//------------------------------// // Intermission C // Story: The Infestation of Canterlot High School // by Bonster //------------------------------// Intermission C Hoofbeats echoed sharply through the winding passages of the Crystal Empire’s castle, ringing off the glistening walls and opulent columns. Candelabra lined the edges of the hall, and the chandeliers that hung from the ceiling caught their light, tore it into a million pieces, and shot it back out again, bright, colorful, and eye catching. Large stained glass windows only made the corridor that much more ethereal, the masterful pictures of pink alicorns and baby dragons just as stunning with the backdrop of night as with day. “…and the whole negotiation with the yaks went about as well as everything else goes with the yaks.” The Love Princess’s voice chimed as though the castle architecture was designed for it. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure all of that out in time, dear.” Shining Armor snorted. “Yeah, maybe after a few wars with the way things are going.” “You’ll figure it out,” Cadance repeated. “And don’t even get me started on these new recruits from Los Pegasus!” Cadance sighed. “Their level of discipline is appalling! Why, if I were their captain, I’d whip them into shape before you could say ‘taking care of children is exhausting’, which leads me into my next point—” “Sweetheart, I think you need a day or two off,” Cadance suggested. “Don’t I know it! But there’s so much to do, I don’t have time for a day off…” “Oh, I’m sure we could work something out this weekend. Maybe go out for lunch.” “I’m not sure we’d be able to just walk into some restaurant for lunch. I mean, you’re a princess.” “From what Twilight tells me, most ponies don’t actually notice it until you’re already halfway into a friendly conversation.” “Twily’s different. For one, she’s the Princess of Friendship, which probably goes a long way. Secondly, she doesn’t wear regalia unless she’s at a formal event. You barely take it off to go to sleep.” Cadance frowned at her husband, and then looked down at her necklace… thingie. She wasn’t entirely sure what it was called. But it was quite pretty. “Trust me, Shiny, if you were a princess, you wouldn’t want to take it off either. It makes you feel so… important.” Shining Armor only raised an eyebrow. Cadance cleared her throat and levitated the door to the royal chambers open for him. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.” Yet, before he could even open his mouth to thank her, his face was blasted in by roughly seventeen different energy beams, and he smashed into the crystalline wall behind him, incredibly unconscious. “Shiny!” Cadance screamed. She sent mana rocketing up her horn as she turned into the doorway. Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings lay on their bed with a smirk, propping her head up with a bent hoof and crossing one back leg over the other in a pose that reminded Cadance of the magazines Shining didn’t think she knew about. A cloud of chortling changeling drones crowded the bedroom, horns smoking. “Great job, boys,” the Queen purred, “the big threat’s out of the way.” She spread her fangs. “Now for dessert!” Cadance took one look at her opposition and one look at her magical offensive capabilities before slamming the doors shut and hoofing it. She galloped madly through the halls, her frantic steps drowned out by the buzz of changeling wing. Oh, how she hated that buzz. Cadance wove a basic shield spell behind her as she ran, and winced as the changelings’ attacks battered against her concentration. She leapt down the grand staircase in one long, wing assisted jump, diving and rolling around laser beams, silk, and several inanimate objects that were trying to bludgeon her as she glided to the front gates. She flung them open with a burst of telekinesis— And stared in disbelief at the dozen changelings that met her, grinning wickedly. She didn’t even have to look over her shoulder to know that she was surrounded. Again. Damn her and her susceptibility to kidnapping! What kind of princess was she? Tears brimming in her eyes, Cadance turned to face Chrysalis, and, teeth grinding together, she cast the most powerful spell she could think of. A bubble of mana welled in the tip of her horn before it squeezed out, slowly but surely, into a bulbous, buoyant pink heart. Celestia damn it, why do I only know love spells? The last thing Cadance saw was the heart float purposefully towards Chrysalis’s disgusting, laughing face. Chrysalis’s muzzle was buried deep in her webbed bedding. She hugged a pillow tightly to her chest and mumbled to herself, drooling slightly. “Mmm… Cady, you have so much love…” She rolled over, letting a hind leg fall into a lazy dangle off the edge of the bed. “Ohh… You taste so gooooooood…” A changeling drone stuck his head into the chamber. “My Queen!” he shouted. “Wha…” Slowly, Chrysalis opened her eyes and looked around. Bed? Bed was nice. But hadn’t she been in the Crystal Empire? That’s right, they had cornered Cadance. She groaned, and put a fetlock to her throbbing forehead. Sleep. Sleep is good, she thought as her head fell back to the mattress, her horn skewering a pillow. “My apologies, my Queen, but you must wake up!” No sooner had the drone spoken than Chrysalis was drenched in ice cold water. She sat up sputtering but awake, her headache a construction crew in her skull. “Ugh…” Her face screwed up, and she barely managed to levitate the waste basket over before she vomited like she had never vomited before. (It was pink.) “What happened last night?” she asked the drone, blowing locks of mane out of her face. He dropped the water bucket. “Technically, your highness, it’s still night. You know, with the princesses out of commision and everyth—” Chrysalis flung the trash can at him. “Answer me!” “W-well… Remember the love spell Princess Cadance cast?” Her head punched itself again. She wondered if ol’ Sombra had any forbidden spells of dark headache relief. “Vaguely,” she answered. “Right, so, as I understand it, that spell made you, um, drunk.” “Drunk,” Chrysalis stated. “Yes.” “On love.” “It would seem that way, my Queen.” “Alright. If anypony could do it, I suppose the love princess could.” She paused to throw up. “Why did you have to go and wake me up again?” “Urgent report over the hivemind, your highness. But they couldn’t reach you.” Mentally sighing, Chrysalis opened her thoughts to the hivemind, forgetting to withhold everything her body was feeling. She winced as nearly every changeling groaned, doubled over, or started to cry, and quickly repressed her troubles. She issued a guilty apology to the hive. As soon as the report came through, though, she couldn’t be more livid. “They did WHAT?!”