Canterlot Castle- Equestria
Royal Dungeons, Interrogation cell

“Tell us the location of your Hive changeling, I’m getting sick of asking you” Captain Bulwark said, looking directly at the captive Changeling, the leader of the six-strong scouting group they had captured.

Reflection stared back defiantly at the pony Captain before mustering a response

“Go Buck yourself!”

Bulwark nodded to the Solar Guard Sergeant standing next to the bound Changeling. With a solid ‘CRACK’ the Sergeant’s armoured hoof connected with Reflection’s face, sending her tumbling out of the metal chair, a trail of green blood running out of her mouth and collecting on the dusty stone floor.

“I’m going to ask you one last time” Bulwark said, walking over until he was standing above the Changeling “Where is the location of the Hive?”

Reflection lifted her head from the slowly growing pool of green, locking eyes with Bulwark

“I don’t know, I was too busy changeing into your Father and Bucking your Mother to ask” she spat
“Wrong answer” replied Bulwark, his voice emotionless.

He began to beat the Changeling with his metal clad hooves, targeting the soft spots unprotected by chitin, in particular the vulnerable underside of the belly. This continued for five minutes, at the end of it Reflection was covered in green blotches where the tormented areas had already begun to bruise, multiple lacerations leaking green vital fluid, the Changeling in question having blacked out from the pain.

“Take this one back to the cell” commanded Bulwark “and bring one of the others, the Princess has ordered this Hive’s destruction, and I intend to not disappoint her” the Sergeant nodded, leaving the room, the unconscious Changeling held in the magic fields of the two unicorn privates accompanying him.

Bulwark trotted back over to his seat at the opposite end of the room, not bothering to clean his green-blood stained hooves, knowing that there was much more to come.

Outskirts of Canterlot Castle – Three days after UIP arrival

Nigel was currently lying prone underneath a camouflage sheet just outside the walls of the castle, the other five members of the rescue team having secreted themselves around the perimeter of the city with the reasoning that it would be easier for six individuals to infiltrate the city separately, rather than as a group.

They had made good time in their journey to the city, their suits and training enabling them to continue on non-stop. It had taken a full night and half of the following day to reach their destination and the group had spent the rest of the day observing guard patrol routes and plotting possible routes to their destinations.

The guard coverage had been surprisingly sparse especially considering that the capitol had been invaded barely a month ago. The weaponry possessed by the majority of the guards had appeared to be primitive in nature, with the most advanced item being crossbows. Nigel was confident that the metal-bolts would be unable to penetrate the armour of the wraiths, having been designed to deflect bullets and energy weapon discharges.

The sun had dropped behind the horizon four hours ago, and whilst the full moon provided ample illumination Nigel was confident that the team would be able to reach their objective, the roof of the citadel overlooking the city, without being spotted. Nigel had noticed the day guards, whom were easily recognizable by their ornate gold armour and white and blue colour scheme, had been relieved at sundown by what appeared to be the spawn of a pony and a bat, Nigel shuddering as his brain provided him with images, incredibly detailed images.

“I’ve got to stop falling asleep in front of the nature channel” Nigel mumbled, shaking his head to clear himself of those vile thoughts.

‘It’s incredibly sad, but I just know that someone out there would probably get off on it’ he thought before he gave the order for the wraiths to commence the infiltration, trusting that each individual soldier was capable enough to achieve their task.

Nigel removed himself from under the camouflage sheet, folding it up and storing it in a compartment in his suit before rushing over the edge of the city wall. Nigel checked his sensor, the nearest life signs located fifty meters down the wall in a stone guard tower, the occupants currently ascending the internal staircase towards the top of the wall. He quickly hauled himself up using the suits grappling hook, expertly landing on the top section of the wall with hardly any sound. Checking around the surrounding area, he quickly rappelled down the opposite side, coming to a rest beside a cart loaded with watermelons.

