48. Mustering of the Troops
The two changelings on the ground appear to have been just the sentries, because I don't see any more, though I can definitely hear them inside. I look down at the changeling I just killed. Well, this has the be the largest thing I've ever killed. And it's beyond dead, since its face is caved in from the force of that one punch. Shit, I've done nothing but fight things that are stronger than me, so I forgot the kind of effect I have on things like this. However, we had the element of surprise. I don't know what kind of abilities they have, other than transforming.
I look at the changeling Rainbow hit. It's alive, but thoroughly unconscious. “Nice hit,” I compliment her, causing her to grin. “Now let's get inside.”
Rainbow and I steal our way into the passageway. Soon, the beige stone tiles that make up the sewer walls and floors turns into pristine white stone hallways. Almost immediately we run into a problem. And by problem, I mean a changeling guard by almost every fucking cell door.
The cells themselves are just small rectangular boxes with a barred door that shimmers with white webbing, which no doubt cancels the magic of any unicorn prisoners that may or may not be imprisoned inside. Thankfully, it's easy to see through the bars, but unfortunately, I have no clue what Commander Iron even looks like. And letting out every guard we see would quickly cause chaos, and I'm no leader, nor do I have the military pull to act like one. No, we need to find Iron first, and then free the guards.
I reach out my arm, stopping Rainbow from moving any farther. The path splits into a T-shaped intersection here, with hallways on either side filled with cells, each one changeling guarding every five cells or so. Basically, in this one hallway, there's three changelings.
I tap Rainbow on her back to get her attention. Talking would just give us away. While she's looking at me curiously, I point at her first, and then at the farthest changeling from us. She's faster than I am, so if she can take out that one at the end, the other two will be easy pickings for me.
Rainbow nods her head to show her understanding. I lift up my hand and raise three fingers. I slowly count down to zero, and then Rainbow takes off, zooming through the two nearest guards and ramming her head directly into her target changeling, knocking it into the wall at the far end of the corridor.
The two changelings turn to look at her, and then while they're distracted, I appear behind them. Using my magic to augment my strength, I grab the both of them by their necks to keep them from making any noise. I slam their heads together, knocking the both of them out. Huh, they're not dead. Oh well, finishing them off will take too much time.
Rainbow flies back to me silently, after she takes a look down the individual hallways branching away from the end of the one we're in. “Four changelings on the left, and two on the right,” Rainbow whispers as quietly as possible. “The left path leads to solitary confinement, or so the sign said.”
“Good. Now, I'm going to let the guards in this cell free,” I reply, indicating the nearest cell. “I'm hoping they'll direct us to Commander Iron.”
“Shouldn't we just set 'em all free?” Rainbow asks.
“Not yet. They'd make too much noise, and tip off every damn changeling down here,” I respond, stating my prior thoughts to her. Rainbow nods, understanding that much at least. “If they send for reinforcements, we're fucked.”
“Where do you think they keep the keys for these?” Rainbow inquires, poking the cell door I'd pointed out a few seconds later.
“I don't need a key. Remember those cancellation fields only effect ponies,” I remind her. Rainbow's eyes widen in shock as I smash my darkness covered fist into the lock, breaking the bolt. Unfortunately, it makes a bit of noise. A sharp hiss sounds from around “Shit. Take cover. I didn't think that through.”
Two changelings turn the corner, hissing at one another and turning their heads every which way, looking for the source of the disturbance. I wonder why the guards in the cell I just opened aren't coming out...or even making a sound. I swear to god, if I just punched open an empty cell, I'm going to be pissed.
The changelings get closer to our hiding spot...which is essentially back at the entrance to the dungeon. I look at Rainbow, who nods at me. They're almost here. There's only two of them, and if we get the jump on them, we're unstoppable.
The moment they peek their ugly little heads around the corner, Rainbow and I grab them simultaneously. Rainbow pounds the thing's head until it passes out, while I just crush the creature's windpipe and let it hit the ground, wheezing quietly until I stomp on its head to finish it off. I notice with some disgust that they bleed a dark green.
I hope to god these things aren't sentient. They just seem like monsters to me, and those I can kill without feeling like shit. Like Rainbow said, no one cares if they have to kill an insect or two, but even I would feel bad if I killed something that could think and act for itself.
“Looks like the coast is clear,” Rainbow observes. “Let's see what's in that cell you bashed open...when you could have just found the key.”
