Thread 109: Stories 61-75

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 >SA
"Chrysalis"
~~~~~~

>So, now they're um... questioning about taxes.

"What?"

>Specifically, how they're being spent, and who they're paying... exactly.

"..."

>They are kind of under the impression that mayyyybe we should cut Cadence off. Fund wise, I mean. Not... you know, in the 'revolution' sense, neck wise.

"..."

>Sad part is, I'm finding it hard to argue with them given some of her... expenditures.

"Troubling."

>Anything from your changelings? Like, worries or the like?

"Nothing I can't handle."

>...You're in Chrysalis-talk mode.

"I'm thinking."

>Nothing to think about until they do something.

"Always time to think."

>...Don't do anything, Chrysalis, I can handle this.

"I know."

>You just worry about your changelings.

"I don't need to. Rebellion is not something I fear from them."

>You're doing the unintentional creepy talk again.

"Force of habit."

>...It is unintentional, right?

"Sure."

>...Chrysalis?

"Yes?"

>I need to know you're sane.

"I am. There, all better?"

>No, really, be sane.

"I am perfectly sane."

>...Chrysalis? There's only one way to prove to me that you're not thinking very dark thoughts, and can take this in stride.

"...Hitting on you?"

>...

"Oh..."

>...

"...Ahem..."

>....

"MESSING UP SHINY'S PAAAAAPPPPPEEERRRRRRS!"

>...Thank Faust.

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OOCO
>Spike
"DT"
~~~~

>...
"What?"
>...
"WHAT!?"
>Just answer me something.
"Fine, what?"
>Does it have a rocket punch.
"..."
>Does. It have. A rocket punch.
"...you know it has a badass rocket punch."
>...I want one.
"TOO BAD!"

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>Spike
"DT"
'???'
~~~~~

>Okay, when I said home, I admit I was only being half serious, but I still was hoping for the general area. Near everyone else bare minimum. We're not even remotely close to that.

"I need to make a stop first."

>All that power, and still no built in little-fillies room?

"Ew! I wouldn't want it in here anyway! All sloshing about, getting everywhere... you don't know anything about design, Spike!"

>It was a... nevermind. Just tell me where we are going?

"To get an ally of course! We're going to need the best if we want to get a handle on this situation!"

>Okay, first off, this situation was fine until it looked like we went full despot on everyone with powered armor. Second, the portal is that way.

"I'm not getting Forty Two!'

>Fine, then Ponyville is that way.

"You really think I'm dragging Seventy Seven up here!? The guy's getting married!"

>...PJ is-

"AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

>...You can't seriously mean-

"BRACE YOURSELF!"

This would have been more helpful a split second later, before he was jerked free and flung headfirst into a brick wall as the flying thing came to a sudden stop on the side of a building, perched there like a giant robotic flying spider.

"I warned you."

>...

"HEY! HEEYYYYY!"

Loudly, she banged on the window she was perched next to, thankfully with her real hoof and not the mechanical one. Slowly, the curtain beyond pulled back ever so slightly.

"HEYYYYY!"

There was a groan before the thing finished being pulled to the side, revealing a very tired, very irritated gaze.

"HEY! HEY! HEY! SILVER SPOON!"

'...'

"ISN'T THIS AWESOME!?'

'...'

"HUH!?"

'...'

Slowly, the curtain went back, the filly on the other side never moving her dead gaze. Excitedly, she turned back to the still prone dragon.

"She's blow away, I can tell."

>...I need to get out more and meet new friends.

"Now you're sounding like my dad!"

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OOCO
>Dash
"Spitfire"
~~~~~

>...Alright, what have you done now?

"Don't know what you mean."

>You did something, I know you did something. Why are you even pretending you didn't do something? You totally did something.

"Now that's just silly."

>You did!

"Did no such thing."

>YOU SO DID!

"Lies, slander and lies. I didn't do a thing."

>WHAT DID YOU DO!?

"Nothing, that's what I do."

>No, what you DO is make my life a living nightmare all the time, I'm asking what you did!

"Which is nothing."

>WHAT! DID! YOU! DO!?

