Reclamation

by plainoasis

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Adventure
Length: 6704

Events leading up to the changeling invasion.

(Set before the Canterlot Wedding) After a millennium of absence the changelings were sighted in Equestria once again, and when what appeared to be an simple investigation with his detective employer went awry, young unicorn Blaze was thrust into a series of events that might determine the fate of both Equestria and the changeling nation. He must work with the Equestrian Intelligence Service to unravel an evil scheme decades in the making, and help might come from the most unexpected source.

Contains: Violence, mild swearing and gore

A/N: In honor of The Sins of the Celestial Empire, the cancellation of which prompted me to write this story and continue Blaze's adventures.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-10-16 10:40:01 UTC

Chapter 1: Darkness Rising

Reclamation

Chapter 1

Darkness Rising

Blaze was getting a little unsettled.

They entered the Macintosh Mountains earlier today, the landscape had taken a drastic change from vast grassland of central Equestria to a never ending pattern of jagged ridges. Conifers greeted him whenever he looked out from the train windows and snow-capped peaks could be glanced when the shrouding clouds moved apart. They are on the southern edge of their majesties’ kingdom, a true no pony’s land. The only things hinting about civilization were the monotonous rambling of the train and the steady snoring of the earth pony stallion lying across from him.

The blue-furred pony, or “detective” Hose as the old stallion would prefer to be addressed, was a “prestigious member” of the Canterlot Detective Agency and, more importantly, Blaze’s current employer and benefactor. When Hose got a letter asking him to help look into some “unsettling disturbances” on a far away settlement, the detective decided he would bring Blaze along to get the young unicorn some first-hand experience.

Blaze was actually quite excited to get away from his daily chores when Hose broke the news to him, but right now, looking at the gloomy sky and the ever-presenting haze in the mountains, he was not so sure if coming along to this desolate place was a good idea, and he shuddered at the thought of what might have caused the “unsettling disturbances”.

The jarring noise of wheels chafing with rails brought him out of his trance, he looked out of the window to see small huts and a tiny platform sliding into view as the train pulled into the station.

"Sir, wake up, we are here." Blaze called to the sleeping stallion and gave him a slight poke with his hoof.

"Right, right. I noticed." Mumbled the detective as he got up and stretched, a little irritated from being roused. "Go get our bearings and let's be off."

Blaze lifted the saddle bags to his back with his magic and begun to follow the old pony down the aisle while carefully avoiding the porters as they unloaded the train’s cargo.

“Eh, detective, what do you think we will find here?”

“Problems, to be solved.”

=====================

Hope, as the settlement was called, was in fact nothing more than an encampment for the surveyors and railroad work ponies stationed here on Equestria-Griffin Kingdom borders, with sustenance arriving for the “residents” in forms of supply trains like the one Blaze and his employer rode on.

By what Blaze could gather from the detective’s talk with some of the workers, the entire settlement was on edge ever since one of the cartographers disappeared into the woods a few days back. The ponies organized a few searches, but never found a clue. Then rumors of malicious beasts and dark creatures lurking in the shadow of the woods begun to emerge, somepony even suggested the griffins foalnapped the pony and “did something horrible.” The ponies at Hope had sent for help and right now they made no attempt to hide their discontent when they learned the nature of their “help”.

By the time the detective finished his investigation, Celestia’s sun was already sinking behind the western ridges, and the duo found themselves sitting around a small bonfire chewing away their supper.

Blaze was distraught after the day’s interview. There were a myriad of accounts, some even contradicted with one another, but one thing was for sure: A pony had gone missing and strange creatures were present around the camp at night. For once, Blaze regretted having an imaginative mind, as it kept filling him with unsettling visions which required lots of effort to get rid of. He just couldn’t stop recalling the way those ponies talked about their "problem" and the distressed looks on their faces. Maybe this job with the detective was a little too much for him, he will seriously have to consider some less . . . venturesome” endeavors in his future.

