The Days of The Eclipse

The Swarm of Las Pegasus

By Star Origin

It was a rather rainy day. Rain had started to fall the morning following the events that took place in Appleloosa. The small group had fortunately boarded the train heading towards their new location before the rain started falling. Of course, that meant that the princesses had replied to Raine’s letter. It was strangely brief but at the very least, they knew where they should head next.

Dear Raine,

I have received your letter and I have to say that the situation has escalated very quickly. We had not anticipated that Nightmare Moon would start taking over some parts of Equestria this fast. At this rate, we will have to defend Canterlot from a possible attack very soon. As for the issue that happened with the Element of Honesty, I have nothing to say about that. Not meeting them directly before, I can’t say how they were but it is like you said, Nightmare Moon can only make the original essence of a being come back through her dream magic. She cannot alter their personalities but she can make them false promises and make them side by her side. That is something that is very possible.

As for the second point, it is kind of you to warn us of Nightmare Moon’s plans. With that, we will perhaps be more prepared if she ever invades Canterlot in a near future. Well, that future may come far more quickly that what we may know so we will just have to have our guards up at all times from now on.

Concerning your new destination, we would like you to investigate on Las Pegasus. We are not sure what happened there but we have recently lost all contact with the town. Before you start making scenarios inside your head, Nightmare Moon was not involved in it. She didn’t leave any magical remains there so she has not yet gone to the town. However, we would like to ask you to see what cut all contact with the town.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia.

“Well, that letter was brief, if anything,” Blitz remarked.

“Yeah, no kidding. It’s like they didn’t want to go on the part of Raine’s predicament. Maybe they think it’s impossible or they are just having a hard time believing it. After all, it’s not every day that you learn that an alicorn is in fact a Pegasus by birth,” Dusk told his friend.

“That still doesn’t erase the fact that they completely ignored it. The least they could have done was to send some words of comfort or something like that,” Origin said, complaining about the letter Celestia had sent.

“Guys… I don’t think discussing this any longer will yield any results whatsoever. We should concentrate our efforts into preparing ourselves for Las Pegasus. Nightmare Moon may not be involved in all of this but it is still a large city that was lost. Whatever it is, we need to be careful,” Raine added.

They all nodded. Even though Nightmare Moon wasn’t directly involved, they still needed to watch out for possible traps in Las Pegasus. They didn’t know who their enemies were this time and that was something they should take into consideration.

For a few hours of travel, they stayed silent and some other times, they talked, told jokes and the such. It was mostly to get rid of the unnecessary stress they could experience while heading for the exotic city. And then, there was this peculiar conversation that sparked between Raine and Spike.

“By the way, Spike, where were you when we had to fight those ponies and Applejack back in Appleloosa?” asked Raine, looking at the purple dragon.

“Um… well… you see… Oh darn it! I was scared of Nightmare Moon!” Spike let out, a slight blush on his face.

“And is that such a bad thing? I mean, we’re all scared by Nightmare Moon but it’s because we’re together that we can face her. I’m not the strongest unicorn around, in physical strength I mean, but that doesn’t mean anything when I have other ponies by my side,” admitted Dusk.

“Really?”

“Yeah. That mare is a fierce one, and she’s the kind of mare that could traumatize even me at some point and that’s saying something! Of course, with Dusk and Raine, along with Origin, I feel like I can face her with less fear.”

“And don’t forget that despite everything that she’s put me through, especially the recent ones, I’m glad I have you all with me. That way, I feel more secure at the thought of facing my mother,” said Raine, giving a glance to every single member of her group.

“Changing this rather sappy subject, what did you think Nightmare Moon has in plan for Equestria?” Spike queried a worried expression on his little face.

“I honestly don’t know, Spike. But whatever she’s doing, we need to brace ourselves because she’s going to hit us hard. I still haven’t forgotten that she sees all of this like a game of chess,” answered Raine, a worried look also covering her entire face. “What do you two think about all of this?”

“Well, based on what I was able to hear and with the fact that I read a little bit between the lines, I think that she plans to take over each city and village in Equestria before taking over Canterlot. That’s how I see it and that’s probably how she will proceed, and that will probably include her summoning the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony. At this point, I can only shudder at the idea of her bringing back Twilight...” Dusk said, his expression calm and mostly emotionless.

“Heh, whatever she plans to do, I’ll be sure to kick her flank for sure. I mean, she did kill Dashie and I plan to get her back for that. But I think that Dusk is going somewhere with his hypothesis. We should watch out where we go next because we may never know what may happen at that point.”

“And what about you, Spike?” Raine asked the dragon.

“I’m not really sure. I mean, I wasn’t even there when she made that supposedly evil speech about her seeing us as nothing more than pawns in her goal to take down Princess Celestia and Princess Luna so I can’t really say I know anything about the current situation,” admitted Spike, his gaze staring into the horizon.

“I think you’ve forgotten somepony here, Raine,” remarked Origin, a noticeable grin on his mouth.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Origin. I’m just used to travelling with just Dusk, Blitz, and Spike. I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings.”

“Don’t worry about that. Anyway, I think that this whole ordeal is worth the worry because Nightmare Moon is bent on taking over Equestria. And if she succeeds, she’ll either enslave pony kind or raze it to the ground. In the end, I guess that we should really watch out for her. We’ll need a lot of guts to go through this journey but if we stick together, we’ll be able to get through it together!” exclaimed Origin, boosting the morale of the other ponies, and dragon, with him on the train’s wagon.

“Anyway, we still have a long road ahead of us so I suggest we get some rest before actually getting to Las Pegasus,” Blitz suggested.

To that, there were no disagreements. They needed all the rest they could get before arriving in Las Pegasus and staying up debating and arguing and whatnot was not going to help them prepare themselves to what would come next. They all lay their heads on the pillows that had been put in the different compartments and it was actually Dusk that fell to sleep last.

There was just so much on his mind. With the recent summoning of Rarity and Applejack, he wondered if Nightmare wouldn’t attempt the same with Twilight. The results coming from that would be disastrous. Twilight was a mare talented with the arts of magic themselves. Even more so, her cutie mark represented magic itself. She was a mare that held an incredible amount of magical energy and unlike his, hers was actually tame and controlled and that was what scared Dusk: the thought of Nightmare Moon using that to her advantage.

