Martyr of the Hiveby TaranthChaptersPrologue: The TrialChapter 1: Imprisonment/EscapeChapter 2: History Lessons/Future PlansChapter 3: Betrayal/SalvationChapter 4: Alone/CommunityPrologue: The TrialSomething was wrong. So very, very wrong. But she didn't know what. She tried to focus on what it could be, but every time she struggled her thoughts slipped out from between her hooves as if coated in oil. She giggled slightly at the mental image, before realising she was distracting herself and trying to catch the wrongness again. It felt uncomfortable to even try to think about it, but that wasn't what was wrong. Maybe if she had a clue from outside. She opened her eyes and looked around, and found herself in the central hive cavern of the changeling race, and her train of thought was lost instantly. She had always thought the dark rainbow was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, and it was never more apparent than in this cavern. Rainbows were important, were powerful symbols to ponies as well, but they thought you needed to refine light to get a rainbow. Their rainbows were... too bright, too bold, too solid. They were a thing for the daylight, and at night they faded to invisibility. Here in the darkness however, the rainbow was such a subtle thing, the tiny fragments of light that existed in the cavern causing every surface to shine with an iridescent spray of colour that shifted with every tiny movement, with a single colour strongest in each area - here green, there blue, and then orange or yellow. Such a subtle effect it was that pony eyes could not see it - they were useless in the darkness required for the true effect, and if enough light was brought in for them to see, they would say that it was only black carapace making up the cavern, broken up by the colours of eyes... Chrysalis looked around the cavern dreamily. It was so hard to think for some reason, and she had been caught up in admiring the beauty of the hive, but she needed to focus. Something was wrong. Every changeling was staring at her, but that was not too unusual, being the centre of attention was something she was used to. But... How did she get here? Was she dreaming? And why was she in the centre of the hall, instead of there on her podium beside the others? Was that what was wrong? No. It wasn't right, but the wrongness was something deeper, much deeper than that. There was another important question in there, but it was like her mind was... fuzzy. She didn't like fuzzy, fuzzy was for ponies. She wanted sharp, clear, reflective, like the carapace of a changeling. Had she spent too long as a pony? She couldn't remember. Remembering was hard, too. Something was very, very wrong. The first thing was to take her place amongst the others, where she belonged. She raised her wings to flitte-- Her wings did not move. That was strange. Not what was wrong, but it needed investigation. She tried to turn, to see what wa-- She could not turn. Her legs would not move. Her whole body would not move. Only her head. She was trapped. Held down. Encased. That wasn't right, she wasn't supposed to be trapped. Bad. But still not what was wrong. A lesser being might have panicked at that point, but Chrysalis was made of sterner stuff than that. Next step, magic. ...She had no magic. None. Drained dry. Still it seemed hard to panic. The most she could seem to pull together was a sort of detached curiosity. Her mind was still... fuzzy. Her body was encased and immobile. Her magic was gone, and with it a lot of her perception. She had never been without magic like this since the day she hatched. It still wasn't the bad feeling she got, but it was getting close. But even without magic, she could contact her children for-- She could not sense any of them. None. Not one. Gone. Lost. Alone. There was the wrongness. And there was the panic. Like having her mind plunged into ice water, she struggled to determine how this could have happened. She couldn't be alone. She had hundreds of children. They were always with her, she could talk to them at any time. They were extensions of her. How could this have happened? Even now, with that devastating realisation, her mind was still fuzzy. Putting thoughts one in front of the other was unbelievably difficult. Was it because she was alone? She had never heard of a changeling princess without a brood before. Did they help her think? She desperately tried to remember the last thing before she had woken up here. Voices echoed through the cavern but she could not be distracted now. She needed all her focus to determine what had happened. She fought to cut through the pony-fuzzy blocking in her mind, looking for something, anything. All that came to mind was a flash, a blast of sensation that overloaded every sense she had, pain, loss, and then... fuzzy, fuzzy darkness. "Ah, if she is now awake..." the voice cut through her blurred thoughts with ease. Every changeling, from drone to princess, listened when the Queen spoke. Chrysalis looked up, seeing the Queen sit upon the highest throne. Her mane cascaded around her with a pure white that no other Changeling in the hall possessed, and similarly no single colour held precedence in the reflections off her carapace. Beneath her sat five lower podiums, with colour schemes more visible. Blue, orange, yellow and green were occupied; the fifth, teal, lay empty - its intended occupant was herself, and she was down here instead, because, because... "The Changeling Hive gathers today to witness the trial and sentencing of Princess Chrysalis, for the crime of bringing war with Equestria to our Hives, without the foreknowledge or consent of myself or your sisters." Her eyes bulged wide, and she screamed - but not a sound slipped from between her fangs. ~-~-~-~ It was only half an hour later that Chrysalis was left standing like a statue, still encased, in a room deep in the hive. She had never been to this section of the hive before, and had no idea where she was. But her thoughts were not on escape, but what had been said. "I would never have suspected this sort of action from you, Chrysalis, and I am truly disappointed." The trial had been short, clean, and direct, and she had spent most of it with her mind reeling and trying desperately to say something, anything. "Normally, we might congratulate such behaviour, as is it not the way of the Changelings to appear to be one thing, while truly being another?" But there was nothing to be done. Like so many other things, trials were something that Changelings had stolen from ponies and other societies, and they had no need for defence or speeches. Her voice had been sealed, so that she would not interrupt the queen's condemnation. "But it is also in our way to remain hidden, to be subtle, to be safe. Your reckless behaviour has destroyed your children and severely damaged the Hive in and of itself." The changelings had their own methods of getting information when they wanted it, and the word of the Queen was final. No jury, no lawyers, just statements and sentencing. "And beyond that, you have thrown us into a truly dangerous situation. You have tipped our hand and brought us to direct war with Equestria itself. Our children will be hunted high and low, and for every one that feeds, three will be forced to flee or perish - and that is before they bring an army to our hive itself!" And so all she could do was stand immobile and gape at the damning eyes of her Queen and fellow princesses, and a thousand more eyes set in shimmering carapaces of every colour but her own, as the sentence came crashing down. "As this independent streak seems to breed such problematic results, we will remove it. You will be stripped of your status and reduced to the least of the mindless drones. Rest assured that in the battles to come in the wars that you have sparked, you shall stand at the front of every charge, at the centre of every defence. Perhaps we shall find some use for you after all, if their guard recognise you and dedicate good troops to assaulting you without reasoning." To be reduced to a drone. To have her reasoning, her power, her status stripped away. The thought should have truly terrified her, but again, all she could manage was detachment. After all, what sort of Princess was she now? She had no power, no status... no children. All she had left to lose was her mind, and she wasn't sure she had that to lose either. Because what she had tried so hard to say, to scream from her heart... She hadn't done it. She had absolutely no idea what the Queen was talking about. Author's Note I'm totally not used to starting stories with something so short! Anyway, today's focus is changelings! Changelings get a lot of interesting attention here on fimfiction, although as far as I can see the biggest problem is finding a balance for them. A lot of stories I see have a habit of turning ponies into changelings almost by accident half the time, or at the very least making them unconscionably powerful. The drones are either powerful and intelligent with phermones, contagion, poison, mind or illusion magic (so why haven't they taken over the place already?) or borderline mindless minions (so can they do their job without screwing up and becoming common knowledge?). This is always a problem when dealing with mind control and illusion magic, it's quite difficult to find a balance between "No Effect" and "Unstoppable." The stories are still often fantastic and interesting in their own right, it's just hard to see how the bugs aren't controlling Equestria from the shadows yet. And then my mind took these ideas and the thought of "What possible benefit would Chrysalis gain from attacking Canterlot the way she did?", ran with them, and came up with a nasty story that wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down. No specific inspiration for this story, just a whole mess of different takes on Changelings. So here's a story about layers and lies and illusions and assumptions, and how you really shouldn't believe everything you hear from the mouth of a creature whose modus operandi is appearing to be other than what they are. Chrysalis's story starts almost directly after the end of Season 2; The events of Season 3 are fairly irrelevant as we won't be seeing much of the Mane 6 in this tale. Chapter 1: Imprisonment/EscapeMinutes turned to hours, turned to days, or so it felt like. Normally, even in the depths of the caverns she would know what the time was, for at least one of her children was sure to be outside, and it would take the work of a second to know what they knew. She almost had to thank the fuzziness that still held her mind in its grip. If she had been capable of thinking straight, fast, focused, she would have run out of things to consider and been driven mad by the loneliness. She'd never just... not had anyone to talk to. Sure, her children weren't exactly riveting conversationalists most of the time, but they were something, and if nothing else she could simply watch the world through their eyes. She could feel their devotion to her, know what they would do for her if they could - anything and everything - and they often would. She often gave them free rein simply so they could come up with their own simple gestures, small acts of kindness to surprise her with. She had loved it when they did that. It had a special taste all its own. Now they were all gone, forever. How could that have happened? War with Equestria? What had the ponies done that could have annihilated her entire brood? What had she done to cause them to do so? Why couldn't she remember anything at all? It was impossible. The last thing she remembered was being in her chambers - fuzzy, again, but there. Then, the flash. Then, the trial. She had no idea how long ago that memory had been. Sure, she had considered how she would go about... improving her lot in Equestria, but that was a daydream, certainly not something she had given serious thought to, never something she would actually attempt... right? What was the point? It was not as if her children could feed off a nation that knew of them, feared them, hated them. But if the Queen had said she had done it, and her sister Princess Vicissitudo had not spoken differently... then it had to be true. How could she deny it? Her sister and her hive literally fed on secrets! Had they consumed the knowledge from her mind? Could that be it? She had never truly come under their scrutiny before, for there had never been a need. Is this how it worked? They sought to know what she knew, so they took all the knowledge they sought, and left her with nothing? Was that why her mind was... damaged? How could it possibly be fair to condemn and punish her for a crime she had no memory of committing? Not even planning, not even contemplating! Because fairness had no room in the hive. The word of the Queen was law. She could barely remember what it was like to talk to another changeling... ~-~-~-~ One year later ~-~-~-~ "This way! Hurry!" "I'm... trying... please..." Spring Bounty panted and ran as fast as she could, the soft earth and thick vegetation making quick movement both tiring and dangerous for the earth pony. Her companion had it a little easier, her wings letting her skip the trip hazards and sinking earth a little, but even she had to dodge through the bushes. She couldn't fly high for the same reason Spring couldn't move twenty paces to the right and run on the road instead. The clack of hoof against cobblestone would spell their doom as fast as the sight of the pegasus's wings in the air. It was pure luck that both of them had greenish coats that blended into the undergrowth, but that wouldn't be enough to save them if they didn't hurry. Even the rush of air and plants past her ears couldn't drown out the ominous chitter and buzz of the swarm. She gave a breathless curse as her shoulder ran hard into a branch she hadn't seen, stumbling slightly but running on, trying her hardest to ignore the growing ache in her leg. She quietly cursed her family and her place in it - she might have grown up on a farm, but she wasn't a farmhand, she did the books and the sales! She wasn't built for this kind of physical activity! Then the guilt came crashing down a heartbeat later. Her sisters would probably be doing better than she was right now in her situation - but they were long gone by now, taken, transported who knows where. She imagined them locked in those foul green cocoons, barely conscious - an image all too easy to picture, as she had only just escaped such imprisonment herself. Their earlier brief run through a river still hadn't washed off the last of the slimy goop, but right now that was the last thing on her mind. Oh Celestia, my poor sisters... I'm so sorry! There's nothing I can do to help you now. Tears marred her vision for a crucial second. Her hoof hit a root she hadn't spotted, and that was all it took. At the speed she was running, it sent her tumbling head over hooves, flying through the grass into a thankfully soft landing in a bush. For a long moment she lay there stunned. She had to get up, she had to keep running, she knew it, but everything hurt so much and she couldn't breathe and all her hooves would do was kick weakly and she was done. A shadow dropped over her and she closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable as she felt it touch her. "Shhh! Quiet! Don't move!" A voice hissed. Her eyes snapped back open, showing her pegasus companion pressed over her, her wings wide and covering both of their heads. Their manes were the easiest thing to spot - her own was a daisy yellow, the other's a darker green - but with their tails buried deeper in the bush and their manes shielded by the wings, for the most part they were green on green in the bushes. She tried her best to control her wild breathing, staring out beside her saviour between gaps in the feathers and trees as black-plated figures buzzed their way through the trees slowly, and the clop of hooves could be heard from the nearby road. Any moment now she was sure they would be caught by the sound of her heartbeat echoing through the woods from her ears. It was impossible, there were too many... and... And then they were past. Eyes wide, she turned to look, trying to get a different viewpoint on their continuing searched, but the pegasus over her gave a hiss, holding her in place. Chastised, she froze once more, trying to calm further as the opportunity to rest finally let her breathe a little more normally. For long minutes they stayed in position, trying not to jump at every sound, staying still