Ponies and Dragons (Just Have Fun)

by Alex Warlorn


Session 42

Session 42.0 Brutality

(Alright, since no one continued this from Session 41.10...)

The Yearning city local advanced towards them, unusually fast in his gallop due to his longer limbs. He gave an inequine growl as he took his rusted axe from his belt, stained with dry blood.

"SCATTER!" Twinkle Shine cried out, her voice a pitch higher than normal, just as their foe was upon them.

Driven by instincts, the rest of the herd complied. Their foe's axe fell and chipped the cobblestone where they were merely a moment past. They ran around him, giving him a great berth; even so, Lemon Hearts nearly had a heart attack when he followed his first strike with a second wide swing, which she barely ducked, but costed her the top half of her hat and some hairs from her mane.

Bon Bon reacted quickly, almost automatically thanks to her training. Whereas the others ran to safety behind him, she ducked, rolled between the stallion-creature's long legs, and before he knew what was going on, she reared and bucked with all her might, hooves pointed straight at one of his hind legs.

The stallion-creature screamed in agony as his broken leg buckled under him, dropping his axe and crumbling to the cobblestone ground. Bon Bon seized the advantage; she took hold of the axe with her hat gemstone's magic, and holding it high even as the stallion writhed on the ground, gripped by pain.

It was at that moment Bon Bon stopped. There was the werewolf they faced in the clinic, and then there was this pony here. A strange, deluded and hostile pony - afflicted by some scourge, from the looks of it - but a pony nevertheless. Who cares if he was merely part of the horror adventure module? Just because it is ultimately fake doesn't mean it was any less real for her right now.

Part of her screamed that it was the enemy, like the other monstrous foes that she had faced in her past career, something rabid and dangerous that needs to be contained, or even put down. Yet in her heart was also the sense of duty to protect and save pony lives, and the trademark Equestrian compassion to not kill, and give their foes a second chance.

The two instincts, two sides she had - the Hunter, and the Candy-maker - clashed inside her, a battleground beginning to form as her old memories – her old self – begin to re-emerge.

She briefly considered turning the axe to its blunt end and use it to knock the pony-creature out. But then she looked into that snarling pony's eyes, as it turned to face her...

What she saw made her pause. There was no spark in those feverish yellow eyes; nothing that remotely resembles equine. Within those blurred, crimson-tinted pupils...was a look of animalistic hunger and bloodlust, any trace of reason and civility long since gone, and any memory of his pony self seemingly about to be drowned in it, too. There wasn't even a trace of fear, existing in even the most basic of animals.

In the depths of her mind, the Hunter became ascendant.

She didn't hesitate a moment longer.

= = =

Lyra wished she could summon her hand constructs, or her lute that could allow her to use some music magic she had learnt back in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. But in this adventure module, they can only use what abilities and tools that are available to their Sancthar characters.

Which is unfortunate, given her magical skills could be quite handy (Pun intended) in dealing with the situation they found themselves now; as would Twinkle Shine's light magics, Lemon Heart's lemon familiars and Minuette's time-rewind abilities.

They had kept galloping pass that mutated pony-creature, only to find themselves facing a dead-end, turning a street corner. And that wasn't the end of it.

Three more of those freaks were standing there, looking at a burning pyre with flames that were winding down, having exhausted its fuel of rotting, accursed flesh and leaving only charred skeletons – both ponies and beast alike – upon its pile of tinders and ashes. Like the ones scattered all over the streets of Yearning, along with the burnt-out shells of many houses.

Lyra shuddered to imagine how many had been slain by these maniacs. Meanwhile, the other girls are pondering options behind the overturned cart they hid behind.

"Where's Bon Bon?! We lost her back over there with that freak!" Minuette noticed.

"Bon Bon's tougher than she looks..." And a lot more skilful too, Lyra wanted to add, though she kept that to herself, "She'll get away from him and catch up. The problem is those three bozos over there..."

"Maybe they're nicer than that guy?" Lemon Hearts suggested.

"Unlikely, given how tall and hairy they look." Twinkle Shine shook her head as she gauged the situation, "From the looks of it, whatever happened to that guy happened to them, and probably the rest of the city as well."

"The whole town does look like it's almost finished..." Minuette commented, wincing from the smell of burning flesh and charred bone, "The question is, why? What happened here?"

"We can figure this out later. No doubt we'll be uncovering more lore as we play through this adventure..." Twinkle Shine determined, before she peeked over the cart, "Anypony saw a way out of this dead end?"

The rest started looking around, and Lemon Hearts paused when she saw something in the area between the cart and the pyre, "That lever over there! Looks like it activates that ladder next to it!"

"How? It's connected to the ground –" Minuette muttered, but Lemon Heart had already taken off from the cart and headed towards it.

"Careful! See if you can activate it without alerting those creeps!" Lyra hissed.

Reaching it without being seen, Lemon Heart pulled the lever – and covered her ears as the ladder dropped from its retracted position on the walls with a resounding metallic crash.

Twinkle Shine muttered a curse as the three pony freaks turned from the pyre to them, their blood-shot, yellow and crimson eyes giving them their undivided attention, "Guess not. Come on! Up the ladder!"

They rushed over to the ladder and started climbing it as the three Yearning city ponies readied their weapons and begin striding over, ranting and howling about them being ‘Scourge-bringing vermin' and ‘Cursed beasts'.

"What do we do if they follow us up?!" Minuette asked aloud.

"Then we'll throw the first thing we saw on top down at them!"

They were halfway up when Bon Bon appeared around the corner, still holding the axe. It was crimson with fresh blood.

"Bon Bon! Up here! Hurry!" Lyra called out to Bon Bon, seeing her, before clambering over the top.

Bon Bon's gallop skidded to a halt just at the ladder, right as the Yearning ponies reached the location. She swung the axe with her hat gemstone's telekinesis, forcing them back with the berth of her swing. But it didn't deter them. They cornered her, circled around her like a pack of wolves, waiting for her guard to slip even for a moment so to strike.

Bon Bon grimaced. If she were to climb the ladder without being attacked from behind, she would need to distract them.

In a bold move, she tossed the axe, which lodged right into the chest of the nearest foe. The pony-creature gurgled as blood poured out of his chest and mouth, and his companions looked on with shock as he collapsed.

Bon Bon didn't waste any time gawking at the results; she was already clambering up the ladder, reaching the top in short order. She found herself in another street on another level of the city, just above the one they were in, and as she climbed over, she found the girls doing something unusual.

"What are you doing?" She called out to the rest of the mares in the group.

"What do you think?! We're dropping the first thing we find right on top of them, and this is the first thing we found!" Lemon Hearted responded, "Now get out of the way and help us with this!"

The remaining two Yearning ponies were now climbing up the ladder, determined, seemingly to the point of eagerness, to hunt down their quarry. Then they noticed that something big was appearing over the edge. The one in front, carrying a butcher's cleaver in his mouth, had a moment to realize that something big, now tipping over the edge, is in fact a pony-drawn carriage.

There was an audible crunch, of squashed flesh, breaking bones and shattering wood as the carriage fell over and crushed the pursuing assailants under its weight.

