Author's Note

I added a little bit to the first chapter, might wanna go back and read that to be up to date.

What a Nice Bughole

The sounds of nothing seemed to echo in the darkness, seemingly linear piles of dirt in the forest stuck out. Behind those piles were holes, in one of those holes was Varynx. He sat silently with his rifle lying prone on the dirt looking over the side with his fellow soldier at the Olenian border.

The grasshoppers played their music ignorant of the violence that was about to play out. In the trees behind the holes sat the many silent cold Panzers, their engines silent for the night.

"These stags have never heard of noise and light discipline huh," Varynx commented with a whisper.

His fellow Changeling wearing a pair of eyeglasses looked out towards the border at the lit lanterns and they could hear the sounds of laughter coming from the stags position making them easy to spot.

"This will be over in six months if this is any sign of their abilities," The Changeling replied.

"Well, it's a good thing they're doing this Ticks, tomorrow morning they'll be dead or scattered."

Ticks looked out of the tree line in front of them with a concerned expression etched on his face.

"Are you worried?" He said it was dark so Varynx had trouble making him out but could tell Ticks was looking at him. "For you or them I mean."

Varynx thought long about that one, he never really thought about it. "I've never really thought about it." Varynx looked over the border back at the Olenians partying, probably drinking. "Not until now anyway," he finished.

An owl's hoot was heard in the distance and a gust of wind came up behind them.

"Getting windy eh?" Varynx said making small talk.

Ticks shivered. "What I wouldn't give to have a fur coat about now."

"Tell me about it, I just hope we can finish these guys before winter hits," Varynx replied.

The crickets and grasshoppers continued their songs.

"You know, my mother was afraid of this," Ticks broke the silence, Varynx looked over at him.

"Afraid of what?" Varynx replied.

"About a war like this happening. With Queen Chrysalis at the reigns, any one of us could see this coming." Ticks flatly stated causing Varynx to gauk at him.

"Ticks, shut up, you know how much trouble you could get in if someone hears you saying stuff like that?" Varynx said in a panic.

"What? Can you deny how messed up her leadership style is? There has to be a better way to get a sufficient love supply," Ticks shook his head.

"I'm not hearing this Ticks. I just do what i'm told," Varynx replied in a flat defeated tone.

"What about you? You have anyone back home?" Ticks said changing the subject much to Varynx's relief.

"My fiance, she lives in Vesalipolis she works at a cafe, I think she's probably sorting bullets now though.

Varynx opened his uniform pocket and lit his horn to provide a very dim red light. A picture of a long silky pink maned, purple eyed beauty of a Changeling female.

Ticks whistled quietly. "Wow, she's a looker, I don't have anyone like that back home," Ticks floated the picture back. "What's her name?" Ticks asked in addition.

"Charlina," Varynx replied looking back out into the darkness.

For a good bit they each continued to talk about their families, Ticks told Varynx about his mother how she raised him alone and how he often helped her at her job in the Vraks post office.

"Hey!" Came the loud whisper of the Hiveswebel from the bughole to their right. They peaked up over the side of their hole and looked at the dark silhouette of Hiveswebel Buzzer.

"It's lights out, get some rest, the Panzers are pulling fireguard," Buzzer said ducking back into his own hole.

"Well, you heard him, better get some rest," Varynx said looking out at the lanterns that were beginning to burn out. "We're going to need it..." Varynx finished ducking down into his hole.

"Goodnight Varynx, sleep tight," Ticks said tilting his helmet down over his eyes and hugged his rifle.

"Night, see you in the morning," Varynx reached forward and pulled his poncho out of his saddlebag and rolled it up into a nice pillow. Fixing his helmet and setting his rifle next to him, he situated himself with his head on the poncho.

Varynx lay there with the sounds of nature to nurture him to sleep, while lying there with his eyes closed he opted to take full advantage of this, the final night of nature because after tomorrow it would be nothing but the sounds of artillery and machine guns to lull him to sleep.

The conversation he had with Ticks earlier returned to him in that moment and his moment of peace was ruined, replaced by fear. What would happen tomorrow? Nothing good, he knew that.

He briefly wondered about Charlina, and about the eggs she would soon lay, the eggs he fertilized, that he wouldn't be there for when she laid them. Hopefully this war will end quickly so he can at least watch them hatch. The thought brought him peace as he fell asleep with a smile.

...

"Varynx-" Varynx mumbled something and ignored the voice attempting to destroy his lovely sleep.

"Varynx-" He felt a nudge. A bug was about to get punched.

"Varynx wake up, it's morning," Varynx started to open his eyes his helmet cockeyed over his left eye. Fixing it with his hoof he sat up blinking sleep from his eyes only to be met with the wonderful smell of fresh eggs, and bacon, as well as freshly brewed joe.

"Morning sleepy bug," Came Healix's voice, turning towards the voice was a steaming cup of Healix's home-brewed coffee, as bitter as the Changeling himself.

"Coffee in bed, a bug could get used to this," Varynx smiled taking the coffee in his aura.

