Session 40.0 Kendell2 (S6 finale spoilers)
(Author's Nots: Placed after the events of the episode.
Also, note that some things were different due to character divergence.
Such as Trixie being the mane six's FRIEND already.)
"I can't believe TRIXIE sacrificed herself to get you through," Rainbow Dash commented, the group sat in Our Town after Chrysalis' defeat. She admitted, it was humiliating that they'd been caught off guard like that. Especially given she was a Wonderbolt.
The group did what they normally did when they'd been through something traumatic: play Crystals and Rainbows Generation 3.5.
The showmare, after a surprising ride on a flying pig, gave a proud pose. "Trixie is more brave than most give her credit for!"
"You should have seen her when we found out what happened," Starlight replied, eating the cupcake she'd asked for upon arrival.
-
"So...the Changelings have taken our friends...we need to do something," Trixie remarked after their spying on the Changeling seven. Her legs were shaking.
"You're...not freaking out?" Starlight asked.
"Of course Trixie isn't!" Trixie said. 'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!' Trixie THOUGHT. "Trixie's...friends are in danger...she's not a coward! If she'd stand up to an U-Ursa for her ego, she's not about to abandon her friends!"
"Well...Queen Chrysalis only said they took Luna and Celestia and obviously Twilight and the others... but maybe Cadance is still safe. Our best bet is to get to the Crystal Empire before the changelings do. That way we can-" Starlight replied, before a voice cut her off.
"There's no help coming from the Crystal Empire," replied Thorax, descending on his glittering wings.
"CHANGELING!" Trixie shouted, charging up her horn and preparing to attack before Starlight put her in a shield bubble.
-
"In Trixie's defense, Thorax looks very similar to every other Changeling Drone...or he did before he evolved into a Changeling King," Trixie replied. Then again, who knows what that magic blocker would do to a dragon. "Trixie WANTED to go get Master Babylon and have him come with us, but Chrysalis apparently knew we knew him and had Changeling Spike send Mina and him on a wild goose chase..."
"Chrysalis was smart...Thankfully, Thorax promises he'll help us develop countermeasures..." Twilight replied. "...Not that she has much left...Her children went with her, but that was it..."
"...Do you think she misses playing with us?" Fluttershy asked, rolling her dice.
+
"I rolled a seven," said Chrysalis, in the guise of Twilight. She then rushed to the other side of the O&O board and returned to her true form before doing the defense roll. "The ugly, equality obsessed tyrant takes massive damage!"
The former queen cackled madly, eyes twitching. "SEE! I DON'T NEED ANYPONY ELSE! I'M FINE!"
The handful of drones that were still loyal to her watched in disbelief (six so far plus her three children). "Should we tell her we're still here?" one asked, their new 'lair' being a random cave. All the Changelings had various bruises and wounds.
"No, let her vent," replied another. "Besides, if we played with her in THAT condition, we'd all be playing Starlight Glimmer and she'd be a killer GM."
"You mean like when we were trapped in our own castle after the Comet incident and she made us all be Twilight?"
"Exactly."
Princess Imago, meanwhile, threw a temper tantrum. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT STUPID TRAITOR OVERTHREW MOM!" she yelled, kicking a random rock. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO OVERTHROW MOM!"
Her brother merely tried to eat a rock while Pupa played with another one.
+
"Well regardless, she's never invited to game night again," Rarity replied with a glare.
Before Starlight could response, a familiar sight came galloping up. "Sunburst?!"
"Cadence told me you'd be here, are you alright?!" Sunburst asked, looking completely ragged.
"Yes, I'm fine!" Starlight replied, hugging him. "What about you? You look terrible."
Sunburst sighed. "I've spent the past two days keeping those impostors away from any source of love I could..."
"Sounds hard..." the unicorn replied sheepishly.
"Oh, it was...especially without them realizing I was onto them...or the Crystal Ponies realizing their leaders had been kidnapped...I had to come up with so many different ways to keep them busy."
"Really? How many?"
"ALL OF THEM!" Sunburst replied, then sighed. "...Anyway, they came back and dealt with the fakes..."
The mane six's eyes went wide. "Oh...right...those are still a thing..." Twilight replied, realizing that was probably why the Princesses and those three had left the party in a hurry.
"DISCORD! TELEPORT! NOW!" Rainbow Dash called.
"Please?" Fluttershy asked. She then looked to their hosts. "Um...we'll be back as soon as we deal with something...okay?"
+
The impostor seven were playing a game of Crystals and Rainbows 3.5. "Queen Chrysalis hasn't contacted us in awhile..." 'Twilight' asked. "Something must be wrong..."
"What could be wrong?" asked 'Applejack.' "Who's LEFT?"
Suddenly, a flash, Discord, the Mane Six, and Spike appeared right next to them.
"Okay, here's the deal, your queen got overthrown and the new king has a way to end your hunger!" Twilight explained, patiently. "You can go back to the Changeling Kingdom and meet the new boss-"
"FOR THE QUEEN!" yelled the Rainbow Dash impostor, charging her.
"...Should have seen that coming..." Twilight replied...right as Rainbow Dash tackled her doppelganger and put her Wonderbolts training to good use. "Let's clean this up and get back to the party."
OOC: I imagine the impostors probably escape, but given they're the ones being ambushed and DISCORD is there at full power, there's no way of winning that one...
Session 40.1 Alex Warlorn(S6 finale spoilers)
The Fake Rarity scoffed at the real deal. "HA! You couldn't possible hit this beautiful face darling!"
Rarity twitched, and then cried, pulling in her chaise longue. "It's true!"
Rainbow Dash snorted. "They wanted to steal all of Sweetie's love for you...literally!"
"Oh I already spent lots of lovely (and delicious) time with her, and your parents, and your cat, and Buttons, and Suri, and Sassy, and Coco, and Plaid, and I'm not helping my case am I darling?"
"NO!" Rarity hit her fake over the head with her chaise longue.
The real Applejack and Rainbow Dash gave death glares at their imposters, logically concluding they'd been up to the same thing.
"Uh, would you like to know Soarin' love for you tasted extra sweet?!"
Rainbow's eyes brightened with sparkles. "Really?!"
Her fake sucker punched her and flew for it. "NO!"
+
Meanwhile as Chrysalis realized she's was talking to a hallucination of herself. "...I am incredibly lonely..."
One of her minions said, "I'm here..."
"I'm incredibly lonely because no one on my level is here!"
"Well technically you're on ou-"
Chrysalis shot him an Insane death glare. "What was that?"
"Nothing!"
"Nothing what?!"
"Nothing Your Majesty!"
*at a different time and place, maybe earlier, maybe later*
Chrysalis stood outside the Crystal Empire, and shouted, "Cadence! I'm back for game night!" And quickly had to dodge a shot from a bazooka shell fired from Cadence from her royal balcony.
"Missed," Cadence snorted.
"HEY!" Chrysalis waved her forelegs. "Let's not be so hasty! Or forget all the good times we had! I know I kidnapped you and every pony you loved, and tried to enslave your species, but that doesn't mean we can't hang out."
Flurry Heart putted another shell in the bazooka for her mother, giggling. "YOU SWORE REVENGE!"
