Three days after second attack on Canterlot

Changeling Hive

The group of wraiths filed into the human area of the Hive, not saying anything at all to the passing Changelings. None of the changelings had even been game enough to ask, the massive grin that the Commander had been sporting unnerving many of them. The Commander was the only one to have removed his helmet, the headgear hanging at his side alongside a ornately decorated golden telescope. The scientists likewise had avoided asking how the mission had gone; knowing that the soldiers would not have returned if this was the case.

The fifteen soldiers fanned out around the camp, beginning their post-mission routines. The Commander however had a different plan

“Excuse me guard” Nigel asked a nearby Changeling soldier, the equine saluting the Commander “Could you please direct me to the nursery?”

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“He seems to be getting along well with the Nymphs, we did notice however that the pony does appear to be slightly depressed” the Nurse explained as she trotted alongside Nigel, the pair heading towards the Changeling nursery located in the depths of the Hive

“I expected as such, considering the circumstances” Nigel replied

“Well, yes, but it’s more than that I believe, the colt only began to act this way once you had left” the nurse looked towards the Human, Nigel’s face locked in an expression of concern

“I really hope that he hasn’t become too attached to me, such an issue would have complications”

“I’m not an expert on how ponies think, but from what you described earlier regarding his recent behaviour I would say that it’s already progressed past the point of return” the nurse halted before the nursery door, turning towards the Human “excuse me for saying this, but I’m afraid that you have no choice, either you find alternative caretakers that the child is comfortable around or you have to show some responsibility and raise the pony yourself”

Nigel raised an eyebrow at the nurse’s statement; the Changeling not appearing to be the least bit concerned that she just essentially told the being that had destroyed a large part of Canterlot to grow up. He didn’t have time to muster a rebuttal, the nurse pushing open the main nursery doors.

The inside of the large area was chaotic, the inside swarming with a decent amount of Nymphs, the small changelings running around with the energy that only small children possess. There was a smattering of nurses round the room, seemingly reduced to just observing the mobile chittering mass. The nurse accompanying Nigel entered the room, the Commander cautiously following, unnerved by the proximity of so many children. He scanned the room in an attempt to spot Bleak Horizon, hoping to achieve his task and leave as soon as possible.

He spotted his target, the blue mane of the grey pony easily distinguishable even in the midst of black fast-moving blurs. The colt was currently sitting on the ground with five young Changelings in a circle, another changeling trotting around the outside of the circle, tapping each youngster on the head as it passed them. Nigel did not have a single clue about what they were doing; he assumed that it was some sort of child’s game. He was pleased at the fact that Horizon seemed to be interacting well with the changelings, the colt seemingly enjoying the activity. Nigel started to approach the group, keeping towards the sides of the room to try to avoid attention. This failed however, all of the young changelings in the room spotting the biped and pausing their playing, except for the group of seven at the back who were too engrossed in their game to notice his arrival.

‘Crap’ thought Nigel, freezing in place like a statue as multiple pairs of blue eyes stared at him in curiosity. He began to slowly inch forward towards the circle of children, making sure to not make any sudden movements. The Nymph circling the group noticed him and stopped his motions, the rest of the group turning to face the source of the distraction, Horizon’s face lighting up as he saw Nigel, the colt getting off the ground and racing towards him. Nigel watched the changelings warily, the formerly-energetic group all having moved together in the centre of the room, thoroughly creeping him out. They had not broken their stares since they had noticed him, all eyes fixed solely on him. Horizon reached his armoured legs, embracing one in a hug. Nigel forced himself to tear himself away from the stares of the nymphs, instead looking down at Horizon before ruffling his mane with a hand

“Well, it seems like you made some friends” Nigel commented, looking back up briefly at the changelings, the group still staring at him “Although they are a tad bit terrifying”

Horizon looked up at Nigel, a smile on his face “They’re really nice Nigel, but I missed you, why did you have to go away for so long?”

