The Warden

Chapters

The Concert
The Performance
The Encore
The Finale

The Concert

It was late in the Everfree forest. The sun had long set, and the creatures, monstrous or otherwise, were all fast asleep. All except for one. A lone creature walked through the trees: the wind rustling the cloak on its back and making light whistling noises as it passed through the holes in its legs. Its dark colored horn was aglow with a bright green magical light, the same light that shined through the lantern that hovered in the air next to it. The creature was tired, though it wasn’t fatigued. It had been tracking its target for some time. Following the trail which the lantern revealed to the creature, it listened as the lantern talked, whispered, and sang in a soft voice the creature was almost completely certain only he could hear.

Lantern glow, lantern sway,
I shall lead the way,
Lantern glow, lantern sway,
I still cannot get away.

The creature shook his head and stared off into the distance as he reached the exit of the forest. He had found where his target had been hiding. He had found Ponyville.

ACE awoke and tumbled out of bed, landing with a groan as he hit the hard apartment floor. The thud from the impact awoke his girlfriend who had been sleeping beside him. Lilly, a sky blue earth pony with dark blue freckles, a blond tail, and a blonde mane that covered her left eye, looked over at ACE.

This revealed her cutie mark, a single black music note, which she earned for her talent with her voice. Known to some as Lilly the Siren, she traveled all over Equestria and performed concerts with a voice so magnificent that even a minimal amount of vocals could leave lesser ponies weak in the knees, and some would even swoon over. Lilly’s raging fan-base was kept in check by her bodyguard ACE, a white unicorn with a dark brown mane who seemed to have come out of nowhere. He showed up one day out of the blue in front of Lilly and has been following her ever since. ACE’s cutie mark, the 3 different colored cards, represented his gift in all sorts of magic but none more so than his skills with a deck of cards. ACE could do things with a playing card that others could only dream of, ranging from spectacular tricks to his most common practice of using them for combat, in which he enchanted the cards with spells and launched them at anyone who got too close to his beloved music star girlfriend.

Despite Lilly’s popularity, the couple was still rather poor due to their travel expenses. More often than not, this meant the two of them would spend their nights in hotels and usually could only afford a room with a single bed. Just like what happened tonight.

“ACE, are you okay?” Lilly looked at her boyfriend as he sat up and rubbed the back of his neck, grunting.

“I’m fine,” replied the unicorn. “I just had a bad dream.”

Lilly grew more concerned for the stallion. ACE had been having “bad dreams” since they arrived at Ponyville.

“Are you going to be okay? I can postpone the performance if you’re not feeling well.”
ACE turned to face Lilly with a smirk on his face.

“The great Lilly postpone one of her legendary concerts just ‘cause her bodyguard lost an hour or two of sleep? You and I both know that’s not an option. Besides, isn’t the princess going to be attending this?”

Lilly nodded. This concert was more special than her average ones. This was a midnight concert in Ponyville in honor of Princess Luna, who would be attending it personally. Lilly always loved performing in Ponyville, for she had more than just fans there. She had friends, and any friend of Lilly was a friend to ACE so he felt the same way.
ACE reassured the mare as he walked towards the hotel room’s window, opening it up as a slight breeze flew in, “I’ll be fine, I just need to stretch my wings a bit, I’ve spent so much time in this form it’s starting to get a bit stuffy.”
ACE closed his eyes and concentrated, an aura of green magic washed over him, revealing his true form, a changeling with a horn that curved backwards like a scythe blade. Lilly was fully aware she was dating a changeling and oddly enough the thought was almost comforting to her.

ACE, or Lord Amethyst as the changelings knew him, fed on love just like every other changeling. Lilly produced enough to keep him fed for the rest of his life and two more after that. The love seemed to be more potent if it was towards him and not a pony he was disguised as. He couldn’t very well go walking around cities as a changeling, thus his alternate persona ACE was born.

“Try not to get spotted alright dear?” Lilly smiled and winked at the changeling.

“No one’s out this late,” Amethyst responded. “I’ll just do a quick fly around the stage where the concerts going on and I’ll be back long before anyone wakes up.”

Lilly nodded and went back to sleep. Amethyst jumped out of the window and flew off, his wings buzzing like a wasp as he flew off towards the stage.

Upon arriving, Amethyst nodded with satisfaction. Lilly’s best friends Chroma Sketch and Ravewind were put in charge of making sure the stage was set. The result was borderline perfection. As he admired the stage he heard the sound of hooves coming from behind him. Amethyst turned around to see a pony with solid black fur, light green eyes, and neon green hair staring at him. Amethyst backed up a bit, not sure how to respond to being seen. Who in Equestria besides him stays out this late? Before he could decide on a course of action the pony smiled wickedly and started to laugh.

“Come now, don’t you recognize me?” Amethyst shook his head and the mysterious stallion laughed. The laugh was deep and soulless, almost like his…Oh no.

The stallion began to glow with a bright green fire. Magical energies washed over the colt, revealing yet another changeling. This one had a crooked horn just like Amethyst, except instead of folding back, this one pushed out. This changeling also had hair and green eyes, like Queen Chrysalis. This was Amethyst’s older brother, Catalyst, the self-proclaimed “Lord of the Changeling Army.”

“What are you doing here?” Amethyst growled.

“Is that any way to greet family little brother?” The changeling lord hissed lightly and smirked. Amethyst simply spat and hissed right back.

“You tried to steal Lilly from me and drag her back to the swarm! You were going to use her like a battery then toss her out when she dried up!” Amethyst glared with fury at his brother, his eyes beginning to glow with a dim green light.

“About your girlfriend;” Catalyst interrupted while looking over the holes in his hooves. “It seems your relationship with that girl has gotten the attention of The Warden.”

“The Warden, what in the queen’s name does he want?” Amethyst was confused about what his brother said, but seeing as though it was his brother who said it, it wasn’t good news.

