Infestation of the Body Snatchers

Subject: Infestation of the Body Snatchers Fri Sep 23, 2016 10:24 am

It was midnight. Canterlot saw not a single star or ray of moonlight, as the city had been scheduled for a rain shower. It was mild, but enough to block what light the moon and stars had to offer. Instead, most of the light came from Canterlot's street lamps, or the light coming out of windows of buildings, or the oil lamps some ponies or carriages carried.

In west Canterlot, the less well-off part of the city, ponies had been disappearing. Little ponies, specifically, and very few of the safety measures that had been put in place to help were actually doing much.

Nox lifted a chunk of grass-topped dirt out from between the roots of a particularly large old oak with her magic. Beneath the space where the dirt chunk rested wasn't more dirt, but a dark, pony-sized hole, glinting purplish in the light of her magic.

Nox gave a small smile. Here was something.

She carefully stepped into the hole, putting the dirt chunk back in place behind her.

Ever since the disappearance of ponies began, Sunset's social life had, for lack of a better term...

"Went to shit..." she muttered as she crawled out from her hiding place, her coat shimmering for a second as it shifted back to normal. "Stupid fuckin' kidnapping, stupid bloody night shift..." she cursed under her breath as she removed the chunk of dirt covering the mysterious pony's entrance, following after her. "I'll freak if this is the kidnapper..."

The small, dark tunnel seemed to go on for hours, winding and twisting, the crystals making it hard to walk and sometimes hazardous to climb down. Nox navigated the tunnel with very little effort, her hoofsteps almost inaudible. Her phoenix, Pyra, stood on her back, digging her claws freely into a belt tightly buckled around the hoodie; she faintly illuminated the tunnel with her natural glow and kept sharp watch behind Nox.

She was on high alert, every sense enhanced by the dark (except sight, of course), but so far the only other pony near her was the one currently stalking her, admittedly very skillfully. For a moment the pony had thrown her off because she'd thought a changeling and a pony were following her, but not once had she felt the two magics separate from each other, so obviously they had to come from one pony.

When she felt they were deep enough in the tunnel, and that she had a general idea of the pony's potential threat level, she turned around and said, "I know you're following me. I've known for hours. I have no hostile intentions, and I'd appreciate if you came out so I don't have to assume it of you."

Sunset sighed under her breath as the mysterious unicorn called out to her. Stepping out of the shadows, the unicorn would see the outline of a pegasus mare, though her entire body looked like the surrounding cave, down to the exact texture of the walls surrounding them. "Well, do you know you're trespassing on restricted grounds, and that venturing here means you're under arrest?" Sunset replied, her form returning to its natural state: A light grey coat with a short, unkempt dull white mane, striped with grey and black. Her cutie mark was not currently visible. What was visible how, was a silver band around her left forehoof, and her right forehoof hardening over with what looked like black chitin. "Which means you have one chance to come peacefully with me, to the barracks. So whats it gonna be?"

"Who has restricted these grounds? I thought almost nopony knew about the caves... How do you make a law about something that nopony knows about until they're arrested for the crime?" Nox didn't react to the mare's chitin changeling hoof, though she did take some interest in the her ability to mimic inorganic textures. Pyra was keeping an eye on the tunnels.

"You know they exist, which is one pony more than Princess Luna would like. As for the law, consider this one an off the books affair. Now then..." shedding her pony form, Sunset adopted her other natural state, a roughly Luna sized changeling mare, with iridescent wings and an aquamarine mane. Her chitin plating was adorned with indiscernible intricate markings. Her horn lit, several illusory duplicates splitting off in several directions, running in all directions around the unicorn. "Now, submit to arrest, or be subdued with force. Your choice lady."

"I'm surprised you're brave enough to reveal yourself so casually, especially after recent events." Nox commented admiringly, again not batting an eye at her changeling form, though her illusions caught her eye for a moment.

She looked Sunset in the eye, silent for a moment, then said, "I'm going to find out what's going on, and you can't stop me."

Her horn lit, everything became pitch black for a second (despite any light sources), and when it was gone so was Nox. Her hoofbeats were echoing faintly down the tunnel.

Pyra was waiting behind a crystal to blind Sunset with brilliant light before rejoining Nox.

