Stan, Carl, and Twig panted their lungs out as they sat deep inside an alleyway. All three of them glad to know they escaped that monster. “W-Why...wha...why do...doe...does the...this place...huff...have so mah...many...al..ey..wayz..hugh!” Carl fell to the ground after finishing that sentence.
“Da...don’t...hugh...question it!” Stan yelled. “J-Just...just be tha...thankful that...t-there was...huff...one...nearby...whew…”
“W..what are we...hugh...g-gonna do now?” Twig asked.
Stan’s lungs were still trying to get over the jog as he finally got up on his hooves. “Twah...Twig, I’m...I’m trying to think hah...here.”
“I say we run.” Carl suggested. “You saw him, there’s no way we can take him, even with all our brothers, we just need to move to a new city, and start a new life as regular bugs who are just looking for-”
“Wait!” Twig yelled. “I know! We need to get help! From everyone and everything!”
Carl facehoofed while Stan tapped his chin. “Twig, that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard you say...today!”
Twig frowned. “B-But Caaaaaaaaaaarl…”
“Don’t ‘Carl’ Me, Twig! You’re not helping this situation.”
“But Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarl!”
“Twig!” Carl yelled. “We are running away and that’s final! Got it!”
“NO!” Carl and Twig looked up to see Stan hovering overhead. “We are NOT gonna let this happen!” Stan continued. “We are going to destroy this menace before he destroys us!”
Carl flew up to him while Twig noticed the comic book in the hole of his hoof. “Even if we warn our siblings; how are we gonna take out a monster like him!? He’s too strong for us!”
“Guys…” Stan started. “If we’re gonna stop him, then we need to split up and-”
“Split up! SPLIT UP!” Carl grabbed Stan by the shoulders and shook him. “Stan! That’s breaking rule number one of, ‘not getting killed quickly.’ He’ll hunt us down and pick us off one by one!” He stopped shaking and went eye to eye with him. “What makes you think this’ll be a good idea!?”
“Because...be...because.” Stan was trying his hardest to say these next three words. “Twig was right.”
“I was?” Twig was shocked to hear that.
“We do need help, help from more than the brothers and sisters! We need to round up as many ponies as possible as well. Then we might just have a fighting chance.” Before Carl could object, Stan pointed at Twig. “Twig, you’re the strongest, so go back to where Talantilo was and find the ponies that hid.”
Normally, Twig would say no or just cry on the spot, but knowing this would be one of the bravest things he would do in his life, he saluted with the comic still in the hole of his hoof. “Leave it to Twig!” With that, he turned around and ran out of the alley.
Carl tapped Stan’s shoulder, still scared stiff by all this. “A-Are you sure they’ll help us, Stan?”
Stan really wanted to say yes, but he really head no idea. “I hope they can, but right now, I need to go to my brothers and sisters.”
“W-What about me?” Carl asked.
“Carl, you’re more familiar with ponies, you go out and find more, I’m sure if you tell them what we’re up against, they’ll help.”
“What about the other changelings, how do you know they’ll help?”
Stan sighed. “I know they might not want to, but I’m sure some of them will come with us to face him.”
“W-What about Twig?” Carl
Stan glanced outside, thankful to know that light was still shining. “Let's just pray to the queen that he’ll be okay…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The small group of ponies slammed the door shut once all of them were inside the darkened jewelry store, every single one of them shaking and quivering in fear after what went down moments ago.
“W-What just happened out there?” One colt asked.
A mare held him close and said, “I-I dunno, sweety, but it was really scary…”
“Alright!” A brown stallion yelled. “Listen, everypony, we just gotta stay calm and wait for all of this to blow over, because, sooner or later, some of the important ponies are gonna fix this problem while we stay in the background.”
One pony stepped out of the group. “A-Are you sure we should do that?” He asked. “B-Because the background isn’t really that-”
The brown stallion pointed outside. “You wanna go outside and face whatever’s happening out there?”
He then stepped back in, moving to the far back.“N-No…”
“Exactly, now, like I said, we need to wait for someone else to deal with whatever's out there, stay calm and wait.”
“W-Why wait?” One mare yelled. “W-Whatever’s out there is gonna come for us! I-I can see it now, a-any moment, something’s gonna come bursting through this-”
*SLAM*
“PONIES!”
All of them yelped as a large changeling bursted through the back door and fell on the floor. Luckily, it stayed on it’s hinges this time and slammed shut once the changeling stood back up.
“W-What the hay is that!?” One of them asked.
Before the changeling could say anything, one green pony stood up. “Wait a sec, that’s one of the bugs that yelled and screamed out there.” The pony crossed his arms. “What’s your deal, huh? You trying to scare us? Cause you did a pretty good job!”
