Spark Fire walked into the throne room, and the first thing he saw was a pair of glowing green eyes in the distance. He quickly saw who they belonged to: a changeling with an appearance somewhat similar to that of Princess Celestia, resembling the real Changeling Queen with some minor differences such as the mane's color and style. He was in front of the being that was once Dr. White Rose and now was the White Queen.

"Ah, welcome..." said the queen.

"The White Queen, or should I call you Dr. White Rose?" Spark Fire took advantage of the conversation to take a look around.

"No, that was my old, inferior self." The queen began walking towards him. "I am the White Queen, the ruler of the new, superior race of changelings. Did your friend not tell you that I control the changelings in this Hive now?"

"He did...before he killed himself to avoid being one of you!" Spark Fire shouted angrily.

"Such fury...I like that." The queen stopped in front of him. "Do not think you can fight me, guard. Even with that device you acquired, you stand no chance against the White Queen."

"I beg to differ." Spark Fire quickly used a teleportation spell to hide behind one of the cocoons in the room.

"You think you can run from me with simple unicorn magic?" she asked as she calmly began walking around the room. "I will find you, or you will come out of hiding yourself."

Spark Fire stood still and said nothing, trying his best to remain hidden.

"Do you still wish to go on with this, guard? If you do, there is only one of 2 ways this could end. I find you and then devour you, or you can survive...if you join us." The queen walked closer to where Spark Fire was hidden.

Spark Fire decided to try to attack her, and came out while at the same time casting a fire spell. The queen blocked it with her own magic, and not even the magic amplifier made the spell powerful enough to do any damage. In retaliation, the queen shot a bolt of magic at Spark Fire's C.S.D.. While it did not hurt him, it destroyed the transparent mask, stripping him of his advantage over changeling disguises. Before being the target of another spell, he teleported away to another hiding spot.

"Such a strong stallion...we do not need to fight, guard. Join me, and I can make you my King. Why serve a monarch when you can be a monarch yourself?" The queen's voice now had a seductive tone.

Spark Fire knew what she was trying, and tried to think of something fast before her voice could put him under the same hypnosis state the scientist he failed to save had experienced.

"We can both rule the new changelings together. You could look so much better than you do now. And I could be any mare you wish..." The queen's voice stopped at that moment.

"Whenever you wish..." said a very familiar voice. "Surely you must have felt attracted to your Princess at least once, am I right, Royal Guard?"

The voice was that of the princess, with a tone that would tempt any stallion. Spark Fire quickly looked over the cocoon he used to hide. He saw Princess Celestia walking calmly, though fortunately she was looking the other way. Spark Fire quickly looked away before he got any ideas. He was in fact somewhat attracted to the Princess, but nopony could blame him, after all Princess Celestia was truly beautiful. He shook his head, remembering his duty as a Royal Guard, and kept trying to think of something.

"Or...do you prefer a different princess? Perhaps..." The voice changed again. "...her sister?"

Spark Fire recognized that voice, it was Princess Luna's. He was tempted to look, but resisted the beautiful voice. He realized he was in a very bad situation. Since he had never fallen in love with any mare, his heart did not belong to anypony, and this meant that any mare he had ever felt attracted to could now be used by the queen to seduce him. Unfortunately, since he had spent most of the time observing ponies outside the palace, he had seen a lot of beautiful mares. This is what you get for trying to find a way to kill time during duty. IDIOT! he thought to himself. He heard the queen getting closer, and teleported away, continuing their game of cat and mouse while he kept trying to think of something.

The queen kept trying to seduce him, transforming into different mares, including Princess Cadence, the wife of the Captain of the Royal Guard and Fleur de Lis, the assistant of the most influential pony in Canterlot, to name a few. She seemed to enjoy this twisted game and made no effort to find him, believing he would not be able to resist for much longer. To her delight, Spark Fire came out of hiding after she had decided to repeat the transformation cycle starting with Princess Celestia.

