"Look, I showed you where the hive is! Now, are you gonna let me go? Please don't kill me!" As his gaze turned to the Changeling, Steel could see the creature shudder and tremble like a common rat as it was trapped by an angry hound. While he was quite barbaric at times, Steel wasn't going to be so dickish that he would kill a creature who aided him. Unless they double-crossed him, of course. Then he would kick their asses so hard that they'd be nothing but a bloody paste after he was done with them. But before he let this Changeling go...he had one last question for him.

"I'm looking for a stallion named Black Flag. One of your friends brainwashed him and sent to, in his words, "Be used by the other Changelings." Firstly, what would he have meant by "used him"? And secondly, where would they have kept him?"

"He most likely meant that they were going to use him as a brood," The creature said quickly, and Steel got angrier just from the sound of that. Images of the Changelings using him over and over again to spread their kind like he was some kind of breeding machine flooded his mind, and he was already beginning to feel sick. Did that mean...they were using foals for that same purpose? Oh, sweet Celestia, he hoped not. "I'll warn you now, once the breeder Changelings begin to lay their eggs in a host, that host will never be the same. As for where he is, the breeding chamber is heavily guarded. So just look for any chambers with lots of Changeling soldiers guarding the entrance. As if that will really narrow your choices down at all. I've answered your questions; are ya going to let me go now?"

"Certainly," Steel said before whacking the Changeling so hard that he felt flat on his back; knocked unconscious. He didn't want that little bastard flying off and warning the others that he was coming. Actually, why didn't he do that already? Must have traded in his intelligence and common sense for his shapeshifting gimmick. Oh well. He began to slowly make his way towards the waiting hive; ready to cause some serious damage.
For once, the mercenary didn't charge straight into battle. The hive was protected by a menacing wall that formed a ring around the farthest reaches of the hive, with a single entrance leading inside. Steel knew that he needed to be as stealthy as possible. He dragged his body against the ground at a painfully slow pace, which allowed him to contemplate his choice to save one stallion that he knew for a maximum of three days. Why was he risking his life for such a pointless goal? There was no reward involved; in fact, there was no real benefit for him at all. Perhaps it was to save Black Flag from such a horrible fate as being an egg chamber for a bunch of insect monsters. He kept to the outskirts; edging around the rim for an entrance that would have the minimal surveillance. With every move the Earth stallion took, he felt like he was a soldier heading straight into a suicide march; one last gamble in an attempt to find fame and fortune. But this wasn't a suicide march; he knew that he would succeed. After all, what was the worst that could happen? Sure, they could shapeshift but it wasn't like he held any attachment to his comrades in battle, and he'd already seen the parental ploy once. However, there were a lot of them, and he'd never seen how they'd act in large numbers.

Once he was close enough to the wall to get a clear view of the entrance, he saw two Changelings clad in sleek armor that was as dark as the night sky. Their eyes, despite neither of the guards having spotted Steel, seemed to pierce his very soul. Not wanting to blow his element of surprise, Steel threw his cape over his body and began to make his way to the wall at a snail's pace. Once he was far enough out of sight that neither of the guards would have seen him, he sprung up off the dirty ground and pushed himself against the wall; which felt unnaturally living and biological like he could feel something underneath the wall moving about. It was cold and smooth, but it certainly wasn't made of stone or brick. Steel began to slowly move against the wall back towards the entrance. As he was moving, he began to think back on the one other time he was forced to act with stealth. That had been many years ago when he wasn't any older than Black Flag was now. A noble tasked him with killing a rival aristocrat as revenge for attempting to poison him. The pay the noble offered was quite a nice reward, so Steel accepted without a second thought. And while he murdered the official without any trouble, that was before...the mission took a turn that Steel would never have expected. As he felt the cold wall against his back, Steel once again heard the sound of that thick wooden door opening...the sound of a voice calling out for the noble. Steel never would forget those moments when he lunged out from behind the door and shoved the pony against the castle's wall and plunged his sword through their heart. Only when Steel's mind finally began to clear up did he realize that who he just killed was no older than a colt. Steel watched helplessly as the colt gasped and heaved; blood clogging his lungs and spewing from his mouth, his hoof reaching for the mercenary as if begging him to save his life. The smell of blood clogged Steel's nostrils, and all he could think was, 'What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE?!'

