Chapter 19
Fair Heart looked up with a frown as Breezy Mint’s head fell to her desk, the changeling letting out a loud groan. She could understand as, even with the team of fifteen ponies working under them, the past week had been nothing more than a headache. Six hundred and fifty six changelings, that’s how many had registered in the city so far, and there was still a long queue in the corridor outside. “When can we shut up for the day?”
“Um, Ms Mint? I can run the place for the rest of the afternoon if you and Ms Heart wish to leave...” The changeling’s head rolled back, looking towards the desk in the corner and the pony sat there… only it wasn’t a ‘full’ pony. At first, Breezy had thought that Mantis Gold was one of the few traitors allowed to live, but not escaping without a stigma. Instead, his mother was a changeling and his father was a pony, giving him a rather unique look.
His body was the same black chitinous material that Breezy Mint herself had, but unlike either her reptilian eyes or the pupiless orbs other drones had, he was blessed with ‘normal’ pony eyes. This was true for his bleach blonde mane and tail as well, making it seem like he had black fur from a distance, and she thought he was a traitor as he had no wings. He had accompanied his mother and father on the first day, and now worked for the Changeling Relations Department. By the end of the first week, Breezy Mint and Fair Heart’s ‘workforce’ had almost doubled… and none of them were ponies. “Thank you, Manty. We’ll see you Monday morning.”
The changeling and mare smiled at each other and stood up, leaving their office. In the corridor was a long line of changelings, some with ponies next to them, each one waiting to be processed by the administrative aids. They all turned to look at Breezy with a smile, word having spread that it was thanks to her they no longer needed to hide.
Knowing that she didn’t want that level of attention, Fair Heart took her partner’s hand and chose one of the side corridors, her former colleagues not even caring as they walked past. Breezy knew that this route took them out past the training grounds, and it made her smile as she’d get to see Gray’s, and mostly Dean’s, unique way of training the recruits.
Out in the gardens the noise of spell gunfire made their ears twitch, followed by a booming voice. “IF YOU PISS LIKE YOU SHOOT, YOU’RE CLEANING THE DAMN LATRINE! SORT YOUR SHIT OUT!” More high pitched whines filled the gardens, the two mares giggling as they walked towards a small bank. The other side was in the safe zone, but afforded them a good view of the range. They sat down at the top, where Gray was sitting just below them, sharing a picnic with Celestia and watching Dean’s squad. “ENOUGH WITH THE LIMP WRISTS, LADIES; YOU’RE NOT BEATING OFF YOUR BUNKMATES!”
The alicorn mare nudged Gray, giving him a playful smile “Is your squad this bad, Gray?” The man slid an arm over Celestia’s shoulder, motioning further down the bank with the other. Breezy and Fair Heart looked over, seeing Gray’s squad having a rest from training.
“Nope, they all passed pretty well. Had a few issues, but some… ‘positive’ reinforcement, and they got it squared away. I gave them the rest of the day off, as it was scheduled for gun training, on the condition they stay within the castle walls.” Gray turned back to Celestia, their lips meeting in a soft kiss. The sound of somepony going ‘awww’ behind them caused them to break apart, smirking when they saw their extra guests.
Breezy pouted at them when she realised she wouldn’t get any love energy from them this afternoon, but the sound of some recruits giggling caused her to look back over. Whilst most were happy to train on their own, do research, or just lay in the sun’s warm rays, some seemed to be enjoying themselves a bit more.
She spotted at least two couples, both mares pressed to the side of a stallion, and decided to have some fun. Gray watched her with a slight frown as she had a whispered conversation with Fair Heart, then stood up and walked towards one of the pair, green flames silently swirling around her.
He looked to Celestia to see how she would react, but she had just had a smirk on her face as the changeling became a perfect likeness of one of the mares. The unicorn noticed, giving a gasp when she saw herself approaching. The earth pony stallion she was resting against was still dozing, so Breezy knelt down and whispered into her ear.
Gray heard the mare giggle, before she nodded her head, moving closer to the stallion, Breezy lying down against his other side in a mirror image. Looking behind him Gray saw Fair Heart biting her lip, her legs pressed tightly together, and briefly wondered if perhaps Breezy and the mare had done something similar in private.