even once the changelings had left their sight. With the adrenaline fading slightly, she soon began to ache from the awkward position being forced on her, but still didn't dare so much as squirm. Finally there was a sudden concentrated buzz, and she looked up to see a swarm of black shapes moving together through the gaps in the canopy, heading back to where they had come from. It wasn't until the final buzzing faded away that the pegasus seemed to relax the deathgrip on her and pull off, helping her up as she did. "Well, that really wasn't fun." Her companion said with a slightly hysterical giggle. "I'm Papillon. What's your name?" Author's Note Originally the prologue chapter was just to the end of the trial and this one picked up with Chrysalis reminiscing in her prison chamber. The recut unfortunately makes this chapter much shorter than it should be, but the wham line at the end of the prologue is worth it. =D Next chapter is much longer, I promise! Chapter 2: History Lessons/Future PlansShe was starving and wild by the time she heard hooves tapping against the hive's floor towards her. At first she thought she might be hallucinating, lost in some memory, but soon she realised it was real. Her ears perked up. Sure, there was every possibility that it would be her death - or at the very least the death of her personality - but it was another changeling to talk to. It wasn't until the other was almost in the room themselves that she actually considered that she might be able to convince them she was innocent. She had been just thrilled at the idea of speaking to another living creature. The changeling who came in was instantly recognisable. Deep green mane and wings, slightly taller than herself. One of her sisters, a changeling princess like herself. "Good evening, Chrysalis." "Mutare! You... you're here to..." "Indeed I am, Chrysalis. What you have done is an incredible betrayal. You know I cannot let it pass. As my Element demands, and as the leader of the warriors who will be fighting due to your actions, I will be carrying out your sentence. This will be your last night as Princess." Her words and tone were strangely neutral - there was no condemnation, no anger, as the Queen had held. "Please, you have to listen to me!" "...Of course I will listen to you, sister. I would not let your final thoughts go unheard." Mutare leant forward gently, tapping her horn against the casing that imprisoned Chrysalis, and with a pulse of magic shattered it, except for the bindings around her back hooves. Being able to move again for the first time in her memory since waking up was wonderful, but far more than that was rush of power that came with the tiny act of kindness - not nearly enough to even levitate a pebble, but to her starving form it was ambrosia. She paused just to take it in, shivering with delight. "...If you have something to say?" "Mutare, sister, I didn't do it!" She blurted out desperately. She wished she had thought of better arguments in her time down here, but right then it was all she could consider. The green-winged princess eyed her up and down. "You... didn't do it? You are trying to tell me that you didn't lead your brood on Canterlot and attack it directly?" "I didn't! I swear! I don't remember doing anything of the sort! I wouldn't dream of it!" "So you're calling the Queen a liar?" "I... no!" She balked at the thought. "I-I don't think so. She wouldn't. But I didn't do it!" "I would think that our Honest sister would have something to say about that, too." "I don't care what she says! I didn't do anything! I don't even really know what I'm supposed to have done! The first thing I remember is waking up in the great hall and getting told I'm responsible for war with Equestria!" "You don't know what you have done?" Her sister smirked slightly, the first expression she had shown. "Well, that's no good. Would you like me to give you the full rundown? Help you jog your memory?" Stunned and confused, Chrysalis could do nothing but nod like a drone. "Let's see. Your whole brood was mobilised, into an enormous flying army, and brought to Canterlot. The royalty somehow got wind of this, and before too many could get in, an enormous shield was erected around the whole city, permitting only passage to those with definite reason. The whole city was on high alert. Several drones from every hive were lost in the confusion. "But it was too late, for you were already within the castle - and impersonating none other than Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, right under the nose of Celestia herself, feasting on her poor fiance... as you came closer to the great royal wedding. He was responsible for maintaining the shield - ponies and their special talents, you know how it is. So once he was in your hooves, the shield could be dropped at any time. "Of course, somebody clicked to the princess acting unusually, and your cover was blown, in the middle of the wedding, standing not ten feet from the great pony sun goddess. In quick succession, the shield was shattered, the guards overwhelmed thanks to conflicting orders and confusion you had spread, and Canterlot overrun with changelings. Oh, and you managed to wound and capture Celestia in the process." "I... wounded Princess Celestia?" Chrysalis gaped. It was far worse than she had thought. To have replaced one princess and wounded another, and done so much to insult Canterlot and its rulers... there would indeed be war from this. No princess could let such an affront go unanswered - let alone a goddess. "I will admit, that bit was impressive. Idiotic, but impressive." "But how? I've never had such power! I don't think even the Queen could--" "You said that you had fed on your fiance's love for you and it had made you so strong!" Mutare gave a mocking emphasis and a slight pose to emphasise the words, before turning back to roll her eyes at her prisoner. "What?!" "I know, right? The ponies still believe those old tales. Feeding on Love... well, I suppose it's close enough for some of us." Mutare smirked. "There is Kindness enough in Love, and Loyalty too. The others are... more of a side-effect." "I could never have gotten that sort of power from one pony, Love or Kindness or, or whatever! You're lying to me!" "Oh, and what else was it you said? Oh! That's right, you proclaimed yourself Queen of the Changelings as well. Said it was y--" "That is ridiculous! I would never insult Mother like that!" "Oh yes, she was rather hurt when she heard that bit, indeed." "I don't know what's going on!" Chrysalis cowered down, her pose awkward with her hind legs still locked in place. "I swear... I never did any of those things! I never would!" "It's far too late to argue the sentence now, sister." Mutare shook her head. "I have to begin the process. But... it will take several days - If you are so determined that you have done no wrong, I will investigate while you are processed. It is the least I can do." "Oh thank you!" Chrysalis smiled - the first piece of good news she had heard since she had awoken. She would have hugged Mutare if she wasn't locked down, and settled for gushing instead. "You have to believe me, I haven't done anything wrong, I would never!" "Shush now, Chrysalis. I'm sorry about this, but if you haven't done anything wrong, there won't be any permanent effects." Mutare's horn lit up with a deep green aura as she stepped once again towards Chrysalis. Instinctively the trapped princess tried to back away, but there was nothing she could do, still locked fast by her back hooves. Giving in to the inevitable, she sighed, letting her sister touch the her horn to her skull, and feeling the fuzziness overtake her as her mind and body was prepared for transformation to a drone. It was horrifying, but she held strong to the thought that Mutare would investigate the strange circumstances surrounding her arrest. If she had not been so desperately relieved, so starved and exhausted as she fell into unconsciousness, she might have noticed that despite Mutare's offer to investigate and protect her at no direct benefit to herself, she had not tasted a drop of kindness in her sister's actions. ~-~-~-~ With the immediate threat of being hunted no longer looming over their heads, Spring and Papillon set a far more reasonable pace, but they still didn't dare use the road itself. The two of them had exchanged stories, as much to pass the time and take their mind off things as anything else. Spring spoke of her family and her farm, and the ponies of her village, but often she found herself trailing off midway through a story. It seemed to have a strange detachment to her now. It was all gone, wasn't it? The farm and the family, the market and the village. She didn't even recognise the roads they currently walked, having no idea where she was in relation to her village, or anything else. Thankfully, her companion seemed to have far more of a clue, and more of a plan. Papillon had fewer stories to tell. Her cutie mark was a spread-winged butterfly, as if it had just come down and landed on her flank, the marks on its wings looking like bright eyes staring out from either side - far more natural-looking than the overflowing cornucopia on Spring's own sides. She explained that her talent lay in insect breeding and care, which meant she had lived away from her own village proper, off in the nearby swamp, since most ponies didn't care for swarms of bugs hanging around in the village. That statement killed the conversation rather thoroughly for a little while. Once the silence had pressed on too long, she explained that her bugs had fled when the changelings approached, so she had a bit of warning. She'd gone to warn the town that something was happening, but by the time she'd gotten close, the swarm was already descending. She'd managed to escape with her wings and advanced warning, and had lived on the run ever since. It was a little depressing, but at least there was some hope - and now she had a friend to share that hope with. For a while after that, they were quiet. They were probably the only two free ponies for miles around. "...Thank you." Spring said suddenly, breaking the silence after a long time with only hoofsteps and wingbeats and the sounds of wildlife around them. "What?" Papillon turned, tilting her head. "You saved me. You could have gotten away by yourself, but you saved me, not only from the cocoon, but when we were being hunted after too." "I... I couldn't have left somepony behind if we could have gotten away." The pegasus looked almost affronted. "I... you're the first pony I've managed to get free. After all the trouble I went to getting you out, I'm not going to leave you alone. And with two of us, we've got a better chance of staying safe, maybe even helping out some other ponies." "You think so?" "Absolutely. So don't worry about that - I'm not gonna fly off on you, if you won't run out on me." Spring smiled - after everything this mare had done for her, she knew she'd never leave her alone. "Still. Thanks. But what do we do now?" "We need to get to Canterlot. We'll be safe there - the Princesses can help us." "Canterlot? That's hundreds of miles away! Papillon, I know going to the capital will mean we'll be at our safest, but that's a hell of a walk!" "We have to get to the princesses. They'll know what to do." Papillon stated with absolute conviction. "I need to get to Canterlot." "...Wouldn't it be easier to just get to the nearest city and let the authorities take it from there?" Papillon eyed her strangely. "You... you got captured some time ago, didn't you?" "I don't know! I've been trapped in a cocoon!" Spring's eyes bulged, a slight panic gripping her. "Why? What date is it? How long? Why?" "Spring... I'm sorry to tell you... but... follow me." Papillon led her back towards the road a little way, glancing back and forth along it for any sign of passers-by, pony or changeling in appearance. Finally she moved along it until she found a sufficiently tall tree, turning to her companion. "Come on. Climb up here." "What? I'm not good at--" "I'll help. Please." Disturbed by the fierceness of her companion's expression, Spring nodded slowly and began to try and scale the tree, supported by the wings and hooves of her companion as she did. Soon she found herself high above the ground, too high for any earth pony to be comfortable, but suspected on a long branch with a view of the world around her, precariously balanced with Papillon's assistance. And following the pegasus' hoof, she observed a city in the distance, a skyline of towering buildings and construction that could only be Manehatten. She'd never been there before herself, but she recognised it from images and books. She smiled - it wasn't so far away. They could probably get there in a day or so at the rate they were going, she thought. Then she looked closer, and realised what Papillon was trying to show her. The towering buildings had been damaged in places, crumbling down from their expected rectangular symmetry. And in amongst them were spires that had never graced any postcard, towering cones of shiny black reflecting in the sun that spiked here and there, surrounded by flying black dots in the distance. Even though it was far too far away to make out any detail, she could tell that they weren't pegasi. Papillon nodded as her face went pale, realising the implications of what she saw. "We have to go to Canterlot, Spring. There's nowhere else left." Author's Note Have an exposition! Nothing makes chapters longer like exposition! Also, I'd like to thank Kathangaroo for their assistance in checking and editing this. My very first editor, so awesome are they. ^_^ Chapter 3: Betrayal/SalvationIt was more than her mind that felt fuzzy, now. Her armour had softened while she slept, her body felt strangely numb. Staying awake was difficult. She knew that this wasn't the change proper, just preparing her for it - after all, she was a princess, and her body was a far more grand and complicated thing than the average drone. Undoing all that good work took time and effort. And she knew that the starvation was a solid part of that, too. If she had any magical energy, it would be focused on healing herself, preventing these changes. But without anything, all she could do was try to ignore the horrible combination of gnawing pain and numbness. Unfortunately, the best and only real thing she had to distract herself with was the situation she had been put into, and the more she thought about it, the more she began to realise that, given the evidence, she had probably done everything they said. She couldn't remember any of it, but how could she deny it? Her hive was dead, that was unquestionable, gone to the last changeling. The princess of Honesty had not spoken in her defence, and the Queen believed it unquestionably. The only thing that made sense was that her mind had been tampered with afterwards, either as a side-effect of the pony magic or whatever Vicissitudo had done. And if she had led her entire hive to its doom, and brought war to the others, then it was probably a mercy to not remember it, or anything else. Guilt and despair blended nicely with the hunger and the numbness, and she fluctuated gently between them on the edge of unconsciousness, not even noticing the tap of hooves approaching her room. It wasn't until a hole-filled leg fell right in front of her nose that she jumped, scrambling feebly back to her hooves. "How are you feeling, Chrysalis?" Mutare asked her. She managed to gather the mental wherewithal for a flat stare. Her sister laughed, though not cruelly. "I suppose that's unavoidable. I don't suppose you've remembered anything?" She sighed, hanging her head. "I... I don't remember anything, but... I have to have done it. It's the only thing that makes sense... I just wish I knew why I would do such a thing..." She fell back down prone, clutching her throbbing head with her hooves. "It doesn't make a lot of sense." Mused her captor. "Chrysalis, the princess of Kindness. You've always been content in the shadows. Quiet little Chrysalis, keeping her brood alive on scraps, begging and pleading. While my brood takes figures of authority or loved ones for Loyalty, and the others play counsellors for Honest secrets or artists for Generous donations, you and your brood play the lost, the homeless, the sick, the needy, waiting for the charity and Kindness of the ponies around them. It's not exactly a life of pride, but you and your brood seemed happy enough on the surface... but I suppose it's not too hard to imagine you just... snapping