//------------------------------// // General Razorfang // Story: The Changeling War // by Captain Morgan //------------------------------// Celestia, Luna, Twilight and I ended up telling the whole story to Chris, Markus, and Evan, from the Ponies coming through a portal, to destroying the Stadium with missiles. While we talked, I had taken my jacket, my beanie, and my sheath off to get more comfortable while I sat in the lounge room. We must have been talking for a long time because when I looked up at the clock, it read half past five. I asked everyone and everypony if they were hungry and I got a lot of nods. "Hey, if you guys don't mind, I can make dinner for tonight,"  Evan said standing up. Chris told him that he didn't have too but he insisted. He then asked me if I could help with the cooking as he was going to make some spaghetti. I accepted his offer and we started walking towards another room that was used for cooking. There are six rooms in the basement and they each are used for different things, one is used as our kitchen and pantry, the second room was a planning room for future scavenging missions, the third, which was where we were talking, was used as both an armory, Chris' surveillance area and a lounge, we had a working bathroom, and the other two rooms were used as bedrooms for Jacob, Chris, Markus, and I. But I have a feeling that Evan might be staying with us for a while. The room that was used as the kitchen was quite large and had enough space for the needed electronics, the room contained two stoves, shelves for canned and boxed foods, three islands placed in a row in the middle of the room, some hanging racks for pots and pans, five fridges and about ten cube freezers. It's insane how Changelings are smart enough to increase the energy given from the power plant but are stupid enough to not know how to cut off the power outside Saint Paul. Once inside, I went to look for the needed ingredients and while searching, I decided to have a friendly conversation with Evan, just to know more about him. "So Evan, what's your story?" I asked while searching the shelves. "Well," He said, sighing while grabbing a large cooking pot and two saucepans. "I'm originally from St. Louis, I was a doctor in training but when 'they' came, I was quickly promoted, even though I started the job three months ago. I knew I still had much more to learn so I continued studying medicine as much as I could. Worked there for about three years, until one day a Changeling adviser came up to me and said 'my services were no longer required', must've known that I wasn't an experienced doctor yet. They weren't going to kill me, no, but they did kick me out of the city. I then decided to travel to others cities." "And what were they like?" I questioned. Kansas City was a Changeling shit show, Des Moines was empty, Chicago was the first friendly settlement I found myself in so I stayed there for about a year, I continued my traveling until I made my way here and came upon this place, not knowing that it was occupied, I walked inside and met with your friends." He said finishing his story as I brought him four boxes of dried spaghetti and three cans of pasta sauce. Jacob was right, we were wasting food, but I didn't want our guests to starve. He looked over what I had brought very carefully and said that what we had would work. Not too long after, Twilight, Starlight, and Celestia walked in, wanting to see how the food was coming. "So how's it coming?" Twilight asked, walking up to us. "Dinner should be ready in about fifteen to twenty minutes," I said as I grabbed a bag of meatballs from the fridge. "Um, what are those?" Celestia asked curiously, glancing at the bag in my hand. "Meatballs," Evan replied, pouring sauce into pans. "Meatballs?" Twilight questioned, tilting her head. "Yeah, you know, ground beef made from cows," I said plainly, opening the bag. But when I looked back at them, I saw that they were all looking at me in shock. "You mean you eat animals for food?" Twilight said with surprisement in her voice. "Well yeah, it-" That's when it hit me, like a ton of bricks. These were ponies, they didn't eat meat and we just told them that we did, plain as day. Upon realizing this, I mentally slapped myself for being a total idiot, not knowing that these were herbivores and I'm pretty sure that Evan thought the same way as well. "Oh Crap," I muttered as I then told them the truth. "Look, guys, yes, we eat meat, and our species has been for thousands of years. But honest to god, you have to understand that we would never see you as-" Celestia held up her hoof, interrupting me. "It's alright Morgan, we aren't upset, it is shocking to hear, but we understand that you have to do what's necessary to survive, even if that means using animals as a food source, so there's no need to