As the group left the familiar keep and surrounding hamlet, Max wasn't certain what to think. On the one, well, hoof, it would be a new experience. Even after only an hour he'd seen a butterfly species he didn't recognize and several trees that while familiar, had too many differences from their earth relatives. He was no naturalist, but being able to identify trees on nature hikes had always been a family game. His mom usually won those...

'Bet she'd love to see these things.'

Trees that looked like oaks, but the bark was wrong, maples that had purple flowers. One even reminded him of a paw paw with the huge leaves. The only difference was the leaves looked like a video game sword he'd seen long ago, the leaves widening into points at the end with a curve at the top.

Some of these trees, he swore they were alive not just in the normal sense either. He began imagining what the trees would feel like if they were alive like the Ents or tree spirits from fairy tales.

'That one would be content, that one would be irritated that some of its sun was being cut off by some clouds, that one-

The changeling jerked, choking a little as the imagined emotion registered.

"Are you alright," a voice from his side asked.

He turned and looked at Pike, his body shaking off the imagined taste of the last tree.

"Sorry, I was imagining how the trees would feel if they were alive. With so many creatures of fairy tale wandering this world, Ents and tree spirits would be a possibility. It was going well till I looked at that one," He explained, gesturing to the last tree he'd looked to.

It was a dead or dying tree, split by lightning and appearing to have several concentrations of either rot or insect nests scattered over its form.

The mare cocked her head in confusion before spotting the mangled tree.

"Oh, yea I guess that wouldn't be too nice. I'm not certain I'd want to know how that tree would feel either."

Max nodded, that was a kind of agony better left unexplored. Unfortunately with the group pursuing bandits and his empathic senses there was a good chance he'd experience the real thing. His stomach churned at the though.

Pike bumped his shoulder.

"Hey, it's not like you're going after them. You're worried about the fighting right? We have another job. Worry about that and leave the fighting to them."

"It's not that simple," he argued. "Bandits, they always relied on ambushes in the stories I've read. They won't take soldiers on in a straight up fight, not normally at least. They're doing this to either make a living or to live better than they were. Death is counterproductive to that and most are going to be fighting for themselves."

"In this case I feel...I feel like I should be going with you guys. I'm a living radar, I can point out an ambush faster than anyone because they'll likely be feeling hostile or angry when they see us. I'll pick up on that and the ambush will fall apart. They'll have to attack early and the surprise will be gone. In fact it may put them at such a disadvantage that the ambush is technically reversed. I don't want to feel like I'm hiding when I could be making sure everyone makes it home."

There was some chattering around them at his statement, some of the knights discussing the possibility of such a thing. Many sounded excited at the prospect of having an ambush detector, a fact that just made Max more nervous. He'd never even gotten into a playground fight, let alone an actual battle. Linked with his new ability to sense the states of those around him, this could go horribly wrong for him. That didn't mean he didn't want to help. Maybe...maybe he could stay near the back?

'No, the back is where people target to try to break a force with a surprise attack. The center is where you push to fracture a force, making it harder for them to recover and rally. Add to this that I'm one of the taller ones out here I'll probably get shot at as much as Celestia.'

Looking over to the unarmored alicorn, he winced. At least he had the chitin. He wasn't sure what it would do against arrows, but it had to be better than what Celestia was working with. That and spells wouldn't do much to him. So that left him just the tiny little problem of having no idea what to do in an actual battle.

The group made a quick stop for a meal after a few hours of marching before continuing on their way. By the time they were arriving in the village, Max was certain his hooves were about to peel off. He couldn't remember ever having walked so much before. Still, village was something to behold. It was quaint, something he'd expected to see in a storybook. There was even a small market where ponies traded knick knacks and food amongst themselves. No true stalls were set up, though. It was more of a flea market or bazaar.

The groups entry into the town immediately caught the attention of the villagers. Some watched from a distance, nervously moving about to keep from straying too close to the strangers. Others actually darted into nearby homes. One even fainted on the spot, being dragged away by an irritated neighbor.

"Peace, ponies of this fair village. We have come after hearing word of banditry plaguing your fair village," Celestia said, stepping before the group.

"There aren't no bandits. Go home, tall pony."

"Nopony needs ya here, take yer suits with ya."

