Sol marched through the Changeling City with Beck and Luna, who was changing between gawking at the city and at the metal behemoth. She had been like that since the ‘battle’.
‘More like complete slaughter.’ Sol thought with a smirk.
As he walked, more and more Changelings appeared out of their dwellings to stare. Of course, most of them were directed at Luna and not him this time. Which he was glad for, having had his fill of stares from when he first came here and Ponyville. And most guards gave him a nod as he walked past, which he gladly returned.
Down and down they walked, passing countless Changelings and crossing multiple platforms. When they arrived at the throne room, Sol could hear voices inside. When the doors opened it revealed Chrysalis on her throne conversing with three Changelings, but these ones were different.
Each one was bigger than a normal Changeling for starters. At least half a head taller. They also had longer horns, wings and were coloured grey. Aside from those differences though, they looked like normal Changelings.
Upon seeing them enter, a smile graced Chrysalis’ face. “Sol! It is good to have you back! I'm sorry we could not assist you, Beck left without a word. Although from what I've been told, you did not need help whatsoever.”
“That is true Chrysalis, I almost feel bad for those suckers,” He said with a smile that was covered by his helmet, “But who are these fine gentlemen? Or is it gentlecolts?
One of the grey Changelings stepped forward. “We are Commanders. A role we are born with and are shaped for. Despite our oursize and appearance, we operate away from the fighting and send orders to troops with telepathy. And it is gentlecolts.”
“Didn't expect to find that advanced a command unit in this world. I’m impressed! But enough of that. I have someone you might want to meet,” Sol turned to Luna, “Princess Luna!”
Chrysalis stepped down from her throne. “Ah yes, I was about to address the elephant in the room,” Chrysalis slowly walked towards Luna, both looked like they were staring into each other's souls.
‘I wouldn't write that off as impossible,’ Sol thought as he put his hand on his Wingman, just in case anything went wrong, ‘I don't know who I'd help though.’
When Chrysalis got near to Luna, she did the last thing Sol expected. She hugged her. “Luna! It is so good to see you again!”
Luna was stunned for a second, but soon returned the hug with a smile. “It is good to see you too.”
Sol let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding before moving his hand from his sidearm. “I'm glad you too don't want to kill each other, but we need to give an After Action Report to Chrysalis.”
Everyone stared at him as though he'd grown a second head. ‘Idiot! No longer part of the Militia,' Sol thought. “An After Action Report is the name for the report you give to your commanding officer after an operation. At least where I come from it is.”
“Oh!” they all simultaneously said.
And so Sol went through the events of the past few days. Chrysalis and her Commanders agreed with most of his actions. The exception being his association with Twilight Sparkle and her friends.
“YOU WHAT!” Luna and Chrysalis screamed.
“It wasn't my brightest moment. But I needed a way to get to Camelot, couldn't really do much after the chariot crashed. Plus I had to recover the two Changelings from Rainbutt before they were discovered. I really didn't like my chances of running away from her. I also refuse to shoot her.”
Luna chuckled a bit. “Rainbutt? I'm guessing you mean Rainbow Dash?”
Sol nodded. “I couldn't think of a good nickname. I was gonna go with ‘Skittles’, but for some reason it feels overused.”
Luna looked very confused. “What do you mean?”
“I don't know really, but I'm sticking with Rainbutt.”
And so Sol continued the rest, with Luna joining in when it got to the part of her rescue… of him.
“Oh you should've seen him! He looked so defeated, so down! He had given up! But then I saved his flank!” Luna proudly proclaimed.
“Not true! I was merely… plotting a plan… yes that's right! Plotting a plan!” Sol struggled to think of a cover up.
“A plan? Really? As you lowered your weapon and stared at the ground?” Luna quizzed.
“Of course!”
“I highly doubt that,” Beck spoke for the first time, earning a glare from Sol and a look similar to her earlier ones from Luna, which soon changed to a smirk.
////\\\\
Everfree Forest
“Searching for anything in particular today West?” a voice disturbed the usual tranquillity of the forest.
“Nothing, just gonna head down our usual path. That alright with you?” another voice replied.
“Absolutely, saw some damn fine raspberry bushes last time. Wouldn't mind picking ‘em,” the voice belonged to Eastward Sunlight, while the other belonged to his younger brother, Westward Sunlight.
Both trudged through the Forest. Although there wasn't as much foliage on the makeshift path thanks to the brothers’ frequent use of it, it still wasn't completely clear.
Not that it was an issue for these two of course. They were the best navigators in Ponyville, perhaps even Equestria. A stroll through the Everfree was nothing. Most would find the Everfree a dangerous place. But West and East had been exploring it ever since they could walk. Much to the horror of their mother.
They would visit it almost daily, either to establish a new route for themselves or travel an old favourite. The one they were currently using was an old favourite.
“Any idea where we are headed today East?” a voice broke the peace of the forest.
“I think we’ll do some exploring, add some more uncharted parts of the forest to our maps!” another voice said with passion.
These voices belonged to Eastward Sunlight, and Westward Sunlight, Earth Pony twins who were the only ponies brave, smart or dumb enough to explore Everfree Forest. Whatever it is, they were rather good at it. They had explored most of the Everfree with only a few scars to show for it.
The brothers expertly moved through the forest, avoiding monster nests, concealing themselves when necessary, and traveling at a speed most, if not all, ponies would never be able to travel through the dense and dangerous forest.
Moving through, they noticed some strange features, even for Everfree.
“The hell is this West?” Eastward called to his brother.
“What do ya mean?” Westward went to his brother’s side to see strange prints. Looking at them, West saw what exactly was strange about them straight away. “They are too… straight. In exactly a line, except when changing direction.”
“Think it's a new type of monster?” East suggested.
“Maybe, you wanna follow the prints?”
“Hell yeah!” East pumped his hoof into the air.
The brothers followed the line of prints until they came across a hill, with a metal building protruding from it. Looking at it, the brothers could see dozens of the tracks leading into and out of the building. The building was grey with the only standout feature being white letters spelling: IMC. It also had a small hole in it the size and shape of a door. This indicated that this may only be an entrance and not the whole building.
“Ok, I think we should return now,” West turned back to leave but was stopped by his brother’s hoof. “The hell ya doing East?”
“Really? You're gonna leave?” East stared at the building while he was speaking, as if making sure it wouldn't disappear.
“Yeah I'm gonna leave! And you should too!” West shrugged off the hoof and started trotting away.
Turning back, East yelled: “Ya wuss!” He then returned to observing the building. Just as he was about to go in, he heard a scream in the direction his brother went.
Twisting around, he ran through the forest. “WEST! Where are you, you idiot!”
As he got closer and closer he saw uprooted plants and smashed branches. ‘Something has been through here, something big or really stubborn.’
Eventually East smelt something, something burnt. It didn't take long for him to figure it out. ‘Burnt flesh!’
With an increased fevour, the Pony sprinted. And sprinted right to his brother’s corpse.
‘No!’ Eastward ran to his brother’s side, checking his pulse and wounds.
When he felt no pulse, he broke down crying. But during his sobs, he noticed something unusual. The burns weren't across his entire body, but rather in big dots seperate from each other.
As he wondered what happened, his answer came from behind. Hearing heavy footsteps, he turned around to find the most unnatural creature he'd ever seen.
A metal biped with a glaring red eye towered over him, as it raised its arm to strike, East closed his eyes.
‘See ya soon bro.’