//------------------------------// // 47 - Escalation and Fates // Story: Fallout: Equestria - War Does Change // by tom117z //------------------------------// Chapter Forty-Seven: Escalation and Fates “The example of the parent…” Oh, they were angry now! Bullets followed us as we retreated backwards, a quick hop into S.A.T.S. allowing Venomous to make short work of one slaver while the others took a momentary step back before continuing their very persistent attempts to kill us. We’d run straight into these guys almost immediately after leaving Cobalt in the security room. I have no idea how many ponies and griffons they’d left behind to try and get to him, but they definitely were giving it their all after us! There was a stack of small crates halfway down the corridor we retreated down, I made sure to grab onto them with my magic as we passed and pull them into a heap between us and the slavers. Their own unicorns instantly started to shove them aside, but it gave us a couple of seconds at least! Something hit my side, and suddenly a massive amount of pain shot through my barrel as I kicked out at whatever fucker had just gotten the drop on me! I heard a grunt as I wobbled around to face them, seeing a unicorn slaver mare holding a blood-covered machete in her purple aura. My blood. “Fuckin’ die!” she screamed as she charged me again. I brought around Venomous and fired, hitting the mare in the chest as she screamed, the acidic magic quickly starting to eat away at her heart. “There are more coming down the hallway ahead!” Cobalt’s voice came in over a nearby wall-mounted speaker. “Duck into the door to your left, go around!” My vision was swimming in red bars, the slavers behind us already having broken through my impromptu barricade while at least five other slavers ahead of us charged forwards. Alright, Cobalt had a point. I fired a couple of shots at the encroaching slavers as I hit the nearby button to open up the door Cobalt had pointed out, a crack of Xena’s rifle causing another bar to blink out while we all piled in. Shutting the door quickly behind me, I noted that we had ended up in some kind of breakroom. There were several tables and vending machines around us. As much as my heart yearned for the Sparkle-Cola vender in particular, I decided to yank all I could towards the door to delay our pursuers as we bolted through the room and out of an opposing door. Getting out of there as the slaver tried to break through the mess that I’d gifted them, we found ourselves back in another corridor disconnected from the first. “Keep going!” Cobalt’s disembodied voice commanded. So, we moved, briskly moving up the corridor before a gigantic screech caught our attention. Right behind us, a huge slap of metal slammed down and proceeded to block off the entire hallway behind us, including the door to the breakroom. The red bars were still present, but suddenly everything went quiet. “One of the security doors I got control of, it will take them a while to force it open,” Cobalt explained from yet another intercom, which I wandered over to in order to reply. “You all doing okay?” “Never better,” I snarked him. “What about you? And Altrix?” “They’re banging on my door, but it’s holding for the moment,” he answered worriedly. “I’m looking at Altrix on the cameras now. They haven’t found her yet, so that’s good.” I nodded, assuming he could see it from whatever camera he was watching right then. I turned to look at my friends, Moon Blossom sporting a few new scratches and bruises from where she’d scuffled with a griffon while Xena was already tending to a few grazes she’d taken from stray bullets. And it was then my adrenaline lowered enough for me to remember the great damned gash in my side. My PipBuck was complaining quite heavily as I winced at the trickle of blood hitting the floor. The machete had cut its way right through a piece of my barding that had already taken the strain of a couple small calibre bullets, finally giving up the ghost and coming loose. I retrieved a healing potion and quickly got the bloody thing to heal up, but I was still left with some significant bruising. I’m not sure my armour was going to last all that long under pressure. It was thus far keeping most of their smaller bullets from ripping my organs to shreds, but what happens when they bring out something a little bigger? Unfortunately, stopping for some suit maintenance wasn’t really an option right now. “We need to keep moving,” Xena said as she finished tending to her own minor wounds. “It will not