"Well, that took care of them!" Minuette panted. Of course, they didn't actually wanted to crush them, just merely stall or deter them from coming up after them, but the consequences of the actual outcome didn't cross their minds, "So what now?"

"Where there's four of them, there's probably more around the area." Bon Bon remarked, her voice suddenly commanding and harsher than merely minutes before. The other mares noticed that, along with the patches and smears of blood that are now on her Sancthar attire, "We need to find a secure place that we can hide and plan our next move before more of them shows up."

"Where? The whole place looks badly trashed, and those freaks and other beasts are probably everywhere. It's not like anyone is going to open a door and let us in!" Lemon Heart lamented.

Then, they heard a whistle, and turned to find a door that's partly opened, from a house across the street that looked boarded up from the inside. Next to the door and windows are lamps, lit with orange flames that smelt of incense.

"Over here!" Some-pony called out to them from the gap at the door in a hushed and urgent tone, "Come on, you fools! More of them are probably coming for the racket you caused! Do you want to get caught out in the open?!"

The players looked at each other, surprised and uncertain. Then, they hurried towards the house, and upon entry, the door was slammed and locked shut behind them.

Session 42.1 MagicMan001

"Put me down! Put me do-o-o-o-own!"



Chrysalis pressed her ears against her head and sighed, "We've been through this, Imago. If I let you go, you'll try and fly off again, and I am not prepared to spend the whole the afternoon chasing you down."



Having rescuing her daughter from that irritating magical imp creature and his game board of living pieces, Chrysalis was now taking the long trek through the Badlands to bring her back to their new home. It was one of Chrysalis' old castles, off the books and the maps, a much better place to start up their fledgling hive than that cave: that was at least one thing the Queen and her daughter agreed on. The two could have flown the whole way back and cut the travel time in half if it weren't for her daughter's infuriating refusal to cooperate. A few tight leather straps solved that little problem, but created another with a wriggling nymph bound to her back preventing Chrysalis' wings from taking off.



"I'm not going back to that gross cave!" Imago protested, her lanky legs flailing and doing her best to try and dig them into her mother's side.



"We're not going back to the cave," she answered matter-of-factly, "We're going to be living in a castle instead. It's cold, gloomy, and infested with rats. You love rats."



"I don't care where we're going!" hissed Imago. "I don't wanna be part of your stupid hive anymore!"



Chrysalis paused as she climbed onto a toppled tree log crossing a short but deep chasm, looking over her shoulder to retort with a hawkish glare, "Well, tough luck, Imago, because as long as you are my daughter, you are part of this hive, whether you like it or not!"



With careful footing and the graceful balance of an academy ballet dancer, she crossed the log at a steady pace, never mind the ingrate still acting up on her back. That didn't prevent her from reprimanding her further though.

"Now when we get back, you're going to be grounded in your new room for a week, young lady."



Imago squawked, "What?!" 



"For running away and worrying your family sick, yes!"



By this point, rivets of tears were cascading down Imago's muzzle. "Why do you keep doing this to me!?" she wailed, "You always do this! Every time I try and act like a grownup! You always treat me like a stupid hatchling!"



"Because you are a stupid hatchling, Imago, my hatchling, and nothing will change that!" Chrysalis grunted as she tried to maintain her balance and ignore the screaming in her ear. "Especially when you go off and get caught up in moronic situations like you did with that imp brat. I mean, seriously, what was all that beetle dung even about?!"



"I was doing fine on my own!"



"Oh, so you mean getting turned into a living game piece for all eternity was all part of your master plan?"

Imago's tear-streaked face burned green and she began pounding her hooves into her side, shrieking with each furious punch, "Well, you! Let! ME! GO!"

They reached the other side of the chasm. In the distance, Chrysalis could make out the skyline of her castle carving into the sunset. Time for a respite, but only for a few moments. It would likely be late in the evening if they kept at this pace on hoof.

"Only because I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to actually leave the Badlands!" she growled, stopping to take out and swig from a flask of love juice to regenerate her cells. "Back home, you only just made it outside the Hive walls. Well, that's the last time you pull this crap again, because from now own, I'm never letting you out of my sight. Understood?"

Three...two...one.

"YOU HATE ME-E-E-E!!!" Imago screamed as loud as her lungs would allow. She punched, kicked and bite at her mother's aged and toughened carapace to no avail. "YOU'VE ALWAYS HATED ME!!! WAAAAAAAHH!!!"

"Oh and there it is!" Chrysalis finally shouted in frustration, sinking to her haunches and checking her ears in case they'd been shattered. It honestly surprised her it had taken them this long to reach this old checkpoint. 

"WH-WH-WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME MOMMY?!? WHY ARE YOU SO HORRIBLE TO ME!? YO-YOU DIDN'T EVEN COME AFTER ME WHEN I RAN AWAY!"

"Oh yes, that's right, Imago! I don't love you one bit, do I?" Chrysalis' forced laughter was choking with sarcasm. "That's exactly why I came flying to your rescue when I heard you'd been turned into a filly-sized rooke piece by some--some--okay, seriously now, what was with that kid anyway? How'd he even get the power to turn creatures into living game pieces anyhow? It doesn't even make any sense!"

But the little ex-Princess was too caught up in the temper tantrum of the century to pay attention to anything else. "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU'VE NEVER LIKED ME! WAAAAAAA-HAAAAAAA!!!"

When she started pulling on Chrysalis' mane, the line had been finally crossed.

"Alright, that's it!"

Imago opened her watery eyes to find herself landing on her rump against the dirt ground. She looked back and saw her mother grumpily taking a seat on the log and a cigarette attached to a golden holder from her bag of provisions.

"Mommy is taking her ‘happy stick' break, sweetheart," Chrysalis declared passive-aggressively as she lit the cigarette from the tip of her horn. "We'll get back on the road once you tired yourself out. Go ahead, knock yourself out."

Seeing her last opportunity to flee her mother's claws, Imago tried to fly away, but felt something yank her back with a painful "Oof!" A hatchling harness, complete with an adorable ladybug buckle, magically appeared and fastened around her carapace. The opposite end of the leash hooked to her back was tied into one of the holes in her mother's legs.

"I mean it. Get it all out of your system."

A bubble grew in Imago's throat. She wanted to shout, to scream so loud the whole plant would know of her injustice. All that she could muster was a low, heart-wrenching sob. More and more tears gushed from her eyes like a pair of garden sprinklers.

She then just collapsed in a quivering heap, kicking and pounding the earth, not giving a damn how dirty and unkempt she was making herself look. Even the fact she was ruining her precious silver pineapple hooficure was a miles away from her mind.

Chrysalis inwardly sighed and took an overly long drag from her cigarette, the holder which she held gracefully in the narrowest hole in her hoof. Good thing she brought a whole pack. This was going to take a while.

‘Almost made it to a month. Thanks a lot, kid.'

Session 42.2 Grogar-the-oneser


It was suppose to be a simple day of fun. Pony Twilight gave them a enchanted comic and they all decided to use it for a day of fun.