“You, I’d imagine.” Catalyst replied. “Remember, the warden’s job is to hunt down renegade changelings who leave the swarm.”

“I haven’t left!” Amethyst challenged. “My loyalty will always be to the queen! I simply took a different path from you and all the others.”

Catalyst shrugged. “You can tell him that when he gets here.”
Amethyst went back to glaring at his older brother.

“When should I expect him?” He demanded.

“I don’t know” Catalyst replied. “I only know that he’s coming for you. Circumstances aside, I am still your older brother Amethyst. I’m simply looking out for you.”

“Nothing is simple with you.” Amethyst put a hissing emphasis on the word ‘simple,’ Catalyst did not reply. He simply turned around and started to walk away. Donning the appearance of the black furred, green-maned stallion that he was before vanishing into the night. Amethyst gave a dismissive gesture before letting out a yawn. He jumped to the sky and began to fly back to the hotel. He had to move quickly, the sun was about to rise.

Lilly awoke to find her exhausted changeling boyfriend lying in the bed beside her. He wasn’t under the covers and was still in his true form. Lilly assumed he flew back in through the window, landed on the bed, and went straight to sleep. She reached over and shook him lightly trying to wake him up. The changeling’s body was chilly. Unlike ponies that have fur, changelings were primarily insectoid so their bodies functioned more like a carapace or a shell. After a bit of mumbling and a couple light buzzing and hissing noises, Amethyst turned over and slowly began to wake.

“Have a long night dear?” Lilly asked him softly.

“You have no idea.” Replied Amethyst, his words slurred with a buzzing noise implying he was still half asleep.

“Well come on, we need to get to the staging area bright and early to oversee the final preparation.” As Lilly spoke she began to shove the changeling around a bit more aggressively. In response he turned back the opposite direction.

“Give me 5 minutes.” He murmured as he started to drift back to sleep.

Lilly giggled and shook her head.

“No can do.” With a smirk on her face, she rolled to the side and bucked the changeling out of bed with her hind legs. The shock of hitting the floor snapped Amethyst out of his trance, causing him to immediately shift his appearance back to his alter ego ACE and scramble to his hooves.

“I’m up! I’m up! I’m up!” He repeated over and over as he tried to get his dizzy head together.

Lilly smiled and nodded. “Good, now let’s get going!” At that, she flung open the door to their room and quickly trotted out the door. ACE shook his head then with a sigh and a shrug followed her out.

Word of Lilly’s performance quickly spread through the little town of Ponyville. It seemed like the entire town was out and about with everypony helping in some form or the other. Twilight Sparkle trotted through the groups making checks on checklists and supervising all of her friends. Applejack was in charge of making sweets for the concert. Currently she and Apple Fritter were making, well, apple fritters. The two of them had come up with a new recipe overnight. After a quick sample Twilight licked her lips approvingly then moved onto the next group. She found Pinkie Pie with Ravewind and Chroma Sketch who were setting up balloons and streamers over the hall. The decorations all shared the same pattern of dark blue with lots of stars and moons in honor of Princess Luna. Twilight found Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy just behind the concert area. Fluttershy was throwing rocks into the air while Rainbow dodged around them. Before preparations had begun, Rainbow Dash volunteered to perform a daring and borderline impossible series of stunts near the end of the concert. They involved flying around through a series of fireworks leaving a rainbow trail behind her, finishing with a Sonic Rainboom during Lilly’s final high note. Dash needed to practice maneuvering around the fireworks but Fluttershy wasn’t proving to be of much use.

“Come on Fluttershy! You have to throw those WAY harder! They’re going so slow I can dodge them in my sleep!”
Rainbow Dash yelling at the poor yellow Pegasus didn’t seem to be helping her throwing arm. If anything it was making it worse. Rainbow Dash could only sigh.

“Will somepony please help Fluttershy? I need a challenge here!”

On that note a sky blue Pegasus with goofy looking yellow eyes zipped up next to Fluttershy, picking up a nearby rock. She slung it as hard as she could, smacking Rainbow clean in the forehead with it.

“Nice…Shot.” Rainbow stammered as she plummeted to the ground with a loud thud. She awoke to find Twilight, Fluttershy, and the other sky blue Pegasus looking over her.

“Oops, sorry Rainbow Dash, are you okay?” The sky blue Pegasus moved in closer to her causing her nose to rub against Rainbows. Rainbow Dash jumped to the air shaking her head to get the stars and butterflies to go away.

“I’m fine Ditzy, thank you.” With that the other Pegasus nodded and trotted away.

“Thanks anyway Fluttershy. I think I’ll get Apple Jack to help me later on too.”

Fluttershy nodded. She was a bit disappointed that she couldn’t help her friend, but at the same time she was relieved she
didn’t have to throw rocks anymore. She then left as well, looking for something less violent to help with.

Twilight walked over to where Rarity was creating Lilly’s attire for the evening. A stunning dark blue dress that looked similar to Twilight’s Gala dress but had minor alterations such as a large whole moon on the flank where Lilly’s cutie mark would be located. The dress also featured a short trail at the end of it that was covered in Gem Grind Glitter, a creation of Rarity’s that involved grinding gemstones until they were just solid enough to not be considered powder.

“How’s the dress going Rarity?” asked Twilight to her overly focused friend. Rarity was in the middle of working a sewing machine that she brought from her boutique. She stopped only for a brief moment to acknowledge Twilight’s presence then went back to work without saying a word. Twilight gave her a funny look as Diamodozen, an earth pony who had been assisting Rarity, walked over to her.

“Sorry, she’s been like this since we started. She had a stroke of genius hit her this morning and she’s worried if she stops for too long she’ll loose the spark. The dress is coming along quite nicely. She’s really outdoing herself.”

