They send me back to Saddle Arabia the next day. The Princesses, still in Equestria, gave me saddlebags to help with the job. For this attempt, I use the appearance of a unicorn resembling Shining Armor.
Jabhir has left Maredina, that I know. I overheard a few ponies say he was going southwest to a small town. I would bet my horn and wings that it’s where the Equestrian allies that helped me get back to Equestria are. My magic is far too weak to teleport me there. I manage to convince some traveling merchants to give me a ride there in their caravan.
I buy a small trinket from them. It’s an elephant with a small green jewel on its forehead. They tell me the jewel is an emerald. “It’s for a friend.” I tell them. I plan on giving it to Shooting Star’s widowed marefriend in his name. What was her name? Rainbow Dash, or something like that. I put the elephant in the saddlebags. I don’t want it to get harmed. It’s the least I could do to honor Shooting Star. Besides, it would make that mare happy.
I’d like to say the delivery will be to use some of her happiness… But I actually care about what she feels, and I haven’t even met her. I think killing all those ponies made me more like them.
Now that I think about it even more, I prefer being more like a pony rather than a changeling. Changeling laws were very strict and the punishments were harsh. Several law abiding changelings were executed for reasons along the lines of “so the others will know we’re serious.” At least, that’s what I’ve heard. I like to think it’s just a rumor. I’ve never met any changeling that was executed, law abiding or not. I know execution is, or at least was, still around. I doubt the law has changed since I was captured.
When I was captured, I wanted to kill everypony I saw. Now, I only want to kill one. I will make sure that happens. I have been a soldier most of my life, but that doesn’t mean I like to kill.
The caravan comes to a halt. I step out and pay the merchants thrice that of what the trinket cost. It wasn’t exactly inexpensive, either. “The roads are dangerous. Watch out for bandits.” I tell them. They appreciate it. Once again, it’s not exactly love, but it feels good.
I turn towards the town. It doesn’t have a sign saying what it’s called. The town has no more than ten buildings. It’s a good place to hide.
But it’s not good enough. I know Toma Jabhir is in here. It’s small enough that I don’t need a lot of time to find where exactly he is. If he tries to leave, I’ll be able to follow him. With several allies here, that task will be even easier.
Princess Luna gave me the address of where the allies are. I go to the address and knock three times on the door.
It opens, revealing a dark brown earth pony with a golden mane. “Spy?” He asks in Equestrian, but with a thick Arabian accent.I can tell Equestrian isn’t his first language.
I nod. The earth pony pulls me into the small hut. There are two other ponies in here. One pegasus and one unicorn. Both are stallions “You can drop your facade. We are allies to your cause.” The earth pony says.
He moves to his friends. They’re all around a table with several weapons on it. A few knives. A spear. Some things I’ve never seen before. The ones I don’t recognize are like small metal boxes bent into 90 degree angles. “What are these?” I point to the boxes.
“A new technology. A prototype.” A unicorn says. This one has an Equestrian accent. “They send bits of metal at high speeds towards a target. They move fast enough to break bone.”
“Damn.” I say. “A little overkill, don’t you think?”
The unicorn smiles smugly. “There’s no kill like overkill.”
I narrow my eyes at him. He stops laughing. “I’ll stick to a knife.” I pick one up with my magic. I unsheath the blade.
“Ah. That’s a good one. It’s made of damascus steel.” He says.
“What’s damascus?”
“It’s the strongest kind of steel we have. It’ll outlast you, changeling. It could even outlast Celestia and Luna.” He says, admiring the blade.
I get a close look at it. It has many small ridges in it and reminds me of the grain on wood. I turn it to look at the blade. It looks sharp. I bring it to my foreleg.
“Don’t.” The earth pony warns. “Sharper than it looks. It can cut bone without even trying.”
“Then I’ll take it.” I say. I sheath it. “How much does it cost?”
“On the house.” The earth pony says. “Use it to take off Jabhir’s head.” The hatred is almost enough for me to return to my original form. I manage to hold onto it.
“And before you go, changeling,” the pegasus says, “we know where he is.”
“Take me there.” I say. They all smile. I can’t exactly identify what emotion they’re feeling. It’s positive.
