//------------------------------// // 13 - Invasion Pt. 1 // Story: Far is the Star Called Sol // by Omnicron25 //------------------------------// WARNING: Excessive swearing Far is the Star Called Sol Chapter 13: Invasion Pt. 1 At the center of town, Mayor Mare was working diligently in her office as was usual for three in the afternoon. There was a lot more paperwork than usual though since her Head of Security and Emergency Services, Sentinel Heart, was in the hospital and would be for quite a while it seemed. Normally, a small town such as Ponyville would not even have that branch of government, but due to the close proximity to the Everfree Forest, it was deemed necessary even though it only consisted of the Heart Brothers as its only permanent members along with a hoof-full of volunteers. Now, the mayor was being hit with the full brunt of the paperwork since her Head of Weather Management, Rainbow Dash, was for lack of a better phrase: "Only good at the worldly aspect of her job." The mayor sighed. That was only part of her problems though. First, the she had to deal with Princess Luna's personal order to keep the filly known as Astral Plane safe, and that was the easiest one by far. Then, the fight that had broken out between the Night Guard First Lieutenant Thunderstorm, her own Security Chief Sentinel Heart, the Element of Loyalty and her Head Weatherpony Rainbow Dash, the Element of Honesty and prominent citizen Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle had incurred some serious damage reports and generated a lot of law and order paperwork to boot. The middle three were easy enough to punish with a few fines and maybe community service, and the lieutenant would be sorted out by his commanding officer, thus was out of her hooves. Then, there was the matter of the final participant… Twilight Sparkle. The mayor's brow twitched as she thought of that pony. She was Celestia's protégé, a princess by way of her brother's marriage, the Element of Magic, a lesser noble by birth, and the local librarian. There was more red tape around that mare than even the infamous braggart Prince Blueblood and possibly even more than her own brother Prince Shining Armor, who now co-ruled the Crystal Empire with his wife Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. It had been obvious to the mayor in the beginning that Lieutenant Thunderstorm had only been confronting his rambunctious cousin, Rainbow Dash, and had acted only in self-defense. It had also been obvious to her that Sentinel had only been doing his job in protecting a citizen from possible harm. In addition, Rainbow and Applejack were really just dragged into the fray and had barely participated— so odds were that the charges on them would be dropped. No, it was Twilight Sparkle that had done all the damage, and there was not a bucking thing she could do to punish the mare beyond sending a letter to Princess Celestia herself. Even then… there would be possible backlash. The mayor set her quill down and groaned in frustration as a headache started to set in. "Now, there's this whole 'Fake Moon' business! I swear I'm getting too old for this!" She rubbed her hooves on her temples to help her calm down. Ever since that lavender nag came to Ponyville my blood pressure has been through the roof! Sure, she's been a big help on a few occasions, but most of those situations she caused to begin with! She needs to go back to Canterlot where she belongs! That was when she looked up and noticed she was not alone as a tall shadow loomed over her. Quickly, she looked up to see Princess Luna standing before her with a stern expression on her muzzle. The mayor instantly froze before jumping out from behind her desk and bowing fearfully. "Y—Your M—Majesty! I—I'm so sorry I didn't notice you! I… uh… What do you need of me?!" The alicorn frowned. "As delicious as your envy and frustration for the wretched unicorn nag is, I find myself in need of this place, pony. Begone with you!" Mayor Mare instantly looked up in shock, but was unable to say a word before a blaze of green fire filled her vision making her blackout. The Fake Moon grinned as the tan elderly earth pony was teleported by her magic to the basement where she would be put into a feeding pod by her soldiers below. "All according to plan. As soon as patrol three returns, the invasion will begin." She then teleported herself to the basement where there were already three more pods aside from the Mayor's occupied. The first being a large pegasus stallion known as Thunderlane, the second being a traveling unicorn showmare who she had encountered before but could not remember the name, and the third was the Element of Laughter. This made the Fake Moon absolutely beam. The energy that came off this mare was absolutely delectable— even Shining Armor's love paled in comparison to this Pinkamena's pure positive emotion— and it made her feel every bit as powerful as one of the Old Gods. It made her feel like she could take on even Discord the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony himself without the slightest twinge of fear. "There is no way I can lose to those pitiful fools this