Falling Stars

by Aceofgods

Rating: teen
Tags: Changelings, Original Character, Adventure, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 6041

Fallenstar Nighthoof is a changeling who has experienced something all changelings experience - evolution. However, the other changelings of his hive are not precisely 'thrilled' about his unusual Mutations. Will hebe able to help escape

Fallenstar Nighthoof is a changeling who has experienced something all changelings experience - evolution. However, the other changelings of his hive are not precisely 'thrilled' about his unusual Mutations. Will he be able to help escape the Hive in one piece? Changelings do not often lose their prey, and they can be very, very patient...

Ace Deus Fenrir is a Unicorn from a nearby settlement that is just starting to take up roots. Ace finds the battered and mistreated changeling and does what he can to aid the unfortunate soul in his quest for individuality.

Published 2013-10-08 09:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-12-18 22:12:13 UTC

Prologue

Falling Stars: Prologue
With Fallenstar Nighthoof and Ace Deus Fenrir

Fallenstar woke up once again in the in the dark, gloomy and hopeless room. “Why do I have to be the mutated one?” he asked himself in the darkness as he observed the squalor of his surroundings. “Why couldn’t it be the next egg, or appear in an older ‘ling? Now I am having to deal with the fact that I can’t connect to the hivemind or use magic. Nooo, I only have incredible shifting powers and a high resilience to magic...” he sighed. “I even managed to get the Queen’s attention within minutes of hatching,”

‘Which of course meant that I had to be quarantined and experimented on to see exactly what had caused my mutations,’ he thought to himself. ‘Which then led to Her Majesty seeking out the darkest hole She could find in the hive, then promptly shoving me into it.’

The changeling thought all this looked almost as a regular drone would, though a bit larger than the average ‘ling. A dark, almost black coloring with the usual stripes around the waist, his wings didn’t appear to to be any different at first glance. If one were to look closer, however, one would notice that Fallen was more of a matte black rather than the shiny carapace that characterized his species.

His horn, rather than being the smooth, slender shape that most changelings had, was actually more reminiscent of a Queen’s horn, though he lacked the royal crest. Yet another very obvious difference was that his eyes had a red coloring where most of his species had a completely blue gaze with the same pupils Queens did.

If somepony were to look close enough, they could discern that he did not really have a carapace, but rather a leather-like hide that seemed to be made of the same material as a pony’s hoof. The keratin was arranged similar to a shark’s skin. His wings were a more brilliant teal than the normal turquoise of any known changeling. His mane and tail were less the stylized crest that other changelings had and more of a cluster of antennae.

“Now that I have mentally assessed my situation once again, let’s see if anything in my little domain has changed...” he sarcastically remarked as he got up.

As he looked around, he noticed that something was different; he could no longer hear the hive actually doing anything. He could not hear the buzzing of wings that passing changelings made as they flew by on various errands. The guards that were usually posted outside his cell, or the clacking of the researchers when they came to see what caused him to be different.

From the corner of his eye, Fallenstar noted that there was an abnormality in the webbing that served as the walls of his chamber. Hidden in the darkness of the shadows was a crack where part of it had dried out.

“Wow, they really need to step up the maintenance, or you might let a prisoner out,” he said with some humor now that a chance laid before him from this new discovery.

Fallen trotted up to the spot, and using the mutation that had caused him to fall into this situation in the first place, turned his foreleg into a bladed club and proceeded to beat and slash his way through as quietly as as he could.

“Now, with any luck that I may deserve after this horrible mess known as my life, this should lead somewhere relatively safe,” he muttered to the darkness of his cage. As he took one last look around the place that had been his home - his cage, his fortress, and his last stand - for who knows how long he could not be happier. “I really hope this is a way out rather than straight into that horse’s clutches,” he said as he started crawling through the dark, cramped, tunnel.

He kept on crawling through the tunnel and started to realize two things: one, he was starting to smell something fresh and clean; and two, he started to feel a breeze that wasn’t made by somelings wings.

’Yes, I think my luck has finally come in because I’m willing to bet that this leads to the outside!’ Fallen thought to himself as he exited the hole.

