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And Sunset Shimmer makes her move, and Chrysalis 'invades'!

CHAPTER 20

“Pegasi, prepare to land!” Celestia shouted over the wind, spiralling down to the outskirts of Ponyville, ignoring the shouts of surprise of the local Pegasus, including one very familiar rainbow-maned Mare, the Pegasi Guards pulling the chariots covered in foam and sweat but steadfastly refusing to give in until their duty was done. “Unicorns, double-check each other’s wardings, then follow me to the Ponyville Library as fast as you can. I will attempt to draw the Succuponi out, then you will capture her, and I will cast the binding spell upon her!”

“Yes, your majesty!” The Unicorns shouted, their horns glowing as they double-checked their magical protections, while the four Unicorns on rotation in each chariot kept up their recovery spells on the Pegasi, shouting encouragement to their comrades as the chariots began to spiral down after Celestia.

Please, please, if I have ever earned a reprieve, let it be today. Do not take my sister and my student from me! Celestia prayed silently as her hooves touched the ground, her wings trembling with fatigue from the long flight, and she took off into Ponyville, her long legs and Alicorn strength propelling her faster than any Earth Pony could hope to run, leaping over and dodging around Ponies who stopped to bow or greet her, ignoring the shouts of surprise and dismay as their normally gentle and friendly Princess ignored her Ponies.

Even from several streets away Celestia could feel a sense of … wrongness, of a nameless dread that she could feel deep in her chest, the same feeling that every Fiend brought forth when she came near. In part a memory of her own encounters with the Dark Forces of Tartarus as a much younger Immortal, in part a very natural response from a being born to bright warmth and hope to Equestria. And so she homed in on that dread, as well as the directions of the spies she had stationed in the town.

“Princess Celestia!” A Pegasus flying overhead, a white-coated Stallion seemingly made entirely of muscles and comically tiny wings, pointed to the spreading branches of the oak-tree that had been cultivated into the town’s library by a long-forgotten Earth Pony. “There, Rarity and Applejack escorted two unidentified Ponies and two Ponies in long cloaks into the Library earlier today!”

“Excellent work! Prepare to assist the Guards!” Celestia called back, feeling a twinge of relief. At least one of the Ponies she had sent to watch over the Elements seemed to be on the scene.

“Yes ma’am, I mean, YEAAAAAAAH!” The Pegasi shouted, slipping back into his role as more of Ponyville’s inhabitants came rushing to see what had brought Celestia in such a rush.

That’s going to be a problem. Celestia thought as the crowd of Ponies trying to shout questions to her got closer and closer, despite the barked demands of her Royal Guards for them to disperse. I need to find Twilight and Luna, and get them out of danger first. Then I will try to get the Ponies to get to safety. As cruel as it sounds, I cannot risk the other Princesses to save the Ponies.

“Princess Celestia, it … it is an honor to have you here!” The Mayor of Ponyville came running, bowing as she did, looking obviously flustered. “T-to what do we owe this great …”

“Mayor, this is an emergency, I need every Pony in the area to fall back to the outskirts of the town.” Celestia said firmly, glaring at the crowd of Ponies that were blocking her Royal Guards from getting to her, and the Succuponi. “I am invoking the Crisis Act. You and the other Civil Servants are now empowered to act in my name and order Ponies to abandon their places of work and homes until I say otherwise.”

“B-but your Highness, there’s hundreds of Ponies that we will need to evacuate, maybe if you could have sent a memo …” The Mare whimpered, shrivelling beneath the frustrated glare of her Princess. “I’ll … I’ll try, your Highness, but the Council Office recently suffered a fire, and our …”

“Mayor Mare, I do not care how you do it, just that you do it.” Celestia grated the words out before dodging around a gaggle of fillies rushing up to her with autograph books and taking wing over a row of houses, leaving a mortified-looking Mayor Mare and the stunned fillies in her wake, her eyes fixated on the library, her magic extended, sensing the auras of life around her.

Below the tree, Celestia could faintly sense Twilight, Luna and two different Ponies, while in the second level of the tree-house, she could also sense Applejack, Rarity and Spike.

