Thread 37: Stories 31-45

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>13
"55"
~~~

>Awwww....

"What's the matter?"

>It's just, I wanted to ask our Queen something, but she's over there.

"..."

>...

"...OH! I SEE THE PROBLEM! We need to go, get a pony who can warp reality, and make over there over here! If over here is over there then over here would be... no, wait, we would need to be over there so when over there became over here we didn't end up going over there because if we're over here when over there becomes over here we'd go over there instead."

>...

"..."

>...

"...Your, uh, your nose is bleeding..."

>Huh... I just meant it would be rude not to wait till she's done eating.

"Ohhhh... yeah, that seems like it would take way less effort."

>Little bit.
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>Flash Sentry
"Fizzle"
'Cosplayer 1'
[Cosplayer 2]

"So if we want to get to the Tilt-a-Hurl to sabotage it into a Tilt-a-Twirl, we need to make a quick pass by the Tutu-Tourney-Tent, the Radicool-Robusting-Wrenches-and-Wiring store....and that big coliseum thing"

>And there's a "Cosplay Contest" wrapping up over there? You know I do admire that you of all people are making some headway into planning your attacks, but how are we meant to pass through THAT crowd and not be spotte-[COMPROMISED TO MURDER]-....or maybe that?

"Yo, it's a Cosplay Contest, these nerds don't give a shit who they see, it's all meant to be made up, we can blend right in!"

>...My machinations weren't just "made up", there's a lot more to it than that you-

"Whatever, I'm going through"

>No WAIT!-

"...See? No-one's called security or anything, we'll be fine, cool your...wiring or whatever"

>I just think that it's a bad idea to be see-

'Anyone order a chainsaw-wielding lunatic?...snrkkk'

>SHIT RUN!-

"Wai-"

[A chainsaw? You have got to be kidding me, pal. No seriously he's got a weird walking gate and everything, that dude is dedicated]

"Hey what are...what are you guys talking about?"

'That Scrape cosplayer you're with! He's got the most real to the game chainsawhoof I've seen! Do you, like, work for Killing Barn or something?'

>Fizzlegoddamnityou'veblowourcoverwehavetogoletgoOFMYTAIL

"...Uh yeah! Totes a Scrape cosplayer...he's uhh really into it!"

[Shame about the mane and coat colour, that's like...killing it for me]

>C-coat colour? I-they! -[ACTIVATING TAUNT SEQUENCE] What the FUCK did you just say to me you little bit-

"Hehe okay..."Mike" I think we should go, sorry about this, dudes"

'He...he really is something isn't he?

>-op sniper in the entire Equestrian armed forces! You are nothing to m-[SHUTTING DOOooown-

[...Lodse moni?]

'ELL OH DEE ESS OF EE EMM OH EN EE-'

"Huh...so punching him in the gut hard enough does act as an off switch...shit, gotta remember that"
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>Rarity
“Spike”
'AJ'
[Twilight]
{Celly}
(???)
~???~
=???=
~~~~~

>Do you think they serve alcohol here?

“...Are... are you serious?”

>I am.

“No, Rar, I don't think that Pinkie Pie's family friendly theme park based around the ideas of crazy fun and wacky antics would serve out alcohol.'

>...I'm going to ask anyway.

“You know what? You do that.”

[Hey, I just thought of something. If we're all here... who's watching Arana?]

>”...Fuck.”

'Ah' left 'er with security.'

>GAH!

“She speaks!”

'Ah'm not bein' that bad...'

{You absolutely are.}

[Well, I'll have to get him immunized too.]

“Immuwhosawhatnow?”

[Immunized. From this? The mysterious red substance? Ringing a bell?]

>How can you do that? I thought you didn't know what it was.

[I don't know what it does, not what it IS.]

“So, what is it?”

[This... okay, this is kind of complicated. I mean when I say that, that this right here? This thing floating? I can see it, and I can touch it. All I have to do is make a spell that says “Get rid of this” and make the spell recognize this stuff.]

>Okaaay? Well, why haven't you done it to us yet?

[I have, which means it worked and the stuff is no longer in your bodies.]

“Shouldn't we have felt something come out?”

[I guess not?]

{You guess or you know?}

[I guess. I don't know what happened when Chrysalis extracted it or her method, and she said he was fine, so maybe you don't feel it coming out?]

>She did say something about him being woozy, though.

“She might just be so terrible at NOT causing pain that she does it even when trying to be 'helpful'.”

{Or it might not have been in us at all?}

>Do you think she made this up? That those did not truly come from Arana?

[No chance, these definitely did not belong inside of him. I've scanned 29 enough times to know they shouldn't have this with them.]

>Ugh, glad that annoying thing was good for something.

Twilight flinched, just a bit.

[Yeah well, maybe I went a bit too fa-]

(THERE YOU ARE!)

A blue blur tackled Twilight to the side, nearly crushing her head by putting her in a headlock.

(Try to run off again! I DARE YOU!)

[GLK! D-DASH!]

~Um, Dash? Maybe you shouldn't strangle her in public.~

(Don't tell me how to live.)

=AJ! RARITY! AWESOME! Gang's finally back together and ready to PART-AY! Am I right!?=

>Um...

=...OH COME ON! What happened now!?=

>Chrysalis.

“Do we really need to say more?”

~...Yes? That's pretty vague.~

“Funny! Vagueness seems to be a running theme today.”

