Outside the Ashlands

Cinder let out a held in breath as she glanced behind her to make sure she wasn't being followed. She smiled as she continued walking. There was something nice in the air around here. It felt... so wet... and sticky.

She felt as though she had been submerged in one of the stagnant water pools of her homeland. The mucky waters would cling to the underside of your feet, only now she felt covered from head to toe in the irksome wetness of the air. She actually kind of liked it. It was really different from the hot dry air back home. It was always chock full of cinders and hot splinters that burned the inside of her nose with every breath.

Speaking of things that burned the inside of her nose... Cinder sniffed deeply, noticing the distinct and burning smell of copper staining the air. The little dragon covered her nose and grunted. It smelled bad. She didn't like it.

The little drake looked around she needed to know where it was coming from, so that she may escape the terrible smell.

There was a sudden and loud whack to her right, which caused her head to very quickly turn towards it. The dragon stared towards the sound's location frightfully. What was even out there? Her mind conjured horrible images of some kind of dragon hunting soldier who would find her and execute her.

There was another loud whack that grabbed her attention. Cinder felt herself shrink down. She couldn't help but slowly inch forwards towards the sound. Peeking through a bush, she caught a glimpse of something that greatly confused her.

A second bug pony was sitting in front of her, with his back to Cinder's hiding spot. The creature had a cyan carapace, and a deep blue back plate that it had opened to reveal its dragonfly like wings, which, too, were parted to give the creature access to its own back. It was smaller than the one she had met earlier however, but not as small as the strange pink creature.

What made it confusing was what it was doing to itself. For one, its horn was glowing cyan, and a whip was similarly glowing, floating in the air while rapidly turning around and striking him in the back, leaving large gashes which leaked a cyan liquid.

It didn't take much for Cinder to realize it was blood.

To make matters odder, the bug pony was kneeling before a statue of another bug pony, only it was much taller than him, and had two mandible like antlers emerging from his head. The creature would periodically let out whispers, before bringing the whip back and striking itself once more.

The creature hissed in pain before he suddenly raised his head and sniffed the air. Cinder quickly dove into a bush and covered herself quickly as the creature turned to her.

Cinder stayed in the bush hidden. What would this thing do to her? Maybe it would eat her? Or lay eggs in her eyes like a bug?

Yeah that was it! It was a bug pony! So it was gonna do something gross like that!

Cinder whimpered loudly and cried, screwing her eyes shut.

The creature simply sighed, which caused the drake's eyes to open in confusion, she turned her head back to the creature to see it bring a small white rag to it's back and wipe the blood off before, in a flash of cyan fire, the wounds disappeared.

He stood up and turned to look at her with two platinum white eyes. "I know you're there." It said with a young male voice. "Come out."

Cinder found herself blinking confusedly, her bodies shakes and quivers coming to a quick end. Honestly, even if she had heard the other bug ponies voice a couple minutes earlier, she expected it to be a deep hissing growl not what it was. It sounded like a teenage'd drake actually.

"I can smell how terrified you are.... just come out. It's ok." The bug spoke. She could tell that he was trying to be consoling, but really it just came off as creepy.

Cinder poked her head out from behind the bush and stared directly into his compact eyes.

The two stared at each other for a minute or two before the creature blinked twice and sat down. "You're not in disguise, right?"

"No? What do you mean by 'disguise?'" Cinder asked, face scrunched up.

"Oh sweet Thorax you are a dragon." He said as he put a hoof to his head. "Butterfly is going to freak out when she sees you."

"Of course I am a dragon! Why wouldn't I be?" Cinder said as she stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. She was shorter than the bug pony, but she knew she could take him on. Especially because he looked very... thin to say the least.

"Oh... cause of this." The bug said before he suddenly burst into flames again. Cinder jumped back with a loud 'eep'. Standing in front of her when the flames died down was... her?

"H-how?" Cinder asked as she stared at him. Reaching a hand forwards and poking at her... his chest revealed that his smooth carapace was gone as well, revealing reptile like scales which caused her to quickly retract her hand and nervously step away from him. What... was this?

"Oh, I am a Changeling." 'She' said in her own voice. "My name is Dactylus, and yours?" The mirror her stuck out her claw.

"I'm Cinder..." She said as she took it nervously. This is what changelings looked like? She honestly expected something else.

She wasn't exactly sure what that 'else' was, but not bug ponies.
After a second burst of surprisingly cold fire, the bug Dactylus returned with a warm smile.

"Ahhh…" He said quietly. "Dad and Magenta are going to freak when they hear about this."

Ash landed deftly in the dimly lit cave that he would call home for the next few days. He let out a large sigh as he idly swung his warhammer. The world had changed so much in the past thousand years. Nothing he had been taught of the outside world seemed correct.

It was so odd... feeling like everything you had ever been told was false. Feeling like you were trapped in the past. Ash gave an angry snort, spewing smoke from his nose. ‘I have orders. Thoughts come second.’

Without even thinking he swung his hammer and shattered a lunging wolf made of wood. Clearly he wasn't the only occupant of this cave, a passive expression etched into his facial features as he strode forwards, not even bothering to count how many were left.

A second lunged at him but broke its teeth on his armor in a pathetic display. He simply breathed in its direction and it burst into flame.

He huffed out smoke from his nostrils as the remaining one took off in an attempt to escape his flames. He stared at it until it disappeared into the dark, before he turned away, crouching in the cave's darkest corner, hiding. Not out of cowardice, of course. This was supposed to be a stealth mission after all.

Ash's mind started to feel his worries about the changing times dissipating. Even with all the changes over the centuries, Equestria's monsters were still pathetic. The inhabitants were clearly no different.