Nevertheless, he eventually managed to find sleep and fortunately, his dream was his own. It wasn’t haunted by any of Nightmare Moon’s illusions or whatever it is she uses when she enters the mind of a pony to mess around with their dreams.

As for Raine, she was dreaming of a pony that was gone since long ago. It was Tender Heart and there was a reason for that. The recent dreams Nightmare Moon had forced on her had reawakened all of her repressed emotions from back then and while she was being strong to hold them back, she wasn’t able to do so once she was all alone. It was too much to bear for a single pony but at least, she was glad that even until the end Tender Heart had fought for her with her very life.

Her death may have been meaningless at some extent but without that, Raine would have never faked her own death to escape from Nightmare Moon and her tyranny. In a way, there were so many things she had to thank the unicorn for and at the same time, there were so many mistakes she did that ended up with her being held responsible for because she didn’t obey her orders flawlessly.

However, there was one the group’s member that had a much more troubled sleep. Origin rolled from one side to the other, he was sweating heavily and he panted regularly and sometimes even mumbled some things that were mostly inaudible to the others. His dream regarded his past, when he was sent to find and capture Raine to bring her back to the hive.

————

I had just made my choice. I was leaving the Everfree Forest to go report to the hive about I was unable to capture and bring back Raine. It’s an obvious lie but I don’t have any other choices if I wish to protect her. Guess I’ll just have to bear with the consequences, although I don’t expect to return to her anytime soon. The last time something like that happened, the changeling was beheaded in a most gruesome way.

After I told Raine that I was planning on leaving to get some things done back from where I came from, I began making my way out of the forest. Let’s just say that she made me promise to come back safely to her one day. The Everfree Forest was really like a maze. One moment you could heading in the right direction and the next, you could be lost and waste a few hours making you way back to your initial location before you took that wrong turn.

In any case, as I made my way out of that darned forest, I began hearing a voice coming from somewhere. Curious, I followed the origin of the sound and found out that it was a unicorn that I had heard earlier. I wasn’t sure if he was hostile or not but I didn’t want to find out by sneaking up on him so I just remained in the shadows for a few minutes. Well, I did until I heard the roar of what seemed to be a manticore.

And I was right. It did come from a manticore. Unfortunately, its prey just so happened to be the unicorn I had been stalking for the past half an hour. I was on my guard, ready to jump in if trouble ever arose around myself or the pony. For a while, I stood watch to spot the manticore that was lurking around but I had no luck in that. There wasn’t anything to see or hear around my location.

However, just when I thought that it was a false alarm, I heard the sound of leaves being crushed under pressure and the sound of branches cracking. I soon realized that it was coming from behind me. I turned around to be met by the manticore itself. It roared at me for the longest time I could ever remember something roaring at me and before I could react in any way, my vision went completely black.

————

Origin woke up in panic. His heart raced at incredible speeds. He was sweating heavily and saw that most of the small bed was wet from his sweat. Stressed and still in shock, he got up and decided to go take a small walk to calm himself.

He wandered from wagons to wagons, eventually finding one that seemed to be to his liking. It was serene and there was an excellent view of the landscape. In there, he allowed his stress and fears to leave him be in peace. It was a scene that was simply too beautiful to ignore because of a few problems concerning a dream.

He looked as the sun neared its zenith. The mountains in the horizon along with the clouds and their snow-covered peaks were making the view an even more sublime one.  It made him think that life outside of the hive was a beautiful one. He did, however, miss the warmth that the queen gave him when he was still a hatchling.

“Be safe… my Queen,” he whispered so it would not be heard in case some ponies had been following him.

The changeling remained there for a few hours before he finally decided to get some rest before they would arrive in Las Pegasus. Blitz was right; if they were to be effective, they would need to be rested so they could give their best efforts. With that in mind, he drifted off to sleep once more, his dreams slowly taking over his mind again.

————

I didn’t know what had happened exactly. My vision went black and then all I could remember was that I was bleeding all over the place. My ribcage had been torn open and I could see the manticore feasting upon my soon-to-be carcass. It wouldn’t be long until I would finally bleed to death. Then, the beast would really begin feasting upon my remains, starting with my flesh. Yes, we changelings have flesh unlike what some may think.

We do resemble insects in a way but we only have a shell to protect us and to keep our flesh in place. Without it, we would simply be fragile creatures. Another one of our traits that make us and insects alike is the fact that we have a hive mind within the hive. Unfortunately, my suffering had completely destroyed my link with the hive mind.

In any case, I would have died if it hadn’t been for the unicorn that I was stalking earlier. He just showed up out of nowhere and he cast a strong fire spell, one strong enough to seriously injure a creature such as a manticore. He managed to chase it away but knowing the wildlife a bit more than him, I knew that a manticore would never leave a prey alive, no matter what happened.

I tried to warn him of his mistake but I couldn’t even talk anymore. Perhaps I had lost the ability to speak because of all the pain I was experiencing. The point is, I wasn’t able to warn him of how manticores hunted normally but if I didn’t find a way to do that, he would sooner or later also become a snack for the beast.

And then it happened. His guard was down for just a moment and even then, that proved to be his downfall. Before he had the time to react or even notice it, the manticore leapt towards him and sunk its teeth near his neck section. That wasn’t enough to kill him but the injury did leave him unable to walk. I approached the pony by crawling with all of my remaining strength. I wasn’t going to let him die but I didn’t want to die so I ignited my horn and touched his horn just so I could create a telepathic link.

“What would you do in order to live?” I spoke in his mind.

————

“Wake up, Origin!” Raine exclaimed.

“Wh-what! What’s happened?!” Origin replied in shock as if somepony had poured cold water on his body.

“Well, we’re near Las Pegasus so I thought we’d prepare ourselves mentally before actually getting there. And since you didn’t seem to wake up, we decided to wake you up ourselves,” Raine explained, her voice containing a small amount of concern.

“What now? You seem concerned and don’t try to hide it; I can feel your emotions when you’re near me like that. All changelings can when they are near a pony.”

