//------------------------------// // Counter-Ambush // Story: A Changeling Tradegy // by Reddling Rain //------------------------------// Lazni, Pupae, and Prominence quickly stepped out of the back door, trotting through the sputtering of rain. The storm above did not look ready to break, but some of the heavier clouds were beginning to dampen the pavement. This was not, however, enough to say any of the Changelings from their course. the drones closed the back door behind them, following their queen like lost ducklings as Pupae lead the way back to the main roads. None of them broke the silence between their group until they were well outside of Three Hooves. Prominence summoned up the map she had stuffed away and looked it over with glee, pointing out the name of the town they were headed to, which was labeled "Raspberry Creek". Pupae slowed her pace to gaze at the map as well, although it was with a more somber expression. "This is useful, but it doesn't appear to have trade routes on it." She remarked coolly. "It does, they're just really small." Prominence pointed to barely legible lines on the paper. before too many drops of rain could threaten he map, Prominence rolled it up and tucked it away again. The group started up a hill as Pupae gave a huff, looking ahead on the path with narrowed eyes. "Where do we set up our ambush, Prominence? I'm certain you are fine with your canteen, but myself and my drones must drink." Lazni pulled her eyes away and gazed at Prominence and the drones. Prominence had the top of her canteen open, allowing it to collect little bits of rainwater. The drones had a similar idea, except they had their heads tilted back and were trying to gather what few drops of water would land in their maws. "Oh they'll get their water. Shame they aren't hardier like myself or Lazni though." Porminence said. Pupae turned from Prominence, cocking her head at Lazni. "Speaking of. Why are you not thirsty or hungry in some manner, Lazni?" Lazni was prepared to answer this question, as it was not the first time she had been addressed about her abilities. "infiltrator type drones are better optimized to retain water and food, kind of like the camels across the ocean. We can go for days before we need to fill up again." "What-- what is a camel?" Pupae asked. Prominence looked equally puzzled. "Uh, perhaps the next town will have an almanac. Then we can look for a picture of one." Pupae and Prominence exchanged a confused glance but dropped the subject, pushing on up the hill. "The matter of camels aside," Pupae announced, "You still haven't told me where we'll set up this ambush, Prominence." "Look for a ridge. These paths become treacherous the higher up we go. We'll look for a weak caravan and then surround them on both sides. Unless the ponies pulling the wagon want to jump to their deaths, we'll be able to take what we please." Prominence gestured to the mountains ahead, where vague paths appeared on bald patches in the forest. "Lazni and the drones will wait for the group to pass them, and then we will appear in the front. Most wagons in these areas do not have more than three or four ponies, so as long as we pick a secluded trader we will succeed." --- Lazni turned her nose up at a leaf tickling her cheek. On either side of her were Pupae's drones, ready to jump out as soon as she did. Further up the road Prominence and pupae were sitting in a delicate silence. Lazni had laid the branches and leaves down so that they would all be covered, yet still have a view of the road. Although it was more likely that they would hear the ponies before they saw them, Lazni was not content with jumping blindly out of the bushes. The sun was setting by the time Lazni finally heard noise. She had nearly fallen asleep waiting, but her ears perked up with concern at the noise of wagon wheels. Two ponies were trotting up the path, and could not be more than a minute or two from the ambush. Patting the drones next to her, Lazni gave them nods to make sure they were ready. Both drones had somewhat dim eyes, but nodded, showinjg they were ready to follow Lazni's lead. The forest was not silent-- the wagon wheels made a great deal of noise whenever they smacked into rocks in the trail, and the misting from earlier had turned into a spitting drizzle of rain-- enough to keep the ground wet but not turn it to mud. Lazni could do nothing more than blink and breathe in as quietly as possible, waiting for the right moment. The wagon passed in front of Lazni and the drones, An earth stallion and a unicorn stallion pulling the wagon, while a pegasus and another unicorn rested in the coach. All three of the Changelings held their breath as the wagon went past... The world moved very quickly for the next few seconds. The wagon stopped as if it had been expecting to be halted the moment that Pupae and Prominence emerged from the scrubs. Lazni and the two drones scrambled out from their hiding place in the brush, blocking any retreat that the caravan might try to consider. All five Changeling were camouflaged as grass green ponies with dark manes. "Get off the wagon!" Pupae demanded of the ponies. "We want your things not your lives." Prominence decreed, stepping forward towards the ponies, who still looked unphased. Lazni felt apprehension grow inside her as she looked over the wagon and the lack of responses from the ponies. Even if they weren't scared of banditry, surely they would have produced weapons by now. Something was off, but lazni couldn't pick out what it was. "As you wish." One of the pegasi said, hopping down from her spot in the coach. There was a flash as Pupae aimed her mind control spell at the pony, but strangely, it just seemed to bounce away, falling harmlessly into the surrounding air and disappearing. Pupae's look of shock was more than enough for Lazni to figure out what was wrong. "Trap!" Lazni yelled out, taking a step back as the curtains on the back of the wagon were flung open. The inhabitants of the wagon quickly dropped their guises, their flesh melting away in fire to reveal their real form. there was a burst of light as Prominence summed a fiery whip, striking out towards the wagon and the ambushers it contained. "Don't set the thing on fire, you witch!" Pupae screamed, locking hooves with what had formerly been the second pegasus in the coach. No less than 8 Changelings had revealed themselves now, and while two of them were trying to work their way out of harnesses, the other six were throwing themselves their would be attackers. Each of Pupae's drones was fighting