Elsewhere

Ocellus bounced in place as the train chugged along the train tracks leading to the Crystal Empire. She glanced out the windows, her big, bright, compound eyes awash in awe and intrigue as the countryside passed them by at high speeds. Meanwhile, sitting beside her and noticeably less excited, was Pharynx. His forelegs were crossed and a slight frown was visible on his features as he tried, in vain, to ignore his hyper-excited sibling.

"Oh my Gosh, oh my Gosh, oh my Gosh! Can you believe it, Pharynx? We're going to the Crystal Empire! I've always wanted to go ever since it came back!" Ocellus gushed, planting her face against the window as yet another tree passed by.

"For the last time, Ocellus, we're undercover. Use codenames. I'm Bright Wind, and you're my little sister, Pepper. We need to stay in character. This is infiltration one o' one." Pharynx facehoofed,

Ocellus pried her face from the window and gaze Pharynx a deadpan stare, "It's not like we're even in the Crystal Empire yet. Besides, there's only like, twenty other ponies on this train and they aren't even in our cart." She rebutted.

Pharynx shook his head, "Listen, Ocellus. We have to be professional about this. I'm not having an argument. That's the bottom line. You wanted to come along, so now you need to act like a big grub and do what I tell you. Don't make me tell mom." He threatened.

Ocellus pouted and crossed her forelegs as she sat down on the bench beside him, "Ugh, fine. What if Twilight, Cadence and all their friends are completely fine, anyway? Can we have some fun then?" She asked.

Pharynx shook his head, "This isn't a vacation for pleasure. Changelings still haven't openly migrated to the Crystal Empire yet, so it would be noticeably odd if any of the crystal ponies were to see us. The whole point of this is that mom wants us to be as discreet as possible. Now, to that end, let's go over disguises." He ordered.

Ocellus groaned, "But we just did that! You're Bright Wind, and I'm Pepper. We're siblings. That's all anypony needs to know!" She shot back.

"Yes, but we still need to create the disguises. Come on. Show me what you've got." Pharynx coached, taking a slightly lighter approach.

Ocellus huffed before a flash of green fire engulfed her, replacing her with a similarly sized, petite earth pony mare. Her auburn mane was done up in a ponytail, while her actual tail was neatly brushed to look in a similar fashion. Her teal eyes gazed back at Pharynx with mild annoyance, that quickly turned to outright indignation as he shook his head.

"Oh come on! What's wrong with this one?" She exclaimed.

Pharynx simply pointed at the black stripes going up and down her body.

"What!? Part of the story is that our mom is a zebra! What's wrong with that?" She demanded.

Pharynx sighed, "Firstly, it's unique. The point is to not stand out. Giving yourself a backstory that not many ponies have heard and as such, would be interested by, is bad. Secondly, you've got the stripes all wrong anyway. They're supposed to go sideways on your forelegs and vertically on your croup." He explained.

Though she still felt the righteous indignation of her idea being shut down, Ocellus did blush slightly in embarrassment while she turned back to her normal form.

"Here, follow my lead." Pharynx instructed, a familiar green flame engulfing him as well.

When the fire dissipated, Pharynx was no longer a black changeling, but instead a white, burly stallion. his muscles bulged at every turn, clearly indicating that he was a regular at his local gym. His red mane and tail cascaded down his withers and onto the floor, giving him the appearance of a Casanova, if Ocellus ever saw one.

"Oh, so we're just making ourselves hot now, is that it?" Ocellus deadpanned.

"W-what?!" Pharynx sputtered, "No! Just pick something that looks related to this!" He argued, gesturing to himself.

"You didn't have to give yourself that many muscles. Looks like you're compensating." Ocellus teased, shrugging to herself.

Pharynx blushed, "I am not compensating! This is a perfectly reasonable form to take! Plenty of ponies frequent the gym! Besides, I'm a General! It makes sense for me to be this buff." He reasoned.

"I don't know, Pharynx. You're sounding awfully defensive to meeeeeeee." Ocellus sing-songed.

