Collective Crossover Complexitites

The Changelings invaded Canterlot on the day of an important royal wedding. But the love of the couple repelled them and ended their siege.
This marked the day known as the Liberation of Love.

White and grey.

From the endless plains to the cloud-covered sky above there was nothing but white and grey. A blanket of snow swept the expanse of the field, hiding any and all signs of green. Soft and deep, it covered all things that were underneath the cloudy sky. Betraying its softness was the both the cold and the harsh winds that blew from all around. It lapped swiftly over the snow-covered knolls and grass. Trees whose leaves all but fell away became overwhelmed by the element. On and on, this white and grey went.

Only until one came close enough to the correct place could one see what denied being a part of this repetitious landscape. A city that shined as bright as the most recent and polished diamond. In the center of it a spire dared to pierce the clouds above, a shining beacon for one and all to see. And even if one could not view the sight, the energy that radiated from it would be enough for anyone keen to such a force to be easily felt.

And so it stood as a place of warmth and guidance.

Travelling along the heavy snow a cloaked figure waded his way to the spire. Slowly but surely he marched to reach his destination.

“The Crystal Empire, the home of the empire’s royal couple, is hosting an event for the anniversary of their marriage and of our defeat. The festivities are nothing extravagant, but the finale features a grand event. At the height of dawn the Crystal Heart, a jewel statue that holds great measures of love, and the source of the city’s power, will disperse its energy on higher scale than average. This event is meant to recreate the shock wave that defeated us on that day.”

The figure’s cloak flapped about as the winds attempted to push him back. But he would not be deterred so easily. The journey may be long but the wait for this day was so much longer.

“You’ll have two objectives for this mission. The first is to locate both Princess Mi Amore Cadence and her husband, captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, and make sure to incapacitate both before the festival can commence. The second is to find and retrieve the Crystal Heart and to get it out of the city as soon as you have it.”

The figure stopped for a moment to look at the horizon. At its edge, he could make the faint outline of the Crystal Spire. Then he returned to his pace.

“What’s the infiltration method?”

“You’ll board a train from the city of Hoofington at 10:00pm and ride it until you’re halfway to the empire, at which point you will have to dismount and make the rest of the journey on hoof. They’ll have some detection system to root out any suspicious magic at the Empire’s train station, so you’ll need to find another way in. You’ll be out in the middle of nowhere, so you should only be worrying about guards once you come within proximity of the city.”

The figure shook his back leg, trying to shake off whatever pain remained from the rough landing after he jumped off the train. He looked back to his target, getting closer to it.

“Despite the false sense of safety we gave them, the ponies still felt it appropriate to enact advanced security measures to make sure the anniversary goes off without a hitch. The security detail is led by none other than the Elements of Harmony themselves.”

“So they’re still worried after our attempt at the capitol.”

“They are six of these wretched ponies in total. Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter: A bubbling idiot with a dangerous knack for trickery. Rarity, the Element of Generosity: An obsessed little neat-freak with an eye that sees too much detail for her own good. Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness: A pathetically scared weakling who can be quite convincing and has a stare that can stop to you in your tracks. Applejack, the Element of Generosity: A lowly farmer out in a nowhere town and a very challenging opponent up close. And Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty: An uneducated dimwit with a flight speed that can surely out rival any of our best flyers.”

The figure’s trek looked to continue forever until he finally came within throwing distance of the empire’s outer walls. As expected a row of tents were put up, surely to keep an extra eye out for intruders. He could easily improvise, after all it’s one of the reasons he was chosen for this mission.

“And finally, the leader of them, and now apparent princess, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twilight Sparkle?”

“The same wretch who ruined what was surely to be the perfect day for all of us. She’s also the most dangerous element of all: Magic. We won’t have a full picture of the resistance you’ll face in there by the time you leave, so we’ll contact you by Mindec with intel reports.”

The cloaked one dropped to a crawl and inched his way forward. His objective was for the closest tent that seemed unoccupied.

