Our Flag Does Not Fly Because The Wind Moves It. It Flies With The Last Breath Of Each Soldier Who Died Protecting It
Tran had an agenda right now after hearing that some of his soldiers had been lost. However, his mind was also occupied on figuring out what he had done to the princess. What he had done was enough to scar and cause Princess Luna to freeze in terror, in addition to her body guards. All he and the alicorn knew was that what he had done was unintentional and occurred when he had wanted to go and kill the changelings they had captured, while he was filled with silent wrath. He had been able to perform something that was the opposite of his new skill when he controlled his emotions and expressed resentment towards accidentally assailing his unintended victim. Then, he was able to repeat the terrifying mental attack when he was refilled with the same wrath that was directed towards the rogue changelings. His ability to control himself was important if he was to be a sniper.
However, they didn't have the time to dwell on this conundrum. Tran looked at the still terrified alicorn. "Where are the captured changelings?"
The alicorn was hesitant to continue cooperating with the human. She sighed and didn't want to be on his bad side. She looked towards one specific door in the room they were in, on this airship and then back to Tran. "I'll lead you to them," she finally answered.
A Few Days Prior, Near Fillydelphia
Dirt fell off his body as he rose. Memories were missing and he had no idea what was going on or where he was or who he was. He looked around. There were other bodies, body parts, damaged weapons, and further away, trench lines with soldiers, griffon soldiers. He looked down at himself. He didn't recognize what he was wearing, a uniform that consisted of a grey tunic and grey pants that was overlaid with a set of leather gear.
His eyes focused on something peculiar. There were large holes in his chest but the wounds didn't bleed and he felt no pain. He raised some taloned hands and poked at the wounds. His body gave no reaction to the action. In fact, he didn't feel anything at all. He couldn't feel the wetness of the mud that covered him or was under his paws and talons, he didn't feel the cold of the early winter day, he couldn't feel the uncomfortable texture of the wool uniform he wore, he couldn't feel anything. He was numb. There was no emotion to him, only instinct driving him.
He had no idea what was going on or who he was. Then, his furry ears perked up as the sound of distance machine gun fire filled the air. Instincts caused his body to grab a nearby abandoned weapon, one that was damaged but seemingly functional, and he dove to the ground to take cover. When the gunfire stopped, he stood back up, looking at the direction where it came from.
He was then filled with aggression. Instinct was telling him that he needed to fight, right now. He sneered his beak and then flared his wings. He had wings. He looked at the wings with confusion, head tilted. One of the wings had a gaping hole in it.
In the far distance, an explosion went off. He finally felt something, hearing the explosion. It was... FURY. He took to the sky, wings flapping, one of the wings losing some feathers in the process. He didn't know where he wanted to go but instinct drove him to fly somewhere and that somewhere was south. As he flew, there was a peculiar sound that filled the air. It was the sound of a long loose strip of cloth, fluttering in the wind. A crimson scarf that he wore, barely wrapped around his neck, but somehow resolute in being attached.
His talons gripped his weapon tightly. No matter how fast or far he flew, he gained no fatigue. Anger filled his body. He had a target and he will find that target.
Elsewhere In Equestria, Near Manehattan, Also A Few Days Prior
She was tired but she could not rest. She could not afford to. Her taloned hands wrapped around the only thing she had with her, the singular saddlebag she wore on her loins, barely filled up. She had been hunted but she got away from her pursuers. Tears filled her eyes as she thought about the people who hunted her. It was a sad day when your fellow people hunted you down, like you were prey and they were predators. Well, she and her people were natural predators but that didn't change the despair.
Her tail twitched as her stomach grumbled. It had been long since she had a proper meal. Her ribs were starting to show through her skin. She couldn't afford to hunt, she was about to be hunted again, only this time, she would be hunted by prey.
Her life had only been filled with misery and she wanted respite. She wanted it so much that she had illegally tricked her people into transporting her across the oceans, to a new world. Maybe she could finally find a break in her suffering. She had worked so hard towards her attempt at a new life. No matter what this new world could be, it couldn't be as bad as her former home. The Equestrians were supposed to be a tolerable people that emphasized friendship, a concept alien to a predator like her.
Her ears perked up as she heard some distant sounds. She couldn't discern what or who caused the sounds but her instincts told her whatever or whoever it was, it would be bad if she were caught. She flared out her wings and took to the skies. Flying would take a lot of energy out of her but she couldn't afford to be captured. She used what little stamina she had remaining to hopefully find somewhere where she could hide and rest.
The Present Time
Three rogue changelings had been discovered and captured in Appleloosa by Luna's Night Sentinels. All of them were housed in the same room, a prison/jail room in the large command airship, separated into individual cells. None of them made any noise and simply sat on the floor, waiting. They were under constant supervision by four guards and were strapped with anti-magic prisoner's shackles. Each prison cell only had a bucket and nothing else, where outside the cells, the rest of the room housed a couple desks and several chairs.
The instant the door opened, the guards and prisoners were surprised to see the princess of night and one of the humans. The guards stopped them from continuing any further. "Hairy," one of the guards called out, as he readied his weapon.
"Potter," Tran immediately replied. He looked at the prison guards with a look of discontent. "Leave," he ordered. The guards had their orders never to leave the prisoners out of their sights but they were willing to make this exception. There was something about Tran, almost like a miasma, that terrified them and they wanted any excuse to get as far away from the man as possible. One of them dropped a set of keys at one of the desks before scurrying off with the others, as fast as his hooves could carry.
