A changeling's purpose

by SwarmLordAbdonis

Discovery

"So. I hear you're gathering griffons for an important job of sorts. That right"?

Not much time had passed since Fang and the others headed into the darkest corners of Griffonstone and returned with plenty of Griffons following their lead. A mere five, but even a single griffon could hold their own against three ponies. Even so, it will be enough to give us the edge we need to free the remaining changeling prisoners, if I can convince them to carry out this task.

The five griffons themselves seemed somewhat... qualified. By which I meant that they were big, overly aggressive and hopefully not too smart as to ask more questions than needed to be answered. Most also carried a weapon of their own. Either a club or an axe. How very... primative. But as long as it gives us an edge, it matters little.

"Indeed I am". I replied. "I need some reliable claws in stealing prisoners from an Equestrian escort. The more prisoners we steal, the more we'll pay you".

The top griffon, a black feathered brute with a gruff looking attitude, took a step forwards. Then another and another until he was but a few feet from my face. He then spoke with a twisted grin.

"Stealing prisoners? Ha! Why would we need to waste our time helping such scum"?

The other griffons nodded in agreement. Seems that they all had some intelligence. Perhaps enough to share one whole brain among them all.

"Two reasons. One being the prisoners are some of the last actual changelings in Equestria"-

"Changelings"? The griffon cut me off. "Why would anyone want to free one of their kind"?

I gave a fake huff of amusement. If only we weren't in the middle of this bird infested city... "Clearly you don't know how much changeling chitin brings in, do you now"?

"We don't no. That's why I'm asking how much"!

"That's the second reason. If we pull this job off right, we'll be recieving a mighty bounty of not only bits, but gold, gems, everything you could hope to get your claws on, and more".

As expected, their eyes lit up once their promise of shiny metal had been offered to them. I couldn't help but mentally laugh at their idiocy. Were they not so greedy and slothful, they could have been the top species in all the land instead of ponies. At least until the might of the changelings would have eventually struck their lands.

"One other thing". I spoke up. "The prisoner escorts are planning on meeting some of Thorax's soldiers in order to exchange the prisoners over to their so called right hooves, which means we must strike before they can join forces. Could be as many as ten well trained ponies willing to fight tooth and nail, we don't need twice that amount overrunning us. Even now, time is of the essence which is why I'll ask only once. Are you in or out"?

They took a moment to excuse themselves as they decided whether or not to follow my lies. Even from a distance, their squabling and sharp tongues could be heard as they continued to make up their minds. As they did, Fang strolled over.

"Think they'll help us out"?

"Please. These creatures would turn on each other if we promised them enough gold. They'll accept, I have no doubt over that".

"As long as they do their job, I suppose I have no complaints. Foul creatures".

I raised an eye at that last bit.

"Foul, perhaps. But remember Fang,every creature, big or small, smart or dumb, has a use for us. We merely need only to trick and manipulate them before using their strengths unknowingly for us".

Fang merely grunted as I continued.

"These birds are the first of many. Which reminds me, once this is over, I'd like to talk to you about... a special assignment".
This time, Fang managed to pay proper attention.

"Special assignment"?

"You're our top infiltrator, so I trust only you with this. You remember where the old swamp near the camp is"?

"Of course".

"Good. I'll explain more later. Now's not really the time or the place".

I twisted my head to the side and looked past Fang, just noticing the griffons moving back our way.

"Looks like our friends have made up their minds".

The group slowly lumbered back over. As they did, Fang stepped on over to the side allowing me to be on my own with them. Each griffon had an unreadable expression. They didn't say a word, not just yet. They seemed almost reluctant. Maybe they knew that this job could end up with them being wanted by the Equestrian military. The rest of us didn't have to worry about that, for obvious reasons. But for them, well who knows what will happen.

"So. Do we have a deal"?

THREE DAYS LATER

"Swarm leader, Fang here. We're all waiting on the hill above you. How long until the convoy arrives"?

