Chapter 5 - Adventures Part I

(Author's Note: This will be the first of several chapters with musical accompanyment. I will provide a youtube link at the point where the music starts. For the full experience, be sure to follow it!)

Chapter 5

Adventures Part I

Willus walked up the path that lead to Sweet Apple Acres. He went over in his mind the list of things he would probably be doing today. Farm? Yes. Talk? Probably. Think something practical? Now that was doubtful. As he neared the farm, the barn loomed in the distance as if it were mocking him. Each tree seemed to be adorned with a myriad of red eyes as the sunlight reflected off of the apples ornamenting them. He felt as though he were being watched at every moment. This was clearly a good place to regain sanity.

He turned from the slightly disturbing plants and saw Applejack walking toward him. He waved to signal his acknowledgement.

"Hello!" he shouted.

Applejack waved back. "Howdy!"

'Such a funny accent,' Willus thought. As the cowpony walked up to him, Willus noticed that she seemed tired.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Ahm fine," she responded tiredly, "just a little tired is all. That party last night really took it outta me! But don't worry. Ah'll still be able to help ya out."

Willus let out a sigh of relief. "Good! I was worried for a minute there,"

Applejack chuckled a bit, before motioning for Willus to follow her.

When they reached the front porch, Applejack stopped.

"Before we set you to work, Ah should probably introduce you to mah family,"

As she said that she gestured to a large, red stallion working nearby at a tree.

"That over there is mah brother, Big Macintosh," Willus shouted a greeting to the big stallion. He only turned and nodded his head once to signal any acknowledgement before returning to his work.

Applejack blushed a little in embaressment. "He don't talk much," she said. Next, she gestured to an old green mare sitting in a rocking chair, asleep. "That over there's Granny Smith. And somewhere around here is my bothersome sister,"

As she said this, a small, yellow filly with a red mane wearing a large, equally red bow came running up to her. "Applejack! Applejack!" Applejack rolled her eyes.

"What is it?"

The filly looked exasperated. "Do we have any pineapples?" she asked.

Applejack was puzzled. "Pineapples? Why?"

"Doesn't matter," the filly responded. "Me and the girls just really need a pair as soon as possible,"

Applejack looked at her sister suspiciously. "There's a few inside the house. But Ain't you gonna introduce yerself to the nice Mr. Willus who came out here to work for the day?"

The filly noticed the colt for the first time. "Oh, Ahm sorry, mister! Ah didn't see you there! Mah name's Applebloom. Now, if ya'll excuse me, Ah've got two pineapples with mah name on them waiting inside!" And with that, she ran into the house.

"Should I be worried about that?" Willus asked.

"Nah, not unless she starts asking for orange juice," was Applejack's reply. Willus didn't bother trying to figure out what that meant.

"Now, Ah s'pose we aughta set you to work!"

The pair walked into the large barn. Inside were many bales of hay, as well as quite possibly the biggest pile of apples Willus had ever seen. In the corner was a large stack of barrels.

"Now here's whatcha gotta do. In this pile is all the apples we've harvested so far. All kinds of apples are in there. And you, partner, are gonna sort them,"

Willus' pupils became microscopic in fear. "Excuse me?" The pile was absolutely enormous. It was at least twice as tall as him. How could Applejack, scratch that, anypony expect him to be able to do this?

"Now, you better get to work. This will definitely take a while!" And with those final words, Applejack sealed Willus' fate.

"Well, I might as well get started. Let it never be said that I can be defeated by nothing but a pile of apples!" Willus said as Applejack left the barn. He turned to the pile and started sorting.

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Two hours later, nothing but a pile had defeated Willus. Willus groaned in frustration at the tiny amount of work he had accomplished. He turned the much smaller pile of apples neatly organized by color. Or, neatly organized by his standards at least. There was no way he would ever get this done.

Wait a minute! Maybe the problem was just that keeping all of the apples in one place made their numbers seem larger! Willus turned to the barrels in the corner with a wide grin. Surely things would go much smoother now!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Applejack trotted up to the barn. She could have sworn she heard the sound of something crashing. Was Willus okay? The building itself wasn't burned to the ground, so there was at least that. She opened the door to the barn, before gasping at the grisly sight that lay before her.

At least a third of the apples were destroyed. Their pale insides were crushed, and the walls were coated in what looked like raw applesauce. In the center remained the pile of apples Willus must've originally started with, although it was a little smaller now. Strewn about the floor were the remains of many destroyed barrels. In one area, they appeared to be accumulated. In this small heap of barrel debris, Willus' head poked out. He blushed violently when he saw Applejack's face of shock. "Oops?"

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"Well, Willus, since it seems like busy work might be too much for ya, maybe some manual labor would be the better choice," Applejack said in slight annoyance to the accident-prone colt.

Willus looked at his hooves shamefully. 'Stupid Barrels,' he thought. "FIne. What do you need me to do?"