A nudge from Celestia showed she knew what he was thinking, nodding towards the changeling as the stallion woke up. He suddenly jumped to his feet, staring down at the two mares. Gray laughed when the stallion slapped himself, before blinking a few times in order to see if he was dreaming.
Breezy then smiled sweetly at him and teleported away, landing next to the giggling Fair Heart and returning to her natural form. “WITH AIM LIKE THAT, YOU MIGHT MISS THE FRONT LINES AND HIT THEIR SUPPORT! GUNS DOWN, TIME FOR LUNCH!” Dean’s squad did as asked, pulling out the meals they had collected from the mess in the morning. Their tough leader had been kind enough to provide them with extra water to combat the heat.
“Sir?” Gray pulled away from the kiss he was sharing with Celestia, frowning as he saw his squad at the base of the small rise. The current senior recruit stepped forward with a nervous swallow, glancing round at the others. “We were wondering… could you tell us some more about your world?” The man smiled, motioning for them to sit down, Breezy and Fair Heart scooting closer to hear.
Dean walked along the line of sixteen targets, marking down each good and bad shot. The majority of them were getting it, but there were three or four that would need some extra training. So much for going to Las Pegasus with Joy for the weekend, and he’d have to make it up to her.
As he returned to his squad, he noticed Gray’s sat around him and Celestia along with Breezy and Fair Heart, all listening intently. With a scowl he entered the room where his recruits were eating, chatting quietly with one another at the tables. “Lanes seven, nine, twelve, and fifteen - stand up!” The four selected ponies did as instructed, turning towards the man. “Any of you been to Los Pegasus?”
“Sir, I have, sir!” He glared at the proud looking unicron, slowly walking forward. One part of him was happy when he saw sweat beading at the mare’s forehead as he stepped close, narrowing his eyes. “S-sir?”
“Because of you four, I will not be going this weekend. That gun doesn’t miss; you’re the ones fucking up! Get it sorted!” He didn’t even give her a chance to respond, moving to a corner where his own lunch awaited, away from the ponies as he had meat today. He noticed them stealing glances his way, then averting their eyes when he met their gazes. “Okay, what?”
“Sir… what are you afraid of?” The question made him do a double take at the pegasus that asked him, being the youngest of the squad. He was almost a colt. Leaning his back against the wall, Dean gave a chuckle when he noticed the entire squad’s attention on him.
“Me? Nothing, ain’t got time to be afraid.” Looking around at the recruits, Dean gave a small sigh as he saw none of them believed him. “Fine… Camel spiders, those fuckers are evil! What they do is make an area of the body go numb, and when you can’t feel it, starting eati... something interesting outside, recruit?” The white furred mare’s cheeks went bright red, Dean following her gaze out of the window. He fought down a grin as he saw Joy out there, waving to Gray’s group and then looking around. The man got a wicked thought in his head. “Oh, like the nurses, do you? Checking out her flank, huh?”
“N-no, sir!”
“Really? NURSE OPENHEART, IN HERE!” The mare’s cheeks blushed brighter as the earth pony walked towards the room, having not seen them due to the fact the windows only allowed vision out, not in. She smiled when she entered, having seen quite a few recruits at the infirmary during their training. “I think you should know the pegasus over there seems to have the hots for you.”
“Really now? Well, she is pretty cute.” The recruit’s face was as red as a strawberry, which got even brighter as the nurse walked over, swaying her hips seductively. She leant in close, smirking as the recruit swallowed nervously. “Sorry to disappoint, hun, but I’ve got my special somepony already.”
Joy then stood up and walked over to Dean, sitting in his lap and shocking the squad by passionately kissing the man. Even he was surprised by her open display of affection in front of the recruits, his arms wrapped around and holding her close even when their lips broke. “Joy, I may not be able to make it this weekend, four of these balky foals couldn’t hit a barn door. I bet the ponies from my world shoot better than them. And they don't even have hands!”
She turned around and pouted at the squad, leaning against Dean’s side. “You don’t want to be here this weekend, do you? I want my stallion to come away with me, for a weekend of fun.” Each of them shook their heads in silence, causing the mare to give a small giggle, kissing Dean’s cheek before she stood up. “Well, I’ll see you at home. I’ll start dinner later than usual just in case.”
Dean, along with most of the stallions and a few mares, watched her go with her swaying hips and flicking tail, before they looked at the widely grinning man. “Yeah, yeah. I also like long moonlit walks on the beach, reading a good book, and hanging out with my friends. Now, you all done eating?” The recruits nodded, Dean standing up and stretching. “THEN STOP PUSSYFOOTING AROUND AND GET BACK OUT THERE!”
