Hard Decisions

Chapters

Chapter One
Chapter Two: Briefing
Sins of the Father
Training for the Coming Storm

Chapter One

I’ll be honest with you, I’m a slacker. I am not like the boy down the street, who gets a perfect score on everything he does, nor am I the person who just doesn’t care about anything and wastes his perfectly good life. My name is Scott Alan and I’m just a regular human, just chilling in my house. My parents died a while ago, though I have gotten over that fact. Their relationship was… deteriorating rather quickly. I’m about 18, just getting possession of a driver’s license and a house.

I’m not the most social of guys, having almost no friends at all. I have graduated from high school and work at the local McDonalds. The pay I get is minimum wage, but I survive. The perfect life, right? Wrong. It’s not. I get into states of depression at times, thinking of being alone with no one to care about or care for me. I am smart however, and I used to be a strategic kind of guy, always playing chess and board games to exercise my brain.

So, that’s who I used to be. I used to be a human; a slacker. I am now something entirely different.

I got out of my car, a white Nissan pickup truck. I inherited it after my parents died. It was one of the few things I still had to remember them by, so I kept it in as good a condition as I could. I washed it myself every weekend, never messed in the interior, and drove carefully. I felt it was a form of respect towards them, showing them I was thankful. I walked slowly to the McDonalds. I despised the place. We were understaffed and our regular customers were generally whiny kids who dragged their parents there, and then messed food everywhere. It just gets on my nerves trying to work in that sort of environment. Today the weather was horrid as well, and rain poured profusely. Generally I don’t mind a bit of rain, but it was raining so heavily that I was soaked even from walking the small distance from my car to the door.

I walked into the McDonalds. The place wasn’t too crowded now, having a couple of families and a bunch of bikers who smelled badly of gasoline. The least they could do is take a shower and wash their clothes every now and again.

I waved at the cashier. I was stuck with the guy, so getting acquainted with him would make working a little less degrading. Working here is probably down at the bottom of scraping the barrel for money, but at least it’s a job. At least I’m not wasting time sitting at home all day. In this day and age, you’re lucky to get a job. The economy is bad in America, all because of politicians that argue over the stupidest things and who are dumbstruck by their love of power. They can never be trusted to make good decisions.

I was a cashier as well, working the night shift mostly. I was pretty great with numbers up to the point where I could calculate the funds without the use of the cash register. I had worked here for about two years, and my experience with handling money made it second nature to do the sums by head. The other guy, Steve, had always needed the cash register; he hadn’t been educated well enough like I had. It’s sad really, that I had a pretty good education but was stuck working in a place like this.

“Nice weather we’re having,” Steve said “Great time for rain.”

“Yeah, sure, if you liked being drenched.” I replied, trying to dry off.

“Actually, I do like being drenched.” Steve replied. “It’s like a shower outside.” He gazed at the window, watching the rain fall onto it.

“There’s a reason why it is called a rain shower, Steve.” I said, putting my misspelt nametag on. The manager had printed it as ‘Scot’. Not really a big deal, but it made me feel a little less professional. Not like it counted here.

“I know.” Steve said. “It doesn’t take a weather man to figure that.”

After what seemed like an age of working, it was finally time for me to go home. It was really empty today, meaning I lacked anything to do. I tried chatting with Steve, but he always cut off early in the conversation. He was preoccupied with this little pink pony toy. He kept playing around with its tail. A bit childish, I thought, but there’s different strokes for different folks, I guess. Either way, my shift was over. I walked out, waving good bye to Steve. I got inside my car and started to pull out. I was so eager to get home that I pulled out a little too fast and didn’t see the Hummer driving past. He rammed right into my car and I blacked out. And that is how I came to be in this world. This strange, strange world.

“Ow, my head,” I said clutching my skull. It felt weird, like it was different somehow. Last thing I remembered was pulling out of the parking space. Now my head was throbbing and my entire body felt out of place. I looked up and instantly noticed that my surroundings had changed dramatically. I was no longer in my car and from the looks of it I was not even on Earth. If one word described it, it was cartoony. I thought I must be dreaming, or in a coma from the crash. Or maybe dead. I expected heaven to be a little more welcoming. Looking around, I noticed I was in a forest. There was a river running through it nearby.

