Vella
Terrarian
MLP – United We Stand: The First Reunion
Chapter 4
- Conflicting Loyalties -
Chapter 4
- Conflicting Loyalties -
An MLP fanfic, by Reculverin_Alchemist.
AN: Vistisal is Inherita Tibithia’s OC. I lay no claim to it, even though they’re needed for this chapter to make sense of the escape sequence.
Huh, that was quick. Been quite drying here without love of any kind, both of you waiting for me again, and again. Problem is, I have picked one fight too many. Predictably, that was only to make you, Chrysalis happy, without telling the other one I’m also addressing as you, Vitrolic. When I’m bound to have both a caring mother who is ‘evil’ in those Equine eyes, and a best friend who is merely a ‘prey’ in Our mentality, well… I can’t break either of your hearts, I can’t just tell you about each other deeply and with nice words. Otherwise either you’d get suspicious, or lured. I mean, you two cared about me, whether wounded or still recently out of an egg… and I had done an idiocy that got me in that stupid, cold place.
Well, good news are just a few things I still have, a cold comfort in that place. I’ve still got that information about whatever those ponies in Canterlot are plotting, and I think from the recent news, they’ve caught another one of us. Could be of use when I inevitably want to break free. Bad news, there are no weak points in the room’s structure despite studying it, and the guards somehow manage to get me under control for now. Blame. Their. Deliberate. Feeding.
I’ll be back soon, Chryssy. No matter how long it will take. And I’ll be back, Vitrolic. We haven’t seen each other for like a year. You could’ve grown a big time, or stayed the same. And I shall make sure my return isn’t foiled.
Huh, that was quick. Been quite drying here without love of any kind, both of you waiting for me again, and again. Problem is, I have picked one fight too many. Predictably, that was only to make you, Chrysalis happy, without telling the other one I’m also addressing as you, Vitrolic. When I’m bound to have both a caring mother who is ‘evil’ in those Equine eyes, and a best friend who is merely a ‘prey’ in Our mentality, well… I can’t break either of your hearts, I can’t just tell you about each other deeply and with nice words. Otherwise either you’d get suspicious, or lured. I mean, you two cared about me, whether wounded or still recently out of an egg… and I had done an idiocy that got me in that stupid, cold place.
Well, good news are just a few things I still have, a cold comfort in that place. I’ve still got that information about whatever those ponies in Canterlot are plotting, and I think from the recent news, they’ve caught another one of us. Could be of use when I inevitably want to break free. Bad news, there are no weak points in the room’s structure despite studying it, and the guards somehow manage to get me under control for now. Blame. Their. Deliberate. Feeding.
I’ll be back soon, Chryssy. No matter how long it will take. And I’ll be back, Vitrolic. We haven’t seen each other for like a year. You could’ve grown a big time, or stayed the same. And I shall make sure my return isn’t foiled.
- Trachea, the hive guard v
v.
v.Hunger. This feeling drives us to feed on lesser beings - creatures of wild, and creatures of civilisation alike. This also has an unfortunate effect of making me awake in the middle of the night, in a cold, damp cell in the dungeon. It’s like a curse to have tonight, that I can’t rest through the annoyance. Five days prior to this damned night last ‘meal’ of the emotions was served to me; usually they do three, except if they want to punish me.
Melancholy. A feeling of missing something; a scornful, yet protective queen. Or a youthful, carefree healer putting herself into trouble, just so I could act out like one. Why healer, and not a ‘pony’ or ‘friend’? Soft names aren’t to be used in hive, that’s a blunt truth. They use that all the time, we distinguish ourselves not by relations or nicknames (all right, one exception - that being the bathorse, Vitrolic…), but by names and occupations. In hive, everyling is the same.
Sadness. A feeling of loss, a freedom stolen by a failure to infiltrate the palace. My temper might’ve been a blessing when protecting her from harm, or fighting back worm monsters trying to destroy the hive, but it does not help to be stealthy. Regarding that, I can’t really turn. Defeats the whole point of being a Changeling, heh.
Humour. While grim, while it alone cannot sustain me physically-
My carapace shrunk a bit again, as hunger still rose up. I looked absent-mindedly at the night sky, moonshine lighting my face a little. If I were better at shifting forms, I would’ve most likely turned into a Timberwolf. Then again, they and their fleshy cousins scare Vitrolic. She calls them Grays, but are just as menacing.
I would’ve had tears in my eyes, but there’s a difference. If I were a weakling like they ‘ponies’ tend to be. I am a strong warrior, so I. Need. No. Damn. Spite!
I kicked the trough, cracking it under my holey leg. Here it goes, that thing survived like thirty cycles of sun and moon without giving in.
Maybe it would’ve been me without the blasted equine healer’s intervention. Their kindness was unparalleled, it stunned me how naive she was. But then again, she’s maybe a Changeling with fur instead of full armor we have, because of her appearance. No, she definitely was a bat-like horse. It felt like she had my genes for landing herself in trouble, hence why I saw in myself and her Chrysalis and me in that order.
Maybe that’s what she calls ‘friendship’. I call it comradery. She had her friends too. And sure enough, I also managed to scare the alchemist and drain him once, before Vitrolic caught on to the situation and scolded me. Then again, even a queen is sometimes wrong, sometimes has her feral fits if she’s starving. And… how would a unicorn be able to do a zebra’s job? Equines usually cast spells, not drink those. That same stallion told me that the first grandmaster learned those arts from a zebra. The entire village thrived like something had found the gem mines. And it honestly didn’t surprise me it got destroyed out of draconic spite. What surprised me was that there wasn’t any sign of debauchery prior to that act. We were about to attack it too, but we only saw ruins. That is why our Queen hates ‘cheats’, be it in combat, or in getting there first.
Was he lying though that he was the only survivor? I don’t know, he was one of the only two survivors from the place. Other one that we found is in a cocoon, still acting as our food source, but last time I was able to look at them for my duty, the defenceless mare was already close to expiring. And again, it’s ‘her’ or us situation. And as much trust I have in Vitrolic, I would rather not tell her that, for good reasons. As a hive member, it’s still Queen who keeps me alive and with a set goal, not that little tricky horse.
All right, enough of keeping myself occupied by those thoughts, time to plot something, at least as soon as I can find a way to escape. Honestly, I triple-checked my cell, and I couldn’t find anything. It was like they really had everything planned for. So in anguish of not being free, I threw the cracked trough on the wall, making a noise. A hiss soon appeared from the side the remains of it were lying on, about as broken as that thing.
- “Hssss…” - This felt like a sigh of a changeling. And then, would that mean salvation? After the countless cycles? It definitely felt like maybe eight seasons.
- “Can’t ss-see you yet. I ssssense that you are alsssso dead-tired of being locked, right? Tough times, I feel like I was locked since forever...” - I waited a bit, tapping my fore’hoof’ on the floor, before hearing from them back.
- "Weirdly formal vocal pattern, recognizable dialect, is it fellow hive member?" - I guessed that they were *that* captured Changeling. They knew I was from the same hive. So, without a hesitation, I made an eye contact with the wall from which the voice came from, and spoke.
- “That would be right, you got me there. Been captured, because I didn’t keep the profile low enough.”
That being said, I still have eavesdropped on a few things. One of those was probably the crush that heart pony had on one of key guards. I think she called him Shining Armor, or something. That being said, while escaping, and trying to, rather than disguise, hope that guards were blind and deaf enough to notice, I forgot that there was still one white queen, probably their leader, and while I do get more motivated, ferocious and stronger fighting a bigger target, sun-flanked horse would easily overpower my Queen herself based on how strong the hold was and how badly did those beams hurt, not mentioning even the greatest Changeling warriors that weren’t queens. Honestly, the only reason I didn't end up getting killed there and now was maybe their culture. Softies seldom make others perish, they prefer to lock anything bad up, whether in stone or in cells.
Then the response knocked me out of the figurative memory clouds. - “Then how would I have gotten you here? Explain.”
