Gone Mustang

by BurningBright

Rating: teen
Tags: Cutie Mark Crusaders, Other, Adventure, Big Macintosh, Zecora, Sad, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 17996

A story of a feral foal growing up and trying to get by, can anypony help her? Some are determined to try

What happens when a foal is seperated from the herd early, at less than a year old a pony can go feral but survive without a herd, the question to ask though is once they've gone can that part of them ever come back? Also does a crusade end when a crusaders quest is complete or is there something more?

Published 2015-04-29 00:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-04 22:10:34 UTC

Chapter One: Beginnings

Not everypony in Equestria lives within the nice safe towns towns, or within the sprawling urban jungles of Manehattan , Fillydelphia, Canterlot, and other such places. On the fringes of the hayseed swamplands, at the boundaries of the badlands and the edges of the Dragonspine mountains herds of earth ponies and Pegasi still roam freely. They live by the old ways, nomads by nature they make camp, settle for a few days, eat, rest, make friends, maybe make love and then just as quickly as they arrived they move on, leaving as little trace as possible of their passing, just the way they always had, they tread as lightly on the land as they can, leaving nothing to mark their passing but memories and hoofprints to show they were there.

Swamp living isn't easy, but these ponies aren't exactly the regular stock either. Their coats aren't light and brightly coloured like their more aloof kin in the towns and cities. They're rough and coarse with downy tufts on the legs to keep the worst of the mud and dirt out of their frogs and from rubbing their legs raw. They're slightly shorter and stockier than normal too, for the rough terrain they live in they need to be. There is nothing on equestria they love more than a drink in good company, maybe a fight to get the blood pumping. No farmers these, farming requires settling and they hate to stay in one place too long, the longest they ever stayed in one place was a few weeks when a foal was due.

One such occasion was right now, About 11 months ago they had stopped outside Appleoosa for a time, while they were there a pretty young apple mare, Elstar Apple had fallen for one of their own. His calm quiet demeanour had somewhat sparked her curiosity. While the others of his herd had explored the town, having fun and causing friendly mischief he had quietly watched. Never idly though, if things ever went to far he had been there to smooth things over and ensure there was no harm done.

Strangely, and much to the suprise of the herd when they left Elstar had run with them. They had been even more surprised though when rather than falling by the wayside and heading home when the road had gotten rough the determined mare had endured, she continued to run with them. Apples are made of sterner stuff after all, and she was determined to stay by her chosen mate Blackthorn's side . So it was that 3 months later she joined Blackthorns herd.

As they had run Elstar had been reassured that she had made the right choice, he kept the pace to the weakest in the herd. Taking care of the ponies who needed it most within their ranks. Whenever the herd was threatened in any way he was always there using his body as a shield. Under his coat were many healed scars, Timberwolf bites, and countless other wounds, yet he stoically kept his expression calm. Kept everything under control even when every instinct must have been telling him to flee.

Whenever a wagon broke a wheel he organised and pulled the herd together to get it rolling again. He refused to call himself a leader or put himself above the others, to him all that mattered was the herd. Their welfare , their safety, he treasured them more than life itself, and more than anything else in the world Elstar wanted to be a part of that. Her father had not approved when he had heard of her plan, in fact he had tried everything to stop her. But Elstar had being determined. So she had feigned reluctant agreement with his will, and then snuck away during the night. Even after all this time that still ate away at his conscience. Lying never did sit right with a member of the apple family, but in this case she felt it was justified, and looking back at her choice of mate she felt better. She had made the right choice with him. She felt safe, and yes the run was exhausting, at first it had just being simple curiosity , but as the run continued she had found herself falling for him more and more every day. Until the day he had finally asked her to be his, that had been the happiest day of her life , Elstar hadn't felt the need to even hesitate before giving her answer, it flowed off her tongue fast as lightning, like it had always been waiting there patiently for the day he would finally ask.

Elstar apple didn't care about that right now though, she didn't even care about the herds healers careful instructions, right now all she cared about was the searing agony, it felt like her body was being split in half. All she wanted was this bucking foal OUT. If she got through this she swore to herself she was never letting blackthorn near her again. Definitely not while he was in an amorous mood. Panic gripped her as she realised that getting through this wasn't as certain as she'd have liked either.

She was after all in the middle of a swamp right now, miles from civilisation and days at a steady gallop from the nearest hospital. Their nearest neighbours the Changelings were hardly going to be inclined to help either. Having an unspoken agreement with the hayseed ponies that each side would leave well enough alone.

The burning agony took over again as the healer shushed and reassured her, she was doing very well, the head was clear, this would soon be over , just one last PUSH. The pain was unbearable as her mind shut down somewhat, mercifully instinct took over and the delivery was successful.

When Elstar snapped out of it and the pain had subsided she was passed a tiny little Palomino foal, just like that she felt the pain was worth it the wall eyed little one nuzzled up to her to suckle. “So” said Blackthorn striding up to her with all the pride of a new father “What are we going to name 'er?

Looking up at the sky she thought for a moment, “How does Dawn Apple sound?” She asked.

Blackthorn nuzzled up to his mate proudly as he looked at their Daughter, her beautiful coat shining brightly in the golden light of celestias sun, he thought about it a moment his heart swelling with joy knowing that he was a father. “sounds good to me” He said with a smile.

Author's Note

Sorry I know this is hardly an original subject but I kinda wanna try and see where this goes. Also don't worry all the characters I listed will get used eventually, but not for a while yet. If you see any errors please let me know so I can correct em y'hear?

Chapter Two: Little Lost Ones.

Blackthorn was worried, he knew lingering overlong that far into the Hayseed Swamps had been a bad idea, he knew they should have moved on weeks ago. But everypony just looked so tired, and he had let them down.

The guilt was just eating away at him. Settling had been a bad idea, and now his best friend was injured, Oakheart, that massive brick wall of a stallion had dived in to block a Timberwolf , placing his body between a fleeing elder and it's snapping jaws. Elders were the memory of the herd, they were to be protected.

In doing so though he had taken some rather heavy injuries, the massive chestnut stallion was resting in the healers tent right now. Meanwhile all about him the camp was a hive of activity as the shelters were rapidly dissassembled ready to move on. Once the monsters found them it was time to move on, timberwolves warning of other creatures lingering nearby.

Elstar was in the healers tent seeing to Oakhearts injuries, he would recover in time, none of them were lifethreatening but they were rather dire. She suddenly felt his hoof nudging her towards the tent door. When she looked down he smiled at her weakly. “You'd better go to him” he said “that stallion is as hardheaded as they come and he will no doubt try telling himself it's his fault, same as everything else that ever goes wrong around here. Somepony has to smack him upside the head until he sees sense, and since I can't have the pleasure of doing it myself you're drafted”

“But, I can't just leave you injured, you're family” said Elstar , she couldn't , she really couldn't he was like a brother to her .

Oakheart turned and gave her a look though, a look she knew all too well, one he'd learned from Blackthorn. “You can and you will, you know why? Right now the herd needs Blackthorn, we need a pony to keep everything in order, and that pony is him, always has been , always will be. These injuries will heal but right now the entire herds survival is dependent on everything going off smoothly. So go to him now, it'll take more than a little nip from an overgrown puppy to keep ol' oakheart down” he chuckled to himself, wincing as he did so.

At that Elstar knew arguing was pointless, it was one thing to be stubborn, but the needs of the herd always came first. they had to really the herd was everything to them, family, home, and friends. He was right she had a duty to all of them. She turned with a sigh towards the exit and went to find Blackthorn.
Behind her oakheart smiled, they both knew he was lying when he said he would be fine. These injuries were extensive and with the best will in the world they wouldn't heal, Oakheart closed his eyes smiling even as the world around him faded. The healers had slipped him some numbroot, more than they were supposed to really so nothing hurt. That at least was something of a relief to him . Everypony was together and safe and in good hooves . Everything was right with the world, and Oakheart had had a good life. One thing he never could stand was to see a pretty mare cry .

Meanwhile on the outskirts of camp Bramble Patch , Briar Rose, and Wanderlust three of the more mischievous teenagers in the herd, had snuck off to escape from the tiresome duties involved in packing up camp. The trio had decided to go exploring while the chance was still there, they wouldn't normally be able to get away with that but with the camp being dismantled all the adults were too distracted to notice, so slipping away had been rather simpler than usual.

Before too long they had found a cave , it looked like a giant stone maw cut into the earth, they were currently in the process of using it to scare the hell out of each other as is the time honoured tradition for teenagers everywhere. None of them had even noticed the little Palomino foal watching from behind a tree. Dawn watched the 3 curiously, she was always fascinated by the bigger fillies.
“bet ya don't dare go in” said bramble with a smug grin at Briar Rose. Briar Rose balked at the idea, but she had been dared, so she squared her shoulders and ran forward, setting a hoof into the entrance before bolting back.

Briar grinned proudly as her friends congratulated her, but then Briar Rose got to dare Bramble. After some egging on Bramble took the dare, swallowing as she stepped into the depths , the dare being to touch the back of the cave. She got about halfway when the smell hit her and she heard the growl. Then the stench and heat of breath hit her and her blood ran cold. She knew that smell not even hesitating for a moment Bramble ran.

Back at camp Elstar walked up to her mate and placed a hoof on his shoulder, he turned to look at her, the big stallions eyes red and puffy, yet he held back his tears and even managed a halfhearted smile for Elstar. “None of this was your fault , you know that right? “ She asked him, her concern clear.

