Illuminating Aegis: Tales of the Changeling King

Namiro was smiling as he waved to a pony/changeling couple that was sitting outside of the Cracker Barrel enjoying a late dinner. "...I think I might bring Midnight Steel back there some time... the food wasn't bad." He mused with a small chuckle as he let his senses wander. For the most part the town was quiet, since they had learned that the changelings weren't there to hurt anyone the guards also seemed to relax a bit more around them.

He frowned a little as he realized that he hadn't noticed anyone in town that was truly Force-sensitive though. Despite the unicorns being able to tap into it naturally, they weren't quite as sensitive to it as those eight sources he had felt earlier. His datapad had already informed him that if he were to produce infiltrators then he would be able to have force-sensitive changelings... he didn't want to be the one in charge of that though, it was already difficult enough with his own training, he still had yet to make his own saber as well despite having completed the first Cadence. The changeling king rubbed the bridge of his muzzle before his ears perked up, his senses catching the taste of a powerful force user approaching. He turned at almost the same time as the other occupants of the town around him to watch as a chariot pulled by winged reptile-like creatures descended, flanked by several armored Thestrals.

Namiro kept a neutral face as the chariot landed in the center of town, causing the entire town to become as quiet as a graveyard as a beautiful mare gracefully stood and stepped out of the chariot. "...Oh my... such an exquisite physique..." the changeling king thought as he watched her step with all the grace he would expect of an aristocratic vampire. The mare was actually nearly as tall as he was, quite possibly an inch or so taller than Patina, so he had no troubles meeting her gaze as the two of them stood as giants among children.

She stopped several meters away, studying him as much as he was studying her. The dress she was wearing certainly did reveal quite a bit of fur as it seemed to cover just the bare essentials, the silky material seemed to hug her form perfectly while giving her plenty of freedom to move within, Namiro could've sworn that he could see the strap-less bra that was holding up her chest.

The guards tensed up as Luna shifted her stance. "So... Thou art the changeling Force-User our sister discovered." She asked in more of a statement way, which was stupid to deny now that she was practically on the changeling's doorstep.

He nodded. "I am Changeling King Namiro, Guardian of The Force." The taller changeling declared with a tone of authority that almost made him blink in surprise. "Am I to assume that I am speaking to the Displaced who has taken the name Luna?" In his mind Phillip reeled back in surprise. "There are others like me?"

Yes, there are many like you within the Multiverse, some benevolent, many malevolent, given the awareness you now have you must prepare yourself quickly to defend your new world with the assistance of those you can call allies.

The princess blinked as she had her mind process the question. She gave him an inquisitive look before nodding. "Yes, can we assume that thee art one as well?"

Namiro nodded, "I learned much when I connected truly with The Force in this world, bits of information that come and go as they are needed..." His eyes seemed to stop on the twin sabers attached to her loose belt.

"Thy vision should stay upon a guest's face, rather than on their bosom." Luna chided as her guards leveled spears at the large changeling.

"I was simply noticing your sabers, the entire time I've been here I've only found my own saber to practice with."

"Art thou implying a duel?" Luna asked with a smirk.

"No!" Namiro replied as he held up a hand. "Simply a sparring match, I know already that I would not be able to beat you in a duel."

The lunar princess seemed to debate the offer for a moment before unclipping one of the saber hilts from her belt. "Since thou only hast one blade We shall only use one as well." She looked to her guards. "Stand down, this sparring match shall require a fairly decent amount of space for us to practice properly." The guards seem a little hesitant, though they do follow her orders and stand aside before the princess clicks the activator plate on her Jade Fire model lightsaber, emitting a midnight-blue blade that has a night sky-colored core. She quickly adjusted a small gold knob on the back-side of the hilt, getting Namiro to smile as he unclipped his Avenger-model hilt and turned a similar knob on his before lighting up the lime-green blade. The princess gracefully brought her blade up in one hand, pointing the tip towards the changeling, giving him pause as he realized that the alicorn's hilt had a dueling curve to it.

"So... a Makashi specialist..." Namiro mused as he got into his stance.

"A keen eye..." The princess replied. "...I do quite favor one on one duels, they are a way to best gauge one's opponent are they not?" She questioned with a smile.

Namiro gave a small chuckle as he found himself switching to a more Makashi-style stance now that his saber was about the size of a shoto for him. "Quite, one can find a true rival on the battlefield." He replied before the two of them seemed to fade to a midnight-blue and a dark green blur.

For the two duelists the world around them seemed to slow down as they seemed to be locked in a fencing match, "So Princess... how do we tell who has won the spar?" Namiro asked as he sent a swing toward's the mare's shoulder.