"But I didn't vow revenge on you or your loved ones! Unless that hurts Starlight Glimmer of course." Chrysalis dodged another shot from the bazooka, but it leaves a hole in her mane.
Session 40.2 Grogar The Onser(S6 finale spoilers)
Meanwhile with Celestia and Luna, they changeling imposters were already gone, and some other stuff as well!
"NO! Why did those cruel monsters do this!?" Celestia said.
"Sister, all they did was steal everything from your private cake fault," Luna deadpanned.
+
"And that's how we made our epic escape!" A changeling said.
"Epic? when you realize that 'lost contact with the hive' equaled 'something went wrong' you both left your post only stealing cake!" Imago said annoyed.
"They are the greatest hero ever known," her brother said happily as he ate stolen bake goods. "This is so good!"
"So should we call your grandmother asking for amnesty now or wait till the Queen's done with what she doing?" the changeling said pointing to Chrysalis was mauling a Starlight Glimmer doll with her teeth (Where did she get it, no one knows).
Session 40.3 SomeRandomMinion(S6 finale spoilers)
Twilight and her double shared an awkward, halfhearted staredown.
"So...can I just sit this out?" the fake asked hopefully, averting her gaze. "I've...kinda had nightmares about having to fight you. Bad ones."
Twilight saw her double trembling. She held her glare, but some of its edge softened. "You impersonated me and didn't take our offer of surrender...but I won't force you to endure a fight you can't win." Her horn lit up. "Just one quick zap, and you can wait this out. But it's gonna knock you unconcious; be ready for headaches and slight memory loss."
"...Better than being turned into a bookmark for the rest of my life, I guess."
"...I don't even know that spell!" *ZAP! Thud!*
Session 40.4 Alex Warlorn(S6 finale spoilers)
"Did Twilight just get sucker zapped? While she was explaining she didn't know that spell?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Those weasels sure turned and ran within a few SECONDS of startin' that 'fight'."
"Applejack, some of my friends are weasels." 'Shy's double had run away crying before Fluttershy could even use the stare.
Spike's had run away with his tail on fire.
And Pinkie Pie... had hit her enemy in the face with a pie 128 times and had just run for it going 'Meep! Meep!'
Applejack's fake had fled with a broke jaw after getting a taste of AJ's strength.
"Ya know what Ah meant Fluttershy! Why aren't we chasin' after 'em?"
"Same reason we didn't chase after Chrysalis I'm guess." Rarity said.
Pinkie Pie said, "Oh you mean like how, Chrysalis now has no power, no army, no kingdom, no authority, she's no loner the queen of the changeling kingdom so she no longer has diplomatic immunity, and no population of wuv cats to feed off of, no home base to retreat to. Has nothing left, and we ponies have this odd tradition of not even locking up bad guys who aren't a threat anymore... except Tirek for some reason, I guess because he's not a girl, he's lower on the 'redemption' scale."
"Oh... I guess..." Rarity said. "I mean that our real priority is checking on our loved ones and coworkers and see what damage their parasitic feeding have done."
Starlight poked at the black insects on the table. "We do have one means left of talking with Chrysalis... Mana signal untraceable, of course, but still..."
-
A communication aura appeared in front of the queen. "Hello Chrysalis, want to turn yourself in? Or should this legally be recorded as exile?" Twilight's face asked.
The queen quickly hide the O&O gear behind her back. "That's QUEEN Chrysalis!"
"Not anymore."
"SHUT UP! I am still queen of the true changelings!"
"You have your three nymphs, and 13 drones. You don't count as a battleon, or a hamlet, let alone a kingdom."
"I'm a government in exile!"
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"For the sake of your nymphs, just turn yourself in. We both know whatever sick revenge scheme you think of is just going to backfire-"
Chrysalis turned off the communication on her end with a thought.
"Your Majesty, maybe we could just ask your mother for political asylum?"
"Over your dead body."
"My queen I believe the proper phrasing is-"
"I know what I said."
"Yes Your Majesty."
-
"HEY! JERKS! They stole my limit edition Daring Do RPG rule book!" Rainbow Dash snarled.
"I guess Locust really is a Daring Do fan..." Twilight sighed.
"Who?"
"Chrysalis' guardpony."
"Oh."
"Might as well find what else they stole-"
"AAAGHHH!!! My holographic cover Power Ponies #141! They stole it!"
"No they didn't Spike, it's just between the couch cushions again."
"Oh, sorry."
Session 40.5 Alex Warlorn(S6 finale spoilers)
"You could have helped Discord." Twilight said.
"I'm not really used to using my magic to really 'constrain' mortal ponies without horrifically traumatizing them, and you said that was a no no."
"Starlight... didn't we leave you at the party with Trixie?" Spike asked.
"Uh, FLASH BOMB!"And one blinding flash later, the last changeling had fled.
Session 40.6 Mtangalion(S6 finale spoilers)
-- sometime earlier --
Starlight, Trixie, Thorax, and Discord stood on a ledge overlooking Queen Chrysalis' castle, in the heart of the Badlands.
"Why does everyone keep asking *me* what we should do?" fretted Starlight. "After all the times I've royally messed up, I'm the last pony who should ever be in charge of anything!"
"Ahem!" Trixie grinned sharply. "Fear not, my good friend, for the Great and Powerful Trixie, Grand Mistress of Games and Clever Stratagems, is here! First, while we're on the outside of the bubble, Discord will snap his fingers and instantly apprehend all of the changelings impersonating our friends."
"I will?" Discord pondered this, then waved his claw, conjuring an imagine spot over Trixie's head that showed everything she was talking about. "Oh, I see!"
Thorax frowned. "So, all of the fake princesses will disappear, and no one will know what happened?"
Trixie hesitated. "We will inform the guard captains, the Wonderbolts, and Mayor Mare, of course."
Discord clapped his paws. "And word will spread of the changeling conquest, throwing everypony into utter panic! Brilliant!"
"We can deal with that later!" insisted Trixie. "After we mobilize all the armies of Equestria to help us defeat the changelings."
"Um..." Thorax raised a hoof. "But when I said only changeling magic, I meant *only* changeling magic. Can your earth pony soldiers fight without their strength? Or your pegasi without flying?"
Starlight paced back and forth. "Maybe... we can get help from somewhere else. Like the dragons! Why, ex-Dragon Lord Torch alone could probably sit on that castle and snap that evil throne like a twig. If Discord teleports Ember over here and explains that Spike's been captured, I'm sure she'll agree to that plan!"
-- five minutes later ---
Dragon Lord Ember folded her forearms across her chest. "There's no way I can agree to that plan! Do you think my father can even lift his hundred-ton flank off the ground without magically enhanced flight and muscles?"
Trixie groaned. "Trixie supposes that rules out Gerulf and the other Gigantes too."
-- another five minutes later --
Prince Rutherford stamped his hoof. "Chrysalis pulled off perfect ponynapping, so yaks no smash!"
-- yet another five minutes later --
"General" Garin of the Griffonstone Freelance Guard shook his head firmly. "My griffons won't do it... for less than forty-thousand bits! Half in advance."
Starlight grinned hopefully at Discord. "A small price to pay..."