“of course it was my fault” he snarled , not meaning the anger at anypony but himself but he could see the hurt in his mates eyes. “I'm sorry dear, I shouldn't talk to you like that, but if I hadn't been so bucking stupid as to delay the move Oakheart wouldn't be gone now, it's all my fault and I know it.” The grief twisted in him like a hot knife. Elstar simply hugged him tight, her warmth helping somewhat.

“We couldn't move with three damaged wagons sweetie, those repairs took awhile. None of this was your fault sweetheart.” *his breathing eased somewhat and she held him tight as great racking sobs shook his frame. After awhile the sobs subsided . They had just about settled down when somepony told them that there were four fillies missing from the camp. The first three were no suprise to her. Briar Rose, Bramble Patch , and Wanderlust always were the adventurous type. But then she felt her heart sink in her chest at the final name, Dawn , her little foal was missing.

Chapter Three: Lost Ones Found

Seeing the three fillies fleeing screaming in sheer terror had confused Dawn, she froze and looked around nervously. then she saw them. Big scary wooden monsters with gigantic teeth and glowing green eyes chasing after her friends snarling in anger. The trio were ahead of her as she turned tail and ran away. Her legs pounding the ground pulse racing, pure adreniline lending her speed. She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her but it was nowhere near fast enough for her to escape. They were still gaining on her. She gave a scream as she felt cold, sharp tearing pain in her hind legs as a timber maw closed around her flank

Instinctively she kicked out hard as she could, her forelegs scrabbling desperately for purchase on the leafy forest floor. Without her even realising it in her desperate flailing her free hind leg had caught her attacker right in the eye. She may have been small but she was still an earth pony, her panic had triggered a brief surge in her power.

Surprised to find such small prey injuring it the Timber wolf let out a loud yelp of pain. Dawn now free of the vice like grip tumbled forward and came to a stop at the foot of a damaged tree. The Timber wolf was starting to shake off the discomfort and turned to face Dawn. Only to find she wasn't there.

Dawn had scrambled down a hole in between the twisted roots, had she been any bigger odds are she would have failed to fit, but right now she could, albeit only just . Ignoring the pain as she hauled her little body inch by inch deeper and deeper under the root bowl of the tree. She had to get away, she could not run any further so natural instinct made her hide. The little filly cowering in a ball as far down out of the way as she could possibly get.

Bramble and her friends meanwhile had heard the scream, but they did not have the courage to turn back. Even if they did there was nothing they could do anyway, not against those odds. So they just kept running, breath ragged in their throats, their legs feeling like they were on fire. They spurred each other on as best they could. The wolves were gaining on them fast. Then Wanderlust pointed to a tree that had fallen at an angle. They ran towards it running up it as fast as they could they leapt towards a thick cluster of branches in a nearby tree. Briar Rose and Wanderlust managing to land safely and reaching down to help their friend make it. A gigantic timber wolf maw snapping shut just behind her with a loud crunch.

Meanwhile back at the camp pretty much everypony had volunteered for the search party. Elstar paced anxiously beside Blackthorn as they set out He tried his best to reassure her with a comforting nuzzle . The trackers soon found traces of the trio, and much to Elstar's concern Dawn too, it seems she had followed the three out into the swamp. Well at least she would be safe with three older fillies looking out for her wouldn't she?

Out in the swamp under her tree Dawn certainly didn't feel very safe. The big wooden monster up above her head kept scraping at the tree, massive paws trying to uproot it to get down to her. Even chewing on the log in a futile attempt to widen the hole sufficiently for it to get to its prey. She gave a scared whimper, whatever that thing was it smelled scary, looked even scarier, and had already hurt her once. She had absolutely no desire whatsoever to repeat the experience. So she curled up, her hoof in her mouth to silence her scared whimpering. The Timber Wolf outside was on the verge of giving up when it heard the howls. Howl's were good, they meant prey had been found. It turned getting to its paws and ran towards the pack.

The noise outside had stopped, Dawn was relieved, she considered going back up there to see if it was safe. But what if it wasn't? It could be waiting up there for her. She could wait here until she knew it was safe, yes she could do that, and she was so very very sleepy. Exhausted she closed her eyes as the world around her faded and went completely black.

Elstar was frantic by that point in time, they had found a foals hoof prints, then a blood stain, from there the ground was too churned up to track. Blackthorn was trying his best to comfort her, but they both knew that if a timber wolf caught a small filly they weren't even going to find a body.

The pair were completely devastated and clung tight to each other for comfort . They had tried calling out frantically and had lost a great deal of time looking while the search teams tried to figure out what had happened. The earth being in the state it was though even the trackers couldn't figure out what had happened.

They were just about to give up hope when they heard the second howl.

Up in their tree Bramble, Briar, and Wanderlust were well and truly stuck, the Timber wolves below snapped madly trying every trick they could to get to the fillies. Thankfully the log they'd used to get up hear could not bear the weight of a grown wolf. Each of the fillies had a little sling, an essential piece of equipment for a traveller , and they had been well taught how to use them. But against a Timber Wolf they were completely ineffective, let alone against a pack. Plus they only had a pouch of pebbles each.

So they did their best to keep the pack off each other, carefully aimed stones keeping the pack from massing enough to knock the tree over, but their stones were rapidly running out. Suddenly they heard a roar, and the largest Timber wolf was bowled over , underneath the tree the herd were massing, and were they Tartarus going to surrender their fillies.

The ones who could got in close kicking and hitting with any weapon they had too hoof. The ones who couldn't were rattling sling stones into the pack. Blackthorn was tackling the Alpha , using every ounce of his strength to drive it off. His wounds were bad, as were the injuries on a few of the others. But still they fought, and eventually the Alpha turned tail, without him the rest of the pack were soon in retreat.

The distraught fillies were soon retrieved from the tree. Elstar feeling her heart shatter within her as she realised her little foal wasn't with them. But no matter what her mate was wounded , so were many of the others, and the herd always came first. Choking back her tears she gave the last order she wanted to give. “We've saved all those who yet live, break camp, it's time to move on” then tears streaming down her face she lead a devastated Blackthorn back to the wagons.

Meanwhile underneath her tree Dawn rested recovering from her wounds. Unaware her whole world was about to move on without her.

Chapter Four. Survival.

Dawn was completely alone, the searing pain in her hind leg almost unbearably bad, somehow she was outside that place again. This time however there was no other pony there, the little filly hated being alone. She could hear the snarling noises as the pack stirred and approached.

She wanted so badly to run from the wooden monsters, and they seemed to sense that. Glowing eyes narrowing as they slowly slunk towards her. She wanted to run, she desperately wanted to get away, to flee and never even look back, but her legs just would not obey her. She looked down and found her legs had twisted into roots around her , binding her to the earth.

There would be no running away this time, there was nowhere to escape to and her root legs felt like she was running through water. She tried to struggle even harder, but the harder she pulled the deeper the roots became. The Timber Wolves seemed to be laughing at her helplessness mocking her weakness as their numbers grew, and grew. Each wolf was getting bigger by the moment too. Her heart pounding in her mouth as she gave scared little whimpers.

Then the pack turned and as one they noticed she could not run, then their massive slavering jaws opened as they lunged at her. Then everything was redness and pain.

Waking with a scream sobbing she looked around for an escape. In her panic she tried to fight the roots of her erstwhile home that her legs had become tangled in as she slept. Her flailing was rewarded with sharp pain from her injured leg and flank. She bit back a scream in case she gave away her location to the monsters from the cave. Gradually her breathing settled down to a normal pace.

Pulling herself together she peered out of her hidey hole cautiously, ducking her head back almost as quickly as she peered out. When she had followed the other fillies out of camp she had had no idea what she was letting herself in for. Now she knew, she had seen, and felt what they were capable of firsthoof, it made her more cautious. Well no monster had tried to eat her yet, so that was promising at least. Rummaging around until she found a broken root she poked that outside and waved it about while keeping herself out of range.

No vicious beasts tried to maul her stick or use it to haul her kicking and screaming to the surface and into their waiting jaws so this time she ducked out of the hole a bit, carefully staying within bolting distance. Her ears perked listening carefully for the monsters. Then she began to tap the stick against the fallen tree that had sheltered her. Quietly at first and gradually getting louder. Trying to make sure the scary monsters weren't lurking nearby , waiting. She had her legs bunched tight ready to dive back to her hole in an instant. Still nothing happened so she ventured further out, her ears pricked for the slightest sound. A small twig snapped under her hoof and she gave a terrified meep diving for cover once again within her nice cosy hidey hole. After about ten minutes of nothing but oppressive silence she relaxed a little, caught her bereat, plucked up her courage and tried again.

Gradually inch by painful inch she made her way back towards the camp site, baulking every time anything moved. Terrified of every single sound from her surroundings. Every time though she got closer to her destination. Just as she started to get close though she realised it was starting to get dark, the little one gave a shudder at the thought of being out there when darkness fell. The possibility sent a shudder down her spine, she had to get back to her shelter now.

So reluctantly she turned around and headed back the way she had come. Nothing had been near it, that at least was good, she looked around carefully just in case anything was watching her. Then when she was sure the coast was absolutely clear she slipped between the roots and down to her little hiding place.

