The Days of the Eclipse

Chapter Seven : To Understand

By Star Origin

It was hard to take in. The simple fact that Chrysalis had acted out of love and devotion to help her hive. Of course, if Raine had been in her place, she would have done something other than invading Las Pegasus. The queen’s pleas were also very surprising because Chrysalis looked like a prideful leader and even she said that her pride would take a hard blow.

Then came Origin’s story. Both his explanation of his life and Chrysalis’ attempts at saving her hive were very hard to believe but at the same time, both were touching stories. Raine was still faced with a difficult situation. The one pony she had ever trusted apart from Tender Heart was her enemy in reality.

“This hardly seems believable!” the blue Pegasus let out, standing firm on her legs once more, an act she had previously been unable to do.

“What is hardly believable, pony?” Chrysalis asked her.

“Everything! From your reasons to invade Las Pegasus to you pleading us for help. I don’t know what to believe. Origin was one of the only ponies I was able to trust and it turns out he was just there to complete a certain objective before he would turn traitor. And you! You make yourself look like a tyrant at first and now you’re doing the emotional act!

“But even with all of that, although I don’t trust you because of what you told us earlier, I’m still willing to help you and your hive,” Raine answered, a broad smile on her face while giving the Queen of the changelings a compassionate gaze.

“What?!” Chrysalis exclaimed, surprise being the only thing her expression showed. “After all you’ve been through, after all I’ve put you through, how can you say that?”

“You’re not the only one that led a difficult life. Keeping your children alive was surely a hard task but don’t dismiss those around you because you’re telling yourself they can’t understand because they haven’t lived through that.” Raine’s voice had started to crack a bit and even a few tears had already started to roll on her cheeks.

“Raine!” Blitz shouted. “Are you going to turn traitor on us as well? Make your choice now because Dusk and I are out of here!”

“Blitz… Don’t be like th—” Raine found herself interrupted when Blitz flew right in front of her and deployed his wings in a threatening display.

“Don’t you even dare finish that line! We trusted you, Raine! And now you’re telling me that you’d rather stay with your coltfriend than with the two ponies that you were sent with on a quest to save Equestria from certain doom?!”

Raine would have continued to argue but something grabbed her and set her aside. She soon realized it was Origin that had moved her with the help of his magic. She glanced at him and was surprised by his size. He almost seemed… taller. His glare was cold and deadly and Blitz just stood there, unmoving. The white Pegasus didn’t even blink!

“You are going to listen to me very carefully, Blitz!” the changeling hissed, his words venomous. “If you even dare to say that Raine has an inch of mischief in her body again, I will—”

“You will what?! Last time I saw you, you were crying your eyes out because of a fake broken leg!” Blitz was quick to interrupt the changeling and he even dared to mock him.

“You say a single bad thing about Raine again, and I’ll make you suffer in ways that you can’t even comprehend!” Origin snapped, his voice booming and intimidating. Even Dusk had flinched.

“And what are you going to do? Transform into me until you bore yourself to death?”

The audacity the Pegasus had was beyond Raine. She did not know if he was just crazy or if he was just so frustrated that he talked without thinking about it. Either way, with the attitude Origin had, even Dusk felt like arguing wasn’t a good idea. His size was also another factor. On top of being large, he was slightly smaller than Chrysalis.

“You will regret saying those words, Rainbow Blitz!”

The atmosphere suddenly changed. The air was heavier. The group began to have trouble breathing and to top it all, everything went black in the room. Red lights began to illuminate the room and it flashed repeatedly. Most of the time, Dusk saw only glimpses of Origin’s face but when he had a clear view, he saw him harboring a dreadful grin. He was enjoying whatever was happening.

The unicorn snapped out of his trance when he saw Blitz twitching uncontrollably. He didn’t know what was happening and in complete honesty, he wasn’t even able to understand what was going on anymore. The only conclusion he had been able to come to was that Origin had simply lost it and his anger had taken him over.

The situation wasn’t exactly the same for Blitz. He was still staring into Origin’s eyes as if he was being hypnotized and he didn’t move at all. Or rather, he was unable to move. His brain couldn’t process what was happening and it felt like he would fall asleep.

Them his vision returned and he felt something… wrong within his body. He didn’t know what it was until he felt like his insides were on fire. Pain assaulted him suddenly and he cringed, catching sight of his fore legs: they were decaying. The flesh was coming off and blood soon followed. He wanted to scream but his lips were sewn shut.

The Pegasus’ irises constricted and from Origin’s position, it looked like his eyes had shrunk to the size of small orbs. He didn’t know what was happening and on top of that, everything around him was blood red. He looked up and saw Origin’s maniacal grin and he even laughed.

“157, stop this at once!” Chrysalis yelled, her voice powerful enough to make the foundation of the room tremble.

Then, everything around the group became normal again. The walls were no longer blood red. The atmosphere was normal again. They no longer felt crushed by whatever it was that crushed them. Well, mostly everything was back to normal. They had heard Blitz scream like a filly for a good five minutes for no apparent reasons and he just thrashed around but he remained in place.

He fell on his back, his body limp when whatever magic Origin had used on him was broken. He curled up in a fetal position a few seconds later and kept on muttering incomprehensible things. He was sweating from everywhere. He eyes were wide open and he was even trembling. Dusk told Raine to take care of the Pegasus while he confronted the changeling that had apparently traumatized him.

“What did you do to him, Origin?!” Dusk queried the changeling. The tone the unicorn used was accusing and harsh; he wanted to get Origin’s attention at all costs.

“I did nothing!” Origin replied. “He brought it upon himself. I gave him warnings and he disregarded them. I simply used some—” He was suddenly cut short when Chrysalis used her magic to hold his mouth shut.

“You cannot simply use that type of magic, 157! I’m not even sure this type of magic would be tolerated within pony society!” Chrysalis intervened, her eyes narrowed into slits, her glare aiming at Origin.

“I recognized the signs of what happened to Blitz. I read it in Magic of the Olden Times. You used torture magic, didn’t you?”

“Not just torture magic I’m afraid,” Chrysalis informed Dusk. “He mixed it with our signature magic. He used torture magic with illusions.”

“B-but… torture magic was banned from use three hundred years ago. You would need the book I mentioned to even know about it and how to use it and unfortunately, that book disappea—you stole it, didn’t you?” Dusk asked Origin, some pieces of the puzzle coming clear into his mind.

“‘Stealing’ as you describe it would require the pony to have no intentions of returning the item. I borrowed it for an extended period of time to prepare myself in case something would ever come to us,” explained Origin while he shrugged.

“That still doesn’t excuse the fact that you stole a book that explained war magic and various other forms of magic used in wars. Even worse, you learned some of that magic; magic that was otherwise banned from use in Equestria hundreds of years ago. You’re lucky you’re not in Canterlot right now or you’d have been tried for use of forbidden magic. And let me tell you that the council takes pleasure in executing those few ponies,” Dusk told Origin.

“And…? Do we look like we’re in Canterlot? Chances are that the council will never be able to find me… not that they were able to before.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“I mean that even when I was still named Star Blaze, a unicorn from Manehattan, I was one of Celestia’s court wizards. Granted, I was on the lowest rank out of the ten court wizards but I was still a court wizard. We had many privileges and one of them was the access to the Arconon Wing, also known as the Forbidden Wing.

“Humor me, unicorn. What do you know about the Arconon Wing?” Origin asked the aquamarine unicorn.

“W-well… I don’t really know that much about that section of the royal library. All I really know is that the access to the Forbidden Wing is not allowed,” answered Dusk.

“And what do you know about the pony the section was named after? What do you know about Arconon?”

“I… uh… w-well. I’ve never read anything about him, or her. Even that book, Magic of Olden Times, had no author specified on it. There was only the title. What did that pony do for a living?”

“My Queen, do you mind if I explain this part? I know you’ve never been fond of Arconon so…” Origin said, glancing at Chrysalis.

