Author's Notes:

Trigger warning: Rape
Don't like that trigger? Keep reading on.

You read that right. It's small, but if you don't want to read a scene like that, then just follow these oddly specific instructions:
1st- Once you hit the word 'basement', stop reading.
2nd- hit CTRL+F , now search for 'basement'. Without the quotes. Click the down arrow until the counter says 4 out of ##.
3rd- Read from that sentence onward.
4th- ????
5th- profit. You just skipped a rape scene without skipping story-critical details!

"War makes thieves and peace hangs them."

George Herbert

It was time.

Kestral took a deep breath, looking out of the third story window he had opened. The sunset stretched across the rough stone that made up the tall home twenty feet away, creating thin shadows that broke up the otherwise gray monotony. The slight wind blew down the gap, bringing in fresh air before it stopped again.

He looked across, to the window that stared back at him. It was shut, but that wouldn't stop him. He made his flatbar appear in his hand as he set a foot on the sill.

A pegasus flew by, and he flinched for a second, before he readied himself again.

The street could be seen from both the windows, when the shutters weren't in the way, at least. He knew it was a risky move, but he wanted to get the deed done as quickly as he could. He needed to start, thought. Every second he stood there, with one boot on the window sill, was more time for someone to notice him.

He leapt.

Kestral teleported across most of the distance, giving him what he needed to cross the gap. As his hand touched against the stone, he instantly felt gravity shift, pressing him towards the wall, rather than the ground. He pulled open the shutters, and hid much of his body behind them as he stuck his flatbar under the window. A low crack sounded out as it gave way, and he lifted.

He hopped in, gravity shifting back to normal, removing his boots as he landed. He closed the window again, preventing the wind from giving away his entry.

Ambient lighting from the window gave enough visibility to not need anything else, thought the third floor of that mansion seemed darker further away. He swapped his tool for his machete, and slowly began walking down the long hall.

A pair of open doors passed him by, but there was nothing of interest within them. He continued down the hall, before another open door on his left grabbed his attention. He went in, and lit a small flame to illuminate the area better.

Before him was a set of fourteen changeling pods. Two of them were moderately larger than the rest, seemingly made to hold larger bodies.

He silently approached, and made swift cuts along the membranes, releasing the contents onto the floor. He grabbed each body with care, and he took note of their condition. The digestion from the spell was getting worse, which could be said every time he found more victims.

With no comfortable spot in the immediate surroundings to lay them upon, he opted to simply get them to a dry spot near the corner. Oddly enough, the last body was a minotaur. It surprised him somewhat, as he had previously thought the changelings only bothered to disguise as ponies. With this new development, it seemed they simply chose ponies as a simple convenience, rather than explicit need. He glossed over that information, however, when a bodycount gave him something else to worry about.

There was one missing.

Yes, there were fourteen pods. One disguise for each changeling meant seven changelings, seven victims. Yet, there were only six victims in that room.

Crap. Kestral thought.

Discord's worries were almost certainly correct. Somewhere in the building there was, probably, one more victim to find. The concept worried him. In the pods, the victims were, relatively speaking, safely unconscious. Awake and aware, however, gave the prisoner much more knowledge of the situation. The changelings would need a compelling reason to bring them out of it. Whether that reason was simply to ask questions, or something more.... cruel..... was yet to be seen, so he had some hope.

He walked out of the rooms, staying as quiet as he could. There was another set of rooms he passed, though he could not see easily into them without the flame he had put out upon exiting the previous doorway.

At the end of the hall, a set of stairs greeted him. He teleported down most of the way, and hid behind the solid rail, listening for any activity.

Nothing. There was not a word nor breath that could be heard, besides his own. He peeked over the rail, and was greeted with another long hallway. One of the rooms was lit, however. He could see the light breach the underside of the door. It was dim, but it was there.

He got up, and walked towards the door, keeping an eye on his surroundings. He approached, and placed a hand on the handle, readying his machete as he did. He leaned against the door, trying to find any source of sound within, but heard nothing. He slowly turned the handle, letting more light escape from the side.

He took a step in, and saw a changeling sitting at a desk, opposite of him. The bug was faced away from him, so he didn't notice Kestral. He place one careful footstep after the other, and made shallow his breathing. He held his blade up, and got ready to strike.

The changeling let off a long sigh, raising his head from the desk until his sight was perpendicular to the wall. In a tiny, almost incomprehensible mutter, the changeling made a final statement, right as Kestral swung down.

“Bless the quee-” SHHK

The body locked up for a second, then began to go limp. He grasped the body, letting it down to the ground slowly and silently.

Did he say something? Kestral asked himself. He honestly hadn't heard it. Maybe the changeling just breathed oddly, or something. He ignored it, however, in favor of moving forward with his goal.