“There was no time...though granted, I could have been a little quieter,” I admit sheepishly. Rainbow chuckles a little just as we peer into the dark cell.
“Well, that explains why none of them are reacting to us,” I remark, spotting five or six guards completely encased in slime except for their eyes and nose. “Stay out here and keep watch. I'll free them.”
The guards' eyes follow me as I approach. I kneel down in front of the first one and pry away the slime with magic infused hands. “Thank you, human. I'm Lieutenant Bronze Horn, of the CRU First Regiment. Is it safe to assume that since you're here, we're making a counterattack?” the guard asks urgently once his mouth is free.
“That's right. I'm here with Rainbow Dash, under the command of Princess Luna,” I respond, cracking the rest of the slime off of him. Bronze stands up, hope filling his eyes.
“Princess Luna is here? We're saved!” he exclaims, causing me to slap a hand to his mouth.
“Shut up! You want to bring every changeling in the dungeon to us?” I snap at him, keeping my voice low. Bronze shakes his head, so I remove my hand.
“Changelings? Is that what those things are?” he whispers, though he still looks happy that their other princess is here.
“Look, I don't have time to explain. We have a plan,” I assure him. I don't feel like explaining what's going on to every single guard I rescue. “Where's Commander Iron being kept?”
“The Commander? He's likely in solitary confinement. He took down a lot of those things before they got him,” Bronze answers smartly. Just as I turn to go, he stops me. “One moment. Can you tell us our role in the plan, as quickly as possible?”
“Seth, why don't you have him let the other guards out?” Rainbow suggests. “That way, all we have to do is free this Iron guy, and we'll have our army.”
“I don't think he even can. The doors are all locked, and protected by cancellation fields. Only I can open them without the key,” I reply. It's a good idea...if we had the key.
“I know where the key is, sir,” Bronze rejoins. I look at him in surprise. If he knows where we can find the key, that would save us a lot of time and trouble. “There's a...changeling...that's larger than the rest. It's the one that's been sealing us all up in slime, and locking the doors.”
“Where can I find it?” I demand. On a random note, I like that he's calling me sir. I guess it saves the time necessary to ask my name.
“I think it's in the evidence room. That's also where all of our weapons are stored,” Bronze informs me. “Come to think of it, you'll have to take that room, if you want us to help you in battle.”
“That's a good point. Give me directions,” I order him, my voice urgent. A tremor runs through the building, shaking dust loose from the ceiling. Things are really escalating up there, I guess. I hope Luna and the others are doing all right.
“Head to the end of this hallway, and take a right. It turns into a set of intersections after that, but if you alternate which turns you take, you'll get to the entrance of the dungeon. The evidence room is in the hall to the left of the entrance,” Bronze directs me. “You'd best hurry. I'll free my comrades in this cell.”
“Thanks. Let's go, Rainbow,” I say curtly, doing my best to memorize the directions. I think I know the way to the entrance, thanks to the schematics Luna showed us back in the cave, but my memory isn't the best for things I've just learned.
“We'll hold position until you return,” Bronze informs me, digging his horn into the slime covering another guard's body.
We reach the end of the hall. Like Rainbow said, solitary confinement is on the left, with four changelings guarding it. We have to go right, but we'd still be in the line of sight of both hallways. Which means if we want to proceed, we'll have to either take care of or sneak by all six guards.
“Any ideas?” Rainbow whispers, peeking around the corner. I don't answer at first, instead grabbing my rifle. Rainbow watches as I release my magic, keeping its output as low as possible to keep from being detected. I'm not sure how well the changelings here can detect magic, but I'm not taking any chances.
“I have one, yes,” I finally reply. I channel my magic into my rifle, causing to completely shift from the usual modern look to black crystal. However, that's not all that changes about it. I've learned a few things on how to manipulate this gun, even though changing the physical shape of something should be impossible. Another thing I've learned is not to question how magic works.
My rifle's muzzle elongates, even as the stock moves forward and the handle thickens. A long, thing barrel tipped with a silencer forms from the muzzle. A few seconds later, my assault rifle has turned into a hunting rifle, meant for long range kills. It's not a sniper rifle, but it might as well be one. It's perfect for stealth kills.
“Be ready to take out that second one in the right hallway. I can only shoot one of them before the other will notice,” I warn her. Rainbow nods, and hunches down, looking a bit like a cat getting ready to pounce. It would look funny as hell in any other situation.