“...so yeah, that’s how we get around our world.” The pegasi of Gray’s squad glanced at their wings, slightly jealous that a race who couldn’t fly naturally could traverse the air almost ten times the average speed of a winged pony. “As you might have guessed, we don’t have magic, but there are myths and stories about people having it.” This made the unicorns of the group grin smugly, but their condescending expressions were soon wiped away as the man continued, Celestia dozing as she rested her head on his shoulder. “What we lack in magic, we make up for in technology. We may not have fancy spell guns, but, as far as I know, we’ve began space exploration and no one else has.”
Several of the recruits looked up to the sky, trying to imagine what their world would look like from high above, knowing of only one mare that had been unfortunate enough to experience such a view. It was still hard to believe the astounding number of humans living in their cities, more than a few having a population greater than that of Equestria as a whole, and still growing.
“What about you, sir? Friends, family?” Gray cast his gaze to the floor as something he hadn’t been trying to think about entered his mind. His father wasn’t an issue, having passed away several years ago, but his mother and small group of friends… even after a month and a half, they’d still be looking for him, most likely believing he had taken a job on short notice. Then there were his colleagues; once they confirmed he wasn’t working for them, and hadn’t been for a while, then panic would start to set in. “Sir, did I say something wrong?”
“No… no, you didn’t. It’s just something I was trying to ignore.” The man smiled weakly as Celestia placed a hand on his arm, and he leaned against her, taking comfort in her presence. it was a few moments before he returned his attention to the recruits, who were all staring at him with worry; after all, since the month and a half in which he had become their instructor, they had never seen him looking so dejected. “During the attack, a changeling struck Princess Sparkle on the back of her head. At the time she was creating a portal for both myself and Sergeant Hollis to go home, but because of the strike, the link between our worlds was destroyed. I can never go home, and will be here until the end of my life.”
Each one of the Phoenix squad recruits averted their gazes from the man seated before them, knowing neither what to say nor how they’d feel to lose everything they ever had, until one of the younger recruits stepped forward. Gray looked at her with a raised eyebrow as her eyes flicked everywhere but to his face, and she suddenly dropped to her knees, throwing her arms around his neck. “It may not seem like much, but you’re part of our family now, Sergeant.” That statement brought a genuine smile to his face, the mare stepping away with a bright blush on her cheeks, Celestia giving her an appreciative smile. Gray was about to reply when a shout came up the hill.
“SGT HEARTBELLE!” Turning from the group clustered in front of him, Gray saw Dean standing at the fence running around the firing range, his squad behind him and all bearing large grins. “Seeing as your squad is slacking off, how about a friendly competition?”
“Sure, what did you have in mind?”
“So, do you know what they are doing, sir?” The unicorn glanced at the pegasus to his side, then shook his head and returned his gaze to the training area below, where two pillars had been set up in the sand pit. Two groups of ponies stood below, tossing jeers back and forth, before the current leaders of Phoenix and Barghest squads stepped forward, accepting the strange looking sticks from the two men in the centre, then climbed onto the pillars. “They’re not gonna…”
“Yes, Lieutenant Sentry, they are,” the unicorn replied, as the Barghest squad leader was sent sprawling to the sand, the earth pony that was his opposite number stood on his pillar triumphantly whilst Phoenix squad cheered him on. The two officers watched as a small pegasus mare took the empty pillar, then folded her wings against her back. Quick as a flash the Phoenix squad leader was sent flying. “I think it’s just some steam blowing off, the past couple of weeks have been rather hard on them. And next week… I’m giving them Deadeye’s Run.”
“What? They’re not ready for that! Half of them can’t even shoot straight, sir!”
“Most of them can’t when we give it to them. You were exactly the same, if I recall the events correctly.” The pegasus went to protest, but closed his mouth instead, not wanting any embarrassing stories from his training to come to light. “Take the rest of the day for yourself, Flash.”
“Thank you, sir. See you in the morning.”
The unicorn just nodded, keeping his eye on the competition below, leaning against the balcony with a smirk. Several minutes later his ear flicked, and he turned to his office, seeing a small pony slip in through the door. Lighting his horn, he quietly closed the door to the hall and stepped in, seeing it was a little filly, her back currently to him. Judging by the white fur and two tone pink and purple mane, he easily recognised her from the description he was given. He should let her know where her sister was, but he decided to have some fun first.
