Chapter 71: Dorylini's Secret

“Love is the word, bringing power and fear.” – Chinchilla

Twilight looked at James, her eyes wide in disbelief before responding.

“It would destroy the entire universe!” She waved both her forehooves for emphasis.

“If we cast the spell here, or anywhere else in the normal universe, then yes, it would. But that's not where we're going to cast it. Remember, Luna said we would have to go inside the Beyond.” He grabbed her shoulders again, the excitement of the idea, a possible solution, rushing through him like a river that had flooded its banks. “If we cast it inside the Beyond, it will consume the entire Beyond. And since the Aislings are extensions of the Beyond, they cannot exist without it. Don't you see, Twilight? If we create a big bang inside the Beyond, it will completely destroy the Beyond. And in its place, it will leave the building blocks of new life!”

“So basically … you want to use deep magic to produce a nuclear chain reaction involving the most fundamental of all particles.” She frowned, looking at him with a slight hint of what he thought was fear in her eyes. “You are blindly charging into territory where even Star Swirl was terrified to put a single hoof. He never even went anywhere near this.”

He felt some of his excitement evaporate like one of Pinkie Pie's balloons deflating. She was right. What he was suggesting was dangerous, and bordered on insane. But, still … “Believe me. If I thought there was any other way, I wouldn't be going there.”

“Even if it would work, I know almost nothing of deep magic. Research into deep magic is forbidden. It's far too dangerous.”

He shook his head. “It's not entirely forbidden. There's a secret Royal Guard lab in an unmapped sub-basement of the Academy's physics building where some research into deep magic is being done. I didn't even know about the lab when I was working there. I didn't find out about it until I became a Council member.

Twilight raised her eyebrows and pricked her ears up. “Still, do you have any idea exactly how I'm going to pull off using deep magic to split a god particle?”

He looked at the floor, letting his hands drop from her shoulders. “No. But that's what we will need to figure out.”

“Star Swirl said a chain reaction involving subatomic particles produced by deep magic would be uncontrollable. That it would split every atom in the universe. Effectively turning all matter into energy at the speed of light.”

“But on this point, he was wrong.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes, and lowered her ears slightly, clearly not used to having anyone say that her greatest historical idol had been wrong. James gave a frustrated dip of his head before continuing.

“Look, Twilight. You know I admire and respect Star Swirl as much as you do. As much as any pony does. But Star Swirl didn't know what I know! I've spent almost my entire adult life cooped up in labs, studying high-energy physics at a subatomic level. And in this case, Star Swirl was just plain wrong. You have to trust me on this!” he said, clenching his fists in front of him in a pleading manner.

Twilight looked away from him and said nothing, her tail flicking once. After several seconds, which seemed like hours, she looked at him again, a somber expression on her muzzle.

“Alright, James … I trust you. But as you know, nothing in science can be proven with absolute certainty … How certain are you that he was wrong? How certain are you that assuming we can even make this work, that it won't destroy the entire universe in a massive nuclear explosion even bigger than the original Big Bang?”

He thought for several long moments, running through everything he knew about high-energy nuclear physics and subatomic particles in his head. Finally he responded. “Conservatively, eighty percent.”

She frowned. “A twenty percent chance of being wrong is a lot when we are talking about the possibility of destroying the entire universe. This world, the human world, and any other worlds we haven't even made contact with yet. All of them being destroyed at the speed of light … Because of a spell that we create and that I …. I would have to cast.”

“I understand, Twilight. But I'm one hundred percent certain that if we do nothing, the Beyond will destroy the entire universe anyway. At least this way, we have an eighty percent chance of surviving. And again, that's a conservative estimate. I'm confident that I'm right on this.”

“It seems like a scorched earth idea, though. Worse than a scorched earth idea. Maybe we could just conventionally battle the Aislings until the Beyond loses strength that way.”

“But you heard what Luna said. The Beyond feeds off the dark energy in the Universe. It can continue to spawn new aislings almost indefinitely. We can't fight that. The humans can't fight that. The only way to stop it is to destroy the Beyond at its source. Without the Beyond, the Aislings can't exist.”

She nodded, but also frowned. Clearly, she didn't like the plan, but at least she was becoming more accepting of it as likely being the only option they had.