What they weren't expecting was the fetish fuel.

"WHAT IN TARNATION!" Applejack shouted as she was wearing what could only be described as armor underwear. "WHY AM I WEARING THIS?!"

Rarity who was also wearing a purple bikini like outfit sighed annoyed. "Now Applejack calm down, its not that bad of a look. Besides why are you freaking out, aren't you a Red Sonja fan?"

"Just cause Ah like the comic doesn't mean Ah wanna dress as her for halloween!" Applejack snapped.

Fluttershy was blushing about as while she was wearing cleric like clothing she was also wearing a skin tight latex outfit. "I-its not so bad Applejack. It's surprisingly comfortable."

"Yeah don't be a worry wort!" Pinkie said wearing a lucky bunny outfit.

"Pinkie why are ya wearing that!" Applejack snapped.

"I don't know, but I feel lucky in it, oh a sword!" Pinkie said picking up a sword, it automatically increase all her stats dramatically "NEAT!"

Sunset, Sci-Twi and Rainbow, who were wearing normal outfits just look at the scene with a deadpanned look on their face.

Session 42.3 Grogar-the-oneser

"Your majesty it's terrible!" Locust shrieked as Chrysalis made it back with Imago whining all the while.

"What now?" Chrysalis growled.

"Your son is on a feeding frenzy, I mean it wasn't so bad when he got rid of the pest problem in the castle, even though him barfing rat skeleton was gross. But now he's kinda hunting us, not your other daughter, he's not that hungry, but the rest of us are fair game.."

"I don't understand, we have lots of food what could have triggered his feeding frenzy."

"We might have played hungry hungry hippo's in front of him," Locust said.

"....You know if I still had my entire army I would have killed you and replace you with someling else just for the sheer stupidity of what you just said and it somehow making sense."

"I know." Locust sighed.

Session 42.4 Ardashir


(OOC: Continuation of part 13 from chapter XLI)

Nightmare Night in Ponyville. Costumed young and adult ponies trotted through the streets, along with some non-pony guests. At least one griffon went trick or treating with Spike; and some of King Thorax's Changelings buzzed overhead, watching the strange pony celebration in utter confusion.

And in the midst of it all, in the Ponyville town square where booths and tubs for apple bobbing and the spider toss and pumpkin chucking were in use, and where a band played spooky music, six foals met

"Greetings, fleshy ones!" Apple Wolf growled to her friends. She shook herself, sending both splinters and sparks flying. "Looks like we're all ready for tonight's game. Which is going to consist of, 'See how many ponies can guess who you really are'. Winner gets first pick out of everyone's treats!"

"Woah!" Scootagriffon flew over and around her, her mighty wings beating the air. "That. Is. Awesome! We're gonna scare everypony tonight!"

"HAI!" The magical fillies Light and Dark said as one.

Button Link said very little. His eyes and attention were all on Hive Queen Sweetie. She in turn smiled a fangs-bared smile at him, slowly inhaling some of the puppy love he felt for her.

Nearby Tin Woodsman Applejack, Werewolf Rarity, and Dash in the goggles and helmet and wool-lined jacket of the long-lost pegasus fighting ace Flying Circus watched everything with vast amusement.

"Yeesh, they're really gettin' into it tonight, huh?" Dash grinned and snatched an apple from the nearby water-filled tub.

"I hope they don't take it too far," Rarity primped and preened her currently lupine fur (despite Alisa's assurances, she felt wary). "I want them to enjoy themselves," she hesitated and watched as Apple Bloom and Scootagriff together made a mock-scary charge at some younger foals, who scattered in a whickering burst of laughter, "not to terrorize the town."

"Ah, let 'em have their fun," Applejack said. "How much trouble can they git inta in one night, anyway? Even with those fancy costumes -- say, were did they get them from?"

In Fluttershy's house, Discord winced.

"Applejack, please stop tempting me!"

Session 42.5 Alex Warlorn

"I can't believe we're playing this game again." Rainbow Dash said.

"Once a rogue like has you in it's clutches, it never lets go." Pinkie Pie said.

"A rather grim view." Rarity said. "Sadly fitting for this game."

"Well, at least it'll take our minds all this other crazy stuff that's been happenin'." AJ said.

"So here we are again," Twilight said, "Playing Darkest Dungeon."

Fluttershy, was reasonably absent.

Twilight was again playing the Heir, while Spike played the Ancestor.

The heroes had gone after the giant mobile canon that the Ancestor before his death had hired to try and keep the towns people in line, and with the Ancestor dead were still terrorizing the countryside. They'd destroyed the first version of it, but that left two more versions.

Sadly, all four of their heroes had gone insane before they had even reached the boss, and were forced to retreat when they desperately tried to fight it anyway, but this clearly proved impossible.

They had had much better luck with the mad prophet, even taking out one of the pews for extra cash...a hard task given how much damage the prophet dealt with with the falling rumble and making it first to finish him quickly.

Pinkie Pie asked. "Why does the Ancestor keep calling his prophecies 'mindless rambling' and 'mad drooling' when everything he predicted came true? The Ancestor's plans DID trigger the end of the world!"

"Ah think he's just bein' a stubborn git! Even DEAD he doesn't wanna admit how bad he screwed up!" AJ snorted.

Twilight had, to make the game easier, disabled a few of the game's more brutality difficulty settings. Such as keeping Town Events off, until they had a party of level six heroes so they wouldn't be caught with their pants down by the 'Wolfs at the gate' random town event.

They had scored a killing...and sadly it didn't last long with the insane costs of treating high level heroes and the increasing price of upgrading equipment that could ONLY be used THAT particular hero.

Things got harder with how high level heroes refused to take on quests that were two levels below them...making them useless...it was a mad house.

They'd chosen a Jester, a Abomination, their only Bounty Hunter, and and a Grave Robber to take on a simple medium sized quest in the woods to take out all 'room' battles. They didn't have a healer, but they bought all the food the store had, so it wouldn't be a problem...or so they thought.

The first monster they encountered however, right out of the gate was...was a blue glowing pony skull in a golden cage like a crown, garbed in a robe of yellow.

"THE COLLECTOR?!" AJ shouted. "THAT DON"T MAKE SENSE! He's only supposed to show up when our back packs at full!"

"Technically it's when your packs are over 65% full he has a 1 in 20 chance of appearing."

"This is just great!" Rainbow snorted.

They managed to stun the collector on the first round...then...his collection appeared.

the disembodied heads of their former dead characters...now enslaved to the collector.

Twilight would later tell them they should have focused on the heads of the highwaymares, not the heads the stallion-at-arms. But, they did indeed defeat the collector, and a very precious jewel of out of it...but cost them a lot of food to move on...yet move on they did...room by room...but food being their only real heal for three of them (the abomination could self heal)...thing finally were too much after digging away brambles with both shovels they brought-

"HOW THE HECK DOES THESE SHOVELS KEEP BREAKING AFTER ONLY ONE USE?! IT'S CRAZY!" The farmer protested in fury.