one day, though, is it?" "W-what?" Chrysalis was taken aback by the sudden contempt in her sister's voice. For some reason, she suddenly wasn't sure anymore of what had happened at all. Mutare smiled a fang-filled smile, pacing around her sister's immobilised form. "And your poor little children... oh, they love you so, and they would follow you to the ends of the earth. They have to beg and plead for every scrap of kindness a pony might show them, and they might hunger for more and more... but they love you, oh how they love you. Oh, so loyal. So when you suggested there was a way they might feed more, and make you happy... Oh, they are so very, very loyal. " She walked around behind the partially immobilised Chrysalis, who swung around, eyes widening as the pieces came together in her mind. By the time she had turned, it was no longer her sister's face she looked into - but her own. Her indignation blew straight over the top of the fuzziness in her mind, as she began to realise just what had happened. "You... How dare you?!" Her reflection laughed merrily in her own voice, revelling in her outrage. "Isn't it hilarious, Chrysalis? We are a species that by definition pretends to be other beings to steal what they have - and not once has anyone suspected that it might not be you who led that charge." "But it's impossible! Wouldn't the Queen have noticed you missing? And - and Vicissitudo! You couldn't possibly keep a secret like that from her!" "Oh yes, Vicissitudo... our lovely sister of Honesty." The false Chrysalis made a show of rubbing a chin with one hole-ridden hoof. "How can one hide something so enormous from somepony who can literally sniff out and consume secrets? Unless, of course, she had some reason to be less than forthcoming on the matter..." "She's in on it too?" "Well, yes and no. Why don't you ask her yourself? She's right behind you." A flash of green light, and the seals on her hind hooves shattered. She spun around, expecting the other princess to have teleported in... And realised that behind her stood a cocoon, almost entirely hidden by rock that had grown over it. And a princess-sized, deep blue-maned figure could be seen floating asleep inside it. "...What... what have you done?" Chrysalis backed away from the cocoon in horror, before realising where that was taking her, spinning around and retreating from her other sister in turn. "This hive is being wasted, Chrysalis. Don't you see that? Your petty little brood and their dependence on the Kindness of ponies... our sisters and their need for Laughter and Generosity... it's all just... small change." "So you started a war? You're killing off your own sisters? Aren't you supposed to represent the Loyalty of the hive?" "I feed on Loyalty - that doesn't mean I have to have any of it myself." She smirked. "Don't you understand? If it comes to war, then we will need to grow our armies. Who leads the armies?" "A play for power in the hive? That's what this insanity is for?" "Indeed! Our brood will grow, and they will be loyal to me. Beautiful, delicious loyalty, from every last one of them. It will be wonderful." "You won't get away with this, Mutare. The Queen will find out. You can't just... knock off your sisters like that! How did you replace us? You couldn't possibly think a drone would do enough!" Her reflection tutted slightly. "Now, now, Chrysalis! You can't expect me to give up all of our secrets, can you?" She grinned widely. "Now, I'm afraid you've got a date with dronehood, while I use the magic you've given me to kill the rest of our sisters and bring war to the ponies." Chrysalis snapped. Without a thought of anything but vengeance she dove at the traitor princess with an anguished cry on her lips and her sharp horn striking at neck height. She never even got close. Green magic flashed out at her in a bolt that spun her around, adding new pain to that already consuming her body, stunning her for the crucial minute Mutare needed, effortlessly levitating Crysalis towards a second cocoon which was in the process of emerging from the chamber wall. With what seemed like gentlest care, she split open the green membrane and tucked her prisoner into it, sealing it behind her as she began to recover from the stunning blast. "I know it won't mean much to you soon enough, sister, but it's the least I can do to ensure you don't go to your doom thinking you were responsible for their deaths. There's nothing you ever could have done." Her voice echoed through the slime within the cocoon, but all Chrysalis could do was glare. Mutare smiled, taking her own form again in a flash of green, and walked away. Already she could feel the cocoon working on her, reshaping her form and seeping into her mind. Chrysalis seethed while she still had the chance to. What kind of monstrous creature had her sister become? But part of her was yet relieved to hear that she had not been responsible for her swarm's death. She could face her fate a little easier, knowing that, even if it meant she was innocent - a miniscule kindness just before her demise... ...Her eyes shot open as she delved into herself, fighting off the cocoon's numbing grip on body and mind. A miniscule kindness is still a kindness, even if granted in spite, and Kindness was power. She hadn't even felt it trickle in, as her body had directed the power straight to trying to heal her disintegrating form. She fought her own instincts to pull what remained of the power away from that task, holding it tight within her with rapidly fading attention. But then, what could she do with it? It was enough to let her escape the cocoon, certainly - but little beyond that, and she would barely be able to walk in her condition. And she was almost certainly at the heart of Mutare's territory. There was no reasonable hope of escape. And even if she could escape, what was left for her outside? She sighed, and gathered the power together for what she suspected would be her last act as a sentient creature. Touching her horn to the wall of the cocoon, she fed her attention into the connections of the hive, tracing back the living links between herself and the living fluid she was suspended in, and the walls, and the swarm... She sought out the greatest mind of the hive, homing in on her mother's mind as instinctively as her own children would link to her. The link between princess and queen was not automatic nor permanent, but it was second nature to changeling magic, with the catalyst of the hive. She let go a burst of information, everything she had just had explained to her, desperately pushing it into the link. And when her magic gave out, there was nothing left to protect her from the cocoon's embrace... she drifted off moments later, hoping that her final act might save at least some of the hive... ~-~-~-~ It was worse than Spring Bounty could have imagined. They had been travelling for days, now, sneaking from town to town, eating scavenged supplies and unpalatable but edible wild plantlife. Every village they came across had been taken by the changelings. Here and there they spotted other ponies outside the towns, but Papillon advised to stay clear - they were as likely to be changeling scouts as real ponies. If they were real ponies, they seemed to have the same thought, for if they were noticed they were given a wide berth. They moved fast whenever they were spotted, fearing the swarm would descend on them again at any moment. But either the changelings were more interested in fortifying their captured towns than mopping up the stragglers, or they had Celestia watching over them as they ran, with the far-off peak of Canterlot ever in their minds. By this point the capital was a symbol of safety and protection, the only thing that spurred them onwards. They'd found a Canterlot newspaper discarded in what appeared to have been a campsite used by another group of passing ponies, which told them that, at least, the fabled mountain city still stood, thought it gave them precious little other good news. Cloudsdale had been sabotaged, the weather machines damaged along with the structure of the city itself, but the pegasi's military and superior control of the weather had held the bugs at bay. Unfortunately, as neither pony knew what date it was, they had no idea how old the paper was when they had read it, and as most rapid communication between the large cities was done by pegasus messenger, Papillon had been quick to point out that it was likely that any further information was likely untrustworthy - if even this was. Spring's eyes bulged, she hadn't even considered that. It really was a good thing she had her companion with her. Time and again she relied on Papillon's quick bursts of aerial recon to keep them safe, and she knew without a doubt she would never have made it this far, even ignoring the fact she would never have escaped capture in the first place. The pegasus seemed to have an instinct for when to duck and cover from the changelings, pulling her into hiding before she'd even heard the buzz of their wings. She'd laughed and commented on her companion's knack, and Papillon had chuckled slightly, supposing it must be her special talent with insects. As useful as it was, she seemed uncomfortable discussing it. Spring thought that was reasonable - after all, if her special talent had been related to these bugs, she'd probably have to resist the urge to scrape the symbols off her flanks. How could this have happened to Equestria? In the end, their luck came to an end when they were sleeping, as dawn cracked over the landscape. Bad luck it must have been, for they had woken up when a single changeling scout had literally tripped over them, stepping on Spring's leg while they slept. Papillon had woken and bucked the creature hard before the earth pony knew what had happened, but it wasn't enough to stop the chitin-plated creature. It buzzed off with a slightly sickly drone and stagger to its flight path, and while Papillon made to give chase for a moment, she halted moments later as she realised it would take her easily in sight of reinforcements. So, once again, they ran, and once again, the swarm followed. This time there was no hiding, no pretending, no cover - the bugs buzzed over and around them, diving at them again and again as they tried to dodge away. The two of them ran together, separating only to avoid blows. For the most part they managed to avoid the worst of it, but both of them were tiring fast. Spring moved closer to her friend. "You have to fly! Get out of here!" "I'm not leaving you behind after everything we've..." They were interrupted by a changeling diving in front of them; Spring spun and kicked it with all her natural earth pony strength, sending it tumbling away - but entirely killing her momentum, slowing her considerably. She shook her head as her companion slowed to match her. "We can't get away from them like this! I'll try and hold some of them off, just fly away!" "No! Together or not at all!" Papillon spread her wings, moving into the air only enough to dodge a dive from a changeling, nimbly bouncing off its back as she continued her flight. After that there wasn't enough time to argue further, as they'd lost too much speed and soon found themselves surrounded properly. Nervously pressed back to back, the two of them readied themselves to fight for their lives and their freedom. Then there was a distinctly audible thunk, and one of the changelings collapsed. Closely followed by a sizzle of magic, and another. "Yeehaw, little buggys! How 'bout ya pick on a mob yer own size?" called a voice from just ahead of them, and they stared in disbelief and amazement as a horde of ponies charged, throwing rocks and magic and ropes before they hit the changeling line proper. For a few seconds, everything was chaos, then suddenly the circle of changelings around them was either lying prone or flying away, and ponies of every colour stood around them instead. An orange-coated mare stepped forth, tilting back her hat as she grinned at them and offered a hoof. "Howdy there. Name's Applejack. Care to join us?" Author's Note Well, had an interesting month and just didn't really get to do any writing. Decided I need to at least finish off this story before I start working any of the others running around in my head. Will try to have the rest of it out in the next few days, but I promise nothing! Thank you again to Kathangaroo for their assistance in checking and editing this! Chapter 4: Alone/CommunityChrysalis was deeply surprised to be waking up. She was still fuzzy, that much was true. But she woke with a start as the cocoon she had been in was burst open, trying to push to hooves which were weaker than ever. She looked around, blinking her eyes clear until she could focus on the imposing figure of Mutare above her, glaring down. She managed to produce a weak semblance of a smile. "Something wrong, sister?" "It seems the Queen somehow got wind of my plan. Would you know anything about this?" "I doubt it will matter to either of us soon." Chrysalis tried to laugh, but ended up coughing up more of the cocoon's slime instead. "Very true." The looming black form above her turned, looking at the entrance to the room. "Soon, there will be a grand battle between the Queen and my hive. It will likely shake the very foundations of the Changelings forever." "I'd say I'm sorry to ruin your plans, but..." Chrysalis cut off in a flurry of coughing. "...I'm really not. I almost hope Mother keeps you alive as an example." "Ruin my plans? Oh, Chrysalis. You don't understand." Mutare grinned, leaning down to sit muzzle to muzzle with her captive. "Everything is going even better than I could have hoped." "W-what? You can't think you have enough power to defeat the Queen!" "Hmmm... you'd think that." She smiled enigmatically. "But you don't have all the information yet. You were wondering before how we replaced you and Vicci without being noticed? You're right - no drone could do the trick. It's all about layers! You have to think deeper, my dear. Because if you're already doing something that would get you executed... why not go all-out? If you can't get a drone to do a job..." Chrysalis' eyes were forced to look away as the flash of green power lit up the room. When she could see again, her antagonist had vanished, and another changeling stood there. She had the same colour scheme as Mutare, but was smaller, different. "Hello, Chrysalis. My name is Aurelia. Pleased to meet you face to face at last - instead of just meeting your face in the mirror!" "You're..." "Yes, yes, I'm Mutare's daughter, a new Princess, created without the Queen's knowledge. I know you're not quite at full uptake at the moment, so let me run you through it." Her voice dripped with smug superiority. "I'm the one who's been pretending to be you. I took your little swarm with me while Mutare stayed home. And the Queen, right now, is coming for my mother, and is about to bring her full force to bear in destroying her." "...So... you're going to pretend to be me, when the Queen gets here... and she'll rescue you, and take you back into the fold." Chrysalis blinked in horror. It was... it was a good plan, and again, there was nothing she could do about it. The other changeling could drain out her personality and make a solid show of it, if she could then hide the body. Aurelia seemed to agree, cackling at the thought. "Now you're thinking like a real changeling! That'd be a great plan, and it'd probably be what I'd do next... but again, you don't have all the information. As I told you before - it's all about layers. I plan to outlive my mother, but a little more dramatically than that." "What?" "Your brood, Chrysalis. As I told you, they loved you, so very, very much. The plan was to... antagonise the pony populace. Start a war, stir up trouble, run home with our tails between our legs. But it went wrong, Chrysalis. Do you know how?" "...No?" The only thing Chrysalis could do now was keep the princess talking, and as a literally captive audience she really didn't have much choice but to listen. "We won." Aurelia said quietly, suddenly serious, pacing around the room. "Everything went off almost without a hitch. Only one pony actually noticed anything was wrong at all - one little pony, who knew Cadenza from foalhood and was related to her fiance. And nobody listened to her, until she managed to burst in the door with the real Cadenza. "Finally the time had come for the grand reveal, and I did a bit of showing off, was ready to get blasted across the castle by Celestia, then run away while your