He stealthily made his way towards the castle and was surprised about the fact that the city seemed to possess little nightlife, the only activity coming from a few restaurants and bars. The rest of the journey took roughly an hour, Nigel constantly having to avoid civilians and guards, the military presence increasing as he got closer to the castle. After much concealment in boxes and containers located in various dimly-lit alleys Nigel finally made it to the base of the castle, ascending towards the roof of the main spire where he awaited the arrival of the other Wraiths.

He was immensely proud when all of the five wraiths had joined him within ten minutes, all of them reporting that they had made their journey without being spotted. Boland had almost been sighted by an inebriated civilian but was luckily mistaken for a statue, the drunken stallion believing him to be an advertisement for a new Minotaur themed restaurant that had just opened in the same city district.

“*What now Commander*” Boland asked “*should we proceed to enter whist it is still night and secure the objectives?*”

“*Negative Sergeant*” Nigel radioed back “*these ponies need to learn to fear us, and I wish to make an example*” the Commander pulled out his camouflage sheet, the reactive material already changing to match the colour and pattern of the Spire. “*Conceal yourselves for the time being, I’ve got a plan that I believe will for fill all our multiple goals with one strike.*”

With a chorus of ‘Affirmatives’ the Wraiths moved into their allocated positions, preparing for daybreak and the inevitable chaos that their ‘visit’ would bring.

Canterlot Castle
Royal Throne Room
Twenty Six minutes past eleven, four days after UIP arrival

Celestia was tired, tired of Day Court, tired of dealing with dead ponies and especially tired of arrogant nobles demanding information regarding the captured Changelings, the news having been spread by loose-lipped guards spending their time off-duty in one of the many bars situated around the Capitol.

“Your Highness, it is not our right as the nobility of this land to have access to any information regarding any possibility of those disgusting insects existing within our city, how can you withhold this important information from us?” The noble speaking was Spending Cash, a Stallion who, like many of his fellow nobility had inherited vast sums of many as well as spacious mansions that had belonged to their families for generations. Spending Cash was a member of a group of around twenty members of the upper-class in the throne room at that moment, all of whom had gathered to petition the Princess for increased Guard patrols around the high-class area of the city.

“It’s not that simple, Spending Cash,” spoke Celestia as she got up from her throne and moved over towards the large stained-glass window overlooking the room. Celestia paused for a moment as she stared at the large window, the scene on it depicting a post-unification Equestria, multiple renditions of ponies frolicking happily without a care set in coloured glass for time eternal

“The majority of the Royal Guard are currently searching other towns and cities for any other signs of Changelings, and the city watch is short staffed as it is.”

“What about the reports of strange bipeds, Your Highness, shouldn’t the guard also be investigating the sightings regarding them?” Celestia turned around to face the noble, her radiant sunlight shining in through the window to land upon her back. Captain Bulwark entered the room and stood beside the twin thrones, having obtained information regarding the Hive’s location. Celestia noticed this and responded to the noble, attempting to finish the conversation as soon as possible.
“Those are merely rumours Spending, there is no solid proof of any unknown biped running around Equestri-“

‘SMASH!’

Celestia whirled back around to the window as she was interrupted, catching a glimpse of two black objects speeding towards her, right before the two offending objects provided her with solid proof of the existence of unknown black bipeds in the form of a knockout blow to the side of her head, the sounds of the nobles’ terrified shrieks filling the air before she passed out, her body being shoved to the floor by an impressive weight.

Nigel cursed under his breath as he raised himself back upright from his position sprawled on-top of the tall white horse, having not expected anything to be standing in front of the window when he had rappelled through. As he picked himself up from the rather compromising position a pony guard in golden and purple armour attempted to rush him, the pony drawing a sword that appeared to be suspended by some kind of energy field. Nigel payed the guard little attention, more focused on the incredibly loud and annoying sounds coming from the group of ponies dressed in fancy clothes, their wails of terror ringing in his ears.

