Irradiated Changes

***

War. War never changes.

In the wake of the irradiated disaster that became known as the 2077 apocalypse, mankind has crawled forth from the ashes to pick up the pieces of its shattered existence and begin anew, forming tribes and societies. Some even tried to stick to the ways of the Old World as others adapted to the new. It was here, the Lone Wanderer, James LeBlanc Junior, left the safety of Vault 101 and opened a new chapter for Mankind and, more specifically, the bombed out ruins of Washington DC, known to its inhabitants as, simply, The Capital Wasteland. Working alongside the Brotherhood of Steel, he continued his parent's dream of bringing new life to its people, protecting those who faced annihilation at the hands of the Enclave; the Old World government who sought to exterminate all that was touched by the nuclear fires they themselves had brought upon the world. It was here, almost two months after, that-. What the-?!

***

Well, that takes care of that Dully-Mc-Dullerson!

Ugh, Pinkie...! Fine. This works, I guess...

***

Now, where were we? Oh, right! Since the dawn of Equestria, back when the three tribes of Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns united under the Equestrian flag, harmony and peace have reigned throughout the land. Such concepts of strife and war were unknown to its common inhabitants. For years, The Royal Guard acted as little more than a traditional defensive force should the nation be invaded by a foreign power. Long after its founding, the harmony Equestria became known for came to an end with the release of Nightmare Moon, who spread night eternal across the land. Of Discord, spreading Chaos and Disharmony across its ponies...

It was not, however, the end of the era of peace, as everypony predicted. Instead, one unicorn united the three races once more, stronger than ever, to wield the most powerful weapon in Equestrian history; The Elements of Harmony. With a wave of prismatic light, Nightmare Moon's darkness was stripped away, opening the corrupted heart of Princess Celestia's sister and the protector of the night, Princess Luna. Discord was, for the second time, encased in stone and returned to his place within the Palace Gardens. It opened up the next chapter in Equestrian history... but...

War. War never really changes.

Hidden from Equestria for years, the mighty Changeling Empire slowly turned its hungering gaze upon the nation of love and tolerance, sending out scouts to recon its borders, and find weaknesses. After months of preparation and planning, the Changeling Queen herself, Queen Chrysalis, left her place in the southern badlands to infiltrate the royal wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, sealing away the bride and controlling the groom with her manipulative magic and using him as a battery from which she began to draw unimaginable powers.

Once again, the lone unicorn sought to protect the land. However, as was the case with Nightmare Moon in the beginning of the tale, her warnings fell on deaf ears. Sensing the threat of discovery nonetheless, Chrysalis sealed the unicorn alongside the trapped Princess, thinking her dealt with. This, in turn, proved to be the creation of her own downfall.

The two ponies, united at long last, escaped their imprisonment beneath the palace and returned to the surface, revealing the Changeling Queen and her schemes. It was here, on the very threshold of either victory or defeat, that Queen Chrysalis revealed herself, and set her plan’s final stage into motion. In one fell swoop, the shields around the capital crumbled, her Swarm of changelings forcing their way in and overwhelming the Royal Guard through sheer numbers alone. Desperate, Princess Celestia once again called for the Elements of Harmony to save them...

Except they were never wielded. The six element bearers were stopped at the gates, and the Elements of Harmony remained untouched as their wielders were swiftly captured and brought before the Queen of the Changelings. It seemed as if, truly, Chrysalis had won, toppling the great nation within a few short hours. With the only threats to her power defeated or impossible to reach, her victory seemed to be finalized. Gloating in victory, she realized too late that the very source of her immense power was beginning to turn against her. The love between the bride and groom of what was the be the perfect wedding began to quickly build, until at last it exploded with a force that would cast every changeling out of the capital, back to the Badlands from which they had came.

It is here, within one such instance of the event, that things deviated from the norm. It is here, Queen Chrysalis made a gamble, and unintentionally stepped away from the source of love her nation so desperately needed to survive, passing across the edges of time and space.

***

And into a place where war... war never changes...

***

This, Chrysalis determined, was far from perfect. She was to be on the edge of glory, basking in the glow of a newly conquered capital! Celestia now lay defeated, the six ponies capable of stopping her were captured, and the entire Royal Guard was either captured or outnumbered twenty to one! Except she was not. She was staring in panic at the two ponies she thought the least capable of defeating her, the very bride and groom she had manipulated and controlled, preparing a spell that would, in all likelihood, overload her body with enough love and magic to throw her back to the badlands. Months of planning, gone, because of two ponies? Impossible! She had worked too hard for her Swarm for this to happen!

But already she knew it was too late to stop them. Even if she attacked now, the spell would still go off, every ounce of force still behind it. Left with no quick solution, the Changeling Queen's mind ran through every possible spell and idea she could think of, before finally seizing onto one like it was the only chance she had of keeping her hard-fought plan.

It was not the best plan. In fact, it called for a massive bluff and the hopes that she could still control the nine or so largest threats to her power with only a small force, but it was an all or nothing gamble. A simple teleportation spell of herself and the few changelings around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony to send them behind the blast as it raced towards them would, at least in theory, allow them to remain unaffected, and still be in relative control of the immediate room.

All she had to do was use the ponies within the chamber as hostages to keep the Royal Guard at bay, assuming they had not already been trapped in the same cocoons she had placed Celestia in. If so, then all the better. If not, then she had to go with her original plan and make due with what she had...

Already the blast had gone off, and she could practically feel the raw power and love overloading the bodies of herself and her changelings. In a split-second of thought, she relayed her plan and orders to the few changelings she intended to keep with her via the collective mind of the Swarm, commonly called the hivemind. This rough collection of warriors that formed her Elite Guard were all that she would be able to save, but it would be enough. It would have to be. She began to cast her spell, her Elite Guard doing their best to add their magical power to hers.

Instead of the desired 'Wink Out' she intended, however, Chrysalis felt her body burn in unseen fire, the world becoming a blur of color, light, and sound. She suddenly heard thousands of voices cry out her name. The voices of her changelings. Her children, calling for their mother, only to be silenced. They were not dead, but fading from the collective hivemind of the Swarm which she led. Instead, it was just herself and the Elite Guard, and still they too cried out for her, as well as their brothers and sisters. For once, Chrysalis cried out with them, her silent screams going unanswered as darkness slowly encompassed her...

***

"LeBlanc, sometimes I wonder if you're as psychotic as the scum you kill, or just overly dramatic." Sentinel Lyons muttered, the hastily snapped-on helmet causing bits of her hair to stick into her field of vision. For once, her signature ponytail did nothing to help keep the faded blonde from obscuring her vision.

