Thread 17: Stories 1-15

Thread 17 archive: http://archive.heinessen.com/mlp/thread/17353012
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THIS HAPPENED BEFORE THE VOLCANO FINALE

>Silver Spoon
"Harmony Primes"
{Chitania}
'DT'
~~~~

>What am I doing here? This is so stupid. Why am doing this? I should be somewhere else.
She rides on a hoverbike with what looks like a bomb dangling behind by a rope.
>Tiara's probably going get mad when she finds out I took Big Sparky from her collection...
She rides closer and closer Chitania's face.
>Hopefully I'll make it long enough to see her mad.
Before the hoverbike goes Chitania's head, SS unties the rope and drops the bomb.
>Hit hit hit hit hit!
As she speeds away the bomb lights up bright and making her temporarily lose her hearing.
>...it was a giant Flash Bang!?
She facehoofed herself.
>That's why she called him Big Sparky!

{Did you think that was funny!!!}
Chitania begins to chase after Silver Spoon

>aaaand I pissed her off. I should have just let Tiara fight her, but nope, I had to help my best friend. Ooooh I should have let the real heroes save the day.
Suddenly 3 Harmony Primes rise from the ground as she flies past them.

>Yeah! Reinforcements!

"Friendship is non-negotiable!"

"Harmony will never be defeated!"

"Embrace Friendship or you will be eradicated!"
As the charge up their lasers, Chitania knocks them over like pins.
{Move bitches! Get out the way!}
The Harmony Primes struggle in futile trying to stand back up.

>Oh wow, it's like watching turtles trying to right themselves back up-andwhyisshesofast!
Chitania's horn smacks the hoverbike sending it crashing down.
>AAAAHHHHH!!!
*CRASH*
SS manages to get up from the wreck, but is limping away bleeding.
>Crap crap crap crap! I can't run!
She collapses.
>...I wish I was with Tiara.
Chitania looks down on Silver Spoon. In a desperate act of defiance she points her battle-saddle SMGs at Chitania and fires everything she has before a giant hoof stomps her spot with a sickening *THUMP*. SS opens her eyes and finds herself in a crowd of other ponies.

'Silver?'

>Tiara...
SS smiles as she passes out.


_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Celestia
{Chrysalis}
“Various dignitaries/ponies”
'Various Changelings'
[Dash]
-Soarin-
#???#
~???~
~~~~~

Calling what was currently going on in Canterlot chaos was... an understatement, all things considered.

Dignitaries were screeching and flailing.

Ponies were panicking and screaming.

And opposite of them, huddled together, the Changelings were poised and ready to start fighting the moment things went sour.

And in the middle of it all, Celestia was trying not to focus on the feeling of her heart being ripped clean from her chest.

>Please, I need you all to act civilized for one minute!

“Civilized!? There is no such thing as Civilized right now! That monster-”

>Just laid waste to MY city, my country! Do you really think I'm not every bit as outraged as you!?

“Those things still draw breath, so perhaps not!”

'Fuck off!'

'We didn't have anything to do with her!'

'SHE TRIED TO CRUSH ME!'

“Lies! You lured her here to destroy Celestia's forces and take over! Were it not for the sacrifice of the Prince, the Princesses may very well be dead!”

>We do not know if he is dead, hold your tongue!

[Celestia...]

At last, Dash. She had sent the mare off the instant she had found her, begged her to search the area. Pleaded with her to look under every crevice. From the look on her face, her Wonderbolts had.

[We looked everywhere... but...]

-The volcano went off.-

[And we can confirm... he landed inside of that thing. There was no sign of him outside of it.]

-No sign of the monster, either.-

[I don't want to give up, but...]

-But even if he survived self-destructing his Juggernaut, the volcano...-

“It's what he gets for cavorting with those things in the first place!”

It took everything Celestia had not to smite him on the spot.

'Call me a thing one more time, I DARE you!'

“Oh? And what will you do? It's obvious, isn't it? Your little ploy backfired, and Chrysalis was stabbed in the back! You have no way to fight us!”

They faltered at that.

'She might've survived...'

“And I might be a three headed monkey, cleverly disguised! Face it, your Queen is-”

The ground beneath them shattered, and a haggered and battered shape dragged herself out of the hole she had made.

{PISSED OFF, THAT'S WHAT I AM!}

She shook off the dirt and street as if she were a dog, uncaring as it spilled all over the various dignitaries.

{Where the fuck is she!? I'M-}

Something about the look on Celestia's face said more than any words could.

{...She dead?}

>Looks like it.

She felt not a bit of relief. Her eyes trailed over the others assembled there, and at her own hive getting ready to pounce. This could go south fast.

{Where is Shining Armor? I need to speak with him, now.}

Chrysalis didn't know a lot about caring for others emotions. She did, however, know what it looked like when someone's heart had just been ripped out. To her credit, the Queen concealed whatever she was feeling very well.

{So... how is your sister?}

>In intensive care.

{Any chance you came by Cadence?}

>They were still digging her out, she should be free shortly.

{Take it she's not in the best of shape?}

>...

{Pity.}

>...Did you do this.

{Do what? The destruction? No no, I can't be in two places at once, Celestia. I've tried. Her name is Queen Chitania. Old Queen, supposed to be dead, but you know how coroners were back in the day.}

>You know what I mean.

{You mean, did I sick her on you to bring Canterlot to the ground?}

>...

{...No. No I did not. As far as I knew, she was dead. I am just as shocked as you are.}

“SHE'S LYING!”

“She's clearly hiding something!”

“Princess, please! End her!”

“Don't give her the chance to take you out again, strike back!”

“PRINCESS!”

Flickers of green fire began to spark from Chrysalis's horn.

{What a shame, I hoped it didn't have to end this wa-}

~Excuse me.~

A wall of magic suddenly arced between the two parties, flickering in and out and barely clinging to existence, but it was there.

~Would you all keep it down? My daughter is very tired.~

The crowd on both sides froze, shocked. He hobbled through the street, looking as if he had been run over, backed up, run over again and then set on fire. But he soldiered on, determined. And there she was, the daughter in question clinging to his back. Still alive.

“Prince Shining Armor...”

'Holy shit, he's alive!'

'BADASS!'

“Indeed, we are happy you have made it though. Tell me, did you kill the beast?”

He came to a stop in the middle of the crowd, his eyes meeting Chrysalis's in a brief, meaningful glace. All too quickly, he turned to the others.

~Listen up. She is still alive.~

Needless to say, this didn't go over well.

~But she is too injured to fight.~

[You heard him! MOBOLIZE!]

Her wonderbolts snapped to attention, ready to take off.

~It won't do you any good, she vanished into the wastelands.~

[Gotta try. Scouting team, go! I'll catch up later!]

They nodded, and all of them save Dash were off.

~But there is something more important you all need to hear!~

It wasn't necessary, he clearly had their attention, but he needed to make sure.

~Two days ago, I went out on an expedition to the area she was buried in. Queen Chrysalis had confided in me about her possible existence, and asked me to investigate it. I, and I alone, went up that mountain, and I found her tomb. While there were no signs of life, and for all intents and purposes she seemed dead, I had planned on coming back with another team, and sealing the area off permanently once I confirmed her existence. I do not know what freak accident caused her to break free, to come back alive, but it is not their fault. If you wish for someone to blame. Blame me.