time. I have all the power I need to wipe out both of their precious princesses and take on what's left of those annoying Element Bearers," said Queen Chrysalis as she dropped her disguise of the Night Princess to reveal her black chitinous true form. It actually had surprised the Queen at first that Celestia's younger sister was shorter than she was, but the difference had only been minor. It had certainly been easier to masquerade as the fear-inducing Luna than the lovey-dovey Cadence. "This will be a day to remember… and I shall make ponydom my prey at last!" laughed the Changeling queen as she turned to one of her worker-soldiers. "Make the preparations. We begin soon…" -X-X-X- At the Ponyville Hospital, Jason Nalick was being chewed out— or rather violently masticated— by a particularly annoyed white unicorn with a royal purple mane and tail. "…and you honestly expect me to believe that… that garbage?! I swear, Tiberius, if it had not been for the fact Astral Plane has gone missing again and you seemed to have quite thoroughly punished yourself for the slight, I would put you through etiquette 101! The backhand you brought down on Twilight was, while not completely uncalled for, completely unacceptable! Are you even listening to me?!" The human tested the flexibility of his new bandages around his hands that Nurse Redheart had just finished and gave Rarity a discreet middle-finger before thanking the nurse and turning to Rarity saying, "I heard every word, and I will apologize the next opportunity to do so. However, Thunderstorm and Astral Plane have just come back into my area of perception. They're in danger." "What!? What did I hear about my cousin and that runt being in danger?!" burst in Rainbow through the open window before the white mare even got the chance to open her mouth. Jason shot her a glare and pointed in the general direction. "They're with several others and are being pursued by many small, but numerous, malicious entities I don't recognize. They seem to be feeding off the emotions of the ponies though… interesting… I—" "Changelings!" spat Dash with venom that surprised Jason. "Come on, Rares! They need us!" "Rainbow Dash! Now, we can't go just randomly charging into battle! We're not Royal Guards after all! We need to—" "Rarity, I'm not going for posh or flashy here! We need action! Ponyville doesn't have a barrier to buy us time like Canterlot did!" cut in Dash not even letting the alabaster unicorn finish what she was saying before turning to Jason. "Nalick, you understand me, right?! You've been in these situations before, haven't you?!" Jason tapped his boot in thought as his face contorted for a moment before nodding. "Rainbow, I know both you and Rarity have seen combat against these things before. You should try to head them off. I'll go get Twilight so I can get more information on what exactly we're dealing with, and gather a few of my personal effects that I suspect she has as well as inform the Princesses via Spike what is happening before joining up with you shortly. Meet in front of Town Hall and try to keep a close eye on everypony. If the name is of any indication, I suspect they are shape shifters, as you should already know. Any questions?" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Whatever, come on, Rarity. We have a few Changelings to smash!" Then, she promptly picked up her friend around the barrel and lifter her into the air making the unicorn yelp. "RAINBOW DASH!!! Put me down this instant! Whatever do you think your dooiinnnggg?!" yelled Rarity in exasperation as Rainbow Dash carried her out the large window with Rarity cursing most unladylike the entire way. Jason nodded in approval of the rambunctious pegasus's actions. Right now was certainly not the time to hesitate. However, he could not help but get the feeling something was off with this entire situation. He also lacked a very key ingredient in forming a successful battle strategy: information. Twilight could certainly provide a good portion of that, but the enemy still had the advantage. If his calculations he was forming were correct, Ponyville had been caught in one of the worst possible times that it could have been with several key players already out of action and the enemy had the element of surprise. The human smirked as he ran through the nearly empty hospital hallways though. "I have a few tricks myself. You've never faced human warfare before." -X-X-X- Sentinel Heart woke up to find himself in the hospital again, but he noticed something was off about the room. There was a large figure looming over him that was roughly bipedal in nature, but Sentinel could not tell exactly who or what it was in the darkness. He took a guess. "Mr. Nalick? Is that you?" "Oh, good. You're awake," said the bipedal over him. It did roughly have Jason Nalick's shape and voice, but something seemed off. "Are you alright, Mr. Nalick? How is Dash and Twilight Sparkle?" asked the unicorn warily. He was not sure what was going on, but as far as he was aware Changlings could only disguise themselves as ponies. Therefore, he filed that thought away to study further later. Then, he saw the creature's