Stars shone as sugar spilt over black marble, glistening in the sun, while the moon hid solemnly behind a veil of clouds – waning soft rays, occasionally peeking out.
Princess Luna had ordered her two remaining guards to form a small cordon between herself and John’s power armour, and the sparse treeline, as it grew ever dimmer with the retreating moonlight.
Some moments passed, and she turned to look behind her, as John approached from a large hole in the side of the ship. In a pale hand, he held a burlap bag – it bulged, likely with tools required to repair his armour.
He said nothing, as he squatted beside the bulk of his armoured suit, so completely dwarfed by it, that he almost seemed to disappear. Luna watched him intently, as his hands deftly moved and flexed within the legs of the suit. He removed a piece and replaced it with a duplicate, before pointing a small device at it, it sparked once – so luminous, that it left an after image dancing on her eyeballs and she had to blink rapidly to abate the momentary brightness.
As he continued, distant sounds could be heard on the breeze. Luna’s ears swivelled, as did those of her guards, the vague sounds stopped as suddenly as they had begun. An almost uncomfortable silence followed, Luna could feel the tenseness in her guards, and something didn’t feel right.
A hurried flapping could be heard, quiet at first, before becoming louder as it grew closer. Starfire and Frosted Whip drew their sabres once again, as a precaution. Luna squinted, suddenly able to make out a flickering shape, growing closer with the sound of wing flaps; its form distorting the twinkling stars.
It was a Lunar Guard, her appearance was bedraggled – as if she had flown through tree branches – indeed it looked as though she had. Twigs and leaves stuck out haphazardly at odd angles from her mane and tail, and her helmet was missing. Her plate armour had been scratched and chipped by blades; Luna had seen the signs of combat many times.
As the guard jumped and skipped with the speed of her landing, she gasped for breath as she offered a quick bow, before fixing her wide-eyed yellow gaze on Luna.
“Princess, Changelings in the forest! They ambushed us – we saw the biped head into the trees and we followed, trying to keep a discreet distance,” she paused to suck in more oxygen. “We saw it head back toward the ship, we were about to pursue it, but we blundered into a changeling trap!” she spat the word changeling as you might refer to vermin or a plague – in Luna’s mind that was what they were.
“We sent somepony to locate you; Guard Steel Mustang – did he happen across you?”
The guard was breathing heavily but she nodded as she said, “We saw him coming near us, but as he flew over a small defilade, he became consumed in green magic attacks, and that’s when the ambush began,” she looked off to one side in reflection, “Celestia, it all happened so fast”.
“Steady thyself, what are the enemy’s numbers?” Her blue eyes contained fiery steel.
“It was hard to tell, there were so many of them – I was ordered to find you and get help”. Her speech ended suddenly when she finally noticed the towering armour, and her dark orange eyes locked to John, as he stood and dusted his hands off by rubbing them together.
He stared right back at her, as he addressed Luna, “Princess, you look like you could use some help”. He glanced at her, as he clasped the open leg portions shut and grasped a small circular piece on the back of his armour, John stepped back as the suit opened before him.
A buzzing noise could be heard, growing louder as it approached. The new guard’s ears swivelled and she turned her head to look back at the dark treeline, before whipping back to look at Luna with wide eyes, “They’re coming! Princess, we have to leave!”
In answer, Luna drew a pair of long single-edged swords with curved blades; they made a few test slashes in front of her, their handles covered in a faint blue, ethereal glow.
“We cannot, we must defend this location – we art certain that by now our sister will have dispatched more Guards to our position. Commander, we would appreciate your assistance”.
John sucked in a deep breath, his chest expanding with the motion, he then removed his mask, and Luna caught a waning glimpse of his face. It was pale. In addition to sharp blue eyes, the human’s face had a small mouth and a small protruding lump that Luna assumed was his nose, a faint white scar drew a line from his jawline up to and just under an eye.
He turned from her and climbed into his open power armour. While it closed around him, Starfire and Frosted Whip joined the Princess with their sabres held in their mouths – the three of them adopted a defensive stance, holding themselves low to the ground with weapons pointed outwards toward the treeline. The sound of buzzing grew in pitch and seemed to come from all around them.
The third guard joined them, “I need a weapon.” She looked at Starfire tentatively.
“Here,” Starfire said, retrieving a small, thin dagger from behind a wing. “Don’t cut yourself.”
John checked his Heads up Display — it showed all systems nominal. He drew his laser rifle from his back and quickly checked it over — it held a charged Microfusion Cell that would provide him with several dozen shots. In the white-grey of his low-light imaging, John could make out small black shapes darting erratically from treetop to treetop deeper into the woods.
