[Yomega]
Villhiem and I ran through the streets, often bolting down side alleys in response to the psychic eddies I could feel. We had already saved a couple of ponies and tried to send them to one of the suspected safe zones, but the language barrier made it annoyingly difficult.
Another ripple bounced off of my tail as we neared the end of another alley. "A changeling will be around the left corner." I warned Villhiem.
"Got it." He ran ahead of me with his tail glowing. Turning the corner, he launched a large volley towards the 'ling. I turned the corner myself and pulled the pony it was threatening towards us. The stallion took one look at us and ran screaming down the alley way we had just come from.
"The hospital's that way!" I mentally yelled at him.
"Let him go," Villhiem sighed, "we've already cleared that area out."
"We both know that there's nothing stopping the 'lings from re-occupying the area after we leave." I sighed. "But, yeah, we need to keep moving ahead." We started running down the street, Villhiem following me, with myself following the psychic ripples.
"Where are they going?" Villhiem asked, his eyes on the sky.
I glanced up to see a swarm of changelings flying away from our district. "No clue. Good news for us, though. Look sharp, pair ahead."
We bounded over some rubble and into a square. Two changelings were stalking towards an alleyway a little off to our right. I charged forward, focusing my mind on my teeth. I juked to the side as Villhiem launched his Razor Leaf at one of the 'lings. I jumped onto the back of the other one and sunk my teeth into the back of its neck. I felt the chitin crack, and tasted its tangy blood on my tongue.
I heard wooden creaking coming from the direction of the other changeling. I mostly ignored it as I let go of the one I was holding, focusing my psychic power on my back paws. I spiked the 'ling into the ground as I jumped from it, aiming my mana coated feet at the area's I'd already cracked.
I looked to the one Villhiem was dealing with as mine crumpled to the ground. The ling was covered in vines and roots, some just squeezing it tight, others digging under the chitin. The 'ling was thrashing against its bonds, trying to break free. It's thrashing slowed as I watched until it slumped over.
Villhiem stepped up beside me. "Ya know, I just had a thought."
"Hmm?"
"Yeah." He pointed at me. "You're a psychic type," he pointed at himself, "I'm a grass type. We know that they are at least bug type."
"Uh-huh?"
"Why are the two most vulnerable to bug types paired together?" He tilted his head at me.
I looked around the square. "Would you believe that I actually forgot about that?" I admitted. I nodded at the two changelings that we had taken care of. "If we can catch them off guard, alone or in pairs like we did here, we should be fine."
Villhiem sighed, his ears and tail drooping. "We're about to run into a swarm, aren't we?"
"Watch my body."
"What?"
I quickly stepped out into the astral plane. I saw a centaur-like being made of wood staring at me with concern etched onto his wooden doglike face. His roots anchored him to the earth in four bundles, mimicking canine legs. His woven branch arms were crossed across his chest, an ash cane held in his left hand. His canine face was framed by arching bows that grew from where his ears would be.
I floated around him and took off down a random side street. I picked up no large amounts of changelings or ponies down it. After racing back to the square, I chose another street and repeated the process. I zipped back to my body and down the final street. I rocketed back to my body for the final time.
I settled back into my body, and spent a short time refiguring my body out before opening my eyes. I stood and shook my fur out before looking at Villhiem. "There are 'lings in some of the buildings, but it looks like they're just looting."
"Right, right." Villhiem looked around nervously. "So, where to?"
I felt the ripples hitting my fur and pointed down a street. "That way." We trotted off down the road. I could see Villhiem's ears constantly swiveling, while trying to peer into every window we passed. I couldn't blame him.
I was doing my best to interpret the psychic field as we ran.
A sudden glow lit the sky behind us. We both skidded to a halt, looking over our shoulders to see the remains of a pillar of fire flicker and fade.
"... That was from the Scholar's District." Villhiem nervously observed.
I closed my eyes and concentrated. The ripples that were buffeting me were not coming from that direction. If anything, those that used to come from there seemed to be retreating. "It's nothing." I sighed, my tail twitching. "The others can handle it. C'mon, I feel we are needed this way."
"You 'feel'?" Villhiem asked as we got back to running. "How can you... Right, you're psychic now. What does the force tell you?"
I shot him a glare.
"Hold up!" Villhiem darted over to the side of a building. I quickly joined him and peered around the corner. "What's going on over there?"
There was a small swarm of changelings attacking a narrow, triangle corner building. We watched as bolts of mana flew from the windows into the swarm. A few changelings jumped into the air and tried to fly at the upper windows, but a bright yellow web ensnared them. They fell back into the swarm and lay there in a twitching pile.
"Looks like someponys have managed to hole up there." I glanced over at Villhiem.
He nodded. "I assume we're going in there."
"Eeyup."
"How?"
I glanced around at the rest of the streets, looking for other alleys we could use. I sighed before laying a paw on Villhiem. "I do apologize for this..."
"For -'' Was all he got out before I teleported us. We cracked into being amongst a group of guards many of which whipped their weapons around to point at us. <<- Whaoooow. Little warning, next time!>> Villhiem stumbled into me.
A mare in slightly ornate armor looked us over before turning towards an orange pony with a blond mane. "Summoner? Are these ours?"
"Nope." His eyes briefly glowed as he looked us over. "If they even are summons, they’re not bound to anypony or circles. Another one's trying to fly in." He spoke the last part to a window sill covered with small yellow blobs with little blue dots speckled throughout. They all started glowing and launched another yellow web with a crackle of electricity.
"Can they be trusted?"
Villhiem rolled his eyes and fired a long stream of leaves out the window into the swarm. I sent out a wave of weak psychic energy into the leading edge of the changelings and managed to cloud a few of their minds.
"Looks like it, sir." The summoner shrugged.
I sent out another wave of Confusion as an earth pony guard ran into the room. "Sir, the last of the civilians have been evacuated, we're all that's left in the building." I gave his mind a quick brush and confirmed to myself that he was, in fact, a pony.
"Very good." The obvious leader nodded. "Alright, ponies. We're going to hold this position for as long as we can. The longer these bugs are stuck dealing with us, the more time the civvies have to get away."
I barked as the ponies cheered, sending another Confusion out ahead of the unicorns' mana bolts.
<<How long do you think we can hold out?>> Villhiem asked and he sent a cloud of spores out a window.
I was about to answer when I was hit by a massive wall in the psychic field. It felt like the ripples that had been retreating had died down, then had swelled into a tsunami of mental pressure. I staggered under the intense feeling of dread, anger, and pain.
It had come from the Scholar's District.
<<TAKE COVER!!>> I yelled at Villhiem, wrapping everypony with my mental energy and teleporting them out of the building. I groaned as I slumped to the ground from the mental exertion. Villhiem threw himself under a table as a massive explosion shook the area, the shock wave slamming a wall of dust down the street. Before Villhiem and I could recover, the swarm of changelings had, well, swarmed into the room, binding us in their waxy goop. The wax quickly hardened into an unbreakable cast.
I watched as Villhiem was pulled out from under the table. I tried to pick a changeling up with my mind, but another one leaned down and bit me. I felt something get injected into me through its fangs, and then I was lost amongst the impressions in the city, unable to concentrate enough to break free.