I peek the tip of the rifle around the corner, aiming through the sights at the farthest changeling. A quick pull of the trigger later, and a hole is blown right through my target's head by a thin black beam, in a shower of green blood. Thanks to the silencer, no sound is heard.
The other changeling hisses in confusion, looking around for the source. It spots Rainbow seconds before she reaches it. Rainbow brings her hoof forward in an attempt to take it out quickly, but the changeling ducks and fires a beam of green magic at her in retaliation. Thankfully, Rainbow dodges, and then she knocks it out with a double-hoofed smash on its head. Whew, that was too close.
We're not out of the woods yet. The four changelings in the other hallway have heard the commotion, and are heading our way.
There's a lip in the doorway leading to this hallway, so Rainbow and I take cover behind it, waiting for the changelings to unwittingly walk right into an ambush. When the first two walk past us, Rainbow and I attack them all at once.
Rainbow knocks her changeling into the ceiling with an uppercut. At the same time, I ram my fist into my changeling's stomach, grab its hoof, and then use it as a bludgeon to hit the changeling behind it.
The last changeling turns and runs, hissing loudly. I curse and grab a current in midair, zooming towards it as fast as I can. Just before the changeling reaches the solitary confinement area, I grab the back of its head and plant its face into the floor.
“That didn't go as pl...shit,” I start, only to cut off when I see another changeling poke its head into the hallway, having come from solitary confinement to investigate the hissing. I blast it with my transformed rifle, catching it in the throat. “Fuck it. Let's run before any more show up.”
“I hear that!” Rainbow agrees, and the two of us sprint over the still forms of the changelings we dispatched towards the evidence room, wherever that is.
We follow the direction Bronze gave us, though we soon run into more changelings. I transform my rifle into a small compact pistol, which allows for small, concentrated strikes meant to increase penetrating power. With it, I manage to take out three changelings in a row, which makes me wonder why I hadn't used it sooner.
“That thing is awesome,” Rainbow remarks as we pass through the hall. “Though I don't suppose you could take it easy on them? I want to hit some too.”
“Maybe you should be faster then,” I taunt her as we turn through the maze of intersections that Bronze warned us about.
“Don't tempt me. You wanna start something? I'll go supersonic right here in this dungeon,” Rainbow retorts with a grin.
“Okay, Super Sonic. We've got changelings ahead. Though you should probably stay back. Wouldn't want the delicate lady to get hurt,” I tease her, making a dumb reference in my mind. Rainbow's reaction is fucking great though. A vein twitches in her forehead.
“That's it. Now I'll show you!” Rainbow returns, and then she streaks forward in a flash of rainbow light. I can't help but choke with laughter. She just compounded on my reference without even realizing it. That's just fucking great.
Rainbow rams the first one with both of her front hooves, and then immediately propels herself to the next by using the first as a springboard. She does this twice more, taking out all of the changelings in the hall. “How about that!?” Rainbow brags, striking a dumb pose...only to yelp and duck a second later, barely dodging a stream of green magic from a changeling that had heard her boasting.
“Rainbow!” I cry out, but it seems like she has it. Rainbow disappears around the corner for a few seconds, and then hilariously enough, an unconscious changeling flies out of the corridor and hits the ground.
“What? I'm fine,” Rainbow says nonchalantly, hovering just above the fallen changeling. “I think we're almost there, though.”
“All right. No more horsing around,” I tell her. A few seconds later, when Rainbow looks at me with a raised eyebrow, I realize what I said. “Goddammit...”
“Did you really just make that pun?” Rainbow questions, amused.
“Not intentionally,” I groan, facepalming. “Anyway, enough of this. You said you saw the evidence room, right?”
“Not yet. I do see the way out though. It's through here,” Rainbow replies, beckoning me with a hoof.
Following her, I soon spot the door that exits out on the street. Just by peering through the small window on it, I see a huge amount of changelings, either walking or heading towards the gates that I can just barely see in the distance.
Holy shit, it looks intense out there. I can see Luna out there fighting. Well, I really only see her massive midnight blue aura, as well as changelings falling left and right around her. There's a lavender aura with her as well, though it's nowhere near as large as Luna's. I guess the diversion team is giving it their best. We have to hurry.
Just after I turn down towards the hallway where the evidence room should be, a wrapped up scroll appears in a burst of flame in front of me. “Rainbow. Just got a message from Spike,” I alert her. Rainbow nods and flies over to me as I unroll it.