“Who are you, anyway?” One mare asked.
The bug got on all fours and saluted. “My names Twig! And it’s not me you should be scared of, but...him.”
“Who the hay are you talking about, bug?”
“I’m talking about…This thing!” Twig took the comic out of his hooves and held the frontpage up to them. Every pony screamed in horror at the picture.
“W-What in Celestia’s mane is that!?” One asked.
Twig lit up his horn, casting a small shadow over his face. “He is the dreaded Discordtalantilo! He has awoken from his slumber and risen from the underworld!” Twig dimmed down his horn and looked at his book for a few seconds before turning back to the ponies and casting a shadow on his face again. “And now he’ll hunt us down for sunday supper!”
One pony gulped. “H-He’ll what?”
Twig looked through the pages. “He’s come here to kill us all! To cause destruction to all the world! A-And any minute now, he’s gonna come for us!” Twig then buried his face in the comic book again, looking to see what else can happen.
“H-He is!?” The ponies looked around in fear. “B-But he’s not evil anymore. The elements reformed him and made him good a-and I certainly don’t remember him looking like that.”
Twig turned away from the pages and back at the ponies, completely horrified. “Oh no…” Twig stepped back. “H-He has you all under his control now?”
“He does!?” Another pony shrieked in terror. “H-How can you tell?”
Twig went eye to eye with the terrified pony. “He looks you right in your eyes and puts you under his trance...your eyes swirl with different colors and your body will fall under his control.” He turned to the book, then back to them “and before you know it! You’re walking right into his maw with no resistance to stop his teeth from snapping shut as you-”
“STOP!” One pony finally broke and fell to the floor, covering her face with her hooves. “S-Stop talking about it....I-I don’t wanna hear anymore!”
Twig continued looking at their eyes. “Well, even though you have a lot of colors in those eyes of yours, I don’t think you’re under his trance.” Twig held up the comic so he could see it and the ponies. He looked at page 19 which showed a horrendous illustration of a pony getting torn to shreds while it’s eyes swirled in a spectrum of colors. “Hmmm, nope. Your eyes are pretty normal.”
“S-So, w-what are we gonna do now?” One pony whimpered. “I-I remember someone telling me he was able to change reality with a flick of his tail, h-how would we stop something like him if he’s evil now?”
Twig put on the most serious face he could. “If we’re really gonna stop him, we need to work together!”
“Work together? With a changeling?” One stallion sneered. “We may be at peace with you bugs, but some of us would rather have you gone then stay here.”
One pony punched him in the arm. “Now’s not the time! He’s trying to help us.”
“With an attitude like that,” Twig said. “He’ll come for you first.”
“M-Me?” The stallion felt a cold shiver run up his spine. “W-Why me?”
“Because, he…” He flipped through the pages again. “He always goes after the strongest one’s first!” Twig then went crosseyed and gasp. “W-Wait! That means he’s gonna come for me! And with a hunger like his, we’ll be but mere appetizers!”
“That means he’ll eat the children last!” One mare shrieked while holding her child closer. “M-My colt will be the strawberry swirl parfait!”
The ponies were getting more terrified by the second, but, through all the panicking, one of them had the guts to stand over the others and say, “That bug’s right! We can’t let this happen! Background ponies or not, we have to stand up to him and stop whatever he’s planning.”
One pony raised their hoof. “But didn’t you say that we should just stay here and wait for someone who’s more important to come and save us?”
“Who do you think that guy is?” The pony pointed at Twig, who had his tongue sticking out the left side of his mouth as he continued turning pages. “He looks kinda...weird.”
The one standing shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe he’s the important one?”
The ponies looked at him again, seeing that he was now looking at a fly that was buzzing around the room with fascination. The lead pony sighed. “Well...he’s all we got in this sto-”
“So, what do you ponies say?” Twig stopped staring at the fly and extended his hooves for a shake. “We put aside our differences and face the foe, or end up becoming another one of his…” He checked the book again. “His delicious meals?”
The group of ponies looked at one another, knowing fighting him alone would be suicide and joining against a creature that almost destroyed their town was insane, but they knew this was the only way if they were to survive. The stallion who made the rude remark earlier sighed and walked up to him. “Very well, changeling…” He grabbed his hooves and shook it. “We’re with you.”
Twig smiled and shook his hoof even harder. “We won’t let you down!” He let go and pointed at a window while the stallion continued shaking the hoof that was no longer there. “Now, we should get moving before he makes his...uh.” Twig looked at page 26 which showed a picture of Talantilo slithering across a dirt road while several ponies hid behind rocks. “His rounds.”
