"Boss, there's a hyperspace front approaching."

The large griffon named 'Boss', who moments ago simply looked out of the window in front of him, was sitting in his big ornate chair, slowly turning his head towards the creature that had called out to him.

The voice came from another, smaller griffon, who looked intently at a monitor in front of him, trying to not attract too much attention. His body language told me everything I needed to know about him. The slight twitch of his wings, the simple fact he was shrinking in on himself as he felt Boss' gaze on him. He was a coward and afraid of offending the larger griffon in any way.

During my time on this ship, I encountered many situations where Boss lost his temper and used his massive claws to rip the offender into pieces on the slightest provocation.

"Damn Equestrian scum," Boss said in his deep booming voice. "Get into position and cut them down if they dare to set a claw on my ship. I won't let stupid prey take my bits from me!" With a rage-filled screech, he slammed his right claw into the console next to him, destroying the sensitive equipment.

I was about to leave and get into position for the upcoming battle when he turned in my direction, his piercing green eyes boring into me, sending a shiver down my spine. Or, at least, that was what I made him believe. "Storm Shadow!" 'Why did I use my real name for this?' "Get into the hangar and kill the ponies that are trying to steal from me."

"Yes, Boss," I quickly said, keeping to my constructed personality of short replays. None of the griffons liked ponies that talked back to them. I needed to stay undercover for a little bit longer.

After taking a step towards the exit, I was yanked violently backwards. Boss was holding my tail in his claw. "And if you fail me," he licked his beak, "I will feast upon your worthless flesh, no matter if you're dead or alive."

I made sure to look put off by his remark, audibly gulping and looking slightly green in the face before obeying his orders and moving into the hangar. I knew nothing would happen in there; the Equestrians would be stupid to enter through the front door, so to speak.

Exiting the bridge, I slowly trotted through the dark corridors of our ship. There was no rush after all, the ponies hadn't arrived yet.

As soon as I got into position in the hangar, the deafening sound of our cannons opening fire forced my ears to lay flat against my skull. Like most griffon weaponry, they used explosives to launch projectiles at high speeds at the enemy. These weapons were far less effective than the magic-based weapons Equestria used, but without access to magic, it was the best griffons could field. The few griffons that were in the hangar with me gripped their rifles tightly in anticipation of the coming fight.

In a few seconds, the barrage simmered down to a few interspersed thuds. Sounds of small explosions echoed throughout the ship as it was systematically disarmed and disabled. No one spoke the entire time, waiting for the inevitable arrival of the strike teams.

A plan of attack started to form in my head that I would execute as soon as the attackers set hoof on the ship. Being a unicorn sucked, but pirates hired none of the other pony tribes, using us only for our magic. I had to make do with my lack of mobility, but all the pent-up frustration from working with this pirate scum gave me a big power boost, and that magic begged to be released. A massive shock wave washed through the ship and made the griffons stumble. The sound of metal scraping against metal made my hair stand on end. The ponies had made landfall.

'Showtime.'

After charging magic into my horn, I fired a concentrated magical beam at the two closest griffons. The green magic flickered like a flame as it flew through the air. They had no time to react, even their emotions were void of any fear before the spell detonated in a bright explosion right next to them. The force of it was strong enough to rip both of them to pieces, spreading severed limbs and other pieces of flesh throughout the hangar. Some of their feathers survived the initial fireball and were slowly falling to the floor as they burned to a crisp. A big smile crossed my muzzle after the smoke cleared and the large pool of blood on the floor became visible.

I enjoyed the sight for a moment longer before the other griffons got their act together. Their emotions were of shock and surprise as they trained their rifles on me, ready to open fire. Casting a portal below me brought me right behind one of them just as they pulled the trigger. He was too slow to turn around; I drew his sword with my magic and brought it down on his right wing, his scream of pain music to my ears as I slowly moved up towards the tip of his wing. I quickly brought the sword back down to cut his other wing off completely, contemplating taking it home as a trophy but deciding against it as the other griffons trained their rifles at me again.

The griffon in my grasp, screaming in agony, was unable to fight back. My smile never faltered as his fearful emotions flooded my senses. Using the body of the now-flightless griffon as a shield against the incoming rifle fire left me disappointed when he died from the first bullet that hit him. This was a calculated risk; these rifles did not have enough penetration to punch through the body in front of me. Another round followed quickly, entering his skull and splattering his blood and brain all over me.

