From The Gates

by Dirty Bit


Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Dark Messenger

Lust levitated the sunglasses towards her side and bowed to Rarity "I apologize if I have made you uncomfortable with my behavior, Rarity. I can't really help myself sometimes..."

Rarity gave an awkward chuckle "No trouble at all, Lust! But, erm..." She blushed again as she looked away "Let us never speak of this again, okay?"

Lust nodded with a smile "Understood. I'm going out for a moment, if you'll excuse me." She trotted out the door with the sunglasses.

Rarity watched her leave and contemplated the random and steamy moment that had passed earlier. What Lust had done seemed similar to what Rarity had performed on the red dragon on the mountain or the colt with the asparagus. Her face went into an incredulous expression "Have I just been...played? Did she just toy with my emotions to get what she wanted!?" She then moaned as she flailed her forelegs "Lust, how could you~!?" She yelled in a whiny tone before she gave an adorable pout with upset eyes. Never has she been more fooled in her life. However, she had to credit Lust for her ability to handle a mare like her so easily.

Greed waited outside and noticed the door open as Lust stepped out. The avaricious pony grinned "Took you long enough! Were you enjoying yourself in there?"

Lust closed her eyes "In a way, yes. And would it kill you to say 'thank you' for what I've done for you? You were just dying for these sunglasses."

Greed groaned "Yeah, I suppose you're right...Thanks for helping me out again, Lust. Maybe you aren't such a bitch after all!" He flashed his older sister a genuine smile "Now, the shades?"

Lust nodded "Yes, here..." She levitated the pair of sunglasses to Greed, who took them with his own magic with an eager grin on his face.

He took them in his forehooves and felt them before he tried them on. Needless to say, Greed felt like himself completely once he tried them on "Yes...Now I feel like a king again!!" He grinned proudly while he admired his new attire.

Lust sighed as she shook her head "You are such a child..."

Greed scowled at Lust "Don't ruin my fun! I just got these things for God's sake!" Suddenly, a large red light was seen building up in town square, earning the attention of the two unicorns "What the hell is that!?"

The boutique's door flew open as Rarity came out "I've seen a strange light through my window! What is that?"

Greed turned to Rarity and Lust "Let's go check it out!" The three unicorns then galloped towards their destination.
_____

At Sweet Apple Acres, Sloth was pulling in several carts containing all the apples that were harvested so far. He moaned in tiredness and displeasure but he continued towards the barn.

Applejack watched the indolent pony work with a smile along with Big Macintosh and her grandmother Granny Smith. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo watched in wonder as well. Granny Smith gave a low whistle "Y'all really know where t' find them stallions, Applejack! Ya made yer granny proud!"

Applejack smiled at how hard Sloth managed to work "Ah never thought Sloth would be able to carry all them apples by himself like that. He's mighty nice with his work despite bein' such a lazy stallion!"

Big Macintosh nodded as he chewed on his wheat straw "Eeyup."

Applebloom watched in wonder "How'd he even get so big?? He's bigger than Big Macintosh!"

Scootaloo smiled "Yeah! He's probably stronger than him, too!" She then cringed and drooped her ears as she turned to Big Macintosh with an apologetic grin "Er, no offense..."

Big Mac waved a hoof "None taken."

Sweetie Belle tilted her head "I wonder if Rarity would ever make a suit for Sloth with how big he is..."

Scootaloo grimaced at Sweetie Belle "Why would you even imagine him in a suit to begin with?"

Applebloom rubbed her chin "Ah see where Scoots is comin' from...would take a mean amount o' fabric to make a suit THAT size!" She pointed at Sloth as he slowly trotted out of the barn.

Applejack chuckled at the fillies and their thoughts on Sloth. But they were onto something. How would Sloth present himself if he were ever invited to the Grand Galloping Gala? Her thoughts were ceased when she noticed a disturbance over the horizon of Sweet Apple Acres "What in tarnation?" She gazed at Ponyville from her position to see a building red light and donned a serious gaze when she turned to her family "Big Mac, watch th' kids!" She then turned to Sloth "C'mon, Sloth! We're headin' t' town!"

