I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!

Good NIGHT this chapter took me way too long! I am so sorry friends. Thank you for sticking with me so patiently. I'm proud of this chapter but maaaaan I want to move on.
Anyway, without any more delay, here is the remainder of Chapter 6. Please enjoy.

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Many miles to the south, rows upon rows of countless tents were illuminated by thousands of fire basins in the Ark alliance camp. From afar it looked like a small city nestled out in the dunes. Akil the jackal stepped out of his tent and took in a long breath of the cool night air.

“Ahh,” he sighed. “The Gods smile upon us this evening.”

The night sky was pristine, allowing the stars to shine through perfectly. Akil folded his arms behind his back as he walked through the makeshift streets and avenues of the camp, making his way towards the Master tent at the center. As he approached the tent, he nodded to the jackal guards. They nodded back and stood aside.

“Good evening, Commander,” they said.

“Indeed,” he replied as he walked past. He entered the tent and approached the second curtain inside.

“Lord Ra, I have come with this evening’s report, Sire,” he said.

“Enter,” was all the voice behind the curtain said.

Akil brushed the curtain aside and entered the main portion of the tent. A large, golden brown jackal, heavily decorated with golden regalia, was leaning over the opposite end of a table that was covered in maps and other documents.

“Status?” the jackal asked without looking up.

Akil cleared his throat. “Everything is running on schedule, My Lord.”

“Excellent...” Ra said. He ran his finger along one of his maps. “... we shall arrive 2 days from now and set up camp within 4 hours marching distance from the target. At dawn the next day, we will mobilize and commence the attack before noon.”

Akil bowed his head. “Yes, Sire...” He opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by a sudden rukkus outside the tent.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!” a voice growled.

It wasn’t long before the owner of the voice, a large ahuizotl, came bumbling into the tent.

“What is the meaning of this, Ra?!” the ahuizotl shouted as he waved a guard about in front of him, dangling him by the neck in the palm of his tail. “Why are your guards denying entry to one of the very leaders of this alliance?!”

Ra didn’t look up from the table. “Put him down, Navarro,” he muttered. “Had you the patience to hear them out, you would know that they were denying you entry because I am already in counsel with my Second in Command.”

The ahuizotl snorted as he threw a disapproving glare towards the Commander. “Ahkeel?! You place this welp higher in your priorities than your most important ally?!” he yelled as he tossed the guard back outside.

Akil huffed an angry sigh. “We’ve been through this Navarro, it’s Akil. AH-KILL,” he growled indignantly. Then he smirked. “Although... it does mean ‘intelligence’ so I suppose I can understand why you can’t seem to grasp it.”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!” Navarro roared in his face.

“Hmhm, what,” he chuckled, “are you dense and hard of hearing?”

“WHY YOU!”

Navarro raised his fist and Akil drew his khopeshes in response.

“Knock it off, both of you!” Ra barked.

Both of them stopped dead in their tracks and recoiled. Akil sheathed his weapons and hung his head in shame.

“Forgive me, My Lord,” he muttered.

Navarro simply grunted.

Ra let out a frustrated sigh. “What do you want, Navarro?”

Navarro growled. He didn’t like being treated this way.

“My warriors and I are not as used to this dry climate as you are. We are quickly running out of water. When will we reach the next oasis?” he demanded.

Ra slapped a map down on the table and pointed.

“There are two checkpoints between our position and the target. We will reach the first one tomorrow at approximately 5:00 pm, and the second one at about 8:00 pm the next day. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?” he asked in annoyance.

Navarro simply grunted his indignation, muttering something in his native tongue, and stormed out of the tent.

Akil turned to his master. “It’s a shame the ahuizotls are not more like the harpies. They’re much easier to control when they lack the capacity to talkback.”

Ra shook his head, staring after the curtain Navarro left through.

“Indeed. Unfortunately, muscle tends to come with a thick skull... and thicker pride.”

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The Hammer Fall, Dark Night, and Blue Moon squadrons were lined up in ranks in the field outside the hive, as ordered by the Alpha. The Stallion himself came out to meet them and landed next to his Generals: Shadow and Eclipse, who saluted him.

Kelt, who was officially enlisted into Blue Moon, was temporarily tasked with assisting the Alpha General with his rounds. He took the massive drafts that Fletcher had drawn up, and set them up so everyone could see. The Alpha thanked him and he rejoined the ranks of Blue Moon.

Fletcher turned to his soldiers and cleared his throat.

“This one is pleased to see the determination in your eyes, for it is you that form the ranks of our primary defensive force. It rests with you, not to simply keep our foes at bay, but to inflict punishment on our enemy with all your strength and fury!”

The soldiers cheered in response, and even broke out into stomping briefly, in time with the Fire that was sounding inside the Hive.

Fletcher waited with a pleased smile. Once they settled he stepped over to the drafts and turned the cover over. Behind it was a large image of a Harpie.

“Blue Moon, you will focus primarily on the Harpies. You will be receiving support from Storm Cloud squadron, and we’ll be relying on you to keep the vultures off our backs,” he began.

He held up a stick in his magic aura and pointed to the diagram.

“The number one thing to watch out for is the talons,” he said, circling them in the diagram with his pointer stick. “Harpies are roughly twice the height of our stallions, with a wingspan of about twentyfive feet, which means they’ll have no problem wrapping their talons around your barrel. Our shells are strong but a Harpie’s vice grip could crush a boulder. Needless to say, you want to avoid that grip at all costs, so brush up on your evasion techniques. CT-47 will serve you well here.”

Combat Technique 47 was nice and simple as far as aerial maneuvers go. Simply tuck in your wings during flight and allow yourself to drop a few feet. It was the fastest way to change directions during flight, and quite effective for evading charging opponents.

“The other big thing to watch out for is the head, both the sharp beak as well as their sonic screech. We will be adjusting our helmets to protect our ears. Other than that, the only thing the screech can do to you while in the air is push you back. As long as you don’t collide with anyone else, it’s pretty harmless. If you are unable to evade it, just relax and ride it out. Just keep them away from the rest of us near the ground. Otherwise that screech of theirs could really do some damage.” he said.

He pointed to the beak.

“Now, as for the beak. We will be taking advantage of one of their attack behaviours in order to access one of their greatest weaknesses,” he said.

Some curious murmuring broke out in the ranks. So far the Harpies were sounding rather intimidating, so they were eager to hear how they were going to fight back.

“Harpies have a very basic intelligence and are fairly primal hunters, which means they’re easy to confuse and to agitate... thus making them predictable,” he added as he flipped the diagram over. “When Harpies go in for the kill, they extend their talons and their necks forward, like this,” he said as he gestured to the new drawing. Then he slapped the tip of the pointer on the drawing’s gangly little neck. “Thus exposing, not only the weakest, but the most vital part of their bodies: the neck. One pass with the blade of your bracer is all that it takes for decapitation,” he finished with a confident smirk.

The soldiers’ expressions moved from wide eyed awe, to pleased, confident smirks.

Fletcher continued, “We’ll also be taking advantage of their other primary weakness.”

He turned to his Beta Generals standing beside him.

“General Eclipse, what does a creature need in order to fly?”

The General blinked. The question was so simple he hesitated to answer, for fear of being wrong.

“Um… Wings, Sir?”

“Exactly! Wings plural,” Fletcher emphasized. He turned back to the soldiers. “Defeating an enemy that outnumbers you is all about taking your opponents out with the lowest amount of effort possible. Like everyone else, Harpies need both their wings to maintain flight. All we need to do is disable one of them. As you know there are many ways to go about this,” Fletcher pointed to various parts of the wing as he spoke, “attack the joints, the muscle in the ‘arm’, or slice a big enough tare in the membrane, and let gravity take care of the rest. There are lots of options that don’t require magic blasts, so be creative and try not to use up too much of our love reserves.

“To wrap up, both these methods of attack will lend themselves very well to CT-106,” he finished. He smirked as he saw the gears turning in the heads of Blue Moon. Some were even rubbing their hooves together.

Fletcher turned the diagram over.

“Now, Dark Night and Hammer Fall, we have the task of facing off with the Ark’s ground forces. Our job is to keep them from getting to Cygnet and Mother Swan. Thankfully, there is only one ground level entryway which the jackals and ahuizotls can access, and since the harpies are too cumbersome for tight spaces, we don’t need to worry about the sky entries.

“Our squadrons will be fighting together against the ahuizotls and the jackals, so all of you need to run drills to combat both.” Fletcher pointed at the diagram. “First, the ahuizotls. The ahuis are heavily armored and have a very sturdy stance, making it difficult to inflict much damage on them. Their thick arms can pack a heavy punch, more so if they’re wielding a weapon, and their highly dexterous tails pose a significant threat, so don’t get too close. Their disadvantage however, is that they are slow moving and easily aggravated.

“Therefore, much like Blue Moon, we will be working a ‘distract and disable’ tactic in two groups. The first will hold the target’s attention, while the second comes in with a fly-by and cuts off the tail. This will create an opportunity for the first group, as no doubt the ahui will turn its attention backward in pain and anger, exposing the gap in their armor at the neck. That is our moment to strike.

“As for the jackals...” he said as he flipped the diagram again, “...they are nimble and quick witted fighters, and many of them can use fire magic. They are very fast with their blades and they have powerful legs.

“They have a few weak points, such as the tendons above the heels, but for the most part, the jackals excel at diverting their opponent’s advances and turning the pressure back around on them. Therefore, this one would recommend that you keep your distance and attack from the air. You may use love energy for magic blasts in this case, but be frugal about it and make every shot count. They wear a lot less armor than the ahuis, so you should be able to land some good hits. For those among you who are hardier combat specialists, you are authorized to engage them in melee combat, but be wary, it’s much easier to avoid their fire from a distance. This one does not need to remind you that while chitin is resilient against flame, fire can easily claim your eyes, ears, or wings before you even know what’s happening.”

Coming to the end of the drawings, Fletcher laid them down flat on the ground.
“Our main goal is to last until nightfall when the jackal’s fire magic will cease to work altogether. It is likely that the Ark will not anticipate their siege to take that long so they may attempt to flee if it comes to that. We cannot let them flee. We must use this opportunity to wipe them out or they will return once the sun rises again.”

Fletcher paused as he looked up at his soldiers again. He was quiet for a moment as he looked out into their ranks.

“You three squadrons… are made up of our hive’s most seasoned fighters, our veterans…” He gestured to his drawings on the ground. “...This one can give you intel on the enemy and some guidance here and there, but you have your own instincts. Other than the specific orders This one has given you, This one simply admonishes you to trust those instincts,” he said.