Readying another spell, I fired at the nearest griffon, who tried to reload his rifle and wasn't paying enough attention to his surroundings. This magical beam was a lot less condensed than the first, and after impacting with his body, produced only a tiny explosion that tore a good chunk of his armour away, scorching the flesh below. The small piece of metal did not protect him from the fire that followed and quickly spread through his feathers, setting him completely ablaze within seconds. His screams of pain would be my musical backdrop for the fight against the last two griffons, who had finally decided to draw their swords and fight me in close combat. In most cases, this was the right choice when fighting a unicorn. Unfortunately for them, I was anything but a regular unicorn.

I had to give it to them, they were rather quick on their claws. One of them cut a deep gash into my side before I could discard my dead griffon and parry his strike. His smug smile and overconfidence were his downfall. My sword swung around, beheading him in return. His blood covered me almost entirely as I watched his head roll away a little before his body hit the floor.

A stinging feeling rocked my body as the last griffon used that brief distraction to plunge his sword deep into my side. I did not wince or stagger and simply blasted him with another fire lance. He, too, caught fire, the sight of him rolling on the ground trying to put it out - a worthwhile entertainment for the discomfort he had put me through. After a minute of him flailing around in a panic, he passed out, the pain too much for him to handle. I ended his life with a stab through his heart.

The aftermath of my hoofwork was visible around the hangar: two griffons splattered across the floor, walls and even ceiling; two griffons burned to death; a friendly-fire victim with cut-up wings and a split open head; and another who was missing his head entirely. After taking in the sight for a moment, my own state made itself known - blood dripping out of the two injuries I sustained during this fight.

With a shrug, I let green flames swirl around me and returned to my true form: a large changeling with slitted orange eyes, a mane and tail to match, a black carapace that acted as my armour and two red insect-like wings that buzzed for a moment before settling on my back. The cut on my side was now nothing more than a shallow scrape, and the stab wound was not even able to pierce through my tough natural armour.

I gave myself a quick shake, getting all the blood off of me before returning to my unicorn disguise in pristine condition. It was, after all, only a temporary disguise not meant for long-term infiltration, allowing it to be easily repaired with a simple shift of forms.

My inspection was cut short by an enormous explosion that came from somewhere within the ship - the last stand of the pirates as they detonated their Magic Core Bomb. This was my cue to return to the designated meeting point with the other infiltrators to allow the equestrian task force to do their job without us getting in their way.

However, before I could make even a single step, the doors separating the hangar from the hallway flew open. Readying a spell just in case one of the pirates escaped, I spotted a group of heavily armed and armoured ponies entering, allowing me to relax and the spell to fizzle out harmlessly. The fight was over, we won.

"On the ground NOW! Hoofs where I can see them! No funny business, you hear!" Rolling my eyes, I did as ordered, not wanting to give them any reason to attack before lighting a quick signal spell, a sign that we were on the same side of this conflict. Two of them, fresh out of training by the unsure look on their faces and the unease in their emotions, tightened their grips on their weapons for a moment before the leader of the group called out to me, easing them a little. "Why are you not with the others?" While waiting for my answer, she looked around the hangar. "By the goddess... what happened here?"

"I was unable to get to the meeting point and got into a fight with six griffons. I killed them and was planning on making my way to the others right now," I said in an emotionless, non-threatening tone.

Noticing that one of the earth ponies in the group was standing on a severed griffon wing, a small giggle escaped my lips. I could feel his emotional turmoil before he turned to the side and emptied his stomach contents on the floor. The group leader turned towards him, "Lieutenant Marble, get a hold of yourself. It's just a wing." 'I think I like her.'

Marble made an effort to stand at attention, his legs shaky and the last drops of vomit dripping down his muzzle.

"Do I have to send you through combat acclimatisation again?" she berated him.

"No, Ma'am," he said, the look of unease still clear on his face, "but seeing something like this for real is a lot different from seeing it in pictures."