“Yes, you can discuss about Arconon,” she told him, “but if you praise him, I may or may not interrupt you abruptly!”

“You have my word, Queen Chrysalis.” He bowed at the queen and then turned back to face Dusk.

The aquamarine unicorn had no idea of what was going and yet Raine had told him that he used to be one of Princess Celestia’s private students.

“Do you mind explaining what is going on around here? Who is that Arcanon figure you talk of? What did that pony do to earn a wing of the library to be named after him?” Dusk asked frantically. He would not be appeased until his questions would be answered.

“Arcanon was a very powerful unicorn that lived during the era of the Great War of Magicka. One could say he was more powerful than the alicorns during that time while others claimed his power was fake. Nothing is very clear about that unicorn. The only things he left to the world as legacy were his books; books that described war magic!”

“So, you’re telling me he was just a pony that lived to wage war?” Dusk queried.

“Absolutely not! That pony created entire collections of spells meant to harm ponies and he didn’t write one of them. He wrote hundreds of them. He was known for his implication in the Great War of Magicka. He was neutral in that conflict but even historians lost count of how many horrors he committed during that war. And as a matter of fact, it’s better if it stays that way. The knowledge of those atrocities would probably leave them brain dead,” Origin explained.

“You mean to tell me… that Magic of Olden Times wasn’t the only thing he wrote?” Dusk slowly asked, hesitant to know what the answer would be.

“That big old book?” Origin asked, chuckling at the question the unicorn had asked him. “That book was only a recollection of about twenty of his other books archived by other ponies. It’s not even a tenth of everything he’s written.”

Dusk’s eyes went wide upon hearing that. Only a tenth of what he wrote? Okay, that Arconon just went from creepy to totally insane! Dusk thought, his mind racing. The book had detailed descriptions of war magic and even had detailed effects of each spell listed in that book. Some of them were gruesome. I’m already regretting reading that book.

“How do you know about all that, Origin? The Great War of Magicka happened a while ago, didn’t it?” Raine asked him from afar.

“That war occurred three thousand years ago, to be precise. The world was lucky the war started and ended inside Aneighra’s borders because it was devastating. There is nothing left of that kingdom now. It’s been razed to the ground.”

“What happened to it?” Dusk was quick to ask, as per usual.

“War happened… and Arcanon as well, I guess. Even with the alicorns gone, those ponies, the Alliance, decided to break their alliance and wage war against each other. And that was when Arconon showed his real colours. Thanks to Star Shower’s barrier around the kingdom, none of those warmongering ponies were able to get out.

“Of course, Arconon decided that he had enough of the war and decided to take the matter into his own hooves. The results: he hunted down and killed every single one of those ponies, each with a different method. He archived each one of his spells in his numerous books. He had also written a book about the basics of war magic before those. He explained how to summon magical weapons at will. They weren’t permanent nor were they unbreakable but at the very least, they were useful. And then, there was the multi-casting. If there was one pony that excelled at that technique, it was Arconon,” Origin explained, his voice as emotionless as before.

“What did that involve? I know I can cast several spells all at the same time but is that considered multi-casting?”

“Oh no, of course not. While your type of magic is a derivative from Arconon’s, it is not near his level. When I say multi-casting, I mean being able to cast the exact same spell over and over again. Have you ever seen somepony get surrounded by forty magic weapons? Let me tell you, that’s not something you’d like to see.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt this lovely discussion but what does this have to do with the situation? How is that related to this whole problem?” Raine asked, annoyed and bored of hearing the two talk endlessly about a subject she didn’t find interesting.

“Ah yes. Thank you Raine for reminding me of what I wanted to say earlier before we started discussing about Arconon and everything around him. So here I come: how much do you know about your princesses?” Origin asked Dusk and Raine.

“Is that a serious question? They’re basically gods here! But… what does that have to do with Arconon and everything else?” Dusk answered, his expression serious once more.

“It has everything to do with Arconon because Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were—” Origin was cut short by tremors that shook the entire foundation of the tower.

Everything began to shake and for a single moment, everypony thought that they were going to die in there. They were lucky enough the first time but they knew there were worse scenarios than that one. The tremors had also made Blitz snap out of his trance-like state and started to look around but he never looked at Origin in the eyes. Something told him engaging the changeling in combat wasn’t a very good idea.

Chrysalis glared at Dusk and the rest of the group and accused them that they somehow contacted the Equestrian Army to reclaim Las Pegasus. Dusk denied her accusations and told her that Celestia and Luna couldn’t afford to send any spare soldiers with the threat Nightmare Moon was posing on all of Equestria. If anything, the chances of that tremor to be of pony origin were very slim… unless Celestia had lied to them but what would she gain from doing that?

Chrysalis was about to throw in another argument but just as she opened her mouth, one of the windows of the room was broken by what seemed to be a griffon. Dusk, Blitz, Raine and Origin all jumped to their hooves while Chrysalis remained in the exact same position, unfazed by the griffon’s entrance. She didn’t even bother looking at it.

“Queen Chrysalis! We have the city under siege and if you surrender now, we can avoid bloodshed. If you resist, we will eliminate you and your hive accordingly. You have an ho—” The griffon didn’t have the time to finish. Without even looking at the griffon, she snapped her neck and threw the body out of the throne room.

“157, I hereby name you General of the Army for this battle and this battle only. I need a calm commander if we want to throw those griffons out!”

“I am honored, my Queen,” Origin replied as he bowed to his queen. “And rest assured that I will do my absolute best.”

“Good, now spread out! I already informed a strike force that they would accompany you to know their numbers!”

Origin nodded and stormed out of the throne room. The three other ponies quickly followed him and they quickly made their way to the first floor where a group of fifteen changelings was positioned. When they saw Raine’s group, they hissed and most of them took their fighting stances but Origin used the same kind of hissing they used and they all seemed to calm down. Although some of them still glared daggers at the group of ponies.

Origin apologized to the ponies before he said something in that weird language he had used a few moments. The changelings nodded and headed on ahead, leaving Origin alone with the four companions. He had returned to his original size and he looked at them with a somehow condescending grin.

“Come. If we want to get you out of here before this escalates into a large conflict, we should do it now.”

“And how do we know… that you’re not guiding us… into another trap?” Blitz queried, still panting from his previous endeavour.

“And what would I gain in that? You four clearly have no place in this conflict and then there’s the fact that if you ever got killed, we could get a little visit from the princesses and let’s just say I’d try to avoid that,” Origin replied nonchalantly.

“I don’t trust you one bit, Origin, and I want you to get that thro—” The unicorn was shoved aside by Raine, who looked at him with an accusing glare.

“What he wanted to say was that he still needs a little bit of time to understand what is going on at the moment,” Raine told him, nervously giggling at the same time.

“No I didn’t!” Dusk objected, rather annoyed too. “I just wanted to say that I—”

“Shush you!” Raine replied, glaring daggers at Dusk. “Please, lead the way.”

Dusk got back up on his hooves and looked at Raine with an annoyed expression. They both knew exactly what it meant but Raine seemed to ignore it. They all followed Origin as he led the group through a safe way out of the city. The changeling did warn them that it would take some time and when asked how long that would be, he answered by saying that it would be around thirty minutes at best.

Now, even though Raine didn’t share the same hatred Dusk and Blitz seemed to have towards Origin, she kept her distance. His last performance of power had left the group with a bad impression. They began to think that there was a whole lot more behind him. Granted he had been an enigma to begin with.

“What was that for?!” Dusk whispered to Raine, his voice raspy and slightly aggressive.

“And let you shatter the best chance we have at getting away without being involved in all of this? There’s no way I’m letting you do that, Dusk!” Raine whispered back, her voice as aggressive as his was.

“I wasn’t going to do that! I was just trying to tell him that—” Dusk was once again interrupted but he didn’t protest that time.

“I know what you meant to tell Origin. However, I wasn’t going to let you risk our chances of getting away from here without getting involved in a conflict that isn’t ours to begin with,” Raine told him, still whispering.