That left the prisoners alone with the princess of the night and Tran. The changelings felt the same feeling about Tran, as the other guards felt, paralyzing fear. Every one of the changelings backed away from the cell bars, putting their backs to the wall behind them, nowhere else to hide. Tran picked up the keys off of the desk and walked over to one of the prison cells. Before he entered the cell, he looked to the princess. "Can you this a private matter?" the man asked.
Luna hesitated to answer but she nodded. "I can cast a spell to make the other two deaf for the moment but they'll still be able to see you," she answered. She didn't have to ask whether or not she should cast it. She knew that he would need it's use. Her horn lit up and the other two prison cells were shrouded in a bubble of magic, like they were shielded.
When Tran saw that Luna had casted her spell, he unlocked the cell door and entered the cage with the first changeling. Up close, he could see that the changeling was shaking in fear. It had a nervous look to it and its eyes darted around, looking for any way out of their situation. "You know what I want," Tran stated. The changeling, an infiltrator, was skilled in espionage and everything involved with it. That meant he was trained to resist enemy interrogations but just being in Tran's presence was enough to put him on edge already. "Where?"
The changeling stayed silent, trying to rely on the best way to not give away information to the enemy. It wouldn't help him. Patience already running thin, Tran approached the changeling and grabbed the changeling, pulling him off of the wall and up to eye level with the human. The changeling gasped, his fears soon replaced by an even worse feeling. It was something it couldn't describe, a feeling it had never experienced before. It felt like he was going through the emotional rollercoaster of the worse experience of his life, only with a continuous stream of the same negative extreme with no reprieve. It couldn't focus on anything else other than the dreadful feeling of wanting to be dead so everything could end while simultaneously wanting to feel alive again.
All the while, the other two changeling captives in the room, being creatures that fed on emotion, could sense something going wrong with the changeling. To them, it felt like they had just finished witnessing someone living out the last moment of their life, only the constant feeling of it. It felt wrong to them and they couldn't do anything about it.
Tran had no desire to be lenient towards the rogue changelings. Any time a griffon was a prisoner of war, he would treat them fairly but this was a different scenario. "Prisoners of war have the right to be treated fairly," Tran started explaining. "You changelings have never chosen a side or officially declared war. Your actions against this country have branded you as terrorists and I do not negotiate with terrorists. There are no consequences to me pulling off your limbs like I would on a spider."
The changeling that Tran was holding in his hands started hyperventilating. It's body was constantly telling it that something was wrong. It felt like its body was filled with pain, only the pain wasn't physical or mental. It had no idea what the feeling was. It was akin to starvation, but not from hunger from lack of food or even love. It was like it was missing something, something important to being alive. "S-Stop!" the changeling cried out.
Tran, still holding onto the changeling, slammed it against the wall. It struggled to get out of Tran's iron grasp, forever stuck in its newfound punishment. "I'll stop when I find out where your hive is and if that answer doesn't match up with what the others tell me, I won't leave," Tran said. "You've taken my men from me and I will stop for nothing to get them back."
The changeling wanted to break eye contact with the human but couldn't stop focusing on the human. It felt like its life force and desire to live was being sucked away by being in contact with the human. Luna, even though she was keeping up the silence spell on the other two changelings, was unnerved from what she was witnessing. She could feel a similar negative feeling, as if she was near her own death.
The changeling was forced to endure the mental torture and tears started to fill its eyes. All the while, it started to feel sick, as if its health was slowly getting worse. "I'm not a warrior! Just a gatherer! I only bring resources to the hive. Please, I'll tell you where my home is," the changeling pleaded.
In all, the changeling told the human and alicorn what it knew. On a map, it knew the general area of where it lived. However, it only knew by pheromones and a connection to the rest of the hive. It couldn't pin point an exact location. Since it wasn't a warrior, it had no idea on the hive's military size or power. The other two changelings were similar. The other two were gatherers, however one gathered resources and the other gathered love/power. They knew nothing else than what the first changeling knew. Despite not giving out much information, this gave them a general heading.
-X-X-X-
If the rogue changelings had truly captured the scouts that went missing, then they have an idea of what was coming. The humans had to mobilize quickly before they could prep anything so they had to gather everyone that had been sent out. They had arrived to Appleloosa in the early morning barely after sunrise and had already been scouting out for a few hours so they still had plenty of time in the day. Recalling the pegasi scouts took up time but not much. They didn't try to gather up everyone that was sent out, just the members of the experimental battalion and a small chunk of the secondary pegasi that were the trip's escort bodyguards. The scouting missions were now only being done by the bodyguard pegasi that escorted them there and, to make up for the fact that less pegasi were available to scout, the scouts were then supposed to spend less time on each area. If the primary command team did indeed find the changeling hive and needed reinforcements, they had a way of signaling for help and where their location was.
Of the four airships they arrived with, they took two of them, leaving the other two behind in Appleloosa with a large contingent of soldiers. The airships that headed to the supposed general area of where the rogue changeling hive was, went as fast as it could, so the changelings didn't have enough time to react and prepare. Onboard, the members of the experimental battalion prepared themselves as if they were going into battle. They geared themselves up and grabbed whatever they could. Which pegasi that had been previously scouting, armed themselves with appropriate bombs or equipment. In advance of the airships, some of Tran's aerial superiority dogfighters were making sure their path was clear.
Blueblood, Rarity, and Applejack trotted into the airship's command room where the pilot worked a ship's wheel and various other crewmembers were handling other controls/dials/levers. Also in this control room was Spitfire and Soarin who were looking out into the distance with binoculars. Soarin lowered his binoculars and took note of the trio. "Afternoon, ladies," he said with a smile on his face. "Prince." He raised his binoculars back up so he could continue his searches.
