Dusk Village

The plan that the Equestrians and Queen Chrysalis formed together was simple, but effective. The changelings, with their unique ability to shape-shift, would infiltrate the ranks of Paragon's soldiers, impersonating them, and would wait until they were spread wide across the particular region they intended to attack, be it a city or some sort of labor camp. Then, with their ability to silently communicate with each other simultaneously; what they called the "Collective," they would all create a disturbance that would distract them from the Equestrians who would then move in and begin the attack. The hope is that the Equestrians would have a strong foothold by the time the Changeling's decoy wore off, so that the mission could be carried out successfully. As more ponies are freed, their numbers would increase, giving them the liberty to participate in more complex strategies aimed at larger targets. The only trouble was that as a result of the nature of this plan, the changeling mortality rate would presumably be quite high; despite this, Queen Chrysalis seemed almost completely unaffected.

They plotted out an approximate path they should take for the time being, based on the size of certain camps/towns, their proximity to each other, and the level of security they had. It was decided that to maximize the effectiveness of their attacks, the first few missions should be carried out almost simultaneously; which was easily done with the changelings; so that they could liberate a large number of ponies before Paragon discovers what they are really doing, and begins to deploy countermeasures. After that, a relatively long hiatus should be taken to wear down his patience, and then after maybe a few weeks, they hit him again from the opposite end that they struck from originally, since he will probably shift his soldiers toward the direction they were attacking from.

The entire time they discussed battle strategy, Argon kept talking to Maree; what his intentions were she couldn't be sure of, whether he just wanted to get to know her, if he was flirting in some way, or if perhaps there was something else going on entirely, she didn't know. All Maree knew was that it bothered her more and more every minute she spent with him, and she just didn't know why; there was something about him being near her that made her feel terrible in many inexplicable ways.

Argon's role in the scenario was essentially that of a spotter, to indicate to his changelings what to do, where to do it, and when. That was the purpose of him going back with Maree, Cadence and Twilight; to scout out the first target, so that the changelings would know what to do when they attacked. Once the plan was set and solid, the team of four, consisting of Maree, Twilight, Cadence, and Argon, set off towards Dusk Village, from which they would begin their attack. Finally, they were just days away from their first attack, a notion that filled them with both anticipation and nervousness.

They did not set out until near-evening of the first day, and so they did not get very far. They spoke very little to each other, except for Argon who attempted to talk with Maree frequently. Maree replied minimally, consciously avoiding his company. The less she spoke to him, the more comfortable she was. After just a few hours, they all set up their tents and packed it in for the night. Argon had no tent, and therefore had to sleep outside. He did not mind, however; he claimed he did it often of his own free will, provided the weather held up.

The second day, Argon's persistence was starting to wear down Maree's patience. She could not account for her negative feelings, but she knew when someone was being just plain irritating, and Argon was starting to get to that point. He went on and on about the changelings, his mother, himself, and occasionally he broke to ask Maree questions, to which she usually replied with as few words as she could.

"...And so through the Collective, all changelings are able to share a common pool of knowledge and intellect; any information gathered by one is shared by all. Of course, there are exceptions..." he was saying, "My mother controls the Collective, and therefore she can manipulate it, removing any useless or private information from it, and I've even heard of her being able to falsify information, however that would be much harder to do than removing information. And I would be able to tell the difference. I am another exception to the rule, and my reason is just as unique..." He turned to face Maree, and she could tell he was about to ask her another question. Just feeling his stare was bad enough when she didn't even face him. "It must be a very different experience with your kind, when you can't tell what those around you are thinking, Maree. Does it bother you, knowing that you can't determine when someone is lying to you?"

Mare glanced up at him. His blood-red eyes were fixated on him, waiting for a response. And those fangs... those top fangs, made him look like some sort of vampire, waiting to strike bite into his prey.

"As a matter of fact... yes, that does bother me at times..." She replied, not looking at him. Then she actually turned to face him and said, "Listen, Argon... I don't mean to be rude but I... there's a lot on my mind right now and I really just don't feel like talking, so please just... leave me alone, alright?" Maree started to walk away, but Argon cut her off. He was physically very close to her, and it made Maree shiver.

