The Golem Of Blood And Iron

Queen Gray Star; a name to be recognized with utmost respect and to tremble in fear at its mention. She was one of the Twelve Changeling Queens, each one in charge of a segment of the Hive Empire. While she and the other eleven Queens are the strongest and wisest of all Changelings, they were mere representatives for the Hive, for they were obedient to the true rulers of the Hive Empire. The Royal Bloods or better known as a species as Bloodlings, are the dominant species of the Hive Empire. While Changelings feed on emotions and shape sifted, the Bloodlings were known to suck the blood out of anything with a beating heart. They were more related to spiders than equines as they possessed eight legs and had other noticeable features of an arachnid. The Royal Blood were the true rulers of the Hive, commanding and conquering most of islands of both southern and northern Luna Ocean. They had set and built bases in the south of Equestria, preparing to strike and take over the capital.

But Queen Chrysalis, young and cocky, failed as she was too naive for such an operation. Her failure came as she let pride get in the way. Thanks to her blinding pride, the Hive has lost many footholds in the south, quickly being driven back. While she still fought and put damages on the Equestrians, they were being driven back into the southern parts of the Luna Ocean. Gray Star was the last of the original three Queens of the invading south. They were in charge of the conquering the southern lands while the main forces invaded the major cities. But the northern invading forces were met with a battle ready Equestria. The Battle of Vanhoover became a bloodbath for the changelings, one out of every three changelings died in the surprise attack and fled. That is what she was informed until her communications were cut off completely.

Anything after the battle is completely unknown to her, strongly suggesting that they had been defeated or fled from the country. All of this thanks to a pride blinded Changeling. But at least Queen Gray Star got to order and watch her execution for failure. It was well known that she was always pleased to see the suffering of others. Whoever the victim may be, she basked in the taste of fear and agony and brought it to anyone who opposed her. But that wonderful time mattered little, for now she was at the breaking point of making life and death choices. Ever since the failed Invasion of Canterlot and the changeling massacre of Vanhoover, the southern Changeling forces were stranded with no communications or backup. The last of the southern Changeling forces had dropped from 26,000 battle strong to a beaten and disorganized band of 8,000 survivors.

The Gray Queen growled in anger as she continued weighing out her options. She had miraculously found these ancient ruins that held empty tombs as they were on the run. But now as her troops hunkered down in the tombs of ancient stone, they were surrounded and outnumbered by the Equestrian Knights. While the Equestrian Army was the main force fighting the Hive, they had spread out through the country to riddle out any spies with the Royal Guard. The Air Force and the Equestrian Navy had blocked out the main invading forces out of the country and into the Lunar Oceans. Since she is cut off from the main forces, she was stranded and left in the dark. This gave the Equestrian Army and the Equestrian Knights time to drive them back through the Badlands. It would be a survivable escape if it was just the Army, but with the Knights, it was complete suicide. The Equestrian Knights were basically unknown besides that they're the Elite Troops and Spec Op forces of the Princesses.

Gray Star let out a cold hiss. She was outnumbered three to one and with her dwindling band of sick and wounded changelings, it was looking very dark for them. Add that the enemy surrounding the ruins were far more skilled and better armed with more advanced weapons made this near impossible. She was trapped with no other way out but facing the Ponies head on and that was asking for a death wish. With these factors present, it was just a matter of time before her own changelings turned against her. But wouldn’t give up, she was the Wicked Queen, the most feared Changeling Queen of them all! And she never surrendered. Never kneeled down, never gave mercy, that was her only way. She would find a way to escape this, somehow, she will escape and reenact her vengeance. But that was soon dawning as being futile as all of her glory was doomed with the failed invasion. She was very stubborn, that indeed was true, but nowhere near being naive like Chrysalis. There was many reasons why she was at the top and known with fear across the Hive Lands.

But her pondering and planning was quickly cut short as she felt a disconnection. A disconnection with her new Sub Queen. While she was originally learning from a different Queen, they became temporarily alliance. Since the failure in Canterlot, they had no choice but to stick together for survival or simply die. She knew that Venom Shade had a very personal hatred towards her, but that was to be expected by the daughter of Bone Shade, a Changeling Queen that had too much power for her liking. Just like anyone she had deemed a foe from before, she played Bone Shade like a fiddle, succeeded in her demise and in turn gained more power. To her, it was just bringing down another opponent to fill her bottomless pit of greed. Since the Bloodling King came up with the plans to conquer Equestria, she took the challenge of invading the south. Her goal was to cut off ponies food and natural resources. She quickly shook her head, getting back on track. Venom had disconnected the magical link with her.