"You really want to know?"

>YES!

"Reeeeally?"

>YES I WANT TO KNOW!

"I made you freak out by sitting here."

>...

"Just like old time, isn't it Dashie? Ha ha! Hoo hoo hoo ha ha! HAHAHAHAH!"

ZOOOM!

>...Alright, that one was-

SNAP!

>SON OF A BITCH!

"There's also a mousetrap on your chair, but I didn't do that one!"

>...

"AHAHAHAHAH!"

ZOOOM!

>...I'm considering jumping from a very high place.

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>Gwendolyn
"Idris"
'???'
~~~

"Really, honey bunches?"

She ignored his only partially sarcastic words, continuing her trek to her brand new airship, courtesy of her armies new 'supplier'. Even sweeter, the impressive looking thing had been given free of charge, just as a sign of friendship.

She wasn't reading too much into that.

"Come now, we just dealt with such an absolutely terrible thing, must we really go off into another political nightmare?"

She never stopped, never even slowed, only marched with purpose towards her means of escape from this land.

"Come now, even we use that one changeling on occasion to find political corruption, must we really stick our beaks into-"

>If you are trying to talk me out of this simply because they are our largest trading partner, I'm going to be very irritated.

Tellingly, he went silent.

>Idris...

"Pardon me for thinking about the stability of our economy. Which, in case you didn't notice, was very nearly not 'our' anything a day ago."

>This is bigger than that!

Her voice had devolved into a hawklike screech, an earsplitting sound that pained him something terrible, almost as much as the glare she threw his way had.

Almost.

>If that... thing! Had been the one who has been dealing with all of our trades, what does that mean!? She might've been deliberately aiming us, giving us better rates on certain things and overinflating others just to make sure we taxed the 'right' things, let the 'right' things in... like them. Any one of their workers could have been another infiltrator!... Yes, another, because unless it slipped your mind somehow we once had that MONSTER in our home! Not two steps from us while we battled for our lives! Her! This... opens up a lot of vulnerabilities to us that I never even considered.

"And dealing with your friend doesn't."

A claw, sharp as her tongue, found itself buried between his eyes.

>I didn't see you complaining when she was stopping that thing.

He had no answer to that.

>We're leaving, NOW! We are going over there and getting to the bottom of this. And if it is not satisfactory, then no 'trade' in the world is worth this!

"...As you wish."

There was nothing left to be said, nothing left to be done. His wife had made up her mind, and that was all there was to it.

"I'm to take it you want to go alone?"

>Zephryious can watch the kingdom while we are away. You and I need to deal with this, personally.

"Oh? Strange of you, you normally want to face every problem on your own."

>Listen here.

Her claw slipped around the back of his head, holding him in place to look him right in the eyes.

>If they are... overtaken, or something to that nature, if this goes badly and they would rather someone more 'in line' with their thinking returned instead of us... there is exactly one gryphon in the whole world I want by my side as I fight every last one of them to the death.

Much like before, that was all that needed said.

"...I love you."

Except for that, of course.

"Will we be bringing your little tag along with you?"

>Vekir?... Actually, I have no idea where she ended up.

"That worries me."

>Hrm. She is Zephryious's problem until we get back. He can deal with her.

"...I REALLY love you."

She smiled, the first genuine one she had been privvy to in a long while, and the two started up the ramp, ready to take off in seconds.

>I'm sure she's fine...

~~~~~~

'Okay, Vekir, be recalling what you did last night... partied with Catbirds... chewed of nice food... OH! Then Vekir had strange water, yes! The kind that looked like what was under dark mushroom!... But Catbirds said it was safe! Vekir has been lied to! Or... is this catbird custom?

Tentatively, she knocked on the side of the wooden barrel surrounding her, the one that rocked back and forth... like it was moving.

Because it was.

'...This is probably not catbird thing...'

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NC
>DT
"SS"
~

>And this is the hydraulic hind leg, which lets me buck with up to six thousand pounds per inch of force!

"Rmrmrmr..."

>And this is the guided laser system, which means I could punch a gnat off the top of a spinning ball!

