//------------------------------// // Welcome to the Sky // Story: Loyalty // by Hazmat Man //------------------------------// He was outside, so he should be happy. The sky was a brilliant healthy blue- wait. "Hey Ocellus!" He hollered. "The sky is blue!" Ocellus paused. Then she smiled, if with a touch of pain. "It's spring, Pigeon." The landscape didn't look like it could decide what it was, but it was still was new and interesting and very much more beautiful than the hive. But the hive was the closest thing to home he knew - since he couldn't remember having one - and it was under an invader's hands. His appreciation of open air had to be cut short by himself. Pigeon knew about ponies of course, through Locust's anger rants. Well, her and every other ling in the hive. He had a guess as to how they looked from what he could recall of them. He had yet to see one, however. He saw the corpses they left behind, but nothing more than that. It was jarring that a group with such a friendly sounding name was capable of such violence. It was a surprisingly short amount of time before Ocellus, whom he was following, alerted him to pony civilization. A town of sorts was there, wooden houses neatly populating it. The creatures milling about them were like changelings, but furry and colourful. It was a stark contrast to what he was used to, but they somehow managed to fit in perfectly with their surroundings. Really, they fit into the "horse" category better than changelings did, though that wasn't exactly a very high bar. They all seemed to have a pleasant and agreeable attitude, so much so that if he had not witnessed from afar the multiple times they would sometimes devolve into arguments and once even had a minor fight he would have thought that he had mistaken the wrong species as the culprits for his home's destruction. A paltry sum of guards were present. This was the species that he fed off from? Well, actually, that made some sense. If they weren't a species full of "love" than they probably wouldn't be the main source of it. When Pigeon had first found out that the pink mist was literal love he was full of inquiries. Finding out about it was strange, but he was already surrounded by strangeness and was mainly curious as to how it worked. It wasn't all that bad, from what he could discern. There were much worse types of parasites that he knew of. "Let's disguise ourselves in the city. They're likely searching the nearby ones. I would delay even further before any infiltration events, but we need sustenance somehow." "I'm horrible at disguises. At least, according to Pharynx." Ocellus turned on him in an unimaginable speed. Ocellus had drilled him even harder on looking like a pony than Pharynx had. Pigeon not knowing the importance of disguises felt like an impossibility. By the time they had gotten to someplace called Appleoosa, he was drilled a hundred times, or so it felt. But he had somehow nailed down a decent enough disguise by infiltrator standards. Ocellus had still made it clear that she was nervous that a pony would notice something was up, and had decided to keep him from doing much at all. Looking like a sky blue unassuming "earth" pony as his disguise, his companion disguising as a bright pink unicorn that would have him suffer from eye damage if he kept her in his line of sight for too long. Walking into Appleloosa, he couldn't help but stare at everything. It was all so bright for a desert - if it could be called one. Patches of bright green grass were a stark contrast to the yellow sand that outnumbered it. He was pretty sure the grass from his memory could not reach this amount of general brightness. He was in the disguise and greeted the guards wearing bright golden armour, out of place in what looked like a stereotypical "wild west" town. He was somewhat sure that they were experiencing the agonizing pain of being boiled but were trying to hide it as best they could. Ocellus had told him going in that they were likely put there as a precaution to catch any escapees from the hive. Ocellus had talked to the guards whom had written their names down on a paper. They both had to stand still as the guards used magic to take pictures of them. But that was all they did. They wrote down everything and made note of it, but nothing more. He half expected a passport check, or something similar. Passing the guards he and Ocellus found a motel fairly quickly. They had no money - and he was somewhat sure they wouldn't be allowed in - but Ocellus acted like a poor lost traveller who took a wrong turn. He doubted its effectiveness, but thought he may as well play along. That was to say, he frowned convincingly. To his surprise, the motel manager seemed to soften. "Aw, well no worries honey, I'm sure you could spend a night here on the house. Just not more than that, I'm sorry. I reckon you could find a way back