The Final Report of Thunder Crescent

by Zaraxion

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Changelings, Tragedy
Length: 12816

This story follows the bat pony commander for the town of silvermoon, Thunder crescent. After being captured by changelings he vows to reunite with his family, even if it's the last thing he does.

In ancient Equestria, as Canterlot is being built there is no strong singular ruler, as whispers of the sisters and the newly emerging canterlot rode on the wind to isolated towns and villages. So too did the reports of changelings spreading across the country, consuming town by town. Most ponies began to search for this "Canterlot" in a final attempt to cling to some shimmer of hope in these testing times.

Thunder crescent, a bat-pony. Is taken by the changelings vows to reunite with his son, no matter the cost. Finding his way out of the changeling stronghold, surviving the hordes of changelings that lurk around every corner and shadows that watch his every move.

Joining a small group he must decide what is more important the group or his family.

He must play his cards close to his chest and act carefully or else he may never see either, ever again.

Published 2015-10-31 03:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-12-03 14:48:07 UTC

Fading Hope

It was a somewhat cloudy day, the group had been travelling for sometime the trees looked dead and withered with leaves piled at their bases. A strong wind bellowed through the area, the cold striking at their very bones. A bat pony clad in a worn black cloak stood on a large rock blocking their way, the trees intertwined like a fabric of nature around the stone preventing those without wings or magic from going around it.

He looked down from the rock at the group. Clearly they were all exhausted. A young couple of earth ponies collapsed at the rock resting their backs against it, a few carts carrying supplies were but right next to the rock out of the strong winds way. soon everyone else followed suit and before long the whole group lay collapsed at the base of the rock. He made a tally of the remaining people: three earth ponies, two unicorns, four pegasi and two bat-ponies. He looked at them with a smile his beloved wife and son waved to him from below, he waved back naturally then turned to see beyond the rock.

There was forest, dense forest... which wasn't good, the groups supplies made them a target not only from bandits but also monsters and other creatures of ill intent.

"this isn't good," he said, his gruff voice showing the strain it's been under from barking orders at the others. "more forest means more potential threats, however it does mean there could be a river somewhere inside and it would get us out of this wind" he said contemplating the risks.

A pegasus wrapped in a brown cloak flew up next to him, seemingly struggling to fly straight. "Thunder, the winds are getting stronger," he shouted, the winds whistling intensified making shouting the only volume which can be heard, "we don't have enough supplies to last a week, we can't afford to waste time" he enforced, trying to hammer home his point.

Thunder turned to the pegasus "They are exhausted, if we do not give them time to recharge then we'll only be progressing at the speed of a crawl," he shook his head "we're running on empty, the unicorns can not focus due to the weather so magically breaking this rock is out of the question" he said looking back down at the group. namely the unicorn couple a colt of blue skin and purple mane and a mare of scarlet mane and beige skin. They held each other close, for warmth he presumed but was not ignorant to the fact they loved each other. he looked back to his wife, worried for her wellbeing the looked back to the pegasus "Leaving only one option, we have to carry them over,".

"The boys and I are just as exhausted," the pegasus objected "we can't lift one each,"

"I'm not asking you to," he said, "I'll carry one at a time while you have two pegasi carry one person, reducing the chance of crashing," he said the words harsh but not without some warmth to them.

"I don't have time to argue with you, I don't want to waste any more time," the pegasus said before taking off as he and the other three began lifting ponies, who were too exhausted to voice their discontent.

Thunder bolted to his family bringing them over the rock first, he acted as though the exhaustion didn't faze him, but the truth was he couldn't afford to be exhausted, between the dangers and the constant fear of changelings coming out of nowhere there was no time to even consider resting.

As the final members were put on the ground all the pegasi began lifting one of the two carts over the rock, Thunder stood guard at the top of the rock, as the first cart floated over his head, he began to feel anxious. it took too long to move the carts in the air and because of how much energy the pegasi have used they'll most likely be useless until they get their strength back. They had set out from the village to search for Canterlot. Apparently there is a city that was recently built being guarded by two powerful sisters, a place untouchable by changelings and a true shot at peace and safety. He believed in the idea, he wanted to raise his son and hopefully whatever new family member came out of his wife next.

He looked back at her slim figure, her flowing black mane against her skin,

"Seralia," he thought, thinking fondly of his wife.

She lay next to his son who was sleeping blissfully, she stroked her stomach with a smile on her face. He smiled hoping to raise that child safely, away from dangers of the world. His son idolized him and he hoped his other child would too or at least live long enough to get the chance too. As he reflected on distant memories he turned and saw the pegasi just about to begin lifting, he looked off into the distance to where they had come from and his smile, dropped.

"CHANGELINGS!!," he roared "MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" he barked as the pegasi dropped the cart and grabbed what they could before bolting over the rock and dumping it onto the other cart. Everyone was alert now, panicked. And began fleeing into the forest Seralia shouting his name as she and his son disappeared into the forest.

Thunder dove down to the abandoned cart and grabbed a spear, feeling the shaft of the spear his days as guard captain came back to him. He bolted to the top of the rock. The changelings had seen them, hissing in their hordes, he turned to where the group had been, but they were nowhere to be found, he didn't even hear them sprinting away. His options were now limited, but if he fled and tried to catch up to the group he would lead the changelings straight to them. A thought he was determined not to see become real.

He steeled his will and took a stance on top of the rock, "Come on you ugly beasts, show me what you're made of!" he roared as changelings flew at him. he dodged a good few and began striking them down. one changeling bolted from behind him. He twirled slamming the shaft of the spear into the changeling. It dropped like a rock below him, and soon another came, and another, and another, and another until his fatigue began to catch up with him. Now he was getting slower and the changelings knew this and pressed for a quicker end. soon the changelings swarmed him. he flew high into the air. the changelings followed. he darted through the trees. The changelings followed. He collapsed at a wall of a mountain, but the changelings followed. He flew in the opposite direction to where the group had gone but stopped seeing nothing but a sphere of changelings envelop him... he sighed.

"Seralia..." he said with a smile creeping onto his face and his lip quivering "Raise them well, cause I won't be there," he said choking on the words as the mass of blue eyes and fangs enveloped him, he swung his spear one final time and roared one final cry before it ended.

And then... Nothing.

Testing Times

Cramped...soundless...hopeless. These words floated around Thunder's head, he couldn't feel his body. He felt... weightless. Surely he was dead, he lost to the changelings and they killed him. But if that is the case he can still think, he can still feel. He tried to open his eyes he struggled to do so but as his eyes slowly opened he had wished he hadn't.

As he witnessed countless green pods hanging from the walls with changelings flying by taking something from them through magical mean. "what... is this," he questioned though his mouth did not move, seeing ponies of all shapes and sizes being hung like fruit from trees it disturbed him to no end he felt his gut turn inside himself. "this is sick, death is better than this" he thought he looked down the green pods stretched endlessly, they were hanging inside a fissure. A sound move, earth ponies and unicorns would fall to their demise if they did manage to escape leaving only ponies with the power of flight to have a chance of escape. He didn't want to be here. He needed to see his family, even if he was stuck in a green gelatinous cocoon he was alive. And he'd fight for a chance, even a slim one of seeing his family.

