I want everybody to be clear about something--
This is the architecture that I’m using for Canterlot. The one from the movie.
~Part 4~
No one saw it coming.
With guards stationed at every corner, by park entrances and surrounding important structures, no one saw the chance of anything going wrong like this.
When the top of the shield went dark, no one was prepared for the onslaught of changelings to fall on the city of Canterlot.
Reds, greens, yellows and blues, all sorts of eye colors filled the dark wave that surged from different points inside the royal city.
Guards were caught flat-footed, as armies ranging in the thousands rained down upon them.
Screams filled the air as changelings scattered across the royal city.
~TCL~
“We’ve known of the presence of your colonies for a while now.” She sat cross-legged, next to the purple membrane-maned Monarch. “You have our honest condolences, as we can understand what it can be like to lose everything.”
“Thank you…” Cocoona whispered, before her body shook an instance later, hands fisting the ground.
Luna could only watch as Calm Bead, who sat in front of the former Purple Hive Leader, set a hand on her shoulder.
There was a slight gasp of breath before Cocoona’s trembles slowed to a halt. The Monarch’s form sitting a slight bit taller, as she leaned towards the touch.
Calm didn’t really move much, but after a moment he smiled. Removing his hand seemed to bring Cocoona back to the present, as she flushed before bowing.
“Thank you, once again. You have no idea just how much this helps me.” Bead simply shook his head in the negative.
“It’s no worry, Cocoona. By this point, I’d thought we were passed these pleasantries.” The monk smiled, as the Purple Hive leader flushed further. A frown graced his lips moments later, as he stared at her.
Luna looked on in confusion.
“Your visits have been becoming more frequent as of late, though. More often than not, some of the others must assist you up the steps.” He stated, each word causing the Queen to dip her head lower.
“We are confused. Bead, what’s going on?” Luna really was. She’d thought the only amicable changelings had been Naruto and his son.
Clearly, that was wrong.
Calm Bead sat back, humming to himself.
“Hmm… a few centuries ago, I was approached by Cocoona. She came to me and wanted to negotiate a deal.” He began, as Cocona shifted slightly in her seat.
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“I traveled a great distance to meet you, Grand Schema.”
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“She wished to feed upon our wisdom.”
Luna’s head snapped in the Queen’s direction but Cocoona was unphased.
“Now, as you can imagine, I was more than a little skeptical. I did not know what a changeling was, nor of what “feeding” entailed back then.” He chuckled slightly, as Cocoona smiled.
“I asked her why my sect, and she replied,”
“Because you were the wisest.” Cocoona supplied. Luna nodded her head, understanding a slight bit.
“As you can understand now, I didn’t at the time. She explained to me what she was and what they did. How she was a Queen and needed to provide for her race.”
“Ever still, I’d asked her: ‘What if I should refuse?’”
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“We will take what we need and flee. You will be left weakened yet alive, but we will not leave unfed.”
____________________________________________________________________________
The alicorn stood to her hooves, as she glared at the changeling beside her, hands clenched, as she opened her mouth.
“Wait, Luna,” came Calm Bead’s voice. She turned her head towards to the raised hand and met his eyes.
Seeing his expression, she reigned in her anger but spoke still.
“Thou would still-” She began to sneer, only for Cocoona to meet her eyes unflinchingly.
“If I must, I will. Changelings aren’t like you ponies. I will do what I must for my hive.” Her tone brokered no argument, which only seemed to irritate Luna more.
“He said ‘no’!” The Queen shrugged.
“Actually, there’s more to this story.” The princess snorted at Calm’s words, causing Cocoona’s eyebrow to twitch.
Calm Bead allowed himself a small smile at their antics.
“After receiving her answer, I was surprisingly more curious than panicked. Yes, she’d basically said she’d take what she wanted. Yet, I had to question why she’d come and ask me first. From what she implied, she could have taken her fill.” He began again, Cocoona’s expression softening.
Luna raised an eyebrow.
“So what did thee do?” The Princess of the Night asked, causing him to grin.
“I asked her to play a game with me.” Here he removed a single tile like object from his sleeve.
Luna tilted her head.
“... Are we correct to assume that that is a ‘Scrabble’ piece?” The princess asked, uncertain of the reveal.
Calm chuckled a bit as he placed the piece down on a stone tablet, reaching around his side to retrieve the aforementioned “Scrabble” game.
“Yes. We play quite often nowadays. Back then, it was more that it was the only thing I had on hand.” He laughed slightly, as Cocoona herself chuckled.
Luna was simply dumbfounded.
“So we played, and let me tell you she’s a heck of a player. We played three times, and I said that if she won two out of three, she could feed. No questions asked.” Luna slowly rose an eyebrow.
“So thee lost?” He shrugged, but Cocoona spoke up.
“Actually,” the Changeling Queen started, “he forfeited. At the time, we were in the middle of the last game,” Cocoona explained, as she looked back on those days as Luna threw an incredulous look Calm Bead’s way.
So much happier, those days were.
“Why? We figured thee would have had a chance of winning.” Luna turned a glare Cocoona’s way. “Even if the company wasn’t very kind.”
The Queen rolled her eyes.
“Because I saw no point to it. One could say, I grew a sort of understanding of her as we played.” He said simply, eyes closing.
“He asked questions during the game.” Cocoona supplied, as she picked up the small piece. The large “C” on it, staring back at her.
“So thou simply spoke?” Calm shook his head at Luna’s question.
“Nope. As a matter of fact,” he scratched his chin, “there were no words exchanged the whole duration of the game.”
“At least not ones that weren’t on a board.” Cocoona chirped.
Luna hummed to herself as she surveyed the two. The familiarity of both parties had pretty much confirmed how close they actually were.
“Hmm, you two remind us greatly of our sister and Naruto. Were Calm an alicorn, We would even call this the reversal of the situation.” Luna’s observation caught the two’s attention.
“Celestia and who?”Calm asked, tilting his head to the side. Cocoona was far more curious about what Luna had meant.
‘A reversal?’
The princess nodded. “Naruto. That’s the name of the changeling who appeared in Canterlot, from what We’ve heard, ten years ago.”
