Rest in Peace

The cave was humid and held a comfortable temperature. Her Ghost floated just over her shoulder, shining a light down the path. Every so often, her Ghost would emit an ultra-low pitched ping of sonar, before adjusting the light to indicate which branch of the cave to continue down. The cave seemed to twist in chaotic patterns, and Luna couldn't begin to understand the logic behind them. But as she went deeper, her grip on her weapon tightened.

She soon arrived in a wide open section of the cave illuminated by green crystals, and gooey biomass clung to the walls and corners. Even with her Ghost's light, she couldn't tell the color.

She was on Earth's moon, in that pit known fittingly as the Hellmouth. Sickly green crystals sharp as knives grew from the walls. A Hive Acolyte plucked one that had been shot off, wielding the makeshift weapon as it charged her, using the screaming Thrall as cover. Luna had already used her Shadowshot, and was low on ammunition. She leapt back and tossed a smoke and a grenade at the mass of shrieking hell-spawn. The Acolyte managed to get through the smoke before the grenade's wall of voidfire erupted. Luna tried to run for a doorway, but was thrown off her feet by a stray boomer shot from a Knight hiding in the back lines. By the time she picked herself up, she'd been stabbed in the kidney with the crystal, piercing her all the way through.

Her abdomen itched as she returned to reality. All around her, she could see the faint glint of blue eyes in the dark of the connecting tunnels. Some seemed threatening, some scared, some curious. She continued forwards, and as she went, she could hear the ~changelings~ beginning to follow her. One glance at her motion-tracker revealed the entire back-half was red with unidentified movement.

She was running. She was the last of the team sent in to stop a Hive summoning ritual on the moon, but it was too late. The Ogre had already been summoned, its wicked eye mowing down her allies. Thralls were chasing her in a writhing wave of rotting flesh and screams. Every chance she got she'd drop a voidwall grenade or a smoke bomb to slow the Thralls, but it only barely kept them off her. She didn't dare turn back to face them. Behind the Thralls were lines of Wizards ready to rip out her Light and feast on it.

Her breathing was slow and deliberate, falling in tempo with her footsteps measuring time. She felt itchy all over, like the scales were growing back in as she approached her target. The fox watched in silence from her backpack, its head poking out from beneath her cloak. The ~changelings~ behind her fell in line, but not in step. None could find the rhythm of her gait.

She reached the final chamber, lined with sharp green crystals that illuminated the space, allowing her Ghost to return to its hiding spot. Unlike the halls and previous chambers, this one was devoid of the strange biomass. Before her were five ~changelings~, each of which seemed quite important. The most obvious one was seated on a throne of crystal, its chitin polished and shiny. Atop its head was both a long, jagged horn, and a small crown. She identified this one as the Queen, and her target.

The second was the ~changeling~ she'd initially met back in ~Ponyville~. Officially, the ~changeling~ didn't have its own name, so she'd continue to call it ~Quick Quill~ until otherwise asked.

The remaining three were armed guards, based on their crystal-tipped spears. All three stood in her direct path to the Queen.

Luna checked her HUD, smiling to herself as she saw she wasn't in a Darkness Zone. She paid no mind to the guards or the Queen as she approached at her normal pace, the ~changelings~ behind her stopping at the entrance to the chamber. The guards raised their spears at her as she approached. She did not stop.

One of the guards thrusted its spear at her, but was far too slow. Luna dodged forwards, dropping a smoke bomb directly beneath her as she rolled over the attack and past the guards. The smoke caught all three, making them cough and wheeze as the Queen watched with interest.

Once she was exactly ten meters from the Queen, Luna tapped her Light, stamping the ground and thrusting out her hands in opposite directions. The Ward of Dawn formed around her, coating her in its protection. Behind her, she could hear distressed chittering from the ~changelings~ watching from the halls. The guards stared at her with an odd expression of equal parts confusion and annoyance.

"~You are here,~" the ~changeling~ Queen said.

"~My name is {Luna}. Please call me Violet. It is nice to meet you,~" Luna greeted from her bubble.

"~So I've heard,~" said the Queen. "~I am Queen Chrysalis. My — has told quite a tale about you.~"

"~Before we speak more, I must apologize,~" Luna said. "~I am still learning your language, and am missing many words. I may have to ask you to explain words I do not know.~"

"~Very well,~" ~Queen Chrysalis~ hummed. "~That said, you come seeking information, yes?~"

"~Yes. I am seeking to understand a part of myself, and it seems your kind are similar,~" Luna began carefully. "~Do you know the origin of your kind's ability to feed on love?~"

"~We do not have any surviving tales on our origins,~" ~Chrysalis~ said. "~Normally, those memories are passed through the generations with our kind's hivemind. The — we face now dulls our memories over time.~"

"~What is that word, —?~" Luna asked.