"Oh I got nothing to worry 'bout. You on the other have a-- SONOFABITCH!!!" Sunset bolted directly into the darkness, other senses than sight guiding her as she bolted after the unicorn. Rather than trying to beat the mare in a hoof race, Sunset buzzed her wings and lifted her hooves up off the ground, her changeling wings well suited to underground flight as she flew after the mare. Whenever the phoneix decided to try and blind her with light, they'd find it ineffective as Sunset's non-mammalian eyes lacked pupils to widen and traditional optic nerves to send into shock from the sudden intrusion. "Hey! Get back here damnit! I ain't gonna spend all damned day chasing you through these princess damned piece of shit cramped tunnels!"

"Then help me or go away!" Nox shouted to the mare. Pyra started flapping waves of fire at her. She has a very foul mouth. Nox thought.

Not bothering with caring about the flames being waved at her, Sunset wrapped the fire happy bird in a telekinetic field and, rather comically, bounced the bird around in a circle rapidly, the telekinetic field transferring most of the sharp force trauma into dizzying concussive blows before she discarded the phoneix on the floor in what was surely a dizzy, disoriented mess. Slightly singed, her chitin still cared little about the scorching heat inflicted on her. Her burnt mane on the other hand, she did take issue with. Tired of chasing the mare, she opted for a different approach. Suspending the bird in a stasis field that blocked extradimensional travel, she called out again. "If you want your bird back, you better get back here!"

Nox skidded to a halt, and even as far away as she was from Sunset in the dark tunnel, Sunset would be able to see Nox's violet eye glint with rage as she turned to look at her. Nox's horn lit up and she seemed to fall through the floor of the tunnel before immediately popping up just feet from Sunset, her eyes full of rage and threat.

If Sunset was intimidated, there was no expression of it as the mare appeared in front of her, trying to burn a hole through her with her glare. Lifting the phoneix up, she levitated it to her side. "Now that I have your attention, turn and face the wall. Remove your cloak, and keep that horn unlit. I don't know where you learned to shadowstep like Princess Luna, but now I have even more questions. I wouldn't go trying to take the bird from my telekinetic grip either. You'll more than likely crush her as we struggle for dominance. Now, what's your name?"

Nox considered blasting Pyra, then blasting the mare in the face. Pyra had enough experience with regeneration that she'd be up in seconds, and she could keep stunning the guard as she ran. However, attacking a Royal Guard likely had serious legal consequences, a problem Nox really didn't want to create for herself unless she had to.

"I will not face the wall, I will not remove my cloak, and I will not give you my name. I will, however, allow you to look through my belongings, provided you release the phoenix.

"Is it common practice for the Royal Guard to take hostages, by the way?" she asked with clear venom in her voice.

"You really think you can barter with a Royal Guard eh? You got some pluck to be sure. The usual criminal scum would've just teleported away by now. So 'imma give you the benefit of the doubt right now. You let me see what you're carrying, tell me why you're here, and tell me your name, and I'll give you your bird back, and perhaps let you carry onwards."

When the unicorn asked if kidnapping was common procedure, Sunset chuckled. "Your bird tried to fry me, however futile trying to fry me is. Be glad your phoenix is still mostly unharmed. So, you wanna accept my offer? Or shall we run through the tunnels some more?"

Nox put a hoof inside her hoodie and took out something hanging around her neck. It was a small burlap bag, about the size of her hoof, with a drawstring opening. Another string allowed Nox to keep it around her neck.

Nox tossed the bag onto the ground in front of Sunset. "I am New Moon and I'm in the tunnels because I believe they may lead me to the kidnapper.

"Those bursts of fire were weak. They were meant to slow you down or stop you entirely. The worst they would've done is burnt off your eye... brows..." Sunset was a changeling; she had no eyebrows. "I mean... the eyebrows that... would've been there if you were in a pony form."

Sunset opened the bag when it was tossed to her, and began to sift through the contents whilst the Unicorn continued to talk. "Yeah... I'm sure that's your actual name..." she commented with an amused tone, pulling out what appeared to be... an old ball gag? "So... we've got a cursed sword, a cursed vase, a poisoned dagger, but if you ask me... this is the real crime here." Snorting to suppress a laugh, she threw the gag back into the bag, and pulled the string to seal it back up. "Yeah, don't get too caught up on that, I lose track half the time. Pegasus... changeling, Pega..ling?" She rolled the word around in her mouth for a moment before dismissing the thought. "Whatever. You're here hunting the kidnapper. Which obviously means you're not the kidnapper. So I propose the following deal yeah? We go together, and find this kidnapper, and i can get off the night shift and have a drink. Sound good to you?"