be long before another group finds us.” “Yeah, and you’re looking a bit fucked up there,” Moon Blossom remarked. “We don’t have Altrix around to patch up the really bad things, remember?” Don’t remind me. “There’s another security station a little bit ahead of you,” Cobalt reported. “It might be a good place to look for extra supplies. But don’t stick around too long, that alicorn is roaming around taking out any camera she comes across. Tracking her is becoming… difficult.” Wonderful. We kept moving forward, my eyes peeled for any movement on my Eyes Forward Sparkle that could be close. It was hard to tell, but as we got further away from the sealed hallway several of them started to drop off and vanish. I would take that as a good sign, they’d have to find another way around to us while Cobalt continued to dick with them in any way he could. We came up to a junction that led off in four directions. The way to our right had already been blocked off by another security door. The left corridor was signed as to leading to some medical labs, but as much as extra healing potions couldn’t hurt, we were pressed for time. That left us with the option to forge on directly ahead. There were a few more rooms dotted around us as we progressed down the corridor. They mostly appeared to be locker rooms and some showers; everything a security division might need for their health and hygiene. We had to be getting close to the next security room that Cobalt had mentioned, and I also knew that we were getting closer and closer to the central chamber that this whole place was based around. I remember hearing an old pre-war phrase, what was it…? Out of the frying pan and into the fire? Well, there was never a frying pan. We’re in the fire now, but for some reason, we’re heading deeper and deeper inside until we reach the molten core. A bit melodramatic? Well, I’m in that sort of mood. A couple of new red bars appeared as the corridor curved, and ahead of us an open door came into view marked as ‘Security Station Alpha’. Two griffons immediately saw us. Panicked shots pinged around us as I improvised, ripping up some of the floor grating and holding it ahead of me as something of a shield. Yes, being grating it was filled with holes, but it was better than nothing! There was a loud bang, and the corner of the grating was peeled away. Okay, less so when one of them has a shotgun. “Lock them out, we have them pinned!” one of the griffons shouted, making the mistake of diverting his attention just long enough for Moon Blossom to shoot forwards and towards the duo. Even as the shotgun-wielding slaver turned back with wide eyes at the incoming pegasus-shaped projectile, the second griffon was bringing up his own gun at my friend. I let Venomous free at the same time that Xena poked her head around the corner and took aim. My shot hit his gun, Xena’s .308 round had pierced through his torso. He’d fired before either occurred. A small spray of bullets went wide and straight through Moon’s wing, my stomach tightening as the mare shouted and fell forwards with her momentum. She still hit her target. She cussed and yelled as she dragged the unfortunate slaver out of the doorway, Xena and I running forwards as our friend started to angrily wail on the griffon. We passed them by, bursting into the room as I engaged into S.A.T.S. once more. The disarmed griffon limping towards a pistol on a nearby table, a pony working the security console in the midst of turning around with a battle saddle primed and ready with dual assault rifles. Xena was already bringing her rifle towards the latter, so I targeted the griffon before he could retrieve his weapon. Time continued, and everything happened within the span of a second. Xena’s rifle echoed loudly around the room as I fired two bolts of magic from my own rifle. Both of my shots hit the griffon right in the back, and he barely made a sound as he lifelessly fell forwards with the changeling magic eating away at his spine through the metal barding, both his wings quickly melting free from his back. I turned to see several of the security monitors splattered with the other earth pony’s blood, the slaver’s corpse having slumped back over the console. Moon Blossom trudged in, muttering under her breath as she dragged her damaged wing behind her. “You alright?” I asked, retrieving and offering a healing potion. “Fantastic,” she deadpanned, but nevertheless accepted the potion with a thankful nod. “Let us not stay long. We are using up our supplies quickly,” Xena noted with