"~—. It means a long time of hunger,~" the Queen clarified. "~We have not had enough food to sustain the hive in —, and those memories may be lost forever.~"

"~Do any changelings still live who may know the origin story?~" Luna asked. "~Would ending your... famine... restore those memories?~"

"~Impossible,~" the Queen spat. "~Ponies naturally hate and distrust us. We have to feed by disguising ourselves as the loved ones of our targets.~"

"~I did not ask of your kind's status in pony society,~" Luna said as the bubble finally faded. "~Would ending the famine restore the memories of your origins?~"

The Queen squinted at Luna as though she'd been insulted. "~It is possible, but I cannot guarantee it.~"

"~Then I will speak to the Princesses—~" ~Chrysalis'~ eyes widened in shock and the chittering behind her became a dull roar of frantic buzzing, "~—about your kind's famine on your behalf.~"

"~YOU WHAT?!~" the Queen shouted indignantly.

"~I know only the story from the ponies' side,~" Luna said. "~I can gather that your kind was driven to extreme action by famine. I will reason with the Princesses on your behalf. I will not reveal your location, and I will bring you the best possible outcome for your hive.~"

"~All in exchange for our memories?~" ~Chrysalis~ asked suspiciously. "~What do you stand to gain from those memories?~"

"~I have a similar hunger, but I do not know how to eat,~" Luna said.

The Queen's face was at first shocked, but faltered into one of regretful sadness. The Queen mulled over the offer in her head for a moment before replying. "~Inform me of everything the Princesses know of you. I know the ponies' public knowledge, but I know you've held private conversations with them. Put me on equal hoofing as the Princesses, and I will accept your offer.~"

"Standby for resurrection," she said.

——————————

Violet unslung a backpack from beneath her cloak, which curiously had a living fox from above the surface in it. With a single fluid motion, she pulled her knife from its place on her back, twirling it by the loop in its handle and catching it and slicing her own head clean off.

To say her hive was shocked would be an understatement. Chrysalis shot upright in her throne, staring with wide eyes as she witnessed the decapitation. Her wings buzzed frantically as she struggled to keep even a shred of her composure. The scent of blood immediately filled the room as it poured out of the corpse of the alien being. After a few moments, there was a pulse of light, and the alien reappeared, head still on its shoulders. Its corpse was just... gone, though the blood was still there.

"What you have seen was real," Violet said plainly. "You did see me cut my head off. You did see me die. I was dead. I have died thousands of times in my life. To me, death is not the end."

Chrysalis could feel a wave of fear washing over her for the first time in perhaps centuries. What have we allowed in our hive...?

"The second thing you must know is why I come here," the undead alien said. "There are creatures from my home. We call them {Ahamkara}. Wish-dragons. They feed on desire, and grant wishes. My kind hunted the wish-dragons to extinction. I am part {Ahamkara}, but I cannot control that part of me. To make a wish near me is dangerous beyond measure. I seek your kind's knowledge so I might learn control."

Chrysalis simply stared at Violet, the panic of all of her subjects making it difficult to absorb the information she was given.

"I have killed armies. I do not wish to continue killing, but I will if necessary," Violet said. "I come from a world of constant war. My kind has not known peace for thousands of years. Understand that I am a weapon and monster. I was made to fight and kill and die and get back up. I am a weapon, but I am in no one's hooves."

Chrysalis blinked.

"With that all said, you now have all the same information as the Princesses," Violet said, sitting down next to the backpack, beginning to pet the fox. The presence of love was immediately recognizable, making Chrysalis' wings buzz softly. "Now, your kind feeds on love, yes? Come, Queen Chrysalis. I offer some of my love of this fox as a show of goodwill."

The Queen tentatively stepped forwards from her throne, approaching the alien and her fox. As she got closer, she could taste the love, and immediately began to nibble on it, chewing on it in her mouth, even though she hadn't opened it in the first place. Her wings buzzed with energy as she felt the hunger pangs subside just a little.

"Very well. We accept your offer to broker peace between us and Equestria. On behalf of my hive, I wish you luck in your endeavors," she said.

"Before I go, I must ask about your attack on Canterlot," Violet said, turning her luminous amber eyes up to Chrysalis. "I know the ponies' story of it, but I need your side too."

Chrysalis returned to her throne, sitting back down and trying to relax under the alien's gaze. "We were starving, as we had been for generations. Our strength was waning. If we waited any longer, we wouldn't have had the strength to attack. I couldn't be the Queen who didn't do everything to save her hive... To attack would reveal us and make gathering food harder in the long term. To wait any longer would doom us to starve. I had no choice."

"Thank you. This will help me." Violet slung the backpack beneath her cloak, standing once more. "I will return to this place in three days," she said, turning and walking back down the hallway she came in from.