They'd actually gone past an old grave, choosing not to dig it up for treasure to avoid using it up...now they wish they had...since now a THIRD wall of brambles awaited them...and the stress and damage by using it by hand would be too much...they had to retreat...They had gotten some heirlooms to expand the Hamlet...but all their profits were in the negative thanks to wasted supplies, and having to pay for getting their heroes sane again and TREATING THEM FOR RABIES!

"Reminds me why we're playing this!" Rainbow moaned.

"Once the rogue like has you in its claws, it never lets go," Pinkie Pie said.

Session 42.6 Kendell2

"Okay, so everything sat up?" Rainbow Dash asked, trotting into the 'interdimensional gaming room' as they called it. Which was basically a secret room Twilight had sat out for computer games connected to the human world's internet. Without the town finding out it was there. They hoped.

Twilight nodded, having set up the computer and game. "You have no idea how much work it took Sunset to carry over your characters from Dragon Eggs Xenoverse 1 from an alternate universe."

The first game had been a good bit different between universes, which didn't help.

Rainbow Dash got her headset on and nodded. "Yeah, tell her thanks."

The lavender alicorn nodded. "I will...Oh! And don't forget that you need a different character this time! Your old character is there for different reasons."

The cyan pegasus shrugged. "Eh, so long as I can be a Neighyan! They added Super Neighyan 3 in this game!"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "That form never really work out? Last Ah remember it drained energy faster than Applebloom drains her candy back on Nightmare Night."

"Eh, it looks cool..."

"I'm just glad the Super Neighyan forms aren't broken like in the first game," Twilight remarked. "I'm going to be a Frost Demare. I like the idea that a member of that psycopath's family is a good guy."

"Ah'm gonna be an Equstrian," Applejack replied. "Ah like the idea that if they can work hard enough they can get as strong as all these fancy guys."

"I'm going to be a Manejin!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a big smile. "Because they make me think of bubble gum!...Or Taffy!...I think I'll name her taffy."

Session 42.7 Mtangalion

At CrystalCon, the lights in the main auditorium dimmed, and a video began to play, showing a pegasus pony gliding through moonlit clouds. A caption appeared, reading "CrystalSoft presents," and the crowd started cheering. "The next chapter of World of Horsecraft..."


Rainbow Dash put on a serious scowl. "Hay, it's about time."

Gilda smirked. "SpaceCraft called, Dashie. They want their catchphrase back."

"Heh." Rainbow elbowed her in the ribs.


On the screen, the pegasus swooped through a break in the clouds, triggering a swell of heroic music, and a panorama of a mountaintop crammed with illuminated buildings and towers. "CANTERLOT," read a second caption. "One year after the defeat of Discord."


Twilight turned her head, whispering. "I haven't played this game as much as some of the rest of you, but I'm pretty sure that Canterlot doesn't look nearly that elaborate in game, although that's understandable, being that this is a prerendered cinematic."

Princess Twilight shook her head at her twin. "Actually, Canterlot does look like that in reality, if you discount gross errors like Luna's Observatory being on the northwest side of the palace instead of the southwest, and the Foal Mountains being in the wrong place, but this raises even more questions about how game designers in the human world are able to..."

All of their friends shushed them loudly.


The "camera" perspective fell all the way to street level, showing the "Princess Platinum Hall of Antiquities," where a pink and purple Alicorn was stepping out of a carriage, wearing golden hoofshoes, a necklace, and a small crown.

A Canterlot guard turned around, then gasped and snapped to attention, bowing his head. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!"

"Cadence, please," said the Alicorn in a kind but concerned tone. "This is where it happened?"

More scenes showed the doors being opened, and Cadence being escorted through a building half in ruins, past eerie, darkened exhibits all in disarray, while the guard's voiceover continued. "Yes, your highness. This is where the Blade of Deepest Shadow was kept. The curators thought it harmless, until the captain...or former captain, I should say, stole it in front of many witnesses and unleashed its power. Highness, there's no need for you to distress yourself here! The investigators..."

"I will investigate this myself," said Cadence firmly, now standing alone in front of a smashed display case. She bowed her head, fighting back tears. "Oh, Shining...What could have made you do this?"

"Well, somepony has to defend this realm," declared a male voice. Hoofsteps advanced towards her, broken glass crunching beneath mailed hooves. "It's obvious now that Celestia and Luna aren't strong enough to protect anything."

Cadence turned and gasped, horrified. "Shiny!? You can't mean that!"

Little of the stallion's white coat and blue mane could be seen beneath the full suit of black chitinous plate he wore, and the stolen crystal greatsword was strapped across his back. He chuckled. "I've made some fine new allies in the frozen north, Cady. Once the Crystal Empire rules Equestria, then we'll finally have the peace and order we deserve. Come with me, Cadence!" He extended a hoof, giving her a heartbreaking smile. "I still need you!"

Princess Cadence took a deep breath, unable to look him in the eyes. "I sense only a black pit in your heart, where our love should be. You are NOT Shining Armor. Who are you!?"

The stallion began to laugh...and the tone of the laugh changed disturbingly. His horn ignited...vivid green! The glow spread down him slowly, revealing that "he" was really a her, a tall black insect-pony with holes in her hooves, wild green hair and eyes, and a jagged black horn.


In the audience, Princess Twilight shrieked and grabbed hold of Flash Sentry, who nearly jumped out of his own seat before he grinned and hugged her back. "This is so cliched," murmured Princess Twilight, "but I think I get it now!"


Far, far away, in the actual Crystal Empire, Prince Shining Armor gasped. "Somewhere, there's a stallion who needs the 'You'd better treat Twily right' talk!"

Princess Cadence smiled and nuzzled her husband, already making plans. "It's certainly took her long enough."


On the big convention screen, Chrysalis leered at Cadence, stepping forward menacingly. The crystal greatsword was gone, merely a part of her disguise. "You're absolutely right, princess. It's such a shame that no one is going to believe you, if you tell them what you saw here. Or that Shining Armor...hmmm, no...what are the papers calling him these days?" She laughed wickedly. "No pony will believe that 'Tarnished Armor' the traitor didn't take that sword of his own free will, and betray everything he loved."

Cadence backed away, looking to her guards...but both of them were suddenly engulfed in green flame too, turning into smaller black insect-ponies that screeched and hissed at her.

"Of course," said Chrysalis, "if you really *can't* wait to be reunited with him..."

Cadence scowled at them...and reluctantly fled. They chased her through the museum's darkened halls...at every turn, more museum staff or bystanders offered her a fleeting hope before they transformed too, joining in the chase. Cadence flew out the front doors, gasping for breath...and when she looked back, all of the invaders were gone or vanished, as if none of it had ever happened.

The frame dissolved slowly to a view of Cadence in a castle tower, writing letters. "Unfortunately, that monster, whoever she was, was right. Even Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna found it difficult to believe me. Everypony is saying that I'm blinded by love, that I'll make up any excuse to clear Shining's name...And so, I write to you, the heroes who have defended us time and time again. The fate of Equestria is in your hooves once more!"

