Irradiance nervously waited the whole night for Leviathan to arrive, unable to sleep. After he’d nearly kissed the stallion, he wasn’t sure exactly what his plan was once they got out. Did he want to pursue more? Leviathan had betrayed him!

“Oh, Celestia,” He said aloud, unable to keep his frustration to himself. He did want more, didn’t he? After the gestures last night, the kindness the Changeling had shown, the emotion and the remorse he revealed to Irradiance, there wasn’t any mistaking that for a trick, was there? Irradiance huffed as he looked down to his feet, angered at his imprisonment and angrier at himself for ever believing there was a cure to be found for his horn and hooves.

Was looking for a cure worth it, still? He was more magical and was at the top of his class for a short period of time. Not to mention Leviathan had called his appearance enchanting. Irradiance felt his cheeks grow warm as he thought back to that confession.

“Hey,” there was a whisper outside of his cell and Irradiance gasped as he looked up and saw Leviathan’s red eyes gleaming in excitement. The purple stallion couldn’t help but smile back, eager to escape. “Are you ready?”

Irradiance groaned, looking down at his legs pointedly, “Yes.” With a blast of crimson magic, the substance sticking Irradiance to the floor was gone, and with another blast, so was the stuff around his horn, allowing him the ability to use his magic once more.

“We’re going to go toward the end of the hall here, okay?” Leviathan was whispering as he stepped slowly, looking back every few feet at Irradiance to make sure he was following close behind. The Unicorn marveled as he finally took in the sight around him (now that he could see more than the wall parallel to his cell, that is) and noticed how truly hive-like the hive was. He’d been around all sorts of wasp and bee hives, and this was quite similar; layered in structure, all these pockets in the walls for larvae and eggs, other pockets for food (jail cells). It would have been an incredible sight under different circumstances. “There’s a drop here, careful.”

“Ah!” Irradiance tripped forward as he underestimated the drop, falling into Leviathan’s rear. “Sorry,” Irradiance flushed. Leviathan laughed quietly.

“Just keep following me. It’s not far. Then it’ll be a long walk to the very bottom, where Abbadon should be waiting with the others.”

They stepped along the path in silence, looking out for any Changeling guards that might actively be patrolling. As Leviathan had said, though, none were around. Since Irradiance was practically the only pony kept on the top floor (no other ponies of his magic caliber had been captured), the guard activity was already low, but now it was actually at zero. Save for Leviathan, of course, but he was helping the prisoner break out rather than keeping him safely within the bars of his chamber.

“Okay, enter here, and walk in front of me so I can make sure no one follows us. It’s a straight path down to the bottom of the hive. You’ll see a faint glow once we reach the last level; that’ll be Abbadon.”

“Okay,” Irradiance shuffled forward, walking past Leviathan in the narrow entrance to the royal tunnels, stopping as he was face to face with the Changeling. He paused, looking in the prince’s red eyes before dropping his gaze to his muzzle, and then back up. “When we get out of here… um…”

“...yeah?” Leviathan breathed, gazing at Irradiance with stars in his eyes. The purple Unicorn swallowed, tearing his eyes away.

“Um, you should come stay with me. I mean, we’ve already gotten used to spending time together, right?” He lat out an awkward laugh, stepping further forward to lead the path down to the bottom of the hive. “I’m just saying I wouldn’t mind having you around, uh. More. Permanently.”

“Okay,” Leviathan just nodded, urging Irradiance forward down the tunnel.

Irradiance’s heart was pounding in his chest. Outwardly asking to move in with the Changeling Prince? Really? If they got out of here, technically Leviathan could still remain here in his home with the promise of being royalty! Did he really want to live with a silly pony instead?

Well, he did seem really remorseful of his actions, and even ashamed that his mother wanted to suck the magic out of Irradiance. Maybe he really didn’t want to stay here and moving out with everyone was the better option?

