Redemption

The next couple of days seemed to pass in a blur. I woke, I ate, I even started using the bathroom again; it was nice, I'd recommend it. Sadly, cabin fever had started rearing its ugly head, I found myself more often then not sitting at my Alpha's bedside or finding some form of physical exertion suited to the cramped quarters. By the morning of my fifth day of recovery, I was on the floor, pushing myself up with my arms repeatedly, trying to kill some time.

After a brief knock on the door, Nurse Redheart comes in with breakfast. Wait, make that two breakfasts. I see a second pair of covered plates sitting on the cart. I bring my knees up underneath my chest and rock back onto them as I straighten out, rising to my full stature. Stretching my slightly sore arms out, I toss the nurse a small wave and a smile. Nurse Redheart smiles back and sets my plates down on the table by my bed, but then moves over to Vine's side.

"It's time to wake her up?" I ask, moving closer.

"Uh-huh," Redheart replies as she lays with her ear on her chest, listening to her heartbeat. Why she has to listen to her heart with a heart monitor right there, I don't know. But I know better than to interfere with a doctor, nurse, whatever. Seriously, they have needles, and knives, DON'T tick them off.

Moving over to my bed, I snag my helmet, considering the front of it, I consider once again getting the design changed, and once again remember I don't really know anypony with the know-how on how exactly to alter it without breaking it. Sighing, I set it on my head, and run the webbing back around my chin and neck, securing it. I then put my gloves on, I bounce a few times to make sure my suits settled well enough, then I sit on my bed to wait.

Only a few minutes later, the doors opened again by a unicorn doctor, with what looks like chest paddles for a cutie mark. He ignores me, and moves to the bed with Vine resting in it. I simply sit in place, moving as little as possible. The less I have to deal with any doctor, the better.

"How is she?" He asks in a semi-bored tone.

"She's doing fine. We should be ready to go any time now, doctor." Nurse Redheart replies.

"Alright then, lets get started." the doctor replies, his boredom lessening as his tone turns more professional. I maintain a relaxed pose, and watch intently. He moves up to stand by her head, his horn glows slightly, and then he touches it to her head. After a couple seconds of this, he raises his head, the glow around his horn dissipates, and he proceeds to file right back out of the room. I can't help but feel that's a little weird, but I figure he may be under orders not to interact or something.

"Well, that was fast," I state, looking at the door the doctor had just disappeared through.

"He's under orders not to talk to you," Nurse Redheart states casually as she continues to watch Vine closely, called it.

I remove my helmet and move to kneel beside the gurney Vine is resting on, staring at her face intently. Her breathing still seems steady, but I figure the doctor just removed the spell, letting her body decide on its own how it wanted to wake up, at least, that's how I'd handle it. Either way, I'm kind of giddy, Vine should be waking up soon, and then we'll be together, and everything . . . well, it won't all magically go away unless I want to play with certain rare herbs I'm not sure even exist here. But it'll be a darn sight better once I have the one I've shed a lot of my blood for conscious to be thankful for it.

It stays this way for a couple of minutes, me staring intently at her, waiting for her to wake, and Nurse Redheart shuffling from one set of hooves to the other. Then, her eyes start twitching, and her legs shift a little, it isn't much movement, but after she's spent more than two weeks as a practical vegetable it's like a shot to the heart. I can't help grinning as I watch her start to wake.

Finally, Vine Bloom's eyes flutter open, cat-like yellow irises meet my own, and she freezes for a moment before a small smile breaks out on her face. "You made it," is all she has to say. I can work with that.

"Yeah, you know me. I keep my promises," I reply as I continue to sit there grinning like an idiot at her.

Vine considers me a moment, then her eyes widen and she tries to rise, at which point I rise and gently rest a hand on her shoulder. "No, stay down, you've been out for two weeks."

Vine looks at me semi-frantically. "Where's my weapons? What happened to Win-" The rest is muffled by my hand pressing to her mouth as I shake my head solemnly.

"No names, Ma'am," Is all I say, continuing to watch her, my own eyes telling her what my mouth cannot.

Vine just sits there, staring at me as her eyes grow wider and wider before she closes them and pulls my hand down weakly. "How many survived?" She finally asks, her tone dead.

I reach down and pull her into my arms, hugging her close as my own tears threaten to stream down my cheeks. "I'm sorry, by the time I made it out of the city, it was done. Your squad was the only one to make it out, and they gave their lives to give you and your cargo the chance to escape," I state softly, causing her body to shudder as she otherwise stays quiet and still in my arms.

I glance up at Redheart, and motion my eyes towards the door. Ever a quick one, she nods, pushes the cart out of the way, and heads out, closing the door softly behind herself as I continue to hold Vine close as she slowly starts to cry. My own tears join hers as we sit there, sharing, remembering, and mourning.