~Unhelpful.~

{We'll explain it to you all on the way to pick up Arana. It... is not a shining moment for any of us, really.}

(Great. What did she do now? Set fire to someone? Rob a bank? Try to gamble with 42 as a poker chip? Insult Applejack's mom?)

[It's... complicated.]

~Um, Twilight? What are you holding.~

=ACK! Twi! You didn't rip out someone's soul, did you!? Someone like... HOLY CRAP TWI! I knew she was annoying, but that seems a little extreme!=

[It's not from her, it's from Jugglejack.]

(RAINBOW SHITTING FROM CLOUDS, SHE RIPPED OUT HIS SOUL!?)

=I knew she was bad but WHAT THE FU-=

'SHE DIDN'T!'

…

'Jus... jus' start talkin' Twi.'

[Okay, well, it all started when Applejack and Rarity found Arana, and then met up with us in the hallway-]

=QUESTION!=

[…]

=Will this get better with alcohol?=

“Seriously!? You have that?”

=Spike, if you knew what I had to put up with running this place, you wouldn't even ask.=

[…]

=...Sorry, continue.=

[As I was saying...]
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>Winona
"Guard 1"
'Guard 2'
-???-

"S..Saaaarge?"

'What is it man? Is it the invasion force already?'

"No sir, it's...the dog, it won't stop barking at me"

'Well tell it to shoo then! Don't tell me you're afraid of dogs now, I won't have my Privates to survive being pummeled into mulch by that psycho helmeted Changeling only for them to shrink away at a damn mutt!'

"...Sir was that a double meaning? Because the dog stopped barking"

'I-double meaning?! What are you on about?'

> LISTEN TO ME MY SUN PRINCESS IS IN THERE I CAN FOLLOW HER SCENT I NEED TO SEE HER THERE'S NO TIME TO EXPLA-

"Oh Faust it's started yapping again"

'Well we have no need of it, even that damn bindle doesn't let it in'

>DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE KEEPING ME AWAY FROM HER YOU WOULDN'T DARE SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF MY SUN PRINCESS NOT BEING NEAR ME I HAVE SUFFERED ENOUGH ALREADY I WILL NOT BE STOPPED NOW DO YOU HEAR ME

'Well if you won't shoo the bitch, then I shall, now watch closely, lower the spear, BUTT END FIRST! and poke at it-'

-Crussssssh-

>...!

"It stopped barking? Did it just hiss at us-"

'Hark you fool! That isn't the dog... Listen'

-Destroyyyy-

>I smell....plastic

"SARGE! THERE! THAT DOLL! ON THE PORTICULUS! IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!

'What the Cerebus?!'

-Let's fly to the castle... AND SMASH I-

>KILL!

"Whajjit? The dog sarge! It's gone right for i-"

>INTRUDER! REMOVE FROM PREMISES OF SUN PRINCESS! FACE MY JAW!

Both canine and polypropelene tumbled and tussled out of sight

'Private'

"Yessir?"

'I believe we have an invasion'

"By who sir?"

'The toy industry'
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>Blueblood
“PJ”
‘???’
-???-
______

>Okay, so the rifle? Utterly useless considering- ON YOUR LEFT!- the bullets pass through them as a whisper. Noted.

“Mmmgh pffgh mn- RIGHT!- gnngh?”

>Yeah, a regular kitchen knife, mostly because of my atrociousness in the culinary field but- BACK YOU FLUFF RIDDLED MONSTER!- it seems to be doing a good job right now.

“Mmmph.”

Caught in the middle of a corridor, Blueblood and PJ dueled back to back against a wave of deadly huggable toys, the former wielding an ordinary stainless steel piece of cutlery while the latter, her signature blades, the both of them standing amongst piles of severed stuffing and cut cloth.

>Where do you think these malfunctioning things spawned from?

“Pnngh.”

>…from spoiled potatoes? That’s your guess?

“Mpph ffnm….”

Her ears lowered with some hint of dejection as she ducked a plastic spear aimed for a point between her eyes.

>No, no, it’s… it’s a good guess and all, I just… no, yeah, on second thought, you’re probably ri-

‘YOU SHALL NOT DESTROY THE CASTLE THAT BELONGS TO MY ORANGE MARE!’

-Cruuuuuussssssh! IT!-

‘ROGUE TOY FROM TARTARUS BE GONE!’

Only one thing could have caused both Blueblood and PJ, including the deranged toys around them, to stop and look down the hall.

And that thing was the sight of a dog and a plastic Chitania action figure locked in vicious combat as they bounced into view and right back out, barking and hissing the whole way.

>…

“…”

[…squeak.]

>Yeah, what that thing said. What in the hell was that…?

“Frrrgh mmph- LOWER RIGHT!”

>Haha, nice try, you… duck-looking thing! Have at thee!
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>Chrysalis
"SA"
'Cheerilee'
[Announcer]
{???}
~~~~

>No, really, I've been working on it!

"Do not, do NOT, do the blowhole thing!"

>But it's so useful-

'HAH!'

"..."
>...Wow, that's an annoying sound.

"You have no idea."

'Come on, Chrysalis, I thought you were supposed to be some super disguise expert! You haven't even been trying to win any cosplays!'

>Pfft, you realize I could easily win this if I wanted.

'Suuuuure you could!'

>No, really, I could. No problem. This contest is so easy, I bet I could defeat you by dressing someone else up with a cardboard box and some paint.

'In your dreams! I am the mistress of cosplay! My skills are unmatched!'

>Totally could, no problem.

'Oh yeah!? Well, how about a bet then? You win, you get to ask any one of my demons to do ONE thing, and I have to make it happen!'

>Cool. If you win, I'll pay for you to go to to the False Martingale with Stabberjack.

'YOU'RE ON! Prepare to be humiliated!'

*Runs off*

"...Is this wise? That place is... expensive. And I say that as someone with access to a national treasury."

>Meh.

"...You don't look worried."

>...

"And now you are smiling, and I am afraid."

>... Say, this place sells liquid rainbow, right?

"...uh..."