Twilight nodded in agreement and headed for the stage. There was only one of her friends left to check on and that was Pinkie Pie.

“Ravewind, heads up!” Ravewind turned just in time to take a roll of streamers to the face. He lost his balance but managed to quickly recover and keep himself in the air. He looked down to see Pinkie Pie bouncing up and down on the ground laughing next to Chroma Sketch, who was tossing another streamer roll up and down as she yelled to him.

“What’s wrong? Why are you zoning out?” Ravewind flew to the ground and walked up to the two mares.

“Sorry, just lost in thought.” He replied to her

Chroma gave her friend an inquisitive look. “That’s not like you. What’s on your mind?”

Ravewind shrugged, “It’s nothing important. Come on, let’s get the rest of these decorations up.”

Ravewind leaped into the sky with renewed vigor as Chroma Sketch tossed him some streamers. She then took a few from Pinkie Pie and the two of them flew off to finish their job. One less thing on Twilight’s checklist to oversee.

Lilly strolled through the streets of Ponyville, which was getting completely redone from the inside out. She gazed in awe at how the town was transforming before her eyes. ACE tailed her not far away as usual, only this time his attention was constantly shifting. He seemed paranoid about something but Lilly paid him to mind. This was the biggest reception they had ever had. While this was part of why Lilly loved Ponyville, she knew this would cause ACE to be on edge. Lilly was so distracted by the decorations she didn’t notice how fast she was walking. She found herself plowing straight into Twilight Sparkle causing them both to fall to the ground. Lilly quickly composed herself and apologized.

“Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It’s quite alright,” Twilight responded, she turned around to see who had run into her and discovered it to be Lilly.

“Oh my, I think I should be the one apologizing Lilly.”

Lilly shook her head. “It was my fault, I was just so distracted by the city. Everything here looks amazing!”

“I’m glad you like it,” Twilight smiled brightly, “We’re just missing one last thing and we’ll be ready to go.”

“What’s that?” Lilly asked the unicorn.

“Burst powder for the fireworks,” answered Twilight, “Zecora’s making it at her hut in the Everfree Forest. It should be ready right about now actually. Would you mind picking it up for us?”

“I’ll get it.” ACE interrupted the two stepping forward to volunteer for the venture. “Lilly needs to rehearse and make sure Ravewind and Chroma Sketch finished their ends of the set up.”

“Oh, he talks?” Twilight pointed at ACE and she and Lilly giggled to each other, ACE scoffed it off. It’s true that despite being friends with Twilight and the rest of the mares, he hardly ever said a word to any of them. The few times he did talk he was usually talking to Lilly.

“Are you going to be okay by yourself?” Lilly asked.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” ACE responded.

Lilly pondered the question and nodded. ACE nodded in response and began to make his way towards the Everfree Forrest. As he left Twilight couldn’t help but notice Lilly’s sudden change in expression.

“You’re worried about him?” She asked Lilly.

“He’s been…out of it the past week. I guess I’m just a bit concerned.”

Twilight gave Lilly a reassuring smile. “He’ll be back before you know it. A Unicorn of his magical caliber has little to fear from the forest.”

Lilly watched ACE disappear on the horizon. She wasn’t completely sure why, but for some reason it wasn’t the forest she was worried about.

The Performance

ACE made his way through the Everfree Forest. The sounds of creatures and rustling branches were disturbing but nothing he wasn’t used to. As he headed for Zecora’s hut, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It looked like the silhouette of a pony, like a unicorn, but at the same time he wasn’t sure. It seemed to be following him yet every time he turned his head to look straight at it the shadow simply vanished. Perhaps he was becoming paranoid. There was no real way to tell.

ACE arrived at Zecora’s hut and knocked on the door. A familiar voice inside the hut beckoned him to come in, so ACE opened the door and did just that. He found Zecora the Zebra hard at work grabbing plants, petals, salts, and various other multicolored ingredients. Some were going into a cauldron, others into a large mixing mortar, which Zecora stirred
using her hoof as a pestle.

“Welcome little pony, it’s good to see you, is there something you wish me to do?”
There she goes again, talking in rhymes. ACE had no idea why Zecora talked like that. He figured it must have been a zebra thing.

“Actually as it turns out, I’ve been sent by Twilight and her friends to collect the Burst Powder, is it ready?”

“Patience my friend,” replied the zebra, “Though I am skilled with many brews and flowers, one thing I know not of, is what you ponies call ‘Burst Powder’”

“You don’t know how to make it?” ACE asked, surprise in his voice.

Zecora smiled and shook her head. “Relax little pony, I have what I need. I simply have never been asked to do this deed.”

ACE tried his best to translate what the zebra had just said. From what he could tell she was saying she had the recipe and guide to make Burst Powder, she was just never asked to make it before. This didn’t surprise him. Until the original creation of fireworks, Burst Powder would have been considered a tool for war thus its creation would have been frowned upon.
A puff of smoke arose from the cauldron. Zecora scooped out a spoon full of the brew and poured it into the powdered mixture in the mortar. The concoction sizzled a bit before simmering down into a dark purple powder.

“It is done my friend, to Ponyville I leave the rest. Though this was just my first time, I must say it was my best.”

ACE stared at the powder for a bit. It looked good, but then again, he had never seen Burst Powder before.
“Oh, I almost forgot, Twilight wanted to know if there was a way to turn the powder orange.” ACE smiled innocently, wondering if Zecora would catch what he had done.

“I know of no way to turn the mixture orange, but I can…” Zecora paused and her eyes widened, then narrowed again as she gave ACE a condescending glare. ACE simply laughed to himself as he bundled up the powder into a pouch. He thanked Zecora for her help and headed out of her hut towards Ponyville.

