The Conversion Bureau: What Separates Us

Chapters

00 - A Prelude of Things to Come
01 - Landing
02 - Down the River
03 - Taking Stock
04 - Divide and Conquer
05 - Regrouping
Epilogue - Hope for the Future
06 - Into the Heart of Darkness

00 - A Prelude of Things to Come

Year 1, Week 52, Saturday

The reception/Year’s End party following Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadance’s wedding was in full swing. Humans and ponies mingled, danced (some more awkwardly than others due to the plentiful cider and alcohol), and sang. As the sun fell toward the horizon’s edge, Rainbow Dash’s stunt routine began, drawing the eyes of every attendee present.

Every attendee but one.

He hated that he had to be here, hated being among these ponies and their ‘friends’. He wished that he could abandon his disguise and show these ponies what true fear was, but his orders had been explicit. Observe. Blend in. Do not break his cover. Months of effort had gone into enabling him to be here, in the very heart of the enemy.

He stood near the snack table for a second, taking an idle bite of the food present, even though he was already full. Finally deciding that he’d seen enough to fulfill his orders, he picked up a glass and meandered his way across the dance floor. He had to clench his teeth to not be sick at the appraising glances some of the girls present gave him, and finally reached the other side of the area. Glancing around, he allowed a small smile to touch his lips as he exited the pool of light and happiness and entered the shadow of the towering building.

Nodding at a passing police officer with a wave of his glass, he plastered a fake goofy smile across his face and hoped they’d buy it. Luckily, the officer did and he soon found a secluded alcove, which met his needs perfectly.

The amber stallion tossed his glass aside and concentrated, his horn glowing as he traced a number of runes onto the ground. How fortunate that they’d had been able to get an agent into the Canterlot Archives to be able to learn these runes. Combined with sufficient magical power, they gave a single unicorn an immense boost in power, allowing them to throw whole buildings, summon tornadoes from a clear sky... or teleport across entire countries in a single ‘jump’. Given the power they’d carefully been building up, the teleport he was using would be able to take him all the way home in a single step.

Granted, the risks were also incredibly high. If he was interrupted during the casting, he would more than likely be destroyed, his body shredded into dust and scattered across time and space. And even if his casting was perfect, if he was a centimeter out of place, he could end up entombed in the earth forever, his lungs filled with solid rock.

He became aware of someone drawing closer, and forced more power into his horn, making the snap decision to draw on some of his reserves. With a snap the unicorn disappeared, leaving only an odd smell and a light heat shimmer on the ground as the police officer from before rounded the corner. The officer played his flashlight over the alcove, but as the wind shifted and the foul odor reached his nose, he shook his head and wandered back to continue his foot patrol.

The amber stallion felt the energies of the teleport spell release him, and he fell heavily to the hard ground. Shaking his head to get his bearings, he felt the reassuring heat of home surrounding him, and opened his eyes to see his family looking down at him.

Getting to his hooves, he froze as he felt her walking slowly up from behind him.

“Well, my child? Were you successful?” She asked as she crossed to stand in front of him, radiant in her splendor.

He bowed deep, scraping his chest on the floor as he groveled. “Yes, I was able to blend in perfectly. No one present recognized me.”

She took a deep sniff, a smile spreading across her face as her wings fluttered. “Mmm yes, and such delicious rewards you carry back with you. Now, relax, you are safe.” Queen Chrysalis purred, her voice like soft velvet to the stallion’s ears.

The stallion nodded, his horn glowing as he released his magic. A sickly green fire spread from his horn, burning through the beige coat, searing the hairs black. His mane melted in the heat, spreading across his back to form a glossy carapace. Wings split through the illusion’s sides, buzzing in relief after being entrapped for so long. His amber eyes glowed a brilliant blue, the color spilling out of his irises until both orbs were the same uniform shade.

The changeling stretched, glad to finally be able to relax. The gentle ocean of the hive’s collective minds washed across his, welcoming their long absent sibling into its embrace.

“Now my child, we must be quick. We need to store the reserves of love you collected from the wedding.” Chrysalis said as she turned, walking leisurely though the sea of her offspring, heading for the innermost chambers of the hive.

“Yes, my Queen.” the changeling replied as he followed after her, the humid darkness surrounding them.

“While the arrival of this new world and these ‘humans’ disrupted our plans to seize Equestria, in the end things have worked out for the better.” Chrysalis mused aloud as they finally reached their destination. The cavernous central room of the hive was filled with larval sacs in varying stages of growth, the walls studded with dozens of pulsating green growths. “Relocating the entire hive proved to be more taxing that I had thought, but now we are perfectly located, the ponies far enough away they will not think to look for us here, but wellsprings of emotion are easily within our grasp.”

The changeling didn’t respond, buzzing up to one of the growths. He leaned his head forward, embedding his twisted horn into the soft tissue. With an obscene pulsing motion, a soft pinkish red color began to leech its way from the tip of his horn and into the growth. It spread along the connecting strands and down into the larvae, who began to squirm as their growth rate accelerated.

“Soon, we will be able to dominate this section of the world, and nopony, not the Equestrians or the humans, will be able to stop us.” Chrysalis said, her low chuckle soon growing into mocking laughter as hundreds of changelings across the hive joined in.

01 - Landing

Year 3, Week 10, Monday

Fluttershy scrunched lower in her seat, sliding the window closed with a hoof. She’d never been this high up before, the clouds looked almost like a second layer of land.

“Everything alright Fluttershy?” the woman sitting next to her asked.

“Ye... no, not really. I don’t think I’m suited for flying this high.” She admitted with a smile.

Amy smiled, ruffling Fluttershy’s mane reassuringly. “Relax, I’ve flown on these planes before, they’re perfectly safe.” Her smile turned to a scowl as the sound of laughter made itself heard through the cabin, “Except when two naughty little ones keep misbehaving!”

Tumbling over each other, the two adult sized ponies untangled themselves and sat up, scuffing their hooves on the carpeted floor.

“Sorry Mom. Jimmy kept poking me with his horn.” Suzy said, her ears folded back.

“Did not!” Jimmy protested, tossing his dirty blond mane back from his face.

“Jimmy, you know the rules. Now go sit down mister, you’re in timeout for the next ten minutes.” Amy said sternly.

“But Moooom!” The stallion protested.

“No buts!” Amy pointed to his chair.

Jimmy held his ground for a few minutes, then huffed and stomped angrily off to his seat. “S’not fair... stupid Suzy, tattletale...”

Amy watched to make sure that he really did sit down, then looked back to Suzy. “Now then Suzy, how about you go sit down too? We’ll be landing soon.”

“Okay Mom!” Suzy chirped before she hurried to her seat and awkwardly buckled herself in.

Amy smiled at her ‘daughter’ before turning back to Fluttershy. “Anyway, like I was saying, air travel really is safe. Besides, if you look out the window, we’re starting our descent now.”

Fluttershy hesitated, then pushed the window open a little and peeked out. Sure enough, the plane had started a gradual descent toward the cloud layer. “How long until we land?”

“Probably another hour or so.” Amy replied as she double checked both Fluttershy’s seatbelt and her own.

Further back, the majority of second class was devoted to the Royal Guard contingent that was on this flight. Forty-five guards were present on this deployment, almost all of them veteran officers.

Captain Stardust stood at the front of the row, his stern eyes looking over the guards sitting in their seats. “Alright, listen up! Our orders are to investigate a series of disappearances that have been occurring over the past four months. According to the information we have received, several of the local villages have apparently suffered losses. However, two weeks ago, one of our diplomats was on an excursion on the Kasai river when their vessel disappeared, along with three guardponies who were serving as his escorts. We will land in Kinshasa, and travel by truck to the river, where we will begin search operations. First Lieutenants Skipjack and Dusty will serve as commanding officers of the pegasus and earth pony guards, respectively.”

He took a breath, looking to the five guards sitting separate from the others. “Captains Flare and Aegis, First Lieutenants Nimbus and Dawn Breeze, and Second Lieutenant Lariat; your orders are to accompany Fluttershy and Amy Getton on their expedition into the jungle to survey the local primate populations, and to begin setting up the Field Conversion Bureaus. You will also have several unicorns from the CDC to allow for replication of serum. In addition, sufficient supplies are being shipped to the target site to allow you to be sustainable for approximately six to eight months.”

Taking another breath, he glanced at the clock on the wall. “We will be landing sometime within the next hour and a half. Prepare yourselves.”

The assembled ponies saluted, then fell to talking among themselves. Flare looked over to Nimbus, a look of mild worry on his face.

“And you’re sure that you still want to come? Given your condition, you’ll be due before we return to the United States or Equestria.”

Nimbus smiled a little at his concern and looked down at her belly, where a small swell could be seen. “Relax Flare, we talked this over with General Cloudhammer, it’s why he had Dawn Breeze come along. And besides, I won’t be out of commission until about two weeks before I’m due, according to the Canterlot doctors.”

“And don’t forget, Flare, you’ve got the rest of us here, too,” Aegis grinned from his seat a row back, “and we’re not gonna let a future little grand hi-falutin’ General go a minute without eyes on ‘em, even still inside his momma’s tummy.”

Flare smiled and nuzzled his marefriend’s stomach, his eyes getting a little misty as he felt a slight nudge back against his nose. “I know... still going to worry anyway.”

“And I’m still going to tell you you’re being silly.” Nimbus gently cuffed him with a wing. To be honest, it worried her too, that she’d be delivering their foal away from a modern hospital, but she knew that things would work out if they stayed strong. Everything else had, despite the obstacles they’d faced from the senior staff when they’d started dating. Fortunately, Cloudhammer and the younger staff had steadfastly supported them, not only on the grounds that they obviously cared about each other, but that their relationship served as a way to tighten the bonds between the native guards and the newfoals. “And besides Aegis, it could be a mare, sir.”

“Hm. Suppose so. In that case, she’ll be our little grand hi-falutin’ princess, then, eh, Dawn, Lariat?” Aegis turned to the other two, flashing the same grin. He’d really managed to bond with Dawn, Flare, and Nimbus over the past few years, and was almost as happy as the expecting couple when he had heard the news. He’d just met Lariat, but from what he could tell they’d get along just fine.

The others broke into laughter as the plane continued its descent through the cloud layer.

She was tired of waiting, lurking about in the muck and watching the city. But, at least there was ample emotion and not anywhere near enough drones to absorb it all, so her belly was at least full. A dull roar caught her attention and she looked up to see an enormous silver beast making its way toward the long strip of black on the outside edge of town. She’d seen such beasts before, but not one this big in a long time.

She closed her eyes, letting the gentle flow of her power ignite, coaxing her disguise into existence. Her black coat lightened until it was a dark shade of olive green and her carapace seemed to crack, individual hairs splitting off until a flowing mane of vibrant orange spilled across her back. The holes in her wings flowed together until they were a seamless surface, and after another few moments they were covered in soft feathers. Next, her eyes lost most of their blue, the irises of her new pony eyes the only remaining splash of color. Her horn was the last to change, sinking into her head until nothing remained but smooth skin.

Once she was sure that her disguise was complete, the imposter pegasus spread her wings and took off for the city, wondering what new prey was arriving this time.

Nimbus looked around the bustling airport terminal, mostly ignoring the stares that were being directed her way as she and the other guards sorted out everypony’s luggage and the supply bags.

“Alright, is this everything First Lieutenant?” Captain Stardust asked as he trotted back from the customs desk.

“Yes sir. We’re ready to deploy with Fluttershy and Dr. Getton. Good luck on your search sir.” Nimbus replied with a sharp salute.

“Good luck to you as well Nimbus.” Stardust said before he started barking orders to the other guards.

Nimbus sighed and then turned to heft her own bag across her shoulders. She sagged a little under the weight, but tensed her knees to keep upright. This foal was taking more out of her than she’d expected, but she wasn’t about to let it show. She’d worked hard to earn her position and the mares and stallions she’d led before respected her. She started to look for where Fluttershy and Amy were when she felt somepony bump against her shoulder. Turning, she saw the wry smile First Lieutenant Skipjack always seemed to have.

“Everything alright Nimbus?” The mare asked.

“Yeah… little one’s just kicking more than usual today.” Nimbus said with a sigh.

“Well, don’t push yourself too hard, alright? You don’t have anything to prove to anypony. Besides, you’re working for two now.” Skipjack said with a trace of envy in her voice.

Nimbus grinned and ribbed Skipjack. “Don’t worry Skip; I’m sure you and Dusty will have one of your own someday.”

Skipjack’s wings snapped up a little before she got control of them, and she shot Nimbus a glare. “I’ll get you back for that one Nimbus, just you watch.”

Nimbus chuckled, the two pegasi bumping shoulders again before going their separate ways. “Oh and Skip, keep an eye on the rest of them for me, I expect to see them all coming back with nothing but bug bites and sunburn.”

“Roger that ma’am.” Skipjack threw a salute as she hurried to join the rest of the guards.

Nimbus shook her head and trotted over to where Flare and the others were talking with someone, apparently the person who would be taking them to the site chosen for Dr. Getton’s project. As she drew closer, she frowned as the tones of their voices indicated that things weren’t going so well.

“No, you do not understand. I will not go to that place. Some of the disappearances have happened nearby, and the word coming from the villages is not good.”

Amy hissed a frustrated sigh. “Look, we paid you in advance to take us! You can’t just go and break that contract without refunding us the advance!”

“Breaking contracts is bad for the reputation, y’know. I’ve never broken a contract in my life,” Aegis slipped into the conversation. That sort of talk hit home for him, since he'd made a living honoring work contracts before being asked to rejoin the guard by Cloudhammer.

“I understand, and will gladly have your advance gathered in two weeks, but I insist that you not go to your chosen site.”

Amy bit her lip in thought. “I’ll double your rate.”

The man rocked back and forth on his heels in thought. “My apologies, but the stories I’ve heard are more dangerous than most...” He trailed off expectantly.

“I’ll triple it then.” Amy snapped irritably.

“Whoa, Triple? Miss Getton, we can out-and-out buy a cart and I’ll happily pull it there for far less than that,” sputtered Aegis.

The man smiled down at Aegis. “Ah, but pulling cart through the jungle is trickier than you know. One good rain and you will drown in mud. On top of that, having good bodyguard is crucial. Many threats roam in the deeps of the jungle.”

Amy pulled her wallet out of her pocket, pulling a number of bills out. Counting out the inflated amount, she pushed them roughly at the man. “Just take it. You’ll get the rest on the completion of our survey.”

“Of course, a pleasure doing business with you.” the man said with a smile, taking the wad of bills. “If you all would bring your supplies this way, we can load the truck and be on our way.

Amy watched the man go, then turned to Aegis. “I know it’s annoying, but that’s just how things work in this part of the world. I do wish we could just handle this ourselves, but the government here wants to stay involved in order to improve their image to the rest of the world.”

“Well, they don’t have to be extortionists to do that...” Aegis trailed off into non-specific grumblings as he pulled at the cart carrying their supplies. Lariat just chuckled as he pulled his own cartful alongside Aegis.

“Y’know, Aeg, seems like we ain’t got enough here to set up a boy scout jamboree, let alone a field Bureau.” Lariat paused, glancing back to Amy. “Ma’am, is this all we’ve got ta haul?

Amy nodded. “We’ll be establishing our initial camp, and taking a survey of the surrounding chimpanzee and gorilla populations. Once we’re established, the rest of our supplies will be air-dropped in, and a second team consisting of zoologists and support staff will come by land to help us get the Bureau up and running.”

Flare nodded thoughtfully. “That does make sense...”

Dawn Breeze narrowed her eyes. “But what did that man mean about the word from the local villages being not good?”

“I don’t know. But that’s why we’re bringing you five along, and hiring some of the locals to act as bodyguards.” Amy said as they exited the airport into the March heat, walking toward the waiting truck.

On the roof of one of the nearby buildings, the imposter pegasus watched the group make their way to the truck. Peering closer, she recognized the yellow one with the pink mane. The Queen had them spend many days memorizing everything about those six ponies, so that any of them could assume their appearance if needed, in addition to all their other disguises.

But for one of the Elements of Harmony to be here... alone, without its friends... the Queen would want to hear of this as soon as possible. Her original mission of emotion gathering could wait. She spread her wings and arrowed into the sky, looking down at the humans milling about much like the changelings did in the hive. Although, with their fractious natures and... individuality, the humans were obviously the inferior species, fit only for the changelings to utilize and then discard. With a dismissive snort, she flapped her wings harder and was soon lost to sight.

02 - Down the River

Year 3, Week 10, Monday

Flare looked out the back of the truck as it bounced over the rough road, grunting as his flank impacted the hard metal floor. “Does this human even know how to drive?” he grumbled irritably.

Dawn Breeze snorted. “Relax, we’ll be at the boat launch soon, then you can get all the smooth riding you want.”

“Great... from one nauseating mode of transport to another.” Flare muttered as he banged his head on one of the roll bars forming the roof. “At least Nimbus is riding up front.”

Grinning like a fool, Aegis then chuckled at Flare. “Where’s your sense of adventure? It’s just a few bumps. And the boat’ll be quite relaxing after this.”

Flare narrowed his eyes disbelievingly. “If you say so...” He trailed off, looking around at the humans that were accompanying them. Not one of them wore a uniform, or at least anything resembling a common dress standard, and that extended to their weapons. Most of them held similar weapons to the one Miguel used in Brazil three years ago, and Flare briefly wondered what had become of the human.

What bothered him a little was the look in their eyes when they looked at him. While not openly hostile, it was clear they were still dismissive of him. He tossed his head with a snort and glanced toward the front cab, past Suzy and Jimmy, who were trying to make a game of the bounces. Hopefully it was at least more cushioned than the back.

Nimbus meanwhile stared out the side window of the cab, watching the flat ground race by. After another few minutes, she looked back over at Fluttershy and Amy. “So, when are we supposed to arrive at the boat launch again?”

Their driver looked over with a grin. “Not long now, only another hour or so, my golden friend.”

Nimbus sighed, returning her stare out the side door, idly scratching her stomach with a hoof.

