Silth rolled over panting, attempting to calm down after feasting on so much love. She knew from earlier how such a concentration of love could affect her horn so she was certain to keep it from touching any flammable surfaces. As she lay on her back staring at the ceiling, she thought of what she would do once her children conquered the Silver Isles. The ancient library would be all hers and she would be able to consume all the knowledge inside. But that wasn’t all she would consume. Princess Desalia and her advisors, as well as other ponies. Once Ciaran was brought here she would drain her of any scrap of emotion she had left. Then there was her prized possession. She smiled imagining them all hanging in pods from the ceiling, soon it would be a reality. Silth was distracted from her fantasizing by the sensation of liquid dripping down her side. She lifted her head to see her toy laying on top of her. Aldus lay facing the changeling with all four hooves dangling at her sides. Completely entranced, he was drooling while staring at the wall

“Aldus...” Silth Cooed in her most seductive voice.

The grey unicorn's ears perked up and he slowly raised his head. Silth remained still as Aldus mustered strength in his forelegs. In her feeding, she had sapped him of almost all his strength and magic. Still, she enjoyed seeing her pet react to her voice. Silth was almost twice a tall as Aldus with her long legs and large but slender body.

“Hello there...” Silth said as she wrapped her forehooves around Aldus and brought him in for a passionate kiss. She was surprised to find he was such a good kisser. The kissing was quickly becoming just as satisfying as the emotions being consumed. With lips still locked on her toy, Silth ignited her horn for a split second and ended the hypnosis he was under.

With the blue vanishing from his eyes Aldus continued to kiss Silth before finally breaking away and staring into her own pale blues. He simply frowned and collapsed into Silth’s chest. The changeling looked down at him and frowned, “What’s wrong, sweetie? Did I take too much?”

No response.

Silth lightly stroked what remained of his mane, “Would you like to go back into the pool? We can relax there in the hot springs. Or maybe you need to go back in your pod for a while?”

Aldus tried to move but did not have the strength. Silth licked her fangs before rolling over on her side and bringing Aldus to eye level. The poor thing had shut his eyes, but for Silth, bringing him out of a trance only to put him back into one was all part of the fun. It exhausted the mind of the victim and made it easier for Silth to feed, but Aldus’ mind was stronger than any she’d ever attempted to overpower. Even so, at the moment he was completely in her clutches. The effects of her spell still lingered in Aldus’ mind, with a bit of coaxing she was able to bring them forward in very subtle ways.

Aldus tried to ignore the sweet voice in the back of his mind. But as he was exposed to more of Silth’s magic it was becoming harder and harder. His mind told his eyes to remain shut, but he could feel them starting to slowly open.

Aldus opened his eyes a crack to familiar blue spirals. He slowly turned his head away but his eyes remained locked on the changelings. His face contorted into an expression of sorrow. “Please... Silth... no more...”

The changeling only grinned and intensified the spirals in her eyes. The sad frown Aldus wore soon turned upside down into a broad silly grin. Silth was quick to move in and give the grin purpose. After another hour of feeding, Silth decided enough was enough. She encased Aldus in a magical field and levitated him to his pod. But as he was spinning in the air he reached out to her and muttered her name... and something else.

Silth was positive no pony could form complex thought patterns under her spell, and she considered him saying her name while under its effects to be a fluke due in part to his prowess as a wizard. No... she definitely heard him say something. The changeling princess sat up and levitated the unicorn in front of her. She looked into his eyes and spoke to him.

“Did you say something, sweetie?”

Aldus simply stared at her, some drool beginning to drip from his mouth. Silth levitated him into the air again and began to move him away when he spoke.

“No... I... don’t want to be alone...”

Silth’s eyes widened. She pondered the situation for a few moments. The pods the changelings used to detain their prey were hardly cruel. Supplying good dreams and happy feelings to their occupants, the magic they used almost gave them a personality of their own. Like guardians ensuring a safe slumber for those who resided inside them. The liquid suspended them and kept the occupants warm or cool depending on the weather. They even provided them a form of nourishment. Silth remembered the details of the prison Aldus was stored in. She was unable to learn much about it, due to the lack of information, but she surmised her toy could be associating his pod with his prison. Perhaps it gave him a similar claustrophobic feeling, albeit on a subconscious level?  