Knight James LeBlanc Jr. aka The Lone Wanderer, just leaned back on the Experimental MIRV like he didn't have a care in the world. Stripped out of his own power armor, he was taking in the rads through the flimsy Vault 101 jumpsuit he always wore underneath anything and everything in his wide variety of armors and clothing. It was like a second skin to him, in a way. He chuckled before he answered her, "Probably a bit of both, Sentinel. Doing okay in there?"

Sarah Lyons sighed, silently putting a hand to her faceplate and shaking her head, "You're insane. Fucking. Insane."

James shrugged his shoulders, pulling a Nuka Cola out of his suit’s hip pocket and popping the cap off, "I like to think of myself as efficient. What do you think, Gallows?"

The near-silent Knight Captain remained as stoic as ever behind his helmet, earning a shrug from the currently rad-absorbing vault dweller, "Eh, thought Glade would've liked it at least. Not every day I get to one-up him by killing an army with one pull of the trigger..." he took a sip of the Pre-War beverage.

It was then that Gallows actually spoke up, though his voice remained as calm and emotionless as ever, "Someone was in that blast."

The two Pride members, one who hadn't run at the first sight of the MIRV and the other being crazy enough to fire it, turned to look at their comrade. One was in unseen shock while the other was trying to hold his Nuka Cola in disbelief. James took a hard swallow and let out a cough, "H-How do you..." he coughed again, "know?"

In response, Gallows raised his head slightly to look up into the clouds, shielding his eyes from the glare, "Because Super Mutants aren't black and blue, and they're not light enough to fly a quarter mile into the air."

The Lone Wanderer fumbled with the scope of his Reservist's Rifle, quickly putting the crosshairs over the small dots his fellow Brotherhood member pointed out. With practiced but shaking motions, he began cranking the scope's magnification as far as it could go. What he saw was roughly five, no, six all-black figures with specks of blue dotting their bodies. They were flying high up into the air, slowing down as time went on. It didn't take a genius to realize soon they'd reach the arc of their ascent, only to go hurtling to the ground and land in what probably James himself couldn't even survive, fancy twists in his DNA or not.

While normally black would set off Enclave warning bells in the Knight's head, the touches of blue seemed to at least raise doubt into this. That and James, as crazy as he was with heavy ordinance, was not about to let innocents die because of his own actions.

So, to him at least, it seemed perfectly natural to throw on his Winterized suit of T51-b Power Armor, click the MIRV and Reservist's to his back, and run full-tilt towards the tallest hill in the area. He quickly began working on unbuckling Miss Launcher from his suit as he went, a plan forming within his mind.

For a moment, Gallows and Lyons just stood there, watching the savior of what was probably the entire East Coast of the Wasteland as he ran after what, for all they knew, really was black and blue Super Mutants, "..."

"...We should probably go after him, make sure he doesn't get himself nearly killed, again..." Sarah muttered, watching him charge in the direction of both the figures and, probably, another crazy-as-hell adventure that seemed to just fall into his lap.

Gallows watched as well, though for him it was with a small smile at just how near-suicidal the Knight was when it came to helping others, "...Probably."

James, of course, wasn't paying attention to the conversation his squad-mates were having, short as it was. He was already loading a personally-made 'High-Explosive' missile into the barrel of Miss Launcher, charging to the top of the hill and preparing for one of his stupider, yet (possibly) highly effective, risks. Maybe he should find an Old World video camera and start filming them for some cheap laughs...

That idea would have to make itself known later, however, as currently he had civilians to save. Thankfully, enough practice with the pneumatic launcher-style weapon had made him learn trajectory and angles well enough to time the shot and placement... relatively right. Okay, maybe not; he was just guessing on the specifics, but the general angle and the slowing speed of his targets made it a point where accuracy wasn't necessary to get as close as he needed. Actually, surviving the launch and landing would be the hard parts. He'd probably be fine, what with the massive amounts of radiation charging his twisted DNA to heal crippled limbs and all...

Still. Best to be ready to fire himself into the epicenter of the MIRV’s blast if he had to.

He pulled the trigger, seeing the bright orange tip that marked a 'High-Explosive' round, fly out of the barrel and into the dirt. They were, in actuality, a Mini Nuke he'd disassembled and scrapped for several smaller nuclear warheads. What happened next was fairly simple; the force threw his power-armored body up at the proper angle towards the black and blue figures while he strapped Miss Launcher onto his back again. He quickly realized a couple of things as he got close enough, however. Ones that, while abnormal, barely phased the man who’d gone through and seen worse things in his life.

For one, the creatures weren't human. That much was obvious by the black chitin and bug wings, not to mention the much smaller size, even if one of them was somewhat larger. For another, they were either unconscious or just scared out of their minds, as their eyes were closed and tears lined the faces of a couple of them. Finally, they were alive, nuclear blast or no; not even signs of ghoulification or fairly obvious radiological mutation. It was like the Wasteland had given them a free pass or something. Or maybe their obviously different bodies were used to it.

James was starting to regret not taking that Etymologist Perk now as he reached out, grabbing and clustering the creatures as close to himself as he could. It wasn't overly hard, given the size of the... things. Sometimes it just paid to have good reflexes, Pre-War tech or no, and to be a bit generous with your help to others.

Now to just land and not end up with bug guts instead of live bugs... Er... bug-like... things. Bugs. Until he found different he considered them bugs. He checked his Pip-Boy, thankfully still on the locations setting, and found himself flying over the Abandoned Car Fort, near the river. Mostly irradiated water, but water nonetheless. All he had to do was break the surface tension, land, and swim to shore, bugs in tow...

That was the plan, at least. For all he knew he'd gotten the angle wrong and he'd slam into a truck or something. It'd certainly be one of those days if it happened. He twisted his head to do a few sloppy calculations within his mind, figuring he'd land in deep-enough water if he timed it right. He took a deep breath and thanked God for letting man develop the technology currently in his body, then did as many things as he could in the span of a few short seconds. First he pulled one arm away from the bugs in his grasp and under his arms, doing his best to not let go of any of them. After doing this, he then ripped the emergency release of his armor off, the main body and attached components and weapons falling off and hitting the water, slowing his descent slightly. He then turned his body so that his elbow would hit the water first, hopefully keeping the bugs free of anything more than a lukewarm bath.

By that time he didn't have a chance to do more. James slammed into the water at what was thankfully little less than a teeth-rattling jar and the sudden weightlessness that followed. The broken tension and elbow-drop into the river helped keep him oriented enough, where he kicked to the surface, doing his best to keep the bug's heads above water. It turned out to be an ultimately moot gesture, however, when they began floating of their own accord. This was, of course, excluding their legs, which let water through on account of the... holes, in them. Sure, why not? For all he knew it was some integral part of their surviving in the wasteland. He'd ask Rothchild about it back at the Citadel.

