Become nothing. 

We must feel nothing. 

“The nest is nearby. Take out the sentries so the main force can break their line,” The captain calmly and quietly orders. It’s barely a murmur, yet in the forest’s silence the command is as clear as a cathedral’s bell. He motions for us to proceed. Clad in silver armor and carrying black spears, we silently wade through the Everfree.

“Bugs ahead,” the young private at point whispers to the rest of the formation. “Captain, what do we do?”

[i]Idiot. Don’t doubt. Doubt leads to-[/i]

“Get. Down.” the captain hisses. He’s straining to keep his anger in check. We drop to our bellies and cling to the forest floor like corpses.

Through the thick grass, I see their legs. Black, slimy stumps ridden with holes. Their insectile wings buzz and hum as they walk past us, the light of the moon dimly reflecting off their onyx armor. 

“No emotions. Don’t think, ” the captain says. “Any emotion- fear, anger, love, anything. They can sense it. Become nothing, and do only what I say”.

I do my best to clear my head. I look at my brothers in arms. The mare to my right’s eyes are closed, blocking out any and all thoughts. I look to the left, and my gut begins to knot up. The young private is shivering. 

[i]Fear? [/i]The thought makes me want to flinch. [i]If he’s scared, they know we’re here. If they know we’re here, they will kill us. If they kill us… I won’t be coming home. No… an imposter would come home, ready to put a knife in those I love.[/i] 

The captain’s hoof comes down, I feel his gauntlet pressing down on my helmet and my mind freezes. 

“Don’t think, become nothing” He whispers. He’s doing the same to the young private, putting his hoof to his forehead, like a priest or monk. “You are merely a spear.” His shivering subsides a bit, but his eyes are still wide. This poor bastard only joined up for college bits, he never expected to deal with warfare outside of war games.    

[i]It’s no good. He’s cracking. We’re going to die and it’s all this pissant’s-[/i] 

“There’s nothing here, fall back!” The changeling commander barks. 

[i]Thank Celestia.[/i]

Their dark armor clanks loudly as they begin to march back the way they came. The sounds grow fainter and their buzzing ceases. 

“I guess they didn’t want to die…” the mare to my right mutters. 

“Not their call,” the captain replies. “Get up, they’re not leaving here alive.”

We stalk the bugs through the forest until they come to a clearing. 

There were five armored changelings carrying halberds. In the middle, decked in a golden armor was their commander. The changeling soldiers stood as still and silent statues as their golden commander read his map. Valuable intelligence for us to collect upon finishing these vermin. 

I smile to myself as we follow the captain and emerge from the brush to claim our prey. 

[i]This was easy.[/i]

On the captain’s signal, we lunge, our spears coming down to skewer the enemy.

[i]Almost too-[/i] 

Our spears drive home penetrating the changelings. They break apart into dust. My comrades are confused, and I begin to feel the fear spreading out from my chest. It’s cold, it freezes me in my tracks.

[i]It was a trap. [/i]

First, I hear the buzz. It’s louder and closer than I’ve ever heard before. 

[i]It’s them.[/i]

Blue lights appear from the darkness, the moonlight reflecting off their vile eyes.

[i]All of them.[/i]

We turn to retreat, only to find luminous green horns barring any path of escape. 

The buzzing is drowned out by a ravenous hiss. Every hair on my hide stands on end. I knew what was about to come. 

Fear overtakes me, and I become nothing.