Silth stared into his sorrowful expression as he reached for her with a limp hoof. She had taken so much love from him already, he didn’t need to go back to his pod yet. Slowly the changeling levitated him to the bed and collected him in her hooves. They both laid down as Silth kissed her toy and ran a hoof through his mane.

“Silth...” he muttered.

“Shh” Silth whispered, “It’s okay... you won’t be alone tonight. Its time to go to sleep.” Her horn emitted a dull blue glow as Aldus’ eyes struggled to remain open. “Sleep Aldus, I’m not going anywhere.”

Once Aldus’ eyes shut, Silth rested her horn under his’. This must have been what ponies who truly loved each other did when they slept together. She had to admit, feeling Aldus’ warmth next to her was comforting. There was no need to feed tomorrow, she would let Aldus regain all of his strength for when her hunger returned. With her mind at ease, the changeling closed her eyes and welcomed the call of sleep.

----------

The moon passed behind a few clouds as Marigold adjusted the new attachments to her armor. Since arriving on the flagship of the silver fleet, their engineers had offered to give her new technology they had been developing. She donned her helmet and its visor clicked into place and illuminated the night in front of her. It was a form of night vision, and she welcomed the advantage. Only the bat ponies could see perfectly well in the dark. Marigold wondered if any of them would make an appearance at the battle. Their old battle commander could certainly make good use of them now that he has returned.

The clamoring sound of soldiers preparing ceased for a moment while a tall figure approached the area of crates where Marigold was seated. Rigel trotted up to her a with a nod. “Well, well... you look simply stunning in that armor, Marigold.”

The pegasus mare looked up and blushed, though the stallion in front of her could not see it. Rigel wore a light flight suit similar to the Wonderbolt and Shadowbolt uniforms. However, this one was fitted with several tubes and power crystals. Marigold thought his helmet was... odd. quite odd in fact. It covered his entire face while a tube ran from a respirator to a device situated on his back. His eyes were hidden by a visor that was the shape of an upside down V. It appeared that somepony stuck it on his face while the two lines ran down and outward passing over his eyes.

Marigold had to admit though, not seeing his jovial smile and dashing good looks made him an ominous presence. The silver flight suit covered most of his body except his blue mane and tail. The wrist joints of his wings were fitted with some kind of silver metal.

“What’s on your wings?” Marigold asked.

“Oh these? Just something the silver ponies thought I could test out.” he said while extending the joints. Two slightly curved blades swept forward and reflected the moonlight. “Retractable blades, for dealing with close range enemies.”

Marigold removed her helmet and frowned. “Close range? You think it will come to that?”

Rigel put a hoof around the mare’s shoulder and leaned in close, “It always does, always. Follow me, I want to address the rest of the pegasi before we arrive.”

Marigold followed Rigel onto the deck of the ship and watched him move through the crowd. As he approached, the Silver Isles pegasi began to take notice and straightened. Some saluted him while others whispered to themselves. Rigel took it all in stride, giving some stallions and mares reassuring pats on the shoulder while stopping to help one stallion get into his flight suit. Marigold felt her heart pounding from both fear and admiration. Rigel was a natural leader, the way the ponies looked up to him, the way their mood changed from fear to anticipation when he stepped on deck. This must have been what the Shadowbolts felt like before they entered battle with their leader. A rush of excitement washed over her as the realization hit her. This was what she had been training for, it wasn’t for nothing that wonderbolts wanted to recruit her. Tonight she would show Rigel and these silver ponies what she could do.

Rigel climbed up on a platform and surveyed the crowd of ponies on the deck. Their number must have neared four hundred at least, with as many more below deck. He cleared his throat and removed his helmet. “Soo...” he said with a sly grin, “Beautiful night, isn’t it?”

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

Silth stirred in her slumber. She was having strange dreams, as her senses returned to her she felt the bed shake a bit. But it wasn’t just the bed, the entire room shook as grains of dirt fell from the ceiling. She turned her head to the side to make sure her toy was alright, but he was not beside her. Silth’s eyes shot open and scanned the room, She saw a figure leaning on one of the balcony doors but could not focus her eyes due to waking so abruptly. She attempted to rub her eyes with her hooves but could not move them. To her horror, her hooves and forehooves were locked to the bed by some sort of viscous black tar. She struggled and grunted, which seemed to alert the figure standing by the balcony.

