If You Want Peace, Prepare For War

by tranhdxrbntd

War Created Bizarre Allies, While Peace Itself Would Be Divisive

Tran held everyone at gunpoint. He had his 1911, aimed at the Soarin engaged with Rainbow Dash and Gilda, and his hand canon, aimed at the Soarin he had whisked away from Spitfire. Both Soarin's eyes darted from each other and to the guns pointed at their faces. The Soarin that was engaged with Rainbow and Gilda, when he gained an inkling of what was going on, pointed at the Soarin that Tran brought in. "What the Tartarus-" Soarin (the one with Dash/Gilda) started saying.

"QUIET" Tran immediately commanded, silencing him.

The Soarin he touted in took a gentle slow step towards Tran. "Look, we can-", he started. He stopped speaking when Tran pulled the hammer back on his hand cannon.

Tran gestured towards the Soarin with Dash and Gilda. "Sit beside the other one," Tran ordered.

The Soarin with Dash and Gilda untangled himself from the cyan pegasus and Jaeger and slowly trotted over to the other Soarin. With each step, his fake leg made audible clunks against the floorboard that made up the ground. Tran looked between the two Soarin's, both of them still having a gun aimed at their faces. Then, Tran, aimed lower with his 1911 and fired a round. The bullet hit the fake foreleg that the Soarin from Dash and Gilda, doing nothing but punching a hole through the wood prosthetic. When he took aim at the other Soarin's supposed fake leg, the Soarin that he brought in, raised both hooves, in surrender. "Wait! I'm the imposter!" he cried out realizing what was going to happen.

Spitfire trotted towards the real Soarin. "How can I know you're not real, either?"

The real Soarin detached his fake wooden leg. "Well, I'm missing the leg," he said in a joking matter. Spitfire was unimpressed. Soarin's smile dropped. "After we loss Fleetfoot, I stopped you from hanging yourself."

Tears welled up in Spitfire's eyes and she shot forward and hugged him. "He's real," Spitfire said. Tran holstered the 1911 aimed at the real Soarin and focused on aiming his hand cannon on the fake Soarin. He grabbed the dress coat that the fake Soarin was wearing and started to drag him outside. Before he fully left the tent, he turned to look at Spitfire. "Talk to each other, good idea. Keep fucking, don't care," Tran said before leaving the tent.

Soarin looked down at the Spitfire, realizing what she was doing with the fake Soarin. Hell, she reeked of fresh 'activities'. "Have you always felt that way?" he asked her.

Spitfire gave him a playful shove. "Always! It's why I could never stop helping you through your troubles," Spitfire replied. "I sent you signs but you never saw them."

Soarin chuckled. "I was always a dumb colt, aren't I?" he asked.

Spitfire smiled back. "This feels weird, holding you like this after seeing what you were doing with those two," she said while looking at Rainbow Dash and Gilda, who also reeked of fresh 'activities'. "And, I'm still really worked up from the fake you."

Gilda looked at Spitfire. "Well, he did say fuck each other?" the Jaeger offer, arms crossed. "And I'm still in the mood."

Spitfire looked back at the tent door. "Ugh, I don't know, we have to deal with this shitshow dealing with the fake you," Spitfire groaned.

Soarin squeezed Spitfire harder. "He seems like he has a handle on it and if you still want to?" Spitfire shoved Soarin down to the ground. Soarin was confused but then Spitfire got on top of the stallion and started passionately kissing him.

-X-X-X-

Tran and the imposter sat in a commandeered officer's tent by themselves. Both of them were sitting on chairs with a table separating them. Tran far enough away so that he couldn't grab the gun that he was pointing at the imposter.

"Who are you?" Tran demanded.

The imposter Soarin looked at the gun and then back at Tran. "I can show and tell you but please be careful with your pistol as it has a exciting side effect." Tran raised an eyebrow and stayed silent for a few seconds before nodding." The imposter was then sheathed in green fire before turning into a black insect version of a stallion. In the process, Tran raised the gun, but kept from firing. "I am a changeling."

Tran lowered the pistol as the green fired disappeared. He eyed the changeling up and down, taking in the interesting features. "Explain."

The changeling stayed silent for a few seconds, tentative on what to say. "We are similar to ponies but more insect based. Like, we bleed green in our natural forms but will bleed red if disguised as another species."

Tran holstered his hand cannon and folded his arms. "Disguise? How? Why?"

The changeling looked at the tent's exit, behind Tran, but looked back to the human. An escape attempt was not going to be the best idea right now. "We disguise ourselves with magic. We do it because we are creatures of positive emotion. We feed off of it. The more we take in, the stronger we become."