I tried to get up, but when I tried to stand on two legs, I lost my balance and fell over. I looked at my appendages. They were completely black, riddled with holes that went straight through them, and seemed to be covered in some sort of exoskeleton, like an insect. I also lacked fingers and my four limbs ended in what looked like hooves. I stood up on all fours and felt a few other additions on my body. I looked on my back and I seemed to have sprouted a large pair of thin greenish wings. They were quite impressive. I also noticed I had a long, darker green mane and tail. I moved my tongue around in my mouth and felt that my teeth were also quite different, most notably my four canines were a lot sharper.

I walked over to a small pond near the river to check my reflection. My overall body structure was similar to that of a horse. I noticed more new things; I had very large green eyes, big ears, and a tall, jagged horn. Seeing my own reflection reminded me of something Steve had told me about. Those ponies that he always liked to play with, they had a show. Apparently he was a big fan of it, and he mentioned something about an insectoid pony villain. I thought it was preposterous, but now that I had seen it with my own eyes… I didn’t know what to think. Was I a villain then?

“What kind of wacky unicorn shit is this?” I said under my breath. I had no idea what was going on. Maybe I could find someone, or something, that could help me. I started to head deeper into the forest. I figured that the normal ponies didn’t like me, so my best option was to head away from civilisation. After a while of walking further in, I noticed the canopy above me became thicker, making the path ahead darker. I started to hear whispers which got progressively louder the further I walked.

“Who’s there?” I stopped to ask out loud. I stood there in silence, waiting for an answer. Suddenly, the bushes rustled heavily and dozens of creatures poured out into the clearing I was in, surrounding me.

“We are loyal to you, our King.” They cried in unison.

It was hard to make out much about the creatures other than their glowing blue eyes. I was petrified as I tried to plan my next move. They hadn’t attacked me yet so I thought they may be friendly. I tried not to let my guard down while I thought of something to say.

“Uh, good evening.

The eyes started to come closer and I was greeted with many other changelings, though they were smaller than me. They gathered around me, seemingly humbled by me. They bowed before me respectfully. One of them came up to me, followed by two others. The three were bigger than the rest, yet I was still the biggest.

“You are the heir to the Changeling Hive. Welcome, King.” The lead changeling said to me. He said that in a monotone voice that was completely void of emotion. It sorta creeped me out.

“Uh, I can’t be the heir…” I said

“Yes, you can be and you indeed are,” He said “It has been months since we have had a leader, and now you are here. A changeling King.”

“There was a leader before me? What happened to them?” I asked. The rest of the changelings expressed sadness and despair after hearing that, they seemed they didn’t like their original leader.

“Our queen has perished. She sacrificed herself to let us live.” The changeling beside the leader of the group said.

I started to think. They need a leader, but they’re evil, right? I can’t just say no. I’m risking an entire race’s future on my decision. I will lead them through the best way possible. I can’t let a species die, it’s not right. Who cares if they are evil? I will not let them become extinct. They are going to live!

“Fear no longer,” I said “I will be you’re leader, and we aren’t the Changeling Hive, we are the Changeling Horde!” I couldn’t help but feel this may be a bad decision, but it was too late now.

The Changelings started to celebrate, and I started to feel happy that I was helping a race survive, and maybe I can lead them to greatness!

Chapter Two: Briefing

Chapter 2 Briefing

So, after celebrating for seemingly hours, the changelings stopped. They were silent, just intently staring at Scott, waiting for something. The fact that they just stared, Scott became nervous. He was looking around sweating profusely. He finally had the courage to say something.

“Um, is there something wrong?” Scott said “I thought that you guys were happy?”

“We are,” The Lead Changeling replied “Just, waiting for orders.”

“What is your name? I forgot to ask.” Scott asked. He wasn’t great with names, although, he was going to start now. He was ruling an entire horde; he had to know the names of his subjects. Even if they all looked the exact same.

“We do not have names.” The Lead Changeling said “You may call me, the Changeling Infiltrator Captain.” The Captain had felt pride in saying that, Scott had no idea what that meant.

“What is an infiltrator?” Scott said. He was starting to get strategic, now taking things seriously.

“Do you not know what the classes of the horde are?” The Captain said. He didn’t know that Scott wasn’t familiar with the ‘classes’ of the horde. Scott shook his head, hesitantly, but was getting curious on the classes.

“There are four classes of the horde.” Captain explained “The first are the grunts, the ones around you as of now. They can change into ponies and steal love from them. The second are the brutes, who are big creatures who cannot change into ponies. They take the form of the scenery, usually mountains.”