"That sounds like a good deal." Nox agreed. "Also the dagger doesn't actually have poison in it. I emptied it and cleaned it out with water. But... what's so criminal about the gag? It's not cursed."

"Its just... never mind, later. Anyways, before we go, need 'yer help with something quick. I'm running low on mana, need you're help with a recharge quick. you game?" Sunset asked. "I promise it won't hurt you in the least."

"...You'll regret it if you go too far." Nox growled in warning, glaring daggers into the mare's eyes.

Sunset blinked at Moon's threat, before having a good hearty laugh at her. "Oh that's rich! Trust me, you'll enjoy this. And its painless. Actually, it feels pretty good from what I hear. Anyways, don't freak out yeah?" Sunset shifted back to her grey pegasus form, walked up to Moon, and observed her facial expression with a sultry grin.

And then Sunset reared up on her hindlegs and kissed her right on the lips. Beginning to inhale, her eyes glowed a light teal color as a stream of similar colored energy would flow from Moon's muzzle into Sunset's. The side effect of this being an intense feeling of pleasure coursing through Moon's body as Sunset fed. Breaking contact a few moments later, her form rippled before stabilizing to normal, Sunset's horn glowing dimly. "And there we go, all charged up and ready to go. Lead the way."

Nox glared suspiciously at Sunset. At least, until the mare got up on her hind legs and kissed her right on the lips.

She only had time for a brief moment of surprise before passion and lust flooded her body to an almost orgasmic level. Her eyes nearly fluttered closed, but a memory from the time she was nearly killed by a succubus kept her from doing so. The dribble of energy that was drawn out of her was barely noticed.

There was a slight sound of stretching leather and then several things happened at once: Nox’s belt’s buckle rocketed off, bounced off several crystals and hit Pyra in the face; Pyra screeched; Nox’s belt flew off; and her wings flared out so fast that her hoodie didn’t have time to move out of the way and got two new tears down its back.

Nox swayed for a second, then she shook her head. It only took her a few seconds to figure out exactly what had happened, at least for her: she was exposed. She paled, her whole body seeming to turn into cold stone in a second. For a split second, she considered fleeing like a madmare and hoping to Tartarus that anything this pony said about her to the Princesses would be dismissed as insane ramblings. But then she saw the mare’s face.

Nox narrowed her eyes. “How long have you known?” she asked.

Observing the revealed alicorn, Sunset allowed herself an amused laugh as her kiss invoked a wingboner hard enough to destroy the mare's disguise. "Damn I'm good. As for how long I've known, pretty much the entire time I've followed you. Mom's a royal, Dad worked for an Alicorn, and no offense, if you were looking to disguise yourself, you did a piss poor job. A hoodie that shows your horn and cutie mark, but disguises your midsection might as well just scream to me "HEY GUYS IMMA ALICORN" So yeah, wanna give me your actual name before we set off further into the cavern?"

Nox was very obviously vexed. "Nox." she said. "And exactly what disguise would you recommend to a mare always on the move through Equestrian wildlands and who might be sighted at any time?"

"Illusions. Glamours. Like this." Sunset's form rippled as she shifted into an exact copy of Nox, wings and all. "This isn't an illusion. Changelings of my breed, true changelings change their biology. You wouldn't be able to replicate this. However..." Sunset-disguised-as-Nox's wings sparkled for a moment before vanishing. "Invisibility, Illusions. These magics come pretty naturally for me as a changeling." Shifting back to her pegasi form, she shrugged. "Anyways, not sure of your specialties or anything, but that's the best way to do it. can we get going now?"

Nox blinked. "O-of course." She turned around and took a few steps, Pyra immediately flying over and landing on her haunches. "By the way, don't suppose you could teach me that?"

Sunset shrugged. "Eh, mebbe. Its not really an issue right now, and I'd need a good bit of energy to constantly transform and glamour. Right now we need to find the kidnapper."

