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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2013 7:04:58 GMT -5
Phalanx grumbled to herself, adjusting her longspear to a more comfortable position as she trudged along. She was sided by a couple other mares from Hoofington, most of them she recognized from Hoofington's militia, while the others were rather unrecognisable to her. The group of them were being led, or rather escorted, by a few bug-looking ponies. She had heard that the changelings had allied with the Equestrian military only recently, and she wasn't much comfortable with the thought. Spies that could abduct a pony, take it's form and shape, and replace that pony without anypony knowing? Sheesh, the thought alone was enough to make her far more wary than she should've been. How scary a thought would it be if a changeling pretending to be her went back to Hoofington? Hoplite, the dunce, would've been none-the-wiser while the changeling posed as her. She had no idea why a changeling would take her form, or even what it would intend to do in Hoofington, but the thought alone was quite unnerving.
With little else to do, considering the mares were hardly speaking with each other, Phalanx just stared onward towards the Everfree forest, trying to calm her nerves as the treeline grew closer. The forest was always just as daunting as changelings, Diamond Dogs, and even dragons to the ponies of Hoofington. Old Pony's Tales about the forest would be told to younger ponies to scare them away from entering the wretched place, one particular tale of the trees coming to life to thrash at travellers was told to Phalanx and her siblings when they were growing up. Needless to say reminding herself of that tale didn't make her state any better.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 30, 2013 7:27:23 GMT -5
The changeling guides didn't talk to any member of the group. They were silent and stoic. They did not seem to care at all for their new company, the females of the group anyway. The males seemed rather pleased with the arrangement.
"So why are we called to the hive again?" Asked one of the mares, she got no answer. When she asked again, louder this time, one of the changelings shushed her. "You are summoned by the order of your Field Marshal. It is not our concern." The changeling put a slight emphasis when saying the word 'your'. The mare seemed to realize she wasn't going to get much more than that, so she turned to Phalanx.
"At least we get to see him right?" She shrugged, "Man I'd love a chance to get to be in Field Marshal Starling's unit, show him my stuff." She sighed, "Guess I'll get my chance now." She flexed her strong body. She was pretty buff for a pegasus, probably from the Cloudsdale Military Outpost. Of course, Cloudsdale used to be a giant flying fortress, but now it was made into a vibrant city, with a weather factory, a stadium and race track, it also housed a large military base which served as a training center for the Equestrian aerial forces. The regulars of that base were the Cloudsdale Militia, one of the best militias around Equestria.
Apparently this mare was one of those militia ponies. She carried an armor similar to Phalanx, it was designed differently, as one would expect and was naturally colored in sky blue. The Cloudsdale Emblem a Pegasus silhouette in front of the a cloud with a rainbow waterfall was displayed proudly on the mare's chest plate. Her helmet was the one thing in her armor that greatly differed from Phalanx' it was an armored flight helmet with tinted flying goggles. Through which her rather short tan mane emerged. She looked like her pale lavender coat would help camoflauge her in the air, but judging from her size she didn't use that tactic much.
She was shushed again after that, "If you don't want something unfriendly to hear you, keep your traps shut or at the very least whisper." Said a female changeling irritably.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2013 7:37:32 GMT -5
Phalanx looked over to the surprisingly talkative pegasus, watching as she started to pester the changelings for a few answers on why they were being summoned. Phalanx had to admit she was curious as to why she was being summoned by *the* Field Marshal Starling, considering she wasn't exactly a high-ranking soldier or militia member, but the changelings were making it rather clear that any sort of answer would have to wait until they arrived.
Sure enough, though, the pegasus chose her out of everypony else to speak with, already going on about how she wanted to show off to the Field Marshall and join his unit. Mom always told me I had the spirit of a Cloudsdale pony, now that I have one in front of me, I wonder how much of a compliment that was, she thought to herself, already not much enjoying this mare's company.
The Cloudsdale gear the pony was wearing did give the impression that Cloudsdale fitted their unit with much better gear than Hoofington could, and Phalanx had to admit this pegasus could easily take her down if they ever bothered to spar. As little as she wanted to bother, this pegasus obviously expected a conversation - or at least praise - from her, and in this scenario she might as well oblige.
"Wouldn't count on it," she replied, not quite whispering but at least keeping her volume a little lower, "Considering I'm involved in this, Starling's probably summoning us for a reason *other* than recruitment. But if he's not calling us for recruitment, why is he calling us?"