"First thing in the morning and already starting with the jokes, come, the cooks made up a nice breakfast before we kick off the race to Hjortland," Healix smiled puffing on a cigarette.

"You got one of those too?" Varynx asked gesturing to the cigarette.

Healix smirked and rolled his eyes, he pulled a smoke from his pocket guiding it to him and Varynx just open his mouth and took it like a dog getting a treat. "Much obliged," Varynx smirked.

"I knew you'd ask so I came prepared," Healix said before turning and walking away.

Varynx went to his saddlebag and took his field plate, fork, and rifle before trotting off towards the chow line.

So this was it, today was the big day, the Panzer crews were doing their final preparations while gorging themselves on a nutritious breakfast.

Varynx passed by other bugholes some empty, others who had soldiers in them, some of them relaxing, others eating, and some talking. It felt surreal that in about two hours it was going to be war. Varynx was still unsure how to feel about this, only coming to terms with it the night prior, it just hit him like a migraine.

Of course, they would be okay if intelligence was correct, and Changeling intelligence was almost always correct, this would be an in and out job. He knew worrying about it wouldn't do him any favors but a part of him lingered on it, that fear of getting shot at, the possibility of getting killed. He didn't only worry about himself though, he worried about his fellow soldiers too.

"Hey, Varynx." A voice, more specifically the towering hunk of bug named Zapper brought him out of his thought process. Zapper looked back at him with his field kit in his aura. "You alright bud?"

Varynx took a puff of his cigarette and looked up at him. "Yea-, yeah I'm fine just got thinking about," He paused looking at his surroundings, the various squads walking back to their positions, one of the Panzer crew members was checking the oil on his tank. "About everything, I guess it's all just starting to hit me."

Zapper nodded with a sympathetic smile, "I know what you mean, you're nervous about all this, I get it, every bug here knows what you mean," Zapper said as they approached the stand with the Cook holding a metal ladle full of eggs.

"How long did it take for you to come to terms with it?" Varynx asked as the cook put a spoon full of eggs on Zappers plate.

Zapper sighed. "I didn't, not yet."

Varynx approached the cook who scooped the food onto his plate.

Once receiving their food the two soldiers walked side by side to a tree behind the bughole line.

Zapper turned to Varynx who started to gorge on his meal.

"Just remember that we're in this together, that's what keeps me sane," Zapper said delving into his own meal.

"Aren't you a bit scared?" Varynx asked looking up from his half-finished plate of food.

Zapper sighed jumping down into his bughole being careful not to spill his food in the process. "Of course, I have my reservations about all this," Zapper said setting his plate on the side of the hole. Varynx sat down setting his food on the ground.

"I just do what is asked of me by my Queen, it's for the good of the hive," Zapper said delving into his meal.

Sounds of crunching sticks and leaves rapidly caught their attention and they looked over to see Buzzer running down the line, he whispered something to Healix in his hole who began to rapidly pack his gear.

Upon making it to them he stopped and put a hoof on Varynx's shoulder. "Hurry up, eat fast. We're going early, we step off in ten minutes," he said looking between them. Zapper went back to his food and began to shovel his food in his mouth.

Varynx shoveled the last of his food into his mouth and got up, taking off in a brisk trot back to his position where Ticks was all geared up and ready to go.

"So we're going huh?" Ticks asked in a bit of shock. Varynx jumped into the hole and threw his field kit into his saddlebag and pulled it on.

"Seems like it," Varynx lay down next to him aiming his rifle out in front of him as if prepared to fire.

Varynx lay there as the sounds of moving bodies were replaced by the sounds of silence, not even a bird chirped.

Laying there was the worst part. Knowing what was about to happen with the big unknown of 'what will happen?'

Those ten minutes may as well have been thirty minutes as the clock slowed down in this calm before the storm, Varynx knew one thing. Things would never be the same ever again, the last visions of peace for him being the sight of his rifle peering out across an open field that was going to be covered in bodies after today.

Just like that, the moment arrived and the Panzers roared to life, no doubt those Stags heard it too.

The suspense hung like stale air through the sounds of idling diesel engines.

Next was the distant 'boom' sounds the untrained person would not know what that was, but Varynx knew.

Artillery.

Boom

The next cannon fired.

Boom

Then the next.

Boom, boom.

Then the next rounds and the sounds of what could be multiple loud 'whoosh' sounds above them.

Then there was a whistle. Time slowed down as Leutnant Gorings voice boomed, "Go, push forward!"

Varynx and Ticks stood up, Varynx kept his rifle low with one hoof ready to fire his weapon at a moment's notice. The tanks roared forward as they passed the tree line.

Now in the open Varynx continued to run forward as a few tanks stormed by him at speeds that would make a pegasus blush.

The sounds of war finally made themselves known when he heard the shell impacts ahead of him, then came the sounds of more booms, in front of him, not behind.

Enemy artillery.

Then the whoosh and the feeling of impending doom surfaced, instinctively Varynx dropped to his stomach and covered his head.

Boom!

Boom!

