They Had One Job

by Grazy Polomare

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Changelings, Random, Slice of Life
Length: 5435

A short recount of the events that took place during the changeling's invasion.

Sure all of us probably know what actually happened during the Canterlot Invasion?

Well, for one particular changeling commander-as it turns out-his Queen was counting on him with one job: guard the Elements of Harmony.

A prequel to Tales of a Changeling Commander (One of my first stories on this site)

Published 2013-07-05 22:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-07-05 22:50:01 UTC

The One Job

"My Queen," the advisor spoke, "I'm afraid that once we get the ball rolling, we'll be entirely on our own? What is your plan?"

The current meeting was taking place in some old, forsaken barn cellar on the outskirts of Canterlot.  It was a rather dismal setting, with cobwebs growing out of niches here and there, and the wooden supports rotting with years of neglect and sadness. It was a makeshift HQ, built to at least last the night. Tomorrow, all of them would be in position to carry out Supreme Unbeatable Plan Mk. II, the Foolproof Version.

At the front of the table was a large, ornate mirror. But instead of projecting a reflection, it projected a scenic night sky filled with stars. And in the center, was a pink alicorn with a scowl that sent shivers down every changeling's spine. After all, their Queen was a master of disguises, and had easily penetrated the city days before the shield was formed. But now that they were in the home stretch, failure was out of the question. However, at least when she considered the changelings assembled before her, the Queen could only hope they were blissfully ignorant of who was really pulling the reins.

"By the time the wedding ceremony concludes," Chrysalis hissed, her eyes flashing green, "you will be in position around the shield. As soon as it opens, just cause as much havoc as possible. Detain the guards. Destroy the fruit stands. The only real job you have to do is guard the Elements of Harmony. Honestly, is it really that hard?"

"No offense your Highness, but don't you think this is a bit stupid?" A voice cried out from the back, causing everyone to freeze in place. The only indication that the Queen was even remotely perturbed by the outburst was another flash of her green eyes before she spoke in a measured tone.

"Commander Morpheus," she replied calmly, "you care to share your opinion?"

Several faces turned to the far end of the table where a changeling had propped his legs on a stool, chugging a mug of cider. He was dressed in a sapphire-plated armor that gleamed in the dull glow the mirror produced, and his icy blue eyes occasionally glanced at an old, broken clock behind him.

"Well?" The Queen spoke once more, causing a few changelings to shift in their seats. After what seemed like an eternity, the Commander chugged the last of whatever it was he was drinking, wiping the foam with his free fore-hoof. Then, he attempted to toss it into a barrel, which missed its target and rebounded off the wall and onto his helmet.

"I think we should all infiltrate together," the Commander rose. "That way we don't have to go through that stupid siege engine thingy. I mean, creating a big green ball of fire is pretty much a safety hazard right?"

The Queen facehoofed herself. "For the last time Morpheus, I told you that it is completely safe and you have nothing to worry about as long as you pronounce the spell correctly."

"Well," Morpheus shrugged, "I mean, what if we say it wrong?"

The Queen rolled her eyes. "Are you saying that you can't do a simple siege spell?"

"NO!" Morpheus blurted, "Well...I mean...I might not be able to pronounce every single syllable correctly, but I'll get the gist of it yeah!"

The Queen's eyes seemed to be on fire at this point. "Maybe Commander, you would like to be the one acting as a giddy bride in the heart of enemy territory. The plan is simple. Assemble a lance, I don't care how big, and make sure no pony, griffin, or zebra gets in."

"But-" Morpheus raised his hoof before green flames burst through the mirror, causing several changelings to fall off their wooden stools.

"ENOUGH!" she roared, her real eyes now visible with their bright green luminosity. "I'm giving you one job 769. Fail me, and I'll throw you off the tower myself! Do you understand?"

The commander was silent, sitting back in his stool. Eventually, the flames dissipated as the Queen relaxed herself once more. "Okay, as I was saying we're going to..."

"...die in a horrible crash," Alter began to panic. "I can't do this Commander! I can't! I have a brother you know-"

"We're all from the same bucking queen," Morpheus scolded, "so quit acting like a hathcling and get into position."