The crowd grew restless, uneasy.

“You can't be trusted! Look at that, you even have one with you! You could be under mind control, or you could be in league with them!”

#Fine then.#

With her stance tall and proud, Princess Applejack walked up to stand next to him.

#Ah'm the one that let them in the castle, Ah'm the one that kept 'em here, Ah'm the one that let Chrysalis run free, blame me.#

[No.]

The blue pegasus floated to the ground, sadly looking away.

[I messed up, I didn't send anyone here to warn Canterlot in time. If I had, maybe you all could have found a way to beat her before she ever even got close. Blame me.]

>No.

The white princess stepped forward, standing with the gathering group.

>If there is anyone to blame, blame me. I allowed Chrysalis into the castle. I was too distracted to get everyone clear before she arrived. I was the one who gave Chrysalis no reason to think we would not have turned something like this to our advantage. There is every chance I would have allowed others to study Chitania's remains, regardless of her wishes, and Chrysalis knew this. And instead of seeking aid from the Changelings, I feared them, and locked them away. Once again... this is all my fault. Blame me.

The crowd went silent as they waited for a response.

{What? Sounds like good reasoning to me!}

If looks could kill, they could have reduced Chitania to ash with that glare.

{Oh fine. I supposed I was being overly secretive about her. And while this is technically not my fault... I should have been more open to you all of the possible risk, remote as it seemed. But don't blame me, blame Celestia. She said so, princess's orders.}

The various dignitaries clearly didn't find the humor in the situation, but they were unwilling to make a move. It was hardly over, but for the moment, it was silent.

Of course, if any present knew Celestia all that well, they could tell that by the look on her face, her silence was not of her own choosing. She would have words with a great many after this...

~And now that this is settled... Applejack, would you hold Two for me real quick?~

#Uh, sure? Wh-#

With a comical THUMP! He fell flat on his face. His body refusing to even consider moving one more step.

#Ah.#

>Oh Shiny.

Well, at the very least, she learned how to hide when he made her cry...
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Private Bronze Pommel was up until a few months ago, a raw recruit to the Canterlot Guard from Baltimare. A unicorn with a white coat and dull tan mane, he had dreamt of being a proud protector of Equestria, fighting the foes of his fellow pony, protecting the weak, policing the strong. He had realized several days into his training that this was not going to happen, between the plethora of Princesses, the former enemies now on a leash, and the A Team, the Guard was only good for showing off in front of the public. He had said as much to a superior and was transferred to dungeon duty.

Private Bronze Pommel was up until a few weeks ago a mere dungeon keeper in Canterlot Castle, overseeing drunks, thieves, and other miscreants. Notable among these were the con stallions Flim and Flam, the failed insurrectionist Prince Blueblood, and a Changeling designated 32. The latter proved a friendly sort, giving his captor a hangover-curing mushroom, and from there a friendship between the two began to form. Pommel learned the evils of 32's Queen, of her pettiness and cruelty, hidden well beneath a veneer of incompetence and buffoonery in the present day. The two became inseparable after 32 gained his freedom.

Up until a few days ago, Private Bronze Pommel was a trusted friend, confidant, and student. Privy to almost all of 32's thoughts and lessons about life, the young unicorn fought alongside his friend and mentor within the simulations of the Gun Club and on the training fields of the Castle, always learning and sometimes providing unknowing advice to his compatriot.

Up until a few hours ago, Private Bronze Pommel did not know what the inside of a Changeling Queen looked like.

Now? He knew all too well.

After he and 32's plan to poison the mighty Queen Chitania with the final, poisonous cap of the Rezhulk mushroom failed, Pommel had fallen within the maw of the super-sized beast. Screaming he had fallen into her stomach, and within his nightmare began.

It was amazing the things that had fallen within the gullet of the monstrous changeling, Pommel, what appeared to be a small sailboat, tons of water, small rocks, large rocks, several slow birds...

Oh, and Bob, whose relevance was fast approaching.

In the first minutes of his internment within the literal belly of the beast, Pommel's only goal was survival, pure and simple. He thrashed and paddled his way towards the wreck of the sailboat lit by the light of his horn, clinging to it in terror as Chitania's insides sloshed about in the midst of her rampage. He could hear the dull thud of munitions and weaponry against her chitin just barely over the thunderous beating of her mighty heart.

Then everything began to go crazy.

He couldn't quite understand what was going on outside the behemoth, but he knew that whatever it was that was going on was not good for the Queen...the Queen he was trapped inside. So consequently it wasn't good for him. For what seemed like an eternity he clung to the mast of the sailboat as the contents of Chitania's stomach were thrown around by some powerful outside force. He could feel heat, searing heat, all around, making him hope to Celestia's mom that water wouldn't begin to boil.

Then, in an instant, it was over. The tumult ceased and everything was calm but for the beating of the Queen's heart. Pommel cowered on the deck of the little ship, afraid to make of move for fear of instigating another bout of tumbling terror.

And then Bob woke up.

Bob was a name Pommel would give the creature that swam through Chitania's insides some time later. Later still after being told of it, Princess Sparkle would identify the creature as some form of parasite, ingested prior to her confrontation with Chrysalis' mother and that had slumbered within Chitania just as Chitania had slumbered within the ice all those years.

At the time, however, all Pommel cared about was the pony-sized wormlike monstrosity that erupted from beneath the side of the boat.

"What the HELL!?" His eyes bulged as a mouth full of razor sharp teeth roared in his face. In a fit of terror, he blasted the monstrosity in the face and sent it reeling back beneath the surface of the water.

For a few moments, Pommel cowered like a colt experiencing his first ghost story. Then Bob broke the surface again and again was blasted back down.

"Huh..." Pommel let go of the boat's mast, trotting over to the side, head tilted curiously.

Again Bob's snaking body broke the surface and again a blast of magic repelled it. Pommel arched an eyebrow. Another leap, another blast, another trip back to the bottom.

"Looks like durability took precedence over brains with you, huh?"

As if in answer, Bob burst forth on the other side of the boat. Hissing, he lunged for Pommel, who ducked down and let the creature sail overhead.

"Clever girl."

Eyes narrowed in caution, Pommel retreated to the center of the boat, erecting a low power shield around himself, he began the arduous process of trying to find a way to escape his prison whole.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Following the trail of destruction was easy, analysing the combat schematics from a distance of the beast was a good way to pass the time, logging down who had failed to stop It and running them by past memory banks proved endless simulated schadenfreude. The shifting rubble and sheer carnage gave his optics a good exercise at the least.

But he wasn't very much ready for what to do when his current objective suddenly shifted a good few hundred kliks from its' previous position.

So he just stood there, in the rubble pile of some unfortunate barn, left hoof whining a little, right hoof juggling some shells between the servomotors to while the time while he computed what exactly he was meant to do.

"Always late to the party, ain't I?............Huh, that's actually pretty good"

Feeling satisfied with the verbal response he gave his predicament, he saved the sound file into a quick access cache for when a one-liner needed cracking, and went back to pondering his next move

"OBJECTIVE LIST"

"GET BUG-BITCH; IN PROGRESS"

...

