//------------------------------// // A Jolly Good Family Vacation // Story: Plan B // by Dropbear //------------------------------// “Nrgh, I will… have my revenge.” Muttering to herself as she woke up, the remnants of the dream still playing in her mind, Chrysalis stretched out her forelegs and moved her head deeper into soft, warm object it was resting against. “Good Morning,” a voice tinged with irritation greeted. “Sleep well?” Recognising the voice of Chalmers, Chrysalis snorted. “No, sleep is not something I enjoy. Now either leave your Queen alone to rest or provide her with breakfast, I demand it.” “Well, I’d love to Your Majesty, but I am currently tied to your bed and you are occupying my left armpit. When adding in the horn that is dangerously close to poking out my eye, and your snoring, it doesn’t exactly lead to one love-filled breakfast buffet.” ‘Why, the nerve!’ Raising her head with a frown, she glared at him but paused when she realised that he was telling the truth. Well, apart from one complaint. “I do not snore.” Her horn stopped glowing and Nigel’s magical binds were released. Immediately he sat up and began scratching his foot madly. “I am far too refined for that.” “Right, I’m sure you are.” Chrysalis narrowed her eyes, although he paid no attention to her until he was finished. Then, he looked up at her before readjusting his towel. Sighing, Chrysalis figured that she had known what it’d be like having him back. “So, this trip with the bat-pony ambassadors, I don’t believe it to be a good idea.” Her subject change was, unfortunately, a bad choice. “In fact, it’s stupid.” “Yeah, I know it is Chrissy.” The admission took her by surprise, but when he laid back down on the bed and put an arm around the back of her neck she really got confused. She had expected him to get mad, or at the very least toss a jab back instead of just agreeing with her. “But it can’t really do any harm, can it? It’ll be like a re-learning trip, connecting back the family while possibly helping you repair the rift between you and the rest of the planet.” “Except for Equestria,” she muttered. “I’ll tear that rift wide open so that nothing will be left!” He patted her chest. ”Of course, and when you’re on the throne then we can form one big, giant, super country.” “It will be the most powerful on the planet,” Chrysalis nodded, her anger fading while a maniacal grin took its place. “A true beacon of changeling might. And I, Queen Chrysalis, will be ruler of it all.” The patting paused for a brief second, before Nigel coughed into a hand. “Well, let’s not get too hasty. We’ll make some allies this time, reliable ones, and then we can focus on getting you power over all.” Laughing at his plans, Chrysalis placed her foreleg over his chest and imagined the glorious day. ‘Ah, at least he’s finally returning to normal… for him, anyway.’ Smirking, she rolled over onto her stomach and gazed at him with lidded eyes. “Are you trying to seduce me with those honeyed words?” “Not at all,” he replied, sitting up and leaving the bed. “We have no time for that, I’m afraid. Remember, it is not just ourselves that we will be taking along to the bat-pony city.” Chrysalis gave him an unamused look at his rather tactless rejection of her idea of a morning snack, before her eyes widened when she realised who he meant to bring along. “About that, I’m unsure if you’ve forgotten about the behaviour of the last two nobles you met, but the changelings you see as the nymphs are far from our original ten in behaviour.” Her voice lowered. “Relative comfort has made them… upstarts.” Chalmers shrugged, moving over to a piece of polished chitin on the wall to examine his reflection. “Well, you of course can’t expect them to be the same, they are different after all.” ‘Different is too kind,’ she thought while grimacing. ‘He has no idea what he’s in for.’ “Well, do you have some kind of dining area?” Chalmers asked, changing the subject. “I could go for a spot of toast right now.” Chrysalis sat up in the bed, irritated that she didn’t exactly get the meal she had hoped for. “I’ll have to check the stores, and no we don’t have a dining room. The closest you’ll get to a proper sized table is my throne room.” “Very well.” Clapping his hands together, Nigel made to leave the room. “I’ll just go and fetch my clothes, I’ll meet you there.” Watching him walk out, Chrysalis sighed with a shake of her head before reluctantly leaving the bed. Trotting after him, she huffed and blew a stray strand of her mane out of her face. “Nigel, you’re just going to get lost again!” “Psst, what’s this about?” Sheen glanced over to Buzz at the question, yawning with a shrug. “Beats me. It probably has something to do with that biped guy though.” “Yo, like, I heard from some of the drones that he’s thinking about taking Big C out in some sort of, like, trip or something.” Sheen tried hard not to show his irritation at Keith’s manner of speaking. While everyone else had been born to a mix of classes, Keith's parents had both been infiltrators assigned to a far-off Equestrian city for a few years. As such, they had picked up and in turn given him the annoying manner of speaking that the ponies in that city had adopted. “It’s probably got to do with those bat-ponies they talked with,” Reflection added, her side still bandaged. While she glanced around at the soldiers who had brought them into the throne room, Sheen snuck a look at her wound with a pang of jealousy. The Reflection line had always been one of the Queen’s favourites, and that was surely only going to increase since the current changeling to bear the name had returned not just from the invasion with the Queen’s old flame, but with evidence of her ‘sacrifice’ for the hive as well. He’d only been stationed with the easy job of coordinating the aerial attack on the barrier, acting as more of an assistant to Commander Exo. He didn’t even step hoof inside the castle, or even see a single royal guard. Almost as if she could feel his eyes, Reflection looked back at him. He in turn diverted his eyes as if nothing had happened, a distraction thankfully trotting in to divert everyone’s attention. “What now?” The irritated voice of Cupid announced her arrival, Sheen frowning as his least-liked ‘sister’ entered through the main door. The two guards either side of her didn’t appear to be very happy, and neither was Holey who trailed them. “Is this about that stupid human again?” “You probably shouldn’t say things like that,” one of the soldiers advised Cupid with a whisper. “The Queen is very fond of him.” “Like I don’t know that already,” she retorted, joining the others in their group. Now that Cupid and her follower Holey had arrived, that completed the group of ten. “Do you know what I walked in on the other night? Those two… together in the bathing area.” “Really?” Chatter asked with a hushed voice. “They were screwing?” “Dude works fast,” Keith nodded with approval. “Well, no. But it’s still gross,” admitted Cupid, before she glared at Keith. “And it’s not a good thing.” Reflection snorted, Sheen taking a step back when she rolled her eyes. Cupid and Reflection were rarely on good terms, Cupid resenting Chrysalis the most out of all of them and that translated to a distaste of Reflection. “Right, like you and Holey didn’t go down there for the same thing. I saw you two with those drones when I left the medical area.” “That’s different, we’re all changelings.” “So?” Reflection glared. “He’s nice, and from what he told me he thinks Chrysalis is too. Why is it your business to dictate what they can’t do?” Cupid glared and took a step forwards. “Because I don’t want to see it, so if I’m there they can go somewhere else.” “And did they?” Cupid was silent, everyone glancing to Holey for an answer. “Uh… well after he made us all talk to each other, Chrysalis dragged him off to her room.” “See?” Reflection smiled. “They did listen.” She glanced around at all of them, returning to her spot in the circle. “Queen Chrysalis is not our enemy, and neither is he. You all don’t know anything about him apart from rumours and what Cupid’s told you, so just stop making stuff up and wait to meet him.” Sheen jerked back when Cupid uttered a low hiss. “Well, looks like someone thinks she’s a human expert just because he carried