Applejack turned to the apple tree nearest to her. Surrounding the tree was a ring of buckets. "This here tree's ready for apple-buckin'. Now, before ya ask, cuz Ah know that you were about to, lemme explain what apple-buckin' is. Basically, once a tree's ready, you give it a good kick, like so," she said, kicking the tree hard with her hind legs. With a shake, all of the apples fell out of the tree and perfectly into the buckets. WIllus watched in awe. "Now can ya do that?" Applejack asked.

Willus gulped. "S-Sure. I mean, how hard can it be?" Willus walked up to another tree which also had the ring of buckets. He examined the tree thoroughly. Every crack, every apple, every twig he examined with his scrutinizing eye. Finally, he shrugged. Then he turned around, raised his rear legs, and kicked the tree as hard as he could. "Ha! See? I told you I could do it!" he said, as a sharp crack resonated through the air. Applejack stood in shock. "See? You can even hear the tree cracking!" Suddenly, a sharp pain shot up one of Willus' hind legs. He grabbed it and screamed in pain before doubling over. A single apple fell out of the tree and into a bucket.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

According to the doctor, Willus' left hind leg had only been sprained, but it sure didn't feel like it. He was supposed to be feeling better in two days time, but until then he was to wait in the hospital. Applejack had helped him limp there, and had only left after everything had been taken care of. WIllus smiled. In the end, everything turned out better than expected!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Shamrock entered town hall. This was easy because a large portion of the wall was missing, so he simply walked through the gaping hole and began to look for Rainbow Dash. There were about five other ponies there already. Four of them were fairly bland colts, dressed in hardhats and overalls. He assumed that they were construction workers hired to help. The fifth was the grey, cross-eyed mare from yesterday. Funny how things work out.

He saw Rainbow herself coordinating the construction. She wore a hardhat and a toolbelt, and stood on the ledge of a hole in the ceiling. He waved hello to the mare when she noticed him. She flew down to greet him.

"Hey, Shamrock! Glad you could make it!"

"No problem, Rainbow," Shamrock stated matter-of-factly. "Besides, I kinda feel responsible for all this,"

That surprised Rainbow. "Responisble? Why?"

Shamrock looked at the massive amount of damage the building had sustained. He sighed in sadness. "Think about it," he said, "We fought the ursa, right? As a result, it rampaged. Not to say it wasn't rampaging before, but it was worse afterwards."

Rainbow thought about that for a moment. "Well, yeah. But if we didn't fight it, it would have done even more damage than it already did. We did what we had to!"

Shamrock didn't respond immediately. She was right, he knew. But did the creature have to have died? Couldn't they have just chased it away or something? But, deep down, he knew there was nothing else that could have been done. "You're right," he said, "now, let's get started."

"Right! Now," she said, "For you, I'm thinking we can go ahead and give you some of the heavier lifting. Can you use your magic yet?"

Shamrock tried a simple levitation spell, and failed miserably. "No," he said.

Rainbow rubbed her chin in contemplation. "Well, I guess you'll just have to use your own strength!" Rainbow heard her name get called. "Here, just go get rid of all the extra debris for now. I've gotta go sort this out," She flew towards the source of the voice, leaving Shamrock with a pile of destroyed wood.

Shamrock looked down at the bits and pieces. This may take a while. He looked to where Rainbow had gone off to. She was talking to one of the construction ponies. She wouldn't be giving him anything new to do for a little while, he assumed, based on the raised voices being used in her conversation. He sighed. Might as well get to work.

Before he could get started, he narrowly avoided a falling beam. "What the-" he said in surprise as he looked at the large, wooden plank that had nearly crushed him. He looked up to see the grey pegasus from before standing on a ledge, looking over with a worried expression. "Sorry!" she called. Shamrock looked up at her as she flew down to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Who are you?"

The mare looked a little off-guard. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? My name is Derpy! You must be Shamrock,"

Shamrock nodded.

"It's so great to actually meet one of the heroes of Ponyville in person!"

"Heroes of Ponyville?" Shamrock asked in surprise. Had he and the others gotten that famous already?

"Oh, yes! There's you, and Willus, and Lightning Hawk, and Reaper! You're all famous!"

That genuinely surprised Shamrock. It seemed as if things would be changing a lot for the four of them. "Well, that's nice, I guess,"

"It must be! What I would give to be able to spend time with any one of you!" Derpy suddenly stopped as she realised who she was talking to. "Hey," she said, "you wouldn't mind coming over sometime for muffins and tea, would you?"

Shamrock chuckled. "Sure, Derpy. No Problem,"

Derpy squeed in enjoyment before somepony called her. "Hooves, get back to work!" the voice said.

"That's my que! Gotta go now Shamrock, see you tomorrow!"