- “To be frank, didn’t expect you to be there, but…” - I sat near those remains, cold floor making no difference to me. That’s one thing we do better - we need no soft places to live on. Moving on, I still thought I was just extraordinarily lucky seeing another Changeling. - “I think I heard you refusing that mission before I had to accept this reluctantly, the result of this being that.” - I didn’t expect his response to be fast enough.
- “Refusing? At least I did the right thing and after that I defected just a few hours ago!” - So I’m stuck in a cell with a rebel on a neighbouring one. Great.
- “Obviously this didn’t do you any favour, since you’re there with me.” - I decided to jab back at his obvious rebel attitude, because I am still loyal to the Queen, not to some usurpers.
- “And how would you have assumed that? I defected from a splinter group from a current hive, since the rebel leadership is… iffy to say the least.” - Splinter groups? In the hive? If I were to be freed, I would tell her about this find.
- “And that would be since the… failure to return to hive?”
- “Actually, no, not really.” - Phew, at least no one is going to usurp the power.
- “Well, it’s a shame that I cannot influence everything.” - I looked about. It’s solid, it’s changeling-proof, there’s nothing I can do to help myself, maybe other than using those remains as an improvised weapon on guard and counting on luck. But… I’m… so… hungry! Focus, Trachea, you don’t simply get an easy way out if you don’t try!
- “The current splinter… ‘ling is a maggot called Thorax, who you can call ‘spineless’.” - So… wait a second, he was a rebel but… why does that name seem familiar? - “He thinks he can simply just not fight her at all. In fact, scratch that, not fight anything at all.”
Figures that Chryssy would wipe the floor with him… but probably not; that’s just keeping a low profile. But a gate creaks right now. And we still don’t have a plan.
- “And, what happened to our Queen during that time?” - I would ask, and he responds with an annoyed snark.
- “Y’know, had a fatal accident when leaving the throne… actually no, but should have one.” - That was kind of rude, but then again, if there was a grudge, then I guess I understand. I just need to break free, so… that will be an uneasy alliance. - “And my sibling only makes those prospects worse; Commander Tibithia.”
I just say nothing. I need not to continue the topic, now that I clearly hear the trot… a pony. I bite into the wood, and take a few swooshes. Think it’ll break more quickly than I’ll bash any heads with that. Then he replied again in an obvious manner that everyling knows. - “So… I guess we’re captured.”
The sounds of hooves hitting the ground. Closer. Hunger. Rising. Freedom. Possible. - “Not for long.” - Hiding the remains before I reply, because the best chance is to take them from surprise. - “I have a good feeling about this chance.”
And now meet about to be knocked out jailor - Silver Shackles. Orange unicorn with… self-explanatory rank and flanks. And emerald mane; a mare too. Maybe not as strong as others, but certainly does her job a bit too well… for my tastes of freedom. Too nice, I really have to knock her fast.
- “What’s the ruckus in there?” - Hearing them, I hide behind… a trough clearly won’t work, it’s broken. A bed, too short. Besides, it’s just a pile of hay. A… wall! I think the voice’s from the left side from the cell’s exit. I check the bars to see if half a trough will fit though. Barely. Now, just waiting.
Banging. Seriously? This is not gonna work that well! Cannot scold, I have to be silent. But, once I hear them clearly, it’s my cue.
Three.
- “Newcoming Changelings those days…”
Two.
- “...they don’t know they won’t be returning to hive…”
One.
- “...now, where did the trough break, thou-”
I slam the unicorn’s head quite harshly as soon as her silly muzzle appears, with that wooden bit, then drop it on the tiles. Wind up helped a bit; and the mare collapsed helplessly, her eyes seeing stars and tongue struck. I get her hoof a bit closer, feeling… almost nothing. She just did the job as far as she could against me; it isn’t enough to stop me. So now, pushing my holey hoof through the bars, I remind myself why we are superior. Even with our magic locked behind that strange lock, our legs are built in a way that cannot be easily constrained. I nudge the orange one closer to me each time I pull her foreleg towards me, then…
…to the hope’s never-ending spark, there were keys just in my hoof’s reach. Chryssy would think of it faster; for us, it’s an accomplishment. So, I grab an entire key ring, and check which one would fit the hole… that I know of after looking at myself on the trough for so many days. Seventh. It fits, clicks, and despite lots of troubles trying to fit it in my forehead, the thing falls, the head feeling lighter… uuuuh, I’m about to faint here.
I didn’t… but the first thing I did was to check each key again, getting out with a spring, and draining my would-be a bane on my own terms. Now, she will be out for a lot longer. Then, I look at my wings, and get them unlocked using the seventh key too. Now that I can fly, I lift off… and slowly hover towards the voices.
A tan head and green wing and tail membranes… bigger than me, possibly one of higher-ups of the Changeling society… being, had appeared in my view; and he had eyes after my mother and queen herself. - “The deed is done. The first part, getting out of a cell at least. But second, despite how you talk of my Queen like that, we have to work together.” - I’m willing to bury an ax, if it means to be free. Surprisingly, while I was trying to see which key would fit, he would respond quickly.
- “So we’ll be in contact for some time, then?” - He would ask, and… I already have an answer.
- “As long as the escape requires. Now… key six… key seven…” - I still try to get him free, but… hm. I’ve got to say it.
- “And you clearly have eyes after her. The colour.” - Eighth… ninth… which one was it?
- “Yeah, I’ve heard that. Ironic for someone like me to resemble the tyrant, heh.” - He would let a low chuckle. He knew me, I’m not threatening inside my hive, unless it’s ponies that see me that way.
- “I think I’d be more threatening; but never mind. Let me just remove those restraints from you too.” - I clearly do that, but it takes a bit longer, since first I have to unlock the cell, then find a key for him. Nevertheless, it works like a charm, and it’s freedom for him too.
- “Phew… that feels much better.” - Maybe because he wasn’t locked for long, the magic just didn’t flood him like a tempest river, and now, I look at the open gate, Still middle of night. And we need a plan to get out of here.
- “Good. Now, I’ll give a word of warning. I’m poor at disguising, I am only a fighter; Trachea to be exact. Nevertheless, I think that under the night’s cover, we’ll be able to sneak out of Canterlot, and then into the wilds. Then, it’s each for their own.” - He nods to my idea laid out at this moment, and then he seems to prepare.
- “Good idea. Also, just call me Sal.” - So I then get ready… and dash towards the gate.
- “They equines stand no chance to stop us fleeing now. Just don’t look back too much in any case. Just focus on the path.” - So we’d be galloping through the halls, with most prisoners; unicorns, some Earth Ponies and Pegasi, and even one griffon sleeping through the night. But I expected even one or two ponies to stop us. Must be sleeping. Meanwhile he would speed up, and get ahead of me. - “Didn’t expect this day to be empty. Maybe they’re slacking at their job, or sleeping.
A wall. He hits it squarely, it budges a little. Still enough to make him see some stars though. - “Ow.” - And I facehoof, stopping just before I hit it too.
- “I ssssswear last year it wasn’t walled in!” - I glance just above. ‘Closed due to unstable ceilings.’ It’s an excuse, isn’t it? If it is, it’s about as shoddy as the wall that excuse is using. While he would be kicking the wall, dazed maybe, I would throw the remains of trough. And it breaks with less success than his hooves had. - “Hold up, the cracks. Maybe we can still escape from there?” - So I join in… and the wall collapses, with my hoof-like leg tips feeling pain from this. - “Hssss-s! At last!” Still hovering, I… and he, who takes off after running after me, keep going through this way. Despite rocks feeling a bit loose, I don’t think it’s much trouble.
Our escape gets a bit halted by a Royal Guard who somehow was guarding this way, too. - “Well, well, what do we have there… caught escaping in a dark night, eh?” - Yadda, yadda, we just skip past them, hearing just angry noises of a white unicorn who tried chasing us, but was unable to catch us. So, we nearly exit the dungeon, and… into the hallway with a yellow-trimmed red carpet, made of marble. Mosaics gleefully remind me how wasteful they are. A purple- unnecessary witness we have to avoid, with saddlebags full of books and scrolls.
- “Nuuurh… I hope it is just a fairytale…” - And they were thankfully busy talking to another, a draconic with green spikes.