Pharynx grumbled to himself as Ocellus giggled and transformed yet again. This time, she reappeared as a svelte unicorn with amber bangs that hung just over her cerulean eyes. Her coat was a subdued shade of turquoise that looked quite good with her mane and tail.

"How's this?" She asked.

Phraynx nodded approvingly, "Better. Much better. Now, let's focus up. We're entering the empire now." He instructed.

Ocellus quickly darted to the window, her eyes practically bulging out of her head as she stared at the approaching empire. She let out a squeak of excitement as the tall spires and sparkling crystal buildings slowly came into view. Soon enough, the train horn sounded, making the pair of them wince as the brakes were applied and the wheels squeaked against the track.

"Thank you for riding the Crystal Express. We have arrived at our destination. The doors will open momentarily." The conductor announced.

Ocellus and Pharynx got to their hooves and headed for the exit. The hiss of air venting as the doors opened, filled their ears, making them both wince once more before they stepped onto the platform.

"Mare, ponies need to make quieter trains..." Ocellus mumbled, rubbing her ear.

Pharynx regarded her with a chuckle before a commotion caught his ear. He glanced over to the source, finding all the other passengers of the train being stopped at the edge of the platform, nearly two dozen crystal guards blocking their paths. The commotion quickly rose to shouting and angry protests, making his brow furrow in concern.

"Stay here. I'll be right back." Pharynx announced, heading toward the source of the discord.

As he got closer, Pharynx was able to make out the words of the many different ponies in the crowd.

"What do you mean we have to go through 'processing'?" A mare exclaimed.

"I didn't have to do all this last time I came up here!" A stallion protested.

"The Empire is still a part of Equestria! My sister lives here and she doesn't have a passport specific to the Empire!" Another mare exclaimed.

Pharynx's brow continued to furrow in further confusion as he reached the crowd. He looked over the many ponies present, his ears rotating toward what he could only assume was the leader of the Crytsal guards, based on his uniform.

"I'm afraid it's a new policy. We've been ordered to screen anypony entering the empire and put them through processing. There's been reports of a rogue faction of changelings in the area." The guard explained, monotonly.

Pharynx squinted in confusion at the explanation. Though, before he could ask any questions of his own, several guards began rounding up the ponies present in the group.

"Let's go. The sooner this process is finished, the sooner you can all view the Empire and see your families." The Guard Commander ordered.

While the ponies were certainly upset at the notion, they all complied and funneled into a single-file line toward the city ahead. Pharynx could just barely see a tent past all of the guards that it appeared the group was heading toward. Just as he turned to depart from the back of the pack, he was startled to find Ocellus standing right next to him.

"Ocel-Pepper!? What are you doing here? I told you to wait for me back there!" Pharynx whisper shouted.

"I wanted to hear what he was saying. It doesn't make any sense. There aren't any 'rogue' changelings. Mom would know if there was." Ocellus replied, confusion and concern written all over her face.

Pharynx sighed, "I know. There's also something wrong with the guards." He noted, glancing at the armored mares and stallions.

"There's no emotion coming from any of them at all." Ocellus deduced, observing the guards as well.

Pharynx nodded, "Something is wrong here. Come on." He ordered, nodding toward the opposite side of the platform.

Ocellus followed after him as the siblings made their way toward the back of the train. As they reached the last cart, they both ducked inside, disappearing into two flashes of green fire. Now turned into a wasp and fly respectively, Pharynx and Ocellus buzzed away from the train station and toward the crystal city before them. Though she tried to stay focused, Ocellus couldn't help but admire the architecture and beauty of the city before them. A strange sensation passed over both of them as they passed through the invisible barrier the Crystal Heart produced, and for some reason, the air suddenly turned a bit sour. Their heckles already risen, Pharynx and Ocellus pressed onwards.

After a few minutes of buzzing through the air above the city entrance, Pharynx pointed toward one of the alleyways between a few buildings with his tibiae. Ocellus did the fly approximation of a nod and followed his lead down until the two of the came to a hover in the dark alley. With two more plumes of green flames, they turned back into their pony disguises.

