“...If we’re going to take proper action against those traitors, I need to look into Alexander Cunningham’s memory. He would have seen the inside of their ship, heard them when they spoke. He even has one of their computers inside his head. He won’t recognize it, but he may have seen something that can lead us to them. We can bring those details back, however, and through them, we can hunt them down.”

The White Queen raised an eyebrow at this. “What make think he agree? Already have people inside head. Will not force him do thing.”

Aketesh bowed her head in understanding. “I know that, which is why I wanted you to talk to him. We need to catch these monsters before they’re allowed to continue. So please, I implore you, at least bring it up with him.”

While all of this was very important, Captain Hazalk still couldn’t help but feel as if his talents would be best suited elsewhere. They were talking about things that his people hadn’t even begun to fathom, and it didn’t help that it had been his race that had perpetrated this atrocity. That being said, he really felt like more of a hindrance than an asset in these conversations.

As the Krin Captain pondered over what to do, the communicator in his ear buzzed to life. “Sir, I have a report for you. Subject-38 has moved.”

Rather than speak out and disturb the negotiations, Hazalk took out his personal tablet with his lower arms and typed a message to his ship underneath the table. It would have been easier had he had any implants, but not only did he not trust anyone enough to muck about in his head to put one in, but just the thought of those things made his chitin crawl. I would expect him to move around quite a bit. He is a free agent, after all.

There was an exasperated huff from the other side. “Not like that, sir. I mean that his position suddenly changed from right on top of you, to about seventy klicks northeast in a matter of milliseconds.”

Hazalk’s hand froze over his tablet’s screen for the briefest of seconds. He already knew what the rapid movement meant, the only question was why the equines felt the need to move him. Keep me informed of any other changes.

With that out of the way, Hazalk put his tablet back into his pocket and redirected his attention to the matter at hand. With any luck, the sudden movement wasn’t anything too serious.

However, when one of the equine guards entered the room, passed a whispered message to the two horned and winged equines, then quickly left with the dark blue one, Hazalk couldn’t help but feel a growing sense of dread crawl up his spinal ridge as he watched her leave.

Shining Armor was not happy.

Ten months of preparations, ten months of training, ten months of weaving spells into every entrance and exit in and out of Canterlot Castle, and somehow, the changelings had just managed to waltz right in and hurt his little sister! The fact that they had also managed to kidnap the alien visitor did not escape him. It was just that ~Alex~ happened to rank quite a bit lower in terms of importance in Shining’s eyes.

“I want the whole castle searched, top to bottom! Everypony is to be questioned, no stone is to be left unturned! I want to know how they avoided the checkpoints, and how they managed to slip through the ten thousand layers of defense we’ve put into place since the coup! Is that clear!?”

The stallions in front of Shining Armor muttered their assent with very little enthusiasm. It wasn't that they didn't want to fulfill this duty. In fact, they were absolutely livid that a changeling had managed to slip into their ranks. The reason for their less than vigorous attitude was a simple one: they were all still feeling the aftereffects of the only known method for routing out changelings.

To date, they haven’t been able to catch a single one to interrogate. They had no way of knowing if any of their detection spells or scanning spells had any effect, since the changes that a changeling underwent could be anything from a simple illusion, to an actual, physical change. If that was the case, then none of their spells, even their magic sealing ones, would have any effect to expose them for what they really were. True, a sealing gate like the ones at the Equestrian Games would have prevented any changeling from making any additional shape changes, but it would not have revealed them.

At this point, their only reliable method for routing out a changeling was the magic disruption spell, tested in the heat of battle by Twilight Sparkle herself. The spell disrupted the natural and artificial magical fields that surrounded all life forms and, while it wasn't lethal, it was extremely painful and disorienting, especially to magic-dependent races like ponies or changelings. Shining Armor was nursing a similar headache himself, and had only recently regained consciousness after having gone through the same experience that his troops had undergone.

Despite all that, though, he seemed to not show any discomfort whatsoever. In fact, he seemed to be using the headache to fuel the rage that was kindled when he found out that his baby sister had been attacked by the same monsters that crashed his wedding.

Before Shining Armor could say anything else, the leader of the Night Sentinels, Captain Dark Seeker, stood up and saluted. “Sir, I don’t think they’ve been here very long. We’ve had the survivor in our care for over a month now, and if they’ve been here since before then, they would have acted.”