Nigel had to think about his reply, thinking that ‘Oh, I was just blowing up half a city and watching a pony Princess sleep’ was not going to be an appropriate answer

“I had to go away for work Horizon, I’m back for a day but I’ll have to leave again the day after tomorrow”

The colts smile dropped, his eyes beginning to moisten as Nigel told him this

‘Oh no, please don’t do what I think you’re about to do-‘

Horizon did what Nigel feared, the colt starting to cry

“I don’t want you to go again” the colt said between sobs, grasping Nigel’s leg harder.

Nigel sighed “I’m going, there’s nothing I can do about it Horizon, I’m sorry”

The unicorn kept on crying, Nigel’s words having not solved the situation, why was dealing with children so difficult?
Nigel kneeled down on the ground, Horizon having sat down on his rump, having released his grasp on Nigel’s leg. The Commander could only think of one thing to do at the moment, having observed the technique on UIP family broadcasting. He embraced Horizon in a hug, the foal leaning forward into it, pushing his head against Nigel’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry that I’ve been neglecting you Horizon, I know that you’re probably very scared and I should’ve made more of an effort with you and for failing in that I’m sorry” the foal stopped his sobbing, his aqua eyes meeting Nigel’s blue ones

“I forgive you Nigel, I know that you have to work a lot” the colt gave another sniffle “you’re the only pon-, um, Thing that I know, I just wish that you were here more”

“I tell you what Horizon, how about after I get back next I promise that I’ll stay for longer and that I’ll spend more time with you?”

“You promise?” Horizon asked hopefully

“I promise” Nigel answered, once again hugging the colt, Horizon returning the affection.

Nigel had made a couple of mistakes however. The nurses had not yet fed the Nymphs that day, and Horizon and he were emitting a fair amount of love. Nigel had also dropped his guard while he was hugging Horizon, the young changelings seizing the opportunity. Sensing the love between the new creature and the pony they had been playing with for days and seeing that the two were currently hugging each other the young changelings wanted in.

Nigel had barely time to utter a manly yelp of distress before the mass of nymphs moved as one and flung themselves upon him, covering him in a mass of excited chittering children. Their combined weight pinned Nigel to the ground, Horizon having been spared his fate, Nigel having thrown him clear. The colt looked on in horror as the human was enveloped in a rolling black tide of Horizon’s playmates. A few nurses rushed past him In an attempt to help the fallen Commander, Horizon losing view of Nigel as they charged in front of the colt in an attempt to halt the swarm, a single armoured arm pointing up towards the roof before it to was tackled by a changeling child, the added weight dragging it down into the mass of bodies.

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UIP Weapons Engineer Klaus Steiner looked up from his workspace as the Commander accompanied by the pony foal walked into the camp. The Commander’s face was covered in what appeared to be saliva, Chalmers trying to clean it off with a rag to no avail. The Commander did not look pleased as he stormed over towards his tent, grabbing his helmet from inside it before putting it on his head, making sure that it was on securely. Klaus grabbed the item he was working on and walked over towards him, the pony colt moving closer towards Chalmers as Klaus approached the unusual pair

“Are you alright Commander? You appear to be quite agitated I observed”

Commander Chalmers turned to face the scientist

“Children, lots of tiny, terrifying children” was all the Commander provided

“Yes, they can indeed be quite a handful” Klaus concurred, holding up his device towards the Commander “I do however have something that I believe you will quite enjoy” The Commander stared warily at the device in Klaus’s outstretched hands

“I thought I told you that you weren’t allowed to use any more explosives”

“Oh, no Commander, this is not an explosive weapon” Klaus stated proudly “Doctor Thrax and Myself have come up with quite an ingenious idea, with help from the changeling known as Transfusion as well”

The Commander looked over Klaus’s shoulder, spotting the changeling talking with Thrax at a science bench “Why does that somehow concern me more?”

“I know what you mean Commander, that Thrax is quite reckless with his projects” Klaus had forgotten about the whole changeling-strapped-with-rockets thing that had happened earlier. The Commander had tilted his head to the side at the scientist’s statement

“Anyway…” the Commander continued “I’m going to regret this, but what does this device actually do?”