The three found their own spots to sit besides the two former Wonderbolts, also looking out into the horizon. Of note, Prince Blueblood stayed standing, trotting over to the pilot. "Are you aware we are heading towards the possible dragon dens that were spotted by the scouts?" the prince asked.
The pilot stayed resolute in steering the airship. He kept his eyes on looking where he was piloting the ship towards. "Yes. Princess Luna personally ordered our new course," the pilot answered.
The prince frowned before trotting back to join the others, finding a spot beside Rarity. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and she blushed in response. "This is quite the risk we're taking for such a minute chance," the prince commented.
Applejack unsling her lever action rifle and started playing with it, wanting to do something with her hooves. She took a glance at the prince who was nuzzling Rarity. She rolled her eyes at the sight. "Well, it's better than waitin' around, sittin' on our hooves," Applejack replied.
Rarity nuzzled the prince back, her blush disappearing before turning her attention to the farmpony. "Well, to be fair, we are diverting a significant amount of our resources to investigate this issue instead of using them for scouting, lowering the chances the scouts will find something," Rarity explained.
Applejack shrugged. "Well, a chance's a chance. It's somethin'," Applejack responded.
That was when the door to the command room opened up and in walked Tran. He stood at the doorway, as if waiting for something as he looked around at everyone and everything in the room. After an uncomfortable silence, he walked in, followed by Eric. The two closed the door to the command room and walked further inside. Eric walked over to the rest of the group. "We still on course to our hint?" Eric asked.
Spitfire lowered her binoculars, taking a look at the human. Then, she nodded. "According to the princess's instructions, yes," Spitfire replied. She set her binoculars on the ground and turned her attention to Eric. "We weren't given exact coordinates, only a general location."
Eric picked up said binoculars and tried to look at the mountain range in the distance, where some of the dragon dens were supposedly located. He was able to see some of their airborne protection detail in the distance, performing their duties. "How are the troops? They setup for a quick pump and dump?" Eric asked.
Rarity and the Prince frowned from the crude metaphor while Applejack smirked at their disapproval. Spitfire and Soarin didn't react, continuing to watch the horizon. "We have bombers setup with a general purpose bomb load. Two heavy bombs and eight light bombs," Spitfire replied.
Meanwhile, Soarin dug through his hooves through his uniform and returned with a scroll. He handed it to Eric. "Here's platoon makeups. We got the ground pounders geared up for an assault," Soarin added in.
Spitfire frowned at Soarin and smacked him with a wing. "Soarin!" she chastised. "You can't say that, that's racist!"
Soarin flinched at the wing strike and looked back at her sheepishly like a scolded puppy. "Sorry," he apologized.
Applejack chuckled at the two. "Ain't no sweat off ah my back," she said to Soarin.
Rarity looked at Applejack with a frown. "We can't support behavior like that and you know it, " Rarity chastised. "It's rather-"
"Uncouth," Blueblood finished.
Rarity looked at the prince and smiled. "Yes, uncouth," Rarity continued.
Applejack once again rolled her eyes at the two. "It's just words and we're all friends here," Applejack countered back.
While everyone had been socializing, Tran had first walked over to the pilot, giving the poor pony some bad anxiety from being scrutinized heavily by the human's cold eyes. When Tran relented, he walked over to the other crew members, taking time to scrutinize them too, also making them quite uncomfortable. Once he was done with them, he walked over and joined his friends.
"-All friends here," Applejack countered back. She took notice of him joining the rest of them. She was about to open her mouth and greet him as she'd usually do because of her friendly disposition towards life and her friends but something about Tran, at the moment, made her freeze up mentally. Sure, he currently had a cold, dead, emotionless face but that was how he always was like. She was already used to people like that, having dealt with some pony similar before, Maud Pie, Pinkie's sister. However, right now, she was unnerved. She felt like she was facing the firing squad now that Tran joined their presence.
It made things worse when he drew his hand cannon side arm and aimed it at Prince Blueblood. Everyone looked at the human in shock, even Eric. "What the hells, the problem?" Eric asked.
Soarin opened his mouth. "Is there-?" the Wonderbolt started saying.
Tran cut him off before he could finish. "Quiet," Tran immediately said, cutting him off. Soarin immediately closed his mouth, pressing his lips tightly together, afraid of the man.
Prince Blueblood looked up at the gun, shocked like everyone else. He had no idea what he had did wrong. "What did I-?" he started saying.
Like with Soarin, Tran cut him off. "Quiet," Tran said, cutting him off. Tran cocked back the hammer of his revolver, finger on the trigger. Blueblood could see down the revolver's barrel, seeing the bullet that would end him. He started to shake in fear, wanting to plead for his life. The other ponies in the room, like the other crewmembers and pilot, were also focused on the spectacle, not making any sudden movements.
"You know why," Tran cryptically said.
Blueblood closed his eyes as tears welled up. Again, he didn't make any sudden movements, as did anyone else. The others wanted to speak up or do something but they were afraid of Tran's reactions and he made it quite clear that no one was allowed to say anything. Then, green fire sheathed his form and he turned into a changeling.
Rarity and some of the others jumped away from him in shock while Eric drew his sidearm and pointed it at the intruder, as did Applejack just with her lever action. Tran decocked his revolver and lowered it. He pointed at Soarin and Spitfire. "Take em to the brig," Tran ordered. "And make sure you pass check anyone."
Without a word, the two obeyed the man and drew their own sidearms, taking the changeling away with them in tow. Eric holstered his pistol and put a hand on Tran's shoulder. "How'd the fuck you know?" he asked.
