Thread 12: Stories 106-120

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>18
"42"
'???'
~~~

>...Hey, 42?

"Yeah?"

>You ever wonder if this is all just some massive plan of hers?

"Who's?"

>Chrysalis's.

"Oh. Yes, it is most likely a plan to make me eat my helmet in annoyance."

>No no, like, an actual thought out plan. This whole 'us in the Empire' thing.

"...No, 18, I do not think that. Also, a concussion is a serious medical condition, you shouldn't leave it untreated like that. Hallucinations are a common side effect, by the way."

>I'm serious! I'm handling a lot of political stuff, you've got the army's ear, Two is actually the rightful heir to the throne by now, and she is openly walking around the Empire nowadays undisturbed. You ever wonder if this WASN'T just a shocking coincidence, and she actually planned to put us in key locations for a takeover?

"...Huh... Maybe-"

*SLAM!*

'THIS IS SUCH BULLSHIT!'

"Majesty, what is the matter?"

'They went down to FOUR movies for ten bits! It used to be five! The two-bits-per-movie ratio has been RUINED! THOSE BASTARDS!'

>So, what's in the bag?

'What, weren't you listening? Movies.'

"I thought they were bastards?"

'Well, yeah, didn't mean I wasn't going to buy them anyway, just saying.'

"Oh... did you want me to do something about it?"

'Nah, I'll just make sure they're the first to die when I become god-queen of the universe. Later!'

"..."

>...I stand corrected, and will not bring it up again.

"A wise choice."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Celestia"
'Luna'

---

"Luna? What's this?"

'What is what, sister?'

"This, right here, in the paper."

'It appears to be... a report on fillies and colts becoming scared of... night-mare?'

"Oh come off it, like it's not you going around into dreams and scaring them."

'How dare thee! We hath not invaded any child's dreams unless they requested mine presence!'

"It says here the description was 'A tall dark alicorn wearing scary clothing.' Sound like anyone we know? Hm?"

'We did not-- Oh. Oh that wench.'

"What?"

'Her.'

"Her? Who's he-- Oh."

'Caught mine line of thought?'

"Yes. Yes I have."

"CHRYSALIS!"
'CHRYSALIS!'
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Mane-Iac
"Chrysalis"
'???'
~~~~~

>So then I said AHAHAHAH! FOOOOOLISH- no, damn it! I did not say that! I thanked him for the directions.

"Hah! Every minute with you is a comedy in motion, I swear."

>HARK! SADDLE RAGER IS HERE! WE MUST- Damn it stop!

"Hm? Oh, hey, butterass... And she has a chainsaw-"

'I FUCKING HATE YOU ALLLLLLLL!'

>...We're SURE that's not Saddle Rager, right?

"Ehhh, does that character destroy buildings?"

>Not deliberately.

'I'll cut you to pieces, feast on your entrails, DAMN YOU TO THE FIERY PITS! How DARE you sell flowers! THE BEES NEED THOSE FLOWERS! NOT FOR YOU! THE BEEEEES!'

"Well, she's doing it deliberately."

>...W-wait... are you saying... that I can fight Saddle Rager... and be the GOOD GUY?

"Looks like it."

>...Hah... haha... Mwahaha...MWHAAH... MWHAHAAHAHAHA! AAAAHHAHAHAHAHAAA! AAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA! THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY OF MY LIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!

"Awww, go get her champ!"

'And just who the FUCK do you think you a-HEY!'

>DIE SADDLE RAGER! DIIIIIIIIIIIEEEE!

"I'm glad she's enjoying herself."

>EEEEHEHEHEH!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Batmom
“Dadling”
_______

“BLAAAAAARGH!”

>Oh come on! It’s not THAT bad!... is it?

“GWAAAAARGH!”

>Okay, now you’re just showing off some special Changeling vomiting power, aren’t you? Well, I’m not going to fall for it, mister.

The soon-to-be father Changeling lifted his head from the toilet he was currently hunched over, his usual black chitinous face tinged green.

