Transfusion slowly came to, the room he was in was pitch black, the changeling unable to see anything around him.
“Hello?” he called out, his voice echoing around the darkness “is there anybody out there?”

With a hum bio-lights activated, the room brightening until Transfusion could clearly see his surrounds. He was suspended from the room, his body at least a meter off the ground, his hooves dangling beneath him. Covering him was some sort of soft, pink material, Transfusion unable to see what it was as his head was held in place by the substance. Scattered around the room were what appeared to be children’s’ toys but that meant that he could only be in the… nursery.

Transfusion’s eyes widened as he realised this “HELLLLLP! SOMEONE HEEEELLLLLP, ANYBODY PLEASE!”

____________________________________________________________________________

Nigel and Chrysalis watched from the upper floor of the room as the changeling scholar below cried out for assistance, Nigel ensuring that his camera was getting everything.

“Permission to unleash the Agents of Suffering your Highness?” Nigel asked the Queen next to him.

Chrysalis smirked as she looked upon the struggling Transfusion, a large pink love heart made out of foam surrounding the changeling’s body.

“Do it Commander” she commanded, Nigel activating his suit’s external speakers.

“RELEASE THE NYMPHS!”

___________________________________________________________________________

Transfusion began to tremble, the bellowed command ringing around the cavern like the peal of a bell. The trembles turned into full-blown shakes as the sound of a solid door opening behind him reached his ears, followed by a mass of chittering voices.

“No no no no no no no no no no no no” he repeated to himself as he found himself swinging around to face the noise, his body rotating as the rope that suspended him was manipulated by someone above. He completed a one-eighty degree turn, coming face-to-face with a horror no being should experience.

Standing in front of him was a mass of nymphs, the young changelings all looking at him with joyful expressions. Transfusion lost count at forty, the mass of children chittering excitedly to one another. In a single moment all sound cut out as every nymph halted their speech, every pair of blue eyes focused on the heart-shaped changeling hanging from the roof. With expert organisation, as if they were somehow soundlessly co-ordinating their actions the Nymphs surged forth as one, their target managing to utter one final shriek before the mass of black forms covered him completely.

“NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

______________________________________________________________________________-

Chrysalis and Nigel walked out of the nursery area, the sounds of hyper-active children and girlish screams receding into the background as they ascended towards the throne room.

“That was quite the punishment” chuckled Chrysalis, turning her head towards the human as they continued walking “how did you come up with such a marvellous idea?”

“Only those that endure such a Hell can truly wish it upon their fellows” Nigel replied seriously, his answer accompanied by gesture he made across his chest with his hands, the movements forming a cross.

“Okay then, moving on,” continued the Queen, her mirth dulling at the Commander’s somber expression “how do you plan to both ruin my image and embarrass the Equestrians next, surely you have some insane plot forming in that head of yours?”

“My dear Chrissy, whatever drove you to assume that I intentionally preform actions that smear your good name?” Nigel responded, placing a hand over his heart.

“You set fire to the city I tried to conquer and then gloated about it, after watching Luna sleep for hours. Everything you have done so far has made me look bad.”

“Well then,” Nigel began to respond as the pair of leaders entered the human encampment, Bleak Horizon rushing over towards Nigel from his former position resting on a sleeping bag, Nigel scooping the colt up into his arms “You’re not going to like my answer.”

“What a surprise” Chrysalis said as she watched Nigel throw the pony foal into the air, the Commander catching the giggling child before continuing.

“I heard that the weather in Manhattan is terrific this time of year and considering that we have been given permission to explore the city I thought ‘why not’, after all it’s not as if we have anything better to do with our time. Another reason is that the boffins” Nigel inclined his head towards the group of scientists all hovering around a workbench “have manufactured some devices that will prove useful for reconnaissance while entertaining us at the same time.”

Chrysalis let out a sigh “Fine, you’re going to go regardless of what I say, can you at least promise me that you and your men will refrain from causing trouble?”

“… I will not burn the city down” Nigel said after a pause, the Commander heading towards the group of soldiers at the rear of the camp.

“Why do I get the feeling that he’s going to do everything but” muttered Chrysalis as she turned and headed towards her throne, having given up on trying to control the erratic creature that held the fate of her Hive in his hands.

______________________________________________________________________________

“What a nice spot for a break, just in time for lunch too”

Nigel sat down on a flat rock as he said this, the rest of the group picking spots of their own. Five wraiths and three changelings had opted to join the Commander on his trip to the Equestrian city. Nigel had also brought along Bleak Horizon, figuring that he needed to spend more time with the child. The colt was currently making itself comfortably between Nigel and the changeling Nestor, the two beings it seemed the most outgoing around.

The three changelings Mirror, Nestor and Reflection all were wearing satchels, each changeling retrieving a vial of the chemical love to consume, the humans merely letting their suits supply their nutritional needs. Nigel rummaged around in a pack he had brought with him, retrieving a sandwich wrapped in plastic and handing it to Horizon after removing the covering, the colt enthusiastically beginning to eat the offered morsel.

As he sat and observed the group Nigel noticed that certain divisions had formed. Nestor and Mirror were sitting with him and Horizon, Mirror and Nestor conversing amongst themselves while Horizon was too focused on his lunch to provide any input.

Three Corporals, those soldiers being Stevens, Smith and Murray had perched themselves on top of a hill, Sergeant Boland sitting with his subordinates, all using their internal communications to speak to one-another. All four were heavily armed, each soldier carrying a rifle, a sidearm and numerous other weapons, Sergeant Boland not trusting the pony Princesses at all with up-holding the truce.