“They may have numbers, true… but do not be afraid, for by nightfall... we will make them fear us!”

The soldiers clacked their hooves together and saluted.

“Hah!”

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It was just before 8:00 in the evening when the oasis of the second checkpoint appeared on the horizon. Akil could hear the grumblings of relief from the ahuizotls as the army marched. Ahuizotls were an impatient bunch, which in turn made Akil feel rather impatient with them. He was getting sick of their whining. What were they expecting, a royal entourage to carry them across the desert?!

As they finally arrived, sure enough, instead of getting to work setting up camp, the Ahuizotl warriors unceremoniously dropped everything and ran for the spring, tripping over each other like a bunch of starved pigs at a feeding trough.

Akil saw the looks of yearning on his own warriors faces as they jealously watched the beasts lapping up the cool spring water. They looked to him, silently asking the question, but they daren’t move without permission. They knew better, unlike the ahuizotls.

Akil growled at them. “You are not mindless orangutans like that lot! You have more discipline than that! Complete your duties if you wish to take a respite,” he barked.

The jackal warriors hastily went back to their chores setting up the camp. Akil meanwhile was going to have a few choice words with a certain General.

He strode up behind Navarro and angrily yanked his head out of the water by the scruff of his neck.

“You think you and your ape-cats are the only ones who are thirsty?! There is work to be done,” he growled. He pointed back to the campsite that was slowly taking shape. “Tell your soldiers to go and fulfill their obligations.”

Navarro shoved him aside with one of his thick, metal plated arms.

“No me toques, perro!” he growled. (translation: Don’t touch me, you dirty mutt!)

He got right up in Akil’s face. “Not only are we not acclimated to this environment, Ahkeel, but our armor and our loads are much heavier than yours. Unless you want to haul those iron cages yourself, then my warriors will drink their fill and you will keep your tongue inside your head,” he growled.

Akil grimaced. Not just from the hot, foul breath in his face, but also at the idea of hauling those massive cages along through the sand. The cages were eight feet wide by twenty feet long. They were heavy, despite having wheels, and there were many of them. They were planning on bringing home quite a large prize after all.

“I don’t have time for this!” Akil huffed, and he stormed off back towards the camp.

Navarro glared after him. “Recuerda a quien hablas, perro,” he muttered under his breath.

(translation: Know your place, mutt.)

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Fletcher was exhausted. It had been 52 hours and 23 minutes since he had slept last. Not that he was counting. Or at least... not on purpose. Like just about every other changeling, his brain was just hardwired that way, and sometimes it was a royal pain in the plot!

He was headed to his quarters to look over the most recent reports from the different squadrons, when he heard a shout.

“Get him!”

Out of no where, Fletcher was tackled by three small blurs, sending him rolling through his quarters’ entryway. He finally rolled to a stop and found himself on the flat of his back, with three little foalings piled on his chest.

“Ba-tem!” they cheered in unison.

Two little fillies and a colt smiled down at him, and despite everything that was going on, he couldn’t help but smile back.

“Hey guys,” he chuckled.

The colt piped up, “You’re losing your edge, Ba-tem. Didn’t you feel These ones coming?”

Guess I really am tired… I wasn’t really paying attention at all.

“Of course This one felt you coming,” he lied with a smirk. “It simply lured you in so it could do this!”

The foalings’ eyes widened as his forelegs suddenly captured them in a vice grip. His horn came to life, summoning all the fluffy polishing cloths lying around the room, and using them to mercilessly tickle his victims. His little captives squirmed and squealed with laughter as he tickled their bellies and wormed the cloths through the holes in their legs.

“Hahahahahaha, Ba-tem stahp it! Hahahahahaha,” one of the fillies cried.

“Hahaha, We surrender!” the colt laughed.

“Please! Hahaha, no more!”

Fletcher smiled. “Oh, very well…” he huffed, and released them.

They didn’t try to flee, but rather they let out a sigh of relief as they went limp on his chest, trying to catch their breath. Fletcher chuckled at them.

“Maybe that’ll teach you not to try sneaking up on your Commanding Officer,” he said.

“Huff, huff… never…” the colt breathed.

Fletcher laughed as he ruffled his mane. “That’s my Bo-nem.”

These three little foalings were a few that Fletcher was closest with. He loved them all, but these three clicked with him on a different level. The trio was always found together, exploring and practicing their changeling 101 skills together. Like every foaling, they learnt from all the adults collectively, but since Fletcher was always at the hive, they learnt the majority of what they knew from him. They all had a fairly balanced grasp of the various skills, but they each excelled in a different area.

Jazz the colt was particularly proficient with the combat techniques, and was always looking for someone to spar with him, whereas Mint was a rather promising little actress. Reply was best with disguises, and her voices were always spot on, but for some reason, she had taken to mimicking various animal calls as her favorite hobby. Fletcher once found himself bracing for an unseen stampede of elephants, only to find that it was Reply answering the call of a dare.

“Ba-tem!” Reply gasped. “You used the Queen’s word.”

Fletcher smirked. “Shhh, don’t tell anyone,” he whispered.

The foalings laughed. Fletcher had carried on the tradition that Mizer had started, and it had become his and the foalings’ little inside joke.

Mint suddenly gave him sad eyes. “Ba-tem, how come you never came to the cluster last night? A lot of extra Ma-tems and Ba-tems were there this time, but you weren’t. This one missed you,” she said.

“Yeah,” the other two added.

Fletcher bit his lip as he felt his heart both melt and break at the same time. “This one is sorry little ones, but This one is the Alpha General now. It doesn’t have much time for sleep,” he told them sadly.

Reply tilted her head. “But aren’t you tired?” she asked.

Fletcher chuckled and shook his head as he sat up. “It doesn’t really work like that, Fa-nem. This one has too many responsibilities. It can’t just quit because It’s tired.”

They each gave him a funny look.

“That’s dumb,” Jazz said bluntly. “You’re the Alpha General! You can do whatever you want! Not even the Queen can tell you what to do!”

Fletcher blinked... then snickered to himself.

Kids.

“No Jazz,” he said, shaking his head. “It well may be, that her Highness can’t tell This one what to do right now, but she will eventually get her authority back. And when she does, she’s going to remember everything This one has done, for good or for bad. So it’s very much in This one’s best interest, not to take advantage of It’s position,” he explained.

A voice interjected, “True, but it’s in the hive’s best interest to have a well rested Alpha General.”

Fletcher and the foulings turned to see Woolly standing in the entryway.

“Woolly!-- ahem, General Thunder,” Fletcher corrected himself. “Please come in. Do you have the reports for Storm Cloud ready?”

Woolly smiled as he walked in. He give a casual salute, and levitated a folder over to him. Fletcher reached out to grasp it, but Woolly pulled it out of his reach again and levitated it over to his desk.

“You need to take a break, Kiddo. You’ve been at it nonstop for more than two days now,” Woolly told him.

Fletcher sighed. “This one knows, but It can’t stop now. The Ark are only a day’s march away,” he argued.

“Then don’t stop,” Woolly replied. “Go have a rest with one of the clusters and generate some love energy. And let it recharge you while you’re at it. I’m sure you’re running low after helping with drills all this time. In the meantime, you can let your Betas manage things for a while.”

Fletcher sighed. I’m too tired to even argue.
He got up and wandered over to his desk. The foalings watched curiously as he scribbled something on a piece of parchment. Then he brought it back to Woolly and passed it to him.

“This one hereby appoints the Beta generals as first commanders until further notice, Alpha’s orders,” he muttered bitterly.

Woolly smirked as he took the parchment.

“Does that mean you’re coming to sleep now, Ba-tem?” Mint asked hopefully.

Fletcher turned to them, his expression a mixture of exhaustion, and joyful relief. He gave her a smile and a nod.

“Yay!” they cheered.

Another creature might find it bizarre to see children that were actually excited for bedtime, but for a changeling foaling, cuddling and sleeping with a large cluster, circulating love and emotions, was about as stimulating as a pony foal playing their favorite game with their entire extended family.

Fletcher walked over to his armor closet and removed the Alpha armor, carefully placing the plates on the stand.

Woolly sniffed the air. “Wooo. Be sure and take him for a bath first, alright? He clearly hasn’t had one in a while,” he said to the foalings with a smirk.

“Okay!” the foalings cheered again excitedly.

Fletcher meanwhile, did not look amused. He hated baths.

“I hate you,” he grumbled as he passed Woolly by.

Fletcher could still hear his Beta General snickering as he left his quarters, getting dragged along by the intrepid trio.

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A unique feature of the hive, was that a section of the stream ran through one of the halls on the surface level, providing a convenient place to bathe inside the hive structure. Wide holes had also been dug beside the stream where water could pool, swirl, and then exit again with the current, providing spots with slower water flow to wash in.

The foalings were having a great time riding the current to the end of the bathing hall and running back to the start again, while Fletcher meanwhile, was sitting in one of the pools, a deadpan stare on his face.

I. Am. Freezing!

Fletcher really didn’t like baths. He couldn’t wait to go join a cluster. Not only were they brimming with circulating love, but they also supplied a lot of heat.

Delicious heat.

But alas, Woolly was quite right in his evaluation of Fletcher’s current hygiene. It had been awhile. So Fletcher set about scrubbing off the grit and dust that had built up over the last few days.

He had to fight his body’s impulses to cringe whenever he cleaned one of the holes in his legs. He couldn’t speak for everyone else, but his holes at least, were extremely ticklish... and it wasn’t helping to have ice cold water running through them. Unfortunately, the most sensitive parts of his body also happened to collect the most dirt. Go figure.

As Fletcher scrubbed, Jazz drifted into his little pool.

“Hey Ba-tem?”

“Hmm?” Fletcher asked distractedly.

“Can This one join the Hammer Fall Squadron? This one wants to fight with you, and smash up some heads!” he said excitedly as he slashed the water.

“No.”

“Aww, come ooon! Pleeeeeease?” the foaling begged.

Fletcher looked up at him from the holes he was scrubbing and shook his head.

“Sorry Bo-nem, but war is no place for a foaling. Yes, This one knows you’re good at sparring, but you’re not quite there yet. Your body hasn’t even grown enough to be able to redirect the enemy’s hatred. You would feel sick the moment you left the safety of the stronghold’s enchantment.”

Fletcher thought back to the time when he was picked on back at that pony school. He felt extremely nauseous just from the disdain they directed at him. He shuddered to think what the hatred of ten thousand fully grown warmongers would do to a foaling that couldn’t deflect it.

