Episode 227: Hive Assault

Chewing at her lower lip as the soft light of her horn strobed over the hastily yet precise glyphs etched onto the dark chitin of the hive wall, Starlight Glimmer finished the first matrix of spell energy with a calm breath of relief. She usually worked well under stress, but that didn’t mean she liked feeling like she had a blade pointed at her back. By now the night had descended fully, and although Luna’s moon was bright enough in the sky, the surrounding Badlands were still coated in enough shadow to make Starlight give suspicious double-takes at any shadows she saw.

She was outside the east wall of the Hive, with a cluster of changeling workers creating resin at her instruction to form the green glyphs that Starlight was enchanting bit by bit. Further out, in a protective semi-circle, were half a dozen of Pharynx’s best trained guards, each of them transformed from changelings into various stalking predators of different sorts, all of whom had excellent night vision. Furthermore, from the circling shapes darting in the sky above, Starlight knew there were other changelings in the shape of night hunting birds, watching even further out for any approaching danger.

Even so, it was impossible for her to remove the icicle sensation of danger digging at the back of her neck. She couldn’t afford to rush this spellwork, but damned if she didn’t try her hardest to hurry things along without making any compromising mistakes. She hoped Trixie was doing the same, working on the west wall. They’d finished the north and south walls already, so with just perhaps another half hour they’d complete the grid of enchanted glyphs that would allow for completely cloaking the Hive in near perfect invisibility.

“How are things going?” asked Thorax, appearing in a puff of emerald flame as he transformed from one of the birds watching above, landing right next to Starlight Glimmer. She nearly jumped out of her fur and gave him a look, to which he provided a bashful and nerve-wracked smile. After taking a second to collect herself, she replied.

“Getting close to finishing. Assuming Trixie is making as much progress as I am. Which I’m sure she is.” Starlight knew some ponies still doubted Trixie at times, Twilight among them, but Starlight had a lot of faith in her marefriend. Trixie could be a headstrong, ego-driven braggart at times, but she was genuinely talented with magic, especially the illusion-craft that they were performing right now. And she was brave, Starlight thought both with warmth in her heart and some guilt at bringing Trixie here. It took courage to go out onto what could easily become a frontline in an unfolding battle against one of the worst threats Equestria had faced in... at least a year.

How long had it been since Starlight had nearly screwed the timeline? She had lost track. Time seemed to both fly by and stand still, it felt like.

Focusing on the present, she offered Thorax a weak smile, gesturing at his working changelings, getting the next row of resin glyphs ready, “I don’t know how much you know about unicorn magic. Doing stuff on a big scale like this takes a lot of power. Get a unicorn who’s really talented in an area of magic, and they can pull off a big spell on their own that’ll last awhile. Like with Twilight’s brother when he shielded Canterlot during his wedding.”

“I remember,” Thorax said, rubbing the back of his neck, “So that really was all just him?”

“Yes, but he had to keep renewing it, and it took up a lot of his inner reserves. Now, not to puff myself up, but I’m stronger than him, magic-wise. But I don’t have the specific talent he’s got. I can throw up a powerful shield, but not the solid bastion he can. But, I can do a lot more than barriers. Like the invisibility me and Trixie are about to do. She’s got the talent in that regard, just not the mana reserves to make it big enough to cover the Hive or make it last for hours on end. That’s where me and these glyphs come in. Once Trixie sets the invisibility spell into the glyphs, I’ll super-charge them with my own mana. We’re kinda doing what Shining Armor did with his barrier, only an invisibility sphere, with Trixie providing the expertise, and me providing the raw power. The glyphs anchor it all, and bam, your home becomes the amazing disappearing changeling Hive.”

“I can’t thank you enough for being here, Starlight,” said Thorax, his earnest sincerity managing to make her feel rather off-kilter. Even after being accepted by Twilight and her friends, Starlight wasn’t all that used to ponies being grateful towards her. “I know how much of a risk you and Trixie are taking coming here, when you could be safe back in Ponyville.”

She shook her head, “Thorax, nowhere in Equestria is safe right now. Not with those monsters on the loose. All I hope is that me and Trixie can help you keep your people safe tonight. You’ve done a lot for us, too, you know?” She gave him a jostling elbow, while still focusing on her spellwork, her horn aglow with a stream of teal light that lit up more glyphs as the changeling workers made them. “If it wasn’t for you, most of Equestria would be strung up in cocoons. None of your people would have gotten a chance to taste what real freedom and harmony was like.”

She could see he was uncomfortable, something about her words making him look upon the Hive with contemplative uncertainty in the furrow of his brow. His gossamer wings fluttered unevenly, his voice soft, “Starlight, can I ask you something?"

“Yes, I’m dating Trixie.”

His face briefly burned rose red under his lime green chitin, but he quickly shook a hoof, “No, no, not that. I mean, good for you two, of course. But, uh, I wanted to ask about something else. Something that might be a touchy topic for you.”

“Hah, I don’t mind. Ask away. If I screw up this spell and blow us up, I won’t have time to feel uncomfortable.”

He stared at her, and she chuckled, “That was a joke. Seriously, what’s on your mind?”

“Right, well... how do I put this?” It was odd to her that while Thorax was undoubtedly the King of the changelings, he still had a very soft way of speaking. Reminded her of Fluttershy. “When you offered your hoof to Chrysalis that day on the roof of the Hive... what did you feel when she slapped it away? I mean, did you feel disappointed or... or relieved?”

Starlight didn’t stop her work on the glyphs, but there was a sudden stiffness to her stance that she couldn’t stop or hide. She flicked a sideways glance at him, “Why are you asking?”

“Please, just answer. I want to know. Everything happened so fast that day, I didn’t have time to even really think about it all. And afterward, I was so focused on trying to help every changeling in the Hive adjust, I... I didn’t really think much about it. How I felt. I want to know if I was the only one,” his voice got quieter, almost ashamed, “The only one who was relieved she didn’t take your hoof.”

She didn’t want to stop the spellwork. They were nearly done. It took almost all of her focus to keep the spell going, to keep magic calmly flowing through her horn as a small ocean of sunken feeling was dredged up inside her. Thorax did deserve an honest answer, they were friends after all, but he was right. This was a touchy topic, especially for her.