“You were mumbling things in your sleep and you were very agitated. Did you have a bad dream or anything like that?” Raine inquired, her concern dripping from her voice like a waterfall.

“Don’t worry about that. I was just reminiscing the past. You don’t need to worry yourself with that,” the changeling answered, offering a warm smile to the Pegasus standing in front of him.

“In any case, they did serve breakfast in the dining wagon and we weren’t sure if normal food was something you could eat as we do. Can you?”

“I most certainly can, although it is not the best way for me to gather up my energy. Positive emotions are a lot better than normal pony food but I guess that after living with ponykind for twenty years, I grew accustomed to the food they eat,” said Origin.

“That’s good to know but since we’re aware of your eating tendencies, I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you want to come eat with us and if you don’t, maybe I could help you get yourself some energy somehow.” Origin quickly understood what she meant by that and he was quite surprised that she was so willing to give him energy with her emotions.

“Why don’t I do both instead? I don’t want to sap you of all your energy by mistake and besides, I want to taste the food they serve on this train,” said Origin, returning an expression to match Raine’s.

“Oh, well by all means, you are certainly quite the charmer,” Raine teased, turning away to leave the small compartment only to stumble upon Blitz.

“Come on, lovebirds. We’re waiting for you to come join us in the dining wagon!”

“L-l-lovebirds?!” the two exclaimed in unison with surprised expression, quickly taking a few steps away from the other.

“It’s not what it looks like, Blitz! I was just waking him up,” Raine argued, an obvious blush over her cheeks.

“Yeah, sure. That’s why you two had your eyes locked and were giving each other seducing looks. Come on, we’ve nearly reached Las Pegasus,” Blitz said before he went back to the dining wagon.

“Alright, I guess we should go there as well. Let’s not keep them waiting any longer,” Origin said, opening the door and giving Raine the opportunity to leave the small room first. “Ladies first.”

“Oh, my! You’re quite the gentlecolt,” she teased.

“Shut it,” he spoke through his blush,” and let’s go join the others instead.”

Keeping a certain grin on, Raine quickly caught up to Origin and they walked to the wagon the rest of the group was in. Having no pony else in the train did help to travel through the wagons and before long, they found the dining wagon to see all the other members of the group in there. Spike was already rubbing his filled stomach while Dusk could be seen sipping what seemed to be some kind of tea.

When Raine and Origin entered the wagon, they were welcomed by Dusk who simply lifted his head and proceeded into waving a hoof at them. Spike, in his current state, wasn’t really able to engage in conversation and his moans proved that point. That sparked a small moment of laughter that lasted for a few moments before it died down.

The atmosphere soon became more serious as Blitz and Dusk began to talk about what to expect in Las Pegasus. They didn’t know what there was in the city either but the best they could do was plan on ahead just in case. They covered the part about sticking together no matter what as they were still uncertain of what they could encounter.

They said that it was safer if they remained together instead so they could flee altogether in case danger would come to them. They reviewed their strategies and roles. Dusk was the main spell caster while Blitz was the scout and a direct partner with Dusk, often helping the pony with spells by producing certain elements that the unicorn could harvest and use as elemental spells.

By definition, elemental magic wasn’t so hard but it was still a form of magic that was hard to grasp because it either required a unicorn to use an element created naturally, like Blitz and Dusk do from time to time, or for the unicorn to have an excellent understanding of the element they were trying to manipulate.  It would often require years of practice to be able to manipulate elemental magic decently. Thought it was a form of magic rather rare, fire magic was often the most common one.

Returning to the original subject, Origin was supposed to be an alternative spell caster as well as a jack of all trades. As for Raine, she would be a scout, reporting the status on their position as well as the positions of any incoming foes they could encounter while in the city. And although they didn’t want to put Spike in grave danger, they gave him the role of ground scout. He would basically remain near Dusk and inform him of any foes that would try to get too close from him.

While they were still discussing about their plans, the train stopped and they all guessed it was because they had finally arrived at the station. As they weren’t really on a big rush, they took the time to finish their briefing. Once it was over, they all nodded and started to make their way outside, ready to face what they would see of the city.

The sight they got when they debarked from the train wasn’t what they had in mind at all.

While they had expected a city to be completely in ruin, it was mostly intact. It was, however, under siege from what they were able to see. Some buildings were damaged but most of them were still in normal conditions. They looked at the town’s condition and quickly deduced that Nightmare Moon wasn’t the one behind the city’s siege. Otherwise, she would have already taunted them at that point.

There was nothing. No sounds, no screams. Only the sound of the wind echoing through the empty streets of Las Pegasus. And that silence was disturbing. A question formed in their minds almost instantly and all of them wondered what could have done that to the town. Nightmare Moon left damages behind. Even in Appleloosa, several houses and structures had been razed to the ground.

That wasn’t the case in Las Pegasus. Worried, they started to search through the town’s streets to see if there were any ponies to ask questions to or any ponies that were out there for that matter. They searched for a few hours, as the town wasn’t even comparable to Canterlot in size. The sheer size of Las Pegasus put Canterlot to shame and that showed in how long they searched the city.

“This is crazy! We’ve been doing this for hours and we’ve found no ponies! What happened in here?” Spike asked, speaking his mind out loud.

“I don’t know, Spike. But there’s one thing I’m sure of, I don’t trust any of this. For all we know, this could be another one of Nightmare Moon’s traps,” replied Blitz.

“No, my mother didn’t do any of this. It would have shown throughout the city otherwise. She usually leaves destruction behind and this city looks almost intact save for a few building at some random places. That’s not the work of Nightmare Moon,” Raine explained, standing more on Spike’s side than on Blitz’s.

“The situation is arguable. But let’s not get ourselves lost in petty arguments. We need to be alert right now. We don’t need to be distracted, especially not by ourselves so keep your guard up!” Dusk let out before he resumed his exploration of the city.

They continued to look through the city and they still weren’t able to find any ponies in the many streets. The silence was becoming nerve-wracking and their stress did nothing but rise. Their patience was wearing thin as well. Surely they would have found any kind of clue about where all the inhabitants of the town had disappeared to but there was nothing. Nothing at all!