The most unusual match of all was sitting under a tree away from the main group, a human and a changeling. Corporal Jacobs and Reflection were both leaning against each other, the changeling sipping from a vial as Jacobs talked, the Corporal emphasising his points with hand gestures as he chatted with the changeling.

“That was really tasty Nigel, thank you.”

Nigel looked down at Horizon; the colt having finished his sandwich was now lying on his side, basking in the sun’s rays.

“Well, it’s nice to see that when it comes to my lettuce, tomato and cheese sandwiches someone enjoys them” Nigel replied as he used his armoured hand to scratch the colt behind the ears, the unicorn letting out a noise of approval “with the amount of them you eat I might have to take out a loan to keep you supplied” he joked, the colt raising his head to look at Nigel.

“So are you going to let me stay with you?”

‘Damn, this conversation already’ thought Nigel as he prepared a response.

“Well, you see Horizon, as you know I need to leave a lot because of my job and I may not come back one day” at this Horizon latched onto Nigel’s leg.

“Don’t say that Nigel, you’ll always come back, Mister Boland said that you would!”

Nigel raised an eyebrow under his helmet “Oh really now, just what did Boland tell you then?”

Horizon looked up at Nigel, the human’s scary helmet eyes was looking right at him but he wasn’t afraid of them, he knew that Nigel's real face was nothing like his helmet.

“He said that you’re one of the best soldiers in the entire UIP and that you always come home because death is too afraid of making you angry because if he did try and take you then he would probably end up with his scith” the young colt had trouble pronouncing the word ‘scythe’ “shoved up his bony bottom.”

Nigel chuckled at this, he would have to have a talk to the Sergeant about planting such ideas in the impressionable youngster’s mind.

“Well, he’s probably not too far off but there are other issues such as where you’ll stay when I’m not home and who would look after you. You also have to understand that if you do live with me that you would have to leave this planet, although if you do we’ll try to visit as much as possible” this answer seemed to pacify Horizon.

Nigel appeared confident but he was mentally listing the many difficulties that the arrangement would create. While he was well-off financially thanks to his high wage and smart investing, money couldn’t solve everything. He would have to organise for the colt to receive education that meets the UIP standards, the pony already disadvantaged thanks to his planet’s low technology level. The colt would also be the only one of his species at any school he attended and while the UIP welcomed different species children are always the harshest of critics and Nigel couldn’t exactly pull a gun on every child that bullied Horizon. Health care as well as future employment would also prove to be formidable obstacles and Nigel dreaded to dwell upon what the colt’s teenage years would entail.

“Excuse me Commander.”

Nigel was pulled from his thoughts as Sergeant Boland addressed him, the Sergeant sitting down while indicating to Nigel that he wished to conduct a conversation between the two of them privately.

“Horizon,” Nigel said, the colt turning back to him, the pony having observed Boland’s approach “I need to talk with Sergeant Boland for a little while, why don’t you see if Nestor and Mirror would like to talk with you? I’m sure Nestor would love to ask you some more questions.”

The colt nodded at this before he picked himself up and trotted over towards the two changelings, the pony being greeted with two smiles. Nigel turned towards Boland and activated his radio “*What would you like to discuss Sergeant?*”

“*It’s regarding the Corporal and the Changeling known as Reflection Commander*” Boland answered, Nigel looking over towards the pair. Reflection was currently appearing to be resting against the Corporal, Jacobs arm slung over the changelings back as Reflection rested her head on his shoulder.

“*What about them Sergeant, they seem to be getting along fine*”

“*That’s the problem Sir*” Boland replied “*They appear to have grown to close, if you understand what I am referring to*”

Nigel once again looked at the pair, Reflection muttering something to the Corporal as she nuzzled against his armoured chest. Now that he thought about it Jacobs had spent most of his free time with the Changeling since she was rescued from the Canterlot prison, the two a common sight around the Hive the last couple of days.

“*The others don’t seem to either notice it or mind but I do think that it could prove to be a problem in the future*” Boland continued as the Commander watched the pair.

“*I can see your point Sergeant, such… attachment could cause a wealth of problems, especially when it is time for us to depart this world. However I believe that the Corporal is capable of making his own decisions and if it doesn’t work out then at least he will have learnt a valuable lesson from it. If he wants to fall in love with an alien then that’s his business, we’ve all been there*” at this the Sergeant tilted his head “*don’t try to pretend that you haven’t Boland, I remember that Allisian you were attempting to impress three years ago.*”

“*That was different Sir, she was a high-ranking government official with close ties to their ruling party, a relationship would have yielded a substantial amount of intelligence that would have aided the UIP greatly.*”

Nigel stared at the Sergeant for a brief period before coughing into his hand in an attempt to break the awkwardness.

“*I really should have expected that, any way I can’t really fault him, he may end up with a girlfriend but I’m most likely going to walk away with a son*” Nigel pointed towards Horizon, the Sergeant looking at the colt as he played with Nestor, the colt giggling as the changeling attempted to tag the pony as they both ran around in circles.

“*I can’t argue with that Commander, what are you going to do with the colt while we are on the topic, if you don’t mind me asking?*”

“*I honestly don’t know Boland, I’ll have to think about it some more when we arrive at the city*” replied Nigel as he watched the unicorn play “*but right now I don’t have a single clue and I’m running out of options, I just hope that everything will work itself out without any tears being shed*”

“*I hope so as well Sir*” replied Boland as he stood up, moving over towards his soldiers to prepare them to move out.
The City was only a few more hours of walking away and they planned to reach it before nightfall.

Nigel gave one final glance towards the couple under the tree, offering a brief prayer for them before he turned around to gather his equipment in preperation for the rest of the trip.