The ground shook with artillery impact and tanks, a machine gun opened up from somewhere.

"Keep moving forward!" Buzzer yelled from a distance, Varynx's head was full of emotions, panic, fear, impending doom. Someone pushed him from behind.

"Varynx! Get up, get moving!" Loki yelled pushing him helping him to his hooves.

Varynx got up his training kicking in and he began to move forward to catch up with the rest of the platoon.

They reached a drop off where a few Changelings had assembled overlooking the main Olenian position they needed to break.

"Loki!" Zapper yelled over at them. "I need that ammo!" Like that Loki was gone, Varynx couldn't think about what was going on as the machine guns and rifle fire blurred out his thoughts, so he did the next thing he could think of. He hit the ground and crawled up to a rock.

The ground shook more with explosions and looked down at the Olenia position. Zapper began to fire his machine gun, and Varynx's ears began to ring from the sounds of gunfire, and the snaps of bullets flying overhead rattled his brain.

Varynx shakily aimed his rifle in front of him and looked down at the sight. His grip was shaking making it hard to aim at anything.

At that moment a stray bullet struck the rock he was taking cover behind.

Everything vanished, all sound went away, the machine gun became nothing but a beating drum, and the shaking was a meer vibration. Everything blended together into a symphony of chaos that would make Discord proud.

"..."

Varynx could hear something but he couldn't.

"...!"

Varynx stood there shaking like a leaf, until someone came and he felt an impact to his helmet that brought him back to reality, the booms became explosions again and everyone was yelling around him.

"Varynx! Snap out of it kid!" Another impact made him look over at the striker. It was Hiveswebel Buzzer. "Hey! Come back to Equus kid pick up your weapon put some fire on that position!!!!"

The words of his friend came back to him in that moment.

"We're in this together."

Varynx in a sudden transformation of determination picked up his rifle and set it on the edge of the rock using it for support.

"Fire!" Buzzer yelled picking up his own rifle and firing over Varynx's head, he heard the bolt go back and the empty round casing struck Varynx on the head as he heard the bolt go forward.

"Fire, fire Soldat, fire!!!" In a moment of panic, Varynx pulled the trigger his aim way above the Olenian position.

Varynx pulled a mental image of a firing range, in his vision he saw an Olenian soldier climb out of the trench and run back towards what he assumed was a command center. He locked in on him cycling his rifle and looking through the sights.

His front sight post hovered over the Olenian and Varynx subconsciously led his target.

Time slowed down as Varynx pulled the trigger, the hammer inside the rifle released striking the firing pin with struck the back of the round causing the small explosion, and he swore he heard the weapon go through its process as the bullet left the gun he closed his eyes.

He opened them in fear at what he had just done. his suspicions were confirmed when in his sights he saw a stag with red blood spitting out of his neck. Varynx could see the whites of his eyes and the panic in them as the blood squirts where it wasn't supposed to be.

His heart dropped into his stomach, he wanted to puke, he needed to puke.

"Hey! Good job kid, keep at it!"

"Respectfully shove it up your ass Hiveswebel!" Varynx yelled.

Varynx picked up his rifle and pulled the bolt up and back ejecting his second round before pushing it forward and locking it back in place. He didn't spot another stag but kept glancing back at his first shot after each other shot. Eventually, the stag stopped moving and not a single other stag stepped out to help him, even the medic he spotted ran right by him as he ran away from his unit. Then he saw the Panzers coming from the side.

"Yeah, give it to them!" Yelled a Changeling to his right.

The tanks moved in and he spotted another stag climb out of the trench, Varynx lined him up in his sights and pulled the trigger again, a cloud of dust kicked up right under the fleeing stag that began to run faster.

"Cease fire!"

Varynx saw what looked like an Officer who was yelling at the deserting soldier Varynx had just fired at. Varynx centered his sightline and fired, the bullet hit this time right in the back of the head.

The Stag fell forward and rag-dolled to the side a few meters from his first kill, bits of brain matter, and an antler flew off him into the dirt.

"Cease fire!" Varynx felt the relief hit him now, the sounds being distant artillery and battle far from them, this one being over, they had won this one.

"On your hooves, let's move out!" Yelled Goring who was walking down the line.

"Let's move bugs!" Buzzer echoed the order.

Varynx got up wearily fixing his helmet.

Varynx watched the smoke rise from the enemy position, and then the feeling of sickness returned and the vomit came fast.

Varynx leaned over the rock and began to dry heave.

"Whoa, whoa, it's alright bud," Zapper came running up behind him and put his hoof on Varynx's back.

Eggs, bacon, and stomach acid ejected itself from the Green-eyed Changelings muzzle onto the grass. "It's ok, let it all out," Zapper spoke softly.

Healix came running up and checked Varynx.

"He'll be fine," Zapper said, Healix walked up anyway and checked his vitals.

"You know, you could have told me if my coffee was that bad," Healix quipped looking down at the puddle of vomit on the ground.

No one laughed, Varynx and Zapper, and slowly turned to give the medic an incredulous look.

"What?" Healix said defensively.