Making sure they would stay afloat, and were still unconscious, which they were, he then ripped off his helmet and took another gulp of air. Quickly, he began to repeatedly dive under the water to retrieve his weapons and the rest of his armor.

Just another day in the Capital Wasteland.

***

By the time James had gotten his weapons to the Car Fort, Gallows and Lyons had led the rest of the Pride inside to rest. Dusk and Kolvin had taken up overwatch while Vargas and Glade went to take stock and plan their next movements. Kodiak joined the Sentinel and stoic Knight Captain on their approach to James. It was in fact Kodiak himself that posed the question to The Lone Wanderer, “Landed in the river?”

James spit out the cap from his Nuka Cola earlier, having tucked the piece of metal into his cheek when tossing on his power armor, “Softest thing I could think of. Any other survivors?”

Sentinel Lyons shook her head, “None that didn’t need a micro-fusion cell. Where are yours?”

The Knight jerked his head towards the river, “Floating. Current hasn’t moved them the entire time. They don’t look like any survivors I’ve seen before either.”

He could almost feel Sarah’s eyebrow creep up an inch or so, “...Hostile?”

The soaking wet man shrugged, “Unconscious, with a couple of tear stains maybe. Figured I’d stay behind and find out if they’re friendly or not regardless. You know how I get.”

She sighed, crossing her arms and looking out at the sunset, “Might as well stay too, then. Sun’s going down, and this is as good a place as any to make camp.”

The Sentinel turned to Kodiak, “Keep your sledge handy, Kodiak. I’m not taking any chances with these... what were they?”

James pocketed the cap, shrugging his shoulders, “Bugs, from what I can tell. Not the standard Radroach or Giant Ant either. They're mostly black and covered in overlapping... chitin? Yeah, that.”

The younger of the two Lyons pulled off her helmet, pinching the bridge of her nose as she clipped the piece of armor to her waist, “Why does weird shit always happen to the Pride when you’re around?”

The Knight shrugged, pulling a pair of binoculars from his gear and checking the other side of the river for hostiles before he swam out again, “I think it’s just a magnetic personality.”

“Or the ten thousand cap price Jabsco put on your head after you castrated him.” Gallows muttered, earning a slight chuckle from each of the four.

A smirk crossed James' lips as he stopped laughing, “Ah, good times... I’ll be back in a minute.”

With their plan made and an area to secure, the three main Pride members went off to do their business. James gave a small smile, tossed the magnifying Old World device onto his pile of gear, and turned around before backflipping into the river, off to collect the bugs. He and Sarah just seemed to connect like that; a few words and they could decide on a decent course of action. Nothing like she and Vargas, but close enough. Glade once joked with him that it was a lover’s connection or something, but the Lone Wanderer figured it was just from serving in the Pride for so long. Or just a similar mindset, considering how the two seemed to have a similar philosophy in most respects relating to the Brotherhood’s role in the Wasteland.

He kicked to the surface again, finding the insects still floating aimlessly. The Knight swam over to the largest one, who seemed to have much more detail and difference from the rest, and went to check for... well, life signs. He knew the human body inside and out, to the point he often served as the Pride’s field medic, but insects were outside of his medical expertise. That being said, he could do little more than determine it was breathing by the gentle rush of air from what appeared to be its snout. He sighed and swam over to the others, checking for a similar sign.

***

Chrysalis’ mind was awake long before her body.

Her head still roiled with thoughts and emotions, trying to comprehend what the buck had just happened. Then everything slammed back into focus as memories raced through her mind.

Thousands of her children, silenced in an instant. Even with what few were left, the Changeling Queen experienced something she’d not felt in centuries. It was like a large, gaping hole within her soul. Something she had not felt since decades ago.

Loneliness. the thought echoed in the depths of Chrysalis’ mind. So used to the thoughts of thousands of others, it now felt hollow and lifeless to even think, let alone live in its entirety.

The Changeling Queen clenched her eyes and jaw tightly as the emotional mask of composure that she almost always wore threatened to shatter. She refused to show such weakness visibly, no matter the location or company. Her Elite Guard, were they not asleep, would see through it perfectly, but she had long ago lost the will to care if her children saw her true side. It was much like a defensive mechanism; something she’d had nearly from birth.

As if to spite her, the queen’s mind brought up the words of her mother, A Queen must always appear calm and commanding. Even during the most stressful of situations, you carry on your shoulders the weight of an entire Swarm, my child. Remember that, for you are the face upon which all who live within this hive must be seen.

”Hey, one of the bugs is moving...” the voice, unfamiliar as it was, gave her pause. Had she been captured after blacking out? Given how things were already going, she would not be surprised in the slightest. Yet a curiosity lay within the obviously masculine voice.

Chrysalis’ train of thought was suddenly detailed upon feeling cold, rough metal touching the thinner chitin of her stomach. Regardless of the chill and texture, she refused to move, let alone acknowledge her captors. If they wanted information so badly, they would have to try more effective methods to even so much as hole her attention.

“Vargas, no offense, but do you think poking a possibly dangerous bug with your weapon is a good idea?” a second voice, this one female, had posed the question. Just how many were there?

The Changeling Queen kept listening. It was at this time a third voice, this one male like the first’s, broke in,  “Probably not. Got any better ideas, ma’am?”

“Hang on. I’ve got just the thing. This works on Dogmeat every time I think he’s passed...” the crunching of hooves on dirt followed a fourth voice, masculine like the others. A moment passed between the voices before the scent of lukewarm soup assaulted the Changeling Queen’s nostrils.

So at the very least they were unaware of changeling diet, and probably changelings themselves, given the crude use of the word bug to describe them. Useful, if she had to manipulate her way out of the situa-

Blurgle...

As if to spite her and ruin her original plan, Chrysalis’ stomach rumbled with hunger, though it was for love, not noodles. This was slightly concerning to the Changeling Queen, as she was full, overstuffed even, during the invasion and the hours leading up to it. It couldn’t have been that long ago, could it? How long were she and her changelings unconscious?

“See? It’s probably just-.” at that point Chrysalis gave a mental sigh and considered Plan A impossible. If they thought she was just faking it, they likely wouldn’t leave until she decided to ‘wake up’ and show signs of consciousness beyond a rumbling stomach.

So, naturally, she moved on to Plan B. Plan B, of course, was the tried and true method that any changeling worth their exoskeleton would fall back on.

That being, obviously, to manipulate her way out.

She opened a bleary eye and did her best to make eye-contact with the figure standing over her, moving her gaze towards the top of its body, “Trying to ignore you.”