Tran holstered his sidearm. Then, he looked at the hand on his shoulder, turning his attention to Eric. "I just do," he cryptically responded.
Meanwhile, Rarity was reeling in shock. "It can't be!" she cried out, nearly fainting. She looked at the others frantically. "I did things with him. Dear Celestia, I could have slept with a changeling!" And immediately after saying that, she definitely fainted into Applejack's forearms.
Tran pointed at Applejack. "You two stay here," he commanded. He then pointed to Eric. "We got some searching to do." He turned to walk out the door but turned around, where the airship's crew members and pilot was looking at the human in fear. "Any of you speak about this, just one of you, I'll come back and kill all of you," he threatened. The various airship's crewmembers and pilots either gulped or quickly nodded their head's in agreement. They quickly shut their lips, not making a since noise as they continued piloting/controlling/manning the airship.
-X-X-X-
Eric and Tran grabbed Pharynx and some other changelings and went throughout the ship, making sure there weren't any other rogue changelings. As for the prince, it didn't take them very long to find him. Blueblood was found inside of a large wooden cargo crate, where he was sealed in a pulsing green cocoon, filled with goo. He was freed from a dreamless, coma-like trance. Once he was free, it took the prince quite a short while to regain his bearings. He hadn't been replaced for very long, having been replaced only recently within the day. However, he was still affected, being in a somewhat nauseated and almost-intoxicated-like state.
The almighty Prince Blueblood was currently enjoying his newfound lodging in the airship's medical bay as he deposited bile into a bucket, courtesy of his stomach. All the while, Wilson was starting an IV into the prince's forearm while Rarity was doting after the stallion. The prince's uniform and belongings was currently sitting in a heap at the bed's legs, recently repossessed from the imposter and provided by Pharynx who was behind the medic. "Urrrghh," the prince whimpered out.
Wilson finished with sticking the prince and stood back, to address Pharynx. "Well, he's dehydrated and all of his vitals are tanked," Wilson listed out.
Pharynx, who was disguised as an REA soldier, scowled at the sight of the prince. He wasn't mad directly because of the prince, but disappointed in himself and his species from this unexpected but predictable infiltration. "The infiltrator must have drained as much love energy from the prince before the typical cocooning paralysis. Must have also gleamed through his thoughts and recent memories to get a better disguise. Either one, on their own, would leave a pony in a wreck. Both? I'm surprised he's conscious," Pharynx explained.
Blueblood rested his head on the bucket as he lied in his bed. Rarity patted him on the back, trying any little thing to make him feel better. "Is that why my head feels like Aunty Celly is balancing on my horn?" he groaned out.
Pharynx chuckled. "Yeah, that would do it too," he replied. Rarity gave a glare at the disguised changeling's behavior but the allied changeling was completely unaffected by the mare's disapproving glare. "Go ahead and get used to it. It won't go away until you rebuild your reserves of emotional energy, literally, that is unless. Gonna be a while. You won't be able to use your magic until you're fully recovered."
Rarity rubbed Blueblood's back as tears welled up in her eyes. "This is my fault! I should have noticed!" she damn near shrieked.
Blueblood raised his head from his bucket and weakly put a hoof on Rarity's back. "Don't say that, you couldn't have known," he feebly chimed, trying to uplift her spirits. He gave her a pained smile. "I heard you were inconsolable when you assumed you had unintentionally slept with him."
Rarity wanted to shush the prince from speaking of such a private and vulgar topic but gently soothed him instead. "Save your strength, you need to recuperate your health."
The prince let out a pitiful whimper as he looked to the medic. "I can't just stay confined to a bed on the precipice of battle. I have to go help direct the soldiers."
Rarity was about to interject but a glare from the medic cut her off. The short human folded his arms at the prince's request. "You aren't Tran but if you really want an early grave like him so bad, I can give you a little pick me up but it'll only help a little. This is gonna take some intestinal fortitude on your end and it's gonna hurt," the medic explained.
Blueblood looked at the medic with bated breath, deep in thought. He took a deep breath and nodded. "We have work to do," the prince replied.
Wilson nodded and left. After a short while, he returned with several needles in tow. Rarity tried to convince the prince of his decision but he stay resolute in his stance. Wilson administered the medications to Blueblood's IV line and he found himself with more energy and some of the pain gone but existence was still painful to him. As Wilson disposed of the needles and removed the IV, he glanced back at Blueblood. "No alcohol at all until you're better and drink water as often as you can," Wilson told him. Blueblood nodded and then Wilson held a hand out. Blueblood took the hand with his hoof and Wilson helped pull him up to his hooves. Blueblood stumbled a bit and then felt Wilson's iron hard grip on his neck. "You really sure about this?"
Blueblood nodded, still firm. "We can't let our men down," Blueblood replied.
Wilson smirked. "Good. You're finally showing that you aren't an ass but hear this, you stay fucking alive and I'll try my damnedest it stays that way or I'll bring you back to kick your ass myself."
Blueblood chuckled after hearing Wilson's words. He felt rather content with having someone he could be chummy with, a friendship forged in the fires of battle, made him feel all the better. Somehow, just being with Wilson made him feel healthier, not just mentally. Hell, he felt like he was better than he ever was before and it wasn't the drugs talking, mostly. He grabbed his uniform and belongings, getting helped by Rarity as he wasn't able to use his magic. "Mademoiselle," Blueblood said, addressing Rarity. "Let's have a chat with our uninvited guest." There was no hint of weakness in Blueblood's eyes or stride as the two walked away.
