A Different Breed of Changeling

by Zoljen

Conversing with the Wonderbolts

Talon slowly woke up, a familiar feeling of pain throughout his body as his senses returned. He opened his eyes, spotting only a little bit of light, he was able to tell he was under a bench and a pile of ceiling tiles. He groaned loudly, then winced as he heard voices.

“Sounds like another is over here!” He heard shouted, and a moment later, more light shone on him. He detected relief for a few moments before he suddenly detected anger. He glanced up into the disapproving glare of Captain Spitfire, with Blazetail standing right beside her.

“Aw, shards.” Talon squeaked out.

“Seriously?! WITH ALL THE OTHER PROBLEMS WE HAVE ANOTHER CHANGELING TO DEAL WITH?!” Spitfire yelled as Blazetail winced, folding his ears back as he let Spitfire rant. Wave Chill stood off to the side, keeping an eye on Talon who was currently scooting to hide under the rubble that remained

“And why is he wearing the Renegade outfit anyway?!” Spitfire turned to glare at Talon, who shrank a little.

“Well… Spitfire, he is a Renegade.” Flash Wind said calmly, barely glancing to Talon.

“I’d love to hear the reasoning behind this,” Spitfire rolled her eyes, keeping her glare fixed on the changeling who was failing to hide.

Talon sighed loudly as he gave up hiding, “Must I explain it, again? Long story short, I’m a soldier from a hive in the drake empire. I dropped in on Descent, Starry, Dust, and Princess Luna about two months ago and have been with them since. Don't ask about that, because it's an annoying story.”

“Hmph, and I should just believe this?”

“We can go ask Princess Luna,” Talon grinned weakly.

“Right now I’m having a hard time believing much of anything. So why is a changeling fighting?” Spitfire walked heavily up to Talon, growling lightly. “And you better convince me it's not to steal love!”

Talon blinked, “Love? Really?” he shook his head, “As if. I would take the admiration of your fans more. The cheering of a roaring crowd is my feast, not the heart of a married couple.”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow, “Huh?”

Talon sighed, standing to his full height, which was a little taller than the Captain herself, “As I'm sure you’ve noticed, I am different than any changeling you might have encountered,” Spitfire nodded slowly, “As such, while I can feed on the energy love provides, it isn't as… nourishing as say, the cheers of a fan.”

“So… attending one of our shows would...” Spitfire sat, looking Talon over.

“Give me the energy I require with minimal effort.” Talon shrugged slightly.

“Just like that? No biting, no forcing your way, no hostile intent?” Spitfire raised an eyebrow, looking back at Talon’s face as he just grinned.

“Nope. From what I hear, your Cloudsdale shows are the best.” Talon grinned widely, showing off his fangs for a moment.

“Maybe you should get to know him better, Captain.” Blazetail chuckled as he stood next to Spitfire, “Take him to your office, see if it survived the trip. He doesn't bite, honest.” Spitfire turned to glare at him, then sighed.

“Yeah sure. If he does get out of line, I can just punch him.” Spitfire took a few steps, stopping and looking over her shoulder for a moment. “You can handle this a bit, right?” The former captain nodded and made a shooing motion. Spitfire sighed and looked back at Talon. “Fine, come on, changeling.”

“My name is Talon…” Talon grumped as he followed behind her. She merely snorted as she led him to her office.

“Okay, Talon. How long have you been here, with us, that is.” Spitfire asked, glancing over her shoulder.

“Let’s see, two months with the Renegades. Here in the compound? Since saving your tails from that initial attack.” Talon started up the stairs, glancing at the pole for a moment before flying around it. He could have teleported past it, but he was drained at the moment.

“Uh huh… and before that two month period?”

Talon sighed, “Wondering aimlessly around the drake wilds. I got here through, er, divine intervention, and literally fell into a meeting with Luna and Co. And after that.. yeah.”

“Divine intervention?” Spitfire stopped to look at him questioningly.

“I’d rather not bring it up. Not my best moment, nor was getting hammered by Descent, and blasted by Luna afterward.” Talon sighed as Spitfire opened the door to her office, and quickly winced at its sight.