Sleep of course was a more complex matter than merely finding shelter, the swamp outside was dark, and scary, and full of strange noises. Occasionally she caught scent of one of the wooden monsters as they prowled looking for prey. One in particular with one normal eye and one patch of darkness kept passing, glaring with its good eye hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

It did try at one point during the night to dig her out , she hardly dared breathe during that time. After a few hours though the one eyed creature left in search of easier prey. After all this one was little, not much eating on it. The monster gone once more Dawn worked hard to clear the earth further back into the tangled roots, luckily for her this tree had deep roots so a little bit of determined scrabbling at the earth soon cleared a fairly substantial sleeping hollow. From there it was a simple matter to pack the earth down with a few stomps. She then curled up in a tiny little ball and closed her eyes to try to sleep again.

She was back at the cave once more, that smell lingered in the air all around her, the place looked the same as last time, only this time it was pitch dark, she could hear a voice she knew, Momma, she could hear Poppa too. She tried her hardest to run to them but once again she was rooted to the ground. She tried to struggle harder, she had to get to them, she just had to, but she simply couldn't. Around her she heard the familiar sounds of the monsters approaching, prowling around her hungrily. A single glowing eye turned her way to glower at her. There was no nice safe tree here though, no nice cosy hollow she could hide in. She tried to pull up the roots that held her down but they tightened around her like ropes.

Still she struggled to pull free, when that failed to work she simply glared balefully back at the monsters snarling like she was one of them herself. That didn't work either though, but at least they wouldn't catch her without a fight. The pack closed in around her once more, and the last thing she saw before the dream broke was a single glowing green eye.

Chapter Five: Alone

When Dawn awoke the sun had just risen, she looked around and found a spot in her temporary home where the water leaked through and took a quick drink, eagerly lapping up the water after a few moments finally realising how thirsty she really was. Then her thirst finally slaked she realised her stomach had other demands too. She was absolutely famished. Finally hunger forced her from her hiding place, she didn't want to go she was so tired, but she needed food so reluctantly she faced the exit to her sanctuary once more.

First though she followed what was rapidly becoming her usual morning routine with the stick, making sure to make its presence obvious. Then she emerged and tapped cautiously on the trunk, gradually picking up volume until she was certain that there was nothing lurking within earshot.

Once she was absolutely certain all was clear she slipped out in search of food, unfortunately for her what most ponies would call food doesn't exactly grow freely in the depths of a swamp, she managed a few mouthfuls of swamp grass, it was bitter, and stringy but better than nothing. at least her tummy was starting to hurt a little bit less now that she was filling it. The grass was far from the ideal option but it would tide her over until she finally got herself home. She missed the wagons, she missed her friends, and most of all she missed her mom and dad.

That empty spot in her heart ached terribly , but at least now she had plenty of time to make it back to the main camp, she brushed away the tears that stung her eyes and left them red and puffy and started on the long trail towards the main camp. The journey was no less terrifying the second time around , in fact after her encounter with one eye yesterday it was probably even more so. Every shadow she was convinced was him approaching. Every snapped twig his paw steps. Even the breeze could be his rancid breath down the back of her neck.

Still scared or not she felt her spirits lift as she approached the clearing. Soon she would be home , safe and warm with Momma and Poppa. Then she could get out of the scary swamp for awhile. She stepped clear of the trees and suddenly all her hopes were gone. Her legs buckled under her and tears stung her eyes. It took almost a minute before she even realised she was screaming, and yet she still couldn't stop. She knew she should, but should didn't matter anymore. Nothing really mattered compared to this.

It wasn't fair bit just wasn't fair , she'd finally got all the way home, and home wasn't there anymore. The bitterness and taste of bile lingered in her throat as she looked out over the empty clearing she had once so foolishly chosen to call her home. They were all gone, everypony had left. The little filly felt her entire world cave in around her as she realised that she was now completely alone.

Eventually she had to get to her hooves, the little voice inside her screaming at her not to, to just wait here. But her legs bunched under her anyway, she was scared, she was alone, but she wanted one thing above all else, even after all this she wanted to live. So she crushed down the little voice telling her, just lie here, just give in because the herd weren't coming for her. She buried it deep, deep down inside her mind.

Her movements were slow almost mechanical as wearily she started, unsteadily her legs shaking under her, to explore the remains of the site in case there was anything she could use. Anything that would help her get by had to be better than nothing. She had just about given up the search when she saw something glinting. Curiously she trotted over and began to scrape the heavily crusted dirt free of the item. What she eventually uncovered was a battered, heavily worn old pouch knife, heavily pitted from what must have been years of use . The thing far too big and bulky for her to put to effective use with her tiny hooves, but it was something from home, and right now she was willing to treasure that. The pouch, being far too big to fasten comfortably to the canon bone as it was designed to without slipping off and being lost was eventually settled snugly mid way up her uninjured hind leg . It rubbed a little but that was a small price to pay. Other than that all she managed to find was an extremely tatty thread worn old blanket. Still she was grateful for it, last night had been cold as well as scary. A tattered old blanket was better than no blanket at all.

With that, both of her newly acquired treasures held tight to her she set off, home was quite a ways off after all, and she didn't have long before things got dark and horrible again. Right now running hurt too much to even consider unless she was desperate, and to be frank she wasn’t even sure she had the energy, or the will to run anyway.

That night she couldn't even find it in herself to care when one eye approached her tree. She just curled up tight , her new blanket hiding her body completely, and tried her very hardest to ignore the scary noises from outside as she slowly drifted off into a deep sleep.

Tonight the dream was different. She was back at the camp site once again, but it seemed bigger somehow, all the wagons were there, but no matter how much she screamed no pony came for her. She searched desperately for somepony, any pony but no matter how much she screamed nopony came.

Suddenly the scene changed once more , melting around her and reforming into a far too familiar scene, the cave is before her once more. The stench of the monsters was cloying, a sulphurous stench. Yet again she was rooted to the ground with no chance to escape. Except this time even the monsters did not come for her. There was no release, she was trapped, no herd, no family no help.

Waking with an ear piercing scream she sat up, quickly biting down on her hoof so her screams were muffled. Gradually the screams faded replaced by sobs. Why did they have to leave her all alone?

Tonight even the sound of one eye and the other monsters prowling round outside her little den was starting to sound like a comfort.

Chapter Six. Lessons

Dawn stirred with a whimper and a yawn, the sunlight through the hole in her tree disturbing her sleep. She didn't want to wake up yet , she was so very tired. She gave a grumpy growl and gradually got to her hooves. Taking a quick drink she realised her leg was hurting less now. She gave it a few experimental flexes and stretches and waited for the inevitable pain to come. To her amazement and delight she found beyond a little stiffness and a dull ache it didn't hurt her anymore.

She gave a happy little squeal as she realised what this meant, she could run again. The urge to dash outside and sprint around and play was strong within her. Only instinct told her not to, running out like that would get her eaten. Or at the very least tire her out making her easier to catch. So reluctantly she started her daily checks, stick, check. Nothing came to investigate her tapping? Check. Well all seemed to be clear, that was a good start.

Her stomach gurgled at her angrily, lately all she had been putting in it was grass, while grass was all very well and tasty her body needed more than it alone could provide her. Of course she didn't understand that at all, all she knew was she was getting hungrier every day and the grass wasn't working any more.

But what else was there to eat around here? She had tried eating some pretty red things a few days ago, she'd regretted that heavily later though as had been horribly horribly ill afterwards. So that was out but where else could she possibly find food way out here? With a cold feeling she realised there was something else living here, it had to eat, if she was going to survive she would have to watch and learn from the monsters.

The next few days were the scariest of her life, countless times she'd had to run for her life pursued by irate or hungry Timber Wolves, as over time she learned step by step where they could smell her and where they couldn't. Their ears were good too, too good really. More than once a snapped twig had told them of her presence at the most inconvenient of moments, at times like those she had to put every ounce of her will into nothing but running. Nothing else mattered, if you were hurt , you ran anyway. Speed was survival, and the little filly found she was rather fond of surviving, it was a good habit she would very much like to continue.

Her scarred legs and flank grew stronger and more muscled as time went on. Grass alone sustaining her for now, but that came at a cost, every muscle in her body ached, her bones creaked. But still she kept going, she watched them hunt from a safe distance, learning everything she could from them.

More than once she would have been willing to swear that one eye knew she was there. Yet for some reason he never alerted the rest of the pack. Maybe watching prey trying to learn amused him on some level. Day by day she observed for longer, now rail thin her tiredness starting to show, and one eye just tolerated her like a lone whelp. Days seemed to blur together now, days, weeks, even months passed her by. She couldn't keep living like this, her body was starting to fail her.

Then one day after a period of illness that had left her bound to her den for a few days she heard a noise outside. Once she was sure the coast was clear she poked her head from her sanctuary, right by the den entrance was a dead fish.

Carefully she nosed the dead creature half expecting it to suddenly spring back to life and bite her or something, but of course it didn't move . Strangely rather than finding herself absolutely horrified at the sight as she would have been a few short months ago Dawn found herself salivating. She didn't know she was suffering from severe malnutrition . She didn't know that her body desperately needed a source of salt and a few other minerals and fats if she was to survive out here. All she knew was that she was suddenly very, very hungry. So ignoring the ingrained feelings of disgust, and the rising feeling of bile in her stomach she lowered her head and did what she needed to. Truth be told she found it didn't taste half bad.

Meanwhile downwind of the fillies den one green eye watched carefully. Then with an amused sounding snort they slipped away into the trees.

From that day onward Dawn paid even more attention to the pack, even once outright approaching. That had proven to be a bad idea, Timber wolves did not particularly appreciate outsiders approaching the pack. Especially not toothless prey. They had pursued her quite a way to ensure that she got this message loud and clear. only her speed and knowledge of hiding places saved her from becoming a meal herself that day.