Celestia's eyes widened at the reception. She opened her mouth to say something, but Max cut her off with a tap to her left foreleg.

"I need to speak with you, come on," he whispered.

The group pulled back from the city and made camp a short distance away; just enough to be out of sight. Celestia was livid, likely because after taking the time to travel to the town her efforts at kindness were rebuffed.

"Settle down, Princess. It's not you and it's not them. Those ponies are scared," Max told her, putting a halt to her fury.

"Of what?" Celestia asked incredulously. "We came here to aid them. What could they possibly have to fear?"

"Scouts? It's possible the bandits have people watching the town. Maybe some of them are even from here. Maybe the bandits are threatening the town? With us just waltzing in like that, it's very likely they know we're here."

"Agreed," Lance said, stepping into the conversation. "They will likely attempt to ambush our forces en route to their hideout. The issue then, is that we must find it."

"Water would be a requirement, perhaps a river?" Pike added, drawing a nod from Max and Lance.

"We have a few pegasus with us. I shall dispatch them immediately," Lance said, moving to leave.

Max shook his head.

"Is there any way to keep the pegasus in groups? I'd ask at least two, that way if they're ambushed one could escape. Single person scouting is dangerous, especially when you're in the open sky."

"I will attempt to do so. There is a lot of ground to cover and only so many pegasi. If we are to complete our objective quickly, we must find this base with all haste," Lance said.

The unicorn was just beginning to leave when an earth pony approached the group.

"I can tell you where they are."

Max blinked, the stallion having snuck up on him. Focusing on the pony, he realized the issue. There was no emotion. The pony was a void. Before anyone else reacted, Max reached into his bags and withdrew a jar of honey with his mouth. Walking over to the pony, he set it down and sat down.

"I'd love the help. We won't expect the information for free, though. Would this work as payment?"

He felt the ponies around them spike with confusion then realization as all eyes landed on the, now that he thought about it, entirely too nondescript pony. The pony looked about with a bit of fear at the increase in attention and once again Max didn't sense anything from it. The pony being a changeling was the only solution he could think of.

"None will attack you. If you can help us, we'll help you," Max said, pushing the jar forward a bit more. "After that you may leave if you wish. You have my word that no one will stop you."

In a flash of green fire, the pony transformed. Or to be precise, the changeling dropped its disguise. It looked similar to him, albeit a bit smaller. It also had a few holes in its legs, something that Max didn't like the look of.

'They do have holes. The question would then be 'why don't I?'

A few of the knights jumped at the sudden transformation but otherwise none reacted too badly. Celestia trotted up beside Max and spoke to the shape shifter.

"We seek the bandits in this region. If you supply us with the information, we will give you the honey."

The changeling, seemingly gaining confidence at its continued existence after dropping its disguise, shook its head.

"I smell more. Two."

Max fought back a grin. He was standing in front of a military force and making demands. If nothing else the changeling had balls.

Walking up to it, he stared it down.

"You get the jars at the completion of our mission. It wouldn't do for you to wander off after sending us in the wrong direction."

"What, so you can leave without paying me?" it retorted. "Two jars and I give you the information."

"One now and one once we confirm the bandits are there," Celestia said, walking up beside Max.

The smaller changeling chewed its lip before nodding.

"Nopony follows me into town."

"Agreed. You may maintain your anonymity amongst the townsponies. We will not betray one who aids us in our mission," Celestia conceded. The shape shifters had not been shown to cause any damage due to their feeding so far, so she was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

The changeling approached Max and took the jar, quickly popping the cap and taking a sip. It smacked its lips thoughtfully before nodding and securing the cap once more.

Then it swallowed the jar.

Max bit back a gag, tasting the shock and confusion of the ponies around him as well. It made sense in a way. The changeling didn't have any bags to carry things and a changeling's throat and stomach seemed to work differently. It began buzzing its wings and motioned for someone to follow.

"This way, I'll point it out from the sky. The center of the camp is visible from a distance."

A few pegasi took off after the changeling and the rest of the knights walked off to prepare for the assault, leaving Max and Celestia alone again.

"How did you know it was a changeling?" she asked him.

"It was more of a feeling. Most of you, I feel some sort of emotion from ponies regardless of whether or not they direct it at me. Curiosity is pretty nice, if you're curious. A bit like buttered carrots. Gratitude would be like mashed potatoes. Kind of plain, but warm and filling."

