I drew back the gun and swung it at Lyra’s skull, aiming for the bundle of nerves just beneath the horn. Her horn gave a small sputter of magic trying to stop my hand. She didn’t have enough magic strength to even make my arm twitch. The butt of the gun slammed into her head, causing it to whip back taking the rest of her with it. She landed without a sound two feet back. I walked over and grabbed her around her barrel. She looked up at me, then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she lost consciousness. I laid her down in the clump of bushes, making sure no one could see her. I slipped the pistol back into the holster and waved Tyrock over.

He stood about eight feet from the force field when I heard the sound of a train whistle. He slipped into cover just as the front of the train came around the corner. I slid a few feet closer to the force field getting ready to catch the packs. They had added six more cars to the train to accumulate the supplies needed for transport. I quickly made sure Lyra couldn't be seen and signaled Tyrock to wait. When the train reached the force field I could see how it was able to go through. The force field became almost like a Jell-O type substance, clinging to the train almost like it was trying to get in and grab something. I held out my hands for the packs as Tyrock threw them through the thick substance. They seemed to almost hand in the air as they passed through, then they landed in my outstretched arms. Tyrock soon followed though he seemed to freeze in the air longer than the packs. He soon landed next to me just as the last car passed through leaving the shield as solid as stone.

I quickly pulled the vest out and slipped it on. After receiving my already suppressed weapons from Tyrock and placing them on the back. The weapons were the same ones I used when we went hunting for the giant bear before we arrived here except for the AS50 in replacement of the Barrett. The Tac-388 had a bear carved into it for the remembrance of the occasion. I quickly slung the pack on and picked up Lyra around the barrel, though she seemed heavier than what we estimated her at. Tyrock gave me a look of concern with Lyra but I shrugged it off and headed for one of the rappel lines. We received no interference along the way but we did see a group of guards head for the patch of bushes we were at earlier, somehow they can feel when someone passes through the force field. Once we reached the first rappel line I quietly pulled out my helmet and slipped it on, Completely encasing my head and blocking my voice to the outside world. In the bottom left corner, the motion tracker started picking up Tyrocks signal.

“Stones what the hell are we going to do now?” Tyrock asked as I grabbed a hold of the line giving it a few tugs making sure it had stayed in place. “We can't just let her go back, she's seen us.”

“We will figure that out later, right now we need to get to a safer location before I have to knock out someone else. What I’m more interested in is how in the hell did she sneak up on me without me hearing?” I said looking down at the still unicorn. I couldn't see the spot where I hit her on the head but I knew it would show up soon. I looked back at Tyrock. “When did you see her walk up?”

“Actually she was already there, but for some reason I couldn't pull you up on the radio, there was something blocking the signal. I didn’t know what was going on, all I saw was you smacking her and dragging her into the bushes.” He said as he started climbing up the rope. I knelt down and started tying the extra rope around the unconscious unicorn as I tried to figure out what she was doing here in Canterlot. We have had a few other near run-ins but we were always avoided. As I waited for Tyrock to make the ascent I started loading and checking my arsenal. Almost thirty seconds later the rope started to lose its slack as Tyrock started pulling the unicorn up. I watched as the unicorn disappeared over the edge as I slipped a mag into the Tac-388. Shortly after the coiled up rope flew over as it unraveled towards the ground. Once it made contact I started to make my climb.

“Stones you copy?” I heard Jane say as I reached the halfway point.

“Yeah what’s up?” I asked as I continued upward.

“We have found something concerning.” Sarah stated.

“Go ahead,” I said when I reached the three-fourths mark.

“Lyra Heartstrings is missing .” Jane said.

“What are you talking about, we just barely ran into her, this time things had to become a little violent. So what do you mean she is missing?” I asked as I reach a small one-foot ledge about twenty feet from the top ledge. I did a quick check around to make sure I wasn't spotted. Then quickly set a magic sensor on the rock ledge overlooking Canterlot.

“Where is she now?” Jane asked.

“Twenty feet above me, what exactly is going on?” I asked as I stared out at the surrounding area.

“Oh no.” she said.

“What, what's going on?” I demanded as I started to climb.

“Her energy levels are changing.”

“So she is awake and using magic. So, magic levels change, it happen with the use of magic. Why is that so alarming” I asked as I reached the ten-foot mark.

“Yes they do decrease with the use of magic but they don't jump from a 75 watt to a 125 watt.” I froze as that sentence bounced around my head.

“Say that again?” I asked making sure I heard them right. “Did you just say her energy levels have increased?!”

