Hail to... MY Horde?

by Emo Rainbow

Chapter 2 - Follow the Leader

The fighting seemed to be very disorganized, as all of the changelings desperately ran around in search of the culprits. Some tried to take to the sky, but as soon as they did a loud series of explosions echoed from the treeline and immediately cut them down, discouraging any others from trying. Eventually, the large majority of the changelings began congregating near the middle of the caravan by the cart that housed Fluttershy and the others, and that’s when they finally saw the attackers.

“RAAAAAAAGH! AAAAAAAAAAAH!” A loud ear-piercing screech rang out from one of the hills beside them, causing all of the ponies and changelings to cover their ears for a moment to stop the pain. By the time the initial screaming had stopped, there was a loud symphony of shouting as the changelings were attacked by two small armored creatures that crawled across the floor quickly, mauling through their armor with their sharp claws and teeth and even pouncing on a few in the process. The Changelings tried to fight back by firing spells and stabbing at the abnormally-shaped beasts, but despite what their armored forms would have suggested they were surprisingly nimble.

Following the strange armored creatures was a hulking black armor-clad monster wielding one of the changeling spears in its hands and charging headfirst into the group. He skewered a few through the back with ease as they were distracted before letting out a shrill laugh that drew the attention of the soldiers away from the smaller creatures, leaving them wide open to being pounced on or swiped at by the beasts.

As the changelings tried and failed to land hits on the attackers, one final creature covered in sharp metal armor rolled into the crowd, mulching a line of three changelings as he did before uncurling into a massive seven-foot behemoth. He turned and faced the remaining crowd while aiming two blunt objects at them, and with a series of loud explosions, he let loose a volley of white-hot projectiles that completely shredded the remaining guards.

By the end, there was only one changeling left standing and clutching an open wound on his arm. With no other options left, he quickly buzzed his wings and attempted to flee before almost immediately being attacked by another explosion in the distance. From what most of the captives could see, there was a massive streak of smoke that traced its way towards him from the forest and splattered his head into a pile of bits. The fight was over, and the prisoners were utterly speechless.

The attackers slowly approached, and while the smaller ones and the one covered in sharp armor were mostly hidden, the other one had bits and pieces of his flesh and face that were exposed. Its skin was scaly and grey, his teeth were massive and jagged, and his hands were bulky and full of sharpened nails. As they approached the cage, Fluttershy finally took a step back as she and the others huddled together in fear.

“My lord… we have secured the prisoners.” He said in a slow and snake-like voice as he held the last S in prisoners for a few extra seconds. His two first fingers were strangely pressed against his helmet as he communicated with someone on the other line, and thanks to her above-average hearing Fluttershy heard it.

“Yeah, yeah… I… saw that. Just bring them up here if you can, alright? Let them know that we mean no harm.” Despite the scratchy effect in the voice, She could tell that he sounded a little shaken by something. Before they could question it any further, the creature pointed to his allies, then guided them to the other cages as he approached the door to theirs.

“H-hey now!” Fluttershy said shakily as she stood up and took a spot directly in front of her fellow ponies, trying her best to hide the fear in her voice as he approached. As he came to the door, he pulled out a massive black knife from behind him and jammed it into the dark green chitinous lock before twisting it around and essentially breaking it off with pure strength. Fluttershy tensed her muscles and steeled herself for a fight, but instead of entering the cage he just backed up and resheathed his knife.

“You are free. Follow if you wish.” He said simply, the sound of his voice sending shivers down her spine, before walking away from the cage without a second glance. Fluttershy normally would have been much more cautious about exiting right away, but that was thrown to the side as she saw the other captives exiting the other cages surrounding them.

“Get her up!” She said as she frantically reached for Zecora who had remained comatose this entire time. “Zecora, Zecora please!” She called out while shaking their leader. The only response given was a soft grunt of pain, followed by the quickly diminishing heat of her body. Without wasting any more time they all helped lift Zecora out of the cage and onto the cleanest bit of grass and dirt that wasn’t covered in changeling remains.

