Running. It's natural to most changelings, but for every one in a dozen, its a strenuous activity. One could even say that it was torture. Sadly, this was the exact case for the Commander as he dashed down the road. His hooves were moving at full capacity, beads of sweat already permeating over his shell. Turning back, he noticed the two guards were flying over his tail, snickering to each other.
"Out for a stroll?" He called.
The response came with a beam of energy whizzing right past his horn.
"A simple 'no' would do." And with that, he leapt out of the pathway and into the forest, where branches nearly cut his horn clean off. He had no idea where he was, but all that mattered was too keep as much distance between his pursuers as possible. Running to the edge of a waterfall, he flew across the cliff, and continued in the direction that he figured the town would lie in. Hopefully, he would be able to find some way out of this forest soon.
His prayers were answered when the dark shadows of buildings appeared over the horizon, lying neatly on its hills. Taking in a breath of relief, the Commander rushed out of the tree line, a cottage easily seen from the distance.
Already his lungs were on the verge of exploding from the shear amount of air intake. Pausing himself for a breather, the changeling trotted towards the quiet buildings ahead. Even at this time of night, there were still ponies moving to and fro, not caring at all about the time but rather about their business. It was odd, considering how majority of the population had a unanimous curfew of around 9 o'clock. Technically, changelings also had a curfew to abide by, but the Commander never cared. It was always the best time to play tricks on his fellow members.
Like this one time when he saw Ditto sleeping in her own special section of the hive. The trick itself involved a hornet's nest and a jar of honey. Sneaking in after curfew, he and two other changelings smothered the wingless creature's horn in the sticky substance. Then, they released the wasps upon her. The resulting screams woke up half the hive. Afterwards, Ditto had to go for treatment in bee stings, and he himself landed two weeks on maintenance duty. But it was still, at least in his opinion, totally worth it.
Or there was this other time where he set a trap for Mirror. It was during his guard shift, and he could already tell the changeling was having another "session" with one of the cocooned creatures. Laying a bucket of water over the entrance, he hovered expectantly. As Mirror trotted out, he dumped the water over the changeling, who had jerked forward in surprise at the ice-cold liquid. Thus, she tripped over a well-placed peel that he had found in the hive rubbish pile. That alone had gotten him another three weeks on maintenance duty.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get any of those changelings to laugh. At least, at the time, his two friends Alter and Shift could share in a good laugh. But when he pranked any other changeling all it did was get them to despise him. In fact, he was sure there was some bond of friendship that they formed after his pranks. Well, when he was promoted to Commander, he never got the time to prank anyone anyway. In fact, he became a shadow of his former self. And he loathed it.
By now, he was snaking his way across alleyways, careful not to trip over anything that could make a noise. The walls were coated in a neat, green tint as every so often, a window would light up and the silhouette of a pony nursing their child could be seen.
Crates lined the backside of most walls, along with a few carts still filled to the brim with hay. The alleyways were much cleaner then he had expected. Apparently, Ponyville wasn't like most cities, where garbage could easily be found anywhere. No, this was the kind of place where rubbish was rarely, if ever, found lying two feet near the ground.
BOOM!
The blast sent the Commander flying into a wall, his eyes gazing up in horror as two sleek shapes descended upon him.
"Stop right there criminal scum!" the guards yelled.
"Oh great," the Commander muttered, "and to think I was going to get to eat that sweet roll at Sugarcube Corner."
With a rush of speed the Commander dashed down the alleyway, his chasers biting at his tail. He made a turn, then a twist as he ducked over a low plank. There was a yelp and the sound of wood cracking. As he dared to take a look, the Commander could see that at least one of the guards was incapacitated, his body strewn over the debris.
With a smirk, he continued to run, thinking of anything, or anyone, he could use to save himself. He drifted to the right, utilizing his wings for support as inertia threatened to tear his body apart. He made another dash for an adjoining alleyway before coming to a halt, his body pressed against the wall as he gulped the sweet air.
The sound of clopping caused his ears to straighten. Holding in his gut, he waited anxiously. For a good moment or two, there was the sound of raspy breathing. And then...silence.
The Commander didn't know how long he stood there, not even daring to flinch, when he decided to take in another breath. The centurion must have taken off by now. Sighing to himself, the Commander began to think back to his would-be saviors.
He still couldn't believe those back-stabbing traitors. Yet, why then were they all attacked? And why had that one changeling begged the Commander to run off and save himself. The more and more he thought about it, the less and less he understood. And then there was the matter of actually doing something. He couldn't go back to the hive, nor could he go back to his prison for that matter.
