Chapter 1
A Royal Canterlot Wedding: Deleted Scenes (Chapter 1)
If there was one thing about serving in Canterlot’s Royal Guard that Bludgeon really liked, it was reconnaissance duty. It certainly beat the heck out of standing absolutely still outside some VIP’s door, or trotting about the palace like a clockwork toy. Out here, at least, he could enjoy some exercise that didn’t involve sparring with a stinking, sweaty partner or beating up a wooden dummy with his sword in a dusty training yard.
He stretched his wings and savoured the caress of the cool air as he pulled into a slow descent for the forest below. The spires of the tallest conifers looked like the claws of some gigantic griffon, reaching up to the purple-black night sky. As he flew past the treetops, he realised that this forest was different from the others – its canopy had several layers that were far too dense to be penetrated by the light of the full moon. He would have to finish his final sweep of this valley on the ground.
“Just my luck,” he muttered.
It would be great to finally have this royal panic over and done with. About a week ago, some griffon had flown into town and made mention of an ‘army’ skirting the borders of Avian territory, apparently heading in the direction of Canterlot. The griffon had then left the next day. Granted, ponies and griffons weren’t exactly buddies, but Bludgeon would have expected the bird to at least have the courtesy to tell them what exactly they were up against. If anypony asked him (nopony had), he would’ve called it a hoax. Unfortunately, Captain Shining Armour had insisted on keeping the Guard of full alert, regularly sending scouts into the surrounding countryside to keep watch. That was a little strange, since the stallion had never struck him as the paranoid type. Then again, Bludgeon supposed he couldn’t blame the captain – it was his wedding, after all.
The branches of the lower canopy were so dense and intertwined that he had no choice but to barge through it, squinting as twigs and leaves slapped at his face. Once he had landed in the undergrowth, he could appreciate how most ponies were unnerved by the dark. Down there, the air was thick and cloying with humidity, made worse by the complete lack of wind. Only the tiniest shafts of moonlight reached the forest floor.
He hoofed at the ground and made a face when he realised how moist and soft it was. There was no way he was going to be trotting around in that if he could help it! With a quick leap, he was back in the air, alternating between gliding and flapping to stay aloft just a few feet above the ground.
It was quiet as he wove between tree trunks and saplings; the only sounds he heard were of his breathing, occasional wingbeats and the rustling of leaves when he passed them by. Once his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, it became plain that there was little of interest in this forest – sure, there were some really unusual plants that the ponies in the Royal Canterlot Botanist Society would probably go crazy over, but Bludgeon really couldn’t care less about those. He was searching for an army that didn’t exist, and there was nothing in this forest that remotely suggested the presence of one. There was no military camp, and the ground looked pretty much undisturbed. And aside from those gigantic spider webs, he couldn’t – wait…
Bludgeon braked in mid-air and settled into a hover, barely avoiding a collision with what looked like an extra-large spider web stretched between two trees. Actually, there was no way it could be a spider’s web. Upon closer inspection, he imagined it looked more like the result of a full grown dragon picking its nose and wiping it on a tree until it stretched and stuck between two of them. The ‘threads’ were wider than his leg! He found a bit of it that fell under a shaft of moonlight and noted that it was brownish green in colour, and it was glistening with wetness. He reached out to touch it, but quickly withdrew his hoof when it pulsated with a squelchy noise.
“Oh, hayseed,” he muttered under his breath.
That was when he realised that the patch of forest ahead of him was completely covered in the stuff. He could see silhouettes of the icky mucus stretching from tree to tree, from the ground right up to the canopy. It looked like somepony had gone crazy with a party and hung streamers everywhere – except that said streamers were made of partially dried snot. Come to think of it, even the trees looked sort of deformed, having odd bulges and projections on their trunks and larger branches.
He hovered towards one for a closer look, and found the surface of the bark slathered in more of the disgusting stuff. And… he couldn’t quite tell from the bad lighting, but it looked like there was something black and shiny stuck on there, too. He peered at a lump that had a large thorn poking out of it… and nearly had a heart attack when a pair of glowing blue eyes opened on its surface.
