Return to the Brood 4: Elemental Takeover

After only a couple of minutes, the vials were completely emptied out and evaporated into the room. Sunburst quickly turned off the device, and moved it aside so they’d get a better view of the action below. Twilight was still going over her plans, with nobody seeming to notice anything amiss. Meanwhile, Cadance and Sunburst had to cover their muzzles to keep from snickering.

“Now, by the time we get to the castle, we’re going to go here.” Twilight floated a pencil towards one of the castle blueprints, pointing it right at a specific section of the cellar. “As Rainbow Dash and Applejack learned from our previous trip to the Crystal Empire, this section of the cellar has a direct line towards the drainage pipes beneath the adjacent road here. All we have to do is get underground as fast as possible, and we’ll… w-we’ll…”

Twilight paused for a split second, and shook her head while her eyes were clenched shut. Spike and the Elements weren’t sure what happened, but it didn’t seem like anything more than a migraine. The Princess breathed out after a quick jolt of her head, and blinked a couple times before resuming her plans. “Sorry, just a… a headache or something… Anyway, the cellar likely won’t be guarded, so we won’t have much of a problem making it upstairs…”

Twilight tried to keep herself steady, but she couldn’t help but ponder what just happened. It was only a second or two at most, but she couldn’t deny how strongly she felt… something. She wasn’t sure if it was a physical response, or merely something psychological, but she could’ve sworn she felt something that made her nerves tingle. Regardless, the Princess tried her best to continue explaining the plan without interruption. “Now, uhhhh… by the time we get to the ground floor, we m-might need to improvise if Chrysalis al… a-altered the castle layout a bit…”

Twilight’s eyes veered back at the board, and she floated the pencil towards the second page of blueprints. After inspecting the recorded footage delivered by Chrysalis herself, Twilight had made sure to mark certain parts of the blueprints with what she assumed to be the Queen’s assigned rooms. Several black marks were etched across the paper, with labels which made Twilight breathe out slowly. If she was just by herself, she likely would’ve assumed her heart was beating faster from apprehension.

Of course, if Twilight turned around at that particular moment, she likely would’ve realized that all her friends were growing more anxious as well…

“Nnnfff…” Spike was the first to start shuffling between his bare feet. Much like Twilight, the dragon couldn’t help shuddering a bit as he stood nearby the board. His chubby cheeks were beginning to blush the slightest bit, and his face started to feel a little hotter overall. He tried rubbing the back of his neck to relieve a little tension, but it didn’t stop his tail from twitching rather antsily. Even while Twilight tried to continue speaking, Spike had to walk off and get himself a drink from the water cooler. “Nnnghhh… What the…”

While the dragon tried to ignore his puzzlement with a quick drink, it didn’t take long for the rest of the group to feel similar sensations of their own. Applejack tried to pay attention to Twilight’s words, despite how muddled and stuttery they started to get; but at the same time, the mare had to take off her Stetson so she could fan her face. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both squirmed a bit while standing, their wings instinctively trying to unfurl and spring out as they shivered against their sides. Rarity’s white fur made her glowing blush appear much more noticeable than any of the others, even as she tried to dab her face with a handkerchief. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were the first of the group to begin staring over at a different region of the corkboard; more specifically, the blueprint layout where one specific room was clearly re-labeled by Twilight earlier.

“N-Now, the Throne Room should still be intact for the most part,” continued Twilight after a strong shake of her head. “Whoo, uhhh… A-Anyway, that’s… that’s most-likely where Chrysalis will be holding most of her operations, so we should try to infiltrate that area first. But since we’re coming up from the cellars, that will have us move past some of the service rooms. One of those is the Laundry Room, which… w-which is the…”

Twilight paused for several seconds, her muzzle tightly bitten shut. Her pencil was shaking a little in her aura, unable to stay still while pointed at a particular region of the blueprints. Fluttershy and Pinkie were no longer the only ponies staring, as now all of them were fixated on one particular part of the map. Even Spike had to rush back in, his eyes growing rather wide when he read the label Twilight provided. “... the… the O-Oviposition Room?”

The Crystal Castle’s former Laundry Room, which was able to be identified through the footage Chrysalis sent to the remaining Princesses, had since become the hive’s unofficial room for egg-storage and the Queen’s indoctrination. Twilight and the others had all done enough research through the books to know exactly how the process worked, and what to do to avoid Chrysalis’ ovipositors if confronted. However, Rarity tried to subtly light up her horn to float over one of the biology texts from the table, as if she needed a “refresher” of sorts. All of the others were staring at that room pointed by Twilight’s magic, with the Princess herself needing to swallow some excess saliva. “... U-Uhhhh… Yes, that… t-that’s the Oviposition Room…”

