(Barbed Retort)

I sat there, on a comfortable couch, in a comfortable cabin, on a comfortable train, moving under the comfortable light of the moon, in the middle of a deeply uncomfortable silence.

Shining Armour had finally stopped glaring at me, and had started to reread the letter from Celestia, for I think the fifth time; a hastily written copy of the treaty hovering in his telekinetic grip alongside the letter. An empty plate had been shoved to the side to allow space for a notepad where his pencil was scribbling down his thoughts, jotting down names, motives, methods, questions. He was trying to connect everything he knew about the murder we had been told about; personally I thought he was wasting time and effort, there were two options.

A changeling had killed a supporter of changeling integration; either it was a Canterlot noble, the stuffy, self-interested, morally-bankrupt tag-nuts of Pony society hiring a killer, or another Queen had decided to damage the hive, kill it, and take it for herself forcing us back to the wilderness we had long escaped. I had said as much after eating, Shining Armour’s only response was a grunt and the pencil scribbling more notes on the paper.

Yawning, I settled down on the couch, looking at the dark blue fur of ‘my’ hooves, I had transformed before leaving the hive, using the form to avoid suspicion at the emergency guard train currently resting in Hayseed. I wanted to sleep, be fresh for arriving in Canterlot; I wanted to arrange my thoughts. Simple as my options were having a clear head would make choosing them easier.

Closing my eyes I thought back to earlier as I drifted out of consciousness.

<~~***~~>

(Barbed Retort)

Chrysalis just stood there, mouth agape as I landed on my back, my metal armour clanging against the marble floor.

“I suppose I deserved that” I muttered as I rubbed the base of my jaw with a hoof, a second before Shining Armour struggled to his feet and started attempting to throttle me, poorly I might add, but he only had hooves to work with, I could grow talons or tentacles to make the task easier.

I was about to say something, I’m not entirely sure what I would have said, but it would have been witty, and calming, and would have made the situation much better, but before I could open my mouth I felt the strange, almost acidic feeling of telekinesis wrap around me before it separated the two of us, Shining growing still although he did keep glaring at me, I wasn’t worried about it, I couldn’t feel any anger from him.

“WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?” Chrysalis yelled, it was a passable imitation of the royal Canterlot voice, and I saw Shining Armour’s ears press down against his skull in an attempt to hide from the volume.

I waited until the echoes in my head had died down and both my eyes were pointing in the correct direction before speaking.

“Male bonding, my Queen” by this point I was sure that my smile was creeping into utter madness, but I didn’t care, this was fun.

“WHAT!” both of them shouted at the same time, the blast of noise rippled across my chitin, and caused my tail to blow backwards, but I continued all the same.

“Well Shining Armour has been constantly angry with us for these last few days” I looked at him “so I decided to help him relax, it got a little out of hand, but I’m sure this little bit of horseplay has let him express his feelings adequately”, he was still glaring at me.

“What possessed you to do this?” Chrysalis hissed at me, her fear was gone, replaced with anger.

“The desire to help”, I answered as honestly as I could before turning to Shining Armour “Are you feeling any better now that you’ve let all of your anger out?” The lie was a small one, I had torn the anger out of him rather than let him let it go naturally, but such small lies will be forever useful in telling the truth and we’d have been here for the next 3 years otherwise.

He opened his mouth to answer but I cut him off.

“Do remember that all three of us can read your emotional state, so no lying now young stallion” I chuckled slightly as he scowled at me.

His mouth contorted, although I couldn’t feel any disgust coming from him, just resignation and some bitterness “I feel a little better”

“See what letting your anger out in a constructive and useful manner can do for those around you?” Moss Blanket was looking at me like I was insane, Shining Armour looked like he wanted to let his non-existent anger out on my still-beating heart, and Chrysalis just looked tiredly at me, an expression I was used to.

“Well if you two are quite done with your ‘male bonding’ I have an emergency for the both of you” the fear was starting to seep back, but Chrysalis was covering it up with sarcasm.