"Hey kid, eat your fill, we’ve got work to do tonight!" The sound of his employer gave him a start, almost causing him to drop his bowl.

"Tonight?" He stared, incredulously, hadn't they talked to almost everyone at the settlement?

"Right, we go look for those creatures."

That was the craziest idea Blaze had ever heard about in his not-so-short lifetime. The detective must be really confident or he had completely lost his mind.

"But it's dark out there, what if we get lost, or they find us?"

The detective sighed at this.

"Very well, you stay here at the camp tonight."

"And you are not?"

"Does it matter?"

Blaze went silent at this. It shouldn't matter, but why couldn't he just say it? Maybe he needed the old pony for his life at Canterlot, yes, that must be it.

"Of course it does, I don't want lose my job and go back to living in the streets."  Somehow Blaze was not so sure of his reasoning when he uttered the words.

"Living just to see another day, eh?"

"Is there anything wrong with that? I’m just an ordinary unicorn."

"Nothing, absolutely nothing." Hose finished his meal with a smack of his lip. "Except nopony come to Canterlot just to 'live to see another day' ".

It was true, but Blaze would rather not bring up the reason behind his coming.

"I just came to make a good living in the capital okay?" He huffed.

"Then what do you think of the ponies here? This far away from civilization, working with acknowledgement from almost nopony? Do they want to make a good living?"

"I-," Blaze didn’t know what to say, up until now he had thought of the workers here as mere strangers for whom he would not want to risk his hide. He never thought of them as ponies with their own wills and desires. Why are they here? He can't come up with any explanation.

"Ah, don’t bother yourself with the thoughts kid," the detective said with a wave of his hoof. "You can stay at the camp if you want, I just hope from today on, the word ‘responsibility’ would mean something to you."

Blaze considered this “generous offer” for a moment. Then, hesitantly, he replied: "No, I’ll go with you."

"Seriously kid? It's all dark and dangerous in there."

"All the more reason to have me watch your sorry old back."

"That’s quite reassuring, I’m flattered."

=====================

They made their way into the coniferous forest after Luna’s moon reached culmination. The cool mountain breeze had driven away any lingering mists, and visibility was actually better now than in daytime. By the light of the full moon, Blaze could see the detective motioning for him to hurry over.

He quickly trotted over to where his employer was to find him sitting on his haunches over a dark patch on the ground. However, before he could get a good look the moonlight suddenly diminished and was soon completely blocked out by some thick cloud over head. The darkness was so deep he can’t even see his own hooves

“Aww come on!” Blaze can’t help but voice out his disappointment. “What is that?”

“A cold trail, light up that useless horn of yours and see for yourself.” Clearly the detective was also exasperated by the sudden loss of illumination.

“Useless huh. . . .” Thought Blaze as he channeled the light spell through his horn. Then, just as he finished the spell, something lunged out from the corner of his eye and barreled into his side, he only caught a glimpse of the glittering, ominous eyes of the black creature before sleek, hard shell collided with his body and his world went into a wild spin, his spell dying with it. He thought he heard Hose swore when the old pony bumped his head trying to follow the tumbling mess in total darkness. Blaze would have laughed if his muscles were not too preoccupied with freezing themselves.

They travelled a fair distance before hitting a trunk themselves, with Blaze taking the brunt of the collision. He blacked out for a moment until a sharp pain in his flank jarred him back into reality. He could see the black, equine creature standing over him, fangs shining under the moonlight. He wanted to scream, to cast some spell, but found himself able to do neither, his muscles seemed to have melted this time, and he can’t even feel his horn. His vision was blurred, and he could only watch as the creature grabbed onto his hindquarters and begun to drag him across the ground.

It was really curious, to be deprived of the right to panic and then forced to watch the events that could possibly lead to his death unfolding before his own eyes. He sincerely hoped Hose had not gotten knocked out cold by running into some trees, with him being his only hope.