“Just met up with Captain Blades. We're holding position until the signal is given. Captain says to hurry.
-Spike”
“Yeah! Spike's all right. That means the rendezvous team made it!” Rainbow declares. I gaze down at the scroll with a troubled expression.
“They're telling us to hurry. Which means they're likely facing a lot of resistance,” I say, dampening her enthusiasm somewhat. “We need to go. The sooner we get that key, the sooner we can join the fight ourselves, and make sure we don't lose any more ponies than we need to.”
“Got it. This way,” Rainbow says, and we continue down the hallway, passing the exit and moving towards the evidence room. We now know where it is, because there's a sign on the wall that directs to it. Thank god I can read now. “Though I have to say, it's nice seeing you care about other ponies' lives.”
“Rainbow. This is my fault. All of this, I mean. Everypony that dies in this city will have died because of my decision,” I tell her seriously, feeling a little empty as I do so. “You're damn right I want to save as many as I can.”
“Sorry...I didn't think about that,” Rainbow says pologetically. Before I can respond, we reach the evidence room, which is guarded by two changelings. What a joke.
Rainbow and I take them out with hoof and rifle, and then kick in the door to the evidence room. Bronze was right. There's a ton of weapons and armor in here, including everything from swords to helmets. But that's not the first thing that we notice.
There's a single changeling standing in the room, staring down at a map on a table set up against the far side of the room. A set of keys lies on the table next to it, which I assume is what we're here for. At first, I think this is going to be easy, but then I notice how much larger it is compared to a typical changeling. It's not the size of Chrysalis, but it does rise up to my chest, as far as I can tell.
The changeling turns its head, fixating a single pupil-less eye on us. It gives a low hiss before orienting itself to face us entirely. “Servants of the Sun Princess, I assume,” the changeling hisses, its voice sounding guttural and gravelly. Holy fuck, this one can talk. The changeling then lifts up the keys with its magic. “Looking for these?”
“Hand 'em over, buster, or we'll knock your lights out, like we've done to all your guards!” Rainbow yells at it...well, I should probably call it a him, since its clearly sentient. The changeling gives a low chuckle that comes out dripping with malice.
“Little pony, I am not your average changeling,” he informs Rainbow with a fanged smile. “I am an Infiltrator, trained by the queen herself for command.”
I blink, and then suddenly Rainbow hits the wall. The Infiltrator had rammed her out of the air at a crazy speed that even I have trouble following.
Rainbow recovers quickly and strikes back, only for her hooves to be blocked. Okay, enough of this. Just as the Infiltrator is starting to smirk, I appear next to him and spin around, using the generated momentum to slam my rifle into his side.
The Infiltrator hisses in pain is sent hurtling into the wall, where it dislodges several pieces of armor that proceed to fall off of the rack and litter the floor with a cacophonous racket. Shit, we need to finish this up quickly. I'm sure other changelings heard that.
To my shock, the Infiltrator gets up and transforms, turning into...me!? Yes, another Seth is standing across the room, looking pissed off as all hell. “The fuck...why the...” I start, but then the Infiltrator's fist slams into my stomach, coated with green magic. I cough, completely winded by the surprise attack. Goddamn, that fucking hurt. “Okay, no.”
I throw my rifle aside and headbutt the Infiltrator. As he's recoiling, I plant both of my hands into his chest and blast him back with an explosion of dark magic. “Do you know what your queen said to me?” I say casually, shooting a glance to Rainbow, who catches it and realizes that I'm about to do something. The Infiltrator doesn't respond, instead hissing angrily and getting up on his feet. “Your transformations will never be as strong as the original! Let's go, Rainbow!”
The changeling has no time to react before Rainbow and I strike at him together in a flurry of fists and hooves. Without any means of defending himself, the Infiltrator takes hit after hit after hit, slowly backing up and attempting to right himself after each successive hit. His transformation reverts after a few seconds of our onslaught, which is good, because beating myself up just feels weird.
When we have him up against a wall ,Rainbow and I hit him with one last attack. The Infiltrator's head slams into the stone wall, and I hear a crack just before he falls to the ground, unconscious, with a trail of green blood oozing from a wound in his head.
“Is he...dead?” Rainbow asks nervously, peering at its still form. I look down as well. It's easy to make out his steady breathing.
“No, he isn't. But neither is he getting up to fight again. Come on. Let's grab those keys and find Commander Iron,” I reply. Rainbow nods, and she picks up the keys in her mouth as I pick up my rifle from the ground. “Nice job, by the way.”