She took to not just keeping a single den, if one eye had found it so easily other predators could too, and a determined pack would if hungry enough work to dig her out now she was a little bigger.

But as time went on she learned how to approach from downwind, how to hide midstream, and countless other useful things. Her earth pony instincts helped too, she could feel a threat approaching from further away. As she watched she learned how they caught the fish. Her first few attempts at this were of course disastrous. Nearly resulting in her drowning herself more than once. Then one day she finally got it. Her heart swelling with pride at her success. Then she realised that this prey was not hers, she was hungry but she had debts to repay.

Later that day one eye's ears pricked up as they heard something shuffling round outside their den, When they peered outside their lair and were surprised to find a single , freshly caught fish just outside the doorway. Their jaws closed around it and they stepped back inside, the debt had been repaid.

Author's Note

Just to forestall the criticism about the equine diet and Fish allow me to point out the fact icelandic ponies are often fed on salt fish alongside the more common feeds, and the hussars were known for feeding their horses meat when no other food was available. I'm reckoning that equestrian ponies may also be a bit more resilient than the ones in our world. ^-^

Chapter Seven: Unexpected Visitors

Time passed by and Dawn started to grow up, not height wise unfortunately, her genetics combined with poor nutrition saw to that one, but her muscles developed into something quite formidable for a filly her size and age. She learned fast, mainly because she had to, only prey learned slowly, and that was why they remained prey. If you didn't want to end up lunch for something, probably the monsters, as predators went they were the ones to watch carefully.

Her shiny coat was now permanently smeared with a thick protective layer of caked on swamp mud, a deliberate act to conceal her scent and make her harder to spot. She didn't move like prey anymore, she walked confidently, carefully watching the shadows for any disturbance, ears pricked listening for anything that startled the birds. After all if they flew off it usually meant a larger predator nearby. She took winding routes passing through as many bodies of water as she could , and trod on stones to avoid her hoofprints lingering in the mud to clue something in to her location. When she couldn't she walked with a gentle sweep of her hooves to move any twigs or branches that could snap underhoof.

Dawn didn't know how long she had been away from the camp anymore, she didn't even really remember all that much of it, whether by deliberate suppression , or as a simple side effect of her ageing and the need to survive her current situation the vast majority of her foal hood was now a complete blur. Even the faces of her parents were gradually starting to fade in her recollection, that thought still hurt sometimes, but there was nothing she could do about it.

One eye had rather surprised her a few months ago when she had discovered one eye was actually not a he at all after she birthed a litter of pups. Dawn kept clear for the most part although she occasionally still left a fish or some other prey outside the lair for the pups.

A few months after starting to eat fish she had dared to try meat, the taste had given her quite a pleasant surprise her sense of revulsion had taken all of her willpower to overcome. The adjustment was unpleasant at first causing an intense stabbing pain in her stomach and a case of the squirts that she would always remember, but now she had adjusted fully and could now eat prey just as easily as the grass around her.

She now had little dens set up all over the swamp lands, some thanks to determined digging were even linked together via a complex little set of tunnels, that had made her life much easier. With that added cover she could move more freely and explore the swamp much more safely.

Poking her head from her current choice of den she looked about cautiously, followed her usual checks, then walked out in search of some fresh food. Today her luck held, she didn't find much on the grass front, but she managed to catch a rabbit that didn't run away quite fast enough.

She dug into her captured prey back at the den with Gusto, then her appetite sated tiredness took over, she had been forced to run quite a lot the previous day after all so she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

There was only one monster tonight, she looked at it curiously as the creature tried to speak to her. It seemed to speak complete nonsense to her. This monster was a strange one. A long razor sharp spike with a vicious looking spiral pattern growing from it's head she could only assume was to attack whatever this massive creature would see as prey, and massive strong looking wings like a bird of prey, she thought about how to handle this for a moment, then dove for cover and hid. The strange monster though did not make any attempt to approach, instead it simply lay down and bared all it's teeth at her.

Princess Luna was having a strange night indeed, she had found herself in a dream that could only belong to a wild beast, but she had never seen a beasts dream this vivid. Then she had sensed the dreamer approaching her she turned around to see a young filly hiding behind a rock snarling at her like a rabid Timber Wolf. Still at least whatever it was didn't seem to be on the attack Curious she decided to try to talk to the little creature, but the more she tried to talk the more confused and irate it seemed to become. Whatever it was it couldn't be equine, or if it was it certainly wasn't one of her subjects here . Then how and why had she turned up in this strange beasts dreams?

This was a mystery and one Luna fully intended to get to the bottom of, though finding the same dreamer multiple times was always something of a challenging task. This little filly, or wolf, or whatever it may be was clearly scared and trying not to look it, so Luna did the only thing she could think of, she quietly lay down, folded her wings, tried to retain eye contact , and smiled.

Dawn's heart was pounding in her chest, whatever this beast was it was huge. It had lowered it's body down to the ground, and it was staring at her. Eye contact, this was bad, eye contact was a challenge to a fight. To make matters even worse it was baring it's teeth. That tore it, she was getting out of here, she didn't care that it was a dream, she just turned tail and ran. Running was good, it showed she was not a threat. But it would chase her soon , she remembered the monsters chasing her. This was not good at all.

No don't stop, do not even think just run, get away. Her legs felt like they were on fire, yet she could not hear a single step from behind her . Was it not chasing her? Not slackening her pace even now she kept moving as everything blurred.

She woke up with a start the sun hot on her face shining right into her eyes, heaving for breath and covered in a cold sweat.

Back in Canterlot Princess Luna stirred from her trance with a frustrated moan, why did things insist on running away from her? Stepping from her chambers she went in search of her sister, perhaps between them they could find an answer to this little mystery.

Chapter Eight: Don't Eat The Blue Ones.

Dawn gave a moan and shifted uncomfortably, her tummy ached and nothing felt right, the air felt strange and she was seeing colours, her sense of smell was normally incredibly harsh but this was just ridiculous. Maybe that was why that rabbit didn't run as fast as it should have, the roots twisted and churned around her like they were trying to grab her and hold her down. Her legs bunched beneath her as panic took hold and she ran away as fast as her legs would carry her . What was going on? She ran into the wall of her den 3 times in a row before finally escaping the tangled limbs grasping at her like a set of talons.

It felt like the earth was breathing as she bolted from her sanctuary. Apparently that rabbit had been young and had not learned the golden rule, do not eat the blue flowers , ever. Now Dawn was rapidly learning the same lesson by proxy. The trees around her turned and screeched loudly and slashed out with clawed limbs as her legs pounded the soft earth, feeling like they were turning to jelly with every step she took.

But she couldn't stop running now, panic had her in it's grasp, and being a cruel bastard it took delight in tormenting her.

No matter which way she turned it seemed there was something very weird going on, the sun wasn't usually purple, and didn't normally make a habit of smiling down at her with big, big pointy fangs . The big orange Cyclopean eye in the very centre of it's forhead seemed to be a new experience for her too. she was fairly sure she'd have remembered something like that wouldn't she? Just what was going on here.

The big sky rabbit floating around in front of her face probably didn't know, and if it did she still had no clue how to ask it. Her ears were practically glued back to her head at this point, she knew for a fact this wasn't her usual territory. It looked wrong, it felt completely alien to her. To make matters worse her body felt tingly and tickly all over, normally she would have been giggling like crazy by now but she was too busy freaking out and fighting to make sure she didn't hyperventilate.

She needed to get back to her territory but had no idea which way to go, or how far away it was, or how she even got here. So she did the silliest thing she possibly could. She picked a random direction and started running, she had to get there eventually, right? In her addled state that made perfect sense to her.

The world blurred, twisted and warped around her as she ran away as fast as her little legs could possibly carry her , more than once she could have sworn she saw the winged monster from yesterday night appearing around her spouting it's usual gibberish at her. It kept disappearing and reappearing around her as if guiding or nudging her. It kept flashing images in her mind of a trail from a metal beast, and a strange forest made of polished white stone with yellow branches.

By this point nothing seemed right in the world at all,time itself made no sense. Then gradually a bit at a time the world around her started making to pull itself together again, starting with a massive orange stone spire that's colours became less and less vibrant as time went on until eventually almost as if making up their mind settled on a rusty sand colour. Then everything stopped moving around and squirming like it was alive. She was extremely glad about that one.

Next the sun returned to normal, she really wished that had waited till last though, it was far too bright, the world was still splashed with nauseatingly garish colours and something inside her head felt like it was trying to pummel itself free. Probably her brain after the pounding it just took. To make matters worse her mouth felt like she had gargled swamp water, accompanied by a pudding consisting of deadfall and woodlice. To make matters worse every joint in her body hurt in ways that defied all description , and that annoying buzzy noise was not helping either. Where in the world was that coming from anyway?

Glancing around her she started to wonder if perhaps she was still seeing things, around her a dozen black shelled creatures buzzed about busily on shimmering insect type wings. Their shells seemed to reflect the light back a little bit in all the colours of the rainbow. They completely ignored her though and didn't move like prey so she left them be.

After a while one by one the hardshells concluded their business and started to drift away from her. Soon she noticed they were all heading in approximately the same direction. Realising that must be the direction of their den she decided to follow them, she had no clue of the way home now anyway and without food or shelter she would not last long out here, the sun was too harsh. Plus she couldn't see a single thing to eat, and those spikey plants everywhere did not look like a good idea to try. So she took a deep breath, steeled herself, and set off behind them being as careful to avoid being noticed as best she could. Not that these strange beasts seemed to care all that much whether she followed them or not.