When he took his first step, he couldn’t think anything other than ’Finally, I’m free. I can finally say I’m free.’

Author's Note

Greetings, everypony! This story is a collaboration work between myself (Aceofgods, Ace Deus Fenrir) and Fallenstar Nighthoof! We hope you enjoy it!

Broken Orbit

Chapter One: Broken Orbit
With Fallenstar Nighthoof and Ace Deus Fenrir

The Dragon Eyes spell shop was closing for the day as the Unicorn who ran the small shop stood atop the hill, looking out over the grassy fields that surrounded his business. In a couple of places a little ways away from the foot of the hill, a few ponies were building their new homes as they settled in.

’Hoofsdale… Never in my life had I thought I would bring another settlement from the ground up…’ he thought to himself with a smile and a shake of his head. ’I suppose I am doomed to inspire those around me regardless of my intentions...’

The Unicorn had a solid black horn that ended in a point, breaching the two-toned red mane that threatened to fall into his eyes, framed by a pair of black glasses that matched the size of his eyes. While his horn was black, his coat was more a deep grey color that neared, but did not touch upon black. Beyond the lenses of his glasses were featured bright, sapphire eyes.

Behind his back the sun was setting as he admired the moon raising before his eyes. Once the moon had fully breached the horizon, however, he decided that sitting around on his plot was not the best way to spend the light of the full moon, descending the hill to make a pass around the town before returning to his home and retiring for the evening.

As he neared the first house, an earth pony watched as he approached with a smile and a wave as he returned the gesture. “Fair evening, Mr. Fenrir!” the stallion called when Ace has come close enough. “I would like you to meet my wife; she just came into town this morning.”

The Unicorn smiled as the Pegasus mare came around a corner within the unfinished home, her belly distended as she carried their foal. Before he continued, he held a hoof to his chest as he dipped into a formal introductory bow.

“A pleasure to meet you; my name is Ace Deus Fenrir,” he said with an unusual accent, pronouncing the name as ‘Ah-chay.’ “As I am sure your kind husband has mentioned, I own the shop on the hill. I look forward to supporting you and your growing family as best as I am able.”

The mare attempted to mimic the bow as best she could in her introduction, “To you as well. My name’s Tempered Steel, and I am Twisted Vine’s wife,” she finished before rising back up, her head askew as she examined the Unicorn more closely. “That’s quite the beautiful cutie mark you have. You say your talent is in magic?”

Ace turned his head for a moment, examining the emblem on his flank more out of reflex than actually needing to see it to know what she spoke of. Ace’s emblem, or ‘cutie mark,’ was that of a solid grey hoof that matched his own grasping a solid white hoof, as though the opposite pony had fallen, silhouetted by the full moon.

Ace turned back to the mare with a kind smile as he spoke, “Actually, my special talent lies more in helping other ponies than in magic itself.” The mare’s smile spread slightly as she nodded, though Twisted Vine laughed at the comment.

“Comes as no surprise, really,” Twisted said when his short bout of laughter had ended. “It’s thanks to Mr. Fenrir here that all of the ponies came here. First a few ponies came to seek out a spell to help somepony in their hometown or in their family, but a few of us decided to just build their homes here. A few have even nominated that he be made mayor; I myself fully endorse it, frankly!”

Ace only shook his head and rose a hoof to halt such an idea. “Please, I only came here to build a quiet little shop for those who seek magic,” he said before lowering his hoof. “I do not wish to be a leader or to raise a settlement. Nevertheless, you are all welcome here, of course - ‘tis far beyond my jurisdiction to tell anypony where they can or cannot build their homes, so long as the land is willing to give. Now, if you would please excuse me, I wish to go and see my friend before I retire for the evening.”

Ace turned and made his way towards the hill opposite his own as Tempered and Twisted waved him off, calling their goodbyes. Ace made his way through the town, waving a greeting to a number of other families along the way, grateful that everypony was doing well.

