//------------------------------// // Silent Declaration // Story: The First Changeling-Pony War // by MlpHero //------------------------------// Vertex watched as Foresight dragged his old toy chest towards the nursery. He chuckled, before hopping off the rock he had been sitting on, trotting over to greet the private. “He there Prive, how’s it going?” “Oh, just swimmingly,” Foresight replied sarcastically. “I’m fine. Just a bit shaken.” He stopped dragging the chest to take a breath. “This thing is heavy… like, really heavy…” Vertex chuckled and flew down, helping Foresight pull the chest along. They soon approached the entrance of the nursery. They tugged the chest in. Foresight looked around. The dark corners of the nursery soon bloomed to life with blue eyes. Vertex chuckled, opening the toy chest. “Nymphs! Private Foresight has come to share his old toys.” The blue eyes soon moved closer, revealing the small nymphs. Some of them had been dressed as Equestrians and Zebras. Vertex chuckled, using his magic to start the plant lamps in the nursery. Under the light, the nymphs became even more visible. They looked up to Foresight, who gave them a smile, before opening the box. Inside, there were small wooden soldiers, soft, foam-like swords, rubber balls, dolls made from rocks, and a mix of other random toys. The nymphs started giggling and whispering amongst each other, before drawing the box away into the darkness. In almost an instant, the box was emptied. Vertex chuckled, turning to Foresight.  “As you can see, they’re a hoofful. But it’s nice to watch over nymphs who don’t have families.” “I can tell.” Foresight looked around. “I remember this place. I grew up here till I got that den.” Foresight sighed, before looking over to Vertex. “Hey, sir?” “Hm?” Foresight looked around, before leading the General outside. Foresight leaned against the lean, looking up. “So… you’re five years older than me. Have you ever seen my parents?”  Vertex seemed a bit surprised, but sighed. “Well… I’ve seen your mother… Clairvoyance, her name was.” Foresight’s eyes widened. “She was a pretty changeling… you could’a sworn the Queen herself fell hooves over head for her.” Vertex chuckled. “She dabbled in the art of… well, clairvoyance. I guess she was born with it.” “Wait, really?” Foresight looked up. “Yeah…” Vertex looked up, a smile slowly spreading across his face. “Heheh… Granite wanted to hook up with her. Probably why he’s so hard on you.” Foresight frowned, but tilted his head. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to be mad at my father?” “Well, Clair, as we called her, volunteeringly mated with a breeder. And no one really knows who said breeder was.” Vertex sighed. “Clair died while laying you… and since no one knew the father, Granite didn’t really like you.” “Because he blames me?”  Vertex nodded. “It would appear so… but Clair was a good ling. She would’ve loved you to death.” Foresight chuckled. “Heh…” Foresight looked around. Suddenly, his eyes widened. “Hey sir?” “Yes, Foresight?” “You said mom had clairvoyance, right?” “Mhm. Why?” Foresight looked down. “That dream I had… it was of the hive burning down… do you think…?” Vertex’s eyes widened as well. “I… I don’t know.” Foresight sighed. “I hope it was just a dream…” “I’m sure it is.” Vertex rubbed his back. “Come on, I could use some help with the nymphs.” Foresight looked up and nodded, before following him back in. ~~~ Luna looked around the fields that the fortresses stood upon. Just across a nearby river, the changeling hive stood high and mighty. Luna felt uneasy, as a good chunk of their defense were these three forts, and there was something about tearing them down that made her nervous. She turned around, looking down at the soldiers who were clearing the fortress of anything that held value. Munitions, medical supplies, injured ponies, weapons, etc.. She sighed, placing a hoof to her chin. There was still something bothering her. But she couldn’t place what it was. “Your majesty!” someone called out, snapping the mare out of her trance. Luna looked down, noticing a Thestral, Vampyre, looking up. “Is everything alright?” She stared for a bit, before shaking her head. “I-I’m fine! Just thinking.” She hopped down, using her wings to slow her descent. The Thestral saluted her, before