Everything in it was a mess, the bookshelves were all toppled over. At least what all she could see from the hallway and the crack in the wall. She sighed and turned to Talon, “Don't suppose you can conjure up a ball of light, huh?”

Talon shook his head, “Too drained for that.” Spitfire sighed again, stepping past him.

“Stay here.” She took a step towards the stairs before she suddenly felt something warm. She looked over her shoulder to see Talon sitting back, holding a ball of fire with his good hoof and appearing to use his wings to keep the fire going, as he glared at his scorched hoof. “Uhhh…..”

Talon glanced up, “Oh, uh. Yeah. I said I was too drained for the ball of magic, however, I bet a fireball is better.” He grinned slightly, then went back to looking at his bad hoof, “Though doing this I did learn something.”

“Which was?” Spitfire raised an eyebrow.

Talon let out a sigh, letting the fire flow to his wings and rotating them to keep the flame going. “I can't manipulate fire through this hoof all too well.” He raised his scorched hoof up, scrunching his face as he glared at it.

“I was curious about that.” Spitfire stepped into the room, guided by the crimson glow of the fire. The rest of the room coming into view, her desk being upside down and near the wall behind it. The chair stuck under it and more files and paperwork all strewn about. Spitfire just grumbled and started to pick up stuff. “Well, we have time.”

“I fought Sin.” Spitfire stopped and turned to stare at him, as he continued “And lost. He cracked two ribs, tore my crest, beat me to a pulp, threw me through a wall, and nearly killed two of my friends.” Talon looked down at his hoof, “This scar is from me shattering a crystal, right next to him. He appears to have gotten out of it scar-free. Me, however…” He kept his wings rotating as he used his other hoof to unroll the athletic tape that was hiding it.

Spitfire watched in silence as he fully unveiled it, and raised it up. “I suppose I don't need to hide it anymore since you know what I am.”

“Why were you hiding it? Aside from looking dark red, instead of gray, it looks…” She trailed off as he shifted forms, the hoof, and fetlock and part of his limb remaining the changeling limb only with fewer holes, as the rest of him looked like the pegasus she had seen on occasion. She blinked a few times. “...oh.”

“Yeah…” Talon sighed, wincing and letting his disguise drop, “Erf, I am really drained. Can’t even hold my form if I wanted to.”

Spitfire sighed and resumed picking up as much as she could, “So, what made you want to fight?”

“I want to be a Wonderbolt.” Talon looked at her a moment, as he shifted over and started picking up papers. “I ran into a few a couple mo… er… a long while back, and was intrigued. Though fate had other plans for me it seems.” He chuckled to himself, “As for fighting. It's what I do best, I am a soldier drone after all. Not a harvester or anything like that.”

“Huh, so fighting is basically all you're good at?” Spitfire raised an eyebrow at Talon, as he continued the somewhat mindless job of cleaning.

“I wouldn't say that; I know a little bit about jewel crafting, and I have a fair bit of knowledge about magic.” Talon shrugged, “Not as much as Princess Twilight, but hey, with a fair bit of study perhaps.”

“You ran into Princess Twilight? Was that before or after your fight with Sin?”

“Before, a day after some banquet… the fight with Sin happened the night Rapidfire infiltrated our ranks.” Talon sighed, looking down, “Stupid stallion.”

“So when Dust said he was nearly undetectable, she meant it.”

“We detect emotions and taste them. We can spot another changeling up close, and each hive functions differently in how we see them. At least according to my queen,” Talon shrugged, “Haven't really met any other hives yet. To us, another changeling is, well. Like mostly opaque, with the changeling body just barely visible below the disguise.”

Talon took a moment to collect his thoughts, looking at the stack of papers he had before him, “What Rapidfire did, I couldn't tell he was any different from another stallion or mare visibly. Emotion wise? I felt something off, but I couldn't place my hoof on it. It was just...something was wrong, but I had no clue what.” He sighed and sat, his wings stopping, letting the flames die out.

Spitfire moved over and rested a hoof on his shoulder, “And that was when he struck?” Talon shook his head.

