//------------------------------// // Changelings // Story: Royal Commandos // by Silverfox117 //------------------------------// A deafening roar swept through the desert causing the very earth to shake. Fire erupted from the resulting explosion, sending Bonfire 40 feet in the sky. His body slammed into the soft sand. He spat blood in his visor, clogging his vision. Before he could react his body was pelted by tiny rocks and debris. As the pillar of smoke flew into the clouds, it left the earth shaken, barren, and desolate. Bonfire with all his might tried to lift his legs desperately trying to pull himself up off the ground. He tried to see but his blood was clogging his visor. He pushed a button on his wrist and the blood was wiped off. He then checked his body for any wounds. “Great, only minor cuts and bruises.” Said Bonfire grinning. If it wasn’t for his armor then his body would’ve been blown to pieces. He checked his surroundings, making sure no enemies tried to get the jump on him. Yet, the surrounding area was desolate of any life. The only thing that remained were pieces of rocks and sand for what seems like miles. All except a large crater that the bomb created. And then it dawned on him. He ran straight to the crater. The crater’s diameter had to be at least 20 feet wide. He jumped in it to inspect the explosion. There weren’t any signs of shrapnel, but there was magical revenue everywhere. “How could I be so dumb? Of course that was an I.M.B. (Improvised Magic Bomb) what else was could of it have been. I could’ve gotten myself killed, or worse.” He ran across the field desperately looking for his squadmate. In the corner of his eye he spotted her. He ran as fast as he can. “Dammit, please be alive,” he begged. When Bonfire reached her, he realized that she was stuck in rubble, but more importantly is that she was still alive and angry. Very angry. Bonfire just stared dumbly at her not knowing what to do. “Hey dumbass, help get this shit off of me okay.” She said in a very pissed tone. “God do you know how long I’ve been waiting here. I’m going to find who ever set that bomb there and slowly tear his throat out.” “Twister you’re crazy.” Bonfire whispered. “I heard that, and GET THIS SHIT OFF OF ME ALREADY! God you act like you’re blind or something.” Twister yelled. Bonfire quickly snapped out of his daze and helped get the rubble off of her. “You’re welcome Twister.” Bonfire said in a snazzy tone. “Actually, I’m quite surprised you lived this long rookie. Still who was the idiot that set of the I.M.B. anyways?” She asked while wiping the dust off her wings. She was obviously referring the idiot (known) as Bonfire, because they were the only two ponies for miles. “I have no idea.” Bonfire sighed. If it wasn’t for his helmet she would have seen his terrible poker face. Thankfully it covered his entire face. In fact, every-pony in Bonfire’s squad has the standard L.M.B. Mach 04. This kind of armor supported your body shape exactly, and provides maximum protection. “I think we should report this to Turntable.” Twister said while glancing around for enemies. “No doubt they heard the explosion. They have to be around here somewhere.” Twister said out loud to herself. “Yeah, you're right.” Bonfire replied. Suddenly a green ball of fire flew right him barely missing his head; Bonfire was taken by surprise for a second, but instinct took effect. He quickly unsheathed his sword, and started to look around the scenery to find out who shot at them. He tried scanning the area, but he couldn’t pinpoint the projectile’s source. Just miles of rocks and sand as far as the eye could see. 'What shot that." Bonfire thought while quickly turning his head back and forth. He even looked up into the sky seeing if it came from there. “Turn on secondary vision,” Twister said, snapping Bonfire out of his thought. “Wait, what’s that?” Bonfire asked hurriedly. “Seriously you don’t know. I guess you’re more stupid than you look.” Twister replied. Bonfire rolled his eyes at this statement. “Just fuckin tell me.” “It allows you to see things using invisible spells.” Twister explained in a condescending manner. “Otherwise known as the knob on your helmet.” Bonfire quickly turned a knob on his helmet. His visor changed from a dreary gray to a brilliant meridian. The surrounding world around him turned from a natural color wheel to black. Only objects generating the light spectrum could have color. In the distance he saw two silhouettes of green. Bonfire grinned, and then his sword ignited along side with his passion. The sword quite literally caught on