"You...you win..." said Spark Fire, looking down. "I am yours, my queen..."

"Excellent...come here, my dear..." The queen stood where she was, not bothering to transform into another mare, as Spark Fire walked up to her. "Now, remove your helmet."

Spark Fire obeyed and took off his helmet, still not looking at her. The queen raised his chin up with her hoof and leaned in close, their lips inches away from touching. She closed her eyes as she decided to close the gap between them. He was now under her control.

Unfortunately for her, she did not notice that Spark Fire had not removed what remained of the C.S.D.: the magic amplifier, hidden by his hair. Spark Fire had tricked her into believing he gave up, and managed to create a burst of fire right between the moment the queen kissed him and the moment her magic had begun to take over his mind, and burned her horn. The queen broke the kiss and backed off in pain, reverting to her original form. This broke the control she had over him, and Spark Fire was glad to see that it worked so well.

"How dare you?! You fool...now you face the wrath of the White Queen!" The queen used her magic to attack him, but was quick to notice that the damage to her horn had weakened her power.

"We are equals now, 'your majesty'!" shouted Spark Fire as he attacked her.

The queen furiously attacked him while Spark Fire managed to avoid most of her attacks. Like Spark Fire had said, they were equals in terms of power now, neither of them being able to defeat the other with few attacks. Eventually, Spark Fire managed to focus most of what remained of his magic to create a powerful spell that was what earned him his cutie mark: a magic bomb. The magic bomb exploded between them with so much force that both of them were knocked back and the throne room became little more than dust and debris.

Spark Fire was the only one able to stand up, and though hurt by his own spell, managed to walk over to the queen. He was surprised by what he saw. The queen was no longer the big changeling, she was now smaller, about the size of a pony, and even more closely resembled one, though with the colors of a changeling and with some of their features. At first he thought it was another disguise, but was proven wrong quickly by the queen herself.

"Are you...happy now? Look at me...I am not a queen...I am not a changeling...I am not a pony...I am a monster..." the queen's voice was now that of Dr. White Rose's.

"No...you are not a monster, doctor...Test was...you were just his victim, like everypony else." Spark Fire sat in front of her.

"Yes...he was the monster, and then he made all of us twisted creatures..." White Rose began coughing as her mouth started to bleed.

"Doctor...I'm sorry..."

"No...this was our doing...we had to pay for it...I thank you...you..." White Rose found it difficult to talk now, and even more difficult to continue breathing.

Spark Fire placed his hoof on her mouth. "Spark Fire..."

"Spark Fire...I have one last thing to ask...before you go..." White Rose made an effort to talk. "The changelings will no longer listen to me once I'm gone. They will escape as soon as they have the chance...kill them all..."

"But how can I--"

"Use this..." White Rose lifted her heart necklace from her neck and placed it on the floor in front of Spark Fire. "Inside is a key to start the Apoptosis program...once activated, the Hive's reactor will overload and release an energy so great that it will incinerate every organic cell inside the Hive...this was my escape plan, but Test...ah, no need to keep talking about him...just...do it!" White Rose pointed at a door at the end of the room. "Your exit, and the computer to activate the program, is there....as well as my..."

"Doctor...?" Spark Fire knew what White Rose was going to say.

"Please...Spark Fire...in the name of my husband and the pony I used to be...save my daughter...she is not like us...her genes...the strand...can't mutate her completely...save her...she doesn't deserve to die here...please..." White Rose now hardly could breathe anymore.

"...I will...I promise...it is the duty of a Guard to protect the innocent..."

"Thank you...Spark...Fire..." White Rose stopped breathing almost instantly.

Spark Fire looked at her and closed her eyes. He then looked at the necklace and opened it, revealing a key and a picture of a family: White Rose, her husband, and their baby daughter. Keeping it close, he began to advance towards the door, knowing he had little time before the changelings realized their queen was gone.

Author's Note

And just one more chapter to go.