A loud chorus of concerned murmurs broke out as the ponies gathered and watched them lay the zebra down. Without even needing to be told some of the villagers ran off to find what remained of their gear and belongings to help while Fluttershy and some of the other medics tended to her. They took off the flowing brown cloak she was wearing, leaving her only in her brown rag tube top and loincloth, and laid it off to the side. Eventually, Fluttershy stepped back as the rest of their medically trained ponies returned and took over, knowing that they’d be better for the job than her.

Fluttershy breathed an uneasy sigh as she watched them work before being shoved around by the growing crowd surrounding Zecora. She growled for a moment and started pushing them away from the scene. "Alright everypony, give them some room!" She shouted at the crowd, dispersing them almost immediately. After she had, she noticed several of the ponies go silent and stare at her, soon the entire crowd was staring in her direction with mixed looks of fear and exhaustion.

Fluttershy looked behind her for a moment just to make sure they weren't staring somewhere else, but unfortunately there was nothing there. "Well?" Called a voice from the small crowd, a mare with a cream coat and two toned mane by the name of Bon Bon. "What are we going to do Fluttershy?" She asked fearfully.

Fluttershy looked at her in confusion, unsure of how to respond. Before she could even gain her bearings, a brown stallion by the name of Caramel chimed in. "Yeah, more changelings are definitely on the way! You heard him, they called for a lift!" The crowd inched closer towards her, and suddenly Fluttershy's long dormant anxiety began to flare up. Her eyes darted all around the crowd, but every single gaze upon her seemed to stop her thoughts instantaneously. Not many things could truly make her scared, but being in charge in Zecora’s stead was one of them.

What did they expect her to do? What did they want her to say? She wasn't a leader, she was just a fighter. Granted she was willing to concede that she was a damn good fighter, if not the best, but this was something else entirely. If somepony had asked her for ninety different ways to crack changeling skulls she'd be able to answer in a heartbeat, but knowledge like that didn't exactly translate well to resetting their whole unearthed way of life.

Fluttershy began to feel sick as the weight started bearing down on her, but that all changed when she saw one of the last close friends she had, Pinkie Pie, approach her. “Well… Fluttershy,” Pinkie said, her voice having a calming effect despite the nervous tremble it held. “What should we do?” Those words echoed in Fluttershy’s mind, and she had to think for a moment. What should they do? Or rather, what would she do if this was just a skirmish she and her fighters had gotten into? She guessed that the best place to start was with what she already knew; They needed to snatch and run.

Fluttershy took in a deep calming breath, then narrowed her eyes and initiated work mode. “Alright, everypony gather as many tools, equipment, and resources the changelings had here. Weapons, armor, supplies, anything that you can carry and that we can use, we’re taking it with us. We need to get out of here fast, so as soon as Zecora’s stable we’re heading out. Let’s move!” She started with a bit of a shaky voice, but by the end, she had regained her confidence and sent them on their tasks with a clap of her hands. The ponies all scattered on her orders and searched the remains of the battlefield for anything and everything they could take. Fluttershy breathed an uneasy sigh as she watched them work, eventually noticing the two taller creatures that had freed them standing near the base of the valley’s hill with their arms crossed.

She was still unbelievably curious as to what they were doing, so with all the confidence she could muster she approached them. They seemed surprised by her approach, and when she finally stood face to face with them the shorter one uncrossed his arms. While she did say that he was shorter, it was only compared to his armored companion. He was still about a few inches taller and quite a bit bulkier than her, but she tried her best not to seem intimidated.

“What?” He asked impatiently.

“Why did you do this?” She started, garnering a stunned glance from both of them. “Why would you come here and just… free us like that?” She asked in genuine confusion as she looked at the scattered dead bodies now being looted by her ponies. There were so many here, yet they still came forward and freed them. Albeit it seemed to be a walk in the park for them, which made her even more nervous about following them, but she was still far too curious to just stay silent. “What even are you?” He let out a ‘hmmph’ of amusement before answering.