Shining Armor frowned at him. “Soldier, they still walked into the castle without a care in the world. It’s clear that none of our measures are effective.”

Dark Seeker shook his head. “Sir, I don’t believe that. If that were true, they would have attempted another coup long before now. After all, there have been plenty of opportunities better than this one. I think that they haven’t because one or more of our countermeasures have been effective.”

Shining Armor rolled his eyes in frustration. “Then please, tell me how in the Spirit of Harmony’s sweet green earth did they get in!?”

“I think someone let them in.” Dark Seeker elaborated.

Dark Seeker’s counterpart, Star Blaze of the Solar Guard, gave a disbelieving snort. “That’s impossible. If the countermeasures work as you claim, then only the Princesses or one of the three ranking officers in this room could let them in. Even if one of us had been mind controlled, the cleanse ward would have removed it before it could get in, which means that we would have had to be willing traitors. I hope you’re not suggesting-”

“I would do nothing of the sort,” Dark Seeker said, somewhat insulted at what Star Blaze had been insinuating. He furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the officer intently. “However, there is another way into the castle. One that had been made fairly recently when another intruder broke in. One that we didn’t have eyes on until long after ~Alex~ had thrown its creator out of a window.”

There was a gasp of understanding from the rest of the assembled soldiers when they finally grasped what Dark Seeker had been talking about. Shining Armor started rubbing his head in frustration, clearly not happy about this. “Ugh… So, what, they were waiting outside this whole time for the perfect opportunity? That just makes my skin crawl...” He took a deep breath, then released it again. “That doesn’t change what we must do, though. They managed to get their prize right out from under our muzzles, but a single changeling couldn’t have done it on his own. He would have had help. That being said, we still need to conduct what amounts to a witch hunt.”

“I do not think that is necessary, Captain Armor.”

The assembled guards turned to see a very exhausted-looking Princess Luna enter the room, one of her hooves pressed against her temple in pain. On either side of her stood one of Shining's troops, saluting despite the headaches they themselves were feeling. “Sir, she checks out.”

Shining Armor waved them off, his attention glued to the Princess of the Night. “As you were. Why shouldn’t we make a sweep, Your Highness? The changelings-”

“-Already have what they came for, and would gain nothing by leaving their agents behind. They have, however, made a serious blunder in who they have kidnapped,” Luna interrupted. She made her way to the front of the room, her face grim as she looked out at Shining Armor’s senior staff. “What we have here is both a rare opportunity, and a delicate situation. Because of the beacon we have implanted underneath ~Alex’s~ skin, we finally know the location of the changeling hive.”

This immediately sent a wave of excited mutters throughout the assembled soldiers. Shining Armor looked like he was about to explode with glee. “Where is it?”

Princess Luna’s horn glowed briefly, causing the large map of Equestria that was on the wall behind her to unroll itself. She then highlighted a portion of the map. “They appear to have made their nest somewhere underneath Neighagra Falls. However, due to our star-bound 'friends’ watching from above, we cannot commit our full force to taking the hive without tipping our hooves that something has gone awry. Indeed, they may already be aware of his movements, but unsure as to how or why he got there.”

Shining Armor and many of his staff grumbled in disappointment at that. The ever-looming threat from the stars was starting to really irritate them. “What do you propose we do, then?” a Low Captain asked. Sun Scorch was his name, if Luna remembered correctly.

“I believe that a two step plan should be used here. Prince Shining Armor, I want you to personally pick out a strike team to infiltrate the hive. Their primary mission is to recover our ally if he is being held, or to aid his escape if he is not. Their secondary objective is to capture a changeling alive, if possible.”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow at that. “Why do you seem to think he’s already escaped?”

Luna gave him a stern, knowing look. “Because the aliens who had taken him before were far worse than the changelings ever were. Goodness knows, he managed to give your own troops the slip, all while nursing an injury from his attacker, if your troop reports are accurate.”

Shining Armor grunted a grudging acknowledgement of the alien’s skill. He had managed to evade capture, and the only reason they had him in their custody in the first place was because of his former masters. By all rights, their first encounter with him had ended with him escaping. Only Princess Luna's Dreamwalk had allowed them to find where he had gotten off to. “You’re right. I haven't had the chance to talk to him myself, but from the reports I’ve read, and the ponies I’ve interviewed, he can be extremely resourceful when he sets his mind to it.”

