A Pierced Heart

Chapter 13: What is Unknown

It was Friday, and all was well, right, and proper in Equestria. Sweetie Belle and Rarity's friends were at Twilight's Library, and Rarity was eagerly awaiting Pokey's arrival for their planned picnic and jewel gathering. Rarity looked back on the time she had known Pokey. So wonderful, both in bed and out, she thought.

A knock sounded at the door and Rarity levitated a picnic basket into the air. Trotting to the entryway Rarity called out "It's open!" With that Pokey Pierce opened the door with his magic.

"Hello Rarity sweetheart, are you ready to go?" the blue stallion asked.

"Of course," She replied, and the two set off towards the quarry.

The trees were all out in the full regalia of autumnal hues. Vibrant reds mixed to oranges and yellows, not a trace of green could be seen among the leaves, and brown was tinting the leaves of some trees. On the ground the detritus made a soft rustling as the couple's hooves shuffled through the path to the quarry. As they made their way to their destination the trees became less frequent. Soon, all that adorned the ground was a number of leaves that had been blown to the split rock of the quarry.

Rarity's horn began to glow as she set to casting her gem detection spell. "Hmmm, ahh, yes, definitely here." Pulling a shovel out of her bag, Rarity began extracting the precious gems from beneath. "Pokey, would you be a dear and carry the gems for me?"

"Of course," Pokey replied.

The two continued deeper into the quarry along a cliff, one side reached up like a great fist to the heavens above, and the other plunged to the depths beneath. While Rarity was extracting a rough hewn, fist sized sapphire from the cliff wall. Pokey walked towards the other edge and gazed below. The drop went for at least 50 feet. On the opposite side of the canyon, various holes dotted the cliff face. Pokey levitated a stone over, and, giving it a once over to ensure it was not a gem, cast it below. Halfway down the drop the stone was close to one of the holes, when a massive red tendril shot out. A gaping maw filled with razor teeth, gleaming white with the promise of a thousand deaths, enclosed the stone and as quickly as it had extended, retracted into the pit from whence it came.

"Quaray Eels." Pokey lifted his head to look over to Rarity as the white mare continued speaking. "They feed on birds that fly past their nests, Rainbow thinks they make good sport, Fluttershy insists they would never hurt a pony, I don't see either being true."

"Guess now I know why you usually make this trip alone. Could be dangerous if somepony wandered too close," the blue unicorn replied.

Rarity lifted a hoof up to her horn and winced as she touched it. "We have found quite a few gems..." She turned her head to Celestia's sun as it reached its zenith. "I suppose now would be as good a time as any to have our meal."

Pokey nodded in affirmation, and in resolve to his own course of action. This is it; I'm going to tell her the truth. If she hates me for it, it will hurt, but this is for the best. I don't want to go through this life with any lies or deceit, the changeling thought to himself. Rarity set a picnic blanket and various food items on it. Best do this before she eats, in case..., no I can't dwell on what might be, I just have to see how it goes. "Rarity, there's something I need to discuss with you."

The white mare stopped with a wine bottle set on the blanket and tilted her head. "What is it dear? Is something wrong?"

"Do you love me?" Pokey asked.

The seeming non sequitur put Rarity in a state of befuddled amusement. "Of course I do, isn't that much obvious?"

"This will all make sense when I'm finished, you know that I love you too right?" Pokey continued.

"Well I figured as much, you couldn't fake what we share," the white unicorn replied.

"It's just that what I have to tell, you, I've been terrified to say, it will likely change our relationship and I'll understand if you can't forgive me--"

At that moment a green bolt of energized flame struck the side of Pokey's head, rendering him silent and unconscious.

"POKEY!" Rarity screamed before she felt herself plunged into a magical grip. Twisted to face her assailant, Rarity was met with the twisted visage of a changeling. Its blackened chitin armour was flanged, twisting to form spikes in random spots. Hanging loosely over it all was an unkempt set of steel plates. Then there were the eyes, by Celestia they were the image of horror. A prismatic collection of compound lenses that diffracted light to a sickly moss green. By themselves they conveyed no intention, no emotion. With those crystalline eyes set above the scowling maw however, every instinct in Rarity was rendered an incoherent blubbering.