"Rhhnnn."

>And this is my Sexy!... You know what he does.

"DT, I'm pretty sure I have pneumonia."

>You know what they say, sunshine is the best medicine!

"No, they don't, that causes cancer."

>Bah, Twilight can just punch that out of you.

"Uggghh... I think we left Spike back in the wall."

>No we did not... OH SHIT!

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NC
~~~~~

"...What is that?"

>What?

"Between it's legs, the heck is that?"

>Oh, that... no idea! I think it's an antenna or something, Pennydrop said it would be super useful if I ever ended up alone.

"..."

>What?

"I need an adult."

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NC
~~~

>WHAT THE FUCK!?

"Huh."

>W-why... why did Sexy just detach, fly around and blow up my new armor the second we got out of it!?

"Fine question. Not the question I would have asked, I have a great many others, but that is a legitimate question."

>This is so confusing!

"Welcome to my world.

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NC
>Filthy Rich
"TBDRLIATU"
~~~~

>...

"..."

>...You still can't date her.

"ARMING MISSILES!"

>BRING IT!

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>DT
"SS"
~~~~~

>...

"Is... is your dad fighting your rocket launcher?"

>... Well this day got weird fast.

"WELCOME TO MY LIFE."

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>Chrysalis
~~~

>The world is changing.

She had heard of it already. How could she not? Was it possible, at all, to miss this? To miss the reactions, the panicking, the fears overtaking not only Canterlot, but so many other places.

The world had been changing for a while, but thus far it had been for the better. Things had been looking up, things had been improving. For a while, at least.

Of course, it had been unrealistic to think this would continue on forever. It was silly, at some point something bad had to happen, just out of sheer probability. Something, eventually, was going to go wrong.

Now, it has.

>Perhaps I should be optimistic about this.

Certainly a possibility, certainly something she could take measure in. The world around her had not fallen, she had not been tossed from the city into the wilderness as she had been before. There was suspicion, there was a lack of trust, but her careful planning had at least allowed her sanctuary.

For a time.

>And after running so far too...

But now, even her last corner she had been chased to had looked to her as others had before. Even now, there were whispers of if this was her doing, or indeed the choices of the changeling they knew from their day to day lives. They knew of Eighteen, they lived with her, they saw her when she got her cheese danish every other day and they spoke with her and lived with her. They knew of her subject

Not so much herself.

>Such is the price of secrets, I suppose.

They knew nothing of her, save that she sometimes engaged in reckless, fun times with her fellows royal nature. They knew little of her save her power beheld in times of strife. They knew nothing of her, and now they wondered.

Was this Eighteen's doing, some of them whispered, or was this all part of the plan?

>Hm... You know, if that had been the case... I wonder if I would have wanted to take credit.

The last corner of the world, the icy world surrounding her and concealing her, and no longer could she for certain count on those who's space she shared. So very little space, so very small...

It was all she had, and not a speck of it was truly hers.

>At this rate, it's not going to be theirs either.

She still remembered looking to this land with a pain in her chest, even though she still denied it to this moment. She remembered wondering what life would be like without it. How very much she didn't want that.

This event had made her realize the truth.

>It's not the place.

She was not Eighteen. She did not look to this land with a wonder that was unmatched by any, this was not her magical land she had sought forever.

It was them.

Them, and they alone, were all she cared about in this place.

>I don't want to go.

She said it now, no longer hollow, no longer broken, for now she understood.

>Because of them.

She had one tiny little corner of the world, the only place she could hold onto, but not keep as her own. The Empire was her home, but this land was not her own.

They had pushed her to the edge, and now even that teetered on the corner. It was time, she conceded.

>I don't ever want to leave them... and I won't.

She would not leave them behind, this was her home.

But right now, she needed something... else.

>If there is no place that will trust them... I will make one.

There was a world out there, waiting.

>The world is changing... and if there is one thing we do better than anyone else, it's change with it.

It was time to change.

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>Chitania
~~~

It was happening again.

This was just like before. The suspicion in the leadup, the questioning, all of it. Admittedly, this wasn't quite the all out war that began at her beck and call when she found the thing wearing her friends skin, but it was getting there. It was bubbling over, slower than had been, but soon.