Session 42.8 Kendell2

"So they added you to the fighting game about us in DLC?" Twilight asked, watching Trixie play the game as herself against Chrysalis.

The azure unicorn gave dramatic smirk. "Indeed! They recognized how awesome Trixie truly is when she helped save the world!" she exclaimed, then blowing Chrysalis back with a fireworks style explosion and filling her power meter. She triggered the finisher and caused her in game self to headbutt Chrysalis.

It cut away to Trixie using illusions to distract her before tying Chrysalis up and letting loose a massive explosion of fire works around her.

"KO! Trixie Wins!" the announce called as game Trixie bowed dramatically.

Twilight chuckled. "You deserve it...what about Thorax?"

"They offered, but he doesn't know everything he can do now yet," Trixie replied.

Twilight then looked over to Discord, who was playing separately. "What are you doing?"

"In practice mode hitting Chrysalis with every single ultimate in the game..." Discord replied, using Celestia's to do just that.

"...Okay..."

Session 42.9 Ardashir

"Very well," Chrysalis folded her arms across her chest and huffed. "I suppose my character -- I mean, Queen Chrysalis can be your, I mean, King Sombra's second in command" She smiled. "Especially since, what with him being still encased within the ice, she'll be getting all the screen time." She turned and sauntered out of the office.

"Ugh," Sombra shuddered. At least she hadn't tried seducing him, the way she once used to try. Attractive woman, but he'd learned how she treated her ex-lovers. Gilgamesh would have been safer with the goddess Ishtar.

His phone rang.

"Hello! Oh, Radiant, dear," his voice too on a gentle tone few ever heard from him. "Yes, she was just in here. No, she didn't try anything, just gloated over that bug getting more 'screen time' than my, I mean than King Sombra." He chuckled. "Yes, I know. She's as childish and predictable as ever. If she wasn't my best executive...Anyway, it should be amusing when she sees the scene where Queen Chrysalis is forced to grovel before 'her master' for background information that will be run before every single quest the players are given." The voice on the other end of the line became mildly remonstrating. Sombra sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, dear, I won't rub it in."

He hung up the phone and smirked.

"Not too much, anyway."

Session 42.10 Magicman001

Chrysalis grinded her last cigarette into the ground with the blade of her hoof. A trail of bilious smoke rose from her pursed lips into the evening sky. The sun was sinking fast behind their castle and the mountain range, covering the Badlands in an orange gel. It'd be nightfall very soon.

A stone's throw away, her daughter's tantrum had long since burned out, whimpering softly and rocking to and back in a fetal position.

Stepping over the heap of ash and cigarette butts, Chrysalis circled around Imago's form, eyeing her bedraggled state with subdued disapproval before parking her haunches down next to her.

Poor Imago looked so miserable, so unprincesslike covered head to tail in dirt, Chrysalis couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy in her dark, shrivelled-up heart. She ran her hoof soothingly through her daughter's once luxuriously groomed and conditioned porcupine mane, the most important thing to a girl her age, which had become a hideously dry, brittle ratsnest.

"It's a shame," Chrysalis remarked silkily. "You've always had such beautiful hair."

She could hear her mumble into the dirt, "Why do you hate me?"

"I don't hate you," she sighed with tedium as she gave a gentle scritch behind the ear. "Mommy loves all her babies. She just doesn't enjoy putting up with your constant, insipid drama, that's all."

Magicking up a scarab-shaped brush in mid-air, Chrysalis attempted to bring it down through Imago's tangled nightmare of a mane, but the nymph still had a flicker of defiance left in her belly. She scrambled to her hooves and frantically tried to make as much distance between them as possible, only to be yanked back to her mother's hooves by the magical harness still buckled around her carapace.

"Imago, stop this nonsense!" Chrysalis demanded.

"Never!" barked Imago, making a second futile run for it.

"You're making yourself look like a little jackass."

"Shut up!"

Chrysalis, her patience run out, pounded her hoof into the ground. "Get your rump over here, now!"

"Won't--whaa?!"

Just as the exhausted nymph was about to make her third and likely final dash for freedom, she found herself square on her rump, sitting upright with her backshell facing her mother's looming figure. Imago squinched her eyes shut and braced herself for the inevitable strike.

Except it never came. She felt instead the smooth stroke of a brush through her hair. It surprised her at first, and she winced at the first knots becoming undone, but it was soon replaced by a soothing tingle that ran down from her scalp to the rest of her body.

Her neglected mane must have been silently screaming out with joy.

"Better," Chrysalis said, her eyes not breaking from her work. "Now you are going to sit here and tell me what you hoped to accomplish by running off the way you did."

Imago tucked her knees up to her muzzle, like she was trying to imitate a pill bug.

"I...I dunno," she mumbled.

"Of course not!" She made a point by aggressively working out a particularly tight knot. "You didn't think at all, did you? You never do. Because you're a reckless, stupid, impulsive crybaby!"

When she got not so much as a sniffle of a retort, Chrysalis held the brush to her side and craned down to catch a glimpse of her muzzle.

"What exactly were you planning to do? Were you going to march up to Avalon and take the throne back from Thorax yourself?! Oh, that's right, that's right, you were going to make a hive all on your own, weren't you? The ‘Queen of Nothing', am I right?"

Imago's voiced rose from behind her knees, "I just wanted..."

"Wanted what, Imago?" she scoffed. "Tell me, I'm dying to know!"

"I want to be like you!"

"...huh?"

The world fell silent. Even the tumbleweed in the distance ceased its rolling for no feasible reason other than shock. Chrysalis stared down at her firstborn as if she'd sprouted a second head, until she snapped out of it, magically spinning her around ninety-degrees and lifting her head upward to meet her eye.

Imago's pitiful little face was caked in mud from her unending stream of tears and mucus mixing with the dirt. A non-verbal spell courtesy of Chrysalis cleaned her up good and proper.

Once she was satisfied her daughter now looked like she'd been brought up, not dragged up, she felt sufficiently less repulsed to ask, "Okay, I'll bite: what in Tartarus are you talking about?"

"Mother, I..." It was impossible for the shame-faced Imago to hide the slight quaver in her voice. "You're the smartest, the trickiest, the most powerful changeling in the whole world. All the ponies in Equestria are terrified just hearing your name." She couldn't stand to face her further, her scratched hooficure providing a more welcome view. "Back when Cerci was tutoring us, she told us all about the great things you've done: you've destroyed cities and entire kingdoms in a single day. You even made Princess Celestia your bitch--ow!"

"Mouth, young lady!"

She clutched her burning cheek where her mother promptly smacked her one."It's just...I know I don't show it a lot of the time, but I've actually always thought you were really cool. That when I became Queen one day, I could be as as evil as you..."

Was this kid for real? That was the thought on loop in Chrysalis' mind while she stood there cockeyed through Imago's drivel. All the years of backchat, the brazen disrespect to her face and, oh, the temper tantrums! A lot of it taking place in front of the entire swarm. Now she was coming out with this idolizing claptrap? It couldn't possibly be real...right?

Any other mare would've been lost for words, but she stood up, holding out her hoof to make Imago button her lip, and spoke evenly,

"Pretty words, Imago, but I don't recall any such respect from you in the past."