The walk was definitely long, Irradiance confirmed. Leviathan said it would be, but this was growing tiring. Yawning, Irradiance spoke up, still keeping his tone at a whisper, “I spy… something black.”

A laugh was heard from behind him, hooves still stepping rhythmically, “Is it the wall of the hive?”

“Bingo!” Irradiance cheered. “Okay, your turn!”

“Haha, alright. I spy something… purple.”

Purple? “Is it me?” Irradiance asked, confused at the obviousness of the clue.

“Nope. Close, though.” Close? What else was purple?

“My hooves?”

“Closer.”

“What?” Irradiance stopped, turning around to face Leviathan and his ridiculous clues. “Are you colorblind? What else is purple?”

Leviathan pointed with a hoof to Irradiance’s Cutie Mark, “The crystal on your Cutie Mark. Duh!”

Irradiance stared at the Changeling blankly, “Are you serious?”

“Hey! I’m walking behind you! What else am I supposed to be looking at?” Leviathan finished with a wink, laughing when he watched Irradiance flush bright red under the dim light of the tunnel.

“Whatever.”

The pair continued through the tunnel, slowly approaching a dim, crimson light in the distance, “Hey! Is that Abbadon?” Irradiance called over his shoulder, grinning when Leviathan nodded in confirmation.

“I’ll walk down to meet him!” Leviathan passed Irradiance in the narrow tunnel, brushing up against him and feeling warm fur against his cold body. The purple stallion shivered at the contact. “Abbadon!”

“Leviathan! I was nervous you weren’t going to make it down here!” Irradiance was looking at a Changeling, similar in color to Leviathan, but with solid red eyes and no hair atop his head, save for a small sliver that traveled up the back of his neck. Even his tail was shorter than Leviathan’s. Royal genetics, he supposed.

“There were no guards on the top floor, just like you said. Did you manage to bring the others with you?” Stepping closer, Irradiance saw familiar faces.

“Hibiscus, Cobalt!” Irradiance whispered excitedly, walking forward and greeting the pair with a nod rather than an embrace in the small cavern. A flash of yellow caught the Unicorn’s eye, “Marigold! Oh, thank Celestia you’re safe!”

The Earth Pony nodded, smiling widely, “I’m glad Abbadon here helped get me out! He said that, if we didn’t escape tonight, I was on the menu for this morning!” Hibiscus and Cobalt gasped at that, obviously unaware of the plans at hand due to their higher levels within the hive’s prison system.

“We don’t have time to chat. We need to leave now before Queen Lilith finds you all. This way!” Abbadon interrupted the reunion, gesturing all of the creatures to follow him deeper into the tunnels, likely to the outside of the hive.

Leviathan and Abbadon led the group further into the tunnels, which widened as they got closer to the mouth that led toward what Irradiance assumed was outside. He walked alongside the other three ponies, smiling nervously at them all as they remained quiet in the tunnel, nervous of any potential threats that may be lurking or overhearing their conversations. Something felt off about the overall mood within the caverns. Irradiance wasn’t sure if it was his paranoia or genuine suspicion, but he was feeling more anxious as the group continued onward, especially when Abbadon overtook Leviathan’s steps and led the group further.

“I thought you said only Changeling royalty knew the layout of these tunnels?” Irradiance whispered to Leviathan, speeding up a minute to talk to him, whispering against his ear (or as close as he could get; Leviathan was a bit taller than the other stallion). Leviathan just shook his head, clearly not worried.

“I showed Abbadon the passageway last night so he would know where to take the others after I got you. There’s no need to freak out.”

Irradiance huffed, unsatisfied with the answer, but deciding to shelve his worry nonetheless. The glow of Abbadon’s horn slowly dimmed as the rest of the cavern began to become brighter, signaling the end of the tunnel up ahead. A whiter, more natural light shone in, followed by a rush of fresh air. Irradiance inhaled deeply, thankful to be on his way out, wondering if his home would be the same as he’d left it just days ago.

