Target: Chrysalis
The Badlands, several miles south of Dodge Junction. A sun scorched wasteland of nothing of but rocks, dirt, cacti, the occasional dragon, and other dangerous creatures that make the beasts of the Everfree seem as tame as a star spider. In hindsight though this is not a very apt comparison, as a star spider can be quite viscious when it wants to be, but that's a story for another time. Nopony ever dared venture far into the desert. Even the mighty buffalo stay near the cities.
It was the perfect home for a recovering hive of changelings.
Nearly a days gallop from Dodge, a large canyon dvided the Badlands in two. At its bottom lied the entrance to a maze of caverns that once belonged to a nest of acromantulas. However, the giant arachnids were driven into the unforgiving wastes by the changelings that now called the caves home. It was here where the queen sent her most skilled children into Dodge and its sister city, Appleloosa, to take what little love they could scrounge up. Though a few, more enthusiastic members of the hive have taken to abducting the ponies to siphon their energy directly.
This has not gone unnoticed, though nopony was brave, or maybe foolish enough to take the fight directly to the hive. None of the locals anyway. The native western ponies prided themselves on never having to rely on the help of "big city" ponies to solve their problems for them, so the two cities pulled together and offered a substantial bounty for the hives extermination. The price tempted many a soldier of fortune, but none ever returned. Soon word was spread amongst the guilds and the "Western Bounty" was blacklisted.
No other mercenary or bounty hunter would go even go near the desert towns, and the ponies were beginning to become desperate. Even when they doubled the bounty none would show. Weeks passed and the abductions only increased, as if the changelings were mocking them. It seemed that the frontier ponies were out of options. Just before they could contact the royal sisters, however, a guildless band of mercenaries contacted the governors of both cities.
Though small, they assured that they would not only complete the original job but also rescue the abducted citizens. Sherriff Silverstar scoffed at the mercenaries absurd claims, and joked about tripling the reward. An offer they readily accepted and immediately set off for the hive, leaving the two bemused governors behind. The last thing they heard was one of them exclaiming, "I can't believe they've never heard of us. What's wrong with this backwater town?"
At the bottom of the canyon, three figures stood near the cavernous entrance to the changeling hive. The first, a dark-brown furred minotaur bull, knelt with one hand flat against the cold stones. His other hand gripped the handle of a large twin headed war hammer. Half of his horn had been replaced with an iron prosthetic, and unlike most minotaurs, he didn't have a nose ring. Every few moments he would mumble under his breath and shift his palm slightly, but didn't move much more than that. Next to him at a large metal case.
Lying on a large boulder was a griffon eagless. Her red eyes stared intently into the dark mouth of the cave's entrance. Both her gray-brown fur and feathers were tipped with red. To any normal observer she would seem relaxed, but one would just have to look at her intense gaze to know that she was anything but. The griffin prided herself on her eyes, so she was charged with watching for any movement around the entrance. If they were spotted, their whole mission would become much more complicated.
The third, and final member of the band was a creature not seen much this side of Canterlot. The bipedal creature leaned against the canyon wall with his arms folded over his chest. He lifted his brown skinned hand and ran all five fingers through his untamable mess of short black hair. Every so often he would fluff his green tinted long coat in an effort to cool himself, even though not a bead sweat covered his face. His nose was broad and slightly pointed, and his eyes, a piercing green, were slightly slanted. Anyone who looked at these features knew that this creature was a human. A human born in the griffin lands.
The human looked to the sky and groaned. Without taking her eyes from the cave, the griffin smirked, "Nervous, Sirocco?"
"Anxious," the human answered. "I want to get this over and done with so we can get out of this ancestors forsaken wasteland," Sirocco reached for a sword leaning against the canyon wall next to him. The blade was sheathed in a bright green scabbard marked with a swirling pattern. He unsheathed it and pointed its single edged, curved green blade at the sun directly overhead. "I hate that damnable orb."
"Careful, monkey. It's said that the pony princess is watching us all through it. Like one giant flaming eye."
In one smooth, quick motion, Sirocco sheathed his blade with no sound, "If that's true, Corona, then I have a few choice gestures that I'm sure she'll appreciate," he turned to the minotaur, "Oi, Flint, you done yet?"
"Break his concentration and it'll only take longer," Corona sang.
Sirocco opened his mouth, but the minotaur spoke, "It is fine," he opened his deep brown eyes and turned to the human, "I have finished."