home very soon, though. Just ask around and you'll be home before you know it!" In the motel room, he talked quickly to Ocellus. "Is there no sort of official paper or way to identify who is who?" It was a quick blunt question, bought on by how easy it was to bypass a literal checkpoint. "You just saw it. It is a recent sort of thing, and a faulty one. Started a bit after the wedding massacre. It just means you can't use the same identity or alibi for long, and can't stick to one place for long either, as they'll send it it to Canterlot to check the legitimacy of your identity. Now, wait here, and I'll locate the ones we are looking for. It won't take long and we'll be quick as they'll send it to the crown who'll check if you actually are a pony. It's why we won't be staying here for long. Now, you'd better remember the plan - and execute it properly."' "Understood." He nodded as dutifully as he could. And it really wasn't long before she did. He was lying in the bed that was provided for them (which he could attest were at least a good couple of times more comfortable than a sleeping notch), when Ocellus shook him awake and brought him to the bar. He really had no interest going there and it smelled of intoxication that he had no desire to approach, but it was quite apparently where the lucky two had taken place, and they were both isolated at this time. The bartender had unwisely left the premises. He had wondered how Ocellus had known about the poor duo, and it was quite apparently coincidence - in fact, she was going to do the very thing they were doing, even had the hive not fallen. Standing guard was something he was very used to at this point. Just because he was now guarding an almost ridiculously western style bar, complete with swinging doors and all really didn't change the simplicity of guarding. Well, it got more complex if you added more doors, but that wasn't an issue here. He was assured that the only entrance was the front, and as far as he cared, if what they were doing was ever found out ponykind could blame the architect for not constructing a bar that would effectively make it harder for the changeling species (the one that said architect didn't know existed at the time) to infiltrate equestrian society. It was almost morning, though not quite, and no one seemed to be around, so he let his guard down a notch and peered through the doors he was guarding to watch. Ocellus had approached the rather... drunk couple. Currently no one but them was there and they seemed to barely notice the blinding pink-tinted pony among them. Ocellus stood still, smiling, exchanging a few words with them. Then she lit up her horn and shot two magical shots at each one. The couple were knocked out on impact. Ocellus called to him, and he entered almost immediately. She lit up her horn and seemed to focused. "Take the bags while I wipe their memory." He paused. He hadn't thought of it when he heard the plan, but... "Is this somewhat similar to my punishment?" The infiltrator tensed. "No. That was.. different. It was rather... old magic." She glanced at the snoozing ones they robbed. "Here I'm just making it so unfocused on one particular short memory of me knocking them out that they don't recall it, in the case the alcohol doesn't do the job." "Alright." Alcohol, he mused, seemed to be an easy excuse. He decided silently to stay away from it. He sorted through the bag. Clothing to protect against cold weather with spares, a large, warm sleeping bag that could fit 3 ponies - he'd make sure to keep that close - spare food and drinks, a tent,some wood - likely firewood, a book titled "A basic guide to Pyromancy spells" Oh, and the most essential train tickets. Ocellus finished her spell than morphed to look like one of the duo. He tried his best to emulate the other, though he couldn't be sure of its quality. They had finished their impromptu packing and were heading out of the bar. He was excited to leave the place. It irritated him though he didn't know why. Ocellus stopped suddenly, and he stopped too. She seemed to have suddenly thought of something. "Pigeon, can you go outside first?" It was a strange request, and though he was curious as to why, he had been taught back at the hive that when a tone of voice like that was employed, one had to follow first, ask questions later. It was a painful lesson. He opened the swinging oak doors as Ocellus stood to the side by the wall. He walked outside to the dark dusk that was night and looked around. It was quiet. Nothing seemed to move and he could clearly take notice of his breath. Then someone fell on top of him. It was a startling event that reminded him of Pharynx's attempts to train him. Instead of buckling and laying down on the ground he turned and instinctively summoned the knife he was so used to using. It was met with immediate resistance so strong he almost let