“You know… If you have things you want to tell me, you should say them to my—” Origin would have otherwise continued if he hadn’t stopped himself. He even stopped moving and told the others to do the same.

“What’s wrong, Origin?” Spike asked him, worried about the reasons the changeling had for stopping so abruptly.

“Don’t you hear it?”

“Hear what?” asked Dusk, actually confused as to what the changeling was talking about.

“The disturbances in the wind, the beating of wings close by… a murderous intent... Quick! Hide!” shouted the changeling.

It was already too late. A griffon appeared in their sights. While remaining unnoticed at first, they were eventually found when Spike started to hyperventilate. The griffon took noticed and quickly puffed his chest. “We’ve found more this way!”

In a matter of seconds, a dozen of griffons joined the first one and they all looked at the group. Taken by surprise, Dusk tried to escape but when his path was stopped by a spear impaling the ground right in front of him, he completely stopped moving, along with the rest of the group.

“Darn it! What do we do now?” Blitz asked his unicorn friend.

“We have no other choices! We must fight our way out!” Dusk replied in a hasty yet powerful voice. “And I’m warning you, Origin. If I see a changeling out there while I’m fighting the griffons, I’ll consider it to be an enemy as well. In other words. Send any of your soldiers my way and I will kill them.”

Origin nodded and took his usual stance. He was stopped by Dusk and when he looked at the unicorn to ask what his reasons for stopping him were, he saw that the unicorn was charging his horn with magic. Confused, and worried because of the threat that was growing around them, he waited for Dusk to finish and in the blink of an eye, he was back in the tower’s throne room with Queen Chrysalis staring at him interrogatively.

Their attention was soon turned to a griffon that entered the throne room through the broken window. He had a grin on his face and he was looking at Chrysalis as if nothing had happened. “Ah, we finally meet, Queen Chrysalis.”

“And you are? I have the habit of forgetting unimportant details,” she replied, her mouth pursed in a self-satisfied smirk.

“Do you know why I am here with my battalion today?” asked the griffon. His expression had changed into a grim one.

“Like I said, I tend to forget about tiny, unimportant details. Please do enlighten me, griffon,” said the changeling queen nonchalantly.

“We are here because our nation will not tolerate your acts of terrorism anymore! On top of seizing a part of Gryffonia, you murdered many of our scouts and messengers. Our king has finally allowed us to deal with you and your changelings accordingly.”

“Oh? Do you really believe that we seized that part by force?” Chrysalis asked the griffon.

“Why, of course I do! It was territory that belonged to Gryffonia to begin with. You being there meant that you invaded it and took that area for your own intentions!” replied the griffon.

“How foolish! You really believe yourself… and you managed to convince you king too! That’s actually kind of sad. That territory had been given to us by an ancient king of Gryffonia. If anything, we had every right to be there!” Chrysalis spat out, her expression fierce.

The griffon looked like it had been hit across the face. His eyes had widened when he realized that his entire plan had fallen apart. Nevertheless, he regained his stature and faced Chrysalis once more, this time he looked like he meant serious business.

“Fine then! You leave me no choice! We will raze this city and cleanse you of this world once and for all. You monsters won’t leave this place alive!” the griffon shouted at Chrysalis. “Your time is counted!”

“If it’s a war you want, it’s a war you’ll get!” Chrysalis replied, unleashing a wave of magic that pushed back the leader of the battalion. “157, get to your newly assigned position and kill them all.”

Dusk then noticed that Chrysalis’ horn was still glowing with a dark green aura and he also remarked that she also seemed calm. “She’s going to contact the entire hive mind. It’s an all-out war now. Anytime now, an order for a full retaliation will be issued!”

“Heed my call, my children! I have a task for you and that is to get rid of those invaders who just threatened us! We will fight and we will prevail! Now go, make your queen proud!”

————

Origin was at the head of a large force of changelings. In fact, that was the entire hive that went to battle against the griffons. Speaking in the language of the changelings, he seemed to give out orders to three different task forces. He ordered a group to go engage the enemies in the air while another would engage those on the ground. Finally, he told the third group that they would ambush those who would try to escape.

“Have I made myself clear?” Origin asked the changelings.

They all nodded and dispatched quite quickly. About three hundred changelings took flight and engaged the griffons. They took the opposing force by surprise, bringing down a few of them. They, however, quickly lost their element of surprise when more griffons were signaled. That and the fact that the griffons had weapons to help them.

On the ground, Origin watched as his fellow changelings were assaulted by the invading forces. He dodged a spear thrown at him a few seconds later and then saw a changeling drop next to him. The changeling in question had her entire underbelly open and some of her organs were sticking out of her guts.

That changeling wasn’t the only one that he saw. There were countless others that had already been killed. One had been decapitated while another had her spine sticking out of her back in a gruesome display that nearly made Origin sick.

That’s when it struck him: this was exactly what the griffons wanted. They were luring out the changelings so they could massacre them. It wasn’t a battle they were going to win. Not with their current forces. At that rate, every single changeling that was part of Chrysalis’ hive would die like all the others, himself included.

This isn’t a battle you’re going to win alone, Ori, said a voice in Origin’s mind. It was a hollow voice that mocked the changeling.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion, Star. And I don’t need your help either,” Origin replied harshly, talking to somepony that didn’t seem to exist.

Are you sure? At this rate, you are going to die and if you die, I die as well. Well, I shouldn’t really consider us as two separate beings but you’re the one that just split your mind in two so obviously you needed my help.

“Fine! I’m scared of dying!” the changeling spat out. “I already did once and I made her miserable! I don’t want to make the same mistakes as before!”

That much was obvious, Ori. I’m you and you’re me. We’re both one and the same now. We just happen to have two minds for the price of one body. Exciting, isn’t it?! The voice was being overly dramatic and sarcastic with a hint of venom in its tone.

“You’re not helping right now. I’m stuck here fighting a horde of griffons bent on killing me and the rest of my hive and this already proved to be a losing battle,” Origin said, his tone containing an equal amount of venom.

And you split your mind in two for what reasons exactly? Last time that happened was around eighteen years ago when you were still inexperienced. What is it that you want me to do?

“It’s simple, really. All I need you to do is have my back if I screw up royally,” Origin nonchalantly answered.

I swear sometimes we’re just that stupid and emotional. We really need to straighten that issue once our mind is whole again. The voice almost sounded annoyed.

“Oh, shut it! You should be happy I even let you out. This is the first time in years you’ve had a part of my mind all for yourself. Then again, it’s not like you could have gone anywhere else,” Origin remarked, chuckling a little.

Fine… I’ll help you out. Oh and one other thing Ori, began the voice in Origin’s head.

“What is it this time?” the changeling queried, this time annoyed a little bit.

That Raine lady you’ve been trying to court lately… Stay away from her. She’s a pony that brings misfortune to those around her. That pony’s luck is as large as a pea’s diameter, warned the voice. It was serious now.

“And what would you know about it? You never courted a mare before. I think the last time you did, it was for practice’s sake with your sister before we became like… this.”

Silence… Origin laughed silently as he let out a small “touché” as he pursed his mouth in an amused smirk.

Fine, you win… Let’s just get this over with!

“Alright, then… let’s do this!” Origin exclaimed at the same time the voice in his mind did.

The changeling looked the same as before but there was a different aura around him. His presence was stronger. The atmosphere around him was heavier and above all else, one of his eyes was green while the other was blue. Charging his horn with energy, he quickly discharged the energy and teleported to a rooftop at the border of Las Pegasus.

“Hmm… Well, at the very least, it will be an interesting battle. And… thanks for the energy, Raine. It’s going to be really helpful this time,” Origin said to himself as he looked over to the horizon before he teleported again.

————

“I said no!” Dusk yelled at Raine. “I’m not going to help them!”

“Please!” Raine pleaded. “Won’t you at least consider it?”