“You too. We got him good!” Rainbow exclaims, her enthusiasm returning. She accidentally drops the keys by saying this, but she manages to catch them again in her hooves.
We glance back out the door, and sure enough, there's more changelings. There's about five of them here. They were probably attracted by all the noise we made while fighting. Still, there's only five of them.
Rainbow and I glance at one another. We're just about to lunge into the enemy when we're interrupted by Bronze Horn and the other guards that were in the cell I knocked open emerging from around the corner and hitting the changelings from behind, firing beams of magic from their horns. With their help, it's an easy matter to wipe them all out.
“Bronze, I thought you were going to hold your position?” I ask once the last changeling falls. Bronze salutes quickly before responding.
“We heard the sounds of combat, and thought that you might need our help,” Bronze justifies. He looks at Rainbow, and smiles widely when he sees the key ring that she's holding. “Excellent, you have the keys.”
“Give them to him,” I tell Rainbow. She nods and passes the keys to Bronze. He takes them and inspects them closely.
“They're all the same key,” Bronze observes. That strikes me as odd. Why the hell would you have so many keys on the same ring? Unless they're copies for different jailors. “I'm assuming they're all cell keys then.”
“How many are there?” Rainbow asks, flying to Bronze to get a closer look.
“There's about eight of them,” Bronze reveals. “That's perfect. I'll give a key to each of us, and then we'll split up and free as many of as as we can.”
“That's a good idea. In the meantime, Rainbow and I will find Commander Iron in solitary,” I respond. Bronze nods and then splits the key ring, taking a key and passing one to each of us. I pocket the one I'm given, so I don't lose it when I'm fighting.
“Affirmative. Arm yourselves and split up, soldiers. Free the guard and for the love of Celestia, do not get yourselves caught!” Bronze commands them. I wonder if he outranks the guards he's with.
“Yes sir!” they chorus. The six of them, including Bronze, enter the evidence room. Soon, they emerge again, fully armored and equipped with swords. With one last salute, the five guards head in different directions. I guess that answers my own question, seeing how they followed his orders without question.
“Be careful, sir. I'll meet you back here,” Bronze says to me before heading down one of the hallways as well. Already I can hear the sound of the guards tangling with the changelings. Well, I wish them the best of luck. We've already started freeing the army, so once Iron is free, we'll be taking the fight to Chrysalis. Or at least...I will, with Luna. Goddamn, I am not looking forward to that at all.
Rainbow and I return to the hallway that leads to solitary confinement. I can tell we're in a totally different type of prison now, considering the cells are much smaller and the doors are made of solid steel, rather than just bars. There's no windows either, so there's no way to tell who's in each cell. That's a pain in the ass. If there's any real criminals down here, we might accidentally set one free because we have no idea which cell Iron is in.
“I think the commander might be in that cell,” Rainbow informs me, indicating a particular cell that's guarded by three changelings. “I mean, why would they guard an empty cell?”
“Or they could be dumb fucks. That works too. Thank you, idiots, for telling us exactly where to do,” I state flatly, earning a chuckle from Rainbow. “Let's hit them hard and fast.”
“Got it,” Rainbow emits. I take out my rifle and transform it into the long ranged version once more. After a quick moment of aiming down the sights, I nail one of the changelings through the head with a bolt of dark magic. As the other one looks down at its fallen companion in confusion, I take that one out too. The last one falls to Rainbow, her head ramming into its own. Rainbow's head is apparently harder, considering it knocks him out, and doesn't even seem to phase hers.
Rainbow sticks her key in the lock and turns it. The clanking sounds in the door are rather extensive, which tells me that the security on these doors are ridiculous. What the fuck...even a white rune appears on the door, along with several smaller blue ones. Christ, the amount of protection on these doors. I wonder how many ponies are actually imprisoned in these?
The door opens to reveal a very small room that's completely empty of anything except a toilet, a water fountain, and a bed. That, and the hanging green cocoon of slime hanging from the ceiling. There's a unicorn suspended with in it, who I can only assume is our objective. “That's him. Rainbow, get him down, would you?”
Rainbow obligingly hits the strand holding the cocoon to the ceiling so that it snaps, sending the pony plummeting to the ground. “There you go,” Rainbow announces.