Tran's eyes narrowed. "So, parasites?"

Upon hearing the word, disgust filled the changeling and it showed on his face. "No, but unfortunately yes. We can't live without it. Most of us feed only a small amount that's enough to get by and that amount we take doesn't negatively affect the donor."

Tran's face returned to its usual neutral expression. "Why Soarin?"

The changeling let out a sigh. "It was a mark. I could feel the connection and desire coming from his partner. Love is the most powerful emotion we can feed off of and I thought I could harvest some off of her. Usually, we can influence surrounding ponies in order to possibly gather some but with him, there was barely any need. Natural love is the most powerful of it all and it was too tempting for me to pass."

Tran didn't say anything for a few seconds, letting the information marinate in his mind. "Most? The rest?"

It took the changeling a few seconds to realize what he was asked but then scowled. "There are a minority of us that believe that our donors are nothing but cattle to be slaughtered. Just a container to be emptied. If harvested from too much, the victim becomes an empty shell with no drive. A vegetable."

That was when Tran scowled. "You can lobotomize people." Tran's face became neutral again and he stood up, surprising the changeling. "Your leader, now."

The changeling sighed. "We both work for large military organizations. We both know the consequences for revealing too-sensitive information. Everything I've said you so far would have been revealed to you by your allies."

Tran stepped closer to the changeling and grabbed him by his left wing, hoisting him into the air. "Your countrymen might kill you but I will definitely kill you now, but much slower."

The changeling dangled in the air with an angry but scared look to his face. However, after a second or two had passed, fear and pain filled his face. "Let go!" he cried out.

Tran didn't capitulate and his grip tightened. "You know what I want."

"Please!" the changeling cried out. Again, Tran ignored the changeling. Much to the surprise of Tran and later the changeling, the wing ripped off of the changeling. The changeling fell to the ground in pain, as Tran was left holding the remains of the wing in his hand. To even greater shock, the dismembered appendage quickly rotted away in Tran's hand. The changeling looked at Tran and then to the tent's only exit. Before the changeling could act, Tran planted his foot on the changeling's chest, pinning him to the ground.

The area on the changeling's chest where Tran's foot was planted, started to turn grey and it cracked, oozing out green blood. The changeling let out a few more screams of pain. "Alright, I'll take you to him!" the changeling relented.

-X-X-X-

At gunpoint, the changeling had led Tran to a dug in commander bunker, one that was quite away's away. The first to enter was the changeling, Everyone inside was shocked to see the injured changeling, trot inside undisguised. Before anyone could react further, Tran entered. Inside the lantern-lit up interior, Tran could see many other ponies inside the bunker, all of which were in standard REA uniform. Some were wearing the standard combat gear and were armed, but all weapons were either slung over their back (rifles) or holstered (pistols).

Everypony inside had a similar reaction to seeing the human, after immediately seeing the changeling. Most of the ponies inside were officers, the highest rank being a major, with a few enlisted spread about. Upon entering, Tran already had a pistol leveled at one of the ponies, in addition to the hand cannon focused at the undisguised changeling. No one made a move. "What is the meaning of this?!" demanded the major.

Tran's face showed nothing. "Reveal yourselves," Tran commanded.

The major's face grew angry upon hearing Tran's request. "I don't know what you're tr-" the major started but stopped when Tran leveled the hand cannon at the major's face. Tran cocked the hammer back, the mechanical click resounding through everyone's ears. The major's face kept the scowl. Tran stared back, waiting. The major let out a defeated sigh and slowly raised a hoof into the air before waiving it in a circle thrice. There were eleven ponies in this bunker and of them, all of them were wreathed in green fire before transforming into changelings, all of them still wearing the uniforms/gear that they previously had pre-transformation.

Tran looked around the bunker, examining each of them. He noticed one changeling focus on one of the lanterns that lit the room. Tran shook his head slowly at the changeling. "Don't," Tran warned. Tran thought that the changeling was planning to douse the lantern in a surprise attack. "I can see in the dark." It was a lie but the changeling didn't know that. A lot of myths and false rumors were levied about his and his friend's capabilities. Tran looked back to the main changeling in the room, the major who was still wearing the uniform and rank. "You know who I am?" The changeling nodded. "And what I am?" Another nod. "And what I can do and have done?"

The changeling nodded for a third time. "We heard you can't die. That anything you want dead, dies," the major answered.

Tran pointed to the changeling he brought in with him. "You," Tran commanded while pointing at a random changeling in the room. "Help your countryman." That changeling slowly trotted over to the injured changeling while occasionally looking back at the Tran and the gun trained on himself.