“P-please… babe, please… if you care for me y-you’ll throw that away….”

>Noooo-uh! I neeeed this!

“BLEEEEEGH!”

>Oh stop being such a drama llama. They’re not bad! In fact, quite the opposite, they’re delicious!

“Ulp… I don’t see how p-pickles and… and- I can’t even say it….”

>Pickles and mustard. I’ve just got this craving for all things pickle and mustard. Oh, oh, when you’re through destroying the toilet, can you go get me some spicy mustard to try?

“BLAAAARGH!”

>Where's the pregnancy book at? Where is that stupid- ah, here it is... Look, I knew it! I'm supposed to be the one with morning sickness! Don’t you steal that away from me!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Luna
"77"

The dreamscape of the one-eyed changeling ha changed since the last time Princess Luna had walked it. Gone was the rocky plateau where 77 had brainstormed the possible viable threats to Equestria, gone was the forest clearing he had fought myriad beasts in his mind.

Instead it was blackness, gridded with lines of cobalt blue like a great net was stretched across the night sky. In the center of it all was a platform where lights and colors seemed to flash in a chaotic blur. Luna alighted on the platform and took a second to process what was going on.

77 sat in the center of it all, forehooves waving and sorting through floating images, his one eyes narrowed in determination.

"Your majesty, a pleasure as always. Pardon my lack of proper manners, I am engaging in...a personal project."

>77, what...IS all this?

"I co-opted a bit of Princess Sparkle's simulation design and put it to my own use. This is my mind, I'm running something of a diagnostic, sorting through memories, attempting to predict where prospective paths may lead."

>We see, what exactly brought this on?

"In my battle with 42, I died."

>So we heard.

"The system failure of my body was momentary and yet my mind treated it as real and let something slip in the last moments I had before the simulation ended."

>And that was?

77 looked away from the images and into Luna's eyes.

"I don't want to die like this."

Luna blinked, then furrowed her brow.

>Fret not, 77, I doubt 42 would need real cause to simply kill you.

77 shook his head.

"No, the death my mind spoke out against was the death of a warrior. There is a part of me that does not seek to fall in battle, and thus in the span of a few milliseconds a debate raged within my mind, on the one side..."

77 flicked a foreleg, bringing up images of himself charging into battle, stabbing and slashing ill-defined shadowy enemies with his knife, barking orders to a group of cowering guards, bowing low before his Queen while a city burned in the background.

"Glory, ferocity, loyalty to my hive and queen. On the other..."

Another swipe saw 77 trotting down a forest trail, reading a book beneath a tree, using his knife to cut away weeds in a garden, and staring across a table at Miss Cheerilee, a smile on his face.

"Peace, tranquility, contentment...I kept quiet about what happened, I did not wish to upset the festivities, but still my mind raced as both sides presented their points."

>And that's why you're here? To make your decision?

"Yes...there was one singular image that cut away all arguments for continuing my warlike ways, to make me forsake the Queen and all I stand for...I must find it again."

>Perhaps...we can help?

"Another set of eyes would be welcome your majesty, I have doubts this quest will be completed within a night."

>Think nothing of it, simply show us how to operate this odd device and we shall assist.