her home.” Reflection made to retort, but she stopped when someone approached from behind them. They all turned, the soldiers saluting when the Queen trotted in. Behind her followed the main object of their concern, the human wearing nothing but a towel and a scowl. “Just put your armour on,” Chrysalis sighed, talking to the human as they approached. “They probably just got picked up by the drones on cleaning duty and put away.” Sheen caught sight of Cupid grinning, causing him to raise an eye. “I can’t ‘just put’ my armour on, it’ll chafe.” Chrysalis smirked before leaning up, whispering into his ear. The human rolled his eyes and sighed. “No, Chrysalis, I will not just walk around naked to fit in better. You just want to look at my… hey everyone.” Noticing them all, he didn’t finish his sentence and instead greeted them with a wave of his hand. “Smooth,” Chrysalis muttered with a smile, before her face hardened when she looked at them. “Nobles. How are you all this morning?” They answered with standard replies, except for Cupid. “Tired and annoyed,” the troublemaker answered. “Please tell me that you’re not just here to show off your sex toy?” The soldiers around the room froze, Chrysalis going a light shade of green. *Crack* Cupid flinched back as a black towel stuck her on the muzzle, Sheen wincing while he watched her raise a hoof up to rub her snout. It had looked hard enough to certainly sting, but not hard enough to leave a mark. “No, bad changeling,” the human told her with a waggle of his finger as he readjusted the towel around his waist. Sheen made a note to not insult Chrysalis while the human was around, he hadn’t even seen the towel come off it was that fast of a strike. “You… you…” Cupid rubbed her snout, glaring at him. The other had backed away from both, Chrysalis smirking at Cupid. “You stupid- “Nigel,” Chrysalis interrupted, the human making to take the towel off again at her command. Cupid quickly stopped her sentence, Chrysalis looking around at all of them. “Good. Now, will anyone else like to disrespect me while we’re all here?” There was silence. “Well then, we can move on,” Nigel continued for her, placing a hand on his chest. “As you all probably know, my name is Nigel M Chalmers, but you can all just call me Nigel. As Cupid as so tastefully pointed out,” a glance was sent towards the mentioned female, Cupid glaring back but holding her tongue. “Myself and Chrysalis are currently trying to restart our old routine.” “Except this time we’ll expand it,” Chrysalis muttered, mainly to Nigel. “If you get the hint.” “Hey, you were the one who fell asleep last night.” “It was your fault for that scratching, you tricked me.” “I did not ‘trick’ you, you tried to play a game and instead of getting some you fell asleep on me.” “Lies, if that is true then why did you not fulfil your duties this morning?” “’Fulfil my duties’? I have plenty of duties, and banging a Queen on demand is not one of them. Furthermore-“ Sheen gulped and raised a hoof. “Excuse me?” He received the attention of the arguing pair, Chrysalis narrowing her eyes at him. “I thought there was something important to tell us?” He rapidly followed it up when Chrysalis began to reply. “I mean, not that your conversation isn’t, but we do all have certain commitments-“ “Hardly,” Chrysalis snorted, before giving him a displeased look. “Unless by ‘commitments’ you mean that drone you’ve been seeing, despite my orders.” Sheen had to hold back a sharp reply, Chrysalis hitting it spot on. He generally thought himself one of the better nobles, keeping his mouth shut about the Queen and not sleazing around the hive bossing around lower classes. However, his infatuation with a certain drone was still a sore point between him and Chrysalis, the Queen having told him to find a nice high-up soldier or scholar instead. A noble was meant to use drones for one-off occasions, not see one repeatedly and ignore all others. “Not now Chrissy,” Nigel whispered, thankfully distracting Chrysalis and advoiding an unwanted confrontation. “Fine.” The Queen looked back at them. “We’re here to inform you that I and Nigel are going to be departing with the bat-pony diplomats back to their Capitol for negotiations.” That caught Sheen’s attention, the Queen notorious for her dislike of other races and her unwillingness to deal with them. The way Chrysalis said it with some distaste led him to believe that she hadn’t been the one to suggest the idea. “Negotiate with what?” Swissy inquired with a tilt of her head. “The bat-ponies work for Equestria after all.” “We have a large store of gems and gold,” Chrysalis reminded. “And silver, which they apparently adore. However, this trip will not be trading, it is for… establishing better relations.” The Queen acted like the words were bitter to say, Nigel stepping up. “Indeed, for the more friends we have, the less enemies will challenge us in our plans.” ‘Plans?’ Sheen wondered with apprehension. ‘Given what I know of him, that doesn’t sound good…’ “With us away, Commander Exo and his officers will be in charge.” Chrysalis had just finished speaking when Cupid leaned forward growling. “What? We’re the nobles, so we should be in charge!” Sheen couldn’t help but agree, he himself about to support Cupid despite his dislike of her. However, the smile from Nigel stopped him, the human stepping forward. ‘Hang on, something’s up.’ “There is a reason Chrysalis is putting your military commanders in charge instead of you,” explained Nigel with a firm look towards Cupid. “Actually, there are many reasons, but this one is the key. You see, you’re not going to be in charge because all ten of you are going to be … going with us!” He waved his hands with a grin, a stunned silence meeting his announcement. “It was his idea,” Chrysalis grumbled. “Hey, it’s a good one,” defended Nigel. “Everyone gets out of the hive for a few weeks, you all get to know me, I get to catch up with all of you, we get to meet more bat-ponies…” Nigel trailed off, Chrysalis nudging him in the leg. “Uh… forge bonds of understanding with another race?” Chrysalis gave Nigel flat look. “You better not go ‘forging bonds’ with any bat-ponies, or I swear-“ “Whoa, settle down!” Chrysalis frowned when a hand was placed on her head. “Relax, I wasn’t thinking like that at all. I just find them adorable.” The stare remained, until Chrysalis finally let up. “Fine, but just remember what you said.” “I will,” Nigel reassured before focusing back on them. “So, yeah, you’re all coming on a family trip. Once we get to this city, I want you all to behave and be respectful.” “Hold on, there’s a few things wrong with that.” Sheen spoke up again, Mirror adding her voice before he could continue. “Yeah, like why are we even bothering? The bat-ponies follow Princess Luna, and you don’t seem to realise that we attacked her.” “And we’ll need to drain ponies if we’re gone for that long, not to mention that we and the Queen are the highest ranking changelings in the hive. What happens if we get attacked or captured?” Nigel raised his hands. “Relax, we’ve got plans. I can protect us all, from what Chrysalis has told me then she’s no slouch in fighting either, you’ve all had some basic training, and we are going to be travelling with a bat-pony diplomatic party. If we turn up to their city and go ‘hey, your diplomats ran out of water in the desert so we helped them get back, care to talk some business while we’re here?’ then they’re not going to just tell us to bugger off.” ‘Well, I guess he’s kind of right on those points.’ Sheen cleared his throat, getting the attention again. “But that still doesn’t solve the issue of energy. I doubt the bat-ponies will look too kindly upon us grabbing passer-by’s for a snack, and feeding off of them won’t work as there’s too many of us. Plus, that would hardly convince them that we’re not a threat.” Chrysalis sighed, closing her eyes for a brief period. “We’re got a solution, but you’re not going to like it.” “What-“ “Hugs!” His question was cut off as Nigel lunged for him, Sheen’s eyes widening. He barely took a step back before the human was on him, Sheen finding himself lifted up into the air. He froze, arms going around him as he was hugged to bare human chest. What even made it more uncomfortable was the small trickle of affection that accompanied the action, however he still guiltily fed on it. Finally he was released, lowered back to the ground with a snicker from Chrysalis. “Ha, you should have seen the look on your face!” At least the Queen was amused, Sheen quickly retreating to hide behind Joy. His pseudo-siblings stared at him, Sheen lowering his head in embarrassment. Little did they know, the actual embrace had felt rather comforting, not that he’d ever admit it. “See?” Nigel chuckled with a glance towards Chrysalis. “I told you it’d be hilarious.” “It was,” she agreed with a fang-filled grin. “But remember not to make the same mistake you did with the nymphs.” “Urgh, don’t remind me.” The human rubbed his hands together with a glance to all of them. “Now… who’s next?” “Me!” Sheen looked up, surprised when Reflection eagerly trotted forwards. He watched while she sat on her rump and eagerly held out her forelegs, Nigel smiling and picking her up. “Someone’s eager for a hug,” he laughed, taking care to avoid her injury. Reflection put her forelegs over his shoulders and giggled when he embraced her. Cupid snorted and turned away, however Sheen noticed the others watching on intrigued. As soon as Reflection gave the human a friendly nuzzle, he set her back down much to her displeasure. “None of that, Chrysalis might get jealous.” Sheen focused on the Queen, Chrysalis rolling her eyes. “It was just a nuzzle, we changelings do that all the time.” “That’s right,” Reflection agreed, demonstrating by trotting over and giving Buzz a quick nuzzle. “Besides, you’re you. I’m not stupid enough to try and start something with you in front of Chrysalis.” “Well…” they looked at Chatter, who was currently wincing. “Technically, the Queen did say that he was just underneath her when it comes to power, so that does kind of mean that he can have consorts as long as they’re socially beneath him…” Reflection shuddered. “Ah… no thanks Chatter. I’m quite happy to just get the occasional hug and feeding.” “You know,” Nigel mumbled to himself. “Under different circumstances, I’d see that way of system as incredibly fun…” “You are correct, partially.” Shooting a warning look at Nigel for his comment, Chrysalis continued. “While Nigel would well within his rights to bed any one of you, he is not a changeling. So, therefore the normal rules don’t apply for him and if he tries it then he’s one dead human.” “Ha!” Nige exclaimed. “You are still mad about Platinum.” Chrysalis flushed a light green. “Of course I am, you slept with her instead of me.” “To be fair, you weren’t the one who got me drunk then pretty much twisted my arm for it,” he replied, before nodding. “Oh, that’s right, that was pretty much last night except you didn’t even have the politeness to get me tanked first.” At first Sheen was afraid that it would devolve into another fight considering the volatile subject matter, but thankfully Chrysalis seemed to believe it was all in humour. “You think that was twisting your arm?” she had a small smile and a evil look in her eyes. “That was just one plan out of many, you have yet to see my true powers.” “True powers?” Nigel scoffed, before winking towards them. “Let me show you a true power.” Chrysalis was taken by surprise, two arms grabbing her around the torso. The Queen was lifted up and embraced, Nigel making an exaggerated puffing sound. “Jeez, you’re heavier than I remember.” “Ha ha,” she stately flatly, shifting in the spot while trying to maintain an angry face. “You haven’t lost a bit of your wit.” “Ouch, so you want me to let you go then?” Chrysalis wrapped her hind legs around him, shaking her head. “No, I believe that you should be forced to carry me as payment for your previous crimes.” “Sap,” he murmured, Sheen sighing at how easily distracted the two were. “Excuse me, once again. Can we kind of… hurry it up a little?” An irritated stare was directed to him, Chrysalis rolling her eyes. “Fine. We’re going to the bat-pony city. Be at the front entrance in two hours or you’ll be assigned to scouting duty in desert for a whole month. That fast enough for you?” Sheen cursed under his breath and made for the exit while the others also scattered. It looked like the foolish plan was going ahead after all. “I can just tell that this trip will go terribly, terribly wrong.” “We could always… run away?” Beams shook her head at Bites’ suggestion, glancing up to the rising sun. “It’s too late, plus they had guards watching us the whole night. The best we can do is make it look like we’re diplomats, take them back to the city, then trap them and imprison them while we’re there. Then it’s just a matter of passing them over to Equestria and letting them deal with it.” “I doubt the city council will enjoy us bringing in two dangerous enemies,” Belfry added from her spot in the sand. She was keeping a watch on the intimidating castle, her short sword in her hooves. “Well, technically we were never at war with the changelings, and we never had even heard of this human until the Princess told us.” “Still,” Bites sighed. “I don’t think this is a good idea at all.” Belfry didn’t reply, but she found it hard to disagree. Unfortunately they had no other choice, they’d made their bluff and Queen Chrysalis had bought it. If they could keep up the charade, however, then the payoff was huge. “There’s also the problem that Princess Luna’s orders of ‘just watch them’ have pretty much been broken straight away,” chuckled Sweeps. “’Hey Princess, so remember that dangerous creature we were supposed to be watching? Yeah, well we thought that it’d be a good idea to bring it right into Nocturnia.’” Dream sniggered, Beams rolling her eyes at the two youngest members. “Hang on, we’ve got movement.” At Belfry’s call she looked towards the castle, a procession of changelings and the human leaving the entrance and heading over towards a group of soldiers. Wincing when the group was directed towards their position, Beams quickly ensured that her short sword was securely hidden under her cloak. “Show time everyone, grab your gear but leave the heavier weapons buried.” “But, but…” Bites began, glancing towards the spot where he had buried his giant crossbow. “What about-“ “No buts,” Beams cut him off. “Swords and knives we can explain away as personal defence, massive crossbows looking like they were made to kill armoured humans is a little tricker. Capturing the changeling Queen is worth more than a weapon, consider that an order.” Bites grumbled but didn’t move to dig it up, Beams hefting her pack onto her back before glancing at the others. They were all ready to go, tents packed hours before and weapons carefully sheathed. Their armour was to also remain under the sand; hopefully the Captain would overlook the loss of the equipment. All other concerns were pushed back when the group they were to escort crested the sand dune. Beams gave them a quick examination, judging the threat they presented. There were ten changelings and the Queen, none of them looking like they wanted to be there. Strangely they wore no armour aside from rough brown cloaks and bulging saddlebags, an oddity considering they were going into enemy territory. Beams noted the looks of contempt she received from them, but wasn’t surprised in the slightest. The Queen also stared at her with distaste, but it was noticeably softer than their first meeting. An eyebrow was raised when Chrysalis moved closer towards the human walking alongside her, Beams puzzled as to why the Queen was acting so… possessively. Chrysalis wore no cloak and no saddlebags, only the seemingly never-ending frown. And then, Beams gave the human an examination. ‘Wow.’ He was wearing a bulky black metal breastplate, armoured boots, and armguards over a lime-green dress. Looking closer, Beams could have sworn that it was almost like a bed sheet. Out of the entire group he was the only one that seemed to be in good spirits, a grin on his face as he waved at them. “Ah, bat-ponies! Good morning, are we all ready to leave?” “… We are,” Beams replied after a brief moment of hesitation. “You’re also bringing along…” “Ten of my finest nobles,” Chrysalis grumbled, before the human flicked one of her ears and earned himself a glare. “Ten of your treasured subjects,” he reminded her. “And my beloved descendants, none the less.” Ignoring the glares, Beams watched on as he pointed to each one. “That’s Sheen, Swissy, Holey, Buzz-“ “Yo, I’m Keith.” The human paused. “Sorry, that’s Keith, that’s Buzz, Cupid, Joy, Mirror, Chatter, and Reflection.” Only the last changeling nodded at the introduction, Beams catching a glimpse of a bandage underneath its robes. She had to admit that she was impressed at the human’s ability to remember all of the names and assign them, only getting one wrong. The changelings all looked the same to her. “Uh, pleased to meet you?” she returned before gesturing to her own party. “That’s Bites, Belfry, Sweeps, Dream, and I’m Beams. We’re all diplomats and we’re-“ “Going to drag us to your capitol,” one of the changelings interrupted with a buzzing voice. Beams couldn’t be sure, but it sounded female. “We know.” “Cupid,” Chrysalis hissed. “Behave yourself.” The changeling grumbled under her breath but didn’t retort, Beams waiting for silence before coughing into a hoof. “Well, we were planning on flying back, as it cuts the journey to just two days. However, we’ll probably have to walk because of, well…” A pointed glance was sent to the human, who quickly noticed and waved a hand. “Oh, don’t worry about that,” he reassured, putting on a helmet. The helm’s reflective black faceplate was oddly unsettling, despite the comical appearance of its wearer. All of them, including the changelings, jolted back when a small set of metal wings popped out behind the human from his breastplate. Placing his hands on his unarmoured hips, the human looked up proudly. “No,” Queen Chrysalis uttered dryly. “The last time you used that thing, you set yourself on fire and crashed into a castle.” “Piffle,” he replied with a huff. “That, dear Chrysalis, was when I teleported mid-flight. Besides, that was a one off thing.” ‘Wait,’ Beams’ eyes widened. ‘He can teleport!?’ “No excuses, the only reason I’m going on this folly is because you’ve promised me some quality time after dealing with this diplomatic nonsense.” Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at the human. “If you set yourself on fire again, I doubt it will be romantic.” “Oh, I don’t know, I’m sure that would certainly fan the ‘flames’ of love.” After the joke there was silence, Beams glancing back to her squad. They all looked equally confused, even the changelings shaking their heads at what had just been said. “We’re leaving,” Chrysalis demanded, turning to Beams. “Go ahead, Diplomat, you know where to go after all.” Suppressing the urge to gulp, Beams nodded before turning around. Flapping her wings, she tried to ignore the loud roaring sound that sparked to life behind her. ‘Join the Lunar Guard they said. Protect the Princess they said…’ Chrysalis grumbled to herself with forelegs crossed while she flew through the air in the middle of her so-far silent nobles. The leader of the bat-ponies, High Beams, was just in front of her with bat-wings flapping away. It was surprisingly that it was not the bat-pony that she had issue with, however. No, her current distaste was saved for the two changelings and one human lagging behind. Another distant laugh from Holey carried on the air, even over the sound of a roaring jetpack. “Now, see normally I’d do a loop as well,” she heard Nigel explain. “But given my lack of undergarments, I think I’ll spare you that spectacle.” “I’m sure Chrysalis wouldn’t mind,” Reflection answered with a laugh to accompany Holey. “No, wait, I didn’t mean-“ The brief increase of the roaring was the only warning she got, Chrysalis rolling her eyes as Nigel began to fly in a circle around the group. “Hey Chrissy,” he asked, pausing while he made another pass. “Did you want me… to show you… a trick?” “No Nigel, not right now.” ‘Was he always like this?’ she wondered, Nigel falling back again to return to Holey and Reflection. ‘I seem to recall him being more… menacing.’ She looked around, frowning at the bat-ponies flying at the edges of the group. They were up to something, she just knew it. As she was glancing towards the front, she spotted Keith staring straight ahead with an unwavering stare. Following his eye line, she gritted her teeth to avoid immediately berating him. Of course, directly in front of him was the lead diplomat, the mare oblivious to the lecherous eyes locked firmly on her rump. Keith however noticed her stare, lazily turning his head to face her. With a dopey grin on his face, he shrugged and returned his attention to the pony rear. Chrysalis nearly shot him out of the sky then and there. ‘That malformed brat,’ she fumed silently, staring down below her to try and get her mind off of the utter disregard for her guidelines for them. ‘Did his parents repeatedly drop him on his head when he was a nymph? I should make a new rule, classifying the second-hatched as the pure bloodline if the first-hatched is an utter moron.’ What annoyed her was that the Keith line had shown great promise, right up until the current one. All of a sudden the group banked down, Chrysalis looking up to find the lead bat-pony looking back at them all. “We’re coming up to the mountains, we’re going to have to land and travel the rest of the way on hoof.” Chrysalis looked down and studied the tall, jagged peaks with barely-contained disbelief. “Why? Flying over them will be much easier. This seems like a trap to me.” Glancing up, she caught the bat-pony rolling her eyes. “It’s not a trap, I promise,” Beams reassured, still diving lower. “It’s dragon territory, and you don’t want to be flying over the peaks in full view of a horde of huge, scaly, firebreathers.” Gulping, Chrysalis stopped complaining and flew lower. She’d met a dragon once, and had only managed to defeat it after it had burnt four of her guards to unrecognisable crisps and set fire to her tail. Twice. She did not wish to repeat the experience. “Did someone say dragons?” Nigel spoke up, whizzing past to circle around High Beams. “I’d love to fight a dragon, make a lance and a shield and a horse… yeah, go all ‘Saint George’ on that scaly arse.” High Beams followed Nigel’s flightpath with uneasy eyes. “You, ah… you don’t want to fight these dragons. They get all angry around this time of the year, mating season and all.” That was a picture Chrysalis didn’t exactly wish to have, but it was too late for further questions or protests. A flat outcropping of rock was visible, a large sign with an arrow pointing towards a tiled road winding down the mountain. Evidently it was their goal, the bat-pony leading them down towards the area. Chrysalis was the first to touch down, hoof landing on solid rock while her wings ceased buzzing. While the others all landed around her, she took the chance to stretch the tired wings after their four hours of flying. The others followed her example, even the bat-ponies flexing their wings and cricking their necks. There was one thing missing, however. The sound of whatever Nigel was using to fly. Glancing around, she could find no trace of him either on the ground or in the sky. Holey and Reflection had landed, Chrysalis totting over to interrogate them. “Where is Nigel? He was messing around with you two just a moment before.” Reflection glanced behind her with a puzzled look, while Holey merely lowered her head and adverted her gaze. “He was right behind us,” muttered Reflection before she turned back around. “I’m sorry, but I could have sworn that he was there.” “Where has that fool gone now?” she hissed in reply, Reflection and Holey jerking back. Glaring, Chrysalis resumed her search, getting angrier and angrier every moment. Her eyes narrowed to slits when she spotted her quarry, Nigel flying up over the edge of the outcropping and landing safely. “Sorry all,” he apologised, walking over towards them. “A short pit stop was in order, I miss much?” “You should have told someone,” Chrysalis lectured. “I thought you’d gone and crashed again.” Chuckling, much to her irritation, he sauntered over and patted her on the back while smiling. “Aw, you were worried about me? And here I was thinking all of your sweetness had vanished.” “Remove your hand,” she ordered, but in response he raised an eyebrow and rubbed lower. Chrysalis was torn halfway over whether to yell at him or praise him while the spot between her wings was soothingly massaged. Keeping