fire. Fitting as Bonfire's sword is enchanted with a fire ruby. That is probably where he got his nickname from. "I see yah." Bonfire said while dashing towards them at a speed much faster than a normal pegasus. Both silhouettes were caught completely off guard. Not only was he dashing towards them, but he knew exactly where they were. He was next to them. He swung his massive great sword with all his might at the closest silhouette, but the silhouette dodged it . It counterattacked with a quick stab from a knife, but the knife bounced off of his armor. Bonfire turned around and gave the silhouette a quick buck, knocking it a couple feet away. Within the corner of Bonfire’s eye he could see the second silhouette getting smashed by another figure. Bonfire quickly steadied his sword, and he took a deep breath. The silhouette decided to charge right at him. He swings again. The silhouette tried to avoid the second swing, but Bonfire was ready. Then the fire ruby started to glow, as if it knew exactly what its owner wanted . The sword's fire grew twice as large enveloping the sword and caught the silhouette on fire. The light of the fire burnt Bonfire’s eyes, so he had to cut off his secondary vision before he got blinded. He then decapitated easing it of pain. Death from being burnt to death is a terrible way to go. Bonfire shook his sword killing the fire on his weapon. The silhouettes cloaking spell started to fade. First revealing a dark and menacing horn, followed by a creature with a dark body. Truly a creature spawned from hell. "Twister why are changelings here, in Saddle Arabia?" Bonfire asked while poking the one on fire with his sword. Twister pulled her spear out of the changeling she landed on. "I don't know, all that matters is that they are dead. Plus, we were sent here for suspicious activities, and nothing is more suspicious than a couple of changelings. Like what my grandfather said, ‘The only good changeling is a dead changeling.’ ” "That is fucking dark," Bonfire replied, wondering at how she can think that. Bonfire still was staring at the changelings. He never saw one up close before, and he was thinking at how bad can these guys be. ‘They look just like us and probably act like us too. I don’t get it.’ Bonfire thought. "You don't know the half of it." She scoffed, while walking away. "Hey aren't you coming?” In a small cubicle at the forward operating base of Saddle Arabia there were four other ponies. They're all in Bonfire's squad so they had the L.M.B. except that they rest of the other squad had the other two variants. The first variant is for earth ponies had a rounded helmet with bulky plating on it, except on the joints of the ponies which had a lighter alloy for flexibility. The second variant is for unicorns. Its helmet was shaped the same as the earth ponies, but it had a horn on it. The length of horn depends on the pony. It also had plating, but it was made of a lighter material than the earth ponies. The pegasi variant is made to be aerodynamic. The helmet was not rounded but edged like a plane. It was also made completely out of the lighter alloy, except for the chest and back of the pony which had plating still. The armor is supposed to be in all jet black. One of them was pacing back and forth furiously. "Ugh can they take any longer," Turntable said. He was always very impatient, and things always had to be perfect. If something goes wrong he gets very furious, and often blames it on himself. However, this shouldn't give the idea that he is bad under pressure. No, he can work well under maximum stress. In the minds of the Royal Commandoes though, he is the ideal leader: strong, smart, witty, lethal, and most importantly caring. "Don't worry, just give them time. I'm sure they’re just fine," Cherry said. The unicorn simply snorted at the thought and continued on.Cherry a green unicorn with a bright red mane and sparkling blue eyes. Cherry was always the optimist of the group, always thinking level headed for everyone. She could relieve the stress of the group pretty easily, even in the middle of combat. However, she often was too optimistic about everything, sometimes even leading many of the squad into a false sense of hope. She was very self conscience, and will never forgive herself for her own mistakes especially when it involves a friend dying. Turntable took his helmet off revealing a dashing brown unicorn with a blue mane. He has a scar on his right eye that he got from a battle long ago. Even with that scar you could see many mixed emotions in those green eyes of his. "I guess we wait, huh," he