After about half an hour of sitting on Vine's bed, soothing her with calming words, and stroking her mane, she finally lies back on her bed, tear streaked muzzle staring at the ceiling.

"We're it?"

"Yes. By the time I made it to the Alpha Site, most swarmlings and all personnel remaining in the base were dead. I ended up hunting down a secondary queen in her nest." I report, my hand still stroking the side of her neck soothingly.

"Wait, you took on a queen, in her nest? By yourself?" Vine asks, staring at me with a deadpan expression, somewhat ruined by her watery eyes.

I grin sheepishly and shrug my shoulders. "I had my heavy armor, and there was no one else to back me up, it was either that or watch this world burn. I knew which one you'd choose," I reply, she's going to be mad when she finds out what I did in the city.

Vine shakes her head. "I know you're tough, big guy. But I have troubles believing you killed a swarm queen, even an adolescent, on your own."

I shake my head solemnly. "I didn't, it beat me." I reply, prompting her to stare at me a second.

"It what now?" is all Vine can think of to say, I share the sentiment.

"It beat me, I got pinned down by its drones and it circled around through a side tunnel to flank me. It worked, I tried to engage both ways, but you know how that always works out. Anyway, it managed to knock me down, and started pounding the tartarus out of my shield, after it just about broke my arm, it managed to force my shield down long enough to clock me on the helm. My helmet held, but I was knocked out, or I may have been close to dead, not sure which. Either way, I met our Queen's shade, and she came to my aid, we managed to subdue the swarmlings, and she took the swarm queen's body for her own while we came to get you." I explain, causing her to pull back to stare at me incredulously.

"You saw our Queen?" Vine asks, causing me to nod my head solemnly.

"And she came back from the dead to aid you?" is her second question, causing me to chuckle mirthlessly.

" I believe it's more appropriate to say I used a fragment of her soul to manifest her shade," I reply thoughtfully.

Vine stares at me oddly for a moment, then she finally asks, "When did you start using fancy words?"

I chuckle, a grin on my face. "You talk to the Element of Magic and see if you don't pick up some odd words along the way," I flippantly reply.

Vine just shakes her head. "Okay, not bringing that subject up just yet. How did you . . . manifest her shade? And how did you end up with a fragment of her soul, anyway?"

I stare forward unblinking for a moment, images flooding my head. Dead everywhere, Nightguard and Swarmlings alike. My queen, coughing blood, her broken horn laying several feet away. The scream of the Moon's spirit as I pulled it from the sky, the scream she uttered as she used me like a surrogate horn. The unbearable pain, that from a changling hybrid that went through enormous amounts of pain every time he used his . . . abilities. I shook my head. "I'm afraid that's one story I'm not telling anyone except the Princesses, I'm sorry," I bow my head as I apologize.

Vine tilts her head, ears perking up at my tone, but thankfully doesn't pry further. "Okay, but how did you cause her to manifest, anyway?"

I laugh. "I haven't the foggiest clue, you know me, I break things, I only build them in my spare time," I reply, making a crack about my nonexistent free time in a fight for my adoptive race's survival.

"Uh-huh, so where is she now?" Vine asks, glancing around the room as if even now she was there.

I close my eyes and sigh. "Nightmare . . . she had to go back home. Her...purpose, was finished. Once we had you and the Elements..." I trail off, unable to finish the statement for all the mental agony I was experiencing.

Oddly enough, I feel no tears, but I think that may have to do with all the crying I've been doing, speaking of which. I reach out to the food cart, and pull the cup of water off it. Bringing it over, I hand it to Vine. Giving me a tired smile, she accepts the cup and brings it to her mouth, drinking it down, slowly at first, but faster as her throat muscles get used to the act of swallowing again.

Figuring it is time to take a break from the catching up, I bring out a lap table, and help her shift to a sitting position. Even with the disparity in body size, her muscle mass isn't anything to sneeze at. Placing her food in front of her I pop off the first lid with a bit of flair, prompting her to giggle at my display before she dives into her food, consuming it ravenously.

I pull my own food towards me, and taking the lid off, I begin to consume it as well. Seeing Vine finishing up her second plate as I'm barely halfway through my first, I chuckle, and after checking to ensure it's compatible, hand my other plate of food off to her.

"Thank you!" Vine mutters through a mouthful of food, causing me to grin as I shake my head and go back to my own plate.

Finishing it off, I put the plate on the cart, and look around. Seeing my pillow I walk over to my bed. I reach under my pillow and pull out the letter I'd received. Considering it a moment, I shrug, and pass it to Vine.

"This arrived about a week ago, it's got some interesting info you should probably be aware of," I state, as Vine looks it over, swallowing the food she's chewing.

Vine starts to open it to read it, then glances up at me bemusedly. "You can read?" She asks suddenly, I roll my eyes.