He looked briefly to the ponies and knew that they likely couldn’t see in the dark as well – but he could not be certain. Deciding against asking, he instead swapped his energy weapon for the medical storage canister, magnetically locked onto his right hip. Under the curious gaze of the ponies, he rooted inside for his desired item.
The buzzing sound grew louder still, and Luna turned her gaze away from John and back to the treeline, it was difficult to tell, but she could see them getting closer.
“Aha!” John exclaimed. His helmet gave his voice a mechanical twinge, as he held a small, stubby thing with armoured fingers. It looked similar to his other weapons, which were stuck to his armour — a small handle, which he clutched in his hand, and a short piece that pointed away from him. The only difference was, instead of having a square end, this ones was circular.
Before she could ask him its function, he pointed it skyward and with a quiet puff, a small sparking light was fired into the air. The ponies tracked it with their heads – the few motes of orange light glinting in their glassy eyes.
It exploded into a harsh red light, then cascaded down onto everything and illuminated much of the wooded area and the dead ground in between it and the ship. The flaring light hung high above them. It hurt to look at, so Luna averted her eyes and instead looked to the treeline, where the forms of multiple changelings were now exploding from within the shadows of the trees – cast by the red light – and swarming into the open air.
There were dozens of black, insectoid looking ponies. They had giant fly wings on their backs, which buzzed noisily. Their charcoal limbs had small holes dotted randomly on them, as did their gossamer wings, their heads had a small curved horn ending in a sharp point. As they locked eyes with John and the Equestrians, their jagged mouths opened to hiss and screech.
Princess Luna looked on at the rising swarm of Changelings. They numbered around a hundred. A sudden thumping announced the armoured human’s departure from the ponies’ side.
“Commander, we urge you to return at once!” She had to shout to be heard over the chittering and screeching of the changelings.
He didn’t react. However, as he grew closer to the changelings, they became focused on him. With howling shrieks in their chittering language, half of them peeled off to fly straight at John. As a line of diving changelings neared his armoured form, things seemed to move in slow motion for the Princess, as everything was painted in an eerie red light.
The ever-present thrum of changeling wings was washed out as John pointed a short blocky weapon at them. He fired up into the stream of bodies, with Luna being able to feel the heat even from the distance she was at. The red light from the weapon seemed to outshine the small ember in the sky, as bolts of energy blasted up toward the changelings.
The flow of time returned to a more normal level as the energy bolts hurtled at great speed throughthe changelings. Black limbs were torn off in burning flashes, several of them were cut clean in half or had smouldering holes punched right through them. Luna had seen many acts of violence in her long life but never one with such a singular ferocity.
Dozens of changeling bodies impacted the ground with wet thuds. Limbs rained down, along with splashes of green blood and organs painted across the dry dirt. In a scant few seconds, John had cut their number in half. He switched his attention to the group of bug-horses, now making their way to the Equestrian’s position.
He turned in place and fired in short controlled bursts – red energy bolts lashing out and plucking more changelings from the air. The occasional bolt, which missed, arced high into the sky, before dissipating a far distance away. He risked hitting the ponies, as the changelings sped ever closer toward them.
His suit’s motion tracker was displaying both hostile and friendly signatures a few hundred meters into the trees, “the Lieutenant,” he thought, “They could use my help.”
After the destructive display of killing the vast majority of the attacking changelings, Princess Luna could see John start to thunder away from them into the treeline.
“Curses, where is he going now?!” Starlight shouted as she rushed to meet the advancing changelings. Although they had suffered losses – they still outnumbered the ponies ten to one – Frosted Whip and the surviving Lunar Guard joined Starlight in holding off the advancing changelings.
Princess Luna used a move she had learned millennia ago from an old stag, the deer favoured pulsating magic bursts to stagger and dislodge their enemy in an attack.
She charged her horn, as blue magic built along its length she dispelled it at the first few changelings, sending a rippling tide of magical energy into them – they tumbled and sailed around the encircled ponies.
Luna’s guards lashed out with jabbing attacks, their blades cutting into areas where the changeling’s vital organs lay; necks were cut and heads sliced clean off. For every black bug killed, three would replace it.
Luna was an expert swordsmare; she guided her twin, curved blades high into the swarming changelings, severing limbs and slaying many outright.
A large changeling landed behind Luna, it was nearly as big as her, with a thickly armoured carapace and chitinous armour on its hole-ridden forelegs and black head – its beady blue-glowing eyes looked at her with obvious malice. It screeched once and lunged for her. In its sickly green magic, it held a jagged black blade made from the same chitinous substance as its armour and carapace.
Luna ducked and weaved. Summoning her swords back to her side – as the large changeling brought its black blade down toward her head, Luna’s silver curved blades span around her to meet them, they struggled against one another for a moment.