Klaus beamed at him “Well Commander, I do believe that you are leaving tomorrow in order to conduct negotiations with the enemy, this device could prove immensely useful, and here’s why…”

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Pale Midnight was being escorted from her cell by two changelings and a human soldier, her legs un-shackled but a chain was around her neck, held by one of the changelings

“So where are we going?” she asked the human

“That is something you are not required to know” it replied

“You’re not going to… kill me are you?” she asked fearfully as they began to ascend a ramp

“… probably not” the human said after a short pause, causing the Nocturne mare’s heart to beat faster

The group reached a large cavern, over forty more Equestrian prisoners all lined up, chained and guarded by two changelings each. All of the other ponies were solar guard captured during the battle, a few of them shooting the Nocturne glares as she was pushed into line. The Changelings stayed by her side while the human soldier walked towards the front of the room, standing at attention alongside more of his fellows in a line facing the prisoners.

‘Is this it’ thought Midnight ‘Are they just going to line us up and execute us just like this?’

The Nocturne shifted where she stood, casting a glance at each changeling guard beside her

A door opened at the front of the area and out strode the human Commander, fully armoured with the Princess’s tiara still firmly on his helmet. The human walked over towards the group of prisoners, all of the ponies watching him warily. The biped stopped about fifteen hooves away from the front of the line

“Equestrian prisoners” the Commander began, his voice loud enough to be heard by all assembled “You were all captured after your militaries’ failed attack against us, and no attempt has been made to retrieve you” the Commander paused, allowing the information to sink in. Many of the ponies had bowed their heads; knowing that this was most likely true, after all, if the Princesses could have attacked again then they would have done it already.

“You do have a chance at freedom however” At this the prisoners raised their heads, all attention fixed on the Commander, the biped beginning to walk back and forth in front of the line “We are going to be conducting diplomatic negotiations in the morning with your Princesses, and if those negotiations go well then you will be released” the Commander ceased his pacing, a group of Changelings moving through the door levitating metal collars in their magical grips. Accompanying the Changelings was a biped in White armour, a long black object slung across his back and a case in one of his claws.

The Changelings wielding the collars moved towards the ponies, each changeling placing a collar around a pony’s neck, the metal bands clicking shut in place.

Midnight fidgeted as the cold metal was clasped around her neck, no doubt these collars were bad news. This theory was proved correct when the white armoured human pressed a button on an object he held. Red lights appeared on every single collar, each single light staying a solid red. The white human giving the Commander the device he had just activated

“Thank you Steiner, are the collars properly armed?”

“Yes Commander” the human named Steiner replied “I have synced the remote with your HUD, so all it should take is a simple voice command and the devices will activate”

“Thank you doctor” The commander replied “I assume you have the second device ready as well?”

“I do” Steiner replied “It was tested with the help of Transfusion earlier, he is still recovering but it should serve us well”

“Great work, prepare to leave”

Steiner nodded, moving towards the edge of the cavern, the Commander turning back towards the ponies, the majority glancing apprehensively at the collars locked around the ponies around them “I’m sure you are all curious to what the dear Doctor has just strapped you with?”

A few ponies nodded, Midnight included

“To put it simply, each of those collars contains a high-explosive charge, set to detonate when I command it and when they do detonate they will kill you in an extremely gory way” Some of the ponies began to panic at the revelation that they had just had bombs attached to them “If you behave you live” this managed to calm most of the panicking equines down, the prisoners having become accustomed to following the instructions of their human captors during the ponies’ captivity

“If you misbehave however…” the Commander stated, leaning in towards the ponies

“You all go out with a bang”

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The two Princesses stepped out of the carriage as it touched the dusty ground, the small town of Appleoosa seemingly deserted. Another chariot landed, the six elements of harmony exiting it, joined shortly after by twelve guards, six Solar and six Lunar. The Princesses had not brought as many as the biped allowed, reasoning that if the creatures were able to defeat an army of four-thousand then forty guards would not be of much use.

