Equestria. A land of beauty which stretched as far as the eye could see, filled with intense beauty. Its sun shone, encasing each and every city in its bright orange glow as to protect all who dwell beneath it with its warm rays. The sky's were a beautiful light blue with little to no clouds floating over the huge towns and cities below, Even the breath taking city in the sky, Cloudsdale.
Each city and town were just as friendly as each other, it was a wonder how little crime there was. But that may have been due to the good natured ponies who always seemed happy. If there was even just one thing that the cities of Equestria had in common, it was its joyful citizens. You couldn't even go for a walk without receiving a wave or a friendly "Hi" from at least one pony, even if that pony seemed a complete stranger.
The entire land was ruled by two princesses. One which raised the sun at the end of night and one who raised the moon at the end of the day. These two highly praised leaders were seen to be caring and very protective of their subjects, willing to help them out in anyway they could. These two rulers believed strongly in peace and held strong relationships with many of the other species that inhabited Equestria. From Griffons to Zebras to even the mighty minotaurs of the East. All except for one species which had been cast off from all others.
Within Equestria was a land of nothingness littered with sand and dead trees. It was there that the once beautiful sun was now seen as nothing more than a big ball of fire which desired nothing more than to roast your flesh and kill you from dehydration, after that the only useful purpose you could serve anymore was to become a first class meal to any of the ravenous vultures that stalked the wasteland from the sky.
Placed directly in the middle of what many preferred to call "The Badlands", standing out from the sandy dunes was a large object. From a distance it could be mistaken for being no more than a simple mirage, but it was far from one. The object was as real as the sun itself.
The large object was in truth, a hive. It stood over three hundred feet tall and its outside layer was a mixture of green and black. It took on a cylinder type shape which increased in diameter from the top to the bottom making the hive look a little more like a tower than anything else. What was even more interesting was that the hive was even bigger underneath the ground than it was on top.
The underneath part of the hive had been greatly hollowed out by over an incredible seven hundred feet wide both horizontally and vertically. The entire area was known as a colonization sphere. It was located a little over fifty feet underneath the tower type part of the hive. The fifty foot gap was reinforced with rock and sandstone to prevent the tower hive from sinking into the sphere hive, and it worked like a charm. The reinforced area had shown no signs of collapsing ever since its construction more than five hundred years ago.
However the underground sphere was not an empty husk built for no reason. Within it were many rocky areas and walkways, crafted from an unknown black material. This black material was also used to build giant flat half moon shaped objects onto the sides on the sphere which were roughly A hundred and ten foot wide each. Of course, these crescents weren't build without a reason. Resting on each crescent (In which there were fifty nine in total) where many small structures which could easily be recognized as homes. But that was all there was, no stores, no businesses, no theaters or any other type of public building, just simple houses.
Each house was made out of even more black material but instead of just being pieced together like the walkways and giant cresents had been, each and every house had been beautifully crafted giving it the illusion of having pillars and tiles. It gave a "Roman" type look to the multiple towns encased within the sphere. Many would easily see the black material which encased the buildings to be somewhat sticky looking in appearance. But if anypony felt it, they would soon discover that it was hardly sticky at all, in fact it was just as tough and stable as the supports above the sphere. Each home stood at the same height at fifteen feet tall and had been organised into lines and rows making the mini towns look more military than civilian.
With this incredible city lying underground everypony would have expected the city to be pitch black, if they ever knew of its existence, but it was far from dark. At the very bottom of the sphere was a small orb no bigger than a pony which rested on a ten foot podium. Many of the occupants considered this orb to be the hives pride as it was found during the construction of the hive itself. The orb shone as brightly as the sun outside did, its light seemed to stretch on forever but its limits held at the spheres rocky walls. But its beauty was far from unseen as every ray of light sparkled upon each cresent, upon each home.
As for its creators, they were the race who had attacked the main city of ponykind threatening to take over it, nearly succeeding as they did if not for being repelled by the one thing they fed on. Love. Normally love was used as an energy source as well as food for this particular species, but the love that had been their downfall was too strong, too pure and too much for the entire race to handle, making their bodies reject it instead of consuming it. Ever since, all other species have casted the creatures aside, wanting nothing to do with them. And that was fine with them. After all, what kind of sane being would want to be friends with a changeling?
