Author's Note

Welcome back, fans of Fool’s Gold! I hope you enjoy this next installment of the ‘Gold Trilogy’.

Part 1: Darkess Rising

***A Waffen Pony Production***

***One Year Ago***

Night had fallen across the frozen north, a frozen wasteland bordering the Crystal Empire, and the already subzero temperatures plummeted as the moon rose high into the night sky.

Buried deep in the ground by rock and ice, a single changeling stirred in the nest.

“Shhhhh… Don't wake, little one.”

She grunted softly as she hoisted an infant changeling onto her back.

“Sleep, my little Azalea… We haven't much time.”

Phasmid treaded carefully as she navigated her way through the endless corridors and tunnels that made up the greater nest.

It was imperative that she didn't wake any others that weren't a part of what she was about to do.

“Phasmid… What are you up to, now?”

She quickly spun around, looking for the source of the voice, and when she saw who had snuck up on her, she smiled with uncertainty.

“Aphid, how many times have I told you not to do that…”

Phasmid let out a sigh as her breathing began to recover from the sudden fright.

“Why are you here?”

The changeling called Aphid lowered his head.

“You know exactly why I'm here. Queen Chrysalis’ last egg, the infant you've been caring for, is queen…”

Phasmid shut her eyes.

That was exactly what she was afraid of.

It was the duty of the hive to care for and raise the next generation of changelings birthed by the queen, and over the past few weeks, Phasmid had done the unthinkable and grown attached to her charge.

Now, she knew why.

She opened her eyes again, and more changelings appeared in the dark tunnel.

She was surrounded.

“Aphid, you know if Queen Chrysalis finds out that there's another queen, she'll kill her.”

It was a hopeless attempt to plead with Aphid, but she had no other options.

He nodded his head.

“I know.”

The look on Phasmid face was one of desperatation.

“I… I can't let that happen, Aphid.”

He raised a gentle hoof and placed it against Phasmid’s shoulder, catching her by surprise.

“I know, Phas… That's why we're going to help you.”

Phasmid looked around the tunnel, at the faces of the changelings around her.

There had to be at least a dozen of them, and all wore sad smiles on their faces.

“Aphid…” Phasmid struggled to hold back the tears of joy that had been building behind her eyes. “You don't have to do this.”

He nodded his head.

“I do…”

Then, he gestured to the changelings around him.

“It's no secret that Queen Chrysalis is leading is all down a hole. After we lost the battle at Canterlot, things have gone from bad to worse. This new queen may be the only hope we have left.”

Collective nods were shared amongst the changelings.

Phasmid looked over her shoulder, at the little changeling on her back.

Azalea was sound asleep, snoring softly.

Hope…

That was something none of them had felt in months.

Phasmid raised a hoof and pointed down the tunnel.

“Alright… Let's get moving. We need to get out of here before the queen’s agents suspects anything.”

Together, the coalition of rogue changelings ventured up through tunnel after tunnel.

To any outsider, the caves would swallow them whole, and they would never see the light of day again, but the changelings navigated the maze with ease.

Marking certain corridors with certain pheromones only detectable by changelings, they could determine which tunnels lead deeper into the hive, which tunnels lead to the surface, and which ones were dead ends or traps.

The air began to get noticeably colder as they got closer to the surface.

Eventually, Phasmid began to see her own short and rapid breaths, and the dark rock was replaced by a pale sheet of ice.

They were almost out of the caves, out of the hive.

Aphid turned to Phasmid as they walked and shot her a silly grin.

“This is great… We can go far away from here, far away from this cold wasteland. We can find some nice caves in Equestria and start our own hive, and when our new queen comes of age, she can lead us to a brighter future…”

Phasmid blushed and gave him a shy smile.

“That's a lot to think about…”

She shivered slightly as the cold washed over her.

“… I do believe the next generation of changelings will thank us, though.”

A chilling laughter echoed throughout the frozen tunnel, stopping the group of changelings dead in their tracks.

