Tyler stood on the balcony and groaned while his stomach calmed down. This was a bit too much all at once. There were only a few things he would ever consider impossible to add to the herd. Of course, it would be plainly exhausting having an energy bundle like Pinkie Pie around all the time. Or the timid and skittish behavior of Fluttershy. He always had the impression that the yellow Pegasus mare was a bit too easy to spook and there was also Rarity with her fad for tidiness and fashion. He wasn’t out for that in his herd either. And the all competitive, stunt and prank loving Rainbow Dash above all would bring too much action into the herd.

Not that he disliked the girls for these reasons. Quite the opposite! Each of them made fine additions in the daily life of Ponyville and with each enriching the town, they were good spirits who made life rich on their own but it wouldn’t work with him in his opinion when it comes to all day out relationships. Twilight had her spleens and tend to worry often above even the tiniest things. Often he had to pace her down so she wouldn’t make further mistakes. It was bearable though. Satisfying her meant talking to her, satisfying her curiosity about mankind.

Applejack on the other hand was a hard worker like Big Mac. It was a thing running in her family and Tyler appreciated it. Hard work made her day and a hard working male attracted her. That’s how she joined the herd. Now Applejack tried to keep things simple. Not because she’s stupid but because she wanted things to be easy,
“No use in tryin’ to understand why apples are red and not blue!” she always said. “We make ‘em grow and they are good for us! That’s all that matters!” It was this balance between Twilight’s curiosity about every detail and Applejack’s simplicity what made them harmonize among another.

And then came Luna…
While he always thought they would be frightened about her being part of the herd, they encouraged him in anticipation. They knew Luna for a bit now and seemed more than happy to help her into society. Maybe the thought of her sleeping with Tyler was just waved away with this herd thinking. A thing that would have been impossible to happen back on Earth. But hey, this wasn’t Earth.

Now there came Celestia and every pony spoke high of Celestia. Having her in the herd would be like… breaking a dogma! And it would change the whole life of them all. So many problems and so little time to think about… Tyler huffed and took a long breath. How will the girls react to this?

As he returned to Celestia’s chamber, the princesses sat together, each drinking another cup of tea. Tyler sat down in front of them. With frail gestures he tried to gesture into his sentences,
“I take it this is a first time… Like no one has even done this before…” Both sisters looked at each other and finally gave Tyler a nod. He again huffed and looked to Celestia. “If this is going to happen, we have to wait until we announce it. Right now journalist ponies like to besiege Ponyville because of me courting Luna. I’m thinking of Twilight and Applejack here. And I’m… I’m trying to cope with this but I can’t adapt to this so fast! And I think the girls will need time as well. We definitely have to wait with announcing this or these journalists will never leave Ponyville!” This as well earned a silent nod from the sisters. “And don’t expect this to deepen all too fast now! I mean we have to talk with the girls first! Carefully! Can you imagine the reactions of Twilight alone if she hears that her mentor is in the same herd as her? Reactions might go from ‘What if he finds Princess Celestia more attractive than me?’ to ‘Yesyesyesyes!’”

Celestia nodded at this, fighting the urge to giggle at her faithful student’s most adorable reaction,
“I think that would be wise, yes… Luna and I don’t want to take you from the girls.”

He then nodded while arching a brow,
“Do you both know that Applejack wishes for a foal from me?”

This now caught the two alicorns in surprise,
“Your bond is that strong already? Well… Luna? Aren’t transformation spells your expertise?”

Luna harrumphed briefly,
“But of course! I could turn fair Applejack into a parrot if she would wish it! But I have to say to thee… For developing something that would make her more receptive for your sperm I would need time and material… There are things I will have to study on. I will have to discuss this with them both when thou are gone."

Tyler then got up,
“I have to get me some sleep… I think I’ll head for Ponyville… Luna? Can I borrow your carriage for a ride?”

With a smile, the young princess nodded,
“Be my guest!”

* * * * *

Meanwhile in a whole other part of Equestria…
It was a silent night during the flight of the Atalia. The airship was on its course north and equipped with the Crystal Empire’s newest development, magical communication crystals. After delivering some of these crystals to Equestria, they brought back medicinal herbs, medicine and equipment.

The gray Pegasus stallion in front of the airship responded into his helmet, made of said crystal. It turned out to be a convenient thing not to yell all over the place,
“Home flight! Status report, folks!”

On the left side, a black Pegasus stallion nodded,
“Vomane here! Nothing to report!”

A Pegasus mare in lime coat grinned on the right side of the airship,
“Strikeflight here! Sleepy time!”

Hearing all the good status reports made Blastwind smile,
“Roger that! Seems like a very boring trip to me. Blastwind to Atalia…”

A female voice came out of Bastwind’s crystal helmet,
“Atalia here… What do you have for me, Blastwind?”

Flying closely to the airship he now saw the communication officer of the airship,
“Clear flying! It’s a lonely flight outside here, Arween. Wish you were here beside me.”

The blue crystal mare chuckled as she sat at the front crates, holding the communication crystal,
“In your dreams, Blastwind! There are reports of raiders in these borders lately, so don’t take things easy.” With a chuckle the pegasi went back to wing position and escorted the airship.

But little did they know that a few clouds further above several green lights came out of the darkness,
“Target locked. Distance to target: 2500 melings and closing…” With this the flying objects vanished as black coats covered them.

After some seconds, Arween’s voice sounded in the helmets,
“Blastwind, we’re seeing… something out there at six o’ clock! Could you check that for us please?”

Blastwind arched a brow,
“You expect Bogeys out here in the middle of nowhere? Well let’s see…” After looking around, he saw no objects flying around. Was Arween trying to make things up to make the trip a bit less boring? “No… Nothing! Your imagination got its way with-” Blastwind never finished this sentence as something tackled him from above and knocked him out. Unconscious his body fell to its demise.

Meanwhile one of the other pegasi looked onwards. Strikeflight moved a bit more to the front of the formation,
“What the hay? Atalia, I can’t see Blastwind anymore!”

By now Arween’s voice became more concerned and sterner,
“Strikeflight! There is definitely something out there!”

Holding an eye out for her wingcolt, Strikeflight looked around,
“Blastwind? Come on, this isn’t funny anymore!” Out of the shady clouds before the mare the attackers suddenly appeared with green glows in their eyes. “No, that’s impossible!” Split seconds later, Strikeflight fell as well.

Arween and the rest of the airship crew only could see vague movement,
“Strikeflight? Respond! Vomane, are we under attack? Blastwind? Strikeflight?”

Using all his flying skills, Vomane still was heavily outnumbered and could only hope to keep his own safety,
“I can’t shake them! I have bandits all on my six!” One of the attackers delivered a painful blow, causing Vomane to lose a severe portion of height. “Losing height, unable to keep with you, I need help!”

As the stallion tried his best to avoid enemy attacks, one of the smaller attackers grinned to the larger female one,
“He’s all yours, Princess Shiria!”

With a dark grin, the big attacker looked down to the fleeing Vomane,
“Ba-bye!” A projectile of green magic burned his wings and feathers beyond flying capability, sending him down like a rock. His painful shriek let the blood in Arween’s veins freeze.

With a megaphone, the airship’s captain turned to the incoming attackers,
“To unknown attackers! This is an unarmed equestrian civilian airship transporting medical supplies to the Crystal Empire. We will land and prepare to be boarded. You MUST break off your attack!” With this the big attacker flied closely by and waved a flag behind her. On it was a crest of the southwestern Amasian Enclave.

Gaining some distance again, she laughed manically,
“Ignore them; you have your specific orders!”

As they encircled the airship like vultures, one of the attackers approached their leader,
“My princess… I say we leave them something to remember us by…” This only prompted the female leader to laugh even louder.

Arween now grew hysterical and yelled into the crystal,
“Mayday! This is the transport Atalia, currently flying above the Crystal Mountains! Amasian forces have killed our escort! Mayday! This is an emergency!"

Landing on top of the balloon laughing, the female leader planted a green orb on it and took off. The orb however began to eat itself into the balloon with a crackling noise.