Jazz looked down sadly.

“This one doesn’t wanna be stuck in the stronghold the whole time,” he muttered. “If any of the bad guys got in, they could pick us off like fish in a barrel.”

Fletcher gave a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. We won’t let them get to you in the stronghold--”

Fletcher froze mid sentence.

Fish in a barrel…

“Lieutenant!” he called out.

A changeling that was standing outside the entry poked his head in.

“You need something, Alpha, Sir?” he asked.

Fletcher waded to the edge of the pool and beckoned him over. “Yes, come here. Do you have parchment on you?”

“Yes Sir,” he answered as he walked over and reached into his satchel. He laid a sheet out in front of Fletcher and passed him a charcoal.

Fletcher took it in his magic, hastily wrote down some directions and diagrams, and passed them back to him.

“Get this to General Thunder immediately. Tell him This one wants the Betas working on this right away, Alpha’s orders,” he instructed.

The Lieutenant saluted and flew off. Fletcher turned back to a very confused looking foaling.

“Tell ya what, Kiddo,” he said as he put his foreleg around him. “Instead of fighting beside This one on the battlefield, you can fight beside It in the war of the minds.”

Jazz had no idea what just happened, but he could tell enough to know that he was helpful somehow, and that made him smile.

----------------------------------------------------

Now that he was clean, Fletcher and the foalings headed back to the nesting cells. Reply and Jazz were trotting up front, while little Mint was half holding, half tugging one of Fletcher’s forelegs. It was as if she thought he would try to make a run for it, the way she was holding on so tightly. Fletcher smiled as he let her lead him to the cluster, where more than thirty changelings were either already sleeping, or just settling in on the pile.

Fletcher and the foalings gingerly landed amongst them and settled in. He laid on his side and wrapped his forelegs around Mint as she snuggled into his chest. Jazz latched on to his shoulders and buried his muzzle in his mane, while Reply hugged one of his hind legs and rested her head in the crook where his midsection met his flank. As they got comfortable, several legs wrapped around them as the cluster embraced them. Fletcher released a long sigh as he basked in the warmth and euphoric feeling of countless hive mates cycling their love for one another.

“Ba-tem?” Mint whispered, looking up at him.

“Hmm?” Fletcher’s eyebrows rose, but his eyelids were too tired to follow.

“What’s going to happen to us?” she asked.

Fletcher sighed and gently stroked her back.

“Do you remember what This one promised you and all the others?” he asked, his eyes still closed.

“That you’ll do everything you can to protect us?”

“Mmhmm,” he answered.

He felt her squeeze him tighter.

“... you’re not going to die, are you?”

Fletcher paused.

There was always a risk of dying when you were in the military, especially when you were at war. But Mint was still a rather young foaling. She wasn’t quite old enough to fully understand the things the hive did yet. How could he be delicate about this?

He rested his chin on her head. Her tiny little horn was barely sharp enough to scratch an itch.

“This one will do whatever It must to make sure It’s Bo-nems and Fa-nems stay safe, Sweetheart. If anything happens to This one... then you can be in charge of making sure everyone remembers It, and why your old Ba-tem Fletcher was so important to you… Alpha’s orders,” he added with a chuckle.

She giggled along with him. The mention of receiving an order just for her from the Alpha General lifted her spirits a little. Having a special job gave her something to hold on to, even though she prayed she wouldn’t have to carry it out.

“Okay Ba-tem,” she whispered.

“Good girl.”

“Lo Men Vei,” they said together, before drifting off into euphoric slumber.

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The target came into view as the Ark’s army approached on the final morning. Akil grimaced as he observed the sky. The weather was rather dark and cloudy. Looking ahead, it seemed to be thickest and darkest just over the target itself. There even appeared to be some rumblings of thunder. Akil leaned over to his Master.

“This is not good, Sire. With this much cloud cover our fire magic will be reduced by forty percent at least, even more so if it starts to rain,” he said.

Ra let out a relaxed sigh. “Such is war my servant. You must adapt to whatever environment you find yourself in.”

That didn’t help to sedate the Commander’s concerns. “Those storm clouds will likely pose a hazard to the harpies. They won’t be able to keep the bugs from flying out of range. Perhaps it would be wise to wait for more favorable weather, Sire,” Akil suggested.

“No. If the harpies get grounded by the lightning, then the little blighters will be grounded as well. Besides, this storm could last for days. Falling back to camp will just give them the opportunity to launch a preemptive strike, or even attempt to infiltrate our ranks with their disguises,” Ra replied.

Akil thought for a moment. “Perhaps we can solve the whole problem if we order the harpies to clear out the clouds?”

Ra shook his head, looking up at the sky. “If it were just a thin blanket of cloud cover then perhaps that would work, but there’d be far too much to clear before we even saw the sun poke through, much less clear it all entirely.”

“Surely their sonic bursts would be somewhat effective, no?” Akil inquired. Admittedly, he didn’t know very much about their winged allies.

Ra shook his head once more. “They can only do that once or twice a day before they risk ripping up their own throats. If the buzzards want to waste their shots to make a sunny day instead of saving them for battle, they can be my guests.” He turned to Akil. “I’m honestly not that concerned about it, Commander. The blighters won’t have any more than three or four thousand at the most. And even if they did, they’re about as dim as the harpies are,” he said, tapping the side of his head. “All we have to do is capture the Queen and make her submit. Once we control the Queen, we will have control of the entire hive mind, and thousands of the most efficient slaves in the world will be ours!”

“Very well, Sire,” Akil said, bowing his head.

“Are you prepared to lead the capture force?” Ra asked him.

“Of course, Sire.”

“Good. Once my troops have subdued their main force, I will give you the signal. Then you will lead your half of the ground forces into the hive and force your way to the Queen. Leave as many of them alive as you can, our empire won’t construct itself after all,” Ra finished before pulling ahead.

“Indeed, My Lord,” Akil said with a smile.

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Fletcher stood in one of the higher sky entries overlooking the vast expanse of sand and dirt that would soon become a raging battlefield. On the horizon, he could just start to make out the first of the Ark’s battalions. They would likely come within range by about noon or so.

The closer to nightfall, the better, he thought.

Fletcher looked up at the sky, and a smile crossed his lips. For the last two and a half days, Stormcloud squadron had been busy gathering clouds from far and wide using the abilities of pony pegasi, and Fletcher was quite pleased with the result. They already managed to cut down the jackals fire power before anything had even started.

He looked down at the squadrons stationed on the ground. All the soldiers were diligently attending the Fire with their rousing chanting and steady march. Fletcher’s eyes fell on General Shadow and he sent him an emotional ‘ping’ of sorts.

There was an interesting sort of sub-language that changelings could use which Fletcher always found very difficult to describe. It took advantage of their ability to sense each others emotions, but it wasn’t really telepathy. They couldn’t read eachother’s minds or hear each other’s voices in their head... mostly because the sub-language had no ‘words’... just… feelings?... sensations?...no, that’s not the right word. It was like sending or receiving an idea like ‘go here’ or ‘attack now’ but without using or hearing those words. More like the thought of a certain place, coupled with a very strong urging to go there, or the thought of an action coupled with a time to do it and/or something to do it to. Suffice it to say, the communication was much simpler than the description made it sound.

At any rate, Fletcher was trying to convey the message: This one would like your attention now so please look in this direction. Sure enough, the General sensed the Alpha’s focus on him and looked up.

Now that eye contact was established, Fletcher could switch to a more… versatile language: hoof signals.

Status?

Everyone is in place, Sir.

And the traps?

All set, Sir.

Excellent. Hold steady and await my signal.

Yes, Sir!

Shadow finished his last signal with a salute as Fletcher turned his attention to General Eclipse. He was stationed with the rest of Blue Moon, perched upon the peak of the hive structure.

Status?

Blue Moon is in place and ready to move on your command, Sir.

Excellent. Keep your eyes on This one. Blue Moon will likely be the first to be deployed.

Yes, Sir!

Everything was in place then. The Queen and her guards were safely tucked away with the rest of Sygnet down in stronghold four, and all construction projects were fully completed. The squadrons were stationed and ready. After three full days of exposure to the Fire, the soldiers were hungry for battle.

Fletcher adjusted and tightened the bracers on his forelegs. Like everyone elses, his bracers were fitted with sharp, curved blades running along their length.

For the most part, changelings didn’t normally use weapons, or cover their legs with armor. Since their exoskeletal legs were so hard and thick on the surface, they could take hits from blades and arrows as if they were tree stumps and could also deal some rather hard blows.

But the bladed bracers were very practical in Fletchers eyes. They didn’t need to be held, like other weapons, yet they were always at the ready. They lent themselves very well to the combat techniques, and in many cases, made them more effective. Finally, there was nothing better than a fly-by slicing that took no more effort than simply flying in the supermare pose, so he ordered their use for the majority of his soldiers.

Fletcher looked up at the horizon again when something caught his eye. He could just barely make out a bunch of black… things amongst the Ark’s battalions. There were hundreds of them, and they were obviously quite large if they could be seen from this distance. Fletcher squinted as hard as he could.

Are those… cages?

He quickly sent out a few more pings.

--------------------------------------------------

Navarro grimaced as he felt the ground getting damper beneath his steps. Looking ahead, he saw that the warriors were trudging through some thicker looking mud. Obviously it must have rained here a little earlier.

Coming from a tropical climate, Navarro and his warriors couldn’t care less about marching in muddy terrain, but it was a pain in the culata to drag these massive cages through it.

The mud itself seemed a little off to him, though he couldn’t quite place it. It didn’t smell or feel any different, but something seemed off.

Deciding it wasn’t worth dwelling on, Navarro shook his head and looked up towards the target. His eyes narrowed and he licked his lips. Soon. Soon he would have thousands of slaves, to mine his gold and build up his empire.

It wouldn’t be long now before they came within range and the battle would begin. They would send in the buzzards to establish dominance in the skies, then the warriors would charge them on the field.

Navarro’s thoughts were interrupted as he noticed they were marching on dry ground once again.

Excelente.

Wars were better fought on dry ground after all!

--------------------------------------------------

Fletcher watched as the Ark’s battalions stopped in a line of organized rectangles out on the edge of the battle field. He took a deep breath.

So it begins.

With a sharp gesture, he cast his foreleg out to the side and snuffed the Fire into silence. In the seconds that followed, the tension felt so thick it could be cut with a knife. The combined emotions of all the hive’s soldiers felt like one great big ravenous dog pulling on it’s chain, just waiting to be unleashed.