"B-Because you're always shooting me down!" Imago snapped with her signature stomp. "W-Whatever I say or do, you're always treating me like a big joke! You never trust me to do things on my own. Never give me a chance to prove myself--"

"Because you're not ready, Imago," Chrysalis reprimanded her. "You're too young, too weak. I mean, you're like, what, six?"

"I'm eleven!"

"Whatever. The point is you're nowhere near mature enough to take on the responsibilities of a Queen. Take a good look around, Imago," She gestured her foreleg across the vast, depleted wasteland surrounding them for miles to make her point. "We are standing in the middle of the world's deadliest desert, surrounded by bull worms, giant scorpions and demon wasps. All because you went and threw your million temper tantrum. I am saying this factually, not judgmentally: you are Not. Ready."

Those harsh words, calm in their delivery, still cut into Imago like a knife. She knew her mother spoke the truth, however inconvenient it was for her fragile little ego, but it was still painful. Fresh tears welled up along the rims of her eyes. She curled up once more into a ball as Chrysalis began to circle around and continued scolding her, her ghoulish shadow creating an intimidating vulture impression.

"You do this all the time: you get upset, you don't think, you end up doing stupid things and it's always me who has to bail you out of trouble." She stopped with her back faced to her, gazing intently at the setting sun. Nightfall "You're just like..." A sigh and shake of her head. "You're just like me, when I was your age."

Imago's head popped back up, eyes wide, mouth agape at what she'd just heard.

The ex-Queen took a deep breath in through her nostrils, then let it out through her mouth, readying herself for what she had to say next. Turning around, she marched up to her daughter until only a couple of feet separated them, got down on her knees and placed one hoof under the nymph's chin.

"Imago, I am never going to repeat this again, so listen close," she began, giving her the most serious look in the latter's young life. Her tone was authoritative, but at the time time, filled with genuine motherly assurance. "I know I can be tough with you. Maybe there are times I could've treated with you with a little more grace than I did, but it's not that I think you're a "big joke", alright? If anything, out of all my children, you, and I'm not kidding here...are the only one who I deem worthy of being my heir."

"R-Really?" Imago sniffled.

"You're competing against an oversized baby and a pony-eating tub of goo, let's not let that head of yours get too big," Chrysalis replied dryly before moving her hoof up and flicking away the last of her tears. "But yes, I see the potential in you. I see the same wickedness in your soul that I have." She then toyed with her mane, which prompted her to pull her in closer and magically picking back up the brush to finish primping her. "You even have the same conniving mind that makes moi so powerful. It just needs to be nurtured correctly."

"You really think I'm conniving?"

There was just something about the glee in which Imago said that that brought an irresistible smile to Chrysalis' muzzle.

"Your problem is that you're impatient; you suffer from the same youthful arrogance I did. If you're going to lead one day, you need a heart of stone. Believe me, you'll have a lot worse to deal with than ‘mommy being mean'."

A light came on in Imago's head, enough to elicit an small gasp from her. She pulled herself away from her mother's barrel and gazed up at her in awe.

"So...when you're being tough on me, you're doing it because you want me to get better?" she asked hopefully, slowly grinning ear-to-ear like she was seeing the situation clearly for the first time. "You wanna get me to live up to my full potential!"

‘Nope, you just have an unbelievable talent for pissing me off.'

How tempted Chrysalis was to say that and totally dash her hopes, if only for the heck of it, except a new, enticing thought of her own shone in her eyes. Her proud smile transformed into a full-blown Cheshire cat grin.

"Yesss, Imago. Exactly. What a clever little beast you are!" she beamed, lifting her off her hooves by tenderly cupping her muzzle. "It's up to me as your mother to train you, to teach you everything I know so that one day, when you're big and strong...you will be a Queen. But in order for that to work, I need your obedience, for you to be willing to listen to what I say and do as I instruct. Do you truly think you're capable of that?"

For the long underestimated Imago, these were the words she'd been waiting her whole life. Her quivering smile stretched ear-to-ear. She threw herself back into Mother's barrel and wrapped her little forelegs as wide around her as they could manage.

"That's all I've ever wanted, Mother. I'd do anything to learn how to be a true Queen."

Such a saccharine display of affection was a bit much even for a love-starved monster as Chrysalis, but she managed to played along with it and give her a gentle pat on the head.

Still, even in the midst of euphoria, Imago felt apprehensively inclined to point out the obvious, "But...we don't even have a hive anymore--hey!" 
Without warning, she was tossed up in the air and caught in the elder changeling's forelegs, being cradled as if she were a grub again.

"That's why we are going to take our home back, but if we have any hope of doing that, we need to stand united together," Chrysalis told her, adding firmly, "All of us. A solitary gnat does not make a swarm, Imago." She used her magic to tug her by the ear. "Do you understand what I've told you?"

"Yes, Mother," Imago winced, bowing her head like an obedient dog.

"Excellent. Now, before we both fly home, isn't there something you want to say?"

The magic which tugged her ear glowed greater in strength, painfully hauling her out of her mother's embrace into mid-air.

"Ow! Owowow! What're you doing?! That hurts--OW!" She whined, only for the grip on her ear to twist. "I, uh, I'm sorry?!"

Chrysalis inspected her hoof nonchalantly, asking with as much disinterest, "Sorry for what, dear? Be specific now."

"Okay, okay! I--I'm sorry I ran away and I'll be a good nymph from now on! I'll never disobey you again, I promise!"

"Such a good girl. Okay, apology accepted." Her magic eased off somewhat at her word and lowered Imago back into the comfort of her foreleg. Baring her wet pearly daggers, Chrysalis craned her neck, aiming straight for the still entrapped ear. "Still, I can't not discipline you for your behavior. What kind of mother would I be otherwise if I didn't?"

"Mother...?" Panic quickly set in for Imago when her mother's intentions became obvious. She tried to slip out from her grasp and escape, but realized too late her legs were magically bound. "NO! W-W-What're you gonna--?"

"Don't fidget now, darling," she cooed in some superficial attempt at being maternal. Her teeth came dangerously close to the tip of her ear. Just the tip. "It'll only hurt for a moment..."

Session 42.11 Ardashir

(OOC: Been watching Fiend Without A Face, which along with the ever crazier Brain from Planet Arous seems to have been the original inspiration for the Intellect Devourers from AD&D. Makes me wonder if the ponies could come up with something so grisly.)

"Okay, so you see these cat-sized creatures approaching you..."

"Oh, I love kitties!" Pinkie Pie bounced up and down as she spoke. "I pick one up and start petting it."

"Uh, Pinkie," Twilight showed her and the others a picture of what looked like a cat-size pony brain with four viciously clawed legs. "That's what the 'kitties' look like. And they're saying, 'Ah ha! More ponies for us to possess! More bodies to wear as our own! Mwa-hahaha!'"

Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity all recoiled. Pinkie just laughed.

"I pet him and scritch him and tell him I'll call him Cerebellum!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "You just sacrificed initiative, Pinkie. And you're probably about to sacrifice your entire brain as well."