As he neared the hill, he took a moment to appraise the building that rested atop it; one of the few buildings that had already been fully built, though this was mostly due in fact that it was a small, very utilitarian home that served more as a business to the single inhabitant. The building was small, and haphazardly painted, leaving the paint thicker or thinner in patches. The outside was bare of decoration, except for the sign that hung above the horizontally separated door featuring a Pegasus pulling a hot-air balloon.

Wearing a goofy smile larger than his normal countenance, Ace started up the hill, calling out as he made it nearly half-way. “Striker? Are you home, my friend?” he called, now mounting the crest of the hill. Beyond the hill, he took note of the two hot-air balloon stations; one had a deflated balloon and basket, while the other was bare. With a sigh, Ace turned to start back towards the town until he felt something through his magical senses.

Ace was a Unicorn who spent many years honing his magic as well as learning many ways to make use of it, and the most favored of these techniques was his magical senses: Ace cast his magic around him almost without thinking about it, using the energy and his connection to it to feel everything around him with far more accuracy than all his physical senses combined.

It was these very senses that were now detecting an anomaly somewhere out in the fields… Whatever it was, it was not… It was there, and yet Ace could not feel it - his magic flowed around something, and yet it was not able to detect it. Whatever the disturbance was, it brought a headache to the forefront of his mind as he attempted to focus his senses on it, but could not.

’Anti-Magic Stone?’ Ace thought to himself as he strained his eyes and magic in an attempt to view the unusual entity. ’No, ‘tis much too far inland for it to develop… Whatever this strange pony-shaped mass is, ‘tis alive, and requires further investigation…’

’Now that I’m out of the Hive, what should I do?’ Fallen thought to himself as he looked at the night sky ’By the shadows!’ he swore, having started to use the darkness in his curses. What are these lights in the… sky wasn’t it? He said as he trotted along, now free and marching through some light underbrush.

Not only does this place have strange lights in the ceiling, but it also has these weird things organic things… They’re hard, but feeble at the same time… As he was lost in thought and was contemplating such mysteries, he happened to find out what a stray root could do. Namely, they could make you trip, and proceed to have you fall down the fairly deep ditch right next to said stray root.

As this chain of events occurred and he was rolling towards the bottom, his thought process devolved into something like this: ’Ow, owwww, pain - a cactus? Really?! Just my luck…’ and similar terms of pain and confusion.

As he finally came to a rest at the bottom in a, semi-literal, puddle of pain and bruises, he was glad he had the tougher hide he possessed instead of other changelings carapaces. At least I don’t have to deal with cracks in it, just cuts, scrapes, bruises, contusions, and other ways to beat just about anything up.

As he got up and shook off the pain of the tumble, he heard a very familiar sound. The droning buzz that changelings made whenever they flew, which meant that either relationships with forces outside the hive were good enough that changelings didn’t have to disguise themselves, or they were looking to find someling - and fast. ’I make it out and as soon as they notice I’m gone they go looking to drag me back. As if they will get the chance; time to run!’

He very quickly learned how to run in a forest in what was practically the dead of night. He kept running as the droning sound got louder. ’I really hope that my luck kicks in again,’ he thought as he dodged one of those weird hard-feeble columns ’Why do I have a feeling this is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better?’

Ace proceeded at a slow pace as he nosed his way through the forest, having run the whole way as he had not wished to use his magic for fear of alerting whoever - or whatever - was the source of the strange, disorienting anomaly.

’Whatever this strange creature is, ‘tis drawing closer,’ he thought to himself as he looked around the forest with both his magic as well as his eyesight, his glasses hanging around his neck by a makeshift rope woven from a pair of vines.

Ace was being cautious, the strange creature no longer alone as it ran towards him. In fact, the other entities that followed the anomaly were changelings.

’Has Queen Nyteshade found a way to mask herself from my magic? Surely she would not be so bold as to hurt the ponies in Hoofsdale… What would a Changeling Queen gain from such an endeavor?’

Whatever was happening, the anomaly was making a straight line towards Ace, and not by mistake, he was certain. Through his magical senses, he found a wayward pine - a pine tree with roots above ground, causing a small enclosure just large enough for somepony to take shelter in on a cold night after a long day’s travel.