After their humiliating defeat, the queen Chrysalis had ordered each changeling who remained at the hive during the attack to be put on trial to explain their actions. Over thirty six changelings had stayed at the hive, either to defend the hive or to refusing to topple a peaceful government. All thirty six so far had been found guilty by their queen and had been sentenced to the dungeons. After five days of these changelings being tried and courted, the final changeling was forced to step forward. This is where his story begins.
The top room of the hive was buzzing with activity. Over a hundred changelings stood at each side of the room to make way for the last so called traitor to the hive. Seeing how changelings rarely had trials, Chrysalis believed that building one was a waste of time and resources. How she regretted that decision as she now had no choice but to hold each and every trial in her own throne room.
Her face was plastered with a bored expression that was begging for relief as she sat in her oversized throne. Luckily for herself the last tried changeling made his way through the two massive chitin doors, escorted by a spear wielding drone on each side. As he walked ever closer towards the other side of the room, the changeling that were buzzing around stopped and sat down in rows like an assembly line and Chrysalis's bored expression slowly turned into a wicked grin upon recognizing the warrior, not by sight, but because of a golden necklace shaped like a heart which was worn round the particular changelings neck.
"Well well well. High Drone 011! What a pleasant surprise". She spoke mockingly to the fully armored drone now in front of her.
"Queen Chrysalis". 011 begun, ready to defend himself, as no one else would have wanted to defend them. Either that or they were too afraid that defending a traitor to the hive would lead to them being punished as well.
"There is no reason for myself nor the changelings before me to have been tried for defending our own homes".
Chrysalis scowled at the high drone.
"In case you are not aware high drone 011! Your crime is listed as desertion! At your rank, you should have been one of the first warriors to have engaged in battle during the invasion on Canterlot city, do you not think"?
"One drone, regardless of their rank, would have made little to no difference your highness. Plus, I feel that a greater defense for the hive is a necessity".
To 011's surprise, Chrysalis chuckled at his reply.
"Our hive has lasted for over five hundred years. It needs no protection little high drone".
011 felt his anger rise.
"After all, I would have thought payback against those weak ponies was something you desired after what happened to your precious Sally".
That was the last straw for 011. Losing all formality he had held he shouted at the queen.
"QUEEN OR NOT, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK HER NAME! DO NOT BELIEVE THAT I'VE FORGOTTEN THE ORDERS YOU GAVE THAT SEALED HER FATE"!
There was no doubt that Chrysalis was surprised and angered to hear one of her own subjects speak to her in such a rude and disrespectful tone. Her smug smile was wiped off of her face and was replaced with silent anger. However she knew that he was right which got her to ease up only slightly. Her actions had been the cause of Sally's untimely death. But this did not matter to her, at least not anymore.
"After two years I would have expected you to move on, as have I. But unless you have forgotten, you are here to explain your reasons for ignoring orders, not personal matters"!
"...As Queen of the hive I would have expected you to increase defenses around the hive! You say that the attack on Canterlot was an attempt to gain control of Equestria".
"It was, and we would have succeeded if not-".
"You spoke a half truth. Have you forgotten the reason you attacked"?
011 turned to face the drones behind him.
"We had two other colonization spheres like the one below us. We were a proud race with no quarrel against every sentient species of Equestria".
The changelings 011 turned to nodded their heads in agreement. He then turned his head back to face Chrysalis whose face had turned from anger to one of fear, although 011 was the only one to notice it.
"But once you, Chrysalis, you forced us to dig deeper into the earth to expand the kingdom and to hide in secret from the rest of the world. And once you made us dig deep enough, well let us say that we unlocked the gates of Tartarus that fateful day. After the Ara-".
011 began to struggle as he felt his neck tighten, not on emotions but as he soon noticed, by a green ring placed round his neck. He then looked up to Chrysalis to see her horn glowing. It didn't take a genius to realize what was going to happen.