"Was this by accident? No, she is not that foolish, or she would have been dead a long time ago. But... A treachery to overthrow me? Seems like it at least for someone who hated me with all her being."

Yet, even though the idea was a believable answer, Venom Shade was smarter than this. If she indeed planned to take power, she would at least conceal her signature and make a decoy. While she was still in the makings of becoming a Queen, she was not naive like Chrysalis. If anything, Venom would want Gray Star's downfall displayed before the other Queens themselves, claiming vengeance for her mother. With these facts present, a mutiny being conducted now was completely unlike her. So why do I no longer sense my student? Why would she cut it off- The gray Changeling eyes widened with fright at the sudden realization that there was a massive army being highly skilled in infiltration and assassination missions. They must have snuck in through the underground tombs! She then quickly rose from her seat, it being an old throne made of stone. But before she could alert her able soldiers, one of Venom Shade's personal guards burst through the door and flopped onto the dusty stone floor.

"What's going on?!" She hissed, letting worry show in her tone of voice. The guard in turn quickly got up, not caring for formalities as he trembled in great fear. But she had a good taste for fear, and it was not of her presence. And that never happened. She could taste the fear of the unknown, yet equally frightening as her very self. The guard began mumbling, his mind ablaze with his emotions as flight or fight instincts were in overdrive. She then smacked the guard across the face, knocking some sense back into him.

"Speak up!" She demanded, shaking the frightened guard, bringing him fully back into reality.

"Queen! A monster of metal is attacking us! It was last sighted in the lowest levels of the tombs! It killed them all! It just shrugged off everything we threw at it! It just kept standing there, our magic is useless! We must leave my Queen!" He said, gripping her hoof and using his strength in pulling her. The Queen merely stood still as he desperately tried to drag her out as if his life depended on it.

"We must leave while we still breathe! It gutted Queen Venom Shade like an animal! We have to leave or face the same fate! NOW!" He demanded, managing to pull her a bit. But Gray Star just stared at him, his fear at heights only she had accomplished a few times in her life. She began to worry as panic began to grow within her. What ever this monster was, it was destroying her changelings and her chances of survival. The cries of battle were felt as she gulped dryly. Whatever was down there, it was able to kill a Changeling Queen and come out unscathed. But as she began to chose between to fighting or taking flight, the old stones below began to tremble like the Changeling before her. Metallic roars sounding like that of a feral beast, shook the very the ground as bloodcurdling screams could be heard, all throughout the tombs and out of the ruins. More screeches of pain echoed below as everything had finally succumbed to chaos.

"EVERY CHANGELING FOR THEMSELVES!" A lone Changeling shouted while running away, no sooner being crushed by a falling support beam. She then noticed that Venom's guard had long left her, joining the frenzy in escaping the collapsing tombs as the underground tunnels were caving in, trapping the ill and crushing the weak. These abandoned rooms were now to become her their tomb. She too was in the mind clogging gasp of panic, joining the frenzy of fleeing changelings. But unlike the others, Gray Star began throwing objects and stone out of the way, not caring if it hit or crushed any of the changelings behind her. She even went as far as shoving and knocking down changelings in her way. She charged up her magic and rammed through the old gates, escaping the sinking structures and caving underground tunnels. But even escaping the deadly ruins was not enough, for survival was once again at risk as one of the weaken walls began to collapse onto her.

She quickly dodged out of the way, managing to trip over a limping Changeling in bandages. She hit her head hard on the stone, casing a crack to appear on her forehead, fresh green blood dripping onto the dust. Sluggishly, Gray Star got back up, adrenaline kicking in once again as she got on all fours. She looked over at the fallen wall, surprised to find something from ancient past. There before her was a metal giant, covered in steaming neon green blood. It stomped through the rubble, grabbing a poor changeling caught underneath the rocks. The lone changeling struggled with all of her might, only to quickly be pulled out of the rubble and crushed in it's grasp. The changeling screeched like a Windigo as she began to shrivel up and decay away into bitter ash. The Queen herself gasped as she sensed the very magical energy and life force being brutally taken from the changeling. It gave no care as it's victim's body fell apart like black sand between its deathly cold metal fingers. Before it could give a glance at her, the metal killer was then struck with deadly blasting blots by four of her guard.