As she left, Chrysalis found herself floating in an odd mix of emotions. Fear of the power of the alien, yet hope in what she might be able to do.

You are quite an interesting creature, Violet.

——————————

The night was cool. Fluttershy had laid down with a good book and some calming lavender tea. Soft candlelight illuminated her new room with a warm orange glow. Her cottage had just recently been rebuilt after its destruction by the strange Carnivorous Mutae, complete with updated plumbing and lighting. But even with the electric lights, she still much preferred reading by candlelight before bed. A glance at the clock told her it was almost ten at night.

After everything that had happened in the past two months, the pegasus was delighted to be able to just go home and be alone. As much as she enjoyed the company of her friends, especially Twilight, she just didn't have the social energy to keep up. She needed some time to herself to be busy with her animal friends and recharge.

A knock echoed from downstairs. Fluttershy's ears perked up. No one really ever knocked at her door unless they had an animal emergency.

"Oh dear," she murmured, setting the book down and putting out her candle.

The pegasus made her way downstairs, flicking on the light to the main room as she went. When she opened the door, she found Violet standing there, with a fox sleeping peacefully in her backpack.

"Hello, Fluttershy," Violet said. "Sorry if I killed your sleep."

Fluttershy tilted her head for a moment before she realized what Violet was trying to say.

"Oh, no, I was already awake," she replied, opening the door for Violet. "Please, come in."

"I found this... friend... in the forest," Violet said. She stepped inside and sat down cross-legged, setting the backpack in the space between her legs. "I don't know your word for it. My kind calls this a {fox}."

"Oh! Our word is 'fox'," Fluttershy answered as Violet gently woke the fluffy critter from its sleep. The fox stepped out of the backpack, yawning and stretching, but staying close to Violet. "Oh, she really likes you!"

"This... fox...? Yes, this fox followed me," the {Awoken} replied. "All I did was give her some food. I am... I do not know the word... I have bad but not bad feeling about this fox?"

Fluttershy tilted her head, not quite understanding what Violet was getting at.

"I do not think this fox is only a fox," Violet said. "It is too strange to be only a fox."

Fluttershy took a look into the fox's eyes, seeing the glint of intelligence within them. She'd seen that light in many of her animal friends' eyes. But this fox seemed to know something. This animal was well beyond just intelligent. But even as she ran her wings across the fox's fur, she couldn't feel anything particularly strange about her. She could only see it in her eyes.

"I... believe you," Fluttershy murmured, looking up at Violet. "She's different, but I don't know how."

"Do you think Twilight might know?" she asked.

Fluttershy could only shrug. "I don't know."

Silence.

"Does she have a name?" Fluttershy asked.

"No," Violet said, shaking her head.

Silence returned.

"Could you watch her for me? I need to speak to the Princesses," Violet asked softly.

"Of course! When are you leaving?" the pegasus asked.

"Now," she said. "I'll be back in the morning."

With that, Violet disappeared in a pulse of light.

——————————

The clock struck ten. Luna was out on her balcony, staring at the moon. She always forgot to look at the moon in Violet's dreams. Did her home world have a moon? Did it perhaps have more than one? What were the constellations in her world, and what stories did they hold?

She heard a faint sound similar to the flapping of wings, but not quite. She heard it again a second later, closer. She turned to look, and was greeted by the face of Violet, her luminous amber eyes locking with her own instantly.

A startled yelp escaped the lips of the Lunar Princess, and she leapt up into the air some twenty meters from the surprise alone.

"How did you get here?!" Luna asked after landing and catching her breath. Her hoof was placed over her chest in a vain attempt to calm her heart.

"{Transmat beacon,}" she said in her native tongue, the meaning of which flew over Luna's head.

The alicorn sighed. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"I need to speak to you and Celestia," Violet said, perched on the balcony railing.

"Now?" Luna asked, lowering her hoof.

"About changelings," the {Awoken} said.

Luna's expression became grave.

There was a brief silence. Luna lit her horn, reaching out with her magic to Celestia's chambers and prodding her awake. Seconds later, there was a flash of golden light, and an unprincesslike yawn.

"Lulu... it's past my bedtime..." The Solar Alicorn in question stepped out onto the balcony, shaking the sleep from her eyes. "What is—"

Her eyes shot open and her body froze in place upon seeing the eyes of Violet, perched like an owl on the balcony railing.

In her mind, Celestia's thoughts went through a very particular sequence. One. Check memory if Violet was supposed to be in the castle for anything. Answer, no. Two. Violet has been the primary source of stress over the past two months. Three. Violet was here unsummoned and unaccompanied. Four. Luna's expression was one of grave concern. Conclusion: This is a dream.

"Something something changeings," Luna said in Celestia's code.

"Something something changelings," Celestia nodded sagely.

"I am here to speak for the changelings," Violet said. "They need your help."

Yup. Definitely a dream.