“Thorax, there’s nothing wrong with feeling that way. She did terrible things to you and your people. She was an awful ruler, who was leading all of you down the wrong path. To be relieved that she was gone-”

“But that wasn’t why I was relieved. Yes, I was glad she had run away. I hoped we’d never have to deal with her ever again. But I’m talking about being relieved that she said no to taking your offer of... of change,” Thorax said, gritting his teeth, “And I don’t know what that means. A part of me wanted her to do it, and a part of me was relieved that she didn’t. What does that make me?”

“Normal,” Starlight replied, taking a slow breath. “Thorax, I don’t have a lot of right to judge others. I did horrible things I can never take back. I’m grateful every single day Twilight gave me a chance to change, but that won’t ever erase what I did. Change isn’t about that. You don’t change as a person so you can be forgiven, you do it because if you really do realize that you were wrong, it’s the only choice that’s right. I offered Chrysalis my hoof because after she was beaten, I hoped that maybe, maybe she’d see that she was wrong. It wasn’t for the sake of instant forgiveness, but simply doing what was right, because that’s the same chance Twilight gave me. I was still angry at her for everything she did, and that wouldn’t have gone away even if she took my hoof that day.”

She took another deep breath to steady herself, finishing enchanting another glyph. Almost done. Just one more row to complete her half of the circle, and theoretically all of it if Trixie was making the same progress. One eye still on Thorax, she said, “So, to answer the question; both. I was both disappointed and relieved. Disappointed because I knew exactly how angry and bitter Chrysalis was feeling, I’d felt the same myself when Twilight beat me the first time, and I understood that Chrysalis was never likely to crawl out of that pit she’d dug for herself. And I was relieved, because I wasn’t sure, even as I extended my hoof to her, if she’d be able to turn things around, and a part of me was scared of trying to... to be a mentor the way Twilight was for me. I’m not a great student, so I'm not sure I’d be good at mentoring another at being ‘good’. Chrysalis spared me the need to find out.”

It wasn’t an answer she was wholly proud of, but it was the truth, and she felt she owed a friend like Thorax that. She could see his own conflict shadowing his face, as if he were chewing upon something hard and sour that wasn’t to his taste. His voice had strength to it, however, a certain willingness to not back away from his own thoughts. “I can never forget what she put us through, and I’ll never defend her actions. Like I told her, I’m giving her to Equestria to judge, come what may of that. Still, she’s a part of the Hive tonight, and when the monsters come, I’m protecting everyone in the Hive, her included.”

Starlight couldn’t help but put a bit of admiration into her smile, “That’s what makes you King, and why the changelings follow you.”

His face scrunched with embarrassment, “I, uh... you think so? I was just saying what I think. And thanks, Starlight. Talking to you helps settle me down a bit. Despite what I just said, a part of me still kinda hopes. I mean, if you or Discord can turn things around, shouldn’t anyone be able to?”

“Not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not,” Starlight said with a protracted sigh, “In my case it took me seeing the complete desolation of time itself to make me think twice about what I was doing. Not sure what’ll take for her. Right now, surviving the night is kinda the higher priority than worrying about the big ethical dilemma of who or doesn’t deserve a second, third, or however many chances we’re up to, now.”

“I know,” Thorax replied, eyes turning out towards the night, a distinct glint in his jewel-like eyes that made Starlight think he altered them to see better in the darkness, “I wish I knew what we were really up against. I’m even more worried about everyone else. Twilight and her friends are out there fighting, somewhere, and so are the other Princesses and so many other ponies.”

“They’ll be okay,” Starlight said, almost absent mindedly as she neared completing enchanting the last glyphs the changeling work crew had formed, “After what they took on down in the Abyss, I’m not sure much of anything can handle Twilight and the others. I’m more worried about Spike...”

That little dragon, now not-so-little, had been a good friend to Starlight when she’d first started living at Twilight’s castle. He’d really made her feel at home. Knowing he and Dragonlord Ember were missing left a heavy sensation in her chest. Thorax’s own look mirrored hers, his nod grave. “Same here. Ember is with him, so I’m hoping they’re both okay. She’s tough. She’ll look after Spike.”

“Spike is currently about thirty times her size.”

“Doesn’t mean she’s not going to be looking out for him.”

“...Fair.”

Silence descended, and Starlight breathed a quick sigh of relief as she finished the last glyph. Now, as long as Trixie wasn’t too far behind her, the work ought to be complete very soon. Wiping her brow off, Starlight thanked the changeling workers, who all looked nervous but excited. Hearing footsteps approaching, both she and Thorax turned to see the form of Platinum coming around the wall towards them. Starlight still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the human Soul Reaper, currently wearing the form of a unicorn. Platinum’s tall, lithe form was reminiscent of some of the noble mares from Canterlot, if one ignored the burn scars on her left side and the odd ceramics of the artificial limb that made up her left foreleg. The thin, curved blade of her Zanpaktou was sheathed delicately through a sash over her flanks, and looked a bit awkward on the mare, a weapon not really meant to be worn by a quadrupedal equine.

Starlight’s impression of Platinum was almost of a... well, not a kindred spirit, per se, but rather an echo of familiarity. Another former villain, somepony who made poor choices, now trying to make up for it. The world seemed ever more filled with that sort, and Starlight couldn’t really complain, given she was part of that crowd. Platinum also seemed to have somehow established something akin to friendship with Chrysalis, which seemed a bizarre feat in and of itself. Right now, however, perhaps the most valuable thing about Platinum was that she was one of the few around here who knew the nature of their enemy.

“It looks like things proceed apace here,” Platinum said, eyeing the now faintly glowing green glyphs of resin, “I just checked the west wall. Your bombastic friend is nearly done as well, perhaps ten minutes behind you.”

“That’s good,” said Thorax, but Platinum shook her head.

“It is not. Every minute this place remains in the open is dangerous. I just hope your magic will be in time.”

