//------------------------------// // Battling a Hollow! // Story: Equestria meets the Vasto Lorde. // by Phoenix Archangel //------------------------------// As one, every Changeling present in Ponyville paused momentarily before continuing their duties. Those that were nearest and in view of the Hospital, however, were frozen on the spot at the sight of the creature, even the focused Guardians. Chrysalis, having yet to see her target, didn't notice as she paid attention to something strange within the Hive mind. As Queen, her connection was always at least half-open to keep the disorderly in line, to monitor captives and to give commands. It was also a way of keeping an eye on each of her subjects. So why was it that a full-grown Changeling was missing? Even if the Hive-mind was closed from one end, everyling should be at least able to see the closed end much like a closed door in a hallway. However, where this... closure was, there was nothing. Almost like it hadn't been there at all. And as Queen, she knew where each and every one of the closures were. Impossible, she thought to herself with a frown, the only way for a closure like that would be for a Changeling to die. But I would've felt such a thing. "Sweetie Bell! Get away from that thing!" Rarity's shout snapped Chrysalis out of her thoughts and caused her to glare at the Guardian who was meant to be pounding the unicorn into the dirt, only to see him staring slack-jawed away. Looking in the direction he was, she saw it. Towering above all of them, save for Celestia, Luna and herself, and even then taller still, the creature's white skin stood against the greens, browns and various colours of the village. It's long, orange mane fell down it's back to the waist, where a white sash held up a black robe of some sort. Red fur adorned it's ankles, wrists and neck. A clawed hand gripped the handle of a long, slightly curved black blade with a short chain dangling from it. As it's head turned to look behind, at the tiny filly laying pathetically on the ground, she saw a horn extending from the forehead, reaching about a metre in front of it's skull-like face. A black line streaked down, the only break being the shadowed eye which held an almost glowing yellow. "Oi. You okay, little one?" As the little unicorn shakily nodded, Chrysalis mused on it's voice before realising something significant; One, that there was a black shape laying not far from the creature. Two, the Changeling Whisper Wind had never described what had exited the hospital. As she thought the second, a chill came crawling down her back as she thought of the third... The last update from Whisper Wind... was when he was capturing a group of three fillies. But even that was undermined when she recognised that her newest soldier was standing right there, and she was thinking about something trivial! Thinking quickly, she gathered her magic and let loose her mind-control spell. The creature turned around entirely, revealing a second horn symmetrical to the first, but made no move to dodge the blast that lanced across the ground between them. With a pulsing glow, the magic struck the creature's head, directly between it's eyes. Chrysalis began cackling, before she turned to the three Princesses. Gesturing to them, she decided to make use of her first order, to the strongest soldier she'd ever captured; "Now, my loyal subject, cut the wings and horns from these three who dare oppose my rule!" ================================= 'Did she...', Instinct muttered, even as I stared in slight confusion at the weird, equine-shaped bug. 'Did she seriously just...' As Instinct's 'voice' grew into a dark snarl, I noticed that something was strange with my vision - like someone had overlaid a ghostly flame over all the beings in view, each differing between them all. The one who was giving me orders, who called me her subject... her 'flame' was almost as strong as my former interrogator. Even as I marvelled at this, I could feel myself becoming angry. 'Did she seriously just give us an ORDER?!' The surge of rage that overtook my already angered thoughts swept me away. Narrowing my eyes at the still-cackling bitch, the teeth of my mask opened. And as I screamed, another flame, this a vivid red like my Cero, engulfed me from the inside out, stopping about a half-dozen feet in every direction. And the air itself became static-y, a strange whistle, sounding akin to rushing wind, resounding as every creature but myself stood and lay there, shaking. Sonido'ing behind the startled bug, leaving behind the heat-less flame, I rose my sword to end her,. "You are far too weak, to command me," Instinct and I snarled in unison as my blade fell, her head snapping around to face me, her eyes shrinking at her coming death. A blur to my right caught my attention, as well as a screeching buzz as I turned my head to view another bug rushing me. Angling my blade, I twisted and cut clean through the insect-pony. As it hit the ground heavily next to the one it saved, a spray of blood spurted out as it split at an angle, the top of it's head with half an eye and most of it's left hind-quarter falling away. I ignored it, and her now-quivering rescuee, for favour of the black cloud now closing in on me. ================================= Unnoticed by all, the anti-magic cuff on the creature's left wrist