worry. “How much further until we find this guy?” Moon Blossom asked, grimacing as her wing started to pop and twist as it repaired itself. It was quickly back to being flight worthy, but there was a noticeable patch of missing feathers. “I’m starting to hate this place.” You and me both, Moon. “Not far, I hope. Come on, let’s see what this place has.” We had to be quick. Who knew how many more slavers were already making a beeline for us? I was thankful they wouldn’t know exactly where we were since Cobalt was the one with the security cameras. But still… I moved towards the console as the others started hurriedly rifling through the lockers. I glanced at the slaver, pulling his body away from the console and to the floor. There didn’t seem to be anything of particular interest nestled around the various buttons and terminal screens. A pack of cigarettes I could maybe sell once all this was done. An empty coffee mug… Yeah, that was about it. Then the screen above all started to light up. “Guys, I’m remotely accessing your station and patching in the camera feeds,” Cobalt’s voice informed us. “There’s something you need to see. Now!” “Cobalt?” I asked, a question in my voice. “I’m now finishing up with the security lockout, but I think they’re on to us!” Cobalt reported. “I’m seeing a lot of movement heading towards Altrix!” At that moment, my heart stopped and I felt my entire soul begin to sink. She was alone. We had left her alone… “I’m patching you in… now!” The screen in the centre blinked and switched to a scene of the warehouse entranceway. I saw Altrix standing nervously by the booth, unaware as to what was coming. “Altrix!” I shouted, hoping a microphone attached to the console was picking me up. I saw her looked around in confusion. “Uh… Scrap?” It worked! Xena and Moon trotted over towards me, also looking up at the screen. Altrix retreated inside the booth, standing by the control console. “Altrix, listen to me,” Cobalt began. “I’m finishing up the lockdown release. By the looks of it, that should open both the large security door ahead of you and several other ways in and out inside the warehouse. There are large cargo elevators hidden on the surface that you can lead your hive to if you follow the conveyers. It’s hard to miss.” She bit her lip. “O-okay. Got it. Tell me when.” “Altrix, you have slavers coming for you. You must be ready,” Xena warned urgently. Her eyes widened. “What!? Guys, I can’t…” “Forget that, I’m releasing the lockdown… Now!” Cobalt announced victoriously. “Open that damned thing and get the fuck out of here!” I saw her nod, the changeling quickly hitting the appropriate controls. An alarm started to sound no dissimilar from that of a stable door. It sounded, and it continued to sound… Oh, fuck. Fuck. “Why isn’t it opening!?” Moon Blossom suddenly blurted out, sharing in our sudden panic. “Did you hit the right button?” “Yes I… I did!” Altrix confirmed. “Guys…?” “Dammit! The door is held in place with several separate magnetic locks. The system is disabling them one at a time, it’s- Altrix!” I could only watch as the smaller door leading into the entranceway opened up and the first few slavers charged in. Bullets instantly started flying, and I heard Altrix yelp as she ducked down. “Altrix, you need to defend yourself,” I tried to tell her, hoping my fear wasn’t coming through in my voice. “Altrix, the pistol I gave you…” “I…” “You can do this,” Xena encouraged. “You are very close. We know you can achieve this.” “Kick their assess, kid!” Moon Blossom added. “Come on, girl! You can-” We all jumped at a sudden burst of static, our eyes widening at our view on the camera. They… they’d shot the speaker out. Now we could only watch. Altrix remained ducked down behind the small metal wall beneath one of the booth’s windows as one of the three present slavers rushed forward, the griffon shouting angrily as he charged straight at the door. He burst in, standing over Altrix. There was a gunshot. The slaver collapsed into a lifeless heap. My little 9mm pistol was smoking within Altrix’s green magical grip, her eyes wide even as the other two slavers cursed and also started to push. Altrix looked up and over the wall, straight through the already shattered window as she lifted my pistol and fired. The nearest slaver was hit twice, falling to the floor and shouting in pain from his injuries. He was not dead, but he laid there, unable to act as blood started to pour from one of the bullets that had seemingly bypassed his armour and embedded itself into his armpit. The