"Not on your life," exclaimed Discord. "The last time I made it rain bits, Prince Blueblood didn't stop hitting me with a hardbound copy of Atlas Neighed until I made every last bit disappear again."
-- sometime after that --
Discord snapped his fingers expectantly, and only got a busy signal. "Odd. I can't seem to bring Queen Blackrose here."
Thorax cringed. "Why would you do that?! You're the Curser! Doesn't she hate you with the fury of a hundred burning suns?!"
Discord blinked. "Well, yes and... yes. Alas, it's such a pity that we can't all let bygones by bygones!"
Thorax sighed. "Actually, I don't like you either."
Starlight glanced around, puzzled. "You know, I'm kind of surprised Alisa isn't here, with her mistress being in danger and all."
-- back in Ponyville --
"Rutabaga flowers are better than apples!" sang out changeling-Rarity.
Immediately, Alisa took off her Bon Bon disguise, then froze, cornered by the whole of the imposter Mane Six. "Real Apple pony is getting her flank chomped for this," she grumbled.
-- STILL on that ledge ---
Discord yanked on his beard, then fumed at a pocket watch and crushed it in his claw. "This is getting us nowhere! At this rate, we're going to be a three-parter, and I know they didn't budget for that. This misfit band of plucky adventurers needs to be marching into Chrysalis' castle to save Fluttershy, twenty-five minutes ago!"
"Well, it's a little late for that now!" retorted Starlight.
Discord chuckled darkly. "Oh, it's never too late." He snapped his fingers.
-- twenty-five minutes ago --
"We need to get moving right away!" said Starlight.
Trixie paused just long enough to pose on the cliff's edge, with her cape fluttering dramatically. "Alas, there is no time for a cunning plan! At least Trixie brought plenty of smoke bombs."
Session 40.7 Ardashir(S6 finale spoilers)
Chrysalis set her O&O game down and stomped over to several of her Changelings as they buzzed in and dropped down before her.
"I thought all the infiltrators were back?"
Her last Royal Guard, recently promoted to General, saluted her.
"No, oh Great Queen, these are the infiltrators you had in non-Equestrian nations. They made a bid for sanctuary and official recognition. They have returned with the results."
"Good." Chrysalis eyed them with wary hope. "Let us learn if any of the other cattle on this planet have the sense to recognize true royalty when it appeals to them." She looked at the first one. "Blood Flea, report!"
A battered-looking Changeling stepped forward. "My Queen, Prince Erik of the Diamond Wolves said that if you came to his ice caves, he would treat you precisely as you deserved and make you a scat hauler if the ponies refused to imprison you. They would also be happy to teach you how to 'use disguises with intelligence so you don't get caught again'."
"That mangy mongrel!" Chrysalis snarled. "I''ll deal with him later. The rest of you, report!"
And even more badly battered Changeling staggered forward.
"Prince Rutherford of the Yaks just yelled, 'Stupid bug ponies fail at everything! Changelings not perfect! Yaks smash!' I don't really remember much after that." He sank unconscious to the floor with a groan.
A scorched looking Changeling came up.
"Dragon Lady Ember said she wouldn't sacrifice her new relations with Equestria just to take in a backstabbing narcissistic egomaniac."
"But will she take mom - I mean, Queen Chrysalls?" Imago piped up. Her mother and the other Changelings all glared at her. Imago shrank and slunk further back into the cave.
"Your majesty," a third Changeling came forward, "the Griffons wanted to know why they should help some penniless beggar who'd just take them over if they did."
Chrysalis looked around at her 'diplomats' and groaned. Halfway through she turned it into a fangs baring sneer. "Bah! I don't need them! I'll find a way, and -- now what?!?"
The last Changeling of her 'diplomats' recoiled, a book in their claws.
"Neigh-pon wasn't any more helpful, majesty. They said that they would never allow some deceitful bakemono into their land. But I was able to take this with me." It held the book out. Chrysalis snatched it in disgust.
"Fool! What shall I do with ---" Only then did she notice the title: How I Conquered An Empire With Less Than Twenty Followers, by Oda Nobu-neigh-ga.
Chrysalis slowly bared her snaggle fangs in a smile.
Session 40.8 Kendell2(S6 finale spoilers)
"There's only one problem..." replied the drone.
"Yes?"
"We're not in the middle of a country spanning civil war with multiple sides and your sister would never be convinced to help us..." the drone replied.
Chrysalis's eye twitched in rage.
Session 40.9 SomeRandomMinion(S6 finale spoilers) (edits by me)
Queen Blackrose listened as her daughter Supia jeered at Chrysalis' total defeat, and now reduced to living like a bandit and as a fugitive, she tolerated this for a short while before nipping it in the bug.
Queen Blackrose said, "I seem to remember YOU lot having a few failed conquests back in the day. Supia--remember a certain Diamond Dog admiral a few centuries back? How he kept hounding your hive's fleets with those armored turtle-ships...and once fired a broadside of cannonballs right at your backside?"
Supia, shamefaced, quivered her mandibles. "Mother! I thought you'd never bring up that mutt again!"
"You mean, Diamond Dog Admiral Yi?"
"Agh! Yes! That one!"
Session 40.10 Kendell2(S6 finale spoilers)
Blackrose rubbed her head as the set in her personal castle. The area had once been known as Flutter Valley, it was now called Avalon. "I can't believe we ALL fell for her tricks..."
"In my defense, I thought she was looking for an ancient artifact of immense power," Supia replied. "It turned out to just be a paper weight..."
"So did I...And considering he wasn't able to do anything, it looks like the other court didn't see anything either..." the Empress replied. She then gave an sad sigh. "If they hadn't stopped her, with all of THAT love, she'd have grown strong enough to be a threat to both of us and to all of you.... For her crimes against both our pony allies and intended crimes against us. I, Empress Blackrose Titania Avalon, declare Ex-Queen Chrysalis Avalon, BANISHED from our lands."
The group of Queens all gasped in horror. Supia put a gentle, though gigantic hoof on Blackrose's shoulder. The Mother of All Changelings did not take casting banishment lightly, just as Tiamat had only banished a handful of dragons in the thousands of year she'd been on Equus. "Are you sure, mother?"
Blackrose had tears going down her face. "Yes...Chrysalis has gone too far..."
-
Chrysalis gave a shudder. Why did she suddenly feel cold?
-
"...Regardless, onto other things..." Blackrose replied. She gave a smile. "Chrysalis' replacement: King Thorax."
"Oh yes...is he one of Chrysalis' sons?" Supia asked.
"Uncertain, given how her hive works. But that's the amazing thing he was not born royal," Blackrose explained. "He BECAME one."
The group's eyes went wide.
Queen Cicada jumped up, having been half asleep (she normally was quite lethargic when her kind were in their low energy phase and was only here because it was important).
"T-That's POSSIBLE?!" asked a Queen who had blue were Chrysalis had green and lacking the holes in her mane, her wings a bit more butterfly shaped.
"I didn't know it was either, but he did it...and I believe it's because he did something else that was thought impossible," the Changeling Empress replied, giving an amazed smile. "He BROKE the curse by finding out a way for Changelings to share their love with one another."
The room was silent, not an undropped jaw in the entire room.
"That...that's," said the Queen of Hive Chiron, the most intelligent of Blackrose's offspring. "I...I...We must speak with him."