Before he could think of what to do, the black thing detached from the surface of the tree and lunged at him with blinding speed – he barely had enough time to let out a cry of alarm before the hard and bony creature collided with him and held him in a vice-like grip. His wings strained from the sudden increase in dead weight and he felt himself spinning off… there was an impact when he crashed into another tree, which thoroughly disrupted his wingbeat pattern. The sudden loss of lift caused him and his unwanted baggage to plummet straight to the ground.
Bludgeon hit the forest floor with more force than was good for his spine, but in spite of being half-dazed by the impact, he did manage to growl and bash his assailant on the head with his helmet. He then squirmed out of its loosened grip and kicked out with his hooves, sending the thing flying into the air, screeching like some unholy cross between an owl and a cricket. There was a dull thump when it hit the ground some distance away. Chitters and clicks in the darkness became audible as he rose to all fours, followed by the buzz of insect wings.
Time to get out of here. Once he had recovered from the initial shock, he quickly realised that he didn’t stand a chance in the darkness against so many opponents. He spread his wings and leapt into the air, pumping them hard to gain height. He heard rather than saw something hurtling in his direction and barrel-rolled to the side, barely avoiding being tackled in mid-air by one of the creatures which he’d yet to put a name to. More of the things tried to latch onto him, but he evaded them with all the skill and practice that had been hammered into him in the Royal Guard.
Bludgeon suddenly encountered some resistance in his shoulder and felt a wet and sticky tautness, followed by severe whiplash as he was yanked out of his flight path, only to dangle upside-down in the air as he tried to process what the hay just happened.
The webs… The realisation came just a little too late. Two or three of the massive bug thingies clamped onto him and plucked him out of the snot-web with a sticky snap. He tried to land a few bucks and punches, but being suspended in the air largely negated his ability to put weight and power behind his attacks.
“Stop struggling or I’ll use your head as a battering ram,” something hissed in his ear.
Bludgeon was a tad too busy focusing on the fact that he was trapped in a dark abyss of a forest filled with glowing blue eyes everywhere, to realise that one of the bugs had just spoken to him. A second later, his brain caught up. He quit thrashing and blurted, “Huh?”
“On second thought, you annoy me,” the husky voice said again.
There was a sudden, rapid acceleration, and he saw the silhouette of a tree trunk rushing to meet his face. The impact wasn’t quite as painful as he’d expected, but its after-effects were a whole lot more impressive. His eyes kept trying to go in different directions, everything sounded muffled and indistinct, and were those stars whirling about in front of him? Oh, and he had a splitting headache, too. Dimly, he was aware of being dropped onto the ground and swarmed over by dark, pokey things that slathered him in gunk. He thought he heard something speaking again, but he wasn’t quite sure. He was getting rather sleepy, and his throbbing head certainly wasn’t helping matters.
* * * * *
“You need to widen your stance; what you’re doing now might serve in a battle formation, but it will do you little good in single combat.”
“Yes sir.” Tufty obeyed, even though her horn was itching to grab something. Hoof to hoof combat was good enough, she supposed, but why bother when she was a unicorn? She could easily use a spear or sword, and she was sure she’d be way better at those. Still, Captain Shining Armour had personally reassigned her to training under Princess Luna’s Night Guards, and she had no intention of blowing her chance to stand out a little. Their outfits and appearance enchantments looked totally awesome – more so than the plain grey and gold of the Royal Guard unicorns. The yellow eyes with slit pupils were neat, but it was too bad she couldn’t get a pair of cool dragon wings like her new mentor…
“Ah, Tufty, are you daydreaming again?”
“No, I – ” that was all she got out before the Night Guard tripped her with a low sweep of his hind leg, blew her over with a swipe from his wing, then pinned her down with his forelegs.
Ugh, I’m terrible.
“I suppose that is a yes.” His voice was stern, but his slit-pupiled eyes twinkled with amusement.
Tufty got back on her hooves and prepared for another round of sparring. Anvil was absurdly strong, and his fighting style was… not very forgiving on the target. She’d gotten through basic training in hoof to hoof combat, and that mostly involved techniques designed to incapacitate. Some of the Night Guard’s repertoire, on the other hoof, looked like they could really hurt somepony. And they didn’t even use weapons! Every morning, she’d be going to bed with fresh bruises – that was another thing… adjusting to the new schedule of sleeping in the day.
