From The Gates

by Dirty Bit

Chapter 31

Greed fought off more of the changelings with relative ease "These things aren't even putting up a fight!!" While he fought, his muzzle was nicked by a long and sharp blade. He drew back his head and looked ahead at the one responsible "Lust! Watch where you're pointing that thing!!"

Lust retracted her horn and smiled at Greed while standing next to a bewildered Rarity "It's not like you to whine, Greed. But it's nice to see that you, Twilight and Spike are okay..."

Greed looked around and noticed a wave of tossed changelings approaching the group "Everypony run!!" When the group noticed what Greed was referring to, they quickly dove out of the way and managed to avoid what swept the changelings off of their feet.

They looked to see Sloth waving his chains with Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Envy following him. The cyan pegasus hovered in the air and waved down at the two "Hey, guys! Are you okay?"

Greed got up and growled "You think maybe you'd direct Sloth to where he wouldn't hurt us as well!!"

Rainbow Dash chuckled "Sorry about that! You know how Sloth is, right?"

Greed shrugged it off "Yeah, you're right. Where are the others? Are they safe?"

"Yoo-hooo~!!!"

Everypony and Spike turned to see Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Gluttony riding on the top of Pinkie's party cannon over to the others "Alright, everypony's here!! You think you can help us back here?" She pointed to what was left of the changelings fighting each other.

Applejack jabbed at Sloth with a smile "Y'all know what t' do, pardner!"

Sloth turned to the last of changelings and groaned as he swung his chain and lashed at each of them. Afterwards, every changeling that inhabited Ponyville laid battered and beaten. The element bearers and Spike sighed in relief and brushed the sweat off of their brows, while the former homunculi besides Envy stood victorious.

Gluttony looked around and his stomach growled as he turned to Lust "I just remembered! Lust, can I eat them now!?" He grinned at his older sister.

The element bearers all looked at Gluttony as if he grew an extra head on his body. Rarity winced "Surely you're kidding, right, Gluttony?"

Gluttony blinked at Rarity and shook his head with a smile "I'm hungry! I wanna eat them!! They look so tasty!"

Lust sighed "I'm afraid I must confess that he really is not joking. Gluttony is that of a bottomless pit, born with an insatiable hunger. He could eat every nook and cranny of Sugarcube Corner if he saw fit." She turned to Gluttony and rested a hoof on his head, to which he nuzzled happily "Thankfully, he is kind enough to ask for permission before he eats most of his meals..."

The element bearers then slowly backed away from Gluttony, wary of his otherworldly hunger. Applejack whispered to Twilight "Remind me t' keep Gluttony away from my orchard..."

The only pony that did not back down was none other than Pinkie, who looked at Gluttony with a wide smile "So he really could eat all of Sugarcube corner!? You're really something, Gluttony!"

Twilight turned to Pinkie "Pinkie, he's dangerous! Get back!"

Pinkie wrapped her hooves around Gluttony's neck "Sheesh, Twilight! Just because he can eat everything doesn't really make Gluttony a bad pony!" She gave the voracious pony a brief nuzzle "Lusty said he's nice enough to ask first!"

Gluttony gasped with joy "Hey! I call her that, too! I like you more now, Pinkie!" The two giggled as they shared a hug.

The others traded unsure glances at one another before they turned to the former homunculi, who stared back with neutral faces. Greed cancelled out his Ultimate Shield form and gave a neutral glance of his own until it turned into an amused smirk "Think what you want about us, folks! This ain't the first time we've been considered monsters in the public eye! We are who we are and nothing more!"

Lust nodded "I hope that one day you can look past this and accept us as we do you..." She took a step forward "To be truthful, I never thought to be accepted by any of you at all...It gives me a sense of warmth." The lascivious mare never thought that she would even say or think such a thing.

Gluttony smiled at the others "I already like you all for giving me food!" He looked over at Rarity "You're pretty!" He then shifted to Twilight Sparkle "You're very smart!" He then looked at Fluttershy "You're as nice as you smell!" He then looked up at Rainbow Dash "And you're fast! Super fast!" He finally looked at Applejack "And you're...you're..." He looked down for a moment in thought before he looked back up with a wide smile "Strong! Like Sloth!"

Applejack looked away with an embarrassed smile before she spoke "Aw, shucks...Maybe we were wrong about y'all..."