*vreetrr*

"DETERMINE WHICH BUG BITCH NEEDS GETTING"

"EXTRAPOLATED-Is that a word?- TO TWO TARGETS, PRIMARY OF HIGH RANK, SECONDARY OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE BUT ZERO RANK"

"Ohhh, so which one needs spraying?....I'll save that line too I think"

"IDENTIFIED- QUEEN CHRYSALLIS AND......TWO"

He didn't remember how or where he found the cud, but he chewed none the less

"Ehh, may as well go after the smaller one, I think I need to make a scene, kick up some ruckus...make a.....scare? A screw those lines, delete"

"DELETED"

He did feel robbed, he hoped to put his two little darlings to proper use, but he just had the poor luck of being the slow one, for such he blamed Celestia, cos why the hell not?

*WHIRKstompstompstomp WHIRKstompstompstomp WHIRKstompstompstomp WHIRKstompstompstomp*

And on he trudged
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>???
~~~~~

It was panic.

Chaos.

Complete and utter insanity!

She had to finish up, had to get ready, had to get it done now. Now now now.

It was so late.

It was SOOOO late.

But thank goodness, there's the portal. She just has to go through, and everything will be...

18 didn't expect much when she stepped through into Canterlot. She expected to see laughter, a party, happy faces.... instead...

>WHAT THE FUCK DID I MISS!?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The streets of Canterlot were bare, the once bustling metropolis, center of the Equine world, was reduced to rubble-strewn ghost town before the might of the creature known as Chitania. Only through Celestia's best efforts did the streets not run red with blood, only through those efforts was the air not filled with mothers' cries for their children, and vice versa.

A lone changeling sat amidst it all, next to the wreck of a hoverbike. He'd crashed it on the roof of a bistro not long before the monster breached the wall, and from it he had watched as his Great Aunt reduced the capital of Equestria to a wasteland. He had seen the destruction of the Highwind, the decimation of the A Team, the cruel dispatching of Princess Luna.

He had observed it all with cold and distant eyes, eyes that had seen tragedies and atrocities so many times before.

When it was over, Chitania sent over the horizon by a force he couldn't quite see, 32 sat where he was for a while. Replaying all that he had seen, processing it, analyzing it.

He knew what he needed to do.

With a glimmer of green, he levitated a loose brick and started walking. Walking to the castle, walking to where he knew she'd be. Never before had he had such a clarify of purpose, not since he took the long walk to the raises dais in the middle of Morlock Cavern.

He would fight her.

He would lose.

He would take her with him.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Trixie
"MM"
'Zecora'
~~~~

>MY STOCKS! ALL OF MY REAL ESTATE PLANS! RUINED! RUUUUUIIIINNED!

"Anyone else feeling miffed we didn't get teleported out? I'm miffed. Miffed be me."

'It may be the fact all of your lot are racist. Some day I will find their throat, and play them like a bassist.'

>Racist rhymes with bassist?

"Shouldn't it be speciesist?"

>Actually, the NOT Great and NOT Powerful Twilight Sparkle theorized we and Changelings come from a common ancestor, which is why we can breed.

"WHOA, WHAT!?"

>Oh yeah, all over the Hive... what, don't you read 10's paper? It's amazing!

'Indeed, I can attest to this fact. Her journalism is truthful, a real class act.'

>Right? So hard to trust news sources these days, but she tells it straight!

"So, is that why you denied an interview with her? Worried about the... truth?"

>Don't be like that, I pay him! 29, back me up here!

*GLRGL!*

>See?

"Don't shake him!"

>He doesn't care!

"29, say something if you care!"

*GLGGLGL!*

"Glurgle means yes!"

>That's stupid-OW!
"OW!"

'...Are you done acting like ones so young? If you hadn't noticed, we're a bit high strung. We must make it out and head back to my hut. Get those big plots in the air and start to strut!'

>...Is my plot really-

"Yes."

>...

"...What? I CAN LOOK! It's not weird! I look at Zecora all the ti-..."

'...'

"...It's not weird! It's not a sexual thing! I just... compare sizes sometimes."

>... Okayyyyy...

"Let's just... let's just go get niney some medical attention. Non-Canterlot medical attention."

'...I look sometimes too. It's true.'

>...
"..."
'...'

>...This got awkward fast.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Celestia
"Chrysalis"
'Guard'
~~~~

You could probably set off a bomb right now, and nobody would care. Well, certainly neither of the royals standing opposite of each other in one of the few non-damaged sections of the castle. Applejack had wanted to participate, but Celestia had been stern in the matter. She needed to face Chrysalis. Alone. They were both battered, broken, still wounded. But they were not brought low.

Come what may, none would hear of it. The soundproof barrier she had cast on the walls would ensure nothing she did not want out getting out. And perhaps, if things should escalate, then she could at least prevent a riot. She had never had a single instance in her life to suppress a population from doing anything, but there was always the time for new experiences.

Now, it was just her... and the Queen. And nothing she could say would dissuade that.

"Is he going to be okay?"

...Except that.

"Will. He. Be. Okay?"

How she could keep her face so neutral, so hidden of any possible feelings, Celestia would never be able to grasp. She supposed it was something trained in by years of never having the ability to show love or caring to your subjects, but she had no time to muse.

>Who do you mean?

"Is he going to be okay?"

>I can't answer the question until you tell me-

That spark of green fire was certainly telling of her current mood.

"Shining. Armor."

>...Broken bones. Internal damage. Magic exhaustion. Burns. And he might have chipped a tooth.

"Is he going to be okay."

>...Yes. The doctors assured me, he will survive.

"...What about..."

>Two didn't even get a scrape on her knee. It was all draining based damage. She hugged Shiny for a bit and she was right as rain.

"Good, I guess. He'll be happy."

>...Did you do this.

"NO!"

She looked... upset at the implications. Guess she could only hide so much.

"What makes you think I wanted anything to do with this!? Those were my hive she tried to crush! She wanted me DEAD!"

>Did she?

"YES!"

>Oh, funny. I didn't hear her mention that. Did she have a past history with you?

"My... my mother, actually."

>Oh, really. Hmmm. Quite the story, I take it?

"It's... a long one."

>Oh, well, you must tell me sometime. But to the point, she was out there... and you knew where she was?

"Sort of..."

>Oh, I see. I see. So, there was this big, monstrous creature, with a personal reason to hate you out there. Oh, okay. And you... didn't feel like mentioning it?

"She was supposed to be dead..."

>She wasn't. What she was supposed to be is completely irrelevant.

"I... I asked Shiny to make sure!"

>Did you go with him?

"No, I-"

>Why not?

"..."

>Hmmm? Oh, nevermind, I figured it out. It would look 'suspicious', wouldn't it? I would probably ask about that, wouldn't I? And then you'd have to...

"Make something up?"

Wrong answer.

>So, rather than warn me about the possible threat... you'd rather make something up.

"Yes."

>... Because... if we got a hold of her corpse, there was a chance we could... prepare?

"...Yes."

>Oh, I see. I see.

"..."

>...Chrysalis?

"Hm?"

>I want you to know, were it not for the... unintentional message it would send, I would likely consider chucking all of your hive out. Dropped out into everfree, goodbye. Of course, if I did, that would send the political message that you were my enemies, and thus would be attacked. Not that I would worry for you, of course, you can handle yourself, but I would never want your subjects hurt for something they didn't do. It would be wrong of me, and I will not do it. But you...

She had a bit of a hobble to her step, but somehow, she still seemed strong.

>I want you to do one thing for me. Nothing big, just tell me one truthful thing. I want you to reach in deep, tell me one, single, truth. If you do this, if you confide in me with one piece of who you really are, I will consider forgiving you. I will consider moving on, and not having you followed and watched like a hawk. Give me one thing, and you stay free.

There was a long cold silence that followed.

Disappointed, Celestia began to move past her, and prepared to summon her guards.

"I..."

The shake in her voice was subtle, but it was there.

"...She hurt him. She... she tried to kill him. She almost did..."

Celestia could not see her expression, and yet, she felt it was not necessary.

"...Because I failed. I could have stopped her... but I failed. And yet... even after all that..."

At last, the two towering royals faced each other.

"Is that good enough?"

>...It's a start.

It wasn't enough for her to let her guard down, but it helped.

>You are going to face a lot of challenges now, Chrysalis. Your kind are more feared than ever. Your home is now unstable. Your allies are suspicious. This could end badly for you... but only if you let it. I will do what I can, but I will not do it all.

The soundproof barrier dispelled, and her door was opened. Standing tall, the white Princess made her way out the door. Down the hall, long after Chrysalis had moved out of earshot, a guard curtly cleared his throat.

'Orders, ma'am? Should we have her followed?'

>...No. We've hurt each other enough with these secrets. If nothing else, I will try not to add one more to the list.

Well within hearing range, just out of sight, the black shape hiding beyond even an Alicorn's detection capabilities couldn't keep from flinching at that.

She did not know if she could agree with Celestia.

But she stopped following all the same.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>SA
"???"
'???'
~~~~~