"No, I didn't magically pick up the ability to read on my mad rush to save you, I had a friend read it for me," I reply, shaking my head.

Vine simply shakes her head. "Yeah, well, you learned how to speak the last time you made a 'mad dash to save me' as I recall, and look how that turned out!" she retorts, huh, didn't think of that.

I shake my head. "Okay, okay, no, I don't know how to read, no. But, I did meet a rather interesting pegasus, you'll probably hate her, complete tom-colt," I chuckle.

Vine rolls her eyes. "Of course you did, can't you make a regular friend one of these days? Like a nice young proper mare, huh?" she asks in a mock-plaintive tone.

I throw my head back and laugh, which feels awesome, after all the pain and loss. Vine laughs too, albeit with a hollow echo that causes me a pang of sadness. Shaking my head, I look up at the clock. "Oh hey! Twilight, the Element of Magic I mentioned just now? She should be coming to visit shortly, plus she's bringing a couple friends! You'll get to meet them this time, should be fun!"

"I look forward to it," Vine responds offhandedly, eyes scanning the letter in her hooves.

I nod my head. "Apparently, 5000 bits is a year and a half's pay for a weather manager," I state knowingly, then scrunch up my brow. "What's a weather manager, anyway?" I ask. Vine just closes her eyes and sighs.

I open my mouth to rephrase the question, but I end up getting distracted by a knock on the door. Tossing my helmet on, I sit on my bed, and watch as the doors open shortly thereafter, and in walks Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and another one of the Elements, Generosity, I believe.

Waiting until they close the door, I take my helmet off and give a small wave, keeping my face blank for the introductions. While funny, making ponies uncomfortable by smiling at them is counter-productive. Sadly, it appears Twilight didn't give them the full explanation, so I end up sitting there glaring at a blushing Twilight as Applejack and the other element gape at me.

"Now that the uncomfortable silence has been held, I do believe introductions are in order. My name is Redemit, I'm a private in the Nightguard, I don't bite, I'm not contagious, nor do I seek world domination, although I do have an odd hankering for cake now, and I really can't say why." I pause after this statement, wondering where the last part came from, until I hear a giggling noise, and sigh, facepalming.

"Vine, don't hurt her, please," I warn. Vine stares at me a moment in confusion, until a reality-defying pink blob pops out from under my bed, prompting my own fight or flight reflexes, even with my foreknowledge of her insanity. Sadly, Vine wasn't so prepared, and even half starved and probably weak as a newborn, she's off her gurney and across the room(Tearing the I.V. out en route I might add.) in a instant and body slams the Element of Laughter, forcing her down and rearing up for more, until I grasp her by the shoulders and yank her up into my chest as I reach out with a hand and staunch the small blood-flow from her foreleg. "Vine!" I yell holding her close as she tries to disengage, planting a rather sharp hoof in my face, snapping my head around.

At this point, she freezes, staring up at me as her instincts finally surrender to her intellect. I pull her close as she collapses into herself, and me, and proceeds to start shivering as she works the adrenaline out of her system, with the occasional sniffle. I hold her close, wrapping my wings around her and nuzzling the top of her head. Grinning sheepishly at the Elements and Twilight, most of whom seem to be staring at the Element of Laughter I open my mouth as I look down.

Blinking, I consider the Element of Laughter again, seeing an absolute change overtake her, once poofy, her mane now rests in straight lines down her back, and eyes that are normally sparkling with insan... lets call it mirth, are now clouded and murky, somehow retaining their color at the same time. Raising my brow, and feeling my hackles try to rise, I stare at the complete makeover that has occurred in the Element of Harmony.

Figuring I'd do my best to set the ground rules while still defusing the situation, I clear my throat, catching everypony's attention with the exception of Vine, who was still huddling into my chest as I rub her shoulder and back, avoiding her wings and the muscles anywhere near them like the plague, remembering what she'd done to me the last time I rubbed them. Admittedly at the time I wasn't being too bright, but I'd had a bruise on my face for few hours after. Needless to say, I avoided them and that subject about as much as I avoided asking about Nightmare Moon's life prior to the swarmling wars.

Shaking my head to dispel the distracting thoughts, I look down at the Element of Laughter. "Ma'am, I don't blame you for this, but if you want to stay in the same room, you're going to keep your antics to a minimum. And if you cause Vine any harm, it'll be the last thing I do, I'm sure, but I WILL drag your screaming soul with me down to Tartarus." This causes her to freeze in place, staring up at my face as if I was a hydra and she a hapless deer.

Glancing up at Twilight and the other two elements, all of whom looked too stunned to take offense yet, I tried to nip that in the bud as effectively as possible. "I'm sorry Ma'am, I was hoping to conduct civil introductions, but in the interim, allow me to introduce my handler, the one who raised me, Vine Blossom." I smile down at Vine as I say this, stroking her head softly as her shivers slow as she starts regaining her emotional equilibrium.