Shamrock turned back to the pile and began to work.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

After an hour of getting rid of debris, Rainbow Dash had another assignment for him. "Alright, Shamrock, do you see the four beams arranged in the center of the room?" she asked, motioning to the support structures in question. "They're what's keeping this building up. You and I need to make sure they're okay so the rest of the team can deal with the rest of the reconsturction. Sound good to you?"

"Seems fine to me,"

"Good, now let's get started.

The pair began to examine each of the support beams individually. The first one seemed to be fine. The second one had a small chip in it, but nothing serious. The third was also fine. As they walked up to the fourth and final beam, they could immediately tell that this would not be the case for this one. There was a large crack going up and through the wooden pole, and it seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

"Well, there's your problem!" Rainbow said jokingly. Shamrock didn't laugh. Rainbow Dash noticed. "Oh, come on! Lighten up, would ya? You don't have to be so serious all the time!"

Shamrock continued to examine the beam. "Rainbow, if this thing collapses, a lot of ponies could get hurt. You don't want that to happen, now do you?"

Rainbow sighed. "No," she said stubbornly. As she said that, she absent-mindedly leaned against the beam. That was the worst thing she could possibly do.

The small amount of weight pressed against the pole caused it to shift. One part slid against the other. At the top, a section of the roof that the beam was supporting gave way. It fell directly towards Rainbow Dash. Shamrock saw it and immediately pushed Rainbow out of the way and caught the piece of ceiling with his bare hooves.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" She asked the straining Shamrock. With a grunt he shoved the debris to the side. "Yeah, I'm fine. Watch where you lean next time,"

"Are you sure? You could have been hurt!"

"I know," he replied. "You just gotta lighten up, Rainbow,"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Shamrock stayed and helped with the reconstruction for the rest of the day. Rainbow never seemed to stop apologizing while simultaneously thanking him all throughout. By sunset, town hall had been restored to most of its original status. Rainbow told Shamrock that he wouldn't be needed tomorrow, which was good, considering his plans with Derpy. As Shamrock entered his house, he had to admit, he had more fun today than he had in a long time.

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Lightning gulped as he walked towards the library. This was quite possibly going to be one of the most important moments of his life. Years from now, he would look back on this moment as a major turning point, and he wanted to make sure he didn't screw this up. He walked up to the library, before hesitating to knock. Just behind this door was the mare of his dreams. What if he went in and seemed to pushy? Maybe he should hold back, and play it safe. But then she might think he was a wimp. He decided that playing it casual was his best bet. He took a deep breath, then knocked on the door.

The door was opened by a small purple dragon. That's odd. Lightning was under the impression that Twilight lived by herself. Who was this? "Uhh, is this the residence of Twilight Sparkle?" he asked stiltedly.

The dragon seemed as confused as Lightning. "Yes. Who are you? Are you that Lightning Hawk guy she was telling me about?"

Lightning blinked in surprise. "Yes. She said-"

"That she would get some books on building cloud-houses for you. I know. Come on in! My name's Spike."

Lightning followed Spike inside. Inside was a spacious circular area, with walls that doubled as bookshelves. In the center was a table, with a carved wooden head on it. There was a kitchen nearby, and a staircase that lead to what he assumed was Twilight's bedroom. "Twilight!" the dragon called out. "Twilight! Lightning Hawk is here for you!"  Lightning blushed at how that might sound really bad out of context. "Be there in a sec!" he heard come from upstairs. He turned to Spike and asked, "So you're Twilight's....."

"Assistant!" was Spike's enthusiastic reply.

Lightning decided that he needed to scope out all of his possible competition, no matter how unlikely their chances may seem. "So, she's just a friend to you, right?"

Spike thought about it for a little. "More like a big sister, really. But I know what you're doing. You want to know if I have a crush on her, which I don't. I've already got my eyes on somepony else. But that does leave me wondering, do you have a crush on her?"

Lightning actually jumped in surprise at that. "W-wh-what do you m-mean have a c-crush on her? You crazy or something?"

Spike smiled. "Don't worry, man. I got your back."

It was then that Twilight appeared. Lightning was once again blown away by her beauty. As she walked down the stairs, Lightning did his best not to stare. "Hi, Lightning! Sorry about the mess, I was just really busy last night," she said. For the first time, Lightning noticed a table by the window. On it was a burnt-out candlestick, two open books, a map of equestria, and lots of papers with incoherent scribbles on them. "What's this?" he asked.

"Oh, just me trying to figure out where that ursa major came from. After the party, I wasn't tired, so I stayed up a little late working on this."

"Did you find anything?" Lightning inquired, his curiosity piqued.

Twilight sighed in frustration. "No. It doesn't make any sense! The nearest known ursa lair was a full five miles away! How and why would an ursa major be in Ponyville?"

Lightning could see that this problem was bothering the mare. "Well, maybe it happened for a reason."