"Forgive me, Maree, but I thought that since you agreed to marry me, we could at least talk a little, and get to know each other. If I'm wrong, then please correct me." He said.

Maree, now uncomfortably close to Argon, could not even look him in the eye when she replied, "Argon, please, just drop it, alright?" She said this as sternly as she could with her whole body trembling from who-knows-what. Maree was now aware that Cadence and Twilight had stopped several paces ahead of them, but had not chosen to intervene. Maree wished that they would but she wouldn't ask, of course.

Maree tried to sidestep Argon once more, but he put his hoof on her shoulder to try and stop her. It wasn't a forceful touch, but it made Maree freeze in place. For just a second while Argon held Maree's shoulder, Maree experienced feelings: fear, anger, and misery all at once like she'd never felt in her life; not even since the day she left her mother behind; that crashed into her like a tidal wave. She regained control of her body for just a moment and wrenched away from him with all her might, not that she needed all that force.

"NO!" She screamed uncontrollably. "Don't touch me!" She wheeled around to yell directly at Argon. Argon was taken aback; his piercing red eyes suddenly shifted into a bright, sky-blue color, which confused Twilight and Cadence, who were watching, but Maree didn't seem to notice. After a few seconds of silence, Maree, having calmed down slightly, spoke again, in a more collected tone.

"Just... don't touch me, okay?"

She waited a few seconds for Argon to reply, which he didn't. His Eyes shifted again, this time to a deep, ocean-blue. He sighed, visibly, and turned away, seeming ashamed, or else very disappointed. Perhaps if she had been thinking clearly, Maree would have felt bad, or at least have been surprised by the fact that she could reduce a large, tough-looking stallion like that  to little more than a sullen child. But right now, all she could be certain of was that she was finally starting to understand these emotional flashes. In that moment, she had touched his mind, somehow; these feelings were coming from him. She decided she'd walk with Twilight and Cadence from now on; she was quite certain that she didn't want Argon to touch her ever again.

Cadence and Twilight both asked insistently on what exactly had just happened between Maree and Argon, but Maree did not answer honestly. She told them that he was making hasty advances on her and that he was making her uncomfortable, and they seemed to buy it, or at least they pretended to. Whether or not they really believed it, Maree wasn't sure, but as long as they weren't planning on pressing the issue, she didn't mind. Until she understood the matter more clearly herself, she didn't need to tell them about anything.

The rest of the day went by very quietly and awkwardly, as the four ponies all walked in silence, Twilight, Cadence and Maree up front and a sad-faced, now blue-eyed Argon tailing a cautious distance behind. As they got closer to sunset, they started setting up their tents, continuing their silence, only broken on the rare occasion that one of them would ask for help with something. Argon never needed help, and never asked for it. It was clear that he was being isolated deliberately; everyone knew it, even though no one said anything.

Maree was starting to drift off to sleep when she heard someone talking to her from outside her tent. She recognized the voice immediately as Argon's, and briefly she considered ignoring him. Eventually she pulled herself out of bed and walked over to the entrance to her her tent and opened it partly, so that she could look at him without actually stepping or permitting him to step in. His eye's were still a deep shade of blue.

"Maree... I think we should talk. I want to apologize for upsetting you earlier. If I made you at all uncomfortable, I want you to know that it was never my intention..."

"Argon, stop." Maree cut him off. He sighed tiredly, and then spoke again, "Look, I know you weren't trying to upset me, and I get that all you want to to talk with me... but, I honestly can't stand it." She finally admitted. "I just... when you talk to me... when you're around me, I feel a wave of conflicting, negative emotions that I can't control, and they make me feel just awful... there's something about you that I don't like, something that I can't stand. I don't know what it is, but until I can learn how to control it, to suppress it... I can't be near you too often for too long. It just eats away at me."