“Consider what? That we’re helping creatures that just indirectly declared war on Equestria on top of placing a member of the—” Blitz began only to be interrupted by Dusk, who used a spell to keep the Pegasus’ mouth shut.

“A member of what exactly?” Raine asked the two, squinting her eyes as if she suspected them of something.

“A… member of our group…? Yes! They’ve also placed a member of the group in immediate danger, not to mention we’re all in that matter together at this point,” Dusk answered, a few sweat drops rolling down his coat.

“Mhmm… Okay…” Raine replied, nodding her head repeatedly. “But I’m having this weird feeling that you two are hiding something from me…”

For the past thirty minutes, Raine had been trying to convince Dusk and Blitz to help the changelings defend their hive from the griffons but both ponies were extremely reluctant about that idea. Blitz was mostly against it because it went against his values and also because he didn’t really like Raine. He didn’t trust her.

She tried countless methods but none of them had worked so far and she had been on the edge of giving up until a certain thought crossed her mind, a thought that would force the two ponies to help the changelings. She pursed her mouth in a mischievous smirk as she began to think how she would proceed.

“Oh, by the way… I think we owe a debt of gratitude to Origin,” Raine began, looking at Dusk and Blitz with the same mischievous grin. “You know, he kind of save our lives…”

“And… where are you heading with that?” Blitz queried the blue Pegasus.

“Well, I think the best thing to do is to pay that debt in full. In this case, it would mean helping Origin save his hive.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Raine. We don’t know what the changelings will do after it’s over. For all we know, they could stab us in the back when all of this is over,” Dusk told Raine, his expression emotionless.

“No, they won’t! Origin wouldn’t allow for that to happen! I’m ready to put my faith in him!” she firmly exclaimed.

“Come now, do you really believe that Origin is the hive’s highest authority after Chrysalis?” Blitz asked Raine.

“Actually,” Chrysalis interjected, “he is. For all I know, he has enough power to overthrow me. Fortunately, his reserves, as he is only in the shape of a changeling scout, are heavily restrained so him actually overthrowing me is really improbable.”

“That still doesn’t put him as high authority. He may have the magical capacity but as you said, he’s just a scout,” Blitz replied.

“And that’s where you are wrong, pony. I consider 157 as my most trusted asset. He’s good, he can sneak in easily because of his special predicament as seen with his recent infiltration of Canterlot and if he ever gets captured, they can’t track the hive through the hive mind as he does not possess a link to the hive mind anymore,” Chrysalis explained to Blitz, refuting his previous intervention.

“But… but…”

“Admit it, Blitz. You’ve lost your ground,” Raine told him, rubbing salt on the wound even more. It felt like she was completely disregarding the Pegasus’ pride.

“Fine… I guess we could try to help him but I’m not risking my life for this. If I see that this is a losing battle, I’m gonna leave the battlefield and find a safe haven and I expect you to do the same, Blitz. Now’s not the time to get yourself killed.” Dusk already seemed more receptive but his voice was harsh and firm.

“Alright, I will relay that you are to remain unharmed and that you will be essential assets to win this battle. You can consider yourselves to be below 157, or Origin as yo—”

Chrysalis never had the time to finish her sentence. Dusk had already vanished through the use of a teleportation spell. Left with that discovery, her gaze fell upon Blitz and Raine and they both knew what was coming for them.

“Raine, you stay here. You can’t fight and therefore it would be foolish to let you get involved in a conflict where you are utterly useless,” Blitz told her before he spread his wings.

Soon after that, he took off and remained in the sky for as long as he could be seen. Raine figured he could be fighting his own battles in the sky where he was in his element. She then turned her head and her gaze met Chrysalis’. Their eyes stayed locked like that for a few minutes before Raine looked away.

“Tell me, little pony,” Chrysalis began, her voice seemed more compassionate than authoritarian, “how can you stay so hopeful when everything around you has betrayed you?”

“What are you talking about? Blitz and Dusk haven’t betrayed me yet and neither has Origin,” Raine replied, confused as to what the changeling was trying to imply.

“Trust me, they are wary of you. They don’t trust you completely. As far as I’m concerned, they wouldn’t have any problems in leaving you behind. And as for 157, or Origin as you like to call him, what’s to say he’s not waiting for the right moment to dispose of you and make you his main source of food?” Chrysalis inquired.

“I don’t trust those two very well, to be honest, but they were assigned as my guardians and I’m pretty sure the princesses would be mad if anything happened to me at all. As for Origin… it’s because I trust him. He saved me on one too many occasions where he could have easily abandoned me and my guardians. I also trust him because….” Raine choked on her words a bit, an obvious blush covering her face.

“Because you love him, right?”

“Wait! How did you kn—Oh, right. Changeling. Well, yes. I do love him to a certain extent. I mean, he’s always been there for me and he loves me too… Are changelings capable of genuine emotions, Queen Chrysalis?” Raine asked the changeling queen.

“They are capable of processing emotions but while they remain under the hive mind, their emotions slowly start to disappear. Well, they don’t exactly disappear as I take them to distribute to the whole hive. 157 is no longer part of the hive mind so he is closer to his emotions than he had ever been before,” revealed Chrysalis.

“I see…” Raine said silently, staring at the horizon.

Queen Chrysalis joined her a few seconds later. Both were praying for something. Raine was praying for the safety of her companions while Chrysalis prayed for the wellbeing of her children. Suddenly, both of them heard a deafening sound coming from the city and a blinding light following soon after. It’s begun! Raine thought as those flashes of light became more and more frequent.

————

After teleporting from the tower, Dusk landed safely in a small alley in the city. Thanking his luck, he began to recharge his magic reserves. Well, he stored the excess in small spheres that orbited around him.

His magic reserves full again, Dusk left the alley and headed for a large avenue. His didn’t have a lot of obstacles in his path so he made his way quite easily. He arrived on the avenue to find a large group of changelings fighting against a smaller group of griffons and the changelings seemed to be losing.

Without thinking that much, Dusk sent one of the spheres that held his magic reserves in the middle of the group of griffons and without much delay, he made it explode. Explosion is a bit far-fetched but he did make it explode into a flash a light, blinding the griffons at the same time.

He took the time to place himself between the changelings and the griffons and while the winged beasts were recovering, the unicorn made a board of chess appear out of nowhere with the pieces on it. Picking up one of the white pawns, he made his first move and was now awaiting the griffons to make theirs.

“Hear ye, hear ye! You are being fooled by a single unicorn,” Dusk told the griffons. “This was a warning but if you push me too much, I might not be as forgiving. Surrender and leave now or I will be forced to put you down!”

The griffons scowled at him and three of them attacked him the moment their sight had recovered. Spears and sword brandished in customs intended to kill the unicorn, they were stopped by Dusk’s barrier. The weapons broke on contact and the three griffons’ eyes went wide as they felt Dusk’s magic wrap around them.

Fearing for their lives, they had already come in term that they were going to die but instead, they were thrown against some walls where other changelings took care of immobilizing them completely. The other griffons took several steps back as they saw Dusk coming their way at a slow pace. He had a mischievous grin on his face and he looked at the griffons with a fierce look.

He wanted to make himself intimidating!

————

Blitz was scouting through the skies with expertise. Having been in the royal guards, he knew the usual drill. But this time it was a bit different. Mainly because griffons were swarming everywhere. He was attacked by some but his smaller size made it possible to evade the winged beasts with more ease.

Eventually, some got too close and they forced Blitz into a dive, intending to make him crash and be rid of him but the white Pegasus had other plans. He began to turn on himself while he kept his wings wide open. A dangerous maneuver it was. The Pegasus wasn’t exactly afraid of it. It was a basic maneuver they taught him when he was still in the royal guards.

He continued to dive while turning on himself and got as close as possible as he could from the ground until he felt a thermal updraft. Turning on himself for the last time, Blitz escaped the two griffons and watched them crash on the ground. They hadn’t expected Blitz to pull out a trick like that and before they had realized what was going on, it was already too late to stop.