"Worry not Fang, our griffon scout just arrived back. We'll be right on top of them in roughly four minutes".

"Ah, excellent. How's your end looking"?

"We're all ready. Some of our griffon friends are becoming impatient but they'll behave for the moment".

"Swarm leader, this is Shadow speaking. Forgive me but I must ask. What is the plan for dealing with the feathered rats once we achieve our goal of freeing the prisoners"?

"Worry not Shadow. Once we get our friends out from pony hooves, we lead them away close to the camp and ambush them. I've already discussed this with some of the others and each infiltrator has already been given a single griffon to attack once I give the signal".

"Understood Swarmleader. Our group is disguised and ready to attack".

"Excellent. That's- hold on. One of the griffons has the convoy in sight. Every-ling prepare yourselves and remember your roles. We do this right, we'll all come out of this is one piece".

"Yes Swarm leader".

"Understood Swarm leader".

Three days had gone by and now we could finally put our plan in motion. The equestrian military had already set off from Canterlot with the changelings and thanks to our griffon scout, we knew exactly which route they were taking. An old dirt road trail that led quite close to the edge of the Badlands, which is where I assume they'll be giving over the last few loyal soldiers to Thorax and his ilk. Luckily that's not what is going to happen.

This area we're currently at is a perfect spot to ambush them. Steep hills and large boulders on both sides of the path would be enough to hide our entire party. Behind them, four groups ready to strike. The front consisting of most of our griffon cannon fodder where they'll distract the enemy by attacking from above. They should be fine as long as they keep moving, but if not it'll be one less griffon to deal with later. The next two groups, led by myself and Fang would be striking from both the left and the right, ready to push them back against each other so they'll have as little space to fight as possible. And finally, there was the group led by Shadow, the Changeling warrior that I converted back to his natural form. He would be in charge of dealing with any cowards that try to flee. And as a bonus, we've had hours to relax and wait while the ponies have been marching all day. No doubt they'll be tired and exhausted while we remain eager and ready. It will be nothing short of a slaughter.

And indeed, there they were. I could see the convoy itself getting closer and closer. With them, six changelings. Though what made my blood boil was the cage they had been shoved into, as though they were mere animals! Filthy Equestrians! They'll suffer for this insult.

They continued to trot forwards. I could see the looks of exhaustion on their long faces.

They were close enough. Now was a good time as it would ever be. I signalled the front group to begin their attack.

In mere seconds, all of Tartarus broke loose.

SIX HOURS LATER
THORAX'S HIVE

The changeling hive had rarely been seen by pony eyes before Thorax claimed the throne. Now, many were allowed to come and go as they pleased. The old, dusty and even scary hive certainly felt more lively than it had done in a very long time Even without the few ponies who would come to see the marvels of the hive, the place continued to give off a very friendly atmosphere as its more natural residents acted very differently compared to their former selves. Now, it was impossible to pass some-ling without getting a friendly hello or a wave or even a simple smile. No longer were the olden days of snarling and fighting just for the sake of doing so. The hive was no longer even a hive, but a home to thousands of changedlings who acted more pony-like than anything else. And no-ling had any complaints about it.

Of course, there was more to it than that. For underneath the hive, not everything was as cheerful as it seemed. Within the lowest level of the hive, the dungeons, were two changedlings who were talking in privacy in a private quarters room.

"So Scuttler, why exactly did you bring me all the way down here? I hope it's important, Flutter is depending on me to help welcome some ponies she met in Manehatten".

"Sorry Mandible but this is something that you're really going to want to hear".

Mandible sighed before sitting down. "Very well, let's hear it".

"Do you remember our fellow changeling, Claw"?

"The one who was meant to be meeting the pony escort? What about him"?

"That's just it. He never met the escort".

"What? How can that be? Did he make a mistake and miss them"?

"I already checked with Claw and made him point out his position on the map. He even marked it with an X in case he forgot. He was exactly where he needed to be".