“What about Moss Blanket?” I asked twisting my head enough to gesture at the changeling who was still huddled behind the counter, peering over it just enough to watch the unfolding drama.

“Moss Blanket, please leave” was Chrysalis’ strained response; she glared at me as Moss slinked through the room as quickly as he could.

“Now that that is dealt with maybe we can actually talk like intelligent adults without any of your immaturity getting in the way” my Queen was still marvellously angry, I could feel the fear there, but anger supressed it as sarcasm kept her voice steady. She took a deep breath before continuing.

“I have just received a message from Princess Celestia, there has been a murder in Canterlot and she is requesting Shining Armour be returned to Canterlot as soon as possible to deal with the crime”

“Awww, but we were just becoming friends” I lied through my teeth, again, while I felt waves of relief and horror pour from the stallion as he listened to our conversation.

“I for one would like to return to the Princesses side”

“There are complications Prince Shining Armour, for one the victim was Wind Cloak, a staunch Changeling integration advocate”

“I remember her, she came by last summer, wasn’t she looking for Healing Toxin” I responded, I could barely remember what the mare had looked like, only that she had come with fear, and left with grief.

“Yes” Chrysalis looked down for a second, we hadn’t even found Healing Toxin’s remains, and like so many others it was a failure that Chrysalis took personally.

“Secondly” she said her eyes returning to Shining Armour and I “The murderer is suspected to be a changeling” Chrysalis ignored a shocked gasp from Shining Armour and continued before he could launch into a tirade “As such, I am invoking Section 5 of our treaty. This is an unforeseen emergency for both our nations and I’m sending Barbed Retort with you”

Shining tried to speak again before he was interrupted.

“This murder puts my swarm at risk and I will not sit back and do nothing about it when I have options, I have already sent my response to Celestia alongside my intent” I could feel the barely contained anger mixing with her fear “If this is a Changeling of my swarm then there will no escape for them should they flee to the sanctuaries of Elysium, if this is the machinations of the wasteland Queens trying to turn Equestria against my Swarm then all the more reason for us to work together” Chrysalis dropped us from her telekinesis, I landed on my side, dented metal digging into my carapace, while Shining Armour was lowered more carefully.

“You both have thirty minutes to get what you need before leaving”.

I turned to leave, following Shining Armour who was moving with a spring in his step, even if I could feel the bitterness of having to work with me. However as I started to push the curtains of the door to one side I heard Chrysalis cough.

“Barbed Retort” I could feel the fear pouring off of her again, no anger, no rage, no worry, just fear “Please take this seriously, for the Swarm”

“For the Hive my Queen” I responded as I walked through the curtains muttering to myself “for the Hive”

<~~***~~>

(Shining Armour)

The train car was quiet, my pencil scribbling down my notes, the metal of my cutlery rattled against my plate with the motion of the train, the soft chuff of the engine car as it dragged us through the wooded landscape that led to Canterlot. It was pleasant, serene, a solitary moment of peace.

Or it would have been if it wasn’t for that Changeling’s damnable snoring.

“SNOOOOORRRK”

It was like he was sawing logs with his teeth, and every noise cancelling spell I knew just seemed to fail when cast on the bloody thing.

“SNOOOOOORRRK”

I glared at the disguised changeling; it had taken a colouration the reverse of mine, a dark blue coat, with a pure white mane and tail that both had azure streaks, although it had refused to show me the cutie mark it was wearing, keeping as much of its body hidden under a long brown coat, with a short horn pushing out from under the brim of a fedora it had dragged from somewhere, and last time its eyes had been open they were a startlingly acidic green.

“SNOOOOOORRRRK”

I contemplated trying another noise cancelling spell, this one had been taught to me by Twily: she told me, giggling as she did, that she had made it to block out Luna’s snores from the times the Lunar Alicorn had decided to remain in her castle for the day and her snores had echoed through the town of Ponyville, the threat of a second visit forced her to create the spell on quick notice.