He tried moving his limbs they moved very slightly but they moved. He vibrated his limbs moving them back and forth rapidly, creating a pocket of air in the goo around his limbs allowing for more movement. soon his legs had enough space to muster a kick, his lower half in a cozy air pocket he pulled his frontal half into the pocket landing him on his rear.

A changeling flew by, he was big. Twice the size of Thunder crescent and scars covering his body his large wings holding him aloft he drifted past Thunder with a small horde of changelings following in his wake.

Thunder didn't move, fear controlled him, in this moment as he realised just how many changelings were here. It wasn't safe to burst out of the cocoon, he'd have to think about his escape carefully. He only had one shot at this, if he got caught then they'd re-incase him in something stronger, have a guard watch him or even just kill him outright.

The changelings passed. None of them seemed to notice him and he breathed a sigh of relief. He heard a sound coming from behind him. it sounded like, the stone was chipping. he turned slowly and cleared the goo out of the way of the wall, sure enough there was a tiny hole in the stone wall that the cocoon had been put against. then chipping got louder and a chunk of stone flew from the wall and got stuck mid-air into the goo behind Thunder, he began kicking at the wall and soon larger chunks fell off and a voice called out.

"Hey!, watch where yer kickin'," a female voice called out. "y'all most took my eye out," she called back in somewhat cheery tone "although i s'pose i should be grateful, you're the first one to actually respond to me" the voice said as the final resistance of the wall collapsed revealing an earth pony with colours similar to the rocks around her, her mane was dark brown her coat was the colour of sand, she wore two odd contraptions on her hoofs that looked like steel hooves. "The name's Quartz pleased to meet'cha" she said with a smile across her face.

Thunder couldn't complain it was the first energetic friendly face he'd seen in awhile. It almost made him forget about the situation.
"I am Thunder crescent the pleasures all mine," he said as he dashed past her, she began resealing the hole she had created.

"Can't let 'em know we've broken out," she said as the wall took significantly less time to cover up then it did to break it. "y'see lot's of ponies lose hope and just, give up. But those who don't sit on their flanks, like yer'self, I make an effort to get'em outta there" she said standing back and admiring her work.

"there are others ?" Thunder questioned as they began making their way through a crudely cut tunnel.

"Absolutely!, I'm sure the others'll be happy to see ya. The more the merrier an' all that," she said then had a somewhat confused look on her face "though we haven't seen a bat-pony before," she shook such notions from her head and smiled again "Nah, yer not a changeling an that's all that matters" she said keeping the conversation surprisingly upbeat considering the situation of where they were.

Eventually, the tunnel came to an end and she raised her arm pointing to a significant group of ponies wandering around what looked like a crudely crafted town with several varieties of ponies going about their business. "Welcome to Silverstone, the town crafted by yours truly that fits a hoofball field," she said puffing out her chest proudly "And a base of operations for rescue and attack on the changeling hordes".

Thunder couldn't believe his eyes, how had they not been found, this many ponies. there must have been a few hundred "And you did this?" he asked sceptically "all of it?".

She smiled "darn straight I did, my cutiemark was diggin' there ain't nothin' I can't dig through, and this is just the beggining we'll get more ponies and eventually when we have the numbers blaze a trail through the changeling hordes and escape to the surface"

Thunder smiled and tapped his armour "then ask of me what you will, and I will do what I can to help" he said proudly. seeing this village, finding these ponies... it was nothing short of a miracle, one he would not waste. merely finding other ponies his chances of success had multiplied, he looked down to the village "With this there's a chance," he said then looked up to the ceiling "wait for me, Seralia, Silver" he said as he stood next to quartz.

Feelings of hope resonated inside Thunder, and he was filled with determination.

A Rocky Start

Quartz looked at thunder who appeared to be in a daze.

"pretty impressive eh," she boasted "well let's go down and meet everyone or rather I give you a tour of this fine establishment," she said gesturing to a stone set of stairs spiralling along the wall to the floor.

As the two began walking down the stairs Thunder crescents head was filled with so many questions, he held back the urge to ask them all at once and stuck to the basics. "How does all this exist," he questioned his eyes scanning every inch of the environment. "not that I'm ungrateful but how does this even exist," he said redirecting his look back to quartz.

She giggled to herself "well you see when I broke out of my cocoon I contemplated just leaving, but then I thought what about folks who don't have a cutie mark that lets you dig through anything,".

"but I got out just fine by moving a lot" Thunder interrupted.

"Well through the cocoon yeah sure, but if you didn't have wings all that were waiting for ya was a large drop to the abyss" she retorted. now being halfway down the stairs the buildings were somewhat more present and harder to ignore. Though hard to believe she constructed this herself what was believable was that everyone looked starved, or rather filled with less energy. quartz noticed this and was slightly disheartened. she decided to skip the tour and head straight to the main base. A building covered in red cloth. "I'm taking you to our leaders first, as they will know what to do with you more than I could".

This news shocked Thunder "you mean you aren't the leader? but you built all this" he asked. to which she laughed and shook her head.

"Just because the builders made the castle doesn't mean they get to be the princess, besides I couldn't do any of those hard decisions, I just want to help as many people as I can when I can," she said with mild enthusiasm.

Thunder opened his mouth to say something "words like those are the sort of things good leaders say, not to mention you get your hands dirty " he hadn't known her long put she came across as someone honest a trait that he found lacking among the leaders he had met on his journey to find canterlot.

Quartz laughed "you think so" she blushed slightly before shaking her head as they arrived at the entrance a long piece of red cloth being the only thing stopping them from seeing inside. there was also two ponies with spears and armour who looked slightly sleep depraved. they spoke as if they have said the same lines a hundred times.

"I'm sorry but at present there is a meeting taking place, no citizens or workers are allowed in during the meeting, if you have any problems be sure to come back once the meeting is over" his words themselves sounded exhausted.

"Ah come on, brighten up buddy, you get to look at my charming face. I'm sure you can make an exception for little old me can'tcha " she said teasingly.

The guard brightened up almost instantly "well if it isn't Quartz the boys and I were wondering where you had run off to".

"I was doing my job, you know saving people, digging tunnels the usual stuff".

"I see, and where's the fella you saved or is it a mare this time," he said his tone somewhat hopeful.

Quartz shook her head "Now why would I do that when a mare is standing right here," she said puffing out her chest and pointing at herself " Nah this time it's a colt and he's a bat-pony" she blurted out wondering whether it was okay to kill him that "This is Thunder Crescent" she stepped aside revealing Thunder who was walking towards them already.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance I am Thunder Crescent," he said somewhat formally.

The guard only laughed and smacked his shoulder "Finally! another guard. maybe I can take a break finally".

Quartz narrowed her gaze "Hey you get breaks a plenty, if anything I should get a break all this digging and work has made me out of touch with my feminine side" she said rubbing her flank "digging tunnels all day takes its toll y'know, I just want a nice hot bath, just one!".

The guard laughed again "A Bat-pony eh? don't see many of the-" he was cut off as a bowl flew out from the door slamming into Thunder's face making a pleasant dong sound. the sound of arguing could be heard from within the tent.

"They at it again?" quartz questioned as the bowl that his Thunders face slid off revealing a rather unhappy Thunder Crescent.