Looking up to the leaving attackers, relief came onto Arween’s face,
“Wait! They seemed to be pulling back!” They were indeed gaining distance, but little did the crew know about the impending doom right above them.

But the captain waved the attackers farewell,
“To Amasian forces: We appreciate your withdrawal…” One second later, the balloon of the airship blasted to pieces and Arween’s scream screeched into the crystal.

With that the shadow ponies watched the burning wreckage slam into the mountain walls. Their leader, a big mare grinned down as green flames engulfed her,
“Well… This should stir things up… Mother will be pleased. Let’s go!” Buzzing loud now, the little wing of Changeling attackers left the scene.

* * * * *

A few days later, a large crowd of ponies from both the Crystal Empire and Equestria were gathered together in the Royal Canterlot Forum. Ambassadors from both kingdoms were conversing left and right.

Now Celestia’s voice was audible above all,
“Order! Order, order… The forum will come to order!” As the ponies calmed down, she continued. “You all will have the opportunity to voice your opinions to the recent terrible events that occurred among the borders. But before we go to that, I’d like to have the former Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard and Crystal Kingdom’s ambassador in Equestria to address us all… Prince Shining Armor!”

Applause was given as Shining Armor approached the speaker’s desk, thanking the ambassadors. Pleased shouts were given,
“Yes! Shining Armor! He will give us answers!”

The stallion waited until the forum got quiet, then began his speech,
“Honored ambassadors, ladies and gentlecolts, As co-ruler of the Crystal Empire I’m charged with many duties. The most important one is the peaceful co-existence with our neighboring kingdoms. Unfortunately, I stand before you today as a penitent servant… As of yet, I don’t have enough information to point out the exact culprits of these attacks. I can’t give you answers.”

With this uproar began to grow among the ambassadors,
“What do you mean no answers? We demand answers!”

Shining Armor shook his head,
“As of yet, it is far too early to pinpoint the exact culprits of these violent acts of terror.”

A Pegasus ambassador stood up with an outraged look on his face,
“Renegade Amasian bandits, I tell you!”

Another ambassador stood up, he was an earth pony,
“No it’s worse! These are organized military terror strikes of the Shadow Ponies!!! That murderous scum!”

Facing these two stallions, Shining Armor shook his head,
“I want everypony to remember that during the long months of the sweeps for Changeling activities among the southwestern borders, the Shadow Ponies of the Amasian Enclave, despite historic clashes, proofed to be loyal allies against a common enemy!”

A crystal pony mare, obviously an ambassador stood up angered,
“And now they attack unarmed airships!”

Uproar roamed through the crowd again. Cadance visibly shrunk as her subjects seemed so angry. This truly wasn’t the brightest time for the Princess of Love,
“Air pirates! Scoundrels! Badlands beggars!” More angered shouts were uttered from the crowd until Celestia called to order. This caused Shining Armor to frown deeply.

With a reprehensive gesture he raised his hoof,
“Let us not allow lust for revenge to cloud our thinking. We mustn’t forget who our allies are…” These words calmed down many of the ambassadors. Many nodded, others spoke to each other as Shining Armor continued his speech. “Nonetheless! We must also remember that during the past, especially during the Changeling incident, things never seem to be what they appear on the first sight. Now! Whether or not these acts of hostility are caused by some sort of political change in the southern kingdoms remains to be investigated.” He then slammed his hoof on the desk. “But investigate that I will! You have my word on this!” Loud applause emerged now from the ambassadors.

Celestia approached the speaker’s desk and faced the ambassadors again,
“Prince Shining Armor, you are aware that the increase in these incidents has raised the tension between Equestria, the Crystal Empire and the Amasian Enclave to a dangerous level. But before we all commit ourselves to a grave and irrevocable action, I have asked Prince Shining and several others of the Equestrian strategic staff to investigate and to report back to us in one week. Shining Armor, you go with the blessing of this forum and every peace-loving pony of our two kingdoms. Good luck to you.”

Tyler, who witnessed these speeches from a balcony after Celestia had summoned him earlier this day, thought about these incidents and the reactions of the ambassadors. He knew this meant more stuff to happen. And here I was thinking about vacation… Something’s wrong here… In his mind he thought about similarities to Earth and how he should react to this. Something about this shouted ‘false flag attack’… But who benefitted?

As he went down towards the throne room to discuss matters with Princess Celestia, she met him halfway. After a short and brief greeting, even for her, Tyler felt there was a tension in the princess of the sun. A tension that wasn’t there before,
“Tyler… There’s something I have to ask of you.” She didn’t turned to him, but the stern and concerned look in her face showed him that it was about these incidents and that she was alerted about this.

With a brief nod he looked to her as they went down the hallway,
“Sure, what is it?"

She suddenly stopped and closed her eyes,
“You see… Luna and I are not used to the possible threat of war… During the Changeling invasion I made the dreadful mistake to underestimate the enemy. A mistake I do not wish to repeat. But Luna and I don’t have experience with waging war. Until now, the powers of alicorns were enough to scare anypony away, but in an all-out war, my subjects will have to fight. For this I wish to prepare them. You are the strategic advisor of us two… So I thought you coming from a world where war is a common thing, you could give us advice…”

Tyler nodded and patted her shoulder as they continued to walk,
“Tell you what: Since I’m gone for a week to support Shining Armor in this investigation, why don’t you tell Twilight to get one of my books for you? It is called the ‘Art of War’. Read it and internalize its teachings. Back on Earth it is used by military, politicians and sports teams. It will help you to keep your judgment clear and it will help your guards to organize better than before!”

With this the princess nodded,
“I’ll do that then. If you praise the book so highly, I shall read it and present it to the guards.” She then looked down, with a slight glance of shame in her eyes. “I… I feel bad…”

Tyler cocked his head,
“Why’s that?”

She closed her eyes,
“You are a good man for herding with the girls and Luna, putting in so much effort to make them happy and here I come, demanding more of you by selfishly stepping forth.”

With that he sighed,
“This again? We have talked about this, Celestia. Well… I guess even alicorns have their flaws… At least this isn’t a mainly bodily affection. If it was only that, I’d say ‘Fuck you!’ and leave you alone. But since you say it’s my personality… Do you wish me to court you as well now?”

Biting her bottom lip, she shook her head,
“You already showed me more than anypony else… I saw into your mind and soul. There is hardly any more I need to know about you to know that you’re a good man. I’m only afraid I’m not worthy of you.”

This made him chuckle and he caressed her ethereal mane for a bit,
“That’s something new! The goddess thinks she’s not worthy of the mortal being!” He then began to laugh wholeheartedly.

As he looked up again, he saw a worried glance on Celestia’s face, prompting his laughter to die in an instant,
“What? You really mean it?” She then lowered her head and closed her eyes, prompting his voice to grow stricter. “Aw, come on! Celestia, you are THE most warm-hearted and motherly being I ever saw! Now don’t say you’re not worthy of something! Don’t start this shit with me! You have ruled this land for what now? Several millennia? And since then nothing bad happened! Except the sibling dispute with Luna and you both already paid the price for that and forgave each other! If you ever lower your own value again…” With this her eyes opened again and she looked up to him, a slight blush on her face.

He then remembered her confession,
“Ah yes… Stricter tone from me turns you on…” Her eyes closed halfway and she turned her face away, eying him from the corner of her eyes while she nodded, biting her bottom lip again while doing so. She seemed a bit ashamed of her condition. He sighed in defeat. “I say we go to your chambers for the continuation of this conversation, young lady…” With an obedient nod, she looked up to him while they approached her chambers. Young lady… No one ever called her that before. How exciting!

* * * * *

Minutes later, with the doors locked and the curtains closed, only candles shed light in the chambers as one slap after another smacked Celestia’s flank. Tyler felt a bit awkward in this situation. Delivering a spanking to a princess, a goddess… He never thought she would ask that of him. Yet there she lied on the floor, her flank up and trembling, her eyes rolled back in delight. He simply shook his head. His defying behavior reduced her to THIS? Then again, maybe that became her paraphilia over the millennia. The silent wish of someone standing up to her and as the centuries passed, that wish became a sexual fantasy. But he knew that these things had to remain secret from the rest of society on Celestia’s behalf.

