Interlude

>Of course, nothing lasts forever
>And, about a week before the invasion will inevitably come, the largest party in history ends
>All participants go back to their old nation, to gear themselves for the coming war
>You and Chrysalis somehow find yourselves on a castle balcony
>Laying on the hard marble
>Staring at the stars
>The alicorns surround you
>You can't really remember how you got there
>You're exhausted, and, to be honest, scared as fuck
>You know that your army is sizable
>But you had your doubts that it would be big enough
>You hear Chrysalis speak behind you
>"You know..."
>You roll over to look at her
>She keeps staring upwards
>"I wish this could have happened earlier."
"What, a giant orgy?"
>"No. Just... This."
>She gestures around herself
>"Not fighting your nation. Not disguising myself. Just... Being still and peaceful."
>You hear a rustling to your left
>Celestia's voice is very sot
>"Things could have been different."
"Well."
>You sit up
"They still can be."
>You notice both rulers' eyes drifting towards you
"We're going to win this, and, after that, why should anything go back to how it was? I mean... Dragons and Changlings and Ponies and Griffons, together. It seems to work out well."
>"I suppose, but the barriers of species are not easily broken. Your world, of course, wouldn't have that problem."
>You snort
"Not species, but believe me, we had problems."
>"And what of your world, Anonymous?"
>You glance at Luna, who's staring at the moon
>"I never wanted to pry. Well, I did, but my sister told me not to."
>She rolls her eyes
>"Still, though, you never did mention what it was like. We have the basics, of course, but almost none of your history, or culture."
>You shrug
"We went through a lot of bad shit, I think. Lots of death and war, among ourselves. Hell, we became masters of it. We had bombs that could destroy entire cities"
>"Would be nice to have those now."
"Yeah. But, even with the death, there was good stuff."
"Great stuff..."
>You remember old friends
>Old family
>Things you used to enjoy
>Strange, how quickly they had left your life
"I miss it, sometimes."
>"I'm sure you'd rather be there than here."
"I can't decide. But I don't think so. I mean... You guys are here."
>You shrug
"Even if there is an invasion force about to try and destroy the world."
>"Speaking of which"
>Celestia rolls onto her stomach and stands up
>You rise with her
>"What is your invasion plan?"
"Send the swarms at each other, while we take out the leaders."
>"I guessed as much."
"Yeah. Use magic, and some of my own special stuff against them."
>"Special stuff?"
"Yeah. I'm planning on bringing a little taste of humanity's war capabilities here. I think I should be able to make what I want with magic."
>Okay, so what you wanted really wasn't the most elegant weapon
>Or iconic
>Or, in most cases, the most useful
>But, when facing off against a giant swarm, accuracy didn't matter for fuck-all
>You needed stopping power
>So a nice enchanted twelve-gauge sounded ideal
>That could come later, though
"Look. I'm tired as fuck. Do you have a place to sleep?"
>"I share the fatigue. My own bed is rather large. I suppose it could fit the five of us."
>Chrysalis looks, then lifts herself into a standing position
>"You would-"
>"I hatched so many of your Changelings I couldn't even count them. We're past the part where sleeping together is strange. Especially non-sexually."
>She had a point
>You all walk inside and pile down
>Tomorrow was going to be full of drills
>Battle plans
>War meetings
>But, for now, you could feel the warmth of your friends beside you
>And you were so tired
>Your eyes drift shut
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
>"TRAITOR!"
>You put a hand on the ground
>Not that there's ground beneath you
>No, this is a dream. Somehow, you instantly know that.
>But it's more vivid, clear
>Almost like being awake
>"YOU BETRAY US!"
>You jump upwards, landing on your feet with ease
>Gravity doesn't exist here, after all
>You survey the scene
>Chrysalis is next to you
>She's standing tall already, snarling
>In front of her, there's a Changeling
>A royal Changeling
>His jaw is more square, and his voice is much deeper, so you can instantly tell he's male
>He's a few steps in front of another group of royals, standing in semi-circle around you
>All of whom look extremely angry
>They vary slightly in height. Chrysalis is about average, but you're a few inches taller than the tallest of them
>You instinctively realize what this is
>You can't really put words to it, but it's not just a dream
>It's important
>Rare
>Those aren't just dream images
>They're the minds of the other royals
>Brought together by the hivemind
>"NOT ONLY DO YOU CREATE A HALF-BREED, BUT YOU NEGLECT YOUR SACRED DUTY TO THE HIVE AND WORK WITH THOSE-- THOSE ANIMALS!"