Kestral touched his hand on the horn of the changeling, and focused his magic. His sight darkened, like his eyes were adjusting in preparation of bright light. Seconds later, he saw dim, almost distant lights appear. They were hazy at best, but he saw them. He turned around, towards the direction where the castle was. A much larger aura pulsed out from that direction, seemingly massive in comparison to the rest.

It was Chrysalis's aura. It had to be. The lime-to-grass-green color mix of light sent and received tiny pings of light from other green dots that were scattered across his vision. He looked down at the changeling he had killed, and looked at the much more crisp, blue aura. It wisped around this way and that, in a way that made it appear like a slow, cold fire. The edges of it weren't holding, and were giving way to the darkness that surrounded it.

It was amazing. This must have been how the changelings could see and talk to eachother. Each of the distant dots seemed to dance around, like they each had a personality. Each one, he realized, was representative of a single changeling. Perhaps he, too, could one day decipher how to look through the hive of auras he was seeing.

He took it in for a moment, in awe of how extraordinary the view was, before he collected himself again. He looked around, spotting any blue lights, but there were very few. In fact, there were only two he could see. One was surely at the other end of the city, that much he could tell. The other was only perhaps a mile away. Maybe less than that.

Where are they? He wondered.

PRIVATE! I thought I said not to think out loud!?!

Kestral broke off the spell instantly, shattering any connection. His vision returned to normal, but his breathing jumped, along with his heartrate.

Okay! Okay. I guess it was too good to be true. He thought. They must not be using their own hive mind, for some reason.

He shook off whatever inclinations he had, and released his grip from the body. He turned around, and went outside, back into hallway. He closed the door, leaving him in darkness again.

He looked left and right, and decided to go left, away from the stairs. As he went down the hall, he checked each of the rooms, cracking open the doors and lighting a light, if only for a moment.

The first room held little of interest. It seemed like a standard bedroom, very clean, very minimal in decoration. It was probably a guest bedroom. A fruit painting was hung above the bed on the back wall, making the otherwise bland wall have some life. He moved on, though.

The next room was more encapsulating. It was essentially the same design of bedroom, but far more decorated with personal attire. Pictures of family and friends hung on the wall. A much larger bed was against the back wall, and a portrait of some aristocrat and a younger colt at his side hung on the wall. It seemed like a master bedroom, but without the typical additions of a large closet and bathroom dedicated to it.

He continued down, but hit the end, where a door faced him. He tried to turn the handle, but the door did not budge. He flicked a light on, and was greeted by a beautiful sight; Three tumbler locks lined up above the handle. Why was this a beautiful sight? Because locks meant secrets, and secrets were of value to him.

He pulled out his pick and tension wrench, and began working away. He worked away at the first lock, setting the pins into place quickly. It clicked into an unlocked position, then he went through the second, then the third.

A final click sounded out, and Kestral put his tools back away. He turned the handle, and pressed the door open. He took a step in, and flicked on a small flame. It was almost useless, however, in that massive room. He looked to his side, and spotted a little switch on the wall. He flicked it, and rid himself of the fire. A crystal in the center of the room illuminated the space, shedding light all over the room.

Kestral gawked at the sight before him. A large, low table sat in the center, sporting a model of Canterlot, along with a small amount of the mountain it connects to. All over the back wall was charts, logs, and letters pinned to the wood. To either side, the large windows that would have normally been visible were boarded up, preventing anyone from seeing in from the outside. A large desk sat on the back wall as well, covered in scrolls and ink. An open safe was at the side, with golden bars fitting nicely inside. There were only two words that could have possibly described how Kestral thought of his find.

“Fucking jackpot.” He said aloud.

After a moment, he realized something. Maps of positions and plans pertaining to the changeling invasion were practically spelled out before him... and yet, the whole room was only guarded by three locks and an inattentive changeling.

Call him paranoid, but there was no way those were the only defenses between him and that room.

He teleported across the distance, towards the table. He turned around, and looked at the door, scrying for anything out of place. He spotted something wrong instantly. Above the door, three metallic orbs linked to chains were hung at an angle. A thin line connected from them to loops that were tacked to the ground, just outside the door's reach. He would have never seen it coming, in the dark. The thread blended in too well. He didn't even notice it in the corner of his vision with the lights on.

In any case, his bout of paranoia had saved him again. Another other spot in the room could be trapped as well, so he would just have to keep an eye out.

He walked over to the model of Canterlot, and spotted a set of documents to the side. He grabbed them, and opened them up. Oddly enough, they were in English -or 'Earth pony', as Equestrians called it. He skimmed over the plans, until he landed on the last entry, which held only a couple of sentences, but were probably the most important.

'All units scramble locations tonight. New assignments at dawn. Reinforcements are arriving within two days' time.'