"Are you saying that somepony led it here?" Twiight asked skeptically.

Lightning shuffled awkwardly. "Well, no. But in my life, I've seen lots of stuff that shouldn't have happened but did anyway. Sometimes there just is no explanation for why or how things happen. They just do. You know what I'm saying?"

Twilight rubbed her chin in contemplation. "You know, I never thought of it that way. But you might be onto something! Maybe that's just it! I've been overthinking it! Just like that time with the Pinkie Sense!"

"The what now?"

"Yes, it all makes sense now! It's not possible! But it happened anyway! Lightning, thanks for helping me with this. You're such a great friend!"

Lightning swallowed sadness. 'Friend?' he thought. 'This is gonna be harder than I thought.'

Luckily, Spike sensed Lightning's plight, and decided to help out. "Well, I'm gonna get the book Lightning came for, 'kay Twilight?"

Twilight nodded, looking over her notes. Lightning turned to see the small dragon winking. Spike then turned to one of the bookshelves, one that just so happened to be placed at the perfect angle to tip and fall over. Spike proceeded to do just what Lightnign feared he would do. "Woops!" he said in an overdramatic fashion, and tipped the bookcase over.

The bookshelf landed with a crash. Lightning gulped. This couldn't end well.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

As Lightning walked out of the library, book in tow, he reflected on how things had gone after the bookshelf fell. Just saying that made it sound like he was speaking of some ancient battle. "After the bookshelf fell." He liked the sound of that.

After the bookshelf fell, Twilight immediately rushed to see if Spike was okay. Seeing that he was, and was in fact the cause of this, she immediately gifted him with a heavy scolding. Spike didn't seem to mind, saying that maybe it "happened for a reason." Twilight apologized to Lightning, and rushed to get him his book. Around then is when they started talking.

It didn't go very well. Twilight could tell that Lightning was hiding something, but refused to show it. She tried to be pleasant throguhout the entire conversation. In fact, the only problems were on Lightning's part. First, there was his stutter. Everytime he looked in those deep purple eyes his tongue seemed to tie itself in a knot. Then, there was the topics. Lightning somehow made a conversation about books sound perveted the moment the words, "I love a good plot," came out of his mouth. The awkward silence that followed was absolutely unbearable. Thank Celestia that Twilight was a good enough sport to laugh a little at that. All in all, it was an absolute train wreck.

Lightning smiled as he walked away from the library. He had done one thing right. She had called him her "friend." That meant he was one step closer to winning her over. Right? Right? He sighed contentedly. In the end, everything turned out better than expected.

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Reaper sat in his study. This was what he did most of his days. He sat at his table, and studied. He needed to know everything and anything about the ponies, and he had learned the best way to do that was to do research. Sputnik "helped," but that didn't mean much. His help was simply sitting there, staring at a bit of wall until his master needed him to do something. Reaper didn't mind. More often than not, Sputnik proved useful somehow. Wether it was getting the groceries or making sure nopony entered his house, the stupid little robot was good at his job. Sort of.

Reaper groaned as he finished reading yet another book on equestrian history. "Sputnik?" he called. "I'm going downstairs. Follow me."

"Downstairs," was a phrase that would have sounded bizarre to anypony else. Reaper was on the first floor. What could "downstairs," mean? Reaper walked up to a bookshelf, and searched for a book titled "How to Cook Happiness." It was a changeling book, a red herring. Only Reaper knew the joke behind the title, as he and all changelings knew that you can't cook emotions. He pushed on the book when he found it, and the bookshelf slid to the side with a groan. Reaper looked down a short staircase that led to a dark corridor.

This was "The Downstairs Room," as he called it. he had built it himself not long after he had arrived at ponyville. Down the corridor was a fork, that actually led to two rooms. One was labeled "Room A" and the other "Room B." The two rooms served as an extra deception should anypony find their way down here, as the area was named in a singular fashion. Not that he told anypony about it, any way.

Reaper walked into Room A. Inside was a table, and a corkboard. The table was filled with maps of Equestria, other kingdoms, and unpopulated areas. It was a frustratingly small amount of material to work with. Above the corkboard was a sign that read, "Conspiracy Wall." Sputnik had put that up as a joke. Not surprisingly, Reaper was unamused. On the Conspiracy Wall was a map of the world. Pictures of various changelings lined the map, each with red string connecting them. Red markings were made on the map, certain areas being circled, while others where crossed out. At the top of the map was a picture of Queen Chrysalis. It was labeled #1. Next to that was a picture of a younger, female changeling. That was labeled #2. Reaper stared at the map, and began his work. His work was top secret. As he stared at the map, he began to reminisce about his life, before the exile, before Sputnik, before.....all of it.