"And love?"

Max found himself wearing a dopey grin.

"Love is a steak dinner with all the fixings, a glass of my favorite soda, and some steak sauce on the side."

The alicorn turned a bit green at the idea and he chuckled at her nausea.

"It's not a direct translation, it's just the best I can do. For a species that was omnivorous and living where I was, that's like height of good eating. A good steak that's properly prepared and garnished is tough to beat. Anyway when I saw him, it was like a spot where emotions just didn't exist. It may be because changelings eat emotions and don't radiate them. That...that would actually mean there was a changeling just outside the keep. I remember feeling a void like that before."

He felt her panic begin to rise and he put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Don't freak out on me just yet, princess. They're not harming anyone as far as we know. We'll find the changeling and speak with it if this is bothering you, but don't treat them differently just because they're hiding in your towns."

"Simple for you to say," the alicorn grumbled. "When the changeling approached we did not see any difference from a normal pony."

Max chuckled.

"Really? Because he looked a little too plain to me."

At the mare's inquisitive look, he gestured to the knights.

"The ponies I usually see are all different colors with marks that are often fairly specific. The changeling's disguise was a brown stallion with a black mane. I think his mark was a triangle or something like that, either way it was a disguise. Something he didn't put a lot of effort into and could throw away when he was done with it. Most people back home call that being suspiciously inconspicuous, someone who looks like they're trying too hard to be calm and casual. He may have another one he uses from day to day, but I don't know. I'm certainly not going to approach him in public in either case. "

Celestia nodded, running over the memory in her mind. Strange that she'd never thought of that.

They were joined moments later by a trio of pegasi flying down to them

"We have the location your highness. The changeling said he'd meet us here in several hours to collect the rest of its payment.

"Excellent. Will you be returning to the town for your information, Max?" the alicorn asked.

"Actually that depends on you. I...I don't have any combat experience or anything like that but I could help you guys. The forge is a secondary goal. Your safety is more important. I can detect ponies from a distance, Celestia. Those bandits? If they're not rushing to pack their stuff right now its because they have and ambush or trap set up somewhere. We planned this thing to be a day and it's...what time is it?"

"It's about an hour before evening meal," one of the scouts answered.

"I suggest eating a bit before we leave so we are ready for the battle," Lance said as he approached the group. "The changeling saved us a lot of time scouting, and the reports gave the makeup of the bandits as consisting mainly of pegasi. It's possible there are unicorns, but it would be my guess that the majority of them are flyers."

"That will make getting them all very difficult. If the battle turns against them, as it likely will, they will flee. If Maximus is correct in that they were terrorizing the townsponies, too many escaping will lead to the bandits returning here to seek revenge," Pike said, looking to the princess.

"Then we will not miss any. We will be moving out in half an hour. Place the ward over the supplies we leave and be prepared to move out. We will return here to repay the changeling for its information, Maximus will gather his information in the morning and we shall be on our way before lunch tomorrow," Celestia said, opening one of her packs and withdrawing a bag of various nuts and dried fruits.

The knights saluted, placing their hooves across their chests before dispersing. Max thought about leaving some of his gear as well, but decided to only leave a single jar of the honey instead. That would leave him with two between himself and any injured unicorns slash alicorns that needed a magic boost after the fight. He popped the cork off of one of the jars and took a few swallows, shuddering a bit as the energy-rich gel entered his system. Even in so far away from her, he found his thoughts turning to Luna. Not in a chaste way either.

"Dammit, must be a bit more lust in this stuff than I thought," he muttered.

He caught a spike of irritation and disgust from Celestia before she moved away, carrying her food with her. Wondering what had upset her, he moved to ask her when he realized the issue. His eyes widened as the movement made the issue clear. His genital plates were shifting.

"Definitely too much lust."

Celestia was still radiating a bit of irritation as they walked through the forest. A bowing apology had helped a little, but she still spiked with negative emotions when she spotted him. The group had otherwise gone quiet, a tension that was settling in as the knights prepared for combat. The bandit encampment was only a short distance away.