“Yes!” Jane confirmed. “The one you have is not the real Lyra!” I hauled my ass up that rope, when I was three feet from the ledge there was a flash of green light shortly followed by the sound of hissing. It wasn't like any that I have ever heard. It sounded like a hissing cockroach mixed with a snake and a pissed off cat. I pulled myself over the edge to stumble upon a bizarre creature staring Tyrock down with the fake Lyra, not in sight.

The creature was a pony in size and shape but it was covered in a glossy black skin close to that of a beetle. It was as tall and as big as Big Macintosh. Its hooves resembled burnt swish cheese from the holes and color. It had a dark green mane close to the color of its hide, it was jagged and stuck out almost a half a foot and was shaped like the spines of a dragon. It had a curved horn that was the same black color as the rest of it and looked to be as sharp as the knives we carried in our vest. Then I noticed the wings, they were as clear as a muddy hand smeared window and like the rest of the creature, they also had holes riddled through them. Its eyes were a light blue color where the white should have been and there was also no seeable iris or pupil. There were also two fangs, both looked as sharp as its horn, sticking out of its upper lip.

It stood directly across from Tyrock in a crouched stance, its wings were standing up like you would see with an attacking Pegasus. Tyrock had out a knife and was holding it with the blade on the opposite end of the handle that his thumb was, in his right hand he held a silenced 9mm pistol. It was resting on the forearm of his left hand giving him better aim. The creature bared its teeth in a snarl as it charged up its horn. Tyrock fired a round hitting the creature straight in the middle of its forehead.

The creature's head whipped back with the force of the bullet. Then it brought its head back down. I could see the smashed bullet sticking to its head. The creature levitated it away looking at it. I could see that we didn't even put a scratch on its head. It dropped the smashed round and squashed it beneath its hooves. That's the moment I knew this day went from calm to shit storm. It lunged itself at Tyrock as I pulled out my desert eagle and fired off a round, hitting it on the side of its barrel. The creature stumbled from the force of the shot then it turned towards me. I could tell the shot had more of an effect than the 9mm, we just needed to use a higher caliber.

“Tyrock use the rifles,” I said reaching for my knife, going to see if the creature's eyes are as strong as the rest of it. I pulled it out with the sound of sliding metal on plastic. I could see Tyrock reaching for his Tac-338. The creature jumped at me with alarming speed, I swung my knife at its eye trying to add a disadvantage to this unknown beast. The creature ducked under my blade, a feat I had once proven impossible at the academy. Somehow using its hole ridden wings to pull a sharp right turn, heading away to my left. Then it pulled up into the air making a sharp u-turn heading for me. I dropped the pistol out of my right hand and swung my arm out seeming like I was trying to clothesline it. The creature again tried to duck under my arm but it seemed to have forgotten about its horn. I latched onto it with my hand, pulling the creature's head back and causing it to fly upward, pulling me along with it. My wrist and shoulder joints screamed in anger from being jerked upward. I felt the creature turn back towards the ground as I reached up with the knife slicing it across the creature's left eye causing a spurt of blood and eye jam. I wasn't able to cut it too deeply as the creature activated its horn, making it as slick as ice in my grip. In the process, it pulled a barrel roll causing me to lose hold and fall ten feet to the ground on my back. I slid across the ground until I hit the edge of the force field causing a ripple of color to fly across the dome.

I heard the sound of Tyrock firing a shot off at the creature as it headed off towards the gardens. The creature wavered a little in the air but kept flying. I reached around and grabbed the AS50 rifle off my back. I pulled back the slide and locked a round into the chamber. After bringing the creature up in my scope I gently squeezed the trigger. The gun kicked in my hand as the round struck the creature at the speed of sound, straight through the creature's spine. The creature gave a small shake then fell out of the sky dead, right into the middle of the labyrinth. I lowered the rifle as I gave out a small sigh in relief. Then I heard the sound of metal clanking and the sound of hooves marching. Tyrock ran to the edge and did a quick look.

“Stones, we need to go now! There is a group of thirty guards heading our way!” I quickly picked up the knife that had landed next to me as I stood up, sliding it back into its holster. I quickly placed the rifle on my back then ran for the left side of the edge. As I jumped across to the other ledge for the second time that day, I could see that about ten of the guards were Lunar Guards and that there were about five pegasi. We landed just as the first pegasus took to the air heading for our last location. I landed on the other ledge in a dead run with Tyrock right on my heels, hoping we got away without being seen. We reached the other side. I could see another rappel line about five feet away with another one fifty feet beyond that. I leaped for the rope grabbing it in a tight grip. The clamp gave a small scraping sound letting me know that the rope wasn't as secure as the other one. I quickly let the rope slip through my glove covered fingers as I raced for the ground below. I could feel Tyrock as he grabbed ahold and followed me down.