"I have arranged a 'game night' with him and Princess Twilight Sparkle...but with any luck, maybe our kind will finally be free of our hunger for good."
Session 40.11 Ardashir(S6 finale spoilers)
As Applejack trotted along to their latest game night, running through ideas for what game she'd set up for her friends to play -- she knew they'd need to stay away from anything involving evil queens; the temptation to make her a stand-in for Chrysalis just so her friends could pound her would be too tempting -- she ran into Bon Bon and Lyra. Both wore saddle bags filled with spooky decorations and ingredients for making candy.
"Lyra," Applejack said warmly, and, "Bon Bon," in a slightly chillier tone. She nodded at the saddlebags. "Got everythin' for Nightmare Night? We had a good harvest this year, the apples will be sellin' at a nice price."
"Thanks, AJ," Lyra shook her head. "We have everything we need."
"Especially since the latest invasion of Ponyville is over," Bon Bon shuddered. "We should've guessed those Changelings weren't you and your friends. The way they acted! Fluttershy bullied everypony, Pinkie's jokes were mean, and you were eating pears!"
"Pears?" It was Applejack's turn to shudder. "Glad Ah missed it. Ah hope they didn't hurt nopony."
"No, but they did confuse us," Lyra said. "I asked Bonnie if she noticed Princess Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Element Bearers were acting oddly recently right after that Royal Decree came from the Friendship Palace."
"Huh?" Applejack blinked. She scowled at Bon Bon, a little less harshly than she once would have. "What did ya say?"
Bon Bon shrugged.
"I said, 'Well, their tempers are a lot shorter, and Twilight did make that new law that 'all bug spray, pesticides, and pests traps are banned in Ponyville on pain of eternal exile', but other than that they seem normal to me'. I mean, you were being a jerk to me, after all!"
Session 40.12 Kendell2(S6 finale spoilers)
"Discord?" Fluttershy asked, tending to Angel Bunny. To her surprise, she found her brother hadn't been targeted and Cloudsdale had been too far away for her impostor to have had time to target their parents. Kevin had said it was probably because Zephyr 'stank like narcissism' and Changelings considered self-love 'junk food'. They could eat it, but it didn't do much for them.
"Yes, Fluttershy?" Discord asked, sitting and drinking tea.
"...You were very brave..."
Discord did a spit-take...which then went in reverse so he could swallow. "Fluttershy, bravery would require me being SCARED. And what am I afraid of?"
"...You had to go into somewhere where you were vulnerable...you always panicked before whenever you were against something that can actually hurt you."
Discord blinked. "...Well...I guess...I was just more worried about you than me..." the draconequus replied...then blinked in confusion. "I was more worried about YOU than ME...I don't think that's ever happened before..."
Fluttershy hugged him, getting a smile. "I'm proud of you."
+
"You know, Trixie...one good thing that came from this?" Twilight asked, playing Majong with her.
"Chrysalis' hive is now reformed and she's nothing but the leader of a band of thieves now?" Trixie asked in reply as she made her move.
"Well, yes...but...Now no one will remember the Ursa story..." the Princess replied, giving a smile. "You've got a much better story that's one hundred percent true you can tell now."
The azure unicorn blinked in confusion. "...Trixie...I...I guess you're right..." the unicorn replied, blinking. She thought about it. "...Trixie is a hero..."
"Yes, you are."
Trixie then chuckled. "...You know, it's weird...the entire time? I never THOUGHT about that...or about you 'owing me one'...I just thought about saving you all and helping my best friend..."
Twilight stared at her with wide-eyes and a dropped jaw.
"Trixie is as surprised as you are!" the unicorn replied. "TRIXIE was...SELFLESS! Trixie is many things, but SELFLESS?"
"...Felt good, didn't it?"
"...Yes...yes it did...also, Trixie just won."
"...Figures..." Twilight replied, then gave a warm smile.
Session 40.13 Ardashir(S6 finale spoilers)
"Dears, is this really a smart idea?" Rarity winced as she, together with Twilight (visiting for some relief and to fill Sunset in on developments after the recent events back home) and Sunset, walked up to a table at CrystalCon occupied by three familiar faces. "I know the town's annual Halloween parade is another bone of contention between Crystal Prep and Canterlot High, and I would love to see us win for once." She scowled as she saw several of the Shadowbolts, in cosplays that looked like they'd been done by Hollywood pros, strut by. "But can't we try something other than this? I have been talking to Alisa, she's quite skilled at making those 'fullsuits' and said she would love to help us."
"No, it isn't," Sunset said. "I like Alisa's costumes, but we need something special to win over Crystal Prep. The Shadowbolts' families see it as a big opportunity to promote their businesses and they always make something great." Sunset smacked her first into her palm. "I guess I see this as a game, and I'd like to see Canterlot High win it for once."
"Seems a bit extreme of you, just for a Nightmare Night parade," Twilight said, looking around at the con and its attendees with a mixture of awe, curiosity, and confusion.
"The school that wins first prize for best float gets half a dozen free college scholarships from the city, for any student they feel need them," Sunset smiled widely as they found the table they'd been looking for, one arrayed with signs and art of an underwater theme. "That's worth some effort."
"I still wonder about trusting," Rarity shuddered as they stopped at the table, "these three."
The Dazzlings looked up at the two Canterlot High students and Princess Twilight. Behind and above them a sign ran announcing that these were the three stars of the latest World of Horsecraft sidequest. It also offered signatures for --
"Fifty bucks each?" Sunset shook her head and glared at the Sirens. "You actually get buyers for that?"
"Whadda you three want?" Aria grumped, folding her arms over her chest. "And yeah, we get buyers for that. We're worth it."
Beside her Sonata was smiling as she write something down on paper for a male congoer.
"There ya go! Just like you asked. My name, my address, and the private phone number 'Dagi got for us -- hey!"
Adagio snatched the paper from the boy. "Sorry kid, that costs a LOT more than fifty bucks. Now scram!" He dejectedly left. She smirked up at Sunset and the rest. "Okay, what do want to hassle us for now? We're busy here."
"How would you three like to make some more money?" Now Sunset smirked when she saw the three Sirens give her all their attention. "Like, say, maybe a couple thousand?"
Aria looked around warily, leaned forward and whispered. "Okay, which one is it? They'll never see it coming -- Ow!"
She glared at Adagio, rubbing her head where she'd been slapped.
"Oh Aria, always joking." Adagio gave her a dirty look. "Tell us what you want, maybe we'll go for it. Where do you have a thousand bucks, anyway?"
"I'm curious myself," Rarity gave Sunset a curious look.
"On trips back home I picked up some bags of gemstones. They help pay for life here." Sunset leaned down over the Sirens. "All you three would need to do to earn it is to sit in a tank in front of everyone and look scary."
"Uh-huh," Aria frowned. "How are you gonna do that?"
Sunset smiled, and something in her smile made everyone there feel cold.
"Easy. For one night only, Twilight and I are going to turn you three back into Sirens. Physically only. No singing! You'll be the centerpiece of Canterlot High's 'Terrors of the Deep' float for the Halloween parade."
"What do you say?"