The sole changeling's eyes narrowed before they widened in horror.
Seeing Cocoona’s expression, Calm Bead felt his worry rise.
“Cocoona, what’s wrong?”
“No, no, no! Princess Luna!” The Princess of the Night blinked at the desperation in the Queen’s tone.
“Yes?”
“This changeling! What are they currently doing right now?” Luna raised an eyebrow.
“More than likely attending a wedding.” Cocoona’s lips tipped downward.
“This isn’t the time for jokes!”
“WE don’t joke!”
“Alright, alright, calm down! Cocoona! Luna!” Calm spoke up, his narrowed eyes catching both princess and monarch in his vicinity. He lay his hand on the floor, a shift of magic moving outward from it, dispelling the rising vapor behind Cocoona and the ice at Luna’s hooves.
As one, both froze before sitting down. Their bodies having risen with their tempers, now settled back into their seats.
Allowing his gaze to soften, he brought his hand back and turned towards Luna first.
“Luna, please don’t get into a fight. For one,” he held up a finger. “I can’t afford to have this place fixed and two, Cocoona’s just worried for her daughter.” Calm finished, raising a second digit.
Luna stared at monk for a moment, before sighing and crossing her arms. Looking in another direction, she spoke.
“We told no lie, he is at a wedding in Canterlot. Both he and his family.” Cocoona stared at her for a moment.
“He?”
“Yes, he.” Lest she get sidetracked she shook her head and stored that information away for later.
“His entire hive? Invited to this wedding?” Luna shot her the weirdest look.
“He has no hive. None that he’s shown us but he DOES have a family. He married a pegasus and already harbours a child, four years of age.” Her words caught Cocoona by surprise.
“Truly…”
~TCL~
Hearing the screams outside, all in the hall either flinched or glared.
Naruto and Spike did the latter at Chrysalis. The Queen merely smiled, as she dropped a hand to Shining’s shoulder.
The white unicorn captain stared back at Naruto, as he allowed his hand to reach for his hip. The air distorting, as he pulled a dual-sided sword from a wavy distortion at his side. The longsword’s handle was simple in design, with a brown leather grip, a gold and purple embroidered guard, and a flat gold pommel. The three-foot blade of shining steel shimmering in the sunlight, flickering markings along its edge.
Shining’s form seemed to distort itself, a flicker of blue light overtaking him before it was dispelled with a swing of his blade.
His former tuxedo had been changed for far more combative armaments; a full suit of medium-sized armor adorned the unicorn Captain now. Silver with blue accents colored the whole of it. A bright red cape wrapping close around the shoulders and pinning at the front of the chest plate, by a belt strap which contained a trio of throwing knives.
Light blue eyes, with an off greenish tint, glared at the opposing changeling monarch and dragon duo from within the opening of his helmet. Brandishing his weapon of choice at the older of the two, Shining widened his legs slightly and waited. His right hand free, as his horn shimmered in a barely visible aura.
“Shining, what the-?! What did you do to my brother?!” Came the cry of the Element of Magic, as she stared in shock before glaring at the smirking Chrysalis.
Celestia eased herself from Bright, thanking him with a nod before turning her gaze toward the lone enemy Monarch in the room. Her eyes switching towards the betwixt Captain before setting back on the invader.
Chrysalis eyes glinted in the streaks of sunlight from outside, shadows draping her form. She chuckled, her voice brokered in stereo, before laying a hand on Shining’s shoulder.
“Good, my subject. Make sure they can’t stop our glorious day of reckoning,” she ordered. The unicorn nodded, a vacant gesture, as he kept eyes on the two hostiles in front of him. The shield around them fell before another arose from sides of the hall, entrapping all those within.
“My Queen, be careful.” His eyes trailed quickly across the room before flickering back to the blonde. “There are several in the hall who could great obstacles to the invasion,” Shining finished, shifting his sword ever so slightly.
Naruto’s eyes narrowed.
Chrysalis hummed before her eyes trained in on the young dragon in their midst.
She smirked.
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Spike was a pretty laid back dragon.
He lived a life most would never, if he was to be honest.
A dragon who had an awesome marefriend and a future monster hunter.
A godfather, son to a Princess, brother to said princess’s student, and the up-and-coming groom.
One thing Spike valued most, above ALL else, was his family. All the connections he’d made in life, he valued highly. Both from his BBBB’s lessons and his mom’s.
So, he felt more than justified for reacting the way he had. Shining had been looking forward to this day for a long time. He’d personally confessed this to both Spike and Naruto.
He’d been so excited. Him and Cadance. Both were anticipating this wedding day and wanted things to go perfectly.
And now, said day laid in ruins.
A day of happiness and joy is now hidden in fear and terror.
And the source of it all stood right in front of him. Smirking at him while showing her fangs, disgusting smugness emanating from her twisted expression.
So he could be forgiven for being a bit aggravated.
The teen dragon’s pupils thinned into barely perceptible slits, emerald irises burning with a bright flame, as green flames burst to life in his throat.
“!!!!”
The roar shook the marriage venue, surprising both the venue goers and those more familiar with the drake, right as the dragonic teen lunged towards Chrysalis.
“Shit! Spike wait!” Naruto called out, handheld towards the drake before the appendage snapped back from a glowing dagger.
Shining’s eyes kept the blonde King in his sights, sword glowing on and off. Immediately, a dome captured the blonde who threw his mind-trapped friend a sour look.
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Chrysalis watched the young dragon devour the distance between them in single breath. His eyes enraged, as he swung a claw enwrapped in flames.
His downward swing was met by an invisible force. The flame following behind the attack splitting passed the Queen’s side, leaving her untouched amidst burned tiles.
His eyes went wide at Chrysalis’s own widening smirk and shining horn.
“Repel”/Ye olden deity, move thy realm to my wish.
Spike found himself blasting backward as if struck by a speeding minotaur. His eyes, previously clinched shut from being hit, snapped open as stopped his backward trip by slamming all four of his limbs into the marble flooring. His claws easily penetrating the floor, before he ground to a stop near a formerly standing pillar.
The dragon paid seemingly little care for whoever was near him, as his mouth let out a growl. His eyebrows narrowed before he swung his head back, chest expanding, and released a torrent of orange flame towards Chrysalis.
