Hail to the king, Hail to his Horde

Chapters

The beginning
What?
I can fix that.
Only truth.
The calm is not a good sign
Distractions
Calmness For the most part.
Meanwhile
Illusions
Blessing or curse?
Awakening
The Vessel
This story is...

The beginning

From his fallen headquarters Verus walked towards his reaver. It was a normal reaver except it was clad in onyx armor instead of crimson. Verus thought back to everything before this moment. Verus was the last black Theron and the most intelligent locust to be spawned by Myraah so much, to the fact that he could speak.

One thing was amiss though. Ever since he carried out his first task as general, an unstoppable one at that, he doubted his so called queen. He gained backers under the radar. A lot of locust supported him. With the first failed attempt on Myraah's life Verus spurred....the black rebellion.

In the years to follow Verus was thought to be a small annoyance to the queen. She thought his foolish self would be crushed by her might. Little did she know it was only the beginning. As more time passed she tried even more frantically to destroy the last human stronghold Jacinto. She thought if she took the surface she could have more time to gather her forces to crush the rebellion,but the humans wouldn't succumb. It didn't help once she realized Verus being her ex-general had access to the armory for prototype equipment. Such as the oneshot,full kantus body armor,and remanufactured reflecting mauler shields. Most were not fully developed. Only the armor was and he couldn't take all of the equipment which she still had.

There was so much propaganda in the hollow saying things such as "Verus is the true king death to Myraah." She couldn't even fathom how her children could do this to her. Verus knew that. He saw no reason to take the surface. The rebellion was to show they could live in the hollow in peace and harmony. Verus had his general do missions to take the queens life. His general Krogg, the only kantus to have a full suit of armor, joined him a while back. Krogg also had a long lasting hatred for the head kantus skorge. The kantus who refused him a head spot in the religious church.

That wasn't the reason why Krogg joined though. He joined the rebellion in order to help the locust live in peace. In the following years the rebellion took off. Until one day the groundwalkers drilled to the hollow they killed everything in their path. Even his soldiers who were ordered not to kill them. After a few encounters with stranded and cog in which they released humans captured by Myraah's forces. They made a name to the humans. They were called anti-Locust or something like that Verus never knew for sure.

He spent a lot of time trying to save the locust even to the point where he travelled to the depths of the hollow to recreate the kryll. A once extinct species after the death of his general predecessor Raam. He tweaked his personal weaponry like his ink grenades which now contained kryll. Once they were released they surrounded him like a shield. As general Raam and his Theron elite would do in the old days. His gnasher was tweaked to have a lancer Mk I bayonet on it. He also had a faster suspense upgrade for his torque bow. And he had dual gorgon pistols at his sides.

He was warned by the humans to leave the hollow, which was soon to be flooded, as soon as possible. It was a late warning as his army was in the middle of a final battle with Myraah's troops. His forces were decimated him and a handful of his best locust were all that remained.

Which brought him here to the reavers. Before he could get to it though, locust burst into the room. They opened fire as soon as they set eyes on him. He ran for cover as did his guards. These locust weren't mere Drones they were Hunter Elites. They wasted most of The guards covering Verus. With an opportunity when they reloaded Verus quickly counted the intruders. There were seven in total. One of The guards ran out of cover as a distraction. The hunters got him but not before Verus shot a fully prepped torque bow arrow through a hunters head which then passed onto another hunters back. Killing them both.

As Verus reloaded he looked at his enemies quickly to see the remaining hunters reloading their longshots and lancers. Just as he was about to rush them the wall next to them exploded. Krogg jumped out of the hole he rolled towards the hunters slicing one of them in two. He quickly twisted around to see a hunter tag him with a frag. Immediately after he pumped the locust full of led. He jumped towards the other hunters as the grenade detonated. The blast killed two more and brought Krogg to the brink of unconsciousness. With the earlier frag wounds he could barely stay awake.

He looked up to see the locust jabbing his gnasher right next to the weakened armor surrounding his head. The locust said "Die traitor!!" only to be stabbed through the abdomen lifted up and blown to bits by a gnasher. Verus knelt down and helped Krogg to the reaver. Krogg had long since passed out. Verus was carrying his entire body weight including both of their equipment. Verus thought to himself I will not let my general die as long as we live so does the cause. He hoisted him on the reaver and strapped him in with a rope he found on one of the dead hunters.

Verus got on the main seat and flew the reaver away just as the waters started to flow. He headed for a small cave opening which led him into a larger cave. He pushed the reaver to fly even faster to evade the waters. He dodged rock pillars and malformations heading further into the depths. He saw a dead end wall up ahead of him which he then proceeded to blast with the reavers rocket turret. He entered a massive chamber with a weird swirling storm in the center spewing out lightning.

Seeing no other options and seeing how quickly the water was approaching he headed for it. The storm swirl was unlike any storm he had seen he traveled down the middle of it. His speed was accelerated by the tempest storm(which he decided to refer to it as)as he did a downwards spiral to the ground.

On the ground he saw cracks and the ground rumbling as if the storm was trying to rip open the depths of sera. In a final act of hope or foolishness(the king could not tell which)he blasted it open with a rocket and traveled in it. He felt wind rush past him as he was going faster,faster,deeper,deeper. Until he broke the darkness. Only to see a mountain with a palace built into it rushing towards him at high speeds. He maneuvered the reaver to where it crashed into a garden of some sort with four legged equine looking statues everywhere. The reaver was very damaged and finally stopped. As he rose from the crash he looked around frantically barely staying awake.

He searched for Krogg until he saw him lying still in some rubble. He crawled to him."Krogg.....don't die Krogg!"Verus pleadingly said. As he looked up he saw miniature horses wearing golden armor and holding spears. The spears where pointed at him and the general. Some of the equine creatures looked frightened. Others looked cold in the rain. But most looked confused wondering what the hay it was. A certain equine creature that stood out from the others. It was much taller and had hair that flowed in a breeze of its own not aligned with the breeze of the cold night. It also had a horn atop it's head and wings at its sides. It also had a peculiar looking marking on its backside. It was also accompanied by another one that was shorter than her yet slightly taller than the others.