- “What it is?” - And this draconic would’ve noticed us if Sal spoke up, so...
I hold a hoof in front of him, to stop him from doing that, while we’re well hidden behind a wall, and eavesdrop on them. I still hadn’t forgotten my original purposes. And they spoke again - “What if it’s true? If the return of the Nightmare Moon is indeed when four stars connect, to summon the eternal night? And that will happen in two weeks from now, too!”
- “Twi, you’re worrying about it too much…” - And they exit through the left door, as I can’t hear the rest of it. This rumor has potential. It could be a potential enemy. For now, we silently pass the-
Queen Chrysallis, teach those damn birdbrain guards who ring those bells a lesson! And now we have to fly fast. With some white alicorn on the trail (as I just barely look behind me; I don’t even care what she says now, as long as I’m not caught, I’m fine ignoring that one), and us barely being missed by that beam, I take it seriously, even as the glow nearly grazes my legs. I try throwing her aim off. Not looking back. Just… fly out of the castle, into wilds… out of the castle, into the wilds.
This mantra worked, as after a few more barrages, the alicorn seemed to give up, and did not chase us, at least… I didn’t see anything stopping us. But this was stressful. We flew for some more time, before we landed at the clearing in the forest.
- “And we’ve escaped. No more rotting here.” - I buzzed heavily. While love did carry me here, I was no less exhausted than him.
- “It seems so.” - He would look at me, and I would look at him. We were free from the equine grasp. I shall return to the Queen, but first, I have to do something.
- “I think I may have to do something. After all, I didn’t see a certain bat-winged horse for a long time.” - Not telling him that I really miss her, but I do. Bonds were made, she was an extension of a hive in my eyes. But neither of them would think so.
- “And what would they be?” - Curious changeling… but I still have not to tell them too much of compliments on them.
- “Some loyalist to Nightmare Moon. You shouldn’t be visiting her, for she’s only mine to spy on.” - He would roll his head about, and look at me.
- “I see. Not the one I should meet then.” - I nod, though I’m more or less playing a facade. Vitrolic and her friends shouldn’t know about Chrysalis in any other way as their ruthless predator, and my mother Queen shouldn’t know of the healer as my friend and of me as a soft changeling that I am not. If disguising is the part that fails, then maintaining a facade is the part I succeed at.
- “I see. For whatever case, if you want to join a revolution. Just meet me again, if I had opened your eyes. Otherwise, see you for the last time.”
I would fall flat, because I was so exhausted that I didn’t care to fly to safer ground at all. And then sleep, like a rock.
When the sun was already brightly shining, I got up with a buzz, and quite frankly, I don’t really know what they’ll be doing at this time, so I slowly started walking to the east; wings still exhausted after yesterday’s chase. Leaves moving a bit, trees getting more and more dense, usually those wimps would get lost and call their ‘queen’ to rescue them. What does our Queen do? She actively teaches us to find a way from the middle of nowhere, to a hive. But even that is faulty when I have to find a way to… that healer for example. She has flaws - she is far too soft and naive. But she can’t be easily broken by the fears. Except for one - to outright predatory beings; that We deal with ease. Not a hive material at all.
Now, I remember one time Vitrolic tried to scam a pony out of their bits. It was when she was more or less between being a little filly and being an adult mare. Long story short, the pony found out, tried fillynapping her, succeeded, and I had to bail them out, after she got tortured by being thrown into various cages with dangerous animals within them. I think she would never let me tell the story at all; and neither would she tell this at all to her ‘friends’. The other thing is that she takes her job more seriously. She won’t give them false stuff, if the situation’s grave.
And- of course it’s taking a while going on hoof, yet my wings aren’t still recovered. Not that hungry either to consider feeding on them. Still, a weird rumour of a light purple unicorn had drilled into my head. Between already known weaknesses in Canterlot and this… I don’t know what could be more useful.
The scowls and howls of those ‘greybeasts’ did draw my attention, I thought that… well, those should do for today’s supply of love. To be exact, their supply of hunting love. So, I glared at them. They were near the abandoned building, probably ruined as well. Two stories, quite shabby construction, prey inside, scared beings underneath… that could work for figuring out which way to the hive or to them, Vitrolic.
The wolves, maybe while not as threatening as an alicorn, still had an advantage in numbers. Five. To one. I push my horn into the charging one’s neck, and feed on their emotions as they’re bleeding the warm liquid out. Four. Two tried to sneak behind me. I smack the hooves upon the wall, and dive in the front. Three. Now this fight they won’t fight, as one of those wolves got crushed by wood and maybe some stone. Two. The other one found out the hard way that my hooves are more ruthless than of a comparable horse. One. Both went for a bite, but neither would pierce that; their teeth glancing from my armour; me noticing and snapping at them violently. Zero. The three surviving wolves fled, cutting the losses.
I dropped the still warm body, and looked at the building again. Whoops, the main entrance may have been ruined. Still, there is a trick I can employ. So I fly up to the collapsed fragment, and squeeze in, noticing that it actually has a ceiling. I stomp on it, and it gives in, me sliding down on the newly made ramp as I forgot to account for that. And I think I still heard the noises of horses being scared. The fear does in fact give me an idea where I should check. A hatch.
And after opening it and them getting out- ohmyChryssynodon’tdoit!
Well, it would’ve been the very stupid end of me if Vitrolic didn’t stop her at the last second.
- “Heeeeey. No funsies if you keep pointing that at my lingu! They too could decide to bite you or something!” - The bat-like horse is right, as it appears the dicey mare dropped her thing to the ground.
- “Apologies, I’m not really sure at times whenever the danger still lurks or fades.” - The lemony pony… they did seem at the time to be ready beat me down. - “It wasn’t intentional either way.”
Still, I thought it would be an undignified way to go out; ambushed by a puny pony. Though, I stood there, wide-eyed, because of how sudden it was. Only a warmth of Vitrolic voluntarily feeding me a bit more did shake me out of it.
- “I… I’m here.” - Of course I’d let myself be toppled, as she would literally act out every bit of fear she had. I felt a bit bad that I couldn’t be here when I was needed more, but the lemony mare did grumble instead.
- “Great. Now because your friend is somehow free, we experienced that all for naught, right?”
Of course, after my healer let all her tears out, she looked at her friend. - “Nyaaah. Actually, I like this home a lot! Perhaps I could live here instead of just in a cave? After all, it’s long overdue for me to move out like a fully independent mare!”
I am a little confused. This house is a hazard. It won’t stay up for long. And thankfully, her other friend just had the same sense as me. - “I don’t think so. It’s a middle of the wilds, you can’t high roll that intervention forever, and it’s unstable. See? Now it has a hole in the ceiling.”
Of course the bat pony has to disregard that. Well, her instincts, she really likes whenever it’s a dark, abandoned place - even if it’s about to turn into ruins. - “Faaaallie! You know me, I wanna live here! Besides, the hatch is fine too if I wanna hide!”
I have… no words to express on my own how silly she is to think that way. And even if, I can’t because she is scritching behind my antennae and nuzzling me. Like, I still have stuff to do. And even feeding from her won’t do anything, because then I’d be too full and she’d only feel a bit woozy and otherwise fine. And now she’s making me feel outright embarrassed and buzzing with energy, like in a hive. That’s how well she can handle me, unlike the jailor; and I want to be let free, but both she and the emotions she gives off trap me like a nectar does even to a most stalwart bee.
This state of things happened for a bit longer, until she decided to ask me. “Sooo, what happened, Trachey? It were months without you being heard of, the only thing I learned being you were somehow jailed!”
Eeerngh. Should I tell her just what she needs to hear, or the whole thing? Eh, I’ll just tell what she would want and need to hear. - “Figure it was true… until night. That’s when I kicked the wall off, and broke free. And heard that a certain sign could mark Nightmare Moon’s return.”
I didn’t expect both to have a radically different reaction for the news - It’s as if the gambler’s facial expression paled from the revelation, then shaking it off, holding her head, and the healeroutrightdecidedtocrushmewithherforelegsoutofjoythat’showtoughitwas-
- “Nightmare… Moon?” - I gasped for a breath as Vitrolic stopped crushing me out of joy, trying to wiggle off her like a little grub I was; independent and decisive of my path.