From where she stood, Chrysalis watched as the stream came her way. She raised a hand, stopping Shining from interfering, and -using said same hand- stopped the stream.
“Aquarius!”/They curl into these hands, raging and flowing!
Water spun to life in front of the Queen, warping into a small whirlpool before blocking the flames. Vapor rushed passed the Queen -leaving her mind-controlled Shining in the fog- upon contact rose the humidity of the room and left her front vision blocked.
A particular shadow found itself moving swiftly through the steam, catching Chrysalis’s attention. Exiting the steam was a simple dagger, make and design a manufactured product, that she slashed at with two glowing fingers.
The second they made contact though, the weapon seemed to shatter into pieces, catching her by surprise.
Unaware of the form approaching her.
______________________________________________________________________________
Spike wasn’t truly thinking ahead so much as thinking what the quickest way to Chrysalis’s neck was.
Simple cloak and dagger should do the trick.
He watched the steam from his previous attack, created a flimsy dagger, tossed it and launched himself upon the ceiling corner behind Chrysalis. In the moment it took for him to bodily move across the space, he reached into and pulled a weapon from his Armory.
An assassin’s tool, it was. The blade itself being a boring color. Dull grey, with a blade that no light bounced off of. The guard a, barely lighter, gray itself. All of it was a dull, boring, inconspicuous gray, save for the handle which had a black leather grip.
A forgettable blade. An unnoticeable weapon, that helped the wielder become just as much. Dulling all sound, motion and even blurring his own body’s appearance.
Perfect for what he needed it to do.
His clawed toes made no sound as he landed on the ceiling corner behind that bitch. Grasping Gray Hilt in his hands, he lunged once more. This time for the pleasure of leaving Chrysalis a new mane cut. Possibly along with some nasty scars, but hey he wasn’t a barber.
Yet, right as he was halfway upon her, a lone strand of her mane seemed to lift. Even within his anger filled mind, he grasped this fact as unusual. That wasn’t the only thing either. As he took notice of a triplet of misplaced white jagged lines on her neck.
His expression turning to shock as she tilted her head backward.
Her unimpressed eyes peering into his startled orbs.
Chrysalis’s horn blipped into its magic aura for a mere second and yet he found his movement arrested and his body tossed, his form lurching from those scant few feet of distance between him and the Queen’s neck.
Blown across the room near a currently frowning Naruto. The blonde in question stood in his little bubble, watching on as Spike hit the ground, a worried frown on his muzzle.
His horns glowed gold, the aura extending to his right forearm, an overlaid image of a battering ram lining over the limb before disappearing. He brought the arm to chest level before the changeling male swung.
Like glass, the orb cracked and broke against his outer-shell upon contact. Shining didn’t seem surprised in the least, which the blonde was expecting.
It was he himself who’d taught Naruto how to break basic shield spells with ease. Better to use a little magic than waste any of his stamina.
Especially because that shield was hardly anything the Shining of today would be proud of. That thing could probably hold a rampaging Chimera at best. The captain had better, more versatile skills that the spymaster needed to keep track of.
As the Spike got up, Naruto moved in front of him causing the teen to look up at him and growl.
Naruto felt this attitude was going to be put to a stop. Now.
“Spike!”
With that lone exclamation, he brought his chakra to the forefront.
Not unlike Chrysalis’s minor glow of the horn, he only allowed his chakra to bear down on Spike for a moment.
Yet, a moment was all it took. For both Spike and everyone else.
First, it was the pressure. Like gales of wind blowing outwards from the King en masse. Then came the weight, dropping down on all who were in the hall. And last came the damage, as cracks spread from his hooves and formed along the walls. The King’s chakra shook the room with a resounding burst of noise.
Yet, as he deemed it, twas only a moment before he let his chakra rest. Leaving in its absence, a damaged wedding room and a cowed dragon.
At that same moment, the changelings outside of the wedding venue came to a collective stop. Their senses going haywire, as the presence of another Monarch rose sky high.
Most of their heads snapping in the direction of the outburst, stopping them in their tracks, giving ample time for some of their terrified prey to run and hide. Or, in the case of the Royal Guard, allow them chances to recoup or attack.
Aurelia’s head snapped towards the castle, her eyes widening, as her body tensed.
“This… this isn’t magic.” she muttered, as the presence behind the spike of unknown energy made itself known.
Her eyes widened before a smirk broke out upon her face.
A challenge.
Wings burst from her back as she launched herself from one of the towers in the corner of Canterlot. Leaving behind a battalion of knocked out Royal Guards.
Nympha’s actions came to a halt. Her hand, currently holding the chin of a light tan unicorn male, stopped it’s caressing.
‘What is… It’s him!’ her eyes went wide as she turned her head towards the castle.
Her eyes then narrowed before she turned back to her lone, awake, captive guest.
All around them lay ponies, both civilians and Royal Guards, all in a state of unconsciousness; whether beaten or otherwise.
“It seems I am needed elsewhere, ‘Donut Joe’,” she said.
The scared, and slightly aroused, donut maker shook slightly as she ran a lone finger down his chest. Quick as a whip, she had him in a full body hug before dipping the pony into a deep kiss.
Thirty seconds later, the Queen exited the donut shop. Turning her head in the direction of the castle, she narrowed her eyes once more, crouched and leaped towards it. The earth left behind cracked and uplifted.
Moondancer’s head moved in the direction of Naruto’s presence. She could tell it was him so accurately, even though she was sure he wasn’t using his magic.
‘It’s possible that he’s using his chakra instead,’ she surmised before turning her attention back to the group of changelings that barred her path.
An array of changelings met her sight, probably a dozen or so, of different colored eyes; Six red ones, two males, and four females. Four green, with three males and one female. One blue male and 1 yellow female.
Among them, they all wore a random assortment of clothes that clearly mismatched in culture and/or era. The most distinctive physical difference was probably between the yellow and the rest.
The yellow-eyed changeling was more built than the rest. Her form still feminine but Moondancer had no doubts that she was far stronger than the others.