As if on cue, a blue light shone through the trees and the steady thud of hooves on hard soil came from the distance, the creature hissed at the sudden appearance of light and hastened its pace, dragging Blaze unceremoniously along. Blaze’s hopes rose as the light shone brighter and the clopping of hooves went louder. Seeing as there would be no escape, the creature abruptly came to a halt, dumped Blaze behind a spruce and did something Blaze thought he would never see in real life.

A wave of green light washed over the creature, and when the menacing light died down, in the creature's place stood a white unicorn stallion, with dark mane and tail. It took a moment for Blaze to realize just how much the unicorn resembled himself. The thing looked about itself quickly and then walked out into the approaching light.

“Are- Are you all right, kid? Wh- Where’s that thing?” He could hear Hose skidding to a stop nearby, his breath ragged from the long distance gallop.

“What’s wrong with you?” A sigh could be heard when the creature gave no response. “Fine, we’ll head back to the settlement once I check out this trail, but don’t expect me to pay for your treatment if you ended up in an asylum.”

The light shifted, indicating Hose was moving closer, Blaze’s heart once again lit with hope.

“Hey, don’t hold me like that, I know you’re scared kid, but you are making us both easy targets.”

The light was just around the corner now.

*hiss*

And with that Hose was thrown on the ground in front of Blaze, the old pony's eyes widened when he saw a second Blaze sprawled in the dirt and the light on his . . . horn flickered ever so slightly. An instant later the imposter was on top of him, pinning him to the ground. It shed its disguise and bared its fangs, ready to sink them into the flesh of its helpless prey. For a moment Blaze thought his supposed savior was about to suffer the same fate as him, but then, with a roar Hose kicked the creature off him and rolled onto his hooves with uncanny agility, and just in time to dodge a green beam as it wheezed past his side. Blaze could see Hose charging up his own appeared-out-of-nowhere horn for retaliation, and the green beams fired at him looped around his body and shot back where they came from as if grabbed and thrown by an invisible hoof. A yelp came from the darkness and Blaze heard scurry as the creature made its retreat.

Hose stood his ground for a while, peering into the darkness. When he was sure the thing left for good, he extinguished his horn and trotted over to Blaze. In the dark Blaze could barely make out the detective’s silhouette as he lifted him to his back. The sudden motion brought about a wave of dizziness and unconsciousness overtook Blaze once again.

====================

Blaze woke to the rambling of the train.

Outside the windows were the same misty mountains and a gloomy sky, the only thing that had changed was the direction of the train. Blaze couldn’t fathom the reason for their returning before they even reached their destination. Then he suddenly recalled the day’s event, the investigation, the shape changing creature, unicorn Hose saving his life. It all felt like a dream, especially when he took in the fact that Hose was an earth pony.

Heaving a sigh of frustration, Blaze got up from his seat to glance around for the old pony’s whereabouts and found him entering the carriage, munching loudly on a hay sandwich, on his back was a plate full of said things plus a jar. He seemed a little surprised to find Blaze’s head poking out from behind the seats as his munching stopped for a beat or two.

“Well my, you are one tough unicorn kid, thought I would have to carry you all the way to hospital after we get back to Canterlot.” He said merrily while putting down the tray on the table.

“So it wasn’t a dream? That night?”

“No, I’m afraid not.”

“What about your horn?”

“You must be really stressed out to be imagining I had a horn.” said Hose as he lifted a hoof to give his head a few quick taps. “Nothing over here. Have a sandwich? It would ease your nerve.”

“No thanks.” Blaze pushed away his benefactor, now also his savior’s offering hoof. “What was that thing?”

“I cannot be sure, I have my own theory but that’s irrelevant right now. The problem is why it was there and what happened to the missing pony.”

“You don’t know?”

“No. I went after it once I got you back to the camp, and it just vanished without a trace, the trail I picked up before you were attacked was a dead end, the hoof prints also just disappeared, as if it flew away. I think it will be a few days before that thing grows bold enough to venture out again, and you, my helpful companion, could use some rest at home, seeing as you took one hack of a bite to your rump. So here we are, heading back before you know it.”