~~~LATER!~~~~

[Well, mares and gentlecolts, I think we have our winner!]

Cheerilee just smiled causally adjusting her pitch perfect Young-Luna costume. She was a perfect match for the mare as she had looked back when she had returned from madness as Nightmare Moon. It had history, a built in fanbase, and references! Better, Chrysalis hadn't even shown up!

This was in the bag...

[Well, unless we have any other entries-]

>ONE MORE!

[Oh? Well, don't be so far back, get them up here!]

From the back of the room, Chrysalis just smiled. Slowly, she lifted something above the crowd.

'...n-noooo...'

Her smile just grew wider.

The Queen gave one last, tiny adjustment to the painted cardboard box altered into a shape of a square toaster pastry that looked downright edible, and shook the can of liquid rainbow before shoving it into the back of the costume.

Cheerilee had felt many things in her dealing with demons, especially in the early days, most of them fear based.

She had never been as afraid as when Chrysalis gave a little tug to the tail sticking out of the costume, causing the one inside to start fluttering their tiny bug like wings rapidly.

And then she cocked back, and tossed Two over the crowd.

Where the music came from, the teacher would never know. All she did know was...

{NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYANNYANNYANNYANNYAN NYAN NYAN NYANNYANNYAN-}

...that song was never leaving her fucking head.

A trail of rainbow behind her, the miniscule changeling hopped through the air in short, quick bursts, a trail of magical rainbows following in her wake.

{-NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYANNYANNYANNYANNYANNYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYANNYANNYANNYANNYAN-}

The crowd watched mesmerized as she traveled over all of them, hopping on every single head she could reach, before at last coming to a stop on the stage in front of the judge, and striking a pose.

{NYAN!}

For a moment, everyone was frozen.

Then the applause came.

'O-oh, come on, that's so dated!'

The judge just stared long and hard at her.

'No, really, isn't everyone... aren't they sick of... s-should, uh... really, it's not even all that clever because... I um... nobody said music c-could... uh...'

The staring just intensified.

'...Fine.'

Giving her a nod that translated to, essentially, "Yeah, obviously", he smiled, and put the winning medal around her neck.

{AWESOME!... Wait, whaddid I win?}

The confused, yet excited, face was far too much.

The front row fell first, then the row behind them when they got a good look, then just waves after waves of ponies falling down, clutching their chest.

'...S'not that cute...'

At the very back, thankfully mostly immunized from living with her, Shining Armor just stared incredulously.

"...I should be mad, but she looks so happy..."

Beside him, Chrysalis just shrugged nonchalantly, and went up to congratulate Two on her grand victory.

...And maybe just to rub it in a bit...
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"???"
~~~

>....

"SOLDIER! WE NEED ASSISTANCE! We're being attacked by sentient plush dolls lead by a tiny action figure of the giant monster that destroyed Canterlot!"

~SQUEAK!~

>....

*SLAM!*

>Man... that's some strong 'herbs' that zebra sold me...
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>???
“Chrysalis”
________

There she was, walking up to the front stage in all her chitinous glory.

And so he fell into step.

He had hoped she wouldn’t notice him amongst the cluster of slowly rising pony bodies, the ponies knocked out by Two’s admittedly cute display.

He had hoped that by lowering his intention, he would blend in perfectly, as his training taught him to do.

He had hoped that he would bring glory to his Queen and all that she stood for, and prove without a shadow of a doubt that he was the best personal guard.

But as he very well knew, hope was wasted on the foolish, a fact made stunningly clear when he saw that coy little smile break across her face, and then her luxurious teal tail whipped out, teasing him under the nose with a few flicks.

>…shit.

“Well, while you’re back there you might as well kiss my ass and submit to me as your new Queen, Jetfail.”

He scowled when she trailed it underneath his chin.

“Or are you too busy spying on Celestia when she showers…? Watching the way her mane freefalls in rivulets down her majestic face, how the water glistens over those foal-rearing hips, biting your lip when she gives her flanks a drying sha-”

*BZZT*

*CRASH*

*THUD*

The way Jetset tried to teleport away but goofed and wound up shooting straight into the ceiling only to rebound off and land somewhere amidst the crowd of ponies was almost cause for the Queen to explode in laughter.

Of course she didn't, only smirking.

But she would have to thank 007 for giving her perhaps one of the funniest sitreps ever.
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>Arana
"Security"
~~~

"How'd I get roped into this?"

>Well, the guy who ran off said you owed him one for that time he covered up when you cheated on your-

"RHETORICAL!"

>...

"...*Shudder*.."

>Is it the spider legs?

"Actually, more the fact you're a changeling."

>Really?

"I watched one step on a whole town. A WHOLE FUCKING TOWN. There was a dragon who lived not far from my house, and you know what he said when they asked him to go help? 'Fuck that!'. Fucking dragon told me fuck that. You guys were already really, really scary, what with the whole 'eats your love' thing, did you have to add 'Can be giant monsters' to it?"