"Yes. I'll keep a sharp eye up front, you guard my back." Nox walked on for about three more feet, around a bend, and they both emerged in a giant crystal cavern which, while the ceiling was near, the bottom dropped off into darkness.

Nox looked over the edge, ears perked, incredibly still. After a long, silent moment (unless it involved Nox and Pyra repeatedly shushing Sunset), she said, very quietly, "I don't think you're the only changeling in these caverns."

Nox's horn lit up in a violet glow. "You want to see what some of my specialties are? Watch." The room grew brighter, but not because Nox was casting a light spell. Instead, the shadows themselves seemed to retreat behind the cavern's crystals. The dark abyss below seemed to drain of dark like water down a drain. Soon, the entire cavern was very visible, lit with a mixture of violet from Nox's magic and gold from Pyra's ambient glow: below them were over a dozen different tunnel openings.

"Hm." Nox hummed. Well, that complicates things. Nothing I didn't expect to run into over an hour ago, though. She summoned a blue roll of thread from her bag and tied the end of the thread around the bases of several crystals. She put the roll back in her bag. "So which tunnel shall we try first?" she asked Sunset.

"You got it." Sunset replied, taking up the rear and they moved out. "Unlikely that any changelings of my species would be in this cave. I would have already sensed them through our psychic link. The possibility of the more feral variety however is much higher." Watching as Nox removed the darkness from the tunnels, she whistled low. "That's a neat trick, although I could've just changed my eyes for a low light environment. Still, I think I got a trick that's equally handy right now. How about we just explore all 12 tunnels at once. Gimme a sec." Sunset lit her horn and closed her eyes, straining to cast this bit of complex changeling magic. At the beginning of each tunnel, an illusory copy of herself appeared, and as Sunset opened her eyes, Nox would see that they were completely teal, and glowing. "Remote Viewing." she explained as each illusion ran off into each tunnel. "Should save us a bit of time."

"'Feral variety'?" Nox didn't know of more than one kind of changeling. "And you wouldn't have seen; it was pitch black down there." Nox's eyes widened watching Sunset do her magic. "I have never seen a changeling do that before." she commented.

The illusions very quickly ran into a large network of tunnels; they'd find very quickly that this giant system beneath Canterlot was very labyrinthine. And echoing very faintly with strange buzzing, hissing, and clicking sounds.

"Yeah, feral. Our race has an evolutionary split. The feral variety of changeling are just drones controlled by powerful queens. They themselves don't require all that much energy to go around, although they are incapable of generating love amongst themselves. My breed of changeling can generate love, so we don't have a need to invade a nation over it. So its no surprise that my abilities are strange to ya." she replied, taking in the feedback from her illusory copies. "Hmmm... judging from the sounds ahead, there's a feral changeling hive in here. I need to report this to the princesses at once."

Nox raised an eybrow. "At once? At once at once? Or when you get back? Because I'm going forward whether you are or not."

"No, I thought I'd just bound off to the princess with incomplete intel and mere suspicion. She'd take that really well. Lets go find us a bug hive yeah?" Sunset replied sarcastically.

"Jeez, sorry. I don't know how the Royal Guard works." Generally better to ask than to assume, as I've learned. Several times. Nox leapt delicately off the ledge and, unfurling her wings, gently floated down to the cavernous bottom, her eyes sharp and darting all around below her the entire time.

Meanwhile, one of Sunset's illusions ran into a pair of changelings quietly chittering to one another. These changelings' chitin was darker and their bodies fuller than Chrysalis's, and their eyes light indigo. They both hissed in surprise, and one of the two immediately moved to tackle and consume the magical construct. The other skittered onto the ceiling over the illusion and dropped down quickly on the other side, then buzzed its wings and zoomed off down the tunnel.

Sunset followed after her, wings folding out to slow her descent as she kept her ears open, listening for any signs of hostility.

The changeling that moved to tackle the illusion of Sunset merely passed through it as the other illusory doubles winked out of existence once Sunset detected that one had been attacked by a changeling.

"I hear something in the tunnels." Nox whispered, landing on the cavern floor, making sure not to land in the middle of all the tunnel entrances. "You see what it is?"

The hive was alerted to their presence. A dozen more drones were sent to investigate, and would be there any second.

