Beneath the Surface

"Oh... baaaaaad choice." The changeling smiles as he enters the hole and promptly proceeds to begin a slow fall down two hundred and fifty metres of blank space, to a hardened ink-black floor. "Hope you can fly."

Storm launches a fireball at her as he passes her. He looks down and sees he isn't going to land on anything for quite a while. In this state he doesn't exactly think, but he does learn. He remembers using an explosion to launch himself off a shield and towards this changeling. He also remembers missing. "I'll kill her, burn her to ashes." He grumbles.

When he reaches about fifty meters he creates an explosion directly below him. The shock wave from the explosion is enough to shake earth loose from the ceiling. That was not his intention however what he had intended to do was force air below him upwards which slowed him down. He landed heavily, panting slightly and smiling as he was unhurt. He then launched a group of three fireballs towards where he thought the changeling was hoping to blow her to pieces.

"Gah!" One of the three fireballs catches her on the chest, setting it on fire. A shield absorbs the other two, but not before she falls to the ground, flapping her wings to slow her fall.

"Heh heh..." She chuckles darkly as she hits the ground a few metres away from Storm and winces in pain. "Wrong... wrong target..." She breathes in. "Read-AY! Set!"

Storm pre-empts the changeling's next word creating a flame thrower in front of him, blasting directly at her as he charged, using the fire to cover his advance.

The changeling jumps backwards, the fire singeing her already on-fire exoskeleton. "You forget, Meteor Storm. We know everything about you. Including... your weaknesses."

An entire horde of changelings begins a flight towards his position, emerging from the darkness of the catacombs a few hundred metres away from Storm.

"You know nothing!" He roars, his voice even more demonic now due to the echo inside the cave. He swings his head a line of fire following his horn. A wall of fire leaps up wherever the flame touches the floor. creating a barrier between himself and Theria and the other changelings. He swings his head around to face Theria again three more fireballs flying from his horn.

Griff looked at the two mages that were now standing next to him. "So.. before we begin, what can you two do?" he gently asked.

"We... are shield mages, sir." One of the two replies to Griff. "We can summon shields. That is our primary purpose." He pauses. "We can also use telekinesis and, as a last resort, teleportation, but that will drain our magic reserves significantly. It is well-advised to capitalise on our shielding capabilities."

---

The changeling commander was prepared, a shield springing up to absorb two of the three fireballs. The third one, however, breaks through the shield and speeds past her face, bringing a fire to existence on her left cheek.

She doesn't seem to notice it. "FIRE!" She commands, never taking her gaze off Storm.

Suddenly, a blinding beam of light blue lances over the fire wall and races towards Storm with the speed of an incoming freight train.

It is an ice beam.

Ruby began to walk off, and cocked her head as Divine didn't. "Umm Divine?"

"I'm staying near Ician."

"Uhhh... why?"

"I need to protect him."

Ruby stopped and walked back. "Well then i am too."

"But... but..." Ician sighs. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I've got a whole army at my back." He pauses. "Wait, of course. I'll send some knights with you. That way you'll be protected too. And..."

He moves closer to Divine and Ruby and whispers, "Look, I trust you two a lot more than these soldiers. Not because I think they're not loyal, but because I know you'll get the job done better than they will. I need you both out there... where you can do the most good. We need you. For Equestria." He looks away. "Not that I wouldn't love you two to be here, but... the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. We've got to make sure no changelings escape."

Divine resolutely remains where she is, not moving from her position. "I'm not moving from your side."

Ruby sighed. "And I'm not moving from her side."

Griff didn't move too far from Ician yet, he was still close enough to hear what Ruby said, making him remember his late night meeting with changeling commander. "Shields..." he thought out loud. The memories kept circling in his head. 'Protect Ician with your life... Protect Ician with your life...' Griff turned to Ician and then gave a quick look at the mages. "Stream will join you shortly." He then walked up to Ician. "May I have a word with you?"

Ician stares at Divine and Ruby. He sighs. "Fine. Fine, stay here." He turns to the army. "That means all of you will have to go around the side. Stop anypony from getting through."

"Yes, sir!" They all salute in unison and march away.

"For artillery, though. Stay here."

"Yes." The mortars and the ponies beside them do not move away. The mortars, finally prepared for combat, unleash the first volley over the forest with a loud boom.

Ician hears Griff. He turns to him. "Yes, Griff?"

Divine cuddles him before drawing her sword and standing guard, with Ruby standing on the opposite side of him.

"There's something I didn't tell you about.." Griff begins. "On that late-night stroll that I took, I was found by changeling commander. She told me to guard you with my life. It could be a trap... but.. " Griff pauses for a moment. "I.. I'm sorry for not telling you earlier."

Ician blinks at Griff. "She said... guard me with... your life?" He frowns. "If that's what she wants, it would be best for you to do the opposite. But she's probably smarter than that. Reverse psychology...?"

He shakes his head. "No, no. Logic indicates that you have to go and do your part in the plan. Besides, with Divine and Ruby here I've got all the protection I need." He smiles. "I'll be fine. And don't worry about not telling me earlier... it's not like it changed my decision anyway."

He turns back to the forest. "This is it. The final battle. Now if some enemy would just appear already that would be nice."

"As you command, commander Ician. I'll see you after this... I hope." Griff says, salutes him, nods at the shield mages to follow him before running to his side of the forest.

"Soon... I hope." Ician says quietly.

Griff arrives at the side of the forest shortly. A large fire rages further in, but the trees of the outer layer are still untouched by the blaze.

Strangely enough, however, no changelings appear yet, either. The shield mages look at Griff expectantly, waiting to see if he was going to do anything.

Griff looks at them with slight concern . "Have your shields ready for when they arrive. I'll prepare an ambush." Griff says and transforms into the snake, covering himself with sand.

"Yes, sir." The shields of the mages, one purple and one yellow, shimmer into existence as they scrutinise the forest, waiting for something to emerge.

At last, something does. A frightened blue changeling eye peeks out from inside the darkness of the forest, then with a panicked gasp retreats back in with as much speed as it could muster.

Divine yawns, covering her mouth with a hoof as she stares at the forest.

Ician stares at the forest. "Any moment now... any moment..."

Suddenly, he snaps to attention. "Did you see that? Some kind of... movement. In the forest." He squints. "What..."

Then, an unmistakeably changeling face peeks out from behind the trees. Its eyes widen as he spots the three of them, and with a start it races back into the relative safety of the forest.

"Should I chase it? I feel like it's a trap..." Divine stated.

"IT'S A TRAP!" Ruby shouted loudly. "Sorry, couldn't resist."

"I'm pretty sure it's a trap, too. But if we don't go in-"

A bolt of purple surges towards Ician's head. He moves aside just in time for the bolt to miss.

"... that will happen." He finishes. "Ruby, can you burn down the front few trees? That ought to send them running further in. Then we advance. Cautiously."

Ruby nods and sets fire to the forest, whistling.