“Where are they Sister?” Luna questioned, glancing around the town

“I do not know Luna, what I want to know more Is what happened to the townsponies”

“I assure you that the inhabitants of this town are quite safe”

The Princesses, the guards and the Elements whirled around to face the Saloon, the Human Commander known as ‘Lord Poseidon’ according to the reports of the survivors of the battle at the Hive exiting through the doors to stand in front of the group, his twin claws resting on two objects strapped to his armoured hips.

“Where are our Subjects?” questioned Celestia, forcing herself to remain calm. Luna however had paled slightly at the sight of Lord Poseidon

“While I can’t disclose their location, no harm has come to them and that shall remain the case if you don’t try anything funny”

The human looked back at the guards “I see you only brought a small group of guards, no matter, they’re not going to be of any help if the faecal matter hits the fan anyway”

“Take that back Monster!” Captain Bulwark shouted as he jumped in front of the Princesses, his face contorted in anger as he levelled the spear attached to his armour at the human. The Human appeared un-phased at having a spear point only inches away from his chest

“I would advise against that pony” He said as gestured towards Bulwark’s body. Bulwark glanced down, a multitude of blue dots covering his chest and legs. He looked at the biped in confusion

“Those dots are targeting sights of about twenty weapons all pointing at you, anyone of which is easily capable of tearing through your armour and insides like paper, I highly suggest you back up”

“Do as he says Captain” Celestia ordered, the Captain slowly lowering the spear and stepping back a few paces.

“Excellent choice!” exclaimed the human “now might we begin our discussions, hmmmm?”

Celestia nodded “That is why we are here, Lord Poseidon”

The human seemed a bit taken aback about this, but he swiftly recovered

“Sure, let’s just roll with it” he stated to the confusion of the ponies “These types of talks bore me, so I’ll get to the point. I want you to cease hostilities against us and the Changelings as well as allowing them and us to access the area between the Hive and your western border, including this town” the biped reached towards its head, a sharp beam of light emitting from it, a three-dimensional map of the area appearing on the ground, much to the amazement of the ponies, especially the purple unicorn.

A large stretch of land lighted up red on the map, indicating the area that the human wanted free access in

“How do we know that you will not harm our subjects if we agree to this” said Celestia, secretly surprised at the admittedly fair demands that the Human made, although her face did not show it

“Simple” the Human replied “In return for this, the Changelings and us will cease attacks on Equestria and the Changelings will not feed on your citizens, we have solved their food problems” Celestia raised a brow at this, how could the humans possibly have fixed such an issue?

“In fact” the biped continued “I’m even willing to sweeten the deal” as he said this a large group of ponies moved out of an alley, all of them standing in the main road, some type of collar around their necks. The human glanced at the newly arrived ponies, before returning his vision to the Princesses “Each of those ponies is wearing a remotely-detonated explosive collar, purely for insurance I assure you” the biped chuckled as he said the last part.

“I’m well aware of your affinity with explosives” Stated Celestia coldly

“Still touchy about the city I see” the biped replied nonchalantly “anyway, as long as things go smoothly I see no need for such measures, if they are un-detonated they will disarm in twenty-four hours by themselves, so if you continue to act civil everyone goes home alive, now, do you have an answer for me regarding our terms?”

“I wish to consult with my Sister for a short while” Celestia said

“Very well” the human responded, the ponies watching in shock as he removed what turned out to be a helmet, attaching the headwear to his side. The biped then removed a long stick from his armour, placing the end of it in his mouth before lighting it with a boxy object, smoke beginning to bellow forth from the brown stick.

Celestia turned away from the un-expected sight; the creatures jarringly un-monstrous face not what she was expecting from such a wicked fiend. She noticed Luna had a look of surprise on her face as the blue alicorn watched the human

“Luna” Celestia said, breaking her sister from her trance “What do you think of the terms he has offered?”