“Wait, so you’re telling me that there are Changelings that can take the form of whole entire mountains!?” Scott said bewildered. He never thought that such a big object can be changed into.

“Yes, there aren’t many of them; the Queen didn’t want them to participate in the invasion of Canterlot, fearing that they would decimate the entire country.” The Captain said

“Hmm, noted. Continue.” Scott replied, starting to strut around, in his personal thinking bubble.

“The third class is the infiltrators. They are much stronger than the grunts, they are rarer to find, and the leaders of a squad of grunts. The infiltrators are easily recognized by their blue armor, like mine.” The Cap said

“So, they handle special operations as well?” Scott said. The infiltrators easily made him think of using them more than the other two classes. The Captain had nodded.

“Finally, there is the last class. The Royal Guard.” He said, shivering a little after saying those three words. “The Royal Guard are fanatical Changelings that will follow your orders to the letter and will die trying.”

“So, they are that fanatical, eh.” Scott said thinking hard. He thought to use them as a last resort or if it is imperative that they are deployed.

“Yes, fanatical, the Royal Guard didn’t approve of the attack on Canterlot, thinking it was impossible to do. Unfortunately, they were right and we lost the Queen.” The Captain said and the other changelings were again sad and in despair.

“But, you have the King, so don’t worry. I will make sure, that you aren’t leaderless again.” Scott said smirking, he was confident that he could lead. “So, you’re Captain of the Infiltrators. I assume that you know our enemy?”

“Of course.” The Captain said “We have studied the enemy for a long time.”

“Then, please explain them. The saying ‘Know Thy Enemy’ is true.” Scott said

“The enemies are ponies, which can harness magic and have the capabilities to fly. They have built a large empire in the mainland. Also, they have allies in the north called the Crystal Empire and have made peace with the surrounding areas.”

The Captain said. He knew the enemy too well, it was an infiltrators job to know what enemy they were going to kill and feed off of.

“Any enemies? Any weaknesses and strengths?” Scott said. He wanted to use anything that would give him the advantage.

“The griffons are the most prominent enemies, they are mostly aggressive, but have been pushed out of the territory after a while. The weakness and strengths are their friendship, they can tell somepony would be under control or disguised as their friend.” The other changeling said. This one had golden armor, with two other golden armored changelings behind him. He bowed for a second until Scott allowed him to stand.

“Who are you?” Scott asked, he assumed that these Changelings were high ranked or powerful judging by their armor.

“I am the Colonel of the Royal Guard, my liege.” The Colonel said proudly like the Captain. “We are honored to witness the new leader.”

“Colonel, how many Changelings are in the Royal Guard?” Scott asked. It was an honest question. If he knew anything about ranks, it’s that the higher up the less the population in the rank.

“About two hundred strong, my lord.” The Colonel said

“Good, that two hundred will serve me well. Thank you, Colonel.” Scott said “Now, is there a map that I may see to know the landscape?” He wanted to know the battlefield and more importantly the world at large. He was still curious about the lands and waters in this new world.

The Colonel said something to one of the Changelings and they ran off to fetch the map. Shortly after, the Changeling came back, holding the map with magic. I opened it, looking at the map with intent. There was a huge landmass, which looked similar to the continent called Europe. The empire of the ponies were south near the ocean, also, he saw the griffon clans, which were far north from the ponies. There were also other empires, but he didn’t care for them at the moment, he focused on the griffons and the ponies.

“I see, where is the home of us?” Scott said.

The Captain pointed to a place inside the pony empire called Equestria. It was in the west side of the capital, which was marked by a star, called Canterlot.

“Well, let’s start going. I have a feeling that this will be a long journey.” Scott said

“Indeed.” The Colonel

“Colonel, Captain, I want camp set up here by sun down, or else.” Scott said faking his malicious threat.

The two started going up to their changeling brethren and screamed at them to set up camp. Scott was still looking at the map.

“Where is the first place that we should strike? Or, should we go and recover the losses they have suffered?” Scott said “This is difficult, I should rest. The king of a horde should get some rest for the long day tomorrow.”

Sins of the Father

Chapter 3 Sins of the Father

*Scott POV*

I went to the tent that the changelings had so quickly set up. In fact, tent wasn’t the word, what was the name for temples over in Asia? Pagodas, that’s the exact thing that was in front of me. It was huge and yet camouflaged within the trees. It had three stories with balconies with royal guard changelings guarding the perimeter intently. They had seemingly just flown on to the balconies rather than walking into the building.