Session 40.14 Richforce(S6 finale spoilers)
Season 6 finale spoilers.
Chrysalis was setting up her O&O board when one of he loyal guards shouted. "Intruder, ACK!"
The guard was thrown into the lair unconscious as Maud Pie strolled in stoic as ever.
"What do you what?!" Chrysalis shouted. "How did you find this place.
"Pinkie thought that if I joined you for a game you wouldn't be so nasty."
"You still didn't answer my other question."
"Yes."
"But..." Chrysalis shook her head. "Never mind! Why should I let you play a game of O&O with me?!"
Maud took cookie out of her pocket. "Pinkie isn't the only one in the family who can bake. It's a cashew cookie, it's made with love."
Chrysalis was about to charge he magic when her stomach growled. "Fine, but only because I haven't had a decent meal since Starlight Glimmer dethroned me!" Chrysalis greedily gobbled down the treat. "Now what class are...HACK, GACK!"
As the changeling queen went into a coughing fit her guards came in. "Poison!"
"I didn't think you ponies would do something so evil!"
Maud just took out a cookbook from her bag. "Oops."
"What, HORK, do mean, HACK, oops?!!" Chrysalis was now coughing up black smoke that completely covered her.
"The pages were stuck. It didn't use the recipe for cashew cookies, I used the recipe for cat cookies."
"Like the lovely dove cats?" said a guard.
"That's not why they are called cat cookies." The smoke cleared away revealing a mean looking green eyed black cat. "That's why they are called cat cookies."
Chrysy-kitty strained herself. "Why can't I changed shape?!" she said in small high pitched voice.
"Cat cookies make you a cat," said Maud. "It's pretty self explanatory. The only cure is a cosmo-lotion potion."
"Then make one!"
"I can't make potions, goodbye."
Maud turned to leave Chrysalis' guards tried to stop her only to thrown against the wall. And like that Maud was gone.
"Chrysalis," Empress Blackrose said through a magic flame that appeared. The former Queen Rosedust looked over he wayward daughter's predicament. "I was going to ask as your mother how you felt about your exile, but now I can see you're just FELINE. HAHAHAHA!" Just as quickly she was gone.
Chrysy-Kitty turned to her minions. "Make a Cosmo-lotion, NOW!"
"It's going to take a month," said one. "And even then there's now guarantee it will make you changeling again and too much will turn you into a soggy hag if you keep trying it."
Chrysy-Kitty rose a paw skyward. "CURSE MEW MAUD PIE! HACK! HACK! Ugh, hairball!"
Session 40.15 Grogar-the-oneser(S6 finale spoilers)
"AGGHHH!!!" Chrysalis screamed as she looked around. "Oh thank goodness... that part was a dream... which means the Thorax thing was a dream too!"
"Your highness," Blood flea said, who was holding a shovel. "I have finished building the outhouse. What should we start on next for new life as brigands?"
"...." Chrysalis gave a annoyed look, she quickly took the shovel and thwacked Blood Flea unconcious with it.
-Meanwhile in the Human World-
"Whatcha working on?" Discord asked.
"AHH!" Thorax screamed as he fell out of his chair.
Discord peered at his screen. "My oh my, are these the changelings? they looked different than the design Chrysalis showed us."
"Oh those are the concept art I made for the compaign. She told me they weren't evil looking enough for her vision and told me to throw them away. But they look so good I couldn't just delete them," Thorax said. Discord said nothing but his smirk was growing. "Err... are you okay?"
"My dear fellow... you just give me a idea for the changeling campaign finale," Discord cackled.
Session 40.16 Kendell2(S6 finale spoilers)
Empress Blackrose and her offspring sat in the Empress' throne room, a golden jewel that glowed as bright as the sun on a rock pedestal high above, which seemed to keep Avalon in a state of perpetual spring (as the name of her court suggested). Supia had a personal, gigantic door to allow her entry, but the mere fact a Queen of her stature was capable of being in the throne room was a testament to its size.
A Changeling drone fluttered in and bowed. Members of Blackrose's own hive all had the same rose coloration as herself, and this one was no different. Contrary to popular belief, not all of Blackrose's children were queens, naturally some were drones (as she was the propagator for half the species).
"Mother, Princess Twilight Sparkle and King Thorax have arrived with their entourage," the Changeling replied.
"Thank you, Puck. Let them in."
The Changeling Queen's eyes went wide as Twilight, the Princesses, the Council of Friendship, and Thorax and a few ambassadors from his hive. The sight of the stag beetle-like Changeling King left them speechless. Gone was the rotted, hole filled form the rest of his species possessed, instead he was colorful and majestic. Beautiful.
But what stunned them the most was the sight of Thorax through THEIR vision. Most Changeling Queens appeared through their eyes as having a flickering flame in their heart. One being stroked and kept alight by the intake of love, but fragile and possible to go out of not kept lit. Empress Blackrose's flame looked like a star going supernova, but still flickered.
Thorax, however, was lit up like a lighthouse or a miniature sun. Not one bit of flickering to it.
Twilight noted several Changeling larvae and young ones peeking out curiously from the sides of the hive, which was much more happy and upbeat a place than Chrysalis'. It was almost night and day.
"Forgive them, Princess, ponies are a rare sight here in Avalon, it is our sacred land, after all," Puck explained as he trotted up to the Princess of Friendship. "Welcome to Spring Court, your majesty. I am Puck, if you need anything, merely call upon me."
Twilight smiled. "That's good to know, thank you..." she said, accepting his offered handshake.
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!
Twilight jumped...then noticed Puck chuckling and having somehow hidden a whoopee cushion on his hoof.
"Whoopee cushion in the hoof trick, a favorite of mine," the Changeling remarked, like a goodnatured prankster.
Blackrose shook herself out of her stupor. "Forgive my son Puck, Princess Twilight. He my chief of staff, but also one of the most mischievous Changelings I have ever seen."
"Guilty as charged," replied Puck with a bow.
"Son?" Twilight asked.
"What? You thought that I only had daughters?" Blackrose questioned, spreading her wings and descending from her throne. She left out the fact that, royal or not, Puck was still the child of a goddess, and could be exceedingly dangerous if provoked. As several infiltrators of both her male counterpart's court and Chrysalis' could attest. One memorable time had one spend the day with a donkey's head thanks to a hex from the mischievous changeling.
The Empress approached and examined Thorax more closely with a look of awe. "Thorax...You are an incredible Changeling."
The Changeling King blushed. "Well...I just wanted my hive to have friends, not just meals...we felt so empty all of the time."
"And that is why you are worthy of this," the Empress continued. She then got a cute look and hugged him like he was a stuffed toy. "And you're so cute!"
"T-Thank you!"
"Seriously, you're adorable...all of you," she said, letting him go so he could catch his breath as she looked at Thorax's hive.
Celestia merely stood back during introductions and watched...then looked up at the crystal high about. "...Empress, is that the Sun Stone?" she asked.
Blackrose looked up and nodded. "Yes, yes it is."
"Sun Stone?" Twilight questioned, looking at it.
"A sacred relic of our people, it keeps Avalon in perpetual spring," the Empress replied. "It was a gift from Celestia to my people long ago.
"Indeed...but I thought the dragon...well, you know..." Celestia replied.
