The next day was a peaceful one, just like the last. With an invasion on Ponyville possible at any given time, the Pegasus ponies tried to keep anything other than peaceful weather to a minimum. Dante was away working with the recruits more while War was off doing Celestia-knows-what. Meanwhile, six ponies sat around a table in Twilight’s library.
“Ah swear, every since that Dante fella came ‘round, those recruits have been workin’ harder than a one-legged pony at butt-kicking contest!” Applejack said with a chuckle.
“Honestly Applejack, those soldiers need more than a brute to put them into shape if they ever want to really make it as guards.” Rarity retorted.
“Don’t those guys seem just a tad bit strange to anypony?” Rainbow said, “One is an Alicorn who doesn’t act a bit like any royalty I’ve ever seen, and the other is a giant who doesn’t even know how to talk! Not to mention neither of them have their cutie marks.”
“I still wanna know when I can throw them a welcome party.” Pinkie said somewhat glumly.
“Don’t worry Pinkie.” Twilight said, “As soon as the immediate threat of being attacked is gone, you can throw a huge party for them.”
Pinkie Pie perked up immediately and threw her hooves in the air, “Yay!”
“I’m not the only one who thinks that big one is scary… right?” Fluttershy said in a near-whisper.
“I ain’t scared of nothin’!” Rainbow said proudly, “Especially some freak in black armor.”
“It’s certainly unlike any kind of armor I’ve ever seen.” Rarity said. “Its design is very complicated and magnificently well crafted, but before its beauty it brings only intimidation. It is large, though very maneuverable. It may very well be tough enough to block a direct blast from Celestia herself, but upon closer inspection it is held to his body in such a simple fashion that it could be easily removed if needed. It really is quite—“
“Don’t tell me yer gunna start a new fashion line in body armor ‘cause o’ this guy.”
“Of course not! I am simply saying that it is beautifully crafted.”
“Uh-huh. Anyways, have you been able to find out anything on them Twilight?” Rainbow Dash said in an effort to break up Applejack and Rarity’s quarrel.
Twilight shook her head, “Other then Dante secretly being an Alicorn, no, not yet. I planned on asking Dante more about where they came from later on tonight. By the way, you guys haven’t seen War walking around late at night, have you?”
Each of the ponies shook their heads. “Ain’t he supposed to be stayin’ with you?”
“Well, yes. But every night, around sunset, he just leaves. Dante says he likes to go for a walk before he sleeps, but I never hear him come back at night and he usually doesn’t come back until the rest of us are awake.
“Maybe he’s off preparing a surprise party for all of us!” Pinkie said with glee.
“Or maybe,” Rainbow said, “he’s got some secrets that we need to know about. What if he’s a spy?”
“A spy? Come now, Rainbow, you mustn’t be so quick to judge. Just because somepony goes off in the middle of the night and never comes back until morning, while admittedly is strange behavior, doesn’t mean they are a spy”
“I’m just saying that I think we should keep an eye on him the next time he decides to go for another midnight stroll through Ponyville.”
“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt too much.” Twilight agreed and tapped a hoof to her chin. “Besides, I’m more than just a little curious as to where he goes as well.”
“Then it’s agreed. So, who’s gunna follow him?” Applejack asked. The girls looked around at each other, looking for a volunteer. Eventually, all eyes fell upon Fluttershy, who began sinking lower in her seat to avoid all the sudden attention.
“Thanks for volunteering Fluttershy!” Rainbow said, giving her a hard slap on the back which caused her to squeak.
“Uhm, I don’t know… maybe somepony else should—“
Fluttershy was interrupted by screams coming from outside the door. The girls rushed outside to see what all the commotion was about. All around them were ponies running in every direction. They ran into houses and locked the doors behind them. All the guards that were positioned around town began running in one direction. As the girls looked into the sky, each one of them gasped. A portion of the sky was an inky black as a legion of Changelings buzzed through the sky towards Ponyville. Twilight ran back into the library and lifted a glass casing that housed the Elements of Harmony. Lifting each with her magic, she sprinted back outside and distributed each of the Elements to their bearers. The six mares lined up together, looking towards the coming invasion.
“Alright girls, we’ve been preparing for this! We have to stop the Changelings here and now, we have to—“
Her speech was cut short as they were split down the middle by a large stallion that walked slowly forward. War paid them no mind; his tired eyes only looked forward towards the Changelings. The girls looked at him, waiting for him to do something. He simply stood there, as still as a statue.
“War? What are you doing?” Twilight asked.
He remained silent. He only watched at the Changelings grew closer and closer. Finally he moved, but only by closing his eyes and lifting his head slightly. As Twilight was about to ask again, a bright beam of light shot straight up into the air from War’s horn. It went high above Ponyville until it seemed to hit an invisible surface and exploded outward. The light began slowly moving down around the village until it was encompassed in a large dome of magic. The Changelings had arrived by now, only to smack effortlessly into the barrier. They swarmed around it like insects to a light. Their efforts proved useless, as the shield showed no signs of breaking.
War opened his eyes and looked up and around at the Changelings as they continued throwing themselves at the shield he had created. With what the girls could only describe as a look of sadness in his eyes, his horn began to grow brighter. The shield began opening up around the edges. It unfolded around Ponyville and began folding back around the Changelings, forcing them together as the shield continued into a fishbowl formation. The opening at the top was closing rapidly, and only one Changeling was able to escape before the exit closed behind them. War stared up at the ball of Changelings as they zipped about within it like angry bees.
