https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qrRzNidzIc&list=PLetRG3a-UPgf2mkY5w0H3ymkhTcVm2XPI&index=37

"Reveal yourself!" Reddling cried, still grinning madly, fully soaking up the idiocy of his statements and loving every minute of the over saturated drama. "I am Reddling Rain of Silverfield, and I know what you've done! You set up everything, but I've seen through your ploy! It's over, Celestia!"

Celestia looked down at the dramatic scene before her for a few moments. Slowly, a smirk touched her lips, and she nodded slightly. "Guards! It is as I said, my sister seeks to overthrow the throne! Kill them!"

Reddling stumbled, closing his wings and landing next to his friends. Around them, half a dozen tired looking guard began to advance mindlessly.

"So Luna poisoned herself then! You're caught in your own lies Celestia! Argh!" Reddling looked at the tired looking guards, all of whom had blank, sleepy expressions on their faces. "You're being deceived!" The guards did not falter as they continued their advance. The closer they got, the more apparent the unhealthy and vacant look in their eyes and faces became. Glancing back up at Celestia, she smirked down at Reddling directly.

Reddling let out a bitter laugh, readying himself for the charge. "You don't know how many years I've been waiting to do this." The guards charged, weapons drawn. Reddling still had his eyes on Celestia, and it was lucky that he hadn't looked away yet. As the guards charged, Celestia's eyes flashed red before she lowered her horn.

"Move!" Reddling yelled, throwing himself away from his friends and rolling along the ground. Celestia's horn glowed, and a pressure fell over the room. The air itself seemed to push down on the eyes, shoving them into everypony's skull as a clawed hoof wrapped around the oxygen in the room, squeezing it away.

I've felt this before- but not power like this. A beam of raw energy rent the room in half, searing across the floor and burning the stone. The carpets simply ceased to exist as the air around them split with the violence of clapping thunder slamming into the castle. Reddling lifted himself off the floor and stared around the room. The sleepy guards seemed totally unphased by the blast and were beginning to walk through a line of smoke. Nightshade was still on her hooves, but both Tops and Shining Armor had been too slow to dodge the blast completely. Although Tops had been spared most of what might have been a bad blow due to his armor, Shining Armor had no such blessing. Shining's side was smouldering, and he was only barely managing to struggle onto his hooves.

Reddling hissed at Celestia as he threw his coat back, drawing a knife and throwing it over the heads of the guards. Everypony was too busy to see the knife, their attention more focused on Nightshade clashing with three of the guards. Behind the royal guard, Celestia jerked back on her throne, staring down at a clip on her chest. Reddling had not managed to embed the knife in her, but he had drawn a thick, sickly green blood from the wound. He was offered little time to smirk at the sight however, as at that moment he was forced back as three sleepy guards advanced towards him, swinging their blades with unnatural speed given their inebriated state.

"Uck!" Nightshade growled, kicking one of the guards in the face. Reddling looked over to see a bit of red ooze across Nightshade's shoulder. She had completely entangled herself with the dayponies, and was swinging both wings, hooves, and sword around with furious speed.

Reddling broke away from his attackers, tripping one up and leaving them to fall on the ground with a vacant and dazed expression. Celestia had done little more than hiss and glow her horn, changing the appearance of her blood from green to a somewhat normal dark red.

"Give up your true form, or I'll bleed it out of you, Celestia!" Reddling yelled, clashing with one of her guards. Both of them ran into each other at full force, making stars form around the room as they both stumbled away. The guard had completely lost his balance, dropping his blade an leaving Reddling standing shakily nearby. "Or maybe you prefer... Queen Mantidae?"

Celestia locked eyes with Reddling as he buried his sword into the guard on the floor, impaling him through the heart. A few moments passed as Tops and Shining regrouped with Reddling and Nightshade, both sides glaring at each other and waiting for the other to move next.