Chrysalis rose from her throne and over to 011 who couldn't move his body due to the ring beginning to tighten itself. 011 knew he had crossed the line. And there was nothing he could do about it. Even the changelings behind him cowered in fear at the power of their queen.
"I believe we've heard enough out of you high drone. You are to be hereby banished from the hive for not only deserting your role in the Canterlot attack, but for speaking against your royal queen. May the spirits have mercy upon your soul"!
The next thing 011 knew, he was blinded by a green light. The ring round his neck evaporated into thin air and 011 was forced to shut his eyes before he was blinded.
After sensing the light had faded, 011 opened his eyes to see that he now stood in the middle of the everfree forest, controlled by neither ponies or changelings.
011 looked around carefully to see if anything was watching him. He saw nothing, but that didn't mean to say that there wasn't something there in the dark, waiting for the right moment to attack. Even still, 011 knew that either way he was safe for a little while. He then looked down, barely seeing the golden heart necklace round his chest. He then spoke something in his own changeling language before heading in some random direction, hoping that he wouldn't have to spend too long in this dreadful place.
Author's Note
It's finally done! The first rewritten chapter of "Friendly enemy. I have to admit, I'm excited myself in continuing this and hopefully being able to finish it this time.
For the people who enjoyed the original friendly enemy, "There's another reason why Chrysalis attacked Canterlot"? Yes there was. And yes, this was supposed to be mentioned in the previous story, but now that it's rewritten, I'll be able to get more into it and other secrets.
Any questions you may about the story, they will by featured on my "News Of The Week" blog every Thursday. That's all I have to say, hope you enjoy this epic adventure.
Everything will be alright
It had now been over twenty minutes since 011 had tried to find a way out of the forest. He was still galloping in an unknown direction, unsure whether he was any closer towards the outskirts of the forest or whether he was just trotting deeper into it.
Any simple creature with wings would have flown out of the forest by now. But even that would have proved to be foolish. 011 had no idea what his exact location was and could be near an unknown settlement belonging to ponies or griffons or anything that would try to take him prisoner. Only if his situation became desperate, he would use his wings.
It didn't help much that the sky was becoming darker with each passing minute, bring with it a cold wind. But high drones were tough. 011 did his best not to let it bother him and continued to walk. As he did, he began to talk to himself.
"Foolish queen. Has she not realized she has sealed the fate of the entire changeling race? I must find a way to stop her. Maybe there's still a chance to save us all... maybe".
Unknown to the wandering changeling, three large sets of yellow eyes stalked him, hidden by the darkness of the forest. It watched its prey with anticipation and waited for the right time to strike.
Another five minutes slowly passed. This was beginning to irritate the changeling who then kicked a nearby tree hard with his back hoof in an attempt to let off some frustration but only succeeded in hurting his hoof.
011 looked up past the tall trees and through the leaves and branches, there was smoke? It was almost unnoticeable but it was certainly there. And where there was smoke, there was a fire, which meant that something sentient was ahead. Though it could have been a pony or worse. It was most doubtful that whatever it was wasn't a changeling. Changelings would usually sleep in the shadows without the need for fire.
It didn't seem like the best idea to 011, to find the source of the smoke and risk being attacked by a group of possible hostiles. But it was worth checking out. If it was a lone individual, 011 could take it on easily.
He headed towards the smoke. walking carefully as though he expected the unknown creature to spot him despite the fact he still had much distance to cover until he reached his destination.
Another 5 minutes of walking passed and the forest grew darker and darker, but that was nothing compared to the sound of branches being shifted aside noisily from behind the changeling. He was now aware of the beast stalking him. Whatever it was, it sounded huge.
011's first thought was to run, but that would lead to him being torn to pieces quicker than he would have been just walking. His wings seemed to be the best choice for the matter. It was lucky for the changeling that it was dark enough for him to escape so the chances of being seen were minimal. However, he couldn't help but remember something about flying tactics that seemed to stick with him for years.
"Spread wings slowly, hop into the air. And fly".