The guard sighed "Been at it since you left, I suppose if I let you in maybe something will actually happen and I can take a break," he pondered aloud "Well what's the worse they can do, fire me" he chuckled "go on in" he said moving aside. "and my name is Granite, Captain Granite" he said eyeing Thunder up and down. probably thinking of jobs to get him to do.

As Quartz lifted the cloth the arguing became more present, Thunder and quartz walked in side by side and let the door cloth fall behind them.

***

As they entered the base of operations there were two ponies one was a somewhat older earth pony with her white mane tied into a bun and her skin a peach yellow.

"You don't understand. We Can't try, we're exhausted we need to focus on getting supplies: food, water, bedding. basic commodities that are essential for us to continue on! If we attempt this we'll all DIE!" she shouted at the other pony who was a Pegasus clothed head to toe in Silver armour, it looked regal perhaps she once served someone before getting trapped.

The armoured mare removed her helmet which resembled a fearsome dragon and slammed it onto the table revealing a flowing mane of crimson hair and pale white coat. "No YOU don't get it, the changelings are gathering more and more numbers. and recently some strong commanders have been coming here one by one. if we don't move now then we won't be able to move at ALL!".

the two continued to argue despite two ponies entering the room. Quartz raised her voice to interject but it made no difference they just ignored her.

Thunder raised an eyebrow and picked up the bowl that had been thrown at him "borrowing this" he said to Granite who stood outside with a raised eyebrow and a look of intrigue on his face.

Thunder picked which one to throw it at and in the end picked up another bowl and threw a bowl at each ponies respective faces. The armoured mare dodged effortlessly "Hah you missed!" she said realising finally that someone else had entered the room. her train of thought interrupted by a dong coming from the pony across the room who had made no effort to dodge at all.

"who threw that I demand you reveal yourself!" she said the pot fixed firmly to her face.

Quartz helped remove the pot while the armoured mare approached Thunder "Armour? are you a guard or a warrior" she said expectantly. Thunder nodded then saluted as he had been taught.

"Yes ma'am commander Thunder Crescent at your service," he stood proudly "well, not a commander anymore,"

The armoured mare smiled and breathed a sigh of relief "Thank goodness, we can always use experienced soldiers they are somewhat of a rarity to come across, either killed or killing themselves before the enemy can get any info out of them" upon saying that she looked at Thunder "why are you still here" she said "all the guards found had been tortured for information".

Thunder looked down woefully "I'm afraid my village was already taken over by the time I was captured. I suppose that rendered my knowledge useless and not worth the effort," he said then was surprised by the armoured mare embracing him briefly

"It can't have been easy, but rest assured we'll pay those changelings back tenfold," she said a look of determination on her face. She turned as the other pony approached them.

"So this one is the newcomer, not much to look at," she said bluntly this comment angered the armoured mare but she restrained herself "still another mouth to feed, but you have wings so we have some use for you and you aren't exhausted yet so we could get some good mileage while you still have that energy".

"Enough!" the armoured mare said, "he is not another tool, he has had military experience, he's invaluable and so he'll become part of my section. I do not want to start another argument" she interrupted angered by the elderly ponies words both before after and during the time they spent together.

The elderly pony grunted and scoffed "Just cause he's your age, you whippersnappers are all the same" she mumbled as she left "We must reach a decision tomorrow, otherwise regardless of which we take none of us will survive" she said finally as she parted the red cloth and left the room.

The armoured mare introduced herself "I am Lisea Scarlet commander of the anti-changeling forces or whatever you'd call our numbers" she said smiling "A pleasure to meet you Mr.Crescent," she then pointed out the door "the pony with the bun is Beatrice or as the men and me call her, Beety,".

Thunder crescent exchanged a few words before she asked him to walk with her, upon closer Inspection she was a pegasus and her armour was all metal nor brushes or plumes on her helmet which was being carried by her wing, If Thunder wasn't a married colt he'd definitely consider her as prime material, but he let such thoughts not distract him and instead focused on the conversation which he'd accidently tuned out of.

"To summarise we're low on food and supplies, thankfully we have a natural reservoir of clean water so thirst isn't a problem but ponies can't live off water forever. Our energy will only decrease and even if we find a stable food source, which chances of happening are in the realms of the divine, even if we found a food source the changelings are amassing here and it doesn't look like they're going to stop anytime soon,"

Thunder nodded in agreement recalling the one changeling he saw with scars all across its body. he turned his attention to his surroundings where he noticed the area they had entered had more guards and a banner of red cloth whereas a banner of green cloth lay in the opposite end of the chamber back the way they came.

Lisea gestured for Thunder to follow her, and upon reaching her his eyes widened as she spoke.

"If you think quartz making the village was impressive then you underestimate the equestrian armies resolve" she said revealing a section filled with what looked like multiple gua\rd barracks each with sign similar to a pub jutting out from the building each with a different crest "we are the anti-changeling forces and we will take back Equestria" she said as the noise of camaraderie and shouting resembling more a tavern than a barracks "I know it's been a rough induction to our community but I hope you'll feel right at home" she said patting him on the back as they both looked out to the barracks there was even a second floor visible even from the entrance.

Truly it was astonishing and the sheer number of able-bodied combat ready colts and mares was astounding. something resonated within Thunder a feeling he had not felt since his time as a commander. He smiled, remembering those peaceful days. Seeing these soldiers nay, these ponies filled him with determination.

The Scarlet Quarter

Thunder looked on in awe of space, there was such a feeling of hope coming from every corner of the area. Laughter and smiles, jokes and games were being played and all of the ponies looked happy considering their situation.

"This is the red section, it is the area that I alone have full control over," Lisea said as other soldiers either saluted her passing or raised a mug and cheered.

"Are they...drinking?" thunder asked he didn't think that cider of any kind could be smuggled down here.

Lisea sighed "I wish, the scouting groups only come back with food and materials, since we have an underground lake at our disposal they don't bother looking for other sources of drink" she shuffled past the tables and stood at some stone stairs which led to the next floor, she turned around to look at Thunder who was spinning in circles trying to look at everything.

"How did you manage all this" it was beyond believe this area wasn't like the crudely crafted rock houses he saw on his way in, these ones were made out of wood even the floor had been seamlessly covered in oak planks with a shiny finish "It looks like one big Tavern" he said Lisea smiled taking it as a compliment.

"Well the grey walls weren't good for morale, so when there were fewer changelings we'd go out en masse to recover as much wood as possible, before the changelings corrupted it you see," she said as Thunder began making his way to her "while Beety thinks it's a waste of materials I think it was worth It, it looks homier and definitely boosts morale. Beety doesn't understand that high morale is just as important as keeping warm and keeping bellies full, she always comes at it with her calculating approach only ever looking at the practical use rather than the emotional" she finished as Thunder was now next to her and they began heading up the stairs.

There were three floors the first floor was a training area of sorts different rooms had signs outside with a weapon on it to indicate which room was for practising with what. once up the first flight they needed to head to the opposite side of the second floor.The second floor was filled with shops that sold food, drink supplies and some materials.

"Do you sell things here? what do you use for currency" Thunder asked.