“But even if we can contain the reaction inside the Beyond, and if we successfully destroy it, the barrier will shatter. The amount of energy released is going to be enormous. Hundreds of millions of megatons. Won't that still be enough to destroy the entire planet?”

“The Beyond will absorb most of the energy as it is destroyed. It will be like detonating a nuclear bomb underground. Yes, all of Equestria will probably feel a mild earthquake, but that will be it. The barriers will shatter, but by then the energy will have dissipated.”

“You know it will? Or you think it will?” Twilight had a dubious look in her eyes.

“I think it will. But again, I don't see where we have any other option. The alternative is the Beyond destroying the entire universe. And that's basically a one hundred percent certainty if we do nothing.”

Twilight looked away from him again, her tail lashing back and forth lightly. Had he convinced her? James felt as if he were sitting in a hospital waiting room, awaiting word on whether a dangerous surgery had been successful or not. It was all he could do not to pace nervously, suspense threatening to overwhelm him like a tsunami flooding over an ocean shore. Finally, she looked at him again. Her expression was somber, as if she'd resigned herself to some horrible fact.

“Alright, James. You've convinced me. But we can't move forward with research this dangerous without approval from Princess Luna. Whether or not you'll be able to convince her is another story.”

o.O.o

Commander Auraria stood facing northeast, looking out at the cliffs that would funnel the enemy directly into her ambush point. Cold wind from the northwest caught her tail, whipping it around like a sail being tossed in a gale. Light rain splashed against her chitin carapace, bouncing off of it or sliding down the side of it like raindrops on a windowpane. She would dry off soon enough once she went back in her tent. The ponies must have a much harder time dealing with the rain, she thought. They had thick guard hairs, which did a reasonable job of repelling water for a time, and certainly kept them warmer than the changelings in cold or windy weather. But eventually, the rain would soak through and penetrate their fur, leaving their skin drenched. After that, the guard hairs became a liability. It must take their coats hours to dry out, even in direct sunlight. There was no sunlight today, though.  It was up there in the sky, but a low overcast layer of clouds obscured it. There was heavier rain coming. Her weather reconnaissance team had returned a half hour ago, reporting thunderstorms to the west. The cumulonimbus clouds were topping out at higher than five thousand spans. They had also reported severe turbulence ahead of the squall line, and a pea soup tinge to the sky that suggested hail. The pegasus weather teams apparently hadn't regained control of the weather yet. The ominous rolling base drum of thunder in the distance announced the squall line's imminent approach.

She turned around, starting back to her tent. What had been deep snow a few days ago had turned into an icy slush as Celestia's Sun – well, for now it was Luna's Sun – had begun to do its work. The slush climbed up her hooves, overflowing into the holes in her legs, creating a feeling like ice water being poured through her legs. She heard another soft plop to her left, looking to see another tree branch yielding under the weight of the waterlogged snow, the heavy white cover plummeting to the ground and spraying droplets of the wet slush into the air.

The incoming thunderstorms might damage the camp, especially if there was hail. They would also likely slow down the invasion force, probably causing them to seek shelter for a time. She didn't like it. She was ready for this battle, her plans were in place, and she wanted to get on with it. Delays would only give her soldiers more time to dwell on just how outnumbered they were. Give them more time to lose their nerve. She went over her strategy again. One could never be too familiar with their battle strategy. Once the battle was at hoof, it had to unfold seamlessly, instinctively, like a well managed theater production where each performer knew exactly when they were supposed to appear on stage, what actions they were supposed to take, what lines they were supposed to speak and when they were supposed to get out of the way. When the battle was upon them, there would be no time to think about what they had to do. Only to do it.

The bad weather would allow her to keep most of the battle on the ground, which is what she preferred. The majority of her forces were changelings, and changeling soldiers were highly trained in grappling and other close-quarters combat techniques. She would use her Changeling Air Force units to perform airstrikes, strafing the advancing enemy with magic bolts from the air. The Pegasus Guard would be useless at that task, given they had no ability to launch ranged attacks against the ground. But she would use them to fly higher altitude cover for the Changeling Air Force units. The Pegasus Guard could engage any gryphons that attempted to attack the changelings, allowing the changelings to focus on strafing the advancing enemy. She prayed to Dorylini that the cloud ceiling would be high enough for that to work. If not, the pegasi would be blind, unable to see or protect the changelings flying the low altitude strafing runs.

