A Stable Supply of Blood

Winter Wind and Gleam's appalled horror only deepened as they watched the fur of their loved one dissipate and dissolve away, revealing an obsidian exoskeleton underneath. It started at her torso at first, before quickly spreading over the rest of her body like a wildfire and pulling back the sheet to expose who was really pulling the strings. Glistening white fangs, thin, transparent insectoid wings, holes pilfering her front and back legs from top to bottom. As her disguise continued to disappear right before his eyes, Winter looked like he was trying in vain to keep himself from passing out.

"Guess she really was ugly on the inside," Caleb mused as he pushed the strange, bug-like corpse with his hoof before looking over to the other two ponies. Winter was looking white as a sheet, and his daughter seemed to be holding back her urge to vomit. "Based on the looks you both have on your faces, I'm going to go ahead and make a wild guess that this isn't something that normally happens when one of you get your head cracked open like an egg. If this is something that happens on the regular then I need to get out of here as soon as possible before I mutate into a monster like that."

"It...it's not. That's called a Changeling, a shapeshifting monster that feeds on lust," Winter croaked weakly, before taking a moment to recollect himself with a few deep, slow breaths. Caleb looked visibly relieved by the information. After getting over his shock, however, Winter's gaze hardened as his face twisted into an angered grimace. He stepped closer to Caleb, his prosthetic leg wheel squeaking and squealing with his every stride forward until his chest was pressing against the taller stallion's. "But why are you talking like that? What do you mean by "one of you"? Who are you?"

"I'm not a goddamn horse, if that's what you're asking," Caleb barked, his fiery eyes locking with the ex-Guard's icy blue glare. If Winter thought he could intimidate someone like him, he was dead wrong. But getting such a good look at the stallion really forced him to take in how mentally exhausted he was. Winter, with the dark rings under his eyes and bruises littering his body, looked far too drained to really be angry anymore. Caleb wouldn't be surprised if he was running purely on adrenaline right now. "I'll give you the short version: I was sucked from my world into this one by a dark god who was a particularly sore loser when I was about to turn his bony ass into mulch. Next thing I knew, I was falling out of the sky, I crashed through a pine tree, and when I came to my senses I looked like this. I don't know where I am, all I know how to do is walk around, and I want to walk the fuck out and get back home as soon as I possibly can. Your brat said you could help me reach Can-ter-lot or whatever she called it, and having just saved you from this thing I expect some sort of reward."

"Look, you did save us from that Changeling, so I am willing to help you out in return," Winter said with a sigh as he pushed back into the kitchen with his daughter hot on his heels and doing everything she could to keep her eyes off the limp carcass that continued to spill blood on the floor. He approached the chair that he'd knocked over, closed his eyes, and did something that actually gave Caleb a bit of a jump. The horn on his head started to glow with a soft green light, and that same light wrapped around the chair on the floor. Then it started levitating! Caleb thought he must have been witnessing a miracle, but it seemed like he was the only one to do so. Neither Winter or Triumphant Gleam seemed to be at all shocked by the event as the chair was placed back down on the ground as if nothing happened, like this was some every day occurrence. The unicorn just dropped into his seat like a bag of stones with another sigh before continuing. "What my daughter said is true; heading to Canterlot and gaining an audience with Princess Twilight would be the quickest and easiest way to get home. She's a master of all things magic, so I'm sure she could summon up a portal to get you back home in no time. Problem is, not only does the train heading that way not run this late at night, you'd need special permissions to get an audience with her. She is royalty, after all. She might be the nicest pony you'd ever meet but rules are rules."

"Weren't you part of her Royal Guard, as in personal bodyguards for her? Can't you give me some sort of voucher or contact to cut out the middle man and get right to the point?!" Caleb was getting restless. Who knew how long it'd take to get an audience with a princess through legal channels? Months? YEARS, even? Moreover, who knew how long he even had before something happened to him and these changes became permanent? Would he suddenly only have an appetite for hay stew and spend all his time kicking other creatures in the head? Actually that one didn't sound too bad. The room went silent for a few minutes. Winter furrowed his brow as he racked his brain for any shortcuts the twisted unicorn could use.

"Okay, there's one thing I can think of. Most of the Guards I knew were either killed or taken out of commission with critical injuries when a bomb went off in our barracks a few years ago," Winter paused for a moment to lift up his prosthetic leg to reinforce his point before dropping it back to the ground with a loud metallic clang. "As you can see, I was one of the luckier ones. It was a miracle I only lost one leg and an eye in that explosion. There's only one Guard I know of who retained their position afterwards; a unicorn mare named Crystal Crown. She was on bodyguard duty for the Princess while she visited some friends in Ponyville when the bomb went off." His horn started to glow again, and Caleb watched as a small but wide picture frame slid out from under the toppled bookcase and flew over to meet his gaze. The glass had been cracked pretty badly in the collision with the floor but Caleb could still make out the photo as clear as day. It was a group photo of a dozen stallions and mares, each garbed in glistening golden armor and giving the camera a a stern death glare. "This was a photo my squad took when we reached our one year anniversary of being in the Royal Guard. I'm the one off to the far right, if you can see me. Crystal Crown's two spaces to the left of where I'm standing. But I'll tell you right now, seeing her has its own snags. I don't even need to tell you what they are when you can see for yourself."