The off-grey-white creature, obviously a biped, and therefore not a pony, stepped back in another crunch of dirt. When it spoke, its voice was loud and full of shock, with a slight tinge of fear hidden beneath, “Holy shit! It talks!”

***

James took a stumbling step back, landing into the steadying arms of Glade and Vargas. The former of the two was staring in surprise. As usual, Vargas kept one hand on his laser rifle, muttering to himself, “What in the Hell...?”

The bug slowly sat up, rubbing its eyes with its hole-filled front legs as if it were a human. Instead of the multi-faceted lenses of most insects, it possessed surprisingly humanoid eyes of a vibrant green. Said eyes quickly turned to him, caught between a glare and a glance of curiosity.

James gulped, then glanced back at the others and let out a forced chuckle, “...Uh... so... I guess the guy who brought the potentially dangerous and sentient insects into camp should risk his own ass on diplomacy?”

In response, the two Paladins shove him to his feet with a pair of scoffs from their mouths, putting him a few steps closer to the odd creature. The Knight chuckled weakly, glancing back over his shoulder, “I take it that’s a yes?”

The winter camouflaged man turned his head back around, “So, you can clearly fake being asleep, and you can understand me. Can you talk?”

In response, its ears, or what at least looked like ears, folded down below the off-pale blue hair atop its head. Its bright green gaze tracked his movements with careful precision, a higher intelligence behind them that was likely at, or possibly even greater than, that of a human’s.

When it spoke, its voice contained within it a refined quality that reminded him of the wealthy in Tenpenny Tower, though it lacked the same snobbishness. Instead, it carried a cautious edge and a duality of voice that was one part normal and one part echoing buzz, which burrowed into his head like a thousand tiny pinpricks of individual voices whispering all at once, “...You’re not a pony.”

The statement struck him as odd. As far as The Lone Wanderer knew, ponies, or any equine for that matter, was likely dead and gone from the Capital Wasteland, “Uh... no, I’m not. Wait, what?”

The insect turned its neck sharply, earning a slight popping sound before it returned its head to a normal position, “A pony. I assume you were sent here to collect myself and my changelings, correct?”

Changelings? Okay, so at least they now had a way to properly identify what they were dealing with.

James cleared his throat, drawing out the first word awkwardly to break the growing silence, “...Yeeeah, I guess. Gallows spotted you and the other... changelings, right?  He saw them flying through the air after that nuke went off. I, ah, flew up and kept you from becoming a stain on the Wasteland’s front lawn.”

Not the whole truth, but the gist of it.

The changeling-insect nodded slightly, though puzzlement had been on its face at the word ‘nuke’. It took him a moment to realize it was looking over the entire Pride warily, and not just himself. When it spoke, however, it still addressed only James himself, “... I suppose if this is  the extent of alien diplomacy for your kind, then I am inclined to thank you and this... Gallows, for your aid.”

James coughed, rubbing the back of his head with a gloved hand, “I honestly wouldn’t bother with the guy. By now he’s probably heard you and gone off to kill more Super Mutants or something. He’s... not really the most social guy in the Wasteland.”

He bent down to her level, attempting to establish some form of equality by being down at her height. When he was standing, she roughly came up to the bottom of his rib cage when lying on her stomach, her horn’s tip ending just around of his armor’s breastplate.

The Knight gave a slight smile as he offered her a hand to shake, “I’m Knight James LeBlanc Junior, of the Brotherhood of Steel’s Lyons Pride. Though, to be honest, most just call me The Lone Wanderer.”

The changeling looked at the hand, then slowly extended one of its front legs to his grasp, sharing a small shake, “An... interesting, title. You don’t seem to be doing much lone wandering at the moment.”

As if to emphasize her point she cast a quick glance off to the side, sweeping her gaze over the rest of the Pride once more.

James chuckled, attempting to see the humor in it and break the tension, “Not at the moment, no. The title’s just sort of stuck with me as I through life. Mind if I ask your own name, ma’am?”

The female changeling sighed, clearly unimpressed as it stood up to its full height. James did so as well, and realized with a bit of shock that the changeling actually surpassed himself in height alone, standing just a couple inches above his roughly five-foot-eight at five-foot-ten. In terms of overall size, she was a bit bigger than the average person, but definitely smaller than the average Super Mutant. Granted, it would be a Super Mutant standing on all-fours, but the point remained.

She spoke again as he stood up, “Queen Chrysalis, of the Changeling Empire...” she glanced around one last time, then sighed, “I’m not in Equestria, or on Equis, anymore, am I?”

“...Equestria, ma’am?” James asked, confusion lacing his voice.

The name didn't ring any bells to the Knight, that was for sure...

Chrysalis averted her gaze, looking up into the sky, “...The nation, and respective planet, of which I was on before the arrival of myself and what few of my changelings arrived with me.” she looked down and jerked her chin in the direction of the other, unconscious changelings near the small campfire they’d set up.

That would probably explain the lack of familiarity, “...Unfortunately not. You’re in the Capital Wasteland; the bombed out ruins of what was once Washington in the District of Columbia, part of the United States on planet Earth.”

The Changeling Queen nodded slowly, her eyes drifting down in thought. Eventually, she looked back up at him with a gaze and determination that was rare for anyone in the Wastes. It was a look that spoke volumes to The Lone Wanderer, “...Which one of you soldiers is the leader?”

James stood up as the rest of the Pride parted for Sarah to stand beside him, her helmet still off, “That would be me; Sarah Lyons, leader of the Pride and daughter of our Elder Lyons. No disrespect, but we’ve never encountered something like you before. Mind if I ask a few questions regarding why you’re here?”

“...I can think of a few reasons; Magical feedback, improper timing, love overdose...” she listed off aimlessly, clearly not caring for the obviously raised eyebrow that Sarah and James himself gave her.

She looked over at them, then shook her head slightly, “For now, since I’m outnumbered and outclassed as far as arms and armor is concerned, let’s say that I come in peace and mean no harm. No offense, but I have more important things to do than start another war.”

Her eyes moved up and down as her gaze shifted to the Sentinel, “I assume this Elder is your entire nation’s leader?”

Sarah paused, and the two shared a glance a moment before she nodded, “...He is the Brotherhood of Steel’s leader, yes. I’m sure he’d like to know about you as much as you would like to know why you’re here. Perhaps we can help each other. Would you be willing to accompany us back to the Citadel? I’m willing to bet between the Scribes and your own knowledge that we could work something out.”

The changeling and the Sentinel held their gaze for a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity. Finally, it was Chrysalis who spoke first, “I see no reason not to.”

She turned away, walking towards the edge of the fort without a glance back at them, “If you’ll excuse me, I wish to be alone with my thoughts.”