77 gave her instructions on how to work his mental database, and soon the Changeling Warrior and the Moon Goddess were working together in search of 77's vision of a peaceful future...
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>SA
"Chrysalis"
'Cadence'
-18-
[42]
{Celestia}
~~~~

>This was a mistake.

"WHYYYYY!?"

'I'M NOT LOOKING I'M NOT LOOKING!'

-They made more than one!? WHY WOULD THEY MAKE MORE THAN ONE OF THESE MOVIES!?-

[It's almost the end it's almost the end it's almost the end...]

{What? I love this series!...sort of. Three was pretty meh, and four was... eeehhhhh...}

[THEY MADE *FOUR*!?]

"THOSE BASTARDS!"

>Hey, at least this one has the robots.

"ROBOTS!? Why the hell would they need a..."

'W-what is that!?'

-There is a big, big thumping sound and I am afraid!-

{What, you don't know about the big boss? Oooo, you are in for a treat!}

[H-heeere it comes...]

'I-it's...'

-IT'S...-

[...OH FUCK IT'S-]

"AUNTIE CHITANIA!?"

[...not what I was going to say.]

>What was that?

"HOLY SHIT! That looks EXACTLY like Auntie Chitania!"

-You KNEW someone that looked like that!?-

"Hey! Don't you be knocking on Chitania the Titan! She used to let me sit on her lap and tell me all about the good old days. Oh, if you could see the sparkle in her eye as she talked about the villages she crushed beneath her hooves... that's not an expression, she actually crushed them. She was a STRONG bitch. Good times, good times..."

{...Uh oh.}

"Uh oh? Why uh oh... no... no you bitch get away. Get away! GET AWAY FROM HER YOU BITCH! NO! AUNTIE NOOOOOO!"

>It's just a movie, that's all special effects, you don't have to crush my internal organs like this. It's fake.

"AUNTIE NOOOOOOOO!"

>Too late for that? It feels like it's too late for that.

"YOU BITCH! YOU BLEW IT UP! YOU BLEW IT ALL UUUUP! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL TO HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLL!"

>There there...

'Oh wow.'

-Yeah, now I feel bad.-

[Sorry for your loss, my Queen.]

{...You're not actually upset are you? You just wanted to snuggle with Shiny some more.}

"...You can't prove that."

>Oh for the love of...

{...Who's ready for the third one?}

"'-[NO!]-"'
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>77
"PotatoJack"
~~~~
>PotatoJack, may I ask you a question?

"Mph!"

>About your fight with the Princess, when you... Died, how did you feel?

PotatoJack took her meal from her mouth, set it aside

"Well, it went something like..."

She takes a deep breath

"MOTHERFUCKINGSONOFABITCHTHISFUCKINGHURTS!RATSHITBADGERCUNTKILLMENOWBUTI'MALREADYDEADSOWHYWON'TTHEHURTINGSTOOOOOOOOP?!"

>...

"Answer your question?"

>It was... Enlightening. Thank you very much.

PotaoJack replaces her food in her mouth

"Nphmph!"
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>32
-Flim-
~Flam~
~~~~~
~Can you believe it, brother mine?~
-Not hardly!-
~Throw a perpetually partying ponypalooza in with us as punishment...~
-Then hasten him to hoof it, just as we started to hale hearing him with hearty huzzahs!-
~Devious!~
-As cunning as it is tortuous!-

>Is it a tumor? Some sort of psychic mind-link?

~It's not a tumor!~
-What's not a tumor, Flam?-
~No clue what it is, Flim, but I know it's not a tumor!~
-Oh it's not, say we, a tumor---
~That's been keeping us in good humor--~
-We can't surmise what it might be-
~but we know instinctually~
-~ That it's definitely noooot a tumoooooor! ~-
-and that's a wrap!-
~We'll add it to our medical record!~
-Right before Intestinal Fortitude!-
~Our body of work is growing all the time, brother!~

>... how the denizens of Equestria have put up with you this long is a mystery that may never be solved.

-...-
~...~
-Sorry, bugaboo, we're just trying to amuse ourselves.-
~Quite right, a bit of jaunty tune to pass the time is better than sullen silence!~
-Wouldn't be half as bad if you'd join in.-
~You could you know, my brother here does have a point!~

>What, you want me to sing with you? Haha, like what? "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen...?"

-Noboooody knows-
~Noboooody knows but Luna!~

>No, no, I'm sorrry. That's just a bit too foolish, I think.

~Come on, pal, that wasn't too bad! Bit of a bass in you, is there?~
-Murky and rough, but clear, it's a good tone!-

>Thank you, but really. No.

~- Suit yourself! -~
-How... can... there... be...-
~Any sin in sincere?~
~- Where-is-the-good-in good-byyyyyyye...? -~

>...

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>42
"Chrysalis"
[Various]
~~~~

>My Queen? Shining Armor is worried, you walked into this room an hour ago and-HOLY FUCK!