Finally, after tense moments that seemed to bleed by for an hour, Celestia spoke, "My treacherous sister has sent these assassins to kill me! Come, soldiers, let's kill this snake at it's head!" Celestia aimed her horn at one of the windows in the throne room. The window had not yet been fully repaired, and instead was simply covered with wooden boards. A sick arc of red magic burst from her horn, searing the wood away and leaving only a few cinders in their place.

Luna! They'll certainly kill her, I have to- I have to kill Mantidae because... because it's my destiny to kill Luna, not hers! Reddling glared around the room, trying to step forward but finding the way blocked by the sleepy eye'd soldiers.

"Keep them here!" Celestia snapped at the few of the guards. Before she had a chance to give any more orders, Reddling ripped another blade out and threw the knife at her. This time, the blade found it's mark in Celestia's side. Green blood welled up and spilled from her side for only a second before the color shifted to a dark red.

"Don't let her get away!" Shining commanded, lighting up his horn and nodding to the three bats. The Night Guard needed no further urging. All three of them spread their wings, leaping into the air and gliding towards the window. Nightshade gave a grunt as a soldier grabbed onto her hind hoof. A cry of anger echoed from the pony as Nightshade slammed her other hind hoof into his face, smashing his helmet into his snout.

"Good luck!" Shining cried, dashing at the enemy and lighting up his horn, very quickly enveloping the whole room in a quick flash.

Reddling turned after the flash faded, watching as shining cried out again, saying something along the lines of "Manto tate o miru- Purotesu!" before letting out another flash from his horn. Reddling tore his eyes away, flinging himself outside with his companions. All three of them were shimmering with some unnatural light that hung like loose clothing from their garments.

"Reddling, hurry!" Tops said over his shoulder, already pursuing the bleeding Celestia downwards. The fake princess was not making her way for Luna' quarters, but rather towards the barracks. Although the barracks was adjacent to the palace, it was still another building altogether.

"Hurry to where? Where's she going?" Reddling asked, flying to Top's side as the three of them tailed Celestia.

"Reddling, she's going to get the military! Fuck!" Tops said, a bit of panic rising in his voice as Celestia landed and disappeared into the barracks.

"I always wanted to kill some Equestrian military fucks." Reddling blinked, staring down at his prey. "We don't need to beat the military, just beat her! Hopefully the barracks is mostly empty, I called everypony to high alert before I came to get you guys! She might not find any help there!"

Top landed sharply on the ground, hopping a few paces before coming to a stop near the front doors for the barracks. Nightshade and Reddling touched down next to him, rushing over to a closed door. Tops stood up, ready to lead a charge, but Reddling quickly pushed him to the side, shaking his head.

"They might have crossbows aimed at the door. Don't stand in front of it when we open it." Reddling said. Tops nodded, and Reddling kicked open the door from the side. No sooner had the door flown open than a fiery beam of energy blew the doors off their hinges, sending the remaining charcoal a few yards away. Even though he was standing well enough away from the door, Reddling could see a few of the hairs on his mane singe from the energy being let off.

"Kill them!" Celestia stretched out the words, clearly enraged. Flipping out a knife, Reddling threw himself around the corner, pulling the blade back and aiming for Celestia's head.

"She's a changeling, kill her!" Reddling yelled, throwing the blade past two charging guardponies. The two guards gave a start at seeing that their enemy was a bat pony, backing away slightly in surprise. Unfortunately for them, Nightshade and Tops had no reservations about fighting their former comrades. Tops threw his claw into the chest of one of the guards, ripping open his unarmored torso before throwing the bloodied corpse against a wall. Nightshade had impaled the other guard on her longsword, sinking the blade deep into his chest and watching as blood bubbled outward.

The fall of the two guards had done nothing to dent Celestia's numbers. A dozen guards still stood around her in various states of readiness; some were unarmored, others were not. Celestia had opted to stand behind her force, very close to three lanky soldiers and a very familiar commander that Reddling could not recall having seen in a lifetime.