“He led Sin back to one of our bases, a summer campsite retreat thing. A few hours later, he and Sin struck. Only me, Rime, and Crimson survived, and barely at that. I mean, he did cripple all three of us. I was just crippled in this way,” He held up his hoof, “Thanks to Ember, I was able to get a boost of energy and be back to fighting just in time for that major attack.”

“Ember… Emerald Haze?” Spitfire questioned gently, Talon nodded slightly, then winced hard, quickly looking up at her. Spitfire grinned warmly, “I won't tell anypony about that.”

“Thank you,” he let out a huge sigh of relief, “Er, I let the flame go out.”

“That you did, how did you make it anyway?”

Talon just grinned slightly, “I have my ways, though I can't do it again right now.”

“Right, I’m going to go grab a few candles. You go check in with Descent, see what he wants you to do.” Spitfire made her way out of the office and back to the lobby, with Talon following.

“Will do, ma’am.”

---

Talon sighed as he stared into a barrel of fire. He was in the Battledome with the rest of the Wonderbolts, off to one side and everyone seemed to be keeping their distance from him. He didn't blame them honestly. At least they were avoiding him, instead of wanting to attack him.

After another conversation with Spitfire, he agreed to remain undisguised while within the compound, and since Descent told him he wasn't needed with maintaining the blizzard. To just remain on the grounds, get some rest, and then see what Spitfire could use him for. That was a few days ago, and getting his energy back had been slow going.

He shivered faintly under the blanket. At least being able to breathe fire was proving useful in one aspect, he didn't feel as cold as everypony else in the Battledome who were almost all hugging their barrels of fire or each other. He took a quick glance around, certainly spotting the couples of each squad and tasting the love from them, there were a few loners too, but they still clung to a squad.

He sighed and resumed staring at the fire. He wondered how Ember was doing, heck, he wondered how Canterlot was faring after that. At least they didn't have a doomsday cannon hovering overhead currently. According to Descent, it was just outside the blizzard, waiting for it to die down so they could come in and finish the job.

He heard a pony clear their throat next to him, followed by a soft growl from another pony. He turned his head slightly towards it and looked up to see Soarin standing there, under his own blanket and could see Rainbow Dash standing next to him, growling a little.

“Is this mattress taken?” Soarin asked, gesturing slightly to one of the three mattresses that surrounded the fire.

“Nope but your partner might object.” Talon resumed staring at the fire, barely watching Soarin and Dash move to lay on the other mattress.

“I think she can handle a simple conversation for a bit.” Soarin chuckled softly, glancing to Dash who puffed her cheeks out and looked away. Talon looked at Soarin, glancing to his horn for a moment then back to the pony.

“So, what brings a lead commander to my little corner of solitude?”

Soarin chuckled softly, shaking his head, “Drop the title, for starters. I just want to talk.”

“What about?” Talon raised an eyebrow.

“A potential wingmate, for starters.”

“WHAT?!” Dash turned to glare at the changeling, “You can't be serious Soarin! He’s a changeling! How do we know he isn't here to feed on our love?”

Talon sighed, dipping his head forward to rest on the mattress, “I need a sign that says ‘I don't feed on love’ made. Seriously, how many times will I have to say that?” He looked at Dash, “I wasn't even here for that wedding! You’d think I’d stand out if I was.” He twitched his wings under the blanket.

Dash just stared at him for a moment. “Okay, fine. Suppose I believe you. Why do you want to be a Wonderbolt?”

Talon chuckled softly, “For the fans. And so my skills as a soldier are put to good use.”

“Fans?” Soarin asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Better taste.” Talon sighed as he heard Dash growl. “I'm from the drake empire, we don't feed on love. Not saying we don't entirely ignore it, it's just not as nourishing.”

“Uh huh… So why aren't you hiding yourself then?” Dash looked the changeling over, still slightly glaring while snuggling up to Soarin.

“Yeah, I was curious why you’re not disguised.” Soarin chimed in.

Talon raised his scorched hoof, “Because Captain Spitfire asked me not to. And I can't fully disguise myself anyway. I fought Sin and paid a price.” They both looked confused, and Talon demonstrated by taking on his pegasus disguise, and holding the bad hoof out, “See?” They both nodded slowly, as he went back to being a changeling. “I stabbed one of his crystals, it exploded, and after that, it was a blur.”