Sloth turned to Applejack with his unchanged expression "What a pain..."
_____

At Ponyville library, Twilight read one of her books at her table while she thought to herself. She had thoughts about the night before with Greed.

Greed smirked at Twilight while she laid on the basement floor and kept her nose in her book on carbonization with her collected data on Greed sitting next to her "You got what you need, Twi? We may be pulling an all-nighter, but we don't exactly have all night to read and not perform spells!"

Twilight scoffed as she strayed from her book and glared at Greed "I'm trying to read! I need to go over these spells so I know which similarities pertain to your Ultimate Shield form!"

Greed held up a hoof in a halting position "Alright, alright, read your book! Can't say I've ever seen you do anything else other than partying or fighting changelings!" He smiled at Twilight "Have you ever gotten some fresh air away from those books?"

Twilight looked back at Greed with a smile "You don't know me well enough, Greed! I happen to have had my fair share of adventures away from home, myself!"

Greed chuckled "Whatever. Just hurry with the book so I can see what you've got!"

Twilight kept her smile "I'm almost done with it!" She focused her attention back to the book and read each line diligently "Say, Greed..." The avaricious pony hummed in question "As a homunculus, were you okay with being considered as a monster towards other people with or without your form?"

Greed scoffed "Of course I was. We homunculi were very different, but that's what makes us awesome!" He smirked proudly "Besides, let them think if I'm a monster or not! So long as I get whatever I want out of it!"

Twilight groaned, but smiled nonetheless "I've already said this, but you really do live up to your name, Greed. This may sound strange but...while you think of me and my friends as possessions, I'm glad you think I'm special..." She looked away from her page with a faint blush.

Greed raised an eyebrow "You're still on that? I told you not to let that get to your head!" He pointed a hoof while looking irritated "I gotta remember to hold you to whatever it is you choose to say to me next time!"

Twilight laughed at Greed's behavior "My mistake!" When she felt she took in enough of the book's information, she stood onto her hooves and turned to Greed "Okay! I think I'm ready to try it now!"

Greed smirked "Well that didn't last long! Okay, Twi, let's see what you got!" He conjured his horn and shifted into his Ultimate Shield form. He looked at Twilight with his piercing red eyes and spoke in his metallic tone "Now give it a try! Take whatever it was you managed to piece together out of those books and put it to use!"

Twilight took a deep breath and held a look of resolve on her face "Right...Here I go!" Her horn lit up while she closed her eyes, and after a brief moment, she gave off a flash as the entire basement went white.

Twilight sighed contently while she forgot about her books and dwelled upon the events of last night with a smile on her face. She jumped when she heard the front door to the library swing open loudly to see Spike catching his breath while resting a claw on the doorframe "Spike? What happened? Weren't you supposed to be at Rarity's?"

Spike caught the last of his breath and smiled to himself when his previous adornment of embarrassment had subsided inside of him "I was, but I'm here again now! And I-" A red light was seen outside of the library at town square. Spike turned around and looked "Holy Guacamole! What's that?"

Twilight galloped to the library's door to get a better look "Whatever it is, it doesn't look good! Stay here, Spike!"

Spike groaned "What? Why can't I come wi-" He then waved a claw and waddled inside with an angry expression on his face "Aw, forget it..." He muttered to himsef.
_____

Pinkie ran through the Everfree Forest screaming in terror while she was being followed by an enormous monstrosity. She barely avoided a large green foot that destroyed more of the trees around it. The party pony looked up to see her predator in full form.

There was a large and grotesque monster with six legs and weird bodies bulging out of its body. It had long black hair flowing from its head and its face resembled a lizards, though one of its eyes were black with a purple pupil. The large monster gave a loud roar before it resumed its chase with a screaming Pinkie. It bellowed in laughter as it watched Pinkie struggle and spoke in a warped tone "Yes! Run! Run you little bitch! Run for your life!"

Pinkie tripped over a branch before she picked herself up and avoided another large foot "Envy! Why are you doing this? I thought we were friends!!"

Envy bellowed in laughter again while it chased Pinkie "You didn't get the message? WE'RE NOT FRIENDS!! NOW DIE!!!" It yelled while it continued to chase the pink pony who was now in tears.