Just then, the stallion’s oncoming strike interrupted her thoughts. She twisted a little so that her armour would take the hit, then used a little magic to pull his hind legs out of place and retaliated with a quick jab. That staggered him a little, but he quickly recovered and charged forward with alarming speed, enough that she panicked and used a spell to levitate him off the ground entirely. Hayseed, he’s heavy! That was a stupid move – wasting magic like that. She couldn’t even muster the concentration to fling him away or something, and suspending him like that was taxing enough without having to think about a different spell. He simply went still, content to watch her sweat it out, with an amused expression on his face as he waited for the inevitable. Tufty gritted her teeth and squared her shoulders, getting ready to attack as soon as she ended the levitation. The golden aura faded, and the stallion landed neatly on all fours. Unfortunately for her, he was too quick, and half a moment later, she was sprawled across the floor once more, panting with her tongue lolling out. At least she’d done better this time – she’d scored a solid hit on his forehead, and he winced slightly as he helped her up.
“You’re improving – well done. Take an hour’s reprieve; be back at the tower for the dawn’s watch.”
Tufty nodded. Well, that wasn’t so bad.
The clip clop of hooves announced another presence in their corner of the training yard, and when she’d turned around, she found an earth pony garbed in Night Guard armour, excluding the helmet. Heavyset frame, thick legs and unruly mane, contagiously energetic mood – she’d recognise Hay Bale any day or night, even with the armour enchantments that made them look like bats. Well… wingless ones, in hers and Baley’s cases.
“Hiya Tufty!” her friend called out.
As the earth mare trotted over from the other side of the yard, Tufty noticed that she looked thoroughly scuffled, too. Behind her was their other mentor, Hammer, walking along silently.
“How’d it go?” she asked Baley.
“As usual – he’s tougher than he looks,” The earth mare shrugged, then grunted when she flexed a tender spot of muscle. “And considering how he already looks like he’s made of stone, that’s kinda saying a lot.”
Well… it looked like Captain Shining had found the one guard capable of managing Baley on her own turf. Wouldn’t have thought that he’d turn out to be a pegasus, though – a really big one. Their mentors were kind of creepy at times – Tufty had never seen them with their armour off, so she didn’t know what they really looked like under their bat-like enchantments, and they were unusually strong for pegasi. She’d been a new recruit when Princess Luna had been restored from being Nightmare Moon, and barely a year later, those two guards had shown up out of nowhere, and acting as if they were best friends with the princess, at that. She’d never seen them in training, they’d never needed any, and they’d always spoken in that old-timey accent just like the moon princess. And they were being pretty cryptic about it, too. Oh well, maybe she’d find out when she became a fully-fledged Night Guard, whenever that was supposed to be.
“What about you?” Baley asked.
That shook Tufty out of her thoughts. “Okay, I suppose.” Then, another thought hit her. “Wanna go to the mess hall? Anvil’s given me a break.”
Baley glanced back at Hammer, who gave her a nod of permission and took to the air along with his companion, Anvil, angling off towards Princess Luna’s tower. After their mentors disappeared into the palace shadows, there was a loud gurgling sound nearby.
Tufty raised an eyebrow at her fellow initiate, who grinned and said, “Mess hall sounds good – my stomach demands an offering.”
Supper, as it turned out, was little more than boring oatmeal and baked hay. Not that Tufty was expecting fancy food – she was just a guard, but the new cook had somehow managed to make those things taste even blander than they already were. She wasn’t sure whether to be more impressed with the cook, or with Baley who was sitting on the opposite side of the table, chowing down her food as if it was the most delectable stuff in the world.
Turning back to her own bowl of liquefied tastelessness, she began stirring absent-mindedly with a spoon, until she heard the whooshing sound of a pegasus approaching at speed, and had just enough time to back away before a royal guard crashed into the table with his face in her oatmeal.
Well… if he wants it that much, he can have it.
She looked up and surmised that he must have come in through the window. Pegasi apparently weren’t too well acquainted with doors... But her assessment changed when she noticed that his armour was scratched and dented, and there were black and green smudges all over his body. He looked half-dazed, and seemed only partially aware that his face was covered in oatmeal. Tufty instantly forgot about her food and caught him with magic before he slumped off the table and banged his head on the floor; Baley came to his aid a second later. Together, they helped steady him, at which point a couple of other off-duty guards in the mess hall cantered over to see what the fuss was.