Blitz landed next to the two griffons to see what had happened to them and quickly realized that their necks had snapped completely. Both griffons were lifeless. Not dwelling on that fact, something he shouldn’t do until the battle was over, Blitz quickly took off again but he was surprised when he saw about a dozen griffons in front of him. They were all armed with spears and they all seemed to want a piece of the Pegasus.

The griffons didn’t waste any time at all. They attacked Blitz as soon as they saw him take altitude. Spears aimed at the white Pegasus, half of the griffons threw them at him with the intent of bringing him down. Blitz managed to evade most of them except for one. One of the spears pierced through his left wing and left him stuck on the wall of a large building.

The white Pegasus screamed in pain as the spear ate away at his flesh, preventing him from moving too much. The other griffons were all headed towards him, their spears all aimed at Blitz. His breathing became faster, he began to sweat abundantly and his eyes went wide. For the first time in many years, Blitz was afraid.

He was scared to die…

————

Dusk heard a familiar scream in the distance and his ears immediately perked up. He could recognize that scream anywhere. Still busy with the remaining griffons that he had first encountered, the aquamarine unicorn poured the last of his magical energy into his horn and without delay, he cast barriers around the four griffons that remained, trapping them inside extremely resistant barriers.

Dusk didn’t waste any time and soon begin to head in the direction he had heard Blitz’s scream. While he was running towards Blitz’s direction, Dusk replenished his magic supply and like before, he stored the excess into small orbs orbiting around him.

On his way, he was met with a large number of griffons, all armed with sharp weapons but the sight of those didn’t scare Dusk. He just charged his horn with a spell and blasted the few griffons that dared to stay in his path. The scent of burning flesh filled the air as a few feathers soaked with blood fell back on the ground, unnoticed by most.

Discharging an entire orb, Dusk levelled the ground and made it so a good number of the griffons would be caught in his trap before he crushed them between two sections of the ground he levelled. The other griffons looked at him in fear and the unicorn even heard some griffons call him a freak before they fled the scene.

Dusk resumed his run towards the area where he had heard Blitz and for the rest of the way, he was undisturbed but that all changed when he arrived at the place Blitz was wounded and trapped. He advanced carelessly and activated a force field made from runes inscribed on the floor as well as charms placed all around the barrier

The aquamarine unicorn quickly realized the griffons had carefully set up a plan to trap the two ponies so they wouldn’t bother them any longer and it became evident to Dusk that they were probably going to get killed afterwards. He tried to break the barrier but then he realized that the force field’s charms had special inscriptions on them that made it so his magic would be nullified. To think they even have they own sort of magic and tactics to efficiently remove the threats of unicorns on the battlefield… Dusk thought. Are they that eager to go to war against us or are they that desperate to get rid of Chrysalis and her hive?

That question hung in his head for a while before he began to hear the screams of panic coming from the griffons. Curious as to what was causing that uproar, he tried to see what it was but with no avail. All he could hear were the screams of terror coming from the winged beasts. He yelped in surprise when he saw the head of a griffon hit the wall of his prison. Blood splashed all around the wall and even though he had seen his fair share of blood, Dusk thought he would get sick from that view.

“Are you guys even trying?! I’m having the time of my life here!” That voice was all too familiar to Dusk’s ears…

————

Origin was storming through waves of griffons after the other. His magic wasn’t all that different from before be he did use it in a different way. For instance, he used real fire magic instead of using his illusions and around him spiralled small blades that he often threw at the griffons that got too close to him. He was an absolute terror on the battlefield.

He had also heard Blitz’s scream from where he was so he hurried to the location he had heard it from while killing any who tried to get in his way. Killing was a little bit far but he was at war and there was no room for mercy. There were the changelings and the griffons. Anything not changeling was an enemy and could be slain to push back the invasion and Origin was taking that pretty seriously.

There’s one at 4 o’clock, Ori!

Conveying more energy into his horn, Origin summoned a bigger and sharper blade. He turned around and right in front of him was a large griffon, larger than some of the others, wielding a sword. Without hesitating, Origin threw some of the small blades that orbited around him in the griffon’s foreleg, striking a nerve at the same time.

The griffon instantly dropped his sword as his foreleg went limp. Before he had time to register what had happened, his head was already rolling on the ground. The blade disappeared shortly after and Origin resumed his run towards the clock tower.

That wasn’t exactly good for your diet, you know…

“Shut up, Star. We’re at war and I have to do the necessary to survive and make sure the hive survives. Besides, I only consumed a small amount of his hatred while I took in most of his confidence and pride. Those things taste delicious!” Origin replied, letting a small laugh at the end.

And you’re sure that the little bit of hatred you consumed won’t affect you in any way?

“I’m definitely sure it won’t. Not with all of the other positive emotions I consumed. If I had consumed a large amount of his hatred, it could have turned out differently but that’s not the case. You can think of negative emotions as glycogen while positive emotions can be seen as fat. One of them gives a short energy boost while the other allows for a longer energy boost. Well, you should already know that, you’ve lived in this body for the last twenty years,” Origin snickered.

Haha, very funny… There’s one at 7 o’clock by the way.

Turning around, Origin realized he wouldn’t have the time to use his blades in time so he closed his eyes and concentrated with a single spell. Not long after, the griffon swung his sword at Origin.

His eyes went wide quickly enough.

Origin had used a spell to reinforce the sturdiness of his chitin shell and when the griffon’s sword had hit his shell, it simply broke in half. The griffon stumbled a bit and began taking several steps back but he eventually was grabbed by the changeling’s magic. Closing his left eye, he stared into the griffon’s right eye and both began to glow green.

“Fear me, griffon. Fear me and the rest of the hive! Fear the changelings! Tell your friends that they don’t mess with the changelings without any consequences. Tell them I’m coming for them. Tell them of how terrifying I am!” Origin shouted before releasing his spell.

That was a little bit cruel, even by my standards, Ori.

The griffon blinked twice and when his eyes fell on Origin again, he screamed like a little filly and flew away. The griffon flew away as fast as he could and it was only when he was out of sight that Origin headed for the clock tower again.

“It wasn’t all that bad. Besides, I’m pretty sure the fear will win over him eventually and at that point, he’ll probably want to kill himself and he will most likely succeed in committing suicide,” Origin spoke. He was being so casual about the situation that it could depict him as a cold-blooded murderer.

Aren’t you one already? I mean, you’ve killed a lot just to get where you are now and I’m not talking about your status, I’m talking about you being reunited with Raine. We have killed so much to find her and yet you refuse to see she’s a hazard to everypony around her.

“Did I ask for your opinion on my relationship with Raine? No.  Now leave that out of this conversation,” Origin snapped.

Fine, fine. Talk about being edgy today…

“If you hadn’t noticed already, we’re kinda under attack by an enemy that wants to completely exterminate us! Excuse me if I broke your mood but I’m trying to keep us alive right now, Star.”

Hmm, fair enough, Ori. Another one at 12 o’clock, though!

Origin didn’t waste any time at all and summoned about ten different blades and impaled the griffon that was right behind him. He was glad he had Star with him because it allowed him to know where his enemies were before they could reach him. Still, even that had its limits because the way he split his mind consumed his energy rather quickly. That was the main reason why he consumed the emotions of his opponents; it was to maintain his spell for as long as the battle lasted.

He turned around and walked to the griffon’s side and the changeling was quite surprised to see that the griffon was still alive. Carefully, he lowered his head and whispered something in the creature’s ear. The griffon’s eye went wide instantly and rolled inside his head a few seconds later. Using a simple spell to detect life signs, Origin confirmed the griffon had died and resumed heading towards the clock tower again.

This time his path was clear and for the rest of the time he ran towards the clock tower, he encountered no other griffons, which was quite surprising in itself because the city was under attack. He suspected something was amiss because things were too quiet. He smelled something in the air but he didn’t recognize the odor until he saw a griffon in the horizon with a torch in its talon.