Argon stared back at Maree for a while, possibly thinking about what Maree had just said, trying to make sense of it. As he stood there, Maree watched another change in hs eyes; the blue gradually faded, giving way to a light grey color. Suddenly he said, "Maree? Can I come in? I may be able to explain these feelings, but it's a very long story."

Maree was surprised at this sudden request, and initially she thought she might say no instinctively. But somehow, she didn't feel as bad as usual at this time; as if something had changed temporarily in Argon's mind that allowed her to tolerate him more so than usual. After another sigh to help brace herself, Maree let Argon in.

"What I have to tell you now is very personal, and is something that mustn't be shared by others. Do you understand?" Maree nodded. "There is... a lot that you don't know about my mother, and a lot about her history that Equestrians no nothing about. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that she's wonderful and lovely on the inside; in truth, she is not. Even I can see that. But she has her reasons for being the bitter, power-hungry, hateful husk of a creature she has become." Maree blinked, surprised that Argon would use such harsh terms to describe his own mother; though, based on their exchange, Maree could see how that description might come across.

"My mother, Queen Chrysalis, leads a very lonely life. For a long time, it seems as though no one could ever love her; until she met my father, Gawain, an Equestrian knight of high rank who had traveled to the changeling's territory on patrol. My father, despite knowing my mother's past, started to fall in love with the Queen of the Changelings, and despite her initial hesitation, my mother eventually reciprocated these emotions. She had never felt true happiness that was all her own; she had only ever fed on the happiness of others. But when she felt this love between her and my father for this first time, she discovered something amazing, something that should have changed the changelings forever; they can sustain themselves with their own happiness. in other words, when they are happy, they don't have to feed on others.

"There was a time where it seemed as though the changelings had changed, due to their sharing in Chrysalis' happiness through the Collective. the love my parents shared eventually resulted in my birth. However, after I was born, my mother felt temptation stirring inside her. As their love grew stronger and purer, my mother was tempted again and again to taste it; to begin feeding from it. But she had to promise herself she wouldn't; it would drive her mad to consume her own love, especially if she ever tasted a form of love so pure; she had never tasted the love of a newly wed husband and wife.

"I was about eight when it finally happened. I didn't know what it was at the time, but I know realize that my mother had finally allowed herself to taste the love that my father emanated. From that moment on, she was overcome by lust; she desired him, physically, as though she were trying to "create" love, so that they wouldn't run out. But she fed more and more, and my father, blissfully unaware due to the nature of the magic used by changelings, became weaker and weaker. You see, I can see an aura around all creatures. The color of this aura reflects the emotions that creature is feeling. And while my mother's aura was once a dark red, indicating compassion, it gradually changed to a color much closer to pink, indicating lust and infatuation. This continued on and on, until it finally happened..."

Argon trailed off, clearly pained by what happened next. Still he forced himself to continue.

"My father's aura changed too... one day, I saw an aura that scared me, because I had never seen it before: a black aura. I now understand what it means. It represents a total void of emotion. Nothingness. When my mother had completely diminished the love they once shared, she was an entire spectrum of emotions, feeling guilt, anger, sadness, sorrow, and tragically, more lust. It wasn't long until my father, no longer feeling anything for myself or my mother, left us both. I don't what happened to him after that, but I understand his critically weakened state lead to his death shortly after. "

Argon looked away and closed his eyes. He looked almost like he was going to cry, but he managed to stay strong for long enough to finish his story.

"The pain from having lost her husband, coupled by the agonizing withdrawal of her addiction, drove her insane with desire and self hatred. Eventually her aura settled to a permanent green: greed. She had her sights set on Equestria, the land of love and happiness, where she would find enough food to sustain her people for millennia. She removed the events of her marriage and everything pertaining to it from the Collective. Now only her and I know about those events.

"And so, this is my story. These memories, coupled with my special talent which involves me understanding the emotions of other has probably led you to feel the way you do. My emotions too are displayed, through the color of my eyes. Seeing you, and knowing I will be married to you one day, makes me remember my mother and my father... the memory of those intense negative emotions surface, and somehow, they are projected into your mind."