She felt some relief from panic as the guards began to relentlessly sending waves of green flames. That feeling however was then striped away as her heart pounded in pure shock. The beast was unharmed from the full blasts of the magical flames! She watched as flames merely danced and died upon mere contact with the thick metal. Responding to the changelings’ assault, it in turn raised and aimed its hand. The area was brightened as volt like strains of hellish lightning instantly engulfed the guards. But what happened next was completely unsuspected and beyond cruel. The once healthy changelings imploded and expanded like that of a water balloon. A bright hellish fire could be seen within them as their insides were burned away from within. As quickly as they expanded, they shriveled down to the bone, leaving only brittle husks of ash.

Their once organic bodies then collapsed like brittle sand upon the stone, turning into a small piles of bone like splinters and black sand. The Queen could only stare, the four's horrific death engraved into her mind. She, the Wicked Queen of Death, had never seen such brutal and terrifying deaths in her life. And she had seen hundreds of them and ordered far more. As she was bringing herself to run away from the death machine of legends, it slowly turned it's armored head at her. It's set of glowing red eyes filling any opposing foe with. The eyes alone hypnotised Gray Star into seeing flashes of the past. The wrongs she has done, the lies she's lived by, and the suffering she caused around her. It all came back, haunting her soul in one devastating blow. She couldn't move, as if her hooves were glued to the floor, she was at the mercy of a machine built by the changeling gods. It's only function to kill and reason to bring death. She then heard a rasp of metal, echoing throughout her mind, sending fear all around being.

"The sins that dwell in darkness, now be brought into the holy light. I bring judgment upon your soul." The voice of the machine echoed throughout her mind, seeing her sins displayed like an organised art. Gray Star trembled as her mind and soul was not even safe from this created monster.

"Several thousand accounts of murder, torture, thievery, and unfair judgment. Plotting and committing countless of crimes against The Hive Empire. Several accounts of mass genocides of both innocent civilians and prisoners. You have broken nearly all of the Sentient Life Rights and Laws. Wrongful endangerment and wrongful treatment of both unjustly treated civilians and soldiers. And finally a dozen's worth of war crimes committed against the Equestrian Kingdom and her ponies." It stated, summarizing the basics of her countless crimes and unforgettable wrongs.

"For committing such unacceptable acts, I bring judgment onto your wretched soul..." it said, Gray Star knowing her end was all but near. She then began regaining her vision once again. She looked up to see the metal giant right in front of her, looking down at her with those hellish red and ghastly white eyes.

"Judgment and Punishment is done." It stated out loud as it began to walk away. Gray Star could only blink in total confusion. What happened? What did it do to her?

"What?" She whispered, not understanding how she avoided her obvious death sentence. But something didn't felt quite normal about her as a whole. She looked down at her hooves only for her eyes to go wide. She was hovering right above a corpse of changeling that looked exactly like herself.

"What... What did you do to me!" She screeched, but no sounds came out of her mouth. She tried speaking again, then started screaming, yet no sound could be heard. She couldn't hear her own voice. "What is happening?!" She thought, panic gripping around her already crazed mind.

"If you are still there changeling, I have cursed you into the Divide. Now you are permanently trapped between the realms of magic and reality. Forever, you are now a dying spirit, unable to come back to the mortal realm or transcend into the stars. You will never feel a ones love, never have the comforts of another, and never again will you harm another." He said, shocking the Changeling Queen to the core. Enraged, she charged at him, horn aimed and anger passed the boiling point. The metal demon then spoke once again, unfazed and unaffected.

"In the Divide, you will forever suffer the never ending imprisonment until you finally fade away with madness. But before I take my leave, remember this very well changeling. Just like the countless lives you leave in ruin, you are nothing. Once a mightily queen, but now you are the same to your people. Nothing." He stated as he watched what little resistance of the changelings had escaped the crumbling city. But most weren’t destined to make it far as they were being chased by armored Pegasi. The rest of them was shot down by skilled archers.

"You are now but a tear and stain in the books of time. Worthless and forgettable. Goodbye." He finished, leaving the trapped changeling to rot away. In due time, she will be consumed with madness and perish. But for now she would suffer for maybe a hundred up to a thousands years of insanity before she faded away from existence. As she was trapped in the Divide, she had no possible way to ever be saved or communicate with another in any way. Dooming the changeling to eternal loneliness seemed fitting to Golem. For such a sinful and uncaring life, she needed much more than a simple quick death. Since she had caused so pain much to so many, it was time she reaped what she sewed. But with justice done, it was time the Golem faced this new world. Although his old one was forgotten, he still lived and represented what he was built for.