two soldiers drones who had rushed from the wagon, while Prominence began shooting fire at her assailant-- who unlike the other drones, was a lesser Princess. Lazni was certain she recognized her, but she couldn't remember her name. Lazni, for her part, was unsure what to do. She had no problem attacking ponies, but now she was going to fight her own kind? No, she couldn't. She wouldn't. Lazni felt her hooves back her up, retreating her from the combat as the soldiers began to overwhelm Pupae's drones, pushing the latter into the ground and beginning to pummel their chitin, just waiting for it to grow weak enough that it would snap open. "Lazni, get down!" Prominence's cry came from above the wagon and Lazni obeyed, ducking and rolling backwards down the ridge. There was a burst of light as Prominence landed between the struggling drones, sending two waves of flame directly into their attackers. The two attackers on the inside took the full force of the blast, their lives flashing away as Prominence roasted them alive. This sudden loss coupled with Prominence joining the fight was enough to allow Pupae's drones to regain their footing, fighting evenly now with the singed soldier drones still left alive. Looking out from between her hooves, Lazni could see Pupae kick a changeling down the ridge, loud crunching noises echoing after the fallen combatant. However, the two soldier drones that had been in harnesses were now free, and were it not for Prominence rejoining the fight, Pupae looked nearly overwhelmed by her three foes. There was a crack of fire as Prominence fell like a demon, her whip wrapping around one o the soldier's legs and pulling them into the ground. Her hooves and horn were now coated in living flame, each one repeatedly slamming into any nearby targets she could reach. Lazni had no idea where Prominence had learned to fight like this, but she was certainly glad that she had. The struggled seemed to end no sooner than it had begun, All of the soldiers laying dead from cracked chitin, smashed bodies, and Prominence's flames. Only the lesser Princess was conscious now, laying on her side and breathing heavily as Prominence presided over her. "Let us be done with this." Pupae panted, stepping over towards the defeated princess. Prominence however, raised a hoof, motioning for Pupae to back away. "How many more were with you?" Prominence demanded, grabbing the changeling and pushing her up against the wagon. "sshk... Just us." The changeling coughed. "The others will find you, Princess Prominence." "That remains to be seen." Prominence released the changeling, allowing her to slide to the ground. "Lazni, check the wagon for supplies." Lazni sprung to her hooves, happy to have something to look at that wasn't the ground or the carnage.Poking her head inside, Lazni appraised the belongings. Whomever this wagon had belonged to before, they seemed to have not had a chance to collect any of their belongings. Along with supplies for a several days trip, there were various personal items like photographs, brushes, clothes for colder weather. The necessities aside, There were many boxes that contained fabrics and dyes-- the goods that the merchants were planning to peddle. "There are some spare canteens and pony food in here, along with cloth and dyes!" Lazni called out. She heard a thud as Prominence lifted the Princess again, slamming her into the side of the wagon. Lazni could not make out what Prominence said, but the next moment she heard the sound of Prominence dragging the Princess against the wagon. Lazni turned around to see the changeling deposited onto the floor at her feet, scorch marks covering her chitin and the entire creature looking simply worse for the wear. "Throw out a box of cloth, any will do." Prominence panted. Lazni pushed one of the boxes past the changeling on the floor, letting it fall off the wagon and onto the ground. "Pupae-- can your drones pull this wagon?" Prominence asked. "They can have water and then we move." "They are not yours to abuse, Prominence." Pupae scoffed, looking curiously at the cloth. "They can pull it for a time, but not all the way to the next town." "I guess we'll be taking turns with them then. Wrap some cloth around your hooves too." Prominence began pulling out rolls of cloth and handing them to the drones and Pupae. "Lazni, get us that water and then tend to our prisoner here. We need to get moving as fast as we can." Lazni hurried the supplies forward, passing out canteens to the others as they began to drink up like they'd never had water in their lives. It was not more than a few minutes before they had consumed all of the water, the empty canteens tossed back into the wagon for refilling whenever they found clean water again. Lazni stayed inside of the wagon, not wanting to look at the remains of the battle outside. Following urging from Prominence, she and Pupae hooked up the wagon to the drones and began to go on their way, slowly lugging along the ridge. The changelings in the coach and pulling hte wagon disguised themselves again, posing as simple traders. Once they were safely moving along, Prominence ducked into the wagon, looking over what was inside and looking conflicted. "What's wrong, Prominence?" Lazni asked. "We'd move a lot faster if we dump everything in this wagon that we don't need. I'm sure these merchants have some money hidden in these boxes somewhere, but other than that, we don't have anything. We may need to buy things from ponies in order to survive." Lazni nodded, already aware of where Prominence was going with this. "But if we don't dump this stuff, then we might get found by Changelings who see... the battlefield." "That was hardly a battlefield." Prominence murmured, inspecting the boxes with conflict ion. "Whatever qualms you have, you need to move past them. There will be far worse battles to come, with many more causalities." Prominence grew quiet, then knelt down, holding up the face of the defeated looking prisoner. "Do you have a name?" Prominence asked them. "--No. No name." The changeling whispered. "A nymph without a name. Well, you are lucky that you were the one who found us, nymph. You can be of use to me." The nymph shook her head, backing away. "No-- traitors to the Hivemother will be destroyed." "She's hardly your Hivemother." Prominence mused. "Rest. We will not hurt you further if you don't resist. I have plans for you, so take care of yourself." Prominence dropped the changeling's chin, letting her drop back to the floor. "Keep an eye on her Lazni. I will speak with her later."