“You know, even for a filly,” she jumped around with a shriek, eyeing him and the door warily as he moved towards the couch in the centre of the room. “It’s a criminal offence to enter military installations without an escort. Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“Um… my name is Sw-Sweetie B-Belle. I’m looking for m-m-my sister.” The stallion pointed at the chair opposite him, the filly taking the seat as he floated over a spell gun, her eyes going wide. She relaxed a little when he began to dismantle it, pulling out a cleaning kit from under the table as his gaze leveled at her once more. “Um…”
“So what made you think your sister was in a section reserved for the Royal Guard, and only the Guard?”
“Well, she’s seeing somepony in the Guard. She says he’s really dreamy.”
“Is he now? Sounds like he’s a very lucky stallion. Why not tell me about your sister?”
“Rarity? Oh… she’s really pretty, a unicorn like me… um, us. She’s out of place in Ponyville, and belongs somewhere like Canterlot. She’s a fashion designer, and actually has some contacts here where she sells her stuff.”
“Oh, Miss Rarity is your sister? I should have know such a cute filly would share her looks.” He gave her a small smirk as he continued to clean his weapon, the filly looking anywhere but at him as she tried to hide her blush. “As a guard, I am expected to know who our national heroes are. Now then, how did you get past the security check points?”
“Well, I, uh… just walked through. In fact, the last one sent me here. Was a rather helpful orange pegasus.” Of course it was. Huh? Oh, the shower has shut off. Let’s see how far I can push it. He chose to ignore the door at the side as it swung open, even as the filly gasped as the pony walked out, a deep red towel wrapped around her body. She moved to the balcony, glancing down at the training area and giving a small giggle.
“Oh, Bluey… do you know what your recruits are doing?” He kept his eyes locked with Sweetie Belle’s as he smirked at her, answering the mare.
“Yes, my diamond, I do. I’m sure the sergeants know what they are doing. Now, we have a young guest.” Making her way back into the room, the mare stopped when she saw the gawping filly, quickly levitating a robe from the other room and slipping it on, before taking a seat next to the stallion. “Miss Rarity, I do believe you know young Miss Belle here?”
“I most certainly do!” Sweetie Belle turned away from her sister’s slightly angry tone, her eyes pleading with the stallion to help her. “Do mother and father know you are here?” A small nod. “I see. So they sent you to come get me?” Another nod. “Very well. Blueblood, darling, it seems that I shall be dining out with my family this evening. Would you mind joining us?”
“And pass up a chance for little miss adorable over here to tell me some embarrassing stories about you? I think not!” He threw a wink at Sweetie Belle, who gave a small giggle whilst Rarity stood, moving back towards the side room.
“That may be, but once my father meets you, you are going to wish you had your spell gun at hand.” Blueblood glanced at Sweetie Belle with a raised eyebrow, and the filly just gave him a solemn nod. He then began to regret agreeing to go, and for a brief second considered joining the army to get away from the obligation, before he realize he already did that once few years ago. Then again, the competition outside promised a good chance of getting injured. He swallowed his fear though and left Sweetie Belle in the chair as he entered the same room as Rarity, ignoring the mare as he began to get out his dress uniform. First impressions counted, and he wouldn’t get a second chance at making one this time around, he was sure of it.
With his two allies and one of the undecided changeling kings walking along behind him, Metamorphosis entered the mine shaft, descending steeply into the ground. Every now and then they passed a group of ponies resting, under the watchful eyes of several diamond dog guards, whilst they could hear others working away down below. “It seems the rocks in this part of Equestria are softer than I believed. At this rate, we should…” A shout from the side hit their ears, and they slowed down.
“BUCK OFF! I’M NOT MINING FOR YOU!” Meta stopped walking, turning towards a group of dogs. Among them stood a tall and strong earth pony, wrists and ankles shackled. He was still doing a good job of fighting the dogs off, the changeling king watching with some slight amusement as the stallion floored one of the guards. “I will not help you dig into Canterlot! You’ll have to kill me first!”