door started to open, the great metal thing beginning to rise upwards to unleash the hive within. And then more slavers arrived. Altrix saw them, ducking back to avoid another influx of gunfire after launching a glob of green spit at them. It hit another slaver, a unicorn, sealing her horn and rendering her magic useless. Even as the changeling ducked, my pistol remained in place and fired several more rounds at the group of now five slavers if you were to include the injured griffon. But even as more bullets hit their mark, most were absorbed by their barding while others went wide due to not being aimed. Only one actually made it into flesh, biting into the shoulder of yet another pony. Altrix lifted herself up, looking to make a more precise attack. And then we all saw the griffon that emerged through the door, leading yet another group of arriving slavers. The numbers alone were already terrifyingly overwhelming, jumping from three capable fighters to eight. But, with the door barely even an inch off the ground and the centuries-old gears started to work, I realised with a breaking heart that this griffon was in full power armour. They had her cornered. Outnumbered, outgunned, saved only by a single piece of cover between her and them. The griffon looked straight at Altrix as she saw him. A red beam was fired, streaking through the air. Altrix was hit. My gun was knocked from her grasp, falling out of the window and to the floor. And then, as if for added insult, a second red energy beam was shot straight into my oldest companion and shattered the gun’s frames into multiple fragments. What could we do? There was everything we wanted to do. Even in the corner’s of my eyes, I could see the sheer horror and terror on the faces of my friends. On my own face. We had left her there. And now we could only watch as she struggled on the ground, a large burn on top of her partially melted chitin. Altrix, our friend, cried out in pain as the slavers continued their approach. Unopposed and out of danger. Altrix looked up at the camera as the first few slavers prepared to step into the booth, weapons raised and ready to finish the helpless changeling. And with her gone, nothing could stop them from simply lowering the door again. And then, as my eyes burned with water and regret, she smiled. Altrix smiled. There was a flash of green, and suddenly the booth all but exploded as a manticore swiped away some of the slavers with its scorpion tail, turning towards the others with one last defiant roar. They opened fire. Bullets bit straight into Altrix’s newfound hide, and I could only watch dumbstruck as she whipped her tail around impaled one of the scattered slavers, leaping forwards and crushing a second beneath her claws. Out in the open and confronted with a changeling inheriting the power of such a powerful beast, the slavers started to circle and keep firing for dear life. She was covered in holes and lesions, and yet, through sheer force of will, Altrix pounced once again. Right into the power armour-clad griffon. Her claws ripped into the armour, the griffon struggling to break free even as their helmet and part of their chest plate was ripped free. Altrix’s tail struck forwards, the stinger finding its target. One. Two. Three times. The door’s mechanisms finally seemed to kick into gear, starting to rise at a rapid pace as hundreds of blue eyes all started to appear beyond the entranceway. Countless changelings all came into view, standing there in their stable jumpsuits with shocked expressions at the sight that awaited them. The slavers stopped firing, determination becoming fear as they see the horde before them. Altrix turned, regarding her people for a wonderful, victorious moment. They were free. They would soon be safe. And then, with what little strength she had left failing, she collapsed. Green flames rippled around the manticore and reformed the young changeling doctor I had the privilege of getting to know. She laid there, a pool of blood starting to form around her from her many wounds. Her eyes were still open, those wonderful, bright glowing orbs still looking at the hive she loved so much. But they were still. I couldn’t comprehend it. Couldn’t accept it inside any form of reality. This wasn’t meant to… This couldn’t happen! It was… She couldn’t… But despite everything I wanted to believe instead, despite all I inwardly screamed and pleaded for inside the depths of my heart… My tear-filled eyes could not deny the truth in front of me, no matter how bad it hurt. Altrix