Reluctantly, the drone flew off to the side, where several changelings were eagerly gazing down at the pristine white buildings below. Near the top, the maintenance crew for Hive C was now throwing their bodies repeatedly at the barrier, hoping to break it with their combined weight.

"Isn't that a bit unnecessary?" a drone known as Larvas asked Morpheus.

"A bit unnecessary," Morpheus laughed, "believe me, I got Leech over there doing the dirty work. At least this is one thing he could shatter and not get reprimanded for."

"In position now!" Transparence shouted, her wings buzzing a hundred beats per second as she flew up to Morpheus. "Do you remember the plan Morpheus?"

"Yes Trancy," Morpheus groaned, "Take my wittle lance, go to the Elements of Harmony, and guard it with my life. Honestly, do you have to tell me again and again?"

Transparence only regarded the changeling with a lethal glare that caused him to back a few inches away. "Well, the Queen wanted you to wear that helmet because you were complaining that your wittle head might break when we start going on a siege mission. Just don't screw up like last time."

"When did I ever screw up?" Morpheus asked, staring incredulously at the elite changeling.

"Need I remind you?" Transparence took off down the pink sphere, leaving Morpheus to his own thoughts.

I'll show them. I'm the best commander in the whole swarm. They'll practically be begging me to be king when I'm done!

"We can all hear you Morpheus!" A tumultuous collection of voices rang out at once, causing the commander to grab his horn. Looking around, he smiled sheepishly at the varied glares his subordinates were giving him.

Can't take a good joke?

"Uhh Morpheus," a small voice spoke out. Turning around, the Commander was surprised to see Mirror of all changelings buzzing in front of him.

"What? The Great and Powerful Mirror comes to ask me for advice? What's next? Flying pigs?"

"Well," Mirror muttered, "I was wondering if you thought this was flawless." Within seconds she had taken the form of a pink earth pony with a frizzy mane. Morpheus only raised what would have been his eyebrow.

"I...what are you supposed to be?"

"The Element of Laughter?" Mirror answered, sounding a little annoyed. "Didn't you study those notes the Queen gave us?"

"There were notes?" Morpheus rubbed his head. "Scat...I had no idea. Too busy being the awesome leader of my own lance and all I guess." He started to laugh, causing a less-then-enthusiastic Mirror to float off, grumbling to herself about useless changelings for comrades.

"Any second now," Transparence yelled out, "and then we all rush in okay? No hesitance siblings, for tonight we feast on more love then we can imagine!"

YAY! the cry of hundreds of pumped up soldiers echoed in the Hive-Chat. Morpheus reminded himself to turn that off less he wanted to be deaf again without actually hearing anything.

"I think it's breaking!" a changeling pointed towards the demolition team. They were still pounding when all of a sudden there was a loud crash, that reverberated like shattered glass as the entire force field disintegrated before them. Everyone was cackling, eager to finally have some fun after a week of traveling incognito.

"ATTTTTAAAAAAAACCCCCKKKKKKKKK!!" Morpheus roared like a squirrel wielding combustible acorns. One by one, each changelings began to mumble the words of the spell. Within seconds, they were engulfed in green flames, turning into a living meteor shower of death and destruction.

"...and mumbo jumbo," Morpheus finished, bending his head before launching off at ludicrous speed. But as he propelled downwards, he realized to his horror that there was no green flame enveloping him.

SCAT! SCAT! SCAT! SCAT! The Commander tried to slow down, but his body resisted his will as he plummeted towards a hay-roofed tavern. His thoughts drifted off to the safety hazards he had been dreading about for the last week or so when he heard the idea.

OH COME ON!

A dark brown earth pony with a white beard  was wiping the little porcelain gnome again, grumbling to himself about the way stains never seemed to get off. Twisted Ale prided himself on keeping a well-maintained tavern, and would never dream of allowing even the most microscopic of stains to plague his mahogany finish.

"They'll have to start raining ponies from the sky before I let a stain go," Twisted Ale smiled, rubbing vigorously against the gnome's surface.

WHOOSH! CLANG!

The roof above him suddenly gave way as a dark, jet-black equine fell through, landing with a sickening crash over his pots and pans. As the dust settled, he saw that the thing was some sort of mix between a pony and a bug, with moth-like wings and hole-ridden hooves that looked like they were decaying. The creature staggered to its hooves, stars still orbitng over his horn.