Slowly the magical field surrounding Rarity pressed her into the ground, and then kept pushing. Air was forced from Rarity's lungs as her body was locked in a struggle with physics keeping two pieces of matter from occupying the same space. Rarity felt a crack in her side and she screamed in agony. A smirk spread across the changeling's face as it stepped towards Rarity, the squeezing had stopped, and the white mare was left on the threshold of oblivion as the onyx monstrosity spoke.

"So much food, and Pierce never saw fit to bring it back to the hive? I'll just have to correct this." A rasp filled the background of its voice.

With a scream Rarity felt an alien source of magic probe at her mind. Her thoughts turned to Pokey, in equal portion of fear for her stallion, and of the magic's turning about. Then Rarity felt a seeping, a draining, as if the whole of her being was being siphoned off. In a few seconds Rarity felt a new feeling, a warm trail flowing from her nostrils, and then from her horn. Rarity looked up with her eyes to see a small rivulet of blood twisting its way down her horn from the tip. Then, across her Cutie Mark a gash in her flesh formed, as though a paper thin blade had been inserted, severing all, and pulled out, leaving the open wound to leak out more crimson fluid.

"Hyeagh!" a yell bellowed as Pokey charged the changeling. His horn pierced an unarmoured joint, embedding itself and causing a clear, green flecked slime to seep around the edges. The magic holding Rarity in place was lifted and Pokey hollered "Rarity, RUN!"

Adrenaline served its purpose, and Rarity got to her hooves, and began galloping, ignoring the lesions and sores that had formed on her pure white body.

Snaggle roared and twisted his body, trying to snap Pokey's neck from torsion. Pokey pulled back and was left to face Snaggle, an inch wide chunk of flesh gouged out from his shoulder. "My my my, Pierce, how you've grown, I dare say that your time here has served your natural appetites quite well."

"I haven't lowered myself to doing what you did to me all those years ago!" the blue stallion yelled.

"To you? Whatever do you mean? I killed that... oh, OH! Hahahaha!" Snaggle laughed, ending in a snort of derision. "So that's what led you to run away dear Pierce, never threw away your scraps like a good changeling, held onto it, like some antiquarian attaching meaning to anything he so happens to grasp?" Snaggle took a step forward. This prompted Pokey to charge again, Snaggle sidestepped and continued. "Now, now, Pierce, is that any way for hive-mates to behave with one another?"

Turning around Pokey charged again. With a sigh Snaggle sidestepped just before connection, but Pokey pivoted on his fore hooves and swung a full one eighty, back hooves clipping Snaggle in the jaw and staggering him back a few feet. Shaking his head, Snaggle turned just in time to see a green blaze make contact. Snaggle felt Pokey's jagged horn slice through another chink in his protection as they were tossed over the side of the cliff. Snaggle snapped out his wings and orientated himself to be above Pokey, and his hooves wrapped around his adversary.

The pair was hovering in mid-air, Pokey, kept from moving by the vice of Snaggle's four hooves. "Ah, did you volunteer to be my landing device?" Snaggle called, starting to let them fall with Pokey facing the ground. "So kind." Pokey couldn't pull his horn straight out, but the strength in Snaggle's limbs were devoted to preventing that one motion. Pokey Swung his horn upwards; his own horn snapped off against Snaggle's steel armour. In pain, Snaggle released Pokey and the two settled on the canyon floor. Green slime was pouring from both changelings mouths when Snaggle spoke again.

"No horn? Now you're just a cripple, Might as well finish you before I go thrash that hussy.” Snaggle launched another bolt at the disorientated Pokey, sending him careening towards the center of the canyon floor. Pokey dragged himself along his back. Wasting no time, Snaggle flitted over and planted his hooves on Pokey's own. "How does some eye surgery sound?" Snaggle asked. Lowering his head. In that moment Pokey spat out, a gob of changeling spit landing in Snaggle's eye.

The momentary lapse in concentration was enough; Pokey worked out his back hooves and bucked Snaggle in the chest, sending the changeling into the air. Opening his wings Snaggle hovered in mid-air, smiling. "You've spent too much time as a pony. You forget that I can fly. But now, it's time to--"

What Snaggle had not noticed was his precarious proximity to the pit laden cliff face, and with that mistake he was snatched from mid-air by a Quaray Eel. Pokey didn't even get to hear Snaggle's screams of agony. He had lost a lot of blood from his severed horn. With a smile the Pokey Pierce passed out.

*****

Rarity burst through the door of the library, and skidded to a halt, knocking aside a tray of cupcakes. "Pokey! At the quarry! We were attacked! Help!" she screamed.