Rarity sighed "Perhaps. While we cannot really fathom or possibly cope with Gluttony's actions, I apologize for labeling him a monster. He may have the appetite of a dragon, but he's a pony all the same." She gave an apologetic smile.

Fluttershy nodded "Me too. We've learned not to judge a book by its cover in the past..." She then looked at Gluttony with slight fear "But I've never seen a pony like Gluttony before..."

Twilight then joined in "She's right. And if anything, you all have been the greatest guests as well as students. We cannot really chastise you like this even if we haven't been through so much." She turned to Greed "And besides, you've already taught us a lot about yourselves so far..." She trotted over to Greed with pleading eyes "Can you forgive me?"

Greed stopped himself when he looked into Twilight's eyes and quickly looked away with a light sneer to disguise his inner feelings 'Why does she have to look at me with those eyes?' "I-It's nothing...Don't worry about it." He slowly built the courage to look at Twilight, who was smiling at him for his answer. He then returned one of his own "Besides, you still have a lot to teach me and the others!"

Rainbow Dash smiled "Yeah, that's right!" She swooped down towards Envy "I still gotta teach you how to fly and stuff so you could be much better than any other pegasus I've hung out with! I'll have you running circles around them in no time with you under my wing!"

Envy growled "Hey, I can fly just fine! I just-..." It looked down for a moment "I just...need to get myself in a better condition..."

Fluttershy rushed over to Envy "Oh my goodness! Are you sick, Envy? Do you need medical attention?"

Pinkie jumped onto Envy's back "I don't think she's sick, Fluttershy! Envy here just needs more energy in her life! Oh! We should definitely throw a 'We just saved Ponyville from a bunch of changelings' party! Then we can make sure Envy here gets better in no time!"

Envy growled as she weakly pushed off Pinkie, still annoyed at her random antics "I don't need your help! And didn't we already have a party just the night before? What is with you and parties? Don't you think you're overduing it a little?"

Pinkie gasped "Where have you been!? Parties aren't just friendly get-togethers! They're a way of life!!" She smiled at Envy "I think I should get you well-acquainted with how things work around here!"

Envy sneered at Pinkie before a hoof rested on its shoulder. Envy turned to see Rainbow Dash "Just try and be more patient around her! You'll get used to it..." She smiled at Envy, who sighed in exasperation.

Greed was stoked "Two parties in a row? I'm okay with this!"

Sloth groaned "What a pain..." He then rested on the ground next to some of the changelings.

Spike sniffed at the air before he covered his snout "Oh geez! It's starting to get ripe around here!!" He looked around at all the changelings "So what do we do with all of these? We can't just keep them here!"

Twilight rubbed her chin "I'm not exactly sure...They're alive, bu-" She looked over at some of the changelings with severe wounds "Oh Celestia, some of them are dead!"

Greed chuckled "Of course they are! We can't have them running around and causing problems for the others, right!"

Twilight turned to Greed "How can you be so calm about this? Were you raised taking the lives of other ponies?"

Greed shrugged "Not really ponies, but I've been raised to defend myself...I'm a homunculus, after all."

Applejack looked at Greed with a raised eyebrow "Ah've been meanin' t' ask about that! Sloth here told me that he was a homunculus as well! What is a homunculus, anyways?"

Twilight was now curious as well "That is a good question. Could you care to enlighten me, Greed?"

Spike spoke up "Can't we take care of the changelings first!? We gotta get 'em out of Ponyville before some of them get up!"

Greed turned to Twilight with a smirk, to which she hung her head and gave a defeated sigh "We just have to make sure nopony is watching so they won't get the wrong idea as well..." She spoke in a somber tone.

Lust nodded "Duly noted." She then turned to Gluttony and gave a curt nod. The voracious pony squealed in glee before he leaped onto his first changeling and bit off one of its forelegs.

The element bearers and Spike quickly averted their eyes away from Gluttony's ravaging and winced when they heard crunches and chewing sounds. The voracious pony slurped up the foreleg "It doesn't taste like cheese, but it's good anyways!" He then continued his meal and finished off the changeling at its tail.

Envy could not help but feel its stomach drop at the sight of watching another changeling get eaten 'Heh...brings back memories...' It thought morosely as it watched Gluttony move onto the next one.