Their uninvited guest, speaking of the devil, was currently in the company of Tran where the changeling wearing a magic suppressing ring and was chained up in a prison cell. The changeling looked like he was close to tears. He didn't show any signs of being physically mistreated but he was most certainly not doing mentally fine. Just being forced to be in Tran's presence, even separate by the jail cell's bars, was very harmful to the changeling's emotional health. The changeling was very obviously distressed and Blueblood had no sympathy to him. If any other normal person walked in on this, it seemed like the changeling was behaving like he was being coerced into killing himself.
There were other ponies in the room, some REA soldiers, members that weren't part of the experimental battalion but had been assigned to this special assignment to take out a changeling hive. They were standing in the corners of the room and before entering the room, Blueblood and Rarity had passed two more non-experimental battalion REA soldiers that were guarding this jail room's only entrance, from the outside. The ponies outside of the room looked like your standard REA soldiers and they had challenged Blueblood and Rarity. They like every other REA soldier when on guard duty, having a very serious professional attitude but looking bored overall. The two ponies inside the room, however, they looked like they were doing almost as bad as the jailed changeling, looking scared and that being physically present with Tran was excruciating to their existence.
When Prince and the Element of Generosity entered the room, Rarity leaned closer and clung onto Blueblood. The room felt mentally draining to be in, as if there was something in the room giving a sense of dread and despair. Tran barely paid the two new visitors any mind, keeping his attention on the changeling by continuing to stare at the shapeshifter. Blueblood, unlike every other pony in the room, didn't feel mental anguish like the others, feeling just as alive as ever. He trotted up to the bars of the jail cell, looking at the changeling. "So this would be our guest of honor?" he asked.
Tran kept his attention directed at the changeling, maintaining his death stare. "Cell's unlocked if you want to have words," he said.
Rarity squeezed onto Blueblood's foreleg tighter. His warmth and companionship was the only thing keeping her from looking as tortured as the others. "Something... Doesn't feel right," the fashionista said. It was a sentiment that every other pony in the room other than the prince agreed with.
Blueblood looked at his partner and could see the discomfort on her face. He took a glance at the other ponies in the room and saw that the other ponies in the room were experiencing similar. He noticed that the REA soldiers in the room and changeling were trying their best to not pay attention to the human. He turned his attention at the human. "May I have some privacy with my doppelganger?" the prince politely asked.
The human kept silent and stayed paying attention at the changeling. After an uncomfortable wait, the prince had been about ready to ask again when he executed a 180 turn and walked out of the room. The instant the human's presence was gone from the room, it seemed like the room's temperature raised itself from being deathly cold to be in. The other ponies in the room visibly relaxed, as did the changeling. Blueblood had definitely noticed Rarity's newfound relief, as her grip on him had lightened. Blueblood was somewhat confused but redirected his attention to the changeling. "I feel like I should be angry at you for stealing my identity but no," the prince told the changeling. The prisoner's eyes darted around to scrutinize the rest of the room and ponies, at one point focusing on the cell door, thinking if it had a chance of escaping. The imposter didn't want to make an attempt, knowing exactly what could befall him with the human waiting outside. "I'm outraged that you would take advantage of the lady, Rarity," the prince angrily spat out.
Rarity smiled at the prince and let go of the prince and trotted closer to the changeling. "You thought you could drain me too, couldn't you, you parasite?" she jeered, having no sympathy for the imposter.
The changeling looked at the mare with an angry look. "Fooled you, didn't I?" the changeling taunted. "One of Equestria's famed Elements of Harmony?"
The prince shot forward, pointing a furious hoof at the changeling. "Don't you speak to my mare like that!" he warned.
The changeling smirked at the prince. "I'm surprised you're even standing after what I did to you. I'm not scared of you," the changeling further taunted.
The Prince sneered at the changeling and before he knew it, his horn lit up and he had grabbed the changeling in his magic, pulling the imposter forward and pressing him into the jail cell's bars. The changeling was shocked from the display of powerful magic, immobilizing him. "I-Impossible! I drained you!" the changeling said, mouth agape.
Prince Blueblood jeered at the changeling. He remembered what Pharynx had said earlier and he could start to feel the telekinesis start to drain his magic reserves. It was almost like day and night, he started to feel weak, most physically and magically. He wouldn't be able to maintain his telekinetic hold on the changeling and he felt close to collapsing to the ground. However, he also remembered what Wilson said and he felt some of his strength come back, even thought there should have been no real reason it should have. Just to be safe, he dropped his magic, the changeling collapsed to the ground in a heap and he leaned against Rarity for support. Right as he did that, he was hit with a wave of exhaustion both physically and to his magic. It took all of his willpower to keep it from showing. "So, you decide I was an acceptable target. Was it to gather intelligence?" Blueblood asked. The imposter gave the prince a look of anger as it gathered itself up after falling to the ground when Blueblood released his magical hold. "Or perhaps to misdirect us, because we're making headway to your home?" Just as he said that, the changeling's face went from angry to blank as he tried to stay indifferent to not give any hints or secret information. The prince smirked. "So we're getting close."
The changeling's face betrayed himself as it showed a look of terror before going back to angry. It remember what Tran had said earlier and went for the cell's door, only to be stopped when Rarity lit her horn and locked the cell with a satisfying *Click*.
Rarity looked up at Blueblood. "We should notify the others, especially Eric. He's probably preparing the soldiers," she said.
Blueblood nodded and turned to leave, Rarity following behind him. When they left the room, they were right on time to watch as Tran punch one of the outside guards in the face. They were quite shocked and ready to spring into action when Tran looked at them with the usual dead expression on his face. "There's nothing to be worried about, just some friendly banter," the human said.