At least, it was until they stumbled upon the center of the city where a huge tower rested. Judging by its size and position, Dusk deduced that it was probably the heart of the town. But that wasn’t what caught his attention. It was the condition it was in that caught his attention. It was mostly covered in a black substance he was not able to recognize and there were some green cavities in it.

“What is that?” Raine asked out loud.

There were no answers but there was something that came out of their discovery and it was Origin. He was slightly trembling, his eyes almost seemed smaller than they had been a few moments before and he was sweating abundantly. There was something that was oddly off about the changeling and Dusk was determined to find out what it was. Moreover, he was ready to use the necessary means to get his answers.

Origin noticed the Dusk’s gaze fall on him and he immediately understood what it meant. He knew that his reactions had betrayed him but the gaze that Dusk had demanded answers. “No, I won’t disclose any information about this. I am not allowed to do this!”

“How did you know what I was going to ask you? Am I that transparent?” Dusk asked, a bit confused even though he knew he was dealing with a changeling.

“I’m a changeling. I can feel the emotions of nearly every living beings standing close to me. But that’s beside the point. I cannot say anything about this and even if I did know anything about this, I wouldn’t say it,” Origin answered harshly.

“Really? You’re gonna be like that from now on?” Blitz was obviously unamused by the way the changeling acted and that showed in his voice.

“Like I told you, even if I knew what this was, I am bound to reveal nothing about certain things and that was like this for years. It’s not recent, if you want to know.”

“But… what if this information could help us find the citizens of Las Pegasus, couldn’t you make an exception and disclose a bit more information about that structure in particular?” Raine asked him, a pleading look in her eyes.

I swear that pony knows me more than I do myself. Raine had struck at the right place. Her eyes, her voice, the way she positioned herself. She had everything set together to force information out of him but he had to stay strong. He was bound by promises he had made throughout his life and he couldn’t say anything about them.

“No!”

“Please?” She had the pony equivalent of the eyes of a pleading puppy. How was Origin supposed to resist something like that?

She was striking at his weak points and it annoyed him because if she didn’t stop soon, he would say things he would be otherwise prohibited to say. However, knowing Raine, he knew that she wouldn’t be leaving him alone anytime soon and she would keep at it as long as he would resist.

“I said that I wasn’t allowed to talk about it! Did I make myself clear?!” He shouted to make himself more intimidating.

“Fine but don’t blame me if I’m giving you the cold shoulder from now on,” she said, pursing her mouth into a smirk of amusement.

She’s bluffing. I’m sure she’s bluffing! His mind was racing at intense speeds and he wasn’t sure if the Pegasus really meant to carry on her threats. He tried to look unfazed but when he saw that she had already turned around as to ignore him, his entire defences crumbled. He knew he wasn’t allowed to talk of those things but at that rate, he would lose a good source of food.

“Fine… you win,” he sighed in defeat.

Raine instantly turned around, her mouth harbouring a wide smile and she looked as happy as can be. Obviously, she was happy that she had managed to make the changeling change his mind but also because she knew how much that information could mean apart from what it meant to Origin’s pride.

“So, do you mind telling us what that weird thing is on that tower and on all the surrounding buildings as well? As I recall, there was some of that stuff scattered everywhere in the city,” Spike said, his voice demanding detailed answers.

“It doesn’t really have a name and I’m quite certain of that. Another thing I am certain of is that what happened to the town and the landscape—and notice how the substance has already grown in size since we’ve noticed it—is the result of a changeling invasion,” he told the group.

“What?! Why would changelings attack a peaceful city such as Las Pegasus?” Dusk inquired. The unicorn was more confused than ever.

“I can’t be sure but as I said, the black substance is quickly growing in size and that is our biggest problem yet. It can’t grow any bigger or else…” The changeling shuddered at the sheer thought.

“Or else what? What’s going to happen if it doesn’t stop growing and spreading?” It was Blitz’s turn to ask a question. The whole situation was hard to grasp and what had been said about the changelings was a disturbing fact.

“Well, that black substance will eventually contain changeling eggs. It doesn’t really have a name because changelings have no use of naming something which has so many yet so little utilities. Other than containing changeling eggs, it doesn’t really do anything else.”

“I’m not sure I’m following all of this,” Dusk said, confused as ever. “What does that have to do with the current situation of the town?”

“What I’m trying to say is that the changelings that are in this city right now have the intention of turning it into their new hive. I don’t know the reasons for such rash actions but if they are doing this, it is because they are really desperate,” spoke Origin, his voice unchanging.

“What’s going to happen to the ponies of the city, then?” Raine asked with a horrified look in her eyes while she put a hoof over her to silence a gasp.

“They’ll most probably be used to feed the new hive, at the very least.”

“That’s madness! Can’t we do anything to stop that?!” The white Pegasus was obviously outraged by that and it showed a lot. “Can’t we throw the changelings out of Las Pegasus?”

“I wish it could be that simple but the truth is that at this point, we could get rid of the changelings but it wouldn’t make everything disappear magically. It would take several months to get rid of everything the changelings did to this city.”

“In that case, we should get to it at once. Those ponies need to be rescued and at the moment, we’re the only ponies that can help them. Are you okay with that, everypony?” Dusk inquired, giving glances to all the other members of the group.

“I’m with you, Dusk! Those ponies need help and the changelings need to be kicked out. What they’re doing is just too dangerous for the lives of those innocent ponies,” Raine said, joining Dusk at his side.

They were eventually joined by Blitz and Spike. Origin took a bit longer to make his decision because it basically meant going against his people. And although he was banished from his hive, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t care for his fellow changelings. The group understood his situation and gave him the opportunity to stay out of the conflict but he finally agreed to go with them.

Once all set and prepared, they began to make a run for the tower but the wall of a rather large building broke off and fell down on the street, easily blocking the group’s advance. Shocked by this, and moreover glad that nopony was injured by the rubble, they were forced to take an alternative route.

Passing through several alleys, they eventually manage to stumble upon another street but not before realizing they got farther away from the tower. Cursing their bad luck, Dusk let out a few curses as he looked around to see what the fastest way to get back their starting point, other than the alley of course since the path there was blocked.