form. It was Mr. Nalick, but without any clothes on. Sentinel was surprised to say the least. He had never seen the human without his customary garbs on. He was now very suspicious something else was going on. "Is there a problem?" The human raised his right arm, which promptly turned into a scythe similar to a praying mantis complete with black chitin gleaming in the light from the cracked door behind the creature and glowing green eyes. This made Sentinel Heart's eyes widen in terror as he gaped. "What in the name of Celestia?!" "Say goodbye, pony!" the creature cackled manically as it plunged the scythe-like appendage into the bound Sentinel's chest. A scream of terror called out from the doorway. Sentinel could only turn his head to see the image of the creature relinquishing its form of Jason Nalick to become a large bipedal insectoid with each of the arms ending in the scythes. It is most definitely a species of Changeling, decided the dying unicorn as he felt the cold slicing of the scythe pull itself out of his form. That was when he saw who had screamed. It was Nurse Redheart. Sentinel had never been on best terms with the mare, but he did not want to see her meet her end when he was right here. He was Ponyville's protector, and now, he could not even save one citizen. That thought ignited something in him. Rage. Undeniable rage! He felt something deep inside him release and felt the power surge through his body as he snapped his restraints. He felt his bones forcefully knit themselves back together and injuries seal nearly instantly. He felt like he could run for miles and felt himself drawing incredible amounts of power from the world and beings around him. The mutant Changeling beside him did not seem to notice as it held it scythes out toward the fear-paralyzed mare. "Food has arrived!" Nurse Redheart's flank bumped against the wall as she tried to back away and screamed again, "Celestia save me!" That was Sentinel Heart struck. He pounded the creature in the side with a mighty smashing blow from his left hoof, making the creature's exoskeleton to into mere shards under the blow. It screeched in pain, but Sentinel Heart was not done yet. He wanted it gone. It attacked him and was threatening the ponies he swore to protect! It had no right to exist! He tackled it now that it was on the floor and drove his front hooves into its torso, utterly crushing the chitinous exoskeleton and internal organs. Then, he smashed its head three times for good measure before letting his body give out and falling to the side. He blinked once, wondering how he had gotten there, but upon seeing that the creature was dead and the nurse was safe, he let himself fall into a peaceful sleep. He was not needed anymore. Nurse Redheart stared at the scene before her, trying to make sense of it all. Only she could not. She had just saw the security chief take a mortal wound to the torso not only survive, but become completely healed in an instant. Then, there was the body of the thing that had tried to kill the unconscious unicorn. It had looked just like the human at first, but then it turned into… something. She did not know what it was. She tried to say something, tried to move, but nothing was responding. Her brain was in complete gridlock, and it was just too much for her to take at once. The gore, near death scenario, and possible necromancy was just too much for her. Her brain decided it was best just to shut down, and it did, letting her slump to the ground unconscious. -X-X-X- Jason Nalick and Twilight Sparkle were running through the streets of Ponyville in a desperate attempt to get to the library. However, the streets were filled with panicking ponies running towards Town Hall's bunker and Changeling drones— both disguised and in base form— attacking various ponies and the duo. The air smelled a horrible combination of fear, structure fires, and Changeling musk as well. "This is horrible! Why would the Changelings attack Ponyville?!" pleaded Twilight as she ran beside the relatively large man; her expansive eyes glancing into his. Jason knitted his brows in anger. He did not want to give her the reason that seemed most likely in his mind from a strategy standpoint. They're getting rid of you and your friends, he thought bitterly as he vaulted over one of panicking ponies, kicking the Changeling chasing it in the face. "Why are you choosing now of all times to get your things from the library anyway?" demanded Twilight angrily as she bucked another drone— although this one was disguised as mint green mare— that was attempting to jump Jason from behind, dispatching it. "For Celestia's sake, I don't even have my magic unsealed yet! I might not even be able to undo the horn lock!" "I got faith in ya. Besides, thanks for the backup." Jason smirked as he tore a solid metal rod from one of the collapsed structures and batted a seemingly random pony, which turned back into one of vile creatures before he punted it. Good thing these things don't feel the same to me as regular ponies. Then, we would have a problem. "You never did answer me," stated the lavender unicorn in frustration as she dodged one of the