“Aren’t you a ray of sunshine?” Starlight said, voice more terse than she intended, but Platinum was one of the people responsible for the monstrous Chrysalis from the human world being here, “Magic on this scale isn’t exactly easy for just two unicorns to pull off, even talented ones like me and Trixie.”

“I meant no disrespect,” Platinum replied, eyeing the darkness of the Badlands much as Thorax was, “I merely am hoping against all odds we can avoid a fight. If we cannot...”

“You don’t need to impress on me the danger,” Thorax said, “Pharynx and I could barely keep up with her in the Crystal Empire, but we’ve got a new card up our sleeve this time.”

“And aren’t Soul Reapers like you supposed to exist specifically for taking down these Hollow creeps?” Starlight put in, gesturing with a hoof at the Zanpaktou at Platinum’s flank, “I heard you Captain types were supposed to be pretty powerful.”

“I am,” said Platinum with a small flare of pride, one that quickly cooled as she closed her eyes, "Relatively speaking. A girl generations my junior humbled me, and that is a bitter pie I have not ceased eating since. That said, it may be possible that between myself and what defenders we’ve assembled here, we can stave off the Segunda Espada and her brood. We’ll have little choice but to try, if we’re discovered.”

“Well, here’s hoping we’re... not...” Starlight started to say, but her voice trailed off as the sounds of shrill bird calls wafted down from the night sky. Her eyes turned upward, as did Thorax's, but not Platinum’s. Up above the transformed changelings who had taken on the forms of birds of prey were letting out screeching calls, several descending rapidly towards the Hive.

Those calls lacked words, but Starlight had zero doubt as to the nature of them. Warnings. Danger was approaching.

“Trixie, hurry up...” she whispered, even as Thorax turned to the changeling crew nearby who were looking around with fearful worry.

“Get inside, now,” he said, then to the circle of guards, “Can anyone spot what’s out there?”

Those guards, all themselves having assumed the form of jet black, night stalking predator forms all had their shining eyes turned outward. Platinum’s gaze went in the same direction, her long, pointed horn slowly lighting up with magic as she unsheathed her Zanpaktou. “Something is coming. I can sense it’s reiatsu, but... it doesn't feel precisely like a Hollow.”

“What?” Starlight asked bluntly, but then Platinum moved swiftly, sword flaring out in a bright ring of steel.

“It’s here!”

For a single short instant Starlight didn’t know what Platinum was talking about, for the shrouded Badlands showed her no sign of anything amiss. Then a bolt of liquid fast dark shot forth across the landscape, and tackled into one of the poor changeling guards before any could blink. There was a howl of pain from a predatory throat, and an eerily familiar ice rattle hiss of something otherworldly and hungry. Starlight saw blood spray across stone and heard the growls of other changelings as they leapt upon a boiling shadow of movement hat had their comrade in its clutches. Fangs and claws from half a dozen creatures of stalking fury cut at the moving shadow, and it flew aside so fast it was like it was painting the night with streaks of ink. It was impossible to tell if the clawing and biting of the changelings had even hurt it, and Starlight could barely see what ‘it’ was until it dove into the pool of green light cast by the enchanted glyphs.

A hunched body of seething dark mass, onyx muscles cloaked in an ashen mist of even darker aura. It had bent back, hooved legs, twisted and bent, and long arms that were almost half hand with fingers too long, too sharp. Yet its head, attached to a neck that was itself stretched out, had the almost familiar shape of a changelings’. Its face was covered in a half formed mask of white bone, solid green jewel eyes blazing too bright from within dark eye sockets. The creature held the changeling guard it had tackled in its mouth of thick, fanged teeth, and shook the body like a dog with a bone, scattering more blood.

Her mind was a second slower in overcoming her shock than Thorax was, and Platinum was faster still. The Soul Reaper turned unicorn vanished, Starlight feeling the faint rush of air as Platinum used Flash Step to appear before the horrific fiend, already in a striking stance adapted from two legs to four hooves as she used magic to float out her Zanpaktou in a single smooth streak of motion. The creature was struck in the neck, and no blood came forth, but rather a soupy spew of ink. It howled and dropped the body from its mouth, and flailed its terrifyingly long claws in a butcher’s dance. Platinum, having caught the changeling’s body on her back, disappeared with another Flash Step, reappearing some distance away to set the body down.

By now Thorax had charged in, transforming mid leap in a burst of emerald fire. His emerging form was enormous, and unknown to Starlight. It was like a great, armored rhinoceros, with tusks, horns, and thick platting across a body that was more moving mountain than flesh and blood. Thorax crashed into the twisted monstrosity, his overwhelming bulk sending it flying like a kicked pebble. Starlight saw a flash of raw crimson for a moment, and from the flailing beast’s howling mouth a beam flew without aim, but still cut an explosive path over one of the higher portions of the Hive wall.

Starlight had to jump aside as bits of chitin rubble crashed down around her. The changeling workers were fleeing, taking to the air on glittering insect wings. Her mind was still reeling, but she was finally thinking clearer as she began to gallop to catch up to Thorax. Starlight now recognized why the creature looked familiar.

“Wraith!” she called out, “It’s a Wraith, or close to it.”

Thorax’s voice didn’t sound much different, even in his present form of a bulging armored rhinoceros thing, “What does that mean!?”

Right, he hadn’t been there, and probably had only heard part of the story of the journey into the ocean. Truthfully Starlight wasn’t completely sure she understood what Wraiths were, aside from the result of Equestrian souls not passing on properly. This creature had physical traits similar to a Wraith, although she couldn’t deny it was also slightly different; like that bone mask.

Recovering from Thorax’s strike, the thing, Wraith or otherwise, darted with sickening speed through the shadows. It circled them, making Starlight turn about this way and that to try and keep it in sight. Her horn lit up. Wraiths could move through solid matter. Just smacking it wouldn’t do much. Magic or spirit energy was needed.

Like some murderous shark, it dove down under the rocky terrain, and Starlight threw a barrier of magic over herself and Thorax just in time before it came plunging up from under them, its shadow claws stabbing. The shell of diamond-like magic around her and Thorax held, and the Wraith flowed back with another howl, sparks of red forming in its gaping void of a mouth. Starlight dropped the shield so she and Thorax could throw themselves sideways before the ruby beam melted and exploded its way through the space they just occupied. Thorax’s form burst with fresh green flame, turning into a spine covered quadruped rodent the size of a big boulder, that shivered as he shot a series of flying quills at the Wraith.