Oh yeah, this is nice. That's the nice, happy, glowy feeling that makes you all tingly and zippy and wow. This is the sort of thing that you only get when you KNOW you got your ass kicked.

>Oh, Morphine. Is there any problem you can't solve?

“You're not on any morphine.”

Hrm. Okay, that sound definitely SEEMED like it was talking to him, but it clearly was wrong. He knew this because he was feeling all warm, and fuzzy, and when he opened his eyes he saw color. Nothing but a solid wall of color. Mostly. It's kind of fuzzy. Not the fuzzy head kind of fuzzy, the fuzzy texture kind of fuzzy. Almost like a... coat... of...

>I take it this is not a dream.

“No.”

>Sure I'm not on morphine?

“The doctor was worried your heart would react badly due to all of the stress.”

>...Sure it's not a dream?

“It's not.”

>Has to be...

He nuzzled further into his wifes chest.

>I'm with the most beautiful pony in the world, no way would she ever go for a guy like me.

Oh, how good it was to hear her giggle again, even if it was a bit strained.

“You are so silly.”

>Concussion based behavior, it'll pass. Unless you don't want it too, in which case I'll start carrying a hammer. My old commander said brains were for the sissies anyway.

“...Shiny... you did something stupid today.”

>Yep. Blue tie with a purple vest? What the hell was I thinking. You should have smacked me good. It was totally-RIBS!

“You know what I mean.”

>Sweetie, there was a giant bug monster sapping our daughter like a fruit drink, I kind of panicked. Speaking of, by the lack of sobbing heave in your chest, I take it she's okay?

“Letting her take some of your strength while you were in this state was dumb.”

>Nah, always happy to doll out a little love. Unlimited Love Incorporated, I'm trademarking that and you can't stop me!

“Dear, be serious.”

>Says the pony who tried to fight her without me.

“...”

>...I'm sorry, that came out harsher than I meant. I just... she mentioned you in the fight.

“What happened down there?”

>...Oh, right, you wouldn't know about that. Uhhhh... self-destructed the Juggernaut, speaking of I need to get a new one from Twilight, still not pink, fell in lava... lotta boom boom... She shrunk down, speaking of, she can shrink! Guess it makes sense... getting off topic, she shrunk down, tried to kill Two, mentioned making sure you were dead, and things got hazy. Lots of fighting. I won, I guess. Didn't kill her. She ran off, but I had Two. Couldn't follow. What happened with you?

“...”

>...Honey?

“I lost.”

>I gathered, but-

“I don't want to talk about it.”

>Oh... okay...

“...Chrysalis says she wants to talk to you. Says it's important.”

>More important than this? Can't be. Nothing's more important than wife-snuggles.

She abruptly stood up, and he felt a bit cold without her.

“I have to go help Celestia with Canterlot, I'll be right back. I promise.”

>Oh... Alright... honey?

“Hm?”

>Love you.

“...Love you too, Shiny.”

She left, allowing the tall, frowning Queen to enter in her place.