"Awesome," he said as he walked over to kneel in front of Flint, leaving a few feet of space between them.
The minotaur used his first finger to draw a crude map in the dirt, "The hive is far more complex than I had anticipated," he drew straight lines to indicate corridors. Many ended with an X, Sirocco assumed that they were dead ends. He also drew a few squares to symbolize chambers, "Many roads lead to nothing, and there are far more traps than one would consider practical," Flint drew triangles around a few of the marked dead ends, and more within the corridors themselves.
Sirocco scoffed, "You'd think she was paranoid, or something."
From her perch, Corona added, "Wonder how many hunters fell to the traps, and not the changelings themselves."
"I'm not worried about the traps. Just show me the quickest route to the queen."
Flint obliged the human by widening the lines in the dirt showing the path he should follow, "I assume you'll find her here," he created a much larger square, "This chamber has seen relatively little activity in the past half hour, but no matter how much in and out movement it sees, there is always one that stays," he circled the chamber, "This chamber has the highest probability of housing the queen."
Sirocco tapped his chin as he looked over the map, then pointed to a chamber that was surrounded by traps, "What about this?"
Flint shook his head, "Chrysalis is arrogant, not stupid. Even though she's still recovering from her botched invasion attempt three years ago..."
"Sad to have missed it," Corona said with amusement in her voice."
"...she'll insist that more protection be placed on their food source. She believes herself to be more than a match for anything short of one of the celestial sisters themselves, and normally she'd be right but..."
"But she wasn't counting on Elementerra to show up," Sirocco finished, standing up to face the cave.
"Sure you can handle the queen yourself?" Corona asked with a smirk, but couldn't hide the small amount of worry in her voice.
Sirocco smirked right back, "As long as the two of you do your jobs, I'll be fine."
Corona gave a gasp of mock annoyance, "Are you saying that we're not up to the task, monkey?"
Sirocco drew his blade once more, "Perish the thought, cat-bird. I have complete faith in the four of you," he held the sword in front of him and gazed at the blade for a few moments before sighing, "Still not awake? Ancestors you're lazy," with that, Sirocco charged into the cave.
Corona called after him, "Try not to get seduced...again."
"No promises!"
Sirocco rushed through the labyrinth like caves, meeting no resistance as he went. Any changeling he met along the way never seemed to notice his presence, but instead felt a breeze rush past them. Sirocco remembered Flint's words of how Chrysalis wasn't stupid and scoffed lightly. If she was as smart as she believed herself to be, then she wouldn't keep the majority of her changelings at drone level intelligence. Any creature with any kind of sense would question why there was a breeze this deep into a cave with only one opening to the surface.
Following Flint's map, Sirocco soon found himself in front of an ornate (as far as changelings are concerned) door, guarded on either side by armored changelings. Their eyes were covered by the blue protective plates, a telling sign that both were connected to the hive mind. The human could easily dispatch them both, but they weren't his targets. At least not yet, so he passed them both and made his way into the throne room. The changelings outside sensed nothing more than a light breeze.
The queen's chamber was a spacious cavern decorated with emeralds embedded into the wall which emitted a sickly green glow. They gave the cavern an eerie appearance while at the same time cast a ghostly light on its sole occupant. It was one of the few pleasures the queen allowed herself while she and her children recovered their strength. The queen herself rested on a throne constructed of a combination of stone from the caves themselves, and a viscous fluid that held it together making the throne stronger than steel. Stone columns that served no purpose other than to add to the majesty of the chamber ran down from the raised dais the throne set upon, to the ornate doors that granted entrance.
The queen slowly opened her green eyes, and glanced around her chamber. She could sense that something wasn't right, even though the hive was quiet. Her long and crooked horn alit with a green aura as magic passed through it into the stones of the cavern. The magic spread out along the floor, traveled up the walls and columns, and across the ceiling. She walked calmly to the center of the room as her magic completed it's circuit, then whipped her head towards one of the columns, "I know you are there," she said coolly.
A laugh echoed through the cavern, "I should hope so. Otherwise," Sirocco revealed himself and smirked, "you would make a terrible queen."
Chrysalis narrowed her eyes slightly, "A human?" she lifted a holed hoof to her lips to stifle a laugh, "The ponies have grown so desperate to rely on one of your kind for help? How precious."
Sirocco's smile widened at the queen's words, and he ran his eyes over her body while she mocked him. From the many holes in her legs and turquoise mane and tail, he could tell that she was nearly as starved as the rest of her brood. Other than that, "Wow, you really do look just like her," he said under his breath.