Her thoughts turned to the other major problem she had to deal with. A large number of her changeling soldiers would be going into battle with their magic reserves significantly depleted. She still hadn't figured out how to replenish them. Preying on the ponies or gryphons and forcefully stealing their love clearly wasn't an option.

Dorylini had known how to replenish her army's magic reserves without parasitically stealing emotions from others. But that knowledge had been lost for thousands of years. Dorylini's secret, the changelings called it. Some changelings claimed the ponies knew Dorylini's secret. Had it locked up somewhere in their intelligence archives. They argued that the ponies thought the best way to keep the Changeling Empire from being a threat to them was to keep the changelings magically weak. And thus, Equestria refused to reveal that they knew Dorylini's secret. Auraria didn't believe it. It made no sense. After all, a large part of the reason the changelings resorted to raiding and pillaging other species was out of sheer necessity. They had no other way to replenish their magic reserves that didn't involve preying on each other. And that was unsustainable. It would only make the entire species weak. Equestria was well aware of that, and if Equestria really knew Dorylini's secret, surely they would share it, and thus eliminate the need for the changelings to raid other species. Some changelings countered with the claim that since changelings didn't technically need magic to survive, Equestria felt the changelings should just live without magic. But Auraria didn't believe that argument either. Without magic, the changelings would be defenseless against other predators. They would be right back where they had been before Dorylini had united the tribes and formed the Changeling Empire. They would be nomadic prey again, constantly on the run from predators, constantly having to move their villages whenever a new threat arose. Surely, Equestria did not want that fate for the changelings. After all, both Celestia and Luna had supported Dorylini in her efforts to unite the tribes and build a stronger Changeling nation that could protect itself from threats.

A commotion near the tents broke her thoughts. She sped up to a trot, splashing slush high into the air as each one of her hoofs impacted the ground. They better not be fighting, she thought to herself.

As she got closer, it became clear that there was no fight. However, there was tension. Most of their ponies had their hackles raised, and were watching the changelings with wary eyes. The ponies didn't attack – it would be foolish to do so, given how badly outnumbered they were – but they looked as if they expected the changelings to attack. The changelings, however, gave no sign of attacking, instead, talking to each other in low whispers, confusion etched on their faces. She picked out one of the whispers.

“Did you hear? There's been a coup in the Empire. Chrysalis has been removed from power.”

Auraria narrowed her eyes, turning her head as she heard a changeling walking up to her. It was Sergeant Rasahus.

“The messengers you sent to Hoofington have returned, Ma'am,” he said with a salute.

“So I gather,” Her voice had an angry hiss in it as she returned his salute. “I will see them in my tent immediately.”

“Ma'am.” Rasahus saluted again, then turned to round up the messengers. Auraria turned and walked into her tent, seething with anger, hot enough that she wondered if the remaining water droplets spattering her carapace would start to evaporate as steam. She turned and faced the door, her hooves rooted to the ground. A few minutes later, the two pegasus guards and the two changeling soldiers she had sent to Hoofington as messengers entered the tent, stopping and saluting. She didn't return the salute, and their expressions became those of a nymph who had been caught leaching love from one of their nursery mates. Finally, one of the changelings spoke, trying and failing to maintain a tone of confidence.

“We bring news from Hoofington, Ma'am. There's … There's been a coup in the Empire.”

Auraria narrowed her eyes and responded with a hiss in her voice. “Yes, so I've heard. Perhaps one of you would like to tell me why I seem to be the last one to know about it?” Her insect-like eyes glared at them and she let her fangs show slightly. The four messengers shrank slightly under her gaze as if she were using a hoof to press them down. They all averted their eyes to the ground and none of them gave any response.

“Which one of you spilled it?” she hissed.

All of them started to respond at the same time, then stopped. Then, one of the pegasi responded.

“We … we did, Ma'am.”

“I see.” Her expression and tone reflected the feeling of displeasure she felt.

“Ma'am, we were afraid that–”

“Save your excuses, you can tell them to me later.”

The two pegasi wilted under her voice and gaze, but said nothing.