"Are you alright?" Twisted Ale asked, his eyes looking over the creature with concern. "You just fell through my roof and all and...is there something going on?"

He noticed several green meteors raining upon the city, with several other bug-like equines buzzing around, scanning for something or someone.

"No...time...to explain, "the creature buzzed, "must...get...to...job!" And with that, the changeling hobbled over to the door, leaving it ajar as he limped his way into the chaotic streets of Canterlot.

"What in the name of Celestia is going on?" Twisted Ale leaned on his counter. There was a groan and suddenly the entire table collapsed.

"I want you and you over there," Morpheus ordered, two changelings moving into the castle as the rest of them assembled over the front entrance.

The crash had been a major setback for him, despite the fact he had said the words correctly that time. None the less, his lance was more organized then he had anticipated, already assembled and ready to give the ponies a run for their bits.

"We've covered all exits Commander," Larvas replied, "if those ponies try to get through, they'll be in for quite the reception!"

The two changelings began to snicker in evil minion laughter because...well...evil minion laughter is awesome and not enough ponies actually do it.

"Excellent," Morpheus hissed, "And now I'll be able to show Chrysalis that I am not an idiot after all! Why, I bet she'll throw a party for me!"

"We'll all be partying tonight!" A changeling known as Shift cried out. "Sweet Celestia! I wanna be out there causing havoc and stuff! Why do we have to wait here?"

"Because," Morpheus grumbled, "Chrysalis thought of us as her finest force to handle the very Elements of Harmony. Now get back to standing still and doing nothing!"

Meanwhile, Mirror was once again practicing her forms, hoping to impress her comrades. "Do you think this is enough? Oh what if it isn't? Who's in charge of this battalion anyway?"

However, as truth would have it, only a few changelings bothered to give constructive criticism while the rest ignored her, making idle conversation about their day.

"Hey Shift," Alter nudged his twin brother, "do you wanna just ditch this job and go do some exploring?"

"What?" Shift turned to regard his brother with an incredulous stare, "Are you insane, Alter? Shame on you!"

"Sorry," Alter defended, " I was just-"

"Why didn't you suggest it earlier?" Shift interjected before flying over the balcony. "Come on! Let's leave these noobs to guard that stupid set of jewelry. Last one to loot the donut shop is a rotten piece of fungus!" With that, both brothers flew down the street, leaving their battalion to continue guarding the Elements.

"When are they going to get here?" Morpheus checked the tiny watch he had drawn himself. "I thought the Queen said an army was coming to meet us!"

Meanwhile, Transparence was sighing to herself, wondering why she was even here. After all, she was an elite drone, and not part of the squad composed of absolute idiots. With a soft nudge, she turned to see Reflect of all changelings standing by, a scowl over his face.

"Reflect?" Transparence gave a quizzical stare. "Aren't you a part of Intelligence?"

"Yeah," Reflect shrugged, "but ummm...the Queen wants me to do a little spying is all?"

"You're not really doing a good job then," Transparence narrowed her eyes. "Where are those other two loud mouths you hang out with?"

"Destroying public property," Reflect stated, "honestly, what's it to you anyhow?"

Transparence questioned the integrity of her sibling, but decided to go back inside the building, purposefully shoving Reflect in the process.

"Watch it queer!" the changeling growled, before resuming his stoic position. He really hated Equestria. In fact, he hated his Queen, he hated his job, he hated his breakfast, he hated that cat two weeks ago, he hated that tree, and he hated his current position.

"Gosh I hate everything," Reflect muttered to himself. "And I hate the fact I hate everything! It's like a hate-ception or something! Gosh I hate that!"

"Hey Larvas," a changeling waved his hoof to catch the scout's attention. Flying over to investigate, Larvas saw that the source of the voice was none other then Spiracles, one of the drones in charge of agriculture.

"What do you want?" Larvas mumbled. It was true they had only been waiting here for approximately ten minutes, but that didn't mean he was anymore anxious that an ambush could happen at any second.

"What would happen if pony shield came back?" Spiracles anxiously darted his eyes at the palace.