Luna nodded, then looked back at the other ponies in the room. “Indeed, if he hasn't already escaped their direct custody, it is only a matter of time until he does, and our enemy might not want to keep him alive afterwards. We are on an extremely limited timetable here, and must act now.”

A large earth pony raised his hoof, a questioning look on his face. “Ma’am, you mentioned two steps to this plan. What is the second step?”

"I will go, with my personal honor guard, and attempt to reason with the queen. She will not be as powerful as she was after having fed on Prince Shining Armor, but I have no doubt that she will be cocky and insistent on her superior position.”

The assembled ponies grumbled about that, but did not raise any objections. One of them did have a question, though. “What of your sister?”

“My sister has opted to stay here and stall the alien delegates. After all, they are still a part of this, whether we like it or not, and need to be dealt with accordingly,” Luna reminded the soldier.

Shining Armor stepped forward again, his face stern, but a glint of anticipation could be seen there. “Are there any more questions? No? Then let’s get our assignments worked out. We leave for Neighagra Falls in one hour, and I don't want to be the one to tell the ‘ling's why we were late.”

The eager cheer that met him when he said that almost made him go deaf, but he didn’t mind. He was just as eager as his troops for a little payback...

Neural pathways repaired.

I took in a deep, shuddering breath as the message flashed briefly before my eyes. For a second, I felt like a part of my head was missing, that something was wrong with the world around me. Before I could contemplate what was happening, there was a feeling like molten steel flowing through my ears, my head seemed to want to expand past its limitations, and my nose felt like it was about to fall off.

As quickly as the feeling had come, however, it was gone. In its place, my head felt as good as new.

Now that my mind wasn’t clouded over with whatever had happened to it, I immediately noticed that I seemed to be upright, wrapped up in some sort of strong, sticky substance. I also seemed to remember being surrounded by a horde of shapeshifters, and if my movie experience was correct, I had probably been overwhelmed and stuffed into a cocoon. I tried to open my eyes, to see if I could confirm my suspicions, but whatever they had wrapped me up in also covered my face, preventing me from seeing even with my eyes open.

Capital F that, I thought as I started struggling against my bonds. With nothing but a muscle twitch, my foot long claws sprang from my fingertips, cutting through a small part of my bindings. It didn’t really do much, but it did create a tiny bit of wiggle room, along with a small tear that I could exploit.

Before I could start cutting my way out, though, I felt something warm and sticky splatter against my freed hands. The substance seemed to harden instantly, rendering my attempted escape ineffective.

Oh, good. They didn’t just hang me up and leave me. Not total idiots, then.

I stopped moving and took a deep, cleansing breath. So far, my options were limited; it was doubtful that I could sneak or fight my way out of this, and it was equally doubtful that my allies knew where I was.

Well, probably. Hazalk had tracked me down using my implants, so if the ponies went to him, they might be able to pinpoint my location. Problem was, though, that the ponies still didn’t exactly trust the captain of The Bastion. Neither did I, for that matter, but there was still the possibility of rescue.

There was still one more thing I could try, though. My mouth wasn’t covered, so I could still try the age old, yet often forsaken method of diplomacy. “Hey, you guys have a translation spell you could use?” I asked, letting out a nervous chuckle.

There was some rustling, some muttering in a language I couldn’t understand, then quiet.

“Come on, guys! I’m not a bad conversationalist! Well, at least I don’t think I’m a bad conversationalist.”

There was more muttering, and I couldn’t tell, but I think someone left the room.

“Okay, you guys asked for this. I didn’t want to have to do this to you, but you’ve forced my hand.”

There is a movie that I really like, a comedy, where one of the main characters gets abducted and dragged off before he’s able to save his place of business. The crooks have no intention of killing him; in fact, they have orders not to. Yet, despite the dire position he’s in, Stanley didn't give a crap. Well, to be honest, his character was too dumb to understand the predicament he was in, but that didn't make the annoyance tactic he used any less effective.

And since I’m a little bit smarter than Mr. Spedowski, I might actually escape during their lull in concentration.

“Oh, say can you see! By the dawn's early light!!” I started singing. Badly.

Now, I'm not normally a bad singer. I’m nothing to write home about, but I’m not tone deaf. It doesn't take a brilliant singer to sing out of key and loudly, though. And since annoying was what I was going for, that was what I was doing.

I only hoped things went as I planned.

“Do you think he’ll get out?” Galthax asked nervously.