Hold…

Fletcher’s eyes narrowed as he saw what seemed to be the Ark’s leader striding to the front of the ranks.

Hold…

He watched as the jackal held up one of his palms.

Hold…

…

…

The jackal cast his arm forward, triggering the launch of a thousand harpies to the skies.

Fletcher bellowed out the battlecry of every changeling general before him, an intimidating screech, and unleashed the beast. The soldiers of Blue Moon took off, fangs bared and screeching, while Dark Night galloped forward.

----------------------------------------------------

Ra raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected the insects to launch two fronts right of the bat. Swarming creatures usually attack the most immediate threat as a single unit, until a second threat is introduced. Looking closer, it appeared they had even divided their two groups to match his own forces, percentage wise.

Ra grinned. Now he was excited.

How smart their Queen must be. Very well, let us see what desperate and petty strategies you’ve managed to cook up, my Dear.

That was why Ra gave his opponents warning in advance. It was so much more satisfying to utterly crush his victims’ most earnest attempts to defend themselves, rather than simply defeat them. That way, his new slaves came with their spirits already broken.

He threw his hand forward again.

“Charge!” he yelled, and the first battalions took off.

----------------------------------------------------

Within moments, the harpies and Blue Moon soldiers met in the air. The first line of harpies took a hunting stance, with their talons and necks outstretched to claim the first of their changeling prey.

The front line of Blue Moon waited till the last possible second before deploying CT-47 and dropping like stones.

A few of the harpies fell for the feint, turning downward to make chase. The second line of changelings immediately took advantage of their exposed necks, and claimed first blood with a fly-by slice.

Fletcher smirked as he watched a dozen or so decapitated harpies flutter to the ground like sycamore seeds.

The rest of Blue Moon either banked over the oncoming charge, or dove under it and began a swarming pattern, orbiting around the enemy from all directions.

Fletcher smiled again as he watched. CT-106. Just like he told them. They were going to have some fun with this.

CT-106 was an advanced aerial combat technique that was designed to confuse the target, ensnare them, and take pot shots from every direction, all at the same time. The wonderful thing about changelings is that, while easily identifiable to each other, they pretty much look exactly the same to everyone else. Technically you could tell them apart if you memorised the constellations of holes in their legs, but when five or six different changelings are wizing by your face, it’s pretty difficult to keep tabs on which is which, or even decide which one to chase.

Like Fletcher told them, the harpies were proving fairly easy to agitate and confuse as Blue Moon enveloped them in spheres of swarming chitin. Then, as the buzzards desperately tried to follow what was in front of them, the changelings struck from behind with fly-by attacks, targeting the neck and wings. Some soldiers would even tear a hole in the wing by diving right through the membrane.

Every once in a while, a harpy or two would get fed up enough to use their screech and blow the sphere away, but in the end it didn’t affect much, as the broken hole would quickly fill back in again.

Thanks to the swarming technique, the harpies were having a pretty tough time following a single target long enough to actually take any casualties.

Blue Moon was doing well, but realistically they were still outnumbered and the tide was beginning to show signs of turning. That’s when the clouds overhead started to crackle.

Crackathoom!!!

In a blinding flash, one unlucky harpy found itself charred and on a collision course with the ground, package labeled: dead on arrival.

Fletcher smiled.

Direct hit...

------------------------------------------------

3 Days Earlier:

“You want us to what?” Woolly asked incredulously.

It was the middle of the war council and after reestablishing the chain of command, the Alpha General was laying out their defence strategies. He had just finished describing his plans for ‘General Thunder’ and his squadron of about fifty soldiers.

Fletcher cleared his throat. “You heard correctly. You and your squadron will be providing cover-fire for Blue Moon using lightning. From now until D-day you will be using the abilities of Pegasi to gather storm clouds, enough to thoroughly blanket the skies over the battlefield. During the battle you will be hidden above the cloud line and you will strike the enemy with lightning.”

Woolly’s jaw fell, as did almost every other jaw in the room.

“Ooooookay…” Woolly said hesitantly, trying to process this bizarre plan, “...let’s assume for a moment there are no other issues with this plan and answer us this: If we’re supposed to stay hidden above the clouds, then how will we be able to see what we’re firing at?” he asked.

Fletcher smirked. “Easy. You won’t,” he answered.

As expected, his response was met with a few raised eyebrows.

“All you need to ‘see’ is where Blue Moon is,” he elaborated. “If you know where they are, they can show you exactly where the enemy is. For example,” he said as he pointed to the wall. “Obviously you can not see them with your eyes from here, but no doubt you can sense Umbra and Dusty over that way in hallway G-16?”

All heads turned where Fletcher was pointing. Woolly turned back to him and nodded slowly.

Fletcher continued. “Right, now if those two were trained, as Blue Moon will be, to arrange themselves in such a way that an enemy would be directly between them, do you think you would be able to hit such a target from here?” he asked.

Fletcher smirked as he saw the gears turning in their heads.

Woolly smiled.

“Aie, This one thinks It probably could.”

-------------------------------------------------

Fletcher sent a ping, more or less saying well done, to the soldier that bucked the first cloud. Then, as Blue Moon flew in circles and figure eights around the harpies, dozens more strikes rained down and hit their targets. Fletcher smirked as he watched the crispy poultry drop. The best part was, it was very likely the foolish vultures would never even catch on.

All of this was happening meanwhile as the two fronts grinded against each other on the ground.

Back when the two leaders signaled the attack, the two armies charged for one another, both sides hungry for battle. The jackals and ahuizotls at the front lines raised their weapons to take their first swings when--

Crack!

The very ground beneath them gave way, dropping them into a deep trench, stretching all the way across the field, and filled with brittle, spike-like shards of hardened plasma waiting for them at the bottom.

As their opponents fell, the changelings lept over the ridge of the trench and flew overhead, picking off the few jackals that hadn’t been impaled with magic shots, then engaged the remainder of the battalion on the other side.

Ra cried out with deranged laughter as he watched the scene before him.

“Ha’HA! Do you see that, Akil!” he shouted as he smacked his general on the back. “How clever you are, my Dear Queen Bee,” he mused to himself.

Ra always found it greatly amusing to see what sorts of defense these primitive little civilizations could come up with, and took it upon himself to see that they learned the hard way about the flaws in their strategies. While the pits had certainly caught them by surprise, the blighters’ little trap only managed claim a precious few. There was many more where that came from, and the trap was already sprung.

“Let’s see what else you’ve got,” he muttered darkly, before signaling the next battalions forward.

----------------------------------------------------

After days of marching and hauling cages and equipment through the desert, the warriors of those battalions were all too ready to finally do battle. The ahuizotls snarled as they charged forward, eager to teach the changelings a lesson for their audacity.

One of the ahuis spotted a target up ahead and locked on, licking his lips. Oh, how he wished he could slay his enemies like a proper warrior, and not be held back by silly orders to take them prisoner.

His chosen target still hadn’t moved from that spot, and only just now took notice of him charging towards it. The little pest looked paralysed with fear, bringing a smile to the ahui’s face. He reared up his weapon for a swing, when suddenly there was a flash of green from the changeling’s horn. He couldn’t move! The ahuizotl looked down at his feet to find that the mud that had been covering them turned to a solid black material as hard as stone, and had sealed three of his legs to the ground. He dropped his weapon as he grabbed his wrist with his free hand and tried to yank himself free. Another green flash went off in the corner of his eye, and his last free hand got sealed to the other. He roared in anger at the changeling as he yanked on his arms in the fruitless pursuit of freedom.

The changeling answered by leaping into the air, tucking into a flip, and bringing his hind hoof down on the ahui’s helmet like a hammer, crunching the visor over his eyes.

Now blinded, the ahuizotl felt around for his weapon with his tail, until he felt a searing pain in the rear end!

The little Blighter cut off his tail! The ahuizotl screamed in agony and rage toward the heavens... until he felt a stinging sensation across his neck. He felt dizzy… He was vaguely aware that he was now laying on the ground. And then… darkness.

--------------------------------------------------

Fletcher smiled from afar as he watched his Dark Night soldiers running distract and disable as he directed. It was working perfectly, and soaking the border of the battle field with plasma had certainly given them an edge. He watched his soldiers take down several ahuizotls with ease, and pick off many more jackals that were also stuck to the ground.

Unfortunately however, many jackals turned to using fire magic, and not every ahui could be restrained. The hive was beginning to take its first casualties, and they burned in the hearts of every changeling. Members of Red Heart deployed to retrieve the wounded, but for some, they knew it was already too late. Pain and anguish burned in Fletcher’s chest as he grit his teeth.

Kaizer…

Flint…

Asher…

Quill…

…

Tears escaped Fletcher’s eyes as many more faces flashed across his mind. So this is really happening...

He looked up to the sky where he could just barely sense the presence of General Thunder and sighed. Fletcher tried to justify his placement of Woolly by telling himself it was strategically necessary, but if he was honest… it was really because he wanted both Mizer and Woolly kept as far away from the battle as possible, for this exact reason. He hated himself for showing favouritism, but… he just… he couldn’t lose them.

Not them.

------------------------------------------------

Lord Ra laughed as he watched the changelings’ newest parlour trick. Looking down at the mud on his feet, he bent down and rubbed a bit of it between his fingers.

“Extraordinary. It’s virtually undetectable,” he mused. “I honestly didn’t have a clue, did you Akil?” he asked his second in command.

“Not the faintest, My Lord. My apologies,” the general replied meekly.

Ra waved him off. “Nonsense, fret it none. It was genius after all,” he said, admiring the brilliance of it.

“…pffffft HA HA HA! Oh, it’s amazing how they can be so clever with the cloaking of their traps, and yet be foolish enough to have nothing to back them up with. It’s like a rabbit hitting a bear on the toe with a hammer, and then throwing the hammer away. It’s almost adorable, frankly,” Ra chuckled.

He projected his voice a little more as he regarded the battalions surrounding him, “Best wipe your feet off on the welcome mat, Boys! Less you want to make like trees before Lumberjacks!” he called.

The warriors laughed as they carefully wiped the mud off their feet. (And hands in the ahuizotls’ case.)

“Right,” Ra said as he raised his hand, “More pressure. Charge!” he yelled, sending off another wave of battalions.