The two Ponies I don’t recognise must be Sunset Shimmer and Trixie. Celestia thought, her face twisting into a frown as her wings screamed at her to let them rest, and she came back down to the ground in what could be called a graceful crash, just a few dozen meters, ignoring the cries of the Ponies behind her as the Royal Guard began to force their way through the crowd in the streets behind her, and Mayor Mare began bellowing for Ponies to evacuate Ponyville, and was drowned out by shouts for the Princess to come back, what was going on, why did they have to leave their shops abandoned right when the day had only just started.

Taking a deep breathe to both calm herself and prepare for the use of the Royal Canterlot Voice, Celestia’s eyes narrowed as one of the two unknown ‘presences’ in the basement below the Library-Tree began to grow stronger, more agitated.

I will not let you take my sister from me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Uhm … this way, please.” Dappled Light shouted and waved to the approaching Changeling ‘swarm’, trying to not soil himself as he saw dozens of Changelings coming his way, surrounded by scores more of small cat-like creatures, and finally several larger Changelings pulling a battered carriage, over which most of the Hive flew protectively.

His commanding officer had seen the Changeling that Dappled had escorted back to the outpost on the border and proceeded to faint dead away, which left Dappled as the only ranking Guard on the base, given that every other Pony was a civilian and the other Guards were either on leave or had been pulled to more vital locations with the Gryphons agitating on the border.

Passing the information on to his superiors at the garrison further inside Equestria’s borders had been almost torture as nobody had taken him seriously until he’d gotten the Scout to speak, at which point the higher-ranking officers had all but fallen over each other to congratulate Dappled on ‘capturing’ the Hive. With much face-hoofing from both Pony and Changeling.

Dappled had taken command of the situation, or rather had gently folded up his comatose commander under the desk and used the Scrying Crystal to alert the nearest garrison after letting Command in Canterlot know about the situation, then told the Changeling to go fetch it's Queen and bring her here for medical attention for her injuries.

The Changeling had simply nodded, it's horn had glowed a vibrant green, and then it had proceeded to shadow him around the Outpost as Dappled and the senior paper-pushers got everyone but the bare necessary staff evacuated.

Which just left Dappled and three middle-aged desk-jockeys to face the Hive.

“I’m not sure this is covered in my contract …” One of the older Stallions muttered, sweating far heavier than the weather should have allowed for. “Changelings. We’re about to be neck-deep in Changelings.”

“Just take comfort, old bean, in that it will take two Changelings to mimic your waist-line alone.”

“Oh go buck a Walrus. Sideways.”

“Gents, I don’t think this is the time.” Dappled snapped as the Hive came close enough for him to pick out individual features on the lead Changelings, the ‘Scout’ right beside him, it's chitinous features unreadable. “This is a diplomatic meeting, or so the ‘Scout’ here claims. The Garrison has been alerted, the Royal Guard will be here soon, all we have to do is stop this from boiling over into an actual fight.”

“We have no wish to fight.” The Scout said suddenly, making the four Ponies jump and look at it nervously. “Our Queen is badly damaged. Her offspring are … strange. The Elder Queens are coming. We have no choice but to seek refuge amongst the Ponies.”

“Elder Queens … Celestia’s Beard.” Dappled sighed and put a hoof to his face. “Look, just … let’s keep this calm, and quiet. Nopony panics, nopony says anything that could get anypony in trouble, and we all get out of this without a scratch.”

And hopefully the Changeling doesn’t spill the beans about me spilling my seed all of it's face. Dappled thought, and swore mentally. That would be just the kind of kick to the teeth his career needed!

Slowly, the carriage was pulled up to the waiting Ponies, the three pencil-pushers bowing low as if greeting a visiting monarch from another kingdom rather than a known enemy of the state, while Dappled saluted … and kept his eyes firmly on the carriage.

The door swung open, revealing the infamous Changeling Queen … who looked positively emaciated, the holes in her legs bigger and more numerous than the wanted-posters had described, her insect-like wings lined with dozens of cracks and stress-lines, her horn chipped and peeling, with deep, dark bags under her eyes, and despite his intention to be a firm but polite soldier for once, Dappled couldn’t help but wince at the sight.