Steel blinked and shook his head, realizing that he was still in that forest, plastered against the outer wall like a reptile. No more castle, just needed to focus on the present. He could see the two guards just a few feet from him. He released his sword from the harness on his back and began to formulate a plan of attack; gears turning in his head with every second he waited. After about a minute, he finally conceded that there was no way he would be able to take them out if he needed to take more than one swing. And he couldn't slice through them, because surprise surprise, a slab of raw iron wasn't the stealthiest or most agile weapon to use. Who would have ever thought? Wait. Maybe brute force wouldn't get him in...but a diversion tactic might just do the trick. Steel sheathed his sword once more and began to approach the two guards.

"Halt! Come no further," The Changeling on the left commanded before he and his comrade approached the Earth stallion. Their fangs glinted like blades of steel in the dwindling light of the twilight's closing, and Steel wondered just how effective those would be at rending flesh apart like a pair of hungry wolves. Shattering Steel didn't move a muscle, akin to a statue of flesh.

"Did one of the scouts send ya here, huh?" The second Changeling said as he carefully moved the pony's head with his hoof as if he were a jeweler examining a gemstone for imperfections. While he was inspecting Steel's front, the other guard was pulling up the stallion's tan cloak to examine his torso; feeling the chiseled muscles with his hooves before dropping the cape and letting it rest on the stallion's back once more. Steel found it strange that the two soldiers didn't even try to move his sword off his back. Although, considering how heavy it was they wouldn't have had much luck moving it anyways.

"Yeah," Steel replied in as much of a droning voice that he could pull off. He wasn't sure how a hypnotized or brainwashed pony talked, so he just did his best to wing it. The two guards just looked at one another for a few seconds, before the two cracked eerily similar smiles. That could never be a good thing. Did he fuck up somehow?

"Did the scout that sent you here tell you about the little...initiation that you have to go through to get inside?" Steel just shook his head, not wanting to blow his cover by trying and failing to emulate the mannerisms of their victims. The Changeling chuckled, which was a sound akin to a couple of violins or some other stringed instrument. It was strange but whatever. Steel was more worried about what the Changeling was referring to that made him laugh in the first place. "Don't worry, it isn't much of a challenge. You just have to make us cum and we'll lead you to your new apparatus alongside the others. Now kneel, you dirty mudpony."

As much as it horrified him to do so, Steel immediately got on his knees and awaited further orders. The two Changelings looked down upon the warrior with smug smirks; cocks swaying in the wind as they approached. The one on the right smacked Steel across the cheek to get him to open up his mouth, and he barely had enough time to take a few breaths before his mouth was jammed full of cock. Fuck, Steel felt like he wanted to vomit and they hadn't even started yet.

The two soldiers were not merciful or kind in the slightest; their assault was rough, fast, and unforgiving. The two rammed their cocks into the stallion's mouth over and over again, not even giving Steel a moment of respite. But as horrible as their treatment of him was, there was something far worse than their brutal treatment of him. It was a soft, nagging thought that lingered in the very back of Steel's mind. It was something he never wanted to think.

"You're enjoying this," The voice whispered. Steel mentally screamed as if to try and drown the thought out, but he knew it was true. With every thrust into his mouth, he could feel his own cock growing harder and harder. No, this couldn't be real! It was just a dream; a horrible fucked up dream! But with the ever-present feeling of his stallionhood pulsing with need, he knew that was simply not the case. He couldn't deny the voices inside his brain, no matter how he tried.

"Hey, Void," The Changeling to Steel's right murmured to his comrade as he gestured with his hoof towards the Earth stallion's erection. "Check out the package that our dirty little slut is carrying." Steel could hear an impressed whistling noise from the Changeling to the left. Steel felt repulsed, both with himself and the guards. The way they were both abusing him in such a horrible way and how they gawked at his genitalia. He felt degraded and humiliated.