The lunar princess dodged with ease, letting the beam of her blade sear across the arm of her opponent's robe. "We shall simply go until one of us gives in." She smirked as the pattern of parries and blocks continued, letting their blades become a swirl of blue and green, hissing and sparking at each other as the two of them seemed alone and trapped in an exotic dance. Luna gave an impressed hum as the green blade nearly grazed the clasp of her dress. "You're fairly good for a left-haded duelist, yet you have evenly-placed armor... why is that?" She slowly began to pick up her pace, letting her attacks put her on the offensive as her opponent began putting more concentration into defense.

"Because... it's how my body works, I prefer a balance and am working on ambidexterity..." Namiro replied.

"So you're not giving your all in this match?" Luna inquired with a quirked brow.

"To be fair, neither are you." He answered as she dodged another swing at the clasp holding her dress together.

Luna frowned a little. "If your actions are to be taken into account We think you may be trying to disrobe Us..."

"It's not my fault you came in only a light dress, besides... with a beautiful body like yours, why hide it?" Namiro countered, letting his blade hiss once more against the alicorn's blade.

"For the same reason thou use a robe." Luna replied without missing a beat as the two of them began to kick up a small dust cloud.

"I only use the robe when I'm tending to my Force Guardian duties or if it's really cold out... so..." He says as he starts to smirk. "You're saying you tend to walk around the palace or Canterlot in the nude when you're not doing princess duties?" The changeling began to chuckle as he tasted the flare of anger and embarrassment that came with his estimation.

"You will regret that guess!" Luna growled as she began to swing even faster, her strikes bringing down enough power to push his defenses back as more of his robes began to singe. Despite the onslaught though he could only smirk.

"...You never said I was wrong..." He laughed as he switched to his right hand mid-parry. "Besides, I wouldn't doubt that you get many stallions asking for your hand because of that amazingly beautiful body." Once he had switched to his right hand it was clear that his right was his dominant side since Luna found herself getting pushed back towards the center of their makeshift dueling ring made of curious onlookers.

"Your training is impeccable, we are surprised that there is a changeling with such talent." Luna remarked as she began to compose herself once more as she realized that she was being put on equal ground. With her favored style being a dual-saber type she was quite a bit rusty when it came to single-blade dueling.

"That's because I'm much like you... once a being from another world that was assimilated into this one, I just happened to absolutely love lightsaber combat. It was a decent practice method for keeping in-shape alongside freerunning practice around town."

"Parkour?" Luna replied with a chuckle. "The martial art of running away?"

Namiro laughed alongside her as his blade once again came dangerously close to searing away the clasp that was holding her dress up. "It's one of the handiest martial arts there is, when you can free run your mind subconsciously plans out several methods to escape any room that you enter. It's why I loved the assassin's creed games."

"Our personal favorite was the second one, Ezio was such a dashing rogue."

"As good as the second one was, I'd have to place my favorite at either Brotherhood or Revelations, both had excellent parkour mechanics as well as lots of fun weapons to use in order to mess with guards." Namiro explained as Luna dodged another swing. "I also quite enjoyed how you could train your apprentices in Brotherhood."

Luna nodded, getting another graze across the changeling's arm. "It was certainly fun to... wait a second, you are from our time period on earth?" She asked as the two of them spit off.

"It depends, how far along the assassin's creed timeline were you?"

"The third game of the series had just been announced."

"Then you were over a year behind when you were transported, The fourth game had been out for three months when I was brought here."

Luna looked stunned as she lowered her saber. "B-... But... My sister and I have been here for nearly three millennia... How could only one year have passed in our world?"

"...void logic?" Namiro replied with a shrug. "Does this mean the spar is over?"

"Consider this a tie... for now." Luna replied as she deactivated her saber and turned to get back in her chariot, much to the hesitant chagrin of the thestral knights that accompanied her.

"Luna!" Namiro called, getting the princess' attention. "I was serious about you having an amazing figure, go make those stuck up nobles crazy." He said with a smirk, getting the princess to laugh a little.

"We shall see, for now we must tend to our loyal thestrals... Sadly they have been very mistreated in the many years that we were gone."

"I heard... you have my condolences."

Luna gave another chuckle. "To think... we finally met a changeling that wasn't bent on the destruction or subjugation of our ponies."

"Maybe this will be the first step towards peace between the races of the planet?" Namiro offered.

"It is a nice thought to entertain, but we do not hold out for what seems impossible." Luna replied as she looked off towards Canterlot. "We hope to see thee again Namiro, King of the Changelings..."

"I would be delighted to have you visit again as well Princess Luna of Equestria." Namiro replied with a bow before the chariot began to take off. As it disappeared into the distance Namiro looked down at his saber once more, now that he was a full-size changeling king he needed to make a saber with a longer hilt and blade to accommodate his new form. He was done growing, as far as he could tell, so it would only be proper to get a new blade. "Perhaps using chitin... it's resistant enough to energy damage..." he mused as he clipped his saber back to his belt and continued his trek through town, pondering the new developments that were in progress.