Wondering what they were planning, Origin found out what it was too late. It was only when the griffon threw the torch his way that a spark ignited in his mind and he placed the pieces of the puzzle together. It was too late for him to react though and before he could cast another spell, the torch came in contact with the surrounding air and a massive explosion was triggered.

“Oh horseapples!” That was all he could muster before he was engulfed by the explosion.

————

His life raced right before his eyes! Blitz had been sure he would die but before the griffons could finish him, something inside the Pegasus broke. He entered a state of complete frenzy. His mind had begun acting on instincts alone and only one thought remained inside his mind: survive!

Without hesitation, he grabbed the spear that stabbed his wing with his mouth and pulled it out in one quick motion. He let out a muffled scream of pain but otherwise ignored the rest. He let himself fall down to avoid the griffons that were heading his way and then took off again, ignoring the pain his wing caused him.

He quickly targeted the griffon that had no weapon in its talons and assaulted his enemy with a flurry of kicks and punches before he grabbed the weakened griffon by the mid-section and dived into a pile drive, making the creature’s neck snap upon making contact with the ground. The Pegasus rose to the sky only a few seconds later.

Next, he rammed an overconfident griffon into a nearby building, grabbing his enemy’s spear in his mouth in a quick motion. Releasing the griffon momentarily to grab the spear, Blitz only took a few seconds before impaling the throat of his enemy. Blood splattered on his face but that was none of his concern. Rage could be seen in the Pegasus’ eyes. A burning rage, a desire for blood.

It was all too obvious that Blitz wasn’t there anymore. All there was were his instincts.

His eyes showed that much. He wanted more. He craved for more violence, for more blood and he would not be stopped until he got what he wanted. He pulled out the spear from the now-dead griffon and charged right into a flock of griffons, throwing the spear at them with his mouth. Unlike his original plan, the spear didn’t touch anything, mostly because using his mouth to throw something like a spear wasn’t exactly meant for precision.

Still, he dived at the flock after throwing the spear and managed to grab a griffon’s midsection in his descent. He knocked the griffon unconscious by using him to absorb the shock of the fall and then proceeded into taking the sword the griffon had in his mouth before taking off again. That time, however, he knew how to use the sword. It was heavier than the sword the guards used in Canterlot but it wasn’t something Blitz couldn’t handle. Instead, he just lashed at the flock, killing two griffons as he rose in a spin.

Not wasting any time, Blitz charged at one of the three remaining griffons that had attacked him—well, those that hadn’t run away in fear to begin with—and began to swing his sword against the griffon’s defenses. It lasted a while, since the griffon seemed to be accustomed to fighting opponents that used swords but that still didn’t mean Blitz wasn’t giving him a hard time.

The Pegasus eventually found a hole in the griffon’s guard and immediately exploited it, severing the griffon’s right wing in a quick descending motion. He would have watched his enemy plummet to the ground if it hadn’t been for a griffon that attacked him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to fully dodge his enemy’s spear so it ended up going through his left hind leg, provoking a sudden scream of pain from the pony.

Blitz fought back as much as he could but it seemed like the griffon wasn’t going to give up either and it was at that precise moment that the only other remaining griffon attacked the Pegasus all of a sudden. In just a split second, a spear was going through his left shoulder. He was screaming in agony before he finally plummeted to the ground, wounded and bleeding heavily.

“Damn… it… all–“ Blitz began before coughing out a large amount of blood and eventually losing consciousness.

The griffons watched him carefully until he finally stopped moving and removed their weapons from his wounded body. Knowing that without any help whatsoever he would die, they left Blitz to deal with a slow and painful death.

“Going somewhere?” a voice ringed behind them.

In the blink of an eye, the head of one of the griffons was already rolling on the ground and the last thing the other griffon saw was a green eye glowing brightly. His entire world went black and he suddenly began to have trouble breathing. It wasn’t too long before he began to gather air, which resulted in an obvious failure, and after a few minutes of that charade going on, he finally dropped to the floor, unconscious.

He would have stayed unconscious, if only it hadn’t been for a magical sword going through his neck, severing the main cervical vertebrae in one strike, paralyzing him completely just before the magical blade cut open his jugular vein.

Needless to say, that painted the street red.

————

Dusk tried everything to break free of the barrier he had been imprisoned in. During that time, he had been forced to watch Blitz brutally fight against the griffons in a way that did not resemble the Pegasus and that only sparked the desire to get out as soon as he could.

The barrier was, however, a bit more hard to decipher because it wasn’t pony magic. It seemed liked it was griffon magic, or sorcery as some would call it. The reason he referred to that magic as being sorcery was because the magic griffons used was based off of charms and curses and magical traps. Those were the exact things a sorcerer has when they do battle or anything close to that.

Unfortunately, he had yet to find a way out of the barrier and that was beginning to drive him a bit nuts. Well, that was until he heard an explosion. He was even more surprised when the flames of the explosion engulfed the barrier completely.

Luckily, the barrier protected him but gave way a few seconds later, the charms used to conjure said barrier having burned to nothing more than ashes. Alarmed, he tried to find out where the explosion came from. He has a good head start, until a griffon sorcerer showed up out of nowhere in front of him.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Dusk shouted furiously as he unleashed spells after spells.

He began by forming a magical barrier of his own around the griffon and a second spell made it so the barrier would shrink to a certain limit over time. The griffon wasn’t all that scared at first but it was when space was beginning to lack that the griffon, a female according to her shrieks, began to freak out completely.

       She tried to smash the barrier to pieces but it was a lost cause. Dusk continued to pour magic into his first spell to maintain the barrier in place, considering the griffon was doing a pretty good job at damaging it. The barrier continued to shrink even more and before long, there was no other places for her to move anymore, leaving her trapped inside that barrier.

Not being a very violent one anyway, Dusk decided to leave her off like that as a sign of mercy. He was aware that she would attempt to kill him if she had found a way out of his barrier but he was not a killer. He did not like the thought of killing. He had seen his share, with the invasion and all and that had made him make up his mind about that: he would kill. That wasn’t who he was.

He ignored her when she tried to make him bring down his barrier He knew it was a ruse so she could kill him and as merciful as he was, his mercy had a limit and that was where it stopped. As he trotted away, he just told her that the barrier would break down in around twenty minutes and that after that, she would be free to go wherever she wanted to go.

“There, that’s one less problem to take care of,” Dusk spoke to himself.

He tried to locate the next location of Blitz but after he had seen him fly away, fighting two full squads of griffons by himself in a blind rage, Dusk had no idea where the Pegasus could have gone to next. He was, however, stopped in his tracks when he felt a disturbance in the air around him. He saw nothing but he felt it.

He wasn’t able to identify what it was; even his magic wasn’t working for that part. He tried using magic to locate any kind of heartbeat in his vicinity but it was useless. He felt nothing. Then it happened again. Another big wave of air disturbance was felt around him and he was unsure what was causing it.

“Duck!”

Dusk didn’t hesitate, having recognized the voice that had told him to duck. Right after he complied to the orders, a volley of swords was thrown in his way but none of them were aimed at him. He just watched in surprise as most of the swords hit their mark; a griffon with various charms placed on herself.

It took a few moments for him to process what had happened. He looked at the charms and found out the griffon had cloaked herself with invisibility charms. That’s beyond trickery! Dusk thought. That’s nearly torture. She wanted to make me aware and then strike me down the moment I realized something was wrong. What’s next after this place, the rest of Equestria?

His mind was racing but he was quickly pulled out of it by a very familiar changeling. He looked to his right and saw that Origin was now standing alongside him, parts of his shell completely broken and his left eye was close for whatever purpose it was closed for.

“Darn! What happened to you?” Dusk asked the changeling, alarmed by his condition.

“Heh! Nothing much. Well almost nothing if you can count an explosion nearly killing you as something major. Besides, it didn’t kill me so I guess they kinda failed with that plan of theirs.”