Hol shook his head uncertainly. “That, I do not know. The last time anyling saw a promethean was over two thousand years ago, and we haven’t had access to the Mirror of Refuge since.”

"Right… If I remember correctly, didn’t Queen Titiana the Sixth-”

Before Galthax could complete the thought, the promethean let out a loud, obnoxious sound that, if the two changelings were being generous, might have been a song.

“What is he doing?” Hol asked, as he tried to cover his ears.

“Some kind of sonic attack? A magic spell to make our ears bleed!?” Galthax wondered as both his ears lay flat against his head in pain.

Before either of them could say another thing, their pod leader made a sound similar to a pony hocking a loogie, then spat at the offending promethean. His aim was spot on, covering the creature’s mouth and silencing him instantly. “There, that ought to keep him quiet until the queen gets here.”

This statement turned out to not be true in the slightest. While it did prevent him from singing, the promethean was still making plenty of noise, ensuring that those around him were well aware of what he thought of the current predicament.

“Uh… Sal? If anything, that’s even more annoying...” Hol said, one of his eyes closed in irritation.

“Don’t care. As long as my ears don’t bleed out before the queen gets here, it’ll do,” Pod Leader Sal said as he turned another page in the book he was reading. “A. K. Yearling’s stuff just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it.”

“It does indeed, though I don’t think this is the time to be reading it,” a disapproving, commanding voice echoed through the chamber. All three changelings immediately straightened up, acting like children who had been caught with their hooves in the storage chamber.

Floating up majestically through the entrance in the floor, the queen cast her disapproving gaze over her subjects, her hooves touching down on the warm, spongy ground with barely a whisper. Behind her, several more changelings entered and moved to the various cocoons that held the few ponies that her agents had replaced and began to take them down from where they were being stored.

“What is your command, Your Majesty?” the pod leader said as he and his mates fell into a bow.

“I have made a decision. When the Equestrians come, and they will come, we are to greet them as honored guests. Spread the word that we are to surrender to the Equestrians when they arrive. If time is allowed, I am to be alerted immediately. If not, then they are to be directed to my personal chambers.”

“...And the promethean?” Hol asked. He tried to keep calm, but he couldn’t stop the fear that bled into his voice.

“I would speak with him,” the queen said as her horn began to glow, causing her throat and ears to glow as well. Sal assumed that she had cast the same spell on the promethean, but because of the thick cocoon surrounding him, he couldn’t be certain. It was a pretty safe bet, though. “Now, leave us. You have much to do, and little time to do it.”

The three changelings bowed once more before practically sprinting out of the room. It didn’t take the others long to finish with their tasks, either, flying out of the room with the kidnapped ponies to wake them in a more controlled environment, to prepare them for their return to their families.

Once the queen was alone with the promethean, she cleared her throat nervously. “Please, stop your struggling. I will release you shortly; I would like you to listen, first.”

Almost immediately, the promethean quieted down, his breath coming out heavily through his nose, but Queen Titania could sense an almost…expectant quality from the otherworldly visitor. She took a deep breath, then let it out. “I, and my people, are not your enemy.”

Almost as soon as the words had left her mouth, the promethean started laughing. It was a dark, humorless chuckle, one that left no doubt about whether or not he believed her.

“I know you do not have any reason to believe me, but just listen for now. We have much to talk about, promethean.”

The alien froze at these words, or more accurately, at that word. The word she used to describe him. Good, I have his attention, she thought to herself. Now comes the hard part. Making him believe me.

“I do not expect you to believe me now, so I will not go into any great detail about how I know that word. Know this, however: There are two separate factions of my kind; those that want to rule over this land, and those who know this is folly. I and my people are in the latter camp. One of my agents intercepted you while you were being pursued by my rival’s assassin and brought you here. While I admit that my people were a bit…overzealous in greeting you, we have no malice towards you or your allies.”

This was met with another mirthless chuckle, but at least he was listening now.

“The Equestrians will already be on their way to rescue you. Knowing Celestia, she would have placed some spell on you to aid her should she lose track of you. However, due to an attempted coup by my rival, the Equestrians will see us as the enemy, and will attempt to destroy us. When they arrive, I intend to surrender you, and my whole hive, over to them. I only ask that you attempt to sway the princesses to show us mercy.” With those final words, Queen Titania’s horn briefly glowed, causing the cocoon binding the promethean to melt.

The outworlder fell from his imprisonment, but caught himself before he fell on his face. He took a second to clear the remaining goo from his eyes and mouth, before looking down at the now kneeling queen before him.

