"Twenty meters west. No changelings present... save for myself, of course."
"Haha. Very funny, Pennaprose. ...Focus. The hive-mind sense I taught you last night is going to be invaluable."
"I am, don't worry. Can't afford to botch this one up..."
He lowered the transmitter to concentrate, which was a present from Aloysius. He was hiding with Gosthette, Luna, and Shining Armor somewhere on a cliff outside the hive, preparing their half of the plan. Lyra, Applejack, Twilight, Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity were with him, traveling in the shadows of the tunnels that spread across all of Equestria—the hidden changeling city included.
They stopped at a path that branched three ways. He focused again, letting a trickle of magic echo off of his horn and the walls. Gosthette said that the best way to find the hive by the tunnels was to be as a bat—a magical bat. Coupled with his newfound hive-mind, he had been tasked with finding the hive by going through the underground tunnels.
The magic pinged back, telling him that the middle and left ones were dead ends. He walked towards the right one, raising the transmitter to his mouth again.
"Sixteen meters, right path, North. Still no sign of changeling activity..."
Gosthette's voice came back through the speaker, though a bit marred. "You're making good tim–. —e have a visual on ––– hive. The troops are mobilizing in the streets near the fro–... I can spot Quitan– –ready. ...Even better, they're all near a field of crops. A little firesto– –ntry and Sadhiki won't be able to resist the fight. He always did care more for his crops than he did his –wn troops..."
"How long?"
"I'd estim––– –alf hour. How lo– ––you fr–––tting there?"
He glared at the transmitter, shaking it a bit before putting it up to his mouth again. "You're cutting out a bit."
"Figur–– I thi–– ––––ka is ––mming the signa––"
"Forget it, then. I'll give you a heads up when we find a place to come up near the palace."
Only a snowstorm of static fizzled as the entire response was cut out. He put the thing away.
"Any good news?" asked Lyra.
"The conditions are ideal now for them to commence their half of the plan. But they might only be so for another half hour at best. Furthermore... there's either a jamming signal down here or we're just out of range."
"Then how are we going to send the signal for them to start?"
"If it's limited to the underground, then we'll just have to peek our heads up for a second to let the fresh, clean, changeling cave air in," answered Pennaprose.
"You know Penni..." said Twilight. "You seem to be lot more confident now that we're actually going through with the plan. Did training go that well?"
He looked over his shoulder. "Changelings are strangely gifted in so many ways. Quick studies, transformation... Ice manipulation and weather semblances from the windigo magic infusion as well. Such useful race bonuses. I wonder why they are shunned by most of Equestria. Imagine the things they could do for good if we didn't force them to live caves for a millennia. At least getting the chance of being one for a short time let me pick up swordplay well enough for such a short amount of time."
"Not to mention your leg," said Twilight. "It healed almost instantly after the operation, didn't it?"
"Yes, actually... I didn't even notice it until training yesterday. Gosthette took a small cut to her face... and it practically vanished in a minute... Wait," he said, raising a hoof to stop the rest of the group. "I think... yes, here's a good place."
He looked up, a small crescent of light piercing the relative darkness from a cover of sorts. Dash flew up to it, raising the lid carefully.
"...I see ...an alleyway," said Dash. "Wait... I think we're here!"
Pennaprose walked beneath her. "Can you see the central tower from there?"
"Gimme a minute," she said, fiddling with the lid. After a moment of grunts and scattered feathers, she pushed it off and went through the hole. The sunlight filtered down; Fluttershy flew up the hole too peer out nervously.
"I... think we managed to find an exit right by the tower actually..." said Fluttershy. "...Yes! We did!"
Dash's head appeared down the hole, almost knocking Fluttershy out of the air. "Sorry, Fluttershy. Anyway, she's right. I also don't see any changelings around, so come on up quick!"
Twilight levitated Applejack and Pinkie up the hole while Pennaprose did the same for Rarity and Lyra. They followed suit by flying out.
Pennaprose looked around, letting his hive-mind search first. Still no presence of changelings... He took out his transmitter.
"All right... step one has gone smoothly. Time to start the next one."
"Damn piece of busted crap."
Gosthette was glaring at her transmitter as if it were a dead rat. "Pane! I thought you said they'd work without a problem in the tunnels! I'm getting static over here, what's the deal?"
