//------------------------------// // Pursuit // Story: The Thousand Changeling Warriors // by BradyBunch //------------------------------// Queen Chrysalis pawed at the ground impatiently as her advisors argued over the best way to attack. The sun was hot, the air was dry, and Chrysalis wanted nothing more than to go back to her campsite. Especially as her idiotic advisors shot idea after idea into the air like they were shooting skeet. “I say we take all our armies into one body and attack those bastards at their rear,” came a particularly pugnacious voice that Chrysalis despised. It came from Captain Mandible, always willing to take the most direct action. “Risk our entire army in a single battle?” Chrysalis incredulously asked. “No.” “If we attack with our entire army,” Mandible patiently explained, “there is no risk.” “But you fail to estimate the traitor's strength,” came her other, more level-headed advisor, Durge. “We should sneak around them in smaller units and harass them on all sides!” Before Chrysalis could make a proper decision or rip the guts out of one of them, a single changeling scout landed in front of her. “My queen, their march is weak,” the changeling reported, genuflecting. “And a purple alicorn leads them.” Chrysalis's expectations shot up in an instant. Twilight Sparkle. She had to get to her. She had to. “We move out immediately,” Chrysalis ordered. Mandible grinned maliciously. “By tomorrow morning, every last traitor will be dead! And we'll be feasting on their supplies!” “I want them tonight.” Mandible looked shaken. “But my queen-” “I will have them tonight,” Chrysalis evenly, calmly responded, “or I will have a new captain. You choose.” Mandible lowered his head. “Yes, my queen.” Chrysalis ignited her horn in a gleam of emerald, shimmering dangerously like a mirage in the desert air. “FULL MARCH!” She began the march by going at a brisk trot. After some distance, the lines of her changeling drones obeyed by marching in immaculate rows behind her. Before long, the clouds of dust kicked up by the troops enclosed them in a permanent barrier of tan-colored fog. Chrysalis kept on marching. And so did her troops. Princess Twilight...Princess Twilight! Do you dare to ascend to my level of royalty? After what you and your brother did to me? I will show you...you and the traitors you protect shall all die! Rainbow Dash, high in the sky, saw the mass of faraway changeling troops begin their march. And boy, oh boy, they were going fast! She sped back to earth and glided swiftly past the slowly-marching troops to come to Twilight's face level in front of her. “It worked!” Rainbow giddily exclaimed. “Chryssie's coming with everything she's got!” “Chryssie?” Twilight asked. “What, don't like the nickname?” “Did she show any signs of reluctance?” “Hohoho, no way! After she probably learned that you were leading, she just went like, nyoom!” “Does Chrysalis know she's being followed?” Twilight asked, much more worried this time as to her brother's regard. “I don't think so,” Rainbow critically assumed. She shrugged. “But even if she did, it's too late for her to do anything about it now! Shining Armor's got her cut off!” Twilight smiled in relief. This could work. They could do it! “All right, everycreature!” Twilight announced to the rear, craning her head to do so. “Let's show Queen Chrysalis just how elusive you all can be! Show her that you all have hearts as strong as horses!” Twilight faced forward with bravery in her tough little heart. “FULL MARCH!” It had been an ordeal to make, but the stealthy mission Shining Armor had been assigned to was ready to move out. Deep in a trench running parallel to the route Twilight was taking, Shining Armor stood on a rather tall rock and faced his little army of four thousand Royal Guard. They were small in number compared to the opposite hosts, but each Royal Guard was worth three changeling drones in size and skill. They were also armed and armored better, and valued their leader based on loyalty, not an obligation. “Attention!” The troops, loose before, stood as one body, straight as a ramrod. “You all know what to do. If all goes well, this could mean the end of Queen Chrysalis. So stay hidden in this ravine. Nopony is to rise above its banks for any reason.” Shining Armor scanned the crowd of faces for a reaction before continuing. “And for some added incentive, the Elements of Harmony are now in your hooves. As well as the life of my sister, and a princess to boot. This is no time for any insubordination or jokes. My orders are to be crisp and exactly followed.” “SIR YES SIR!” “Hush!” Shining Armor desperately shushed. “Sir yes sir!” they repeated, much quieter this time. Shining Armor gave them another scanning, then concluded that this was the Royal Guard, after all. If anyone was to be crisp and serious, it was them. “Kind of a useless gesture on my part,” he muttered. “Sir yes sir,” came one pony in the front. Some sniggering was heard. “I will forgive that,” Shining Armor said, coming in close to the offender. “Because I like you.” He swirled around and leveled his hoof directly forward. “Half march.” The Royal Guard began to stomp the ground flat with their synchronized marching, slightly slower than the speed of the other two armies. But these