It was dark colored unlike the other. It was so dark in fact he could only see her by her hair. It was the most peculiar thing he had ever seen even more than the other horse things hair all he could say is that it had stars in its hair. He couldn't make out too much of this ones features he at least knew it had a horn. Just then the tallest one said in a clearly feminine voice "Hello. What is your name?" In an attempt to reply he let out a grunt from the pain. He was then reminded just how hurt he was he fell to his knees and fell down. Right before blacking out he heard her tell the shorter ones to help him and Krogg. She said "Don't worry you will be fine." He then passed out

30 minutes earlier: Equestria

Princess Celestia had no time to sleep no matter how much she wanted to. She had stayed up all night so far in order to study this magical phenomenon with her sister who was wide awake. Luna was princess of the night. This storm was formed not by pegasus but by pure ancient magic. The magic that both Celestia and her younger sister manipulate. The only magic that can be used to raise the sun and the moon. The only other creature capable of using pure ancient magic is Discord the god of chaos. He can manipulate a more chaotic form of pure ancient magic.

They knew though that they could rule out discord because anything he has manipulated has his chaotic magic residue written all over it. Plus he was "reformed". That is why they are spending so much time trying to figure this out."Ughh there is literally no other individual capable of pulling off this storm."yelled Luna clearly exasperated."I know nopony could have Unless...maybe yes of course." Celestia said thinking she had made a breakthrough. "If they somehow got ahold of a-."

She was cut of as there was a large crash catching both of the princesses attention. "What was that sound?"asked Luna. As Celestia was one step ahead of her already looking out of the telescope. What she saw was a large group of guards gathered around a large creature with black or onyx armor on in the garden. It had tentacles a saddle of some sort and it was clearly dead. But the guards weren't interested in that. They had their attention and spears pointed at something else.

"Luna we must go." Celestia said. "Why? what were you going to tell me?" Luna asked confused. "That can wait this is more urgent." Celestia stated as they were flying from their balcony to the scene. When they landed Celestia saw something unexpected. It was a weird biped creature with black war armor on. It had what she assumed was weapons on its back and waists. It was standing before a very tall creature which looked as if it could be a mutated porcupine made of metal. It was laying face first on the floor.

Back to the conscious creature it looked like it was barely standing itself as it clutched a wound on its side. It's face was covered mostly by the helmet it wore. Though she could see its teeth which were all canines very sharp yet not to big to were its lips couldn't cover them. She saw the guards tense up once they followed her gaze. The creature was sizing up her sister and herself as well.

She decided to try and communicate. "Hello. What is your name?" She said cautiously. It let out a gruntish hiss noise then fell to its knees then to its face. "Help it. get it medical attention now!" She yelled when she realized what was happening. She knelt down hoping it was still conscious enough to understand her. If it could in the first place. "Don't worry you will be fine." She said as it passed out.

What?

Princess Celestia paced in the study which was hidden behind some walls. Her sister was sitting down contemplating the situation as well. "They must have some form of connection to that magic storm." Celestia said unsure about her new visitors. "They might not sister." Stated Luna as she pulled out a clipboard. "According to this doctors analysis the creatures took quite the beating before ending up here. The sheer amount of concentration needed to summon this does not amount to either of their conscious minds." Luna said to her older sister.

Celestia was trying to find another reason. "Well what if someone sent them here?" She said. "Unlikely sister. The storm was conjured from this realm not theirs." Celestia knew she had to figure out a different theory now that Luna made some excellent points. Though, she couldn't shake the feeling that the creatures had something to do with this. "Okay Luna you win. We can rule them out as the cause, but what about them as pawns?" Celestia inquired to Luna. "Do explain sister." Luna responded

"If we question them when they wake we might be able to figure out if someone, or something wants them here. If not we shall try to send them home if they don't prove to be harmful." Celestia explained. "I wouldn't count on it their gadgets are most likely weapons far more advanced then ours. Not only that but they are most definitely carnivorous." Luna said. "Does that remind you of a race you judged too quickly? They turned out to be good all along?" Celestia said. With a sigh Luna replied "The griffins."

"Exactly." Stated Celestia. There was a moment of silence until the door was busted open by a guard. "Princess Luna, Princess Celestia come quickly they have awoken." The guard panted out from his nonstop running from the medical ward.

15 minutes earlier: medical ward of canterlot castle.

Darkness all he could see was darkness. "Prepare to die traitorous cur!" Yelled an all to familiar voice. He opened his eyes to see Skorge running closer to him with his chainsaw staff. He dodged to the right causing Skorge to cut downwards throwing up sparks from the metal. He quickly looked at his surroundings wall Skorge tried to dislodge the chainsaw. He was in the throne room of the queen this felt like the day he tried taking her life. He felt pain in his right arm and he jumped to the right.

He looked back to see Skorge had abandoned the chainsaws and attacked with his gorgon pistol. He kept on jumping trying to find his weapons but they weren't in sight. He never parted with his weapons. When Skorge reloaded Verus charged at him with his knife. Skorge was surprised to say the least. Even though he didn't show it he was used to having locust fear him.

Verus tackled him and brought him down. Skorge lost grip of his pistol as Verus repeatedly slashed him. Until everything stopped by the sound of a voice. The queen then spoke to Verus in his anger and Skorge in his weakened state. "Verus kill him he is weak. Kill Skorge and resume as my general." She said thinking Skorge couldn't hear her. Which he didn't. "No you evil, corrupt, insensitive, wretch." He said as he charged at her.

Just then he saw the room fill with locust. Before they could stop him he slit her throat. He jumped backwards time seemed to slow down as he grabbed Skorges pistol and gunned down locust on all sides. None of which had guns for some reason. His clip ran dry and he jumped high in the air. He looked down Skorge and the queens bodies were nowhere in sight. He saw it the chainsaw his only salvation. He fell quickly and grabbed it he chopped down never ending waves of the horde. He eventually gave out and was bludgeoned to death.

Verus woke with a start to the sound of beeping machines which increased rapidly. But decreased when he realized he wasn't in immediate danger. He looked to his right nothing but a white wall. In front of him a white door and more wall. No windows either. To his left walls no window. "Krogg!" Verus yelled thankful he wasn't dead. Krogg's heart monitor was showing he was normal his heart still worked. Krogg was in his ceremonial robes which he wore under the armor. Speaking of the armor where was it. Verus still had his weapons it was mandatory for all of his soldiers to keep all weapons on magnetic lock to their armor.