was dead. And with that universal recognition, all hell was about to break loose. Those hundreds of eyes all turned towards the slavers who’d so mercilessly cut my friend down. A member of their hive, giving her life for the hive. Their wings buzzed and, with them, their horns all started to light. Fuck. Them. Up. The hive sprang into action, an uncountable number of changelings all charging forwards and one single undefeatable swarm. Even as the slavers opened fire and murdered several, a dozen more would replace the one as they enveloped the slavers within seconds. Their screams were only momentary. “I… will attempt to guide them out from here…” Cobalt’s tired voice came in over the intercom. “Just get to Kronos. Give him a bullet from me.” My own legs finally gave out, and I fell back onto my rump as my whole body violently shook. I wiped a hoof across my face, trying to clear my eyes as I looked between my friends. Xena looked much like how I imagined I did, tears streaming down her face as she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Moon Blossom, meanwhile, only had a couple of small stray tears as she stared at the monitor with the most rage-filled expression I had ever seen in my life. Her hoof struck forwards, smashing one of the screens before she let off a shout. Even with glass sticking out of her purple hoof, she rounded and stormed away. I looked back up at the camera feed, seeing the changelings thinning out while a couple started picking up their dead. Three were looking down at Altrix, a stable security guard whispering something to one of the dwellers before he knelt down and got help in depositing her body onto his back. He then picked up a stray gun with his magic and vanished from view. No changeling left behind. “Come…” Xena whispered gently into my ear, helping me stand back up. “There is still one more to save.” Insidiis. Altrix would want us to finish this fight, to save the Princess above all else. And I’m sure she’ll be willing to help us tear Kronos a new one. We left the room, the monitors blinking out as we did so. We remained silent, though it almost felt like we understood each other anyway. We knew what we had to do, there would be time to mourn later. We were coming for you, Kronos. “The changelings are beginning to evacuate,” Cobalt informed us as we continued on down the corridor. “I’m also starting to focus on getting some of the robotic defences online. I don’t think I’ll get many, but I’ll send what I can to help them.” He paused, the silence deafening my ears as we continued down the corridor with a presently clear Eyes Forward Sparkle. “Some of the security dwellers, and some other volunteers, are splitting themselves between defending retreating civilians and causing general havoc for the slavers. They have a base-wide revolution on their hooves, I think you can expect less resistance as they try to stop them.” Good to know… “Anyway… There looks to be a large flux storage chamber nearby. It’s filled with spare vats of the stuff, watch where you step. The main chamber is only a short ways past it, so… Good luck. I’ll see you on the other side.” Cobalt’s voice ceased, and the doorway leading to the chamber he mentioned appeared directly ahead. My mind was filled with everything we had gone through for… what? Five weeks almost? Was that it? Fuck… So much had happened in just over a month. Barely even that. Thirty-six days ago, I was in New Appleoosa not giving a shit about any of this. And now we were here, Altrix was dead, and I was about to face the son of a bitch responsible. Whatever Red Eye and the Goddess intended to do with their Changeling Queen army, it wasn’t happening. They had already lost, and they wouldn’t get a second shot. We reached the door, and Moon Blossom hit the button to slide it open. My PipBuck practically screamed. Goddesses, that’s a lot of taint. Right out of the door we were presented with a grated staircase leading up onto a long catwalk that spanned a room of comparable size to the warehouse in which the changelings had been kept captive. From there, the catwalk had several branches that all ran in a grid pattern alongside many large vats filled with a bubbling rainbow liquid that just seemed… wrong. Where the vats in the central chamber had been a solid green colour, here we were looking at flux in its purest form. Not only was my Geiger Counter having a fit, but just staring down into the stuff made me feel like I was going to turn inside out. Goddesses, where did Twilight get this stuff? “How do