Kestral stopped stalling, and brought out the cloth compass. He tapped a few times, getting the attention of a certain wizard. He put it up, and looked over the model of Canterlot, waiting.

“Well you're early.” Discord chimed in. “It's barely dark. Are you finished already?”

“Discord, I have good news. I'm standing in the middle of a war room.”

“You're what?” He said flatly. “Hold on.”

He waited a moment, looking over the map still, spotting the black changeling figures that were set in bunches in the noble district. He idly moved over to the task board at the back, keeping an eye for any strings or oddly placed objects.

“Amazing.” Discord said, breaking the silence. Kestral assumed he was looking around with some kind of ethereal perspective. “If these locations are accurate, this will accelerate our progress ten fold! We might be victorious within days!”

“That's great.” He said. “Then you can help focus on that other guy you hired.”

“Yes.” He said back. “I'll have to look through everything here, though. Search around for every scrap of information there could be. Then, we may act. I'll need you to stick around, though. If they notice you've been here before you take them out, they'll burn any trace and change locations.”

“Can do.” Kestral said.

Discord went on, looking through papers and other documents. He could tell by the occasional floating object, which usually was forcibly teleported in a flash, presumably to a safe location for later reference. Even without the physical proof his his presence, he could feel a weight on his mind, like he could simply sense Discord's ethereal presence.

Kestral moved away from the wall, and walked towards the safe. It was full of gold, even if the changelings had spent some of it. On the back of the safe's door was a written log of transactions, with other information tied to it.

'5400 bits added – 7384 total' the first one said. Next to it was a short statement. 'Four hundred to be accredited to each member for miscellaneous use. Remaining total to be allocated towards bribery funding.'

He squinted at the mass of gold in the safe. There was just over twenty gold bars, meaning at least twenty thousand bits, and that wasn't including the silver bars and bags of bits. He looked at the log again, skimming over it until he saw the last log. '2378 bits added. 20K goal met, set aside for future shipment to Clone's operations.'

“Damn.” Kestral said under his breath. “I guess we took out their supply of money, didn't we?”

He reached a hand in, and one by one, made all the gold bars disappear. He left the smaller amounts for the true residents, and withdrew his appendage, taking another look around the room.

With the cash taken, there was little else of interest of the room. Discord didn't need him to stay in the room, he was sure. He moved towards the door, speaking out. “Do you need the light on?” He asked.

“Hmm?” The voice caught his question. “Oh, no. Just make sure they don't enter until I'm done. I'll tell you when that is.”

“Mkay.” Kestral said. He stepped over the wire, and flicked the light off, leaving the poltergeist-occupied room in darkness. He closed the door on his way out, and began walking.

He checked each of the doors on his left as he went down the hallway again. There was nothing of interest, so he continued down to the set of stairs. He went down the stairs, but slowed his steps, just in case there was someone present. He peeked over the rail as he descended. He came down into an open area, and looked around with only the dying sunlight to aid his sight.

Tiled stretched from the stairs to a wall-sheltered kitchen on the other side, with another stretch going from the front door to the back. Four different sets of furniture were placed in the carpet areas that were separated. The nearer two were a living room and a pseudo artistry room, at least from the looks of it. The further two each had what appeared to be a mahogany dining table, surrounded by chairs.

As he walked out from the stairs, he spotted another door to his side, straight under where the above stairway ended. With nothing of significance on the floor, he went right to the door, slowly opening it. He entered, closing the entrance behind him. To his side was another descent to be taken, so he went onward, trekking into the basement of the mansion.

He would have needed a light, but there was already one on, shining through the open walkway at the bottom. He heard moans, some of pleasure, and some of a mix between pain and sadness. As he approached the bottom, he heard it far more clearly.

“Come on, it's full of tasty nutrients! Lots of protein, not that ponies need much.” A rough voice said. “I'll take some of yours, too. A nice exchange. If you use that tongue of yours, I’ll give you extra dessert~” The voice teased.

Kestral looked around the corner carefully, and was in horror of what he saw.

Some poor pegasus was strapped to a low table, on his back, in the center of the room. His legs were held up and out, allowing full access to his underside. An undisguised changeling had his front hooves over him, and closed his eyes, going forward and backward, letting off a loud, emphasized slurping sound. Kestral could just barely make out the muzzle of the pegasus poking out from under the testicles of the bug.

The changeling was breathing heavier and heavier, with every breath pissing off Kestral just a little more. He readied his blade, and was just about to go slice the bugs head off, but something else caught his attention.

Another changeling was there, but he couldn't have been with the murders around him. The bug was tied to two horizontal bars, preventing movement of his legs. A catch for his blood was under him, with green stains covering the side. The changeling hung his head low and drooping eyes, like he just wanted some sleep, and had an occasional drop of blood seep out from where his left fang used to be.