The decorations were finally finished and the whole town seemed ready to receive the princess of the night. All that was left was the Burst Powder. It was still a bit before noon so they had a lot of spare time. Lilly decided the best thing to do would be to meet ACE half way and take the powder back together. She began to make her way to the Everfree forest. As she reached the outskirts of Ponyville she passed by a strange looking black pony with wavy light green hair. She had never seen this pony before. Maybe it was a traveler who caught wind of the concert. Whatever the case she ran by him without a second thought and headed for the forest.

The pony watched Lilly depart, whispering to himself as she left.
“So it begins.”

There was an almost buzzing noise to the stranger’s accent, as he made his way further into Ponyville.

Lilly made her way through the Everfree Forest. It was as dark and empty as she remembered the last time she went through it. As she made her way to Zecora’s hut, something began to feel off, like she was being watched. Suddenly the very air around her seemed to turn lifeless and cold. She heard the sound of footsteps approaching from the back, with each step the area around her seemed to die just a little bit more.

“ACE, are you there? Is that you?” Lilly turned to see a shadow approaching her. The creature walked into view revealing it to be a changeling, but this was unlike any changeling she had ever seen before. Unlike ACE who had a crooked horn, this changeling appeared to have one that was run-of-the-mill for their race, the rest of the creature however was a completely different story. The body of the changeling was darker than average and its ears were long strands that ran down his back. The strands were cut into segments and ended with shapes that resembled sickles that seemed to be held together with magic. The changeling wore a dark purple cloak over his wings and carapace, the cloak was covered with bones, with a skull on the right side of it. The skull had a chain that came out of its mouth, which wrapped around the changeling and ultimately connected to a glowing green lantern that hovered beside the creature. Surely Lilly was staring into the eyes of a wisp, or perhaps even the grim reaper.

“Who are you?” She asked the changeling, backing away slowly as she shyly spoke to the intimidating creature.

The creature mimicked the question back to her, his voice lifeless and blunt, almost exhausted even. “Who are you?”

“I’m Lilly.” She was hesitant to tell another changeling her name. Could this, creature, be why ACE was so on edge?

“Lilly.” The creature paused before suddenly taking on a more aggressive tone. “Then you are part of the problem, if I can’t find him, you will simply have to do.”

The lamp hovered closer to Lilly and the glow began to intensify, Lilly’s eyes widened with extreme terror. She could feel her very life being drawn into the lantern and she could hear it softly singing to her.

Bound by chain, bound by chain
Her hunger never ends.

Lilly began to slip into a trance as the word ‘warden’ was whispered into her ear over and over. Just before any permanent damage could be done, a bright flash of light separated the mare from the changeling and snapped Lilly back to reality. Both turned to see ACE step out from a nearby thicket with a series of cards spinning around his neck.

“ACE!” Lilly shouted overjoyed to see him in one piece.

“Lilly! Get back to Ponyville now!” ACE loaded a smokescreen spell onto one of his cards and flung it at the changeling’s feet, a massive puff of black smoke covered, him allowing Lilly to dash to ACE’s side.

“Who is that ACE?” Lilly asked her voice in a panic.

“That’s Warden, there’s no time to explain, here!” ACE tossed Lilly the burst powder. “Take this and run!”

“But-“ Lilly was cut off by ACE shouting at her.

“This is not up for debate Lilly! Run!”

As Lilly began to run, one of Warden’s hook ears burst from the cloud of smoke aimed straight for Lilly. ACE had just enough time to throw up a Shield card protecting her as she ran.

“Impressive.” Warden spattered bluntly. “However it will take more than your parlor pony tricks to best a Warden.”

“Oh, I’m aware.” ACE replied.

ACE violently flung the rest of his cards at warden, each was enchanted with weaker versions of the flash bang spell he had used before. Warden, having better reaction time this time around managed to cover his eyes to avoid the blasts. After the lights had worn off, Warden discovered that not only had ACE changed into his true form Lord Amethyst, there were now
five of Amethyst surrounding him.

“Flawless execution” stated Warden, again his tone was blunt and emotionless. “I’d expect nothing less from a prince.”

Warden’s words seemed to taunt Amethyst and all five of his clones lunged at the changeling. Warden’s horn began to glow the all too familiar shade of green, his lantern circled around him rapidly leaving a green circle where he stood. Just as the five Amethysts were about to land on him, a pillar of green flames erupted from beneath him, shattering the five illusions. The pillar subsided revealing remains of the fire all over Warden’s body. The bone cloak he was wearing had burned away to ash, but Warden seemed completely unharmed and undeterred. He scanned the area with emotionless eyes. If all five of the Amethysts that attacked him were illusions, then the real one would still be around.
The lantern suddenly flickered sending out a pulse of green light. A female voice cried out from the lantern saying a single word.

“Warden!”

Warden’s eyes widened and he bucked back with his hind legs. His hooves collided with Amethyst’s face with a loud smack that sent Amethyst into the air. Amethyst hung in the air as he shouted down to his assailant.

“Why are you after me? I’ve done nothing wrong! I am still loyal to the queen and the swarm!”

Warden didn’t seem to care what Amethyst had to say. His horn glowed green once more and his lantern spun out in front of him, launching a green fireball at Amethyst. The fireball connected, shattering yet another illusion. As the image faded, small bits of green flame burst from it setting a nearby tree on fire. Warden glared at the tree and the lantern pulsed again, making the fire spread almost instantly to other trees. This created a ring of green flame, cutting off the real Amethyst who had just come back into view and was trying to escape.

“I’m not your enemy Warden,” Amethyst assured. “I’m on your side!”

Warden vanished as Amethyst panicked, looking desperately for the changeling. Suddenly he could hear Warden’s cold lifeless words coming from just behind him.

“You are in love. Therefore, you are an enemy.”