“I meant lower him down, not drop him,” I remark drily, already beginning to peel away layers of slime. I'm so fucking sick of slime at this point. It's just disgusting. Who knows what's in this shit?
“You do it next time then,” Rainbow returns, joining me in tearing away the slime.
Once we get his face and both hooves clear, Rainbow and I pull him out together. He appears to still be unconscious...which we can't have. I smack his face a few times until he groans, his eyelids opening to reveal dark blue eyes. “Commander Iron?” I ask, hoping that we freed the right pony.
Holy shit, this guy looks like a badass. As the unicorn lifts himself to his hooves, I can get a better look at him. He's a rather large pony, with a steel blue coat and a groomed mane that falls to his shoulders, kinda like how mine used to be. His mane is gray, except it shines in the light to the point where it literally looks like actual silver. Lastly, a scar runs through his right eye, a testament to a past conflict of an unknown nature.
“That's right. Who are you, and what are your intentions?” Iron replies, his voice deep. He glances at Rainbow, and then back to me. “Why do you have an Element of Harmony with you?”
“I'm Seth Rogers, a human. There's no time to explain. Basically, we're here with Luna, and we're making a counterattack against the changelings,” I say, cutting right to the chase. Iron stands completely still, listening to me with the discipline of a soldier. “We need you to take command of the First Regiment while Shining Armor is incapacitated.”
“I see. I assume you've freed my troops, so that I may command them?” Iron replies, taking everything I've said in stride. I find it rather odd that he believed me so quickly. Perhaps its because I have an Element of Harmony with me that seems like she's here of her own will. Yeah, that's probably it.
“This one stallion, Bronze, is freeing your troops now,” Rainbow answers. She grins. “In fact, I have no doubt they're crushing the remainder of the changelings in this dungeon as we speak.”
“Bronze? That's good to hear,” Iron replies, though his expression remains unchanged. He's wearing this small frown on his face. It makes him look like he's pissed off about something. “Where is your rendezvous point? Assuming you have one, of course.”
“We do. We're meeting with Bronze back at the evidence room,” I answer him, not liking the wording of his last sentence. It almost sounds like he expects us to be less capable than the rest of his men.
“Very well. Then there is no time to waste,” Iron determines, stepping out of the cell and looking around. “Have you been ordered to serve with me?”
“For now, we'll follow your orders,” I say, although I hate the idea of following a pony I don't know that well. “But we'll be following Luna's plan. I can tell you the basics while we're moving.”
“Please do,” Iron responds simply, moving quickly back down the hallway in the direction of the evidence room. Huh, I guess he's not a talkative one. That's fine with me, I suppose.
“Luna wants you to the lead the troops in this dungeon in a flanking attack on the changelings. She's attacking Canterlot from the front, while Spitfire and Blades are on the other side,” I explain as quickly as I can.
“A pincer attack. Excellent idea,” Iron says approvingly. “I was unaware that Princess Luna possessed any notion of battle tactics.”
“Neither did I. Go figure,” I respond. “Then you'll be holding off their forces for the remainder of the battle.”
“A battle of attrition? I trust Princess Luna, but do you know why such a thing is necessary?” Iron questions just as we reach the evidence room. And holy fuck, there's a lot of guards here. There's unicorns and pegasi crowding the halls, entering and emerging from the evidence room to get weapons and armor, if they hadn't already been wearing theirs when they were slimed. One of them spots Iron, and then a rousing cheer spreads through the guard. Considering how they're making all this noise, I assume they've dealt with the rest of the changelings down here without alerting any of the ones topside.
“Yeah. You're holding them off until Celestia can be freed. Then we win,” I answer, standing just in front of the exit. Iron hesitates, and then nods in affirmation. “Go get your gear. We'll be right here.”
Iron nods once more, and then he disappears into the evidence room, the guard making room for him to pass. “He's pretty cool. Kinda stiff though,” Rainbow remarks.
“I agree, but I guess that doesn't really matter. As long as he can get the job done, I don't care if he's an asshole,” I express.
“Well, so far everything's going good,” Rainbow reminds me. I sigh and look at her in annoyance.
“Rainbow, shut the fuck up before you tempt fate,” I warn her. Rainbow scoffs at that, but Iron returns before we can say anything. Holy fuck, does he look awesome though.