Taking their distraction as her chance, her skirt disappeared at the flicker of her horn leaving a pair of dark, knee-high tights in their place.
Her clothes adorned, she saw the changelings still distracted and took her shot.
A quick flick of the glowing finger to her Black Cross necklace and she launched herself towards the yellow one.
The changeling turned around just in time to catch a fist to her face before Moondancer twirled and slammed an elbow into the bug’s side, horn glowing.
She watched the changeling fly away for a moment before turning to the now more attentive others.
She lunged towards the blue one, who let out a yelp before jumping backward and away from her. She made to follow after him but turned on a dime to dodge a pair of greens.
She saw them pass her before she ducked to dodge a pair of magic beams from above.
Eyes turning upward, she caught sight of the other two green ones, their wings out, as they took more shots at her.
Her horn glowed for a moment before she had to dodge again, from what could only be a pair of three-headed chimeras. Each one made up of a lion’s head and body, an extra deer head, and a tail made of a centipede.
‘Whoa!’ she couldn’t help but think, as she surveyed those in front of her. The beasts had honestly come out of nowhere, which didn’t make sense, unless…
Her eyes narrowed as the chimeras came at her again, leaving her to jump over one and swerve past the other. Yet, as the second one passed her, she slapped the centipede head right in the eyeball.
“OW! Oh my Queen, that hurts!” It screamed, as it furiously waved about. A noticeable "buzz” in its, his, voice.
“Oh, quit your bellyaching.” the deer head stated dismissively, a buzz to its own voice that proved her hypothesis.
“Shut up! You’re not currently the damn tail with no arms!”
‘As I thought.’
So she was right, the red ones were the chimeras.
‘A fusion? Hmm, I couldn’t ask Naruto about this, he’s only one changeling. So this is an ability of many changelings. Or is it perhaps only related to the red-eyed ones?’ Moondancer pondered for a moment. The transformed changelings finished their squabbling before paying attention to her again.
Her eyebrows creased as they caught eyes but she shot backward from a pair of crossing beams from her sides. The researcher continued this pattern as more beams rained from above her from the flying pair.
‘I need space.’
Her horn glowed, yet as it did she was blindsided by a kick from her side.
“Ah!” she yelled as pain burst from her left side. She rolled for a bit before regaining her footing. Enough so to catch sight of the hole-filled hoof of the yellow changeling from earlier.
She seemed no worse for wear, a couple scuffs on her exoskeleton seemed to be all that her surprised hits afforded her.
Said changeling rubbed her jaw for a moment, yet didn’t take her eyes off the unassuming pony.
“I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting any of you civvies to actually hit that hard. At least, not from one that isn’t a hard-working earth pony. Especially not a pony in Canterlot that isn’t in the Guards.” Releasing her chin, the yellow-eyed changeling reassessed her.
“Doesn’t matter. We gotta take her down. Invasion potential, remember?! She’s on the list!” The yellow’s expression soured at the sound of the chimera’s voice as one pulled up next to her.
“Ya reds are all so damn impatient.”
“I don’t wanna hear that from a yellow. You guys barely have enough to mobilize without looking like you’re stretching yourselves thin.”
“We don’t need bloated numbers like a certain hive to get things done. You guys probably follow a ‘hit with numbers’ plan to beat ANYTHING.”
“Why I oughta-!”
“Merciful Queen above us, this is what we get for working with other hives. They don’t got no semblance of strategy. One’s a muscle head and the others don’t have a single brain between the sum,” scoffed a green male, as his hive squad nodded with him.
“What was that?!” exclaimed the red and yellow changelings at the green’s remark.
She didn’t waste any of her good luck, as she quickly used a glowing finger to mark an insignia on the ground.
Yet, as she finished one of her preparations the greens all perked up and turned towards her with narrowed eyes. She caught eyes with them as her sigil disappeared.
“She’s up to something!”
And with that, all eyes were on her.
She sighed before getting up and dusting off her clothes.
This was about to get troublesome.
He stared down at Spike, the drake’s eyes wide and aware of him, before the dragon’s pupils returned to their normal width.
Blinking up at the blonde, he looked down in shame as Naruto put a hand to Spike’s shoulder.
Chrysalis and Shining seemed to have other ideas.
Just as he’d laid a hand on Spike’s shoulder, a lime green aura wrapped itself around the duo with Shining charging forward.
It took Naruto a moment to release himself from Chrysalis’s telekinetic grip, Spike still struggling for a bit, before the unicorn captain was upon him.
Right as Shining swung, a whistle of wind pierced the air. The brainwashed unicorn turned on a dime, swinging thrice and slicing the arrows aimed his way. Looking in the direction of the projectiles, Dinky locked eyes with him and smirked.
Spike’s marefriend currently stood atop one of the windowsills, crouched and prepped at the ready.
The Monarch Queen stared at Dinky, as the teenaged pony hefted a purple crystalline bow. The bow was slightly large, especially for the young mare, the length of it being three-fourths her height. She noted no quiver on the small blond.
‘Possibly material creation.’ Her eyes flickered to the floor, wherein cracks laid. ‘There’s also the chance she changed a few loose rocks.’
No matter, it was of little consequence how much these ponies wished to delay the inevitable.
She heard a grunt to her front and watched as the dragon finally broke free of her grasp.
The moment her eyes turned to the dragon, a rather unusual cowlick lifted from the top of her membrane-mane as she sniffed-
Lightning rained down from above, in a single large bolt.
The dragon and changeling duo rose their arms up in unison, shielding themselves from the explosive winds.
Once it died down, they lowered their limbs to see a large amount of smoke gathered in the hall. Coughing from venue goers and guards sounded throughout the room, as the two heard the sounds of clopping hooves approaching them.
“Naruto!/Spike!” Cried out the approaching group as Naruto saw his and Spike’s family breaking through the errant smoke screen. Following behind them, he saw the Elements of Harmony right behind them.
Derpy with Gallant, Dinky, and Amethyst came up to his side, while Twilight, her parents, and her friends, came up to Spike. Trixie brought up the rear behind them, along with that little teen pony, who he was sure wasn’t a pony, with her.