Unfortunately for him the chamber was designed in a way that even a whisper could sound like a shout when it was nearly empty. The queen looked down her muzzle at the human, "And just who might you be referring to?" though she already had an idea.
The human brushed off the question with a wave of his arm, and began walking around the queen, "So, you're Chrysalis, eh?"
Chrysalis hummed, "My reputation precedes me, I see," normally the queen would just blast the human for his insolent tone, but he not only made it past all her guards and traps, he had done so without raising an alarm. She wanted to know how, so she decided to play along for a bit. After all, he was just a human.
"Of course. News of the Canterlot Invasion has traveled all over Terrequis," he chuckled, "Though more for your defeat than anything. Not often you hear of someone being beaten so soundly by their lunch!"
Chrysalis' eye twitched as she followed the human's path, "You're beginning to try my patience."
"Oh trust me, there is a lot of things I would love to 'try' with you, but," he stopped and sighed, "duty calls."
Chrysalis raised a brow, "Duty? Oh I see," she giggled, "you're another hunter. And here I thought you just wanted to pay me a visit," she added with a pout.
Sirocco smiled, "Under any other circumstance, but..." he shook his head, "You and your hive have caused the ponies no end of trouble for the past few months, and they're willing to pay through the nose for it to stop. So, here I am."
Chrysalis sauntered over to Sirocco, a sultry gaze in her eye, "If it's payment you want, I'm sure we could work out some kind of...deal," she wasn't lying either. This human managed to sneak past all her guard undetected. Changeling DNA was very adaptive, and they were the only race able to breed successfully with humans, so Chrysalis' thinking was to breed an entire army from this human. With or without his consent.
Sirocco smiled while cursing his luck, "As fun as that sounds, and believe me when I say that it is taking all of my willpower to not take you up on that," she believed it, for she could sense his lust for her the moment he showed himself, "I'm afraid that it is business before pleasure," he lifted his sword, "I am a professional after all."
The queen's gaze turned vicious, "Too bad. Then before I store you in a pod to use at my leisure, how shall I address my new army's father?"
He smiled and gave a light bow, "Sirocco. Some know me as 'Sirocco the Gale.' Not so much at your service, but nice to meet you all the same."
Chrysalis' horn lit up once more as she gave a nod, "I'll be sure to name our first brood after you," with that she launched a magical bolt at the still grinning human. Sirocco's coat flared up as he pivoted on the spot, but the queen wasn't aiming for his body but at the ground before him. The impact caused dirt to fly up and blind him in in a cloud of dust.
Sirocco closed his eyes to avoid getting the dust in his eyes, and smiled, "In my experience, changelings have three main ways to defend themselves," there was no further attack as the queen positioned herself behind the human, "The first is obviously their ability to shape shift. An ability I have taken much pleasure in experiencing first hand," Sirocco gripped the hilt of his sword in his right hand, "The second, fighting an enemy by overwhelming them with superior numbers," Chrysalis bared her fangs and pounced, "And the third," only to teleport away when a sharp pain erupted on her chest, "when all other methods fail, ambush," Sirocco waved his left arm through the air, and the dust cleared. His sword dripped with the green blood of the changeling queen. With another swipe of his right hand, the blood splattered against the stones, and he then sheathed his sword before turning to the queen with a smirk.
Chrysalis held her chest which was now decorated with a thin diagonal cut that leaked he life sustain fluid, and glared murderously at the human. Growling menacingly, she took a step forward, "I am going..." only to stumble as alarm rang through the hive, followed by the deaths of several of her children.
Sirocco rushed forward and was on top of Chrysalis before she could recover. He took advantage of her surprise by ramming the hilt of his sword directly into her chest. Normally the changeling's chitin was think enough to shrug off such a blow, but with that wound still fresh Chrysalis reeled back in pain. The human then quickly reached up and gripped her horn, but before he could press his attack, she lashed out by attempting to sink her fangs into him. Sirocco quickly released her horn and jumped back. He continued his retreat until a good distance was between the two.
The human began to laugh, "I came here with two objectives in mind," he lifted a finger, "Number one, to rescue and secure the safety of the many ponies and hunters you have 'stored away,'" Chrysalis winced as another wave of changeling deaths echoed in her mind, "and the second," he smirked, "the complete and total extermination of your hive," Chrysalis let out a roar of frustration and launched a series of magical blots at him. Sirocco retreated behind a column, and one the barrage ceased said, "Did you really think that I came here alone? Once again you've overlooked a crucial detail, and this time it will cost you more than an expulsion from Canterlot."