"Iron Hooves?" Reddling called out, letting his knife fly from his hoof towards Celestia. Iron Hooves did not respond, but instead stared blankly forward, a sleepy expression written across his face.

Celestia let out a scream as she narrowly dodged the knife, pointing a hoof at the bat ponies in the hall. "They've come to kill your Princess! Guards, hold them off! Luna will pay for her treachery!"

"Reddling, this is insane!" Nightshade said, pulling her blade free of the soldier before decapitating him. "Do we fight, or do we warn Luna? She can't fight and as far as I know she's defenseless!"

"Kill Mantidae!" Reddling said, rising his blade in his mouth an leading the charge. Three unarmored guards advanced, their weapons raised but confusion written on their faces. The moments passed very quickly as a shadow rose up from the ground, various shadowy shapes hurling themselves into the hallway and blotting out light for the dayponies. Reddling did not miss a step as he swung his sword into the lead guard, slicing off one of his forehooves and opening up his chest with a clean cut. An arc of lighting shot right behind Reddling's head, cutting down another guard who had been ready to swing. The third formerly advancing guard was now left swinging wildly into the darkness, his wide swings completely missing any possible targets.

Celestia took a step back, looking around for an escape route as Reddling, Tops, and Nighthade advanced, slowly cutting down guards as they went. A feral hiss rose from Celestia's blood-stained chest as she turned to the wall behind her.

"Stand back, commander." Celestia said calmly, lowering her horn. Reddling quickly drew a knife and threw it in Celestia's direction, but the blade hit the shield of an armored guard, who proceeded to advance on the bat ponies. Celestia's horn once more illuminated the world with a fiery red light before blasting the rear wall of the barracks apart. Reddling quickly looked over his shoulder, and then nodded to himself.

"Back outside! We'll warn Luna!" Reddling said. "We can't catch her in time!"

"We can beat her back to Luna, or chase!" Nightshade yelled, slashing open a guard's jugular and leaving him in a bloodied heap.

"We'll beat her back- I hope Luna's on her hooves, we may have to run if we can't beat Mantidae..." Reddling bit his lip, which rather hurt with all fangs considered.

Nightshade said nothing, but quickly wrapped a forehoof around Tops and Reddling, pulling them into a hug. her face contorted, and then Reddling felt himself falling forward into the shadows Nightshade had summoned. Everything in the world went dark for an instant, not so unlike falling asleep.

Reddling stumbled on his hooves as a terrified yell escaped his lips. Nightshade stepped soundly out of the shadows and onto the floor of Luna's chamber. Tops had been left to land on his face, a fluffy rug the only cushion for his fall. the room didn't look too different from when Reddling had left it, although it was certainly emptier. Web, Luna, and two bat ponies that he did not know were the only remaining occupants.

"Reddling!" Web sounded as though she was opening a moderately impressive birthday present, "What is going on!?"

Reddling sighed, pulling off his coat and tossing it into a corner where it would be out of the way. "Celestia is a changeling, she's using magic to cover up her green blood to trick the masses, the entire surrender was a facade, and currently Celestia and her drones are on her way here to execute Cadance, kill Luna, and then take Canterlot for themselves." Reddling coughed, brushing back his mane and blinking twice at Web. "Can we move Luna? We have to flee Canterlot."

Web was silent for a moment as she fiddled with the blanket on Princess Luna's bed. Her face was slowly contorting into something angry and ugly, any trace of feminine charm vanishing. Quite suddenly, she turned and swept her hooves across a workbench, spilling vials, powders, and other alchemy tools all across the floor.

"Get her out of here, NOW!" Web screamed at the two other bat ponies, a hoof pointed at the door. Reddlng looked stupidly over at the door as the two guards swept Luna up in her sheets and began to haul her out of the room, their wings laid over and around her to keep her covered.

"And where are you going to take her? They've been brainwashing the soldiers since before the wedding!" Reddling said, gesturing from Web to Luna.