Derpy looked at him in worry for a moment, Gallant doing the same before the blonde smiled at them. He frowned at the pony next to Trixie, who looked down before Trixie shook her head at him.
His eyebrow rose before turning back to his wife and child.
“We’re fine. Honestly, I’m more worried about…!” the Monarch began to say, only to stop short as his senses went haywire.
He and all those capable of sensing capability turned as one as the invading presence filled the room.
Looking into the clearing smoke, the spymaster could make out the form of ‘something’ serpent-like curling in the smoke before it clear revealing nothing more than Chrysalis and Shining Armor.
The mind-controlled captain seemed pretty irritated by the backhanded maneuver of the ponies in front of him. His eyes focusing in on Derpy Hooves, Twilight, and Trixie.
‘Three more Invasion Potentials,’ he thought with a slight crease in his face, his helmet hiding his expression from everyone else. His eyes moved upward, watching the slightly distorted air curl and move in front of and behind him. More likely than not, it was doing so around Chrysalis with his being just an addition if anything.
Chrysalis stared out towards the smoke obscuring her vision. While it might be blocking her sight, her senses were still sharp and aware of the now larger group assembled against her.
She could also sense the presences of her sisters coming ever closer.
A flash of trailing lights flickered through the smoke before it dispersed. Standing across from her were the various “Invasion Potentials” that she’d described to her army with help from Shining Armor. All of them, now transformed not unlike Shining himself. All in some form of combat attire sans a few.
The blonde pegasus, “Derpy Hooves”, mother of one, now stood in a black muscle shirt and dark gray gi pants with her cutie marks on the ends. Around her neck was a small orange scarf, with matching fighting gloves, and a black karate belt with seven yellow bands across one of its trailing “tails”.
The smaller blonde unicorn, “Dinky Hooves”, was wearing a long sleeve red top and brown pants secured with silver bands. On her left arm, leading up to her shoulder, was a black, leather guard. On left hand, across all her fingers sans the thumb, were gold rings. The bow still in her grip.
The Element of Magic, “Twilight Sparkle”, was currently sporting dark purple pants and a dark blue tank top with her cutie mark on it. Over the tank top, she wore a small pinkish purple jacket with small badges shaped like her cutie mark at her collar.
Second to last of those changed was the little dragon, “Spike Solaris”. A skin-tight, short-sleeved, dark shirt and dark colored pants. Brown straps secured the pants around his thighs and a half-kilt of purple cloth and silver metal to his waist. To finish off, a steel chest plate covered his top, runes lining its sides.
Last, but certainly the biggest threat to her campaign in Canterlot, stood the blonde changeling King.
Orange cargos with bandages around the left thigh and a pouch tied around said wrappings. A sleeveless blue shirt that was covered by a bright orange hooded mantle, golden cords tying up the front and red flames lining the end, that reached his thighs. Finishing off his look, was a headband with a metal plate that held a strange symbol in its center.
‘Hmm.’ With a thought, a yellow film enveloped her vision and showed her the world anew. She had to squint, pupils becoming slits, as they slid across the Monarch across from her before she noted the others.
‘As I thought.’
She looked at the now blackened figures of the group and noted several brightly shining objects on the little pony archer’s fingers, one around the dragon’s torso, two at the collar of the purple unicorn, and, out of the corner of her vision, Shining’s sword.
There were a few other tiny lights on all the Invasion Potentials’ bodies but they were of little consequence.
‘Magical artifacts. More than likely self-crafted,’ she couldn’t help but note, seeing the similar magical signature between her opposition and some of their accessories. ‘That would leave the King and ‘Derpy Hooves’ as the only two without any on them.’ Obviously sans the tiny lights on most of the group save for the rest of the Elements and that little changeling girl.
Which just brought her attention to the other metaphorical elephants in the room.
Who was this little changeling? Why did she feel just like her sister? Who was that other tiny little changeling in the arms of the middle child of the Hooves family? That child clearly felt like the King but like the little changeling girl in comparison.
She had too many questions and not enough answers. For the meantime, she’d simply ignore it. It had little to do with her conquest of Canterlot and she could always come back to it, once everything was over.
The King standing against her frowned before jabbing a finger at his headband.
'It’s time to end this here and now.'
“Guys...” He spoke before turning towards the others
He caught Spike’s eye but the young dragon simply snorted, smoke billowing from his snout, causing the spymaster’s eyebrow to twitch. Turning to Twilight, he saw her nod her head.
“Come on girls, it’s time to start cleaning up some of this,” the purple unicorn said as she turned towards the broken down wedding doors. The next moment saw the Elements of Harmony, Trixie, and Trixie’s guest, disappearing from the hall in a flash. Shining grit his teeth at the sight.
To the far left of where Chrysalis stood, Celestia uttered something to Bright, the other unicorn captain nodding discreetly.
The male twin of two nodded before he ran towards the hall doors. Yet, as he was halfway there, a flash of light shot up from the ground in front of him. Skidding to a stop, the other unicorn captain in the room stared up at the wall of light blocking his way, the cutie mark on the spell telling him exactly who had stopped him.
“Shining!” Bright turned with a shout, eyes zeroing in on the Shield Spell expert as Shining Armor lowered his free hand.
Naruto noticed Chrysalis’s attention wane from him for a single second.
That was all the opening he needed as his finger swiped past his bangle, his form disappearing from his very spot.
“We can’t have that Bright. I won’t allow you to get in the wa-!” Shining began to speak only for him to catch the sight of an orange-wearing blonde hanging in the air next to his Queen.
Eyes wide, he saw as the blonde’s leg swung out, the air screaming as the limb sliced through it towards Chrysalis’s head.
The Queen herself seemed only barely aware of it, going by the slow turn of her head and the just as slow widening of her eyes.
The controlled captain had half a second to respond and dual-natured spell rang across his mind.
‘Accelerate!’
His mind sped up, his magic circulating faster at the mental command spell, even as the opposing blonde’s own speed dwarfed his own this spell gave his abilities enough leeway.
In the half of a second left before contact between Naruto’s leg and Chrysalis, light expanded from the assumed point of contact. Spreading and building into a dome that sported his own cutie mark with three-dimensional diamonds dotting the dome’s edges.