Twilight’s hind-legs nearly buckled as she shuddered from saying that word out loud. All of her friends had to struggle not to groan by biting their lips, or even covering their muzzles with a hoof. None of them seemed to be aware of anything unusual going on, but they were all growing increasingly piqued by what that room contained. Pinkie Pie quickly raised up her hoof, like a filly trying to get her teacher’s attention in class. “Is… I-Is that where ponies go to… to, uhhh… y-you know…”

She quickly put down her hoof, averting her eyes from Twilight in embarrassment. The rest of the Elements squirmed and tried not to glance over at Pinkie; however, many of them had to cover their faces as they grew more blushed. Even Twilight had to take a deep breath before responding with a light nod. “I, ummm… y-yes, Pinkie. That… That’s the room where Chrysalis d… does those things…”

Nobody said anything for nearly thirty seconds, mostly since they were all becoming lost in their own thoughts. Rarity had her biology book floating closely to her face, which was already opened up to the specific section about how the Changeling Oviposition process worked. Even though there were no pictures, and all of them had read through that section before, Rarity soon found herself being bunched-up by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash leaning in to read alongside her. Applejack put her hat down on the floor, and tried to look away from everyone while wiping sweat from her brow. Spike not-so-subtly picked up his friend’s Stetson, and blushed heavily while holding it up against his crotch.

“Do… D-Do we…” Fluttershy winced from how meek and feeble her voice sounded out loud. But after breathing in with her eyes closed, she tried her best to ask Twilight, “Do… Do we have to… g-g-go inside of that room?”

Everyone instantly looked back at Twilight wide-eyed, clearly interested in hearing her answer. The Princess stood flustered for a moment, her eyes bulging out and her cheeks carrying a deep shade of crimson. Her muzzle hung open for a second, almost like she needed to re-think her response. However, she still had enough composure to breathe out and shake her head. “N-No! We… We can go through a service hallway here…” Her pencil was trembling quite a bit in her aura as she floated it away from the Oviposition room, and pointed it to a small hallway nearby. “It was actually under construction before Chrysalis invaded the castle, so there’s a good chance it won’t be patrolled by Guards. We can use that to move around the Ov… O-Oviposition Room... and avoid it completely.”

The idea definitely seemed feasible, even to Cadance and Sunburst as they listened to them silently from above. But as soon as Twilight mentioned avoiding that fateful room, all of her friends exhaled heavily in unison. It didn’t quite sound like groans of disappointment, but the group’s fallen expressions certainly didn’t help the implication. Up in the vents, Cadance and Sunburst struggled not to giggle from how quickly the pheromones were taking effect.

“I-It’ll be okay though!” added Twilight with a hoof raised towards them insistently. “Our main goal is to rescue my family and defeat Chrysalis! If we want any chance to succeed, we need to keep our focus on the Throne Room first and foremost.”

“Y-Yeah! Totally…” Spike tried to show his support with a nod of his head, although he couldn’t bear to look her in the eyes with that response. He also tried to ignore the strong stares some of the others were giving him in annoyance. He bit his bottom lip tightly, and tried to interject with a raised claw. “Although! Uhhh… What if… What if Shining and Cadance are in there instead?”

“Y-Yeah!” Rainbow Dash instantly jolted away from Rarity’s book, her wings twitching more notably against her torso. She pointed over at Spike while staring wide-eyed at Twilight. “Maybe they ARE in there! Like… you said that Shining was in that egg room in that footage Chrysalis sent, right?”

“Hey, WAIT A MINUTE!” Applejack gawked at Twilight with a deeply offended look. “What the hay is she talkin’ about?! There’s footage of what they’re doin’ up there?!”

Twilight froze up with a worried look, like a teenager caught with a bag of salt-licks in their bedroom. Spike and the other Elements were all staring up at her in shock, looking like Twilight straight-up betrayed them. The Princess cringed strongly and tried to look away from their judgemental stares. Even though she had every right to keep that footage unmentioned, she still sounded rather guilty when she finally spoke up. “W-Well, ummm… I didn’t really want to watch my brother going through that… I couldn’t even watch it with Celestia and Luna back in Canterlot.”

The six friends all lowered their heads, still composed enough to nod silently in understanding. Nopony said anything for several seconds, although most of them were shuffling uncomfortably with their muzzles skewed. It was obvious that all of them had something to say; but at the same time, none of them were confident enough to speak before the Princess. Eventually though, Spike looked away from her while keeping Applejack’s hat over his midsection. “W-Well, uhhhh… Do… D-Do you think we could see the footage? Like, for research or something? Y-you don’t have to of course, being your brother an-”

Pinkie Pie instantly blurted out, “Ooh, I want to watch it!”

“Me too!” piped Rarity, which was followed by Fluttershy meekly raising her hoof in agreement.

“I-It could be good to learn as much as we can, right?” Applejack tried to shoot her friend a wide and insistent smile while motioning back at the others. “I-I mean, y’all already saw it, so… w-why not us?”