Which left him only one other option. He had to hide. Closing his eyes, the changeling began to concentrate on the memories shared earlier. He remembered Rainbow Dash and the Quest of the Lost Scone. That was when he had decided to transform into that night guard of Princess Luna.
Ah-ha! With a flash of green, the armored changeling was replaced by a guard in golden armor, whose prominent brown moustache set off his milky white coat.
"Well I suppose this will do for now," the Commander murmured in his Trottingham accent, "at least I still have my helm-"
The green beam of energy whizzed over his head and sizzled into the wall a mere millimeter off course, searing the top of his helmet in the process. With a yelp, the Commander dashed off into the road, looking back to see two furious looking swarm guards gaining speed. No longer in the alleyways, he ran past carts, his hooves skipping to avoid each blast that produced a crater in the dirt.
Meanwhile, lights flickered open as the commotion woke ponies from their early-morning dreams. A few of them slid down the windows, their faces covered with green mud masks as they moaned.
"What the heck is going on here?"
"It's 4' am in the morning..."
"I swear it better be changelings to be causing this much noise."
"Oh for Celestia's sake," The Commander yelled, "go back to bed! And let the guards handle it alright?" With a few grunts and groans, the heads bobbed back inside. Then the lights flickered off one by one, leaving the three changelings to duel it out. The Commander could feel a painful stab penetrate his chest, causing him to wheeze.
If he didn't lose them soon, he would likely die of exhaustion. Searching around, he noticed a shiny glimmer coming from one of the nearby tree trunks. Curiosity outweighing instinct, he set his course for the old oak. As he neared the little trunk, he saw the rubber surface of nothing other then a...
"...a ball and an eye-patch?"
Apparently, some foal must have left his toys behind. Cursing himself for even considering the tree, a lightbulb flashed over his head. Maybe...just maybe...this could come in handy. Snatching the eyepatch and rubber ball, he turned around to face the two guards, who landed side by side in front of him.
"You're trapped now" a guard sneered.
"Resistance is futile General Carbon," another said.
The Commander smirked. He had never dreamed that learning this absurd skill would save him in real life, but fate was somehow mocking his entire existence anyway. Raising his hooves in the air, the Commander knelt down.
"Looks like I've met my match, but will you fine gents entertain a fellow before he goes?"
"Buck you General," the guard hissed, "we're taking you in and that's-"
Pulling the strap back like a sling-shot, the Commander fired the eye-patch directly at the guard. With a twirl, it stuck to his eye. Then, pulling his hind legs back, he grabbed the ball and launched it with as much energy as he could manage. The ball hit the other guard with tremendous force, rebounding itself towards his partner, who by now was screaming that a spider had landed on him. But his shrieks of fear were instantly silenced when the ball bounced off his head, causing him to tumble towards his already unconscious friend.
It was entertaining really, to see the two slouched over each other in a dog pile. The Commander ought to do it more often.
Grinning to himself, the Commander flew off. Below him, buildings were slowly becoming more vibrant, their walls a bright pink as the sun began to slowly rise over the horizon. Now that his pursuers were out of the way, the Commander needed to think of his next phase. Clearly, his swarm was still out there, but if any of them were like Reflect, then maybe he could rescue them, especially now that changelings were turning on each other.
But why? he thought angrily. It didn't make sense to turn on one another. And it certainly didn't make sense that they were doing it now of all times, when the swarm was divided and scattered over the four winds.
Could it be that conflict with Carbon and Double? Well, he had never really paid much attention to politics within the swarm hierarchy, but since his life was now in peril because almost everyling considered him to be the hot-headed general, his mind dwindled on what he had remembered. Whenever there was mention of those two, the generals and chiefs would gossip over the lastest argument, or in some cases brawls, that erupted between them.
Next to the Commander, the High-General was also second-in-command. The difference being that the Commander-in-Chief was appointed in times of conflict, usually by the High-General, but sometimes by the Queen if she had the time. Then, both changelings would rule with equal power until they died. It usually worked out, since wars were rare between the swarm and other races.
General Carbon was supposedly the one to become High-General, or at least Commander of the Canterlot invasion. But then that job was given to the real Commander, and Double was not going to back out of her position any time soon. So, Carbon decided to wage his own private little war with Double, since he didn't need to argue with the Queen over a position she herself had chosen for a specific changeling. Besides, Carbon knew that the changeling already who was Commander was more then qualified.