“So then, what do you know about this coup?” Auraria asked. The changeling who spoke originally answered.

“Nothing more than we already told you, Ma'am. Nopony in Hoofington had any details. Not even the royal guards stationed there. The only thing they seem to know for certain is that there was a coup, and that Queen Chrysalis has been deposed. But even that only reached them by rumors. Some say she was deposed by the High Priestesses themselves. Others by her own military council because she supported Equestria. Still others say she was deposed because she was planning to betray Equestria. Nopony knows what really happened. Nopony knows who's running the Empire right now either. Some say it's the High Priestesses. Some say it's the military.”

“These rumors will do us no good,” Auraria said. “I assume you warned them of the impending threat to their town?”

“Yes, Ma'am.”

“And were you able to gather any other news?”

“No Ma'am. We had already left the town before the Sun rose. Even if we had been there, it's unlikely any information from Canterlot would have reached them regarding any rescue of Princess Luna.”

Auraria nodded slightly. “Alright. Good work. Return to your normal duties.”

“Ma'am,” all four of them said with a salute and turned to go.

“Not you two.” She cast her icy blue insect-like eyes on the two pegasi. The two of them stopped with a jolt, wincing as if they'd been struck by the weight of her words. Then, they turned around, doing their best to maintain military composure, but she could tell it was difficult for them. She began speaking in a firm voice, keeping her anger in check.

“I am the commander of these forces. Even the Royal Guard has accepted that. That means I am your commander. You should have come directly to me with the news of the coup. You didn't, and you told others first. Why?”

The two of them were silent, as if they couldn't decide which one of them should speak. Auraria decided for them.

“Private Sky Strike.” She turned her cold gaze on him.

“Ma'am, we … we were afraid that if the changeling soldiers found out about the rumor, especially about the possibility that Queen Chrysalis had been deposed for supporting us, that the Changeling Army would turn against us. We felt we had to warn our fellow soldiers in the Royal Guard so they would not be caught off guard if that happened.”

“And in the process, you put this entire battalion in danger. Changelings, ponies, and gryphons.” She started to pace in front of them now. “Just as all of them were starting to build a mutual bond of trust with each other, you spread news like this. I need the changelings and ponies to have complete and absolute trust in each other. Instead, thanks to you and your inability to keep your muzzles shut, they will both be constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering if they are about to get pounced on. You might as well have thrown a torch into a crate of blasting putty.”

“Ma'am we didn't think–”

“You didn't think!” She stopped her pacing, standing in front of Sky Strike now, her muzzle inches from his. “You're right, you didn't think! That's why you're a private, and I'm an officer! That's why I give orders, and you follow them! And when I personally give you an assignment to carry out, I expect you to report to me and only to me! Is that clear?”

“Yes, Ma'am!” they both responded.

“Good! Now get out of here so I can figure out how I'm gonna run damage control against your fuck up.”

“Ma'am!” they both said, with a salute, before turning and double-timing it to the door as if she were casting plasma bolts at their rumps.

“And don't think you are gonna out of this with no discipline! There will be a disciplinary action hearing as soon as our situation allows!” she called after them. They gave no response, exiting the tent as quickly as possible.

She shook her head and sat down roughly on her haunches. The pony officers must be soft. They must be lax on discipline. Well, they'd find out that being under the command of a changeling officer was different. Yes, she cared about all of the soldiers under her command, including the ponies. She cared about keeping them all alive. And that required strict discipline. This incident was a perfect example of why.

She stood up again, stepping outside of her tent. The rain had increased and the sky had become darker. The booming thunder was closer now and gusty winds were beginning to attack the trees and cause the flags on the tents to whip wildly. She looked around a bit, spotting a supply crate and walking over to it, hopping up onto it. She charged her horn, a green glow forming around it as she cast a sound-amplification spell.

“All units, fall in!” she boomed out in her magic enhanced voice.

All conversation stopped immediately, and the ponies, changelings, and gryphons quickly fell into formation in front of her. She seethed with anger as she watched the ponies and changelings segregate themselves by species, occasionally casting wary glances at each other.  She waited until all the shuffling had stopped before addressing them.

“I am aware that all of you have heard the news about the coup in the Changeling Empire. But–”

“We should leave now and go back to the Empire!” a changeling soldier called out.