“Stabbed?” Dash asked, tilting her head slightly.

Talon chuckling, and kept his hoof out, making it into a small blade. Both Soarin and Dash just stared at it, until he returned it to normal. “It's a quirk I have, I guess you can say my ‘special talent’ is making blades, alter parts of myself, etc.”

“And yet you can't hide that hoof now?”

“Something about damaging the mana veins or some scientific mumbo jumbo.” Talon waved a hoof.

“Huh, I bet Twilight could help you.” Dash thought out loud, as Soarin chuckled.

“And here you didn't want to chat with him.” Soarin poked at Dash, making her jab him back. “Ow.”

Talon chuckled, “Maybe, she is an alicorn after all. Witchy and Emerald couldn't do anything.” Dash quickly looked back at Talon.

“You met her?” Talon nodded, “When?”

“Day after some fancy banquet she attended.”

“Wait…. were you that red unicorn stallion she was talking to before we showed up?”

Talon chuckled, “Guess you noticed me, huh?”

“She wouldn't stop talking about you! Meeting somepony from the drake empire meant she could learn more about the drakes in general!” Dash sighed loudly, then blinked, “So, wait. How’d you do that wing thing?”

“A quirk of the Ruby hive, all forms are malleable. Just took somepony to show it.” He grinned widely.

“Huh, that's kind of cool.” Dash chuckled softly.

“Not as cool as what you are, though, an Element of Harmony. I’ve heard of that being a really powerful magic,” Talon grinned lopsidedly at Dash. “Course, having friends around helps with it too, right?”

“Yeah. I suppose you don't have many friends here at the moment?”

“Only a few in the Renegades, and none among the Wonderbolts.” Talon looked around, “Still detecting a bunch of anger directed at me, and I honestly can't blame them. Changelings made a horrible impression with that wedding invasion. Chrysalis is dumb.”

“What would you have done during that?” Soarin leaned forward, somewhat eager for an answer.

“Kicked her plot.” Talon stated with a soft chuckle, “Or at least try to, anyway.”

“Assuming you weren't that skilled of a fighter before?”

“Learned from the retired Wonderbolts in the span of a month. Combining that and the fact I fight better as what you see before you. It certainly helps to be undisguised.”

“Huh, well. You can count me as a friend then!” Dash thumped her chest once, “And I’m sure I can convince my squad to do the same.”

“I don't know, that griffin may see me as a foe.” Talon glanced around, quickly spotting the griffin. “Seeing as how drakes and griffins didn't get along a few mo… er… years… ago.”

“Oh, don't worry. His anger is focused elsewhere, namely on Descent.” Dash sighed, “Just wish he’d get his head together and stop glaring at Storm because of it.”

“And the rest?”

“Squall is anti-social, but he’s warming up to us. Little Star… ya know, I don't know how she’d react to you. Twister is… well… Twister.” Dash shook her head, chuckling. “And while Storm Front isn't a part of our squad, we all tried out together. He may like you since you're trying to be all noble.”

“That’d be good, the more friends I can make, the better,” Talon grinned, as Dash leaned back a little.

“Just… avoid showing those fangs.”

---

The little dusty brown pegasus stallion just stared wide eyed at the changeling that was standing before him. A few of the unicorn assistants that Rivet had helping him were also staring at the changeling, but they were more confused why he was down here. The changeling cleared his throat gently.

“I am not going to bite,” he said quietly, trying to sound as calm and peaceful as possible. Rivet squeaked and quickly moved behind one of the other Wonderbolts that was helping him. Talon sighed softly as he watched.

The Wonderbolt looked the changeling over, “Why are you down here?”

“Well, er, Learun, was it?” The Wonderbolt nodded, “I was asked by Captain Spitfire to help out down here. Since my weather manipulation is rather poor for various reasons. She figured my magic and flight would be helpful down here. You just point me at what is needed and I’ll see what I can do.”

“And what exactly can you do?” Learun tilted his head slightly, continuing to look the changeling over.