"Hey, 42! What's up?"

>M-my Queen.. are you okay?

"In the general sense or right at this moment?"

>Both, preferably.

"Well in the general sense, yeah. I'm pretty good. Got a new movie I'm super interested in, Shiny hasn't kicked me out of his bed for at least a week now, and the marchmalleys Two shared with me are just divine."

>At this moment?

"At this moment, could be better. I have no right eye, my spine has holes in it, most of my left wing has been bitten off, I'm pretty sure my back leg is entirely gone, and my horn may was either punched off, or just mostly punched off. Not to worry, though, this'll alllll go away when the magic room shuts off."

[Durrr...]

"They'll go away too."

[Ah wanna eat ah pie...]

"Magic room! A pie for that one!... thank you magic room!"

>My Queen, what...

"Oh! I wanted to have an old chat with some of the Queens of the past. They all turned on me and tried to kill me pretty quickly. Instantly, if I'm being precise."

[The walls shoooo pretty...]

"So, I just kept reducing their intelligence again and again to make them more docile, but by the time they finally got to 'don't want to kill me' levels, they're at 'soil themselves' levels as well."

>Did you learn anything useful?

"I found out why we never saved any of these assholes when they kept dying, but a part of me always knew that."

>Huh... so, that's what they looked like.

"Mostly. My memory is a little fuzzy for some of them. I think I mostly blocked out what Sciderella looked like, which is why she's not here."

>Which one... which one is your mother?

"Hm? Why the hell would I bring her back? Nothing really left to say with her."

>Oh. I was just kind of curious.

"Heh. Be careful with that! It'll get your leg ripped off and about a pint and a half lower on blood than you need to be to survive."

[Yoooouuuu....]

"Whoops! Looks like they've recognized me despite having the intelligence of a toddler. Again."

[DIIIIE!]

"MAGIC ROOM OFF!"

The world around her shimmered and vanished in a burst of light, leaving only the now untouched Queen and her soldier.

"Well, that was a bust."

>I'm sorry your plan did not succeed.

"Didn't succeed? That was fun as fuck! I'm going to do it again later. Talk about a rush, WOO!"

>Ah. Can I join?

"Ehhh, better not. Don't want you seeing all of my techniques. Gotta have at least some surprises."

>Oh. Of course, Majesty.

"...42?"

>Yes?

"Don't try to meet your heroes. You'll probably be sad at what you find."

>Because they won't live up to it?

"Nah. You might not live up to them. Come, I wish for an ice cream sundae, and you have been chosen to make it for me! You must be so honored."

>...Of course, Highness. What valued warrior doesn't want to make a frozen treat so her Queen's ass can grow ever fatter?

"Did you just get snippy with me?"

>Er, well, no, I-"

"HAH! Good one, 42. Extra sprinkles and fudge, by the way."