“I-Is it just gonna be us fighting him?” One mare asked.
Twig shook his head. “Nope, I got two other brothers who are rounding up everyone they can find to help, I’m sure Carl is having an easier time getting ponies than me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Get out of my bar!”
Carl was doubting this plan more and more every second he stood in this place. He gulped and looked at all the ponies that decided to hide here, almost all of them giving him glares.“Listen, ponies. I know times are hard and you still don’t trust us...even if it’s been a few months…a-and we’re still trying to make up for what we...uh...they did.”
“That, and the fact that you let a bunch of bugs in MY bar even though the plaque says otherwise.” The bartender leaned his head over to said plaque.
Carl didn’t even bother reading it. “Listen, Mike-”
“I told ya not to call me that!” Mike yelled, remembering this bug and his friend ruining his night a while ago. “I hope that friend of yours had the biggest hangover in Equestria after what happened that night.”
Carl stomped his hoof. “Mike! Everypony! Just please listen to me. Y-You all saw what was out there, right?”
One pony started answering. “All I saw was a group of changelings screaming and sayin’ something about a monster coming in and tryin’ to destroy us, and, according to protocol, all of us need to stay somewhere safe and out of the foreground until someone more important deals with it.”
“W-Who made up that stupid rule?” Carl asked, receiving shrugs from all of them. “Ponies, if you really want to wait here for Talantilo to come in and kill us, then that just proves my brothers point.”
“Point?” Mike said. “Point about what? And who the hay’s Talantilo?”
Carl knew this would be hard to explain. “First, the point they’re proving is that you guys can’t deal with the simplest of problems when it comes to things like this, saying that you’re all weak about fighting monsters.”
“W-We’re not weak!” One pony yelled. “Just smart when it comes to things like this, I mean, how stupid is it to face whatever creature is out there?”
Another pony had to ask. “What is out there, anyways?”
Carl started getting frustrated. “I already told you. We’re up against Discordtalantilo.”
Mike raised an eye. “And I told you! He’s name is Discord. That guy’s been reformed, and I doubt he’s gonna come back and cause chaos again.”
“Reformed?” Carl knew that wasn’t true, that was impossible to be true. A creature like him can’t join the good side, he was too evil. “D-didn’t you see what he looked like out there!? He’s far from reformed! In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him ripping ponies or changelings to shreds when we see him.”
“Whoa, wait, what?” Mike put his hooves on the table. “H-He’s not like that now...i-is he?”
Carl slowly nodded. “Oh yes, he is.”
“A-Are you saying he’s evil again!?” One mare shreked. “T-That means he’s really gonna do it! He’s gonna destroy Equestria! I-I heard he has fire breath that can incinerate anything!”
“Actually…” Carl said. “That would be a dragon who does that...now...Discordtalantilo…” Carl shivered. “Oh...he’s much worse.” He stepped closer to the now scared ponies, making them step back. “He’ll make a stew out of your organs!”
“W-What?!”
“He’ll munch the meat right off your bones!”
“No!”
“Rip your limbs apart with a snap of his claws!”
“H-How!?”
“Bite your face clean off your face!”
“Huh?”
“Squeeze the JELLY from your eyes and put it on toast!”
“AAAAAH!” One of the ponies fainted at that last sentence.
Carl was about to go further, but he was starting to make himself scared. “A-And...well, i-it’s best not to think about what he’ll do…”
The group of ponies continued quivering in fear. “S-So, what do we do?” One asked, holding the now unconscious pony close. “J-Just...l-let it happen and...and have him kill us?”
“No.” Carl interrupted. “We are not gonna let that monster get us!” He gulped, secretly hoping that wouldn’t happen. “W-We are gonna get others and retaliate!”
“H-How do we retaliate against a monster like him!?” Mike yelled. “If he’s really not reformed anymore and is gonna kill us all, how will we defeat him? He’s way too strong”
“Strong enough to corrupt those elements, that’s for sure.” One pony pointed out.
Carl stood tall. “We defeat him by joining forces.”
“Fighting along side a bug like you?” Mike scoffed. “Listen, bug brain, some of us prefer to be in the background then try and fight.”
“You’d rather die in the background than face him head on?” Carl thought that was insane. “Are you guys really not wanting to be noticed?”
Most ponies looked away. Even Mike didn’t want to make eye contact. “Carl, look, we just ain’t that strong, we ain’t that important, and we sure as hay ain’t about to go out there to face him ourselves.”