“How are you feeling?” Fluttershy asked quietly, putting a hoof on Nimbus’ shoulder guard.

Nimbus looked at Fluttershy levelly. “I’m fine.”

Fluttershy smiled a little, though the shy pegasus was a little off-put by the cold stare returning hers. “A-are you sure? I mean, I’ve known a few mares around Ponyville who had foals of their own and-”

Nimbus cut her off. “Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, I really do. I’m just not comfortable talking about this kind of thing with peop-... po... others.”

“Oh... O-okay.” Fluttershy took her hoof down and looked out the front windshield.

‘Great job Nimbus. Mare’s just trying to be friendly and supportive and you treat her like crap.’ Nimbus thought angrily as she stared out the side of the truck.

The imposter pegasus took a second to admire the expanse of green as she swooped down toward the treeline. It was so much like home that she occasionally forgot that they weren’t back in Equestria. Spotting a tree branch large enough to support her, she alighted on it and began to relax her disguise. The birds scattered at the flash of green fire, and after flexing her proper wings she flew down into the underbrush. She buzzed around the massive tree that the hive entrance was embedded into and flew into the hollowed out interior. Folding her wings, she squirmed through the green lit tunnel and emerged into the humid atmosphere of home.

Smiling as her individual mind joined back into the hive’s collective, she wove her way through the winding tunnels toward her destination.

Chrysalis’ throne room.

The expansive chamber was adjacent to the egg chamber, lit by the same glowing green growths that snaked throughout the hive. The changeling approached the twisted mound that squatted at the opposite end of the room, more growths emerging from it to connect to the rest of the hive. Chrysalis sat upon it, her hooves sunk into the fungus-like structure.

“So, my child, what has you returning to us so soon? And with such a meager reserve of emotion on top of that.” Chrysalis purred as she rose to her hooves, pacing slowly down to the dirt floor and approaching her.

The changeling groveled in terror on the floor. “Please forgive me my Queen. I know you charged me with a task, but I have information that you must hear. One of the Elements of Harmony is here, the yellow pegasus Fluttershy.”

Chrysalis paused in her advance, her green eyes going distant. “This is an... interesting development. Were you able to see where the Element was going?”

The changeling started to relax a hair. “They were heading for the river. I was unable to get close enough to hear their reason for coming, but the river passes close by. There are five Royal Guard ponies with them, and several humans. I am certain that-” The changeling occupied herself with the floor as Chrysalis turned back to her.

“Be mindful my child, we have yet to address your punishment for failing your simple task.” Chrysalis hissed idly. She strode past her cowering minion, already lost in thought. “But having an Element here... alone... does present some interesting opportunities.” She pointed idly with a hoof to some of the changelings lurking on the walls. “I want you to watch our new arrivals, follow them along the river and note where they make their camp.”

The changelings nodded, buzzing out of the chamber quickly, none of them sparing a glance to the changeling on the floor.

Chrysalis smiled to herself, then sighed as she turned back to her cowering minion. “Now... what am I to do with you?” She paced a slow, languid circle around the changeling, who somehow managed to grovel even further into the floor. “You did fail to return with anything near an adequate level of emotion for the hive...”

“Please forgive me, it won’t happen again...” the changeling whimpered in fear as Chrysalis lowered herself to the ground, gently touching her horn to her minion’s.

“I know you won’t. Still, the rules exist for a reason.” Her horn pulsed with a sickly green light, sending a wave of energy into the changeling’s body. “You will not be able to feed for one week. I hope you learn your lesson well.” Chrysalis rose to her hooves and made her way back to her throne, already forgetting about the waste of carapace on the ground behind her.

Flare eyed the boat suspiciously as he trotted along the rickety dock. “And you’re sure that this... ‘boat’ is safe?”

Their guide nodded with a grin. “Oh yes, this good boat. It serve me well for a long time.” Everyone jumped as the engine suddenly banged, a plume of blue-tinted smoke pouring out of it. The guide turned back with a chuckle. “Well, mostly well.”

Aegis leaned over to Lariat. “Two bits says we’re paddling halfway...”

Lariat laughed. “I’m not taking that bet.”

Dawn Breeze shouldered past the two stallions. “I’m going airborne before the heat glues my feathers together, think you stallions can handle getting the boat loaded?” She asked rhetorically before she spread her wings and launched into the air, circling over the dock. “I’ll head down the river, see if I spot anything, alright?

Flare nodded. “Don’t take too long Dawn, don’t want to miss lunch!”

Dawn laughed. “No worries there. First chance I’ve had in months to eat something other than Chow’s cooking? Sign me up.” The armored pegasus rolled over and glided off downriver, the rush of air bringing almost instant relief from the heat.

Nimbus chuckled as she climbed awkwardly onto the boat, joining Amy, Jimmy, Suzy and Fluttershy on the open bow section. “How long did the guide say that this would take?”

“A few hours, give or take.” Amy replied, her eyes focused on something further along the treeline. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a set of binoculars, staring intently for a few seconds.

“What is it Amy?” Fluttershy asked, peering closer but not seeing anything.

“I’m not sure, I thought I saw something.” The zoologist said absently, sweeping the binoculars across that patch of jungle. “I guess it was nothing.” She turned in time to see Jimmy half falling off the edge of the boat, Suzy gripping his tail in her mouth. "Jimmy! Be careful around the edge of the boat!" She strode over and took hold of his hindquarters, hauling the sheepish unicorn back onto the boat.

"Sorry mom, I just saw something cool in the water and wanted to see it." Jimmy muttered apologetically.

Amy sighed. "Just please think before you do something, alright? This place isn't like living back home, you can get hurt if you aren't careful."

Jimmy's ears flattened and he pressed against his 'mother's' legs. "Okay..."

Amy smiled and ruffled his mane. "Now come on, let's have a smile, this is your first boat ride after all!"

Across the river, the changeling pressed himself against the backside of the tree, wondering how in Tartarus the human had spotted him. When no further commotion came, he relaxed a hair, and risked another peek. He could see the armored pegasus continuing down the river, and hissed to the changeling nearest him, indicating she should follow it. With a nod she carefully slunk further into the jungle before taking off in a buzz of wings. Nodding, the changeling returned his gaze to staring at the ponies on the boat. Narrowing his eyes, he couldn’t recognize the details on their armor at this distance. That was a problem, compounded by the fact that the small amount of bodies to copy would make infiltration difficult. The changeling hissed in aggravation before motioning to the rest, the group melting back into the jungle as if they were never there.

The boat chugged up toward the open patch of shoreline, the twin arms of land framing it in the amber glow of the setting sun. With a final rattling bang and a plume of smoke the engine fell silent as the boat came to a stop a few feet from shore.

“Ugh, finally... If I had to smell that combination of roast meat and engine oil any longer I was going to be sick.” Nimbus muttered as she got to her hooves.

Flare nodded. “It’s not a pleasant smell, that’s for sure.” He stood and helped round up their supplies. A few of the mercenaries jumped into the shallows and started ferrying the boxes and bags to shore.

Lariat leaped over the side and landed in the water with a splash, sinking up to his cannons in the mud. Tugging himself free of the muck, the earth pony made his way to shore, shaking as much off him as he could. “Well, I’m certainly happy this armor starts us out marrón...”

Nimbus snorted as she took off, landing on the shoreline away from the water. “Lucky you. We can’t even look sideways at dust without it staining our coats.”

Aegis fared worse than Lariat, having plopped right into the worst of the mud and splashed mud all over himself, coating every inch of himself in a thick coat of brown goop. “Ahh, now this is more like it. Out in the wild unknown, nothing but you, your wits, and your friends.” Aegis flashed a startlingly white grin at Nimbus as he ‘splorched’ through the sucking mud to shore, hardly even noticing the effort it took. “Adventure at its finest!”

“Do you ever have a setting other than ‘cheerful’ Aegis?” Dawn asked sarcastically as she landed next to Nimbus.

“Well, I play at drill instructor sometimes. But y’know, my dad told me somethin’ I think ya might need to hear.” Aegis stepped into a clear part of the river and ducked under, coming up more-or-less clean of the light river mud. “Mud washes off, pain fades, wounds heal. You'll always remember these days, Dawn.”

“Sounds like good advice, not sure why your dad called you Dawn though.” She said with a flick of her tail as she trotted up the shore. Aegis just laughed.

Flare finally hopped off the deck, the slick mud causing him to lose his footing and end up completely soaked, globs of mud clinging to his armor. Spluttering his way to the surface, he looked down at himself and sighed. “Well, that could have gone better.”

Nimbus giggled at the sight, trotting into the water with a long-suffering sigh. “Let’s get you cleaned up, no sense letting it get caked on.” She spread her wings and pushed them forward through the water, swamping Flare, but getting most of the mud off.

Flare snorted a noseful of water. “Could have warned me first.”

“But then it’s not as much fun.” Nimbus teased. “Though I suppose I could always lend you a hoof later...” She trailed off as she turned and carefully made her way out of the water, shaking her wings dry.

Flare just shook his head, followed by the rest of him as he tried to dislodge more of the mud before trotting onto dry land.

Fluttershy watched the interaction with a smile as she helped Amy sort out the equipment. “It’s nice to see them enjoying themselves.”

“You say that like its uncommon.” Amy set down a box of syringes.

“Well, I’ve not really seen that many Royal Guards, but they always seem so focused, so serious all the time...” Fluttershy said as she watched their banter, a small smile on her face.

Amy chuckled as they continued to unpack the crates, but stopped as the hairs on the back of her neck rose again. She looked furtively around the clearing, but the jungle was impenetrable. Fluttershy seemed to shrink in place, pressing against her side with a muffled squeak. Across the clearing, Aegis’ ears flicked back and forth, while the mercenaries muttered amongst each other, a few pulling their weapons closer.

Nimbus stamped down her urge to take off and looked at the others. “Okay, this is officially creeping me out. What do we do?”

Flare, his ears plastered flat against his head, looked from tree to tree. The shadows now seemed to loom menacingly, tendrils of darkness snaking their way into the pools of light left by the setting sun. “I don’t know...”

“Well, I ain’t about to let a buncha sombras spook me.” Lariat snorted defiantly, standing his ground. “Ah say there’s nothin’ out there worth gettin’ our tails in a twist over.”

Aegis tossed his head, and then smiled at the others. “Lariat’s right. Now c’mon, this ain’t more than our imaginations acting up on us. Let’s show ‘em we ain’t a bunch of scared fillies on Nightmare Night.”

Gradually, the others took heart from their defiance and resumed setting up the camp. Though every so often, one of the ponies would catch their ears folding back, or one of the humans would see something moving in the dark. Though as more of the equipment was set up and portable lights turned on, the looming shadows were driven back and everyone found themselves relaxing somewhat.

Beyond the edge of the lights, the lead changeling nodded to the others, and they slowly slid back into the night.

“And they were setting up a camp?” Chrysalis asked, idly inspecting a large pod embedded into the wall of the larval chamber.

“Yes. It appears that they intend to remain for some time. The guards with them are all experienced officers, and seem to be very familiar with each other. The humans also seem to be experienced, though they were more fear prone than the ponies.”

Chrysalis smiled wickedly, reaching up with a hoof to caress the pod’s side. Her slitted green eyes met the terrified brown ones staring back. “Well of course. For all their strengths, humans do have such... delicious weaknesses. For now, we will have a single drone stay out of sight near the Element’s camp, to absorb any ambient emotion. But there will be no direct feeding, and not a wingtip shown to them. We don’t want to risk them getting word to Celestia at this time.”

The changeling bowed low, it’s wings buzzing in anticipation. “As you command my queen.” He took to the air and disappeared around a corner.

Chrysalis continued her stately circuit around the chamber, the pod she’d left behind squirming as its contents struggled vainly to get out. For a few seconds, a large, dark-skinned hand pressed against the membrane covering the outer surface of the pod before sliding out of sight into the murky depths.

03 - Taking Stock

Week 20, Tuesday-Saturday

Flare yawned as he opened his eyes, lifting his head blearily as he blinked the last vestiges of sleep from his brain. He felt a familiar warmth against his back and rolled over, giving Nimbus a nuzzle. “Morning, did you sleep any better?”

“Not really, woke up feeling sick in the middle of the night again.” Nimbus said as she rolled off the bed and made her way to her stack of armor.

“I’m sorry, you feel alright now?” Flare asked as he got up and trotted over to help her get the armor on.

“Yeah, only a little tired now.” She rolled her shoulders as Flare settled the backplate into position, flexing her wings to make sure her range of motion wasn’t impeded. “Thanks hun.”

“Sure thing.” Flare grinned as he trotted over and started getting his own plate on. Soon he set the helmet firmly onto his head, feeling the familiar tingle as the enchantment washed his coat to the usual plain grey. Looking over, he could see the last of Nimbus’ blue-grey coat disappearing from around her eyes, their golden hue turning ice blue. “You ready to go?”

“Sure, I’m starving.” Nimbus said as they trotted out of their ‘house’, though the term ‘shack’ might be a better description. The prefabricated structure was designed for short-term habitation, and Nimbus was already sick of it.

Looking around the camp, they could see the rest of the expedition staff making their way around. They had finally gotten the extra staff, and they’d begun rounding up some of the local Bonobo chimps for Conversion. They now had about thirty or so new ponies, with ten more chimps waiting to get their shots. They’d sent a letter to Canterlot, but all they’d received was a note that once the first group was ponified, there’d be a team sent to transport them.

Down by the riverside a solitary armored form could be seen sitting quietly. From the bulk, it could only have been Aegis. With a sigh he kicked in a rock, followed shortly by another. After such a dull display and another heavy sigh, he trod back to the main encampment, passing Flare and Nimbus with his head held low.

“Aegis? You feeling alright?” Flare asked, his eyes concerned.

“Hm? Oh, hey Flare. Just thinkin’, I reckon’.” Aegis flashed a plainly false smile, then resumed his dragging pace.

Flare and Nimbus fell into pace next to him, Nimbus bumping shoulders with the bigger stallion. “Wanna talk about it?” She asked, worry lacing her voice. She’d never seen him get like this before.

“I... well, it’s a little silly, I suppose, but...” Aegis sighed again, figuring there wasn’t any point in keeping it to himself. “It’s my little sister Leapfrog’s thirteenth birthday today, and...I’m missing it. In...” Aegis checked the sun’s position and briefly shook his head, trying to piece together the adjustment for time zones. So vast, this Earth! “In about ten hours or so, she’ll be opening up my gift, a book on marine biology, and I won’t be able to see it.”

Flare frowned. “I’m sorry about that Aegis. I know how you feel.” Nimbus cast a sad glance across Aegis’ back, knowing what her coltfriend was talking about. She fell back behind Aegis and crossed to trot beside Flare, leaning against him in support.

“No kiddin’? You have a little bro or sis?” Aegis smiled at Flare in genuine, this time.

Flare’s ears folded back. “Not exactly... his name was Red Flash...”

Aegis, not as slow on the uptake as he liked to let on, caught onto the past tense that Flare had been using and folded his own ears back. “I’m sorry, Flare. I didn’t know.”

“No, it’s alright.” Flare exhaled heavily. “It was a long time ago, before I had joined the Guard. There was an outbreak of fever. Our village doctor just wasn’t good enough to take care of all the sick. We got word that more doctors were on the way from Canterlot, but for some they weren’t quick enough.” Flare’s eyes remained dry, though the slump in his shoulders still told the tale of how he felt as plain as day.

Aegis trod on in his silence, the thought of merely missing a party feeling a petty thing at this point. Leapfrog would have other birthdays, but Red Flash would not.

After a few seconds passed, Flare looked up, a small smile on his muzzle. “He’d have loved it here, all this open space to run around in. I’ll have to find a souvenir to take back home with me when we’re relieved here.”

Nimbus, feeling their foal beginning to kick in her belly, smiled softly and pressed her side against his. Flare felt it too and pressed back against her, the melancholic atmosphere dissipating like mist.

Aegis drew in a sudden deep breath through his nose, mood lightening suddenly. “Flare, Nimbus... I smell breakfast..and as hungry as I am, it wouldn’t do to be behind me in line, if you catch my drift.” Aegis flashed what could only be called a ‘hungry’ grin at the two. “On your mark....”

Flare and Nimbus chuckled at his proposal, both ponies comically getting ready for his signal.

“Get set...”

Flare cut a glance at his marefriend, a wicked grin on his muzzle as he saw she was having the same thoughts he was.

Aegis set his rear legs and crouched, ready to bound off the ‘line.’ “GO!” Aegis kicked powerfully, launching himself off the starting point.

Nimbus snapped her wings forward and down, powering into a curving leap that landed her a few hooves ahead of Aegis in a dead sprint. Meanwhile, Flare’s horn ignited with a pulse of orange magic, the glow gripping Aegis’ tail and yanking him backwards onto his hindquarters as the unicorn galloped past. The two ponies beelined for the mess tent, not sparing a glance for the stallion behind them.

“Wha-! Cheaters!” Aegis called, laughing as he sprang back to his hooves and dashed after them. After all, how could it be cheating if they were just using abilities granted to them naturally, just as he was? Breakfast was looking to be a merry gathering after all.

“... and lastly, our casualties were twenty-two drones. Their weapons are quite impressive.” The same male changeling who had infiltrated the wedding said calmly as he followed Chrysalis to the larval chamber. “As you ordered, we collected all the fallen, took their weapons, and cleaned up all traces that we could. As far as any searchers will be concerned, not a clue remains to explain the villager’s disappearance.”

“Excellent, you have performed well,” Chrysalis purred as she entered the larval chamber. The changeling following her buzzed in ecstasy as her appreciation flowed over him. Together, they looked out on the scene unfolding on the chamber floor

Teams of changelings buzzed and crawled over the prone bodies of dozens of humans. Men, women and children squirmed in terror, their screams muffled by the viscous, glowing green ooze plastered across their mouths. More ooze was slathered across their arms and legs to ensure they would behave themselves. As Chrysalis watched, five changelings swarmed over one of the children, hoisting it from the floor to a waiting pod on the wall. The child wailed behind the ooze, tears pouring down its face as it was gently secured, the changelings working quickly to secrete a covering for the pod. Once it was formed, the growths in the wall began to pulse, a thick, green-tinted slurry pumping into the pod. The ooze on the child’s body dissolved and it screamed violently before it was submerged, its eyes wide with terror.

