//------------------------------//
// What Desperate Times Call For 
// Story: A War 
// by Comma Typer 
//------------------------------//

He rubbed his hooves before his dumbfounded audience of pirates, with Capper the only one unfazed by the statement.
"I never gave you my name, and I don't intend to anytime soon. If calling me 'the pony' is too annoying, call me 'Plea Scald', but search the archives and the records—turn them over if you must, but you'll never find that name belonging to a pony living or dead. Check my description, too—there are so many stallions with my color scheme that it's impossible to track me down...and, well, I could always change the appearance of my mane, so there's that."
He pulled a drawer in the table and slowly put the four requested items inside.
Closed it.
Shifted his gaze back at those before him.
"I am no traitor nor turncoat to the land I love, but this suffering has taken its toll on everyone: on me, on my friends, even those who used to be my enemies. To put it simply, there is every reason to end it quick and clean, to kill it at its source."
He opened the drawer again and took out a large sheet of paper, put it down on the table.
Everyone took a closer look at it.
On it were rough drawings and sketches of a hoofball-shaped container at the center. Surrounding these sketches were lists of materials, of names.
"This, my friends, is the strongest bomb ever known in existence. It is larger than dozens of grenades combined. We would only need to make about five of these, one for the taking and the other four to serve as back-ups, and that's because..."
A smile crept up his face.
"That's because just one, if made correctly and according to my specifications, would be enough to level the entire Crystal Empire many times over, reduce it to a gray wasteland where nothing would ever thrive for centuries."
The parrots and the cat exchanged serious glances, opening their mouths to say something but restraining themselves before turning back to the pony.
"Astonished, I presume?" Plea Scald spat on the table. "I know what you're thinking. You think that this bomb will destroy more than just Sombra. It would destroy a whole kingdom with little hope of reviving it, plus casualties past ten thousand Crystal ponies and that's not counting the many prisoners of war they've turned into slaves and servants for that hideous king."
He grumbled.
"But, we've tried. We've tried for twelve months, and so it's spring again and he's not dead yet. It's all the same old: we win some, we lose some; they win some, they lose some—but they're winning more little by little. Four days ago, you probably heard about the invasion of Rockville, so they're at the river, ready to cross it and bring to ruin many lives, many families..."
Wiped the sweat rolling down his forehead, his cheeks.
"The longer this war gets, the weaker we become. Conventional warfare isn't enough, the old way of fighting isn't enough. They've routed forces several times bigger than theirs because they hid in forests, jungles, kept us waiting and turning us into vulnerable bait! We're learning, but then they'll just storm us with an all-out offensive with their huge numbers."
"Cut to the chase, mister," Capper said, resting an elbow on his swinging leg. "Your point is...?"
"I asked your friends to bring me the final pieces to this puzzle," Plea Scald said, motioning his front hooves toward the plans. "I have co-workers and subordinates to help realize a happy ending for all of us. I'll present it to the Guard for them to see its potential, and the war shall be over by summer."
He stood up.
"The money should be more than sufficient to satisfy all your needs and desires for half a year. The only thing I ask of you is that you should not speak of this matter to anyone else, even if they claim to work under me. I will never see you, and, hopefully, you will never see me again, too."
Capper stood up and spread out his arms. "That's all?"
Plea Scald rolled his eyes. "Fine."
He got a little sack of bits from the open drawer and threw it at the cat.
"Always have emergency money at hoof," he commented, closing the drawer. "You'll never know when they come knocking at your door and ask for payment."
The pirates stood up.
All remained quiet, silent in that tiny room.