sighed. The rest of the squad took off their helmets, including the two earth ponies of the group, Clock and Dixon. Clock, a brown earth pony with a silver mane and grey eyes, is often regarded as the mechanic of the group. He loves tinkering with objects and fixing equipment, however, he is not very social at all. Often too shy to talk to strangers, Clock hates being the center of attention. He would prefer to fight a dragon rather than talk to a group of strangers. Dixon is quite the opposite. He isn't very smart, but undoubtedly he is the strongest out of the group, easily overpowering all the other ponies. Dixon is also a social butterfly, often talking his way out of trouble, and getting the squad into places where they're not supposed to be. However, that is his downfall also. He often finds himself distracted with civilians, or especially hitting on mares. "What do you think we should do about the situation sir." She asked. "That is why we need Twister to get here as soon as possible." Turntable said, while looking at a map, scratching his chin. The door suddenly opened, both Bonfire and Twister took off walked into the room taking off their helmets. Twister had a yellow coat with a golden mane, and yellow eyes. Bonfire was the most interesting of the group; he had a magenta coat with a rainbow mane and cyan eyes. Rainbow manes was actually the most rare kind of mane a pony could get. In fact, only pegasi can show this illusive recessive gene. The rest of the ponies can carry the gene if they have it (chances are probably not as only .000001% of the population of all Equestria have rainbow manes). "We're back bitches!" Bonfire yelled grinning from cheek to cheek. Twister and Dixon both gave each other a hoof-bump. “You look terrible Twister.” Dixon pointed out the burns on her armor. Twister did not take that too kindly. “Shut up.” "So how did the mission go?" Turntable asked, still looking at the map on the table. "Well looks like your suspicions are correct. There are changelings in Saddle Arabia." Bonfire said. Turntable was sent on this mission by Celestia herself. She needed to know where the changelings landed after their failed invasion of Canterlot. Turntable had a gut feeling they were in Saddle Arabia. "So what do we do then? I mean we don't know where their base is at." Bonfire asked while scratching his head. “Also they are quite active in the desert. In fact they blew us up with I.M.B.s.” "Those just don't get put anywhere. Where that bomb was located is probably where their base is at," Cherry said butting in the conversation. “Also, Bonfire, are you okay?” “Yeah I’m fine.” Bonfire replied. "That is smart thinking," Turntable complemented Cherry. "We are all going out there this time, but when we get in 100 clicks of that place, Cherry and I will cast camo spells on you." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Okay lets go now." Turntable said as he put on his helmet. Everyone followed in his lead. The group reached the location they were looking for. They all had cloaking spells cast on them, so they wouldn't participate in any unnecessary confrontations. For the most part the armor takes well towards outside spells. "Great... there is nothing here. Just sand as far as the eye can see," Dixon said as he kicked some sand up. “This is about as empty Twisters soul.” “What the fuck Dixon.” Twister screamed at Dixon. "Lock it down both of you. You're so loud that they’re probably on alert now," Turntable scolded them both. In the corner of Bonfire's eyes he sees Clock pointing at a hatch. Bonfire walked towards Clock. "Hey guys I think Clock found someth-."Bonfire said. Turntable quickly got there before Bonfire could finish his sentence. "Good job Clock." Turntable said while staring at the hatch in the floor. "Do we go in?" Cherry asked worryingly. "Yep," Turntable replied without putting much thought into it. "That's awfully careless of you. You usually put more thought into this." Cherry said. "Yep." "Ah who cares, as long as we kill some bitches," Twister added in. "Listen to me: it's going to be fine. You forgot that we have camo on, and I highly doubt they have secondary vision." Turntable said. When he ends with ‘listen to me’ that usually meant it’s not open to discussion anymore. "Plus what is the worst that can happen?" "We die," the group quickly answered back. "We will be fine, just remember stay in formation and don't alert anyone," Turntable said while pointing towards Twister and Dixon. "Yes sir," they answered back. "Good, now lets see what Tarturus has in store for us," Turntable said maniacally.