"Time to meet the newly evolving life." He rasped, taking a good look of the area before making his way out, ready for first contact. But before Golem began walking, the floor began to rumble once again. Before the machine understood what was happening, the whole place began to sink.

"Bolters..." And thus, came the full destruction and sinking of the ancient city.

General Crossfire, one of the many generals of the immortal princesses sat in the war room. Crossfire was an intelligent and gifted mare, her skills mostly applying in magic to use multiple swords at once in combat. Unlike the other generals or high commanders, she was not mare born of nobility, thus making her military roles doubted and more judged than they should be. And thanks to them, she is stuck in this damn dessert of a wasteland. She was as strong as she was brilliant, ready to push back the changelings and prove her worth. Now Crossfire faced the obstacle of rooting out the enemy from this makeshift fort. She was in the war room, it being no more than a big tent with a table holding maps of the area and battle planes. She was looking over the map, the terrain of the dead land was brutal for both sides to fight in.

Fortunately, she had the upper hoof over these changelings. With an army three times larger and trained with skill intended to kill, she was sure to win. But the changelings had their hooves on high ground. They had set camp in the ruins which were on higher grounds. Add that they had hunkered deep down into the ruins was another problem to deal with. She could order full scale attack, her chances of winning were already high as it was and she would win with her numbers. That, however, would end in too many pointless deaths, so she planned to starve them out until they were too weak to fight back. So it was only a matter time until she would conquer these bugs and get all of her troops out alive with honor. And yet, after three days of using siege tactics on the changelings, politics had somehow found their way to make things harder than they were. These unknown ruins were said to go back beyond the princesses or any known recordings of Ponykind. And so they wanted the old structures intact to study it. So using all forms of destructive siege weapons were now temporarily banned from being used. Oh what a joy!

"Damn these nobles! We’re at war with a bloodthirsty shape-shifting race and they want us to do as little damage as possible! What's next? Ban overly sharp swords?! We might as well be beating them with pillows now!" She thought, cursing like a sailor under her breath. Oh how she hated the political structure of Equestria. But that is how the country works and she had little power to change that. Crossfire grumbled angrily as she calmed herself down, trying to think of something different. Something that doesn't infuriate her even more.

Crossfire had been informed about the rumors spreading among her troops. Some saying that this ancient fort was built by aliens, others believing that it was a Changeling Hive, and other nonsense. But based on what she got directly from Celestia herself, it was a totally different and near unbelievable story. The Sun Goddess herself said that these ruins have been built in a time long forgotten and unknown. A time where Draconequi and other long lost races ruled the world. The general had no other useful information besides the possibility that it could hold weapons of mass destruction. The ruin could also hold an ancient power like the Crystal Heart, or even a hellish gateway leading to Tartarus. If the royal scroll said anything, it was to expect the unsuspected and prepare to either fight or run. She was brought back from her deep thoughts as Shocker Storm, her good friend, rushed in with excitement on his face and out of breath.

"I take it we have good news?" She asked as the tired pegasus stallion began getting his breathing under control.

"The ruins are falling apart and sinking with mountain. All of the changelings are fleeing!" he said, grabbing her forearm and dragging her out, showing a sight to behold. Off in the distance, there were small swarms of black in the sky, scattering in every direction. At first glance, it looked like they were preparing to attack. But that was proven wrong as they were scattered in every direction and not bothering to attack. She then quickly understood why this was happening. The ruins themselves were, as Shocker said, falling apart and sinking into the earth. It was slowly being swallowed into the ground, taking the whole structure underneath.

But there was a big problem that came with the sudden collapse of the fort. The mountainside it connected to also gave way, following the same path. Acres and acres of the the dry mountainside began to sink into the new Canterlot sized hole. The Troops in the front and outer rims of army were doing their best to kill as many escaping changeling as possible. But the cataclysm size of an earthquake had shook the very ground with might, sending all forces on ground off of their hooves. But as the mountainside filled up the hole, it formed a huge towering avalanche of dust. And it was heading their way, fast. Very fast.

"TAKE COVER!!!" Crossfire ordered, amplifying her voice with magic. But it was quickly becoming obvious that they were helpless against the storm to come. The entire destruction and sinking of the ruins and mountainside caused a huge tsunami-size wave of a dust, heading directly at the camps of pony soldiers. Crossfire began shouting at her troops to seek shelter as she herself hid in the war room tent. The storm of thick dust and shrapnel stone hit them hard, tearing up tents and wiping the base off of the map. Everypony was scattered into the strong wave of wind and buried under, most of them already doomed to a sudden and bitter death.