The already freezing air seemed to drop drastically in temperature as the amused laughter sent fear down the changelings’ spines, causing their torn wings to flutter nervously.

“Well… Isn't this something.”

She appeared in front of them as if from out of thin air.

Phasmid’s eyes narrowed, and she bared her teeth at the changeling blocking their path.

“Cicada…”

The changeling grinned menacingly and spread her wings in an intimidating manner.

Her eyes looked wild as they glanced over each and every one of the escapees.

“What's that smell?”

She sniffed the air, her nose twitching like a filly’s in a bakery.

“It… kind of smells like… treason.”

Cicada’s eyes fell on Phasmid and the infant on her back.

Aphid stepped forward, putting himself in between Phasmid and Cicada while taking a defensive stance.

Her grin grew even wider, and her horn began to glow a sickly green color.

“I’ll tell you what… Give me the little brat, and I won't kill every last one of you.”

The group of changelings exchanged horrified looks, but Aphid stood tall.

“No deal, Cicada. We're done listening you you, and we're done starving of love in this… frozen hell!”

Cicada’s smile vanished.

Her eyes narrowed as a slow breath escaped her lips.

Then, there was a bright flash of light.

Her horn discharged, releasing the concentrated energy that had been building up, and Aphid’s lifeless body fell to the ground.

Phasmid’s eyes widened with terror, and her mouth quivered.

A gaping hole occupied the middle of his chest, and green blood poured out onto the snow at an alarming rate as his open eyes stared blankly up at the roof of the cave.

Phasmid let out a shrill cry and lowered her horn.

Cicada only had a split second to react before a bolt of magic came sailing towards her head.

The bolt missed its target, only grazing her shoulder, but it left a blackened mark.

Cicada howled with pain.

She glared at Phasmid before vanishing in a flash of light, but not before issuing a final order to her partner, who had been hiding in the shadows.

“Mantis, kill them! Kill them all!”

The larger changeling that had been waiting revealed himself, and a bloody massacre ensued.

One by one, he tore through the rogue changelings, ripping them down in the most gruesome ways imaginable.

Legs were snapped in two, and throats were torn from necks as terrified screams filled the cave.

Not even the blizzard outside could drown out the sounds of fear and death.

***Current Day***

Emerald shook violently and bolted upright.

Beads of sweat dotted his forehead.

He looked to his left and to his right, at the other guards around him in the stallions’ bunk room.

Everypony else was fast asleep.

As the seconds passed, Emerald became more and more aware of his racing heartbeat and his shallow breaths.

There was somepony he needed to see.

Moving quickly and quietly, Emerald threw the covers off of his body and slid out of the bed.

His hooves hit the floor softly, and he began to navigate his way through the dark towards the bunk room door.

The door opened up into one of the many grand corridors that made up the barracks of the Royal Guards, a small extension of the larger palace of the Crystal Empire.

Emerald shuffled down the dimly lit corridor towards the mare’s bunk room.

He opened the door and slipped inside.

The mares’ bunk room resembled the stallions’ in almost every way, but the sides of the rooms mirrored one another, and the general theme differentiated to meet the needs of the opposite sex.

Shrouded in darkness again, Emerald walked quietly down the aisle that separated the two rows of bunks until he found the mare he was looking for.

“Pssst! Amber, wake up…”

He tapped her shoulder gently, causing the guard to shift in her sleep.

She came to and rolled from her side onto her back, and her eyes fluttered open.

“Emerald?”

Her voice was hoarse and groggy, and the look on her face told Emerald that she did not appreciate being woken up.

There was no going back, now.

“I… I needed to see you…” Emerald rubbed the back of his head. “I had that dream again…”

Amber’s gaze fell, and she slowly nodded her head.

“Alright… Alright, Emerald, I'm coming…”

With a great amount of difficulty, she crawled out of her bed and threw a light coat over her shoulders.