Aloysius turned from the pile of hay and wire he was tinkering with. "Vat? Statics on the transmitting? Nonsensing vou are spout, vou are just mishandlingness it. ...Try ze pointing of ze antenna straight upping. Or maybe vou are holding it wrong?"
"I don't see what that has to do anything with it, you doddery old pile of–"
"Hey, um... before we launch..." asked Shining Armor. "Remind me again why I'm the cannonball?"
His head was poking over the tinder that Aloysius was fiddling with. "Don't be ridiculous, Shining..." said Luna. "You're not the cannonball, you're the cannonball on fire."
"No, he is going to be ze cannonball on fire," said Aloysius. "He is not burning yet, no? Or flying through ze sky towards squishy guinea pigs like fat, flightless pigeon with bad breath. In facting–" he said, putting a hoof to his chin in sudden deep thought. "He is ze only one who cannot flying here, now zat I think about it..."
"HEY, thanks for the boost in confidence..." interrupted Shining. "...Jerk. My breath does not smell..."
"Keep it down, kids..." said Luna. "We can't let them find us before we're ready to launch."
The transmitter crackled to life once more, drawing all their attention. Pennaprose's voice came through, completely clear.
"Clear for launch. We came up right next the palace, we're practically on top of the entrance... Begin phase two."
Gosthette swiped the transmitter off the ground, placing it near her mouth. "Confirmed. Operation Second Sun is a go."
She stowed it away. "...Well, you heard the guy. Let's fly."
Luna and Gosthette jumped into the pile of straw that Aloysius put together; from above, it resembled a giant bird's nest. They stood next to Shining Armor, at the ready.
Shining Armor cast a wave a magic, forming a pink bubble around the three of them. It pushed up against the sides of the giant nest; Aloysius picked up several ropes that formed a net at the bottom of the nest and tied them at the top, trussing up the three inside like a present.
"Now... vou know vat to do," said Aloysius through the shield. "Crash ze changeling party near ze entrance, raise hell, keep Quitangu and that saddle-mucher's attention while Pennaprose and ze ozzers race to ze top to fight ze Queen.
"I haf aimed you so vou shall be landing near the ze very entrance, hopefully on top of Quitangu if ve are having ze luck. Princess, vou can re-correct the course if needing."
He struck a match he had grabbed out of his pocket and threw it at the base of the nest, lighting it aflame in an instant. His shiny ebon coat reflected the bonfire, sinking into the grooves of his aged face.
"I vill stay behind to monitor activities of changelings outside ze hive. Vou may need an escape route, and how gooding would it be if vou were trappingness because bad oversight?" he said.
He pulled out a small knife from his labcoat, swiping it at a certain rope. The massive fireball that contained the three went sailing off into midday sky, growing smaller and smaller every second.
A whirring sound emitted from his mechanical eye as a piece extended towards the quickly shrinking fireball. "Heh... a picture for ze scarpbooks. Not everydays zat vou get to sending a princess of ze night, a member of ze damned, and a sissy captain sailing through ze air... Vould make nice postcard. Vishing vou were here—instead of me. Ha!"
The interior of the violently pink shield blocked out most noise, save for the frantic rush of air and the furious crackle of fire outside. The launch had been sudden, the G-forces pressing the three of them hard towards the hay bottom. Luna managed to raise her head while Gosthette was stubbornly trying to stand up. The best she could manage was a kneeling position.
"D-damn... didn't think this part through," swore Gosthette. "I'm getting nauseous..."
Shining Armor was standing straight up, staring resolutely at the hay and fire-less portion of the shield. Gosthette glanced over.
"...The hell are you doing that?"
He didn't look down, but sent another burst of magic into the shield. It shimmered and pulsated, strengthened. "Training is training. I was taught and built a constitution of iron. After all, I am a Guard; not much use is a shield that falls at the first blow, is there?"
"Mmph. And here I thought you were a marshmallow," remarked Gosthette. "Soft, white, and good for nothing but being roasted. I take that back."
Shining smirked. "Now, now, I'm taken. There is no need for little compli–"
"All right then. Now you're just an expired marshmallow; hard, white, tasteless, and good for nothing but using as a bullet."