------------------------------------------------

The emotions of the Hammer Fall soldiers had been pulling on Fletcher’s mind for a while now, as they lay in wait below him. He had to keep a section of his forces in reserve so he could use them as a second wave of untired soldiers to support and reinvigorate the first group. He had to wait a little longer, until Dark Night squadron approached its breaking point in order to maximise his army’s effectiveness, but with every casualty they took, Hammer Fall’s rage burned hotter and hotter. Fletcher’s mind was filled with the pings they sent out to the world in general:

Vengeance...

Punishment...

Release us Alpha...

Destroy...

Eviscerate…

Let us at’em…

Fletcher kept his eyes on the battle field. The hive had successfully drawn out a third wave out of the Ark’s army, and the veterans in Dark Night had been holding up admirably against their numbers for a while now, but the pressure on their endurance was taking its toll.

“Yes, my brothers,” he whispered, “It is time.”

He spread his stance wide and crouched down, preparing to take off. He would be heading this wave himself, bearing up Dark Night and dropping the hammer. He pinged his soldiers below.

Prepare to launch.

All the pings that had been filling his mind went silent. He could practically feel them grinning.
Fletcher’s eyes narrowed on the enemy and launched forward like a dart, screeching the battle cry as he sailed over his squadron. Hammer Fall responded with their own battle cries as they blazed forward, gliding over the landscape at full throttle.

Like a cleansing wind they blew through the raging battle, slicing through ankles and tails of Ark currently locked in battle with their brethren, giving Dark Night just enough edge to come out on top.

The re-enforcements gave Dark Night a noticeable boost in morale as they redoubled their efforts.

Fletcher weaved between fighters, slicing and slashing as he passed.

“...That’s for Asher! And thats for Quill…” he roared as he got in a few kill shots.

Fletcher glanced up ahead. The Ark released another two battalions to join the ones they already had their hooves full with. Fletcher spat to the side.

“Here we go,” he sighed.

---------------------------------------------------

Fletcher looked up to the sky. He couldn’t tell what time it was, but he knew they had been fighting for five hours and thirty seven minutes, which meant there was roughly still a few hours left. Nightfall couldn’t come soon enough.

The tide was beginning to turn against them. Blue Moon was starting to get overwhelmed and couldn’t keep all the harpies off the squadrons below, and some soldiers were getting caught in their talons. Thankfully they weren’t squeezing them however, but rather the Ark seemed to have enough of a leash on the vultures that they would fly back to the cages and toss their prey inside as jackals manned the gates.

Dark Night and Hammerfall were running out of steam as well. On more than one occasion a few of them had gotten knocked into boulders, or cast tumbling along the ground by a harpy’s sonic screech.

Rainfall had dampened down the intensity of the jackals’ fireballs somewhat, but they were still barraging them ruthlessly with only slightly weaker attacks.

Fletcher cast another glance at the sky, willing the sun to go down. Hold on everyone. We’re almost there.

A sudden ping screamed in his head.

Look out!

Fletcher’s eyes widened as he turned and saw the inbound fireball. He barely had time to flinch before it hit him hard and hot in the face. He cried out in agony, clutching his face and spinning out of control.

Everything went dark.

...

“Thank you for saving me, Chestnut...”

“I think you would make a cute monster, like a teeny tiny manticore...”

“Would you like to come over after school for some milk and cookies...”

“You’re my friend, Chestnut. I could never hate you...”

Sugar…

“Mine Alpha!”

A soldier’s scream cut through the darkness of Fletcher’s mind. He weakly lifted his eyelids and was vaguely aware that the ground was rapidly approaching.

Huh, it appears to be my turn.

He closed his eyes again as he drifted back into unconsciousness...

BAM!

-------------------------------------------------

Screeeeee Clack!

Fletcher scrunched his face as the sound of a closing metal door brought him back into consciousness. He groggily opened his eyes to find that he had been thrown in a cage along with many of his brethren.

Jumping to his hooves, he rushed to the bars of the cage and looked out to see that the daylight was fading, but the battle field... had gone completely quiet. No one was fighting anymore. Every changeling outside the hive was either in cages, or lying on the ground… no longer a threat to the Ark.

He furiously started banging on the bars of the cage door along with the others that were still able to stand. Like everyone else, Fletcher’s bracers had been taken from him, and he noticed that no one was trying to use magic. He had a pretty good idea why, and to test out his suspicion, he tried to charge a magic blast. Sure enough, his magic was simply absorbed by the metal cage before he could even form a shot.

The cages had been dragged into a circle, and the jackals were lighting fire basins before they lost their magic for the night.

Fletcher looked over to see the Ark Leader walking into the midst of them. The jackal casually paced around the circle with his paws behind his back, and peered at them with a smug look on his face.

Ra let out a throaty laugh.

“Take a good look, your Highness...” he said, spreading his arms out wide and turning in place to display himself to his audience, “...for I am Lord Ra, your new Master.”

The cages erupted with outrage.

Ra simply chuckled.

“Ah, you’re not amused, are you. I do have to give you credit though, your Highness. You did very well given the limited resources you had…”

The changeling soldiers whispered among themselves as the jackal rambled.

“Who is he talking to? The Queen is inside.”

“They’re convinced that we have a hivemind, remember? He thinks the Queen can see him through our eyes.”

“... and your little tricks, petty as they were, were quite clever. They actually managed to catch us off guard. You should be proud. Though it’s a shame you didn’t bother to think any further ahead or your little strategies might have actually done something for you. Oh well…” Ra snickered.

“You just sit tight, your Highness,” he said darkly as he stared directly into one of the soldier’s eyes, “... we’ll be right down to pick you up.”

The caged occupants screeched in anger and furiously banged on the bars as Ra turned and launched three fireballs straight up in rapid succession.

-------------------------------------------------

From a few hundred meters away, Akil called out to his troops.

“That’s the signal! Advance!” he shouted as he cast his arm forward. “We take the Queen, we take victory!” he called out as he and Navarro led them into the darkness of the hive structure.

Navarro bumbled along behind him as Akil navigated the winding tunnels.

“How do you know where to go?” he grumbled.

Akil shook his head and groaned.

“The Queen will be in a safe place with all the non-fighting drones and the wounded, which means there’ll be hundreds of them. Just follow the source of heat and noise, Sand-for-brains,” he jeered as he struck down a lone changeling and threw it aside.

Navarro growled. “Te arrancaré el pelo fuera cuando esto termine.” (Translation: I’ll rip your hide off when this is through.)

He used his tail to throw a handful of knives at a group of three up ahead. They fell instantly. Akil kicked them to the side to get them out of the way of the troops.

“This way!” the commander called back.

Akil navigated them through various tunnels until they came to a solid wall of newly sealed plasma. Akil pressed his ear against it. He could feel the heat emanating off it, and heard hundreds of voices.

“This is it. General, if you would?”

Navarro turned and pointed to three of his ahuizotls.

“Rompan la puerta!” he ordered. (Translation: Break it down!)

The three warriors stood shoulder to shoulder as Akil and Navarro got behind them. At the signal, they charged and rammed into the wall with their thick shoulders. The wall splintered and creeked. They could hear several wings buzzing and panicked voices on the other side.

“Otra vez!” Navarro ordered. (Translation: Once more!)

They backed up and charged the door again. This time the wall broke apart and collapsed, raising a cloud of dust.

Several voices cried out from inside.

“The stronghold's been breached!”

“We’re all gonna die!”

“Protect the Queen!”

“Fire at will!”

A series of magic blasts rained down on the cloud from the scant few fighters in the room left to guard the Queen.

“Charge!” Akil yelled.

The walls practically shook as the army thundered into the massive stronghold to find countless glowing eyes cowering up in the higher levels, while no more than ten or so guards took to the air in the center and desperately tried to hold them back with a stream of magic blasts. Akil and Navarro stopped in the center of the massive room where they had a good vantage point.

“Onward boys! They’ve nowhere to run!”

Eventually, the first of the troops began to reach the changelings cowering above. An ahuizotl warrior threw a handful of knives into the first group. Five of them fell over with a satisfying thunk.

But something was odd.

None of the other ones flew away. The warrior threw another knife, and sure enough, the target fell over, but…

It’s eyes were still open!

He ran up and kicked one of his victims. A solidified plasma statue flew into the wall and broke in half, glowing hot stones rolling out of it’s skull. The ahuizotl roared in anger. He ran to the edge and called down to his commanders.

“They’re fakes!” he roared as he tossed a statue down.

It fell to the ground and broke a few feet in front of Navarro, steam rising from the glowing stones.

“What?!” he growled.

The ten changeling guards in the air closed their mouths, and the hundreds of voices that had been filling the room, instantly went silent.

SLAM!!!

A thick stone slab slid into place in the entryway. The warriors closest to it ran up and beat against it in panic.

“Commander! The exit has been sealed!” a jackal cried.

“Really? Oh Dear...” Akil yawned, feigning interest.

Navarro blinked. “Why are you not taking this seriously?! We are trapped!”

Suddenly, a hole opened up in the center of the ceiling and a stream of water came rushing down into the cavern. It was the water from the bathing hall above, which had been redirected down a new channel, just recently dug.

Akil shook his head. “You really are dense.”

Navarro snarled, his eyes narrowing. “This is not the time, Ahkeel!”

That’s when Akil suddenly started laughing like a mad dog.

Navarro could only raise his brow in confusion.

Is… Is he panicking?

The jackal looked up at him with an unsettling smile.

“Do you believe in ghosts, Navarro?”

-----------------------------------------------------

Back on the battlefield, the sun had completely set at this point, and the only light was provided by the Ark’s fire basins. The caged changeling soldiers were still frantically beating against the cages and screaming in rage. Fletcher most fervently of all... until he cast a glance to the east where the stream ran across the landscape. The flow of water had dribbled to a hault.

Heh, looks like it’s time.

Like someone hit a switch, every protesting changeling stopped what they were doing and stood at attention.

Ra smiled.

“Looks like my servants have finally managed to make you submit. Welcome to my puppet collection, your Highness,” he said with a grin.

“Heh. Heh Heh. Ha Ha Ha Ah HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!!!”

Ra raised his eyebrow’s and turned around. A single changeling in one of the cages was laughing hysterically for some reason. Upon closer inspection, Ra noticed it was decorated a little differently than the others. It’s armor wasn’t all blue, rather, black with blue accents. Ra strode over to the cage and rattled the bars with his blade.

“Do you find something amusing, Slave?”

At the mention of the word slave, Fletcher only laughed harder. Wiping tears from his eyes, he finally calmed down enough to speak.

