Chapter 2: The Request

We had no idea what was going to happen that day. Me and Grey knew each other well, and were room mates at the Changeling Academy. We had just been hanging out in our room when suddenly,

"Grey and Blade, report to the main office immediately."

We looked at each other in confusion. Neither of us were too sure as to why we were called to the office, and not some of the big-shot Changelings. We were just a couple of wimps that were never able to complete any of the training courses. One time, Grey kept hearing these noises that kept interfering with his flying, and it ended up causing him to crash into a wall so hard, he was in the hospital for weeks. I tried to analyze our situation, and then I figured it out. We were the least useful in our squadron, and this was our last chance to prove ourselves. If we went home now, we would be outcast to our section in the hive. That's just the way it was in this place; if you aren't honorable, you're pathetic and a disgrace. I hoped we would do well in this final test, or it could be the last time we saw the light of day.

We slowly walked over to the main office, wondering if this would decide our futures. Rocks and dirt were being thrown at us, and the bigger guys kept blocking our path and shoving us around.

"Hey shrimps! Gonna go to mop the floors for the principle?"
It was our daily routine! Walk to our training area, get bullied on the way, fail the training exercise, and go back to the dorm humiliated. There was nothing we could to change our public image; we had failed too much, and there wasn't anyone to stick up for us. Not even the 'Stop Bullying Campaign' that came by last month helped us. In fact, they had only singled us out in front of the crowd and made us look even more stupid.

We finally were able to make our way into the main office and walked our way to the principle's office. I knocked on the door, and the double doors opened slowly.

"Come in."

As we walked in, the dome looked larger than I had ever seen it, and the portraits of former principles stared me down. I noticed that not only the principle was there, but the Queen was there too. What could possibly be so important that the Queen was here! We were about to find out. The Queen spoke in a slow and menacing kind of voice. You could tell she had some sort of plan and practiced what she was going to say because she hadn't stumbled over her words.

"You two are at the very bottom of your squadron. You must go on a quest in order to prove yourselves worthy of staying here. If you are not able to complete this quest, you will be sent back to your homes in disgrace. This quest requires that you must retrieve a generator that is essential for my plan to overthrow the Pony Princess and take the love from... Equestria."

Every time she mentioned something to do with ponies, she said it in disgust. In confusion, I asked,

"Your Highness, if you don't mind me asking, where exactly is this generator?"

"This generator is in a unicorn's house in a pony town called Ponyville. The family that lives in this house is supposedly on a vacation, so you should not have any trouble. You must be prepared for anything. Are you ready for the task at hand?"

Grey and I said in unison,

"Yes ma'am!"

"Then go. You must not waste time. Since Equestria seems to have the most love, it would seem useful to take this love, and use it for our own needs."

Here in the hive, we use 'love' as our life source. It may sound a little vicious, but normally, we obtain love by stunning our enemy, and using a special spell that reaches the part of the enemy's brain that has feeling. The spell drains all of the energy from that part of the brain, and transfers it to a part in our bodies that we call the 'chatoms'. The 'chatoms' takes the energy and uses it to power the body for about a week. Extra energy is storable in a separate part of the body, allowing us to gain as much energy as we can store. A normal Changeling's limit is about 10 creature's love. As for the enemy that is attacked, the creature loses all feeling, and if it is very lucky, it can regain the feeling. Surprisingly, it has only been recorded once that an attacked creature regains feeling. Recently, we have had to scavenge after what is around us, and that isn't too successful. If we are able to take the love from Equestria, we would be able to survive for a millennia.

Grey and I walked back to our dorm room and got ready for our assignment. When we returned to our dorm, we rushed to get ready.

"Blade, do you think it would be a good idea to take the infinite saddlebag with us?"

"Why would you need something like that?"

"Well, how would we be able to get an entire generator back here?"

I stopped to consider this for a moment. He had a point.

"What if the generator isn't as big as we think it is?"

"What if it's huge?"

"Under those circumstances, take it just in case."

Packing for Grey was easy because all he needed was his infinite saddle bag and a map. I didn't need that much either, but it was a lot heavier than what he needed. I needed to wear armor, because I was a higher rank than Grey was. I needed helmet and body armor; the helmet weighs about 3 lbs., and the body armor weighs about 9 lbs. I took a quick glance around the room to make sure we didn't need anything else.

"I think we're ready. Let's go."

We left our dorm and left the facility. Honestly, I think we were both very happy to leave the academy for some time. It wasn't a place that anyone would like too much if you were in our place. As we made our way to the hive exit, we passed by many shops and homes. It brought back memories when I was small and would walk along with my parents through the streets. Memories that I sometimes wish that I could forget entirely.

Once we exited the hive, Grey and I understood that Ponyville would be a long travel, but we had an advantage that a lot of the Changelings in our hive didn't have. We each had wings. We started our journey immediately, and reached our destination with ease. The winds were a little turbulent, but that normally wasn't too much of a problem. We landed outside the home and didn't have any trouble getting inside. Teleportation had always been an easy skill for both Grey and me. Once we were inside, we analyzed how we were going to take apart the generator. It seemed to already be in sections, held together by screws, making the job a little bit easier for us. The generator, in our surprise, was much taller and larger than what we expected, so we even had to fly up and check out the top of it. Suddenly, Grey thought he was hearing things again.

"SHHHH! Someone is coming!"

"Don't worry, Grey, it's nothing. Just help me get this stuff off of here."

"B..b..but Blade, I swear... I thought I heard something this time."

"The family that lives here isn't supposed to return from their vacation for a while remember?"

"Maybe you're right, but what if they came home early?"

CLLAANNK.

"CAREFUL. If the Queen wants to use this machinery correctly it has to be intact. Just keep working. We need to take as little time as possible."

What happened next wasn't expected, and could cost us our places in the hive. A Unicorn a bit bigger than me jumped around the corner where the stairs were and shot Grey with some sort of beam. He then charged towards me, tackled me, and threw me against the wall. When I hit the wall, the wind got hit out of me. I hit the ground and I tried to stand. I charged my horn to attempt to counter attack, but everything went black.

Author's Note

For this chapter, I considered between continuing the story for Surge, but I felt like that wouldn't have explained why the Changelings were there... So, this chapter is here to explain where they came from. Enjoy and stay tuned!