Luna bit her lower lip “They do seem to be quite reasonable, I expected the creatures to demand more. I’m still not convinced that the Changelings would cease to feed upon our subjects however. If it is true that these ‘Humans’ have solved that problem I think we should accept it, they have already proven that they are able to inflict grievous blows on us and peace, even with an insane creature is still peace”

“I think it would be ideal also” replied Celestia “We would still be able to watch them, and I have a few ideas which may work to our advantage when it comes to that. I think he is telling the truth about the Changelings, it does explain how they have become fast allies and from seeing the humans’ capabilities in warfare it is possible. While it does pain me to make a truce with those that are responsible for so many deaths it would be worth it if it brings an end to the violence. as you said before, they have proven their military might and that is only what we have seen so far, I get the feeling that they haven’t even shown us what they are truly capable of.”

“It is agreed then” confirmed Luna, Celestia turning back around to face Lord Poseidon “We agree to your terms Lord Poseidon, if you release the prisoners and leave this settlement for now we will honour our truce”

“Great to hear” the human said as he tossed the burning stick on the ground, grinding it beneath his boot-heel as he re-affixed his helmet “Prisoners, you may begin to move”

The captive ponies began to move forward towards the princesses, their collars still active. They had made it twenty meters before a large group of Diamond dogs burst from a nearby alley wielding weapons. The largest one, a bulldog with brown mottled fur pointed at the Commander with a paw

“That’s it, that’s the creature that killed Rusty!”

Celesta saw the Commander tilt his head towards the leader in confusion “I don’t have the slightest idea of what you’re talking ab-“

“ATTACK!”

The Human was cut off by the Bulldog’s bellowed order, the dogs surging forward towards the lone biped. All of the Equestrians watched on in horror as the blue dots returned, positioning themselves over the dogs’ knees and elbows.

Multiple bangs rang out around the town, humans firing their weapons from concealed locations, the munitions blowing of limbs and severing joints. The dogs stood no chance, all of them falling down towards the ground, most of them missing multiple limbs. As this happened an object that had been buried under the sand in the middle of the town burst up, rising into the sky before detonating, filling the air with a barely-visible gas.

The ponies felt the gas enter their nostrils and mouths, the substance seemingly sapping their energy, all of the Equestrians including the two alicorns dropping to their knees in the dirt. Celestia tried to raise a shied bubble around them but her magic refused to work, almost as if it had somehow been inhibited. The Diamond dogs seemed un-effected by the gas, although considering that the dogs were lying in pools of their own blood thrashing wildly around it was a small mercy. The human had begun to put the dogs out of their misery, Celestia having enough strength to raise her head, watching as the Human Leader used one of the objects he pulled from his hip to execute the dying canines, the object booming and emitting a burst of light as the dogs heads exploded.

The gas however eventually triumphed completely over her, Celestia collapsing fully onto the ground, joining the other ponies.

The sounds of bangs stopped, replaced by heavy footfalls advancing towards her, before halting, Celestia seeing two black metal boots just in the corner of her vision

‘I’m completely powerless’ she panicked ‘is he just going to end us like those Diamond Dogs?’

Celestia closed her eyes, coming to terms with her situation before a metal claw grasped her chin, lifting her face up until she could see the human’s glowing red eyes

“I could kill you right now Celestia, and nothing could stop me” the human said, tapping his weapon against her muzzle “But I detest breaking promises” he stated, returning his weapon to his hip, before letting Celestia’s head go and standing back up

“I would stay and help, but I’ve got to fulfil a promise to someone else, so I must be off."

The human began to walk away, before he stopped and turned back around to face the ponies, removing his helmet as he did so. The gas seemingly had no effect on him as he walked over to Luna, crouching down in front of her. He cupped his claws and lifted her face, his eyes locking onto hers as he moved his head forward. Luna was powerless to resist as the human’s face moved closer, the Princess of the night fearing the human’s intentions. The human stopped his face a bare inch away from Luna’s, her breath halting as her heart began to beat furiously

“You have pretty eyes” the human stated, before releasing Luna’s head. He once again re-attached his helmet and walked away, leaving the large number of Equestrians on the ground, the Princesses the only ones left conscious.

As he walked back towards the apple orchards where the ponies of the town were being held he smiled under his helmet

‘Well,’ he thought ‘that went rather well.’