we get outta here, Boss?” Moon Blossom asked uneasily. “This place is giving me the creeps.” “There is nothing natural about what lies within those vats,” Xena noted darkly. “It is dark, wrong, almost…” “Chaotic?” an emotionless female voice asked as a new red bar appeared amidst a ‘pop’. Crap. We all shot around, and sure enough, a large and imposing equine figure approached us slowly and predatorily, her eyes narrowed in on us as the remnants of her teleport faded into nothingness. And then the alicorn stopped, looking completely calm even as we readied our weapons against the mutant. One by one, the large pony looked between us before glancing into a nearby vat. Her gaze remaining cool, her eyes finally came to a rest looking directly into mine. “The blood of an enemy, one drained in amounts disproportionate to his body mass. An impossibility, but that creature is one who existed within such chaos,” the alicorn mused, though I wasn’t entirely sure who this ‘enemy’ was. “Yet even chaos has its elegance when perfected and shaped by Unity.” Before I could even ask what exactly she was talking about, Moon Blossom angrily cut in. “Oh, shut the fuck up you mindless prick,” she spat. “What’s wrong? Your boss too scared to talk to us herself?” “THE GODDESS FEARS NOPONY!” Welp, she’s here now. “Lies do not befit a goddess,” Xena taunted. “Your fear of Twilight Sparkle was most noticeable.” “WE DO NOT FEAR THAT PATHETIC UNICORN!” “Yeah, we saw your little domestic with Kronos. He sure thinks you do,” Moon Blossom further added with a delightfully vicious smirk. The alicorn’s eye twitched. “YOU… YOUR ATTEMPTS TO FUEL HER REBELLION SHALL BE CONSUMED BY OUR UNITY! WE ARE GREAT AND POWERFUL, HER CAGE IS WELL CRAFTED, HER MIND OURS TO SUPPRESS!” “I don’t know…” I felt like I had to have in on this. Not every day you get to scare the shit out of a ‘goddess’. “She seems pretty smart. Smarter than you, I’m sure she’ll catch you off guard someday. Help somepony take you down.” “IT SHALL NEVER BE!” she bellowed as she reared up and her horn charged. That certainly got her attention! We all scattered into offshoots of the catwalk as a lavender beam of magic struck the walkways and sent a section of it clattering to the ground below. Shit, if we get knocked into one of the vats… I brought up Venomous and fired at the alicorn, the mutant lighting her horn and teleporting with a pop. A second flash came from right above our heads, and we all looked up to see her staring right back! I engaged S.A.T.S. and took aim again, firing three bolts at the alicorn as Xena followed suit and Moon Blossom opened her wings and charged the large pony. The Goddess, seemingly still in control judging by that scowl, weaved through the air before spinning to deliver a kick to Moon Blossom’s face. The pegasus was sent hurtling through the air, a small moment of panic filling me as she sped towards a vat, but just about managed to regain her balance and hover in its open mouth. “INSOLENT FOALS!” Her horn charged, and another beam of magic trailed straight at us! Xena immediately jumped to another section of the catwalk, but I almost lost my balance as the platform started to give way! The beam almost on top of me, I saw a gap where I could fall between the vats and took it! I leapt straight over the railing, bracing myself as I fell straight into the cold concrete floor below. There was a loud clang as the catwalk fell behind me, very nearly crushing me. “YOUR REVERENCE FOR TWILIGHT SPARKLE IS MISPLACED! THE ASCENSION OF PONIES AND CHANGELINGS INTO UNITY WAS HER PLAN, UNDER THE GODDESS’ GRACIOUS GUIDANCE!” I’m not sure there’s anything ‘gracious’ about stealing a pony’s mind and turning them into mindless servants! There were more lavender flashes overhead as I got up and started weave between the vats, at least two more shots coming from Xena’s sniper rifle as I also heard Moon’s rage-filled shout. I was ideally looking for some stairs to get back up, or at least for that alicorn puppet to come into my line of fire! There was another bang as, somewhere, more of the catwalk came crumbling down. “THE FORM OF OUR PURPLE ALICORNS CAME FROM HER, YOU KNOW. SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE SHE HAD TO SHARE WITH US, AND WE HAVE GROWN MUCH FROM HER CALCULATIONS.” I moved through another pair of vats but was forced to stop dead as a blur swooped down in front of me and the alicorn cracked the ground as she came to stand inches from my face. I hit out with the butt of my gun, smacking the alicorn across the face. She