Ace worked himself into the roots, pulling some of the low hanging boughs of the tree over the opening to better conceal himself, but making sure to keep a slat large enough for him to watch as the strange creature passed by.

Shortly after, it truly did pass by - at first glance, the entity appeared to be a mere changeling, but there were a number of minute differences. First, the being’s body was slightly larger than the average changeling, and the horn was more pronounced - both straight as well as coming to a sharp point on the end, like his own. Secondly, even in the dim light of the forest, the pseudo-changeling lacked the normal sheen that was characteristic for other changelings. Thirdly, the wings were an unusual color, and the filaments of its tail and mane appeared to be small antennae.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, this changeling was scared - looking back over its shoulder as it ran from the others, nearly out of breath from the seemingly lengthy chase. Ace was uncertain what had occurred, but it was clear this creature was no friend of Nyteshade’s Hive, and the enemy of one’s enemy was often a potential ally…

Replacing his glasses with his hooves as the vines that held it fell to the ground, Ace’s horn lit in the black glow of his magic as the pseudo-changeling ran past. What followed happened in the span of a few seconds, though through the overflow of information from his magical senses, Ace had near minutes to react.

First, he pulled back the boughs he use to conceal himself before letting it loose, landing one of the flying changelings square across the muzzle, causing it to careen into another tree down the way. Next, Ace leapt from his hiding place, using his senses to guide a hoof into the side of another’s face, bringing it to drive a divot into the grind with its body.

Ace’s horn glowed brighter as he shot a shard of ice into a third and fourth, bringing them aground as well, though they were not struck as hard as the first two, landing some ways behind him as he confronted the rest of the winged squad of scouts.

Ace leapt off the ground, grasping a branch as he ascended, causing one of the charging foes to meet the ground rather than flesh. Before he dismounted, he planted a hind hoof into the chest of another enemy, sending it soaring over his head before landing atop the previous enemy - causing him to lose his balance and fall while the others barreled towards him.

’I had to have the luck to get chased by the scouts, the fastest, most annoying, most aggravating ‘lings of the whole hive,’ Fallen thought to himself. ’My luck just keeps getting better and better...’

He started to get tired and had just passed a particularly funny looking hard-feeble cylinder-thing when he heard one of the scouts make a noise, as if it were hit by one of the praetorians. He turned around, his hooves skidding to a stop on the soft ground, and saw… something fighting the swarm of scouts. Not only that but it was winning.

He looked at it, and while it did resemble a changeling at first glance, it appeared to be made out of some kind of moldy leather kind of like his own, though it looked to be much less durable than his own hide. Despite the creature’s apparent frailty, he was still standing his own against the scouts, and was appearing to be winning.

’I am fairly sure that it is using magic, but I can’t see right now. It does appear to need some help against them though, and what ‘ling wouldn’t oblige a favor like this?’

He immediately turned his arm into, for lack of a better term, something resembling an old-fashioned dagger with many jagged edges on one side while the other had a smooth, clean, edge. Before it had fully formed, he had already jumped onto and gored one of the scouts with his horn, stabbing another one that was too close with the mostly finished blade hard enough to thrust the blade through to the other side, which he promptly wretched out with enough force to nearly split it in twain.

“Hahaha, I haven’t ever had this much fun!” he giggled as he flipped over the two dead changeling scouts and leapt into the midst of the swarm. By this time, both of his forelegs were transformed and his body had been altered enough to fight on his hind legs.

Fallen landed with a flourish of his blades, splattering the entrails of another pursuer onto the surroundings before lunging at the next nearest target. As his blade sundered the poor ‘ling’s body into a bloody pulp, he sensed another one behind him and proceeded to turn his tail into a long, bladed whip which promptly beheaded the ‘ling.