Barrier Mk.II
And just like that, upon complete construction did the blonde’s hole-filled hoof made contact.
Chrysalis barely found herself falling back on her rump, body shaking a slight degree as she saw the blonde’s hoove heading towards her, felt the impending “bang” of it making contact and yet she remained unharmed.
Well, physically anyway. Her mind was still processing what had just happened. In the effort to do so, she surveyed her surroundings to find broken stone, collapsed tile, and falling marble greeting her. Save for the area surrounding her, which remained smooth and unaffected save a few cracks, anywhere else was ferociously uplifted and throw in her direction.
‘H-he’s just as, no, he’s faster than Aurelia!’
She quickly shot to her hooves, movements unsteady, before regaining her bearings. Her eyes focused on-he was gone.
Another rocking of her purple dome sent her to her knees, hands to the floor, as waves of dirt, rock, and debris, blasted past her dome another time.
“Ugh!”
Shining Armor, seeing the predicament she was in, moved to help but found himself accosted by an arrow exploding at his hooves.
“Wha-Ummpf!” he voiced before he was cut off by a drop in by Derpy. The blonde pegasus catching him mid-flight, Arm around his neck and armpit, before proceeding to twist and toss him further towards a stain glass window.
His eyes went wide, even as he tumbled, catching onto their plan.
He couldn’t be too far away or else Naruto’s countless barrages would no doubt break the spell.
And his fears came to pass.
It was all too soon that cracks were forming on the dome. The crystals at their lock points on its edges glowing sporadically with edge passing moment.
“It’s over!”
And shattered glass filled the air.
Naruto could already see that his next hit would break the shield to pieces.
He feint to the side, a fading image in his wake, before appearing above the shield his leg extended as he spun vertically.
At his last rotation, he shouted.
“It’s over!”
The King’s hoof broke through the shield, shattered flecks of the barrier breaking like glass. The limb continued towards her shining temple, only to be stopped by an opposing limb.
Chrysalis knew that she didn’t have much time left to formulate a plan.
So, she improvised.
Her horn glowed, the space in front of the base of her horn found an eye forming there. Her brain processes went into overdrive, her telekinesis forming around her body right as his hoof came closer.
Her senses, now working overdrive, felt the presences of her reinforcement and she grinned.
Then there was a form in front of her, halting the limb with a loud “SMACK”, and a shadow passing over above.
The blonde watched the ground break and shatter between hole-filled hooves but the owner seemed more enthused than stressed.
In fact, SHE was grinning up at him with this look that he understood all too well. Yellow membrane-mane and eyes peering up at him from her position holding his outstretched leg.
He only had a moment, before he twisted sideways, his other hoof sweeping into the hand holding him before he changed.
Changed into a small mouse who got the hell outta Dodge as a black shell-covered fist fell like a sledgehammer from above and destroyed any semblance of a floor beneath it.
The now-mouse blonde jumped from each flying pierce of rock and rubble before flipping away from the impact, transforming back into his normal form and skidding to a stop.
The dust cloud was large and when it cleared the blonde could see further down the floor than was probably intended by the design.
His lips tilted into a frown as he saw his new opponents before mentally realizing that things wouldn’t be as easy as he originally thought.
Aurelia stared at the changeling across from her, her eyes wide with delight and eager for a challenge. He seemed to be just like they, as that little changeling girl had said.
Another Monarch. And, from what she could sense and see, he was strong.
Her grin widened just smidge more. Ever still, her eyes roamed across all the opponents in the room.
Eyes falling over the children before passing over them completely, eyes falling on the only other one here of interest of the Potentials.
‘Derpy Hooves’ seemed to catch her gaze as well, her body growing taut with tension as she narrowed her one revealed eye. Aurelia stared at her for a moment, before nodding.
Not as well as the King but just as interesting. She was starting to wonder why she thought this was a bad idea, again.
Still, eyes on the prize. Turning her eyes towards Chrysalis, she looked to speak before the words died in her throat.
An emerald and one black-ringed emerald eye looked forward towards the King. Her membrane darkening in places while still retaining its main color. An eye opened on her forehead, as a glow fell from her body.
Out of the corner of her peripheral, she caught Nympha a good distance away from their sister and couldn‘t blame her. The minute shivers in the Red Hive Queen’s hands was hard to see if you weren’t looking for it.
Allowing a frown to settle, she turned back to the frowning King, who seemed to be assessing the situation. That got her a bit of her cheer back.
‘So he’s not all brawn and no brains. Good! That’ll make this far more enjoyable.’
Then things got hot!
Nympha had already thought up well over thirty-four different things she’d be doing to the changeling across from them, had the circumstances been different.
Sweet Tartarus, she was pretty much planning out how this was going to happen, once this invasion was over with!
Yet, still, she shifted her position a little bit more to her left. Hands clenched into fists, even as her face remained neutral, doing her best to not look at Chrysalis.
When this was all over... She’d never come to another meeting again. Not if Chrysalis was involved. Fuck her.
Turning thoughts back to the positive, she leered up and down the King, noting ‘Derpy Hooves’ small growl from her side. Turning towards her, said growled turned into a stunned expression as the Red Queen proceeded to leer her up as well.
Children were children but these adults were, mmm! Even that Shining Pony over there, with the armor on, was looking mighty fin- Why was his horn glowing?
Then the world got hotter!
Naruto blinked, as the pure ray of heat and fire blasted all those in Chrysalis’s corner as well as took out a good portion of the wall.
Turning from the rising smoke, noting that there seemed to be a lot of that in the past five minutes, he found Celestia as the source of the beam.
Seeing him look her way, the Princess of the Sun let out a slight snort as she walked over. Hooves clopping against the broken floor as the two turned towards the now “open” wedding venue.
See the dripping slag fall from the ceiling, Naruto shrugged. The view of the large, burning crater in the side of the mountain that was encompassed in Shining’s Grand Barrier was telling of the amount of power she’d held back.
He was sure that she could have burned through it but that was only from his own speculation. Yet, still, it wouldn’t do to take Shining Armor lightly. So, he found the power that WAS behind the attack quite large.
