is wrong?!” she asked in a sharp tone.

Before I could answer her Brain stood up, went over to her and started explaining.

At the end she just could stare at him wide eyed, now it was her turn looked at all off us, that she felt victim to most cruel joke that exists, her eyes stopped at mine while silent tears ran down her eyes,

I stood up to comfort her, while Brain went and took all the things we brought on our trips and went inside with them.

After some time Drake returned all the Crystals glowing in his saddlebag.

“One of the batteries was damaged, Changeling shaped hole, most likely someling crashed into it” he explained.

“It still should be enough magic to get us in fighting shape” Brain approached him, taking the crystals and placing one in front of each Changeling present.

After a while the last of us arrived at the location and got their crystal, they didn’t need to know where the magic came from.

Drake slowly stood up, behind him the sun rising: “It is time to save our race!”

Author's Note

I had that Chapter ready since monday but couldn't get contact to my editor, so I hope it is not to bad.
(i fear that my grammer melted his eyes).
I hope you guys like it.
If not feel free to tell me in the coments why.
And if you want me explain the concept of my Changelings, feel free to ask.

HAVE FUN.