Chapter Six - Onyx "Glaz" Blueflame

Everfree Forest
Haplometropolis (Changeling Capital)
Queen Chrysalis' Chambers

"If you rule an empire, shouldn't you be 'Empress Chrysalis'?" Onyx inquired.

"Yes, well, there is a pesky law that says that I need a king before I can be Empress," Queen Chrysalis answered as she rolled off the chest of the dragon. She propped herself up with a leg and gazed at him salaciously.

"'King Onyx' has a nice ring to it," Onyx smiled up at his dark goddess with satisfied sapphire orbs.

"I am sure it does," she replied and bit his scaly ear.

Onyx noticed for the second time that night the change in her dicolored eyes. "What's wrong? You bit me harder than usual. Is something bothering you?" He ran his claw absently over her velvety chitinous side.

"Bah!" she spat, "I finally learned who assassinated my mother!"

"Wh-who?" Onyx's voice cracked.

"A special team of soldiers called 'Team Rainbow.' Duchess Lacewing has informed me that Princess Celestia wishes to reactivate them and that I had to give her soldiers for the team."

Onyx heaved a sigh, "Chryssie, I must come clean with you about something. . ."

Chyrsalis sat up and eyed the dragon beside her cautiously, "Go on. . ."

"I was part of Rainbow. . ."

Queen Chrysalis pounced on Onyx and crushed his throat with her hoof. "Who killed my mother?!" she demanded, her eyes burning with an intensity which threatened to burn through his skull.

"M-Me!" he choked.

Chrysalis growled and snapped at him. The next thing he saw was stars when her hoof collided with the side of his skull.

Everfree Forest
Haplometropolis
Fifteen Years Ago

Vladislava, "ruling glory" in Ancient Draconian, Onyx tenderly and ritually tended to his sniper rifle by cleaning every part of his beloved, faithful rifle. The custom made, patent pending, suppressed, bullpup,18x118mm Rylokan, 1,500mm long, 13kg heavy (empty), manually operated rotary bolt action, hydraulic mitigating buttstock, "weapon system of the gods!", has served with Onyx throughout the entire campaign faithfully.

She notched her first kill in the capital, hours after being completed to perfection. The Changeling warrior didn't even know what hit him. Through her 9x magnification, telescopic Predator scope, patent pending, he saw the black bits of his chitin and his green blood explode through the back of his head. Onyx rallied his comrades together and with only seven warriors kept the Changelings from entering the capital building. King Torch promoted Onyx to Marshall after his heroics and for his leadership ability.

Two years later, he meets with his king again, who tells him "you are now working with the ponies" and ships him off to Canterlot. He didn't even get the chance to protest or to say farewell to his comrades. The weak, soft, plush, adorable ponies always needed someone strong to help protect them, in the eyes of the Dragons, so the ponies would naturally turn to the kingdom that had already kicked the Changelings out of their borders.

Suffice it to say; Onyx was more than pleasantly surprised when he saw first claw the strength of the ponies. He was impressed by Earth pony strength, awed by Unicorn magic, and impressed with Pegasus acrobatics. One Unicorn impressed him the most: Grey Vulcan; a Unicorn (who doesn't boast like most Unicorns his lineage) that can claim direct descent of the legendary smith Wrought Vulcan. Grey Vulcan was as strong as any Earth pony, powerful as the grandest of Unicorns, and as swift as any Pegasi. Grey Vulcan earned a spot in history for himself.

Onyx remembered the stories the Equestrians told of Grey Vulcan. Major Grey Vulcan was at the capital, off duty, when the Changelings attacked Everfree Castle. Half the population was slaughtered within hours. He organized a counter attack with the guards and police officers which held them back for three days. By the fourth day, he was the sole survivor. Surveillance cameras captured every moment and his final stand which lasted two days. Carcasses were burnt to a crisp, heads were ripped off shoulders, entrails plastered walls, limbs littered the ground, and chunks of Changeling floated in the blood as if he stood in a green stew.

When reinforcements arrived, led by Princess Luna who had teleported to Canterlot for safety, they found him standing in a pool of green blood in the middle of the castle courtyard. When she questioned him what gave him the strength to fight, he answered with eyes glowing as hot as a star and uttered one word: vengeance, before collapsing from physical and magical exhaustion.

Onyx looked up from cleaning Vladislava and saw Thatcher, Red Team leader at a table with Mute across from him. Thatcher reminded Onyx of Grey Vulcan, but all the times Onyx confronted him, Thatcher replied dismissively, 'I wish I was as good looking as him.' Mute also kept quiet about his real name and both never bothered to ask Onyx for his.

A sigh left him. Saying "one last mission" is inviting trouble. Saying "it will be easy" is a death sentence. Saying both in one sentence, well, better start digging the graves and making the coffins. Onyx felt that "Six" was setting them up for failure. Call him crazy, but he didn't trust disembodied voices, blacked out video calls, or scrambled voices. He scratched under his wings, agitation getting to him.

Thatcher moved from the window and turned to him. He set his binoculars on the table. "It's starting. Glaz, get into position."

Onyx wanted to make a quip but knew now was not the time, "Roger, roger." He went over to the table, where Mute removed the map cluttering it and set Vladislava's bipod on the table. Half her length still hung off the table, and he sat on an invisible chair, steeling himself for the long wait.

Mute sat against the wall at a desk working with a listening device, manipulating its knobs with his crimson magic and holding up the headphones with his left hoof.

"I still have one hundred bits that Thatcher is Grey Vulcan," Onyx interrupted the suffocating silence.

Thatcher snorted, "Well, I have five hundred bits Mute is Grey Vulcan."

"Mute?" Onyx inquired without removing his cheek from his rifle.

"Since Thatcher is paying. . . one k bits," Mute answered.

