The King comes home.
Simon's injuries weren't that bad, only taking a few hours to heal. The doctors started the process but suggested the smaller ones were left to heal naturally. He was given a fairly large room, big enough to accommodate another four humans and seven ponies. We had decided to hear some more about their missions and what they had been up to. This one got interesting.
“So there we were, leaving Hoofington after unsuccessful negations with the Changelings there. Nova was already set up, so I guess you know how that finished. We had just reached the woods when a mare flew down at us.....”
“Captain Gale, what are you doing here?”
“Colonel Feather? Perfect! I need your squads help. I was investigating rumours of another hive in the woods, but I can't get close enough. There's a Hydra in here.” There was a roar from behind her and she dropped to the floor. “It also seems to not like pegasi very much.”
“Okay, you got us interested. It would be nice to find out where the ones in Hoofington came from.” She led us deeper in to the woods, but something was different. And it wasn't the trees. “So Captain Gale, what happened to your swords?” The mare looked at us each in turn, and she knew her cover was blown.
The air around her wavered and revealed a Changeling. “Get them.” It hissed, and more flew down out of the trees. We moved right away, making an exit through the Changelings and trying to find a way out of the woods, but they were flanking us and we couldn't bust through them. Eventually the trees started to thin and we arrived on the edge of a massive clearing, which had a pit in the middle. There were only three things of note in there.
One was the obvious entrance to a Hive. The second was a Hydra with four heads straining at its chains, away from the entrance. And the third was a teal pegasus just out of range from the Hydra, their wings and fore hooves tied behind their back. “Streak, Bolt, Star....get down there and get Captain Gale to safety!” They took off and flew straight in to the pit, sweeping her up and starting to climb again. Streak had her in his legs, whilst Bolt and Star distracted the Hydra. It roared angrily and a black swarm started to emerge for the entrance.
Myself, Nova, and Strike started to launch magic attacks at them. Strike's lightning hit one, then branched off and took more, dropping them in droves. Nova just launched fusion beams and wiped entire groups out of existence. I just sent waves of offensive magic at them, causing what damage I could. Streak landed next to us, and Hammer shook Captain Gale awake after removing her bonds. She sat up and her eyes started to dart around.
“What's going on? Why are you here?” Bolt and Starfyre landed behind us, and had Gale's swords in their hooves. She looked at them eagerly, and they passed them to her. “They tricked my squad, said they had sent an envoy to discuss peace with Equestria. We hadn't heard anything about this one, but as we hadn't been back to Canterlot for a while we thought we may as well go take a look. The rest of the squad are gone. They were.....given to the Hydra....” She bent down and picked up her swords. “Time for revenge.”
This was going to take some planing. They were underground this time, so our usual plan wouldn't work. “Nova, can you make your Spirit Bomb follow you, instead of just hanging in the air?”
“Uh, shouldn't be a problem sir....”
“Then this is what we'll do. Nova, start charging, the Changeling specific one.” He nodded and got to work. “Streak, you take him in there when there's two minutes left. Don't worry about getting out, once he lets go, it should leave the way clear.”
“Got it.”
“Hopefully, the Changelings will follow them, until then we'll keep them busy. Once you are inside, it should leave us to deal with the......”
“RAAAWWWRRR!!”
“....Hydra. Captain, do you agree?”
Gale stretched and flapped her wings a few times and started to hover. “Let's do this.” She took off with Bolt and Starfyre following, and I returned to attacking the Changelings with Strike. Hammer was providing close protection to us, bucking any Changeling that got too close. We were doing a good job, but didn't take in to account the Changelings in the woods. The sounds of fighting came drifting through, and around two hundred Changelings appeared, their wings buzzing and horns glowing. Their spells released and I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact. There was no way the runes could stop that much magic.
After a few seconds with nothing happening, I opened my eyes and saw them preparing another attack. This time I watched as it was let go, and the beams of green arced towards us......but then went over us and impacted the Changelings in the sky. It was impossible, the ones herding us in the woods attacking the ones in the sky. It was then I saw the one stood at the front of the line. Larger than the others, and giving orders to the ten Changelings behind him. And then I realised why he had more than the fifty or so we let live with him. He was a king, and he could command any of them. Hey, I even recognised one of them as one that was herding us. I galloped over to him, eager for his assistance. Coming to a stop, I noticed Streak take off with Nova wrapped in his legs. “King Image, great timing! But you are in danger here, our attack does not differentiate between friend or foe!”
He turned to me and just smiled. “We are well aware of the risks, and I thank you for fighting our home, but it is our home, and we will defend it.” Streak and Nova disappeared in to the hive.
“Well, you've got less then two minutes to get clear, or you could all be killed.!!” There was a deafening roar from the Hydra, and I turned to see it now had eleven heads. I watched as Swift Gale swung in and cut two of the heads off. It then regrew them, along with two more. Half of the Changelings turned their attention to the monster and launched their spells. More heads fell, but were replaced with double the amount. “Stop removing the heads, they just grow more!” The legend of it collapsing upon itself seemed false, and it was keeping up right.
Shimmering Image came up next to me. “What is the name of that mare?”
“That's Captain Swift Gale. She assisted in Manehatten the first time.”
He looked up at her and saw the sun reflect off her blades. He sucked in a deep breath and then shouted up at her. “YOU HAVE TO DESTROY THE HEART, IT IS THE ONLY WAY!!!” She hovered where she was and flew at the Hydra's chest trying the slice her way in. It left no effect, and she landed just out of range of the chained monster. It was almost time for Nova to release his spell. I turned back to Shimmering Image.