Rarity raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth. "What could you have possibly been talking about that involves punching somepony in the face?" she asked.
Earlier
Tran stepped out of the room to let Blueblood and Rarity interrogate the changeling. Outside of the room, stood two REA soldiers, two that weren't part of his battalion. However, he did recognize one of them from Ponyville. He took a deep inhale to gather his emotions, to get rid of the building anger he had. He remembered that the strength of the emotion he was feeling was connected to this weird new aura/ability he had. He wasn't very sure of how it worked but he'd have to figure it out if he wanted to not pose as a threat to his friends/allies or cause discomfort/pain to those that didn't deserve it.
The pony he recognized took an interest in the human. "Sir, are you Tran?" she asked.
Tran nodded. "I'm not an officer and either way, you don't have to care about my rank," he replied. "And yes, I'm Tran."
The pony, a pegasus mare, eyed the man up and down. "I'm sorry about your loss," she said. "I'm Cloudkicker, a reserve guard from Ponyville. They recalled me for the situation here in Appleloosa. It's changelings, right? We saw the one you discovered and brought in. How do you tell them apart?"
Tran blinked. Him, Luna, and the Night Sentinels had tried to keep details about the situation secret but it would have been impossible to keep soldiers from gossiping and making rumors. "I don't really know myself. When I'm near a disguised changeling, my instincts scream at me to kill them so I just hold them at gunpoint and crack. Hasn't been wrong so far."
The mare looked back at the human with an inquisitive look on her face, tilting her head. "There's a lot of rumors about you. None of us know what's true and what's not. Some time back, I shagged up with your short friend and he said a lot of wild things. Something about how you already died, is that true?"
Tran smirked, remembering his "death". Both allies and enemies alike made a lot of rumors about him and his friends. He wasn't invincible, as the many injuries of his would attest. However, he still found it funny that some of Equestria's denizens looked upon him like an avatar of death. "Only a little. I was came cause I still had work to do," Tran replied. He then realized the rest of what she said. "Shagged up?"
She smirked upon hearing his question. "We banged. It was just a one time thing when we were both drunk," she said. "You know how soldiers work."
Tran scoffed. He knew exactly how soldiers worked. He was one, after all. If you didn't know, soldiers were fucking stupid, wanting to spend all of their money the instant they got it, fuck anything with a pulse if it was willing, and make any stupid decision when it was possible. "I'm not his mom," he replied.
The pony nodded. "Whew, I thought you'd be mad," she said. She looked Tran up and down again. "Wanna bang sometime?" she boldly asked.
Tran's mind froze for a second and it showed on his face. When his brain rebooted, he immediately replied with, "No." He shook his head. "Don't ask again. Ever."
The mare chuckled at his reply. "Your short friend and I had a blast! You seem so tense, don't you wanna-"
She was immediately cut off when Tran punched her in the face, not enough to kill her but definitely not a love tap either. Right at that moment, Blueblood and Rarity walked out of the room to witness the punch. The two of their new guests were shocked to have witness the short altercation. They seemed ready to spring so Tran held up a hand, waving it off. "Don't worry, just friendly banter," Tran said as the mare rubbed her snout.
Rarity looked at him with a face of disapproval. "Why is it that you're always getting into trouble?" she asked.
Tran ignored her and looked at Blueblood, who was gently leaning against Rarity for support. "Prognosis?" Tran asked while gesturing at Blueblood's body.
Blueblood stopped leaning his weight against Rarity. He straightened up and dusted himself off. "He gave me a little chemical pick-me-up for the short term moment. However, your friend and Pharynx said that I'll be weak, physically and magically. It'll be quite the hiatus before I'm back to full health," the prince replied.
Tran folded his arms. "I'm the unkillable one, not you. Take it easy," he told the prince.
The prince shrugged. "We have work to do."
-X-X-X-
Eric stood on the top deck of the airship, watching the land pass by as they flew. Along with him, were hundreds of soldiers from his battalion. All of them were completely geared up, ready for war. Especially ready were the pegasi in the group. The pegasi, and disguised changelings, were ready to jump into the air at the drop of the hat if anything were to happen. Surrounding the airship were hundreds of flying pegasi.
That was when they could hear gunfire. It was close, definitely within a few kilometers of the airship. The pegasi that were ready to take flight looked to the human in charge, pleading with their eyes. Eric looked towards the direction where the gunfire came from and could see groups of various flying creatures darting throughout the air, at breakneck speeds. He wasn't sure what was happen, even when looking through a pair of binoculars. All he could tell was that pegasi were engaged with other pegasi.
Eric looked to the teams of pegasi he had at his disposal. All of them were Tran's aviators. "Get ready to deploy! Stick together and do not be a hero!" he ordered. One by one, the teams of pegasi ran to the edge of the airship, getting ready to fly, spreading their wings. Eric turned back to his soldiers. "Machine gunners, take position near the edge, get ready to provide covering fire!"
Now, no pegasi would have admitted it but in the air, when you're engaged with someone in aerial combat, ie dogfighting, getting any help was especially useful. The enemy changelings, before they had started the engagement, used their ability to disguise themselves to get in as close as possible. They looked exactly like the REAF (Royal Equestrian Air Force, pronounced exactly like reef in coral reef) pegasi that were guarding the air ships, even wearing the same uniforms and wielding the same weapons, the standard Equestrian military bolt action rifle. Even after the fighting had started, it was nigh impossible to tell who was a friendly and who wasn't.