trotting away. Luna watched as he left, before looking back at the river. “...Hey Vamp!” ~~~ Vampyre, along with two other batponies, Scrapper and Irrate, moved silently through the forest. They had been sent across the river, equipped only with hoofheld bolt-throwers, four bolt magazines for each of them, a few grenades, and a pair of binoculars. Irrate sighed, looking over to Vampyre. “Do you know why Luna is sendin’ us into changeling territory? This seems like a suicide mission.” “Probably because it is…” Scrapper replied, before yelping and flinching. The others looked over. He chuckled nervously, a sheepish smile forming. “Sorry… a thorn pricked me…” Vampyre shrugged, before continuing to walk, the others following behind. “Luna must have her reasons… I doubt she’d send us here for nothing.” Irrate huffed, stopping to survey the area. The jungle was dense, only a few beams of blue moonlight piercing the leafy canopies. It was strangely calming. Irrate chuckled, sitting down on a rock. “And to think I thought this place would be ugly…” Scrapper looked around nervously. “I think we should get out of here… Nothing this beautiful could be unharmful.” “Ah, cut the crap, this place is nice.” “No no, I don’t like this!” Scrapper seemed to start panicking, looking around. With each turn. He seemed to get more and more worried, as if someone or something was watching him. “Scrap…? You good?” Irrate asked, now starting to worry. Scrapper seemed to stop, before letting out a shriek and running away. Vampyre flinched, before trying to give chase. “Scrap, wai—” There was suddenly a snapping noise, instantly followed by the whipping noise of fast moving wires. Before Vampyre could react, an explosion sent him to ground, and Scrapper flying into a nearby bush. Vampyre stared, not needing visual confirmation that Scrapper was gone. His ears rang, and he looked over. Irrate was running towards him, yelling something that Vampyre couldn’t hear. Vampyre groaned, dragging himself towards a tree. His hearing soon returned, just in time to hear, “There they are! Kill them all!” Vampyre turned to see Irrate standing in a bipedal stance, attempting to fire his sidehoof at something. However, he soon jerked as bolts struck him, sending him to the ground. He turned to Vampyre, pulling out a grenade and pulling the pin. “Run! Get the fu—” A lightning strike of bolts struck the injured thestral, causing him to drop the grenade. Vampyre’s eyes widened and he turned to run, galloping away from his attackers. He just ran, avoiding whatever he could. From afar, the sound of an explosion rang out. He ignored it though. He just kept running, praying that he could find a way out of this damned forest— The ground disappeared from beneath his hooves, and he tumbled an incline, landing on a mud patch. He groaned looking around. His head spun. He couldn’t tell where he was, or what was happening. He just rolled over, now facing what appeared to be a shoreline. He chuckled, spitting out blood as he did. He was close. So very close. ~~~ Chrysalis stared at the two thestral corpses. One of them had their forehooves blown off, courtesy of a tripmine. The other was…. Well, barely intact. Chrysalis was hesitant to even approach the body. However, she didn’t need to be told twice that these weren’t just hikers that got lost. Vertex looked at Chrysalis. “What do you think?” He asked. “We have Equestrian blood on our soil… they’ll surely retaliate for this…” Chrysalis wondered for a bit. “Well then… we’ll have to attack first.” She turned towards the door. “I believe this is declaration enough,” she murmured, leaving the morgue. Vertex followed. “Are you sure our soldiers are ready? We haven’t had a war in a good decade. Not any big ones, anyway.” Chrysalis looked around. “Maybe we could use the bombs?” “The Megaspells? Isn’t that a bit… much…?” Chrysalis shrugged, her personality seeming flipping from a rational leader to a somewhat sane madmare. “We might as well test them on live targets. Mobilize the Hornets. Devil Horns cross the river on my command.” Vertex shivered, though not from the cold. Nevertheless, he saluted. “Yes my Queen.” Chrysalis nodded, watching as he left. She sighed, heading towards the throne room. She sensed that tonight could change the world. And not for the better.