Twelve hours before Hives destruction --
“Really, Talon, this is the best you can do?” Spark called out from his little hidden perch in what could have been described as a gym. He and Talon were currently sparring, well, it was more target practice, with Talon as the target. Talon stood at one side of the gym, stuck in darkness as he looked around at the various small crystals Gemstone had hung.
Turns out Spark’s little offensive beams of magic could bounce off the crystals and hit at odd angles. He wasn't sure why only his could, but really, he didn't complain when he could zap Talon in the tail for fun. Talon was trying to practice his awareness, and what better way than to get shot at from who knows where.
So far it wasn't working.
“You could lay off the random angles for a bit, you know!” Talon shouted back into the darkness.
“Tsk, tsk.” Spark smirked, his horn glowing for a second before a thin beam shot from it, hit a crystal, bounced to another crystal, and narrowly missed Talon as he dodged off to the side. “Isn't this exercise to help you with deflecting magic? Not dodging it?”
“Shaddup.” Talon grumbled, just before he got hit in the side of the face with the same small beam. “Ow…”
Spark shook his head, and hopped off his perch. He trotted over to Talon, snickering softly. “Suppose we should stop for now. Ember isn't here to patch you back together.”
“Oh ha ha,” Talon griped as he rubbed his cheek. “She isn't the only one who patches me back together. A few of the medical trained stayed behind in case something happened.”
“Oh yes, Cinder has helped you as well.” Scope nodded as Talon shook his head.
“You mean Tinder.” He shrugged, “Twins, remember? Often hard to tell the difference.”
“Right, shall we go?” Scope gestured towards the entrance of the gym. On their way out, they passed by Gemstone, who was almost bouncing along with a satchel on his back. Spark stopped and glanced at Gemstone, “Yo, Gemmy. What's up?”
He stopped and looked at Scope and Talon with a big grin, “Just got some left over gems from my trip into the drake kingdom. They are wonderful looking sapphires!” He pranced giddily over to them, opening a pack with his magic and floating a few out for them to look at.
Spark looked over one. “They are insanely flawed.”
“I know! Isn't it wonderful that the dragons didn't want them?!” He kept grinning as he floated it back into his pack, “Remember, I can fix them up. Not that I go toting that ability in front of the drakes and dragons, but these gems will be simply divine!”
Talon chuckled as he looked at Spark. “I can check in with Tinder, why don't you go with Gemstone and check them out?” Gemstone grinned towards Spark, before trotting off. Spark nodded towards Talon and followed after Gemstone.
Spark cantered to catch to him, glancing at his satchel. “How many did you get in there?”
“A good dozen or so, why? Are you suddenly interested in my gemstones?” Gemstone glanced over at Spark slyly. “I mean, I'm not going to complain if another changeling becomes interested, since Opal likes my gems.”
“Oh? Showing her the ropes in your craft?”
“Yup, she is taking to it well.” He paused to brush a hoof against his chest, “Not as well as yours truly, but well enough to earn some money.” He beamed towards Spark. “And these sapphires are a lovely shade of blue!”
“Blue is your favorite color, isn't it?” Spark grinned as he watched Gemstone prance towards the rooms that were set up for them.
“Yes, too bad I can't show that gem-like quality off in pony forms. But a pony with wings like this,” He gives his wings a flutter and continued. “Doesn't exist, as far as we know.”
“But there are other ways you could show it off.” Spark shrugged slightly.
“So true, I should think about it...” Gemstone trailed off, holding one of the gems in front of himself.
One Hour before Hive destruction --
Gemstone yawned as he stumbled along the corridor. Spark next to him chuckling softly as he watched Gemstone. They only recently woke up after spending who knows how long studying and fixing up the gems. The pair were currently on their way to the mess hall.
“How late did we stay up?” Gemstone yawned widely, stopping to do so before moving on.
“I have no idea. I bet Torch could tell us the time though.” Spark commented as he trotted into the mess hall, “You sit, I’ll get us some grub, okay?” Gemstone nodded and made his way to one of the tables and sat at it. Spark grinned faintly as he watched him for a moment, before going up to the bar and getting the makings for a dragon meat sandwich.
He eventually gathered the food and floated both trays back to Gemstone, who was resting his head on his hooves, eyes half closed. He gently set the trays down and sat across from him, chuckling softly.
“Breakfast is served, Gemmy.” Spark spoke as Gemstone snaps awake and looked towards the food.
“Thanks Spark, you always seem to know what I want at the moment.” Gemstone started to eat the sandwich before him.
“Just call it one of those hunches.” Spark chuckled softly as he too joined in the meal.
“So, what is on the agenda for today?” Gemstone asked between bites.
“Talon was wanting more training later, but for now he seems preoccupied with reading. So I won't pressure him into more scorch marks.” Spark snickered. “So, we can study more of those gems, getting them looking right to resell so we can have some money for the Hive would be a good idea.”