>Of course, my Queen.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Twilight
"10"
{BBB}
~~~

>Just out of curiosity, why'd you wait so long to get him examined?

"Cause Applejack didn't order me ta' do it till yesterday?"

>Why yesterday?

{BZZT! THERE WAS A SMALL ISSUE REGARDING A FELLOW PRINCESS!}

"Hey, I'll have you know he probably TOTALLY knew that Princess Fluttershy was a fake when he shot her. Probably. Most likely. At least 40-60 odds mostly in his favor."

>...Uh-huh. Well, not really much to say, a lot of these weapons are really half-heartedly welded on his bolts are made of cheap material that could come apart at any moment, and most of his programming looks like it came from a self help book poorly translated from another language.

"Soooo... clean bill o' health? Glad to hear it!"

{ERROR! HER TONE DID NOT INDICATE THE CONSENSUS YOU HAVE REACHED!}

>How have you not collapsed yet?

"He only did that twice! Juuust took a bit of gum and he was back on his metal hooves!"

>The fact I am honestly trying to figure out which gum you placed in here and which are just cheap epoxy worries me, I'll be straight with you.

"Look, he's got a couple loose bolts, wires, and lines of reasoning. But damn it, he's my camera pony and I'm gonna stick with him!"

>I think you might need to just hand him over so I can scrap-

{INQUIRY!}

>...Yes?

{AM I DANGEROUS?}

>Please tell me you're joking.

{NEGATIVE! I AM INQUIRING IF MY DANGER LEVEL IS ABOVE THE COMMON SAFETY PARAMETER ALLOWED BY YOUR ADMINISTRATION, WHEREIN EXCEEDING THIS WILL PLACE OTHERS IN DIRECT HARM?}

"...Don't look at me, I don't know what he said?"

>...

"...Fine, he wants to know if he's gonna hurt someone."

>It's very possible, yes.

{...BZZT! ERROR! APPLE 10, I AM HAVING A SLIGHT MALFUNCTION WITH MY LEFT GYRO!}

"Oh! I'll get-"

{NEGATIVE! IT WILL TAKE AT LEAST A DAY TO REPAIR. I WILL STAY HERE FOR THE DURATION OF THAT DAY TO HAVE IT REPAIRED. BE UNCONCERNED, I AM SURE NO FURTHER MALFUNCTIONS WILL OCCUR! AND IF THEY SHOULD, THE FALSE PRINCESS USURPER IS HERE TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF OTHERS!}

"...No."

{DO NOT FEAR, I WILL RETURN SHORT-}

"NO."

{...}

"You ain't gonna scrap him."

>What?

"Don't act like I'm stupid! I'm not!... mostly. He's just saying that so I'll walk away and you can just smash him and replace him with someone else, like I won't even notice!"

>Are... are you serious?

{ERROR! FALSHOOD DETECTED! DEPLOYING SLEEPING GAS!}

His cannon on his shoulder only popped slightly, and let out a wisp of smoke.

{DARN}

*CLANG!*

"OW!*

{ERROR! STEEL BEATS HOOF!}

"I'M SLAPPIN' YOU! You're being a dumb robot for thinkin' I'm going to leave you behind like that! We're leavin' together, period! Reporters stick together, no matter how scary the story gets! GOT IT!?"

{...PROCESSED SUCCESSFULLY.}

Curious, Twilight looked him over.

>I can upgrade him, if you want. New metal plating, new weapons, fix his programming-

"Can ya' just make it so he won't fall apart?"

>I can do more.

"Why would you need to?"

>...Damn, that look would give Two pause. Alright, I'll just make basic fixes.

"Thank's Princess! Yer' best princess, don't care what everyone says."

>Everyone?

"Ya' hear that, BBB? We're gonna be reportin' again in no time!"

{ELATION DETECTED!}

>Would you mind coming back with him sometime? There's... something weird about him.

"Sure! Can I interview ya' next time we come?"

>That sounds fair, I guess.

"YAY! I'm going to get the best story EVER!"

Just from the look on her face alone, Twilight decided that really, she couldn't disagree with that.

{...THAT CREATURE IN THE TUBE JUST MOVED! EXTERMINATE!}

"BBB NO!"

...for the most part.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rare it was for Chrysalis to be so pensive, doubly so without any caffeine. She sat in Twilight's simulator, playing back the same memory again, and again, and again.

A dying people.

A withering hive.

A queen who stakes the future, everything, one her daughter.

She didn't understand any of this then, but with hindsight and harsh words still haunting the back of her mind, they took on new meaning.

She watched a princess ascend to queenhood, and the dying, former queen smile, certain her choice was right.

"Chrysalis... I know you will be the one to lead us away from our self-destruction... The one who will make sense of this madness... Make all this suffering mean something..."

Rare it was for Chrysalis to be so pensive, doubly so without any caffeine. She sat in Twilight's simulator, playing back the same memory again, and again, and again.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>SA
"Celestia"
'Chrysalis'
~~~~

>This is the dumbest idea you've ever had, full stop no question.