Unsure of what Winter meant by saying something like that, Caleb squinted at the floating photograph, and was a bit taken aback by how much brighter Winter Wind looked in the picture. Even ignoring the obvious changes in his appearance, he looked so much more full of life than the stallion sitting not twenty feet away from him. How very interesting. His crimson red gaze drifted from Winter's position in the glossy photo towards the left until he settled in on who he was looking for. A tall, muscular mare with dark, foreboding grey eyes whose expression was less a stern, determined glare and more a barely-restrained snarl.

"Ah, so you are motherfucker," Caleb mumbled under his breath as he got a good look at his ticket out of this vibrant Equestrian hell. His ears perked when the sound of Winter chuckling suddenly filled the air. That wasn't usually a good sign. Maybe she was a perfectly nice mare in person and just had a naturally angry looking face. Caleb highly doubted that possibility, but he really didn't have any other options to get into Canterlot, wherever that was in the first place. At least he'd be taking a train to get there, so it'd be relatively fast. If he could avoid blowing that train up like he did the last time he rode the rail, that is.

"I see you found her," Winter mused as he flashed Caleb a weak smile. He just scowled in return, hoping this wasn't all going to be a massive wild goose chase. Triumphant Gleam came up from behind her father and started to gently nudge him out of his chair. "Yeah, she's not exactly pleasant but you don't really have any other leads. \ Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm being told to get to bed and get some rest. After all that has happened over the past few days and especially tonight I think I'll need all the rest I can get. Goodbye Caleb, I hope you the best. Th...thanks for saving me from that Changeling." Caleb watched as the small filly led her father upstairs, but once she reached the top stair she stopped in her tracks and turned to face him.

"Don't go yet, Caleb! I need to give you something before you go!" Gleam cried before vanishing into the next room and out of Caleb's field of view. Now he was all by his lonesome, with only the still, silent air to keep him company. Well, that and the fresh corpse of the Changeling. His gaze drifted to the body that laid sprawled on the floor. He wondered if Changeling chitin was as tantalizing as human flesh. Would it just taste like eating a really big cockroach or grasshopper? He leaned in, bringing his muzzle right next to the Changeling. It had gone cold almost immediately, but he highly doubted decomposition would begin for another few days. His stomach growled impatiently. Welp, bug meat was still meat so he wasn't going to complain about a free meal. He opened his mouth to take a bite out of the insectoid's chest so he had a shortcut to the juiciest organ, the heart, but his late dinner was interrupted when he heard Gleam coming back downstairs in a hurry. Out of curiosity, he craned his neck to see what it was she was so desperate to give to him before he took off. The answer made him arch his brow a bit.

Tucked firmly in the filly's mouth was a small book, no larger than a notepad, with a dark brown cover and a vibrant golden spine. It had a title, but he couldn't make it out until she was practically breathing down his neck. So You Were Born a Unicorn... That was just making what she brought him even more perplexing. She let the small guide fall from her mouth so she could explain just what it was.

"You said all you knew how to do was walk right? I figured I should at least do something to help you out with that," Gleam said as she pushed the book over to Caleb with her hoof. "It's a basic beginner's guide to casting spells. Mom told me she'd held onto it in case she ever had a foal that was a unicorn, but I think you'll need it more than we ever will. It's the least I could do after what you did for us." Caleb was silent for a moment as he stared at the filly's offering of thanks. Slowly, he reached out with his hoof and pulled it closer to himself so he could begin reading it. Pride or not, if he was capable of using magic he was going to exploit the ever living hell out of it. He flipped to the table of contents, and started scanning his options. A barrier spell, creating clouds of smoke, using his horn as a light. Riveting. It wasn't until halfway through the list that he saw something that caught his attention: Telekinesis. Seeing that was a spell he could learn excited him, but it also made a question pop to the forefront of his thoughts.

"Hold on a second," he muttered as he flipped to the chapter covering the oh-so tantalizing telekinesis spell. He was silently contemplating on how many of these spells he would need in the future, but being able to easily grab things like the firearms he had in his coat was taking top priority. If he could get the basics of grabbing things fairly quickly, he was going to take the book with him just in case. "If your mother is a Pegasus, and your father is a unicorn, why don't you have either wings or a horn? Or even both?"

The room went quiet for what felt like a short eternity, with the only sound to cut through the uneasy quiet being the soft scrape of paper against paper as Caleb read through the spell tutorial. It seemed easy enough. He just needed to focus mental energy on grabbing, pulling, lifting, or otherwise interacting with an object and he'd be able to do it. As Caleb was reading the dos-and-don'ts of using such a spell, like that he should practice on small, light objects without a lot of complexity to keep from straining himself, he'd almost forgotten Triumphant Gleam was there at all when she finally spoke up.

"Well, I'm not their foal, they adopted me," Gleam confessed, her voice barely above a whisper. "My parents were killed in the same bomb explosion that dad lost his leg and eye in. I was too young to remember a lot of the details, but mom told me that practically as soon as Dad was out of the hospital, they were filing out the adoption papers to get me out of the orphanage and into a new home." Reminiscing on the thought, the green filly's face started to brighten up a bit. "Mom's told me numerous times that he was begging her to get me out of there basically every day of his recovery!"