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

Patina walked down the corridors of her hive, each green crystal that lit their home seemed to give off a new energy. She listened to the several times that Namiro had meditated in their chambers, this... Sense... that he talked about, she could feel something just beyond her reach... something that was practically calling to her... whispering promises of safety like what Namiro provided. She wanted to know what he knew... she wanted to become Force-Sensitive as he called it...

It was a strange feeling to feel like such an alien in the midst of her own home. None of her children could sense the power that was calling to her, Namiro had said that his 'datapad' explained only the infiltrator offspring of a Force-Sensitive royal could sense The Force as well, for the first time in her life Patina wanted to truly learn about the origin of the Changelings before The Great Fall of their race. The Hive's memories could only reach back to the time after The Great Fall, she had lived thousands...no... millions of lives of the changelings after the fall, but not a single changeling mind remained in the hive from before.

Had they not been recycled? Absorbed by their queen to make a new generation of changelings from the body of one near its end... She let out a sigh as she leaned with her back against a wall, her tail twitched in irritation once more as her mind sifted through the memories of millions of her ancestors' children like a powerful machine. It seemed that the tradition of reusing the bodies of the nearly-ended must have started after the fall... it was the only explanation, not a single memory showed that the tradition had been in place before.

"...If a changeling died... would that changeling's knowledge be lost forever to the hive?" Patina wondered as her tail curled around her legs. "It couldn't possibly... a changeling attached to a hive would share its knowledge to every other member of the hive so that it could never be lost..." Her shoulders began to sag a little as she continued, each dig at each memory, each queen and king before, finally revealed one memory that was cracked... crumbling... but still there, frayed at the edges, but still viewable. Gingerly, she began to prod her mind into the memory, trying to keep it from falling apart.

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

Firestar, a powerful sorceress from Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, was sprinting for her life. She dared not look back, lest she trip over the brush in her way as she sped deeper and deeper into the Everfree. The blood-orange colored mare let her magic flow through her hand as she made several sweeping motions blindly behind her, her left hand caressing her slightly-swollen belly as she continued to run. Tears welled up in her eyes as she fled towards the one place that her pursuers would never go... the one place that was nearly more dangerous than the Everfree Forest.

... The Castle of the Old Ones...

Firestar was nearly gasping for breath as she finally reached the statue-guarded entrance to the mysterious castle. One statue was of a serpentine creature that seemed to be a random amalgamation of various animals from ponies to dragons, while the other statue was of a very familiar race... a Changeling...

The weakened sorceress stumbled her way past the entrance of the castle and into the looming darkness within. The red-orange mare let out a small whimper of pain as she braced herself against a wall, slowly sliding down into a semi-sitting position.

She let out a squeak and began to shiver as it seemed like several creatures were moving in the darkness, her eyes adjusted too slowly as they approached with glowing red eyes.

She finally saw them as tan skeletal ponies with strange black boxes pointed at her. "Halt..." the closest said in a demanding monotone. "Identify yourself." The creature sounded like what several of her colleagues estimated the old machines to sound like. For only a few moments she hesitated.

"...I... I am... Firestar, ex-protege of Princess Celestia..."

"Stand and submit to scanning or we will open fire." The machine responded.

"I... I'm exhausted... I lack the strength to stand." She whimpered as she struggled to shift her legs under her.

A second machine, this one with a blue stripe running down the front of its head, leaned towards the first and spoke in a slightly quieter monotone. "Sir, pheromone scans reveal that she is with child, Lord Diaz would-..." the blue-striped machine was cut off as the first one raised a skeletal hand.

"Understood corporal..." The first one, which she now noticed had a red stripe along its face, replied before pointing at two of the tan ones. "You two! Help her up and bring her to the scanner."

Firestar couldn't put up any resistance as she was lifted by two of the skeleton-like ponies and eased to her feet. Their hooves made a strange kind of clicking sound instead of the normal clop when their hooves struck the floor. She was led quite a bit further into the castle as several crossbow-like objects with similar black boxes as the skeletal ponies seemed to track the group. They all stopped outside of a huge ebony-black door.

The red skeletal pony motioned for the blue one to do something and the subordinate nodded before going up to the door and pressing a button. Almost immediately the large circle in the center of the door that she thought was just a decoration began to glow red, bathing the nearby area in a blood-like glow.

"State your number and objective..." The door rumbled loudly.

The blue-striped pony looked up at the red disk. "Combat Drone Three-Seven-Seven, patrol squad one has located a local within the castle. We wish to bring the mare before Lord Diaz so that he may decide what to do with her."

"Bring the mare forward, scanning shall begin once she stands before this unit."

"She requires assistance to stand, it appears that she has exhausted herself while fleeing from unknown pursuers, likely the targets that activated the perimeter defenses."