insectoids, only to have another take its place and forcing her to buck it. The human grunted as he batted away another two of the strange creatures with a single swing before finally answering as another ate boot. "One of those 'things' you're keeping for me is a weapon, and while I'm not saying it'll change the battle, it can save our hides if we run into any stronger variations of these pests. Besides, did you forget Spike is still there?" He was having a hard time believing that Twilight would forget where her 'number one assistant' was, but then again, she did seem pretty scatterbrained at the moment. Could it be that her magic helped her become as smart as she is, or does she just not deal well under this type of pressure? Twilight skidded to a halt and glared daggers at him. "What?! I had a potentially dangerous human weapon and didn't tell me?!" she practically shrieked in anger. "I thought we agreed that you knew weapons outside of the guard weren't allowed in Equestria!" Idiot! You stopped moving! thought Jason bitterly as he was forced to jump over and knock a Changeling away from her. "You fool! I thought I told you not to stop! Are you trying to get yourself captured or worse?! You can arrest me later for the weapon, because the reason I didn't tell you is because I had no intention of using it before now!" He made a sweeping gesture with his free hand to show her the town being decimated by the invading army of drones. "The situation is desperate Twilight Sparkle, and you don't have your magic this time, nor do you have any type of standing military in this town! We have to organize a militia and be able to protect those that can't defend themselves!" Then, he brought his hand down to seal the deal with a handshake. "Now, are you with me, or aren't you?!" Time waits for no man— or pony— however, as three drones barreled in from three directions. Jason was able to deflect two of them, but the third broke his makeshift staff and pinned him to the ground with a victorious hiss. What the drone forgot about though was the pissed off unicorn standing next to it. With a buck, Twilight yelled over the din, "You've got a deal, Mr. Nalick, but I'm not going to let you off the hook for this!" Jason noticed a defiant smirk on her muzzle as she helped him up which made him smirk himself with a strangled laugh. "That's fine by me. I just rather not see anyone else hurt." With that, he picked up a large piece of wood and wielded it as a club to bash another drone away, ordering, "Stay close, and for the love of all that's holy, don't stop moving this time!" Twilight smirked. "I'm right behind you!" Despite her facade, however, Jason could see the battle whittling away at her mind— like he had seen in so many before. This battle even had minimal casualties too. It seemed to him that the insects were more interested in capturing the townsfolk rather than killing them, but did not seem to hesitate to kill the hard to subdue. He knew the insects were painting him and Twilight as kill targets. Him for his odd form and apparent ability to beat the living hell out of droves of the bizarre things, and Twilight most likely due to her being the protégé of the sun diarch and an Element Bearer. He frowned as they fought through the decimated streets toward the center town and freeing ponies as they went. Something is definitely off here, but… He did not complete the musing as a realization hit him like a cannonball. "Fucking damn it all to hell in a hand basket!" "What is it, Jason?" asked Twilight as she notice him stop before bucking another drone away and panting heavily from exhaustion. "We're walking right into a goddamn trap is what's wrong!" snarled the man as he let another swing loose and caved one of the insect-like equine's head in, splattering him with the gore and causing Twilight to flinch. He turned to her and quickly ordered, "Get these ponies out of town! Get them to the hospital or Sweet Apple Acres! Town Hall is a fucking net for us to just walk into!" Then, he kicked another Changeling disguised as a pegasus pony with his steel capped boot, causing it to go flying into another attempting to pin another pony down. "Go!" "What about you?!" she yelled back over the din with worry and a hint of anger as she smacked a mint green unicorn, only for it to bleed red from the mouth. "Oops! Sorry, Lyra!" The mint green unicorn— now known to Jason as 'Lyra'— seemed to be the perfect pony to play messenger with that bloody lip of hers sticking out like a sore thumb. "Lyra, com'ere a second!" The unicorn practically bounded to him forgetting all about Twilight, the battle, and the damage to her face. "Yes! What can I do for you, Mr. Human!" He was a bit startled by her enthusiasm, but a smirk quickly grew on his lips. Perfect! he thought as he used his wooden club to make the bugs back off again and hit three or four in the process. "I need you to inform the other ponies to go to the hospital or Sweet Apple Acres, ASAP! Tell them that Town Hall is a trap and avoid it at all costs! Twilight has this group, but I need someo— somepony to get the word out to the others, but avoid Town Hall. We don't need our