Twilight rose to her hooves and trotted to her friend's side. "Rarity? What happened? Who attacked you?"

"A changeling! We have to go!" Rarity turned and tried to run back out the door but was stopped by Twilight.

"Hang on, I can get us there faster." Twilight's horn began to glow. "Ready girls?" Nodding, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Sweetie Bell gathered around the two adult unicorns, with a flash, the group found themselves at the entrance to the quarry.

The group made their way into its depths as Twilight questioned Rarity. "Take us to where the changeling attacked, what can you tell us?"

"It had spikes on its shell, and it had metal armour too! A-and the eyes! Green! Here! It attacked us here!" Rarity gasped, pointing out a depression in the earth. Small flecks of blood had congealed on the ground, prompting Fluttershy to turn her gaze away.

Twilight called out, "Rainbow Dash, fly up and see if you can see any sign of Pokey or the changeling. Fluttershy, Applejack, Sweetie Belle, tend to Rarity, whatever that changeling did to her, those injuries look serious." Twilight turned to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, we'll search the rest of the quarry." Snapping off a salute, Pinkie obliged and began following the lavender mare, customary bounce absent in worry for her friend Rarity.

"I see something!" Rainbow Dash called out, darting down the canyon out of sight, her voice sounded in the distance. "Watch out for Quaray Eels!"

Twilight and Pinkie began their way down the cliff, the path spiralling to the left. At the bottom, Rainbow was beside a black mass surrounded by a pool of translucent, green tinted ooze. "I think this is the changeling," Rainbow called out to her purple and pink friends. "No armour though, what should we do?" Twilight walked up to the limp form, its sides were rising unsteadily, and a large scab was formed over its shorn-off horn.

Twilight spoke, "Let's bring it back to the others, we need to question it... provided it wakes up."

Obliging, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie began lifting the changeling up and the three mares began their ascent. In the distance the others could be seen. Rarity was on her side and Fluttershy had returned with leaves for a poultice. Applejack, by mere presence, was allowing her earth pony magic to aid in healing. Sweetie Belle was holding Rarity's head in her hooves, trying to provide some comfort. The changeling was set on the ground, the light thump of its body hitting the ground prompted the blood-spattered, white unicorn to look up, when her eyes met the onyx figure, her eyes narrowed in a rage and she tried to stand up.

"Woah girl, is alright, just sit down and let Fluttershy tend to yer--!" Applejack was cut off as Rarity pushed her aside. The white mare walked to Twilight and opened her mouth.

"Twilight, wake it up."

"I don't think that's the best idea. Whatever happened to Pokey it most likely knows where he is. If I force it awake it might not last long enough for us to get the information we need," The purple mare responded.

"Twilight, I am the Element of Generosity, please, give this to me once." Twilight gulped and tried to speak. "Now," Rarity concluded.

Sighing, Twilight lowered her horn to the changeling, releasing a spark of magic to resuscitate it. The changeling gasped out, and Pokey cried out "Ahhh! My horn! Wait, where am I?" The voice sent shivers down the mares' spines, the voice was Pokey's but without the disguise, there was a rasp.

Resolving herself to action Rarity spoke. "Where is Pokey, monster? What did you do to him?"

Pokey saw Rarity and sighed. "Rarity, thank Celestia you're sa--... Wait... monster?" Pokey cast a look at himself, his vision met with his body as it actually was, a charred obsidian husk. "No..." Pokey tried to gather his magic but all that came was a shock through his shattered horn. "GAH!" the changeling screamed. Pokey lowered his head. "Rarity, this is what I wanted to tell you, I'm a changeling, it's me--"

"Don't lie to me!" Rarity screamed. Casting off from her alabaster form was the black and red hues of anger and rage. The emotions entered into Pokey, draining his strength.

"Rarity... I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." Pokey said, desperately wishing that he could convince her.

"Stop it! I know you're not Pokey! Where is he? TELL ME!" the white mare screamed hysterically. A lash fury whipped at Pokey, his strength fading, the changeling slumped to the ground.

"NO! Get up!... Twilight... We have to search, look for..." Rarity began feeling faint herself, adrenaline finally leaving her body to recoup on its own, Pinkie caught Rarity and lowered her to the ground.

The others gathered around the two limp forms, what were the five Elements of Harmony, and the sister of the sixth, to do?