"Understood, two units may assist her in the scan."

Firestar grunted a little as the two 'drones' on either side of her that had an arm slung over their very uncomfortable shoulders helped to get her in front of the door. "Begin scan." the drone to her left spoke before a red light was emitted from the door to a spot above her head before it expanded out in a V. The door seemed to hum as the light began traveling down her body, though it paused just after it finished scanning her stomach and quickly moved back up.

The V-shaped beam of light shifted into a red cone that seemed to spin around her slightly swollen stomach before the light switched to purple. "Changeling life force detected, transport immediately to Lord Diaz." The door rumbled before the light shut off and the door began to split down the middle, sliding apart to grant them entrance to what appeared to be something out of what the jesters of Celestia's court would imagine the future to be like. The walls seemed to be some sort of clear material and gave her a perfect view of large objects that were... assembling more of the skeleton-like ponies. Everything moved in a pattern, it moved as if it had specific instructions being given to it... but from where she was no sound could be heard.

Each step that they took while she was being assisted seemed to help get some of her energy back but now she realized just how over-spent she was on energy as she felt like her legs would collapse under her if she didn't have the drones keeping her up. She marveled at the massive arrays of machines that were putting together an army that looked like it could decimate any country by sheer numbers alone. "Wh-what is this place?" She stuttered out, getting the drone on her right to answer her.

"Combat Drone Manufacturing base Codename: Aurealis. This installation is used to manufacture Combat Drones and store extra supplies gained while deep mining."

"Mining for what?"

"That's classified." The drone on her left replied. "Only functions allowed to know by civilian personnel are mining and assembly operations."

Firestar sighed as she finally felt some feeling return to her legs. They passed another large door, not quite as large as the first, that quickly hissed open to reveal a throne room with a large changeling atop it... no... not quite a changeling. Its body made similar clicking and whirring sounds as it stood. Most of its body was metal, although there were a few organic parts that she could see on its arms and legs, even the Mohawk-like fin on its head seemed to be half-metal.

"So, she is carrying the last Changeling Queen... it is most unfortunate..." The large man seemed to partially-wheeze out. "What is your name little pony?"

Firestar shivered a little as she tried to stand on her own. "Fire-... Firestar... sir..."

The robotic changeling nodded as he began to walk closer. "I am sorry that you must carry such a burden young Firestar, but whichever changeling laid this egg inside of you trusted you more than any other... You will have the protection of my army and may stay as long as you wish, under one condition..."

"Wh-what condition?"

"I must remove the knowledge of our race from you and your child's mind... You will still know what we are, but any memories from before our great fall will be removed so that we can give this race a brand new start, one that is not so tainted." He explained. "Accept and you will be given sanctuary that will never fail, decline and you shall be sent on your way to deal with the world on your own."

She didn't want to remove the memories, anything she had learned about the changelings from her husband... but... she didn't want to leave, this castle promised safety... the castle promised a place where she could love her daughter and not need to worry about whether Celestia would kill them both. The blood-orange mare looked up to the mostly-machine changeling and nodded. "I accept your terms..." She said quietly.

Diaz' tail lifted up, the needle point shifting so that the entrance of his tail was the size of the mare's horn before he put it to her horn, quickly letting it slide to the base as Firestar gasped. Her legs buckled under her and the only reason why she hadn't collapsed to the floor was the drones on either side of her keeping her alive. A strange pleasure washed over her as exhaustion matched it shortly behind, the magic she had spent years training and growing seemed to seep out of her horn like a flood as her mind began to forget... forget.. ... forget... ... ... everything... She watched as the magic she was releasing sent bulges down the mechanical changeling's tail that disappeared into the thicker portions before making his stomach glow gently brighter with her crimson aura. She fought to keep her eyes open. His voice gently assured her.

"Rest... you are safe now... your daughter is safe here... Celestia will not harm you here." With that prompting she finally let her eyes close and her senses dull until she woke up again.

|-o-| |-o-|

Firestar opened her eyes to see the ceiling of a very nice, quite advanced, room. Against her back was the soft, plush sheets of a bed that conformed oh-so-perfectly to her body and growing belly. Her magic was coming back, nothing too different about it aside from the fact it was now a milk-white color instead of the crimson she had been familiar with since she was a filly. She tugged back the comforter to show her larger stomach and smiled. "So strange how you changelings can stretch so much and not feel or cause any pain..." She mumbled as she began to stroke her stomach lovingly. "I can't wait to teach you about the world... Rose..." She cooed before the memory began to fade and distort from age

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

Patina held a hand to her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes. "Changelings... Changelings almost..." she couldn't even bring herself to finish the thought before several drones made their way over to her, quickly embracing her in a way that always somehow seemed to make her happier... especially when Namiro did it. She had to tell him... to let him see the memory... he might be able to find out more than she could...