Noticing that his eyes alone weren’t going to be enough, Dusk suggested that Raine and Blitz scout for a possible way leading to the tower. Nodding, the two flew up and started to look around for any way that could quickly lead them to the tower without too much delay. They spent a good ten minutes before Raine managed to find a way that seemed to be safe.

Landing next to the group, she and Blitz now led the group as they knew the way to take but it was Blitz that mainly led the group, knowing Raine’s hesitation was one of her weak points. They took a few turns, passed through some alleys and finally rejoined a main street but not before they heard part of a building’s structure falling down at them. Panicking, they quickly leapt out of the way but when they did so, Origin was separated from the rest of the group.

“Origin, are you alright?” Spike asked, wondering if the changeling was still conscious. It didn’t mean he trusted him more than before but being a member of the group, they needed his help as well.

“Yeah, I’m going to be… fin — Oh, that hurts!” Origin exclaimed, his voice cracking because of pain.

“What’s wrong, Origin? Are you hurt?” Raine asked, concerned about the changeling.

“I’m… fine. I think I may have a broken leg but don’t worry about me, I’ll catch up with you later on. Probably before you get to the tower,” the changeling replied.

“Are you sure you don’t need help, Origin, you seem to be in pain,” Dusk stated.

“Good deduction, Captain Obvious!” Origin let out, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I told you, I’m going to be just fine so get going already!”

“Fine but whatever you do from this point, you’re on your own until you catch up with us,” Blitz warned the changeling, making sure he knew what he was getting himself into.

“Just go already. I’ve lived through worse than this!”

Dusk quickly turned around, his mind set back on his original objective. He glanced at Blitz and nodded. Blitz led the ponies on the route that was supposed to lead them straight to the city’s tower. They soon realized that the last time rubble fell off building hadn’t just been in an isolated area. There had been a few others and it had actually managed to block their way once again.

It forced them to find another route and it took a good amount of time to find the good path. Blitz was still in lead position and they were now heading towards their new path. However, there were a lot of things going through Blitz and Dusk’s minds and it concerned Origin and his behavior.

“By the way Blitz, have you noticed Origin’s strange behavior?” Dusk queried.

“What behavior are you talking about, Dusk?” Raine asked the unicorn.

“I wouldn’t have expected you to notice seeing as all your attention is directed at him and don’t try to lie, it’s transparent that you’re falling in love with him,” Blitz told her, being blunt as usual.

“I am not in love with Origin! I just happen to like him a bit more because I know him more than I know you guys!”

“Sure, keep telling yourself that, Raine. In the meantime, yes I did notice them, Dusk. The way he always remained at the back of the group and how he looked to his right and left constantly. He was also extremely nervous and that showed a lot,” Blitz said.

“Do you think we should suspect anything yet? I mean, his behavior was giving off every hint of him being a spy.”

“No, not yet. There are too many facts that are unfounded. We should see how this turns out.”

The group would have continued to make their advance but somehow, something stopped them in their tracks. They were all stuck in place and they were unable to move in any way. On top of that, they all began to have trouble breathing. It wasn’t quick though. It was an extremely slow process.

They were being slowly strangled through magical means, at least that’s what Dusk found by doing a quick magical analysis. He was, however, unable to find who was casting the spell and since he didn’t know where the spell originated from, he wasn’t able to come up with a counterspell. Spike, being a baby dragon after all, was the first one to lose consciousness. Blitz recklessly held his breath, thinking he could delay the effects of the spell but as he quickly realized, it didn’t help him one bit and eventually lost consciousness.

Dusk and Raine were the last two to fall, although Raine lasted a tad longer than Dusk. She had just enough time to see who had used the spell on them. It just so happened to be a familiar looking changeling that walked in front of the group. Well, Raine was the only one who saw who it was and needless to say, she was quite shocked. It didn’t last though as he soon lost consciousness.

“Sorry… This is for the good of the hive and the queen…”

————

Raine finally opened her eyes to find herself in a dark room with the other members of the group lying next to her. They were still unconscious but otherwise, they all seemed to be unharmed. She tried to wake them up but that was met by failure at first. Eventually, she grew tired of trying to wake them so she just lay down and stayed there until they would wake up.

It took the two ponies about two hours, or at least that’s how much time Raine thought had passed, to finally wake up. At first they looked around, trying to figure out where they were but that quickly ended with more confusion than anything. The room they were in was completely pitch black so they weren’t exactly able to see that much except when they were next to each other.

They asked Raine if she knew where they were but she was as ignorant as they were on the situation. Blitz, being the stubborn stallion he was, quickly took flight, only to realize that the ceiling was pretty low as well. In short, they were in what could be called a containment cell. From what Dusk was able to collect by wandering around the room, approximating the size of the room itself, they were being kept in there until the ponies in authority would need them.

“This place sucks, honestly!” Blitz let out, furiously flapping his wings all the while.

“Calm down, Blitz. Now is not the time to be acting rashly. We need to know where we are and if we want to do that, we need to wait until we’re brought to the one in authority, or until Origin comes and frees us, which I think is pretty unlikely,” Dusk replied.

“That’s not what I was talking about, Dusk! I don’t like this place because I can’t stretch my wings in here.”

“Blitz… sometimes your simplicity and bluntness surprise me,” Raine said, looking at Blitz, wherever he was in that dark abyss of darkness.

“Heh, I guess I’m just that awesome, then!” he exclaimed as he burst into laughter right after.

“And now you’ve gone from surprising to plain stupid,” Raine told the white Pegasus, sighing.

“Now, now, kids. Be kind with each other. On a completely different note, has anyone seen Spike yet? I know I felt him squirm around earlier but now I can’t seem to find him,” Dusk said, turning his head right and left, searching for the purple dragon.

“I’m here, Dusk!” The dragon exclaimed.

Dusk found the dragon by triangulating his location using his voice. Now together once more, they all waited for about an hour before the door to where they were being kept opened. They saw that it was a changeling that had opened the door and he informed them that their queen wanted to see them at once. Curious, Dusk told the others to see how the situation would unfold itself before taking any kind of reckless actions.