Together, they walked out of the mares’ bunk room and into the corridor where they could talk and not risk being overheard.

Emerald’s eyes fell to his hooves, and he let out a shaky sigh.

“It… It keeps getting worse, Amber… All of those horrible things I did… It's as though it gets a little clearer every time I have that dream. Every night, I can see a new detail I couldn't before.”

Amber sighed and ran a hoof through her mane.

Out of all of the rigorous and dangerous tasks she had been trained to handle, therapy was not one of them.

She didn't even know where to begin with helping her coltfriend.

On any other night, she might have tried to kiss him a few times and coax him back to bed with sweet and reassuring words, but she knew immediately that it would take a lot more than that tonight.

He was visibly shaking, and he sounded as though he might break out into a panic attack at any moment.

“That… sounds awful. Have you talked to Amethyst or Onyx about this?”

Just as she suspected, Emerald shook his head.

“No, and I don't want them to know. This is my problem, Amber, mine.”

Amber rolled her eyes and blew her messy mane out of her face.

“Hey, you come talk to me, don't you?”

Emerald shrugged his shoulders as his neck sagged forward, hunching over.

“I need to vent sometimes… Besides, I know I can talk to you. Onyx and Amethyst… They just wouldn't understand…”

Amber cracked a weak smile.

“You'd be surprised by what Amethyst will understand. If there's anypony in this place you can put your absolute trust into, it's her.”

She raised her hoof and planted it on Emerald’s chest.

“You shouldn't think about the things you did in the past, Emerald… You're a different pony, now.” Amber leaned forward, gently rubbing her muzzle against his. “You're proud, brave, and you're a great guy. There isn't another stallion in this empire that I can honestly say I love with all of my heart.”

Emerald couldn't help smiling after that.

A cheeky grin forced its way into his lips just before Amber’s made contact with his own.

They kissed again and again, parting their lips only just long enough to take a short breath before their mouths came crashing back together.

Distracted by the oral attack from Amber, Emerald lost focus.

His mind went numb, and his ability to keep his disguise up went with it.

A green fire sparked beneath his feet, and in an instant, Emerald was gone.

When Amber opened her eyes, she found herself staring into Mantis’ face, and a huge grin formed along her lips.

Totally embarrassed, the changeling turned his head, but nothing could hide the burning red on his cheeks.

“S-S-Sorry… That doesn't happen often…”

Amber said nothing.

Instead, she threw a hoof around his head and pulled him into a deep kiss, moaning ever so softly into his mouth.

The kiss lasted for what seemed like a lifetime, but when their lips finally parted, a thin strand of saliva continued to connect their mouths.

“I don't mind kissing a changeling…” Amber fired him a subtle ‘wink’. “After all, we've done much worse together… Don't you remember that time in the mares’ shower room?

Mantis nodded his head as the hot feelings returned to his burning cheeks.

He was beginning to feel a lot better.

“Now, get changed and get your butt back to bed. I'll see ya’ in the morning, sweetie…”

She gave him one last kiss, a peck on his red cheek, before returning to her bunk room.

Maybe a little kissing did help after all…

***

After changing back into his pony form, Emerald took off down the corridor towards the stallions’ bunk room.

Once his mind had cleared, and his heart had settled, he came to realize just how tired he really was.

At last, he found the door he was looking for, but as he reached out for the handle, something stopped him.

A chilling presence filled the air.

Emerald felt that he was being watched, and he quickly turned around.

“Oh…”

His initial feelings of fear were dismissed, but he didn't lower his guard.

“It's just you…”

A mare clad in silver armor emerged from the shadows and mockingly held a hoof to her chest as though she were offended.

“Just me?” She batted her eyes at the stallion as she took another step closer. “You know, we used to be much closer, Mantis. Don't you remember when you kissed me like that?”

Emerald winced, and his cheeks turned red.

How long had she been watching?

“Whatever happened to kinder greetings such as ‘hello’, my dear Mantis?”