Once we reached the bottom I could see an entrance to the labyrinth ahead. I heard Tyrock land next to me followed by the sound of a rappel clamp falling down behind him. At this moment I realized we didn't cover all our tracks. I left my pistol with the three butterflies engraved on the handle and the bullet casings laying on the ground, along with the rope and clamp. We headed straight into the labyrinth, picking a random path as we went. After a few minutes, we dove under some bushes just as we heard the sound of wings flapping overhead. I held my breath as I heard the sound of metal covered hooves land on the ground very close by. I peeked out from under the bushes to find Celestia standing not five feet away facing the opposite direction from us. I quickly ducked back under, in the process settling on an old dead branch.

That branch gave off a bone snapping crack, the princess’s head whipped around facing towards us. I quietly reached up and pulled out my knife as she crouched down. She slowly crept closer almost like a tiger stalking its prey. I was sure I was sweating buckets under my helmet. Once she was about two feet away from us she lit up her horn, the leaves in front of us also started to glow. I quietly raised my knife getting ready to throw it across the pathway to distract her. At that moment there was an explosion of feathers as two birds, similar to pheasants, burst out of the branches above us startling the princess in the process. The blasted fowl must have been perched on a branch above us and when I raised my blade, I must have given one of them a very uncomfortable tickle below its ribs, causing it and its mate to burst out of the bushes in an explosive fashion.

The princess watched them fly off then turned and look back at the spot that they had come from. I still had my knife in the air as she slowly brought her eyes across the area, scanning it for anything that didn’t belong, her eyes stopped moving, her horn lit up then I felt a small tug on the knife in my hand.

“Shit, shit, shit!” I thought as I felt her give it another tug. She took a step closer as she gave it another tug, this time with a little more force. I released the knife as she pulled on it again. The knife launched out of the bush stopping just inches from her head. She took a couple of steps back in surprise but then she smiled and gave a small chuckle as I lowered my hand back down. Somehow still unseen.

“Oh Celestia, one of these days you're going to get yourself hurt if you don't be more careful.” She said to herself as she brought the knife closer, inspecting it like one would a piece of a puzzle. At that moment a mare pegasus Luna guard landed next to her.

“Princess Celestia, we have searched the area of the disturbance, we have found a few different items that are of unknown origin.” The mare said after bowing. “We have also found three different sets of prints. One set looks like that of a pony the others are again of unknown origin.”

“Thank you, Pitch Black, a quick question, have you ever seen something like this before?” Celestia asked levitating the knife over. Pitch Black looked at the knife for few seconds.

“I believe I have, your highness, but I can't recall where.” She said confused. “Where did you find such a weapon?”

“Right there in that bush,” she said pointing towards our hiding place. “It was stuck in the branches. I nearly hit myself with it trying to pull it out. Whoever owns it must be somewhere nearby.” Pitch Black looked at the spot near where my hand was but when she said we might still be in here she started looking around a little spooked.

“Do you think whatever caused the disturbance is here in the labyrinth?” She said still looking around.

“I believe so dear Pitch but it would take a couple of days to scour every inch of this maze.” She said looking deeply around the area. “Time that we do not have without delaying the wedding. Tell Sergeant Broadhead to step up the security and to keep a constant eye on the labyrinth.”

“Yes, your majesty,” Pitch said giving a quick bow then flew off. After she left Celestia looked over at our spot then turned away, casting a backward glance as she went.

“Oh Shining Armor, I hope we can find the pony behind this threat before you run out of strength to keep this shield up.” She said as she took to the skies. I slowly let out the breath that I didn’t even know I was holding. I looked over at Tyrock then nodded slowly in relief. We waited two minutes before we even moved an inch. I slowly crawled out checking the area for anyone nearby.

“Tyrock, Stones are you guys alright? I picked up Celestia's signature near your location.” Jane asked as I waved my hand for Tyrock to come out.

“You good?” I asked Tyrock as I took a look at the locations of the princesses on my computer.

“Yeah, you?” He asked giving my left shoulder a slight tap. I nodded then groaned as I saw where Celestia was heading. She was heading for the royal vault, the place where they put all unknown and dangerous items.