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Before we enter Reaper's flashback, a little background would be useful. The year before Reaper was born, King Osmosis was married to Queen Chrysalis, a noble who had married her way into the royal family. Reaper's father was named General Husk, and he had a wife named Chitin. Chitin was a foot soldier, and she served under her husband. She became pregnant with twins not long before the Queen became pregnant with her child. But this happiness was not to last.

Osmosis had a brother, Prince Mitosis. Mitosis was jealous of his older brother, and believed he should be king. Unfortunately for both families, Mitosis had quite a large following. The year Reaper, and his twin brother, Marauder, were born, civil war was declared by Prince Mitosis. General Husk and his wife were forced to serve. The war started badly for Reaper's family, with his mother as one of the first casualties of battle. Reaper was only a grub then, so looking back, he never really knew her.

Perhaps now would be a good time to explain the changeling life cycle. Changelings are born as grubs, which look like foals, but without horns or wings, no exoskeleton, and legs only half the length of an infant pony. At the age of one and a half, grubs grow their exoskeleton, which gives them their horn, wings, and holed legs. At this stage, called the nymph stage, the nymph looks like what one would expect a young changeling to look. At the age of three, a changeling enters adulthood. This is because new workers are always needed, and the growth of a changeling is greatly accelerated. The changeling remains strong for most of its life. Its exoskeleton is replaced yearly, and only its inner skeleton suffers from the effects of age.

Returning to Reaper, he was only just entering the nymph stage when his brother disappeared. He wasn't killed, wasn't kidnapped. He simply disappeared. He was never found. At the age of two, Reaper's father committed his greatest and final act of valor. During an attack by Mitosis' forces, Husk was able to kill the evil king. This did not come without cost. Before the final battle, Osmosis was killed by a spy and Chrysalis was left a widow with a nymph to be raised. During the battle, Husk lost his left foreleg. The war ended that day.

Husk was greatly rewarded for his valiant courage and sacrifice. He received the medals, and was honorably discharged from service, but there was something special he got as well. His son, Reaper, was to be the Queen's personal student.

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A 19-year old Reaper walked down the hall. In his time, he had trained with the Queen in almost every subject needed to be a successful changeling. History, Foreign Languages, Military Strategy, the works. Reaper was trained from the start to be a general, just like his father. When he was 10, another civil war started. It ended the day after it began, thanks to his brilliant strategy. A few more battles with rogue changelings solidified his role as High General. This meant that he was not only the head of the army, but that he was also the Queen's personal military advisor. He was also the only changeling that could get away with refereing to Chrysalis by his pet name, Chryssie.

But that wasn't what was on Reaper's mind right then. What was on his mind was the changeling waiting for him at the end of the hallway. That changeling was the Queen's daughter, Princess Phasmi. They had become good friends during their long years together, but Reaper couldn't help but feel like there was something more. As he entered the room at the end of the corridor, he got a good look at the Princess herself. She was a little taller than him, with larger wings and a slimer build. Being a royal changeling, she was born with the pony-like mane and tail of her paents, as well as the cat-like eyes. Her eyes were a darker green than her mother's, and her hair too. She looked at Reaper with a sly look.

"And how may I help the High General this fine evening?" she asked mockingly.

Reaper smirked. "Her royal highness, also known as 'mother,' to you, has requested an audience. And you know just as well as I do what will happen if we don't attend."

Phasmi laughed. "Do you remember that time we disguised ourselves as manticores, and sent the entire council running?"

Reaper shared the laugh. "Or how about the time we got her drunk during that meeting with some nobles? Queen Chryssie sure got mad then," The pair continued to laugh their flanks off. The two lay in Phasmi's bed, staring at the ceiling.

Reaper was confused. What were these feelings he felt around Phasmi? Was it love? Or, food, as most changelings called it. Love was quite possibly the most well-known emotion to the changeling species. If only they could feed on the emotions left by other changelings, then all of their problems would be solved. But back to Phasmi, how could he love her? They were best friends, after all. And even if he did, how would he even know he loved her?

All of these questions raced through his mind as the princess got up. "Well, I suppose we should get going," she said. As the two walked down the corridor towards the meeting room, Reaper realized that he did love her. He stopped her right before they entered the chamber. "Phasmi?"

"Yes?"

Reaper gulped. "Just go with it,"

And then they kissed.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Two years later, Phasmi and Reaper's relationship was in full swing. Of course this made everybody happy. Few things made the Queen happy, but the sight of her daughter in love with the colt she had intended the entire time for her, that made her happy. And when the Queen was happy, the hive was happy. No matter how bad the situation might be.

And the situation was very bad, indeed. Hunger was at an all time high. Changeling excursions into other countries to steal emotions had become much harder. The griffins were on high alert, and news of their existence was spreading in both the Minotaur kingdom and Saddle Arabia. That left only one feasible option for prey. Equestria.

The changeling hive feared Equestria. To them, it was a place where they would never be welcomed, but more importantly, the most powerful country on the planet. Whoever angered Equestria was surely doomed. And so it was that a very important meeting had to take place between the Queen, her military advisor, and all of the generals of the Changeling Empire.