Starlight wasn’t too surprised to see the quills do little, as if plucking at mere shadow.

She cut loose with a beam of her own, her horn flickering as she fired a focused lance of teal magic. This did more to the Wraith, bursting against its flesh and making it writhe as it flickered back to avoid more of the punishing magic. It went up into the air, its form mingling with the backdrop of night and Starlight lost sight of it. Until she felt it behind her, like a pure freeze down her spine. She turned, lashing with her magic, but those claws were already coming for her faster than she could move.

Platinum’s ice was faster, still. A tingling of sub-zero crystal chimes filled the air as a wash of white blue ice passed over the Wraith’s talons. Platinum’s Zanpaktou, now in the shape of a large, frosted blue talwar, wove a circular pattern through the air under the direction of her magic. The Wraith let out a trilling noise as it turned towards her, its one claw frozen solid, but its other extending out like shadowy spears towards the Soul Reaper. Platinum stood her ground, deflecting the stabbing shadow claws one after another, then cut down hard with Fuyokogo.

A blistering cascade of ice shards erupted in a straight line from the edge of her blade, impacting the Wraith like a liquid wave. Starlight backed away swiftly, feeling her own fur frost over from the raw proximity to such a sudden drop in temperature.

A few moments of quiet passed as Thorax, transforming back to his natural form, came up next to her, both of them gazing at the bank of frozen ice. Inside the ice, the Wraith was still. If it had been regular ice, it would not serve prison for such a creature, who could pass through solid matter as if it were air. But this was ice from Platinum’s Fuyokogo, heavily infused with the former Captain’s spirit energy. Just to be on the safe side, Starlight quickly cast an enclosing barrier over the ice imprisoning the Wraith. it wasn’t destroyed, merely held.

“What is it...?” Thorax breathed, “It has a changeling’s... dammit!” He shook his head and quickly rushed over to where Platinum had put down the body of the guard that had been struck at the onset of the attack. The other guards, turned back to their original shapes, gathered around as well. One of them had already been checking the body and gave Thorax a sad look as she shook her head as the King approached. Thorax didn’t slow, and looked over the body himself for a moment before, head bowed with a pained grimace, he quietly ordered the guards to take the body inside the Hive.

Platinum, eyeing the frozen creature, came up to Starlight to speak in a hushed tone, “I don’t know what this thing is, but it is part Hollow. Those were Ceros it was firing, and the mask is unmistakable. But I’ve never seen a Hollow with a reiatsu that feels like this.”

“That’s because it has magic in it, as well,” Starlight said, feeling sick as she looked at the creature and her mind whirled with thoughts, “I... I think it’s an Equestrian. A changeling.”

“What in the pit of blasted Tartarus happened here!?”

In short order Pharynx came slamming down from above, having flown over to this side of the Hive as fast as he could once it became clear something was wrong. The whole affair had happened in less than the span of thirty seconds. He wasn’t the only one arriving, either. A contingent of changeling guards numbering around thirty flew alongside Pharynx. Then, in quick flicks of motion, Platinum's son, Pipsqueak appeared alongside the Arrancar, Ocellus, who with the use of changeling magic now strode around in an approximation of her human form.

Ocellus took one sniff of the air, glanced at the dead changeling, and the trapped Wraith, and took a deep breath, “Well, that ain’t good. Definitely mom’s handiwork.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Pharynx growled, rounding on her. Having seen the body of one of his guards being carried away into the hive, seeing the blood traces splattering the ground, the protective changeling war leader had a storm of fury brewing on his dark features.

Ocellus didn’t flinch from his stabbing stare, responding calmly, but with a distinct tone of ominous warning as she pointed at the Wraith entombed in ice and a shell of magic, “Exactly what it sounds like. Whatever that is, it’s got my mom’s reiatsu all over it. Pumped into it like a balloon. But it smells like a local soul. One of yours. Sooooo, gonna guess mom got her claws into one of your folk and decided to play around with what she could do. You bugs missing anyone?”

Pharynx’s face grew a paler shade, horror and disgust and shame swiftly flying over his features one after another, “I just got the report before the attack... dammit! DAMMIT!”

“Brother, what?” Thorax came up, watching Pharynx smash the ground with his hoof, “What report?”

“I sent a few of my best scouts out further afield to... to keep an eye out for any movement!” Pharynx ground his teeth, “They all reported back on time, except one. Cobweb. I only found out a few minutes before this happened!” Pharynx approached the long field of ice that surrounded the changeling Wraith, “I can’t even tell if it’s him, but... who else could it be? What did that monster do to him?”

Pipsqueak looked uncomfortably at Ocellus, “Has your mother done things like this before?”

“What, turned souls into Hollows? All the time! But this is the first time I’ve seen it done on a soul that wasn’t, y’know, human. This was her experimenting. I bet it didn’t work like it does on a human soul, either. She wouldn’t have had to pump in any of her own reiatsu on a human soul, so guessing this Cobweb guy turned into something else first, then mom shoved a bunch of Hollow essence into him. Nasty, nasty work.”

“A Wraith...” Starlight shuddered, “He became a Wraith first. I don’t know how. It’s supposed to take a long time for a soul to go Wraith. Years of suffering...”

Ocellus shrugged, “You don’t know my mom. She can inflict years of suffering given a few minutes and a little boredom for incentive. Honestly, I’d be less worried about how she did it, than about why.”

“She’s right,” said Platinum, having not sheathed her Zanpaktou, but rather pointedly stayed alert as her eyes scanned the sky, “While Chrysalis may inflict torture for personal entertainment, this was done with a purpose. Starlight, that spell has to be cast now to hide the Hive.”

“I don’t know if Trixie is finished on her end, yet, if I cast it now it might not be complete,” said Starlight, but Platinum shook her head forcefully, her voice cold edged as steel.