They all looked to her, just as he had so long ago. Those same eyes of suspicion, those same thoughts in their heads. She needed no mind magic to know what they were thinking. They were just like he was, so very long ago.

>The fool.

She never thought this would work, not for the briefest of seconds. Call her a pessimist, but the idea that ponies could ever cease suspicion of them was just not something she was ready to believe.

Never again, that's what she had said to that white pony so very long ago, in the mouth of that fiery chasm. Never again, and it rang as true now as it had then.

>Never again.

Her daughter had wanted to come see her hive. A bitter thing to think even now 'her hive', but she had lost her denials with any optimism she used to have. She had wanted to come see them, but that time had drawn to a close. For whatever she hoped to accomplish... it was not worth the risk.

She had lost her once, she had been alone once, she had been unable to save even a one of her hive once.

>...Never again.

She was ready this time.

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 >Pinkie
"Sunset"
~~~~

>Ohhhh, I'm going to have to party my tushie off to get this one fixed...

"..."

>...What?

"Er, nothing, just... terrible, terrible mental images..."

>...Hee hee.

"Why do you find that funny?"

>Talking tushies.

"Not... not what I..."

>...

"...heh."

>That's better!

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OOCO
>AJ
"Celestia"
'SA'
~~~~~

>...Okay, listen. Ah' don't wanna sound rude, but...

"Huh. That normally precedes you being very rude."

>No no, Ah'm gonna be nice here. This here? Gonna be me actin' real nice and kind.

'I say we give her the benefit of the doubt.'

"I suppose it's only fair."

>Yep. Gonna be nice, calm, kind and respectful when Ah' ask you two WHAT IN THE GREAT TARNATION YER' DOIN' IN MAH BED!?

"That wasn't nice or kind at all!"

'Lies! We have been lied to!'

"By the element of honesty no less!"

'That's just false advertising.'

>WHY!?

'I'm out of room in my bed.'

>HOW!? That dang thing is big enough ta' hold a dang army!

'You'd think, but apparently a bunch of mares stretching out in all directions trump army.'

>...

'They kick me when I try to make them move.'

>..Fine, fair enough, what about you?

"I broke my bed."

>How!?

"Shot it."

>...

"With a gun, not my magic silly!"

>...Ah'... Ah' don't...

"..."

>...Just... don't hog the covers.

'I usually sleep with five other mares, I am well versed in going bereft of blanket.'

"And I burn like the sun!"

>Fine, just... make sure tonights the last night.

"..."

'...'

>Ya' don't have ta' hug me.

"No more room otherwise. Also, fair warning, I snore."

>Wha-

"ZZZZZZzzzz..."

>...Shinin', can you-

'ZZZZzZzzzzz...'

>This is gonna be a long night.

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 >Soarin'
"LD"
'Gilda'
[Fleetfoot]
~~

>...

"Any reason you're looking at me in particular, mr Coup?"

>Oh, no reason, just that speech you gave a bit ago is sending up some flags now.

"Hey! Don't you dare try to spin this on me! If anything, you're way more suspicious Mr "I want command of the Bolts". Pretty strange you wanted to humiliate a certain someone who humiliated the lings, HM?"

'Are we really doing this?'

[At least we didn't say we were deliberately doing it to get her trust and AFFECTION, HM?]

'We're doing this.'

"Ohhhh, I see how it is! Wait till you get back SOMEHOW through Dash's TOTALLY REASONABLE turn around that does NOT scream of mind control, and nooowwwww all of a sudden it's on me!"

>Now!? Hows about when you were talking about how you just had to wait till Dash 'was gone' and then you had control of the bolts!

"Through friendship and her moving up, not kicking her out and making it so nobody would believe her like YOU!"

'This is a thing.'

[How do we know you're not a changeling?]

"Same way I know YOU'RE not a changeling, because even freaking bug monsters aren't as big assholes as you are!"

>...

[...]

"..."

'The sad part is, I saw it coming so hard.'

>"[Watching youuuuuu...]"

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