A dull thud sounded into the ears of a group of Changelings as another Crystal Guard was hip checked easily into a nearby wall. The purple Unicorn's eyes sprung with small tears of pain as his hooves scratched pointlessly at the band of green goo that was covering his mouth, softening his screams so that no pony would hear them. His magic had also been disabled by a more complex batch of the substance, and he was ultimately unable to tear that off as well. The Changeling Guard that had attacked him slowly closed in on the stallion, enjoying his terror while the group chuckled.
"These ponies are just too easy to defeat, Elytron," whispered Seta to another Changeling, her royal blue wings buzzing as she laughed. "No sharp teeth, no long tongues . . . They don't even look that scary!"
Another Changeling, presumably Elytron, who was completely black compared to the dark gray of his fellow hive members, was obviously unimpressed. He grunted. "Considering they don't have any natural weapons besides an occasional horn, which are slightly rounded on the end, anyways, you would think they'd at least be provided with a spear or something. It's pathetic."
"Their armor doesn't even have a speck of Dark Stone in it," finished a third, named Cercus, throwing his foreleg in the air for emphasis, which had far more holes than most other Changelings'. "I could blast it to bits with any type of magic I had on hoof! Can you imagine the face a Royal Guard would make if I defeated him with Breezie Magic?"
"Or you could just crush the armor," offered Seta, her eyes following the battle as she snickered. "Honestly, those uniforms of theirs must be made of tin or plastic or something, unlike the Changeling Guard armor. Even our own exoskeletons are better than what they have!"
Finished with their offensive rant, the three Changelings who hadn't been fighting (they weren't part of the Changeling Guard, but were instead advanced in the research and replacement of others) watched from around a corner as any other ponies that stood up against their guards were defeated, left unconscious on the cool floors of the Crystal Empire's own castle. They'd been specifically told not to kill by Queen Chrysalis, as it would cause too great of a panic, and that the Changeling Guards must be in disguise when they attacked. Each of the Changelings would appreciate a good eyeful of blood, but were too scared to disobey their Queen. They already knew of her dangerously strong hatred of Thorax and the many plans she had for him following his inevitable capture. The Changelings shook just thinking about it.
"And just where do you think you're going?" hissed a guard as he lunged at a mare who was trying to escape the fight. "We can't have you telling everypony that we're here!" She took a sharp breath, preparing to shriek like a kitten that was just thrown into a washing machine, but wasn't given enough time before the guard spit a foul smelling liquid that had been secreted from his fangs at her muzzle, silencing her before he charged.
It wasn't long before everypony else was defeated.
Each Changeling Guard had only gained a small amount of nearly insignificant injuries, and quickly wiped the previous memories of each enemy with a pale, gray powder that Queen Chrysalis had concocted, mixing it with the jug of water one had brought and forcing each body to swallow a drop or two. They also had to remove the goop from each pony, which although rather slow lacked a messy outcome, as Changeling hooves didn't stick to it. Satisfied, the guards silently escorted Elytron, Seta, and Cercus to the throne room, knowing that the trio were the hive's best bet if they didn't want to be discovered. Queen Chrysalis could've split the group up, sending one Changeling to Canterlot, another to Ponyville, and the last to the Crystal Empire, but she knew that the Crystal ponies were already wary about a Changeling invasion from when they first got a glimpse of Thorax, and would resort to all sorts of code words if they suspected anything.
"So, which door leads to the throne room?" Seta heard one guard mumble to another. The guard who'd received the question gave an accusing glare to the one that had asked it. "Oh, like you know where it is! Everything looks the same. It's like an Ursa Major was transformed into a castle, chock full of comets and stars and junk! All these sparkles hurt my eyes."
Seta rolled her eyes.
"Hey, buzzy brains!" she said, hitting the guard that had just spoken in the back of the head. "I'm guessing the throne room is behind the absolutely ginormous door we just passed!"
"Oh, yes, I mean, I knew that, but-"
"Heh. Don't hurt yourself."
The guard flicked his forked tongue angrily at the taunting Seta, eyes narrowed, before turning towards the large door she had mentioned, encouraging the other Changeling Guards to do the same. He removed another sack of powder, this one labeled 'Dark Stone', and untied the small knot that bound the top of the bag. Each guard huddled around him, taking small hoof-fulls of the pulverized rock. They would've used the sloop from before to disable magic, but giving it such properties and using it was always draining, and it's magic would die rather quickly without Changeling contact if they tried to bring extra. However, Dark Stone tended to be weak in small quantities, and would only prevent the royal family's magic if it made a proper connection with them.
The lead Changeling Guard stomped his right foreleg, and the five other guards got into position. The leader then tested the knob. It was unlocked, so he made a signal to say that they'd stick to plan A. The other members of the Changeling Guard hid their groans, as they'd be forced to appear as ponies for even longer and use the element of surprise, which was far less fun than breaking down the door. Even Elytron, Seta, and Cercus were forced to transform, perfectly shifting into local residents.