brood fought to protect, well, 'you'. I was ready to put up a bit of a fight... and then you know what happened?" She drew up, her muzzle suddenly inches from Chrysalis'. "I knocked out Celestia with a single blow." "What?!" She recoiled back as much as her body could manage, as much from the sudden proximity as the revelation. "I know! The goddess of the sun! At midday! At first I thought it was just that she'd just been massively overestimated or something, or maybe I'd taken out a body double? It's what we'd do. But then I realised... I was strong. "Because for the last few weeks... I've had hundreds, hundreds of drones who love you, who adore you, who are unendingly, beautifully, heart-wrenchingly loyal to you above all others... focusing all that beautiful Loyalty on me." Chrysalis felt an almost physical pain - overwhelming even the actual physical pain she was in right now - at the thought of her beautiful children being fooled, having their loyalty fed on like common ponies. Mutare's brood had always been the most recognised of the changelings among the ponies - though even they were rarely caught - and the start of the rumours that they fed on love, for indeed, Loyalty was so often a key part of such. But changelings gained far more sustenance when what they ate was stolen, not given freely. And her whole brood had given their loyalty to who they thought was her... and... "So I found myself having won. Celestia captured. And then I could have picked up the Elements of Harmony! Oh, I barely knew what to do with myself. If I could get the elements... then we'd win forever." She paced. Chrysalis boggled at the thought. The Elements of Harmony - the pure incarnations of the very concepts they fed upon. If they could be harnessed by the Changelings... it might mean unlimited power. " And then... then I let my guard down for a second." Aurelia snarled. "I thought I'd won. But then they manage to snap the fiance out of it, and combine their powers into the biggest work of magic I've ever seen. It was as if we'd just had the castle thrown at us. Squashed like bugs. For a moment, I didn't think I was going to survive. "But your beautiful, loyal little drones pulled through for me. Every single one of them." The smaller changeling princess smiled with horrible satisfaction. "They died for you, Chrysalis. The last thought on every single one of their minds was that they would give up their lives for you, so loyal were they." Chrysalis gave out a horrible scream, trying to leap again at her tormentor, thinking of nothing but hurting this monster who had fed off the sacrifice of every one of her beautiful children. Even if her legs had obeyed her whim, before she had even finished crouching, green magic wrapped around her like metal plating, holding her in place, unable to move an inch. Aurelia's horn glowed with so much power it was almost painful to look at, though she seemed to be barely paying attention. She writhed hopelessly and let out another strangled banshee wail before her muzzle was clamped shut and she was brought face to face once again with the other changeling. "They died for you." She purred, moving close to her captive, taunting her with her powerlessness. "Every one of them, a final act of pure Loyalty... and Kindness I suppose as well, but that hardly matters, does it? And I not only came out of it unharmed... but far, far stronger than ever. I could match Celestia before. I think now I can take out our Queen herself, especially if she is weakened and distracted in combat with my mother, and the fraction of this power I fed to her to show her my loyalty was still strong." Chrysalis struggled, but could not so much as open her mouth, such were her bonds. If she were a pony, she might have wept, then. This monster had sacrificed her precious children, and through that become unto a physical goddess, and she could do absolutely nothing about it. "And that, I think, is what I am going to do. My mother had her plans, and they were good ones, but honestly? They're fairly moot at this point. So I just thought I'd come down and thank you, Chrysalis, while mother weakens the Queen. If it wasn't for you and the kindness you showed your drones... I don't think I'd have this opportunity. And I just wanted someone to know - I think I may have enjoyed the whole monologue-reveal thing a little too much when I was back in Canterlot. I'll have to break that habit." She moved up to Chrysalis, smiling wide. "And so, here we stand. Your brood died for me. Your name is cursed by changeling and pony alike. Everything you have ever stood for is now destroyed. And I'm the only one who truly knows how responsible you are for the new world order to come." Chrysalis fought her bonds, but it was like being buried in stone. They gave not an inch, as the green-lined horn grew closer. Only her eyes could move, watching its progress as it inched towards her head. "Loyalty forced on someone with magic is usually not very appetising... it's almost sickly, to be honest. But I think I will always take time to savour it from you. Goodbye, Chrysalis. It's been a pleasure being you." And the world turned green, then black... ~-~-~-~ "Hoo-ee that was a close one! Don't you two worry yourselves none, those bugs ain't gonna be tryin' anythin' with us here." The voice of their rescuer was music to Spring's ears as the other ponies bustled around them, making sure they were okay and congratulating them on their escape. "Th-thanks, um, Applejack... I'm Spring Bounty, and this is Papillon." "Well ya done well getting away!" Applejack gestured with a nod, and soon the whole group was marching away from the scene again, back the way they'd come. "We got a bunch of folks from different villages here, snatched out from under buggy snouts. You'll fit in just fine." "Oh, thank you!" "You're... you're one of Celestia's champions!" Blurted Papillon, staring at the orange-coated mare before them. Applejack chuckled, tipping her hat slightly as if to cover her face modestly. "I s'pose you could say that. When the whole mess started, she tol' us to go around and help whoever we could, while she held Canterlot safe and prepared the counterattack." "Thank you!" Spring wailed, leaping forward and hugging Applejack tightly, making a few of the other ponies jump. "Oh, I was beginning to wonder if there was anyone left at all!" "Yeah... well, it ain't been easy." The smile fell off Applejack's face, and a few of the other ponies looked away from her. "There's a few groups around, but some of 'em are just changelings tryin' to get into our heads. And we don't dare send too many messengers from here t' the capital, so we ain't heard much from Celestia lately. But yer safe here with us, that much I can promise you." She grinned as she gestured forward, as the leading ponies surrounding them split apart to show them... their new home. It was a rough and tumble thing, nothing on even the small village that Spring was used to. Most of it was tents and shelters, with a few more solid huts complete and several more mid-construction, without the colour or uniqueness of your average pony town - but it looked like a resort compared to sleeping in bushes and caves like they had the past couple of weeks. "Me an' my friends have little safe havens like this around, and we're rescuin' more and more ponies to come live in them." Applejack waved at the other villagers in the town, who gave a slight cheer in turn. "And you'll be safe here." "Thank you so much! I knew the Princesses wouldn't let us all down!" Spring bounded in, looking around in wonder as the raiding party split off to take up various tasks throughout the village, leaving Applejack and a couple of others with the newcomers. "Canterlot'll have everything back together soon, but there's a few rules you have to follow here to make sure everyone stays safe." One of the others spoke up, a tall pegasus stallion in guard armour stated with a stern glare at the two mares, and Applejack nodded in agreement beside him. "No wandering off. If you go out of sight of the village, we can't protect you then." "They won't dare attack us directly here, but they're not above tryin' tricks to get in." "They... won't attack here?" Spring tilted her head, and then actually had a good look at the budding settlement. Tents and huts, farmland, with barely a wooden palisade around the edge. Come to think of it, the population here wasn't really that much higher than that of her own village. They weren't making a solid effort to hide, there weren't a great number of guards... She shivered. Suddenly, the place didn't actually seem that safe after all. "Wait... why won't they attack here?" She asked. "They've taken whole cities! Why won't they come here?" Applejack grinned, leading them on to the centre of town. "The thing you gotta understand about Changelings is, they really ain't that tough. They look nasty, sure, but by themselves they ain't too much trouble in a fair fight. Problem is, they're good at being tricky little buggers, and there's lots of 'em - too many to fight if there's only one or two of you. "All the villages and towns, they had spies in there already - they knew everything that was goin' on, they replaced important ponies, and caused all sorts of confusion. Half the time the ponies didn't know whether they were attackin' friends or bugs. By the time they sorted everythin' out, it was a whole mess and all the bugs had to do was come and sweep up." Spring looked down shamefully, memories of the assault on her village coming back clearly. It had been chaos, nobody knowing what was going on, and everyone was just running around frightened and confused, until she'd ended up getting hit by one of those green bolts... then another, and another... and after that, the cocoons. "But we ain't got any little bugs in our village. If they come for us, we'll be ready for 'em." "What? How can you be so sure?" Papillon blurted. Spring turned to her friend. "Oh, that's easy. See, after the Wedding, we started lookin' into how changelings worked - and our own magic too. And as you said, I'm one of Celestia's champions. Specifically, the Element of Honesty." The grin she gave Papillon was suddenly much wider. "And that means I've learnt to tell when somepony ain't what she says she is." Spring had a feeling she'd missed something. Applejack wasn't really talking to her anymore, and Papillon was backing away from her - at least, until she suddenly ran into the pegasus stallion behind her, glowering down. "What's going on?" Spring looked around at the group. "Well, I mighta been wrong. We might have one little bug in our village." "No, wait! You don't understand, I'm--" "Get 'er." The stallion's hoof came down on Papillon faster than she or Spring could react. She was almost instantly flattened against the ground, struggling weakly as her captor held her down on her side, one wing trapped beneath her. "N-no, please! You can't do this to me, I-I saved her!" Her eyes bulged desperately. "You have to lis--urk!" A second armour-clad hoof found its way to her neck, cutting off her voice as she struggled futilely, choking. "Applejack, what is he doing? What are you doing? Get off her!" Spring went to help her friend, but Applejack held her back easily, her eyes hard. "She saved you, sugarcube, but t'weren't outta the goodness of 'er heart. She just wanted help gettin' in here. As if that was gonna work." "W-what do you mean?" Spring stared down at Papillon, who shook her head frantically, her eyes pleading for help as she fought for breath and desperately pawed at the hoof on her neck, which moved not an inch. "It means this." Applejack let go of Spring, and moved forward to the trapped pegasus mare. Spring watched on as Applejack turned and raised a hind leg, and bucked the pegasus with full force in the stomach. Spring gave a strangled yelp at the brutality of the attach, which turned into a scream as her companion convulsed and flashed with green flame, revealing the prone form of a black-armoured bug beneath. A network of cracks webbed out from the site of the kick, leaking blood, and the creature curled up around it, gasping for breath between chittering sobs. "Wh-what?" "I'm sorry, Spring. It was just trying to get into the village - you were just there to support its story." Applejack gave her an apologetic look, wiping her hoof off on the grass. "It wasn't your friend." "But... but she saved me!" Spring stared in horror, unable to take her eyes off the twitching creature before her. The guardspony had not even flinched at the rush of flame, used to the illusionary pyrotechnics, but eased back, sitting his armoured hoof on the creature's insectile wings. It wasn't going anywhere with that wound. "Changelings will do all sorts of things, say all sorts of things, to get you to trust them. That's why they're so scary. But they can't trick me, Spring. Look at me." She felt a hoof guide her muzzle until she was looking her saviour - and her ex-saviour's enemy - in the eye, instead of the shuddering creature. "Calm down. Breathe." "She... she said she wanted to go to Canterlot... she needed to speak to the princesses. She... I wouldn't have made it this far if she hadn't..." Her eyes kept flicking to the body on the ground. "I know it probably seemed real nice. But it just wanted to spy on us. But I promise ya, I won't let any changeling get near ya again. That there's the Honest truth. So long as you stick with us, I can look after you." "P-please... you have to..." The changeling suddenly rasped. "Have to... tell... important... please listen... trust me... the princesses..." It gave a gasp as the stallion kicked it in the side again, making it fall silent except for laboured breaths. Applejack and Spring turned to face it as it whimpered. It stared at them with an imploring look - or what might have been an imploring look on a creature who was not fanged, and whose eyes were not soulless and blank. Spring looked back down at the changeling, shivering. She'd trusted her, every step of the way, from the moment she'd been rescued. She'd never even considered that she might not be what she said. How could this have happened? "How could I be so stupid?" She whispered, her thoughts finding their way between her lips. "You're not stupid. Don't be hard on yourself." Applejack smiled grimly. "As I said, they're tricky little bugs." "How could you do this to me?" She rounded on the changeling, tears now falling freely. "You tricked me! You told me stories! Just so you could capture more ponies?" "N-no... warning... only way... needed... to escape..." "W-what?" She blinked, taken aback. "War... in the hive... escaped... want to... stop them... help..." the creature cried out in pain, trying to hold its cracked shell together. "Please..." Spring wavered at the pitable sight - surely at this point, the creature had nothing to gain from continuing to lie - and turned to Applejack, who was giving the creature a curious look. "...You're... are you sure she can't... I mean, you said you're the element of Honesty, can you..." "There's one way I can be sure if it can be trusted." Applejack stated darkly. "Really?" "Oh, certainly." She walked up to the Changeling again. Spring watched curiously, wondering what wonder of Elemental magic she might be about to witness... Then cried out once again as Applejack reared up, and slammed both her hooves down on the creature's head. It didn't even have time to cry out. But Spring thought she would remember that crack-squelch sound for the rest of her life. Applejack stared pitilessly at the remains on the grass. "The only changeling you can ever trust is a dead one. I told you - they will say anything, pretend anything. But all they want is to steal your love away from you, and capture us all again. Trust me - I've seen it a hundred times before." For a long moment, she stared at the now mostly-headless body on the ground, until she couldn't take it anymore and looked away, clenching her jaw. Applejack wiped off her hooves again, then moved over to comfort the poor, lost soul. Finally, as the weight of it all dropped on her, she burst into tears, falling into Applejack. At least she was safe now, safe from the bugs who flew after them and the bugs who pretended to be her friends... thanks to Applejack. Between her sobs, she swore she'd do her best to help with the village, and keep them all safe, and help any other ponies they could save. Whatever Applejack needed her to do. And Applejack held her close, letting her get the sobs out of her system, accepting the oaths of another loyal pony. She smiled, hidden under her wide hat, and her apple-green eyes flashed emerald.
