Edge looked upwards. Two more of the beams supplying the shield with magic had just disappeared simultaneously leaving only one remaining. The last beam flickered from being the shield’s last support, but remained strong enough to maintain it, if only for a limited time.
So far things were going as Mark planned, Edge handled combat, Fluttershy and Mimzy quickly explored homes and evacuated the civilians, even finding a couple useful items along the way; all while Razor provided excellent long ranged support in the ballista. That being said, at this rate, Razor would soon run out of ammunition and some soldiers made it through Razor’s barrage which, though Edge could handle, was becoming harder with the increasing number of civilians he needed to protect.
“Was there anyone there?” Edge asked, turning his attention to Mimzy as the young changeling exited the house.
“No sir but I found this.” Mimzy replied, holding up the Hero’s Crest before handing it to Fluttershy.
Edge then turned around to address the crowd of changeling civilians behind him. In their midst were also ponies who had not yet escaped beforehand but had been hidden from the soldiers by the changelings who were brave enough to disregard the ‘King’ and his orders. “Everyone stay close, we’re going to escort you to the edge of the city. The shield will come down soon and once it does, you will use that opportunity to escape. Are there any questions?”
There were a couple of murmurs amongst the crowd, but no one spoke up for any important question.
“In that case, let's move. Time is of the essence. Mimzy, Fluttershy, you two stay close to them and remain vigilant, if you see any soldiers don't think about it, just tell me immediately.” Edge ordered before moving along their intended route with Fluttershy, Mimzy, and the civilians following behind, all of them looking towards the sky or keeping their ears open for the any signs of trouble.
A couple blocks of nothing, Mimzy picked up his pace until he was alongside Edge who gave him a mindful look. “What is it you need Mimic?”
It was the first time Edge had called Mimzy by something other than “Youngling” and “Child” yet Mimzy’s mouth had quickly gone dry at the use of his real name since his once derogatory nickname had stuck with him.
“I know, because I’ve read your applications for soldiering. You’ve submitted quite a few, six to be exact,” Edge stated, sensing the young changeling’s nervousness but still expecting an answer.
Mimzy gulped loudly.
When a changeling wanted to change their duties and advance in the kingdom’s hierarchy, they submitted their application and took an aptitude test. In some uncommon, but not unusual cases, an exceptional changeling would advance without having to do either, such was the case with Mimzy’s childhood friend, Razor, whom after becoming a soldier managed to rise to one of the Queen’s personal guard in less than four years. A feat only done before by Edge, the same veteran guard who walked beside the young changeling.
Taking a deep breath and gathering his courage, Mimzy managed to ask his question. “S-Sir, you’re the captain of the Queen’s personal guard, how is it that you became so strong?”
Edge glared at the recruit, not out of malicious intent, but out of habit. He’d heard the same question over and over again from promising soldiers and each time he answered sternly and harshly so that the message stuck. “Strong is subjective, young Mimic. Just because I taught you a few exercises and techniques back on the ship, do you think that’ll make you strong?”
“B-But...I want...I just want...” A wave of helplessness washed over Mimzy as he tried to hold back tears. He was doomed to be a weakling forever and it seemed nothing he did could change it.
Edge sighed, seeing that despite Mimzy’s potential, he still wasn’t experienced enough to understand. “I should rephrase that. Strength isn’t always about your physical prowess as some believe. In my opinion, it’s the combination of everything that makes you, you, and how you use it.”
Mimzy quickly wiped his eyes so he maintained his image. “I don’t understand. I mean, I think I get a little bit, but…”
“It can be confusing, I know. It took me awhile to understand what it meant as well.” Edge said quietly through a small, nostalgic smile.
“Is there anything else? Something easier to understand?”
Edge’s brow raised as he stared at Mimzy before catching sight of a poster display in a store next to him. “Keep working hard. You’ll get where you’re going.”
“That sounds like a motivational poster,” Mimzy huffed, noticing the poster store they were walking by and pointing at the display with that exact phrase. “Just like that one.”
The older changeling shook his head and chuckled with mirth. Something he hadn’t done since before Morphos’ coup. “Maybe, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Now stay alert, I haven’t heard Razor fire that ballista in a while which means she’s either out of ammo, dead, or our enemies are keeping themselves hidden until they have the opportunity to safely strike.”
Mimzy gulped and nodded in acknowledgement before falling back closer to the civilians. True to Edge’s word, there was no incident as the only sound heard was the distant battles, the clopping of the group’s hooves, and their nervous mumbling.