Lisea looked at the stalls "Some ponies develop hobbies like wood crafting, rock crafting, painting and while it's hard to get them supplies they make do with the scraps no-one uses plus it allows the guards to have some furnishing. But Beety doesn't see little figures, trinkets and paintings as proper furnishings, she wants beds and tables and chairs and doors and baths!" Lisea rolled her eyes "She doesn't want amateur work and instead insists that my men take whole beds and whole tables," she looked at Thunder "I hope you understand why I can't have my men bring a whole piece of furniture back" Thunder nodded.

"Aside from making them slower it's harder to move and if it's a stealth operation two ponies moving a table would be much easier to see," Thunder said still wondering what they used for currency. As they approached the final set of stairs Thunder noticed that left of the stairs was a banner with an Insignia on it.

"Don't mind that," She said, "It's just to let them know that my room is up here".

Thunder immediately began wondering why she was taking him to her room, wondering what he had done to garner special treatment "you do this for all the new colts and mares," he said as he pushed forwards up the stairs.

She was waiting for him at the top, and giggled slightly "Not quite, there's just something I want to talk to you about, commander to commander" it didn't lead to another floor instead at the top of the stairs was a wooden door. Lisea walked in first the door closing automatically behind her "Don't worry its hinges just make it slam shut automatically, come in" a muffled voice said from the other side of the door.

Thunder was about to open it when he realised he'd left Quartz back at the meeting, he bit his lip and rubbed his mane "well I'm probably going to get berated about this later" he said sighing then opened the door.

The room was large enough but filled with the diferant things. much like outside the floor was all wooden in fact, but what struck him the most was a large stained glass window directly opposite the door on the wall. He slowly walked towards it.

"wow..." he mumbled as Lisea took off her armour and put it on a mannequin revealing somewhat ordinary clothes with a flowing flower pattern on the shoulder, she stretched then walked towards Thunder.

"It's impressive right," she said smiling "I used to pray to it every day as a filly" she added as she threw herself onto a nearby piece of furniture "though I suppose I stopped a long time ago" she added picking up some papers "so which town were you from" she asked getting down to business straight away.

Thunder turned to her "Silverstone, It was a bat-pony city. one of few existing I believe," he said vaguely recalling his time there. It was a good place without question but before the town was overrun with changelings he was warned by the scouting part captain, the rest of his unit had taken their families and fled in the night and he came to give Him the news, Thunder would have stayed and fought but when he told the barracks of this news some went with their families and fled while others stayed behind to ensure their escape...he remembered their insistence of his survival. He felt like each of them deserved life just as much as he. But he put the issue aside, he'd dealt with that emotional can of worms already.

"I was the commander, the highest ranking present in the city, my men and I were a close-knit force, I trusted them as much as I did myself," he thought trying to choose his words carefully and keep his information clean "the day before the city was overrun, the captain of the scouting unit returned to me, his report overdue. He told me that a changeling horde was massing for an offensive siege of the city...." he looked down briefly then began walking around the room "He urged me to take my family and leave, the rest of his unit had taken their families already and flown to the winds," Thunder stopped and took a deep breathe "And so I told the garrison, I couldn't condemn them to death by changeling, no one deserves that fate. And in the end some stayed and many left...before the siege hit I took my family and anyone who'd join me" he ended his story there before he dragged up any more painful memories "the next day the city was overrun and eventually here I am" he was saddened but regained his composure.

Lisea looked at him in astonishment "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was that bad" she said looking down feeling like she had done something wrong, but she too quickly regained her composure she lay back and looked up at the ceiling "My teams have always been a family, never had one myself," Thunder looked at her with a confused look.

"Orphaned," he said, she nodded.

"war and combat were all I knew, I got good at it too. But somewhere along the way I started caring about other ponies and after losing my whole army in an offensive siege only myself and Granite survived, of course I found him here wrapped up in changeling goo, and I didn't give them the pleasure of catching me" she said then sighed "listen, until you officially choose my section or Beety's we can't give you a bed, we must accommodate enough room for you to live in, I won't force you to join us but we could really use your skill, both in combat and knowledge you have something that many of the soldiers here don't have...experience" she ended there was a knock on the door "Till then you'll have to sleep in the grey quarter.

Thunder turned to her "the grey quarter?".

"yeah it's the section of building without my Red banners or Beety's green ones, it's where all new escapee's go until they choose or leave".

There was a knock at the door again, Thunder looked towards the door "Some leave ?".

"Yes, the tunnel we use to go to the surface takes you far into the wilds we used to have a base camp at the end of it but changelings found us because of it and we narrowly missed being found out only Granite and two others survived the attack".

"It sounds like you've had a fair share of losses to the changelings".

"Of course, if they found out where our base was we'd be done for," she smiled hearing the knock at the door frequent and loud.

Thunder walked towards the door .

Lisea smiled at Thunder.

Thunder looked worried at Lisea, he opened the door.

Quartz looked angrily at Thunder.

"oh goddamnit" he muttered as quartz uppercut him in the jaw, he let himself be hit and flew into the air spinning then slamming to the ground.

"did ya forget somethin', " she said an angry smile across her face.

Thunder stood up "now you see I had intended to see you, right now in fact" he bluffed with a poker face.

"Is that right?" she said, the bluff seemed to be working " well if you were coming you should'a said somethin', wait a minute you left me!" she said her anger returned.

"I was only getting a tour from Li-".

"oh you got so cozy with her you know her first name did ya" she looked more irritated.

"well, i was-".

"No! you know what, I'm going to take you to Beatrice's section and show you how great it is there, then you'll have to choose her's".

Thunder was now perplexed by a number of things, one of them why she was so angry at him and why as recompense he had to spend tomorrow with her, it hardly seemed like a fitting punishment "could be worse I suppose" he said walking past Quartz "we'll have to talk again sometime" he said.

Lisea nodded "I shall look forward to it," she said exchanging a menacing glare at Quartz who returned with sticking her tongue out a shaking her flank slightly as she walked. It was apparently a form of insult that Lisea had yet to grasp, as the door slammed shut. his time in the Scarlet section soon ended.

Thunder was escorted back to the grey area by Quartz who tried to suade him into believing that tomorrow was going to be the best day ever or something, once he was shown where he would be staying tonight he quickly flopped onto the bed which was literally a slab of rock with hay on it there was a patchwork blanket thrown on it. he found himself struggling to sleep with so many things on his mind.

"well, hopefully, they're doing just as well as me," he said thinking fondly of his family before falling asleep after many hours of struggling to.
Despite it not being the comfiest bed being able to sleep at all was a blessing to his worn out body and once comfy fell into a peaceful and much welcome slumber.

Meeting new ponies and remembering the lives that had perished, Thunder was filled with gratitude and before sleeping said every single name that perished, and thanked them.

The Green Quarter

Thunder was sound asleep, dreaming about some armoured pony suplexing a boulder. However, this dream was rudely interrupted as Quartz bucked him out of bed.

"Rise and shine," she said a terrifying grin across her face

Thunder dusted himself off and looked at Quartz "Well that was rude" he stated managing a yawn " you could have simply waited for me" he said walking around the bed to Quartz

"Time's a wasting, besides everyone's pretty busy today"

"Why," thunder asked if he recalled correctly Lisea and Beatrice were arguing about something yesterday. He recalled Beatrice's last words "Regardless if we do not reach a decision by tomorrow then it won't matter what we pick"

The words stuck in his head, what could she have meant. his train of thought was interrupted by Quartz again

"Hey eyes up here," she said as thunder soon realised he'd been staring at her feet the whole time

"s-sorry," he said as he began to think about what to do today. He figured a direct approach was better than nothing.