>Actually, that's just her.

"Oh, thank goodness. So nobody else can learn it?"

>...Well, I mean, technically we COULD-

"BLAAARGH!"

>Oh, okay, you got the fear throwups?

"HURRK!"

>No no, I can tell, saw that all the time when Momma stuck them in the pit with all the...

"..."

>...Uh... They kind of looked like eyeballs, but they had little worms coming out of-

"HRRKKKKGLGLGLG!"

>...I thought they were cute.

"GLGLGLGLGUB!"
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>OO7
"???"
~~~~

>...Huh...

Huh indeed. For you see, the changeling with the designation OO7 was in a pickle, you see.

...That's not a turn of phrase.

"How... how did you..."

>Oh, hey, security! Nice to see you. Could you, uh, could you get me out of this?

"Where... where did you even get a gigantic pickle? How could you have POSSIBLY ended up there!?"

He flashed back to this, this event that transpired only moments ago. The event wherein he took the form of a cute, unsuspecting looking colt, and trotted up to her with the intention of looking like he was begging for an autograph. She, unsurprisingly, agreed. And while he celebrated internally, sure his tactic of a single, imperceptible blade being sprung from said autograph book would be a roaring success, he was nonetheless left baffled as his trap malfunctioned, and she handed the book back to him.

He put on a good face, played the part until they were out of sight, and curiously decided to see why the mechanism had broken.

And then the spell she had written into and enchanted in his book had come to life, and he was now in a pickle. And actual pickle. From the neck down.

And here we are.

>...I took a wrong turn?

"..."

So, as he waited for the security personal to cut him out of the giant... vegetable? He had no idea. Giant thing. Anyway, as he was slowly freed, he had time to reflect. On a great many things.

Things like the picture of her hair she had put inside of the book. A magically enchanted one that moved as if it were a movie, at that, so her hair eternally flowed even in picture form.

Was this a sign of mockery to him? Likely.

Did he still make a tiny little squeal of joy when he saw it?

....

Yes.
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Pommel's body shook with terror at the sight of Brahmos' fleet. Doc had been very clear as to the sheer manpower the self-styled 'Pirate King' had amassed to his banner, but to actually see them on the horizon, dozens of ships carrying dozens of cannons and possibly hundreds of crewmen filled Pommel with a dread he had not experienced since fighting Chitania. Not the adrenaline inducing fear he had been subjected to during his battles with the parasite in the changeling Queen's belly or the multiple monstrosities he had faced down in the Tempest. This fear was cold and sober, tinged with disappointment and despair, a fear that offered up only a singular factual sentence:

"We're all going to die..." Pommel whispered.

A hoof to the back of the head snapped Pommel out of his fear-induced catatonia, a shake of the head and a search for said hoof's owner yielded one angry blue pegasus.

"Oh aye, are we? Hm? We're goin' t'die?" Daw glared at him, "And just what did that little 'Mommy I pissed me britches' tone of yours mean, eh? That we should just sit here and wait for it?"

Pommel opened his mouth, then closed it...then he narrowed his eyes.

"Well I don't see a real clear cut way out of this!" Pommel snapped, his words coming out in a rapid fire flow, "That alabaster asshole is going to come in here and murder us all, no, scratch that, the LUCKY ones he will murder, the not so lucky ones? According to everything you told me, the not so lucky ones will be allowed to see just how much they can live through!"

"We can't just give up!" Daw shot back, "We can fight, we can-"

"Get our asses pounded into dust by cannon fire the second they're in range!" Pommel interrupted, exapseration covering his every tone, "The time it'd take for use to navigate our way back to the Regret without capsizing on something in the minefield that is this city's skyline would be enough for them to get in range! This is it! The jig is up and we're all going to-!"

The slap knocked the taste right out Pommel's mouth, leaving him to fall against the wall of the watchtower, shaking his head under Daw's glowering gaze.

"You I'd rather die fighting than wait for th' end," She said severly, "An' deep down I know ya would too. Come on, lad, where's th' brave maniac what threw himself off th' side of Tortoiga to save th' Cap'n's life? Where's th' clever bastard that killed two monsters with one broadside? Where's...WHERE'S TH' BEST IN TH' FUCKEN WORLD!?"

"That nickname...is a lie..." Pommel said, getting up, "It's a lie that a guy who probably got himself killed over me said to justify choosing me to learn from him. He wanted to make me a hero to spite his brother and sister, and all I did was get eaten by a giant bug and thrown up on a beach. I'm not the best in the world...I'm just...Pommel."

"Well..." A pair of hooves grabbed his face and made him look into the mare's eyes, "Pommel will have to do, now won't he? Now, think, is there anything? ANYTHING we can do to at the very least give that bullheaded bastard a final fuck you before we bid this mortal coil farewell?"

"...No, no please, continue your moment, I insist," Doc's voice cut through the air sardonically, "I'll wait, surely...I mean, the hulking minotaur won't, but I will."

"I'm not waitin', we got an idea!" Rat added, "It's half-baked, half-cocked, and more than half likely to be mighty unpleasant for those of us with horns, but it's the only thing we got to maybe give us a fightin' chance!"

"And what exactly is that?" Pommel asked, taking his eyes away from Daw.

"We're going to shoot the big dumb diamond until it raises the city from the sea," Rat declared.