At one of the landing platforms outside, hanging out of the cliff, a small airship was stationed, tied to stakes on the sturdy wooden planks which made up that platform. It was not particularly flashy; it had a brown envelope and could hold dozens of crates' worth of cargo on the deck.
Below, a long way to the hard and dry ground.
Exiting a sparse yet bustling crowd, Plea Scald approached his airship, escorted by two changelings hovering beside him.
"Humerus, Nastic," he said, turning his head to the both of them, "the next step of the plan is to make sure the bomb works. Therefore, I ask of you for extended duty out here in the Badlands—lots of testing ground since there's nothing to annihilate here."
The two changelings nodded.
A deer's head popped up on the airship's deck. "Sir?! Is that you?!"
"No, it's Prince Shining Armor!" Plea Scald said with a bitter voice as he shook his head. "I'm joking! Shouldn't you be watching for me? We could've left thirty seconds earlier!"
"Well, sir, I wanted to make a little profit of my own, so I went to the barber shop and tried cutting manes but I was kicked out because I didn't look the part and—"
"What?!" Plea Scald pointed at him. "Get us up there and I'll show you, Sugar Maple!"
The deer screamed. "No, please! Not again!"



The two changelings rested on their bunk beds.
Their bedroom was quite dirty: armor and helmets littered about the floor with some spears and arrows scattered with them; stacks of nearly expired canned foods had already been toppled and a few rolled around as the airship made its turns; holes had already made their way to the beds themselves, but they stood and did not collapse.
At least, not yet.
Out the only window which gave the room's inhabitants a narrow view of the outside, one could see the dry and hot Badlands. Another airship could be seen, a mere dot with it being so far away, but that was all.
"What did we get ourselves into?" Humerus asked, lying on the top bed. "This pony's not loving at all, and now I'm starving! He keeps on shouting at us, screaming at us—"
"That's telling me you didn't expect the criminal life to be rough and tough," Nastic interrupted, taking the bottom bed. "As optimistic as always, setting yourself up for massive disappointment and—you know what?" He sat up. "Why not tell your complaints to the boss himself?"
"But, he's mean!"
"It's either that or I'll drag the both of us back to the hive!"
Humerus sighed. "Maybe later."
A pause.
"I miss the good old days."
"There weren't any good old days to miss," Nastic said. "It's like you've forgotten about escaping Chrysalis and her army of mindless slaves."
A pause.
"Sombra, Chrysalis—what's the difference? All I want is independence and you want that, too—unless I'm gravely mistaken."
"But, what's the difference between Sombra and Chrysalis and Plea Scald?"
"Plea Scald is a pony who's selfless," Nastic answered. "Barely selfless, but ways better than those tyrants...one of which he wants to eliminate, which is always a good thing." A sigh from him. "Thinking about it makes me wish Chrysalis would declare war on Equestria right after this one ends. Then, Chrysalis would be deposed and we would all be free changelings. Instead of feeding on love, we share it with each other—we won't get hungry for the rest of our lives."
The two became silent again.
"Do we have any beans?" Humerus asked.
Nastic smacked his face with a hoof.



The airship lowered to the ground, creating a little dust storm of its own.
Ponies got out from the lonely house and ran across a little dry distance to throw ropes at the airship.
Lower and lower.
Stakes were planted on the ground, ropes were tied.
The airship then landed.
In the middle of this dreary and blazing wasteland, a two-floor house was the only building in view. Not a road nor even a dirt path crossed ways with this home; around this was nothing but a dusty landscape.
Plea Scald hopped out of the airship along with Sugar Maple. The changeling escorts simply hovered to the ground.
He looked around, then faced the troupe of ponies who had helped park the airship. "We have exactly two minutes until the next patrol unit comes around. Get in—and you, Slapshot, time for the invisibility shield again."
Everyone hurried inside the house through the front door.
The last one to enter, the deer, closed and locked it.
Back door locked, every window shut, and curtains drawn, too.
Then, up the chimney, a burst of light which then spread around the whole house and a small patch of ground around it, forming a magical shield.
That shield and the home inside disappeared, leaving only more ground.
So, it was uneventful for a minute. A breeze of warm wind went about.
In the distance, a small unit of changelings flew, their buzzing sounds growing louder as they approached the spot where the house had been.
They passed it by.
Their buzzing went softer, quieter.
The patrol was gone.
Then, a burst of light appeared and dissolved the shield, bringing the house into view.