Kestral's disgust for the events that had happened doubled. His vision flashed with magic for a moment, and his thoughts were confirmed; The changeling was not of his enemies. The changeling's aura was not blue, but it wasn't green either. Oddly enough, it was a pale yellow. He hadn't seen a changeling with that aura before. Since the bug was of neither of the previously known factions, he opted to believe that the bug needed saving nonetheless.

He kept his machete close, and went for the offending changeling. The prisoner saw Kestral, and followed him with his eyes, but said nothing, and made no change in his body language. The guy knew what was happening, but didn't want to give it away.

He snuck up behind the thrusting changeling, his breathing covered by the increasingly loud moans. He lifted his blade, and grabbed the horn of the bug. In an instant, he forcefully pulled the insect's head back. The bug looked up at him in surprise and confusion, but couldn't react before Kestral swung his arm down, sinking the blade into the skull. The changeling stiffened for a second, then relaxed.

He pulled the body off the stallion, and dumped it to the side. With the enemy out of the way, he crouched down to reach around the victim. The stallion looked at Kestral with a mix of fear and hope, each battling the other. He stuck his hand in the colt's mouth, and pulled out a piece of metal that was forcing him from closing his jaw. The stallion gladly closed his mouth, spitting out any seminal fluid, and wetting any part of it that was dry.

Kestral quickly cut away the leather straps, releasing the stallion, at which point he decided to talk, given the basement was, presumably, all clear.

“Th- thank you.” He said. His sore voice was a half whimper, but it slowly gained strength as he talked. “Is my family alright?”

“Your family is unconscious, in the attic. They'll wake up on their own, so don't you worry.”

The stallion rolled off onto his hooves, and seemed to want to say something, but simply averted his eyes for a moment. He looked over to his fellow prisoner, as if his image was a distraction, and mumbled. “He's not with the others. Please help him.”

Kestral had followed the stallion's line of sight to the changeling, and made his way over when the stallion spoke. He set his machete against the rope that looped through the holes in his legs and tied him down. After he cut his front legs free, and the changeling began removing the rope from himself, he began to ask them questions.

Gesturing to the changeling. “May I ask who you're allied with?” He asked.

The changeling looked at him with tired confusion before he spoke. “You're not here to kill me?”

Kestral shook his head, freeing his last appendage. “I'm quite literally cutting you loose right now. No, I’m not here to kill you. Not as long as you're not with them.” He said, gesturing to the dead body.

He nodded uncertainly looking around at the ground before he spoke. “I'm sorry. Some of us were fearing a cleansing when we read of the deaths of our former brothers. I am thankful it is not the case.” He paused. “If you mean to ask if I'm of one of the hives, I am not. I disavowed connection to Chrysalis at the first chance I saw to have a fairly peaceful life.”

He took in the information, and nodded. He had no reason to not believe him; The knowing for sure is just nice.

“We took him in a month ago. I promise you he's a good changeling.” The stallion reassured him.

Kestral watched the changeling pick up his fang from the floor and look at it with an expression of loss. “Anyways.” He said, grabbing their attention. “I need you two to do as I say, okay?”

They looked at eachother for a moment, then at him. “Very well.” The stallion said.

He continued. “Okay. What I need you two to do is to go out the back door, and hide somewhere. But it has to be somewhere you can still see in front of your house. There are still five other changelings that will, at some point, come back to this house. I can almost guarantee it'll be sometime soon. Anyways, just watch the house, and don't come out until guards have been alerted.”

“If we wait to alert them, they'll be suspicious.” The colt said. “What do we tell them when they ask why we waited to show ourselves?”

“Just tell them I threatened you with your life.” Kestral said. “They know I'm a human, so they'll buy it in a heartbeat.”

They nodded, but the stallion spoke again. “You said my family was unconscious upstairs. Is there enough time to carry them to safety?”

“Probably, but there's no point. They'd need to stay hidden as well, so moving them wouldn't help them get to the hospital any faster.”

“Hospital!?” The stallion exclaimed. “You said they were fine!”

“Shh!” He said, trying to keep the stallion's voice down. “I said no such thing. Point is, you should leave them to the professionals. Just get get out, stay hidden, and let me do my job, okay?”

The stallion stood rigid for a moment, but then nodded, admitting defeat.

Kestral led the two upstairs, trying to keep their hoofsteps quite, just in case an enemy had entered when he was busy. The first floor was clear, so they moved to the back door. He opened it up, and carefully observed the back yard, ensuring there wasn't a changeling out gardening, or doing something else that would have necessitated him checking out there earlier.

CLICK

“Shit.” He motioned for the two to exit immediately. They complied, running out at a velocity that would put a speeding bullet to shame.

He closed the door, right at the same time the second lock was unlocked. Kestral teleported behind the table and chairs, ducking down, hoping it was enough to obscure himself. He heard the door open, and several sets of hooves entered.