Prologue: The TrialSomething was wrong. So very, very wrong. But she didn't know what. She tried to focus on what it could be, but every time she struggled her thoughts slipped out from between her hooves as if coated in oil. She giggled slightly at the mental image, before realising she was distracting herself and trying to catch the wrongness again. It felt uncomfortable to even try to think about it, but that wasn't what was wrong. Maybe if she had a clue from outside. She opened her eyes and looked around, and found herself in the central hive cavern of the changeling race, and her train of thought was lost instantly. She had always thought the dark rainbow was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, and it was never more apparent than in this cavern. Rainbows were important, were powerful symbols to ponies as well, but they thought you needed to refine light to get a rainbow. Their rainbows were... too bright, too bold, too solid. They were a thing for the daylight, and at night they faded to invisibility. Here in the darkness however, the rainbow was such a subtle thing, the tiny fragments of light that existed in the cavern causing every surface to shine with an iridescent spray of colour that shifted with every tiny movement, with a single colour strongest in each area - here green, there blue, and then orange or yellow. Such a subtle effect it was that pony eyes could not see it - they were useless in the darkness required for the true effect, and if enough light was brought in for them to see, they would say that it was only black carapace making up the cavern, broken up by the colours of eyes... Chrysalis looked around the cavern dreamily. It was so hard to think for some reason, and she had been caught up in admiring the beauty of the hive, but she needed to focus. Something was wrong. Every changeling was staring at her, but that was not too unusual, being the centre of attention was something she was used to. But... How did she get here? Was she dreaming? And why was she in the centre of the hall, instead of there on her podium beside the others? Was that what was wrong? No. It wasn't right, but the wrongness was something deeper, much deeper than that. There was another important question in there, but it was like her mind was... fuzzy. She didn't like fuzzy, fuzzy was for ponies. She wanted sharp, clear, reflective, like the carapace of a changeling. Had she spent too long as a pony? She couldn't remember. Remembering was hard, too. Something was very, very wrong. The first thing was to take her place amongst the others, where she belonged. She raised her wings to flitte-- Her wings did not move. That was strange. Not what was wrong, but it needed investigation. She tried to turn, to see what wa-- She could not turn. Her legs would not move. Her whole body would not move. Only her head. She was trapped. Held down. Encased. That wasn't right, she wasn't supposed to be trapped. Bad. But still not what was wrong. A lesser being might have panicked at that point, but Chrysalis was made of sterner stuff than that. Next step, magic. ...She had no magic. None. Drained dry. Still it seemed hard to panic. The most she could seem to pull together was a sort of detached curiosity. Her mind was still... fuzzy. Her body was encased and immobile. Her magic was gone, and with it a lot of her perception. She had never been without magic like this since the day she hatched. It still wasn't the bad feeling she got, but it was getting close. But even without magic, she could contact her children for-- She could not sense any of them. None. Not one. Gone. Lost. Alone. There was the wrongness. And there was the panic. Like having her mind plunged into ice water, she struggled to determine how this could have happened. She couldn't be alone. She had hundreds of children. They were always with her, she could talk to them at any time. They were extensions of her. How could this have happened? Even now, with that devastating realisation, her mind was still fuzzy. Putting thoughts one in front of the other was unbelievably difficult. Was it because she was alone? She had never heard of a changeling princess without a brood before. Did they help her think? She desperately tried to remember the last thing before she had woken up here. Voices echoed through the cavern but she could not be distracted now. She needed all her focus to determine what had happened. She fought to cut through the pony-fuzzy blocking in her mind, looking for something, anything. All that came to mind was a flash, a blast of sensation that overloaded every sense she had, pain, loss, and then... fuzzy, fuzzy darkness. "Ah, if she is now awake..." the voice cut through her blurred thoughts with ease. Every changeling, from drone to princess, listened when the Queen spoke. Chrysalis looked up, seeing the Queen sit upon the highest throne. Her mane cascaded around her with a pure white that no other Changeling in the hall possessed, and similarly no single colour held precedence in the reflections off her carapace. Beneath her sat five lower podiums, with colour schemes more visible. Blue, orange, yellow and green were occupied; the fifth, teal, lay empty - its intended occupant was herself, and she was down here instead, because, because... "The Changeling Hive gathers today to witness the trial and sentencing of Princess Chrysalis, for the crime of bringing war with Equestria to our Hives, without the foreknowledge or consent of myself or your sisters." Her eyes bulged wide, and she screamed - but not a sound slipped from between her fangs. ~-~-~-~ It was only half an hour later that Chrysalis was left standing like a statue, still encased, in a room deep in the hive. She had never been to this section of the hive before, and had no idea where she was. But her thoughts were not on escape, but what had been said. "I would never have suspected this sort of action from you, Chrysalis, and I am truly disappointed." The trial had been short, clean, and direct, and she had spent most of it with her mind reeling and trying desperately to say something, anything. "Normally, we might congratulate such behaviour, as is it not the way of the Changelings to appear to be one thing, while truly being another?" But there was nothing to be done. Like so many other things, trials were something that Changelings had stolen from ponies and other societies, and they had no need for defence or speeches. Her voice had been sealed, so that she would not interrupt the queen's condemnation. "But it is also in our way to remain hidden, to be subtle, to be safe. Your reckless behaviour has destroyed your children and severely damaged the Hive in and of itself." The changelings had their own methods of getting information when they wanted it, and the word of the Queen was final. No jury, no lawyers, just statements and sentencing. "And beyond that, you have thrown us into a truly dangerous situation. You have tipped our hand and brought us to direct war with Equestria itself. Our children will be hunted high and low, and for every one that feeds, three will be forced to flee or perish - and that is before they bring an army to our hive itself!" And so all she could do was stand immobile and gape at the damning eyes of her Queen and fellow princesses, and a thousand more eyes set in shimmering carapaces of every colour but her own, as the sentence came crashing down. "As this independent streak seems to breed such problematic results, we will remove it. You will be stripped of your status and reduced to the least of the mindless drones. Rest assured that in the battles to come in the wars that you have sparked, you shall stand at the front of every charge, at the centre of every defence. Perhaps we shall find some use for you after all, if their guard recognise you and dedicate good troops to assaulting you without reasoning." To be reduced to a drone. To have her reasoning, her power, her status stripped away. The thought should have truly terrified her, but again, all she could manage was detachment. After all, what sort of Princess was she now? She had no power, no status... no children. All she had left to lose was her mind, and she wasn't sure she had that to lose either. Because what she had tried so hard to say, to scream from her heart... She hadn't done it. She had absolutely no idea what the Queen was talking about. Author's Note I'm totally not used to starting stories with something so short! Anyway, today's focus is changelings! Changelings get a lot of interesting attention here on fimfiction, although as far as I can see the biggest problem is finding a balance for them. A lot of stories I see have a habit of turning ponies into changelings almost by accident half the time, or at the very least making them unconscionably powerful. The drones are either powerful and intelligent with phermones, contagion, poison, mind or illusion magic (so why haven't they taken over the place already?) or borderline mindless minions (so can they do their job without screwing up and becoming common knowledge?). This is always a problem when dealing with mind control and illusion magic, it's quite difficult to find a balance between "No Effect" and "Unstoppable." The stories are still often fantastic and interesting in their own right, it's just hard to see how the bugs aren't controlling Equestria from the shadows yet. And then my mind took these ideas and the thought of "What possible benefit would Chrysalis gain from attacking Canterlot the way she did?", ran with them, and came up with a nasty story that wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down. No specific inspiration for this story, just a whole mess of different takes on Changelings. So here's a story about layers and lies and illusions and assumptions, and how you really shouldn't believe everything you hear from the mouth of a creature whose modus operandi is appearing to be other than what they are. Chrysalis's story starts almost directly after the end of Season 2; The events of Season 3 are fairly irrelevant as we won't be seeing much of the Mane 6 in this tale.
Chapter 1: Imprisonment/EscapeMinutes turned to hours, turned to days, or so it felt like. Normally, even in the depths of the caverns she would know what the time was, for at least one of her children was sure to be outside, and it would take the work of a second to know what they knew. She almost had to thank the fuzziness that still held her mind in its grip. If she had been capable of thinking straight, fast, focused, she would have run out of things to consider and been driven mad by the loneliness. She'd never just... not had anyone to talk to. Sure, her children weren't exactly riveting conversationalists most of the time, but they were something, and if nothing else she could simply watch the world through their eyes. She could feel their devotion to her, know what they would do for her if they could - anything and everything - and they often would. She often gave them free rein simply so they could come up with their own simple gestures, small acts of kindness to surprise her with. She had loved it when they did that. It had a special taste all its own. Now they were all gone, forever. How could that have happened? War with Equestria? What had the ponies done that could have annihilated her entire brood? What had she done to cause them to do so? Why couldn't she remember anything at all? It was impossible. The last thing she remembered was being in her chambers - fuzzy, again, but there. Then, the flash. Then, the trial. She had no idea how long ago that memory had been. Sure, she had considered how she would go about... improving her lot in Equestria, but that was a daydream, certainly not something she had given serious thought to, never something she would actually attempt... right? What was the point? It was not as if her children could feed off a nation that knew of them, feared them, hated them. But if the Queen had said she had done it, and her sister Princess Vicissitudo had not spoken differently... then it had to be true. How could she deny it? Her sister and her hive literally fed on secrets! Had they consumed the knowledge from her mind? Could that be it? She had never truly come under their scrutiny before, for there had never been a need. Is this how it worked? They sought to know what she knew, so they took all the knowledge they sought, and left her with nothing? Was that why her mind was... damaged? How could it possibly be fair to condemn and punish her for a crime she had no memory of committing? Not even planning, not even contemplating! Because fairness had no room in the hive. The word of the Queen was law. She could barely remember what it was like to talk to another changeling... ~-~-~-~ One year later ~-~-~-~ "This way! Hurry!" "I'm... trying... please..." Spring Bounty panted and ran as fast as she could, the soft earth and thick vegetation making quick movement both tiring and dangerous for the earth pony. Her companion had it a little easier, her wings letting her skip the trip hazards and sinking earth a little, but even she had to dodge through the bushes. She couldn't fly high for the same reason Spring couldn't move twenty paces to the right and run on the road instead. The clack of hoof against cobblestone would spell their doom as fast as the sight of the pegasus's wings in the air. It was pure luck that both of them had greenish coats that blended into the undergrowth, but that wouldn't be enough to save them if they didn't hurry. Even the rush of air and plants past her ears couldn't drown out the ominous chitter and buzz of the swarm. She gave a breathless curse as her shoulder ran hard into a branch she hadn't seen, stumbling slightly but running on, trying her hardest to ignore the growing ache in her leg. She quietly cursed her family and her place in it - she might have grown up on a farm, but she wasn't a farmhand, she did the books and the sales! She wasn't built for this kind of physical activity! Then the guilt came crashing down a heartbeat later. Her sisters would probably be doing better than she was right now in her situation - but they were long gone by now, taken, transported who knows where. She imagined them locked in those foul green cocoons, barely conscious - an image all too easy to picture, as she had only just escaped such imprisonment herself. Their earlier brief run through a river still hadn't washed off the last of the slimy goop, but right now that was the last thing on her mind. Oh Celestia, my poor sisters... I'm so sorry! There's nothing I can do to help you now. Tears marred her vision for a crucial second. Her hoof hit a root she hadn't spotted, and that was all it took. At the speed she was running, it sent her tumbling head over hooves, flying through the grass into a thankfully soft landing in a bush. For a long moment she lay there stunned. She had to get up, she had to keep running, she knew it, but everything hurt so much and she couldn't breathe and all her hooves would do was kick weakly and she was done. A shadow dropped over her and she closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable as she felt it touch her. "Shhh! Quiet! Don't move!" A voice hissed. Her eyes snapped back open, showing her pegasus companion pressed over her, her wings wide and covering both of their heads. Their manes were the easiest thing to spot - her own was a daisy yellow, the other's a darker green - but with their tails buried deeper in the bush and their manes shielded by the wings, for the most part they were green on green in the bushes. She tried her best to control her wild breathing, staring out beside her saviour between gaps in the feathers and trees as black-plated figures buzzed their way through the trees slowly, and the clop of hooves could be heard from the nearby road. Any moment now she was sure they would be caught by the sound of her heartbeat echoing through the woods from her ears. It was impossible, there were too many... and... And then they were past. Eyes wide, she turned to look, trying to get a different viewpoint on their continuing searched, but the pegasus over her gave a hiss, holding her in place. Chastised, she froze once more, trying to calm further as the opportunity to rest finally let her breathe a little more normally. For long minutes they stayed in position, trying not to jump at every sound, staying still even once the changelings had left their sight. With the adrenaline fading slightly, she soon began to ache from the awkward position being forced on her, but still didn't dare so much as squirm. Finally there was a sudden concentrated buzz, and she looked up to see a swarm of black shapes moving together through the gaps in the canopy, heading back to where they had come from. It wasn't until the final buzzing faded away that the pegasus seemed to relax the deathgrip on her and pull off, helping her up as she did. "Well, that really wasn't fun." Her companion said with a slightly hysterical giggle. "I'm Papillon. What's your name?" Author's Note Originally the prologue chapter was just to the end of the trial and this one picked up with Chrysalis reminiscing in her prison chamber. The recut unfortunately makes this chapter much shorter than it should be, but the wham line at the end of the prologue is worth it. =D Next chapter is much longer, I promise!