Following Dusk’s lead, even if it was somewhat a bit more difficult for Blitz due to his personality, they simply followed the changeling until he led them into a room that nearly resembled a throne room. They watched to their sides and saw that the room was brimming with guards, reinforcing the thought of the room being where the changeling’s ruler was. Of course, if it hadn’t been for Dusk’s instructions and the fact that he was capable of stopping the Pegasus if anything went wrong, Blitz stopped himself from lashing out at Origin since he was standing next to a changeling that was relatively larger than the others. The changeling also seemed to hold more authority than the others, considering there was a small crown on the creature’s head.

“Welcome to my humble hive, ponies. I hope you find our redesigning of your town of Las Pegasus to be fitting,” the changeling said, her mouth pursed in an amused grin.

“Do you have any idea of what your actions will bring to Equestria? It is the most popular city in all of Equestria mainly due to the exotic atmosphere. Take it down and you kill part of Equestria’s touristic sites. The city alone can make more income than Manehattan in half a year while it take about a year for the former to even make that income. You’re playing with the finances of the kingdom!” Dusk exclaimed as he conveyed various facts to the changeling in front of him.

“Oh? Am I supposed to be interested by this? I will be clear with you, pony!” the changeling hissed, her eyes narrowed until all that remained were small slits. “If my kind needs me, I will help them however I can. Right now, they are in need and I will do what I can in my power to help them!”

“And you don’t think taking over an entire city, one that is vital to the Equestrian economy on top of that, was a bit too desperate?” Dusk asked again. The unicorn was not content with the changeling’s answer.

“Well, seeing as I am here right now, I don’t think it was that much of a desperate move or a reckless one for that matter.”

“You’re full of yourself. What you’re doing is going to hurt the Equestrian society and it’ll hit it hard!” Dusk replied. Furious didn’t even begin to describe how he was feeling.

“Excuse me but I think there are more important matters than that right now. For example, it would be good to know what happened to the city’s inhabitants,” Raine said, stopping the heated argument the two were having.

“Oh, those? They’re on lower floors. Some drones are proceeding to feed on their positive emotions. Don’t worry, we plan on releasing them at some point and by that, I mean when the hive will be fully operational,” the changeling said.

“And what does this “feeding” involve exactly?” Blitz queried, clueless as to what the changeling implied.

“It is quite simple actually. We proceed to stimulate their positive emotions by triggering stimuli inside their subconscious and once we get the desired emotion, we proceed to feed on it, storing it into our well of emotions. After that, they bring those reserves to me and I share it to the whole of the hive through the hive mind,” explained the changeling.

“So, I guess that makes you the queen of this swarm?” Dusk asked, things starting to get clear in his head.

“Why, yes. I am known as Queen Chrysalis amongst my subjects. I am in charge of this hive and its well-being.”

“Excuse my intervention once more, Queen Chrysalis, but I just wanted to know the reason why Origin is present with you?” Raine asked the queen, wanting answers concerning Origin’s betrayal.

“Origin? Is that the name you know him by? I think I remember him calling himself that at some points in the recent years. Other than that, he is known as 157 in the hive,” Chrysalis told the blue Pegasus, clarifying the details about Origin. “Did you know that he is also one of the hive’s best spies? He was able to infiltrate Canterlot without being noticed by your princesses.”

Raine couldn’t believe her ears. Had the queen of the hive called Origin a spy? As a spy that was supposed to collect information to report for their clients? How could he be such a thing? Those questions floated in the Pegasus’ mind and she was still unable to come up with a decent understanding of the situation.

It couldn’t be right, it just couldn’t!

Origin had told her himself that he was banished from his hive and that he was cut from the hive mind. Had he been lying about that? Was that what his role involved; lying as easily as breathing? To be a pony that nopony could trust?

No!

Origin was honest and would never lie to Raine. They had known themselves for far too long for him to do that around her. She knew she could always trust him but at that very moment, that trust was beginning to waver. He wouldn’t willingly lead us into a trap… would he? She asked herself as confusion began to take over her.

“I was right to doubt you from the very beginning, Origin! I knew there was something shady about you but I didn’t think you’d be this shady!” Blitz let out, screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Blitz, I assure you tha-”

“You won’t say a thing! You deceived us and you think we’ll just listen to you as if nothing happened? Origin, you do realize you just turned traitor on us?” Dusk asked the changeling with an accusing tone.

“I am anything but a traitor, Dusk. You have your allegiances just as I have mine. It shouldn’t matter what we do. I’m sure you’d be ready to do some things if Celestia asked you to. If ponykind depended on your shoulders, would you take the rational option or would you try to take the necessary measures to ensure those you care about can survive?”

“That’s the thing, Origin. Ponykind is on the line. Nightmare Moon is a threat to everypony, even to changelings. If we do nothing about her, she will reduce the world to mere slavery. Is that the world you want to live in?” Dusk replied, his temper growing short.

“No but just as you want to save pony lives, I want to save the lives of my kind. We each have our methods. Changelings just so happen to depend more on emotions than anything else. Ergo, if we ever lacked those for too long, we would all die, without any exceptions.” Origin’s voice remained calm whereas Dusk’s was starting to get edgy. He could feel the tension rising in him, the anger that boiled in his blood. It took every ounce of his will power to stop himself from doing any stupid moves.

“That’s what you’re not understanding, Origin! We are fighting for every living being in the world. Nightmare Moon is not just a threat to Equestria, she’s a threat to the entire world and once she takes over Equestria, she’ll do the same with the rest of the world. You are acting out of your own selfish desires just so you and your kind can live peacefully!”

“Dusk, please understand that we are not doing this simply for our “selfish desires” as you claim. Dusk, every single changeling here is part of my family. My brothers and sisters are all gathered in the hive and even now, I learned that some of them perished before they could reach Las Pegasus. If you had to choose between saving the world from an omnipotent threat and saving your family, what would you choose?” Origin asked. He almost wore a compassionate smile.

“That’s not a relevant point! I would need to evaluate the situation and I would have to compa–” The unicorn was interrupted by Chrysalis. She slammed her hooves on the hard floor, making a deafening sound echo through the throne room.