Web gave a groan, calling after the bats, "Take her to her chariot. Get her to the keep in Everfree!" Web turned away from then, standing up and looking at Reddling. For a moment, the room was silent. Web's face was not angry anymore, but now had shifted to a disturbingly bemused expression.

Luna will be safe now... But why save her? They gave me a golden chance to make it look like they did my job for me.

The silence broke as Web let out a little giggle, grinning slightly.

What's so funny?

"Luna won't mind if I break the rules a little... if things are looking desperate. How was that bitch coming? Land, or air?" Web asked, her grin not fading in the slightest.

"Air, with troops by air and land." Reddling said, still studying Web. Web turned away with a flourish of her tail, glancing out of a window.

"Do you know what Red Agnosia does, Reddling?" Web asked quietly.

"No!" Nightshade said, taking a step forward. "Web, no!"

"I guess we're going to find out." Reddling said. Nightshade shot him a dirty look before taking a step towards Web.

Web glanced at Nightshade, her grin growing. "It gives you nightmares."

"Web!" Nightshade warned angrily, her voice cracking.

You crazy bat. This is going to be really scary and really awesome, isn't it? Reddling nodded slowly. "Right, how's that beat Mantidae?"

"...Reddling, I have this bad habit..." Web let out a mad giggle, drawing her knife. "of sleepwalking..."

Suddenly, the window in the room burst, glass shattering in all directions as the quiet darkness of Luna's quarters was molested by the sunlight outside. Guards jumped in, flanking Celestia as she stood tall, glaring at the four bats before her.

"Keep them away for a few seconds, would you?" Web asked, quickly slitting one of her forehooves open. Web wobbled for a moment, and then fell onto the ground, a smile plastering on her face as she began to twitch. Small flecks of foam began to gather at the sides of her mouth before Reddling turned away, nodding to "Celestia".

"Hello Princess. Did I ever tell you I came here to kill you?" Reddling said calmly, spreading his wings for balance as he clasped his sword in his mouth and raised up a throwing knife.

"I prefer Queen." Mantidae said with a hiss. "Guards! Kill them!"

Reddling threw his knife at Mantidae, catching her on the right side of her chest before a guard tackled him to the ground. Reddling rolled around with his attacker for a few moments before Nightshade cut the pony across the back. Reddling threw the pony off himself as he clambered to his hooves, backing up towards Web as more guards began to fill the room. Eight pegasi now stood around Mantidae, primed and ready to attack whenever they found a weakness.

Glancing quickly behind him, Reddling could see that Web's convulsions were getting worse, and she rolled over from her back to her stomach. Nightshade and Tops took defensive stances, neither side moving despite Mantidae's order.

"Get a Shroud up!" Reddling growled at Nightshade. Before she had a chance to complete the spell, Tops had summoned up a thick black shadow into the room, blocking the vision of the dayponies. Any minute now would be good, Web.

As soon as the thought had been finished, Web's eyes snapped open. Only, they were no longer Web's sweet amber eyes. Instead, they had been tinged with a red mist that made them glow hatefully in the darkness. The Shroud summoned by Tops became more dense as it leaked out the windows of the room, blocking out even the bravest rays of the sun. The entire tower had become night now, complete with a cool breeze that brought memories of better times.

A foolish guard stepped to close to Reddling, and he swung his sword at him. As the blade swung, a red mist wrapped itself around the blade. A surge of malice filled the air, driving the blade forward before it slammed into the guardpony, nearly ripping his body in half. The crumpled figure of the guard slammed into an opposite wall, leaving a trail of blood as he sunk to the floor.

"W-What!? I didn't swing that hard!" Reddling backed up, quickly looking behind him for some signal from Web.

Web no longer stood behind Reddling. Her coat had grown from it's solid grey to a darker, almost charcoal colour. Her wings had grown longer, the claws at the ends, sharper. As she twisted her head, Reddling saw that many fangs now extended from her mouth, each one jagged and pointed like a shaving razor. Each of the sharp tools carved a smile into her maw as she grinned gayly at the room around her. The sweet amber of her eyes was totally gone now, and had been replaced with a fiery red to match her predator's smile.