Iron is wearing a set of gleaming silver armor, standing in stark contrast to the golden armor of the guard. Nor is it even the same design. His joints are heavily armored and his chest and back is covered with a legitimate breastplate decorated with the symbol of a golden eagle. Spiky overlapping plates cover his shoulders, and his hooves are fully sheathed in metal, the joints decorated with small eagle wings. Lastly, his helmet is covered in that same eagle motif, with wings jutting back from the side of the helmet. There's even an imposing visor attached to it, which is up right now.
For a weapon, he has a gleaming silver trident (yes, a fucking trident, who the hell even uses one of those in battle?) that he's holding with his magic, along with a similarly colored shield with the golden eagle on it. In conclusion, why the hell is his armor so different compared to the other guards' attire?
Iron raises a hoof, and all of the guards in the hallway quiet down immediately. “Here is the situation,” the commander begins. Oh..he's going to rally them. I suppose that's neccessary for morale, but I would have skipped it myself. We just don't have time. Oh shit, I know something I can do while I'm waiting. I pull out a scroll from my pocket and start writing. “Princess Luna has returned and is staging a counterattack on the changeling forces. In the absence of Shining Armor, I have been put in charge of all of you for the duration of this mission.”
The guards cheer, morale soaring at the mention of Princess Luna. Iron quiets them down before continuing. “Our mission is to hit the changelings from the flank, forming one side of a large pincer attack between us, the princess, and Captains Blades and Spitfire.”
Iron starts to pace in front of the entrance. “I don't need to tell you what's at stake here. I may not be from Equestria, but this is my home now, and I plan to defend it. Who here feels the same?”
The guards cheer once more, raising their weapons in preparation for the battle to come. I do hope he'd hurry it up. This waiting is killing me.
I soon finish the letter, which basically will let Luna know that we're about to head out there and finish phase one of the plan. With a snap of my fingers, the scroll dissolves in black flames, on its way to Spike for redirection.
“It's time to march, ponies! With me!” Iron commands, opening the door that leads into the street. He walks out into the street, followed by Rainbow and I.
Holy shit, it is fucking hell out here. There are the bodies of changelings everywhere, along with civilians trapped in slime and guards that didn't quite make it. The streets are cracked, and there's a steady stream of dust and debris falling from the sky. Looking up, I see a veritable cloud of changelings converging on the diversionary team, where Luna and Twilight appear to be going strong still. Still, there's thousands of changelings heading towards them. They'll get overwhelmed if we don't hurry.
The guards stream out of the dungeon behind us, forming into ranks that soon stretches all the way up the street behind us. Christ, I didn't realize there would be this many soldiers in the dungeons. It's heartening, to know that I'll be going into battle with all of them behind me.
“Rainbow, you realize that the moment we meet up in the center with the other two teams, you have to head to the first pylon with Twilight and Spitfire?” I remind her, a bit of unease in my heart. I don't want her going off somewhere without me to watch over her, but I don't really have much of a choice.
“Yeah, I didn't forget. Spitfire and I are gonna annihilate any changeling in our way!” Rainbow boasts, looking way too happy to be paired with her idol.
Once all of the guards are formed up behind us, Iron lifts his trident, and then angles it at the enemy with a roar, which is probably the signal to charge. Oh fuck, it is.
The guards behind me all start moving at once, the sound of their hooves blending together sounding like thunder. The pegasi in the army behind us rise from the ranks with their weapons, preparing to meet the changelings in the air. Rainbow and I are swept along with them, though we try to stay as close as possible.
My trepidation quickly turns to fear when I see the massive amount of changelings that we're heading for. I'm not going to back out though.
I have a promise to keep.
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Look at my last comment if you want to see how awesome I think this is :P
*suspicious* I fully expect that least some of the rescued guards are changelings, waiting for the right moment for a backstab.
Iron reminds me of Shell. I APPROVE! (he's from the Austraeoh series)
4916028 Thought you meant Chell from portal lol
Awesome work dude
This will probably be a shorter comment then usual, mainly because, while the chapter was awesome, not a lot of progression occurs and there wasn't much character development to comment on.
The fight scenes were written as awesome as always, and you did a really good job of having Rainbow and Seth work together. His magical might and her physically superior form give them a huge edge over the changlings. The plan appears to be working out well, and yet you were still able to ad in some extra directives for them, ie: finding the keys and confronting the infiltrator on top of their task of finding the commander. The new ability to morph the rifle into different forms is awesome. The battle rifle original form is great for a majority of situation, but giving him a long range mode and a fast action power mode was brilliant. I wonder if he could turn it into a rocket launcher
?
