The changelings considered the destruction of the pony outpost a huge victory. The soldiers had some trouble, but managed to move the corpses of the gryphons around in order to make it look like they were the ones that killed the ponies. Their plan was to stir an all-out war between ponies and gryphons, distracting two major powers as the changelings came in to eat.
They wondered why Celestia hadn’t charged against the gryphons, or even the gryphons onto the ponies, the only explanation they could think of was that both kingdoms wanted to plan their assault, a false move could make their armies go into disarray and cost them the war. There will come a moment when neither Celestia nor Icarus will accept more attacks ‘from each other’.
However, not everyone had a cheering mood, for some it was a moment of sorrow. Several changelings gathered around in a graveyard to burry another brave soldier who died in the front line.
There were many soldiers, Raizel’s brothers-in-arms, who wanted to pay him a last homage, alongside with Raizel’s family and friends.
Even the Queen was there, even though she never really talked much with Raizel, she wanted to be there to support and comfort her best friend, her daughter and Spike as well.
The baby dragon barely slept ever since the incident. He blamed himself for not being faster and for not staying by Raizel’s side when he lured that unicorn. He cried a lot as he begged for forgiveness to both Hecate and Bella Noche.
The two assured Spike that it wasn’t his fault. Mother and daughter held no grudge towards the dragon, in fact they were thankful that he was the first to try to help and save Raizel. Both Spike and Bella Noche had been ordered to not go with Raizel. But this didn’t make the little drake feel any better.
The baby dragon had spoken many times with Bella Noche’s brother and he grew too really like him. The dragon listened in awe about the adventures the older changeling had during the campaigns and it made him sure that he should join the army to help the changelings.
Hecate, however, felt even more determined to prevent her daughter from ever joining the army. She felt devastated once when her husband died and now her son. She held Bella Noche between her forelegs with tears streaming from their eyes as they watched the ceremony started.
The coffin was lying on the side of a hole on the ground. Over it there was a green flag with three circles in the middle circumscribing one another. The outer one was black, the middle one was red and the inner one was blue. Over the flag there was a crown made of red flowers. On the sides, there were many soldiers gathered bearing solemn expressions.
That wasn’t the first military burial Hecate had attended to and it only brought up many more painful memories. The changeling closed her eyes but then she felt a gentle hoof on her back. She opened her eyes and saw Chrysalis comforting her.
The Queen didn’t know how exactly her friend felt. But she had a quite a good idea how horrible it must be. The mere thought of losing Spike sent a cold shiver through her spine and she even had to admit to having nightmares about it as soon as she had heard the news.
She too had thoughts about withdrawing Spike from the military altogether, but then she remembered about the reason why her people even accepted Spike among them in first place. She didn’t want to have to choose between her own child and the peace in her kingdom.
She looked down at her son, who was being held by his mother in a similar way as Bella Noche was. He couldn’t even raise his stare from the ground. She knew that he was bound to see the death of his friends in a battlefield and she tried to formulate many different talks to have with him to cheer him up. But words failed her. All she could do was to assure him that none of it was his fault. It pained her to see her child and friends filled with so much sorrow.
Chrysalis was a higher kind of changeling. She had lived for many centuries and she had seen many friends die, whether by old age, disease or even in battles. But every time felt like a jab to her.
‘I guess there are things you never get used to…’ she wondered.
Everyone’s thoughts were broken when Nocturne moved to stand in front of the coffin as he began his speech: “Today we are reunited to say goodbye to a brave soldier, Raizel. While he was young, he was an exemplary soldier. He always cared for his brothers-in-arms and helped us in many battles…”
As the speech went on, there were some in the crowd that made several murmurs on the matter.
“I heard that he died during a fierce battle, like a true hero.”
“Really? My brother served in the same unit. He told me that he died because he was stupid enough to release his disguise before killing the pony.”
“If that’s true then he kinda deserv-”
“Be quiet! He was the son of the Queen’s best friend. She can have you killed or thrown into jail for saying that.”
“You’re right…But you have to admit that it was a very idiotic mistake.”
“True. But don’t say that in public!”
“By the way, did you guys hear that the Prince actually killed the pony that killed Raizel?”
“Yeah. I guess, we now are sure that having a dragon on our side was an amazing idea.”
“Once he grows up, Equestria will fall. It’s a good thing Queen Chrysalis trained him well.”
“I still think that the dragon shouldn’t address our Queen as ‘mother’. It’s weird.”
“Not really. Being fully accepted and well raised by changelings will open the doors for a dragon-changeling alliance. I can’t believe that there are still changelings who dislike the Prince. He hasn’t done anything bad, quite the opposite actually.”