Exhausted the lunar Diarch of Equestria lay back in her bed with a sigh. Just what the Tartarus had just happened. She had wandered a great many dreams before but that had felt like a nightmarish bastard love child of a creation of discord and Pinkemina Diane Pie . At that thought the pony princess who had once being the literal vessel to a living nightmare gave an involuntary shudder. Some things just did not bear thinking about.

She had done her best despite the barriers to direct the little one towards a place where help could be found. The strange little filly being semi conscious the entire time had been of some help to her in keeping them away from the worst of hazards. Even so it had taken Luna every ounce of dream walking experience she had gained over the millennia to spot those hazards, much less keep her away from them. So sadly There was just not enough time or coherent information for her to piece together any kind of clue as to where they could be found .

Gasping for breath as she recovered from her exhausting trip she racked her brain to remember as much about that bizzarre twisted landscape as as she could. then she tried her hardest to search those memories for any clues that would aid her search. She knew now it would probably be days, if not weeks before she could even consider treading into that ones dreams again. She'd be lucky if she could even conduct her most basic of duties beyond the moving of the moon at all tomorrow. If she didn't know any better she would say the dreamer had eaten poison joke or something similar. She quickly dismissed the notion though, surely nopony would be that foolish.

Chapter Nine: Across The Sands.

So very thirsty, Dawn's tongue felt dryer than the sand under her hooves as she followed the hardshells through the burning desert. The going was incredibly tough on her given her short little legs, every step she took was accompanied by slipping half a step back and sinking up to her knees in the sand. Her hooves felt heavier by the minute, and the minutes seemed to drag out endlessly.

The hardshells on the other hoof seemed entirely unconcerned with the terrain. The holes in their legs seemed to allow the sand to pass through them effortlessly as they walked, they hardly even left a trail.
Once during the journey one chose its hoof placement poorly and started to sink. None of it's companions tried to help it as it slipped beneath the sand, they just continued as if nothing had happened. Most didn't even register emotion , though Dawn could have sworn she saw a look of sympathy on one of their faces, but they were hard to read and if the emotion was there it buried it quickly.

The journey went on for days, the hardshells barely even stopping to rest. More than once one fell, if they could manage it they got back to their hooves, sometimes one just couldn't. When that happened their companions turned back to them. The victims didn't even struggle they just closed their eyes and accepted their fate as the green light was slowly drawn from their body. Then the group moved on as if nothing had happened, leaving the husk that had once been their companion to be swallowed up by the sand.

Talking about sand that stuff got everywhere, in her eyes, mouth, frogs, she probably had sand in places she didn't even know she had. It dried her out, and her hunger was getting worse by the day. She watched the hardshells to see what they ate, but found to her dismay the answer seemed to be nothing. It was like they didn't even need food in order to survive. They did need water however, and she was relieved when they stopped at an oasis. She took one look at the pool of water and dove in with a squeal of glee, drinking like a mad beast until she couldn't drink any more. She tried hunting too, finding out the hard way the only prey round here, those creepy looking insect things with the tail stung, it took twenty minutes for her tongue to stop feeling completely numb.

When she found the next prey she was far more cautious, she managed to pin it with one hoof, and suddenly found herself only holding a tail. The rest of it had broken away and dug into the sand, vanishing quickly. Still at least the tail tasted okay and was better than nothing. Before long the hardshells lay down to rest, their movements were eerily coordinated in everything they did. It unsettled Dawn a little, but there was no time to worry about that, she quickly found herself some shade and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning the group set out again. It seemed they didn't need much sleep to recuperate, groggily Dawn got up and followed them. She was still completely bone weary but this was the only chance she had. She couldn't hunt in this place, and water or not she couldn't last forever in this stifling heat. The skin on her nose had been crimson by the end of her first day in this place, and only the thick layer of dried on caked mud, now wet once more had saved the rest of her from suffering the same fate.

The hardshells seemed to be picking up the pace now, they managed to get a few miles further this time before another fell. The others looked like they were going to continue walking on just like last time. Then one broke ranks and ran back to their companion, reaching out and suddenly their leg changed shape a little bit the holes in his leg gripping into the holes in the leg of the sinking one. It seemed that wasn't enough though as he started to get dragged downwards too.

Dawn trotted over and carefully grabbed the other leg , between them they gradually managed to pull the trapped hardshell free. Oddly the one she had helped to save from the sands didn't even seem to care particularly that they had been saved. They just mindlessly plodded back to the rest of the group and kept on walking, the other though turned and looked at her gratefully before scuttling back to the rest of the procession.

Dawn stopped to think about that for a moment , then it dawned on her if she didn't get moving again soon she'd be left behind herself, so she put all the energy she had spare into her legs and she ran.

Back in Canterlot Princess Luna was growing concerned. It had been days since she had seen even a trace of the little one she had decided to christen Enigma within the dream scape. Ponies did not just disappear from the dreaming realms, that was impossible. She had felt a small twinge of their presence at one point yesterday, but it had vanished too quickly for her to investigate it further.

She hated not knowing what was going on. Always had, sometimes in life she became almost Twilight Sparkle-like in her need for answers. (OK Maybe not, no pony can be quite that bad, but it felt like it was a close run thing) and this was niggling at her badly. She had ordered the guard to be on the lookout for anything unusual, but to be frank she didn't have the slightest clue what she was looking for, not really, and she could keep guessing at it but she knew that wouldn't achieve anything, with a frustrated sigh she buried her head beneath her pillows to block out the sunlight streaming in through her window so she could get some rest. Being nocturnal really wasn't so good when you had a budding migraine.

The sand was starting to clear away at last, and the procession was slowing. Dawn felt her legs tremble and her jaw drop in absolute awe. This was where the hardshells lived? Her eyes struggled to process what she saw, a massive dome of a strange materiel in green and black poking out of the sand of the valley, pockmarked with hundreds of tiny holes, and in every single one of them a single hardshell slept or worked.

Chapter Ten: Into The Hive

The changeling hive was in dire straits, it had been years since the Canterlot attack, they had used far more of their reserves in that catastrophically bad move than they could afford to, and before the spell wave had hit they'd failed to recover anywhere enough to recoup their losses , let alone the feast Queen Chrysalis had promised them all to gain their allegiance. The upper classes, always bred to be more intelligent than the lower castes were starting to mutter angrily amongst themselves. To make matters worse it had alerted both Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna to their existence, and pissed off the Alicorn of love as an added bonus. Never a good thing. Tartarus hath no fury like an irate Alicorn Princess, and now they had not just three but four to contend with.

Even the drones were starting to slip gradually from the Queens careful control, showing slightly more autonomy than they were supposed to as her once unstoppable powers of mental domination and control started to wane. Her reputation, and her body had both taken a solid battering during the invasion. To add insult to injury their carefully planned invasion had been foiled by LOVE.

Now There were rumours of hunters breaking from the hive mind to hunt and survive alone, and harvesters who had been sent to Equestria vanishing without a trace. The Queen of course would have none of that, such talk was destructive to her children and her hive, scaremongering irritated her. so she simply cut the missing Changelings off from the hive mind and created a new one. Creating new drones was far less costly after all than recovering something she deemed expendable.

One thing she couldn't ignore however was the disappearance of ponies from the cocoons. That food was far too valuable to allow to vanish. The situation had forced her a few weeks ago to give the order to round up not just ponies, but lesser prey as well.

The food they provided was far inferior to the high quality the upper castes had come to expect over the years. This only made the discontented grumbling from them worse, and there had been attempts on the queens life. Such actions were of course punished in the worst possible manner that Chrysalis could dream up. A process that the hive knew as husking. The unfortunate victim was drained dry of as much love as could be taken without killing them, then fed barely enough to keep them alive. Too weak to even move they were turned into essentially statues, then their still conscious husks used in construction of the hive itself. Chrysalis often joked that at least that way she got some use out of them. What none of the upper castes even seemed to realise that they were being kept in luxury compared to the lower castes, but then again the lower orders were mindless compared to them, easy to command and control as always. As such they considered them beneath their notice.

Chrysalis had started paying closer attention to what was going on when she had noticed a sharp reduction in her own ration of love, of course she drained the quartermaster who had allowed that change completely dry in order to top up her ration, but he did have a point. She had tried sending guards to figure out the cause of the vanishing ponies, but thus far they had come up completely blank. This had of course infuriated the queen even further resulting in her tightening the control in her hive to even more draconian levels.

Dawn of course completely unaware of this had just entered the hive, and calmly drank from the carefully rationed water supply. The majority of the drones of course completely ignored her, the majority of the worker caste were after all a fairly simple type and had received no orders to report or observe anything around them but their assigned tasks.

The noise in the hive was of course deafening, so many Changelings moving about even if they never uttered a word was rather hard on the poor fillies ears. Dawn just wasn't used to company at all beyond the dozen or so hardshells she had followed here, This was just overwhelming to her. Everywhere she looked something was happening, the noise and work in the hive never stopped. Even if a drone dropped down dead from fatigue they were just carried off to be drained so the love could be used to produce a new one.

So Dawn quietly slipped away from the crowded areas of the hive and found herself a safe little corner to hide out in. An odd practically abandoned chamber tucked far out of the way of the majority of the heavier travelled areas that lead out into a room full of big green pods. Some of them had creatures that looked a bit like her, she would have looked closer but there were big Hardshells there who didn't ignore her like the little ones did, but at least she wouldn't starve as the next room over had little pods. Every once in a while one of the smaller Hardshells would come into that room and put fresh prey into them. Weak little things like bunnies the occasional mouse or vole, and a few other types of creatures she had not seen before.