apologize," she said calmly. "It's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about," Twilight said. "And besides, it's not the first time we met a species like yours, in Equestria, there's a land of griffons and they too are omnivores." "Wait, you have griffons in Equestria as well?" I asked, flabbergasted. They just looked at me unamused with raised eyebrows. "Right, I forgot you guys came from a magical land where mythical creatures are real," I said, remembering what they had told me about where they came from. "But still, I don't want you to be disgusted by us for what we eat!" I insisted, not wanting to make a bad impression in front of them. "It's fine Morgan, we won't be revolted by what you eat. But if you care about us that much, we won't stop you." Celestia said, giving me a reassuring smile. I nodded as I then turned to Evan and handed him the bag of meatballs. "Put these back in the freezer, ok?" He nodded and took the bag from me. "So Morgan," Twilight asked. "You think you'd be willing to tell us more about Earth's history?" "Sure, I don't mind," I replied as we left the Kitchen, leaving Evan as he prepared the meal. ******* After dinner, everyone and everypony went and did their separate thing. Chris was working at his station, keeping an eye on the TV next to him in case the news talked about what happened today, Markus was showing Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Applejack the weapons that we had and Evan was telling the others about his story and his travels. As for Jacob, well... we called to him, saying the dinner was ready, but he never showed. Chris brought his food to his door, but after we had all eaten, he went back and saw that it was still there, uneaten. It was ten minutes to seven, I was standing in the planning room, checking off locations Jacob and I investigated while on our way to the stadium on a map on the wall in front of me. It was a regular thing I did after we got back from a supply run, just so we knew that the place we checked was looted by us or other survivors. There were about four maps, a map of Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Minnesota and a world map. I usually referred to the planning room as my own personal man cave because I was always in there after dinner. I then heard a knock on the door and I knew it was one of our Equestrian friends. "Come in!" I called out, not looking away from my work. I slightly glanced at the door and saw Celestia and Luna walked through. "Your Highnesses." I greeting them, still not looking away. "Hello Morgan, what are thou doing?" Luna asked, looking at my work. "It's something I do after every supply run, once a location has had a thorough search, I mark it off, showing that we either found something inside or it was already looted," I replied, marking off another location. I glanced at them again, only to see that they were both staring at the world map. "Something wrong?" I asked concerned "The portal actually worked," Luna said, still staring at the map. "Forgive us, Morgan Grey, it's just that… it's still surprising that we are not in Equestria anymore and that we are on a planet that neither of us have heard of." Celestia said, forgiving for their curiosity. "What's to forgive, you guys are curious about our world and I don't see a problem with that," I said, standing next to them, crossing my arms. We stood there, side by side for a good minute till Luna broke the silence, asking me a most understandable question. "How?" "Hmm?" I turned my head towards her. "How is it that you survived this long? You must've been a kid when your world was taken over and yet, you risked you and your group's life, just to keep us safe. How is it that you've survived this long?" "Well, before the war, my Dad and my Uncle took me on lots of camping trips. They taught me everything I needed to know about surviving in the wilderness, how to start a fire, how to fish with a spear, heck, my uncle was the one who taught me how to shoot a gun." I saw that they were fixated on what I was saying. "But when Chrysalis came to our planet, I knew I had to put those skills to the test,  as I would scout the area for supplies or other people, learn how to use a sword or a knife in case it was the only weapon I had and to become more aware of my surroundings. I've been doing this for the last five years, and not once have I given up, not in humanity, not in life, not even in myself. I keep telling myself that If I am going to survive in a world where humans are going to be treated like crap, I had to make sure those Shape-shifting bastards know that I’m not gonna go down without a fight." I finished, my voice full of confidence. "You are very brave to be doing something like this for so long Morgan, you should be proud." Celestia put a hoof on my shoulder. I smiled, taking