Chapter XIII: Culmination, Retribution, Desperation
(Brace yourselves. This one's a doozy. Longest to date in the Nameless Romance Series too.)
//\\//\\//\\ Present //\\//\\//\\
You flipped through all the pages that comprised the single entry that you were about to start. Circumstance had prevented you from writing for a few days, and so you had only been able to get everything down after things had calmed down some. You could still remember the barn where you had finally crawled to get some shelter. It had been… Well, words didn’t really do it justice. There was so much that had happened, in so short a time. Looking back, it was sometimes hard to realize that you were reading about what you had done. At times it seemed like you were reading what some other Changeling had done, but then you look at your body and you see some of the scars still present. Your nearly eidetic recollection of the events was often a source of discomfort for you, since full recollection often resulted in small pangs of pain running through the scars along your body.
“The climax of the Changeling race is fast approaching, Rarity. The culmination of all we were will soon present itself, and from there it is just a matter of hours until… Until there was one…”
//\\//\\//\\ Day of the Royal Wedding //\\//\\//\\
The shield shattered into a million pieces of magical energy as the hive finally smashed through. It allowed the minds of the hive to mingle with yours once again, and you had to struggle for just a moment to keep your thoughts wholly independent of the hive. It had been too long, it seemed, since your last time amongst the hive. But with their return came the boost to your power that you had lamented losing when you first started the assignment. Now that it was back, though, you felt like you could take on the world. And win. And that was pretty much what you’d have to do.
Luna’s tower wasn’t that hard to find, and you quickly angled towards it, smashing through a window without a thought, your magical shield casting aside the shards of glass in a vibrant display of stained glass. You didn’t even see what it was a rendition of before you had smashed through. Still, now wasn’t sightseeing time, so you turned to face the door that led to Luna’s bedchambers, and then you began advancing. The sounds of fighting in the castle echoed up to you through the myriad of halls, often allowing you to hear the same crash or scream multiple times. Having spent as much time around the ponies of Canterlot as you had, it did cause you to flinch a few times when you heard a particularly pathetic cry of anguish, sadness, or anger.
You stopped when you were just a few steps away from Luna’s door, the massive wooden door an imposing shade of dark blue with the stars of the night sky decoratively rendered across the entire face. There was even a perfect copy of the moon painted onto the right door of the pair. You knew that in a one on one fight you’d never stand a chance against the Princess, so you decided that you’d make sure that neither you, nor any of your countless brothers and sisters, would have to deal with Luna. The spell that you had contrived within your mind was unusually complex, combining a wide array of different effects to achieve the desired result.
As you dipped into your reserves of magic you could feel the collective energy of the hive. It was a breathtaking thing to feel. Each and every Changeling in the hive had a reserve of magic that was yours to use, and so you did just that, pulling a small amount of energy from almost all the Changelings in order to fuel the massive demands of the spell you were working. You did feel the pool dip a few times as somewhere a Changeling died, but it was a drop out of the bucket, so to speak. Canterlot couldn’t hope to combat a reserve of this intensity, and it was just this aspect that would work to assure success in your endeavor. As the spell reached its completion, there was a blinding flash as the field you had been creating expanded rapidly, swallowing the entirety of Luna’s chambers. The spell would keep the duo inside asleep for the better part of the day, assuring that you and the rest of the hive would have enough time to do what needed to be done.
A series of short flights later, and you were standing atop the main hall of the palace, looking down into the courtyard in front of the palace. The royal guards that were present were locked in combat with the drones, each guard separated from his allies by the coordinated efforts of the swarm. This was a strength that the hive had that no force could hope to match. Each drone was part of a larger whole, working only to further the hive, rather than themselves. The guards were fighting for Canterlot, yes, but also for themselves, seeking the preservation of self before the preservation of the capital. It was this act that would be the downfall of Canterlot. It was this lack of individuality that you hated.