With his slightly burning hand sliding down her back, slowly passing her wingboner, she looked up to him before he grabbed her ethereal mane as he would practically own her. As he pulled her up, she let out a hoarse moan. Looking into her eyes, he caressed her shivering cheek,
“Celestia… I’m not good in this stuff. It’s not my kink.”

But the white alicorn simply shook her head as good as she could in his grasp. By now her face blushed deeply,
“You treat me so good…” By now her voice shivered. “…my young master…”

With this his head leaned back a bit,
“Whoa! Hold it right there! I’m not the one in charge of you! Don’t you dare take it to that level!”

With slight disappointment in her eyes she looked up to him,
“Why not? Are you afraid of mature mares?”

“That’s not the point! I won’t take this to the matter of age, you know that! I won’t accept this because I’m not a power-hungry maniac! And I know you wouldn’t hang out with one! I would only dare to step on equal level with you! You know, out of respect for your gender!” he replied in a sharp tone.

But with this her eyes became lustful again,
“I know… You wouldn’t misuse that kind of power even if Luna and I would present all of Equestria on a silver plate to you… But please… Take good care of me…” With this she leaned against him and closed her eyes.

“Like I have a freaking choice!” he muttered beneath his breath while rolling his eyes. “Here we are, possibly on the brink of war with another kingdom and I have to give you a… a spanking so that your mind clears for the duties ahead of you! You are one bad alicorn! Once I return, I will have to talk with you and Luna more about this. This is not a way to behave! But until then, remain a good girl and do your duties!” With this he turned around and approached the doors. Celestia on the other hand recollected herself and sat down on her haunches. Once she was done, he nodded and opened the door, only to find Luna and Cadance approaching it. As he stepped into the hallway, he harrumphed briefly.

Luna arched a brow,
“Should I even dare to ask of what she asked of thee?”

He shook his head while giving Cadance a nervous smile,
“I think it’s better NOT to do so…” Cadance on the other hand cocked her head for a bit and watched the human leave in both wonder and amusement. Why is he in such a hurry? Did auntie say something about his herd that embarrassed him?

As they both entered Celestia’s chambers, the curtains were open again. The princess of the sun chuckled a bit, as the other two stepped inside,
"Lu… Luna! I was just about…”

But Luna only wrinkled her nose,
“Spare me the details, beloved sister… I do not wish to partake in these… acts of thee…” She then lowered her voice as she passed Celestia. “By the way… Thy flank is red… Try not to catch Cadance’s attention with this… To think that my sister would love to partake in these… masochistic acts. I’m disappointed, Tia…”

Celestia grinned at Cadance and tried her best to keep her smile as she muttered through her teeth,
“Just you wait until I tell him your strange obsession about moon pies!”

“Thou wouldn’t dare!” the young princess of the night snapped back, much to Cadance amusement. Somehow she enjoyed the playful quarrels of her aunts. They both liked to throw threats at each other, but never made any of them true.

Three hours later, Tyler was back in Ponyville Library and prepared himself for the journey south. He had one hour until they would fetch him with the airship. As he prepared himself he went through a checklist in his mind.

Grappling hook, crowbar and spade – check
20 meter of rope – check
Knife – check
Emergency ration both water and food - check
Spells charged from Twilight - check.
Listening to a nervous Twilight Sparkle… uncheck!

He then turned his face and attention to Twilight, who paced around him,
“Tyler! Please, you have to listen! I had this strange dream where I saw what happened there! These attacks are not the doing of shadow ponies! These are Changeling attacks in disguise! They must have done something horrible!”

Holding her head in his palms he looked her into the eyes,
“Twilight… I believe you! Don’t worry! I’m not sure, why or how… But I don’t think you’re making this up for attention. I do believe you saw something. Something that spooked you. Now… you’ve told me that you were spooked several times now before major events in Equestria, so I believe in your judgment. I still have time until Shining Armor gets me. You girls talked about them earlier… Fill me in on those… Changelings…”

Calming down a bit, Twilight cleared her throat before she gve him all her knowledge about Changelings. That is, the little info Equestria had gathered about this strange and violent species until now,
“The Changelings are the stuff nightmares are made of, yet not much is known about them. Highly evolved insects in a pony-like appearance. Parasites… An army of them form what is called ‘the swarm’, an insect state with a queen at the apex of the hierarchy. Changelings are like locusts, sucking out any love out of life forms until, and that is only theorized, their victims are stripped of all emotion, will of life and life force, leaving behind a path of death and destruction. In their first and last appearance in Equestria they appeared to be led by a vicious queen going by the name of Chrysalis."

As Tyler arched a brow, the lavender mare nodded and continued,
"She used her Changeling mimicry to impersonate Princess Cadance. To ruin my brother who at that point protected Canterlot with a massive force field. The scariest thing about the Changelings is no matter how many of them you beat down, they just keep coming. Their swarm can become quite vast. And once the magic barrier which protected Canterlot at that time was undone, the swarm overran the streets of the capital city in a matter of minutes. Changelings are of the size of a pony, but can fly and mimic the appearance of anypony they’ve seen once! Celestia knows what horrors they can muster if left unchecked.”

Tyler listened to her very carefully,
“Sounds to me these Changelings spread like wildfire. These are no ordinary predators… More like parasites, viruses or humans. No balance with their ecosystem at all. Well… At least we humans try to get one…” He then looked her into the eyes and nodded. “Alright! That was a good part for mental preparation for a possible threat on Equis. Good safety precaution. Thank you, Twilight! I’ll be on my toes now.”

Twilight cocked her head and narrowed her eyes,
“Your toes?”

Tyler chuckled,
“It’s a human saying. It means I’ll be careful.” This visibly calmed her down. As he finished his preparations, he kissed her goodbye and stepped outside. Only to be faced by Applejack.

Behind her one of the two airships just landed on a meadow, surely just long enough for him to jump in,
“So ya would leave to go for a trip without sayin’ goodbye? Ah’m disappointed, sugarcube!”

Tyler shook his head in defense,
“No, I… I would have come! I…“

But Applejack simply chuckled,
“Yeah, Ah know, ya were busy preparin’ for yer trip. And Ah think it is better that way. It means ya come back safe and in one piece to Twilight and me. Actually Ah’m here to bring ya a bag of some apples. Ya know they’ll be good for ya. Better than that military food. Be careful out there, hon.” With a kiss he parted from her and took the bag of apples. Both the earth pony and unicorn watched him leave to the airship. “Twilight… Ah have a bad feeling about him being away for so long…”

Twilight nodded,
“I know what you mean…”

As he entered the airship, Shining Armor greeted him,
“Tyler! Good to have you here with us!” As they lifted off, the unicorn stallion introduced him to the troops. Tyler was impressed. There were two squads of the royal guard from both Equestria and the Crystal Empire. They were the grimmest stallions and mares he’d ever saw, but this changed when they got accustomed with each other.

On their way south, they spoke about the incident with the void beings and Tyler, without boasting, answered them. The guards actually were impressed that a civilian, without proper training and instruction could handle such a horde on his own,
“Well, it more or less was a improvisation of moves. I was carved up quite good.”

One of the unicorn mares chuckled,
“Oh, yes, I saw you during that ceremony. All those bandages looked bad. But it seems to me you humans are quite agile and not nearly as frail as the rumors have it.”

“Rumors…” Tyler repeated. “Well I don’t give a shit about rumors! Let deeds speak for themselves.” Everypony nodded to this. Obviously they were curious about the potential from the human and deemed him okay for not boasting. But after that, the flight became quite quiet with only Tyler and Shining conversing.

Tyler preferred Shining Armor as a comrade. The young lord and husband to Princess Cadance always made a good impression on the human. He was bold, honest and had nobility of ideals. In Tyler’s point of view, Shining Armor represented everything he’d look for in a brother in arms. They even had a conversation if Tyler as a human would be able to join the royal guard, either in Equestria or the Crystal Empire.