“Now, w-wait a minute!” Twilight was blushing rather heavily, but even her quivering hind-legs weren’t enough to keep her from raising a hoof. “We need to stay focused on the plan! Watching those videos from Chrysalis won’t--”

Before she could finish, Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof and shouted, “All in favor of watching the footage, say Aye!”

The rest of the group all shouted “AYE!!!” in less than a second. Even Twilight, despite keeping her muzzle shut, didn’t realize that she raised her hoof as well. She instantly shrieked and tried to put it down, only for Spike to call her out. “Hey, I saw that! You wanna watch it too!”

“N-No I don’t!”

“Majority rules, Twi! Let us see the video!” Rainbow Dash seemed rather insistent with her hoof pointed at Twilight. “C’mon, Princess! You wanted democracy yourself, and we won the vote!”

“YEAH!!!”

Twilight sighed with a strong facehoof. The thought of watching that footage was making her nerves tingle intensely, but there was still a strong bout of apprehension about witnessing her brother’s demise. Even the thought of seeing Chrysalis’ fat… thick… oozing ovipositor working its magic… most likely carrying a huge bulge of her eggs slithering down its shaft like a snake swallowing up its prey… heck, maybe it even glowed all throughout, allowing them to get a proper look at how plump and heavy those eggs may have been before they--

“Uhh, Twilight?”

“NNGHHH!!” Twilight jolted her head up, not realizing that a couple heavy strands of drool were seeping from the corners of her muzzle. When she glanced back at her friends, all of them seemed a little concerned at how she was acting. Spike blinked a couple times while continuing to cover himself with AJ’s hat.

“Are… Are you okay?” he asked cautiously. “You just sorta, like… stood there for a couple minutes shivering.”

Twilight had to do a double-take, not expecting to hear she was lost in her thoughts for that long. One second she was trying to ignore her friends’ insistence in watching the footage of Shining Armor’s life as a brood stallion; but as soon as she thought about those weird… intriguing details about Chrysalis’ egg-depositing process, which most likely had a lot of--

“TWI!”

“S-Sorry! Sorry…” Twilight shook her head with her eyes shut, and winced while pinching the bridge of her snout. “I… I don’t know what’s going on… I think I had too much coffee or something…”

The rest of the group all glanced at one another, their expressions appearing equally as unnerved through their heavy blushes. None of them wanted to say anything, since it was clear that all of them were feeling similar sensations that they couldn’t necessarily speak about out loud. So instead of confronting Twilight about what may have really been wrong, they all merely shrugged or nodded in understanding. “Y-Yeah! Yeah…” Rainbow Dash motioned back at Twilight and said, “T-That makes sense. Like… coffee can do that sometimes, r-right?”

“O-Of course!” Rarity spoke up with a nod of her own. “Besides, we… we’re all just wanting to get up to Chrysalis’ castle so we can find those eg--Hostages! F-Find those hostages, as soon as possible.”

“Oh yeah! There are hostages up there…” Pinkie chuckled weakly and darted her eyes back and forth. “A-And we… We should know as much as we can to figure out what Chrysalis is up to.”

“Like that footage of her laying eggs, right?” With how quickly Fluttershy made that remark, her neediness was becoming as obvious as her wide-eyed stare. “We… W-We could learn a lot from that!”

“Y-Yeah, she’s right!” Applejack pointed back at her while yelling to Twilight, “Come on, stop lolly-gagging and show us how she does it!”

“Oh, alright, FINE!” Twilight rolled her eyes with a groan, which somehow sounded both frustrated and relieved at the same time. She closed her eyes before lighting up her horn, which gave the others a couple seconds to try smiling to themselves without the others seeing it. Twilight wished she put up a bigger fight about playing the damn footage, since she wasn’t too keen about watching her brother in such a demeaning and envious position. Even when that second adjective entered her head, which made her eyes shoot wide-open in shock, it wasn’t enough to keep a large magical screen from opening up in front of her and the other Elements.

“Wow, those pheromones are amazing!” Cadance kept her voice in a hushed whisper, but neither she nor Sunburst seemed too worried about being heard while their victims were becoming so afflicted down below. “How much longer do you think it’ll take?”

“Just give it a little more time, Miss Cadance,” assured Sunburst as he peered through the vent with a wide and sinister grin. “The Elements of Harmony might be strong-willed, but I can already smell their arousal from up here~”

“Mmmmm… so do I~” Cadance licked her lips, and kept her focus more on Twilight than anyone else. “So, who do you wanna help indoctrinate first? I call dibs on the ‘Princess,’ by the way.”

“That’s fine by me…” Much like Cadance, Sunburst couldn’t help staring down at the little dragon squirming with a deepening blush. The unicorn’s eyes narrowed deviously when he said, “Just as long as I give him a stuffing myself~”