//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 // Story: Camo the changeling // by M Specter //------------------------------// Chapter 19 Upon leaving VanHoover I traveled to LosPegasus where Purple was. Needless to say I hoped that he had done a much better job with the changelings under his rule. Before I could even do that however I need to travel through the Smokey Mountains and south east along the coast to reach LosPegasus. After a day of flying I reached said mountains and decided to reside within a cave. The reason these caves are called the Smokey Mountains is because there is a wide population of dragons living deep inside the caves. The first pony's who discovered the mountains described that they could see smoke seeping out of the mountains as if it was smoking. With much more research others discovered the source of the smoke and it turns out that the cause of it was sleeping dragons. Fearing for her little pony's Celestia banned passage near the mountains for fear of casualties. I can understand why the passage was banned even without the ban normal pony's wouldn't even try to get near dragons but going through them is a quick way to LosPegasus so I'll have to hope that no bad confrontations happen. This was the last thought I had as the crackling embers of my make shift camp fire lulled me to sleep. When I woke up the first thing I noticed was that I wasn't in the front of the cave anymore. The next thing I noticed was that my hooves were tied together, and my wings were tied to my torso. I struggled against them to see how tough they were and apparently they were pretty sound. Something stirred off in the distance and stepped into the light "I see you’re awake". It was a red dragon he wasn't fully grown I’d say he was a teen if spike was about the crusaders age. "The Chief says you’re going to fight against the strongest of us I hope you’re ready to feel pain pony." "Do I get to use my wings or will I have to fight like an earth pony" I asked. "Your wings will be bound to your body so you won't have an advantage." "But I'm guessing your kind is allowed to use your wings and fire breath." "Yep" he said with a smug grin. Figures the weak always try cheap tactics to win their battles not to say that they're all weak since I'm apparently going to fight the best of the best and I'm sure if I had a horn they'd break it so I couldn't use magic. Although I bet none of them has ever faced a changeling before which will make the fight interesting in itself. I began to laugh it started off small but escalated until it reverberated off the walls. "What's so funny" he asked I didn't answer him I just continued to laugh for I will be victorious by the end of the day. The coliseum that I would be fighting in was deep into the mountain near lava level. The platform for doing battle is suspended over a sheer drop to lava and the only thing holding it back from gravity's call was the chains that fastened into the walls. They unbounded me and threw me onto the platform where I crash landed on my face. The crowd of dragons all laughed at my pain and I rightfully ignored it. My first opponent was a dragon that was about the size of the red dragon from earlier. This must be a coming of age sort of thing to reward the strong and single out the weak and from what the crowd was doing I could tell they thought I was the weaker one. With the ringing of a bell the dark brown dragon charged at me upon which I quickly spun around and bucked him in the face making him fly towards the other side of the ring. He would have crashed on the wall on the other side but he used his wings to stop his momentum. At this point he knew that he would have trouble in hoof to claw combat so he decided to attack from above with a flamethrower. I figured now was the time for my ace so as the fire seemed to flow over me I put up a shield and dropped my disguise leaving me in my original form. I made my body grow the extra armor that captain level changelings knew how to do and waited for the flames to die down. During this time I unbounded my wings so that I would be able to properly fight. When the dragon finally stopped his onslaught of flames there was a gasp from the entire crowd a mix of shock and fear on their faces. I hissed at them all and flew straight into the brown dragon the force of my blow to caused him to wheeze and a couple of his scales to crack. I threw him down onto the platform below and flew higher to do a drop charge. A drop charge is when changelings use a mix of magic and flight to literally dive bomb an enemy. Some changelings did it at the royal wedding causing much destruction. When I figured I was high enough I began my descent the brown dragon hadn't completely hit the ground yet so this would make him feel pain like no other. The initial blow to his body caused him to cough up blood as well as some more scales falling off and bones cracking. I wasn't through with him yet his body then collided with the platform causing the rock underneath him to crack as well as him tumbling into the lava below. The platform decided it had taken enough abuse and fell along with him into the lava he didn't come back up so I assumed he was incinerated. "Would anyone else like to fight most heads shook no while others mostly from younger dragons just glared at me. Maybe that was there friend I don't really know it wouldn't matter much now. "Alright I'll be taking my leave then" I informed them as I flew into a cave but something in my subconscious told me that I had to stop them from doing something like this again. The only way to do that though would be to destroy their home but I don't have enough power to... Wait I have an idea, if I charged up enough power I could cause the lava to erupt leaving them homeless. That kind of power would drain me close to empty though but if I used the power of the necklace my queen gave me I may just be able to do it. I decided to do it after all when is the next time I can get revenge on something without all the fuss it will bring. I began to charge up the necessary spell as I channeled most of my power into my horn as well as the power from the necklace. In a matter of a couple of minutes the spell was completely charged and ready to be used. I peered back over into the coliseum and saw some dragons rebuilding but I saw a familiar red dragon flying near the lava as if waiting for something. There was some bubbling near the surface of the lava and finally a face came out. When the lava receded from his face I saw that it was the dragon I had fought before. It appears dragons don't sustain damage in lava, interesting discovery I've got here but I bet there home isn't lava proof. I shot the spell into the lava pool when no one was looking and ran for my life. They may not be affected by lava but I certainly am. I managed to just reach the outside when I heard a big boom and the sound of lava rushing through the caverns. 