With that, the wings tucked behind her body spread out wide, flapping rapidly like a boatfly’s as she flew off into the night. A silence formed between the men and women of Lyons Pride, finally broken when Sarah and James turned to face the rest of the Pride. James spoke first, attempting to joke, but the words were somber in his speech, “...For the record, at least things haven’t started exploding... yet.”

Sarah turned to the Knight, giving him an even look, then turned back to the others, “Alright. This changes nothing as far as our mission goes. We return to the Citadel and inform the Brotherhood of the Mutant’s defeat and keep away from Ground Zero for a few weeks until radiation levels die down. Unless she tries something, treat the Changeling Queen with about the same respect you gave LeBlanc when we met him. We don’t know jack shit about her yet, so she’s a wild card until we learn more.”

A few of the Pride nodded, but most stood in silent acknowledgement. Sensing nobody else was going to speak up, the Sentinel continued, “We’re already near the exfiltration point at the Relay Station, so unless anyone has any objections, we’re moving out at first light. Get some sleep people. You’re gonna need it.”

With that, the Paladins and Knight Captains split off for some much-needed shuteye. Sarah and James turned to each other again. Sarah turned her head back towards the direction that the insectoid queen had flown off in before she spoke a third time, “...You trust her?”

The Knight shrugged, “Don’t see any reason not to. Maybe get a few details out of her tonight and tomorrow, but beyond that, she seems alright.” he turned away and started to pull off his gear bag, “For an alien.”

She sighed, walking over to make her bedroll, “You still paranoid after that Mothership Zeta incident?”

James pointed an accusing finger at her, then raised it to the sky, “Sarah, those aliens were going to blast the entire planet to kingdom come! I can’t help it if that sets off red flags!”

The Sentinel sighed, slowly going about the process of getting out of her power armor, “And I still say you were on so many combat drugs at the time you probably hallucinated it. When you got back, you were covered in alien blood and addicted to so many chems I’d have mistaken you for a raider if it weren’t for the Tesla armor.”

The Knight opened his mouth to reply, but just waved a hand in a ‘whatever’ gesture and went to go find the Changeling Queen, tapping on Galaxy News Radio, a song beginning to play.

***

Chrysalis was, in fact, far outside the Car Fort, sitting on the front of the derelict monorail with a figure in power armor, who James assumed was likely Gallows. By the time The Lone Wanderer had made it up the crashed railcar, the special operations Knight Captain had already begun walking back. When they passed, neither looked at each other. Just a subtle nod to each other.

James stopped a few paces away, trying to give Chrysalis some personal space at first. A small crown was now perched above her head, tilted to the side dejectedly, “Y’know it’s dangerous to be alone in the Wastes, ma’am.”

The Changeling Queen did not respond, but instead was looking out over the river. The Knight sighed and moved forwards, finally close enough to sit down beside her. He slowly pulled out his Reservist’s Rifle off of his back, checking it for parts that needed to be repaired. For the longest time, they sat in silence, before finally Chrysalis spoke up, “...Why do you trust me?”

James shrugged, adjusting the scope, “Because unlike most things that aren’t human out here, you didn’t look at me with eyes that said ‘Ooo, canned lunch.’ and start attacking.”

He did not look up at her questioning expression, instead replying truthfully, “Because I have this sense of reading people, and you’ve got that look my dad had months ago...”

“Oh? And what was that? Fear? Pain? Manic glee?” she muttered spitefully, grinding her fanged teeth together.

The Lone Wanderer sighed, already having a rough idea of where this was going, “Determination, actually. The kind you get when you’re willing to fight and die to help and protect those that you love. Same look he had when he left me in the only home I had at the time.”

He finally looked up, the bullet proof glass obscuring his eyes, “When you refer to your people, you call them ‘My changelings.’ You’re also a queen, and forgive me if I’m being rude, but you at least share the appearance of common insects, which means you’re the mother of your hive, right?”

The Queen turned away, muttering a single word lowly, as if to herself, “Swarm.”

“The point is, you care about them, and I’ll bet fifty caps you want to get back quickly so that you can protect the rest of them.” he turned the sniper rifle over and inserted a new clip, pulling back the bolt, “So to elaborate; I trust you because you actually give a shit about anyone but yourself, even if most don’t understand it. Even if myself and the Pride don’t understand it.”

Again, a silence developed between the two. Eventually the moon slowly dipping below the horizon as they just sat there, “...You’re observant, I’ll give you that, Mister, James LeBlanc, The Lone Wanderer.” a tiny, almost mocking chuckled came out with the title.

James chuckled slightly, “I just pay attention. I also figured Gallows was returning your crown, since you didn’t have it before now. Also that you’ve probably been thinking over everything that’s happened in the past day or so while you’ve been up here, given you wanted to be with your thoughts.”

He gestured with his head to the small headpiece, earning a small smirk from the Changeling Queen, “Very, observant. I suppose next you’ll point out how I’m thinking over the lives I probably ruined invading another nation. Or that I did it without a care for who I hurt because I was too busy gloating over such a quick victory. Or how I’ve been contemplating on how easy it was to take over with barely any work on my own part?”

“No, but that’s definitely an interesting bit of information.” Chrysalis’ jaw fell open at the Knight’s words, her face turning into one of anger.

Her horn flared with green light... before she let out a short sigh of annoyance and flew off in a huff. Where she was going, James didn’t know, and in all honesty Chrysalis didn’t either. She did know, however, that if she didn’t get away from him soon, she was likely going to ruin her relationship between herself and the Pride by vaporizing one of their own.

James chuckled, putting his hands behind his head as he watched her fly off. Feeling lucky, he called out loudly to her, “I also have that effect on people!”

A bolt of green light, like a Plasma Rifle shot, flew through the air and struck the ground a few meters away. The grin beneath James' helmet could probably split his face open as another chuckle rang through his armored form. He’d faced worse, and the flustered expression of the Changeling Queen’s face was just too priceless to take any mortal peril from her seriously.

***

Chrysalis grumbled to herself, a combination of annoyance and rage building like a great fire in her stomach to accompany its hunger. She had half a mind to fly back and vaporize the Knight, regardless of his status or her failing magic...

She sighed, the anger quickly fading to bitter acceptance. She didn’t have the energy for a second spell like that regardless. She would need all she had left just to survive, and wasting it in anger would only lead to a quicker death by starvation.

The Changeling Queen closed her eyes, ears flicking around to pick up whatever sounds would be needed to make her way back to the small fort the Pride had taken for the night. She began sorting through all that had happened, forming a set of three objectives in her mind.

Current Objectives (Chrysalis)

Find a way back to the Swarm

Find a source of Love until you get back, or before you die

(Optional) Get back at Knight LeBlanc

she nodded to herself, satisfied with the mental list as she descended to the structure. Most of the Pride was already asleep, save Gallows, but she didn’t see need to disturb him again.