Edge looked around at every alley, every window, every place where a possible ambush might be. Slowly, his tension increased as he noticed that as the group moved closer to the edge of the city, the buildings grew taller and had more archways connecting them, meaning much less openings for Razor to find a good shot. The end of the shield and city in sight almost caused Edge to relax since it was a straight shot. That is until the older changeling noticed a small black horn peeking up amidst the rooftops.
Quickly, Edge signalled for the group to stop, hoping to analyze the situation before the ambushers realized they’d been found out.
“Why did we stop?! What’s going on?” One of the civilian mares squealed in panic with the others reacting similarly.
At that moment, the ambushers realized that the jig was up and their wings buzzed as they rose into the air. At a rough estimate, there were approximately 17, but Edge knew that there were likely more hiding somewhere.
“RUN, I’ll hold them off!” Edge shouted, jumping into the air over the crowd and flying towards the closest enemies with his axe held high. It was only after he had slain two of the ambushers before the herd of civilians overcame their panicked hesitation and ran towards their destination in desperation with Fluttershy and Mimzy getting carried along in the stampede.
“Kill the traitors, but leave the ponies alive. The king wants as much love harvested as possible!” The leader of the changeling ambushers ordered.
“Not on my watch!” Edge's wings buzzed as he deftly closed the distance with one or two changelings at a time. In the background he could hear the ballista fire again.
Behind the charging troops, their leader pointed right at him. “Kill him first! It’s easy pickings with Edge gone!” The changeling leader shouted later than he should have. He screamed in surprise when a ballista bolt narrowly missed him and penetrated three quarters of the way through the roof he was hovering over. Gulping, he landed and tried to remain out of the ballista line of sight.
One after another, the changelings attacked. Edge could handle them one or two at a time, unfortunately, he was neither fast enough to dodge every attack, nor armored enough to stop every blow as the attackers surrounded him.
A sword slashed across his leg just above the chitin, but he grit his teeth through the pain and struck back. He dodged a near stab at his eye, only for the lance to instead graze him along the stomach before Edge split the lance-wielder's head in two. Similar patterns like that went on and despite retaliation for every wound he got, it was wearing heavily on the veteran. In a moment of weakness, Edge found himself slammed towards the ground, having just barely blocked an axe to his neck.
With a resounding “thunk”, Edge hit the ground hard enough to hear and feel the chitin along his back crack. Turning his head was a fight in itself as the he looked into the air where the six remaining ambushers buzzed overhead, only two of them wounded. “Tch, I’m supposed to be better than that.” Edge mumbled to himself as he got back up, his knees trembling from the effort.
The changelings landed, keeping a careful distance away from Edge to avoid underestimating him again. All the veteran could do at this point was grip his axe in his mouth and prepare for the inevitable final moment. His final moment.
Hearing movement behind him, Edge swung his axe toward it and was met with the resounding crunch as his axe broke through the changeling’s armor and chitin. He continued with the momentum, knowing he wouldn’t have the strength to change direction, and used the changeling still stuck on his axe to bowl four of the other attackers over. It was all he was able to do before a sharp, piercing pain erupted in his side causing him to gasp and drop his weapon. Looking in that direction confirmed his suspicions as his eyes narrowed into a glare at the last changeling, the leader in fact, who had just thrown a javelin at him.
“Wh-Why won’t he die?! Regroup! Regroup before he strikes back!” The changeling leader shouted, fearing another burst of energy from Edge was on its way, the leader took to the air with all but one of the ambushers following.
“Regroup? More like retreat, the idiot. He’s almost dead too, we should’ve just left and gotten the damn traitors,” the remaining ambusher grunted, watching his ‘comrades’ flee. Once they were out of sight, his gaze returned to the wounded Edge. “You’ve given us a lot of trouble, old timer. I actually liked some of those guys you killed. Time to return the favor.”
Edge could do nothing but watch on as the enemy changeling’s sword raised for the final strike. His adrenaline had come and gone and the only reason he remained standing was because of his stance.
Before the sword met its target however, a small black blur dashed between the two and the changeling attacker’s inertia caused him to impale himself on the iron lance.
Mimzy’s face paled as the changeling’s final look of disbelief was directed straight at him. “I-I didn’t mean to kill him! I just wanted him to stop!” Mimzy whimpered.
“It’s-” Edge immediately collapsed. The danger gone for now.
Shaking off his shock, Mimzy concerned himself with the immediate emergency and attempted to remove the javelin still in Edge’s side, stopping as just the barest touch caused Edge to scream. Gulping, Mimzy instead began dragging Edge with what punitive magic he had. It was slow going, but it didn’t seem to bother the scarred changeling.