Max was looking all about, trying to remember any and all types of traps that would be possible at the current level of technology the pegasi had. From deadfalls to spike canopies to tripwire arrows, he was watching for them all. He was also looking for any flashes of emotion outside the group, hoping to spot any scouts and ambushes before they landed. Surprisingly, besides a few tripline and sound traps there wasn't much there.

Tasting a flurry of emotions and movement at the very edge of his senses he stopped and perked up.

"Do you sense something?" Celestia asked quietly, looking about and giving off a bit of fear and excitement. It was the general sense the group was giving off at the moment, making it easy to identify them.

"A lot of somethings," he answered in a whisper. A few knights began to loosen their weapon straps at that. "How close are we to the camp?"

A single pegasus shot over to a tree and quickly ascended, using the leaves as cover. A moment later he returned using the same route, barely making a sound.

"It's a little outside of charge distance, though I'd cut the charge distance by half considering the trees and that not everypony here is a pegasus."

Celestia nodded before addressing the knights.

"Once we call for the charge, destroy the bandits. We will not entreat with ponies who despoil the land and steal from their neighbors. Let none escape, lest they begin anew elsewhere."

The knights continued on, the energy in the air building to a crescendo that left the stallion feeling like lightning was about to strike.

After another two minutes of tiptoeing through the forest, Celestia shouted and raised her blade.

In an instant all thirty knights did likewise, pegasi rushing forward while unicorns charged in with blades in their magic. Earth ponies bulldozed through the makeshift barricades of the camp and attacked any bandit they came across. Max stayed well outside the brawl, the myriad of emotions that were blazing making him physically ill. Agony, someone likely was dying. Fear, hate, anger, excitement in battle. The emotions were blazing from the camp, leaving a sickly warmth in his belly when he focused on them.

To one spot in the battle though he felt fear and hope.

'Prisoners?'

Slinking around the brush surrounding the camp and avoiding the strongest sources of the negative emotions he came across three small cages. Two held ponies that were radiating fear at the proximity of the battle but hope that they would soon be free. The third cage held...an emotional void.

'That little bastard set us up with the location to free a friend.'

Seeing a few pegasi moving towards the cages, Max lunged out between the bandits and the captives. He hissed, baring his fangs and covering his eyes with the his secondary lids while prowling towards the pegasi.

The bandits squawked in fear, turning to flee from the monster that had invaded their camp. Turning his attention back to the cages, Max looked over the cages and spoke reassuringly.

"You'll be free in a moment. Just stick with me and you'll be safe."

Even as he fiddled with the first cage, opting to eventually grab the door and pull it off with his muzzle while bracing a hoof against the cage, the ponies were radiating increasing amounts of fear. The changeling though was right at the door to its cage, its eyes bright and trusting of his words. He ripped the second door off and moved to the changelings cage, sensing the ponies not leaving the cages. Likely for the best considering the fighting that was still occurring.

As the last cage door came free, a shout of alarm drew his attention. He looked back to see a several bandits aiming their bows right at him. One bandit was struck with an arrow even as it fired its own weapon, causing the pegasus' shot to go wild. Max winced, backing away as the bolt flew just shy of his face. A second arrow skipped off of his shoulder, and a third buried itself in the ground at his hooves. A fourth bit into the chitin of his chest, not causing him any pain. Moments later the bandits were dead or fleeing, the knights finally breaking through to the deepest reaches of the camp.

Max stared at the dying pegasi in confusion. Something felt off. He looked over his shell, noting the furrow where the arrow had skipped as well as the arrow stuck in the chitin of his chest but those weren't causing him any pain. Blinking, he stopped cold. One side of his vision wasn't blue.

The arrow had cut the membrane over his eye.

Folding both membranes back, he shuddered. Not even a month in this new form and he'd almost lost an eye. Maybe worse depending on the direction of the impact. He turned around and looked over the captives, noting the changeling was currently pressing against his rear leg for safety while the ponies were keeping their distance. Still, they were now keeping him between them and the fighting.

"Couldn't help yourself, could ya?" a voice panted out.

"Pike, any injuries?" he asked, trying to distract himself.

"Not on me," the unicorn answered, looking over the ponies behind him. "Princess took a few arrows though. To be expected in a battle like this. I don't think she's realized it yet, but we may need your help with her once things settle."