go of it. It was a sharp silver blade that could only be characterized as a dagger that had stopped his knife. He was panicking and still trying to identify what was happening as the one who must have mistaken themselves for an anvil applied more pressure on the comparably dull iron of his own knife. His attacker was a dark grey pony that was a sharp contrast to what he was used to from the species. Dark blue hair was what made up the mane and tail. The pony was smiling and sharp white fangs were present, putting him in an even more alert state. As they struggled he heard the sound of a magic spell that also reminded him of his training. The attacker ducked and rolled to the side. From the corner of his eye he could make out a speeding bolt of magic. Turning his head, he could see Ocellus with a purple shield around her. Another of the dark ponies dropped and seemed to be preparing to engage with her. His knife clattered to the ground and he felt his opponents blade rest on his throat. Then, in the next instant, a sound was heard - a sound of something piercing flesh and suddenly the edge of the blade seemed to pause. Taking the opportunity he looked to the side of where Ocellus was and the one that seemed just about ready to attack her was on the ground, a bolt in the skull. The one whom had him under the dagger seemed to stagger and look up at the roof of the bar, and then staggered again when a bolt came from that very place and shot into his skull. It was a gruesome sight, and as the pony fell on the ground, deader than a doornail, he could only stare. He slowly got up and took a closer look at the bloody corpse. The attacker seemed to be a well equipped fighter with a variety of pouches on a worn leather armband of a sorts. He had a look of shock etched to his face and eyes that looked so lifeless that he felt the two should never be brought together. Then he regained the power to look away. Up on the roof there was another one of the ponies, whom hopped down from the roof and onto the ground. Green fire completely engulfed the shooter and a changeling came out of it's flames. The changeling stared at Ocellus for a moment, orange eye's not betraying an emotion, when, in a rush, he opened his mouth and let worried words rush out. "Tell me everything." His infiltrator counterpart seemed bewildered by this question, and let out a surprised "What?" "What happened to the hive?" She stared at him. "Don't you know?" The unknown ling was clearly shaken, any resemble of a calm demeanour gone. "They say the hive is no more - I don't know, I wasn't with the thestrals sent to attack it - but I - I felt the queen.. go. They say they killed her! " The mysterious changeling began shaking. "Is it true?" "I- I think so, yes." Ocellus said, taken aback. "I saw it being attacked and it was evacuated. We barely got out of there alive and we all- well I felt the queen go." The recent killer looked about ready to break down. "So it's true. If only I had infiltrated earlier. Maybe I could have known about the attack - those ones -" His head snapped towards the dead "- Knew, but assumed I had also known, what with it being received before I had replaced their squad member. I wasn't assigned to assault the hive, and when it was done - it was already over. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm -" He continued to babble. Pigeon didn't know what to do, and waited for Ocellus to do something. It took a second, but she shook the distressed agent in front of her. "Not all hope is lost, we're going to regroup at the old hive." The ling stopped and looked up, an indiscernible expression on his face. She looked towards the two still bodies. "But first, we need to deal with those corpses. And get on the train. You can tell us everything there." They'd stayed disguised as the two ponies, but their recent companion had returned to his thestral disguise. It was early in the morning when they reached the train. They had given their tickets and were let through with smiles. Their disguised companion, on the other hand, was let through coldly, though he apparently didn't need tickets. He and Ocellus were given looks of sympathy, the type he might of expected for a funeral or something similar. Entering the train it was colourful and exuded a modern appearance while maintaining the fact that it just wasn't. It was clearly made with comfort in mind - the seats themselves, covered in a soft cloth were so comfortable he was tempted to sleep on them, but he needed to stay alert so he settled with lying on it like a bed while listening in as a discussion was occurring. Windows let sunlight poke through, with cloth curtains elegantly done, like they were in the luxury area. They weren't. " - none of my team made it in. Only I did. They all died, except Beetle - he was captured. I was waiting for orders of what to do but then the hive