"What's taking Thorax so long? He should've been here by now." Starlight asked no one in particular. The others shared her concern.

The Changelings were the only group that hadn't made their way to Ponyville, even the Griffins were now present...those that could be convinced to leave their homes.

"I'm sure he has his reasons. Probably a couple of stubborn Changelings that don't wanna leave." Smoulder said. Everycreature that knew her from before cringed when they heard how much her voice had changed. Becoming quieter, losing it's spark.

Starlight let her ears drop."Yeah, I know. I'm just worried about him. About all of us. Aries and his kind were made for a reason. And we only have one Astartes to help us."

Twilight shared some words with her friends before coming over to put a hoof around Starlight's shoulders. "It'll be okay Starlight. We can do this."

Starlight looked at her mentor."I know, but at what price? We lost Ember last time, along with a hundred ponies and twice as many Dragons...and Aries was ready to celebrate an easy victory."

Twilight considered how to reply, but Smoulder suddenly had a coughing fit.

The young Dragon fell to her knees, clutching her stomach. Before anycreature could try to help her, she let out a smoking belch that materialized as a parchment.

Spike blinked. "You learned how to send and receive letters?"

Smoulder blushed and scowled at him. "I learned during the school break so I could stay in contact wi-" She froze. Her eyes shrinking to pinpricks as her blood ran cold and her breath grew erratic.

Everycreature present suddenly grew very concerned. Starlight teleported to the young Dragon's side to read the message, a hastily written message consisting of two words written so quickly and erratically that the attempt to write the last letter had torn the page and barely let Starlight recognize the mouthwriting as Ocellus'.

DARK ELDA_/\

A familiar stench alerted Aries to an unwelcome guest. He turned from overseeing the building defenses to observe Greenskin lumbering towards him, weapon drawn and looking for a fight. Actually...sniffing for one.

Aries watched the xeno grab a pony by its tail and drag the poor creature to its nose to take a long loud snorting smell before dropping the bewildered mare and continuing towards the defensive line.

Aries drew Warp Eater and confronted him. "Get out of my sight before I kill you filth."

The Ork glanced at the War Hound and waved his arm dismissively. "No toime fer dat humie. Dat orsefly's ere."

Aries was about to retort before recalling that 'horsefly' was the creature's nickname for Queen Chrysalis.

No sooner had Aries made this connection did Princess Twilight and her friends teleport near him with fear in their eyes. "ARIES!! THERE'S TROUBLE!!!"

"Fluttershy's pet has her scent. The fel Changeling will not hide long." Aries affirmed.

Twilight was taken aback by this, but quickly regained her senses. "It's not Chrysalis, it's Thorax! The Changelings are under attack!!"

Aries knew immediately who was attacking and what Twilight wanted from him. "We cannot abandon our positions for a futile rescue attempt. It will only result in more death."

Twilight was about to protest, but Starlight beat her to it. "No it won't. I wanted to talk to you about this after we finished preparations, but if we teleport into their midst, we can take one or two of them out and teleport back. And now that they're busy attacking somepony else, it'll be even worse."

Aries pondered this. Deep striking through teleportation would be incredibly effective. Especially since the Dark Eldar knew next to nothing about defending themselves. And as Starlight pointed out, they were focused on the Changelings. No predator was more vulnerable than one that was subduing its prey.

"...Very well. We will make preparations. Ork, stay here and locate the Changeling." Greenskin needed no further prompting, and began sniffing towards the defensive line...where one of the Unicorns appears to have deserted her post.

Damn, I knew she was too willing...but the rest are not willing enough.

"HHHRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!" Pharynx cut down another Eldar invader. Whatever the sadistic aliens had expected, shapeshifters that transform into Bloodthirsters wasn't it.

Pharynx had taught several other Changelings this form. But he learned quickly from the deaths of his finest warriors that trying to kill the fliers outside was a suicide mission, so he reluctantly retreated to the Hive's interior where the Eldar had a far lower advantage.

The ever shifting Hive separated squads and made the enemy's coordination difficult, but the creatures were fast, and many Changelings had lost their warrior's mentality after Chrysalis was dethroned.

Another group of invaders came into the throne room, the centermost area in the Hive which currently a large number of survivors, and Pharynx give them to time to survey their surroundings.

His sword cut down but one of the agile aliens, the other three rolling under his strike and aiming their weapons.

Pharynx had those weapons in action, they cut through most armors and caused immense agony, and he knew the only way to counterattack was to not feel pain.

A dark purple flame enveloped his Daemonic body before the first shuriken could pierce him, the poisened projectiles striking only metal...because the Changeling turned himself into a block of solid steel.

The shuriken penetrated deep. But as an nonliving object, Pharynx had discarded his nervous system and was now a soul possessing a block of steel.