“M-Mim...ic…”
“Don’t talk! I’ll get you back to Fluttershy and she’’ll get you better!”
Edge responded with a choked laugh, coughing up a large amount of blood as he did so. He was done for, he knew it and he knew that Mimzy knew it too even if he didn’t want to admit it. If Mimzy had used changeling slime as a healing medium, it was only good for more superficial wounds and the elixirs Mark had supplied them with were used earlier to save some civilian lives. No, for Edge, it was the end whether he liked it or not.
“The...They…” Edge hacked up more blood, a small stream of it slowly leaking out of his mouth. Seeing as physically talking wasn’t going to work, Edge reached through the hivemind to Mimzy exclusively. ‘They’re going to come back. Leave me and keep the civilians safe.’
“We’re gonna get you fixed up, then you’re going to walk and fight and...and...other stuff!” Mimzy reprimanded, his voice shaky as he held back incoming tears.
‘Why did you want to become a soldier? Why submit six applications? To be better? For monetary gain?’ There was firmness from Edge’s thoughts. The same critical tone he’d given Mimzy earlier when asked about strength.
“No...It was because I want to do the right thing. To protect people.”
‘Then do it. Protect them. I don’t have anymore strength to fight anymore. I can’t even contact Razor.’
“I already did it, she’s on her way so just hang on.”
Edge briefly glanced at Mimzy, impressed but unsurprised by his initiative. ‘They’ll come back before she gets here. You have to do it. You have to hold them at bay.’
“I-I can’t. Everyone back at the hive was right, I can’t do anything right and I’m just another drone. I couldn’t even help you in time...”
‘Are you afraid?’
“...Yes. Just more proof I’m not soldier material.”
‘Don’t blame yourself. I wasn’t born into this life either. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I stayed a drone.’
“You...You were a drone?”
‘Yes. Just like you.’
“But...But you single-handedly fought a manticore and won! You outsmarted Mr.Bastion during the Royal Wedding! You’ve saved countless lives over and over again, how can a single drone do anything like that?”
Edge knew Mimzy had admired him, but didn’t have the faintest idea how deep it ran until now.. As he took another shaky breath, another wave of pain racked through his body. ‘Because I had to. Just like you do now.’
“It’s obvious I can’t! I’ve already been rejected six times what good is it?!.”
Edge chuckled before breaking into a fit gasps. A smile on the veteran’s face as he held on for just a bit longer and looked into Mimzy’s eyes. ‘Funny. I said something similar... on my fourteenth...try…’
Calmly the veteran stared at the young changeling and thought of all the regrets he had. About his young, brash, but ultimately responsible queen. Her unicorn friend who had only scratched his true abilities. And finally, Mimic, the last sight he was going to see and the one who seemed to be following in his hoofsteps.
The cloud darkness crept it’s way through Edge’s sight until he saw nothing and the captain of Chrysalis’ personal guard took his last breath.
“Mr.Edge! Mr.Edge! Sir!” Mimzy began shaking the older changeling, hoping for a response. Hoping for anything. She shook harder and more frantically as tears flowing down his face. Mimzy’s shaking slowed to a stop, but in it’s place the young changeling sobbed. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry...”
In his sadness, Mimzy was unaware of the enemies return. Not until he heard them speak again.
“Dead! Ha! He’s finally dead! My plan worked brilliantly!”
“Plan? You sent your troops into a swarm tactic and ran away when it didn’t work. You’re lucky it worked in our favor or else I’d have cut your head off.”
“In fact, once those ‘Lost’ get here, I might just point you out to them and see what happens.”
“Y-You’re joking, right?”
Mimzy looked up with dread and was nearly paralyzed by fear. Looking down on him from the rooftops was not only the changelings from earlier, but Lieutenants Skel and Mewta, the co-leaders of Morphos’ personal guard.
Mewta raised a brow, tapping her counter-part on the shoulder. “Hey Skel, isn’t that that drone with the silly name you sent with Vrynne? As a joke, remember?”
Inquisitively, the heavily armored changeling peered at Mimzy from the rooftop.“I think you’re right. Huh, never expected that little bug to finish Edge off. And here I was thinking we’d have our hooves full. Now all that’s left is that other one, Razor.”
Indignant, the changeling leader started to shout and point at Mimzy. “That’s not right! He was with them the whole time. He was- ACK!”
Skel began choking the changeling, having transformed his hoof into something resembling a griffins’ talons. Only after the ‘leader’s’ face began to turn a sickly blue did Skel release him. “That's the problem with you. You’re too theatrical and way too annoying about it all. Instead of running away, you should have just gone around the problem and directly to your goal.”