“Float stuff around, light up areas your lights can't reach. See in the darker places without light,” Talon shrugged slightly, “Follow directions, and get confused by all of this.” He made a sweeping motion with a hoof towards, well, everything. “The drakes had nothing like this.”

“We didn't know we had something like this.” Learun sighs as he looked back at Rivet, “He isn't going to bite. We could use his help anyway.”

“R-right.” Rivet slowly peeked around Learun, staring up at the changeling who lowered himself into a bow towards him. “J-just see if the unicorns over there need help or something.” Rivet pointed down towards one of the boilers.

“Yes, sir.” Talon saluted, then turned and cantered towards the unicorns that were currently looking at the boiler and debating how best to put it back together.

---

“Hey, changeling!” Talon heard as he walked down the hallway towards the Battledome. He stopped, sighed, and glanced over his shoulder to see a reddish-orange mare trotting up to him.

“I have a name, you know.” He turned partially to face her.

“I'm aware. It's Talon, isn't it?” the mare stopped a yard from him, looking him over, “Soldier drone from a hive in the drake empire, currently a Renegade, and wanting to be a Wonderbolt.”

Talon blinked, turning a little more, “Well, you seem to know me so well. Yet I don't know you at all.”

“Captain Riptide of Squad Six, Upper Tier,” She grinned slightly, “Witchy says you can be trusted.”

Talon grinned for a moment, “I was curious how she was doing. I’ve barely seen her since we took off, and even then she had two squads of Wonderbolts around her.”

“She is doing fine; just… adjusting to the new surroundings.” Riptide shrugged slightly, “Where are you off to?”

“The Battledome spent the day with Rivet helping out with repairs. Fun little fellow but he is incredibly shy,” Talon shrugged and turned back towards the battledome doors. “Just regaining a little bit of energy before I go help explore caves.”

“Caves?” Riptide cantered a little to catch up to Talon.

“Yeah, seems some Renegades discovered a cave network, and who better to explore them then a changeling?” He chuckled softly. “Come with my own light source after all.” He gestured to his horn for a second.

“So, you wouldn't mind some company then? Get to know you better.”

“Not at all, the more friends I make, the better I’ll feel,” Talon grinned as he glanced to Riptide. “Soarin’s already warmed up to me, Spitfire seems to tolerate me at least.”

“Hmm, the one you should really be pleasing is Silver Lining,” Riptide shook her head, “May be the oldest Wonderbolt here, but he still holds a lot of sway, and is hard to please.”

“Wasn't that way when I first met him.” Talon shrugged slightly, opening the doors and gesturing the mare inside. Riptide trotted in and quickly went towards one of the barrels of fire, where two stallions were already under blankets.

“Huh, and when did you first meet him?” Riptide asks as she trots over to the stallions, gesturing Talon to follow.

“During the last griffin drake war,” Talon casually spoke as he floated up a blanket over himself. Tide stops and stares at the changeling for a moment.

“That was two decades ago! How are you still so young?”

“Guess Witchy didn't say everything, huh?” Talon just grinned back at her, “It's okay. It's a long and somewhat annoying story. I should just get note cards or something to hand out to ponies who are interested,” He paused for a moment. “Also, when did you become an expert on a changelings age?”

“Well, Witchy mentioned that you were in your twenties, so. Are you actually older than that?” Tide laid down next to the stallions, snuggling up under her own blanket.

“No, that's pretty accurate. I can just thank Diet Chaos for that little time skip.” He claimed his own mattress, as the two stallions looked towards him.

“This the changeling we heard about Tide?” The gray stallion asked, looking Talon over.

“That he is; Storm. And I want to get to know his soldier side.”

“Oh good, a soldier conversation, just what I was wanting to participate in.” Sky, the yellow stallion chuckled softly.

Talon raised his eyebrow as he watched the three converse, “Right, why?”

“How you fight, why you fight. That kind of thing, let’s start with why first.” Tide gestured towards Talon.

“Hah, that's an easy one. I fight to protect those who can't defend themselves. As a soldier of a hive, it was a part of my duty to protect the hive from intruders,” He sighed, looking towards the barrel of fire near them, “Of course, the one thing I'm truly good at, and I fail it.”