gave a growl of frustration as I ducked away, an explosion following me as one of the vats started to flood the ground behind me with its inner taint. “GREEN FROM THE TWINS. BLUE FROM OUR OWN PAST PERFECTION!” Another explosion came from somewhere behind me. “BUT EVEN OUR OLD NAME HAS BEEN SURRENDERED FOR THE GOOD OF UNITY, WHERE WE MUST SERVE AS OUR GODDESS!” I barely ducked as she rounded the corner, a sword of magic forming out of thin air and embedding itself into a vat near to where my head had just been. I fired at the alicorn, the alicorn teleporting to safety as Venomous ate into the vat behind where’d she’d just been and started to let loose even more flux. “YET, NUISANCES SUCH AS YOURSELF AND HER OWN BLOOD STILL HAVE HER CLING TO HER OWN SELFISH INDIVIDUALITY! THERE IS ONLY THE UNITY, AND SO WE MUST REMIND HER,” the Goddess bellowed. “TIME AND AGAIN WE MUST RENEW THE CAGE UPON HER MIND, LEAVING ONLY THAT WHICH IS USEFUL. SHE IS A NECESSARY ANNOYANCE WITHIN OUR UNITY, BUT ONE FAR MORE MANAGEABLE WITH YOUR DEATHS! IF OUR ALICORNS CANNOT DEFEAT YOU, THEN WE SURELY WILL!” I ducked behind another vat after escaping the flow of flux, sliding to the ground and taking a moment to catch my breath. Whoever the Goddess had been before creating Unity, she’d clearly been obsessed with Twilight. A co-worker? A rival? Who knows? All those minds she had to have enslaved inside Unity, and yet Twilight’s was the only one she seemed to be absolutely petrified about losing control over. So much so that she would possess her own alicorns and personally fight ponies who might remind her about who she used to be. And it was working. Goddess was vicious. Whereas alicorns were coldly efficient, seeing as their own individuality had been stripped away from them, the Goddess herself was anything but. The one back in Buckingham had been calm the entire time, even those small slips of emotion had been dashed by this bitch before they could really manifest. She, however, was really foaming at the mouth at the thought of killing us. And without Cobalt and Altrix to help, how were we going to pull this off? Then it hit me. I reached into my Saddlebag, pulling out the small ChangeBuck that I had picked up earlier. If I could just… Celestia, please let this work. I slipped the device into my PipBuck as the sounds of fighting continue around me, the Goddess continuing to rant about Unity’s perfection and Twilight Sparkle’s insolence. The screen flashed, and a menu screen appeared before my eyes. How do I…? I wasn’t sure how to select any particular option, so I just thought really hard and hoped for the best. There was a flash of green the moment I hit ‘activate’. A strange sensation fell over my body I felt new appendages on my back, my front hooves turning into claws as I felt an unsettling mix between organic and metal parts around my form. And yet… not. I can’t really describe it. It was like I knew and felt my actual self but was also experiencing this new form the ChangeBuck had given me at the same time. It was rather trippy, actually. Is this how changelings feel by default? Well, time to give my new limbs a spin. Not wanting to even attempt to fly on wings I didn’t know whether they would actually work or not, I got back on and started to make my way back towards the stairs. Despite being a griffon, I could still somehow use my magic, a small glow appeared where my horn should have been as I levitated Venomous around myself. I holstered the gun for now. Just until the right moment… I soon found that staircase I had been looking for, rapidly ascending and moving back out onto the catwalk. And there, flying high above it, was the Goddess. She seemed pristine, yet to have taken a single direct hit even as I saw Xena try to take a shot at her from beneath the catwalk where I’d just been, Moon Blossom likewise flying around the alicorn in an attempt to get a good hit in. The sniper round missed as she teleported again, moving up close to Moon Blossom as my friends made a swing with her knife. Goddess’ borrowed horn glowed, Moon being caught in a magic aura that trapped her mid-air, helpless. I stepped out. “Goddess,” I spoke, my voice far gruffer than I was used to. She turned to face me, frowning. “KRONOS…!” It worked! Yes! “YOUR PRESENCE IS NOT REQUIRED. RETURN TO YOUR PLAYTHINGS, WE HAVE THE NUISANCES IN OUR GRASP.” “It appears that they are giving you trouble,” I tried to say in a manner Kronos might, all the while moving a little closer to try and get the best shot. “Perhaps I should take things