The four Element Bearers gather around me at the side of the bed, staying silent for the moment, whether out of respect or just from a lack of words, I cannot say. I just sit there, hugging Vine close as I rub her shoulders with my free hand and nuzzle the top of her head as she calms down. Once she seems steady, I slowly pull my wings back, allowing her to see the ponies around us.

Feeling her tense up, I tighten my arms about her briefly, to let her know I'm here, before slowly letting them fall, allowing her to move off me and onto the bed beside me, where she decides to sit, leaning against me for comfort as she smiles at them. "Hello," she says, her voice kind of scratchy after the crazy-pony-induced panic attack.

Glancing up, I see her cup by her bed. Patting her one last time, I stand and shuffle a few steps over. Grabbing the cup and finding it empty, I grab the handy pitcher of water, refill her glass, and hand it to her Grabbing my own cup and filling it as well, I take a couple swallows as I sit down by her, wrapping her in an arm and a wing to keep her comfortable, and to help support her. I can feel the muscle spasms, but I won't admit that to anyone.

"Hi! I'm Twilight Sparkle!" the lavender unicorn reintroduces herself.

"Howdy, Ah'm Applejack," The orange-and-blond pony says with a smile on her face.

"Hello, my dear, terribly sorry for the brash intrusion, my name is Rarity," The white unicorn with a well-managed purple mane speaks in a refined accent, causing me to wince internally as it reminds me of the 'royal' instructor who taught me most of the social nuances I needed to perform for the nobility, or as I liked to call him, the 'royal' pain.

"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie," The little pink bundle of terror introduces herself in a remarkably composed tone, causing me to blink at her a second before I facepalm at the residue of fear hiding in her eyes.

Sighing, I reach down and pat the pink menace on the head, causing a small squeak, suppressing a smile, I try to speak soothingly. "I'm sorry for the threat, Ma'am, while I can't say I didn't mean it, I won't harm you without good reason, so please, try not to let my tough exterior get to you, I just care for her, seeing as she's all I've got anymore," I state, my voice growing softer towards the end as I nestle my cheek atop Vine's head, causing her to giggle as she rubs against me before sitting up straight.

Pinkie stares up at me with her head tilted for a moment, the look of in her eyes giving me a weird feeling reminiscent of the feeling I had when I observed her earlier 'transformation' before nodding solemnly and then putting on a weird grin and bouncing in place slightly, causing me to shudder.

"So, what did I miss?" Vine finally asks, staring up at me before swiveling her head to face the others. "Obviously you've met before, if you saw... Pinkie's antics coming. How'd she get under the bed anyway?"

In response to her question, I just shake my head. "I don't know, and the other Elements don't seem to pay it any mind, personally, I'm thinking she's part chaos being or something, part of being the Element of Laughter and the Balance," I respond, causing Vine to stare up at me. "What? I'm not dumb! Just naive," I retort.

"What do ya mean?" Applejack pipes up.

"That's classifi... I can tell you actually, I forgot. Hey Twilight, your glorious Princess Celestia gave me permission to tell you stuff!" I smirk as I say it, expecting and being rewarded with the sight of a squeeing lavender unicorn. Laughing and shaking my head, I open my mouth again. "But I'm not repeating this story a couple times, if you want to hear it, you're going to have to bring the rest of the Elements, since I assume they all live in the surrounding area?" I query.

Twilight very happily nods her head. "Yep! Lets go get the rest, girls! Oh I can't wait to hear about other worlds!" She ends up dragging the other three with her, leaving Vine and me looking at a closed door shortly before I fall over laughing and Vine starts hitting me.

"When are you going to stop playing mind games?" She asks while slapping me in the ribs, thankfully my chainmail is stopping most of the force behind the blows, and I sit up looking at her.

"Hey, your mistake for all the snarkiness you used around me! I learned from the -oomph-" Anything I was going to say after that ended up joining me in folding up over her hoof as she rather expertly planted it in my sternum, our combat instructors would have been so proud.

"Uh-huh, as long as we're on the subject of things we're supposed to have learned, how much trouble have you been up to since you got here?" she asks, crud.

"Uhhh, yeah, about that. Ugh, okay, whatever. I guess I'll just start at the beginning. Destruction of public and private property, resisting arrest, assaulting a military officer, evading capture, breaking and entering, loitering, trespassing, oh hey there's a place I need to show you in that city, ow okay okay, resisting arrest, assaulting a peacekeeper, destruction of public or maybe military property depending on who that gate belonged too. After that, yeaaah, I was out of the city, came and checked out the Alpha Site, everything past that was on lawful order of my superior." Finishing my recitation of the various antics I'd been up too, I finally wind down and glance at Vine, who's sitting there staring up at me wide eyed, anger brewing in her eyes. "What? I've been busy dang it, I didn't even mean to slam that poor pegasus into the wall. And nobody died, so it's all good, huh? Please? Oh whatever, just make my death quick."