Blackrose frowned. "Yes...well, let's just say that Supia had quite the birthday present for me one year and there's a good reason I ultimately made friends with Bahamut...regardless, let's play our game and discuss current events, shall we?" she asked, producing Rainbows and Crystals 3.5 in her telekinesis with a happy smirk. Some of her daughters blushed while Puck merely chuckled.
Session 40.17 Mtanglion
Princess Twilight took another sip of fizzy human world soda... in a paper cup with a straw and the CrystalCon logo, naturally. She scanned the crowd, then smiled at an approaching figure. "By the way," she told Twilight and Sunset. "I managed to confirm that little theory we were taking about."
Flash Sentry emerged from the crowd, with pony ears, and bright orange wings on his back. "Hey, Twilight!" He took Princess Twilight's hand and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, making her blush.
Twilight stared, open-mouthed, and Sunset nearly dropped her own soda.
Then Flash noticed the others. "And... Twilight. And Sunset. Whoa. Yeah, this is a little awkward." His wings fluttered sheepishly. "Say, Sunset? Thanks for talking to me at the camp when I was feeling down. I really appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but... well, I guess I wasn't over Twilight after all!"
Pinkie Pie clasped the human Twilight's arm, when they hadn't realized she was anywhere nearby. "Whoa, you're not jealous, are you Twilight? Cause jealousy leads to more jealousy, and more jealousy leads to even more jealousy, and even more jealousy leads to turning into a super-powered boss with wings who tries to blow up the world just because of a few relationship problems, and that's terrible!"
Twilight approached Princess Twilight, glancing around and coughing into her fist. "Just, hypothetically speaking... suppose I wanted to arrange, you know, a special... magical vacation for Timber and I..."
"Okay!" shouted Twilight, trying to pretend that hadn't happened. "So, Sunset, if you could please ward the portal and keep any *more* humans from wandering into Equestria and getting magical powers willy-nilly, that'd be great! I think I'll just go visit the little filly's room before the main presenta... tion..."
Princess Twilight stopped in her tracks, face to face with a large cardboard standee of two very familiar ponies. "New expansion heroes... Princess Cadence?" she read. "And... Shining Armor?!"
Sunset moved up beside her, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, that happened. I wouldn't want to be Dean Cadence or your brother when all the texts start rolling in."
Princess Twilight's hair twitched. "Why does this keep happening? I was having enough trouble not freaking out over the human Chrysalis being here and not our enemy, and now this too? Does fate just really, really not like me or something?!"
Suddenly, she had a vivid imagining of Daydream Shimmer and Midnight Sparkle, two beings that she knew only from a shaky cell phone video, playing Ogrechess in a standing room only cloud-auditorium. "And then," Daydream was saying, "I put the likenesses of her brother and mentors... in a video game!" The entire audience burst into uproarious laughter...
"Yep, sucks to be you!" shouted Adagio.
Twilight shook herself out of the daze, looking at her soda suspiciously. "Do you want the rest of this, Pinkie? It really doesn't seem healthy for humans to consume this much sugar."
Session 40.18 MagicMan001(S6 finale spoilers)
Imago was angry. No. No no no, not angry. She'd been angry before, plenty of times in fact. How many times had she thrown a most unroyal temper tantrum whenever she didn't get her way in her spoiled little life? More the average changeling could count (then again, to anyone who knew diddly squat about their education system, it wouldn't sound like much).
Nope, for the first time, Imago was well and truly furious. The white hot, indignant fury felt at having been well and truly wronged,
The dank cave had fallen into a long, deathly silence, sans a continuous distant dripping. She was curled up on the smoothed stone slab that was supposed to be a sofa, her magenta eyes fighting back bitter tears in the shroud of darkness. Meanwhile, the other thirteen drones, two nymphs and Queen that made up the remnants of the true changeling species were scattered around the cave, either carrying out their duties or wallowing in their own hushed self-pity. The silence was so deafening, one could make out the scuttering of cockroaches crawling over the cold, rotting meat carcasses that had been the tribe's dinner.
Banishment. First from her kingdom, her future throne, but now from her own species too? By her own grandmother? The one mare in her extensive family who showed her any of the maternal affection and kindness she'd craved from her own mother had now coldly sentenced her and her family to the Winter Court. They were now exiles, outcasts from every race on this planet, from now to the end of time.
Imago's whole world came crushing down on her not only once but twice now, all in the span of days.
Why? What had she done to deserve any of this? She was a Princess, a Changeling Princess. She was supposed to be special, a member of the most revered group of nymphs in her entire species. How could they just strip of her title, her birthright, like she was nothing? Worse than nothing, a common worker nymph! She deserved better!
Her misty vision burned through the dark and narrowed on the mare who was responsible for all this, loafed miserably a stone's throw away on the cold floor with her youngest cradled in her leg. The son, Vordul, was curled up into a large, black ball by her hind leg, though it was unclear whether he was sleeping or just enjoying his mother's presence. Chrysalis torpidly rocked Pupa gently to and back in her hold, lulling her to sleep. The former Queen had a dull, almost bored expression on her muzzle, seemingly having no interest outside ensuring her young tub of a nymph got her afternoon nap.
The hatred smoldering in her very core shook Imago like a brittle leaf in the wind. She could feel nothing else but utter contempt for that fat sack of chitin that she was forced to call ‘mother'. Even the ponies she'd been raised to despise and pseudo-changelings who'd betrayed them were not worthy of that kind of bilious hatred.
This was all her fault! She was the reason Imago had lost everything from her home to her birthright to all but a few of her luxurious possessions. She was the reason they were all being left to rot and die in this dry, barren, disgusting, pathetic, (tasty) termite-infested wasteland! Every decision Chrysalis made had led their hive from bad to worse, but now, the unthinkable had happened: her stupidity had affected her!
It took her no time at all to make up her mind.
"I'm leaving."
All drones within earshot turned their heads in Imago's direction, where they all saw the ex-Princess standing by the cave's entrance, the only source of sunlight into their inky sanctuary. Two bags holding her few remaining possessions hung side-by-side from her saddle.
The drones collectively then looked back at their Queen, whom had just finished rocking Pupa to sleep. She craned her her head back and cast her daughter a mildly curious glance.
"Hmm? What's that, honey?"
"Y-You heard me, Chrysalis!" Imago growled. "I'm running away! I'm sick of living in this stinking cave! And I outright refuse to be a part of this pathetic excuse of a "hive" a moment longer!"
"Is that right? And... where do you intend to go, little one?" Chrysalis asked pleasantly, scratching the back of her ear.
The haughtiness looked to be sucked out of Imago in an instant with that simple question. Unsurprisingly, she hadn't exactly thought out the fine details of that part of the plan just yet. She just wanted to get out of this place already and be done with it.
She quickly regained her composure. "I'm... I'm gonna go and live in the wild like the very first changelings and go catch my own prey!"
Before she'd even finished her sentence, the entire cave exploded in a chorus of rapturous laughter.
A female changeling wiped away a tear, trying to catch her breath. "Oh wow! For a moment, I thought you were serious."
"I AM!" Imago barked, stomping her diddy hoof for emphasis. The filly so livid, she didn't even care she chipped her hooficure. "In fact, not only am I going to make it out there on my own, maybe I'll start my very own hive! Since someling here already lost my first one!"