On the question if he would try to hunt down the last remaining changelings, the young stallion shook his head,
“Vengeance isn’t the way we handled this in the royal guard or now in the Crystal Empire. Our mission is about peacekeeping. When you figure that out, you’ll let me know. You would make a fine addition to the guard.” It was this attitude that impressed Tyler the most. Shining wasn’t out for blood. He did what he had to do. The changelings weren’t a threat anymore and he wasn’t out for revenge although they once were a clear and dire threat for him, his wife and all of Equestria.

Now they both were on an expedition to the southern lands beyond the borders of Equestria,
“Tell me about this Amasian Enclave, Shining. Beside of the name I don’t know anything about that country.”

Shining Armor nodded,
“The Amasian Enclave is a part of the Amasian Empire in the southern Hemisphere. I don’t know much about it, but Princess Celestia does. She seems to know much about the southern parts of Equis despite I never saw her leave Equestria. Meh! Maybe that was before my time. Doesn’t matter! So yeah… From what I’ve heard, shadow ponies can dematerialize and attack from the shadows. They can even dematerialize, wander unseen in the shadows, even if it’s only a slim shadow and materialize again in another shadow. In the light they are compelled to materialize. It seems they are VERY sensible to bright light. Let’s see… According to the princess…” He was now looking through many papers and scrolls. “Ah yes! The last ambassador sent there informed the princess that the Enclave is ruled by Lady Deirdre and her son Irtex."

Tyler frowned a bit,
“In your speech in front of the ambassadors you said something about historic clashes… What clashes?”

Nodding briefly, Shining Armor began his explanation,
“These clashes go back to the ages before the princesses took power. Shadow ponies were at war with the three tribes of unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies. But against a common enemy, the three tribes forgot their differences and stood united against them. Nothing major though. The losses remained sane with a couple of hundreds for each tribe.” Tyler nodded. With peace for that long it makes no sense that they come now and begin attacking... Especially when Equestria stands united against them. Maybe the invasion of Canterlot had shown weak spots in the eyes of the south? Tyler’s thoughts began spinning. The more he thought about it, the less it made sense…

It was then when Tyler noticed something among the rocks beneath the airship. It looked like some sort of rusty old steel hull. It immediately got Tyler’s attention for standing out in the environment,
“What’s this? HEY! Land this thing! I want to take a closer look on this!” As Shining Armor saw the object he nodded to the crew and the Harmonia landed close nearby while the Victory still circled above.

Tyler carefully approached the object that lied broken on the rocks of the mountains. It was deformed, but the resemblance… No, it couldn’t be! As he came closer, he shook his head in sheer disbelief. But there the letters, although difficult to read by now, stood there like carved into stone. ‘USS Cyclops’ “What the hell…” The ship looked like one of the old steam ships they used during World War I.

He never was a big expert in technology, but he knew that before nuclear generators and Diesel engines ships used to run on coal engines. And this didn’t look like a modern oil tanker. How did a ship from Earth from WWI do in a mountain area on Equis? Climbing up the wrecked hull with a grappling hook, Tyler reached the deck. He could see into the cargo hold and the black stuff in there. Looked like coal or something like that. But what he really wanted were answers about the whereabouts of how this ship got here and he needed them now.

After several careful minutes, cautious not to break into the rusty or corroded floor, he reached the bridge. Several skeletons lied there. All their bones seemed to be broken. Tyler approached one skeleton with an officer hat and a journal in its grasp. He saw a name badge on the chest,
“George W. Worley…” He then took the journal off the skeleton’s hands. “Sorry, pal…!”

March 15. 1918
This will be my last entry. I don’t know what happened. In one second on the other, the ocean vanished and our ship was falling. The rocks have crippled this ship; the Cyclops will never leave this place again. The silence is everywhere. Without looking, I have no doubt that all of my men are dead. I as well have both my legs broken and I guess the rib cage as well. Damn this triangle! We shouldn’t have left Barbados! I’m writing this down so that whoever finds it can see… You can see how we ended!

This prompted Tyler to frown. Triangle? What was that guy talking about? Looking up to the charts and maps he carefully got up. The floor was slippery and decayed. As he got a look into the maps he tried to make sense of them. There was a map of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, Florida, Puerto Rico and… Tyler gulped at the word. Bermuda. His mind began racing. What does this mean? Fate, are you kidding me? Do things that vanish in the Bermuda Triangle… He shook his head. There was no time for this now and surely there were many more ships and even airplanes lost in the Bermuda Triangle that were nowhere to be seen. But he took the maps and the journal with him.

As he climbed back down the hull, Shining Armor looked at him in slight confusion,
“Tyler? What is this giant thing? I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s all steel and somehow it smells like a graveyard!”

Tyler shook his head,
“It IS a graveyard. This was a freight ship of my world. Somehow it got here and slammed right into these rocks. The crew is dead for a while now. Only bones remain. It’s one big sarcophagus…”

In even bigger confusion the stallion took a step away,
“A freighter you say? What’s the cargo? And how did it get here?”

“Coal… Probably to be shipped somewhere where steel was manufactured…And please don’t ask me about how it got here. I have a theory, but this isn’t something we should discuss now. Let’s keep it clear for now! We need to get to that enclave.” With a brief nod they returned to the airship.

Once they were in the air again, Shining Armor turned to Tyler again,
“So… did you find something valuable on board?”

The human read the journal again,
"I think the idea that there are many ways to come into your world from mine is a valuable finding in itself… Maybe it goes the other way around as well. I say I already got Twilight a souvenir from this trip.”

When they reached their final target location the airship landed and the troops began setting up the base camp. And soon they sent several scouts to recon the area, It was not long after this that a guard approached them both,
“Prince Shining, we have found the entrance!” Both Shining Armor and Tyler nodded at each other. Maybe this was their chance to reveal some answers. The stallion led them to a cave which led deep underground.

The tunnels were narrow, hardly big enough for Tyler to walk in full height. Cowering he followed the guard until they’ve reached a hall, where several torches already burned,
“We stumbled across this hall while sweeping the area for the entrance. That’s when we found the gate.”

As they approached the gate, they looked around in awe. Blasted open before them was a big and sturdy looking gate,
“What in Celestia’s name happened here?”

Big pieces of stone were literally torn out like a massive, directional blast wave had taken the gate down with sheer might,
“This gate was strong enough to keep an army at bay. And yet it seems like someone blasted it open. “The sheer amount of force to do this…” Shining Armor looked to Tyler. “Do you think…?”

Tyler shook his head as he responded immediately,
“No… Everything from this laboratory was destroyed!”

While they entered the city, there was a taste of smoke and burned flesh in the air. The houses were burned and several of them burned to the ground. It looked like the city was torn apart. The streets were empty and the walls were literally splattered with red and green stains. Tyler frowned at the stains. Was it blood? If so, where were the corpses? This didn’t make any sense. Or if it did, it was a very dark and grim sense… They were expecting a military compound or maybe a proud city… But this? This was nothing than a ghost city,
“That’s not a fortress, no military complex! It’s a ruin! Nothing’s here! The whole place is a ruin! Who came up with the crazy idea that someone attacked from here? I mean look at this! A whole city in ruin! No soul around and no one here to raise a hoof against us!” Shining Armor nodded to this and looked to his comrades. They all agreed that Tyler was right. Something was heavily amiss.

And as they swept the streets of the ghost town, they found nothing but burned houses and empty streets. But once in a while they could hear the silent movement of pebbles in the near distance. Tyler leaned to Shining Armor, lowering his voice,
“We are not alone here…” The unicorn stallion nodded and looked to his squad. Short gestures were exchanged with the two squads and the guards nodded, becoming more careful while moving on.

It was then when a shadow leaped out of the darkness and tackled a crystal guard down. Taking the guard’s weapon the shadow manifested in front of the others,
“It’s a shadow colt…”

As the others encircled the young shadow pony, Tyler arched a brow,
“A colt can take down a royal guard by surprise? These shadow ponies know their stuff I say…”

With a swift move the colt pointed the sword right at Gold Shield,
“Another move and you die!”