Chapter 2: History Lessons/Future PlansShe was starving and wild by the time she heard hooves tapping against the hive's floor towards her. At first she thought she might be hallucinating, lost in some memory, but soon she realised it was real. Her ears perked up. Sure, there was every possibility that it would be her death - or at the very least the death of her personality - but it was another changeling to talk to. It wasn't until the other was almost in the room themselves that she actually considered that she might be able to convince them she was innocent. She had been just thrilled at the idea of speaking to another living creature. The changeling who came in was instantly recognisable. Deep green mane and wings, slightly taller than herself. One of her sisters, a changeling princess like herself. "Good evening, Chrysalis." "Mutare! You... you're here to..." "Indeed I am, Chrysalis. What you have done is an incredible betrayal. You know I cannot let it pass. As my Element demands, and as the leader of the warriors who will be fighting due to your actions, I will be carrying out your sentence. This will be your last night as Princess." Her words and tone were strangely neutral - there was no condemnation, no anger, as the Queen had held. "Please, you have to listen to me!" "...Of course I will listen to you, sister. I would not let your final thoughts go unheard." Mutare leant forward gently, tapping her horn against the casing that imprisoned Chrysalis, and with a pulse of magic shattered it, except for the bindings around her back hooves. Being able to move again for the first time in her memory since waking up was wonderful, but far more than that was rush of power that came with the tiny act of kindness - not nearly enough to even levitate a pebble, but to her starving form it was ambrosia. She paused just to take it in, shivering with delight. "...If you have something to say?" "Mutare, sister, I didn't do it!" She blurted out desperately. She wished she had thought of better arguments in her time down here, but right then it was all she could consider. The green-winged princess eyed her up and down. "You... didn't do it? You are trying to tell me that you didn't lead your brood on Canterlot and attack it directly?" "I didn't! I swear! I don't remember doing anything of the sort! I wouldn't dream of it!" "So you're calling the Queen a liar?" "I... no!" She balked at the thought. "I-I don't think so. She wouldn't. But I didn't do it!" "I would think that our Honest sister would have something to say about that, too." "I don't care what she says! I didn't do anything! I don't even really know what I'm supposed to have done! The first thing I remember is waking up in the great hall and getting told I'm responsible for war with Equestria!" "You don't know what you have done?" Her sister smirked slightly, the first expression she had shown. "Well, that's no good. Would you like me to give you the full rundown? Help you jog your memory?" Stunned and confused, Chrysalis could do nothing but nod like a drone. "Let's see. Your whole brood was mobilised, into an enormous flying army, and brought to Canterlot. The royalty somehow got wind of this, and before too many could get in, an enormous shield was erected around the whole city, permitting only passage to those with definite reason. The whole city was on high alert. Several drones from every hive were lost in the confusion. "But it was too late, for you were already within the castle - and impersonating none other than Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, right under the nose of Celestia herself, feasting on her poor fiance... as you came closer to the great royal wedding. He was responsible for maintaining the shield - ponies and their special talents, you know how it is. So once he was in your hooves, the shield could be dropped at any time. "Of course, somebody clicked to the princess acting unusually, and your cover was blown, in the middle of the wedding, standing not ten feet from the great pony sun goddess. In quick succession, the shield was shattered, the guards overwhelmed thanks to conflicting orders and confusion you had spread, and Canterlot overrun with changelings. Oh, and you managed to wound and capture Celestia in the process." "I... wounded Princess Celestia?" Chrysalis gaped. It was far worse than she had thought. To have replaced one princess and wounded another, and done so much to insult Canterlot and its rulers... there would indeed be war from this. No princess could let such an affront go unanswered - let alone a goddess. "I will admit, that bit was impressive. Idiotic, but impressive." "But how? I've never had such power! I don't think even the Queen could--" "You said that you had fed on your fiance's love for you and it had made you so strong!" Mutare gave a mocking emphasis and a slight pose to emphasise the words, before turning back to roll her eyes at her prisoner. "What?!" "I know, right? The ponies still believe those old tales. Feeding on Love... well, I suppose it's close enough for some of us." Mutare smirked. "There is Kindness enough in Love, and Loyalty too. The others are... more of a side-effect." "I could never have gotten that sort of power from one pony, Love or Kindness or, or whatever! You're lying to me!" "Oh, and what else was it you said? Oh! That's right, you proclaimed yourself Queen of the Changelings as well. Said it was y--" "That is ridiculous! I would never insult Mother like that!" "Oh yes, she was rather hurt when she heard that bit, indeed." "I don't know what's going on!" Chrysalis cowered down, her pose awkward with her hind legs still locked in place. "I swear... I never did any of those things! I never would!" "It's far too late to argue the sentence now, sister." Mutare shook her head. "I have to begin the process. But... it will take several days - If you are so determined that you have done no wrong, I will investigate while you are processed. It is the least I can do." "Oh thank you!" Chrysalis smiled - the first piece of good news she had heard since she had awoken. She would have hugged Mutare if she wasn't locked down, and settled for gushing instead. "You have to believe me, I haven't done anything wrong, I would never!" "Shush now, Chrysalis. I'm sorry about this, but if you haven't done anything wrong, there won't be any permanent effects." Mutare's horn lit up with a deep green aura as she stepped once again towards Chrysalis. Instinctively the trapped princess tried to back away, but there was nothing she could do, still locked fast by her back hooves. Giving in to the inevitable, she sighed, letting her sister touch the her horn to her skull, and feeling the fuzziness overtake her as her mind and body was prepared for transformation to a drone. It was horrifying, but she held strong to the thought that Mutare would investigate the strange circumstances surrounding her arrest. If she had not been so desperately relieved, so starved and exhausted as she fell into unconsciousness, she might have noticed that despite Mutare's offer to investigate and protect her at no direct benefit to herself, she had not tasted a drop of kindness in her sister's actions. ~-~-~-~ With the immediate threat of being hunted no longer looming over their heads, Spring and Papillon set a far more reasonable pace, but they still didn't dare use the road itself. The two of them had exchanged stories, as much to pass the time and take their mind off things as anything else. Spring spoke of her family and her farm, and the ponies of her village, but often she found herself trailing off midway through a story. It seemed to have a strange detachment to her now. It was all gone, wasn't it? The farm and the family, the market and the village. She didn't even recognise the roads they currently walked, having no idea where she was in relation to her village, or anything else. Thankfully, her companion seemed to have far more of a clue, and more of a plan. Papillon had fewer stories to tell. Her cutie mark was a spread-winged butterfly, as if it had just come down and landed on her flank, the marks on its wings looking like bright eyes staring out from either side - far more natural-looking than the overflowing cornucopia on Spring's own sides. She explained that her talent lay in insect breeding and care, which meant she had lived away from her own village proper, off in the nearby swamp, since most ponies didn't care for swarms of bugs hanging around in the village. That statement killed the conversation rather thoroughly for a little while. Once the silence had pressed on too long, she explained that her bugs had fled when the changelings approached, so she had a bit of warning. She'd gone to warn the town that something was happening, but by the time she'd gotten close, the swarm was already descending. She'd managed to escape with her wings and advanced warning, and had lived on the run ever since. It was a little depressing, but at least there was some hope - and now she had a friend to share that hope with. For a while after that, they were quiet. They were probably the only two free ponies for miles around. "...Thank you." Spring said suddenly, breaking the silence after a long time with only hoofsteps and wingbeats and the sounds of wildlife around them. "What?" Papillon turned, tilting her head. "You saved me. You could have gotten away by yourself, but you saved me, not only from the cocoon, but when we were being hunted after too." "I... I couldn't have left somepony behind if we could have gotten away." The pegasus looked almost affronted. "I... you're the first pony I've managed to get free. After all the trouble I went to getting you out, I'm not going to leave you alone. And with two of us, we've got a better chance of staying safe, maybe even helping out some other ponies." "You think so?" "Absolutely. So don't worry about that - I'm not gonna fly off on you, if you won't run out on me." Spring smiled - after everything this mare had done for her, she knew she'd never leave her alone. "Still. Thanks. But what do we do now?" "We need to get to Canterlot. We'll be safe there - the Princesses can help us." "Canterlot? That's hundreds of miles away! Papillon, I know going to the capital will mean we'll be at our safest, but that's a hell of a walk!" "We have to get to the princesses. They'll know what to do." Papillon stated with absolute conviction. "I need to get to Canterlot." "...Wouldn't it be easier to just get to the nearest city and let the authorities take it from there?" Papillon eyed her strangely. "You... you got captured some time ago, didn't you?" "I don't know! I've been trapped in a cocoon!" Spring's eyes bulged, a slight panic gripping her. "Why? What date is it? How long? Why?" "Spring... I'm sorry to tell you... but... follow me." Papillon led her back towards the road a little way, glancing back and forth along it for any sign of passers-by, pony or changeling in appearance. Finally she moved along it until she found a sufficiently tall tree, turning to her companion. "Come on. Climb up here." "What? I'm not good at--" "I'll help. Please." Disturbed by the fierceness of her companion's expression, Spring nodded slowly and began to try and scale the tree, supported by the wings and hooves of her companion as she did. Soon she found herself high above the ground, too high for any earth pony to be comfortable, but suspected on a long branch with a view of the world around her, precariously balanced with Papillon's assistance. And following the pegasus' hoof, she observed a city in the distance, a skyline of towering buildings and construction that could only be Manehatten. She'd never been there before herself, but she recognised it from images and books. She smiled - it wasn't so far away. They could probably get there in a day or so at the rate they were going, she thought. Then she looked closer, and realised what Papillon was trying to show her. The towering buildings had been damaged in places, crumbling down from their expected rectangular symmetry. And in amongst them were spires that had never graced any postcard, towering cones of shiny black reflecting in the sun that spiked here and there, surrounded by flying black dots in the distance. Even though it was far too far away to make out any detail, she could tell that they weren't pegasi. Papillon nodded as her face went pale, realising the implications of what she saw. "We have to go to Canterlot, Spring. There's nowhere else left." Author's Note Have an exposition! Nothing makes chapters longer like exposition! Also, I'd like to thank Kathangaroo for their assistance in checking and editing this. My very first editor, so awesome are they. ^_^
Chapter 3: Betrayal/SalvationIt was more than her mind that felt fuzzy, now. Her armour had softened while she slept, her body felt strangely numb. Staying awake was difficult. She knew that this wasn't the change proper, just preparing her for it - after all, she was a princess, and her body was a far more grand and complicated thing than the average drone. Undoing all that good work took time and effort. And she knew that the starvation was a solid part of that, too. If she had any magical energy, it would be focused on healing herself, preventing these changes. But without anything, all she could do was try to ignore the horrible combination of gnawing pain and numbness. Unfortunately, the best and only real thing she had to distract herself with was the situation she had been put into, and the more she thought about it, the more she began to realise that, given the evidence, she had probably done everything they said. She couldn't remember any of it, but how could she deny it? Her hive was dead, that was unquestionable, gone to the last changeling. The princess of Honesty had not spoken in her defence, and the Queen believed it unquestionably. The only thing that made sense was that her mind had been tampered with afterwards, either as a side-effect of the pony magic or whatever Vicissitudo had done. And if she had led her entire hive to its doom, and brought war to the others, then it was probably a mercy to not remember it, or anything else. Guilt and despair blended nicely with the hunger and the numbness, and she fluctuated gently between them on the edge of unconsciousness, not even noticing the tap of hooves approaching her room. It wasn't until a hole-filled leg fell right in front of her nose that she jumped, scrambling feebly back to her hooves. "How are you feeling, Chrysalis?" Mutare asked her. She managed to gather the mental wherewithal for a flat stare. Her sister laughed, though not cruelly. "I suppose that's unavoidable. I don't suppose you've remembered anything?" She sighed, hanging her head. "I... I don't remember anything, but... I have to have done it. It's the only thing that makes sense... I just wish I knew why I would do such a thing..." She fell back down prone, clutching her throbbing head with her hooves. "It doesn't make a lot of sense." Mused her captor. "Chrysalis, the princess of Kindness. You've always been content in the shadows. Quiet little Chrysalis, keeping her brood alive on scraps, begging and pleading. While my brood takes figures of authority or loved ones for Loyalty, and the others play counsellors for Honest secrets or artists for Generous donations, you and your brood play the lost, the homeless, the sick, the needy, waiting for the charity and Kindness of the ponies around them. It's not exactly a life of pride, but you and your brood seemed happy enough on the surface... but I suppose it's not too hard to imagine you just... snapping one day, though, is it?" "W-what?" Chrysalis was taken aback by the sudden contempt in