... Reddling felt his mind freeze up as he quickly looked over his shoulder at the formerly vacant guards. Whatever trance they had been it, Web's magic had apparently broken in. Terrified expressions corrupted the faces of everypony in the room. Web jumped gracefully over Reddling, plowing into a nearby pony and taking them completely by surprise. The pony had little time to do more than scream before Web had bitten down into his neck. Everyone took a step back as Web ripped up red tendrils of gore. One of her insane giggles left her mouth a she stared at the other ponies in the room, blood dripping from her maw. The victim's screams were now little more than a gurgle as web half watched him choke to death on his own flesh and blood.

"Run you idiots!" Reddling screamed at the lucid dayponies, he himself looking around for an exit.

"St͢ay. I̷'m st̵i͏l͢l͞ h҉un͝g͡r̵y." It was not Web's voice that spoke, but rather something from one of the many nightmares that had grown to plague Reddling since his transformation. Someponies let out shivers, and others just broke down in tears, sobbing in terror. Even Mantidae, by far the bravest of the group, lowered her horn, backing up and preparing to blast Web.

No, you can't hurt her! Reddling fumbled with a knife, barely throwing it from his hoof before losing his balance and stumbling backwards. The knife flew past Web and hit the wall next to Mantidae. Luckily, it had been enough to knock Mantidae's aim off course, and she did not manage to come close to hitting anything with her beam. The magic seemed to be less powerful than before, and even the brightness of the beam itself was superseded by the shadows in the room.

Web's speed had become what Reddling was sure was impossible. His eyes barely managed to track Web as she crashed into Mantidae. Web took a moment to savor her prize before plunging her teeth into the neck of Mantidae, a crunching sound mixing into the air as Web ripped her head away, spilling green blood all across the floor.

Three soldiers instantly jumped onto Web's back, biting and punching at any bit of her they could reach. While not enough to bring downthe monster before them, Web did stumble off of Mantidae. Mantidae rose with a labored hiss, lighting her horn and struggling for air as she fled the room, pushing now-lucid soldiers out of the way.

"Hey!" Reddling screamed after her, running after Mantidae as the queen threw herself from a window. "That's cheating! You're not supposed to run away!" Reddling leapt from the window, blinking harshly at the sunlight before following Mantidae. The queen had crashed through a still-broken window in the palace, leaving a few drops of green blood on the windowsill.

Reddling breathed deeply before thrusting himself into the room below. He instantly knew where he was- this was the wedding chamber where he had first encountered the Changeling armies. The room was almost exactly how he remembered it; everything was covered in goo, and the whole room seemed to have taken an oddly changeling-esque look to it.

Striding through some clear patches in the goo, Reddling stopped in the center of the room. Mantidae was standing in a clear area away from the goo and currently watching her wound. Although the wound seemed to grievous, some of the goo from the room had been packed into the hole to create a sort of bandage. Reddling waited for a few moments, allowing Mantidae to finish with her wound before she turned to him.

"Queen Chrysalis sends her regards." Reddling said with a smirk. There was a rush of heat as red fire burst around Celestia. Her form was gone in an instant, now replaced with the visage of a Changeling Queen. Although her neck was still in tatters and the wounds in her chest and side remained, there was no facade of a Princess anywhere on her. Mantidae was far taller and burlier than Chrysalis, Cadance, or Balefly had been. She had the look of a stronger, older, and more powerful queen. Each pupil burned not with a sickly green or an alluring blue, but instead a hateful red. Her mane was pale and transparent, like silk clothing that had seen better days. All of her features were rounded off with a carapace that was not black with some matching colour, but instead a dull red that was not so far from the colour of Reddling's own coat.