A few of the girls heard War give a quiet sigh before noticing that the ball that was their prison began shrinking. The Changelings all gathered around each other until they simply had no room left to move. But still the ball grew smaller and smaller. The shield muffled and sound that the Changelings may have been making as they were crushed together. Soon the ball was small enough to fit on their hooves and War lowered it down before him. Within the wavy ball of magic was only the black remains of the Changelings, now nothing more than mush. The girls looked at War in fear, but he only stared at the ball.
A few of them could have sworn that a tear was forming in one of his eyes.
He lowered his eyes to the ground, where he dug a small hole with his hoof. He lowered the marble-sized ball into it and refilled it. His horn stopped glowing and he patted down the dirt.
“You monsters!”
Everypony except War looked up to see that the one Changeling that had escaped was in fact Chrysalis. “You will pay for what you have done to my children!” Before any of them could respond, she spun about and few quickly back towards the north.
They sat in silence, unsure of what to say or do. Their eyes moved back and forth between the sky and the patted down dirt that the Changelings had been buried in.
Rainbow was the first to speak up. “Um, what just happened?”
The other girls fell out of their trance and looked at the cyan pony. Each of them were shaking slightly.
“I’ve never seen magic used in such a gruesome way before…” Twilight said, her shakiness showing in her voice as well.
“Ah almost feel sorry for ‘em…” Applejack said, taking off her hat as she stared at the dirt.
“As much as I agree, we shouldn’t… they’d have done the same to us if they had the opportunity…” Rarity said as she tried to regain her posture.
“I guess it’s a good thing they didn’t…”
A few more moments of silence passed before Twilight came to a realization, “Wait, where’d War go?” They all looked around, but none of them could find the large black Unicorn. After a short search of the immediate vicinity, they decided they should split up to search for him.
Fluttershy walked nervously through the gardens around her home. She would have much rather went home than had to search for somepony so ruthless and decisive. The sound of birds singing their songs lightened Fluttershy’s mood enough to make her smile and momentarily forget about the tragic fate that had become of the Changelings. She noticed that a few of them were flying off towards a small group of trees. Wishing to forget about all that had happened earlier, she followed them intently. When she walked around the tree, she had to put her hoof to her mouth in an effort not to make any noise.
There was War. He was sitting quietly against the tree that was but a few inches from the yellow pony. He held out his hoof for a bird to perch on. It gladly took its place on him and continued singing its song. Looking into his eyes, she could see that most of the sadness that was there earlier was now gone, replaced by its normal coldness. However, Fluttershy had never seen him look upon something with such interest. A few more animals, such as rabbits and deer, began circling around him. He gave no sign of wanting them to leave but instead nodded towards them, as were his custom when greeting someone. Fluttershy had only ever seen the animals want to be around a pony so much when she was having a small picnic around her home whenever the mood struck her.
She decided to get closer, but was startled when she accidentally stepped on a twig which snapped rather loudly. All the animals perked up and stared at the embarrassed pony. The bird that rested on War’s hoof flew away. His eyes followed it, a hint of sadness returning.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare away your friend, it’s just that the girls were just looking for you and…”
War was now staring at her, not out of anger or annoyance, but something else that Fluttershy just couldn’t pick on. Ten seconds passed, then a minute. All they did was stare at each other. By now, most of the birds had come back and began to continue their songs.
“Um… may I sit with you? I mean, as long as it’s okay with you…” Fluttershy trailed off. War waited quietly for her to finish her thought, but when she never did he glanced down at the patch of grass next to him before looking back towards the animals.
Figuring that that was the closest thing to a “yes” she would get, Fluttershy sat down next to War. The two sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying the songs of the birds and the gentle breeze that blew through their manes. Although most ponies were afraid of War, especially after what he did earlier in the day, the animals seemed to be attracted to him. They seemed to like him just as much as they did Fluttershy.
“Do... do you like animals?” Fluttershy said quietly, breaking the silence.
War nodded. Their time continued with more silence. Every now and then a bunny or bird would approach her and she would greet them kindly. War watched curiously as she spoke to them. He wondered at how she was able to communicate with them so flawlessly. She even referred to them by name.
Fluttershy noticed him watching her and looked away, hiding behind her mane lest he see the color that had arisen in her cheeks.
“You… can speak to them…”
Fluttershy perked up in surprise. She slowly turned her head to War, who was still watching her intently. She looked around to see if anypony else had joined them while she was distracted, but they were still alone. War was still watching her patiently.
“Well…” she said, “I’ve always known how to speak to animals. It’s my special talent.”
War looked towards the three butterflies that were on her flank. “Special… talent…” he muttered. His voice was deep but soothing, and proved to be just as slow as his movements.
Fluttershy smiled before looking to his flank. It was blank. “Do you have a special talent?”
War said nothing for a little while. Finally, he shook his head in response.
“Come now, you must be good at something. Everypony has something that makes them truly special.”
War closed his eyes and began to think. Fluttershy waited patiently for him and closed her eyes as well, thinking only of the wind that moved her lightly colored mane back and forth gently. War opened his eyes halfway and looked down at his hooves. “I… can only destroy… It is… all I have ever known…”
Fluttershy looked at him with a frown. She wanted to help him somehow, even if just slightly. She put her hoof to her chin and began to think. Her thoughts were interrupted by the quiet rumbling of her stomach. She smiled lightly and looked to War, “Are you hungry? My cottage isn’t far from here, and I could make you something.”
War pondered the suggestion for a short time before nodding gently. Fluttershy’s smile grew and she raised herself up. War did the same, albeit slower.
“I’m sure the animals will enjoy having some company around.”
With that, War and Fluttershy made their way to her cottage on the edge of the forest. Fluttershy had to move at a slower pace than usual, but she didn’t mind. Even though they resided in silence the whole way there, she enjoyed spending time with her new friend.