“Hey, it’s Bludgeon!” one of them exclaimed.
The battered pegasus groaned, eyes rolling in his head. “Need… need to see the captain. We’ve got a problem…”
Baley cut him off. “Shush – you’ve got an appointment with the infirmary.” Then, turning to their onlookers, she added, “You guys mind getting the captain? Sounds like this guy has news for him.”
Tufty took a moment to strip off the stallion’s armour with magic, noting how beaten up he looked. And the smudges… they were all sticky and crusty. Just what exactly leaves marks like that? Maybe it was something from Evefree Forest… She shook her head. At any rate, she’ll find out when he got better. For the time being, Baley hauled him onto her back and trotted away, with Tufty tagging along to steady him and make sure that he didn’t slide off and hurt himself some more.
* * * * *
Shining Armour’s fears were confirmed – there was an impending threat against the city. He was cantering towards the infirmary, glad that the exercise was shaking the sleepiness out of his system, when he was suddenly joined by Cadence. One moment he was alone, the next, she was cantering by his side, apparently having come from one of the adjoining corridors.
“Cadence, what are you doing up so late?”
She shrugged and carried on. “The same thing you are, dear. The little hub bub outside woke me up, and after one of your guards so kindly told me the news, I thought I should come along. It sounded serious.”
“Well, I won’t argue with that,” he agreed.
The infirmary was brightly lit, and they found Bludgeon in one of the beds, with bandages wrapped here and there around his numerous injuries. Those that didn’t warrant bandages included cuts and scratches that had dried up and were beginning to scab over, plus bruises and a pair of black eyes. The surgeons had done a quick and efficient job, as always, but the pegasus stallion still looked like he was going through some pain. He looked really awkward, lying in that position, but at least he was awake.
“Report, soldier,” Shining Armour said. “I have the gist of what happened, but I need details.”
Bludgeon blinked his slightly swollen eyes and shook his head. “I… am not sure what else there is to say. It was dark, sir, and I was ambushed. All I know is that… they weren’t anything I’ve ever seen before. There were a lot of them… I barely got away.”
“Define ‘a lot’; I want a number.”
As he said the words, Shining Armour noticed that Cadence was giving the stallion a rather strange look – there was a slight frown on her forehead, and her stare was oddly intense. He noted that Bludgeon was looking at her, too. Bludgeon’s eyes kept flitting back and forth between him and her. But the moment quickly passed, and he found himself wondering whether he was just seeing things. Was that it? Was he being paranoid that other stallions were looking at his fiancé, and she them?
“I don’t know… I really don’t,” the injured pegasus replied, knocking Shining Armour off his train of thought. “It was hard to see what they looked like – I’m not even sure if they aren’t just wild animals.”
Shining frowned, but he did feel as if a weight was lifting from his shoulders. “You know, that may actually be good news. If that’s true, you might have just been disturbing their territory – which means we have nothing to worry about. If I’m not mistaken, timberwolves have been sighted close to the area you were in.”
“We probably should find out, just in case,” Cadence said. She was also frowning; she leaned close to Bludgeon and added, “Do you think you’d be able to show others the way to where you found those creatures? Do you remember where, exactly?”
“I do, but…”
“I don’t think he’s in any shape to be doing anything but resting, dear,” Shining Armour interjected.
The pink alicorn was undeterred.
“Hmm… maybe this will help,” she mumbled, and brought the tip of her horn into contact with the injured pegasus’ forehead.
There was a soft, green glow, and Bludgeon cried out in surprise, but relaxed in the next moment and groaned in relief. “Oh… yeah… that hit the spot,” he sighed as he suddenly leaned back into the pillows. A second later, he started snoring. The swelling around his eyes and on his bruises were receding, and his assortment of cuts had disappeared, replaced with pink skin between the little gaps in his coat.
Shining Armour realised that his eyebrows had disappeared into his forelock and quickly set them back into place. “Did… did you just heal him? I didn’t know you could do that – that was incredible! I thought Princess Celestia and Luna were the only ones!”