She turned her entire body around whilst using her swords to lift the changelings up and away from her. She bucked it as hard as she could – two silver horseshoes indenting large gauges into its chest and forcing it into the air and into the ship that was behind them.
The changeling slumped to the ground before shakily standing, all around the Princess her three guards were struggling to hold the changeling horde at bay.
She watched in distress as the guard who had brought word of the changeling ambush buried her dagger into the chest of a large changeling. It head-butted her, before biting deep into her unprotected neck – it reared up and tossed her over its horned head – she disappeared behind a group of changelings, who immediately set about stabbing and biting at her.
Starlight let out a lengthy shrill war cry as she lashed out with a sabre, she slashed back and forth at the big changeling’s neck, practically sawing it off.
The changeling was bucked hard by Frosted Whip, who sent it hurtling into yet more changelings.
Luna’s eyes widened at the ferocious display, she reached out with her magic and telekinetically dragged the wounded guard back through the changelings, tripping over a number of them and resting her at her own hooves.
The guard was curled up and was covering her head with her armoured forelegs, red and green blood matted her fur. She looked up at the princess and Luna could tell by the clarity in her eyes that she was not critically injured.
The thundering approach of hooves made Luna spin around to face the large armoured changeling once more. It slammed into her and sent her skidding back, her hooves leaving small trenches in the dirt.
Its crooked black sword was hammering down at her again and she had to parry it with her own curved blades.
The force of the attack had sent one of her longswords clattering to the ground, the changeling screeched and tried to bite her, Luna ducked her head back to avoid its tooth-filled maw, gritting her own teeth in the process.
As she lay stunned under the fighting forms of Princess Luna and the largest, meanest looking changeling she had ever seen, Dark Goldenrod’s grey-furred ears stood up, a long, curved silver blade rattled to the ground in front of her.
Her blurry eyesight could see Princess Luna’s strong legs arrayed around her and she blinked to try and gain focus but was met with limited success.
Goldenrod managed to focus on the underside of the massive changeling. It was at tall as Luna, but much stockier and had bulky chitinous armour on its forelegs and head – it hissed and roared as it tried to bite the princess.
Goldenrod shakily climbed forward so that she was more underneath the changeling. Neither it nor the princess noticed her as they were so intently locked onto one another.
She nudged Luna’s fallen blade with her snout, being careful not to cut herself, she took the handle side into her mouth.
Leaning her head up, the curved point was aimed directly at the soft seam under the changeling, between its front legs – where the edges of its carapace joined with black flesh.
She kicked upwards hard. The blade digging up into the creature in jerky motions, Goldenrod scrabbled to find purchase underneath the changeling.
The reaction was immediate, the changeling howled and screeched as it back peddled away from the sword that was sticking out from underneath it.
Princess Luna seized the opportunity and leapt forward, grabbing onto the changeling’s jagged sword to immobilise it in her blue magic. She brought her one remaining blade whirling around and stabbed it into the changelings gaping mouth. Grimacing as the handle disappeared entirely down its throat.
The changeling gurgled and spluttered whilst it reared up onto its hind legs. Sparkling blue magic grasped at the handle of the blade sticking out of its underside, she twisted it and pulled it out, before stabbing it back in all the way up to the hilt.
She yelled and used her magic to shove the large changeling back, pushing it into the ship and lifting it up into the air.
Blue magic surrounded it entirely. It kicked, screeched and gurgled – the blade slicing its way into its throat and insides, creating sickening sounds.
It went still as the tip of a blade emerged from the base of its barrel, near its hind legs. Shouting with the effort, Princess Luna made the blade slice up toward the creature’s chest – it shuddered and wobbled with the movement.
She pulled both blades from its now lifeless body and released it from her magical grip, causing it to burst open down its middle as it fell to the ground.
A corpse momentarily cushioned on a pile of green organs and many litres of splashing blood.
The red light from the human’s device petered out. Goldenrod couldn’t help but whimper as the fading forms of Frosted Whip and Starfire – doing battle with the remaining two dozen changelings – disappeared as complete blackness enveloped them.
“ENOUGH!” Princess Luna shouted so loudly that Goldenrod thought she wouldn’t be able to hear again.
The princess emitted a piercing beam of light from her horn and sent a wave of energy into the changelings. It battered them away from Starlight and Whip, but not before the mares cut down three more with flashing steel.
“Regroup!” Princess Luna screamed the order.
Goldenrod rose to her hooves almost involuntarily, her training kicking in. Whip and Starfire had the same reaction, skipping backwards with weapons outstretched to hold the changelings at bay.
They formed a battle line, ready for the next attack. Princess Luna levitated the large changeling’s chitinous blade over to her, Goldenrod took it in her mouth.
“Any weapon is better than no weapon”, she thought – the texture was so rough that she feared it would cut her mouth.