Shining looked down for a split second in distraction, which caused him to fall to his knees. "Now, now, I've taken offense. There is no need for petty insults either. I have feelings too, you know... Bitch."
"Not much use a shield is if it breaks on the second blow either, asshat."
"Knock it off, you two," protested Luna. "We need to fight as a team, or we will die as a team. Need I remind the both of you that we are about to face hundreds of thousands of changelings? Now let me focus on steering this damn thing."
Gosthette shot up suddenly, but her face was clearly showing strain. "S-sorry... pressure is getting to me, I guess..."
Shining stood back up, locking his knees. The G-forces seem to subside a little; one look at the window confirmed that the changeling city—and the ground—was getting closer. They had reached the apex of their flight. "Hah... I know that feeling. You know a soldier's stress."
"I don't know what you're talking about. I just want to get this joyride over with," said Gosthette. "That's all."
Shining glanced over Gosthette. Neck tense, taken of a pose as if ready to fly at any time, bared teeth... "No use in getting tense about it," he remarked.
"Why not?" said Gosthette. "We are about to fight an army. I need to be ready to pounce."
"Ah ha."
The container began to descend, a feeling of lightness overtaking the room. Luna and Gosthette took to the air and stayed there, while Shining floated upwards and got pressed against the ceiling. Gosthette watched him with curiosity. "What's the 'ah ha', for? And why are you so damn calm?"
"You are getting ready to fight for another," said Shining. "Among my men, I get to know them. Those that train and fight the hardest are always the ones with families."
"I have no family."
"You have Pennaprose."
"He is me."
"He is kin to you. He is Pennaprose. You are Gosthette."
"I know my own damn name."
She was glaring at him from below. "You know nothing about me, little mare."
"I know that every one of my men have something to guard. Be it Canterlot, their family, or Celestia, they have something they want to protect–"
"I want to kill them, Armor. All of them. Whether or not Pennaprose gains or looses from this half of the plan–"
"You're lying to yourself," interrupted Shining. "I watched you two train those last few days. I heard the tales. You want to protect him."
"...Only him. If your neck gets stuck between a rock and a steel place, I won't help you."
"I won't need it."
She raised an eyebrow. "Are you always so damningly convinced of yourself?"
He grinned. "No."
She peeled him off the ceiling and punched him in the face. "Feel some fear, dammit. You're starting to bug me."
"Oh, believe me, I do. You do as well."
She let go of him, letting him fall back up into the ceiling. "I don't get you."
"Hey, get ready for impact, you two!" commanded Luna. "T-minus sixty seconds!"
Gosthette turned her back to him. Shining looked on from his hay surroundings. "I don't need you to get me, Gosthette. All I need to do is defeat the enemy to protect my sister and the rest of Equestria with it. Even if you deny it, you'll be glad if Pennaprose sees himself out of this safely, won't you? Is that why you fight?"
She did not turn back. "...Twilight is your sister, am I wrong?"
He said nothing as the ground came closer. He could see the sea of black below them, a mere minute away. Gosthette began glowing with a blood-red aura.
"She is much more than that," said Shining Armor. "She was always my first reason to face impossible odds. She is the only reason I can lie flat against this ceiling in a ball of fire and hay going one hundred miles an hour towards a million enemies and what may be my certain death. All the while smiling and remaining calm.
"But that's exactly why I can remain calm," he said. "There is no might or might not in war; there is only alive and dead, and the might that isn't maybe. No peace, no honor, no love, no warmth; strength in war means strength in will. And all the training in the world cannot prepare you for it. I choose to believe I will, so I can kill with certainty. I will, therefore I am."
Gosthette closed her eyes, letting the familiar feel of transformation take hold.
"...I am wrong then. You really bug me," said Gosthette, growing ever so slightly larger as her aura shifted to a dull orange.
"But no matter how you hash it, I'm glad you can handle yourself. That's one less thing I need to worry about on the field, then."
Shining laughed. "You do care about working as a team then?"
"I promise nothing."
"Then let me promise something. You're not invincible, no matter how you slice it; I'll be your shield out there. Whether you like it or not."
He could have sworn she gave a genuine smile before her aura darkened to a pitch black.