Pinkie sniffled "Envy, you have to stop! This isn't you! Envy! Envy! Envy!" While its name was being repetitively called, the scenery became blurry.

Envy's name was now being called by Rainbow Dash while the jealous pony spaced out with a smile on its face "Envy! Envy! Envy, get up already! You're spacing out!" She gave a forceful nudge onto Envy's side to bring it back to reality.

The jealous pony shook its head rapidly "Huh? What?" It looked around to see that it was still in Fluttershy's cottage with her, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Gluttony. Envy noticed Pinkie and sneered "So I did space out, huh?" Envy's sneer worsened when the party pony giggled.

Rainbow Dash jabbed at Envy's shoulder "Focus on your lessons, palm tree head! This is for your own good!"

Envy scoffed at Rainbow Dash "I don't remember this actually being for my own good!!"

Fluttershy tilted her head "Are you not satisfied with what I'm telling you? I'm sorry if it's not good enough for you..." She looked down dejectedly.

Envy stared at Fluttershy with a dumbfounded expression "Why the hell must you apologize to me when it isn't your fault? Couldn't you be more assertive?"

Fluttershy looked away "Um...Actually, I have learned to be more assertive." She then looked sad "But all I've done was act so cruel towards other ponies! I even made Pinkie cry with how I acted..."

Envy perked up and shifted its eyes to Pinkie before turning back to Fluttershy "No way..." It pointed a hoof at Fluttershy with a skeptical glance "You..." It then directed its hoof towards Pinkie, who only smiled "...made HER cry?" Envy then leaned in with a curious glance "What did you do?"

Rainbow Dash glared "Don't get too excited, Envy. All she did was say some hurtful things to Pinkie and Rarity. She didn't physically hurt them!"

Pinkie nodded "Mhm! She did hurt this one stallion in a taxi, though! But he accepted her apology when she visited him in the hospital!" She smiled.

Envy scoffed and looked away 'Figures...' It then looked back and stared at Fluttershy for a moment 'Well, she's not so bad despite being a coward and all...Maybe there's more to her than just her bleeding heart.' It then rolled its eyes "Well you could to better. I mean, are you even assertive after that whole phase?"

Fluttershy looked ahead "Well, I've learned to be more assertive around my animals, and I was able to stay away from the dragon migration..." She turned to Rainbow Dash "Sorry about that again, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof "Don't worry about it, Fluttershy. It was only a couple shots to the stomach!" She then pointed "But you still owe me for making me go to the butterfly migration!"

Envy watched with a grimace 'Not only do I have to feed on love, I have to deal with this twenty-four seven...How can I even manage to put up with this crap?' The jealous pony grunted and placed a hoof on its head 'Dammit! There's gotta be somepony to feed off of without having to feel like this!' It looked around and stopped its gaze on Rainbow Dash while she talked with Fluttershy. It stared at the cyan pegasus in silence while they talked.

Pinkie placed her forelegs on Envy's shoulders "Hey, Envy! Why are you looking at Dashie like that? Are you spacing out again? Space is for astronauts, silly!"

Envy grunted and pushed Pinkie off "None of your business!" It looked to see Rainbow Dash with a raised eyebrow and it flinched "Yeah, I was spacing out again...Nothing else..." It looked away and tried not to meet Rainbow Dash's or Pinkie's gaze.

Gluttony blinked at Envy "You don't look so well, Envy! Should we tell you a joke?" The voracious pony smiled.

Pinkie turned to Gluttony "That's a great idea! A good joke always gets anypony going!" She turned back to Envy with a wide smile "You ready for a good joke, Envy?"

Envy narrowed its eyes at Pinkie while she grinned "Does it involve you jumping off a cliff?"

Pinkie giggled "Silly Envy! That's what coyotes do when they chase road runners!! But this is gonna be different! Okay, now what do you get when-" A faint red light was seen out the windows of the cottage, startling Fluttershy as she hid under her table.

Gluttony looked outside with a smile "Ohhh, pretty~!"

Pinkie scratched her head "Well that wasn't where my joke was going, but it IS pretty!" She looked out the window with Gluttony.