A memory from his commanding officer years ago flashed into the changelings mind. Spread wings, hop and fly. One of the earliest memories in the changeling army that 011 could remember. This simple tactic was meant to allow flyers to take off quicker. Now was the best time to use it, especially when there was a chance he could die if he didn't.
011 turned round to the source of the rustling, just in case it did try to attack him, and slowly opened his insect like wings to their full wingspan. The rustling began to draw closer.
011 hopped into the air as planned, but as he did. The powerful beast burst forth from the trees revealing its form. It was a horrible sight for those who had seen it for the first time. It looked like a giant lion from the front, upon its back rested a goats head, attached to the spinal cord of the body. Even the beasts tail took on a different form, the head and body of a snake which hissed wildly at the high drone.
As it emerged, it charged at its target, knocking over even the tallest trees. It must have figured out what the changeling was trying to do. 011 tried to flap his paper thin wings, but the monster was faster than he had anticipated. It smashed through the last tree that separated itself from 011 and managed to catch his wing in its massive jaws.
011 was thrashed side to side like a wild dog would do with a stick. The pain in his wing hurt more than anything he had experienced. As soon as the beast assumed its prey had suffered enough, it threw the body viciously to its left.
011 felt his body get crushed upon impact with a tree. His left limbs seemed to have taken most of the damage as there seemed to be an awful crunch like sound from his hind leg.
The changeling did what it could to defend himself with his magic, but even that was a futile attempt. A changelings magic worked through the power and consumption of love. He hadn't feasted on the delicious emotion for days meaning he could only levitate small objects at the most.
The monstrous beast loomed over the changeling and rested its huge paw on the changelings back. The lion head lowered itself down to the changelings own and opened its mouth, filled with dagger like teeth, ready to chew 011's head off.
011 did what he could to stay awake but it was no use. Upon hitting the tree earlier, his head had taken some of the blow and his skull had been pounding ever since.
He could now feel the animals hot breath on his neck. This was it. Until...
"HEY YOU"!
A voice sounded in front of 011. It was had to see who it was because 011 was finding it hard to keep his eyes open. The last thing he knew before becoming unconscious was the beast had taken its paw off of him and the figure drawing closer and seemed to be yelling. "HOW DARE YOU"!
Author's Note
I'd like to apologize for taking so long with this chapter. I've been stressed lately with some family issues so its been tough for me. I'll try to get these chapters out more often for all my stories in the future.
Pain. That was the first thing that 011 could feel once he gained conciousness. Then came confusion. How was he even still alive? Chimeras are vicious monsters that stop at nothing to get its next meal, and last he remembered, he wasn't putting up much of a fight. Had it something to do with that voice he had heard the second before he blacked out? However the weirdness of the situation didn't end there as he soon realised where he was. Inside a cottage. A pony one too to his great misfortune. He was lying right on a pink couch. Yet, something did not seem right to the changeling. He looked to see his armor removed and his injuries wrapped in cloth. He tilted his head in confusion. Had this pony, or ponies... helped him? Why?
011 couldn't find a reason. Maybe it was possible that this cottage had been abandoned some time ago and that another banished changeling had taken residence inside of it? It made more sense than a pony helping him, that was for sure. 011 gave himself a few seconds to compose himself before attempting to get up from the couch. Banished or not, he was still a warrior. A few scrapes and bumps were the last of his worries. A few seconds of struggling was all it took for him to bounce and land onto the floor. Only at that moment did he feel the pain intensify tenfold on his two left legs, and fell almost at once to the wooden floor trying to hold back his groans of pain. Even trying to fly was a bad idea. Mostly because one of them had almost been torn off by the chimera earlier on, but also since the noise his wings would make would alert whoever was supposedly taking care of him. For now, stealth would have to be his element. He needed to find out who had taken him in as well as recover his armour
.
The changeling had done a full sweep of the bottom floor in only a few minutes. Nobody yet. The only intel he could gather was how much this... unknown being seemed to love animals. Something he found out as he entered the kitchen as he saw more than five different kinds of animals scurrying about, much to the changelings surprise. What was even stranger was that once he had made but a single step into the kitchen, all eyes turned to him. Now while it was normal for animals to instinctivley investigate noises in fear of predators they would eventually go back to doing what they were doing before. But this was not the case. They just continued to stare at him. It was beginning to get uncomfortable for the changeling. Eventually he made his way out of the kitchen, throwing the thoughts of what just occured from his head, and decided to check upstairs, hoping for a little more luck.