“Okay!” Leviathan spoke up, tone no longer at a whisper, but not quite a normal volume. He was still wary of anyone finding out about the escape plan, Irradiance assumed. “I’ll be on the lookout for my mother, but it should be a straight shot right back to Everfree! If you keep following Abbadon, he’ll take you to the edge of the hive and I’ll catch up later.”

“You’re not coming with us?” Hibiscus probed, brows furrowed. Leviathan shook his head.

“If I want to make sure you guys get back safe, I can’t come with you. I need to cover and provide some sort of alibi once my mother starts accusing me of helping you all escape.”

“Should we come back for you?” Marigold spoke up this time, less connected to the group thanks to her late joining, but caring of the others regardless. They’d welcomed her in; she was bound to be appreciative. Once more, Leviathan shook his head.

“No, I’ll find you. Don’t turn around. I don’t want to cause you to get captured again.”

“Oh, darling,” A syrupy sweet voice came from behind the prince, causing all the ponies to freeze in place. Irradiance felt his heart rate pick up as he looked up to face the Changeling Queen: Lilith. “There’s no need to worry about capture. They never escaped!”

Leviathan turned around quickly, facing his mother with confusion and rage on his face, “What? How did you follow us?”

Lilith shook her head slowly, crimson hair swaying as she stared down with half-lidded eyes, a smile dancing on her lips, “Oh, there was no following necessary! Abbadon here simply told me where to wait!”

Irradiance watched as a similar sense of betrayal that he’d felt about Leviathan fell upon the prince, as he turned to face his closest friend. “...Abbadon, you didn’t.” The guard slowly nodded, a stern expression on his face.

“Your betrayal of the hive was to be expected. Queen Lilith said she’d allow me to take your place as heir as long as I helped her catch you.”

Leviathan scoffed angrily, turning back to face his mother, “You knew I was planning this the whole time?”

“Oh, my darling son! Of course not! Once you told Abbadon, then I knew what was going on. Did you think he’d become your friend out of choice all those years ago?” Leviathan’s face fell, ears pressed against his head in what Irradiance could only describe as shame, “He’s been my little spy for ages. I’ve been waiting here all night!”

Defeated, Leviathan turned back toward the group of ponies, all who were sporting similar expressions. All except Irradiance, however, who looked as though he were about to set fire to the Changeling Queen before him.

“Oh, pet!” Lilith purred, looking right at the purple stallion, his horn now glowing faintly with deep purple magic. “How sweet. You’re charging up just for me! I was growing peckish, you know.” The tall Changeling stepped forward, her own horn beginning to glow as it extended a red tendril, approaching the tip of Irradiance’s horn and encompassing his own magic. The stallion gasped, eyes widening as he felt what he could only describe as the loss of his magic.

“Irradiance! No!” Leviathan exclaimed, pressing himself between the stallion and his mother, separating them fast enough to break the magic connecting the pair, ending his mother’s attempt at draining the purple Unicorn of his magic. “Hands off of him!” The prince snarled, red eyes narrowed as he turned to face his mother. Irradiance felt weak, leaning heavily against the black stallion as he regained his composure. Lilith just laughed.

“You’re foolish if you think those ponies are anything more than food for us, dearest!” She took another step forward, her magic slowly dimming until she’d stopped using it altogether. “You really should try him, darling. This magic is like nothing I’ve ever had! Not even that tree!”

Irradiance felt his heart stutter, “The tree? The tree that did… this?” Lilith cackled.

“Of course! You had no idea what you were doing, did you?” She grinned as she explained the reasoning behind the pony’s curse, “That tree that you touched all those years ago, was our feeding ground. It was our life’s energy that you absorbed into your puny pony body,” She spat the final words, expression finally shifting from amusement to disgust, “Leaving my hive to go hungry and forcing us to once more feed off the creatures that roamed the land around us.”