“But we won’t be alone.” Carl pointed out. “I got two other brothers who are rounding up as many ponies and changelings as we can to face him, because, believe it or not, it’s better to face a problem now instead of waiting for someone else to fix it.”
Mike sighed. “Okay, I get it, we need to work together to face him...no need to say a sappy speech about it.”
Carl smiled. “So, you’ll help?”
Some ponies were looking at Mike, since he was the center of attention at this point. Mike just planted his forehead on the table and groaned. “Fine, we’ll help, but if this is some stupid prank-”
Carl shook his head. “No prank and, I assure you, we won’t be alone. Even that ‘drunk changeling’ is out there getting some other brothers, I’m sure he’ll have a full swarm here by the time we get there.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Stan, are you sure this is real and not another one of your horrendous illusions?”
Stan glared at the siblings in front of the room, all of them either annoyed or worried after what he told them. “This isn’t an illusion! It’s real! I saw him roam around the street with my own blue eyes.”
“Sure you did…” One of them said sarcastically.
Stan stomped the ground. “I’m being serious, Shawn! You really think I’d come to you guys if I wasn’t serious?”
Shawn chuckled and stood up from his bed. “Stan, even if there was a beast coming after us, why would you come to hospitalized changelings for help? We’re not all in shape, you know.”
Stan couldn’t argue with that, this wing of the hospital was the last place he’d come to, seeing as how it housed more injured and bedridden changelings than ponies. “I-I know this isn’t the best place, b-but you guys are all I got for help.”
Another changeling snickered. “Oh yeah, we’ll help, right after I start feeling my legs, I’ll get up and help you with your monster problem.”
Shawn managed to get on all fours and make his way to Stan. “Listen, Stan, in the condition we’re in, I doubt we’ll be that much use. So, how about you go back to your own little fantasy land and let us rest, okay?”
Stan dropped his jaw. “You’re all just gonna sit here and do nothing about it!”
Shawn and the others still didn’t believe his story. “Yeah, we’ll just stay here and wait for your make believe monster to show up and get us.” Shawn then turned around and made his way back to bed.”
“Come on, Stan, there’s gotta be something to make these insects listen…” Stan’s eyes lit up, hoping this next trick would work. “Well, I guess those ponies were right then.”
Shawn stopped. “Right? Right about what?”
Stan crossed his arms and smiled smugly. “That changelings are nothing but weak insects that can’t even help themselves.”
“W-We are not useless insects!” One changeling screamed before coughing.
“Yeah! W-We can take on anything.”
Stan raised his hoof in the air. “Then can ya take him on? Or will the ponies just stand by and laugh at how the changelings failed?”
Shawn finally turned back to him. “Like HAY they will!”
Stan pointed to the doors. “Then come on! He’ll be here soon, and the last thing we want is for him to catch us off guard.”
Shawn was still doubting this. He and many of his siblings have heard of the story, but actually believing it was true? “Stan, are you sure this is real?”
“Real as the reality he’s gonna destroy.”
Shawn turned to the others, some of them still getting over what happened at the wedding, mentally and physically. Bandages on their body’s, rags on their backs, even Shawn still had half an ear stem and a sore leg. “We’re not that strong, Stan…” Shawn admitted.
“But some of you are, I’m sure there are some that can walk on all fours, right?”
Some changelings checked to see if their legs worked, roughly eight out of the fifty that were there could, but, even then, it was hard for them to stand. “My legs are...kinda working.” One said, almost tripping on his own hooves.
Stan sighed, knowing it was either this or nothing. “Well, those who can, meet me outside so we can meet up with the others.”
“Others?” Shawn tilted his head. “What others?”
“Oh...uh, t-two more changelings...and some other help.”
Shawn smiled. “So we already have other brothers? Good, hopefully the ponies can just stay in the background while we deal with this.”
“Uhh...actually-”
“And hopefully they aren’t with us when we try and fight him, that’d just make us look weak when ponies are helping.”
“W-Well, actually-”
Shawn looked right at him. “Stan, we’re fighting Talantilo with just changelings, right, cause if ponies are involved, you can forget it.”
Stan gulped, seeing some of the changelings were giving him looks that were making him question this plan of getting help from them. “Uh...y-yes?”
Stan then saw the front doors slam in his face after he was pushed out of the room. “Come on, guys! It’s just a few of them, we’d still look tough...guys?” After a few minutes of silence, Stan gave up and started walking outside. “Fine! Be that way, but if Talantilo maims all of you, don’t blame me!” He kicked the front hospital doors open and made his way back to his brothers, his head looking at the ground.
“Well, so much for that...I guess it’s just gonna be the three of us facing him, because there’s no way those two bugs are gonna get help from ponies.”