Luckily, Eric had a trick up his sleeve. The airship's horns quickly blared three times, each time lasting only a few seconds. All of the escorting REAF pegasi left the skies and returned to the decks of the airships where there were armed REA soldiers waiting who would validated their allegiance. Eric had planned for something like this, beforehand, the idea of fighting a faction that had the changeling's abilities. The rogue changelings, still taking up the form of REAF pegasi, were confused as to what happened as they wouldn't know the tactics the humans had made up.
Now, was when the pegasi of the human's experimental battalion took to the skies. All of the air superiority dogfighting pegasi from Tran's section of the experimental battalion had formed up with Eric, in expectations of this. All of them took off at the same time before splitting off in predesignated teams of four to join the engagement. The disguised changelings were taken by surprised and some had immediately started firing at the pegasi.
It was nothing close to resembling a fair fight. Of course, the changelings tried to get in close with their usual tactics of being disguised but the pegasi did not let them approach without caution. When they tried to come in close and refuse to answer any challenges with the correct pass phrases, the pegasi open fired and wiped out a good number of them. After that, the changelings just attempted to dogfight the pegasi, trying to break the pegasi out of their teams. If it was a one on one, they'd be able to use their disguises and surprise to give them the advantage. Unfortunately for them, while this tactic would normally work with your average cocksure pegasi (like Rainbow Dash), these pegasi refused to break apart from their teams so it came down to just who had the most numbers and firepower.
The changelings had the numbers but they weren't able to use them to their advantage. When the teams of pegasi faced groups larger than two, they'd just fake a retreat. This would bait the changelings into giving chase, where they flew into the firing lines of Eric and the machine guns that were waiting on the side of the primary airship. The other airships were trailing behind them a few kilometers back so there wasn't a risk of friendly fire. This was essentially a shooting gallery for Eric and his machine gun teams, against flying targets. For the pegasi air superiority teams, it was good experience in engaging an airborne target, using the tactic they'd been practicing to use in dogfights (the so called that Thach Weave) that Tran had been drilling through their skulls.
"Ceasefire! Ceasefire!" Eric shouted through the sound of machine gun fire. "Cease fire!" Slowly the machine gunners stopped firing as the remaining changelings were getting too far away to accurately shoot at. When the machine gunners stopped firing, the dogfighters knew that was when they had to return to the ship. Also, since the changelings were retreating, they didn't have an enemy to fight.
The battalion's pegasi suffered very few casualties. There were no deaths and whoever was injured weren't seriously injured. The body armor that the pegasi wore, was a tremendous advantage, something that the rogue changelings knew nothing about. It prevented them from the most serious of injuries and the shotguns gave them the edge in a aerial shootout. The returning pegasi, once they were verified to be friendly, were gathered up except for the few that sported fresh battle wounds. They were sent to the infirmary.
Eric eyed the changelings that were retreating into the distance. He grabbed two of the air superiority teams. "Trail them to where ever they regroup to. If its somewhere important, return. Keep your distance and stay as close to the ground as possible. We don't need all of you getting captured too," Eric quickly briefed.
The two air superiority teams saluted and flew off in the direction of the retreating changelings. Meanwhile, the airship's crews and attachment of REA soldiers were reporting that they had possible changelings captured from the engagement. They were pegasi that had not been able to answer the challenge and password correctly. In addition to that, there were the confirmed changelings that had been captured. They were easily confirmed because they had loss an aerial engagement and were no longer holding a disguise due to severe injuries. Furthermore, there were plenty of pegasi on their side that had been seriously injured. These seriously injured pegasi weren't members of their experimental battalion but were REAF pegasi that were part of the defensive detail that were escorting them.
No matter their species, Eric had all of the injured sent to the infirmary. Just because the fighting stopped in the sky, meant that the fighting had stopped entirely.
-X-X-X-
Wilson and his medics were being put to work. Dozens of no rogue undisguised changelings had been rushed into the airship's infirmary, in addition to the injured REAF pegasi and the experimental battalion's flying teams. Part of the airship's crewmembers were indeed medical personnel but they were only a few doctors and a couple nurses per doctor. The rogue changelings were obviously stripped of their weapons and gear but there was still a problem.
One doctor had managed to stabilize one patient and moved onto the next, only to realize... "Are you fucking insane?!" the doctor demanded.
Wilson was holding the doctor's lab coat. "Yes, but you're gonna fucking fix him!" Wilson screamed into the doctor's face.
The doctor pointed at his next patient... A changeling. A changeling from the rogue faction. "He's part of the enemy and we have actual ponies that need our help!" the doctor argued back.
Wilson let go of the doctor's uniform and the stubborn unicorn fell to the ground. Wilson then used his free hand to draw a pistol, pointing it at the doctor's face. The doc froze, seeing the weapon. "You let him die and you die with him," Wilson threatened. The doctor gulped and got to his hooves, trotting over to the undisguised changeling. He looked back at Wilson who was still pointing the gun at him. "If I check back later and any of them die because of your negligence or laziness, I will shoot you myself."
The doctor nodded and pointed at a medical cabinet. "C-Can I get to work, now?" the doctor asked.
Wilson kept the pistol level for a few more seconds to emphasize his point before he finally holstered it. He angrily left this trauma bay, kicking open the doors, to find another person to work on. Luckily, most of the injured changelings that were captured were being attended to by the changeling medics that were part of his battalion. Only a few seriously injured changelings had been captured because most of them had simply fallen to their deaths. Pharynx was along with Wilson and the medical personnel in the airship's medical bay. Pharynx wasn't there to help with the medical treatment, he was there to magically drop the rogue changelings' disguises, if they were thought to be a changeling (one from the rogue faction).