Just as the pony guard reached the apex of its charge and began to swing his sword at the Commander, Nigel lashed out with the butt of his rifle, nailing the guard square in the unprotected snout and knocking it out cold, breaking the guards muzzle in the process. As the guard’s unconscious body hit the floor the five Wraiths led by Sergeant Boland, who had unslung his fusion gun, entered the room via the now broken window having rappelled down from their positions on the roof, preforming perfect landings, unlike the Commander. Two guards rushed in from the other side of the Throne room’s main doors, having heard the commotion.

One was swiftly put down from a three round burst from the Commander’s EQ1898 rifle, the anti-matter rounds blowing off a foreleg and punching through chest armour with ease. With a sinister ‘HISSSSSSSSSSSSSS-ZOMPH’ Sergeant Boland fired his fusion gun, turning the remaining once-proud Solar Guard to a pile of steaming slag, the reaction so violent it left nothing behind but a black featureless blob. At this sight the sounds from the nobles intensified, until the Commander could take no more.

“SHUT THE HELL UP BEFORE I SLAUGHTER YOU ALL!”

This had the desired effect, the mouths of the nobles clamping down, stifling their cries lest they provoke the fury of the violent invaders.

“That’s better, thankyou” said the Commander before he activated his internal communications

“*Alright, whilst my landing could have gone better, we have entered the building successfully. Sergeant, I want you to head on down to the lower areas of the castle, I’m betting that the objectives are located down below, most likely in a dungeon of some sort. Head down and secure the targets and wait for us to join you, we still have some matters that need attending to*” the Commander ordered as he gestured toward the civilians.

“*Affirmative Sir*” Boland replied, exiting through a side door, fusion gun at the ready. The Commander turned his attention back to the four remaining Wraiths before his eyes were drawn to an object resting near the prone body of the White Horse.

“*You four, change of plans, clear the rest of the surrounding area and kill any guards you find but spare any civilians, then head down to the lower levels, ill finish up here by myself.*”

“*Yes Sir*” the wraiths replied, all four leaving via the main entrance way, the sounds of sporadic rifle fire filling the air with noise soon after. The Commander walked over the unconscious body of the White Horse, the side of its face swelling up where his boots had made contact. He stooped down and retrieved the glittering tiara, turning it over in his hand.

The Commander placed the tiara on his helmet, the fine piece of bling secured snuggly on its new home. Nigel stepped towards the crowd of nobles whose faces were locked into expressions of shock in response to the events earlier, such extreme acts of violence unheard of in Equestria.

“What do you think” he asked, giving a small twirl “does it suit me or does it clash with my optics?”

The nobles were unable to form a reply, their large eyes locked onto the Commander’s imposing form.

“You right” the Commander continued, acting like they had provided him with a critique “Bling is bling no matter what, I think I’m going to keep this, knock Stevens and his sombrero down a few pegs,” he got no response, not that it mattered.

“Well I’m off, remember kids, proper dental hygiene leads to winning smiles, brush twice a day after meals, so long.”

The Commander exited out of the same door that Boland had, leaving the dumb-struck nobles behind, the diamond in the middle of the tiara on his head shining briefly before returning to its original state.

Lieutenant Sure Shot raced down the corridor, the nine unicorns in his squad behind him, all brandishing spears with swords hovering in their telekinetic grip. Explosions had been heard coming from the Throne room and with the recent capture of six Changelings the guard was on high alert. The ten-pony squad rounded a corner and all stopped at once, their path blocked by an intimidating bipedal creature appearing to be made out of metal, the creature brandishing a black club and what appeared to be Princess Celestia’s tiara mounted on its head.

“Excuse me sirs” Spoke the creature in fluent Equestrian “If you would so kind as to move out of my way, we can part company on peaceful terms.”