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 30, 2013 7:53:51 GMT -5
"If I had to guess," Another mare said in a low whisper, "It's probably to get us to learn more about Changelings. Test audience for how Changelings and Ponies are going to interact from now on. As you can clearly see by the looks we're getting from the guys here, I don't think Changelings are really used to see something they want and not... cheat their way into it."
A female changeling rolled her eyes as the mare continued, "He probably wants to figure out how this truce is going to work." The verbose mare this time seemed rather similar in build to Phalanx herself, a unicorn bearing the armor and emblem of the Fillydelphia Militia. It was obvious she held a lot of resentment towards the Changelings, who helped conquer her city and probably got many of her friends and family hurt or killed. The Fillydelphia armor was a dark grey gradient, the emblem was an iron sledgehammer over a large bell, the mare seemed to have added (rather meticulously) a large crack to the bell, possibly in memory of the many who fell in the defense of the city. her helmet was a visored one, currently the visor was up so one could see her vibrant green eyes and slate grey fur. A black tuft of hair out of her front bang dangled on her forehead.
"Ugh," The Cloudsdale mare, "So this is gonna be a 'get-along-workshop' kind of thing? That would be horrible."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2013 8:04:41 GMT -5
Phalanx looked to the unicorn mare, already looking over her equipment. Wait...is that the Fillydelphia emblem? she asked herself. Sure enough, the emblem seemed to match what she had heard from a few stories Long Haul had shared a few years back. Yet, it seemed like it was altered, Long Haul hadn't mentioned any sort of crack in the bell on the emblem before. She had to admit, chances are this pony was going to be one of those 'scarred-and-quiet' sorts, yet she was probably better company than the Cloudsdale one.
Phalanx looked to the Cloudsdale mare with a curious expression, "Uhh, that wouldn't make any sense at all. Look around, we're all military here, not one civilian from the looks of things. Why would Starling call in military mares and have them bring their weapons and armour *just* to have a 'get-along workshop'?"
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 30, 2013 8:17:44 GMT -5
The Cloudsdale pony shrugged, The changelings in front of them whispered to each other irritably, probably about the fact that the mares wouldn't shut up. It seemed like Starling picked mares from all over, the army, militias, royal guard. All in all there seemed to be about a dozen of them. Not much, but not little either. The progression through the forest was slow and the other mares lost the flavor in speaking after overhearing the changelings complain about them. Not long after they were in an almost pitch black area of the forest, the trees were extremely dense and the foliage was thorny and uncomfortable, yet it was there the Changelings wanted to stop.
"We're waiting for a clear signal." A changeling said before anyone could ask, probably not wanting them to get to talking again.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2013 8:23:46 GMT -5
Phalanx adjusted her spear again, keeping it closer to herself and at the ready as she tried desperately to pierce the darkness of the forest, hoping against hope that there wasn't anything out there waiting to ambush the group. As the wind blew through the forest and caused a few trees to creak and wave, Phalanx couldn't help but keep her gaze on them expectantly and nervously, waiting for one of them to sweep a branch at her like in the stories River Sage had spoken of. These trees could indeed be alive, whispering to each other and waiting for the right opportunity to thrash and swing at the group, using the cover of darkness to their advantage.
Sure enough, nopony else seemed eager to speak, and the changelings were all to quick to avoid having questions thrown at them. Phalanx dared not lower her guard now, least of all while the trees were creaking.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 30, 2013 8:31:08 GMT -5
The green armored pony could see a small orb of green light much further ahead, to which one of the changeling replied by making his horn glow in a similar manner. The group continued to trudge forwards until they reached a less dense cluster of trees. All Everfree trees were huge, but these seemed endless.
"Alright, we're here." The female changeling at the front said, pointing up towards the trees. High above, a large green biological structure was nested in the treetops, spreading both horizontally and vertically throughout the trees. There were many little 'windows' on the structure, though what a window would help in such a dark environment was anyone's guess.
"Well I didn't imagine it quite like this." Said the cloudsdale mare, looking up in awe at the alien looking construction.
"Seems like it's made of hardened resin." Said the Fillydelphia mare, the changelings ushered them rudely beneath it and out of one of the 'windows' a platform dangled down like an elevator. "Those who can't fly, on the elevator. The rest, up to that ledge." The changeling instructed.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2013 8:36:11 GMT -5
Phalanx looked up to the structure with surprise and a bit of awe. Chances are, very few ponies would get to see a changeling hive so closely, let alone step inside. Sadly for Phalanx, it was obvious that this hive was probably going to be her residence until this whole thing with Starling would end...if it ever did.