her mouth shut and enjoying the sore muscles relaxing, she merely ignored the stares of the bat-ponies and her nobles. “Still want me to remove it?” “Shut up, I’m still mad at you.” Not phased in the slightest, he laughed again and used his other hand to ruffle her mane. Turning to look at the confused bat-ponies, he gestured down towards her. “She may a little grouchy now, but once we’re in private she’s a complete sap.” She frowned and narrowed her eyes at him, Nigel shrugging with a troublesome grin. “Well, apart from tying me to the bed and falling asleep on me, that is.” “You’re a pain,” Chrysalis grunted, regretfully pulling away from the thrice-accursed miracle hands and trotting down the path. “I regret ever agreeing to this folly.” “Pfft,” he dismissed from behind her while the rest of them began to move. “Just you wait until we reach this city, we’ll see how tough you act when you’re being liquored up in a hotel room. I’ll break you out of that cranky shell.” She ignored him, although she guilty thought fondly about his ‘threat’ while trotting down the cobbled path. “I don’t get it,” Belfry whispered. “Is this really the same ‘ultimate evil’ human we’re supposed to be hunting?” “I know, I know,” Beams replied with an equally soft voice. “It’s stumped me as well. Still, we can’t drop our guard, the Princess did say that he’s good at manipulating ponies after all.” She looked back to the front, the human still annoying Chrysalis at the front while they had been bringing up the very rear to talk in private. “Really? So far the most danger seems to be of him causing the Queen to snap and murder us all. Did you see him grab her rump before? She looked ready to gore him.” “She also didn’t really put much effort into stopping him,” Beams reminded her subordinate. “I think all the arguing is a front, just have a look at those nobles they brought along.” Both of them glanced at the mentioned changelings, all ten talking amongst themselves in the middle of the group. The two bat-ponies at the front and the two behind the changelings had their ears raised, no doubt listening in to the discussions. “Besides from them appearing to be just as confused as us about this trip, remember what he called them?” “His ‘descendants’, right?” She shuddered. “Oh, I just got a picture of what that would look like, ew.” Beams also got a mental picture, but it was less about human-changeling hybrid abominations but more about the initial steps in creating human-changeling abominations. It was not a welcome image. “I really hope he means it in a symbolic way, is… the other way even physically possible?” “Changelings are weird,” Belfry reminded, before sticking out her tongue and scrunching up her face. “Great, now you’ve got me thinking about it. Thanks a lot, Sarge.” “Thanks for what?” Both Beams and Belfry looked up, Bites joining them with his head tilted. “Not you, I was thanking Beams,” Belfry clarified, before lowering her voice further. “We were talking about how Mr Two-Legs called those nobles his descendants.” “Oh,” Bites nodded, before doing a double take. “Wait, why in Luna’s name would you be talking about that!?” “Bites, shut it!” Beams hissed, a few of the changelings looking back at them while trotting along. She waited until they returned to their own conversations before glaring at her Sergeant. “You have to be quiet, okay?” “Fine,” he huffed back. “I’m sorry, okay?” “It’s fine, just… if we lose this cover, we’re outnumbered two-to-one not even taking the human and Queen into account.” Both Belfry and Bites stopped talking, and she let out a sigh. “Look, I was just a little curious. Let’s all forget about it, focus on the end goal, and get through this in one piece, okay?” “Yes Ma’am.” “I guess.” Taking note of Bites’ reply in contrast to Belfry’s, she left them both to move to the front of the group. Upon passing the changelings she could feel their scowls and stares, and… something else. Whipping her head around, they all gave her a final look before returning to their own business. Except for one who seemed to be looking in the completely opposite direction. Dismissing it as nothing, she continued on with her focus being the two beings walking and trotting at the far front. The Queen and human were initially oblivious to her approach while they talked, Beams even catching Chrysalis with a surprising smile. Coughing into her hoof to announce her presence, Beams trotted up to them while Chrysalis’ smile once again disappeared and morphed into a glare. “Ms Beams,” the human greeted with a nod of his head. “Joining us at the head of the pack, I see.” Trying to ignore Chrysalis, Beams cleared her throat. “I’m afraid it’s for different reason than you may think. We’ve made good progress, but it’s nearly going to reach midday and we need to make camp. There’s a spot at the start of a forest just up ahead, it’ll do fine.” “Lunch?” She shook her head, although her stomach did grumble at the mention of food. “Not just a rest. That is where we are going to camp for the night so we can reach the city in the morning.” “Why?” Chrysalis questioned in a hard voice. “Why stop now instead of making it to your city tonight? It seems like a waste of time.” A nod from the human. “Going to have to agree with Chrissy, I’m sure we’d all prefer to get there sooner.” “It’s not a waste of time,” Beams tried to explain. “Remember those dragons I mentioned before? They’re active once it warms up in the day, such as now. If we camp in the forest for the night, we avoid those dragons and all emerge burn-free and un-eaten.” “Oh come on,” Chalmers rolled his eyes. “It’s just a few dragons, I can take the-“ “Actually, camping sounds good,” Queen Chrysalis hurried out with a pause in her trots. “Not that I’m tired or afraid of your… puny dragons, but… my nobles and, well…” “If you wish to camp, then we will be happy to follow your request.” Beams noticed the human’s hand gently start to rub the back of Chrysalis’ neck. “You are our guides, after all.” Deciding to not inquire further, Beams nodded and turned to wave a wing at Dream and Sweeps. The two galloped towards them, Beams nodding towards the forest ahead of them. “Can you two please check the usual spot?” “Of course,” Dream replied with a glance towards the Queen and human, while Sweeps merely nodded. Both rushed off, ears and eyes alert to pick up any signs of the hostile flying lizards. Looking back to the Queen and human, Beams tried her best to give them a warm smile while slowing her trot. “I’ll let you two have some privacy, I’ve got to talk to my colleagues about our camping plans.” With that, she dropped back and stood beside the path to let the main group pass her. Heading to Belfry and Bites, she ensured that there was ample distance between them and the changelings. “I’ve learnt a few things that might be of interest,” she whispered. “In particular, something I’ve noticed about the Queen…” Nigel sat down against the fallen tree stump with a clang, the armour he wore actually heavy when not powered. Glancing around at the forest clearing, he snorted to himself when he looked up towards the cloudy sky above. “Some spot to hide in a forest,” he muttered, noticing that all of the trees were blackened and bare. “Anything flying overhead could easily spot us.” Returning his attention back to the group, he shook his head at the obvious divide. Chrysalis was wandering around the clearing, peering around trees nervously with glances towards the sky. The nobles were sitting in a loose circle on the patches of dead grass, their backs towards everyone else. Meanwhile, the bat ponies were whispering amongst themselves over on the far side. Watching them eat what looked like dried fruit out of cloth bags, he got an idea of how to whittle away the hours and attempt to improve his standing at the same time. “Hey,” he called out to the nobles, all ten glancing at him. “If anyone wants a feed, I’m available.” None reacted immediately, but slowly two got up and trotted towards him with the stares of the others on their backs. Nigel smiled at Reflection, and he took a guess that the second was Holey. Reflection smiled back, sitting down beside him while Holey hesitated. “Go ahead,” Reflection prompted. “He won’t bite, and you did say that you needed the energy.” “But… the