Keth was horrified. The ponies, such apparently 'innocent' creatures, attacked a changeling on sight. That was unheard of. Not even on Earth, of all places, would they ever do something like that outside of a war zone. This was unacceptable.

He dashed through the door of the warehouse, heading straight for the portal. Passing through it, a sensation of cold washed over him, and he stumbled out of it, mind knowing, but not comprehending, the scene he had just witnessed. Yes, Harbinger had attacked back, but it was just that. He had attack in self-defense and he had prevented the ponies from capturing Keth.

Recovering from his stumble, Keth stopped in front of a familiar face: Chrysalis. She had apparently been waiting for him, ready to ask for his help.

"Hello Keth." She sniffled once, as if she had been crying. Her eyes were slightly red, and her face seemed to be drooping slightly. "I hope, I dearly hope you know what we are going through. This action, this murder of a changeling, is an act of war. We have no other option but to declare full-scale war on the ponies. Although I did send Harbinger and you there, they still did attack you both for no good reason. I need to know if you are going to assist us or not. This could easily become a full-scale effort, so I must know. Who's side are you on?" Her face looked grim, and her tone even grimmer. She had made up her mind.

Keth stopped for a minute. A war... It was a hard decision. This could very well just be one big misunderstanding, but the chances of it were low. Even if they sent a diplomatic relations team, the changelings would probably be assaulted on sight, if not killed. There really was no other way than to help the changelings. But war...

He had taken lives before, but never on the offensive. He had always used his powers to protect himself, and hurting people was something he tried to avoid. But the sheer amount of hatred in the eyes of the ponies told a different tale. That hatred was not something that could be easily removed. It could not be reasoned with, bargained with, told off, or avoided. There was one course of action, and Keth's mind was set.

His eyes hardened, and his mouth tightened into a grim line. "There is no other option, I'm with you."

Oh the irony, the 'monsters' are actually the victims.

Chrysalis' lips curled upwards, slightly, and her twisted, holed horn glowed for a moment. Something was off.

Keth realized it after a moment. There was no white noise... at all. The gate room was completely silent, as was every single other room in the hive. The normal buzz of all the changelings had stopped...

...And then it resumed. Black flashes swirled past the edge of his vision, and Keth looked back at Chrysalis, somewhat confused.

"The hive is beginning preparations for war. When we do things, we do not do them halfway. The changeling hive is now adopting a state of total war against the Equestrian forces." Her voice hardened as she spoke, as if she was confirming her own thoughts.

Keth nodded. "What's our first move? We should probably capitalize on the fact that the ponies don't know we're coming.

"My thoughts exactly. I am going to send an invasion force, of drones and a few magi, to Stalliongrad. We'll take the city and harvest as much energy as we can-"

"Wait, harvest?" Keth interrupted. The Ray Sphere harvested energy. "You're going to kill ponies for energy?"

"What? Of course not. The absorption is completely harmless. We'll just put them to sleep and passively absorb it, when we're done, the ponies will just feel really worn out when they awake. Easy."

"Oh. They may be our enemies, but I couldn't wish a fate as bad as being drained of all energy until the point where one drops dead on anything." Keth was slightly relieved. This could actually work.

"Meanwhile, I'm going to send an infiltration force into a smaller town, named Ponyville. The place has ridiculously naive ponies just camping around, tossing giant balls of love at each other. On top of that, there are a set of high-value targets, known as the 'Elements of Harmony', living there. If we do this correctly, which we will, we could have half the town replaced with changelings and the other half feeding us with love. Once we have enough, we'll be able to actually fight a full-scale war."

Keth stood there for a moment, thinking over what she said. "That might actually work. You'll just have to go about replacing ponies without them knowing."

"Of course. We're good at that. We've spent years living as 'fugitives', and we've picked up a few tricks in the process."

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let's go. I suppose I'll be spearheading the invasion into Stalliongrad?"

Chrysalis grinned, seemingly grateful for the help of the human. "No. While we assault Stalliongrad, I want you to go to Ponyville. The ponies will send a counter-invasion force as soon as they can, and we need you in a place where you work best. I want you to assist in the infiltration of Ponyville. You can put ponies to sleep easily, correct?"

"Yes." Keth nodded to the changeling queen, and then headed back towards the portal room. After a breath, he took a step, and a feeling of cold washed over him once more. He had a job to do.

He stepped out of the portal, a dozen changelings behind him. His job was at hand, the removal of the tyrants known as ponies from their seemingly utopian society. They were ignorant and baleful, their fear of the unknown matched only by their sins against the rest of the world. They had shunned every other race, they had enslaved mother nature herself, and they refused to compromise. They did not deserve their fortune, and they would pay for it.

Author's Note

B.K. by Sugarpill on Mind Machine-EP
Or some District 78.
This is probably my worst chapter so far. If it seems scatterbrained, it's because I wrote it over a period of a month... not much to show, eh? It was hard to know what to write... go rewrite 3!
I might come back and redo this...
but next is a Keth-based fight scene.
Also, drones are not as good as fighting as eveyling else.