Still, the Commander knew him to have short tempers, charging head-long into enemy occupation without a moment's haste. Double on the other hand, was more refined, sticking to shadows and espionage. Either way, the hive was split on the matter of who was fit to lead.
As he buzzed over the town square, memories of his trial flooded his mind. Oh how radiant Princess Luna was. Oh how annoying everypony else had been. And oh how he loathed that Princess Celestia and those Elements of Harmony. Even though Pinkie and Fluttershy were nice, they didn't exactly show compassion to him when he was trapped in a cage, on his way to their local dungeon.
Why, he was sure that if any changeling had landed in their backyard, they'd as soon as toss them into the dungeon as well. Well, when this was over, he would make sure to pay all those Elements a visit. Perhaps a prank, or maybe a prank involving a dozen or so soldiers. He was still the Commander after all. He had the power to veto the High-General, and equal control over all the others. In fact, it was said that the Commander had his own special armor, but that budget cuts had cost the hive to scratch the design and throw out the "tailor".
Just then, a green flash rushed past him, causing him to plummet out of control for a second or two. Turning around, he called out to the speeding creature, who happend to be a pegasus. "Why don't you watch the skies dingbat!"
The green mare turned to face him, her eyes widened. Turning back, she rushed towards the city ground below.
"What's with her?" The Commander muttered.
Then with a flap of his wings, he descended upon her, landing a few feet away. The pegasus jerked back, fear in her eyes as she continued to run away from him.
"Don't worry," he called out, "I'm a guard see? I ain't gonna hurt you!"
But the pegasus merely took off into the skies. Sighing to himself, the Commander ran after her, humming a tune along the way.
-------
Reflect's eyes shuttered open, his head dizzy from the third knock back spell this week. Stumbling to his hooves, the environment slowly began to take shape from its nebulous beginnings. He was in a room of some sort, colored red with matching couches and furniture. Two black shapes stood over him, their shadows casted off by the fire in the corner of the four-sided permitter.
"Reflect?" one of the voices called out.
"How the buck do you know my-" Reflect froze where he laid. He knew that voice, but hadn't heard it for what seemed like eons.
Two familiar toothy grins. A serpent-like frill only found in changelings. The wings of a rotten moth. The hole-filled hooves of true warriors and brothers. But the voice was enough to let him know who these two changelings were. Before he knew it, Reflect jumped into the air and locked Vapor and Zeth in a bear hug.
"Boy am I glad to see you," he nearly wailed, "I thought you two were captured or worse."
"Touche my good friend," Zeth added, "we though you were some guard on patrol who had discovered our hide-out. Only when we gave a closer look, did we see an actual changeling in our midst."
"By the way," Vapor added, "Zeth here was the one who conjured up that spell. So if you had any complaints, direct it at him."
Reflect merely smirked at his mate's comment. "Don't worry. I've been hit by that spell so many times I think I'm developing an immunity towards it."
The trio rolled over the floor in laughter, their lungs filling with air was they did so. When the cackling finally subsided, Reflect asked the question that had been on his mind for ages. "What happened to you two?"
Zeth took on a solemn stare, his eyes riveted on the sun rising over the skyline of the waking city. "We've been here for around a few days or so. When we got separated, me and Vapor here took over a couple's apartment, saying that we were merely guests of anypony came by. Then, we proceeded to gather energy. Though, with all the changeling nonsense started by the invasion, you can guess how well that went."
Reflect nodded, understanding the hardships that his friends must have gone through. "I can't say that I was undercover for long either."
Zeth raised a brow, but continued anyway. "Well we did manage to hold up. And then we found those colonists from the Manehattan branch. The one's that are stationed here permanently. They weren't too friendly, blaming us for all the chaos and pandemonium going on. Anyway, later on, we received word from the High-General of an attack taking place in Ponyville. We were already being hunted down by guards, and so we were just leaving town when you showed up."
"Lucky timing I suppose," Reflect said, "so then I guess there isn't much discussion as to what we do next correct?"
"They'll need all the forces they can muster," Vapor added.
With a sigh, the changelings slowly opened the window, their eyes scanning for any patrols. Thankfully, it was still early enough that the town was mostly in a deep slumber. With a flash, their wings began to beat at an alarming rate, helping them soar against the ocean current that swept inland from the coast.
As they soared over hills, houses, farms, and plains, Zeth pulled out a blue, ebony plated helmet. Then, his hooves bracing the wind, he handed it to Reflect, who cradled the helmet in his hooves.
"When we get down there they'll need to know your rank, General Fury."