He teleported from behind the table to just inside the entrance of the kitchen, and none too early. The lights flicked on, and hooves continued to pour in, until they fell silent, and closed the door. There wasn't anything he could hear, until he heard a low, suppressed command.

“In two's.” It said.

Slow, soft hoofsteps followed. Some of them were coming closer, but most were going away, in very quiet steps.

Great, they know I'm here. He thought, realizing that his attempt to spy on their hive mind had backfired. They're going slow, though. If I act fast enough, I can nail them all before any of them realizes it.

He peeked around the corner, and watched a minotaur walk into the basement entrance, wearing a black robe with a pale bone mask that made him seem like a reaper, especially with his massive sword drawn. With one hand, the minotaur was undoing the buttons that kept his robe together. The only body part he could see was the two black, hole-riddled horns. A flash of his magic told Kestral that the minotaur was, indeed, a changeling.

He listened for the hoofsteps that were coming towards him, from the other side, where the kitchen's tile met the tile path. He materialized his pistol, and aimed it towards the corner the changelings were bound to come through.

He saw one poke his head forward, and ducked behind the counter he was next to. He cursed himself for his luck. The bugs had prepared themselves by using the blue shields he had begun to resent. As it was, his pistol, and potentially his rifle, were useless.

I wasn't worth it. The minotaur would find the body downstairs too quickly, and come back up by the time he got in a position to kill these two quietly. That wasn't even considering the two that had gone upstairs, and would find the body up there any second.

Instead of bothering to try and kill these two first, he teleported around, back behind the table again. He stayed crouched, and moved to the other end, and teleported behind the couch, on the next section of carpet. He kept down, moving as fast as he could, and made another jump from the couch to the bottom of the stairs.

A loud rumble of someone running up stairs sounded out, and the deep voice called out again.

“He's already been through here!” He said, just as Kestral reached the second floor. “Forget the human! We'll burn the place down! If he's still here he'll burn too!”

“What?” He muttered under his breath. No! His mind wandered to the victims. They'll burn too!

He dissipated his pistol and replaced it with his shotgun. He stood straight and ran toward the war room. He made his boots appear again, crashing against the wood floor with each step. The two changelings that were checking rooms hopped out and followed him, firing ill-aimed bolts of magic at him.

Forget stealth, he needed to kill them ASAP.

He burst through the door, and ran in, intentionally tripping the wire as he scurried to the side, along the wall. He turned around just in time to see the trio of spiked steel-balls fall down and hit the first changeling square in the face. The blue shield shattered, along with some of the bug's teeth and chitin.

Kestral aimed the shotgun, and pulled the trigger when the second changeling rounded the corner. Its brains scattered, but he couldn't see exactly where they went in that dark room.

He cocked the shotgun and aimed again. This time, it was the minotaur-changeling that rounded the corner. “Where are you!?!” He shouted out.

Kestral pulled the trigger, shooting the shield-covered figure with steel pellets. He cocked the gun again, preparing himself for the next shot.

“There you are!” The sentence took him by surprise. The minotaur-shaped changeling flicked on the crystal lights, and stared Kestral down with a menacing glare. He donned metallic armor that covered his entire body. The blue energy flashed from the dual horns, and once again covered his body with an energetic overlay. He pointed the longsword directly at Kestral, with only a single hand holding it. “Fight me, blade to blade.” He commanded.

“How about I don't?” Kestral asked, stalling until he could think of his next move.

“Your cowardice will get you nowhere.” His deep voice echoed.

The two underlings of his came up behind, and got in attack stances, but were partially behind the taller figure.

“It got me this far.” Kestral said, carrying on the conversation.

“It ends here.”

The bipedal changeling charged at him, going for a stab through the torso. Kestral teleported out of the way, a few feet from the other two changelings. Ignoring the tall one, he let off a shot, blasting gore from the body of the closest bug. He cocked the gun again, and prepared to aim-

“Two can play at that game.”

The minotaur-changeling appeared in a flash of light before him. Kestral was picked up by his coat and tossed away. He fumbled around on the ground for a second, before he got his footing. The figures were approaching him with precise cruelty written all over their faces. They were prepared to react to any sudden teleports. He needed to stall, so he could think of another way to fight them.

“Parlay.” Kestral said.

“Pirate-speak doesn't work on me.” He said back.

“How about a deal?” Kestral asked. To his surprise, the two stopped, at the quadruped looked up at the biped.

“Deal?” He asked. “Deal! Why would I make deals with you!? HA!”

He backed away at a slow pace, almost pressing against the wall. He kept aiming his gun at the duo. “Because I can kill you both, and you know that. If you turn yourselves in-”

“HA! HAHahahaha!!” He laughed. “Turn ourselves in?” He asked. “And, what- rot in a cell for the rest of our lives? Maybe starve to death?”