The leader looked around at the rest of the group, all of them showing their discomfort in both their emotions and posture. "Alright, let's fan out and make sure there are no pirates hiding anywhere. Make sure to gather all the pieces scattered around so we can get a proper body count." After making sure her subordinates did as ordered, she approached me. "I don't like what you did here. There was no need to get this violent," she stated while putting her face in my biting range.

Holding my stoic, emotionless expression, I looked at her. While angry, she did not seem to be too offended by my actions and was simply stating facts. It was obvious that she had seen a lot of combat in her life. "I had to get to the meeting point, and the only way to get there was to get rid of the griffons here. What's wrong with enjoying myself a little while doing it?"

She was now muzzle-to-muzzle with me, "What's wrongis that it's unnecessarily cruel. They did not have to suffer like this." She pointed at the griffon that I ripped the wings off of. "From the looks of it, you tortured him by cutting his wings off slowly. I have to bring this up with the Admirals or even High Command."

"With all due respect, Ma'am, I only obey My Queen, and she couldn't care less about what I do to get my job done. From the look of it, I saved you a nasty fight. You should be grateful."

Her answer was a simple huff, and she turned away to help out her squad. I let a smirk cross my lips as I watched her leave. 'Ponies are too soft.'By this time, the rest of her team had gathered every griffon part and confirmed the count of six griffons. They returned to their sweep of the ship without saying another word to me.

I arrived at the meeting point shortly after. It was a small crew quarter, where the other three changelings inside immediately bowed before me and addressed me in unison, "We await your orders, your Highness."

Before addressing them, I looked them over, making sure none of them were injured. Their blue, glowing, pupilless eyes were looking at me, not blinking a single time as I scanned their bodies. One of them had a large cut on her right side, prompting me to get a closer look. Leaning down to her smaller form - I was more than a head taller than her - I looked at the wound for a long moment. It wasn't too deep and would heal on its own with some time, but I needed every changeling combat-ready and in top shape.

"Scythe, get a cocoon ready for her." The changeling in question got to work immediately, and I turned back to the injured 'ling. "Now, tell me what happened."

She turned away in embarrassment. Even though her emotions were unreadable - something every infiltrator worth a bit could do instinctually - her body language told me everything I needed to know. She knew there was no reason to lie to me, that I would pick up on it if she did anyway.

"I was on my way here as ordered, but when the boarding ship made contact, I stumbled and landed on a sharp piece of metal that cut right through my carapace. I was already close to this room and Scythe treated the injury."

With a quick wave of love towards the 'ling in question, I conveyed my thanks for his quick action, and there was a brief smile on his face before he continued to work on the cocoon.

The loud scraping sound of metal-on-metal was our sign to get back to work. The task force had done their job of clearing the pirate ship out. Ours was to go through it and dismantle everything before getting on the transport that was waiting for us nearby. It was a waste of resources, there was still a lot of functioning equipment on the ship, but equestrian law forced us to make sure everything was destroyed and as long as the Queen didn't say otherwise, we had to follow that law.

"Your Highness, the cocoon is ready."

With a quick nod to the injured 'ling, she climbed inside before Scythe sealed her in it. All that was left to do was point my horn at it and pour a lot of my stored love into it, starting the healing process before addressing the other two changelings, "Let's get to work. She should be healed by the time we are done."

They gave me a deep bow and started the long task of destroying the critical parts of the ship. After everything was dismantled, we would overload the core so it would detonate shortly after we left.

As expected, the healing process was finished right as we prepared the core, and we left the ship through a portal I had created.

The last part of our task was to wait for the explosion and then scan the area to make extra sure everything was destroyed - can't have salvagers stumble on any valuable tech that was stolen in the first place.

We watched the large fireball disintegrate the pirate ship for a moment before I sat down on the pilot seat, programmed our hyperspace route and powered up the Drive to get us home.

Author's Note

A big thanks to Resu for helping me with the editing process of the chapter.

A little bit of an explanation for the tags used: While the sex tag does not apply for a while, this story will contain sexual scenes later on and does generally not shy away from mentioning things of this kind. The scenes themself will be marked for those uncomfortable with the subject and can be freely skipped.

The Violence, Gore, and Death tags should be obvious after this chapter. If you're afraid it might get too extreme at points, worry not; this chapter is at the upper end of depictions of violence for the story.

I hope you enjoy the read, and feel free to leave feedback.