Sunset touched down beside Nox. "One of my illusions was attacked. They'll be on us any second." her form reverted to her changeling state, with azure accents more boldly highlighted so Nox could separate Sunset from the average drone. "Fight's gonna be on us any second now, get ready." she suggested, band on her right hoof glowing intensely as she waited for the initial assault.

"Do you think I was not ready the moment I approached the tunnel?" Nox asked, lighting up her horn and pressing her wings close to her sides. Beside her, Pyra lit herself aflame.

The buzzing grew louder and louder each second, echoing off the large cavern's walls, and at its loudest it suddenly stopped. In the dead silence, a small, black muzzle and a lavender insect eye slowly emerged from one of the tunnels to see exactly what they were to alert the hive to and, if possible, subdue.

It saw another changeling with glowing blue eyes (it assumed her to be of the Chrysalis hive; Queen was not going to like this), a fiery, flaming bird that somehow wasn't screeching in agony from being on fire, and... an alicorn?! Where did this one come from?! And that made, what, six now?! Queen would definitely have to know about-

The alicorn's head had turned to it almost too fast for the changeling to see. Her piercing, hawk-like glare sent a very uncomfortable charge through the changeling's body, a sensation that definitely registered as the primal emotion known as fear.

ALERT, ALERT! ALICORN AND CHRYSALIS DRONE HAVE FOUND THE ENTRANCE TO THE HIVE! MORE SOLDIER DRONES ARE REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY!

The one changeling ducked back down into the hole a mere two seconds after emerging for a peek. Now that that was sent, the dozen drones currently here needed to stall for time. Likely only less than a minute, fortunately; the alicorn was likely to wipe them all out with ease. The changelings chittered briefly, forming an attack plan.

Silence again.

Nox narrowed her eyes, whispering to Sunset, "They're charging a spe-"

Then an explosion of light and crystal shards sent Nox tumbling backwards and both her and Pyra shrieking in surprise. Through the crystal shrapnel, the three changelings each went after Sunset, Nox, and Pyra: the first one moving to tackle Sunset and bite her neck (her jaw being strong enough to break her chitin), the second one rapidly punching Nox in the nose and eyes to distract her, and the third one... apparently attempting to eat Pyra, despite its chitin literally melting in her fire.

The other nine changelings were blasting surrounding crystals to shards and dust to confuse the ponies and phoenix.

Meanwhile, half of the hive's soldier drones were racing to meet and incapacitate the intruders, and they were moving fast.

Sunset was unfazed by the explosion of light, her pupiless eyes simply not reacting to the explosion of light, the crystal shards deflecting off her chitin, leaving small divots and scratches as she stood her ground against her attackers. The glow from the band on her right forehoof reached a peak thrum, and held its intensity. Her horn lit as she stepped back up onto two legs, leaning back as her aggressor tackled into her. When the changeling made contact with her, she shifted her stance, left leg, stepping back as her right forehoof hooked under the left shoulder of the changeling. Spinning in time with the tackle, she pivoted her hips, and with the changeling's own momentum she smashed the changeling into the ground beneath her, and out of nothingness, a blade around 2ft long, slightly curved, materialized attached to the band, which had expanded to form a base for it. With one forehoof holding the changeling down, she stabbed the changeling directly through its skull, the blade then vanishing. Shifting, she pressed her two forehooves together as her horn lit, her making a memetic gesture as if pulling, the changeling trying to eat the phoneix yanked telekinetically towards her only to be intercepted by a steel-covered hoof uppercut, followed by a devestating roundhouse kick that left the changeling with a shattered and leaking midsection as it bounced off a tunnel wall. " Mushin...father "

Nox attempted to blast her assaulting changeling repeatedly, but it proved to be frustratingly evasive, ducking and dodging then going back to punching the sensitive and vulnerable parts of her face.

Another changeling came over and landed on her hind legs that she'd been attempting to kick the changeling off with. Nox smiled. Her legs sprung up like a catapult, launching the second changeling into the first and sending both tumbling in a mess of insect parts. She leapt up and immediately blasted both changelings, trapping them in a crystal cluster.

She turned around, taking in the details of the scene. Then her horn lit up. Some of the crystal shards the changelings had blasted into the air halted in her magic, then she launched them at one of the changelings, almost fast as a bullet. The changeling, having been caught unawares, was impaled repeatedly. It crashed into a crystal unceremoniously.