Grinning at the sword held tight to Gold Shield’s throat one of the guards chuckled,
“He sure knows how to fight!”

Without leaving his eyes from Gold Shield, the young colt held the sword close to his prisoner’s throat, slightly scratching, while talking to the rest,
“Let me go free and I spare him!”

Shining Armor arched his brows with a smile,
“That colt also has a sharp mind…”

Another guard chuckled and looked down to the defeated stallion on the ground,
“Well, Gold Shield? What will you do with him?”

The crystal stallion looked up grim and gritted his teeth,
“I’ll skin him alive!”

With this, Spearbolt, a unicorn guard levitated the sword and the colt away from Gold Shield,
“I say he needs a spanking for attacking ponies that came here in no ill will!”

But while the rest of the guards laughed, Tyler raised his arm,
“Spearbolt, let go off him! Let him down I say! This is no time to jest. That colt is the one and only survivor we found yet. It’s best we take him with us.”

But the colt turned to Tyler with a frown,
“I join no band of rogues! But I lead you against the Changelings!”

Gold Shield chuckled at this as he got up again,
“Ho! He wants to play war with the monsters in his closet!”

Tyler smiled at the young colt,
“This lad speaks like a lord.”

With a gasp the young shadow colt looked down to the amulet around his neck,
“I wear the ruling amulet of Amasia! Put me down this instant!”

This prompted Shining Armor to glance at the young colt with wide eyes before inspecting the amulet closer,
“Sweet Celestia! Tyler, he speaks the truth!” Now Spearbolt let the young colt down. He seemed to have connections to nobility at least.

But Tyler waved it away,
“Meh! With all the houses in ruin out there, he might as well have found it from a corpse.”

With a look of outrage, the young shadow colt looked up to Tyler,
“I am no scavenger! This amulet belongs to me! My mother, Lady Deirdre of the Shadow Ponies gave it to me before she-” Tears welled in his eyes as he lowered his head in sorrow. “…before she died at the hooves of Queen Chrysalis!”

In this moment the eyes of Shining Armor and Tyler met each other, confirming with a silent nod that they’re thinking the same. Unintentionally they not only found a survivor in this torn apart city, but someone of the shadow ponies royalty. And a possible other threat forming in the shadows. Another royal guard looked to the young colt,
“Lady Deirdre of Amasia is dead?”

With a brief nod the colt replied confirmed,
“Yes! She was betrayed by her appearance like the rest of us! Now do you believe me? Now will you follow me?”

Shining Armor shook his head,
“We have no love for the Changelings… if they attacked your country, we will unite with your people to fight them together! Right, you brave souls?”

In unison, the stallions shouted “We will fight together!” in reply.

Patting the young colt on the shoulder, Tyler smiled,
“You have friends in the north! But for now we shall evacuate your people into safety.” Tyler looked up. “And you, Gold Shield shall be his bodyguard and protector!”

The sturdy crystal stallion arched his brow as if in outrage,
“Me, Gold Shield? The pride of the Crystal Empire Royal Guard nurse to a whimpering infant?”

Tyler gave the crystal stallion a grim look,
“This young colt will never whimper! But should he grow hungry, YOU will starve! And should he suffer, YOU will be disemboweled by me!”

The strong sturdy stallion wrinkled his nose,
“Gold Shield, the fastest runner, the greatest swordscolt, the fiercest fighter…” He bowed his head in defeat. “And now I’m the nursemaid…” This prompted the other guards to chuckle.

Tyler now knelt down to the colt,
“You have spirit, my boy… I’m a human known as Tyler Jones, but you can call me Tyler. With Lady Deirdre being your mother you must be…”

The young colt nodded with pride in his voice,
“Yes! My name is Irtex of Amasia, Son of Arthax!” He proclaimed his name and title like it was a victory in itself, what prompted Tyler to smile even wider.

* * * * *

Half an hour later, Irtex cowered in front of a dead shadow stallion,
“Duncan…” Surprisingly this body was one of very few not taken away. Tyler thought about this. Maybe after his death the Changelings had no use for it anymore and left it. Maybe the swarm only had use for living ponies. Being some kind of love vampires, corpses had no use to them. But the thought of that they took every citizen into their hive instead of just killing them… This was an even far worse thing to imagine.

Tyler then slowly approached Irtex from behind,
“He was a friend of yours?”

“Duncan was more than that! He was our family’s most loyal servant and friend. He also was my mentor… He gave his live to protect others…” Caressing the heavily bruised corpse, Irtex shed a tear. “Do you know what patriotism is, human?”

Tyler nodded,
“Where I’m from, it is a big virtue. Loyalty to your country, loyalty to the end.”

Irtex turned around and gave Tyler a glance,
“I see… You know about it then. Duncan never feared to lead by example and he… He was like a second father to me. Of course I know my father lives back in Amasia and only sent me and mother here to supervise the Enclave. Sometimes I think things might have been different if my father would have been here.”

Tyler sat down beside the colt,
“Our lands were attacked as well. The attackers wore the crest of the Amasian Enclave…”

Hearing this caused Irtex to open his eyes wide as he looked to Tyler,
“Lies! My mother never gave order to attack your lands! We were sent here to give threat assessment to the Amasian Empire to decide if the northern kingdoms are willing to fight or to trade! It became very quiet for a few centuries and my father decided that it was time to make contact once again with the northern kingdoms…” With this he stood up and saluted in front of Duncan’s body with a swift and orderly manner. “I will make sure Duncan and mother didn’t die in vain! I will lead my people back to safety.” Looking up to Tyler, the young colt looked very mature for his age. “Tyler Jones! I will trust the Equestrians. Please, help me to help my subjects!”

Tyler nodded and knelt down to Irtex,
"Helping your subjects and yourself I will. But where are they?”

“There’s a loophole right here. Just make sure no one spots us while we’re entering.” After a short sweep they decided that no one was around to see them enter and Irtex showed them the loophole. It was well hidden under sand and pebbles.
As a Changeling mare, hidden among the stalactites on the cave’s ceiling, glanced at them descending down, a dark smile grew on her face. Everything goes as planned… In MY plan… I will be queen instead of the queen…

As they descended down the tunnels, more and more stallions of the shadow ponies came in sight. The tunnels were heavily fortified and several stallions in weapons guarded it. Enough to kill a dozen, but not enough to face an army. As the soldiers passed them, several distrustful glares were exchanged, but the fact that Irtex was leading them, reduced the extent of distrust of the shadow ponies. Then they saw them. Hundreds of civilians.

They were dirty, their clothing tattered and torn apart, their looks distrustful and frightened. Tyler saw them cowering in corners, the fillies closely at the side of their mothers, the colts standing in front of them as if they would protect and fight for them if necessary. Heavy lumps grew in the throats of the equestrian and crystal soldiers as they saw this ongoing misery. These weren’t combatants, terrorists or raiders… They were refugees in their own land.

Tyler and Shining Armor exchanged a few glances, but Shining Armor could see the compassion in Tyler’s face. Although the stallion never was in a war himself, he took it that Tyler was only a civilian, not battle hardened. Suddenly Tyler turned directly to him,
“I’ve seen enough! This isn’t what we came for! Someone fooled us to believe this here was the cause of raid attacks! But look at them! They’re scared to death! They are supposed to be raiders? They are happy to be alive! Prepare them for ascend! We will get them all to Equestria! They need protection, food and proper shelter! Not torn apart ruins!”

But one of the shadow mares stood up to Tyler,
“This is our home! We won’t abandon it!” More and more shadow ponies nodded. Tyler saw their determination. They were warriors at heart and they would die for their loved ones if necessary.

With a nod he patted the shoulder of the shadow mare,
“And you will return to these lands. But not today! Today will be the day you will bring your children and heirs to safety so they can regain strength with you. You will live today to fight for these lands in the future!”