"Oh wow, you're right. I'm gonna have to ask Rosine if I can visit our darling little pet if I can visit him sometime after we hook him up," Void replied with a laugh before his pushes became even more fierce. "Yo, Ubik, I'm gonna blow my load soon. Wanna race me to the finish? Betcha fifty bits that I can finish before you can." The second Changeling nodded, accepting his friend's challenge as the two began to truly pound into the warrior's mouth. Their smooth, glistening black cocks slid over his tongue swiftly, occasionally rubbing against each other until Void filled the stallion's mouth with his sweet-scented seed. Emitting a low groan, the second Changeling was only a few seconds behind his friend before his own seed hit the warrior's tongue. Thinking quickly, Steel swallowed their loads to keep up the illusion of a horny, needy slut. For some reason, after he ingested the substance he began to feel lightheaded, but the feeling passed pretty quickly.

"Aww, shit. I swear you must have been cheating somehow. Well, maybe I'll have some better luck next time." Ubik quickly pulled the stallion to help him stand up, and Steel could feel drips of cum running down his chin with every second. He wanted to wipe it away, to clean away the shame, but he knew that would blow his cover within the blink of an eye. "Now come along, mudpony. We're gonna show you your brand new home."

Steel was led like fresh cattle by the two guards through the large Changeling hive, and with every step, Steel could feel the ever-present gazes of the other Changelings. There must have been at least a few thousand of them thriving within this hive, and even with a sword as large as his, he knew that they would overwhelm him pretty quickly. As much as the process to get past the guards pained him, at least he didn't have to fight his way through waves of these creatures while blindly searching every inch for Black Flag. Small miracles.
Eventually, the two guards led him to a large structure located at the very back of the camp, most likely for defensive purposes. Steel could see the faint flickering of torches dancing quickly against the edges of the walls, so at least he would be able to see inside that huge chamber without blindly stumbling around in the darkness like a newborn foal. The Changeling ahead of him gestured for the stallion to enter, which he quickly did so. As he made his way inside, he saw that the interior was just a single room of unknown size but it must have been somewhere in the range of relatively large and fucking huge. Though he found the situation a little suspicious when the two Changelings didn't follow him, but by the time he noticed this the entrance already sealed closed behind him. Fuck.

"Hey! What's going on?" Steel screamed as he bolted back to where the entrance used to be. He didn't even care that he just broke character; he wanted answers, damn it.
"What?" Void inquired with a soft chortle. "You really didn't think you were fooling either of us with your shitty imitation of a hypnotized pony, did you? If you just acted natural, you might have actually fooled us into believing you. But oh well. At least you have the company of both the ponies that we've captured and Grunbeld. He should give you a nice beating before Rosine arrives and actually bends your mind to our will like a piece of balsa."

"Your analogy was terrible," Steel said with a roll of his eyes. He didn't get an answer from the two, they must have buzzed off, but that wasn't his main priority at the moment. He needed to find Black Flag, bust this wall down, and haul ass out of this confounded mess. And who was that Grunbeld that the guard talked about? Whatever it was, Steel knew two things about it already. First of all, it definitely wasn't an ally. Secondly, it was going to get a nice big helping of six feet of iron rammed down its throat. He took a breath, exhaled, and turned around to look at his surroundings. And what he saw made him both angry and disgusted.

Dozens upon dozens of foals and adults were strapped down to harnesses, suspended in the air several inches off the ground, their legs spread wide and mouths hanging open as if waiting to be fed. As he trotted around the room, he saw the empty, lifeless gazes that didn't even look back at him as he passed by. It was as if they didn't even register that he was there at all. Drool and spit dripped from their chins, gathering in small pools on the smooth floor below them. Their stomachs swelled and bulged; the outlines of Changeling eggs visible along the stretches of their bloated bellies.
Before Steel could locate Black Flag amidst all of these ponies, he heard something shift from behind his back. The warrior whirled around and saw a pair of fiery red eyes burning through the shadows of the room that not even the torches' light could purge. Steel acted quickly, releasing his blade from its harness and gripping it firmly in his mouth. The familiar sensation of the strong hilt grasped so tightly in his mouth served as a strange comfort for the mercenary. It assured him that he still held a small amount of control over the situation. He quietly waited for whatever was lurking in the shadows to make itself known.

"Who enters my domain?" A hellish rumble spoke, which echoed off the walls around Steel, which sent chills down his spine. This must have been the Grunbeld that the guards were talking about.