There was a clank sound of something hitting the floor he looked to the sound of the noise to see one of those equine creatures. It wore a hat atop its head that had a Red Cross on it. "Uh oh." She said. It was clearly a female. She ran out the door and slammed it shut he stayed quite and heard her tell someone to tell a princess. This couldn't be good he needed to get out of here. He ripped off his cords connecting him to the monitor and got off of the bed.

He went to Krogg trying,and failing to awaken him. "Krogg Krogg awaken for your king." He said he knew Krogg was awake he could tell. "What do you say?" Krogg said in a deep gravely voice. A voice that could easily rival a boomers. With a sigh Verus replied through his teeth "Please awaken!" Annoyance resonating off his voice. "What shall you have your general do?" Krogg said satisfied. "Brake down that door." Verus said.

"Yes my king." Krogg said as he broke down the door to look down at several surprised and terrified equine creatures. Some with golden armor on as well. There were two that did stand out though. A tall one with multicolored hair waving on its own. A horn and wings and a picture of the sun on its back leg. He looked further down to see a smaller one that was a darker shade of blue and had wavy

Hair like the other one. She also had her mouth agape as she looked up at him.

As the taller one regained itself it said in a female voice "I came here to see if we could talk over some tea. Would you care for some?" As she said this a tray of tea levitated in front of him. He had one thing going through his mind which his king voiced for him " What?"

I can fix that.

Celestia walked down twist and turning hallways. The meeting with the creatures was something Celestia was thinking about. Though she did expect them to have a lot of questions she could only hope they weren't hostile.She looked down to her left to see her sister contemplating something. "What are you thinking about Luna?" She said. "What? Oh nothing just the creatures." Luna said.

"I as well Luna. I hope they will be cooperative." She said. They walked together in silence having nothing more to say. They had brought tea with them so they can make the newcomers feel more welcomed.

As they turned the corner they saw the large door with enchantments to make it unbreakable be blasted off its hinges. Said door almost took Luna's head off. They stood in front of the eight foot two creature they took the armor off of. Luna was staring at it agape. It stared at both of us confused that same look she saw on the smaller biped which she tried to speak to.

Celestia closed Luna's mouth for her. Luna looked up at Celestia. Then she proceeded to give Luna a look saying be nice to the creature. Clearing her throat Celestia said "I came here to see if we could talk over some tea. Would you care for some?" She said then levitated it in front of him. He looked at her unamused then his expression turned to confusion.

When she thought he was going to reply the other one showed up Verus was his name according to his weapons.

"What?" He said. Verus had walked out to see the two taller equines from before. Beside that he saw a tray levitating on its own that was enough to warrant confusion. He did notice the darker one he could make out that she had wings along with her horn and a moon on her back leg unlike the other one who had a sun.

There was a smaller equine that jumped in front of the taller ones. He said "Princess Celestia Princess Luna I advise you to stay away from these creatures. So their names where Cel-ess-tia and Lou-na and they were of royalty. "Pipe down bright defender. If you crashed into another realm passed out then woke up confined in room would you have acted any differently?" She said in a calm voice with some understanding tone in it. "Well I guess not." He replied.

"What?"Verus said still dumbfounded by the flying tray of wonder. "You act like you've never seen magic before. Let us go back into the room and discuss the situation." She said with a chuckle.

"Wait give his king an explanation of events or else!" Krogg practically shouted at her. "Me and my sister shall give you an explanation. Now Bright Defender get our guests some chairs." She said. The guard saluted and trotted off. He returned almost immediately he returned with a couple of chairs. Verus kindly accepted and sat down,and Krogg simply chose to stand.

"Verus why are you so entranced by simple Magic?" Celestia asked. "How do you know his name? Explain yourself. Also what is this magic you speak of?" Krogg started immediately after. "Krogg stand down! Now How do you know my name? Please explain. Also if you could kindly explain what you mean by magic. That would be nice." He said in a much kinder fashion then took a sip of tea.

"You don't have magic were you come from?" She said. "That would explain why we couldn't get a read on his magic I.D." The smaller one stated. "We will talk more about that after proper introductions. I am princess Celestia co ruler of Equestria. This is my younger sister Luna the other co ruler of Equestria." She said introducing them.

"Pleasure to finally meet you Verus." Luna said to him. "How do you know my name?" Verus said in reply. "It is quite a funny story when we tried to take off your weapons we saw the name engraved in it. We assumed it was your name. We guessed right." Luna said. Verus was reading the intentions of these ponies. They did not seem to be hostile. He saw Krogg ease up as soon as he came to the realization as well.

"Well I do believe it is our turn to ask questions. So Verus you are a king? What is the name of the country you rule?" Celestia asked. He could not tell if she had two separate intentions for this question. He decided to lie a talent he got very good at. "I hail from a small country called...ilima." He responded to the question with the name of a fallen human city which he had tried to save.

Celestia could not tell if Verus was lying or not. His helmet covered his eyes the most common method she would use to detect lies had to do with looking into eyes. She thought she felt something In his small hesitation could it possibly be a lie? "Well that sounds like a splendid name. Who named it?" She asked. lets see how quickly he answers she thought to herself.

She was suspicious he could tell he quickly thought of a name from one of his general predecessors. "Why yes the country's founder and first king Sallus vhun." He replied.

She squinted her eyes and so did he though it could not be seen. Luna and Krogg both looked at them feeling the suspicion rise. Celestia was the first to speak "Well this has been fun but you two must be hungry. Shall we continue this another time?" She asked. "Why yes princess that would be suitable.

Celestia turned around to see the broken door. "We should get somepony on that." She said. "We can fix that." Verus said. "Really you would be so kind as to do that? You are a guest." "It would be our pleasure after all you did heal us from the goodness of your heart." Verus insisted. "Very well if you insist." Celestia said as they walked towards the broken door. Luna conjured up some materials to repair the wall.

"Finish quickly so we can show you to your rooms and so we can serve you something to eat. We shall speak more thoroughly next we meet." She said. As they walked off Verus turned to Krogg. "Finally now we have a moment to plan out our next move. Talk in our native tongue and get to work." Whispered Verus as the sisters were speaking with one another about the suspicious visitors.