"Alright, stay close and act natural." Pharynx instructed, leading the way out of the alley.

Ocellus did as instructed, and together, they quickly found themselves on a busy Crystal capital city street. Hundreds of crystal ponies trotted about, the hustle and bustle of a busy town making the whole world move in a blur. Though the introduction into the city felt unusual and strange, Ocellus quickly found herself utterly bathed in the emotions flowing all over the city.

"Oh wow. This place is amazing." She gushed, just loud enough for Pharynx to hear as he walked alongside her.

"Something still feels... off." Pharynx muttered, glancing back and forth at the ponies all around them.

"What do you mean? Can't you taste the love in the air? It's everywhere. Maybe there really are rogue changelings that even mom doesn't know about and the Empire just stepped up its security to be safe?" Ocellus suggested.

Pharynx halted in place, making her do the same, much to her chagrin.

"Okay, first, no. Nothing like that gets past mom. Second, listen. Not with your stomach but with your ears." He ordered.

Ocellus frowned at his assumption at her lack of understanding of the equine body but did as told. She quickly realized something that made her frown in concern.

"Everypony is walking around but... nopony is... talking." She admitted, glancing back and forth.

The unspeaking masses indeed trotted past them and around them, their attention seemingly busied with whatever it was that they were doing. Ocellus found her gaze pulled to some of the vendors at the street corners, and though they were selling their wares or food, there was no exchange of dialogue between them and their customers. It was as if a scripted exchange occurred between them that they did off of instinct, rather than out of consciousness.

"Pharynx, I'm starting to get scared." Ocellus admitted.

"Bright. Remember, call me Bright. Look, let's get to the spire. Something is obviously going on here but we need to have more information. We can't go back to mom, Celestia, and Luna with just 'something is wrong up there' as our answer." Pharynx instructed.

Ocellus nervously gulped but nodded nonetheless. Together, they hurriedly made their way toward the tall spire sticking straight up into the sky in the center of the city. The travel was thankfully uneventful, though the eeriness of everypony around them walking about, completely absorbed in their daily tasks and ignoring everything else around them. Exchanges of goods and services happened wordlessly around them as the pair of disguised changelings arrived at the spire.

Immediatey, Pharynx saw no less than two hundred guards all in formation below the spire legs. Military drills and ceremony were progressing as if there were a parade scheduled to happen the following day. Knowing full well that there wasn't any holiday or special military occasion for months, Pharynx found himself even more on edge.

"This way-" Pharynx ordered, nodding toward a small shop with another alleyway beside it, "-we need to get to the balcony on that spire. I have a feeling the guards won't be letting us in."

Ocellus nodded and followed behind. As they had before, the pair turned into their fly and wasp forms, before quickly ascending the spire. As they landed on the balcony, they found nothing quite out of the ordinary, yet they remained alert all the same.

"Stay small. At least until we see what's going on here." Pharynx ordered, before buzzing ahead into the room.

The open balcony door was a welcome relief to find as they flew inside. The suite itself was the royal delegation suite used for ceremonial banner waving and mounting, which left the room itself relatively spartan. The usual crystal furnishings for tables or nightstands were present, and the floor was a nice polished crystal sheen that reflected the purple lights emanating from the ceiling.

Pharynx quickly led Ocellus to the closed door where they both landed at the base and squeezed under it. From their position on the floor, they were able to see two guards marching down an otherwise empty hallway that stretched to a staircase descending to the next level. Otherwise, the coast was clear.

"Looks like a change of plans. You got a good look at those guards, right?" Pharynx questioned.

Ocellus nodded.

"Good. We're taking them as disguises once they come back up." Pharynx replied.

"What?! Pharynx, we can't hurt them! Mom and all of the Princesses would be furious!" Ocellus exclaimed, quietly.

Pharynx nodded, "I know, that's why we're not going to get caught, okay?" He responded.

"B-but-"

"They can't report what they don't remember, Ocellus." Pharynx grinned.