“SNOOOOOOOORRRRRK”

That did it; I concentrated as the changeling took another deep breath, collecting the shapes in my head, muttering the unfamiliar words as the spell built up before I released it, a shower of rose petals that fluttered throughout the cabin halfway through another resonating snore

“SNOOOOO---“

Silence, blessed silence; finally I could work on collecting what evidence I had, although with my surge earlier, and the surprising amount of energy it took to cast the silence spell I felt tired. I started to pick up my pencil and pad again while stifling a yawn, I only had maybe seven more hours before we arrived in Canterlot, I needed to make use of that time, put my thoughts in order, arrange what evidence I had. I needed to think.

I felt my eyes drift shut, and heard the soft thump of my notepad landing on the table, before I feel asleep.

<~~***~~>

(Shining Armour)

The sunlight was pressing against my eyes like the spears of an invading army as I struggled to wake myself, wincing at the uncomfortable creak of bones from having fallen asleep on the couch.

Sunlight? Fallen asleep?

“Buck!” I sprang up, all drowsiness forgotten as I scrabbled around, the aches in my muscles forgotten as I scrabbled to look through the window, only to see the towers of Canterlot looming closer.

My scrabbling had woken up the changeling, who watched me with a smirk on his lips as I tried to gather everything together, before he yawned, or tried to least, no noise came past his lips, and he looked down confusedly at his muzzle, his ears twisting around in confusion, before he looked at me, his eyes narrowed.

He started mouthing words at me, his expression becoming increasingly agitated as I watched him struggle, and I couldn’t help but snort as he gestured with his front hooves, trying to make himself understood.

“You know” he paused as I started to speak “I like you a lot more like this” he raised an eyebrow at me as I started to chuckle before he brought his hooves down on the table, as hard as he could. The cutlery bounced on the plates, my pencil fell to the floor, and papers rustled from the impact, but his hooves made no sound despite leaving dents in the wood.

Slowly his expression changed from one of agitation to one of horror as he lifted his silent hooves to his snout and tried to clap them together, each clap producing no sound.

I couldn’t help it, I started to laugh, deep rumbling belly laughs as he looked at me and mouthed “What have you done?” his eyes wide as saucers, my notes forgotten as he continued to panic while I hugged my sides, just laughing as hard as I could, struggling to breathe as tears streamed down my cheeks.

Finally the laughter died down, and I could look back at the now sullen changeling who was pouting at me he held my notepad and pencil in his acid green telekinesis.

you going to fix this? the changeling’s mind writing was terrible, almost like a Unicorn foal.

“I don’t know, I did say I like you like this” it was petty, but it felt good after all the sarcasm he had offloaded on me over the last few days, just a little bit of revenge.

please fix this

“Why don’t you just remove it with your anti-magic” I replied calmly, watching as he glared balefully at me.

it doesn’t work that way, please just fix this

“Really, why not?” I asked, actually curious, very few ponies I knew could use disjunction spells; not even Twilight could, and I was eager to know more about their use.

it just doesn’t, please was all the reply I got, even when I pushed the issue farther all I got was a wadded up ball of paper thrown at me, that and another baleful glare.

“If I get rid of this spell will you tell me?”

maybe later, just fix this

The spell was much easier to remove than to work, scattering even as my horn lit up with the cancellation spell, I could hear the faint noise of his hooves rapping against the table as the magic faded away.

He glared at me, even as the spell finished fading away; his horn arcing with bilious green energy, which faded alongside the traces of the spell.

“Thank you” was the only thing he said, it didn’t sound like a thanks.

Although to my joy, he did remain silent for the rest of the journey.

<~~***~~>

(Barbed Retort)

I felt the train shudder as it drew into the Canterlot station, I had only just calmed down from the earlier events, and now I had to face the crowds of Canterlot, to say I was uncomfortable would have been an understatement.