"How sweet," Caleb chuckled darkly, not even bothering to look up from his research into the arcane. Even if he did care about how that brat was adopted, these revelations were beyond incredible. And unicorns in this reality could just do these things from birth?! Where he came from, spellcraft required doing dark dealings with forces far beyond mortal comprehension. His decision to dive into the occult and the events that followed that choice was how he'd gotten roped into this whole mess in the first place. Actually, figuring out if there were spells similar to the ones he knew in this world was something else he'd need to do if his stay here was prolonged or, God forbid, permanent. He wasn't going to just forgo the forbidden black magic of the Cabal after all of the trouble and struggles he'd went through to learn them if it was possible to relearn them once more.

Having accomplished all he could from simply reading the instructions, Caleb flipped the book shut and started to scan the room for his first test subject. He briefly considered Gleam as an option, who still hadn't left the room yet and was just awkwardly watching him like he'd done something humiliating and hadn't noticed, but he dismissed the possibility when he remembered that horse fillies could weigh anywhere between 80 and 200 lbs. so she wouldn't have been very light despite her small stature. Though her staring at him like that was more than a little weird, and he hoped she'd get bored and go to bed soon instead of annoying him like that. The book was a solid option, though. Figuring it was better than nothing, and it wasn't like the Changeling body was going to be very light either, Caleb closed his eyes and started to focus on wrapping his magic around the small guide and lifting it into the air. A sickly yellow glow formed around his long, dagger-like horn, and as the brown manual was lifted into the air by his newfound magic, something felt...off.

Gleam looked around nervously, her gaze darting to the corners of the room where the shadows that gathered there seemed to have gotten a little longer and fuller. She figured it must have been a trick of the light, but even still something about the air around them felt uncanny and strange. It was like she was standing at the edge of a very tall, narrow cliff and looking down into a seemingly endless dark void where she couldn't even see the bottom to. The Changeling that had impersonated her mother had said Caleb was brimming with disgusting magical energy, was this what she had been talking about? Just being in proximity of Caleb when he was casting so simple a spell was making her uneasy. And although neither her nor Caleb could see it, outside the cozy little cabin the moon that sat high in the sly seemed to shine a little less brightly that night.

"How fascinating," Caleb mused as he floated the book around the room, trying to determine the extent of his abilities. He wondered if he'd be able to wield his weapons like this. Maybe with some practice, he could figure out a way to hold them and pull the triggers at the same time. Hopefully though, he would've been out of here long before needing to concoct a strategy like that. After he'd finished experimenting with the book, he pulled it back over and led it into the fold of his long, black coat to be tucked away alongside his other gear. He just hoped his telekinesis would let him pull what he wanted out of there again in the first place. He turned towards Gleam, who hadn't moved an inch from her spot but was looking considerably paler than she was before. His glowing eyes narrowed. "Why are you still down here? If you're waiting for me to leave, I'm on my way out the door right now."

"I was hoping you would take the body of that monster to the authorities when you went to Ponyville, Caleb," Gleam said softly, pointing to the limp carcass Caleb had been planning to feast on. Though, he'd lost his appetite a while ago when he saw her watching his every move like a hawk. "I can't stand to even look at it, and dad's too weak to get out by himself much anymore. I don't think he was really even aware of what you did, Caleb. I know you haven't been here for long, but the past week has been a nightmare for us; she seemed to have really had it out for my dad in particular and he hasn't gotten any sleep in the past three days. I think he's under the impression you were just a dream or mirage. For what you did, I am forever thankful. But, as somepony who knows she isn't in a position to be asking favors, can you please do this one favor for me? I'll lead you right to Ponyville if you do, I promise! That'll be where you get onto the train to Canterlot, so you have to go there anyway! Besides, if ponies around here like you, that could earn you brownie points while trying to butter up Crystal Crown!" Caleb looked away from her pleading amber eyes and turned to the Changeling as he weighed his options. But after a couple of moments, he took in a deep breath and let out a sigh of annoyed agreement.

"Let's make this quick," he mumbled before grabbing the body's right hind leg with his mouth and the left front leg with his magic, using the combined strength of his body and telekinesis to slump it over his back like a sack of potatoes. He could hear the young filly sputtering a rapid fire barrage of thank-yous as he opened the door leading out of the cabin, but he didn't bother acknowledging her praise. He stepped outside, and started to scan the area. He hated to admit it, but he really did need Gleam's assistance. They were in the middle of a forest with no clear paths or trails in sight. He would've gotten lost very quickly.

"This way," his Earth filly guide instructed as she took the lead and started heading westward. Caleb was quick to follow, silently impressed with himself at how quickly he'd started adjusting to the rules and capabilities of this form. He was equally impressed by the unnaturally light weight of the Changeling's body he was lugging around as he followed the filly. Maybe being turned into a horse had given him a serious boost to the muscles in his back, or maybe those holes that peppered the Changeling's legs like they'd gotten sprayed with bullets from Caleb's Thompson took off more weight than he thought, but whatever the reason he barely even noticed it was there in the first place.