- “Of course, silly Fallie! I mean, she oughta be proud of us, sleeping at day or night whenever we want! Theeeen she got sealed, and can only see us from the moon. At least that was what Bloodie said!” - And I felt like I’m about to facehoof at that explanation. Still, can’t offend her because I’ll be damned if I waste a good food source by doing that. And the only tie to the Equestrian world now.
- “She was sealed because she had gone crazy, Vitrolic! She. Wanted. To. Bring. The. Neverending. Night.” - The duo clearly had different opinions, and the bat-like mare had puffed up… my cue to get her off me. And she squeaks to my attempt to gain freedom.
- “Eep! Get the Trachey!” - Of course she still gets me, and I make a sharp buzz. I just wanted to change the topic, though… but to what? I don’t know myself, most of the topics I had were about combat.
- “Get… off me… please…” - I pleaded, she kept cuddling me, and flooding me with so much of emotions my wings glowed a little because of that.
- “Just a moment pleeease?” - However, I couldn’t argue with her cute slitted eyes and the warm smile she possessed, and soon after I gave in and cuddled her back, breathing softly and calmly. Maybe this was a moment of truth… that I should speak anyway.
As nopony seemed to respond at all, I slowly broke free from a forced affection… blech. I felt like I had eaten feathers or something just as tasteless; I thrived in combat after all, not in snuggles - but then again, it wasn’t a problem alone. The problem was with me - anywhere I go, I would literally pick a fight. Even with some Changeling like Vistisal if it needed to be.
Slowly, I poked Vitrolic to the side, motioning to her to go somewhere private and tell her friend to leave us alone for a moment. So we flew to the lake. The one where she saw me at my weakest - yet decided to keep me strong, even if I could’ve just ended her entire life in one draining session. She was an ally, the only thing we Changelings truly honour. The lake didn’t change much, as much as I'd thought, the only sight changing was the lack of an old couple of prey. Sitting on damp grass, I told her about how I broke free.
- “You know why I tapped you on the side. The situation I landed myself in a year ago; it looked about the same way as your general carelessness. I am sorry I couldn’t be able to visit you. There are loyalties I have to follow, one out of gratitude to you. I only have only one wish though, before I tell you the whole story.”
- “Wha? Trachey? What you mean?” - The batpony looked at me confused, I had to fix the problem.
- “You see, your uncle and Chrysalis knew each other well. In fact, they were fierce rivals. Blood Call actually was able to get under her chitin a few times, one last being a few months after I was born. Ever since then, she proclaimed the victory, as he was pacified. And by that, she meant forcing them to retreat to a dark castle that almost nopony would dare visit. As you exist, she did it a bit too early…”
- ”But… but why would you tell that?” - She would interrupt me, once again, as I come up with response.
- “Truth is, I have two loyalties. One to the Queen Chrysallis, my mother and-” - Once again, I get interrupted, it seems like I’ve already told her that fact.
- “Hold on a sec, I think you already told me that back then!” - Oh silly me, I actually forgot batponies and generally any horses are mayflies compared to us - live shorter, remember longer.
- “Oh. So you know about the secret already. You told anypony about that or not?” - I decided to ask out of curiosity, then. That she would break the promise, I did not believe in, nor she would’ve done it.
- “Eeehm, no. Trachey, you know you can trust me with that at least!” - She giggles again, and pokes me back. - „Now waaait… if you’re here, then how did you break free?”
I buzzed a bit awkwardly, yesterday’s event being at most a rush for freedom, and with another poke of hers, I replied, messing her mane up. - „If you insist… then I’ll say that. Somehow, there was one more hive member that was trapped, but I think they haven’t played much role in that. Just brazenly escaped the castle while I still had time to flee.”
She looked at me. I looked at her. And I roll my head about, continuing to tell her things. - “Trust me. A pony breaking free is common here, us breaking free is do or rot in a cell forever moment. So… any progress with your animal traumas while I was off to a stupid cell?”
- “Nuh, uh. Sorreh, I just can’t do it without you!” - I honestly wanted her to at least grow up a bit without me; it would give me time with Chrysallis, my mother. Then again, she’s a mother of all Changelings. Then she gets me off guard with her follow-up response. - “Wait, the next time we do the session, can I follow you on my own? I’m an adult mare and I don’t need to be fillynapped, I promise that I won’t flee!”
That idea of hers gained an instant emulation of groan. After all, being thrown into successive cages full of beings that toyed with her like some sort of prey broke her so much she feared even a little mouse. Even now a swarm of mice will make her sweating, and a graybeast – faint. Hence why I had the idea with her to change that. It stemmed from the idea the Queen herself did for us, to us. She had a few guards escort a group of little Changelings, and whenever they were finding a chosen thing not a threat, then they would be let go back to hive, with a hefty love ration to feed on. I had it the least, but mostly because I was brave, and not able to change… well, I am able to do it, but I get details so wrong, that any horse would see through my illusion.
Back to the idea though, the next step was getting enough fruits. There were a few wild growths of grapes, so, caring less about if they would be in her taste and more getting her food so she recovers from session, I gathered those. And finally, the fillynapping. It had to be sudden, so from above. It had to be speedy, so I caught her barrel. And she couldn’t flee, so my grip had to be hard. During the twenty sessions we had, I actually managed to get her to bravery she has now, and I found out that she indeed liked those little fruits. She also no longer fears things that she doesn’t need to, but things she needs to fear… still need to be tamed, as it’s still too much for her.
After reminding myself why my technique was necessary, I made a hiss. - “Well, you would flee anyway from there the moment you get ssscared, ssso I would need to catch you; wouldn’t you?”
She seemed to giggle awkwardly, but then she also made- oh Chrysalis no, not the sweetness again! Not the cute eyes she makes! - “Trachey, pleaaase! I could blindfold myself if it means you allow me to go on my own hooves!”
Resigned, I respond back. - “All right, fine, but if you flee from next one, I’ll ssstill be fillynapping you.” - And sit down, to watch the sky. All the clouds; they remind me that no matter how much time I can have with her, eventually I still have to report to mother with my knowledge of Canterlot and whatever purple pony said… or was it dragon and lavender pony. - “Vitrolic. I’ll be sssure to train you the next time we meet. Now, farewell, for we ssshall meet again later on. Sssooner than later, and then we will continue on where we stopped on previously.” - My wings were now rested enough, and with buzzing, I took up, looking at the bat pony from above. And she took up.
- “W-wait, can I do it now?” - I shook my head to her request, I needed to prove to mother I am alive and myself. Plus, I’m not going to traumatize my own friend, especially as she provides me some… coincidental cover.
- “I am sorry, but first off isss that you already had encounter with one thing today, that I sssaw. The other; I need to do my thingssss. Sssee you later.” - She would stubbornly follow me, but I stop her from further going with me by a sharp hiss, as per usual. It’s mostly to deter her from doing a stupid thing to follow me into a hive… speaking of which, after a few hours of the flight not interrupted by a pony as stubborn as her, I see the black spire in sight. Then I notice Her in the very distance, overseeing something. She still is as strong as before, never faltering in strength nor growing old. That’s only a pony thing that ends anychangeling. Us? Well, I don’t think any ling survived growing old enough to be deteriorating constantly.
As I fly into the hive, a giant worm- gets stomped by me in the eye-like thing. It shrieks, and charges at me, only for more of us to swarm it down and beat it up to the point it had to retreat. No celebrations, nothing. Just a feeling of duty well done. Mother herself came flying close to me… and whispered in my mind.
Come meet me in the throne room. - I enter it soon after, where she sits down, back in the chair. Pods, empty and with ponies, some of them barely hanging on, one being caught recently, were stuffed across the ceiling. The throne was the guarantee no horse would fight us there, unless they have a deathwish. And the Queen?
Speak up, Trachea. What took you so long to return.
I hiss out my frustration, as I look at her like some Changeling who took longer than needed.- “Imprisoned in a stupid equine cell. Guards caught me, but now I know more than I could have before.”