Tide tilted her head slightly, “Witchy mentioned your hive was extinct, what happened?”

“Not entirely sure. Some kind of rainbow shockwave passed through the hive, next thing I know it was crumbling around me. It's all… a blur after that.” Talon looked down, “Kind of blanked it out, actually.”

“Not your best moment?” Sky asked softly, getting a nod from Talon.

“After that, I wandered around aimlessly for a bit, ran into a timberwolf. Defended myself decently well as a unicorn, till it grabbed me. A moment later a blue pegasus burst out of the forest, it was Blizzard Strike.” Talon shrugged slightly, returning his stare to the fire, “After that, got my small wounds tended to. And I left them that night.”

“Huh, I read the report that they bumped into a random red unicorn. Turns out it was you, huh?” Tide grinned slightly, “Then after that, I assume you bumped into something that basically shot you ahead nearly two decades?”

“Yup.”

“Well, that was enlightening. So back onto the topic of being a soldier. You know most ponies hate what you are, so why defend them?”

“Well, Captain Riptide. They may hate what I am, but I’ll still protect them. Just wanting to prove that not every apple is bad.” Talon sighed, “Just harder to paint a better image of oneself when it's already gone sour.”

“And how do you plan to fix that image?” Storm asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, being legitimately accepted into the Wonderbolts would be a start. After that, I'm not sure.” Talon shrugged.

---

Talon was leading a small pack of Renegades with Rivet and a Wonderbolt stallion named Point Dex through the cave network the Renegades had found. Various flashlights were being pointed about they all walked along. Talon grumbled softly to himself as he walked along, just using their lights to guide his way.

“Problem, changeling?” Dex asked, glancing to the changeling, making the light shine on him.

“Yeah, kinda wish Torch was here. He’d have no problems finding any underground water source.” Talon sighed, hanging his head as he did.

“And here I thought all changelings were knowledgeable underground. Guess we should find a Diamond dog then.” Dex chuckled as Talon glared at him lightly.

“And I guess all pegasi are masters of the elements relating to the sky, huh?” Talon stopped walking, making the others do the same after a few steps. He went to one of the walls and put a hoof on it, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“What are you doing?” Rivet asked quietly.

“Something Torch showed me, trying to get a sense of where we are underground.” He remained there for a few moments, then smirked. “Okay, this way.” And resumed leading them on, barely stopping at a fork in the tunnel system and going down the right one.

“Huh, finally find your bearings?” One of the Renegades asked with a chuckle.

“Yes, I finally did. I may not have the same attunement he does, but if I focus, it works all the same.” Talon spoke, barely glancing over his shoulder.

“Huh, so maybe you are useful.”

“Just trying to prove I'm not evil. That dumb queen gave us changelings a bad image and I just want to be accepted.” Talon shrugged as he walked along, “Besides, I happen to know my metals better than most changelings, or even drakes for that matter.”

The group took another sharp turn and kept going on, so far it seemed like they weren't in too deep, but the only who really knew was Talon, and even then he couldn't tell that well.

“Oh?” Dex spoke up, “As in knowing how to work them or…?”

“Emulating them. A part of what I can do when I shift is take on part of the metal.” He grinned glancing over his shoulder at Dex, “and when we get to repairing the propellers, I can help.. ACK!” He suddenly disappeared from view, as the ground beneath him suddenly gave way. The others stopped and looked in his direction, peering down into the hole as they heard a splash.

They all started to chuckle, and a few seconds later a pop sounded. They all looked up to see a dripping wet changeling, shivering and hugging himself.

“F-f-found the w-water.” He chittered out.

“Are you okay?” One of the Renegades asked, floating over the hole and hovering by him, angling his wings away as to not add to the changelings cold.

“J-just g-give me a m-minute.”

The Renegade nodded and turned back to Rivet, landing by him. “Okay, so now that we found the water. How are we going to do this again?”