The waning light being emitted from Luna’s horn cast wild shadows around them. Had the changelings glowing blue eyes not given them away, their black bodies would have hidden them.
After a moment of comparative silence, the changelings hissed and spat, seemingly as one. They scampered and skittered toward the ponies, the four of them meeting the changelings with steely professionalism – they would never stop fighting – it wasn’t in their spirit.
The sounds of battle grew less intense and more distant the further John ventured into the woods. After a moment, he could barely hear anything at all, save for his thundering armoured footsteps, and the whirring of his armours servo-motors.
The trees thickened. The moon above was completely obscured by a dense curtain of clouds. It made little difference, as John viewed the world in hues of greys, whites and black – in the low light vision of his power armour.
His suit's sensors were picking out dozens of signatures up ahead – but were unable to tell John what they were exactly.
“Great,” he thought sarcastically.
Somewhere in the distance, an owl hooted. It was so eerily calm compared to the chaos of the battle beforehand, after some minutes of endless dark trees, the ground began to rise to a small clearing.
According to his map, the clearing was located on an area of high ground that offered a view of the escape pod.
“So this ‘Lieutenant Midnight’ had been ghosting me after all,” he mused to himself.
After he crested a rise in the terrain, he slowed to a halt and crouched to survey the area before him. From the viscera, blood and still bodies, John guessed that this was the ambush site. He scanned the clearing, looking for any signs of movement, he didn’t see any.
He rose up from his crouched position and slowly moved into the open. His hands clutched his laser rifle tightly.
After wandering over countless changeling corpses, he stopped in front of a lifeless pony. It had a long thin black blade embedded in its back, and its face was frozen in a silent scream. The pony’s cold eyes and the fact that it was in a large puddle of its own drying blood, made John decide that it was very much dead.
There were three others slumped in various positions. One of them with its head severed, laying on top of another whose injuries John could only guess at.
The fourth was further away. Its armour was blackened with energy burns, its face an unrecognisable mess of fused flesh and fur. It hadn’t bled much, despite having a large hole seared into its side. The flesh red and raw under the melted armour, its wings were sticking up at unnatural angles – the runner sent by the princess, no doubt.
Before John could properly react, half a dozen changelings appeared out of a small dip in the terrain. They charged at him – some in the air and some on the ground. As they neared the unmoving pony bodies, the one lying underneath its headless comrade burst into action, John assumed from the silver etching along its shoulders that this was Lieutenant Midnight.
She attacked with more speed than he would have thought her capable of. Her movements a blur, as in one deft motion she drew her silver sabre and slashed downwards at a changelings head. To its credit, it was able to dodge partly out of the way, the flashing sabre only managing to slice part of its black head off, causing a spurt of green life fluid to burst from its wound.
A second even faster movement from her blade cut cleanly through its neck and its head fell lifelessly from its black carapace, while its body twitched and spasmed in its final death throes.
She snarled. Causing the five other changelings to freeze momentarily, before they rushed to close the distance on her. She lifted herself into the air – three out of five managing to take flight with her, the final two being cut down in a hail of super-heated laser fire. John didn’t hesitate in attacking, as he took aim on the three remaining changelings.
He didn’t fire however, for fear of hitting the Lieutenant. He tracked them, roughly looking down the stubby laser rifle at the aerial display taking place in front of and above him.
With a curved sabre in her mouth and two small wing-blades, the Lieutenant danced and spun in a whirling image of blue-grey plate armour and black-brown wings. The three changelings struggled to land a hit, their larger unarmoured forms unable to keep up with the agile guard.
They reflected each other, as the three black forms tried to find an opening. One of them darted toward her, its jagged mouth opening. She whipped her head sharply to one side and her sabre cleaved a hole across the changelings head, killing it instantly.
It dropped from the air whilst a second made its move – she performed a manoeuvre like a pirouette, extending both wings toward the changeling.
The thing screeched in its perceived victory, the twin blades attached to the Lieutenant’s wings embedded into its chest – it gave a grisly gurgling hiss, as green blood spurted from its open mouth.
They both began to fall together, Lieutenant Midnight pulling away at the last second as the changeling impacted the ground with a sickening crunch. Its insect-like head bent at an impossible angle.
John had been tracking the entire display with his laser rifle. Gunsights resting on the last changeling to remain airborne, he fired his last three shots into it – the three red projectiles burying themselves into its carapace, leaving three smouldering holes as it fell.
The Equestrian landed with a heavy thud against the ground a few meters from John. With practised ease, he swapped out his spent Microfusion Cell, a fresh one replacing it from the long belt of Cells that was strapped to his torso armour.
They stared at each other for a few beats – John not moving, as he saw the unspoken question in the bat-ponies yellow eyes, friend or foe?