She nods, and looks at me sternly, like a mother who just doesn’t want her children to come into a harm willingly. I see. We’ve not had seen you for a long time, I assumed you were assimilated or worse.
- “But what I will say is not going to be the news you’d like, My Queen.” - I take a moment to breath in and out. - “From the royal rumours, the bad news are that Nightmare Moon could return in two weeks from now-”
- “Pfff, nonsense. If she arrives anyhow, we have an army to stop her right here, right now. Besides, she is a puny pony, just like Celestia, right?” - I chortle as I find that mildly amusing, both because that’s not a secret it is her fantasy to beat the white alicorn to give an example for us and the fact they seem to give up a bit easily on pursuing any of us. I guess that they would be- oh, right, she seemed a little down. - “But at the same point, I can see your concern. Even one Princess can cause extraordinary harm to a hive. But enough of that, change of topic. What else?”
I haven’t forgotten about a crush. Call me a peekster, but figure that two ponies, in addition royalty, is a bit obvious here. - “Two lovebirds. Shield horse and crystal heart alicorn.” - And she nodded, and seeing how I’m fed, just put her forehoof on my head affectionately.
- “Cadance has a partner, I presume… interesting. Heard about her a little, but this is… more than enough of information for me. I should be preparing an infiltration whenever she plans her wedding. Then, using it, we shall cause Canterlot to fall to our rule, and then… it’s our love foreeeeveeer!” - She laughed heartily. Some soft-hearted pony would think of it as evil, I just think it’s gentlest she could give, as she can laugh way more devilishly. - “Now, you need a bit of rest, Trachea. Tomorrow, you can start doing your duties again. No more sending you to the capital, they just would catch you again.”
After my mother queen dismisses me, I return to one of the holes I am fond to see through in the hive – overseeing the sheer expanse the spire is located in. Empty, rocky and sandy place – it’s unremarkable by any other means. The sun was once again setting down, as I stare in distance at a group of other Changelings fighting a giant worm on their own. We’ve got this – we have numbers to deal with them. Maybe even with my former captors.
I would’ve had tears in my eyes, but there’s a difference. If I were a weakling like they ‘ponies’ tend to be. I am a strong warrior, so I. Need. No. Damn. Spite!
I kicked the trough, cracking it under my holey leg. Here it goes, that thing survived like thirty cycles of sun and moon without giving in.
Maybe it would’ve been me without the blasted equine healer’s intervention. Their kindness was unparalleled, it stunned me how naive she was. But then again, she’s maybe a Changeling with fur instead of full armor we have, because of her appearance. No, she definitely was a bat-like horse. It felt like she had my genes for landing herself in trouble, hence why I saw in myself and her Chrysalis and me in that order.
Maybe that’s what she calls ‘friendship’. I call it comradery. She had her friends too. And sure enough, I also managed to scare the alchemist and drain him once, before Vitrolic caught on to the situation and scolded me. Then again, even a queen is sometimes wrong, sometimes has her feral fits if she’s starving. And… how would a unicorn be able to do a zebra’s job? Equines usually cast spells, not drink those. That same stallion told me that the first grandmaster learned those arts from a zebra. The entire village thrived like something had found the gem mines. And it honestly didn’t surprise me it got destroyed out of draconic spite. What surprised me was that there wasn’t any sign of debauchery prior to that act. We were about to attack it too, but we only saw ruins. That is why our Queen hates ‘cheats’, be it in combat, or in getting there first.
Was he lying though that he was the only survivor? I don’t know, he was one of the only two survivors from the place. Other one that we found is in a cocoon, still acting as our food source, but last time I was able to look at them for my duty, the defenceless mare was already close to expiring. And again, it’s ‘her’ or us situation. And as much trust I have in Vitrolic, I would rather not tell her that, for good reasons. As a hive member, it’s still Queen who keeps me alive and with a set goal, not that little tricky horse.
All right, enough of keeping myself occupied by those thoughts, time to plot something, at least as soon as I can find a way to escape. Honestly, I triple-checked my cell, and I couldn’t find anything. It was like they really had everything planned for. So in anguish of not being free, I threw the cracked trough on the wall, making a noise. A hiss soon appeared from the side the remains of it were lying on, about as broken as that thing.
- “Hssss…” - This felt like a sigh of a changeling. And then, would that mean salvation? After the countless cycles? It definitely felt like maybe eight seasons.
- “Can’t ss-see you yet. I ssssense that you are alsssso dead-tired of being locked, right? Tough times, I feel like I was locked since forever...” - I waited a bit, tapping my fore’hoof’ on the floor, before hearing from them back.
- "Weirdly formal vocal pattern, recognizable dialect, is it fellow hive member?" - I guessed that they were *that* captured Changeling. They knew I was from the same hive. So, without a hesitation, I made an eye contact with the wall from which the voice came from, and spoke.
- “That would be right, you got me there. Been captured, because I didn’t keep the profile low enough.”
That being said, I still have eavesdropped on a few things. One of those was probably the crush that heart pony had on one of key guards. I think she called him Shining Armor, or something. That being said, while escaping, and trying to, rather than disguise, hope that guards were blind and deaf enough to notice, I forgot that there was still one white queen, probably their leader, and while I do get more motivated, ferocious and stronger fighting a bigger target, sun-flanked horse would easily overpower my Queen herself based on how strong the hold was and how badly did those beams hurt, not mentioning even the greatest Changeling warriors that weren’t queens. Honestly, the only reason I didn't end up getting killed there and now was maybe their culture. Softies seldom make others perish, they prefer to lock anything bad up, whether in stone or in cells.
Then the response knocked me out of the figurative memory clouds. - “Then how would I have gotten you here? Explain.”
- “To be frank, didn’t expect you to be there, but…” - I sat near those remains, cold floor making no difference to me. That’s one thing we do better - we need no soft places to live on. Moving on, I still thought I was just extraordinarily lucky seeing another Changeling. - “I think I heard you refusing that mission before I had to accept this reluctantly, the result of this being that.” - I didn’t expect his response to be fast enough.
- “Refusing? At least I did the right thing and after that I defected just a few hours ago!” - So I’m stuck in a cell with a rebel on a neighbouring one. Great.
- “Obviously this didn’t do you any favour, since you’re there with me.” - I decided to jab back at his obvious rebel attitude, because I am still loyal to the Queen, not to some usurpers.
- “And how would you have assumed that? I defected from a splinter group from a current hive, since the rebel leadership is… iffy to say the least.” - Splinter groups? In the hive? If I were to be freed, I would tell her about this find.
- “And that would be since the… failure to return to hive?”
- “Actually, no, not really.” - Phew, at least no one is going to usurp the power.
- “Well, it’s a shame that I cannot influence everything.” - I looked about. It’s solid, it’s changeling-proof, there’s nothing I can do to help myself, maybe other than using those remains as an improvised weapon on guard and counting on luck. But… I’m… so… hungry! Focus, Trachea, you don’t simply get an easy way out if you don’t try!
- “The current splinter… ‘ling is a maggot called Thorax, who you can call ‘spineless’.” - So… wait a second, he was a rebel but… why does that name seem familiar? - “He thinks he can simply just not fight her at all. In fact, scratch that, not fight anything at all.”
Figures that Chryssy would wipe the floor with him… but probably not; that’s just keeping a low profile. But a gate creaks right now. And we still don’t have a plan.
- “And, what happened to our Queen during that time?” - I would ask, and he responds with an annoyed snark.
- “Y’know, had a fatal accident when leaving the throne… actually no, but should have one.” - That was kind of rude, but then again, if there was a grudge, then I guess I understand. I just need to break free, so… that will be an uneasy alliance. - “And my sibling only makes those prospects worse; Commander Tibithia.”
I just say nothing. I need not to continue the topic, now that I clearly hear the trot… a pony. I bite into the wood, and take a few swooshes. Think it’ll break more quickly than I’ll bash any heads with that. Then he replied again in an obvious manner that everyling knows. - “So… I guess we’re captured.”