"I felt that maybe Verus lied to us. What about you Luna what do you think of them?" Celestia said as they headed to the cafeteria. "I don't know sister I am pretty good at spotting liars and I couldn't get a beat on him." Luna replied. "Perhaps we should wait until we get more information before we accuse him of lying to us." She said to her older sister. "Your right we should wait a bit longer before we choose to accuse them or trust them." Celestia said as they opened the cafeteria doors.

What they saw shocked them. Twilight and her freinds were right there in the cafeteria talking amongst each other with the elements of harmony on. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight shouted as she trotted to her. "Twilight why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Celestia asked. "I sent you a letter didn't you get it?" Twilight asked confused.

"Well your here now I believe this is something important?" Celestia said to her. "Yes princess Discord has been missing for a month now. And we thought he would be here. We can't even summon him with the elements. Have you seen him?" She asked worriedly.

"No Twilight. I haven't." She replied to twilights explanation. Just then an explosion rang out through the castle. There were several smaller rapid explosions afterwards and then some shouting. "We have to get to the medical ward now I felt this would happen." Celestia said as the elements Luna and herself headed to the medical ward.

Only truth.

Medical ward: current time

As Verus and Krogg worked they calmly spoke to one another about the next course of action. "Should we speak truths to the ponies?" Krogg asked his king.

"I am still not sure. From what I have had to gather we can't trust them unless they can assure us a way to save Sera." Verus replied. Krogg nodded his head. He did not question the decision after all he joined the rebellion to save the planet.

They continued to work until they heard an all to familiar sound. A wretched thumping noise echoed down the halls. Then came that damned voice. "BOOM!" It shouted as they jumped to the sides. An explosion hit the door causing it to shatter to pieces. Verus already had his torque bow fixed on the boomers head. When he released it a wet crunchy noise could be heard as the arrow tore through its skull.

Krogg with his pistols in hand ran to his king. "Stay behind me." He said. Verus simply nodded and went behind him with his torque bow still on hand. As they walked towards the exit they heard locust letting out yells of attack. When they rounded the corner they were met with five or so drones, a Theron, two grenadier elites, and a sniper. One thought crossed both Verus and Kroggs minds. Easy.

Krogg charged in evading left and right dodging as many bullets as he could. Verus shadowed him quite nicely. They reached the wave of drones hiding behind cover. It was then that Krogg mantle kicked a drone in the head, knocking him back. He killed him swiftly then arched his head backwards dodging a sniper round that would have surely injured him.

Krogg felt some bullets hit his back. He jumped backwards going past a drone. Kroggs robes may have been reinforced with light durable armor, but it wouldn't last as long as his suit. He immediately shot the drone with rapid waves of bullets from both his pistols. As the drone died he saw the Theron charging a torque bow. Krogg charged at him.

Meanwhile Verus was engaged with three locust drones. He shot an arrow at one drone that barely dodged in the nick of time. Only for it to hit one of his comrades. He turned to the traitor Verus only to see him drive a bayonet through his flesh. Verus pulled the trigger giving him a merciful end. He heard steps running behind him. He turned intending to blast the locust with his gnasher. What he didn't expect was to get tackled to the ground by two grenadiers.

They started beating him with brassed knuckles. Verus raised his arms in a defensive position to which they took most of the beating. They laughed maliciously thinking they were soon to kill him. The left grenadier was surprised when a bullet took the other locust head clean off.

Verus grabbed his knife from his chest plate and pinned down the last grenadier and slashed his throat wide open. Krogg searched more with the sniper rifle currently in hand. He had lost that Theron after it cut his arm and threw a smoke grenade.

Verus stood up and walked toward his shotgun but when he bent down he heard a sound of a blade cutting through air. He smacked his shotgun out of the way as he rolled to the left. A large cleaver hit the ground where his head was just moments ago. He let go of the cleaver and took out his Boltok pistol and fired. It hit Verus in his armored forearm causing Much damage that was numbed by adrenaline.

Verus charged with his knife and slashed down. Just then the Theron pulled out a knife as well and deflected his slash. He swiped horizontally at his abdomen. Verus jumped back as the Theron tried to land a hit on him. He lunged at the Theron only for him to dodge and let him fall to his face. Krogg saw his chance to get a good shot without hitting Verus.

Before he pulled the trigger releasing his last bullet the Theron did a backflip. He pulled out the cleaver at the same time Krogg pulled the trigger. The Theron hit the bullet with the flat side of the cleaver sending the bullet back just as fast. It went sailing back and struck Krogg in his right unarmored leg causing him to fall. But with this action came the reaction of Verus stabbing him through the gut with his blade while he was focused on neutralizing Krogg.

The Theron hissed in pain and backhanded Verus across the face. He then kicked Verus, and making him clench his gut. He grabbed Verus turned him the other direction and threw him into a window which cracked. He pulled the blade from its resting place in his body and stepped toward the locust against the window. In a mostly understandable voice the Theron said "I have saved the locust. What have you done other than bring bloodshed amongst our own kind. It will satisfy me to kill you Verus."

Before he could stab Verus a gold beam shot the knife from his hand. "Enough!" A voice said. He looked to the source of the sound. There standing with her sister, the elements, and a group of guards was princess Celestia. He merely laughed. They thought they could stop him?

Celestia was through playing games and shot a bolt of magic at his head. It hit him causing him to let go of Verus who then proceeded to dive away from the window. The Theron's helmet was destroyed and he looked forward to see a very pissed princess and mean looking horses. Even the ones that where brightly colored.

He also noticed a very pissed kantus aiming a sniper rifle at him. It was probably out of ammo but he wouldn't dare take that chance. Especially when there is another one pointing a shotgun at him.

"Well it seems the odds are in your favor. You where able to beat me and a group of the most mediocre locust. Whoop-Dee-Doo. Just know that I Viken! Shall be back

to kill that traitor your protecting." He said to them as he backed up. The window shattered and he let himself fall while staring at them laughing the entire time.

"Thank you Celestia." Verus said in a strained voice.

"I am not through with you! Clearly we have MUCH more to discuss before I even think about making the foolish decision to leave you alone. What was I thinking!" Celestia said to him. Krogg could not get angry despite how she was talking to the king. He was too hurt.

"Okay Celestia give me a moment before you blow up into a rant about the situation!" Verus yelled in frustration with a little bit of it fueled by pain.