“Our king commanded, and we do as he commands. Time is short, so answer now. Follow, or flee?” He asked with a sense of finality. She looked back to her fellow ponies once again, taking notice at how some had already been reaching their max capacity for carrying, and saw them beginning to reconvene near Zecora’s recovery spot.

“Give me one minute, and I’ll have your answer.” She said to them, to which they simply nodded in agreement. Jogging over to where the survivors were crowded, she pushed past everypony until she broke through to the center where the medics were tending to Zecora. Her anxiousness lessened as she saw the zebra taking in pained breaths as they finished patching her up more thoroughly, and soon all but one of the medical ponies backed up to give her some room.

"Hey," Fluttershy said, grabbing one of the stallions by the arm before he could shoulder past her. "Is she alright?" The stallion looked nervous for a moment and fidgeted before Fluttershy quickly let go of his arm. He shook himself for a moment and cleared his throat as he turned his head to face the pained zebra.

"Changeling magic is some nasty stuff, especially the queens brand," he started as they both eyed the now patched over abdomen wound. "She's stable for now, but any more undue stress will definitely cause some permanent damage to her body. I'd say we need to go somewhere else fast, but in her condition, I don't think fast is an option." He replied solemnly, but truthfully. Fluttershy thanked him and let him step off to help any others who were injured.

Fluttershy looked down at Zecora, then to her stocked up ponies, and finally to their rescuers. She knew that she only had one logical choice, since the Everfree was a deathtrap without an assured safe haven for them to go to, but that didn't mean it was an easy decision to make. With nopony else stepping up though, and the changelings coming soon, it was a decision that she needed to make now.

She wished she had another plan that didn't involve following these monsters, even if they did save them. But with her mind essentially devoid of better plans at the moment, she swallowed her fear and looked towards them. With a strong gait and a determined expression, Fluttershy approached the figures ready to follow their lead. She could only pray that she'd made the right choice.

---

“My lord… is everything alright?” Chorsus asks curiously as I stand several feet away from the edge of the cliff and lean my head towards the bark of a tree.

“Yes, yes… I’m…” I can’t even finish the sentence as the flashes and images of Changelings getting torn in half permeate my short term memory. I was curious for all of three seconds about how they’d fight and attack, but my eyes were bigger than my stomach on this one. The moment I saw that guy's head get ripped off and his friends blown to bits, I knew I was way more out of my depth than I thought. I look over to Chorsus and thankfully see that he’s begun looking elsewhere.

Frankly, at this point, I’m not even interested in the slightest in trying to keep up an air of superiority. I don’t know who would after viewing something as… graphic as that, well aside from complete sociopaths. I turn myself around and lean my back against the tree, the action being a tad awkward since my weapons were taking up quite a lot of space, and try my best to slow my heart rate. I look off towards Chorsus as he overlooks the valley below, his boltok firmly in his grasp, and notice that another Locust wielding a long sniper rifle had joined him.

“Barely worth the effort.” The new locust said as he squatted down beside the spotter. Who the hell was that? Maybe…. Wait, wasn’t there another locust they kept referring to? Roc? If I had to guess, I’d say that this was the guy. Pretty much as soon as I thought that, Chorsus saw fit to confirm for me.

“Indeed Roc, but you should conceal. We’re about to have company.” Chorsus says as he steps backward, Roc swiftly grunting in agreement and climbing a nearby tree. I quickly take a deep breath and get off of the tree as I prepare for the return of my locust and the prisoners. It’s only now that it dawns on me, but I have absolutely no idea what I’m gonna say to them. Maybe I should start cordial? Should I ask them what happened right off the bat? Maybe if they’re alright. Well, I have to choose something since I’m already hearing some footsteps.

“My lord,” Verus says dutifully as he, Krogg, and a crowd of ponies begin entering our little hidden area.

“E-excellent work!” I blurt out nervously. My locust, and a few of the ponies, shot strange looks towards me as I did this so I just do the only thing I can think of which is to move on and ignore it. “You did… you did well Verus,” I say while prompting him to stand back up from his kneeling position.