Another changeling was hurtling toward her, blue magic surrounding it like some sort of comet. She turned and opened a shadow portal right in front of it. Another portal opened up beside two more changelings who were heading for Sunset and the three of them were sent screeching into a crystal cluster. The latter two were unconscious, the first merely dazed.

Suddenly, with only a moment's cacophonic buzzing echoing through the cavern for warning, changelings erupted from the tunnels. They landed on the floor and walls, or hovered mid-air, surrounding the pony and changeling and outnumbering them a hundred to one. They hissed and chittered and laughed.

One of the changelings flew over to them. "You are surrounded. You will submit and obey or you will die."

Observing that they were surrounded, Sunset took a few moments to consider her options. She'd gone too far down to directly teleport out, and she had no good recall point either. "Well Nox.... this seems to have gone down hill quite rapidly. You got any ideas? I'm not exactly capable of fighting several hundred changelings at once without collapsing the cavern down on top of us. Not sure I could sneak out of here either." While she waited for Nox's reply, she lit her horn in preparation for what she considered to be her last shot to get out of here.

"Grab onto me." Nox commanded, taking a rock out of her Bag. A rock with a black galaxy-like image carved into it.

"What are you doing?" the changeling demanded.

"Shield up, now!" Nox told Sunset. It'd buy them the second it'd take Nox to QuickStep them both back into Canterlot. Her horn lit up and soon they both fell into a pitch-black shadow, emerging seconds later in the branches of a willow tree in a park in Canterlot. Gentle moonlight shone through the branches and hanging leaves, and the yellow lights of fireflies blinked around the tree and all around the park, never flying more than a few feet from the ground.

At Nox's command, Sunset channeled the energy from her horn into the band on her right hoof, tucking up close to her as she slammed said hoof into the ground, projecting an iron dome around them several inches thick just before they winked out of existence and into the park. She blinked a few times before quickly shifting back into her Pegasus form and looking around. "The surface... a relay teleport. Glad you had that set up. Unfortunately, I think we have to part ways for a bit, because I gotta tell the Princess's there's a changeling hive beneath the city, before we have a repeat of the wedding fiasco."

"Very well." Nox said, looking between the tree's branches and hanging leaves to see if she could spot a store from here. She needed to buy a better disguise...

"I don't suppose that makes this a top-secret government affair?" she asked, wondering if she'd be forced to leave this to Princesses Celestia and Luna. Not that she was horrible troubled by that, she had utmost confidence in the Princesses.

"Not up to me to decide, but I'd imagine Celestia will mobilize her forces immediately and begin casting de-glamours en mass, whilst Luna will begin sending out her agents to enforce a soft quarantine of the city. Not my area of expertise. You should get off the street though for the moment. I gotta place on 322 Hoofington Avenue. You can crash there if you wanna stay in town. Its going to get pretty hectic in this city the next little while. I gotta message Mom and Dad... and.." Sunset stopped and took a breath. "One thing at a time. Princess's first. I gotta jet." And with that, she leaped into the air and took flight towards the palace.

Mass de-glamours, soft quarantine on Canterlot. Get off the street. Why? Should ask her later. Place on 322 Hoofington Avenue... shit I don't know this city, this might take a while. Should save the shopping for later.

Nox nodded goodbye to Sunset, then hopped down from the tree, Pyra crawling into Nox's hoodie to avoid drawing attention.

Every minute she spent walking through the city for 322 Hoofington Avenue filled Nox with wonder and longing. Canterlot was so beautiful, so clean, so big! Smells coming from restaurants made her hungry; seeing the salons reminded her of the dirty messes that were her coat, wings, and mane; and every house, passerby, and late-night establishment she passed made her feel... lonely.

Nox took a deep breath. One day. she told herself. It'll happen one day. She found Hoofington Avenue, and walked down to 322. As she walked, she wondered if she shouldn't follow Sunset's recommendation to get off the streets so she could hopefully find some changelings before they escaped the city. However, she decided against it, realizing how unlikely it was that she could be of significant help that way. When she reached the door, she raised her hoof to knock, only to remember Sunset wasn't there. Duh, Nox thought. She tried to turn the doorknob.