"My name is Shattering Steel," The eponymous stallion replied, having planted his hooves firmly in the ground in a hardened battle stance as he waited for the creature to make its move. He wasn't even sure what he was going to be facing, but whatever it was it must have been quite a lethal combatant. But whatever, that didn't matter. Steel was almost certain he could take it down with enough tenacity, after all, nothing could have been more horrible or deadly than that monster Starlight Apostle. Or so he hoped.

"My name is Grunbeld," The mysterious creature replied without moving. It just remained where it was, seeming to be scanning every last inch of the warrior's body with its cold gaze. "I assume that you were thrown in here after you were caught trying to sneak inside, hmm?" Shattering Steel gasped in shock. How did he know about that? "Don't act so surprised. You aren't the first to try and save the ponies we have captured here. And it is more than likely that you will not be the last one either. Hope you enjoy watching the exact same situation that you are in getting played out once more before your eyes as you hang suspended alongside all your friends. But first, before any of that can occur, you must be detained. It's such a shame you ponies are such fragile creatures, it gets so tiresome with how easily you crumple and die with each fight I am forced to participate in."

The stallion suddenly heard...something move in those shadows, and he mentally prepared himself to be ready for whatever came out of those shadows. No matter what happened, he still needed to stand his ground against this foe. After a few seconds, he saw a large marble-white war hammer come forth from the shadows, alongside a colossal Changeling decked out in a set of armor that closely resembled the appearance of a dragon. There was only one section that wasn't covered in this terrifying white armor; the "mouth", where the Changeling's face could be seen. That face was cold and calculating. To the Changeling's right was a large shield that was as tall as Steel, was forged into the shape of a mighty dragon's head, and looked thick enough to be able to block even the strongest magic.

There was no witty banter between the two warriors. No taunts, no one-liners, no long monologs or speeches. For a few moments, the two just stared each other down as if they were two sworn enemies instead of just being a couple of foes that just so happened to have crossed paths. This silence was broken when Grunbeld made the first move; swinging his war hammer in a downward slash in an attempt to cripple the stallion in a single strike. Luckily, though, Steel saw the attack coming and rolled to the side to evade, cape whirling around his muscular frame. Steel heard the floor crack behind him due to the war hammer's sheer might, and he realized that if he didn't keep moving he would be felled in a single blow.
The stallion suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye that, instead of the hammer coming around for another strike, Grunbeld's shield was following him. Now, why was that? What was that monster planning to do? Steel suddenly felt the large shield ram into his side, sending him rolling several feet as pain shot through his ribs. It felt like he'd just been rammed by a large bull! He quickly got up as fast as he could, not sure what Grunbeld's next attack would be, and found himself staring down at a large opening at the bottom of the shield.
The mercenary wasn't sure what that opening was for, and he didn't really want to find out. Steel rolled to the side once more, and it was a good thing too. If he hadn't moved at that precise moment, he probably wouldn't have still been standing as a powerful stream of flames erupted from that opening and splattered all over where Steel stood moments earlier. And even as the two warriors met in fierce combat the poor ponies around them did not move or groan. They just silently stayed suspended in the air, as if they were just inanimate pieces of furniture.

Steel's mind was racing frantically. He needed to find a way to not only evade Grunbeld's heavy assault but also fucking kill him. All it would take would be a single strike through that opening in the front and it would be almost assuredly lethal. But how would he reach Grunbeld when Steel ran the risk of incineration? The warrior looked around quickly, trying to find something that could be used to his advantage. Unfortunately, the only thing he could see were the...other ponies. As Steel ducked under another swing from the war hammer, the gears in his head really began to overclock. Another strike which Steel quickly backstepped to avoid the blow, and found himself right beside one of the captive foals. Then, he noticed something else. Grunbeld's weaponry wasn't following him. They just lingered out of reach like a couple of predators waiting for their prey to resurface.