"...what?" Pommel's reply intermingled with Daw's own identical one in the air, the two looked at each other, then back to Rat and Doc.

"This gem has incredible magical properties," Doc began, "Without any form of direction we were able to use it to tear away what has been a geographical fixture of the Marebbean in mere moments. The gem is somehow able to magnify the magic of several unicorns into spells that I would surmise only one of the Archmages of old could pull off! Though obviously..."

Doc nudged one of his still prone bodyguards turned guinea pigs with a hoof.

"It is not without some discomfort," Doc grimaced, "Needless to say Mr.'s Riptide and Keelhaul should not attempt it again. However, with a group of four the experience should be half as powerful, yes? My plan is for our four remaining unicorns-that is to say including yourself, boy, and Rat-to fire your magic into the gem like the other two did before with a command for the city to rise from the ocean below, thus giving us a chance to use its walls to our advantage."

"Hang on," Gag Reel piped up, "If this thing can magnify magic, why don't we just shoot a great big death ray at the other guys?"

"Because if we tried that, Brahmos would cut his losses and fire on us with everything he's got," Rat retorted, "One death ray versus a fleet of fuckhuge warships still ain't good odds for the side what flies our colors."

"Exactly, raising the City of Gold would present that bastardly bovine with a target he wouldn't dare simply destroy," Doc smirked, "Knowing him, he'd be likely to pull up stakes from Barkbados and claim such a resplendent, if waterlogged, metropolis as his capital."

"So what?" Shoals asked, grimacing, "We just ask the big migraine-inducing demon rock to do what we want it to? Should we include a pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Tell me, Mr. Shoals, when the blast of magic occurred, you heard a voice in your head, correct?" Doc inquired, when Shoals nodded, the earth pony continued, "And it was a single word, dispell. My theory works on the logic that if we give it a single word command, it will follow."

"So...we all hit it with magic at the same time, thinking the same thing," Pommel cast a glance at the gem in question, "Aaaand that is?"

"'Rise' should suffice," Doc said simply, casting his own look out to the sea, "We may want to hurry, they're getting closer. Ms. Daw, return to the Regret and see if they can navigate themselves to a clear spot, they are most definitely going to be within the city limits and it wouldn't do for them to get skewered on a spire."

"Aye," Daw turned to Pommel, concern briefly touching her features, "Keep yerself alive, hey? Hate for the only man what had the guts to screw me to end up a corpse less than a day later."

"I'll try my damndest, no gurantees this thing won't fry my brain," Pommel grinned and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"If it does, I'll take a pickaxe to it," Daw smirked and took off, making a bee-line for the ship, soon after it began to maneuver itself this way and that.

"Yes yes, young love is all well and good, but how about we focus on survival, aye?" Rat put a foreleg around Pommel and steered him back towards the gem, "Now I got no clue what this overgrown emerald is gonna do to us, but I DO know what Brahmos will. It ain't my place to force any of you lads into this, but just remember, the alternative is a fight we got no chance of winning. So...are you with me?"

Shoals gave a solemn nod, Gag Reel bit his lip but muttered an affirmative, Rat and Pommel shared a look.

Pommel exhaled, looking down and then back up, the fires of determination stoked inside him lighting his eyes, "To the end."

"Fantastic," Doc began, "Now if the four of you could just position yourselves equidistantly around the gem...I have no idea if that'll effect anything, but I figure if we're going to ape a fantasy novel we might as well imitate the style...if the other two get in your way just kick them, we don't have time for courtesy."

"Fuck...you...Doc..." Came a muttering from somewhere on the other side of the Well.

"I'll remember that next time you need an orange for the scurvy," Doc replied evenly, "Now to your positions, you louts!"

Pommel, Rat, Shoals, and Reel took up spots around the gem, a square around the circle.

"So...uh...on the count of three?" Pommel asked.

Rat nodded, "Sounds good, one-"

"Wait!" Reel shouted, the others looked at him, "'One two three' or 'One two three go'?"

"JUST BLAST IT, YOU IGNORAMUS!" Doc shouted, his gaze, approaching something fearful, turned towards the sea.

As one the unicorns unleashed a blast of magic at the gem, for a moment all was quiet.

"Uh...did we do it wrong?" Gag Reel asked.

"We all thought 'Rise', right?" Shoals griamced.

"Well yeah we did," Pommel arched an eyebrow, "What else would we thin-AAAGH!"

Pommel's cry of pain was echoed by the other three unicorns as four blasts of magic, hued a dark red, exploded forth from the gem, colliding with their horns.

And then everything went...white.

Pommel was floating...at least he thought he was. He couldn't feel any kind of ground under his hooves, and all around him was nothing but a vast white expanse.

No...no that wasn't true, there was Rat and Gag Reel, floating a few yards away on either side. One's face a grim scowl, the other's a mask of terror. Through the haze covering his mind, Pommel wondered just what could incite a reaction in his fellows...

He blinked and focused on the space in between, and smiled. Right, giant patch of dark red amorphous horror undulating and pulsating like a beating heart, that'd do it.

'WHO...'

The words, loud, so very loud, feeling as though they were being etched onto his mind, reverberated all around.

'WHO...DARES...ORDER?'

Aw...crap.

'YOU.'