She yawned, attempting to keep quiet, I’ll just sleep for now. Its not like I’ll be going anywhere...

***

Now Loading

James woke up to a bucket of cold, irradiated water being dumped on his body. Unsurprisingly, for some odd reason, this was followed by his own helmet being slammed over his head.

A moment passed as his mind caught up with his body, realizing just what had happened, “...Ow...”

He lifted his helmet up, wiping a string of sopping wet, brown hair out of his face, “Alright; who’s the asshole?”

“That would be, me.” he lifted the helmet off completely to see Chrysalis floating above him, holding a leg over her snout to hide the smirk painted on her lips. This was fairly obvious to the man, as the holes in her legs provided a pretty clear view.

Then again, it was probably intentional.

COMPLETED (Chrysalis): (Optional) Get back at Knight LeBlanc

James chuckled lightly, attempting to move his hair back into some semblance of the neatly combed look he tried to keep it in. Wiping some of the water from his face, he spoke, “...I suppose I deserved that then.”

He wiped a bit of the excess water off of his power armor with a rag laying atop his gear bag a short grab away, “Feel better?”

“Very much so. Apparently your commanding officer found the idea rather humourous as well.” she stopped flying and folded her wings behind her back. The Knight gave a second chuckle when he noticed Sarah’s form shaking slightly just outside of the fort.

Chrysalis spoke up again, becoming slightly more serious again, “She’s also ordered that we start walking in about fifteen minutes. Something about moving before the creatures of this place wake up as well.”

The Lone Wanderer nodded, beginning to strap on his two heavy weapons and sniper rifle. As he did so, he attempted to strike up a conversation, if only to banish the silence, “Are your, ah, kids, awake yet?”

He glanced around, not finding the smaller creatures where they’d been previously. That being around the fire they’d constructed last night, in order to quickly dry the water from their bodies and stave off the cold.

The Changeling Queen shook her head, “I’ve let them sleep as long as possible. Most been born to having thousands of voices from their siblings talking within their minds for so long, I fear they might be... agitated, without them.”

She glanced sadly over to one edge of the fort, and James followed it a moment to realize where her pseudo-children were. Five changelings were huddled together peacefully in the area where two cars met at a right angle, a slightly scorched blanket tossed over them.

James glanced back at Chrysalis, whose lips had formed into a small line, “For all I know they might have suffered some mental trauma. In all honesty I won’t know until they are awake...”

James picked up his Reservist’s Rifle, slinging it over one shoulder as he spoke, “Well, I’m not exactly the best with kids, but I’m willing to help them adjust. I understand how a change of place can be somewhat jarring, even if you’re unprepared. If you’ll take the aid, I’ll do what I can.”

The Changeling Queen didn’t respond for a moment, likely thinking it over, before nodding, “Very well.”

Finished with collecting his gear, the Lone Wanderer followed her as she fluttered over and tapped one of the changelings lightly.

“So, do they have names?” he asked, leaning down and looking over the assorted insectoids for some way to tell them apart.

“Sadly, none beyond the general numerical designations used to organize the Swarm and determine rank and placement within the workforces. I’ve tried for years to have even one of them act independent of one another; gain personality so that they can be more self-sufficient should the need arise, but most are often... nervous, to be independent of their siblings. A few seem to have attempted to choose names at least, but that is a stretch.” she explained, rolling her eyes at the final sentence.

It was a strangely humanoid gesture that gave the Knight pause. Even if Chrysalis was a leader, she seemed to possess a combination of traits of both someone who followed protocol to the letter and another who acted more lax whenever they could. It was an odd combination of personality traits, given she was a Queen and all. A thought passed through the man’s mind, Aren’t they supposed to be masters of etiquette or something?

He shook it off and looked over the smaller changelings as she tapped one of them lightly on the head. The insectoid’s eyes opened in a bit of surprise, blinking rapidly after a moment, as if to clear something. What surprised him was the fact that it had single, curved lenses of a soft blue for eyes. It was so unlike that of its queen and mother; simpler, yet captivating.

He’d just as soon assume they’d be like smaller, androgynous kids and have most of the features Chrysalis had...

He really needed to get information regarding the species, if only to make things less awkward when discussing details with one of them. James looked up at Chrysalis again, “So, do changelings normally sleep for...” he checked the clock on his Pip Boy, “...around ten hours?”

The Changeling Queen shook her head, though she patted the changeling lightly as it tilted its head with a look of obvious sadness and fear on its features. It was then that the Knight decided to keep his mouth shut and let the two have a moment of peace, leaving Chrysalis to hug the smaller insect lightly, giving a pat on the dark blue chitin covering its back.

She sighed softly, turning away and moving over to another, “Generally, no, but they were suffering from a higher level of magical exhaustion than myself.”

James raised an unseen eyebrow, despite the action being pointless, “How do you figure?”

The smaller changeling buzzed its wings and flew over by his shoulder, tilting its head and taking an obvious interest in his armor’s massive Winterized pauldron.

The Queen, meanwhile, paused in her waking of her children before answering, “...My apologies; often I forget that not everyone is aware or connected. We changelings share a hivemind mentality, both socially, as you’ve probably guessed, and literally. My son there has already informed me of feelings of incredible exhaustion and draining of his magic, as well as other, more personal details...”

The smaller changeling nodded in confirmation, tapping the Knight’s pauldron lightly and listening to the sound with a twitch of the ear. James shrugged, figuring it was a simple mistake, before another question presented itself to him. He waited until Chrysalis had apparently ‘spoken’ to another of her children before asking, “So, no offense, but your kids seem rather... androgynous. How do you tell gender?”

Chrysalis shrugged her shoulders as she flew over to another, “We don’t. changeling Drones who are not leaders of their Swarm don’t have a specific gender. It allows them to migrate between the forms they can take in order to gather love. Keeps them from being restricted so heavily on one gender to take the form of. Many simple prefer to be addressed as that gender, and I do so as per their preference.”

“Huh. Alright then.” while odd, the explanation seemed solid enough. Though the question of exactly how they would reproduce then slipped into his mind. He decided that such questioning would be better saved for later, if only to keep the already awkward tension from growing heavier.

The changeling at his shoulder looked at the Knight directly, giving a small nod, before he moved around to look at the weapons on the Lone Wanderer’s back. Said man turned his head slightly to look at the insectoid, while still letting it satisfy its curiosity, “So, do you have a name like your Queen wished?”