This confused the warrior for a moment, but then it suddenly clicked in his head. A wide, ferocious grin began to spread across his muzzle; revealing his pearly white teeth as he began to formulate a truly sadistic and downright insidious plan. He leaned down; sword glistening in the flickering light of the torches as its razor edge was pointed directly at the young foal's swollen stomach. Steel didn't do anything afterward just yet, he was going to wait for a reaction first.
"Go ahead and plunge that sword into his belly," Grunbeld said as coldly as the unending freezing gusts of a torrential ice storm. "It's not like I would care; the eggs inside that pony aren't my problem, they're Rosine's. You probably wouldn't even have the guts to pull it off, so why don't you get over here and fight me like a true warrior?" Steel almost laughed at the Changeling's vain attempt to pretend that he didn't care whether the eggs inside the colt lived or died. It was far too late to pull that charade over his eyes, the obvious hesitation to attack gave the facade away. But that would just make destroying Grunbeld's false cold attitude all the more entertaining.

"Well, if that's the case, I might as well as destroy some of Rosine's progress then," Steel replied before he pulled his sword back, ready to strike. With every second, he looked dead in the Changeling's eyes and watched how he reacted. Steel could just tell that it was taking all of Grunbeld's willpower to not bolt forward and try to protect the offspring that writhed and squirmed inside their eggs helplessly. And, without another moment of hesitation, Steel swung his sword in a downward slash that would assuredly split the colt in half and kill both him and the babies inside, spilling the remains all over the floor in a repulsive sludge of bloodshed and intestines. And that was what finally got Grunbeld to crack.

"What are you doing?!" The Changeling screamed in horror as the blade began its descent. "Stop, stop your blade!" Unfortunately, Grunbeld's demand fell on deaf ears, and it was far too late to do anything anyway. The ground trembled in defeat as the mighty Dragonslayer split clean through the foal and collided with the hard floor below, soaked in blood and the thin outer shells of Changeling eggs, with the torn remnants of intestinal tracts sliding off the edge lifelessly. What little remained of a once-promising brood of young Changelings now soaked into the floor and smeared all over Steel's mighty blade. As he was robbed of a mother's love at birth, he robbed their mother of the joy that taking care of younglings brought. He could smell that oh-so-familiar and potent stench; the smell of blood.

Grunbeld filled the structure with a deafening scream of pure, untamed rage as he barreled right towards Steel at breakneck speed. He seemed to have abandoned his weaponry as his wrath clouded his mind's judgment, which was precisely what Steel planned on happening. The stallion rolled out of Grunbeld's path as quickly as he could, managing to evade the Changeling's charge with ease and leaving his foe completely exposed. Now it was time to finally cripple his opponent.

There was no empathy or mercy in the stallion's cold heart as he leaped into action, sword grasped firmly in his mouth as he lunged towards the distraught Changeling. His movement was an agile one; a forward somersault through the air that made his weapon essentially a whirling blade of death and pain. And pain did it bring as he heard a firm crack, followed by a howl of agony as the warrior landed on the ground flawlessly. He turned around quickly, ready to face Grunbeld once again, and found the warrior reeling on the floor as he palmed blindly at the place where his horn used to be. Blood trickled from the wound, splattering the cold and unforgiving floor underneath him, and the jagged chunk of bone laid lifelessly several feet away from the Changeling.
"Do you remember what you told me about how fragile ponies were?" Steel said as he stood over the helpless guard with nothing but rage and hatred burning in his eyes. He knew that the other Changelings would be here to investigate soon, after all nopony would be able to ignore screams like the ones Grunbeld was making, so he needed to end this quickly. "Let's just see how fragile you are after I crush your skull like a road roller!"

"Wait! Please, have mercy on me!" Grunbeld pleaded as he reached upward towards his foe, tears rolling down his smooth insectoid flesh. Such a shame that Steel was far beyond mercy at this point. With one clean strike, the stallion rammed his sword through Grunbeld's gaping mouth. Of course, Grunbeld raised his front legs to try and hold back the mighty sword, but it was too late, there was no escape. The colossal sword shattered his feeble arms and pierced his mouth, forcing the poor Changeling's lower jaw to split apart as his skull caved in under the weight and bringing his life to a horrific end; a sickening green blood pouring from his skull's orifices as he drew his last breath.

Once he finally dispatched the bastard, Steel quickly doused several of the torches to provide more makeshift camouflage as he pressed himself against the wall, waiting for the guards to eventually show up. As he expected, there wasn't much of a wait before the wall opened up beside him and a squadron of at least ten guards burst inside frantically. Steel didn't lunge from the shadows to attack just yet. No, he was going to wait...and he was going to savor their fear.