'We need to talk.'
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Chrysalis
“SA”
~~~~~

She was more than a little tense as she sat next to him in the hospital bed. From the smell on her breath and the cup floating haphazardly beside her, occasionally clinking with the bottle she had also brought, he could tell she had probably been drinking a bit of “Stress-relief” for a while now.

>Put up a shield. Make sure it's soundproof. The good kind of soundproof.

Straight to the point, couldn't argue with that.

>H-hah! I could totally... totally do stuff right now, and nobody would hear.

“But you won't.”

She slugged down the remainder of the drink, tossing the cup aside like trash.

>...You don't know how bad things almost got.

“Canterlot is mostly rocks, it's pretty bad.”

>It's not. She showed me stuff. She needed to distract me before my mind control took hold, and all she could think of was to shock me with her biggest memory. It worked... and I got to see it all, Shiny. How bad it could have gotten.

“What?”

>...It happened before the fight. When everything went wrong. Months before the fight with my mom...

“...Chrysalis, talk to me. You can trust me.”

She laughed a long, bitter laugh.

>HAH! Seriously, you kill me... Anyway, it was just supposed to be a routine invasion. Get in, 'replace' the mayor's wife, stock up, kill everything. Pretty simple, right? Except...

“Except?”

>...She left her alive. Chitty doesn't even know why she did it, but she did. She spared her. And you know what happened?

“Something bad?”

>No... that mare actually helped her. Offered her Changelings a place to stay. Her husband didn't want to, didn't even want them on the same mountain, but he didn't argue too hard. Chitania was in a weird spot now. Nobody... nobody had ever given them a chance like that.

“A chance to integrate into society?”

>No. A chance to build up more love then they could have ever imagined, and wipe out all of Equestria. She thought they were fucking stupid for letting them get that chance. Chitania didn't even hesitate, took her up on her offer, and they started to integrate. It was slow, deliberate... just like she wanted. She helped out too, earned her keep. Fought off Polar Ursa's and Frost monsters, whatever. Didn't mean a damn thing to Chitania. But then... Chitania started to enjoy spending time with her. Started to like having a place to stay, a town that didn't want her dead, a... you know. A place where someone was waiting for her, and smiled when she arrived. The mayor never really liked her, but that was okay... she had her friend. And it happened just... just when she was starting to really like the place.”

“What did?”

>The end. One day, she arrived at the mayors house, eager to take her friend out for a flight, but she didn't find her friend waiting for her. She found a fake, a simile, a monster wearing her best friend's skin. Another one just like her.

“Another Queen.”

>Queen Variolus... never liked that bitch. Loved to coat her fangs with venom. Sadistic little thing.

“What'd she do?”

>The fuck you think she did? She lost her shit. Variolus hadn't even known Chitania was there, probably would have thought she was doing her a favor, so she didn't take to kindly to being attacked like that.

“Doesn't seem like she would be a threat.”

>She wasn't... until she grew as well.

“How? I thought only Chitania knew how to do that.”

>I was going off outdated information. Chitania fucked up. She told the Mayor's wife. Stupid bitch actually told the damn pony how her magic worked. When Variolus killed her, she took her memories to make sure the con stuck. And from there... she knew how to supersize. She ordered her hive to attack Chiantia's hive, and a civil war broke out.

“No...”

>She dragged Variolus across the mountainside with that fight. Two titans, hitting each other with nothing but fury and power. Two beings of pure hate.

“Guessing Chitania won.”

>Ripped Variolus head clean from her shoulders, and spat in her skull. But she didn't win. Not when she got back. When she got back, her hive...

“Lost?”

>Everyone lost in that fight. In the middle of the battle, nobody could tell which Changelings were Chitania's and which were Variolus's. So they just started attacking everyone. If you were a Changeling, you were a threat. And it got worse... The Mayor was a unicorn, you see, and pretty skilled at that. It turns out, he hadn't been very trusting of Chitania this whole time, and made a little... 'insurance' spell. It wiped out every Changeling alive...

“They were... 'all the same'...”

>And they cheered. The fucking ponies cheered. They thought they won... that's when they saw it didn't kill all of them... it didn't work on Queens. Didn't even slow Chitania down. So she killed them all. Nothing left to save, nothing left to be said.

“Damn...”

>And that's when she realized that all of the Queen's were inept, stupid creatures that were constantly getting in each other's way, and she alone deserved to be a Queen. Didn't even want a hive, just didn't want any other Queens before her. And she also realized that ponies were always going to be ready to turn on them, so fuck ponies. And other races had to be every bit as bad, right? Fuck them. Fuck everyone who wasn't her... If you hadn't noticed, she wasn't thinking straight. Then mom arrived, battle ensued, rest is history.

“Chrysalis... are you okay?”

She took another long, long drink, right from the bottle.

>I'

“Do you want me to help her?”

The silence was deafening.

>...No. I'll handle this.

“Chrysalis...”'

She hobbled to stand, wobbling drunkenly as she headed towards the door.

“Chrysalis.”

His voice was enough to give her pause.

“You can trust me.”

>....yeah, I know.

Then she looked back, her eyes strangely hard despite the haze around them.

>But I can't risk you.

The door swung open, and she removed herself from the bubble.

>She has a bigger goal now, she's probably not going to do another assault like that anytime soon. Laugh, have fun, let's do some crazy shit. She stayed hidden for centuries, we'll have to wait for her to make the next move. But when she does... I'll handle it.

“Is there any way I can help?”

>Yeah, mount up and rut me right into the floor. Love charge me enough I can nuke a continent, that'll make the fight really easy!

“...Chrysalis.”

>No? Pfft, and here I thought you were a team player. For shame, Shiny. For. Shame. You should rut you some bugbutt, for Equestria!

“The only shame I feel is that you thought that would work.”

>HAH! Can't blame a girl for trying!

“Legally, I can.”

>...Damn you, Shining Armor! You win this round!

He couldn't help but chuckle. Idly, his mind wandered to the massive Queen. Something had been in her eyes at the end there. Something beneath all the hate. Perhaps... a bit of respect? He might've been hallucinating. Still, he wondered what she was up to now...
~~~~~~

Sand crunched beneath hooves as the Queen stomped along the beach. As if she had heard him, her eyes flickered to the side. Pointless, she decided. She had bigger things to worry about. Things like...

{WHERE THE FUCK AM I!?}

The tiny island did not respond, for it was a tiny island.

{HOW THE FUCK DID I EVEN GET HERE!? I CAN'T SWIM, THIS MAKES NO SENSE!}

If she had looked up into the night sky at that moment, she might have noticed the stars flickering in an almost mirthful manner.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"And that's how Discord ended up with a case of tape worms!" Fluttershy finished her story with a giggle after a sip of her tea.

Discord just scowled at the story. "You complain now, but for the few weaks before I was cured, having tape handy from my own butt was quite a big help, if I recall."

Then, the two looked to their guest, who remained the same as always, her expression sad, eyes low and unfocused, limbs limp, and her coat seemingly gray-ish. She had done everything she could for Twilight, but her friend remained quiet, sad, and catatonic.

"Oh, Twilight... Please, wake up, say something..." Fluttershy pleaded deseparately and now moved to Twilight's side and nuzzled her, partially to prod some reaction, partially to lift her wings out of the dirt.

Even Discord was starting to feel concern. "Hmmm... What in the world could have done to her more than anything I ever did when I was first free. I mean sure I'm upset as a friend, but my old villain's pride is feeling in-" That was cut off by a hard glare from Fluttershy, her expression then softened.

“Maybe we are the wrong friends to help Twilight. I have been out of touch with things lately…”

Discord had shrunk slightly to coil around Fluttershy. “Oh, now don’t be like that, we’ve just been busy locating the dopplegangers! They’re perhaps the biggest threat to Equestria right now!”

“I know… but maybe Twilight just needs to talk to the others.” Fluttershy brightened. “Or maybe everyone to remind her! Discord, let’s take a break from clone hunting and go to Canterlot! Activating warp drive!”

In a flash of blue and white, Fluttershy, Discord, and Twilight vanished, and in that same instant of time appeared right in the ruins of the ball room.

Celestia’s eye twitched and she didn’t answer, thankfully, Applejack was there. “Ah don’ know what to tell ya’ll besides whaddya think happened?”

Strange music suddenly began playing while Discord flashed around the room in a deerstalker cap with a magnifying glass in between stroking his beard when an unlit lightbulb appeared above his head. “Aha- Oh, I hate it when that happens!” Discord then plucked the lightbulb from the air, screwed it a single, lone, dangling light socket suspended by its own wire.

It still worked it seems.

“What I think happened was that Queen Gwendolyn was killed by President Plum, in the Ponyville Library, with a candlestick!”

The crickets were a complete dissonance to Twilight’s developing sobs.

“I’m still alive and right here!” The queen indignantly huffed.

Discord snapped his fingers, putting everyone in Hawaiian shirts. “Well, there goes that theory! Okay, but I have another one: A giant, ancient Changeling Queen of yore known as Chitania was aroused from her slumber after being sealed in the ice for nearly a thousand years and went on an unstoppable rampage to exterminate Chrysalis and the hive out of revenge for Chrysalis’ mother putting her in said ice. She got lost several times along the way, causing her rampage to seem so erratic it was first believed that she was actually some new species of monster, and she was so distant from Canterlot, it was next to impossible for Celestia and Applejack, currently hosting a gathering with various foreign dignitaries, to tell what was happening. Then, she began rampaging through the Everfree and getting closer to Ponyville, a distraction was used to lure her away but it made her turn towards Canterlot, from there, her course was set and she was impossible to stop. Everything was thrown at her, including the Highwind and the full might of the royal guard, munitions dumps blown up in her face, Princess Luna… all while Celestia desperately used every bit of magic to make mass teleports of various people to safety. After Luna was defeated, Cadence stepped up and only undid all the damage that had been done to Chiatania, then she finally found the remaining changelings, tried to kill them, Chrysalis intervened and revealed the state of the Changeling race, and promptly got her ass handed to her along with Celestia herself.”
(oops, mismarked the second one 3/?)