"So what are we doing today," Thunder asked as much as he felt guilty for leaving her yesterday it wasn't like he needed to be shepherded everywhere he went. However, he figured some guide around this place was better than none at all

Quartz smiled "I'm going to show you the green quarter, or rather Beatrice's section"

"Not that I'm ungrateful for the tour but I agree with commander Lisea, my skills would be best utilised with the soldiers and scouts," Thunder said though it seemed to fall on deaf ears

"Nah I'm sure you'll love the green sector so much you'll choose at as your permanent lodging"

Thunder sighed, she certainly seemed determined to show him it was better than the scarlet sector. But he still didn't feel convinced.

Eventually, they arrived at a gate of some sort with a green banner strung across it. An insignia of a sickle and wheat was printed onto it. Quartz and Thunder moved forward into the complex , while he was getting used to the aesthetic look of the village he was still slightly surprised at how well they'd used the space they were given, this went double for the Green section, the houses while not aesthetically different had various ponies and warehouses carrying materials to varying places and all exhuming work and co-operation.

"Is something happening? they all look very busy" Thunder asked

Quartz seemed to avoid the question "don't worry about that It's just because they're preparing for an operation" she was about to change the subject when Thunder pushed for an answer

"what's the operation what's going to happen," he asked looking at the ponies scurrying about loading carts and waggons.

Quartz looked saddened "Some ponies think it a better idea to try running to the surface and keep going. In search of some fairytale place called Equestria," she said with a flicker of anger in her eyes.

She walked into a building and Thunder followed, surprisingly this building had a door and windows-granted it was decorated with the colour green on the outside but it still stood out among the other buildings. Once inside Thunder felt as though he'd walked into a young fillies bedroom, there was a fluffy bed, bookshelves, a fire a few chairs and a modest-sized table the walls covered in a pink floral pattern with patches of the rock wall poking through.

"Make yourself at home," she said her mood changing instantly. she gestured to a chair, she walked to a chest and pulled out what looked like square blocks of apple.

They didn't have a shiny red coat like fresh apples ought to but instead a dull pink, it was the strangest looking apple Thunder had ever seen in fact he questioned whether it was even a fruit at all.

"umm, ya know it's rude to stare," she said rubbing her foreleg meekly "I know it ain't that much to look at, but it's good food 'round here"

Thunder opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it and instead poked the "apple" curiously. Eventually, he came to the conclusion it was at least edible. He picked it up with his hoof and took a bite. He was pleasantly surprised, it wasn't an apple at all, in fact, it had a very raspberry flavour despite it being as tough as an apple if not tougher, but it was very juicy and he soon realised he had juice dribbling down his chin.

"Ah, sorry-" he said putting the food down, looking for something to wipe his face with. but quartz had already gone near him with a cloth scrap of some kind.

"Here let me get that for ya" quartz was very close to him a few inches away she scrubbed his face with a somewhat gentle and somewhat harsh scrubbing. At this distance Thunder realised how young she was, she looked just below his age and her purple eyes seemed to suck him into staring.

"There all done, I should have told you that they're a bit messy," she said stepping back with her cloth in hand "I don't mind but Beatrice hates juice stains on clothes, floors, a' faces"

As if on cue a voice cleared their throat from behind Thunder. Quartz jumped

"Gah! How long 'ave you been there," she said frantically.

"Since stains on floors and clothes and faces," the voice said, Thunder turned around revealing the pony to be none other than Beatrice.

"And here I was coming here to see the new arrival and I find him and you mere inches away from each other. Honestly girl I thought even you had some decency" the elderly mare said in a condescending tone

"H-hey it weren't like that, he had some juice on his chin and I was rubbing it off!" she said in protest.

"I'm sure," she said almost ignoring quarts statement "Regardless, I am here for you" she pointed towards Thunder her hoof bopping his nose.

"Me?" Thunder questioned, "Why me? and besides I already agreed to spend the day with Quartz," he said, in the corner of his eye he saw Quartz smile a little.

"You will do nothing of the sort, time is too precious a commodity to be wasted exploring such frivolity".

Quartz looked confused by her choice of words and looked at Thunder with a puzzled look.

"Why what's happening," he said.

Beatrice shook her head "We are preparing to send a large number of our people through the cave's original entrance and scatter to the winds" she said nonchalantly.

Thunder shook his head "But changelings patrol this place they'll just be abducted or killed" he said calmly trying his best not to burst out with something irrational. it was mainly her tone of voice something about it irritated him. "Besides didn't you say yesterday we should stay".

Beatrice shrugged "I am staying its the people who want to go that are leaving, if they want to go then I won't stop them, fewer mouths to feed and fewer people to worry about being changelings" her words falling like marble slabs, she wasn't wrong. But at the same time to think like that...that way of thinking is how only those concerned with themselves think.

"What!" Quartz blurted out "Why would they do something so foolish," she said, Beatrice looked at Quartz.

"I'm sorry dear but if you saw the look in their eyes then you would see how determined they are. Unless you want to stop them, Perhaps it could be avoided if we had our own tunnel to the surface that could fit waggons and the like".

"But-".

"But such a tunnel doesn't exist and no matter how hard you try we must face the facts... I'm sorry my dear but we must do what is necessary and if they want to try their chances on the surface then I won't stop them".

Quartz couldn't find the words Beatrice wasn't wrong but that didn't mean she could just say things like that.

"But if they go out there it'll just be-" her eyes widened "wait who's going, don't tell me" she ran off out the door.

"Quartz wai-" Beatrice yelled but was only greeted by a slammed door. she sighed and sat down "She's too naive" she said.

Thunder looked at her curiously "Why do you talk like that" he said.

"Because if no-one is telling them how hard it is then they will start relaxing and when they least expect it we'll be overrun with changelings" she rubbed her forehead.

Thunder looked at the door "So why did you need me" he said "Since Quartz ran out the door I could either go after her or hear what you have to say".

"Heh," Beatrice chuckled a vile grin stretching from ear to ear "You've got that look in your eye, I can tell you've had to kill someone before. And I want you to do it again".

Thunder's eyes turned deathly serious "You what!" he glared.

"I want you to kill a pony for me," she said casually as if she wasn't asking much.

"Why would I ever agree to do something so VILE!" he kicked the table away.

"Because if you care about your family then you'll do as I say" her words pierced right through him.

"How do you-" .

"now-now dear don't be too upset, Unicorns have magic pegasus have flight. Earth ponies need an edge above the rest of them and as it just so happens I have some Information concerning some bat ponies, a child and a mare".

Thousands of thoughts now raced through his head they couldn't be they were in the forest with the other group, she must be bluffing...but if she wasn't.

"You're bluffing, my family are far away from here and they are-".

"Protected? safe? away from harm?, My dear unless they found canterlot then they are changeling food".

Thunder slammed his hooves into the ground "Don't you dare say that!" his fangs prominently showing and his wings flaring up.