“I’m not saying I don’t like him. I just think that the Queen should have a changeling child and maybe marry another from the same species. It’s a bite bizarre.”
“You are crazy. I wouldn’t wish for another Prince. He behaves better than many changelings I’ve seen. He had never even tried to use his status to mock us.”
“True. I’ve seen plenty changelings using their position to get advantages. At least, so far he didn’t.”
“Agreed.”
These conversations didn’t manage to reach Chrysalis, Hecate, Spike or Bella Noche, who were all paying attention to Nocturne’s words.
“…And that’s why we salute you, Raizel for your service and dedication to make our kind prosper. You mean rest in peace and be reunited with your ancestors.” As the general finished, all soldiers gave a collective salute.
Another changeling levitated the coffin and slowly placed it inside of the hole. As soon as he finished it, the same changeling started to use his magic to throw dirt back to the hole, covering the coffin.
Raizel’s grave was right next to his father’s. Spike looked at both of them with sadness in his eyes as he read Raizel’s tombstone.
HERE LIES RAIZEL.
BRAVE SOLDIER
BELOVED SON AND BROTHER
Friends and fellow soldiers came one by one to pay their last respects to Raizel before going back to their homes.
Nocturne came once more to Hecate to tell her and Bella Noche that he was very sorry that his strategy had failed and the worst had happened.
“It tears me apart that I lost my child…” as she said, she hugged Bella Noche tighter “But I know that it wasn’t your fault, General. It was noling’s fault. It was a pony who killed him. I know he was very brave. He was always like this ever since he was a small kid. But I…”
She closed her eyes tightly as more tears came out “I wish I had stopped him from joining the army. Had I been stronger, I wouldn’t have let him…”
Nocturne just looked at her softly and replied: “I know you are in pain, madam, but please understand that he wanted to become a soldier. He was an adult. I know these words may hurt you, but he did play many important roles during this war and we could have lost many times without him. I can’t say I feel your pain. I’m a parent myself and I hate to think what I would do if either of them died. We try to make sure all soldiers come back home safely, but, unfortunately, we do have some casualties.”
He gave a short pause as Hecate opened her eyes to look directly at the general. He then continued: “But one thing I’m sure of. I don’t think your son had any regret in assisting our Kingdom. He always raised our troop’s morale during long campaigns and looked after your daughter and Prince Spike all the time they were with us. I wish he were still alive to receive the bravery and duty medals. By your wish, we didn’t bury them with your son. So, please come to the army stronghold in order for us to …”
Hecate then shook her head and replied “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, general. I really do. But I don’t think I can handle the formalities of another ceremony like the one I went to when my husband died. It’s just too painful for me…”
Nocturne nodded “I understand. I’ll be sending the medals in a case for you as soon as I can then.”
“Thank you.” was all Hecate said.
Nocturne gave her a respectful bow with his head and said “Once more, I’m sorry this happened, madam.” He then turned to his Queen, bowed to her and then excused himself to attend other matters.
Chrysalis opened her mouth to ask if she was alright, but then closed it. ‘Of course she isn’t alright. What a dumb question…’
“If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate in asking.” She decided to say instead.
Hecate weakly nodded as Bella Noche slowly walked from her mother’s embrace towards the young drake.
Chrysalis let go of Spike just so he could approach her too. The dragon had puffy eyes just like the young changeling. They stared at each other for a few second until Bella Noche suddenly embraced Spike, who returned the gesture.
“I miss my brother…” she whimpered softly.
“He was a great guy…” he stated feeling even worse for using the past tense.
Spike was about to apologize once more, when Bella Noche, somehow sensed it and hugged him tighter. “Don’t blame yourself. Please. There was nothing we could do. I don’t like seeing you like this either. I don’t want to lose anyling anymore.”
Spike closed his eyes and clenched his teeth and thought determined: ‘I promise you. I’ll do everything I can to make all the bad ponies and gryphons pay for the horrible things they had done. I’ll put an end to this.’
Shining armor groaned as he turned his face to the sides almost violently as his dreams were plagued by the memories of what had happened din his outpost. It replayed the moment of the black creature attacking him many times. But it varied. Because one time, in his nightmares, he was not killing a unknown creature, but his friend.
“Why, Shining?” ‘Damp Rock’ asked him as he was pierced on the chest by Shining armor’s attack.
The horror in the Second Lieutenant’s face was enough to force him to wake himself up. The unicorn suddenly opened his eyes and sat on the bed. He was panting hard and his body was drenched in sweat.
But he soon regretted it because the sudden movement made his left side ache. He realized he had some bandages and under them, he felt like something had burned his skin.
