The Changeling King Part 2: Kings' Gambit

by th3l0stch1ld

Enjoying the View

Hours passed, Amor’s group was still in the air. While Amor flew, he admired the around him, and above him. The first major site he saw was Cloudsdale, when they flew right under it. Amor looked up to see castles and factories made of clouds. A large coliseum with a gaping hole in the middle passed above them. So many places I want to go before I die. I hope I still can when this is over. He watched as his team parted to get around the rainbow falls. I wonder how it feels to fly through them. Amor let his curiosity get the best of him as he charged head-first through one. It felt just like water, but was more refreshing in its own way. It flowed through the various holes in his legs and wings, repeating the process it did when it initially fell from the clouds above. Amor had to put forth more effort to keep in the air with his now wet wings. The colors stayed in his coat for a while, making him a rainbow with wings. Wasn’t one of the Elements of Harmony said to be a rainbow pegasi? Eh, who cares right now. Amor shook most of the color out of his coat, leaving only a very dull and unnoticeable color left, which eventually would fade when it dries. He tilted his hooves back and watched as what gathered in them fell until he couldn’t see it anymore.

Next, Amor saw the beautiful golden city of Canterlot to his right, hanging off the face of the mountain. The sun shimmered off it, leaving a bright glimmer off of the already glowing surfaces. Amor squinted his eyes really hard, only narrow slits remaining. Amor looked at a balcony hanging off of the castle and saw something that looked off. A color was there that didn’t belong. Amor concentrated really hard on the color. Is that? No, it can’t be. Wait, it is! Standing on the balcony of the castle, as expected now that Amor saw the position of the sun, was the midnight blue alicorn princess, Luna. She flew into the air and lit her horn. With the slow motion of her head, the sun set over the horizon and the moon appeared. Once, finished, she stopped when she noticed the large group of insect-like ponies flying through the air. She marveled at the site, appearing to pick out every single changeling in the swarm. When she noticed the one in the back, much larger than the rest, she smiled as she waved a hoof above her head. Amor smiled in return and waved back as she landed. The way her mane set on the mountainside made it look as if there was a large hole in the side, allowing you to see the starry sky on the other side.

Canterlot was a much different place at night. The streetlights were lit, leaving only a slight glow over the city walls. The bright blinding glow of the sun on gold was gone, leaving only a white glare on every surface from the moonlight. Amor was awestruck at the site, but turned his attention back to his flight trail.

Looking down, Amor saw the start of the woods where their camp was to be set up. He was almost sure that the night sky could hide them, but wanted to be careful. He hissed at the changeling in front of him, the signal he gave to stop. The changeling passed the message on to the few in front of him, who in turn passed it on to the ones in front of them. When the message finally made it to the front, the swarm landed in the leafy surroundings of the forest where they were to set up. Amor could still hear the babbling of the river on two sides of them. Escara and Avispa soon landed behind Amor.

“Sir, why have we stopped?”

“We are to make the rest of the trip on foot. The night may hide us, but I don’t want to take any chances. It should be about an hour’s walk away from here. Everyone, keep your guard up. Who knows what dangers hide behind almost every tree in these woods.”

“Sir, don’t you think you’re being just a little paranoid?”

“Maybe, but paranoia can save lives. Take no chances, don’t attack until you’re sure that it will kill, etc. Paranoia taught me these things, and has saved my life plenty of times before.”

A voice from the crowd rose above the others, leaving a smart comment for everyone to hear. “Apparently it didn’t help with the timberwolf.” Amor shot an evil look at the crowd. With the aid of the moon, a solid white shine covered every spec in his eyes, making him look even more menacing than he intended. The whole squad sat up in attention.

The color came back into his eyes with a minor, almost unnoticeable turn of the head. “I have no regrets and I’m still alive today. Anyone else have anything smart to say?” The group fell silent. “Then get moving, now. The less you talk and the more you walk the faster we get there.”

“S-sir, what are we to do to keep us preoccupied?”

“Other than looking for enemies? Enjoy the scenery.” With the last remark, every changeling readied their spears, save Amor, who instead took his sword in his teeth. Slowly, in a defensive strategy, the squad made their way through the woods.

Not much was worth fighting or killing while through the forest, other than a few bears. When they finally reached a clearing against the mountainside, Amor gave the order to search the area for anything out of the ordinary. Luckily, there was nothing too odd. The team let their waxes fill their mouths and began building crude, tent-like shelters. It wasn’t much, but it would keep the elements off of them. About ten of these shelters were built, most being shared between multiple changelings, all accept for Amor, who as the leader of the squad built his own shelter for himself. Most of the changelings built pods attached to the roof of their ‘tents’, while others chose to gather grass, straw, leaves, and anything else they could find to make a bed. Amor was one of them. Gathering only straw and hay, Amor had a large pile in the corner of his shelter.

Pleased with his drooping dome, Amor headed towards the end of the woods and found a somewhat small tree about as thick as his leg. He drew his sword and swung at the tree, coming back to hit again, then again, and again. The tree fell over, leaving eight pieces roll out that were all around the same length, along with the leafy top. Amor levitated the pieces into a pile and carried them back to his shelter like that, where he set them on the ground. Taking one piece between his hooves, Amor applied a small amount of wax up the side. He grabbed another piece and pushed it into the wax and held it there until it dried enough to hold it into place, then did the same to that piece. After finally getting four pieces together, Amor took another piece in is hooves and applied the wax to the end of it. He stuck this piece to the corner of what he already had put together, forming a ninety degree angle between that and the end piece. He then repeated the process with the last three, and when it finally was all dried, Amor looked at his handy work. Table he thought to himself. Not the best, but it will do. Not like we have the pick of the litter out here. Amor stood the table up in the middle of his blue-green shelter and unrolled the map he had on top of it.

Looking over the map, one thing came to mind: food. Not for right now, but eventually. Purity’s camp could simply go into Ponyville and make friends to get their love, along with the camp at Smokey Mountain. Chrysalis could make the short fly to Las Pegasus, and the camp to the Northeast was practically in Hollow Shades, and Southeast of Amor, they only had a short walk to Baltimare. But Amor’s camp had a farther fly to Filly Delpia, less they wanted to fly over Foal Mountain, which would be dangerous due to lack of air and intense cold. He sighed.

“Oh well, looks like we don’t have a choice. We should be fine, it’s not like we’re flying to the hive every day, and we’re not starving.” Amor left the map open on the table as he walked out to the main campground. Almost a dozen of the shelters circled around one central point, where two changelings were gathering rocks to make a fire pit. Amor used his wings to make chirping and buzzing noises to gather the changelings before him. A crowd of twenty or so stood before him, waiting curiously for word from their squad leader. “We need to set up guard posts around the camp. Who will volunteer for night guards?” Moments passed before a small group hesitantly rose their hooves. “Alright, you are to buzz your wings if you see anything. If we are attacked, simply yell, shout, whatever you can to give notice to the rest of us before it’s too late. Same for the rest of you during the day. Infiltrators, step forward.” A group of four changelings walked to the front of the team. “You are to search the areas in a sweep maneuver. One of you has a map, yes?” The leader of the infiltrators pulled a map out from under his armor. “Good. Anything you find is to be marked and brought back to me. Any questions?”

Silence

“Good. Back to what you were doing.” The group scattered, leaving Amor standing before a hollow space. He looked up at the moon and yawned. Once he reached his small shelter, he fell into his pile of hay with a thud, but it did little to stop him from hitting the ground, and it was no substitute for his bed back at the hive. “It’s going to be a long night.”

Comments

[Razzy]

Should've taken a mattress with ya.