The four of us head out for Jabhir’s stronghold. By then, I’ve dropped my form. They tell me they knew of it since he made it to this small town. They wanted me to get the kill, though. Those bastards.
Jabhir’s stronghold has several guards on the outside. Seven by the pegasus’ count. Five by the unicorn’s. Eight by mine. I’m guessing that he had more in Maredina, but had to leave quickly and couldn’t bring as many guards with him.
Based on how most of the guards are in plain sight, I can tell he’s the kind of stallion that doesn’t care if ponies know where he is. I can tell he wants them to know his location, but too scared to do anything about it. Bad news, Jabhir. There are three ponies and a changeling that aren’t scared of you. Guards won’t be able to save you. You don’t know us, but you’re about to. And not for very long.
"Is everypony ready to kill?" The pegasus asks.
"Ready to kill. Ready to die." The earth pony responds.
“Don’t worry. We got you home once, changeling. We’ll do it again.” Oh. These were the ponies that helped me out the first time. Why didn't I realize that? The unicorn says, running towards the next building close where Jabhir is. He’s quiet enough to not attract any attention. The rest of us follow him. The guards don’t see us. “Are these idiots blind?” The unicorn asks when we catch up.
“Probably not.” The pegasus says.
“That was a rhetorical question.”
“What’s rhetorical?”
“Both of you, shut up.” The earth pony orders with a harsh tone. “You will get us captured. I don’t want to go home in a body bag.”
The pegasus and unicorn stop talking. The unicorn peers inside. “There’s a guard in there.” He whispers. “Changeling, give me your knife.” He orders. I give it to him.
“What are you doing?” The pegasus asks.
“Culling Jabhir’s herd.” He says. He rushes in. A few seconds later, he comes back out with a fresh blood stain on his face. “Clear.” He says and returns my knife.
The earth pony, pegasus, and I follow him. The guard has a fresh wound in the back of his head. One of his legs is twitching slightly. “Damn.” The pegasus says.
“Like I said. It’s a good knife.” The unicorn says. “It’ll outlast you.”
“Can I use it?” The pegasus asks, looking in my direction. I nod and give it to him. “Thanks, changeling.” He says, then takes the blade in his mouth. “I’ll go in firsth.” His voice is muffled.
He walks in deeper into the building. The three of us follow him. It should probably be the unicorn that’s in front and carrying the blade, because unicorns have faster reflexes. Magic and a blade is a deadly combination.
The pegasus moves into the stronghold. He moves slowly to keep his steps silent. The unicorn, earth pony, and I follow him up a flight of stairs. "Wait." The unicorn whispers. "There's a guard at the top."
"I'll take him out." The pegasus whispers back in response. He walks up the flight of stairs that can be seen through, due to several small holes in the stairs. He sneaks up to the guard and shoves the blade into his neck. The guard falls. I see the pegasus looking up from the corpse. "Oh, shit." The pegasus mutters. He runs back down the stairs, having no regard for his volume. Five guards follow him.
One of the guards looks down. "He's not alone!" She shouts to the other guards. Two of them follow the pegasus and the other three stay.
The guards rush for the pegasus, who sprints out of a door at the top of the staircase. The unicorn sprints up the stairs, skipping three at a time. He sends a blast of magic at one of the guards. The guard is thrown back into a wall.
The earth pony sprints up the stairs. I follow him. Another guard is hit with a beam of aura, this time being sent down the stairs. We barely dodge his flailing body. The guard lands with a sickening crunch. I turn to the guard, only to see a large blood stain on the wall and a body with a neck bent at an unnatural angle.
The unicorn notices and just stares at the body. He's pushed down the stairs by the last guard. I manage to catch him with my magic before he lands. I set him down gently. "Thank you. ch--" He says to me. He stops before saying what I'm assuming to be 'changeling.' "I owe you my life."
I shake my head. "Talk later!" The earth pony shouts at us, interrupting the unicorn before he can object. The final guard now has a small knife hilt sticking out of his rib cage. The earth pony pulls the blade out with his mouth. He gestures for us to follow him. We do, going down the corridor the pegasus and guards took.