Silth’s struggling ceased upon seeing the complete image of the figure approaching her. It was a unicorn but its face was... destroyed, there could be no other word to describe it. Half of the left side of its face was gone, what remained of the flesh and muscle sagged and dangled from its jaws and cheekbones. The left eye socket and eyebrow drooped as well, giving it a sorrowful appearance, an eternal frown. Its teeth were visible through the holes where flesh should have been, it was almost as if it was grinning at her. But that was not the case as the other portion of its face remained stoic and unmoving, studying her.

Silth felt her heart begin to race, this was fear. No... dread. She had never felt this way before, not even when her mother attempted to legitimately kill her.

“A- Aldus?”

“Aldus The Moondeath,” the mangled unicorn replied with a slight bow, “Or so I have been called before.”

“I- I-” Silth stuttered.

“Do I frighten you, Silth?” Aldus asked, his ruined features attempting to twist into a smile.

Silth flushed in anger realizing he should still be under her control. She struggled to lean forward and overwhelm Aldus with a hypnotic assault. Her eyes turned to fast racing blue spirals, but Aldus only shook his head and sat on the bed next to her.

“I’m afraid that won’t work anymore, Silth. It was fun while it lasted.”

Silth gnashed her teeth together, “You! YOU!! ... I’ll!!” sudden energy rushed to her jagged horn to take the form of a powerful offensive spell, but was quickly absorbed by the many black crystals growing there. “What? What is this? What have you done to me?!”

Aldus ran a hoof through her mane, his features were truly frightening this close, Silth could only imagine what he had gone through to look like this.

“I’ve simply decided to remove you from tonight’s coming events, I believe it is for your own good. But don’t worry, you’ll be able to observe what happens from here, and I’ll be  by your side... for most of the night, anyway.”

“Tonight’s events?” Silth asked, “Oh...” She remarked with a sneer, “Is tonight the time your friends arrive? They will be ambushed by thousands of changelings from the sea, they will be annihilated.”

Silth’s confidence began to fade when she saw Aldus lower his head and pityingly stroke her mane.

“Yes...” Aldus admitted while more loud rumbles could be heard in the distance, “They are already here... but not by sea, by air.”

Silth’s eyes widened. She had positioned more than a third of her army beneath the waves and by the shore awaiting ships that would never come. The information she had obtained via her spies was... wrong...

Silth spat in Aldus’ face, “It doesn’t matter if they come from the air, there is no way you can defeat a force the size of my colony, no matter how many you kill there will be more. You will drown in our dead.”

Aldus wiped the liquid from his face and got up from the bed. He regarded Silth with a nod and began to pace beside her. “That is true, your numbers vastly outnumber our own, and matters of war are far beyond me. They are also beyond most ponies in Canterlot and the Silver Isles. I wouldn’t trust anypony from this time to formulate a winning strategy against overwhelming odds, and against changelings.”

Silth didn’t like where this was going. Aldus looked at her with a genuine sad expression, “I lost many friends and loved ones in the civil war, but those of us who survived long and till the end gained strength and courage beyond measure. We became different ponies.”

Silth narrowed her eyes at Aldus and watched him motion toward her collection of books and scrolls. “You are a student of history, Silth, or so it seems. You must have read about the company I kept during the war. Did you ever wonder if I was the only one to return?”

The changeling slowly nodded. Aldus continued, “I am not the only one, there are others, my friends.” Aldus paused for a moment and surveyed the moors beyond. “One of which is an expert in war and combat, the one who led Nightmare Moon’s armies in battle.”

Silth’s heart all but stopped, an uncomfortable heat washed over her like a wave. She had studied the Equestrian Civil War extensively to learn about Aldus. In several documents there was mention of the general who commanded their armies. A noble knight who was not Equestrian, but fought for the Princess of the Night nonetheless. The commander for whom every battle fought was one of being vastly outnumbered, yet he claimed victory after victory. He trained the savage bat ponies to fight amongst his army and struck fear into the army of the sun. A unicorn from the Silver Isles who was never bested in single combat.

Silth stared at the ceiling and muttered, “The Dreadstar...”  

“That’s right,” Aldus said with a grin, “Polaris the Dreadstar.”

The changeling princess began to breathe heavily, it was too much... too much. She couldn’t do anything, she panicked, “GUARDS!! GUARDS!! HELP ME!!”

Aldus shook his head and looked at her before turning toward the door, “You should not have done that, Silth.”