“Halt vile beast! You are in possession of Royal Equestrian Property, surrender now or face destruction!” The Lieutenant concluded his speech by pointing his sword directly at the creature, his face full of rage.

“Awww, you ponies are so cute when you’re angry” the Creature taunted, attaching the club to its back and unsheathing a brutal looking knife, easily the rivalling the size of the swords wielded by the ponies “let’s make this interesting” commented the Creature, stepping forward towards the steadfast Guard ponies

“I’ve been waiting for this for a loooong time…”

Castle Dungeons

Private Slammer looked upon the six Changelings with disgust, the foul creatures huddled together in their cell. All of the Changelings sported various wounds, resulting from the interrogations held over the last two days with the most heavily injured one, the leader unable to move. It was currently being shielded from his gaze by two of the other Changelings, both of which were attempting to sooth it, its injuries causing it a debilitating amount of pain. Slammer’s colleague, Private Hardtime approached the cell, an entirely different look in his eye as he scanned the body of the broken Changeling leader.

“Hey, you, the Changeling bitch!” He called out, and the Changeling lifted its head off the ground in response to Hardtime’s insult “You look a little hungry, how would you like me to come on in there and fix that” Hardtime chuckled, his eyes lingering on the Changelings skinny flank. Slammer rolled his eyes, used to the eccentric behaviour of his co-worker. However, he did admit to himself that it had been an awfully long time, he thoughts straying to the fact that it was just him and Hardtime assigned to guard the Changelings, all the other guards pulled away to join the search for any others.

“Shut your mouth, you pig!” The voice of one of the other changelings interrupted Slammer’s thoughts, it’s voice indicating that it too was female

“It’s our luckily day Slammer” the enthusiastic Hardtime said “Two bitches! One for me and one for you!” Slammer turned to face the changelings; the changeling who had insulted Hardtime was currently standing right in front of the two guards, an expression of hate directed at them through the bars.

Slammer looked the changeling over, its scrawny body whilst not too attractive could work and he found himself responding with a “Sure, let’s go for it I guess”

“I knew you’d be up for it” Shouted Hardtime gleefully, before turning to once again leer at the Changeling leader.

“I get the leader” he said with a grin “I’m going to break her all over again” he chuckled at the nominated Changeling’s expression, it’s previous look of defiance had morphed into one of fear

“No”

The extra voice caused both Hardtime and Slammer to turn to the source, the former guard finding himself staring into a metal object with a black circle in the middle. The circle suddenly flashed blue, and the Guard known as Hardtime ceased to think forever.

“No”

Reflection watched in morbid fascination as the two guards turned towards the mysterious voice, its tone cflat and clinical. The guard that had ‘chosen’ her, referred to as Hardtime, was currently staring into a large grey object with a glowing blue section arund the middle held in the hand of a tall black armoured biped, whom she recognised from stories circling the Hive before her capture as a human.

With a violent flash of light, a burst of blue energy left the barrel of the hand-held object, colliding with Hardtime’s face, melting it clear off and exposing the inside of his head, the entire front half of his skull burnt away. As his body dropped the biped rammed a blade that had sprung from its other wrist into throat of the other guard, his look of shock at the fate of his friend changing to one of pain. The biped withdrew his blade from the pony and placed the barrel of its other weapon against the convulsing guards head.

‘SPLORT’

Sergeant Boland lifted the smoking muzzle of his plasma pistol away from the remains of the second guard’s cranium. He holstered the sidearm, turning towards the shocked occupants of the cell before activating his right wrist knife again, the power field-sheathed blade cutting effortlessly through the lock. As the cell door swung open the four wraiths under his command entered the area, heading straight over to the Sergeant.

“*Secure the targets, assist those unable to move*” He commanded.

The two wraiths moved into the cell with one of them, Corporal Jacobs, crouching down next to the Changeling which sported the most serious wounds.

“Are you able to move?” he inquired

Reflection shook her head “No, I’m fairly certain that both of my rear legs are broken.”