"Relax," Larvas assured his friend, "Queen has all the power anyhow."

"But what if it did?" Spiracles pressed.

"Well..." Larvas mused, "then I guess we all get launched into the air and land over Equestria countryside no?"

Spiracles nodded. "I agree, but what if we lose contact with Queen?"

"Then..." Larvas facehoofed himself. "Spiracles I don't know what's going to happen!"

Spiracles had to wonder why he was the only one with an active imagination. "Well, what if all of us have to pretend to be ponies right? But then some of us get caught and stuff, and instead of going to jail, ponies like us for who we are?"

"That's stupid!" Morpheus interjected, apparently having eavesdropped on the two. "Ponies would all just get paranoid and medieval on us. I put my bets on a second invasion!"

"Well hypothetically," Spiracles explained, "let's say they accept us right? Then basically there is going to be confrontation right?"

"Yeah," Larvas nodded, "lots of it!"

"Perhaps a bucketload," Morpheus added.

"Well," Spiracles continued, "then those changelings and their pony friends will be the bridge between the conflict and suddenly all the ponies and changelings are at peace!"

"But if they made peace," Larvas explained, "ponies and changelings would still be racist to each other right?"

"I say ponies would be worst," Morpheus sneered, "nasty bunch they are!"

"I say changelings would be worse," Larvas countered, "we have you and that other changeling...I forgot his name...who hates everything!"

"I say all of us would be racist," Spiracles interjected, "but I'm just asking what would you do?"

Morpheus and Larvas were silent for a second, looking at each other for answers. If this highly unlikely scenario did play out, what would they choose?

"I'd infiltrate the ranks," Larvas finally said, "and then start another invasion."

"I'd gather an army and enslave them all," Morpheus mused.

"I'd burn the town down," Spiracles concluded. "What was I thinking? Ponies and changelings? That's bad comedy!"

The three shared in malicious laughter that could only be done by evil minions. As they laughed however, a scout rose over the hedges screaming at the top of his lungs. "THEY'RE COMING!"

"Get into positions!" Morpheus shouted over the buzz of activity as the soldiers got into ranks. Once they had assumed a rather disorganized formation, Morpheus took his position at the front.

"On my mark!" He cried. "When they come over that staircase, we bucking open fire!"

"But the Queen said-" a timid voice began before Morpheus shouted it down.

"Screw what the Queen said! I said we shoot them!"

"You'll get in trouble!"

"Silence random minion #2," Morpheus bellowed. "Just...silence!"

Suddenly, there was the sound of hooves clopping on pavement. The Commander cringed, hoping for a small lance. Instead, six mares rushed up the stairs, crashing into each other as they halted to a stop. There was a moment of silence, before the entire lance began to cackled like hyenas.

"Really," the Commander scoffed, "the first ponies to come up here are six mares? Is this some kind of joke?"

"Aren't those the Elements of Harmony?" Spiracles spoke up.

"If they are," Morpheus chuckled, "then they sure ain't getting past us!"

For a moment, all six of them were absolutely still, before finally a blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane squished her hooves together. "Time to do this the hard way!"

Without thinking twice, Morpheus instantaneously switched into an exact copy of the pegasus, rushing down the meet her in the center of the battlefield. As the two rushed head on, the Element-Bearer paused, bewildered at being confronted by a perfect replica of herself.

She doesn't know who we are? Morpheus thought deviously. He began to mirror every move she made, trying his best to keep a straight face.

This went on for about a second, before Morpheus took his chance, floating up while cocking back his fore-hooves.  With a quick jab right in her chest, he sent the pegasus back towards her group of friends.

"Did you see that?" Morpheus landed back, his voice an eerie copy of his target. "The look on her face was priceless! Priceless I tell ya!"

Seeing as none of the others shared in his little prank, Morpheus just rolled his eyes. "Oh fine just go with plan Intimidating Transformation and Confusion Mk III."

With that, changelings began to vanish in green flashes, replaced with a copy of one of the six mares. Even Morpheus switched forms, taking on the form of the orange farm pony. I always wanted to be a cowcolt!

If the six elements were scared, now they were practically cowering in their manes. Only the purple unicorn mustered enough courage to say. "They're changelings remember?"