cracked minutely. ================================= Chrysalis stared in horrified shock at the Changeling, it's last words resonating throughout the Hive-mind. Shock at the instant death of her subject, shock at the suddenness of the door vanishing. The Hive-mind seemed to shudder from the echoing roar of all three and a half thousand Changelings as they abandoned their duties to attack the creature that dared to strike at their Queen. ================================= the Commander roared, as he himself dropped lower with the Soldier Changelings to take his position at the front. His orders became actions, as three large groups began splitting away from the black cloud. The smaller, nimble Scouts streamed past the larger and heavier Soldiers, while the armoured Bombers rose to as high as they could. ================================= Chrysalis heard the orders being followed by confirmations. Her Guardians charged in to surround her, seven of the twenty-five that escorted her making a beeline for the monster. Focusing one more time, she let loose a spell designed to pierce solid rock in an attempt to aid them before closing the Hive-mind as much as she could to prevent losing herself in the madness. ================================= As I stared at the black cloud that seemed to part three ways, I heard a mix of thundering and buzzing drawing closer behind me. Twisting around sharply, I barely caught the sight of a poisonous, vivid green lancing towards me, as well as seven of the heavily armoured insects charging at me. Throwing my arm up, I caught the bolt square on my wrist, right where the manacle was. And just as the insects reached me, one reaching to strike me with a hole-ridden hoof... The manacle, glowing green, white and red in cracks around the entire circumference, shattered. The vivid red flame reappeared, surging out to stop a full seven feet around me. To my surprise and shock, as well as to all there, the hoof began to disintegrate like smoke as it neared me. The insects eyes were widened, even as I took advantage of its distraction and punched it to send it flying back, colliding with three of its fellows. Lashing out with a kick, a fifth spiralled away into a hill, while the sixth was cut down. The seventh, despite the odds being against it, still continued its charge at me. Flipping over it, I pointed two claws at the back of its head at Instinct's behest. A tiny red light, growing quickly to a few centimetres across, formed, and I discharged the tiny Cero which easily pierced the insect's head. ================================= "No... It... It can't be..." Shining Armour mumbled in shock as he witnessed this monster easily killing Changelings without any difficulties, disregarding the fact that the Changelings that were holding them had flown off to join the main force. "What is it?" Twilight asked, eyes widening as the creature loosed its magic to kill the Changeling, despite the five anti-magic cuffs in place still. "Anti-magic cuffs are meant to drain and disperse a Unicorn's magic," Shining explained dazedly, as the creature landed easily while the Changeling hit the ground, "But there's a limit to how much can be done. The average Unicorn will go through a long sentence with one cuff, and then some, while stronger Unicorn's will go through maybe two, even three." "But what happens when a cuff hits that limit, then?" Rainbow asked, slowly pushing herself up as the creature turned to face the swarm nearing it, individual Changelings becoming visible. "The magic overwhelms the cuff, which then shatters. Which is why we keep a close eye on Unicorns that have them on. Normally, we'd have to switch a ring on a strong Unicorn about two years before they finish a thirty year sentence." "Then," Applejack hesitantly asked as she rose her head, "What's the quickest a cuff's broke?" "Half a year," Celestia answered hollowly, drawing eyes to her as she explained, "I volunteered to test the device some time ago. Within half a year, the cuff broke." "Th-then.. w-what's the problem?" Fluttershy stammered as she lay curled and shaking. Twilight, realising what her brother and mentor were getting at, whispered her thoughts. The swarm was almost upon them. "It's only been five days." As that answer gave birth to new thoughts, the creature vanished. And screams echoed from the middle as the forerunners spun around to engage the creature whose strength they couldn't begin to comprehend. ================================= Kicking off one insects head, sending them ricocheting off its comrades, I swung my sword furiously in a blur of motion as a large group attempted to surround me. Even as blood sprayed and severed bodies fell away, I kicked off the air again and slashed a devastating line straight through the damn bugs with my sword and claws. A sound of whirring appeared as I spun around, unleashing another Cero, this one stronger than the ones before, the vivid red beam cleaving through the horde around me as explosions consumed them in the lasers wake. Aiming myself down, I angled my sword to stab straight through another, my strength causing several behind it to be blown out of the cloud. Grabbing one by the head as it attempted to attack while my sword was stuck in its comrade, I threw it to the side without looking. Jerking my sword free of the corpse, throwing it into another black form, I continued to cut the rapidly dwindling numbers even further. ================================= Chrysalis shuddered as the two Guardians carrying her lay her down on the ground a short distance from the hospital, the rest keeping guard around alley they took shelter in. Despite the level that she'd closed the door, she could still feel the fear and pain as Changelings fell. The sound of shattering brick and wood distracted her momentarily, fearful that the creature had come to kill her, before the agony of her drones swept through again. A Guardian, sent to check the sound, reported a Changeling corpse. ================================= Screams of agony, of helplessness, of terror flooded the Hive-mind. The Commander heard it all and put it out of his mind. 