in the complement she just made, but the mood was then interrupted when Twilight burst through the doors. "Uh, Morgan? Your friend, Chris was working on the thin black box you had in the lounge." "You mean the TV?" I corrected. "Yeah, that." she paused. "Well, these people on the 'TV' are talking about what happened at the stadium and… well, you're gonna need to see this." Celestia, Luna and I looked at each other in confusion until we followed her down the hall. As walked into the room, we saw that everyone was gathered around the TV, showing a news reporter talking about god-knows-what, and among the group, was Jacob. "Well, I see someone came out from his hole to chat," I smirked. He then looked at me with an angered expression on his face. "I only come out here because Chris said it was important, not to engage in friendly conversations with these things!" He said in annoyance while walking up to me. I was getting very annoyed by his constant complaining. "Jacob, will you just admit to the fact that these ponies are our guests and do not pose a threat to us!" I exclaimed. "I'll admit it, once you open your freaking eyes and see that these ponies are nothing more than just stupid goddamn-" "WILL YOU BOTH JUST SHUT UP!" Chris yelled, interrupting our argument. We both looked at him with stern looks, but he pointed at the TV, where the reporter was finishing up on his story. "Now for all those who heard the explosion earlier today, we can now tell you the story of what happened outside our walls. We were told that Changeling General Ripwing had gotten Intel about high energy readings, coming from the old U.S. Bank Stadium. He and thirty Changeling guards traveled to the Stadium, where they were met with an ambush of human attackers. One of them, being claimed the leader of the attack, shot and killed General Ripwing at point-blank range, and destroyed the stadium with undetonated, long-range missiles. Only one Changeling survived the explosion, and that survivor claimed that he was face-to-face with the leader but was assaulted by him, slashing his eye with a knife." A lot of thoughts were racing through my mind right now, as I knew who exactly this survivor was. "The survivor was none other than Ripwing's second in command, Razorfang. After escaping explosion, he made his way back to the city, where he was then taken in for medical care. But now with Saint Paul’s Changeling General dead, Ripwing’s position has now been passed onto Razorfang. We were able to get an interview with him, two hours after he arrived, here’s the footage." The video then cut to the Changeling, known as Razorfang with a large gash where his left eye used to be in a hospital bed, and my suspicions were correct, as it was the same Changeling that I maimed while trying to escape. "What can you tell us about what happened?" A reporter asked calmly. "Well, we were told of energy readings coming from outside the city and were ordered by the general to investigate it. When we got there, we were met with hostile survivors. We returned fire, but in a matter of seconds, soldiers started dropping one-by-one, The general was the first to die as a bullet whizzed past my head and hit him in the head. We were able to scare off some of the survivors, but their leader had lured me to a crashed plane and killed two others that accompanied me. I reasoned with him, saying that with his skills he would be given a special position in the Chrysalis’ army, but the only answer I got was, him lunging at me with a knife, leaving a wound where my eye used to be, the doctors said that they weren't able to save it. He then knocked me out cold, but I woke up to him, driving a, as you say, 'motorcycle' out of the plane. I then saw in the corner of my eye that he had placed a bomb on a shipment of missiles. I was able to escape the plane, only before it exploded, three seconds later, making the ceiling collapse from the shock wave. I escaped without becoming a Changeling pancake and made my way all the way here. But once I get some of my strength back, I'm going to gather any available soldiers, and hunt these terrorists down like the wild animals they are." Razorfang said, with acid in his voice as he said that last sentence. "And what would you say to these 'terrorists' if they're watching this?" The reported asked as Razorfang then turned his head toward the camera. "You better hope you are somewhere safe and hidden because when I find you, your heads will be staked outside the city gates." The video ended, leaving us staring at the TV in shock, but Jacob was having a different reaction from it. "You did it now, Morgan!" Jacob yelled as slamming his fists onto a table. Jacob, calm down." Markus said, walking up to him. "NO, I'm not going to 'calm down'."He yelled pushing Markus out of his way. “Did you not just hear what