Dozens of green circles filled the ground as Warden took to the sky, his lantern dancing in circles around him as he arose. Amethyst jumped around as many pillars of flame as he could, but ultimately he took to the skies to avoid the assault. It didn’t stop there however. Amethyst was soon met with a volley of green fire. One of the flames exploded against his chest, only to reveal an illusion. Amethyst appeared beside Warden and gave him a violent four-hoof shove staggering the changeling back. Amethyst charged blindly towards Warden, a defensive wall of flames revealed yet another illusion. Two Amethysts appeared on either end of Warden and dove for him. Warden simply dropped from the sky, causing the two copies to slam into each other, shattering them both.

“Enough games.”

The lantern began to sing again.

Bound by chain, bound by chain
With me this fight will end.

The lantern spun furiously around Wardens body until it completely unwrapped itself. Warden cringed at the feel of the chains violently rubbing his body as they unwound. Finally undone, the lantern flung itself into the air. After a massive pulse emitted from it, a massive fiery green explosion covered the entire nearby area in an explosion so massive it could
probably be seen from the four corners of Equestria.

Warden returned to the ground of the forest. The surrounding trees and plant life were charred to cinders from the explosion. Anything that wasn’t black was on fire. He walked up to Amethyst who was lying on the ground unconscious, his body was covered in small harmless green flames and his hooked horn was sparking with green electric-looking energy.

“You fool.” Warden murmured to himself as the lantern retied itself around him. Once finished the lantern began to drift towards the unconscious changeling, but it seemed fate was determined to interrupt yet again.

“Hey!” Warden turned and looked to the skies to see two Pegasi flying down. Both seemed very angry with Warden, but he couldn’t care less about that. It was the light blue colt Pegasus that was yelling at him that was starting to annoy him a little.

“I don’t know who you two are or what you’re doing, but I DO want to know why exactly you’re burning down our forest!” Ravewind glared angrily at the changeling, waiting for a response that didn’t come. The changeling simply turned around and looked back at his unconscious ‘buddy.’

“Hey! Don’t ignore me!” Ravewind shouted again, as he flailed a hoof around.

“Ravewind forget it.” Chroma Sketch quipped. “He’s clearly not interested in talking, let’s just get him out of here.”

Ravewind smirked. “I see your buddy there’s looking pretty beat up. Bet ACE did that too him huh? Well that’s nothing compared to what we’re going to do to you if you don’t scram!”

Warden suddenly shifted his focus back to the Pegasus. “They don’t know? How interesting. I’ll take note of that and bring this one back alive.”

“What are you murmuring over there?!” At this point both Pegasi had landed on the ground, Chroma on all fours while Ravewind landed on his hind legs. Keeping himself upright with his wings, he pounded his front hooves together repeatedly, showing his eagerness to fight this ‘psycho lantern changeling.’

“Fighting will have a disastrous consequence, for both of you.” Chroma, who had been completely calm despite Ravewind’s shouting up until this point was starting to get a bit annoyed with the changeling’s high and mighty attitude. Once more, she didn’t like being underestimated.

“Put your hooves where your mouth is then!” Chroma spat, Ravewind looked at the mare utterly surprised, but at the same time, intrigued.

“Very well” Warden answered bluntly.

Amethyst regained consciousness, and awoke to a gruesome sight. The area around him was covered in flames, and his friends Ravewind and Chroma Sketch were lying on the ground battered, bruised, and unconscious. Warden stood emotionless and cold, towering above the defeated ponies. His lantern hovering menacingly over them as he began to speak.

“You have two options, I can take them, or I can take you.”

Amethyst glared at the changeling. “Why not just kill all three of us? You came here to kill anyway didn’t you?” Despite the aggression in his voice, Amethyst knew the obvious choice, he also knew this wasn’t really up for debate.

“You truly know nothing about what the lantern I am holding can do,” replied Warden. “Make your choice, I will not ask you again.”

Amethyst sighed, he began to approach Warden. After the two were standing side by side they begin to walk off into the forest. Amethyst felt his leg get caught on something. He looked back to see that Ravewind had awoken, but was too weak to stand.

“Where…is ACE?” Ravewind weakly asked the changeling.

Amethyst paused for a moment then looked down at his friend, feigning anger.

“He’s gone.” The changeling finally replied. Amethyst walked off with Warden leaving Ravewind and Chroma behind in the charred remains of the battlefield.

The Encore

Amethyst spent all night walking with Warden across Equestria. The pair was silent as the grave, not a word from either of them. Ironically enough, it was Warden who broke the silence.

“You have questions, ask them.” Though his voice was lifeless as it always was, he almost seemed like he was demanding, but at the same time also seemed curious.

“Tell me why you didn’t kill me.” Amethyst demanded.

“I’m taking you back to the hive, I have questions for you.” Warden answered.

“What kind of questions?” Asked Amethyst.

Warden suddenly slowed his pace and Amethyst mimicked the speed. It seemed the game of twenty questions was going to start right now.

“For starters, what caused you to leave the hive in the first place? Why did you abandon us and break the most important rule of our race?”

Amethyst murmured the law to himself. “A changeling shall seek love, but never succumb to it. I was curious. I wanted to know what was so terrible about the thing we spend our whole lives feeding on.”

“Curiosity is a dangerous thing to have,” warned Warden. “Especially if the one who is curious is a prince.”

Amethyst glared at Warden. “Catalyst and I are not PRINCES, we are LORDS. There is only one prince, and he is a traitor to his race!” This was the one thing in all of Equestria that he and his older brother could agree on. When the crowned prince of Thorns tried to start an uprising and take the swarm for himself, Amethyst and Catalyst renounced their titles as a show of their loyalty to the queen thus becoming the twin lords.

“You are both princes. The sooner you both acknowledge that the better you both will be.”

“We would sooner rip our hearts out and present them to the queen.” Angry hisses were slurred in with Amethyst’s response. Warden’s lantern flickered almost as if in response to what he had said. Warden began to walk faster again.