When Wilson had moved to another trauma bay, he noticed a doctor and a pair of nurses frantically working on a pony. However, sitting on a hospital cot, in the corner of the room away from the others, was a heavily bandaged pegasus. Wilson ran past the doctor and nurses and to the pegasus in the corner of the room. The lone pegasus in the corner looked like no one had worked on him yet, but he showed signs of being severely wounded. Wilson turned his attention to the other medical personnel in the room. "Hey, what's going on with this guy?" Wilson demanded.
One of the nurses trotted over to Wilson and pulled him away. The nurse took a glance back at the lone pegasus and then back to Wilson. "He's not gonna make it. We can't waste our efforts on him with our workload," the nurse whispered to Wilson.
At first, Wilson was shocked. Then, he was angry. He ran over to the doctor and grabbed her before dragging her over to the pegasus in the corner. "Get to work!" Wilson yelled. The doctor looked at the dying pegasus before looking up to Wilson with a sad look on his face. "Hey, we're not giving up on anyone until they're dead. Go one step at a time, come on!"
The doctor sighed while pointed to the other nurse. "Clamps, three of them and a cauterizer," the doctor finally called out a few seconds later. The nurse ran off to get the needed tools.
That left Wilson alone with the pegasus. The pegasus was still conscious but he was weak. The pegasus was bleeding through his bandages in three spots. The pegasus looked up at Wilson. "I-I know I'm not gonna make it," the pegasus feebly said.
Wilson could identify that he had been shot in three places, once in one leg and twice in his barrel. Wilson identified the one that was bleeding the most and pressed the bandages against bullet hole, trying his best to keep the bleeding minimum. "What's your name, soldier?"
The pegasus gave a weak smile. "T-Thunderlane," he finally replied.
The other nurse in the room was stabilizing the other patient in the room while the doctor lit up her horn and used it to clamp off a vein in this pegasus's barrel where he'd been shot. "Where's those clamps!?" the doctor yelled out.
Wilson dug his fingers into one of the pony's other bullet wound and used his fingers to clamp the vein manually. "What do you want to do after the army?" Wilson asked. "Your dream job?"
The pegasus was looking color in his face as he loss more blood. "I-I've always wanted to be a W-Wonderbolt," he finally replied.
The nurse finally returned with the necessary equipment and the doctor clamped off whatever veins they had closed while Wilson applied the tourniquet on his affected leg. "You're gonna live and you're gonna be the best Wonderbolt, okay Thunderlane? You have any family in Ponyville?" Wilson said to the pony. He could see that the wounded pony's eyes were half lidded, like he was about to go to sleep. "Thunderlane?!" Wilson immediately shouted into the pony's face.
That managed to get him to "wake up" more and he looked up at Wilson. "B-Brother. A little colt," Thunderlane replied.
It continued on and on. They'd didn't give Thunderlane any morphine, so he could feel everything they did to him because they couldn't afford to tank his blood pressure with opiates. By the time Thunderlane was stabilized, Wilson left the pegasus to the attention of the medical personnel so he could step out. Once he was outside of the trauma bay, he pulled out his cigarettes and started smoking, not caring that blood was covering his hands. He was soon joined by the doctor.
The doctor trotted up to Wilson. She had a sad look on her face. "I don't think he'll make it to the morning. He's been shot through the lung and his liver's been grazed, and he's lost a lot of blood," she whispered to Wilson. "We can't save them all."
Wilson threw his cigarette to the ground. "He's not gonna die!" Wilson yelled out. The doctor flinched from Wilson's scream. "If he's alive, we will do everything we can with our best!"
By the time this mission ended days later, Thunderlane survived. Wilson would constantly go back to help the medical personnel in constantly attending to the pony but he survived. He would be medically discharged from the REAF where he would then start his long recovery. He would fortunately make a full recovery but it took a few long years.
Of all of the people that were brought in to the sick bay, only a couple died. One was a REAF pegasus and the other was a rogue changeling. All of the people that Wilson had worked on or helped work on, would survive, no matter the severity of their injuries. The only other members of that short engagement that didn't survive the engagement had either died immediately during the engagement or had fallen to their deaths. It was sad true nature of being an aerial combatant. If you were injured enough to where you couldn't fly anymore, you would then spend the rest of your life falling. There was almost no chance of being caught as any other members of an aerial engagement were busy with their own tasks/fights.
But if you managed to return from the fight and Wilson was there, you weren't going to die on his watch. He'd rather die than let someone else die.
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As a currently serving sailor. I can say I've been enjoying reading this while my ship is out on deployment. I can't relate to everything, being that I'm not in a combat role as an electronics technician. But still fun to fantasize about doing operator shit anyways. Closest I get to that is standing armed ECP and shipboard watches. :P
The author's note explains a lot about Tran's "survival" and condition. There's nothing wrong with indulging in a self-insert fantasy. Heck, if you're Dante Alighieri, your self-insert biblical fanfiction might be regarded as high art!
I've thought about doing a self insert fic like that, but always thought it would come out too cringe.
Maybe one day...
Where scootaloo
So on one side, we have a Revenant, the vengeful undead. On the other, a Gryphon lass who seeks Sanctuary in Equestria.
For the moving corpse, it could be any Gryphon so filled with all-consuming
hateWRATH that Tartarus itself could not contain him. As for the oth- its Gabby. It is just Gabby. She was probably mere days, if not hours away from getting a Travel Visa to visit Equestria when the war started.