The Rise of Wrath

Diceroll tapped the keyboard madly. A grand admiral....

"Computer, search all known changeling grand admirals of the Airfleet. I'd like a list."

"Of course General." The words scrolled across the screen.

Several seconds later, it came up with a short list. Diceroll swiped through it, until he came across one that caught his eye:

Grand Admiral Wrath

Gender: ?

Age: ?

Subspecies: Unicorn

End of data

That's it?

Diceroll scratched his head. A unicorn grand admiral? Heck, a unicorn changeling? They must be rare. He had never heard of them. Odd.

However, before he could contemplate more, the door into the royal archives blew open.

"General!" Erasalo gasped. "We need you now. Hostages, changelings, Manehatten, bomb, demands, Long Shot, 2nd Regiment, and Sal are en route."

Diceroll lept up. "Let's go."

...

Ten minutes later, on a fast gunship flight from Canterlot to Manehatten...

Diceroll stood as the on-board screen lit up, revealing Sal.

Diceroll smiled. "Hey Sal. What's going on?"

Sal smiled. "Hey Diceroll. Some mean changelings barged into a populated office building in downtown Manehatten. They claim they have a bomb, and, even worse, their commander keeps claiming that the leader of the entire changeling remnants in the country, some Grand Admiral, is in the building. They demand all of Equestria's military lay down their weapons or else they'll execute the hostages and blow the bomb, which, by current readings, can take out an entire city block."

Diceroll paled. "What's the task force's commander's name?"

"A Lord Captain Fenris Lore."

Erasalo choked loudly. "Sal, what did you just say?"

Sal scrunched up, as though confused. "Captain Fenris Lore. Is he important somehow?"

Erasalo nodded. "You bet! Remember that changeling hunt we organized while the general was away? That entire thing was based on chasing down that captain!"

Dicerolls eyes widened. "You arranged a changeling hunt? Without me?! Oh well. Sal, where are you and Long Shot?"

"We're outside with the police and royal guard. The Manehattens above us. Oops, Long Shot wants to see you!"

A second later, Sal's face was replaced by Long Shot's. "Hey General. We've got maybe four dozen SWAT troopers down here, along with another dozen Royal Guards and the fifty of us. We've set up a road block surrounding the area. Everypony in surrounding buildings have been evacuated. The changelings are just inside, or so the unicorns are telling me."

Diceroll nodded. "Alright. I'm on my way. I need you to..."

Suddenly, the screen crackled up, revealing a changeling. "Ah, Brigadier General Diceroll. Good to meet you. And you as well, Erasalo, although, the same honors don't extend to you. We met, remember?"

Erasalo, through clenched teeth, replied. "Yes, Fenris. How you been?"

"Fine, thank you. However, I'm not here to talk idle chit-chat. The Admiral wishes to speak to you personally, Diceroll. A phone to the left of you will ring soon. Please pick it up. Fenris out." With that, the screen blinked out.

Diceroll opened his mouth to start ranting when the emergency phone to his left rang. He sighed, and picked up. As he did so, the airship touched down on one of Manehatten's skyscrapers.

"Hello?" Diceroll asked patiently.

"Ah, Diceroll. A pleasure to meet you. I hear you are just outside the building me and my companions are inside. Great. Your superior will be arriving soon. I'd like you to inform him that you were indeed correct. You are chasing a major threat. Tell him that the threat can easily be taken care of, with the push of a button, and mention the word Eclipse. And yes, I'm a grand admiral. I'm sure you already figured out half of my identity already, however. And I want you to send a message. To your superiors, to all of Equestria. This is the message, so listen closely. You may not yet realize it, but war is upon you, and it will destroy you. You cannot win. I will burn your cities. I will crush your creations. I will shred your ponies to nothing but ribbons. And death will come slowly, but you will live in constant fear. City by city, town by town, I will take them apart. One by one, until you have nothing left. And you will die fearing my name! You will die fearing the name of Wrath! So Diceroll, tell your superiors to fear me! For they should. They will learn today that they need to fear me. I so many innocents at the grasp of my hoof. I could kill them all with but a gesture. My demands are simple. Tell Celestia to surrender her thrown, and all her military to stand down under the might of the Changeling Airfleet! Those are my demands. If they are not fufilled in the next 12 hours, forty two ponies die, and the city block will go with them. And one last thing. Your negotiator, for you will obviosuly send one, must not be military, must have no combat training whatsoever, and must meet one requirement. He must be 16 years old or younger. I hope we understand each other. If any of these requirements are failed, the civilians die, and the bomb goes off. Those are your two choices. So, now that I believe we understand each other, I'd like to ask you something personal, Diceroll. You're a gambler, right? I must ask, how will you do this? Will you fold, and give up? Will you try to win, despite knowing your cards are inferior? Or will you play by the only set of rules that allows you to at all come out victorious. My rules. The clock is ticking Diceroll. Spend that time wisely. Goodbye."