The Unseen

by Shadow Beast

Chapter 2: The Weight of the Wails

The sun shined brightly over Appleloosa. The recruit woke up in an unfamiliar bed and an unfamiliar disguise. For some reason, he was a tan stallion. He trotted to the door at the edge of his bedroom. He opened it to deafening noise and blinding light.

When he recovered, he could hear nothing but cheering as several ponies smiled at him. He couldn't taste their love. They put a cake down on the table that had somehow gotten in front of him. In icing, something was written on the top of the cake:

“Happy Birthday, Starch!”

Eight candles glowed green on top of the cake. He looked up from the cake toward all the different ponies around him. As he made eye contact, a voice whispered in his ear. A brown stallion: “Ranch, your father.” A tan mare: “Maple Star, your mother.” A gray mare: “Her. The sitter. All her fault.”

“You can't blame her for the death of your parents,” a female voice spoke out. The room darkened until there was only the green light sparkling. “Of course, forgiveness is far beyond your limitations now, monster.”

“Who are you?!” Starch screamed into the darkness.

“Remember how happy you were that day? That innocence in your heart? The beauty that you threw away?”

“I feel nothing!” he screamed at the light.

“What a shame. What a shame.”

“What are you?!”

“We are the Unseen,” the glowing lights explained as they combined into a single, green diamond. “And your kind have fallen astray, destroying the beauty of this world, denying countless dreams and destinies!”

“What do you know?!” He smirked. “You're just a light.”

“‘Just a light,’ said the darkness. But that's all we need to be to stop you. We are the truth that you deny in favor of your lies. We are the hope you have desecrated. We are the lives you have forsaken. We are all that is pure, and you are all that is corrupt.”

“What the heck are you talking about?”

“Clear your mind of lies and know that you have been led astray. Your enemies surround you, and you are blind.”

A hoof jabbed him in the stomach. He opened his eyes to a changeling soldier. He was back in the shack with Verdugo’s team. He looked down to confirm he was a changeling again. He could feel a strange void inside of him.

“Wake up, recruit!” The soldier screeched. “Time to hunt some wolves!”

He tried to shake himself out of it. “Right. I'll be right there.” He took a moment to catch his breath.

“You alright?” It asked him.

Starch... The recruit nodded slowly. “Do you... Have a name?”

It smiled. “Well, Verdugo is a stickler for the traditional naming systems. She only calls us by our Chrsyalis-given names. And only the best get officially named by Her.” The smile disappeared as he looked around to make sure they were alone. “Personally, I think Verdugo just isn't good with names... Or maybe she only listens to the Queen.” It shrugged. “Hard to say.” It smiled again. “But you can call me Brucie.” Brucie chuckled. “The others on our team are Squee and Dreary.” Brucie crooked his head. “Do you have a name?”

“Starchy,” he said, smiling.

Brucie nodded. “Nice. So you awake now?”

Starchy nodded. “Let's get going. Verdugo’s probably getting impatient.”

Brucie gave a shrug. “If I know her well enough, she'd have left us in the dust.” He smiled. “But let's not keep Dreary waiting much longer.”

The pair trotted out into the daylight to find their fellow soldier patting the dirt with his hoof.

“Morning, Dreary!” Brucie greeted.

Dreary barely picked his snout up from the dirt to look at them. He started trotting off without saying a word.

Brucie playfully punched Starchy’s shoulder. “Good ol’ Dreary!” He followed after him, beckoning the recruit along.

The three soldiers trotted through the ramshackle town, the flaws of the architecture shining in the daylight. The scarred changelings smiled and waved as they passed. In the distance, at the edge of the forest, Verdugo and Squee stood waiting. Squee shook with impatience, his eyes and ears determined to confirm the source of every sound in the air.

“About time,” Verdugo snarled as they approached. “You two missed breakfast with your laziness.” She smirked.

Brucie smiled back, his eyes fixed on his shaking partner. “I thought you were cutting him off of pony anxiety?”

Verdugo shrugged. “Not like any of you were there to stop him.” She turned her head to admire the sight. “The way I see it, the more alert it he is, the less dead he’ll be.”

Brucie nodded. “Understandable.”

Verdugo turned and trotted into the forest, with nothing more than a gesture to get the others to follow. Squee jumped on point only to be pulled back by Verdugo’s magic and kept at her side. The constant shaking of his teammate made Starchy uneasy. Brucie was smiling and Dreary followed behind with his eyes on the path. Verdugo kept a large step ahead, constantly scanning with a flashlight spell for any sign of wolves.

A howl echoed through the trees. Verdugo galloped toward the source, her team doing their best to keep up. In a small clearing, the timberwolves gathered around an alpha. It looked around at its pack before making eye contact with the changeling general. It took a step back. Verdugo charged a different kind of spell.

The alpha sat down, which caused its pack to do the same. It looked back at the general. “That won’t be necessary...” it barked with actual words. “Come out. We won’t hurt you.”