“Take the risk! I fear this poor soul was unleashed not for fun, but because Chrysalis knew that, despite being consumed by the Hollow desire to feed, he’d likely still follow his shattered memories as a changeling and also return home.”

The meaning of those words lashed through Starlight quickly, who felt like hitting herself for not realizing the danger sooner! Of course if the Hollow Chrysalis had unleashed this unfortunate changeling soul after turning him into this monster, it might very well have been with the intent of following him right here! Starlight turned and began to gallop back towards the wall of the Hive, hoping that Trixie had finished her side of the glyphs by now! Even if not complete, if she cast the spell the invisibility might hold up long enough to hide the Hive until daybreak-

A green flash and a pressure wave hit so fast that Starlight felt her body go airborne before she could even blink. She tumbled through the air, the night sky dazzling and spinning above her. Only the fact that she’d already been channeling magic into her horn in preparation to cast the invisibility spell saved her from a painful fall, as she redirected the magic into a levitation that halted her in mid-air, body coated in a field of magical light.

A crater had blown a hole some twenty meters across, leading right up to the wall, which now had a smoking opening torn out along the Hive’s side. A good portion of the enchanted glyphs had been destroyed in the blast, and if Starlight had actually gotten to the Hive wall to cast her spell, she’d have been caught in the center of the blast zone.

“Why, hello everyone. I apologize for dropping in unannounced at such a late hour, but you see, I’m looking for someone, and was wondering...”

In the sky, lit by the backdrop of the moon behind her, stood Chrysalis, Second Espada. Her long green hair haloed her grinning face like a malevolent corona of a destructive star about to descend from orbit. Her elegant white dress hugged her painfully perfect body with all of the pale, ethereal grace of a death shroud. Her blade, her Zanpaktou, was a glinting curve of lethal metal reflecting the moonlight with the promise of intimate violence.

Around her, like a flight of vultures circling a corpse from on high, was a cadre of several hundred of her Arrancar children, all drooling with hunger.

Chrysalis’ smile seemed almost too genuine, too happily sincere, as she pointed at her face.

“Have you happened to see a bug that looks like me, but a million times more pathetic, and in need of killing? I’ll take either ‘yes’ or incoherent screaming as acceptable answers.”

Scampering about from corner to corner, the miniature Discord made haste through the lower halls of Hitsuyo-Aku. Navigating the cold, labyrinthine structure was largely a matter of trial and error, as the terribly inconsiderate constructors of the Soul Reaper’s laboratory fortress of questionable research had neglected to throw up any convenient maps. Discord’s efforts to control his tiny simulacrum were also straining him the further the little beast went from its original creator, and the mini-Discord often got distracted until the real Discord’s shouting in its skull got the tiny thing scrambling once more.

He was looking for someone, now.

Some short while ago, most of the hidden laboratory fortress had emptied out of Chrysalis and her deplorable brood. He’d been following her as best he could, that cad of a woman, but once she’d gone to one of the elevator shafts and ascended to the top of the tower, there’d been no way to track her upwards. The only reason Discord knew she was gone was because so many of her eager drones had crowed loudly about how it was ‘time to feast!’ and ‘mother calls us to hunt with her!’ and they’d nearly one and all gone flitting out at the same time. Discord didn’t know where they were going, but had an itch in his teeth that told him he wasn’t going to like the answer.

Fortunately while he’d been listening in on a few conversations here and there he’d heard some of the Arrancar let slip that they were keeping Trixie, the Bount version, locked up on one of the lower sub-levels, to be kept on hand for future entertainment. If he was going to break himself out of here, then she was likely his best ally in that regard. His only, truthfully.

Now, not every Arrancar had gone off on the hunt or whatever it was they were doing. A few remained behind, apparently a group that had performed inadequately to please their bloodthirsty mother due to failing to do much damage to a place called Klugetown. So those sad sacks were left patrolling the halls and presumably guarding his own cell, plus Trixie’s, wherever that was. Avoiding them wasn’t too difficult, as they were in a state of constant lamentation over not being allowed to go feeding alongside their brethren, and loved to complain about the fact loudly. Made it easy to hear any given patrol coming and hide until they passed.

What wasn’t easy was finding Trixie. Just how many levels did this place have!? Discord had conjured mazes in his personal realm of chaos that made more sense than the layout of Hitsuyo-bloody-Aku! If he ever got to the human world and met the architect of this place, there was going to be a reckoning involving somebody being turned into a plant! His desk back home needed a new cactus.

He was getting ready to just straight up ask the next patrol where Trixie was being kept, as knowing his luck they might actually answer on reflex before realizing they were talking to a five inch tall Discord, but as fortune had it the miniature Discord scampered around a corner to find a bored pair of Arrancar sitting outside an impressive looking set of sliding metal doors. One was female, the other male, both having the same pitch black skin tones of Chrysalis’s entire horde. They were engaged in a game of makeshift mini-golf involving a bunch of science gear probably scrounged from the nearby labs, beakers and jars set up like random obstacles that they clearly didn’t care about knocking metal balls of indeterminate purpose through using brooms and mops as makeshift clubs.

Discord could appreciate the chaos in action, and would have sympathized with the boredom more if these nitwits weren’t between him and his goal. Neither Arrancar had noticed him crawling along the wall, both far too engrossed with their makeshift game, which seemed to have little to no rules aside from scoring arbitrary points by smashing balls through the most sensitive looking laboratory equipment strewn about the hallway.

He had to deftly dodge a few flying pieces of shattered glass, or broken fragments of one doohickey or another, while trying to get to the door. Being closed, the door wasn’t offering a very convenient method of entry to the room behind. He wasn’t even completely sure Trixie would be in there, but these two had to be guarding the door for a reason, right? He hadn’t seen any other Arrancar hanging around doors, at least.

Getting the door to open would be a problem, as it had a keypad mounted on the wall, well outside his reach. That said, the sliding doors didn’t go entirely to the floor, leaving a tiny sliver of space between themselves and the ground. Discord’s control over his tiny simulacrum was limited, but he could still use the tiny spark of chaos magic that had created it to make a few alterations. It was embarrassing how much concentration it took, such a small thing like this. He couldn’t wait to get this damn javelin out of his body.