Irtex now came down the tunnels and the shadow ponies bowed before him,
“He is right! My subjects, my comrades, my brethren! Today we all must leave these lands to fight for them another day! My father, Lord Arthax would decide likewise. Remember my mother’s sacrifice! She wanted us to live. Don’t let her death be in vain!”

An hour later several well hidden loopholes opened and the dark shadow ponies entered the bright sunlight. It brought pain to their eyes, so they mostly closed their eyes. Only adjusting slowly to this bright environment, they approached the Harmonia and Victory. Shining Armor and Tyler watched them enter the transports,
“I think the pegasi will have to fly home by wing this time… One giant escort… And I think we should stop in Ponyville… They need food. They lived off subterranean herbs and mushrooms before we came…"

On the flight home, Tyler tried to imagine the many hardships these ponies had to endure. The invasion of their land, their city and being forced to flee like this. They were frightened and felt like at the mercy of the Equestrians. Out of their accustomed home they seemed to know almost nothing about the lands of the northern hemisphere. And as the two airships landed south to Ponyville, the shadow ponies hesitated to step out into a foreign land, but with Irtex leading the way, they followed in good faith. This was a strange land with plenty of food. It was nothing like the rocky valleys of the enclave.

As they passed Ponyville, most of the ponies were curious about the dark ponies. The shadow ponies on the other hand reacted ashamed and sheepish to the bright and colorful ponies of Equestria. They were so different, so happy and easygoing. It was nothing like the strict shadow pony way of discipline and deprivation. But nonetheless the Equestrian ponies, after hearing the real story of what happened in the enclave, insisted on giving the shadow ponies presents, to welcome their visitors despite not knowing their importance or unimportance for that matter. One shadow colt looked with widened eyes at Applebloom as she reached a basket of apples out to him. She was so bright and colorful, so happy and jaunty. As his mother came, she silently took the basket and bowed her head to the young earth pony while the colt hid behind the legs of his mother. Applejack, who stood behind Applebloom repaid the bow with one of her own and was very proud of her little sister to share like this.

There was gratitude despite the fear. Such generosity was only known among shadow ponies to be present when someone had much. There were little things which made tears well in the eyes of the young ponies. Questions if they wanted candy or other food from Pinkie Pie and the Cakes, the Cloudsdale pegasi asked if they wanted to stay in the bright sun or wanted some clouds to spend some shade to ease the eyes. And Rarity insisted on fixing torn apart clothing while being tempted to build a dark fashion line all the while. This caused the adult shadow ponies to regain some dignity back. There was so much hospitality from all sides. Shining Armor and Tyler nodded at each other. Bringing them here was the right thing to do.

As a royal guard led the princesses to the balcony, all three of them were in shock. A little army of refugees of shadow ponies was marching towards the valley beneath Canterlot Castle, escorted with several shadow spending clouds and pegasi directing the clouds. Both Celestia and Luna looked at each other before it bubbled out of their lips,
“What is the meaning of this?”

One hour later, Irtex had his audience in front of the princesses,
“I am Irtex, Son of Lady Deirdre who had fallen to protect those who made it this far to Equestria.” In an instant Shining Armor and Tyler stepped forth.

Shining bowed his head,
“Princess Celestia, forgive us if we decided in this matter without asking your permission.”

Tyler gave a brief nod as he continued where Shining stopped,
“We couldn’t let these poor souls left behind in a battlefield or a torn apart and ruined kingdom.”

Celestia gave both a stern look,
“Both of you, stop to justify your action right this instant. You both did what you think was the right thing. I wouldn’t have decided in a different way. Shining Armor!”

With this last word Shining armor looked up in a disciplined stance,
“Your Highness!”

“Lead the shadowponies into the crystal caves beneath Canterlot. I think the bright light of the sun is hurting their eyes. They shall seek shelter in familiar subterranean environment. I will order a setup of a refugee camp down below. It will be sufficient until we can think of a better place for so many refugees. I will also address a letter to the Amasian Empire. I’m sure King Arthax will be aghast over the loss of his enclave and beloved, but will be relieved to hear that his son and subjects are safe.” Irtex bowed his head as he followed Shining Armor out of the throne room.

Tyler remained on his place. As the Princesses recognized this, they turned their heads to him,
“Tyler? Is there something on your mind?”

He looked up and nodded with determination in his eyes,
“You bet there is something in my mind! They were attacked without provocation! Now Changeling armies are roaming the southern lands, without hindrance, arbitrarily murdering any shadow pony of Amasia! Celestia! We must call to arms to secure the borders! This is an issue everypony in Equestria must help with.”

Celestia gulped deeply,
“You aren’t speaking of war, Tyler. You speak of security. I credit you for this. Yes… there is a threat forming in the southern lands and for the sake of all of Equestria, we must take action. Luna and I will counsel on this. Rest assured that Luna and I already read your book. I think we know how to handle things now… But please… Help us out a bit.”

Tyler nodded,
“Then I say we should do threat assessment! We should know with how many Changelings we have to deal with this time. And THIS time they won’t catch us by surprise!”

Both sisters nodded,
“No, they won’t. I’m only sorry that others had to suffer first. And to think that we almost fell for another Changeling trickery and waged war against the Amasian Empire…”

Tyler shook his head,
“But we didn’t! We must never take appearances for certain if it comes to Changelings.” With this, he bowed before the princesses and left the throne room.

Twilight and Applejack waited outside and trotted alongside Tyler as he stepped outside,
“Well, what did she say?” Both mares seemed worried about the whole idea with him being involved into military matters.

But Tyler caressed their necks and nodded,
"They will counsel about this. To get the idea of what’s going on, I recommended a mission of threat assessment. So we can know how many Changelings we are dealing with. Until they decide, let’s go home! I can’t wait to have one of Granny Smith’s good old apple-” He gasped as they stepped outside the castle.

There were many mares and stallions waiting for something. As they saw Tyler, they slowly stood up and approached him with hopeful glances. One Pegasus mare was the first to come to him, presenting a small package to him,
“Tyler Jones… Please... I have a son, Striking Hammer in the fourth battalion of the royal guard…Please… Please, watch over him!” Tyler gulped and looked into the hopeful eyes of the mare.

As he pushed the gift back to her, he nodded silently,
“There is no need to give me a gift. I will try to help whoever I can.” It felt wrong to make that promise, but it made her smile and her hoof caressed his arm for a while longer.

Now a stallion approached him,
“I have a daughter, Shimmerwind…” As Tyler listened, he saw that more and more ponies approached him. His hand pulled in Twilight and Applejack and they felt the tension building up in his body. This became awkward and he wasn’t comfortable to be seen as some kind of savior. Twilight nodded briefly and teleported them away.

Reappearing near the train station, Tyler huffed out deeply,
“Thank you, Twilight… I think with Luna in the herd, ponies begin to think I can be there for every pony as some kind of patron.”

* * * * *

On the ride home Tyler praised Applebloom for being such a good little filly sharing her apples with that young colt. Applejack nodded and conversed, but Twilight felt the slight concern in his voice. It was like he tried to distract them from worrying too much. It was of course nice of him, but in the end they were worried without having him around. She proposed him so many times that she wanted to come with him on this next mission but he always shook his head, saying it would be too dangerous and that he needed her and Applejack back in Equestria for the unfortunate event that he should fail to protect them.

“Then it’s up to you girls to save the day. You and your elements mustn’t part from another, not even for my sake!” His words made her feel proud to have him as herd stallion, but it also stung a bit. He wasn’t thinking that she would be a hindrance; he simply didn’t want her to be hurt. That of course was very sweet of him, but they already fought the Changelings. Even without the Elements of Harmony. But this seemed to be the way humans saw the world. That the male had to protect the female. That of course seemed noble of him, but in Equestria it was the other way around. Mares looked out for their stallions.

Applejack gulped and pointed her hoof at Tyler,
“Pardner, all Ah want ya to swear to me that yer coming back in one piece! That’s all Ah ask of ya…”

Tyler grabbed her cheeks and looked into her eyes,
“Nothing will stop me to come back to you and your beautiful emerald green eyes, Applejack… Once this is over, we will have all the time in the world to get you my foal. I promise!” With this he kissed her and this eased her worries to a satisfying extent.