The team reluctantly emerged from the trees. Squee shook in the sight of the wolves. Verdugo put a hoof on his shoulder as she turned toward the alpha. “I was expecting a fight, after all the innocent lives you’ve ruined.”

“Do not blame me for my children’s contempt,” the alpha growled. “The nearby village is subject to attack only by those who slip by my gaze. And when they return, they are destroyed.” Its tail began to wag. “I’m on your side here, executioner.”

Verdugo’s eyes widened. She shook an invisible leaf off of her head. “If you can’t keep your own kids on a leash how are we supposed to feel safe right now?”

Its tail stopped wagging. “I’m trying to make this as painless as possible, I assure you. But that village is filled with...” Its head crooked in thought. “...a delicacy. It’s a scent too strong for my children to resist.”

“And what scent is that?” Verdugo asked, growing impatient.

“The scent of changeling blood, of course!”

Out from the bushes leapt a snarling timberwolf. It bounded towards Starchy and Squee. Before Verdugo could react, the beast tripped. It fell onto its head and broke into nothing more than sticks and leaves. A meddlesome vine uncurled around the lone leg that remained of the timberwolf before retreating into the grass of Everfree.

“That’s the eighth time today!” the alpha remarked. Its eyes glowed a very intense green. “And that’s just one of the troublemakers!” It scoffed and shook its head. “But...” It looked up at Verdugo. “I hope this assures you that you are, in fact, safe here.”

“Shut up!” Verdugo commanded. “I am not going to speak to some overgrown piece of wood any more!”

The alpha sighed. “Very well.” It took one last glance at its pack. It sighed again. The eyes of the alpha glowed with a pure, green flame. The flame spread to its body, engulfing the wolf in an orb of green. It exploded outward, leaving nothing but sticks, leaves, and the head of an alpha timberwolf behind. A changeling stood in its place now, almost as short as Squee.

“I’m not an idiot...” it started to explain.

“No, you’re worse than incompetent,” Verdugo scolded. Her tongue stilled itself for a moment, as if her mind had just revoked the next few words. “Your failures have put innocent lives at great risk and I have every right to strike you down where you stand!”

It scoffed. “You know nothing of innocence. And, like I was saying, I’m aware that revealing my true form to you will do nothing to prolong my life.” It smiled at her.

Verdugo stepped forward. “Then you’re ready to die?”

“No one is.” Its horn glowed.

Verdugo fired a spell at it. The changeling encased itself in a magical barrier. The blast pushed it back, but it stood up straight again and smiled.

“In a world of peace and pacifism, you still know how to kill so efficiently.”

“That bubble can’t protect you forever!” Verdugo screamed, signaling her team to move up.

“Executioner, what would I have to say to not die today?”

“Destroy him!” she commanded.

“That’s what I thought.”

With a flash, the barrier was gone. The changeling disappeared with it. Verdugo’s team looked around, only to find the sticks slowly rising from the ground all around them. Five timberwolves formed around them, each snarling at the team. Verdugo smiled at the challenge, taking a step toward the beast in front of her.

She tripped. A vine had looped through one of the holes in her hind leg, keeping her pinned to the ground.

“Umm... Verdugo?” Starchy almost tripped himself trying to reach out to her. “This is... this is survivable, right?”

The general picked herself up from the ground. “Stand your ground, soldiers!” She blasted the beast in front of her with magic. It crumbled to the ground before immediately reassembling.

She shot it again.

It reanimated even faster.

She kept shooting it.

It kept on, getting closer and closer.

“The magic’s not working!” Dreary yelled out, having the exact same luck on her right flank.

The pack closed in on their meal.

“The vine!” Verdugo screamed. “Cut the vine!”

With a blast of her magic, the vine snapped in two. The changeling team spread their wings and flew. The vine grew longer to make up for its cut, but couldn’t reach their airborne legs in time. Verdugo and her team escaped over the treetops. In defeat, the vine shriveled into the grass. One by one, the timberwolves fell into pieces.

A changeling emerged from the trees and picked up the alpha’s head. “Sorry, Shadow...” It dropped it and stomped it into the dust. “That was just too close. It's not worth it anymore.”

Meanwhile, Verdugo and her team kept flying to the north.

“Shouldn’t we go back and help that town?” Brucie asked. “It’s not like us to fail a mission...”

“We didn’t fail,” Verdugo growled. “We learned.”

“So we are going back?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because that wasn’t a fight,” Dreary answered. “That was fear. Pure fear.” He nodded. “Verdugo and I’ve seen it before. That changeling knows what it did wrong, so the problem is either going to get much worse... or disappear.”

“Shadow Beast has always been a pushover,” Verdugo added. “I’m almost impressed that he tried to stand up to me like that.”

“But if he just grew a backbone...”

“If he had faced us, we’d go back,” Verdugo snapped. “He attacked from the shadows. He had no backbone.” She shrugged. “One way or another, it’s not our problem anymore.”

“So where are we going now?” Brucie asked.

“The castle. We still need to be briefed by the Queen for our unseen mission.”