her sister's voice. For some reason, she suddenly wasn't sure anymore of what had happened at all. Mutare smiled a fang-filled smile, pacing around her sister's immobilised form. "And your poor little children... oh, they love you so, and they would follow you to the ends of the earth. They have to beg and plead for every scrap of kindness a pony might show them, and they might hunger for more and more... but they love you, oh how they love you. Oh, so loyal. So when you suggested there was a way they might feed more, and make you happy... Oh, they are so very, very loyal. " She walked around behind the partially immobilised Chrysalis, who swung around, eyes widening as the pieces came together in her mind. By the time she had turned, it was no longer her sister's face she looked into - but her own. Her indignation blew straight over the top of the fuzziness in her mind, as she began to realise just what had happened. "You... How dare you?!" Her reflection laughed merrily in her own voice, revelling in her outrage. "Isn't it hilarious, Chrysalis? We are a species that by definition pretends to be other beings to steal what they have - and not once has anyone suspected that it might not be you who led that charge." "But it's impossible! Wouldn't the Queen have noticed you missing? And - and Vicissitudo! You couldn't possibly keep a secret like that from her!" "Oh yes, Vicissitudo... our lovely sister of Honesty." The false Chrysalis made a show of rubbing a chin with one hole-ridden hoof. "How can one hide something so enormous from somepony who can literally sniff out and consume secrets? Unless, of course, she had some reason to be less than forthcoming on the matter..." "She's in on it too?" "Well, yes and no. Why don't you ask her yourself? She's right behind you." A flash of green light, and the seals on her hind hooves shattered. She spun around, expecting the other princess to have teleported in... And realised that behind her stood a cocoon, almost entirely hidden by rock that had grown over it. And a princess-sized, deep blue-maned figure could be seen floating asleep inside it. "...What... what have you done?" Chrysalis backed away from the cocoon in horror, before realising where that was taking her, spinning around and retreating from her other sister in turn. "This hive is being wasted, Chrysalis. Don't you see that? Your petty little brood and their dependence on the Kindness of ponies... our sisters and their need for Laughter and Generosity... it's all just... small change." "So you started a war? You're killing off your own sisters? Aren't you supposed to represent the Loyalty of the hive?" "I feed on Loyalty - that doesn't mean I have to have any of it myself." She smirked. "Don't you understand? If it comes to war, then we will need to grow our armies. Who leads the armies?" "A play for power in the hive? That's what this insanity is for?" "Indeed! Our brood will grow, and they will be loyal to me. Beautiful, delicious loyalty, from every last one of them. It will be wonderful." "You won't get away with this, Mutare. The Queen will find out. You can't just... knock off your sisters like that! How did you replace us? You couldn't possibly think a drone would do enough!" Her reflection tutted slightly. "Now, now, Chrysalis! You can't expect me to give up all of our secrets, can you?" She grinned widely. "Now, I'm afraid you've got a date with dronehood, while I use the magic you've given me to kill the rest of our sisters and bring war to the ponies." Chrysalis snapped. Without a thought of anything but vengeance she dove at the traitor princess with an anguished cry on her lips and her sharp horn striking at neck height. She never even got close. Green magic flashed out at her in a bolt that spun her around, adding new pain to that already consuming her body, stunning her for the crucial minute Mutare needed, effortlessly levitating Crysalis towards a second cocoon which was in the process of emerging from the chamber wall. With what seemed like gentlest care, she split open the green membrane and tucked her prisoner into it, sealing it behind her as she began to recover from the stunning blast. "I know it won't mean much to you soon enough, sister, but it's the least I can do to ensure you don't go to your doom thinking you were responsible for their deaths. There's nothing you ever could have done." Her voice echoed through the slime within the cocoon, but all Chrysalis could do was glare. Mutare smiled, taking her own form again in a flash of green, and walked away. Already she could feel the cocoon working on her, reshaping her form and seeping into her mind. Chrysalis seethed while she still had the chance to. What kind of monstrous creature had her sister become? But part of her was yet relieved to hear that she had not been responsible for her swarm's death. She could face her fate a little easier, knowing that, even if it meant she was innocent - a miniscule kindness just before her demise... ...Her eyes shot open as she delved into herself, fighting off the cocoon's numbing grip on body and mind. A miniscule kindness is still a kindness, even if granted in spite, and Kindness was power. She hadn't even felt it trickle in, as her body had directed the power straight to trying to heal her disintegrating form. She fought her own instincts to pull what remained of the power away from that task, holding it tight within her with rapidly fading attention. But then, what could she do with it? It was enough to let her escape the cocoon, certainly - but little beyond that, and she would barely be able to walk in her condition. And she was almost certainly at the heart of Mutare's territory. There was no reasonable hope of escape. And even if she could escape, what was left for her outside? She sighed, and gathered the power together for what she suspected would be her last act as a sentient creature. Touching her horn to the wall of the cocoon, she fed her attention into the connections of the hive, tracing back the living links between herself and the living fluid she was suspended in, and the walls, and the swarm... She sought out the greatest mind of the hive, homing in on her mother's mind as instinctively as her own children would link to her. The link between princess and queen was not automatic nor permanent, but it was second nature to changeling magic, with the catalyst of the hive. She let go a burst of information, everything she had just had explained to her, desperately pushing it into the link. And when her magic gave out, there was nothing left to protect her from the cocoon's embrace... she drifted off moments later, hoping that her final act might save at least some of the hive... ~-~-~-~ It was worse than Spring Bounty could have imagined. They had been travelling for days, now, sneaking from town to town, eating scavenged supplies and unpalatable but edible wild plantlife. Every village they came across had been taken by the changelings. Here and there they spotted other ponies outside the towns, but Papillon advised to stay clear - they were as likely to be changeling scouts as real ponies. If they were real ponies, they seemed to have the same thought, for if they were noticed they were given a wide berth. They moved fast whenever they were spotted, fearing the swarm would descend on them again at any moment. But either the changelings were more interested in fortifying their captured towns than mopping up the stragglers, or they had Celestia watching over them as they ran, with the far-off peak of Canterlot ever in their minds. By this point the capital was a symbol of safety and protection, the only thing that spurred them onwards. They'd found a Canterlot newspaper discarded in what appeared to have been a campsite used by another group of passing ponies, which told them that, at least, the fabled mountain city still stood, thought it gave them precious little other good news. Cloudsdale had been sabotaged, the weather machines damaged along with the structure of the city itself, but the pegasi's military and superior control of the weather had held the bugs at bay. Unfortunately, as neither pony knew what date it was, they had no idea how old the paper was when they had read it, and as most rapid communication between the large cities was done by pegasus messenger, Papillon had been quick to point out that it was likely that any further information was likely untrustworthy - if even this was. Spring's eyes bulged, she hadn't even considered that. It really was a good thing she had her companion with her. Time and again she relied on Papillon's quick bursts of aerial recon to keep them safe, and she knew without a doubt she would never have made it this far, even ignoring the fact she would never have escaped capture in the first place. The pegasus seemed to have an instinct for when to duck and cover from the changelings, pulling her into hiding before she'd even heard the buzz of their wings. She'd laughed and commented on her companion's knack, and Papillon had chuckled slightly, supposing it must be her special talent with insects. As useful as it was, she seemed uncomfortable discussing it. Spring thought that was reasonable - after all, if her special talent had been related to these bugs, she'd probably have to resist the urge to scrape the symbols off her flanks. How could this have happened to Equestria? In the end, their luck came to an end when they were sleeping, as dawn cracked over the landscape. Bad luck it must have been, for they had woken up when a single changeling scout had literally tripped over them, stepping on Spring's leg while they slept. Papillon had woken and bucked the creature hard before the earth pony knew what had happened, but it wasn't enough to stop the chitin-plated creature. It buzzed off with a slightly sickly drone and stagger to its flight path, and while Papillon made to give chase for a moment, she halted moments later as she realised it would take her easily in sight of reinforcements. So, once again, they ran, and once again, the swarm followed. This time there was no hiding, no pretending, no cover - the bugs buzzed over and around them, diving at them again and again as they tried to dodge away. The two of them ran together, separating only to avoid blows. For the most part they managed to avoid the worst of it, but both of them were tiring fast. Spring moved closer to her friend. "You have to fly! Get out of here!" "I'm not leaving you behind after everything we've..." They were interrupted by a changeling diving in front of them; Spring spun and kicked it with all her natural earth pony strength, sending it tumbling away - but entirely killing her momentum, slowing her considerably. She shook her head as her companion slowed to match her. "We can't get away from them like this! I'll try and hold some of them off, just fly away!" "No! Together or not at all!" Papillon spread her wings, moving into the air only enough to dodge a dive from a changeling, nimbly bouncing off its back as she continued her flight. After that there wasn't enough time to argue further, as they'd lost too much speed and soon found themselves surrounded properly. Nervously pressed back to back, the two of them readied themselves to fight for their lives and their freedom. Then there was a distinctly audible thunk, and one of the changelings collapsed. Closely followed by a sizzle of magic, and another. "Yeehaw, little buggys! How 'bout ya pick on a mob yer own size?" called a voice from just ahead of them, and they stared in disbelief and amazement as a horde of ponies charged, throwing rocks and magic and ropes before they hit the changeling line proper. For a few seconds, everything was chaos, then suddenly the circle of changelings around them was either lying prone or flying away, and ponies of every colour stood around them instead. An orange-coated mare stepped forth, tilting back her hat as she grinned at them and offered a hoof. "Howdy there. Name's Applejack. Care to join us?" Author's Note Well, had an interesting month and just didn't really get to do any writing. Decided I need to at least finish off this story before I start working any of the others running around in my head. Will try to have the rest of it out in the next few days, but I promise nothing! Thank you again to Kathangaroo for their assistance in checking and editing this!
Chapter 4: Alone/CommunityChrysalis was deeply surprised to be waking up. She was still fuzzy, that much was true. But she woke with a start as the cocoon she had been in was burst open, trying to push to hooves which were weaker than ever. She looked around, blinking her eyes clear until she could focus on the imposing figure of Mutare above her, glaring down. She managed to produce a weak semblance of a smile. "Something wrong, sister?" "It seems the Queen somehow got wind of my plan. Would you know anything about this?" "I doubt it will matter to either of us soon." Chrysalis tried to laugh, but ended up coughing up more of the cocoon's slime instead. "Very true." The looming black form above her turned, looking at the entrance to the room. "Soon, there will be a grand battle between the Queen and my hive. It will likely shake the very foundations of the Changelings forever." "I'd say I'm sorry to ruin your plans, but..." Chrysalis cut off in a flurry of coughing. "...I'm really not. I almost hope Mother keeps you alive as an example." "Ruin my plans? Oh, Chrysalis. You don't understand." Mutare grinned, leaning down to sit muzzle to muzzle with her captive. "Everything is going even better than I could have hoped." "W-what? You can't think you have enough power to defeat the Queen!" "Hmmm... you'd think that." She smiled enigmatically. "But you don't have all the information yet. You were wondering before how we replaced you and Vicci without being noticed? You're right - no drone could do the trick. It's all about layers! You have to think deeper, my dear. Because if you're already doing something that would get you executed... why not go all-out? If you can't get a drone to do a job..." Chrysalis' eyes were forced to look away as the flash of green power lit up the room. When she could see again, her antagonist had vanished, and another changeling stood there. She had the same colour scheme as Mutare, but was smaller, different. "Hello, Chrysalis. My name is Aurelia. Pleased to meet you face to face at last - instead of just meeting your face in the mirror!" "You're..." "Yes, yes, I'm Mutare's daughter, a new Princess, created without the Queen's knowledge. I know you're not quite at full uptake at the moment, so let me run you through it." Her voice dripped with smug superiority. "I'm the one who's been pretending to be you. I took your little swarm with me while Mutare stayed home. And the Queen, right now, is coming for my mother, and is about to bring her full force to bear in destroying her." "...So... you're going to pretend to be me, when the Queen gets here... and she'll rescue you, and take you back into the fold." Chrysalis blinked in horror. It was... it was a good plan, and again, there was nothing she could do about it. The other changeling could drain out her personality and make a solid show of it, if she could then hide the body. Aurelia seemed to agree, cackling at the thought. "Now you're thinking like a real changeling! That'd be a great plan, and it'd probably be what I'd do next... but again, you don't have all the information. As I told you before - it's all about layers. I plan to outlive my mother, but a little more dramatically than that." "What?" "Your brood, Chrysalis. As I told you, they loved you, so very, very much. The plan was to... antagonise the pony populace. Start a war, stir up trouble, run home with our tails between our legs. But it went wrong, Chrysalis. Do you know how?" "...No?" The only thing Chrysalis could do now was keep the princess talking, and as a literally captive audience she really didn't have much choice but to listen. "We won." Aurelia said quietly, suddenly serious, pacing around the room. "Everything went off almost without a hitch. Only one pony actually noticed anything was wrong at all - one little pony, who knew Cadenza from foalhood and was related to her fiance. And nobody listened to her, until she managed to burst in the door with the real Cadenza. "Finally the time had come for the grand reveal, and I did a bit of showing off, was ready to get blasted across the castle by Celestia, then run away while your brood fought to protect, well, 'you'. I was ready to put up a bit of a fight... and then you