Blaze was not really in the mood for humor right now, he turned to look at his flank and spotted the two small dots where the creature must have bit him, the furs around the mark had taken on a slight sheen of black. So the creature was poisonous? Celestia knows what would have happened to him if not for the old pony.

“Eh, thank you then, I guess?”

“And I had to drag you hunk of a lump back to the camp all by myself, you gotta make up for that. “

“Yeah, and if you keep this up I won’t be able to repay you before you pass- , you know what I mean.”

“That I do kid, that I do.” A wry smile was on Hose’s lips as he muttered the words.

=============================

They cleared the mountainous region that evening, after one short stop at Appleloosa they would be heading straight back to Canterlot. Blaze was crouching on his seat looking at the faraway lights of Appleloosa, Hose told him he could have a week’s leave while he went to his fellow detectives at the CDA so Blaze decided to forget about that night’s event and make some plans about the his tour. In his brief time working with the detective he had never had a chance to go and see the city for himself. He would go see the princess raise the sun first, and then. . . .

A green light flashed on the window. Blaze rose up and saw Hose face to face with two cloaked figures, both unicorns judging by the glowing above their heads. Hose’s illusive horn lit with the same blue light as it did last night, while his opponents’ horns sported an eerie greenish aura.

The world became a standstill as the two parties faced each other, Blaze slumped back to crouching position, his muscles once again freezing. He held his breath, confusion and terror taking their reign. First that monster and then . . . this? No, it had to be a nightmare. “Close your eyes and take a deep breath, it’ll go away. “ He tried to calm himself but only succeeded in shuddering even more.

Without warning, the ponies exploded into action, Blaze forced his eyes shut and held down his ears. But the muffled sound of spells screaming through the air still registered to his ears, through his eyelids he could feel the dazzling lights produced by the spells. He heard the sound of hoofs clopping rapidly on the train floor, wood splintering, glass shattering and thuds as pony bodies contacted with various objects in the carriage. Moist summer air battered him through the broken windows, preventing him from sweating despite his frightened state. He smelt something burning, like hay bacons, albeit with a foul smell. An incessant knock on the door to their carriage joined the sound of fighting as the train staff tried vainly to get past the mysteriously locked door. None of the combatants uttered a word, not even a grunt escaped from their mouths, only the cacophony of destruction danced in the now hellish space that was their carriage. “Please go away, please go away, please go away!” Blaze’s mind screamed, he never truly know fear, not until now.

Then, as abrupt as it started, the sound of battle ceased to be. Only the steady knock of hooves on the carriage door remained. Blaze heard limped hoof steps, followed by a weak tug at his mane. He yelped and fell off his seat, landing head first onto the hard train floor.

“Hey, it’s o- okay now. They are gone.” Came the familiar voice of Blaze’s benefactor, its usual delightful tone replaced by grimness.

Carefully Blaze opened his eyes, and instantly regretted taking in the ghastly scene before him. Luna’s light shone in from a huge tear in the ceiling. Black scorch marks were everywhere, broken glass littered the floor, shining ominously from the moonlight. Most of seats and beds were shattered, with dark liquid splattered here and there. Amongst the debris crouched Hose, his body emanating a slight blue glimmer, shimmering mist of the same color seemed to be spiraling up from him, his blue coat was now completely dark, reminiscent of the creature that attacked Blaze the night before. Holes could be seen in his hooves, his horn clearly visible on his head, snapped in half with the remaining part tilted to the side at an awkward angle. Hose was panting, and the very action of breathing seemed to cost him dearly. His eyes, which had also taken on a blue hue, were fixed on Blaze, grief and pain overt in his expression.

“This is a dream.” Blaze muttered, his look distant.

“I’m afrai-” Hose tried to speak, but grimaced and flew into a fit of cough. Only after a few moment did he managed to gather himself.

“I’m sorry kid, but you’ll have to go back to Canterlot on your own, I- I know you’re scared, and wanted answers.”