“Indeed… This one is completely astounded as to how utterly clueless you can be...” He shot the jackal a stone hard glare. “...Lord Ra,” he teased.

Ra narrowed his eyes.

“Excuse me?” he growled. “And who might you be?”

“This one is Alpha General Fletcher. Your opponent... and this war’s victor,” he said with a cheeky smile.

Now it was Ra’s turn to laugh, along with the rest of the surrounding army.

“Have you looked around, General?” Ra cackled. “Your definition of victory is rather questionable.”

“Have you?” Fletcher countered.

The laughter stopped abruptly. Ra gave a questioning look before looking over the faces of his other captives. All eyes were on him, as indeed they should be, but something was off. These were not the faces of submission, or even of creatures with their backs against the wall… they were smiling…

Ra was silent for a moment... Then he shook his head and started chuckling.

“You all think you have a cute little plan to turn all of this around, do you?” he said, turning back to Fletcher. “Hm hm what, just like your clever little ‘traps’ earlier? Because you certainly succeeded with those,” he teased, eliciting an uproar of laughter from his men.

The Alpha General weathered their laughter with an almost regal grace. He just sat there quietly, with his eyes closed and a knowing smile on his face.

“We are not the ones in a cage, Lord Ra,” he said quietly.

Ra laughed. “Ah, waxing philosophical are we, General? You do realise that proverbs won’t help you, right?” he scoffed.

“Perhaps not…” Fletcher mused. He opened his eyes and looked up at him with a smirk. “You don’t know much about changelings, do you Lord Ra?”

“Haha. Enlighten me, dear General,” Ra replied haughtily.

Fletcher smirked. “Well for starters, Her Majesty didn’t hear a word you just said. You outsiders all think changelings have some hive mind, but it doesn’t work like that.”

Ra raised an eyebrow. “Is that right,” he mused.

Fletcher continued. “We aren’t networked through the brain, we sense each other by emotion.”

“Interesting... No matter, your quality as slaves hasn’t changed. What other mysteries have you to impart, oh sage Alpha General?” the jackal patronized.

“As for your comment earlier, we do think ahead. Quite far in fact. Those ‘clever little traps’ as you put it, weren’t really traps at all…” Fletcher said with a smirk. “...they were the bait.”

Ra’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Those traps were intentionally meant to cause minimal damage, in order to play to your arrogance. You all think changelings are just primitive idiots, so when our traps didn’t have a lasting or more encompassing effect, you were more than willing to accept that those were the best we could do, luring you into a false sense of security as you walked right into our real trap,” Fletcher said.

Ra’s teeth were clenching. “Oh? And what would that be?” he asked, trying to maintain his demeanour of superiority. So far he’d been pretty effectively called out, and the prospect that he’d actually been outsmarted was gradually becoming more and more possible. He was not okay with that.

Fletcher snickered and pointed out into the landscape.

“You see that stream out there?” he asked.

Ra gave a suspicious glare before turning where the Alpha General pointed. He squinted into the darkening landscape.

“Oh wait, of course you can’t, the water has all run dry,” Fletcher said, bopping his forehead with a hoof. “Hmm… It was a flowing stream when you got here. This one wonders where all that water could be going…”

Ra’s eyes widened.

“Your army didn’t force their way in to the Queen’s stronghold, Lord Ra,” Fletcher said darkly...

“...They were invited in.”

-----------------------------------------------------

Now Navarro was really confused.

He… he’s lost it...

“What are you talking about!” he growled at the jackal.

Akil raised his paws and did finger quotations. “‘Ahkeel’ is lying six feet under, all the way back at your ‘checkpoint two’,” he snickered. “You guys marched all the way here with my entire Ghost squadron hidden in your ranks, and none of you had the slightest clue! You really are dimwits!”

Navarro’s eyes widened. Changeling!

“QUE TE MUERES DEMONIO!” he roared. (Die you demon!) He lunged forward and swung with his axe.

With the powerful legs of a jackal, the imposter effortlessly lept out of the way. He changed back into his true form mid air, and hovered upside down just in front of the ahuizotl’s face.

“Boo!” he taunted.

Navarro roared in anger as he fruitlessly swiped at him, but the changeling General simply ascended out of reach, and up towards his brethren.

“Welcome to your grave, Gentlecolts,” General Mirage called out to the Ark troops he once led. “This one’s sorry to say, but the Queen is in another stronghold. You might as well get comfortable though... you’ll be here awhile, after all.”

Navarro pointed to the stone door and yelled to his warriors, “Rompe la puerta!” (Break it down!)

The changeling hovering above him laughed as the ahuizotls desperately slammed into the slab.

“Did you really think we would seal our stronghold with that weak little wall earlier? That, my friend, is the real door. And This one can assure you, you won’t be moving it anytime soon,” Mirage jeered as he slowly ascended to the ceiling with the others.

Navarro slammed his fist in the rising water. “COWARDS!” he screamed.

“HA!” Mirage snorted indignantly. “You can hardly speak of cowardice when you send an army of ten thousand to invade a hive of less than four. Besides, This one wouldn’t call cutting your army in half without taking any casualties cowardice. That’s just smart!” he said, tapping the side of his head.

Four changelings flew to Mirage’s side.

“Here are your knives back, by the way,” they said as three of them dropped Navarro’s knives in the water.

“Just so you know… if you don’t see any blood, it usually means you didn’t breach the chitin. You might want to make sure your enemies are actually dead next time, and not just playing possum. Not that such advice will do you much good now, but you know, it’s the thought that counts,” they taunted before flying up to the hole in the ceiling, laughing all the way until they disappeared.

Navarro roared and hopelessly thrashed at the stone barricade, unable to do anything else.

Mirage poked his head back in through the hole.

“Oh, and Navarro? One more thing…”

The ahuizotl glared daggers back at him.

“Chupalo!” the changeling yelled, before withdrawing again. (translation: Suck it!)

“ARGHHHHHH!!! HIJO DE PUCHA! REGRESSAN MALDITOS COBARDES! MALDITA A TODOS!” the Ahuizotl roared with fury. (translation: Um… not safe for Woona)

Mirage chuckled at the infuriated ranting of his defeated enemy, and nodded to his brethren.

BAM!!!

They tipped over the massive stone, sealing the tomb. The silence that followed marked the last that Mirage ever had to hear from that neanderthal again. The redirected water from the bathing hall continued to flow down into the stronghold through carefully carved vents in the stone, without allowing any chance for escape.

Mirage let out a long sigh of relief. Four thousand fish in a barrel... Mission accomplished.

“Well done, Everyone,” he said. “Head back to Sygnet and assemble the recovered, This one has to get back to It’s own squadron.”

--------------------------------------------------

Ra was fuming. No way. There’s NO way! He was the son of Lords! King of Kings! There is NO WAY he was just outsmarted by a couple of cockroaches!

“What’s the matter, Lord Ra? You don’t look well,” Fletcher taunted with a smirk.

Ra grit his teeth as he turned around.

“A clever little ruse, I’ll give you that,” he sneered, “but you can wipe that smirk off your putrid little face, because once we drag you back home I am going to make every one of you pay for this the rest of your miserable lives!”

He turned and shouted orders to what remained of his army.

“You lot, start hauling these cages out of here,” he yelled at the ahuizotls. “The rest of you, get in that hive and bring me every living--”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Ra was interrupted once again by an uproar of laughter from every cage in the circle. Ra and his army looked around the cages in confusion.

“Silence! SILENCE!!!” Ra screamed as he furiously struck the bars again.

The changelings didn’t seem to pay him any mind, in fact some even laughed harder. Ra pointed his blade at Fletcher.

"You! What in the nine hells is so funny?!"

Fletcher shook his head as he fought to stop laughing.

“You’re still under the delusion that you’re getting out of here alive,” he chuckled. “Like This one said before--”

Ra slammed the bars. “YOU’RE THE ONES WHO ARE DELUSIONAL! I don’t care what trick you think you have up your sleeves, there isn’t a chance in Tartarus that you’re getting out of those cages!” he snarled.

Fletcher bursts into laughter again, joining the rest of his soldiers.

“Did you really think we would let you put us in cages without having a way of getting out?” he snickered. “See, that’s another thing you don’t know about changelings, Ra. You could search the whole world, and you would never find better actors!!!”

On cue, the sound of buzzing wings flared across the battlefield, as half of the forgotten changelings seemingly arose from the dead and took flight.

Ra’s eyes widened. This was not good. The sun was long gone, which meant they had no fire power, not too mention minimal light to see with. They could not risk letting any of their captives escape, should the tide of this battle actually turn in the changelings’ favour.

“Get them!” Ra shouted at his army. “Do NOT let them get anywhere NEAR these cages!”

“Say, tell This one, Ra…” Fletcher began.

The Jackal glared daggers back at him. Fletcher shrugged it off and approached the edge of the cage, leaning in close.

“... Are you afraid of the dark?”

“What?”

Suddenly, every jackal holding stewardship over a fire basin snuffed it out. Ra wheeled around in a mixture of horror and outrage.

“WHAT ARE YOU D--”

Ra’s bellow died in in his throat as realisation hit him. Changelings. He looked back to the Alpha General, his eyes glowing in the darkness. But when did you…

Fletcher flashed him a mischievous grin.

“Lights ooooouut~,” he sang. Fletcher gave a quick blow, causing every changelings’ eyes to close like they had been extinguished like a candle, leaving the Ark in pitch darkness.

Ra could see nothing, but his surroundings filled with the sounds of buzzing, cries of confusion, and clashing blades among his own ranks.

“Guard the cages!” Ra yelled into the darkness. “They must not escape!”

Heh, too late, Fletcher mused as every jackal standing guard at the gate of a cage opened the locks and released their brethren, before running off to join the rest of Ghost squadron in the war of chaos. Which was less chaotic for them and more like torment for the Ark, given that they could actually tell where their enemy was… not to mention who was friend and who was foe.

Even though the changelings that weren’t in a disguise had to keep their eyes closed, they didn’t mind too much. Once they cleared the cage doors, all they had to do was follow the presence of their brethren into the sky.

Ra screamed in anger as he heard the cages open and countless more wings come to life.

“NOOOOOOOO!!!”

Bam!

Fletcher landed on top of his former prison, causing the metal to ring out in protest.

“Oh yes,” he said darkly.

Fletcher opened his eyes, as did row upon row of others after him, rising up into sky until the Ark was surrounded on all sides by a curtain of glowing blue eyes.