Discord paused, his face blue from talking, and then took a deep breath that turned him into a balloon before he continued in a high-pitched voice as though he has just sucked in helium. “Then Shining Armor came out of the blue and began laying down the hurt on Chitanian until Chitania grabbed Applejack 2 and nearly murdered her by draining her of all her love which pissed Shining Armor off, he teleported them to a volcano where he then used his old juggernaut to beat the crap out of Chitania, then activated the self-destruct sequence which still didn’t kill her, so Shining Armor began burying her under lava until she was reduced to her true size, the two had a very Gurren-Hen-esque fist fight, ending with Shining nearly dropping Chitania into the lava but then noticed 2 woke up and he decided he couldn’t let 2 believe murder was a viable solution to problems. The volcano erupted, the three decided to escape, and when they did, Shining Armor let Chitania flee because he could not kill her in not-so-cold blood. I mean Chitania’s rampage has resulted in a death toll in the triple digits, so why doesn’t Bat Shining just kill the Chitaner?”

Everyone just stared at Discord at his surprisingly accurate summary.

“Oh, also, the teleporter to the Crystal Empire was broken because it was meant for Alicorns to use, not a common changeling like Applejack 42, making Chrysalis and the Changelings seem very suspect at first. Did I get it right?” Discord lunged towards Applejack and Celestia with beady eyes.

“Uh… That’s ‘bout tha right of it…” Applejack said slowly, resulting in Discord forcing her into a bipedal stand so he could leap into her arms.

“I won! I won!” Discord cheered than ran over to hug Fluttershy as bells and victory music played with confetti dropping from nowhere. “Fluttershy! We’re going to Partyland! And we will the cash prize of a million bits! And that new car!”

He gestured over to where a red convertible BMW was being shown off in an inexplicable limelight with a Discord copy in a red cocktail dress to lovingly stroke the machine.

Ignoring Discord’s insanity, applejack slowly and hesitantly approached her now crying friend. “Twi, sugarcube? You gonna be alrigh’? Ah know it looks bad, but we know when we put our minds together, there ain’ nothin-”

“It’s all my fault!” Twilight bellowed out in despair.

The entire crowd froze and now looked on Twilight, some with increasingly angry glares as, at last, they fury had a new target.

Discord suddenly swept over and shrunk until he was in Twilight’s ear. “What are you doing? I’m trying to defuse this!”

Remaining calm yet inscrutible, Celestia stepped forward and calmly asked her student, her maternal streak made her extend a wing in comfort. “Twilight… what are you talking about, how could you have caused any of this?”

“Don’t answer! Don’t answer!” Discord continued to whisper.

Twilight spoke anyway, her conscience crushing out her ability to remain silent. “I had Shiny followed to the glacier where the giant changeling was frozen. I thought she was dead and I could finally research how changelings function and their queen. But when I started to cut out a piece for a tissue sample, she woke up, broke free and caused everything that happened! Because I couldn’t trust Chrysalis! Because I couldn’t trust my brother or friends’ judgement! Because… Because I wanted to know!”

No one could see it but Twilight, but Chrysalis was smiling, cold and cruel. Only Twilight could see Chrysalis mouth ‘what else?’

Almost compelled by this silent command while more and more glares of anger and rage turned on her, including even friends and family, conspiratorial murmurs and informing ones updated newcomers as other joined the gathering.

“And the robots!” Twilight sobbed. “The robots were my designs! Blueblood stole them because my lab was keyed to the genes of all royalty! And the guns! The guns that have been coming in are my fault too!”

“It was under my orders, Twilight!” Celestia shouted.

“Two dozen griffons are dead for your pride!” Gwendolyn screamed. “She should be stripped of her crown and banished!”

The Buffalo emissary added: “No! As an Alicorn she is too much a threat! We cut off her wings, break her horn, and remove her legs!”

Chrysalis’ smile grew

“I love my best friend in the guard to your robots and now my brother to your monster! She needs to be executed!” A battered guardsman howled.

Celestia looked nervously shielded Twilight with her wings along with Applejack and a trembling Fluttershy. “That’s enough! Twilight’s transgressions are as a princess of Equestria and she will be tried as an Equestrian citizen!”

Suddenly, Shining Armor stepped forward with an indignant look that Twilight could see. “Twily… Two nearly died because of that- Her! Why couldn’t you have trusted me enough to ask me? What makes it okay for you to sneak around and lie but not Chrysalis?”

The changeling queen, distant from the crowds began to laugh an unheard laugh as she saw Twilight break.

Applejack now slammed her hoof in front of Shining Armor, glaring the stallion down. “Maybe ‘cause Chrysalis is a bloody snake in tha grass who’s already fooled ya twice? Wha’ Twiligh’ did was a mistake, everyone! Fer ya’ll who distrust changelin’s, would any onna ya’ll done any differen’ than Twi? We don’ even know fer sure if Twiligh’ freed it, ya’ll saw how that thing shrugged off everythin’ we threw at it! She coulda just as easily broken out on ‘er own!”

“A mistake?!” One guardsmare shouted. “Am I supposed to tell the families of the soldiers who died under my command their wives, husbands, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, daughters, and sons died because one of the Princesses they’re supposed to serve made a mistake?!”

Shining Armor shook his head. “She’s right, Applejack ‘just a mistake’ isn’t going to cut it this time. We’ve all made mistakes but they haven’t destroyed multiple cities and killed dozens of people.”

Fluttershy, of all ponies, found her voice. “Then, maybe, instead of punishing Twilight, we should let her help repair the damage? I mean if we just hurt Twilight, will that make the people who the giant queen hurt really feel any better? All it would do is just give a short term outlet ot their anger.”

Applejack than stalked around Shining Armor, his rage beginning to wither. “An’ let’s talk ‘bout onna a smaller scale. Folks who mighta been personally insulted, folks who lost ‘r nearly lost a single loved on… Tell me, Shiny, think Two would want’cha to lynch yer own damn sister when you wen’ an’ spared tha one who wrenched tha gun outta her hand an’ went on tha shootin’ spree? Great example there ta set: show mercy to tha merciless bu’ be cruel ta family. Sure she’ll remember that next mistake you make.”

Shining Armor suddenly staggered, while not combat trained, Applejack suddenly felt far more imposing than Chitania ever had.

The Princess of Paperwork then began to walk amongst the mobs once more: “An’ ya’ll lost friends, family, an’ loved ones in an accident. Ah know personally how much that hurts lika bitch. all you wanna do righ’ now is jus’ ta rip apart everythin’ you could even vaguely connect to their deaths. But lemme tell ya’ll, that ain’ gonna do nothin’ but leave tha world an’ emptier place. Ah cain’ say Ah personally knew everyone who died, but Ah kin tell ya one thin’, tha most important thing to them was makin’ sure tha ones they loved were safe. An’ that rest o’ yer family tha’s still alive ain’ gonna wanna see ya’ll go on some destructive rampage. Trust me, Ah know.”