The double doors to Silth’s chambers burst open revealing three changeling guards. It took seconds for them to see Aldus and their leader subdued on the bed. All three rushed forward to apprehend the unicorn. The floor below them erupted into dancing white arcs of light. The changelings were lifted into the air screaming as their carapaces burned away. After a few moments, three charred corpses fell to the ground in a heap.

“No...” Silth croaked.

Aldus rounded on her and opened his mouth to say something but stopped. He realized Silth was staring at something behind him. Aldus whirled around to be lifted off the floor by a blast of orange energy. The blast of magic was so powerful in sent him crashing through the wall deep into the mountain.

Through the smoke still hanging in the air from the lightning rune, a tall female changeling stepped through, her horn steaming with energy and her eyes ablaze. Cynthia’s eyes swept over to her mother, they stared at each other for what seemed like hours. There were no words between them, none were necessary. Cynthia had taken some of Aldus’ love and made herself powerful, perhaps powerful enough to challenge Silth. But there were bigger problems now, and their eyes registered a mutual understanding.

Cynthia stepped forward and prepared another spell. The hole made in the wall was obscured by bits of falling rock and dust. Suddenly Silth felt a slight surge of magical energy, “Cynthia!” she cried.

A shrill scream erupted from the hole as Aldus flew through the opening at unthinkable speed slamming into Cynthia. He pinned her to the wall and reached for her horn.

“Don’t let him touch you, Cynthia!” Silth shouted.

The younger changeling reacted, mostly in fear, throwing off the unicorn, if it could even be called that. Aldus’ face contorted into an expression of pain as he spread the tar black wings sprouting on from his sides. But that wasn’t all, three slimy tentacles began to appear on his shoulders and back. They pulsated and grew as Aldus began to laugh.

Cynthia snarled, baring her fangs, “I’ll suck you dry after breaking every bone in your body, pony.”

“Will you now? Why don’t you run off and let the grownups talk?” Aldus asked with a grin, glancing over to Silth.

Cynthia howled in rage and fired a beam of orange energy directly at Aldus’ horn. Silth watched as his left hoof began to glow with purple markings. In a split second he maneuvered his hoof in front of the blast and stopped it short of impacting his face. The beam began to narrow the closer it got to Aldus, at that moment Silth realized what was happening.

“Cynthia, you fool! Stop! He’s absorbing it!”

The young changeling halted the assault to see her adversary’s left hoof steaming with purple energy.

“All you changelings love to feed on other creatures, I think it’s high time you learned what that felt like.”

Aldus reached to his right shoulder with his left hoof and pulled the writhing black tentacle out of his back. He held it in his hoof and squeezed it, in response the tentacle flailed about as purple energy coursed through it. Aldus threw it onto the ground where it dissolved into a puddle of black sludge. Moments later the sludge began to take the shape of a small black pony. The pony grew tiny wings and horn before raising its head in an ear splitting scream.

Two tiny fangs flicked out from its mouth as it slowly turned on Cynthia. Silth’s eyes bulged in horror. “CYNTHIA!!” Silth wailed, “GET AWAY FROM THAT THING!!!”

The small pony opened its mouth wide, wider, wider still until its top and bottom jaws formed a one hundred eighty degree angle. It screamed and lunged at Cynthia who dodged away at the last second. Aldus teleported in front of her and fired a blast of dark magic directly into her chest causing her to stagger backwards. As she recovered, blinding pain erupted from her rear left leg as the little pony clamped its jaws down. Cynthia winced and tried to force it off. Her eyes widened when she realized what this little monstrosity was doing. She felt her emotional energy, magical energy, and life energy being sucked away. Aldus ran toward her preparing to fire another spell, but Cynthia saw him from the corner of her eye and slugged him right in the mangled jaw. He grunted and flew backward landing on his back.

Cynthia shook the pony latched onto her frantically but stopped when an idea came to her. She closed her eyes to focus all the magic energy she could and forced it to gather away from her horn, closer to the abomination stealing her power. Now, the majority of the energy it was taking was magic. Cynthia forced nearly all her reserves into the little monster, and as a result it began to glow orange.