'Say goodbye to your precious gems' I thought as I flew out of the cave. It was a small eruption considering the lava barely made it out of the mountain, that's good though there's forest all around it I'd be a shame if the forest caught on fire. Although my goal was reached many dragons filled the sky as they fled from their home. They won't be causing anyone trouble for a while at least. With that done I continued to walk to LosPegasus. After about 30 minutes of traveling the effects of the spell finally took a hold of me. My body was getting progressively weaker at one point I was flying and now I'm walking by hoof very slowly I might add. I didn't think I would be this weak I just thought I wouldn't be able to fly for a while. Maybe I got too used to having constant love poured into me by the cutie mark crusaders. I felt myself fall to the ground I was now very tired nothing wanted to move anymore. Off in the distance I could hear a whistle it was faint but it was still there. I listened to it as my body succumbed to tiredness. The four earth pony's who hauled the train from station to station stopped when they saw a small filly collapsed on the ground. They slowed themselves down to stop near the filly's position. They each removed their harnesses and approached her “hey, are you ok" one of them asked her as he shook her body with his hoof. There was no response from her so one of them placed her on his back and opened the passenger coach to drop her off. When the conductor asked why they had stopped they motioned to the filly and returned to pulling the train. The intercom buzzed as the conductor tried to talk through the speakers "sorry for the delay folks we will be arriving in LosPegasus right on time as scheduled so don't worry". When my body finally decided to bring itself back from the clutches of tiredness I was able to open my eyes again. I yawned taking notice of how my yawning sounded it wasn't my normal voice let alone a male's voice. When I looked at my body it seemed I took the form of a foal also I'm in a bed, I'm certain I wasn't in one last I recall. "You've seem to have awakened little one" a nurse said as she trotted into my room “you gave us all quite a scare." I have no idea what she's talking about but I'm sure she will explain. "A couple of train pony's found you unconscious and brought you here do you remember how you ended up their?" Of course I know how I ended up their... I think but I haven’t come up with a cover story for this filly yet so I shook my head no. “Do you have any parents that live here in LosPegasus?" I shook my head no and she nervously walked around the room reading a clipboard. She then left the room and not wanting to stay here any longer, as well as find Purple I opened the window changed into my older looking version of my Pegasus form and flew out. LosPegasus was a much more glamorous place than VanHoover, it was much more developed and I would even go as far as to say that it rivaled Canterlot. I landed on a cloud and contacted Purple he unlike Green actually answered me. "My liege is that you?" "Yes purple it is." "Simply fabulous if you’re in LosPegasus come to Sapphire Shores penthouse I'm currently disguised as her and the guards should let you through they'll scan you to see if you’re a changeling." After a bit of searching I was able to find Sapphire Shores penthouse, it was much bigger than Diamond’s manor and it seemed to be filled with changelings. The front was guarded by unicorn royal guards but the inside was simply a hangout for changelings. I should be glad that they found a hangout spot for our kind but to the point of not being in some form of disguise that's just asking for trouble. When I undisguised myself and some noticed who I was they bowed others didn't pay attention at all and continued to do what they were doing. I assumed that Purple would be at the top floor so I took an elevator all the way to the 30th floor. When the door opened I was met by purple trying on a dress in a pony disguise I haven't seen before. "My lord it’s so good of you to join us in the LosPegasus faction of the hive." "Purple I want you to explain this to me why would you choose a form that isn't a pegasus or unicorn and why is our kind just lazing about when they should be out there collecting love for themselves?" "Sir please you’re looking at this all in the wrong way I mean just look at yourself." I looked at myself and saw that the strap that held Scootaloo's goggles to my face had a tear in it and the cape Sweetie Bell gave me was torn in places and burnt in others. "You simply must relax for a while for all we know you’re really stressed out and haven't taken a much needed break from leadership." He is right, in some ways I haven't had a break in a good while. "Ok Purple I'll take you up on your offer." "Splendid, now choose a suitable disguise to walk around in." I transformed into my usual pegasus form and allowed, Purple to lead me out and into the city. We only walked a couple of blocks to arrive at a spa. I was thankful that Purple had chosen a famous disguise because it allowed Purple to get extra perks like only having to pay 2 bits for both of our full treatments. The treatment did wonders on my body, I felt like I was finally able to relax. Apparently the feeling of relaxation was so powerful that I fell asleep sometime during the middle of the treatment. I was awakened by Purple as he tried to get us both out of there before paparazzi showed up. One of the backlashes of being famous is to keep up an image, and although Purple knew how to handle it well it's a hassle to explain what the famous Sapphire Shores was doing with a pegasus no one has heard of. Once we returned to the penthouse Purple gave me a status report on the up and comings of what's been going on. From what he said they haven't found any trace of our queen but he and his faction has had a great time of blending in to the population. I was going to leave early seeing as how Purple was a lot better off in his duties then Green but he insisted that I spend the night at the casino.