The whole time this happened, Discord cheered quietly while having glued Chrysalis to a piece of ceiling inexplicably suspended in the air. Not paying any attention to anything Applejack had said or done.

Applejack then stepped over to the sobbing Twilight, Celestia actually glowing with some pride how Applejack had defused the mob, who suddenly all looked a lot more unsure of themselves and their anger.

Applejack knelt down to her friend and gave a reassuring smile. “Twiligh’... Darlin’?”

Finally, Twilight looked up to meet Applejack’s eyes. And was immediately whapped upside the head with enough force to decapitate a normal pony. “Stop bein’ sorry fer yerself an’ start bein’ sorry fer tha people who lost somethin’!” Her tone softened. “You really wanna fix this mistake, then ya do what ya can to help rebuild, repair, and mend tha lives o’ those affected by this. It won’ be an easy road, an’ forgiveness, you kin forgit ‘bout gettin’ that from everyone, but recognizin’ yer mistakes here an’ choosin’ to make up fer them is gonna mean a lot more than jus’ runnin’ off an’ cryin’.” Standing up to her full height, Applejack smiled and extended a hoof. “Whaddaya say, sugacube?”

Sniffling, crying, and shaking, but feeling some resolve return. The resolve to stay and not cast herself into the volcano, the resolve to not let others tear her apart to give them some absolution, the resolve to stand up and move forward, the resolve to live, the resolve to take Applejack’s hoof.

“Now that’s much better…” Applejack said with a smile that joined Fluttershy and Celestia’s. “All that said, c’mon, everyone… We got a helluva a mess to clean up!”

As the mob slowly dispersed, Twilight looked to Celestia who just said: “She really is the best princess.”

NON CANON

----- ADDITION FROM ANOTHER WRITER, ALSO NON CANON

"C'mon y'all, we got a helluva mess t'clean up," Applejack implored, leading the way out.

Celestia still stood, just as stalwart and good and kind as ever. Her sheilding wings may have been made of steel for all the give they offered, so long as there was a single pony, griffin, or buffalo in sight. Even when they all left, the white immortal guarded her former protege, waiting until she heard the timid, careful hooffalls of Twilight Sparkle climbing to her feet.

Celestia knew, logically, that she needed to help her former charge. She knew that what was needed was kindness, tenderness, forgiveness. It would come, in time. She could, she would, she had to give that to Twilight. She couldn't not. But when Twilight's hoof touched her, the Princess of the Sun couldn't bring herself to soften. It was too soon. She couldn't meet her student's eyes, for fear that tears or hatred would come pouring out of them. She couldn't shout, couldn't whisper,, couldn't fly, couldn't run from the pain, couldn't turn and lash out.

All she could do was fold her wings back to her side, hang her head low, and walk out of the room, like all the others had. That alone might break her heart, but it was the only course of action.

Just outside the doorway, her resolve failed her. A million times worse than any insult or spiteful diatribe was the disappointment the ruler couldn't hide in her voice.

"You have a lot to think about."


_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The walk had been long and...trying. Canterlot burned around him as he walked, like a vision in one of his many nightmares. For some reason he couldn't explain, the silence besides the crackle of flames and the crumbling of buildings only added to the foreboding emptiness of it all.

With a sigh, he stepped into the palace, his expression hardening under the glares of the guards and ponies assembled within. The group he was looking for only included one pony anyway. He found them within one of the corridors off the Great Hall, licking their wounds and speaking in tones too low for him to hear.

77 was the first to notice him as he drew near, giving his brother a rueful smile, "32, I see you're still alive."

The rogue nodded back to him, "Barely, I suppose you all fared no better, judging from...well...all of this."

32 looked around to accentuate his point.

"She took everything we threw at her and just kept coming," Spike looked down at Charity, sitting with his back against the wall.

32 shook his head ruefully, "Chitania proved just as much a juggernaut as the old stories said, it's funny, I swore she was dead..."

"Yeah..." 42 grimaced, "About that."

32 grinned, "Oh say no more, sister, I think I fully understand what's happened. Tell me, how are you?"

"I feel like seven shades of shit," 42 sighed, "Wait, why do you care?"

"Come on, I'm a bastard, but I'm not heartless," 32 laughed a bit at that, "And I'm in no mood to fight."

"Well good, me neither," 42 eyed him suspiciously, but closed her eyes, "That was...damn embarrassing."

There was a muttering of agreement from the Gun Club, Tiara patted her launcher before looking up at 32, then blinking.

"Hey...bug monster..."

"Yes, pink filly?"

"The hell is that you have there?"

"Where?"

"On your back."

"Oh...right...this!"

The brick was flung through the air with the speed of a rock from a sling-

CLANG!

42's head jerked to the side, in an instant, 32 was on her, spitting a wad of the sticking substance into her side and sending her barreling into 77 with a harsh buck, bonding the two of them together. Shocked, the one-eyed changeling lost grip of his knife, sending it flying until a green glow suspended it in the air and sent into the shoulder of a rising Spike, causing him to drop Charity.

"What the fuck are you do-" Tiara managed to shout before 32 bucked her hard in the face, sending the filly flying into Potatojack.

32 grinned, walking over to the dragon, who was clutching where the knife had been embedded in his shoulder.

"I'll be needing this, little dragon," He smiled and with the same sickly green glow jerked the knife out of Spike's shoulder.

"Gahhh!" Spike howled in pain, glaring at 32, teeth gritted, "What are you...doing?"

"Come on, I think you know," 32 grinned as he saw 42 and 77 starting to stir, "Here's a hint, someone a lot better than me should have done it a long time ago."

32 smirked and sprinted off, knife now clutched between his teeth. There wouldn't be much time before his now former allies regrouped and were upon him, he had to work fast.

He didn't want to waste her majesty's time, after all.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Flash Williams
*Bits of Flash*
"32"
HAPPENING

Rocks

Nothing but various assortmentsof rocks, some shaped like bits of building, some glowing red from the fires, some intermingled with twisted metal. It could all be perfectly described by a forlorn poet if he could

>Hrmmmm....looks like Canterlot rocked out too hard....heh, saved

Unfortunately, Flash was not such a poet, instead he just poked through the wreckage, amazed by the characteristic lack of spilt blood and gore that one with murderous thought would expect from a slaughtered city

"You"

He hadn't met another soul since he came here, optics indicated some movement in what was the last of the castle, but....him, was new

>Do I know you? -CHANGELING IDENTIFIED! ASSESSING OBJECTIVE RECOGNITION- Do ignore that, old tic, and tell me why my chainsaw wants you at a nice two-for-one price?

"You. You're the Flash"

>...Huh....well that has a nice ring to it alright....but no-

"You were Bluebloods soldier

>Yeaaaaahhh, not exactly a good addition to my portfolio

"And Sparkles pet"

>Okay now that's kinda cutting i-

"I have a job for you, mercenary"

*woot?*

>....Uh-huuuuuuh

"All of this? This destruction, collapse, death, it's all the fault of....her....and I would need some....one, to help me take "care" of her"

>....Uhh-DETERMINE. WHO- Okay now that just sounded creepy

"I think you'll know her as...Bug-Bitch"

And then Flash's circuitry went haywire

>ggahahAHAHAH*FFZZTZTH*AAAAAAAAHHGR*kkkrtgTUNG*

"Yes, you should start remembering now"

>But....how?- OMEGA MEMORY BANKS: ACTIVE. MISSION PARAMETERS: ACTIVE. AS FOLLOWS: DISPOSE THE QUEEN- The.....Her?