The drones weren’t stupid creatures. When forced to speak, they could actually articulate themselves quite well, even going as far as to have original ideas. These ideas were, often, integrated into the greater hivemind, allowing it to germinate in the minds of other Changelings until it was a widely accepted truth. But it didn’t have to be like that, and that’s why you refused to take the throne, despite the fact that it was yours for the taking. You didn’t want to ascend to leadership over an organism. You wanted to lead a people. You wanted to be able to address the issues of a people that couldn’t just adapt mentally to these problems. It’d be more work, but it would put you a step closer to the integration that you really wanted. This whole attack was the work of Chrysalis. She wanted to rule over mindless workers.
As the guards were forced further and further apart they grew more desperate in their fighting, taking risks and improvising. Thinking outside the box, in order to gain the upper hoof. Something no Changeling could do in a battle like this. The collective was too dominant for any one drone to think for themselves. Unwilling to watch the fight progress any further, you took to the skies, soaring over the city and watching things develop as they would. Your flight took you down some of the wide streets that you knew so well, and it wasn’t long before you found yourself in your neighborhood. You didn’t see many familiar faces, but that didn’t keep you from trying to see if there was anypony you knew.
After roaming the skies for almost half an hour you finally landed in front of your house, the door still closed. You approached it slowly, somehow feeling like a stranger as you approached the place you had called home for the past two years. Just before you touched the doorknob you realized that it was exactly this feeling that kept you from taking the initiative in trying to change the hive. It was this sensation of being so different. No matter how they tried, Changelings would be unable to change what they really looked like. They could change the way they were perceived, but they couldn’t change what they looked like.
And they’d always be emotional leeches.
No. Not leeches. A leech is a parasite. A creature that only takes. You wanted to make the Changelings into symbiotic beings. Creatures that helped as much as they benefited from the union. If you could find a way to make that work, then there would be hope for your people. You heard a scream from a short distance away, and that was enough to shake you from your reverie. You looked towards the source of the voice, seeing nothing down the street that would’ve been able to make the noise. As you looked back at the door, you slowly lowered your hoof, the desire to enter your old home leaving you. It wasn’t your home anymore. And that was the point.
After that, you returned to your aimless wanderings. Much of the city had been taken, and you spotted a group of six mares being escorted towards the palace in one of the streets. You paid it no mind, though, instead making your way towards one of the many sightseeing locations located along the walls of the great city. The Changelings had won, that was plain to see. But that didn’t mean that you had to be there for Chrysalis to begin putting her final plans into action. That was something that no being wanted to be present for.
You alighted upon one of the many rooftops along the edge of the city, and then you looked out over the domain that would soon be yours for the taking. Without the Royal Sisters to protect it, it would be just a matter of time before this whole land was under your control. You heard a muffled cry from your right, and you quickly turned to see what it was.
There, huddled up against the wall, was a mare, and her foal. The foal, you could tell, was likely just a few months old. But… There was something familiar about the mare. And the foal she had as well. As you looked at the mare, you realized that you did know her. And, knowing her, you knew the child as well. You had spent the Summer Sun Celebration with her a year ago. And she had conceived from your little tryst.
You took a step closer to the pair, and the mare simply pulled the foal closer, her eyes widening as you grew closer. “Stay back! S… Stay away from me!” Almost as if it was against your will, all of your legs stopped, halting your progress. “Just leave us alone! Please… Oh, Celestia, please, just leave!”
One thing that you had never thought about now came back to your mind as your mouth opened, and a few simple words fell forth from your mouth. That little, insignificant, detail that had only seemed like a big deal when you had just arrived in the city. You had never modified your voice for your Quill disguise, instead choosing to allow your normal voice to be used, since it was so vastly different from that of a normal pony. In fact, it was often said that your voice was quite pleasant to listen to. “Star Chaser, it’s me…”
The silence that followed your words was absolute. The sounds of fighting throughout the city had even stopped, allowing you to focus all of your attention on the mare. Her jaw dropped a bit as she comprehended what you had said.
“Quill?”