That got everyling to bite their tongues as they anxiously awaited their Queen's reaction. Chrysalis did not tolerate any disrespect, especially not from her own pygmy offspring. A spanking of the severest variety looked impending.
Instead, Chrysalis just beamed a motherly smile and clicked her tongue, saying, "Oh! Well, that's a relief, here I was, thinking you had no plan. Off you go then, sweetie."
Imago, and by extension everyling else, did a retake.
"Wait... what?"
"Well, come now Imago, you're only the smartest, most rational filly I've ever met. I don't see any way your plan isn't going to end perfectly." She then waved her hoof in a ‘shoo-shoo' manner. "Now don't let us keep you, Queen Imago. Go on and start your new hive."
The ex-Princess' cheeks flushed bright green. The drones around her were all barely suppressing their mocking laughter behind their toothy grins. She knew what her mother was doing here and would not stand for it.
She mustered enough guts to bluster, "Oh ho, I'm--I'm going, alright! Y-Y-You're gonna be all "Where's Imago? I miss Maggie"! And I'll be long gone!"
"We won't know that until you leave, will we?"
"Oh, I'm leaving!"
"There's the door."
A pregnant, awkward pause followed. All eyes were on Imago, not one of them showing the faintest glimmer of concern. They were all daring her at this point.
The scrawny thing looked like she was going to explode. Her face had turned a near complete vivid lime. She opened her mouth to speak, to scream, but thought better of it and closed it again.
No. She was still a Princess, despite what everypony said, and Princesses did not lower her standards of behaviour to that of the riffraff. She would not give these peons the pleasure. They were beneath her.
Imago held her muzzle high, flicked back her mane and exited the cave without another word.
The drones could retrain themselves no longer, succumbing with laughter like a pack of braying hyenas. Their cackling rolled up and down the cave walls, silenced only when their Queen shot them a death glare. They could see Pupa stirring in her legs, their laughter obviously having disturbed her slumber.
Once the littlest Princess had settled back down, the female changeling who'd mocked Imago creeped up to Chrysalis' side.
"Your Majesty," she whispered, "Do you want us to follow her?"
Chrysalis rolled her eyes in thought for a moment or two, before dismissively telling her, "Nah. She'll be back before nightfall. You know, when she gets hungry."
"Heh heh, snap." She held up her hoof for a hoof bump, but withered under her stern glare. "Iiii'll go back to patrolling the perimeter."
The rest of the drones didn't need another hint and followed suit, leaving their matriarch to tend to her remaining lovelies.
Session 40.19 SomeRandomMinion
"I've never felt such a strange mix of indignity and endearment," Seismos commented as he watched Supia gleefully prancing around the meadow with a small cluster of laughing, cheering foals on her back. The...incident in the Crystal Empire had shaken him more than he cared to admit--Flurry Heart had been a tad rough with her "new toys"--but he was still a King, and a Gigantes warrior: seeing a fellow giant giving piggy-back rides to tinies irked him. Giantkind were fearsome titans, not carnival rides!
He was starting to regret letting Supia talk him into joining this visit to Ponyville....
"Seismos-kun, you look so grim! What's troubling you?" Supia tittered next to him, crouching low to let the laughing foals slide off her back. None seemed intimidated or scared, not even when Supia nuzzled a little grey unicorn filly with the blunt part of her mandibles.
"That is what's troubling me, dear Supia." Seismos pointed a hoof clad in gleaming armor at the carefree smaller ponies milling about and not seeming all that scared of them. "It's simply seems wrong for tinies to be so...carefree around us giants. In the Taurus lands, even my clan's most loyal small vassals bow low and clear the way, even if they aren't anywhere near our hooves. Cawr complains about getting a flank full of spears and retreating up a beanstalk, but even in defeat his tribe's raids sowed terror. Even in Neighpon some still think of you as a kaiju first; a Changeling Queen second."
Supia's wings buzzed, kicking up a short breeze as she cocked her head. "That's true, but how does all that explain your bad mood?"
"Because we--giantkind--are supposed to be feared." He snorted steam. "...and before you mention the Crystal Foal, I don't dispute we all brought that on our own heads. But in my homeland, I was a walking reminder of the Gigantes' power, why the tinies in my lands should know their place as my vassals."
"...This is about what that little Button Mash colt said earlier, isn't it?"
A snort and an embarrassed blush. "...Mostly, Supia dear."
=====A few hours earlier:=====
Seismos glared at the brown colt below, slowly leaning his head down. "Young colt, I suggest you stop comparing my new armor to something from your silly games. I've likely picked more REAL would-be 'heroes' from my teeth than you'd ever seen in fantasy. Yes, Prince Armor's game did earn the wealth it took to forge my armor, but I will NOT have it compared to something on a foe I've likely devoured by the dozens since I was a colt!" He bared his teeth, just for a second.
Button Mash just shrugged, and sniffed the air. "Alright, sorry. Hey, do you ever get bad breath from eating people? Do you have....lakes full of mouthwash or something to freshen up? I heard Mister Shining had a joke about that in his giants game..."
"Yes, I do--I MEAN NO! NO MOUTHWASH LAKES!!"
=======================
The recollection brought a smirk to Seismos' muzzle. "Of course, I'm not the only one who's been outsmarted by a foe I would normally make lunch of. Recall a certain canine Admiral, and a certain buggy backside getting cannonaded...?
Supia glared. "Yi was no ordinary Diamond Dog! And the fact he managed to defeat me with only a small fleet puts your talk of 'putting tinies in their place' into doubt, hmm?"
They both had a staredown...then laughed, hooves slapping the ground and leaving shallow craters. "Well played, Supia-sama, well played! Now, didn't you say Princess Twilight and her friends would be coming by...?"
TO BE CONTINUED. I have a specific follow-up in mind...
Session 40.20 Kendell2, BrutalityInc, Alex Warlorn (finale spoilers)
Cadence looked around the throne room, noting how different it was from Chrysalis'. She then blinked, filling something on her leg. She looked down to see a Changeling larva climbing up her leg. Cadence was shocked at how tiny the larval stage of a Changeling was. "Hello there, little one."
"...Pretty!" the little larva replied with a big smile.
A Changeling came over and picked the larva up. "I'm sorry, Princess, he's just curious. He's never seen a pony before."
Cadence smiled. "It's fine. I know how curious kids can be..." she said, pointing to Flurry Heart, who had climbed up Thorax's back and was hanging onto his stag beetle-like horns.
'Thorax so pretty now! Thorax easier to hang on to now!' was what the infant Alicorn was thinking.
"The little one doesn't both you, does she, my king?" asked one of Thorax's dignitaries.
The new Changeling King smiled. "No, it's fine. I like her."
As the group set up the game table, Puck came back in. "Mother...The Summer Court has arrived."
Blackrose's expression suddenly became considerably more serious. "...Let them in..."
A few moments later, the Changeling Emperor entered with his sons, Metamorphosis included.
The room became awkwardly silent as the civilian class Changelings fled except for Thorax's hive, who stuck by him despite the King feeling an instinctual fear well up in him. Though to be fair, the Kings with the Emperor seemed to be feeling the same in proximity to Blackrose.