Chrysalis sighed in relief as the child was silenced, then tilted her head as she picked out a louder wailing from one of the humans on the floor. Given its pitch, she assumed it was female and leisurely walked over to it. Peering close into it’s eyes, she smiled demurely. “Is that one your child? Why do you cry so for it? If anything, I am giving it a gift, one that you will share in soon. You consider individuality a strength, when all it does is weaken and divide you. Soon, that will be stripped from you and you shall become a part of something more...”

The dark eyes stared wildly at her, uncomprehending, and Chrysalis sighed, rising to her hooves and making her way out of the chamber, the woman on the floor thrashing as the changelings came for her next.

Arcane Light relaxed, the pale white glow around her horn fading as she opened her eyes. The last chimpanzee in the family group lay on the ground, now a unicorn like herself. “Well, that went easier than I expected. The refinements to the ponification serum are really something, aren’t they?”

Her partner unicorn, Steel Glimmer, tossed his head in agreement. “Maybe eventually they’ll get it so we only need one unicorn per convert. I heard from a friend of mine that there’s talk of making a version that can be drunk, so that humans afraid of needles don’t have to put up with them.”

“I suppose. Now, let’s get our friend to her hooves. Supposedly they’ll be sending a retrieval team to take this group to Hawaii.” Arcane trotted over and nuzzled the newfoal gently, smiling as the former chimp opened her eyes. This one at least was more behaved than some of the others that had converted. One of the larger male chimps had turned into a truly impressive earth pony, requiring both Captain Aegis and Second Lieutenant Lariat to safely restrain.

They carefully helped the newfoal stumble across the clearing to where a covered enclosure had been built to allow the newfoals somewhere to sleep, as well as to keep them from wandering off into the jungle. Whatever Dr. Getton had mentioned from the first day hadn’t happened again, but nopony was willing to take chances. Within the fenced in area the others waited, the armored form of Lariat standing tall amongst them.

“Is this our last convertir?” Lariat asked as he strode through the milling group of ponies toward the gate like he was fording a stream. Shooing a couple of curious newfoals from the gate he opened it and helped usher the unicorn in. “Shoot, hope there’s some kinda means for gettin’ these newfoals outta here. Wouldn’t want to take ‘em on a drive through this terrain.”

“I don’t blame you Lariat, and it seems we’re in luck.” Flare remarked as he trotted over, indicating his head toward the empty end of camp, where a haze of magic had begun to appear. The air seemed to be forced apart as a towering shape materialized, twelve feet of dark stone carved with runes, as well as four unicorn Guards. The herd of newfoals squealed in a mixture of excitement and fear, many of the unicorns feeling their own magic reacting to the surge of magic, while the pegasi and earth ponies stamped their hooves nervously.

Flare waited until the light had faded and trotted to one of the unicorn Guards. “It’s good to see you again Ruby, congratulations on making First Lieutenant.”

Ruby saluted. “Thank you sir. And belated congratulations to you and Nimbus sir.”

Flare smiled and returned the salute. “Thanks. So, what made Celestia decide to transfer one of the Beacon Stones here? I thought they were needed in San Francisco and Honolulu?”

Ruby grinned. “Well, they’re still there.”

Flare stared for a second and then his jaw dropped open. “Y-you don’t mean...”

“That’s right sir, this here is the first Beacon Stone created in over two thousand years.” Ruby remarked proudly. “Apparently, Celestia and Luna have been working on a way to make more of them for the past two years, since trying to swim from Manehatten to San Francisco would be a bit tough.”

Flare nodded absently, reaching up with a hoof to touch the Stone. He could practically feel the energies bound within it, waiting patiently for somepony to use them.

“Alrighty then, so now what?” Lariat asked, nosing apart a couple newfoals who were getting a little too... frisky with grooming each other’s manes.

“Well, we’ll carry the Stone into the center of your corral, then we can simply teleport them back. Unfortunately, we’ll be taking the Stone back with us, but Celestia ordered me to give you this.” Ruby reached under his armor and withdrew a small gemstone, a single rune carved into the face of it. “This is a locator rune, since you might need to relocate your camp to find more chimps.”

Flare accepted it, giving the rune a once-over in case he had to re-inscribe it. “Thanks Ruby.”

“And how are your supplies holding up? Anything you need before your next resupply?”

“I think we’re alright for now, thanks for asking Ruby.” Flare said with a wry grin.

Ruby nodded, gesturing to the other unicorns to lend a hoof. Together they levitated the Stone over the fence, most of the newfoals scattering at the strange intruder in their midst. A few of the unicorns pressed forward, entranced by the sensation of the ancient magic permeating it.

“Alright alright ya’ll, don’t push.” Lariat said as he carefully left the corral, smiling proudly at the forty new ponies. “Enjoy your schoolin’ now, and listen to your teachers.” He wiped at his eye with a hoof, waving as the unicorn Guards lit their horns, the Beacon Stone glowing with light as it made the connection to its destination. The light grew to a blinding flash and the group was gone, a few wisps of steam and stamped down grass being the only thing that indicated they had ever been there.

Lariat sniffed. “Gonna miss the little potros.”

Flare chuckled. “Well, you’ll have another bunch to keep an eye on soon, once the search party comes back.

Fluttershy loved it here. The animals were so similar to the ones back home in Equestria, and even the new animals were friendly, if a little shy of the strange creature that fluttered through their home. Looking down, she saw a glint of something shiny and landed gently. Nosing aside a broken leaf, she froze at what lay exposed beneath it. Looking furtively around, she could see more of them laying there. In an instant, her mind was back, seeing those five humans with their cruel eyes, and the shell casings that had littered the floor after they’d been killed. Flapping her wings frantically, the yellow pegasus raced back to where Amy and Dawn Breeze were talking quietly.

“Hey Fluttershy, what brings you back so soo-” Amy was cut off as Fluttershy crashed into her, shaking in fear. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I saw...” She pointed with a trembling hoof back the way she came, but couldn’t make any more words come out.

Dawn Breeze frowned. “Amy, wait here with Fluttershy. Nimbus will be back in minute or two. I’ll go investigate.”

Amy nodded and started stroking Fluttershy’s mane to calm her down. Dawn Breeze spread her wings and carefully made her way through the undergrowth, stopping and landing as she saw the scattering of shell casings. Oddly, they seemed to lead in a trail, as if whoever was firing the weapon was running while doing so. Her ears on a swivel, she crept forward, the clusters of casings getting larger.

With a snort, she realized that there was a smell in the air, a sharp stink that she remembered from the attack on the research facility by those humans calling themselves the HLF. She debated turning around, but saw a break in the trees up ahead and decided to press forward. Shouldering a leaf aside, the veteran officer froze at the sight before her. Her eyes darted back and forth before she whirled about, spread her wings, and took off for where Amy and Fluttershy were. This was something a lone guard was inadequate for.

“Alright, now let’s see what’s got you so worked up, Dawn.” Aegis remarked as he shouldered past the last bush. Dawn and Nimbus had brought Amy and Fluttershy back, though despite their best efforts nopony had gotten her to talk about why it was important that all five Guards go out to investigate. Amy had made up her mind that she would come along too, and, surprisingly enough, Fluttershy had agreed to go along, though Aegis suspected Amy had had something to do with it, given Fluttershy was sticking to her like a foal to its momma. The mercenaries had ‘volunteered’ to stay behind at the camp, and keep an eye on the Bureau staff. Suzy and Jimmy had attempted to follow them, but a stern talking to from Amy had kept them confined to their shack.

Looking ahead, Aegis came to a stop, jaw starting to drop in time with everypony else. The clearing ahead of them was filled with buildings, obviously a settlement of some kind. What had stopped them cold was the condition it was in. Bullet casings littered the ground and several of the buildings had holes punched through them from stray gunfire. The paint on some of the buildings was blackened and peeling, as if it’d been exposed to an intense heat. The once smooth center path was now pockmarked with craters.

But there was not a single body to be seen.

“Flare,” Aegis spoke as the acrid tinge on the air assaulted his snout, “I’ve not seen actual warfare myself, but...somethin’s off here...” He continued forward, every sense screaming for him to be wary.

Nimbus blinked, fighting hard to keep herself on the ground. “You’re right Aegis. I don’t know what did this, but there should be more... well, everything...” She took a few hesitant steps forward. “There’s no blood, no bodies.”

"Lariat, left shield, I have right. Flare, stick in the middle, Doctor Getton, Miss Fluttershy, stick close to Flare. Nimbus, Dawn, flank guard. Nimbus, if anything happens, I want you back at camp for back-up in ten seconds flat.” Aegis hoped he was being paranoid, and hoped he wasn’t overstepping his bounds giving what was basically an order to the same-ranked but far more military-experienced Flare.

Flare nodded, carefully trotting down the street, the occasional shell casing clinking out of his way. He stopped as he drew close to one of the craters. “What do you think caused this?”

Nimbus walked slowly around it, peering closely. “I’m not sure. This looks almost like a mortar crater... but there’s no shrapnel holes in the buildings. And these craters are shaped weird, they’re almost like hemispheres carved out of the ground-”

A sudden bang made everyone jump, looking to the left. A door, partially torn from its hinges, swung forlornly in the slight breeze.

“So, anypony want to check out the scary building?” Lariat asked half-jokingly. His ears were flicking madly at every sound they heard, trying to identify if any of them was a threat.

“Right...can’t leave potential threats behind us. I’ll go. Dawn, on my back.” Aegis was a brave pony, but he wasn’t a stupid pony.

Dawn nodded, falling into position behind Aegis as they entered the building. The interior was dark, but the bullet holes in the wall let in enough light for the two ponies to see that it was apparently a dwelling. There were some crude wooden dishes on the floor, food scattered about. The chairs were thrown roughly around, and the table was shattered down the middle, a multitude of scratches covering its surface. Looking around, Dawn could see more scratches on the walls and her sense of unease grew.

“Whatever happened here, it happened fast.” Dawn observed unnecessarily.

Aegis nodded absently, peeking through a doorway in the back. This was obviously the bedroom, a few cots set out, including one for a child.

Dawn joined him the doorway, her eyes narrowing as she saw the child’s bed. “This... this wasn’t humans that did this, was it, sir?”

Aegis inhaled slowly, the room smelling of family and fear. “I just don’t know, Dawn, but there’s...just nothing here. No blood, and only a little damage to any of these structures. I’ve heard from the newfoal recruits that human war is messy, especially in this region of the world.”

Suddenly, there was a loud thump from behind them. Dawn practically leaped out of her armor despite herself, wheeling about to face whatever threat had snuck up on them. Aegis spun about as well. He’d been wearing armor a very long time, and could move in the light (to him) guard armor with hardly a sound. The main room was empty, but Dawn’s sense of there being something else in the room with them wouldn’t go away.

Her eyes soon found themselves drawn to a large crate that had been sitting against the wall, that was now off-centered. She carefully tapped Aegis with a wing, indicating the box.

Aegis nodded and approached, making no sound against the wooden floor. stepping to the side of the crate, Aegis looked to Dawn and nodded, then reached up and yanked off the lid. The crate skidded more to the side, the lid falling to the side, revealing the empty interior.

Dawn frowned, certain that the noise had come from the box, and looked around carefully. She crouched low, sniffing at the floor cautiously. As she drew near to the floor the box had been sitting on, she noticed that there was a very narrow gap running in a straight line along the floor. Pushing the box aside, she saw that it formed a perfect square in the floor. There was a tiny hole in the center floorboard, and looking around, she saw a hooked metal rod that could fit it. Leaning close to Aegis, she whispered, “What do you think sir?”

“Good eyes. I think you’d better get Flare. Gonna be dark down there.” Aegis took up a guard spot and motioned for Dawn to go.

Dawn quietly crept to the doorway, motioning for Flare to join them. The unicorn cautiously entered the empty room, ears swiveled back as he looked around. Dawn indicated the spot on the floor and Flare nodded, carefully taking hold of one end of the rod with his magic. Slotting the other end into the hole, he nodded to Aegis and Dawn, then took a deep breath and yanked the hidden panel open, to a bloodcurdling shriek from within.

Flare looked down the hole, the light from his horn illuminating the narrow space with an orange glow. Returning his gaze was a pair of terrified dark eyes. Flare hurriedly extinguished his magic and peered cautiously at the human. “Do you speak English?”

The man recoiled. “Elili, Elili!” He sank to the muddy floor under him, shaking uncontrollably and muttering to himself.

Flare looked up at the others. “Let’s get something to get him out of there, maybe he can tell us what happened here.”

Everyone looked up as Amy pushed open the tent flap, one of the mercenaries exiting after her and walking back over to join the others.

“Well, how is he?” Fluttershy asked.

“He’s alright physically, a little dehydrated from being in that hole, but he’ll recover from that.” She said tiredly

“Did he say what attacked them?” Lariat asked bluntly.

Amy shook her head. “He says that the shadows literally came alive and entered the village, just after sundown. They tried to fight back but there was too many of them. He tried to find his wife and child, but they chased him into his house, where he hid himself in the hole. He heard them destroying his home above him, but they didn’t find him and left. He was too terrified to come out after that.” She looked at Flare, her face drawn. “Do you know anything that could have caused this?”

Flare shook his head. “Not to my knowledge, no. The only things I could think of that could do this are rogue unicorns, but so far there’s not been any that powerful that have come to this part of the world.”

“Not to mention the scratches on the table and walls inside his house. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Dawn said, tapping her hoof on her chin.

"I'm drawing a blank, too. Ain't a dang thing I can think of from even the Everfree that left marks like that. I'm right stumped." Aegis scratched at his mane, thinking. "He said the shadows came alive? So the whatevers were dark colored, maybe even black..."

Flare dug a hoof at the ground in thought, his eyes half closed as something Aegis said clicked. “When the shadows move in the deep of night... ummm...” he faltered, scratching his head.

“What was that, Flare?” Aegis asked, glancing to his fellow Captain.

“Uh, nothing. Just something my mother used to tell me when I was a foal. Somethin’ you said just made me think of it... Can’t remember the rest of it though...”

“When the shadows move in the deep of night

stay snug in bed or face the fright...”

“Was that it...? That’s one of those old warning tales, keep foals from wanderin’ into the woods alone. I told it to Leapfrog all the time. How’d the rest go...” Aegis stopped to think. Leapfrog hadn’t needed the warning in years.

“No one goes to the woods alone,

or you come back a frightful clone.

Your mommy and daddy will lose you, foal,

to take your place is their goal.”

Dawn’s voice cut across the silence, the ominous words raising the hairs on everyone’s neck, though no one wanted to admit it. Flare and Aegis nodded as more of the foalhood poem came back to them, joining in on the next stanza.

“So if you hear the whispering,

stay tight in bed, or it’s you they bring.

And never enter the woods alone,

for it's there you’ll find the Changeling Throne.

And the you who returns in the end,

will not be you, but one of Them.”

The group was silent as the words faded into the evening air, the shadows seeming to lengthen for a few seconds when no one was looking.

“What in the world was that?” Amy asked. The three had inadvertently slipped into the Equestrian language as they started to speak, but she understood enough to know that it wasn’t anything pleasant, if the tone they had spoken it in was any kind of indication. Suzy and Jimmy pressed close to her, the two not knowing what had been said either, but the ominous tone of the poem had set them on edge

Flare hesitated. “Well, it’s an old Equestrian foalhood fable, to warn foals about staying outside after dark. It warns about...” Flare’s ears folded back at how silly he felt saying it, “changelings.”

“Wait, but...ain’t those things a myth?” Aegis stared at Flare. “Like the Rainbow of Light?”

Flare dug at the ground. “Well, I know how it sounds...”

Amy stood up, her eyes clouded with frustration. “Alright, alright. Let me get this straight. Are you really suggesting that something from an Equestrian fairytale could be responsible for this?”

Dawn shrugged her shoulders. “At this point there’s not enough to know. But right now, there’s nothing else that really fits the description. I think we need to keep the options on the table open, and be ready for anything.”

Fluttershy whimpered, cyan eyes darting fearfully back and forth as she glanced at the jungle surrounding the camp. As the sun slowly sank below the horizon, the shadows crept in, chasing the last traces of daylight away. The lanterns of the camp provided a meager resistance, a small island of hope struggling against the dread of night. The crescent moon overhead loomed like a lidded eye, staring down on the world below like some vast predator.

04 - Divide and Conquer

Week 22, Wednesday-Friday

Skipjack yawned as she opened her eyes, the pegasus wincing as she rolled off her mat. “They really need to make this armor more comfortable to sleep in.”

“Ah, it’s not that bad, Skip.” Her neighbor said as he got to his hooves. First Lieutenant Coral flexed his wings and shook his head to clear the last of the cobwebs out. “You’ve only been a Guard for a few years. Give it another decade and you’ll be used to it.” He trotted off with a chuckle as she flicked him with her tail.

Skipjack lifted her head, looking around the camp. Every pony in the group wore their armor, after learning the hard way that leaving it on meant for less lecturing from Captain Stardust. Working quickly, she rolled up her mat, still surprised that she had the dexterity to do so with her hooves, although she’d caught a lot of heat from First Lieutenant Willow Spark for being clumsy with her hooves during basic.

Finishing packing her kit, Skipjack began to make her rounds among the pegasus guards, shaking her head as she still kept finding flaws among the newer recruits.

“Private Divot, did you even bother paying attention in Basic? I want that kit repacked pronto or you get to post double watch tonight!” She bellowed at a nearby stallion, causing his friends to snicker as he started to unpack his bag. “And cut out that snickering or you all can join him!” The other stallions immediately fell silent and got busy with their own kit.

Skipjack snorted and continued her rounds, but the other pegasi had heard her outburst and redoubled their efforts to make sure they passed muster. Finally, she came to the last pegasus on the roster. “Master Sergeant.”