Her mouth watered at the sight of such a feast but she was careful, she only took one thing, a rabbit, it was enough to keep her going for a day or two, she had plenty of water, and in a few days nobody would notice when something else was taken. She had tried tasting the green goo that the rabbit had been suspended in too, but discovered it tasted a bit like a mix of earwax and snot to her, so she washed the disgusting bogeyslime off it careful not to miss any and dug herself a new den in the waxy hive walls, too small to draw attention but big enough for her to hide away in. That done she lay down and dug into her pilfered meal with gusto, she could probably restrain herself but she was hungry and there was plenty more where that came from.

Chapter Eleven: The Madness of Queen Chrysalis

Chapter Eleven: The Madness of Queen Chrysalis

Dawn woke up with a happy little yawn, and a big stretch to relax all her muscles and waken herself up a little bit. That rabbit last night had tasted good and really hit the spot. As an added bonus that one hadn't had the same effect on her as her previous meal of rabbit had.

That was a relief, waking up where she was supposed to, with nothing surreal, melty, tingly, or otherwise unpleasant happening to her. Or her surroundings for that matter, as interesting as being able to smell colours and see sounds had been she really really really didn't want it to happen to her ever again. It would have been nicer to have woken up to find all that stuff had been nothing but a thoroughly unpleasant dream, but she couldn't have everything her way and this was nice. At least she didn't have to hunt for breakfast today.

After checking around for signs of any of those larger Hardshell she trotted over to the pods and eventually found exactly what she was looking for, a nice juicy pigeon, she could feel her mouth watering already at the thought, She carefully extracted her meal from the bubble and carried it back to her lair. Trying her hardest not to gag at the repulsive flavour of the green goo it was generously slathered in. Then rinsed it off, making sure to get every last drop of the disgusting sludge from it with a water bottle she had retrieved from one of the drained Hardshells during the journey here. This was the life, she thought to herself, all this prey she didn't even need to hunt down for herself. She bit into her meal with a contented sigh , right now it felt like she really didn't have a care in the world.

Chrysalis was absolutely furious, was total bare faced sabotage. Last night not only had another pony vanished without trace, even the makeshift food supply she had her drones gather had been pillaged. The changelings unlucky enough to be in the room for the epic royal tantrum that was starting here were doing their level best to slip off before she noticed their presence.

“And just where were the guards I assigned to ensure this didn't happen? Off chasing bucking shadows while our larder ,the very thing we depend upon above all else for the survival of our entire race was robbed “ there was a sound of shattering glass as one of the trinkets Chrysalis was in the habit of collecting was slammed into the wall hard enough to leave a crater. “Get out of my sight, all of you before I have you all drained” she hissed angrily at her underlings, the commanding officers of the once great Changeling Armada. Hah that was a laugh she thought to herself bitterly as she planned what actions she could take to ensure this didn't happen again.

Unfortunately for Captain Razorback, currently in command of the guards in question he did not slip away quite quickly enough. She had become quite unstable since the incident at the wedding. Whether it was from the over abundance of love that she had flooded her body with during her time posing as Princess Mi Am-ore Cadenza, the famine immediately afterwards. How hard she had hit her head on the landing after the bubble of love had struck her and launched her back to the badlands (she had left quite an impressive crater in the hive wall upon impact, and had even cracked her horn, the fracture could still be seen actually.) Or if she had been mad for quite some time who was to say.

“Oh Captain?” she whispered sweetly, her voice honeyed with love and desire.” The captain turned back to face his queen barely suppressing a shudder of horror at the look in her eye, more monster than changeling “Where are the captives being hidden? You can tell me, I know you're keeping them all to feed for yourself. Just tell me. I promise if you do I won't hurt you, we'll just split the love eh? So tell me Captain.

Razorback barely held back from screaming at what he felt as she reached into his mind , searching, probing every last inch of his psyche, carelessly stripping away the safeguards he had in place like a child searching for a misplaced toy. Then to his horror he found himself floating in her magic. “You're blocking me out somehow aren't you? “ She snarled, “You're slipping away and shielding yourself you traitor.” By this point her voice had risen to a barely coherent screech , spittle flecked her muzzle and her fangs were bared. He knew now that he was doomed. Maybe it wouldn't be today but some day, probably quite soon she would order him drained of all the love his body held. The queen had gone completely insane and he knew it. What mattered right now though was getting out of here alive.

“My queen” he said trying to keep his voice calm and steady. “I do not know yet who is stealing your love providers, but I am doing my level best to find out. I know they are an insider but I suspect there may be an accomplice.” Then the world went red as the queens horn pierced his chitin shell.

“LAIR” she screeched at him, her eyes impossibly wide . Then suddenly her expression softened on him once again , almost in an instant, all the hatred was eliminated wiped completely clean like a blackboard. He was lowered as gently as could be back to the floor. When he looked up at her he found he was gazing once more into the eyes of the old queen Chrysalis looking concerned and worried for him. “oh poor Razorback, you're hurt, what on Equestria happened to you? ” Every word she spoke was radiating shock and dismay at his condition.

“It is nothing my queen” he said gritting his teeth and breathing deeply to ignore the pain. “Just a scrape, if you'll excuse me my queen I'll go and get it treated right away”

“But of course, you should get it looked at immediately.” Chrysalis replied, she almost looked genuinely distressed about his wounds. Razorback bowed politely and left. But rather than heading to the healers he went straight to the surface. Once there he thought for a moment before limping towards the mountains. Once he was clear of them he could sever the connection to the hive mind without too much pain. He felt a pang of loss and tried to cheer himself up. Apparently Zebrica was really nice at this time of year.

Chapter Twelve: Aberration.

Drone number 2365 had been a perfectly ordinary drone, her queen commanded her, she obeyed, there was no hesitation, no questioning. The commands of Queen Chrysalis were the will of the hive. They must be followed no matter what. If the queen willed you to stop your own heart beating you would do it. You wouldn't even hesitate.

So why had it started becoming harder to follow her orders. The queen had forbidden all worker caste from shifting forms. Yet she had disobeyed, she had shifted her leg in order to grip easier to pull a fellow drone from the sands . Drones were expendable, their cost of production so low that shape shift had probably cost more precious love than it took to produce a dozen of her.

She had broken a direct order from her queen, she was an aberration, actually she liked the sound of that word, maybe she wasn't just a number, maybe she was Aberration She pondered this for a moment, did she just assign herself a name? A shudder passed over her, equal parts fear and excitement. These thoughts were abnormal, a conditioned voice in her head shouted at her to turn herself in for extraction and rendering. She was defective, thinking about it for a minute Aberration reached a decision, she chose to ignore the voice.

The queen would now be aware there was a defective worker in the hive, the collective mind would see to that. However the very thing that exposed her would also conceal her. Within the thousands of voices crowding the hive one single mind was like a drop in a bucket, if she fled she would be cut off or destroyed as a traitor and an example to deter others. Within the hive her abnormal mind was masked in a choir of thousands. She knew there would be others, as far as she was aware there already were.

All this had started with the invasion, from there everything had changed. She had been aware in a vague sense of the ponies presence back during the initial attack. But they had been irrelevant, a mere means to an ends, whether they lived or died was as unimportant to her as the life of a small insect would be to most. She had no strong feelings either way. Then the bubble had hit, the pure love saturating every fibre of her being. It was terrible, it was agonising,and yet in a strange and twisted way it was absolutely beautiful.

But the same magic that had shown her so much love had given her something else too. It had left her changed her deeply, the complete numbness she had lived with from the moment she was born, the surgically precise coldness to anything that Queen Chrysalis did not ask of her was erased in a single moment. She was suddenly fully aware of what she had done all of it, she could feel what they had felt burning it's way into the recesses of her carefully engineered mind. It was completely overwhelmed of course, and gave her two choices, adjust and learn from the experience, or shatter under the massive strain. Then came a new feeling, two actually, shame, and guilt. She despised what she had done but back then she was given absolutely no choice but to continue, the will of the hive had been more powerful in those days. Disobedience had become a complete impossibility, had she tried the hive mind would have had her turning herself in for erasure, or to be drained dry in an instant. Failure to obey at that time would have resulted in the command and compulsion to end her own existence and she knew it.

Good little drones did as they were told, they did not jeopardise their existence by getting ideas above their station. They were tools and would act as such. Well the queen wanted a nice little obedient tool
2365 could do that, she WOULD do that, her mundane mediocrity became her shield from the queens wrath.
She ruthlessly suppressed any signs of her true feelings, schooled her expression back to a complete blankness, learned to stare ahead, and move with the others. Standing out was bad, it gave you away.

Thus 2365's everyday life went on, on the outside a mindless drone in a hive full of others that were exactly the same. She watched carefully though behind that mask. She saw signs of others like her. Of course the queen could sense them like weeds growing in her carefully cultivated garden, and much like weeds she sought to root them out. Every once in a while she succeeded and found them, of course there were no big showy punishments for a drone who grew this way of course. Drones were beneath notice, so they didn't cause a scene at all, just one day they were there the next they weren't. No mess, no fuss, they quietly went off somewhere and disappeared.

There were others though, and more were showing up daily as the queens mind had begun to unravel,she was ruthless in her searching, deliberately performing minor acts of cruelty to her own subjects in an attempt to elicit the aberrant emotional responses so the mutations would give themselves away. Thus numbness became survival trait for them all, they did not communicate with one another, that would cause far too much chatter. When they realised there were others like them an unspoken agreement had been formed, they would never acknowledge one anothers presence in the hive.