He paused and grunted in pain, when he opened his mouth again his voice had taken on a very different, feminine quality.

“Take a couch from Appleloosa, head back to the capital and don’t draw attention.” His voice changing yet again, to an unnerving hiss. “Look for the head of the agency, tell them what happened, they will help you.” A fit of cough again, much severer than before.

“And once again . . . I’m sorry, Mr. Blaze.”

With that the old pony went limp. His body glowed brighter before taking on an ethereal quality, tendrils of cyan mist flowed out even more wildly. By the time the dazzling light died down, nothing remained where Blaze’s savior once crouched, only a small pool of shimmering liquid, which dissipated soon after.

Blaze just lay there, he did not know, and wanted not to know what happened. He did not notice the carriage door slamming down, the train staff rushing in and dragging him away from the closest thing to hell he had ever seen.

“It’s a dream. Tomorrow it’ll be okay.”

Chapter 2: A Queenly Finding

Reclamation

Chapter 2

A Queenly Finding

“Farewell my faithful subjects, and remember, wherever you are, the hive will always be with you.” With said words, the queen of the changelings lowered her lengthy, jagged horn to level with the little changelings standing nervously in front of her. Like every changeling before these three, the rite of passage consists of leaving the hive, blending into foreign civilization and gathering power for their siblings back at home. A lot of tradition and rituals were deemed “impractical” and were abolished after Chrysalis’ “accidental” ascension to the throne, and among the myriad new inventions of the queen, very few came with a ritual like the Pilgrimage did, much less involving the queen herself.

She watched her subjects became tiny dots in the sky, then turned from the cave entrance with a sigh. They were to return only after a full cycle of seasons, and she hated to send away the young ones on such fickle journeys, but power was everything in a changeling’s life, and they come in the strange form of “love” which the growing hive was forever finding itself in need of more. So every changeling had to do his part.

Chrysalis came eye to horn with one of her observer from the Griffin Kingdom. She rolled her eyes, of course she knew she meant it when she said the hive will always be with those outside the hive, but the appearance of an observer rarely herald good news. “What is it?” She asked, a little distraught from parting with the young ones just before.

“There was a rogue,” answered the observer in his dry, cracked voice, he paused for a moment, then lowered his head and braced himself. “and it may have entered Equestria.”

The drone was wise to have taken the necessary precautions, and was only knocked on his back by the queen’s outburst of energy.

“Then why are you here without it?!” Chrysalis was livid, she had just reluctantly sent away three of her children, and now? As if having a rogue wasn’t enough, the little critter dared to venture into Equestria, the forbidden ground declared by her herself?

No changeling disobeyed her.

“It, it attacked us and got away. We went after it but it slipped north to the borders. So I, I have come to inform your highness at once.” Fear was evident in his voice.

Assaulting her subjects? That’s just one more crime to be condemned. Chrysalis must see this “rogue” for herself, but first she would have to deal with the trembling figure before her lest he died from panic. She calmed down a little, regaining her posture, then lifted her observer to his hooves with magic. “Well then, it seems I shall have to deal with this myself, you are dismissed.”

The little changeling stared incredulously at her, still taking in what had happened, then just when understanding begun to sink in and he was about to mouth his infinite gratitude, Chrysalis added: “And we will discuss your incompetence later.”

The expression change on his little face was so dramatic that the queen had to stifle a chuckle.

==========

According to the observer, the rogue was last seen to the west of the changelings' domain in the Badlands. It came in undisguised, assaulted a group of gatherers in one griffin settlement and ran off north into the mountains on Equestrian-Griffin Kingdom border, a line no changeling was supposed to pass. Chrysalis never did found out the reason behind this, she had not ventured into Equestria herself and enforced the order only because it was the old queen's sole wish for her and her subjects. However, she was not troubled as much by the rogue's probable passing into Equestria as she was by its insubordination and the fact it attacked her subjects, for which she would chase the little traitor into Equestria even if it meant forsaking the old queen’s will, she was doing this for her race after all.