“Those gems should be worth a bit more since we’re fixing them up.” Gemstone nodded with a smirk.
“Alright, after we eat, we can go back and continue work on them.” The pair nodded and enjoyed their meal while chatting more about the gems that Gemstone had acquired. The pair spent the next half hour chatting, before they both get up and deposit their trays by the main counter and head out the mess hall.
The pair happily start trotting back to their room, nodding to Talon as he passed by them. They made it halfway before they both felt a shift in the soil beneath them. They both looked around as they noticed the walls crack down the hallway they were going down just as a thin rainbow shockwave passed through them. They both stopped, and suddenly started to hear screams, both in the hivemind and further down the hall.
“Flee!” Resounded through the hivemind as panic filled the air. Spark and Gemstone quickly looked at each other before bolting for the nearest exit. Along the way they grab Cinder, and as the three of them make for the exit, they spotted Talon heading deeper into the hive. Gemstone called out to him, but he seemed to ignore it as the hive crumbled around them. The three of them ran along the winding tunnel, it collapsing behind them as they ran.
The three made it out into a clearing, just outside the entrance and not a moment too soon. They panted as they looked back, seeing rubble and rocks blocking their path.
“Oh no..” Gemstone sat, putting his hooves to his mouth he just stared at the entrance. “Our home!”
Cinder sat and stared too, going silent, as Spark looked around.
“We aren't alone guys…” He trailed off, jerking his head to the left and quickly erecting a shield. A drake leapt out of the foliage, and impacted the shield. The other two changelings quickly sprang to their hooves as they saw the drake break the shield as he flopped against it from his failed sneak pounce attack.
“Seize the changelings for the prince!” Another drake shouted as two more leapt out at them. Spark managed to zap one, but the other grabbed Cinder. Gemstone was batted away as the drake wrestled with her. He rolled for a bit before getting to his hooves. By that time another drake had wrestled her to the ground and pinned her.
Spark growled as he looked at the drake that had hit his shield, it was slowly standing back and growling.
“GO!” Cinder shouted as she struggled against the drakes.
“We won't leave you!” Spark shouted as he powered up his horn, angling it towards one of the two on her.
“More are on the way, I can feel them getting closer! Get out of here while you can!” She shouted, before one of the drakes managed to tie her muzzle shut. Gemstone backed up towards Spark, looking back and forth between the drakes.
“Grr!” Spark growled, opening his wings as Gemstone did the same, they both quickly took off and headed away from the mountain, due west if one were able to tell a direction.
One Day after Hive’s Destruction --
“You need to eat, Gemstone.” Spark said softly, holding out a fish he caught with a griffin paw. The pair were currently sitting next to a stream, as they continued to make their way west. They had remained as natural changelings so the drakes couldn't really follow them.
“And why should I? Out of our hive, we’re the only ones that are left. And we left Cinder behind! Why did we do that?!” Gemstone shouted, making Spark flatten his ears and look down. “We could have saved her! Who knows what those scaled beasts are going to do to her now!”
“We....” Spark trailed off, as he continued to look down.
“And what are we going to do? Where are we going to go, huh? To Equestria? Why in Tartarus would we do that?”
Spark remained silent as Gemstone continued his rant, tears forming as he looked away.
“Why…” Gemstone curled up, sniffling. “Why would the drakes do this?” He muttered as he buried his head under a wing. Spark sighed and curled up around him, laying his wing over the other changeling.
“Just let it out.” Spark said quietly, just loud enough for Gemstone to hear, and that's exactly what Gemstone started doing. He quickly rolled over and buried his head into Sparks stomach, holding and clutching at him tightly. Crying loudly as Spark held him and slowly stroked a hoof down the back of his neck, next to his crest. Spark let a few tears go as well, but remained strong so Gemstone wouldn't notice.
They remained that way for who knows how long before Gemstone finally pulled away slightly, looking up at Spark.
“We’re alone, it’s just you and me now.” He muttered, voice cracking as he spoke.
“I don't think so. I'm sure others got away, and they will find their place in the world.” Spark grinned warmly down to Gemstone, resting a hoof just above his crest. “I think the Queen's final order was to head to where your heart tells you. And I feel it tugging me towards Equestria. How about you?”
Gemstone nodded slowly, brushing away a few tears, “Yeah. That's what it feels like. And I won't be alone.” He looked at the fish that had stopped wiggling a while ago, sighing softly he glanced back to Spark, “How are we going to get there?”
Spark looked skyward, “Very small pony towns riddle the coastal edge of this land. If we can get to one, and get on a boat. From there…” He trailed off for a moment with a shrug, “Wherever the wind takes us.”
“We can't go looking like this, you know.” Gemstone finally starts to eat the fish as he spoke.