One week and a half elapsed.
A short walk away from the house was a little robust bunker made up of concrete.
It had a rather empty interior, looking gray and drab while it stank of cement. On the front side of the bunker was a short window with a thick glass pane, giving the ponies, the changelings, and the single deer inside a sweeping view of the flat and yellow-orange land before them.
The only entrance and exit was a reinforced door opened and closed by a lever outside and a lever inside.
Plea Scald glanced at the watch on his left foreleg, his giddy smile only getting bigger. "Forty seconds and we'll see how it'll fare."
Humerus shuddered and hugged Nastic tight. "I can't see this with my own eyes!"
Nastic groaned and shoved him aside.
Sugar Maple hit the window with his face, keeping it there as he waited for that inevitable moment.
The other ponies who were there stood a few steps away from the window.
"Thirty seconds," Scald noted.
Silence reigned in the time left to tick.
"Twenty."
Humerus jumped to Nastic and hugged him again. "Help me!"
Slapshot, a lanky green-blue unicorn with sloppy hair, pulled him away from his friend.
"Ten seconds."
Everyone's attention turned to the landscape past the window.
"Five seconds."
Scald kept looking at his watch.
"Any moment now."
He lifted his head toward the outside.
The little dot in the sky dropped something, then flew away fast.
Everyone looking at that something.
Falling fast.
Hit the ground.
Boom.
A bright light, streaming into the bunker.
All covered their eyes.
Rumbling, tremors shaking the bunker.
Some staggered and tripped.
Scald stumbled, banging his head with the wall.
Rubbed his hurting cheek, kept his eyes closed.
Opened his eyes.
Could see the wall and a part of the floor.
Looked at the window.
No more bright light.
He stood up and got a better view of what was happening.
Plea Scald suppressed a smile.
Outside, rising from the ground, a humongous cloud of smoke.
It was shaped like a mushroom.
"We have it!" he yelled, jumping up. "We did it! Let's pack up and go home, everyone!"
Everyone looked at him surprised.
"Now?" Slapshot asked, scratching her mane.
"Now!" he shouted, galloping to the lever then pulling it.
The door opened up.
"Explosion's too big for the changelings to not notice," he explained as all of them ran out of the bunker and to the house and the airship far ahead. "We gotta get out of here before they catch us!"
It was sunset.
They reached the airship, boarded it, cut off the ropes, and that vehicle was soon in flight, leaving a home and a bunker behind.
Alongside a towering mushroom cloud nearby.
"Next stop, Canterlot!" Plea Scald yelled, grabbing the wooden steering wheel on top of the cabins and whirling it around, feeling the wind rushing through his mane.
The airship leaned left.
Crates and creatures slid to the left, the latter trying to not fall off by holding on tight to whatever they could grab.
Scald himself hung on to the wheel, none of his hooves touching the ground.
Spun it to the right.
The airship leveled itself.
Everything and everyone oriented back on track, many rubbing their heads and recovering from dizziness.
"Mister!" Slapshot yelled at Scald as she ran up the stairs to the wheel. "You're gettin' dangerously close to the Changelin' Hive! You should go by the McIntosh Hills—"
"I know what I'm doing!" Scald yelled back, arching his eyebrows.
Then, buzzing from below.
"Changelings!"
As if on cue, small swarms of changelings appeared, rising up and boarding the ship. Some were left attacking the envelope to little success, for they were shot down by some beams from the unicorns on deck.
Everywhere else on deck, fighting ensued, pitting ponies and deer and even fellow changelings against changelings. Punches, kicks, throws, blows, swinging around and slams. Crates and barrels were smashed, with the deer desperate enough to kick barrels at lunging changelings, propelling them out of the airship and into the sky.
Humerus and Nastic were cornered by their kind, Humerus shuddering while Nastic standing resolute.
"You're a traitor to the hive!" one of the loyal changelings roared. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"That I could say anything for myself!" Nastic cried out.
He flew a hoof at the offending changeling.
Grabbed short, pulled, and thrown to the floor.
Humerus stood up, an expression of anger on his face. "No one does that to my—"
Was also grabbed short, pulled, and thrown to the floor.
"The Queen will be so happy to see you return to where you belong," that loyal changeling said. He motioned to his lackeys beside him and they carried the two traitors out of the airship and toward the ground.
"I'm running out of barrels, guys!" Sugar Maple shouted, flinging yet another changeling out of the way with a barrel. "I need help!"
Slapshot ran to his side and shot a few beams at the approaching changelings, neutralizing them.
Only to be replaced with more changelings.
Slapshot's self-assured smile disappeared. "Oh, no."
They charged at the duo of deer and pony.
Punch to the face.
Kick to the hindleg.
Uppercut to the jaw.
Thrown out of the airship.
The battle continued, yet that duo stayed afloat.
"Slapshot!" Scald shouted from atop the cabin roof, struggling against a changeling attempting to take control of the wheel. "Did you disable the bombs before we moved to the bunker?!"
The unicorn kicked down yet another changeling. "Yeah! Why?! I'm kinda' busy!"
"I have a back-up plan!" he yelled. "It'll get rid of the changelings! Hold them off for as long as you can!"
Scald faced his enemy and punched the changeling.
He jumped away from the wheel, landing beside Slapshot but continued running to one of the crates which was identified by the red paint on it. Dodging several changelings jumping at him, he was caught only a meter away, though he only slid and not collapsed.
Reeled back.
Charged forward.
Lobbing the poor changeling out of the airship, unconscious and falling fast to the ground.
Scald opened the crate.
Sweat pouring down his cheeks.
Pulled out one of the bombs.
More changelings swarming around him.
Scald closed the crate.
Kick to his leg.
"Ow!"
Kicked the changeling back at his face.
On the bomb, two buttons. One red, one green.
He slammed the red one and pushed the crate out of the airship.
Yet more changelings swarming at him, flying straight at him.
Scald looked behind.
The bomb that stood there.
Past the bomb, Sugar Maple and Slapshot but more than just them. Fighting against the changelings were several ponies, each defending the airship in their own way from physical punches to magical beams to luring tricks.
Wiping away a tear, he stood still in front of the bomb.
Changelings approaching, zooming.
Then, he jumped out.
Into freefall.
Falling in the sky.
Could see green below.
Looked up.
A bright flash, covering all.
He closed his eyes.
Falling.