“I mean you no harm,” he said at length, “Princess Luna and the surviving ponies are fighting at the crash site – we should get back to them.”
She looked unconvinced, her piercing yellow eyes squinting as she rotated her head, “Name?” She asked sternly.
He paused, “Commander Maxon.”
“Commander,” she emphasised every syllable and looked around her at the dead.
“You can come back for them later, they aren’t going anywhere.”
Her head swivelled back to fix her gaze on him, she nodded once.
He turned and ran back toward the wreck of the Anlace, the ground rolling by beneath him. In his periphery, he could see the Lieutenant gliding along beside him – seeming to have no difficulty in keeping up, despite the darkness.
Princess Luna, Starfire, Frosted Whip and Dark Goldenrod had been fighting tenaciously ever since the hulking biped had galavanted off toward the treeline. Luna had lost sight of him shortly after his departure and had been too preoccupied to try and retrieve him.
The last half dozen changelings were just as persistent in their hive-minded attacks. These last six were lither – moving with practised ease and experience – dodging sabre jabs and parring wing slashes.
Against the treeline, two shapes appeared. Luna feared at first it would be more changelings, but was relieved to see a towering armoured human and a smaller, armoured Thestral.
Once more John worried he would hit the cornered Equestrians if he fired at the changelings. He ran as fast as he could, like a thousand-kilogram speeding bullet. Lieutenant Midnight effortlessly kept pace alongside him.
They both reached the frantic skirmish at the same time, John crushing changeling bodies under his armoured feet as he slowed to a halt, three of the six changelings whirling to meet them, hissing and chittering as they did.
Midnight reached the lone changeling first, rotating in mid-air to kick it hard with her rear hooves.
John turned his attention to the other two charcoal-horrors coming for him. He was close enough that he felt confident in shooting them without hitting any friendlies.
He stopped entirely to take aim. Moments before however, the nearest bug-horse rolled under his sight, catapulting itself up and into John, sending his laser rifle away.
John recovered quickly and grabbed the changeling with his thick armoured hands, one clenched around its neck and the other clasping its rear legs together.
The changeling screeched in frustration as it was unable to do anything. John jumped into a lunge position and with a sickening crunch, he used a steel-encased knee to break the things back.
Dropping its broken remains to one side, he stood to his full height to locate the second changeling.
From his left side, it came. With a long, drawn-out battle-cry announcing its presence.
It buzzed its wings to drop down at John from above – using its curved pointed horn, the changeling unleashed several fiery-green energy blasts. They surged around John in a maelstrom, his power armour’s orange energy shields flashing to life and stopping the worst of the damage.
As the blasts ceased, John burst from the fading green energy with his half-meter long combat knife in an armoured hand.
He slashed it lengthways at the changeling, however, the obsidian-coloured creature danced away from his wide arc and he only grazed it.
He made an over-hand swipe in the other direction, stepping into the attack like an unstoppable juggernaut, the changeling hissing and shrieking as it shirked away from the human’s attacks.
All around him the Equestrians were struggling to overcome their opponents.
In his peripheral vision, he could see Princess Luna using a type of magical shield to hold off the energy attacks of one changeling, whilst she parried sword blows with it.
He heard Midnight yell “come on!” and an answering shriek from her quarry.
He narrowed his eyesight onto the almost serpentine creature in front of him, its glowing blue eyes staring daggers at him.
John thought about using his suit's thrusters and his suit complied, his armoured figure being jetted forward faster than the changeling could evade him.
He had coiled beforehand and struck out with his blade, thrusting it into the changeling's open mouth – the tip of his blade exiting out of the back of its head.
He yanked the blade out and had a quick look at his surroundings, all of the ponies, bar Starfire and Midnight, had dealt with their respective enemies.
Lieutenant Midnight used a hoof-mounted duel blade to slash a matching pair of gauges into a changeling’s chest – deep enough to be lethal.
John watched Starfire and the last remaining changeling battle it out, seemingly evenly matched. They both parried sabre and chiton blade strikes and evaded magical blasts and dagger throws.
Finally, in a burst of speed, the changeling managed to duck under a powerful blow dealt by Starfire. It impaled twin spikes, one after the other in quick succession, through her back and out of her front – using small seams in her plate armour to do so.
As Starfire gasped and gave a gurgled scream, Luna propelled a curved silver blade entirely through the changeling’s torso – end-to-end – whilst John drew a laser pistol to fire thrice into its head, turning it into a bubbling melted mess, it dropped to the dirt, dead.
Three Thestrals, one lunar princess and an armoured human approached the twitching form of Starlight. Thick dark blood ebbing from the twin holes in her chest and leaving trails along the seams of her armour. She spluttered and coughed causing a spurt of blood to eject from her mouth.