The sounds of hooves hitting the ground. Closer. Hunger. Rising. Freedom. Possible. - “Not for long.” - Hiding the remains before I reply, because the best chance is to take them from surprise. - “I have a good feeling about this chance.”
And now meet about to be knocked out jailor - Silver Shackles. Orange unicorn with… self-explanatory rank and flanks. And emerald mane; a mare too. Maybe not as strong as others, but certainly does her job a bit too well… for my tastes of freedom. Too nice, I really have to knock her fast.
- “What’s the ruckus in there?” - Hearing them, I hide behind… a trough clearly won’t work, it’s broken. A bed, too short. Besides, it’s just a pile of hay. A… wall! I think the voice’s from the left side from the cell’s exit. I check the bars to see if half a trough will fit though. Barely. Now, just waiting.
Banging. Seriously? This is not gonna work that well! Cannot scold, I have to be silent. But, once I hear them clearly, it’s my cue.
Three.
- “Newcoming Changelings those days…”
Two.
- “...they don’t know they won’t be returning to hive…”
One.
- “...now, where did the trough break, thou-”
I slam the unicorn’s head quite harshly as soon as her silly muzzle appears, with that wooden bit, then drop it on the tiles. Wind up helped a bit; and the mare collapsed helplessly, her eyes seeing stars and tongue struck. I get her hoof a bit closer, feeling… almost nothing. She just did the job as far as she could against me; it isn’t enough to stop me. So now, pushing my holey hoof through the bars, I remind myself why we are superior. Even with our magic locked behind that strange lock, our legs are built in a way that cannot be easily constrained. I nudge the orange one closer to me each time I pull her foreleg towards me, then…
…to the hope’s never-ending spark, there were keys just in my hoof’s reach. Chryssy would think of it faster; for us, it’s an accomplishment. So, I grab an entire key ring, and check which one would fit the hole… that I know of after looking at myself on the trough for so many days. Seventh. It fits, clicks, and despite lots of troubles trying to fit it in my forehead, the thing falls, the head feeling lighter… uuuuh, I’m about to faint here.
I didn’t… but the first thing I did was to check each key again, getting out with a spring, and draining my would-be a bane on my own terms. Now, she will be out for a lot longer. Then, I look at my wings, and get them unlocked using the seventh key too. Now that I can fly, I lift off… and slowly hover towards the voices.
A tan head and green wing and tail membranes… bigger than me, possibly one of higher-ups of the Changeling society… being, had appeared in my view; and he had eyes after my mother and queen herself. - “The deed is done. The first part, getting out of a cell at least. But second, despite how you talk of my Queen like that, we have to work together.” - I’m willing to bury an ax, if it means to be free. Surprisingly, while I was trying to see which key would fit, he would respond quickly.
- “So we’ll be in contact for some time, then?” - He would ask, and… I already have an answer.
- “As long as the escape requires. Now… key six… key seven…” - I still try to get him free, but… hm. I’ve got to say it.
- “And you clearly have eyes after her. The colour.” - Eighth… ninth… which one was it?
- “Yeah, I’ve heard that. Ironic for someone like me to resemble the tyrant, heh.” - He would let a low chuckle. He knew me, I’m not threatening inside my hive, unless it’s ponies that see me that way.
- “I think I’d be more threatening; but never mind. Let me just remove those restraints from you too.” - I clearly do that, but it takes a bit longer, since first I have to unlock the cell, then find a key for him. Nevertheless, it works like a charm, and it’s freedom for him too.
- “Phew… that feels much better.” - Maybe because he wasn’t locked for long, the magic just didn’t flood him like a tempest river, and now, I look at the open gate, Still middle of night. And we need a plan to get out of here.
- “Good. Now, I’ll give a word of warning. I’m poor at disguising, I am only a fighter; Trachea to be exact. Nevertheless, I think that under the night’s cover, we’ll be able to sneak out of Canterlot, and then into the wilds. Then, it’s each for their own.” - He nods to my idea laid out at this moment, and then he seems to prepare.
- “Good idea. Also, just call me Sal.” - So I then get ready… and dash towards the gate.
- “They equines stand no chance to stop us fleeing now. Just don’t look back too much in any case. Just focus on the path.” - So we’d be galloping through the halls, with most prisoners; unicorns, some Earth Ponies and Pegasi, and even one griffon sleeping through the night. But I expected even one or two ponies to stop us. Must be sleeping. Meanwhile he would speed up, and get ahead of me. - “Didn’t expect this day to be empty. Maybe they’re slacking at their job, or sleeping.
A wall. He hits it squarely, it budges a little. Still enough to make him see some stars though. - “Ow.” - And I facehoof, stopping just before I hit it too.
- “I ssssswear last year it wasn’t walled in!” - I glance just above. ‘Closed due to unstable ceilings.’ It’s an excuse, isn’t it? If it is, it’s about as shoddy as the wall that excuse is using. While he would be kicking the wall, dazed maybe, I would throw the remains of trough. And it breaks with less success than his hooves had. - “Hold up, the cracks. Maybe we can still escape from there?” - So I join in… and the wall collapses, with my hoof-like leg tips feeling pain from this. - “Hssss-s! At last!” Still hovering, I… and he, who takes off after running after me, keep going through this way. Despite rocks feeling a bit loose, I don’t think it’s much trouble.
Our escape gets a bit halted by a Royal Guard who somehow was guarding this way, too. - “Well, well, what do we have there… caught escaping in a dark night, eh?” - Yadda, yadda, we just skip past them, hearing just angry noises of a white unicorn who tried chasing us, but was unable to catch us. So, we nearly exit the dungeon, and… into the hallway with a yellow-trimmed red carpet, made of marble. Mosaics gleefully remind me how wasteful they are. A purple- unnecessary witness we have to avoid, with saddlebags full of books and scrolls.
- “Nuuurh… I hope it is just a fairytale…” - And they were thankfully busy talking to another, a draconic with green spikes.
- “What it is?” - And this draconic would’ve noticed us if Sal spoke up, so...
I hold a hoof in front of him, to stop him from doing that, while we’re well hidden behind a wall, and eavesdrop on them. I still hadn’t forgotten my original purposes. And they spoke again - “What if it’s true? If the return of the Nightmare Moon is indeed when four stars connect, to summon the eternal night? And that will happen in two weeks from now, too!”
- “Twi, you’re worrying about it too much…” - And they exit through the left door, as I can’t hear the rest of it. This rumor has potential. It could be a potential enemy. For now, we silently pass the-
Queen Chrysallis, teach those damn birdbrain guards who ring those bells a lesson! And now we have to fly fast. With some white alicorn on the trail (as I just barely look behind me; I don’t even care what she says now, as long as I’m not caught, I’m fine ignoring that one), and us barely being missed by that beam, I take it seriously, even as the glow nearly grazes my legs. I try throwing her aim off. Not looking back. Just… fly out of the castle, into wilds… out of the castle, into the wilds.
This mantra worked, as after a few more barrages, the alicorn seemed to give up, and did not chase us, at least… I didn’t see anything stopping us. But this was stressful. We flew for some more time, before we landed at the clearing in the forest.
- “And we’ve escaped. No more rotting here.” - I buzzed heavily. While love did carry me here, I was no less exhausted than him.
- “It seems so.” - He would look at me, and I would look at him. We were free from the equine grasp. I shall return to the Queen, but first, I have to do something.
- “I think I may have to do something. After all, I didn’t see a certain bat-winged horse for a long time.” - Not telling him that I really miss her, but I do. Bonds were made, she was an extension of a hive in my eyes. But neither of them would think so.
- “And what would they be?” - Curious changeling… but I still have not to tell them too much of compliments on them.
- “Some loyalist to Nightmare Moon. You shouldn’t be visiting her, for she’s only mine to spy on.” - He would roll his head about, and look at me.
- “I see. Not the one I should meet then.” - I nod, though I’m more or less playing a facade. Vitrolic and her friends shouldn’t know about Chrysalis in any other way as their ruthless predator, and my mother Queen shouldn’t know of the healer as my friend and of me as a soft changeling that I am not. If disguising is the part that fails, then maintaining a facade is the part I succeed at.