messenger pony being captured. Think you can do that?" Lyra's eyes practically sparkled with determination as she smiled. "You got it, Mr. Human!" Then, she bounded off through the alleyways to his right, presumably to get to another main thoroughfare. "And what will you be doing?" demanded Twilight as she panted after knocking away a few more Changelings. "I can open the safe myself. I studied it while you were showing me my stuff the first time in case I needed to get into it in case of an emergency," remarked Jason as he bashed what seemed to be an earth pony charging him in the sternum, stopping it cold and making it change back as the drone as the air was knocked out of it. "You know: hope for the best, prepare for the worst?" "What?! How in Tartarus can you do that?!" Jason did a sort of jig to the side as the drone attempted to tackle him, only for Twilight to buck it in the head. "Easy. One good kick right above the lock hole will shatter the mechnism and cause it to simply swing open. You need to get a new safe anyway; a five-year-old with a ten pound sledge could open it. Now, go get the ponies out of here! I—" He didn't get to finish the sentence as Twilight suddenly fell to the side— seemingly collapsed from exhaustion. He decided to punt another Changeling as he screamed in frustration, "God damn it all! Just one thing after a fucking 'nother!" -X-X-X- Just outside of Ponyville's business district, the golden eyes of Lieutenant Thunderstorm narrowed as he shock bucked another Changeling in the head, killing it instantly. He was too tired now for non-lethal blows, and the party as a whole was quickly getting surrounded by the fifteen Changelings still able to pursue them. An "Eep!" was heard to his left and the butter yellow pegasus quickly asked in a near sob, "D—Did it… Did it really have to die?!" Storm opened his mouth to say something, but Magnum intervened, "Not now, missy! We need to keep moving! We can weep over the dead attackers later!" During the momentary slowdown, however, one of the bugs was able to pounce Sweetie Belle who had been at the back just ahead of Thunderstorm. She screamed in terror, and the lieutenant instantly turned around into the crowd of bugs and bashed the changeling on top of her away, yelling to the others, "Keep running! I got her!" He picked up Sweetie by the tail and threw her onto his back as he bucked another changeling with another shock buck before turning to run. The Changelings turned to overwhelm him next, but a series of crystal walls blocked them from getting to him for the moment. "You idiot!" scolded Astra as she impaled another bug with a crystal spire, and opened the crystal wall closest to her and Magnum. "You're in no position to save anypony! Use your head!" "The filly's right, kiddo. You can barely run as is," added Magnum as he blasted a couple more of the bugs away with his telekinetic blasts. "Besides, Sweets is my daughter, and I'll make sure nothing happens to her. You watch our backs. I'll handle the main group." He then used his magic to lift up Sweetie Belle and set her on his back. He looked to Astra as he used a conical blast to knock three away at the same time. "Filly, do you think you can hit any of the flying ones?" "No, I don't have any ranged options right now," Astra shook her head as Thunderstorm took his position so that him, Astra, and Magnum were surrounding the CMC, Fluttershy, and Magnum's wife, Peril. The lieutenant gave the midnight blue filly and uneasy look thinking, Why in Tartarus is this filly so calm? The other three are shaking and fearing for their lives, but this filly acts like a hardened Guard and even knows attacks I've never even heard of before! She even talks like a military leader! If this filly really is from the future… I hate to see what the future brings to Equestria. A trio of the black equine-like bugs changing into Astra and charging him jerked him out of his thoughts. He readied himself. Do they really think that's going to work? Instead of them even getting close to him, a rainbow seemed to knock them away instead, leaving all three dazed for Thunderstorm to quickly pick off one with a shock buck while the other two where skewered with telekinesis controlled shrapnel from none other than the Element of Generosity. "This is absolutely dreadful! "Nice of you to join in!" he panted in greeting as he fell back into position and looked to his cousin who fell into position beside him. "Finally figure out who I am, Cousin?" She huffed in prideful annoyance as she flew up to intercept the three Changelings coming in from above. "What of it, Wind Storm? Here to torture me by dragging me back to my parents?" She bucked a cloud and roasted one of the bugs with a lightning bolt before ramming the other two with her incredible speed, rendering them unconscious, before setting down in front of her cousin with a glare. Storm glared at her in return, but Rarity intervened, "Enough! We can settle this after these awful things are dealt with!" Magnum blasted the last of the recon force into submission before turning to the rest of the group. "My daughter's right. We need to keep moving. As far as I see