“Watch yourself, or that just might happen.”

Amethyst looked at Warden with a puzzled expression, but dismissed the taunt and they continued on.

The marshlands of Equestria were humid, dark, and most importantly, secluded. No pony dared to enter for there were rumors that some did only to never return. This was the perfect ground for the swarm, whose hive grounds nearly covered the entire marsh. Lots of buzzing noises filled the air and an average pony would think it was simply mosquitos or some other type of insignificant marsh bug. They could not be further from the truth. Changelings buzzed through the marsh in droves. Caring for the newly spawned, feasting on a stagnant love substitute, and performing various other tasks that needed to be done. Amethyst and Warden skulked along the marsh, every changeling they passed by either bowed out of respect, or backed away out of fear. Amethyst was not used to this, but for Warden this was an average day. Amethyst was unsure of what was going to become of him so he merely continued to follow Warden deeper and deeper into the marsh. Soon they found themselves in the center of the marsh, the home of the Changeling elite: his old home, once upon a time. Warden guided Amethyst into a nearby hovel where he instructed Amethyst to wait until he returned.

Amethyst got as comfortable as he could. All of the changeling’s living areas were hollowed out from large trees and wood. An average changeling would share hovels with a least a hundred others, but the elites had their own houses. Amethyst looked over the holes in his hooves. It had been far too long since he had been in his natural form for such an extended period of time; it was refreshing and comfortable, if only he could actually take the time to enjoy it. There was a knock on the hovel’s wooden door and Amethyst found himself looking at an all too familiar face as he walked through the door.

“Hello brother, so nice to have you back.” Catalyst smirked.

“I’d say I was glad to be back, but I’m currently being held captive by your attack dog.” Amethyst grumbled at his brother.
Catalyst looked shocked at his brother. Amethyst couldn’t tell if he was faking it or not.

“You think I sent Warden after you? I’m strict but I’m not heartless.”

“If it wasn’t you then who in the queen’s name did?” Amethyst commanded.

Catalyst shrugged. “All I know is that it was someone on the Queen’s council”

Amethyst continued to glare at his brother, his emotions coming to a boil.

“You’re ON the council!” He aggressively shouted. “Why didn’t you object the notion!?”

“This was done without my consent. It was done without the queen’s consent and without the consent of everyone other than the one who did it.”

Amethyst began to calm down. He didn’t want to admit it, but it almost seemed like his brother was taking his side for a change.

“You have to let me go Catalyst. You know full well I don’t belong here.”

Catalyst’s tone changed drastically, “Where you don’t belong is Ponyville! You are not a pony little brother you are a Changeling!”

Amethyst suddenly exploded into a fit of rage, his words sharp as knives. “I’M A CLONE!”

Catalyst stepped back in complete shock. Catalyst, the queen, and every one of the twin’s caretakers had told Amethyst he was of the true bloodline like he thought he was. How did Amethyst find out the truth? “How…when?”

“You didn’t think I’d find out did you?” Amethyst’s words became slurred with hisses and buzzing again. “But I’ve known since before I left. You may be a flesh and blood child of the Queen, but I was the first changeling, created as a testing ground using your DNA. This is why Illusion magic came so naturally to me, who’s better at making clones than a clone?!”

“Your creation gave birth to our race brother! You should be honored by that fact!” Catalyst was starting to become aggravated by his brother’s shortsightedness. “It’s because your birth was successful that we were able to recreate our entire kingdom.”

Amethyst’s rage showed no signs of simmering, he had forgotten how angry he could get as a changeling. He was never like this as a pony or when he was near Lilly.

“My birth was not ‘successful’ brother, I’m a defect!” Amethyst pointed to his horn and motioned around his head pointing out his lack of a mane. “My horn is backwards, I have no mane, and a messed up tail. The creators of the spawning process even had to go back and modify my DNA to get the rest of the changelings to come close to what they are now.”

“You are what you are brother,” Catalyst answered sternly.

“And what I am does not belong here; brother.” Amethyst replied just as stern.

Catalyst turned and headed for the door. “You hate me. I don’t blame you. What I tried to do was unforgivable even if it would have been better for the swarm as a whole.”

“Then make amends and help me out of here.” Amethyst begged one last time.

“I will see what I can do.” Catalyst assured. “However, unlawful abduction or not, you have still violated the highest rule of our race. That will not go unaccounted for.”

Amethyst turned away from this brother. “Even you loved her, a long time ago.”

“But unlike you, I realized my mistake.” Catalyst departed, closing the door behind him.

Warden returned. His lantern was hovering at his side; his cloak had been reformed, bones and all. Amethyst sighed. The silence and alone time allowed him to get his emotions back in check. Good thing too, Warden still had questions.

“Do you remember the highest law of our race Amethyst?” Warden asked as he walked in and stood next to the changeling.

“You shall seek love, yet you shall never succumb to it.” Amethyst spat out the line like an un-eager school pony reciting words from a book.

“Do you know why the law is in place?” Warden asked.

“So we don’t make the same mistake our queen made,” replied Amethyst, again spitting out the most generic answer to the question he could think of.

“Do you know the whole story behind our queen’s ‘mistake’?” Warden’s eyes narrowed to a stale glare, which caused Amethyst to tense up a bit.

“I only know what I’ve been told. Love caused the queen to make a fatal mistake which doomed the kingdom. The resulting devastation took such a toll on her heart that she became what she is today.”

“Then you do not know the full story.” Warden ceased the glare and took a few steps back, sitting down on a log that was being used as a makeshift couch. “This would explain your actions. If you knew the whole truth, you may not have acted the way you did.”

Amethyst gave Warden a puzzled look. “And I suppose you’re about to tell me the ‘whole truth’?”

“Only if you will listen and truly heed the words.”

Amethyst wasn’t entirely sure how to respond, so he only nodded.