...

Yeaaaah, needless to say, she wasn't happy, so when the Elements showed back up, I was huddled in a corner, and Vine Bloom was sitting on the bed staring at me, wings slightly unfurled as she just sat there . . . staring.

"What's going on?" Twilight finally asks, causing Vine to jump into the air and spin around, her mouth opening as a blush literally explodes across her face.

"Uhhh, nothing! Yes, that's right, nothing at all!" Vine replies, I facepalm.

"Okay," Twilight states happily, wait, she fell for it?

I shake my head and stand rather shakily, tossing Vine a grin as her head snaps around to stare at me some more. Moving to my bed, I nudge her aside, with a little hissing on her part, and sit myself down, waving at the ponies entering the room.

Rainbow Dash buzzes over and gives me a hoof bump before slowly orbiting the room. Applejack and Pinkie both seem calm enough, Applejack finding a handy spot to sit and Pinkie . . . well, being herself, she seems all over the place, but her earlier reticence is gone, and she seems to be tame enough right now, so okay. Rarity seems to be examining my gloves I left on the table, the material more than the overall construct, further reinforcing my opinion she does something with cloth, probably a seamstress or something. And in the flank position comes the Element of Shyness . . . okay it's Kindness, but if there was an Element of Shyness, she'd fit the bill. She practically screams 'dawwww'.

Nudging Vine, I swivel my eyes at the Element of Kindness, she takes the hint and puts a kind smile on her face as she tilts her head to the side slightly. "Hello! Come on in, he's perfectly harmless unless you're a swarmling or harm me!" She says in a slightly overly cheery voice, causing me to roll my eyes and give the seemingly terrified pegasus a small wave.

I decide to toss my own opinion into the mix, because this pot doesn't have enough ponies stirring it already. "Hi, I'm Redemit, I'd like to say I'm harmless, but if you'd seen my world, you'd probably die of fright, so we won't discuss that! Instead, lets be civil, and have a nice discussion on what I am and what I did for . . . you know what, she may not want to be here," I facepalm as I realize the topic further discussions may impact upon.

Surprisingly, the timid Pegasus speaks up. "I...I'd like to hear it," she speaks out.

I stand solemnly, pat Vine reassuringly, and slowly walk over to her. She squeaks(So cute!) as I get closer, but I go to one knee, and hold out a hand, palm upward in a peaceful gesture. "Okay Miss, but first, I'll just say this now, I have done many things I'm not proud of, many of them have made me physically sick, and I still did them, again and again. Because it was either that, or watch my friends die, and for all the good we did, it didn't make us right. So all I ask, is that you not judge us too harshly,"

She continues to shudder slightly, staring at me from behind her mane(Daawwww) but nods her head, and I return her nod before slowly standing back up and moving to Vine's side. Pausing a moment, I look back at the yellow pegasus. "I'm sorry, what's your name, Ma'am?"

She mumbles something. I just shake my head and sigh. Sitting on the bed I look over the surrounding ponies. "You're going to want a cushion or a chair, this . . . will take awhile," I state evenly, glancing down at Vine, seeing her smile weakly in return, pulling her close again, I wrap a wing around her, letting her snuggle up against me as I slowly stroke her mane. I'll have to talk to the princesses about getting her some help. I don't know how to fix her mind, and the pain she feels is . . . extreme.

Looking back up as everyone finds their favored accommodations, I chuckle at Twilight with several scrolls laying before her with one unrolled and ready for use. Grabbing my glass and taking a small sip, I consider how to begin. "I'm not sure how to go about telling my story, so I guess I'll start as far back as I remember accurately,"

"Hello, my name is Redemit, but that's not always been my name, I used to be known by the name 'Frix', and I was a combat trained human, with the use of certain . . . arts, specific ponies could be trained to mentally link with a human. The ponies were trained to dominate the human in question, so the human would treat them as its alpha, and would be pliant to direction, even while being trained for violence. At this point the entire theory is still under experiment, and we were sent out on a proving mission. Given the objective to find a missing patrol in some badlands, my Alpha and her team was sent out with my 15-human pack. Our orders were to locate the patrol and evacuate them if at all possible, or to provide info on what happened without putting Pony lives at risk. They'd set up a small camp, little more than a couple tents and a small perimeter, but it sufficed for our needs, we weren't there long, and we didn't think we'd be attacked, it was just a missing patrol, they thought maybe a hydra or other rogue animal had gotten them. Sadly, it was no 'wild animal' that got them, it was much, much worse.”