Sword_Admin Posts : 79 Join date : 2016-09-02

Sunset landed on the Lunar Princess's balcony, knocking on the door before entering and closing it behind her. On a blue and silver decorated bed sat Princess Luna, a document held in front of her that she appeared to be reading over. "Pray tell, Sunset Ninja, what has you intruding upon mine chambers without a summons?" Luna asked, not looking up from her reading materials.

Sunset bowed respectfully before replying. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that Princess. Kinda got some urgent news for ya."

"Well I would hope that is indeed the case, otherwise you'll be sitting at a desk for the next month for this intrusion."

"I'll cut to the chase: There's a changeling hive underneath the city."

Luna blinked, papers lowering to look at Sunset. "A Changeling Hive? Surely you jest?"

"Not my type of joke Princess."

"Indeed." Luna's eyes went solid white as a tendril of silver came forth from her horn, snaking through the air and connecting with Sunset's, stripping her disguise away as her own eyes went white as well, Luna reliving the last few hours in Sunset's life before disconnecting from her mind. "Oh dear..." She rose from her bed and gestured at a candle emitting a blue flame next to a stack of blank parchment and quills&ink. "I must wake my sister and attend to this problem. Contact your mother and have her alert their own royalty of the situation at hand. Tell your father I am requesting his presence here, but not demanding it."

"He's getting a little old to fight, Princess."

"My sources say he's in excellent health. Besides, I don't need him to fight. I'll be assigning him to my sister. He's my best expert on identifying changelings apart from yourself."

"I wouldn't call his experience entirely objective, Princess..."

To that, Luna laughed and nodded. "Oh I agree with you, but its still the best we have apart from yourself. Oh and one more thing. Tell Nox that she doesn't need to be slinking about in the dark. I've known of her existence since I returned from the moon, and she went to bed the next night. She is free to do as she sees fit, though if she could refrain from revealing her alicorn status to the public right now, it'd be much appreciated. We don't need both a media frenzy, and mass panic at the same time. You have your orders."

"Yes, Princess Luna." And with that, Luna vanished, and Sunset began scribbling down a lengthy note to her parents, which she then burned with the magical candle, sending it off to them before leaping back off the balcony, and heading back to her home to meet up with Nox.

On Nox's end, she'd find the door unlocked, and it would open to reveal a small entrance way that revealed a kitchen on the far end of the home, a living room with a single chair and loveseat, a staircase that led up to a closed door. and a closed door in the living room that was probably the bathroom.

Subject: Re: Infestation of the Body Snatchers Mon Oct 17, 2016 11:20 pm

For a few minutes Nox stood in the hallway with no idea what to do with herself. While Pyra flew around the house, Nox wondered if she should go to the kitchen to cook something for Sunset (probably not: bad idea to use someone else's groceries without permission and changelings don't even need to eat); if she should go to the living room and... just wait for Sunset to return, she guessed, maybe read a book too; or if she should snoop around a bit. She didn't like that idea so much, as it was incredibly rude, but she'd saved herself and others more than once by being nosy.

She decided that she'd stay in the living room and read a book when she realized that Pyra had done most of the snooping for her.

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Sunset touched down in front of her home and went inside. "Nox?" She called, walking forward a bit and seeing her in the living room. "Ah, there you are. So here's what's up yeah? Luna knows and doesn't care much that you're here. Her only request is that you don't reveal your alicorn status to the public right now." Sunset then went about closing all the curtains, before dropping her disguise. "There we go. Much better. So, what's your plan then Nox?"

Subject: Re: Infestation of the Body Snatchers Tue Oct 18, 2016 8:53 pm

Nox put away the book when Sunset came in and listened attentively. Her ears folded back a little when she learned that Luna knew about her. "What? Why didn't she do anything if she knew about me all this time?"

"...plan?" Nox asked, then to clarify so she wouldn't look like some brash simpleton, "What plan am I supposed to have against an enemy I know almost nothing about?"

Sword_Admin Posts : 79 Join date : 2016-09-02

Sunset shrugged and flopped on her loveseat. "Probably because she doesn't care. Alicorns and beings like them are becoming more common by the day. Hell we just saw 2 Alicorns pop up in the last 2 years. I have lesser levels of alicorn power myself, although my race works a bit different than your traditional 3 tribes." Raising a hoof, she closed an eye and squinted at Nox through one of the holes in her legs like she was looking through a telescope with a smirk on her face. "Hey I'm not judging. I don't get paid to plan, I just follow the plan. Just curious if you had one is all."