It was good to see some back and forth banter between Rainbow and Seth as they progressed through the cell block. Not sure where it's from but the 'delicate lady' joke was amazing and the follow up horse pun gave me a good chuckle. Even though they are in the middle of a battle, it's good to keep up their spirits and with how dark the situation is, it's good to keep a smile on your face as much as you can. Pinkie would be proud
. The battle with the infiltrator, while short was very good. Having him take Seth's form was a stupid move on his part, because while the real Seth has some very powerful dark magic, his physical skills aren't super amazing (he could probably beat the average pony, but against Rainbow or Applejack he would most likely lose). This means the changling is stuck in a slightly weaker form and without access to Seth's dark magic. He never stood a chance.
The character of Iron was awesome. Rather stoic, he certainly radiated an impressive level of skill and strength and his battle armour seems epic. I'm not sure how much, if any, of the battle we will see before Seth meets up with Luna to confront Chrysalis, but just thinking of Iron and his guards fighting alongside Seth and the elements against the changling army, I can't help but envision some awesome scenes.
As I said, not a lot actually occurred narratively, though the character dialogue was awesome and the fight scenes were brilliant. the music selection, particularly the last one, was also well done.
Don't stress yourself about getting another instant update out. Give yourself a break if you need, you've certainly earned it after all the updates this week. I can't wait to see what happens next, but don't push yourself to write if you aren't up to that quick an update. We're patient folk and we are happy to wait till you are ready to update
4918461
I tried not to sink to that level
I'm kinda supprised that Seth didn't betray Chrissi to begin with and capture her. Then get Celestia/Luna to extract the knowlage of the time spell from her whilst Chrissi is in custody. Then his new friends are safe and he gets to go home (that is of course assuming that Celestia can get the spell of Chrissi and that she would use it on Seth). Everybody wins
For an asshole who wants his way he's not very good at formulating plans.
4928648
A fair point. I'll keep that in mind once I eventually rewrite this.
However, he would have a year at the most to spend with his loved ones before the Oppressed attack and kill everyone anyway. As strong as he is, he can't fight all of them, while at the same time protecting his loved ones.
4928663 It's more a sense of "I can at least try to save them" that I got from it even if he'd fail. Personally, if I was on his position I probably would go back regardless of how OP is was. Or I'd try to bring them to the future. Or I'd wait until I was even more badass (it's time travel, he can go back at any time, therefore he has all the time he needs to perfect his skills to the point where he can beat the oppressed easily). Except, if he did that and humanity won then he wouldn't have had a reason to perfect his skills before going back to his own time and paradox's. Unless the message in the building he woke up in were fake and forged to make him believe humanity lost so he'd be all badass. But then what happened to humanity? Maybe he went super sayian and sent them all to the future or into space. If they did go to the future that might be why there were so few artifacts.
I'm going to stop thinking now before I hurt my brain...
4928710
Our mistake is believing that time is linear. It's more like a big ball of wib...okay no, I'm not doing that.
Thanks for the enthusiasm, though. Prepare for another chapter in...*checks*...15 minutes!
4928723 I just got back from a week and a bit long holiday before the mass of updates, and now there's going to be more!!!! How are your hands and brain still working?!?!? I can't say I'm disappointed though
4928766
I have no earthly idea. I REALLY DON'T!
4928771 Magic.
The answer to everything
Huh. You make a Sonic joke while I'm listening to I Am All Of Me...
Reminded of this noreset.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/1000-heartless.jpg
*grumble grumble*
Changelings have minds too
I sure do hope that you didn't mean they already entered into the area with the cells. Cuz if they did, there would be no point in RD and Seth hiding since there are BODIES of changelings lying all over the place and right next to the wall they supposedly passed. Or I misunderstood and they entered the room only later. Still, this needs some clarification.
BTW, Seth is playing dumb again. He says that he doesn't want to kill anything intelligent but at the same time clearly sees that changelings are intelligent, organized and all-out living beings. If they were just mindless drones who are controlled like puppets through a hive mind, they would have been discovered the moment they killed the first changeling. So yeah, kinda stupid on his part.
Except that she can be a changeling
6395484 possibly some combination of adrenaline, he's already crossed that line and not thinking about it.
Wait if he can transform it into a hunting rifle what’s stopping him from transforming it into a lmg
I was hoping he'd pull something brutal out like a flamethrower or a Gatling gun. Can settle for pulling out the John Wick loadout