The changelings were already barking orders, in doing so *really* getting on her nerves. Whatever, she scoffed, Let's just get on with it. With barely a delay, she spread her wings and flew up to the ledge with the rest of the pegasi.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 30, 2013 10:10:50 GMT -5
Inside she was greeted with the site of a hangar-like space, the Cloudsdale mare landed besides her, testing the floor and looking surprised to find it's not sticky. The space was occupied by perhaps a couple dozens of changelings going about their business. "You know, I don't want to sound horrible, but they all look alike to me." The Cloudsdale mare said. "Name's Sapphire Bomber, by the way, how about you?"
The elevator was already creaking up as she spoke and the other mares stepped up on the ledge, looking rather happy to be off the makeshift platform. The changelings moved on to another group of changelings. One of them was wearing a wooden mask and a green cloak and hood. Phalanx knew that one.
Ranger was the leader of Ponyville's militia. He had once brought a team to Hoofington to rid it of a spider abomination which was terrorizing their town. Of course, the militia couldn't chase after it into everfree, none of them knew it or how to navigate it. Ranger did, however. He killed the monster and saved the day and their village. He stayed around after for a while and talked to pretty much everyone in the village trying to figure out where the monster came from. Apparently one of the locals had caught a strange spider and began trying to mutate it with alchemy. The only problem was that the pony had little to no alchemy knowledge and he just ended up accidentally creating a monster.
Yet here he was now, a changeling. A spy. Ponies in Hoofington looked up to him, even Kuruka sent Stormshroud to train with him. But he was a changeling all along. A spy and a traitor.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2013 10:21:24 GMT -5
Phalanx tested the resin-looking ground beneath her, mildly surprised that she could lift her hooves without it sticking to the floor beneath her. Taking in the sights, she couldn't help but wonder just exactly what the changelings needed with such a large space, nevermind just exactly what the wandering changelings were doing.
Then something caught her eye, a familiar face amongst the bugs. Was that Ranger, leader of the Ponyville militia? Hang on, it had been hinted that the changelings aided in invasions for the Diamond Dogs, but was Ranger the traitor that assisted in the siege of Ponyville? Phalanx frowned, last she had kept track Ranger was good natured and perfectly willing to go out of his way to help other ponies. Yet here he was, a changeling traitor. What respect she had once held for the stal-...well, for the bug was well and thoroughly gone now, she couldn't trust this pony any further than she could kick him.
Now the Cloudsdale pegasus was asking for her name, apparently she wanted to be at least acquaintances if not try and befriend her. She gagged at the thought of being friends with this pony, but no doubt the Cloudsdale pony was looking for a response from her. "Phalanx," she responded flatly, looking to Ranger judgingly for a few more moments before turning back to the Cloudsdale mare, expecting her to want to continue the discussion.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 30, 2013 10:45:41 GMT -5
"You know that guy? You've been giving him the stink eye since we landed here." Sapphire said, as the Fillydelphia pony approached them. She also appeared to have recognized Ranger, from the looks she was giving him, but did not say a word.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2013 10:56:26 GMT -5
Phalanx looked to Ranger for a moment before looking back to Bomber, "Yeah, kinda. He used to be the leader of the Ponyville militia. Used to be a pretty decent guy, really, swung by Hoofington from time to time to help out. One time in particular he chased down an abomination in the Everfree, slaying the beast. Never imagined he would be a spy and a traitor, though. Then again I guess that was the whole point."
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Post by Red Charge on Sept 1, 2013 15:19:59 GMT -5
"We do what we have to for our kingdom, he did what he had to for his. Guess you can't really call him a traitor if he wasn't one of us to begin with." Said the Fillydelphia mare, though she did not seem too fond of the changeling either. Seemed to be a little chaos going on in the hangar and Ranger has yet to finish talking to the other changelings, in the meanwhile all the mares gathered in front of them and began chatting.
"Well I don't like working with spies." Said the Cloudsdale pony, "How can we trust him?"
Fillydelphia pony shrugged, "I've been told Starling has the Changelings by the tail, if that's true I guess they don't have a choice really. Guess it depends on how willing they are to actually change their ways."
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2013 15:25:05 GMT -5
Phalanx looked between the two mares, surprised that the changelings were finally giving them an opportunity to talk with each other without complaining about it. All things considered, though, she was at least grateful to be able to put in her own two bits on the matter.
She turned to the Fillydelphia mare, "Yeah, the species infamous for deceiving, betraying, spying, and ponynapping is just suddenly going to 'change their ways' because Starling's got them by the tail. Sure, and there is *no* way they could be planning a way out behind our backs," she responded sarcastically, trying not to keep her volume loud enough for the changelings to eavesdrop.
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