But Twilight’s concerns couldn’t be wiped away with promises and kisses. Although Tyler asked her to charge him up before, this exceeded her previous charges for him by far. Whatever the reason, he was deeply concerned about the possible threat of enemies and the vast arsenal of spells that she had injected into him were more than enough proof to her that he expected conflict. Heavy conflict. While he sat in front of her, the young unicorn fired one spell after another into him. Once she was tired, Tyler asked Rarity to charge him up with more levitation spells. The seamstress didn’t object; she was happy of doing her part by helping Tyler get ready faster.

It was two days later that the princesses decided to send him and Shining Armor forth to another mission with the Harmonia and Victory, led by Prince Blueblood this time. This of course was not to Tyler’s liking, but threat assessment was the mission. Not fighting. The princesses weren’t the kind of rulers who would sit idly while a threat would establish beyond the borders of their realm. On the night before they parted, Applejack and Twilight lied beside Tyler, all three of them sweating and panting from the passionate love they had shared.

Now caressing their manes he looked down,
“I want you two to relax. I will come back to you. I love you too damn much to die in a godforsaken part of the landscape without kissing you both for one last time.”

Applejack leaned on his chest,
“Don’t say that, Tyler… Yer scarin’ us!”

While they both nuzzled him, Twilight leaned in,
“When do you have to go?” Tyler caressed her mane and kissed Twilight. If it would go for him, he would just wave it all away and let others do the things while he was there for the ponies that needed him the most. How he wished he could stay with them and the others like this forever.

But he sighed. It wasn’t possible with a threat like that hovering above them all,
“They will be ready in three days…” He muttered, before he pulled Twilight closer for another passionate kiss. “I will come back to you two… I will always find my way back to you…”

* * * * *

Three days later deep inside the cavernous deeps of the Enclave, deep below the tunnels of the ruined city rested the Changeling hive, growing and spreading like a disease. Within all that buzzing and humming, two eyes were kept close. Princess Shiria was in deep slumber, dreaming about the day she came to mind. She remembered the day quite well as she forced herself outside the egg before her mother’s eyes with the size of a young filly, with a soft body drooling with green ooze from her egg. Oh how the first words of her mother echoed in her mind.

Her slumber was suddenly disturbed as two Changelings woke her up,
“Princess! My princess!! The queen awaits your report in the throne room!”

Opening her eyes, she gave the two Changelings a disgusted look. 'How dare they to disturb my slumber…?',
“Changeling!” One of the Changelings looked up to her when she pointed her perforated hoof to the other Changeling. “Kill him!”

The ordered Changeling blinked and looked at his target,
“Kill him?”

Shiria nodded,
“Yes… Kill him!”

Approaching the other Changeling, he opened his jaw and prepared to bite. The other Changeling closed his eyes and smiled,
“My life for the swarm…”

As he whispered that, his neck was bitten through and his head fell to the ground. The other Changeling looked up to Shiria like an obedient puppy. Shiria smiled satisfied,
“Thank you… Now kill yourself!”

“What? Kill myself?” The Changeling truly was confused now. Wasn’t he obeying orders to her satisfaction?

But Shiria kept her smile,
“Yes… Now kill yourself!”

As the Changeling struck out, he looked up to Shiria,
“My life for the almighty swarm!” As he slammed his hoof into his chest several times, the chitin plates broke up and his guts fell out. As Shiria watched him die, she yawned a bit. Then she buzzed off to the queen’s chamber. The power over Changelings is soo boring…

Entering the chamber of her mother, she saw Chrysalis sitting on her throne and knelt before her,
“Shiria! My beloved daughter…” Rolling her green eyes she approached the queen. Yeah right… If you love me, then why can’t I feed from you, you old hag?Entering this hall meant complete silence unless the queen ordered one to speak. Shiria hated it and she hated to kiss her mother’s hooves like this. Who cared about her giving birth on commando? She could do that herself if only she was allowed to build a hive of her own. Her mother looked down to her, huffing in labor pains as she gave birth to yet another egg, which was brought away carefully. Jealousy now boiled in Shiria, she wanted as well. But she was disturbed in her thoughts as Chrysalis began to speak. “I sense them coming, my daughter… Assemble the troops and ready the traps you made up.”

Shiria bowed her head,
“As you command, mother!”

* * * * *

By that time the two airships landed and the troops swarmed out. Tyler and Shining Armor nodded at each other and began planning. As Blueblood interfered, Tyler sighed, but played along. So it was decided that the squads were split up to sweep certain parts of the area, while Blueblood and his team had to make sure the safety of the airships were given. And with this they swarmed out with Tyler getting used to the communication crystal that was given to him. A magical walkie-talkie! How nice! He thought as he and his squad descended down to the upper tunnels and the city, not knowing, that tiny green eyes already spotted them.

Down below the hive Shiria approached several Changeling brutes,
“Our scout dronelings found a strange creature in the upper tunnels! Send troops to investigate!” In her mind, Shiria knew about this strange tall creature already. He would have a key role in her plans, but in front of her mother’s troops she had to play that of the obedient princess and commander.

The bulkier Changelings nodded and turned to two lesser Changelings,
“Changeling warriors C-66 and D-13 will investigate the upper tunnels with their squads!”

Both Changeling warriors nodded in unison,
“We obey the princess!”

It was then when Shiria interfered,
“No! You search for other things like ponies in the tunnels of the city. This creature maybe not works on its own. I will handle this creature on my own, prepare my squads!”

By now the guards in Shining Armor’s squad were in the tunnels on the outskirts of the hive. There was some sort of unidentified growth on the tunnel walls which looked like some sort of wax in slight green color,
“Just look at this! What is this stuff?”

“I don’t know… Looks like organic stuff to me. Think it’s alive?”

Shining Armor gritted his teeth as he barked at the guards,
“Nopony touches nothing!” Levitating the crystal in front of him, the white stallion looked at the black and green material covering the walls. “Tyler, come in! Do you also see this stuff on the walls?"

The human’s voice emerged from the crystal,
“That we do! Busy little bastards, eh? We’re going north, but right now, there’s nothing. I think my squad already reaches the end of this little tunnel system. Maybe this part here isn’t used that much… Be careful. As far as I know, no pony ever went so far inside a Changeling hive…” With this Shining Armor stowed away his crystal. That’s true… Nopony ever was so deep… And personally I can’t say I want to go deeper…

Tyler looked around in the chamber he and his troops were,
“Beta Squad, I say this looks like a dead end… Go back and help to secure the airship. I will come back in a few minutes; I will just take a few samples of this strange stuff. If I don’t, don’t come looking for me.”

The others looked at Tyler,
“Sir, you think that’s safe?”

Showing of some lightning from his fist Tyler nodded,
“I’ll handle a few Changelings I guess. This is a threat assessment mission anyway. No fighting in a larger scale. Should anything happen you guys are the first to know.” With a nod, they reluctantly ascended back to the surface. Tyler looked around. The bait is set; now let’s see who walks into my trap… Or I’m in theirs now… Come on… Where is itsy bitsy spider? Behind him he could hear how a wall of organic matter slowly slithered open with a nasty wet sound. Slowly he turned around.

It was then when she approached him. Celestia stood before him against all odds,
“Hello, human…” No, this couldn’t be Celestia… The way she looked at him. There was a lust for murder in it. And she definitely wouldn’t call him ‘human’ just like that. In this place it had to be one of these Changelings. The mimicry went beyond everything Tyler knew of in the matter of mimicry back from earth. He eyed this ‘Celestia’ carefully, watching its every move. But still she continued talking. “Surprised to see something like me?”

After inspecting her for a bit, he shook his head,
“Not really. I got the impression that something was wrong here the instant I saw all those ruins. You did this… You destroyed the Enclave! But how? These were heavy gates; you alone couldn’t break that open.”