“I was just a colt,” Irradiance explained, breathing heavily. “It’s not my fault that you couldn’t just find another tree.” Lilith scoffed, rolling her eyes at the idea.

“Oh, please! You ponies think everything’s about you, don’t you? Taking magic, taking food, taking land from other species! It’s disgusting how much you lack knowledge about those around you!”

“Just let us go!” Hibiscus shouted from behind the purple stallion, fear in her eyes as she confronted the queen. “We didn’t mean to do anything wrong!”

“Oh, please. Helping him look for a cure? How naive can you all be?” Lilith aimed her horn at the three ponies, zapping them with her magic and encasing the trio in a red crystal structure, freezing them all in their spots as though they were encased in amber.

“No!” Irradiance shouted, watching his friends become imprisoned once more, this time with no obvious way out.

“They were irritating me, anyway. But again, with the cure! Leviathan was smart in tricking you by claiming to have something you were desperate for, true, but have you never read up on Element Trees? Their magic is permanent! No artifact or spell could ever clear those crystals from your unworthy skull!” Lilith approached the stallion once more, lowering her head to be in line with Irradiance’s, snarling at him. “That means no matter how much I took, you’d never die. You’d suffer, I’m sure, all the color draining from your candy-colored coat…” She smiled at the thought. Irradiance felt sick.

“Keep me, then.”

“What?” Leviathan gasped, face frozen in terror as he looked at the stallion. Irradiance remained confident, staring directly at Lilith as her own expression morphed into one of interest.

“Let my friends go, but keep me here,” Irradiance raised an eyebrow, awaiting a response. “Okay?”

“Foolish pony,” Lilith hummed, nodding at Abbadon to unfreeze the ponies in their crystal prison. “Take them back to the forest. Make sure they stay out of the hive until we’ve secured this one.” A flash of red and the colorful trio were free once more, confused and muttering about what they had just been subjected to. Abbadon silenced them with a hiss, gesturing them to follow him.

“What about Irradiance?” Cobalt asked, turning toward the other stallion, who remained facing away, still glaring down Queen Lilith.

“Your silly guide has chosen to sacrifice himself for your benefit. Get going before I change my mind about agreeing to his terms,” The queen snapped, brandishing her fangs with her grossly long tongue as she sized up Irradiance. The purple stallion didn’t budge as he heard his friends calling for him, the cries to abandon this plan growing fainter as Abbadon led them back out to the forest.

Leviathan anxiously looked between the tunnel’s exit, Irradiance, and his mother, clearly unsure how he should be feeling. The majority of the group had gotten out, but Irradiance was sure to be stuck, now. “Irradiance–”

“Oh, silence, Leviathan!” Lilith shouted, her voice echoing throughout the dark tunnel. “You have gotten on my last nerve, changing your mind and helping these ponies? I thought I trained you better than that.”

“I learned to love, Mother!” Leviathan defended, red eyes narrowed as he faced his mother. “No thanks to you!”

“Oh, please! Changelings like us don’t need love, we need food! We need magic! And while you’ve failed miserably at bringing it to me and feasting on it eagerly, at least it’s here now,” Lilith stepped further toward Irradiance, illuminating her horn once more in preparation to likely suck more magic out of the stallion.

As he stood there, watching his attacker ready herself to likely cause great pain and suffering to his small frame, Irradiance felt a light go off over his head. Magic was infinite, wasn’t that what the queen said? That Irradiance had not only stolen their food source but had absorbed the entire reservoir of magic that the Element Tree had been holding within it. Considering his choices at the present moment, Irradiance steadied himself as he decided to put his plan into action, hoping it wouldn’t go awry. Illuminating his horn, Irradiance looked up at the queen and nodded solemnly. “Okay. Do as you wish.”

Author's Note

LOL cliffhanger!!!! the abbadon thing wrote itself tbh. literally. "don't tell anyone else" he says. that's THE most suspicious thing you could say!!!! betrayal fit so well after that. enjoy this :P