It took a while until he realized he was at somepony’s home. He looked around and tried to get out of the bed. He soon regretted it because he then felt his muscles were a bit sore. He wondered if it was because of the impact of because he probably spent a long time without exercising.
He opened the door of the rom he was and he found himself in a living room where a couple of earth ponies were eating breakfast.
The stallion then said with a smile “You’re awake! Thank Celestia! You’ve been sleeping for ten days now.”
The unicorn flinched surprised and shouted “TEN DAYS?”
“Honey, don’t scare him like that. Please sit down. I’ll prepare something for you. Do you like daisy sandwich?” replied the female one.
While Shining armor wanted to run as fast as he could back to Canterlot, his stomach grumbled. He blushed a little for the indiscretion and then replied “I like it. Thank you ma’am.”
Shining moved and sat on a spare chair by the table. He then turned to the stallion and asked “What is your name? Mine is Shining Armor, Second Lieutenant of the Equestrian Army. Does this town have fast couriers? I need to deliver a very important message to Princess Celestia immediately.”
The earth pony blinked a few times and said “My name is Earth Explorer and my wife if Lilly Garden. This is a small town called New Hope, but we do have some pegasi that deliver letters and packages across the region, but Canterlot is quite far from here.”
Shining was distressed by this news. He did hear that some new settlers were building new towns across the kingdom, but he had no idea where he was geographically, but knowing that he was far from his objective made him even more worried.
His thoughts were interrupted when Lilly brought him a plate in her mouth and gently dropped it on the table in front of him. “What happened, exactly? We kinda figured it out you were from the army because of your armor, which is stored in our closet, by the way.”
“I worked at the outpost on the border between our kingdom and the gryphon’s when we were…attacked.”
The earth pony couple’s eyes went wide. Earth explorer then questioned “You worked there? You’re lucky to be alive! Those damn gryphons are growing bolder. I can’t believe Princess Celestia hadn’t authorized an attack to them yet.”
“Gryphons?” Shining Armor found himself questioning out loud.
The other colt blinked a few times thinking that the soldier probably had a short memory loss because of the impact and for almost drowning. Then he replied “Yes. It was over all the newspapers. About how several gryphon corpses were found after battling with you guys. The army stipulates that it was the work of about a few hundreds gryphons. But with your testimony, Princess Celestia will surely not ignore the threat anymore.”
The unicorn quickly shook his head and said “Why are you saying that the gryphons did it? There were only twenty of them they were all slaughtered when I found them in the place where they were sleeping. Plus, they were all merchants and had no weapons. All the gear had been searched.”
Shining sighed heavily and explained what he saw at the outpost. About how he found the gryphons, but leaving out that a soldier most likely did it. He wasn’t even sure if that was really a fellow soldier. Then he told them how suddenly pretty much every soldier suddenly disappeared and about the strange creature that changed places with his friend out of nowhere.
The couple was confused, scared and somewhat skeptical. “A pony looking insect that had both horns and wings?” Lilly found herself repeating those words. “Are you sure you are well?”
Shining then bellowed “Of course I’m not. But I know what I saw. Somehow that thing managed to pretend to be my friend and then a foal came to me charging and then became some kind of ball of fire and then hit me on the side, which knocked me into the river.”
Lilly frowned believing that the stress was just playing tricks to the soldier’s mind, but before she could voice it, her husband said “A ball of fire tackled you?”
Earth Explorer looked at the wound on the unicorn’s side and remembered that not only it was quite burnt, but also had a big hematoma as well. “I guess there is some truth in that. But if you’re right, what was that creature you saw?”
Lilly also remembered about the burnt wound the unicorn had and started to question if what she had heard might be true as well.
Shining had no idea and he said so to them. But then he said “Even if the pegasi here aren’t that fast, I need to send a letter immediately anyway. The gryphons were not responsible for the attack and I can’t let the princess to wage war because of it.”
“I understand what you mean, but what if your memories are indeed damaged? Don’t get me wrong, some of the things you said make sense, but think. What if that creature you were fighting actually worked for Icarus? Maybe they were ready to kill their own kind just to drop our guards.”
The soldier stopped himself and had to admit that this was a plausible explanation, but he had no way to confirm if the creature was allied with the gryphons or not.
“I’ll send a letter anyway. Even if my hunch is wrong, at least I’ll make sure to let my family know I’m still alive. As soon as I recover some more, I’ll go straight to Canterlot to talk to the Princess. I believe she’ll know what to do with this knowledge.”
Shining then levitated his sandwich and gave it a bite determined to gain his strengths back.