I look over the crowd behind Verus, and already I can deduce certain things from their looks alone. One: They seem very ragged and worn out, with some injured, others looking like they haven’t slept in days, and all of them wearing rudimentary clothes like rag cutoff tops and shorts or loincloths that cover the bare essentials. Although I can see that many of them started scavenging from the dead changelings as they held various weapons and equipment. Two: They all looked to be covered in strange green markings that were very reminiscent of zebra stripes. Three: I can already make out a few familiar faces from the crowd that I had seen in the show and around fan sites as well, like background characters, one or two main characters, and frighteningly enough a couple of scared children.

The first thing I do is point to my Locust and have them step away from the group in an attempt to ease their fear, then I try and walk closer to them. Several of the ponies in the front, including a very familiar yellow pegasus with pink hair, stepped back uneasily, causing me to stop in my tracks and hold out my hand warily.

“Hey, it’s alright. We’re not going to hurt you.” I say to them. Just then Fluttershy starts to look around at me and my locust, not once dropping her defensive stance.

“Yeah, well, forgive me for not believing you right off the bat.” She says with a bit of bite in her voice, something that I never would have expected from her, but given the situation, I can't say I blame her for the response. Despite my calm reaction to her retort, something about what she'd said seemed to piss off every one of my soldiers as they growled and clutched their weapons. Before anypony had any time to scream, lash out, or do anything in general that I was going to regret, I immediately grabbed onto Verus’ torque bow and lowered it.

“We understand, we TOTALLY understand…” The Theron looked to me in confusion, followed by all of the others as they slowly and cautiously lowered their weapons. “Right?” I say through my teeth, and quickly the Theron nods and holsters his torque bow.

Looking over to the crowd of ponies once again, I see many of them clutching spears and looking at us in terror. It was then that I realized that we were essentially surrounding them from all sides and growling like feral dogs. No wonder they were freaking out even harder than I imagined. Quickly I whistle over to Chorsus, then over to Krogg while waving them over to me. It takes them a moment of confusion before they slowly leave their positions and crowd around me away from the ponies.

“Listen, the whole point of doing that was to save them, now I’m no expert, but usually people who were just being held captive are already on fucking edge. They know, and we know that we could kill them right now, but they’re here because they trust us even if it’s on some microscopic level,” They quickly begin nodding along with me, and I even have to stop a few from dropping down to one knee. I can already tell that's gonna be a hard one for them to wrap their heads around. “Listen, we need them to trust us more because then we can more easily use them to set up a proper structure and forces here. Don't you see? These creatures could be our ticket to reclaiming Locust power here in… wherever we are. Understand?”

They stop as I say this, and it almost looks like their lowering their heads in shame. “I understand, forgive me, my lord,” Verus says with a simple bow of his head. “I had not seen the extent of this opportunity until now. You are truly wise.” The other locust murmur in agreement and I quickly feel a slight pressure in my gut. I seriously just pulled that out my ass so they don’t think I’m being a little bitch, but now it looks like I might have gone overboard and set some expectations here. I sincerely hope they don't hold me to it, because I do not plan on staying here that long.

“Everyone, treat our new prisoners carefully. In time, they will become valued tools for our king.” Verus hisses out, eliciting a guttural chant from the others as they pounded their chests and broke from the huddle. Well, whatever this means I’m sure I can deal with it later, for now, we need to get the hell out of here before more changelings start showing up.

I jog back over to Fluttershy, who I assume is kind of the de facto leader here, and begin relaying the plan. “Listen, I think we both know that we need to leave before more of them show up. We have an abandoned cave that we captured not too far from here. It’s not the best, but it’s close and well hidden. We can knock out introductions after your people are safe.” I quickly explained to her.