Aldus recovered and got to his hooves but Cynthia was prepared, she hit him with all the magic she could muster. Aldus was able to erect a ward at the last second, but the blast was so powerful it shattered it and launched him off the balcony. Capitalizing on the moment, Cynthia tore the pony away taking a chunk of her leg with it. In one fluid motion she spun and hurled the pony out the window at Aldus. Just as the small pony collided with him, Cynthia hit it with a bolt of lightning causing a catastrophic explosion.

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

Rigel assessed the Silver Isle Pegasi standing before him. He began to pace back and forth before speaking. “Some of you might know who I am, others may not. In the end it doesn’t matter. Though I may be from a different time, one thing remains certain. We are all pegasi. But for those of you who do know me, and know of my record, I’d like to make something clear before we get started tonight. I’ve been called many things in my time of flying. Captain, Ace, Blood Hurricane, and all the other ridiculous nicknames. I was trained as a combat flyer, but I never looked at it that way specifically. Do you all know what I am?”

Marigold looked on from behind Rigel as the crowd muttered to itself and waited for Rigel’s answer, she had to admit she didn’t know where he was going with this.

“I’m a real estate pony!” Rigel said with a triumphant hoof pump in the air. The crowd grew silent as the silver pegasi scratched their heads in confusion. Rigel turned to Marigold and gave her a quick wink. “I don’t just look for any real estate, oh no. In the past, and now, I’ve always gone after one specific type. The most vital, most important, most beautiful real estate in the world, the sky.” Rigel said while hovering into the air and sweeping a hoof across the horizon.

The silver pegasi began to understand what Rigel was saying. They nodded and began to get revved up. Marigold felt like she was watching history in the making.

“We are just a small part in the larger plan of this battle, but our part is important for our friends. Once we complete our tasks, Polaris and Aldus will have an easier time accomplishing theirs.” Rigel put a hoof to his chest and bowed his head, “Long ago, the Silver Isles was a place of rest and relaxation for myself, Aldus, and Polaris. You ponies have always been our friends, and we will not let the isles fall to a bunch of bugs!”

The silver ponies cheered as Rigel worked the crowd. Marigold found herself standing up and moving closer to Rigel without realizing it.  

“Tonight you all fly with me and my wingmare! Tonight we’ll steal the show from Aldus and Polaris! Tonight... these skies belong to the silver pegasi and Princess Desalia!!!”

The cheering suddenly fell silent as a bright light erupted from the approaching mountain. Rigel and Marigold put on their helmets and looked on through their visors. What came seconds after the light appeared was the deafening boom and shockwave that rocked the ship. Marigold was shaking but stopped when Rigel placed a hoof on her shoulder. He turned to the silver pegasi and shouted, “Look at that! Are we going to let Aldus steal all the glory, lets go!”

The silver pegasi yelled battle cries as they flew off the deck toward the mountain.

Rigel leaned down to Marigold, “You are my wingmare for this battle, stay close to me, Marigold. Show me what you can do.”

Marigold nodded and took off after Rigel. There was no way they would lose.This sky belongs to Equestria and the Silver Isles.

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

The shockwave of the explosion shook the four troop airships as they descended to land upon the moors. Each of the silver warrior ponies looked at Polaris with awe and respect. He was a hero in their kingdom, stories about him were still taught to young foals. Many of the warriors gathered around him now were foals when they learned about him, and now they were about to go into battle with a legend.

Polaris braced himself as the troop airships began to take fire from changelings emerging from the forest. The ponies muttered to each other before stopping when Polaris raised a hoof in the air.

“Our time is short, so I’m going to be brief. Aldus is subduing the enemy leader and sabotaging their efforts from within, Rigel is taking control of the sky. It is our job to break the enemy army. The creatures we’re fighting can take the form of our fellow soldiers, but our airships will be broadcasting a frequency from their crystals to disrupt the shape shifting ability. However, this is no reason to take the enemy lightly, they will fight savagely.”

Polaris bowed to his fellow silver ponies, “It has been too long since I stood together with ponies from my homeland, I’m very proud to be with you today. But just because you are silver ponies like me does not mean I expect less from you, on the contrary, I expect more! When I commanded Nightmare Moon’s army I had one rule for my soldiers in battle. You are NOT allowed to die until you’ve killed ten enemy warriors! Is that clear?!

“Yes sir!” the silver warriors shouted pressing their hooves to their breastplates.

Polaris reached across his back and unsheathed an enormous silver greatsword. “Outstanding.”