There was a knock on the door.
A mare sprinted and opened it.
One disheveled stallion, bruised and sooty under the night. "Sorry, ma'am, but I need to take a shower! I got involved in a serious accident at the paint factory I was inspecting and I got confused by the explosion and I somehow ended up here near Canterlot! Now, my—"
The mare covered her mouth out of pity. "That's too bad! Don't you worry—the whole house is yours until you're fine."
"No need for that!" he said, scrambling his way into the cottage and past some lines of plants on tables and stamps on walls. "I'm running out of time! Must report to Canterlot before I go back to the Manehattan Front!"
"You work there?!" she shouted. "What's your name?"
"No time!"
And he disappeared round another hallway.



Prince Shining Armor tapped his hoof at his mansion's gate, looking left and right down both ways of the road illuminated by streetlights.
Cold wind flowing through.
A taxi carriage pulled up and the armored passenger paid the driver a few bits and hauled down a big crate down to the sidewalk.
"Took you long enough, General Radar," Shining remarked. "You're late. You said you would return from your vacation leave at nine o' clock. It's now ten. I and my wife have been entertaining your ranking buddies for more than one hour, and we're losing ideas."
"Sorry," was Radar's reply. "I did discover something that could end the war quick, though." He gestured to the box.
Shining raised an eyebrow. "And, what would that be? I guess it's a weapon of some sort."
"It's a weapon..." Radar looked at him, a stormy face riddled with fury, "which could take the Crystal Empire out of the map for good."