Rivet sighed, “Ok. We need the pipe that hopefully somepony has been dragging along. We just run it down into the water, and get a pump going. Only get one of the shower rooms running, but it beats having none.” Rivet turned and took a step from the hole before a soft crimson glow filled the corridor.

They all turned to see Talon sitting in what would appear to be a fireball. His wings slowly rotating to keep the fire going as he warmed himself up. Rivet and Dex noticed that his mouth was hanging open slightly, fire slowly flowing out of it to add more to what was already around him.

They all stared in wide-eyed wonder as he continued to bathe himself in fire for a bit longer before letting it fade. He blinked and turned to the pegasi around him. “What?”

“HOW DID YOU DO THAT?” Rivet was suddenly in Talon’s face, pressing his face to the changelings. Making Talon’s eyes go wide and flatten his ears as he stared back into the wide and shocked eyes of Rivet.

“Um, I… just can? Part drake and all that?” Talon blinked, leaning back and somewhat away as Rivet unglued himself and floated a little away, looking over his soon to be pilot light with appraisal.

“Well, I think I found a use for you after all.” Rivet grinned widely and rubbed his hooves together.

“Uhh… Should I be worried?” Talon glanced at Dex, who was just chuckling.

“And to think, he was scared of you earlier this week.”

“So true. Anyway, what use do you think he has for me?” Talon asked, moving closer to Dex as Rivet guided the Renegades around.

“I would suspect being a light for the boiler.” Dex turned to Talon, “How often can you do that fire trick?”

“Not in rapid succession, so I use it sparingly.” Talon shrugged, shivering faintly.

“So, I noticed that fire was not in your usual red glow.” Dex commented, gazing at the changelings horn for a second.

“Nope turns out it takes far less energy to manipulate it like you pegasi do. I can do water decently well, along with lightning. But fire is my strongest, obviously.” Talon smirked, glancing at Dex.

“And wind?”

“Eh… nope.” Talon shook his head.

Rivet glanced over to him, “Can you tell how far down it goes?” Talon closed his eyes, looking downward and taking a deep breath.

“A fair bit, it isn't all too deep, but it should suffice for the duration of our stay here. About the only reading I can make out, it's partially blurry.” Talon sighed as he opened his eyes, glaring faintly at his bad hoof.

Rivet raised an eyebrow for a moment, then hovered above the hole and flicked something on his goggles.

Dex, meanwhile, watched him the whole time. “Bet you can make earth ponies jealous with that trick.”

Talon shook his head in response, “I am sure there are plenty out there who are on Torch’s level. Just like I never claim to be an expert on things, I'm just really good at some.”

“Well, hopefully when this is all over, you try out for the Wonderbolts.”

“I plan to. It's just up to Captain Spitfire and the rest of the command squads if you Wonderbolts let a changeling into your ranks.” Talon shrugged, “You have a griffin at least, so there is some hope.”

“As long as you don't go impersonating other ponies, I'm sure we’d let you in.” Dex chuckled.

“Even if I did, I’d be spotted right away,” He raised his bad hoof, “Can't fully hide myself. So I probably won't be disguising myself much anyway.”

Dex looked at the hoof and winced, “Ouch, how’d that happen?”

“Fought Sin and lost. Simple as that really,” Talon chuckled, “Stabbed one of his crystals,” He turned the hoof into a blade as he mentioned it and continued, “And it exploded. Burnt the mana veins around the hoof so disguising it is effectively a no go. Can still alter it though, obviously.” He held the blade up for a moment before returning it to normal and setting it back down.

“Fascinating trick. Can all changelings do that?”

Talon shook his head, “Probably not, otherwise they might have won that invasion. Seems to be my quirk, or.. special talent like you ponies and your cutie marks.” Talon shrugged.

Author's Note:

Long chapter! But after thinking about it, it was originally two chapters that I merged into one to get all the "Talking" out of the way. After this chapter, this story is going on pause. The next chapter is ready, but I want a little more of a buffer going, plus I'm not entirely sure where I want to go.

Also of note, this chapter is getting released after my cameo in Piercing the Heavens, Chapter 128. Which I am still giddy about.

Comments

[harts fire]

a vary good chapter.

[harts fire]

8179314
some vary good art work.