Streets of Canterlot, once a beautiful region containing many sources of food filled with small parks and pristine white buildings now nothing more than haphazard piles of rubble among the thick fog. The hustle and bustle soon replaced with roadblocks devoid of all life save for the few guards attempting to hold back the grinder rapidly approaching them expecting to survive to recieve a medal for bravery. A mistake that their now headless and limbless brethren took to the grave just some hundred metres back. I will give some credit however, these barricades do look stronger, good work despite the obvious issue in their quick guide to defense. We have wings.
Looking to my fellow Praetorian, we knew what was to come. We are the elite, we are the main force while the considerably more useless conscripts clean up any lasting resistance behind us, capturing those they can. From a young age, barely passing our nymph stage, the strong are picked out from the weak to join the Praetorian caste. A proud achievement for myself and those around me. Growing up we were kept separate to the rest of our fellow 'lings, getting lessons from the Queen herself, the honour, our whole curriculum focused around combat, history and the races surrounding our Glorious Hive. Beyond those basic lessons, some Praetorian recruits specialise into other fields such as medical training or espionage. Myself I remained among the shock troops clearing the way for lesser 'lings and willing to go as far as possible to crush all opposition standing in our way, even turning on our own if duty calls. Changelings who speak out against the Hive Eternal are no better than those we call food, only the strong survive.
"Another road block. You all know the drill by now, all fronts, unicorns are priority and leave no survivors."
We all nodded motioning to begin our attack. I know my place. I lead the charge from our position south of the roadblock while the other squads race into position following suit. The quicker we end this, the less of a chance the Ponies have at creating any stronger defences or passing word forwards regarding the spearhead. I quickly kick the rubble from under my hooves disturbing the ground mist. Approaching the wall I jump and boost my height with a flap of my wings. My sword at the ready. A perfect target, a shieldcaster focused on the assault from the other side. She didn't even have time to realise her perilous situation. My broadsword once again feasts on the pathetic excuse the Ponies call and army, as steel presses into the back of her neck. With no time to dwell on her choke and the tear at the corner of her eye, I pull my sword out the side of her neck leaving a trail of blood flying through the air eluding to the fate of my next opponent. The pegasus attempting to fly off, a messenger, unarmed, a weakling. A disgrace to a noble heritage of power and pride. She never stood a chance. My swing hit her wing with a loud crunch. The momentum of the swing transferring to her and jerking her to the ground face first into the cobbled streets. Another Praetorian took this opportunity with a swift stab into her back ending her sorry existence another parent at their child's funeral. Blood soon stained the cobbles around us as we overwhelmed the enemy leaving them dazed in the heat of the battle. One they would soon lose.
We pressed our attack, with no more unicorn's standing, all that was left was the cleanup. Rounding up the survivors and quickly poking holes in any defensive circles they formed. The dust was now starting to settle, revealing a bloodied battlement among the sea of dead. Blood splattering across the walls and dripping down the cracks between the cobbles, I look towards the final defenders. Their hooves pitifully raised in surrender. I sneer at this dishonourable move as the squad leader steps up to them.
"Praetorian Asinus, go check for survivors. The rest of you scout ahead for the next battlement, I will deal with these scum.
We all move off. I hear a slash, looking back I see two sets of forehooves slam into the nearest wall painting the wall red. My squad leader looks to me, knowing I've hear his call over the hive-mind, nods, and advances with the rest of the 'lings. Moving towards the piles of bodies, all was still. I feel my hooves splashing in the red puddles surrounding the bodies, flesh and bone squelching and cracking under me. All seemed clear. As if anyone could have survived all that. Out of the corner of my eye however, a horn lights with a barely audible whisper.
"Fuck you."
I turn to face the bloodied unicorn. Her face beaten into the ground, teeth missing, blood dripping from her snout. Tears formed in her eyes as her horn glowed ever brighter. Realising what she was about to do, I lunge for her. The blast blinded me. I felt myself sail through the door behind me into a small corner shop as I fade from conciousness. The last thing I see is the unicorn drop.
I slowly awake. My vision blurred. Head pounding. A numbness in the back of my mind. The same numbness that you get with a cold. The taste of copper in my mouth combined with the warm feeling dripping from my snout reminded me of just where I was. Reaching out in my hive-mind I searched for the Queen and my squad. Nothing. I begin to wheeze as panic starts to erupt in my mind. Where is the Queen? Where is the Hive? What's going on? I should be able to always reach the Queen, no matter where I am unless I am somehow cut off from the Hive-mind. I blink a couple times trying to slow my breathing. I need to find another Changeling. I don't know just how long I was out for, but we should have pushed further into the Castle if not already won the siege. Everything will be ok, right?