Upon reaching the wounded fellow, the other changeling gasped. "What did you do to him?!" he cried out upon seeing the wounds.

Tran noticed a different changeling in the room, one that looked more skittish than the rest. He aimed the pistol he had been aiming at the previous changeling at that skittish one. "We disagreed," Tran answered. Tran turned to look at the major again. "Weapons, ground."

The major stared at the human. "If this is an execution, we will die fighting," the major growled out.

Tran took a step backwards until his back hit the only entrance to the bunker. "I control the only exit. I have grenades. Would you prefer an execution?"

The major kept the scowl on his face but nodded. "Do it," he said. Slowly, all of the changeling dropped their weapons, Tran making sure that all of them followed the instruction to the letter. Once they were all disarmed, Tran holstered both pistols, making sure to carefully lower the hammer on his hand cannon.

Once his hands were free, Tran walked forward to the major. "Now, we will reach an agreement," Tran said while offering a hand out. The major's mouth gaped open as he balked upon hearing the human's confusing statement. Confused, the changeling slowly reached out and shook the hand. The instant the major's hoof connected with the human's hand, the major cried out in pain and drew the hoof back while taking a step back. Tran too was surprised, but he didn't show it on his face.

When the major recovered, he looked up at the human while. "What was that?!" the major demanded.

Tran crossed his arms. "Just a handshake," Tran replied.

The major held out his hoof and looked at it, searching for any ailments but found none. He took a step back and looked at the human with fear. "It felt like I touched my own death!" the major exclaimed.

This comment surprised Tran but once again, he kept the same neutral expression on his face. "Just a handshake," Tran once again, replied.

The major looked at the other changelings in the room before looking back at the human. "Tran, I expect?" the major asked. Tran nodded in response. "I should have expected that from the unstoppable emissary of death!"

Tran took the comment in stride and pointed at the changeling he brought in. "We are going to come to an agreement."

The major looked at the other changelings in the room, unsure of what to do but eventually turned his attention back to Tran. "What do you want?" the major asked.

Tran looked around the room before noticing a chair. He walked over to it and took a seat. "Name?"

"Pharynx," the major replied. Pharynx decided to take a seat across from Tran but instead of using a chair, he merely sat on the ground on his haunches.

Tran folded his arms again. "Are you soldiers of this country?"

Pharynx shook his head. "No."

Tran eyed the uniform that Pharynx wore. "Then what are you?" Tran immediately demanded.

Pharynx pursed his lips but he didn't have a choice. "We are gatherers," Pharynx replied. He knew that this was essentially betraying his people upon the utterance of any information.

Tran blinked twice quickly, remembering what the other changeling had told him. "Of emotions? Love? Parasites?"

Upon the uttering of the word 'parasite', Pharynx's face was filled with anger. The other changelings in the room also showed various signs of irritation or disgust upon hearing the insult. "We are not parasites!" Pharynx corrected.

Tran was tempted to call them parasites again but kept from it. "Explain."

Pharynx looked to the other changelings in the room before looking back at Tran. "What we gather doesn't affect the ponies we harvest from. We're careful not to hurt who we derive it from. If we were, parasites, there'll be more zombies walking around. Living corpses with no drive or emotion."

Tran narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Pharynx closed his eyes and he was wreathed in green flames as he transformed. This time, Tran didn't react as Pharynx turned into a much tinier version of a changeling, one that was roughly the size of a small colt, one that was hilariously still wearing the full sized REA major's uniform. "For the hive. Others depend on what we bring back. They need to feed. Otherwise..." He transformed again, turning back into his previous self. "They wilt away, and eventually die."

Tran narrowed his eyes. "Why pose as soldiers?"

Pharynx let out a defeated sigh as he guilt wracked his body, enough shame to fill a thousand life times. The other changelings showed it two, their heads dipping and some not want to look the human in the eyes. The truth was too painful but it was a necessary evil. "They were already dead. An identity we didn't have to make up."

Tran's eyes widened and he stood up in shock. He looked at the other changelings in the room and then marched up to Pharynx. "Change back into them. All of you." Pharynx was confused at the request but he took the form that he previously had, the one of the major he was posing as. The other changelings obliged and they turned back into the ponies/soldiers' forms they previously held. "So the soldiers you are, right now."

Pharynx nodded. "They're dead. Someone who died or were sent into oblivion from artillery. The friendships they made with fellow soldiers, the family they had, we fill the void they made upon their deaths."

Tran stayed standing for a few seconds before sitting back down. The truth anger him so but he still kept the same neutral expression on his face. However, Tran now knew what they were. "Parasites," Tran spat out with venom. This time, none of the changelings were angered upon being insulted. In a way, the human was right.