At least I’d finally managed to make some headway with Shining Armour, at the cost of my dignity, and exposing my fears to him; I could only hope he hadn’t picked up on how badly he had unsettled me with that silence spell.

“What should I call you in this disguise?” I didn’t register the question for a moment, before responded.

“What?”

“What should I call you while you’re disguised” Shining repeated the question.

“Bitter Pill”

“Bitter Pill, is there a connection between that and your ‘cutie mark’?”

“Yup” it had been tricky, but the name and mark were definitely connected in a most unpleasant way, transmutative transformation was more difficult than illusion but the results could be well worth it.

“Are you going to show me, or am I going to have to live in suspense?”

“Trust me when I say that you don’t want to look at this mark, a Bitter Pill always makes you feel worse before you feel better, you ordered me to cover it up before we came to investigate” I half smirked at him as his curiosity peaked “and that’s all I’ll say on the matter”.

The screech of the train’s brakes overwhelmed Shining’s response, his words drowned under the noise before he turned to look out the window and his expression fell. I followed his line of sight and felt my own mood immediately plummet.

Princess Celestia was waiting outside; her expression a storm could on an otherwise serene sky, and her sister didn’t look to be in a more pleasant mood, a set of scrolls hovered in the air around their heads.

Getting up I followed Shining Armour as he exited the train car, stepping on to the white marble of the station’s floor the glare of the sunlight reflected from the polished surface causing him to squint.

I readjusted my hat and tried to surreptitiously scan the surrounding rooftops for any kind of emotional signature, but wild surges of emotion coming from the Alicorn princesses were not exactly helping in that regard, and by this point I was close enough that looking anywhere but at the princesses would be a bad idea in case they interpreted it as a ‘guilty conscience’.

“Prince Shining Armour, it is good to see you, even if it takes such troubling events to bring us together” her voice was kind enough and there was a brief undercurrent of love, but the white Alicorn couldn’t disguise her storm of emotions, anger, hope, disgust, malaise, faith; they were all present to some extent, and they did not make a tasteful brew.

“Princesses” Shining Armour bowed deeply enough to be respectful; I didn’t bother “I came as soon as I received your summons” I could feel his love for the princess, mixed with a sympathetic anger.

“Are we to assume that this is the one the Chrysalis spoke of in her response” the blue Alicorn gestured at me, her emotional state was far simpler; anger, bitterness, and curiosity, mostly anger.

“I am that one, yes” I responded as cheerfully as I could “as per section 5 of our agree---“

“We know what the treaty says Changeling” Luna responded her voice rising in volume “You are not needed here and we command you to leave” her voice was loud enough to lift my hat which I held on to with one of my hooves to stop it from flying away.

“Well done Princess” I shot back, I didn’t need to force the cheerfulness any more, I had already been dismissed as unnecessary, my respect would be equally unnecessary “Now if the assassin has been watching us they will know that I am a Changeling sent by Chrysalis, one of the few creatures capable of finding another changeling quickly” I continued merrily staring at the furious princess “I mean it’s not like your royal guards didn’t notice when one of their princesses, a pony they’re responsible for guarding at all hours of the day was replaced” everypony there was now glaring at me, a storm of hatred directed entirely at me, even Shining was aghast at my words, although more in shock than disgust, “even you couldn’t recognise when your beloved niece was replaced, but by all means dismiss your best chance at solving this without any more deaths”

The expression on the lunar Alicorn’s face was priceless and her horn started to glow with a terrible purpose.

“I didn’t think I would die this way, but I always kinda hoped to be at the mercy of a powerful mare when it happened” I continued as I waggled my eyebrows suggestively.

“Luna, please calm down” Celestia interposed herself between us before the lunar Alicorn could unleash her magic against me “I might not encourage Chrysalis in taking this course of action without consulting us, but I am equally sure that she would not send us aid if she didn’t have our best interests in mind” Celestia was attempting to mollify her sister, the dark glow of Luna’s horn not dying, but losing purpose at her words.