Rainbow Dash joined the two earth ponies at the window "It's coming from town square! What do you think it is?"

Fluttershy shivered "Wh-Whatever it is, it can't be good..."

Envy sneered down at Fluttershy "Grow a spine, you! Let's just see whatever the hell's going on!" It then trotted to the door and opened it up. The jealous pony turned back "Well? You guys coming or what?" Gluttony and Pinkie nodded vigorously as they raced out the door and breezed past Envy. Rainbow Dash pulled Fluttershy out of her hiding spot and the two trotted out as well. Envy was the last to leave, but held a shiver down its spine 'Why am I feeling like this?' The jealous pony unknowingly harbored a bad feeling about the red light in Ponyville, but followed the others after it shut the door.
_____

Some of the ponies around the building red light screamed and ran away while others stared at it curiously. Greed, Lust and Rarity were the first to arrive and gaze upon the light with the other townsfolk. Greed stared upon the color of the light and grunted with a sneer 'It can't be...could it?' He then noticed Twilight about to join "Twi! Over here!" He waved for her to join the others.

Applejack and Sloth were next to join, though the indolent pony paid the light no mind. Applejack turned to the others "Hey, y'all! What in the hay is goin' on here!?" Her answer came in the form of a bright flash from where the light stood.

When the brightness subsided, everypony gasped to see Queen Chrysalis stand for a moment with her eyes shut before they shot open and peered about nefariously "So this is Ponyville? Such a drab little village..."

Greed looked at Chrysalis over his glasses "Who's this bitch?" He asked with a quizzical glance.

Chrysalis snarled at Greed "Such a vulgar little pony..." She then noticed Twilight and hissed "And there is Celestia's pet right next to him! So nice to see you again, Twilight Sparkle..."

Twilight gasped "Chrysalis! How did you get here!?" She asked as she assumed a defensive stance.

Lust examined the new creature in front of her and her horn glowed "You're a changeling..." Rarity held a defensive stance of her own next to Lust.

Chrysalis chuckled "And you are quite the observant mare, aren't you? I am queen of the changelings, and I am here to send a message to the element bearers and some children! Can any of you tell me where this...Envy is?" She looked at the group with genuine curiousity.

Greed grinned "I don't think that matters! Why don't you send us the message while we're all here!"

Applejack snapped "What do y'all want with Envy anyway!?"

Chrysalis laughed "So much hostility from you miserable little ponies! But I suppose I musn't stall for time! I am here to bring tidings of a new age courtesy of the one called Father!"

Greed grunted "What did you say?" He hissed in disbelief. Twilight looked at him in confusion while he held a face of trembling stress.

Chrysalis scoffed "Are you deaf, you insubordinate unicorn? The alicorn known as Father desires an audience with his children! Tell me, are you one of them?"

Greed growled "What if I am?" He glared at Chrysalis while he bared his sharp teeth. His horn began to glow while he stared the changeling queen down.

Chrysalis chuckled "Then I guess he was correct in assuming you are here! For those of you present that are considered his children, he wants you at Canterlot post haste so that you may witness the moment of him becoming one with Celestia!"

Twilight perked up at the news and snapped "What have you done with Celestia!?" Her horn glowed as well.

Chrysalis brushed her chest with a hoof as she looked bored "Nothing as of late. It was all Father's doing. Trust me when I say I'd wish to have at that pompous pony myself and take her down, but that alicorn wants her all to himself!" She then looked at everypony who looked ready to fight and laughed defiantly "I would save your energy for Canterlot, my little ponies! It won't help to engage in combat right now!"

Rainbow Dash and her group finally arrived and noticed what was going on "Chrysalis!!" She glared and flew forward at her incredible speed, only to be held in front of Chrysalis and her magic.

Chrysalis glared at Rainbow Dash while she was being held "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Rainbow Dash!" She growled the cyan pegasus' name behind her teeth.

"Let her go, you bitch!"

Chrysalis broke out of her glare to see Envy show up with Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Gluttony behind it. The jealous pony glared at the changeling queen "Nopony hurts the prismatic prick but me!!"

End of Chapter 39