The queen and her personal guards landed on a gently sloped mountainside, a day's journey had taken them to the region where the rogue was supposed to be. The vegetation was heavy, but that was not a problem to the queen, as every single changeling was tied to her, and she did not need her eyes or ears to know their whereabouts when they are in her general vicinity. Concentrating her senses, she found that the traitor was currently . . . above them?

With a snarl a white, zebra-like creature leapt off the tree at them, abandon in its eyes. That was a changeling all right, but she was not familiar with the form it took. Her guards flinched a little, startled to see such a grotesque creature coming at them, but they quickly recovered and, horns aglow, erected a shimmering green force field around them and their queen. The creature bounced off the shield to slam into a huge spruce five meters away, sending a shower of needles and cones down on its head. The guards looked to Chrysalis for their next move, maintaining their stance and the shield.

“Your queen can handle this, stand down." She ordered them.

The guards obeyed her command without a word, they stood behind but never took their eyes off the creature as their monarch slowly cantered towards her assailant. It was still dazed from the impact and was fumbling about its head with holeless whooves. Chrysalis sauntered around it for a while before stopping by its side and pressing a hoof on the traitor's chest.

"What is your name, my beloved subject?" The queen asked with mock motherly love and caressed her hoof across the downed creature’s body. It gave no response, Chrysalis was starting to worry if the impact had cracked its skull, that would be no fun at all. With a sigh, she squeezed her hoof down, hard.

This jerked that thing out of its trance and it begun thrashing wildly about, losing its disguise in the process. It had every common trait of her changelings but one thing was amiss, its eyes, they lacked the spark of a sentient being. It looked as if it had its soul taken apart and reassembled in some peculiar way so that the creature felt like one of her subjects but was at the same time alien.

Limbs swaying about, the creature's horn also lit up and several feeble rays of green energy shot out. Chrysalis gave a yelp of surprise when one of the beams caught her mane, but was even more surprised to find it barely left a mark. Only now did the queen realize its thrashing was also powerless, it was weak, possibly the result of a week's absence of feeding. It matched the observer’s description of the rogue, but now it appeared to be more of a victim than an offender.

Suddenly the urge to make a horrific example of this poor thing didn’t seem so prominent, Chrysalis’ anger now finding a new focus. Whoever conducted this atrocity would pay, and they would pay dearly. . . .

“Take him back to the hive and have Moor look after him, tell her I’ll be back in a few days.” Chrysalis motioned to her guards. The hive could do a few days without its queen, and she was absolutely sure her chief advisor could take care of the well-being of her subjects. As for her, she had something to reckon with the monster that did this.

==========

The Equestrian side of the border was largely uncharted on the maps from other civilizations that her minions were able to gather, and it took the queen almost a whole day to find something resembling a settlement. Since the griffins had magical prowess the level of a changeling infant, the culprit who manipulated her subject’s soul must have resided in Equestria. It was a land of mystery in Chrysalis and her changelings’ eyes, but she would brave any danger if it meant justice for her children, just as she would to punish those who disobeyed her orders.

The settlement she found was shabby even by zebra standards, consisting of a few ramshackle huts around a small train platform. More of those zebra-like creatures were busy taking some boxes out from a train. If these creatures used trains as well as most civilizations the changelings encountered, they might share a common language, so this looked like a promising start.

Fluttering her wings harder, Chrysalis sped towards the settlement. One of those creatures saw her approaching, froze, and then let out an ear-slitting scream, an instant later the entire camp exploded into chaos. The creatures begun running about crying at the top of their lungs while bumping into each other now and then, their fear so thick that Chrysalis almost crashed into an invisible wall made of it. She can’t help but pity these poor frail things, with their soft furry bodies, no wings, no horns and no holes, no wonder they were so easily scared.