“I have good favor wit h the princesses. I can probably get you amnesty-”

“HAHAHA!” They laughed again.

He knew they'd shove it off. Whether he really could get a word in with Luna's help or not didn't matter. It was just to distract them.

The moment they looked away in laughter, Kestral teleported again, right behind the normal-shaped changeling. He pulled the trigger, expending the last shell in his shotgun.

By the time the body dropped down, the other one had already whipped around and swung at him, but the sword wasn't quiet long enough to reach, so he easily dodged it.

“There aren't enough tricks in the world you could have that would defeat me.”

It was odd. The minotaur-shaped changeling didn't even bat an eye at the death of his comrades. It was as if he simply didn't care, or had been expecting it. Instead, he had just continued trying to kill Kestral, not even becoming more angry over their deaths. Was there something he was missing? Did he ignore some detail that would have explained it? It didn't matter. A target was a target. He just needed a way to get around the combination of the shield and armor.

He dodged another swing, ducking under it. He replaced his shotgun with his pistol, and continued to jump out of the way of each slash and stab. It was unfortunate that his humble machete wouldn't be capable of parrying the blade.

I really need to get a sword.

“What do you even have to gain from these attacks?!” Kestral asked, teleporting out of the way again.

“The glory of blood!” He said, charging for a stab. He skipped the distance in his own teleport, and nearly reached the human, but was too slow, and missed entirely.

“I didn't mean you personally.” He said back. “I meant your superiors. Whoever is calling the shots.”

“I answer to no one!” He chopped down at the map, breaking a good chunk of the table.

“Yeah, right.” He said. “I know you have a queen. Why is she attacking Canterlot?”

“Our hive is the benefactor, but my queen is not the commander of this task! Now hold still!” He spun around, trying to trick him.

“Oh, so, you're telling me that someone even more petty is telling you to do this?”

“PETTY?” He yelled. “Our prince is a mastermind tactician! He is anything but petty!”

“Prince?” Kestral asked. He saw the opportunity he had just opened. “Let me guess. You'd be willing to do anything to get a chance to suck his dick?”

“If my prince requested me, I would.” He said.

“What?” Kestral asked. Oh. Right. Sex is their average pastime. Damn, I keep forgetting that. “Well.... I ….” he thought for a second. “I bet your prince is sterile!”

The changeling stopped. Even through the mask, Kestral saw him look like someone had just kicked his dog into a meat grinder and fed the remains to his cat.

“You... VILLIAN!!!” He yelled. He lifted up and smashed through the desk on the back wall, only barely missing Kestral's body. “I'll gut you for that!”

The changeling doubled his efforts, swinging more wildly in a frenzy. Kestral would have figured the guy would have gotten tired by now, but no. The changeling was still going full strength, with no end in sight.

Oh my god. Kestral thought, having come up with a plan. I'm a fucking idiot.

“Hey, dick-be-smalls!” Kestral said, putting his back against the wall. He put his pistol away for a moment. He put his hands on his head and pointed his fingers like horns. “Come on. Show me that sword isn't just for show! Gut me like a fish! Show me you're more than just a bed bug.”

The changeling snapped to him, lowered his sword, and gave a low growl. “Die.” He commanded.

He charged at him, using the sword like a lance. Kestral let him get closer and closer, right until it seemed too late.

Annnndddd......now!

He teleported right behind the changeling, facing him. Right as the sword stuck into the wood, he made his pistol appear, and aimed it, pulling the trigger as soon as he could. He put his other hand against the armor, right after the blue shield shattered. With his magic, he pumped as much electricity as he could manage, sending it all through the metallic plates.

Zzzzzzzzzzzztttttt

Blue light flashed from the changeling's horns, like he was trying to put his shield back on, but the moment the electricity went through his body, it ceased and sputtered. His body locked up, and slowly tipped over from the lack of balance.

Kestral stepped back, and let the large body fall to the ground, giving a loud crash as it hit the wood floor. He leaned down towards the spasmodically twitching body, and held his hand against the bone mask. He made it disappear, revealing a face physically similar to a true minotaur's, but armored by chitin, rather than fur. The blue eyes stared at him in hatred, when they found a millisecond of focus.

He gave an extra jolt every few couple of seconds, just to be sure. As he did, he touched each section of armor and made it disappear, one by one. First, it was the shoulder pieces, then the arms and gauntlets. Then the plated chest piece. Then the leg pieces, all the way down to the hoof. When he was done, that changeling was completely exposed. There was no getting out of a bullet this time. Not that he intended to waste a bullet...

“You know, I had something for this.” He said, standing straight.

“F- F- Frk Yurr.” The changeling said back.