"Harsh!"

>Celestia? Celly with her ass like jelly? I'm being blunt here. This is straight up stupid.

'Eeeh, far be it for me to show favoritism or anything, but yeah. This is going to end in tears and or stabbings if we go through with it.'

>MINIMUM one of us gets arrested.

'And that's assuming we all take drugs or something and are totally lax and calm while this is going on.'

"It's not THAT bad."

>It is.

'Totally is.'

"It's just a board game!"

>It's Monopony. This game has caused more assault charges than a hocky game giving out free beer.

'Shiny almost shot me last time we played.'

>She DID shoot me.

'And look at my face, you see regret? Regret free, that's me.'

"...Damn, okay. In hindsight, three separate rulers trying to play a game where the goal is to acquire more land and tax it efficiently may have some built in issues for those involved."

'We'd essentially have to make this game about doing something besides getting money.'

>What the hell are we supposed to barter with in Monopony besides money? And Chrysalis you shut your mouth right now. Don't bother with the look, we ALL know what you were going to say.

'...It was going to be sex-'

"WE KNOW!... Wait! I've got it!"

'Sex?'

"No, but you're close. Okay, follow me on this... the way to make this game totally ridiculous so NOBODY could take it seriously... strip Monopony."

>...Fine.

'Wait, really?'

>She doesn't bring up strip 'insert thing here' unless she's had a week from hell.

"That I have."

>So I might as well roll with it.

'BETRAYAL! I never get strip stuff!'

>Except for right now, you mean. And the only reason you are even invited is because I know your Citizens in the ballroom are driving you up a wall. Literally.

'...So, raid Cadence's closet?'

"Raid we shall."

>Dibs on the 95 dress.

"..."

>...It has layers.

"Oooh, headstart to Shiny!"

'YOU STOP IT WITH THE NUMBER SHIT!'
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Cadence
"SA"
~~~~

>HOW!?

Her husband did not answer her. He simply took a deep breath, and very slowly surveyed all the damage ponyville(The town they had finally ended up in) had sustained. After a solid ten minutes of pondering the smashed houses, roads painted in garish houses, and new hotel placed just on the other side of the railroad tracks, he simply sighed, re-adjusted the thong he was wearing, and shrugged.

Sadly, not even that bit of response could be gathered from the Changeling Queen with her head rammed at least two feet into the ground in the center of town, nor the white Alicorn ruler of Equestria as she hung from the clocktower in the center of town by her teeth.

"If it makes you feel any better, the fact I'm still wearing this means I technically won. You can have them back now."

With enough force to render her advanced, magically enhanced endurance a complete non-issue, she facehoofed so hard the white stallion would forever swear he heard bones break.

He at least had the courteous to catch his unconscious wife before she hit dirt. With one last breath of air, he stood up, put on his best regal face, and prepared to start blaming everything on Celestia.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>77
"Twilight"
~~~~
>Well, Princess, what do you have for me today.

"Something to compliment your fighting style a bit more."

>Oh?

Twilight drops The Big Book of Illusion Spells

>I might not be able to use this...

"You can shapeshift right?"

>Not that well-

"doesn't matter, I want you to study this book, in theory, changeling shapeshifting is still an extension of elaborate illusion magic. if you can learn to do more than that, even just a little, it'll make these much more useful to you."

Twilight then drops a bunch of grenades.

>And these are?

"I call them 'nightmare bombs', they're loaded with mild to moderate hallucinogenic gases."

>Combine them with even fairly simple illusions... and I could have even 42 soiling herself.

"Yep."

>... Princess, if you keep this up, you might just shift my loyalties from the Hive.

"Not my intent, but it would be a nice boon."

>you know I'm joking though, right?

"Yep, take'em anyway."