Of course, the demolition team-who had all taken the form of the purple unicorn-repeated the statement with a mischievous smirk. Such was the habit of changelings who were arrogant and wanted to show off their transformative abilities.

"This is practically a piece of cake!" Morpheus laughed in his thick southern accent, "Ah' reckon we'll be done in two seconds!"

The purple unicorn stood her ground, a determined scowl over her face. "Don't let them distract you, we have to get to the Elements of Harmony!"

"Alright grubs!" Morpheus barked, "Take him and wrap 'em! We're all getting promoted tonight!"

With that, they charged forward, some of them screaming battle cries as they prepared to meet the ponies head on. Morpheus was already day dreaming of catching all six of them, presenting them to his Queen, and chugging down another jug of cider just because it tasted good.

What's the worst that can go wrong?"

"DUCK!" Morpheus dodged another beam of light as the white unicorn dashed down the steps, firing bolt after bolt while karate-chopping his subordinates into submission.

"What the buck happened!" A drone who had taken the form of a yellow pegasus cried out. "I thought you said this was going to be easy!"

"I don't know!" the Commander cried out, no longer disguised. He had thought it was going to be easy, but within seconds, chaos had erupted as ponies and changelings battled each other in hoof-on-hoof combat. Now, nobody was sure who everyone else was, their vision being blotted by the shear number of changeling signatures in the confined area.

"Stick with me!" the Commander cried out, motioning for his subordinate to follow. The two went prone, crawling on their bellies as they carefully made their way past the blue pegasus from earlier, who was now beating the snot out of any changeling who had made the mistake of taking her form.

"Six mares..." Morpheus grumbled, "six mares my arse!"

Glancing to the left, he saw a changeling-probably Mirror-trying to switch into several different forms at once. To his amazement, the pink pony didn't even flinch. Instead, she seemed to enjoy it!

"What's wrong with that one?" his subordinate pointed at the pink earth pony that Morpheus just recalled had been Mirror's copy from earlier.

Morpheus just shook his head. "All I know is that she's bad news. Gotta stay away from the crazy one's. Those are the mares that will kill ya in the end."

Sure enough, the pink pony grabbed the purple unicorn, and-against all laws and science-began to rotate her tail like some sort of machine, the unicorn's horn firing a barrage of magical repulsion spells that knocked Mirror and any changeling within a thirty hoof radius out cold.

"Scat!" his subordinate hissed, "Bucking queers I tell ya."

"Well let's hope we survive this," Morpheus muttered, "I don't know about you but-"

"Commander!" Larvas rose above, no longer disguised, "Over here! Safety barrier!"

Glancing at his subordinate, the two shrugged as they slowly made their way to the floating changeling. Suddenly, however, they both halted as the changeling in front of them met his end with a head-but, his body collapsing on top of Morpheus.

"Ugh! Get this guy off of me!" Morpheus motioned for his partner to carefully move the body out of the way, when he felt another weight crush his ribs. It was too his horror that his subordinate had just been knocked out.

Larvas, on the other hoof, was shifting his head here and there, trying to scan for any other stragglers that could regroup in a final assault. And that's when he saw it.

A metal barrel coated in bright pink paint. A frizzy-maned earth pony with a wild look in her eyes. And twenty tons of confetti, balloons, cake, and what not to supply a hundred birthday parties. And stuck in the middle of the barrel...was none other then...

"LEECH?" Larvas tilted his head. "What the buck?"

"LARVAZZZZ!!" The maintenace drone tried to squirm free. "Help! Leech izzzz zztucccckkk!"

"Commander!" Larvas turned, but saw that his commanding officer was currently stuck under two comatose drones.

"Spiracle?" Larvas scanned the perimeter, but lost sight of his comrade.

Meanwhile, Leech was still squirming, and it looked as though the wielder of said cannon hadn't noticed the latest addition to her ammunition. Knowing that he would regret it, Larvas paved his way across the crowd, landing with a thump as he grabbed Leech's forehooves. Despite pulling with all his might, the changeling wouldn't budge.

"Leech," he hollered, "you're going to have to push okay?"