No kill quite like overkill. Besides…
His eyes narrowed as he stared into the distance. The partially melted walls not taking his attention away from the mania going on down below in Canterlot.
His displeased expression turned into one of determination as he crossed his fingers.
“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”
A single clone phased into existence at his call. Turning towards it, he nodded at it and, the clone reciprocating the gesture, leaped off into the city.
As it fell, several puffs of smoke enshrouded it before one turned into twenty. He’d been about to turn his attention back towards the smoking hole in the mountain when streams of light barrelled out from the smoke.
Those shining lights destroyed the distance between the mountain wall and the wedding venue before breaking into a veritable storm of violent red streaks of light.
Most of his clones hadn’t had a chance to react during the fall.
One after the other they poofed out of existence, expressions of shock registering on their faces as they met their shining ends.
A few had been quick on the uptake, quickly forming their own body doubles and being tossed out of the way as the light attacks burst through their newly minted clones and then some.
It was far less than half he saw left and yet it was not meant to be.
A shadow trailed from underneath the previous attack, plowing into an unsuspecting clone before snapping towards the next, finishing off his shadow clones with naught but a thought. The shadow receding just as quickly as it came back into the less smoky mountainside.
His eyes rose towards the dispersing smoke from the side of the mountain and caught sight of the grinning red membrane-maned Queen, a smirking yellow one, a focused Shining, and Chrysalis who was looking a might bit smug as she released the gathering shine from her gnarled horn.
“Move!” Naruto shouted a second after making eye contact with the Green Hive Queen.
The wedding venue found itself engulfed by a wicked blast of magical power, the energy itself hitting the opposing side of the shield Shining had originally set up before dispersing.
Chrysalis looked at her handiwork, the wedding vista exploding in the emerald light that danced in her mismatched eyes. She had no illusions of how many of her opponents still stood.
Even now, as she looked on at the located now bathed in smoke, she could make out the shape of a shining square sat above the wedding venue. The upper roofing was gone, with what remained of the floor being a large circular platform.
She idly noticed that all those civilians from earlier were gone but threw it out of her mind.Instead, she looked down at/ a raised hand of hers.
She turned the limb over and over, inspecting it as if it were some sort of new appendage that had attached itself to her body.
It wasn’t wrong to say that Chrysalis was very capable when it came to magic, much more so magic combat, but she couldn’t help but marvel at the feeling of the eager energy fluttering throughout her body.
Draining that Cadance had done more than boost her already plentiful reserves, but the fact that Cadance’s magic was so interlaced with her Love had pushed her abilities to euphoric levels of power.
She looked back over to her side, staring at Shining Armor she nodded her thanks before focusing back on the opposition.
Yet, before she could even begin to verbally offer a plan, her sisters took action.
Nympha had already leaped from the mountainside to the roofs of Canterlot, her form jumping for significant distances as she approached their previous location. Little wonder on who she had planned to engage in combat.
Aurelia was farther ahead, simply due to the fact that she could fly. The Yellow Hive Mind leader’s figure destroying the distance between her and the King’s location.
Chrysalis felt her irritation rise tremendously. Who did those two sla-idiots think they were?!
She growled at the stupidity of the lower beings before she let out a deep breath.
Fine. FINE! If this was the game they were going to play, who was she to be remiss of them exhausting the enemy forces?
Mother above, she was too old for this shit.
With a quick gesture, Shining stood at the ready, as her horn glowed.
From their position on the now circular platform, with the world around them being open to viewing, they could now fully take account of the chaos running throughout Canterlot.
Dinky and Spike grimaced, the latter growling as he did, as they tightened their holds on their weapons.
Derpy wasn’t looking any better, a sad expression settling over her face.
Naruto and Celestia both frowned, the former’s eyes narrowing as the latter’s grip on her scepter increased.
“We have to put a stop to this!” Spike growled out, as Dinky looked at him in worry. Seeing her expression he let out a hot breath, a few flickering embers mixed in before he turned back to her with a calmer look. Seeing this, she nodded.
“Spike’s right. We have to put a stop to all of this. I can’t imagine this is going to get any better as time goes on,” Dinky supplied, eyes turning from her drakefriend to the city.
Her yellow eyes glinted, her vision increasing 3 times over, as she eyed small skirmishes happening in streets and roaming canals.
She saw a group of soldiers facing down four yellow changelings, a group of red and green changelings attacking an unsuspecting group of four soldiers en masse.
Even further down below the venue but slightly farther off she could se-!
“Moondancer!” she caught Spike’s attention with her yell, the drake looking at her in alarm before Dinky held their hands together. The crest atop her Cutie Mark glowed, as did Spike’s eyes before his face contorted into an expression of anger.
“Those bastards!” he growled before he turned his attention back to his mom and Naruto.
Right as he was about to say something, he saw their eyes focused straight in front of them. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Derpy, slightly behind the two, crouched and tensed.
His gaze snapped back to the mountain only to find himself alarmed at the incoming changeling Queen heading their way.
“Naruto…” Celestia spoke up, neither of them taking their eyes off the increasingly growing form of the changeling Queens.
“Yeah?” he responded. She knew that he wouldn’t like the sound of her suggestion but it was prudent that they return Shining Armor before anything else arose.
“I wish for Derpy to handle the yellow one.” she said, causing the blondes and her son to look at her in surprise.
The expression on the King’s face turned to one of confusion.
“I believe that whether we like it or not, we’re going to need to separate the three of them. I know of your capabilities and while I’m sure that having two in one area would be possible, it’s not when Shining Armor is on their side,” she began.
“But Princess.../Mom!” Dinky and Spike cried out.
Derpy frowned herself, looking down at her hands.
“Okay, that’s enough!”
The two teens slumped down to the floor, breaths haggard as they sat there in their singed, blackened in places, clothing.
Spike looked up from where he laid on the floor, as Dinky tried and failed to catch her breath next to him.
Derpy looked down in worry as she allowed the last bits of static to fade. Walking over to them, she bent down to check up on Dinky, who smiled up at her.
“Ma…. you’re so STRONG,” her little sister wheezed, eyes bright.
“You’re damn right she is,” Spike spoke up next to them, only to flinch at the frown on his mothers’ faces.