His and Gleam's trek through the thick trees and heavy underbrush was a quiet one, neither of them really up for any banter. Gleam would just occasionally pipe up with where to go next or to tell Caleb to watch out for some low-hanging branches, but otherwise they were as silent as the woods around them. A soft white fog swirled around their hooves, blanketing the cold earth and obscuring everything below Caleb's belly. Even if there had been a path leading out of this forest maze, he still wouldn't have seen it in a mist like this. However, Caleb's self-contemplation was disturbed when he noticed that Gleam had stopped in her tracks and was looking at something up ahead. And, after squinting his eyes, Caleb could make out the silhouettes of four or five ponies in the distance. The only reason they were visible at all was one of them was carrying a spherical glass lantern on a long wooden staff, illuminating them and their group of comrades in the darkness of those foreboding woods. Two of the other ponies were carrying long staffs or poles as well, but theirs were made from iron and while they didn't have lanterns there was something weird about the staffs that he couldn't make out from that far away. They seemed to have been discussing something, and it appeared to have been escalating into a pretty heated argument.

"Brat, we aren't close to the village already are we? It's only been a twenty minute walk," Caleb whispered to the smaller pony, who immediately shook her head as a silent no. The fur on the back of his neck was standing straight up. Something was off about this, he just knew it. Caleb shrugged the corpse off his back into the underbrush and began to slowly approach the group to get an ear in on what they were talking about; weaving into the clusters of trees and staying as far from the Pegasus with a lantern as he could manage. Last thing he needed was to let them know he was there.

"And I'm telling you, this is all one big wild goose chase!" A mint-green unicorn said sharply, clearly needing to restrain herself from just screaming at the other ponies. She seemed to have been an older mare, with the bright white streak in her matching green mane starting to fade into a dull grey and her facial features having begun to sag a little. "I know we all felt that magical surge just now, but do you idiots even know how widespread the Everfree Forest is?! It goes on for literally hundreds of miles! We might have been able to triangulate where that burst came from, but that doesn't mean whoever or whatever caused it has stayed put! We could be out here all night and not even come close to finding it!"

"And I have to say to that, "tough shit", Vulvux! Orders are orders, and we're going to be out here all night until we come back with something of note!" A very large, very red stallion shot back; glaring daggers at the unicorn. He might not have had any horn or wings, but he still looked like he could snap the unicorn in half like a toothpick. Caleb noted he was also one of the two ponies carrying the iron poles, and now that he was closer he could finally make out what was so strange about them. The far ends were adorned with what looked like a slightly deranged horseshoe shape, with large metal spikes lining the inside of the bizarre weapon. Well, bizarre to someone who wasn't as well-versed on such tools. Caleb, however, recognized it immediately: A mancatcher—marecatcher—, an ancient polearm from a time long past that he'd used on more than one occasion while roping in sacrifices for the Cabal's dark rituals. They were great fun when not on the receiving end of that cruel tool. It also didn't take a genius to figure out they were looking to use those mancatchers on him. In a moment of reflexive defensiveness, Caleb used his telekinesis to withdraw his trusted pitchfork from his coat. As it floated silently in the air by his side, he realized what a mistake that had been.

All five of the ponies snapped their gazes directly on his location, including the two that had been facing away from him, whose heads twisted around on their necks with a sickening symphony of cracking noises. This wasn't good. Normally, five-on-one odds were run of the mill for Caleb and he could dispatch them with no problems. But it wasn't exactly run of the mill for him to being throwing hooves while in the body of a unicorn, and while he may have been adjusting fairly easily he hadn't seen any real combat yet. Well, better late than never; he doubted they were looking to ask him for directions. Honestly that'd have probably have been just as dangerous as fighting him.

"Why, hello there good looking," the mint-colored mare said with a sweet, playful smile as she approached Caleb. He almost would have found her honeyed voice and inviting expression charming had he not just watched two of her friends' heads twist around 180°. It broke the illusion just a little, even if he hadn't already been through this routine once before. It seemed like these creatures only really had one trick up their sleeve when it came to luring in potential victims. He wondered if this one would also get folded like an omelet after getting punched once. Shame there wasn't a hearth in sight; she'd probably go running instantly. "Were you the one who cast that spell?"

"What're you going to do if I tell you I was?" Caleb replied with a smirk. He'd be willing to play this little game with her; if he could get this unicorn's guard down her neck would be in a perfect spot for some steel-prongs-on-soft-flesh action. She laughed and shook her head dismissively; it was a sound Caleb would admit was uniquely angelic. He wondered if this was what normal Changeling laughter sounded like or just the form this one was imitating.

"Well, it doesn't matter either way. Whether you did or not, we'll be detaining you and hooking you up to a breeding machine," the unicorn said as she caressed her hoof along Caleb's muzzle. If she just took a few steps closer, he could take her out with one clean stab and even his odds against his assailants at least a little bit. He didn't need to worry about numbers if he could kill them with tricks and deception. But what was that about a breeding machine? Whatever she was talking about, he wasn't too keen on getting hooked up to something with a name like that. "Oh, and one more thing before you come with us."

"That so?" Caleb said, not even bothering to hide his ever-widening grin. In the soft glow of the lantern behind the mare, it would have been as clear as the night sky above them. He just needed her to make one more step, just one. He couldn't risk flubbing his one surprise attack. But on the other hand, maybe he should've risked going for a full lunge instead of trying to bait her into coming within a safer stabbing distance. Maybe then he could've prevented what came next.