"Grunbeld? Are you okay?" The leader of the pack screamed desperately as his eyes darted around the room. "Where's the capti..." The Changeling's words seemed to have died in his throat the moment that he laid his eyes upon the guard's corpse. From his place in the darkness, Steel could almost smell the fear as it spread like wildfire through the group. "All of you! Stay on your guard, and don't relax it for even a second! He's still here!"

"I'm afraid that won't be enough," Steel said with a smirk as he calmly strolled forth from the shadows. The whole pack whirled around to see him, and Steel was almost certain he heard a terrified shriek from somewhere in that small horde, though he wasn't entirely sure which of the Changelings let out the noise. That didn't matter anyhow. They were gonna be making a plethora of similar noises soon enough. Steel didn't wait for a response, he immediately lunged for the nearest Changeling and split them in half with a single slice. He could hear the creature's bones snap apart like thin twigs as the large hunk of iron split him apart quickly and efficiently, and as Steel's ears were filled with the screams of agony once again, he once again felt like he was finally at peace with himself.

Steel watched with a wide grin as his opponents slowly backed away from the blood-drenched warrior in fear. The stallion thought back to what one of his comrades in a battle once told him; that fear could turn the tide of battle as quickly as one could blink. Steel had never heard truer words in his life before or since then, and they applied so perfectly to the situation at hand. Instead of forming a battle plan, instead of teaming up against him, Steel's foes were cowering and trembling like young foals, And quite frankly, Steel wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste.

The stallion moved like a whirlwind of death and destruction, slicing through his foes one after another without pausing for even a moment. They didn't even try to fight back, they just screamed and fled as best they could; abandoning each other to a gruesome fate at the hooves of Shattering Steel. Their ill green blood splattered all over the floor and walls like paint; alongside sinking into Steel's fur and coating plenty of the ponies around him. Who, even amongst this bloodshed and madness, still did not move or react at all.

As Steel finally began to calm down from his adrenaline-induced euphoria, his eyes surveyed the room around him. Chunks of organs and bones littered the ground around him in a repulsive mess of death. He considered taking the time to search around for Black Flag, but Steel knew that it was incredibly important for him to cut a way out this horrid place before he decided to lug around a pony. He thought back to what Grunbeld told him about one of his comrades named Rosine...if he wasn't mistaken, one of those guards that had used Steel also mentioned that name. Steel didn't know what or who she was, but he was gonna kill her too! Couldn't be that hard of a task, she was probably just another Changeling with a fancy bit of armor on or something.

The warrior turned around and, much to both his surprise and relief, the Changelings that he just got finished killing forgot to re-seal that wall, thus giving him an easy exit back outside. Steel wondered if either Void or Ubik were a part of the small pack that he sent to the grave just moments earlier, though he quickly dismissed that thought. It would be too convenient. Besides, he didn't need to be focusing on stupid things like that; there were more pressing problems right now.

Steel slung his sword over his back once more and quickly made his way out of that awful structure, relieved to finally be out in the fresh air instead of some awful sex chamber that was forever coated in the reek of sexual musk. The sun had finally set, but that definitely wasn't a problem. Not with what he saw at the center of the hive; which was radiating an unnatural green light like some kind of strange lantern. It was some kind of creature that floated gracefully in midair; its hooves brushing against the ground. Its body was the familiar black color of a Changeling, but no holes peppered its body and its wings were far larger and resembled a lunar moth's wings. Having noticed the stallion, its head slowly turned to face him. It was at this moment that Steel noticed that they were the only two creatures in sight.

"Why hello there," The creature spoke in a surreal foal-like voice as it fluttered in the air. "Are you the pony who killed my young? The one who killed Grunbeld?"

"Yes, you are correct." Steel said as he carefully observed the strange Changeling. "You must have feared Celestia finding and destroying this hive, but it was I, Shattering Steel, who slew them. Who are you?" The Changeling giggled.

"My name is Rosine," The eponymous creature said with a smile spread across her graceful and smooth features. "You know, you seem to do whatever you want; Discord may care! I like you!"