Crouching down against the floor, the mini-Discord grew flatter still, chaos magic giving the smallest ripple of prismatic light over its body as it became as thin as paper. Shuffling in a most ungainly manner, the now paper-thin Discord made little grunting noises as it edged its way under the doorframe, the Arrancar playing very loud, very roundabout mini-golf being none the wiser of the infiltration taking place practically under their noses.

The room inside was about thirty feet long in a simple, steel rectangle, and was unpleasantly cold inside. A freezer unit of some sort, with specimen containers lining the walls, almost akin to a morgue. Discord inflated his simulacrum back to three dimensions with a balloonish noise, and cast a look about. His expression drooped as he saw a bloody, bruised pile tied up and hanging from the wall like a macabre piñata. Her hat and cloak were nowhere to be seen, but it was clearly Trixie, silver mane red with dry blood and hanging across her face like a veil. Thick rope nailed to the roof, clearly not part of the room’s normal accouterments, left her dangling by her forelegs. One look was enough to tell that neither Chrysalis nor any of her children had been kind to the Bount since her capture, although none of the damage looked lethal or even permanent. Just... most unpleasant.

Discord felt a twinge of old guilt. He’d never been much for physical torture, even on his worst days, but he certainly had been no angel in the past, and something about seeing another living being being made a toy of twisted something in his gut that made him angry at his past self and even more angry at the present villainy loose in the world. His simulacrum cracked its knuckles, quite eager to get about the business of escape and then payback.

“Hey! Hey, you alive? Awake? Hello!? Trixie the Bount? Bount Trixie? Bixie?”

A soft groan escaped her lips, and she cracked her eyes open, gazing down at the tiny Discord. “I...I’ve clearly... lost my mind. I’m seeing things. And Bixie...? I must be near death, to think of a nickname like that...”

“Well, I can’t comment on whether you’ve lost your mind, as I don’t really have my own under wraps either, but you aren’t seeing things. Or rather, you are, but what you’re seeing is quite real. See, would a figment of your imagination do this?” He began to dance a little jig, to which the battered and bewildered Trixie blinked several times.

“No... my imagination would conjure up a better dance, and probably I’d be dreaming of Starlight doing it. Oooh...oh wow... I hurt everywhere. It hurts to talk. How are you here, Discord? You’re impaled and imprisoned.”

The simulacrum stopped dancing and snapped his clawed fingers, “Oh, just a bit of my blood that got knocked out of my body by Chrysalis making an error in judgment. A bit of freed chaos magic, to make this little guy. Admittedly I can’t do much, but I can do enough. Enough to get you free, so you can in turn free me.”

Within the mini-Discord’s eyes a very unsettling red light flashed with chilling fury, “Then I can engage in the kind of retributive therapy that Fluttershy might scold me for, but I won’t tell her if you won’t.”

“N-not even sure who you’re talking about...” Trixie said, “I’ll assume the pony version of the nice girl who’s really into animals.”

“Nice to know some things stay the same, no matter the reality,” Discord said, and the simulacrum hopped onto Trixie’s leg and began to awkwardly climb up the Bount to reach the top of the ropes binding her hooves to the ceiling, “Now let’s see about getting you down.” With a lick of his lips and a rub of his paw on talon, the miniature Discord snapped his fingers to send a few motes of chaos into the ropes. The piece touched turned into a length of taffy, which he promptly began to eat through.

“Ooof!” Trixie grunted as she fell to the floor, her aching body clenching up at the impact, “Could’ve warned me first.”

“Less complainy, more escapey,” the simulacrum said, his tiny body jerking slightly as a fizz of unstable energy washed over him. Trixie looked at him as she gingerly stood up with the simulacrum on her back.

“What was that about?”

“Eh, didn’t have a lot of chaos juice in this little guy to begin with,” said Discord, noting one of the mini-Discord’s limbs had deflated like a withered flower, “My last few tricks really drained the battery. Won’t be able to do much more before this thing goes poof. But never mind that. You, Miss Bount, you got that silly Doll thing of yours nearby?”

“His name is Eisenwand, and I can sense him. He’s in the room...” Trixie said, searching among the wall containers, which were essentially steel lockers built into the wall designed to keep different specimens at different degrees of temperature. Hauling one open, it led into a five foot deep space where Trixie’s crumpled hat and cloak had been unceremoniously tossed. She pulled them out, straightened the garments out as best she was able, and donned them, less with a flourish and more a groaning and limping gesture.

“Eisenwand, Ziege Dich.”

The pentagram-like Bount crest on her hat flashed red, and from a iron dark mist formed Eisenwand in all his tall, metallically handsome glory. The metal alicorn looked at Trixie with something approaching concern, his baritone voice respectful, “Mistress, you are injured.”

“I’ll be fine, Eisenwand. The Arrancar were more interested in drawing things out than doing anything permanent. But, if my current state upsets you, there’s two right outside this door we can mutually explain the proper way to treat a lady to.”

To this, the alicorn of iron did not smile, for his face was expressionless helmet of slanted metal, but one could certainly see an eager flash in the red gems of his eyes.

A moment later the two Arracancar in the hallway, busy arguing over whether the recently smashed computer monitor was worth ten points or five, were both bowled over as the metal doors to the room with the prisoner were blown open. One of the door halves smashed the male Arrancar guard across the head while simultaneously throwing him into the wall. The other half of the door hit the female guard in the legs, tripping her over. Before either could gather their wits, Eisenwand charged out in a storm of stamping metal hooves, Trixie riding him with scepter in hoof, and the miniature Discord riding her in turn.

The male guard had twin hooves of heavy metal smashed into his chest, cracking him even deeper into the wall, which now had a clean two foot deep indent. The female Arrancar was struck by a pentagram hex of spirit energy flung from Trixie’s scepter, which wracked the Hollow with so much pain that it overwhelmed her senses and left her twitching on the ground until unconscious.

Briefly checking to make sure there were no other guards, Trixie glanced over her shoulder at Discord, “Where are you being held?”

“A few floors up, I think. I should be able to lead you there,” Discord said.

“Hello!? What’s with all that noise out there? Is that somebody escaping? Please tell me it’s somebody escaping!”