Reaper met with Chrysalis and his five subordinate generals a month before the invasion of Canterlot. The meeting did not go well.

"You stupid grub!" Reaper shouted at General Silicon, his most respected subordinate. "If you attack Canterlot, you will surely doom us all!"

"Well, I don't hear you coming up with any better ideas!"

"Yeah, you haven't come up with anything better!" General Copperhead helped. Silicon and Copperhead were well-known for working together.

The Queen had had enough. "SILENCE!" she shouted. All eyed turned to the Queen.

"Reaper," she said, "you know that I respect your opinion more than anyling else's, but you must see reason-"

"See reason? Oh, I see reason! And reason tells me, that attacking the capital fo the most powerful nation of the world is absolutely moronic!"

"Let me finish." Chrysalis said through gritted teeth. Reaper shut up, and the Queen regained her composure. "Although I agree that this is most certainly not the best strategy, the fact of the matter is we have no choice. The neares nation that might possibly be oblivious to our presence is an ocean away. There is just no convenient way to bring emotions back to the hive anymore without attacking Equestria! Look, if we can capture the capital in a surprise attack, then perhaps we may be able to conquer the rest of the nation more easily."

Reaper nodded. "Very well, Chryssie. Attack the ponies if you so desire. But if you do," he said, "I will not have any part of it,"

And then Reaper stormed out of the room.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

One does not need to be reminded of the results of the Canterlot invasion. Reaper and Phasmi themselves were not present. When the Queen returned, half of the army missing, and with barely enough emotions to last the hive a few more months, the reception was a sad and quiet one.

When Reaper and the Queen met again for the first time in a month, the first thing the Queen said was, "Now's the part where you get to say, 'I told you so.'"

Reaper grimaced. "For once, I don't want to."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Discontent spread throughout the hive very quickly. A few changelings began to question the Queen's rule. Why should they follow one who would only lead them to starvation? But there was only one changeling who questioned the Queen that mattered. That was Reaper.

True, his relationship with Phasmi kept him happy. But the Queen's failures were too much to overlook. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he would be a great king! Yes, one for the history books! The one who saved the changeling empire! And with Phasmi as his queen, there would be no stopping him!

And so he began to form a plan.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Queen Chrysalis had decided to adress the hive in a public meeting. There, whe would explain her plans for the changeling race, and the future of the clearly onrushing war. Reaper and Phasmi were present. Reaper had a large grin that he refused to explain to Phasmi. The Queen stood from her throne as the citizens filed into the huge auditorium.

"As I understand, there is some discontent among the masses," she said.

The crowd immediately exploded in a cacophony of noise. She raised a hoof in a gesture for silence.

"I do not, and never have, wanted war. And therefore, I will do everything in my power to prevent it. We have emotions to last us three more months. Then, necessarry actions must be taken. But stay strong, my subjects! We will do everything we can to get emotions! And with my daughter and High General at my side-"

"About that," Reaper interrupted. "My Queen, you know that I respect you more than anyling else in the whole world. But in the name of the Old Kings, you have acted very foalishly."

A gasp shook through the crowd. Chrysalis was shocked.

"You've had your run, but I'm afraid that your time is up. It's time to step aside, and let someling more suited take the throne. Someling like me,"

The crowd gasped a second time. Chrysalis couldn't believe he eyes. "Reaper, what are you doing?" Phasmi whispered harshly.

"Is that a threat?" the Queen asked.

Reaper checked the crowd. They hadn't moved. "Yes. Yes, my Queen, that is a threat. And I am sure that I am not alone among the hive when I say that it's time for a change in leadership."

To Reaper's surprise, not a single changeling had moved to side with him. None of them even made a noise to suggest that they supported him. You see, what Reaper had failed to take into consideration is that the hive loves the Queen. It is this affection for their ruler that keeps the entire political system running. One does not simply take that away.

The Queen's expression was tortured. Phasmi was crying in the corner. "Very well Reaper. If this is what you want, so be it. Face me in mortal combat then."

"Wait, what?"

Chrysalis normally would have smirked, but now was not the time or place. "Surely you knew that challenging a royal was punishable by death? If you wish to have the crown, you will have to kill me first."

Reaper did not take that into consideration. He turned to the crowd. He detected their emotions flowing toward the Queen. He knew that he had already lost.

The fight was brief, and anticlimatic. Reaper was defeated almost instantly. As the Queen charged her magic to deliver the final blow, Phasmi jumped between the fallen Reaper and her mother. "Please, don't!"

"He chose this himself! Out of the way!" The Queen pushed Phasmi out of the way, and prepared to blast Reaper. Reaper shielded his face in anticipation of the killing blow.