"Who do you think you are talking to the princess like that!? What gives you the right to be so disrespectful?" Said Rainbow Dash.

"Silence so I may speak. Your princess has questions that need to be answered." Verus said as he helped Krogg to a chair to which he sat. "You don't tell me to shut up I'll tear you to pieces just try me freak!" She said to Verus while trying to look tough.

"Rainbow Dash Calm yourself. Now Verus enlighten me and my sister as to the reasons why we should not incinerate you like the others." Luna said in a calm tone.

"Well lets see hmmm I killed them so I am clearly not one of the others. Also I am your only way of finding out the origins of the storm. Lastly I am your guest and I should be treated as such." He said in a heartbeat.

"Very well you make valid points, But you must still answer our questions of who they where and why they want you dead?" Celestia said. The guards accompanying her mostly dispersed except for six. Two to stand guard by the princesses and four to clean up.

Verus thought hard about what to say next. He realized the time had come to tell the truth. He decided to start on E-day and go from there. Take a seat everyone this story is long. He said unenthusiastically. A pink pony jumped up and said "Oh boy I love stories!"

"We have enough time. But first I need to get ready." A lavender pony said as she took out a notepad and quill.

"Ughh stories? Really? This is gonna be boring!" The cyan one said in an annoyed tone.

"Please Verus start." Said Celestia.

Verus sighed and said "Well it all started on E-day when the Locust....my race emerged." And so began the long and horrifying story of the locust hordes attack on the surface, and the long bloody rebellion that he led.

There was no escaping his past Verus knew this.

Medical ward: a significant amount of time later.

"That's when I blacked out." He was done with the story. He told them each detail A-Z but with much more gore. He told about everything they did on E-day, the lambent, his career under Myrrah's influence, and the rebellion.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Said the cyan one. Verus could've sworn he saw her face change color automatically. There was a butter yellow pony with a pink mane. She looked terrified. When he looked at her she seemed so scared to the point where she looked angry.

The lavender one snapped her quill halfway through writing his story. A white one with an indigo mane held her mouth agape at the events she just heard. An orange pony with a blond mane was staring at him. She did not show emotion she just stared at him with squinted eyes. Until she gasped and looked away.

The pink one was scared but She also looked the most sad. Her mane literally deflated at hearing the death filled story. She was also further back than all the rest.

The princesses looked normal except no smile adorned their faces. They looked sad at what they had just heard.

They almost looked like they had witnessed everything first hand like they where there.

The guards where tensed up and all had their eyes fixed on Verus and the sleeping form of Krogg. As if they expected them to attack at any moment.

Verus looked no more happy than the others. He never wished to kill his kind. Even so, violence was the only thing the locust would respond too.

One of the ponies stood up and looked at him. It was the butter yellow pony that looked terrified. Though now she looked angry. Downright pissed off at Verus. Verus was confused he did nothing to warrant such behavior.

"Is it true applejack? Is what he said true?" She said through her teeth. "Yes fluttershy it's as true as Luna's moon." The orange one replied.

So those twos names are fluttershy and applejack. He looked over to them and he saw the yellow one flying towards him. "Why did you do that? You never have the right to do something like that! To a defenseless race no less! What do you have to say for yourself? Huh bub!?"

She was looking down on him expecting him to cower. If not cower than at least try to apologize. Verus felt angry at this pony trying to make him apologize to her for what his kind did to the humans. Did she forget how it saddened him to kill his own kind.

"Shut up! You have no idea what I've been through. I'm sorry okay I'm sorry for what my race did, I really am, but that gives you no right to attack me!" Verus yelled at her. Had she forgotten that he said he tried to save them. She doesn't even know what the humans are. After hearing him yell back she shrunk down. She usually had anything that was sapient bawling and saying sorry.

"I tried to save the humans. They were in danger, but they were far from defenseless. You have nothing to justify you blowing up at me." Verus said now calming down.

"Wait just a gosh darn minute here! You can't just yell at her. She just was distraught at the thought of your race killin so many creatures." Applejack said to him clearly angry. "Yeah! Apologize to her!" Said the annoying cyan one.

"No girls." Fluttershy said with a sniff. "He had every right to yell at me. It's me who should apologize." She said to them stunning them. They nodded as she looked to Verus. He had watched the whole thing unfold.

"I am sorry Verus. I shouldn't have assumed you were bad. I hope we can be friends." She said lowering her head to him. "I as well Fluttershy. I forgive you." Verus said to her. He was very true when he said those words.

Fluttershy looked up at him and smiled. She nodded then went back to her old spot before the argument. Celestia sighed when she looked out of the window.

"Well everypony and locust. It is late you all need to sleep after today's events." She said before looking toward Verus. "As for you and Krogg I shall keep a close eye on you. Your room shall be shared, and I will keep it locked by magic until I have guards to watch over you." She said.

Verus nodded and held up Krogg. His anatomy being a Kantus was quickly healing him. Verus didn't want Celestia to know he was injured. Krogg could fix that quickly when he woke. They all started following Celestia to the rooms to rest their tired bodies.

Underneath ground level of Canterlot mountain.

As Viken was walking through the tunnels he was pissed. He was angry that it would take longer to kill Verus. He entered a chamber door that read "forbidden". It was dark until he knelt and a light illuminated the room.

He looked up and saw the light. "Viken you have failed to kill Verus." Said a low gravely voice. "I need more time and soldiers to kill him." He said.

"Very well just don't fail me." The light said to him. "Now the queen of the changelings. Is she dead?" The light asked.

"No she was injured badly when she and her subjects disappeared. She is most likely dead." He said nervously.

"Acceptable Viken. Remember you must kill Verus to ensure the survival of the locust. Now go." The light responded.

Viken stood turned and shut the door as he left. When he was gone the light chuckled as he thought about his plans for these stupid locust. "All in due time." He said before disappearing at the sight and sound of a yellow lightning bolt.

The calm is not a good sign

Verus walked through the hallway following Celestia still carrying Krogg. The group had fallen silent long before they began walking. He looked around and saw the halls adorned with decorations ranging from a humble vase to an all out tapestry depicting war. Verus thought more about that locust he had encountered. Viken was his name if he recalled correctly.