“I’m sorry,” she rasped, looking at Luna – her eyes pleading.
Luna approached her and took a hoof in her own, “do not be – you fought valiantly – and thou art not dead yet.”
Luna’s already glowing horn pulsed brighter with blue magic, light shone through the holes in Starfire’s armour – she gasped and jerked, Frosted Whip holding her steady.
John had been digging around in his aide capsule. He pulled out some bandages, a bio-foam injector and a stimpak, “take her armour off,” he said gesturing with an armoured finger.
Luna looked disgruntled, “We are holding the blood inside, if we are to stop, her life will surely end.”
John thudded to his knees in front of Starfire’s struggling body – using his left gauntlet, he pried off one side of her torso armour, before pulling it off entirely.
“I have medicine,” he said, placing the medical items on the ground, while he gently yet firmly tore a sizable hole in Starfire’s chainmail.
Princess Luna looked like she wanted to object, but made no move to do so. She watched as the human plunged a large needle-nosed device into one of Starfire’s open wounds.
He then injected a smaller needle around the two wounds on her back, being careful not to bend her wings as he moved her.
A thick viscous, bright-white substance began to emerge from her chest-wounds, seeming to set like quick-drying concrete. Her eyes became slightly glassy and her expression changed from one of pain to an almost platonic look.
She looked at Princess Luna as the human began to dress her wounds with a bandage, “Hey there, Princess – that magic potion sure did the trick-ch—”
Her speech became slurred and her sentence was cut off with a rasp. Slumping as whatever cocktail the Commander had injected her with took hold.
Princess Luna’s head rose to look at John, “what did you just give to her?” she questioned hotly.
John finished bandaging Starfire’s wounds.
“Bio-foam to seal her punctured lung, it doubles as a pain-killer and an antibiotic. The smaller injection,” he brandished the empty syringe at her, “was a ‘Stimpak’, a slurry of chemicals that speed recovery and promote healing – a wound that would heal in a week can heal in a few hours,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“Then you have our thanks,” she looked to Lieutenant Midnight, “Report.”
John set to wrapping Starfires biofoam filled wounds, blood would eventually seep through the foam.
The Lieutenant snapped off a quick, smart salute. Despite the evident damage and wear to her armour, she gave no indication of weariness, her tone was even and calm.
“Myself and three guards proceeded around the object, using tree cover to conceal ourselves. Guard Ash Cloud noticed a large biped enter the woods from the North. We hadn’t yet reached our observation point, so I decided to reroute and follow at a safe distance.”
She jerked her head at Dark Goldenrod, “Guard Goldenrod, Ash Cloud, Silver Slate and I were arranged in a diamond formation. We crept along until we reached some high-ground, by then we could clearly observe the alien—”
“Human,” Luna interrupted.
“Human,” The Lieutenant parroted with surprising flawlessness, before continuing, “it — he,” she corrected, “Was poking around a weird device the likes of which I've never seen. The human left - I was going to leave a guard at the observation point to keep an eye on the ambiguous metal thing.”
Lieutenant Midnight looked back to the dark treeline, “Ash Cloud argued that we should all head back to you and ensure your safety and Silver Slate agreed. They were both spooked by the whole thing, I mean, who could blame them?” Her tone grew angry at the end.
“This whole situation is a disaster, actual aliens - and the changelings?” She looked back at the princess.
“Go on, Lieutenant,” Luna urged. Her voice was gentle, soothing, placating.
The Lieutenant grimaced as she continued, “It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. I’d managed to convince Ash and Slate that things weren’t as bad as they seemed when I noticed Steel Mustang flying in from the direction of the ship.
“We never found out what message he was delivering. As he came near, he flew over a dip in the terrain, in the near pitch-black we hadn’t noticed them before, must have been the entrance to a small cave – hordes of changelings came out at us.”
Everyone was listening with rapt attention. The moon had started to unveil itself, slim silver rays giving a view of the countless bodies arrayed around the group. Whip and Goldenrod kept one eye on the surroundings – looking for any movement in the shadows. John was monitoring Starfire, looking at a dim green square on his arm.
“He was cut down in green fire, the changelings surrounding us in an instant – I ordered Goldenrod to find you and report. While she took off we held out as best we could, but…”
She tried to make sure her voice wouldn’t break, “Ash and Slate didn’t make it.”
She looked at Luna, sadness evident in her tone and features. “I hid under Ash’s body, waiting for the right time to strike. After what felt like hours, the human found me. He was attacked by several changelings, with his help we took them down.”
She gave a look of respect to the kneeling human, him not seeming to notice, as his attention was fully on the square on his wrist.
She looked back at Luna, her eyes downcast for a moment, before hardening.
“You know the rest once we came here.”