- “I see. For whatever case, if you want to join a revolution. Just meet me again, if I had opened your eyes. Otherwise, see you for the last time.”
I would fall flat, because I was so exhausted that I didn’t care to fly to safer ground at all. And then sleep, like a rock.
When the sun was already brightly shining, I got up with a buzz, and quite frankly, I don’t really know what they’ll be doing at this time, so I slowly started walking to the east; wings still exhausted after yesterday’s chase. Leaves moving a bit, trees getting more and more dense, usually those wimps would get lost and call their ‘queen’ to rescue them. What does our Queen do? She actively teaches us to find a way from the middle of nowhere, to a hive. But even that is faulty when I have to find a way to… that healer for example. She has flaws - she is far too soft and naive. But she can’t be easily broken by the fears. Except for one - to outright predatory beings; that We deal with ease. Not a hive material at all.
Now, I remember one time Vitrolic tried to scam a pony out of their bits. It was when she was more or less between being a little filly and being an adult mare. Long story short, the pony found out, tried fillynapping her, succeeded, and I had to bail them out, after she got tortured by being thrown into various cages with dangerous animals within them. I think she would never let me tell the story at all; and neither would she tell this at all to her ‘friends’. The other thing is that she takes her job more seriously. She won’t give them false stuff, if the situation’s grave.
And- of course it’s taking a while going on hoof, yet my wings aren’t still recovered. Not that hungry either to consider feeding on them. Still, a weird rumour of a light purple unicorn had drilled into my head. Between already known weaknesses in Canterlot and this… I don’t know what could be more useful.
The scowls and howls of those ‘greybeasts’ did draw my attention, I thought that… well, those should do for today’s supply of love. To be exact, their supply of hunting love. So, I glared at them. They were near the abandoned building, probably ruined as well. Two stories, quite shabby construction, prey inside, scared beings underneath… that could work for figuring out which way to the hive or to them, Vitrolic.
The wolves, maybe while not as threatening as an alicorn, still had an advantage in numbers. Five. To one. I push my horn into the charging one’s neck, and feed on their emotions as they’re bleeding the warm liquid out. Four. Two tried to sneak behind me. I smack the hooves upon the wall, and dive in the front. Three. Now this fight they won’t fight, as one of those wolves got crushed by wood and maybe some stone. Two. The other one found out the hard way that my hooves are more ruthless than of a comparable horse. One. Both went for a bite, but neither would pierce that; their teeth glancing from my armour; me noticing and snapping at them violently. Zero. The three surviving wolves fled, cutting the losses.
I dropped the still warm body, and looked at the building again. Whoops, the main entrance may have been ruined. Still, there is a trick I can employ. So I fly up to the collapsed fragment, and squeeze in, noticing that it actually has a ceiling. I stomp on it, and it gives in, me sliding down on the newly made ramp as I forgot to account for that. And I think I still heard the noises of horses being scared. The fear does in fact give me an idea where I should check. A hatch.
And after opening it and them getting out- ohmyChryssynodon’tdoit!
Well, it would’ve been the very stupid end of me if Vitrolic didn’t stop her at the last second.
- “Heeeeey. No funsies if you keep pointing that at my lingu! They too could decide to bite you or something!” - The bat-like horse is right, as it appears the dicey mare dropped her thing to the ground.
- “Apologies, I’m not really sure at times whenever the danger still lurks or fades.” - The lemony pony… they did seem at the time to be ready beat me down. - “It wasn’t intentional either way.”
Still, I thought it would be an undignified way to go out; ambushed by a puny pony. Though, I stood there, wide-eyed, because of how sudden it was. Only a warmth of Vitrolic voluntarily feeding me a bit more did shake me out of it.
- “I… I’m here.” - Of course I’d let myself be toppled, as she would literally act out every bit of fear she had. I felt a bit bad that I couldn’t be here when I was needed more, but the lemony mare did grumble instead.
- “Great. Now because your friend is somehow free, we experienced that all for naught, right?”
Of course, after my healer let all her tears out, she looked at her friend. - “Nyaaah. Actually, I like this home a lot! Perhaps I could live here instead of just in a cave? After all, it’s long overdue for me to move out like a fully independent mare!”
I am a little confused. This house is a hazard. It won’t stay up for long. And thankfully, her other friend just had the same sense as me. - “I don’t think so. It’s a middle of the wilds, you can’t high roll that intervention forever, and it’s unstable. See? Now it has a hole in the ceiling.”
Of course the bat pony has to disregard that. Well, her instincts, she really likes whenever it’s a dark, abandoned place - even if it’s about to turn into ruins. - “Faaaallie! You know me, I wanna live here! Besides, the hatch is fine too if I wanna hide!”
I have… no words to express on my own how silly she is to think that way. And even if, I can’t because she is scritching behind my antennae and nuzzling me. Like, I still have stuff to do. And even feeding from her won’t do anything, because then I’d be too full and she’d only feel a bit woozy and otherwise fine. And now she’s making me feel outright embarrassed and buzzing with energy, like in a hive. That’s how well she can handle me, unlike the jailor; and I want to be let free, but both she and the emotions she gives off trap me like a nectar does even to a most stalwart bee.
This state of things happened for a bit longer, until she decided to ask me. “Sooo, what happened, Trachey? It were months without you being heard of, the only thing I learned being you were somehow jailed!”
Eeerngh. Should I tell her just what she needs to hear, or the whole thing? Eh, I’ll just tell what she would want and need to hear. - “Figure it was true… until night. That’s when I kicked the wall off, and broke free. And heard that a certain sign could mark Nightmare Moon’s return.”
I didn’t expect both to have a radically different reaction for the news - It’s as if the gambler’s facial expression paled from the revelation, then shaking it off, holding her head, and the healeroutrightdecidedtocrushmewithherforelegsoutofjoythat’showtoughitwas-
- “Nightmare… Moon?” - I gasped for a breath as Vitrolic stopped crushing me out of joy, trying to wiggle off her like a little grub I was; independent and decisive of my path.
- “Of course, silly Fallie! I mean, she oughta be proud of us, sleeping at day or night whenever we want! Theeeen she got sealed, and can only see us from the moon. At least that was what Bloodie said!” - And I felt like I’m about to facehoof at that explanation. Still, can’t offend her because I’ll be damned if I waste a good food source by doing that. And the only tie to the Equestrian world now.
- “She was sealed because she had gone crazy, Vitrolic! She. Wanted. To. Bring. The. Neverending. Night.” - The duo clearly had different opinions, and the bat-like mare had puffed up… my cue to get her off me. And she squeaks to my attempt to gain freedom.
- “Eep! Get the Trachey!” - Of course she still gets me, and I make a sharp buzz. I just wanted to change the topic, though… but to what? I don’t know myself, most of the topics I had were about combat.
- “Get… off me… please…” - I pleaded, she kept cuddling me, and flooding me with so much of emotions my wings glowed a little because of that.
- “Just a moment pleeease?” - However, I couldn’t argue with her cute slitted eyes and the warm smile she possessed, and soon after I gave in and cuddled her back, breathing softly and calmly. Maybe this was a moment of truth… that I should speak anyway.
As nopony seemed to respond at all, I slowly broke free from a forced affection… blech. I felt like I had eaten feathers or something just as tasteless; I thrived in combat after all, not in snuggles - but then again, it wasn’t a problem alone. The problem was with me - anywhere I go, I would literally pick a fight. Even with some Changeling like Vistisal if it needed to be.
Slowly, I poked Vitrolic to the side, motioning to her to go somewhere private and tell her friend to leave us alone for a moment. So we flew to the lake. The one where she saw me at my weakest - yet decided to keep me strong, even if I could’ve just ended her entire life in one draining session. She was an ally, the only thing we Changelings truly honour. The lake didn’t change much, as much as I'd thought, the only sight changing was the lack of an old couple of prey. Sitting on damp grass, I told her about how I broke free.
- “You know why I tapped you on the side. The situation I landed myself in a year ago; it looked about the same way as your general carelessness. I am sorry I couldn’t be able to visit you. There are loyalties I have to follow, one out of gratitude to you. I only have only one wish though, before I tell you the whole story.”