"I see. I'll be t-there soon," he said, rising on shaky legs. He walked through the battlefield to where he heard the alicorn shouting orders, mostly to burn this or that. As he came closer he could see the unicorn wasn't exaggerating. Celestia had at least eight arrows stuck in various parts of her body, most with small trickles of blood dripping down from the shafts. There were also several cuts over her form, ranging from nicks to full gashes that leaked, staining her coat red in even more locations.

The mare turned to face him as he approached, her eyes lighting at the sight of the ponies following behind him.

"They held captives? Excellent job finding them, Maximus," the white alicorn said with a tired smile. "They were preparing to leave, but with the aid of the changeling we were able to strike much faster than they anticipated. Many were still running about camp and those that tried to flee either left without supplies or were brought down by the pegasus knights. I believe their numbers were only in the area of twenty seven or so, though there is always the possibility of them having a patrol or raid in the field. We shall be destroying this camp, so that they have no camp to return to."

"Better than we'd hoped, worse than we'd like," he said, shifting uncomfortably. "If you're done with the battle I think you should see to your injuries."

"What injuries do you speak o-" she started, her eyes widening as she lifted a blood-stained foreleg into her vision. Her eyes began to track over her form and her panick rose with every new injury spotted. Her wings flared and she whinnied in panic, lighting her horn as she readied to remove the arrows.

"Stop! You'll hurt yourself more!" Max told her, moving forward and grabbing her muzzle in his hooves. "You need to be careful with those. We'll get a knight to help get them out but for now leave them. Just don't jostle them too much. Moving causes them to do more damage. If you yank them out their going to rip your skin up three times as worse."

"But, but they're inside. They're in me and it hurts and-" she babbled, eyes starting to tear up and panic as the adrenaline wore off.

"I can make it not hurt, remember? Lay down," he instructed, bracing her while directing the alicorn to lie down. She nodded, lowering herself to the ground while wincing at every movement. He exposed her neck and bit her, giving the mare the full dose of venom before carefully extracting his fangs. Eventually her whimpering tapered off as the numbing effect took hold of her, leaving her dazed instead of in pain. A few knights were gathering the injured to the center of the bandits one-time camp and were doing what they could to tend to the injured.

"How did we do, Lance?" Max called to the unicorn, petting Celestia's mane even as a unicorn set to work securing the arrows for removal at a later time and applying bandages.

"The bandits are gone and we only lost two ponies so far. Most of the injuries seem manageable for now. Ace may argue that point though," the unicorn said, gesturing to a pegasus that was being carried along by another knight. The stallion in question was missing a wing, the stub tied off with a tourniquet but still showing a lot of red in his black fur.

"The deaths were a pegasus that took a bad fall after her wing was injured and an earth pony who was separated from the group. He ended up getting struck by several bandits from all sides. We're grabbing a wagon to use to bring them back. A second wagon will be used for the injured, though her highness wont fit in them."

"On the other side we eliminated about fifteen bandits and the rest scattered. I think we saw about four leave that we couldn't stop."

"I'll carry her. Just make sure she's secured to my back. If you can manage it grab any decent weapons. I know looting isn't honorable, but we're short on supplies. We could always use spare swords or in this case the metal. Check for valuables and usable armor and weapons then burn everything else."

"'Bout what I'd suggest," Lance said. "Bind the wounded till we get to camp! Turn this place upside down then burn everything else. Don't give the scum a camp to come back to!"

Max watched with increasing disinterest as the camp was torn apart around him. He jerked as a Pegasus tapped his side to alert him to the fact that the princess was secure. Oddly enough she showed no sign of fighting the venom off so quickly this time. Perhaps a sign of exhaustion?

He stood up slowly, being cautious not to jostle her too much before making his way to the carts. One of his jars had been passed around amongst the injured, the high induced by the honey preferable to the pain the injured Knights were suffering. It left him with a single jar, but many of the ponies had begun to warm to his presence. No doubt he'd be a bit hungry, but the friendship of the Knights would help take the bite off of the worst of his hunger.

The group arrived at the camp soon enough, setting about caring for the injured to the best of their ability. Celestia was removed from his back and placed on a blanket as were most of the injured ponies. The injuries ranged from the loss of a wing and the several cuts and arrows Celestia had suffered to a simple nick on a foreleg. The clean bandages were being passed out and the medical tools were being reused more often than was sanitary but the group only had one set, the other being left at the keep. They were about to send a pegasus to the town to see if there was a healer nearby when one of the freed captives came forward.