“But the ballista-”
“Should have hit you somewhere vital and left you to die in agony, I know. Now come on and stay low, there’s some ponies to repurpose,” Mewta interrupted, jumping off the roof and landing onto the deserted street. She made it only five steps before the changeling from before stepped in front of the group, pointing accusingly at Mimzy again.
“B-But...But what about him?!” Mimzy shrunk as he was put under scrutiny. He was bugmeat to them. Weak and expendable.
“What about him? He’s one little drone. He’s not a concern.” Both Morphos’ lieutenants said with annoyed glares.
“Y-Yes sir.”
Mimzy stood there looking at the ground. On one hand, they had deemed him too useless to be worth their time. A relieving thought that was countered by the fact that their ruthless reputation meant they could change their mind at any time causing Mimzy to wince in fear as all the soldiers walked past him.
Opening his eyes again, Mimzy found himself looking directly at Edge. The recently deceased still faced the young changeling, still seeing whatever it was Mimzy himself couldn’t. That is, until now.
Extracting his lance from the changeling he’d accidentally killed, Mimzy rushed down the path behind him as fast as he could until he had passed Mewta, Skel, and their soldiers and was now blocking their way.
“Pfft. Oh Queens above, look at that. He wants to stop us. How cute.” Mewta sneered, the others chuckling at the sight as well.
Truth be told, Mimzy was beyond scared. He was absolutely terrified. That being said it didn’t change the fact that he was now the only thing protecting the civilians until help arrived. Edge was right, it wasn’t a question if he ‘could’, it was a fact that he ‘must’. Raising his lance in the ready position Edge had taught him, Mimzy made his declaration. “I won’t let you pass!”
“See! I told you-” Both Mewta and Skel glared at the changeling ex-leader. Daring him to finish his sentence and see what happened. Gulping, the group’s former leader corrected himself. “What I meant to say is that I’ll take care of him Sir. Ma’am.”
Having thrown but not retrieved his javelin, the changeling drew his backup sword and charged. It wasn’t until he realized Mimzy’s newfound resolve, the angling of the lance, and more importantly the difference in their weapons’ reach did the changeling see his grave and fatal error.
Mimzy stood there, his mouth agape as yet another enemy was impaled on his lance. The other changelings on the other hand, facehoofed in unison creating a loud clunking sound as their hooves met their helmets.
“How...Just how did that idiot even get that promotion to squad leader?” Skel asked aloud. He got no answer and didn’t expect one either.
Removing the body from his weapon, Mimzy once again assumed his position, too focused on his enemies to notice the changes his body was going through.
From back and down to his hooves, his chitin started cracking, a faint glow emanating from them. Then, piece by piece, it all started falling off like a broken jigsaw puzzle to reveal a newer, bulkier, and much thicker replacement underneath.
“That’s not something you see everyday. Skel, I believe the ball is in your court on this one.” Mewta mused to her armored companion.
Hefting his axe onto his shoulder, Skel walked towards Mimzy. “You don’t say.” When within his range, Skel brought back his axe and swung. Mimzy on his end was only able to partially block as the sheer strength and quickness behind the swing left a dent in his iron lance and sent him flying towards the wall at the side.
“EEP!” Was the only sound Mimzy made before instinctively curling into a ball like he did when he played Blitzball.
Blitzball, was almost exactly like baseball except for one key difference, instead of an actual ball a curled up changeling was used so that possible collateral damage to the hive was kept to a minimum and that chitin was tested and strengthened. In fact, one of the things Mimzy didn’t often mention for modesty’s sake was that he was a star “pitcher” and until Morpho’s coup, had practiced with his father during their free time together.
As Mimzy impacted the wall, instead of crashing through some of it or crumbling from the impact as most would have, he naturally compressed and used the force to bounce back at Skel. More precisely, right at his face.
“Wha-What happened?” Mimzy whispered as he uncurled. Having acted on instinct, the last thing he remembered was blocking Skel’s attack and now suddenly laid prone in front of said changeling who was suddenly looking the other way for some reason.
Turning his head towards the young changeling revealed Skel’s bleeding and broken nose as well as his the amount of fury he expressed. “You’re gonna pay for that you little shit.” As suddenly as his broken nose, Skel suddenly felt a sharp piercing pain at his side.
“I’d like to see you try.” Razor growled from a building’s rooftop, notching an arrow to her bow for the next shot.
Skel grit his teeth as he yanked the arrow out from his side. “Mewta, you mind?” He addressed his partner harshly.