With a nervous gulp, Ocellus nodded and waited. She didn't have to wait long, as the pair of guards quickly returned to conduct their rounds. Once they were close enough, Pharynx buzzed out from under the door and transformed into his normal form in a flash of green flames. Using his forward momentum, he kicked the first guard in the face, knocking him out instantly.

The second guard whirled around on him, but as he moved to attack, Ocellus transformed into a slingtail,. Her massive, rock-like tail whipped around so hard and fast that it took the guard clear off his hooves and slammed him into the wall, where he slumped to the ground. As she transformed back to her normal self, Pharynx trotted over to her side and tussled her mane.

"Not bad, but a bit overkill. I didn't even know you could turn into one of those." He praised.

Ocellus blushed and shyly rubbed her foreleg with her hoof, "I've uh... been practicing." She sheepishly replied.

Pharynx smiled, "Glad to hear it. Now come on, let's get these two into the room and change into their armor." He instructed, levitating the keychain off of one of the unconscious guards and unlocking the door.

Between the two of them, they made swift work of hiding and tying down the guards, before transforming into them and donning their armor. They both exited the room and locked the door behind them, before heading down the hall to the staircase they'd seen the guards travel down before.

As they made their way down the staircase, Ocellus wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't the long, lavishly furnished guest hall of the castle, absolutely filled with guards. There were so many royal guards, all of whom were chatting and talking amicably as if there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, aside from their armor, Ocellus would've assumed they were all there fora party in their honor. A feeling of dread welled up in her heart as the possibility that they were wrong and everything was as it should be, filled her mind.

Sensing the growing turmoil in his little sister's head, Pharynx bumped her with his wither, getting her to glance over to him.

"Relax. Easy does it. Let's just listen and see what's going on for a bit before we jump to conclusions." He instructed.

Ocellus nervously nodded as they walked into the hall, the chorus of voices and conversation reaching a near deafening volume in the hall.

"Guardsponies! The Princess will see you all now!" A voice suddenly announced over the racket, much to Pharynx and Ocellus's surprise.

The gaggle of guardsponies filling the hall quickly turned their attention to the pony who'd spoke out to them, nearly all of them falling in line to walk over through the doorway to the Thone room. As they were all funneled in, Pharynx and Ocellus found themselves caught between dozens of guards, the close contact and confined space making it that much more difficult to not get separated.

On the bright side, with speaking ponies to talk to, Pharynx saw an opportunity to get some quick information.

"Hey, you have any idea what's going on here? We were on patrol and just got grabbed and told we had to come down for something with the Princess." He asked, getting the attention of the guard just beside him.

"Your guess is as good as mine. All they said at first formation this morning was that Princess Cadence wanted to do something special for us after the close of the duty day. Captain Prancealot cut us early to see this, so you know it must be something important. I'm thinkin' we're gonna get a party. All of the elements of Hrmony bearers are here, so you just kno Pinkie is cooking something crazy up." The guard replied, no small trace of excitement in his voice.

Pharynx kept his skepticism to himself and allowed the guard bounce along in excitement. Being a changeling, it was fairly easy to detect his sister through her pheromones, though staying close was another issue entirely. Soon enough, however, the point was moot as they were all ushered into the throne room and walked up before the pink alicorn of Love, herself.

As Pharynx and Ocellus were corraled into a formation alongside all of the other crystal guards present, he found himself staring up at Cadence. While she appeared as regal and kind as ever, there was something... off about her gaze, as if the entire time she was sitting up there, she wasn't looking at all of the guards filing in, she was looking through them. He tried to sense her emotions and gather an idea of how she was feeling, but she was just a bit too far out of his reach. His jaw set in frustration, he glanced over to Ocellus, finding her already staring at him, expectantly.

"Let's get to the back." Pharynx ordered over the commotion around them.

Ocellus nodded, and through trying to force there way out was just as, if not even more difficult than getting in, they managed to scurry their way to the back of the room as the rest of the guards filled in their vacant spots and finished their formation.

"Atten-tion!" A voice suddenly boomed over the room, making all the guards snap to the position of attention.