“It's time for you to leave, or you and all your soldiers will die.” He nodded once and then whistled, taking flight with his soldiers following. The tunnel entrance suddenly started to glow a bright red, and it erupted out with unprecedented force. Due to the shape of the tunnel, it soon turned in to an ever expanding quarter sphere. The remaining Changelings stopped, and started to flee in a single directions to escape, but less then a tenth of them made it. That still left the Hydra to deal with.
Swift Gale had backed up almost the full distance from the Hydra while Bolt and Starfyre distracted most of the heads, but one of the originals had focused on her, eyeing her with malicious intent. I watched her close her eyes and take a few deep breaths. Suddenly her eyes snapped open, and she shot off at a high speed.......on a course right for the Hydra's open mouth. Before I could do anything, she was gone...............
The was a deep rumbling before the cliff edge seemed to start moving. It was then I remembered Chrysalis' hive wasn't all Changeling Goo. Nova's spell would have removed all the Goo, so anything being supported by it would start to fall. The dirt first shook loose, followed by large chunks of rock. More and more rubble fell, littering the ground near the entrance. My heart skipped a beat in worry, just as a shadow appeared against the red afterglow from the spell. It weaved it's way under the falling rocks before finding a clear section and shooting up at forty five degrees. Cresting at an apex, I managed to get a glimpse of Jet Streak, Nova Fusion still held in his hooves. They turned towards me and sped up.
Their speed was ridiculous, and there was no way they would have managed to slow down in time. Streak seemed to be on the verge of blacking out, and his grip on Nova loosened, just enough for him to drop out of the hold. I tried to get a hold of him with my magic, but he was falling too fast. Starfyre and Bolt came in and managed to get a hold of Streak, before they noticed Nova heading towards the ground. Strike came running up beside me, and we tried to both get a hold of him, but only managed to slow him down.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw Hammer stood there. “Launch me up there. NOW!” I looked at Strike and he just nodded. We took hold of him in our magic and prepared to launch him. Nova was about a hundred hooves off the ground, and it was now or never. We sent Hammer on an intercept course. He came along side him and managed to get his fore hooves around Nova's mid section..... and changed his direction, bringing him down to the ground safely, due to the fact we were controlling Hammer with our magic.
We all looked back in to the pit and the Hydra staring up at us. It was something that shouldn't have happened. Less than two minutes ago, Captain Gale had flown in to one of the mouths. With a frightening roar, it lunged forwards and snapped the chains, not stopping its motion towards us. We stood our ground, ready to meet the challenge, but it stopped about half way. It's heads suddenly went wild, trashing every way possible, and attacking each other. They then all shot straight up at the same time, letting loose an agonising wail. One by one they started to drop, until there was only one head left. Two blades protruded out of its neck on opposite sides, before spinning round and slicing it clean off. As the head fell towards the ground, a dark black pony pushed its way out from the inside, and flew lazily towards us. Once they landed, the pony stowed the swords and spat the Hydra's heart from their mouth.
“So........anypony know a good taxidermist? Cos that fucker is going on my wall!”
“........and that was our last mission, before the Diamond Dogs attacked Ponyville. If it wasn't for Rover, Fido, and Spot, then we would never have known how to track them. The results of that you know. As for Captain Gale.......she is still undergoing psychiatric evaluations....but I hear she will make a full recovery.”
“What about the Changelings that escaped?”
“A passing detachment of guards saw Nova's bomb and came to investigate. They gave chase, but the Changelings got away. Sorry.”
I had nothing else to say. The only thing going through me right then was pride. I hadn't taught them much, with them already being soldiers. But the one thing I had unknowingly taught them was a value I held close to my chest: integrity, doing the right thing because you should, even if no one was around to see it. Simon's voice snapped me back to reality. “Damn, they did all that after just knowing you for a couple of months?”
“It would seem so. Well, I guess you can heal on the way, I think it's time we head back home, don't you Colonel?”
Feather looked up to me with tired eyes. “Yes sir. Although I don't think leaving a pregnant Bearer behind for a week was a good idea. I got thrown through a wall when I tried to apologise to her last time, if you remember.” We shared a laugh before Simon and I got fully dressed. The doctors had insisted I get a check up as well, but it was just a few bruises. We said our goodbyes to the colonists and headed back to the Pelican, getting it ready for flight. I stood at the back ready to close the cargo door.
“Wait!” Looking outside, I saw Technia running towards us.
“Sorry, I forgot about you. Hurry up and get on board, we're heading back to Ponyville.”
She stopped short and looked behind her. “Is there room on board for one more?”
I looked over my shoulder and saw plenty of room. “Yeah, loads. Now hurry up.”
“Just a minute.” She trotted back the entrance and started talking to someone. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but she was definitely speaking. Thirty seconds later and she headed back towards the ship slowly.........with Vanishing Image by her side. I just smiled at them as they climbed aboard, closing the ramp and heading to the flight deck.
“Simon, we have a complete passenger list. Take her up when ready.” I got a thumbs up in reply, and the Pelican started to rise up.
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2370801 Well what else can you use to clear rocks?
2370877 That's nothing. Last time we actually sparred, bones got broken. On both of us. Beer and painkillers don't mix.
2371016 hold your ponies, more is coming!
2372693
You Can Clear Rocks........WITH A WOODEN PICKAXE
2372895 Minecraft Logic. But we didn't have any wooden pickaxes, so......
2372904 STONE PICKAXES
Shit, real life is a bitch. Finally got back to reading this thing, and holy hot damn. I loved that line about the taxidermist. Fucking beautiful. Looking forward to more of this story now that I can finally read it again.