I walked up to the door, which was guarded by two royal guards. They nodded to me and moved a little away from me so I can pass. I liked they now know who I am, least what they think I am. When I walked in there was a room and some stairs leading to the second and third stories. I had no idea where my room was, but it’s not like anyone else would be here.

‘I’ll run into it.’ I thought

I walked up the stairs, which was made out of marble to my surprise.

‘Didn’t think that weird ass ponies would use marbles.’ I thought ‘Hell, I might lose my marbles after just getting here and already I am having my sanity be in question.’

‘Keep calm and move along, Scotty.’ A voice rang in my head. It was deep and echoed throughout my head.

I looked around, I haven’t heard that voice in two years. I shook it off and kept going up the stairs. I seemed to arrive in the second floor, with nothing there, but a closet. I doubted anything would be in there, so I continued.

‘Great job, Scott,’ The voice said again ‘I’m proud of you.’ The voice echoed again throughout my head, I knew it was familiar, but who was it?

I arrived at the third floor and I was in awe. My mouth dropped a little as I gazed into the room. There was a king size bed with a nightstand alongside the wall to my left while there was a balcony overlooking the forest and the moon. But the thing that astounded me was that object in the center of the room. I haven’t seen or played that thing in years, and yet here it was, in the middle of the room.

It was a piano, a dark piano with the words PAMAHA, it was supposed to be Yamaha but I didn’t really care it was a piano. I played the piano when I was younger…I had stopped when my parents died, as they forced me to learn how to play. My mother loved hearing my music so I learned wonderful pieces of music on the piano…too bad she couldn’t hear them now.

I walked to the bed and laid there thinking of the voice.

‘What was it?’ I thought ‘I heard it before.’

I fell asleep after that, I overused myself today, I mean if you were the one that had just suddenly died you too would be tired.

I woke up, to find someone over me. I thought it was the Captain or the Colonel, but it wasn’t, it was somebody that I hadn’t seen in two years. My mother.

“Good morning, Scott.” Mom said. I remember her voice, so smooth and kind. She had dark hair, very tannish skin, and heartwarming smile.

“Morning mom.” I said, but I felt weird. As if I was looking into myself. It was like I could see what I saw or the past me saw. It confused me. I only can assume that this was a memory that I was living through and I’ll wake up sooner or later.

“I made breakfast for you at the table, me and some friends are going out to watch a movie. Be nice to your dad, alright.”

I nodded, but really I wanted to shake my head. ‘Mom, don’t go to that movie, please.’

My mom left after that, I started to remember this was the day of the car crash, this was the last time I would see my parents. She would get home from the movie, Dad would greet her while I slept, then they would both get drunk and would drive. And….the inevitable.

If I was really in control of the body, then I would be crying, it pained me to remember this day, this day that led to the spiraling moments of insanity. I remember my nervous breakdowns, leading to me skipping school or better yet, abandoning it. All because of one…single…..beverage.

“Hey, Scotty,” My dad said walking up to me. He was a grown man, forty-five years old and six feet tall. He had served in the military in the wars over in the Middle East. He was a great tactician and was even given the Medal of Honor before retiring. My dad wanted me to be in the family’s footsteps of joining the army and doing great things for our country. I on the other hand didn’t share that patriotism and wanted to be my own person.

“Hey Dad.” I said.

“Son, I have something very important to tell you, this is so important that this may change your life.” My dad said

“What is it, father?” I said curiously, deep down in my mind, I knew exactly what those words were.

“Keep calm and move along, Scotty.” He said smiling and rubbing my head. He left the room and went to the living room.

Those words would stick with me forever, as I never forgot those words, the last words of my father.

I woke up, seemingly still at night, as the moon shone through the window.

I walked over to the piano, and sat down on the bench. I slowly started to play notes with my hooves now, getting a little better after a while.

Finally, after two hours of practicing, I had gotten the hang of playing the piano. I then proceeded to play a favorite of mine: Canon in D. I stayed up all night playing that, I had nothing better to do.

Training for the Coming Storm

Chapter 4 The Training for the Storm

Scott woke up from his dream or memory he experienced. He got out of bed slowly, still not used to the hooves and wings. He thought about getting the Captain to train him so he wouldn’t be useless in a battle. A general must lead his forces and be able to fight one on one if necessary. Scott also stared at his wings, curious to fly. Man’s greatest weapon during the World Wars were the airplanes, bombers, and fighters. If Scott were to use this on the battlefield, it would be mixed results.