Cadence smiled in embarrassment. “One of the few things I learned in my time away from home.” But her expression suddenly grew serious, and she continued, “I’ve given him enough that he’d be able to fly again by tomorrow. He can easily lead a small group to make sure that his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.”
“Well…” He put a hoof to his chin and mulled it over.
“This isn’t something we can ignore, dear. If they’re just animals, there’s nothing more to worry about. But if he was attacked by real enemies… I mean, it was totally unprovoked!”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. We’ll double up on security for now and I’ll send a few of them out in the morning.”
* * * * *
“This place is creepy, I’ll give you that. But what exactly are we supposed to be looking for?” asked Rivet as the four of them marched through the undergrowth of the forest. Their hoof-steps were muffled by the mushy ground, occasionally accompanied by the crunch of dead leaves and twigs.
“You’ll know it when you see it,” ‘Bludgeon’ replied.
“Yeah… you’re gonna have to give us a little more to go on,” another guard, Rainy Tail, insisted. “Can’t look out for something if you won’t even tell us what they look like.”
Well, he supposed he wouldn’t be giving away much… the poor slobs would soon find out, anyway. “They look a lot like bugs – really big ones. They’re kind of good at blending into their surroundings. Then again, it was dark when I was attacked.”
Some muttering at the back of the group reached his ears – clearly, the one called Breezy was of the opinion that he had just been seeing things. But he ignored the stallion and carried on, trotting deeper into the forest, taking note of the drop in light levels due to the thickening tree cover, and the myriad of scents that flooded his nostrils. The morning fog had recently cleared away, but the air remained thick and heavy with moisture.
The others followed, albeit gingerly in some cases, as their weighty armour made their hooves sink rather deep into the soft, damp earth. The dense vegetation wasn’t exactly permissive of flight unless they went higher up, but the others weren’t keen on breaking away from the group.
It got progressively darker as they went deeper, to the point where the sun was reduced to a few scattered shafts of light poking through the trees.
“Woah…” said Rivet. He was looking up at the webs crisscrossing the branches of the trees directly ahead of them, his mouth slightly open. Others made similar exclamations as they noticed the difference in the environment before them. “Enemy or not, whatever made these must be one heck of a bug.”
“Yeah, we’re here,” he said. “Stay sharp, and let’s get this over with. I’ll take point.”
“You the boss, Bludgie,” said Rainy Tail as they began the search.
They moved in a tight, defensive formation, with Breezy bringing up the rear and watching their backs. He led them on until they were directly under the webs. He paused and lifted a hoof to signal everyone to halt, which they all did. Their breath fogged in the cool air, and the silence was punctuated by the sounds of droplets of water plopping onto their armour every few seconds. He waited a moment or two, until some new scent tickled his nostrils. He sniffed, and a tiny smile twisted his mouth. The message in the pheromones was simple – swarm.
“Bludgeon?”
He turned around and saw his comrades looking expectantly at him. Their expressions changed to concern when they saw his face.
Rivet raised an eyebrow. “Why the hay are you smiling?”
He turned his back to them and looked around with all the casualness of someone mildly interested in the weather. “Oh, no reason,” he said, and then bucked the stallion in the face. He whirled round and saw the stallion crash into the undergrowth, and his fellow guards staring at him in confusion, mouths slightly open.
“What the hay was that for?” Breezy yelled.
A second later, the guard yelped when a dark shape whizzed down and pummelled him into the ground from above. Rainy Tail whirled round and cried out in alarm and confusion as more dark shapes detached from the surrounding trees. Credit where it was due – he got into battle formation quickly enough and when he realised that ‘Bludgeon’ wasn’t on his side. The guard had bent low in preparation for a charge, and let loose a surprised “Oof!” when two or three changelings rammed him from the side. The undergrowth rustled as several others dealt with Rivet. They’d underestimated Breezy, though – he threw off the three or so changelings pinning him down and bolted forward, apparently intent on head-butting him for the betrayal. Easily dealt with, though – it was a simply a matter of standing still and doing absolutely nothing whilst another three of his brothers and sisters rushed the pegasus from all angles and grappled him into submission.
“Why?” Breezy hissed at him as he struggled to break free.
He trotted forward, looked down on the stallion and grinned. “For love, of course,” he said, after which he delivered a swift blow to the side of Breezy’s head and knocked him out.