As the queen made her descend she noticed not all those creatures were screaming about, four of them were shouting for the others to keep calm and not panic. They had stubby horns on their heads, marking them as leaders of some sort. The horned creatures’ valiant efforts succeeded partly in easing their fellows, as most of the other creatures stopping running and went for cover behind a pile of boxes, from which heads of different colors poked out and eyes blinked here and there. It kind of reminded Chrysalis of her servants when they absent-mindedly spilt her favorite honey on the polished obsidian floor and caused her to slip on her rump in front of a not-so-small “audience”. She shook her head and a smile crept up to her face. Then a call from one of those horned creatures brought her back to reality.

“Hey you, can you understand me?”

Crude just like any other soft-hides. “Of course, and I’m fairly certain that I’m better-read than most of you peasants.” She took some time enjoying their shocked expressions before continuing. “And you will tell me what you are, and you shall address me as queen, queen Chrysalis of the changelings.”

At hearing this, the four’s eyes widened so much that they threatened to bulge out. For a moment they only stood and gaped, then the tallest of them with a broken horn recollected itself and with a false start, it said: “We humbly welcome your presence your majesty, I’m Shade of the Equestrian Intelligence Service, and these three are my colleagues, we are here to -” he suddenly paused, cast a glance around and then went on in a lower voice. “- investigate rumors of changeling presence around the area.”

Well that was suspicious, none of the other races knew of their existence before their first encounter, how could these. . . . What were they again?

“I’m asking what you are, not what you do.”

The supposed leader, obviously confused by the question, hesitantly answered: “We are eh . . . ponies?”

Ponies? A suitable name for such frail creatures.

“And you ponies know of us how?” She pressed, if this one was here to “investigate” the changelings, she might well be able to get some information on her query from it.

The head pony seemed strangely relieved by this question, it turned around and called out to its hiding comrades: “It’s all right everypony, we’ve got the situation under control, her majesty here means us no harm, you may return your work.” Chrysalis made a mental note to remind the insolent pony never to make promises on her behalf if it did that again later.

The coward ponies were clearly not reassured by this announcement, but the leader ignored this and with a wave to its three companions, turned back to the queen and said: “This really is not a place to talk, if you majesty would please follow me.” Chrysalis had never been one for etiquette, considering those “hindering”, but decided to humor this self-claimed pony-in-charge for the moment.

“Very well then, lead on.” She said with an indication of her head.

==========

They went into the woods around the camp and came to a halt at a clearing among the trees. Chrysalis wondered if these ponies’ have the same sense of “hospitality” as those of the zebras, be one with the nature or something of the sort, then the head pony, whose name only now registered to Chrysalis as Shade, produced a black orb out of somewhere and laid it on the ground at the center of the clearing.

“Please come closer your majesty, so I may teleport all of us at once.” Shade called.

Mass teleportation? Maybe these softies were not as weak as they appeared.

After Chrysalis strode to his side, shade lit up his horn, closed his eyes and concentrated. Glowing black veins crawled out from the orb to the perimeter as they merged to form a circle around the five, then a dome of darkness rose up from the lines to engulf them all, the darkness followed by a sensation of falling. It felt all too familiar, much like the changelings’ own tunneling spell. These ponies continue to amuse her.

The dark veil vanished some time later and Chrysalis had to squint from the sudden appearance of light. The first thing she noticed after her eyes adjusted was not the fact they were in some tower with strange contraptions and parchments lying about, nor was it four zebra-like creatures’ wobbling, it was the overwhelming smell of, of love and of power, if the spring of love that had sustained the changelings for almost a millennium would be compared to a stream, then this place was like an ocean, a truly endless source of power. She bolted for the window, ready to leap out into this sea of joy.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, you majesty.” came the annoyingly calm voice of the pony Shade.

Chrysalis cursed, how could she had completely forgotten the presence of these “lesser species”. She turned around to face the audacious pony.

“And why should I listen to you, pony?”

“Because this is the capital of my country, the seat of power of the tyrants who call themselves goddesses and who rule Equestria with iron hooves. And they don’t take kindly to outsiders.