Connor looked up. “Morning First Lieutenant, I trust most of the pegasi passed inspection?”

“Yeah, though Divot’s still having trouble,” Skipjack sighed, “I don’t honestly think he’s cut out for this.”

“Well, once this search and rescue is over, if he hasn’t shaped up, he’s going to fail his post deployment evaluation.” Connor pointed out. “Best we can do is keep pushing him and the rest hard, and the ones who have what it takes will show it.”

Skipjack sighed. “I guess... Anyway, I need to go attend the day’s briefing, think you can get them ready to move out?”

Connor saluted. “Of course, ma’am.”

Skipjack returned the salute and trotted through the camp to Stardust’s tent, the only such structure in the field camp. Pushing aside the flap, she took her position next to Dusty, the two acknowledging each other with a shy nod before snapping their gazes forward as Stardust looked up from his map.

“Alright, we’ve searched along the Kasai river here for the past three months. We’re approximately here.” He tapped his hoof on the map, just beyond where an enormous section of jungle could be seen. “Given our failure to locate any sign of the diplomat searching as a single group, we will be splitting up into nine five-pony teams and spread out across this region here.” He levitated a quill and drew out a large curve across the center of the country. “If you find any sign of the diplomat, each team will have a unicorn capable of contacting me. Send word and I will message all other teams to converge on your location. First Lieutenant Skipjack, you will lead one team along this edge here.” He indicated the most inland side of the curve. “First Lieutenant Dusty, you will take the opposite curve here, following the river. I will lead a team directly up the center. I want your choices for two more team leaders from each of your branches by midday. At that point we will divide the remaining guards evenly between the teams. Any questions?”

Skipjack shook her head. “No sir.”

Dusty stared at the map for a few more seconds. “Sir, given the rumors that we heard from the last village we stopped at, what are our orders should we encounter any more villages or find any abandoned?”

Stardust nodded. “Should you find an occupied village, ask them if they’ve seen any signs of the diplomat or his guards. Should they have anything, send a message to me. If you find an abandoned village you may investigate it at your own discretion. Now, let’s get to work.”

The pair saluted. “Sir, yes sir!”

Stardust returned the salute, turning his gaze back to the map as the two made their way out of the tent. Once they were far enough away, Skipjack bumped her shoulder against Dusty’s. “Just promise me you’ll be careful Dusty.”

The earth pony snorted. “Don’t worry, not about to let some croc or lion get the chance to make a snack of me. Just keep an eye on yourself too, alright?”

Skipjack laughed, the two clanking their helmets against each other before Dusty trotted off toward the earth pony part of camp. She looked out over the waiting savannah, ears folding as she thought she spotted movement. Spreading her wings, she took off into a tight spiral and climbed to around thirty feet. From her higher vantage point, she could see a small pack of hyenas loping away from the camp, heading further into the savannah.

“Something wrong Second Lieutenant?” Another guard pegasus flew over to hover next to her

“No, just a pack of hyenas. Probably checking us out to see if they could snatch some of us in the night. Keep an eye on them, make sure they’re really leaving.”

“Yes ma’am.” Private Ozone saluted as Skipjack floated back down to the ground, the young pegasus beginning to climb to a higher altitude so he could see better. Eventually the hyenas were far enough out that he decided to turn over and make his way back to the ground.

Had he lingered for a moment longer, he might have seen the pack suddenly make a sharp turn for the jungle.

Nimbus scanned the shoreline from the bow as the boat chugged its way downriver. After discovering the attacked village, they had chosen to relocate the Field Bureau further downstream in the hopes that they’d get far enough away from whatever had attacked it, and be able to locate some more chimpanzees for ponification. The oppressive humidity of the jungle had started to break somewhat, though her feathers still stubbornly tried to stick together.

“I’ll say this Nimbus; your world definitely has some beautiful land.” Dawn Breeze said as she trotted up to stand beside her.

“Yeah... I never really thought about coming here, to be honest. Let alone like I am now.” Nimbus looked down at herself, shaking her head ruefully.

Dawn snorted. “You’re still hung up on that? Look, there’d be nopony who blamed you or Flare for choosing to not come on this deployment. I don’t think I’d have come out here if I were expecting...” She gave Nimbus a look that was only half reproachful.

“That’s not exactly what I meant...” Nimbus deadpanned, looking at her fellow First Lieutenant with half-closed eyes.

The boat, with a loud BANG, began slowing and drifting to the bank. The pilot glanced back at the engine before looking toward Doctor Getton with a wide smile. “Lunch break!” he cried as he drug out a less-than-impressive tool bag from a cabinet.

“Oh, Celestia, finally!” cried Flare, appearing green even through the armor’s dye job. He skipped the gangplank entirely, bounding over the rail and straight to shore, eager to be off the floating death trap.

“Aw, Flare, it’s just a little boat ride, surely you can handle a little rocking...back...and forth...back...and forth...back...and-” Aegis suddenly shut up, an orange field wrapping around his muzzle, which did nothing to damper the grin he wore.

“I can make that permanent, Aegis, and do the rest of the world a favor,” threatened Flare playfully. Being back on solid ground had already done wonders to improve his own mood.

“Now Flare,” Nimbus said as she turned to face her coltfriend, “don’t be like that. I’d hate to have to explain to our foal why Daddy’s legs all bend the wrong way.” She scowled at the unicorn, half unfurling her wings threateningly.

Flare twitched and extinguished his magic. “S-sure dear...”

Nimbus smiled and spread her wings, gliding serenely to shore to give Flare a nuzzle. “Now, was that so hard?” She trotted a short distance onto dry land, letting her wings stay unfurled to catch the wind coming off the savannah.

Aegis followed Flare’s lead, bounding over the rails and landing heavily, as a pony of his size tended to do. He stretched, then, without any ceremony, grabbed a mouthfull of the savannah grass and started chewing. “Hey,” he said around the mouthful, “this stuff is pretty good.”

“Hope it’s safe to eat,” snorted Dawn as she leapt into the air to stretch her wings. As she flew a lazy circle around the boat, she noted several gray lumps in the distance. Moving grey lumps. “Doc!”

Amy turned to Dawn as the pegasus glided down and landed next to her aboard the boat. “What is it, Dawn, did you see something?”

“Yes ma’am. two klicks north by northwest, something large and grey, possibly vehicular in nature, moving in formation. I was hoping you could confirm with your binoculars while I notify Flare.” Dawn lept into a glide and angled straight for Flare.

Amy, now concerned about their currently immobile position, drew her binoculars from their case and gazed through them in the direction Dawn had indicated as Flare, torn between concern and loathing of being back on the boat already, joined her.

“Well, Doctor? What do you see?” Flare inquired, then looked on in confusion as Amy began to chuckle.

“See for yourself, Captain.” Amy knelt next to Flare, holding the binoculars in front of his face so he could see through the twin lenses.

“What are those things, Doctor?”

Aegis grazed on happily. Some ponies insisted that grass was grass, but Aegis had learned long ago than even the smallest change of soil would change the flavor of even the same kind of grasses grown in a different soil.

And this was some good grass. It held a certain savory quality that Aegis couldn’t quite place, but also the nice crunch that drier grasses employ. He was grazing in the direction of a large gray rock, paying attention only to the ground from whence his next bite would spring when he ran nose-first into a...something.

The ‘something’ was as large as Aegis himself, a lumpy creature with small eyes set nearly on either side of its head and small, pointed ears flicking in curiosity. Thick hide adorned its back and sides, with stubby legs ending in a flat, three-toed foot. The snout, which Aegis was currently pressed against with his own, had a small, tough nub above the wide-set nostrils.

“Uh... Hi.” Aegis smiled as the ‘little’ creature startled, skipping back a step. The creature, however, didn’t run, instead choosing to lean forward in curiosity. A few hesitant steps later, it was sniffing at Aegis’ chest, while Aegis cooed at it like it was a foal.

It nudged at Aegis with its snout, hopping awkwardly around, its forelegs the only thing managing to leave the ground. Aegis chuckled. “I see, y’wanna play? Sure thing!” Aegis bounded around in a similar manner, the taller grasses into which he’d wandered hiding his actions...mostly, as the crest of his helmet could be seen bobbing around on his higher leaps. Aegis shoulder-bumped the thing and it made a honking noise of some sort and returned the gesture. Plainly, it was enjoying itself. Both parties were covered in dust at this point.

And then the grey “rock” began to move. A massive horn broke the surface of the grass followed by another, shorter one. Much more than a mere ‘rock,’ the now plainly armor-hided bulk of a best twenty times the size of Aegis turned slowly, small, dark eyes locking onto his armored form. Aegis stared, frozen in not fear, but sheer amazement.

The beast strode forward, every step shaking the ground, until it stared at Aegis, much like its much smaller counterpart and, surely, offspring. It lowered its head, the size of one of the human’s ‘refrigerator’ devices, and sniffed at Aegis.

Aegis gulped.

The beast licked.

Aegis, in his armor, having lost his helmet, and being covered in dust, bore a remarkable resemblance to one of the beast’s young. The massive thing, secure in the knowledge the younger version was merely accompanied by another of its kind or one of the other herd animals that often accompanied them, turned and trundled off towards the similar grey lumps that even Aegis could now see in the distance.

Aegis trotted back towards the boat with a goofy grin on his face, his recovered helmet attached to the at-rest strap on his shoulder.

“Wait, they get THAT big?” Flare asked incredulously, eyes wide.

Amy grinned. “Usually. A few have been documented that were bigger. But they’re not the biggest thing you’ll see out here.”

Flare sank to his haunches, eyes blank as he tried to process that. “They’re... not?”

“Nope. If we get lucky, there might be a herd of them a little further down the river.” Amy said, patting the distraught unicorn on the head. “Has anyone seen Aegis?”

Everyone started looking around, though no sight of the earth pony could be seen. Dawn snorted and took to the air, though almost as soon as she cleared the hill she dove back down.

“Ma’am, there’s a pair of those ‘rhinos’ right on the other side of the hill. One much larger than the other. They appear to be moving away. No sign of Captain Aegis, though a lot of the grass has been eaten in a trail from here out towards them.”

Nimbus snorted irritably. “If that lughead’s gone and gotten himself hurt, I’m going to fix him and then hurt him again!”

Not a second later, Aegis crested the small hill, stepping out from the taller grass, a cloud of dust billowing about him in the light breeze. Wasting no time, he trotted down the hill and back up the gangplank. “Everypony have a good lunch?”

Nimbus took a breath to begin to lay into him, but Flare gently cut her off with a nudge as he turned to Aegis. “Where’d you go? You have any trouble out there? We saw two of those rhino things awful close to where we last saw you.”

“Rhinos? That whatcha call those big ol’ things? Nice folks, good taste in grass. Me and the little one had some fun romping around, though I guess I did get a little caught up in things. Is the boat fixed?” Aegis looked back towards the pilot house as a bit of dust flew off his armor into his eyeline. “Well, I guess I did get some dirt on my armor...”

Jimmy and Suzy turned to Amy, both adopting their best begging faces.

“Mom, can we go play with the rhinos? Mister Aegis got to and he’s fine!” Suzy whined.

“Yeah Mom, can we?” Jimmy chimed in.

Lariat chuckled as he watched the two. “Now now you two, listen to your madre. As much fun as I’m sure you would have, the sabana is not a place for children to play in. Amy’s trusting you two to be big ponies for her.”

The two folded their ears, looking at their mother in the hopes that she would tell them differently than Lariat had, but their spirits fell further as Amy shook her head.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. I’ll tell you what; if you behave yourselves for the rest of this trip, then I’ll take the two of you to one of the wildlife parks here, where it’s safer.” She shook a finger as the two brightened. “But that means the -whole- trip. From now until we get back to Kinshasa.”

They both sat upright, expressions serious. “Yes Mom. We promise!”

Amy smiled. “Alright. Now, why don’t you two head on down to our room, get settled in? I think we’ll be leaving soon.”

“Awww, but I wanted to see the rhinos!” Suzy protested.

“Tell you what, if I see one, you two will be the first ones I tell. How does that sound?”

Their pouting faces vanished and the two surged forward, giving her a hug and a nuzzle each. “Thanks Mom!” They whirled about and galloped down the hatchway into the cabin area.

Once she was sure they’d settled down, she looked over at Lariat with a wry smile. “Thanks, those two get to be a handful at times.”

“T’ain’t no trouble, I’ve raised my share of ganado and potros back home on the family ranch. I admit of course that young ponies are more like human children, but some of the basic principles still apply.”

Amy chuckled. “I suppose you’re right.” She looked over at the guardpony. “So tell me, what exactly made you go pony?”

Lariat took a deep breath, releasing it in a long sigh. “It’s a bit of a tale. I was, and still am, a rodeo enthusiast, like my father. Some aspects of the rodeo were changed after Emergence, so as to not offend our new friends. However, events like bull riding and the rope contests continued unchanged. It was my day to do the bull riding and I was walking through the back area to get ready. I heard one of the bulls throwing a terrible fit, and initially I thought nothing of it. Until it broke free. I would have been fine; I was around a corner from him and out of sight. However, I saw that there was a group of children walking by at the far end, who had no such proteccion.

I didn’t even really think about it, to be honest. I started to yell and wave my arms about, and drew the bull’s attention away from the children. I was able to get it to chase me into the ring, where I evaded it for a minute or two. The other rodeo men attempted to come to my aid, but as the first of them entered the ring, I stumbled, and the bull was able to catch me. I don’t actually remember the impact, but recall opening my eyes to see the bull charging in for a second attack. I knew then that my life was already over, I couldn’t feel any pain. But as I was closing my eyes, what I mistook for another bull crashed into it, knocking it away. Keeping my eyes open for a few seconds more, I saw it keeping the bull distracted while the medical team surrounded me.”

Amy nodded. “Did they try to take you to the hospital?”

Lariat shook his head. “The bull had speared me through the torso with its horns, ruining several organs. I only had a few minutes left to me.” He looked up into the sky, his expression unreadable. “However, my friend Andi, who had undergone the Conversion ahead of me, asked them on my behalf to use the serum on me.”

Amy frowned and put a hand on his shoulder guard. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that.”

“Sorry?” Lariat looked at her curiously. “I’m not sorry in the slightest. I envy her strength, that she was able to make such a choice with her best friend’s life hanging in the balance. And while there are things about being humano that I miss, I have to be alive in order to miss them. And being a pony is wonderful as well. I can feel the earth itself under my hooves, and know that it acknowledges me in turn. I can survive on simple grass, just as the herds I used to take on drives do.” He took a deep sniff of the air. “And I just feel... better. Like I have a better sense of my place in the world. I know it sounds weird, but I don’t really know how else to explain it.”

Amy smiled. “Sounds like a pretty good explanation to me. So what prompted you to join the Guard?”

“Well, that was simple enough. That hulking Guard saved my life. Honor demanded I repay him by serving. Plus, Andi was planning to join, though she had chosen her new name by the time I got out of orientation.”

“Oh? And what was that?” Amy inquired.

“Sledgepetal, if you can believe it.” Lariat chuckled, Amy joining in a second later. Once they’d settled down he took another breath, the levity fading from his voice. “Though I do not think I will serve for life, as some of my amigos are. I think that, when the time comes, I would like to find a nice tract of land, build a home on it, and raise cattle.”

“Here or in Equestria?” Amy asked curiously.

“I do not know Dr. Getton. I’ve not seen much of what Equestria has to offer, but will consider it.”

“You can call me Amy, I’ve never been a huge fan of the ‘Dr.’ title anyway.” Amy said with a smile, giving his shoulder guard a solid pat before lowering it. “Anyway, I should go check on Suzy and Jimmy. Knowing those two they’re already bored and getting themselves into something they shouldn’t.” She got to her feet and made her way down below.

Lariat watched her go, then took another look across the savannah, wondering what a cattle drive across country like this would be like. His eyes narrowed as he spotted a few low-slung, doglike shapes loping through the grass, but relaxed a hair as they turned away, following some other trail.

Dusty swished his tail, swatting away another couple of the bugs that buzzed about trying to land on his exposed coat. They’d been marching for most of the past three days now, following the river as instructed, and were nearing the point where they’d turn and head inland, to meet up with Captain Stardust and the rest of the Guard contingent.

“LT, I got something!” One of the two pegasi assigned to his squad called down.

“What is it Backburner?” Dusty shouted back.

“Got a small pack of hyenas, seem to be behaving odd. They’re just over the next hill.” Backburner continued his overhead circle as the rest of the squad reached the top of the hill. Ahead of them, the hyenas were gathered in a cluster, though it was unclear what they were doing. However, as the ponies crested the hill, all of the hyenas abruptly raised their heads. All eight of them, at the exact same time.

“Umm, sir?” The communication unicorn, White Noise, flicked his ears nervously. “Is that normal behavior?”

Dusty opened his mouth to reply, but the hyenas abruptly leapt into a run, charging their position. “Doesn’t matter! Prepare to engage!” Dusty squared his hooves, watching the approaching hyena pack carefully. Something didn’t seem right, but he couldn’t put his hoof on it. Shaking his head, he positioned himself in front of White Noise, gesturing for him and Second Lieutenant Solaris, the other unicorn in their group, to cover the flanks facing out. Their other pegasus, Second Lieutenant Forest, took to the air and began to circle with Backburner, ready to lend a hoof where needed.

The hyenas kept running forward, and Dusty lowered his head, ready to meet them head on. He could feel the magic coming from the unicorns behind him as they charged their first spell. The lead hyena leaped for him, and with a whinny he reared, lashing out with his hooves and catching it a blow to the head. It tumbled away, but the second and third ones in the line leapt forward, one landing atop his head, and the other gripping his leg guard in its teeth. Dusty drove his head forward, the titanium helmet making a satisfying crunch as it slammed the hyena to the ground, out cold.