Gore here. Continued from first part of chapter 2
Redemit - Past

Slamming into the shadow, I grabbed it by the first thing I could get a hold of, in this case a limb, and swung it into a tree. A dull splatter and the sound of crunching shell heralded the first trilling scream of the changeling in front of me. Tossing it into the air in front of me, I brought my bastard sword around in a one-handed horizontal arc, shearing most of the way through the body and tossing the rest to the side.

The immediate threat dealt with I settled back into the pack, looking to the beta for orders. "Pull them back, quietly. We got what we came for, lets pull out." The beta turned and started retracing his steps as his alpha gave him the commands associated with home and stalking.

I tried to follow, however I was having difficulty. Where my world was nothing but instinct and urges, I was . . . feeling, hearing . . . things. Voices that cried out. 'Hunt! Hunt! Prey Found!' I didn't know how I knew, but I knew without a doubt they'd found my Alpha's location, and the time for silence was at an end. At the same time, I'm having a contest of wills, my side was all elemental stubbornness, and the other, was hot and searing, a lust for blood and flesh, it would have had me kill everything, including my pack.

I sit back a moment, leaving my audience still hanging on every word. “Needless to say, I was moving in a haze, my body running on the trained responses that'd been drilled into me by my trainers, while portions of my brain that are generally NOT used by humans were being . . . stimulated. I'm not sure why it needed them, but the voices weren't strong enough to operate my body on their own, they needed to borrow parts of me. So, instead of being just a passenger in my body, I was actually fighting a contest of will.” I say, shaking my head as I consider the memory once again and continue.

'Something is wrong with my charge! He's freaking out and seems to be hearing things, I'm having troubles staying in contact!' My Alpha called out to the others near her. Her words . . . stirred my mind, but I didn't understand, not yet, but what I did know, was that she was in danger, and somehow, I . . . I reached out, and I informed her. 'Alpha, they hunt you.'

Stunned silence was my only response, before I heard her speak out again, this time to the others around her. 'Umm, you're not going to believe this. My charge just . . . talked,' this was met by silence, before I heard another voice respond.

'You mean to tell me your human just TALKED to you? Unless I'm mistaken, Humans don't talk! Get the wax out of your brain and straighten him out, NOW! Me need to be ready to move in 2 hours, as soon as the humans get back' The voice responded.

I chuckle mirthlessly. “I don't know where exactly in that sentence I started understanding, but I did know they'd ignored my warning, and this put my Alpha under direct threat. I think that's probably the point where my protective instincts kicked in and overrode the mental struggle going on in my head, helping me fight a battle I didn't even know I was fighting, kind of like being so sick you can't even tell you're nauseous.” I state with a grimace. Several of the Element bearers nod, Pinkie just maintains her weird grin.

'Alpha, they come, hide, I come,' At this point, I stopped following the beta's careful creep forward, and started forward more vigorously, but then stopped as I get a new feeling . . . an idea. I couldn't take them on by myself. At this point I wasn't even sure who 'they' were, much less how to weigh the odds. I just suddenly knew I needed the pack, and I needed them NOW.

Just like that, I turned to the beta, eyes narrowing as he started to react to my break from the pack. Stepping forward, instead of exchanging growls and yips, like you'd expect from two humans fighting for pack supremacy, I lashed out, the sword still clutched in my hands struck him in between the shoulder and neck, instantly pulping his upper ribcage, and killing him almost as an afterthought.

Turning to the pack, I stared at them quietly, no growls, no yips, just . . . stood there, seeing things for the first time, like the fact our armor was a dull green, colored to blend into the forest. It took me a few seconds to deal with the sensory overload at this point.

My Alpha wasn't having a field day either, I'd just randomly lashed out and decapitated the Beta with no warning whatsoever. There was a lot of yelling, most of which was too garbled for me to understand, but one thing I did know. 'Alpha, I come. Survive!'

'What? Frix! Down! Down Frix! Bad! Stop! He's not listening to me, I don't know why!' Her voice was semi-frantic. This in turn amped up my tension, which didn't help as I was trying to get the entire pack in line, which can be rather the bloodbath, considering we were all armed, combat-trained young males.

As they all stared at me wearing a variety of snarls and growling faces, I simply stood there, impassive, immobile, waiting.

The first one to try sidling up to me to attack ended up getting a punch to his face, before I swept his legs out from under him and planted the tip of my sword on his chest plate, forcing him into a display of submission. I don't know how I knew, but I was suddenly understanding some of the things I'd seen the pony guard doing when they sparred, and I was mimicking it, and using it to disarm and subjugate the other pack members.

I wasn't snarling or growling so I ended up having to knock another couple competing pack members down before the rest started crouching down, showing their submission, even with their alphas screaming for them to attack, I'm sure. After that, I turned, and started trotting for my Alpha, my pack following at my heels. 'Alpha! They come! Defend yourself!Die. Feed on their flesh,'

'Ummm, commander, I think we may be in trouble. I didn't pay much attention after that, I was too busy leading my pack back to my Alpha's location. My base instincts screamed for me to run full out, but the newly awakened portions of my mind said to take it slow, I'd need my energy when I got there.