NON CANON
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Applejack
"Celestia"
[??]
-??-
{??}
~~~~

Normally, the great, powerful Alicorn who presided at the top of the court of Equestria was a beacon of culture, regal grace, and poise.

Currently, she was stumbling through the hallway like a drunken and concussed fish. Making it very hard for her current company to get a word in.

>...Tia?

"Mmmnmm..."

>Heeey, Celly. Look, Ah' know ya' ain't slept in a while.

"It was Tuesday, Jackapple."

>Right, and today is Wednesday.

"Mmmnn..."

>...Ah' also do realze ya'll are talkin' about the Tuesday before last.

"MmM!"

>The Tuesday BEFORE the Tuesday before last, Ah' meant. But, uh, ya' might not wanna head ta bed just yet.

A pair of blank, emotionless, baggy eyes suddenly burned into her.

>Now don't you look at me like that! Ah' didn't do it!... Luna did. Accidentally.

"...Did... what..."

>...

She did not open her door, she would not take those last few steps to reach said doors at all, she simply turned to the wall, and made that wall not a wall. Where once was wall now is only crumbled bits upon the floor.

It was dark in her hallowed room, her sanctuary from the world that hated her so, even if they didn't outright say it, but thankfully the fire provided enough illumination to show her beds current state. How fortuitous, actually, that the fire would be so close to said place of rest. Every inch was plainly visible.

Every inch not on fire, that is.

>Now, we kinda' cut back on the spare rooms, a lot. Ah'd offer ya' mah' bed, but me an Rar' have ta' share that already thanks ta' hers getting crushed. Still, we do have a couch in the movie hall! It's pretty... well, you should probably schedule a chiropractor appointment now, not gonna lie. Still, better than the floor!...Barely.

The thousand year ruler of the Equestrian kingdom did not respond, at least not verbally. Her implied speech was quite booming, in fact. Wall-shatteringly booming, you could say.

Non-magical wall shatteringly booming, to be precise.

Applejack flinched every time she just pushed past the barrier of the wall as if it were made of gram cracker, but held her tongue. At least until she reached the portal that lead to a certain location.

>Now, sug' it's two in the mornin'. Don't you be botherin' them this early-

The dead, empty eyes that still inexplicably held so much hate stopped that dead in it's tracks.

>...Have fun!

She left the horrified orange princess behind, appearing in the shared bedroom of Shining Armor and Cadence, and currently Chrysalis. Normally, she would expect to find the other two Changelings there with them, but it seemed tonight was late for more than just her.

The three jolted awake, the loud crackle of the portal opening more than enough to rock everyone from their slumber.

[Celestia!? Wha- what's wrong!? You look awful!]

-Is something happening at Canterlot?-

{It's two in the goddamn-}

Golden magic ignited and all three royals were violently flung from the bed. Undisturbed by their shocked cries, the princess walked right up to the edge, and flopped down hard on the mattress.

The three stared dumbfounded as she tossed, turned, found a positions she liked, tossed and turned again, kicked off all the covers, tossed and turned again, and then sparked her horn with an absolutely brilliant golden magic.

Applejack Two's sleep ridden face scrunched as she blinked in confusion to her new location, before shrugging and allowing the tall white princess to bring her closer in a tight hug. Satisfied, the monarch stopped moving, and began to softly snore.

[...Ooookay.]

-Can we... can we go back on now?-

"MMMnmhmMHnnmsm..."

{That wasn't a no, buuuut...}

[You know, we have spare beds you can use-]

"NNNNMNMNNN!"

[Alright! Whatever. Just... just be careful everyone, she might snap.]

-...You get the back. I want Two between me and her.-

{I'm going behind Shiny.}

[Betrayers, all of you.]

{You're the one with a shield tattooed on your ass.}

-She has a point.-

[Every word like a knife.]

As delicate as could be, they climbed back into their own bed, which it seemed had now been claimed in the name of Equestria, and none argued it.

In the middle of this uneasy rest, Celestia just smiled, snuggled Two a little harder, and drifted off with a massive smile on her face.

It was the best sleep she'd had in centuries.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________