Princess Luna gave an appraising hum, “We do – very good Lieutenant, we are sorry for the loss of your Guards. We shall recover them later, for now–”
A western breeze brought with it the sound of wings. Sounding like a large flight of birds to John’s ears – but the ponies all shared a look.
“That will be the Royal Guard,” Frosted Whip said, looking to the dark sky.
“We agree, there is not much we can do from here. We need to lick our wounds – we can return tomorrow at noon.
“Commander,” she said, stepping close to John.
“We believe you should come with us to Canterlot – Equestria’s capital. The Royal Guard are likely to bring chariots – you can ride in one – as shall we.”
She gestured with an outstretched wing at the gathered Thestrals.
“From there we can learn more about each other. We also need to alert our ponies about the changeling presence here.”
John thought for a moment, he couldn’t think of a better idea, “What about the Anlace? We can’t just leave it here unguarded.”
Luna hummed in agreement.
“We will leave a contingent of Royal Guard. They will have explicit orders not to enter your ship under any circumstance.
“We give you our word, as a Princess, that the grave of your people will not be disturbed. Is that acceptable?”
He considered her proposal, eventually, they would want access to the ship. He had his own orders, not to let any advanced technology fall into the hands of primitives.
While he didn’t exactly think of them as primitives, he wanted more evidence, before he decided for himself what to make of his situation.
If these ‘changeling’ creatures were hostile, then, for now, his only ally was these ponies – so he needed them on his good side if he was going to survive.
After a lengthy silence, all eyes on the armoured human, he finally gave his answer.
“Okay – for now keep everyone out of that ship. It’s dangerous – chemical spills and collapsed segments – but how will you prevent your people from seeing the ship once the sun rises?” He asked incredulously.
“Commander,” Luna smiled briefly, “we will do our utmost to keep everypony away.”
John grunted, but didn’t offer any more questions. Instead, standing and looking up to the rising volume of dozens of wing flaps.
In the darkness, multiple formations of golden-clad, white ponies could be made out – their coats like small moons in the dark sky.
Each group of four seemed to tow a golden, delicate-looking carriage – in the back of which stood a dozen unicorns and ponies with neither wings nor horns.
John would have to inquire later about the differences in their species.
As the flying ponies landed around the trench left by the Anlace, the white guards on board the carriages dismounted. Those with horns leading the way, their horns lit.
They all had a short sword either levitating in front of them or clutched in a mouth, for those without magic.
John still found such a concept difficult to grasp. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he would have assumed it to be simply made up nonsense.
As it was, he still found himself wondering if he was hallucinating, from exposure to some unknowable energy or space radiation, or dead.
Princess Luna stepped toward the approaching guards, they policed up the dead bodies, many of the unicorns and earth ponies dragging and levitating the destroyed changeling bodies, piling them up a short distance from the ship.
A stocky broad stallion approached. He wore a more bulky version of the Royal Guard armour – appearing more like the Lunar Guard set in a gold finish.
He had a trio of diamonds on each shoulder, and the plume of his mane that stuck through his helmet was red, rather than the standard blue.
“Captain Stark Wing, you appear to be late to the party,” Princess Luna said with a slightly humorous tinge that died in an instant.
“We have dead and wounded. Lunar Guards lay in the forest with more changelings,” she spat the word, “and we have also encountered a new species. Captain, I’d like to introduce you to Commander John Maxon, a human – and the only survivor from this spaceship.”
“Captain,” the massive human’s mechanical voice sent a small shiver down Stark Wing’s spine.
John’s armoured helm swivelled to look down at the pony captain. All around, the other Royal Guards chanced glances at John, whispering to each other as they cleaned up the area – already a sizable pile of dead changelings was amounting.
The Captain’s blank visage revealed little. “Lieutenant Seaberry, take third platoon– go with Lieutenant Midnight to retrieve our dead. And be careful, there could still be changelings in the woods, so I want them swept, clear?”
“Yes, sir!” she replied sharply.
Her armour was the standard version – a single golden body piece which left the legs exposed while offering maximum mobility.
Knee guards and a helmet that had slots for her white ears and blue mane to stick out of, the pair of officers moved away from the group in silence, departing into the trees with three dozen guards in tow.
Captain Stark Wing gave a quick bow, “Princess, Guard Starry Skies reached Canterlot, and she briefed us on the situation, although she mentioned nothing about changelings.”
He looked around them. The small groups of guards lit by the occasional illumination spell or gemstone, as they moved to pile the changelings up higher and higher.
“I brought a company of the battalion with me, the rest of the 1/6th will make their way on hoof – they should be here by midday.”
“We did not know about, nor anticipate their presence. But to have such a large scouting force so deep within our borders troubles us greatly,” Luna said before adding, “how many guards have you at your disposal, Captain?”
He was stood perfectly still, like a statue.
