Between a Rock and a Hard Place

by Lurker5532

Weakness

Rend gasped as his eyes snapped open, instinctively lashing out at the nearest thing that he could see- which, sadly for him, happened to be a wall. As his black hoof slammed into it, the injured Changeling screamed in pain, recoiling.

Cradling his hoof, his eyes narrowed as he surveyed it. There was a crack in it- something that would easily be fixed by a little resin. Rend opened his jaws, and spat a green sticky goop onto the crack, rubbing it into it. It hurt like Tartarus, but it was necessary. Grimacing, he kept at it. He had been trained for this. Pain was just a sign that it was working, he told himself, as he forced the crack to seal itself.

Slowly, memories came flooding back to him as he became less focused on the singular task of fixing himself up. The entire Hive had attacked Canterlot on his Queen’s orders. He’d been galloping towards the palace, and then everything had gone wrong. Love- so much love, mixed with a tang of friendship. It had erupted from the palace, and he’d stared in horror as he realized that his Queen and her Royal Guard were being carried along with it.

And then it had slammed into him.

And then he had been flying, but not with his wings. The pure energy had been carrying him, and Rend had been screaming, and then he had slammed into something, and then everything had gone dark in a flash of intense pain.
As he looked around, Rend slowly realized what had happened. Glaring at the wall beside him, he put two and two together. The wall belonged to what he assumed was a small bakery (he wasn’t too coherent, or he’d have realized that earlier) and it was already pretty damaged. It looked like something had rammed head first into it at… full… speed.

Oh.

“Oh no.” Rend’s eyes widened. The barrier must have expanded and slammed him into the bakery. He must have been knocked unconscious by the impact- a miracle, he realized, that it hadn’t killed him outright- but where were his brothers and sisters? Where was his Queen?

A blood-curdling scream interrupted his pained musings. Rend’s red eyes snapped towards the sound, and narrowed at a terrified looking pony about twelve feet away.

He couldn’t really blame her. Rend was big for a Changeling, and they must have been terrifying to these soft-skinned ponies. Insectoid wings, holes through their hooves, sharp fangs- they were truly horrific to them.

Sometimes he found it kind of ironic that a species that had to survive on love looked so different.

But terrifying was what he wanted. Struggling to his feet, the Changeling gave the pony a fanged grin. He could feel her terror, her fear. Granted, Rend realized, he was a bit surprised that she was so scared. He couldn’t imagine what he looked like, but judging how he felt, he must have been the most beat-up Changeling of all time.

Stalking towards her, the Changeling studied her. She had a white coat, and a blue mane. A picture of a cake was her Cutie-Mark. A baker, perhaps? She didn’t have wings, or a horn, so that meant that she was a… darn it, he couldn’t remember all of the Pony races. He’d never been good at that. Probably one of the reasons he wasn’t an Infiltrator.

“Why don’t you come help me out, food?” He hissed. Changeling voices had a natural hiss to it, even when they chirped. Rend found it was great for terrifying the enemy. It worked wonders when you were taunting Guardsmen or fighting ponies.

As he moved closer, the Pony moved backwards. “S-stay away from me!” She’d stopped screaming, at least. That was something. He didn’t want her to attract any…

“Freeze! Stop where you are!”

… attention. Tartarus.

Swiveling to look at the new arrival, Rend cringed back slightly. He hated himself, but it was almost an involuntary response. Because Gods Above, standing behind what he’d assumed would be easy prey was a Royal Guardsman!

This one also seemed to be one of those Ponies without wings or a horn. Dressed in the golden armor that signified Canterlot’s Elite, this one had a dark brown coat- which was strange enough. He’d thought that all of the Royal Guard were unicorns? Not to mention, white. Probably because it went better with the armor.

But that didn’t matter right now. He was going to tear this fool apart- he was a Soldier of Queen Chrysalis! Rend shook himself and took a step forward, lowering his jagged horn at the Guard. “Two ponies? Lucky me. I need a pick-me-up right now,” he taunted.

Stepping forward, the Stallion gently pushed the frightened Mare behind him. Rend grinned briefly as he felt the surge of affection the mare had for the Guardsman, sucking it up greedily. “How are you still here? The Princess…” He paused, his green eyes briefly flickering to the damaged bakery behind the Changeling. “... oh. But how are you still walking?” He demanded, drawing a confused look from Rend. “The force that you must have been thrown with… heck, the wall came out better than you did!”

“I am a Soldier.” Rend said it proudly but simplify, and he took a menacing step forward. “I was not part of Her Majesty’s Royal Guard. I was not an Elite Infiltrator. But I was the best of my class, and I was part of the first wave of the invasion. An invasion that, if I remember right, you were unable to repel for almost a day.”

If the Royal Guard was annoyed or hurt by the Changeling’s taunting, he didn’t really show it outwardly- although Rend felt a surge of annoyance from him. “You’re in no condition to fight,” he decided. “Stand down- I don’t want to hurt you any worse than you already are. Heck, the cracks in your… skin… are bleeding!”

Rend snorted. “The word is “Chitin,” pony. And you’ll be the one bleeding in a moment. I’m going to tear you limb from limb!” With that, he charged, roaring with anger.

The Baker squeaked and ran, but the Guard held his ground. As Rend approached, he leaped out of the way, but the Changeling was smarter than that. Swinging his head, he caught the Stallion in the side, gouging a line in his Golden Armor, and knocking him away.

“Gah! Stop! I don’t want to hurt you!” The Guard paced nervously, staring at Rend as he circled back from his charge.
“You don’t want to hurt me?” He asked, a wicked smile still on his muzzle. “I am a CHANGELING!” He roared, the smile vanishing in a blink of an eye. As he stalked forward angrily, he shouted at him. “YOU are a PONY! We just invaded your CAPITAL! Fight back!”

The Changeling felt a mixture of hesitation and... compassion?... from the Pony. This was quite annoying, although he took in the compassion anyhow. No sense in wasting free-food.

The Royal Guard sighed, but he stood firm. “No. You’re badly injured, and if I fight back, I could kill you by accident.”

The Changeling’s eyes narrowed as he took in the surge of stubbornness from the Stallion. “So that’s why, huh? You want a pet to experiment on? Going to throw a collar on me, jab some needles in me?”

As the Guard began to protest, he charged again- but the Royal Guard was expecting it. The Stallion slammed a hoof into Rend’s jaw, sending him staggering back. Normally a hit like that wouldn’t phase him, but Chrysalis help him…”

The Guard watched him warily. “No, that isn’t it. But I’m not going to just… execute… you!” Rend snarled again, and prepared to charge… before he felt his legs go out.

Suddenly, he was on the ground, and everything was fading. He saw the Guard running towards him, actual concern in his eyes, fear and anxiousness washing off of him in waves.

“Ha. That’s… funny," Rend gasped. "I got b-… beat… by… someone like… you..."

And then Rend's vision went black.

Author's Note:

Alrghty, my first fanfic~! I'm so dead so exicted to be here!

Comments

[Profesionalac]

Good good