A Changeling Guard pushed open the door, after knocking and receiving a greeting from Princess Cadence. As soon as she saw them, Cadence opened her wings regally, a smile on her face, Prince Shining Armor sitting beside her. The lead guard bowed low, and the other Changelings followed, mimicking his false but convincing pleased expression.
Little Flurry Heart even made a gesture of sorts from inside a crystal basket. She was making incomprehensible noises, a teal blanket enveloping her entire body, excusing a large hole revealing the filly's face. Curls of a purple and cyan mane covered Flurry Heart's forehead, a large horn cutting through it. Two large, teal eyes in the shape of perfect circles lay surrounded by long lashes, and a pale pink muzzle peaked out from a pair of smooth cheeks. She giggled, showing a singular tooth that had just begun to sprout, and smiled happily.
"That is the ugliest thing I've ever seen," muttered Cercus, squinting.
"Hello, everypony! Is there something I can do for you?" questioned Princess Cadence, relaxing her wings.
"Yes," began the lead Changeling Guard, masking an evil grin. "We've found a strange substance towards the borders of the empire. It concerned some of my friends, and we were wondering if you knew what it was."
"Please, come closer so we can see it," offered Prince Shining Armor, sitting up straighter. Each Changeling Guard stepped up to the royal family, the remaining trio left to close the doors in case anypony wandered by. They tried to act without appearing suspicions, and escaped with only a small, quizzical glance from the Princess. The lead guard showed the white Unicorn his portion of Dark Stone powder.
"I'm afraid I've never seen anything like that before," Shinning said, scratching the back of his head. "Have you, Cadence?"
"I'm afraid I haven't. Well, if you want, I'm sure we can-"
"Now!"
Princess Cadence was interrupted as the lead Changeling threw his powder in her face. She coughed desperately, seeming to have inhaled some of it, and the Changeling took this chance to try and seal her mouth. Gasping, she beat her wings and flapped upwards. A Changeling managed to spit a lime colored ooze at her wing joint, causing Cadence's wings to go off beat. Panicked, she was unable to calm herself and stop from sinking into the crowd of enemies bellow, who'd already shot more sludge at her mouth.
Prince Shining Armor tried to activate his horn, only to find his power was weak, as some of the powder had landed on him as well. A weak pulse glowed for a second or to, but, after a Changeling spotted this, another flash of powder destroyed any chance of magic. He couldn't protect both his wife and daughter, and seeing as there were no guards on her yet, he sprung over to Flurry Heart, who was confused as to what was going on. Two guards broke away from Cadence and towards Shinning, and were surprised by how fast his reflexives were. A navy blue hoof cuffed in white fur connected with the first Changeling's chest, and he fell to the ground, wheezing. However, with the other Changeling close behind, the muck he produced made contact before Shining could, and the Changeling was able to cover his mouth as well. The guard on the floor stood up to take care of Flurry, wrapping green bands around her to prevent movement, which had been done to Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor as well.
Finally understanding, though her sobs were muted, Flurry Heart tried to cry, large tears in her eyes. The Changelings laughed, rather amused.
"Too easy," one guard jeered, looking into the eyes of Shinning Armor.
"Our Turn!" exclaimed Seta, shifting into Princess Cadence. "And I've got dibs on the pink one!"
"It's true," Elytron said, looking at the pink Alicorn. He was obviously annoyed. "She wouldn't be quiet until we promised she could pretend to be you. And I guess I'll be Prince Shining Armor. I've always liked the idea of a title."
"And I'll be- wait!" started Cercus. "Why do I have to be the baby! Seta should be the baby!"
"Or Elytron, he'd make a great baby!"
"You'd better shut your mouth before a rip out that tongue of yours, Seta."
"Ugh! Actually, never mind, okay? I'll just be Flurry Heart!" yelled Cercus. "She probably gets the most love anyways."
"Not that you'll eat it, right?" Elytron said sternly. "We've been told to take the love back to the hive."
"O-oh, yah. I wasn't going to. It'll just make me feel super important. Bringing all that love back."
"That's what I thought."
The next few minutes were spent picking up any clue of the battle, including any grime from all of the Changeling 'venom' (as it had been nicknamed), and tidying Flurry Heart's basket. The guards then used the last kind of powder they'd been given, and there was very, very little of it, even compared to the dark stone. It was Invisibility Powder, so that the royal family could be transported back to the hive without anypony seeing. It would wear off after about five hours, and could only be used once. There was just enough to get the job done.
"You'd better do this right," hissed the lead Changeling Guard. He was hovering in the air, ready to leave through a window. The other five guards were already flying away, helping to support either Princess Cadence, Prince Shining Armor, or Flurry Heart. "For the hive!"
"For the hive!" All three responded.
After he flew away, Seta looked down at Cercus, who now appeared to be a baby Alicorn.
"You know, that diaper really suits you . . ."
"Shut up!"