One other thing that the changeling didn't realise at once was that it was dark outside. It was night. He wondered how he hadn't noticed it before, but maybe because he had more important matters to deal with. The squeaky stairs did not help in the least. Even with this minor error he made it to the top without drawing any attention. From there, the drone began to check each room one at a time from left to right. The first two appeared to a a bathroom and an empty closet, save for the broom that landed on his head once he opened its door much to his annoyance, but the third room was different. Peeking in as quietly as he could he noticed at once that this must have been the bedroom. Someone was sleeping inside of it. And to make matters worse he saw his armor at the far end of the bed the creature was sleeping on as well as his golden locket.
The changeling's heart almost did a double take upon seeing it, and felt foolish for not noticing it when he first woke up. He even checked the area around his neck just to be sure he wasn't imagining things. All the more reason to reclaim his stolen items.
011's first thought was to grab his things and leave. But even so he was curious as his eyes fell upon his supposed saviour. From a soft mumble he managed to hear from the being, it was a female. The changeling decided it was only fair to at least take a look at this being, to see if it was in fact a changeling like himself, or something else. He slowly trotted over to the front of the bed where he soon got a view on the creature. Or at least her hair. Long pink hair. 011 frowned. Not a changeling after all it seemed. Dissapointment aside, he continued to trot over closer until he saw her face. It was a pony. But this one in particular was much much worse.
011 almost stumbled backwards from shock after seeing the ponys face, recognising it instantly from its yellow fur. One of the six element bearers! A sense of dread and panic gripped 011 for a brief second as he tried to calm himself down. Such misfortune indeed.
Managing to control himself, 011 turned back and went back over to what he came for in the first place, trying hard not to wake the element bearer. Too many stories he had heard of what the element bearers were capable of, taking on the toughest of monsters Equestria could throw at them. Hydras, manticores, even an ursa minor, he had heard the stories from the spies. All the more reason not to get caught. The thoughts of her being his saviour were forgotten, and replaced with captor.
"By the hive, of all beings that had to find me was an element bearer! Curse it all"! He thought as he picked up the locket and slipped it around his neck before placing his helmet on. With it, he felt more at peace and gained a sense of composure and disipline. The rest of the armor, his chestplate and hoofguards would create too much noise to put on, but it woul be even more difficult to take it all with him. He took another look at the pony to make sure she was still asleep before came to a decision, and grabbed the chestpiece. If anything, it would serve more protection than the hoofguards would.
Satisfied, he turned to leave, only to find a small figure standing in the doorway. 011 was about to blast it with his horn until it hopped forward where he realised that it wasn't an intruder, but oddly enough, a white rabbit. One that was somehow glaring right at him. 011 huffed at the small rodent before him and attempted to trot past it. The rabbit however had other plans as it hopped forward in front of the changelings front left leg, still injured, and hit it with its own leg, causing the changeling to snarl in pain.
"Blasted vermin"! He hissed as he tried shoving it out of the way.
The rabbit easily dodged his hoof and ran underneath the changelings legs, onto the bed and onto the pony where it raised raised his foot up into the air, ready to bring it down on the pony's sleeping body. The changeling turned round and saw what the white nuisance was about to do. "Don't you dare". Said 011 narrowing his eyes, trying to keep his voice quiet so that he didn't wake the pony himself. "Don't...you...dare"! And as though those words were the rabbits cue to act, the rabbit brought its foot down, multiple times on its owner. "You did". Said 011 with disbelief.
Author's Note
Oh, where to even begin...
I suppose I should start with "I am so sorry" I've been rather busy with university and have been too focused to write this or any other of my stories. So much for a comeback. Anyway, it's the holidays now and I have more than enough time to get back into action on this site. Thanks for your incredible patience. Cheerio!