With a pulse of magic, Solaris grabbed the hyena on Dusty’s back and flung it away. The unicorn hesitated a second in releasing it, his eyes narrowed. The hyena felt... greasy. Like it was coated in a layer of-

“SOLARIS, LOOK OUT!” Solaris jerked back to attention as he realized a hyena was leaping for his head. A bolt of deep green magic swatted it aside as White Noise bucked another in the face. “Don’t lose focus!”

“But something’s not right about them!” Solaris shouted as the one he’d thrown staggered to its feet before charging in. Deciding to bring that one down he drew more magic into his horn, releasing it as a burst of light directly in front of the thing’s eyes.

With a piercing shriek the hyena reared back, flickers of emerald fire playing about its body as patches of its fur burned black, while along one side what could be a wing was visible. As the light faded, the hyena looked up, one of its eyes now a solid shade of blue. The other hyenas leaped back, growling and snarling at the circled ponies.

“Those aren’t hyenas!” Backburner shouted, true panic entering his voice.

The hyenas all looked at each other, then began to laugh, at first in the sharp, yipping manner common to hyenas. But it soon changed to a hissing, bubbling laugh, and the hyenas changed. More flashes of emerald fire ignited across the seven creatures, burning their coats to black fur. The short ridge of fur along their backs melted into a glossy carapace covering their necks and upper back. As their ‘coat’ fell away from their sides, a pair of diaphanous, insectoid wings burst out, buzzing angrily. Looking closer, Dusty could see that some of them had longer fangs, and their appearance was more... ragged, their eyes somehow conveying a deeper sense of malice and hate.

Dusty gaped at the seven monsters that now surrounded them. “What in the world are those things?”

White Noise shook his head and snorted, digging a hoof at the ground. “Doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Dusty, despite feeling incredibly out of his league, found himself grinning. “No, I guess not.” Backburner and Forest tightened their formation, the two pegasi circling less than ten feet overhead.

At some unseen signal the creatures charged in, the five ponies bracing themselves to meet them head-on.

05 - Regrouping

Year 3 Week 22, Friday - Week 23, Wednesday

Skipjack winced as Crash Cart finished wrapping her broken wing. “Think you could make it any tighter?” she hissed, even though his magic was doing a fantastic job of numbing the worst of it.

“Sorry LT, this is the best I can do. Don’t have a lot of magic left.” He said with a sigh as he tied it off.

“I’m sorry too; just a little tired after all this...” She gestured tiredly with her other wing at the carnage left. Fortunately, they’d weathered the attack due to the tenacity of the two earth ponies in the unit, and a bucketload of good luck.

Though that luck had come with its own price. Rising slowly to her hooves, she trotted over to the broken form of Divot, three of the six creatures that had attacked them sprawled limply around him. He’d fought like a pony possessed, killing two of them at once, then the third while the fourth had savaged him from behind.

Holding back her tears, she knelt next to him and closed his eyes with her wing. “Rest easy Divot, you’ve earned your place in the Guard.” She looked up as Anvil came trotting over, dragging the makeshift sled he and Wrecker had fashioned out of a fallen tree from the edge of the jungle. “Alright, let’s get him loaded onto this. We don’t leave him behind for anything.”

“Yes ma’am.” Anvil rumbled as he and Wrecker gently lifted Divot onto the sled.

Skipjack looked back over at Crash Cart. “Still no word from Captain Stardust?”

He shook his head. “No ma’am, I sent a second request for aid, but I haven’t heard anything back.”

Skipjack bit back her curse, knowing that it wouldn’t help anything. Wiping some of the grime and blood from her face, she looked around in a vain attempt to figure out what to do next. “Alright, here’s the plan for now. We need to find the rest of the unit, see if Captain Stardust and his squad are alright, and figure out our next move. So, we’ll follow the curve of the deployment map, try and link up with any other survivors, and then backtrack along the river, maybe link up with Captain Flare and his mission.” 'If they survived' went unspoken.

The three surviving guards saluted, and then began their trek across the savannah.

“You have done very well. Very well indeed.” Chrysalis purred as she watched the changelings ferry their new captives into the larval chamber. The ponies struggled weakly, but they were at the limits of their endurance. Each living pony was laid out on the floor, bound with ooze, and left for when a pod became available. The dead were piled unceremoniously in the corner, a team of changelings stripping their armor for later use.

The same male changeling who’d spied on the Field Bureau preened proudly. Fed on a steady diet of his Queen’s appreciation and love, he was already larger than the majority of the drones in the hive. “There is the matter of the two groups that have failed to report back. And the one pegasus that escaped.”

“Hmmmmm... no matter, for the moment. We will focus on the captives we have now. Then we will hunt them down and eliminate them.” Chrysalis turned and paced out of the larval chamber, her minion following after her. “And the other part of the plan?”

“The drones report that the pods will reach maturity within the next few days. We will be able to use them a day or two after that.” The changeling couldn’t help but buzz his wings a little in excitement.

“Excellent.” Chrysalis purred, her laughter echoing through the now claustrophobically crowded tunnels of the hive. Their numbers had swelled as they’d continued raiding the nearby villages for humans, and the hive had already tripled in size. “Prepare the drones. The plan will be set in motion soon.”

As they left, one of the smaller changelings helping to build a pod shook its head, trying to clear the steadily rising headache it’d had all morning. It’d been having restless dreams too, where it was bereft of the omnipresent connection to the hive mind. For now, it had chosen to not tell any of its broodmates, and that worried it too, for proper drones shouldn’t be able to make choices on their own.

“Alright Arcane, we’re going to run the test again. I think we almost have it.” Steel said as he focused his magic. A very delicate web of magic reached out, not to Convert the chimp, but simply to surround it.

Arcane reached out with her own magic, letting it ‘see’ Steel’s magic surrounding the chimp as it dug at the anthill with a stick. A few seconds passed, but gradually the magic began to flow from around the chimp towards its hands. Arcane relaxed her spell and opened her eyes. “Steel, stop the spell. I think I have an idea of what’s going on.” She waited until Steel’s horn went dark before she nosed open the tent flap. “Dr Getton!”

Amy looked up from where Suzy and Jimmy were playing. “What is it?”

“Can you come over here? I have some news for you!” She led Amy into the tent, where Fluttershy was nuzzling the chimpanzee’s reddened hands. Arcane still had no idea how Fluttershy always knew when to come by, but had just decided to accept it. “I think we have the beginnings of an explanation for why magic hurts chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans, but not other life.” She took a breath. “I think it’s the fact that you think.”

Amy frowned. “So, what are you saying?”

“Okay, think of it like this. Magic is energy, without anything giving it structure or order. When a unicorn uses their magic, they visualize what they want their magic to do and release it. I think a similar effect happens when a chimp or a human is in the presence of uncontrolled magic. It naturally tries to gather around you, because your minds can give it purpose. However, that also means that you absorb it in uneven concentrations, so the rest of your body doesn’t recognize the parts saturated in magic as part of it anymore.”

Amy nodded, though her expression was still puzzled. “So is there a way around it?”

Arcane hesitated. “Well, I guess if there was a way to completely turn off your brains until we could saturate your entire body with magic, then maybe... But I’m just running off some simple tests here. This would need a lot more research before I could say for sure.”

Amy sighed. “Well, it’s a start, at least. Let’s get this one taken care of; he can wait until we get resupplied with more serum.”

Outside the tent, Jimmy and Suzy ran back and forth, having decided to play tag while their mother was busy.

“TAG! You’re it Jimmy!” Suzy giggled as she took off running.

Jimmy fell into a mad gallop after her, but skidded to a stop as something new caught his eye. A giant creature, that looked kind of like the small bugs he’d find under the sink back home every so often (though after the first time, he’d learned they were not food), was trundling along into the grass. He nudged it with his nose and recoiled as it suddenly took off, buzzing a considerable distance into the tall grass. The game of tag forgotten, he romped after it eagerly.

Suzy stopped running, a wide smile still on her face as she turned to look for her brother. “Jimmy?” She couldn’t see him anywhere, and that worried her more for the fact that he could be sneaking up on her to tag her. “You’re not going to sneak up on me!” She started creeping around some of the stacked boxes. Coming to a blind corner, she grinned as she heard, anticipating the look on Jimmy’s face when she pounced him first. She dug her hooves in and leaped, colliding headlong with a human. Blinking the dust from her eyes, she shied away as she recognized the crazy man her mother and the others had brought into their old camp before they moved.

The man jerked back in terror for a second, before hesitantly extending his hand. Suzy thought about it for a second, then slowly pushed her head forward and nuzzled the hand. ‘Show kindness and it’ll be repaid,’ Mom was always saying to them. “Umm, have you seen my brother? I was playing tag with him and now I don’t know where he is...” She folded her ears back as the man babbled at her in his strange language. “I’m sorry mister, I don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Suzy? What’s wrong?” Both heads turned as Nimbus came trotting over.

“Miss Nimbus, I can’t find my brother.” Suzy said plaintively.

Nimbus snorted. “Well, let’s go look for him. Do you know where he was last?”

Suzy nodded. “Uh-huh! We were over near the tent.” She led Nimbus to where she’d tagged Jimmy, the crazy man following.

Nimbus looked about carefully, her annoyance turning to worry as she spotted a set of hoofprints leading into the tall grass. “That colt is going to be the death of somepony. Alright, I’m going to go find him. Suzy, I want you to stay here.”

“But-”

“No buts.” Nimbus fixed her with a stare honed from months of practice. “You’ll stay here.”

Suzy’s ears folded flat and she quailed. “Yes ma’am.”

Nimbus nodded smartly and turned to the man. “You can come or stay, it’s your choice.” Not waiting for an answer, she trotted out into the grass, twitching an ear as she heard the man start to follow her. Keeping her eyes forward, she followed the trail of hoofprints slowly.

Jimmy was starting to get bored with his new bug friend. Sure it looked cool, but all it did was buzz loudly and fly away when it was poked. Scuffing a hoof, he looked around and thought about going back to camp before Mom found out he’d snuck off, but froze as he saw the grass up ahead of him rustle. Taking a few hesitant steps forward, he started as the grass suddenly parted, revealing something terrifying he’d never seen before. So he did the only thing that children do when they see something shocking and scary. He screamed.

Nimbus’ ears snapped straight up at the cry, the armored pegasus leaping into the air and swooping forward, where she could see a single shape of disturbed grass running from a much larger patch. Landing in front of the single patch, she caught Jimmy roughly as he tumbled into her. “Jimmy, are you alright?” She could hear the man coming up from behind her, stopping anxiously next to Jimmy.

“Miss Nimbus, it’s... it’s...” Jimmy stammered incoherently, and Nimbus pushed him roughly behind her as the grass rustled and parted, revealing ten beaten, bloody and exhausted guards.

“Hey there Nimbus.” Skipjack wheezed. “Sorry about scaring the little colt. There any chance you might have something to eat? The grass around here doesn’t taste too good after a while.”

Nimbus gaped, her eyes flicking from one guard to the next. She only recognized Connor and Backburner, the latter with a broken leg, as well as Dusty. All showed signs of some injury or another, and her stare lingered on the litter one of the earth guardponies was dragging behind him. “Oh Skip...”

“Don’t.” Skipjack’s voice was hard. “He fought hard, and died proud.”

Nimbus felt overwhelmingly sad to see that spark of humor gone from Skip’s eyes, but nodded. “Alright. Our camp is this way. I’ll go ahead, get everypony ready for you and your wounded.”

Skipjack nodded. Nimbus turned back to Jimmy. “I need you to help these guards back to the camp. It’s a big responsibility, can I count on you?”

Jimmy threw a sloppy salute. “Yes ma’am!”

Nimbus nodded and spread her wings. She took off and flew back for camp, angling in toward the unicorn standing next to the boat. “Flare! Code Black! Code Black!”

Flare jerked his head up, first at the tone of Nimbus’ voice, then the meaning of the words sank in and he jolted into motion. “A Code Black? Here? What’s going on?”

“It’s Skipjack, and nine other Guards. One fatality. Multiple injuries.” Nimbus reported hollowly. “We need Dr. Getton and the unicorns to prepare the tent to treat them.”

Flare nodded. “You got it.” While he nominally outranked her, the Guard’s ‘Code Black’ superseded the command structure, making the declaring guard the acting officer. While the lower ranks knew the drills for responding to a Code Black, they were repeatedly trained about how serious declaring one was.

Aegis, Lariat and Dawn came galloping over. “What’s got your mane in a twist Nimbus? The foal’s not coming, is it?” Lariat asked half-jokingly, only for his smile to fade as he saw the looks on her and Flare’s faces.

Nimbus explained the situation to them and all three changed, their normally jovial attitudes falling back into professionalism. Nimbus and Dawn took off, leading the earth ponies to where the guards could be seen.

“Madre de Dios...” Lariat breathed as he trotted to Anvil. “Allow me to take that from you-”

Anvil shook his head. “Nyet. Divot saved my life. I will carry him.”

Lariat nodded slowly, and turned to Wrecker, taking one of the heavy bags. “This does not feel like a standard kit amigo.”

Wrecker shook his head. “We brought a souvenir.”

“Souvenir? What kind of souvenir?” asked Aegis as he offered to heft Backburner the rest of the way. ‘Offer’ translating into ‘order’ in this case.

Skipjack shook her head. “I don’t think this is something that we should show you out in the open sir. Do you think we can use the tent?”

Nimbus nodded. “It’s being set up for you all right now. Come on.” She led the guards through the camp, ignoring the worried muttering of the mercenaries as they saw the condition of the living guards and the body on the litter. She nodded to Amy, who held the tent flap open for them.

Inside, Arcane, Steel, Flare and Fluttershy were waiting for them, all the medical supplies they had piled on the nearby table. Fluttershy stifled a gasp at their condition, and very nearly fainted at the sight of Divot, but managed to hold herself together.

Amy put a hand on her shoulder. “Fluttershy, can you go keep an eye on Suzy and Jimmy for me? I think between all of us here, we have things under control.”

Fluttershy hesitated, but in the end nodded and scooted past the guards, closing the tent flap behind her.

Once Amy was sure that Fluttershy was gone, she turned to the guards. “Okay, before we get started, let’s get this one onto the table here. I’ll take a look at that leg for you.”

“You heard the Doc, Backburner. Careful now.” Aegis moved over next to the table and, with a minimum of movement of the injured extremity, Backburner was transferred into Doctor Getton’s care.

“Alright,” Skipjack said tiredly, “Lariat, feel free to unwrap that thing.”

Lariat frowned at the vehemence in her voice, but carefully set the bag on the ground and unrolled it, revealing its contents. A black-coated, pony shaped body lay sprawled on the blanket, a glossy carapace covering its back. Part of the head was caved in, presumably from a blow by a hoof, but one solid blue eye could be seen. A pair of thin wings emerged from its sides, while a jagged horn rose from its forehead. Its legs, horn and wings had numerous holes in them, and its ragged mane was a blue-grey hue.

“Madre de Dios!” Lariat shouted, taking a half-step back. “What is that thing?”

Skipjack’s eyes were hard as she looked down at the creature. “I don’t honestly know. When we first encountered them, they looked like hyenas. But then they just... changed, and then looked like this.” She heaved a sigh. “But then, as the fight got more chaotic, they changed again, this time into... into us.”

Nimbus stared, jaw hanging open. “You mean...?”

Dusty stepped forward, his ears flat. “That’s how Backburner got his leg broken. One of them came at me looking like him, spun me around and I attacked what I thought was the creature, and struck him instead.”

Nimbus blinked. “So these things can mimic us? Right down to the armor?”

Solaris shook his head. “No, while it looked like they had armor on, it was just part of the illusion. I picked one of them up while they still looked like hyenas, and they felt almost... greasy.” Crash Cart nodded his agreement.

Flare thought for a few seconds, then looked up in concern. “So, I guess the question now is, were any of you alone during the fights or the aftermath?”

Anvil started to shake his head, then stopped, his gaze swinging around to Connor. “Da. We ran into Connor alone, he claimed the rest of his unit was lost. At the time we thought nothing of it, but now...” Wrecker turned with a snort and the two earth ponies took a step toward the pegasus.

Connor put up his hooves. “N-Now hold on, I’m telling you the truth! Captain Stardust ordered me to escape when things went bad and more of those monsters joined the fight. I swear to you, I’m the real Connor!”

Anvil snorted. “A likely story. And how are we to know you are telling the truth?”

“Now hold on there, Anvil...” Aegis stepped in front of the Corporal. “Conner here may’ve been found alone, but I don’t think there’s a one of us in here that ain’t been alone at some point recently, even if only for, uh, private matters.” Aegis chuckled. “Why, I wandered off to play with a rhino just th’other day.” The newfoals in the tent just gaped at Aegis, not entirely sure if he was joking or not.

“Si, amigos,” added Lariat, “and Solaris said they felt ‘greasy’, so let’s just see if the Master Sergeant, or any of us, as far as that goes, feels grasiento in the magia, eh?” Lariat looked to the unicorns in the room.

Flare nodded, and motioned to Arcane Light and Steel Glimmer. “The three of us will handle this, since none of us have had contact with these things. I’ll handle Master Sergeant Connor. Arcane, you handle Skipjack’s squad. Steel, take Dusty’s.” The other unicorns nodded and trotted to their respective squads. Amy finished binding Backburner’s leg and left the tent to let them get to work.

Once he was sure Amy was far enough away, Flare turned back to Connor. “Alright, just hold still.” Connor nodded and closed his eyes as Flare ignited his horn, reaching out with his magic and sweeping it over the pegasus carefully. After about a minute, he released the spell and met Connor’s eyes. “You’re clean. We can trust you.”

Connor nodded. “Thank you sir.” As Flare moved to the next guard he looked at the ground for a second, half-wishing he had been taken instead.

Soon, all ten guards had been cleared and Nimbus opened the tent flap to tell Amy it was alright to come back in. She immediately started tending to Skipjack’s wing, despite her protests to tend to the others.

“So, what’s the plan now?” Nimbus asked, looking at the others worriedly.

“Connor, you said Stardust ordered you to flee when things got bad. Did you see what happened to the others?” Flare asked.