others,” Holey mumbled, Nigel peering past her to observe the reactions. He only caught one glare, and that was predictably from Cupid, so he turned his attention back to Holey and smiled. “They’ll all be getting the same sooner or later,” he reassured, holding out an arm. “Just ignore them, it’s not nearly as bad as you seem to think it is.” Turning to Reflection, he gave her a quick hug and pat on the back as a demonstration. She hummed with a smile, Nigel pulling back and raising an eye at Holey. “See? Painless.” Gulping, Holey resumed her approach but stopped just short of him. “How do I… I mean how does-“ Rolling his eyes, Nigel reached out and grabbed her, pulling her in as he embraced her. Holey froze on all four hooves, but in only a few moments she began to relax. “Oh, that’s sort of nice.” Her hind legs went down and her rump hit the dirt, but she remained leaning in. “This isn’t so bad after all.” “See?” Reflection grinned. “Nothing to it at all. We get fed and he gets to hug us, win-win.” Holey remained silent, a dozy grin on her face while her neck fin was carefully rubbed. It was only the approaching hooves that broke the moment, Nigel looking up to see Buzz standing behind Holey with a sheepish look. “Uh, hi,” the changeling greeted with a small wave of a hoof. “So, I heard that you were offering free energy…” ‘Nothing there, or there, or there.’ Chrysalis gave the north side one final examination before glancing up to the darkening sky. A shiver ran down her back, the dark clouds reminding her of the smoke from a dragon’s nostrils. Taking a second to swallow a lump in her throat, she took a deep breath and turned to head back to the main group. “This forest is hardly suited…” She trailed off upon seeing Nigel against a tree-trunk, the ten nobles sitting or laying down around him. They were either at rest or talking quietly with each other, save for Cupid who was brooding the furthest away with her head resting on her forelegs. Joy was even on her side in Nigel’s lap, eyes closed while Nigel chatted idly with Sheen. ‘Here he goes again,’ she thought, glancing over at the bat ponies and noting that all appeared to be asleep save for the leader who watched over the opposite direction. ‘Spoiling them with attention, desired or not.’ Trotting over and navigating her way through the slumbering nobles, she stopped to look down at him with a stare. “Hey Chrissy,” he greeted with a wave, Sheen instantly going quiet. “Come to join us? Sheen here was just telling me about how changeling society works. Do you really regulate who gets to have children with whom? Seems a bit harsh, really” “Oh, has he now?” She tried to keep her voice steady, looking down at Sheen. “I cannot think for the life of me just why he chose that topic.” Nigel snorted with a slight chuckle. “It’s probably because of this drone he also mentioned. Cypher I think her name was.” “Nigel!” Sheen hissed. “Don’t tell Chrysalis about it!” “Why not? If she tries anything I’ll sort her out, don’t worry.” “Sort me out?” She had to resist the urge to smack herself in the face with a hoof. Instead, she pointed said hoof at Nigel. “You’re the one wearing armour over my bedsheet that you’ve turned into a dress-“ “Not a dress,” he defended, raising a finger. “It’s a full-length, one-hundred-percent manly battle kilt, thank you very much.” “It’s my bedsheet,” she repeated, narrowing her eyes. “You couldn’t even sort out a brain-damaged drone, let alone me.” Huffing, she flicked her head away and raised her nose in the air. “You know what? It sounds like Crankalis is back.” Glaring at him, Chrysalis went to lecture him on the much-despised nickname but was beaten to it. “I suppose we need to pay her a tribute of hugs to encourage her to release our slightly-happier-and-cheerful normal Chrysalis back, hmm?” He patted the sparse patch of grass beside him, with a beckoning gesture from his finger. Glancing with distain towards the still-sleeping Joy, and after considering the worth of bothering to wake her up and steal the far more appealing spot, she begrudgingly made to sit down in the offered spot on Nigel’s left. Grimacing as her rump rested upon the less-than-ideal grass, the hand that had been patting the ground found its way towards her mane. Settling down, she supposed that the affection received was a decent compromise. “No dragons around?” Chalmers asked, Chrysalis sighing at what was to come. “Not that I could see,” she replied. “Still nervous then?” “I am not scared!” she growled, sitting back and crossing her forelegs. “I am merely concerned for the safety of my nobles, and that is it.” He chuckled softly at that, turning to face Sheen. “Did I ever tell you about the first time I found out Chrysalis was a changeling?” Sheen shook her head, Chrysalis searching her own memory for the moment mentioned. To her surprise and sadness, she realised that she couldn’t really remember more than a few snippets. “It was just after we’d taken over a griffon battleship, and had pulled into this small pony port town.” All around, those awake listened in discreetly. Even Beams had her ears raised, straining to gather more information. “Chrysalis was this sea-green unicorn who I believed was named ‘Sea Biscuit’.” He paused to let out a small laugh, shaking his head with a smile. “Ah, I can still remember how hilarious it was. Anyway, so she was pretty much this bubbly and curious pony who asked far, far too many questions. So much that the pirate crew assumed she was enamoured with me and so began the scuttlebutt spreading.” As he recited the story, Chrysalis couldn’t help but also smile at the reminder. She was so naïve back then, a drone running away from her Queen to seek adventure and excitement. There had been no idea of what she was in for. The hand on her head moved down to her neck, relaxing her further while the tale continued. “Me and Chrissy were walking along the docks when we saw this trade ship. There was this merchant with a cage, and inside were ten chattering nymphs.” “Wait,” Buzz tilted his head and asked from his spot. “You don’t mean,,,?” “I do,” Nigel confirmed. “Those ten are exact same ten to bear your names. At the time I didn’t even know where I was, let alone what a changeling was, so I wanted to purchase one as a pet.” Another laugh. “Then, this bossy mayor buys the entire cage off this merchant, causing Chrysalis to argue with them about it.” Chrysalis’ eyes widened when he pulled her closer against him, the nobles watching intently. “She was actually pretty adorable, and then she changed in this green flash. The Mayor lost her shit at it and ordered her to be killed, but me and Chrissy both fought them off and took over the town.” “You mean you fought them off,” she reminded, starting to remember. “You shot at them.” “I conducted a diplomatic action aimed at defusing the situation through the use of energy weapons fire. It worked, didn’t?” “I suppose.” Giving her a victorious smirk, he looked back towards the watchers. “Well, after I had a brief chat with her regarding the shapeshifting and all that, we took the ten nymphs and named them all. From then on, Chrysalis treated them like her own children where’s I usually just fed them and caused endless amounts of trouble with them.” She outright laughed, even surprising herself with her mirth. “Ha! Remember the pancakes?” “And when they started to fly!” he added with a grin. “How you tried to control them and they just flat out ignored you and crashed into everything?” Nigel pointed at Keith. “You, your ancestor was the worst in that regard. There was this one time he jumped onto the First Mate’s back, and I swear everyone though she was going to murder him on the spot.” Chrysalis couldn’t help but snort with laughter, resting her head on his shoulder while they both laughed long and hard. Everyone was awake now, all of the changelings and bat ponies staring at them both like they were insane. Even Joy awoke and quickly vacated the lap once she noticed the proximity of her Queen. Pressing up against him, Chrysalis didn’t even bother changing spots while she sighed wistfully. “I miss those days. Tell me more.” “Okay then,” he continued, still hugging her from the side. “Remember when we went to visit Morning’s ship, and the nymphs came along…” Sheen woke up with a