"I will make you suffer!"
"Doubt it," Sirocco heard the queen take wing, and he dashed to another column just as the first was obliterated by the enraged changeling. Chrysalis followed the human around the chamber shooting at him from the safety of the air, but never able to land a direct hit. Even when one of her bolts was on target, the human deflected it with the blade of his sword. Chrysalis decided that she needed to change tactics, so when the human ran around a column she circled in the opposite direction. What she saw when she came around however caused her to pause midflight. The human was nowhere to be seen.
She turned on the spot, but couldn't find the human anywhere on the ground. She was about to cast another search spell, but Sirocco struck her from above with the sheath of his sword. Chrysalis grunted in pain and turned, but he had disappeared again. Before she could register this, she was struck again, this time from below. Somehow the human was able to attack the queen relentlessly with both sword and sheath in mid air, only to vanish a second later. With the constant deaths of her children ringing in her mind, it was all Chrysalis could do to keep the human from landing a killing blow.
Eventually Chrysalis reached her limit of how much abuse she could take from a lesser species, "ENOUGH!" she cried as she cast a quick teleport spell and appeared in the center of the chamber. Sirocco landed in front of her, sword sheathed and hand gripping the hilt. The humor was gone from his eyes as he waited for the queen's next move. She gathered as much magic in her horn as she dared, the horn glowing angrily from the magic, "Dodge this!" with a shout Chrysalis unleashed a massive blast of magic with her at the center. Nothing was spared from the destructive wave. The columns all crumbled to rubble, and that rumble was turned to dust. Even her throne was reduced to nothing, and the emeralds embedded in the walls cracked and shattered. In less than a second, the chamber was reduced to being bare of anything save for the shattered gemstones that still emitted a weak light, and the queen herself.
Chrysalis was left panting at the exertion, but laughed at her victory. Her enthusiasm was short lived as changelings were still dying outside the now barren throne room, "My children, don't worry. Your queen is..." she froze in mid step and eyes widened when a sharp pain shot through her chest. She slowly looked down. The blade of the human's sword was buried in the open wound from his first attack. As she watched the rest of Sirocco began to materialize in front of her as if he was made of the very air itself. His hand was gripped around the hilt of the sword in her chest, but it was his face that caught her attention. His green eyes that were shining like beacons in the dark room, and the smirk on his lips. The smirk of victory. Chrysalis had lost against this human before her, and he could see the resignation in her eyes as they began to dim.
"Hold on," he said, "before you pass into oblivion, I'm obligated to deliver a message," Sirocco leaned up and whispered, "'You brought this upon yourself, Sisy.'"
Chrysalis, despite the circumstances, smiled ruefully, Of course it was him, she thought to herself.
Sirocco smiled genuinely at the queen, "May your ancestors grant you peace in the next world," after saying the griffin prayer for the dying, in one smooth motion he pulled his sword from her chest and sliced through her neck. The queen's severed head fell at Sirocco's feet and her body collapsed to the opposite side. With a swipe of his sword, the changeling's blood fell from his blade. Taking a deep breath, he slowly sheathed his sword. He took a few moments to look over the headless body of the changeling queen before sighing, "What a waste,"
he then picked up her head by the horn and left the throne room.
On his way out, he passed two charred bodies covered in molten metal. Looking over them, Sirocco lifted the head in his hand and said, "You were a terrible mother,"
No longer needing to hide his presence, Sirocco rushed through the hive and cut down any changeling in his way. With no queen and no changeling above drone level, the hive was in utter chaos. The shape shifters flew directionless, but when any saw him with the severed head of their queen they attacked him recklessly. Some, a few points higher on the intelligence scale, ran away from him. They died first. Sirocco had a thing about cowards.
Eventually he caught up to Flint and Corona. Flint was leaning against his hammer with its head buried in the skull of a Saddle Arabian sized changeling. He had a book open in his hands and a bored look on his face, while Corona had a red whip wrapped around the neck of another large changeling. With her hind paw against its back and a wicked grin on her face, the beast of a changeling struggled to breathe. Sirocco glared at the head in his hand. Mutating your own children... Sirocco had never wanted to kill someone twice before.