***

The changeling blinked at the sudden question, but nodded. It made a rough sound in the back of its throat, clearing it slightly. When it spoke, it’s voice held a slightly rough edge to it, like some Pre-War drill sergeant, or a Mister Gutsy who actually didn’t have a heavy static to its voice module, “Hacksaw, Royal Engineer and Physician for her highness, Knight LeBlanc.”

Hacksaw tapped the large wheel on the armor’s back, “Fascinating. How did you acquire such a powerful suit of armor? It’s components and composition appear more dense than even the armor of the Canterlot Royal Guard, yet you move in it like you were wearing nothing at all.”

James shrugged, idly noting another changeling walking up to him, looking slightly exasperated at Hacksaw, “Fifty-Six, calm down. He’s a human, not another one of your crazy ‘projects’ with Love energy and explosives.”

The word ‘human’ seemed new to the other changeling, whose voice indicated it leaned towards the female side of the androgynous choice line. Its words were smooth, yet with that slight echo he noticed in the Queen. It was almost like the stereotypical humanoid insect he’d seen in old holotapes, really.

Hacksaw, apparently designation number fifty-six, snorted in obvious annoyance. Before something more could develop, Chrysalis spoke up from her place by the rest of her children, “Hacksaw, be polite. This Knight  and his superiors are willing to provide us aid; the least you can do is keep your arguing to a minimum... and vocalize your thoughts.”

Both changelings gave a short reply before glaring at one another, “Yes mother.”

The female one spoke up again, “And I keep telling you; those crazy concepts of harvesting love with a projectile you don’t even have ideas on how to fire are pointless unless you have some way to get it to the target.”

Hacksaw sighed, “Five-hundred-eight, we’ve been over this; Equestrian crossbows should provide a proper delivery of the necessary enchanted rounds to harvest what love we need without killing them.”

The female changeling, apparently Five-hundred-eight, snorted slightly at her ‘brother,’ clearly disagreeing with his idea. She turned her head to James, heaving a sigh as Hacksaw stopped his flying to land by the Knight’s foot, tilting his head, “Sorry; just an argument we’ve been having for a while. Oh, uh; I suppose I better introduce myself.”

She flew up to near chest level with him, offering out her leg awkwardly, probably trying to imitate the same action her mother performed, “I’m Five-hundred-eight of Swarm Offensive and Gathering, though, uh, as far as an ‘actual’ name goes, mother calls me Cocoon, after Grandmother Cocoon. I’m mother’s personal Heavy Ordinance Drone.”

Heavy Ordinance? That spelled ‘Big Guns’ in James’ book. Granted, changelings probably didn’t know what ‘guns’ were, given the talk about crossbows, but still. It would be nice to have someone besides Glade he could talk to.

“You, I like.” he said with a bit of extra enthusiasm before giving her leg a short shake, “I think we’ll get along juuust fine, Cocoon.”

Cocoon gave a nervous smile, but nodded and landed on the ground lightly, moving off to the same direction as her mother. Hacksaw shook his head and followed after, though his pace was much slower than that of his ‘sister.’

“Hi!” The Lone Wanderer looked up at the voice, seeing another changeling, prefered female by the voice, grinning widely at him, “I’m Fifty-Six of Emotion Distribution, but you can call me Cicada! I help out with everything and anything in whatever ways I can!”

She smiled brightly, giving off a cheery tone the Knight found infectious. James took her offered leg, “A pleasure to meet you, Cicada.”

Cicada smiled, then flew down to Hacksaw, who had stopped his walking to check for... something, on his body. James had no idea what, exactly. Cocoon sat by his leg, tilting her head as Sentinel Lyons walked in, “Who’s she?”

He gave a small nod to his commanding officer, though he addressed them both, one after the other, “My CO. We’re just about ready to head out, Sentinel. Any trouble so far?”

Sarah shook her head, helmet gripped in one hand and Laser Rifle in the other, “Dusk and Colvin aren’t seeing anything, and Gallows is giving an all-clear on hostiles. Looks like we might get a break, for once.”

James nodded as Hacksaw flew up to her and began looking at her armor in the same detailed and testing way he had done with James’ own. He began quickly mumbling aloud, “Different model, but the same overall powerful structure. This is incredible technology! If the Empire had even one of these suits...”

The Sentinel look at the changeling, then at the Lone Wanderer, “Do I want to know?”

James and Cocoon both shook their heads simultaneously, earning a glance from the leader of the Pride, “Right. We’re moving out in three.”

With that, she walked out of the small fort, joining the rest of the Pride, who were making final gear checks and loading supplies up on their armors. Hacksaw followed after, still fascinated over the armor.

James shook his head, “He’s going to flip when he sees their weapons.”

Cocoon nodded slightly, then sighed. This was probably common for her, given how he reacted so to both suits, “He’s always trying to understand new technology. I think it’s going to get him killed one of these days.”

Chrysalis flew back over to the trio, the last two of the five smaller changelings by her side.

One of them stepped forwards, a sense of calm and collected command etched onto his features in a way that the Knight easily took as the ‘calm leader’ feel he got from Vargas. He looked to his Queen, who nodded, before clearing his throat.

Not all that surprisingly, his voice was much like cocoon’s; smooth and elegant, yet lacking in the slight echo she and her mother had, “I wanted to personally thank you for, well, saving our flanks yesterday.”

The changeling held out a limb, “I’m Six, of Swarm Communications and Command, but, given how my brothers and sisters have been talking, I suppose Steel will also suffice.”

James shook it, “A pleasure, Steel. Who’s your sibling?”

The man motioned to the changeling next to the commander. Unlike the others, he appeared rather stoic, his mouth constantly in a small frown. The cracked eye probably didn’t help either, as the blue lens of his left gave him the vibe of some old warrior who’d rather be left alone. In short, Gallows as a changeling. In long... well, James would probably need to figure that out later.

Said insectoid looked up at the Knight, but kept quiet. Steel answered for him, “Ah, about that. This is our Special Operations Drone, Moth. He... how should I put this...?”

Moth opened his mouth, revealing that unlike his siblings, he lacked a tongue. Steel put his leg to his face in exasperation, “Or you could do it that way, I suppose...”

“...Ah. My bad.” the Knight apologized, earning another shrug from Moth, who promptly walked past the human and changelings to be with the Pride and Hacksaw. Steel winced slightly, but didn’t say anything.

James turned back to Chrysalis, voicing the now nagging question in his mind, “Is he... okay?”

Chrysalis sighed, beginning to leave the small fort and join the rest of the Pride and her children, “Moth is very withdrawn and disconnected. It’s an unfortunate occurrence, and even more unfortunately somewhat common within the Swarm. The problem is that he performs his job so expertly, I fear forcing the change on him will result in a degradation of his skills...”