The Ark looked up at the site in terror. Sure changelings weren’t all that frightening in the daylight, but not being able to see them in the dark (save for those ghostly eyes), and knowing they can see you perfectly, made facing them a daunting task for any warrior.

“Perhaps it would be wise to wait for more favorable weather, Sire.”

Ra’s eyes widened as he heard Akil’s voice. Another set of glowing eyes flew in and landed on the cage beside the Alpha General.

“This one was worried when, for the sake of staying in character, it had to urge you to wait it out, but you had your head so far up your own rear end it didn’t matter what This one said! You’re even more daft than that baboon Navarro!” Mirage sneered in his regular voice.

Ra growled through clenched teeth.

“Fall back!” he yelled.

The soldiers of the Ark were all too willing to oblige and took off in retreat.

Ra pointed a khopesh at Fletcher.

“We’ll be back on the morrow, General, and this time we won’t be falling for any of your petty tricks!” he called.

Fletcher chuckled. “Oh no. You’ll go nowhere on the morrow… for you die tonight,” he said darkly. “This one already told you, Ra. We are not the ones in a cage!”

Fletcher sent a ping. Make it rain.

In answer, a barrage of green fireballs showered down from the clouds above. One such magic blast, strayed off toward the edge of the battlefield. It hit the ground, igniting the plasma laden in the mud and surrounded the entire battlefield in a massive ring of fire, several yards thick.

Fletcher called out to his soldiers around him, “The tides have changed. It’s time to avenge the fallen and administer punishment!”

“HAH!”

“Use of love energy is now fully authorized. Happy Hunting!”

--------------------------------------------------

Chaos had erupted once again on the field, accented by the cries of pain from the fleeing Ark warriors. With the sun down and the Ark’s torches snuffed out, the only illumination came from the ring of burning plasma at the battlefield’s edge and the barrage of flaming green magic blasts raining down from the heavens. Green flames of course, did not provide much light, which meant the Ark were left virtually blinded. Their enemies of course, could see them perfectly.

Fletcher was dishing out punishment left and right as jackal after jackal fell before him. He and his soldiers were like the phantoms of a nightmare, dashing to and fro amongst the shadows, and claiming countless victims in the darkness.

Fletcher’s ears suddenly perked up. In his mind’s eye he could sense Woolly suddenly plummet towards the earth. His immediate thought was that he had been injured somehow, but his concerns were sedated when he realized he couldn’t sense any pain in Woolly’s presence… just concentration.

What are you doing, Woolly? I had you stationed up there for a reason, he thought to himself as he engaged an ahui. He tried to follow Woolly’s trajectory and looked ahead with his mind. Directly below Woolly, there was another changeling that was falling, and he was in pain.

Kelt…

Kelt had injured or lost a wing somehow, judging by the searing pain in the back Fletcher sensed. Kelt would plummet to his death if no one caught him.

Thankfully, Woolly managed to pull it off with only a few feet left to spare. Once lowered to the ground, Kelt ran back to the hive on hoof to get treatment from Sygnet.

Fletcher breathed a sigh of relief.

Well done. Now get back up there, would ya? You’re making me nervous.

Shing!

“AHHHHHHH!”

Fletcher’s heart stopped. It didn’t matter how loud the chaos of the surrounding battle was, all he could discern was the horrible scream he prayed he would never hear. He could feel Woolly’s presence writhing in agony.

It felt like Woolly had been stabbed in the back and run clean through his chest, but there was no way a sword could penetrate the shell on a changeling’s back. Fletcher looked over in horror to see that Woolly was still in pegasus form, leaving him vulnerable to the sword of none other than Ra himself! Fletcher could only watch in horror as the jackal cackled.

“How’s this for emotion, General? How does this feel on your little ‘network’?” he taunted as he pushed and twisted the blade further into Woolly’s back. Then the jackal pried him off with a foot and ran off.

The ahui Fletcher was fighting took advantage of his distracted state, and grabbed him in a choke hold. The resulting death glare had enough venom in it to drop a hydra. With a hard twist, Fletcher turned himself around within the beast’s grasp until he was facing it. Then he grabbed its head and viciously squeezed his hooves into the joints, forcing the jaw to open.

“Get out of my way…” he whispered with cold intensity, and fired a magic blast point blank into the ahui’s maw.

He cast the smoking body aside and bolted for Woolly’s position faster than his wings could possibly allow. They cried out in protest, but he cried louder.

“REMLY!!!” he hollered.

He prayed his Red Heart general could hear him, cause wherever she was, she was out of range for him to sense her presence, and he desperately needed his fastest and most medically trained at this point.

Fletcher ground his hooves into the dirt as he landed and bumbled over to where Woolly lay. He didn’t seem to be breathing.

No. No no no no no no no no…

Fletcher set his hooves around him, turned him over and tried to shake him awake.
“Woolly?... Woolly!” he cried.

Woolly coughed and began to stir with a moan.

“H-hey Kiddo,” he muttered through his usual smile.

Fletcher let out a sigh of relief, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He dispelled Woolly’s disguise for him and tried his best to start healing the wound, but he’d never come across a full skewering like this before. He needed Remly.

“What were you thinking, Woolly?” he whispered.

“Not much...” he chuckled, “other than ‘save him’. Had to keep pegasus wings or This one would have never caught up with the little rookie,” he wheezed, coughing up blood.

Fletcher shook his head as streams rolled down his cheeks.

“Don’t speak anymore…”

He finally felt Remly come within sensing range and, to his relief, she was hauling flank. She sent him two basic pings. Coming. Fast.

“...help will be here soon,” Fletcher finished.

Woolly chuckled despite him and spoke between labored breaths.

“We’ve won this thing, Kid… huff... and it’s all thanks to you. There’s not a commander alive or dead… huff... that could have pulled this off… huff... like you did…... believe that,” he said, tapping Fletcher on the chest.

“This one is… I’m... I’m proud of you... Kiddo...” he muttered, as tired, heavy eyelids fell.

Fletcher’s eyes widened in horror.

No.

“Woolly?” he called as he shook him again. “Woolly, no! No! No! Don’t do this! Woolly you can’t go! Please!”

There was no response…

----------------------------------------------

What was only a brief moment, may as well have been an eternity, before Remly and another Red Heart finally skidded to a halt beside them.

“These ones are here Alph-- Oh no...” Remly’s voice fell when she saw her fellow Beta-General in her Alpha’s forelegs.

She ran up and started looking him over. Woolly had lost consciousness, and Fletcher was like a statue.

“Mine Alpha…” she whispered, “... This one is so sorry...”

Fletcher slowly laid Woolly’s limp body on the ground and turned away.

“Take him, Remly. Bring our Ba-tem home...”

A common myth among pony-folk says, that when you’re mad enough, you literally start to see red. For changelings however, it’s a bit of a different story. While anger and fury sometimes produces adrenaline, in a changeling it can turn into a venom-like poison if it becomes too concentrated. When Fletcher opened his eyes again they were not their normal blue... or red for that matter. Rather, they were a bright and fiery green.

Fletcher launched straight upward into the air and furiously began to scope out his target amongst the chaos. His eyes narrowed as he located the monster he was hunting.

Target Locked.

...

Time appeared to freeze, and all external noise went silent... such that only the voice of Fletcher’s thoughts could be heard. He visualized himself on the ground, facing Ra, who had his khopeshes drawn. Ark warriors and changeling soldiers were fighting individual battles all around them, forming a ring of clear space.

First: Agitate Target.

In his mind’s eye, Fletcher visualized himself firing a magic blast. Ra dissipates the attack with a cross slice of his blades, and charges for the changeling.

Then evade wild swing.

Fletcher ducks low as Ra swings horizontally over his head with his right blade.

Catch wrist. Hyperextend elbow…

Fletcher grabs the wrist above him and punches upwards into the back of the elbow.

...and break ribs.

He follows up with an elbow shot to the jackal’s ribs. Ra staggers back a few steps and drops his right Khopesh. Fletcher rises up on his hind legs and takes a fighting stance.

Target will attempt chop with left. Deploy CT-4.

Ra slices downward with his remaining weapon. Fletcher evades it with a basic sidestep to the right.

Disarm.

Fletcher steps on the blade and punches Ra in the chest, forcing him to let go of his weapon.

Force paws to muzzle.

Fletcher lunges forward and strikes him with a shot to the face. In a typical reaction, Ra’s paws go to his nose.

Drive broken ribs into lungs...

Fletcher swings his foreleg into the Jackal’s side.

… and deploy CT-12 to the diaphragm.

Then he follows it up with a round-house kick to the stomach, and Ra doubles over in pain.

Compromise balance.

Fletcher hooks his hind leg around Ra’s and pulls it back, forcing him on all fours.

Break spine.

Fletcher throws both his hooves in the air and slams them down on the Jackal’s back. Ra collapses to the ground.

In summary: Target paralyzed. Muzzle fractured. Arm, spinal column, and four ribs broken. Lungs punctured. Drowning via internal bleeding: imminent. Estimated life expectancy: Two minutes at best... whilst under extreme pain. Vengeance: exacted.

...

The appearance of time resumed.

Fletcher dive bombed for the Jackal Leader, hooves first.

“RAAAAAAAAA!!!” he bellowed as he charged amongst raining magic blasts towards his target.

He tackled him full force, and they rolled through the battle field. Ra came to a stop while Fletcher rolled on a few more feet. He came to a controlled stop and ended on his hooves, facing his enemy. They were surrounded by a ring of warriors and soldiers, all fighting their own battles. Ra got to his feet and drew his khopeshes. The two leaders stared each other down in a moment of intense hatred.

Fletcher fired a magic blast, which was quickly dissipated with an experienced cross slash of Ra’s khopeshes. The Jackal roared out a battle cry as he charged his opponent and took a wide swing. Fletcher ducked under the stroke and grabbed his wrist from below. He rammed the back of Ra’s elbow with a loud crunch, then rammed his own elbow into his ribs.

Ra staggered back a few steps, howling in pain. The trauma to his arm caused his grip to waiver and he dropped his sword. He snarled as the watched his opponent’s glowing eyes rise to his own eye level in the darkness. Ra roared in anger, and attempted to drop his blade down on his enemy, but the pair of eyes simply glided off to the side as if they belonged to some ethereal ghost. After hitting the ground with his blade, Ra felt something hold it there before he was forced back by a punch in the chest, leaving his second weapon behind.

Fletcher lunged forward and gave him a hard jab to the muzzle, causing Ra to hold it in agony with his paws. He then swung his foreleg into the Jackal’s side, and followed up with a round-house kick to the stomach.