With that done, the swarm set to the task of restraining the pegasi and preparing to wrap them up in their very own cocoons. They would soon be joining the real Bludgeon, suspended high up in one of the trees.
As he watched them work, one of his sisters, Mandible, buzzed over and regarded him with critical eyes. She was average-sized as changelings went, but then again, they were all average sized. Drones never really got to stand out, and they had to tell each other apart mainly by scent and sound. Everyone’s wings had a unique frequency. Apart from that, they only had defects to mark who they were – Mandy’s was a chipped right fang.
At any rate… the look his sister was giving him – was it respect?
“Nice work, Rax,” she said.
Well, that was a nice change. Until she poked his armour and added, “Or should I say, Bludgie? That name sounds adorable on you.” His other siblings chittered in laughter.
Rax rolled his eyes. Changeling or pony, it didn’t matter – the universe had an annoying tendency to put him together with others who liked to poke fun at him. He answered them in Equestrian, because pony mouths were simply incapable of speaking Vespid. “Heh, laugh all you want – at least I got the job done.”
“Congratulations, Thorax, you’ve just been promoted,” someone announced.
All eyes turned to the changeling descending from her perch on one of the overhanging boughs. Her carapace was thicker than normal, and had an extra sheen of iridescence that marked her as an overseer.
A quick rustle of the wings was the appropriate sign of respect, but in his current form he settled for a flutter of his feathery wings. “Overseer Skeehar, I’m honoured.”
She seemed more amused than pleased. “Oh, don’t thank me yet. I’m sending you right back into Canterlot.”
What?
Skeehar grinned. “Oh, yes. You’re now our lead infiltrator, and I’m tasking you with the responsibility of undermining Canterlot’s defences. All of it, mind you.”
He’d probably made a stupidly dismayed face, or something – everyone started snickering in one way or another.
Yep. The universe hates me.
“Of course, you’re taking three more to replace the idiots you just lured out. I understand they’re your closest siblings, so do try to not get yourselves killed.” The overseer surveyed the black sea of faces and called out, “Mandible, Chitin, Scritch; get over here!”
The looks on their faces were priceless – Mandy’s especially. Getting the chance to boss his annoying sister around? Hee hee! Rax instantly revised his assessment of the universe – maybe there was justice in it, after all.
“Uh, will there be any need to… enhance the authenticity of our encounter?” he asked. The first time round, after he’d taken Bludgeon’s form, Skeehar had ordered his siblings to give him a beating in order to make his story more convincing. Maybe it was just him, but he thought they’d taken a little too much pleasure in that particular task.
The overseer gave a sharp chirp – a plain no. “Improvise. Take their armour and their shapes – I want all of you back in the city by nightfall, and I want their defences down in time for the invasion,” Skeehar ordered. “Failure will result in… disciplinary measures that you are not likely to survive.” She gave them a toothy grin. “No pressure.”
The invasion was due in less than thirty hours. And they had to incapacitate Canterlot’s substantial forces within that time…
I was wrong, Universe. I still hate you.
* * * * *
It was an uneventful flight back to the city. Rax kept his form as Bludgeon, whilst Mandy went as Rainy, Chitin as Breezy and Scritch as Rivet. Two sisters and a brother – Skeehar was right in saying that he was rather close to them, although ‘close’ simply meant that he didn’t always want to bite off their heads. After all, Mandy, Scritch, Chitin and he had all been grubs from the same brood, and after all the backbiting they’d done together to make it into the warrior caste, they did share a special connection.
When they were nearing Canterlot, he noticed that Chitin was falling behind. He turned and saw his younger sister fidgeting in the armour, seemingly obsessed with something about the belly strap, for she kept looking down on it and nudging it around. It was a ridiculous sight with her trying to fly whilst doing so.
Rax called out, “Chitin, what is the matter with you?”
“It’s the stupid bellybutton – it’s making me nervous!”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“I mean, what’s the point of having a hole there?” she continued, “I feel like my insides could start spilling out any minute!”
I just don’t have enough problems, it seems. Chitin was clearly unaccustomed to being a pony – amateur. Then again, she always was the littlest grub amongst them.
“Just suck it up and keep flying!” he yelled. “Your guts can’t spill out of your bellybutton!”