Subject: Re: Infestation of the Body Snatchers Fri Oct 21, 2016 12:08 am

She... doesn't... care? Nox kept a neutral expression as her heart sank. She's known about me all this time and she doesn't care?

Okay okay, let's not jump to conclusions. What if she only knows about what's happened since her return? Maybe she couldn't invade dreams from the moon after all. And how far into my mind can she see? If she can only see as far in as dreams, then she couldn't get a lot of reliable information about me. And so maybe this caused her to clump me in with the rest of the significant changes to Equestria that happened over the thousand years she was gone, because at this point being surprised or shocked or alarmed at everything new would wear her out faster than me trying to move both celestial bodies at the same time. At least, she assumed it'd wear her out.

Then again, she could also be a dismissive jerk. I can't dismiss any possible answers yet.

"Then what do we do in the meantime?" Nox asked.

Sword_Admin Posts : 79 Join date : 2016-09-02

Sunset kicks her hindlegs up and reclines, shrugging and levitating a pillow underneath her head. "Well, I'm going to nap and feed off your ambient emotions for awhile. You taste disappointed. And now conflicted." Sunset cracked her neck and lit her horn, turning on a stereo for some background music. "So Nox, whaddya do for fun?"

Subject: Re: Infestation of the Body Snatchers Sat Oct 22, 2016 12:03 am

"Usually meditate, look over the books, notes, and artifacts I've collected over the centuries, or frolic and play pretend like a foal." Nox answered casually, ignoring the comment about her current emotions. Pyra, however, did not, and nestled against her neck comfortingly. "What song is this?"

Sword_Admin Posts : 79 Join date : 2016-09-02

Sunset lights her horn again, and turns the music up a bit. "Its called Brave Shine."

"Sounds like a good way to spend the years. I mainly work, nap, and hang out with my sister when she has the time. Our schedules keep us pretty busy and all."

Subject: Re: Infestation of the Body Snatchers Sat Oct 22, 2016 12:53 am

"Hm. I'm also rather busy, even as Equestria's going through a peaceful era, because I keep making my crystal maps more sensitive to compensate. Granted, I haven't actually had to adjust them that much, but the occasional tweak has saved many lives before.

"And I'm afraid I don't know of many... most, popular... things. The Power Ponies interest me, though, as do Shadow Spade's mystery novels and the Daring Do series. Although I feel like Daring Do has been getting dumbed down lately, I hope the trend won't continue."

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"Never was much into reading, despite the many protests of mom." Sunset switches forms to a slightly bigger changeling with more intricate markings on her chitin and aquamarine pigtails. "You need to read more Sunset, you can't spend all day in the dojo trying to be your father." she said in a voice a little different from her own before changing back to her own form. "Of course, then Dad told me I had to pass several tests to get into the guard, and forced me to study. Bah, dumb tests weren't even that hard! Although if I get a chance to take a vacation, maybe I'll blitz through the Daring Do series, just to be able to carry on a conversation about it."

Subject: Re: Infestation of the Body Snatchers Sat Nov 19, 2016 8:44 pm

Nox nodded. "You know, I've never really had true parents. There were the orphanage caretakers, and they were nice, but they didn't have the time or resources to really be parents, as much as they tried. There were the ponies who actually adopted me, but... that didn't go well; to them, I was the ticket to becoming big-name scientists, either through using me to make great strides in understanding Pseudocorn Syndrome, or uncovering a new alicorn princess. In the end, adoption was a disappointment.

"After them, I lost my chance to have parents... aside from the occasional psycho. But those are long stories all their own."

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Sunset remained silent for a bit as Nox talked, eventually getting to her hooves and shaking her head. "Sounds rough No, but you seem to have turned out alright." She started off towards the kitchen, opening the fridge. "You want something to eat?" Sunset called from the other room while she rummaged through what she had left to eat here, 2 hard ciders floating out and setting themselves on the counter, some butter and tilapia floating out as well and setting themselves next to the stove. "Hmmm... some noodles and tilapia... what else... I could've swore I had bagels in here..."