>He strikes her with a hoof
>She doesn't flinch
"Hey, buddy."
>All the eyes in the room instantly lock on you
>You can practically feel their green glow
"You should lay off."
>A female from the back speaks
>She has a light British accent
>It's almost funny, really
>"He is here?"
"I'm a king. I thought we established this."
>Another voice
>Male
>Sounds almost Italian
>"I did not know that Half-Breeds would be brought to a royal council."
>So that's what it's called
>"It doesn't matter."
>The male in front of you snarls, turning back to Chrysalis
>"He is the reason for this, after all. How many eggs did he fuck in you, whore?"
"Oh, quite a few. Enough to kick your shitty-ass hive's ass several hundred thousand times over."
>The king turns to you, still angry
>He has his teeth clench and his lips upturned slightly
>You suppose that was supposed to intimidate you
"And, really, whore? I'm pretty sure that you fucked as many eggs as you could into your partner. Of course, the number your weak-ass sperm could make is orders of magnitude smaller than mine, but I'm sure you tried your hardest."
"You have no idea what is going on, ape."
"Humanling, not an ape. And I'm pretty sure that you're trying to intimate us into joining you."
>"You shall join us."
"Look, okay."
>You step forward, just in front of him
>He turns around to face you
"This is all really fucking cute. You have the whole gang together. So I'm sure that you have some threats, right? Well, look. How about we save time and you just tell us what you're going to do. Because I know you didn't bring us here to try and harm us. I mean, if anything can be harmed at this little 'royal council', it'd be you guys. I mean, both me and Chrys are currently stuffed full of love, so taking you guys out wouldn't even be hard."
>"No physical harm may come to members of the council. You guessed that much, ape."
"Okay. So just threaten us and get it fucking over with."
>"We shall drain them."
>You raise an eyebrow
"Who?"
>"Them. All those you call friends shall have the life sucked out of them. Their souls will digest in our gullets. And you, too, half-breed. Chrysalis shall be forced to watch the proceedings."
>You smirk
>Draining was a magical act, as far as you were aware
>So they had another thing coming
"So then you drain her after making her watch, right?"
>"We would, were it possible. But, alas, a Changeling royal cannot be drained. I suppose we shall have to just use her as a breeding slut until she dies."
"Yeah, she already had all that shit figured out, asshole, and she decided to side with the Equestrians anyway. So why are you just holding this now?"
>He takes a small step towards you, barring his teeth again
>He's trying to scare you
>But you have to look down to see him, so the effect is lost
>"It is traditional to give the enemy a final warning before you destroy them."
"Okay. So we got warned. How does that matter?"
>"We are about to destroy you."
>What does he...
>You instantly realize what's happening
>As your eyes widen, a smile forms on his face
"Chrys! We have to wake up, NOW!"
>You try to jerk yourself awake
>You mostly just swing your head around like an idiot
>It works, though, and your eyes fly open
"Get up, get up!"
>You shake Celestia rapidly next to you with a hand
>Her eyes fly open
>"Wha-"
"Our timing was fucked! They're attacking now!"
>"How do you-"
"They just spent time distracting us in a dream! Get up! Get up!"
>You jump out of bed
>She quickly follows, her horn already lighting up
>Within seconds, the sun is centered in the sky
>"Sister? What do you-"
>You wave Luna off
"They're already on their fucking way! Mobilize everybody! We need this now!"
>You hear Chrysalis touching down beside you, her wings buzzing softly
>"I shall get the drones. You help defend the city."
>Her horn lights up, and, with a flash of light, she's gone
"Okay. Okay, shit!"
>You set your wings to work, hovering off the ground
>You fly high into the sky, trying to get a better view
>You hear the beating of Alicorn wings behind you
"Where..."
>You can see windows opening throughout Canterlot, as confused ponies try to figure out why it's suddenly the middle of the day
>You see guards already snapping into position
>But, other than that, you can't see anything
>No Changeling swarmcloud
>No death or destruction
>Just clear, sunny skies
"If... If we were asleep, then..."
>Holy shit
>You're a fucking moron
>You swoop down to where Celestia and Luna are
"They're not ready yet. They will be, soon. They're no doubt moving into position now."
>"How do you know this?"
>You explain the dream
"So I thought that they were about to get us, but... I mean, Jesus, what a fucking terrible surprise attack. Maybe he was actually doing it out of some misguided sense at honor."
>Celestia shrugs
>The motion looks funny in the air
>"I suppose."
"Still."
>You turn, to face the horizon
>"It won't be long."