“And what’s this dangly thing supposed to be?”
Rax covered his face with a hoof. Of course… he’d be the one stuck with a sibling who’d not been paying attention in pony anatomy classes.
“You won’t want to mess with that,” Scritch commented.
Chiting tilted her head in puzzlement. “Why? Is it a sting? Seems awfully soft for one…”
Groaning in exasperation, Rax flitted close to his sister and snapped, “That’s an extremely disgusting organ that male ponies happen to have, so you’d best not muck around with it – just pretend it’s not there, okay?”
His sister’s curiosity was relentless. “But what is it for?”
He thought he felt an eye twitch. “Well, when a male and female pony like each other very much – argh!” he threw his hooves up in the air. “Why am I even telling you this?”
“Umm, what’s that?” Mandy suddenly asked.
Biting back a sharp retort, Rax looked ahead at what his sister was pointing at and nearly stalled. Canterlot city – it was inside a gigantic, pink, shimmering bubble. If he had to guess, it was a shield of some sort.
“Thorax, did you by any chance cause this?” Scritch demanded.
Who, me? It most definitely wasn’t. It had been the queen’s idea to play up the threat in order to get Shining Armour to send more guards out, but that was all. Unfortunately, the captain had clearly thought that a little extra caution was in order. And there was nothing Rax could’ve done about that.
“No,” he answered.
Of course, that didn’t stop Mandy and Scritch from pinning the blame on him. “You’re an idiot,” they said in unison.
Nope, never enough problems.
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It's a good start, let's see where it goes
well you dealt with 1 of about 8 major plotholes...
I'd never given any thought as to what Changelings would make of genitalia... until now. It's a mental image I didn't need.
Anyway - well written and an interesting concept. Please continue.
877266
I was expecting something of teen rating.
Glad I am surprised.
Oh, btw, my like is number 7.
Let's see if it goes to 300 without even 1 dislike.
it has some serious promise. I look forward to more. After checking to see what else you'd written and why I was tracking you I'm now positive that it will be.
img.ponibooru.org/_images/451c290cf8230fd44f22896e99d8ada6/84126%20-%20caption%20dis_gon_b_gud%20spike.jpg
Great start. I've been hoping to see some sort of "What happened off-camera during the invasion" fic, and you are certainly the person I'd ideally have writing it. Can't wait for more!
Funny, I posted my own version of what could have happened during that episode like 2 hours ago.
This is probably going to be better!
But I think you might run in the same problem I have: With the mane six running the main plot of that episode, every other pony is just a side character.
Well, lets see where this is going!
I'm very much liking this so far, I'll be keeping an eye on it
"What, males ponies have an ovipositor as well?"
"NO! Stop asking, OK?"
"I think it's kinda hot..."
"YOU'RE AN ASEXUAL DRONE! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO FEEL 'HOT'!"
HOLY CRAP ANVIL IS BACK oh crap this shit is awesome man !! Where the hell is hammer please continue the legendary tales sir
More Anvil and Hammer? Fukken Faved!
Aww yeah!
Looking forward to more.
882313
ya' know, ever so often. 
Well it was implied there is some distinction between droves, why use words such as "sister" and "brother"? And I think anything can feel hot, if it wants to
The return of the Night Guards!
But you're messing with my headcannon! Remember my story that I borrowed Anvil for? It was my OC, then Staff Sergeant Agrostis Bentgrass, that let the first Changeling in. See the letter near the end of: Chapter Eight
Thanks again for letting me mention your amazing characters in my continuity!
1265853
Well at least to the first one, the original threat would have been the gryphon warning them of an army skirting there territory. An army of indeterminate size and unknown purposes is going to be a threat to canterlot. It doesn't necessarily have to be a threat in the case of the changelings threatened to attack or something.
Ya know, I'm not sure what to make of this...
I disagree on the idea of them finding out via a griffon, but, it's not a BAD idea...
I don't like the naming scheme you've seemed to develop for the Changelings, nor some of their terminology, or your ideas of their system, but none of which are particularly offense. And I find the humor pretty good.
1510516
There, too, remains the possibility that changlings can become griffons. If so, then Chrysalis herself may have been the griffon and has been Cadance since the "threat"