“Alright, we’ll follow you." She says with a bit of trepidation despite her confident stance. She leans back for a moment and passes along hushed whispers to her group to prepare them. With that, I order my Locust to create a perimeter around the group and begin leading them back the way we came. Hopefully, the silence will give me some time to think about things, namely what the fuck I’m even doing right now. Jesus, what is happening?

No seriously what the fuck is happening right now?! Attacking changelings, in the everfree forest, with a bunch of anthro ponies? I’m… here? With a bunch of Locust from a fanfiction? We’ve already established that, calm down Ben. How about YOU calm down, asshole? Acknowledging that this is happening doesn’t mean it’s not absolutely crazy! In fact, it probably makes things ten times worse! I’M absolutely crazy!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH-

---

“Alright, we’ll follow you,” Fluttershy said with confidence while slowly standing her spear on the ground. The strange armored creature nodded and started to give orders to his beasts, positioning them into a box formation surrounding her ponies. Fluttershy’s heart began to race as she struggled to gauge the looks on their faces, mainly on account of how all of them wore helmets and armor, but she continued to hide her uncertainty as best as she could. She felt somepony squeeze her hand and looked to her left to see one of the foals, a dark blue unicorn colt named Clear Sight, clutching her hand fearfully and looking up at her. She whispered to him that it was going to be alright and quickly handed him off to somepony else.

“Stay together and keep a close eye on them. We know what they’re capable of, which means we have to be on high alert. At the first sign of trouble make sure you hide the foals and the wounded.” She quickly whispered to the ponies behind her, and soon the hushed orders were passed on to everybody in the crowd.

With nothing else needing preparations, they all began following the ‘king’ deeper into the Everfree forest, the tense silence only being undercut by the multitude of pattering hoofsteps along the thick grass. Though she’d ventured through the forest many times, even before Chrysalis rose to power, Fluttershy had never seen anything like these creatures here. They certainly weren’t ponies, unless they suffered from some crazy experiment that deformed them, but she was willing to bet that whoever, or whatever, their saviors were they were certainly scaring off all of the everfree’s other big bads.

It was true that she couldn’t feel things like Zecora could, no matter how much she tried in the past, but even she could sense the air of menace that all of the creatures exuded. The one at the front however was something else entirely. He was the closest looking to an actual pony despite all of his differences, but even stranger was how different he looked from the other creatures.

He led the pack with a blank look of stoicism, and despite the hostile situation they were in, he never once reached for the weapons clinging to his back. He must’ve been exceedingly confident and assured in his skills if he walked the forest without even a hint of fear. They referred to him as their king, but for what reason? She could only guess that his calm and helpful demeanor was only a front, hiding the ruthless leader that could make all these monstrosities pledge allegiance to him.

---

You’re insane!

No, you’re insane!

Well, you’re talking to yourself! Or… I’m talking to myself? Whatever! You’re fucking crazy, just shut up! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

---

Fluttershy wondered how it would have been to take their chances in the forest on their own, but it was too late to think like that. They were here now, and whatever happened it would be on her shoulders. Not exactly a comforting thought, but one that helped ease her anxiety somewhat. Knowing that good or bad, this situation was likely permanent, allowing her to better focus on how to improve things relative to now.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, the group finally broke through another layer of trees and fauna that hid a partially covered cave entrance on the side of a cliff. The entrance was fairly wide, with the ceiling standing at about thirteen feet and having some hanging moss coming down it, almost acting like a natural curtain on its left side. The crowd of ponies stopped and stood before the entrance, all of them understandably nervous about entering the dark confines of the cave. It was then that the creature spun around and addressed them.

“Alright… here we are,” He said a little hesitantly, his eyes giving a slightly unsettling twitch that he tried to hide by swinging his face to the side. “We can rest in here for now. It’s as safe as we can be on such short notice.”

“Seems a little sketchy, being corralled into a cave by soldiers armed to the teeth,” Fluttershy said, her abrasive nature coming out clearly in her voice. But then, something rather strange happened that directly challenged her preconceived notions.