Pharynx dipped his head low in shame. "You have to understand, we wish we had a better alternative. Some of us have died fighting in this war for them."

Tran's mind stayed unchanged. "Parasites," Tran repeated. The insult stung just as badly as it previously did. "How many?"

Pharynx raised his gaze to meet the human's. "Thousands, Maybe ten thousand."

The number sat terribly in Tran's head. On both sides of the war, hundreds of thousands had been loss. Both the griffons and the ponies still had plenty more soldiers to lose in this war and it wasn't like the war was over yet. "This is gonna stop. The soldiers that have paid the ultimate price, they deserve the honors they have earned."

All of the changeling knew it was the right thing to do but it wasn't viable for their situation. Pharynx bared his fangs. "We die out that way and we'll fight before we do."

Tran nodded. "Correct."

The changelings in the room tensed, of which, Pharynx eyed the closest weapon. "You want to fight us all? Preemptively declare war on changelings?"

Tran shook his head. "You are already fighting for Equestria, posing as ponies. Instead, fight for Equestria, as changelings. Tell me, why didn't the changelings join the griffon side of this war?"

"More ponies would be killed off. Less of them to support the changelings," Pharynx answered. Pharynx changed back into a changeling. "Look at us, the ponies will reject us." He trotted over to the changeling that Tran had brought in, the one he severely wounded. "You tried to kill him upon finding out he was a changeling."

Tran pointed at the changeling he wounded. "I did that not because he was changeling but because he posed as someone I knew. What will the rest of them do when they find out the same with someone else? It is inevitable, them finding out. Do you want them to find out that they have infiltrators among their midst or allies? You already depend on them, have them depend on you."

Pharynx eyed the human up and down before looking at the other changelings in the room. "You are no pony. You do not speak for the ponies and I do not speak for all changelings."

Tran finally smiled. "I'm pretty sure you know someone who speaks for all changelings and I absolutely know someone, many some ones, that speaks for all ponies," Tran said with a grin.

Pharynx eyes widened. "You want the presence of our leader?"

Tran nodded. "I'll bring you the presence of their (the ponies') leader," Tran replied. Tran stood up and went to the exit. "Would you prefer an enemy or an ally?" he asked before leaving.

Comments

[Starcat5]

So the Sus Soarin was the real deal, and has upgraded from a 3-way to a full-on orgy. *Click* Noice!

Also, Tran's touch is necrotic to Changelings. I think it is safe to say that Necromancy is officially at play here in one form or another.

[Hillbe]

Just think who much chaos and fun you can have with Changelings
That's all I need. . .

[SuperSaiyanDiclonius]

Well, that's interesting. I wonder how Chrysalis is going to respond to this?

[Silver Echo]

Chrissy is gonna be pissed ..... Maybe.

[Starcat5]

11799147 11799208
Given that her loyalists are apparently in the minority, I would say she was already pissed, and will soon upgrade to Blinding Fury!

[DezzarTac]

"I'll bring you the presence of their (the ponies') leader," Tran replied

Author, ya gotta break bad habits; using parenthetical emphasis to clarify details in-line with dialogue.
On the other hand I'm super hyped for the changelings!

[LordHaydon]

11799090
I don't think it's Necromancy. Plus it doesn't just affect changelings.

Back in Chapter "Your Heaviest Artillery Will Be Your Will to Live," Fluttershy was tending to his wounds and after Tran got up she touched his bare skin.

She reached up with a hoof and tried to check Tran's chest but the instant her hoof touched his skin, she reeled back her hoof. Her leg felt like it had been trapped in a frozen lake for a century.

We also know from Chapter "Conflict Is the Price We Pay For a Deeper Understanding of Ourselves and Others" that:

(...)the humans were completely immune to most of Equestria's various types of magics(...)

I'm thinking that the humans are not immume to magic. They are magic siphons. They're constantly absorbing all magic that touches them. The absorption is so strong that it pulls magic out of living creatures causing them pain and harm.
It's probably what kept Tran alive. All the magic they're absorbing is giving the humans greater endurance and heals them of wounds that should have killed them. They can probably survive any injury that doesn't kill them outright.

The magic siphon might even have a very short range if the humans are actively trying to do something.

The area on the changeling's chest where Tran's foot was planted, started to turn grey and it cracked, oozing out green blood.

I assume Tran isn't barefoot, so he's draining magic through his boot. He's doing so subconsciously because he wants to hurt/scare the changeling.

The big question is, how much skin contact have the humans had with the Equestrians? Touching through clothing and gloves doesn't seem to do anything.
Plus, it's possible this is unique to Tran and that the others don't have the same effect.