“Spike,” the echoed in unison, as Twilight’s family and Celestia looked on from the sides of the cliff face arena they sat in.
“Sorry moms.”
“That went about… nah, not gonna lie. Derpy dusted you two,” Naruto said as he leaped from the “stands” into the “arena”. Looking over the two, he grinned.
Derpy was surprisingly versatile with the skillset she’d honed over the years.
Combining her martial arts along with her innate pegasus magic came up with very…. shocking results.
Derpy frowned further, as she looked down at her hands. Clenching them once or twice, before she sighed.
“I… I’m not sure if I really like this. I took martial arts because it made me feel better. This…” She looked down at her sister and Spike and grimaced.
She saw her husband’s grin fall and felt even worse for it being because of her.
Ponies simply didn’t like conflict… well, most of them didn’t. There were a few who were rowdy, desired to serve their country and protect their loved ones.
Save for one of the above mentioned, they were all NECESSARY things. She simply didn’t see the need for her to even HAVE what she currently did.
She never planned on going on a long adventure, as ironic as that was with her imagination, to fight against actual monsters and the like.
She was a housewife, mother of one, manager and wife. She wasn’t a battle-seeker.
Looking up she saw Naruto walking over but Celestia stopped him. A look passed his way before she continued on over to her. Naruto saw fit to walk over to Spike and Dinky to give them pointers.
“Mrs. Hooves, do you mind if we can talk a little bit aways?” The princess smiled at her as she asked.
Really, Derpy would have done close to anything she’d ask. This was the princess!
Nodding nervously, they walked to a little corner of the “arena” as Naruto sent the children back up and called down a hooting Trixie and groaning Twilight.
Turning away from the bantering unicorns, she gave the princess her full attention.
Celestia stared into her eyes for a moment before nodding her head.
“You don’t like this, do you?” the princess asked, cutting straight to the point, causing the pegasus to flinch. Nodding her head, she looked out over the edge of the floating plateau they stood on. The skies were nice today.
“...”
“...”
“... I honestly see no point.” Hearing her response the princess actually smiled.
“That’s good. The last thing I’d need is to know that my little ponies were getting battle hungry.” Derpy blinked.
“Wait really?”
“Really. That said, I would like to say this.” She turned towards her, the princess’s purple eyes staring into her own yellow ones. “If a time came where you needed to protect what you held dear, would you not like the power to do so?”
“But this is excessive! Everything I can do nowadays is because Naruto would keep encouraging me to use my creativity. My B-”
“Yes, I’m very aware of Naruto’s influence on ponies such as yourselves.”
Neither of them needed to turn back to see the source of the explosions, shouts and sounds coming from behind.
“Naruto is an inspiring changeling. He encourages others to push forward, whether he knows it or not. That said, his influence can be… less than ideal, regardless of how well-intentioned they might be.”
Spike, Twilight, Trixie, Moondancer, Dinky. All easily impressionable children who were around him at the time, all of whom, in some form or another, followed him in his ways. Some good, some not.
That’s probably why they all seemed to be battle-maniacs in some form or another.
“Princess, what do YOU think about my current,” she tried to find the right word for it, “ dilemma.”
Celestia hummed.
“I think I’d rather have more ponies like you.” Derpy blinked.
“Like me?”
“Yes. More ponies with great power who have it but feel it unnecessary. ” Celestia chuckled. “Just because you have power doesn’t mean you’re going to be a monster. You need look no further than those behind us.”
Another explosion caused the platform to shudder as Trixie’s wails, and Twilight’s shout of triumph, breached their ears.
“I think Twilight no different from when she was a filly. Powerful now? Yes. Yet, she’s still that same eager, intelligent and curious filly she was many years ago.
“If you truly believe that this endeavor isn’t fulfilling to you, simply talk with Naruto about it. Yet, remember, power doesn’t decide what you become. Only you can make of it what you want to.”
She looked down at her hands in thought, processing Celestia’s words.
Clenching them into fists, her brows furrowed as she looked up to everyone else. Catching Naruto’s eyes, she nodded.
The changeling King kept her gaze for a few moments before he smiled and nodded.
“What about us?!”
As Celestia kept watch of the incoming Queens, Naruto turned to look at the two teens in their midst.
Spike was looking annoyed while Dinky shuffled in place a bit, eyes meeting his own in confusion.
Scratching his head, he thought for a moment before he turned his attention back to the outer city.
“I want you two to go and find Moondancer,” he finally said, causing both to look at him incredulously.
“But-!”
“No buts!” he shouted, causing both of them to flinch backward. He let out a breath before he leveled them with a confident look.
“We don’t have the time, and I don’t think you guys are strong enough to face one of these guys. Not now, not yet.” Seeing the look on the face of Spike, his frustration mounting, Naruto gave him two firm claps on his shoulders.
They both ignored the sound of erupting energy and the feel of the rising heat behind Naruto.
“Spike, I’m entrusting you guys to follow through on this. I want all of you guys safe. Twilight and her friends have Trixie with them, but Moondancer is all alone.” He made sure to impress this upon his surrogate little brother. “I need you and Dinky to group up with her and make sure you ALL make it through this without being captured or too hurt.”
Letting go of Spike’s shoulders, he stood up to his full height but not before extending his fist out towards the two teens.
He grinned.
“Can I entrust this to you?”
The looked at him, shines in their eyes before they steeled. Hardened emerald and tempered topaz locked with the changeling King’s brimming sapphires before they slammed their fists together.
“Of course!”
“Totally!”
His grin stretched just a bit farther.
“Then get to it!”
“Alright! Spike!” Dinky spoke, running to her partner, the drake already running towards the opposite side of the broken venue.
“Already on it!”
The young dragon’s wings flexed outward as he took that last step before leaping off into the air and diving over the edge.
Dinky, not far behind, also made that leap off the ledge. Her form also disappeared over the edge only to resurface on Spike’s back. The two soaring off, circling around the area before taking off towards Moondancer’s previous location.
He looked at them for a moment before his own eyes straightened as he walked back to stand with both Celestia and Derpy.
All three stood tall and at the ready.
The grinning visage of Aurelia meeting them.