Trixie and Discord both blinked, peering down the hall to their left at another set of doors that were further down. Eisenwand spoke in a dry, disinterested tone, “There appears to be another prisoner.”

“Was there somebody else unaccounted for?” Discord mused, the simulacrum rubbing its tiny beard, then shrugged, “Eh, probably nobody important.”

“Hey! I can hear you out there! I got really good ears! If you’re not friends with the weirdos who took this shindig over, then get me outta here!”

Trixie frowned, recognizing the annoying male voice and glancing away down the opposite hallway, “I don’t know, might be better to just pretend we didn’t hear anything.”

“Whaaaat!? That’s so cold! Even I’m not that cold hearted! Mostly! On a good day when I’ve had my cup of coffee! Seriously, you can’t leave me in here! That psycho-lady with the fangs was talking about ‘experimenting’ on me later, and I don’t think she meant it in a hubba-hubba kinda way!”

Discord’s simulacrum made a thoughtful noise, “Hmm, an extra meat shield could prove useful, if nothing else. Oh, and I could brag to Fluttershy about how nice and kind I was to help a soul in need.”

“On the other hand,” said Trixie, “He’s an irritating, untrustworthy lout, who might cause trouble if we free him.”

“No I won’t!” shouted the voice behind the door, “I’ll be super good, I swear! Totally trustworthy. My minions even once voted me ‘Best overlord to serve under’ two years in a row! All because I extended lunch breaks from five minutes to ten! Come on! You can’t just leave me to be fodder for these nut job Hollows!”

Trixie made a resistant groaning sound, but patted Eisenwand’s neck, “Eisenwand, break the door open. We’ll free the lout.”

“If that is your wish, Mistress,” Eisenwand replied, approaching the doors with the yapping voice behind it and providing it the same explosive treatment of blunt force he had with the previous set. As the metal doors flung inward they nearly hit a hairy, dangling form that had been tied up in a storage closet, much as Trixie had. The brutish looking, furry blue, black, and white humanoid didn’t look any better off than the Bount was, either.

“What’s the big idea!? You nearly hit me with that!” groused the Storm King, barely able to look at his rescuers past a swollen, closed eye, his body lumpy with bruises. “I’m freakn’ delicate over here!”

“Eisenwand, if he does anything suspicious, crush his skull,” Trixie commanded as she hopped off. The Doll nodded with an eager creak of metal, looming over the yeti humanoid.

“Gladly, Mistress.”

“Whoa, whoa, curb the hostility, we’re all on the same side here, aren’t we?” the Storm King said as Trixie used her scepter to fling a small hex at the ropes binding him. The ropes turned into sand under the hex’s power, freeing the Storm King, who landed with a pained grunt, “Ugh, finally! Can’t even feel my hands. Those Hollow bozos don’t know jack about how to torture prisoners. No artistry at all, I tell you!”

“I’m sure they’ll love to hear your critiques sometime,” said Discord’s simulacrum, “And you’ll have the chance to tell them all about it, if we don’t get moving now!”

The Storm King’s beady blue eyes glanced at the mini-Discord, “Okay, are you a delusion of my imagination, or a Breezie with rabies?”

“I’m the reason you’re free right now, so please pull your head from your posterior and let’s go,” said Discord.

“Hold up, before anything else, I got to get my staff,” said the Storm King, “No way I’m leaving without it. The Staff of Sacanas is pretty much my whole brand; can’t really Storm King without the ability to summon forth storms.”

“We don’t know where it is,” Trixie stated flatly, rubbing her head in thought, muttering “I’m not even sure I remember where Starlight tossed it. Last I knew, she was running tests on it in one of the labs, but that feels like ages ago, and I don’t know what she did with it afterward. Unless you’ve got a way to track it, we’ve neither the means nor the time to go looking.”

“Oh for frick’s sake! I’m useless without that staff!”

“You didn’t seem all that useful with it, either,” Trixie drawled, “I seem to remember Starlight kicking your butt easily, even with all the little breezes and sparks you could conjure.”

“Lady, words hurt, alright? And those cut, right here,” the Storm King exaggerated a cutting motion over his heart, his face twisted in a mocking grimace, “But yeah, I got no powers without it. No way to track it, either. Can’t we just check all the labs?”

“I’d rather not take hours doing that when Chrysalis might return at any time. If you want to go looking for it yourself, be our guest,” said Discord, to which the Storm King’s face scrunched up with immense trepidation.

The Storm King gave a deep groan as he ran a hand over his face, clearly weighing the risk of painful death if he got captured again, versus giving up on the one item that gave him any power. After a few moments of agonized muttering, survival instinct won out and he threw up his arms, “Fine! Point painfully taken. Let’s just get out of this pit before the torture brigade comes looking for us. This whole fiasco has literally been the worst. If I get out of this alive, I’m going back home to my blasted mountain and looking into new career options. World dominating overlord is just nowhere near as fun and profitable as I thought it would be.”

“Join the club,” Discord replied with a snap of his tiny fingers, gripping Trixie’s mane, “Now, hi-ho Bount, away!”

“Get your paws off my mane.”

When she received no immediate reply besides a combination of either horrified or furious stares, Chrysalis was quick to let out a loud chuckle and in a momentary blur, instantly appear on the ground a few dozen paces away from where Thorax, Pharynx, Starlight, and Platinum stood, with others like Ocellus and Pipsqueak along with many of the changeling guards a further distance back.

“There, now I don’t have to shout,” she said conversationally, eyeing the towering form of the changeling Hive rising behind the group, “I confess I like the style. Somehow ominous and homey both at the same time. It’ll be such a shame to reduce it to rubble.”

“You will not,” Thorax’s voice nearly seethed, his face a stormfront of anger quite at odds with his usual character, “We won’t let you.”

“Mmm, such a beautiful visage, Thorax. I love that look upon you. I see both you and Pharynx have both grown sharper in our brief time apart. Truly that spineless flea that birthed you doesn’t deserve sons of such quality,” Chrysalis said, sounding positively giddy, then her sharp eyes cut towards Ocellus, “But much as it pains me to say, I’m not here for quality family time. Hello dear. Have you come to a decision about what we talked about?”