start, realising that there was an arm around him. Alarmed by the metal-covered appendage, he pulled back and winced. The sky was dark, night having fallen with even the moon unable to shine fully through the clouds. Evidently he had ended up falling asleep against the human, Nigel breathing lightly while Chrysalis let out an occasional muffled snore. Looking at the two, Chrysalis leaning up against Chalmers, he recalled how the Queen had been so oddly happy over the last few hours. Even her voice, normally scary and terrifying, had sounded strangely warm when laughing with genuine joy. He had only ever heard her laugh at the misfortune of others, so it was a welcome surprise. A quick look around revealed that his brethren were all asleep, scattered around a small area surrounding the Queen and human. An occasional leg twitched or a wing buzzed, but that was it. Leaving them all to dream, he glanced towards the bat-pony area. There were three tents set up, none of the guides visible save for one over by the direction they were to head. He wasn’t very tired, always having been an easy sleeper, but there wasn’t anything he could think off that would help pass the time until another changeling woke up. Well, there was one thing. Getting to his hooves quietly as to not disturb anyone, he carefully moved around sleeping forms and headed towards the bat-pony sentry. The air was surprisingly warm on his chitin, and he briefly wondered why the creatures guiding them needed tents. ‘Must be a pony thing,’ he deduced, the sentry noticing him approach and turning to look at him. He easily identified her as one of the mares, the one named Dream if he remembered correctly, and he ensured to make no threatening motions. His eyes glanced at the short-sword she had in a silver-edged black sheath by her hooves, and he stopped just short of her. “Something wrong?” She studied him for a few moments, before turning back around and gesturing forwards with a wing. After a second of examining the bat-wing, making a note to try and imitate a bat-pony sometime, he trotted forwards and looked out. There was a bright glow on the horizon, the flickering light growing and ebbing steadily while he watched. “Dragons,” the bat-pony nodded with a hoof pointing towards the sky. “Look, you can see the smoke above us.” Sheen did as instructed, eyes widening when he saw the sky filled with black smog. “They’re burning down the forest, like they did with this section last year.” “Why?” “Looking for gems, probably,” she explained. “Dragons are like that, burning down entire forests so they can dig to find a few shiny gems. They’ve been attacking the city since forever, trying to get at our mines.” Sheen felt a momentary flash of panic, dragons having a bad history with changelings. “A-are they going to be trouble?” The mare laughed softly, although he could see her shiver despite the warm night. “Trouble? That’s where we have to trot through tomorrow. You better hope they find some gems and leave, or we’re going to have some real problems.” Beams glanced around warily while she trotted along the ash-covered ground, her short sword’s grip held ready in a wing. They were all traveling along in a single-file column, the changelings and human in the middle looking around with similar alertness. They had given her squad a few glances when all of the weapons had been drawn, but hadn’t said a word about it. Currently, changelings and humans weren’t a threat in her mind compared to what she knew could be out there. Even the human had been quiet, now fully encased in his black armour. She had no clue where he had gotten the rest of the pieces from, but at the moment she wouldn’t have cared if he had pulled a castle from his rump. Queen Chrysalis was trotting behind him closely, the changeling royal not looking happy at all about their situation. “Just keep quiet,” she whispered for the hundredth-time while she passed a still-smouldering tree. “Dragons are impatient, and would have left here soon after burning it. They might still be in the surrounding areas, but if you don’t make too much noise then we’ll be fine.” Her words of reassurance didn’t match her own fear, Beams knowing full well that Dragons were as unpredictable as creatures got. She had been lucky enough to never face one during her time in the city guard, being placed in the Equestrian Lunar Guard fairly quickly as a reward for good service. “You seem to know a lot about dragons, for diplomats,” the human softly observed, Beams quickly whispering back. “Trust me, you travel to and from the city a lot, you learn about dragons and how to avoid them.” It was true, it just didn’t mention that she wasn’t actually a diplomat. Still, the human appeared to buy it, returning to silence once more. They travelled for another slow hour, forest once again starting to give way to rocky paths. She could see the massive mountain that housed the capitol in the distance, her hopes soaring at the sight of home and release from traveling with her enemies. Unfortunately, just as she had finished climbing a large rock in their path, those hopes were crushed when Corporal Belfry let out a yell. “Hey, let go of my tail!” Beams whipped around, hoping desperately that it was just a changeling getting too bold in his advances. Unfortunately, her mind reminded her that Belfry was acting as the rear-guard, right about the time that her eyes informed her of the two dragons standing on the forest path they had just left. Quickly, she assessed the threat and situation. The first priority was the bulky grey dragon, one claw holding Belfry’s tail and the second pinning down her forelegs. He was perched over her, grungy yellow eyes gazing greedily at them all. Belfry’s sword was still in its sheath, but it was not designed to pierce dragon scales so it was next to useless anyway. The second dragon was smirking at them all while standing on his hind legs, taloned arms crossed across a scaly blue chest. He had the same eyes as the first, although instead of red scales his were a dull bronze. Belfry continued to kick, but even her metal shoes did nothing against her captor. Judging from the size of them, the two creatures were likely recent young adults. The changelings all immediately backed away, leaving the human and the other three squad members to face the dragons. Her fear shoved to the back of her mind, Beams rushed up beside them. Weapons were all drawn, save for the human who calmly removed his helmet from a section on his waist and put it on. “Ha! Like those puny things will do anything to us!” the blue drake snorted with a laugh, pointing a talon at their swords. Showing off his teeth with a grin, he cricked his neck and made an exaggerated sniffing motion. “I smell gems. Lots of lovely, shiny, tasty, gems. I like gems, if you couldn’t tell. You have gems, I have an empty stomach, and we also have your friend here. And, let’s just say that if I don’t get any gems, I’m sure a tasty bat-pony will do.” He leaned down and gave Belfry’s face a long sniff, Belfry closing her eyes and scrunching up her mouth while pulling away. The grey dragon laughed deeply, the blue dragon nodding while standing back up straight. “And I have to say, she does smell amazingly tasty.” “You know Claws, she’s a little too tasty to just eat straight away,” the large drake wheezed. “You’re scum,” Belfry spat. “Maybe,” the blue dragon, the apparent leader of the pair, nodded. “I have to admit that robbing bat-ponies, a metal minotaur, and whatever those bug-horses are is not exactly seen as a high art, but it gets me and Bulges here gems.” He licked his lips. “I’m a nice guy though, so I’ll offer you all a deal. Pass over the gems, and I’ll let the little Miss here go without a single scratch.” He shrugged. “If not, we’ll just pick which ones of you we like, keep them for later, burn the rest of you, and then take your gems anyway.” He chuckled, drawing a claw down Belfry’s face. “That could also work.” Glancing back at the changelings for an answer, she found them all frozen with fear. Even Chrysalis had gone pale, the Queen backing up continuously with frantic glances from the dragons to the human. Looking up to the human beside her, she gazed pleadingly into the faceless helmet visor. He didn’t react at first, before he looked back at