Meta decided to intervene then, spotting some other ponies in the mines slowing down and looking over. The stallion stared at him defiantly as he approached, a smug grin on his chitinous muzzle. “If you dig, you go free at the end of it.” The pony reared his head back and spat in the changeling’s face, who just sighed and wiped his face. “Very well, you shall be an example of what happens to those that don’t dig.”
With a flash of his horn, the chains broke in half. The stallion was confused, which Meta used to his advantage as he pulled his limbs against the rocky surface with magic. The diamond dogs instantly knew what he was doing, grabbing the ends of the broken chains and stretching the stallion out. “You there, come here!”
A young mare, also shackled, approached with her gaze to the floor, and Meta inspected her supplies. He picked out a hammer and a large metal spike, holding them to the mare and pointing at the wall. She gave a gasp and stared at him, then dropped her head and nodded in submission.
The stallion kept glaring at Metamorphosis as she approached, driving the spike through a chain and embedding it into the wall, followed by the other three. She looked to him with sympathy, but gasped when a dog dragged her away and back to the work queue, past the chuckling changeling king. “It is said that you earth ponies can survive without food for three months, as long as you have water at least once every two days. I think now is a good time to test that, don’t you?”
“I hope Celestia rips out your heart and feeds it to you!” Metamorphosis just started to laugh loudly, turning from the stallion and heading back to the three other kings there to see what was going on. He stopped near the rocky corner, glancing over his shoulder.
“It’s funny, you’re not the only stallion that wants that to happen to me. Do not worry, he will meet with a fate worse than yours.” The group of changeling leaders then resumed their descent, the path opening to the a rather impressive cavern. The majority of the digging was being done by dogs, but one small section was being worked by pony prisoners, under the watch of both diamond dogs and changelings. “As you can see, we’re making progress. The tunnels are opening faster than we planned.”
“Meta, you’re doing well. I shall let my ally know, and we shall discuss it.” He nodded to the other drones, who turned and left the mine. The other two remained, Meta letting them inspect the procedures going on. He’d need to keep them appraised if he still wanted their support.
None of them noticed the mare slipping back to the stallion, a bread roll in her hand.
Well... been awhile over here, hasn't it guys? So, looks like things are progressing, huh?
The tunnelling has begun... and nopony in Canterlot knows about it.
...Deadeye's Run... I'm working on something that explains it, but that isn't ready yet.
Woohoo, featured again!
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4366841 This part was written back when this story was a request, before I took it over completely. I was given the basic suggestions/ideas and fleshed them out. Also, it's not really a regular hurricane, seeing as it transported him to another world.
4367082 No, I like me some pone plot as well. You can see that just from my story list.
4367094 Covie carbine, but a lightish dull grey, using the same effect as the covie sniper rifle.
It's alive. It's ALIVE!
10/10 sun praises for you, sir.
As all abomination must be, this one has been relegated to the darkness.
You have been quite the busy little bee.
i969.photobucket.com/albums/ae176/Matsufubu2/1296522684938.png
4367587 Actually, this has been waiting editing. My little side project, which is a semi prequel to this, is at roughly 27.5K words.
4367596 I know. I just said you've been busy because you've been working on like... what? 4-5 stories at once? No rest. When you get done with one story chapter on to the next one. That if you arent working anyway.
Not bad. If you update Night's Children, I'll really be happy.
4367714 That's... coming. I'm just not sure what to do with it at the moment.
thanks for the update!!
So, is Alec's punishment over soon?
4399229 We are 6 weeks into his 6 month sentence. So no, it is not over soon.
He will return, but between now and the end? Can't say.
I like Dean and Joy's Relationship more than Gray and Celestia's. Find it more genuine or something. Would like to see more of those two.
Nice story. Like it.
Faved and upvoted. Do go on.
Dragon
4972768 You, watch.
5105349 Actually, it looks like this.
fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/271/0/0/blaze_on____commission_by_spiceddemon-d80t3ny.png
what no more This is the worst possible thing
however i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr289/axlthehedgehog_2008/responses/iregretnothing.gif
i can't wait for more seriously love this. also will discord pop up anytime soon?
stay classy
5125993 Actually, next chapter should be up sometime later today.
Why? he's like from equestria's equivalent of wisconsin... or canada, he can't be dangerous :o
5105370
Soo... it's a storm rifle?
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121117115536/halo/images/5/5d/H4_stormrifle_trans.png
6270863
I imagine it looks like the alien rifle from sr4.