James nodded, the gears in his head beginning to turn, “...Perhaps I can talk to him. I was able to get Gallows to open up a bit, and the two share... some, similarities.”

The Changeling Queen paused to consider this as the five joined the rest, before nodding, “If you believe you can.”

The Knight nodded, pulling his Reservist’s Rifle off of his back and keeping the thing held firmly in his armored grip, “I won’t promise you anything, because I honestly don’t know if I can, but I’ll try.”

He walked over to the Sentinel, giving her a nod as he approached, “The changelings are  packed and ready, Sentinel.”

She nodded, pulling her helmet on before gripping her Laser Rifle, “Very well. Let’s move people; we’ve got a decent distance to cover before most of the creatures around here wake up!”

***

Now Loading

Things could have been better for Colonel Augustus Autumn. Then again, things could be going better for the entire Enclave. Raven Rock and Adams Air Force Base had both been destroyed, the remains of the military scattering into the wastes with almost no form of communication to rally together. So far, maybe a tenth of his standing fighting force had made their way to their newest headquarters in Fort Constantine, most by sheer luck. Things had only looked more grim in the past few days.

First, a massive explosion was spotted across the Potomac River, in the relative direction of Vault 87 no less. The lack of details on the incident was already an annoyance in that it let his mind wander over the possibilities, few of which were likely, or positive, for their cause. Then one random soldier dressed in Pre-War military Winterized Combat Armor comes in and kills four of his best, before the Colonel’s own appearance got him to stop and be taken in for questioning. That headache alone forced the Colonel to check his temper before he marched down to the holding cells and killed the gung-ho soldier. Last, and certainly not least on his list of problems, was the arrival of a small band of, and he still couldn’t believe it, ponies, having come to the Fort.

That was probably the coup de grace; small, multicolored, talking ponies. Not creatures of radiation or FEV either, as the scientists had told him when they’d asked to examine the creatures, but honest-to-god flesh and blood equines. That talked. It was official at that point; Autumn had decided that the Wasteland was the freakiest, most illogical place in the remains of what was once the United States of America, “Sir.”

His door opened, an Enclave Hellfire Trooper stepping inside before giving a salute. Colonel Autumn nodded, “At ease, trooper.” the soldier nodded, standing laxy, “What is the situation?”

The trooper nodded, “It appears the... ponies, are beginning to get impatient. They’re asking to speak with you as soon as possible, sir.”

He sighed, “Very well. Return to them and inform these creatures I’ll be arriving in a few short minutes. Dismissed.” the trooper nodded and gave a quick salute before exiting his office.

The Colonel sighed, loading a fresh cell and clip into his personal Laser and Ten Millimeter pistols, respectively. While the intention to kill or fire upon these odd creatures wasn’t his highest priority, given how he’d underestimated a single teenager from the Vault and lost the best chance to retake the Capital, he wasn’t taking any chances.

He muttered a low prayer for God to give him a pass for once, then stood up and walked out of his office in the Personal Offices, into the blazing Wasteland sun. He quickly went about shielding his eyes for the few brief moments he needed to adjust. That done, the current leader of the Enclave on-base walked down and towards the road, where the multi-colored ponies were waiting, flanked by a pair of Hellfire Troopers. An Officer was speaking to them, though upon Autumn’s arrival, the relief was fairly obvious, “I’ll take it from here, officer.”

The officer nodded and jogged off, the Hellfire Troopers keeping their Heavy Incinerators at the ready in case negotiations went sour. From what he was looking at, the Colonel wasn’t that impressed. Then again, he’d also learned not to underestimate something so inherently simple. Five different colored ponies, two with wings, two with horns, and one with neither, lead by a much taller equine with both of the defining features.

Wait. He’d been told there were seven in all. Where was he last one? He opened his mouth to inquire about its whereabouts, but stopped when he heard a rather cheerful, bubbly voice coming from his shoulder, “Hi!”

He looked over at the source of the voice, seeing a rather wild and... pink, pony on his shoulders, “I’m Pinkie Pie!”

He noticed a few of its related members put a forehoof to their faces, and figured something like this was a common embarrassment to them. Despite the insanity of it, and the fact that he found it illogical to not feel any weight from the pony, at all, the Colonel kept calm. At the very least he wasn’t the only one who found this insane, “A pleasure to meet you, madam. If you’d please join your companions on the ground; I’d prefer to allow this conversation to be pleasant and easily heard by all.”

Thankfully, he received a nod before the pink pony slid off of him and to the ground, rejoining the others. The apparent leader, the white and regal one, decided then to speak up, “My apologies, Colonel. Cultural differences.”

He cleared his throat, smoothing out his overcoat, “No harm done. I’ve been informed by my troopers that you wish to speak with me, personally. Might I ask just why that is?”

The leader sighed, “So long as you are the general leader of these soldiers, yes. Due to a mishap on our own world during a time of invasion, it appears that a wormhole has created a bridge between this place and our own. I’ve come through proposing a mutual exchange of peace while we work to seal the gap, as well as ask a few questions regarding a possible foreign invasion from our world into your own.”

***

“I am, of course, inclined to agree towards a mutual peace, even if it is with an alien power. However, I believe given the... appearance, of your companions madam, that we keep this a strictly political exchange; your soldiers don’t appear to have anywhere near the technological level our the Enclave’s Troopers, and our equipment is already stretched as thin as possible.” he replied smoothly.

Finally; something was going well for a change.

The leader paused, following his gaze, before she chuckled lightly, “With all do respect, Colonel, my little ponies are not my soldiers. Regardless; I will honor this agreement. Equestria has already been through one near-take over already. I doubt we need another powder keg of technology and strife right now.”

If she’d wished to grab his attention, she’d succeeded. Autumn cleared his throat, “Very well. Might I offer you room and board until we can have the finer details of our arrangement sorted out? I’m sure my scientists would be just fascinated to discuss and exchange information between our races.”

He idly saw one of the pony’s, purple in color, eyes widen in wonder, and he paused to consider if this was going to turn up beneficial or hindering. Hopefully the former. Before he could learn of that, however, their leader nodded lightly, “We would gladly accept your generosity, Colonel.”

Autumn turned to each of the Hellfire Troopers, “Stand down. Corporal Grace, I want you to inform the officers that they and their troopers are to allow our guests Level Two Clearance of the base until further notice. Sergeant Ramirez, you are to escort and inform them of their sleeping arrangements, and any questions relating to that clearence level.”

They both gave a quick salute, before Corporal Grace shouldered her Heavy Incinerator and rushed off to perform her task. Sergeant Ramirez nodded, standing idly while the Colonel motioned smoothly towards his office, “If you’d follow me, Madam.”

Their leader began walking alongside him, “Please, Colonel, call me Celestia.”