Thatcher shook his head. He picked up the binos and went over to a second window. "Blue One, report, over," he ordered over the comms.

"Blue One 'ere. Nuffin outta place, over," he answered.

"Orange One, give me a sitrep, over," Thatcher continued.

"Orange One here," a chipper female replied, "Everything ground level is normal, Five. Nothing strange has happened, over."

"Yellow One, what's your situation, over?"

"Yellow One here," a gruff dragon male voice answered, "Situation: nominal. HowHey, you are not permitted to being here."

"Yellow One?" Thatcher called.

"I-I'm just looking for the market," an elderly female's voice sounded in Yellow One's comms.

"Market be another way. Now" an explosion made Thatcher wince, and static filled his ear.

"Green One reporting!" a male Everfree voice shouted over the comms, "We saw the explosion! Yellow Squad is gone. Changelings are flooding the area!"

"Ambush!" Thatcher announced to the comms. "All squads, hold the courtyard! Blue Squad, secure the ambassadors!" He received a choir of confirmation from the squads. "Glaz, make sure no Changelings enter the meeting room."

"What about the ones already in there?" Glaz questioned.

"If they try to do anything, drop them," Thatcher replied.

Glaz spotted Blue Squad advancing down the hallway to the meeting room when suddenly his scope was filled with smoke and fire.

An explosion drew Thatcher's attention to the building across the way. Smoke and flames spewed from the fifth floorthe same room as the ambassadors.

"Well, there goes Blue Squad," Onyx deadpanned.

"Scheißen!" Thatcher interjected in his native Everfreese, crushing the floorboards under an angry hoof. "This is why we should have just nuked them all!"

"Here, here!" Onyx agreed with a fist thrust in the air.

"Now is not the time for jokes. What do we do, Thatcher?" Mute spoke up.

"Who says I'm joking?" Onyx grinned devilishly.

"Hold on. Six, we have a SNAFU. The meeting was a setup, and the ambassadors are dead. Along with Blue and Yellow Squad. Please advise, over." Thatcher touched the earbud in his ear and spoke into the mic on his forearm.

"You are cleared for 'Plan A,' Five. Six out," was the response from the leader of Team Rainbow after a few moments of silence.

"Six has given us the go for 'Plan A,'" Thatcher informed the two others.

"I thought thiswhat's 'Plan A'?" Onyx questioned with a quizzical look.

"'Plan A' is chopping off the head of the snake," Thatcher replied cryptically.

Onyx turned to Mute to translate Thatcher's analogy. Mute obliged, understanding the situation, "We are going to assassinate the Queen."

"We should have just fucking done that from the beginning!" Onyx huffed. He picked up Vladislava and slung her on his back. "Ready, boss!"

Present

Onyx groaned and winced at the throbbing pain in his head that flared as he lifted his head up. He felt stretched, and for a good reason, he was chained up, and his limbs were threatening to be pulled out of their sockets. His back was on a wooden table, and his wings were also restrained. Movement from the corner of his eye grabbed his attention. His dark goddess stepped out of the shadows and bathed in the light the single bulb showered down.

"If you were into S&M you should have just said so," Onyx smiled wryly up at her.

"The only reason you yet draw breath is for the sole purpose of telling me everything about Team Rainbow," she spoke menacingly.

"So it's not because of everything we've been through?" he joked, his laughter was cut short by a hoof to the ribs.

"You will answer me, and I might spare your life, wyrm," Queen Chrysalis snarled.

"Yes, Mastress!" Onyx strained, an odd feeling of pleasure warming his body.

"Who is the leader of Team Rainbow?"

"Six."

"'Six'?" Chrysalis' face scrunched up in confusion, "Six what?"

"That is just their moniker. I don't know who 'Six' is but on the ground 'Five' leads the squads. The last Five I knew was Thatcher, but I don't know his real name."

She narrowed her eyes at him, annoyed, "There is a lot you don't know."

"I do know that our original mission was to overlook the meeting and make sure you Changelings played nice. When things didn't go as planned, we were told to assassinate the Queen." Onyx sighed, "I feel sorry for pulling the trigger. I don't think your mother was behind the ambush by how frantic she was acting."

"Of course not! She knew she had made a mistake and wanted to make up for it!" Chrysalis growled.

"I'm sorry, Chryssie," Onyx apologized.

Chrysalis felt her heart twinge when she saw the sincerity in his big, blue eyes. Before she could speak, Onyx spoke up.

"Do you know what this means?" he questioned, realization flooding his face, "There are conspirators in the Hive that wanted her dead and may even still be after you."

That thought had never occurred to her. Who would want her mother dead? She was a great leader and beloved by all, Chrysalis thought. Though, there are those who always want power for themselves. Chrysalis released the tension from the wrench letting Onyx's limbs plopped on the table in relief.

Onyx sighed in relief, "I must admit; Thatcher sent me a letter to meet up with him. From what you told me, it has to be about Rainbow. Attacks are happening on an increasing scale, and he wants my take on it. Chryssie, as an ally of IOTA, you have an obligation to aid with the request of Princess Celestia."

Chrysalis began unlocking the chains that bound Onyx. She rolled her eyes.

Onyx saw her deep in thought and kept quiet while he rubbed the soreness from his limbs.

"Fine. Celestia can have one soldier, as a sign of goodwill," Chrysalis turned and left the cell, beckoning Onyx to follow, which he gladly did.

"I like that fiery side of you, Chrysalis. I think you made me an M," Onyx smiled playfully.

Queen Chrysalis slid her forked tongue over her fangs, "We can continue your punishment in the royal chambers, my king."

Onyx picked up his goddess in his arms and started running, "Then let's not keep me waiting!"

Queen Chrysalis giggled and bit his ear.