We managed to get most of the way back before the attack happened by moving openly, and taking a straight path, shaving the two hour return to half an hour. The first warning I had was my Alpha hearing several shouts and a scream, then chaos erupted on her end. I start running full out.

About this point I think the voice inside my head started reaching new levels, again fighting me for control of my body. As I'm running, my body's shaking, pain erupting from all over, centering on my upper back. I shake the pain off, moving as fast as physically possible, my newly awakened tactical sense telling me I need to get to my Alpha's side NOW.

Clearing the forest, I'm met with the sight of the camp . . . only it's been surrounded by a swarm of black bodies, I don't know it at this point, but they're the first generation of swarmlings, not that different from changelings. The sentries were all dead, scattered around where they were surprised and slaughtered, and the clash of weapons further inside the camp could be heard.

Raising my blade, I gave a full throated roar, echoed by my pack. We charged into the camp, impacting on the swarmlings nearest us like a rock slide. The first four or five ranks of swarmlings just disappeared under our feet. As we carved our way into the encampment, I started angling for the controller's tent, something I wouldn't have thought to do before.

Fortunately, my Alpha's warning was enough, even being rather incredulous that her HUMAN had warned her, her superior nonetheless checked the perimeter, managed to blow the trap early, and rallied the remaining units to their fallback position.

Reaching the beleaguered guards, my pack hit the backs of the swarmlings like a hammer, turning in place, I faced the swarmlings charging at us and roared my defiance, my pack added their own screams and roars to the mix. We sounded rather intimidating, I must say, but that did little to discourage the swarmlings.

I sigh shaking my head with remembered regret. “I don't remember much of what happened after that, I just focused on the space just in front of myself, anything that entered that space died, I remember my pack slowly dwindling one by one, until I was eventually pushed back into the ranks of ponies. We held that stalemate for either a few minutes or a few hours, I can't really say, but when I next got a moment to look around, the camp was COVERED in bodies.” I state with a snort. “I'm still unsure how I survived that engagement where my pack did not, I hardly had extra training.”

My lungs burning for air, and my muscles shaking from exhaustion, the voice in the back of my head was still screaming for control, but easily silenced at this point. Everypony froze when a horrendously loud screech rang out across the field. That's when a swarm queen made its first appearance. Stepping forth from the tree line, it advanced into the camp, treading bodies and swarmlings not fast enough to move underfoot with equal disinterest.

Standing about 8 feet high at the shoulder, it . . . looked pretty bad, it had the characteristic frill of a changeling running down it's back, but other than that and the black carapace, it was completely different. Its face was pockmarked and misshapen, like a wax model that got too close to the fire, its eyes were burning pits of green, hunger staring out at the world.

Turning its attention to us, it roared again, the very ground seeming the shake in sympathy, the swarmlings in front of us melted back, hissing at us from a distance as they waited for their queen. I stared up at the beast, every instinct in my body screaming for me to flee, while the voice just laughed and crowed.

Opening my mouth, I didn't know what I planned on doing, whether to whimper or scream, what came out was a primal scream of rage. Shoring up the failing morale all about me, I screamed my defiance in its face, and it responded in kind, staring at me and trilling back. Clutching my sword, I stumbled forward, then started running, building momentum as I charged, roaring every step of the way.

The swarm queen watched me approach almost with an air of disinterested challenge, then when I was almost upon it, its horn glowed and my world dissolved in madness and pain. Voices screamed and chanted. Hungers surged and flared, my consciousness quaked and shook before the onslaught of a thousand voices, all screaming for blood . . . human blood, pony blood, my blood, any blood.

I felt my will crack under the pressure as the bones in my body seemed the shudder and crack, pain lancing through my body. Falling to my knees, and dropping my sword from nerveless fingers, I could only stare up at the swarm queen before another surge of pain forced me forward as I arched my back and screamed. I felt the flesh on my back tear as my bones shattered and reknit, something spearing forth. I didn't know it, but two blood-soaked gossamer wings erupted from my back.

As if from a great distance, I felt myself stop shaking, then slowly rise, and turn to confront the beleaguered defenders as a voice rang out in my mind. 'You. Are. MINE!' Stepping forward, I saw the world turn green as my eyes started glowing to match the swarm queen behind me.

Stepping forward, one lurching footstep at a time, I smiled at the defenders, more of a silent snarl really. The looks of utter fear on their faces made my twisted soul sing. Just another few nudges, and they'd break, then I could find Vine Blossom, and look deep into her eyes as I ripped her . . . NO! I felt my mind shake once more as the swarm queen touched the memories of my Alpha. Feelings I'd never experienced before nor truly understood flared up like a raging wild-fire. Throwing back my head, I screamed out. "NOOOOOOO!"