The green-eyed changeling nodded, although whether or not he understood the message would remain a mystery. Not that anyone was particularly concerned at the moment.

"Okay," Larvas counted, "Three...two..."

BOOM!

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHH! Team Changeling is blasting off agaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnn!"

The two changelings, along with a few balloons and confetti, were flung into the air. Morpheus, who had finally managed to wrench himself free, gaped up in utter horror at seeing both drones fly over the roof and beyond his line of sight.

"HOLY-"

"-SHIFT!" a voice cried out, "Where the buck is Shift and Alter?"

"They must have ditched us! Bucking traitors!"

"At least they knew this was a lost cause!"

The Commander turned around, the chatter of thousands of changelings under extreme stress pressing down on him.

"My eyes!" one changeling shrieked, "oh my eyes! That pink piece of-"

There was another loud boom and several more changelings went airborne. The Commander ignored the groans of his subordinate, taking off down an opening.

"My leg!" Morpheus turned to see Thorax rolling over the floor in agony as he gripped his limb, "Oh my leg!"

"Retreat!" several voices screeched," the pink one's got a cannon!"

"The pink one's got a what?" Morpheus turned, before bumping into a hard, metal object. Once his eyes readjusted, he was looking down the pink, smoking barrel of a cannon.

"WAIT A SECOND!" Morpheus put his hooves up, "Let's be reasonable about this? I'll polish your hooves, I'll wash the dishes, I'll be a good changeling!"

For a second, the pink one hesitated, before giving out a big grin. "Oki doki loki!"

The Commander was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the earth pony spoke again. "But you have to change into me! That last changeling had no idea what she was doing!"

Morpheus weighed out his options. It was either A, concede with the pink one's demands and get blasted. Or B, run like Tartarus and hope he didn't get shot. Well the choice was pretty obvious.

"Lookathetimegottago!" The Commander flew over the frizzy-maned maniac, making sure he got way out of her range before taking a moment to catch his breath.

All around him, he saw his battalion slowly get reduced to rubble, the few remaining survivors heading for the palace, perhaps to warn the Queen.

"Confound it," Morpheus snapped, "I almost beat them! It was almost a hundred against six! How does one lose with those odds?"

"Hey there!" the familiar cheerful voice of the pink pony suddenly penetrated his ears. The Commander let out a high-pitched squeal, his eyes widening in terror.

"Who...how did you...what?" The Commander sank to his hooves.

"Well...I'm Pinkie Pie," the mare chirped, " and I found you talking to yourself and was like, 'Hey! Changeling talking to himself! Maybe he's lonely and needs a friend!'"

"I don't bucking need your friendship!" Morpheus spat, "now get out of my way before-"

There was the sizzle of the cannon and before Morpheus could run, there was a thunderous explosion and confetti was lodged into his throat as he flew up...up...up...and away into the horizon, landing with a dull thump on the adjacent wall.

"Why didn't we do this before?" Shift was relaxing in a lawn chair, sipping a cup of lemonade with a pair of shades over his eyes.

Alter was giving a furtive stare towards the tower, which was now swarming with changelings. "Do you think they're mad at us for ditching?"

"Why would they be?" Shift took off the glasses, "They had the whole army with them. They're fine!"

"Uhhh my head," Morpheus scratched his noggin. "What the buck?" He had managed to get to his hooves, scanning the area for any survivors. However, all he saw were the unconscious and groaning bodies of his battalion.

"Well this sucks," Morpheus murmured to himself, trotting down the path. Overhead, he could hear the sounds of magical fire being exchanged, the distant wails of ponies being chased, and the occasional snicker from a patrol.

In all regards, the invasion was a success. At least, most of it was. Truth be told he hadn't expected such a well-trained band of mares, Morpheus still knew he had to accept the fact that the Queen would have his head for this one.

"I mean...I literally had one job!"

Breaking through a wooden door, he saw the bartender whose roof he had crashed through cowering behind a chair. "Don't-don't come any closer."

Morpheus simply grunted, grabbing a bottle of cider before plopping his rump on a wooden stool, drowning his sorrows in liquid that could never sate his true hunger.