“Well, that would be true, IF that was what we were actually doing,” The man said as all of his subordinates left their positions around the ponies and walked into the cave, essentially leaving them unguarded. “I know you’re nervous, I would be too, but I mean it when I say that we don’t want to hurt you,” He slowly backed up towards the entrance before slightly turning around until only half of his face was visible. “You’re not prisoners anymore, we made sure of that. You can join us inside or keep going from here. The choice is yours.” With that, he quickly entered the darkness, his footsteps echoing outwards from the cave.

Fluttershy fell into a stunned silence, her mind drawing a blank on how to respond to this situation. She was at a loss for words, but thankfully, she had one of her best friends there to offer some helpful insight.

“I say we go in,” Pinkie Pie blurted out, startling all of the other ponies in the process. She stepped forward and faced the group, and surprisingly enough she had a faint smile on her lips. “These… whatever they are, helped us. Now we may not know why, but we do know that messing with the changelings on purpose is a bad move for anypony, regardless of who you are. They didn’t care though, they freed us from a terrible life of rotting in some feeding dungeon, they kept our hope alive, and frankly, I was never one to judge somepony on how they looked.” She finished with a tired but no less meaningful smile. There was a chorus of murmurs, and even a few nods of agreement, but there was still a lack of definitive answers as to what they should do.

Fluttershy looked onto the group as well, eventually spotting Zecora who had by now regained consciousness but was still having trouble standing on her own. She was being supported by one of their medics, a stallion named Snake eyes, as well as one of the spears that she was using as a walking stick. Pinkie’s proclamation was certainly thought-provoking, but even if it hadn’t been Fluttershy would still have her answer. They needed rest, and they needed it now.

“We’re going in everypony,” She said while stepping closer towards the entrance. “Same rules apply. Stay close and be ready for anything, but don’t be afraid to get some rest. We can set up watching shifts when we get inside.” Fluttershy, leading by example, was the first to enter the dark cave, and eventually, she heard the hoofsteps of the others following her inside.

---

Alright, that could have gone worse. We saved the ponies, got them to safety, and above all else, they seem to be relaxed about it. And if they’re relaxed, then I’m relaxed. I mean, not literally, there’s still plenty of shit for me to be worried about, but at least when it comes to this I have fewer things to stress over.

The entire back portion of the cave was dimly lit by a couple of our detachable flashlights being placed on the low settings, and as per my orders, the locust were keeping as much distance as possible from the ponies. It had the desired effect, most of the ponies now sleeping away, but there were still some who were moving all around and trying to help the wounded. I thought about offering the help of my locust, but I’m not even sure if Kantus roars can help ponies, and besides I don’t think shouting at the top of our lungs while we’re hiding is a good idea.

I stood up and kept a standing order for my locust to stay put in their corner, then quickly made my way over to the crowd of around twenty-two ponies with my eyes trained on Fluttershy. This entire time I’d been watching her as she gave orders and listened to the ponies whenever they had questions. She was definitely the leader here and nothing like I remember her from the show, but then again neither was anything else so far.

I stop just short of the little perimeter they’d made for themselves and clear my throat. They all quickly look over to me, and I’ve gotta say that you’ve never felt true stagefright until you’ve been stared down by multiple sets of massive bug eyes on bipedal horse people. “Uh… got a second to talk?” I ask her. She looks all around for a moment and sighs before stepping around the curled or prone forms of the ponies beneath her and following me back towards the entrance of the cave.

We stop just shy of the entrance, making sure to stand behind the low hanging moss to better conceal ourselves. Fluttershy leans against the rocky cave wall and crosses her arms as she stares at me. She just had to take the spot I wanted, didn’t she? Now I have no idea what to do with my hands. I guess I’ll… place them on my hips or something.

"Been a… crazy day huh?" I blurt out. Probably not the best thing to start with, but gotta start somewhere right? Fluttershy raises her eyebrow at me and proceeds to brush some of her pink hair out of her eyes before turning and looking back into the cave.