“A little over a hundred made the flight with me, including most of my pegasi. I have them grouped into three platoons.”He gestured at the carriages, parked in the defilade left in wake of the ships crash-landing.
“Your sister wants you back, Luna.”
Few guards could address her without her title, especially in the company of others, but she would allow it from the old stallion, his experience and loyalty belaying any reprimands for the breach of protocol.
She looked around, John picking up his discarded weapon and meticulously examining it.
“Very well, Captain. But we will not depart until we have every one of our guards on board with us.” Her tone left little room to argue.
“Of course,” he said simply.
“Oh, and Captain,” she added, stopping him from leaving.
“Under no circumstances is anypony to enter the human’s ship, under threat of treason.” Her eyes were cold, almost merciless.
A lesser stallion would have cowered under her piercing gaze – but the Captain had known her long enough, that very little from her could disturb him.
Seemingly without a reaction, he answered, “of course, Princess – I’ll see to it personally.”
He turned and walked to a trio of officers, “Lieutenants Dandelion, Percios and Hayseed – firstly, I want 2nd platoon to run security; ready foxholes and defensive positions around the ship – we’ll prepare as if another changeling attack is imminent – and it might just well be.
“Have 1st platoon keep watch positions outside of the defensive line – any changeling sightings are to be reported and repelled immediately.”
“Yes sir!” they all shouted while saluting smartly.
He led the three of them toward the growing pile of bodies.
“I want third platoon to join second on the line once they’re back – and get those Lunar Guard and the Princess onboard a sky carriage and out of here as soon as possible, got it?”
“Yes sir!” they answered in unison.
After some time, Princess Luna, Commander Maxon, an unconscious Starfire along with the three dead guards had been loaded onto a sky carriage.
Large and long, with enough room for them all to fit – it had a canvas cover over the top, with extra folding canvas sheets being draped over the side, to create a nearly seamless cover.
Princess Luna stared sullenly at the dead guards, her dead guards. She wondered if she could have done anything differently to keep them from dying – she couldn’t think of anything that would have changed events so drastically. As they had no reason to suspect such a sizable changeling scouting party would reveal itself.
John was splayed out along the floor, legs reaching from side-to-side and his armoured helm touching the roof of the carriage. Next to him was a pile of metal crates stacked from floor to ceiling.
To spare having extra guards, Luna had refuted the Royal Guards from towing her and her entourage in two carriages – instead having her three surviving guards fly them in a single carriage.
In her sleep, Starfire moaned – Luna’s horn flared a dim blue, casting shadows in the dark carriage – she had weaved a spell to ease Starfire’s tumultuous slumber.
“Shh,” she cooed in a soft voice, almost motherly – a stark contrast to her earlier commanding tone.
John was watching her intently. He had never imagined finding himself in such a strange place. But – he decided – he would try his hardest to keep going. To persevere for those who had not made it.
They sat in silence, the only sounds being the gentle creaking of the carriage, wing flaps and the occasional rustle from the canvas.
It was almost tranquil, John found his earlier weariness returning and before he realised it – he too had drifted into exhaustion-induced sleep.
Luna couldn’t physically see the human under his bulky armour, even though he had sat completely motionless for the entire duration of the flight and had not outwardly displayed a change, she could keenly sense him drift into unconsciousness. She reached out with her mind, eyes tightly shut.
At first, she couldn’t sense his mind in the normal fashion. She could detect large amounts of power emanating from his armour – her closed eyes tightened with the slight strain of trying to locate his subconscious. Eventually, she found it – a rippling, alien world that most definitely would be his dreamscape.
She feared to enter could dispel it entirely, his dream was a delicate mess as it was. She instead opted to watch, to the outside world – she also appeared to be asleep.
She saw flashes of death, of twisted bodies and metal – a barren, grey-brown world, fought over time and time again.
She could tell by the muted emotions that he was reliving a memory. Two large armies in armour like John’s waged violent combat against one another, flying machines and big, armoured carriages raced around spitting red death.
She decided against her earlier assessment as his dream started to stabilise in strength. She poured a small amount of magic into him – attempting to guide his subconscious mind into a more peaceful memory; thousands of them flashed by – none of them meeting the positive emotional aurora she was hoping to find.
After several minutes, she could detect the strain on John’s mind.
His physical body twitching slightly, although not enough for his armour to process the movements, she cut her connection, leaving a small note for his mind to sleep without dreams for now. His twitching settled and his emotional essence felt calmer.
She smiled, for she had at least managed to prevent one beings suffering this night. As they neared Canterlot, she thought to the future – about the revelations – and possible revolutions that this alien’s existence would surely spark.
As she resorted to light meditation, she hoped for a brighter future. One without the war and strife that this creature came from, but the universe was not often so kind.