"She's sending more than that." Mantidae's voice buzzed with fury and malice. "I suppose we should thank you. We would never have been able to handle Celestia like we did if it weren't for that little poison you fed her. The only thing more pathetic than falling for a simple replacement was falling for it twice. Idiot ponies, all of you."

Reddling gulped hard, staring around the room quickly as his mind blanked for a couple seconds. Mantidae leaned forward, staring down at him. Her face had not lost its fury, but she now held a slight curiosity in her demeanor.

"You are the one who poisoned Celestia, aren't you? Yes, Chrysalis spoke of you. I know you, Reddling Rain." Mantidae's voice became only slightly gentler.

"Yes, that's correct." Reddling hissed. "I poisoned Celestia."

"You have no love of Equestria." Mantidae stated simply. "This is not your battle to fight. Leave, return to your homeland. The Changeling hives have no quarrel with you."

"...You're wrong." Reddling said quietly, staring back up at Mantidae's vicious face. "I live for one purpose, and that is the one that the church identified for me when I got my cutie mark. I'm destined to kill the Princesses of Equestria. Twice now you have gotten in the way of my job, and I'm cannot just trot away now."

"When we have finished, they shall be as good as dead. Better, they will be stripped of their throne, humiliated, and reduced to nothing but servants to our hives."

"You still threaten my friends." Reddling growled back, preparing his blade for a charge. "Tops, Midnight Tales, Bruiser, Nightshade, ...Web. No, I will not let you touch any of them. I'll never let you touch one of my friends again."

Mantidae scoffed at Reddling, smiling cruelly down at him. "And if they knew of your true motivation, they'd kill you themselves."

Reddling lowered his blade slightly, his heart falling into the stone below. In his heart, he knew it was true. One day, his friends would find out why he was really there. When they found out, would they stand by him? Do they need to know? I don't have to tell them. I've made half a dozen excuses to not accept this life, but I can't just trot away from it.

"Equestria has nothing for you." Mantidae cooed. "Your friends are only your friends because of your deception, your lies, and your false face. Leave Equestria to us, we have no desire to kill your friends..." Mantidae paused for a moment, then quickly added, "They're more useful alive."

Reddling felt a jolt go through him at the last sentence, and he raised his blade once more, pointing it at Mantidae.

Mantidae, I swear, if it's the last thing I do, I'll-

Reddling's thought was broken off as a Changeling crashed through a window closely followed by Tops. Only a second later, the doors to the wedding room were thrown open as two changeling drones scurried into the room, very narrowing dodging a fireball. Reddling and Mantidae shifted around the room, each one of them siding with their friends as Tops, Nightshade, and the three Changelings all flocked to stand together with their allies.

"Where's Celestia, Mantidae?" Reddling demanded, glancing slightly at his friends.

Mantidae's lips curled into a bigger smile. "Now you are concerned about her? How funny."

"Just tell me where she is!" Reddling hissed.

"Safe and sound with her new drones." Mantidae said happily. "And now you three are going to kill me, aren't you, my little ponies?"

"What good is there in killing you?" Reddling asked, looking down at the ground disappointingly. Even if Mantidae died, all of her drones would just join Celestia's hive. Canterlot would be no safer, but rather now under the command of a proven cold blooded tyrant.

"Of course we're killing her." Nightshade hissed, nudging Reddling in the side.

"Only if Cadance takes care of her drones..." Reddling whispered.

"Even if you do kill me, all we have to do is kill your Luna and there will be nopony left to take the throne- just Changelings." Mantidae said with her happiest grin yet. Reddling bit his lip, then brightened, a sudden idea occurring to him.

"The jokes on you, Mantidae!" Reddling cried, taking a step forward and keeping his weapon ready. "There's another pony that can take the throne. Silverfield has stewards, and so does Equestria. You've already set yourself up for checkmate!"

Mantidae hesitated for a moment, her smile vanishing instantly. "...Then Chrysalis will deal with them herself. Soldiers!" Reddling took a step back into line with his friends as the three drones snapped to attention.