To Pommel's shock, a tentacle isssued forth from the haze, wrapping itself around Gag Reel, who whimpered as it brought him closer to the haze.

'...WEAKLING.'

With an unearthly speed, the tentacle whipped itself about and threw Gag back into the whiteness, the pony disappearing in a flash with a yelp.

'YOU.'

Pommel could not see what happened beyond the haze, he shook his head, the words unable to make him form any more thoughts than 'Shoals' and 'is' and 'Fucked'.

'...WORTHLESS.'

An anguished shout, another flash. Pommel kept enough prescence of mind to realize this probably wasn't boding well for him and Rat.

'YOU.'

Indeed, the next pony a tentacle claimed was the latter, reeled in and doing his best to keep a brave face before the terror.

"Go...to...hell...you freak!"

'...DISGUSTING.'

"Look...who's...talk-IIIIING!"

Another flick, another flash, another one gone.

'YOU.'

"Shit..."

Pommel suppposed it was too much to ask that the...thing inside the gem would cut its losses and just leave him be. No, here the tentacle came and there the tentacle drug him, drawing him in all too close to the roiling and tumultuous cloud of red.

"Can we...nngh...talk about this?"

His answer was a pulse that hit him from horn to hoof, piercing through his body with a painful wave. He felt hot, he felt cold, he felt as though his very soul was being ripped from within his body. He could see the aura of his magic glowing around his horn without any input from himself. There was a rumbling within the haze, a searing heat as a yellowish circle danced just inside Pommel's line of sight.

'...LESSER...'

Pommel tensed himself, ready to be discarded by the monstrosity like the others.

'BUT...'

Pommel blinked, he couldn't tell if that meant something better or worse...as much as better can apply to the situation he was in.

'YOU...WILL...DO.'

Worse. Worse! DEFINITELY WORSE!

'RISE?'

Pommel blinked, "Uh...what?"

'THE CITY...RISE?'

Pommel could only nod numbly as the yellow circle within the thick haze slowly grew a black slit down the middle, a horrible eye regarding him severely.

'RISE...RISE...'

Pommel felt himself being lifted up, then yelped as he was tossed back, the horrible voice following after him.

'RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE!'

Pommel felt his back hit something and-

--------------------

He fell to the cold metal of the watchtower floor, his body prone, his head aching. He could hear the groaning of the other stallions all around, the roar of the sea beyond the walls of the golden tower. The words reverberated within his head, rattling down into his bones. The abomination within the gem had said he would 'do', for what he could not be certain, but whatever it was, it did not mean him well.

"Nngh...what...what happend?" Rat's groggy voice came from nearby, "My head..."

"You all did as I said to do," Doc said stoically, "Then the gem zapped the lot of you and you all fell down. It's been quite a few minutes."

"Did...did it work?" Pommel asked, massaging his head.

"See for yourself," Doc replied.

"Fucking...cryptic...bastard..." Shoals muttered.

Pommel slowly crawled for the wall, hooking his forelegs over the edge of the gold tower, the sensation of rumbling still in his bones...only now he realized it wasn't an after-effect of what the haze had said, but the very foundations of the tower trembling as one by one great golden spires began to rise from the waves, then the buildings to which they were attached, and in the distance, mighty golden walls overlooking the shores of the mighty island the city sat upon, seemingly gold itself. This was the City of Gold, created by an ancient civilization with the power of a being Pommel could not begin to comprehend. The implications of what all this meant filled him with dread.

Through it all danced the Widow's Regret, sailing down a grand thoroughfare and turning to avoid crashing into another building, disappearing from sight.

BOOM!

The sound of a cannon in the distance blasted Pommel back to sobriety. For in the moment it mattered not that the city stood as a monument to an evil he could not wrap his mind around.

What mattered was that it was under siege.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>77
"Cheerilee"
'Chrysalis'

"Of all the...grrrrghffrgffgraaaah!"

>I'm quite sorry you lost, dearest. Though I suppose should have warned you, if the Queen has even the slightest room to wiggle, she'll conceive a way to victory.

"Oh...it's not that it's just...the False Martingale, with you, she dangled that carrot in front of me and...ugh..."

A comforting chitinous hoof lifted up her crestfallen chin, the two lovers lock eyes as 77 gave the earth pony a small peck on the lips.

>My dear, with you a mere hayburger dwarfs the finest cuisine of the culinary masters.

"That is just so sweet of you to say, 77."

>I try.

'Hey, Stabbyjack.'

The Queen's voice through the two lovers' moment like a hot knife through butter. 77 stood stiffly and snapped off a salute, while Cheerilee merely glared. In a moment Chrysalis stood before them, smirking.

'My but aren't you graceful in defeat.'

"The old 'use a cute kid' tactic, should have known you'd stoop that low."

'Never try to beat a changeling at the disguise game, now if you don't mind, I need to talk to my stab-bug without any loser pheromones clogging up the air.'

"Why you-"

77 patted Cheerilee on the shoulder.

>I'll come find you afterward my dear, perhaps one of these park restaurants can be our False Martingale.

"Perhaps."

The mare kissed 77 on the cheek, gave Chrysalis another murderous look, and strode off.

>You have need of me, my Queen?

'That's rather presumptive, perhaps I just came over here to chide you for screwing a mare that has the nerve to challenge me.'

>...

'But then again, your presumptions are usually correct, that's one of the reasons you're one of my best. I do have a job for you.'