Something about him seemed off. Almost as if there was something dark following him wherever he went. His thoughts then drifted to his rebellion for some reason. A guard…. in the room with Myraah the day he tried killing her by surprise. The one who said he would stop at nothing to kill him. That guard must have been Viken the similarities are too uncanny.

“Well here we are everyone.” said celestia while gesturing to a set of doors. Verus counted seven in total. How convenient Verus thought to himself. “Get plenty of rest. I feel tomorrow shall be a long day” Luna said as they all entered their rooms. Celestia stopped Verus before he entered. “Verus I feel as though I must make sure you agree to the terms I set.” Celestia said to him.

“Yes I understand the agreement and shall abide to the rules.” He said to her without looking back. “I shall stay in here until you summon me.” He said. “Good now rest up.” With that Celestia turned around and walked away. Verus went in and set Krogg on the bed which strangely enough accommodated his size. He heard the sound of guards moving to the front of the door.

Verus sighed and went to the left side of the bed to sleep. He kept his armor on simply because he was used to it. He shut his eyes and focused on nothing but the extremely soft bed he was laying his head on. He felt like sleep had already took him and sent him straight to heaven. Then there was this nagging feeling in his head telling him to open his eyes to which he complied.

When his eyes cracked open he saw a sight which had haunted him since the day it happened. A large cell block which had dozens upon dozens of cells. with dried blood on almost all of the bars. He heard a call from one of his squadmates. Turning around he saw a grenadier searching a body of a dead elite hunter propped up against a wall.

He knew what was going to happen yet he couldn't say anything to get him to run. All Verus said was “Very good the queen will be pleased.” then it happened he heard a screech then immediately after a berserker burst through the wall running over the Grenadier. the roundish object flew away into a nearby cell all the locusts eyes never leaving it.

The berserker smelled and listened for the locust not seven feet from it. Verus motioned for them to stay still. Since he was the closest he slowly stepped towards the cell. as he did the berserker moved around as it started smelling faster. Verus was almost there but suddenly the berserker started smashing the ground in an attempt to get the ones hiding to panic and scatter.

Verus motioned for them to stay still. They listened Verus slowly grabbed the module through the bars. “RUN!” he yelled as he threw it to a hunter who stood furthest away. the berserker looked at him and charged. He jumped away and he heard a crash. once he turned he saw the berserker chasing his squadmates. The berserker wasted almost all of the locust. only two remained as they tried running for the data module that was ripped from the hunters hand.

“Go! Run!” shouted Verus. the locust did not hesitate to listen though they did feel they shall pay the price once returning to the queen. suddenly his vision was filled with the sight of the queens throne room. He looked around and saw the two other locust that survived the mission.

“So. You have failed to gather the data of the new weapons. It pains me to do this to my children but such losses are punishable by death.” Myraah said as the locust nodded in acceptance. “As for you Verus. I shall let you survive for you will still serve some use to me.” she said to him.

“My queen let them survive. It was my fault in the first place to leave the data.” he said to her not wanting them to die. He did not know why. Werent theron not to show this much emotion. what was he?

“Verus I do respect you very much, But even so you must learn to hold your tongue. Do not question my decisions.” she said to him. her voice showed her annoyance with his opinion. “My queen please listen to me.” pleaded Verus. “NO! listen to me Verus I decide what happens if you speak out one more time I shall kill you myself!”she said to him.

“yes my queen.” Verus said through his teeth. Myraah proceeded to kill the locust. Verus left the room filled with rage. He knew that she would pay.

Verus awoke and he automatically noticed his teeth hurt. He must have been grinding them in his sleep. He looked to his left to see Krogg sleeping on his side of the bed. Verus decided to go to the balcony to get some air.

As verus walked out on the balcony he saw it was still dark outside. He couldn't feel a breeze when he walked closer to the rail. When he grabbed hold of it it zapped him. He pulled his hand away and saw a barrier of yellow magic flash before going away. “Looks like Celestia is taking extra measures.” Verus said to himself.

He saw no use to be outside since there was no breeze to enjoy. He went back to the bed so he could try to sleep again. All he could do while he laid though was think about himself. What was he? Was he even a locust?

He kept asking himself these questions until the sun rose up. Bringing the new day along with some headaches. He heard a loud shout come from Krogg as he awoke with a start. “My king!” He shouted as he jumped out of the bed. He looked around trying to figure out where he was. once he turned around he saw the standing form of Verus. He walked towards his king and knelt before him.

“Rise Krogg. Everything is okay.” said Verus as he motioned for his general to rise before him.

“My king where are we? Is that bastard locust dead?” He asked wanting to know.

“No. I regret to inform you that I know not if Viken lives.” He said to Krogg. Krogg assumed that Viken was that locust. “As for our location we are in our room awaiting Celestias guards.” Krogg nodded and took another look around.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw something that made him smile. His eyes fixed on an open crate in the corner of the room. Verus followed his gaze and followed him. They stood side by side with smiles on their faces.

In the crate string at them was Kroggs armor. The general eagerly put on his armor. When he was done a knock was heard at the door followed by a voice. “Get out here the princess wishes to see you in the dining room.” Both locust shared a nod and headed out of the door.when Verus emerged he saw two guards ready to escort them.

One had wings while the other had nothing on its sides or forehead. They had expressionless faces, That is until Krogg emerged. The general emerged with his armor on and his smile returned when he saw the frightened faces of those ponies. Verus smiled as well and looked at the guards. “Lead the way.” He said.

The guards turned around and began walking. The hallways seemed to look identical and Verus was sure they would get lost soon. No one could keep track of these twists and turns. He heard Krogg speak from behind him in their locust language.

“May I say something my king?” asked Krogg in his usual deep voice.

“Yes Krogg speak.” replied Verus.

“I feel as though we haven't been cautious enough. We need to be to survive. We are the only ones we can trust.” He said. Verus was thinking and then he replied.

“I agree Krogg. I understand. We can’t trust them fully unless we can be sure.” Verus finished and he looked forward again. The guards were still walking, But were now confused as to the jiberish they spoke during the walk.

“We have arrived please be respectful. We are watching you.” The guard said trying to be intimidating.

Verus walked in to see Celestia and the six smaller ones he met yesterday. They were eating happily. Celestia saw them and asked them to join. They went to the large and sat down.