“We’re okay, just had a big close call.” I said pulling off my helmet rubbing my hair backward causing it to spike up. It was slick with sweat and slowly laid back down. “I’m thinking about quitting this line of work and just go home.”

“Come on Stones, I thought you loved getting hunted down like a wild animal?” Tyrock joked as I did a quick check of my limbs after putting the helmet back on.

“No no. I said I like hunting down wild animals. Speaking of which where did that bastard go.” I corrected as I pulled up the location where the creature landed at. “Hey Sarah, I’m going to need you to check the log books for hard armored creatures. Color, black in the shape of a pony. Jane, I need you to keep checking Cadence for any red flags, somehow I know she is a part of this.”

“I’m on it.”
“I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

“Come on Tyrock let’s find the dead bastard that has caused us this much trouble.”

Personal: Stone's, location: 130 feet west, 500 yards by following the path.

“Okay the creature should be just around this corner.” Tyrock said looking at his wrist computer. I nodded then slowly crept up to the edge of the bushes. I took a quick peep around the corner the creature was laying on the ground about twenty feet down the path way, there was also a small pool of blood surrounding the body. The blood was a lime green color and seem to almost glow. I slowly crept up on it checking the area for anything nearby. Once I reached the creature I grabbed its hind leg and flipped it over onto its back. The creature's skin felt like slick metal. Cold to the touch. I could see that the .50 caliber round had punched a clean hole straight through its torso. The hole was similar to the one you would see with a smaller caliber in metal. Neat and clean, no massive hole capable of cutting a man in half that the AS50 was famous for. I looked over at Tyrock and shook my head signaling my discomfort with the small amount of damage.

“Do you think this is the creature that threatened Canterlot?” Tyrock asked kneeling down for a better look at the damage. I shrugged.

“If it is, I think we have just found our biggest challenge yet.”

“Hey guys, I think I might have found something.” Sarah exclaimed.

“What is it?” Tyrock asked.

“Okay, you know how you asked me to check the log books for a black colored armored creature in the shape of a pony?” She said slightly excited the way she gets when she has been given a difficult project.

“Yeah, what did you find?” I asked looking around just in case a pegasi squad decided to make a fly by.

“That's just it, there is nothing, absolutely nothing in today's time that resembles this creature.” She said still excited.

“Tell me there's a big but in this sentence?” I asked as I turned back to Tyrock.

“There is, buuuut you only told me to look in one section of our database. The present.” She said as I tilted my head back starting to get annoyed with this conversation. “So I went to our history records and found something interesting.”

“I'm assuming the bad kind?” Tyrock asked as he looked at the hole in the creature's chest at a different angle.

“Oh super bad, there is a creature called Changeling that was recorded about 984 years ago. Said to be a shapeshifter and could blend in anywhere. They were lead by a queen that was called Queen Crudelis. She has been know to take ponies under her control but by ways unknown,” Sarah said as I looked over at Tyrock. “And here's the kicker, it also says that they somehow have the power to feed off of love as one would eat, let's say an endless salad bar.”

“So you're saying that we are dealing with an enemy that can blend in anywhere and can live off of love?” Tyrock asked looking at the creature.

“Yes but listen, one was captured and studied. They found out that these creatures have a brain that is constantly in contact with the others of its clan. Kind of like a hive mind, which means they are a race that have lives similar to that of ants, meaning…”

“What we are looking at is just one piece of an entire army.” I said looking down at the dead changeling. “And this guy must have been part of a recon team, and he wanted to be captured so he could see what exactly we are, then send that information back to the rest of its team…. Jane can they still connect to a dead member?”

“Unless the brain has been damaged, yes.” I looked back down at the creature.

“Sarah I want constant magic checks for anyone that had been in contact with Lyra before she disappeared and find out who this bastard has been in contact with until now. Jane keep checking Cadence for any signs of hostility and see if you can find out where the real Lyra is. Tyrock and I will find some sniping spots and try to take out the rest of the recon team before they cause any damage. No one rests until we can figure out the extent of this army and its intentions. We are now at a Code Yellow, ” I said pulling out the AS50 and firing two round off into the creature's skull, turning it into a pile of bone and brain matter.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. We are soon coming up on the part that the prequel shows. I will try to get the next chapter out as fast as I can but I can't promise a date. leave a comment on what I'm doing right so I can keep this story going. I will get a post of the new picture for the story out soon.

was edited by Dreagknight and Nick11235. Thanks guys for the help.