A resounding crack! echoed through the caves, and the mutant went limp in Corona's grip. She let out a shuddering breath before letting it drop, then she stowed the whip away under her wing. Without looking up from his book, Flint said, "Your mission?"
Sirocco tossed the severed head at his hooves, "Done and done, although," he gestured to the mutants, "I think it was to good for her."
Flint said nothing as he opened the case to pull out a brown burlap sack. He then lifted the queen's head and placed it within the sack. Flint's eye twitched a bit when her horn stayed exposed when he closed the sack, but he placed it within the case without comment. Once closed, a green light shone briefly before fading.
Sirocco strode up to the door, "This the feeding chamber?"
Flint lifted his hammed over his shoulder, "No, the nursery."
Sirocco froze. Their mission had two parts. One, the rescue and safe return all the abducted ponies. And two, a complete extermination of the hive. Including the nymphs. With a side-glance at Corona, who was pointedly looking away from the nursery, Sirocco sighed.
"We could just leave."
"And let them starve?" Sirocco shook his head, "I'll make it quick," he then entered the chamber.
Sirocco casually leaned his head to one side as a green bolt of magic whizzed by. Before him, a changeling stood defiant. Unlike the others in the hive, this one had no blue coverings over their eyes. Instead large brown eyes glared at him, but they couldn't hide the fear in them. Sirocco raised a brow and stepped forward, "I was led to believe that your hive was only populated by drones."
The changeling took a few steps back and answered, "Drones are unable to care for nymphs effectively," the small entranceway led into a larger chamber. Around him, Sirocco could see the green, pulsating orbs that he recognized as changeling eggs. They were hanging from the walls, held together with the same fluid that held Chrysalis' throne together. Casting his gaze around, Sirocco counted at least six clutches, each holding at least a couple dozen eggs.
"You're queen's been busy with her captors."
The changeling's eye twitched and they fired another magical bolt at the human. Sirocco pivoted to one side and let it pass by before facing the changeling fully again, "Why are you here? You've already killed our mother, what more could you...?" Sirocco's haunted expression caused the changeling to widen their eyes, "No...you can't be...monster! They're just nymphs!"
"What would you have me do?"
"Leave! Let us live! The queen is dead, we can find a new home!" the changeling was near begging at this point.
"And leave you, a single changeling, to provide enough emotional energy to feed this entire nest? Half of them would starve by the end of the week. Those that would survive the journey anyway."
The changeling shook their head, tears beginning to fall, "No, I know where to go that will take us in! There's a...!"
Sirocco lifted a hand and stopped the near hysterical changeling, "I was really hoping that none of you were sentient enough to hear this, but..." the news Sirocco delivered to the changeling caused their legs to give out from under them. Their tears were flowing at this point, hopelessness evident all over their face. Sirocco took a deep breath before asking, "What is your name?"
The changeling scoffed ruefully, "Why do you care? You're going to kill me either way."
"Because I would like to know."
The changeling looked up and saw sincerity in his eyes. They were confused as to why their killer would want to know something they considered so trivial, but a certain glint in the human's eye caught their attention. Is he...? Heh... Looking up with a side smile, the changeling answered, "Rebound."
Sirocco nodded and gripped the hilt of his sword, "Rebound, may your ancestors grant you peace in the next world."
Sirocco left the nursery to find Flint and Corona waiting for him. Corona was hanging on the minotaur's shoulders while he gently stoked her crown. Both looked up at him with forlorn expressions He leaned against the door and let out a breath, "Was this the last of them?" Flint nodded, "Then let's get the ponies and get the Tartarus back to Dodge."
A large four fingered hand rested heavily on his shoulder as he passed by, "You okay?" Flint asked.
Sirocco shook his head, "I will be, but only after obscene amounts of alcohol, and something to warm my bed. Preferably a pony."
Corona chuckled, "Well there were plenty of stallions eyeing you back at Dodge."
Sirocco stared flatly at her, "You really need new material, chickadee."
With Flint's direction, the three hunters soon found themselves inside the feeding chamber. There were several large glowing pods lining the walls. Each one contained the unconscious form of a pony, and one human. The three of them carefully removed the victims from there pods; Sirocco using his sword, Corona her talons, and Flint used a sharpened piece of stone. When cut, the pods leaked green fluid that they let drain away before pulling the ponies from them. Luckily the abductions only started a few months ago so even the first ones captured weren't completely drained of energy, although they still needed time to recover.