“Once we get closer to one, we can take on pony-guises. Until then, we should remain as we are and limit our magic use.” Spark nodded slightly, sighing. “In the meantime, I'm afraid we will have to think of something to disguise ourselves as.”
“A pegasus for me.” Gemstone says quickly, slowly standing up with the fish hanging out of his mouth.
“Fitting, you do like your wings.” Spark spoke softly, letting Gemstone stand first before he stood. “And I suppose a unicorn for me.” He paused for a moment. “Feeling better?”
Gemstone sighed, looking in the direction they came from, “No. But enough to move on. I had put so much work into the gems there.” He looked down for a moment, then back at Spark. “We should get going, don't want the drakes to pick up on that little bit of shifting you did.”
“Right.” Spark nodded, opening his wings and hovering up with Gemstone doing the same before they both flew off west more. They kept on flying, taking a short break every few hours and eventually stopped for the night near what looked like an empty hole in the ground. Scope peered in first, looking around after his eyes adjusted to the darkness.
“Looks empty, we can sleep here for the night. You can sleep first.” He turned and gestured Gemstone inside.
“Shouldn't you get rest? You did you use your magic to help us get away, and to zap that drake, and shield us, and…” He shuts up as hoof is pressed to his lips.
“I am a soldier drone, as such I have more endurance then you. I will get rest after you do so, and until then I will keep watch. Now you get rest, okay?” He pointed inside as he finished up. Gemstone nodded and crawled into the hole, with Spark following in behind him. The hole itself seemed barely bigger than 10 feet across, but was enough for the two to move around comfortably, though they were able to make it work with Spark laying by the entrance to it and Gemstone on the far side.
The night went by with no problems, though the pair weren't able to get more than an hour or two of sleep each. The images of the hive falling around them too fresh in their minds along with losing the comfort of friends and family. Only when they are curled around each other do they manage some form of rest.
The next day, the pair were roused from their slumber by the sound of chirping birds. Spark was awake first and had moved to the entrance, poking his head out and sniffing at the air. Gemstone yawned widely as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
“We should go back to sleep Spark.” He muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.
“As much as I’d like more sleep, we can't.” Spark shook his head, looking back at Gemstone. “If we hurry, we should reach the beach by nightfall, tomorrow.”
“Alright.” Gemstone muttered flatly. Spark sighed, turning to face him.
“Look, I know you’re hurting, I am too. But we can mourn later.” Spark sighed again, staring at Gemstone who was sniffling. “Okay, we can rest a little longer, but we have to move out soon.”
“Thank you, Spark.” Gemstone let out a small content sigh as he relaxed a little. “I know we should be moving, but I doubt a little bit of time to wake up will be bad.”
Spark shook his head, looking out the cave entrance. “No, a little will be helpful. I should be thinking of your well being first. Your a harvester, not a soldier like me.”
“And you should learn to relax. We both can't be stiff soldier types.” Gemstone snarked at him. Spark raised an eyebrow as he looked back at his friend.
“And you're awake enough to be snarky, that means you’re good enough to move out.” He stuck out his tongue at him. “A few minutes more, then we can.” Spark sat, facing out of the cave as he sighed to himself. The silence that followed allowed him to think on recent events. They were ousted from their home by the drakes, with no clue of how they caused that rainbow shockwave thing.
Why? What had happened to force the drakes to do this? And what would they do going forward? All of these questions he couldn't answer on his own, but at least he wasn't alone in this endeavor. He let out a long sigh and rubbed his forehead as he fought off the headache that was forming from thinking too much.
He grumped and rubbed the spot as he closed his eyes.
“Are you thinking about it too?” Spark heard from next to him. He raised his head and looked next to him, seeing Gemstone laying next to him, a wing draped over him and his head resting on his neck.
“About why everything happened?” Gemstone sighed, nuzzling gently into his sibling. “I guess we should get moving.”
“We still have a bit before we need to go.” Spark curled his tail around Gemstones softly. “We can hide here if any pass over and wait till your ready to go. And I'm sorry I'm being so forceful.”
“Uh huh.” Gemstone mumbled as he relaxed.
Three Days after Hives Destruction. --
An orange pegasus with a deep blue mane stood next to a white unicorn with a blue mane that had a had a pink stripe in it, and a darker blue stripe in his blue tail. The pair of odd ponies stood outside what could only be described as a fort. It had short walls of stone, with guard towers at each corner, manned by unicorns who has bows near by.
There were a few scorch marks upon each of the walls, but they looked to be fading, and the walls were getting repaired as one of the guards looked in their direction. He stared at them both and sighed softly.
“Okay, why are you two just standing there?”
The orange pegasus squeaked as the white unicorn stepped forward. “We are hoping to get passage to Equestria.” The unicorn stated.