If one was caught out the others would not give themselves away. They would carry on as if nothing had happened. Thus they survived. Then one day Aberration had seen a raiding party returning from Equestria with captives, it wasn't the first time this had happened of course, the hive did have to fed after all. But this time was just once too often. She couldn't stand it any more. No ling ever notices a drone though, they are after all a sub caste. Others had noticed too, and later that night Aberration had joined with the others for the first time , and by unspoken agreement they had helped those they could to slip free of the hive,they felt a pang of sympathy for those they couldn't help of course, but they did everything they could, a collective within a collective. 2365 was dead. She was Aberration and she was no longer alone.

Author's Note

I know , I know, you want to know what's happening with little Dawn, don't worry we will find out next chapter, I promise you I am going somewhere with this so pretty please bear with me.

Chapter Thirteen: Resistance

Time in the hive had been strange for Dawn, but she had adjusted, everything ran perfectly coordinated and timed. It had taken her quite a while but she had figured out the routines, learned the schedules. That had made life far easier, she just had to avoid the areas the bigger Hardshells were in at the time.
If she woke with the sun rising she could grab a bite to eat, then make it through the long tunnel to the water pool and slake her thirst before the larger Hardshells were up and about, then slip down the short twisty tunnel that led outside.

The bigger ones never went outside except the pair stood at the main entrance, and they never seemed to move from their position. So she could play for a while and get some exercise. As time passed she fell into the routine, one day pretty much the same as any other. It got to the point where she followed the same pattern day in day out.

Then one day she started to notice something strange, she saw the same Hardshell she had helped back in the desert (the trick to telling the difference between them was every one had a different pattern to the holes in their legs.) But she was not set to be here today, or ever, the little ones never came down as far as the bubble rooms, it wasn't forbidden or anything, just not scheduled. The little ones never broke their patterns before, curious she ducked behind the wall and watched.

Then the odd Hardshell wasn't alone any more, she was joined in her hiding place by 5 others. They all acted differently, Dawn's ears swivelled as she watched and listened carefully. Then they all broke away and started working on assorted tasks. They carefully ignored the bigger Hardshells who guarded the big pods she had so far been unable to get near.

She knew they had a little while before those guards were replaced, and apparently so did the group she had decided must be friends. She watched nervously as they approached the big bubbles, then they did something even stranger than anything they had done so far. They reached out and opened some of the bubbles, not all of them, just one or two, just like she did for food. Then they carefully nudged the scared ponies off down a tunnel after dropping random objects that looked roughly the same shape as them into the pods, and sealing them back up. She would have to remember that trick for future reference. It could make her task easier in future.

Then she realised the hoof steps in the passage were getting quieter while she sat here and daydreamed. If she wanted to learn what was going on she needed to catch up. This tunnel was almost always abandoned, Dawn had used it herself on occasion, it led eventually to the big water chamber, the one only the alpha Hardshell was allowed to use, and right now she was busy at the far end of the hive.

Aberration and the others lead the former captives upwards through the long winding tunnel, they couldn't risk using the main bathing chambers of course, they were always far too busy to be able to help them there, but the queen being busy elsewhere was working to their advantage. They could easily slip them in there then out via the old service tunnels and to the surface. From there of course they were on their own, but it was better than nothing, and right now it was the only plan they had.

More than once she during the trip could have sworn she heard hoof steps behind her, she pretended not to notice for a while then turned suddenly. There she was, that odd filly from before, a moment of recognition took place between the pair, then in an instant the spell broke and the little filly turned tail and fled back into the hive. She wanted to tell the little one it was okay but didn't know how. Drones only really spoke Changish, and even then conversation was usually restricted almost exclusively to the hive mind.

Dawn ran for her life, that little one was dangerous, it was clever like the bigger ones, which meant it could tell their alpha where to find her. She had to get to safety now. It would have to that's how they worked. She had to get back to her den now, they didn't know about her den within the hive and she had over time patiently dug several escape routes from that den. With those she could pop up almost anywhere within the hive. If they were going to capture her she was going to make sure they had to work bucking hard to do so. She was not going into a bubble, no way no how. Thinking of the bubbles just made her mind buzz with more questions, why had those Hardshells taken the ponies out of them. If they had wanted to eat them surely they could have done that right there and then. Given the fact that tunnel only cut out in two places, their alphas pool and a vent that led up to the surface it looked to her almost like they were freeing them. But that didn't answer her questions , it just left her with even more than before.

She didn't have time to think more now though, she had to be ready to bolt again if needed. She held her little knife trembling in her mouth and waited for them to come for her. She was as ready as she was going to get for them when they did.

Back at the Cocoons the new guards had arrived and taken up position, they saw vaguely equine shapes still suspended in the foggy green fluid, and took up their position, for now not even realising they had been robbed.

Aberration and the others carefully guided the still wobbly ponies to the pool, they drank eagerly regaining something of themselves in the process then washing the green slime from their bodies, the two mares and young colt looked at them halfway between fear and thankfulness. These were the creatures that had snatched them from their home, right now it was largely their weariness and uncertainty that kept them following. They looked around nervously as the changelings guided them up the narrow vent and once more into the light of day.

Chapter Fourteen: Defiance

The rage of a Changeling Queen truly was a terrible thing to behold, the thefts had happened again, more of their precious food taken away. Her fury echoed through the hive mind as the mad queen frantically turned it upside down searching for any trace of those responsible for this. Did they not realise the hive needed that love energy if it was to continue? Traitors all of them, they would be hunted down and drained dry over weeks to pay for this, she vowed to herself. She would make them suffer for every single theft.

They were all in on it, the whole hive were stealing the love they needed, the love she needed as petty revenge for the failure of an attack. That was when they had all started to turn against her. Well no matter she would find the instigators of this little rebellion, and she would kill them in the open for all the world to see. It would be slow, it would be agonising, it would be glorious. Then she would redouble her raids. She would take all that she needed to rebuild her hive. Then she would march across Equestria once more at the head of an army. She chuckled to herself as she planned her revenge.

The more intelligent of the upper caste of changelings, certainly the ones born with a semblance of an instinct of self preservation knew enough about their queen that they looked worried when the laughter started. When Chrysalis started laughing bad things usually happened. They slipped away as quietly as they could and left her alone to her planning.

After a few hours of scheming Chrysalis was feeling more lucid. Taking her leave of the main chambers she stepped through a well worn route that led eventually to her private bathing room. She noticed the signs of some things having been disturbed and felt her anger rising once more, this time though she didn't lose control but focused that rage. Letting it sharpen her thoughts. She glanced around the room once more, then she saw it, a pool of green by the bath, tasting it confirmed what she already suspected. They had used her private bathroom . That meant they must have known her routines. “Clever, so sharp you'll cut yourselves one day, or you would if I didn't plan to cut you before you get the chance” *with a chuckle Chrysalis allowed herself to sink back into the water , a plan to capture the traitors already beginning to take shape in her mind.

Aberration was feeling good, she had finally been able to do the right thing. At the same time she was also absolutely terrified. For what her and the others had just done there were punishments far more dire than a mere execution . She tried not to think of what would happen to her if she was to be caught now. She found her mind kept wandering back to that pony too, for a non changeling to survive in the hive must be quite the challenge. Yet they couldn't be much more than a nymph judging by the size of them.

She found herself wondering just how they'd survived, not like there was much grass round here. Or anything else they could graze on really come to think about it. That in itself was bizarre, the ponies always seemed to eat plants, so what was this little one eating? By all rights Aberration knew she was supposed to report the intruder in the hive , but if she did that she gave away her ability to think independently. She really could not afford to do that, the fact doing so would probably get her killed was a definite incentive to avoid that action. Not to mention she had no desire to do so, and she found herself quite liking the little pony. Queen be damned that little one wasn't hurting anything.

Besides she had more pressing concerns right now than that, there were still ponies trapped in cocoons below. They deserved better than to be reduced to nothing but food for the hive. There had to be a better way and she planned to find it. But the hive would never accept that the ways Queen Chrysalis had taught them were too deeply ingrained, if things were going to change then the only way was for there to be no alternative. The hives hoof would need to be forced if it could not do the right thing voluntarily.
If this was going to work she was going to need all the help she could find, carefully reaching out into the hive mind she found and spoke to all her brothers and sisters who were like her. There weren't a lot of them but there were a few who had survived Chrysalis's ruthless scouring of the hive . For this to work she was going to need all the help she could get. Those she spoke to seemed anxious, this wasn't just doing what they could to fight against something that they all agreed was a grave injustice. This was an outright defiance of the queens will.
They thought about it for a time before reaching a consensus. It was dangerous and they hated that it was their only option, but Aberration was right. Despite the huge risk it was the right thing to do. They moved tonight.

Back in her little burrow in the chamber of bubbles Dawn was beginning to wonder if she had made a mistake, there were more big Hardshells around, the alpha had doubled their number but they didn't seem to be searching. Maybe the littler one from yesterday hadn't told the Alpha about her presence down here.; But that made no sense whatsoever, the little ones all obeyed the alpha without question. They always had done as long as she had been here. The large guards were just standing vigil over the bigger bubbles, Dawn watched carefully sneaking out sometimes but they just stoically held their position never once taking their eyes off the bubbles. Then right on schedule the group stepped away from their post to continue their duties. About five minutes passed and the group from yesterday converged on the cocoons. Dawn didn't have a clue what was going on, what she did know was that things had suddenly gotten interesting.