“Silence!” Her voice was powerful. Not as powerful as Luna when she used the Royal Canterlot Voice but it was still powerful. It boomed out through the room—nay, through the entire town—and it startled the two arguing ponies as well as some of the guards posted in the room. “You will stop this bickering right this instant. It is created a negative flux of emotions and I have received news that it was starting to affect the harvesting of emotions!”

Both ponies took their distances but both Dusk and Blitz were glaring at Origin. They were not amused by the whole situation. First, they end up in Las Pegasus to find it barren of any life, and then they learn that it fell under a changeling invasion only to get nearly killed while trying to get to a tower and knocked out by one of their companions. At least, what they used to consider a companion.

Chrysalis was still looking at them, her eyes still narrowed into small slits. The guards stationed around the room were on edge. They didn’t like to see their queen act like that. Her gaze managed to scare Raine but it wasn’t doing such an effect on Blitz or Dusk. They were both extremely furious and Blitz had a lot of anger to manage so Chrysalis’ intimidating gaze wasn’t such a good weapon against him. And nor was it on Dusk for similar reasons.

The Queen did nothing against the ponies, though. She just spoke in a strange language that none of the ponies understood and after a few moments, the guards in the room all left, presumably on the orders of their queen. After that, only Chrysalis and Origin remained in the room.

“Now that they are gone, there is something I would like to ask you three,” Chrysalis said, looking at the ponies in the eyes.

“And why would we even listen you what you have to say?” Blitz queried. He was being extremely suspicious of the changeling queen.

“You don’t have to listen but if you do, then I would like to ask you to forward that message to your princesses.”

“Wait, you think that we’re going to trust you into forwarding what could be a traitorous message that could spark a war between ponies and changelings?” Dusk asked the queen, accusing her of wanting to spark a war.

“No, I am trying to prevent such a war. You may think of us changelings as a species of primitive and barbaric species but changelings have free will. They just prefer to listen to hive mind instead because they need guiding and I can give the guiding they deserve,” Chrysalis replied.

“That still doesn’t explain why you want us to convey a message to our princesses when you could do it yourself or sent him to do it in your stead,” Blitz said, his gaze shifting from Chrysalis to Origin. The changeling’s expression didn’t change a bit; he was not affected by the Pegasus’ glare.

“Origin, as you call him and as he calls himself outside the hive, is a peculiar case. I will explain that situation later on but I will tell you want I wanted you to tell your princesses.”

“Please, do continue. You have all my attention,” Dusk sarcastically told the Queen.

“Watch your tone, pony! You seem to forget that I hold more authority than you do right now. One simple command through the hive mind and I could have you all killed!”

Dusk held his mouth shut. That brought a grin on Chrysalis’ mouth.

“Good. Now that you’ve realized your position and your powerlessness, you will listen to what I have to say.”

Dusk still remained silent and so did Blitz, Raine and Spike. None of them dared to test the queen’s limit. None of them wanted to see if she was bluffing or if her threat was a genuine one. One wrong move could create tensions between changelings and ponykind and that would not please the princesses.

“As you probably know by now, we have taken Las Pegasus by force and used the inhabitants as sources of food. However, as much as this antagonizes us, we had our own reasons to do that. The main one was that we were starting to starve in our own hive. If nothing had been done, all of my children, as I like to call them, would have died in a month and for us, that is next week.

“I was left with two choices; remain in the hive and let my children die of starvation or invade a town to make it into our new hive to preserve our existence. Needless to say, I chose the latter,” Chrysalis explained.

“That being said, “she continued, “this brings us to the main part: I would want you to ask your princesses to help my hive to prosper. If they were to accept, I would guarantee that the future of ponykind and my hive would be a prosperous one. If they deny, negotiations could be possible. In most situations, both parties would make profit out of it.”

“With all due respect, I don’t think this would really pay off. Researchers from Canterlot are currently trying to look into the changeling matter even if they do not possess enough information on your species to really look into it. Even I helped them and I wasn’t really able to push the research that much. Plus, we don’t know how long you’ve all been in Equestria,” intervened Dusk.

Chrysalis rubbed a hoof under her chin and the position of her eyes told the ponies that she was in deep thought. The subject of her thoughts weighed heavily on the ponies’ minds. They wondered what she was thinking about and that scared them, especially Raine. Her legs shook uncontrollably and her fur was obviously soaked in sweat.

She shook her head momentarily and put her hoof back on the ground before clearing her throat. “Hmm, your information is intriguing. You say the ponies from your capital of Canterlot are currently studying us, unicorn?”

“Yes. They’ve been at it for the past few years but they have yet to make any progress. They are still as clueless as they used to be except for discovering you were some kind of parasites living off emotions, no offense for you and your kind,” Dusk told her.

“None taken.”

“However, this does not really answer the real question: why should we help you?”

“Origin!” the queen let out suddenly, her voice possessing power once more.

“Yes, my Queen?”

“Would you mind if I told them your story?”

“No, of course not! Please proceed,” replied Origin, bowing to his queen.

“But… he already told us his story,” Raine said, her voice weak and trembling.

“Speak up, Pegasus! I did not hear you correctly!” Chrysalis told her, her voice reprimanding.

“I-I-I said th-that Origin a-a-already t-told us h-h-his story.” Raine’s entire body was trembling like a frail leaf and all her courage seemed to have vanished in a single instant. The reason was easy: Chrysalis’ eyes.

They reminded her of a mare in particular. One that had managed to bury an imprint so deep in the Pegasus’ psyche that her voice was enough to make her lose all will to fight. Chrysalis wasn’t quite the same but those eyes. Those eyes were nearly the same as Nightmare Moon’s and as such, Raine was very afraid of them.

“Of course he did. Well, I’m afraid to say that it was all a lie. His story runs deeper than that,” Chrysalis spoke.

Origin cringed as the glares of two ponies fell upon him. On top of being betrayed, they had been lied to. Their eyes said that much and they didn’t look quite happy, especially Dusk’s. Feeling uncomfortable, Origin looked at his Queen and waited for her to start telling the ponies his story.