Lowering my head and turning back around, I stared at the swarm queen, rage crackling through every limb, powers I didn't understand surging through me, screaming for my obedience, whispering sweet promises of pleasures I'd never feel anywhere else, calling for blood.

I didn't know how I knew, but I knew without a doubt that I was infested, a term I suddenly knew the definition to. I suddenly knew what words were, how to say them, how to move my throat in a new way, to shape them, to use them. And without a single doubt, I knew the infester was latched into my spine, I could feel its dark pulsing, just between my shoulder blades, where my twisted wings had sprouted from my back.

If I was to die, I'd die myself, something else I didn't understand, an identity. But I knew I was a threat, so I dealt with it. Reaching back over my shoulders, I grasped the wings at their base, the thin edges cutting into my hands through the gloves. Ignoring the pain, I grasped them with all my might, and with a surge, I pulled.

I felt a scream erupt from my throat, both my animalistic scream of pain, and a trilling undercurrent as the muscles tied to the infester stretched, tearing it out of my spine ever so slowly. My muscles tensed and screamed as they stretched and started snapping, until with a final burst of power, I ripped them free, and something based against my spine let go with a world shattering burst of light and pain. I collapsed, my body felt as if everything above my shoulders was on fire, while everything below was icy cold.

After an indeterminate amount of time in my personal hell, I think it was only a few seconds, feeling returned to my whole body. The pain subsided, and I flexed my arms, only to find my flesh whole and unmarred. Raising my head, I stared up at the swarm queen seeing its confident demeanor shaken badly as it stared down at me.

Struggling to my feet, I grabbed a fallen guard pony's sword. I turned to stare up at the queen, and, opening my mouth to roar, instead yelled, "I will not bow! I will not give in! You will die for threatening my Alpha!" With that impromptu challenge, I leaped forward. The swarm queen reared, trying to get some distance from me as I charged, only to scream in fear and pain as I leaped onto a front leg, using the momentum in a way I didn't understand to launch myself to its face. Grasping a misshapen ear and planting both feet into its throat crushing muscles and probably its larynx, I raised my sword, point down, in one hand, and then stabbed it down into the creature's face, flesh tearing and bone crumpling as the blade sunk in further and further, eventually piercing the brain. With a final gurgle, the monstrous creature slowly fell backward.

Releasing my hold upon it, I let go and landed just beyond it, rolling as I hit the ground. Turning to the swarmlings all about us, I stared out at them with a face of stone. Looking them over, I opened my mouth again, and more strange words suddenly rang out. "Run! You will not win this fight! I will kill you all!" I scream, fury already crackling in every syllable. They threatened my Alpha, I would rend them all.

They simply stood there impassively, then without a sound they turned and melted back into the woods. Staring out after them, I simply stood there for a time. Then, I turned towards the remaining pony defenders, and started slowly making my way back. As I reached the front ranks, they stared up at me, some with fear and revulsion, others with a little bit of awe and terror, but none dared face me, so they gave way simply letting me walk past. Walking through their ranks, I looked around for my Alpha . . . for a lime green pegasus mare by the name of Vine Bloom.

Words and concepts rushed through my mind, it was a battlefield of ideas, and I was trapped in the middle of it, a scared little foal, searching for its mother, hoping she could make it all just go away. I just wanted to go back to my nest, to sleep, to eat food and follow my Alpha, I didn't want to understand the concept of why leaves grow and fall off trees, I didn't want to know that defenestration meant to be tossed out a window, I didn't even want to know what a window was, much less the words to describe each and every item in question.

As I ducked into the tent where the alphas were, or the Controller's Tent as my newly acquired vocabulary informed me, a single voice called out timidly, almost afraid.

"Frix?" Vine Bloom, my Alpha, asked, staring up at me with a mixture of fear and other emotions I couldn't discern.

I turned to see her, along with the rest of the controllers, standing by a makeshift barricade of boxes and tables, which I suddenly knew would have been a bad idea once the tent's supports were cut, turning the whole place into a slaughter. Shaking from all the new concepts and ideas flowing through my mind, I stumbled over to her, and collapsed to my knees, reaching out imploringly.

She stared at me a second, seeing my normally brown irises that have turned a solid green, with no pupil or white. Then, taking a deep a breath and steeling herself, she walked forward into my arms.

Gathering her close, I buried my face in her mane as I tried to ignore the world, ignore the thoughts running rampant through my head. I tried to utter a whine to express my distress, but ended up talking instead. "Vine . . . please . . . help," I said, each word coming out rough and strangled as I used an implement I didn't know I had and fought the very understanding that let me use it. "What...am...I?" I finally asked before I buried my face in her mane again and started sobbing, the tent deathly quiet around us.