"Take their shape, and kill their Princess!" Mantidae screamed, her grin returning in full force as the three changelings flashed, instantly taking on the appearance of the three bat ponies in front of them.

"Tops, Nightshade, kill them!" Reddling yelled, running forward at the Changelings and reaching behind himself as he flapped his wings. All four of the Changelings moved to strafe away from the attack, focused on dodging the sword. Reddling had a different plan. As soon as he was close enough to strike, he threw himself against the floor, pulling out the crossbow he had so carefully saved. Reddling quickly aimed for Mantidae and released the bolt.

The bolt flew true, striking Mantidae in the top of her head. Reddling smiled as he saw a spurt of blood cover the floor and Mantidae stumbled. The three Changelings had already thrown themselves out of a window, headed for wherever they thought Luna might be. Nightshade had paused at the window, looking back at Reddling for a moment.

"Don't get yourself killed!" Nightshade ordered before throwing herself out the window.

There's always a chance of death. Reddling nodded to himself, standing up and raising his blade. Mantidae held the same immunity to head trauma that Balefly had displayed. Reddling was unsure if Changeling's brains were actually located in the head, or if they were located elsewhere in a more secure part of the body.

Mantidae was putting on a brave face as she prepared to fire another of her beams. Reddling could tell that her wounds were taking taking their toll, despite the courage of the Queen. She was wobbly on her hooves at best, and she had lost a great deal of blood.

Reddling jumped up from the ground, running and sliding on the goo to avoid the blast. Unfortunately, his own lack of sleep and fatigue were finally catching up as well, and he wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. The beam managed to rend a good portion of his armor, leaving a burn mark on his leg. Whatever good his armor might have done was totally out of the question now- there was no chance of salvaging a majority of it.

Raising his sword, Reddling ran at Mantidae, swinging his blade in deadly arcs towards her. Mantidae barely managed to dodge the blows, several of them cutting into her armor or wounding her legs. before Reddling could get in a significant blow however, Mantidae spread her wings wide and darted over to take cover behind a pedestal where only a couple of weeks ago Shining Armor had nearly taken his vows with Chrysalis. Mantidae's horn was glowing with magic again, but this time she pointed her horn up at the ceiling, and not at Reddling.

"No!" Reddling yelled, drawing out one of his few remaining throwing knives. Chucking the blade forward, the knife embedded itself right into a fleshy part of her carapace where the wing protruded. Blood seeped out from the wound, mixing with the goo and carpet under Mnatidae as she fell dramatically, slamming hard into the ground.

Reddling crawled forward slowly, barely staying on his hooves as he kept his sword raised. It was impossible to tell if Mantidae would die from her wounds or not, but Reddling was willing to take the chance she could survive. Chrysalis had two knives stuck through her chest and still come out on top in the long haul.

"Call them off." Reddling hissed at Mantidae, putting the tip of his blade to her throat and holding it with both hooves. "Call them off, and I'll protect you- otherwise, Queen Mantidae is going to die."

Reddling stood over Mantidae as flaming tiles crumbled around them from the burned hole in the ceiling. Several tiles were dripping with fresher goo, which was an unpleasant pressure on Reddling's mind as he saw a Changeling head dip down to check out the room below.

"We... will be the only ones left to rule." Mantidae coughed. 'Whether I live or die."

"Goodbye, Mantidae." Reddling whispered, shoving his blade into her throat. A deep gurgle rose from the Queen's throat before her wings and hooves gave out. Mantidae's crumpled body lay in a pool of her own blood. There was something tragic about it, really. Such life could have done so much, and yet Mantidae had decided to waste it all and end her life like this.

Reddling's hair stood up as he heard the sounds of several Changeling drones hissing. Leaping off of Mantidae, Reddling glanced at the drones as he ran for the exit. He had no time to do more than take stock of their eyes and realize that Mantidae had told the truth.

Their eyes are white.