Kestral kicked him in the thigh, and sent another jolt through him, restarting the sporadic movement. “No, I mean, really. I had something for this.” He grabbed the handle of the sword next to him. After a few tugs, he got it loose, and lifted it up, setting the flat side of the blade against his shoulder. “What the hell was it? I think I lost it when I hit 'bed bug'.”

“F-uh-hu-huck you-ah!”

Kestral gave him another jolt. “Oh, whatever. I'll just kill you then.”

He flipped the heavy sword over, and pointed the blade down, resting the point right on the bug's throat. He shifted all of his weight on the blade and, in an instant, shoved it through the neck. Several cracks sounded out, and green blood leaked out the side, and soon enough, everything stopped moving.

“Well. That's that, I guess.” He said. He pulled the blade out, and set the point on the wood floor. He looked up and down the heavy, four-foot-long steel sword, admiring its sharpness. He couldn't help but realize that it could fill a role he had been complaining to himself not a few minutes earlier....

“I think I’ll keep his.” He said, making the sword disappear into his personal void.

With everything done, he called out to the only one he knew was still listening to him. “Hey, Discord.” He said. “You done yet?” He couldn't see any pages flying around.....

“Hmm?” The voice said. “Oh, yes. I finished by the time you found those two prisoners.”

“Oh, well....” He started. “That's great.”

“Oh, and, the line you were looking for was...'you seem shocked'.” He added, chuckling at his words.

“God damn it.” Kestral said.

He shook his head, walking out of the room and down the hall. He continued, and went down the stairs, heading straight to the front door. He threw it open and stepped out, gathering the attention of any onlookers.

“Hey everyone!” He yelled, causing a chain reaction of panic. “First three guards to get in here get free doughnuts!”

He slammed the door, not even bothering to check if guards were already coming. He knew they were, just by their typical reaction time. He locked the knob and the deadbolt, and ran for it. He booked it up the steps, reaching the third floor in record time. He ran through the hallway, already hearing the loud banging on the front door. He reached the window, and peeked out into the alleyway.

Not a soul was there, or in the streets either. People were already running away, apparently still very fearful of a human being around them. He set his foot on the sill, and made a jump, teleporting across most of the distance, landing on the next house's window's sill perfectly. He dropped down and closed the window, concealing his entrance.

For some reason, he didn't feel that the presence in the back of his mind had left. He decided to see if he could get some help.

“Hey, Discord.” He called.

“Hmm?”

“Could you do me a favor?” He asked, hoping the answer was 'yes'.

“Depends....” He said, with a mix of enthusiasm and malice in his voice. “...and not without a favor in return....”

“Would it be possible for you to teleport me to, say, somewhere in the castle where I can walk out without suspicion?” He asked.

“And why would you want to go there so quickly? To tell your girlfriend Luna of your most recent exploit?” He asked, then began making an overly exaggerated female voice. “Oh, Kestral! Your skills have saved my ponies once again! How could I ever repay you? A mountain of gold? No! Of course not! You must want to relieve your needs with my big plots of..... land~”

“She's not my girlfriend.” Kestral said.

“So quick to defend.” Discord scoffed. “But then again, I guess you still have to choose between the three. Anyways.” He coughed. “I'll do it, but you have to, at some point after this, infiltrate Celestia's room again, and do something.”

“Okay.” He agreed. “Do what, though?”

“Oooooohhh..... you'll see. Just tell Luna I said the candy tastes great.”

“Candy?” He asked.

Before he could even get another word in, a blinding flash of light broke out in his sight, and he felt weightless, if only for an instant.

He could only hope there would be enough time by the time he got to Luna.

Kestral shivered.

He walked out of the restroom, which for some reason was being held at a temperature that would make a Russian shiver.

And he was half Russian.

Even with his disguise on, he felt the cold, and the air in the lobby was no warmer. In any case, he moved out of the bathroom he was moved into, and went directly to the right. He made no shifty eye-contact with the guards, kept his back straight, and his head up. His eyes didn't move from the direction of the entrance to the court. He walked through the dim moonlight, which was outshined by the crystal lights that riddled the high walls.

He was a man with a mission. Or a minotaur with a mission, as far as anyone else could tell. In any case, he was on the move, and he clearly had a purpose. Unfortunately, as he rounded the corner, he saw a small gathering of nobles, who were all talking in a collective mumble to eachother. He approached, and, though some had looked at him with curiosity or recognition, most ignored his presence. He waded his way through the group, and got to the two guards that were blocking entrance to the court.

“Excuse me, sirs.” he said, grabbing their attention. “I need to ask; Is her majesty, Princess Luna, in the courtroom as of yet?”

“Her majesty is. She and a few others are reviewing specialty cases at this time.”

“That's great.” He said. “May I enter, so that I may bring a matter to her?”

“General suits may be taken here in about thirty minutes. Until then, entrance is not allowed until case review is complete.”