“If I must.” Mewta turned to the four other soldiers quickly. “You four get to those ponies. The more love we get, the more power we have,” she ordered, drawing her lance and quickly deflecting Razor’s next shot.
The two changelings stood at a standstill. Razor’s next arrow ready to fire, and Mewta’s lance held firmly and wings buzzing, ready to fly. Razor had no choice but to allow the four changelings to go because the moment she tried to stop them, Mewta would use it to close the distance between them and attack. The reverse could be said as well, if Mewta took to the air too soon she’d be shot down immediately.
“Tch.” Razor fired another arrow at Skel who’d returned his attention to Mimzy. Hearing the buzzing quickly closing in, Razor dove off the rooftop, but not without Mewta’s lance slashing her leg as she passed by. The changeling archer was further rewarded with several cracks along her back as her newest injury prevented a proper roll upon hitting the ground and there wasn’t enough time for an impact spell.
“Razor!” Mimzy shouted, running to his friend’s side since Skel was still busy yelling profanity and tried pulling out the arrow protruding from his back. “It’s okay, I’m going to protect you.”
Suddenly both changelings found themselves thrown at the wall by an enraged Skel, who’d reached his boiling point and ignored the arrow still in his back. Using both his front hooves, Skel physically pinned the two changelings to the wall by their throats. “No. You won’t.”
Mewta briefly twirled her lance before resheathing it. Hearing a quiet buzzing noise getting louder, Mewta looked up to see reinforcement ‘Lost’ line up along the rooftops, staring at her and Skel as they awaited their orders. With a smug smile, Mewta turned to her partner and his two captives. “Well, since you’ve got this-”
“SHUT UP AND CHECK ON THOSE PONIES!” Skel roared, knowing full well that she was about to give him an annoying quip.
The other changeling’s expression darkened. “Next time you take that tone with me, I’m stabbing you,” Mewta growled before flying off in the ponies’ direction, followed closely by the small swarm of ‘Lost’ changelings.
Struggling, a choking Razor punched futilely on Skel’s forearm. The warrior in response pressed down a little harder across her artery until she blacked out. “L-Leave her alone!” Mimzy said, following Razor’s example and trying to escape his grip. This time as a response however, Skel released the unconscious Razor and punched Mimzy in the stomach with his free hoof.
“I’m not letting you get out of this as easy as her.” Skel hissed, increasing the pressure against Mimzy’s neck and continuously punching him in the stomach. For Skel this was no longer just an execution, but a matter of pride and ego. One which was damaged by a single changeling “drone”. By the time he finished, Mimzy’s chitin armor was severely cracked and the young changeling was groaning. “Any last-” As Skel was lightening his force on Mimzy’s neck to hear the changeling’s plea, said changeling upchucked right on his face. Worst yet, he despite his groans of pain, still had a defiant look in his eyes. Dropping Mimzy onto the ground, Skel roared and began pounding his hooves at Mimzy’s face, the victim doing his best to protect his head with his forelegs.
‘-Skel!’
“Hmm?” Pausing his onslaught beating, Skel reached through the hivemind to respond to Mewta. ‘What? Are those ponies causing you trouble?’
Almost immediately, Skel received his answer in the form of Mewta and a third of the ‘Lost’ that had accompanied her flying over and toward the castle at high speed.
‘Skel, they’re coming! Regroup at the castle.’
Looking up, the warrior changeling realized something had happened and he had taken too much delight in beating up the upstart drone to realize it until now.
“Who’s coming?” Skel murmured as he faced the direction Mewta had retreated from moments ago only to see three ponies walking toward him, one heavily armored pegasus royal guard, one royal guard earth pony, and a terrified looking pegasus.
Bastion looked into the city anxiously. Not long after the airship had crashed and exploded, chaos amongst the changeling soldiers seemed to erupt as they tried to figure out what was happening and stop it. To make matters even worse, soon after the ballista towers that served as one of Canterlot’s best defenses were activated and now in enemy hooves, well all but one. Probably the worst aspect though was that the only information Bastion had was what he could see from his limited position outside the city.
“For all the trouble he’s caused, at least your ward’s directed it for something useful this time.”
Taking a deep breath, Bastion addressed Ironwing. “Yes, and unlike all of us, Mark’s managed to successfully breach this shield without the Princess’s help.”
“Of course we’d all be in there sooner, fighting for our capital had he not interrupted Princess Celestia’s spell!" Ironwing snapped back.
Bastion didn't retort in anger as would have been satisfying. Instead he opted to change the subject to another important manner. “How is she doing?”
“She’s resting. The magical feedback from stopping a spell of that magnitude is still affecting her and she needs more time to recover the lost magic.”