Sirocco opened the pod of the lone male human. When Sirocco pulled him from the pod the hunter staggered beneath his bulk. The human had been stripped of everything but a cloth to cover his lower regions, leaving his pale upper body exposed. Though with how he seemed to be made of muscle, Sirocco really doubted this would be a problem for him. With the human's massive bulk, wide jaw, and shiny head, Sirocco guessed that this human was born amongst minotaurs.
Sirocco laid the mountain of a human on his back, and gave his face a few smacks. The human groaned a little before opening his eyes. They looked around before falling on Sirocco who smiled and lifted a hand, "~Yo!"
The human blinked before responding, "~Hello," he then looked around again, before realization came to his face. He then smacked his forehead with his large hand, "~I screwed up, didn't I?"
Sirocco nodded, "~In a big way."
To the rest of the occupants of the feeding chamber, the two humans were speaking gibberish. A common trait shared amongst humans of all lands was the ability to speak and understand this nonsense language. A language that cannot be learned by any other creature, much to the frustration of many linguists. Sirocco often fell to using this language when he met other humans for the first time. He said it helped to judge their character. Corona and Flint had no idea what that meant, and, to be honest, they didn't care.
While Sirocco was having his "secret" conversation with the taurian human, Flint looked over paper with a list of names and descriptions of all the abducted ponies. He heard the beating of wings before the familiar weight of Corona fell around his shoulders, "That all of them?" Flint nodded before tossing the list aside, "Do you really think those dusty ponies will be able to pay?"
"They have no choice," Corona giggled at Flint's answer and nipped at his ear. The ponies were beginning to recover, some already on their hooves, and Flint addressed them, "Ponies of Appleloosa, and Dodge Junction, we," he indicated himself and Corona before gesturing to Sirocco who was struggling to help the taurian human stand, "are Elementerra. We were contracted by your towns to deliver you all home safely."
A few of the ponies almost collapsed with relief, while some (who were clearly not from either city) just glared at the minotaur. One unicorn mare stepped forward, "What about the changelings?"
Corona licked her beak and stared at the mare with a half-lidded gaze, "What changelings?"
One of the ponies who Flint assumed was a hunter scoffed, "And we're just supposed to believe that the three of you, a cow, a chicken, and a monkey, could kill the queen of-,"
While the pony was ranting, Flint opened the case holding the changeling queen's head. The pony was cut off when he lifted the head for all to see, all while never changing his expression. After a few moments he placed the head back in the case and asked, "Anymore questions?" the only response he received was a pony vomiting against a wall, "Good. We have a long walk ahead of us, so I suggest we get moving."
When they came to the hive's entrance, a few ponies rushed out to finally be out of the caves, only for a few of them to scream and run back behind the three hunters that were supposed to be leading them to safety. When the rest of the party emerged from the cave, they were met with another changeling. This one however was different from the ones they encountered earlier. This changeling's body was a lot more filled out than the malnourished changelings of Chrysalis' brood. There were no holes to be seen in their body, and a crop of black hair fell along one side of their head. They stared stoically at the emerging group with pink eyes.
"I thought you took care of all the changelings!" one pony exclaimed while cowering behind the taurian human.
Sirocco laughed and looked over his shoulder, "Relax, Equestrian. This one doesn't bite."
Flint strode forward to meet the lone changeling while Corona and Sirocco stayed behind. The changeling looked up into the minotaur's eyes, "Is it done?"
Flint nodded, "It is. You'll find her hive completely exterminated, and her body, sans head, in her throne room." the changeling raised a brow and Flint lifted the case in response, "The celestial sisters will pay well for proof of her demise."
The changeling blinked before their coverings slid into place over their eyes. Unlike the blue Of Chrysalis' brood, this one's were a deep red. After a few moments the coverings slid back and the changeling said, "This is acceptable."
"Our payment?"
"As soon as I verify that Chrysalis' hive is no more, it will be delivered as promised."
Flint nodded as if expected this answer, "Then pass word to his majesty that Elementerra is willing to do business again."
The changeling nodded before taking wing. They ignored the startled gasps of the ponies as they flew into the hive. Sirocco chuckled at the ponies and rested his sword across his shoulders, "Well that was fun, but who could use a drink?" the response was immediate and unanimous, "Great, I'm buying!" Sirocco held up a small sack that jingled with the sound of coins. On it read "Property of Anoncules."
The taurian human let out a startled shout, "Hey that's mine!"
Sirocco's grin widened into a toothy smile as he snickered.