"Crazy day? I guess you could call it that.” She says while tensing herself up in what looked to be anger. Yeah, definitely not the best thing to start with. “I'd call it the worst day of our lives… if the day the changelings won didn’t already take that title. I guess I can settle for second." she lowers her head solemnly, and just like that, I'm back to feeling like a total jackass. I quickly glance at our surroundings, making sure none of the locust or ponies are close enough to hear, and give a quick sigh. They do say that trust is the basis for any healthy relationship, so why not put that to the test?

"I'm sorry, as you can probably tell I'm not really used to… something like this."

Fluttershy looks back to me slowly and nods softly. "Yeah… I guess that makes two of us."

"Well… I guess we should just start simple then," I've gotta say it is comforting to know she's still a pretty anxious person, if only because it can better allow me to relate to her. Hopefully, she feels the same way, it would make things a whole heck of a lot smoother. "My name's Ben. Don't worry about all that king or royalty stuff. To be honest… I don't even think I'm CLOSE to what a king should be." I stick out my hand, hopeful for the best, and to my great relief, she shook it.

"Fluttershy." She responded softly, but with a hint of understanding. This is off to a good start, but it doesn't seem like she's all that interested in asking me things. That makes sense since, y'know, I am the one who pulled her aside. I suppose I should start with the questions. Oops! Better start quick I think I've been staring this whole time.

"Ahem, right. So… do you think you could tell me a bit about what happened to you all? We're sort of new to these parts." She inhales sharply and tightens her grip on her arms as what looks to be a flood of memories and emotion comes rushing back to her. Almost as soon as it started, it stopped, and again she looked up to me with a much more stoic expression.

"We had a camp, hidden deep in the forest and away from prying eyes. Our leader Zecora set it up shortly after the changelings overran the capital of our country, Equestria." She explained, and immediately I started taking mental notes. It seems that whatever happened in this version of Equestria stemmed from the wedding.

"Changelings, those were the things that were holding you hostage?" I asked, even though I was pretty confident that I knew the answer. Gotta keep up appearances after all.

Fluttershy nodded and motioned towards the cave entrance in a universal sign for me to follow her gaze. "The Changelings are monsters, horrible bug creatures that can shapeshift into so many things. They feed on love, and once they took the capital they went to work harvesting that love, and the ponies who made it, all over the world.

"We did our best to save everypony we could, but it was limited. Eventually, there were only about a hundred of us, but as time went on that number shrank. This morning we had forty in our village, and we thought we'd finally added another. That's when all Tartarus broke loose." She fell silent for a moment, and in that brief time, I looked back into the cave. Forty? I only see half of that. Jesus christ… this was worse than I thought.

"I'm so sorry for your loss. I only wish we could've helped sooner." As I say this, her eyes light up as she seemingly realizes something.

"You… why did you help?" Oh, well now she's just putting me on the spot. I mean technically I only helped because I saw Pinkie Pie, hell I was about two seconds away from just leaving them to their demise. Well shit… I guess trust doesn't have to be based wholly on truth for a healthy relationship, if a white lie can score me some brownie points then I say let's go for it. I'm gonna aim straight for the heart with this one.

"I don't know. It just seemed like the right thing to do, you know?" That's right, lean my head down uneasily, and now dramatically look up into her eyes. "Even though we had no idea what was happening, I knew we couldn't just leave you like that. It seemed that the least we could do was help. To… show a little kindness." And just like that, her eyes began to widen and reveal her sparkly blue irises. Goddamn! Would you look at that? I got her tearing up and shit? I'm like Leonardo Difucking Caprio here!

"Y-yeah… kindness." She falls silent again as she looks down for a moment. I think it's safe to say that I stuck the landing there. Now all I need to do is make sure the locust don't fuck this up for me. Should be pretty easy, I am their 'king' after all.

"Well, seeing as how you were pretty forthcoming, I guess I should tell our side. Or rather, as much as I can gleam. The details have been pretty fuzzy since we woke up here." She refocuses her attention on me, her expression more eager than before. I've been on a roll so far, let's see if I can keep it up.