“Verus did you sleep well?” She asked him in a calm voice.

“I slept well thank you very much.” Verus replied. Celestia looked at Krogg and froze. Her mind started racing as she thought about his armor. How did he get it. The armor was kept secured in her private study, and he hasn’t left the room all night. Yet here it was before her eyes.

She didn’t show her surprise though. “I see you found your armor. she said.

“Why yes. I am grateful that you gave me the armor. I thought you wouldn’t have given it to me after what happened.” He said. Your darn right I wouldn’t have. Celestia thought to herself before replying.

“You’re very welcome. Now you must be hungry please eat.” She said. Soon after plates of salad and fruit came out. Verus and Krogg both eyed it before trying it. Only Krogg stopped Verus and ate some of his food.

Krogg had a thinking expression on his face then gestured to the food. “It is alright to eat.” Krogg said. Verus looked up at him shook his head and started to eat. Krogg looked to the left of the table to see the ponie staring at him. He growled and the ponies all five ponies turned away….wait five?

Just as he was about to turn his head to the left again he saw a pink face show up out of nowhere. “Hello my name is Pinkie Pie. Wow you’re tall. What is your name? Mine is Pinkie Pie but I already said that huh? You should hold a record for height. I hope we can be friends. I made you, and your king cupcakes.” she finished with a huge smile.

Krogg looked stunned though his armor didn’t show it. He only understood blah blah blah I am annoying listen to my annoying voice blah blah blee blah. He looked down at the pastries below him on the table.

“Pinkie where did you find the time to make these? I know that you should not be allowed into the kitchen of the castle at all.” said Twilight.

“Oh Twilight I never leave ponyville without new pony greeting cupcakes. Or in this case new locust.” She said with a laugh.

“Then how are they warm?” Asked Twilight.

“Oh Twilight there are some things nopony can know.” Pinkie said as she pat Twilights head. Twilight let out a sigh then went on to argue with the pink one. Krogg looked down at Verus who had already finished his food.

Krogg took that as his cue to eat. As he munched away everyone was silent except for the chatter of the ponies in their section of the table. Then suddenly the door burst open and a guard approached the princess.

“Princess there has been an attack on the city by those creatures from last night.” said the guard.

“We have to stop them. Do you know what they are after?” asked Celestia.

“Yes. Queen Chrysalis.”

Underneath east district of Canterlot

“You know your mission. Chrysalis has come here seeking Celestias aid. Do whatever you must. DESTROY everything you must to kill her.” said Viken to a large assortment of boomers, drones, beast riders, and reavers. In unison all said “YES GENERAL!”

A large hole opened up causing the creatures of death come to the surface. The citizens ran for cover as fast as they could. All they could hear were explosions and gunfire as some were gunned down by the locust. There was a series of loud shouts all saying one thing “DIE GROUNDWALKERS!!!”

Distractions

Verus walked down the halls with a furious pace. “Verus you can’t seriously be considering trying to counter their attack. You are hopelessly out numbered.”

“Does it look like I care Celestia? I may be outnumbered however many to two, But Krogg and I outgun anyone who tries to stop us.” He continued on his path until the princess stood in front of him stopping his motion.

“Just listen for a second Verus, my standing army has already taken action and I am getting status reports. They are stopping the locust from even getting close to the gates.” Celestia looked at Verus awaiting his reply.

“You’re sure your ponies can handle the locust? After all of the things I have told you, what they are capable of?” Verus looked back at Celestia. The princess appeared to be thinking hard.

“Your highness let us go out there. The locust will surely cause a lot of damage even if your army stops them.” Krogg said in his deep voice. “As far as we are concerned we don’t even need to be asking you.” He added.

“Just go then I will not stop you from doing this especially when my little ponies are in danger.” She said. Verus and Krogg nodded then picked up the pace running faster and faster until they were out of sight.

“Princess?” Celestia looked down to her left to see a guard.”Yes?” She replied. “Chrysalis is waiting for you in your study. Your sister has already started to speak with her shall we go?”

“But of course.” she then followed the guard to the study where she would at least get a couple questions answered.

UNKNOWN POINT IN CANTERLOT PRESENT TIME.

Verus thought there would be significantly more locust but no. The entire deployment of locust was centered in this area aside from the reavers. Speaking of reavers Krogg should be just... about… DIE GROUNDFEEDARS HAHAHAHAHA! done.

Just then all of the locust moved their attention to the reaver in the sky that they proceeded to shoot at. Verus took this chance of their broken concentration to attack as did many of the soldier ponies. He reached behind his back and pulled out two grenades.

He threw one at a boomer and one at two hunters. The hunters started coughing as the ink entered their lungs the first one choked to death while the second one escaped the cloud he looked for the culprit seeing the theron killing more of his comrades he raised his gun to fire.

Only for it to be ripped off. He screamed in agony as the kryll went to work on him as they did with the boomer. Once the kryll were finished they went to protect their master. Verus continued to slit throats and blast off shells by instinct. He wasn’t even trying. He took this time to think of the reasons as to why they would attack not a full day from their last attack.

This seems rushed on very short notice really rushed. Also if they wish to kill him this Chrysalis or the princesses why send a small detachment it just made no sense...unless this was a “DISTRACTION!” Verus shouted right as he snapped a drones neck. Verus stopped to look around and all he saw was a bunch of slack jawed soldier ponies looking at him and the large group of dead bodies surrounding him.

He raised a finger to his ear and called for Krogg to pick him up. His reaver landed and pretty soon they were cruising through the air. “I saw you on the ground fighting my king. what happened?” Krogg asked.

“I think I just tuned out the fighting I am so used to it.” Is what Verus said. What he was thinking was that he just blacked out in thought and mercilessly killed those locust.

“This seemed a lot quicker than I originally thought it would be . Dont you think?” said Krogg as they approached castle grounds.

“Well I was thinking about that and I think this may be a distraction.” said Verus. Krogg looked back at him. “A distraction from what?”

“I am not sure yet.” said Verus. They landed at the castle. They put the reaver to sleep at the holding pens. They headed straight back to the castle entrance. There stood a guard who told them he was ordered to take them to Celestia when they returned.

MEANWHILE…

“So this is as much of a waste of our time as it is of yours. Just tell us the information you were able to gather. the sooner you do the sooner we can help.” said Luna trying again to get some information from Chrysalis and her changelings.