’This is fun, but I want some more. Maybe…’ With only a thought and a notion, Fallen permitted his body to dissolve, becoming a fluid that he manipulated as easily as one would control their own body. In the same way as he liquefied his body, he shifted sections of his new form into weapons - blades, sharp tendrils and various whips - that easily redefined pain to all those they struck; which fortunately included only the 'lings who had been so foolish as to chase an evolved specimen. He began to giggle madly as he released all the pent-up frustration, pain, suffering, and hatred he had held in himself for his entire life.

Ace fended off his foes with hoof and horn, might and magic, while still observing the peculiar ‘ally’ he had accrued through his actions. That is, he believed the being was an ally, as it made no open aggression against him, and truly did seem fully capable of aggression as it tore through the few changelings who had made it past him like a Pegasus through clouds on a sunny day.

Turning his attention back to his own battle - quite forcefully as a changeling tackled into his middle - he planted a glowing hoof through the foe’s skull, its empty skull providing little resistance before he threw its corpse onto another foe to free up his attention.

Ace spared only a moment to look over his shoulder to confirm the well-being of his comrade, unable to detect him in his magical senses, as he was accustomed to, before he spun his weight into a hind hoof to buck another changeling into a nearby tree, causing the body to fall to the forest floor in a slump.

Ace’s horn lit in his magical glow once more, this time far more brightly as the black light escalated in scale, growing brighter and brighter still. ’Fangs and talons, a misfire? Now? Oh no, I have to warn him!’

Ace spun on his hooves as he dodged to the side of a swooping attacker before raising a hoof to his mouth, calling out to the unusual creature that had somehow turned into an unusual puddle. “Take cover, it is not safe here!” he managed before his body started pulsing in pain, his horn becoming a blinding beacon in the moonlit woods.

’I could have sworn that I heard that thing yell run, as if that’s going to happen! I’m having way too much fun!’ Fallen thought as he continued to butcher the scouts, when he realized he was hearing something that sounded a lot like what happened when two ‘lings rubbed their wings together and shocked one another, except a thousand-fold louder.

’This is either going to hurt or do nothing… Please do nothing. He silently pleaded for the blast not to do anything too harmful to him when he realized it had already passed, a wave of crackling black energy that seemed to render the changelings unconscious as it passed. “Wow. Now that was cool, you ok whatever you are?” he asked, somewhat concerned about the one who had helped him. “That blast looked like it would have… Never mind,”

Fallen noticed whatever it was seemed to be unconscious. ’I am going to have to ask a lot of questions when it wakes up. Maybe I should start with what in the night it is.’ He sighed as he reformed.

“Guess I might as well make camp for the night then.”

Atmospheric Entry

Chapter 2: Atmospheric Entry
With Fallenstar Nighthoof and Ace Deus Fenrir

Ace started to come to, his magical and physical senses both scuzzy from… whatever had sent him unconscious. Disoriented, the world spun as he started to rise up as he pressed a hoof against his head before shaking it to clear his thoughts.

Ace’s horn lit in its black glow as he cast a spell to clear his senses, both physical and magical, as he climbed onto his hooves under the lean-to made of leaves and the like.

He looked around to regain his bearings, but could only tell that he was in the middle of the forest somewhere outside of Hoofsdale, and that he was not alone - there was something out in the camp that he could not detect with his magic. As he made his way out to take a closer look, he recalled the events that led to his unconscious state, remembering, if only slightly, who it was that awaited outside.

After the… whatever it was... passed out, Fallen simply went to the hard-feeble thing it had come out of in the first place and proceeded to dig a hole to secure a makeshift camp, deliberately ignoring the seemingly-unconscious changelings scattered about. ’Great... I have no idea where I am, or whatever saved me, or what I am even hiding under!’ he continued to grumble as he made a fire and sat down.

As time passed he eventually started to hum, starting out with simple five-note songs and eventually creating small symphonies. After what he guessed was a long time, the thing started to wake up. Rather, it at least started moving.

“I have no idea what you are, and only know that you tried to save my hide. I guess I thank you for that, even though you seem to have tried to knock everything out for a while.” He rubbed his mane nervously, “I may or may not have dragged you across the large amount of ground to get you here.”