"Think fast," the Changeling crackled as a venomous green ball of magic appeared on the tip of her horn for a brief moment before exploding outward like a flashbang. Caleb couldn't even get a snarky remark out before his vision was filled with that same vile green color and his body went as stiff as a corpse and his crimson pitchfork fell to the ground with a soft thud. Caleb had, without even thinking about it, left his guard down and the Changeling seized her opportunity to capture him with ease. She turned to her comrades, who were all watching her with utter amazement, and flashed them a cocky smile. She pointed her hoof towards the bulky stallion she was bickering with earlier. "Put the catchpole around his neck, but carefully. We don't need him regaining consciousness after all that trouble, and those spikes could easily jolt him awake. If that happens, hypnotizing him a second time won't be an easy feat."

As his Changeling captors were discussing what was to be done with Caleb and if they should bring him into their superiors or just immediately send him off to be hooked up to some nightmarish machine, he felt like he was being suspended in an endless ocean of snow-white clouds. It was silent, and the only sensation he could feel as he floated in that holy void was the warmth of the sun against his face. He'd even returned to his original human form. This was...nice, like he'd been transported to his own personal Elysium. But even as nice as it was, he wanted out. He knew it was fake, an illusion or dream of some kind that may have been a gilded prison but it was a prison all the same. He really should've have let his guard down around those Changelings, because this is where his own carelessness had led him. Problem was, even if was an illusion and he was fully aware of that, he couldn't move even an inch. It was like his arms were being weighed down with millstones. He started to try and form some plan of action to break free from this mental prison, but before he could even come up with anything something hit his head from behind and he lurched forward violently, which was followed by a second dose of pain when he felt something sharp dig into his neck.

"...and if any of you try to steal my credit for pulling this off when we get back I will kick your asses," a familiar voice hissed angrily. Caleb blinked a couple times, realizing that he was back in that forest clearing. His head still throbbed from the blow he'd taken from behind, and the pain his neck hadn't gone away either. Looking down, he realized where the sharp jabbing sensations had come from: fitted neatly around his throat was one of those accursed mancatchers; presumably as a precaution to lead him away somewhere. Which, it was good thinking, but it didn't really amount to much when as soon as he'd been subdued the group of Changelings had immediately gotten distracted and started arguing again. Well, it'd be a more accurate description to say the leader of the pack went on another tirade while her underlings just slinked away from her; clearly afraid of what she might do to them. The only pony of the five that had been left on guard duty was the large red stallion, and even he wasn't paying attention to Caleb. No, his dark emerald eyes had glazed over minutes ago when their "leader" immediately began picking fights with the rest of their team and he was just doing his best to ignore it. The lanky unicorn let his gaze fall to the forest floor, and he saw that his pitchfork was well within reach. Oh, this was going to be fun. "Now did we forget anything or can we finally head back to the hive?"

"Yeah, you forgot something very important," Caleb's raspy voice rang through the air. The group of quarreling Changelings unanimously whirled around, and the sight that greeted them was...unpleasant. The stallion they'd left to guard Caleb had gone rigid, his eyes frozen wide open in a look of shock, and it didn't take more than a moment to realize why. Caleb's pitchfork was lodged firmly in his thick, veiny throat; their signature syrupy grey blood slowly leaking from the numerous puncture wounds and coating the rusted weapon in the vile substance like a poisonous residue. Caleb himself was making quick work of the mancatcher, using his telekinesis to pry it from his neck before throwing it aside. His hellish gaze locked with the Changeling that had hypnotized him, and those glowing pools of fire narrowed as he ripped his weapon from the Changeling's neck with one quick jerking motion before turning it on the remaining shapeshifters as their comrade's corpse dropped to the ground like a rock. "You forgot the body bags I'll be shipping you home in."

Despite her abrasive ego, Vulvux was the first to snap out of her daze and spring into action; shedding her unicorn form to reveal the glistening black chitin underneath and firing off an energy blast that only barely missed her target by such a small margin he still felt the searing heat as the dark green streak of light whizzed by his head and collided with a tree behind him in a fiery explosive blast. Out of the corner of his peripheral vision, Caleb could see Gleam huddled behind the smouldering remains; her emerald green fur reflected in the light of the flaming trunk. So that was where she'd run off to. Though it seemed like neither Vulvux nor her underlings had seen her. She really did have the devil's own luck; if she had been a foot to the left she would have been fried like an egg. He was also willing to wager she was responsible for waking him up from that spell, and while the Changelings didn't know that they still knew there was some reason he managed to break free. Either he was stronger than he looked or something had pulled Caleb out of his trance, but either way he was going to need a more thorough detainment if they were going to bring him back safely. A feral grin spread across Caleb's face. Maybe there was some bite mixed in with all of this dog's barking after all. He couldn't wait to find out. He broke into a gallop, his pitchfork primed and ready at his side like a knight's lance.