>Is this having to do to my duties in the A Team and watching over my siblings?

'Huh? Oh, ohhh, no, in fact I should really get one or two others in the rotation of that, maybe what's her face that looks like 42 without the helmet, she looks hungry to prove herself. No no, this is about Jerkjack.'

>32.

'If you insist on calling him by his name.'

>What...er, what do you want me to do with him?

'I want you to speak with him and if possible, convince him to rejoin the hive.'

77 blinked, his mind going numb.

>Your majesty?

'What? Can't do it? I suppose I can throw another at him, I assumed you'd be up to the task.

>No I am but...what brought about this order?

'A certain examination made me realize he has skills I can put to use, though make no mistake, I merely deign to salvage him out of convenience, if he wants to rot down there I'll happily oblige.'

>Ah, I see...

'And even if he apologized, as he well should with a metric fuckton of bowing and scraping, he'd still be kept under every bit of surveillance I could muster and needless to say he'd be a splatter on the wall if he so much as twitched in my presence.'

>Understandable...

'Speak with him when we return, see if he can be salvaged or if we should cut our losses.'

>Of course, your majesty.

'And 77?'

77 blinked as the Queen used his number instead of some strange new nickname.

>Yes, your majesty?

'Chez Partè near the Water Park has a very nice atmosphere, just fyi.'

>I...thank you, your majesty.

'Hm? What for? Just stating facts.'

Chrysalis walked off, expression aloof as she went to congratulate 2 further on her cosplay victory. 77 would soon depart himself to find his beloved again, anxious about the task he had been given. But there too was a determination, if he could save his brother from himself, he would damned sure succeed.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Rekulk
"Cheese"
'Vekir'
-Celestia-
~???~
[???]

>...

"..."

'Poofy haaaaair.'

"So hey, uh, are you the guys that don't have the tickets?"

>Hm?

'Pooooofy hair...'

"Tickets? El ticketos? Le tiquets? Security should have really told you about them."

>Gasp! You are in league with the evil Seh Currah Tee?

"Say what now?"

'...eeeeeevil poofy hair.'

>We do not have these horrible organs you call tickets!

"You need tickets to enter the park!"

>Nonsense! Our entrance was hindered only by the fencings!

"...the fence? You climbed the fence?"

>Yes?

'...poofy hair...'

"The electrified, barbed wire fence surrounded on either side by banana peels and hungry crocodiles?"

>The small water dragons were very delicious, thank you.

"..."

'...can you give me poofy hair?'

"I just...I...gaaaah...this day is rapidly becoming very unfun..."

>We apologize.

"No, it's not you, well, actually it's sixty-six percent you, you DID steal the helmets from Games Sweatshop."

>We did not, they were won by forfeit!

"You won ONE helmet by forfeit, you're lucky we found the before the Rep found you, yeeesh, that guy was a creep."

>You took the helmets!?

'The helmets on my small dead animals!? VERY EVIL POOFY HAIR!'

>Foul minion of Seh Currah Tee, you trifle with mighty enemies!

'My helmetless small dead animals will bury you AND your poofy hair!'

"YOU'RE IN MY PARK WITHOUT TICKETS!"

>WE DO NOT NEED THE TICKETS!

"YES YOU DO!"

>WE DO NOT!

"YES! YOU! DO!"

>SISTER, ATTACK!

'Hyaaaaah!'

A golden hue surrounds the leaping Morlock, letting her float in midair, Celestia returns with a tray of drinks.

-What is going on here?-

>This monster is a helmet thief!

"No YOU'RE the helmet thieves! And you're trespassers! They got in here without tickets!"

>We do not need-

-Rekulk.-

>Yes, Sun Princess?

-You realize what a ticket is, yes?-

>...a type of organ, yes?

-No. Mr. Sandwich, have you tried telling them what a ticket is?-

"...I just kind of assumed..."

Celestia uses her magic to hover the umbrella of hers and the Morlocks' table over the latter.

-Rekulk, if you please.-

>Helmet off!

With a few clicks and whirrs, Rekulk's head is revealed.

-...wow that thing gives a serious case of helmet hair. But you see, Mr. Sandwich, these are not regular ponies, they are...new. Care to show them a ticket?-

"Uh, yes, right here."

Cheese holds up a Partyland ticket.

>...ohhhhh...TICKet, I was thinking of the other thing.

-What other thing?-

>The little whatsit that hangs around the kit-knees.

-The...spleen?-

>Yes! Oh what a mixup! I apologize muchly, poofy haired lord of parties! Here, for your troublings...

Rekulk reaches into his bag and takes out a fistful of plus sized gem stones.

>These will stop our bloodfeud, yes?

"...yeptotallythankyouverymuch!"

>Hurrah!

-Well that's ONE conflict solved today.-

'What about my helmets! And my small dead animals!?'

-Vekir, you were allowed one helmet, what did you do with it?-

'...it was given to the helmeted changeling, attached to a small dead effigy of her.'

-One, adorable, two, wouldn't you say that that helmet is more important than the others? Helmets can come and go, but a token of friendship like that can last a lifetime.-

'...your wisdom is legendary, Silessia Princess, I am calmed!'

Celestia lets the little Morlock down on the ground.

-Good girl, now the both of you drink up while I try and figure out how I managed to do a friendship speech about helmets.-

>'At once!'

-And Mr. Sandwich, I think I saw Pinkie Pie just over there.-

"Oh no kidding? I really gotta show her these diamonds, thanks Princess!"

-You're welcome.-

~Well that ended limply.~

[A shame, he was starting to show some spirit.]

~Think he could have taken them, wife?~

[The taller one probably, the small one I think could have gotten under his guard.]

'Silessia Princess, whyfor do the rock ponies talk like we cannot hear?'
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Dash
"Rarity"
'Spike'
[Twilight]
{Fluttershy}
~Pinkie~
~~~~~