Changelings in such forms still felt pain their minds told them they should feel, but since the pain caused by the Splinter Rifles of Drukhari Kabalite Warriors was indescribable, Pharynx registered them as pinpricks.

Some of the other Changelings used Pharynx as cover to launch their own attack, one of them leaping atop the block of steel in the form of a large Dragon to breathe fire at the invaders.

The Eldar dodged to the sides just as four other Changelings came around Pharynx.

Pharynx himself transformed into another Dragon, the wide cone of fire proving effective against their agile enemies, and made sure they had nowhere to run.

One Changeling turned into a Yak and charged a Drukhari. This was a feint to grab it's attention while the Changeling next to him turned into a Hummingbird and flew faster than the Yak could run.

Unfortunately, the Hummingbird wasn't than the Kabalite Warrior. His Splinter Rifle launched a shuriken into the Yak's shoulder. Downing him instantly as the toxin did its work.

The sadistic alien grinned in pleasure as he drank in the Changeling's pain as his eyes found the Hummingbird hovering over him...just before it turned into a whale.

The other two Eldar didn't even stumble as the room shook. They had suppressed the Changelings on their side of the battlefield, forcing them to turn into a rock and another block of steel. They then used the immobile Changelings as cover from Pharynx and the final Changeling.

One of the immobile Changelings tried to take its true form and move out of the way, and paid for it with a painful death. Pharynx failing to slay his killer before he joined his friend.

"COWARDS!!! GET OUT HERE AND FIGHT!!!" Pharynx shouted.

The two Kabalite Warriors laughed at his outburst. Courage and Honor were naught but weaknesses to them. They paid for there arrogance when an unnoticed lizard transformed into a bear.

The bear grabbed one of the invaders' head in his jaws and wrapped his paws around the alien's body so he couldn't raise his gun.

This didn't stop the other one from trying to shoot him, but the immobile Changeling took the chance to change into a mouse and run for it. Revealing Pharynx as a Bloodthirster once more, his sword raised.

The unhindered Kabalite Warrior tried to run, but Pharynx struck true, splitting him vertically in half as the bear twisted his head and broke the final alien's neck.

Pharynx changed back to his true form, the surviving Changelings coming up to him as the bear revealed itself to be Thorax.

The Changeling King was hardly recognizable. One of his antlers was broke in half and the other was a mere stump, one of his wings was shredded and he was covered in numerous other injuries...none of which were more haunting than the look in his eyes. "They...they took Oclleus."

Another group of Dark Eldar investigated an empty room for hiding Changelings. Finding none, the group turned to leave. But a flash of light and audible pop drew their attention.

They turned around...and Defiance roared.

Aries meant to fire two shots, but squeezed the trigger before the first shot finished cycling. It didn't matter, one shot was was enough.

The Kabalite Warrior dropped like a stone. The only mark on his armor was a protruding dent in the back where the solid round phased through the front of his armor, punched through his body, and then shattered against the back of his armor and sent the shattered bullet back into him.

The other Drukhari were struck simultaneously. Some by magic beams, and others by arcane lightning.

Aries' Kill Team consisted of four Unicorns. Bumblebee and Yellow Jacket, the latter's new mentor: Tempest Shadow, and Chancellor Neighsay.

"Show no mercy to these alien horrors. For you will receive none in return." Aries warned them.

The response was four curt nods. Aries led his team deeper into the Changeling Hive.

Twilight, Starlight, and a score of volunteers appeared elsewhere in the hive. They met no resistance yet, but knew better than to think this would be any different, if not worse, than the Awakening. "Alright everypony, groups of five or more. The Princesses are waiting for any signals that they need to help less powerful Unicorns teleport back. Let's make sure nopony, or Changeling, gets left behind."

The Princess of Friendship was met with more vocal acknowledgements than Aries before the 20 odd Ponies split into smaller groups to rescue survivors. One such group was led by a black male Unicorn whose eyes unnaturally reflected light.

"Aw Zogg, da 'orsefly got away." Greenskin groaned as he realized he was following the scent in circles.

Author's Note

Sorry about the absence, my Trade School is still doung the Government Dance on account of Covid-19 and the new Overlord.

Starting with the biggest topic first, I don't if Changelings actually work like that when they turn into objects, as I can't recall any of them being attacked while in such a form. This is just some head-canon I'm using to give them a fighting chance.

The shattering bullet didn't occur to me when I initially came up with the phasing bullets, but it's a happy accident. Can you imagine the mess that made?

And finally, Ocellus. Pour one out for the poor girl because her fate will not be pleasant. Naturally, Twilight's gonna attempt to rescue her later, but do you ever really save a Dark Eldar's prisoner?

That's all for now. I have no idea when the next chapter will be out, but see you then.