'Once we get the Soldiers and Bombers going, we'll make that thing pay for every Changeling,' he swore to himself. Opening his link, he yelled, The emptiness, only broken by wisps of pain or terror, interrupted him. Looking ahead, he saw the monster standing with its back to them. In mid-air. On the ground under it lay Changelings, and every surface around it was sprayed with blood. The sight enforced the terror the Commander held within his heart, but his pride and rage outclassed it. he roared over the link, sending some of the Changelings around him wavering through the air over the sheer force, The Hive-mind rumbled, along with the air, as the Changelings took up to cheer both in the mind and the spoken world. The Bombers flexed their wings and drew their bodies in to be as fast as possible, while the Soldiers pushed themselves to bury their opponent. ================================= Looking over my shoulder at the source of the vibrating air, I was surprised by the sheer cloud that now headed my way. Above me, the blue-turned-black patch of sky became green as the bugs shrouded themselves in emerald flames and fell like rain. I narrowed my eyes at them, wondering what I was going to do. 'Oi. Check out the bitch from earlier,' Instinct remarked, drawing my eyes to the aforementioned insect. She was just coming to her hooves now, trembling as her escorts helped her. A glance at a nearby corpse seemed to send her back to her knees, shuddering as a gargled moan of a dying bug from inside a... building across the street. There wasn't a way she could have heard that. Unless... 'You think she's connected to the rest of her soldiers?', I asked Instinct calmly, even as the swarm's noise became painful. 'One way to find out,' Instinct quipped, a grin heard in his voice, 'But I wanna test something myself.' 'What's that?' My curiosity was peaked, even as the insects were becoming individually distinct behind me. 'Use Getsuga. Seems you got stronger,' he said. Now that he mentioned it, the 'solid' feeling I had seemed less intense. Besides... Be a quick way to deal with this problem behind me - I'd gotten fed up with cannon fodder. "Getsuga," I intoned, raising my sword to point ahead of me, the blade horizontal as black flames surged from it. I spun around, swinging my sword wide. "TENSHOU!" ================================= Shining Armour's eyes couldn't have been wider, nor his pupils smaller, at what was being seen in front of him. He'd seen this monster cast spells through six anti-magic cuffs, break his way through half a building, overload a cuff and take down a whole swarm of Changelings without a scratch. But this, this took the cake. Upon hearing the roar, he'd expected the flames to consume a good portion of the Changeling army. What he saw was comparable to calling the Sun an ember. A veritable tidal wave of red edged, black flames exploded from the sword's arc, swallowing the entirety of the force about to collide with him. It defied all logic as it continued to grow, yet it didn't disappear as it did so. It grew, and grew, until the sky in front of him was naught but black. And the roaring flames did nothing to mask the screeches of the dying. Another few voices sounded off to the side, but he took no notice as his sight was on the shadowy inferno in front of him. ================================= Chrysalis spasmed lightly against the wall she'd collapsed against, her eyes rolled up into her head and her mouth wide in a soundless shriek. Saliva dribbled and splattered out as she sobbingly choked for air. Her ears resonated with shrill screeches and rumbling bass, her carapace burned until it melted and froze solid, her tongue tasted copper and iron, her vision was black and white. She felt all and nothing, as the sheer agony of two and a half thousand Changelings were instantly and simultaneously incinerated above her. She could handle small groups of Changelings being harmed or killed, but this? This overwhelmed both the Hive-mind and her own limits. The Guardians next to her could do little, as they themselves succumbed to the pain and unknowingly added to their Queen's burden, along with every Changeling caught in the blaze as each radiated and received the pain of others and their own. Within her mind, Chrysalis struggled to completely shut the door to the Hive, as the flood of pain threatened to break her. Managing, somehow, to close it, she collapsed into unconsciousness. Or would have, had a whisper not terrified her of succumbing to a nightmare she knew she would be subjected to for a very long time.