"All of you! If you value your lives, shed your pony forms and take to the air! Hashara, keep that light on him; the darkness is only going to make him a harder target! Alsadr, you and Zanna are going to accompany me and hit him head-on while I provide cover fire! Go for the legs if you can, but don't be afraid to eliminate him if your life depends on it!" Vulvux roared as her transparent membrane wings started buzzing violently and she took to the sky in a mere second with her comrades in hot pursuit. He noticed, however, that while she retained her horn after losing the unicorn form, her underlings didn't have any such bony appendage. Clearly being the head of the pack and the most dangerous to his prolonged survival, Caleb thrusted his makeshift lance upward in an attempt to catch her before she could get out of his reach but her speed and control of her own air mobility were incredible! She jerked to the side at the last second and turned what should have been a lethal blow to her soft underbelly into a glancing scratch against the much stronger chitin armor on her sides. He could almost respect how quickly Vulvux was taking ahold of the situation by the horns, had she not been out for blood to kill him.

Caleb looked to the night sky and grimaced as he watched the insectoids getting into formation with the one holding the lantern tightly in his teeth at the front and the three going on the offensive coming in right behind him; their demonic black forms contrasting against the deathly pale full moon at their backs. He was at a serious disadvantage and he knew it, but he needed to come up with a plan somehow. As the four Changelings started to divebomb right for him at top speed, Hashara's lantern burning as bright as an exploding star, the gears in Caleb's head started to overclock for ideas on how to even the odds. He needed to go for the weakest link in the chain and kill the guy in front, because as Vulvux said that lantern was only making him a bigger target. He looked towards the approaching Changelings, then down to his pitchfork that he still held in the grip of his telekinesis. His gaze drifted back up to the approaching squadron, who would be on top of him in a matter of seconds. Vulvux and her two goons were already preparing to barrage him with a mix of kicks and magic blasts. He doubted they'd miss their mark this time with that light placed squarely on his face.

All of the sudden, an idea popped into his head. If he wanted to be a harder target to aim at, he needed to turn off that lantern somehow, and he had the perfect tool for the job. Without a moment to lose and not willing to waste any time waiting for a "safer" opportunity again, Caleb willed his telekinesis to launch his pitchfork like a javelin and sent it hurtling through the air, and much to his delight it struck its target and collided with the glass ball.

"Light's out," Caleb chuckled as he saw the prongs of his weapon pierce the glass surface, shattering it with ease and snuffing out their main source of tracking his movements. Now the odds were tipped in his favor, if only by a small amount. He wondered if Triumphant Gleam was still watching him from her hiding spot behind him, or if she'd run off back home as soon as she'd gotten a chance. However, even someone as twisted as Caleb couldn't have foreseen the aftermath of that tactical decision until Hashara started screaming.

"IT BURNS, IT BURNS! AAAAAHHHHH!" He squealed in immense agony as large shards of hot glass exploded like a nail bomb directly into his face, digging into the black exoskeleton with ease and sending waves of pain throughout his body like a wildfire. He lurched back, and the sudden injury was enough to disorient Hashara and any control of his wings was gone in an instant; sending the poor Changeling plummeting to his death with Caleb's pitchfork right behind him. His screams of fear and suffering only came to an abrupt end when he hit the ground headfirst with an audible and sickening thud. His friends and Caleb could only watch in horror (or in Caleb's case, delight) as it happened in a single, awful moment. Vulvux and the other Changelings couldn't even do anything to save him, he was dead as soon as he hit the dirt. Zanna and Alsadr turned to their leader, desperate for any guidance or orders on what they should do next. Caleb, on the other hand, was wearing a big grin on his face as he strolled over to where his weapon laid next to the limp, bloody corpse of his foe and grabbed it with his magic. He wasn't going to rush them, he was a very patient man.

"Ma'am, wha-what are we going to do now?" Zanna clicked nervously, her gaze locked with the unicorn waiting for them down below. She couldn't see any definite features anymore now that their lantern had been destroyed, but those pools of fire were still as clear as crystal. Even if she couldn't see that withered leathery face, she knew he was looking right at her. She was going to be next on the chopping block, and he was going to enjoy every second. "Neither of us have seen any combat experience beyond our basic training, and he's barely taken a scratch! He's going to kill us for sure! We should just cut our losses and run!"

"Shut up, just shut up and let me think you spineless fool!" Vulvux barked at her subordinate, who could only whimper and shy away in shame. Vulvux was beyond vexed at this point, but her cowardly trainee had a point. Neither she nor Alsadr had seen even a sniff of a real fight before, and they'd already been scared stiff. At this point, they'd both just be deadweight on her shoulders and the way he'd been dispatching her comrades so far proved to the commander that this stranger was no common unicorn. Even now, she could feel the magical energy he was radiating like a spell reactor in meltdown, but that fact was beyond bizarre. Being a talented combatant wasn't anything to write home about; seeing as they were in the Everfree knowing how to fight and survive was basically a requirement if you didn't want to wind up as Timberwolf chow. What was strange to her was, despite seemingly being an endless well of forbidden magic that could've rivaled a pony like King Sombra or even Chrysalis herself, the only spell he'd been using was a basic telekinesis spell, the most basic of magical prowess. No teleportation, no charms, no shields or offensive magic. Heck, if he knew any offensive magic he would've been sniping her and the others with magic blasts by now instead of just standing down there at ground level waiting for her to come to him. It was like he was in tune with some of the most vile spells ever crafted, yet had no idea how to use them. Well, she wasn't going to let him learn how. If it was a fight he wanted, she was going to make him fight tooth and hoof to overcome it. The Changeling knew that in an ideal scenario, she could bring him back in one piece and use that magic to speed up their research, but he was too dangerous to try and go for the nonlethal approach. Vulvux looked to her comrades, then down to the stallion waiting for her in the darkness. "Go. Leave us. You two are greenhorns, and are just going to get in my way if you try and interfere. Both of you run with your tails between your legs like you wanted. I'll take care of this myself."