“Then let’s begin.” Warden reached into his cloak and pulled out a book, which hovered in the air.

“Long ago, long before the founding of Canterlot and the rule of Princess Celestia and Luna, there lived a kingdom governed by a fair and merciful queen.”

“Our queen,” Amethyst pointed out.

“Do not interrupt.” Warden declared coldly.

“Sorry…continue.” Amethyst mumbled.

“The queen was known far and wide for her vast amount of love for her kingdom and all she ruled over. Even the homeless and the criminals were shown nothing but the deepest compassion and sympathy. The successor to the queen was a young colt, to whom many now refer to as Lord Catalyst. While the queen had an heir to the throne, she did not have a king. She wanted nothing more in life, then someone she could give her undying loyalty and love to. One day, the queen happened upon a traveling stallion. There was no clear way to explain it, but it was love at first sight. Our queen invited the stallion as an honored guest, and he stayed for many days at the castle as he and the queen got better acquainted. The queen was determined to have this colt as her king, but was scared the feelings weren’t mutual. The queen asked her adviser what she should do, and in response, the adviser had a love potion prepared. The potion worked and the two fell madly in love, but the potion worked too well. It backfired. The queen and king spent so much time looking into each others eyes that they could not perform their duties to the kingdom. The kingdom fell into chaos, and soon into ruin. When the queen was finally released from the potion’s grip, she looked out in horror at the disaster that struck her kingdom. Stricken with grief, she found her son and the few surviving members of her council. She decided that if love was the thing that took her kingdom and her subjects from her, then she would never love again. At this, the queen’s advisers cut out her heart and locked it away. The ritual forever changed the queen and her son. The queen craved loved to fill the void left by her missing heart, though without her heart, she would never love again. By her word and law, neither would her son, her advisers, nor any other subject of hers ever again. Thus Chrysalis and the Changelings were born.”

Amethyst shook himself out of the half trance he was in. It was all so unreal and almost impossible to completely take in, but one thing was certain.

“It wasn’t a love potion was it? It was love poison.”

Warden nodded. “The adviser must have fouled up the recipe when he was making it. Do you see now why love is so feared here? Love is an unstable emotion that can cause the brightest of people, to make the most grievous of errors.”

Warden’s tone was completely different. It wasn’t emotionless, it was…sad.

“May I ask a question now Warden?” Warden nodded.

“Where do you come in? What’s your stake in all of this?”

Warden looked into the glowing lantern, which was now dimly lighting the room they were in.

“I am the lantern barer. I am tasked with enforcing the first law, and protecting the greatest treasure of the changeling race.”

“You mean the lantern? What’s so special about it? Was it a possession of the queens when she was a pony?” Warden shrugged in response.

“Sort of,” Warden raised the lantern so that both he and Amethyst could get a good look at it. Amethyst stared deeply into the lantern, that’s when he noticed it. The thing that the green fire was coming from: Amethyst had assumed it was some
kind of coal or wood, but it was round and pulsing.

“The lantern isn’t the treasure at all, the treasure is what is inside it!” Amethyst gasped as his eyes widened.

To that Warden replied. “This lantern is not fueled by wood or coal, nor is it powered by magic of any kind. The glow from the lantern is the love emitting from a poisoned heart, and a lost soul.

At last Amethyst understood, “You are the keeper of Queen Chrysalis’s heart.”

Warden nodded, and lowered the lantern to his side. “It is time.” His voice returned to his normal lifeless tone, the tone of an immortal being, fatigued by years of service, with still many more to come.

“Time?” echoed Amethyst.

“Your sentence has been determined, for violation of the highest law, you are to be executed. Your life force will feed the lantern and sustain its glow.”

Amethyst sighed. There was no way around this for him. Love got him into this, and unless love got him out, his fate was sealed.

Amethyst stood before the council, the four remaining members of the queen’s old advisers. The ones that performed the ritual so long ago that doomed their race to their parasite life style. One of the advisers told Amethyst exactly what Warden told him; he was to be executed for violating the highest law. Amethyst noticed his brother was nowhere to be found. Perhaps he really wasn’t on his side after all.

“Do you have anything to say before your death, Prince Amethyst, EX-Lord of the Changelings?”

Amethyst nodded and began to speak. “I am not a prince. I never have been, I never will be. I am Lord Amethyst. I have experienced the joys of love, and I have not a single regret in the world!”

“Well said brother!” Everyone including Amethyst and Warden turned to the sight of Lord Catalyst, who walked up past his brother and stood before the council.

“What is the meaning of this young prince? Why do you stand there and not with us?”

Catalyst smirked. “I am no prince.” He then pointed to Amethyst, his younger brother. “And THIS is no criminal.” Catalyst marched forward before the council dropping several documents in front of them. “My brother, Lord Amethyst, has been a sleeper agent ever since he left the hive.”

Everyone in the area gasped, Warden and Amethyst included. Catalyst could not be serious, but the evidence was right there in front of the council.

“Catalyst when did you-” Amethyst was cut off by Warden.

“He didn’t,” Warden said sharply, “he’s trying to make amends.”

Catalyst continued to speak. “My brother has been serving us ever since he left. He has given us vital information about Ponyville, Canterlot, and a few other mentionable locations.These include weaknesses, exploitable guard routs and security measures. Is this the work of a traitor to his race?”

Amethyst had no memory of ever doing anything like this, could he really have been a sleeper agent for the queen? The thought just about terrified him.

The council finished looking over the documents and returned them to Lord Catalyst. “Be that as it may young…lord.”

Catalyst nodded in approval.

“Amethyst is not on trial for treason, he is on trial for breaking the highest law of our race.”

An angry glow filled Catalyst’s eyes, but it quickly departed, he knew it would come to this, and he knew what he had to do. The forged sleeper agent information was a last ditch effort to avoid the inevitable.