"Changeling...food," she said all while remaining calm and seated.

Thunder was filled with rage, he thought the changelings were the enemy, not other ponies.

"You don't see that many bat ponies, I wonder will you take your chances...but, of course, I can't force you to do it so swear your loyalty".

"What?".

"Swear you loyalty to the green quarter, promise to always and eternally serve me and me alone" her words seemed to echo in his head and his vision became blurred he thought he saw a horn protrude from her head a black horn filled with holes. He felt his energy drain from him.

"It's...A...trap" he mumbled his head echoed with laughter then He fell and his vision turned black and fell unconscious.

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait, college has kept me busy. i'll try and get into routine with these chapters ^_^

The Hole

Thunder began to stir outside the rain turning from a slow dribble into a forceful downpour. the trees began to shake and the leaves rustled against each other, the grey cloud filled sky spanning as far as the eye could see. The rain had begun to create puddles and soon after small rivers that flowed wherever they pleased. It was a storm, a terrible storm. One such river of water trickled down from on high into a cave entrance, The large mouth with jagged, rocks resembling teeth and the whistle of the wind through the cavern echoing like a groan. The water slivered down into the cave going along an already smooth surface, the sign that this cave has had many a storm and remained. Eventually, there was a large area where the water pooled. In fact, it was a lake filled to the brim with fresh water. Though no sign of fresh life lay within it.

Thunder crescent opened his eyes, his head throbbing with pain and his body refusing to move. he opened his eyes but saw only a darkness that shifted and turned. "Quartz..." he thought he tried standing to his feet but his body wouldn't move "Lisea...I...Have to...Warn them" he felt it hard to talk in fact his chest felt heavy, his jaw wouldn't even move and he felt weightless though he couldn't move his body. Now that he thought about it, he was very cold as if death's icy fingers were tracing along his spine.

A shadow moved it was large, it swam around him then with a great force smashed into him and he began to move up slightly. the figure grabbed his head and as its head came closer he could barely make out what it was. In fact, it was a familiar face. Pale skin and red hair that were barely able to be made out. Before he could act or speak he felt lips on his, soft and gentle. He felt his lungs become filled with air and his vision gradually started to clear. It was Lisea. Not only that but he realised he was submerged in water. He looked at Lisea with a confused and somewhat flustered look. She parted her lips from his then pointed upwards and she began to take great strides heading up.

Thunder unhooked his armour lightening the burden on his already worn body. He watched his armour plummet to the depths and saw something move. His eyes narrowed to get a better glimpse but his body screamed to swim up. He forced his muscles which seemed too numb and frozen to move, he couldn't feel them moving but could see them pushing him upwards. he must have made some progress as he could see a faint light above and saw Lisea diving back down to him. She grabbed him and they swam together and soon the faint lights became stronger and soon he could see hundreds of them. blue in colour.

His eyes shut and his ears popped as he and Lisea broke the surface of the water. his ears hearing clearly the loud gasp for air among a high pitched ringing sound and the thrashing of water. He choked water out of his body as Lisea carried him to a small ledge and forced Thunder up as she bounded out of the water soon after onto the stable rock.

Lisea shook her body then collapsed panting for air.

"I Didn't think...you'd...actually...Be down there" she said between gulps of air.

Thunder felt his body clutch and a pain seared itself along his leg muscles, he gritted his teeth and waited till the pain subsided. there wasn't much he could do he could see the lake a large reservoir of water, it must be the source of water that they had, he hoped so anyway otherwise it would mean he'd drifted off somewhere far away from the group.

Lisea stood up after taking a few more deep breaths. she swished her tail from left to right as lines of water rolled off her tail like a paintbrush, she shook her mane in a vain attempt to dry it, and as her hair rested back onto her shoulders she turned to Thunder.

"What were you even doing down there".

Thunder noticed she had no armour on, probably for the same reason he had dumped his in the lake.

"I...Don't" he began but his words were lost and he simply lay there like a fish fresh out of the water.

Lisea waited for an answer but instead realised it would be better to talk when they had warmed up. She looked to the lake great streams of water were pouring in from tunnels in the far walls. She knew it'd be a better Idea to move lest the water level climbs more.

"Can you move?".

Thunder tried to stand up, he successfully managed to stand for all but three seconds before his legs gave way and he fell to his knees.

Lisea put his hoof around her neck and steadied him against her with her wing. They headed towards a steep stone set of stairs as they arrived she looked back and saw where they had been was now being covered in a very shallow layer of water. She took them up step by step slowly as thunder slowly began returning to the land of the living. his hoof slipped from now and then but tried to use his wings to steady himself, his right wing wrapped around Lisea, who responded in kind.

"What were you doing down here?" she asked after some time had passed and they began making slow progress on the stairs.

"I... don't know...I was...with...Quartz" he spoke as his teeth tried to clatter and his face was stiff, he was barely feeling it move.

"Quartz? was she with you!" she said with a look that suggested she would dive back into the cold water.

"N-no, s-s-she left before..." he swallowed, as his words seemed to not come out. his body shook from the cold, the only warmth he received coming from Lisea.

"I see, that's a relief".

Thunder could feel it Lisea was shaking slightly. she must be cold too. he thought. something about that made him smile, as he looked up he saw there was still a good few steps to take.

"r-really sucks, though!" he said smiling "I really l-liked that armour" his breaths were short and sharp the ringing from his ears had quietened a little bit and the loud roar of flowing water was now echoing faintly from behind them.

Lisea smiled.

"It did look rather nice on you," she said as the two chuckled ascending the rest of the stairs.

***

As the two cleared the final set of stairs they emerged back in the grey quarter, where Thunder had first been introduced to this place. but unlike when Quartz introduced him to the stone town, it was nought more than debris and wreckage. Houses were collapsed inwards, rubble and stray rocks landed in piles, the signs that ponies had been living here buried under the rubble. A doll caught Thunders attention half of it poking out of the rubble and covered in dust from the stones, it must have belonged to a child.

"What happened here" the words leapt from his mouth he begged for an explanation, he could tell from Lisea's face that this wasn't easy for Lisea to talk about.

"...we lost," she said the words seemed forced and her face had changed to an expression of anger. her pride was stung the mere thought that they had lost everyone from the green quarter hurt her, she couldn't protect them or even stop them from being taken away.

they continued moving through the wrecked buildings then as they rounded a corner he noticed a large boulder of titanic proportions firmly planted at the entrance to the green quarter.

"You are the last person to be in the green quarter, " she said, "None of us can dig through that as easily as quartz, it'd take too much time not to mention if it's filled with changelings" she stopped and saw the attention of Thunder fixed on the boulder. "Listen we can talk more once we get dry o-okay". For some reason she stuttered it now occurred to her how cold she actually was, she could barely feel her legs and her wings shook slightly.

"Not much further now," she said trying to get Thunders attention away from the destruction that surrounded them. They needed to look forward and think of rescuing the ones that were taken or at least find a better solution than wallowing in self-pity. She pushed forward and eventually the former entrance to the red quarter which was now being partially covered in rocks.

Thunder looked away finally seeing a familiar face piling up rocks.