Maree felt the weight of this story heavily on her shoulders. It was all a lot to bear. All at once, she had learned about Chrysalis' past, as well as Argon's abilities and the truth behind her irrational disliking of him. She looked at Argon again, who was gazing out toward the entrance of the tent, his eyes starting to turn blue again as he thought about his past. Maree felt overwhelming sympathy for him; the pressure he must feel for making his mother happy again would be enormous. She realized that he probably had a means of knowing that she felt sympathy for him, but if he did, he didn't show it. Instead he turn back to face her, and said, "That was very inconsiderate of me, I'm sorry."

The comment threw Maree. "What? What do you mean, 'inconsiderate'?"

"I have always sought a way to make my mother happy again, and by marrying Equestrian royalty, I hoped that this might do just that. Now, by sharing my story with you, I also share the burden of that pressure with you, and I'm sorry."

"Argon... it's alright. No one should have to face that type of pressure alone. Even I have my family and friends in Dusk Village, despite our grim circumstances. Twilight seems to think I'm very strong, but... without her, I'd be nothing. In fact, I wouldn't even be alive." She placed her hoof on top of his, establishing a physical connection. "Everyone needs help sometimes, and support can only make us stronger."

Argon seemed to thank Maree with his eyes, but his body still said that there was something troubling him. He seemed aware of it, and answered the question before it could be asked. "This whole thing... our planned marriage... it's all based entirely on selflessness, external wants and desires... you're doing it to seal a deal with my mother so that you can save the ponies of Equestria... I'm doing it to further my own mother's power in an attempt to please her. Neither of us know each other or care about each other enough to justify getting married. We're doing this to make other people happy. In my opinion, a wedding should be the most selfish day of your life; the one day that's completely and totally about what you want, and accomplishing what you want. It's about something you've loved for a long time, something that you love right now, and will continue to love for the rest of your life. When that special somepony that you want to marry feels that same way, only then is a wedding justifiable."

"Wouldn't that just be ideal?" A few muscles tugged at the sides of Maree's lips, but she did not smile. Not quite. "We haven't even gotten a chance to start to like each other, let alone love each other."

"Can we? Can we love each other now, after all this? What I've told you, what we're going through?"

Maree shrugged weakly. She was tired, and she could feel it all over her body and it was starting to affect her mind too. "I don't know."

"I know you are tired, Maree, and rightfully so. I've kept you up too long, we should be getting to sleep soon." Argon read right through Maree's expression. Though his special talent probably helped him with that. "I'm sorry to have kept you up, and I'm grateful that you listened to my story. It's a relief to be able to share something with somepony outside the Collective. There's a certain level of... excitement, though that's probably not the right word, in speaking with someone who is not directly linked to your mind, thus allowing each other to read the other's thoughts." Argon stood up (they had long since sat for the long story) and started to make his way to the entrance of Maree's tent when she stopped him, as a thought came to her mind.

"Wait, can Chrysalis find out about our conversation? Isn't all of your knowledge and experience stored in the 'Collective', or whatever it is?" She asked him.

He smiled reassuringly. "Not to worry. I have learned, without my mother's knowing, how to temporarily detach myself from the Collective. With proper timing, I can make it seem like I'm just asleep or napping, where I would normally not be in touch with my brethren anyway. She doesn't know we spoke just now." He started to leave again, but Maree stopped her once more, but this time she hesitated when she spoke.

"Argon... would you prefer to sleep indoors for a change?" She asked nervously.

"Are you offering?" Argon replied.

"It's just... you've never asked before, but at the same time ,we've never offered... and I was wondering if you'd prefer to sleep in a tent. I mean, any one of these tents is large enough to fit two ponies." Maree knew the strange mixture of guilt and shyness was plainly visible on and around her face to Argon.

"But you're not just talking about any tent, I presume. You're referring to yours." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Well, yes, I can't very well offer you somepony else's tent." Maree said a little too quickly.

"Well then, I accept. Thank you for your hospitality... Maree."