There was a period of silence as the two continued to look into the city, watching as the ballista towers fired, though they couldn’t yet tell whether they were at friend or foe. Finally, Ironwing asked a question that had been gnawing at him for years, yet he never had a good opportunity to ask. “What do you see in him exactly?”
“That’s none of your concern,” Bastion responded steely.
Ironwing glared at the earth pony. “It is when I’m trying to decide whether he’s reliable enough to stay alive for a rescue.”
Removing his helmet, Bastion ran his hoof through his mane and exhaled. “He’s nothing if not a survivor.”
Ironwing opened his mouth to reply, but stopped as one of the corporals under his command galloped to them, and saluted.
“S-SIRS! There’s some changelings gathering two hundred meters to the east within the shield.”
“Were they sent to try and flank us?” Ironwing asked as he and Bastion looked in that direction. True to the pony’s word, was a mass of unarmed, scared changelings. Oddly enough, there were bits of varying color mixed in with the crowd.
“There’re a lot of ponies in the group too, sir.” The corporal said, voicing what both had been thinking.
Ironwing scowled as he grabbed his lance. “A ruse or hostages?”
As the pegasus collected his weapon, Bastion scanned the crowd from a distance suspecting the same as Ironwing but finding no evidence to support it. Looking over both changeling and pony alike, he noticed one pony in particular and his brow rose in surprise before he turned to his colleague. “Civilians. It seems my student’s done your job for you.”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“Then why is she there as well?” Bastion mentioned, pointing out a particular bit of yellow amongst the changeling crowd.
Ironwing growled, before his voice boomed with commands. “Lt. Flicker, bring Silver and Bright company, leave the rest with her highness.”
A sudden and loud boom reverberated the area as a large portion of the wall of the castle exploded outward followed by an intense beam of light. Even more surprising was when the last beam of magic supporting the shield dissipated and the green shield began lifting.
The civilians, seeing their chance, ran or flew to freedom as fast as they could, but were quickly surrounded by the Royal Guards soon after. Carefully and precisely, the guards separated changelings from ponies, the unicorn guards doing magical screenings to be sure.
“Wha-What are you gonna do to us?” One of the braver changeling civilians asked.
“I’ll leave you’re judgement up to the Princess,” Ironwing barked as he searched the crowd for a specific pony. Seeing no sign of her, he looked back and noticed that she was the only one who didn’t run out. Galloping to her, he stopped as she started shaking, unable to break her eye contact with him. “Fluttershy, what are you doing here?”
“I-I was-I mean-”
“I we have an understanding that you are too naive, too soft, and more importantly, too weak to be even near a battlefield. Yet here you are.”
Fluttershy cringed. “I-I’m sorry…Father.”
“Get away from here now. You're just in the way,” Ironwing finished, in the city’s direction he heard a low buzzing getting closer.
“Ironwing, we have company.” Bastion shouted before rushing to Fluttershy’s side. “I’ll take her to safety, you and Bright company-”
Originating from the castle, a brilliant green pillar of magic arose and almost instantly recreated the shield around the city. The only difference this time however was that the shield was smaller, just enough to separate Bastion, Ironwing, and Fluttershy from the contingent of guards. To make matters worse, four armed changelings landed, cornering them, two in front and one on both their sides with the ponies’ backs against the shield.
“Gah, they got away,” One of the changelings cursed, looking past the three remaining ponies and towards the civilians.
“The King’s gonna kill us,” Another changeling said, in a panicky voice.
“At least there’s these three still. Though I don’t remember those big ones.”
“It doesn’t matter. If we get these three, at least King Morphos might spare-”
Both Bastion and Ironwing reacted, the earth pony Hero with his sword and the pegasus Great Knight with his lance, striking both changelings at the sides simultaneously and killing them in one hit. This left Fluttershy and the two changelings in front of them in a state of shock.
Recovering quickly, the two changelings moved, one charging at the front and the other flanking Ironwing with the goal of taking the two combatant ponies down one at a time. A sense of dread hung over the two however as they tried to strike back, only to have their weapons bounce off the pegasus’ armor.
“Is that it? This is what took the city?” Ironwing snorted in anger and disappointment as he allowed the two changelings desperately to keep attacking him. After about six strikes and the closest thing to damage being some minor scratches on his armor, Ironwing swept his lance across and sent both changelings crashing into the wall of a nearby building, knocking them unconcious. “Weak.”
“I’m fairly sure that what they lack in quality, they make up for in quantity.” Bastion mused, pointing up towards the rooftops. There, lining the rooftops were ten more changelings, nine of which looked at the ponies with an almost feral hunger. There was even some drool.