“Your Highness.” Dappled inclined his head, giving the bare minimum respect to the ‘enemy’ of the state, and received the barest hint of a smile from the emaciated Queen. “Once you are ready, we have prepared the outpost for your … visit. I will leave your care in the hooves of your followers, but as the ranking officer of this outpost, I must formally ask that they do not engage in any acts that could be construed as … hostile.”

“Threatened, little Pony?” Chrysalis wheezed, and the Guard flinched as he heard the sound of a Foal beginning to cry inside the vehicle. “I assure you, the survival of my Hive depends upon the goodwill of your kind. None of my Drones would be so foolish as to risk offence.”

“As your … scout has informed me, your Highness, your health is of great concern, and you can hardly be brought before Celestia on a stretcher. I must emphasize that we keep this visit as polite and calm as possible because the commanding officer from the barracks further inland is known for his … temper.” Dappled ventured, feelings of irritation at this disruption of his boring, banal life and a surge of pity for this ruined figure before him warring with the duties ingrained into him during basic training. “He was present in Canterlot during your last … visit … and Major Brass Stars is not the kind of Pony who takes losing well.”

Chrysalis sighed and nodded, the slight smile leaving her face, making her look haggard and worn again, and finally Dappled was able to see what looked like a number of small, squirming shapes beneath a tattered pile of rags.

The thought of black, maggot-like offspring filled him with revulsion and a desire to be violently ill, but he managed to not give in, hoping any expression he made would be construed as concern for a potential conflict.

“While I have sent a message onwards to Canterlot stating your intentions, Major Brass Stars will arrive long before any of our Diplomats will. I suggest giving him no reason to doubt the sincerity of your desire to surrender to Equestria, if only to avoid a … diplomatic incident?”

“We have to echo young Dappled’s warnings, your Highness.” One of the bureaucrats spoke up, eyeing the flying Changelings that swarmed protectively overhead with obvious nervousness. “Major Brass Stars was placed out here precisely because his temperament made him a dangerous liability to borders with our more … volatile neighbours. It would be very dangerous to antagonise him, given your current … status … in Equestria.”

“As a wanted criminal, you mean.” Chrysalis sighed and nodded again. “You have my thanks. Now, if you please, I need a moment to tend to my hatchlings, and then my guards will bring me inside to wait until the Royal Guard arrive to … ugh … take me into custody.”

“Your Highness.” The bureaucrats bowed, and Dappled took his cue from them, inclined his head and backed up with the other Ponies as the Changelings all began to land, utterly silent but for the occasional clack of chitin on chitin and the soft whining of the ‘baby’ Changelings within the carriage. “Dappled, I suggest you retire to the outpost with us.”

“Err, my duty as a Guard states that I should …”

“Dappled, m’boy, it wasn’t a suggestion."

Following the three bureaucrats, Dappled listened as the fat one explained further. "By arriving under a flag of truce, with the offer of her own voluntary surrender, Chrysalis has made the situation quite dangerous for Equestria. If word gets out that we’ve roughed up a visiting member of Royalty, even a hostile one, after she arrived in peace, it could cause diplomatic ripples with how the other leaders of the other Races view the Royal Guards, if not Ponies as a whole.” The second bureaucrat explained, his broad middle jiggling with every step. “We didn’t suggest you turning the outpost into her new home till the Royal Guard arrived on a whim. It’s easily defended and has its own water-supply and several day’s worth of food supplies.”

“I hardly call bulk-bought doughnuts and cheap coffee ‘food’.” The first bureaucrat muttered.

“So … we’re giving one of the most recent threats against Equestria the opportunity to turn this into a siege?” Dappled asked, confused.

“No, officially, all we’re doing is giving a visiting member of a foreign nation’s royalty the best accommodations we can provide in this situation. That those accommodations might also happen to give her a defensive advantage if a certain hot-headed Pegasus Major decides to try to push for a violent confrontation to improve his rank is purely an unhappy circumstance for us Ponies.” The third bureaucrat said, giving a tired smirk to Dappled.

“You know, if I actually cared about advancing my rank, I’d be rather worried right now about cock-blocking Brass Stars like this.” Dappled muttered as the clatter of the Changelings behind them grew louder and more energetic. “I just hope that we’re all just being paranoid, and Brass Stars isn’t going to get all gung-ho about this.”