A sudden burst of energy from the palace stole the words from your mouth, and as you turned to look to the palace you saw a massive wall of energy expanding outwards, rapidly approaching you. It looked familiar, somehow, but there was something off about the way it looked. Almost like it was only familiar in a specific context. And, as the wall hit you, so did the realization that the wall was love made into tangible magical energy. You were only propelled along by the wall for a brief moment, but the abrupt impact was sufficient to give you quite a bit of speed, and it worked to shatter one of your legs as well.
The landing was… less than graceful. Some might even say you crashed, but the ponies who would say that are just jealous of the immense aerial acrobatics you displayed. It takes skill to land as poorly as you did. Although, to be fair, any landing you walk away from is a good one. Which is why you can make the argument that this was a bad landing. Since you couldn’t walk away from it. Whether that was due to the broken leg caused by the wave of magic, or your landing, you refused to say. Although flying with a broken wing is difficult even without a throbbing, bleeding, broken leg. But, hey! What’s life without challenges?
All around you, scattered far and wide were the remnants of the hive, the drones all fleeing from the city with little sense of order, or coherency. It was only through force of will that you managed to draw a few to you. Their nervous flitting gazes lingering on nothing, and taking in even less. None of them had names, as was the norm for the hive, and you only had to look at one to immediately draw its attention to you. With terse words you managed to bring all of their attentions to you, and from there you could use their reserves of energy to work on fixing your leg. None of them had very much left, though, and it almost killed them to pull all the energy you needed. And you had even drained your own reserves first, not wanting to draw solely upon them.
You still had a slight limp, though, since you suspected that you hadn’t set the bone quite properly. It was painful, but it kept you going, each step reminding you of the fact that you had to keep going. Within just a few hours of your started march the first of your drones died, his magical reserves having been depleted faster than you expected. There wasn’t a sound to signal his passing, just a sudden realization that one of your drones had died. Even then, you had wanted to stop and bury them, since there was no feasible way to bring them back to the hive. But, circumstance prevented that course of action, and so you simply continued, one less than before.
The second and third deaths came as you passed by the edge of a small village, the guards in the town forcing you to adopt a far slower, and far more cautious pace. Three times in the course of an hour you were forced to dip into your reserves to cast an invisibility spell. During the second spell another Changeling died, their frail body unable to continue. The first night was spent huddled beneath a tree in a small grove, the two remaining drones huddling close to you, seeking the protection of their king. You didn’t sleep at all that night, instead spending the whole night watching, and waiting.
As dawn arrived, you felt a familiar presence draw close, and you sent out a tendril of magic, trying to figure out who it was that was approaching. Much to your relief it was both Entropy, and Impulse. Impulse was carrying an unconscious Entropy on her back, and when she spotted you she nearly broke down crying from relief.
“Catalyst!” You rushed over to her, wincing just a bit as you felt the jolt of pain in your leg. “Oh, by the Creator, I thought you were dead, or captured.”
“It’ll take more than a wall of magic to kill me, Impulse. And I’m too good at my job to be captured.” She didn’t take the bait you’d offered her, and it was that action that really let you know just how bad things were for you, and your kind. Impulse would, normally, never let an opportunity like that pass her by. It was never a really bad insult that she’d throw at you, but it was always creative. “How bad is it?”
“Bad. Mother’s been sending occasional pulses of magic, calling us all to her. Unless you know to listen for them, though, you’ll miss them. We have to be incredibly careful for now, since the ponies are all on high alert. I even managed to hear a rumor that the Princesses themselves are roaming the land looking for us.” You swore under your breath before Impulse continued. “If I’m right, I think we just have a few days to go before we get to the gathering spot.”
“Do… Do we have any idea how many died? How many were captured?”
“Nothing solid. Our spy network was shattered during the attack, and so everything we’re getting is spotty at best. Worst estimates say eighty percent of our kind died. Best estimates put us at half that.” You turned away from your sister, a grimace on your face.
“Let’s get going. I… I’d rather not give myself the time to dwell on what’s happened. And what’s still to come. Chrysalis’ failure will be my legacy if I ascend to the throne now, so I’d rather see to it that order is restored to the hive before that happens.” You felt a gentle pressure on your neck after a moment, and you returned the nuzzle, happy for just a moment to have a shoulder to lean on, and a Changeling to talk to, since your drones had all been operating on instinct, their minds still unable to cope with the crippling losses.