“Well of course I have Equestria’s best interests in mind, without Equestria there is no hive, and I have the Hive’s best interests in mind at all times, what farmer doesn’t care for his harvest”

“Art thou comparing us to food?” and that terrible purpose returned, bringing rage along for the trip.

“Sister, please calm down”

“I am being honest and explaining my motives, analogy and metaphor are a part of that process”

“You are not helping”

“Does thou think us so simple minded that thou must explain to us like thou would a foal?”

“BOTH OF YOU BE QUIET!”

Ah, the actual Royal Canterlot voice; it was a lot more impressive than Chrysalis’ attempt. I could feel my hat lift from my head and as I clamped down on it with my hooves again I could see Shining Armour cover his ears as the sound washed over him, it almost looked like his armour was rippling in the wind caused by Celestia’s exclamation.

I stood there patiently, my ears ringing as the echoes in my head died down as the Solar Alicorn turned on me her expression strained.

“Welcome to Canterlot,” some welcome, I could feel the anger mixing with her pain and hope, but it was better than nothing at least “Chrysalis spoke well of your character in her letter, although she forgot to mention your name.” Basic manners, finally; I had been despairing that these ponies didn’t know what manners were.

“I thank you for your welcome, and I hope my conduct will reflect well on what Chrysalis said of me, and that it may make up for any previous disputes.” I responded with platitudes as I removed my hat and bowed, ever so slightly “The name I go by is Bitter Pill for the moment” I glanced to my side only to see Shining Armour with his mouth hanging open in shock; apparently he thought I was incapable of any good manners, I couldn’t blame him.

“Despite these being trying times I hope we can work together for the betterment of our cultures”

“Speaking of working, could you show Shining Armour and I to the deceased” it was a pleasant enough request, if brusque, I didn’t want continue exchanging empty words when there was a job to do.

“That seems reasonable given the circumstances” The white Alicorn turned away for a second, speaking quietly to her sister and the gathered guards before they started to walk away in the direction of Canterlot castle.

“Please follow me Prince Shining Armour, Bitter Pill” Celestia started to lead us away from the castle, our path leading us further down the mountainside, the Alicorn’s stride easy enough for us to keep up, but still purposeful. Shining marched alongside her, head held up with pride, a muscle memory from long years of duty no doubt, I preferred to stalk several paces behind the both of them, watching the crowds of ponies as they parted before us, either staring awestruck at Celestia and Shining Armour or scrambling out of our way.

The walk was short, although the parted crowds may have helped our progress on that front and we soon arrived a low slung building next to another much grander structure which identified itself as “Canterlot Medical University for Unicorns”, a subdued sign on the doors announced this building to be a morgue.

“A university morgue?” I asked as we were ushered through the double doors, which locked behind us, drawing my coat tight as the cold atmosphere of the building started to seep into my disguise. “Seems like an odd place to store a murder victim”

“Wind Cloak wanted her body left to science, she always wanted to help somepony, sometimes the aid she asked of the crown was a little too much, and she would harass and harangue my staff into an audience with me, but she always had good intentions” Celestia answered as she hovered over a set of badges that had the word “VISITOR” printed in blocky red font over the top; one for me, one for her, and one for Shining Armour. “I’ve ordered the Dieners here to hold off on any truly invasive procedures until Shining could arrive, however the initial autopsy has revealed no poison that we can identify, no lethal magic that could have resulted in such a quick demise, or any sign of natural causes; it seems whatever was done to Wind Cloak simply shut her body off” she finished as we drew next to a heavy looking white door, I could feel a chill miasma seeping out from under the door as Shining Armour’s breath started to mist in the air in front of him.

“I shall have to leave you two here” the Solar Alicorn almost turned to leave before speaking again “Shining Armour, I am not often angry, but whomever did this, they hurt My Little Ponies, I would like them found and brought to justice, mister Bitter Pill, if this turns out to be another of Chrysalis’ plots, plans or schemes there will be no power that will protect her or any of you that aided her in this, am I understood?” the rolling surges of anger helped make her point.