The blow never came. Chrysalis sighed. "High General Reaper," she said, "I hereby strip you of your rank, and exile you from these lands forever. You have ten minutes to gather your things. Guards, take him to his quarters,"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Reaper didn't think at all about what he shoved in the chest that he used to contain his only memorabalia. He was going to be leaving. Forever. Yet, he didn't care what he had to remember this place. He shoved things into the chest, and ten minutes later he was standing outside of the Changeling Hive. The Queen, Phasmi, and what seemed like the entire hive were there to witness his exile.

Before Reaper walked into the great unknown, he turned one last time. The Queen bore an expression of regret. And in that moment, he hated her more than anything in the universe. His only hope was that Phasmi would send him some sort of expression, something to suggest that everything would be alright. But what he saw was more hurtful than rage, sorrow, or even happiness at his leaving. As he looked at the beautiful face of the princess, he saw absolutely no expression. Their eyes met for a moment, until Phasmi left without a word. Reaper turned, tears staining his eyes, and began to walk. Then he began to run.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Hunger. Hunger was a horrible, evil thing. During the week following his exile, Reaper felt hunger like never before. Roaming a land, alone, completely devoid of emotion. It was horrible. He realized he had only one hope. He would have to enter Equestria. He would have to lie low, and hope he wasn't killed on sight. When he finally detected a whiff of happiness in the direction of what he assumed was Equestria, he began to walk in that direction.

But unlike scents, or sounds, or any other detectable thing, emotions can be detected quite a long way away from their actual point of origin. It would take another two weeks until Reaper reached his destination.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

It was during the second week of his travels that he found the bunker. He didn't know who built it, or why it was in the middle of a forest, but he did know shelter when he saw it. He entered the building. "Hello?" he called. There was no response.

As he entered the bunker, he quickly figured out that it was a laboratory. Papers and books lay in a disorderly fashion across tables and the floor. They were written in the pony language. He picked one up. "A Study on NecroRobotics," the title read. He flipped through it. Apparently, it was a study(obviously) about how to build a robot from existing organic material. According to the book's author, somepony named Sickle Star, machine and flesh could work together in a beautiful fashion so long as it was powered by magic, and the organic material was already dead. So was that what happened here? Did ponies try to build an undead robot? The blood-stain on the ground seemed to suggest that they had succeeded.

Reaper wandered the lab. There were no latent emotions here, only an eerie atmosphere. It wasn't until he found a room labeled "Controls," that he found something that he would come to loathe.

Inside the room was a small, robotic, cat skeleton. It seemed to be deactivated and unmoving. A large rectangular piece was missing from the back of its skull. Reaper found a rectangular object nearby, with various wires that seemed to fit into the hole. Was this why it was turned off? Reaper thought about it. A robot minion did sound like a neat hing to have around. He put the rectangular piece in.

Unfortunately, Reaper didn't know and would never know that he put the piece in upside-down. The robot immediately sprung to life. "Hi!" it shouted energetically in a high-pitched male voice.

Reaper was surprised. He imagined it would sound more....menacing. "Hello?"

"What's your name?"

"Reaper,"

"Yay! I have a boss!"

"Boss? I would prefer the term 'overlord,'"

"Whatever you say, Boss!"

Reaper was quickly getting annoyed. "What is your name, robot minion?"

"I'm SPUTNIK!"

"SPUTNIK? What does that stand for?"

"Uhhhh.....Super-Powerful-Unbelievably-Technological-Nextgeneration-Intelligence-Kat!"

Reaper blinked. "Cat is spelled with a C,"

"Nuh-uh!"

Reaper was very annoyed.

Throughout his interrogation of this annoying machine he discovered that it possessed no memory of anything other than its name. He resolved the Sputnik wasn't too bad, and allowed the robot to serve its new, "master,"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

As the two continued on their journey towards Equestria, Reaper explained his life to Sputnik. He found that the robot's emotions provided no nourishment, so he only kept him around for the sake of long-term benefits.

As the pony town reached visual range, Reaper turned to Sputnik. "Now, what have you learned?"

"The Queen is bad! Ponies are good!"

"Very good, Sputnik. Don't ever forget that,"

"Yes Sir!"

Reaper began to walk towards the town when Sputnik interrupted. "Wait, wasn't there someling else?"

Reaper looked at him blankly. "No, no there wasn't,"

"Yeah, yeah! The Princess, er, um....Phasmi!"

Reaper sighed. "Very well. What do we think of Princess Phasmi?"

"Just as bad as the Queen!"

Reaper looked at the ground sadly. "Yes. Just as bad as the Queen."

*  *  * *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Reaper was too weak to make a disguise. Three weeks of walking and listening to the moronic machine had rendered him too exhausted to pull it off. That meant his only hope would be acceptance by the pony community. He gulped as he walked through the town. Ponies stared at him. He tried to keep his cool as he walked up to a stage. The ponies gathered around.