“Well, I only got a short look, but it seemed like they were starting to carry everypony away, back towards the jungle. I tried to stay for a better look, but more of them were taking off after me, so I had to fall back.” Connor admitted, his ears drooping.

Dawn clapped him lightly on the back with a wing. “You did good. Nopony could have expected you to take them all on your own.”

Connor nodded, but his heart wasn’t in it.

Lariat snorted. “If they are taking our companeros hostage, they cannot mean anything good for them. I say we find where these monsters hide and strike at them for a change!” He thundered his hoof into the ground for emphasis.

Anvil, Wrecker and Dusty stamped their hooves in agreement, their eyes flinty.

Aegis snorted. “Hold yer horses, colts. Ain’t nopony going anywhere until you’ve had food and, more importantly, rest.” Aegis pointed outside, in the direction of the mess tent. “As for a retrieval mission... I’m going. This is exactly the sorta thing I did back home in Snaffleton, and buck me to the moon if I’m gonna let these... things....keep our fellow guardsponies.”

“Changelings.” Every pair of eyes turned to look at the voice’s owner, who flicked her ears. “Well, that’s what they sound like.” Dawn Breeze said quietly.

“You must be joking.” Nimbus snorted. “You’re really going to sit there and suggest that these things are some fairytale come to life? After what they did to Divot?”

Flare leaned against her. “I know how it sounds, but to be honest, everypony’s accounts match up with the story. And usually, legends have some basis in fact. Like Nightmare Night or The Reign of Chaos. It may not be what they actually are, but for right now it’s as good a name as any. As for any rescue attempt, I’m in.”

Nimbus straightened. “I’m in too.”

Flare did a double take. “Now I know that I didn’t just hear that. There’s no way under the Sun that I’m letting you go anywhere near that place.”

Nimbus rounded on her coltfriend. “And there’s no way I’m not going to go! Not only would I not be able to live with myself if I ran away, but you need pegasi to provide recon. And don’t feed me something about taking one of the ones who came back, they’ve already done their share!”

Dawn Breeze stepped forward. “With respect Nimbus, you’re not thinking clearly.” She raised her wings disarmingly as Nimbus shot her a glare. “You are right, they do need pegasus recon. But that recon will be me. You’re working for two now, after all, and you need to remember that. If this goes bad, you don’t want these changelings to kill your foal, do you?”

Nimbus recoiled as if slapped, her eyes looking from one side to the other as she tried to come up with a retort. But eventually her ears sagged and she nodded slowly. “I... I understand.” She looked up at Dawn. “I expect you to bring everyone back safely.”

Dawn nodded once. “You have my word.”

Flare trotted over and wrapped his neck around hers, squeezing tight. “And I promise, we’ll rescue everyone, and be back in time for dinner.”

Nimbus shut her eyes, trying not to let the tears she felt welling up come out. “I’ll be sure to make it just like you like.”

Flare finally broke the hug, and looked to the others. “So this is my suggestion. We send Nimbus, the wounded, Amy and her foals, Fluttershy, Arcane Light, Steel Glimmer and the humans back to Kinshasa.. The infiltration team will consist of myself, Aegis, Dawn Breeze and any other remaining guards who are at combat capacity. We’ll stay with the boat for a ways until we reach the edge of the jungle, then split off and try to pick up their trail. Any disputes?”

“Not from me amigo.” Lariat said firmly.

“Nyet.” Anvil said firmly.

The other guards all shook their heads in turn or, in the case of those too wounded or otherwise unable to go, gritted their teeth in frustration.

“Sounds like a plan to me, Flare, but one thing...” Aegis motioned at Backburner. “Dusty broke Backburner’s leg. I’d hate to think what would happen if I connected solid with one o’ ya’ll. Can you think of anything to tell one of us from another if they try to pull the same dirty trick?”

Flare thought about it for a second. “There’s a couple things we could try, but we’ll need to sit down and figure out which one works best.” He got to his hooves. “Now, let’s get to work.”

He stirred, side flaring as his broken ribs ground against each other. His coat was soaked through, and the sluggishness of his movements felt like he was submerged in mud. Realizing his muzzle was under, he tried to move for what felt like the surface, but something kept him still. He tried to keep his mouth closed, but it reflexively opened as he finally had to suck in a breath. Wincing in anticipation of the burning pain suffocation brings, he was surprised to see that it didn’t hurt.

Deciding to open his eyes, he could see that whatever he was floating in was tinted a light green, glowing slightly. Swinging his head, he realized that he could see movement and pushed himself closer to get a better look.

Dozens of black forms, shaped like the ones that had attacked him and his squad, scuttled by, a few stopping to look directly at him before moving on. Recoiling, he tried again to move, feeling the same sensation of something restraining his movement. Managing to swing his head to look down, his eyes widened as he saw his lower body.

Captain Stardust’s scream of horror echoed throughout the larval chamber, the changelings returning it with a mocking buzz of their wings as they swarmed for the exits.

Epilogue - Hope for the Future

Week 25, Monday

Week 26, Tuesday-Wednesday

“Nimbus, if you look out that window again I’m going to bolt you to your seat.” Skipjack said with a snort.

Nimbus shot her fellow lieutenant a glare, but she couldn’t bring herself to be irritated with her. Just seeing her smiling again was worth it. Looking around the cabin of the plane, she saw the others from their mixed unit talking, sleeping, or like her just staring out the window. She frowned as she thought back to arriving in Kinshasa, seeing half the city ablaze and a significant number of citizens missing. They’d heard the sound of the changeling’s passage as they fled north with their captives, and Nimbus shuddered as she thought of what might happen to those poor people. Rubbing her stomach absently, she winced as the foal kicked again. Amy had given her a checkup once they’d crossed into Brazzaville across the river, and said she’d be due within the next two weeks or so. That had been nearly a week ago, and she admitted that she was getting nervous.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain speaking. We’re beginning our descent into San Francisco now. Thank you for choosing the US Air Force as your mode of conveyance on this flight. At this time we’d like all our passengers to please fasten their seatbelts and put the tray tables in the upright position.” Everypony rolled their eyes at the sarcasm in his voice, and started stretching and getting themselves buckled in.

“How are you holding up Nimbus?” Amy asked as she buckled Suzy and Jimmy into their seats.

Nimbus tossed her head. “I’d be fine if they’d just give me some word of how the others are. I’m worried about them all.”

Amy nodded. “I’m sure they’re fine. Between Flare, Aegis, Lariat and Dawn I know there’s nothing they can’t handle.”

Nimbus nodded, though the fluttering in her stomach refused to go away as the plane angled downward toward the city below.

Flare waited anxiously at the terminal, pacing back and forth, every other pass stopping to look up at the clock.

"Flaaaaare, time ain't gonna go no quicker if you stare any harder at that poor clock..." Aegis said, a laugh on the edge of every word.

Lariat chuckled, though to be honest he was just as anxious to see everypony come home safe. It had felt weird to leave them all behind, but there hadn’t been a way to get out and avoid the returning changelings. He pointed out the floor to ceiling windows toward the tarmac. “Look, that must be their plane now.”

The aircraft in question slowly taxied up to the staging area, where a tower hitched up to it and pulled it carefully into position next to the gateway. After another few minutes, the sound of hooves on carpet could be heard, and Flare held his breath as the first pony rounded the corner.

Things seemed to slow down as Nimbus met Flare’s gaze, the pegasus feeling her wings start to stand up despite themselves. She broke into a bounding gallop, Flare doing the same as the two crashed into each other. Nimbus wrapped her wings around him and squeezed as tight as she could, while he wrapped his neck around hers and buried his face into her ivory mane. “You big idiot, you forgot me in Africa.”

Flare snorted his laughter as he released the hug to kiss her. “I’m sorry dear, I’ll be sure to make it up to you.”

She sighed in resignation. “Just help me through the next week and I’ll let this one slide.” Getting to her hooves, she turned to Aegis and Lariat, her tail instinctively finding Flare’s just to anchor herself to him. “Glad to see you two lugs came back safe too.” Her ears folded as she asked the question that had been bothering her the whole flight back, “How many made it back?”

Lariat shook his head. “We’ll talk later Nimbus.” The melancholy expression on his face lifted as two joyful cheers split the air.

“UNCLE LARIAT!” Jimmy and Suzy careened into the tan stallion, bowling him over. The pile of ponies flailed about until Lariat had the two in firm headlocks, laughing.

“Glad ta see you two brought everypony back safe. Did you listen to your madre like I told you?”

The two siblings nodded. “Uh-huh!” they chirped in unison, looking over their shoulder as Amy walked out of the gate, Fluttershy in tow. “Mom, look! Mister Lariat came to see us!”

Amy smiled tiredly. “That he did. Now come on kids, we need to grab our bags and go home. I think we’d all like a chance to sleep in our own beds tonight, how does that sound?”

The two cheered, scampering off toward the baggage claim. Fluttershy followed after them nervously, muttering for them to slow down. Amy stopped for a minute by Lariat. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Me too Dr. Getton.” He replied. She turned to remind him not to call her that, and shook her head as she saw the smirk on his muzzle.

“I’ll see you around sometime.” She hurried off after Suzy and Jimmy, calling at them to stop begging the fast food cashier for free food.

Aegis looked between Lariat and Amy as she walked away. “Why, you diamond dog. You’re sweet on the Doc, ain’tcha?”

Lariat did his best not to, but a light flush lit up his tan cheeks clear as day. “What? No amigo, I mean yes; she is pretty, by human standards anyway. And she is doing a great job raising Jimmy and Suzy... But she’s human, y’know? I used to get around, but I don’t range that far.”

“Well, Lariat,” Aegis grinned, “from what scuttlebutt I hear, she won’t be able to be human for too much longer...” Aegis nudged Lariat in the ribs, and then trotted over to greet Nimbus.

As the friends caught up with each other, everypony else got off the plane and joined in the happy reunion, taking a moment to simply enjoy being alive.

“So, we had that few come back alive?” Celestia asked quietly as she looked up from the report that had been delivered. The excursion had cost them dearly. Only twelve of the captured guards had been able to survive being separated from the pods. The past week had been nothing but funerals, and the Guard's morale was lackluster.

“Yes, your Majesty.” Cloudhammer said, his voice firm, but his eyes gave it away like they always did. “Funeral arrangements have been made for all the deceased, and the human dead were returned with full honors to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be buried in their homeland. We’ll be prepared to deploy to Africa within the next few days, and this time those monsters will pay for every life they stole.”

Celestia lifted an eyebrow. “Calm yourself Cloudhammer. I know how you feel, and have spent time mourning the dead and planning a suitable next move. But unfortunately it appears we will have to wait.” She levitated a piece of paper to him, continuing while he read it. “The US deployed their Special Forces to the location with the approval of the United Nations and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While the physical hive itself was found, the changelings have disappeared. After conducting a sweep and taking samples, the hive was destroyed.”

Cloudhammer finished reading the report and tossed his head angrily. “There’s something else, if they were able to relocate from here in Equestria or one of the neighboring countries to Africa and then somewhere else, they had to have accessed the Canterlot Archives for the runes needed. I’ve gone ahead and increased the security procedures for Archive access, and Amber Dusk has ordered that higher-level court members be discreetly screened for any trace of this ‘greasy’ feeling Second Lieutenant Solaris described.”

Celestia nodded. “Thank you, that saves me the trouble of having to make an official announcement about it just yet. Now, what about the captive that was brought back, and the newfoal?”

Cloudhammer nodded. “The captive is held in a specially made room in the center of the Guard Barracks. There are always ten unicorns on guard, and randomly selected code words are used every time a questioner goes in. In addition, there’s only at most two ponies in that room at any given time. It’s not going anywhere. Though it’s only made one request, to see its ‘father’, the newfoal unicorn brought in named Elias. He is currently in protective custody, using one of the spare rooms here in the castle. I’ve stationed two pegasus guards to keep an eye on him, and Amber Dusk has a unicorn on standby should he try to use his magic. Bastion Yorsets says they’re still working on a spell that will let us understand him and vice versa, but it’s been slow going.” Cloudhammer took a drink of water as he finished speaking.

“Excellent. Keep me informed on any updates.” Celestia said calmly. As Cloudhammer turned to leave, she suddenly called out, “Oh, I almost forgot. Do notify me when Flare’s foal is born. The birth of the first foal created from the union of native and newfoal is sufficiently momentous that I’d like to see it for myself.”

Cloudhammer gave her a deadpan look. “You just want to skip the tax meetings again, don’t you?”

Celestia smiled demurely, bringing up the next batch of reports, but otherwise not saying anything. Cloudhammer shook his head and trotted out, quietly closing the door to her office as he left.

The sculpture gardens were always a favorite tourist spot in Canterlot, though at this time of night there was nopony to be seen. Exactly as Connor wanted it. He tilted his head back, looking up at the statues of the guards, now three strong to represent the new addition of the earth pony branch. Each stared sternly over the gardens, the plinths they stood upon polished to a high sheen and engraved with hundreds of names. The earth pony plinth only bore a paltry few names, but they shone as brightly under the moon as the pegasi and unicorns. In front of the three was a small sign that simply read,

-In honor of those who laid down their lives for Equestria, so that their sacrifice shall never be forgotten.-

Connor flattened his ears, feeling the weight of their stares boring into his very soul. The armor felt like it had doubled in weight, and he lowered his head to look at the names again. “Divot, Whirlwind, Gregory... Captain Stardust... everyone...” He repeated softly, feeling the names etching themselves onto his heart. He tried to find more words to say, but they wouldn’t come, leaving him sitting silently in front of the memorial to the fallen, and monument to his shame.

They’d told her it wouldn’t hurt, and she’d believed them. As another contraction rippled down her body, Nimbus screamed her frustration at those morons, despite the magic helping to relieve some of the pain. She was lying on her side in the Canterlot Hospital bed, the unicorn doctor and a few nurses assisting. Flare had wanted to be with her, but the doctor had politely told him that the room was going to be crowded enough, and if he fainted as some stallions did, they didn’t have the room to be stepping over him.

“That’s good Nimbus, just keep breathing, nice and steady.” Doctor Silverheart said, nodding as he checked her. “You’re dilated nicely; I can see the amniotic sac now. Just focus on your breathing.”

“THAT’S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY!” Nimbus half-hissed, half-screamed at him as the next contraction hit her like a tidal wave rolling inexorably ashore. She felt like she was being split in half and screamed again.

Outside in the waiting room, Flare paced, wincing at every scream from beyond the double doors.

Cloudhammer rose from his cushion and interrupted Flare’s circuit. “Keep pacing like that and the hospital’s going to charge you for the new flooring.”

Flare snorted but stopped anyway, trotting over to take a seat next to Aegis and Lariat. Even then he couldn’t sit still, tapping a hoof on the tile. Across the room, Skipjack tried to keep her composure, but winced all the same at the noise coming from the room. She leaned against Dusty for support, smiling as he rested his head atop hers. “Thanks for coming sweetheart; I know this isn’t your thing...”

He smiled down at her, rubbing her back with a hoof. “But it’s yours, that’s enough for me.”

Aegis nudged Lariat, motioning towards Dusty and Skipjack, “Now, if only we could get Mrs. Cloudhammer, Fireball, and Aaaaaaamy here for you....”

Lariat twitched, punching Aegis in the shoulder, though he couldn’t help the little flush that tinged his cheeks. “I told ya, you sinvergüenza, Amy and I are just friends!”

“What the Tartarus’s a sinvergwee-” Aegis was cut off by another scream, this one louder than the ones that had come before. Afterward there was nothing but silence. Flare was on his hooves, eyes staring so hard at the door he could have melted holes through it.

After a few minutes had crawled by, Skipjack finally couldn’t contain herself. “Do you think she’s alri-” She abruptly stopped cold as a new sound made itself heard.

A thin, wailing cry.

Flare was already in motion as the doctor opened the door. He could hear him saying something, but his ears didn’t register it, focused as they were on the open door at the end of the short hallway. Reaching the doorway he stopped, letting his eyes take in the room.

Nimbus lay on her side now, head propped up by some pillows, her coat and mane matted with sweat. Lifting her gaze, her tired smile spread even wider as their eyes met. “Hey there.”

Flare quietly crept across the room on his hooftips, eyes locked onto her and the small, cloth-wrapped bundle snuggled firmly against her lower barrel. As he drew close to the bed Nimbus smiled and reached down, carefully rotating the bundle so he could see it better. The bundle bleated its protest at being interrupted, looking first at Nimbus, and then up at Flare, its muzzle smeared with the remnants of its first meal.

“Flare... Meet our son.”

Flare stopped cold, heart in his throat as he looked down at the tiny shape. His coat was a bright blend of blue and green, reminding him of the ocean water at Hawaii. A small shock of white hair decorated the top of his head, a streak of light orange running through it. His eyes were a vibrant shade of red-orange, the color of the setting sun.

“He’s... he’s perfect.” Flare whispered, afraid to do or say anything for fear of breaking the moment. He felt tears forming at the corners of his eyes, but didn’t even try to hold them back.

Nimbus smiled at him and shifted a little, so she was sitting up a little more. “Do you want to hold him?” Not waiting for his reply, she gently scooped up the bundle and held it out to him.

Sitting down hard, Flare reached out with a leg and carefully cradled the bundled colt, his son, in the crook of his elbow. He stared down at the tiny little hooves, the small nose, the bare forehead... “Does he have wings?”

Nimbus giggled. “No. He’s an earth pony. I bet Aegis is never going to let us live this down.”

Flare couldn’t help himself and chuckled with her. His son squirmed, not liking the new noises, and tried to push himself free of the blanket imprisoning him. Leaning back more so his hind legs were supporting him, Flare gently lifted his other leg and brought his hoof close to the little tummy. The foal sniffed at it cautiously, but then broke into a smile and grabbed playfully at it, nibbling on the end of his hoof.

Blinking away the fresh wave of tears, he looked to Nimbus. “So, what do we call him?”

Nimbus thought about it, then smiled as it just hit her, the inspiration coming out of nowhere. “How about.... Breaker. Because that’s what he is. A little wave, bringing in something new and wondrous.”