from here.” “THE GODDESS DOES NOT-” She was cut off when she inadvertently brought Moon Blossom too close, the pegasus managing to wrest back enough control to kick out and smack the alicorn in the face. The Goddess shouted in rage as she turned to face my friends. I pulled Venomous free, entering into S.A.T.S. and targeting the Goddess with what I hoped was a single well-placed shot. I fired. The Goddess dropped Moon Blossom in shock as she heard the bolt fire, and while I’d been aiming for her stomach from down below, her turning to face the source of the gunfire inadvertently changed the target. The bolt hit her in the base of her right wing, a scream of pain definitely belonging to the possessed alicorn rather than the Goddess ringing out as she started to thrash wildly. Her wing came free from the rest of her body, the alicorn plummeting down onto the catwalk. “Our wing is expendable, we shall-” the alicorn started to calmly say in her own voice, before her head then twitched as the Goddess returned. “YOU SHALL PAY FOR SUCH INSULTS! DIE! DIE!” She flicked her head and sent a wave of magic hurtling at myself and Moon Blossom, the blast smacking us like a ton of bricks and sending us skidding backwards. We were both instantly floored, but each managed to take hold of the railings before we slid into one of the vats. CRACK. A bullet travelled straight through the alicorn with a spray of blood, Xena coming up behind the Goddess with her rifle raise high and proud. Moon Blossom recovered quickly, flapping her wings with a vengeance shooting forward. She slammed both of her forehooves into the side of the staggered and wounded alicorn, sending her off of her hooves and over the railing! It was like neither the alicorn drone nor her overlord were able to fully comprehend the turn of events and teleport to safety before they slammed straight into the taint. Her whole body was submerged in an instant before she burst up onto the surface of the liquid and started to squirm. What happened next was beyond grotesque. Her skin started to bubble as her fur rapidly falling away, what was left starting to shift between purple, blue and green. Large gashes started to open up along her neck as her eyes boiled and burst, their juices flowing down along her struggling, dying body and forming dozens of new eyes all along her form. Multiple separate horns started to grow from her original, each one a different size, shape and colour. From those gashes in her neck started to grow separate deformed heads, each one barely muscle and bone that screamed in silent agony. A new leg hit out vaguely up at us, pointing as if accusingly before the skin started to strip away. This was followed by the muscle, and then even the bone liquified as the rest of the alicorn started to melt into some kind of pony soup. The eyes were the last to go, staring up at us with the alicorn drone’s individual terror even the Goddess could not hide. Then, she was gone. “Welp,” Moon Blossom was the first to speak. “I’m having nightmares for… ever. Thanks.” “Hey, you pushed her,” I pointed out, causing her to shrug in a conceding way. I looked back at the now seemingly empty pool of taint, a green glow signifying the fall of my Kronos disguise. Somehow, I had a feeling that the Goddess was ranting and raving inside Unity. I hope that Twilight Sparkle got to feel a few moments of satisfaction at the monster’s defeat before she tore out that glimmer of individuality and rendered the Ministry Mare a docile aspect of the mind again. One day, you psychotic bitch, somepony will free all your victims. When that day comes, I hope Twilight lives long enough to piss on your grave. Either way, I had a feeling we wouldn’t be seeing the Goddess or her slaves again anytime soon. “Your deception was timely,” Xena complimented. “This ChangeBuck is a most useful device.” “Hey, you two could use it for kinky sex shit!” Moon Blossom remarked, a blush making its way onto my face as Xena just glared daggers at the pegasus. Uh, moving on… “It’s burnt out,” I explained, removing it from my PipBuck and holding it out. “Unless we find another, we’re out of luck.” “Shame, I had such ideas…” Moon Blossom said cheekily, before her expression then darkened. “But how about we find that bastard she thought you were, eh? He has to answer to Altrix!” Yes, he does. I turned towards the next door leading out of here. And beyond that… The central chamber. Only Kronos remained. Footnote: Max Level Altrix has died, the Changeling Medicine perk is no longer in effect.