//------------------------------// // Pt. 6: This. Means. War. // Story: Exiled Magic // by Lawpony //------------------------------// As Twilight threw on her battle gear, two of the other ponies were bracing the door. She reached in and pulled out her purple flame sword and hooked it onto her back. "Ready." "Opening the door in three, two, one." The soldier exploded the door into the yard, knocking back the two changelings that were previously beating on it. Three more immediately jumped at them. Twilight, in one quick movement, took the purple sword in her magic and sliced one of the changeling's head off. She then brought it back across and knocked the hooves out from under another one. The soldier next to her shot a lightning bolt into the third one's heart. The five of them ran into the large group of now fighting ponies. Twilight went for the nearest visible changeling, and took off his head. She then turned and hit another one across the back, knocking it to the ground. A pony came from the crowd, looking like he had something to say, but as Twilight approached, he brought up a blade to strike her. One of her loyal soldiers took off the hoof the blade was in with a dark magic scythe. The pony fell to the ground screaming, holding his sizzling foreleg as black bubbles oozed from the stump. Obviously no longer able to concentrate on his spell, the changeling dropped the pony disguise and Twilight pierced his heart with her blade. Another pony charged her, obviously attacking. Twilight raised her horn, alight, and shouted. "ENOUGH!", she bellowed. She through her head toward the ground, sending a large blast out in a circle around her expanding rapidly as it engulfed the yard. Every changeling now stood naked of any disguises, as the spell stripped them of that power momentarily. "KILL THE CHANGELINGS!", Twilight yelled in a fury. The pony that was charging now turned to run into the crowd. This changeling looked different. Something about him made him seem important. Perhaps it was his armor, or perhaps it was the way he strode, definitely wielding a more powerful position. Twilight decided to chase him down. The two weaved in and out of ongoing battles, ducking under swings and jumping over low swinging hooves. Twilight followed him until he ran into a wall. The two were alone. Twilight looked at him with a look in her eye that told him just how powerful she was. He immediately pulled out a dagger with his magic and jabbed it at her. She cut it in half with a dark magical blade. He shot a lightning bolt at her but she absorbed it in her horn and smiled at him. "You really are powerful. Even much more than they told me," the changeling said. Twilight could taste fear in his stare. "You will know my full fury if you do not back down," Twilight firmly informed him. The changeling jabbed at her with his horn but she jumped over him and shot a fiery blast of an inferno down onto his head. When she landed behind him, he was laying on his stomach, moaning as his horn sizzled and crackled from the extreme heat. "You're not going to kill me...!", the changeling weakly said. "Oh I agree. Of course not...", she leaned in close to his smoldering head. "Yet." She then created a black and purple bubble around him that slowly sank into the ground and disappeared. Twilight could see in the distance that the fighting had nearly stopped. Now that the team of changelings had been uncovered, it was a matter of seconds before the nearly thousand strong group of ponies took over the small team of fifty changelings. Twilight approached the crowd and noticed that they had captured a group of changelings and lined them up. Twilight looked at them, and then over to where she had just been talking to Emerald moments before, and saw her dead body. "Who did this?!", she shouted, pointing at the corpse. A changeling looked up at her and teared up. "M-me" Twilight charged her horn full of black magic and sunk it into his chest. His face contorted into a silent scream as he writhed and fell over dead. As she pulled away, she looked over at the body. "It started with her. How many have died since?", she looked over to one of her more trusted soldiers. "About thirty. But that is only in this quarter of the yard, I have not seen the rest," he bowed somberly. "We counted about fifty over here!", a pony shouted, followed by agreeing tones and sad murmurings. "So possibly nearly eighty of my soldiers died in just," Twilight looked at the large clock on the training yard's wall. "Five minutes?!" "Sadly," another of her higher soldiers spoke. "YOU INSOLENT FOOLS! DIE FOR YOUR TREACHERY!", she shouted with fury as she shot a massive explosive fireball at the group of captured changelings. As the smoke settled, there was a crater left where the prisoners last stood, and not even a remnant of them remained. "I hate to sound condescending, but will that not come to screw us over later? We could have used them fo-", the soldier was cut off. "I understand you concern but I have a high ranking changeling in my custody. We can ask him all we want." "My apologies." "Everypony take the rest of the day off. We will work on repairing this damage tomorrow. Is Storm Glider still out there?" After a few seconds, a pink pegasus in teal armor flew down next to her. "At your command." "I want you to take your best pairs of eyes and make sure there aren't any