“Not one word until your locust friend arrives” said Chrysalis. Luna let out a groan of frustration. Just then they heard a scratching noise coming from the vents it was getting closer and closer by the second. The changelings got ready for a fight as did the royal guards in the room. the scratching noise got really loud above them then it stopped.

The bending of metal was heard as the vent pipe was ripped back and out popped a small creature. It was short, had a rounded hunchback, a big mouth with large teeth, And most peculiar of all no eyes. It looked very strange was an understatement. Everybody in the room had their horn or spear pointed at it. A guard asked “What is it? Some sort of monkey dog thing?” It then did something that caught everyone off guard, it opened its mouth and screeched.

The screech made everyone flinch. Their sensitive hearing wasn’t used to dealing with that high pitch a noise. Celestia looked up when the screeching ceased. The glass windows were shattered, everyone had recuperated from the screech, and the creature had others looking like it coming out of the vents.

They all started attacking the ponies and changelings. Celestia fired off a few shots of magic at them but they were too fast and they dodged the blasts. One of them ran towards her and a guard kicked it across the room it hit the wall and slumped over motionless. The guard smirked but was tackled to the ground by three more of them and was ripped apart as he screamed in agony.

The small creatures looked up from their meal with bloody mouths and looked over to their brothers tearing apart a changeling.

“Shin!!” Screamed another changeling after witnessing the other ones demise. Celestia caught the small pack of abominations by surprise by shooting them in the head when they weren’t paying attention. She killed four out of the twelve present.

The guards and changelings ran in just beating down on the monsters while Luna, Chrysalis, And Celestia shot at them with lethal beams of magic. The Creatures all fell limp in minutes. With this moment all of the occupants in the room took a breath. A guard stood over his fallen comrade as he swore he would be remembered.

Some chatter could be heard over by the group of changelings as they huddled over their fallen brother. “What were those things?” Asked Luna as she took in the sight around her.

“Wretches.” said a familiar voice. They looked to the door to see Verus and Krogg standing there looking at the current scene in the study. He walked forward and grimaced at the stench of the dead flesh of wretches as they were carried out of the room. “Celestia I must speak with you. I think this half assed attempt of an attack was a distraction. I am not sure what yet.”

“Perhaps I may be able to shed some light on this dilemma.” Said Chrysalis as one of her changelings constructed a weird looking Tome out of green goo.”This is the collected knowledge my changelings were able to gather on the locust. The locust have come in contact with a spiritual force which is believed to be helping them.”

“Wait so you mean to tell us that the locust are being helped by some ghost?” Asked Luna

“Well..yes But hold on and let me finish with this part you’ll really love it. My intelligence tells me they are based right here in canterlot mountain.” Chrysalis said.

“Then I guess we should take that with a very large grain of salt. Because I know from experience that your “intelligence” isn’t a very good place to get information.” Luna said with some attitude on the word intelligence.

“Quiet you. I know for certain it is true.” Chrysalis said trying to convince Luna.

“Without proper evidence we can’t be certain that’s even true.” Luna said back to the queen.

“Well go ahead and check I guarantee you’ll find them.” Chrysalis said confident in this proposal to look for them. Suddenly Verus shouted and silenced everyone.

“Ignorant fools. This attack was a distraction for them leaving. They knew Chrysalis would give us this information that’s why they wanted her dead. Now that she is here they decided to leave and used an “Attack” as the distraction to occupy us. Now they are probably hundreds of miles from here and you are here arguing like a bunch of children. Krogg lets go we are tracking them down.” Verus finally finished as him and Krogg ran all the way to the holding pens where their ride was

“My king what if they are tunneling under ground how will we see them by reaver?” Krogg asked.

“Well Krogg I am guessing they have a lot of locust with them so unless they have procured a riftworm there is no way they could tunnel underground without tunnels.” Verus said as he put more supplies they gathered from dead locust onto the reaver.

He turned around and saw Celestia standing there looking at him. “I refuse to let you leave without me giving you a proper send off.” She said as he walked closer.

“Well here I am. Is that all?” Verus said.

“Is there anything I can do for you before you leave?” Celestia asked him. He stood and thought for a while then smirked.

“Do you remember the night I arrived here?” He asked.

“Of course. Why might I ask?”

“I need you to get something for me.” He said. After a few seconds of waiting she returned with onyx coloured armor. Verus and Krogg took the armor and mounted it on the reaver. It then proudly wore the armor of the onyx government soon to be.

Celestia walked up to Verus as he was seated on the reaver driver seat. “One more thing take this that way we can keep in touch so I can make sure you don’t die.” She said when she gave him a mirror that he could hold in his hand.

“Aww Celestia you do care.” Krogg said as he was setting the Kryll shield in place.

“Well just try not to die and you won't hear from me that often.” she said to both of them.

“Will do. See you later. Give my regards to Luna and the elements.” Krogg said as he gave her a thumbs up. he didn’t know why but this land made him feel comfortable enough to talk like this.

“I will.” She replied as he took off. Verus paid close attention to a monitor to his right. the reaver was given orders to follow the stench of the locust that handled it before the attack.

Everything made more sense now. All of the forces sent were nothing but cannon fodder. Thats why he took out all of the ground forces without even trying. That also explained why this reaver had such a malleable mind. Now though he could only focus on getting answers and blood from these locust especially Viken.

With that thought in his mind he sent the reaver faster to its destination.

UNDERNEATH EAST DISTRICT OF CANTERLOT:

SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER DURING START OF ATTACK.

Viken moved through the moving ranks as they were heading out through the passage. A mist with the same color and lighting of the apparition of the “GOD” Kontos. “Ah now we can escape and gather all forces with the added bonus of that idiot Verus coming straight for us.”

“Kontos I don’t know how you treat allies but the locust usually give them some form of truth when they go on a suicide mission.” He said in a very less than pleased voice.

“Silence! they were merely a distraction for us. do not speak out again.” the mist said as it whizzed away.

It was then Viken calmed himself down. That bastard would pay. After he was done with Verus he would Kill Kontos brutally.He just needed to find out more about him. After that thought he continued on the track they were taking.

Fully unaware of the future that was set for him and his locust.

Calmness For the most part.