"Aw, this is just plain silly," Applejack pointed at the picture. "How are ponies ever supposed ta even pretend ta believe in something thet crazy-lookin'?"

"Pretend to believe in what now?" Discord slithered through a crack in the wall and looked at the book. "Ah, intellect devourers! Been years since I've seen any."

The ponies just collectively rolled their eyes.

Discord's eyes hardened. "Oh, so I must be pulling your legs?"

"No!" Twilight realized too late what they'd done. "We believe you --"

"Ah sure don't!" Applejack sniffed.

"Really?" Discord snapped his claws. Light flashed and half a dozen claw-legged cat-size brains appeared before the ponies. Discord folded his arms across his chest. "Handle it yourselves!"

Six ponies shrieked as six intellect devourers leaped onto their faces.

***

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Rarity said as she gently lowered the feebly twitching intellect devourer into a blanket-lined box Fluttershy had found. It shivered beside the ones that had attacked Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. "Whatever happened to the poor things?"

"I always knew pony thoughts were too sugary to be real," Discord laughed overhead. "Your brains sent them into shock!"

"Aw, that can't be true..." Dash looked at Pinkie Pie, hopping by with an intellect devourer on her back. It was shivering in horror. Twilight followed behind, bandaging Pinkie Pie's head.

"Tee-hee! I felt him nibble on my forebrain!" Pinkie cuddled the little horror. It shuddered and tried to slither away.

"Then again, maybe it is." Dash shrugged.

Applejack walked over. Her intellect devourer lay lifeless, dead of hunger. She glared at the snickering Discord.

"Y'all think yer funny, but yer not!"

Session 42.12 Kendell2


"How did we end up in this situation again?" Twilight asked, in a small, lavender motorized kart with her cutie mark at the front as the group raced a long a winding, strange course through a brightly colored landscape. close inspection would reveal it was made of pixels.

"Button Mash called in another of his wishes from Discord from when he got him out of his restraining order!" Rainbow Dash called back, racing forwards on her kart. "The CMC wanted us to join in!"

"How many of those does he have left?!" the Alicorn asked, turning around the corner.

"Don't know! But kid's having fun with them!" the cyan Pegasus called, driving through a rainbow colored box with a question mark and getting a banana peel. "Heads up!"

Twilight's eyes went wide as the banana peel landed and sent her spinning out with a shout of surprise.

Rainbow Dash snickered...only to promptly have the same thing happen to her courtesy of Applejack.

"Yah ain't the only pony who knows what the power ups do!" Applejack snickered back.

Discord laughed, firmly in the lead. "Oh I love this game! So much chaos!" he exclaimed...only for a winged blue shell to fly out of nowhere and make a beline right for him. "Oh horseapples!"

As he was sent spinning out by it, Button Mash took the lead with the Crusaders and Diamond Tiara close behind. Diamond got another power up, a Mushroom, which sped her up enough to pull ahead and take the win with Button just barely second.

Session 42.13 SomeRandomMinion

"Sorry, but you boys have a flight to catch!" With that, another screaming group of toy-sized ponies and gryphon bandits were caught in a whirlwind and sent flying. Rainbow Dash, in the form of her Sky Giant character, chortled as they vanished over the horizon. "Happy landings!" She waved a gauntleted hoof. "Heh, so how are you girls liking this Enchanted Comic? Makes me wanna start up that giants module again. Can't wait till we get Trixie in on it."

Rarity chuckled from atop her castle-sized mound of snow, her horn aglow as she arranged a menagerie of frozen tiny forms at her hooves into neat rows. "We're a bit overpowered, even for Giants, but I won't say this isn't fun. Oh, and try to be cautious where you throw your storms, Rainbow. It took me a while to freeze this many of the brutes...hmph, that should teach them to insult my lovely white coat!"

"Well, this edition of the Giants manega was a gift from Queen Supia," Twilight put in. Her Cyclops-form's single eye was more on the terrified, pleading Diamond Dog slave drivers she was using her magic to juggle than anything else. "She still felt bad about what she and the other Giants did in the Crystal Empire, so she commissioned some special issues as an apology. This one even has our characters! Still don't know how how Shiny and Cadence's issue is special..."

WHAM! The stomp was literally earth-shaking, enough to make everypony flinch. Rarity had to scramble to keep her frozen diorama from falling over, and a few trees even tumbled over. Everyone looked up to see Applejack, in her Battlerager form, smirking amidst the ruins of what had....probably...once been a well-defended bandit town. At least before she'd leveled it.

"Nothin' like a little pest control, Ah say." Applejack quipped, admiring her work. "And Twi? Tell Supia Ah said thanks. She thought of everythin'!" She held up a hoof, shaking off some flattened outlaws....revealing a snowshoe. "No slippin' on ice fer me. Not gonna be sittin' on any bad guys either!"

"Wanna bet, AJ?" Rainbow challenged from above as everpony laughed.


((OOC: My computer is still kaput, but I felt compelled to write SOMETHING. I had the idea of a Giants enchanted comic, so enjoy this little one-shot!))


Session 42.14 Alex Warlorn

= Attack on Titan OP - "Guren no Yumiya" =

"Cutie Mark Crusader Ranger Corp!" The four giants heard in surprise.

"It can't be." Rainbow Dash blinked.

"YEOW!" AJ stood up in shock, feeling like she'd just been stabbed by a needle. She turned to see Apple Bloom. She was dressed in a brown, with a pair of swords with a sheath of several on her sides, along with a gas powered grappling spear and cord system.

"Wha-Apple Bloom! What are ya doin'- OW!" Apple Bloom pulled out the first spear and fired along, this one hitting Applejack's side, spinning around her like a speedy litle wasp.

"Wow! This Attack On Giants manega enchanted comic is cool! Why does Dash never let me read these?!" Scootaloo said, not having the spear and cable, but also had the collection of swords and also began to zip around Rainbow Dash, giving her countless little paper one another another.

"OW! OW! Scootaloo!"

"The manega must have left itself open!" Twilight cried.

"FORWARD!"

"OW!" Rarity cried as she also felt herself stabbed in the behind, and looked down to see Sweetie dressed like the others, using her telekinesis to holds several of her swords at once. "I really like this one's mane! Helps me climb up easy!"

"Sweetie Belle! You stop-OW!" Sweetie began climbing up Rarity's mane faster than a spider, and then, "CRITICAL ATTACK!"

"Sweetie! Button Mash has been a bad influence, you do NOT call out-" Rarity fell over on her beautiful frozen garden with a crash, twitching, and helpless, where Sweetie had stabbed her RIGHT in a little place on the back of her neck.

"YEAH!!!" Scootaloo came down on Rainbow Dash, stabbing her in the back of the neck, making the giant crash to the ground with enough force to cause a mushroom cloud.

Applejack kept trying to catch Apple Bloom, but her '3-D movement gear' made it like trying to catch a fly. There was also that the giants had no experience with opponents like this, and being caught off guard at it being their LITTLE SISTERS they were fight, who apparently didn't recognize them, or thought they were expies of their sisters.