“Then I will take his place, as I am guilty of the same crime!”

Amethyst’s eyes widened and the council gasped at this remark.

“Are you insane Catalyst? What in the queen’s name do you think you’re doing?!”

Catalyst shoved Amethyst aside and stood before Warden.

“I am making amends.”

Catalyst glared at Warden and shouted, “DO IT!”

“NO!” begged Amethyst, but it was too late. The lantern glowed a bright green as it hovered closer and closer to Amethyst’s brother.

Bound by chain, bound by chain
With me this fight will end.
Bound by chain, bound by chain,
Her hunger never ends.
Lantern glow, lantern sway
I shall lead the way
Bound by chain, bound by chain
I still cannot get away.

“Gypsy, I’m sorry.” These were the last words the changeling whispered to himself. When the song concluded, the bright green lights receded, and Lord Catalyst was no more.

Amethyst cried uncontrollably, the council members each lowered their heads grieving at the loss of Lord Catalyst. Warden approached Amethyst, putting his hoof on Amethyst’s shoulder.

“She has lost everything to love, her kingdom, her king, and now, her only heir”

Amethyst shook his head, “She didn’t lose to love. She lost to poor judgment.”

Warden contemplated what Amethyst had said, and to Amethyst’s surprise he nodded in agreement. Rising, he helped the changeling lord up as well, then hovered the lantern in front of Amethyst, presenting it to him.

“Then let me be the first of our race, to make good judgment. Take what I could not have, and do what no other changeling would ever be able to do.”

Amethyst stood up on his hind legs and took the lantern in his hooves. After only a brief pause he threw the lantern down with all his might. The lantern shattered and the queen’s heart vanished in a bright green glow. A female’s voice could be heard from the light. The voice was soft, kind, and loving.

Lantern glow, lantern sway, at last I can get away.

“My love, you had such a lovely voice when you were a pony.”

Amethyst quickly turned to face Warden. “Did you say something?”

Warden shook his head, “You have returned Chrysalis’s heart to her. This could either be our salvation, or it could doom our entire race…again. Our future is currently unclear.”

“What will you do now that you don’t have your lantern?” Amethyst asked.

For the first time since Amethyst can remember, he saw Warden crack a small smile. “I will continue to do what I have always done, and that is guard the queen’s heart. This time however, I shall be at my queen’s side, where I belong.”
Amethyst nodded. He couldn’t tell why for sure but he felt that was where Warden was always meant to be, just as he was meant to always be by Lilly.

The Finale

It was late and quiet as the grave when ACE returned to Ponyville. He moved to the part of the town where the stage had been set up for Lilly, where he found the entire populace of Ponyville. They were holding a funeral for ACE, who was believed to be dead. Killed by changelings in service to Lilly. A small memorial to him was hung up behind the stage. In front of it Lilly was singing a soft memorial hymn with tears in her eyes. There were no instruments to accompany it. ACE also noticed Princess Luna sitting in the VIP spot that had been prepared for her. She also seemed sad. Seeing her was odd, for ACE had never even met her. It’s not like she could go into the dreams of changelings.

ACE didn’t know what to do. In a single night he had destroyed not only his life but the lives of his friends as well. He turned around and headed for the exit to Ponyville, somehow feeling that perhaps he was better off dead. As he reached the outskirts of Ponyville, someone cut him off. A colt with a white body, black hair and shades covering his eyes stood in front of him. ACE noticed the colt was a unicorn, but it looked like his horn had been shattered.

“You’re clearly not dead.” The stranger explained to him, “Don’t you think you owe it to them to tell them that?”

ACE looked to the ground, “With what I’ve done, I might as well be dead.”

ACE felt a smack on the back of his neck. He looked up and glared at the stranger who began to talk again.

“Look. What you did, you did as another you. That isn’t who you are right now.”

ACE began to panic “How do you know what I am?!” ACE then recalled what happened back in the Everfree Forest. “It was you, you were following me. Why?”

The stranger shrugged. “I needed to know if you were the one.”

“The one for what?” ACE asked, to which there was no reply. The stallion simply turned around and began to walk away, stopping only for a brief moment to warn him.

“I faked my death once, it devastated everyone who lives here and everyone I ever loved. Do not make the same mistake I made.”

“Who are you?” ACE asked again.

The colt simply smiled, “I’m a ghost.” With that he faded away into the night. ACE sighed, he knew what he had to do.

As Lilly concluded her song she laid down and began to cry. Her friends Ravewind and Chroma Sketch moved up to comfort her, when suddenly, they all heard a familiar voice coming from the other end of the stage.

“Wow Lilly! Great song! But it seemed more like a funeral dirge than a tribute to Princess Luna!”

Everyone turned around. Lilly, Ravewind, and Chroma looked up to see ACE alive and well. There was a brief pause, and then suddenly the entire town erupted into cheering. Lilly jumped off the stage and raced through the crowds, tackling ACE to the ground. The two shared a long, loving hug and kiss before ACE could finally scramble to his feet.

“You had us worried sick!” Lilly yelled at her long lost love.

ACE smirked, “Seems to me you were a lot more than worried.”

Lilly blushed and gave ACE a light slap with her hoof.

After the commotion had died down the real show began. Lilly put on what was easily the best show of her entire career. Everypony including Princess Luna was impressed. The finale went off without a hitch. As the fireworks erupted into the air, Rainbow Dash zipped around them ending the spectacular concert with a breathtaking Sonic Rainboom, which stayed in the sky for as long as Lilly held her high note. Lilly was showered in flowers, diamonds, and bits. Princess Luna personally congratulated the mare on a wonderful concert and on being reconnected with ACE. As the celebration died down, Princess Luna returned to her home and everyone in Ponyville returned to their houses. ACE and Lilly returned to their hotel where they spent the rest of the night in each others arms. It was the best nights sleep ACE ever had.