“Yes Princess” Shining Armour sounded worried.

I felt it might actually be best to demonstrate at least some respect here, at least the white Alicorn had been open, honest, and polite so far “Yes, Princess Celestia”, was all I managed to say before she had turned and walked away, her billowing prismatic tail whipping around a corner the last thing I saw of her.

Turning to look at Shining Armour as he stood next to the door, I thought for a second about Celestia’s description of the attack, my knowledge of Changeling magic wasn’t extraordinary despite my position in the hive. I knew there were several Unicorn spells that could have simply stopped a ponies biological functions, each darker than the last; but Changeling magic was centred on keeping its target alive to extract love, or instantly destroying the body, removing any evidence that a pony had been replaced, I didn’t know of any changeling spells that could instantly kill without destroying the body.

I only noticed Shining Armour open the door when a cold mist washed over me, the depressing chill sinking through my coat and my disguise; by the Hive I hated morgues and cemeteries.

I followed him into the examination room under the watchful eyes of a pair of Unicorns; both were wearing medical gear, face masks, goggles, hoof gloves, dark blue scrubs, and heavy white lab coats, their eyes following us as a pair until we reached the covered table in the center of the room, the white cloth covering what was obviously a body.

“Good morning Prince Shining, Princess Celestia mentioned you would be bringing an investigator with you” the taller unicorn was the one that spoke first, her long mane was tied behind her head in an unruly braid “May I assume that’s you?” she extended a hoof towards me, oddly she felt happy in her work and I snatched hold of the emotion.

“Bitter Pill” was all I said as I shook her hoof; at least her contentment stopped my teeth from chattering from the ambient dread, despair, and depression that seemed to ooze from the walls.

“My name is Mercy Graves, this is my assistant Buttermilk” she gestured to the smaller unicorn besides her, his wiry black hair gave the idea that his head was being eaten by steel wool, very surprised steel wool, as he looked at us quietly before Mercy continued “I’m sure the princess has already filled you in on our initial examinations but I’ll just run through the details with you two before we do any more scans.”

A clipboard hovered through the air, wrapped in the same grey aura as Mercy’s horn, before it settled in front of her face, while Buttermilk tugged the cloth down revealing a dull brown face, the skin beneath bloodless, while the body’s mane spilled out across the metallic surface, the same blue as the colour of my normal eyes.

“Subject is Wind Cloak, Unicorn Mare, age is 37, height is three foot eight inches, weight is-“ I started to block out all of the boring details as Mercy Graves started to go into lecture mode, just waiting for the relevant details to come up “-me of assault 20:00 PM yesterday, EMT’s arrived on scene at 20:05 for immediate treatment and transport, subject reached hospital at 20:08 and was declared Dead on Arrival, cause is believed to be organ failure although the mechanism by which this was achieved has yet to be found, blood work has revealed no anomalies yet, magic scans have shown that the magic was changeling in nature although we have been unable to identify the spell structure and all digestive toxicology has revealed nothing” her voice wound down from its clipped tone as she finished her list “any questions Captain, Investigator?”

“She’s pale; did you drain all of her blood?” I asked, quietly as I examined the mare more closely, lifting her eyelid to study her eyes, the misty white film sent a flood of terror through me. I hated looking at the eyes of the dead, it was always the same cloudy whiteness combined with the sort of terror that would drive anyling else insane.

“Yes, stomach and intestinal contents too, they are being stored under the table if you want to examine them”

“Maybe later” Shining Armour quickly cut in, the unicorn was looking green in the cheeks

“Feeling squeamish Captain?” I asked while I rolled the cloth slightly further down, revealing the neck, there was a slight scorching where the spell had struck her and swelling where whiplash had occurred, but that seemed to be it.

“The captain never liked it down here” Buttermilk’s soft voice almost took me by surprise, I had forgotten about him while I looked over the body.