know what happened?" She drew up, her muzzle suddenly inches from Chrysalis'. "I knocked out Celestia with a single blow." "What?!" She recoiled back as much as her body could manage, as much from the sudden proximity as the revelation. "I know! The goddess of the sun! At midday! At first I thought it was just that she'd just been massively overestimated or something, or maybe I'd taken out a body double? It's what we'd do. But then I realised... I was strong. "Because for the last few weeks... I've had hundreds, hundreds of drones who love you, who adore you, who are unendingly, beautifully, heart-wrenchingly loyal to you above all others... focusing all that beautiful Loyalty on me." Chrysalis felt an almost physical pain - overwhelming even the actual physical pain she was in right now - at the thought of her beautiful children being fooled, having their loyalty fed on like common ponies. Mutare's brood had always been the most recognised of the changelings among the ponies - though even they were rarely caught - and the start of the rumours that they fed on love, for indeed, Loyalty was so often a key part of such. But changelings gained far more sustenance when what they ate was stolen, not given freely. And her whole brood had given their loyalty to who they thought was her... and... "So I found myself having won. Celestia captured. And then I could have picked up the Elements of Harmony! Oh, I barely knew what to do with myself. If I could get the elements... then we'd win forever." She paced. Chrysalis boggled at the thought. The Elements of Harmony - the pure incarnations of the very concepts they fed upon. If they could be harnessed by the Changelings... it might mean unlimited power. " And then... then I let my guard down for a second." Aurelia snarled. "I thought I'd won. But then they manage to snap the fiance out of it, and combine their powers into the biggest work of magic I've ever seen. It was as if we'd just had the castle thrown at us. Squashed like bugs. For a moment, I didn't think I was going to survive. "But your beautiful, loyal little drones pulled through for me. Every single one of them." The smaller changeling princess smiled with horrible satisfaction. "They died for you, Chrysalis. The last thought on every single one of their minds was that they would give up their lives for you, so loyal were they." Chrysalis gave out a horrible scream, trying to leap again at her tormentor, thinking of nothing but hurting this monster who had fed off the sacrifice of every one of her beautiful children. Even if her legs had obeyed her whim, before she had even finished crouching, green magic wrapped around her like metal plating, holding her in place, unable to move an inch. Aurelia's horn glowed with so much power it was almost painful to look at, though she seemed to be barely paying attention. She writhed hopelessly and let out another strangled banshee wail before her muzzle was clamped shut and she was brought face to face once again with the other changeling. "They died for you." She purred, moving close to her captive, taunting her with her powerlessness. "Every one of them, a final act of pure Loyalty... and Kindness I suppose as well, but that hardly matters, does it? And I not only came out of it unharmed... but far, far stronger than ever. I could match Celestia before. I think now I can take out our Queen herself, especially if she is weakened and distracted in combat with my mother, and the fraction of this power I fed to her to show her my loyalty was still strong." Chrysalis struggled, but could not so much as open her mouth, such were her bonds. If she were a pony, she might have wept, then. This monster had sacrificed her precious children, and through that become unto a physical goddess, and she could do absolutely nothing about it. "And that, I think, is what I am going to do. My mother had her plans, and they were good ones, but honestly? They're fairly moot at this point. So I just thought I'd come down and thank you, Chrysalis, while mother weakens the Queen. If it wasn't for you and the kindness you showed your drones... I don't think I'd have this opportunity. And I just wanted someone to know - I think I may have enjoyed the whole monologue-reveal thing a little too much when I was back in Canterlot. I'll have to break that habit." She moved up to Chrysalis, smiling wide. "And so, here we stand. Your brood died for me. Your name is cursed by changeling and pony alike. Everything you have ever stood for is now destroyed. And I'm the only one who truly knows how responsible you are for the new world order to come." Chrysalis fought her bonds, but it was like being buried in stone. They gave not an inch, as the green-lined horn grew closer. Only her eyes could move, watching its progress as it inched towards her head. "Loyalty forced on someone with magic is usually not very appetising... it's almost sickly, to be honest. But I think I will always take time to savour it from you. Goodbye, Chrysalis. It's been a pleasure being you." And the world turned green, then black... ~-~-~-~ "Hoo-ee that was a close one! Don't you two worry yourselves none, those bugs ain't gonna be tryin' anythin' with us here." The voice of their rescuer was music to Spring's ears as the other ponies bustled around them, making sure they were okay and congratulating them on their escape. "Th-thanks, um, Applejack... I'm Spring Bounty, and this is Papillon." "Well ya done well getting away!" Applejack gestured with a nod, and soon the whole group was marching away from the scene again, back the way they'd come. "We got a bunch of folks from different villages here, snatched out from under buggy snouts. You'll fit in just fine." "Oh, thank you!" "You're... you're one of Celestia's champions!" Blurted Papillon, staring at the orange-coated mare before them. Applejack chuckled, tipping her hat slightly as if to cover her face modestly. "I s'pose you could say that. When the whole mess started, she tol' us to go around and help whoever we could, while she held Canterlot safe and prepared the counterattack." "Thank you!" Spring wailed, leaping forward and hugging Applejack tightly, making a few of the other ponies jump. "Oh, I was beginning to wonder if there was anyone left at all!" "Yeah... well, it ain't been easy." The smile fell off Applejack's face, and a few of the other ponies looked away from her. "There's a few groups around, but some of 'em are just changelings tryin' to get into our heads. And we don't dare send too many messengers from here t' the capital, so we ain't heard much from Celestia lately. But yer safe here with us, that much I can promise you." She grinned as she gestured forward, as the leading ponies surrounding them split apart to show them... their new home. It was a rough and tumble thing, nothing on even the small village that Spring was used to. Most of it was tents and shelters, with a few more solid huts complete and several more mid-construction, without the colour or uniqueness of your average pony town - but it looked like a resort compared to sleeping in bushes and caves like they had the past couple of weeks. "Me an' my friends have little safe havens like this around, and we're rescuin' more and more ponies to come live in them." Applejack waved at the other villagers in the town, who gave a slight cheer in turn. "And you'll be safe here." "Thank you so much! I knew the Princesses wouldn't let us all down!" Spring bounded in, looking around in wonder as the raiding party split off to take up various tasks throughout the village, leaving Applejack and a couple of others with the newcomers. "Canterlot'll have everything back together soon, but there's a few rules you have to follow here to make sure everyone stays safe." One of the others spoke up, a tall pegasus stallion in guard armour stated with a stern glare at the two mares, and Applejack nodded in agreement beside him. "No wandering off. If you go out of sight of the village, we can't protect you then." "They won't dare attack us directly here, but they're not above tryin' tricks to get in." "They... won't attack here?" Spring tilted her head, and then actually had a good look at the budding settlement. Tents and huts, farmland, with barely a wooden palisade around the edge. Come to think of it, the population here wasn't really that much higher than that of her own village. They weren't making a solid effort to hide, there weren't a great number of guards... She shivered. Suddenly, the place didn't actually seem that safe after all. "Wait... why won't they attack here?" She asked. "They've taken whole cities! Why won't they come here?" Applejack grinned, leading them on to the centre of town. "The thing you gotta understand about Changelings is, they really ain't that tough. They look nasty, sure, but by themselves they ain't too much trouble in a fair fight. Problem is, they're good at being tricky little buggers, and there's lots of 'em - too many to fight if there's only one or two of you. "All the villages and towns, they had spies in there already - they knew everything that was goin' on, they replaced important ponies, and caused all sorts of confusion. Half the time the ponies didn't know whether they were attackin' friends or bugs. By the time they sorted everythin' out, it was a whole mess and all the bugs had to do was come and sweep up." Spring looked down shamefully, memories of the assault on her village coming back clearly. It had been chaos, nobody knowing what was going on, and everyone was just running around frightened and confused, until she'd ended up getting hit by one of those green bolts... then another, and another... and after that, the cocoons. "But we ain't got any little bugs in our village. If they come for us, we'll be ready for 'em." "What? How can you be so sure?" Papillon blurted. Spring turned to her friend. "Oh, that's easy. See, after the Wedding, we started lookin' into how changelings worked - and our own magic too. And as you said, I'm one of Celestia's champions. Specifically, the Element of Honesty." The grin she gave Papillon was suddenly much wider. "And that means I've learnt to tell when somepony ain't what she says she is." Spring had a feeling she'd missed something. Applejack wasn't really talking to her anymore, and Papillon was backing away from her - at least, until she suddenly ran into the pegasus stallion behind her, glowering down. "What's going on?" Spring looked around at the group. "Well, I mighta been wrong. We might have one little bug in our village." "No, wait! You don't understand, I'm--" "Get 'er." The stallion's hoof came down on Papillon faster than she or Spring could react. She was almost instantly flattened against the ground, struggling weakly as her captor held her down on her side, one wing trapped beneath her. "N-no, please! You can't do this to me, I-I saved her!" Her eyes bulged desperately. "You have to lis--urk!" A second armour-clad hoof found its way to her neck, cutting off her voice as she struggled futilely, choking. "Applejack, what is he doing? What are you doing? Get off her!" Spring went to help her friend, but Applejack held her back easily, her eyes hard. "She saved you, sugarcube, but t'weren't outta the goodness of 'er heart. She just wanted help gettin' in here. As if that was gonna work." "W-what do you mean?" Spring stared down at Papillon, who shook her head frantically, her eyes pleading for help as she fought for breath and desperately pawed at the hoof on her neck, which moved not an inch. "It means this." Applejack let go of Spring, and moved forward to the trapped pegasus mare. Spring watched on as Applejack turned and raised a hind leg, and bucked the pegasus with full force in the stomach. Spring gave a strangled yelp at the brutality of the attach, which turned into a scream as her companion convulsed and flashed with green flame, revealing the prone form of a black-armoured bug beneath. A network of cracks webbed out from the site of the kick, leaking blood, and the creature curled up around it, gasping for breath between chittering sobs. "Wh-what?" "I'm sorry, Spring. It was just trying to get into the village - you were just there to support its story." Applejack gave her an apologetic look, wiping her hoof off on the grass. "It wasn't your friend." "But... but she saved me!" Spring stared in horror, unable to take her eyes off the twitching creature before her. The guardspony had not even flinched at the rush of flame, used to the illusionary pyrotechnics, but eased back, sitting his armoured hoof on the creature's insectile wings. It wasn't going anywhere with that wound. "Changelings will do all sorts of things, say all sorts of things, to get you to trust them. That's why they're so scary. But they can't trick me, Spring. Look at me." She felt a hoof guide her muzzle until she was looking her saviour - and her ex-saviour's enemy - in the eye, instead of the shuddering creature. "Calm down. Breathe." "She... she said she wanted to go to Canterlot... she needed to speak to the princesses. She... I wouldn't have made it this far if she hadn't..." Her eyes kept flicking to the body on the ground. "I know it probably seemed real nice. But it just wanted to spy on us. But I promise ya, I won't let any changeling get near ya again. That there's the Honest truth. So long as you stick with us, I can look after you." "P-please... you have to..." The changeling suddenly rasped. "Have to... tell... important... please listen... trust me... the princesses..." It gave a gasp as the stallion kicked it in the side again, making it fall silent except for laboured breaths. Applejack and Spring turned to face it as it whimpered. It stared at them with an imploring look - or what might have been an imploring look on a creature who was not fanged, and whose eyes were not soulless and blank. Spring looked back down at the changeling, shivering. She'd trusted her, every step of the way, from the moment she'd been rescued. She'd never even considered that she might not be what she said. How could this have happened? "How could I be so stupid?" She whispered, her thoughts finding their way between her lips. "You're not stupid. Don't be hard on yourself." Applejack smiled grimly. "As I said, they're tricky little bugs." "How could you do this to me?" She rounded on the changeling, tears now falling freely. "You tricked me! You told me stories! Just so you could capture more ponies?" "N-no... warning... only way... needed... to escape..." "W-what?" She blinked, taken aback. "War... in the hive... escaped... want to... stop them... help..." the creature cried out in pain, trying to hold its cracked shell together. "Please..." Spring wavered at the pitable sight - surely at this point, the creature had nothing to gain from continuing to lie - and turned to Applejack, who was giving the creature a curious look. "...You're... are you sure she can't... I mean, you said you're the element of Honesty, can you..." "There's one way I can be sure if it can be trusted." Applejack stated darkly. "Really?" "Oh, certainly." She walked up to the Changeling again. Spring watched curiously, wondering what wonder of Elemental magic she might be about to witness... Then cried out once again as Applejack reared up, and slammed both her hooves down on the creature's head. It didn't even have time to cry out. But Spring thought she would remember that crack-squelch sound for the rest of her life. Applejack stared pitilessly at the remains on the grass. "The only changeling you can ever trust is a dead one. I told you - they will say anything, pretend anything. But all they want is to steal your love away from you, and capture us all again. Trust me - I've seen it a hundred times before." For a long moment, she stared at the now mostly-headless body on the ground, until she couldn't take it anymore and looked away, clenching her jaw. Applejack wiped off her hooves again, then moved over to comfort the poor, lost soul. Finally, as the weight of it all dropped on her, she burst into tears, falling into Applejack. At least she was safe now, safe from the bugs who flew after them and the bugs who pretended to be her friends... thanks to Applejack. Between her sobs, she swore she'd do her best to help with the village, and keep them all safe, and help any other ponies they could save. Whatever Applejack needed her to do. And Applejack held her close, letting her get the sobs out of her system, accepting the oaths of another loyal pony. She smiled, hidden under her wide hat, and her apple-green eyes flashed emerald.