Ra groaned as he doubled over, clutching his stomach. He started coughing and sputtering blood. Fletcher hooked his hind leg around Ra’s own and pulled it back, forcing him to his hands and knees. The changeling threw both forehooves up in the air and mercilessly slammed them down on his opponent’s spine.

Ra fell to the ground and Fletcher kicked him over onto the flat of his back. The jackal’s eyes simply stared forward, stunned, while he wheezed short, laboured breaths.

Fletcher’s glowing eyes loomed over him in the darkness, glaring daggers at him.

“Tartarus welcomes you, Devil Tyrant.”

He spat in the jackal’s eye and walked away, leaving him to enjoy his two minutes of hell... which would feel more like an eternity.

--------------------------------------------------

Fletcher stood in the throne room, in line with the other Elites. The Queen looked down on them and smiled.

“Well done my servants. We have successfully repelled the Ark Alliance, and we are alive today thanks to Commander Fletcher’s outstanding leadership and tactics,” she said.

His fellow guards sent Fletcher their congratulatory sentiments and even rubbed their wings together as a form of applause, but Fletcher was in another place. Members of his family were lost, and it was all he could do to keep himself from shedding tears in the presence of the Queen. One does not burden her Majesty with their emotions.

“It was both surprising and spectacular to see the might this hive is capable off,” the Queen continued. “In light of this, I believe it is time we expanded our borders so our numbers and Empire can grow, until neither the Ark nor anyone else would dare to attack us again,” she said.

Fletcher perked up. What do you mean by expand? He didn’t like the sound of this.

“Soon, we will march to the north, and conquer the land of Atalanter. We shall chase them out and build more hive structures so we can increase our population,” she declared.

Fletcher’s eyes widened with horror. He couldn’t believe his Queen was even considering something like this after they just lost so many to those who tried to conquer them.

“B-but your Majesty,” he objected, “the Atalanterns are peaceful creatures. They haven’t done anything to us.”

“Exactly,” she replied with a crooked smile. “The deer are passive and weak, which is why we will be able to conquer them with ease!”

Fletcher’s jaw dropped.

H-how could you say that?

As he struggled with his inner turmoil, he vaguely heard the Queen begining to dish out orders to his brethren. Fletcher clenched his teeth and his eyes squeezed shut.

Many good changelings are dead now after trying to defend their home from the monsters who thought that way. How could you?

The Queen was making her way down the line, giving each Elite specific orders.

Fletcher was beginning to quiver at this point. Any moment now she would call on him. Give him some order that would play a direct part in ruining the lives of an entire nation.

Disobeying orders was out of the question. Not only was it immediate grounds for banishment, it was the hive’s greatest taboo. To a changeling, defying the Queen’s orders would be like murdering a hive member in cold blood. Those that had considered you their brother for your entire life, would disown you entirely, as they should. Orders were always for the good of the colony after all...

Though apparently the good of anyone else in this world is none of our concern!

How could he possibly attack a nation of creatures that hadn’t done anything to them?

The Queen gave orders to Mizer, standing two positions away from Fletcher. Just like the others, he reluctantly saluted and headed off to fulfill his duty.

This is wrong.

The next guard received his orders and headed off.

Fletcher could see the faces of the Atalanterns. The bucks, the does… and the foals...

Sugar…

“Commander Fletcher, you will be in command of squadrons Theta and Epsilon...”

Never again.

“...and you will be leading the first of the night raids--”

“No.”

The room froze. Fletcher could sense the horror coming from Mizer and the other guards, but he ignored them.

“W-what did you just say?” the Queen breathed. She was utterly taken aback.

Fletcher slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes, to look his Queen in the face.

“This one will not attack creatures that haven’t done Itself, nor Its allies, any wrong,” he declared.

The Queen was absolutely seething. “How dare you--”

“How dare you!” Fletcher snarled back.

He was shaking. Every fiber of his being was fighting against him, begging him to keep his big mouth shut… but he had to do this.

“We haven’t even buried our dead, much less said our farewells, and you’re already making plans to do the exact same thing that the Ark just did to us! Many good changelings gave their lives to protect their home, their Queen!” he spat.

His voice lowered to a cold, hard whisper. “This one gave you the title of Mother Swan because when It envisions the Queen of a colony, It see’s someone who leads, guides, and protects their people with tenderness, and more importantly, with love. That is how a Queen is supposed to be... yet This one can honestly say, it has never felt the slightest glimmer of love from you. You have failed your cygnets, Mother Swan, and This one will not follow a Queen that is willing to taint their sacrifices so readily,” he finished resolutely.

The Queen’s eyes narrowed. “Then as far as you’re concerned, you no longer have a Queen to follow,” she hissed.

Fletcher’s heart sank. He was expecting nothing less of course, but those words… he never imagined just how deeply they would cut his soul… all he ever wanted, was to be a good stallion and protect the hive he cared so much about… he… he did the right thing, didn’t he?

“Guards! Get this insubordinate scum out of my sight, and mark him for the traitor he is!” she ordered.

t-traitor?

Two of his once called brethren, came and took up Fletcher’s forelegs.

He didn’t resist. He was hurting too much.

The Guards were trying hard not to share any emotion with him, and give him the cold shaft they were obligated to, but Fletcher could still tell that they felt a touch of remorse. Or perhaps it was just shock, still struggling to believe he had really just betrayed them. They may not have agreed with the orders they were given either, but a betrayal to the Queen was a betrayal to the hive itself. He might as well have just made an attempt on the Queen’s life.

Mizer watched in stunned silence as they led Fletcher out of the throne room. The Queen brought forth a black and green box laced with gold, and levitated it over to him. Mizer froze. He knew exactly what the box contained, and the Queen was giving him the so called ‘honors’.

“High treason,” she said to him. “I want it on his eye!”

-------------------------------------------------

Fletcher stood with his hooves and horn shackled in a small room, held on either side by the two guards. Two more Elites stood guard outside the door, and Mizer quietly stared at the box he had placed on the side table. This was the discipline room. Any time the Queen demanded punishment, it was carried out here. And it fell to the Elite to carry out whatsoever discipline was required. The walls were enchanted, not just to block out sound, but also to prevent any emotions from reaching anyone in the hive, should the prisoner be a changeling and they attempt to rouse compassion in someone. The Elite were also trained to withhold any emotion from the prisoner... but they never thought they would have to discipline a fellow Elite, much less a former Alpha General. They were struggling a bit. Mizer most of all.

He sighed. “My Brothers... please leave us,” he muttered.

The two guards looked at eachother, then turned back to him. “We can’t just leave you--” one of them started, but Mizer interrupted him with a raised hoof.

“Yes you can,” he said quietly. “You know just as well as This one does, that he’s not going to do anything. He accepted the consequences before he made his decision. Even if he wanted to escape, there’s little he could do with the four of you standing outside the only exit.”

The guards looked at eachother again and finally nodded. As they walked out the door, one of them turned back and asked, “And what if he should use you as a hostage?”

Mizer looked him in the eye and replied, “Then This one gives you express permission to kill It if necessary.”

The guard’s eyes widened for a moment, then he gave a solemn nod and walked out the door.

Mizer stood in silence for a long time, until he finally looked back at Fletcher. One of his fondest Bo-nems, and here he was on the receiving end of the discipline room, just hanging his head in humble silence...and he was to be his punisher.

“Why, Fletcher?” Mizer whispered, taking slow, small steps towards him. “Why did you have to say no… when I couldn’t?”

Fletcher looked up. There were tears welling in Mizer’s eyes, threatening to run down his cheeks.

“Y-you… You wanted to refuse?” Fletcher asked incredulously.

Mizer gave a remorseful look. “I didn’t like the Queen’s idea any more than you did, but I lacked the courage to sever myself from the hive and do the right thing. I should be the one standing where you are... I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

Fletcher was silent for a moment, until he shook his head. “No, I would have made the same decision anyway. You just would have been first to voice it.”

“I’ll go with you,” Mizer said.

Fletcher moved to the end of the chain’s reach and rested his hoof on Mizer’s shoulder. “No. I need you to stay with them. I need to know that no matter what she makes them do, that you’re still here watching over them. Please... promise me you’ll take care of them,” he begged.

Mizer grit his teeth.

“No Queen… has had greater love for this hive family than you, Fletcher… and yet the entire hive is about to strip you of all their love, all because that hag thinks you’re the traitor...” he seethed.

Fletcher gave him a sad look. Only behind these walls could Mizer feel or say such things.

He reached up behind Mizer’s head and guided him to his own forehead. “It is not their fault. They only do what they must…”

He gestured toward the box on the table.

“... as must you,” he said.

Mizer was quivering now from gritting his teeth so hard. He brought the knife over in his aura and stared at it with hatred.

“With two simple strokes, she commands me to condemn my precious Bo-nem to death…” he whimpered.

Fletcher gave the most comforting smile and as much love, as he could. He was scared of what his future held, but he felt surprisingly calm as he forgot about himself to comfort Mizer.

“It’s ok. This was my choice. Follow your orders, then stay with them… and keep them safe for me,” he told him.

Fletcher let go as Mizer lifted his head to look at him. He finally let the streams fall down his cheeks in full force.

He sniffed. “Think well of me… my Bo-nem.”

Fletcher closed his eyes and held still, allowing his own tears to fall.

“Always Ba-tem… always,” Fletcher whispered.

“Lo Men Vai.”

Author's Notes:

Tissue? I'm sorry, I promise not all my chapters are going to end so sadly.

Hey Doc! Whatcha workin' on?

Hmm? Oh hey, Woolly. Just finish up chapter six.

Wait, you're just finishing that up now?! That one was ages ago.

Facepalms* I KNOW, I know, just... let it go.

Alright... So how'd I do?

You did great buddy.

Not as good as me, though.

What? Oh come on, Kid. Gimme a break, comparing anybody to your performance would be like comparing a sandwich to a five star dinner!

I didn't say it wasn't good. You did a very good job, it just wasn't as good as my death performance.

Whatever. Anyway, Doc, when do you want me to come in for my next scene--

SHH!! WOOLLY!

What?! What's the matter, what?

SPOILERS Dude! You're killing me, here.

What?

The audience is right there, Dude. They think you're dead!

Oh. Uh... Like, Comment, and Subcribe???

Facepalm* That's Youtube...

What he meant was, if you liked it, be sure to show it with a Like or a Fav, and let us know which parts you liked best in the comments. See you next time!

Um... do you need a hug, Doctor?

...

Yes.