“Is that a threat?” said Chrysalis as she scowled and defiantly charged up her horn.

“No, it was merely the situation my beloved country currently finds itself in.” The pony stated matter-of-factly and begun pacing around the tiny room while his three followers stood silently to the sides. “If my assumptions are correct, your highness went to Hope to look for one of your subjects?”

Chrysalis did not say a word, instead keeping her eyes fixed on the pony.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then. In fact, as I said earlier, we were looking for the changeling too, they would occasionally occur as a result of our princesses' hunger for power, and we would be there there to. . . deal with them, on the very tyrant's orders.”

“You are a terrible liar pony, you reek of fear.”

Shade sighed. “So it was true you changelings can read emotions of others. Then I guess there’s no use holding anything from your highness now.” He trotted to a window and put his front hooves on the windowsill. “I only ask that you hear my reasons before wiping my insubstantial existence off the face of the world.”

Not waiting for a response, he continued: “The changeling you were after was actually a pony, and he was . . . close to me. He volunteered in our experiment with the magic of love and suffered the consequences of our ignorance. We did everything we could to repair the damage but haven’t even managed to salvage a bit of his sanity.”

Chrysalis winced at the stench of sorrow. Sentimental ponies, just as she was beginning to respect them. Still it was a shame she wasted her affection on that thing which was not even from the Hive. This would have to be addressed later, but the pony didn’t have to know that.

“He escaped from us and was not heard for several months, and when we learnt of a changeling presence on the borders, we decided to investigate and if necessary . . . end his suffering.”

“And you brought me here so you may atone for your crimes?”

“No, what I did can never be forgiven. I just don’t want his sacrifice to be in vain. We have lost too many trying to master the magic of love.” Shade turned away from the window to face the changeling queen again. “The royal sisters, rulers of our country, forbid the study of the art, stating that it could ‘lead to catastrophic events’. Only recently did we discover the nature of such ‘event’: Them losing their power. From our research on the subject, love is an immensely powerful source for magic, much stronger than regular unicorn magic, so it must be the power of love from their countless subjects that sustained the immortal royal sisters and gave them power over all of us, and they forbid its study for fear of someone who’s also well versed in the magic of love threatening their rule. They withhold the knowledge of such a scale out of their selfish needs and are therefore not fit to be called our ruler. We’ve been trying to show the truth to the public and bring down their tyranny, but the number of their blind followers was simply too large, and they are reluctant in accepting the truth. So we need you, your highness, surely you and your changelings can help us put the sisters down to where they belong.”

The changelings were not well-received by other civilizations, and this pony, on his first meeting with the queen wanted her to help dethrone his own rulers?

“How much do you know of us to think we can help you?”

“You are beings of love, and the only ones capable of harnessing the magic of love to match up to the tyrants of our country.”

“Suppose we are, then why should we help you? We are not known for our generosity among other species you know.”

“Because if you do, we will gladly offer our love to you and your subjects.”

Chrysalis pretended to muse at this bold claim, as she knew all too well love can only be taken, not offered, but decided it would do no harm to humor his pathetic request, she could use him to learn more about the land and its denizens to make up her own plans.

“As much as I despise plotting behind your own monarch, I deem your cause to be just and therefore I, queen Chrysalis of the changelings, hereby declare alliance with the pony Shade. We will aid in his quest of liberation and he and the citizens of Equestria shall offer their love to us in return.” She finished with a toss of her disheveled blue mane and cast a leer at her beneficiary. “Well?”

To her surprise, the expression on Shade’s face was not one of astonishment and gratitude, and she suddenly couldn’t feel his emotion. The pony was clutching his head as if in great pain and incoherent whispers escaped his mouth now and then.

“What’s wrong with you?” She inquired, though not out of concern.

“I’ll never-“ Chrysalis thought she felt a burst of anger.

“Come again?”

“I’m, I’m fine your highness. Word, words can’t express my gratitude for you and your race.”

“Hmm. Yes, I think I can see that.”