Flare felt a smile crossing his face, so wide he thought it’d split in half. “I think that’s a perfect name.” He looked down at his son, tickling him gently with a hoof. Breaker giggled and poked back with one of his tiny hooves. “Breaker.”

Doctor Silverheart cleared his throat gently from the door. “I’m sorry Captain Flare, but Nimbus and Breaker both need their rest. We’ll be putting Breaker in the nursery, and there’s a viewing window there for all your supporters to meet him too.” The nurses came back in, one pushing a baby bed on wheels. They gently lifted Breaker out of Flare’s foreleg despite his mild resistance, and settled the newborn in, tucking the blanket around him. Another nurse helped Silverheart tend to Nimbus, who’d already fallen asleep, the same smile on her face. Flare carefully squeezed her hoof, smiling as she squeezed back, before turning and making his way back to the waiting room.

Standing there outside the door, he looked at all his friends and grinned from ear to ear. “It’s a colt.”

Skipjack broke into tears, hugging Dusty fiercely, a broad smile on her muzzle. Dusty nodded his congratulations to Flare, hooking a leg around his marefriend and drawing her in for a hug of his own.

Lariat cheered, hopping to his hooves and giving Flare a round of thumps on the back. “Congratulations amigo! And just what is this little milagro called?”

Flare ducked his head, still grinning. “Breaker. Because he looks like the ocean. It was Nimbus’ suggestion.”

Aegis loomed nearby with a grin across his face, happy for Flare and Nimbus, two of his best friends. “Well, which tribe, Unicorn or Pegasus?”

Flare started laughing. “You won’t believe it, but he’s an earth pony.” He wiped at his eyes with a hoof.

"Well I'll be..." Aegis grinned. He and Sledgepetal would be splitting the pool after all. Aegis wasn’t a gambler, but he’d always bet on his earth pony pride.

Cloudhammer walked over slowly and embraced his old friend, squeezing him hard. “I’m proud of you, Flare. You did good kid.” He said, his voice a little gruff.

“He did good? Sounded to me like Nimbus did all the work...uh, Sir.” Skipjack rattled off, a sheepish grin on her face.

Cloudhammer rotated his eye to fix her with half of his best trainer stare, but otherwise said nothing, finally releasing the hug. “I’ll be right back.” He turned and trotted out of the room towards the front doors.

Flare watched him leave, his expression puzzled for a second, but then shrugged and looked at the others. “Do you want to meet him? The doctor said they were putting him in the nursery, and there’s a viewing window-”

“You have to ask? Lead on!” Aegis spoke for everypony present.

Flare chuckled at his exuberance, then turned and led the mismatched formation of guards down the corridors to a large window set into the wall. A number of foal beds were laid out in rows, a nurse quietly picking her way among them. Seeing Flare and the others at the window, she smiled and gently pushed one of the beds closer, so everypony could get a look.

Skipjack almost melted on the spot, a small squeak of happiness escaping despite herself. Dusty grinned and held her up, eyes fixated on the foal as well.

Aegis, head above the rest, had no trouble peering at the newborn. “My word, look at that coloring.” Aegis took a look at Flare. “Sure you won’t consider renaming him? Aegis the Second’d be perfect, look at that stately chin! He’s gonna move mountains someday.”

Flare snorted, cuffing Aegis on the shoulder with a hoof. “I think we’ll stick with Breaker.”

Lariat, meanwhile, had abandoned all sense of dignity and was making baby faces through the glass. “Flare, amigo, he is a beautiful child.”

“I agree, though I’d refrain from making those faces for too long. You might get stuck that way.” Celestia said with a small laugh as she joined them, Cloudhammer beside her.

“Princess... Princess Celestia!” Flare nearly skidded his hooves out as he struggled to get his chin to the floor, everypony else racing after him and nearly colliding into a tangled mass of ponies.

Celestia waved a hoof, a beaming smile on her face. “There is no need to bow to me on this day Flare. Your son is truly a gift, and not just to you. He is a living symbol of the love that can unite anypony, even a native Equestrian and a newfoal of Earth. You and Nimbus should always treasure that love, and never let Breaker go without it.”

Flare nodded, still sorting out getting back to his hooves. “I will, your Majesty.”

“Not to speak outta turn, your Highness, but he’s dang cute, too,” Aegis dared.

Celestia laughed lightly, turning her immortal gaze back to the sleeping foal. “He certainly is, Captain.”

Within the nursery, Breaker slept on, dreaming whatever the newly born dream, unaware and uncaring of the mixed parentage that, together, had brought him into the world. For him, the world simply was, without separation or distinction.

06 - Into the Heart of Darkness

Week 23, Sunday

The boat chugged its way along the river, the grass waving gently in the breeze. Despite the peaceful atmosphere, the tension among the ponies was a tangible thing.

“Alright, we’re coming up on the drop off point. Does everyone remember the code words?” Flare asked heavily. After a long discussion, the group had decided that if the enemy could look like them, they’d use code words to ensure their identities.

The rest of the rescue team, consisting of Aegis, Dawn Breeze, Anvil, Wrecker, Lariat, Crash Cart and Solaris, all nodded their heads firmly. Flare originally thought to include Dusty with the group, as having five earth ponies along would provide a strong defensive core to work around. But he’d seen the worry in Dusty’s eyes when he looked at Skipjack, and knew those staying on the boat needed somepony to keep them safe. To be fair, he wanted to stay too, but he was the senior unicorn present, and the most well trained in combat magic. He returned the nods, and then turned toward the front of the boat, where a solitary pegasus guard could be seen. He quietly made his way up to sit next to them. The minutes dragged on as he tried to think of something to say when Nimbus leaned against him and sighed.

“I don’t want you to go. But you’re going to anyway, so all I’m going to tell you is to please come back. I want you to be there when our foal is born.”

Flare leaned back against her, resting his head over hers. “I know, and I will come back, no matter what we find in there.” The two sat like that for a moment until someone cleared their throat.

“We’re an hour out from the drop-off Flare... and there’s something else.” Amy said. “The man we picked up in the village, who goes by Elias, wants to come with you. To avenge his wife and son.”

Flare frowned. “I understand his feelings, but I cannot in good conscience allow him to come with us. Where we’re going there will more than likely be magic being used, and I will not allow myself to hurt another human with magic again.”

Amy shook her head. “I understand how you feel, but we explained that to him. He said he doesn’t care, and will follow you regardless.”

Flare snorted, but yielded. “Alright, he can come with us. But make it clear to him the risks he faces if he comes with us.”

Amy nodded and went back belowdecks. Flare turned back to looking across the river, trying to hold on to every minute he could with his marefriend.

Kinshasa was waking up like it did every morning. The smoke of uncountable cooking fires rose into the air as the market vendors began preparing their wares to sell. The nocturnal denizens of the city shambled their way home, while those who rose with the sun wearily took their place.

At the airport, the security staff was going through their shift rotation. The morning guards nodded to their night shift counterparts as they settled into the routine of watching people and the occasional pony come and go.

As the sun continued to creep into the sky, one of the guards nudged his friend. “Hey Claude, look over there.”

“What is it Etepe?” Claude asked as he looked in the direction Etepe indicated.

“Those dogs have been sitting there on the other side of the road for some time now.”

Claude peered closer. There were indeed a few dogs sitting there, every one of them a mutt like one could find anywhere in the city. What was a little unnerving was how they were all looking at him. “You’re right, that is weird. Maybe go chase them away?”

“Sure, let’s go.” Etepe picked up his baton and got to his feet. The two were about to start crossing the street when a trio of gunshots rang out from the other side of the terminal.

“What in God’s name?” Claude said in alarm as more gunfire rang out and the radio buzzed.

“All officers, report to airstrip, unknown creatures attacking the airp-” It dissolved into static, and while the sporadic gunfire continued, there was now faint screaming mixed in with it.

“Come on Etepe, let’s go!” Claude shouted, turning in confusion at the silence. “Etepe?”

Etepe was staring out across the street, mouth hanging open. Where there had only been three or four dogs there were now twenty, and all of them stalking predatorily across the street towards them. As they watched, the dogs began to burn with green fire, and after a moment of shock the two men recoiled in fear at the insectoid things now approaching them.

Claude remembered the stories his mother used to tell him, of monsters that lurked in his closet to drag naughty children to Hell. And now here they were, diaphanous wings buzzing and fangs gleaming in the sunlight. Finally forcing himself into movement, he drew his pistol and fired a shot at a black monster easily half again as big as the others, grazing it in the leg. With a terrible hissing sound, the monsters leaped into the air, diving toward them.

Etepe and Claude made a good showing; getting five more rounds off between them. Two changelings fell dead, while the other eighteen reached them. The remaining airport security staff managed to kill ten more before being overrun by the horde swarming from the nearby marsh. A few tourists tried to use their cellphones to call for help, but none of the phones would work, some sparking out as changelings swarmed through the building, the air filling with the buzzing of wings and screams of fear.

In the immediate city around the airport, many of the ever-present stray dogs, sheep, goats and even young calves suddenly burst into green flames, more of the black creatures attacking passerby and herding them to the west. The few policemen on patrol were overwhelmed, though one was able to get a brief radio call to the precinct on the other side of town. Once resistance was ended, the changelings began to set buildings alight by surrounding themselves in more green fire and hurtling into them. Within minutes a wall of flames divided the city in half.

From the marshes further to the north, a tidal wave of black forms swept forward into the adjacent city, sweeping unstoppably through the streets. The local gangs barely had time to snatch up their weapons before they were locked into a bitter close range fight, and against the changeling’s numbers each point of resistance was identified and overpowered. Terrified citizens fled in droves, but if anything the changelings seemed to be empowered by the fear pouring off the populace and redoubled their efforts. Teams of four changelings each would snatch a citizen up, bind them with ooze, and carry them north. None were spared; men, women and children were all equal prey. Anyone who raised a weapon against the invading swarm were killed on the spot, their limp bodies hauled away like the others. Even the fallen changelings were recovered, carried into the sky like everything else.

From the center of the swarming mass, Chrysalis laughed maniacally as her minions flooded the city. The human’s fear, laced with anger and despair, rose into the air and was relentlessly consumed by her offspring. It was almost too much, but she had prepared for this. Her horn shone a sickly green as she channeled a steady stream of emotion into the hive, the distance irrelevant. It was her, after all, and she was it. She sighed internally, knowing that after a raid like this, the humans would be responding in force, and would not stop until they found the hive. She mentally reached out to the changelings left in the hive, ordering them to begin preparations to relocate. They may not gain much emotion from this harvest of humans, but the sheer agony of so many dying at once from magic exposure would be exquisite. And besides, there might be some survivors left over. At least they’d have a couple days to extract as much emotion as possible.

On the opposite end of town, the UN mission and the Kinshasa police department began to mobilize at once, half-awake men rushing to dress and claim their weapons. Smoke was pouring into the sky from the east as the first vehicles rolled out, but almost immediately became bogged down in the streams of civilians fleeing west. Many infantrymen dismounted and began to push through the crowds on foot, knowing that it would easily take them half an hour to cross the entire city. From the rooftops a swirling mass of black forms could be seen swooping and diving, some bursting into green flames before rocketing toward the ground. Suddenly, the ground shook as a massive fireball rose into the air from the airport, every window within a mile shattering in a rain of glass.

Lariat shouldered aside another plant, holding it to the side as the rest of the rescue team went by. They’d left the boat four days ago, and had carefully followed the trail that they’d picked up from the edge of the savannah. Fortunately, the weather had cooperated and there hadn’t been any rain to complicate things.

“Dawn, do you see anything?” Flare called up.

Dawn Breeze landed carefully on a tree branch, peering closely. “Yeah, there’s more of the little cuts here in the wood, just like before. We’re still on track.”

With a grunt, Aegis spoke up. “They’re not tryin’ too very hard to hide. They’re either overconfident, or expectin’ us.”

Solaris nodded. “I agree with Aegis. Something about this isn’t right.”

Dawn hopped back into the air, heading around a massive tree. Landing on one of the expansive branches, she peered at it, then down toward the ground. Her eyes widened and she immediately took off, speeding back toward the others and landing as quietly as possible. Motioning for everypony and Elias to gather close, she whispered furtively, “I think this is it.”

Eyes widening, everyone looked up at the giant tree towering over them, then started scanning the jungle surrounding them. Elias tightened his grip on his AK-74 nervously, muttering a prayer under his breath.

“Alright, let’s keep quiet and find the entrance.” Flare whispered. “Everypony keep quiet.”

The eight ponies and one human carefully spread out, searching around the base of the tree, while Dawn took to the air and quietly spiraled around the trunk. After a few minutes, Elias waved his arm at Aegis, who quickly gathered everypony around the human. Carefully shifting a large pile of brush, a dark tunnel could be seen leading into the ground under the tree. A faint green glow could be seen in the depths of the tunnel.

“So, guess the question is, who’s first down the rabbit hole?” Lariat asked, trying hard to sound nonchalant despite the menacing aura pouring from the hole.

“Well, Lariat, never into a challenge without your shield leading the way.” Aegis stared into the burrow. “Of course, you also don’t go into a hole in the Everfree blind, either, but here we are.” Aegis slowly stepped in, cautiously lowering himself and looking about. The tunnel ran on for a short distance downward, before being obstructed by a large growth, a pinched opening in the middle leaking glowing green ooze. Several smaller growths surrounding the opening pulsed a light green.

“Okay, that is officially the grossest thing I’ve ever seen.” Dawn Breeze muttered. “No way to know if we’re walking into a trap here.”

Flare nodded his agreement, and was about to ask Wrecker to take Elias far enough away so he could try to sniff out active magic on the other side when Elias grunted something in his language and pushed past him, AK-74 leading the way as he literally pushed his way through the opening. It squelched a little, but opened easily enough to let him squirm through. Soon his feet vanished and the opening slowly sealed behind him.

“That idiot, he could be walking right into a trap.” Wrecker muttered.

After a few seconds more, the opening squished open as a dark brown arm stuck out, thumb sticking up.

“Well, I guess that means it’s alright.” Flare tapped the hand with a hoof and it withdrew. Stifling his disgust, he pushed his muzzle into the opening, closing his eyes as it slid over him. Squirming his shoulders, he managed to get the upper half of his body through, and felt Elias gripping his forelegs to pull him the rest of the way. Landing hard, he shook himself vigorously, opening his eyes cautiously and looking around.

The cavern he found himself in was surprisingly large, the ground cool and soft underhoof. The walls had more of the curious growths providing illumination, as well as black, fibrous strands that covered the walls and ran off through the three tunnels ahead of them. “Well, where to now?” He muttered as he turned, hearing somepony else squeezing through the entrance.

Although "squeeze" wasn't quite the right word. Aegis, after seeing the struggle Flare had engaged in with the opening, had taken a full charge and slammed through, making a disgusting 'squelch' sound as he slid clear of the gooey crevasse. Aegis slid across the floor to a stop at Flare's hooves, grinning up at him. "A shower. Keep my pay, all I want when we get out is a long. Long. Hot. Shower.”

Flare shook his head and helped Aegis to his hooves. “I think that can be arranged. For me, I think a nice, long vacation on the beach with Nimbus and the foal would be perfect.” He trotted over to help as Lariat’s hooves were starting to come through. After another few minutes everypony was standing in a circle, dripping with greenish slime. “Alright. Now, we’ve got a couple tunnels to pick. What do you think Aegis?”

"Well, my gut says we'll find what we're looking for below. But..." Aegis sighed, then continued, “my head says I don't want anything followin' us down there and pinnin' us in." Aegis thought a moment. "When I ignore my gut instinct, I usually wind up bein' wrong."

Flare thought about it for a moment, and then looked at the others. “Anypony have objections to going down?”

Lariat shook his head. “Aegis has never steered us wrong in the time I’ve known him. I trust him now.”

Anvil and Wrecker nodded their agreement. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the only real objection came from Dawn Breeze, who was already on edge being underground.

“Alright then. We’ll go down. Solaris, you’re our rearguard. Aegis, take the lead.” Flare tapped Elias on the thigh, then pointed to Aegis and mimed out the human following him. Elias nodded and checked his rifle. “I’ll follow behind Elias. Anvil, Wrecker, I want the two of you to cover Crash Cart. Lariat, you back up Dawn Breeze. Now let’s move out.”

The others nodded, looking nervously at the downsloping tunnel, before taking a deep breath and beginning their descent.

Connor stood on the bow of the boat as it chugged its way down the river. He was pretty much on autopilot, eyes scanning the riversides for anything out of the ordinary while his brain struggled with itself. The last thing Flare had said to him still refused to leave his conscience alone.

“We can trust you.” He muttered. “Yeah right.” He shook his head ‘Come on, get it together Connor. It’s not like they’ve asked you to turn over anything that could hurt your friends.’

‘But you’ve lied to them from the beginning. These ponies trust you with their lives. Flare trusted you with his marefriend AND his unborn foal for Christ’s sake. And you would sell them out if you were ordered to.’ the voice in the back of his head whispered.

‘No. I wouldn’t.’ He thought, trying to fight the growing sense of shame. The worst part was it was not unjustified. He’d agreed to it all, knowing full well that it would entail spying on ponies he’d be serving with. At the time he’d thought he could handle the feelings of revulsion most soldiers felt toward spying on allies, especially given the way the man who’d recruited him into the program had phrased it. The ponies weren’t telling them everything, and it was up to soldiers like him to allow the US military to get eyes on in case there was something harmful to national security going on.

But... there wasn’t. Everything Connor had seen only reminded him of how things had been when he served as a human. Sure, it’d taken a long time and many sleepless nights to come to terms with his choice to take that shot, and the dream/vision/whatever that he’d had still haunted him. The time that Celestia had come to personally review his group’s training had terrified him, especially when she’d looked him in the eyes and he was terrified that she just knew why he’d become a pony. But she’d merely smiled at them and wished them the best before returning to Equestria.