“Things will be okay, Catalyst. We’ve been hit harder before.”
“The Griffons weren’t as determined as the ponies are, Impulse.” You and your sister, along with the drones, then began your march, the conversation making the miles blend together. “We never attacked their capitol, and we never threatened their leaders. Our battles with the Griffons were also spread out over the course of several months, rather than a single devastating attack. Losses as bad as this in a day are crippling. Losses like this spread out over a few months? It can be overcome.”
“The ponies are far more peaceful than the griffons, though. I don’t think they’ll swear a blood feud against us. Nor do I think that Celestia or Luna will unleash some unholy vengeance upon our people. Chrysalis bears the blame for this attack, and so if they decide to do something, I am certain that they’ll target her, and not the rest of the hive. Genocide just doesn’t seem like something they’d do.”
“But it wasn’t just Chrysalis that did all of this. Sure, she organized it all, but what about you? What about Entropy? The two of you made sure that everything was lined up in the city. You paved the way for almost everything that had to be done in order to assure the success of the attack. And me? I was the single agent that made this work. I was the one to make all of this possible. True to my name, I was the catalyst. Without me, I don’t think this attack would’ve been possible.”
After that revelation, silence fell upon the group for several hours. The forced march kept up for two straight days before Entropy finally stirred from her sleep. It took her the better part of a day for her to be brought up to date on everything that had taken place. After that, silence descended once again, nothing being said at all. The last of your drones died that day. It simply collapsed, the last dregs of its magical energy seeping out of its body and into the earth. Now it was just you, and your sisters.
The next morning, you could feel the collective energies of the hive. Or, at least, what was left of it. It was far less than you had hoped, and, even, less than you had feared. It only took a few hours after that moment for you to arrive at the formal gathering location. It was a massive depression in the midst of the forest, dozens of rock ledges exposed and offering up places for Changelings to gather, and sit. Down at the bottom of the depression was Chrysalis, her pacing wearing a fine groove into the stone. At your approach, she looked at you with thinly veiled hope in her eyes. There was no outburst of emotion, though. She barely allowed a smile to flit across her face before she motioned for you and your sisters to follow her into a small cave. It was a natural formation, and it almost reminded you of home… Almost.
It was a surprisingly deep cave system, and she led you for the better part of ten minutes before she stopped in a room with several torches set up along the walls. It cast an eerie glow in the room, the harsh contrast between light and dark playing havoc with your normally superior night vision. Arrayed on the wall behind Chrysalis was a large map of Equestria, with many cities and towns marked on its surface, some with crosses on them, and some circled. “Catalyst, Impulse, Entropy. It’s good to see that all three of you are still alive. I had feared the worst.” She looked at each of you in turn, before her gaze reached you. She lingered for a bit longer than with the others, before she turned to look at the map. “In your absence, I have been planning our next attack. With the hive in shambles, we need to find a new source of love that we can tap. I have picked out a few possible locations that we can scout out. I will need each of you to aid me in this.”
“Are you serious?” You spoke before you could stop yourself, and your mother slowly turned to look at you, her face an unreadable mask.
“Is there a problem, son?” Her voice was gentle, but you knew that you had already made things irreparable for yourself.
“Yes. Yes, there is. We need time to recover before we launch some new assault. We shouldn’t fail in one attack, just to start a new one. We need to adopt far more subtle practices until we can replenish the hive.”
“And what, pray tell, would you suggest?”
“We plant ‘sponges’ in some of the towns that you’ve highlighted, and let them simply absorb the latent emotions. That should be sufficient to get us back to the hive. Once we return, we need to rebuild, and then we can start planning something. But to go right from a defeat like that to a new attack? It’s madness.”
“Madness?” She tilted her head a bit, and then a frown grew on her face. Both Entropy and Impulse stepped back a bit, letting you take the full force of what was coming. “This is my hive, Catalyst. I turned us into the force you hope to inherit. Without me, you’d be getting the dregs that my sister had hoped to gain. But I saw to it that she never had the chance to ruin my hive. I killed my only living sister, Catalyst. I will have no problem killing you if I have to.”