- “Wha? Trachey? What you mean?” - The batpony looked at me confused, I had to fix the problem.
- “You see, your uncle and Chrysalis knew each other well. In fact, they were fierce rivals. Blood Call actually was able to get under her chitin a few times, one last being a few months after I was born. Ever since then, she proclaimed the victory, as he was pacified. And by that, she meant forcing them to retreat to a dark castle that almost nopony would dare visit. As you exist, she did it a bit too early…”
- ”But… but why would you tell that?” - She would interrupt me, once again, as I come up with response.
- “Truth is, I have two loyalties. One to the Queen Chrysallis, my mother and-” - Once again, I get interrupted, it seems like I’ve already told her that fact.
- “Hold on a sec, I think you already told me that back then!” - Oh silly me, I actually forgot batponies and generally any horses are mayflies compared to us - live shorter, remember longer.
- “Oh. So you know about the secret already. You told anypony about that or not?” - I decided to ask out of curiosity, then. That she would break the promise, I did not believe in, nor she would’ve done it.
- “Eeehm, no. Trachey, you know you can trust me with that at least!” - She giggles again, and pokes me back. - „Now waaait… if you’re here, then how did you break free?”
I buzzed a bit awkwardly, yesterday’s event being at most a rush for freedom, and with another poke of hers, I replied, messing her mane up. - „If you insist… then I’ll say that. Somehow, there was one more hive member that was trapped, but I think they haven’t played much role in that. Just brazenly escaped the castle while I still had time to flee.”
She looked at me. I looked at her. And I roll my head about, continuing to tell her things. - “Trust me. A pony breaking free is common here, us breaking free is do or rot in a cell forever moment. So… any progress with your animal traumas while I was off to a stupid cell?”
- “Nuh, uh. Sorreh, I just can’t do it without you!” - I honestly wanted her to at least grow up a bit without me; it would give me time with Chrysallis, my mother. Then again, she’s a mother of all Changelings. Then she gets me off guard with her follow-up response. - “Wait, the next time we do the session, can I follow you on my own? I’m an adult mare and I don’t need to be fillynapped, I promise that I won’t flee!”
That idea of hers gained an instant emulation of groan. After all, being thrown into successive cages full of beings that toyed with her like some sort of prey broke her so much she feared even a little mouse. Even now a swarm of mice will make her sweating, and a graybeast – faint. Hence why I had the idea with her to change that. It stemmed from the idea the Queen herself did for us, to us. She had a few guards escort a group of little Changelings, and whenever they were finding a chosen thing not a threat, then they would be let go back to hive, with a hefty love ration to feed on. I had it the least, but mostly because I was brave, and not able to change… well, I am able to do it, but I get details so wrong, that any horse would see through my illusion.
Back to the idea though, the next step was getting enough fruits. There were a few wild growths of grapes, so, caring less about if they would be in her taste and more getting her food so she recovers from session, I gathered those. And finally, the fillynapping. It had to be sudden, so from above. It had to be speedy, so I caught her barrel. And she couldn’t flee, so my grip had to be hard. During the twenty sessions we had, I actually managed to get her to bravery she has now, and I found out that she indeed liked those little fruits. She also no longer fears things that she doesn’t need to, but things she needs to fear… still need to be tamed, as it’s still too much for her.
After reminding myself why my technique was necessary, I made a hiss. - “Well, you would flee anyway from there the moment you get ssscared, ssso I would need to catch you; wouldn’t you?”
She seemed to giggle awkwardly, but then she also made- oh Chrysalis no, not the sweetness again! Not the cute eyes she makes! - “Trachey, pleaaase! I could blindfold myself if it means you allow me to go on my own hooves!”
Resigned, I respond back. - “All right, fine, but if you flee from next one, I’ll ssstill be fillynapping you.” - And sit down, to watch the sky. All the clouds; they remind me that no matter how much time I can have with her, eventually I still have to report to mother with my knowledge of Canterlot and whatever purple pony said… or was it dragon and lavender pony. - “Vitrolic. I’ll be sssure to train you the next time we meet. Now, farewell, for we ssshall meet again later on. Sssooner than later, and then we will continue on where we stopped on previously.” - My wings were now rested enough, and with buzzing, I took up, looking at the bat pony from above. And she took up.
- “W-wait, can I do it now?” - I shook my head to her request, I needed to prove to mother I am alive and myself. Plus, I’m not going to traumatize my own friend, especially as she provides me some… coincidental cover.
- “I am sorry, but first off isss that you already had encounter with one thing today, that I sssaw. The other; I need to do my thingssss. Sssee you later.” - She would stubbornly follow me, but I stop her from further going with me by a sharp hiss, as per usual. It’s mostly to deter her from doing a stupid thing to follow me into a hive… speaking of which, after a few hours of the flight not interrupted by a pony as stubborn as her, I see the black spire in sight. Then I notice Her in the very distance, overseeing something. She still is as strong as before, never faltering in strength nor growing old. That’s only a pony thing that ends anychangeling. Us? Well, I don’t think any ling survived growing old enough to be deteriorating constantly.
As I fly into the hive, a giant worm- gets stomped by me in the eye-like thing. It shrieks, and charges at me, only for more of us to swarm it down and beat it up to the point it had to retreat. No celebrations, nothing. Just a feeling of duty well done. Mother herself came flying close to me… and whispered in my mind.
Come meet me in the throne room. - I enter it soon after, where she sits down, back in the chair. Pods, empty and with ponies, some of them barely hanging on, one being caught recently, were stuffed across the ceiling. The throne was the guarantee no horse would fight us there, unless they have a deathwish. And the Queen?
Speak up, Trachea. What took you so long to return.
I hiss out my frustration, as I look at her like some Changeling who took longer than needed.- “Imprisoned in a stupid equine cell. Guards caught me, but now I know more than I could have before.”
She nods, and looks at me sternly, like a mother who just doesn’t want her children to come into a harm willingly. I see. We’ve not had seen you for a long time, I assumed you were assimilated or worse.
- “But what I will say is not going to be the news you’d like, My Queen.” - I take a moment to breath in and out. - “From the royal rumours, the bad news are that Nightmare Moon could return in two weeks from now-”
- “Pfff, nonsense. If she arrives anyhow, we have an army to stop her right here, right now. Besides, she is a puny pony, just like Celestia, right?” - I chortle as I find that mildly amusing, both because that’s not a secret it is her fantasy to beat the white alicorn to give an example for us and the fact they seem to give up a bit easily on pursuing any of us. I guess that they would be- oh, right, she seemed a little down. - “But at the same point, I can see your concern. Even one Princess can cause extraordinary harm to a hive. But enough of that, change of topic. What else?”
I haven’t forgotten about a crush. Call me a peekster, but figure that two ponies, in addition royalty, is a bit obvious here. - “Two lovebirds. Shield horse and crystal heart alicorn.” - And she nodded, and seeing how I’m fed, just put her forehoof on my head affectionately.
- “Cadance has a partner, I presume… interesting. Heard about her a little, but this is… more than enough of information for me. I should be preparing an infiltration whenever she plans her wedding. Then, using it, we shall cause Canterlot to fall to our rule, and then… it’s our love foreeeeveeer!” - She laughed heartily. Some soft-hearted pony would think of it as evil, I just think it’s gentlest she could give, as she can laugh way more devilishly. - “Now, you need a bit of rest, Trachea. Tomorrow, you can start doing your duties again. No more sending you to the capital, they just would catch you again.”
After my mother queen dismisses me, I return to one of the holes I am fond to see through in the hive – overseeing the sheer expanse the spire is located in. Empty, rocky and sandy place – it’s unremarkable by any other means. The sun was once again setting down, as I stare in distance at a group of other Changelings fighting a giant worm on their own. We’ve got this – we have numbers to deal with them. Maybe even with my former captors.
Our vision of the world, in a grasp of a hoof.
We shall be victorious, but that begs a question.
Will the world be wide enough for both Chrysalis and Vitrolic?
We shall be victorious, but that begs a question.
Will the world be wide enough for both Chrysalis and Vitrolic?