"It was the townsponies who gave us to the bandits."

"Excuse me?" Pike asked, earning a yelp from the pony she'd been bandaging when she became distracted.

"The townsponies, they had some agreement with the bandits. They supply them with some food and don't sell them out and the bandits leave the townsponies alone. In some cases the bandits even drove off wild creatures that were harassing the townsponies," the pegasus mare said, draping a wing over the younger earth pony stallion at her side.

"We saw some ponies from town in the camp. In fact it was the town's carpenter that built the cages," the stallion added almost too quietly to hear.

Max chewed the information over. He was strangely inclined to say how he didn't care but instead he gave a sickly belch. All eyes turned to him as he stumbled over to the edge of the camp and began hacking and coughing, eventually spewing out a large blob of dark colored gel. He coughed, spitting and gagging before choking out more of the negative emotions, the sensation being much closer to vomiting than anything he'd felt in this form yet.

After struggling to remove the mess from his system for longer than he'd ever like to remember, he found himself being moved away from the thick mess that was scattered over the ground by warm feeling blobs. They were still reeling from the battle, but the emotions that were being directed to him were mostly positive. The worry and concern didn't taste good, but it was certainly better than what he'd been tasting earlier.

"Open up," a voice ordered. He obeyed, earning himself a sip of his honey in return. He gagged a bit and choked out more of the negative emotions, but this time it wasn't so dark.

"One more time."

Again he sipped at the jar. While he gagged again, nothing came up this time. The world was also finally agreeing with his brain which way was up and coming back into focus, allowing him to see the ponies that were helping him. To his surprise, Pike and Lance weren't among them. Instead the changeling from the cage was before him, looking to the gel on the ground in a mixture of horror and disgust.

"You really need to learn to shield yourself."

"Says the, idiot who gets himself captured. Your friend sent us," Max muttered, not finding the strength to raise his head. "Cheeky little fuck has some balls, sending us after the bandits. He made the request for aid as well, didn't he?"

"Sounds like him," the smaller changeling answered, the byplay drawing confusion from the ponies around them.

"They won't hurt you, you know," Max encouraged.

The changeling looked about nervously before dropping its disguise. There were a few shouts of surprise and a few ponies spiked with panic, but otherwise they soon settled.

"That's how you knew what was wrong with him," one knight accused with mirth. "You've probably experienced it."

"Emotion poisoning isn't something I've experienced, no," the changeling said. Looking over the jar, he looked to the larger stallion questioningly.

"Go for it," Max nodded. "Just don't eat too much. It's pretty potent."

With a happy chirr, the freed changeling drank a few sips and shuddered in delight.

"Too long since ate such pure positive emotion. Tastes good. Ooh, feel tingly, too," it buzzed happily

"Another changeling?" Pike asked as she walked up to the group.

"Helped us take care of the big one," a knight answered, gesturing to the mess across the way and the smaller mess near Maximus. "Something about emotion poisoning."

"Ah," Pike acknowledged. "Well thanks for taking care of him. We don't have any experience with changelings."

"Most don't, though that's something changelings do on purpose," the smaller changeling answered. "Thank you for helping us. I'm sorry for the trouble."

"No, this would have come to light sooner or later. As it stands we may need to do something about this town later. I'd rather learn about this problem now then after they took some of our farmers," Pike said, shaking her head. "It's a strange issue. I'm getting everypony prepared to start moving back to the castle. I want us a good distance from that town before night falls. That town was big enough to cause us problems and two of our biggest sources of intimidation are currently injured."

"Good idea," Max mumbled. "Know the time one must, when to get the fuck out of Dodge it is."

Struggling to his hooves, Max grabbed the jar from the changeling and downed a good portion the remaining gel before hoofing it back to the smaller shape shifter. The energy would help fight off his fatigue for now.

"Where's the princess? Her ride's here."

It took a bit of careful maneuvering with the many bandages currently scattered over the alicorns body but they soon had her secured to his back once more. The ponies began marching off once more and while many were curious, none dared to ask Maximus why he'd sprung a boner while carrying the injured alicorn.

Author's Notes:

Awkward boners are the worst. Sometimes it's best to pretend they're not there.