"Did you think I simply while my time in the caves, growing angtsy and training savages? No, After your little fall from grace you went Rogue, ineffective, but uncontrollable, I never knew the full story behind your past until I began to be part of the little Gun Club here and they won't be much an issue, bricks are wonderful tools you see, but I know a distraction when I see one, and your....'Brain' so it is was surprisingly easy to plug a small, rudimentary command into, just the slightest hint of vulgarity and you seemed to have been hooked onto it.

>I...am no-ones puppet, pal, you try to use me *FZZT* geh....these lil' beauts here? They'll have their....come....uppance, yeah

"OF course you're not a puppet, I'm simply suggesting the action to you, and you can have at it anyway you want, you don't /need/ to kill her, if that's what you're thinking.

>It's what I'm good at, I'd be happy to demonstrate too

"But given what she's been up against, you simply aren't going to get to her"

>Not if I did it like THIS-

He sprang forward, chainsaw revving straight at the changelings chest, 32 only just leapt out to the side in time, he definitely felt the teeth bite into him, but he'd make sure it was just a graze, flipping to his side, he ducked and swung to bring a hoof to the chin of this cocky cyborg, when he suddenly found himself staring straight down two barrels of a Sawn Off

>Boom

*BLABLAM*

32 was sent arcing backwards, his face stinging like hell and back, vision blurred, going dark, going bright.... a cave...

No, not yet

Scrambling onto all fours, he just saw the shape of Flash charging again towards him when he dusted off above him

*RRRRRRKKKCKHRRRRRRRRR* went the chainsaw as it bit deep into rock Flash ran into, he pulled and strained, motors whining back at him as he tried to wrestle his prize free before the changeli-

"Not good enough"

This time 32 managed to swing up, down, back to Flash and plant an uppercut right underneath his belligerent jaw. He was sent flying, the force of the hit enough to tear apart the joints between his forehoof and the chainsaw. Flash, for such is he, only noticed this when he looked groggily back at where he was 5 seconds ago

>Awww, not again...

"Now then...do you really think you coul-"

>Psyke!

His left hoof still had a loaded sawn off, which he duly demonstrated

*BLABLAM*

And 32 ducked behind some more rubble just as the pellets wizzed by

"Not good enough, you're not a killer, and you know it"

>(yeah yeah....keep talking pal, I've got you traced riiii)- AUDIO SOURCE LOCATED, HE IS OVER THERE- No no!

Wherever Flash thought 32 was before, he was actually far away from it, but the large thrown chunk of rubble was definitely headed towards Flash

"You're just not good enough, it doesn't take a General to figure out how pathetic a soldier you were, let alone a simple guard"

*BLABLAM*

>Missed.... And just what do you want from me then...huh?

"A simple task, shouldn't be too difficult *BLABLAM* Be a distraction, it's not like you have any other choice *BLABLAM* And you'll actually be useful for once, instead of being dolled up to pretend you're any good *BLABLAM*

>Damnit damnit DAMNIT! SHOW YOURSELF!

"Would you like your toy back? How about your dignity? Pride? at the least some recognition?"

>I don;t need any of that, I just...huff....want my chainsaw....grr....back at the least

"And then? And you may want to switch off the blade, it'll just keep going in otherwise"

Now he appeared in plain view, behind Flash, who was trying in vain to tug the object from the wall

>Then.....my....mission...mission? Uhh -DISPOSE THE QUEEN- is that it?

"Yes, that's all you need to know, but don't go charging straight in, no matter how cleverly you do it, try to think for once. What does she value, what she cannot bear to lose?"

Flash wrenched the saw tool free, falling flat onto his back for his troubles, clutching it in both legs he stared dumbly up at 32

>Heheh, ponies value a lot of things if ya bring a chainsaw close enough to 'em

"Think, you moron, Who. Does. She. Love. And it sure as hell isn't the hive, or the Princesses, she doesn't care about anyone but herself...except....?"

A look of concentration and computation crossed Flash's face, he did seem dumbfounded.

>Someone...small? They like small things...I like small things....

"..Good, small, think small then, think small and vulnerable"

>So do I kill it?

"NO. Whatever you think is small and vulnerable does not die, otherwise she will simply melt you, just....take it away, hide it somewhere far off, and I will take care of the rest. Got it?"

>Small....vulnerable....take away....far away....no killing......Fine, but I deserve some blood, the Bae's thirsty

After some fumbling, he managed to re-attach the chainsaw to his ungainly foreleg

>And what is your job the-

But 32 was gone.

>Fine....be that way, see if I care, lousy changelings and their immunity to buckshot

He stomped away over the rubble towards the ruins of Canterlot Castle, after something small and vulnerable

NON CANON
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>18
"SA"
' 2 '
~~~~

The door to the hospital room may as well have been made of paper.

>SHINY! ARE YOU OKAY!? FUCKING CANTERLOT! FIRE! THINGS SMASHYSMASHYPONIESSAYINGYOUSPLODEDANDI...

"..."

>...Erm...

"Mrphmpmm."

>I'm... sorry?

'Shiny said bad words when he was fightin' chitty.'

The little Changeling in his lap looked far, faaaaar too content.

'And ponies who say bad words get their mouths washed out, right!'

"Rrrph"

>...That can't be medically safe.

"Imh ahhsm, bhh shu ishnshns. Smmm, hmrm e a."

>Ah.

"..."

'...Wanna hug Shiny?'

>Please?

Like a lamprey eel, she was clinging to his neck, choking the life out of him and crushing Two against his chest. Said tiny changeling seemed to actually find it hilarious.

"Mphhstwoo ehpeen."

>Don't you die on me, you hear? I would have to do SO MUCH PAPERWORK!

"Cmgpha."

>IT'S NOT FUNNY!

"Cmgms ish."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Applejack
"Big Mac"
'Guard'
~~~~~

'A-hem, princess? Someone here to see you.'

>Tell 'em Ah'm busy!

'Not necessary, he probably heard you.'

>What do ya'll.

Okay, her brother holding that guard up by the scruff of his neck like a puppy was kind of cute.

>...Got it.

With as much dignity as he could muster after being dropped to the floor, the guard brushed himself off, and walked out.

>Mac. Ya'll doin' okay?

"Eeeeyup. Yer'self?"

>Could be better. City got smashed.

"Eeeeyup."

>Ya' missed all the fun. Not like ya' could'a helped anyway, ya' would've been about as useful as me. Which is ta' say, not at all.

"Eeenope."

>Yeah, nope. Not useful.

"Nope as in yer' wrong."

>...Ah, ya' weren't here.

"Ah' know well enough ta' know ya' probably did a lotta good."

>...Dang it Mac, Ah've got work ta' do.

He payed her no mind, just walked right up to her and leaned down on her.

"Eeeeyup."

>Mac, quit.

"Nnnope."

>Quiiiit!

"Nnnnnoooppe."

>Ah'll tell granny on you!

"..."

>...Dang it, bluff called.

"Eeeeyup."

>...thanks, Mac.

"Anytime."
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