Despite Caleb's skepticism, the young filly hadn't moved from her spot behind the charcoaled stump. She knew in her heart it probably would've been a smart idea to have done so, but watching Caleb fight was utterly transfixing. It was messy, bloody, and downright sickening. And at the same time it was incredible. It was like she was watching a film adaptation of one of her dad's old war stories, but none of those ever got as grisly as what she was watching before her very eyes. Her heart was racing a marathon in her chest, and he was only getting started!

"Wait! What if you get hu-" Alsadr piped up, but before he could even finish his sentence Vulvux silently shot him down with a nasty glare. He looked to his fellow guard-in-training, they nodded their heads in unison, and they both ran for the hills like Cerberus was after them. Vulvux watched them streak across the night sky, and as she slowly dropped back down to the ground to deal with this cocky stallion in a bloody duel to the death a thought popped into her head. What if that was the last time she saw them? This could have very easily been her final fight period, and the last thing her recruits would ever hear from her was them being screamed at and insulted. Actually, this whole mission she'd been in a rather nasty mood and had been lashing out at the rest of her teammates because of it. If she made it out of this alive, she would change her ways, that much she was certain of.

"How noble of you to take me on in a one-on-one fight," Caleb mused as he watched the captain of the squad finally come down from her perch in the air. He'd expected her to have buzzed off with her two underlings, but here she was raring to fight him to the death. Vulvux just shot him a nasty glare and dragged her hoof through the cold dirt as a gesture of challenge. No introductions, no monologues or speeches. Someone was out for vengeance, and Caleb was all too happy to answer her call for a duel. Here was hoping she could outdo her fallen friends and last a bit longer than ten seconds. She should try aiming for twelve seconds if she was feeling crazy. "But okay, she-bitch. Let's go!"

Caleb and Vulvux both broke into full gallops; closing the distance between them and crossing the clearing in a matter of seconds until they collided with one another in a blur of fur and chitin. Caleb's sleek dagger of a horn locked with the jagged spike his foe had adorned on her skull, and they began ferociously pushing against one another in a struggle for dominance. Both were fully aware that whoever could overpower the other would have no issue dispatching their foe in a split second, but it seemed like on a physical level they were equally matched. Both he and Vulvux were digging their hooves into the ground, trying to get that vital edge. Eager to tip the scales in his favor, Caleb reached for his pitchfork to run it through the Changeling's neck and take her out with one attack, but as soon as his telekinesis wrapped around the handle he saw his rival's horn glow that signature sickly green. At first, he thought she was going to try blasting him again, but when they were this close there was no way she could've avoided hurting herself in the attempt. It was only as he felt his grip over the pitchfork suddenly get wretched from him did he realize what she'd done, and he only had a nanosecond to break the lock and move out of the way before the rusted tool launched skyward like a rocket; only barely missing eviscerating his face and piercing through the wide brim of his hat.

Vulvux wasn't going to pass on the opportunity to use Caleb's own prized weapon on him, however. She yanked the pitchfork free from Caleb's headwear and immediately launched it at full speed towards Caleb, and even his impressive hoofwork couldn't protect him this time. He sidestepped as fast as he could, and while that did keep him from having his skull split through the middle, two of the prongs managed to land their mark and sliced through his cheek and jaw as the pitchfork shot past him before embedding into a gnarled old tree in the distance far out of his reach. Blood began pouring out of the fresh wound as the hide from his cheek hung loose and limp like a bloodied flag. Caleb started screaming as white-hot pain shot through his face, but as the thick, metallic fluid started to flood his mouth he wasn't even granted that luxury for long lest he risked drowning himself in his own blood. He could hear Vulvux approaching; the hum of her magic growing louder as she prepared to finish this fight once and for all. And seeing as it was taking every ounce of willpower he had to stay standing, it looked like it truly would be the end for him.

"You truly are a living contradiction," Vulvux growled angrily as a sphere of green energy that crackled with tiny black bolts of lightning appeared on the tip of her jagged horn. Seeing as he was incapacitated from his injury, she saw no reason not to get as close as she could before vaporizing him. She just wanted to be very certain she wasn't going to miss her shot this time. Caleb couldn't even think up a comeback or retort as he stared death in the face, all he could focus on was the burning agony that was ravaging his jaw. "Your movements and speed can match some of the best in our ranks. You're a magnet of magical power with such potency that casting even basic spells are like firing a flare onto your location for us. And yet, all you use is the most basic spell in a unicorn's arsenal and a dinky farmer's tool as a weapon! But no matter," The captain stopped her approach and pointed her horn directly at Caleb with an arrogant smile on her face. "This is the end for you! Victory is mine, now peri-"

Before she could get her last word out, Caleb did everything within his power to get past the pain for one final gambit. He hit the dirt to dodge what would have been the Changeling's fatal blow and rammed his horn upward through her neck; piercing through the shapeshifter's jugular and snuffing Vulvux's life out with one clean move. It had been exactly what he'd been waiting for; he just needed her to move close enough and drop her guard for him to go in for the kill. He withdrew his horn, which was now glistening in her grey blood like he dunked it in a bucket of silver paint, and watched as she stumbled backwards trying to keep a hoof on her punctured throat in a futile effort to stop herself from bleeding out. She turned away from Caleb in a blissful daze, and tried to walk away from her opponent with her hoof still pressed to the hole in her throat. She almost made it to the end of the forest clearing before she succumbed to her fatal injury and collapsed to the ground. She'd fought with every ounce of strength she had, and that strength was at last leaving her body for good.