“You said the magic was Changeling in nature” Shining spoke quickly “Do you have a reading?”

“You think the University would pay the bits for a spell-reader for us?” Mercy’s voice was incredulous, while Buttermilk looked down at his hooves “No, but we’ve kept the body circled so there should be as little leakage as possible”

“Mind if I take a scan?” I asked as I gestured towards the body.

“Go ahead, that’s why you’re here isn’t it” was the response.

I closed my eyes as my horn lit up, the energy on it condensing into a thick, acidic green mist as I cast the scanning spell; the focus required was immense, divination was never my forte, but scanning spells had been too useful to ignore given my responsibilities, and hard work was its own reward, or so went the pony saying.

Slowly the green mist that had formed around my horn started to flow down to the body, enveloping it, taking the shapes of the last spells cast on it, gathering in the areas that had been exposed to the most magic, with almost half of it settling around the horn, an indistinct cloud showing that it had been heavily exposed to raw unshaped magic; telekinesis most likely. However the mist that settled around the scorch marks twisted and writhed as it was forced into a pattern, a pattern which slowly spread over the mare’s entire corpse; a pattern I recognised.

Letting my focus slip, the mist started to fade, slowly dissipating in the cold air while I tried to figure out how I was going to phrase this before a flash of light blinded me. I blinked to see Buttermilk holding a camera in his telekinesis, using it to record the patterns of magic my scan had revealed, the captured images slipping from the device’s base with each flash of light.

“It’s definitely Changeling magic” was the first thing I said, telling nobody anything they didn’t already know.

“We knew that”

“It’s also fairly common changeling magic, just with a lot of power behind it”

“So we’re dealing with a powerful changeling, anything else?”

I chewed at my bottom lip nervously before continuing, this was not going to be pleasant.

“It’s a combination of Illusion and Enchantment magic, both of them are simple spells, although the binding isn’t as easy” I gestured at a set of interlinked shapes that were fading away “the enchantment is used to restrain the target and suppress all physical movement, while the illusion spell is simple, it was designed to make the target look dead to all physical and magical scans.” I finished, the words had been easy to say but the results they were not easy to look at. Shining Armour’s face had turned bone white, his eyes shrinking to dots; Buttermilk shrank back from me, his breathing starting to grow heavy; while Mercy just looked down at the body, her face tightening as my words sunk in.

“Are you telling me” her voice was strong given the circumstances, although her emotions had rapidly turned to shock “that when she was brought here, she was still alive?”

“It’s very likely that that is the case, yes, if not, then she suffocated while under the restraints of the enchantment” I wasn’t feeling well, this was changeling magic and methodology; what’s better than the murder that another unknowingly commits for you as the changeling saying went.

I didn’t look around as I heard Shining Armour sprint for the corner; I didn’t bother looking at him as the scent of vomit wafted to my nostrils; I could feel his pain as an almost physical force, I could feel Buttermilk’s nausea swirl around his head, I could feel Mercy Grave’s rage build up in her stomach; I could feel myself growing numb from the flood of negativity all around me. Despair, loss, pain, fear, malaise; all pressing in on what little soul I felt I had left.

I fought to keep my own breakfast down as my next words pushed their way out my mouth even if the others didn’t know what I meant; I knew the Hive was in danger from something hiding in Canterlot, something absolutely vile, something without remorse, without equinity.

“We’re dealing with a wasteland changeling”

Author's Note

That was unpleasant.

For those of you wondering Dieners is an old words for Morgue attendants see here.

In other news the story is going to stabilise around here, with no more bouncing around character POV's multiple times in one chapter, and I will not be posting Chapter 5 next week, I'll be using that time to make sure that chapters 5,6, & maybe 7 are ready to roll before going back to posting week by week.

However I will do a quick Q & A next week, if you guys leave your questions in the comments section, basic rules, keep it above the belt, address it to either "The Author", Barbed Retort, Shining Armour, or Chrysalis, and no angling for spoilers please.

Don't ask to spot typos.