Before you could respond, a massive force shook the ground, pebbles falling from the ceiling and giving everyone in the room pause. Then, a voice came echoing down the halls, laced with anger so pure that it made your horn itch. Chrysalis, for her part, made it seem like she was unfazed by the cry. But you knew her well enough to see the subtle shiver that ran the length of her spine. “Let us go and entertain our guests, children. I…” She looked around for a moment, before she motioned to your sisters. “Go and amuse the Sisters for a moment. I have a few words I must share with my son.” Your sisters just looked from you to your mother for a moment before they reluctantly departed.
When they were out of earshot you looked back to your mother to see her sitting on the ground, her head hanging low. “Mother?”
“You’re right, you know? After the debacle that was Canterlot I was eager to prove that I am still a strong monarch. A strong hivemind. But I can only see the most direct path to victory, while you still see things rationally. I fear that I already know the outcome of this parley, but we must play it out for the sake of following the great scripts that are written when we are born. It’s really a shame, though. I was dearly hoping that I could see you ascend to the throne in different circumstances.”
“But you aren’t dead yet. And I won’t be the one to kill you.”
“Oh, you’re all too right. The Watchers already promised me that. It was probably the only thing they ever told me that I believed.”
“The Watchers?”
“We’ve no time, son. Come, we have guests to amuse for a time.” She quickly stood, and began walking down the stone hall, leaving you to your self in the torch lit room for just a moment. With a sigh, you cast a last look at the map, noting that there was a marker in a location where there was no settlement. It was, for all intents and purposes, in the middle of nowhere. The Badlands. It was, curiously, crossed out in bold black ink.
You followed after your mother slowly; your mind occupied with what she had told you. Did she really know what was coming, or was this another one of her plots? You were almost certain that it was the former, but a tiny part of your mind argued for the latter. As you neared the entrance to the caves you heard the voices of two loudly arguing ponies, and one irate sounding Changeling.
When you emerged into the light you saw that both Luna and Celestia were airborne above the gathering, their horns glowing with barely contained magical energy. You were jumping in halfway through the conversation, though, and so you quickly started paying attention to what Celestia was saying.
“… Attacking defenseless ponies, and assaulting my niece!”
“What do you mean, defenseless? Clearly you have all too much power at your disposal! In a single attack you wiped out ninety-five percent of my hive! In a single spell you killed more living things than my hive has done over the past two decades!” The white coated Princess balked at your mothers declaration, but then she came back into the argument with a vengeance, quickly working to deflect the accurate accusation.
“We were defending ourselves against an unprovoked attack. You can’t hope to blame me for our response to your actions, Chrysalis. Perhaps if you had been wiser this might not have happened. But, now that it has, I will only ask once. Step down as Queen, and surrender your hive. There will be no bargaining. There will be no conditions. Surrender, and there needs to be no further killing.”
Silence fell upon the congregation, the only audible thing being the beat of the Princesses’ wings. It was out of this silence that the single worst sound you’d ever heard was made. It defied description then, and even now you lack the words to do the justice that the spell deserved. It wasn’t even a powerful bolt of energy. It was, likely, just a release of pent up emotional energy. Not designed to hurt, only to act as a release. But, as fate would have it, this bolt happened to fly towards the Princesses. You knew for a fact, simply by looking at the size, that it would have absolutely no impact on the Princesses, since it wasn’t even a concentrated bolt. But, in such a tense situation, overreactions happen. And what followed was the biggest overreaction ever.
Perhaps it was at that moment that Celestia and Luna realized just how vulnerable they made themselves by dropping into the depression as far as they had. Perhaps this was their intention all along, the parley being nothing but a veil behind which they could hide their true intent. Not that it matters, really. The result is what matters, and the means that were used to get there… Well, such a display of magical viciousness made you want to flee in terror, despite all the things that you’ve done. Each bolt released from the Princesses was one that laid waste to a dozen Changelings, their sudden deaths creating vicious feedback loops throughout the collective consciousness. It was this feedback that created the Changeling response. Instinct took over for many of the drones, their response being to immediately fire off a bolt of energy in retaliation.