Then there was the physiological side of becoming a pony. Sure, some of it had been easy to adjust to, like going to the bathroom, trotting around, and flying. Especially flying. But then he’d started realizing that he would be paying more attention to the mares during certain times of the year, or when the sun had been out for a particularly long time. Not to mention having to relearn being aggressive. They had told him that his personality would be unchanged by the serum, and it was, he had all his old tendencies and hobbies (even if he couldn’t play video games with hooves), but he just seemed more... mellow. Getting angry took more effort, but fortunately the Guard had a lot of practice in teaching stallions and mares how to get angry.

His wrestling match with himself was interrupted as he heard somepony coming up behind him. Turning his head, he saw it was Second Lieutenant Forest and saluted. “Sir, everything alright below?”

Forest returned the salute and nodded. “Nimbus is just getting some rest. Think she’s going to be due within a few weeks or so. How’re you holding up?”

Connor sighed. “It’s just a lot to take in. And I’m still worried about the others.” His ears flattened as he stared angrily at the deck. “Everything we’re taught in training is to never back down, never abandon your comrades. And it’s doubly so for those of us who served. But what did I do when my squad needed me? I ran.”

Forest shook his head. “You ran because Captain Stardust ordered you to. Somepony had to get the word out about these things. If you’d stayed and fought, you’d have been killed or taken as well. Now come on, Kinshasa is coming up soon, let’s get some air time. Always helps calm me down.” Without waiting for a reply, Forest spread his wings and took off.

Connor sighed and took off after him. The two guards spiraled upwards until they were about fifty feet in the air over the boat. The wind blowing in his face did make him feel better, though his conscience continued to make noise.

“Master Sergeant.” Connor looked over as Forest floated closer. “I know something is bothering you, you’ve been hiding it well, but I want you to tell me what’s going on.”

Connor flattened his ears. “Well... I don’t really know. It’s just been difficult, coming to terms with what it really meant to change my species like this and-”

“Master Sergeant.” Forest’s tone was lighter now. “I’m your commanding officer, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be your friend. I want to help you, I do, but you need to be willing to trust us like we trust you.”

Connor winced as he said that, turning his gaze to the south. “That’s... part of the issue...” He trailed off as he picked out something in the distance down the river. “Is that... smoke?”

“What?” Forest looked the same direction. Surely enough, there was clouds of smoke rising into the air from Kinshasa. Squinting, both pegasi could make out what looked like a wave of black overtaking part of the city.

“Umm, Second Lieutenant? Do you know what that is?” Connor asked hesitantly, though he began to have a sinking feeling in his stomach as an ugly thought reared its head. After all, they had no idea just how many of the creatures there were....

Forest opened his mouth to reply when suddenly there was a massive explosion at the airport, an enormous fireball rising into the sky. The two pegasi flinched back a few feet, their wings flapping to keep them stable. “Master Sergeant.”

“Yes sir.” They both rolled over and dove for the boat below, landing hard on the deck as the sound of the blast reached them.

Amy came walking out of the door to below, a few mercenaries following her out. “What was that?”

“Ma’am, there’s been an explosion in Kinshasa. And something else.” Forest hesitated a moment before continuing. “There’s what appear to be a horde of black shapes attacking the city.”

Amy gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. “You don’t think that-?”

“I don’t get paid to think about that. Right now we need to secure this boat and be ready to defend it. I want the mercenaries on deck, weapons ready to go, but do not fire unless we are attacked. Everypony else, yourself included, will wait belowdecks until the danger passes or we are attacked. Master Sergeant, follow me, we need to brief everypony on the situation.” Forest turned and made his way down into the cabin, Connor following. The remaining mercenaries were quiet as Amy explained the situation to them and the captain, and they all subconsciously checked their weapons and looked nervously to the south, where a massive black cloud was now visible.

Flare was beginning to wonder if this mission had been a horrid mistake. They’d been wandering the tunnels for nearly an hour now, and had yet to find the missing guards. Sighing as they came to yet another hub chamber, he looked around. “These all look the same too. I’m pretty sure we’re not going in circles here...”

“Si, and where are the changelings? We’ve not seen even a hint of the things being here.” Lariat commented. Almost as soon as he said that the leftmost tunnel echoed to the sound of chitin scraping against rock.

Anvil looked over at him, eyes half-shut. “You had to say something tovarich.”

Barely had the words left his mouth when fifteen large changelings barreled around the corner, scuttling along the walls and ceiling as well as the floor. These changelings seemed bigger than the one Skipjack and the others had brought back, a few of them as big as Aegis or Lariat. Furthermore, something in their eyes was off, they just radiated murderous rage

The ponies took up a defensive position, but Elias took a few steps forward and simply waited patiently as the changelings drew closer. Lifting the barrel of the AK-74, he waited an extra second before he pulled the trigger. The weapon barked out a staccato burst of fire, the muzzle flash illuminating the tunnel. Elias calmly tracked each changeling, putting a burst into each charging form. The deafening sound echoed through the tunnels, causing everypony to clap hooves to ears, and eventually Elias had to release the trigger. As everyone shook their heads to clear their vision and their hearing, they could see the devastation the weapon had done. The fifteen changelings lay twitching on the floor of the tunnel, several still alive but unable to move. Elias, his expression cold, walked forward while he reloaded the rifle. Stopping at each squirming, hissing figure, he put a bullet into each of their heads.

Two hundred and thirty miles away, Chrysalis lifted her head, gazing to the northeast, her slitted eyes narrowed. Something was wrong.

“Umm, Flare, amigo, are you sure that bringing him was a good idea?” Lariat muttered worriedly.

“Harsh...” was all Aegis could add.

Flare stared nervously at Elias as the human walked down the corridor to the bend. Suddenly, Elias waved his arm urgently, pointing at something out of sight. Flare looked at the others, and then reluctantly trotted to stand next to Elias, looking down the tunnel. His eyes widened as he realized what he was seeing. “Guys... we found it.” He slowly trotted forward to the end of the tunnel, staring in disgusted awe at what lay beyond. The others followed, their expressions matching his as they beheld the chamber.

It was enormous, the opposite side barely visible through the green-tinted haze that filled the room. More of the black growths laced the floor and walls, along with strange pod-like structures suspended from the walls and floor. Gingerly entering the room, Flare trotted to one of the pods on the floor and looked inside, and felt his bile rise at the sight of its contents.

A human woman lay submerged within a sickly green fluid. Or at least, what was left of her. Tendrils of the same black growth grew into her skin, her lower body almost completely absorbed. Forcing himself to look closer, Flare could actually see the tendrils pulsing with motion, some taking something out, others pumping fluids into her.

“By the Sun and Moon, what are they doing here?” He muttered, only to cry out in panic as the woman’s eyes suddenly opened. She reached out to him blindly, her mouth locked open in a rictus scream.

Aegis, drawn by Flare’s startled call, glanced past Flare into the pod as well, his eyes going wide as his pupils contracted in fear. “Flare, W-we gotta get her outta there!”

Flare swallowed hard, fighting the urge to vomit. “I... I don’t know if we even can. This is like nothing I’ve ever seen or heard of before...”

The others cautiously fanned out, each one discovering a pod containing a human in a state of absorption. Lariat trembled with barely contained rage as he stared into a pod that held the scant remains of a child, only the upper left torso and head remaining. “Descansar, en nombre de Dios.” he whispered, making the sign of the Cross with a foreleg. He looked up as Elias walked up, looking mutely into the pod before falling to his knees with a thud, the rifle dropping to the dirt from limp fingers. With shaking hands he reached out and touched the pod gingerly, tears welling up in his eyes as he began to wail wordlessly, before suddenly gripping the pod’s ‘skin’ and tearing it away, a flood of ooze pouring across the floor. He reached in, gently pulling the child’s remains to his chest as he continued to wail.

On the ceiling, the small changeling watched the human curiously. It didn’t know why, but something about that human seemed... It shook its head as the headache returned with more ferocity than before. It shifted its grip, but accidentally knocked some dust and rocks free.

Lariat, not knowing what else to do, was reaching out to put a hoof on Elias’ shoulder when the falling dust sprinkled his leg. Looking up, the stallion locked eyes with a pair of blue eyes. The changeling spread its wings and leapt downward as Lariat started to leap his hooves. “We got one more!”

The changeling landed heavily on Elias’ back, gripping his shoulders with its forehooves and his neck in its mouth, fangs just above the vein in the side of his neck. Lariat froze, as did the others.

Flare slowly moved forward until he stood side by side with Lariat. “Let him go now.”

The changeling hissed something at them, and Elias tensed up as the fangs dug a little deeper. Flare kept his eyes locked on the changelings. “Elias, it’s going to be alright.”

Now it was the changeling’s turn to stiffen, its grip loosening as its eyes stared blankly ahead. Elias threw it off and scrambled away, bringing the AK-74 to bear.

Lariat was quicker, his rope lashing out and ensnaring the changeling. “Okay, you little rata. Now stay still.” He put a hoof on Elias’ AK-74, pushing it down. “No need to shoot him amigo. We might be able to get some information out of him.” Lariat trotted forward and began hog-tying the changeling.

The changeling’s mind was a frenzy, feeling like it was ripping itself apart. That name, why was that name so familiar to it? Scattered memories whirled through his head, flashes of a life it had never lived mixed with its own flying by like leaves in the wind. A man with that same face looking over and smiling. Chrysalis looking down on it with a smile as it struggled from its birthing pod. A man with that same face tucking it in at night. Chrysalis letting it feed on its first prey. Seeing a human child floating in a pod, and feeling something... else. Looking at a dirt-streaked mirror and seeing that same child grinning and striking a pose. It, the changeling realized. It had been that child, somehow. NO! It was a child of the swarm, loyal to Chrysalis! But... it remembered sitting at a wooden table, a man and a woman sitting across from him, looking at him with love in their eyes. It remembered...

“Father?”

Elias froze, his eyes wide with shock. Flare, Aegis and the others all looked at each other in confusion. The changeling was speaking the same language as Elias, who was still staring at it blankly.

“Uhh, Flare? Why is the changeling speaking the same language as Elias?” Dawn Breeze asked.

“It is a trick, it must be.” Anvil snorted irritably.

Flare opened his mouth to weigh in, when his brain suddenly felt like it was about to freeze. He clapped a hoof to his head in an attempt to stifle the pain.

‘Flare...’ His ears perked up instantly, recognizing the tone. “C-Captain Stardust?”

‘Over... here...’ Flare turned and blindly followed the voice in his head to a pod set into the wall, near the floor. Looking into the inside, he gagged as his gorge rose in his throat again.

Captain Stardust hung within the pod, his emaciated body barely recognizable as the vigorous stallion he had once been. As Flare looked downward, he couldn’t hold it in anymore and vomited. His hind legs were gone completely, a twisting mass of black growth winding its way up and into the unicorn’s body. Just like with the woman, Flare could see the growth pulsing as it fed the captain nutrients and removed Celestia knew what from him. “Captain, what in Equestria... by the stars, what is going on here?”

‘No... Not much time left. She knows you’re here Flare, she’s coming back...’

“Who is?” Flare asked, desperately examining the sides of the pod to see how to detach it. “Just hold on, we’re gonna get you down, take you back to Canterlot-” He took a step back as Stardust struggled, bringing one stern eye to bear on the younger captain.

‘NO! I can’t... don’t let my family see me like this... please.’ Stardust’s eye rolled wildly, though it somehow stayed fixed on Flare.

“But...” Flare hesitated. “I don’t think I can...”

‘Flare, please... it hurts... so much...’ Stardust’s ‘voice’ seemed weaker now, the unicorn’s form growing limp again.

Flare swallowed hard, the thought of what Stardust was asking him to do making him sick. His knees felt like rubber, and he nearly collapsed.

“Flare,” Aegis whispered, out of hearing from the rest of the detachment, “it’s something only you can do. I’m not sure I could, even given the tool for the job.” Aegis tapped his own empty forehead. “Stardust wouldn’t ask if he didn’t...know...y’know?”

Flare squeezed his eyes shut, the unicorn wrestling with himself at the idea of having to... to kill one of his trainers and a friend. Taking a few deep breaths, he squared his shoulders and opened his eyes. “Alright Stardust. I’ll... I’ll do it.”

“Guard, assemble on me,” Aegis called to the group. “Squad, Attention!” Aegis drew up straight as the rest of the guards did the same. “Salute!” Each guard snapped a salute to Stardust, most with tears in their eyes. Aegis turned away from Stardust with a heartbroken sigh. “Ok, Colts...and Dawn. Scour this place for the living and the dead. These monsters get nothing, you hear me? Pair up, and don’t be afraid to get loud if you spot anything. Dismissed.” Aegis stayed by Flare’s side.

Flare nodded his thanks to Aegis, and then turned back to Stardust. “Sir, it’s been an honor to have known you.” He drew his magic into his horn, the orange light glowing bright as he built his spell. The skin of the pod split down the middle, the two ponies avoiding the ooze that washed across the floor. Focusing carefully, Flare seared the black growths, eventually separating Stardust from them. Lowering the ravaged unicorn to the ground, Flare took a few deep breaths before focusing again, the air around Stardust shimmering with heat. Taking one last look at Flare, Stardust inhaled his final breath.

“Thank... you...”

Flare released his spell, Stardust’s body igniting with an orange-white light as the flames consumed him. It hurt his eyes, but Flare refused to look away, tears pouring down his face as he watched his friend disintegrate before his eyes. After another few minutes, he extinguished the fire, a pile of charred earth and white dust all that remained. Wiping at his eyes with a hoof, he reached under his armor and withdrew one of the empty supply bags. He started to focus yet more power into his horn, wobbling a little at the exertion.

Aegis placed a hoof on Flare’s shoulder in support. “Steady there, Flare. I gotcha.” Aegis offered his own shoulder to lean on should Flare require it.

Flare nodded his thanks and continued to draw on his magic, more orange light surrounding the ashes. Carefully lifting them, making sure to not miss a particle, he carefully levitated them into the bag. Sealing the top, he wearily tucked the bag under his armor. “Thanks Aegis.”

“It’s what I’m here for, buddy. You need a minute?”

Flare straightened, taking a deep breath. “No, we need to move. Stardust said that she knew we were here. I think he meant the changelings know something’s wrong, and they’re coming back here.” He turned back to where Elias was standing over the hogtied changeling. “We need to decide what to do with Elias.”

“This is a big place. If they had enough changelings to fill it, I sure don’t wanna run into ‘em on the way out.” Aegis paused to think. “I don’t s’pose Crash or Sol know how to teleport the lot of us?”

Flare shook his head. “Not this many. And we can’t teleport Elias as he is now. But there is another option.” He reached back under his armor and withdrew the locator rune Ruby had given him. “I can call for a resupply, only we use the Beacon Stone to teleport out.”

Aegis snorted, and then laughed. “That’s why you’re the brains of this outfit.”

Flare sighed. “There is still a problem. The surge of magic from the Stone will kill Elias.” He looked back over at the human. “We can ponify him, but none of us speak his language.”

“What about the changeling? It seems to. Think it might know proper Equestrian?”

Flare snorted, his eyes narrowed. “It just might.” He trotted slowly over to it. Glaring down at it, he finally took a ragged breath. “Do you understand me?” He said in Equestrian.

The changeling’s ears flicked, and it slowly nodded.

“Good. If you want to live past the next minute, you’ll translate what I say to Elias. If you don’t, I burn you to a cinder.” he growled.

The changeling nodded fearfully, while trying to scoot closer to Elias. Flare snorted and looked up at the human. “Elias, we’re going to be leaving here. But the way we leave will kill you.” The changeling hesitantly spoke the last part, almost as if it were... afraid for Elias. Flare shook his head and continued. “There is a way to save you, but you’ll need to become one of us. Like the chimpanzees.” The changeling finished translating and Elias rocked back, frustration and shock written across his face. He spoke to the changeling and it flattened its ears. It spoke back to him and Elias shouted a denial, striking it with the butt of his AK-74.

Lariat moved at once, shouldering Elias back a few steps. “Whoa there partner. No need to beat it up just yet.”

Flare rounded on the changeling. “What did you say to him?”

The changeling cowered in place, eyes never leaving Elias. “I... begged him to change. I don’t want the swarm to take him...”

Flare snorted. “Why should we believe you?”

“Because... I’m his son.”

The room was silent for a few seconds before Flare pinned the changeling to the ground. “YOU LIE! HIS CHILD IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOUR KIND!”

The changeling squirmed. “I know! But I have the child’s memories! I remember everything!” It broke down, screeching in a hideous parody of crying, though no tears fell from its eyes.

Aegis trotted forward and pulled Flare off of the changeling. “Flare, I know how it sounds, but s’pose it’s tellin’ the truth? And even if it ain’t, we still need it alive to learn more about these things.”

Flare tossed his head. “Alright, now finish translating. Elias, will you let us ponify you and take you with us?”

The changeling translated and Elias scowled, pushing Lariat to the side. He walked slowly to the remains of the child, laying a hand on its forehead gently. A few tears fell from his eyes, but he slowly nodded once.

Flare nodded. “Alright, I’m going to send the call to Ruby and the others. Everyone get ready; gather the survivors and the dead nearby. We’ll need to work fast.” He trotted away, casting one final cold look at the changeling on the ground before igniting his horn.

Chrysalis howled in rage as she surveyed the ruin the larval chamber had become. None of the extraction pods remained, the few guards she’d left behind to deter the occasional curious animal lay dead, and the air was thick with the stench of pony magic.

The large changeling, nursing the scarred bullet wound it had received, stood beside her. “What do you wish to do, my Queen?”

She closed her eyes, letting out a hissing sigh. She turned around, her green eyes staring coldly at the streams of changelings carrying their newly captured prey into the chamber. “If the Equestrians have been here, they will return, and bring their human allies with them. It’s time to relocate. Prepare the runes.”

The changeling hesitated, the blemish of a scar on his leg forgotten. "But, my Queen, that will kill a large number of the prey. Are you sure...” He prostrated himself as she turned her smoldering eyes onto him.

“Be mindful, underling. You have served well. Do not ruin your success by questioning me again.”

“Of course, my Queen.”