“Explosion? With what did they cause the explosion without magic or chemical reaction?”

“They didn’t have either of those. They had propane gas spread all around me and I never once noticed it until I saw a griffon with a torch in his talon. I owe my life to Star right now but his magic shield didn’t last that long so I also got blasted away so here I am, mildly wounded but in good condition nonetheless, although I have to keep my eye closed for a while,” Origin told Dusk, explaining what had transpired on his side.

“Sounds like you had a rough time. Well, I can’t say I had as much trouble as you did but I was attacked by griffon sorcerers, or at least that’s what I thought they were. The magic charms they used resembled every part of sorcery as I’ve studied it. And on—” He was interrupted by Origin putting a hoof on his mouth.

“I’m not exactly in the mood for a thorough explanation on what your studies lead you to discover in your life so far. I’ve got better news: I found the leader, the one coordinating this whole raid,” Origin announced to Dusk.

“WHAT!?! When did you do that?!” Dusk asked him, shocked by the news.

“I did when I brought Blitz back to the tower with Raine and Chrysalis. He needs to recover as he’s badly wounded. His right wing has been stabbed right next to an important nerve. An inch more the left and he would have lost the complete usage of his wing. His left shoulder was also stabbed. The spear used to wound his shoulder was thrust so hard that is completely pierced through his leg. Fortunately, the spear wasn’t all that big so it didn’t cause a lot of damage except for heavy bleeding.”

“I hope he’s going to be alright, though,” Dusk muttered.

“Don’t worry, that guy’s a tough one. He’s not going down so easily. He’ll live through this.”

“I hope you’re right…”

————

“Blitz! Blitz! Are you alright? Can you hear me?!” Raine called out to the Pegasus, not caring if he was conscious or not.

“He cannot hear you, pony,” Chrysalis interjected, tired of hearing Raine’s cries. “He is obviously unconscious. Can’t you see that?”

“I don’t care. I just want him to be alright!” Raine replied. “He protected me before and he risked his life to save me as well. I can’t just sit here and do nothing for him!”

“Fine. Do as you wish but do not expect me to help you with your problems,” Chrysalis scowled before turning around as to ignore the blue Pegasus.

“By the way, what was wrong with Origin?” Raine asked the queen.

“What do you mean? 157 was normal. There was nothing wrong with him,” Chrysalis answered flatly.

“Not that, I meant his eyes. Why was one green while the other was blue?”

“Oh… that. That’s a rather boring story. But I guess we have the luxury of time,” Chrysalis said.

“Go on, you have my attention.”

“Well, as you know by now. 157, or Origin, survived this long because a unicorn named Star Blaze used a soul merging spell to save their lives. In the end, both their souls were placed in 157’s body and mind. That in turn merged their minds together but with time, and with a certain book he ‘borrowed’ from Canterlot’s Royal Libraries, he discovered a spell that could allow him to split his mind in two. That essentially separates the consciousness of Star Blaze from his own for a given time period.

“I’m actually surprised he used that spell to begin with. He even mentioned to me that it consumed magic energy extremely fast. I guess he fed on the life energy and the emotions of his enemies to keep the spell up and working. At least, I hope he does because I don’t think he would have survived this long without extra help,” Chrysalis explained.

“What do you mean? I thought Origin was strong to begin with…” Raine let out quietly.

“He is strong. Very strong, at that, actually. His only problem is that he has the body of a changeling scout and thus the same magic capacity of a scout, which is not great to be completely honest. He has this much power inside him but he can’t use it all. Well, at least it’s good for me; he won’t be able to overthrow me in a near future. Not with that body anyway.”

“He also mentioned something about ending this? What did that mean, Queen Chrysalis?” Raine asked shyly. She was still afraid of the queen’s authority.

“It most likely means that he found the enemy leader and he’s going to confront him. I hope he brought some help with him because the raid leader is cunning. I sensed that much when he confronted me earlier. He won’t be alone and if I’m right, he showed himself on purpose. He wants to lead 157 into a trap and kill him. That’s what I would do as well if I were in his stead. 157 is a threat to be scared of, especially with the illusions and mind magic he can use almost at will although not indefinitely. That is his great weakness. Unlike myself or any high level unicorns and alicorns”—Raine tensed a bit when she heard the hate used in that single word. Was there something Chrysalis had against alicorns? She couldn’t know for sure but there was a certain loathing towards them—“157 can’t hold spells for very long with his current magical capacity.”

“I see… Well, I hope he’ll be all right,” Raine whispered to herself, unaware that Chrysalis had heard her.

————

“I had hoped you’d come here, changeling. And I see you’ve brought another changeling with you. Tell me, is that form stolen from a pony you killed in this city?” asked the griffon leader.

Dusk was about to reply brashly because of the accusation but Origin was faster than him and simply looked at him and shook his head. Did the changeling have something in mind? It seemed like he would have to hold his bitter reply for some other time.

“We’ve not killed anypony here. We are changelings, not murderers. The only thing we do is feed on positive emotions and I’m sure you know that we can’t steal something from somepony who’s dead. Well, at least, common sense would have it that way,” Origin replied, a grin on his face and a mocking look in his eyes.

“Don’t mock me, insect! I am a war general and I have seen what your kind has done in Gryffonia! You and your hive are a bunch of barbaric murderers!”

“Hey, isn’t that a surprise? I’m a war general too. Does that make your argument invalid then?!” Origin exclaimed mockingly, soon bursting into laughter afterwards.

Dusk observed Origin fall onto his back and just looked at him with a look of disapproval. Is he really that immature or does he really take this a game and not seriously as he should? The unicorn was amazed by the carefree nature of the changeling and just facehoofed after a few seconds passed.

Then he noticed that Origin was kicking his right hind leg towards a nearby air conduit, and then he did the same but on the next side. Dusk was puzzled at first because he thought that the changeling was just laughing his flank off but when he did the same things again but this time with an eye open, staring at Dusk seriously, the unicorn quickly understood what it meant, or at least he thought he did.

If Dusk had the right idea, Origin had been revealing the location of other griffons ready to ambush them. How he had found them was beyond him but according to his deduction, that’s the conclusion he had come up with.

He didn’t waste any time and quickly gathered magical energy into his horn, enough for two barrier spells, and quickly took an offensive stance. It took a bit more out of him than he had expected but  then again, Dusk was already tired and strained from the his last skirmish with the griffon sorcerer. He didn’t know how much more he could keep going on before he would need to rest and recover.

Nevertheless, the unicorn unleashed his two spells and two barriers materialized around the two air conduits on the top of the building they were currently on. The detection spell he had mixed with his barrier spell made it possible for him to know that the first barrier had trapped three griffons inside it while the second one only caught one. He whispered the results in Origin’s ear and he nodded, summoning his own magic.

The raid leader stared in awe at the unicorn and changeling paired together and slowly nodded for no reasons whatsoever, at least in Dusk’s point of view. Within a few more seconds, two other griffons jumped out of nowhere and charged at Dusk and Origin. They both faked expressions of astonishment and at the last moment, Origin threw two magic swords at the griffons, each of them lodging deep into their skulls.

That only left the raid leader alone to face the two spell casters. His jaw was open wide and his eyes were wide as well. He just looked at his enemies with despair. He had went on ahead and prepared the ultimate plan to get rid of Chrysalis and her hive and yet, his plan had been foiled by three individuals, well those three had been marked dangerous during the battle as they were capable of taking down griffons with ease.

“Wha—H-how… did you know about my ambush?” he asked in complete astonishment.

“Well, a bit of it is me being a changeling and being able to sense emotions in a certain radius around me and then there’s the fact that you wouldn’t openly show yourself to us without having a plan to wipe us off the map if we fell in your trap. The bottom line, though, is that you’re way too obvious to read. Even if I was recently given the title of general, I’m also a scout and therefore, I know a bit about strategy,” Origin told the griffon

“And then there’s me. He came to me to seek help and information. Well, seeking help is a bit wrong in the context here since he did drag me out here without warning but not before briefing me about you showing yourself to him and unlike Origin here, I am an accomplished tactician. So, if I were to resume your situation right now, I think it would be wise of you to order a retreat or, if you decide to listen to your pride instead of your common sense, die here at our hooves.