that ass just said? We just went from survivalists to Terrorists because you killed a Changeling General and you think of it as if it weren't a big deal?" He questioned, pointing a finger at me. "Of course it's a big deal, it changes everything about our lives now," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But as long as we stay down here and out of sight, they will never find us," I said reassuringly. But Chris spoke up with news that really screwed our day. "They found us!" He said from his desk. Everyone including the ponies turned to him with looks of horror on their faces "WHAT?" We yelled simultaneously as we all gathered around him and looked at the monitors and sure enough, there were probably more than fifty Changelings landing on the field outside the school, and among the cluster of Changelings, was Razorfang himself. "How the hell is that even possible, they couldn't have found us that fast!" I exclaimed, still staring at the screen. "Does that mean we're trapped?" Fluttershy asked with fear in her voice. "That's not exactly true," Markus said while walking over to a bookshelf. "Morgan, can you give me a hand?" He said trying to move it, I nodded and helped him push it. once help moved it, our pony friends saw what was behind it. It was a large hole, about seven feet high and five feet wide. "We've been working on this for about a month now, it's supposed to be used as a backdoor in case something like this ever happened," Markus explained. "There's a sewer tunnel, more than twenty feet away from us down here, if we tunneled our way through and blew the entrance behind us, we would have a clean getaway and wouldn't have to worry about them following us. "So you want us to dig through dirt, into a smelly, disgusting tunnel, in order to escape?" Rarity said with a disgusted look on her face. "Well if you think surrendering yourself to the Changelings outside is a better idea." I bluntly said to her as I saw her pupils dilate slightly upon hearing this. "On second thought," she said half nervously. "I think your idea is much better." "There is one problem to that Morgan, While you and Jacob were out, Chris and I hit a very large piece of bedrock while mining, we won't have enough time to dig around it and breach into the tunnel with them closing in on us!" Markus said, gesturing to the Changelings outside. "I think we can help," Twilight announced. "A simple drilling spell used by me should be able to pierce through it and into the tunnel, but I would need some time though." "They just walked through the front door!" Chris called out. I looked at her nervously until she used her wings to fly up to me and put a hoof on my shoulder "Don't worry Morgan, we'll make sure you and your friends make it out of here safe and sound." She said with a calming smile which actually eased my worrying. She then turned to the tunnel, conjured up the drilling spell and started to work. "Alright everyone, listen up!" I yelled, making sure I was heard by everyone. "I want everything packed, food, water, medicine, weapons, ammo, everything, not one single thing get left." "And how do you suppose we do that? We don't have enough bags to carry all this shit!" Jacob said exasperatedly. "I could probably fix that." Celestia announced “I know of a spell that could create an infinite amount of space. I haven't used it in a long time, but I need a box or a bag for it to work.” “Here, use this!” Markus said as he tossed Celestia a Large hiking backpack. She caught it with her magic and then commenced the spell. The spell must’ve been hard to cast as she was sweating severely, but after what seemed like a minute, she knelt to the floor from exhaustion with the bag falling right next to her. “So did it work?” I questioned as Celestia levitated the bag back to Markus. He took it and on instinct, rushed to the weapon table and grabbed the largest gun that we had. An AR-50. He put the front end in first and his eyes bulged out as he watched the entire gun get put into the bag without a problem. "Ho-ly shit," Jacob said, staring at the bag wide-eyed in disbelief "Alright, Jacob, Evan and I are going upstairs to try to hold off Razorfang and his squad as long as we can, Chris, I want you near a radio and alert us once the drilling is complete, the rest of you, grab all the supplies we have and stuff them in the bag, that understood?" I questioned as everyone nodded "Then let's get to work!" I ordered as everyone and everypony started packing up our supplies. I then turned Evan while grabbing an M16. "Well Evan, if you're gonna be part of this group, you've gotta protect it with your life"  I said as I handed him the rifle. He took the rifle in one hand and seeing that we were all set, Evan, Jacob, and I made our way out of the room and up the stairs, ready to greet some uninvited guests.