The dark-grey creature shook out its coat, letting loose a small cloud of dust before it appeared to shrug. “If you are concerned about my well-being, I suppose ‘tis fortunate I am unable to feel much of my body… Oh, I suppose an introduction is in order,” it commented before lowering its head, a hoof rising to its front as it did so.

“My name is Ace Deus Fenrir, a magically gifted Unicorn and owner of the Dragon Eyes spell shop in Hoofsdale,” he finished before ending the odd gesture. “Also, a good samaritan with a more-than-passing interest in you; you are a changeling, correct? What caste do you represent? You were a part of Nyteshade’s Hive, yet those were her scout drones if I am not mistaken.”

Fallen shook his head and chuckled at the barrage of questions. “Oh, you’re curious about her. Well to discount any idea you had of me being with her, I am a mutant and she was scared of me. I am unable to connect to the hive-mind, which would scare any Queen enough, but not only that, I had true sentience too. To help really kick it off, I also have enough magic resistance to keep her, and all the other ‘lings in the hive from destroying me instantaneously. A bit over” –

Ace’s horn lit in the black glow of his magic, a studious look on his face, before a small cloud appeared over Fallen’s head, which then made a boisterous noise as a bolt of lightning fell over him, though it did not appear to have any effect. -- “nine-hundred if I’m correct. Was that really necessary?” Fallen asked in an annoyed tone.

The strange creature began to walk in a circle around Fallen, a hoof rubbing beneath its chin as it appeared to observe him from every angle. “Beg your pardon, but experimentation is always the most certain method to produce the most accurate results. You say you can no longer connect to Nyteshade’s hivemind? This is not wholly unusual, as this happens whenever a changeling becomes self-aware.”

At this juncture, Ace started lifting up Fallen’s hooves as he examined each detail of the specimen, paying the most attention to the mane, tail, hide, wings and his long, straight pointed horn. “I see I am not the only pony to take a closer look at you. Whatever had interested the changelings of your hive - a mutation, did you say? - must be most uncommon. Is it not the prime directive of the race to evolve and adapt?”

Fallen shook his head “Yes, you are normally right, but I was hatched like this - I have always been sentient. The fact that I was not only completely free-willed and sentient, but also mostly immune to magic made her very nervous. You should have seen her face after she and the whole hive tried to make me combust,” he said with a chuckle as the memory replayed in his head.

“Back then was the first time in my life I truly laughed. Right after that, she locked me up in a dark hole in the deepest part of the hive and probably hoped I would become docile. For the most part, I just insulted everyling that came by and generally annoyed them all. I found a patch in my room that was dried out and weak, broke through it, and got out. You found me after that.”

Ace did another pass around the unusual changeling, his eyes roving over the number of incisions and other tell-tale marks from the intrusive examinations the other changelings had conducted. With a nod of his head, the Unicorn started looking about as though he expected to find something. Afterwards, he started making his way into the forest without a word.

“Hey!” Fallen yelled after the creature. “I want to know more about the outside and you are the only thing that I know who can help me,” he said as he started trotting after Ace, easily catching up as he turned around, one side of his features raising as he looked back, as if in question.

“And I full well intend to help you,” he said before resuming his trek at a leisurely pace as Fallen followed. “However, if you wander around in the forest with those cracks and openings in your carapace, you will fall ill,” he explained.

“You see, the reason Nyteshade chose this forest to house her hive is because this is one of the few remaining places where Shade Leaf flowers grow freely,” he said as he started looking around at the forestation. “The petals of this plant can be used to make an effective poison for most ponies, though for a changeling, it is a most effective healing salve.”

Fallen chuckled, “I don’t have a carapace, I have a hide. And I can simply heal myself at will, like this-“ he stated as his wounds closed in mere seconds.

“I did say I had some unique traits, one of which is the fact that while I cannot magically transform, I can control every physical element of my body perfectly.” Fallen looked around curiously. “Do you know what these things around us are? I don’t and they are kind of weird to me,” he asked after a brief pause.

Ace’s features turned up again before he looked around the forest once more. “You mean… trees? My word, you truly must be a hatchling… Normally the changelings educate their young in the first few hours with a combination of genetic memory and their conjoined hivemind.”