However, Caleb wasn't going to give her the honor of a respectful burial or funeral. No, after how close she'd come to killing him, he needed to heal...and to feed. Feasting upon the flesh of those he struck down was how he regained his strength, and this time was going to be no different. Caleb, with his own blood still flowing freely from the nasty gash in his face, pulled himself over to where Vulvux's body laid. His dark shadow stretched over the corpse as he stared down at the creature that had come oh-so close to killing him, and yet would be what saved his life. He planted his hoof on the back of the corpse and grabbed one of her legs in his teeth, then started to pull back until he managed to tear a chunk of the chitin free from the rest of her body.

"And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear," Caleb whispered as he brought the torn meat to his lips; lapping at the sap-like blood like a wild dog. Even from the first few drops of the creature's lifeforce, he was already feeling a little stronger. He sank his yellowed teeth into the solid black mass with a nauseating crunch. As he partook in the bloody feast, he felt the flaps of hide that were once his cheek reattaching and stitching back together as if nothing had happened in the first place. "It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.'" Caleb finished the first chunk and leaned down to bite into a second when a familiar filly's voice reached his ears.

"Caleb! Is it over?" Gleam called out as she appeared from behind her hiding spot. When Caleb turned towards the source of her voice, it seemed that the flames caused by Vulvux's magic blast had died down fairly quickly and left the two ponies with only the full moon to guide their way further onward. She stopped her approach for a moment to grab Caleb's discarded hat in her mouth and brought it to the disgruntled stallion with a beaming smile on her face.

"It seems so," Caleb said as he donned his beloved headwear once again. Though, much to his chagrin it seemed like he was going to need to stop by the tailor's in Ponyville and get the new holes in the rim sewn up, which was annoying. All he could hope for was it was a quick fix. Though, seeing the damage to his hat reminded him that he needed to find the pitchfork that caused that in the first place. He slowly panned the tree line, looking for any that happened to have a large hunk of metal sticking out of their base, until he found his tree. He trotted over to the damaged trunk with Gleam in hot pursuit.

"That was so cool!" the small Earth pony cried in excitement as Caleb dug his teeth into the shaft of his pitchfork and started pulling against the tree to yank it free. It wasn't an easy feat either, the prongs were lodged down into the wood as far as they could possibly go; it served as a nasty reminder that if Caleb had been a hair slower his head would have been bisected by his own weapon. If he ran into more of those horned Changelings, he was going to need to be extremely careful and on his toes at all times. Before now, he wouldn't have cared in the first place but there was a feeling in his gut this wasn't the last time he'd be running into these insectoids. Vulvux had even told him that every time he used even the most basic of spells, he was drawing them to his location, and on top of that two Changelings got away so they for certain knew what he looked like now. "You managed to take on five Changelings at one time and come out on top! That's something only a pony like Rainbow Dash could do! I wanna be able to fight like you can!" That last statement made Caleb chuckle.

"You wanna fight like me, huh?" Caleb mumbled with a grunt as he finally managed to wretch the pitchfork from the base of the tree and slipped it back into his coat with the rest of his gear. The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed he would have been able to actually use any of his guns. Even if he could find a way to hold them without any fingers, he imagined the recoil and heat from the hot metal would be quite painful to fire off even a single shot. The voodoo doll and the life leech staff were still promising options, but that was assuming they would work in the first place. And if he had extra help to hold the dynamite while he lit the fuse, that could also be a viable means of defense. All she'd have to do is throw it at things he didn't like and she would be golden. "Sure, why not. Never had a protégé before, could be fun. I have a feeling you're going to have plenty of opportunities for on-site experience."

"Yeah, I see what you mean," Triumphant Gleam said lowly, the excitement leaving her voice as she looked into the darkness that went untouched by the moon's light. "Caleb, I need you to understand something extremely important. I don't think anypony has ever seen a Changeling that looked like these ones in well over 40 years. A long while ago, Changelings found a way to self-sustain themselves on love they created without needing to drain others for it and their appearances radically altered when they made this discovery and broke off from their original leader, Queen Chrysalis. I don't know where these ones came from, but I think this could be a serious emergency."

"All the more reason to hurry so you can inform the proper authorities then," Caleb mused. Emergency or not, if a national crisis helped him get an audience with their royalty faster then that was all the better. Gleam nodded in agreement and broke into a gallop with Caleb right behind her. While it was true that at the pace they were going they'd have reached Ponyville within the hour, in reality Caleb's journey was far from being over.