Battle of Crystal Hill

Following the last moment of previous chapter.

"Graaaaaaahh!" It was a splitting scream coming from Rooster Hoof, the changeling covering his ears in pain at the roaring farm pony.

"You think you can get the drop on me?!" He screamed as he punched the unfortunate infiltrator in the cheek, causing a faint crunching noise from his outer shell. The ling fell to the ground, crumpling up in a ball while holding his hit face with his hooves.

The heavy breathing from the stallion above him forced him to crack his eyes open to look. The pony was red faced and looked like he was calming down from a fit of rage.

"Now look here you litt-" He was cut off "Now!" A loud feminine voice proclaimed as a team of heavily armored guards ripped open the flap, spears pointed inside. Behind the three or so guards was Captain Dash, looking like she was woken up by a dragon roar. It wasn't too far off.

"Sir! Out of the tent and on the ground, same with yo-" The captain paused when she saw the black form on the tent's floor. "And err..." She stuttered. "Drag them both to the holding cells ASAP! Restrain the non-pony. That might be one of those creatures coming from the north. Extreme caution when handling both."

Some time passes, Holding Cells

The holding area was a dark, underground and quite humid wartime dungeon of sorts. Consisting of over 65 cells all put in a crypt layout, it was good for holding officers or other hostile foreign agents.

"Are they both in separate cells?" Came a low whisper from the captain. A nod affirming both were secure caused the captain to calm her stance. "Send for Sombra."

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"What did you need me for at this unholy hour?" Sombra moaned as he walked down the steps to the cells with the captain. "A stallion screamed in the street, follow by a loud thump. When we opened the tent flap we found an injured creature that fits the description of our to be enemies and a angry stallion." She said with a huff.

Sombra looked down with a slight frown. "The creature also has bruising under its shell on the cheek." Soaring added on. "Well let's see the creature first, see if it can communicate." Sombra said, walking down the steps into the lit cell area, holding two occupants in cells next to eachother. But something was up. They both looked like Rooster Hoof. One on the left with a bruised cheek and the other on the right looking ready to bust out of the cell and clobber somepony.

"Let me out! All I did was sock the that pony for busting in my tent!" Screamed the one on the right. Followed by the left with the bruised cheek mimicking Rooster's last sentence. "I take it the one on the left is the creature?" Sighed Sombra, obviously tired. Walking up to the left cell he looked close at the fake Rooster Hoof closely. "Drop it, I'll turn you into a crystal statue to be shown off in my garden." Somba said, his horn gaining a black aura.

The eyes of fake Rooster's eyes went wide, he was engulfed in green flame. Revealing the black changeling under, his face was open in a silent terror with his cracked shell on his cheek. "I-it, you can't!" It spoke with light voice, obviously it had a better time speaking while disguised. "I didn't mean any harm! I-" Sombra cut him off. "Enough, what are you and how did you take the form of that stallion?"

The ling looked terrified for a moment, but then his face scrunched up in concentration as if he were speaking to a third-party. "I am unable to share any information. Release me." Was his response, his face was blank as he spoke. Sombra thought over it a moment before moving to the other cell. "You, what happened in your tent." The Stallion looked at sombra with a thoughtful frown. "Well I was jus sleeping away in my tent when that there black bug walks into the tent. Using some sort of green tinted magic n goin to bite me. So I just punch him right in his cheek there and feel a crunch under my hooves. He falls over in pain and your guards decide to barge in and take us both here." He said with some annoyance. "I don't deserve to be in this cell, I ain't done nothing but attack some creeping spider."

Sombra looked at the stallion a moment. "You took it down in one hit?" Rooster responded almost immediately. "Yus sir." Sombra looked over to his guards. "What are you in the city for? Soldiering?" A nod from Rooster affirmed the question. "I ain't gonna have some crazy species come down here and take mah land." Sombra looked back at Rooster Hoof. "Alright then, how about I make you the commanding officer of the unarmed corps? We won't have all the armor ready for everyone so we will have a small unit of 'militia' so to speak."

Rooster nodded vigorously, follow by his release and a escort out of the cell area, leaving Sombra and the ling with guards at the entrance. "You won't share any information with me?" The ling stayed silent when Sombra asked. "Fine." Sombra almost chirped out happily "I need something to take my stress out on anyway." That was all the ling heard before magic engulfed him, his shell almost immediately sent messages of pressure to his brain, a 'Fight or Flight" instinct kicked in and the ling began to struggle against the magic. He would have used his horn to stop his shell from being crushed, but an inhibitor ring was currently locked into place on the base of his head where horn met forehead. "Stop!" he screamed out as his shell cracked, extreme pain lancing through his entire body. "You didn't want to tell me anything right? Then your useless and I'll just assume your the race I'm looking to destroy!" He said, laughing as his aura's black tar and green slime color covered his eyes. The ling felt his entire shell ready to break right off as Sombra fell into a evil laughing fit. His mind obviously controlled by the black magic almost completely, a black form shifted in his head at the same time as a lighter, bright form.

"Stop!" The shout came from inside of Sombra's head, from the original owner of the body, the light. "Stop crushing him! You can still use him!" The aura around his eyes and horn went away, releasing the ling. The black entity simply went silent, holding control of the body but leaving the ling be. "You are lucky you little worm, I would have crushed you if my circumstances were not complicated." Sombra said aloud before walking up the steps to his quarters, ready to bout in his head with his two "consciences"

"Have the little thing studied for weak spots." He said to Soaring upstairs before walking off.

Changeling point of view

Pain, pain all over was all it could feel. His shell was cracked and couldn't be repaired without a medical cocoon, he was sunk. Captured, bleeding from where his shell had cut skin. And he could almost feel the dark aura from the pony leader. Pure malice and hate for everything around him. He smelled it in the air the second he walked in, changelings had the passive ability to smell strong emotions.

But that light he had felt a hint of before the hurting stopped, it obviously wasn't in control of the body at all. But it was there. "The king will be interested to hear of this." He thought to himself before drifting off from the due to his tired state and what had just happened.