Ace started to make his way back to the campsite, the fire burning lightly in the distance. Seeing that the flame was weakening, he carried back some tinder and dried branches to stoke the fire in his magic as he went. “What other questions plague you? I have the feeling it’s going to be a long night,” he called over his shoulder as they went.

As Ace looked over his shoulder he saw an unusual duck flying at his head at high speeds, quacking in terror. ”Don’t call me hatchling!” Fallen shouted recalling the meals the changelings had given him, the feathery, noisy things the guards called ‘ducks’. Shortly after he proceeded to grow more of the odd morsels from his body and launch a barrage of quacking death at Ace.

Perplexed and caught off-guard, the first of the unusual instruments struck the unicorn square across the jaw before he managed to erect a barrier, black with the color of his magic, to block the attacks that followed.

When the ducks came across the barrier, however, they simply continued through it, their feathery assault unrelenting as they struck the shocked Unicorn.

After another pair of the fowl blows, Ace’s horn brightened, the tinder and branches falling to the forest floor. A number of branches, roots and stalks began to glow in the matching black of his magic before they all elongated, stretching towards both he and Fallen before entwining themselves into a more physical barrier around the Unicorn and a much more forceful grasp over the changeling.

As the newly grown barrier tightened its grip on the changeling he simply dissolved into a large pile of confused ducks. As Ace shifted his gaze to the first duck to have hit him, it suddenly grew into the mutant changeling who proceeded to use a pair of ducks as close-quarters weapons.

After a single blow from the downy weapons, Ace teleported out of the earthbound prison, appearing through a blackened flash of light at the camp, the weak flames of the fire waving to one side as the light passed over it. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Ace watched the earthen sphere with fervent interest.

Meanwhile, in the darkness of the second cage to attempt to hold Fallen that day, Fallen shook his head as he started to ponder to himself once more. “Hmmm, I think I should stop attacking him but this is a bit too fun. Time for Duck-a-toa!”

As Ace watched the sphere, it started to shake and then suddenly erupted in a massive tide of quacking doom with a certain mutant riding the wave on top shouting an odd cry.

His jaw slackening as the coming wave of feathery fowl began to crash down upon him, Ace’s horn alighted as he teleported back atop the hill where all of this trouble started, watching with his own eyes as the chaotic event took place in the forest, thousands of pitch-black ducks crashing over a single area of forest.

As the wave of feathered flesh crashed against the trees, a thundering crash could be heard, shaking the foundations of some of the nearby buildings of the budding Hoofsdale. Shortly after, the sound still echoing and cascading across the town, the wave started to roil up a thankfully-large cloud of dust, sheltering the event from wandering gazes.

Lights started to alight behind the Unicorn as the event awakened just about every pony in the small town. Already some faces began to emerge from their homes, some lit by lanterns or candles, others by the glowing magic of their horns or other luminously enchanted objects.

“What’s going on over there, Ace?!” shouted the alarmed Twisted Vine as he ran to the base of the hill, a lantern attached to his saddle bags as he sought answers from the pony he already viewed as the leader of the town. “Are we in any danger here?” he asked as Tempered Steel barely managed to catch up to him.

Ace looked back for only a moment before looking back to the forest, the tsunami of dust and obscured feathery fury fervently following close behind it. “I’m not sure, to tell you the truth of things, my friend.” Ace watched as the cloud of dust and feathers finally managed to die down, leaving a large clearing the size of a city, the once-forest floor littered with the once-forest trees and plants.

Ace turned back to the couple, his countenance portraying worry and concern. “This is either the single most powerful discovery I’ve made in my fight against Nyteshade, or I have doomed our entire town to destruction.” Twisted Vine and Tempered Steel looked to each other nervously.

“Tell the others it was likely a freak accident and that I am personally going to attend to the cause,” Ace said with a grave tone. “Tell them to sleep lightly tonight, but sleep all the same.” Twisted and Tempered shared a look, a nod, and a hard gulp to quell their fear before going throughout the town to spread the message.