I wince as I get myself up. If the pain in my shoulder is anything to go by, it's either dislocated or broken. I look at it, it's not visibly out of the socket so I opt for the latter. Either way I need to keep weight off it. Taking a look around, I can see a shattered door with a set of hinges clearly ripped from the frame. That must have been my grand entrance here. Behind me is a bar with a caved in panel indicating where I landed. The back wall held cabinets containg liqueur of all kinds among other bottles of the non-alcoholic kind. The place seemed like a nice place to be on a night out. Something about this place seems familiar though. I limp out the door and look up at the sign.
Berry's Corner.
Hive Halls, a few years prior...
I tiredly trekked back to my home after a long day of training. Sweat dripped from my chitin as thoughts drifted around a nice shower and a trip to the common area from some cards. As I pass by a few siderooms I sense the Queen and another Praetorian. Curious, I take a listen near one of the doors and overhear the conversation.
"I told you to go on a mission to scout out the castle and blend in with the guard for future plans. NOT TO WASTE YOUR TIME SYMPATHISING WITH THE FOOD!"
"My Queen, I apologise but I did as you asked. We visited a local tavern every weekend called Berry's Corner, playing games and just talking. I blended with my squad mates. They are not that different to us. They all have families, children, goals and try to enjoy life to the fullest. We need them as a source of food, but I got plenty by simply blending with them as if I were any other pony. I merely suggested in my report that we could potentially live among, or even with Ponies if we tried for diplomacy. The food shortage would be over and we would have little need for an invasion."
"You are a FOOL if you think we can live among those creatures. Believe me, Mother tried but look where that ended up."
We had all heard the stories before. This is why we're on a path to war afterall.
"I cannot stand for this insubordination. We don't need a sympathiser among our ranks."
"My Queen, it was merely a suggestion."
"It's a dangerous precedent to set. I can't have my underlings questionning my actions now can I? I am in charge here. I set the rules. I control what you drones need to know."
"My Quee-!"
I here a bolt of magic blast into the poor drone. Is he right though? Is there no need for blood to be shed? Is the Queen lying to us? I soon found my answer. The door I was listening in to suddenly opened.
"I don't think I need to thin the ranks of my good Praetorians now do I? There is no need for you to remember this incident.
Present.
With a flash, the memory faded away. What? Surely I'm remembering that wrong. The Queen has always had our best interests at heart. Right? She wouldn't lie to us. Shaking my head, I limp down the street. The mist I once knew had faded, blood now dried up for the most part. The street was silent. There was no longer the sound of battle in the distance. No longer did smoke rise from the city. There was no fire. There was no fighting. All was still. One question still remained however. Who was the victor?
I made it to the end of the street into a small open parkway. Sure, it was a complete mess, benches scattered and trees even knocked down, but I could still feel the peace and tranquility this place once had to offer. Strangely enough, the park still had that background happiness.
A scream soon put that to bed. Looking right I saw a foal across the way.
"MUMMY!"
The foal wailed. She tried desperately to lift the rubble from her mother. A civilian caught in the battle, crushed under a wooden beam. Completely still. A thought wracked the back of my mind. Something the infiltrator said. "They have families, children."
So what? They are the enemy. Feedstock's feelings don't matter to us, just the quantity.
A foal has just lost her mother. Juts how many more have lost their parents on this day? How many more hugged their parents not knowing it would be their last this morning? What about parents losing their children?
Struggling with my thoughts, I stumble over to the child. They continue to wail, tears streaming as they call for their lost parent to wake from their eternal slumber. The foal just screams upon seeing me, attempting to run, but her tail is caught under the very same collapse. She drew lucky to survive this.
"Shhhh. I won't hurt you little one." I said quietly. My words fell on deaf ears as the foal continued to wail.
To prove my point, I lit my horn. Pulling the rubble off the foal and her mother. I move in to check over the mother, in the hopes she may survive. Her chest wasn't rising. She had no pulse. She did have a very shallow breath in my ear. Moving as fast as I could, I adjusted her position and used magic to null my painful shoulder as I performed CPR as best as I could. No-one deserves this fate.
We did this. We caused this. We were all blind. There was no longer a pressure in my head. Many old thoughts of hatred had left before I woke after my injuries.
That infiltrator was right.
A squad of guards was soon upon us. The foal had reduced her wails to a mere cry upon realising I was no danger to her. While the guard had clearly intended to swoop in and take me out initially, their movements changed from and angry assault to a more confused jog.
"We need some help over here!" One called, realising what was going on.
"I can't keep going on here." I managed between laboured breaths.
"Allow me." I let the guard take over and sat myself next to the foal. Despite our differences, I let him lie on me as he cried himself to sleep.
"We need to take you in. Are you injured?"
I nodded, indicating my shoulder. The guard promptly started checking it over.
A question still rang. Was all this devastation really worth it?