“Any brethren coming along?”

“As of this circumstance this is a one changeling infiltration mission.”

“Self-determined COA (Course of Action)?”

“As far as it doesn’t go beyond my interests, yes. This op is too long in the making and high risk to afford an army. Expect no official support.”

The figure rested against the side of a tent, surveying the area ahead. The tents were arranged in three columns of four rows. There were four guards making patrols around each one, but there was sure to be more in the tents. Looking further he saw one guard talking to another pony. Not a guard, but someone obviously allowed there. Their conversation was barely audible above the sound of the winds, but his ears were able to pick up the ending of it.

“… Keep an eye out. You might be expecting a visitor. I’m going back to the spire to finish up the preparations for the festival.”

The guard gave a swift salute, to which the pony seemed to be oddly uncomfortable with if for just a moment. Either way, she continued through some kind of passage hidden in the side of the city walls.

He pulled back and twitched his thin, slit ears as if to activate something. Whatever it was it must have activated, as ringing began to play in his head and soon enough he began to speak.

“This is Swift. Your Highness, can you hear me.”

What responded back was the Queen of the Changelings. “Of course I can, you droll. What’s the situation?”

“Looks like they have a forward outpost with a secret passage into the city.”

“Just as I expected. Looks like that’s your way in, unless you want to give them early warning by flying over those walls. If you really must, contact me by Mindec. To use it, twitch your ears in the correct to pattern activate it. If we need to contact you, you’ll hear it beep. That’s when you—”

“I know.”

There’s a pause before the queen speaks. “What?”

“I-I know how the Mindec works, Queen Chrysalis. The gear was explained to me before I was shipped.”

“Swift…”

“The Mindec, the sneaking suit that’s supposed to improve my survival against harsh environments, the Larvamachines that were injected into my blood stream…”

“Swift…”

“Heck, I had to take additional physical training to increase my endurance. I’ve studied this mission and trained for it extensively, my queen. I wasn’t going to be an idiot and wait ‘til the last second for you to tell me about the gear that’s critical to my mission. I mean how stupid would I have—”

“SWIFT!”

Swift ears pined back in pain at the sudden outburst.

“Did you just interrupt your queen?” The question came at angered velocity.

Swift sighed. “Yes I did. It was unforgivable.”

Another pause. “Good, now that you’re reminded of your manners I can continue. As I was saying, the Mindec directly stimulates the shape of your inner ears. No one but you will be able to hear it.”

“Understood. I’m ready to commence—”

“The specially designed environmental sneaking suit is a state-of-the-art technology that we stole right from under these pony’s little noses. They won’t be expecting a changeling to be using their own equipment against them, much less a changeling infiltrating them on the very day of the anniversary of their defeat over us.”

“They won’t know what hit them, majesty, yes. But I have to.—”

“And of course the Larvamachines, an ingenious idea that none of them could have ever expected us to—”

“Queen Chrysalis, permission to speak,” Swift finally snapped over the Mindec.

“What? Of course you can speak, you mindless moron, just speak up.”

Swift’s eye twitched before he exhaled heavily. “Commencing Operation: Heart Taker, my queen.”

“Then why are you still speaking to me? Go!”

With that, the Mindec closed out and Swift was finally left to continue the mission in peace.

Suffice to say, it was hatchling’s play. The guards’ routes were practically programmed. They followed them mindlessly without deterring to the point where Swift didn’t even need to disguise himself as one of them. With quick maneuvering, he made it to the passage and moved his way in. Knowing that he won’t need the cloak so much anymore, he chose to take it off completely.

What it hid was a changeling wearing grey suit and black vest that combined to create a specially designed sneaking suit. He would have looked like the average changeling if it weren’t for his eye patch and bandana that wrapped behind his horn and around the base of his ears. With him now in his proper attire, he continued forward into the tunnel.

It was time for some changeling espionage action.