“You see, Origin was born in our old hive. I will not speak of its location because I don’t want your researchers or your army to desecrate what I consider to be sacred ground to my children and myself. He was always weak and was soon brought to my attention. Needless to say, his condition did not impress me nor did it make me feel sympathy for him. However, I knew that where he lacked in constitution, he compensated in another area: magic.

“That was why I ordered for him to be moved from the drones’ pit to the scouts’ pit. That way he would be able to develop his abilities further. Scouts are mostly composed of changelings that have magical potential. Origin wasn’t the best one but he was a good one. He survived his first ten years of training in the hive before his first assignment came. He was sen–”

“He was sent to find and retrieve Raine Moon and it would just so appear that the Pegasus right next to me is the same Raine Moon. With all due respect, Queen Chrysalis, get to the point already,” Blitz told her, daring to interrupt her even when she was clearly the one with the advantage around.

“Interrupt me one more time, Pegasus, and I’ll make you join the inhabitants of Las Pegasus!” Chrysalis hissed, her glare aimed at Blitz and Blitz only.

He quickly shut up and his face became neutral once more. Maybe I should let Dusk take care of the talking… He’s always been better than me at those kinds of things, Blitz told himself. Truth be told, while he did not openly show it, the queen’s threats did scare him a bit and that was because her expression and voice only served to make it more believable.

“Now, as I was saying before I was interrupted, Origin was sent to find and retrieve Raine Moon and he failed at that task. Even worse, he left the hive for several months and it was only thanks to the hive mind that I was able to find him and see what he was up to. I was about to order him to return at once but once I saw that a relationship was starting to bloom between him and Raine Moon”—Chrysalis suppressed a small smirk as she saw the obvious blush on both Origin and Raine’s faces—“I decided that I could allow it a bit longer since it would mean that he would have even more love to bring back to the hive.

“Several other months passed and I began to grow tired and restless and so did some of my children. Origin was taking too much time and it was starting to affect my plan and ultimately the hive itself. I finally decided to summon him back to the hive but after only a few hours, he was cut from the hive mind.” Chrysalis’ voice was disturbingly neutral even if it had begun to waver at the end because of some things that seemed to be affecting her.

“Would you want me to continue from here, my Queen?” Origin asked her monarch, his eyes looking at everything but her.

“You can, 157,” she answered flatly. There were no emotions in her voice and it was slightly trembling and it showed that the queen was doing one big effort to hide it.

“This is a secret only the Queen and I know. I have never told it to anypony before. What my Queen was talking about—my rupture from the hive mind—happened in the next few hours after I had left you, Raine. I died that night!”

“What do you mean when you say you died?” Dusk queried, the logical side of his brain not computing all the information he received all at once.

“I mean that I died. My underbelly had been torn to shreds and a manticore had already started on feeding on my organs, mainly my intestines. By every logical standard, I was dead but I was still conscious. There was also a pony with me. He and I had met by total coincidence when the manticore attacked. We both fell victim to the beast’s assault and we both succumbed to our wounds.” Origin could see the ponies’ paleness and strangely, Raine did not look as pale as the three others.

“Tell me, Dusk Shine. Do you know something about soul merging?”

“Soul merging, soul… merging. Soul… If this is related to soul magic, it would be information found on page three-hundred and ninety six of the Magic of Olden Times. That book is, however, locked in the libraries of Canterlot and you would need Princess Celestia’s approval to even have access to the section that houses that book. I never understood why but I think it was because that section was filled with books containing battle magic. From what I heard, those kind of magic were forbidden by the princesses a short while after Nightmare Moon was banished,” Dusk answered, ending his explanation with a matter-of-factly smirk on his face

“Nerd!” Blitz muttered under his breath but his unicorn companion heard it and shoved the Pegasus aside.

“Ahem! Returning on the original subject, why did you bring that up? Soul magic has been forbidden from use over five hundred years old now. Using it could be considered a crime in the eyes of the council and you don’t want those guys on your case.”

“Well, it’s the reason I’m here right now. I asked him what he would be willing to do to survive. And he told me that his only his wish was to protect his little sister. I lit up my horn and he did the same. He asked me if I knew what I was doing and shook my head with the rest of my remaining strength. He told me to follow his lead and everything went suddenly white as his horn touched mine.

“Next thing I knew, the manticore was gone and I was still alive although my appearance changed drastically. For one, my mane and tail had gotten longer and they were orange and my eyes had also changed. While changelings that aren’t part of royalty have large eyes with no irises. My eyes were just like the Queen’s but the main difference was that my pupils weren’t dragon-like. I also realized that I had been cut from the hive mind and strangely gained an increased sense of individuality.”

“Thank you for explaining that for them, 157. However, I think I still have a small part to explain to those four so listen well!”

The three ponies all nodded and stayed silent. Dusk was sort of appalled because he had just heard about a unicorn using forbidden magic and even going as far as merging his own soul to save his and a changeling’s life but other than that, he wasn’t really bothered by other facts.

“Twenty years ago, I tried to create a breed of changelings that could be capable of self-sustaining. The concept was rather simple as they simply had to either consume a pony’s soul, something that wasn’t really recommended, or to merge their two souls. I had chosen 157 for that task and our first target was Raine Moon,” explained Chrysalis, her voice still flat, devoid of any emotions.

“You tried to kill Raine?!” Blitz shouted, his temper getting the better of him. “You could have told us about it, Origin!”

“Yes, of course I should have! ‘Hello, my name is Origin and twenty years ago, I tried to merge Raine’s soul with mine, possibly killing her in the process.’ That’s surely the best way to make ponies trust you!”

“You could have explained your past a bit more, Origin. I’m still sure that you didn’t do it because you actually loved me, though. Am I mistaken?” Raine asked the changeling.

Origin sighed and hung his head. “No, you’re correct…”

“Now that this is settled, there is something I need to do right now and as a ruler it is something that I find wrong. My pride as a ruler will probably take a hard blow but if I want to protect my children. I will need your help…” Chrysalis started, stopping herself on that train of thoughts.

“Nay, I just don’t need your help… I am pleading for your help!”