You, your sisters, and Chrysalis all looked on in horror as the Princesses wiped out the entire congregation, leaving just a handful of drones left, and the three of you. “You listen to our parley, and then attack us? By the Creator, Chrysalis, this time you have gone too far.” Celestia’s voice was different from usual, the tone it held was darker than normal, and her eyes were different. Normally there was a spark that danced within her eyes, but now there was nothing but a cold set of pupils looking down on your mother, you, and your sisters.
“I’m sorry, Catalyst. I tried. I really did.” There was no charge up to the spell. There wasn’t even a wave of heat, or energy. All that happened was a bright flash, and then your mother, and Impulse were gone, leaving you and Entropy dashed against the walls of the pit. Through some miracle, or curse, you had been lucky enough not to lose consciousness. The Princesses both looked around the pit for a moment, seeing if there were any still living Changeling’s present. They must’ve thought that you were dead, since they didn’t come over to vaporize you like they did your mother. After a few minutes, you saw Celestia shake, and her wings failed her, prompting Luna to carry her on her back, and away from the depression.
After waiting for the better part of an hour, you stood up, looking out at the desolation surrounding you. There were surprisingly few bodies, but the stench of death lingered. You slowly approached the spot where your mother had been standing, and then you felt a single sob escape your throat. Not just for your mother, but for the hive. A strangled sob echoed back to you, and then you lost it in spades. You felt your legs give out beneath you, and you cried. It was the first time in years that you had cried, and it felt oddly good to finally have an outlet. A muted cry met your ears, and you looked to the source to see Entropy up against the wall, her hoof reaching out to you.
Without a thought, you dashed over to her, taking her hoof in yours. “Catalyst, it hurts… It hurts so much…” Her eyes refused to focus on anything, and you raised a hoof to her cheek as her breathing quickened.
“Where? Entropy, where does it hurt?”
“By the Creator, Catalyst, everywhere…” Her eyes locked onto yours for a moment, and then she stopped breathing. Her eyes looked so much like your mother’s. The same color, the same slit pupils. They were your mother’s eyes, and they were looking back at you lifelessly, and dull. The hivemind that had always been so subtly in the back of your mind was silent. After all those years, it had finally fallen silent. Even when you were so far from any of your brothers and sisters you could still feel it in the back of your mind, a gentle buzzing at the extreme edge of your consciousness. But now it was gone.
You were alone. You were the last of your kind.
You are the last of your kind.
After your mental breakdown, a long period of time passed without any memories that could be recalled. The next coherent thought you could recall was passing through a series of wooded glades that finally yielded to a full fledged forest. It seemed familiar, somehow, yet you were unable to process the scenery as you passed it. Life had become a blur to you, and you found that you couldn’t bring yourself to stop, each step following the last one in a mechanical pattern, and any deviation from that pattern yielded intense pain. Your trip through the forest lasted nearly three days, and you never once stopped your pace as you marched along, navigating the thick brush with ruthless efficiency. When you finally managed to emerge from the forest you found yourself facing even more trees. These ones were arranged in rows, but that failed to register in your mind.
As you walked down the space between two trees you finally paused as you felt something land atop your head. It was such a small thing, yet it drew your attention away from your steps, and towards the skies above. A second impact followed on the heels of the first, and soon countless others joined their friends in pelting your body. Somehow, the weather was mocking you. Your own tears had dried up days ago, and now the sky was mocking you with tears of its own. You could vaguely recall it having rained a few days ago, but it was all a blur, and so you put no faith in those memories. You didn’t linger long, and soon you continued your pace, heading through the trees without a thought about anything that was happening.