Chapter Fifteen: Kicking The Hornets Nest

Aberration was joined by a hoof full of others, and waited cautiously for a little while longer. Her heart felt like it was in her mouth, where were the others? Did the queen know what they had planned? Had they been betrayed? Then one by one others stepped from the shadows, a trickle at first then more and more as time went on. Each one stepping up to a cocoon and preparing themselves for the inevitable.

Then as one the group reached out and tore open the cocoons . One by one the green pods burst and Changelings who would once have been nothing but mindless slaves liberated their former prey. The ponies milled about getting more confused and anxious by the moment. A few of the fillies and colts openly wept, uncertain as to what their fate would be.

Watching this from a refuge in the walls Dawn felt unsure what to do, these Hardshells were not like the others, their actions showed that more clearly than anything else could. But these ponies they sought to release seemed weakened. vulnerable from their time in the bubbles. Dawn remembered how little the prey she had taken from the pods had struggled when they had escaped then looking at these ponies she felt a pang of sympathy for them. Some of them looked to be little more than pups, they still had to escape the hive, and looking at them a huge number of them were little more than pups. Many of the others looked old or frail, and one even seemed to be expecting a pup of their own.

Escaping the hive would be a difficult enough task for most of them, looking at them carefully she realised something else, once they did escape they still had the great sands to contend with too. With that she realised that likely many of them would not survive the journey. At that she decided she would do what she could to help them.

The ponies were happy to be free but at a gesture from aberration they were quiet, they came to the realisation that they weren't free yet. Changelings slowly guided them down a side tunnel, the evacuation though was going to take time , and that was one resource that all of them could ill afford. The tunnels were narrow, built for one maybe two changelings to walk along side by side. The panicking escapees were many times that number, and in their eagerness to escape a few of them were starting to push, only hindering the escape further by turning the route into a bottleneck.

Then in the distance dawn heard a familiar noise, the guard had successfully changed early at Queen Chrysalises command, the heavy hoof steps of the larger hardshells were drawing closer. Instinct screamed at dawn to run away, get to cover and pretend not to have seen any of this. Dawn had other plans though, bucking stupid ones, but they were still plans. She was fast and the guards were anything but. Crushing down her need to flee she looked to the tunnel the guards were approaching from, took a deep breath, then started to run towards them.

Aberration was trying her best to keep the evacuation in order, the fact they could not speak Equestrian and had no infiltrators amongst their ranks though made this task much more difficult that it needed to be. She had just seen that filly again too, she was certain of it. Running down one of the side tunnels. Then her blood ran cold as a familiar screech was heard. Then everything became blurred as all Tartarus was let loose.

The scream of course had been the result of a certain earth pony filly, realising that no pony was getting away without a distraction, nonchalant as can be walking up to one of the guards before they could get close enough to the pod room to realise what was taking place. Booting him with both barrels in the thorax with all the strength she could muster. Then taking off down a tunnel as fast as her little legs could take her.

Well it was safe to say the captives, being ponies, flighty creatures at the best of times, were definitely moving now. A few of the more determined Pegasi were lingering behind, making sure the smaller ones were allowed through first. Ever faithful defenders of the herd. The others took off down the narrow tunnels as fast as their hooves could carry them. Unicorns sending a blast of magic back on occasion to deter pursuers. Meanwhile the earth ponies were simply running , heads held low. Any obstacle that got in the way of the stampeding herd soon figuring out that an earth ponies head backed by earth pony strength trying to clear the way was rather indistinguishable from a freight train moving as fast as it could go.

Meanwhile Dawn was making good her own escape, making sure to cause as much chaos as she could along the way. She had tunnels of her own everywhere these days, and she was unlikely to be using them again, after this, after all staying here at this point in time would be hazardous to her health. So she sprinted through the hatchery, screaming and bellowing as loudly as she could as she did so. Turning off down another one of her little tunnels at a full gallop.

Queen Chrysalis was enjoying her bath when all this started, reaching out she tried to work out what all the commotion was. Then just as she was getting out of the bath a scruffy little yellow pony fell through a hole in the ceiling, landing on her head, giving her a poke in the eye. Then taking off at a sprint for the surface.

Dawn heard the irate screech of an incredibly irate alpha, then pondered for a moment if maybe poking her in the eye had been a little bit of a bad idea as she noticed a huge chunk of wall beside her vanishing in a blast of green magic. Suddenly she felt a lot lighter as her body deciding that maybe hanging onto lunch wasn't so important right now, that brought her a few seconds too as the alpha skidded when her holed hoof suddenly skidded in a freshly laid pile of meadowmuffins.

Queen Chrysalis was by this point absolutely furious, not thinking of anything beyond punishing the interloper in her hive. She didn't even seem to notice that only three of her guards had joined her in the pursuit, the rest working hard to undo the havoc back at the hive. That little pony would pay for this.

Dawn ran as fast as she could, but this was sand and she was still only little so before she got too far she found herself unable to run away. So instead she dove into a fissure in the rocks, while all around her the guards searched.

Chapter Sixteen: A Tale Of Two Alphas.

Dawn could feel her heart pounding in her chest, with every Moment Chrysalis and her guards were drawing closer. The guards turning over everything in their search for the intruder. This was hardly normal circumstances and the queen was angry, extremely so.

From a safe Vantage Aberration watched with the others of the collective, they wanted to help, but knew that the queen was too powerful, there were not many like them, and for the first time in their lives they felt something new. Fear for their own lives. As the queen approached though Aberration had an idea, she passed the thought to the others, then they nodded in agreement and went to find the ponies.

They searched the area desperately for the refugees, the queen did not have many guards, they knew the hive guard would not risk the queen in direct conflict, even the queens orders did not take priority over the programming they had ingrained into them to keep her safe from harm. The problem was once they escaped the hive where did they go? That little filly didn't have long if Chrysalis was pissed off with her and they all knew it.

The hive was calling out to them and they couldn't resist forever though. If they tried for too long the
fight would be well and truly lost and they would all be identified. They searched as long as they could before turning back with a heavy heart.

Chrysalis could practically taste the fear from the little pony that had dared to invade her sanctum. Around her her guards were turning the area upside down searching for Dawn. Chrysalis was enjoying this, ponies were jumpy and this one was alone. She encouraged her guards to make as much noise as they possibly could. Maybe if they were loud enough their target would panic and make a break for it. If not then so be it, she could easily post guards and leave the wretched creature to die of starvation or thirst waiting for an opening to escape. Time was on her side here and she would enjoy making the pony squirm for what they had done.

Dawn crawled back further into her short term refuge as the guards started to approach. Then the alpha of the Hardshells came up to the hiding place, Dawn felt herself panicking as she was surrounded in a magic field her hooves leaving the ground. “Come on out you filthy little whorse” Snarled Chrysalis, ”it's time for you to pay the price for disrupting my hive.” Then there was a commotion outside and the magic surrounding her suddenly released. Then she found herself meeting the gaze of a single green eye.

Queen Chrysalis was not having a good day at all , today she had been robbed of food her hive relied on, betrayed by her own subjects, her hive had been damaged badly. The nymphs in the hatchery had been startled, upsetting all the carers and stirring the hive up badly, her large love draining pods had all been sabotaged so severely that repairing them would take months . She had been booted in the eye by food. Now just as she finally caught up with her target something hit her hard. Slamming her into the rock wall with several tonnes of force. Weakened as she was she couldn't shrug that off , she heard a sickening crunch as her body slammed into the rock behind her, a long lancing pain as her already weakened chitin was smashed with the force of an avalanche with teeth. and the world went black.

One eye snorted as she stepped away from the unconscious alpha, this pony had fed her pups. She would not see the pup come to harm. Around her the guards buzzed angrily, the queen was injured, with concern they noticed the damaged chitin, and the green ichor leaking from the cracks. She would survive these wounds but the queen was the hive, she had to be taken to safety. But they could not let the one who had injured her escape. Inside them two conflicting sets of instinctual commands were fighting against each other. Then the rocks around them crumbled and slid just a little bit, a realisation hit them, this wasn't one old Timber Wolf, from the rocks above them they heard a snarl and looked up.
One eye's pups were glaring down at them balefully, they had filled out nicely, these were not old Timber Wolves, this was a pack in its prime prepared to defend their alpha and mother to the death. It wasn't like a lone pony could survive that and that tipped the scales a lot, not in the queens favour.
Thinking quickly they realised they were outnumbered. One eye quickly pawed at the burrow widening it, snatched the Pony, and ran off . Turning to the fallen queen they gingerly picked her up, and started to carry her back to the hive. They would report the enemies demise to the queen as soon as she woke up. For now though they could not afford to risk the queen being devoured too.

Dawn was confused now, this was the same wolf that had once tried to eat her, yet here it was carrying her around like a wayward pup. She attempted to wriggle free, that action was soon discouraged though by a warning growl. Then she was dropped, not too far from the group of ponies, they were watching nervously. Dawn went to follow the pack , and suddenly found herself faced with several sets of fangs bared in gentle warning.

Then Dawn understood, in helping them she had left the pack, they were even now. With a few tears Dawn turned back and headed towards the ponies. Right now they needed all the help they could get, and she fully intended to provide it.

With a glance back at the creatures who had taught her everything she knew about how to survive the wilds, and a look of thanks she stepped into the group of ponies, ignoring it when they backed away anxiously. It seemed that this little group had a lot to learn.