more changelings on their way. Scout out the perimeter and make sure that was all of it." "Yes ma'am!", Storm Glider saluted and then flew off. "You four, my most trusted," Twilight looked over to the highest ranking soldiers. "I require your...assistance inside." Deep underground, Twilight and her four most trusted soldiers were standing around a table in a dark room. Tied to the table was a changeling. The skin on his face and head were charred and disfigured. He looked up at them with a grimace both of hate, and of pain. "So, how is our wittle changeling doing?", Twilight said in voice a mother would use on a foal. "Get away from me you bi-", he began to hiss but was cut off as one of the soldiers slammed a hoof into his jaw. "Now now, that's now way to talk to a princess...did your mama not teach you any better?" "I dunno, your mom didn-" "That...was a very sad comeback. I mean, maybe something along the lines of, "I was too bad to be taught," or "I usually don't, but your face compelled me," but a your mom joke?! And a bad one at that. Are you kidding me? How old are you, twelve?" "Hmm, you want me to be twelve?", he changed into a younger colt. "Mrs. Princess Twilight, ma'am, why am I tied up?", he said in an adorable, obviously too young voice. "I'm tired of these games!", Twilight shouted and then batted him across the face with her hoof. "AH! Hng! I'll never talk!", his voice suddenly returned to normal as his figure returned to its original state. Twilight leaned down to get face to face with him. She stood there, holding his gaze as he held hers, neither of them wanting to back down. After what seemed like a minute, Twilight had gotten what she wanted. She huffed and then turned away from the table. "Hah! The almighty Twilight! The slayer of princesses! The future ruler of the world! And she can't even beat a broken changeling in a staring con...te-", he lost his train of thought as Twilight turned back around with a curved metal blade in her magic. She took it and hovered it just an inch above his right eye. "You wouldn't." "Try me." Twilight sat there waiting for a reason to shove the blade into his eye. When he didn't give her a reason not to, she hovered it slightly higher and began to carve a path around his horn. As the circle was completed just in line with his nose, she began to make a path with it down his forehead. As the blade got in line with his eyes, she turned it, and began to carve the path towards his eye socket. All the while, the changeling screamed in agony and fear. "PLEASE! Please spare my eye!" Twilight moved the blade closer and closer to his right eye and it nearly fell into the socket when he shouted out what she wanted to hear. "I'll talk! Please! Just let me talk...", he began sobbing. She removed the blade and laid it down on his chest. "I'm listening." "The changelings that hit your refuge are all that we brought with us. There aren't anymore of us." "That's it? I need more," Twilight made the blade shift on his chest. "This thing really wants that eye." "We work alone, we don't kill foals, we don't ask questions when given a target. We-" "What was that? Given a target? Are you mercenaries?!" "Yes! That's what we are! It's nothing personal." "Sure it isn't. Your pathetic little team killed eighty of my soldiers!" "Then why call us patheti-" "I slaughtered them all. And they tearfully cried for mercy as I ended them. Your 'organization' is no more." "I still remain." "For now...", she looked away, then jumped back at him. "TELL ME WHO PAID YOU!", Twilight raised the blade to his eye again. The changeling began to tear up. "I don't know their name. It was dark, I don't remember mu-", the changeling looked as if he remembered something. "Oh! He was wearing a cloak that had a rainbow lightning bolt on it. I remember that because I thought to myself, "Isn't that the cutie mark of Captain Rainbow Dash?", so I think he worked for her." "Rainbow Dash..." "So, can I go now? Am I going to get out of here?" "Oh of course you will. You'll get out of here alive...", Twilight motioned to one of the soldiers to come over. The soldier walked into the darkness, and the sound of chains and heavy metal could be heard in the distance. After a few moments, the stallion came back levitating a metal chest covered in chains and locks over next to the table, and then opened it. "Your ride's here!", Twilight happily shouted before shoving him in. She leaned into the chest. "Hope you enjoy the ride!" The lid was shut and locked. Twilight stood atop the tower, in a secret meeting place only she and her most trusted companions knew of. As her tower overlook the valley it was nestled in, she could see the river flowing nearby. As she looked out towards it, she could see two stallions carrying a chest in its direction. "You wanted to meet with me?", Storm Glider said, approaching. "I want you and your most nimble to scout out Rainbow Dash and report to me with any information on anything regarding her plans, schedules, or personal alone times. I want to know where she thinks is safe, and where she doesn't expect to see one of us at. I want you to find out anything that will get me closer to planting somepony on the inside. I want her dead, and I want her dead soon." They watched as the two stallions dropped the metal chest into the river and watched it sink. "It will be done," Storm Glider exited.