The Captain knocked on the door of Scott’s room and Scott responded.

“Come in, Captain of the Infiltrators.” Scott said trotting around. He was contemplating what was going to happen and what he was going to do. So many options that he can do, it isn’t easy to make hard decisions. He had no idea what would lay in store for him in the future events.

“Your highness, I am here to inform you that we have some decisions that only the king may choose.” The Captain said with little emotion.

“What are they?” Scott asked. More decisions for him to make.

“The first is to send scouts out to have tight surveillance in the area. Second decision is to infiltrate one of our hated enemy’s cities to keep surveillance on them as well.” The Captain said

“I approve of both of them.” Scott said “Captain, I order you to train me to be efficient in combat.” Scott was the type of guy not to get his hands dirty, but if it was a life or death situation then he would pick the obvious one.

“Yes your majesty, what do you want me to train you on?” Captain asked curiously. It seemed weird that a Changeling leader of a horde would want to be trained in the ways of combat. Most leaders, like Celestia and Luna, didn’t even bother on that. However, Scott was leading a horde, not daisy picking ponies with blind folds on to not see the comings of war. If he was to lead a horde, he must be as efficient as his ‘men’.

“Everything that way I can be reminded. Back to the basics as they say.” Scott said

“Who says that?” The Captain asked

“The Gods of War.” Scott lied. It was better to make Changelings believe in something. To have faith in something all powerful. Of course, a leader was an exact definition in their eyes, but in our world we have faith. For example, the Israelites and their faith with their God.

“We have gods of war?!” The Captain screamed.

“Yes, they have spoken to me in my sleep. We have been granted their blessings. Anyway, back to the point.” Scott said

“Well, follow me to the training grounds, so we can start.” The Captain left and Scott walked to the training grounds. Luckily, Changelings knew how to write directions and signs. The Captain had his blue armor on, covering most of his head and insect body. He had no weapons, which seemed odd for Scott.

“First, I’ll teach you hoof to hoof combat.” The Captain said while Scott tried not to laugh.

The Captain lunged at Scott and went under him with hooves coving his neck and where his stomach is. He flung him into the ground with Scott letting out a groan.

“Now, try that on me.” The Captain said.

Scott tried to do that and successfully accomplished that.

“Good, now some more exercises and maneuvers.” The Captain said.

After hours and hours of training, Scott easily got the hang of hoof to hoof combat. The Changelings shared the ability to copy combat maneuvers and tactics. So it was no surprise that Scott could easily get proficient in those skills.

Scott laid on the ground panting heavily after the training. “Captain……I……..want…….you….to teach me how to fly.” He said trying to get air.

“You just need to think. I can’t help you with that. Here’s a tip, just say in your mind what you want to do, that also, is how you can transform into a pony.” The Captain said flying off into the war room nearby.

Scott tried to scratch his head with what the Captain said. He thought for a minute, and still didn’t fly. After five minutes, however, his wings started to flap fast and he was in the air in no time. Scott did some tricks and was astonished that he could fly. It felt wonderful for him to touch the clouds. Scott landed in his room via the balcony in his room. Scott laid on his bed, exhausted from the training and how the Changelings fly. He fell asleep shortly.

CANTERLOT, A COUPLE OF HOURS BEFORE

Luna woke up in fear. Sweat had gotten the best of her. Celestia was off in the Crystal Empire with Twilight, who had become an Alicorn just a couple of days ago. Luna had a nagging feeling in the back of her head, kinda like an evil presence. She shrugged it off and went into the armory to visit her personal guard, Longsword. Longsword was a new recruit only a little while ago. He had risen in the ranks because of his mastery in the art of the sword. The art of the sword for ponies is a great accomplishment, as it is hard for ponies to grip one and have a killing blow on the enemy. Longsword had been commissioned to marry Twilight Sparkle as it was mandatory for a high ranking guard to marry a princess. Luna and Celestia however, were not up for marriage. They felt that their rule was ever lasting and a pony’s life was not. The two original princesses were immortal beings whose duty was to control the balance of night and day.

Luna walked into Longsword’s room which was in the armory. Longsword bowed his head in the presence of Luna.

“Longsword, you must be ready to marry Twilight Sparkle. This would be a grand event and all of Equestria will be watching.” Luna said while Longsword nodded. Luna left, she looked in the mirror in her room and was horrified.

She saw something she hadn’t seen in a while………..Nightmare Moon.

TO BE CONTINUED