“No one is going anywhere!” Her eyes cast daggers at the part of the changeling formation where the interruption had come from, but she couldn't tell exactly which changeling had said it, fortunately for them. “Our mission is to assist Equestria in protecting the barrier, and to repel any invaders from the Beyond or anywhere else! And until I hear otherwise from Changeling Military High Command, that is the mission we will continue to perform! If the Empire needs us, they will send a messenger! But as of right now, the coup does not concern us! Our mission remains unchanged!”

“The Empire needs us!” another changeling shouted. “I'm done with this assignment!” The changeling turned as if he were about to walk out of formation. She cast him a glare at him with her icy blue eyes that could have frozen lava.

“Anyone who leaves will be charged with desertion! They will be sent back to the Hive to face a court martial in front a changeling military tribunal! That goes for all of you! Changelings, ponies, and gryphons!”

The changeling who had started to leave stopped in his tracks and turned around, falling back into formation. The rest of the changelings all lowered their eyes slightly. The ponies had nervous expressions painted on their muzzles. While the gryphons looked as if this was all between the other two species, and had nothing to do with them at all. It was one of the pegasus guards who spoke up next.

“We are in Equestria! You have no jurisdiction here, and you have no jurisdiction over ponies!” Auraria turned her gaze to the pegasus who had spoken.

“You aren't a civilian, Private. You are a soldier serving under my command. And if you think I have no jurisdiction over you, you can tell it to the tribunal.”

The pegasus who had spoken gave no further argument, the thought of spending time in a changeling military prison no doubt having made him think better of his objection. She looked over the assembled soldiers again, before continuing.

“Over the past several days, I have watched longtime bitter enemies become friends. I've seen you set up tents next to each other! I've seen you eat together, and talk together! I've seen your share war stories with each other! I've seen you engage in friendly spars with each other! I've seen you all put aside your differences and come together to fight against an enemy that affects us all! An enemy that threatens our entire existence! I expect that behavior to continue! In less than two days, we will go into battle! We will go into battle against a formidable foe that vastly outnumbers us! Our victory, and our very survival depends on you all continuing to forge the bonds of trust and faith in each other that you have formed over these past days! And if you do that! If you keep that trust and faith in each other strong, then when our enemies come, they will tremble in fear! Because they will know that we are not ponies, changelings, and gryphons! We are one! And together, we will show them that their own actions brought us together! Their own actions caused their own downfall! We will show them that they cannot tear apart the bonds of friendship we have forged! We will not go down! We will not fracture! We will stand as one! We will fight as one! And we will be victorious!”

A roaring cheer erupted from the gathered army, drowning out the thunder and the rain. Emotions flooded into Auraria. For a moment, she felt confused. She had never felt an emotion quite like this before. A shock of surprise flowed through her as she recognized it: Love! And it wasn't coming from just the changelings. It was coming from ponies and gryphons too. The love she was receiving felt more pure than any other love she had ever gotten. Not tainted like the love she was used to stealing. And this love was more powerful, more reinvigorating then she had ever felt before. Revitalization charged through her like a rushing river, washing away her fatigue and restoring her depleted magic reserves. She looked at the gathered changelings who had used the most magic during the last battle. Their shocked expressions mirrored her own. They too, had been revitalized! Her problem had been solved! The changelings depleted magic reserves had been restored! This is Dorylini's secret! she realized with a thrill of elation. This is how her armies maintained their magic without parasitically preying on emotions from others! All of it fell into place now. Dorylini and her empire had been friends with Equestria. And they had been able to draw off that magic of friendship without forcefully stealing from the ponies. Auraria now understood something that Chrysalis never had: True love and true friendship could not be taken. It could not be stolen. It could only be given and received freely. She drank in the well of love and friendship that flowed around her, feeling it satiate her thirst. And this love and friendship was so much more powerful than stolen love. Not like the muddy, stagnant, sulfur tasting pond she was used to drinking from. This love was untainted, and pure. A sparkling river fed by a clear spring. She scanned her gathered soldiers, basking in the communal love that surrounded the camp. The cold wind and rain was but a distant memory now, banished far away by the warmth of the love flowing between her gathered soldiers. The love that would bring power to them, and fear and defeat to their enemies.