"You probably already guessed, but we're soldiers from another world far from here. We're called Locust. Now, the details on how we got here are a bit muddy, and all I know for sure is that we woke up in the forest earlier today. What we were doing before, or why we're even here, is a complete mystery." Surprisingly, Fluttershy looked less confused and more contemplative as I explained our story. I was only using half-truths and altered facts, what about this could she possibly be trying to decipher? I understand that I boast, but I'm not that good.

"Hmm, I remember Zecora telling me things about the Everfree, about how… unnatural it is. She's lived here even before Chrysalis, and since then she's noticed her fair share of strange things," She crouched down and picked up a couple of pebbles, rearranging them on the cave floor as a visual aid. "She theorized that the Everfree forest was a gateway to other worlds, a place that pulls creatures and laws from other planes of existence. It could explain why there are so many unique things only found inside of the forest, as well as why it doesn't follow any of the known laws from the rest of Equestria."

"No way." That was all I could say. I mean… is there another response that would be more appropriate here? I wanted to find an answer to my predicament, but I never expected it to come so soon. I also didn't expect it to be so nonsensical, but considering the things I've seen today, I guess this one seems like the most believable so far. I guess chalk one up for helping others, especially caged anthro ponies. It's something we should all do more often.

"Well… if that's the case then is there a way to reverse it? Send us back the way we came?"

"I have no clue," She says with some brutal honesty while pushing away her demonstration rocks and standing back up. "Remember, this was just a theory she had. If anypony could tell you one way or the other it'd be her, but there's no guarantee that it's even an answer."

I rub my chin in thought and look downwards. I really would like to leave ASAP, but I don't think now's the best time. At the very least I should make sure they're safe, then find out what the fuck to do with these locust that came here with me. If the Everfree being a gateway is the answer, then that only explains half the problem. Where in the hell did the locust come from, and why specifically from a fanfiction I wrote nearly a decade ago? What did this all mean?

"Alright, well I guess for now we should focus on other things. I saw the zebra, and I assume she isn't in the mood to be talking theories and hypotheses while we're in danger like this." I look out of the entrance to the cave, and despite the naturally dim lighting of the Everfree, I can tell that the sky's getting darker. "This cave will do for tonight, but we need to find somewhere more protected if we want to avoid being a love bug's next happy meal."

"Hmm…" Fluttershy hums quite loudly, and I can't help but wonder what it is she's thinking. Suddenly, a smile creeps onto her lips, piquing my curiosity even more. "I might have an idea for that. Are you Locust any good at clearing out tunnels?"

Author's Note:

Glad this story is receiving a mostly warm welcome. Like I said in the description though, I will be working with this on my free time so don't expect the most consistent of updates. I'll do my best though depending on reception.

Comments

[Hotel_Chicken]

I never read the original, but I like where this story is going. I was never too big on the Gears of War universe, but I doubt that you'll suddenly do something that needs me to google seventy five different things for just one chapter. The concept of having a writer sucked into their fanfic was something I tossed around in my head for a while, but I could never get it to work. You, on the other hand, seem to have a good idea of what you want and what the plan is.

I enjoy reading stories where some random guy with no idea what's going on is suddenly thrust into a position of power. It allows the riders to experience two sides of the same story, seeing it through the eyes of the deceived and the liars. Because of this, scenes like Fluttershy thinking about how imposing "Ben" put a smile on my face as I snickered at the slowly developing misunderstandings. I also enjoy thee parallel of Fluttershy and "Ben" putting up fronts to hide who they truly are. It allows for some interesting character development and character chemistry. I look forward to seeing where you take this story.

[Emo Rainbow]

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Very kind of you to say! I certainly appreciate you taking the time to read and comment!

[Obsidian blade]

I know it's early in the story but when is the main character going to grow some BALLS

[Warhorse]

Yes. And if you could, could you add structures that spawn units? Like Brumoks, Reveras, and Corpsers? That would not only be sweet, but add support for the Locust war efforts.😎