>No, really, is it a disorder? Is there some kind of malfunction up there?

"Sadly, not one medical science recognizes, though they should."

'Being a bitch has not yet been accepted into the medical books juuuust yet.'

[SPIKE!]

'I stand by it.'

[Come on, it was totally accidental that she made it look like that, you guys are being way too harsh. We need to give at least a little chance to...]

{...}

[...Uh, what?]

{...}

[You keep, um, staring at me... you okay?]

{.........fine.}

[...Your face twitched a bit.]

{It's nothing. Don't worry about it.}

[Oh... kay?]

~NOOOOOO!~

>ACK! WHAT!?

~We missed my last cosplay competition! I was going to dress up in leather and pull out a whip! Totally freak ponies out!~

{Aren't... aren't your parents still in this place?}

~Oh, yeah... ohhhh... OHHHH WOW! OH WOW AHAHAHAHA! WOOO! That was uh... that was close. That almost bad.~

>And now I have regrets. I want to see Pinkie's parents lose their minds.

~They probably would have just frowned. Hard. But OH! We don't have to miss out on all the fun!~

"Oh?"

~Oh yeah, let's just say tonight is going out with a... bang... mwahah... mwhaahahah...... AHAHAHAH......AAAAAAAAAAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAH!~

>"'[{...}]'"

>Neat!

"Can't wait to see it, darling."

'Probably going to be a ton of fun!'

[Woo, and we need it.]

{Oh my, I'm getting a little excited just thinking about it!}

~N-... none of you are worried?~

>"'[{...PPPFFFAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAH!}]'"

~Hrpmh...~
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Arana
"Security"
'AJ'
~~~~~

>...Want to sing a song?

"No."

>You suuuuure?

"Yes."

>...kind of wish she had left me in the ball pit.

"You don't want to go in there. I've seen fillies go in there and never come out. Only the screams to remain of what was once there."

>Really!? Oh! That sounds just like-

"NO MORE! PLEASE! NO MOOOORE!"

>Awww... but it's really cool!

'Sug', yer' freakin' him out-'

"OH THANK GOODNESS-, I mean, glad I could be of service to you ma'am now here is your tiny love eating spider monster from the darkest pits of tartarus back and you have a good day BYE!"

With that, he booked it harder than Twilight on study night.

'...Figures'

>PRINCESS! Is he okay!? Did she melt him, or make his skull into a little rattle, or pop his eyes, or make him eat his own arm, or-

'He ain't hurt, Ara.'

>Oh... PHEW! That's good!

'...'

>...S-something wrong?

'Arana, ya'll ain't... doin' somethin' dangerous, are ya?'

>Well, no, I'm just standing here-

'Ah' meant since ya' got here.'

>Um... I stuck my head over the side of one of the rides, Actarius said that was pretty dangerous. Oh, and I couldn't get a grip on the hammer and decked JJ in the face. And I put webbing all over Acty's room. And I-

'Could yer' mom let out pheromones?'

>Huh?...Oh! Yeah! She used to do that all the time! They could do all kinds of cool stuff, like-

'Can you?'

>Can I... what?

'Can ya'll do stuff with pheromones.'

>W-what? Nooo! No way! That stuff's, like, super advanced! That's some of the hardest stuff you could learn! I wouldn't have even been ready to try for years! Controlling those, especially with our bodies, is just... even momma had trouble with it, and she was, like, a Queen.

'Ya' are.'

>...I are what?

'Ya' are controlling them.'

>I... I don't...

'The reason Chrysalis abducted Jugglejack like that is cause she saw he was fulla' them pheromones.... yours.'

>...No...

'Ara-'

>No I didn't! I didn't do anything like that! She's lying! She's lying because she doesn't like me, and I don't know why, I never do anything to her! I just sit there and she keeps acting like I'm going to do... stuff! I don't do stuff to her! I didn't do anything! She's making it up so I can't... s-so I can't...

Gently, Applejack placed her hoof on the shaking changeling's shoulders.

>...I-it's not fair...

'Ah' know you didn't mean it, but this ain't somethin' we can ignore. Iffin' ya' don't even know yer' doin' it, it's even worse.'

>I... I didn't...

'You did.'

Sadly, all of her spider legs drooped to the ground, laying limp around her.

>Am... am I gonna have to go back?

'NO!'

Her sudden, forceful shout and grip against the trench coat was far rougher than Arana had expected.

'We're gonna get ta' the bottom o' this and fix it, okay? We ain't gonna shove ya' back in a hole fer' the rest o' yer life. Twilight's smart, she'll figure this out. Ya' just gotta be patient.'

Wide, glassy eyes looked up into hers.

>Does this mean I can't talk to Jugglejack anymore?

A wince, one she couldn't hide.

'Sorry, sugar cube.'

The devastation was almost palpable.

'Come on, let's get back ta' the others and get ya' looked at, okay?'

She nodded numbly, letting the orange mare move her as she wished. Too stunned to respond in any other way.

'We'll figure this out.'

She tried to sound encouraging, she really did. But the little Spiderling was too caught up in her own thoughts to respond.

'...We'll figure it out.'

Who she was trying to encourage at that point, she had no idea.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________