Soon...Twilight suddenly found herself alone.

Twilight felt somepony stabbed her in the butt, then in the back, then in one ear...

"VICTORY!" Button Mash said as he came up from behind, and landed right on Twilight's nose, and charged right at Twilight's big single eye.

'This is gonna hurt.' Twilight thought.

Session 42.15 SomeRandomMinion


Later, and now Outside of the enchanted manega, the foals were finishing up some awkward apologies to the four mares.

"Ah guess we shoulda known somethin' was up when ya didn't look like the Giants we were expectin'," Applebloom mumbled. "What with havin' fur and skin and all..."

"Or how you were WEARING gear, and carrying weapons," Sweetie Belle admitted.

"And NOT eating people..." Scootaloo confessed.

Applejack smiled and tussled Applebloom's mane. "It's fine, girls. Guess it serves us right fer just bummin' around the first chapter, playin' with the weakest enemies." She smirked. "Yer lucky Ah didn't sit on ya, Applebloom, you'd have been pancaked right quick!"

"You were pretty quick yourself, squirt," Rainbow added, winking in approval at Scootaloo.

As grudging congratulations were passed around, Button Mash and Twilight examined the enchanted manega. "No, this is definitely based on Shining's game," Twilight concluded. "'March of the Giants'; right there in the title."

"And nothing about a crossover..." Button mused, flipping through the pages. "So how did the girls and me get that gear? Did Miss Supia put that in as a secret or something? Maybe show that 'tinies' could be cool too?"

"That makes sense, I've heard she gets annoyed when her fellow Giants get too arrogant." Twilight blinked and looked at the back cover. "Huh...the next issue is all about attacking a dock...says that the turtle ships must be destroyed, and eating the Diamond Dog Admiral WON'T make a giant character evil....weird. Why would Supia put THAT in this comic?"

Session 42.16 Mtangalion

The CrystalCon auditorium lights came up, and a gray-skinned man with wild hair and a goatee jogged onto the stage, wearing a plaid coat, gaudy striped pants, and shoes with mismatched socks. "Good morning! I'd like to say what an honor it is to meet *me*, Discord, lead developer for World of Horsecraft!"

Princess Twilight laughed nervously and sank lower in her seat.

"There's something not quite right about that fellah," mused Applejack.

"I don't know," said Fluttershy. "He seems like he could be nice, if we got to know him."

Discord steepled his fingers. "Now, you'd probably like to hear all about the fun you'll be having in the Frozen North. Either that, or I went to the wrong convention again."

Pinkie Pie stood up, wearing a horned helmet somehow. "Fus Ro DAAAAHHH!"

"No, not that Frozen North," said Discord without missing a beat. He waved his hands dramatically. "In the north of Equestria, beyond Stalliongrad, the great glacier has been shattered! You know, the one that kept everypony out of those dangerous and forbidden lands, even the ones that can fly." He pointed in a seemingly random direction. "Except for you, you, you, you, and YOU." He grinned disturbingly.

At Indigo Zap's house, where they'd gathered to watch the live stream of the convention, most of the Shadowbolts started choking on their popcorn. "I told you we'd get caught," said Sugarcoat, after she chewed and swallowed calmly.

Discord tugged on his lapels. "And your little dog too. Oh yes, I have your accounts flagged for some special fun later! Now then, behold some of the fierce denizens of the Crystal Empire!"

He stepped to one side, and the big screen lit up, showing what looked like an ordinary earth pony mare. Her mane and eyes were oddly shiny, but she wore tattered rags. "Crystal pony slave," said the caption. A shiny stallion appeared beside her, wearing a hat and carrying a pickaxe in his mouth, looking even more downtrodden. This one was a "Crystal pony miner."

Discord looked at the screen in seeming disbelief, while the audience murmured. "Well, that's not very scary at all! Perhaps you'd rather fight these guys!" He clicked his remote, and this time there were some gasps when the screen displayed a giant shadow-beast shaped like a pony with dragon claws and horns, an "Umbrum soldier." An "Umbrum assassin" appeared next to it, a shadow shaped like a giant twisted preying mantis. "And don't forget about Equestria's other sneaky new frenemies!" A "Changeling scout" appeared, just like the ones in the trailer, followed by a massive "Changeling guardian."

"Oh my!" said Discord with mock alarm. "I certainly wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley." The next slide showed...a dark alley, with all those creatures beat up and lying in a heap, while three adventurers, a pegasus colt, a griffon, and a zebra grinned, counting their loot. "But you might, you lovable sociopaths, you!" The audience chuckled.

Discord coughed. "Needless to say, there's a lot more where those came from! Before you take them on, you're going to want some new allies!" He walked offstage to considerable applause, and the lights dimmed.

A second video began, swooping past a broken glacier wall and into a vast snowy plain. "New region: The Frozen North" read a caption. The perspective switched between quick clips of towering mountains, a frozen forest, and a snarling Ursa Major with two Ursa Minor cubs...before panning down to a sheltered valley with green amidst the snowmelt, packed with strange wood and straw houses and..."New player race: Yaks - Starting zone: Yakyakistan - New class: Berserker"

While the audience cheered again, and clips played of yaks charging, headbutting, and feasting in torch-lit halls...a small but loud group in the audience started chanting "Yaks! Yaks! Yaks! Yaks!!"

"I don't get it," said Rarity.

A yak seated on a throne raised a hoof. "North Lands are no longer perfect because of dumb bug ponies and shadow ponies. Yaks will SMASH!"

Then the wild heroic music turned ominous, and the view dissolved to a pony caravan struggling through a snowy mountain pass. The tension built, until several of the guards nodded to each other and flashed with green fire, becoming hissing changeling marauders!

While the merchants screamed and galloped in all directions, then five remaining pony guards grinned, baring their...fangs? One of them threw a smoke bomb, and vicious wolves wearing jeweled collars charged out of the smoke on all fours, pouncing and snapping their jaws at the suddenly terrified changelings. "New player race: Diamond Wolves"

"Diamond...Wolves?" stammered Rainbow, who was sure she'd had it all figured out. Gilda clapped her on the back, laughing.

Princess Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled. "Of course."

And somewhere in the audience, a certain girl in a wolf costume started shouting, "Yes, yes, yes!" She even jumped in the air and howled, before she realized what she was doing and sat back down, costume paws hiding her muzzle.

The video switched to wolves trotting through ice caverns, tending strange mushroom crops, practicing spells, training to fight, and...playing pranks on each other. "Starting location: Icehome. New class: Infiltrator." A large male Diamond Wold grinned, looking over a table full of stone miniatures. "You merely dabble in the Wolf Game. We were born and raised in it!"

The video finished up with a shot of a crystal city beneath a dome of red and black swirling magic. The view zoomed into the palace, showing captioned closeups of "Queen Chrysalis" and "Tarnished Armor" ...and between them, the shape of a dark armored pony frozen solid in crystal. Eyes opened, burning red and green...and the frame blacked out, showing an animated "World of Horsecraft: Wrath of the Crystal King" logo.