"G-granite," he said

The stout pony moving boulders turned around despite how quiet Thunder said it Granite heard it like a small bell chime. he was moving rocks so that the red quarter blended in more, they were being too careless before, plastering red and green banners everywhere so now the gate to the scarlet quarter resembled a landslide more than a gate. He turned around and saw Lisea and Thunder, he smiled in both relief and surprise and rushed over to them.

"The hell happened to you two?" he questioned he felt Thunder's forehead.

"Your damn near as cold as ice".

he vaulted Thunder onto his back in a swift grapple, Lisea was shocked slightly but smiled regardless.

"You have my thanks"

"You look like drowned rats," he said the three marched somewhat more swiftly to the gate, concealed amongst the rubble was a stone panel, Granite hurled it upwards causing it to slam into the nearby wall revealing a passage, if somewhat cramped.

"Ladies first" he gestured to the passage.

Lisea nodded and crawled into the passage. once she was no longer visible Granite took one more look at the destruction. it was deathly quiet with only the occasional sound of a rock rolling off or the faintest whisper of water running somewhere, nothing but different variations of grey stretched before him with that obscenely large boulder taunting him on the other side of the cavern.

He gazed upon the gate, it was just about finished being covered. the other two ponies with him were members of the guard that worked under him, merely grateful that they had been spared. He gestured to the hole and the two nodded.

"I'm glad you are okay, Is Quartz" before Thunder could finish he felt a strong arm lift him up with ease and hold him like a javelin.

"Wait, what are you," before he could finish he saw a grin stretched across Granite's face.

"no, you wouldn't".

"I would".

"You're kidding right".

"Hey, it's smooth rock what's the worst that could happen".

"You're serious aren't you".

"What, it's only rock walk it off".

"Hey!, It's still rock!".

"Well~....tough luck" and upon saying this before Thunder could protest more he felt himself soar through the vent with a scream that sounded more like a filly than a stallion echoed throughout the small opening.

"You know that that is incredibly dangerous," said one of the other stallions. A beige skinned unicorn.

"Aah no better way to snap someone out of thinking than throwing them down a well-crafted hole", he said somewhat proudly.

"I suppose you are right, I wonder if everyone's okay. I mean we only survived because we were with General Lisea outside the cave and,"
the stallion felt himself get lifted up and found himself staring down the hole.

"Wait, you don't mean".

A gentle smile crept across Granite's face.

"No better way to snap someone out of thinking than throwing them down a hole, don't you agree".

The stallion was immediately regretting his former decision.

"Wait I reconsider my former statement-" before he could finish scrambling words out of his mouth he was hurled down the hole followed by the extended yelling of the word. Argh.

The other colt laughed "Hah that was funny, I wonder if my wife's okay" he said casually.

Granite loomed closer a gleam in his eye.

"Wait, no I didn't mean-" before the stallion knew it he was staring into the hole.

"You, son of a horse!" he shouted as he was hurled down the hole repeating his final word.

Granite nodded proudly then saw a rock that was hanging precariously above the hole. He kicked it gently then dove into the hole with enthusiasm. The rock plummeted downward and slammed into the hole's entrance, sealing it completely and giving the appearance that the scarlet quarter had been destroyed by a landslide.

Lisea was crawling through the tunnel at a steady pace the exercise had warmed her up somewhat and she could feel her body slowly coming back to her, she began contemplating how she would move forward now. With Beatrice and the green quarter gone then they'd have to rely on food they find in the field and they only have so much, with all food and resources being stored in the green quarter. They would inevitably have to re-enter. But due to the psychological damage some of the soldiers have had she would have to run a full inspection of everyone still alive and ensure they weren't changelings. A purge of sorts, not to mention equipment resources, rations, how many days of supplies, in general, did they have. Unicorn magic can only go so far.

Before she could continue her train of thought she heard a filly-like scream, due to the confined space of the tunnel she couldn't turn around fully. she arched her head. And from the depths of darkness she saw Thunders face. but in those brief seconds, before she could word a reply she thought.

"He certainly is moving quickly".

and soon after this thought had finished she felt her face flush red as Thunders face plummeted into her rear, she let out a squeak as she was throttled forward by Thunders' head.

Unlike Thunder, the guard saw Thunders rear and immediately regretted being a unicorn.

"Oh no," he said with a mortified expression, he tried to turn or move, but the space was too cramped, he rolled to move out of Thunders way which resulted in him getting a speedy kick to the face instead.

The guard behind him was inhaling to commence his next bout of yelling.

"This is a really long tunnel,".

he thought before seeing the piece of unicorn ass in the distance. his eyes widened with terror and his mouth turned into the deepest frown it could muster. trying to slow himself down only to burn his hooves slightly his voice echoing in the tunnel, "nope, nope, nope, nope, nope".

His efforts were rewarded and he successfully managed to slow himself down enough to be kicked in the gut. but still, at least he had maintained his dignity...That was before he heard a deep laughter and saw Granite torpedoing behind him with no sign of slowing down. A terrible grin across his face.
"Oh, you mother fu~" before he could finish Granite's hoof had firmly smashed into his rear propelling the group forward even faster.

***

Greg was an average pony, he swept the scarlet sector and made sure it was clean, he got his cutie mark when he was a young pony he was fine with it, but his family didn't approve they wanted something better from their boy, but a cleaner was what he became. It just so happened that he was cleaning just outside of a moderately sized hole, it was smoothed rock so he assumed it was a tunnel that comes from the old red quarter. Though in truth the new one was exactly the same just moved underground and had significantly less space.

He heard a few voices coming from the hole he was curious. he'd never heard voices before, perhaps the underground had finally broken him. to his surprise there were several and getting louder. he turned to the hole and put his head in cleaning a little while he tried to hear what was being said.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" yelled a feminine voice.

Greg stepped back a little, what could it mean he pondered. this thought never reached his brain because as he thought it another thought immediately came into existence.

"buck my life," he said as five ponies shot forth from the hole, upon hitting him sending him flying across the cavern with a somewhat overused scream.

Lisea landed and stood up removing her rear from Thunder's face, she dusted herself off, an annoyed expression across her face that contradicted her red cheeks.

Thunder slowly got up and opened his eyes the image of Lisea's flank imprinted into his mind. he stretched slightly and heard many bones click, this surprised him as he realised he had warmed up slightly as he was standing on his own while he still couldn't feel his hooves.

The two guards were entwined with the unicorn laying unconscious and the other one trying to force himself free of the unicorns grip.

Granite landed on his feet "Yep, that's still fun to do" he said letting out a hearty laugh.

"Fun, isn't the word I would use!" Lisea spat looking at Thunder briefly then back to granite "Why did you throw him! I was still in the tunnel!" she said angrily.

Granite simply laughed "Well you looked a little too serious and I'm sure you'd kick my teeth in if I threw you so-" he scratched his chin, "I thought you could use something to lighten the mood," he said proudly.

"then why'd you throw me, I almost went Horn first into another stallion!" whined the unicorn.

"Forget your horn at least you didn't have Granite's fist slam you" upon saying this the pony shuddered "I'll have nightmares tonight" he added.

This was interrupted by Thunder laughing, Granite looked at Thunder and so too did Lisea. but he kept on laughing.