the dragon holding Belfry and then shrugged. “Sure, pass over the gems.” “But we need-“ “Reflection, just do what he says.” Queen Chrysalis didn’t sound nearly as scared as she looked, and Belfry heard the sounds of numerous bags being taken off. Three changelings crept up and threw ten bags at the two dragons, the brown sacks landing on the rocks before them. One tipped over and spilled out two rubies and an emerald, the dragons rushing forward to scoop all of the bags and gems up. Belfry was forgotten, and she immediately bolted for the relative safety of the group. Beams could see that her eyes were wet, but kept her pity hidden to present a strong face to the drakes. “Jackpot, there are more here than we’ve found this entire month!” Watching the dragons cackle over their haul, Beams glanced to the rest of her squad. They were trembling under their cloaks, Sweeps’ wing so unsteady that it looked like he was going to drop his sword any moment. Then, she noticed a metal-covered hand waving them back. “You might want to pull back to the main group,” the human muttered, eyes still on the dragons as they shifted through the gems. “I hate people taking my things.” “What are you going to do?” Beams still backed up, the other three still bat-ponies with her following her lead. “Something stupid and dangerous,” was all the human said, before he took a step forward and cleared his throat. “Gentlelizards.” “You what?” The leader, fist full of gems, glared at him. “Did you just call us lizards?” The human seemed to hesitate. “…I did.” Ignoring the glares, he continued. “I would have asked the appropriate term of address, but we are in a hurry. So I’ll get straight to the point. I’m going to make you a deal.” “Ha! Like what?” “Simple. You and your fat friend give us back our gems, and I won’t have to kill you.” There was a stunned silence, before the leader burst out into laughter. Bulges, however, didn’t share his mirth at the situation. “Did you just call me fat?” Claws wiped his eyes. “I think he did, and I also don’t like his tone.” The yellow eyes narrowed wickedly, Claws raising his gem-filled fist over his head. “You want your gems back?” The human took another step forwards. “If you eat them, I’ll cut open your stomach and take them back with my bare hands.” Snorting, Claws opened his mouth and dropped the gems in. Beams’ eyes widened as they disappeared down his gullet, the human’s armoured back glowing a bright blue. Claws didn’t notice, he was too caught up with rubbing his stomach contently. “Mhmm, those were so good. Now I also get to see what your sort of canned food tastes like for desser-“ Claws was cut off, the human suddenly rushing forwards with a bust of speed. Blue flame exited out of the back of his armour, propelling him towards the completely unprepared dragon as a wicked right hook was unleashed with a metal fist. Teeth were knocked out as the blow smacked Claws right in the face, the drakes’ head whipping around to the left as his eyes unfocused. He collapsed back, the blue flame dying out as the human fell down with him to land on top. “I tried to be nice,” Chalmers casually stated, sitting atop of Claws and punching him again. “I tried to give you a chance.” Another punch. “I’ve been quite forgiving lately, all things considered. “The third punch knocked loose another few fangs. “But, holding in all of that anger and those violent thoughts is rather difficult.” Claws yelled out when he lost more teeth. “So when you go ahead and piss me off…” The flapping of wings turned Beam’s attention from the brutal beating, the second dragon zooming around the side of the occupied human. She froze when Bulges opened his mouth wide, the spark of a glowing flame growing within. “Nigel!” she heard Chrysalis yell from behind her. “Look out!” Something kicked in her mind. Despite the chance to have one of their most dangerous enemies roasted alive, the genuine fear in Chrysalis’ voice threw her into action. Everything slowed down as, with a mighty flap from her wings, she flew and barrelled towards the fat dragon with her metal hoof outstretched. ‘Aim for the head, knock it out.’ Focusing, she had just enough time to hear muffled yells from her squad before she made contact. Bulges had been completely focused on burning the human to ash, and as such she managed to get him right in the side of his head. “Ah!” Metal shoe made contact with drake scales, knocking the drake out of the sky and back onto the ground. All did not go according to plan, unfortunately. While the impact certainly achieved the desired result, it also had the unintended consequence of jerking her foreleg violently back. Beams cried out from the sudden pain, her wings momentarily failing her. “Damnit,” she cursed, collapsing onto a large rock. She tried to move, but her leg continued to send sharp pangs of pain up her body. Gritting her teeth, she laid down and tried to ride out the pain. “You little worm!” A shadow covered her, Beams looking up to see a very, very pissed off Bulges rubbing his head with a claw. He stared down at her, his mouth opening to unleash more flame. Looking up into the brightening maw, Beams could only gulp. ‘Mistakes have been made.’ Wincing at the heat that was growing, she could hear the flapping of wings and the shouts of her comrades. Unfortunately, she knew that they wouldn’t make it in time. A sharp zap and a fizzle sounded from behind her, before the uproar of combined noise fell into silence. Opening her eyes and looking up at her doom, Beams had to blink a few times to double check. Bulges was swaying from side to side, his eyes unfocused and his face locked into an expression of shock. It was then that she noticed the smoking hole through his chest, right where his heart was supposed to be. The forest was visible through the other side, the surrounding scales of the hole scorched with a light green tinge. Finally Bulges topped over onto his back, the only sound made being was his lifeless body hitting the rocks with a thud. Shaking, Beams looked behind her for the source of the salvation. Queen Chrysalis was taking deep breaths, everyone staring at her as she gathered her breath. Her long horn was still smoking, the glow at the tip dying out to nothing. Beams didn’t even notice the Queen trembling, still caught up in her own fear. “Wow Chrissy…” Summoning her strength, Beams turned around to look at the voice. The human was still on top of Claws, armoured fist raised in mid-punch over a bloody and beaten face. He was staring a Chrysalis, his current quarrel forgotten. “That was a bloody nice shot.” “Two, three, four, five, half-digested rabbit, six…” Reflection tried very hard to not think about what Nigel was doing, instead focusing on patting the shaken Chrysalis on the back. The Queen was still staring off into space, and who could blame her? They had all been frozen with fear at the very sight of the dragons; Chrysalis had gone so far as to fight one. And had killed it with a single, well placed burst of magic. Reflection doubted that any of the changelings present would ever show disrespect to Chrysalis’ face again. “…Eight, nine, ten, eleven…” Glancing towards the bat-ponies, she saw that they were still fussing over the two mares that had almost ended up as dragon food. Reflection would never admit it to Chrysalis or the others, but she thought that the bat-pony leader was incredibly brave for actually going up to fight the dragon in close combat. “There, all gems accounted for!” She winced when the final bag of gems was tossed down right beside her. There was still a metallic smell about the bag, and that same smell only worsened when Nigel stepped out to look down at them. Everyone stared at his as he rubbed his hands together, the vile fluid coating them making a disgusting squelching sound. “Hey, you alright Chrissy?” Reflection watched while Chrysalis raised her head to stare at Nigel, the queen silent for a few minutes. “Let’s go,” Chrysalis suddenly announced, getting to her hooves. “I’ve had enough of dragons.” “Can’t argue with that,” one of the bat-ponies, Bites, muttered while he passed them. Reflection sighed and also stood up, reluctantly picking up the bag of gems that still smelt funny. ‘Why do I get the feeling that this is only the start of a long trip of disasters?’