"So the ponies didn't show up? Do we know why"?

"Yes. Claw had decided to travel the route into Equestria. When I asked why he did so, he told me that he wanted to see a certain un-reformed changeling that he was close with and couldn't wait to help him be more than what he already was. In his own words of course".

"I see. I suppose that would make sense. We've come a long way from looking out for only ourselves. So, out with it then. Did he find the pony escort"?

"He did. After fifteen minutes of trotting down the path, he found what was left of it".

"...Pardon me? What do you mean what was left"?

"When Claw found the escort, they were in a bad way. Every pony in the group had been knocked unconcious. Some had black eyes and bloody snouts".

"Do you mean to say that they were attacked"?

"Yes it seemed to point to that, but there's more".

"What more"?

"The changelings that were meant to be placed into our care were gone".

"Gone"?!

"Yeah. Gone".

"Are you telling me that they somehow managed to overpower an armed pony escort? Surely they would have been outnumbered, right"?

"Six against ten, yes. But I don't think they did escape. When Claw found them, the cage was nowhere in sight. Some-ling else must have taken them".

"Who would want to attack ponies over changelings"?

"We already know who Mandible. After talking to Claw, he mentioned that he spotted two griffons examining the ponies".

"Griffons huh? Makes sense in a way. I've heard plenty of ponies tell me that they've been living in tough times since the loss of their golden treasure long ago. So do we at least know why they took them"?

"In a way, yes. However, Claw has been very persistent in letting us know that these particular griffons he saw aren't actually griffons at all".

"... What are you trying to say Scuttler"?

"I'm saying that when Claw came across the griffons, he was able to observe them from a distance. It was hard to tell but he swears that he saw them cast spells on the ponies".

"Spells? That's impossible! No griffon has such magical ability"!

"Indeed, no griffon can. However, Claw did mention that the colour aura from both griffons was a sickly green colour".

...

"Do you see where I'm going with this now Mandible"?

... "Does king Thorax know about this"?

"He's speaking to Claw right now".

"Huh. Well I'll be. And here I thought all of us changelings had enough common sense to live our lives for the better".

"Well we never heard word from the infiltration squad who impersonated Princess Twilight and her friends. We've been searching for them for some time but with no success".

"And now we know that they're still out there. Just out of curiousity, what spells were they casting on the pony guards"?

"Memory loss spell. Once all the guards woke up, they knew nothing about the attack. They weren't even sure why they were out so close to our lands. Clearly the rouge group was trying to cover their tracks".

"Why not just take the ponies with them? It would mean more love for them to siphon".

"They must have had other matters to take care of. Anyway, I've wasted enough of your time as it is. King Thorax has already asked to speak to us both once he's finished with Claw".

Mandible stood back up. "Alright then. I suppose we're doing no good just sitting here talking. Any idea on how Thorax plans to deal with this"?

"No clue. No doubt he'll want those changelings found".

"Don't we all".

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, sorry this took so long to put up. I've been a bit busy finishing university and finding a job. Now that I have, I'll try and focus a bit more on the story. Chapters may take a while to put up but I haven't given up on this story just yet. I may just shorten it and split the full tale into multiple stories. Not sure yet. Still I'll worry about that later. For now I hope you enjoyed reading. See you next time :)

Comments

[PonyDragon]

Good to see our rouge changelings will get some reinforcements. (Hopefully.)
But now I'm curious what Thorax and the ponies will do, since they know about the group. At least they only know the group exists, but not where.

Hey everyone, sorry this took so long to put up. I've been a bit busy finishing university and finding a job.

Nah, no need to apologize for RL. That is always more important.

[Razzy]

Yay, they win the ambush.

Ah, of course the baby crayon barflings want to brainwash them, or course. Hopefully, this sick mockery of a hive under the traitor scum rule of 'King' (of fools) Thorax will collapse soon and bury them all.

[verypeeved]

rouge

*twitch*