She blushed slightly "What's so funny, there are literally hundreds missing!" she said trying to get him to be more serious, however, he just kept laughing. Soon Granite burst out laughing.

the other guard tried to talk among the laughter. "It's not funny you don't have a big stocky stallion shooting towards you with his hoof, you got to land on Lisea's flank! That's a blessing in comparison!" said the colt still trying to complain, he couldn't help but smile and begin to chuckle.

Soon enough Lisea started laughing.

"You're all mad," said the unicorn then stood up and walked away before realising he stepped on a piece of wood that was not in fact there causing him to plummet into a small pond below.

The whole group just laughed more and more.

Thunder was somewhat happy and had forgotten his previous train of thought. Though he had forgotten the last time he was this happy or indeed when he laughed this much over something so trivial. "Small things amuse small minds" the saying went. his mother had said it often, she was very jolly and always made him smile, he had a wide smile across his face and Granite had fallen to the ground holding his sides. Lisea was struggling to stand and was laughing profusely.

The laughter echoed across the cavern and in fact merely hearing such genuine laughter made a lot of ponies just smile while some broke out laughing as well.

Eventually, the laughter began to die down. but the joyous spirit it had brought now permeated the entire underground.

Monsters

Deep in the darkest pits of the cave, through labyrinth like walls and the hordes of changelings, lay a very bizarre room, regal almost with furnishings of green, teal and black being prominent no light reached down here except for the eerie glow of green. upon the centre of the room lay a large table with a map stretched across it. at the table lay four seats each made from the blackest rock and the only variation was the single jewel that lay embedded into the top. An amethyst, a moonstone, a ruby and a seat that had no gem. In this room aside from the few changelings that stood like statues, hissing at one another occasionally to break the monotony. lay a what appeared to be a female Changeling, she looked a lot like a young pony that hasn't quite entered adolescence, she lay sideways in her chair laughing to herself throwing up a scrunched ball of a green banner.

"Aah~ how wonderful," she said "How splendidly marvellous that things went as I'd planned" she flew up to the ceiling resting on a ledge that made only her teal eyes and wings visible.

"Well mostly anyway, Aah~ there expressions as they tried to run to the surface, everypony for themselves!".

She cried out then began laughing. Her form was a teenage pony and her mannerisms disturbed a few of the changelings who were not used to her.

"Such deceptions are pointless and in the end you have failed us" A deep voice rumbled as a large stoic changeling strolled in, his melancholy face hiding any emotions he held towards the matter. His body covered in scars providing a stark contrast to his dark skin. his wings spread their full width, intimidating a few in the room. They were the wings of a trained killer, silent as they unfolded.

"Argh! why do you look like that!" she scoffed in disgust "covered in scars, no expression...your even wearing some armour on your legs that hide the holes".

He walked calmly to the table "I am not concealing them for aesthetic value, I am ensuring that during combat I can knock away a weapon without causing harm to myself, And you are one to criticise, that is your fifth body I've seen you in Marianna or have you changed that too" he retorted.

She scoffed again and jumped down from her perch and stood on the table looking him in his eyes.

"Hah! you're just jealous I've got curves you don't" she caressed her body seductively.

He knocked her away with his wing sending her across the room. "Do you forget I am a changeling. If I so wished I could take any form I desire, I simply choose not to" he said as he inspected the map.

"We're changelings we are meant! to change our form" she snapped standing up again "If I didn't change my appearance then I wouldn't have claimed a whole town of ponies that were dwelling in our own ca-".

"You failed," he said his words falling like marble slabs. "Do you have any idea why we let them go about their business" he leered angrily.

"Because you're clum-".

"Because we need them to have hope, we gain our life blood by absorbing elements from creatures among them are hope and love. These are very powerful and as such are harder to obtain, We extract this from them by using masterful deceptions and illusions and making them believe in a dream that isn't real which provides us with naturally replenishing love and hope," he shook his head "What you did was turn all that hope and joy into fear!, Fear is nearly useless to us!" he shouted. this made her shrivel backwards, she hadn't seen him this angry before.

"We had spent months, changing the patrols, putting out groups of ponies, attacking small settlements, having everything placed so they'd believe it to be their own strength that lead them to victory. Instead, you lead them all into the gauntlet and had them all abducted with fear permeating through their bodies...It will take more months for them to finally believe in a dream we create, they aren't even stable anymore".

He straightened himself and regained his composure.

"Your tactics have no elegance or honour to them, you just think obtaining more ponies is the way things work"

This statement seemed to set her off "I'm sorry what was that?, Honour? don't make me laugh! we're changelings we don't have honour" she said, putting her front half on the table.

"I'm sorry but maybe you didn't get the memo that, we, eat, ponies," she said "They don't care about our lives they only think one changeling gone one less to worry about".

"If you have such a mindset then you won't be able to see past your basic urges of reproduction and consuming food" he interjected he resumed examining the map to say that changelings had no honour, it was a sentiment he did not share.

"Reproducing and eating is how we live! we don't live for love, we don't live to help others out,...we live to eat and conquer, a job mind you which you are supposed to be doing! so why don't you crawl back to your battlefields and your soldiers and go do something productive with your time rather than criticising me about how to feed every changeling in existence okay".

He looked her in her smug face, in almost the blink of an eye a blade rested against her throat, several in fact. Changelings that were garbed in black armour surrounded her. As she noticed there were more and more of these black armoured changelings in the room, lurking in the shadows.

"My children and I have seen countless battles, your form is most suiting of you for you are still only a child it seems, I had hoped you were smarter by now, but it seems I am mistaken...yet again," he said her expression was one of fear.

He walked around the table slowly "You say we don't live to love or help others, but that would mean we cannot have emotions. but we both know that's nothing but a convenient lie. You're scared right now aren't you". His large form eclipsed hers and his wing began choking her "You seem to forget that I have been in war, my wings are as strong as my limbs my tail like a blade, If I so wished I could revolt and take full control of the changeling horde, I could help the other ponies as a new force that has come to help them. I have seen the Canterlot that is being built. Their power is nothing to be taken lightly, You will continue your playful politics here while I do the actual work" he threw her onto the ground. soon the changelings disappeared into the shadows and she began gasping for air. he turned as his tail swooped behind him.

She let out the last few words as he opened a large double door made of stone. "We are monsters, there is no room for chivalry and honour, we are what dwells in their most passionate dreams and their most dreaded nightmares, there will be no songs of our kind or tales of valour. we will never be remembered like that we will always be remembered as the shadow in the room and the things that lie under fillies beds, we are monsters".

As the doors opened he stared into the blackness that awaited him.

"Even monsters can have honour," he said as he left the room the slamming of the door behind him signalling his absence.

She yelled and started throwing a tantrum.

"That bastard! what does he think I am, I am a GENERAL!" she swiped a few furnishings onto the floor and angrily glared at a few changelings standing on the floor.

"I'll prove him wrong, I am strong, Lisea will still be alive. Her and her group. I can still have some fun with them," she walked back to the map "So if I were Lisea where would I run to" she began to laugh "I bet she's pretty upset that everyone's been captured" her gaze became fixated on one area. "And what better way to get her to come out than by helping a fellow pony".

A sick grin emerged on her face she began laughing and soon her laughter echoed from the deepest parts of the cave until finally silence remained.

Author's Note

Next chapter 12/20/2015