"I'm a ruin ya' know?" Morpheus slurred, wobbling in his seat. "The Queen promoted me just yesterday I think. Said I was to lead her 'hordes' quote on quote. But really they're just a bunch of pansies. We got our flanks kicked by six mares! SIX MARES! Can you believe that! Well, I guess you can believe in anything since I crashed through your roof."

He lobbed the bottle twenty meters from the trash can, the glass shattering on the wooden finish. Ignoring his epic fail, the Commander stumbled off into the streets again, glancing here and there.

"You know," he spoke dreamily to himself, "I'm going to head into the country! Become a real cowcolt of the west someday! Then no more stupid Queen! No more stupid soldiers to command! No more stupid duties! I'd be like Daring Do! Off on adventure and what not. Yeah...screw the changelings! Screw the Swarm!"

"There's another one!" a stern voice barked, causing Morpheus to turn around.

"What? No officer I ain't no changeling..."

But the trio of Canterlot guards had surrounded him. "You hole-ridden scoundrel! We're taking back the capital from you thieves!"

"Wait..." Morpheus slurred, "...hold your horses...hehe...hck...I...I...want my lawyer!"

"This isn't a trial!" one of the guards spoke up, "you intentionally tried to attack us! In fact, you're still attacking us!"

"Am I?" Morpheus looked around, "I-I was just getting a drink officer."

"Quit it with the drunk attitude," the guard slapped Morpheus, "you're not Berry Punch donkey-hole!"

"Who's Berry Punch?" Morpheus leaned on the guard at his right, grinning like a mad mare. "I ain't done nothing wrong! I swear on me wittle heart!"

Morpheus couldn't recall what happened after, but the next thing he knew, he was back where he started, albeit a little beaten up but mostly healthy. Only a few changelings were still knocked out cold. It looked like most of the swarm had already come to their thoughts and counted their losses.

"Gosh," Morpheus felt a wave of pain hit his head, "the things that can happen in an hour or less. Well I guess I'll just be on my-"

There was a loud hum, followed by a low rumble. Morpheus could see several of his companions waking up, slowly stumbling to their hooves. The rumble only got louder, until...all of a sudden...it stopped.

"What was that?" Morpheus slowly rose to his hooves.

WHOOSH!

It was like being hit by bubble wrap going a hundred miles per hour. Before Morpheus, or any changeling for that matter, could move, they were suddenly way above the city, staring at a fully-restored shield.

"WE'RE FLYING!" Morpheus cried out, waving his hooves helplessly, "I CAN'T BELIEVE WE CAN FLY!"

"WE'RE FALLING!" one of the Commander's airborne buddies called out, "AND ALL OF US CAN ALREADY FLY IMBECILE!"

"Where are we falling?" Morpheus questioned.

"To our deaths most likely," another changeling answered.

"Really?" Morpheus thought he would have achieved more in life before toppling to his doom. Apparently, this wasn't the case. He had died a failure.

"This sucks!" Morpheus grumbled to himself. "I thought something cool or emotional would happen!"

The wind was prickling through his ears, tingling his stomach as a distant town appeared overhead.

"Well maybe there is some changelings having emotional goodbyes," one drone suggested, "I mean...it's entirely possible-"

"Well what do we have for an emotional goodbye?" Morpheus looked at each changeling. "We're all going to die pretty soon unless somehow the magic of Celestia saves us!"

"How about we all just go to sleep?" one changeling suggested. "I mean...what's the point if our last thoughts are of dying?"

"That's a good point!" Morpheus agreed, "I say we all take a nap and wait for all this to blow over!"

Soon, his slumbering neighbors floated off, flying towards the town while a gust of wind pushed the Commander towards a nice, peaceful meadow. It was anything short of peaceful, however, when he felt the snap of branches as his body collided with what was formerly a nice, quaint oak.

It was a peaceful morning, considering the events that had occurred in Canterlot. Several birds were chirping and even the smell of freshly baked pie wafted throughout the air. And, nestled in the pile of branches that had broke his landing, was a sleeping changeling. Whether by the smell of food or the fact that his current bed was probably about as comfortable as one night in in a diamond dog camp, the changeling began to yawn. The sunlight poured into his eyes, flooding him with a painful, but somewhat soft glow.

"What the Chrysalis happened last night?"