Ironwing couldn’t keep the smirk from his face as he eyed the newcomers with his own predatory gaze, though rather than food, Ironwing hungered the challenge. “At least these ones look like they’ll last longer.”
Without speaking, the only changeling amongst them that looked sane signalled the attack, causing the ‘Lost’ changelings to begin their assault. Likewise, Bastion and Ironwing charged themselves, the former staying defensive and closer to Fluttershy, whereas the latter aggressively attacked and stabbed forward with his lance. The two ponies were winning significantly, but not without the occasional stabs or slashes that the changelings managed to get in.
Fluttershy remembered exactly why Mark had given her the magical healing staff, and moved forward, healing the minor wounds the two had received, however, Bastion, having just successfully stopped and slain two of the attackers, was unable to stop a third from slipping past him, and towards the buttercream pegasus. Said pegasus screamed and began to curl up defensively as she expected the attack to hit her but, the moment after she closed her eyes and flinched, she heard a swoosh, crunch, and crash. Opening her eyes revealed that the changeling that had almost killed her was instead impaled on the wall of the building to her left, Ironwing’s lance still jiggling from the impact after being thrown.
“I thought I told you you were in the way,” Ironwing stated coldly before returning his attention to the four remaining changelings.
“Just who the hell are you?!” Having seen the two ponies slaughter six ‘Lost’ without so much as breaking a sweat, Mewta knew she had drastically underestimated these two and decided to pull back those that remained to the rooftop she stood on and rethink her initial strategy.
Feeling a little whimsical from his currently sated bloodlust, Ironwing decided to answer using the nickname some in the army had used for them. “The Sword and Shield of Equestria, General Ironwing and Armored Bastion.”
The changeling paled. Though that was the first she’d heard the nickname, she knew full well the reputation that both of these two carried. Immediately, Mewta ordered the retreat. It was going to take much more than just her and some ‘Lost’ to handle these two.
“Hey! Get back here!” Ironwing yelled as he was about to give chase. However, he decided against it since he knew he wouldn’t be able to catch up to them while weighed down by his heavy armor.
“I think your reputation just preceded you,” Bastion noted as he watched the the changelings flee.
“Don’t patronize me!”
“It’s not patronizing, it’s fact.” The Royal Tactician looked backwards, through the shield where the guards and civilians were, then turned back towards Ironwing. “It’s also a fact that those were likely all the civilians we can rescue. Any others are likely captured, dead, or with Princess Luna.”
“So what? Princess Celestia…” The meaning behind Bastion’s words took a moment to process for the pegasus, but when they did, Ironwing’s angry frown was replaced with a low chuckle.
Celestia had given the evacuation of civilians top priority, now that that was taken care of, Ironwing had free reign over assaulting the castle with Bastion here to provide ‘auxiliary support’. He whom had descended from a proud and noble lineage of military pegasi finally had a proper challenge. He didn’t even need to worry about his daughter either, she’d either hide as she usually did, or knowing him, Bastion would protect her from any harm that came her way. His enthusiasm at an all-time high, Ironwing puffed his chest out and began a mix of a power-walk and a march towards the castle.
“Your father sure is a hoof-full,” Bastion sighed, shaking his head before he followed behind and gestured Fluttershy to accompany him.
The buttercream pegasus gave a small nod, as she complied, walking alongside Bastion. “Y-Yes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy.”
“Do you know Mark’s plan?” Bastion asked, worried since Mark had a tendency to rush to the situation first and then think things through.
“Umm...Mark sent Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow to take care of the shield. I think he sent Mr. Sperze-”
Immediately after hearing the name, Bastion facehooved his helmet so hard that there was a hoof-shaped dent in it. Realizing that the dent had bent the metal in a way to obstruct his sight, Bastion grumbled as he was forced to remove his helmet and toss it aside. Taking a deep breath, he looked to the wide-eyed Fluttershy. “Continue.”
“I...He...Mr.Sperze was flying at all the changelings he saw. He was also laughing a whole bunch.”
“Of course he was,” Bastion sighed. “What about Mark?”
Fluttershy looked down at the ground for a moment as she tried to remember everything. “Before the ship crashed, Mark’s plan was that he’d wait until the shield went down and then go to the castle with everyone.”
“I see,” Bastion replied simply. It was a good plan, secure the city, wait for reinforcements, and then remove the threat. The stallion only hoped that Mark didn’t make any sudden change of plan for whatever reason. Seeing movement ahead, Bastion stepped in front of Fluttershy as a changeling soldier hefted his axe onto his shoulder. “Fluttershy, stay close it looks like there might be trouble ahead.”