Ocellus and Pharynx found themselves following suite, their eyes darting up to the throne as Cadence slowly got out of her throne to address the crowd. She walked slowly, until she arrived just a short few hooves away from the very front of the formation.

"Thank you, Captain. As you all know, you were invited here to the throne room today for a very special occasion. An occasion that was not made clear to you. However, it is now time to unveil the surprise. If you'll all keep your attention focused up here, my sister-in-law, and good friend, Princess Twilight, will show you what you're all here for." She announced, before stepping to the side and allowing the Princess of Friendship to step up onto the throne from behind.

Pharynx and Ocellus both frowned at the speech, and though the rank and file guards before them held their tongues, both changelings could feel a swirling vortex of confusion and slight unease radiating from them.

"Thank you, Cadence, and thank you all for arriving in such a timely manner. I am truly pleased to see you all, and can't wait to show you what I have prepared for you. Firstly, I'll need your full, undivided attention." Twilight began, gesturing to any guards who didn't happen to be staring straight at her.

"This feels... off. Somethings wrong here." Ocellus quietly whispered.

"I know. Just hold tight. If something happens, we have the door behind us. We have an escape route." Pharynx whispered back.

"Secondly, I'll need the doors closed. Unfortunately, any guards who haven't made it in yet will have to wait until the next display in another hour." Twilight continued.

Much to Ocellus and Pharynx's frustration, the heavy oak doors behind them quickly creaked to a close. They only barely saw a rainbow mane and stentson before the doors were shut. Just moments later, theyheard a board being placed in position to lock it from the other side.

Now with alarm bells ringing in his head, Pharynx, quickly glanced about the room for any alternative means of escape. Meanwhile, Ocellus struggled to look calm and collected as her hearts beat faster in her chest.

"I'm sure you're all wondering what the surprise is that has you all packed in here like sardines, but don't worry. Just a few more moments to prepare before the main event." Twilight explained, glancing over the crowd.

"Pharynx, I'm getting a really bad feeling about this right now." Ocellus quietly muttered.

"I know, I know. Just gimme a second to find an exit." Pharynx replied, just as quietly.

"This will just take a second." Twilight's voice spoke out once more, before she closed her eyes.

Her horn glowed to life, magenta magic lighting up the room for just a moment. However, almost as if there was static in the air, the magenta turned to black for a split second, then back to color, then back to black again. Pharynx squinted in confusion before the veil was lifted, and Twilight's magic turned obsidian. her eyes opened to reveal twin pools of green that completely blocked her irises. Purple smoke wafted from her eyes, until she tilted her head back and opened her mouth.

A torrent of black, purple fog poured from her maw, quickly filling the floor with black and darkness. Black, twisted crystals cracked the floor as the fog quickly filled in the entire throne room. The guards, who were no longer trying to maintain any professional bearing, panicked and whinnied in surprise as the front row was bathed in the black sludge. Pharynx and Ocellus watched in horror, as the ponies in front gasped and strained, but the mist found its way down their throats, through their nostrils, or through their ears. They coughed and convulsed as the magic flooding their bodies turned their coats a dull shade of gray, and a pale green glow replaced their eyes.

Pharynx and Ocellus turned and rushed to the throne room doors, along with nearly every other guard that wasn't choking on the black mist. They pounded against the door, but the large, firm oak held against them with ease. Even with the might of all the royal guards behind them, pushing and struggling as hard as they could, the doors held, and the black mist grew ever closer.

"We need to get out of here, now!" Pharynx barked, reaching out to Ocellus.

"How!?" Ocellus cried, not even trying to use her masculine, royal guard voice.

It was at that moment that they heard the maniacal laughter from across the room. While the rest of the guards fought and struggled around them, Pharynx and Ocellus slowly turned around, their eyes widening in shock as they saw him, standing beside Twilight with a green glow around his fearsome eyes. King Sombra. Mere seconds later, a wave of black surged toward them, blotting out even the sun.

Author's Note

Well things sure aren't looking up for our poor pair of changelings. I wonder what will happen to them?