Fluttershy whimpered before she finally spoke in a barely audible tone "Couldn't we do something else with the changelings?"

Lust looked around "Why don't we let Gluttony handle the corpses while we dispose of the live changelings at a desired location?"

Twilight turned to Lust, careful not to catch Gluttony's nirvana at the corner of her eye "That would save time, but where would we put them?"

Lust turned to the forest entrance "Why not the forest? We've no other place for them unless we decide to put them up on display at the nearest zoo..." She chuckled at her own joke.

Twilight turned to the forest as well with a reluctant glance "But would we really want to put them there?"

Lust tossed her mane by moving her head "If you have a better idea, then I can dismiss my own. We really do not have enough efficient resources to go by at the moment."

Twilight drooped her ears at Lust's words "I've never been met with this kind of situation before. I don't know what to do..."

Rainbow Dash trotted over to Twilight "C'mon, Twilight! If you can move an Ursa Minor out of Ponyville, then you can move all of these changelings out as well! Besides, they're nothing but trouble to us! Especially with the way they are now!"

Envy felt a stabbing pain at Rainbow Dash's words and looked away dejectedly 'She's not talking about me...She's not...I'm sure of it...Wait, why am I talking like this!?' The jealous pony shook itself out of its mysterious thought. It was as if Equestria was finally getting into Envy's mind.

Twilight thought for a moment before she nodded "I suppose you're right, Rainbow Dash. I don't know how Celestia would act if I sent her a town's worth of changelings, especially when Wrath was the one that issued the warning to us."

Greed smiled "So what are we waiting for? Let's clean up this mess so we can relax for once! I can practice my telekinesis and Pinks can get her party going!"

Twilight turned to Greed in confusion "Wait...You've mastered telekinesis without my help, Greed?"

Greed gave a nod "Yeah..." He then sneered at Lust "I had Lust here nudge me into the right direction since Rarity taught her."

Lust flashed a taunting smile at Greed "You're welcome, brother of mine..." She spoke in a teasing tone.

Rarity and Twilight giggled to themselves when they noticed Greed glaring daggers at Lust. Rarity then spoke up "Well, we've talked long enough. Let us be rid of these changelings!"

Twilight smiled "Yes, then we can help Pinkie get started on that party she wants to throw for us!"

Pinkie hopped up and down in joy "Yippy skippy!"

Lust turned to Gluttony, who was on his seventh changeling "Gluttony, be sure to finish up soon. We're throwing away the rest of them."

Gluttony turned to Lust with a sad expression and a changeling wing sticking out of his mouth as he gave a muffled moan of despair.

Rainbow Dash looked around "Nopony's watching this!" She then winced 'Thank Celestia, too...I don't think I'll be able to look at Gluttony the same way again...'

Lust activated her horn "Then let's make this short and sweet..." She levitated a few changelings from the ground and began to make a trail for the Everfree Forest. Twilight, Rarity, and Greed shortly followed after with changelings of their own.

After five easy trips and the further assistance of the other ponies, the four unicorns made quick work in cleaning out Ponyville and setting them in the depths of the Everfree forest. It was almost hard to manage getting past the wild animals until they asked for Sloth's help, who easily frightened the animals with his massive strength and size. The group then finally trotted back to Ponyville so they could tell the news to the others and head to Sugarcube corner.

Fluttershy looked around as she trotted back into town with the others "Well, I think that's the last of them..." She then looked down in sadness "Oh, I feel bad for sending them in there like that..."

Greed passed Fluttershy as they trotted through town "It was either place them in the forest or repeat another problem. I think it's for the best, Flutters. You'll feel better soon."

Fluttershy looked up at Greed with her sad expression "Don't you feel no sympathy for them?"

Greed grinned at Fluttershy "With the stuff I've seen, there's time for sympathy and times when it's not needed at all. I haven't been met with the kindest folk in my day..."

Fluttershy felt worse at Greed's explanation "Oh dear. That's just awful..."

Greed rolled his eyes "Relax. I'm used to it. Like I said, this ain't the first time me and the others have been considered monsters in the public eye..."

Twilight trotted next to Greed "That reminds me..." She looked up at the avaricious pony as the two trotted "You still haven't explained to me about yourself being a homunculus..."

Greed chuckled "You and your curiousity, Twilight...I'll explain on the way."