“You mistake me.” He said, urging the guard. “I'm not here for a case. I'm here to discuss a personal matter with her.”

“If it's personal, you can wait for general suits, or wait for her free time during the day.”

“With all due respect, that's not an option.” He said, trying to get the message across. “The truth in what I need to tell her might expire within the hour. Please, I need to speak with her.”

“I'm sorry, sir, but you're going to have to wait.” He said, his face like stone. “I can't allow intrusions unless it is an emergency.”

“Well, fantastic!” He said. “This is one. Lives are at stake, so open up.”

“Really?” He asked. “And what's the emergency?”

“Above your pay grade, now open up.” He said. “If this is about trusting me, then you should have been here like a week ago. I was delivering a message on her behalf, for Lord's sake!”

“Well, I'm sorry sir.” He said, starting to get annoyed. “But unless you have proof, we can't take your word for it.”

“I have a royal seal from one of my letters.” He said. “Is that enough?”

The guard in from of the right door looked pensive, then very nearly said 'yes', but his friend interrupted him.

“No. You'd need something along the lines of a Writ of Endorsement. Sorry.” She said.

Kestral looked at the guard he asked, who merely cleared his throat. “You have your answer.” He said.

He took a step closer to the door, which the guards didn't seem to mind, though they gave him a warning.

“The doors are locked, so don't even bother trying to get in without us.”

He internally shook his head. He rested his fist against the massive wooden doors, squaring up his shoulders so he could hit as hard as he could. He pulled his fist back, and smashed against the wood, causing loud echoing to be heard.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

The nobles suddenly went silent, some looked at him like he was crazy. Maybe he was, but that was beside the point. He took a step back, and saw the half-worried glare the guards fed him. After a moment of silence, one of them spoke.

“What was that?” The mare asked.

“What?” He asked. “If you're not going to let me in, then I'll bring her out.”

They just stared at him even more accusingly. “Sir, any further attempt to intrude on the court's time will result in arrest. I advise against it.” The mare said.

“That won't be necessary.”

Luna had, with the grace of a feather, opened the door without the guards knowing. Until she spoke, that is. Her sudden appearance caused all of the nobles to bow in respect. Once the guards shifted out of the way, they did too. Kestral made a deep bow at the waist.

“Now, should I assume, Hunter, that it is you that had knocked?” She asked.

“Yes, your majesty.” He said, standing straight again. “There is an urgent message I bring you. The sender was adamant that it be verbal.”

She nodded, and opened the court door more. “Very well. But please try to make this quick.”

He nodded as well. “Yes, your majesty.” He entered, following her a few feet inward. The door closed and locked in pure silence, barring the low sound of her magic. She made some kind of gesture that indicated for him to be silent himself, while she did something. A small film of magic formed in a bubble around them. It looked flimsy, so it actually seemed like a real soap bubble. In any case, she looked at him and spoke openly.

“Sorry, nobles are nosy neighbors.” She said. “Now, Kestral, what is it that's so important?”

“Uh.....” He paused. “.....Kestral?”

She scoffed at him. “You don't think I actually fell for that disguise, did you? I fit that puzzle together within seconds of you handing me that letter.”

Fuck. And here I thought I was actually keeping it a secret. He thought. “Heh, well. I wasn't expecting you to wait this long to say it.” He said, covering his tracks. “Anyways. Here's the problem: There's a raid going down in one of the noble's houses, on Copper Street, a few houses south of main.”

“So you came to me to gloat?” She asked.

“What? No- why does everyone-..... No, I didn't. Look, they had a war room in there. They've got a list of every location where there are changelings. The problem is that they're dumping their positions tonight. If you don't get a load of guards on it ASAP....” he trailed.

“We'll lose the best opportunity we've had insofar.” She finished. “Very well. I can't be there myself. Night court is most busy the moment it opens. But I can ensure that the Night-Guard is used properly.”

He nodded. “Thanks, Luna.” He said.

“Thank you for keeping me up to date.” She said. “Oh, and, Kestral?”

“Yes?” He asked, curious.

“A little bird told me 'Hunter' had immediately given his only witnessed income to a poor, pregnant mare in need.” She said. “It makes me wonder who it is that causes funds to disappear from safes and homes, and reappear where several hundred poverty-stricken people can use it to survive.”

He shrugged. “I'm not against helping the masses.” He said.

“I'm not either.” She said. “I donate some of my stipend when I can. But just remember; There are an awful lot of nobles that wouldn't agree with you.”

“Don't worry.” He waved it off. “I'll make sure not to get caught.”

“Very well.” She said, releasing them from the bubble. “Farewell, Hunter. Thank you for your services.”

He nodded, and walked out the courtroom doors. Once again, he waded through the nobles. He walked towards the massive entrance to the castle, with naught but a single thought in his mind.

It's time to go hunting.