The first thing that Tapp noticed when he left his room was the overwhelming smell of sulfur and smoke. He quickly switched on his helmet’s filtration system to get rid of the stench. Ugh, this definitely ranks top five in the category of worst smells ever. I think I might have even lost my appetite. A deep gurgling noise erupted from his stomach convincing him otherwise. Okay probably not, well I guess it’s a good thing I’m headed to chow then anyway. Better not keep Graves waiting. And with that, he started making his way to the chow hall.

Tapp had walked through the white corridors for about twenty minutes now. Every so often he would notice scoring on the walls or a dismembered pony or changeling corpse. It was obvious that the fighting had already come through here. He’d made it about halfway to the cafeteria when he heard a loud buzzing noise coming from up ahead. The corridor veered off to the right so he couldn’t see anything but that only meant whatever was up there couldn’t see him either. Tapp quickly moved into an open room on his right and waited for the sound to pass but instead the buzzing started to get louder. He checked his radar to see how many of them there were. To his surprise the radar counted eleven of them and they were coming his way.

Luckily for him, the room he was hiding in was connected to both corridors which would make it easier if he just wanted to slip by their patrol. I could just let these guys pass and keep a low profile until I reach Graves. The unicorn took a moment to consider this. But if I do that I’ll just be leaving them to attack someone else…Yeah, not going to happen. Besides, I‘m itching for some payback!
Tapp quietly produced three black disks about the size of hockey pucks. He quietly removed the strip of plastic covering the disk’s adhesive side and stuck them into the ceiling of the hallway in five foot intervals. The buzzing sound was starting to become deafening. He checked his radar again. Any second they’d be turning around the corner to meet him. Tapp ducked back into the room and pulled out another device except this one was a small black cylindrical device. He trotted over to the other door and waited for the group of changelings to pass by. He opened up the door once the radar showed that his unsuspecting enemy had turned around the corner. He followed them making sure to keep a safe distance to keep himself from being heard. Peeking around the corner, Tapp got a good look at the enemy. What he saw, surprised him. These weren’t the same changelings he had been fighting.

What he saw now was an assortment of differing changelings that could only be described as nightmarish. They all varied from one another in some way shape or form. Ranging in a multitude of varying sizes with a few of them being almost as tall as Celestia, some of them had tentacles protruding from their mouths and legs while others were brimming with spikes some even seemed to be oozing green slime. Some of them were hooved while others had claws or crab like pincers for legs. They were all enamored with the same skeletal armor as their counterparts only theirs was thicker. The sight of them made him sick.

The one who seemed to be leading the patrol of abominations was covered in reddish plated armor. He towered a good head over the others and wore a distinguishing red centurion helm with black armor that had been speckled red, probably with equine blood. Unlike the changelings that he was used to fighting, these changelings didn’t seem to be starving they looked fit and ready for battle. They also didn’t consist of the same black color schemes that their counterparts had. These changelings bore skeletal armor with colorful shades and hues that probably were used to distinguish rank, class, or a combination of the two. Tapp couldn’t tell, but then again, he didn’t really care. The only thing he cared about was making them pay.

He waited for the mass of changelings to pass halfway through his trap before he detonated the explosives. CLICK. There was a quick high pitched chime and then the entire hallway lit up in a burst of bright explosions. There was an ear splitting scream as fire engulfed the hall. Tapp shut his eyes and backed up a few feet not wanting to get caught in the explosions back blast. He spun around the corner ready to finish off whoever might have been lucky enough to survive the blast. To his dismay he found that these new changelings were quite resilient.

The unicorn commando could barely believe what he was seeing. The area where his explosives had gone off caused massive amounts of damage to the surrounding area but seemed to have little effect on the creatures. The explosives ripped through the surrounding walls and flesh of six unlucky changelings leaving the corridor scorched and littered with the remains of charred and burning body parts but that was it. The others seemed stunned but were generally unharmed.

He took careful aim and fired three consecutive rounds into a bulbous looking changeling that was throwing up black and yellow ichor from its mouth. The rounds found their mark ripping through the creatures slime sacks causing the slime to combust inside the creature tearing it in half and showering the rest of the changelings around it in its innards. The changeling leader pointed towards the commando and shrieked horribly. The mass of changelings started rushing towards the unicorn but he had the advantage at a distance.

“Come on you buckin freaks of nature…come and get me!”

A wave of bullets from his rifle and ripped through the forelegs of one of the tentacled changelings effectively crippling it. A bright green flash came up to meet him in return. The beam of energy struck him hard in the shoulder but glanced off the armor leaving little more than a new dent. The first two to reach the unicorn commando came flying at full throttle.

The first one to reach the commando attempted to slice through him with a sickle shaped foreleg. He instinctively ducked forward and forcefully jabbed the muzzle of his weapon into the changeling’s throat before pulling the trigger and blowing its head off. The headless corpse slumped to the ground next to him as he swung his weapon into the second flyer’s skull stunning it. Tapp spun around and bucked the changeling in the head with his rear legs causing the changeling to crash into the wall and crumple to the ground. The last changeling left was the patrol's leader.

Tapp grunted as the last changeling hit him with a beam of energy that normally would have disemboweled him had he not been wearing his armor. Tapp sprinted back around the corner as the armored changeling continued to send volleys of greenish energy in his direction. He noticed that his visor’s HUD started to pulse yellow around its edges indicating the armor’s level of damage.

“You know, you buggers are a lot stronger than your cousins. I’ll give you that at least.”

Tapp quickly reloaded his weapon and unsheathed his knife holding both weapons up with his magic. He swiveled around the corner and saw that the changeling leader was now only a few feet away. Upon seeing the small commando, the larger changeling stood up on its hind legs and lurched forward swiping at him with one of its forelegs. Tapp managed to slide under the creature’s scythe like foreleg was able to punch his knife through the creature’s abdomen. The changeling shrieked and proceeded to double over in pain as Tapp twisted his knife in the changeling's guts for added measure. He then proceeded to grab onto the creature’s armor and swing himself onto to its back. Lurching for the changeling’s helmet, Tapp quickly tore it off and fired several shots into its skull and neck. The changeling stumbled forward a couple steps before collapsing on the cold floor with a loud thud. Greenish yellow blood slowly pooled around its body and mixed in with what was left of the bug’s former comrades.

Tapp slowly got off the changeling patrol leader, retrieved his knife, and examined the mess around him. Surely others had heard the noise and would be heading towards his position. He had to leave…now. Without another thought Tapp began galloping to the cafeteria to find his friend.

Author's Note

I enjoyed writing this piece of the story and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. Please don't hesitate to critique or comment if there's something you liked or didn't like, please tell me. I love getting feedback. Thanks.