For the longest time the two stayed there, staring at one another. The promethean’s soulless gaze seemed to bore straight through Titania, filling her with an ever increasing sense of dread, until finally, he opened his mouth.

“Why you call me promethean?” he finally asked.

Jill Spivak opened her eyes, but was somewhat panicked when she realized that it wasn't her that made that happen. ...W-What…? Her thoughts were completely disorganized, yet at the same time, it felt like her mind was being forced into a mold; Organized in a way that was completely alien to her. She had no way of describing it, other than trying to force her body into pants that were several sizes too small. She could feel her whole body, but unfortunately, it seemed like it wasn’t obeying her orders.

All she could do was observe the bright, white light above her that blinded her to the rest of the room. How… How did I…? She thought briefly, before remembering her last conscious thought. Someone had broken into her house.

Someone that wasn’t human.

Her ears picked up some sort of metallic hissing sound, followed by the clatter of something with far too many legs coming towards her. She had seen the beast that she had dropped before its fellows had gotten her, and she had no delusions about where she was and what was happening. She had been abducted, and now, she was going to be experimented on.

It looked like her loudmouthed, alien obsessed brother had been right. Somehow, that surprised her less than she thought it would.

She was completely helpless, totally powerless, yet her panic and fear seemed like some far off thing. It only registered in the same way that she knew that the sun rose in the east, or that the stars twinkled at night. Deep down, she knew something was very, very wrong with her, that she was in the most dangerous spot that she had ever been in, but the most she could feel was mildly upset. She faintly knew that it probably had something to do with the fact that she was unable to move under her own power, but it didn’t really matter to her at this point.

It wasn’t like there was anything she could do about it.

As she lay there, musing over her current predicament, she heard the metallic hissing noise again, followed immediately by a voice. It spoke in a language that she knew she couldn’t possibly have understood, yet for some strange, unknowable reason, she could comprehend what was being said to her.

“How are the upgrades to the Neural Subjugator working so far, Doctor?”

There was a faint shuffling, as well as a clicking sound that Jill somehow knew meant deference and respect. “My Captain, so far, everything is working as expected, though the modifications we have made to avoid the same problem with the first test group has some unwanted side effects.”

“What side effects?” the captain asked.

There was another set of clicks that Jill somehow was able to understand meant frustration. “Creativity is down, as are neural reaction times. At this point, the subjects are little more than a brain dead husks, able to fulfill commands, but not fit as anything more than slaves. Not only that, but we still do not know if the fixes we have made will prevent the subjects from breaking free.”

“Keep trying, doctor. If the Empire is to rise again, we need a reliable way of turning the enemy’s witches against their fellows. If these primitives are capable of shaking off control, then the dreaded Void Knights should be able to do it far, far faster.”

“Sir…if I could just get a specimen, I’m sure that I-”

“You what? Could call the entire Holy Armada down on us!? Do you really think we haven’t tried that before, doctor? These witches…they are somehow able to alert their own kind of their distress. Any attempts to study live witches have all resulted in the entire base being destroyed! Even if they did not posses any sort of visible power!” There was a loud bang, followed by a startled clicking sound. “No, doctor. These primitives are a boon that we will not waste. We have a chance to bring the most powerful army ever known under our thrall, and we will take it.”

“I… I understand, Captain.”

“Good. Now, I’m headed back to the bridge. Keep me updated on your progress with the specimens. I will let you know once we have reached Elekor.”

There was another hissing sound, followed by the clatter of many legs leaving the room. Jill, in her current state, was unable to even care about that. Before she was able to wonder why this was a bad thing, she heard the voice of the doctor again. It seems as if he were talking to himself. "Hmm...maybe a small tweak to the Cortex Relay will do the trick?"

There was a faint humming sound, and Jill felt her thoughts slow down to a crawl. Her eyes shut again, and the welcome peace of unconsciousness took her soon afterwards.

Author's Notes:

Merry Christmas! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Hanukkah! Don't celebrate that? Happy Kwanzaa! Don't celebrate that? Happy Heart's Warming! (or whatever, I'm not picky)

Don't celebrate the holidays at all? Well, have a present anyway, Mr. Scrooge! And a Merry Humbug to you too!

Anyway, this got finished at christmas, but I decided to wait to let my prereaders look at it before publishing it. Enjoy it anyway, you wonderful people!