“Who are you exactly?” Skel asked, cautiously looking at the two armed ponies. Immediately after asking the question, the heavily armored pegasus charged forward, aiming for a one-hit kill.
“Not falling for that again. Prepare yourself changeling scum!”
Narrowly dodging the lance, Skel countered full force, driving his axeblade as far into Ironwing’s side as he could and sending him flying. Unfortunately, the pegasus’ armor was too strong to fully penetrate, however, it was still enough force see some of the General’s blood before he was sent flying. “Not today!”
“Dammit!” Ironwing shouted before crashing through the wall of a nearby building.
“Father!”
“Fluttershy don’t-”
Before he could stop her, Fluttershy dashed past Bastion to where Ironwing had made a hole in the wall, her worry overcoming her reasoning and fear of the changeling. That is until she saw the glint of Skel’s axe as it headed toward her neck and Bastion only just too far away to block the blow.
Closing her eyes for the inevitable, Fluttershy felt tears in her eyes. She’d never see her friends again. Never see her pet bunny again. She couldn’t even apologize for having them attend her funeral and for the tears she knew they’d weep. She flinched as the sound of a crunch hit her ears and she knew she must be dead. She’d just been decapitated and now her consciousness was going to fade. The only problem that was that it wasn’t. Bringing her hoof up to her neck, Fluttershy realized that her head was still attached, and opening her eyes revealed the changeling was gone and instead her father climbing out of the hole he had unintentionally made, unadulterated fury written all over his face.
“Nobody. Touches. My. Daughter.”
Following his gaze, Fluttershy wished she hadn’t. On the opposite side of the street, pinned to the building was the changeling from before, Ironwing’s lance having pierced the end of Skel’s axe, through his forelegs, and ultimately through his gut, gasping and gurgling in misery before slumping and never moving again.
Too much. It was all too much. Her eyes rolling upwards, Fluttershy fainted standing up.
“Isn’t that…” Tucking his head underneath her so she slid onto his back, Bastion carried the unconscious pegasus and investigated what had Skel’s attention before they’d arrived. If not for his face and innocent vibe, Bastion wouldn’t have recognized the smaller, naturally armored changeling. “Mimzy, is that you?”
The young changeling nodded weakly before slowly rising to his feet. His legs trembled like a newborn foal’s from his new weight and from his beating. “Y-Yes Mr.Bastion, sir.”
“Is this a friend of yours?” Bastion asked, referring to the still unconscious Razor.
“This is Razor, she helped cover the civilians escape.”
Nodding, Bastion picked up Razor and slung her onto his back so that she was next to Fluttershy. “I see. Is there anyone else?”
“There’s…” Mimzy began before his expression saddened. Taking a deep breath, Mimzy held back the tears again and continued. “No sir. It’s just us now.”
Before the young changeling could sink further into depression, he felt a hoof on his shoulder and he looked up to see Bastion giving him the same look Edge had before he died. “Mimzy, you managed to give the civilians enough time to escape. You’ve done good, thank you.”
Pride and determination welling in his chest, Mimzy stood up tall (though still only reached at about the bottom of Bastion’s chin) and saluted. “It was just something I had to do, sir!”
Ironwing frowned at having these changelings around. Fortunately, he knew just from looking that he could deal with them if and likely when the need arises. “Don’t get too happy. This battle isn’t over, now get moving.”
Improvised Authors Notes: Unit List Update
Mimzy = Lvl.10 Recruit => Lvl.1 Knight (Iron Lance)
Edge = Lvl.7 Warrior (Silver Axe)
Fluttershy = Lvl.4 Troubadour (Heal Staff)
Stupid Changeling Leader = Lvl.1 Paladin (Javelin/Steel Sword)
Mewta = Lvl.5 Falcon Knight (Silver Lance)
Skel = Lvl.5 Warrior (Tomahawk)
Razor = Lvl.3 Sniper (Killer Bow/Ballista)
Changeling Soldiers = Lvl.7-9 Mercenaries/Fighters/Soldiers (Iron or Steel Weapons)
Lost Changeling Soldiers = Lvl.1-2 Heroes/Revenants/Warriors (Steel Weapons or Claws)
Armored Bastion = Lvl. 11 Hero (Brave Sword)
Ironwing = Lvl. 9 Great Knight (Silver Axe/Tempest[Legendary Lance Range 1-2])Changeling and Pony Civilians = Lvl.1-5 Villagers (Why would they have a weapon? Sheesh.)