The mare’s name was Gem, but Emerald and his closest friends knew her better as Cicada.

Emerald found himself swelling with anger at the sound of her arrogant and cocky voice.

“You should count yourself lucky Captain Amethyst even allowed you to stay in the barracks. If you want greetings like ‘hello’, you go grovel at her hooves and beg.”

Gem rolled her eyes.

“Ah, yes… Our dearest friend, Captain Amethyst…” Then, her gaze fell, and her lips curled downward into a frown. “I've told her time and time again that my attempts to kill Pyrite were not personal in the slightest, but she refuses to believe me.”

Now, it was Emerald’s turn to roll his eyes.

“That's because it was personal, Cicada. It’ll be a day far from know when she is ready to forgive you for all of the trouble you caused her and her Pyrite.”

Gem removed her helmet and shook her mane around, freeing it from the metal enclosure that held it down against her head.

“I seem to recall you causing her much of that trouble yourself.”

Emerald bared his teeth.

“I helped her in the end! I made an attempt to right all of my wrongs, and in the end, I earned their trust…” He took a deep breath. “You, on the other hoof, continue to be a nuisance and a constant reminder of everything they went through to save Pyrite.”

Gem’s eyes narrowed as tears began to build up.

“Was I the cause of her injury? Did I rip her leg off? No! She blew herself up, like the fool she is!” She raised a hoof and jabbed it towards Emerald’s chest. “And don't you dare talk to me about righting past wrongs…”

The tears came at last, flooding down Gem’s cheeks in a cascade of water with every blink.

“I didn't have to warn her about Queen Chrysalis. I could have found a place to hide and live the rest of my life without having to so much as look at another damn pony!”

She was sobbing, now.

Emerald was shocked when she fell forward, throwing her hooves around his neck.

“H-H-How do you… do it?” She cried into his neck, just behind his ear. “How do you block out all of the faces and voices? It's torture…”

Emerald shook his head as he pulled away, looking Gem in her eyes.

“I don't, Cicada. I have nightmares every time I close my eyes. They haunt me, every waking moment of my life…”

She frowned at him as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“You… You're supposed to say something to make me feel better, Mantis… Isn't that how this ‘friendship’ thing works?”

Emerald held up a hoof, silencing her.

“There's a point to this, I promise.”

Gem pursed her lips and nodded her head, silently promising to stay quiet as he continued.

“We can never forget the things we did in the past, and I certainly don't expect us to ever be forgiven, but our pasts don't have to define who we are now.”

Emerald smiled at her.

“You're a new mare, Cicada. Show our new friends love and kindness, and not only will you never go hungry, but you will earn their trust and respect. You don't have to be a monster any longer. What you do today is what defines you.

Gem blinked once, then twice.

Then, a weak smile creeped across her lips.

“Th-Thank you, Mantis… I needed to hear that, I think…” Her eyes were tearing up again, but not as a result of her pain. “I should get moving. I need to patrol the eastern courtyard soon.”

Emerald nodded his head as she took a few steps in reverse backing away.

“I’ll… see you later, uh… Emerald.”

She fired him a subtle ‘wink’ before turning around and walking down the dark corridor.

“Yeah… See you later… Gem.”

He turned to reach for the door again.

At last, he was ready to climb back into the safety and comfort of his bunk and finish the last few hours of the night in the restful state that was sleep.

He opened the door and slipped quietly inside.

Not wanting to disturb the other guards that were still fast asleep, a glided across the floor, almost like a ghost, until he fell gently onto his bed.

It took a bit of skillful maneuvering, but he managed to get himself back underneath the covers and tuck himself in.

For the first time in a long time, Emerald couldn't wait to close his eyes and dream, knowing good and well that he would dream of Amber and the intimacy they shared.

“Tomorrow’s a whole new day…”

Then, Emerald closed his eyes, and he was out like a light.

***Up Next: Adoring Motherhood***