troops would not stop for rest like the others would. They were to keep on going with their formidable endurance until Chrysalis exhausted herself enough to slow down. Shining Armor kept one thought in his head. Twilight...please be safe! Run your hooves off if you have to, but don't ever fall to Chrysalis! The day passed monotonously for all three armies. Matching moods fit every troop in every army. It was a determination to outrun the other. The sun rose. No breaks were taken. The sun hung in the sky. No breaks were taken. The sun began to set. Still no breaks were taken; they ate and drank on the road. Finally, Captain Mandible was given the task of a recon mission to see if they were going the right direction, and so, his mind filled with glee, he set off alone. Oh, it was going to be so great to see! The traitors would be spotted, slow and stupid, and he'd report back that they were fresh for the picking. Leading the next charge, he would crash into their rear and impale traitor after traitor, sink his fangs into one piece of flesh after another. Maybe, at the end, he would be promoted and some other idiot would have to take his spot as an advisor. War was glorious that way. Field promotions were rare, but those that got them could lord it over their fellows for the rest of their lives. Which was what he was expecting. It wasn’t until he had flown for twenty minutes that he noticed the army was nowhere near where the estimates said they were. Settling to the ground in confusion, he took a look around the arid grassland plateau. Where were they? This was an open field! Where could they hide? Unless...they had advanced farther than their initial estimate? According to their calculations, the changelings should have caught up to the traitorous army earlier in the day. Had they sped up their march? And if so, how much further could they have gone? Mandible took one more glance all around him. He could make no mistake about it. They had disappeared. He worriedly began to tap his hooves together. What would he say to Chrysalis? Could he lie? There had been stories of her reading minds before to look for liars but were they true? If so, Chrysalis could easily find out that he was a failure as a captain! A series of hooffalls sounded behind him, rustling the dry grass, and Mandible slowly, fearfully, turned around. There she was. “Th-hey...got away, my queen,” he admitted. He was quick to add: “I-i-i-it w-wasn't my f-fault! They know the area!” Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. “It-I…” He fumbled for an explanation. “...You have to understand!” “Oh.” Chrysalis's expression was colder than the arctic north. “Oh, I understand.” She leaned in close to Mandible's terrified expression. “I understand that your usefulness has been called into question, and I find it empty.” Her jagged horn, black and spiked, glowed a fierce emerald. Bending her head down, she rammed it forward. The position of captain was now vacant. As Chrysalis straightened, the corpse slid off her horn and collapsed on the ground. Blood ran down her bone-hard horn and coalesced on her forehead. A trickle or two ran down her face, down the bridge of her nose, discoloring her ebony face, as she snarled deeply. “They will pay for luring me further into the wasteland!” Chrysalis swore darkly. The camp was joyful and triumphant. The first day was over, and things could not have gone better. Chrysalis had been lured into the open, and her forces were caught between a vise grip. The war, which had begun some months before, was drawing swiftly to a close. Around a fire late at night, the six close friends, and the changeling captains of fifty, were sitting around and discussing the vital details of the day. Nothing was too bad, however, and Twilight eventually concluded that if they kept their course, all would be well. “D'ya really mean that, Twi?” “Of course, Applejack. My kids did well today, didn't they, Arista?” “They did, ma'am,” Arista said, who was rather timid, but worked well with Fluttershy. She was deep purple and light green, and her voice was high but soft. “But I don't know if they're pretending to save face.” “Whadda ya talkin’ about?” exclaimed Stern, a male changeling who was the explosively entertaining one in Rainbow Dash's group. “My guys looked roarin’ and ready for more!” “But we're so tired,” Arista mumbled. “We've gone all day without a break!” “That don't bother me,” a dark red soldier called Proto casually said, leaning back on his log around the fire. “Gimme another day to do it all over again. At least then, I know what I’m supposed to be doing all day.” “Don't say that around Twilight!” Pinkie admonished Proto. “If that happens, she'll assign you to cleaning duty all day!” “I never said I was lazy!” Proto hurriedly added, pointing at the sly Twilight. “Just bored, that's all.” “Never admit to being bored in the army,” his brother, Meso, advised him. “You'll end up scrubbing pots until you wear holes into your hooves and you end up looking like those changelings Chrysalis commands.” Stern laughed at that. “Why do they all look like moldy swiss cheese?” “I dunno,” Proto responded evenly. “Take a taste and find out.” “That sounds...disgusting…” Arista murmured. “Oh, come on, Arista!” Meso complained. “I know you really