“Well. Why should we allow a random pegasus and unicorn passage on one of our ships? I doubt you two can cook.” He paused to look the pegasus over. “Can you even manipulate the weather?”
“Er, I can sit on a cloud!” The pegasus grinned triumphantly as the unicorn face hoofed. The pony before them just sighed, doing the same as the white unicorn.
“So… that's a no. What can you do?”
“Well, Topaz Gleam here is pretty good with gems. He has a talent for seeing which gems are good and worthwhile.” The unicorn spoke calmly as he gestured to the pegasus, who nodded quickly.
“Huh, a pegasus with a penchant for gems. I assume you two are from some hidden tribe in these lands? However you managed to elude the dragons is beyond me.” The pony grumbled, then focused on the unicorn. “And what can you do?”
The unicorn merely smirked. “Hit a target the size of a mug 100 yards away.”
The pony raised an eyebrow, “Really? I almost want you to prove that. However I bet you can't aim so well on an empty stomach and I can hear both your stomach's growling from here.” He turned partially. “You two will be allowed in, and given transport to Equestria. However, you both will be following the captain's orders. You both will most likely be on cleaning duty.” He looked at the pegasus, “And as for you… I don't know.” He shrugged softly, then trotted back into the fort, the pair following. “Also, unicorn. I didn't get your name.”
“Er… Scope.” The one time the soldier changeling didn't have something on the tip of his tongue, the unicorn sighed to himself. The pony before them glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow for a moment before shrugging and moving on.
“Certainly an odd name. But I have heard of far worse.” The guard led them to a mess hall type building and gestured inside. “Mention Blitz Force and you should get something resembling a meal, okay?” The guard nodded to the pair before turning and walking back to his post.
The pair went in and managed to secure a meal. And afterwards were shown to the boat. The pair just stared in awe for a bit before Blitz Force almost pushed them into the water to get them to stop staring. They were shown to their quarters and allowed to rest there or, more preferably, familiarize themselves with the ship.
When night fell, the pair found themselves on the deck of the ship, staring out into the sea and the land they called home far off in the distance. The pair sat at the back of the ship, watching the land fade away in the moonlight.
Gemstone, or rather Topaz Gleam, had his wing across the white unicorn. They both let out a soft sigh as they leaned on each other.
“I already miss it.” Topaz softly whispered to Scope.
“So do I.” the unicorn sighed, leaning on the pegasus a little more. “But it's behind us now.” The pegasus nodded slightly.
“And I wonder what's going to happen going forward.” The unicorn shrugged slightly in response to that, and the pair fell silent again, just as the sound of a stallion clearing their throat behind them. They both squeaked and looked over their shoulders to see a brown bat pony standing there, looking over the pair with an impassive face.
“Enjoying the view, colts?” He spoke evenly, as the pair quickly nodded. “Hopefully I didn't scare you two, but why were you trying to get away from that land?” He kept his wings closed at his sides, mostly out of view of the pair.
“We were wanting to get away from the war that took our home from us.” Scope sighed, looking down.
“Hmm. If you say so.”
“Why’d you want to know?” Topaz asked, watching the pony shrug.
“No reason. Prime Rule will tell you what to do tomorrow, so I suggest you two go back down and get sleep.” The bat pony spread his wings, which earned him a squeal from Topaz. He stopped mid flap and looked over the pegasus curiously.
“What kind of pegasus are you?” Topaz asked, as his eyes fell upon the bat wings.
“I am a thestral, otherwise known as a bat pony. I am a rare breed, but at least the ponies of Equestria know what I am.” He tilted his head as the pegasus was suddenly at his side, looking over a wing very intently. “Uh….”
Scope sighed loudly, “Forgive my friend. We haven't actually seen a bat pony before, and seeing as how he was fond of the drake style of wings.”
“Ah, that makes sense.” The bat pony nodded, keeping his wings extended as Topaz looked them over in great detail. He waited patiently for a few minutes before letting out a soft sigh. “I should get up to the crow’s nest.”
Scope nodded slightly, lighting up his horn and pulling the pegasus back. Topaz whined a little as he glared back at Scope.
“I wasn't done looking!”
“He has a job to do!”
“I… er…” Topaz looked back at the bat pony and hung his head, “Sorry. I got a little excited there.”
“It’s okay. Not the reaction I am used to, but thankful none the less. Normally bat ponies are somewhat fear-inspiring, and to be looked at with excitement like that felt kind of nice.” The pony nodded, “Name’s Wind Echo, yours are?”
“I’m Scope, and this is Topaz Gleam.” The unicorn gestured to himself, than to the pegasus.
“A pleasure.” He bows. “I should get up to that nest and you two should get sleep.” He grins a moment, showing off his short fangs before extending his wings, waiting a moment, then fluttering up to the crows nest.
The pair watched him fly up, sigh, and headed back in and try to get to sleep.