Blackrose and her male counterpart approached one another and looked one another in the eye. "Blackthorn."
"Blackrose. It has been a long time."
"Not long enough," Blackrose replied, showing a bit of bitterness.
"Come now, we both have a stake in what has happened, don't we?"
"...She fooled you too, didn't she?"
Blackthorn for a brief moment looked indignant. "Yes...though in my defense, my sons are more humiliated than I am. After all, being outdone by one of your children is not something they're proud of."
Blackrose looked over at the Changeling Kings, a few of which indeed looked fairly embarrassed. "Indeed...Hello, Metamorphosis."
"Hello, Blackrose," the King replied.
"Hello!" shouted Pinkie Pie, suddenly popping up next to him and causing him to jump. "Hello! Hello! Hello!" she continued, popping up next to each of the kings with a wave.
One of the Kings grabbed Pinkie and held her. "Father, may I eat this one..."
Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared on the OTHER side of him. "No, but you can eat that me shaped cake!"
The King blinked, looking at the 'Pinkie Pie' he'd grabbed and finding it was indeed a convincingly realistic looking Pinkie Pie shaped cake. "W-What? How..."
Another of the kings reached for a dagger...only to find a candy bar. "What?!"
"Hehe! This is game night, silly! So I took all your weapons and replaced them with candy! Don't worry! You'll get them back when the games are over!" the pink pony replied, causing Puck to laugh as she hopped back over to her friends.
The various Changeling Kings all searched themselves, finding Pinkie was indeed correct and their various weapons and artifacts had all been replaced by sugary sweets when they hadn't been paying attention.
"But when did she..." one of them asked, wide eyed.
Metamorphosis tried to examine Pinkie Pie, but felt like he was trying to solve a fourth dimensional Rubix Cube.
"To be fair, if she hadn't done it, then I would have," Puck remarked, the young kings giving him an uncertain look. "This IS a neutral meeting and her Grand Majesty's daughters checked their weapons at the door."
"Father!" one of the Kings complained.
"You were the ones who allowed yourselves to be made a fool of," was Blackthorn's only response, seeming amused. "Now...where is this new Changeling King?"
The Kings of his court all seemed to grumble about Thorax not being a 'true King', due to not being of Blackthorn's blood.
Blackrose motioned to Thorax and the young king approached. "This is King Thorax, Chrysalis' replacement."
Thorax nodded. "Um...glad to meet you..."
The Kings all looked in shock as they recognized the same thing their female counterpart's had: the sun or lighthouse that was Thorax's flame. "He's...that's not possible..." one of them muttered.
"He can't be that tough," boasted another. "Let's see how strong he is, shall we?"
-
"Okay, I have no idea how I did that." Thorax muttered as he saw the hole on the wall, where his blast of arcane energy had blown through.
For his part, Changeling King Zopherus, whose chitin armor is so strong he was widely considered nigh-invulnerable to any damage, was found unconscious, half-buried in a crater, far from Empress Blackrose's Avalon Palace. His armor was cracked and singed where Thorax had hit him with his best shot, as a test he agreed to participate in for both Courts to gauge Thorax's power level.
-
"Well, that answers that..." Blackthorn replied as his son received medical attention and the rest of his sons were staring at Thorax in blind shock.
Thorax was simply feeling his antlers, wondering how he'd managed that blast even as his love reserves didn't take that much of a hit, and what had been drained was quickly refilled by his hive's love for him.
"How did he obtain this power?"
"That is what we are here to discuss over games," Blackrose replied.
"Oh, yes. What game?"
Blackrose held up Crystals and Rainbows 3.5.
"Surely, you jest..." Emperor Blackthorn said dismissively. At the insistent look, apprehension came upon him, "You're not. You truly expect me to lower myself to playing this... juvenile distraction?"
"Yes, my dear. Unless you want to miss a chance to use the game as a way assess Thorax, Princess Twilight, many of my children and that of your own, all before supper." Blackrose replied.
Blackthorn held a hard frown, and for a few moments Thorax, Twilight and the Queens tensed, fearing his reaction.
Then, to the surprise of all present, the Changeling Emperor of the Summer Court laughed.
"You know me too well, my dear." He declared, "Indeed, how can I miss such a golden opportunity? And if my beloved feels comfortable with it..." He shapeshifted in a blaze of blue flames - and emerged from it a little colt, complete with a youthful voice that complement it "I suppose I shall come to enjoy it as well, eventually."
He stepped forward, followed by his son Metamorphosis. But the rest of the Summer Court Kings stood still as stone in their places, completely gobsmacked by what they witnessed.
"Oh come along now, my sons; are you all truly too proud for this?" Blackthorn asked, almost teasingly, back at them, "Or is it actually because you fear being outdone by your counterparts in the Spring Court, even in a fillies' game?"
With the gauntlet thrown before them by none other than their father, and much of the Spring Court as witness, the Changeling Kings had no choice but to answer.
And so, with disgruntled grumblings and embarrassed growls, the rest of the Changeling Summert Court - ruthless conquerors, schemers and tyrants all - followed their father to play Crystals and Rainbows 3.5 to the snickering of the Changeling Queens. Some followed their father's example and shape-shifted into colts and fillies themselves - at least with those appearances, some of their dignity could still be saved.
Alex Warlorn
"Fine, we'll play with the Empress and the High Prince." Said one of the Kings.
The Empress' daughters glared.
"Who?" Thorax asked.
"I think they mean you." Twilight whispered.
"I'm pretty sure I'm a King."
"Try telling them that." Twilight sighed.
Blackrose asked, "So how did you react when you first heard of Thorax's change?"
-
Outwardly the Emperor was as indifferent of Chrysalis' overthrowing as a plague rat being run over by a cart sans the slight relief of a stubbed hoof being gone. Inwardly, he was greatly disturbed how Chrysalis how successfully string his spies along her fictional quest for a powerless artifact. And that she'd come close to obtaining enough love to challenge both Courts for leadership.
It was a letter from his wife... Written on the outside were the words 'all bets are off.'
The opened the envelope, and the only thing inside was a photo of Thorax in his new form.
And The Emperor, WITH NO UNDERSTANDING WHY, suddenly felt COMPLETELY TERRIFIED OF THIS CHANGELING! Every instinct in his body screaming that he was looking at something beyond fearsome.
His heart beat raced through Tartarus, his eyes widening, his breathing became shallow, the picture falls from his magic's grasp, and he actually backed away up his throne his eyes glued to the photo despite wanting to look away.
-
"Did you scream like a little filly?" Blackrose grinned.
"I did not."
"You did didn't you?"
The Emperor looked at the new King his sons had trouble accepting by that title.
Thorax, one of Rose Dust's, has become a completely new species of changeling, something that was going to become greater than him or BlackRose in a few centuries or eons.
Thorax has become something greater than any changeling before him. He'd evolved BEYOND the curse. He's taken all of what they once were, and what they are, and created something greater out of both than either of the progenitors of the changelings.
Thorax meanwhile played pattycake with Flurry Heart, nervous since he didn't know the proper silverware placement at these royalty things yet, (not that changeling used silverware if he thought about it).