A large structure in the distance caught your eye, and you angled towards it, your exhausted body and mind finally demanding some degree of rest. The structure just happened to be a barn, and it was dry on the inside, making it, to your mind, the perfect place to curl up inside of, and rest. The lock, for its part, failed. With a mere flick of your magic it was turned to ash, the intricacies required to undo the lock being beyond your mental capacity at the moment. However, it took more out of you than you had thought it would, and you were forced to practically drag yourself inside. It was warm on the inside, and you soon had yourself a pile of hay gathered up to rest on. As you felt the tenuous grasp of sleep begin to wear at the edges of your mind, you sat up once more, your journal finding its way to your hooves.
And so began the writing of the longest single entry in the book. When you finally let the book fall from your hooves, you simply fell back, sleep claiming you before you even hit the hay.
//\\//\\//\\ Present //\\//\\//\\
As you finished your recollection and reading, you marked the page in the journal, and then you looked towards the mare. She was looking at you in a slightly different way than she had been doing before, but there was still no influx of energy. She still refused to give you anything, and you let out a sigh as you adjusted your position. “That, Rarity, was the longest waking period of my life. I found out a bit later, in the next entry, that I spent nearly two weeks in a state of constant wakefulness. I suspect that I got some sleep while I was out of it, but I don’t know.”
“Did… Did Celestia really do that? She’s always been so…”
“So kind? So serene? So in control? She normally is. But the events of the attack showed her that she isn’t quite as powerful as she would like to think. And Luna took a disliking to my kind, meaning me, due to what we did to her sister.” You quickly glance at the last few entries that you intended to read before you look back at the mare. “I still have some way to go, and I still have time left. If you would do me the honor of simply listening to the end of my sordid tale, I would at least be able to die content, if not fully satisfied.”
The mare just looked at you for a moment before she nodded solemnly.
“Thank you.” With that, you reopened the journal, ready to resume the tale of your life…
(This was fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. The next chapter will likely be the last. I won't spoil anything, still, so don't ask. Speculate, if you like, but don't ask me to tell you. Be sure to comment, since I am fairly certain that I missed some things that you may be curious about.)
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It was good. I like reading about the backstory of the changeling hive.
goddamn cliffhanging bastardo........
so close. i need moar!!
new update
Now I know I've missed something....gotta finish the chapter and go find it.
That was, as always, very well written.
I love how you've done the flashbacks through the journal entries. Keep on writing. Also, on a more random note, I seem to remember you saying something about writing a clop containing chapter for each of the romance stories. If you do plan to do that I'm guessing that your waiting until the entire series of stories is complete?
1743173 I noticed that as well, I went back and reread but I didn't notice anything that would account for that bit so I'm guessing that it's a typo. Or something to be revealed in the next chapter or a future story, he has done that sort of thing before so I wouldn't put it past him.
wow, I hope that chapter comes soon, your writing has been awesome so far, dieing the read how your going to end this. Good job.
Awesome dude, simply awesome..one could say it was jet-tastic!
Once a powerful army, now only a single one remains.
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Wow...
Just wow...
I am in awe
Lol he's totally gonna die.
Just finish the damn story so I can read it and enjoy it!
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I don't think I've ever felt so bad for a Changeling!!!!!!!
Must. Have. MORE!!!!!!!!!!!
"the duo inside" Huh, so who is Luna sleeping with?
1743875 It's all a part of what I've got planned for all of the stories in the series. And Cadence wasn't sabotaging the wedding, she was using Catalyst's ignorance against him. She suspected that Twilight would act the way she would, and that Chrysalis would respond the way she did. Chrysalis acted in a way that made sense for her, since she didn't know about what was happening when Catalyst was in the caves with Cadence. The two of them were alone inside the caves, and so she was able to use Catalyst's ignorance as a weapon. She knows more about magic than Catalyst does, and so she was able to trick him into helping her to sabotage the 'wedding'. I'm not saying that it's perfect, far from it, but I also just write whatever comes to mind as I write. There are bound to be holes that I miss, and that's something that I am willing to live with in order to deliver what is mostly a solid plot foundation. I like to think that I manage to avoid any hugely glaring plot holes, and I'm happy with just that.
Hmm. I'm liking Catalyst almost as much as Taupe.