“It’s your call, though…” Dusk added, a serious expression covering his whole face.

“Gah! You’ll regret this, changelings. I promise you that the next time we meet, you will all die!” He shouted at them as he took off.

Dusk and Origin then watched as the raid leader ordered the retreat of their troops from the city. He gave no further reasons to his troops other than the retreat itself and the fact that their plans had been thwarted by only a few enemies. It wasn’t long before the remaining griffons left the town with haste.

The two spell casters glanced at the other and exchanged a stare before they bumped their hooves together. Dusk nodded a few seconds afterwards and began collecting magic in his horn. He did so until sweat began to drip from his forehead. Carefully, he used a teleportation spell and led the two back in the main tower of the city where Chrysalis and Raine were.

“I must say that you are very good at strategy and hiding it so subtly, Origin. The way you showed the position of the griffons behind the air conduits by bursting into laughter and kicking your legs in their direction was pretty damn good,” Dusk told Origin, complimenting his strategy.

“Uh, thanks I guess. In any case, I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you. My magic is mostly good for offensive magic and your mastery over barrier spells is far greater than mine so I kinda needed your help on this one,” Origin replied as he took in the compliment.

“Dusk! Origin! You’re okay!” Raine let out, running at their sides.

“Well, that’s a surprise considering that battle was pretty much a lost one at the beginning, “Spike said flatly. “By the way, Origin, why do you have so much blood on you?”

“The path to war is not one you take without taking lives and unfortunately, I happen to know magic designed for that very purpose and I was defending my hive in a battle where the enemy had no pity. It was kill or be killed so of course, I took many lives on the battlefield,” Origin replied coldly, his voice so casual it was scary.

“Origin…” Raine muttered weakly.

“What?!” he said, turning his head in her direction. “I had no other choice. If I let them live, I would have been killed a while ago! Like I said to Spike, the path I walk is one covered in blood and death. It is essentially who I am.”

Origin then noticed that Chrysalis had been looking his way for a while and after a silent exchange, they both nodded and Origin re-entered the conversation he had been in. It wasn’t a very fruitful one and he felt it was slightly one sided because Raine kept giving him that disappointed and accusing look, as if she didn’t like the way he fought the griffons.

“First of all, Raine, stop giving me that look. It’s not going to solve anything and you know it; I did what I did because I needed to survive. I made you suffer once by leaving you all alone. I won’t make that mistake twice,” he told her in a sweet voice, calming her mood all the while. “On a second note, I have something to tell you in behalf of Queen Chrysalis.”

“And what might that be, exactly?” Spike asked, an eyebrow raised in doubt.

“On the behalf of the hive and herself, the Queen would like to thank you for aiding us in our hour of need. Your help helped us survive this raid and although she didn’t enter the battlefield herself, she would have done so if things hadn’t worked out as expected. However, her intervention in the battle is not the reason of this little speech I am giving you. The Queen just wants to express her gratitude for your help in all of this.”

“Can I say something regarding that little speech you gave us on her behalf?” Raine asked sheepishly, shrinking a little bit when everypony gave her their attention.

“You may do so, pony,” Chrysalis said flatly. Truly, her voice was masked of any emotions. There was something in the back of her mind that asked herself why the queen was like that.

“I may not understand all this changeling business completely but there is one thing I am certain off: Origin wished to defend his hive and his family, figuratively speaking that is, and that was enough for me to get Dusk and Blitz to fight on your side. Had I been able to fight as well, I would have joined this conflict but I lack any kind of training those two have.”

“Raine, was it?” Raine nodded to Chrysalis. “Do you really mean that? Did you truly act out of blind trust and faith?”

“I did. Origin saved my life as of late and I wanted to repay my debt. Helping him save your hive was the first thing I thought I could help with, although indirectly,” Raine answered.

“So, you acted the way you did just so you could look glorious in his eyes. Man, talk about being lame and selfish!” Spike let out spontaneously.

“Spike!” Raine shouted at the dragon, insulted by his accusations. “I did no such things!”

“Sure… You certainly didn’t get Dusk and Blitz to side with the changelings just like that, expecting nothing in return. Admit that it was just a means for you to get closer to your coltfriend.”

“Hmmph!” She scowled at the baby dragon.

“Okay, settle down, you two. We’ll settle this affair somewhere else at another given time. Right now, although it is kind of late, I want to know where Blitz is or where he was taken to,” Dusk said, stopping Raine and Spike from arguing furthermore. He may have done exactly that but that didn’t stop them from glaring at the other.

“Do not worry, unicorn. Your friend was taken to lower floors and was placed in extensive care. His wounds were quite serious so we had to send him down there. At best, his recovery should last a week or two so if you don’t want to leave him at our mercy, I would recommend you stay here until he recovers,” Chrysalis informed the group.

“With that recent attack and with the fact that the raid leader vowed he would come back and crush you all in the future, I have a recommendation: go back to your hive, wherever it is, for the moment and maybe try to negotiate with Celestia and Luna about a possible sanctuary here in Equestria,” Dusk told the queen of the changelings.

“I would rather avoid contact with those two but under these circumstances, I think I have little choice in the matter, especially with the new threat the griffons pose right now.

“Oh, and Raine, I have something to tell you…”

“What is it?” Raine asked, finally breaking eye contact with Spike to give Chrysalis her attention.

“Thank you… for understanding our situation.”

“I told you, it seemed to be something Origin held dear and I had a debt of gratitude, we all owed him one,” Raine replied.

“Well, nevertheless, you deserved proper thanks, you and your companions, for helping the hive during that invasion. Now, if you wish to rest, I can instruct one of my changelings to guide you to proper rooms.”

“That would be appreciated, indeed. We’ll take that offer kindly, Queen Chrysalis.” That last part was flat. It’s not that he didn’t respect Chrysalis, not that he did a lot anyway; it was more because he wasn’t used to using titles other than ‘Princess’ to authoritarian figures.

Soon after that, a changeling arrived in the throne room and quickly approached the three travelers, using a rather broken modern language to address them. He told them he was to guide them to private chambers on the floor below. They nodded altogether and followed the changeling, although Dusk was still tense, ready if there was a trap whatsoever waiting for them on the floor below.

Once they were gone from the room, Chrysalis returned to her throne and Origin soon turned around to face her. He didn’t waste any time and asked, “My Queen, do you know the number of casualties we suffered on our side during the invasion?”

“I am unsure of the exact number but I know we have lost over a hundred drones and scouts, respectively. The harvesters were inside so there were no losses on that side. About thirty Valorians were killed, which I find surprising in itself, and over fifty of our Preatorians were wiped out completely. Those griffons came prepared. They were prepared to destroy us,” said Chrysalis, obviously surprised by the numbers the griffons had killed

“Then we were lucky that I arrived with Raine and her group at the time I did, were we not?”

“I suppose you have a point there. Your intervention and her arguments to convince those two ponies to fight helped us immensely. What kind of training do they have, if may ask since you traveled with them?”

“Well, I know that Blitz used to be in the Royal Guards so that may be where he got his fighting skills and Dusk is, or used to be, Princess Celestia’s private student so he already has a very good training in magic,” Origin answered, his voice calm and monotonous.

“Is that so? Well, they do make good soldiers after all in Equestria. They do have Celestia and Luna as rulers so they should already have decent training, considering what they are capable of,” Chrysalis remarked, a small smirk on her lips, just enough to show her fangs.

“With your permission, I will take my leave for the moment. Just send for me if you need my assistance.”

“No wait, 157!” Chrysalis ordered firmly. “I just so happen to have another task for you. Now listen closely.”

~//~ End of Chapter Seven ~//~