“Yup!” said Ocellus, and with a flip of her wrist she brought her machete bladed Zanpaktou into her hand, and took a step closer to Pipsqueak, “I’ll be the first one to go my own way, mom. I know what it means, and all the risks and costs. I found what I want, and I’ll bleed anyone who tries to take it from me, even you.”

Pipsqueak had the look of a young man who was put on the spot, especially as his own mother gave him and Ocellus a sidelong look. He cleared his throat, resting his hand on the handle of his own Zanpaktou, drawing it slowly as he stood next to Ocellus, “As it happens, I won’t be permitting harm to come to her, either.”

To this Chrysalis gave both a long, measuring gaze with unblinking eyes, before a pleased smirk plastered her face, “My littlest is the one to grow up the fastest, who’d have thought? Very well Ocellus, I acknowledge you as your own person, now. No more protection. I’ll treat you as any other being, to be my prey or foe at whim. You’d best have the strength to survive that fact, otherwise I can’t spare the tears of disappointment for a child pretending to adulthood.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything else from you, mom,” Ocellus replied, seemingly just as pleased.

“Okay, that’s sweet in a creepy sort of way and all,” said Pharynx, stamping a hoof and bracing himself as if about to charge right at Chrysalis, “But I don’t actually care about your weird family crap. I’ve got two dead guards because of you, and I’m going to take that right out of your hide!”

“Of course, of course,” Chrysalis said almost as if she’d forgotten the changeling Hive was even there for a moment, “But before that, I do have a proposal.”

“Why in the world would we listen to anything you have to say?” Thorax asked, edging closer to Pharynx. If they were going to attack, he wanted to do it together with his brother, in a coordinated effort. Chrysalis glanced at the two as if more amused than threatened, which Thorax was fine with. The Espada didn’t know what he and Pharynx had been working on since their last fight in the Crystal Empire.

“I presume because you don’t want any more of your precious subjects to be hurt,” she replied simply, “Consider the very real possibility that even if you, all together, posed some kind of challenge to me, that still would not save the lives of your loyal changelings from being lost in the ensuing battle. My children will see to that, by sheer weight of numbers if nothing else. So I ask, why throw all those lives away when all I desire is the life of one?”

“What makes you think we even have her here?” asked Starlight, but Chrysalis just threw her a coy roll of her own eyes.

“Don’t insult my intelligence, please. Even if I didn’t already pick up the garbage scent of her, even if I couldn’t guess her presence based on Platinum’s, I did torture that lovely changeling scout for some time and he eventually let slip that she was here, even if he wouldn’t give me the location of the Hive. But...” she grinned back at the frozen Wraith, “I found a creative solution to that problem. So interesting, the way Equestrian souls twist. I’ll have to make more of you like this. Maybe you, pony Glimmer.”

She held up a finger, “But not tonight, if you give me the bitch. Just hand her over, and I and my army of oh so hungry children will leave this Hive untouched, unscathed, its inhabitants safe from slaughter.”

“For how long?” Pharynx spat, “We already know more of you Hollows are planning to invade. Pretty sure your mercy won’t extend past the point the rest of your foul friends come calling.”

Chrysalis’ laugh had the quality of oiled blades pricking at their ears, “I don’t deny that. But you’ll have a few days of peace to prepare, flee, or do whatever else you like. Tonight, my only interest is my unfinished business with my deplorable counterpart. That’s all. One life, in exchange for all the lives of your Hive. Surely that’s not a difficult ask, is it? From what I understand, she’s been nothing but a blight on your own world, anyway. I would think you’d be more than happy to toss her to me so you can be rid of her, and in so doing deliver upon her the karmic justice she so richly deserves while simultaneously sparring your people unneeded suffering.”

Thorax’s lips twisted in a sourly bitter fashion, his voice dropping an octave, “You may be right that she deserves nothing less than what you’d give her... by someone’s standards of justice, at any rate. But not mine. Not Equestria’s. She’ll be punished by the laws of the land she threatened, be those laws merciful or otherwise. Not by a despicable monster like you, who would only take sick pleasure in the act.”

“Sounds like you have your answer, Espada,” said Platinum, readying Fuyukogo in a raised stance floating beside her, “Now, either leave, or fight, but cease polluting the air with your noxious voice. I think we’re all sick of it by now.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes even harder, if such a thing were possible, shaking her head like a teacher who was thoroughly fed up with the disruptive students in her class. “Ah, the endless hypocrisy of ‘good’ people will always leave me in awe. You hate the woman as much as I do, but you’ll waste your lives protecting her on some half-assed principle that punishing her under some sort of law is somehow more ethical than letting me butcher her for you? And people call me insane?”

There was no warning before her reiatsu exploded out of her in a dazzling rush of forceful aura. A solid blaze of jade energy pulsed off of Chrysalis’ body as the ground rumbled, and waves of air pressure billowed vast swirls of dust from her position. All present felt the crushing menace of her spiritual pressure collide with their souls, and for many nearby changeling guards it was enough to make them nearly drop to their knees. Thorax and Pharynx were made of much sterner stuff, as were Starlight and Platinum, but even they felt the violent force and menace behind the expulsion of power that was just the Second Espada cutting loose with her reiatsu.

“I want all of you to remember this. Remember it, with every scream of a dying changeling, with every drop of blood about to be spilled, that I did give you an easy way out,” Chrysalis said, raising her Zanpaktou and pointing the elegantly curved blade at the Hive, “All you had to do was sacrifice a hated one, for the sake of the many. Now, everyone dies.”

With that, she fired a blindingly brilliant, emerald Cero of annihilating energy as wide as a school bus straight at the walls of the changeling Hive. With it came the howls of her hundreds of Arrancar children in the sky above as they descended towards the Hive like a swarm of hungry, demonic locust.

Author's Note

The Hive is under attack, while Discord is working on a jailbreak. Next chapter is going to remain pretty much 100% focused on the battle at the changeling Hive, with many explosions to be had.

As always I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I appreciate any and all comments, questions, or critiques. 'Till next time!