it, Town Hall is probably our best option since its closer." "I'm not sure if that is a wise idea, mister," said Astra in a surprisingly polite tone. "The hospital can be guarded more easily due to the smaller windows." "The basement of Town Hall is designed as a bunker in case of an attack from the Everfree Forest," explained Magnum as he started toward the center of town. "This isn't a bunch of dumb creatures, sir!" shot back Astra, obviously losing her patience already and stopping Magnum in his tracks. "These Changelings have a hivemind! A bottlenecking bunker is not going to be enough! We need to be able to defend ourselves in semi-offensive manner, rather than just hide! Look what happened in Canterlot when they went on pure defensive!" The lieutenant looked at her stating, "Quiet down, girl. We don't need them finding us again. I don't know who you are, or how you know so much about battle strategy at this point, but my old staff sergeant is more than capable leading us. He was part of Major Four Blades's special operations group back when my superior was still a general. I'm sure he knows more about what he his doing than you do." "Stand down, kiddo," said Magnum to Storm as he turned back to Astra. "Now, little filly, I would love to tell you all the little problems with your theory you've cooked up in that head of yours, but we just don't have the time. I have no idea what position you were in that 'future' that Miss Sparkle and that hairless ape seem to think you're from, nor do I care. You're here now, and while you have been helpful, you're in no position to start questioning authority. Here you are still just a filly that happens to know a bit about ancient methods of warfare that you have no business knowing to start with, girl. Is that understood?" Storm smirked at the midnight blue earth pony filly's now uncomfortable and rage-filled expression. Astral Plane, former Princess turned commoner, was not amused. "I see now. Well, I am going to the hospital, regardless. You won't stop me, and unlike you, I'm not foolhardy enough to go into a heavily populated area. Enjoy your early demise, jesters. Don't say I didn't warn you fools." "Hey! What's that supposed to mean, you runt! Even Nalick said to meet in front of Town Hall!" shouted Rainbow Dash, angered by the insult. Astra did not even give the prismatic pegasus the decency of an answer as she simply cantered into a shadow and disappeared into it. Lt. Storm looked on in shock. He knew exactly what the little filly had just done. She… that filly just shadow walked! Who, or what, the buck are we dealing with?! Is that filly some distant descendant of Princess Luna? Is she the Princess herself in disguise?! This makes no sense! He was too dumbfounded to say anything, but fortunately, Rarity was not as shocked as the rest of the group. "It would seem there is more to that filly than meets the eye, father, and I think you two's lack of tact just angered the poor girl something awful—" "Uh, guys, I think we'll have more to worry about the runt later! We've got another group coming!" Rainbow Dash interrupted quickly as she saw another swarm of Changelings from her aerial position. "How many?" demanded Magnum as he turned to the pegasus. "Enough to tell you that we need to hoof it!" answered Rainbow Dash. "I mean, I could take care of myself, but I don't think some of us could." She made a gesture to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Scootaloo caught on immediately, shouting indignantly, "Hey, we can fight them too! We could become the Cutie Mark Crusader Bug Control!" "Girls! No! You! Are! Not!" shouted Fluttershy very uncharacteristically as she bored the Stare straight through Scootaloo. Scootallo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle immediately shrank from the piercing glare. "But—" "No 'but's you three," growled Storm, obviously fighting the pain his body was producing, as he started to push them in the direction of Town Hall. "I'm not… I'm not about to let you three get hurt because you want to do something brash. This is a life-or-death situation. Do you understand?" The three fillies slowly nodded their heads looking dejected. Magnum nodded as he stared down the mass of Changeling approaching them— there had to be twenty to thirty at least. "Glad that's sorted out." Then, he turned to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash, take Perl and the orange filly to the Town Hall ahead of us." Then, he turned to Fluttershy. "Miss, can you carry the other two—?" "Hey! What's the big idea?!" interrupted Dash as she got in Magnum's face. "I can fight just as well as the rest of you! Why can't one of the others help?" "Because you're the only other flight capable pegasus. Now, get going; we don't have much time," Magnum deadpanned as he stood his full height, which was just slightly taller than the lieutenant was. Fortunately for the group, and unfortunately for the pegasus's pride, Magnum's remark rung true. Her expression showed she was not happy at the thought of leaving the others behind, but she obviously understood it needed to be done. "You guys better stay safe until I get back!" With