"Attention! Attention, please!"

The ponies all looked at him.

"Hello! As you can see, I'm not from around here! Don't worry, I share no allegiance with the Queen you all fear so much. I'm just here to live out my life. So just don't bother me, I won't bother you, and I think we'll get along just fine."

WIth that, he got off the stage. Over the next couple of days he bought his house, as well as all of the stuff to furnish it. He had sold some of his artifacts from the hive to the local museum, and made more than enough money from that. Ponies didn't seem to mind his presence. One day, while taking a recon stroll, he found a top hat laying on the ground. It was love at first sight. Ever since, Reaper and Hatty were inseperable.

Reaper discovered something horrible. He didn't know where the hive was. It's a horrible thing to not be able to find where you grew up. That was the purpose of the Conspiracy Wall. Here, he palnned his glorius return. After he met Lightning, WIllus, and Shamrock, he knew what he would do. With them at his side, he would raise an army. Then he would go back, and take all that was rightfully his. But first, he had to find it.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

It was here that Reaper's flashback made a bizarre twist, as it went back. Far back. To the day when he first met the Queen. He was 2. His exoskeleton had grown in, and he was enjoying all of the perks taht came with it for the first time. Climbing up walls, using magic, flying. It was a mess. The Queen entered the room of the young Reaper. His brother was already gone by that time. The war had been won, but the cost weighted heavily on her.

"Hello," she said sweetly to the nymph bouncing around the room.

Reaper immediately stopped as he saw the presence of his Queen.

"My Queen!" he said with a firm salute. Chrysalis smiled at the sight. "At ease, soldier," she said.

Reaper sat down and looked up at here with big, quizzical eyes."What are you doing in my room, your Highness?" he asked.

The Queen sighed. "I am going to be your new student, young one. I will teach you all you need to know to survive,"

Reaper seemed excited. "Really? I get to learn from the Queen herself?"

Chrysalis smiled. "Yes, Reaper. We will start this coming monday. Tell me, what would you like to learn about?"

Reaper spared no time in his reply. "I wanna learn how to be general just like Daddy!"

Chrysalis grimaced as memories of the war resurfaced. "Well, we can get to that after we finish the basics,"

"Awww!"

"Now, now. It's time for you to go to bed,"

"But I don't wanna go to bed!"

Chrysalis rubbed his head. "If you don't go to bed, the wait to begin studies will seem much longer. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"No, I guess not,"

Chrysalis tucked Reaper in bed. "Thank you, my Queen," he said.

"Oh, just call me Chryssie," She replied fondly.

Reaper giggled in nymphish glee. "Thank you, Chryssie,"

"Your welcome," Chrysalis was almost out of the room when Reaper called again. "Chryssie?"

"Yes?"

"Can you sing m a lullaby? I can't sleep without it,"

Chrysalis was shocked. She had never sung a lullaby before. She would have to make it up as she went along. "I don't think so," she said.

"Please? Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplea-"

"Hush! (Link, copyright Disney) Hush, my little one. You must be exhausted.

Chrysalis: Sleep, my little Reaper,

Let your dreams take wing.

One day when you're big and strong,

You'll serve me, your Queen."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Reaper awoke from his memories with a start, not realizing he had fallen asleep. He woke up Sputnik with a harsh shove, and when asked what was the matter, began to sing.

Reaper: I've been exiled, persecuted,

Left alone with no defense.

When I think of what those two did,

I get a little tense.

But the war is not yet over,

So I don't feel so depressed,

And my dreams these days are splendid,

And they help me get some rest!

The sound of Chryssie's dying gasp!

Her daughter squeeling in my grasp!

Her loyal soldiers' mournful cry!

That's my lullaby!

Now the past I've tried forgetting,

And my foes I could forgive.

Trouble is, I know it's petty,

But I hate to let them live!

Sputnik: So you've found yourself someponies

Who'll chase Chryssie up a tree?

Reaper: Oh, the battle may be bloody,

But that kinda works for me.

The melody of angry brawls!

A counterpoint of painful howls!

A symphony of death, oh my!

That's my lullaby!

My old plan failed, but Reaper's still around!

To take the changeling lands,

Even if they think I'm a killer,

With a lust for being bad!

Sputnik thought about his master's plan for a moment. "I still don't see how this is gonna work, and-Oh! my part's coming up!"

Sputnik: One day when you're strong once more,

Reaper: I will be a king!

Then, in Reaper's mind, and an army of imaginary ponies appeared.

Reaper: The pounding of the drums of war!

My loyal army's mighty roar!

Imaginary Pony 1: The joy of vengeance!

Imaginary Pony 2: Testify!

Reaper: I can hear the cheering!

Imaginary Army: Reaper, what a guy!

Reaper: Payback time is nearing,

And then my flag will fly,

Against a blood-red sky!

All: That's my lullaby!