Bravo, good sir.
1743130 Good to know. It's a shame that it'll coming to an end soon.
1743149 I am good at writing cliffhangers. They suit my style, and they keep people interested.
1743152 So close, and yet so far. Still have a chapter to go, so you'll just have to keep wondering.
1743157 Your observational skills are noteworthy.
1743173 Read a story of mine titled In Tenebrae Invenit. That should make things clear.
1743181 Yeah... Clop. Eventually. I've been thinking about doing one for AJ and Taupe, but it's hard for me to take characters that I know so well and just make them bump uglies. It's.... I dunno, weird. You can also take a look at In Tenebrae Invenit. It explains quite a bit about Luna and her paramour.
1743251 The ending will be glorious! Just wait and see.
1743252 New adjectives to describe my work? I approve.
1743273 Yep. And we have Celestia and Luna to blame for it. Not quite the benevolent rulers we've all come to know and love, are they?
1743283 Good awe, or bad awe?
1743347 Maybe he will. Then again, we all die eventually, so this is correct either way.
1743400 Jeez. Relax yourself, bro. It'll be done when it's done. I won't rush it just to get it out of the way. I need to feel it, otherwise it comes out like shit.
1743488 Oh, stop it you.... You're making me blush...
1743703 I felt bad for Catalyst as I wrote this. I don't think he's ever cried in my head canon, so that's saying something.
1744079 Read a story of mine titled In Tenebrae Invenit. That should make things clear.
1745012 Almost as much? Well, then you can go buck yourself. Catalyst is probably my favorite after Storm. Then Taupe, then Aerial Ace. Although they're all really good characters, and I like them all.
1745068 I will look into that story. And I sort of understand how you feel in that regard, it is a tad bit weird but you can definitely make it work as long as you include the same level of character depth and emotion that you usually do. If it helps you to write you could try to think of them as alternate versions of themselves.
1745068
This story may come to an end soon. That doesn't mean that the story of the changelings has to end though.
1745099 No, it certainly doesn't mean that at all. Unless this takes one of the two possible endings. Both of which are still a possibility.
1745068
No, I'd much rather buck my wife, thanks.
My rankings:
Taupe
Catalyst
Ace
Storm.
I actually forgot about Storm completely until your post.
There is always a third ending, clichéd it may be...
Then they all got buckin' smashed.
1745068 I will give it a look, I didn't realize it took place in the Rising Sun-verse.
1745068 So I went and checked out that story you mentioned......it raised some intriguing questions...
I'm sure you'll see them over there!!
1745068 Even if Rarity saves him from death I severely doubt Catalyst gets a happy ending.
Maybe simply not dying is a happy enough ending to us readers but really, you don't go through everything he has and just be happy, at most he'll be content.
*royal ziolian order* MOAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *end order*
1745068
In Tenebrae Invenit? Buck, he knows Latin! He knows a dead language! Run! Head for the hills!
...
Well I just felt the single biggest lurch of anger in my life.
Celestia...... I don't think Quill is happy with you, as I am not.
1744079
" As the spell reached its completion, there was a blinding flash as the field you had been creating expanded rapidly, swallowing the entirety of Luna’s chambers. The spell would keep the duo inside asleep for the better part of the day, assuring that you and the rest of the hive would have enough time to do what needed to be done."
I think that Howitzer wants to write a Luna fic...... or a spelling mistake?
1745068 never bro. awesome describes your work, and thats that dude.
1745068 good awe, definantly good!
1748636 Thanks. I don't know when the last chapter will be posted, though. I tried to write some earlier, but it didn't go anywhere. I just... didn't have the right mentality for it. I want this last flashback to wrap things up nicely, but it's hard to get the right pacing.
1745068 I do try
Oh dang, poor Catalyst is going to die because we all know Rarity is actually a cold-hearted she-devil and not the Element of Generosity everypony thinks she is.
Poor, poor Catalyst. I liked the guy--he was unique.
1749257 Don't spoil it for the people who still have hope. I like to let them live in their fantasy lands.