that said, she spread her wings and grabbed Rarity's mother and her biggest fan before rocketing to the center of town. As she flew off, Storm saw Fluttershy gather up the other two fillies and make her way slowly make her way into the air. He felt bad about having Fluttershy be the one to carry the other two fillies, but he knew there was no other way. He certainly could not do anything to help other than fight. "Be safe," he whispered quietly as he saw the incoming hoard of Changelings approaching, and began to ready his battered form for another fight. "You and my daughter need to go too, Thunderstorm," said Magnum as he put a hoof on the lieutenant's wither. "While there's no doubt my Rarity is a feisty one, she is just too inexperienced to be of any help here, and you're in no shape to fight either. In fact, you can barely stand up straight. I can buy you the time you need." The Night Guard looked at his former staff sergeant incredulously. He knew that if middle-age stallion was by himself in this, there would be no hope of him returning. A new wave of strength coursed through his body as his resolved hardened. "No, sir. I'm going to have to disobey that order. I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself here." "I'm not leaving you either, Father!" insisted Rarity with a stern look. "I realize you are only trying to do what's best for me, but I simply not allow you to get captured by these horrid monsters!" The old unicorn smirked. "You two remind me of me and your mother when we were younger," observed the older unicorn under his breath with a small smile as the Changelings closed the gap of only a few lengths away. He looked at Thunderstorm, and his smile widened. "Take care of my daughters for me and be proud of yourself, Wind Storm of Cloudsdale." Before he could get a word out, the pegasus found himself being thrown into the air at a good rate, and— much to his horror— he saw the Magnum take on the swarm single-hoofedly with a frenzy of telekinetically held shards of crystal from Astral Plane's dome. He only got to see a glimpse of Rarity to his right be for he latched onto her and prepared for a hard landing— making himself her cushion. To his surprise however, they were gently deposited on the ground, and Storm noticed for the first time that they were surrounded by Magnum's telekinetic aura, even a such a distance away, before the aura vanished. He also realized at that moment that his former superior had called him by his birth name. So many questions ran through his head, but he knew that he needed to get Rarity safe so her father's capture would not be in vain. He turned, about to speak, but he halted as he saw her expression. "Dad… no!" cried out Rarity as she put a hoof over her mouth. Storm whipped his head back to where Magnum just in time to see the unicorn get cut down by a bipedal insectoid that somewhat resembled a praying mantis, but with the legs more resembling the human's. "NO!!!" Without thinking and his emotions taking over, he started to charge only to have his tail pulled by something, stopping him. Whipping back around, he glared down Rarity. "There's still a chance we can save him! What are you doing?!" Rarity's tear filled eyes hardened in defiance. "He's dead, Lieutenant, and I'm not about to let my father's sacrifice go to waste. It's obvious these monsters don't care about simply capturing us like they did in Canterlot. They want revenge." She prodded him with her horn. "He gave us time. Now, lets go!" He stared at her in disbelief. "You… You ungrateful—" She prodded him harder. "GO!!! I can't protect you, and you're in no shape to protect me, let alone yourself!" He shook his head. He knew she was right, because he had been thinking the same thing only moments before. He felt ashamed that he lost control and almost killed them both, thus letting her father's death become meaningless, and he hated himself for it. He looked at the already advancing hoard. "Go… I'll hold them off. I owe you this much." Rarity knocked him off his three hooves and started to pull him with her telekinesis by his tail. "I'm flattered, but I'm sure my father wanted both of us to survive, Lieutenant." Storm huffed in anger, but not before noticing a drone coming right at them, readying for impact. In a flash, he used an electrified hoof to burn through his tail and got up, tackling Rarity away from the impact zone just before contact. Unfortunately, this made his body scream in agony as he skidded across the ground. A wave of dirt in rock soon followed as he hauled himself upright despite the pain. But before he could fully stand, he noticed a large shadow loomed over him. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw a naked Jason Nalick looming over him, seemingly unaffected by the incoming swarm. "Nalick?" he asked as he carefully looked over the human. The only reason he did not strike out immediately was that he knew Changeling's could only take the form of quadrupeds, but he was still wary that the human might be under their queen's mind control. He put a hoof on the man and gave him a small jolt. The result was not what he expected, however, as the man became the bipedal insect, startling the Night Guard severely enough to make him hesitate. His hesitation gave the thing more than enough time to hit him into unconsciousness with the flat of his scythed right arm. "Not quite," rasped the super Changeling before lifting its scythes to dispatch the downed guard. A sudden scream of effort distracted the super Changeling long enough for Rarity's telekinetically swung wooden beam to strike it and knock it over. "Leave the lieutenant alone, vile creatures! I'll make him pay for getting me covered in dirt, but I cannot simply let you have him!" she warned as she used her makeshift weapon to smash an airborne Changeling into the ground as she bucked another in the face. Several more drones entered the fray, only to get batted by Rarity's weapon or hit with her various martial arts moves, but after only five, she was already starting to sweat. What was worse was that they kept surrounding her. She used some of the broken glass from a window next to her and pelted a dozen with the shards. Only three were killed as a result though, and now, the big Changeling was up again. A primal fear ran through her as the thing's gaze turned to her. "Having fun with my lessers?" it asked with what could only be described as sadistic mirth. "You killed my father!" she roared as she swung her weapon at the bipedal bug again. Only this time, it was blocked by one of the blade arms, making the aged wood shatter with the impact. "W—What?!" "Foolish little pony, did you really think you could defeat me?" asked the bug mirthfully as it motioned the drones to not attack but simply surround the group. Then, it started to slowly walking toward her. "You surprised me the first time, little mare, but I have more wits than the average reaver. The human's blood assured that." "What have you done to Nalick, monster?!" Rarity's eyes narrowed as she panted. She had used a fair amount of her magic swinging that wooden beam around, and now, she had barely enough to lift a pair of scissors— let alone something large enough to stun the creature. Not only that, but no amount of martial arts training could help her against a creature with a thick hardened carapace such as its. The creature heaved an odd whistling noise— Rarity guessed it was laughter— before it answered, "Wouldn't you like to know?" Rarity took that moment to use some stone and glass shards to pelt the creature with, but the effort was futile against its thick exoskeleton. "You're petty unicorn magic is cute," commented the creature as it lifted its arm against the exhausted Rarity. "You will make a great meal!" "Then, how about you try on some pegasus magic," screamed the Thunderstorm Striker as clouds started to form together and become gray overhead. The creature and Rarity turned to look at the enraged and badly beaten pegasus. The entire right side of his face was covered in blood, and his eye had swollen shut from the blow dealt by the bipedal Changeling earlier. The insect gave another bout of insectoid whistle laughter before glaring the lieutenant down. "What make you think a ragdoll like you can do anything against me?" "I'm the Thunderstorm Striker, and I've faced down dragons and won," he said grimly and spit some blood out of his mouth. "You're nothing." "Maybe, but you're nearly dead," taunted the bug nonchalantly as it tapped its foot. "You're no more of a threat than a hatchling." Storm's teeth ground together in anger as he pooled his energy together. This bug is going to wish it were never born! Rarity placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Don't do it. Rainbow Dash should be back with help soon," she whispered. The Night Guard glared at her and batted her hoof away. "Stay away for me if you know what is good for you," he snarled. Rarity raised her nose into the air. "Why I never!" The bug started walking menacingly toward them again as it heaved its odd laugh. "Oh, dinner and a show! Can't ask for more than that!" Lightning struck down onto the Thunderstorm Striker an instant later, but instead of it hurting him, he absorbed it, glowing a golden yellow. "SHUT THE BUCK UP!!!" roared the pegasus warrior with the sound of thunder as he moved seemingly as fast as sound, smashing into the Changeling with his rear legs in a powerful buck. The buck connected with the full power of a lightning bolt and a second thunderclap was heard as the creature's defending blades were shattered and the buck continued on the shear off both of the creature's arms at the shoulders. A cry of agony erupted from the creature as it flew backwards into the crowd of drones— killing several with its landing. However, it had taken Lieutenant Thunderstorm's all to pull off that one devastating attack. His heaving heart was battering his chest like a sledgehammer and his vision was being eaten away at the corners. There was a reason he never used his more devastating attacks without his specially enchanted armor and why few pegasus ever attempted such a thing. It was physically destructive and all together exhausting. With one last effort, he turned to Rarity heaving, "Fly, you fool!" before collapsing in a heap in the street.