like cheese! This'll be perfect!” “Spraying canned cheese into my oatmeal that one time doesn't count,” Arista pointed out. “You remember that time when I masqueraded as a moose and you almost shot me when you were hunting for dinner?” Proto asked all of a sudden. Stern shook his head remorsefully. “Maybe we should have finished the job when we had the chance.” Proto gave a sideways glance at Stern. “Are you insinuating something?” Stern raised his hooves innocently. “I have no idea what you're talking about.” Meso grinned at his floundering brother. “I see nothing to accuse here!” “When did this happen again?” Twilight shrewdly asked. “Uh, I have no idea what you mean, mom,” Stern hurriedly defended, waving his hooves. “Is it when we all went hungry that night a month ago when we couldn't find anything to eat in the wild?” “...Nooo…” “That's his way of saying yes,” Arista gently proffered. “No it isn't!” Proto slapped him on the back. “As you can see, he stands confirmed.” They all burst into a round of hearty laughter. The snaps and pops of the fire filled in the muffled giggles. When it passed, Twilight leaned forward on her log, crackling her armor. “I'm proud of you all,” she soberly said. “Today was a day that Celestia would commend you for. I know marching for hours without a break would hurt, but you left Chrysalis in the dust. And in two days, we'll be safe in the city of Applewood.” “We ran their hooves off, didn't we?” Meso bragged. “We did, Meso,” Twilight congratulated. “You bet your flank we did.” “Is there anything you'd like to tell the troops, ma'am?” Arista gently asked. “My soldiers are anxious to hear from you.” Twilight paused here. After a few moments, she nodded as a thought came to her. “I'll go around to them and encourage them tonight. Do...any of you believe in a god?” The four captains sounded their affirmation. “Then encourage them to pray for my brother.” She stood up and looked to the south, where Chrysalis, and her pursuers, were steadily creeping. “This whole operation is up to him now,” she said, barely soft enough for them to hear. “He needs your prayers.” The ravine was dark, except for the islands of torchlight in the sea of black all around them. Shining Armor’s face was illuminated by his horn as he plodded along resolutely. The edges of the cliff were tall and forboding, making twisted shapes as shadow and firelight passed over them. Shining Armor could swear he could see faces of changelings in the shadows. But that was his imagination talking. Wasn't it? A swift galloping noise came ahead, and Shining Armor paused with his hoof on the sword at his side. A torch's flickering light bounced up and down from a curve up ahead, but as the light emerged, and Shining Armor saw that it was a light held by his second-in-command, he breathed easily once more. “What news, Estoc?” Shining Armor quickly asked. “Is my sister safe?” Estoc shook his golden mane up and down, showing his brilliant blue eyes between his yellow curtains. “She is. Her camp is secure up ahead.” Shining Armor breathed contentedly once more. Twily was safe. That was all that mattered. “And Chrysalis,” Estoc continued, clenching his right wing conspiratorially, “is right where we want her. If we can keep this pace in the ravine, we'll reach their camp at dawn.” “I didn't believe it myself either,” the newly-appointed captain told the queen as the both of them climbed a tall rock scramble just outside their camp. “But wait until you see it! I'm certain!” “Quiet, fool,” Chrysalis ordered. She climbed up to the highest rock in the pile and peeked her head over the top. Beside her, the captain did the same. Her attention was to the south. The rock pile overlooked a long ravine that had carved its way into the arid desert terrain long ago. It weaved and stretched for miles and miles. And as she looked far to the south, she saw a faint glow of orange firelight deep in the trench. They were being followed! “Shining Armor!” Chrysalis realized. A small wave of panic arose in her throat. “It-it was a trick!” “My queen?” the captain asked. “Those...traitorous changeling bastards...drew us out of my stronghold!” Chrysalis roared. She set her hoof on top of the rock pile. “I'm going after them.” “No, my queen!” Chrysalis whipped around, and a lock of her pale green mane flicked in her face. “And why ever not?” she mildly asked, with only a hint of venom. If she had to depose of two captains in the same day-! “I-i-i-if we turn around to fight Shining Armor's army, the thousand changeling deserters will attack us from behind!” the captain pointed out. “My queen, we'll be surrounded!” Chrysalis stopped mid-movement. The words of her new captain were actually useful. Maybe not all captains were as useless and sniveling as she once thought. She never liked to admit she was wrong, but he was surprisingly tactically sound. Maybe she would keep him around. Chrysalis pondered the issue some more. What to do, what to do? Shining Armor was clearly meant to intercept them as they were moving. How would they prevent that? She paused. And grinned. “Wake the soldiers,” she commanded. “My queen?” he asked. “Shining Armor has surprised us,” she explained with a casual smile, underlying the menace within. “Now we have a little surprise for him.”