“I see” replied Jacobs “Please prepare yourself, this will no doubt cause severe pain”

Reflection nodded and Jacobs lifted up the injured Changeling, eliciting a sharp squeal of pain from her. Jacobs supported her with both arms, making sure that the Changeling’s two broken rear legs did not come into sudden contact with anything. His task accomplished, he began to rub the Changeling’s head with his free hand as he exited the cell in an attempt to sooth it, the pain having caused it to begin to cry.

All the other Changelings were able to move under their own power, and soon the group had reached the entrance to the dungeon.

“Where’s the Commander?” A wraith questioned, using the external speakers so the Changelings could understand “I thought he was sup-“

“I’m here, I’m here!” Shouted the Commander as he dashed around the corner.

Boland, the cold, harsh individual who always thought of the objective and nothing else had to stop himself from bursting out into laughter. He had known and worked with the Commander for over ten years and that could still not prepare him for the sight of Commander Chalmers, covered head to toe in gore with a large, shining tiara Boland recognised as belonging to the large white horse that had been knocked out at the start of the battle wedged firmly on his helmeted head.

“Sorry I took so long, some of the locals wanted some directions to Hell, so I was kind enough to give them a guided tour” said the Commander, completely oblivious to the reactions of his men as well as the Changelings as he began to walk up the stairs leading the main area of the castle.

“What are you waiting for” he yelled back over his shoulder “let’s get moving, Tally Ho! Pip Pip!”

Discord awoke from his slumber, removing the pink blindfold from his eyes but leaving his cotton candy earplugs in. He yawned, his mouth comically touching the bottom of the floor and he stumbled over towards a table made out of elder cheese snapping his fingers, a glass of chocolate milk materialising in one hand and a copy of the Equestrian news appearing In the other. As he sat down at the table, about of take a sip of pure chocolate deliciousness he was interrupted by a knocking on his door. He grumbled to himself as he got up from the table, walking rather than floating cause hey, he just woke up, do you have the energy to float when you’ve just woken up? No, that’s what I thought. Dismissing the voice in his head, attributing it to it being Tuesday, he pondered who could be disturbing him this time as he hadn’t been able to cause any major chaos, the princesses enforcing strict rules upon him ever since his reformation.

What he saw when he opened the door woke him up fast, that’s for sure. Standing in the doorway covered in what appeared to be copious amounts of blood and wearing what looked like Tia’s tiara stood a large biped, its metal skin black save for its face which was shaped like a skull, its colouration bone white. Behind the biped stood five other bipeds, one holding a crying Changeling with five other Changelings huddled together in a group behind the bipeds, using the bipeds’ armoured legs to shield themselves from the confused draconius.

“Forgive me for the interruption sir, but can I please ask you if this wall at the end of the corridor here leads outside, we seem to have gotten a tad bit lost” the biped asked, pointing towards the said wall. Discord could only nod his head in response, much to the joy of the Biped.

“Great!” Exclaimed the biped as it walked over towards the wall and stuck what looked like a large blob of rubber on the wall. The Biped then stuck a pin into the end of the rubber blob and returned to Discord’s doorway. It then retrieved a remote with an oversized red button on it from within its skin and slammed its finger down on the trigger.

‘KRRRRRUUUUMP!’ The castle shook violently as a gigantic hole was blown the wall, exposing the corridor to sunlight. The bipeds and changelings all walked down the corridor and exited out of the hole into the outside gardens, however once every single one was out the one which Discord assumed was the leader stuck it’s head back through the hole.

“Thank you for the directions, Stay in School!”

Discord stared at the hole for a few seconds before slowly stepping back inside his room and closing the door, locking it. He then went and re-applied his blindfold as he returned to lie back down on his bed.

‘That’s it, I’m going back to sleep, I want nothing to do with whatever’s going on’ he thought as he laid back on the pillows

‘Nothing at all.’