With a sly grin, ‘Celestia’ grinned,
“You’re quite right… We got some help from you…”

This prompted Tyler to grit his teeth. With this giant detonation of course some dark minded individuals might become curious to misuse this incident even more,
“So I take it you somehow salvaged some of my blood… How? Who did you kill to get that?”

“This is a S-E-C-R-E-T…” she scoffed at him.

But Tyler kept his cool for now,
“And now what? Mimic me to get into the heart of Equestria? Go on! I’d like to take a look into the mirror!” ‘Celestia’s’ eyes widened and she gritted her teeth, what prompted Tyler to smirk. Got you by the balls there girl… “So… I take it you can’t mimic me… Another perk of being from different anatomy… And now you fear I might come up with ideas to spoil your plans…”

“The thought came up, yes.” Seeing him smirk, she began to grin herself now. Tyler arched a brow as his smirk slowly died. Surely she had more up her sleeve than to look pretty. “You think you may be ready for us, human… But this is only appearance. And as you maybe know… Appearances can be deceiving…” It was then when Tyler heard other hooves coming closer.

Twilight approached him from the left,
“It is the hive that created us!” Tyler turned around with wide eyes. Twilight as well?

Applejack and Rainbow Dash approached him from behind,
“The hive is what connects us.”

Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy came from the right,
“It is the hive that defines…and what binds us!”

Tyler looked around with his eyes big as plates. What the serious fuck? Twilight was right. These Changeling things could give one the creeps. They looked exactly like the ponies of Ponyville. Every inch of their bodies copied in every detail. Coat, mane, even voice!

Now Celestia's voice sounded off once more,
“We are here to destroy something from Equestria. We are here to destroy what is supposed to destroy the hive!” By the time he looked again at the Changeling who embodied Celestia, her body heavily changed, showing a grotesque face, like an insect-like pony mare with fangs. “It will be Princess Shiria who will be your doom. Remember this name!”

With this, a green aura engulfed her horn and she blasted a ray of magic at him, compelling him to fall down on his knees in pain. She wasn’t hesitating, that much was certain. But her blast didn’t kill Tyler as she hoped it would. Like unicorn magic, he could absorb this sort of magic, but it stung like hell. Have to… get this… shit out of me… This Changeling magic felt like poison inside him and he released it in a strong blast wave towards Shiria.

While he got free from her magic, the blast wave slammed Shiria away from him, only to be grabbed by several Changelings. He punched the one to his left away, only to grab the Changeling to his right and slam the insect into three others behind him. Turning around Shiria again leaped onto him, but he let himself fall on his back, so she landed on his feet and was tossed over him, slammed into other Changelings. As Tyler jumped up with a somersault, he was brought off balance by a Changeling leaping from behind.

On the ground, he kicked it away, coming on his feet again, only to be kicked by the hind legs of another Changeling. Falling into another Changeling that hissed at him aggressively, he head butted the creature. Damn it! There’s too many of them… Jumping up again, he was grabbed by two changelings with a third one jumping at him with wide opened fangs from the front. But Tyler jumped up and delivered a kick into the face of the third attacker, sending it back into the swarm what tossed several Changelings around. Tyler then grabbed the two who held him and smashed them against their brethren, using them as living blunt weapons. As he got more and more room, a dead Changeling, magically tossed by Shiria got him from behind, strong enough to send Tyler flying.

Crash-landing against a wall he got up on his feet, his lips bleeding. “I see… As you wish… We play THIS game!” No longer punch to knock out… Punch to kill! As Shiria grinned at him, her grin faded as a sadistic, crazy grin came onto Tyler’s face. As another Changeling leaped onto him, the brute force of Tyler’s punch sent the insect flying backwards while spinning. Its neck was twisted and utterly broken, the face crushed and the chitin plates utterly broken towards the inside. This sight prompted the Changelings to hiss challenged. Tyler was a force to deal with and now they knew he was willing to kill as they were.

Shiria gritted her teeth as she saw Tyler going into fighting stance, gesturing with two fingers that they should come at him. He was heavily outnumbered, cornered and still this creature had the nerve to challenge them? Enraged with this extent of boldness, her eyes widened and her pupils became tiny dots as her perforated hoof pointed at Tyler. With an aggressive, commanding high screech from her, the Changelings stormed onwards with bare fangs.

Swarming at him with even larger numbers, they grew more aggressively with each of them killed and began biting as well once in range. Although he’d killed several dozen until now, their number still grew. Strength in numbers… Primitive, but clever all the while! Tyler thought. As one Changeling tackled him down several Changelings leaped onto him, tacking him down. Tyler gritted his teeth as he saw the face of a Changeling warrior right beside him in this pile.

His cheek rubbed against the chitin plate of the face while the Changeling hissed angrily. Big surprise! With this Tyler released several spells in him at once causing this pile above him to explode in little Changeling pieces. A hoof here, a torso there, several other limbs left and right. The detonation sent everything in that chamber to the ground. While they all lied on the ground, Tyler ran towards the nearest tunnel with only one goal. Upwards. Away from these things, they would swarm him to death if he would stay here.

Standing up from between the piles of Changelings on the ground, Shiria gritted her teeth and galloped a few meters until her wings buzzed angrily and she took off. As Tyler ran through the tunnels towards the surface, the angry humming from below grew louder. If only he could fly in these narrow tunnels. But with his poor flight skills with levitation spells right now he would smash against every wall. And while Shiria led her mother’s Changelings up the tunnels, the swarm came closer and closer to Tyler.

He couldn’t run faster, but he sure could make them fly slower. And with this he charged several bolts in his fists and turned around. As he fired the bolts into the ceiling between him and the Changelings, the collapse caused the tunnel to collapse. Turning around, he then grabbed his crystal while running further,
“Anyone! If you copy then sound off! Changeling hordes down below! A real hornets nest!”

As Blueblood heard this, he looked up,
“Prepare to evacuate immediately.” By now Tyler reached the airship as the crew was in the last steps of taking off.
While taking his breath, Tyler looked up from the cargo hold. “What about the other airship?” Just like an answer, the Victory exploded a few hundred meters nearby.

There was complete silence until the communication crystal sounded off,
“This is Shining Armor! We have a massive wave of Changelings advancing on our position! They’ve detected our airship and destroyed it! We need immediate evacuation!”

The airship’s captain looked to Blueblood,
“Milord, I need an order!”

“Here is your order: Full back!” Blueblood uttered beneath his breath and in an emotionless tone.

Tyler tossed several guards aside and looked up the hatch to Blueblood who stood on deck,
“What are you saying? We don’t leave our comrades behind! Let me get them out of there!”

With a brief shake of his head, the prince closed his eyes while wrinkling his nose,
“As far as I’m concerned this mission is over! We have found a complete Changeling swarm. And I won’t jeopardize our troops for the sake of one tiny squad!”

Meanwhile a giant Changeling brute broke through a massive wall, smashing an earth pony beneath a powerful blow of sheer might. The unicorns blasted the giant Changeling to pieces, perforating the thick armor plates and piercing several organs inside. But more and more they got exhausted. Shining Armor shook his head and spoke another time into the crystal,
“Ah… folks? About that evacuation…? Whenever you’re ready! We sure as hay are!”

Tyler gritted his teeth while slamming his fist on a crate as he spoke into his crystal, beseeching the prince,
“Damn it, Blueblood you coward… It’s only a few hundred meters! DON’T DO THIS!!!”

“I already did it.” Blueblood scoffed. “If the human tries to jeopardize this mission, you have permission to arrest him by force!”

Down on the ground, Shining Armor looked up as the Harmonia took off. While the airship went off to the north, the changelings seemed more interested in the Victory and the crystal ponies,
“Blueblood? Tyler! What is going on up there?” But there came no response. Looking down to his comrades, Shining Armor shook his head. There was no hope for them to get out of this. From all sides the swarm came in and encircled them like a ring. As the swarm overwhelmed them, a perforated hoof knocked the white unicorn stallion out.

Next Chapter: 12 - Long live the Queen ** Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 19 Minutes