collapsed." "Captured?" "It might not seem like it, but that's the priority. The amount of dead in the hive apparently angered the new princess. Most lings are captured and sent to somewhere, probably the Canterlot dungeons, whatever happens there I don't know." Their new companion went by the name of Gnat - apparently the only ling to successfully infiltrate the Night Guard. Currently, he was regaling them with his tale - a sad one, at that. He was mostly ignoring him, but Pigeon wasn't offended in any way. He did have his curiosity sparked, however. Gnat was currently their "guard" for their "mission" for "Equestria" to explore the north and find the reason for the magical fluctuations. Not that that they used that story at all - only an angry pony guard with the usual colours he saw poisonously asked what they were doing with him. "Did Equestria not have a night guard before? As in, a group specially trained for operations in the dark of night?" His companions seemed surprised at his speaking up, likely guessing that he was half-asleep. Gnat answered him after a second. "No? Why bother?" "...And how would they defend themselves against night assaults?" "They don't get assaulted at all, as far as they're aware. It's why despite our own inability to see in the dark, we use it often." Gnat looked out the window and sighed. "Harder now. Thankfully the thestrals are in a small number and are generally distrusted. That, and they are still coming over from the moon to settle." Pigeon went stiff. "What?" Ocellus seemed enlightened "So they do come from the moon." "How." asked Pigeon "Why." Gnat shrugged "Apparently the new night princess went crazy and her sister threw her and the entire thestral subspecies on the moon. From what I could gather it's very hard to survive there, and they would be dead if not for the powerful magic's of their princess." "That is a completely unreasonable thing to do. How is that even possible." Gnat took a moment to gaze at the currently disbelieving ling "What's up with him, anyway. It's like he couldn't even feel the warning I sent through the Link. I get that guards are best at defense, not offense, but he could have prepared better." Pigeon heard Gnat but was currently occupied questioning reality. Besides, it was clearly aimed at Ocellus. Looking out the window, he wondered why it wasn't approaching the afternoon yet. It had been a very long time for it to stay midday. Then the sun randomly decided to rapidly move into the position you would expect to be in for the afternoon. Pigeon twitched violently. Ocellus had paused in confusion, then it seemed to hit her. "Oh, Pigeon just isn't Linked." "What?" "He couldn't feel the queen dying either." "Why isn't he Linked? No, nevermind, how isn't he Linked?" Ocellus grimaced. "It probably had something to do with his penalization." "Pigeon is penalized?" He seemed to look at Pigeon differently "But that hasn't been used in many - why would the queen-" "The official reason is that he's the last guard we have." She seemed to become sadder "All the others died." Gnat glanced at the aforementioned penal guard. "He doesn't seem like I would imagine a penal ling." "Utterly loyal and with no emotions whatsoever?" She guessed "Well, he has moments in which he seems emotionless and as for loyal -" She stopped, looked towards Pigeon, who wasn't hearing them as he was busy pondering. "Pigeon!" She called softly. He raised his head towards her questioningly. "Sit up and fake a cough now." He opened his mouth as if to ask why but she expected him to do so. "No questions asked." He spent a moment looking confused but sat up and tried his hardest to make a convincing cough. It wasn't very good, though it would be enough to fool most ponies. "Alright, that's good. You can go back to resting now. Don't ask." He seemed clueless to a point but slowly returned to his spot and turned over, keeping his back turned towards them. "That's what he does for most orders. If he can, he'll try to understand why, and if told he won't know why, he does it anyway. If you tell him in a certain way he won't even think to ask anything." "So the spell does render them loyal." Ocellus snorted. "That and the sessions he's had with the sizzling whip." She looked down ashamed. "He really doesn't deserve it." Gnat blinked. "That's - That hasn't been used in a long while, I think. A few generations back, maybe. He- what'd he do? To deserve both penalization and a sizzling" "Quite apparently he didn't help a ling or try relocate. He just - wandered. They found him. They believed that he was going to betray us to the ponies. He claimed that he was simply confused and wasn't a traitor but, he clearly wasn't believed." "Did he really do it?" "I don't know, and he certainly doesn't. The only memory he has begins with sitting in a cage, talking with Chrysalis." "Queen Chrysalis." "...Right. Well, he