As their airship touched down, the doors opened revealing a wall of black figures charging toward them with green eyes and fangs shimmering in the moonlight. Polaris took two steps forward and turned to face the warriors.

“For Princess Desalia!!  

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

At the top of the mountain, Cynthia flew out and hovered above the balcony. The smoke from the explosion blew wisps across the black sky but all could be seen under the moonlight. Cynthia looked up at the moon, it seemed to be shining brighter tonight than usual. As the smoke finally cleared there was no sign of Aldus. The explosion blew away a chunk of the mountain below Silth’s chambers, if it hadn’t been protected by a ward the whole thing might have collapsed. Taking care of that wizard was easier than she expected, his love had made her very powerful indeed. Cynthia heard explosions near the forest and saw several silver airships taking position overhead while some moved toward the coast, likely preparing to intercept the troops positioned in the ocean. After dealing with her mother, Cynthia would take command of the colony and eradicate these ponies.

Cynthia returned to the bedroom and approached her mother with a grin. After all the abuse, verbal and physical, after all the pain and humiliation, Silth would finally pay. Cynthia looked at her mother one last time before charging her horn. Silth did not look away, but rather stared her daughter down, straight into her orange irises.

“I’ve waited a long time for this moment. Goodbye, mother.” Cynthia said as she unleashed the spell. The orange beam of energy traveled toward the bed but was absorbed just before impacting Silth. Dark energy shimmered around her as the energy dissipated. Cynthia’s eyes widened, before she could teleport away three thick black tentacles wrapped around her legs and neck. Slowly they lifted her into the air and turned her around. Aldus floated in the air panting, nearly a third of his flesh and muscle had been burned away by the blast. Cynthia could see his exposed heart beating near a few splintered ribs. Black tar dripped near his wounds as he took deep labored breaths.

“Almost got me, that was a close call.” he said while bringing her closer.

“H-How? That blast...should have... broken through any shield... any ward.” Cynthia said while struggling to breath.

Aldus’ eyes glowed a dim green for a moment. He seemed to stare off into the distance. He blinked as the green flashed in his eyes, “She won’t let me die...” he whispered seemingly to himself with a dangerous chuckle.

Aldus reached out his hoof as Cynthia was brought closer. In a last ditch effort Cynthia conjured magic into her hooves and ripped off the tentacle around her neck before slicing away the bottom two. She turned quickly to fly away but was tackled to the ground by Aldus. The wizard pinned her and touched his horn to his right forehoof. After a few seconds it began to glow red. Cynthia punched and kicked at Aldus but she couldn’t stop him. Aldus slammed his hoof into Cynthia’s face.

Silth looked on with her mouth agape as a bright red light appeared on top of Cynthia. Her daughter screamed as blinding pain coursed through her body. Her carapace began to steam as orange energy leaked out of her pores in liquid form. Her screaming reached decibels Silth had never heard before from any living creature. Cynthia’s horn began to collect orange energy as Aldus pressed both hooves down on her neck. The young changeling’s horn began to vibrate with immense energy before shattering into a million pieces. The orange energy began to exit Cynthia’s body through her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Aldus finally released her as the screaming subsided, replaced by gurgling as the orange material filled her mouth. Silth stared at what remained of her daughter, the orange liquid pouring out her orifices and her steaming carapace. Watching the scene happen from afar, it seemed Cynthia had been cooked from the inside out by some type of ridiculously intense heat.

Aldus stood up and stretched. He limped over to the balcony and doors to place more trap runes before returning to Silth’s bedside. Silth, for her part, was attempting to process everything that just happened. The tar had begun to repair the damage to his skin and the tentacles began to reform on his shoulders and back.

“You saved me, why?” Silth asked.

Aldus looked at her before taking a deep breath. “I need you.”

Silth figured as much, “What for?” she asked with a slight tinge of fear in her voice.

Aldus cracked his neck and walked over to the harvesting pod that held him the past few nights. “Subduing you was not my only task,” he replied casually, “You know, before coming here I researched your kind quite a bit. The substance used in creating these pods can be found somewhere else too... changeling eggs. But I wonder... is it fire proof?”

A jet of flames erupted from Aldus’ forehooves and impacted the harvesting pod. Within seconds the pod melted away while the fluid inside turned to a boil before evaporating.

Aldus floated into the air on his inky black wings, “I need you alive, Silth. I need you to answer this question. Where is the hatchery?”