was set to guard the nursery, but he's very curious, and asked the wrong ling a question. That ling barely gave him a warning. If you look closely at his back, when he returns to his normal form, if you squint, you'll see the marks leftover." She sighed. "He didn't deserve it." "But why did it render him Unlinked?" "I don't know. Maybe there was a problem or a flaw. It was ancient magic, and it erased most of him." "Huh. Well, come on then. Let's discreetly gather some love before we arrive at the north. I hope that you really are right and ling's are regrouping there. It just so far..." "It isn't. It just seems like it is. It's incredibly close to the badlands." "I know." When the train rang, they got off, covered in furs as their only protection. They had to settle with the spare clothing for Gnat. It was cold and it seemed to bite at them, as though constantly telling them where they were and under what weather. Pigeon knew he could handle it. The others seemed unaccustomed, however. It was a white, a dazzling white that seemed to reflect light anywhere and everywhere, and the snow was everywhere, falling erratically as though unsure whether to turn into a blizzard or stay a calm, gentle snowfall. Fog seemed to limit their ability to see very far. They trekked under what directions Ocellus knew towards the old hive, yet everything seemed so blinding that he wasn't sure if Ocellus truly knew the way. No matter. He would trust in her, and follow her command. They walked, and walked, and Pigeon noticed the signs of fatigue appearing slowly on the both of them. He didn't feel as tired, and knew he had some more stamina to go before he began to feel tired. Where they once were in front as they were quicker than him, easily surpassing him, he could now if he so wished take the lead as he still had more energy left in him. Ocellus cracked a smile and praised his stamina. He told her to save her energy, as they needed to get to the hive, but thanked her nonetheless. "I don't suppose you spent a good portion of your life among the snow?" Gnat had asked. He shrugged. "I don't know." Gnat had sighed and shook his head, a small "of course" being muttered. The snowfall had stopped, though for how long he could not guess. It could be for a moment or a few days. He had suggested rest, and they all agreed upon that course of action. Setting up the tent took little time, and they had done it under such a large tree that it covered them all in its shade, and they could have put another tent and it would also be covered. He didn't trust it's stability much, as it leaned over them and seemed to be dead. It was, admittedly larger than any tree he had ever imagined. The 2 infiltrators had retired the tent and strangely refused to use the sleeping bags available. He could never understand why most lings preferred harsh cold ground when alternatives existed. Ah, well, it left him with the bag. But before he joined them in the tent, he took out the firewood and set up a fireplace. He briefly glanced at the book that came with it and snorted, adding it to the logs. Why have a book on starting fire's when one could do so without magic? He prepared some tinder and kindling. He took a log and summoned a knife, carving it with a deep indent. He unsummoned the knife and got to work starting a fire. Before long, flames started to crackle and he felt pleased at his handiwork. He yawned, then made for the inside of the tent, sleeping bag in magic hand. When Ocellus woke up, she felt strangely warm, if only a little. Leaving the tent, which was only occupied by Gnat, as it was clear that Pigeon had left a short time ago from the recently disturbed bag. Outside she found Pigeon sharpening his knife on whetstone. She didn't think he was capable of summoning it, but more surprising was the snuffed fire beside him. How had Pigeon started a literal fire? She knew he wasn't proficient at magic, and doubted he knew a thing about pyromancy. But it wasn't the time for questions. They had to get moving. Thankfully, Gnat must have woken up a few seconds after her as she heard him stir and get up. It wasn't long before they set out again. She led them as best she could. They reached it. It took time, and they were getting incredibly tired, but they did it. When they got there, it looked dead. Deader than the tree the camped under. It seemed to retain a bit of it's majesty, but only in a wistful manner, for it had long lost any true meaning of it. Gnat sent out a question with the link. He sent it out with hope and weariness, unsure of what he'd receive. Likely nothing. But something did return. And when it did, He and Ocellus cried in happiness, as their guard companion looked on in confusion, but didn't dare ask. He didn't fully understand, but he didn't need to. And out of the dead hive, came his brothers - adopted, perhaps, but his brothers nonetheless.